gmh's list of anime i really enjoyed and would rec to someone with similar tastes

glennmagusharvey

primary:

Angel Beats!
Arpeggio of Blue Steel
Beyond the Boundary
Chaika the Coffin Princess
Eureka Seven
Kiddy Grade
Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha - especially the first season and StrikerS (the third season)
Magic Knight Rayearth
Rocket Girls
Sea Story
Sky Girls
Str.A.In.: Strategic Armored Infantry
Stratos 4 (full series)
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
The iDOLM@STER
The Tower of Druaga

secondary/pending:

Allison & Lillia
Atelier Escha & Logy
Lagrange: the Flower of Rin-ne (first season)
Stellvia of the Universe
Tales of Zestiria the X
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
Uta~Kata
Yuuki Yuuna is a Hero
and maybe also Absolute Duo or maybe I'm just currently high on the music (especially the theme songs which I really like) after watching it recently (considering i did almost drop it)

Imipolex G

no Teekyu? 0/10

glennmagusharvey

Imipolex G said:

no Teekyu? 0/10

no free demon stances

TitleName

Needs more dragon maido. Or Jojo. Or Chargeman Ken.

glennmagusharvey

TitleName said:

Or Chargeman Ken.

are you secretly nohaynicklibre?

'cuz that'd be pretty frickin' rad

Sredni Vashtar

glennmagusharvey said:

Chaika the Coffin Princess
Eureka Seven
Magic Knight Rayearth
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
Uta~Kata

All of these are decidedly on my "to-watch" list, although I have actually seen nothing on your list.

However: I have heard that Galaxy Fräulein Yuna Returns is a *lot* like the first season of Nanoha, and by the same director to whit, but even more in his style and more tightly and affectingly written. You would probably dig it. Also Starship Yamamoto Yohko, again by the same director.

glennmagusharvey

Isn't Yuna like only 2 episodes? Or are you talking about a sequel?

Sredni Vashtar

The sequel, which is three.

glennmagusharvey

TitleName said:

Needs more dragon maido. Or Jojo. Or Chargeman Ken.

I'm curious about Kobayashi's Maid-Dragon, actually. Probably will check it out later when the dust settles on it.

The only qualm is that it might be too wacky for me to put it on this list.

Speaking of things I have yet to watch, I was quite tempted to put ViVid Strike on here under pending.

Sredni Vashtar

Things Glenn Should Watch (If He Hasn't Already):

• Amanchu!
  
• Aria the Animation
• Bakemonogatari
  
• Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko
  
• Galaxy Fräulein Yuna Returns
• Haibane Renmei
• Hidamari Sketch
• Key the Metal Idol
  
• Kino's Journey
  
• Kobayashi's Maid-Dragon
• Natsume's Book of Friends
• RahXephon
  
• Record of a Yokohama Shopping Trip
• Selector Infected WIXOSS
  
• Starship Yamamoto Yohko
• Yurikuma Arashi
  

Sredni Vashtar

I might also add Gingitsune but that's dependent on your reaction to Natsume, methinks.

Crystal

Your disdain and standards for so-called "wacky" always low-key baffles me; not because it's a confusing thing to understand or recognize, but because that particular phrasing is - at least in my experience - commonly code for anime with an implicit twinge of insults to it, which you are not to anime as a medium, but definitely to specific varieties of madcap and energetic humor. That and it also just seems... weird, and at times weirdly dismissive, so my layered response just ends up as a solidified bunch of question marks.

This is only tangentially relevant, mildly amusingly and annoyingly, though I've yet to find a better time.

As for the recommendations... I feel like a number of those aren't all there, or off-mark. But. Shrug

Fossilmaiden

Honestly I'm more confused by the juxtaposition of "too wacky" and then Haruhi being on the list.

Sredni Vashtar

^^ Some are rooted in personal curiosity about how he'd feel about them, some are just straight up "this seems like your aesthetic." It's a mix of what I feel are sounder suggestions and shots in the dark. If it seems weird, it's because I'm interested in the potential response, or playing off an unusual favourite.

