Rec me anime!

[oyceter]

Currently I have no kdramas except Gourmet on my list, and I'm caught up with most of the shows I want to watch. Also, I'm in the mood for short episodes. So, rec me anime (but please read the qualifications first)!

• Available on Netflix


• Not too bloody


• Have cool women. I don't mind if they aren't the protagonists or if they don't physically kick ass, but I also don't want a series in which all the women or girls feel like objects.


• Not depressing


• Have an ending


• Bonus points for something funny with depth (ex. Samurai Champloo) or something that hits my gothic shoujo id buttons (ex. Vampire Knight)

I prefer series, though I may watch movies/OVAs too.

I've seen and liked:
Cowboy Bebop, Fullmetal Alchemist, Gundam Wing, Gunslinger Girls, Haibane Renmei, Honey and Clover, Kare Kano (incomplete), Mushishi (incomplete), Neon Genesis Evangelion, Ouran High School Host Club, Princess Tutu, Revolutionary Girl Utena, Samurai Champloo, Vampire Knight, X, Yami no Matsuei, and nearly all the Studio Ghibli movies. And though it's not anime, I've seen Avatar too.

I've seen and disliked:
Akira, Gasaraki, Ghost in the Shell, Lain, Perfect Blue, Tenchi Muyo

Comments

[coraa.livejournal.com]

I loved Azumanga Daioh. It's a high school series that focuses entirely on a group of high school girls (and two of their teachers) -- and it's remarkable among the high school shows (Japanese or American) that I've seen in that it doesn't focus on their love lives. At all; there aren't even any recurring male characters (save for one creepy teacher). Instead, it's about their lives, studies, goals, various school events, and so on, although it's quite a lot more funny than thoughtful and I wouldn't call it 'deep.'

[larryhammer]

Though be warned: AzuDai is something of an acquired taste. It was originally broadcast in daily five-minute segments, so each half-hour episode feels kinda like a compilation of comedy sketches with continuing characters. Which fits the original material, which was a four-panel manga. It's sometimes described as "Peanuts on LSD" -- which is a little unfair, but I see their point.

Also, when you get to the graduation episode, you will cry.

I like it a lot, but I have to be in the right mood. I prefer the manga for this one.

---L.

[oyceter]

I'm reading the manga for that right now! I'm now trying to debate if the five-minute shorts will be good for my horribly short attention span, or if they'll make it even worse...

[fmanalyst.livejournal.com]

Have you see Black Lagoon? That has some kickass women. It's about a salaryman who is left high and dry by his corporate bosses, and so he joins the modern-day pirates who kidnapped him. The pirates consist of an African-American Vietnam vet, a Jewish-American tech guy, and a Chinese-American gun-toting woman. The cast also includes a Russian woman who's the head of the local Russian mafia. It's very action-oriented, and the language can be pretty raw.

[oyceter]

No, though I keep hearing about it!

Um, how bloody and/or violent and/or depressing is it? Some parts of Samurai Champloo are on the upper levels of my gore-meter.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Seeing Gunslinger Girls and Haibane Renmei makes me autorec Kino's Journey/Kino no Tabi. The three are always mentioned together and, while very diferent series, have similar "feels." Of the three, Kino is my favorite.

I wouldn't call Claymore "depressing" but it does have a fair bit of character death. But it...it...it's all about girls with swords who have all those "special skills" shounen uses to sideline girls in other manga and shows just how awesome those things can be when actually put to use. The only problem is that every fan of the manga loves the first 20~ eps, then hates the ending. But we hate it more because it means they can never have the Era Of Badass Leather Awesomeness, not because it's bad. Downside is that only the first few eps will be available on Netflix. Though I think I can still totally hook you up with a torrent.

I really want to rec Madlax because it's also Girls With Guns and kinda meta and weird and awesome, but I think you'd label it depressing, though the ending is on the happy side.

