Looking for some insightful recommendations!

[AlexOrWonder]

Recently I watched some of the Ghibli movies which you could consider as my introduction to anime and I was wondering if any of you resourceful anime people would kindly act as my gateway to this form of art. I'm more into music, poetry or literature in general and those movies inspired me in a way that I didn't expect. I don't know anything about forums or even social media to be fair but I think there's something to be learned through anime and the Japanese culture in general. I feel like if I get into it on my own I'll quit in a heartbeat. There's some cheesy ones out there that would deflect my attention from the interesting ones, the valuable ones. So yeah, if you're looking for an opportunity to wave your knowledge at someone oblivious like me without getting judged, here's your chance. I usually bond better with girls for some reason but feel free to message me on discord WonderBoy#8984. Who knows. Lastly, I know that there's some apps out there to watch shows and movies online with other people, I'm open to that as well. 

[awesomedude20]

Ah, insightful anime? Gotchu mah dood, lovely thing to start with.

 

ef: a tale of memories. (No need to bother with the sequel, it's optional and not as good)

Shinsekai Yori

Tsuki ga Kirei

Hourou Musuko

Kyousou Giga (the 10 episode version. Skip episode 0 and every OVA.)

Clannad (and Clannad After Story)

[the_twig]

Planetes is a near-future sci-fi series in which a significant proportion of the human race lives in orbit. That causes a few problems though, because there is a lot of debris up there, and some of it moves incredibly fast and is really dangerous. Because of this, there are a group of people who’s jobs are to collect and dispose of this debris. The anime really goes deep into the physics of moving around in space, with the astronauts using tiny amounts of propellant, and lining it up with their centre of mass so they don’t just spin in circles, and not drawing stars when there is something bright or reflective near to the camera (which is why you can’t see stars in the lunar landing photos).

3-gatsu no Lion is about a guy who plays shogi (Japanese chess, you don’t need to know anything about it to enjoy the show), and has a serious case of depression due to unintentionally emotionally destroying his foster siblings. The anime follows him learning to rely on others, and in the second season, having others rely on him. The second season has the single best arc from anything we’ve ever seen.

Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 is based on a real simulation of an 8.0 earthquake with its epicentre in central Tokyo, and follows two children and a woman they meet walking through the destroyed city with hundreds of other survivors trying to get home. It covers everything from the rescue squads and their robots clearing rubble, to dealing with food and water shortages, to the difficulties of disease and sunstroke.

[Beocat]

Welcome to the world of Anime, @AlexOrWonder. Ghibli is a good start for any new fan partly because they pull from literature around the world and adapt it to their vision (Howl's Moving Castle for example). After Ghibli, there is a whole world waiting for you out there. Try out some different genres (never flat out refuse a genre till you have tried it) and find your favorite flavors.

 

Some I would recommend...

1. Log Horizon ~ This is an isekai (Trapped/Transported  in/to Another World), and a member of the tiny subgenre, Trapped in a Video Game. The mechanics of the game are well explained, the characters are enjoyable, and there is plenty of intrigue as well. The author is writing again so we may yet see a season 3 come our way.

2.  Crest of the Stars ~ as a Space Opera fan, this is one of my go-to recommendations. Crest of the Stars is like a prequel to Banner of the Stars and will give you a good understanding of the Abh and the political set. Banner is a masterpiece to me. I would recommend the entire series. 

3. The Matsumoto works (Harlock series) ~ if you watch Crest/Banner and still can't get enough, checking out Matsumoto is the logical conclusion. A word of warning, many of his series are very old, subbed only...if you cannot handle those restrictions, you might want to just pass them by (some are 40 years old).

4. Makoto Shinkai ~ Like Miyazaki, Shinkai makes movies and is widely celebrated. I would recommend starting off with Children Who Chase Lost Voices and if you fall in love, watch more of his stories.

5.  Another~ if checking out the horror scene, this is a good one. It builds the atmosphere and suspense in a way that ensnares you and horrifies you at the same time.

