Recommendations: Anime to Avoid

[Gigano]

Umineko no Naku Koro ni should be avoided in anime form, as the adaption job from the visual novels is exceedingly poor, resulting in nothing but an incomprehensible mess. Very much unlike the excellent adaption of its predecessors series.

Second season of Gunslinger Girl as well. The first is decent enough (if nothing special), but the artwork suffers drastically in the second.

Also High School of the Dead. Would've been an excellent series if the title had been "High School of sleazy camera angles with some zombie stuff going on in the background", but as it is it just borders on false advertising.

Spice and wolf.

*strangled noises*

Limited appeal though.

 

[Thaius]

Then by all means put Clannad at the top of your list. It's funny, it's romantic, it's emotional. Arguably the best anime I've ever seen, and I'm not exactly an avid romance watcher. It's just that good.

It IS at the top of my list. My "watch this after you're not busy watching every other series you've got already" list.

The "this is the giant list of series you have but have not watched" list is comprised of 29 series [http://dl.dropbox.com/u/17074544/animetowatch.txt] at the moment. A couple still ongoing. How I shall find this time is a mystery to me. Sleepless nights and multitasking days, I suppose.

Most of those I haven't seen, some I have and they're fantastic (namely Darker than Black), but if I may recommend bumping Clannad above Rin and Angel Beats. Angel Beats flounders through, but is interesting enough to keep going and has an amazing ending (and an awesome OP song). Rin is... okay. Full of fanservice, that's for sure.

I know the feeling of being swamped; I have tons I still need to watch. I just started watching Les Miserables Shoujo Cosette, which is proving to be an interesting adaptation of one of the greatest stories ever written. Thing is, everything has more of an emotional impact for me after watching Clannad. I never cried before that anime; now I cry in freaking everything. The show broke me emotionally, and it makes emotional shows that much better. It's kind of awesome, actually.

 

[Sticky Squid]

K-On!

That's a joke right? Right..? Calling K-On bad is just absurd. Even if you don't

It's generic moe crap, what's to like about it?

 

[Eri]

K-On!

That's a joke right? Right..? Calling K-On bad is just absurd. Even if you don't

It's generic moe crap, what's to like about it?

I think the better question is, what's not to like? The entire show is just made out of adorable. I can't think of another show that is more adorable/moe than this one. It's just a fun show.

 

[omegawyrm]

K-On!

That's a joke right? Right..? Calling K-On bad is just absurd. Even if you don't

It's generic moe crap, what's to like about it?

Well it has been one of the most popular anime out there for about 3 years now, so it has to have something going for it.

 

[Jazoni89]

Rosario + Vampire

It's pure fanservice through, and through, and it makes me wonder how i got through three episodes of that tripe.

It could be because the artstyle is visually pleasing at least, but it you want a anime with good story, and good characters, avoid it like the plague.

I hear from a lot of people that the Manga is ten times better.

 

[Hristo Tzonkov]

Geez this seen to be more a hate thread but anyway I only suggest avoid the anime Neon Genesis Evangelion (it's the only one I can tink of). I don't see what the big deal is as far I can make out, the main character is whinny, there some kind of undertone that I can only make out some explosion make cross shape and it's very very depressing (I don't like depressing anime).

You are so obviously trolling...Right?

No. Without offending anyone I just simply don't like it.

I won't try to explain everything about the anime that made it good because there's a lot of things I'll just make a point of the things you mentioned.

The main character is 14 with abandonment issues.He gets a role enforced on him which he both loves and hates.The angel theme is a bit for you to explore if you watch the entire thing seeing as I might spoil something.It's not depressing,it's emotional.The ending is pretty bright actually and really amazing in it's concept.I recommend you watch the movies that are currently coming out.The story is a lot more condensed while keeping a good pace and will have the proper ending that was in the old EVA movies.You really shouldn't dismiss one of the best animes ever like that.

