Official Anime Recommendation Thread

In the interests of those who enjoy it, and given that every so often we get a thread asking for recommendations, I thought to start up one for anime, much like Foamie's Comics thread.

We'll break these down by genre and people can, if they wish, either give a + or a - for titles, as well as adding other titles.

Mecha
Gurren Lagann (+4)
Vandread (+3)
Neon Genesis Evangelion (+5, -3)
Martian Sucessor Nadesico (+3)
Eureka 7 (+1)
Gundam 00 (+2)
RahXephon (+3)
Gunbuster (+4)
Fullmetal Panic (+7)
MS Gundam (+1)
Gundam 0083 (+1)
Gundam UC (+1)
Blassreiter (+1)
Linebarrels of Iron (+1)
Victory Gundam (+1)
After War Gundam X (+1)
Gaogaigar (+1)
Giant Robo (+2)
Macross Plus (+3)
GadGuard (+1)
MS Gundam 08th MS Team (+5)
Code Geass (+3)
Robotech (+3)
Godannar (+1)
The Big O (+2)
Bubblegum Crisis (+3)
Macross (+4)
Gundam Wing (+8)
Gundam Seed (+2)
Vision of Escaflowne (+6)
Evangelion 1.0 (+1)

Action and/or Drama
Cowboy Bebop (+13)
Trigun (+10,-1)
Basilisk (+3)
Fullmetal Alchemist (+9)
Trinity Blood (+2)
Tenjho Tenge (+2)
Kiddy Grade (+6)
Speed Grapher (+1)
Burst Angel (+4)
Ghost in the Shell (+15,-1)
Bleach (+6,-1)
Samurai 7 (+4)
Death Note (+6,-3)
Naruto (+8,-2)
Rurouni Kenshin (+4)
Kanon (+1)
Clannad (+3)
Stellvia of the Universe (+2)
Suzuka (+1)
Kino's Journey (+1)
Darker than Black (+2)
Ergo Proxy (+5)
Baccano (+4)
Black Lagoon (1st & 2nd Barrage) (+6)
Shikabane Hime: Aka (+1)
Shikabane Hime: Kuro (+1)
Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom (+1)
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (+2)
Tower of Druaga - the Aegis of Uruk (+1)
Tower of Druaga - the Sword of Uruk (+1)
Le Chevalier D'Eon (+3)
Hunter X Hunter (+1)
Last Exile (+6)
Rozen Maiden (+1)
Spice & Wolf (+1)
Chobits (+1, -1)
Akira (+7)
Fist of the North Star (+4, -1)
Ninja Scroll (+4)
Street Fighter (+2)
Read or Die (+6, -1)
Haibane Reimei (+1)
Moribito (+3)
Blood + (+1)
Karas (+1)
Blood: The Last Vampire (+1)
Silent Moebius (+1)
Nana (+2)
Outlaw Star (+4, -1)
Dragonball Z (+1, -1)
Berserk (+2, -1)
D. Gray-man (+1)
Appleseed (+4)
Star Blazers (+3)
Gunslinger Girl (+2)
Sky Girls (+1)
Gunsmith Cats (+1)
Voices of a Distant Star (+4)
8 Man (+2)
Blue Seed (+2)
His & Her Circumstances (+1)
Guyver (+1)
Noein (+1)
Rumbling Hearts (+1)
Avatar: The Last Airbender (+1)
Shigofumi (+1)
Shakugan no Shana (+1)
Gankutsuo (+1)
Armitage III (+1)
Divergence Eve (+1)
Serial Experiments Lain (+7)
New Dominion: Tank Police (+3)
Rojin Z (+3)
Grave of the Fireflies (+4)
Afro Samurai (+1)

Comedy
Desert Punk (+1)
Nerima Daikon Brothers (+1)
Urusei Yatsura (+3)
Fullmetal Panic: FUMOFFU (+2)
Slayers (+9)
Hare + Guu
Galaxy Angel (+1)
FLCL (+9)
Samurai Champloo (+5)
Ouran High School Host Club (+3)
Minami-ke (+1)
Strawberry Marshmallow (+1)
Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei (+3)
Toradora (+1)
Bakemonotagari (+1)
Ghost Sweeper Mikami (+2)
Excel Saga (+7)
Maho Tsukai Tai (+2)
Jubei-chan (+3)
K-ON (-1)
Lucky Star (-1)
Project A-Ko (+4)
Devil Hunter Yohko (+1)
Aqua (+1)
Cutey Honey (+2)
Azumanga Daioh (+4)
Irresponsible Captain Taylor (+1)
School Rumble (+2, -1)
Kimagure Orange Road (+1)
Mahoromatic (+1)
Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro Chan (+2)
Please Teacher (+2)
Please Twins (+2)
Ah My Goddess (+8)
Moon Phase (+2)
Lupin III (+1)

