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Good anime movies/shows to show to a girl who is a fan of Joss Whedon and Doctor Who?
Taranis
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Registered User regular
So I'm trying to introduce anime to a girl that I'm seeing. She likes Firefly and other shows Joss Whedon was involved with, as well as Doctor Who.
I'm thinking of showing her Ghost in the Shell and maybe Cowboy Bebop. I'm looking for something serious, without the standard anime cliches such as teardrops and bloody noses.
I'm thinking of showing her Ghost in the Shell and maybe Cowboy Bebop. I'm looking for something serious, without the standard anime cliches such as teardrops and bloody noses.
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Appleseed was always a favorite of mine as well.
That said - although I haven't seen it yet (The mega cheap boxset doesn't release unitl monday) - I've heard Cowboy Bebop likened to Firefly a number of times and everyone says it's good. I doubt you'll go wrong with that.
It's a decent anime as well, with the exception of having a hot springs episode.
Samurai Champloo is a remarkably solid, well written and humorous Anime set in 19th Century Japan, and just so happens to be made by the same people as Cowboy Bebop. I would say those two are your most solid choices, though I won't claim to have close to a solid grip on everything that's good out there. You may also want to explore Excel Saga, though your mileage may seriously vary with that one.
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I would avoid anything plot heavy that doesn't really focus on the characters. Something with a little bit of camp would be perfect.
Samurai Champloo is indeed excellent and does mix humour and seriousness as well as anything Whedon has ever done.
Be very wary of Excel Saga. It's not a series for anime beginners, which is what your girlfriend sounds like. There's no question that it's a great series, but unless you're really familiar with the in and outs of Japanese society, culture and TV (including anime), the large majority of jokes will go right past you without registering. And God help you if you can't handle watching something without any plot whatsoever, because Excel Saga has no truck with anything resembling a plotline until the last few episodes.
And speaking of the last few episodes, take care with the last one if you do decide to watch Excel Saga. I've never seen anything else that pushes so far past the acceptable boundaries of taste... and I've watched Urotsukidoji and Puni Puni Poemy.
Akira mofo
If she doesn't like Akira she isn't worth knowing
Princess Mononoke
Cowboy Bebop has the problem of never having been topped; like, if she sees that, and expects all anime to be that good, she's in for a very deep disappointment.
Anything by Miyazaki is going to be a good choice, I think.
Why do you say that? Ghost in the Shell is basically the Matrix except better, and Akira is a sort of future 1981-ish movie
...With tentacle monsters...
Oooooooooh, I get it now
Man, I just don't get the love for Cowboy Bebop, it never did it for me, like at all
Of course my favorite manga (really the only manga I read at all regularly) is fucking Negima so obviously I have no taste
Oh I forgot- AzuMangaDaiOh!
Best fucking anime of the ever
Maybe she'd like Death Note? The manga was aces, I dunno how the anime is
Azumanga Daioh is a bit far off from the references that Taranis gave. He wanted serious stuff without standard anime cliches and referenced Joss Whedons stuff as well as Doctor Who. Azumanga Daioh is a light-hearted schoolgirl comedy that is very definitely not serious. It is indeed one of the best anime series ever made, but I don't think it's in the scope of what he wants.
Death Note, however, is certainly a possibility and I'm surprised I didn't think of it earlier. Hell, I even looked over my collection for suggestions and simply discounted it and I can't think why. It's definitely serious and mostly avoids many of the normal anime tropes. There are supernatural elements ala Buffy & Angel. About the only thing it doesn't have is the humorous elements that Whedon's shows and the more recent Doctor Whos' are known for. It's an excellent choice if your girlfriend likes cat-and-mouse style detective shows.
There is of course this. Light Yagami isn't exactly the expected choice for the main character in that he's, well... evil. Doesn't change the fact that the anime is excellent.
They tried to change the world for the better, achieved a modicum of success, and got drunk with power and betrayed everything they ever stood for for their own selfish needs
The saddest part is is in all three cases you can see that they're all self-aware that what they are/were doing is/was wrong, yet continued to do it anyways
Humans...
Anyways yeah, even though Light's a dick he's so goddamn charming you can't help but cheer for him
Edit: Also I said AMD-O! because it doesn't rely on anime/manga jokes, and you can absolutely despise anime and find that shit laugh out loud hilarious
I liken it to Arrested Development/ The Office if it were set in a Japanese high school, most of the jokes are based on the absurdity of the events (and awkwardness/embarassment resulting from said events) or the super-fucking-excellent dialogue, which makes me wonder how the fuck they did such a great translation job
If you're planning on continuing your relationship with this girl don't show her Excel Saga. Excel Saga is the sweaty garbage water run-off from the whole of anime/japanese nerd culture, it's not funny it's just random and stupid and enjoyment of it should be punished with expulsion from society. Basically it's an entire series built around stupid "i've watched too much anime" injokes.
Edit: Also you might try her on Eden of the East, it's a got a strong plot, interesting characters and tends to avoid more of the traditional anime cliches.
Genshiken does everything Excel Saga tries to do except better, with a cohesive storyline, interesting characters, and great dialogue
And it even has a manga-making arc that doesn't feel overtly meta!
Basically what I'm saying is is Genshiken is the Simpsons to Excel Saga's Family Guy
This is so true. Light's basically a complete prick, but when I watched through the series, I couldn't help wanting him to succeed, even when it mean bad things were going to happen to good people. It's one of things that makes Death Note so good.
