OMG!!! I get to recommend Delicious in Dungeon!!! The show is a bit of a slow burn, but the early episodes set up the incredible world building and the basic plot points. Then as it starts churning it gets crazy. The story is strong enough on it’s own, but it’s animated by Studio Trigger so the anime is pure perfection.
I keep hearing it's amazing but I bounced off hard on the first couple episodes. I wish anime didn't need the 5 episodes rule, things should sell themselves from the start.
Maybe I'll give it another go. My wife is keen to watch it.
I powered through as I kept hearing everyone recommend this. It felt pointless because I didn't get watching a cooking show about stuff you could never eat because it isn't real.
The comments I read said it took a tonal shift when they finally got back to the red dragon. It's about halfway through, which took me weeks to get to.
The second half is awesome! If this is what it was like all along, it would have been amazing. The first half gives you nothing to expect what the second half is, which makes it feel more intense, but I still feel is kinda terrible pacing.
I want more now because the characters really are good, which is probably why they used that first half the way they did, but it was tough before seeing where it was going. Frieren had a much better buildup before it really started getting serious for example.
anon does not judge Drag negatively for having different preferences. anon understands why a dragon person may not enjoy the second half. anon also approves of the kitty. anon and drag find common ground.
Read the manga first to get past that initial hump. You can clear like 5 episodes worth of material in the time it takes to watch an episode and see if it's for you.
What is so great about this? Just watched the first couple of eps. First impression is not good: It seems like the classical mindless shonen fighting anime alongside pretty childish humor and a distastefully sexualized main female character. Her outfit is literally a bikini and she's sexualized in the very first scene and in basically every scene she's in since that one, wtf?
Clearly your drill is not the drill that will pierce the heavens. /s It's not for everyone, and for all the sexualization there is never any sex or nudity depicted. At least you gave it a try though!
You can fully skip episode 4, if it matters at all. The first two episodes are pretty strong but after that it kind of rambles a bit until around episode 6 or so.
Maybe not everyone cup of tea but to me Mr. Robot.
At first sight you may thinking the show is about "individual" hacker taking down corporate but once you understand it has longer lasting effect especially when you relate/something similar with Elliot. The cinematography, the score is chef kiss👌🏻, Season 2 slow burns on the first half but worth to not miss them.
The magical thing is this show on rewatch make more sense and definitely Sam Esmail planned everything from get go on writing.
The thing that's so great about Mr. Robot is that it ends perfectly. You can tell the show writers decided exactly what story they wanted to tell and then executed on that plan. They didn't just meander about and eventually land on a half-assed ending once the show's budget dried up.
I disagree. First season was perfect. But then it went downhill into unresolved Lost mystery boxes. The last episode of the last season itself was great but Esmail had no idea how to fill out the episodes of the last season to get there.
He was throwing around split personalities like Ronald Moore threw around Cylons. The time machine story went nowhere despite a multi season build up.
imo the ending, last half of season 4 is justified. If you take the "Time machine" fan theory and in case of Elliot meeting himself to me it's just happen inside his head like what happen at some moment in S1 and S2.
For split personalities/MPD, if you rewatch the show Sam Esmail definitely laid out everything from start ever since Season 1, that's why rewatching the show especially on S1 some scenes make senses.
Watched this show back in late 2022. Avoided forums/online discussion so I can fully grasp the show on my own thoughts.
Yes the split personality was fine. It was the last season where there's child Elliot split personality and, mom split personality. And no, they weren't in Season 1.
Esmail went down the Ronald Moore path where he had an idea but lied to the audience that he had a plan. Again first season was perfect but I don't think Esmail expected it to be such a success and quickly had to fill in extra seasons with mystery boxes.
@Crafter72
I watched a good chunk of it when it was first coming out, but I had to drop it because i was frankly not in a good enough place to hear the things that show was trying to say.
I was only able to get a couple episodes in. When his surrogate gay dad said that he'd do anything for him and two scenes later you have Rami Malek going "AHH I have noone who can help me what do I do?!??", I couldn't keep watching.
Though it might also be my inability to watch a show where characters get 'worse'. I got upto the third last episode of Arcane and when a pivotal moment in a characters story went bad It took me 5 days to finish the show.
Scavengers Reign is incredible, easily the best animated sci fi show made in the past few years IMO. It’s weird and emotional and deeply sincere in a way a lot of media isn’t anymore.
If you liked Fantastic Planet you’ll probably like Scavengers Reign.
I really enjoyed this show. The characters were all good the life cycles and the weird biology were interesting and largely made sense. There were only a couple points where I went that's silly the writers clearly just wanted x to happen but x was cool enough for the silly to not bother me too much, it just took me out the moment a little.
Solid recommendation, one of the best sci-fi I've watched in the last couple years.
Honestly, Cowboy Bebop. The universe it builds feels lived-in, and the animation style is incredibl, but the music is really the star.
Be aware, however, that while there are happy moments, it is an anime about bounty hunters, and there are very few happy endings. Beautiful endings, poetic endings, satisfying endings - but never happy.
The first half was some of the best anime I've seen. Then it devolved into a by the numbers shonen complete with a magical school and "tests" with unnecessary action scenes. I was ultimately disappointed by it because the whole season didn't live up to the amazingly high standard the first few episodes set.
I still enjoyed it and would give it a solid recommendation but it gets worse as it goes on in my opinion.
The first half where you are properly seeing the world through the eyes of someone ageless has that beautiful sadness I don't think I've seen anywhere else.
The first episodes just gave me existential dread every time haha. So I was glad when they "softened up" after a while. But in hindsight, you're right, the end of season 1 got somewhat stereotypical. I wonder if season 2 will be better.
100% agree with you. Loved the first half and was really let down by the 2nd.
The only other show that's given me similar vibes to the 1st half of Frieren was Violet Evergarden. Not so much for the content but in the melancholic, beautiful-yet-bittersweet vibes the whole show gives off.
I think that show greatly benefitted from the limited runtime though and would have suffered if they'd tried to push it out to Frieren length.
And then once you finish it, you can watch Breaking Bad again. Then El Camino. Then loop back around the Better Call Saul again. And once you're done, you can watch Breaking Bad again...
This one happened during a period when moe was more brain-dead than cute, and the sister character who is supposed to be his motivation for everything just ruins the whole show for me she acts so stupid.
There's definitely a bit of untasteful moe stuff but it's not a big part of the show. But yea it would be better without it.
Mayushii acting stupid I cannot recognise at all. She's just extremely genuine and she's probably way more emotionally intelligent than any other character in the show.
It's been a very long time since I watched it, but I distinctly recall being very annoyed by her character. I just checked out the Wiki, and the very first line on her personality is "[she] possesses an extremely childish and naïve attitude for her age." While not stupid exactly , is just about what I recall hating about her.
Cyberpunk Edgerunners is another great one from Trigger. Set in Night City, same world the Cyberpunk 2077 game, a year or so beforehand (but the plots are largely independent).
Real strong warning though: There are no happy endings in Night City. The ending will fuck you up.
Wife refused to watch anime because "of all the weird shit". Inuyasha broke the ice, Naruto got her a little further, and then I said "Let's watch this - but I'm going to tell you right now, your first reaction is going to be to recoil and cringe. But I promise - if you give it a chance, you'll enjoy it".
And probably ONLY because she loves me so much, she did give it a chance. And WOO boy that helped open the flood gates to sooooo much more. She loved Kill La Kill by the end of it, and ended up being so much more willing to trod through uncomfortable stuff with me. Which, unfortunately, sometimes you have to do when it comes to Anime.
My wife sat down and started watching JoJo's Bizarre Adventure with me on a whim about half way through part one and she's a bigger weeb than I am now.
Scavengers Reign. One of the best pieces of sci-fi I've ever seen. They managed to create a world that feels truly alien, and the environment has such complex cause/effect relationships. Highly recommend!
Thats only because bookworm just ended. Idk if you're into light novels but its the best piece of media i might have even consumed three and a half times.
Are you referring to Ascendance of a Bookworm? If so, would you recommend I keep watching the anime whenever a new season comes out, or jump into the manga?
You are right on the series, but its not the manga. The manga(s) are covering the first 3 parts, but none of them are complete. The anime is going in order but its only decent. Read the bookworm books, i personally have read over a 1000 books. This will be the best you ever read if you pick it up
Ok, I'll plan on reading the light novels then. Seems like it's pretty long, and I personally adore the premise, so I'm really looking forward to this!
Since you added on a separate recommendation with Wheel of Time, I'll add one as well and hope it's not in your >1k books yet: the webnovel called Worm. If you already read it, I'd love to hear your thoughts instead :)
I've been wanting to re-watch firefly lately. It's short but there's just so much in it. It's one of two shows I've watched start-to-finish more than once.
And since we're here for recommendations...the other show I've watched more than once is Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency. Based on a book by Douglas Adams (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) it's charming and insane in ways you might expect if you're familiar with Hitchhiker's Guide but it's absolutely not predictable either. So much fun. (Available on Netflix (in Canada...last I checked))
For anime, I highly suggest Serial Experiments Lain if you haven't seen it. Non-anime cartoons I'd recommend are Adventure Time and Lower Decks (its star trek and hilarious). For crude/absurd humor Rick and Morty and Human Resources. For non-animated tv I'd recommend Strange New Worlds (star trek again), Sandman, Fall of the House of Usher, Severance (I haven't seen season 2 yet but the 1st season was really good)
I had like a good month long period where I'd just randomly stop whatever I was doing and think to myself, "God DAMN Fall of the House of Usher was SO GOOD."
It may have been because Poe was one of the few authors I read as a kid, and seeing what they did with the stories tickled my brain in all the right ways.
Yeah, around ep 4 they stop making it like a cooking show and it starts to get interesting. They still have those little cooking montages, but it stops being the focus.
Those montages and deep dives into monster mechanics and biology are my favorite parts of the show.
I love that peeling away the layers of fantasy. It feels like a DnD campaign where the players wanted to get really weird with stretching the rules while staying within them and the DM enthusiastically agreed and joined the party with their dwarf that had been doing that for years.
Another one that I found gave a kinda similar feel is Dr Stone.
Though instead of diving deep into fantasy mechanics, that one is based on real world physics (well, other than some characters having super-human levels of skill) and rebuilding a modern society from scratch.
I find them similar due to their attention to detail and using their environment to build up their capabilities. The overall plot is very different and DinD has a bit more charm. Not that Dr Stone doesn't have charm.
If I could choose which one I want to see one more season of right now, I'd pick DinD. If I could choose which one gets seen through to the end, I'd pick Dr Stone.
I just couldn't get into the groove with Dr. Stone. I felt it required a much greater degree of suspension of disbelief since the setting is rooted in our reality, but they hand-wave over a lot of infrastructure needed to create the technologies they produce. When they got to cell phones/radios I just had to stop.
Yeah, I think they shouldn't have called them cell phones, they looked like just AM radios, which aren't that complicated. Just need a microphone (membrane attached to a magnet), amplifier (they used vacuum tubes), and an antenna (whose length would determine the frequency). Receiver is the same thing but backwards (with adjusted geometry on the mic/speaker, but they are electrically the same). If they had the vacuum tubes, copper wire, and magnets (which they could make more of once they had one), then I don't think that part was that far fetched (though I could be missing something big tbf). But a cell phone is a lot more than a 2-way AM radio, even if you're talking about a simple phone with no display.