Harem (catch all for the 1 guy + multiple women or 1 girl + multiple guys)
Ranma 1/2 (+4)
Tenchi Muyo (+8)
Tenchi Muyo: GXP (+2)
Tenchi Universe (+4)
Tenchi in Tokyo (-2)
Girls Bravo (+1, -1)
Maburaho
Love Hina (+4)
Saber Marionette J (+3)
Shuffle! (+1)
DearS (+1, -1)
Dual (+1)
The Wallflower (+1)
Negima (+2, -1)

Parody
Pani Poni Dash
Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (+7)
Otaku No Video (+3)
Dammeko Doubutsu (+1)
The Ultimate Teacher (+1)

Magical Girls
Card Captor Sakura (+4)
Sailor Moon (+4)
Magic Knight Rayearth (+3)
My Hime (+2)
My Otomi
Princess Tutu (+4)
Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha (+1)
Magical Project S (+1)
Magical Girl Pretty Sammy (+1)
Scrapped Princess (+2)

Romance
Aoi Hana (+1)

Not Sure What to Classify It As
Welcome to the N.H.K. (+1)
Beck
Genshiken (+4)
Tekkonkinkreet (+1)
Metropolis (+1)
Jin-roh (+2)
Crying Freeman (+2)
Spriggan (+2)
Best Student Council (+1)
Sasameki Koto (+1)
Battle Angel Alita (+2)
Original Dirty Pair (+1)
Birdy the Mighty (+1)
Solty Rei (+1)
Angel Links (+1)
Fushigi Yugi (+1)
xxxHolic (+1)
Shining Tears x Wind (+1)
Claymore (+1)
X (+1)
Nadia (+1)
Fruits Basket (+1)
Banner of the Stars (+1)
Crest of the Stars (+1)
Fate/Stay Night (+1)
Lost Universe (+1)
Kino's Journey (+2)
Paranoia Agent (+1)
Tokyo Godfathers (+1)
Steamboy (+1)
Paprika (+1)
Planetes (+1)
Cat Soup (+1)
Gintama (+1)
Royal Space Force (+1)
Violence Jack (+1)
DNA^2 (+1)
Patlabor (+1)
5cm/sec (+2)
Grenadier (+1)
Bounce Reloading (+1)
Dead Leaves (+1)
Reborn! (+1)

Horror
Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni (+4)
3x3 Eyes (+2)
Hellsing OVA (+5)
Hell Girl (+1)
Elfen Lied (+2, -3)
Vampire Hunter D (+4)
Perfect Blue (+1)

Hayao Miyazaki
The Castle of Cagliostro (Lupin III) (+11)
Nausicaa of the Vally of the Winds (+12)
Castle in the Sky (+10)
My Neighbor Totoro (+10)
Kiki's Delivery Service (+12)
Porco Rosso (+10)
Princess Mononoke (+10)
Spirited Away (+12)
Howl's Moving Castle (+11)
Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea (+8)

Sports
Bamboo Blade (+1)
Big Windup (+1)
Slam Dunk (+1)
Baki the Grappler
Kenichi the Mightiest Disciple (+1)
Hajime no Ippo (+1)

I would also recommend the Hellsing OVA series

Here's a few:

FLCL (Comedy)
Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni (Horror/Mystery)
Ghost in the Shell (Action/drama)
Bamboo Blade (Um... drama/comedy?)
Shuffle! (Harem)

Cowboy Bebop +1
Trigun +1
Basilisk
Fullmetal Alchemist +1
Tenchi Muyo +1
Love Hina +1
Sailor Moon +1
FLCL +1

Ghost in the Shell -1

my favs animes:
Bleach (action /shounen/mystic power)
Samuraii Champloo (martial art/comedy)
Samurai Seven (adventure/fantasy/mecha)
Death Note (mystery /Psychological Thriller)
Serial Experiments Lain (its unique i think no category for it:P)

Oh yeah, how has no one mentioned Naruto? I recommend it.

