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So lately I've been watching Deadman Wonderland and I'm absolutely loving it but I've almost finished the whole series so I wanted to know what anime series you guys would suggest I watch next. I've already seen Death Note as well. I must tell you though, I don't like the kind with robots in such as Gundam Wing or anything like that but more the kind of mystery/thriller/horror or fighting like, as I mentioned, Death Note.

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Cowboy Bebop is the obvious defining anime show. Other than that, I'd say check out Monster, Mushishi and Bunny Drop. I'd say these 4 cover a huge array of genres without ever being embarassingly animu-ei.

 

If you want something more along the lines of the Shonen kind of deal, just go with Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood and ignore the neverending time sinks like One Piece or Naruto.

 

Also, if you liked Death Note I hear Steins;Gate is supposed to be very good, but have never watched it myself.

 

Also, consult this.

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Higurashi no naku koro ni and Umineko no naku koro ni if you're just looking for a kinda bloody, lets kill every character off as violently as possible murder mystery sorta thing. Might wanna watch all three seasons of Higurashi if u wanna understand it though.

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Seconding Cowboy Bebop and Monster.

 

Also, Gungrave gets a bit sci-fi later on, but it's still a pretty good watch (just skip the 1st episode. Sounds weird, but that episode should not exist, and the series is much better off without it)

 

If you want something more along the lines of the Shonen kind of deal, just go with Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood and ignore the neverending time sinks like One Piece or Naruto.

 

In this genre, I would also recommend Rurouni Kenshin. Just keep in mind that, after episode 62, it's all filler until the series got cancelled.

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Also, Gungrave gets a bit sci-fi later on, but it's still a pretty good watch (just skip the 1st episode. Sounds weird, but that episode should not exist, and the series is much better off without it)

 

I know, right? That first ep is just terrible. oO But then the "past" section is just so awesome... it makes no sense, lol.

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I echo some of the other members on here.

 

Gungrave is a fantastic series and quite deep. Yeah, disregard the first episode. :D

 

Code Geass although it has mechs shares alot of similarities with Death Note when it comes to the main story.

 

Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood is also a fantastic series. Don't bother with the original series though as this one is based on the manga and is far superior.

 

Although I never finished it I did enjoy what I seen of Soul Eater.

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Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood is also a fantastic series. Don't bother with the original series though as this one is based on the manga and is far superior.

 

I still have a soft spot for the original show but yeah Brotherhood is better.

There were some changes in the first show that I did prefer like the truth of the gate and stuff that happened at the end.

 

I actually rewatched both shows last year :D

 

Should have been obvious I loved the show (never read the manga so when they made Brotherhood that was awesome that I could get the original writers story too) as I had Edward Elric as my Avatar since like FOREVER and my "title" was "The Full Gaming Alchemist" also for like forever.

 

Think when I changed them both with the release of MH3U that is prolly the first time I changed them since we moved to these vBulletin boards :)

 

 

Recently not watched any new anime (must correct this) but have been watching Dragonball Z Kai on Kix! since I discovered it was showing there.

 

Love how they cut out a lot of the filler.... still a bit of time wasting going on but no where near as much as in the original show. They went as far as Goku first going Super Sayian and then they started to repeat eps and returned to the start again :mad:

 

Had hoped they'd just do a full clean run of the whole thing before repeating. I'm looking forward to teh Cell Saga again and seeing Gohan kick some ass before he gets gimped and overshadowed by Goten and Trunks :cry:

Edited by Mokong

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Had hoped they'd just do a full clean run of the whole thing before repeating. I'm looking forward to teh Cell Saga again and seeing Gohan kick some ass before he gets gimped and overshadowed by Goten and Trunks :cry:

 

Actually, Dragonball Kai stopped at the end of the Cell saga. Japanese ratings weren't good enough to continue, apparently.

 

A shame. Buu saga is my favourite (though also the one that needed the Kai treatment the least)

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Actually, Dragonball Kai stopped at the end of the Cell saga. Japanese ratings weren't good enough to continue, apparently.

 

A shame. Buu saga is my favourite (though also the one that needed the Kai treatment the least)

 

I heard that but I thought I read somewhere that production was back on to do and finish the Buu Saga?