Biggest issue I had with suspension of disbelief was when they used a vehicle without a road system. Roads came before cars in our history and had to be good enough for horses to pull carts. Using a two stroke steam engine to generate enough torque for offroading with those basic tires was a big hand wave IMO.
Oh also the whole using a celebrity impersonation to convince some of the other side that the US was back up and running was a weak tactic. Like I'm glad they had it immediately get noticed, but a better way to do that bluff would have been to just have other "radio chatter" going on to make it sound like they had joined up with others, at which point they could have talked about all kinds of technologies that might have taken the fight out of people from the modern era.
Pretty much anything by Trigger is going to be worth at least a watch through at least once, usually multiple times.
The League of Legends show, Arcane, is some of the best animation I think I've ever seen and season two comes out next month.
FLCL and FLCL Alternative are both amazing, I couldn't get into Progressive.
Mob Psycho and One Punch Man are wild rides. I think OPM is better, but that's because I'm bald.
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is an absolute hoot if you can see the humor in all the over-explanations and goofiness
I'm about to start Dead Dead Demons Dedede Destruction tomorrow. I'm going in blind, but I really love Inio Asano's other works. Goodnight Punpun changed my life, but really, do not read it if you are already depressed.
I keep editing this because I keep remembering stuff.
Frieren is amazing and makes you feel incredibly close to these characters.
Delicious in Dungeon is Trigger, but a different Trigger than something like Kill la Kill or BNA. It's slower, comfier, and like Frieren, makes you feel SO close to these characters.
For DDDD, not gonna tell you how to watch but i've seen a lot of people going both ways. You can either watch episode 0 at the start or after episode 16. Episode 0 is chronologically out of order. I watched it at the start.
I just recently finished bingeing the show and really enjoyed it. Let me know how you liked it
Ooo, I've already read the first handful of chapters of the manga, so I'm not sure if that covers what is in episode 0. Do you think it would have been a better watch through to have it at the end?
From what i know the manga is in full chronological order. I don't know who's decision it was to have episode 0 at the start instead of at the end.
I honestly can't say i'm really on the fence as to where to watch it. I can see the merit as to watching it both ways.
Since i watched it first i had qustions where some were slowly answered and also some realizations about things being introduced that i already knew about because of Episode 0.
On the reddit for the series someone did a poll, yes is at the start no is after ep 16
I think you underestimate how well developed the VA industry is in Japan. A lot of them are famous or use that as a start to become idols, so there's a lot more training and effort put into it, compared to most other countries
I think you underestimate how well developed the VA industry is in Japan
Oh, no. That's the point! It's so, so good. If English dubbers just copied it enough, it would still be decent enough. They don't have to explore, practice, or come up with excellent VA, just copy, even amateurishly, and it'll be good.
I think the issue is many English dubbers try really hard to speak to match the mouth movements and it ends up sounding so unusual. But also, stuff like choosing some young high pitched voice when the original actor was a deep sombersome voice that matches the character's appearance and demeanor.
Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood. For me, it's the perfect anime. An amazing blend of action, narrative, great characters, and an extremely good and satisfying ending.
Archer is a great adult animation. I find it so goddamn funny.
Bojack Horseman is probably has the best fictional depiction of depression ever. Also has plenty of funny moments.
In comparison it's wildly different, and some of the comments to make are massive spoilers. I will say the difference in "sacrifice" is much better, as the first betrays some built in concepts, treats one of the childhood friends as disposable, and doesn't really let the main character grow.
In brotherhood they call out some of what I said, plus many more characters have much more enjoyable personalities, even some of the pieces of shit like Kimbley(at least he had principles, insane as they were). I like the homunculi better too, even if they were trying to go for a more emotional and artsy thing. Their father is also has far better reasons in Brotherhood for being absent.
I feel like the first anime tried to tug the heartstrings and/or focus solely on the brother relationship too much. I also hated what was done to Rose for what appeared to be no reason but to make things more emotional.
What's funny is that I saw the first FMA years ago and forgot what it was about. When I saw Brotherhood I was getting weird flashbacks while watching it...
At the end of it ... Brotherhood was buried into my mind and I can't stop recommending it to everyone. I can't even remember much about the first anime.
I'd love to critique it against the first but I can barely remember the first. I think the first part was pretty close or something, but yeah.
Jericho: A post apocalyptic show that isn't just mohawk bejeweled raiders roaming around. It is a show very much of the GWB era, with offbrand Blackwater as major villains and heavy Dick Cheney vibes when it comes to the larger plot.
Kings: A sort of retelling of David versus Goliath except set in the modern day. If you liked the weird esoteric spiritual stuff on the Battlestar Galactica reboot, you'll like this.
The Unit: A fictionalized adaptation of Delta Force missions, with at least early on heavy influence by the former Delta author of Inside Delta Force. Great early seasons. Later seasons become more Hollywood nonsense, you tolerance may vary, but season 1 and 2 have some gold.
The Wire: This was a huge show when it was on, but maybe zoomers don't know about it. This is the crime show for people who hate everything about modern "procedural" crime shows. It is nuanced, thoughtful, and engaging.
Columbo: Speaking of crime shows and procedurals, Columbo is both and neither. Columbo is entertaining and keeps you invested with its unique approach to murder mysteries. It really doesn't pretend to be a proper procedural, and you're best off thinking of Detective Columbo as a supernatural embodiment of karma and guilt rather than an actual member of a police force.
It's a little slow and unevenly paced, but overall I do solidly enjoy it. There are some really great characters and arcs and I especially loved Elias trying to make friends. My girlfriend absolutely loves this show as well, so it's something everyone can watch and enjoy I think.
I may be misremembering on the pacing. I do remember liking season 2 more, though at first when I saw they were going to magic school I was worried what direction things were going to go in, but I really enjoyed Chise making friends and Elias's attempts and the accompanying adventure. The school felt like a real place, not just an excuse to do magic things.
I've seen some comments here saying they didn't when Frieren took a diversion to magic school, and I felt the same at first again, but I think they did enough unique things with it as well.
Watching Ancient Magus Bride now from your recommendation! I had it on the back burner for a while. Five episodes in, it's good. Still curious what exactly will happen, there's not too much of an actual plot. But I'm fine with it even if it goes on like this.
Hell yeah lets goooo! Finally managed to convince someone. In my case I love the contrast between the laid back chill moments and the more dramatic/action filled moments, so yeah, often plot takes the backseat. I hope it stays good for you till the end!
Finished the first season now. It's really good - I especially love the soundtrack and the calm nature of the first half. It sorta reminds me of the first half of Frieren (before Frieren's second half which turns into shonen fight stuff 🙄). The second half is really sad... it feels like everything is going wrong all the time and there's not really a nice resolution. It feels like the characters are struggling a lot but not managing to fix things despite it. It's kinda sad and frustrating.
I'm really a sucker for happy endings so this style doesn't really leave me satisfied. It's not that it ended sadly per se but I wouldn't exactly call it a happy ending either. How would you say the second season compares?
I have yet to watch the second season since I think the animation is absolutely beautiful and want to see it at its height from a BD rip. Its been a while since I watched it but I remember it ending in a hopeful tone, even if all problems weren't solved it still seemed like it would mostly work out with time. Contrasts are really central in this series I feel, from chill and happy to sad and hopeless, nothing captures that more than the exquisite soundtrack no doubt!
I can however recommend the two OVAS that come after the second season (tho one is a prequel), those were pretty nice too!
Btw, it makes me seriously happy that not only you took my recommendation but also really liked it so thank you very much
I'll probably give season 2 a shot. As far as I gather, it's almost caught up with the manga? I'm kinda considering to just read it but maybe I'll go for the anime if it's close to caught up anyway.
Btw have you watched Steins;Gate? Perhaps now that I've humoured your suggestion, you could humour mine :)
So here is the thing, I heard about it but, I tried to watch it 3 times. Every single time I get to episode like 4 and Im bored out of my mind, and I haaaate the main character.
Ah okay haha. It's important to like the main character as he's in every scene of the whole thing basically.
I will say... it kind of intentionally makes him annoying at the start, which makes for some good development of his character later. But he won't change completely I suppose. It does start slow, but it will really take off if you get about half-way, and I mean really take off. The first half and the second half are markedly different. You have to enjoy the mystery and just the interactions between the characters as a kind of slice-of-life thing in the start of the anime.
It's alright, maybe it just isn't your genre or your thing. Still my personal favourite of all time, but I am a sucker for that kind of story.
I love Ranking of Kings. The art style really threw me off but I stuck with it. I appreciate how everyone has their own stories and motivations and all of the characters that enter the stage where you say "well that person is clearly the bad guy" becomes someone you understand and even admire later. The theme of the show is definitely that things aren't always what they seem, so err on the side of kindness. It's a good lesson.
TV: Letterkenny immediately followed by Shoresy. Shoresy is a spinoff, so you really should watch Letterkenny first, although you don't necessarily have to
Seinfeld, probably no need to explain (Edit: how could I leave out Curb Your Enthusiasm here?)
Adult Cartoons: King of the Hill, Bob's Burgers, Archer, Frisky Dingo. I could go on for a while about adult animation
Anime: Samurai Champloo, Baki the Grappler, Baki, Baki Hanma, Oshi No Ko, and Zombieland Saga. Plenty more, but I'll stop here for now
Summary: I like TV way more than movies. My favorites being Comedy/Sitcoms and Dragon Ball/Z/Super
Edit: Does professional wrestling count? I fucking love me some WWE
Penta el Cero Miedo. Tony needs to shit or get off the pot. Let my Lucha Bros. go!
Dominik Mysterio and the Judgement Day/Terror Twin storyline
Wyatt Sick6 and pretty much anything they are doing. My guess as to who is next is either Kofi/Xavier or maybe Jey Uso
Nia Jax. I really liked Bayley, but she honestly became boring after winning the title
Iyo and Kairi (and Asuka, come back soon!)
Bron Breakker
I loved Braun Strowman and Bronson Reed's feud
I really like NXT, but I can't think of anything particular this second (edit: how could I forget the Young OG? He's boooouuuncyyyyy. Also Cora is back! Now I'm just missing Nikkita Lyons. Sol Ruca deserves a belt)
The BCC storyline has made me enjoy Wheeler Yuta. I like Beast Mortos too
Komander and Dralistico (I'm a big Lucha fan)
Yuka! I like so much about wrestling I could go on all day, but I'll stop here for now. Are you part of the squared circle community?
I love both Penta and Fenix, and would deeply love to see Fenix vs Je'Von Evans. Right now I'm psyched for Wrestledream, but I'm not a Mercedes Mone fan and I think that's an unpopular opinion over in SC.
Also Emi Sakura is my Queen, full stop. She's just a fantastic person and has such a great career!
I’m surprised no one has mentioned The Wire. A TVshow taking place in Baltimore about intricate relationship between drug dealers, police and politics. Love every part of it!
It’s shot in 4:3 aspect ratio despite 16:9 starting to become the standard for tv at the time. It’s has since been “remastered” and adjusted to 16:9 aspect ratio. I was worried it would ruin an already perfect show but I actually liked it. It’s an HBO show.
Long episodes (60min?) and might take a few episodes to get into as there are many characters and storylines that interlace.
The original Legend of the Galactic Heroes. This is top tier sci fi, politics, and mitary drama that is more impactful today than when the original novel was written.
Yea I get that - although I kinda like the slow start, it makes the hook all the better. I also wouldn't have minded Erased going on for a bit longer, I think Steins;Gate is like the perfect length.
Patriot, on Amazon streaming. I’ve been telling people for years—it’s the BEST show that NO ONE watched.
