CAA: Christian Anime Alliance

My sister and I have always had a great time watching anime together, but we haven't found something we like for over a year. So I thought I'd ask you guys to give me some recommendations based on our tastes. Her favorite is, by far, the Rurouni Kenshin TV series. Mine is either Cowboy Bebop or Gundam: 08th MS Team. We also liked s-CRY-ed a lot, and Trigun was pretty good as well. We've tried Outlaw Star, Tenchi, Blue Sub. #6, and Samurai X, but none of those grabbed us. I think she's looking for fun, good action, drama, humor, etc - just like Kenshin had. I'm looking for amazing acting, writing, style and story like Bebop had. Is there another anime that unites the two?

BTW - I'm looking at Witch Hunter Robin for myself. What's the opinion on that? Compare it to other animes I might have seen.

Since you liked 08th MS Team, maybe try some other Gundam series? Goodness knows there's plenty of them to choose from. XD I've seen Gundam Wing and G Gundam; they're both pretty good once you get through the setup. G Gundam's a lot of fun if you like stuff that's really stylized and action-y, and the writing is also good.

If you like drama, action, and humor, maybe you could try Hajime no Ippo, aka Fighting Spirit. It grabs you from the very first episode-- well, it got my attention, at least. There's some great action/fighting, and it's very dramatic.

Witch Hunter Robin sounds like a good series for you. It's more serious than what you are citing, so I don't think it's as much a match for her. Also along those lines, if you find you like WHR, you might want to check into Noir, Madlax, Kurau, and Licensed by Royalty.

Now for things that might work for both. I think 'Fun' seems to be a pretty important factor, so I'll try to keep it high on the list.

Slayers, which has three TV series plus a number of movies an OVAs.
A fantasy classic (It's over ten years old now) that is just downright fun. Should work for most Rurouni Kenshin fans.

Slightly newer is Orphen, with two series. If you find you like Slayers, check this one out, too.

If you would like to have your Giant Robots with a serving of fun, there are three good choices. I fully recommend two classics, "Dai-Guard", which is a single season, and Patlabor, which has an original OAV series, a TV series that is an alternate retelling of the same material, and a second OAV series.

I give a qualified recommendation to the newer "Go-Dannar", which has way too much fan-service (and the creators seriously need to take a refresher course in female anatomy) but is otherwise good stuff. Note that it took a while for me to 'get' this one, since I didn't realize at first that the over-the-top drama and mid-action screaming was intentional and humorous.

I have a long list of others I could add, but I would like to have a better idea of what genres you might find appealing and more importantly, what you find appealing about the ones you have seen. I gave you a couple Sci-Fi and a couple fantasy items, but Anime has an incredibly wide range of choices.

Hehe - I've seen pretty much all the Gundams at one time or another, and to be honest I'm tiring of giant mecha. That said, I've heard Rahxephon is really good. True?

EDIT: I'll check Slayers out, Eric. Like I said, I'm not as into giant robots as I once was, and would be more interested in seeing some genres other than your typical action/sci-fi. (Gundam, Outlaw Star, etc.) We both enjoyed the charming characters (the kids, Kaoru, etc.) in Rurouni Kenshin, and the action was good for me but not so bloody as to turn her off. It struck a good balance, and again the big selling point was the characters. They were very well defined and a lot of fun to watch in their interactions with each other.

Bebop was perfect in nearly every way for both of us, thanks to Ed, Ein, and the spectacularly smooth animation and gunfights. Another thing was the stupendous dub job - she's not hardcore and dislikes watching subtitled stuff. I should point out that I'm 18 and she's 21, so more intelligent, less slapstick humor would be very welcome.

So, let me summarize:
- No stereotypical mecha/sci-fi.
- More mature humor.
- Real, deep, fun characters.
- Happiness. I don't think she's ever seen a dark/extremely serious anime she liked. This is probably the number one thing. And to be honest, I just realized that I'd rather make her happy than get a show that I would go ape over. There's plenty of anime I watch on my own. It really needs to be something she would like.

Thanks for the detailed help!