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Actually, Dragonball Kai stopped at the end of the Cell saga. Japanese ratings weren't good enough to continue, apparently.

 

A shame. Buu saga is my favourite (though also the one that needed the Kai treatment the least)

 

They might be doing the Buu saga for international releases, believe it was confirmed by one of the Japanese voice actors.

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For a start if you haven't already watch the Deadman Wonderland OVA because its another episode of an anime you are enjoying so it should be good! :) I've not seen Deadman Wonderland myself, yet.

 

In a similar vain to Deadman Wonderland more recently there are a few I've listed below. I've added a synopsis and there opening song to see whether you get excited by it!

 

Mirai Nikki Whilst it thinks it's cleverer than it actually is and starts off with more promise than it ends up with it is still a good ride with a great cast of characters and starts off in a similar vein to Death Note.

 

Synopsis:

 

This psychological thriller, based on the manga written and illustrated by Sakae Esuno, is about Yuki, a loner who's not very good with people. He prefers to write a diary on his cell phone and talk to his imaginary friend, Deus Ex Machina – The God of Time and Space. However, Yuki soon learns that Deus is more than a figment of his imagination when he makes Yuki participate in a battle royale with eleven others. The contestants are given special diaries that can predict the future, each diary possessing unique features that give it both advantages and disadvantages. Within the next 90 days, the contestants must try to survive until there is only one left standing. The winner will become the new God of Time and Space.

 

 

Rainbow: Nisha Rokubou no Shichinin This one I recommend more due to it's similar Prison settings but it's meant to be fantastic. :)

 

Synopsis

 

Seven teenagers in 1955 have to learn to live together in the same hold in the reformatory of Shio. Confined in a hall where suffering and humiliation are daily, they are waiting for a ray of hope in a dark, incarcerating world. The story follows their life together and how they move on afterwards.

 

 

Another A purely bloody and violent mystery, horror and thriller.

 

Synopsis

 

26 years ago, in a third-year classroom of a middle school, there was a student named Misaki. As an honors student who was also good at sports, she was popular with her classmates. When she suddenly died, her classmates decided to carry on as if she was still alive until graduation. Then, in the spring of 1998, a boy named Sakakibara Kouichi transfers to the class, and he grows suspicious of the fearful atmosphere in that classroom. In particular, there is a beautiful, aloof girl named Mei Misaki who wears an eyepatch and is always alone drawing pictures.

 

 

Darker Than Black. One of the best aspects of this series is that each time they use their power, they have to pay for it. The main character gets off lightly he just has to eat a lot but others have much darker things happen to them. :D

 

Synopsis

 

In Tokyo, an impenetrable field known as "Hell's Gate" appeared ten years ago. At the same time, psychics who wield paranormal powers at the cost of their conscience also emerged. Hei is one of the most powerful of these psychic agents, and along with his blind associate, Yin, works for one of the many rival agencies vying to unlock the mysteries of Hell's Gate.

 

 

K Is just a cool experience. Very flashy with enough substance to the story as well to keep it interesting. The main similarity here is the use of powers and the fact the main character is also accused of murder.

 

Synopsis.

 

Set in a world where history has taken a slightly different course from the one we're familiar with, K follows the story of a young boy whose life is caught in a psychic war between seven kings.

 

Ashinaka High School is known for its unique setting: the entire campus is built on an island. Yashiro Isana, aka Shiro, is having lunch with a cat on one of the school rooftops. After his lunch break, Shiro goes on an errand for his classmate Kukuri to prepare for their upcoming school festival, only to be chased by some intimidating-looking men.

 

 

_______

 

I'll live it at that for now for more directly similar anime, I don't want to bombard you too soon but if you want to know any more than feel free to ask. :grin:

 

If you are looking for other just good anime the posts above me have that relatively covered but I'll add to that as well.

 

Steins;Gate as already been mentioned but it is actually excellent its time travel done in a clever way. It is very addictive. I watched it in one day.

 

Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica This turns the magical girl genre on its head and it packs a lot into its 12 episodes. It's one of the most tightly written anime I have seen and one of my personal favourite. Stick with it as it's nothing like what you think it's going to be from its opening episodes.