Sredni Vashtar

For instance, knowing that Glenn quite liked Uta~Kata, I recommended Key the Metal Idol for related reasons; conversely, I recommended RahXephon and Kino's Journey for their tones rather than their content.

Crystal

That's fair. See, I half-assumed it was that, but considering it wasn't anything that can be messed up too much by assumptions or speaking them, and fairly understandable...

glennmagusharvey

Crystal said:

Your disdain and standards for so-called "wacky" always low-key baffles me; not because it's a confusing thing to understand or recognize, but because that particular phrasing is - at least in my experience - commonly code for anime with an implicit twinge of insults to it, which you are not to anime as a medium, but definitely to specific varieties of madcap and energetic humor. That and it also just seems... weird, and at times weirdly dismissive, so my layered response just ends up as a solidified bunch of question marks.

I think I know what you mean.  I haven't quite figured it out myself.  One of the great mysteries of my tastes is my relationship with comedy, which I really haven't been able to figure out.  I seem to definitely gravitate toward drama series and have a dislike for series that "don't take things seriously when they should be", but I also do enjoy some comedy, and it doesn't seem to be related to the amount of comedy.  Closest I've come to an explanation is that I prefer when my comedy subverts expectations and even meaning, rather than playing to them (e.g. stereotypes), but I don't know how true this statement is.

Also I don't really like tons of really squeaky voices.

But yeah, how my comedy tastes work is one thing that I have yet to work out.  The other question I still haven't figured out is why I dislike a certain kind of series (this extends to games too), and unfortunately I can't really figure out how to describe it, aside from putting down some examples.  The first two that come to mind are the Persona series and Danganronpa.  (A friend did finally get me to look into trying Persona 3 Portable, which I might do at some point, but this pattern still remains.  At least with Danganronpa I can know to blame the stupid demonic teddy bear...)  I think I usually default to calling this "anime weird", but that's not a particularly useful term (as I am interested in some other widjetty things).

I'd really like to figure out these two questions, if any of you wanna help me with them.

Fossilmaiden said:

Honestly I'm more confused by the juxtaposition of "too wacky" and then Haruhi being on the list.

I'll certainly agree that it's an oddball relative to everything else, that I was surprised I was putting on there too.  But I think what made Haruhi work was that it didn't simply feature Haruhi being an asshole played for laughs, or Haruhi's companions all being anime stereotypes played for laughs, but instead Kyon gave it a greater narrative context and was able to take a provide of "backstage" view of the setting premise.

Sredni Vashtar said:

Things Glenn Should Watch (If He Hasn't Already):

I'm on a slow connection at the moment so I can't watch trailers, but I'll look them up on MAL and comment accordingly.  Do note that trailers can dramatically change things, such as by showing really moving events or being accompanied by music that I really like, or by showing features that I might not enjoy.

• Amanchu!: was this listed because i like swimsuits This seems like it could be interesting.  Nothing really jumps out to me, aside from the bright and generally positive feel of the cover and screenshots, and nothing annoys me either.
  
• Aria the Animation: I started watching this already.  I don't think I'm really in the mood for this yet -- at least, knowing what I've heard it is, which is a "feelgood" sort of series.
  
• Bakemonogatari: So, before looking this series up on MAL, I gotta say, the -monogatari franchise gives me that same "anime weird" vibe as those two games I mentioned earlier.  I don't know why it does.  Anyway, a reading of MAL's description and a viewing of its cover and screenshots doesn't change much -- just confirms to me that it's about Japanese schoolchildren plus supernatural stuff.
  
• Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko: Already on my to-watch list.  A seemingly weird series that might be interesting.  My main concerns about this series are that it might end up being a commentary on hikikomoris or feature awkward fanservice.
• Galaxy Fräulein Yuna Returns: I watched the first ep of its predecessor a while back and dropped it; I think it was too much humor and not enough storytelling, or something.  Maybe I'll give it another shot since it's short.
  
• Haibane Renmei: I remember this name from showing up on "elitist" lists, IIRC.  The cover's art reminds me why I confuse this with Lain.  The complex premise, darker color tones, and it being a psychological mystery drama, suggest that I might find it too "distant" or possibly wordy, depending on how well it's written, though I can't say I object to any of these elements per se.
  