It's true that it would likely appeal to someone who isn't into anime, but I pooh-poohed it on the grounds that it never once gets serious - which is one thing the OP wanted. If you're looking for a light-hearted comedy though, you'll be hard pressed to find something better than Azumanga Daioh.
Also Taranis, you might consider the Animatrix. It's a bunch of serious anime shorts set in the Matrix universe. That could be another good gateway into anime if your girlfriend hasn't seen it yet, since I can't imagine that she won't have seen the films.
I'd also recommand Baccano!. It's set between 1930 and 1932 during prohibition. Gangsters, robbers, immortals, and such. The story is told in a very different fashion as it's shown as 3 different stories in 3 different years being presented at the same time. The entire series is up on Hulu for free for this month only.
Also, it is worth mentioning the English dubs on both of those series are very well done.
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The Ghost in the Shell series (I wouldn't recommend the movie for a beginner) is a bit complex so if she's not keen on paying attention to the little things that wind up contributing to the overall mystery that is to be solved she may wind up a little confused or lost. My wife isn't big on having to really pay attention to details and she gave up on the first Stand Alone Complex pretty quickly.
Crest of Stars is one of the two anime series that I started but never finished. I own 1 DVD of it and that's it. The English voice cast was one of the worst I'd ever encountered in a somewhat modern anime. Unless your girl is cool with subtitles I would be very careful with this Anime. Also in terms of animation quality it isn't as good as say Cowboy Bebop or Ghost in the Shell. I'd even say that Outlaw Star is of higher quality in that regard as well.
GENSHIKEN is the bomb-diggity. If someone stole all my anime series except one this would be the one I hope they would leave. There's no dying, no killing or exploding. It's just otaku living their lives in college as part of a small and disrespected club. If your girl doesn't much care for Anime etc. she'll at least identify with Saki who's boyfriend is an Otaku and who must put up with his Otaku friends. The only problem is that the OVA that bridges the two seasons of Genshiken is only found in the Kujibiki Unbalance box set, legally at least.
Also, just in case your girlfriend might like series like Heroes or really just super hero stuff in general. The movie Read or Die is amazing. A girl with the super power to control paper fights to save the world with the help of a global spanning organization of interestingly skilled people. The concept seems strange and the power to control paper might seem dumb but it's really beautifully done.
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Another good series I forgot to consider. This is somewhat like Firefly as well, kind of. It has an eclectic crew living in a lawless region looking for any sort of work they can get, legal or illegal. When it's funny, it's very, very funny. When it's serious... well, when DragonPup says the Vampire Twins arc is brutally serious, he's not kidding. A great choice if you don't mind swearing.
Also....I've only read the Genshiken manga, am I correct that they made KU into a real actual anime (making it like unbelievably meta)?
1) How is it?
2) How is the Genshiken anime in comparison to the manga, if you've read the manga?
I'd recommend this, my ex introduced me to it and I enjoyed it, and I love shows like Dr. Who, too.
First, watch Spirited Away because it is like a magnificent moving painting or something. It has some intangible quality and I absolutely adore that movie, everyone I know who has seen it does.
Cowboy Bebop is the best first choice for a series, it's fucking perfect and it doesn't have any of the anime cliches that you're likely to find in, well, most other anime. It won't scare her off and if she's really new to this stuff it will imbue in her the fact that an animated series can be every bit as awesome as a movie.
Samurai Champloo is fantastic too, it's kinda similar in spirit to Bebop though, so I'd watch something in between. Possibly as everyone has been saying, Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex Series 1. If she likes that watch the second series.
If you dont' think she'll be into the srs bsns side of GitS watch Code Geass. Some people hate it some people love it, but it's a damn fucking good show (escpecially the second season, fuck the haters :P)
Death Note is also good. Trigun can be a bit silly, escpecially at the start. If she's into that watch it along with the others, but otherwise I'd wait until you've showed her some of the other stuff first. (It is still really good by the way).
Oh, and I can't do these threads without recomending Evangelion. Because I am too proud to admit that it usually just scares people off, whenever I try introduce someone I know to Anime I force them to watch this shit. I remember doing it with my father and my brother - my dad actually loved it and that's how he came to watch most of the other series I've listed, but I just remember my brother's enthusiasm shrinking ever steadily as we passed episode 15. By the end of 26 it was "The worst fucking pile of shit I have ever seen". So I dunno, maybe you should hold off on Eva. You know her better than we do.
1) I haven't watched KU's stand alone set. If you buy the first Genshiken box set they include 3 random episodes of KU. It is of course not quite as good as Genshiken itself. I put the actual KU series on my Netflix but I'm not in a hurry to watch it.
2) If you watch both seasons and the OVA that bridges the two it follows pretty close to the Manga but lops off some of the better parts between Sasahara and Ogiue. Which is really a shame because that really made the Manga.
One other Anime that could make or break how your girlfriend views anime is Those Who Hunt Elves. This is a horrible series. It's like a Bruce Campbell movie of Anime. The set up is just insane and the show never takes itself seriously and yet it doesn't descend into the sort of determined craziness of something like Excel Saga. The animation quality is standard at best but the English voice actors actually do a devent job. Junpei (voiced by Brett Weaver) really makes the series. The upshot to this anime is that it will not ruin other animes by having an amazing story or beautiful animation. If your girlfriend has a nice sense of humor and can tolerate the strange plot and low brow comedy then this series can really help open her up to the full range of anime titles out there, the good and the bad but still good.