Good anime

[BrianC]

I decided to make a thread about good anime to counter the bad anime thread. This is a thread to talk about shows that are good to recommend to others.

Here are a couple:

Lupin III: Castle of Cagliostro (subtitled):

This is a very light hearted and enjoyable anime. The plot is very entertaining and well written, the characters are fun, and there is no nudity and very little cursing (in subtitles). Lupin III is a thief, but he doesn't end up stealing what he sets out to steal (this is a Lupin III trademark and not a spolier). Fujiko is more respectfully drawn in this anime too. This is a Miyazaki film and it has alot of heart. If you love Miyazaki films, I highly recommend checking it out. However, I do warn against the dub on the Manga Ent. version. The dub has a lot of gratitous added cursing, so I recommend sticking to subtitles (you can't beat the original Lupin III voice either).

Princess Nine:

A very well done baseball anime. It's about a girls baseball team that tries to prove itself against the boys teams. It is very character oriented and the characters are very memorable with some good messages about family and teamwork. It does have some very brief back nudity, some bad language in spots (it's not frequent, however), and a coach that drinks quite a bit, but It's fairly clean and very entertaining.

[Satsuki]

A good anime is HENTAI: LEGEND OF THE NOT SO VIRGIN MARY. I like the part where mary is NOT A VIRGIN lol

[Rashiir]

You're so cool. Way to point out what is good.

Hmmm...Baseball. Japan. Well, Ichiro is rad, so I'll have to check out Princess Nine.

[MillyFan]

I would recommend Big O. It's a mech anime and somewhat psychological drama, 2 13 episode seasons combine to make the series. It does deal with philosophical issues, and it does have the occasional religious reference (i.e. the mech's entry code in the first season, the Christmas episode and Roger being a weak agnostic), but it's nowhere near Eva or even Trigun for religious content so far.

The language is mild and in most episodes very infrequent, there was one fanservice scene in the eighth episode (I think), but overall this is a very good anime and one I'd definitely recommend to anyone interested in anime.

[Michael]

Ronin Warriors
Robotech
Moble Suit Gundam

Is X any good?

[Spencer]

Is X any good?

I'm guessing you guys are talkin about the same thing...

http://reviews.christiananime.net/review.shtml?id=8

[BrianC]

I'm guessing you guys are talkin about the same thing...

http://reviews.christiananime.net/review.shtml?id=8

Well, I enjoyed what I have seen of X TV and the X manga, but it depends on how well you handle the violence and the occultic content. The TV series is MUCH less violent than the anime and manga from what I have seen and I do plan to watch more. There is a Christian character with an "interesting" profession that dresses badly, but she is not shown in a bad light. There is stuff like magic cards with Japanese writing on them and stuff like that, but it's no worse than in some other anime. If this stuff leads you to sin, don't watch, but God had no problem with me watching X. However, it is not a title I can outright recommend becuase of the content and the manga is EXTREMELY violent.

However, I do recommend staying far away from the X movie. It tries to condense the plot from many volumes of the manga into a 90 minute movie and fails miserably. Unlike the TV series and manga, character development is nil, characters die off ASAP, and the plot is thin.

Here's another anime I recommend seeing:

My Neighbor Totoro: As of right now it's dubbed only in the US on both video and DVD. However, it's an excellent dub and a cute and touching movie. Not alot of action, but it's full of the Miyazaki charm and many sweet moments. It's about two girls with a sick mother that stumble apon a mysterious creature that helps them with their problems. It's an excellent family film. There is a family bath scene, but it's not there to be offensive. It's brief and no details are shown.

Note to bobtheduck or whoever mentioned somthing about an offensive trailer on the Totoro DVD/VHS: From what I read about the DVD and seen on the VHS, the only trailer is a trailer for other Fox Family videos and there is nothing offensive about it, except for the fact that is really annoying. In other words, there is NO offensive AD Police or whatever you saw trailer on the My Neighbor Totoro DVD/VHS, or any anime traliers for that matter (at least for the US version).

[MillyFan]

Good anime?

Trigun! The action is good, the humor is 80000% superb (unless you have no sense of humor or your sense of humor is far too sophisticated), and it has an extremely positive message. If you don't laugh during the first four episodes, something is wrong with you.

