Favourite Anime/Manga

[SGT_Noobnuts]

I'm kind of a late guy when it comes to the anime scene but I already found some definite stand out favourites

When it comes to anime my number #1 favourite anime and all else that follows are

#1 Fullmetal Alchemist (2003): A seriously good sci-fi story that touches on some themes and ideas that I personally found more interesting than the original manga and Brotherhood, however

#2 Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (2009): By no means a bad show in my book. Excellent story, characters, setting and a really good sense of humour.

#3 Cowboy Bebop (1998): What else can I say about this show? Everybody else has. If you haven't watched this yet do so immediately!

#4 Mushi-Shi (2005): A series of stories of spirit man Ginko as he travels around Edo-Period Japan solving mysteries and problems associated with beings called Mushi. Absolutely gorgeous artwork and animation, haunting and beautiful stories as well as being extremely well written and imaginative scenarios that are present in each episode.

#5 Berserk (1997): Follows the story of a wandering swordsman's quest for meaning, a lieutenants desire for acceptance and a generals thirst for glory. Hideous animation and terrible ending aside, this show has absolutely amazingly well-crafted story and memorable characters. I ascribe the highest honour of "The Game of Thrones" of manga and anime to this show...At least during the Golden Age of the series at least.

 

[DarkhoIlow]

PS: Currently watching Neon Genesis Evangelion and I'm almost at the point where the Director Cut episodes come in (episode 21). Should I watch the normal ones then watch DC to see the differences or should I just jump in DC ones.

Watch the originals first is my recommendation. The other way around would leave you feeling very unsatisfied.

I meant if the differences are rather substantial what's the point in watching the non Director's cut ones at all?

Well when they say they are different, they are WILDLY different. Apparently the original two episodes were more true to what the creator wanted, but they are very uh... strange. They were very controversial and polarizing to the fans, so they made End of Evangelion (which honestly is even more insane, but in a completely different way).

I recommend watching both because they are well worth it and it's really interesting to compare them. You can decide which you prefer as your "canon" ending as well (personally I prefer End of Eva).

Ah I see. I thought end of Eva was like an extra ova or something and not the same ending but changed.

If you say they are very different then I will watch the normal > then DC ones then end of Eva. Although I have a feeling that it will confuse the hell out of me if I do so and not know which ending is supposedly the "true" one.

 

[Drummodino]

Ah I see. I thought end of Eva was like an extra ova or something and not the same ending but changed.

If you say they are very different then I will watch the normal > then DC ones then end of Eva. Although I have a feeling that it will confuse the hell out of me if I do so and not know which ending is supposedly the "true" one.

Oh wait, wait, wait, wait. Sorry I misinterpreted what you were saying, I thought you were only talking about episodes 25 and 26 (which is what End of Eva replaces). I've only watched the Director's Cut versions of 21-24, I didn't realise that they'd been changed. So they probably aren't very different, although I can't say for sure. You certainly don't need to watch both sets of those four episodes, my apologies.

Watch the original 25 and 26, then watch End of Eva was what I was trying to say.

 

[Scars Unseen]

Anime:

Bakemonogatari(and subsequent -monogatari series) - weird show with a lot of word play based humor. Some humor is highly inappropriate, particularly in Nisemonogatari

Puella Magi Madoka Magica - My friend described it as "Magical Girl Vietnam." He got to episode 9 and refuses to finish the show.

Kill la Kill - This show is shounen action insanity mode. Everything is over the top. The action, the humor, the music, the character introduction text... Everything.

Mirai Nikki - Yuno is the face of yandere. Don't fuck with her.

Zeta Gundam - Decided to stick with just one Gundam show on the list, but it could have easily been just about any other UC Era show.

Aldnoah.Zero(currently in progress) - Didn't think I'd be throwing a completely new show on here, but this one is turning out to be especially good for its genre. It's mech action from the writer of Madoka Magica(and Saya no Uta for those that read visual novels) with music from the same guy who did Kill la Kill's amazing soundtrack. It's turning out to be a brains vs brawn show, with the protagonist outthinking his opposition instead of overpowering them. This is pretty unusual for the genre, so I thought it deserved a mention.

