What are your thoughts on the following anime titles?
 

A few weeks ago, I went through my anime DVDs and watched some of the trailers (when I did this I had a lot of time on my hands). From there I compiled a list of anime titles that sparked my interest. I have narrowed the list down from reviews I found on Anime Academy and Anime News Network, but some titles I couldn't find any information on. And even the series I did find information on, I don't really feel "safe" blind buying as I've been burned on a few series in the past (I'm looking at you Samurai Gun and Gilgamesh. And to a lesser extent Gantz). Blind buying is really the only way I can see anime, as I don't do Netflix, although I should really start. To help you give me better recommendations, the genres I don't like are harem, moe (whatever the hell that is), a lot of the shonen stuff, and comedy (specifically the type of comedy you would find in harem animes and the slapstick kind).

Here's the list. Please give me your reviews, thoughts, opinions, or recommendations on the following titles:

Now & Then, Here & There
Madara
Gasaraki
Full Metal Alchemist
Blue Gender
Gun X Sword
Southern Cross
Genesis Climber Mospeada
Petite Cossette
Jin-Roh
Desert Punk
Yukikaze
Karas
Le Chevalier D’eon
Pumpkin Scissors
Project Blue: Earth SOS
Freedom
Death Note
Planetes
Gungrave
Raxephon
Gurren Lagann
Code Geass

Also, if any titles on my list are oop or hard to find, please point them out.

A lot of those series were reviewed here on DVDTalk, often more than once. Type them in in the box at the top of the page, click on "reviews" and hit "Search".

From your list, off the top of my head, I'd get Full Metal Alchemist, Death Note, Planetes, and Gurren Lagann.

I wasn't that impressed with Yukikaze when all was said and done, or Gasaraki.

I'm enjoying Code Geass right now, Blue Gender was a fun older series, and Gun X Sword was a good time too but may be harder to find due to the whole Geneon thing. Full Metal Alchemist, Death Note, Gurren Lagann, and Planetes are all solid recommendations as well.

Here is my very brief summary. Like what John has suggested, many of these have reviews here. You may want to check it out to see if the series interests you or not...

• Now & Then, Here & There - Great, yet depressing series. OOP, now airing on the Sci-Fi Channer
• Madara - It's still available @ TRSI for $6.99
• Gasaraki - From what I have heard, some may get bored from this series. It's OOP.
• Full Metal Alchemist - One of the best series I have seen in recent years. There are four collections out right now plus a movie. FUNimation may also be re-releasing the collections again early next year (possibly in January).
• Blue Gender - It's still readily available. Cheapest collection will be the Viridian collection.
• Gun X Sword - This is actually a pretty good series. It offered enough entertainment and actions. It's OOP and you may have to pay a sum to get the single volumes.
• Southern Cross - You can buy the double pack that just came out (with Mospeada)
• Genesis Climber Mospeada - See above.
• Petite Cossette - It's considered to be OOP. I would check RightStuf.com, as this goes on their Weekly Specials every now and then.
• Jin-Roh - This is still readily available either from Bandai Ent. or via Blu-ray (Honneamise label).
• Desert Punk - This series is readily available. The tin collection is currently available @ TRSI for $29.99
• Yukikaze - This is still readily available either from Bandai Ent. or via Blu-ray (Honneamise label).
• Karas - This is readily available and often at an affordable price. It's often available for $19.99 @ TRSI.
• Le Chevalier D’eon - This is an awesome series that I watched last year. Its property is no longer belongs to ADV. FUNimation will be releasing the complete collection later this year (12/2/08).
• Pumpkin Scissors - Another former ADV property that is now FUNimation's. FUNi will be releasing 2 sets in November (11/25/08). This is a somewhat entertaining series, but it may not be for everyone.
• Project Blue: Earth SOS - Yet another former ADV property that is now FUNi's. It's inevitable that FUNi will release a complete collection in near future (probably sometime next year).
• Freedom - Bandai (Honneamise label) is releasing the Blu-ray collection for this. It's coming out on 11/11. The collection looks very nice...
• Death Note - This is one of the best series of this year. The first boxset comes out in November (11/18). Amazon.com currently has this for $34.99
• Planetes - This is a pretty good series that is readily available from BEI.
• Gungrave - IMO, one of the best Geneon release ever. This is OOP. I would watch TRSI for Weekly Specials on this.
• Raxephon - One of the best ADV releases ever. The recent Grand Canon collection is probably the best option right now. It includes all the DVDs, the movie, and the extras in one thinpak collection.
• Gurren Lagann - My favorite anime series of this year. The subbed (2-Disc) releases are now available (while supplies last). The dubbed releases with artbox (and LED drill) will be available in November (11/11/08) It's also currently running on the Sci-Fi Channel.
• Code Geass - This is a pretty good series. It's currently airing (buried) on Adult Swim. The 2nd season (R2) will follow. There were some disc glitches from the first volume(s), but they should be fixed by now.

