555 replies to this topic

[Punkinetta]

I looked through all 40 pages of this topic, and didn't see anything similar posted before. So instead of starting multiple threads that will only get a few posts and quickly drop off, I'm hoping this could be a thread where we discuss what we're watching, making recommendations, and comparing the overall quality of anime/manga in general.

Animes I'm watching right now: FMA: Brotherhood, Bleach, Monster, and Soul Eater. I've seen the pilots of about 3/4 other animes, but nothing has hooked me yet.

As far as cartoons, I'm watching: American Dad, The Venture Brothers, The Boondocks, Metalocalypse, and sometimes Family Guy.

I tried watching Kekkaishi, but it was becoming a chore, so I stopped at Episode 3. Is it getting any better?

Also, despite the rancid reviews that The Last Airbender is getting, I'm thinking about starting to watch the source material, which I've been told is really good.

So that's where I'm at. What about you guys?

[childeroland]

EDIT: to make the post more than just a list

Anime:
Mahou Sensei Negima--Harry Potter as a teacher with an unwanted harem. It's okay but fairly typical of its genre--I don't get the hype.

FMA: Brotherhood--I don't like this as much as the first anime, but the characters still engage, particularly the villains--the villains here more so than in the first anime except for Scar (who I guess is more an anti-hero anyway) and Shou Tucker from the first seri

Gankutsuou--it takes a bit to get used to the unmoving plaid style. Albert is one of the most interesting heroes I've seen in awhile

Clannad--as beautiful as everyone says. Haven't gotten to After Story yet.

Naruto Shippuuden--nice to finally get past the filler, but I like the characters so much the filler never really bothered me.

Monster--what Thomas Harris's post-Silence of the Lambs novels should have been. It'd be nice to see Twentieth Century Boys animated.

Ikki Tousen--so far, meh

Blade of the Immortal--they dulled down Manji a little from the manga.

cartoons (non-Anime):

the 60's and 70's Peanuts specials--even so-so Peanuts (There's No Time for Love, Charlie Brown, It's a Mystery...) makes very decent viewing.

Edited by childeroland, Jul 6, 2010 @ 9:19 AM.

[Bleu]

Anime: FMA:Brotherhood, Kekkaishi

Cartoons: I've been watching W.I.T.C.H., Avatar: TLA, and reruns of Totally Spies.

I never finished the first series of FMA for some reason. I'm really liking this version though. Kekkaishi is just okay to me, kind of enjoyable.

I was watching Utena episodes, but I gave up after episode six, at least for now, because I don't find most of it funny and I was expecting an action mystery romance.

I watched Red Garden last week, and it's really good, even if some moments are annoying. It's a supernatural suspense about these four girls who die and come back in new bodies, and are told to kill monsters whenever special butterflies call them.

I really recommend Avatar. I haven't watched the movie, but from the clips and the reviews and the summaries I've seen, the fights aren't good and the main female badass is watered down, and that's all aside from the huge race-casting problem.

Totally Spies is something I used watch when I was a preteen. It's very very light entertainment.

W.I.T.C.H. is one of my favorite cartoons, right beside Avatar. It's a magical girl Western cartoon, with solid action, story, suspense and characterization, especially in the second season.

[pyralis]

I enjoyed A:TLA, but found the line of the narrative drops off in Season 3. The conclusion is very good, but some of the ways they got there and the episode choices left me shaking my head.

[TWoP Howard]

Just a note: I am checking with Strega to see if this type of thread is okay here, but until I hear, please make sure that your post contributes to the discussion. In other words, rather than simply posting a list of what you like/dislike, give us some reasons for your opinions. Thanks!

[FlamingWench79]

Animes: FMA: Brotherhood, Bleach, and Inuyasha. I tried watching Kekkashi but when I fell asleep during the third episode, I knew that it wasn't for me. Not sure if it's gotten better or not.

I got hooked on the first FMA when [as] ran it from the beginning again and I actually sat down and paid it some attention, versus just having it on as background noise. I became instantly hooked and next thing you know, I was doing a power marathon through all the episodes online. So needless to say I was thrilled and overjoyed beyond reason when I heard that Brotherhood was going to follow the manga. Not only was I following the subbed episodes, I found myself wasting hours in Barnes & Noble reading the manga.