A depressed deep-cover operative sings bleak folk songs about his job at open mics. Stylistic elements (both visual and writing) from the Cohen brothers and Wes Anderson. Incredible cast. Funny. Sad. Two seasons, and both are great. 10/10
Haunting of Hill House. I may watch this every year in October until I die.
It’s a great horror show that can be rewatched multiple times, but it also has some amazingly written and performed drama and characterization. There’s literally a scene later in the show that portrays an outsider’s emotional breakdown better than I’ve ever seen in any medium.
Lots of philosophy on topics such as free will, determinism and AI mixed with action, in cyberpunk setting. Also nice end to end story in the first season.
The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, REALLY Love You - One of the zaniest, wackiest anime in recent history to turn your brain off to. (genre: comedy, romance)
86 - Too good for me to put into words. Just watch it. (genre: action, drama)
TV shows
Silicon Valley (HBO series) - As someone pointed out: it's not a satire; it's a documentary - for programmers at least. (genre: comedy)
The Night Manager - The showmakers made it look like either side could win till the very last few minutes, keeping me on the edge of my seat for the entire show. (genre: thriller)
74 episodes. Psychological thriller. Serial murder mystery, but instead of "whodunit?" it's "whydunit?". Dramatic as an opera. No weird tropes. Superb character development. I love Magnificent Steiner.
Frieren — fantasy, drama about an elf dealing with feelings she didn’t think she had
Delicious in Dungeon — Fantasy, comedy/light drama about rescuing a party member and eating monsters along the way.
Kaguya Sama — rom-com about not losing the love war
Konosuba — Isekai comedy about… nothing really
That Time I was Reincarnated as a Slime — Isekai about being reincarnated as a slime monster, then building a wonderful found family community of monsters.
They’re all pretty light hearted but all are well made and fun.
Personally, I liked the original more. I just think it did the darker elements of the story way better. Brotherhood had a totally different focus, but I do appreciate it having an actual conclusion unlike the original.
To put it another way: the original makes me cry at some parts; Brotherhood never did.
That's fair, and we are both entitled to our opinions of course. Neither is wrong. I'll have to give the original a shot again, but it just didn't connect with me the same way. I cried during Brotherhood I'm pretty sure (I know for a fact I definitely would now)
Here are a couple that I didn't see mentioned here.
The Bear
Ted Lasso
Solo Levelling
Dirk Gently holistic detective
The Office
Attack on Titan
Code Geass Lelouch Rebellion
Severance
Bojack Horseman
I just finished Good Omens also, it's great but the first episode is not because it's all setup. It's a Terry Pratchett story that I think I'll recommend that one for a long time.
The Bear is awesome! The quality of the dialogue is really top notch. Some episodes are a bit intense (ie Thanksgiving from hell) where I needed a break in the middle but man do they ever have interesting characters!
Lots of great recommendations but I have not seen anyone mention the anime Made In Abyss or Dr. Stone.
Made In Abyss has some taboo content early in season 1, but it and season 2 story arcs are the best I've seen of any anime to date. You will also need to watch the third movie Dawn of the Deep Soul before season 2. Movies 1 and 2 are recaps of season 1.
Dr. Stone is also great as a zany "what if" modern civilization was sent back to the stone age. Similar to made in abyss, you need to watch the OVA between seasons 2 and 3.
Call out to Goblin Slayer season 1 as well. The series visuals and story deeply fall off after season 1.
Highly recommend Dr. Stone. It gets too anime sometimes if you're not into that. But the talk and approach of science is really good. My non-anime watching wife enjoyed parts of it. But then left the room during the anime trope-y parts.
Fuckin love Mushi-shi!! Just started a rewatch of it. It's way better and different to the overwhelming majority of so many animes. Top 3 of all time for me.
It's a boxing anime based on a manga (that's still going after decades!) where a school kid is beat up and rescued by a passing boxer, who takes him in to a boxing gym to fix his wounds. It turns out he's got some solid power from his family background in fishing, so he becomes a boxer and learns what it means to be strong.
If you like DBZ, you'll probably love this. Alongside this, it's refreshing in that it's an anime that praises hard work, rather than being "the chosen one" or being gifted power. What I love about it is that several characters go through huge growth in ways that are truly unexpected.
Mr. Robot for live-action. definitely avoid looking anything up about it, there are spoilers everywhere and it's better to go in fresh. there's no good trailers for it really but if you watch the first six-minute opening scene... by the end of it you'll know whether or not the show is for you. and if you like it you will probably REALLY wanna keep watching. they go out of their way to get the tech stuff accurate and it's pretty much a cyberpunk story set in the present day. but also so much more deeper and psychological than you'd expect. my favorite show of all time, no contest. the whole thing was planned in advance and it SHOWS. it's more like one long very good movie than a television series quality-wise
and Bojack Horseman for animation. i'd also recommend avoiding spoilers for this. thematically, it gets off to a slow start pretending to be just another standard adult animation Family Guy-esque clone before it slowly morphs over the course of season 1 into a meta deconstruction of those sorts of shows and goes off the rails to truly hit its dramatic stride. and once it starts going it never lets up. it similarly hits very hard and gets pretty dark
The Last Ship: The crew of a US Navy destroyer is faced with a new reality as a deadly plague wipes out nearly all of humanity.
Basically, mix together the good parts of Battlestar Galactica and The Walking Dead, and distill it down to 5 seasons with no filler. It's one of my favorite binge-watches.
I stand by my opinion, which is what it is. An opinion.
That being said, only 2 seasons of The Last Ship had 13 episodes, the rest only had 10 each.
So 56 total epsodes, versus Battlestar's 76 episodes + 4-hour pilot miniseries + 2 TV films.
Or The Walking Dead's 177 episodes, just for the original series. Which blows up to 336 episodes and counting, if you include sequels and spinoff shows.
Opinions may vary, but at least from a numbers standpoint, The Last Ship has less potential for filler episodes. If you really wanted to, you could stop watching the show after season 3, and get a complete-enough story. But the show's main selling point is the action, and it delivers on that front all the way through.
Made in Abyss - really good but definitely not for the faint hearted and I only recommend this to people who ask me for dark anime with a disclaimer on the more questionable content. The version I watched was the heavily censored one. I was surprised to find out that the creator is Akihito Tsukushi, the same person who did the designs for the Elebits games! Of course, I'm separating the art from the artist here, but his name popping up made me nostalgic in a way.
Neon Genesis Evangelion - If you like biblically accurate angels, this is the anime for you!
Cowboy Bebop - has a very likeable main cast, an artstyle that I find very appealing, and it touches on themes that a lot of people can relate to despite the sci-fi setting!
Scavengers Reign - this one's pretty trippy and has some great creature designs! It only has one season so far (curse ye, Max!)
I was told by others that it was only at the beginning and to give it another shot, but I was too skeeved out to keep going. Good to know I made the right call and avoided that pedo shit.
Haven't read the manga as comic books don't interest me all that much, the anime definitely has some questionable things in it but if you can look past that the whole concept of the abyss and the creature designs are great. The design of the turbinid dragons are one of the best I've seen!
Oh dont get me wrong, i did stop reading it but i watched all the anime and would probably continue it. The third movie i have rated as a 10 because it was just sooooo goooood. Fucked up for real tho.
I watched The Wire way too late in life. I watched it last year and my wife couldn't get into it because of the old technology, but fuuuuuck was it good.
Bojack Horseman and Violet Evergarden. If someone is a bit deeper into anime, Tatami Galaxy as well, since the subs go pretty fast. Ping Pong the Animation gets a nod if folks aren't super hung up on aesthetic.
I think nobody mentioned it yet. It's about someone who lost the love of his life, so the show is about those emotions and the struggle to continue. It's quite sad sometimes, but the show also has a lot of humour and I laughed my ass off multiple times.
Why watch a show about such a sad circumstance? I think we all lost someone or will lose very important persons / friends someday and it's important to learn how to deal with that and how it's important to continue. I can't emphasize that enough
Oh man so many. Most of which others are already mentioning. And I'm sure I'm forgetting many that have been constants througj the years. But these stand out.
Anime: Your Lie in April, Mushi-Shi, Scavenger's Reign, Violet Evergarden, One Punch Man
Anime but it's more of my selfish mention than a masterpiece: Tomo-chan is a Girl, The Wrong Way to use Healing Magic (English dub is really well done and I can be a sub snob most of the time), Bartender: Glass of God, Mashle:Magic and Muscles, Goblinslayer
Live Action:The Expanse, Midnight Diner, Midnight Diner:Tokyo Stories, The Goes Wrong Show, Blood Machines, How It's Made (I know, not likely what is being asked for but I thoroughly enjoy the show)
I have a really hard time getting into Live Action shows because too many of them either drag on, or they are just too predictable or forumlaic, or too samey, or it's all about people being horrible to each other. And there is also a severe lack of laid back story telling or unique story options. Hollywood is berift of interest for me 99% of thr time.
Monogatari series. I must have watched that entire series like a dozen times already. I absolutely love the VA's performance. Finally reading through the Light Novels now.
Hajime No Ippo. Manga is still a blast and the anime was incredible too.
Extraordinary Attorney Woo - A Netflix K-drama about an autistic savant lawyer. It's charming, funny, and has a really beautiful story overall.
Bofuri: I Don't Want To Get Hurt, So I'll Max Out My Defense - a cute and fun anime about Maple, who doesn't want to get hurt in a VR MMO so she maxes her defense and becomes a hero.
I like light-hearted shows, so I'll be checking out a few of the ones in this thread 🙂
Undone, it's created by the same guy who made Bojack Horseman.
I think most people haven't seen/heard of it because it's an amazon streaming exclusive, but you can watch it (and most other things) for free here: https://hydrahd.com/
Dai-guard, a somewhat obscure mecha anime. It's a comedy about what would realistically happen if you had a giant mecha fighting monsters from another dimension: bureaucracy, lawsuits, government interference, and physics.
Tower of God is my absolute favorite anime and comic right now. Can't recommend it enough. Deeply interesting systems, amazing supporting cast, unique twists on old tropes.
I tried. I tried so hard. Attempted 3x to watch this. First time I got 5 episodes in. Second time I got 12 episodes in. Third time I got 16 episodes in.
Each time, I tried so hard to continue going. I'm sure it was great when it was released, but holy shit it was such a SLOG.
It's a seinen. If you're more into shonen, then it's not going to be as action-packed as you might be used to.
I don't normally watch the same thing more than once, but I've seen this one three times (first time in college; then some years later I wasn't sure I finished it the first time, so I rewatched the whole thing again; then more years later I watched with friends from work on our weekly anime night)
Alchemy of Souls on Netflix. A mix of Kung Fu Theater, a comedy, a love story, and a horror all rolled into one great story. It ran two seasons and each episode is over an hour long.
10/10
I'm not an anime guy. But I'll occasionally pop one on if the plot interests me. Vinland saga was good, Castlevania as well. I know the American anime haters will hate me. Aside from that I randomly watched "my happy marriage"with my wife and it was really good and I actually can't wait till season 2
Really thoughtful and smart sci-fi animation. Don't want to spoil it so I'll be vague, it has the most realistic depiction of modern tech and how people interact with it than any other show I've seen. Really great commentary on big tech corporations and even a bit of geopolitics. Super ambitious yet it somehow pulls it off.
There is also a scene that still gives me nightmares (not even joking, I still dream about that shit) which is more than any horror movies or shows have done for me. Anyone who has watched it knows exactly what scene I'm talking about.
