Anime Recommendations

[Del Murder]

My wife and I got really into Attack on Titan and we realized that anime includes a whole library of stuff we haven't really tried. The only other anime I watched regularly was Dragon Ball Z as a kid. Does anyone have good recommendations for us? I think we would prefer something original with some good suspense and writing, much like AoT.

[Freya]

full metal alchemist brotherhood is a great entry point for newbies. It's a great show and takes some darker twists. It's how I got my husband to start watching anime. We then watched AoT next ha.

[krissy]

death note

cowboy bebop

fma brotherhood as kc said

terror in resonance

ghost in the shell

sailor moon, you can watch with the kids

[Wolf Kanno]

Cowboy Bebop ~ About a crew of out of luck bounty hunters trying to make a decent wulong in the 22nd century. The show is a love letter for Western media through the lens of Japan and has something for everyone. Fantastic soundtrack.

Samurai Champloo ~ two samurai who hate each other are roped in by an orphan girl to help them find a samurai who smells like sunflowers in Tokugawa era Japan. Same team as Cowboy Bebop and also a love letter to Western and Japanese culture. Also great soundtrack.

The Big O ~ Forty years ago, everyone in the world lost their memory and society collapsed. Now in the remnants of that Paradigm city. Roger Smith is a negotiator by day and the pilot of the mysterious robot Big O in disaster as he tries to uncover the truth of what happened forty years ago and the underbelly of the new society. It's basically Japanese Batman the Animated Series if it was directed by David Lynch on medication.

X/1999 - Kamui Shiro has returned to Tokyo after the mysterious death of his mother. He is trying to dodge his destiny as the one who will decide the fate of the world. Will he join the seven psychics known as the Seven Seals to save humanity, or will he join the Seven Harbingers and save the earth by wiping out humanity instead?

xxx Holic -~ Watanuki is a high school student who can see the dead. They pester him all the time until he finds a house run by a witch named Yujo who offers to rid him of his curse in exchange for working at her shop. Now Watanuki is learning more about the world of magic used in everyday life and helping Yuko's eclectic clientele deal with their problems.

Vision of Escaflowne -Hitomi was an ordinary school girl who loved to tell fortunes at her school, but her life changed forevor when she met a prince from another world who slayed a dragon at her school and accidentally took her back to his world of swords, sorcery, and mecha. Hitomi finds herself in a world filled with political turmoil and her power of divination is now coming true.

Gungrave - Brandon was once the top hitman for the mafia group Millennium until he was murdered by his best friend Harry. Now brought back from the dead, he must protect the daughter of the woman he loved and the former head of the mafia group he saw as a father. Despite the supernatural bookends of the plot, the majority of the plot is really just about Brandon and Harry joining the mafia and working their way through the ranks.

Revolutionary Girl Utena (don't watch with your kids) - Utena as a child was distraught when her parents died and almost came close to joining them until a prince arrived and saved her. She was so impressed by the prince she decided to grow up and become a prince just like him. Years later she joins a school connected to the ring the prince gave her and finds herself in a series of surreal duels against the Student Council who are all fighting over a girl named Anthy known as the Rose Bride. The series is heavy on some taboo subjects, but also has a strong LGBTQ elements as well for its time frame. Very surreal.

Wolf's Rain - In the far future, the world is on the brink of destruction from a cold winter. People and nobles whisper the old prophecy of wolves leading people to paradise, but wolves have been extinct for centuries.. In truth, wolves learned how to disguise themselves as humans and now walk among them. Four of them meet and are now on a journey to find the promised land. This series is kind of depressing. Not going to lie, the last five episodes are designed around destroying you emotionally.

Witch Hunter Robin - Robin is a witch who has been raised to hunt down her own kind along with the secret organization known as SOLOMON. But what is the truth about mankind's relationship with witches in modern times, and can Robin really trust her own organization?

Outlaw Star - Jean Starwind dreams of going into space, he finally gets his chance when he takes on a dangerous mission with an outlaw named Hilda who has him and his partner Jim help her steal the most advanced space ship in the galaxy. Now, the two, along with their crew are being hunted by the government, other outlaws, and pirates left and right since their ship is the only means of reaching the greatest treasure in the whole galaxy. Hinjinx ensue.