Also forgot to mention the Genshiken, the 1st volume of the 2nd season just came out recently. Too bad the Genshiken OVA is tied down with Kujibiki unbalance.

Ones not mentioned in your initial list

Ouran High School Host Club - Comedy/Parody
Gundam 00 - Mecha
Rurouni Kenshin - Action/Period/Samurai
Kanon (2006) - High School Drama/Emotion Shredder
Clannad - same as Kanon but slightly less traumatic emotionally
Stellvia of the Universe - SciFi Action/High School Drama/In Space
RahXephon - Action/Mecha
Gunbuster - Mecha/Parody/Drama (it starts as a parody and becomes serious)
Otaku No Video - Self Referential Parody/Pseudo Historical origin of Gainax Studios

Negima is an odd one. I'd recommend the manga (assuming you don't mind lots and lots of incidental fanservice), un-recommend the first anime, and only qualitatively bring up the second if you like mindscrew parody.

Magical Girl recommendation: Princess Tutu. Also, Card Captor Sakura +1.

At the top of the list, you should have:

ANYTHING by Hayao Miyazaki

Also, Vision of Escaflowne

Kino's Journey - Drama/a little action
Darker than Black - Action/Drama
Ergo Proxy - Action/Drama
Baccano - Action/Drama/a little Comedy

Still waiting for his Official BackAlleyBrawler No-Prize

I also recommend almost everything I've watched.

Whoo, so many series... I've seen maybe half of what's been suggested so far. If I were to pick some must see's from the list they would be these: Gurren Lagaan, Cowboy Bebop, Ghost in the Shell, Welcome to the N.H.K., Serial Experiements Lain, and the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.


I'd recommend a few thing that haven't been mentioned yet as well:

Minami-ke - A slice of life comedy surrounding three sisters and their friends. A beautiful first season, but was followed by two season with lackluster animation and production values. Some great voice talents in Chihara Minori (Yuki Nagato from MoHS), Marina Inoue (Yoko from Gurren Lagaan), and Rina Sato (Mikoto from A Certain Magical Index).

Ichigo Mashimaro - Another fantastic slice of life comedy, this one is centered around a young girl, her friends, and her older slacker sister.

Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei - A satirical comedy that focuses on a suicidal teacher and the unique personalities in his class. Animation by SHAFT. (Then I can dig it!)

Toradora - A romantic comedy with excellently fleshed out characters. This one contains one of the most romantic scenes I can recall in an anime.

And finally, the best from last season...

Bakemonotagari - A wickedly funny story about a young man who helps those around him to escape from their supernatural problems. It features SHAFT's typical experimental designs and two very catchy OP's. The series consist of 12 broadcast episodes and 3 to be released on the web, which will conclude the story.

A lot of the ones I would recommend have been listed already and I'm sure I'm forgetting some, so I'll add these for now.

Black Lagoon (1st & 2nd Barrage) - action/drama
Shikabane Hime: Aka &
Shikabane Hime: Kuro - action/drama
Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom - action/drama (streamed on Funimation)
Bamboo Blade (+1) - comedy/action/slice of life
Fullmetal Alchemist -Brotherhood -- action/drama/comedy (streamed on Funimation)
Tower of Druaga - the Aegis of Uruk &
Tower of Druaga - the Sword of Uruk -- action/comedy
Le Chevalier D'Eon - drama/action/supernatural

Comedy/Action

Kenichi the Mightiest Disciple

Ghost Sweeper Mikami

Hunter X Hunter

Trigun (+1) (I imagine this might be obvious, but what the hey)
Death Note (-1)
Urusei Yatsura (+1)
FLCL (+1)
Ranma 1/2
Tenchi Muyo (+1)
Saber Marionette J (+1)
Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (+1)
My Hime (+1)
Ah My Goddess (TV only +1)
Hellsing OVA (+1)
Serial Experiments Lain (+1)
Anything Miyazaki (+1)

I'd like to add to the comedy side of things:

Excel Saga
Maho Tsukai Tai/I wanna learn magic
Jubei-chan

Last Exile

3x3 Eyes

Ok guys, couple of things that may or may not be an issue...

First, try to give the names as what a Region 1 viewer would find them as in the store.

Second, only titles officially released outside of Japan. I don't care about fansubs nor do I want to endorse them.