I'll throw in my most recent guilty pleasure is Space Battleship Yamato. I didn't grow up with the original so I'm currently re-watching the 2012 remake. But for fun at the start I watched episode one of the original Yamato, Star Blazers (70s American localization) and the remake in the same day just to compare, which was a cooler experience than I expected it to be.
Great show if you think One Punch Man would be better if Saitama was a spaceship
Used to also recommend Bofuri but the last episode of season 2 implies heavily that season 3 is going to head way off in a completely different feel from 1+2
Lighter and did not end on a hard cliffhanger
Aristocrat's otherworldly adventures
Banished former hero lives as he pleases
Campfire cooking in another world
Level 2 super cheat powers
Reincarnated as the 7th prince
Parallel world pharmacy
Sleepy princess in the demon castle
Villainess level 99
The wrong way to use healing magic
Other suggestions offered based on the person's preferences:
Dungeon Meshi
Goblin Slayer
So I'm a spider, so what?
Solo leveling
That time I got reincarnated as a slime
Dan da Dan
The vexations of a shut-in vampire princess
Ya boy Kongming
Standalone complex
One punch man
Kill la kill
Dan da Dan is just coming out now. First episode animation looked really good and it is off the walls insane.
Everybody kind of slept on it but I really like AppleTV's See. Really unfortunate name for a pretty interesting premise, and the fight scenes are brutal and very well shot.
Frieren for anime - It has everything I love about anime. MASH for TV show (version without laugh tracks) - Kind of old, but even now, the humor is not outdated.
Berserk 1997. Berserk is my favorite thing of all time, but it is deff not for the faint hearted.
Highly recommend the manga too. Its a bit different, but same atmosphere and general story. It has more context as 1997 was only designed for one season, so it cut out a lot of things that would have become important later on.
But the one that I come closest to recommending everyone, without qualification, would be:
"Keep Your Hands off Eizouken"
It's basically a love letter to:
* joys and challenges in the process of creative collaboration
* how each success begets further goals
* how reflecting on details and oddities of the world adds to art
I watched a bit of in another world with my smartphone and it was peak garbage.
I also downloaded the wrong 7 deadly sins once, unforgivably awful.
I think I slogged through dog days while in my depressive always drunk phase.
actual recommendations:
bna and little witch academia are my fav trigger (after infern cop obv.)
I dunno aku no hana for some weird rotoscoped shit thats kinda disturbing and stressful. The character visuals are more convincing than the manga version.
suisei no gargantia is probably the most any audience friendly mecha anime, apart from the breasty pirate literally named rackage being maybe a bit much.
knights of sidonia was probably the first all 3d anime I actually liked. I ended up watching a bunch of other stuff by the same studio and they have a distinct animation style and facial expressions that are easy to recognize as being the same studio.
the promised neverland for some dark shit, but I only saw season 1 and don't know if there even were more seasons. The manga version became a slog for me after that point in the story but I was also working full time++ when the anime ended.
attack on titan also became a chore for me after season 1 but it was a novel experience watching it for the first time.
Can confirm that there's no season 2 of The Promised Neverland. It ended at season 1. They really didn't do anything more, don't go looking for it. Trust me.
Sad we didn't get to see some of the later arcs animated, but at least we didn't get a half-assed failure of an adaptation like it might have be, right?
I RECOMMEND EVERYBODY LOVES HYPNOTOAD. IT IS A GREAT SHOW.
ALL HAIL THE HYPNOTOAD.
I feel like I'm missing the context.... Where did this meme starALL HAIL THE HYPNOTOAD.
ALL HAIL THE HYPNOTOAD
ALL HAIL THE HYPNOTOAD
ALL HAIL THE HYPNOTOAD
👏😐👏😐👏
OMG!!! I get to recommend Delicious in Dungeon!!! The show is a bit of a slow burn, but the early episodes set up the incredible world building and the basic plot points. Then as it starts churning it gets crazy. The story is strong enough on it’s own, but it’s animated by Studio Trigger so the anime is pure perfection.
I keep hearing it's amazing but I bounced off hard on the first couple episodes. I wish anime didn't need the 5 episodes rule, things should sell themselves from the start. Maybe I'll give it another go. My wife is keen to watch it.
I powered through as I kept hearing everyone recommend this. It felt pointless because I didn't get watching a cooking show about stuff you could never eat because it isn't real.
The comments I read said it took a tonal shift when they finally got back to the red dragon. It's about halfway through, which took me weeks to get to.
The second half is awesome! If this is what it was like all along, it would have been amazing. The first half gives you nothing to expect what the second half is, which makes it feel more intense, but I still feel is kinda terrible pacing.
I want more now because the characters really are good, which is probably why they used that first half the way they did, but it was tough before seeing where it was going. Frieren had a much better buildup before it really started getting serious for example.
Drag liked the first half better. Drag came for the cooking. Drag thinks the second half has too much drama. Drag likes the kitty, though.
anon does not judge Drag negatively for having different preferences. anon understands why a dragon person may not enjoy the second half. anon also approves of the kitty. anon and drag find common ground.
I was hooked by the second episode.
I was also watching a lot of cooking shows while playing Elden Ring. So maybe it was right fit right time.
Read the manga first to get past that initial hump. You can clear like 5 episodes worth of material in the time it takes to watch an episode and see if it's for you.
Gurren Lagan
Fucken watch it
Also,
Log Horizon is what SAO wishes it was
Just who the hell do you think we are?
Yeah absolutely clicked on this to spout my spiel about Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. It’s my favorite anime ever.
Neon Genesis Evangelion is up there too, but I like TTGL more.
@Sanctus
Fuck i forgot about Gurren Lagan. What am I doing with my life
What is so great about this? Just watched the first couple of eps. First impression is not good: It seems like the classical mindless shonen fighting anime alongside pretty childish humor and a distastefully sexualized main female character. Her outfit is literally a bikini and she's sexualized in the very first scene and in basically every scene she's in since that one, wtf?
Clearly your drill is not the drill that will pierce the heavens. /s It's not for everyone, and for all the sexualization there is never any sex or nudity depicted. At least you gave it a try though!
Watch until episode 9 at least.
I just didn't have the patience for that honestly. I doubt it will make a difference.
You can fully skip episode 4, if it matters at all. The first two episodes are pretty strong but after that it kind of rambles a bit until around episode 6 or so.
The Good Place
Season 1 is just setting up the story
Holy motherforking shirtballs... someone stole my post idea!
Maybe not everyone cup of tea but to me Mr. Robot.
At first sight you may thinking the show is about "individual" hacker taking down corporate but once you understand it has longer lasting effect especially when you relate/something similar with Elliot. The cinematography, the score is chef kiss👌🏻, Season 2 slow burns on the first half but worth to not miss them.
The magical thing is this show on rewatch make more sense and definitely Sam Esmail planned everything from get go on writing.
Among the best TV series I have seen.
The thing that's so great about Mr. Robot is that it ends perfectly. You can tell the show writers decided exactly what story they wanted to tell and then executed on that plan. They didn't just meander about and eventually land on a half-assed ending once the show's budget dried up.
I disagree. First season was perfect. But then it went downhill into unresolved Lost mystery boxes. The last episode of the last season itself was great but Esmail had no idea how to fill out the episodes of the last season to get there.
He was throwing around split personalities like Ronald Moore threw around Cylons. The time machine story went nowhere despite a multi season build up.
imo the ending, last half of season 4 is justified. If you take the "Time machine" fan theory and in case of Elliot meeting himself to me it's just happen inside his head like what happen at some moment in S1 and S2.
For split personalities/MPD, if you rewatch the show Sam Esmail definitely laid out everything from start ever since Season 1, that's why rewatching the show especially on S1 some scenes make senses.
Watched this show back in late 2022. Avoided forums/online discussion so I can fully grasp the show on my own thoughts.
Yes the split personality was fine. It was the last season where there's child Elliot split personality and, mom split personality. And no, they weren't in Season 1.
Esmail went down the Ronald Moore path where he had an idea but lied to the audience that he had a plan. Again first season was perfect but I don't think Esmail expected it to be such a success and quickly had to fill in extra seasons with mystery boxes.
::: spoiler SPOILER ALERT First time I realized that the ending/revelation was that near in S1, jaw dropped really hard. :::
@Crafter72
I watched a good chunk of it when it was first coming out, but I had to drop it because i was frankly not in a good enough place to hear the things that show was trying to say.
I can see your point as I watch the show after everything released (late 2022).
I was only able to get a couple episodes in. When his surrogate gay dad said that he'd do anything for him and two scenes later you have Rami Malek going "AHH I have noone who can help me what do I do?!??", I couldn't keep watching.
Though it might also be my inability to watch a show where characters get 'worse'. I got upto the third last episode of Arcane and when a pivotal moment in a characters story went bad It took me 5 days to finish the show.
Scavengers Reign is incredible, easily the best animated sci fi show made in the past few years IMO. It’s weird and emotional and deeply sincere in a way a lot of media isn’t anymore.
If you liked Fantastic Planet you’ll probably like Scavengers Reign.
I really enjoyed this show. The characters were all good the life cycles and the weird biology were interesting and largely made sense. There were only a couple points where I went that's silly the writers clearly just wanted x to happen but x was cool enough for the silly to not bother me too much, it just took me out the moment a little. Solid recommendation, one of the best sci-fi I've watched in the last couple years.
scavengers reign knocked me on my ass, great recommendation.
Honestly, Cowboy Bebop. The universe it builds feels lived-in, and the animation style is incredibl, but the music is really the star.
Be aware, however, that while there are happy moments, it is an anime about bounty hunters, and there are very few happy endings. Beautiful endings, poetic endings, satisfying endings - but never happy.
Frieren: Beyond Journey's End
The first half was some of the best anime I've seen. Then it devolved into a by the numbers shonen complete with a magical school and "tests" with unnecessary action scenes. I was ultimately disappointed by it because the whole season didn't live up to the amazingly high standard the first few episodes set. I still enjoyed it and would give it a solid recommendation but it gets worse as it goes on in my opinion. The first half where you are properly seeing the world through the eyes of someone ageless has that beautiful sadness I don't think I've seen anywhere else.
The first episodes just gave me existential dread every time haha. So I was glad when they "softened up" after a while. But in hindsight, you're right, the end of season 1 got somewhat stereotypical. I wonder if season 2 will be better.
100% agree with you. Loved the first half and was really let down by the 2nd.
The only other show that's given me similar vibes to the 1st half of Frieren was Violet Evergarden. Not so much for the content but in the melancholic, beautiful-yet-bittersweet vibes the whole show gives off.
I think that show greatly benefitted from the limited runtime though and would have suffered if they'd tried to push it out to Frieren length.
Better call Saul - a beautiful drama with a hint of comedy and action. Better than Breaking bad and doesn't require much knowledge of it.
And then once you finish it, you can watch Breaking Bad again. Then El Camino. Then loop back around the Better Call Saul again. And once you're done, you can watch Breaking Bad again...
Steins;Gate, can't believe I haven't seen anyone mention it yet. It's good, but do watch at least halfway before you judge it.
Yeah this one takes several episodes to set the hook and understand some behaviors. But once it does it's binge worthy
This one happened during a period when moe was more brain-dead than cute, and the sister character who is supposed to be his motivation for everything just ruins the whole show for me she acts so stupid.
There's definitely a bit of untasteful moe stuff but it's not a big part of the show. But yea it would be better without it.
