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Teach Me: Sci-Fi Anime
Shoe-Eater
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Hi Everyone,
I feel like i've watched trough most of the "good" american Sci-fi tv series. it's time for something new.
can anyone recommend a good anime sci-fi series to someone who is totally oblivious/ignorant to the world of anime. (something with space fleets battling in space would be cool)
* I've even tried watching some obscure american series from the 60's/70's where this group was driving around in a "space van", they had a talking genius monkey for a crewman, and the main character flew around in a jetpack, I can't remember what it was called, but it was terrible.
Edit: now I remember it was called ARK II. it was cheesier than the original star trek series.
I feel like i've watched trough most of the "good" american Sci-fi tv series. it's time for something new.
can anyone recommend a good anime sci-fi series to someone who is totally oblivious/ignorant to the world of anime. (something with space fleets battling in space would be cool)
* I've even tried watching some obscure american series from the 60's/70's where this group was driving around in a "space van", they had a talking genius monkey for a crewman, and the main character flew around in a jetpack, I can't remember what it was called, but it was terrible.
Edit: now I remember it was called ARK II. it was cheesier than the original star trek series.
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Eureka Seven
Kino's Journey
Tenchi Muyo
Irresponsible Captain Tylor (Or Taylor) I forget
Non Comedy Sci-fi:
Some people really like Gundam, but stick to the ones with lots of wartime going on basically not G Gundam.
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then after either Cowboy Bebop or Planetes.
Star blazers also looks interesting, but i've heard it's more Old-School anime, the art/animation wont be as modern, and its written more towards tweens.
The original gundam is very easy to get into since it doesn't have all the ridiculous anime stereotypes going on. It's just a great sci-fi storyline that happens to be in Japanese animation. When I tried to watch gundamn seed after watching the original gundam I just couldn't do it, it was too cheesy and cartoony for me to take it seriously.
This this this.
Also the first original gundam shows were very space opera-ish. If you don't know which one to watch, try out 8th MS team.
Edit: Yes listen to casual. Avoid the newer gundams.
Macross Frontier (but that might be a little hard to understand unless you watch the original Macross series...from the 80s.)
i'd also go with any of the original Gundam movies. War in the Pocket is pretty fantastic. Char's Counterattack is a little slow, but has a lot of good space war action.
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Here are a few of my recommendations, separated into genres.
Space fleet/battles:
Robotech, Macross, Gundam - These are the classic space operas. Sure, giant robots are involved, but when you think space warfare, these are the top three. The mini-series of Gundam are the ones I'd recommend (War in the Pocket, 08th MS Team).
Legend of the Galactic Heroes - An extremely long space series focusing more on the drama.
Star Blazers, Galactic Railways - Classic space exploration/battles.
Martian Successor Nadesico - A parody of the space warfare genre. Very hilarious.
Irresponsible Captain Tylor - Another funny series that is split between a TV series and an OVA series.
Space fun:
Cowboy Bebop - One of the best series to get into if you have no experience in anime. Follows a rag-tag group of bounty hunters.
Outlaw Star - What Firefly ripped off of, about space smugglers who find a mysterious girl and they're chased by everyone as they try to get to the treasure at the galatic line.
Trigun - Space Western. It's the Wild West about a man with a 60,000,000,000$$ bounty on his head.
Cyberpunk:
Ghost in the Shell - It goes Philip K. Dick into examining the ramifications on humanity as cybernetic implants make people less and less human. Split into three movies (Ghost in the Shell, Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, Ghost in the Shell: Solid State Society) and two series (Stand Alone Complex seasons 1 & 2). There's also a reproduction of the first movie called Ghost in the Shell 2.0.
Bubblegum Crisis, AD Police, Parasite Dolls - More reminiscent of Blade Runner. Bubblegum Crisis focuses on a group of armored ladies who battle rogue robots. AD Police is about police response to robotic threats, including the stereotypical cyborg partner. Parasite Dolls is a movie about a group of investigators uncovering a cybernetic conspiracy.