Bleach was another one that I fell into by accident and while I do love it, I also find myself becoming increasingly frustrated with the pacing in both the anime and manga.

Cartoons: ATLA, The Boondocks, Metalocalypse, Ooblongs, Family Guy and Invader ZIM (don't judge me but I'm glad as hell Nicktoons brought it back).

Count me in as another person that HIGHLY recommends watching the ATLA the series. I haven't seen the movie yet but judging from reviews from not only the critics but fans of the show, the movie does it no justice. My friend's son got me hooked watching reruns of the first and second books. To this day, CRoD (Crossroads of Destiny) still remains to be my favorite episode, despite it ending on a very somber note. The fighting was intense and the animation was just stunning.

found the line of the narrative drops off in Season 3. The conclusion is very good, but some of the ways they got there and the episode choices left me shaking my head.

I agree. Especially after how Book 2 ended, one would assume that the same intensity would carry over into Book 3. And while there are parts of Book 3 that I love (Zuko swallowing his man pill and standing up to Ozai, Suki kicking serious ass in The Boiling Rock, and Hama forcing Katara to learn Bloodbending to name a few), there were definitely parts that had me going, "Huh?" Overall, it was still good, but it just lacked some things and I felt certain characters had reverted back to old ways instead of moving forward.

As a person who is still relatively new to anime, I'm hoping that I can get some good recommendations.

[Lantern7]

I watch and record too many cartoons. Apparently, 26 percent of my overall posts are in this particular forum. I'd go over them all, but I'd lose track. So instead, how about a hilarious yaoi video featuring a full cast of anime characters?

ETA: Okay, I watch just about any anime and cartoon shown on Adult Swim, though I can get hazy on the details in retrospect (re: Ghost In The Shell might as well be abbreviated "WTF"). I still watch Pokemon, even though the cast turnover is relatively low. I haven't watched Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's in a while ("CARD GAMES ON MOTORCYCLES!!!"), but that should change with new eps on the CW. I've watched The Simpsons too long; I honestly dunno when the decline began. I'm still pissed about the last few episodes for South Park got mishandled by Comedy Central. Damn, I'll stop here; I'll be up all night if I continue.

Edited by Lantern7, Jul 7, 2010 @ 12:05 AM.

[childeroland]

Really enjoying Scrapped Princess so far. Great script from the guy who did Tokyo Mew Mew, with an interesting variety of characters who all get their Badass moments, and the sci-fi/fantasy mix works better than in some other anime.

[olvidado]

Wasn't going to repost, but I got permission from Punkinetta, so here I go again! XD


What I currently watch:

BLEACH: What can I say, it's my all-time fave. I had read Zombie Powder a long time ago and somewhere around the holidays in 2006-07, ninjawirehead told me about this really cool anime and manga that might be a bit too intense for kiddos but still worth checking out. I played catchup with the anime and manga, and I became a total, full-on, beyond-stoopid otaku Kubo (and Yoruichi) fanboy. Anyhoo, I love Kubo's layouts, draftsmanship and especially his characters. I don't know of any other manga-ka who shows such diversity in his or her characters, and until the current time in the manga, I have always enjoyed the way that Kubo will stick in some humor when things get truly insufferable—as they are now. This only applies to Kubo/canon, of course, and you know how I feel about the filler.


GITS/SAC 2nd Gig: This one snuck up on me but I really got into it. I really like the way that Major Kusanagi and Batou's characters interact, I love the visuals, the closing theme and yeah, i admit it, I so loved those tachikomas - I wish they hadn't blown themselves up in the middle of #26, but hey—they saved the world...


FMA BROTHERHOOD: I like the reworking of this show, but I also appreciate the familiarity, like Ed freaking out at the slightest short-ness reference, Al calling out "Brother," Armstrong getting all sparkly-balls over silly stuff, not to mention cruel-yet-inept Homunculi.


BOONDOCKS: This one's a guilty pleasure, but as a multiracial guy (Nisei Japanese/Hawaiian/Mexican/White), I can relate to a lot of what Magruder does. LOVE the music as well.

