TripleSRank's Sandbox

Cakedog said:


Notice the two posters I just quoted.

Why did I do that?
Simple. I read the OP, and then skimmed through this thread and picked out people that I recognize.

Why did I recognize these fellow MAL users in particular?
Because when we interact with a forum we tend to automatically create identities or labels for people.
For these 2 users in particular, I've found that I usually like the content of their posts so I tend not to skip them. We essentially start building a connection with people that we identify most with; whether we like it or not, whether we communicate with them or not.

So what's my point?
Of all the users above this post, I was able to identify people I have a higher probability of connecting with, even if I've never directly communicated with them before.
The more exposure we have to certain people and learn more about them, the higher likelihood there can be:
Intellectual discourse, friendly conversation, mutual nods of approval, mental thumbs ups, etc.

So if we have people that we discuss media with, over time ideas that we share common ground on will surface:
Whether it's sarcasm, or robots.

Pullman said:
Kino's Journey is a must watch then. In terms of providing new concepts it's one of the best anime out there.

I also recommend Texhnolyze. Some of the names behind Lain are also behind this. It's very much open to interpretation and has a lot of room for speculation and personal thoughts. very good show in general.

Mushishi too is very creative and provides a very unique perspective. I think you'd like it.

Ghost in the Shell is like the better, more complex, more realistic version of Psycho-Pass. I didn't like PP very much but even if you enjoy it the similarities in terms of the future setting, the police main characters, and a more or less philosophical approach on many of the topics presented warrants a comparison. In my opinion GITS does a much better job at worldbuilding and everything but you can decide for yourself which one you prefer.

Tatami Galaxy has a great concept and definitely represents a certain perspective on the world. I'll just go out on a limp and say you should watch it because almost everyone I know who values what you call 'intellectual stimulation' in anime, is a big fan of that show. It's one of my absolute favorites as well.

I'll list some more shows I think would appeal to you just based on experience/intuition. You can look them up yourself if you're interested and see if they sound like something you'd like to watch:

Kuchuu Buranko / Trapeze
Legend of the Galactic Heroes
Monster
Welcome to the NHK
Aku no Hana
Wolf's Rain
Haibane Renmei
King of the Pigs (movie)
Zipang
Rahxephon (often compared to NGE)
Twelve Kingdoms
Crest of the Stars franchise
Princess Tutu
Angel's Egg (movie)
Kanashimi no Belladonna (movie)
The movies from Satoshi Kon (who directed Paranoia Agent) - Millennium Actress and Paprika in particular)
Memories
Spring and Chaos (Movie)
Terra e... (TV Series)
Gosenzosama Banbanzai
One Outs
Akagi
The House of Five Leaves
Spice and Wolf

TripleSRank said:
Before I even address the topic, I think it's worth noting that this is something more specific to MAL than it is the general anime community. Either that, or for whatever reason mecha fans don't mingle with your typical anime fans. To illustrate, the currently-airing Gundam IBO's MAL stats show that there are just under 19,000 people on MAL currently watching it. This would initially make it seem niche, but the picture becomes much more clear as soon as you look at GundamInfo's youtube channel. The English-subbed episodes regularly garner over 100,000 views, and occasionally get some crazy near-300k views (such as this episode). That is nothing to scoff at.

If you look to the past on sites like someanithing, you'll notice that the highest-grossing opening week for BD sales on record sits with Gundam SEED and its sequel (over $45 million and over $53 million respectively), even beating opening weeks for behemoths like the Monogatari franchise and Attack on Titan.

The point is, mecha is huge and very popular both in the East and in the West. Don't let someone delude you. It is MAL that isn't very fond of mecha. MAL's community is the oddball.

With all of that out of the way, why doesn't MAL's community like mecha? I would point to closed-mindedness. They make a lot of false assumptions about the genre without actually trying much of it. So, let's clear the air a bit with some of the biggest ones and compare to reality.


Rumor 1: Mecha is about robots fighting each other.
Reality: Well, no, but yes. Mecha are generally not all about whose robot is best at smashing other robots up save for in the uncommon sports-esque robot battle style shows. In most mecha, battles are a backdrop to the actual focus of the plot, such as a war story, adventure story, romance, or even a mystery. There are titles where mecha battles are quite sparse and/or short, at that.

