this post was submitted on 29 Jul 2023
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I'm not particularly into anime, I like it just as much as live action shows or other types of animation. Having said that, I feel like watching some and I'm not sure what to pick.

Here's a list of other anime shows I've watched/manga and novels I've read, so you can better judge what to recommend. ( would greatly appreciate the story to be completed, I hate waiting years for closure) :

Full Metal Alchemist, Naruto : both great stories, I've read the mangas and loved them. They wouldn't be a priority to watch because I already read them.

Attack on Titan: started with the anime, it was great, switched to the manga, got extremely disappointed with the story development and its ending. It felt a bit like nonsense for me.

Dragon Ball/Z : probably my favourite, I've rewatched it recently. I don't like GT and Super.

Overlord: I've read good part of the novel and manga. I'm liking it so far

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: please No thanks. Not for me.

Death Note: loved the first arc, not a fan of the ending but no hate for it unlike with AOT.

I also recall Escaflowne and Inuyasha, they were alright but not something I've loved or hated. Cowboy Bebop also in this category, excellent visually and great OST but the story wasn't as gripping.

Other than that... Feel free to suggest any other titles! Extra thanks if you are specific about any versions and why is the show so great.

TIA

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[–] lvxferre@lemmy.ml 30 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (5 children)

My recs, roughly in order of what I'm predicting that you'll like the best, based on what you said.

  • Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann - mechas, action, epicness, plot twists? Yeah, you got all of them, while you follow the story of a bunch of people raised underground, fighting their way up.
  • Chainsaw Man - fast-paced action in a world full of demons. The protagonist merges with one, after living in shit since childhood, and that changes his life. Expect lots of humour, and the intro becoming an earworm.
  • Kimetsu no Yaiba - historical-ish setting. The protagonist is a demon killer, who's sided by his demonised sister (yup). Sword fighting, great visuals, interesting and atypical story.
  • Dr. Stone - humanity has been petrified for thousands of years, and a single genius boy is trying to discover why, how, and how to revert it. The science there is 90% accurate, 10% fantasy.
  • Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (2009) - you watched the "original" FMA (2003), right? This one has slightly better worldbuilding and plot, and it's better grounded in the manga, although the homunculi are more relatable in the original.
  • Noragami - the story of a stray god, a girl who can see spirits and gods, and the spirit of a dead boy.
  • Mairimashita! Iruma-kun - protag gets sold to a demon by his parents. And the demon actually treats him better than they did. So he goes to school, alongside demons, while pretending to be one.
  • Dungeon ni Deai wo Motomeru no wa Machigatteiru Darou ka - a boy who wants to be a hero, fighting in a dungeon full of monsters, in a world where the gods descended and granted their blessing to mortals of their liking. Which gods? Yes. Romantic comedy with epic vibes.
  • Kill la Kill - watch this one if you watched TTGL and liked it. Heavy nudity, but the same "vibe" as TTGL. Hard to explain without giving you spoilers.

A few classics that I feel like they should be mentioned, but don't relate well to what you said that you liked:

  • Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi - movie, not a series. About a girl who's spirited away to a world full of yokai, trying to save her piggyfied parents.
  • Tonari no Totoro - also a movie, not a series, about children who move to a suburban neighbourhood full of magical creatures.
  • Neon Genesis Evangelion - psychological drama pretending to be a mecha anime.

Some old style isekais, since you mentioned that you liked Overlord:

  • Log Horizon - also "transported into a game", except that it happens with a fuckload of people at once. Most focus is how those people organise themselves in their former MMORPG, now real life, as well as how they handle the NPCs around them.
  • Isekai Maou to Shoukan Shoujo no Dorei Majutsu - two girls in a fantasy world decide to summon someone, hoping to enslave him to help them out... only to get their magic deflected and end enslaved. The world is the same as the game world that the protagonist (the summoned guy) played.
  • Re:Zero - protag gets transported to a fantasy world. He doesn't know how or why. His main ability is to go back in time, when he dies; so he experiences death over and over and over.
  • Mushoku Tensei - the protag starts as completely scum, but he gets slightly less worse over time. Great worldbuilding and characterisation.
  • Benriya Saitou-San, Isekai ni Iku - a handyman gets transported into a swords-and-magic world. Big focus on character relationship.