Thirdly, try and limit suggestions to one primary genre. If I tried categorizing them by every permutation, there probably wouldn't be more than one in that genre.

Just some things I thought of.

Nana - slice of life drama. With great music.

(ones I've watched through) mini reviews in there as well.

Already Present titles:
*Gurren Lagann (+) comes off as rule of cool in essence, all the characters are enjoyable to watch, the art design original and goodlooking, with a some good pacing considering how "fast" it's actually moving.

*Neon Genesis Evangelion (-) people will hate me for it, but though it sported some good art and core concepts, it didn't illustrate them well enough and many of the characters were painful to endure.

*Fullmetal Panic (+) Good plot, good diverse characters, good music, good art design, good everything really.

*Cowboy Bebop (+) dark and unraveling story with very well backed characters all taking part in the plot. Good art, great original music.

*Fullmetal Alchemist (+) starts off with some amount of happiness which is crushed quite brilliantly as the series goes on, rendering it very dark and serious while tackling some real dilemmas head on. Sports good music and some good art design.

*Bleach (+) a decent enough adaptation of the Manga with some good music and well ported art designs. If you can handle or skip some of the mad fillers (not naruto bad, it's there) it's a series to watch. The action scenes are normally quite amazing spectacles.

*Death Note (+) a gritty and popular one, we see a single protagonists rise and fall from power. Can be quite intense and interesting with some good art. We don't get too much history backing the characters, but in a plot revolved around the protagonists plans for the future, it can be overlooked.

*Clannad (+) This series really provoked emotions like a good drama should, happy, sad, angry, etc. A quite large, varied, and well developed cast in a slice-o-life style setting that's told very well with good visuals and music.

*Ergo Proxy (+) Not the kind of anime where you get a feel for it from the first few episodes. The plot really expands and unravels as things go meaning a full watch through goes very well rewarded. Bewildering at times, but with some thinking you can work everything out fine and truly enjoy the anime's story, well developed and handled characters, great art direction, and awesome soundtrack (has my favorite Op of any anime).

*Black Lagoon (+) A very dark and deep anime with some good art and amazing characters. the plot isn't a big complex, but its the character's ways of dealing with what the plot throws at them and the way they interact with each-other that truly makes this anime so great.

*Fullmetal Panic: FUMOFFU (+) a very nice break from its parent anime, this sports some classic fun and gags like the fan of immanent smacking and the main male protagonists inability to be 'normal', always stuck in a military super soldier mentality to, in this case, hilarious effect.

*Slayers (+) Amazing long running series that puts a solid spin on the classic fantasy genre adventure. The parody, originality, and unique set of characters and their miss-adventures make this anime a real worth-watch. Great sound and good, though rather varied, art design.

*FLCL (+) This anime is pretty short, but that's good cause too much exposure to this level of zany over the wall hilarity would probably make any mere mortal explode. Great music score, frantic action, and absolutely amazing art direction. The plot is all over and can be hard to follow, but that's overshadowed by the fact that it's just so darn fun to watch.

*Excel Saga (+) goes for a standard 25 ep (+... another episode that some rather not mention, even the creators, actually called "going too far") This anime makes it's gags work via some truly great satire and paraody of the entirety of anime and all its subgenres. The plot exists and moves somewhat through out the anime, but the main focus is pretty much how epically our protagonists can not accomplish much. I have to respect these creators a lot, they had talent in art, and writing. Towards the last episodes, they even gave a crack at none-joke oriented stuff and proved they could really pull it off.

*Girls Bravo (-) Takes harem quite a bit over the edge, focusing too much on the ecchi and not enough on the.... anything else really. The series almost had a concept, but that was quickly done away with. Art is mediocre and music 'meh'.

*Saber Marionette J / J- X(+) Sporting a great cast and very original and well handled plot concept around a civilization of only males who built androids of female form to compensate (don't think of that wrongly, they reproduce via cloning, don't worry), saber marionette J and J - X may have somewhat aged looking art, and the 2nd season (J - X) looks kind of "squishy", but has the sound score and very well done characters. One of the first animes to also tackle the Robots can =?= humans and what 'life' is thing. Deep, inspired, very well developed worth watch.

*Ah My Goddess (+) romance oriented Anime with a unique concept about an ordinary guy who ends up with multiple literal goddesses in his home. the art is pretty good and music wonderful, but it's really just a joy to watch. All the characters are varied and well handled, and it sports a very up-beat atmosphere and *sweetness* with its fair share of laughs and cries.

