Animes That Have Blown You Away

[VoidWanderer]

Baki the Grappler while it does have an average storyline, the fight scenes and the sheer badassery of Teenage Baki and Yojiro is a glory to behold.

 

[Marcus Kehoe]

My second would be a manga and this is the best story I have ever read it is called Berserk it is a fantasy horror series about the struggles of life and fighting against fate.

OMFG YES!

Someone finally mentioned Berserk. Thank you. God that series was so dark.

don't watch Berserk read it, for the love of god read it.

 

[Marcus Kehoe]

REDLINE. RRRRRRREEEEEDDDDLINEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE. Peaople go watch the movie known as Redline. It's the best anime movie of all time.

 

[Cpu46]

Eureka Seven.

I went into it mostly due to boredom, I had exhausted all the other mecha options I had available to me at the time. Even a few episodes into it I was unsure I was going to complete it due to a dislike of the main male lead. Then next thing I know I am watching the final episode with so much emotional investment into this anime that the fact that it ended threw me into a micro depression... which I fixed by rewatching FLCL.

Honestly anyone who hasn't watched E7 from start to finish has missed out on one hell of an anime.

 

[Gatx]

Changed my life, really made me realize what anime could be. Of course the actual show wasn't that great but it's what got me into Gundam and mecha in general (I didn't have cable while I was growing up in the 90s and early 2000s so I missed the Wing bandwagon).

 

[Ishigami]

[HEADING=2]Ghost in the Shell[/HEADING]

Despite having watched Animes for years more or less unaware of the media (prepare for some really OLD stuff: Captain Future, Saber Riders, Queen Millennia etc.) this is the one I pin point as the one that piqued my interest in Animes.
I saw this movie the first time in 1996 and was blown away how profound and atmospheric it was.
The symbolism, references and visualization that more or less backfired in Oshiis more recent works (Innocence, Sky Crawlers) worked back then in its favour (also e.g. Patlabor 1 & 2, "Jin-Roh").
This movie is supposed to be very well known since it inspire The Matrix, served as visualisation for the music video of ?King of my castle? from Wamdue Project and is usually regarded as influential and important to Anime as a medium outside of Japan as Akira.

If you haven't seen it:

The year is 2029.
Motoko Kusanagi is a cyborg so advanced that the only parts of her that remain human are some brain cells. She is working as agent for Section 9 which is part of the Ministry of Home Affairs and specializes in cyberwarefare.
It is then that the notorious hacker "Puppet Master", known for feeding false memories to the cybernetic enhanced brains of his victims to manipulate them, starts an attack on politicians in Hong Kong.
Section 9 starts an investigation to find the "Puppet Master". Confronted with the victims and strange results from the investigation Motoko starts to contemplate about her own identity and ultimately life itself.






After this rather obvious pick I will now pick an odd one:


[HEADING=2]Record of Lodoss War (OVA)[/HEADING]

[http://www.imagebanana.com/]

The template for Record of Lodoss War was Dungeons and Dragons. And the result is so "generic" that it is basically the perfect adaptation of a high fantasy RPG that does not exist.
There is nothing that would make Record of Lodoss War really special except that it does nothing horribly wrong.
All the fantasy clichés you can think of are more or less in it but not a single one of them is implemented in an offensive way.
The beautiful art and design became very much the embodiment of high fantasy Anime.

Parn lives in a small village in the country side of Allania. Goblins have become a plague in recent times and after another incident he an his old friend Eto sets out to end the threat for good. This does not go so well and after being nicely asked to leave the village he goes on a quest to bring the matter to the attention of the king.
He is soon not only joined by the usual bunch of characters but also drawn into a larger conflict seemingly caused by the gray witch Karlla.

 

[Julius Terrell]

Over my life of watching these particular titles just literally blew me away! I mean I cried,laughed,threw temper tantrams at the many plot twists and revolations. The shows on my list are haman shows about the human condition, and understanding the world around us. Some titles have more action than others, but action has never been a requirement for enjoying any particular show. Without further adu.......