Blue Seed is 90s and has really dated art, but it has lots of mythology and a great cast, and both female characters who kick ass, and those who don't. The romance is also rather cute and sweet, though in a shounen "RAWR! PANTIES!" way.

I want to rec Slayers and Twelve Kingdoms, but they're both longer.

(And...and I just went through my anime collection and I may want to ponder why it is that I seem to have a fondness for series where massive chunks of the cast dies...)

And looking back, I'm not sure how much help I actually am...

[oyceter]

Oooo, ok. I think I know what you mean by the feel of Haibane Renmei and Gunslinger Girl and like that.

Hrm. How bloody and/or violent is Claymore? I couldn't get further than two volumes into the manga because the gore was getting to me... is the anime better?

[akycha.livejournal.com]

Heavenscalyx and I are watching Kurau Phantom Memory and the first disc had us riveted.

Can't tell you about the ending, since we're not there yet. Looks exciting, though.

[oyceter]

Oh, what is it? What do you like about it?

[yeloson.livejournal.com]

Have you seen Kino's Journey? It's a little slow and dream like, but that's why I love it.

[oyceter]

You have all convinced me and it is now on the Netflix queue!

[larryhammer]

You might consider Kino's Journey.

More of a stretch is the 6-part OVA of Please Save My Earth.

ETA: Okay, so maybe that wasn't an original idea ...

---L.

[oyceter]

Hee, Kino's Journey is now on my list.

Is Please Save My Earth available on Netflix? Or am I just searching under the wrong name? I think I'd actually like to watch it... maybe it will help my recollection of what happens in the manga!

[keelieinblack.livejournal.com]

RahXephon, maybe? The anime, not the movie. Some people have called it a ripoff of NGE, and it does have a lot of similarities, but it takes a much different and less nihilistic approach. I liked it more than Evangelion because the incomprehensibility felt less tacked-on, but YMMV.

Also Moribito: Guardian of the Sacred Spirit. This is a little slow-moving, but it's gorgeously animated and the protagonist is an awesome spear-wielding warrior woman, and IIRC there's no skeevy fanservice at all.

Twelve Kingdoms is really, really good--the first series arc has one of my favorite female protagonists ever, though you have to put up with her being a bit spineless during first few episodes--but unfortunately the series as a whole is unfinished because the original novel author has hared off onto other projects.

I would second the Black Lagoon rec, because almost all of the women in it are seriously kick-ass, except that I thought it got extremely depressing, grim, and slightly gory in the second season.

[oyceter]

Hrm, how bloody and/or violent and/or depressing do you think Black Lagoon and RahXephon are?

Oooh, Twelve Kingdoms on my list now, as is Moribito, except it looks like it's not available on Netflix yet.

[octopedingenue]

I am useless for this because I am manga girl who hasn't watched new anime in like a year. But if you want manga I have lists. Um. OH! LOVE*COM LOVE*COM LOVE*COM! AKA Lovely Complex. Except I don't actually think it's licensed even though the manga is, dammit, but I am totally willing to burn you a fansub DVD or even a TV-playable DVD, because it is just that adorable. I can but will not go on at length here.

I second Claymore, both anime and manga: it is very bloody and often bittersweet/sad in the way stories about hardened warriors with secret tragic pasts fighting evil and rediscovering their own humanity usually are. But it is totally worth it because all of the hardened warriors are women, and all of them are smart, capable, complex, and totally badass, and because my seiyuu girlfriend Paku Romi plays the most awesome of all. And the ending theme is completely yuri-tastic.

I want to recommended Karin/Chibi Vampire, because the manga is hilarious and secretly adorable and it features several great female characters. But as of 6 episodes into the anime, it has A)creeped me out with the OP parade of incredibly skeevy WTF nudity, and B)introduced a new anime-only(?) male character who I cannot stand, largely because he derails Karin's story for plot stupid that is just not there in the manga. WAH. I may keep watching to see if it goes away.

[oyceter]

I would love Love*Com! I keep almost tachyomi-ing it because of your rec!