I don't recommend the anime, but check the manga if possible:

  • Elfen Lied - a discussion on what makes a human "human", morals, and the likes. The anime adaptation is rather poor to be honest, but the manga is decent. Content warning: gore, sexual violence, a girl pissing herself right off the bat.
  • Hoshi no Samidare - a great story, but poorly animated, about a bunch of people trying to save the world from a giant biscuit hammer that you only see if you know about it, that's going to hit Earth and destroy it. While subordinated to a girl who actually wants to destroy the world.

EDIT: GreenZanbato mentioned Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken, or "That Time that I Reincarnated as a Slime". It's also an isekai, roughly with the same vibe as Overlord; but the protagonist reincarnates as a slime, and he's far more self-aware than dummy Ainz. The novels are also great to read.

[–] Mothra@mander.xyz 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Wow you went above and beyond with the recs menu, thank you. TTGL sounds interesting when you put it like that! Appreciate the other recommendations too. As for the movies- I was looking for series, and yes I've seen most of studio Ghibli ones, Chihiro and Totoro being the two I liked the most.

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[–] GreenZanbato@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 year ago (4 children)

This is a great write up, but I’d put Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken (TenSura) at the top of the isekai list for any Overlord fan. Unlike Overlord, the main character starts off as the weakest monster, a slime, but the power growth is absurd and you quickly get into the same satisfying power fantasies as Overlord.

As a sort of non-spoiler comparison for those that have seen Overlord, two of my favorite (similar) scenes in the later seasons of each show are the iΓ€ Shub-Niggurath scene (Overlord) and the Megiddo scene (TenSura). Feel free to look them up if you don’t care about spoilers and want to see some amazing ultimate attacks out of context.

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[–] 07Chess@sh.itjust.works 13 points 1 year ago (2 children)

If you like DBZ you would probably like Hunter X Hunter and Yuyu Hakusho. These two are both written by the same person and have similar vibes but the story and setting are very different. HxH especially is very widely acclaimed for good reason. In this vein you may also like Black Clover.

Anime that I'd recommend in general would be Akame Ga Kill, Mahou Shouju Madoka Magicka (watch 3-4 episodes, trust the process), Parasyte, Gurren Laggann, One Punch Man, Angel Beats, Katanagatari, Made In Abyss, and Berserk (1997),

If you want to get in your feelings: Erased, Kotaro Lives Alone, and The Promised Neverland (season 1 only). Spy X Family (cute and silly but very good)

Some current very popular DBZ-esque anime is My Hero Academia, Jujutsu Kaisen, and Demon Slayer Kimetso no Yaiba.

[–] arcrust@lemmy.ml 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Oh boy. I'm not the kind of person that rewatches shows, but I've seen Yu Yu Hakusho 3 times and HxH twice. Both of them are just so excellent. I had no idea they were by the same guy. That's awesome

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[–] pinwurm@lemmy.world 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I’m not particularly into anime either, but I thought that β€œThe Devil Is A Part-Timer” and β€œOne Punch Man” were really funny and clever.

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[–] jet@hackertalks.com 10 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Serial Experiments of Lain!

[–] Marxine@lemmy.ml 6 points 1 year ago

Cult classic! Duvet is such a great song

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[–] JimmyDean@lemm.ee 10 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I'd recommend the movie Akira (1988). It's pretty much a classic from the era of early anime, extremely detailed animation and official English dub.

[–] Mothra@mander.xyz 3 points 1 year ago

Yes, that's an excellent one. I've watched the movie and the manga is epic. 100% with you on that one. I didn't list as I was thinking mostly series, not movies.

[–] 2fat4that@kbin.social 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

β˜οΈπŸ‘ŠπŸ‘¨β€πŸ¦²

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[–] UnverifiedAPK@lemmy.ml 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Cowboy Bebop: Space noire, get to Jupiter Jazz part 1&2 before forming an opinion

Berserk (The 1997 version): A long burn, twist for the last two episodes

One-punch man: Comedy, overpowered main character but it's handled very well. Kinda a criticism of other animes.