 

[dave1004]

To avoid:
K-ON. Overhyped, truthfully. It's about some loli's singing...About it.
Death Note. Cheesy, very boring.
Naruto. What can I say? Yuck.
11 Eyes. A disappointing harem. Actually, just avoid -all- harems.
The original Hellsing. Don't get my wrong, the Hellsing OVA's are amazing, but the old ones...Yuck!
Hyakka Ry Ran Samauri Girls. Holy jeez, do we REALLY need more hentai action animes?
Queen's Blade. (See Hyakka Ry Ran Samauri Girls)
Please Twins/Please Teacher. UGH!
.Hack//sign. Good storyline, HORRIBLE animation. After episode 30, it becomes unwatchable.
Ikkitousen. (See Hyakka Ry Ran Samauri Girls)
Gunslinger Girls. Seriously? No.
97.43265% of all animation up to date.

To watch:

Spice & Wolf. A very mellow romance anime, with a deep story. Setting is in a medieval, 1400'ish era. Highly recommended. Yes, yes, call me a fanboy, but whatever.

Elfen Lied. If you can handle a bit of blood and nudity (NOTHING. LIKE. GANTZ.), then this show is amazing. But, a bit sad. Your call.

 

[omegawyrm]

Ladies vs. butlers
Kanokon

If you want fan service, those are 2 really good shows. That's pretty much their point. As for Kodomo, I'm not sure I'd go around admitting you watched that >.>

Well, yeah, but fanservice shows aren't exactly on my list of things to recommend. Besides, they have this thing for ridiculously huge breasts that's just annoying.

And Kodomo no jikan... I'd say that's pretty vanilla, as far as lolicon goes (not that I have watched any risquer lolicon).
I have a harder time admitting I watch Kiss x sis.

At least Kodomo no Jikan treats the little girls' behavior as SERIOUSLY ABNORMAL, and the main character spends a lot of time trying to get Rin's guardian to realize that what he's doing is very wrong. At least I think the anime does, I'm having a hard time remembering what was in the manga but not in the anime.

I'd say that Puni Puni Poemy is far worse when it comes to uncomfortable pedophilia. It treats pedophilia like a big joke that isn't to be taken seriously. That being said, I thought it was really funny.

 

[Eri]

To avoid:
K-ON. Overhyped, truthfully. It's about some loli's singing...About it.
Death Note. Cheesy, very boring.
Naruto. What can I say? Yuck.
11 Eyes. A disappointing harem. Actually, just avoid -all- harems.
The original Hellsing. Don't get my wrong, the Hellsing OVA's are amazing, but the old ones...Yuck!
Hyakka Ry Ran Samauri Girls. Holy jeez, do we REALLY need more hentai action animes?
Queen's Blade. (See Hyakka Ry Ran Samauri Girls)
Please Twins/Please Teacher. UGH!
.Hack//sign. Good storyline, HORRIBLE animation. After episode 30, it becomes unwatchable.
Ikkitousen. (See Hyakka Ry Ran Samauri Girls)
Gunslinger Girls. Seriously? No.
97.43265% of all animation up to date.

To watch:

Spice & Wolf. A very mellow romance anime, with a deep story. Setting is in a medieval, 1400'ish era. Highly recommended. Yes, yes, call me a fanboy, but whatever.

Elfen Lied. If you can handle a bit of blood and nudity (NOTHING. LIKE. GANTZ.), then this show is amazing. But, a bit sad. Your call.

This entire post is trollbait. How you can like Spice and Wolf but dislike .Hack, Death Note, K-on etc.. I'm sorry to say but your tastes just aren't very good. Even professional reviewers noted S&W's mediocrity.

 

[Nihilism_Is_Bliss]

On Gantz: The ending sucked cos it was a filler ending, and the series was slow because they were only working with a few chapters of manga and spread it really thinly. Gantz is awesome!!! Read the manga!!!

What to avoid...I could say a fair few, but I'll just say a couple of disappointing ones that aren't just OBVIOUSLY bad:
Toaru Majutsu no Index,
Asura Cryin',
Umineko no naku koro ni,
Blassreiter,
Suzuka
& Please Twins.

Please Twins might sound like it's obviously bad, but I actually quite like Please Teacher so I tried it anyway. Wouldn't recommend.

Oh, and on the topic of people bashing those that hate on K-On, ignore them.
K-On is FUCKING BORING.
Spice and Wolf over K-On ANY day of the week.

