Lunar Threads

Yeah, that emoticon is pretty weird. I didn't notice that before posting it.

There are really too many for me to name. FLCL remains one of my top favorites. Sure it's a great comedy, but I love the more deeper aspects of the show, such as the theme on growing up as well as Ninamori & Mamimi's insecurities. Trigun and .Hack//SIGN are also two of my favorites. I'm not afraid to admit I'm a total nerd for Digimon either. xD
Also, I have fond memories of coming home from school and watching the anime shows on Toonami. Gundam Wing, Blue Sub. 6, Zoids and all the other shows on that programming block will always have a special place in my heart. :3

Happy birthday

Thanks.

I'd have to agree that Hunter X Hunter is pretty great, especially for a Shounen Jump title. The biggest reason it has such a strong flow is it avoids a lot of the pitfalls most other similar genre titles (Naruto, Bleach, etc.) fall into.

For one, the fighting in the show takes a backseat to the character development and plot progression. It delivers action and drama that excludes two guys in a staring contest for ten episodes. The few times the series does rely upon fighting, it's serious. People die, things change and the plot then jumps forward accordingly, as opposed to having a huge battle that ends with everyone wounded and retreating, waiting a few episodes for their lengthy counterattack.

Secondly, the main characters are well developed and the cast isn't as ridiculously huge as so many other lengthy anime/manga series. You have four core characters. When the cast gets too big in a series, the plot moves at a snail's pace, because we have to see what everyone is doing all the time. This means each plot thread only gets a couple of minutes of forward momentum per episode.

Lastly, it's just well written. Go Togashi! Too bad he has been on and off sabbatical over and over for the last five or six years. New chapter releases are immensely infrequent and you can see his art and story take a hit in quality because of his illness.

I enjoyed Hunter x Hunter, but it wouldn't fall into my favorite spot. I do agree that the character development is phenomenal and the tension is through the roof, but it's difficult to relate to any of the individual characters, which is some of the appeal with a lot of series. Series that don't conform on that level usually have the stoic composed badass who is larger than life, while Gon and Killua are just naive youth out and about in a secretive world that is too large for words. While that is nice to see how they develop, it's just not something I appreciate more than the former options, if that makes sense at all. Plus, the infrequent manga updates are infuriating.

I think my experience with anime is a bit limited, but here is my list anyway.

1) Hayao Miyazaki films in general (especially Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, Castle in the Sky, Porco Rosso, My Neighbor Totoro, Howl's Moving Castle, and The Cat Returns)
2) Ninja Scroll
3) Vampire Hunter D
4) Witch Hunter Robbin
5) Akira

To the people who admit they like Fushigi Yuugi: I salute you. After burning out on it as a teenager, I came to think of it guilty pleasure. And speaking of guilty pleasures, Code Geass... the people who made it wanted so badly for it to appeal to every major fanbase, but even though I see right through it I can't help but like it. But if you want a genre-spanning Sunrise mecha show with a little more artistic integrity, there's always Escaflowne, which I more than just like. In fact, I <3 Escaflowne.

Some other favorites of mine.

• Revolutionary Girl Utena - my most favorite-est anime, sort of a fairy tale turned askew. It's notoriously weird and has an uncanny way of always upping the weird ante. (Thanks to that, you don't even have to suspend your disbelief.)
• Loveless - What is wrong with this show? Why does that twenty-something guy seem to want that emotionally damaged 6th-grader to be his dom? If you accustom yourself to the story's weird metaphors and unbalanced (inapropriate?) relationships it's quite moving.
• Infinite Ryvius - Sunrise! Mecha! Space opera! Easily summed up as Lord of the Flies in space; it's both ambitious and well-executed. And when I say ambitious, I mean it has an ensemble cast of 500.
• Scrapped Princess - I didn't say so, but Scrapped Princess is "one of the better series you're probably not watching". If you ask me, it's just the sort of thing that J-RPG loving posters here would be into.

Geez, I've seen almost everything in this thread and a majority of the series are in my expansive collection... Makes me kind of proud... And also kind of sickened with myself. Ah well, I embrace it as my primary nerd obsession. And Shiva, Scrapped Princess? Hell yes. I love that series, the plot is so emotionally straining. A naive and innocent fifteen year old girl who wants nothing more than to live out a normal life around the people she loves, but is unable to due to a prophecy foretelling the destruction of the world should she reach her sixteenth birthday. Her brother Shannon battling it out with the Peacemakers with the powers of the lost technology the Dragoon? Awesome. Definitely recommended.

Shiva Indis wrote: Some other favorites of mine.

• Revolutionary Girl Utena - my most favorite-est anime, sort of a fairy tale turned askew. It's notoriously weird and has an uncanny way of always upping the weird ante. (Thanks to that, you don't even have to suspend your disbelief.)
• Loveless - What is wrong with this show? Why does that twenty-something guy seem to want that emotionally damaged 6th-grader to be his dom? If you accustom yourself to the story's weird metaphors and unbalanced (inapropriate?) relationships it's quite moving.
• Infinite Ryvius - Sunrise! Mecha! Space opera! Easily summed up as Lord of the Flies in space; it's both ambitious and well-executed. And when I say ambitious, I mean it has an ensemble cast of 500.
• Scrapped Princess - I didn't say so, but Scrapped Princess is "one of the better series you're probably not watching". If you ask me, it's just the sort of thing that J-RPG loving posters here would be into.

I actually haven't gotten around to any of these, though they're all on my list. Well, not Loveless. The first PV I saw before it started airing kind of turned me off, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't like it. Maybe I'll check it out! Oh, also.. I like Fushigi Yuugi a fair bit. Admission.

