Ok, I'm not the biggest anime nerd, but I have watched my fair share of titles. I haven't watched anything within the past year or so and I was wondering if any new shows are any good. I basically like lots of action, cool ninja fight scenes, mixed with a little comedy too.
I'm not a huge fan of the serious, dark, emotionally driven titles. I admit some of them can be incredibly deep, but I usually find them to be too slow for my taste.
Here are some of my favorites (most of them are pretty old):
Cowboy Bebop
Pretty much my favorite anime. Follows a group of bounty hunters in a futuristic world. Very stylish, some good action scenes, great but subtle character development, great music. The soundtrack is very blues/jazzy but with a lot of "bebop" style mixed in.
Naruto
Kind of a modern age DBZ (which I liked as a kid). I basically like it only for the cool fight scenes. It's about a ninja who has the power of a demon fox inside him and has to learn how to control that power. I realize this may be too mainstream gimmicky for some people, but I just like the fight scenes.
One Piece
This is Naruto/DBZ, only better. Anyone who likes either of those titles will like One Piece better. It's funnier, more creative, better music, and the characters are more likable IMO. It's about a boy with a rubber body (he's basically like Stretch Armstrong) and his quest to become the "Pirate King."
Initial D
Very cool anime about downhill mountain racing. Sorta like the racing in Fast and the Furious 3, it's all about drifting. I know the movie sucked, but this anime is great. Music is a lot of techno pop which I'm not a huge fan of, but it works very well with the races. Check this out if you like cool, edge of your seat, fast paced, racing.
Great Teacher Onizuka
Very funny anime about a cool, ex-gang member teacher who goes to extremes to help his students and solve problems within the school. Not much action, but it's smart funny and inspiring. One of my favorites in the comedy genre.
Hikaru No Go
Don't knock it til you see it. It's about playing the Japanese board game, Go. Haha. Seriously, watching this anime will make you want to learn how to play Go. I'm amazed at how exciting they make a board game. I mean, imagine a TV show about guys playing chess, only super exciting.
What are some other good titles?