I just D/L'ed the Crunchyroll mobile app so I could see new Bleach subbed epis on my Ipod, so I have to play catchup with Aoihana, Catman, Eureka Seven, Naruto Shippuden, etc. 'cos I don't have anywhere near enough knowledge of any of them save for Shippuden...

What I miss:


SAMURAI CHAMPLOO: The most beautifully-rendered anime I ever saw, and one of my all-time fave moments: epi. 15 ("Bogus Booty"), where Yatsuha tells Mugen, "Look! Over there! A naked woman!!" and of course, Mugen turns to look and gets a kick to the happy zone - twice in the same epi. I also LOVED the music.

MORIBITO:What can I say, again - rendered almost as beautifully as Champloo, the character Balsa—an awesome, asskicking yet non-fanservicey heroine; Chagum - the perfect shady sidekick, theme song by L'Arc-en-Ciel/Hyde...

FLCL This anime rocks—can you believe that this was the "stress relief" project for the Gainax dudes after Evangelion?? Also, the best closing sequence evah...

What I don't watch:

KEKKAISHI: I tried to approach this without prejudice. I failed. I guess Yellow Tanabe got himself dosed with some bad acid and flashed on a really bad mashup of Pokemon and Inuyasha...like I said on the forum, Kekkaishi is so bad it made me reconsider Shin Chan.

Well, there you go. Hope this wasn't too tedious for you

[Shelshka]

I'm certainly no expert on anime but sure, I'll throw in my few cents. Be aware that I'm reasonably easy to please - for example, I enjoyed Kekkaishi, particularly after a certain point, and it doesn't seem to have gone over well here.

If a completed series is online I tend to watch it straight through, so what I'm watching this week could be quite different from what I watch next week, although I'm caught up in two ongoing series that frustrate my desire for instant gratification. What I'm watching now:

The Big Windup - A sports series about a high school baseball team. It's slow (hey, it's baseball) but it's cute and I like the characters.

Naruto Shippuden - Well, to be honest, I'm not actually watching it right now. I plan to watch the end of the Pain arc all at once, so I'm waiting for that to finish before I go back to it.

tactics - A light supernatural show set in the Meiji era in which an exorcist/folklorist and his servant supernatural creatures find and solve supernatural cases. Anime Planet recommendations included it as a might like for someone who liked Ghost Hunt which I really enjoyed. Definitely not as creepy as Ghost Hunt. I figure I'll probably have to buckle down and watch Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (When They Cry), which is supposed to be ultra creepy.


A few off the top of my head that I watched in the past:

Samurai Deeper Kyo - Chockful of references to Japanese history and mythology and such a convoluted plot that if you take your attention off it for a moment you won't know what the hell is going on - and I understand it deviated from the manga to its detriment - but an intriguing show that drew me in and kept me riveted as to what would happen next.

Full Metal Alchemist - I adored the original version. Interesting premise and great characters. I am considering looking into the Brotherhood series but it's been a while since I watched the original and I haven't decided if I want to revisit that story as I felt satisfied by the ending I already saw.

Saiyuki - Usually I watch subs and this one I watched dubbed but I didn't care, I thought it was a riot. Four badasses journey westward to stop a demonic plot to turn all demons evil, while cussing, fighting, and insulting each other the whole way. Unfortunately, after the first series another company got its mitts on the show and the change in the voice actors threw me completely off continuing to watch because they just didn't zing like the first batch did.

Ouran High School Host Club - A high school romantic comedy that actually pokes a bit of fun at the genre. Hilarious. Funniest anime I've watched to date.

Rurouni Kenshin - This was the second anime I ever watched. It had interesting story arcs and I loved the title character - not many have lived up to him for me. Hulu has it as Samurai X with a shockingly awful redub that I guess is intended to be more child-friendly. Very, very bad. Anyone interested in this series should definitely stick with the original.