I definitely agree on that one! (it's my absolute favorite anime, I've watched it like 3 times LOL, I write fanfic, all my avatars and banners are usually from it, and so on. . .obsessed fangirl LOL), love the humor, love the message, love almost everything (though I definitely think it would be even better than it was if it were redone with the better animation of, say, Cowboy Bebop) however I didn't mention it for the "religious" themes.

The anime itself isn't too bad on that angle (i.e. as long as you understand that Wolfwood isn't representative of orthodox, Biblical Christianity and that Vash isn't a Christ figure-two very common fan misconceptions-you should be fine) however the manga may be taking a much more Eva-like path in the rumored edition after Maximum (rumored to be called "Almighty") because of pressure on the author from his fanbase, and that brings me to my second warning.

Beware of some fanworks. While I've seen a lot of good, no, great fanworks based on this series, I've also seen fans writing Messianic allegories that are INCREDIBLY offensive to me as both a Christian and a fan of the anime. For example, there was one fanfic (forgot the name of it because I hit my back button really fast) set to Isaiah chapter 53. . .I don't think I need to say more. (where's my vomit smiley when I need one?)

[andjosephsaid]

Good anime?
Fruits Basket: I've only seen the first episode, so I am hardly qualified to recommend this. But the admins seem to like it. WARNING: The main character has humongous eyes.

Not to worry. Her eyes grow smaller later.

Oh yeah. FB is one of my favorites, too. And I'm a guy.

[Fry-cook-boy]

Nadesico is an awesome anime! It is the funniest anime I've seen and the plot will suck you in. There are a few innuendo's and some cussing, but nothing that wouldn't be in a light PG-13 movie. It also has a lot of good messages about caring, looking at both sides of an issue, self-sacrifice, and love.

[StarMasayume]

I haven't seen it listed yet, so I'll take the pleasure of recommending one anime. ^_^ I have the whole series of Hana Yori Dango, and have loved it to death. It's like a drama epic romance and has a lot of themes of elitism and between the classes. Makino is from a poor family who gets a scholarship into the elite Etiko school.

Makino is a very admirable (and sometime humorous ^_^) character. The "F4" at the school are the four cutest, richest guys who pretty much have run over the school. Doumyoji is the leader, famous for his horrible short-temper. Makino just wants to get through her two years there unnoticed at first, but one day when her friend accidently falls down the stairs (and quite comically complains about hurting her bottom while her foot banged into none other than Doumyoji's face...), she stands up for her friend against Doumyouji. She then faces the school's notorious hazing, and the story will keep reeling you in until the very last episode.

It goes very indepth in characters, and shows a lot of strength in all of them. You see Makino's struggle, pride, and determination, and also see the effects she has on the arragont and bad-tempered Doumyoji who has some growing up to do in the series.

There's few curse words throughout the whole series. There is brief nudity in an episoide very near the end, and though references to sex and such circumstances in a few other episoides (especially from the two play boys of the F4 who are more hilarious then obscene.. ^_^). The sereis is full of twisting plots, drama, romance, problem after problem, and some moments that will laugh your head off and others that will make you want to cry.

So overall, I think its a great anime, and I'm so happy to announce that the first DVD for it in English is out!! It is translated as "Boys Over Flowers" though the japanese name is on it in smaller letters. There's two other christian friends I have who like anime that watched the series with me and they fell in love with it as much as I did from start to end.

--star

[RobertMuldooJP]

It is quite difficult to find a good anime. For me they have to follow the "guidlines": has to be clean, good character development, and not too much humor.

I've scanned through some "popular" series, but only two have fit my guidelines.

Anime I've tried to watch:
Outlaw Star
Scrapped Princess
Kenshin
DBZ
Hellsing
Azumanga Daioh
Fist of the Northstar
Irresponsible Captain Tylor
Chobitz (yea I know , one episode was enough.

I'm not bashing those anime's, its just that I really didnt care for them that much.

Good anime's include: Trigun and Samurai Deeper Kyo

[MillyFan]

Ummm, doesn't Samurai Deeper Kyo have a LOT of fanservice? I was sure someone told me that it did, even to the extent of parodying its own overdependence on fanservice.

[RobertMuldooJP]

...fanservice? I would say...very very minute instances, about the same as Trigun.

That’s one of the reasons I liked the series so much is that it was quite clean.

