Japanese Anime: Nerds Unite!

[splashpot]

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?

[7ontheline]

Good Titles I've liked in the last few years:

X (TV series, NOT movie) - cool apocalyptic end-of-the world type battles.

Noir - female assassins. Sweet.

Gunslinger Girls - female CHILD assassins.

Twelve Kingdoms - long, and one story arc is pointless, but
a cool fantasy story set in a sort-of ancient China

Gungrave - excellent series about mafia hitmen

Last Exile - kinda anticlimactic ending, but overall a good series about a couple of teenagers during a war in a world with flying ships, etc.

Almost any Miyazaki film - I like Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away the best, but all are good.

Rahxephon is decent - big robots are always good.

Millenium Actress, Steamboy - interesting standalone films.

Big O - was on Cartoon Network, still shows up periodically. A bit strange but good.

[Morbo]

I don't watch alot of this stuff but there is one show I like alot, Death Note. A 17 year old genius kid finds a book that is used to kill people by writing their name in it. He then seeks to become "god of the world" by killing criminals with it. On his ass is the whole police force being led by a secret investigator who happens to be just as smart, so alot of leveling going on. Good stuff.

[dlong226]

Eyeshield 21: Football about a nerd with amazing speed (from dodging bullies)

Prince of Tennis: Amazing anime about a son of a former tennis pro who is growing into an amazing player.

Hajime no Ippo: Boxing anime about a nerd who matures through boxing from a nerd getting beaten up into a champion

[epiLog]

Samurai Champloo
From the creator of Cowboy Bebop. Not as good as bebop but got a bit of everything and I loved it.

[Full-Metall]

Full Metal Alchemist
Imagine a world in which Alchemy is not only possible, but used frequently. Alchemy, though, is a science, and with all sciences there are laws that must be followed. Welcome to the anime, Full Metal Alchemist. The story begins about two brothers, Alphonse (left) and Edward (right) Elric. Ever since they were young they had practiced the science of alchemy. You follow their journey of being alchemists and their quest to regain that which they have lost.

This is by far my favourite anime.

Vampire Hunter D (movie)
Wanted to drop this in as you guys have gotten to the others before me.

Hellsing
A secret war is brewing in the night, a war in which humanity is only a pawn. The Hellsing organization has been protecting both Queen and Country for centuries, though with each day, the threat of the living dead continues to loom over the unexpected denizens of the world. Even armed with powerful automatic weapons with silver armor-piercing or mercury-ignition rounds, the Hellsing organization finds it difficult to banish these demons from the face of the earth. That is where Alucard comes in, a powerful vampire of unknown origin, though he serves Integra Hellsing with fierce loyalty.

However, one night in the town of Cheddar, Alucard comes across a young female police officer who is being held hostage by a vampire priest. Through a question he asked, the young woman, Seras Victoria, decided to become a vampire and Alucard became her master. She must now struggle with the loss of her humanity as she attempts to become a suitable member of the Hellsing organization, though with the terrors of the night growing more and more problematic with each passing day, she must overcome her weaknesses if she wishes to survive.

FMA and Hellsing aren't very long series, well by anime standards. Hellsing is about 10 episodes and FMA is around 50. I finished FMA within a week after renting the first 8 eps on dvd, so don't be intimidated by the length, you won't be able to watch anything else.

I also watch the new naruto episodes subbed on a weekly basis. It's becoming really frustrating, regardless of how good it is, because in the 20mins contained within each episode, barely any time lapses in the show and can often be unrewarding or boring. I'm gonna check out One Peice though, thanks!

[splashpot]

[ QUOTE ]
Samurai Champloo
From the creator of Cowboy Bebop. Not as good as bebop but got a bit of everything and I loved it.

[/ QUOTE ]
Oh yea, forgot about that one. Great style and music. I agree that it's not as good as Bebop, but it's made me a big fan of Shinichiro Watanabe(director). It's pretty amazing how well he blends seemingly incompatible styles together to create something unique, in both Bebop and Champloo. I look forward to whatever he comes up with next.

[dlong226]

Naruto Shippuuden is really good right now. I'm still waiting for the youngsters to get into big fight sequences, you only see like single moves.....

And I used to like Initial D a lot, but I just didn't care for Takumi's character starting with the 4th stage. I was in a way, rooting for him to lose because its like I feel for the other people

[Full-Metall]

[ QUOTE ]
Naruto Shippuuden is really good right now. I'm still waiting for the youngsters to get into big fight sequences, you only see like single moves.....


[/ QUOTE ]
I don't think Shippuuden is THAT good right now, it started off with a bang with Gaara, I'll admit, but for the meantime they seem to be doing some insane buildup. I imagine it becoming unreal very soon. Next episode should be good.

[splashpot]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Naruto Shippuuden is really good right now. I'm still waiting for the youngsters to get into big fight sequences, you only see like single moves.....


[/ QUOTE ]
I don't think Shippuuden is THAT good right now, it started off with a bang with Gaara, I'll admit, but for the meantime they seem to be doing some insane buildup. I imagine it becoming unreal very soon. Next episode should be good.

[/ QUOTE ]
I actually know what's going to happen because I've read the manga which is far ahead of the anime plot-wise. If you want any spoiler questions answered, you can PM me. With an anime like Naruto, I think it's better to take a year off from watching, then catch up. Since each story arc is so long, this is the only way to actually see the plot move at a decent pace.