Hrm. How bloody is Claymore? I couldn't make it through the second volume of the manga because of all the monster bisections and organs and blood.

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

Gundam SEED qualifies; it takes a while to get going, but though it has sporky elements and it's not one of my all-time favorite series, I ended up enjoying it quite a bit. It's basically an angsty anti-war space opera with giant robots and some truly hilarious cracktastic moments. I was very surprised by who my favorite female character ended up being.

[oyceter]

Hrm, I may try that, though right now I seem to be more in the mood for smaller-scale things? On the other hand, watching it means I can read your and Rilina's posts...

[la-vie-noire.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, seeing the list of things you disliked, I'm wary of recommending you this, but. XDD

Mononoke was a very interesting anime for me. It only has 12 episodes, and has a gorgeous and unique animation style.

It's horror and psycho drama set in Edo's Japan. It has some problematic things, the first act specially (a racist depiction of a black man, and... well, spoilers), but it gets... better. At least it did for me. It uses allegories and symbolism in a very Utena-like way. I liked it a lot.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Yes. Unfortunately, not Netflixable, except for the three-part story that inspired the 12-ep spinoff series, which is the third disc in the Ayakashi Samurai Horror Tales series ("the Goblin Cat").

[badtzphoto.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure if these 2 are available on netflix or not. I like these. I haven't watched the ones that you disliked, so I don't know.
1) The Story of Saiunkoku - link to Anime News Network (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=6200) - The main female character is smart and likes to learn. So far only 10 episodes of the 39 from the first season have been released by Geneon. The 3 dvd is released in Oct by Funimation.
2) Scrapped Princess link to Anime News Network (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=2083), 24 episodes (finished) the main character's sister is pretty interesting.

[oyceter]

Oh, I didn't mention it, but I've seen about twelve eps or so of Saiunkoku and didn't dislike it but just managed to slowly lose interest.

What do you like most about Scrapped Princess?

[shewhohashope.livejournal.com]

have you seen suzumiya haruhi no yuutsu? There's too much creepy fanservice for my taste (which isn't so much subverted as shamelessly played up, but ymmv), but the concept is interesting, and it's all worth it for yuki.

[jabbberwocky.livejournal.com]

Seconding this one! The concept is interesting, tropes played up, Haruhi is insane, and the quality of the animation is better than a lot of stuff out there.

(If you don't like the first episode, do try the second episode before giving up entirely. ^^)

[parallactic.livejournal.com]

Read or Die, the OVA movie and anime. The OVA is about a secret agent bibliophile with paper fighting skills, and a secret agent who can space through objects, and cloned famous people. The action stuff is on the crack adventure buddy bonding that's femslashy if you want it to be. The anime series is about three sister detective agents who have paper skills, a female author who has writer's block, and the action-adventure side of bibliophilia.

It's not an anime, but the sheer amount of surrealism makes it feel like it could be. Kamikaze Girls is a live-action movie about the friendship between a Lolita fashion fangirl and a Yanki delinquent. It's got a Pushing Daisies or Amelie feel to it, in that it's candy-coated, wallows in bizarre coincidences, and has creative uses for lettuce.

[thomasyan.livejournal.com]

I disliked aspects the series. The sisters are not as interesting as The Paper, and I didn't like what they did with some of the characters from the OVA.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Gokusen. 3 discs, 13 eps, Netflixable. Yankumi is the heir to a yakuza family, but wants to be a teacher, while her oyabun grandfather accepts and encourages her living her life the way she wants. She gets assigned to teach math to a class full of delinquents and her unorthodox upbringing comes in handy. :)

[oyceter]

It's anime as well! Ha, I should have known. How do you think the anime compares to the drama compares to the manga?

[the-willow.insanejournal.com (from livejournal.com)]

I now proceed to Pimp the The Twelve Kingdoms (excuse my enthusiastic flailing)

*ahem*

*kermitgasms*

OMG Junni Kokki! You have to! You totally, totally have to!!!! Fuyumi Ono could beat Joss Wheadon, blindfolded and one legged in a sack race across burning lava! With rocks in her sack!!!