• Hidamari Sketch: This is one of those cute-adorable slice-of-life series, right?  I do already have Sketchbook: Full Color's on my to-watch list (thank you LouieW) so my immediate reaction to this is that I'm likely to watch that first, especially since this seems to give off more of a comedy vibe while I'd be going for a cutedorable series for the warm-and-fuzzy feeling, as opposed to the anime gags.
  
• Key the Metal Idol: Already on my to-watch list.  Aside from the music component, this show's premise -- a futuristic setting on the gritty side, and mystery elements in drama, and with humanoid robots no less -- seems reminiscent of Solty Rei, which I'm in the middle of.  Unless there's something else that really stands out about this, I'd probably finish Solty Rei before moving onto this one.
  
• Kino's Journey: Also already on my to-watch list.  I'm interested in this for its being a journey of observation, which is something I appreciate.  Not watching it at the moment since I'm not currently in the mood for this particular setting (modern/slightly-dated realism), though.
  
• Kobayashi's Maid-Dragon: Already commented on.  Curious about this; will enjoy it much if it involves said dragon sassing the fuck out of things and generally being more than simply a mixture of cutesiness and fanservice.  If it is just a mixture of those two things, though, I'll be disappointed.  I wanna see attitude!  And also I don't think I'll like that other dragon girl, based on the screenshots people have posted here.  maybe she's like my obnoxious sister Celestia, huge boobs included
  
• Natsume's Book of Friends: Very much steeped in Japanese cultural mythos.  I might potentially enjoy it, especially since it is labeled drama, and based on its reputation, it seems like it probably is thoughtfully-written, but it's just not something I'd typically pick up.  (But hey, I do like Beyond the Boundary, and it's a series that is very "Japanese" and even has two characters that I initially kinda disliked.)
  
• RahXephon: What I know of this series is that it's one of two "descendants" of Evangelion, the other being the (much different) TTGL.  The alien creatures have literally blue blood this time (no need to explain "blood type: blue"), and a guy is a main character and there's a mysterious girl.  Nothing seems to jump out at me for this series, though, which is probably why I haven't watched it.
  
• Record of a Yokohama Shopping Trip: Already on my to-watch list, and I expect it to be one of those poetic shorts (short as in not a full-cour series), probably a pretty enjoyable watch.
  
• Selector Infected WIXOSS: Also already on my to-watch list.  My main concern with this one is that it might get too contrived since it's all about this playing this game.  The premise doesn't give me confidence, in describing this game as some sort of Serious Business Thing That Your Life Literally Depends On.
  
• Starship Yamamoto Yohko: The premise seems interesting.  I've never heard of this series before.  Thanks!  *adds to to-watch list*
  
• Yurikuma Arashi: I'll be honest, the memes make me not really want to watch this.  I mean, I'm really not interested in watching something that does weird, outlandish things just to generate memes.  The premise seems to be on the more contrived side, though I could potentially see this becoming interesting if, say, it becomes about the main characters resisting this order-imposing organization.

Thanks for posting this list, by the way -- I'm actually starting to notice just how much of a role the setting (and more generally, aesthetic) of a series goes into whether I get interested in it.  I've been recced various series in the past, based on them having a "great story", but then I end up rarely choosing them because I'm often not in the mood for that sort of setting or premise.

If there's any other observations or patterns that stand out to you, do feel free to tell.  I'm rather interested in this.

Sredni Vashtar

Haibane Renmei was actually written by the character designer for serial experiments: lain, on Yoshitoshi ABe, who also wrote NieA_7 and produced the concept art for Texhnolyze. It starts out as a slice-of-life fantasy story which gradually turns into... something very emotional, in a very understand but deeply resonant way. It's also a very character-driven story about cute girls in a pastoral setting.

RahXephon is also heavily character-oriented, with some really interesting thematic stuff relating to interpersonal relationships and music which seem very "you" to me.