Yu Yu Hakusho - Yusuke Urameshi is a delinquent and a punk who has no future according to his peers. That all changes the day he does something unexpected and saves a child's life at the cost of his own. The afterlife wasn't prepared for him yet and instead give him a second chance at life and working for them as a Spirit detective hunting down rogue demons and wayward spirits. Was a rival series to Dragon Ball back in the day but is a bit edgier, more dark humored (especially the english dub) and is thankfully much shorter.

Paranoia Agent - TV series by Satoshi Kon, it details a world where people are hearing rumors of a kid on roller blades with a gold bat will randomly assault people. The strange thing is that each of his victims seems more happy after the attack. This story is mostly a character story with each episode following a different victim and their troutty lived before the attack. Who is the serial assaulter Little Slugger? Is he real or imaginary?

FLCL
Haibane Renmei
Neon Genesis Evangelion

I also always recommend Sailor Moon, Ranma 1/2, Tenchi Muyo!, and One Piece. Though none of them would fit the criteria you asked for. Also Irresponsible Captain Tylor and Patlabor.

[Fynn]

For newer stuff, I really can’t recommend Beastars enough, and that’s getting a second season this summer. It’s basically Zootopia if Zootopia actually took the allegory far enough to make it a meaningful commentary on society and the human condition. Definitely check it out!

Another recent anime I love but is a bit harder to recommend but is excellent nonetheless - Devilman Crybaby. It is incredibly violent and sexual, which is why I can’t recommend it to everyone, but it’s also just an incredibly relevant social commentary that moved me to tears.

[Shauna]

Are you looking for anything in particular, genre-wise?

[Depression Moon]

I'm surprised you just getting into anime when you've been around us all these years. Why the start now?

[Jinx]

JUJUTSU KAISEN JUJUTSU KAISEN JUJUTSU KAISEN


THERE'S A LORD OF THE RINGS REFERENCE IN IT THAT MIRIEL WILL LOVE

[Dr. Acula]

Full Metal Alchemist and Ghost in the Shell are amazing, definitely recommend.

Aggretsuko if you want something cute and funny.

[Quindiana Jones]

Naruto and Bleach were my gateways, but are really not that good and very genre specific.

Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood and Death Note were my "oh this is why people rave about anime" moments. FMA:B is a shouneny mystery thriller thing. Death Note is pure suspense all the way through, though a lot of people vastly prefer the first half.

Cowboy Bebop is a masterpiece, and is legitimately superior in the dub than the sub. Mary Elizabeth McGlynn should be paraded around the town for what an amazing job she did, in particular at a time when dub VAs weren't necessarily taken very seriously.

My all-time favourite is Baccano! It's an erratic suspense/thriller/comedy with the focus being around a train journey that ends in disaster.

[Jessweeee♪]

There's a lot of great recommendations in this thread. I'll echo Full Metal Alchemist and Ghost in the Shell as babby's first decent anime.

Monster is also great is you like suspense. An ex-surgeon tracking down the serial killer who ruined his career. Its a bit long at 74 episodes tho.

[WarZidane]

Kinda surprised nobody's mentioned Psycho-Pass yet.

The basic premise is similar to things like Minority Report (authorities have a way to check how likely you are to commit a crime and mete out punishment based on that), it's a very good psychological thriller series. Fair warning, there's gore. :p

[Wolf Kanno]

Aggretsuko if you want something cute and funny.

I will strongly second this. It's an adult cartoon, but not in an explicit way. It just deals with grown up issues like working a dead end job, invasive parents, and trying to date in your 30s. It is also funny as hell.

[Del Murder]

I started FMA Brotherhood. It's very good! Thanks for all the recommendations. I'll come back to them after I binge this. :p

[sharkythesharkdogg]

A lot of the ones I'd recommend are already here, but for a pillar of the genre is regards to movies (that aren't Ghibli), I always recommend Akira. (language and violence warning)

I'd say for an older anime, try something like Dominion Tank Police if you tried and enjoyed Ghost in the Shell. The whole thing is on youtube with good quality (dubbed, but hey)

For something newer, you could try Black Lagoon, but maybe not around young kids. (language and violence warning.)

[Loony BoB]

Planetes, starts very chill and builds up to become a very solid story with (going by memory) an ending I felt to be good, which is rare for any kind of TV series.

Ghost in the Shell, I agree on this suggestion, it's awesome.

FMA I've only seen the "original" not Brotherhood, and it's very good.

Nana is an excellent young adult story with very good writing and characters. It develops really well. Never ended, but honestly the way the current series ends still just... works. Many of my anime loving friends and myself really found it worth the watch. Possibly my fave.