Prince of Tennis - Hugely popular in Asia and spun off a series of stage musicals (that are still ongoing), a live action movie, and a television series in Taiwan. I had to see what the fuss was about but I didn't have high hopes because I'm not particularly interested in tennis. Found myself sucked in. It's all about the characters. There is one quirk of the show that gets on my nerves, the multiple reaction shots when something interesting happens on the court. Cut to this character: "Gasp!" Cut to another character: "Gasp!" etc. and so on. And, of course, the tennis gets so beyond reality that it's pretty much tennis-fu. Still, fun characters and a lot of humor. Warning: Don't bother watching it dubbed. The dub is so horrible that it ruins the show completely.

I think if someone is looking for the very good stuff, Samurai Champloo and Cowboy Bebop can't be overlooked. They were created by the same guy and he has a knack for blending some very disparate elements into his stories that manage to meld into something pretty remarkable. His characters are interesting, unique, and his plots suck you in. The only complaint I have about Bebop is I would have liked a lot more of the dog.

I also enjoyed Avatar: The Last Airbender quite a bit. I do agree the third season got a bit spotty here and there, but overall it was an excellent series and it's a damned shame the movie screwed the pooch that bad.

Edited by Shelshka, Jul 10, 2010 @ 7:12 PM.

[ttso20]

Adding in my two cents. I tend to watch more Anime than Cartoons anymore and if I was to list all the Anime I watched....well I can't even remember them all, I'll try to keep it to my top favorites.

Rurouni Kenshin one of my all time favorite animes, finally found a site to download the episodes so I could watch them in Japanese with their subs, so much cut out of the American version to make it fit the Y-7 rating. Don't get me started on the Trust and Betrayal OVA's that go with it also.

Durarara this was the newest series that I just finished and it was pretty awesome. So hoping their is a 2nd season.

Darker than Black excellent first season, wasn't too impressed with the second season, felt rushed.

Samurai Champloo Loved this series also, love me some Jin and it had an awesome opening song

Ghost in the Shell/2nd Gig Once again loved the opening and closing songs for both series, this was our "thinking" anime, had to make sure I was paying attention.

TTGL can't believe I almost forgot this one....just so awesome

Bleach/Naruto Going to stop with these series, I like them and continue to watch them but they have faults, when it's good it's good, but when it's bad.....it's really bad

As for cartoons, I've watched Justice League, Megas XLR (still ticked it got canceled), X-Men (probably Evolution was the last one I watched) and that's about the only ones that I can really remember or really liked.

[Punkinetta]

I started this thread, got sucked into watching three series, and haven't even replied to it yet. Yikes! I feel awful.

At first I was limited to what [as] aired on Saturdays, so for the past few years, the only anime shows I watched were whatever was on the anime line-up.

Cowboy Bebop Hands down, one of the best animes/show of any genre. If you haven't seen it yet. Find it. If only for the opening theme.

Samurai Champloo. Loved every moment of the series. I loved all the modern/hip-hop influences.

Trinity Blood. Now this was a little tricky. I watched it every week faithfully, even though a lot of the characters were fist through the screen annoying. The Roman Catholic stuff was a little over the top, especially with most the nuns walking around with three heads, and dresses cut down to their navels. But I liked it well enough. I can't figure out why they'd re-air Blood +, but not Trinity Blood.

Blood +: I thought Saya was one of the weakest protagonists of any series I've ever seen. All the supporting players were more interesting/likeable than her. I'm curious about the second series. I haven't heard anything about it at all. Good or bad.

FLCL: Love it. Still don't understand a good portion of it.

Big O: Never caught it from the beginning, and so I was confused, and gave up on it. I felt Gothamy, but couldn't get past the " fake Bruce Wayne in a giant robot" thing.

Inuyasha: Watched the first series from beginning to end. How I'll never know. Redundant, repetative, and no finale. I'm considering watching the second series.

Ghost in the Shell: I like it a lot. Still can't fully wrap my head around all the technology stuff, but I think it is fascinating, and never boring.

Full Metal Alchemist: Great series, full of heart, but borderline juvenile in retrospect, compared to Brotherhood.

Death Note: Started really strong, but lost steam (IMO) when L was killed. I was actually cheering for Light/Kira. Does that make me a bad person?

Code Geass: Ridiculous, over-top. Loved every minute of it. Was rooting for Lelouch/Zero. I am a bad person.


Stuff that I've found on my own:

Heroic Age: Someone brilliant in the Bleach thread called it Tarzan in space. Yeah. One rainy Saturday I watched the entire series, and I can't remember the slightest detail about it.