*ahem*


High Fantasy with Japanese/Asian (because I'm sure some aspects are Chinese and some possibly Korean) world building, beautiful music, long arcs and shortish episodes. juuni_kokki will have more details about the anime, the movie, the Tokyo Pop translation etc.

Netflix: http://www.netflix.com/Movie/The_Twelve_Kingdoms/60032790?trkid=222336&lnkctr=srchrd-sr&strkid=1629577505_0_0


My second recc: Fate:Stay/Night. I adore this because of the basic premise of Arthur, King of Camelot, Instigator of the Round Table, as a girl. There's also the usual manifestation of guardians fighting in an underground contest that determines the tone and fate of the world. But again, beautiful animation and music, moments of levity, myth filled, a gorgeous relationship between the main characters (it grows). I do not remember how long the episodes are, however; probably thirty minutes. I admit I cried at the ending, but I wasn't sad or disappointed in it.

Rozen Maiden, but only the first series. I haven't watched the second and don't know if I will. The protagonist in this is a doll (that's the strong girl in the series). I was happily surprised to find an animation dealing with depression in a child, far less debilitating depression due to high stress and pressure for academic perfection. There's an interesting parallel between the reality the dolls have to deal with and what's going on with the main male protagonist. There are definitely lots of moments of levity in this, and a sense of bonding. I loved the layered plot. I'm sure you'll definitely enjoy the Gothic Costuming.

I'm currently watching Tweeny Witches (Magical Girl Squad Alice) and it's not so bad. The episodes are very short, the art is rather luscious and it's majority girl protagonists all the way. It's a 'taken to another world' kind of story, so I'm actually not sure why I don't rave about it, because I've very aware it's something others would enjoy.


Non Netflix:
I'd also recommend (highly), Fairy Musketeers (Otogi-Jūshi Akazukin). Maybe if enough people request it Netflix will stock it. The DVDs are out there. I watched this series on Veoh and fell in absolute love. Maybe the fan translation is available for download somewhere. I know when I can afford it, it'll be in my top three must buy series. Red Riding Hood, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty kick some serious tail in this.

[oyceter]

OK, all of those sound awesome, especially Fairy Musketeers. Also, OMG, Rozen Maiden has a plot! I kept eying it in stores for the loligoth, but thought it would just be fanservice. Now it sounds much more watchable!

[heavenscalyx.livejournal.com]

I really enjoyed Last Exile. The female characters were generally pretty interesting, though there are some cliches thrown in (the unrequited love thing, mostly). I like the steampunk atmosphere, the flying machines and airships, and the overall world. The art is very nice, though some of the characters get a little inconsistent late in the series. There is a very definite ending.

We've started watching Simoun, and that's a really interesting world, if insufficiently pursued. (I would like to think that in a world where everyone is born female and remains female until age 17, when they can choose which of the binaries to continue as, there would be less male "superiority".) We're watching it at the same time as Kurau, which Akycha mentioned above, so we haven't seen the ending yet.

Kashimashi Girl Meets Girl was fascinating. Our male lead is smashed by a spaceship (yes) and recreated by the aliens, only they make a tiny mistake and rebuild him as a girl. There is a strong implication that actually, he was always a girl, it was just a fortuitous accident that gave him the body he really needed.

Princess Princess was also a lot of fun. At a boys' boarding school, certain bishonen are chosen every year to play the roles of the "princesses" -- wearing girls clothing and being, essentially, the school cheerleaders. All the other boys worship them. They have some conflicts. It's mostly humor, with genderbending, but there's some interesting stuff implied in the background about said genderbending.

[larryhammer]

Oh, right -- second the rec for Simoun. (I need to rewatch it again to see if the *spoiler* plot really works out the way they think it does.)

---L.

[anenko.livejournal.com]

Noir - female assassins, amnesia, secret societies, destiny. I thought the ending was relatively happy, but there's another interpretation as well.