Rumor 2: Mecha are all dry and boring and its identical twin, Mecha are all stupid and boring
Reality: These two thoughts are opposite to each other, but both stem from the same type of assumption. In essense, the person saying this either thinks that all mecha are like Gundam, or that all mecha are like TTGL. They're each very different types of shows. For those who enjoyed TTGL, there's an entire "super robot" subgenre for them to explore. For those who don't, the "real robot" subgenre may be of more interest to them, where mecha are less superhero-like and treated more along the lines of tanks and fighter jets-- useful but expendable. For the inverse with those who have tried and disliked the "real robot" subgenre (e.g. most Gundam titles), the over-the-top zaniness of the "super robot" subgenre (with titles like TTGL) may appeal to you.

Rumor 3: If I try the real robot subgenre, I have to go aaaall the way back to the beginning with the original Mobile Suit Gundam. That's too long/old/boring-looking/the-franchise-is-too-big/other-reason.
Reality: Absolutely not. For one, Gundam is far from the only mecha in this category. There's Knights of Sidonia, Patlabor, VOTOMS, etc. plus franchises like Macross, Full Metal Panic!, and even NGE that straddle the line between real and super. For two, even if you do want to start with Gundam, you don't need to start with the old stuff. There are many newer, shorter, and flashier Gundams that don't require starting from the original MSG. You could start with Gundam SEED, Gundam IBO, Turn-A Gundam, etc. and go from there.

Rumor 4: TTGL is the best mecha eveeeeer!!
Reality: Whoa whoa whoa, hold up. As I touched on in the answer to rumor 2, TTGL is just one of many anime in the super robot subgenre. Although TTGL is pretty over-the-top even for a super robot show, if you liked/loved TTGL, watch some of the others before you say that! Aside from hybrids like Full Metal Panic!/Macross/NGE, there's Eureka Seven, Suisei no Gargantia, Infinite Ryvius, Gunbuster, Mazinger Z, etc.


I'm sure there are people on MAL who legitimately don't like mecha, but most fall into the category of someone who believes one or multiple of the above.

Pullman said:
Sine it's my favorite show of all time I feel like I need to say something. Here is what I wrote about it in my Top 100 Anime, after my latest rewatch of the show:



To summarize:
- It's extremely stylish (It just is)
- amazing direction (Easily in the Top 10 best directed Tv anime)
- great animation (among the very best animated TV series up to date)
- fantastic OST (possibly my favorite OST of all time)
- 3 of my top 5favorite characters of all time are probably from Bebop, and characters are what I care most about in a show
- Almost every episode is a masterpiece in itself, in particularly the ways they end are always so perfect. At least 15 of my top 20 endings in anime are from Bebop episodes. Most episodes would still rank very highly for me if they just were random shorts.
- I love episodic shows/elements if well executed, because it's difficult to make me care for characters or be immersed in a story when it only lasts one episode which makes it all the more impressive when a show does it so incredibly well. It is simply the best episodic show I've seen, while also having a fantastical main 'plot' (I'd rather call it development) that ties everything beautifully together. That makes it truly one of a kind.



The best way to put it is probably the perfect balance between episodic elements (having a variety of genres, settings, themes and one-off characters explored) and a continuous development of the main characters with subtle characterization or individual arcs, culiminating in one of the most impactful ending scenes I've ever seen. It's so tragic because of how inevitable it is and the whole show sets it up wonderfully by subtly establishing Spike's character through his interactions with the rest of the cast and the episodic characters. Faye's and Jet's characterization aren't far behind.

The show has fun with tons of references and exploring various genres from road movie to wild west to comedy to horror and many more and you can see that it was a passion project and the people working on it really had fun with the episodic nature and the setting. But the show still makes almost every episode relevant for the characterization in a bunch of ways that never seem forced or shoehorned, but natural and subtle instead.

The episodes on their own are often short masterpieces with perfect directing, ending and animation but they are also masterful in regards to the big picture. It's extremely hard to pull that off as consequently as Bebop does. There is the one or other sub-par episode, but considering how hard it is to present a convincing, enjoyable, meaningful and complete story in just ~20 minutes it's a miracle how good almost all the other episodes are. Even other episodic masterpieces like Mushishi or Master Keaton don't reach the same average quality per episode and they don't have the continuous progression and breathtaking conclusion Bebop has. It really stands above all the other 3000+ anime I've seen and will most likely always be my favorite. If Yuasa ever does a 2-cour masterpiece it might get competition though.

