Anime Recommendations Thread

[Nocturnalux]

I guess I'm also kind of looking for a "You're so annoying but eventually I'm in love with you!" vibe (Inu/Kag from Inuyasha, Ranma/Akane from Ranma 1/2, Ahiru/Fakir from PTT, Tomoe/Nanami from Kamisama).
Spark any ideas? Again, I prefer dub, and don't want anything MA - or anything with too much sexual content.

By the way, EventualDay, thank you!

For that kind of character dynamics I'd recommend:
Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun
Cold hearted girl who focuses so much on studying that she has no friends ends up falling for very sweet, highly enthusiastic and loving guy. It starts with her hating his guts then develops into an actually believable love story.

Ao Haru Ride
Girl changes her image upon entering high school by acting out so as not to attract the attention of boys lest she loses her new girl posse. She is then reunited with her middle school crush who she hasn't seen in years and who has changed into an indifferent guy who basically ignores her more often than not. Some very interesting comments regarding social identity and school life in general make this even more interesting.

Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru.
This one is not as clean but it's one of my favorites so I'll plug it here. Highly cynical borderline hikkikomori boy (whose name is actually 'Hikigaya') offers his insight as a loner about his surroundings. Ends up joining a club that helps up other students, there he teams up with an equally socially reclusive and highly intelligent girl who has no issues telling him how much she despises his defeatist attitude and with a gentle and popular girl who also suffers from the social pressure of high school life.
The romance is toned down and may be more developed in the upcoming second season. What makes Yahari so great is its honesty, at times nakama power won't get you anywhere and the way it deconstructs clichés even as it mocks otaku culture with glee.

[mysngoeshere56]

So my mom's becoming intrigued by anime since I've watched so much of it. I've rewatched a few of my favorite ones with her, and she's liked all of them. Still, since I'm an anime veteran and she's a newcomer, I'm looking for stuff that'd be newcomer-friendly.

So far, the ones I've watched with her have been...

Revolutionary Girl Utena - I won't elaborate on this since it's been marked not to discuss on the boards. She and I both liked this one despite the aspects that made this a "DND", with the only things we didn't like what put it on the "DND" list in the first place.

Kanon (the 2006 remake) - She did like this one but found some aspects of it pretty sad. She did still like the sweet/funny aspects of it though. Yuuichi cracked her up.

D.N.Angel - She loved this one, which is great because it's one of the three that got me into anime in the first place (Tsubasa Chronicle and Furuba being the other too).

Right now, she's watching Fruits Basket (my recommendation, of course!) and she's loving it. She thinks it's sweet and hysterical. She's watched the first 6 episodes almost without stopping.

Overall, she's into a bit of everything. She loves crime dramas (CSI, Criminal Minds, NCIS, Pretty Little Liars), but also likes a few shows that don't fit this genre (Green Acres, Heartland, etc.). She absolutely loves Sci-Fi but she's very selective about her Sci-Fi fandoms. She becomes obsessed with the ones she loves though. The ones she likes are Star Wars, Doctor Who, the 2009 Star Trek movie, and Firefly (though she hated the ending) - those all listed in order of favorites.

[WorldsTraveler]

So my mom's becoming intrigued by anime since I've watched so much of it. I've rewatched a few of my favorite ones with her, and she's liked all of them. Still, since I'm an anime veteran and she's a newcomer, I'm looking for stuff that'd be newcomer-friendly.

My mom also watches anime with me, is a sci-fi fan, and is attracted to humor. Some comedy and intrigue series we’ve enjoyed are:

Steins;Gate (sci-fi, comedy, drama)

Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit (fantasy, action/adventure, drama)

Princess Tutu (fantasy, comedy, drama)

I’d also recommend Tsuritama (sci-fi, comedy) and Time of Eve (sci-fi, drama)

If your mom is willing to read subtitles, I highly recommend Hyouka (mystery, comedy).

Last but not least, there are a lot of great movies out there with wide appeal: The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Summer Wars, Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, etc.