Bakemonogatari is a very dense show that starts out seeming cold and becomes far more emotionally intense and complex than it seems at first blush. I think you will really like Tsubasa Hanekawa as a character, and probably Kaiki and Yotsugi as well, although they don't show up for a while.

Yurikuma Arashi isn't really a meme show, despite producing a lot of memes. It's more like a modern fairy tale about how society forces people to act in certain ways, whether for or against it, particularly queer women. It's also a love story, and a story about friendship and false choices and self-imposed illusions. It's from the same director as Utena, but it's shorter and seems more your bag aesthetically. The weirdness, while initially cryptic, is of a piece with the show's message and is only really confusing in the first episode, after which things gradually begin to fall into place.

glennmagusharvey

Related, on a flipside sort of way:

A recent thread on MAL has been "Have you ever revisited a dropped anime and ended up liking it?".

I found this more interesting than the usual "list your favorites" (which tbh this here thread kinda ended up being), because it actually got me to think about some other series I had on my mind at some point in time.

Here's my post in that thread:

Most recently I almost dropped Absolute Duo because I got sick of
the fanservice by episode 2, but then I'm glad I stuck with it because I
actually enjoyed it overall.



I did drop Qualidea Code but I promised a friend I'd watch it so technically that would be an un-drop, but not a "real" one.



Looking at my Dropped list right now, the most likely things (albeit for rather small values of "likely") I am to un-drop are:

* Mai-HiME (because I watched about 2/3 of it a long time ago)

* Infinite Ryvius (because I've heard it's a great series, but I have to be in the mood for Lord of the Flies first)

* Young Black Jack (same reason as above, but I have to be in the mood for a psychological thriller first)

* Run=Dim (because it's just there and it'll be amusing to see how bad
it is...though most of that may be because the sub job is just horrible)

* Plastic Memories (because it kinda looks cool)

* You're Under Arrest (because it seems kinda interesting)

* Cromartie (because it's actually pretty funny, even if it's not something I'm usually looking for)

Upon reflecting on the post a bit, I think the most likely candidates here are Plastic Memories and You're Under Arrest.

Plastic Memories is a series that I started by watching it with a few friends.  We decided that it was just, like, notably tropey/wishfulfillmenty and so we dropped it, but it always sat around in my head as "why, exactly, did I drop it?  did i just drop it to look good in front of other people and not reflect on myself as being weebish, or something?".  Meanwhile, the show looks colorful and attractive.

You're Under Arrest, IIRC, I started that because I thought it'd have a certain really cool song by savage genius as its theme song.  Actually, that's the third season's theme song.  So after one ep I was disappointed that I didn't get the theme song I wanted and also the comedy seemed a little excessive, while I was looking for something a bit more serious.  The premise description, however, does seem to suggest that I should stick with it and it might get more interesting and substantial later on.

Cromartie is an episodic comedy series that's probably gonna have me watching it much the same way as I do Squid Girl -- basically rarely and in small doses.  And Squid Girl is on my on-hold list (i.e. currently watching, since I stopped using that category).

Young Black Jack is a prequel to Black Jack which is about a genius doctor who works for the mafia, I think.  YBJ is how he got to working for them, if I recall correctly.  I saw two eps of it and enjoyed how it was somewhat of an intellectual drama -- the guy's a genius and cooks up creative schemes.  But, not really something that resonates with me at the moment.

Meanwhile, yeah, I know Ryvius is supposed to be really good, and I know it's Lord of the Flies in space.  I still haven't been in the mood for it.  I dunno why.

And I think Mai-HiME was my first experience with the feeling of "why am I watching this?".  It felt contrived and forced together, after a while.  Like, here are these characters, who have superpowers, but their superpowers can be targeted and if they break then their loved ones die, because extra drama.  And now here's a school romcom because it's set in a school.  Now let's switch between them.  And secret conspiracies.  And delinquient schoolmates.  And embarrassing Natsuki by stealing her panties.  And romantic drama and love triangles.  Somehow all this was supposed to fit together, and it didn't.  The most convincing things in that series were the theme song, and the fact that I think that both Natsuki and Nao are kinda cool (hence my using them as avatars back on TVT, a while ago).  Also the ED fades in really nicely.  But that's like, getting the gravy right but the meatloaf tastes dry and bland.