 

[omegawyrm]

This entire post is trollbait. How you can like Spice and Wolf but dislike .Hack, Death Note, K-on etc.. I'm sorry to say but your tastes just aren't very good. Even professional reviewers noted S&W's mediocrity.

Barring everything else mentioned, Spice and Wolf is at least decent. The show doesn't have its big fan community for nothing. The genuineness of the two primary characters relationship is a very positive quality. And just the fact that it's a medieval fantasy story that doesn't involve any dragons or evil sorcerors, essentially a slice of life, is novel enough to sell it many people.

That being said, seeing it recommended at the same time as Elfen Lied makes me cry a little.

 

[CptRumGuy]

Only one that comes to mind for me is Fruits Basket. Maybe I just have bad taste since I haven't seen it mentioned once yet, but I just found the main character extremely annoying. Perhaps it's because I watched the dub, but it just seems like the show was trying way too hard with both cuteness and humor.

 

[Nihilism_Is_Bliss]

Only one that comes to mind for me is Fruits Basket. Maybe I just have bad taste since I haven't seen it mentioned once yet, but I just found the main character extremely annoying. Perhaps it's because I watched the dub, but it just seems like the show was trying way too hard with both cuteness and humor.

Yeah...Fruits Basket manga was pretty good, but the anime was a joke.

 

[Aeriath]

IAnd NHK did have a shitty ending, but the rest was good.

Seems like a good time to remind you that one of the few things the OP said they'd like to avoid was a terrible ending, so not recommending NHK was a perfectly valid answer for this thread.

I've noticed a lot of you seem to be complaining about a show having something it is supposed to. It's like watching opera and complaining they keep singing for some reason.

The OP didn't specify much about what they didn't like, so if someone wouldn't recommend an anime based on the fact that it's a steaming pile of fan service then it's still a valid answer until the OP provides an opinion on fanservice.

I think the better question is, what's not to like?

Not trying to come off as targetting you here, but you've basically told everyone else that their opinions are wrong because you disagree. At least most people have given reasons as to why they dislike the animes they wouldn't recommend, so that OP can look through the posts and filter the recommendations based on what they do or don't like. What animes would YOU not recommend? The only one here in my recollection that you wouldn't have recommended was One Piece.


Also, to be constructive, I wouldn't really recommend the original Hellsing series or Fruits Basket. Hellsing is alright but it's far outstripped by the Ultimate OVA's, and Fruits Basket was too moe for me. I only really watched it so that I wouldn't hurt my friends feelings, because she was incredibly obsessed with it at the time.

(FYI, I prefer my fanservice to be bundled into a rocket and fired into the Sun so that it doesn't touch my anime).

 

[omegawyrm]

Oh, one just occurred to me that should really be avoided. Lunar Legend Tsukihime. It's not all that bad on its own, but if you ever find yourself thinking about watching it, go to the extra effort of getting a translated version of the VN. You'll thank yourself.

 

[Rakkana]

Wow! SO many haters. Naruto, Bleach and One piece are the top 3 for a reason. They are not over hyped. With Bleach you could argue that the anime has too many fillers. So go read the manga.

With Naruto you could argue that the animation is quite lacking, again no excuse. Go read the manga.

How dare anyone complain about One piece. It has a great anime and manga and unless your watching dub you have your only complaint is there are too many episodes? WTF? It's not like it gets worse as it goes on either, quite contrary it gets better AND it's good from the very beginning.

Truly avoidable animes are the ones that play on the brother sister fetish and/or go through the number of anime cliches. I've watched a lot of anime and unless it falls into one of these categories you have no excuse to not give the anime a try. (I made the mistake of putting off Hunter x Hunter for a whole year because I was too impatient to give something different a chance. It's now my favoirte anime and I have seen it over 5 times.)

 

[Kajt]

Umineko no Naku Koro ni

Umineko No Naku Koro Ni

I agree with these two. Avoid Umineko no Naku Koro ni, it's not worth it. Even if you loved Higurashi no Naku Koro ni.

Elfen Lied

Avoid this one, too. The fanservice just ruins it. >.>