Aquarion: Voltron/Herioc Age/Power Ranger rip off. Except when the individual ships merge, it gives the pilots mind blowing orgasms. I'm not kidding. And this isn't an ecchi anime.

Claymore: Extremely violent and dark. Half-human/half-demon female warriors kill monsters for an organization similar to the Catholic Church.

Soul Eater: Best description I could come up with: Harry Potter meets Bleach. Teenage warriors fight familiar enemies (Dr. Stein, first name Franken). Definitely not as annoying as Bleach with the constant power-ups. People actually get hurt, and lose battles. And no filler arcs! This I would highly recommend.

Ouran High School Host Club: Over the top, wry, meta, silly, fun, and just plain awesome. Also, no filler. I wish they'd do a second season.

Edited by TWoP Howard, Jul 11, 2010 @ 12:22 PM.
Removed unnecessary spoiler tags

[Shelshka]

Death Note: Started really strong, but lost steam (IMO) when L was killed. I was actually cheering for Light/Kira. Does that make me a bad person?

I was spoilered for L's death and when I found out, I quit watching Death Note because I just couldn't stand to see it. I loved that character and hated to see him outmanuevered by that bastard Light. I preferred to see the movie and its ending instead. I may go back and watch the rest of the show at some point now that it's over.

So, you do think going back for Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood would be worthwhile? Does it start at the very beginning or just pick up partway through the story?

InuYasha was the third anime I watched. If I'd known how many better series were out there I may not have stuck with it but I did in spite of itself so I could see Naraku finally get his when, all of a sudden, "Thanks for watching!" Eh? However, I watched the second series just to finish it off. It was more of the same, but at least there was a resolution. Still felt like smacking Kagome around whenever she opened her trap.

Edited by TWoP Howard, Jul 11, 2010 @ 12:24 PM.
Removed unnecessary spoiler tags

[Lantern7]

Shelshka . . . FMAB starts off as a "greatest hits" collection of the original series, then it veers off into manga territory. I haven't read a bad word about it.

What's the policy about threads for anime that's not on American TV? I'm close to getting Soul Eater from the library, and I'm itching to start a thread on it. It has kids that transform into weapons, an assassin that resembles Naruto, and the son of Death that has a symmetry fetish. What's not to love? Sadly, I've only seen five episodes so far, including three of them dubbed.

Any Yu-Gi-Oh! fans in here? I think LittleKuriboh should get credit for getting people back on the bandwagon for the old school stuff, as well as introducing stuff like "Screw the rules, I have money!" and "CARD GAMES ON MOTORCYCLES!!" into the vernacular.

Edited by Lantern7, Jul 11, 2010 @ 10:21 AM.

[JLoats]

So, you do think going back for Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood would be worthwhile? Does it start at the very beginning or just pick up partway through the story?

To expand on what Lantern said: the original FMA anime was made when the manga was still in its early stages, and when they caught up to the manga storyline (about halfway through the anime, I think) they pretty much made up their own plot to finish it off with.

Brotherhood follows basically the same story as the first anime did, for the first 13 or 14 episodes -- although much faster. Then the storyline diverges completely, following the manga in a very faithful adaptation. The manga ended last month, and Brotherhood ended this month.

[FlamingWench79]

Cowboy Bebop Hands down, one of the best animes/show of any genre. If you haven't seen it yet. Find it. If only for the opening theme.

Word. I love Cowboy Bebop to pieces and still get chills (and slightly teary) at the end. As for the opening theme, I did one better and found the complete song and added it to my playlist. It's one of those songs that I can listen to several times in a row and not get tired of it.

Blood+ was pretty sweet but it was one of those where the supporting players were definitely more likeable than the main heroine.

Death Note was another one that I would watch in passing, just because it was on but found myself becoming increasingly more interested in the plot and characters. Then I come up on the spoiler that L dies. And then I watch L's death. I began to lose interest shortly after. Like Shelshka, I'll probably finish up the remainder of the series sometime in the future.

