Tell us about it. Everything you can possibly think of.
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Tell us about it. Everything you can possibly think of.
For the longest time I would say Spice and Wolf, but after a rewatch I might have to say SHIROBAKO.
I love how it manages to be cute and funny and anime-like while also being a very relatable show about making anime that's very much grounded in reality. All the characters felt like real human beings, for the most part, and I felt like I was learning something interesting while I watched it. I think the best praise I can give SHIROBAKO is that it is the first anime I would recommend to anyone who had never seen one.
Holo is so adorable!! :love::love:Quote:
Originally Posted by Fox
For the manga I'd have to go with Blame!. I like it because of the way it tells its story: through the drawings and not through dialogues. The characters barely speak, and you need to be able to understand why and/or how certain things happen by yourself, so it forces you to pay a lot of attention at what's going on. Also the art is stunning
It's a bit harder to choose the anime, but I think Legend of Galactic Heroes is a good pick. Awesome characters, great story, lots of important topics like politics, economy, religion, terrorism and so on. The battles are great and all of them are fought using strategy and planning. The best space opera I've ever watched. Not for everyone, but absolutely worth it.
My #1 anime at the moment is CLANNAD. What can I say, it's a good adaptation of one of my all-time favorite visual novels and has some incredibly memorable scenes. Mind you I haven't seen Shirobako yet and everything I've heard about it makes me think it'll probably end up somewhere up there on my list as well. But we'll see~
As for manga... Umineko When They Cry. I don't think it's as good as the VN (the lack of soundtrack alone is already saddening) but I'll be damned if I pick anything else.
If I had to compare the two, naturally the latter would be my all-time favorite anime/manga. For a number of reasons; first up, it has an incredible cast of characters. There's a huge number of them and all of them are great, with my Top X Favorite Characters being just outright littered with them. Secondly, Umineko is pretty much a one-of-a-kind story. It starts off as a closed circle serial murder mystery but the scope so to speak ends up expanding and it becomes its own unique "genre" of mystery, which it then also ends up deconstructing by itself... I don't even know how to properly describe it. The battle of wits that ensues is immensely entertaining to follow and at the same time the story is also very thought-provoking, touching and frustrating (in a good way) at times. Thirdly, all of it also ends up being a sort of meta-commentary on stories in general, from both the perspectives of authors and readers, and it just completely clicked with me. And finally, it really feels like a natural evolution of everything Higurashi When They Cry ended up being, a much more ambitious story that touches upon similar themes a lot but handles them in a less cut-and-dry way.
It's not a story for everyone, but the manga does take steps to make it more accessible compared to the original. The VN is incredibly demanding in both time and effort since it absolutely expects you to engage and think about it a lot to really understand what's going on, and it's extremely verbose and descriptive, giving you an ocean of scenes ripe with foreshadowing and extra information; the manga on the other hand is much more forgiving and explicit, so even if you take a less involved approach you'll still be okay. The major downside to the manga would be the lack of soundtrack, which quite frankly is my favorite soundtrack of any game/VN. Thankfully there's nothing stopping you from listening to the OST while reading the manga :p
Four posts and NO ONE has mentioned Cowboy Bebop. This is why I judge you people.
Top 3 Anime -
1. Cowboy Bebop
One of the absolute greatest cast of characters of all time. Even side characters that show up for one episode in this are interesting. In spite of the fact the show isn't building one solid narrative begining to end and is a lot more episodic, the way the relationships changes between the characters as the series rolls on is astounding and far more believable progression then pretty much any other anime.
Animation is top notch, and the fights look absolutely incredible and have an amazing sense of detail and awareness of surrounding. Look at the movie for example. There are two fights between Spike and Vincent, one taking place in a confined space of a train cart, and the other in a more open area. Even though they still use the same kind of styles in both fights, they are drastically different due to the space available in the scene.
I could go on, but I'll leave it at having the greatest anime soundtrack of all time, and I have heard nothing that can compare.
2. Monster (Honestly I could probably switch this and Bebop and be fine with that, it's a hard call)
Without any kind of supernatural element involved, Monster is one of the most legitametly smurfed up things I have ever watched. The real kick to the gut is how everything that happens in this show is not entirely inconceivable in reality. The messed up conditions of post WW II orphanages, brainwashing children in an experiment and just about everything else. There are a few aspects that stretch that a bit, but honestly not by a whole lot.
Amazing cast of characters, and a couple of the absolute saddest moments in anime history, right up their with the ending of Bebop.
3. Paranoia Agent.
This one is just surreal and amazing. Told from a few different points of view, I can't really describe what's going on without spoiling everything. Go watch this. Like, now. It's only 12 episodes, it's a short series.
Ranma 1/2 manga because fun and funny and hijinks
Azumanga Daioh is my favorite anime. I think it's partially due to the fact that I watched it the summer after graduating High School so it hit all those sentimental notes.
Inaba of the Earth and Inaba of the Moon is my favorite manga. It's just so funny. The name alone is great. Also shotgun umbrella.
Zettai Karen Children is also a very close second. It's so good. But I haven't read it in a few years so I don't know what's going on anymore.
Claymore is a close third and for the same reasons. I stopped reading both of them about the same time too.
One Piece.
No other manga artist in the entire shonen genre could ever compare to Eichiro Oda.
Manga: Fullmetal Alchemist. The manga is just amazing. Brotherhood is a solid interpretation of it, but unfortunately too rushed in the beginning (you at least need two episodes of the original).
Wolf's Rain. The animation is beautiful, and the story and characters were well done. It made me tear up, which I never do. And the soundtrack was great too.
You know... I have tried to get into Cowboy Bebop 3 or 4 times now and it just has consistently failed to grip me. I dunno what it isQuote:
Originally Posted by NeoCracker
A bit tough for me since it changes all the time but....
Anime: The Legend of The Galactic Heroes
Manga: I really can't decide
Wolf's Rain
INUYASHA. Shut up
I love it
You're all wrong
It's the best.
I even own the manga of most of it.
Sailor Moon.
Mostly because the only other anime I've watched to any serious extent beside it is Sword Art Online, which has been... lackluster... from the 2nd arc of the 1st season, onward.
I did enjoy Fate/Stay Night Unlimited Blade Works too - but haven't seen any of the movies etc so don't really feel confident enough to pass judgment on it as a whole.