Hope ya’ll enjoy! ^_^

[mysngoeshere56]

Wow! I'll have to check some of these out to see if she'd be interested. Impressed to say that aside from the movies, the only one of these I've seen is Princess Tutu (I believe I've heard of Steins;Gate before, but never watched - can't remember for certain but the title sounds very familiar). My mom's already got Princess Tutu on her radar just from hearing me talk about it, what with me being a dancer and all. Thanks for the recommendations!

[GeneD]

So my mom's becoming intrigued by anime since I've watched so much of it. I've rewatched a few of my favorite ones with her, and she's liked all of them. Still, since I'm an anime veteran and she's a newcomer, I'm looking for stuff that'd be newcomer-friendly.

These are not necessarily that newcomer-friendly, but they're based on the fact that you liked Utena.

Princess Tutu definitely.

Star Driver and Mawaru Penguindrum, although I have to add a content warning for those two, mostly fan-service in Star Driver but Penguindrum's content is more in line with the kind of stuff Utena has. You can check the review section of each title for details if you like. Penguindrum is by the same director as Utena.


I'm also definitely seconding Tsuritama, Time of Eve, Hyouka and the films mentioned, and adding Wolf Children and Patema Inverted.

[Thunderscream872]

So my mom's becoming intrigued by anime since I've watched so much of it. I've rewatched a few of my favorite ones with her, and she's liked all of them. Still, since I'm an anime veteran and she's a newcomer, I'm looking for stuff that'd be newcomer-friendly.

Overall, she's into a bit of everything. She loves crime dramas (CSI, Criminal Minds, NCIS, Pretty Little Liars), but also likes a few shows that don't fit this genre (Green Acres, Heartland, etc.). She absolutely loves Sci-Fi but she's very selective about her Sci-Fi fandoms. She becomes obsessed with the ones she loves though. The ones she likes are Star Wars, Doctor Who, the 2009 Star Trek movie, and Firefly (though she hated the ending) - those all listed in order of favorites.

I haven't seen any of the anime the two of you have watched together, so this is based on the non-anime that she likes.

If she is into crime dramas:
Psycho Pass--I highly recommend this for anyone who is a big fan of crime type shows.
Death Note--Again, highly recommend, though the supernatural does play a big part in the story, which isn't really common in the grenre as a whole.
Monster--I don't personally recommend it, but it does fall into that category. The show drags allot.
Darker Than Black--I think it sort of fits into that genre. It's very heavy on the supernatural elements, but it kinda has the whole mystery vibe to it. Whether its in the genre or not, I highly recommend it.

Sci-Fi:
Cowboy Bebop--Its way more of a Space Western than a Sci-Fi, but if she the likes Star Wars and Firefly, she might like it. Imo, it's a "must-see" for any anime fan.
Code Geass--it intense, enjoyable, and has lots of twists in the story.
Guilty Crown--same reasons as Code Geass
Valvrave the Liberator--This one is similar to Code Geass and Guilty Crown, but much heavier on the mecha aspect. It hasn't been dubbed, so I'd say let her watch CG or GC first, and if she really likes those, then present VTL.

Other Recommendations:
Steins;Gate
Fullmetal Alchemist
Blast of Tempest--if she doesn't mind reading subs
Attack on Titan
Angel Beats
Another
Fate/Zero
Sword Art Online--...maybe...the romances gets to be a little overbearing.

[mysngoeshere56]

The ones she likes are Star Wars, Doctor Who, the 2009 Star Trek movie, and Firefly (though she hated the ending) - those all listed in order of favorites.

Oops! Just now realized I forgot to specify the order in which the favorites were listed. It's most to least, so Star Wars is her all-time favorite. She does like all though.

Anyway, thanks for all the recommendations! Even I haven't seen a number of these (though I've at least *heard of* most more than once), so I'll have to add them to the radar. Thanks!

[EventualDay]

Hi there could anyone recommend me some bromance anime? I'm thinking things along the lines of Free! or Tsuritama.

I really like slice-of-life stuff and wouldn't mind if there was a cute girl in there for romance. But I'm not too picky Mostly I just really want to see boys being friends!

Usually I don't love sports anime, but I promise to try it if character development is actually a substantial part of the show. (I'm looking at you, Prince of Tennis. I don't know any of your characters' names because they weren't important! Haha.)

