Can you guys recommend me any "realistic" anime shows?

[Brawndo]

I used to watch some DBZ as a young kid, but for the most part I've never liked anime. However, a friend started getting me into Black Lagoon, which I think is pretty awesome so far. My issue with anime has never been the art style, but rather the typical conventions of the genre which I despise, like cute animal sidekicks, awkward love triangles, ridiculous villains, high school drama, etc. Obviously I'm painting with broad strokes, but I'm not willing to wade through rivers of muck to find what I'm looking for.

From the episodes I've seen so far, Black Lagoon has avoided most of what I don't like because it was set in the real world with an emphasis on military hardware and interesting and believable characters, instead of a bunch of children saving the world.

Are there similar shows like this? I did a brief Google search and the only ones I could find that kid of fit this mold were Golgo 13 and (maybe) Ghost in the Shell, although I'm not really sure I want to get into Ghost because that may be too much cyberpunk for my tastes.

 

[Xpwn3ntial]

Speed Grapher. It's really weird, but it avoids cliches and Duran Duran does the theme music.


A photographer gets a superpower from someone and weirdness ensues. It's pretty down to Earth for its genre, though. The supernatural stuff takes a backseat to the drama.

 

[Johnnyallstar]

I don't know if this is what you're looking for, but Samurai X was incredible, and it tried to keep things as down to earth as possible.

 

[godfist88]

Try the Movie Tokyo Godfathers, i found it pretty interesting.

 

[The Candyman]

Lucky☆ Is very realistic, and both the subbed and the dubbed are very good. It has very little action though, but very funny.

 

[Bocaj2000]

Cowboy Bebop is a realistic Sci-Fi with a nice charm to it. This has a high recommendation from me.

Samurai Champloo is a realistic samurai series with a brutal overtone and a sweat undertone. This also has a high recommendation from me.

A lot of people love Trigun. It is a post apocalyptic Western. Personally, I think that it seems that it cannot decide if wants to take itself seriously or not and cannot give it a personal recommendation. You might be able to get into it though.

Desertpunk does not have that problem. It is the funniest anime I have ever seen and the one of the most interesting magas I have read. Very high recommendation.

I would also call the Boondocks an anime. I suggest you at least check it out.

there is also Shin Chan. It is a silly and immature anime but is as "realistic" as you can get. It is in modern day and revolves around Shin and his family.

EDIT: I do NOT recommend Lucky Star. For someone getting into Japanese cartoons, this can turn you off to the genre. It is about four high school girls being high school girls. That is it.

 

[blind_dead_mcjones]

i'm really sounding a stuck record now but i recommend the first 2 Patlabor films, its about as realistic as a show with giant robots in can get and avoids alot of the established anime tropes

in short its about an alternate future where labors (6 meter high piloted robots) have become the vehicle of choice for construction purposes in tokyo, however this also results in arise of labor sabotage and labor crime (which in most cases is a building site worker getting drunk and going on a rampage) in response the tokyo government sets up special response divisions in the police that use purpose built labors to deal with these labor crimes, the main focus of the story is on special vehicle division 2, which is a rag tag bunch of misfits within the police force

think the a-team meets any police dective story show/film with realistoc behaving not so giant robots added

 

[Raven's Nest]

If you are into music check out Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad...

It's one of my absolute favourite animes. It's about a group of young musicians that form a band and attempt to make it big. It handles the highs, the lows, the break ups and the make ups of being in a band very accurately and honestly, it also avoids many of the annoying anime cliches.. About an equal mix of drama, romance, comedy and pure awesome. I've never heard a bad word against it and I'd recommend it to anyone. Original japanese with subs is my preference but the English dub is one of the best in the business...

 

[Sarge034]

Realistic..... anime..... Did you REALLY just try to use both of those words in the same sentence?

OT- I like Ghost in the Shell, because it is philosophy and fan service. Who knows, it might actually happed some day. And the fan service aint bad either.

 

[Sacman]

Speed Grapher. It's really weird, but it avoids cliches and Duran Duran does the theme music.


A photographer gets a superpower from someone and weirdness ensues. It's pretty down to Earth for its genre, though. The supernatural stuff takes a backseat to the drama.

I somewhat agree with this person... Speedgrapher is far from perfect but I enjoyed it a lot...