Classic sci-fi:
Planetes - Slice of life in space about space garbage collectors. Space debris is serious business, considering that one loose screw cracking a window can kill...
Kino's Journey - A traveller on a talking motorcycle wanders the country and experiences the different societies this technological land has to offer. It's essentially one character going through many different sci-fi stories, where each society has its own quirky story.
Infinite Ryvius - Lord of the Flies in space. On a training mission, all the adults die and the kids struggle to form a working hierarchy and find their way home.
Key: The Metal Idol - A robotic girl wants to become a pop singer, her programming telling her that 30 million fans would make her human. More dramatic than you think.
Metropolis - Very fantastic take on the sci-fi classic, created by the guy who basically invented anime, Osamu Tezuka.
Now and Then, Here and There - My favorite anime series ever. It is a bittersweet tale about a kid who is transported 10 billion years into the future, where the sun has ravaged the Earth and water is a valuable resource. He is dropped into a war-torn land and faces a mad dictator and his army of child soldiers. It is a deeply emotional series that examines very mature themes.
That would be where they normally battle!
The original Macross series has most of its combat take place in space, usually a blend of giant robots/fighter craft and larger ships. It's pretty much the only sci-fi series to have both ships and fighters that I know of.
B:L has a pretty comprehensive list with Star Blazers (aka Battleship Yamato), Nadeisco, and Captain Tylor being the other ones with a pretty big focus on a battleship in space.
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Simoun - In this sci-fi universe, the main species choose their gender when they reach a certain age, but only girls can synchronize and pilot their machines against an enemy. Sounds generic but it plays out very well.
They Were 11 - 10 cadets set off on a survival training test to become full fledged starfleet. But when the cadets met on their derelict starship... there were eleven. The group tries to figure out who doesn't belong while trying to survive disasters and calamities aboard this ship with a dark history.
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After that, whatever catches your fancy. Eureka 7 is my personal favorite inasmuch as it's just a really quality show that constantly has new reveals that defy your expectations of what it's going to be and keep you wanting more. The story-line is quality sci fi, and the action is really good. Especially the finale. It's not really big with the space battles though, if the phrase is taken literally.
Crest of the Stars (Seikai no Monshou)
Banner of the Stars (Seikai no Senki)
Banner of the Stars II (Seikai no Senki II)
Banner of the Stars III (Seikai no Senki III)
Real Drive
Planetes
Ghost in the Shell Movies 1 & 2
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
Stellvia of the Universe (Uchuu no Stellvia)
Cowboy Bebop
A couple of these overlap with previous suggestions, but hopefully this gives you some ideas of things to look into. These range from quite serious plot driven shows (Ghost in the Shell), to more kiddy oriented ones (Stellvia of the Universe). I think it gives a variety to look into.
I avoided putting Mecha up for now, if you consider that the kind of sci-fi you are looking for, there is a ton of it out there to check out.
Probably the most hilariously over the top anime I've ever watched, it's the perfect balance between awesome and hilarious. It does have giant robots though and doesn't go into space for the first half of the series. Only 27 episodes long though.
Moonlight Mile - More realistic space show but still pretty good.
Aquarion
Jyu-oh-sei : Sort of like Lord of the flies in space
There's a lot you can watch online free at www.funimation.com/video
Some of these are also on Hulu and Youtube as well.
no sorry, g gundam is awesome and falls into dramatic humor scifi
I know you want serieseseseses but some short films are good. In some order:
Akira - Classic apocalyptic
Paparika
Girl who leapt through time
Vampire Hunter D - trust me, its semi sci fi with vampires!
FLCL
Ghost in Shell
Ghost in Shell: SAC
Neon Genesis Evangelion series/movies- Very polarized opinions from anime fans
Cowboy Bebop - and if you like this,
Trigun - though i dislike the anime intepretation
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