Need a new anime to watch

BradicusMaximus

So I just finished up Death Note today at work, and while I'm not happy with the turn the show took after the 26th episode (the perfect number for animes) with the last episode being the exception, I loved the show overall. I was hoping for some suggestions for other animes that have a similarly "grim" tone to them. I've also noticed, I seem to like animes a bit more if they have good scores, much like Cowboy Bebop and Death Note did if that helps at all.

DarkPrimus

The Vision of Escaflowne isn't necessarily grim, but it certainly pulls no punches in depicting the consequences of war, even if it's set in a fantastical world with flying magical robots and stuff.

The score is by Yoko Kanno and Hajime Mizoguchi. Yoko Kanno did Cowboy Bebop's music, among other things.

B:L

You want grim?

Now and Then, Here and There.

In a future post-apocalyptic desert world where water is scarce and children are conscripted as soldiers to fight for a madman, optimism is hard to find. But one boy tries to hold on to that ray of hope against all odds, despite the world beating down on him and everything he cherished.

It is a tale of bittersweet, almost heart-breaking fondness. My favorite anime.

EvilBadman

I've just started High School of the Dead, but if you don't like zombies and fanservice, I wouldn't recommend it.

It's on hulu.

MindLib

By 'grim' do you mean gritty and dark? Or horror-esque?

Ghost in the Shell for the former, and Hellsing for the latter.

flowerhoney

Samurai champloo has a great score!! Plus its a great show

I cant even believe I'm saying this, but I also enjoyed Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt. Its got awesome music too. Its not grim at all though, not even a little bit

Fullmetal Alchemist was a great watch too, a good mix of funny and dramtic

I haven't personally watched it, but a lot of people like Ghost in the Shell: Stand alone complex

Pika

One of my absolute favorites of all time is Elfen Lied.

admanb

flowerhoney wrote: »

Samurai champloo has a great score!! Plus its a great show

Double voooote.

Shares many ties with Cowboy Bebop.

Jubeh

If you want grim, maybe check out Gantz. I'll warn you now that it is horribly depraved though.

Also for a depressing story and good score, you should check out the original gundam, series. I'm not a huge fan of the newer shows so I can't really recommend them but the older ones are wild. If you want a change of pace, g gundam is really uplifting too.

Lilnoobs

If you want something that's airing currently, try Puella Magi Madoka Magica.

Zombiemambo

It's kind of (ok perhaps more than kind of) cheesy, but Berserk is, at the very least, based on some really, really dark material. Honestly I'd read the manga if you want the real deal, but the anime is pretty solid.

And it's not grim, but Darker Than Black is really well-done and has a darker tone to it. Also a good score.

Ages

RahXephon. A thousand times.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6kRltpjb78&feature=fvst

Falx

For fulfilling the great score and gritty requirements:

Baccano!

and

Durarara!!

Eureka 7 is much darker than it would first seem and has a fantastic soundtrack that I still listen to.

Haibane Renmei and Serial Experiments Lain qualify as well.

iRevert

Plantes Phase

Ranks as my favorite series and is just amazing in my opinion.

Other then that

Ghost In The Shell SAC [Stand Alone Complex]
Ghost In The Shell Second Gig
Trigun
Samauri Champaloo
Outlaw Star
Cowboy Bebop
Gunslinger Girls
Gun X Sword
Gun Grave
Cat Shit One (only one episode right now but its pretty great, some people know this as Apocalypse Meow)
Gurren Lagann (if you stop watching it about halfway through)
Last Exile

Thats about the list of things I enjoyed that I recommend to people, while they might not fit your requests I feel that you should enjoy most of those.

Seguer

Lilnoobs wrote: »

If you want something that's airing currently, try Puella Magi Madoka Magica.

This. This anime starts off pretty cutsey and a bit odd, then takes a dive into grimdark, and it is awesome for it.

Chen

First thing that popped into my head that fit your description was Baccano, Monster and Ergo Proxy.

acidlacedpenguin

Seconding Ergo Proxy and to a lesser extent Last Exile for the grimsad.

Code Geass is very similar to Death Note and is probably worth a watch for the same sort of reasons one would like Death Note.

E.Coyote

Claymore, Ga-Rei-Zero, and Tokyo Majin. They're all pretty dark as far as anime is concerned. You might also want to check out the death note movies, the ending was changed to drop L's replacement.

Awk

Samurai X: Trust and Betrayal
Sword of the Stranger
Mushishi

Visserian

Not sure if it fits your style completely but I've always been partial to "Higurashi When They Cry" (Higurashi no Naku Koro ni). Starts off making you think its a somewhat comical light-hearted slice of life show, then it jumps to outright terrifying. Always been one of my favorites.

ceres

That would translate into "When the Cicadas Cry", I believe. And yes, very dark, almost hopeless for a very long time. Also pretty gruesome.