Movies:

Ghost in the Shell
An Angel's Egg (An obscure Oshii Masterpiece)
Akira
Milliniumm Actress
Metropolis
Darkside Blues (You know you're an otaku when you've seen this movie)
Street Fighter: The Movie
Tekken: The motion picture
Fatal Fury Movies
Grave of the Fire Flies
Patlabor Movies (Only ONE PERSON mentioned these masterpieces!!)
Vampire Hunter D movies
Jin Roh
The Black Lion

OVAs:

Samurai X
Kikaider OVA
Ninja Ressurection
Doomed Megaopolis (Fuck I love this show)
Macross Plus

TV Series:

Fist of the North Star
Kikaider
Naruto
Monster (Left me speechless)
Heroic Age
Kare Kano
Street Fighter II: V
Ghost in the shell TV series
Boogiepop Phantom
Serial Experiments Lain
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Death Note
Grappler Baki
Defense Force Daigrugger
Ergo Proxy
Blue Gender
Gundam 0079 (The Best Gundam of them all)
Voltron
YuGiOh
Berserk (Read the manga!)
Record of Lodoss War (I'd kill for a sequal)
Kaiba

 

[Legion]

Puella Magi Madoka Magica instantly comes to mind, as far as I am concerned it's damn near perfect. I love the art style, the music, the characters and the fact that it is completely and utterly different to what I was expecting when I started watching it. For anybody who considers it, make sure to finish at least episode 3 before deciding it's not for you.

I have been hearing about Madoka and I am confused, is it a serious show or mostly comedic?

It is difficult to describe without spoilers. No, it is not a comedy, although the artistic style may suggest otherwise. It does have light hearted moments here and there, but overall it is not comedic. The best recommendation is watching the first three episodes. After the third you will get what I mean.

 

[Madara XIII]

[HEADING=2]Hellsing Ultimate[/HEADING]

Hellsing Ultimate is what I call the best cure for anyone who's tired of the Twilight era of vampires. I got into the original OVA and moved onto the manga that was released by Dark Horse. I enjoyed the manga better since the first OVA deviated from the source material but thats because said source material was still in production. Thank god they came back with Hellsing Ultimate that stuck with the completed manga in all its gory detail. I only got as far as 4 volumes in the anime due to its production company going out of business and had to track down subtitled versions online. Thank god Funimation is releasing the whole series in Blu-ray at long last. Now if only I had the cash to purchase them. ^^;

Dear God Yes! Hellsing Ultimate along with Reading JoJo's Bizarre Adventure were two animes that made me fall absolutely in love with vampires.

Both of those anime's takes on Vampires is nothing short of badass and actually frightening.

Dio Brando and Alucard for the damn win mah man.

 

[Madara XIII]

Double Post. Sorry about that. Captcha derped on me

 

[Madara XIII]

You really should read the fate stay night book or read the VN if you want to see how good it is. I can't say it's fate Zero but if u want more(it's so close to being as good), it's a awesome story.

But yeah Fate zero leaves me with shiver's. I mean when Excalibur is used for the first time....shivers. And Iskander is tied as my favorite anime character of all time(with Kira Yamato).

The there is Puella Magi Madoka Magica, a anime that's hard to explain but I'd say it's a deconstruction of the magical girl anime and it has just a fantastical story.

My friend has gotten me into the Fate Series and recommended that I started off with Zero and wanted to beat the shit out of me for even attempting to watch the anime of Stay Night and the Bullshit that happened in UBW with Gilgamesh's ass pull of a loss.

Only route that turned out to be decent in my opinion was Heaven's Feel which was one of the few things that redeemed Shirou PLOT ARMOR PEOPLE DIE WHEN THEY ARE KILLED Emiya.