Thanks~

[GeneD]

@EventualDay

Haikyuu!! - I'm pretty new to sports shows but absolutely love this one. Memorable characters and character development is definitely part of the strengths of this show.

Daily Lives of High School Boys - Hilarious gag comedy/slice-of-life, don't expect a lot of character growth though.

Kids on the Slope - Drama/coming of age story with great music and a couple of love-triangles.

Jojo's Bizarre Adventures - This show is made from bromance and concentrated awesome. Pretty violent though, just gotta mention that.

Ping Pong The Animation - Also sports, but the bromance is really solid and the depth of the story is amazing. Don't let the animation style put you off.

Samurai Flamenco - Superhero show that starts slice-of-life-ish and then very quickly goes to completely ridiculously over-the-top levels of parody and plot-twists.

[skreyola]

@EventualDay
Big Windup - Baseball anime, but most of it is focused on the social interactions of the battery (catcher/pitcher).

[Nocturnalux]

@EventualDay, Kimi to Boku is the anime for you. It follows a group of childhood friends, all guys, in their everyday life. It's slice of life with plenty of comedy and some character development that is probably more intense in the second season that I've yet to see.

Tsuritama. Who knew fishing could be interesting? Very colorful anime about a lonely boy who finds his love for fishing and thus gains friends that include a fishing maniac and a super hyper alien-boy. As for bromance it is through the roof.

Meganebu, underrated comedy anime about a high school club dedicated to glasses, of all things. All boys, much silliness, absurd devotion to the amazing senpai club president and a very eccentric student council composed mostly of cliched foreigners seal the deal. A lot of glasses related trivia, too.

And if the weirdness of magical boys does not turn you off, try the currently airing Binan Koukou.

[EventualDay]

Thank you so much for the suggestions guys! (Sorry it took so long to thank you all, life got in the way of anime once again~)

The sports anime you all recommended look really nice, a reasonable number of episodes. I'll take your word for it about that character growth--I'm especially excited to start Haikyuu

[Lilac#18]

Hi. I'm looking for shojo anime with comedy and slice of life. Preferably high school life with a music theme. Please, no fanservice.

[LastLfan]

Okay, I'm currently good on series to watch, but I need one to watch with my brother, he's 5 so currently we've been watching tournament "Saturday morning" kind of shows, such as b-daman crossfire which we're currently watching, and pokemon. I'll watch bakugan with him but he has a hard time marathoning so I have to switch it up and have a variety of shows lined up. He's seen the ones I mentioned, he loves power rangers and all of avatar the last airbender(not anime but an idea of what he can handle) and I think yugioh is still a little too dark for him, any suggestions?

[EventualDay]

Lilac#18, I'm not sure what you've seen; is it safe to assume you're also looking for romance?
-There are a lot of otome game adaptations about music. For instance, "Uta no Prince-sama." Or "La Corda d'Oro."
-"Nodame Cantabile" is college-themed, so a little more mature but I don't remember any fan service.
-I haven't seen "Full Moon wo Sagashite" but I know it's a classic.
-Oh also that new one which just came out last season or so? "Your Lie in April," have you seen that one?


LastLFan--um, action-y anime for boys...
-I'm sure you've thought of this but is Dragon Ball too much? (I'm having trouble finding the line between Avatar and YuGiOh I think, sorry!) Kids are hard because they're all at such different places. I remember I was pretty sensitive haha
-"Heroman" I think is pretty standard boy-and-giant-robot fighting stuff.
-Okay what about old classics, like "Astro Boy" and "Speed Racer?" I feel like older shows are just naturally less violent, extreme, I don't know.
(Let me know if I'm too far off the mark in all these)

[LastLfan]

I think the things with Yu-Gi-Oh is part of that creepyness that seeps in in later seasons, but not sure. Haven't thought about dragon ball just because I haven't seen it. Heroman sounds cool though, and I bet he'd like astroboy

[Panda4christ:3]

@L - Oh, hey, If you brother hasn't seen digimon ever you might wanna give that a shot. As far as I can remember there's nothing worse than anything you'd see in pokemon.
They had it on Netflix a while back, too.

