2008 anime recommendations thread
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digitalwanderer
Legend
Alrighty! The end of some seriously good series came and now the new shows are upon us, I went a downloaded a ton of first episodes over the weekend without doing any homework on 'em...I'm trying them all. 
Basquash! - Giant robots playing basketball so the players can get to the moon? Haven't watched it yet.
Phantom - Watched it last night and it seems to have some promise! Reprogramming a boy/girl to become an assassin team, has potential.
Tears to Tiara - Uhm, no clue...haven't seen yet.
Pandora Hearts - I had low expectations because of the name, but the anime was surprisingly solid and interesting. I'll be following it, recommended.
Asura Cryin' - Another one that surprised me in a good way! The story of a boy and his girlfriend ghost, and them discovering the world isn't quite what they thought.
Cross Game - School kiddy sillies, I couldn't watch it.
Segoku Basara - No clue, haven't seen or heard yet.
Valkyria Chronicles - C'mon, you can't expect me to have seen 'em all yet?!?
Fullmetal Alchemist 2 - Some weird show about alchemy in an alternate world similar to ours, seems interesting...
Any great ones I'm missing?
Basquash! - Giant robots playing basketball so the players can get to the moon? Haven't watched it yet.
Phantom - Watched it last night and it seems to have some promise! Reprogramming a boy/girl to become an assassin team, has potential.
Tears to Tiara - Uhm, no clue...haven't seen yet.
Pandora Hearts - I had low expectations because of the name, but the anime was surprisingly solid and interesting. I'll be following it, recommended.
Asura Cryin' - Another one that surprised me in a good way! The story of a boy and his girlfriend ghost, and them discovering the world isn't quite what they thought.
Cross Game - School kiddy sillies, I couldn't watch it.
Segoku Basara - No clue, haven't seen or heard yet.
Valkyria Chronicles - C'mon, you can't expect me to have seen 'em all yet?!?
Fullmetal Alchemist 2 - Some weird show about alchemy in an alternate world similar to ours, seems interesting...
Any great ones I'm missing?
ShootMyMonkey
Veteran
Sengoku Basara has a possibility of being decent, but historically, I've not been that impressed by animes based on videogames. And considering that it's a Capcom game, and the last game cum anime from Capcom was Devil May Cry (which was as you surely know, awful)... well, I'm not keeping my hopes up. At the very least, though, the game was pretty over-the-top and just fabricated a lot of personalities for characters, and the anime is similarly over-the-top, so maybe they'll have something that's a little truer to the game. And I guess if you go in expecting a pretty mindless action series with a hint of twisted comedy, I guess it's a good show at this point.
Aside from the ones you mentioned, one great one to add to the list is K-ON!. It's basically a slice-of-life anime about a high school music club forming a band, and is a typical KyoAni style humor-injected type of series. Though I have no clue at this point what to expect musically across the season (considering "K-ON" is a contraction of "Karui Ongaku" as in "light music"), it's fairly interesting to see the fact that they're also using real-world instruments in the show. Gibson Les Pauls, Korg Triton Extremes, Yamaha Higpig series drums and all. Throw in the whole "moe" factor and some high production value, and you get the musical version of Haruhi meets Lucky Star.
There's a good amount of stuff out there this season which has potential or is already clearly good. About the only total piece of garbage I found this season Queen's Blade. I think it's some sort of effort to try and see just how close you can get to hentai and still keep the show on broadcast channels. Granted, it only shows up uncensored on one particular channel which broadcasts at certain hours of day and so on, but it is still a regular cable channel in Japan. Other channels will only broadcast it censored, but still. The least they could do is create something that had some semblance of effort to make a real show. I mean, the first episode has someone being killed because her boobs exploded. It seriously sounds like something that The Creature would have written.
Aside from the ones you mentioned, one great one to add to the list is K-ON!. It's basically a slice-of-life anime about a high school music club forming a band, and is a typical KyoAni style humor-injected type of series. Though I have no clue at this point what to expect musically across the season (considering "K-ON" is a contraction of "Karui Ongaku" as in "light music"), it's fairly interesting to see the fact that they're also using real-world instruments in the show. Gibson Les Pauls, Korg Triton Extremes, Yamaha Higpig series drums and all. Throw in the whole "moe" factor and some high production value, and you get the musical version of Haruhi meets Lucky Star.