Serial Experiments Lain - kind of a near cyberpunk sci-fi mindfuck.

Nichijou - Weird slice of life humor that gets pretty surreal at times. Best watched in small doses.

Steins;Gate - the visual novel is better, but the anime is awesome in its own right. Time travel, college kids, moe, corporate conspiracies... just watch the damn show already.

I'll try to remember to come back and put some manga in here later...

 

[Michael Tabbut]

Favorite Anime
Cowboy Bebop
Black Lagoon
Hellsing Ultimate
Rebuild of Evangelion
Summer Wars
Persona 4 the Animation
Nyarko-san

Manga
Rosario+Vampire
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Junji Ito's Uzumaki
Hellsing
Monster Musume

 

[Queen Michael]

Best manga:
From Eroica with Love
Lone Wolf & Cub
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
Samurai Executioner
Black Jack

Best anime:
Carcaptor Sakura
Serial Experiment Lain
Kino's Journey
Metropolis
Spirited Away

 

[Fox12]

1. Berserk
2. Berserk
3. Berserk
4. Princess mononoke
5. Berserk

Seriously, berserk destroys anything I've seen come out western literature in years. In fact I'll reverse what someone above said and give GoT the highest honer of being kinda sorta similar to Berserk. Just without all the complexity, subtlety, symbolism, and complex themes that make Berserk great.

I will give a special shout out to mohiro kitoh, who I feel is criminally underated in the West (and maybe in the east). Shadow star narutaru and to a lesser extent bakurano ours were unexpected gut punches, and left me more invested in the characters than anything I'd read in years.

 

[Twintix]

I don't watch that much anime, actually, but I do read a lot of manga. After my #1 pick, they don't really come in any particular order. And most of them are quite recent releases.

1. Detective Conan. I've been reading this one since I was 10. Yes, the main plot moves slower than a cold snail in super glue. Yes, technically, it's "Filler: The Manga". But I don't care about that, I wholeheartedly enjoy this one. The murder cases are interesting, the characters are well-written and the art looks nice. I also like that this isn't one of those manga series with a tsundere that punches everyone over the slightest provocation. As in, there is a tsundere, but she doesn't punch her love interest as soon as he opens his mouth, a trend that plagues so many manga series.

2. Ah! My Goddess. You know what I hate? Mary Sues. So why don't I hate Belldandy, who is pretty much the definition of a Purity Sue? I can't really say for certain. She has so many Sueish qualitites that I should despise her, but for whatever reason, it works. It might be a testimony to that this manga, while a bit clichéd, is also quite enjoyable to read. It's a complicated case; It contains elements I don't like, so I shouldn't enjoy it as much as I do, but like in the Belldandy case, it somehow works.

3. Sweet Magic Syndrome. Light-hearted slice-of-life manga with a main character who loves to bake and to make people happy with her treats. Again, some cliché elements here, but for whatever reason, it's so enjoyable. Perhaps because I can relate to loving baking and seeing people happy about the pastries you make.

4. Sgt. Frog. It's funny. I find myself giggling over the shenanigans these frog-aliens keep causing. However, if you find tons of pop culture references to be a lazy brand of humour, this might not be for you.

5. Touhou manga. Yes, there are manga series based on the bullet hell games. Right now, there're two ongoing manga series: Forbidden Scrollery and Wild And Horned Hermit. They're well-drawn, funny and further explore the world of Touhou, one of them from the perspective of a human girl living in the Human Village. (That felt redundant to type...)

6. Mahou Shoujo Site. You thought Madoka was bad? While Madoka had a bright start and an hopeful end, this one doesn't pull any punches from the get-go. We see the main character get brutally beaten by her brother, viciously bullied by her classmates and getting her cat killed by one of these classmates, get in contact with the titular site, almost get raped because her bullies grew tired of just bullying her, accidentally teleporting the rapist and one of the bullies (It...makes sense in context) onto some traintracks and killing them all in the span of the first fucking chapter! And it seems like things are only going to get worse from there...
Yeah, it might seem a little bit too grimdark, I agree about that: "You expected some cute magic girls? Some hope? A sad girl getting happy? Well, fuck you, here's the main character getting strangled by her brother!" But it doesn't pretend to be anything else. I guess I like it because it's honest: It's a tragic deconstruction of a genre. I still hope that things are going to get better for the main character, though...