Mayushii acting stupid I cannot recognise at all. She's just extremely genuine and she's probably way more emotionally intelligent than any other character in the show.
It's been a very long time since I watched it, but I distinctly recall being very annoyed by her character. I just checked out the Wiki, and the very first line on her personality is "[she] possesses an extremely childish and naïve attitude for her age." While not stupid exactly , is just about what I recall hating about her.
Gurren Lagan, to second like a dozen people. Kill la Kill is A+ if you can get over it being weird Also I adored Promare.
Cyberpunk Edgerunners is another great one from Trigger. Set in Night City, same world the Cyberpunk 2077 game, a year or so beforehand (but the plots are largely independent).
Real strong warning though: There are no happy endings in Night City. The ending will fuck you up.
Yeah someone already spoiled me on that, I find myself not enjoying stuff that has turbo-downer endings.
Wife refused to watch anime because "of all the weird shit". Inuyasha broke the ice, Naruto got her a little further, and then I said "Let's watch this - but I'm going to tell you right now, your first reaction is going to be to recoil and cringe. But I promise - if you give it a chance, you'll enjoy it".
And probably ONLY because she loves me so much, she did give it a chance. And WOO boy that helped open the flood gates to sooooo much more. She loved Kill La Kill by the end of it, and ended up being so much more willing to trod through uncomfortable stuff with me. Which, unfortunately, sometimes you have to do when it comes to Anime.
My wife sat down and started watching JoJo's Bizarre Adventure with me on a whim about half way through part one and she's a bigger weeb than I am now.
David Tennant deserved an award
Ghost in the Shell (1995 film)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_in_the_Shell_(1995_film)
A vintage cult classic, which is the inspiration for many other cult classics
Meh, Stand alone complex is among the best media in existence, that's my can't recommend enough.
Surprised I had to scroll down this far to see SAC mentioned
Though I love the original film too
Scavengers Reign. One of the best pieces of sci-fi I've ever seen. They managed to create a world that feels truly alien, and the environment has such complex cause/effect relationships. Highly recommend!
Frieren was awesome but it's so fresh I'm not absolutely sure it'll keep being that
Severance season 1 (follow-up seasons upcoming, not sure if they can keep up with the extremely high quality of S1)
True Detective season 1
Madoka was great, thanks to tight storytelling and the best soundtrack I've ever heard
Kino's Journey -- somewhat similar to Frieren but 20 years prior
Chernobyl (2019)
Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog
Firefly
Twin Peaks, especially seasons 1 and 3, but season 2 and the movie might be needed to fully appreciate
Oh but it does (imo), I mainly read but I think Frieren and Atelier Witch Hat is the strongest running fantasy series currently.
Thats only because bookworm just ended. Idk if you're into light novels but its the best piece of media i might have even consumed three and a half times.
Are you referring to Ascendance of a Bookworm? If so, would you recommend I keep watching the anime whenever a new season comes out, or jump into the manga?
You are right on the series, but its not the manga. The manga(s) are covering the first 3 parts, but none of them are complete. The anime is going in order but its only decent. Read the bookworm books, i personally have read over a 1000 books. This will be the best you ever read if you pick it up
For a different recommendation, im currently on book 11 of wheel of time and its also a masterpiece with plenty of flaws.
Ok, I'll plan on reading the light novels then. Seems like it's pretty long, and I personally adore the premise, so I'm really looking forward to this!
Since you added on a separate recommendation with Wheel of Time, I'll add one as well and hope it's not in your >1k books yet: the webnovel called Worm. If you already read it, I'd love to hear your thoughts instead :)
Twin peaks has a third season?
Yup, the season's called the return. If you liked the first two seasons you should watch it
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4093826
Yes and it's awesome.
I struggled to watch season 2 & 3. Fortunately, I had a buddy who watched with me because some scenes, you really question the choices.
As a whole ride on Mr Lynch's crazy train, I enjoyed it.
I've been wanting to re-watch firefly lately. It's short but there's just so much in it. It's one of two shows I've watched start-to-finish more than once.
And since we're here for recommendations...the other show I've watched more than once is Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency. Based on a book by Douglas Adams (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) it's charming and insane in ways you might expect if you're familiar with Hitchhiker's Guide but it's absolutely not predictable either. So much fun. (Available on Netflix (in Canada...last I checked))
Yeah that's a good one. Especially the first season, but the second ain't bad either.
Having pushed past season 2, I think the rest of True Detective is worth watching, although they're still very different from the first.
For anime, I highly suggest Serial Experiments Lain if you haven't seen it. Non-anime cartoons I'd recommend are Adventure Time and Lower Decks (its star trek and hilarious). For crude/absurd humor Rick and Morty and Human Resources. For non-animated tv I'd recommend Strange New Worlds (star trek again), Sandman, Fall of the House of Usher, Severance (I haven't seen season 2 yet but the 1st season was really good)
I had like a good month long period where I'd just randomly stop whatever I was doing and think to myself, "God DAMN Fall of the House of Usher was SO GOOD."
Really? I'm super curious what made you feel this way. I have to say I was pretty underwhelmed by it compared to Flanagan's other series'.
It may have been because Poe was one of the few authors I read as a kid, and seeing what they did with the stories tickled my brain in all the right ways.
Delicious in Dungeon!
I recommend this to non-anime fans too! The episodes are so good and non-anime tropey.
This one is great. I was skeptical the first three episodes, but around ep 4 it picked up and the plot just went into overdrive. I really enjoyed it!
Thanks for your comment, I gave it 2 episodes and stopped. I'll give it another go.
Yeah, around ep 4 they stop making it like a cooking show and it starts to get interesting. They still have those little cooking montages, but it stops being the focus.
Those montages and deep dives into monster mechanics and biology are my favorite parts of the show.
I love that peeling away the layers of fantasy. It feels like a DnD campaign where the players wanted to get really weird with stretching the rules while staying within them and the DM enthusiastically agreed and joined the party with their dwarf that had been doing that for years.
I'm the same. Watched the first two and was like this isn't for me. If you continue and like it, let me know
Another one that I found gave a kinda similar feel is Dr Stone.
Though instead of diving deep into fantasy mechanics, that one is based on real world physics (well, other than some characters having super-human levels of skill) and rebuilding a modern society from scratch.
I find them similar due to their attention to detail and using their environment to build up their capabilities. The overall plot is very different and DinD has a bit more charm. Not that Dr Stone doesn't have charm.
If I could choose which one I want to see one more season of right now, I'd pick DinD. If I could choose which one gets seen through to the end, I'd pick Dr Stone.
I just couldn't get into the groove with Dr. Stone. I felt it required a much greater degree of suspension of disbelief since the setting is rooted in our reality, but they hand-wave over a lot of infrastructure needed to create the technologies they produce. When they got to cell phones/radios I just had to stop.
::: spoiler Tap for spoiler
Yeah, I think they shouldn't have called them cell phones, they looked like just AM radios, which aren't that complicated. Just need a microphone (membrane attached to a magnet), amplifier (they used vacuum tubes), and an antenna (whose length would determine the frequency). Receiver is the same thing but backwards (with adjusted geometry on the mic/speaker, but they are electrically the same). If they had the vacuum tubes, copper wire, and magnets (which they could make more of once they had one), then I don't think that part was that far fetched (though I could be missing something big tbf). But a cell phone is a lot more than a 2-way AM radio, even if you're talking about a simple phone with no display.
Biggest issue I had with suspension of disbelief was when they used a vehicle without a road system. Roads came before cars in our history and had to be good enough for horses to pull carts. Using a two stroke steam engine to generate enough torque for offroading with those basic tires was a big hand wave IMO.
Oh also the whole using a celebrity impersonation to convince some of the other side that the US was back up and running was a weak tactic. Like I'm glad they had it immediately get noticed, but a better way to do that bluff would have been to just have other "radio chatter" going on to make it sound like they had joined up with others, at which point they could have talked about all kinds of technologies that might have taken the fight out of people from the modern era.
:::
Pretty much anything by Trigger is going to be worth at least a watch through at least once, usually multiple times.
The League of Legends show, Arcane, is some of the best animation I think I've ever seen and season two comes out next month.
FLCL and FLCL Alternative are both amazing, I couldn't get into Progressive.
Mob Psycho and One Punch Man are wild rides. I think OPM is better, but that's because I'm bald.
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is an absolute hoot if you can see the humor in all the over-explanations and goofiness
I'm about to start Dead Dead Demons Dedede Destruction tomorrow. I'm going in blind, but I really love Inio Asano's other works. Goodnight Punpun changed my life, but really, do not read it if you are already depressed.
I keep editing this because I keep remembering stuff.
Frieren is amazing and makes you feel incredibly close to these characters.
Delicious in Dungeon is Trigger, but a different Trigger than something like Kill la Kill or BNA. It's slower, comfier, and like Frieren, makes you feel SO close to these characters.
Based.
For DDDD, not gonna tell you how to watch but i've seen a lot of people going both ways. You can either watch episode 0 at the start or after episode 16. Episode 0 is chronologically out of order. I watched it at the start.
I just recently finished bingeing the show and really enjoyed it. Let me know how you liked it
Ooo, I've already read the first handful of chapters of the manga, so I'm not sure if that covers what is in episode 0. Do you think it would have been a better watch through to have it at the end?
From what i know the manga is in full chronological order. I don't know who's decision it was to have episode 0 at the start instead of at the end.
I honestly can't say i'm really on the fence as to where to watch it. I can see the merit as to watching it both ways.
Since i watched it first i had qustions where some were slowly answered and also some realizations about things being introduced that i already knew about because of Episode 0.
On the reddit for the series someone did a poll, yes is at the start no is after ep 16
I think I'm going to try siding with the manga readers because it seems to be overwhelming "no" and I'll watch it at the end!
I'll let you know what I think. I'm really excited for this one. Thanks for the heads up!
Oooh I've been eagerly awaiting season 2 of Arcane. Hadn't seen the release date yet. Excited now. 😸
ODDTAXI. The intro will pull you in. The dialogue and story will keep you hooked.
But please, use subs. I don't think the English dub is good enough.
ODDTAXI is an absolutely amazing show. It feels slow and chill, yet it’s really gripping.
The writing is phenomenal! Every detail matters, even little stuff like “what pen is that guy writing with?”
That's usually the case, which I find unusual since the original voice acting is there; just copy it.
I think you underestimate how well developed the VA industry is in Japan. A lot of them are famous or use that as a start to become idols, so there's a lot more training and effort put into it, compared to most other countries
Oh, no. That's the point! It's so, so good. If English dubbers just copied it enough, it would still be decent enough. They don't have to explore, practice, or come up with excellent VA, just copy, even amateurishly, and it'll be good.
I think the issue is many English dubbers try really hard to speak to match the mouth movements and it ends up sounding so unusual. But also, stuff like choosing some young high pitched voice when the original actor was a deep sombersome voice that matches the character's appearance and demeanor.
Anime:
Cartoon:
TV:
I recommend watching Undone especially if you liked Bojack Horseman; it's created by the same guy.
You can stream it for free here: https://hydrahd.com/ or check out the c/piracy wiki for one that suits you.
Oh I remember watching the first episode or so back when I still had amazon prime. Didn't know it was made by the Bojack creator.
I have the whole *arr suite and jellyfin now, but thanks for the suggestion.
Heavenly Delusion was a trip. I enjoyed it a lot
Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood. For me, it's the perfect anime. An amazing blend of action, narrative, great characters, and an extremely good and satisfying ending.