Gokusen - inspirational female teacher, dorky yet kickass yakuza heiress, dumb but loveable students. (Potential squick: teacher/student pairing; this isn't a big part of the anime, but there's still subtext.) There's also a manga and drama (though the drama is quite different from the manga and anime).

Witch Hunter Robin: a cross between Nikita and The X-Files. Secret organization hunting witches, politics and conspiracy, religion, destiny. Kind of dark in places.

GetBackers: Um. This one is probably a reach? Dorky guys with superpowers retreive lost and stolen items, dark and mysterious pasts, friendship, mysterious city. There are some cool women: Himiko, Clayman, Hevn, Natsumi (the anime treats them pretty well; the manga goes crazy with the fanservice). Happy ending.

[thomasyan.livejournal.com]

Madlax is by the same team as Noir. I found the resolution of Madlax infuriating, so I recommend Noir. I agree that the ending is ambiguous; I personally choose the happy interpretation.

[amai-kaminari.livejournal.com]

Kiddy Grade -- Kickass women + funny

Mai Hime -- Kickass women + funny (I liked Mai Hime better than the sequel, Mai Otome)

Noir -- Kickass women + interesting story. It is a slow story, though, and a bit bloody.

Pretear -- Magical girl story, but Himeno is more than just a damsel in distress.

Azumanga Daioh -- Slice of life story about a group of high school girls. Sweet and funny.

UFO Ultra Maiden Valkyrie -- Cute story about a princess and her boy. Women are hot and smart.

Scrapped Princess -- Interesting plot. I loved the brother and sister of the main character.

Chrono Crusade -- Great plot and characters, though the ending is sad.

Rozen Maiden -- Kickass female dolls

R.O.D -- Both the TV series AND the OAV. Kiackass women, great plot and funny.

Fate/Stay Night -- Kickass women.

CyberTeam in Akihabara -- Silly anime about a bunch of teenage girls with kickass robots.

Burst Angel -- Kickass women (though I personally did not like the series and the women were practically naked the whole series.)

Daphne and the Brilliant Blue -- kickass women -- (though the plot was only so-so and the women were practically naked the whole series.)

Grenadier -- Kickass woman and funny.

Slayers -- Kickass women and funny. It's a sword and sorcery anime.

Mystical Knight Rayearth -- Most of the CLAMP series have strong women, actually.

Cat Girl Nuku Nuku -- Funny cybercat. The OAV is the funniest, followed by the TV series. Avoid Nuku Nuku Dash.

[oyceter]

Thank you!! Am avoiding the so-so plot ones and the one in which the women are practically naked all the time, but will keep the rest in mind.

[raucousraven.livejournal.com]

I must second the recs for Gokusen and Saiunkoku Monogatari, both of which I enjoyed. Gokusen is much shorter, and is also totally hilarious, as long as teacher-student interaction doesn't cause squick issues. Saiunkoku is more of an acquired taste (although the awesome archivist Daddy makes up for a lot); I had some issues with it around the start of Season 2. I like Shuurei very much, though.

One I've been meaning to check out is Otogi Zoshi (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=3972), which looks interesting but which I haven't actually seen yet.

[oyceter]

Gokusen sounds awesome!

I forgot, I watched some eps of Saiunkoku, and while I liked it, I think I just ended up not being interested enough.

[thomasyan.livejournal.com]

Have you tried Gankutuou? I think it might be somewhat lacking in female characters, but the visual style is eye-catching, and if I recall correctly, the Albert/Count angst got it pretty far in rilina's anime angst-off, but I wouldn't call it depressing.

[oyceter]

No! I have it in my queue, but was thinking of saving it for another time, since I'm not sure I have the brain to parse it right now.

[lady-ganesh.livejournal.com]

I've really been enjoying Full Metal Panic! which is action/comedy, has several great female characters, and has an ending (though I haven't watched it yet). I've heard very good things about Scrapped Princess and 12 Kingdoms.