I wouldn't touch Evangelion unless you're pretty off-you-rface.
Even then, I wouldn't go in with any conceptions of what it might be like. It is, first and foremost, a mind-, no matter how closely you watch it.

Ah, Sarvasti mentioned Last Exile, I forgot about that one. It's good, maybe consider trying that out Shamarah. (And Elryn, now that I think of it.)

Not FLCL though, for people who don't watch much anime. That thing doesn't make -any- sense.

That think makes little sense for those of us who 'do' watch a lot of anime.

And I might as comment on Evangelion... Cool opening song, cool first few episodes (where it focuses on comedy and fanservice), evil, spawn of satan, brain imploding plot. Though it does have some nice animation... untill the hole instrimentality project... *Shudder*. I wonder how many people went into seizures during those... *remembers back to episode 38 of pokemon*

Greetings. I'm someone who isn't exceptionally fond of anime, although my sister can't get enough of the stuff. So I tend to watch a lot of second-hand anime.

I'd like to third, (or fourth, I'm not quite keeping track,) Last Exile. Although I haven't seen it all the way through yet, it really is an enjoyable anime.

Dirty Pair, (the original, not flash or any of the other stuff,) is simply -wonderful-, as well.

If you have a bizarre sense of humor like I, I really enjoyed Excel Saga and Cromartie High School.

Annnnd... I thought Azumanga Daioh was just funny and adorable.

Many positions you mention won't dispell an impression anime is silly. Because most of it is, some more, some less.

What wasn't mentioned, and is not only aimed at kids (in heart ):

Movies:
Jin-roh
Patlabor 2
Patlabor 3
Spriggan
Armitage III (I think, I didn't like it though)

Series:
Monster
Shingetsutan Tsukihime

Monster tends to drag on in the middle a bit, it's good at the start though definitely.

That's the whole reason why you watch FLCL. Its an anime that you can watch to either a. make you stupid, sort of, or b. have a good laugh at because is silly.

I think if you aren't interested in silly anime, you might want to try Hellsing. It's pretty good. Also, Escaflowne is good, even just the movie if you don't/can't get a hold of the series. It has some silly things in it, but overall it's more of a serious movie.

Record of Lodoss War is great too, and I'd say Love Hina, but just be warned it's really silly and outrageous, but so funny.

Only anime I've gotten into is that Ghost in Shell: Whatever that they show on Adult Swim. It's, like, anime minus everything retarded. Though those little ****ing robots do annoy me.

Ahem.

EDIT: Evangelion is some wierd ****. Interesting, especially on an acid trip.

I highly recommend, as others have said, the movie Princess Mononoke (Mononoke Hime) as a first anime to watch. It is good, serious. quite pretty, and very popular. The English dub is even good, as they hired all well-known actors for it.


There are a few things about Anime that you have to realize though. "Anime" just refers to an art style used in some japanese TV shows and movies. It isn't a genre, but rather, there are many genres of anime, from comedy to high school drama to futuristic fantasy to educational.

The main difference in my eyes between Anime series and American television is that, unlike nearly all american TV shows, very few series are episodic. They run for a season or two, tell a complete story, and they're done. The stories are often interesting and sci-fi, but not necessarily.


You'll find that most anime series combine serious and silly elements. Full Metal Alchemist is an example of this, as there are plenty of silly moments, though the story is overall a very serious one. Mai HiME is a more extreme case of this, being quite silly for the first half, though the series is again a very serious serious one, and once the real plot starts (on episode 17 out of 26), the silly elements completely vanish. I do recommend these two series quite a bit, but largely because they suit my tastes. I do not know what yours are.

A friend of mine can't stand watching most anime because it has too many "mood swings" in his eyes, going from completely silly to completely serious in the blink of an eye.


What sort of genres are you looking for? Serious, comedy, sci-fi, fantasy, mecha, high school drama, action, etc? What sorts of shows are you looking for?


Oh, and I'd also like to also mention that you generally want to watch anime in the original japanese with English subtitles for a few reasons. First of all, unlike in America, voice acting is a respected profession in Japan, on par with other types of acting. Second, there are several series that were "rewritten for american audiences" in the dubbed translation, characters having their gender swapped to avoid homosexual relationships, serious villans turned into whiny children, etc.



EDIT: Oh, and as for getting ahold of anime easily, I can send you most good series, or give you links for just about any series/movie if you PM me about it.