TripleSRank said:
Let's see, in terms of the number of the type of anime I watched...

Phase 1: Discover One Piece was a thing called anime and stumble upon full seasons of Love Hina on youtube. Piddle around and watch mostly school romances and crappy rom coms along with some well known titles like Haruhi, a couple KEY anime adaptations, and Naruto.

Phase 2: Mostly abandon anime for years save for an occasional rewatch of Clannad or something.

Phase 3: Determine to watch through One Piece and do so. Get into HxH. Mostly watch drama, adventure, action, and exceptionally popular stuff (e.g. Steins;Gate). Became aware of seasonals and start watching them lightly. Gain an interest in trying new genres (e.g. mecha: TTGL; SOL: Space Brothers; etc.) and formats (e.g. movies: HAL).

Phase 4: Decide to branch out and stop being ridiculously picky based on small quirks like Katanagatari's art style or Spice & Wolf having an apparently part-animal main character despite it being a romance. Discover the wonder of shorts through Introverturtle's shorts watching challenge.

Phase 5: Increasing consumption of seasonals that becomes bipolar afterwards. Become more willing to try odd-seeming shows like Ping Pong the Animation. Gain an interest in discovering genre roots and delve into the original Mobile Suit Gundam.

Phase 6: Watch lots of anime movies.

Phase 7: Dispel many genre prejudices, namely that of ecchi (Shokugeki no Souma, Monogatari), sports (Cross Game), and CGDCT (High School Fleet). Realize I still had heavily unfounded prejudices toward "elitist"-reputed anime and that many are very different from what I imagined (e.g. Cowboy Bebop). Gain a slight increase of interest in romance anime.

Phase 8 (current): Dive headfirst into the mahou shoujo genre with the original Sailor Moon. I've either gotten lucky in picking all the good ones or I may have found another favorite genre, as every one I've completed thus far has been a very unique and worthwhile experience in one way or another.

Phase 9? (speculative): After exhausting the mahou shoujo genre of titles I'm interested in (esp. other Precures, Utena, Princess Tutu, Madoka) or growing tired of it for a time, I'd like to go ahead and take a similar route with other genres, though I haven't completely decided which yet. The only ones I have somewhat planned out are sports and romance. With sports I'll probably start with Major, Ashita no Joe, Chihayafuru, One Outs, Haikyuu!, etc. With romance I'll probably go Maison Ikkoku, Bluer Than Indigo, Nodame Cantabile, Nana, Nagi no Asakura, etc. Other than that I'm still trying to kind of randomly watch more shows that are generally well reputed or controversial such as Seirei no Moribito, Rose of Versailles, the Aria franchise, Kill la Kill, etc.

TripleSRank said:
>"Oh no anime is becoming worse"
>Low completion count

Every. Single. Time.

OP couldn't meaningfully comment on the quality of 2013-2017 anime even if the entirety of their watching experience was in that time period.

But, to save this from being yet another rehash of my same response to the same thread that pops up continually, this time I'll try to share some anime from said time period that I've seen get a reputation similar to the anime OP talks about to illustrate that there is no dearth of quality in recent years.

Show orders will generally be from newest to oldest rather than being ranked. Also note that placement in these lists may change over time since lasting memory and significance tends to play a part in this sort of reputation.

2017 (so far):
• Gintama sequel
• Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu sequel
• Little Witch Academia (TV)
• ACCA

Other reputedly good/popular stuff from 2017 includes...
• Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo! sequel
• Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon
• Yowamushi Pedal sequel
• Kemono Friends (meme show)


2016:
• 3-gatsu no Lion
• Natsume's Book of Friends sequel
• Flying Witch
• Jojo sequel
• Space Patrol Luluco
• Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu

Other reputedly good/popular stuff from 2016 includes...
• Hibike! Euphonium sequel
• Haikyuu! sequel
• Gundam IBO sequel
• Shokugeki no Souma sequel
• Mob Psycho 100
• Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu (controversial reputation)
• Boku dake ga Inai Machi (controversial[?] reputation)
• Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo!