As for cartoons, I've watched Justice League

I was horribly addicted to the Justice League, further fueled by my love for Green Lantern/Hawkgirl. I do try my best not to let shipping get in the way of my viewing but, dammit, those two got to me anyway. I still prefer the first two seasons when it was only the seven of them, as the show became somewhat congested when they opened it up to every superhero in the DCverse. Nevertheless, it was still enjoyable to watch. Not to mention, the opening song was simply beautiful.

Edited by TWoP Howard, Jul 11, 2010 @ 12:26 PM.
Removed unnecessary spoiler tags

[TWoP Howard]

To clear up a few things: Strega has given us the okay for the thread, as long as it doesn’t become a list thread. Everyone here has been really good about not doing that, and giving reasons for liking/disliking something, so I don’t think that will be a problem.

Please don’t use spoiler tags for shows which have been aired in the US. I edited out a few upthread about Death Note. I appreciate that you were trying to be sensitive to other posters who might want to check the show out, but we have to stick to site rules. You can say things like, "a major character death," if you don’t want to be too specific.

What's the policy about threads for anime that's not on American TV? I'm close to getting Soul Eater from the library, and I'm itching to start a thread on it.

Go ahead. As long as it has been on TV somewhere (in this case, Japan), it’s appropriate for the site. Since it hasn’t been aired in the US yet, though, everything other than the most general comments ("This was a great episode!") will need to be spoiler tagged. That’s one I would be interesting in seeing, too, so I hope [as] or Syfy picks it up.

I’ve seen almost everything that has aired on [as], and I’ve enjoyed most of them. Fullmetal Alchemist and now Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood are my favorites, right up there with Cowboy Bebop and FLCL. Shelshka, if you liked the characters in the first anime, then I think you’ll enjoy the second, because the characters are even better developed (especially Al, Hawkeye, and Mustang), and there are several great new characters added. I think it is worth watching the first thirteen episodes, even though they duplicate much of the first anime, just because there are a few plot differences which will help you later on. You just don’t have to pay as much attention.

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann is another one of my favorites. I like it for many of the same reasons I like FMA: strong ensemble cast, with interesting characters, touching plot, and a gripping story which avoids a lot of clichés. The show whole-heartedly embraces a lot of other clichés (fan service, anyone?), but it does so with a twinkle in its eye. Also, the animation is gorgeous, especially in the big battles, and it has some great music.

I’m also enjoying Monster which is just about to finish up on Syfy. I’m way behind, but I hope to catch up before they air the final episodes next month.

[ttso20]

How on earth could I have forgotten Cowboy Bebop , loved the music and without it we wouldn't have gotten the infamous Man-Faye. Not to mention you take Spike and split him in two and you get Jin and Mugen from Champloo

Soul Eater was good also but I prefer the manga, which is still going while they ended the series already.

[Lantern7]

Speaking of opening themes, what are your fave credits sequences from anime?

Death Note: Both openers are good, but then there's the one from Maximum the Hormone, which is completely out of control, in a good way. Also, the song kinda sounds like being about raping and castration. Visually, there's the combined excellence of Aizawa's afro and Ryuk running for the apple.

Paranoia Agent: If this gives you bad dreams, you're normal. All that laughing by the characters . . . brrrrrrrrrrrr.

Fullmetal Alchemist: The current themes are pretty cool, but they can't touch the ones that aired on [as]: "Ready Steady Go" and "Rewrite." The latter was done by Asian Kung Fu Generation, whose songs have been featured on Naruto (second credits) and Bleach (seventh).

Naruto: Aside from "Haruka Kanata" (from AKFG), there's Flow's "Go!" (the one with the "We are fighting dreamers!" refrain) and "Hero's Come Back" by Nobodyknows (the first credits from Shippuden).

Bleach: I like the excessive branding in the first and fourth credits, and the mangled English of Beat Crusaders' "Tonight Tonight Tonight."

That's all I can think of. Oh, and the credits from Iron Man: Armored Adventures? Better than I would've guessed.

ETA: And there's "TANK!" from Cowboy Bebop. Just didn't want anybody to think that I forgot about the classics.

Edited by Lantern7, Jul 11, 2010 @ 7:07 PM.