Series that don't conform on that level usually have the stoic composed badass who is larger than life,

Kurapica? Bleh, he pretends to be calm and badass, but he constantly cracks under pressure. Someone like Kurama from Yu Yu Hakusho is a true badass.


while Gon and Killua are just naive youth out and about in a secretive world that is too large for words.

I like Gon, but my favorite characters are Killua and Hisoka by far. I'm sure you've got to like Hisoka. He's an interesting character, and is fairly unique as well.

Eh, Kurapica is lame. Hisoka is easily my favorite character too, he's just so damned eeeevil! The calm composed badass character I was referring to relate's to characters like Kamui from X, or Aoshi from Kenshin. They just too awesome to care about anything and they have the skills to back it all up.

Eh, Kurapica is lame.

Yeah, he's like a watered down version of Kurama. Now Kurama on the other hand, is the man.


Hisoka is easily my favorite character too, he's just so damned eeeevil!

Yet, at the same time he can be nice and friendly. Awesome character.


The calm composed badass character I was referring to relate's to characters like Kamui from X, or Aoshi from Kenshin. They just too awesome to care about anything and they have the skills to back it all up.

Can't say I'm much of a fan of either character. Kenshin is one of my favorite animes, I vastly prefer Kenshin, Shishio, Saito, Hiko, and Sano though.

bleach- probably my fave... though it's pacing is horrible, i loved the battles, bankai, characters, story esp. it's kinda a game of chess b/w aizen and urahara... well it sucks that the villains keep getting killed(the espadas) but yeah sometimes you need not to care or you'll hate bleach...
the animation here is pretty good, i am so looking forward on the seven deadly sins chapter into anime... that battle is my favorite... i almost p*** in my pants when i saw the soul carnival animation of ulquiorra versus ichigo hollow form... damn...


one piece- this is good, slightly better than the manga version... although it's cartoonish, sometimes you need not to care...

hunter x hunter- it was good until the chimera arc... then the mangaka is pretty lazy (probably playing playstation games or probably a writer's block according to rumors)... yu yu hakusho i think is better...

Claymore- hmmm... probably what i hate about this series is that there are pretty much unnecessary deaths... i mean i like deaths to happened on the good side, but this is pretty much... much... but i really like it overall... teresa of the faint smile gaiden saved the series for me...

Dragon Ball- forget the angry outbursts that makes them "it's over 9000..."...lol this will always have a special place in my heart...

Bleach: I don't know why, but I'm really addicted to this one.. The plot flow is kinda choppy and vague but entertaining... I guess the action scenes and buildup makes up for any plot flaws.. lol

Fullmetal Alchemist: The storyline to this one was AMAZING!! I hated that it had to end, but the ending movie pulled it all together nicely at the end. I'd really like it to start back again.. The plot was so well designed and the abilities were great.

Dragon Ball Z: This was my first anime so, of course, it will also hold a special place in my heart.. The original Dragon Ball was nice too, but the newest spin-off, Dragon Ball GT, can go hide in a corner and die.. I hated it. It was like a spit to my Dragon Ball Z-loving face.. lol

Evangelion, Slayers, Berserk, Martian Successor Nadesico, Bubblegum Crisis: Tokyo 2040.

Macross 7!!

Hanbun no Tsuki ga Noboru Sora, Great Teacher Onizuka (manga is better though), Princess Mononoke and Outlaw Star (still watching, but its great).

Sonix wrote:Hanbun no Tsuki ga Noboru Sora, Great Teacher Onizuka (manga is better though), Princess Mononoke and Outlaw Star (still watching, but its great).

I agree wholeheartedly, the Onizuka manga is so much better than the anime.

I just saw Haibane Renmei for the first time. Yeah, I've been living under a rock or something.

I don't know if it's my absolute favorite, but it's easily in my top five. So beautiful and sad and strange all at the same time, with such lovely music.

I'm so picky when it comes to anime. I only pick it up if I know I will love it (or, like Star Ocean EX, I knew the quality was horrible and that I'd only be getting Disc 1 of the game through the plot, but being a long fan of it, bought it anyway).

I also pick up everything that Yoshitoshi ABe has been involved in, as he is my favorite artist and Lain was my second anime.

My top 10:
1) Perfect Blue (a movie techinically, but I also love Satoshi KON)
2) Lain or Haibane Renmei
3) Paranoia Agent
4) Tokko (animation was poor, series was good until final episode)
5) Neon Genesis Evangelion (Say Hi to your local Rei Ayanami / Lance of Longinus fan and my gf is the Asuka fanatic)
6) Digimon Adventure (as well as the english)
7) BoogiePop Phantom
8) Hell Girl
9) .hack//SIGN
10) FullMetal Alchemist

I'm sure there's more... but not much... Pokemon (Original through Johto and anything with Mew in it) and I've never put myself down to finish Noir, but its lovely too. I also need to finish ABe's other series' NeiA_7 and Texhnolyze...
I didnt grow up with Cartoon Network as a cable channel so I missed DragonBall/DBZ and Sailor Moon. I like what I did see of them (DB/DBZ in English, Sailor Moon mostly in Japanese, with some english) I liked the scrapped to heck CardCaptors but I've never gotten to see Card Captor Sakura and Utena because of the scarce DVD releases (I do own the rarest set of Utena though -- $15 sealed <3 ) and I've also wanted to pick up Welcome to the NHK (ABe did the art for the cover of the novel so I read it, now I want the series lol) I've also seen a little bit of anything popular... Naruto, Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, ect.
I want to see Solty Rei, Spice and Wolf, the new Eva movies, Monster (saw Ep 1 on PSN), and the few trickle of "dark" anime that have come out over the years. I know, S&W doesn't really count, but I just got excited over it.