2015:
• Osomatsu-san
• Non Non Biyori Repeat
• Gintama sequel

Other reputedly good/popular stuff from 2015 includes...
• One Punch Man
• Haikyuu! sequel
• Gundam IBO
• Shokugeki no Souma
• Oregairu 2
• Arslan Senki (?)
• Hibike! Euphonium
• Diamond no Ace sequel
• Durarara!! sequel
• Kuroko no Basket sequel


2014:
• Shirobako
• Mushishi sequels
• Barakamon
• Tsukimonogatari & Hanamonogatari
• Glasslip
• Jojo sequel
• Ping Pong the Animation
• Space☆Dandy

Other reputedly good/popular stuff from 2014 includes...
• Kiseijuu
• Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso (controversial reputation)
• Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works
• Psycho Pass 2 (controversial reputation)
• Yowamushi Pedal sequel
• Tokyo Ghoul (controversial reputation)
• Sword Art Online 2 (controversial[?] reputation)
• No Game No Life
• Haikyuu!
• Knights of Sidonia
• Baby Steps
• Noragami
• Niseikoi (controversial reputation)


2013:
• Kill la Kill (controversial reputation)
• Non Non Biyori
• White Album 2
• Monogatari sequel
• Chihayafuru 2

Other reputedly good/popular stuff from 2013 includes...
• Kuroko no Basket sequel
• Nagi no Asakura
• Yowamushi Pedal
• Diamond no Ace
• Hajime no Ippo sequel
• Free! (controversial reputation)
• Silver Spoon
• Kingdom sequel
• Shingeki no Kyojin
• Oregairu
• Suisei no Gargantia
• Love Live!

Pullman said:


That's what I came to say. Minus the Genma Taisen part.

But there are definitely a lot of underrated, obscure shows that at least some people should, but almost nobody does. Hyouge Mono, Hanada Shounen-Shi, Legendary Gamble Tetsuya, Salaryman Kintarou, Tentai Senshi Sunred, Yomigaeru Sora, Genshi Shounen Ryu, Takarajima, Gallery Fake, Master Keaton, Ie Naki Ko, Sirius no Densetsu, Yousei Florence etc...

Just to name a few off the top of my head. Those all definitely deserve more than a few hundred viewers.

TripleSRank said:
I have quite a few, but most of the topmost favorites are close to the end of their respective series, being the culmination of many many episodes of prior development. Once you strip away most of the context to make the episodes mostly standalone, there are only a couple left-- Cowboy Bebop's fifth episode and Kimi ni Todoke's final episode come to mind.

I'll suffice for a semi-unranked attempt for now since explicit ranking would take a lot of thinking. I'll list them roughly in the order I watched each series. Any "best in the medium" comments should obviously be understood as the best I've seen in the medium. I'll try to conceal some major spoilers via whitetexting if they aren't too context-important but I will include spoilers necessary for context.

Also! If anybody reads these and as a result thinks there are certain other series I'd like that I haven't watched, please do share.


• Clannad: After Story -- The episode where Ushio cries in Tomoya's arms. My views of Clannad are more tempered these days, but as an individual episode it contains one of the best dramatic scenes I've seen in the medium. To make it even sweeter, it crystallized at the apex of Tomoya's development in regards to his father. He realized he had become exactly like the father he hated and he needed to change. The scene in question marked the first point where that process of change was clearly evident. (I'd rank it just below my upper favs.)

• Naruto: Shippuuden -- Select episodes of the Pain arc. His generally higher threat level, the high mortality rate, and one of the first times Naruto really felt important on a larger scale on top of the best action in the series up to that point really made it stand out. (I'd rank it/them on the lower end of my favs.)

• One Piece -- The episode where the Straw Hats fought and partly disbanded in Water 7, and the episode where the Straw Hats were completely and utterly defeated on Sabaody Archipelago. As the two lowest points for the whole crew in the entire series, they also contained the best drama and served as the culmination of some lengthy ongoing developments with Usopp/Robin and Luffy respectively. They were very moving emotionally and very significant thematically. (I'd rank it somewhere in the middle of my favs.)

• Tengen Toppa Gurren Laggan -- The final confrontation with the Anti-Spiral. This is probably what I'd consider the most "shallow" of my favorites and the one I'm slightly reluctant to list since it consisted of pure adrenaline-driven hype, but it was quite exciting. Heroic sacrifices, colossal scale, lots of GAR, and a killer OST all contributed to its memorableness. (I'd rank it on the lower end of my favs.)