Archer is a great adult animation. I find it so goddamn funny.
Bojack Horseman is probably has the best fictional depiction of depression ever. Also has plenty of funny moments.
What did you find satisfying about the ending? While a big improvement over FMA, it didn't quite wow me
In comparison it's wildly different, and some of the comments to make are massive spoilers. I will say the difference in "sacrifice" is much better, as the first betrays some built in concepts, treats one of the childhood friends as disposable, and doesn't really let the main character grow.
In brotherhood they call out some of what I said, plus many more characters have much more enjoyable personalities, even some of the pieces of shit like Kimbley(at least he had principles, insane as they were). I like the homunculi better too, even if they were trying to go for a more emotional and artsy thing. Their father is also has far better reasons in Brotherhood for being absent.
I feel like the first anime tried to tug the heartstrings and/or focus solely on the brother relationship too much. I also hated what was done to Rose for what appeared to be no reason but to make things more emotional.
What's funny is that I saw the first FMA years ago and forgot what it was about. When I saw Brotherhood I was getting weird flashbacks while watching it...
At the end of it ... Brotherhood was buried into my mind and I can't stop recommending it to everyone. I can't even remember much about the first anime.
I'd love to critique it against the first but I can barely remember the first. I think the first part was pretty close or something, but yeah.
All of these animes have a fantastic story that even people who don't regularly watch anime's will love.
This is what I did, would also recommend. I don't even think Brotherhood is better, the original has some really strong points.
Because the ending to the original is so unsatisfactory?
Jericho: A post apocalyptic show that isn't just mohawk bejeweled raiders roaming around. It is a show very much of the GWB era, with offbrand Blackwater as major villains and heavy Dick Cheney vibes when it comes to the larger plot.
Kings: A sort of retelling of David versus Goliath except set in the modern day. If you liked the weird esoteric spiritual stuff on the Battlestar Galactica reboot, you'll like this.
The Unit: A fictionalized adaptation of Delta Force missions, with at least early on heavy influence by the former Delta author of Inside Delta Force. Great early seasons. Later seasons become more Hollywood nonsense, you tolerance may vary, but season 1 and 2 have some gold.
The Wire: This was a huge show when it was on, but maybe zoomers don't know about it. This is the crime show for people who hate everything about modern "procedural" crime shows. It is nuanced, thoughtful, and engaging.
Columbo: Speaking of crime shows and procedurals, Columbo is both and neither. Columbo is entertaining and keeps you invested with its unique approach to murder mysteries. It really doesn't pretend to be a proper procedural, and you're best off thinking of Detective Columbo as a supernatural embodiment of karma and guilt rather than an actual member of a police force.
Rewatching Jericho right now for the first time in a while and yeah... It's certainly a product of that decade lol. Still love it.
I second The Wire. Absolutely amazing, and I typically don't enjoy more serious shit, but I couldn't pull my eyes away from the TV
I keep recommending Ancient Magus Bride. Nobody watches...
It's a seriously good anime with some slice of life and drama, an amazing magical world and SUPER GOOD SOUNDTRACK
If anyone reading this watches it, I beg of you, please tell me what you thought
It's a little slow and unevenly paced, but overall I do solidly enjoy it. There are some really great characters and arcs and I especially loved Elias trying to make friends. My girlfriend absolutely loves this show as well, so it's something everyone can watch and enjoy I think.
Thanks! Well, I actually like how it is paced, kinda keeps you guessing you know? Did you watch the extra stuff?
No, I was not aware of any extras.
I may be misremembering on the pacing. I do remember liking season 2 more, though at first when I saw they were going to magic school I was worried what direction things were going to go in, but I really enjoyed Chise making friends and Elias's attempts and the accompanying adventure. The school felt like a real place, not just an excuse to do magic things.
I've seen some comments here saying they didn't when Frieren took a diversion to magic school, and I felt the same at first again, but I think they did enough unique things with it as well.
I haven't watched season 2 yet (waiting for BD release) so I stopped reading half way not to see any spoilers, but great to know you like it better!
After season 1 you can watch 2 OVAs:
https://anilist.co/anime/130713/Mahoutsukai-no-Yome-Nishi-no-Shounen-to-Seiran-no-Kishi/
https://anilist.co/anime/21688/Mahoutsukai-no-Yome-Hoshi-Matsu-Hito/
They were pretty good, worth watching!
Ah, good, I was tempted to say a little more but held back. Lots of great stuff ahead if you havent seen it yet!
Watched them all, subbed as they came out, dubbed for seconds.
Also:
Apothecary Diaries
Cool, did you like them? Im waiting on the BD for apothecary diaries but heard its really good
Dug both (Ancient Magus Bride & Apothecary Diaries). About ready to watch them again.
And I want to intern at an apothecary.
Damn this western medicine!Watching Ancient Magus Bride now from your recommendation! I had it on the back burner for a while. Five episodes in, it's good. Still curious what exactly will happen, there's not too much of an actual plot. But I'm fine with it even if it goes on like this.
Hell yeah lets goooo! Finally managed to convince someone. In my case I love the contrast between the laid back chill moments and the more dramatic/action filled moments, so yeah, often plot takes the backseat. I hope it stays good for you till the end!
Finished the first season now. It's really good - I especially love the soundtrack and the calm nature of the first half. It sorta reminds me of the first half of Frieren (before Frieren's second half which turns into shonen fight stuff 🙄). The second half is really sad... it feels like everything is going wrong all the time and there's not really a nice resolution. It feels like the characters are struggling a lot but not managing to fix things despite it. It's kinda sad and frustrating.
I'm really a sucker for happy endings so this style doesn't really leave me satisfied. It's not that it ended sadly per se but I wouldn't exactly call it a happy ending either. How would you say the second season compares?
I have yet to watch the second season since I think the animation is absolutely beautiful and want to see it at its height from a BD rip. Its been a while since I watched it but I remember it ending in a hopeful tone, even if all problems weren't solved it still seemed like it would mostly work out with time. Contrasts are really central in this series I feel, from chill and happy to sad and hopeless, nothing captures that more than the exquisite soundtrack no doubt!
I can however recommend the two OVAS that come after the second season (tho one is a prequel), those were pretty nice too!
Btw, it makes me seriously happy that not only you took my recommendation but also really liked it so thank you very much
I'll probably give season 2 a shot. As far as I gather, it's almost caught up with the manga? I'm kinda considering to just read it but maybe I'll go for the anime if it's close to caught up anyway.
Btw have you watched Steins;Gate? Perhaps now that I've humoured your suggestion, you could humour mine :)
So here is the thing, I heard about it but, I tried to watch it 3 times. Every single time I get to episode like 4 and Im bored out of my mind, and I haaaate the main character.
Ah okay haha. It's important to like the main character as he's in every scene of the whole thing basically.
I will say... it kind of intentionally makes him annoying at the start, which makes for some good development of his character later. But he won't change completely I suppose. It does start slow, but it will really take off if you get about half-way, and I mean really take off. The first half and the second half are markedly different. You have to enjoy the mystery and just the interactions between the characters as a kind of slice-of-life thing in the start of the anime.
It's alright, maybe it just isn't your genre or your thing. Still my personal favourite of all time, but I am a sucker for that kind of story.
The Expanse- Very grounded scifi with an amazing cast.
HBO's Rome- The reason men can't stop thinking about ancient Rome
Ranking of Kings- Anime that looks cute and wholesome but has surprisingly mature storytelling and compelling characters.
I love Ranking of Kings. The art style really threw me off but I stuck with it. I appreciate how everyone has their own stories and motivations and all of the characters that enter the stage where you say "well that person is clearly the bad guy" becomes someone you understand and even admire later. The theme of the show is definitely that things aren't always what they seem, so err on the side of kindness. It's a good lesson.
I thought the reason men can't stop thinking about Rome is because the crimes of Rome are the foundation of all Western Evil
Nah, it's because in Rome men wore skirts. Same reason why all men support the independence of Scotland. Gotta make tartan kilts mainstream again.
I think togas are a kind of dress but fair enough because they also wore skirts.
Psych
You know that's right.
TV: Letterkenny immediately followed by Shoresy. Shoresy is a spinoff, so you really should watch Letterkenny first, although you don't necessarily have to
Seinfeld, probably no need to explain (Edit: how could I leave out Curb Your Enthusiasm here?)
Adult Cartoons: King of the Hill, Bob's Burgers, Archer, Frisky Dingo. I could go on for a while about adult animation
Anime: Samurai Champloo, Baki the Grappler, Baki, Baki Hanma, Oshi No Ko, and Zombieland Saga. Plenty more, but I'll stop here for now
Summary: I like TV way more than movies. My favorites being Comedy/Sitcoms and Dragon Ball/Z/Super
Edit: Does professional wrestling count? I fucking love me some WWE
Letterkenny is an even better anime than Corey in the House.
Letterkenny and Shoresy are SO good. Jared Keeso is a brilliant comedian and has a knack for heartfelt story.
Also, wrestling counts. I'm an AEW girl but no tribalism from me. Who's your wrestler to watch, or storyline you love?
Oh boy, get ready
Penta el Cero Miedo. Tony needs to shit or get off the pot. Let my Lucha Bros. go!
Dominik Mysterio and the Judgement Day/Terror Twin storyline
Wyatt Sick6 and pretty much anything they are doing. My guess as to who is next is either Kofi/Xavier or maybe Jey Uso
Nia Jax. I really liked Bayley, but she honestly became boring after winning the title
Iyo and Kairi (and Asuka, come back soon!)
Bron Breakker
I loved Braun Strowman and Bronson Reed's feud
I really like NXT, but I can't think of anything particular this second (edit: how could I forget the Young OG? He's boooouuuncyyyyy. Also Cora is back! Now I'm just missing Nikkita Lyons. Sol Ruca deserves a belt)
The BCC storyline has made me enjoy Wheeler Yuta. I like Beast Mortos too
Komander and Dralistico (I'm a big Lucha fan)
Yuka! I like so much about wrestling I could go on all day, but I'll stop here for now. Are you part of the squared circle community?
I am! I don't post much though.
I love both Penta and Fenix, and would deeply love to see Fenix vs Je'Von Evans. Right now I'm psyched for Wrestledream, but I'm not a Mercedes Mone fan and I think that's an unpopular opinion over in SC.
Also Emi Sakura is my Queen, full stop. She's just a fantastic person and has such a great career!
Thank you! I can't stand her, and I feel crazy, like I'm missing something everyone else sees. She's mid at best
I'll have to look up Emi Sakura
Fenix and Je'Von would be so fucking hype
I’m surprised no one has mentioned The Wire. A TVshow taking place in Baltimore about intricate relationship between drug dealers, police and politics. Love every part of it!
It’s shot in 4:3 aspect ratio despite 16:9 starting to become the standard for tv at the time. It’s has since been “remastered” and adjusted to 16:9 aspect ratio. I was worried it would ruin an already perfect show but I actually liked it. It’s an HBO show.
Long episodes (60min?) and might take a few episodes to get into as there are many characters and storylines that interlace.
Thanks be later, probably.
The original Legend of the Galactic Heroes. This is top tier sci fi, politics, and mitary drama that is more impactful today than when the original novel was written.
Gate
Stargate SG1
Just watched it based on this comment. This anime is seriously good, definitely in my top 5s.
Have you watched Steins;Gate? It definitely has some parallels.
Yea I get that - although I kinda like the slow start, it makes the hook all the better. I also wouldn't have minded Erased going on for a bit longer, I think Steins;Gate is like the perfect length.
