whateverdude

i want to start a DVD anime collection, but theres a vast amount of DVDs out there and i dont know enough about the genre.

So please help me out by listing suggestions.

here are some guidelines

[1] i like intelligent anime, e.g ghost in the shell
[2] i DONT like hentai/porn anime
[3] i want to buy some cool box sets of anime [eg cowboy bebop, how good is this?]
[4] im thinking in total maybe 40 DVDs to start with.


and lastly...
there was cool one i saw with this secret agent type girl who was invisible and jumped off a huge bulding but i have no idea of the name...

Daniel L

That would have been Ghost In the Shell. Right?

DaveCole

Here are some of the titles I have enjoyed.

.hack//sign is a great series. (If you are interested in .hack let me know and I can give you a good price on the set.)

Revolutionary Girl Utena
Raxephon
Lain
Twelve Kingdoms

TomOpus

Here's some previous threads that might help you out.

Anime DVD Suggestions??

anime movies/series

New to Anime. Any Suggestions

Have fun and enjoy your anime journey!

pat00139

Well, okay, the links are there, so this is rather useless.

My favorite is Akira. The last half hour turns off a lot people because it's a bit heady, but I love it.

Ninja Scroll has a kick-ass R3 box set, ditto with Blood: The Last Vampire.

X is really nice to watch but moves a bit slow. It'll probably be nice to rent that one first

Patlabor's fun enough but it can get a bit long here and there. I preferred the second part.

Grave of the Fireflies is always in lists, but it's really heartbreaking. You can get a really good, but kind of expensive 2-disk set.

Anything by Miyazaki is nice to have. All his movies have a certain quality that's very hard to find.

Cowboy Bebop is really nice show. If you can find it, there's lunch box box set available out there somewhere. Many people like Evangellion, but I've never seen a show.

Those are my suggestions.

whateverdude

thanks, will look at all these

whateverdude

er..i think so, i really cant remember


another quick question how does

Ghost in the shell [stand alone complex] compare to the movie?

is it as good?

Jackskeleton

As an anime fan I just have to say I disliked .hack and all it's other series.

Here is a sum up of what the entire series is..

Dead Star

Neon Genesis Evangelion - with the release of the platinum edition, now is a great time to start getting this, or if youre impatient get the regular boxset followed by the movie "End of Evangelion" in my opinion
one of the most unique and mind bending animated film ever (not just anime, and perhaps beyond animation itself)

Ghost in the shell: Stand Alone Complex - though I cant vouch for the entire series as I didnt follow the fansubs, so far its looking to be quite a show, its of a different vein then the film taking a more sci-fi/cop approach, but still subtely incorporating the traditional themes of gits

FLCL - no brainer, evenif you dont know what its about, buy it regardless

Rahxephon - a new classic, absolutely fantastic, cant reccomend enough

Last Exile - stunning artistically and just a great show period.

other reccomendations: Boogiebop phantom, Read Or Die OVA, Nadia, Kimagure Orang Road...

Jackskeleton

I have to strong suggest again any of the big gainax besides Neon Genesis. FLCL was a bit to much for someone who is just jumping in and especially with only two episodes per disc and MSRP of 29.99 it's an investment right there to be a blind buy.

It's nice, but expensive as all fuck. Unless you are a die hard fan and can find it for somewhere around low 200's I would just suggest getting the disc. The main difference is you wont get the nice box and cd.


It was pretty good. I enjoyed it for what it was.


I would suggest the typical shit. Ninja Scroll (NOT THE SERIES CAUSE THAT SUCKED!), Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, Street Fighter 2, Read or Die (both OVA and TV series).

eau

There will be a number of anime collections released in October by Bandai for the holiday rush. Some of the collections (that I remember) are .hack//SIGN, Witch Hunter Robin, Banner of the Stars I/II, Love Hina, Escaflowne, Geneshaft.

Btw, you may want to check out animeondvd.com. Great site for everything anime.

DonnachaOne

whateverdude... rent. That advice is best for you.

"Anime" is a blanket term. The genres are wide and not for everyone. I like Akira and a couple of others, but a lot of the rest is just absolute twaddle to me, even stuff all the Anime junkies said I'd love.

Jackskeleton

I agree with donnachaone completely.

It's like saying "Suggest Action films". You may like Rambo but hate last action hero. Rent, especially long series. Watch Cartoon network and rent. ADV has a 24 hour anime network. Rent before buying.