• Hunter x Hunter (2011) -- The episode where Gon becomes a monster. The culmination of his stubborn lack of character development throughout the series, this spins the typical self-centered morality of battle shounen heroes on its head and exposes Gon's extremely dangerous childishness. He literally destroys himself and casts aside all of the relationships he had built up over the series in order to gain vengence for the death of an innocent with his own hands. I'm hard pressed to think of another "victory" in the medium that was more tragic. (I'd rank it somewhere in the middle of my favs.)

• Kimi ni Todoke -- The final episode was an atmospheric wonder, and it wasn't even because of the (surprisingly light) romance elements. The two mains got set up for a meetup by their friends, being dressed up for the first time that the viewers have seen. Their walking to the new year celebrations as snow lightly falls and they talk nonchalantly, and their further light fun at the new year celebration was simple perfection. Exquisite. (I'd rank it in my upper favs.)

• Banner of the Stars -- Both the finale episode and the final epilogue episode. The Banner of the Stars franchise is one where the journey is perhaps just as important or more important than the conclusion, but the conclusion delivered very well, both in the two mains' full realization of their bond in the finale and Jinto's final decision regarding how to handle the divide between his homeland and the Abh Empire in the epilogue, Jinto finally decides what his place in the world is and comes to terms with his identity. (I'd rank it somewhere in the middle of my favs.)

• Cowboy Bebop -- Both the fifth episode and the final episode, although I'll intentionally neglect to talk about the latter. The fifth episode brilliantly juxtaposed Spike's freedom and lighthearted lifestyle with the reality that he is chained to and completely constrained by his past. Not only does the culmination of that juxtaposition set up the thematic narrative for the whole story, but it is also accompanied by some truly incredible cinematography and a perfect accompanying OST. All of that put together made it become what must be one of the most impressive episodes in the entire medium. Truly masterful. (I'd rank it in my upper favs.)

• Sailor Moon: Sailor Stars -- The final episode of the first arc, although the arc is so cohesive that the whole thing (six episodes) qualifies to an extent. It captures the culmination of Usagi's development over the course of the preceding 166 episodes perfectly. All of the tragedy, the hardship, the bittersweet victories, and the increasingly mature outlook on the world culminates in one of the most impressive and convincing displays of "the power of love" in any piece of fiction I have consumed. It is with that arc that Usagi's character is "perfected" and complete, and said arc captures Usagi as a person even better than said season's finale, which I thought was the best ending of the various Sailor Moon seasons. Sailor Moon's writing quality was admittedly inconsistent throughout the various seasons of its run, but I am overwhelmingly convinced that that arc made all the weaker parts worth weathering. (I'd rank it in my upper favs.)

• Heartcatch Precure! -- The penultimate episode is easily one of the greatest finales in the medium. I have never seen an episode pack so much into such a small timeframe so effectively. The episode opens with Fullmetal-Alchemist-esque tragedy and moral bankruptcy, develops into a steamroller of violence, vengence, and death (yes, death), hits the floor with yet more tragedy as a result (giving the eventual ending a more sober, haunting note), and yet slowly manages to climb its way back out despite the tragedy into a rebound that felt absolutely incredible. And all of that on top of containing my personal favorite fight that is definitely the all around best I've seen in the medium-- lengthy, incredibly well choreographed and animated (minor character spoilers in the sample link), and with a near-unmatched intensity. Just incredible. (I'd rank it among my top favs.)


So... now that I've explained it all, here's a quick attempt at an explicit top ten:


Cool topic, OP. Now I know my most favorite anime episodes. :3

NathK450 said:
I'm too lazy to make a poll so here's an image instead

Pullman said:


I love OVAs so here are my favorites (excluding sci-fi, which means excluding like 50% of my favorite OVAs :>):

Gosenzosama Banbanzai
El Hazard: The Magnificent World
Puni Puni Poemi
Otaku no Video
Angel's Egg
Vampire Hunter Miyu
Area 88
Black Jack OVA
Shonan Junai Gumi
Detroit Metal City
Denpa-teki na Kanojo
Dogs: Bullets & Carnage
A Piece of Phantasmagoria
Saint Seiya: Lost Canvas
Hori-san to Miyamura-kun

These cover a wide range of non-sci-fi genres from comedy, romance, battle shounen, mystery, parody, delinquent, drama, supernatural, military and fantasy since you didn't specify. A Piece of Phantasmagoria, Angel's Egg and to some degree Gosenzosama are pretty experimental and unique, the other shows are more like 'regular' anime of various genres except in OVA format.