 

Baccano! This is meant to be full of mystery from the outset as the events of the story seem all over the place but slowly everything works its way together to fit perfectly as the puzzle is unravelled. Durarara!! is from the same author (manga) and almost as good as Baccano both have this great vibe throughout and a unique way of revealing their stories.

 

There are other series I could recommend but I don't think you are in the mood for that, currently!

 

Now in terms of longer anime if you really wanted to sink your Teeth in then look no further than FMA: Brotherhood as others have said don't bother with the original FMA as Brotherhood does everything better as it actually follows the manga to its conclusion. It is 64 episodes though.

 

Soul Eater again it's 52 episodes. A great series that loses its way a bit towards the end as it is forced to come up with an anime original ending but by that time you'll be so deeply invested in the characters that you won't notice.

 

If you want a feeling that sort of longer series gives you but don't want to invest all that time then Ao No Exorcist is only 25 episodes long and may be what you are after.

 

Synopsis.

 

This world consists of two dimensions joined as one, like a mirror. The first is the world in which the humans live, Assiah. The other is the world of demons, Gehenna. Ordinarily, travel between the two, and indeed any kind of contact between the two, is impossible. However the demons can pass over into this world by possessing anything that exist within it. Satan the god of demons, but there's one thing that he doesn't have, and that's a substance in the human world that is powerful enough to contain him!! For that purpose he created Rin, his son from a human woman, but will his son agree to his plans? Or will he become something else...? An exorcist?

 

 

 

Current Series:

 

If you are looking to get into one that has just started airing, you'll have to wait each week for a new episode but you'll be inside the excitement along with everyone else. Shingeki no Kyojin had the best first episode. I'll say nothing but I'll show you this picture:

 

shin_zps159550fc.jpg

 

MOVIES:

 

As much as it hurts me I don't recommend starting One Piece as excellent it is not many have time to invest into 590 episodes. (I jumped on around 385) but I think two of the One Piece movies are still enjoyable regardless of whether you have previous knowledge of the characters. One is One Piece: Strong World overseen by the Mangaka himself and the other is One Piece: Baron Omatsuri and the Secret Island which has a quirky animation style and the director has also done the other movie I recommend and my final of this long post:

 

Summer Wars

 

Beautifully animated. It's a look at old family traditions against an ever increasing virtual world and how they can both co-exist. (as well as fights against a hacker)

 

Summer-Wars-Movie-Poster+2.jpg

 

Which you should get on Blu-ray. :yay:

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The only reason I didn't recommend Shingeki no Kyojin is because the first episode only aired literally last Saturday. I'm up to speed on the manga, and I can tell you the adaptation was really well done, but I'm not sure what they're going to do once they catch up.

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I know you said no to anything mecha, but you'd be missing out if you didn't watch Code Geass.

 

Yeah seconding this; whilst it's got mecha in it - it really isn't about that at all. I think you'd like it, @Animal.

 

Dullmetal Alchemist is a must, too. Personally I don't like anything that's more than 70ish episodes, and I think both of these fall under that. It's up to you if you bother with the first FullMetal, but tbh I'd say skip straight to Brotherhood.

Edited by Rummy

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Wow, thanks a lot guys! These are all cool suggestions. As you can probably tell, I'm kind of new when it comes to anime. I love Studio Ghibli and I've dabbled in series like Death Note, Dragonball and such but Deadman Wonderland really drew me in and I want more. I might check Code Geass out, it does sound quite good. The reason why I said no to mecha (should have used that word in the first place :p) was because I saw 3 or 4 episodes of this show that I THINK is called Gundam Unicorn or something with my mate's brother and I just couldn't get into it at all. I was like this with a couple of other ones but there was a show with mecha in that I did like but I can't remember it, haha.

 

Ao No Exorcist and Nikki Mirai sound awesome and definitely ones I shall be checking out because they're right up my street. I've seen a few FMA episodes and I liked it but I've not seen Brotherhood so I'll be watching that too. I did start watching Bleach once upon a time but the episode count takes the piss, haha.

 

Deadman Wonderland was an amazing series but it felt extremely rushed towards the end, which kind of upset me. I think it could have very easily been a movie. Deadman Wonderland OVA was a brilliant episode. I just wish they'd do a second series.