John Sinnott

I'd like to add my voice to DonnachaOne and Jackskeleton. When starting out, renting is the way to go. I, along with Don Houston, review just about all of the anime that DVDTalk gets in, and there is a wide variety of styles and types of shows. It is really easy to spend a lot of money on anime, $30 retail for an hour and a half to two hour DVD isn't unusual. Tastes are different, you really should rent 6 or 7 different titles and see what you like.

Deadman31

My friend seems to enjoy Captain Herlock quite a bit, along with Gungrave and various others. I have watched the one they show on one of the Encore channels every night at midnight or 1:00 a.m a few times(sorry the name escapes me). Voice of a Distant Star was an interesting anime title that I enjoyed quite a bit.

Me007gold

lets see, initial D, cowboy bebop, trigun, gto.....

Breakfast with Girls

I wish there could be an anime suggestions thread without mention of Akira, Ninja Scroll, or Fist of the North Star...

I won't bother giving you a big list, but give Berserk a try.

tonyc3742

Definitely rent. My monthly Netflix fee has saved me bunches of money by letting me catch series I wasn't sure about without being out a bunch of money. I still have bought some series, because they were good prices, I know I enjoy them, and/or they weren't available from Netflix.

I thought Akira was somewhat overrated, and Neon Genesis Evangelion was a little too 'cerebral' [I know it was 'saying' a lot of stuff, but by the 8th disk, I was fast forwarding just to finish it.]

Indeed, 'anime' is a term for the whole genre of 'Japanese animation', which includes things as diverse as Urotsukidoji and Pokemon [they're both anime.] The anime industry, I've heard, is roughly analogous to US's Hollywood, it's just a different method of expressing it.

Some anime films/series I own:
Cardcaptor Sakura
Excel Saga
Sailor Moon
Sakura Diaries
Irresponsible Captain Tylor [I liked the TV better than the OVAs]
Akira
eX-Driver
Perfect Blue

Other titles I've rented and enjoyed to various levels:
Millenium Actress
Spirited Away
Kiki's Delivery Service [liked this better than Spirited Away]
Cat Soup [BIZARRE]
Evangelion
Steel Angel Kurumi
Cowboy Bebop

Corwyn

as someone else suggested, take a look at animeondvd.com, especially their AOD Recommends section.

Personal recommendations:

Jin-Roh - Alternate timeline in the 60s, a special soldier deals with a young rebel blowing herself up right in front of him, and becomes embroiled in a power struggle among his superiors.

Now and Then, Here and There - Fairly brutal series dealing with the horrors of war using children. Boy gets transported to the future and ends up in the middle of a war being fought to control a special girl.

Haibane Renmei - A thoughtful, slow series about a girl haibane being in a new town that you can't leave and having no memories of her past.

Voices of a Distant Star - A short movie about a couple seperated by war when she goes off to fight the aliens. There only link is the cell phone and messages take longer and longer to reach. This was done by a single person, and is a true marvel to behold.

Count_Zero

I'm kinda new to anime also so take that into account, but here are some I've enjoyed so far:

Akira
Ghost in the Shell
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Vol. 1
Serial Experiments: Lain (HIGHLY recommended!)
Metropolis
Cowboy Bebop: The Movie
Princess Mononoke
Kiki's Delivery Service
Castle in the Sky
Perfect Blue
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Noir

Anyway...that's all I can think of right now.

whateverdude

thankyou everyone...

buckee1

I'd also recommend:

Jin Roh
Spirited Away
Princess Mononoke
Macross/Robotech
Cowboy Bebop
Akira
Ghost In THe Shell
Wings of honneamise
Patlabor part 1
Starblazers
Galaxy Express
Fist of the North Star
Gatchman
Metropolis
Ninja Scroll-the movie not the series

eau

whateverdude, keep in mind that a number of anime titles have light to heavy 'fan service' in them, since you said you don't like hentai anime. One title is that is on the heavy side is "IkkiTousen" - you can say that this title is selling more sex than the story (which is so so by any standards).

Rivero

Galanthas

All the suggestions have been good so far, although I don't care for Cowboy Bepop.

I enjoy Tenchi Muyo, but it's not intelligent anime as you put it.

It's a shame they haven't made anymore of this series, at least that I know of.



I enjoyed Record of Lodoss War Collection. The OVA, not TV series. Comes on 2 DVDs, close to 6 hours long. Borrows heavily from LotR,SW's and a few others, still enjoyable though.


I would definitely rent some first though as others have suggested.