TripleSRank said:
Yes, I definitely do enjoy it, though I have a loathing towards forms of criticism that seek to change or destroy the meaning of a work rather than to explore or enhance the understanding of it. For example, I find the concepts behind deconstruction criticism, psychoanalytic criticism, and biographical criticism to be obnoxious and far less useful than more direct and constructive examinations such as sociological criticism, formalist criticism, and reader-response criticism.

The way I see fiction is that it is always meant to serve a purpose, and that purpose should be readily identifiable through close examination if it is not immediately apparent. That purpose can be as simple as making the consumer laugh or as complex as trying to convey some profound meaning. If the work fails to make its purpose clear then the work itself is dead and useless. Once the work's purpose and the author's apparent intent has been identified, I believe analysis should shift toward the response of the consumer: Is the work's purpose praiseworthy or contemptible? Did the work fulfill its purpose well? Why and how? These are the types of questions I believe ought to be asked.

To summarize:

1. Fiction must be capable of holding meaning, or else it is pointless.
2. The meaning and purpose of the work, along with the author's intent, is important.
3. Although point 2 is true, it does not supersede the consumer's ultimate response to the work provided that (a) the consumer understands the work's purpose/meaning and (b) the consumer can understand or explore their tastes and values well enough to sufficiently explain why various elements in the work were or were not praiseworthy to them.

I also believe the idea that this approach to fiction/criticism is inherently lowbrow and of less worth than some of the more "perverting" forms of criticism I mentioned in the first paragraph is part of what colors the perception of more intellectual critics as being pretentious or elitist, and as such I'm curious what @Fvlminatvs would have to say about it.

Fvlminatvs said:
I would put more emphasis on directors and other creators than on individual shows.

Every fan should watch at least a few works by Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli. Every fan should see at least a few films directed by Mamoru Oshii (like Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer or Ghost in the Shell) and Satoshi Kon (like Millennium Actress or Perfect Blue).

When it comes to specific anime, Akira should be on the list. So should Cowboy Bebop, Neon Genesis Evangelion, and at least one season of Sailor Moon.

The reason for this is to establish a sort of common understanding and background for everyone--a kind of "cultural literacy" for anime fans that everybody can understand. Unfortunately, I don't see a lot of that "cultural literacy" in operation. There is no "essentials" list. Everybody is so focused on their individual opinions and the latest season but no one is interested in looking into the past and seeing the evolution up to today.

Without that sort of shared basis of "essential anime," we are all going to be talking past one-another.

Twenty years ago, the thought that anyone who called themselves an "anime fan" or "otaku" hadn't seen Akira, Ghost in the Shell, and Ninja Scroll was preposterous. Of course we've seen them. Even as late as Baltimore's Otacon 2002, if someone screamed out "Tetsuo!" everyone else at the convention would yell back "Kaneda!" There was a shared and communal knowledge because there were these essentials that everybody had seen.

I have no idea where all those people went. Perhaps they all got jobs. Well, I'm gainfully employed and adulting and I still have time to do stuff like this, especially during summer semesters. I can only imagine that they "grew out" of it.

It is unfortunate that my generation basically ditched. Or we're tremendously outnumbered now that anime is "mainstream" and we've just up and quit. So, the essentials we had, this sort of unofficial and impromptu "canon" of necessary shows that we had created, well, it evaporated.

I wouldn't doubt that more than half of the people here on MAL have never, ever seen Akira, let alone read the manga. To me, that's a shame. We've lost something. In twenty years, those of you now hanging out here will probably be in a similar position as I, with all these young kids in their 20s who have never, ever heard of Re:Zero, Erased, or maybe even One Piece, and who have absolutely no interest in finding out about them.

That, to me, is sad.

rvbrick said:
Anime voice acting in America is dominated by a very small group of people who aren't very good at what they do.

Wasn't always like this. Go back to Animaze Inc. era dubs (dubs produced by this company include the redubs of Akira and The Castle Of Cagliostro, Perfect Blue, Metropolis, Bebop, The Big O, Trigun, Gundam War in the Pocket, the Black Jack OVAs, Ghost In The Shell S.A.C. and.. um.. Giant Robo), and a lot of the actors in them are legitimately good and do justice to the Japanese performances.