Rahxephon very much depends on the tastes of the viewer. Overall I found it likeable, but weird, and it seemed to not know what audience it was supposed to appeal to. It is very slow moving in comparison to other 'Giant Robot' series, and it is nowhere as focussed on the robots, but it has a lot of very nice artwork, and good character designs, so it appeals to artistic types.

In the future kindly use this thread:
http://www.christiananime.net/showthread.php?t=40642

UC - okay if this thread continues or do you it to move?

Just thought of another one - Case Closed (Detective Conan)?

I thought that if this thread's discussion was mostly done there's no need to close it. But if it will go on for a while, yes, relocate.

Godly Paladin wrote:Bebop was perfect in nearly every way for both of us, thanks to Ed, Ein, and the spectacularly smooth animation and gunfights. Another thing was the stupendous dub job - she's not hardcore and dislikes watching subtitled stuff. I should point out that I'm 18 and she's 21, so more intelligent, less slapstick humor would be very welcome.

So, let me summarize:
- No stereotypical mecha/sci-fi.
- More mature humor.
- Real, deep, fun characters.
- Happiness. I don't think she's ever seen a dark/extremely serious anime she liked. This is probably the number one thing. And to be honest, I just realized that I'd rather make her happy than get a show that I would go ape over. There's plenty of anime I watch on my own. It really needs to be something she would like.

Thanks for the detailed help!

Definately Samurai Champloo. It is done by Watanabi. The same man who did Bebop. You can definatley see his style/story elements in both.

Sheol777 wrote:Definately Samurai Champloo. It is done by Watanabi. The same man who did Bebop. You can definatley see his style/story elements in both.

Champloo is seconded. it has the humor, the action, the likable characters, the awesome animation, and some sweet tunes too.
i would like to also suggest The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. it's a fun series that will definitely get you thinking.

Godly Paladin wrote:So, let me summarize:
- No stereotypical mecha/sci-fi.
- More mature humor.
- Real, deep, fun characters.
- Happiness. I don't think she's ever seen a dark/extremely serious anime she liked. This is probably the number one thing. And to be honest, I just realized that I'd rather make her happy than get a show that I would go ape over. There's plenty of anime I watch on my own. It really needs to be something she would like.

Thanks for the detailed help!

I'm locating my answer to this in the anime recommendations thread, as UC has requested. See you there!

Are you guys up for download fansubs? If so then there is one I would recommend that over all the other titles mentioned. (That I've seen) Just a warning that it can get rather violent at times.

And that would be Baccano!. It's got everything you're looking for. Wide cast of characters, plentiful action, good plot, and a whole pulp-fiction-esque feeling. If you're interested, give me a PM. =D

Mr. SmartyPants wrote:And that would be Baccano!. It's got everything you're looking for. Wide cast of characters, plentiful action, good plot, and a whole pulp-fiction-esque feeling. If you're interested, give me a PM. =D

While all of this is true, I would NOT watch Baccano! with your little sister unless both of you are very okay with blood and violence. Lots of it. It's fairly (I use that term loosely) tame for the first 8 episodes, but episode 9, the most recent...well, it's more than your average "samurai" or gun violence, let's just say. Trains are involved. Moving ones. And tracks. And...well. It's rather bloody, to say the very least. Perhaps the best thing would be for you to watch it, and then deem whether or not you'd be okay with your sister watching. It's very enjoyable, though, and I would recommend it if you're both fine with the violent content.

EDIT.

Misread that as "Little sister". XDD Recommendations for Baccano! still stand. XDD

I lol'd. And PMd MSP.

Radical Dreamer wrote:Misread that as "Little sister". XDD Recommendations for Baccano! still stand. XDD

This is what happens when you forcefeed tons of Bioshock videos to someone.

[font="Trebuchet MS"][SIZE="4"][color="RoyalBlue"]Hmmm...after reading in depth what anime you've already scene, I think I can recommend two good ones:

"GetBackers" and "His and Her Circumstances".

Granted, the latter of the two is not really action-packed, but the characters are really deep and multi-layered.[/color][/SIZE][/font]

EricTheFred wrote:I'm locating my answer to this in the anime recommendations thread, as UC has requested. See you there!

Thank you. Since this discussion is still going strong, its movement to the anime thread has now been enforced.