I watched my first aniime a few years back (Psycho-Pass) but haven't touched anything else.
What are some must watch anime? I don't want any ecchi shit, I want stuff with a proper story. I don't mind if there's love subplots, as long as they don't become the main focus of the anime.
I have a month to do nothing but chill, and I was thinking of trying out Initial D and SOA. Are these any good? I've also heard about Evangelion, but I don't know if it's good.
Suggestions and summaries would be cool.
>>135123
Initial D is alright. SAO is shit.
Evangelion is... way overhyped, but as it's one of the turning points of the industry, is a must.
>>135125
How come SOA is shit? And Evangelion does look a bit boring to me. What's it about?
>>135126
>How come SOA is shit?
Because the writing is cringy as fuck. Edgy and whiny.
Then again, the author was a teenager when he started publishing the novel online.
>What's [Evangelion] about?
On the surface, it's about giant robots fighting aliens.
But it's more about feelings of alienation steeped in 2DEEP4U allegory. Not saying that's a good thing, but again, Evangelion changed anime forever.
>>135128
Wow, so they both sound shit. Anything else tat's actually good?
>>135128
Wait. No, looks like the author of SAO was 28 when he started publishing it online.
So he's got no excuse.
>>135129
Again, Evangelion is a must, even if it's overhyped.
By the way, Psycho-Pass is shit too. Urobuchi (the writer) is a plagiarizing hack.
But if you liked it, go watch Ghost in the Shell, which it heavily... borrowed from. There's two movies (GitS and GitS Innocence), two 26-episode TV seasons (Stand Alone Complex and Stand Alone Complex Second Gig), and a movie stemming from the TV series (Solid State Society). Oh, and a prequel series of 5 OVAs/10 TV episodes (Arise).
And a Cute Girls Doing Cute Things series by the same author, on the same universe, but completely separate to GitS (Pandora in the Crimson Shell: Ghost Urn).
Monster
Durarara
>>135134
Durarara is good, but Baccano is better.
Wish Omori's new studio did more of it. Or Vamp. Though it looks like 91 days is gonna be pretty good too.
>>135133
I'll try Ghost in The Shell. Anything else that is a must watch?
I don't wanna watcth things becaus I have to. I'd rather watch them if they're good, and Evangelion doesn't look good. Is it focused on the girl?
>>135137
>Evangelion doesn't look good. Is it focused on the girl?
There's 2 girls... no, 3... no, 4 if we count Rebuild.
They're not really the focus. Well, Asuka is the focus of something in The End of Evangelion alright, but not of the story.
The focus of the story is Shinji's shitty relationship with his dad and the people who surround them, as well as the reasons why many of the characters are broken people.
As for "must watch", there's no such thing. Anime is a medium, not a genre. You could say "what's the must watch mecha anime" or "the must watch romance anime" or "the must watch avant-garde anime" or shit like that, but there's no blanket must-watch. If there is such a thing, it might be the game-changers, like Gundam 0079, Evangelion, Azumanga, Code Geass, K-On, Monogatari and Madoka, and hell, I'd only consider one of those good (Gundam) and two of those not absolute shit (Azumanga and Monogatari), but as they're trend-setters, they're the closest there is to must-watch animus.
>>135137
neon genesis evangelion + end of evangelion
cowboy bebop + movie
akira
great teacher onizuka
memories
5 cm per second
samurai x trust and betrayal
ninja scroll
fma brotherhood
berserk
mushishi
welcome to the nhk
the tatami galaxy
serial experiments lain
death note
trigun
the melancholy of haruhi
ghibli's movies (totoro + spirited away)
planetes
oregairu
k-on
shigurui
flcl
samurai champloo
Accel World is by the same author as SAO, but is much more enjoyable. As long as you don't take it too seriously, it's a fun ride.
Baccano is a must-watch, very accessible and with a good story. It's told non-linearly, with multiple threads across multiple times eventually coming together to make one coherent story. Good balance of fun and serious moments. Durarara, by the same author, has a much longer anime adaptation, but is generally considered not as good.
I'd be remiss to not recommend Cowboy Bebop if you somehow haven't even seen that, but the lesser-hyped Sunrise space opera Outlaw Star is even better, in my opinion.
This might seem a bit out there, but Girls und Panzer is also really good. I know it looks like K-On with tanks, but actually, it's a decent sports anime focused on teamwork and drifting tanks. Zero pantsu shots. Not exactly heavy on the plot, but thoroughly enjoyable.