 

But yeah, thanks a lot for the suggestions, guys. I WILL be checking them all out so if there's any more, please leave some more! :)

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Avoiding mecha means avoiding Gurren Lagann, which is not to be missed. Hilarious, tragic, beautiful, brilliant animation.

 

Evangelion is also good, but it's dated and old now. The new movies are less dated though, but yeah, robots.

 

Steins;Gate is also highly recommended, as is the show Another which is a horror themed mystery show that ran about 13 episodes from what I recall. Really cool premise and execution in that one.

 

Another mecha is RahXephon which I absolutely love. Like Evangelion, it's way more than a standard mecha show with loads of great characters and depth.

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I agree with everyone that you shouldn't look over Code Geass as it is less about mecha and more of a political chess game. Which you should enjoy if you liked Death Note as there is that sense of a cat and mouse chase in both. :D

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As you may have gathered from my new Avatar and Sig combo, Code Geass is a fantastic choice.

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I loved Code Geass but the visual style is so bad. =/

 

Also, you all need to watch Mushishi! =D It needs more love around these parts!

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Summer Wars

 

Beautifully animated. It's a look at old family traditions against an ever increasing virtual world and how they can both co-exist. (as well as fights against a hacker)

 

Summer-Wars-Movie-Poster+2.jpg

 

Which you should get on Blu-ray. :yay:

 

AKA Digimon The Movie. :D

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I should also recommend Casshern Sins. It's more on the slow and introspective side, so I didn't mention it before, but it's really good.

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I should also recommend Casshern Sins. It's more on the slow and introspective side, so I didn't mention it before, but it's really good.

 

I absolutely loved that anime, watched it as it was airing.

 

One series that's really popular lately amongst some anime circles, and for good reason, is Stein's Gate. I've read the manga, done quite a lot of the visual novel and I'm now working my way through the anime. The core mechanics of it aren't unique, people who've said this clearly haven't watched a couple of some very good movies I know of that I'll refrain from posting, but how it deals with it all puts it in a whole new class of its own.

 

It's one of those anime series that I would recommend to a newcomer, it's not too heavy on the stereotypical anime feel and has a story that I can see quite a lot of people liking. I mainly got into it after finding out the people who wrote Bravely Default were scouted by Square Enix after seeing the anime adaptation of Stein's Gate.

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I do recommend checking out One Piece even though it is a timesink. You should at least try watching from the start to the end of Arlong Park at least to see if you like it. Or check out the Episode of Nami special which is the Arlong Park arc condensed into 1 hour or so. Or maybe the Chopper movie: Bloom in Winter, Miracle Sakura.

 

If you do like it then you'll have plenty to watch. ;)

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I'm going to start my long voyage with the Straw Hat Pirates when Manga UK start releasing the series on DVD in a few months. I know that DVD format is outdated and I'm going to eventually spend hundreds upon thousands of pounds to complete this collection, but most of the early episodes are SD anyway and I've wanted to watch One Piece from the start for many years. It's also a pretty big deal that Manga are finally releasing it here. From what I've read said here and there, they've been trying to get hold of it for years.

 

Splitting the purchases/episodes up like that seems like way less of a long-term commitment, so I'm happy to delude myself as long as the show remains entertaining!

 

I'd also like to jump into the Fullmetal Alchemist camp. The original and remake are both extremely well made shows and it's worth seeing both. I'd probably choose Brotherhood over the older series just because that's the closest one to the original manga. Skip both movie conclusions to both series though as they are absolutely horrible.

 

Another recent series that was quite good was one called Mawaru Penguindrum from last year. Basically two brothers are tasked with hunting down this item called the Penguimdrum by a magical penguin hat that is keeping their dying sister alive. It sounds ridiculous, and it is, but there are some surprisingly deep moments throughout. Very stylish once you can get over the weird way they draw the character faces in profile shot.

 

I tried to watch that show ShinSekai Yori when it started airing due to the reputation of the book it was based on. The series started fantastically, but the quality then started to fluctuate like mad and it became hard to watch at times - it felt like they weren't doing the story justice with such inconsistent and lazy visuals. I hear it got better after I stopped watching and I'll probably see it all if it comes out on home release here, but that may be worth a look if you're something really different.

Edited by Guy

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