...even ADV had some pretty good dubs. Very inconsistent in my experience but at least when they decided to rewrite a script, the result wasn't as insulting to the original version as Funimation's re-writes. By no means is the Evangelion dub well acted for the most part, but the script is, in my opinion, legitimately better than the original Japanese script. Most of the differences are subtle, but for the better.

I avoid most dubs nowadays anyway since watching the original version is better just about 100% of the time.

Kruszer said:


Flame of Recca-This was a pretty good shounen fighting series. I would rank it among the better ones out there. It has a good cast, an interesting story, and some pretty cool fights. The only drawback is the anime is a bit inconclusive.

Inu Yasha-Great cast of characters and some really good storylines. There is also a romance element. It also has a sequel series that ends the franchise conclusively and a few random movies to watch which are also good.

Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple-Pretty darn good martial-arts series. It can also double as an educational tool showing you some real life ways of defending yourself. It's basically about a wimpy kid's journey into becomming a mixed martial-arts badass. It's mostly real martial-arts from various styles for most of the series but eventually it starts to add super-powered stuff near the end and in the OVAs.

Kingdom-The king of Qin province of China who drams of uniting the nation and a lowly peasant who dreams of being a great soldier meet through various circumstances and become friends each vowing to one day achieve their goal. This show is quite interesting if you like infantry battles and the tactics required to win. Some of the character designs aren't really to my taste, but who cares when the story is this good.

Rurouni Kenshin-An awesome shounen action series with a multitude of good stories and excellent characters and themes.

Scryed- Excellent series, with a good story, lots of drama and neat action. Can be a bit over the top at times though.

Shakugan no Shana-Has a good cast and great animation with good storylines and romance sub plot. The 3rd TV series also wraps up the franchise nicely.

Soul-Eater-This series had some neat action scenes, and a good story. The artstyle was really strange and off-putting at first, but it sort of grew on me.

Yu Yu Hakusho-Excellent series one of my favorite shounen titles, with lots of action and attitude. The story arcs are all interesting and enjoyable as well. The premise is that a delinquent student dies before his time, unexpectedly saving a child from being run over, so the prince of the underworld decides to give him another chance at life. The catch being he must become a Spirit Detective and face supernatural threats to the human world.

Blarey said:
Gintama
Maison Ikkoku
Jojo S1
Cross Game
Seirei no Moribito

I wouldn't say these started horribly, but they definitely got a lot better as they went on. I would call them rocky starts.

TripleSRank said:
The problem with the harem label is that there are no set standards that everyone agrees to. What constitutes a harem anime is too vague despite the seemingly clear-cut term.

The definition I'm going with and what I propose others adopt is a two-pronged definition in the interest of eliminating exception cases so that there are no grey areas.

The first prong I propose would be a show where the protagonist is mostly surrounded by companions/colleagues of the opposite sex that aren't substantially younger or older than said protagonist. Thus a series with a male protagonist with a male best friend and three (or more) significant female friends/colleagues would count as a harem. Since romantic interest and ecchi isn't a factor in this prong, the ratio of opposite sex to same sex friends would have to scale such that there is a clear majority of the opposite sex in a dateable age range. Taking the aforementioned example, if we give our male protag a second male best friend then we need to add two more female friends, for a third male another one or two more females, etc. such that the ratio clearly favors some sort of fantasy of having many opposite sex friends/colleagues or "possibilities" in a romantic sense.

The second prong I propose would be a show where [three or more] of the opposite sex show interest in the protagonist or are often thrown into ecchi situations around the protagonist. That's it. It doesn't matter if the protag has one noteworthy same sex friend or ten-- if there are three or more of the opposite sex who show interest in them or are inexplicably fated by the universe to have their clothes explode when near the protag, that would suffice. The protag doesn't need to reciprocate or appreciate the interest/ecchi.

If a show fulfills either set of criteria, it's a harem.

Thus both Steins;Gate and Monogatari are harems, Steins;Gate in the former sense and Monogatari in both senses.

Edit: If we want to get more detailed we could say a show that fulfills one prong has harem as its subgenre, while a show that fulfills both prongs has harem as its primary genre.