I find Fullmetal Alchemist and Brotherhood to have some pretty dark moments, and also excellent music.

Haibane Renmei is great but not that dark. Paranoia Agent is pretty dark. Perfect Blue is a movie that might fit. Serial Experiments Lain might be good if you're into that stuff. I didn't care for Boogiepop Phantom, but I know lots of people who did.

Samurai Champloo has good music and is a fun show but really is not grim.

Annnnnd if you really hate yourself, there's always Grave of the Fireflies.

Bigbluefoot

I really enjoyed Blue Gender. It is a very dark one. These big bugs, called Blue, came in and wrecked pretty much everything. They can eat anything, and do. Humans tried to fight them off, but failed, and jumped ship, to live on satellites. Story is following this guy that was basically put into cryo prior to the outbreak, and gets woken up. He is rescued by the military, and war time problems commence. Also, Big O was pretty sweet, and it was kinda grim, especially towards the end. Evangelion definitely ends up grim by the end. Not a hell of a lot of humor throughout, except at Shinji's expense.

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood was considerably darker than the original anime, and I preferred it to the original as well. Characters feel more real, and the betrayals are that much more pronounced.

Pirusu

Gundam 08th MS Team is pretty grim, too. It's kinda got the Romeo/Juliet thing going on, and is definitely my favorite of the Gundams.

Lezard Valeth

acidlacedpenguin wrote: »

Code Geass is similar to Death Note and is probably worth a watch for the same sort of reasons one would like Death Note.

Also, If you want a sad story of people and war, watch Gundam 0080: War in the pocket (OVA, six episodes).

bowen

Maybe Cashern Sins, one of the few anime I'm enjoying, apart from FMA.

Khaczor

Black Lagoon for mature audiences who like just barely over the top action in a modern criminal setting.

BradicusMaximus

Thanks a bunch for the suggestions guys. I'm going start with Now and Then, Here and There and work my way through what you guys recommended.

Visti

I'll just jump on this one and say that I'm in the exact same boat as the OP, pretty much. I've got Baccano! coming, but I'd like some more suggestions. But I vastly prefer modern-setting type (not a must, though) stuff that's more puzzley and not action-oriented, like Death Note or Kaiji.

Lorahalo

Visti wrote: »

I'll just jump on this one and say that I'm in the exact same boat as the OP, pretty much. I've got Baccano! coming, but I'd like some more suggestions. But I vastly prefer modern-setting type (not a must, though) stuff that's more puzzley and not action-oriented, like Death Note or Kaiji.

I'd say Code Geass. It has action in it but it focuses more on the strategy behind everything. It's set sometime in the future (It has mechs after all) but looks modern because of the location. It gets rather silly towards the end though.

AngelHedgie

Visti wrote: »

I'll just jump on this one and say that I'm in the exact same boat as the OP, pretty much. I've got Baccano! coming, but I'd like some more suggestions. But I vastly prefer modern-setting type (not a must, though) stuff that's more puzzley and not action-oriented, like Death Note or Kaiji.

Then I'm going to second Monster. It's set in the mid-90s, and is a very deep psychological thriller revolving around the Cold War and the German reunification. There are so many pieces to the story, and you only get small glimpses as the story winds through Eastern Europe.

Casual Eddy

sounds like you like series that aren't too anime-y

I'd recommend Darker Than Black. Very interesting series with nice animation and while the tone is usually fairly dark it does have light hearted moments

EVOL

Serial Experiments Lain. There's no action at all, but fuck if it isn't dark and creepy as hell. It's pretty hardcore cyberpunk, without all the silly designs and action that seems to accompany many works of cyberpunk. Rather, it's set in a seemingly contemporary Japan, all though it's clear there's something going very, very wrong. It's also a bit of a headfuck. The artstyle is also creepy cool, and slightly realistic that adds to the creepy factor.

I'd recommend Kino's Journey too... I don't know if it's the kind of dark you're talking about though. The atmosphere is very fairy tale like, but the content itself is pretty fucked up. It's, in a nutshell, a kid travelling on a talking motorcycle who travels through the world. Most, if not all of the people/countries she encounters have beliefs they hold on to very dearly. The problem is that most of these beliefs are perverted beyond belief, or backfired on them terribly. First episode isn't that good, but the second episode is guaranteed to blow your mind.

Psychotic One

Khaczor wrote: »

Black Lagoon for mature audiences who like just barely over the top action in a modern criminal setting.

I'll second Black Lagoon. Such a good series. There is a 3rd season OVA coming out currently as well. The Hansel and Gretel arc is just for fucking fucked up.

And I'll just post the best youtube clip of Black Lagoon. It sums up both seasons rather well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKwaPSkjXp0

aunsoph

Someone already mentioned "Mushi-shi", so let me just emphasize that. Mushi-shi is perhaps one of my favorite series... in any genre or media. Most definitely my favorite anime. Its tone isn't particularly grim, but it has this kind of awkward whimsical feel to it, like you're watching a fairy-tale before revisions sugar-coat it into something palatable to modern children. Much like its episodic tales, the soundtrack is hauntingly beautiful.

