recommended manga/anime series and OAVs

[shun_sakurai]

I was wondering which anime people liked the most. Wala lang. I know most of what I'll get here is about Dragon Ball/Dragon Ball Z/Dragon Ball GT and whatnot, but I was just curious.

Any titles you guys could recommend to a jaded anime otaku? I'm looking for new and not-so-popular stuff. Am personally sick of DBZ. Help naman. :)

[Les]

(By the way you might get more replies if this was in the Movies and TV forum)

Some suggestions

Record of Lodoss Wars -- Anime classic with a setting similar to traditional RPGs (knights, mages, etc.)

Vision of Escaflowne -- Didn't finish it but I liked it well enough

Neon Genesis Evangelion -- An anime which usually people either hate or love. The storyline is very complex with lots of religious influences; not your typical anime.

Ninja Scroll -- Great anime, just watch it.

Oh My Goddess -- Short, sweet romantic anime. I liked the character designs very much. {there are now two movies, the original five part OAV, and a newer but shorter one).

Serial Experiments Lain -- Weird but intriguing from tthe few episodes I've watched.

[sayuri]

I don't really know what and how many anime shows you have already watched, shun_sakurai, but still, I'm going to recommend to you some anime I think wonderful, assuming that you have not watched them yet. :)

Macross, I think, is one of the best ones. Macross 1 (Do You Remember Love?) is particularly superb. Macross 2, Macross Plus and Macross 7 are also commendable. Throughout this Macross saga is a recurring theme: singers using their talents to stop space wars. Macross is an intriguing mix of action and drama -- just try it! ;)

Hmm...what else? Ah, I also recommend Fatal Fury 1, 2, and Fatal Fury the Motion Picture.

I've also heard about a series made by the creators of Evangelion -- the series, in shorthand, is entitled Karekano. I haven't watched it yet, but I hear that it's good.

And of course, if you have cable, you can always tune in on AXN and watch out for great anime shows. New anime shows are usually aired every few months. :)

[pinhead]

tsong.. goto http://www.animetric.com

oks yung mga reviews and infos about anime doon..

[Le_Bread]

STEAM DETECTIVE on AXN. a few months ago it was aired weekdays, but now, it's shown on weekends, 2 episodes per week. it's a short series, 26 episodes i think. mix of comedy, action, drama... many critics say the anime is far better than the original manga series.

at siya nga pala, got my username from one of the villains i admire in that series. :)

[Mouse]

Ang magandang anime series:

Boys Be...-kaso 13 episodes lang
Vision of Escaflowne - super action and romance!
Rurounin Kenshin - grabe ang ganda!!!
Gatekeepers - di ko pa natatapos, pero maganda

Manga naman:
Utena

[rinoa]

rurouni kenshin - great story. i highly recommend the ova. memorable.

saber marionette j - actually this is more of a shoujo series. a guy (otaro) gets to wake up three marionettes.

other titles to catch:
- neon genesis evangelion
- escaflowne
- cowboy bebop
- trigun (don't watch those tagalized stuff. it sucks. better get the subtitled.)
- ranma 1/2 (want something funny?)
- slayers (another funny one)

[shun_sakurai]

Thanks for your suggestions guys. Actually I've seen lot of what you recommended to me, and I'm going to rate them as well:

1)Rurouni Kenshin: the best historical anime I've seen, but it's getting repetitive (seen it 3 times already) and it kind of flunked after the season with Shishio Makoto. Too bad. Haven't seen the full OAV though. Vol2 lang; it was pretty cool :). Shogo Amakusa fights like a ***.

2)Shin Seiki Evangelion: good also. Terrifying. I have yet to watch the full series, but I read some scripts for End of Eva and just reading them gave me the chills already. What more sa movie mismo...? :)

3)Tenku no Escaflowne: European-looking for an anime, don't you think? Refreshing change. Have yet to see the full series; putol-putol ako manood eh. :(

4)Boys Be...: I found it cute but bitin. Makoto is very funny. :D

5)Trigun: Interesting! Funny! But has a deep back-story to Vash the Stampede too. Nice. :D

6)the Macross series: I used to watch it for the cool characters, Veritechs and battles but I don't quite like the theme. Music saving the universe? Hmmm... :|

7)Ranma 1/2: sick of it na rin eh. Sorry. Ranma and Akane never end up together...that bites. :(

8)Steam Detective: I found the manga better. The anime's not bad though. They kind of censored it kasi eh, just a little bit. Especially the episode with Steam King. :|

Anyway, I'll try to look around for less-known series. I particularly welcomed the news of a new series from Project GAINAX (Eva) and the link to animetric.com. Thanks.