Food Wars really divides because of the ecchi stuff (it's intentionally erotic when they eat the food) but honestly everyone who has watched past the first few episodes I feel has ended up really liking it. It's great to watch while snacking because it will make you insanely hungry.

Gangsta I remember liking quite a bit.

Haikyuu - never in my goddam life would I have ever expected to enjoy a freaking volleyball anime of all things so much.

Steins;Gate is a blast.

Death Note I really enjoyed most of it but the second 'half' of it just lost me a lot, in a Game of Thrones kind of way.

Your Name is terribly beautiful and enjoyable, and I quite enjoy Garden of Words too. For watching with the kids, My Neighbor Totoro is an absolute must.

[Psychotic]

I think we would prefer something original with some good suspense and writingDeath Note

[Jinx]

Food Wars really divides because of the ecchi stuff (it's intentionally erotic when they eat the food) but honestly everyone who has watched past the first few episodes I feel has ended up really liking it. It's great to watch while snacking because it will make you insanely hungry.

Haikyuu - never in my goddam life would I have ever expected to enjoy a freaking volleyball anime of all things so much.

Steins;Gate is a blast.


Yes to these. But holy smurf, Steins;Gate. I watched that when I was sleep deprived during Ishgard ranking. I made the gathering annoying trout go faster. So so so sososososos good. Really amazing.

[Agent Proto]

I'll go ahead and name a few that haven't yet been mentioned. Going by what you are looking for, story driven anime with some suspense?

GATE.
Erased. Definitely something you should check out.
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. I'm surprised no one has mentioned this, but it's worth watching. It's a long series with several parts, each as it's own season. It's recommended to start from the beginning, or you can skip to Part III with Stardust Crusaders which contains two seasons by itself. You're in for a long haul with this.
Made in Abyss.

[Jessweeee♪]

or you can skip to Part III

and just skip over Speedwagon, the best character?

[Quindiana Jones]

JoJo's is pure anarchy and I love it.

[krissy]

I also love jojo but I don't know if it's a good "starter" anime

[Wolf Kanno]

JoJo doesn't quite fit the feel of AoT which is why I didn't want to suggest it despite how awesome it is. I agree with krissy that it is not the best for someone trying to get into the scene. It's fun, but I feel you need to have a feel for absurdness to really appreciate it.

[Quindiana Jones]

It's also better once you have some anime under your belt and you can catch all the Jojo references retrospectively.

[krissy]

now, Gintama, you can watch without any other anime knowledge


jk

[Del Murder]

Recently finished FMA Brotherhood. I liked it a lot. The ending was very nice, though predictable. I liked the earlier episodes better when the brothers were traveling the country and learning more about alchemy and some of the wickedness in the world. Near the end, it felt too much like a boss rush mode of a video game. Plus the brothers were separated for a lot of it. :(

Going with Cowboy Bebop next since it is a classic and a nice change of pace in style from FMA and AoT (which I think had similar styles). Also because it has a Netflix series coming up starring John Cho. :D

[The Captain]

Recently finished FMA Brotherhood. I liked it a lot. The ending was very nice, though predictable. I liked the earlier episodes better when the brothers were traveling the country and learning more about alchemy and some of the wickedness in the world. Near the end, it felt too much like a boss rush mode of a video game. Plus the brothers were separated for a lot of it. :(

Going with Cowboy Bebop next since it is a classic and a nice change of pace in style from FMA and AoT (which I think had similar styles). Also because it has a Netflix series coming up starring John Cho. :D


I'm not a big Anime TV guy. Movies I'm all in on, but I find I don't have enough time to invest multiple hours and nights lately to get into any new show.

That said, Cowboy Bebop might be the pinnacle of the genre in a lot of ways. It's the Anime show for people who don't know much about anime. The show is both stand alone and episodic as it builds and everything has an eye on the hip. The music alone is fantastic and the characterizations while broad at first find a depth and pathos that makes them remarkable. Some of the later episodes go into some darker places while others are just goofy and funny, which makes for a very nice mix during a watch. I'm extremely interested to see what the Netflix series will do. Will they craft original stories based on the show or try a sort of beat for beat remake?

Either way, enjoy the watch and nice suggestions by everyone. Maybe I'll go down one of these journeys in a few months myself.

Take care all and see you space cowboy.