Evangelion

Two guilty pleasures: Code Geass (mechs), and Future Diary (Battle Royal/Hunger Games)

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[–] cccc@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Haikyu is great. It’s about volleyball and follows the same sort of theme of DBZ about constantly pushing to improve.

If you liked the environment and feel of Cowboy Bebop you might enjoy Samurai Champloo. Same director but replace jazz with hip hop and space with feudal Japan. I think it’s a masterpiece.

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[–] Duamerthrax@lemmy.ml 7 points 1 year ago

Ghost in the Shell(1995) and the Stand Alone Complex series(2 seasons and a movie) are great.

[–] spiderman@ani.social 7 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

These two show might not be like the other shows that your have watched yet these two or definitely my favourite.

Odd Taxi - Generally anime cast has this typical behaviour where their talking or behaviour would not be realistic like irl (for example, Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood). You might not notice it now or might have noticed it but odd taxi is totally different from all the other anime that I have watched in regards to this. The plot is simple yet the way it moves is totally interesting. The characters are written well for a 12 episode anime. You will definitely like it.

Ranking of Kings - I have not completed it yet but this anime is so wholesome and kinda moving ngl.

Since you have watched death note, watch Code Geass too. When I started watching anime, Assassination Classroom and Violet Evergarden were one of the anime that totally bought me in. You may like these too.

[–] taaz@biglemmowski.win 7 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

Samurai Champloo

Psycho-Pass

Koe No Katachi

Made In Abyss

Sonny Boy (fucked up/weird, looks nice tho)

Jujutsu Kaisen

Chainsaw Man

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[–] 0b00101010@lemmy.ml 7 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (4 children)

It sounds like you tend to like shows with good story lines, and don't seem to mind older shows/animation as much. Simply based on their story telling, these are probably my 3 favorites.

  • Monster (2004): The story revolves around Kenzo Tenma, a Japanese surgeon living in DΓΌsseldorf, Germany whose life enters turmoil after getting himself involved with Johan Liebert, one of his former patients, who is revealed to be a dangerous serial killer.
  • Ergo Proxy (2006): Set in a post-apocalyptic future where humans and AutoReiv androids coexist peacefully until a virus gives the androids self-awareness, causing them to commit a series of murders. Inspector Re-L Mayer is assigned to investigate, discovering a more complicated plot behind it that involves a humanoid species known as "Proxy" who are the subject of secret government experiments.
  • Fruits Basket (1998, but the 2019 remake is miles better and more complete): This is a beautiful story about trauma, love, guilt, and belonging. Don't be put off by the typical highschool slice of life trope. This is probably the most wholesome, heartwarming show I have ever watched. I've seen it 3 times, and on the most recent rewatch I cried the most. Probably every 1 of 4 episodes. I kept realizing subtle plot details I had never noticed before. It has great rewatch value.
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[–] Clav64@lemmy.ml 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Feel you with Attack on Titan - goes into some weird places and I lost interest.

Have you tried Initial D? Old school 90's early 2000's teen comedy drama about street racing. It's really funny and touching at the right moments.

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[–] carlytm@lemm.ee 6 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Here's a couple of fairly comprehensive recommendation flow charts I grabbed off Reddit a while back (well before all the recent shit):

https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/d7ogclnrbwy.png

https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/pyq9cznb394.png

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[–] dorron@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Purists may hate the suggestion of an American studio but... Avatar, legend of aang and korra are both great

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[–] CatBusBand@beehaw.org 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I recommend Mob Psycho 100. The anime fully adapted the source material and its made by the same guy as One Punch Man. Don't let the strange art style stop you. The animation team goes full budget in action scenes. It's a character driven story with a cast of charming characters.

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[–] MiddleWeigh@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

The latest anime that wowed me was to your Eternity, especially if your into Eastern philosophy and stuff.