There's a good amount of stuff out there this season which has potential or is already clearly good. About the only total piece of garbage I found this season Queen's Blade. I think it's some sort of effort to try and see just how close you can get to hentai and still keep the show on broadcast channels. Granted, it only shows up uncensored on one particular channel which broadcasts at certain hours of day and so on, but it is still a regular cable channel in Japan. Other channels will only broadcast it censored, but still. The least they could do is create something that had some semblance of effort to make a real show. I mean, the first episode has someone being killed because her boobs exploded. It seriously sounds like something that The Creature would have written.
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I need a recommendation for some good anime.
disclaimer: Anything with kiddy highschool crap puts me to sleep, mecha and weird faces also ends it for me right there.
So something more adult and cerebral, along the lines of Monster.
I also like action anime (alla Berserk) but it has to take itself seriously.
Anything recent thats worth watching? (the Mahjong anime I caught in this thread was good)
disclaimer: Anything with kiddy highschool crap puts me to sleep, mecha and weird faces also ends it for me right there.
So something more adult and cerebral, along the lines of Monster.
I also like action anime (alla Berserk) but it has to take itself seriously.
Anything recent thats worth watching? (the Mahjong anime I caught in this thread was good)
Rurouni
Veteran
Rideback is nice... kinda mecha-ish though, but the story itself is serious.
If you want something similiar with that mahjong anime (probably Akagi), you can check One Outs (baseball) and Kaiji... both involve gambling like Akagi and have similar drawing style (I believe Kaiji and Akagi are made by the same person).
Something Berserk-ish is Claymore.
The Daughter of Twenty Faces is kinda cerebral (about a gang of thief)..
You can try something like Moyashimon... it's about microbe and it's educational
I still have a couple of titles on top of my head, but I just leave it right there
FYI, One Outs is kinda new (2008), Rideback is new (2009), the other titles I believe are 2005-ish or newer.
And I want to comment a bit on FMA 2....
it's more of a remake than a sequel... basically the original anime didn't follow the manga halfway through the show (at that time the manga still ongoing)... this remake should follow the original manga till the end.
This will be one of the best shounen anime out there... much better than Naruto or Bleach in terms of story...
And K-ON is moeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
I like Rideback and I definitely like Claymore. They left it open at the end...I am wondering if a second season will be released...but who knows...
Shows I want more seasons of:
- Claymore
- Full Metal Panic
- Darker than Black
- That one vampire show the name of which escapes me that had Krusniks and the Vatican church and all that.
There are more but I cant think of any at the moment.
Shows I want more seasons of:
- Claymore
- Full Metal Panic
- Darker than Black
- That one vampire show the name of which escapes me that had Krusniks and the Vatican church and all that.
There are more but I cant think of any at the moment.
Rurouni
Veteran
Vampire one... Trinity Blood
I think FMP would have the highest chance of having another season although there are rumors about 2nd season of Darker than Black.
Trinity Blood would be most unlikely though....
I also would like Claymore 2nd season, along with Berserk 2nd season... I'm holding back the urge to read the manga...
And Mandalay Picture have acquired the right for (possibly live action) FMP movie production.. whether they really will go ahead with it I don't know...
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i701e5f503331aba0beae0430fe927543
And another more likely live action movie adaptation would be Ninja Scroll which will be produced by Leonardo DiCaprio and Warner Brothers...
Well, anything is better than Dragon Ball Evolution... i think
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Vampire one... Trinity Blood
I think FMP would have the highest chance of having another season although there are rumors about 2nd season of Darker than Black.
Trinity Blood would be most unlikely though....
I also would like Claymore 2nd season, along with Berserk 2nd season... I'm holding back the urge to read the manga...
And Mandalay Picture have acquired the right for (possibly live action) FMP movie production.. whether they really will go ahead with it I don't know...
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i701e5f503331aba0beae0430fe927543
And another more likely live action movie adaptation would be Ninja Scroll which will be produced by Leonardo DiCaprio and Warner Brothers...