I would recommend Serial Experiments Lain [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1m3V7d9TLk], Boogiepop Phantom [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji4KQfIsw2w], and Ergo Proxy [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAXrRWLKzko]... if you don't mind making your brain work...

but if not check out Blue Sub No. 6 [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhEi_0VziRU] or Gundam The 08th MS Team [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EX3E0JL9hDo]...

They all link to their openings except Blue Sub No. 6... it doesn't have an opening...<.<

Edit: also if anyone suggest School Days they're wrong... dead wrong...<.<

 

[Samurai Goomba]

If you can tolerate a little bit of fantasy, Witch Hunter Robin has a pretty good story and feels a lot like a Japanese X-Files.

I second 08th MS Team and will add to that either the original Mobile Suit Gundam TV series or the three movies. They're landmark Science-Fiction achievements and should be watched by anyone who considers themselves a fan of the genre.

 

[StormShaun]

Clannad, its about real life but exept from the "Other World" parts....but its still good

 

[Mr Pantomime]

What are you talking about? Black Lagoon had awkward love triangle. Revy, Rock and Dutch. Watch it again, youll see.

Anyway, id recommend Mushi-Shi. Its about a guy called Ginko who is a Mushi Master (lit Bug Master, but deals with spirits called Mushi, which im pretty sure means bug. Now im confused).

Anyway, its set in a Japan-esque area in something like 300AD. Theres only villages, no countries or regions. Ginko travels around finding weird phenomena caused by Mushi and helping people fix them. Theres new people and locations in every episode. Ginko is the only reccuring Character apart from a certain doctor who appears from time to time.

 

[Hobonicus]

Monster could be the anime you're looking for. Extremely down to earth, with realistic and intelligent characters, drama, pacing. Hell, it's more grounded than most Hollywood action films.

If you don't like the highly stylized and often spastic feel of most animes and want something sophisticated, then try watching Monster. It's not some unheard of niche anime either, the animation and English dub are very high quality and many rank it among their favorites.

You may also recognize the main character's voice actor if you've played any videogames ever

 

[Switchblade1080]

K-On! It is realistic, well...it doesn't have all the hyped up powers anyway...

 

[Ultress]

Monster is pretty realistic,It's the story of a Doctor trying to kill the titular Monster after saving the him when he was younger,it's better than it sounds,it does have a small emphasis on guns but there not really a focal point till maybe the last arc and some episodes in between.

EDIT: Here's a somewhat better description:http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Anime/Monster

 

[Hiikuro]

Tokyo Magnitude 8.0. It was meant to be realistic, and it sure shows. It is also quite good.

 

[RollingThunder]

Arakawa Under the Bridge

So here a short summary: Kou Ichinomiya, fell into Arakawa river and rescued by a girl, his family taught him never indebted to someone, so he ask her what can he do to repaying her for saving his life, she tell him to love her, and that's when he start living under the bridge.

Here the opening song in full:

 

[Solon_Mega]

I used to watch some DBZ as a young kid, but for the most part I've never liked anime. However, a friend started getting me into Black Lagoon, which I think is pretty awesome so far. My issue with anime has never been the art style, but rather the typical conventions of the genre which I despise, like cute animal sidekicks, awkward love triangles, ridiculous villains, high school drama, etc. Obviously I'm painting with broad strokes, but I'm not willing to wade through rivers of muck to find what I'm looking for.

From the episodes I've seen so far, Black Lagoon has avoided most of what I don't like because it was set in the real world with an emphasis on military hardware and interesting and believable characters, instead of a bunch of children saving the world.

Are there similar shows like this? I did a brief Google search and the only ones I could find that kid of fit this mold were Golgo 13 and (maybe) Ghost in the Shell, although I'm not really sure I want to get into Ghost because that may be too much cyberpunk for my tastes.

Well, you could try this new thing... Its called: Live Action-Docmentary. Discovery channel is full of them. Now if you don't mind I'll be over there practicing my Kamahamehas

 

[Malk_Content]

Shigurui is one of the best and I guess "realistic" anime I have to date. It is basically the story and back story of two rival swordsman and the attention to detail is fantastic. There is never a moment of "they run at each other and then one falls over" each move is drawn and seen. Fantastic!