[krissy]

Gundam movies (they comprise the first 1979 series) and chars counterattack are on Netflix now fyi
I'm on movie 2 and honestly like it way better than evangelion

[Vyk]

Anime and Netflix and nothing about Violet Evergarden. Outside of Attack on Titan, it's one of the few recent anime that's made me feel a thing. Samurai Champloo is my echo chamber recommendation. Superbly done

Something great from bygone days that doesn't get as much love as it deserves is Blood+. It has a lot of side gigs that orbit around it with varying quality and I can't speak to a lot of them, but the main series itself is super good

Those recommended that I know are good but haven't watched yet are Made in Abyss and Beastars

But along that note, someone should probably mention The Promised Neverland. I haven't seen it, but I know it's really good, and supposedly the manga is even better. It's about kids in an orphanage, but it's far from a kids show and from what I hear they deal with topics as tactfully as they can, considering the content. I just need a good vacation to justify binge watching some of these. My free time is too scarce to commit to long media sessions, sadly

[Jessweeee♪]

I never watched Blood+ but all the opening songs were my jam in high school.

[krissy]

i really liked blood+ but blood: the last vampire is one of my fave movies so that helped
blood+ gets a bit tropey sometimes but it's fine
wonderful soundtrack too for both

[rayanwatts]

I enjoy watching multiple anime at once, for different purposes (example: Not watching Sarazanmai on the bus, while Futari wa Precure: Max Heart is great while waiting for bus after work)
Ongoing:
1-Sarazanmai
2-Carole & Tuesday
3-Pokmon
4-Isekai Quartet
5-Senko-san
6-Hitori Bocchi
7-Dragon ball filler list.
8-Yuu Yuu Hakusho
9-The Rose of Versailles
10-Heidi: Girl of the Alps
11-Naruto filler arcs (https://animefillerlist.net/naruto-filler-list/)
**Favorites / Least Favorites:**
Sarazanmai and Yuu Yuu Hakusho is my favorite of the ongoing shows on animefillerlist, while The Rose of Versailles is probably my favorite of the non-ongoing shows.Dororo is probably my least favorite of the ongoing right now, varying in quality between the episodes. Tweeny Witches is my least favorite of the non-ongoing shows.

[krissy]

yu yu hakusho is very fun, enjoyed it. still need to finish sarazanmai but you're right cannot watch it on a bus loll

[Fynn]

Just wanted to drop in and say the final Evangelion movie dropped recently and it’s excellent and now that everything in Eva is complete it’s the perfect time to check it out if you haven’t already ;)

[Mr Gashtacular]

yea i will second the eva recommendation (it's finally over!*) but only if you avoid absolutely all spoilers and live-tweet the entire experience


*its never going to be over

[Jessweeee♪]

yea i will second the eva recommendation (it's finally over!*) but only if you avoid absolutely all spoilers and live-tweet the entire experience

I only recently watched Evangelion start to finish with the last movie coming out, and somehow have managed to avoid spoilers this whole time.

It was
uh
It was a ride

[Freya]

Recently finished FMA Brotherhood. I liked it a lot. The ending was very nice, though predictable. I liked the earlier episodes better when the brothers were traveling the country and learning more about alchemy and some of the wickedness in the world. Near the end, it felt too much like a boss rush mode of a video game. Plus the brothers were separated for a lot of it. :(

Going with Cowboy Bebop next since it is a classic and a nice change of pace in style from FMA and AoT (which I think had similar styles). Also because it has a Netflix series coming up starring John Cho. :D

Did you see the cast photos?!

https://scontent-dfw5-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.6435-9/240414931_10158522447278870_8403744282156722270_n.jpg?_nc_cat=104&ccb=1-5&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=PmaH4JsTKqQAX89dRQs&_nc_ht=scontent-dfw5-2.xx&oh=195aef16a06cdd6c3dd07f0dd6e19e15&oe=614FF739

https://scontent-dfw5-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.6435-9/239477258_10158522447428870_1069555885818067963_n.jpg?_nc_cat=104&ccb=1-5&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=ss05FDHZ-jQAX-ZtamT&tn=j0p0q256Xduoxxt1&_nc_ht=scontent-dfw5-2.xx&oh=fb8f46cc848205e3fb7ced362fa447e4&oe=614E4422

[Del Murder]

Lookin good!

[Berserker Thomas]

Full Metal Alchemist and Ghost in the Shell are amazing, definitely recommend.

Aggretsuko if you want something cute and funny.