I have more, but these are at the top of my head right now.

 

[Smolderin]

Considering my favorites change on a month to month basis, I will just cover the newest stuff.

As of right now, my favorite anime's are...

Akame Ga Kill - A surprisingly dark fantasy shounen about a country boy looking to make some money for his village, but ends up working for a infamous assassination group called Night Raid who's sole goal is to help a rebellion army usurp the throne. Great characters, great action....and whats more to anyone who has read the manga, it is a shounen show unafraid of killing off the good guys.

Zankyou no Terror - An interesting show I picked up as a recommendation from GRArkada (youtube personality) about 2 young men committing acts of terrorism in Japan. Very moody, beautifully animated, and gorgeous sound design (done by Yoko Kanno...ya, Ghost in the Shell Yoko Kanno). I haven't heard much of this show around the internet so I am guessing this is flying under alot of people's radar which is a shame because it is turning out to be an excellent anime.

And my favorite mangas are...

Tokyo Ghoul

Tokyo Ghoul in particular would have made it to my favorite anime list, but from watching it...it looks like the producers are rushing the ever loving crap out of it, and with it being heavily censored, severely downplays the overall quality. It is still an enjoyable show to be sure, but as of right now, the manga is vastly superior to the anime adaption. I just hope it gets better over time.

 

[yamy]

1. Berserk
2. Berserk
3. Berserk
4. Princess mononoke
5. Berserk

Seriously, berserk destroys anything I've seen come out western literature in years. In fact I'll reverse what someone above said and give GoT the highest honer of being kinda sorta similar to Berserk. Just without all the complexity, subtlety, symbolism, and complex themes that make Berserk great.

I will give a special shout out to mohiro kitoh, who I feel is criminally underated in the West (and maybe in the east). Shadow star narutaru and to a lesser extent bakurano ours were unexpected gut punches, and left me more invested in the characters than anything I'd read in years.

Another interesting thing is that it even managed to influence video games- specifically Dark Souls. The entire character of Artorias was supposedly inspired by Guts.

I find that my list of favourite anime changes every year. At the moment I am completely in love with Mawaru Penguindrum [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penguindrum].

What does it mean to be a family? What is fate? Does fate exist? These are some of the things that Mawaru Penguindrum tires to talk about. And to me it's done a great job of doing so within the modern Japanese context.

As an original animation, it's special to me in that it is trying to tell a story in a way that can only be told as an anime. Abstract scenes and objects become recurring themes in the anime with a strong focus on the use of symbolism to convey meaning. Characters are introduced slowly with the ties between all of them unrevealed until late into the show. Big revelations later on in the story can be found in hints as early as the first episode, all linking back to the central theme: Fate.

All in all, it's simply fantastic.

Also the art and the music are great, in my opinion at least:

Spoiler: Exmaple

 

[Uriel_Hayabusa]

In no particular order.

Anime:
- Haibane Renmei
- Sword of the Stranger
- Rurouni Kenshin: Tsuiokuhen

Manga:
- Battle Angel Alita (+ Last Order)
- REAL
- Solanin

 

[Elvis Starburst]

I'm just gonna pull my 3x3 I did when this kind of post was made early on

Spoiler

There ya go! The only manga I've read/owned was Death Note, so, I don't really have much to add to that list

 

[Elvis Starburst]

Mahou Shoujo Site. You thought Madoka was bad?

I did. so, I checked out the manga online, but just the first chapter. And I don't wanna read any more of it ever again. Holy shit, that was just dark x.x

 

[Mahorfeus]

Bleach - It seems to have generally fallen out of favor with many, but it remains one of my personal favorites. Tite Kubo has a sort of poetic flair that has always drawn me to the series. Everything, from the artwork down to the danged chapter titles, all just feel downright stylish. The plot moves a little slowly, as with many fighting manga series, but the action and characters keep me interested. Kubo's been gradually tying things together and answering old questions (which does make me wonder exactly what has been retconned), and I'm ready to see this one through to its end.