Finally, Run=Dim is...a strange series.  All CG, and also the subs are horrible.  Filesize is really small though.

glennmagusharvey

@Crystal: Come to think of it, this might interest you if you're curious about my tastes.  I think Stratos 4 may have been particularly formative on my tastes, despite my not mentioning it as much as I do Kiddy Grade.  I'm noticing that it contains a number of elements that I have a record of enjoying/seeking:

• Focused at least in part on character development, including character drama within slice-of-life.
• Introducing the main conflict/subject of the story only several episodes in, after the audience has become comfortable with the characters so far.
• Bright atmosphere at first, during slice-of-life scenes, contrasted with darker atmosphere later, during later drama events.
• Lightly/gently humorous, subtle compared to typical "wacky" anime humor, so it instead has an endearing effect.
• Slice-of-life early on in the series, to introduce the characters and characterize/develop them.  Spends enough time in slice-of-life portions to give a good sense of each character's personality, including secondary characters', before moving into drama.  Using these to define the characters, rather than off-the-shelf character "stereotype" archetypes.
• Drama gets pretty serious, but not without proper build-up, including some amount of feeling comfortable, so that the drama really feels meaningful.  Also, there remain some threads of lightly humorous banter, as well as glimpses of side-stories.
• "Team dynamics" - different characters helping each other as part of a team (multiple such "teams" are featured in the series, and this is especially notable in the finale).  Overall, the main cast -- and also much of the secondary cast -- are generally well-meaning people, who, despite some personality differences, do genuinely want to help the whole group succeed.  Even some seemingly minor characters have important roles to play in making things possible.
  
• Music I really like - especially the OP/EDs by Melocure.  OP is lyrical, bright, and hopeful, while the final ED (different from regular ED) is a contemplative and beautifully melodic track that -- alongside the visuals -- invites the viewer to reflect on the story and the journey that they took through it.  The musical score also meshes well with and helps to define the scenes.

Incidentally, there exists an English dub of this series, but I watched it with Japanese audio and English subtitles...and was just fine with it.  (For what it's worth, it IS set in Japan, specifically on Shimoji Island, though to be fair I'm not sure that had anything to do with my enjoyment of the subbed version.)

Crystal

I'm curious about everyone's tastes! So thanks. Of the shows I know you've mentioned a lot, besides Kiddy Grade, I definitely recognize Stratos 4 as being commonly mentioned (and due to having it on my PTW list). I'll chew on that.

glennmagusharvey

things (that i haven't seen, of course) that i am apparently jumbling together in my head:
* Plastic Memories
* Zetsuen no Tempest (or however you spell that)
* Gargantia (or however its full title goes)
* Izetta
* Charlotte
* Rage of Bahamut

separately
* Hunter x Hunter (HxH)
* Highschool DxD

Crystal

glennmagusharvey said:

things (that i haven't seen, of course) that i am apparently jumbling together in my head:
* Rage of Bahamut

This show makes me feel weird because a few people I respect think reasonably positively of it, and have seen more of it than I have, but I... just could not finish it. Watched exactly half of it thrice and lost all focus.

glennmagusharvey

i forgot "Grimgar" in that first list

and then for some reason I also confuse Grimgar with Berserk despite knowing what Berserk is


another "grouping" in my head
* CxCxC
* money: the soul and control of possibility (whatever it's called)
* no game no life
* problem children

i think i get these clusters of shows that people talk about at around the same time and thus i end up clustering them in my head

that's why i have a cluster made of Stratos 4, Rocket Girls, Sky Girls, and Stellvia
and another made of Lagrange, Symphogear, and AKB0048
and another made of Arpeggio and Coppelion
and another made of Asterisk War, Hundred, Absolute Duo, and Qualidea Code (the first three of which I've actually watched in a row)

Salix Babylonika

You have maybe the most impenetrable taste in anime I have ever seen.

I don't mean that as an insult, just an observatino.

glennmagusharvey

Jane said:

You have maybe the most impenetrable taste in anime I have ever seen.