[MillyFan]

Oh, then maybe I'm confusing it with the manga. All I heard was that *something* called Samurai Deeper Kyo had a lot of fanservice, and if I'm wrong, I'm happy that I am. -^.^-

[Kokhiri Sojourn]

Spirited Away. I know it's far beyond most other anime in popularity, but there is superb character development in the story, breathtaking artwork, and some great themes on which it touches as well. The materialism and greed displayed by the workers in the bath house was countered by Chihiro's love for others, despite how they've treated her, how they appear, or how they seem. Noface is a great character for someone who changes when around different people, who wants nothing more than friends and tries to acquire them by giving them what they want or what he can offer. Chihiro shows him that all should be loved, not just those who are your friends and are nice to you. I did find it hard to believe that she could display such a love to others with no foundation other than child-like innocence, but then again, the world wouldn't understand, would they? I may be stretching a bit, but this is some of what I got out of the movie. Some of the mystical things did bother me ([spoiler="especially concerning Haku"]Haku s revelation that he was the Kohaku River[/spoiler]), but it pales in comparison to the good in the movie. That's it for this post.

[Ashley]

mod edit: that last bit was a bit of a spoiler. Added button, if you don't mind.

[Tycho]

Good Anime. I guess its hit and miss depending on what you like but here's my list.

To confirm some of the other's suggestions, Trigun is very good. Good characters and good humor. My suggestions include the following.

Anything Tenchi sans Tenchi in Tokyo. Tenchi has a crazy humor and occasional deep storylines. Tenchi is Tokyo is just stupid.

Gundam Wing. One of the serious gundam series, it deals with several young gundam pilots and their choices in how they act during the war. The movie "Endless Waltz" is very good as well.

Ending on humor, Love Hina. Both the anime and the manga are very good. Its a slapstick comedy with a nice love story. The manga is a bit more fanservicey than the anime so be warned.

[Ashley]

I would argue the Tenchi and Love Hina....they're not on the same level as say My Neighbor Totoro and Angelic Layer. Both[tenchi/hina that is] are more sexually oriented, and contain a lot of innuendos to them. They're on my "maturer audiences" list...sure they're not the dirtiest things out there, but they're not clean and innocent either.

[richardh01]

I would argue the Tenchi and Love Hina....they're not on the same level as say My Neighbor Totoro and Angelic Layer.

I just watched the Angeli cLayer preview DVD in New Type. It looks pretty good. Does the story hold up as it goes on?

[shamanking343]

yeah I got that too the angelic layer is kinda strange but I think that spirted away is one of the best movies a litte childish yes but the art is great. Also priencess monoke was a good movie.

[AzuFan]

*also recomends Angelic Layer*

I just saw the first episode of Stellvia of the Universe and I recommend that too... Think Nadesco-ish... Only available in fansubs though...

[Turbocat]

Funniest: Tenchi Muyo, Ranma 1/2, Slayers, Child's Toy. Same warning about Ranma 1/2 as others have said about Tenchi. Slayers has sorcery in it, but if you can get past that, it's really funny. Child's Toy, also known as Kodomo no Omocha, is without a doubt the funniest anime I've ever seen. It's not commercially available in the U.S. and I've only watched the first four episodes though. The worst thing about it is that the main character, an elementary student, says a few mild curse words and calls her agent a 'pimp' ??

Cutest: Saint Tail, Detective Conan, Wedding Peach, Ah My Goddess, Maison Ikkoku. I think there's a review on Saint Tail in the review section. (I just checked-nope, but I could have sworn there was one at one time?) All of these animes are very sweet and I can't think of anything very objectionable in them, but as always do research before watching.

Just plain Good: Jubei-Chan, Record of Lodoss War, Fushigi Yugi. Jubei-Chan (I know I reviewed this one- where did it go?) is one of the best animes I've ever seen. ROLW is very serious but it is a very excellent fantasy anime. (BTW Ashley have you gotten a chance to watch it yet?) I really enjoyed Fushigi Yugi too, but warning: unfortunately there is a cross-dressing homosexual character in it, but it is not the main story. Oh yeah, anything by Hayao Miyazaki I've really been impressed with as well.