Other than that I do agree that Rider was arguably the best character in the show, but for me, Gilgamesh and Kotomine Kirei were a match made in Hell itself.
I Absolutely love Gilgamesh as a character. His attitude, his arrogance, and his strength are all well deserved given his legacy. (Read up on his backstory. Dude seriously gave teh finger to the Gods)
And I love how Overpowered he is but its within reason.

And Kirei was by far the most interesting villain I've ever seen in an anime. A man who had no passion for anything and saw life as dull and unfulfilling until a small spur from a Golden Plated Douchebag encouraged him to pursue what made him happy. And that was uncovering true evil. God this guy was so damn cool

 

[Madara XIII]

REDLINE. RRRRRRREEEEEDDDDLINEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE. Peaople go watch the movie known as Redline. It's the best anime movie of all time.

Gotta give that movie a look. I saw teh artstyle and was stunned to say the least.
By the way, did you know the guy who made Hellsing is also coming out with a new anime called Drifters?

Apparently the way it looks, its sorta his take on Fate. So many historical figures throughout history duking it out in the afterlife.

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[BazaarFawkes]

Well ~ Here goes my list. Just a tad of warning, this is a lot of text since I really want to share it all with everyone.

Out of the Big Four (Bleach/Naruto/One Piece/Fairy Tail)

Naruto:
I remember as a kid hating on Naruto because I thought it was the stupidest nonsense I have ever seen. Granted that opinion was formed just after seeing a tiny figure of the Fourth Hokage. But after watching the fight between Neji and Kidomaru, I was hooked - and I don't regret a single thing. The characters, the story, the emotions and the OSTs, I simply just love it. Sadness and Sorrow still makes me shed a few tears. Although I don't watch the anime anymore, I still faithfully read the latest chapter every week.

It was my first official step into the anime world and back then I didn't even know the word "anime" is what was used to describe these types of shows. So it definitely has a place in my heart.

One Piece:
I got on this show relatively late, I remember the show was during the Whitebeard War when I first started watching Episode 1. What I love in this show are the characters, especially the more powerful ones. Their strength and skill is what I enjoy watching and remarking about in every fight. The Shichibukai, The Admirals (The new Admiral is interesting), The Yonkou, CP9, The pirate crews, everyone has something amazing to show.

"Normal" Length Series
Angel Beats:
This show is one of the few that made me shed tears with the ending. The interaction between every characters just makes you forget that each and every single one of them are not only dead but also have experienced some form of regret or trauma in their past lives. The ending make me cry not only because of what had transpired, but also because it was over. I wanted more of everything in that show and I knew that could never happen.
It also introduced me to my never-replaceable favourte character of all time - Kanade Tachibame aka Tenshi
As well as my most cherish music of all time - Ichiban no Takaramono

Gurren Lagann:
Awesome, Crazy, Over-the-top. It never ceases to amaze me just how ridiculous they scale the battles up everytime. One of my first few shows I have gotten into and certainly still is one of my most favourites.

Eureka Seven:
I can't descibe why I love this show, abosulutely cannot. I was far far too immersed into the show. Example, when Renton did the most childish thing by running away to be with himself for a while, I got so mad and before I knew it, I was talking to a screen. When both Eureka and Renton were embracing each other, I again got emotional and fistpump to myself.

Akagi / Saki / The Legend of Koizumi:
I can't stop without even mentioning these three shows. The common trait they all share is Mahjong and the sheer amount of awesomeness it is just to watch the matches carry out. From left to right, they are ordered from being realistic to sheer crazed ridiculousness. By realistic (Akagi), imagine Death Note with mahjong. Thats the best I could summarised it.

Index I & II and Railgun/S:
Absolutely the best show I have had the pleasure to watch ever. The entire setting within that show is so attention grabbing, so engaging. Academy City is more than just a happy go lucky place where students gain powers; it is dark, mysterious and definitely by no means a safe haven. Loving the second season of Railgun, the level of faithfulness to the manga is making me jump in joy. Kudos to JC Staff, except that black bar censorship. I still have a bone to pick with that.