[ttso20]

Opening songs I've got to go for Champloo, Bebop, Ghost in the Shell (I love the use of other languages, especially the Russian in Rise), Soul Eaters had some good ones also, plus ShojoS from Bleach. Oh Ending songs, gotta love Bacchikoi from Naruto, who wouldn't love dancing fat guys.

[stekkin]

I just finished Eden's Bowy, and I'm right in the middle of Speed Grapher. Eden's Bowy is a bit of a mishmash between sword & sorcery and cyberpunk; good stuff. I really like Speed Grapher, wherein a freelance photojournalist investigates a secret society and acquires the power to make anything he photographs explode. Much craziness ensues. ;) Black Lagoon: Roberta's Blood Trail is a new OVA that just came out (fansubs, not DVD), so I have to plug it. ;) They remixed the orginal theme, which was interesting (that doesn't equal "better", though). The plot...do you really have to ask?

The opening themes for the above series aren't my favorites, but some I really like...

Gundam Seed has some really cool opening and ending themes. The best is the ending theme from the beginning of Season 1. Ghost in the Shell: SAC and SSS have the best music. Code Geass has a great ending theme in the beginning of Season 1. And how can I forget The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya? I never really cared for the series, but that dance/end credits sequence was awesome. And for pure silliness, either Azumanga Daioh or Lucky Star.

Edited by stekkin, Jul 11, 2010 @ 10:30 PM.

[Lantern7]

As for end themes . . .

Paranoia Agent: As bizarre as the opening credits, with the characters zonked out, forming a question mark around a giant version of cartoon dog Maromi.

Death Note: Both versions were cool, though I kinda lean towards "Billy In Despair" (second ending)

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood: First end credits are cute, with cartoony versions of the cast.

Fooly Cooly: "Ride On Shooting Star" by The Pillows is a must-listen, and the credits sequence with Haruko and the sentient Vespa also kick ass.

Bleach: Clever idea for the third end credits . . . thirteen episodes, each sequence going over one of the court guard squads in the Soul Society, offering slice-of-life stuff. This was unusual, given that the shinigami were shown as evil and/or crazy at the time. Bonus material included Keisuke ("Hat 'n' Clogs" guy if I'm misspelling his name) (Squad 12 sequence) and the female Yoruichi (Squad 2).

ETA . . .

Prince of Tennis - Hugely popular in Asia and spun off a series of stage musicals (that are still ongoing)

A PoT musical? Really?!? First up, how does that work? Secondly, how many anime series get that treatment? I knew about Bleach before I saw this, which features songs from Gin and Kisuke, and some dancing from Renji. Japan is a weird-ass country, I tell you.

Edited by Lantern7, Jul 13, 2010 @ 12:33 AM.

[olvidado]

ninjawirehead just turned me onto NOEIN the other day. I LOVE this show. LOVE it!

[pyralis]

Lantern, that was strangely fascinating. And now I'm going to picture the anime with a lot more dance.

[TWoP Howard]

Noein was one I really liked, too. The way they worked physics into it was very interesting, and it had some beautiful moments.

Edited by TWoP Howard, Jul 13, 2010 @ 6:55 PM.

[Albino Girl]

High School of the Dead (which I have recently become addicted to after only 2 eps) has some really nice end credits, I think. The basic premise of the show is of a rather typical one of a handful of (surprise!) high school kids trying to survive a ZombieApocalypseHorror Story with some really hard "R" rated violence gore and soft core porn shots of T and A which are just so OTT it makes me laugh rather than finding them offensive for some reason. Along with the violence and gore, at least in this latest episode, they actually managed to sneak in a rather effective moment of a kid just totally losing it in a very realistic (for this type of story) way. They are still introducing everyone and setting the scene but I think they have done a really interesting and compelling job. Anyway, back to the end credits... While the requisite sad ballad plays the camera focuses on a snapshot of some of the main protagonists and then pulls back to reveal that the snapshot is on a wall plastered with "Missing" and "Have you seen Me?" type pictures. Creepy, sad and relevant to the premise.