[Seraph]

Okay, here are my own inputs, ones that I haven't seen anyone else talk about:

Fooley Cooley (aka FLCL or Furi Kuri)
Pros: One of the best animes I have seen in a while, FLCL is short (6 episodes), but sweet. The plot moves SUPER fast, and includes a lot of anime- and japan-references, but is still really great. It might seem really weird and hard to follow at first, but once you've seen the whole thing (preferably two times or more), you understand most of it. The characters are really memorable (especially Haruko!), and it mixes moments of hilarious comedy and weirdness with remarkable seriousness and depth. Magnificent!

Cons: Hard to follow, and a few scenes of inappropriate content (fortunately it doesn't show anything, but references are made...).



Battle Athletes Victory!
Pros: This is a really great anime about athletes (all girls, as seems to be common in many animes) in their quest to become the best, and particularly Akari Kanzaki (main character)'s quest to find herself and live up to her mother's legacy. This is a hilarious comedy anime which is remarkably clean, and has some great characters and voices (english dub, anyways). I don't usually like Animes that pertain to sports, but this one was great anyways.

Cons: Mild swearing in a few scenes, and one main character is a lesbian (but no inappropriate scenes). There is some weird religious stuff in certain episodes, but nothing really offensive. Oh yeah, Battle Athletes V is very different from Battle Athletes (without the V). Battle Athletes without the V is signifigantly worse in terms of content, storyline, and voices. I don't reccomend that one at all.

[BrianC]

I just got through watching Crest of the Stars. IMO, it's an excellent anime in subtitles. It's clean for the most part, but there is some talk about how Abh's are born and whether or not Lafiel is a child of love (mostly in episode 3, but there is some important plot in that episode, so I suggest watching it anyway). Also, neither the Abhs or the humans are good or evil, but are shown with human traits. There is one brief bath scene where Lafiel is naked, but the details are covered and not shown (though you do get a brief butt shot). This is a very well done anime that is more talking than action. Crest of the Stars is another good anime that I recommend.

[Tycho]

I would argue the Tenchi and Love Hina....they're not on the same level as say My Neighbor Totoro and Angelic Layer. Both[tenchi/hina that is] are more sexually oriented, and contain a lot of innuendos to them. They're on my "maturer audiences" list...sure they're not the dirtiest things out there, but they're not clean and innocent either.

Love Hina, yes. The anime is leagues cleaner than the manga though, probably cause it was on TV and aimed at a different audience.

As for Tenchi, I would argue the following. Aside from Ryoko, the rest of the characters aren't bad. And even Ryoko's actions are in my opinion a facade. But to each his own. However, if that bothers you, watch Tenchi Universe instead of the OVAs. Different audience for TV and cuts out a lot of the fanservice/adult themes.

[Heaven's Cloud]

I'm gonna have to say Tokyo Pig is an awesome anime. Also Hajime no Ippo is good, and .hack//SIGN. Great animes.

[Razgriz]

Tokyo Pig? What's that about?

[RobertMuldooJP]

I watched the first three episodes of Scryed, it looks like a good series so far

[yog^sothoth]

Lesse, i'd make the following reccomendations:

Hajime no Ippo:
Really nice and polite guy learns how to stand up for himself and becomes a boxer. it's got something like 3 seasons worth of shows.

Azumnaga Daioh:
Off the wall humor and two of the my favorite characters in an anime ever! It's about a bunch of girls in High School, hilarity ensues.

Beserk:
Sometimes a guy has to feel down to feel down. This anime is sad, all sorts of sad. And the manga makes it even sadder. It's good, violent though, but good.

Sexy Commando Gaiden:
I won't say a single thing about this anime. It's entertainment though, I highly suggest this one! Off the wall crazy humor!

Naruto:
This one is running in Shonen Jump right now I believe but it has also made its way through one form or another into anime form. It's about a kid who is hated by everyone (oh, it is a village full of ninja's ina world full of ninja's) trying to make everyone recognize him. If you like shonen style anime (teamwork, family, all sorts of positive messages) then i really reccomend this one because the animation is top notch and the story is pretty good too! And besides, NINJA!

Full Metal Panic Season 2:
A kid who is raised on battlefields around the world finds himself in High School oblivious to the normal rules of society. One girl has a crush on him and does her best to see that she is noticed. I have never seen the first season but this second season is one of the funniest anime i have ever seen!

There are always more to reccomend and those that we have as personal favorites but these anime I posted above I think just about anyone will like. Check em out!