sakathecheetah's Anime
| Recommended Anime▲▼ | Rating▲▼ |
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Air (TV) A masterpiece in itself and a cornerstone of great anime, especial during the flashback to fuedal japan, but might discourage some new anime viewers due to cute-girl-overdose. I don't really recommend the ovas or movie as I think they failed to capture the same feeling that made the series great. |
Masterpiece |
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Arashi no Yoru ni (movie) 'On a stormy night', two animals duck into a barn in pitch darkness to avoid thundering rainstorm and end up being friends. The problem is that one is a goat and the other is a wolf; the power of their friendship is repeatedly tested by the natural barriers that aim to tear them apart---from hunger to societal pressure--and somehow the two manage to find a way to realize the importance of their friendship depite the dangerous situations it creates. |
Very good |
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Berserk (TV 1997) I would have just about ranked this as one of the best anime of all time, except that I think the ending was just a bit too shocking for my taste. Warning that this series specializes in graphic imagery, and is not for the kiddies (rape and graphic violence). |
Excellent |
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Black Lagoon (TV) Lagoon is an excellent example of an in-your-face action series. Modern pirates on a patrol boat with plenty of well-done explosions, impossible but complex characters, and memorable scenes. The first few episodes expecially are an overdose of bazooka blasting and foul language, but at the same time tackles serious issues and makes a point of using actual weapon models and places of historical human conflicts. |
Excellent |
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Black Lagoon: The Second Barrage (TV) The second season is even better than the first, going into even more awesome gun battles and touching on serious themes discussing the bounds of human cruelty and apathy toward violence. |
Masterpiece |
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Bleach (TV) The poster anime of the modern shonen series. The universe of Bleach is so well-crafted, and there are too many characters for you not to find at least one character that you love. The Soul Society arc was nothing short of awesome, and my roommates and I used to watch it religeously as new episodes came out. Regretfully, Bleach has suffered from a plethora of filler episodes, but not as horrible as the Naruto ones. Stuffed trio from filler.... must.... die. |
Masterpiece |
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Blood+ (TV) The thing that attracted me to this series was that the score was done by the awesome soundtrack composer Hans Zimmer (see: Gladiator, Pearl Harbor, The Rock, ...), and the animation is excellent. There are times when you wish Saya would just stand up and be the badass you know her vampire lineage is capable of supporting, but the series never disappoints with great characters and shunpo-style vampire battles. |
Excellent |
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Bokurano (TV) I like to shy away from mecha series because I think the symbolism of the robots reflecting inner character and such is a shallow one. In this series, the robot represents the cumulative will of the entire planet Earth, and each episode is a nice blend of commentary on human ideals--especially the ability of children to be surprisingly mature in the right situations. |
Excellent |
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Claymore (TV) Claymore is an awesome fantasy series--rivaling Berserk and Twelve Kingdoms on my list of the best of all time. That said, though, you can't get an accurate measure of this series without reading the manga since I feel there were times when I felt they skimped on important scenes, and the entire series deviates mostly after episode 22. I didn't really feel the moving life lessons that were evident in some of my other favorites, but somehow the complexity of the universe combined with great battles and inner conflicts make the series one of the best shonen series ever. I bet it would have been a lot more popular if they hadn't show it at some ungodly hour in Japan... *grumbles* |
Excellent |
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Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion (TV) To me, mecha series tend to get an automatic point against them, but Lelouch is surprisingly diverse and well-done. I usually describe it as 'Gundam meets Death Note', but it's actually a nicely complex series on its own. The creators did a good job of testing the limits of the main character's ability, and using them to create complex but plausible situations that you wouldn't expect. It's too bad that the ending to the first season is a big cliff hanger, so waiting for the next episodes is torture. |
Masterpiece |
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Death Note (TV) What first impressed me so much by Death Note is that I really had never seen anything like it before. It does too many things right. Imagine giving the main character the power to kill anyone just by writing a name--the power over life and death. Putting it into the hands of the police chief's son, also an incredible student, brings up all sorts of ethical questions over whether it's right to just kill off criminals with the stroke of a pen. But that's barely even scratching the surface of the series, which chronicles the awesome mind game of criminal vs detective in increasingly desperate but logical actions--and all of this with the backing of powerful character development, voice acting, and well-designed score. |
Masterpiece |
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Den-noh Coil (TV) I really like series that have a consistent and involving universe, and Denno Coil is an awesome example. Glasses have been invented that connect to a virtual domain that parallels (and augments) reality. I was very surprised at just how well-designed this series was... The graphics are awesome and believable in a way unique to this series; even minor characters are introduced very well and act realistically on circumstances that are cleverly revealed afterward. The music is awesome, the character's designs and personalities are excellent, and the plot keeps you wondering what will happen next at the end of every episode. There's probably enough good plot development in this series to make three mediocre ones off its parts. It does get a little hard to follow toward the end if you haven't been learning key terms (and there are a few), but it's got so many good design elements that it's hard to see this as anything less than a masterpiece. Watch it or Michiko-san will take you to the other side. |
Masterpiece |
