Death Note, one of the best shows I've ever seen...

Here are the full anime series I've seen that I can recommend if you can get the full season box sets:

The Vision of Escaflowne
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Aria
Code Geass
Slayers & Slayers NEXT
The Melancholy Of Haruhi Suzumiya
Kaleido Star
Cowboy Bebop

(Note: The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is being re-broadcast in Japan right now with new episodes interspersed with the original episodes. We may see a new box set including the new episodes come out some time in 2010.)

I've really enjoyed Spice and Wolf. You don't run into too many shows revolving around the dynamics of the barter economy of medieval Europe.

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/ency...me.php?id=8537

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spice_and_Wolf

Season 1 is out on DVD. Season 2 is airing now, up to episode 3 fansubbed. (Okay, that brings up a point-- it'll be pretty darn hard to discuss anime without bring up fansubs. Is that verboten?)

^The discussion of fansubs should be avoided. It is a form of bootlegging, even if no one is making any money off of it.

I'm looking forward to Spice and Wolf myself. FUNimation is set to release the first season boxset in December.

I agree 100%, hence the reason why I only recommend for TV seasons the officially-released box sets.

I am definitely awaiting the "expanded" boxset of The Melacholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, because what I saw of the 13 episodes released is one of the most--ahem!--interesting anime I've seen in several years.

What do you mean by "expanded" box set? There were only 13 episodes in Season 1, there's nothing else to add. This seems to have everything: http://www.amazon.com/Melancholy-Har.../dp/B0019HABE8


And



is just now airing in Japan.

Deep lurk,

The reason why I'm mentioning an "expanded box set" is because it will include both Season 1 and the inserted episodes that is now playing in Japan.

Has there been some announcement that it will be sold as an "expanded box set" in the US? Because I'd think it more likely to sell it on it's own as a Season 2 set.

That's really hard to say because they way they showing The Melancoly of Haruhi Suzumiya in Japan right now is an interspersing of the original 13 episodes plus a number of new episodes--it's even confusing to Japanese viewers!

I know, I've been reading about the staggeringly incompetent, confused marketing for the new season over at sankakucomplex.com http://www.sankakucomplex.com/search...t=Submit+Query for months (warning-- site highly NSFW.) But it is being marketed as Season 2, not a supplement to Season 1. Unless they put out a "complete series" box set (assuming that it stops at Season 1) I don't think you'd find it bundled with Season 1.

Are there any Anime films where their eyes don't swell up real huge? And like their mouths aren't always opening way too big and off to the side when they talk?

Something drawn like 'Heavy Metal', or 'Starchaser The Legend Of Orin', 'American Pop', stuff like that?

Try Appleseed and the sequel.

Sounds like you've been exposed mostly (completely?) to anime aired in the US-- which means mostly the more juvenile, lowest-common-denominator stuff that is then edited to more prudish US standards and given horrible, horrible dubbed voices that makes it sound, instead of something aimed at teens in Japan, like something aimed at preschoolers. If you are seeing Naruto or Dragonball Z or Pokemon, you are seeing the dregs from the bottom of the barrel (is that metaphor mixed?)

The large eyes are just a traditional convention of the medium. Some have much larger eyes than others, but you won't find too many with eyes that are not at least a little oversized.

Just today I was going through a folder of images on my HD and ran across some screencaps from the 1080p version of 5 CM Per Second, one of the most beautifully drawn pieces of animation you could ever hope to see. Here's a link to a zip of 24 screencaps:

http://www.sendspace.com/file/5qj0qk

Look for anything by Satoshi Kon:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0464804/

especially Tokyo Godfathers:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haibane_Renmei

Or Yoshitoshi Abe:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0008390/

especially Haibane Renmei:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haibane_Renmei

Or large numbers of other series and artists. But don't think that percentage differences in eye sizes are indicative of the quality of the story in one way or the other.

It's not licensed yet. You would assume that Bandai Ent. would have the first dib on this.

Just a few that were left off...

Baki the Grappler
Basilisk
Black Blood Brothers
Chevalier D'Eon, Le
Devil May Cry
Fate/Stay Night
Getbackers
Heroic Age
Jubei-chan
Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit
Peacemaker
Speed Grapher
Utawarerumono

In answer to your question, off the top of my head, things you should check out:

PATLABOR THE MOVIE 1
PATLABOR 2
GHOST IN THE SHELL
GHOST IN THE SHELL 2: INNOCENCE
AKIRA
STEAMBOY
NINJA SCROLL
TENCHI FOREVER
BUBBLEGUM CRISIS
A.D. POLICE
AMON SAGA
BERSERK
GASARAKI
ARMORED TROOPER VOTOMS
CRYING FREEMAN (esp. Vol. 1)
"X" The TV series
STREETFIGHTER II: THE MOVIE
STREETFIGHTER II-V (TV series)

That should get you started.

While I did enjoy SWORD OF THE STRANGER, aside from that - and maybe a few others - I haven't yet really explored the world of anime. However some time back I do recall taking notice of a book on anime that might be of interest to those following this discussion:

Anime Classics Zettai!: 100 Must-See Japanese Animation Masterpieces by Brian Camp and Julie Davis

Following is a link:
http://www.rightstuf.com/cgi-bin/cat...em/72435/4/0/0

Though it is out-of-stock at the above link, it is in-stock at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Deep Discount.

Lots of good recommendations.

Lain was a pretty good series I enjoyed.
Gunslinger Girl was also quite good.

Hmm, I'd like to recommend u
-Death Note(really cool anime but I didn't like thee end of it)
-Sekirei (really neccce)))
-Murder Princess
-Air Gear
- o7-Ghost (ma favorite anime)))))

Neon Genesis Evangelion bored me to tears. But Cowboy Bebop was great.

Old school Gundam is great. But avoid Gundam WING and the movies that follow it like the plague.

Serial Experiments Lain is great but you need to be patient with that series to let it all sink in.

I like both CG Appleseed movies. The second is more action-centric since the first got through most of the exposition, allowing the second to simply hit the ground running.

Ranma 1/2 is a hilarious favorite of mine.

Agreed. Never could quite see the appeal of that show.

Agreed. I liked the characters but not the storyline. Actually prefer the show ending versus the "End of Evangelion" movie.

Come to think of it, I didn't really like Akira either and these are the two that seem to be required viewing for new anime folks, haha.

You might want to check out Rurouni Kenshin.

Blue Gender