6.  Moribito ~ this anime has a lot to offer and is very unique. Check it out

7.  Cardcaptors ~ this is the Magical Girl genre and my favorite in the genre. The original series started around 20 years ago with the Clear Card series starting just recently. Start with the original and work your way up.

8. Attack on Titan ~ this is a Shounen series many obsess over. The story is good but the main character can be a bit...grating... 

9.  Ghost in the Shell ~ for sci-fi, this is a great series. A long series too...  I could say that most longtime anime fans have heard, if not watched at some point, Ghost in the Shell.

Add ons that crossed my mind late...

 

10.  Madoka Magica ~  in consideration of your love of art, check this Magical Girl anime out too.  Critically acclaimed, with interesting artwork...  You will be hardpressed to find someone who doesn't love this one.

11.  Your Lie in April  ~  since you also enjoy music, you will likely fall in love with this one.  I believe the Japanese public actually voted it as a top Ambassador anime one year too (meaning they thought that it was a good anime that would positively appeal to an international audience).

[leinwandname]

Many great anime have already been recommended, so my recommendations are maybe less suited for an introduction into anime, but I'll recommend them anyway - to add to Beocat's advice about trying out different genre, I'd say you should give weird und maybe unconventional stuff a chance.

 

Ao Bungaku Series - It takes several work from japanese literature (For example: No longer human, Kokoro, Run Meros, etc...) covers them in usually two episodes. Sometimes adding some stuff like changing the perspective or adding some personal character-conflicts into the story. What I did, was reading all the books and stories (I think you can look up all the stories on MAL, or on reddit) and then watched the anime. If you have a hard time seperating books from film/series, that might not be so smart and I'd recommend watching the anime first.

Bernard-jou Iwaku - A light hearted comedy anime about a girl who doesn't read books but pretends she does so she can act smart after reading summaries. The episodes are only 5 mins long, so it's pretty nice for in-between time. It has references to various authors and pieces of literature and puts them into a comedic environment - I actually found some nice books to read through this anime!

Monogatari Series - A very ... unique anime series. It has great visuals and interesting feeling to it. It often delves into Japanese mythology while the anime itself has a modern setting with interesting characters and good comedy. Its a great hard-to-describe anime.

Ina Isha - An anime adaption of Kafka's Ccountry Doctor. Like Kafka's book, it's weird and surreal, it's only a 21 mins and the art style adds a lot to the Kafkaesque feeling.

Psycho Pass - In a future japan there is a system to determin the likelyhood of someone commiting a crime and their mental state - the Psycho Pass. Inspector Akane Tsunemori, a young woman, starts her job as Enforcer to hunt down various criminals with the help of 'latent ciminals' - people who have a bad psycho pass but haven't commitet a crime, yet are sort of imprisoned. The morals of this system and the people living in this surveillance state are slowly explored throughout the anime.

Neo Genesis Evangelion - Humanity is threatened by the 'Angels', creatures from space seemingly determined to destroy humans. Shinji Ikari, a young boy, somehow ends up operating Evangelions's, giant robots, to fight the Angels - but things aren't really easy when you give a teenage boy such a responsibility, especially when it is mentally and physically draining. Add to this personal problems with his father, the head of the organisation creating the Evas, and other the mecha-pilots.

Serial Experiments Lain - The akward and lone Lain Iwakura suddenly receives emails from a dead classmate claiming to be still alive. This is her introduction into the Wired - the internet - where the technologically inept girls slowly turns into a techno-expert. But the Wired is a weird place with dubious people lurking everywhere and cryptic message around every corner. And soon the boundaries between reality and the Wired start to get blurry.

Berserk - The swordsman Guts lives in a dark world riddled with war and despair. Trying to survive as a sellsword he ends up in the mercenary groupd 'The Band of the White Hawk' lead by the charismatic and militarily competent Griffith who uses the on going hundred years war to follow his dream of creating one day his own country. Slowly the band gains recognition as one of the best mercenaries of the country putting the characters closer to the politics of the world - a dangerous place to be! There is the old 90s anime series (which is the best adaption of the anime, IMO), three movies covering the same story (also pretty good) and a modern adaption about what happens after the original anime (They're pretty bad...)