TripleSRank said:
Yes. In the modern era people seem to want to forget that truly evil people exist. Serial killers, rapists, and so on are an ever-present reality that has not left us. These people are by and large evil because they enjoy what they do. They are perverts in the truest sense of the word.

However, I don't think this denial of continual consciousness of evil is because evil is either "interesting" or "uninteresting", but rather because the so-called modern man does not wish to be bound to morality any more than those before him did. In an age where moral integrity is more heavily enforced, the corrupt desires of the heart protect themselves by veiling themselves as either entirely upright, or at least ambiguous. People want to deceive themselves into thinking that lying is okay in certain circumstances, that greed is okay in certain circumstances, that bribery is okay in certain circumstances, that killing is okay in certain (non-self-defense) circumstances. So on and so forth.

There is no bridge between good and evil. There is no greyzone-- only the purposeful delusion that such a thing exists because it's easier. However, I will say that this is the major downfall of many black vs. white stories. They often make picking the moral high ground look easy, and they often make the consequences of evil immediate. This is often not the case in reality. They also tend to portray the "good side" as perfect morally speaking when this is unnecessary (as long as the consequences of evil are maintained in the long run, both for the "good side" and the "bad side").

Some people take this claim to mean it is okay to judge people carelessly in real life, but that is not the case I am making. There are many factors that may be difficult or impossible for another person to take into account because everyone has lived through different life experiences. Only someone who has been raped knows what it is like to live after being raped. Only someone who has been abused knows what it is like to have been abused. Only someone who has been fatherless knows what it is like to be fatherless. So on and so forth. While circumstances like these do not justify evil, it does (appropriately) dissuade unbridled judgement because it is simply impossible for many to understand what it would take and how impossible it would seem to make all of the right choices had they themselves lived through such circumstances. There is a place for mercy, love, and (empathetic) understanding.

Because of this, I feel that there is a great deal of depth in black vs. white that is simply not explored. The existence of an absolute right and wrong simply does not appeal to many's desires, and thus stories concerning it are left simple and focus more on things that people do like-- power, violence, fame, opulence, and so on. This is a tragedy.

I would give more for one superbly developed black and white story than fifty "superbly developed" grey stories due both to the former's rarity and their largely untapped potential.

TripleSRank said:

Hmm. Let me answer this with a story. Let's say we have a child named Little Jim. Little Jim is poor and is worked from dawn till dusk all day every day whenever he isn't at school. He isn't given good food nor drink, nor is he given all but the bare minimum amount of free time needed to eat, sleep, and maintain hygiene.

When Little Jim finally grows old enough to gain independence, he's dazzled at all of the nice things he never had growing up: better food, more free time, and money of his own. It's not much, but it's more than he ever had.

Now let's say that someone else, we'll call him Bobby, wants some of the few things Little Jim has worked hard for. Would Little Jim be wrong or evil for not wanting to share?

The point is, while sharing or giving is good, not sharing or giving isn't necessarily evil, and even calling it selfish in the above case would be a quick judgement, especially if we don't know Little Jim's background. However, what if we shift things just a little and say that Bobby is a kid in the same situation Little Jim used to be in? If Little Jim doesn't share then, isn't he a hypocrite? Can we then call foul?

The point is, a lot of it has to do with balance, and casting aside the above, not all choices are even necessarily related to morals. Choosing a job or hobby to engage in is not necessarily inherently good or evil, for example. And even when a decision is connected to morals (in which cases, yes, I do believe there is always a brightline), making a wrong decision doesn't necessarily mean we should immediately judge the character in question.

All of that being said, I do think your final line captures the essence of my viewpoint. These so-called grey stories are merely illusions of moral ambiguity, or rather they are only as morally ambiguous as the interpreter makes them out to be.

Edit: You might be wondering what I think the difference between a black vs. white story and a grey story is, since I said the moral ambiguity is an illusion. It is merely the differences in how actions and consequences are portrayed. If morally nebulous actions are portrayed as okay or inconsequential (e.g. the protagonist lying, cheating, etc.) despite the good guys otherwise being... well, good, then it is grey. If morally nebulous actions have appropriate consequences (e.g. lying ruins the protag's credibility or it bites him in the butt later, cheating causes him to make avoidable/potentially dangerous mistakes later, etc.), then the story is black and white.