I agree with Dr. Acula. Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex and Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. 2nd Gig are both really good. The newer one on Netflix was alright and worth watching.

[Del Murder]

I finished Cowboy Bebop. It was a trip, since the animation and episodic style is a throwback to the 1990s yet the show itself is a throwback to various genres. It reminded me of Firefly but that came out later, so I guess Firefly reminds me of Cowboy Bebop? The one thing that bugs me is that it ends rather suddenly (much like Firefly), but reading about it I guess one season was the plan all along? This was definitely not your typical anime.

Inspired by Fynn and Jesswee, I've decided to roll through the Evangelion series next. I may also watch Death Note with Miriel since I think she'd like that one.

[krissy]

did you watch the bebop movie too? if not you should, its on netflix here

[Del Murder]

Cool I’ll check that out.

[krissy]

happens chronologically right before ed leaves

[Jessweeee♪]

Inspired by Fynn and Jesswee, I've decided to roll through the Evangelion series next.

i am sorry

[Ingrid]

I recomend Gurren Lagann, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Outlaw Star, Space Dandy, Desert Punk, My Hero Academia, Eureka Seven, Fairy Tail, Food Wars, REBORN, Toriko, RWBY, Mobile Suit Gundam Iron Blooded Orphans, Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?, and Punch Line oh and also all the stuff the other guy said. These are just some of my favorite. Some are better than others but they're all good. What i recomend is well exactly what your doing asking for recomendations and watching all kinds of things, don't lock yourself into one genre or anything. Have fun though thats whats most important.

[Trumpet Thief]

Probably a lot of suggestions already mentioned, but...

FMA: Brotherhood - Amazing all around anime. Great world-building, production value, excellent cast of characters, solid ending.

Steins;Gate - Probably my favorite time travel story I've ever seen in fiction. Does some INCREDIBLE things with its set up. Takes a bit to get going, but very much worth it.

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann - Basically an antidepressant in anime form

Mob Psycho 100 - Great action, probably the funniest anime I've ever seen, never takes itself too seriously, incredible set-pieces peppered through the whole show.

If you somehow missed either Death Note or Code Geass, I'd also give those a solid recommend. Entertainment value for both is through the roof. Code Geass somehow introduces a series breaking reveal or event every 7 or so episodes and then continues to outdo itself. Can't image the process the creators of the show went through to put it together.

Great Pretender - I won't put it in the same tier as the shows I listed above, but I watched it recently and had a pretty solid time with it.

And if you have time...

Monster - Naoki Urasawa is a genius. Fantastic thriller with one of anime's most iconic villains.

[ham]

The FATE series is pretty good but you might need a guide to watch them in the right order. I watched them all out of order and I was alright with it.

Kenshin OVA's, I think it's called Samurai X, it shows Keshin's origins. It's more serious than the anime series. There's 3 OVAs, the last one set after the anime series.

If you liked Cowboy Bebop then Outlaw Star is definitely a good one to watch as well. Those two are my favorites.

And if you want some goofy slice of life ones I recommend High School Boys or Asobi Asobase.

Tried to give you some more variety and confirm some of the ones that other people have listed.

[Psychotic]

we've had multiple warned post reports about the above post simply because of baruto

[Shauna]

poor boruto what did he do, other than have a famous dad :(

[Quindiana Jones]

Literally the existence of Boruto is worse than any atrocity humankind has committed.

[Fynn]

Sasuke named his daughter Salad.

:stare:

[Shauna]

I've never read beyond the epilogue of Naruto, but in that Sasuke abandoned his family to wander the world or whatever.

It tracks that he'd call his child Salad.

[Jessweeee♪]

So if you liked Cowboy Bebop, the creator also did Space Dandy and Samurai Champloo and they are both excellent. Samurai Champloo is what if Cowboy Bebop but they're samurai. Space Dandy is just better without explanation.
He also did Kids on the Slope, a very sweet and nostalgic sort of series about a couple of high school kids in the 60s forming a jazz band and being teens.

[Mr Gashtacular]

I'm quite a big fan of the highly sexual and full of nudity hentai known as Bible Black, although it has Aerith Dies/Sixth Sense levels of spoiler saturation that many people who haven't seen it already know about the (genuinely ingenious) plot twists. Having said that, if you've not seen/heard it before its definitely worth a watch provided you avoid even the most minimal of google searches before hand.

[Christmas]

Gintama? Never gets old.
Heard Spy X Family is good too.