 

 

 

 

[Ohayotaku]

A Place Further than the Universe

Figure 17

Fantastic Children

The Ancient  Magus Bride OVA (was disappointed by the regular series)

Star Blazers 2199 & 2102

Movies: Mary & the Witch's Flower; Children who chase Lost Voices; Patema Inverted

[anime4eva]

If you liked the Ghibli movies then I believe it will do you well to watch the movies made by Shinkai and Hosuda.

Garden of Words, Your Name, 5cm per second, by Shinkai.

The Boy and the Beast, Summer Wars, Wolf Children, The Girl Who Lept Through Time by Hosuda.

[AlexOrWonder]

Oh wow! Thanks for the suggestions all!

Erased really look interesting @Muco ! It seems perfect for me. Thank you! I'm not sure about Hyouka but I may give it a try. I'm a bit picky about literature.

I watched the trailers of some of your recommendations @anime4eva and I think that I'll enjoy Shinkai's movies as well. Thank you!

I have to admit that Figure 17 looks very interesting and inspiring. Thank you @Ohiotaku

Yeah I don't think I would have ever checked your recommendations by myself but Serial Experiments lain really looks interesting. @leinwandname I'll check the rest if I ever become more open minded and less nostalgic. I'm really someone who focuses on one thing or one style. It's true for what I write and read, what I listen to (Music. Movies, Series) and everything really. Still I really appreciate the time you put into helping me. Thank you!

@Beocat I enjoy a lot of styles and genres but I never change my ways on my own. If someone else want to watch something with me I will but on my own there's no way I would. I'd rather watched the same movies over and over. Anyway, I'm trying to change this. That's partly why I'm here. Crest of the stars looks very interesting I'll probably watch it. I did watch Children Who Chase Lost Voices and it didn't do it for me. It just felt like a slightly worse Ghibli movies. I'll give his other movies a try tho. I really like how "Your lie in April" sounds as a title. I'll check it out as well. Thank you! I appreciate it!

Planetes looks really cool @the_twig. Not my style but I'm into astrophysics and space in general. I'll check it out! Thank you!

Thanks my man! @awesomedude20. They don't look like something I would watch on my own but Tsuki ga Kirei and Hourou Musuko look pretty damn good!

 

Thank you all again! If you want to watch or talk about some of these with a casual like me feel free to hit me up on discord. I like to go in depth about what I watch and get the opinions of others. I really wasn't expecting any responses. It was a joy to read your recommendations! Until next time!

 

 

 

[awesomedude20]

4 hours ago, AlexOrWonder said:

Thanks my man! @awesomedude20. They don't look like something I would watch on my own but Tsuki ga Kirei and Hourou Musuko look pretty damn good!

Any time mah dood

4 hours ago, AlexOrWonder said:

Thank you all again! If you want to watch or talk about some of these with a casual like me feel free to hit me up on discord. I like to go in depth about what I watch and get the opinions of others. I really wasn't expecting any responses. It was a joy to read your recommendations! Until next time!

I'll bite, what's your discord username? ;D I enjoy me some anime talks.

[Geano]

Always a pleasure to help a new comer to anime start their new found nerdy lifestyle. ^^ I've been into anime, and Japanese caluture for the better half of 20 years so your safe here with me. Much of us here at AF are very knowledgeable as well. We strive to help, and encourage.

As far as a list of series to get you started here are some good starter ones with a few wild cards so to speak.

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DragonBall Z

Yu Yu Hakusho

Swort Art Online

Darker then Black

Detective Conan

Plastic Memories

No Game No Life

DaCapo 1, 2, and 3

Pokemon, but stick to the first season, or in dub first 5 seasons or so.

Digimon

Akome go Kill

D-Gray Man

Inuyasha

Bleach

The various Naruto series

One Peirce

Fruits Basket

Twin Tails

Elfin Lied

Code Geass

Ghost in the Shell

FMA/FMA brotherhood.

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Now odiously this is a fairly long list, but I wanted to give you a broad list of series to pick over both new, and retro. If you have anymore questions on these, or others please let me know I'll be happy to help.