I also highly recommend Phineas and Ferb. I know, I know, it's a kids show but oh dear Lord, it is one of those classic type cartoons that has this whole other level aimed straight at the adults. Just makes me fall off the couch with laughter and even throws in some subtle continuity which is rare in this sort of episodic program. You can catch it on Disney Channel or Disney XD. And it has a great opening theme song based on a "Bowling for Soup" song (the band even showed up in one episode!).

Edited by Albino Girl, Jul 13, 2010 @ 10:36 PM.

[Shelshka]

A PoT musical? Really?!? First up, how does that work? Secondly, how many anime series get that treatment? I knew about Bleach before I saw this, which features songs from Gin and Kisuke, and some dancing from Renji. Japan is a weird-ass country, I tell you.

It's a series of musicals which follow the events of the manga interspersed with "Dream Live" musicals that are bits and pieces from the most recent musicals tied together with some smart-ass, self-deprecating humorous sketches. There are some subs out there on YouTube. Yeah, I watched. How could I not? I mean, WTF? I had to see for myself. They use a "ball" of light in place of actual tennis balls. After a certain point a cast "graduates" and they recast. I only watched a few clips but I think they're on their six or seventh cast now. But tell me how in the hell a musical for Bleach works! That seems even more weird than PoT. What next? "Hellsing, the musical!"

I have decided to dive into FMAB, so thanks for the guidance, everyone. Has anyone watched xxxHolic? I'm considering that one as well.

[ninjawirehead]

olvidado and TWoPHoward: I am glad you both like Noein ! Up unti l watched this show, my list of the best animated animes were Moribito, Blood + and the two Ghost in the Shell series. But once I saw Noein, it rocketed to the top of my list. The only thing I don't love unequivocably about the show is the choice of accent that Uchida's voice actress uses. But that is a very minor quibble. What blew me away about Noein at first was just the sheer beauty of the animation. If I knew for a fact that it was not a Hayao Miyazaki production, I would have sworn it was one of his projects. Second thing I like is that the 5 young characters in the "real world" dimension look, and most importantly, act like the 12 year old kids they are. None of this grown up before their time or annoying brat nonsense. Having a kid in that age range, I say their actions and dialogue matches what kids my daughter's age say and do. Third is the writing: Not too much verbiage, just the right amount. The pacing is brilliant. Honestly, this show is just so well done all around. Olvidado mentioned to me that he wishes Noein was on [AS] instead of Keikkashi. I agree, but I imagine there might be problems with licensing rights.

Edited by ninjawirehead, Jul 15, 2010 @ 10:29 AM.

[olvidado]

ninj, Yep, you got me playing catch-up with Noein. With every epi that i have seen, I see more stuff that I like and I haven't said "this looks like they ripped off Bleach/GITS/Moribito/Champloo/DN/Blood+/FLCL" - the other anime that I love(d) to see, as opposed to stuff like Bebop, Big O, Geass or assorted other 'cartoonish' series. I love that the kiddos look and act like kiddos, I love Haruka's (?) big white dog, Noein and Atori are suitably creepy (atori reminds me of Nnoitra from Bleach, but only superficially), I still don't know if Tobi is male or female (I have seen references to both genres), the theme does not get me the way "Season's Call" from the second opening of Blood+ does, but beyond that, Noein is damn impressive and I wish I had seen it before.

Edited by olvidado, Jul 15, 2010 @ 11:45 PM.

[Clockstomper24]

I would caution with Brotherhood that it starts very rough and does not really hit it's sweet spot until after they get to Izumi's introduction (about 11m episodes in this time.) Moments that are very memorable from the first series ("Mother" and the death of Maes Hughes) get glossed over and the latter in particular has an odd tone, with Maes and Envy stopping to trade super-deformed jokes in the middle of what is supposed to be a dramatic scene. But once they get to new material it starts hitting epic proportions very quickly. Winry is such a great character, essentially the third member of the team in this version. But it was a chore to get through when it was at a once a week pace.

Granted, I only saw Eva dubbed on Adult Swim but it was pretty terrible, I don''t get all the love for it. The dub's acting is spotty and it all seems very pretentious. Maybe it was good when there were the anime market was small but out of all the anime on Adult Swim I only liked it slightly better than Reign and Wolf's Rain.

Edited by Clockstomper24, Jul 16, 2010 @ 2:51 AM.