There's also like...Hamtaro? Which is for like super-young kids, so I'm not sure if he'd be into it. It's about a bunch of hamsters doing things, like going to the beach.

[Lilac#18]

Lilac#18, I'm not sure what you've seen; is it safe to assume you're also looking for romance?
-There are a lot of otome game adaptations about music. For instance, "Uta no Prince-sama." Or "La Corda d'Oro."
-"Nodame Cantabile" is college-themed, so a little more mature but I don't remember any fan service.
-I haven't seen "Full Moon wo Sagashite" but I know it's a classic.
-Oh also that new one which just came out last season or so? "Your Lie in April," have you seen that one?

Romance is fine. Thanks for the suggestions. I haven't seen Your Lie in April. Is it good?

[skreyola]

Romance is fine. Thanks for the suggestions. I haven't seen Your Lie in April. Is it good?

It's beautiful. As to good, I really haven't decided. I've finished watching it, and it was well executed, but the way the story played out disappointed me. It kept taking me places I didn't want to go, and it had more potential than it fulfilled.
That said, keep in mind that the ending of a show seems to be very important to me, given how often I say things like that about a show that I'd been enjoying until near the end, so YMMV.

[LastLfan]

It's so weird that I didn't think hamtaro considering I hum the song all the time. It is good and he may like it

[Zeke365]

okay I just finshed aria in animation, natural, and origination and about to finish Ikoku Meiro no Croisée (these two I really enjoyed) and I m looking for more anime with that most relaxing atmosphere where your short of drifted in that world

looking for similar anime to these.

[skreyola]

Those are great shows!
Unfortunately, they're the only ones I've seen that are so restful. It's the relaxed atmosphere that's the hard part. Some others that are sort of in the same vein:
Hanayamata - You might feel like you've floated into their world in this SoL, but the pace is not near so relaxed as either of those. If your spectrum of madcappery is aria-croisee, Hanayamata is just to the right of the Croisee episodes with Alice at the forefront.
Tari Tari - Kind of like Croisee, but more deeply brooding than the most poignant of its episodes.
Achi Kochi - Another SoL, very enjoyable, with lots of allusions to other shows. My main caveat is the profusion of nosebleeds.
Hanasaku Iroha - SoL, but more story driven than most. It's probably about half-way between Aria and Croissee on most scales. Content warning: There is some bath-house-style undetailed nudity, though the show is, on the whole, very clean.
Sora no Woto - SoL + Apocalyptic SciFi. Fun and mostly relaxed, but it has some tense or dark moments, on occasion. Content warning: Some alcohol use, on the level of Mediterranean culture. Plenty of scenes with people imbibing, but no drunks.
Usagi Drop - One of my absolute favorites. A more story-driven show than Croisee, but utterly delightful.
AnoHana - Ghost Fantasy. The title is actually a mile long, and it's really less SoL or paranormal than psychological introspection, but I loved it, and you might, too, if you don't mind the feels. It'll probably make you cry.
Mushi-Shi - Paranormal. This has the relaxed atmosphere, but it also has some potential for High-Octane Nightmare Fuel. Depending on your perceptibility to eerie thoughts, you might like this. I found it enjoyable and relaxing, when it wasn't creeping me out.

I hope something in this list has helped you.

[Zeke365]

Thanks I will be sure to check some of them out and if your looking for a relaxing anime as well I know of two, I was just hoping there was more that all

1.Tamayura
2.Non Non Biyori (I like this one)

[skreyola]

Thanks I will be sure to check some of them out and if your looking for a relaxing anime as well I know of two, I was just hoping there was more that all

1.Tamayura
2.Non Non Biyori (I like this one)

I've seen #2. It was pretty good.

[Ferrousfox]

My wife and I have started watching a lot of anime together. We've just been looking for some recommendations on good anime to watch. We don't really want anything with intentional fanservice or sexual content, though some exceptions have been made. Violence is no real deterrent; it does happen

So far we've watched and liked Noragami, My Little Monster, Magi, Attack on Titan, DBZ, Card Captor Sakura, and Sword Art Online (season one only, heard season two is full of fanservice and doesn't develop the original relationship between the two leads in the way we wanted, reportedly going more of a harem direction).