Hells paradise also wowed me as a straight battle Shonen that is quite beautiful, with lots of spiritual themes.

One Piece holds a special place in my heart. Watch up until time skip, then read manga.

Vinland Saga is amazing. Straight up. Great study of politics and humans search for power and inner peace.

For the record I consider HxH and FMA:b to be Shonen high water marks.

[–] valen@beehaw.org 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I'll give you two suggestions at opposite ends of the spectrum:

  • Neon Genesis Evangelion is a wonderful show. It starts out as a giant robot series, but then moves in on examining how the characters are broken mentally (as in, they're already broken, not let's break stable people). Does have a tendency to depress people, but they generally feel it was a good experience.
  • Just about any Studio Ghibli movie. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Princess Mononoke, Castle in the Sky, My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service, Howl's Moving Castle. Some of these are more kids movies, but adults love them. Others have more adult themes. Stick to the ones directed by Hayao Miazaki. Warning: Grave of the Fireflys will make you cry and leave you devastated.
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[–] CorvusNyx@beehaw.org 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Assassination Classroom - Just finished watching this series and it’s one of the most heartwarming meditations on teaching and education wrapped in a batshit crazy premise of junior high kids being forced to kill their teacher before he destroys the world at the end of their school year. Made me cry a few times.

[–] VirulentAura@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

Fairy Tail has kinda a DBZ vibe, but the fights are over with in one or two episodes, not 45. (Funimation)

If you like suspense and psychological thriller, and don't mind subtitles, Kaiji is an excellent watch. It's about a man who cosigned a loan with a friend, from a bunch of loan sharks, and has to play increasingly deadly games to try to regain his life. It will take you for a ride. (Crunchyroll)

I really enjoyed Dr Stone. An apocalypse occurs, petrifying the entire world. Humanity starts to slowly awaken, and they try to rebuild the world while fighting against an opposing group trying to start a new world order. At least for season one. I haven't cought up recently cuz my depression has been kicking my ass. (Funimation)

That's all I got off the top of my head, and I hope it helps.

Edit: If you like Kaiji, it has two separate side stories.

Akagi is set in the 70s, I think, and is about a man who is apparently a savant at Mahjong, and ends up playing against a mob boss. wagering his blood against the bosses fortune. The show is really good at trying to explain the rules to the uninitiated without being condescending, and still keeping it suspenseful and engaging.

The other is Mr. Tonegawa's Middle Management Blues, more of a slice of life workplace comedy, centering around one of the antagonists of Kaiji, and trying to manage his employees while pleasing his boss. I didn't finish this one, cuz I got the point about halfway through, but I had fun while it lasted.

And I just remembered Cells At Work, also subbed, but an excellent romp which I would call "edutainment," but don't let that dissuade you! It anthropomorphizes different cells of the human body, describing their functions in kinda a slice-of-life meets monster of the week format. The white blood cells are the knife-weilding defence force of the human body, cutting down Power Ranger monsters that never were. Again, don't get put off by the edutainment label, cuz the edu and the tainment both hit hard.

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[–] recnamoruen@beehaw.org 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I see a lot of recommendations here, but here's a couple that are off the track.

Sound! Euphonium

Silver Spoon

Terror in Resonance

Planetes

Texhnolyze

Kinos Journey - both series are great the 2nd is more like the original source

Mushishi

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[–] TheButtonJustSpins@infosec.pub 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I can't believe no one's recommended My Hero Academia! What a great show.

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[–] Stache_@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 year ago

I’ve only seen a couple anime over the years, but I really enjoyed the Cyberpunk: Edgerunners on Netflix

[–] idunnololz@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (5 children)

3-gatsu no lion or in English: March comes in like a lion. One of the best anime series I've ever watched.

I hate cliche anime bs so I usually can't stand regular slice of life or shonen but this slice of life feels a lot more real with minimal anime bs.

If you don't like anime bs, I'd highly recommend it. By anime bs I mean like high school kids, power of friendship, fan service, etc.

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[–] randon31415@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago (5 children)

Seems to be a confluence of One Piece popularity right now. If you start watching the anime you be caught up around the time the final airs - which is in 3-4 years, which goes to show how much you have to watch through.