I haaaaated Akira. You can dis on Evangelion's ending all you want.. but Akira's blew chunks compared to it.

The first Evangelion ending was messed up. But the second one, with all the Super-Evas and everything is pretty bad ass. Asuka vs the swarm of them is one of the most bitch'n fights i've ever seen in an Anime.

Oh, and 'X' is good. But the Series, not the movie. The movie sucks. Just like most series they try to cram into a movie. But the series itself I enjoyed.

And Vampire Hunter D was one of the most incredible pieces of animation for it time. That alone will carry it through the ages.

Yes. Hellsing is good. Too many unanswered questions in my box set, though. I do enjoy Alucard happily demolishing a god and another Nosferatu, though. I enjoyed it muchly.

I just started watching Full Metal Alchemist today, pretty awesome show, thanks to whomever suggested it.

*creeps in* I have been an anime fan for some 13 years or so but the weird thing is the older I get, the more appreciative I am of japanese animation as a medium for storytelling.

My favourtite, top of my head are, um, Gunbuster, Nadia The Secret of Blue Water, Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket, Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory, Ninku, Technolyze, Sol Bianca: The Legacy, Arjuna, Slam Dunk, 3x3 Eyes, Jin Roh, Kino's Journey, two ghibli movies in particular Princess Mononoke and Graveyard of Fireflies. And though it has been praised to death, Neon Genesis: Evangelion is really an excellent complex story though you would need to watch the movie for closure. And yes, yes, yes, I have to shout this,

"I LOVE DORAEMON!!!!!!"

For light humour, you can always go with Ranma 1/2. But the anime that got me bursting in laughter were Akazukin Cha Cha, Jubei Chan: Ninja Girl and all the Galaxy Angels series.

Recently, I bought the 74 episodes Monster series, and I have to give it praise. For the simple and grateful reason that it brought my family together. My brother, and sister and I, in our early 20s, and our mother in her 50s, have our different tastes, but when I put Monster on, slowly everyone began to gather and before you know it, we were hooked. (My mother most of all!) It became a family event whenever everyone was present. Monster - excellent artwork, excellent excellent voice acting by the japanese cast, excellent excellent excellent story and manner of storytelling. Totally excellent! *Does Bill and Ted's air guitar*

*sigh* I just love japanese anime.

I personally like Ghost in the Shell, haven't seen the movie or all of both series, but still good); Evangelion; Paranoia Agent, which is really, REALLY weird, especially towards the end, but good; Trigun; and I also like Samurai Champloo, which is kind of random...

You could always watch Raezon's favourite. That being Hamtaro, of course.

And, I must admit surprise to no one mentioning Bleach...it's as, or nearly as popular as Naruto is, in most circles. Fruits Basket is also great, but it's not generally aimed to be watched by males. It's fairly cutesy, with more pastel colours than most people are used to dealing with, but it was worth it.

Also, Howl's moving castle, the movie, aside from being made by Miyazaki, had the saving grace of being able to see Howl's butt. As wonderfully written as it might be, it just cannot provide as vivid a visual as that.

I don't know why I didn't remember Bleach, hmm. Probably because I haven't been watching it due to filler crap.

Paranoia Agent is all kinds of cool, though, but I don't think it's very newbie-friendly either. One thing you probably have to get used to in anime like that compared to Western TV is that it's a lot more heavily metaphorical, and Paranoia Agent is all over the place in that regard.

awesome, I used to watch Doraemon when I was 10 years old.. way back into the mid 90's

I would also like a more masculine touch

Watch Berserk, Bleach, Samurai Champloo, Ruronin Kenshin(samurai X). Big swordy fight gooeyness

If you are into the artsy mind-raping stuff like Neil Gaiman and Alan Moore(comics) or Stanley Kubrick and David Lynch(film), then watch Evangelion, Akira, Ghost in the Shell and Avalon, not anime but very animesqu

beware, IF you are really into mind raping stuff that makes you think and question reality, you WILL love it. If not, then try to watch Bleach

The anime is on my top 10 list. The manga though I have trouble picking up. As soon as they introduced the frigging nazi's was enough for me.

The anime is good (Integra is teh bitch!) but the manga just...much more funnier and interesting to me.
Though the German's are kind of hard to understand in the manga...and so is Anderson...

Oh and they've only got 7 mangas out right now, 8th should be coming out soon.