I don't mean that as an insult, just an observatino.

You're fine.  I think it's taken me a while to figure that out too.  That said, I do have a guess at what it is, in a nutshell: (you may want to answer the question below before you read this, if you want to give an unbiased answer) I pick stuff to watch based on it having attractive female characters (or sometimes, a theme song i like), but I end up really enjoying stuff based on it making me go ;_; or "whoa" or some other intense emotion.

That said, I'm just curious, why do you find it impenetrable? 

Salix Babylonika

I just struggle to find a coherent through-line in anything you listed.

"Cutesiness" is...sorta something? I guess? Vaguely? That I can get a handle on?

Other than that I sort of struggle to see what the unifying theme is. Granted, I am much the same way.

glennmagusharvey

Jane said:

I just struggle to find a coherent through-line in anything you listed.

"Cutesiness" is...sorta something? I guess? Vaguely? That I can get a handle on?

Other than that I sort of struggle to see what the unifying theme is. Granted, I am much the same way.

You should make a thread like this too! i'd read it.

Anyway, looking through what I listed, I think the two things that stand out to me are that most of them have female protagonists (and the rest have female characters in prominent roles), and most of them are drama and/or slice of life (comedy is rarely a draw for me).

Salix Babylonika

maybe you'd like Record of Yokohama Shopping Trip? it has a female lead and nothing much happens in it

also it's a manga, but, you know, same ballpark

glennmagusharvey

Jane said:

maybe you'd like Record of Yokohama Shopping Trip? it has a female lead and nothing much happens in it

also it's a manga, but, you know, same ballpark

There's also an anime series of it and it's on my plan-to-watch already. Though it strikes me as a "poetic" series so I'd pick it out if I wanted that. I'm guessing you've read it, so would you say this characterization is fair?

(also sorry about my completely missing a chunk of a sentence eariler)

Sredni Vashtar

Gotta keep pressing Haibane Renmei here. It's pretty much everything you've said you like in one neat little package. The reason it winds up on a lot of snob lists is it's a stone-cold classic that tends to get overlooked by more mainstream fans because it was made on a shoestring (albeit with great success) and it's really hard to explain its core appeal without spoiling it or making it sound less cool/nuanced than it actually is.

Salix Babylonika

glennmagusharvey said:

Jane said:

maybe you'd like Record of Yokohama Shopping Trip? it has a female lead and nothing much happens in it

also it's a manga, but, you know, same ballpark

There's also an anime series of it and it's on my plan-to-watch already. Though it strikes me as a "poetic" series so I'd pick it out if I wanted that. I'm guessing you've read it, so would you say this characterization is fair?

(also sorry about my completely missing a chunk of a sentence eariler)

Sort of?

Incidentally the manga is much better.

glennmagusharvey

Jane said:

glennmagusharvey said:

Jane said:

maybe you'd like Record of Yokohama Shopping Trip? it has a female lead and nothing much happens in it

also it's a manga, but, you know, same ballpark

There's also an anime series of it and it's on my plan-to-watch already. Though it strikes me as a "poetic" series so I'd pick it out if I wanted that. I'm guessing you've read it, so would you say this characterization is fair?

(also sorry about my completely missing a chunk of a sentence eariler)

Sort of?

Incidentally the manga is much better.

https://myanimelist.net/manga.php?id=4 this?

Crystal

Yeah, that. Haven't finished it but it's in my good books.

glennmagusharvey

Shows that may make more sense with thinking about them more after watching them the first time:
* Guilty Crown
* Angel Beats
* Fractale

glennmagusharvey

Jane said:

You have maybe the most impenetrable taste in anime I have ever seen.

I don't mean that as an insult, just an observatino.

For what it's worth, I was talking with @Crystal about anime recently and the topic of reflecting on one's tastes came up, so I asked her what _she_ thought my tastes were like.

Here's her reply:

"Contemplative anime that are accessible and yet have a lot to chew on thematically while also lending itself to a personable verismilitude. Media that is relatable, and tells human stories, but is necessarily not detached in its emotional craft. Compassionate to women, and to the human struggle, really."