Patriot, on Amazon streaming. I’ve been telling people for years—it’s the BEST show that NO ONE watched.
A depressed deep-cover operative sings bleak folk songs about his job at open mics. Stylistic elements (both visual and writing) from the Cohen brothers and Wes Anderson. Incredible cast. Funny. Sad. Two seasons, and both are great. 10/10
I have recommended this show more than anything else in recent years.
it is absolutely a 10 out of 10.
the comedy, the obligations, drama, creativity, every element is heightened by every other element of the show.
I think you are the first other person I've heard of who has watched it, and that is a crime.
There are dozens of us. Dozens!
The Americans is the best show ive ever seen. Absolutely brilliant from the story to the acting.
My favorite show is also Haunting on Hill House. Its on Netflix. Perfect for Halloween if anyone is interested.
Haunting of Hill House. I may watch this every year in October until I die.
It’s a great horror show that can be rewatched multiple times, but it also has some amazingly written and performed drama and characterization. There’s literally a scene later in the show that portrays an outsider’s emotional breakdown better than I’ve ever seen in any medium.
The Magicians- the musical episodes are amazing.
I love musical episodes, I was so happy when everyone started singing in the magicians.
I still sometimes go back and watch The Buffy musical episode, too.
spontaneous breaks for musical nimbers are so great.
Anime - Cromartie High
Hell yes.
Psycho pass.
Lots of philosophy on topics such as free will, determinism and AI mixed with action, in cyberpunk setting. Also nice end to end story in the first season.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psycho-Pass
Andor, best piece of SW since the 80s
Mr. Robot: it’s not anime but I haven’t been able to shut up about it for a long time
The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, REALLY Love You - One of the zaniest, wackiest anime in recent history to turn your brain off to. (genre: comedy, romance)
86 - Too good for me to put into words. Just watch it. (genre: action, drama)
Silicon Valley (HBO series) - As someone pointed out: it's not a satire; it's a documentary - for programmers at least. (genre: comedy)
The Night Manager - The showmakers made it look like either side could win till the very last few minutes, keeping me on the edge of my seat for the entire show. (genre: thriller)
@Endmaker @Shkshkshk Hugh Laurie was absolutely fantastic in The Night Manager
Monster
74 episodes. Psychological thriller. Serial murder mystery, but instead of "whodunit?" it's "whydunit?". Dramatic as an opera. No weird tropes. Superb character development. I love Magnificent Steiner.
I never watched any anime but then watched one punch man. It's really clever and very approachable for new and casual viewers.
They’re all pretty light hearted but all are well made and fun.
—edited for formatting
My Deer Friend is amazing.
Which reminds me that there's probably a new episode out right now. 😃
I also would always recommend the staples in anime:
Trigun, Cowboy Bebop, Dragonball, DBZ, Inuyasha, Yu Yu Hakusho, Rouroni Kenshin, Full Metal Alchemist, Ghost in the Shell, and Ninja Scroll.
I should have read your comment before I replied lmao. Everybody go watch Samurai Champloo
For sure! I'm sure I've missed a bunch more that I would put in that list, too.
Holy hell you killed it on the anime suggestions. May I suggest Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood over the original?
Also, have you watched Samurai Champloo? That and Baki (all of them) are the only others I can think of off the top of my head
Edit: Oshi No Ko
Personally, I liked the original more. I just think it did the darker elements of the story way better. Brotherhood had a totally different focus, but I do appreciate it having an actual conclusion unlike the original.
To put it another way: the original makes me cry at some parts; Brotherhood never did.
I agree, but I see the other side as well.
Brotherhood took away too much of the darkness, but FMA wandered around a lot in the middle and got lost.
Ed-ward...
That's fair, and we are both entitled to our opinions of course. Neither is wrong. I'll have to give the original a shot again, but it just didn't connect with me the same way. I cried during Brotherhood I'm pretty sure (I know for a fact I definitely would now)
I will never stop recommending Neon Genesis Evangelion, and Madoka Magika.
I don’t watch anime or shows, yet there’s something I still recommend:
Anime: Neon Genesis: Evangelion (it’s old)
Cartoon: Final Space (Netflix killed it before the finale, the creators are making a comic about the final 2 seasons that’ll release sometime 2025)
Show: The Office (a lil bit anachronistic if you’re too young)
The f* did Netflix give Final Space the axe? So good. Now so sad.
Will 100% buy the comic.
Dirk gently's holistic detective agency.
My only issue with Dirk Gently is that it got canned. I can't recommend shows that get canceled without a proper ending.
Yeah the shows creator is a rapist I think, so not too fussed it wasn't finished. Good show though.
Here are a couple that I didn't see mentioned here.
I just finished Good Omens also, it's great but the first episode is not because it's all setup. It's a Terry Pratchett story that I think I'll recommend that one for a long time.
The Bear is awesome! The quality of the dialogue is really top notch. Some episodes are a bit intense (ie Thanksgiving from hell) where I needed a break in the middle but man do they ever have interesting characters!
Arcane. It’s always Arcane. Arcane.
That show had absolutely no reason to be so good for such a really toxic game.
Lots of great recommendations but I have not seen anyone mention the anime Made In Abyss or Dr. Stone.
Made In Abyss has some taboo content early in season 1, but it and season 2 story arcs are the best I've seen of any anime to date. You will also need to watch the third movie Dawn of the Deep Soul before season 2. Movies 1 and 2 are recaps of season 1.
Dr. Stone is also great as a zany "what if" modern civilization was sent back to the stone age. Similar to made in abyss, you need to watch the OVA between seasons 2 and 3.
Call out to Goblin Slayer season 1 as well. The series visuals and story deeply fall off after season 1.
Highly recommend Dr. Stone. It gets too anime sometimes if you're not into that. But the talk and approach of science is really good. My non-anime watching wife enjoyed parts of it. But then left the room during the anime trope-y parts.
Mushishi. Very slow & contemplative, but I still think about it decades later.
Fuckin love Mushi-shi!! Just started a rewatch of it. It's way better and different to the overwhelming majority of so many animes. Top 3 of all time for me.
They made a second season/follow up that I never finished, it lacked a je-ne-sais-quoi.
Trying to remember if I watched the second season. If not I will be shortly. Got ahold of both seasons.
I think this is the sequel: "Mushi-shi: Next Passage" https://m.imdb.com/title/tt3443522/
Yeah, I have it, just couldn't recall if I'd watched it yet. Been ages.
Mushishi is fantastic.
Excellent anime!
Hajime No Ippo!
It's a boxing anime based on a manga (that's still going after decades!) where a school kid is beat up and rescued by a passing boxer, who takes him in to a boxing gym to fix his wounds. It turns out he's got some solid power from his family background in fishing, so he becomes a boxer and learns what it means to be strong.
If you like DBZ, you'll probably love this. Alongside this, it's refreshing in that it's an anime that praises hard work, rather than being "the chosen one" or being gifted power. What I love about it is that several characters go through huge growth in ways that are truly unexpected.
Mr. Robot for live-action. definitely avoid looking anything up about it, there are spoilers everywhere and it's better to go in fresh. there's no good trailers for it really but if you watch the first six-minute opening scene... by the end of it you'll know whether or not the show is for you. and if you like it you will probably REALLY wanna keep watching. they go out of their way to get the tech stuff accurate and it's pretty much a cyberpunk story set in the present day. but also so much more deeper and psychological than you'd expect. my favorite show of all time, no contest. the whole thing was planned in advance and it SHOWS. it's more like one long very good movie than a television series quality-wise
and Bojack Horseman for animation. i'd also recommend avoiding spoilers for this. thematically, it gets off to a slow start pretending to be just another standard adult animation Family Guy-esque clone before it slowly morphs over the course of season 1 into a meta deconstruction of those sorts of shows and goes off the rails to truly hit its dramatic stride. and once it starts going it never lets up. it similarly hits very hard and gets pretty dark
The Last Ship: The crew of a US Navy destroyer is faced with a new reality as a deadly plague wipes out nearly all of humanity.
Basically, mix together the good parts of Battlestar Galactica and The Walking Dead, and distill it down to 5 seasons with no filler. It's one of my favorite binge-watches.
I stand by my opinion, which is what it is. An opinion.
That being said, only 2 seasons of The Last Ship had 13 episodes, the rest only had 10 each.
So 56 total epsodes, versus Battlestar's 76 episodes + 4-hour pilot miniseries + 2 TV films.
Or The Walking Dead's 177 episodes, just for the original series. Which blows up to 336 episodes and counting, if you include sequels and spinoff shows.
Opinions may vary, but at least from a numbers standpoint, The Last Ship has less potential for filler episodes. If you really wanted to, you could stop watching the show after season 3, and get a complete-enough story. But the show's main selling point is the action, and it delivers on that front all the way through.
Pantheon
This is a good one that I don't think ever really got advertised at all. Caught me by surprise.
Such a tragedy that this didn’t/doesn’t get the attention it deserves.
Made in Abyss - really good but definitely not for the faint hearted and I only recommend this to people who ask me for dark anime with a disclaimer on the more questionable content. The version I watched was the heavily censored one. I was surprised to find out that the creator is Akihito Tsukushi, the same person who did the designs for the Elebits games! Of course, I'm separating the art from the artist here, but his name popping up made me nostalgic in a way.
Neon Genesis Evangelion - If you like biblically accurate angels, this is the anime for you!
Cowboy Bebop - has a very likeable main cast, an artstyle that I find very appealing, and it touches on themes that a lot of people can relate to despite the sci-fi setting!
Scavengers Reign - this one's pretty trippy and has some great creature designs! It only has one season so far (curse ye, Max!)
I cant get past the loli/shota grossness
at the startof Made in Abyss. I'd be embarrassed to recommend that to anyone.Edit: Apparently not just at the beginning? Disgusting either way.
It's not getting better. Such a great concept and art destroyed by a pedo mangaka (well it wouldn't exist without him but still)
Its not just at the start......
I was told by others that it was only at the beginning and to give it another shot, but I was too skeeved out to keep going. Good to know I made the right call and avoided that pedo shit.
The manga is worse. Ive read and watched a lot of anime and manga. Made in the abyss is almost the most fucked up you can get.
Haven't read the manga as comic books don't interest me all that much, the anime definitely has some questionable things in it but if you can look past that the whole concept of the abyss and the creature designs are great. The design of the turbinid dragons are one of the best I've seen!
Oh dont get me wrong, i did stop reading it but i watched all the anime and would probably continue it. The third movie i have rated as a 10 because it was just sooooo goooood. Fucked up for real tho.
Comedy: What we do in the shadows;
Action: Black Sails;
Anime: Monster;
Depression: Bojack Horseman.
I'm always trying to get people watching Konosuba it's just funny but yeah I liked it so much I read the novels and spinoff.
Angel, Hannibal, Evil, Breaking Bad & Better Call Saul.
So many great shows out there. I’m currently watching The Wire and it’s amazing too.
Season 4 of The Wire is brutal.
I watched The Wire way too late in life. I watched it last year and my wife couldn't get into it because of the old technology, but fuuuuuck was it good.
Bojack Horseman and Violet Evergarden. If someone is a bit deeper into anime, Tatami Galaxy as well, since the subs go pretty fast. Ping Pong the Animation gets a nod if folks aren't super hung up on aesthetic.
Afterlife
I think nobody mentioned it yet. It's about someone who lost the love of his life, so the show is about those emotions and the struggle to continue. It's quite sad sometimes, but the show also has a lot of humour and I laughed my ass off multiple times.