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[–] datendefekt@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The sickest anime I've ever seen is Gant-Z. The plot: it's a game and everyone dies.

On the complete opposite end of the spectrum would be Mushishi, where people engage with the calming world of... fungi?

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[–] Fleshtrap@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

Inuyashiki: The Last Hero is a great short story, 11 episodes with a cool premise.

Parasyte: The Maxim has great action and premise as well, also finishes relatively quick.

[–] malibu43@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I feel like your anime history is pretty similar to mine and I love Code Geass.

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[–] RedditRefugeeTom@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I'm not big into Anime, but FMA and Initial D have become my favorites to watch time and time again.

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[–] Ziggurat@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 year ago

If you liked death note you should watch code geass. It starts like yet another mecha anime but get just crazy on the way, one of the best surprise I had.

If you like mecha both Gundam and Macross are worth watching. In general I prefer Macross (Frontier 😍😍) , but there is pretty good Gundam series (SEED would be my favourite). Moreover, both are a set of relatively in dependant series so you don't have like 200 episodes to watch but get away with like 2 times a 24 episode serie

[–] randomlemmyid@sopuli.xyz 4 points 1 year ago

Legend of the Galactic Heroes is a series with many episodes in which "...two interstellar states...are embroiled in a never-ending war...focuses on the exploits of rivals Reinhard von Lohengramm and Yang Wen-li, as they rise to power and fame in the Galactic Empire and the Free Planets Alliance..."

[–] fubo@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago (5 children)

The original Bubblegum Crisis of course.

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[–] Ilflish@lemm.ee 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

I'm gonna take some leaps If you like the mind games parts of death note (since you seem to like the first part) I recommend trying Kaiji. My personal fav and one that got me changing my expectation of anime. If you like DBZ I assume it's the fighting. And even though the first assumption is people who like Anime probably will hate sports , sports anime are usually just tournaments for battling. If you want superpowers, I might recommend Kuruko No Basuke. I you want Mind Games, maybe One Outs. If you want something more modern, Haikyuu is a good shout. Classic sports anime would be Hajime no Ippo

A general shounen? Fate/Zero is pretty safe to try.

When it comes to recommendations, realistically there are lots of great anime movies to give yourself more context for what to watch

  • Ghost in the Shell
  • Akira
  • Castle of Cagliostro
  • Kara no Kyoukai
  • Nausicaa Valley of the Wind

These are all just based on what you've mentioned but they're still a lot of spectrum for anime you could enjoy but haven't tried

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[–] aliceblossom@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Haven't seen these mentioned yet:

  1. Terror In Resonance

This is one of the newer shows made by Shinichiro Watanabe (Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo). Follows the crew of a small terrorist organization as they implement their various plots - lots of intrigue that makes you want to keep watching.

  1. Megalobox

Follows a boxer's journey in a semi-dystopian future. Very mature and themes of adulthood, especially season 2. And I mean real life mature, not gore and titties. I've never watched an anime that I found so relatable as an adult human being. Music is also extremely top tier and I'm personally a huge fan of it's animation style.

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[–] Revan343@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 year ago

Log Horizon is fantastic

[–] axzxc1236@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

All the series I recommends below are complete. (tells story from start to end)

  • Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (There are TV series and movies that both tell similar story but not the same, TV series have darker story)

  • Kill la Kill

  • Blast of Tempest

  • Assassination Classroom

  • Back Arrow (first half of series is meh but it becomes better and better)

  • Mob psycho 100

  • Summer Time Render

My friend recently told me about Vinland Saga

[–] Nemo@midwest.social 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Now I'm a sucker for space westerns, so I gotta hype Trigun. If you liked Fullmetal Alchemist it has a lot to offer you.

[–] luthis@lemmy.nz 3 points 1 year ago

Trigun was a gateway anime for me. And Orphen. But Trigun remains one of my favourites. It's not too long, has amazing subtle world building, and such fun characters

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Bubblegum Crisis The Guyver

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