Well, anything is better than Dragon Ball Evolution... i think
Trinity Blood thats it
I almost had the name but it kept escaping me hehe. I am a huge fan of FMP so may your words come true! They left it hanging at the end of that season just when the main character was able to control the Arbalest. That was sweeeeeeeeet! Also to add to the list of live action anime based movies lets not forget Keanu Reeve's involvement with the Cowboy Bebop franchise. Apparently Shinichiro Watanabe is involved along with other key players from the anime side of things who came out with Cowboy Bebop in the first place. That I have high hopes for!
Rurouni
Veteran
This is my take on spring?2009 anime.... Basquash!
Queen's Blade: guilty pleasure
Phantom: kinda good, similar atmosphere to previous Bee Train works (Madlax, Noir, etc). It's probably going to be an action anime with mysteries behind it. The tone is serious.
Pandora Hearts: hard to judge based on 1st episode only. Probably will have a bit of comedy, some action, and mysteries.
Tears to Tiara: action anime with fantasy setting based on JRPG..
Valkyria Chronicles: war anime based on the same game. I'm definitely going to follow this.
Eden of the East: definitely one to watch... It's probably going to be action drama and which emphasize on the story. The 1st episode is... hm.. charming perhaps?
Saki: mahjong meets school life anime... 1st episode basically about cute girls playing mahjong, with one of them having a habit to score zero on every game.. (on mahjong the score can be + or -, so having zero as the score doesn't mean that you'll be at the bottom). I'll definitely follow this...
Mazinger: very old school anime style graphics.... makes Casshern Sins look new Anyway, this is a super robot anime, probably a remake of the old Mazinger.
Cross Game: haven't watch it... probably going to be like the previous author works (H2, Touch). Basically it's a romance anime with baseball as the background story... If you like romance anime and don't mind the baseball stuff, this is the one to watch.
Sengoku Basara: testosterone anime! it's an anime based on games of the same name. Full of action and probably will have some strategy elements thrown into it (because of the war setting).
Asura Cryin': A mecha anime perhaps? don't know what the premises are, but based on the 1st episode it's about a kid that have been trusted with a mecha... It have ghost and magic, so it's a mecha with a bit fantasy twist.
Shangri-la: Action anime with a cute girl as the main character... nice background story, nice action, nice animation... overall a good anime.
Basquash!: Stupid premise... but once you watch it... IT'S GOOD! Based on the 1st episode only, it's the best spring2009 anime... Colorful and fluid animation, quirky character design, fitting music.... Definitely going to follow this. Btw, the premise is about robot playing basketball...
I already mention K-ON and FMA on my previous post... basically K-ON is moe (ok, it's a school live anime about 4 girls forming a band... funny and cute..) and FMA is.. well.. action shounen anime with a good deep story (the setting is a world where you have alchemist instead of regular science... kinda like magic). FMA story is a bit more mature and complex than your regular shounen anime.
As for my recommendation, definitely try Basquash!.. even if you don't like the story at least you can marvel at the graphics.
Other recommended anime would be Eden of the East, Valkyria Chronicles, K-ON, FMA.
My personal favorites would be all of the above recommendation + Saki.
Btw, I must stress that this is based on 1st episode only (okay, K-ON based on the 1st two episodes). My opinion can change and will change once all of this animes goes further.
Queen's Blade: guilty pleasure
Phantom: kinda good, similar atmosphere to previous Bee Train works (Madlax, Noir, etc). It's probably going to be an action anime with mysteries behind it. The tone is serious.
Pandora Hearts: hard to judge based on 1st episode only. Probably will have a bit of comedy, some action, and mysteries.
Tears to Tiara: action anime with fantasy setting based on JRPG..
Valkyria Chronicles: war anime based on the same game. I'm definitely going to follow this.
Eden of the East: definitely one to watch... It's probably going to be action drama and which emphasize on the story. The 1st episode is... hm.. charming perhaps?
Saki: mahjong meets school life anime... 1st episode basically about cute girls playing mahjong, with one of them having a habit to score zero on every game.. (on mahjong the score can be + or -, so having zero as the score doesn't mean that you'll be at the bottom). I'll definitely follow this...
