My Best Anime / Manga Titles
in recent years i have noticed that i am watching and reading less and less anime or manga. the only recent manga i've read is Eden and Gantz in a space of 2 years and Angel Beat and Mitsudomoe as the only anime i've watched all episodes off last years.
i get this feeling/disillusion about the current state of the industry whenever i look at japanese poll of popular anime. i am sorry if i offend anyone, most of these polls are ful of shit moe anime. best example, am i the only person to find K-on boring? i didnt even finish watching the 1st season and when i did gave the 2nd season a try i ended up watch an episode of the 1st season thinking it was the 2nd season., still yet to watch the 2nd season. i am a hypocrite cuz i buy lots of K-On merchandise and therefore giving money to support this Moe culture.
I read for a title to be commercially viable it must contain Moe/Fan service. whenever i watch an anime with annoying pantsu shot/low angel view that does not improve the story/plot i get embarrassed by the state of the industry and the people who buy into this. i noticed the rise in Moe/pantsu anime, is this why i am watching less anime?
I do like Moe but the anime has to have a plot/story and i am not fan of fan service.
I'll use the word otaku to describe the this sub-culture cuz i am lazy (yes there is different levels and cultures involved but its 3am here and i am sleepy). i am an otaku but japanese otaku are more hardcore and can i say some of them piss me off.
ok i'll stop bitching but its only cuz i care about this culture and yes everyone opinion is important and should be respected to a degree. if u disagree with me then fine, its a discussion / debate. everyone has different taste.
ok here is my list of the best anime/manga in no order, think of them as my desert island manga/anime. there's more to this list but i am tired.
Anime:
Claymore
Junni kokki - the 12 kingdoms
Code Greass S1 / S2 - i dont like the character Zero thou, he is 2 faced
AIR
Fruit Basket
Mahoromatic
True Tears
Saikano
Hong & Clover S2
closest human drama i've watched in an anime. i love the part where Hagu describe about how she gets her art inspiration. Hagu is in a land of darkness but the only light is coming from her body. she noticed that close around her are boxes and as she opens the box the art inspiration jumps out and she has to catch the inspiration and turn them into art work. she is determine to open as many boxes as possible. over this dark land the sun is raising which blinds Hagu for a moment to which she can see boxes stretching to the horizon. its at this point she realised that a single human life time isnt long enough for her to open all the boxes but if she was to find that special someone then together they can open more boxes and help her achieve her dream.
Manga:
Eden
Full Moon o Sagashite
Hikaru no Go
Nausicaa
Battle angel alita
K-ON S1 wasn't that bad to me. S2 was "huh"? :P
I was like you many moons ago, disillusioned. Then, I hit this idea: instead of following the trend, why not dig through the old stuffs and maybe a few obscure titles? So I did that and wow, there's a lot that anime industry have to offer. I don't think I can get all the hidden gems within my lifetime :3
Nevertheless, I still have high hopes for anime/manga industry. Just like music, don't follow the mainstream all the time, try to discover underground stuffs on your own. Then you can appreciate things better.
And sometimes I dig different genres to widen my worldview. BL, shoujo ai, bara, seinen, josei, they are fun :D
For me the top 5 animes are(in order from 1st-5th)
Lyrical Nanoha S3
FMA Brotherhood
Macross F
Eden of the East
Gundam seed destiny
I don't really read manga but my first manga is Mermaid melody
Hmmm. You don't like Moe, but Fruits Basket makes your top 10?
I suspect that there are influences in your life which affect the way you look at some of these Anime and Manga. Perhaps you should re-visit some of those which you have already rejected. I've done that myself, and have experienced some of these stories with a new perspective.
For no-nonsence stories try Gunslinger Girl. No fan service there, or cutsey characters. Haruhi Suzumiya exploits all the bits you seem to be uncomfortable with, so perhaps you could wean yourself up to Elfen Lied. Here there is nudity and some moe-ness, but also some good old blood, guts and gore.
Enjoy.
I was disillusioned with anime a long time ago, but a few years back I stumbled across Galaxy Express 999 and it engaged me. It was fun, melancholic at times, and, come on, traveling with a hot woman on a space train? Sign me up. Like Hagu's problem, there's a lot of boxes (anime), but you start to acquire a certain taste and set of interests so you know which boxes to open, which ones to peek into, and which ones to reject, and when I looked I found things that I liked. I found myself enjoying shoujo and josei shows like Maria-sama ga Miteru, Kimi ni Todoke, and Honey and Cover. A friend introduced me to Cross Game, which I would have never bothered with, but watch the first episode on Hulu and see if it doesn't grab your attention. And yes, I do like both seasons of K-ON. It's mindless fun and amusing. Durarara has a great cast and interweaving set of storylines. Magica Madoka looks like moe fodder but I appreciate that they try and do something with the magical girl genre and episode 10 is fantastic. It's not all doom and gloom, at least, not for me. :)
I have said plenty times to anyone, Code Geass season 1 was like a master piece. It really did have potential... Until the last two episodes happened. Then season two came along and sorta screwed with me. K-On was, nice to say the least. I mean, I don't buy into the moe thing that often, but I did like the manga a lot -so I pretty much stuck with it (which is odd, since in terms of moe, I think Hidamar far surpasses the level of any "moe" show).
I have too, become less and less willing to watch newer stuff, and trying to find some older series of by gone (although, I am not picking up stuff like Clannad and Angel Beat). Any new Gundam or Macross is just sorta standard to watch for me now a days. However, manga is a different story... Although I stick with certain titles, I look for manga that I can read, since I do like to read more than watch. My last finished item was "Future Diary", and that was...interesting, to say at least (easy read... 12 volumes + 2 extras, finished it within two days...)
Deserted Island Anime List:
1: Sketchbook Full Color's
2: Pani Poni Dash
3: Turn A Gundam
4: To Aru Majutsu no Index
5: To Aru Kagaku no Railgun
Desert Island Manga/Light Novel List:
1: Durarara!!!
2: Nichijou
3: Sketchbook
4: To Aru Majutsu no Index (manga)
5: To Aru Kagaku no Railgun
I probably could have thought of better choices, but those are the first thing that come to mind....
I think I have to agree with you on this. I see this tendency of moe too turning me away from anime. The last anime title I enjoyed was Eden of the East. But I do agree with hikari's post above about digging out animes you might have missed. My favorites are:
Nodame Cantabile
Honey and Clover 1 and 2
Eden of the East
FMA Brotherhood
White Album
Samurai Champloo