Claymore - This one is probably my all-time favorite. I remember having a hard time distinguishing the characters from one another, but as I learned their individual personalities and quirks, it became considerably easier. Granted, I still have a little trouble with the less prominent ones... At any rate, the artwork is amazing and the plot is pretty good, in my opinion. This one is winding down - I'll be sad to see it go.

I still keep up with One Piece and Naruto, but ugh... I really don't want to think too hard about the latter. Even for me, Kishimoto has really dropped the ball.

 

[Tsun Tzu]

Good lists so far!

My favorites, in no particular order of importance would be...

Spice and Wolf
Toradora!
Arachnid
Black Lagoon
Sakura Pet No Kanojo
Hataraku Maou-Sama!
Kaichou wa Maidsama
Madoka Magicka
Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt
Bleach
Oreimo
Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita
annnnnd Lucky Star!

As for the more risque stuff...

Monster Musume
Boku Girl
To-Love-Ru (All of them!)
KissxSis
Highschool of the Dead
Kore de Oshigoto!

Allllll of the ecchi.

 

[Artina89]

I don't watch as much anime or read as much manga as I used to, but here are my favourites:

Manga:
Battle Royale

Death Note

Pokemon adventures

Black Jack

Black butler

FLCL

Trigun

Hellsing

Anime:
Another

Persona 4: The animation

Trigun and Trigun: Badlands rumble

Trinity blood

FLCL

Blackjack

Devil may cry

Black butler

Hellsing and Hellsing: ultimate

Soul eater

 

[William Fleming]

Anime:

Bakuman - Personal reasons and helps me get by when I am struggling something

Naruto - What got me into anime again after watching as a kid and was also the first thing I watched subbed so it holds a special place in my heart no matter how drawn it can get among other criticisms

Wolf's Rain - Journey of multiple cliche'd characters (escpecially when you consider they are wolves) but still enjoyable

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann - Just over the top mecha action, what's not to love?

Wolf Children - Amazing family slice of life by Mamoru Hasoda

Gundam Unicorn - Gundam series that had tense plot build up and was not overly drawn out with filler which some Gundam series suffer from.

Durarara!! - Awesome series basically about gang wars where all the characters are connected to each other in some way.

Manga:

Naruto - Same reason as above

Sankarea - A zombie romance series that's different while still staying true to most zombie conventions.

Highschool of the Dead - Zombie apocalypse series with loads of ecchi, and that's it really.

Franken Fran - A particularly gory comedy (yes, it is meant to be a comedy series) that toys with the "be careful of what you wish for" theme.

Blue Exorcist - Fun, stereotypical shounen battle series which is my personal favourite type of series.

Crossbone Gundam - What Gundam F91 should have been basically, also, Gundam pirates.

Mirai Nikki - People trying to kill each other to become God who use diaries to tell them various things about the future which makes it a fun read.

 

[the_retro_gamer]

Well I have not watched too many anime but might as well list my favorites.

#1- Spice and Wolf. This anime has recently knocked my previous #1 down to #2. This show for some reason just rubbed me the right way. Was it the witty banter between Kraft Lawrence and Holo? Was it the world that they explored together and facing it's troubles? The economics? Or the romance between Lawrence and Holo? I do not know but I do know I was treated a very special anime that sits close to my heart. Now for false hopes for a 3rd season (but now to the novel!).

#2- Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood. Oh FMA, knocked out of the #1 spot. *tears*. FMA was able to do everything right in my eye. Good World building. Check. Good characters. Check. Good action. Check. It's quite rare to find a show in this quality but I'm glad that it was my first introduction into anime.

#3- Gankutsuou: The Count of Monty Cristo. Much like Spice and Wolf. This anime was able to stir so many different emotions in me. This anime was also able to be a good interpretation of the original story with it's own sci-fi twist. It's sound tract is really good and was worthy to end up on my music playist.

#4- Steins Gate. The whole story made me keep guess what would happen next to the Future Gadget team. Tons of humor and bitter sweet moments made this anime a really pleasure to watch.

#5- Cowboy Bebop. Spike Spiegel. Nuff said.

Well that was my list of anime. As for manga I really haven't read much (or had the money to read) but I would like to read more. *looks over to book shelf. Sees only 3 volumes of Hellsing.* *Sob*