Mazinger: very old school anime style graphics.... makes Casshern Sins look new
Anyway, this is a super robot anime, probably a remake of the old Mazinger.Cross Game: haven't watch it... probably going to be like the previous author works (H2, Touch). Basically it's a romance anime with baseball as the background story... If you like romance anime and don't mind the baseball stuff, this is the one to watch.
Sengoku Basara: testosterone anime! it's an anime based on games of the same name. Full of action and probably will have some strategy elements thrown into it (because of the war setting).
Asura Cryin': A mecha anime perhaps? don't know what the premises are, but based on the 1st episode it's about a kid that have been trusted with a mecha... It have ghost and magic, so it's a mecha with a bit fantasy twist.
Shangri-la: Action anime with a cute girl as the main character... nice background story, nice action, nice animation... overall a good anime.
Basquash!: Stupid premise... but once you watch it... IT'S GOOD! Based on the 1st episode only, it's the best spring2009 anime... Colorful and fluid animation, quirky character design, fitting music.... Definitely going to follow this. Btw, the premise is about robot playing basketball...
I already mention K-ON and FMA on my previous post... basically K-ON is moe
(ok, it's a school live anime about 4 girls forming a band... funny and cute..) and FMA is.. well.. action shounen anime with a good deep story (the setting is a world where you have alchemist instead of regular science... kinda like magic). FMA story is a bit more mature and complex than your regular shounen anime.As for my recommendation, definitely try Basquash!.. even if you don't like the story at least you can marvel at the graphics.
Other recommended anime would be Eden of the East, Valkyria Chronicles, K-ON, FMA.
My personal favorites would be all of the above recommendation + Saki.
Btw, I must stress that this is based on 1st episode only (okay, K-ON based on the 1st two episodes). My opinion can change and will change once all of this animes goes further.
Yep just watched the couple of releases for Phantom and I am going to like it. It feels similar to Darker than Black and that is always a good thing.
Watched a new anime called guin saga...reminds me of Escaflowne a bit I dont know why...could be the setting. Looks interesting though I cant stand one of the characters already.
Another one called Shangri-La that people seem to like which I watched...ugh I cant stand the voice of that business contract negotiating character. I still dont get what the story is about but I guess all will be explained in due time as the anime progresses. I am still not feeling this one and I for one dont find the main character to be cute at all...rather I want to throw her own boomerang at her face....ah well.
Watched a new anime called guin saga...reminds me of Escaflowne a bit I dont know why...could be the setting. Looks interesting though I cant stand one of the characters already.
Another one called Shangri-La that people seem to like which I watched...ugh I cant stand the voice of that business contract negotiating character. I still dont get what the story is about but I guess all will be explained in due time as the anime progresses. I am still not feeling this one and I for one dont find the main character to be cute at all...rather I want to throw her own boomerang at her face....ah well.
digitalwanderer
Legend
So y'all know, Phantom is based on a short 3 part OVA called "Phantom The Animation" which is pretty much the whole first season we're getting now.
The OVA was good, but rushed feeling; this anime has got potential.
The OVA was good, but rushed feeling; this anime has got potential.
Rurouni
Veteran
I just watched Guin Saga... can be an epic anime. About a guy who is amnesiac and have a leopard head probably try to recover his identity accompanied by twins (and yes, one of them really annoys me). The light novel I believe is still ongoing and according to Wikipedia it already reach 124 volumes! This can be one of those long running animes or could end up hanging/leaving it open-ended (12 Kingdoms... damn..).
Btw, the 1st episode is very nice... It's animated by Satelight which happen to be doing Basquash! also.. and if you watch Basquash!, you will know where they put their resources on the most...
Dragon Ball Kai & FullMetal Alchemist 2 : ????????????????????????????????????????
What's the point of DBK which is just the same raw material as DBZ but reorganised, or FMA2, which seems to be the same story as FMA with the same graphics and everything...
???
What's the point of DBK which is just the same raw material as DBZ but reorganised, or FMA2, which seems to be the same story as FMA with the same graphics and everything...
???
Rurouni
Veteran
Dragon Ball Kai basically a retouch of DBZ with a bit of new scene+animation and re-recorded voice + sound effect. The pace going to move faster and they probably will cut most of the filler.
And probably it's for the 20th anniversary of DBZ (yes.. DBZ and not DB).