I've watched Spice and Wolf by myself,which I liked along with Claymore. She's watched Fruits Basket on her own, but it didn't sound really interesting to me, and she watched Kill la Kill and said it was too obscene, as much as she liked it.

I did watch, but didn't really get into, One Piece, Bleach and Naruto. Samurai Champloo seemed interesting, but also seemed a bit risque. Anyway, that seems like a good summation of where we are. Thanks!

[Ferrousfox]

My wife and I have started watching a lot of anime together. We've just been looking for some recommendations on good anime to watch. We don't really want anything with intentional fanservice or sexual content, though some exceptions have been made. Violence is no real deterrent; it does happen

So far we've watched and liked Noragami, My Little Monster, Magi, Attack on Titan, DBZ, Card Captor Sakura, and Sword Art Online (season one only, heard season two is full of fanservice and doesn't develop the original relationship between the two leads in the way we wanted, reportedly going more of a harem direction).

I've watched Spice and Wolf by myself,which I liked along with Claymore. She's watched Fruits Basket on her own, but it didn't sound really interesting to me, and she watched Kill la Kill and said it was too obscene, as much as she liked it.

I did watch, but didn't really get into, One Piece, Bleach and Naruto. Samurai Champloo seemed interesting, but also seemed a bit risque. Anyway, that seems like a good summation of where we are. Thanks!

[Jeikobu]

I have a question but it didn't really seem worth making a whole thread for this, so I ask it here. I would really like to see the movie Wolf Children, but what kind of puts me off is it seems like the woman in the movie has her children through an animal. Yeah, I know he's a "wolf man", but I asked on a different form once if he is a man who became wolf-like or a wolf who became man-like, and the person who replied to me said it's more the latter, which is bothersome to me because that would be bestiality.

[MangaRocks!]

@Jeikobu:

Well, technically, he's a werewolf.

Now, as a disclaimer, I grew up on fantasy and sci-fi, where humans and other 'species' (such as elves, aliens, shapeshifters, etc.; the list goes on and on) are couples all the time, so personally this couple didn't faze me in the least; however, I've also always considered werewolves to be more human than not anyway, so I suppose YMMV on this depending on how you view were-beings.

Hope that helps!

[EventualDay]

I feel it's a question you'll have trouble getting a straight answer of "yes, he's more [blank]" because of the nature of the story. The best help I can give is that the wolf and the human aspect are equal parts of his being. There's the sense that he's a person, both in animal and human form, but nevertheless I don't think I can say that the animal form is less present.

Perhaps, if you're still uncomfortable with the idea, I would simply hold off for a bit? It's also an issue of his children, you know, (and I'm not sure how much you've looked into this) SPOILER: Highlight text to read: choosing to which side of their nature to embrace and live as. So as far as the topic goes, it probably toes the line a little more closely than other werewolf-based fiction since it's more of a psychological rethinking of different kinds of love, personhood, and coming of age.

[mysngoeshere56]

I've been in the mood for a romcom lately. The anime I've seen that I consider "romcoms"...

1. Fruits Basket - I love the anime, but not as much as the manga. The only reason why: the anime didn't finish the story, and the manga's my favorite shojo of all time!
2. Ouran High School Host Club - Loved this too.
3. Toradora! - Also loved.
4. Chobits - I liked this one so much. Honestly I loved it enough to give it a 10 on MAL, but I did have to drop 1 point because of the annoying amount of fanservice.
5. Kaichou wa Maid-Sama! - I'm actually still watching this one, but I'm liking it so far.

I've seen and liked a few more "romance" ones, but I wouldn't necessarily call them romcoms as much as romantic dramas (like Kanon and Clannad - both of which I liked also). And also some comedies/dramas that aren't necessarily romantic, like Free! (which is about friendship and not romance, and which I also loved). In short, you can probably tell that I'm asking mainly for romcoms, but I like anything that's really relationship-driven. ^^

Anybody have recommendations?