[shun_sakurai]

Les: talaga? Thanks. I kinda thought anime was a hobby kasi eh. :) Movies and TV...oo nga no? Stupid me :)

Pasensya na lang kung medyo naka-offend yung mga reviews ko. If you disagree with me, ayos lang. I'm not trying to force any anime on anyone naman eh. :)

By the way, I have AXN too. :) They're showing new stuff (FINALLY!) which looks nice. Habol ko rin sa anime yung story eh. Lodoss War might be interesting.

[Le_Bread]

I can't believe that a lot of people disliked rurouni kenshin/samurai x (under Movies and TV, there's a thread there about most [hated] anime series). many of them cite that after the Shishio episodes, everything was dull... naging ala-Street Fighters/King of Fighters kung saan yung mga sumunod na mga kalaban ni Kenshin may ibat-ibang 'powers' or fighting styles... well i think medyo na-disappoint lang sila at wala nang villains na kasing lakas o mas malakas kay Shishio sa 'TV filler episodes'. in fairness, the whole series was great... ang galing ng renderings/drawings, color schemes, animation/character movements, casting, atsaka ang galing ng soundtrack!

[NeonBlade]

The Rurouni Kenshin series is one of the best I've seen! Especially the OAV.

Others I recommend:

Akira (Art is not so good but the animation is great)
The Princess Mononoke (Just watch it)
Ninja Scrolls

[shun_sakurai]

Talaga? What else in particular do they hate about Rurouni Kenshin (aside from the worsening story)?

I can understand how they hated the series after the season with Shishio Makoto and his Juppon Gatana group. Wala nang buildup eh. Shogo Amakusa, especially. THey were onto a good plot point with that Christian-oppresion premise but they failed to build up the characters well.

Ang major draw nina Shishio, Soujiro, Anji etc. is because they were very developed characters. Alam natin kung bakit sila nagkaganoon. And they were very believable historical characters. Shogo isn't; he's thin as paper and he fights like a ***. Kumbaga vetsin lang siya doon.

I particularly hated the final season. Feng shui in RK? WEIRD. They wasted about 20 eps on the subject. Hindi nga lang pinakita yung very last (95th) episode (Kaoru and Kenshin get married).

And yeah, the soundtrack, the art, the swordplay---they all rock. I agree. That's why I think it's one of the best too. :) It's just a damn shame the TV story had to destroy itself.

[Le_Bread]

isa sa mga mahahabang anime tv series ang rurouni, 95 episodes... ang escaflowne 26 lang, gundam wing 49 episodes... ang escaflowne at gundam wing kasi, talagang may isang consistent na kwento lang... talagang may ending. ang rurouni kasi, parang pinilit nila na pahabain hanggang kumukita pa (sa Japan), kaya parang naging chop-chop yung mga episodes after nung kay Shishio.

[gokou]

Rurouni Kenshin i love this series with all my heart. It has the BEST soundtrack out of all the animes i've seen and the characters are amazing. They all have their own strong principles and the fights are classic. I really recommend the OAV because as good as the series is the OAV is better, more intense, more real and more tragic. I think that people hating the episodes after the Kyoto Arc is justified because if you read the manga, there is a villain who surpasses Shishio Makoto and that is Yukishiro Enishi, Kenshin's brother-in-law. It's a damn shame that the Jinchuu (Man's Revenge) Arc was never animated because it had the most amazing fights in the RK series. If you doubt Enishi as a good villain, then you should know that he successfully defeats Amakakeru Ryu No Hirameki... Who else has that distinction?

[Le_Bread]

ako naman paborito kong musical score, kanya ng escaflowne... ang galing! napaka-diverse ng music. ibat-iba ang themes sa 4 CD-soundtrack nito.

[URASHIMA]

if you want a good anime/manga series, try LOVE HINA. it's a comedy that is aimed at the high school/college crowd. it is a mega-hit in Japan last 2000. unlike the anime that you mentioned, that is about at least 5 years old, this one's brand new and still ongoing. if you want to know more about it, go to http://www.hinalove.com

[shun_sakurai]

URASHIMA: Yeah, I heard from animetric.com that they were continuing Love Hina in some form...OAV or manga I think. It's really that new? Wow, finally, a recent title. :) I read a little about it on the same site and I'm intrigued. You know where I could rent/buy VCDs? (hirap nang walang VHS eh) :(