Why watch a show about such a sad circumstance? I think we all lost someone or will lose very important persons / friends someday and it's important to learn how to deal with that and how it's important to continue. I can't emphasize that enough
Is that the one with Ricky Gervais? Couldn't take it seriously because he's such a prick irl (and in the show I guess)
Hahaha, I can respect that! Too bad though, he's a fine actor, with many faces.
Deep Space 9; Adventure Time, and Gravity Falls
Eh, screw it. I'm gonna watch Eureka again.
Oh man so many. Most of which others are already mentioning. And I'm sure I'm forgetting many that have been constants througj the years. But these stand out.
Anime: Your Lie in April, Mushi-Shi, Scavenger's Reign, Violet Evergarden, One Punch Man
Anime but it's more of my selfish mention than a masterpiece: Tomo-chan is a Girl, The Wrong Way to use Healing Magic (English dub is really well done and I can be a sub snob most of the time), Bartender: Glass of God, Mashle:Magic and Muscles, Goblinslayer
Live Action:The Expanse, Midnight Diner, Midnight Diner:Tokyo Stories, The Goes Wrong Show, Blood Machines, How It's Made (I know, not likely what is being asked for but I thoroughly enjoy the show)
I have a really hard time getting into Live Action shows because too many of them either drag on, or they are just too predictable or forumlaic, or too samey, or it's all about people being horrible to each other. And there is also a severe lack of laid back story telling or unique story options. Hollywood is berift of interest for me 99% of thr time.
Fucking DEADWOOD.
I can't get anybody in my life to watch it and it is literally in the running for best show of all-time.
This thread is case-in-point!
One of my favorite short scenes.
You’re getting a recency bias, but I watched Akudama Drive about a month ago and really loved it.
have you heard about Ajin?
That one was solid, really wanted more but I guess Netflix said no
Terminator Zero was great.
Station Eleven is the best tv show ever made.
Foyles war is underrated, haven't seen the rest.
Deadloch too, new season should be great.
Monogatari series. I must have watched that entire series like a dozen times already. I absolutely love the VA's performance. Finally reading through the Light Novels now.
Hajime No Ippo. Manga is still a blast and the anime was incredible too.
I had a good time with Blue Lock as well.
I can stop recommending Bad Sisters, but I won't. It's fantastic, through and through.
Extraordinary Attorney Woo - A Netflix K-drama about an autistic savant lawyer. It's charming, funny, and has a really beautiful story overall.
Bofuri: I Don't Want To Get Hurt, So I'll Max Out My Defense - a cute and fun anime about Maple, who doesn't want to get hurt in a VR MMO so she maxes her defense and becomes a hero.
I like light-hearted shows, so I'll be checking out a few of the ones in this thread 🙂
I slept on Supernatural for a long time and now I can't stop, I'm on like season 13 and it still keeps getting better
Undone, it's created by the same guy who made Bojack Horseman.
I think most people haven't seen/heard of it because it's an amazon streaming exclusive, but you can watch it (and most other things) for free here: https://hydrahd.com/
Dai-guard, a somewhat obscure mecha anime. It's a comedy about what would realistically happen if you had a giant mecha fighting monsters from another dimension: bureaucracy, lawsuits, government interference, and physics.
For shows: My name is Earl was a very funny one that never got a proper ending before being cancelled.
For anime: Serial Experiments Lain.
Tower of God is my absolute favorite anime and comic right now. Can't recommend it enough. Deeply interesting systems, amazing supporting cast, unique twists on old tropes.
I got half way through season 2 and just gave up on it. All of it felt pointless, both seasons.
Lately Slow Horses on apple+
Very good UK agent/crime show.
Monster. One of the best anime series I've ever seen.
I tried. I tried so hard. Attempted 3x to watch this. First time I got 5 episodes in. Second time I got 12 episodes in. Third time I got 16 episodes in.
Each time, I tried so hard to continue going. I'm sure it was great when it was released, but holy shit it was such a SLOG.
I'm with you. I watched it all though. They really needed to speed things up.
IMO, it's not that great.
It's a seinen. If you're more into shonen, then it's not going to be as action-packed as you might be used to.
I don't normally watch the same thing more than once, but I've seen this one three times (first time in college; then some years later I wasn't sure I finished it the first time, so I rewatched the whole thing again; then more years later I watched with friends from work on our weekly anime night)
I've watched plenty of sienen that weren't as bad as this.
I go it recommended and watched it all. I kept waiting for it to become good. 🤷
I go it recommended and watched it all. I kept waiting for it to become good. 🤷
Nichijou, Higurashi, Oregairu, Steins;Gate, SAO (season 1), Clannad, Naruto, Fruits Basket (?), Death Note, A Silent Voice, Ghibli Studio animes,
For anime, Ghost in the Shell. My favorite is the Stand Alone Complex series.
For TV show, Fringe. It's a sci-fi show taking place in the modern world.
For movie, Red Lights. It's about a group that disproves paranormal/super natural events. I recommend it because it's not well known.
Alchemy of Souls on Netflix. A mix of Kung Fu Theater, a comedy, a love story, and a horror all rolled into one great story. It ran two seasons and each episode is over an hour long. 10/10
Bloom into you, the only anime that existed in my head
Higurashi no naku koro ni
Moe-Psycho galore only drip feeding you the real story.
I like watching Trigun, Clannad, Blood+ but I also really reccomend people read some Manga:
Tank Chair by Yashiro Manabu
Elfen Leid by Okamoto Lynn (also has an anime, but different endings)
Moto Shogun no Undead Knight by Shuko and Necoco
Dandadan by Yukinobu Tatsu (manga announced)
You Will Hear the Voice of the Dead by Uguiso Sachiko
Dai Dark by Q Hayashida
I'm not an anime guy. But I'll occasionally pop one on if the plot interests me. Vinland saga was good, Castlevania as well. I know the American anime haters will hate me. Aside from that I randomly watched "my happy marriage"with my wife and it was really good and I actually can't wait till season 2
Everyone knows, the best anime is Boondocks
King of the Hill
Castlevania shouldn't be good but somehow is. Its certainly got some rocky highs and lows, but overall great
I was hooked from the first scene
Vinland saga was excellent. Really enjoyed that one.
No. I don't have a problem. I can stop whenever I want! Y'all up to date on One Piece btw?
Yes, after two years of watching on and off
Now I hate the waiting
Omg I knowweee!
His and Her Circumstances (Kare Kano). Such a gently told manic love story.
Psych. All time favorite show.
Babylon 5
So i always recommend Mugen no Ryvius/Infinite Ryvius. Think of blue lagoon in space, but with a whole space ship of kids.
Pantheon.
Really thoughtful and smart sci-fi animation. Don't want to spoil it so I'll be vague, it has the most realistic depiction of modern tech and how people interact with it than any other show I've seen. Really great commentary on big tech corporations and even a bit of geopolitics. Super ambitious yet it somehow pulls it off.
There is also a scene that still gives me nightmares (not even joking, I still dream about that shit) which is more than any horror movies or shows have done for me. Anyone who has watched it knows exactly what scene I'm talking about.
I'll throw in my most recent guilty pleasure is Space Battleship Yamato. I didn't grow up with the original so I'm currently re-watching the 2012 remake. But for fun at the start I watched episode one of the original Yamato, Star Blazers (70s American localization) and the remake in the same day just to compare, which was a cooler experience than I expected it to be.
Great show if you think One Punch Man would be better if Saitama was a spaceship
Apothecary Diaries
I cannot stress this enough. Apothecary Diaries
Light hearted and fun (low stress):
Kuma Kuma Kuma bear
Mashle
Raising kids while adventuring
I parry everything
Killing slimes for 300 years
By the grace of the gods
Fluffy paradise
Used to also recommend Bofuri but the last episode of season 2 implies heavily that season 3 is going to head way off in a completely different feel from 1+2
Lighter and did not end on a hard cliffhanger
Aristocrat's otherworldly adventures
Banished former hero lives as he pleases
Campfire cooking in another world
Level 2 super cheat powers
Reincarnated as the 7th prince
Parallel world pharmacy
Sleepy princess in the demon castle
Villainess level 99
The wrong way to use healing magic
Other suggestions offered based on the person's preferences:
Dungeon Meshi
Goblin Slayer
So I'm a spider, so what?
Solo leveling
That time I got reincarnated as a slime
Dan da Dan
The vexations of a shut-in vampire princess
Ya boy Kongming
Standalone complex
One punch man
Kill la kill
Dan da Dan is just coming out now. First episode animation looked really good and it is off the walls insane.
Everybody kind of slept on it but I really like AppleTV's See. Really unfortunate name for a pretty interesting premise, and the fight scenes are brutal and very well shot.
The Leftovers. Still think of some scenes all the time.
Jellyfish can't swim at night
Frieren for anime - It has everything I love about anime.
MASH for TV show (version without laugh tracks) - Kind of old, but even now, the humor is not outdated.
https://anilist.co/anime/105228
Hazbin Hotel!
Berserk 1997. Berserk is my favorite thing of all time, but it is deff not for the faint hearted.
Highly recommend the manga too. Its a bit different, but same atmosphere and general story. It has more context as 1997 was only designed for one season, so it cut out a lot of things that would have become important later on.
@Shkshkshk @asklemmy
There's a ton of anime that I *might* recommend to different people, depending on individual preferences and tastes:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JZR7jtU3q-LTqoWaGY-7YurPpvLpTIY0ybScvA1L0GQ/edit?usp=drivesdk
But the one that I come closest to recommending everyone, without qualification, would be:
"Keep Your Hands off Eizouken"
It's basically a love letter to:
* joys and challenges in the process of creative collaboration
* how each success begets further goals
* how reflecting on details and oddities of the world adds to art
#Anime
Cowboy Bebop, trigun and hajime no ippo
@ogmios
That sounds fucking awesome
Higurashi when they cry. Not the new stuff but the old stuff.
Just visited the village it's based off of IRL and man was it a sight to behold. Simply a beautiful area.
I watched a bit of in another world with my smartphone and it was peak garbage. I also downloaded the wrong 7 deadly sins once, unforgivably awful. I think I slogged through dog days while in my depressive always drunk phase.
actual recommendations: bna and little witch academia are my fav trigger (after infern cop obv.)
I dunno aku no hana for some weird rotoscoped shit thats kinda disturbing and stressful. The character visuals are more convincing than the manga version.
suisei no gargantia is probably the most any audience friendly mecha anime, apart from the breasty pirate literally named rackage being maybe a bit much.
knights of sidonia was probably the first all 3d anime I actually liked. I ended up watching a bunch of other stuff by the same studio and they have a distinct animation style and facial expressions that are easy to recognize as being the same studio.
the promised neverland for some dark shit, but I only saw season 1 and don't know if there even were more seasons. The manga version became a slog for me after that point in the story but I was also working full time++ when the anime ended.
attack on titan also became a chore for me after season 1 but it was a novel experience watching it for the first time.
Can confirm that there's no season 2 of The Promised Neverland. It ended at season 1. They really didn't do anything more, don't go looking for it. Trust me.
Sad we didn't get to see some of the later arcs animated, but at least we didn't get a half-assed failure of an adaptation like it might have be, right?
Yes many. Probably more than I will ever watch :P
If I did not recommend them yet I also can't stop doing that.
I did too much math today....
The Leftovers
link click
Have you watched one piece? Already complete with one season of 24 episodes.