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Elfen Lied (TV) Not a series for the weak of heart, especially for the gratutious limb-severing (especially the first episode) and later beating a puppy to death. The series is very dark, despite it's cute bishoujo heroines, and I can't help but think it's purpose is to use displays of humanity in it's most vulgar forms to force the audience to question their own moralities and opinions of the course of mankind. I can't say I really agree with the significance of all this graphic violence, or the director's views on the futility of man, but the series is still a masterpiece if only because it aims to shake your fundamental values and does it so well. |
Excellent |
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Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone (movie) I never watched Evangelion in it's entirety, even though it used to be shown all the time on television. I guess something always bothered me about it and I never really let myself get involved in the all the behemoth-mashing of the original. This is the first in a series of movies remaking it for a modern audience (2007), and I see it as a perfection of a series which had greater potential (not that the original was particularly bad either). I hope it will be somewhat as awesome as the Kenshin OVAs were were compared to their original series (also awesome for its time). |
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| (The) Familiar of Zero (TV) | Excellent |
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Fate/stay night (TV) Seven sorcerers participate in elimination battles of sorcery that take place in secret--mostly under cover of darkness. Each one commands a single servant, a heroic soul sommoned from history who shares the desire to be granted a wish by the battle's prize--the Holy Grail. As the story progresses, the mood ranges from light-hearted romantic comedy to sobering and dangerous sword-battles. The character designs are awesome. The voice acting is top-notch, and the score by Kenji Kawai is both beautiful and sobering to nicely complement the varying tones of the series. |
Excellent |
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Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children (movie) Having only played FF7 for brief intervals from a borrowed console, some of the story elements of this sequel went over my head--but it doesn't even matter. This computer-animated motion picture is just plain stunning--and not just the flawless computer animation either... the score, voices and intensity are all stunning as well. Seeing the menacing Sephiroth stand before you with his ridiculously-long katana and then duke it out with Cloud makes it worth watching on its own. |
Excellent |
| Full Metal Panic! (TV) | Excellent |
| Genshiken (TV) | Very good |
| Getbackers (TV) | Excellent |
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(The) Girl Who Leapt Through Time (movie) Bad title translation.... The Girl Who Leapt Through Time.... every time landing and hitting her head on the other side! This movie is lots of fun, and plays on many recyled themes (see 'clumsy school girl', 'love confessions', ...) in refreshingly funny ways. If you liked Butterfly Effect, then this is probably the closest anime alternative and it's very well done. Suddenly I feel like checking the brakes on my bike... |
Masterpiece |
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Grave of the Fireflies [2005] (live-action movie special) Watching the live-action version was notably more powerful than the animated masterpiece of the same name. This is a stunning a tragic recount of two children trying to survive in World War II, and seeing the war from a Japanese perspective is very enlightening--especially since so many others tend to dwell on atomic warfare and trivialize the plight of the people in other aspects. |
Masterpiece |
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GTO: Great Teacher Onizuka (TV) Somehow I never got around to watching this, but I've really wanted to ever since I saw the live-action adapted version with some college friends. The characters are realistic and memorable, and the premise for the series itself brings up a lot of really good ideas. |
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| Haibane Renmei (TV) | Excellent |
| Howl's Moving Castle (movie) | Excellent |
| InuYasha: The Tragic Love Song of Destiny (special) | Masterpiece |
| Kaiji (TV) | Masterpiece |
| Kiki's Delivery Service (movie) | Excellent |
| Last Exile (TV) | Excellent |
| Monster (TV) | |
| Moribito - Guardian of the Spirit (TV) | Excellent |
| Mushi-Shi (TV) | Masterpiece |
| My Neighbor Totoro (movie) | Masterpiece |
| My-HiME (TV) | Excellent |
| Naruto (TV) | Masterpiece |
| Naruto Shippūden (TV) | Very good |
| Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (movie) | Excellent |
| Ninja Scroll (movie) | Excellent |
| NITABOH, the Shamisen Master (movie) | Excellent |
| Planetes (TV) | Masterpiece |
| Princess Mononoke (movie) | Excellent |
| Romeo × Juliet (TV) | Excellent |
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Rurouni Kenshin: Reflection (OAV) The original Kenshin was made back in mid-to-late 90s and is a great series, but feels really dated to me now with its 80s style. This set of OVAs is a composition of several of the most important and emotional scenes throughout the whole of the Kenshin series, redone with a better budget and more modern animation style. I really recommend watching at least the first 70 episodes of the original series if you want to understand what's going on, but it's worth it if only to appreciate this OVA and the whole of the Kenshin series. If not, you should at least watch the other OVA set Trust and Betrayal (more like a movie) that covers Kenshin's backstory prior to episode 1. |
Masterpiece (dub & sub) |
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Rurouni Kenshin: Trust & Betrayal (OAV) I don't feel like I being conservative in saying that this is the absolute best tragic love story ever put to animation. This movie's plot forms the the backstory of the series Rurouni Kenshin (a.k.a. Samurai X in the states--*cough*horrible name*cough*). I really find it hard to rank the anime that I like best, but if I were forced to choose number one, It would be a toss-up between this awesome historical fiction and Death Note. If you check out the top rated anime here at ANN, the ratings tend to agree. |
Masterpiece (dub & sub) |
| Scrapped Princess (TV) | Excellent |
| Shakugan no Shana (TV) | Excellent |
| Spirited Away (movie) | Masterpiece |
| Transformers (live-action movie) | Excellent |
| (The) Twelve Kingdoms (TV) | Masterpiece |
| Utawarerumono (TV) | Excellent |
| Welcome to the NHK (TV) | Masterpiece |
| When They Cry - Kai (TV) | Excellent |
| Whisper of the Heart (movie) | Excellent |
| Witch Hunter Robin (TV) | Excellent |