*Vision of Escaflowne (+) considering it tried to do so much at once, one sometimes at first has to think "naw it can't pull all _that_ off". But you know? it really does. All the characters are developed, backed, and inspired. The plot is epic and complex but very followable, and it has a little bit of everything for everybody from romance to mecha.

*Hayao Miyazaki (+) The man's a genius. Imaginative tails always brought to life brilliantly and vibrantly. I haven't, however, seen Porco Rosso so may not + that.

Seen through but not present:
*Code Geass (mecha) (+) Gundam and deathnote made sweet love one day and this thing happened, all to be said there. Good art, epic story, good characters, decent music.

*Rozen Maiden (Drama?) (+) Extremely interesting tale about a person who encounters living dolls. All the characters are unique, well developed, and interact very well. It tackles the "life" issue head on very seriously quite a few times with great effect. The plot is very character driven and concepts all well done. Sports some of the best balancing of character 'feelings' I've seen in an anime as well. Good music, great art.

*Spice and wolf (i and ii) (Drama, economics?) (+) lands as one of my personal faves, this anime sports an interesting concept with a traveling merchant who befriends the wolf god of harvest in the village he was passing through. Based on a series of light novels, it suffers some adaptation decay but follows everything pretty well. Its core premise is this merchant and his new partner, and there's lots of economical ranting, but you know? it isn't boring at all, it's actually extremely interesting and I don't even like economics that much. The merchant's little plans to make profit lead to some great stories. The two protagonists are so well developed and have such amazing chemistry that watching them watch grass grow would be more awesome than a giant robot battle in some other animes. The art is amazing, and the sound track is great to boot.

*K-ON (slice o life/comedy) (-) As "cute" and "moe" as this thing was, it was really pretty pointless. The characters personalities were very archetypal to a T, and the design didn't seem too original. Some parts were enjoyable, and when they were enjoyable they're very enjoyable, but too far in-between. The plot was non-existent and the entire show went no where fast. Art is okay, pretty good soundtrack, but quite meandering. + this if you _really_ like cute and/or moe things or that a couple of moments of greatness can carry a series for you.

*Lucky Star (slice o life/comedy) (-) Pretty much the same as K-ON actually, but sporting much more original looking art. Has some moments of greatness but ultimately too meandering. It's, actually, based on the comic panel style that K-On was before its anime adaptation. Perhaps these comic-panel translations just don't do it for me anime wise. Also, good art but mediocre soundtrack (had _a_ catchy song).

*Chobits (drama) (-) Sorry, but on its own legs or compared to its manga, this anime doesn't make the cut. It tackles the "what is life and love" concept via a human and his relationship with a humanoid robot he found. This robot is, however, disfunctional and must re-learn everything, some hilarity does ensue. It's okay, but it definitely focuses a little "too" much on the robot gal. There's a large interesting cast to be had, but they're hardly ever used. Art's pretty decent and the music is okay, but the adaptation decay on this one loses it a lot of points. If I hadn't read through the mangas prior, it might have scored higher.

*DearS (romance/harem/comedy.. thing) (-) I don't even know why I watched through it by the time I was done. Nothing really happened accept the gloriously promoted objectification of women. Alien women, but still women. I was going through this hoping for a mini-revolt of sorts among these "slave" girls, but that never happened. One of the characters was interesting, but you see little of her, and everyone else was either painfully generic or just bad period.

Elfen Lied (Horror? Drama) (+) Deep dark and interesting, this anime explores the human psyches reaction to rejection primarily via young girls with a strange mutation that gives them small horns that project invisible arms. The relationship matrix in this anime is pretty sprawling and well handled. The gore and blood is in abundance, but the real hard part to watch is the actual relationships of the characters and the utter turmoil they go through during the anime. Great plot and characters, Very good art, and a decent soundtrack.

What?

No

• Cutey Honey
• Project A-ko
• Akira
• Fist of the North Star
• Wicked City
• Vampire Hunter D
• New Dominion: Tank Police
• Ninja Scroll
• Robotech
• Rojin Z
• Devil Man/Lady
• Grave of the Fireflies
• Voices from a Distant Star
• Street Fighter: The Animated Movie
• 8 Man
• Blue Seed
• or Urotsukidōji