Proper List:
- Amagami SS / Plus
- Da Capo II (The visual novel is a must to play although the H-scenes are unfortunately unavoidable)
- Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo
- Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai ie. AnoHana
- Toradora
- Puella Magi Madoka Magica
- Oreimo / Oreimo.
- idolm@ster
- Death Note
- Code Geass
- Accel World
- Sword Art Online
- Shakugan no Shana
- Zero no Tsukaima
- Mondaiji-tachi ga Isekai kara Kuru Sou Desu yo?
- Fate/Zero

Shows from current season:
- Shingeki no Kyojin - Its been a while since a show has made me asked so many questions
- Hataraku Maou-sama - Very enjoyable, the expressions the characters make alongside the comedy is wonderful.
Also: Katsu-DOM.

My apologies for this extremely ~ long post, could have been longer, but I simply want to share my thoughts with everyone. As you can see, I can get carried away. Theres a lot more on my mind but these are some of the few that really really left an impression on me. Hope you all had a good read and I wish some of the mentioned shows are picked up by you guys. Give them a chance, first impressions (first episodes) are important but they can also be misleading at times.

 

[FireAza]

STUFF

Are you a fan of Imaishi Hiroyuki? He directed Dead Leaves and guest directed the "Brittle Bullet" episode of FLCL. You should check out his other works if you're not!

 

[Mr. Q]

[HEADING=2]Hellsing Ultimate[/HEADING]

Hellsing Ultimate is what I call the best cure for anyone who's tired of the Twilight era of vampires. I got into the original OVA and moved onto the manga that was released by Dark Horse. I enjoyed the manga better since the first OVA deviated from the source material but thats because said source material was still in production. Thank god they came back with Hellsing Ultimate that stuck with the completed manga in all its gory detail. I only got as far as 4 volumes in the anime due to its production company going out of business and had to track down subtitled versions online. Thank god Funimation is releasing the whole series in Blu-ray at long last. Now if only I had the cash to purchase them. ^^;

Dear God Yes! Hellsing Ultimate along with Reading JoJo's Bizarre Adventure were two animes that made me fall absolutely in love with vampires.

Both of those anime's takes on Vampires is nothing short of badass and actually frightening.

Dio Brando and Alucard for the damn win mah man.

Thanks.

 

[Mr. Q]

STUFF

Are you a fan of Imaishi Hiroyuki? He directed Dead Leaves and guest directed the "Brittle Bullet" episode of FLCL. You should check out his other works if you're not!

I did watch a good portion of Gurren Lagann but never finished it. I'll have to go back and finish it from beginning to end. Thanks for the recommendation.

 

[FireAza]

Gurren Lagann is good, but his style is dramatically toned down. Check out Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt for something in his style.

In other Imaishi Hiroyuki news, he's started his own animation studio recently. So far, they've made Inferno Cop for YouTube and Little Witch Academia.

 

[zzkill]

I don't know about anime, but as far as manga goes, Akumestsu is bloody awesome. It might be weird at times but it's awesome. It's about how an idiot takes to correcting the politicians, but how would you do it if you couldn't die and could be in any place at once? The ending was great, though maybe a bit rushed (like any manga with a good story these days).

 

[Plasmadamage]

[HEADING=2]Fairy Tail[/HEADING]

I don't know what I was expecting when I first started watching it, but I definitely wasn't expecting a heartfelt series which wasn't afraid to mock itself and/or play up to a lot of typical anime tropes.

I genuinely adore that show. <3

Seconded! Fairy Tail is easily my favourite ongoing anime. I just finished watching it all the way through, and I now find myself full of rage that I'll have to wait for the manga to run before more seasons are released.
But then again, Natsu vs Sting and Rogue? What a way to end a series!

Aye Sah!