On a similar vein, "Kino no Tabi" is often recommended. Personally, I deeply regret buying the boxed set for the series without taking a peek at it first. I thought it was often predictable, lacking subtlety and with the exception of three episodes, just completely pedestrian in its philosophical inquiries.

I'd also like to second Monster. Its pace can be a little languid at times, but it's always a quality show. The characters are all properly fleshed-out and the down-to-earth plot unfolds in a methodical but intriguing way. I also love the realistic setting and the obvious attention to detail that went into representing it.

If you're feeling adventurous and wouldn't mind something more surreal, I'll suggest "Mononoke". It's a sequel to the last segment of "Ayakashi", "Bake Neko". (Completely disregard the other story arcs from Ayakashi. They're pretty bad, and completely unrelated to Bake Neko.) If you can find the DVD for that three-episode arc, I'd start with that, then move on to Mononoke. This is a pseudo-feudal Japanese setting, permeated with all kinds of incredibly cruel and unrelentingly brutal supernatural phenomena. The main character itself is very ambiguous in his dealings with the people he's allegedly helping.

"Kaiba", another surreal series, is my next recommendation. The art style is akin to a modernized Osamu Tezuka, but the story itself is the total opposite of the cutesy character designs. Perhaps the most unsettling thing about Kaiba's universe is its complete disregard for people's identities and their sense of self. In many ways, it's analogous to Aeon Flux.

For newer releases, I'd watch "Puella Magi Madoka Magica" only if you're willing to wait until the third episode before making a call on it. You did endure Death Note through the amnesia and Near/Mello arcs, so your patience is probably more than adequate.

Hope these help.

Riale

I skimmed the thread and I'm surprised no one mentioned Berserk at all. Granted, the anime does stop at something of a cliffhanger and doesn't continue into the current manga storylines, but even as a story by itself, away from the manga it's quite engaging, and certainly very bleak/serious at points.

The score is also fantastic:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkYYYew8CUI

The series takes a bit to get off the ground, but if you're willing to stick with it you'll see some serious character development on all sides, and there are some quite heartwrenching moments in the later episodes. It's also pretty gory, if that's your thing at all.

Psychotic One

Riale wrote: »

I skimmed the thread and I'm surprised no one mentioned Berserk at all. Granted, the anime does stop at something of a cliffhanger and doesn't continue into the current manga storylines, but even as a story by itself, away from the manga it's quite engaging, and certainly very bleak/serious at points.

The score is also fantastic:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkYYYew8CUI

The series takes a bit to get off the ground, but if you're willing to stick with it you'll see some serious character development on all sides, and there are some quite heartwrenching moments in the later episodes. It's also pretty gory, if that's your thing at all.

I'll definately take a look at the OVA once that is brought over. I love Berserk the book but the anime really stopped right where the Berserk story line begins. The Ova looks like it will go well past the Eclipse so it will feel much more complete.

Riale

Yeah, I'm happy for the OVA as well, but if the production quality is anything like the other recent OVAs I've seen, it's going to take a long time before it catches up with the old anime, let alone the stuff since then. The old anime is incomplete, but what's there is really quality already (especially the soundtrack, it's one of the few anime soundtracks I own).

Aumni

Seguer wrote: »

Lilnoobs wrote: »

If you want something that's airing currently, try Puella Magi Madoka Magica.

This. This anime starts off pretty cutsey and a bit odd, then takes a dive into grimdark, and it is awesome for it.

Holy shit this. Thanks to this recommendation I gave it a second chance.

Damn it's fucked up, but interesting despite the cutesy appearance.

Elementalor

Visti wrote: »

I'll just jump on this one and say that I'm in the exact same boat as the OP, pretty much. I've got Baccano! coming, but I'd like some more suggestions. But I vastly prefer modern-setting type (not a must, though) stuff that's more puzzley and not action-oriented, like Death Note or Kaiji.

Spiral is pretty great for this, but I think the anime ended early.

Comahawk

I am going to second Eureka Seven, although it doesn't look it initially, the story line does get pretty grim in some areas.

skettios

AngelHedgie wrote: »

Visti wrote: »

I'll just jump on this one and say that I'm in the exact same boat as the OP, pretty much. I've got Baccano! coming, but I'd like some more suggestions. But I vastly prefer modern-setting type (not a must, though) stuff that's more puzzley and not action-oriented, like Death Note or Kaiji.

Then I'm going to second Monster. It's set in the mid-90s, and is a very deep psychological thriller revolving around the Cold War and the German reunification. There are so many pieces to the story, and you only get small glimpses as the story winds through Eastern Europe.

Hell ya. Monster is fantastic

Also putting in another rec for Elfen Lied.