Jojo's Bizarre Adventure is another must-watch. The manga is broken up into eight parts, each one a largely self-contained story, and the manga is in the middle of covering the fourth one. Now, the third part drags on a bit and is generally considered weak, but the first two parts are only 26 episodes combined and are well worth watching. Make sure you get the 2012 TV series, not the old OVAs.
Jormungand is alright; it's about a group of weapons dealers who go around the world making sweet deals and blowing shit up, but there is actually some overarching plot (that I can't give away without spoilers).
Kaiji is pretty fun, a story about a guy who gambles in bizarre situations and seems to always lose except when it counts. It suffers from some pacing issues, but is decent overall.
Another that's maybe a bit out there, Katanagatari is really good if you're okay with a lot of wordswordswords.
Oh, comment too long, huh? (1/2)
If you want to chill then Initial D is a good anime to do that with rather than Eva. Don't force yourself to watch it if you're not interested and have a limited amount of time.
I have no idea what else you might find interesting but just try some of these:
Kaiji
Death Note
Outlaw Star
Birdy the Mighty: Decode
>>135153
Log Horizon is oft compared to SAO even though they really have very little in common, only superficial similarities. It's a neat series, though a bit light on the action, and I can't speak to the quality of the second season as I haven't seen it yet. Worth a look.
Spice and Wolf is another must-watch. Again, not what it looks like, see pic related.
Samurai Champloo is classic entry-level. Not much to say there except 'watch it'.
Steins;Gate is slow to get going, but fairly intense once it does. It has a fair sprinkling of 'otaku culture', but should be accessible anyway. God knows enough casuals like it already.
TTGL is another entry-level-as-fuck series, and also one of my personal favorites, despite a lot of people shitting on it because it's popular.
There was recently an HD remake of the classic Space Battleship Yamato, which is certainly a classic.
I'll also list a few that are good but aren't really what you're looking for; if you want to explore a bit, try these:
Arakawa Under the Bridge
Azumanga Daioh
Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou
Dantalian no Shoka
Hidamari Sketch
Ixion Saga DT
Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita
Joshiraku
Kill Me Baby
Love Lab
Nanoha (and As, and StrikerS)
Bakemonogatari
Paranoia Agent
Cromartie High
Symphogear
Working
>>135177
All those good recs, and you still want to watch SAO. Where did we go wrong?
Well, whatever, watch it first and you can only go up from there.
>>135188
Well, I haven't seen a valid reason stated as to why it's shit. It looks the same as Evangelion to me; overrated.
>>135213
SAO is the epitome of teenage delusions-of-grandeur, wish-fulfillment bullshit. And that's in a medium that's already heavily focused on that kind of thing; there are innumerable series featuring school-age protagonists with special abilities or thrust into extraordinary situations. But SAO is like a parody of itself.
The protagonist is a blatant self-insert for every loser middle-schooler who draws dudes with spiky hair and swords in the margins of their notebook and daydreams of a world where they can be more powerful than anyone. He's ridiculously cool and strong and plot-armored despite being a totally average kid in real life, and girls fall all over him for no reason, despite his having the personality of a whiny brick.
Aside from that, the writing is nothing special. The characters and their interactions don't seem very believable, and the plot is moved along by asspulls. There's just nothing there worth watching for. Even if you want a series that's cheesy, or with an overpowered MC, or with a terrible harem subtheme, there are better bad anime to choose from. Seriously, go watch Mahouka or Blade Dance or NGNL or fucking anything but SAO.
>>135219
Or Log Horizon if you want the "trapped in an MMO" thing, but good. Or if you want the original series with this theme, .hack.
>>135213
Evangelion may be overrated, but it's still a fantastic watch in a lot of ways. Definitely give it a watch in a few years once you've got some actual taste.
>>135123
Try attack on Titan if you are new to anime it could be a fun and it's also only 12 eps
Also try black Lagoon it has a good dub
It's hard to recommend anything when all we have to go on is you watched psycho pass a few years back and didn't hate it
>>135213
Kirito is utterly unlikable as a main character if you're over the age of 15. The story bends itself around him in unnatural ways. The way the author tries so hard to explain everything so it sounds plausible, only to contrive reasons for Kirito to be the best in increasingly inane and stupid ways all without a shred of self awareness makes it almost painful to watch. It actually only gets worse as it goes on, I'm convinced the author is doing it on purpose and hates his audience.