[Obvious post is obvious]

Southern Cross and Genesis Climber Mospeada are 2 of the 3 series (along with Superdimensional Fortress Macross) that were re-edited and redubbed to form Robotech.

[/Opio]

1) Now & Then, Here & There
Good show. It is a futuristic war movie where kids are kidnapped and raped and trained to fight for a crazy guy.


2) Full Metal Alchemist
Two kids seek to bring back their dead mother. The price they pay for this sin is great. The main story revolves around their attempt to gain the skills needed to correct their mistake. Worth watching but I won't recommend it

3)Death Note
I really liked season 1 but it starts to go downhill from there. I say watch season 1 and continue if you want but you aren't missing anything if you drop it after that. It is story of a boy that wants to make the perfect world by killing people with his special notebook.

4)Gurren Lagann
This feels a lot like FLCL. Action is over the top. Situations are over the top. Lots of shots of girls bending over or shots of their chest. This is going for crazy, sexy, cool. I only watch the first 3 episodes. The rest are sitting on my DVR. This is currently running on sci fi aninme block.

5)Code Geass
I only watched half of this due to cartoon networking idiotic scheduling. It was part of adult swim. Any way this is a pretty good anime if you like big robots and politics with a touch of magic put in. The tone is serious for the most part with only a few laughs. The only thing I don't like is how everyone is ultra skinny and tall. However, I got use to the look.

I'm going to suggest some strange things
1. Star Wars, The Clone Wars
This new series is pretty good. The movie with jabba's son was horrible but the series is actually good.

2. Avatar, the last air binder
It is aimed at kids but the fights are pretty good and it has a good message. The art can hold it owns against the best anime.

3. Moribito
This is the story of a female bodyguard protecting some rich kid. The art and style is very good. This takes more of a realistic approach but there is some strange stuff in it. I suggest it because I think it is unique in its tone and style.

I enjoyed Jin-Roh. I would recommend it though it's not for kids.

Only ones I've seen are
Petite Cossette
Planetes

and both were well worth it. Cossette is short (basically movie length, IIRC) and an interesting "romantic" fantasy.
I really enjoyed Planetes, except some of the characterizations got a little loose in the last couple episodes. Planetes to me is "true" science fiction, in that the story is predicated on one scientific advance, and mainly focuses on the people and societal changes that advance effects.

I did that and found reviews for about half the titles on my list, but I would still like a second opinion on them.


I know about that, but are they any good? I’ve never seen Robotech, but I have seen, and really liked, Macross.


I really didn’t care for FLCL that much. I remember right before it aired on Cartoon Network (there’s a station I haven’t watched for a while) I saw a couple TV spots for it that didn’t really spark my intrest (and this was when I was watching anything that was anime). I quickly forgot about it until, a few months later, a buddy of mine showed me a episode he recorded. And I really did not care for it at all. I don’t remember what it was about it that I didn’t like, I just remember that I didn’t like it very much. How close to FLCL is Gurren Lagann?