Any decent Anime/Manga/Any comic in general

[Stormweaver]

to aru majutsu no Index is a good watch (or read, if you like Light novels).

[Battosay]

Oh, hell yeah.
Forgot about Neon genesis Evangelion, I loved it so much.

And Death Note ? Daaaaaamn. Best anime I've watched.

[Rataku]

Sadly most people would say i watch too much of the mainstream anime/mangas. Bleach, Naruto, One Peice, etc. But hey i like them. But honestly I watch alot of anime and recently my biggest source of anime has be netflix. They have alot of good ones up there, Sure a bunch of 1 or 2 seasoners but they are still good. Also a few that i watched shocked me at how much i enjoyed them. like Initial D, Hiraku No Go, and Fruits Basket. But i would recomend them all to my friends. even if they dont fit most of their tastes.

[Stormweaver]

Hmm...still need to check out fruits basket. Better add it to my todo list >.>

I just realised that instead racking my brains, that I have a whole list of the stuff I've watched of the stuff I've watched. I'll recommend anything I scored as an 8 or higher. Except school days.

Do not watch school days.

[Battosay]

Do not watch school days.

Said this way, sounds like it's an hentaï you're tryin' to hide :p

[Stormweaver]

Do not watch school days.

Said this way, sounds like it's an hentaï you're tryin' to hide :p

Some parts of it may as well be -.-

It's a great anime if you've got vodka, or are trying to condition a promiscuous friend in college/uni who needs a reality check. Not so good if you're the college/uni friend, given that no-one saw him (or four of my bottles of vodka) for three days afterwards.

He's in a happy, stable relationship now.

[logorouge]

Okay, time for me to contribute a bit. Can't recommend any manga, as the only one I ever read was Berserk (if you decide to check it out, be sure you can handle very high levels of gore/blood), but I watched quite a bit of animes along the years. Here's a few anime suggestions:

Cowboy Bebop: Has a retro feel to it. Old-style bounty hunter stories mixed with a futuristic setting made this one quite unique. Highly recommended.

Darker than black: Three words, Chinese Electric Batman. :P (To fully enjoy, watch season 1, skip season 2, watch ovas, read season 2 ending. Done.)

Night Wizard: Based on an rpg game (the monsters even give exp crystals!). Starts out looking like a silly anime but ends up being epic. Also, Dream.

Princess Mononoke: The movie that got me started on animes. For me, it's a masterpiece. Simple as that.

I guess that's good enough for now.

[morvelaira]

Thanks for reminding me about Fruits Basket as well. I can heavily recommend it.

If we're going to get into anime movies, Howl's Moving Castle is a goodie.

[DaveYanakov]

Neon Genesis Evangelion screwed me right the heck up back when I was eighteen. The video store was missing the last tape so my last act at 4:30 am after eating a second pizza was to watch someone have what was a psychotic episode that ended in murder. That combined with fish-eye lens effects contributed to some interesting trains of thoughts over the course of my early twenties.

One of the best series I've ever come across.

[Devalish]

I watched way too many anime to be good for me :P
I'll post the ones i liked, and i'll try to add what type of
anime it is.

Spoiler

Show

Shoujo:

Chocotto Sister |Slice of Life|
Futakoi (not sure it's on the right place, this one ) |Harem, Romance|
Ouran High School Host Club |Harem, Romance|


Shounen

Bleach |Action|
Cowboy Bebop |Action|
DragonBall |Action|
DragonBallZ |Action|
DragonBall GT |Action|
Green Green |Harem|
Grenadier |Action|
Hellsing Ultimate |Action, Gore (it's ... bloody)|
Naruto |Action|
Naruto Shippuden |Action|
Ninja Scroll |Action (also, bloody)|
Samourai Shamploo |Action|
xxxHolic |supernatural, psychological, humor, romance (a bit)|

I also read the Death Note manga and Ouran High School Host Club (ongoing here),
and some others. Mix Vegetable is still ongoing, it's about a girl wanting to become a sushi chef,
but being the daughter of a patisier. i started reading darker than black in the past,
but have to start over (too long since i started).

[M!C]

Not completely on topic but I have a question for you guys.

First I have to say that I'm very surprised there are so many people interested in manga/anime here.

Now to my question: How do people react when they find out you're watching/reading manga/anime?
I'm asking because my experience is that people think manga/anime is something for children only ... which obviously isn't the case but I can only get like 1 out of 10 to believe me ...

[Deepsniper]

I tend to try to keep that a secret for me and a few friends... I dont like the prejudice that comes along with people finding out that you like watching it...

[Deepsniper]

One of my personal favorites though has got to be the Ghost in a Shell series and really makes you think for some reason and has some good action.

[Tsugumi Henduluin]

- Love Hina (Harem. Not exactly a deep plot, but it evolves well and the fanservice isn't overdone)

I would actually like to disagree with this, although I might be biased as Love Hina is probably one of my favorite series.
While I agree that LH story isn't "deep" per-se, the character developments are an entirely different matter. I dare you to find a single manga, in this genre at least, that gives you a male lead that actually actively tries to improve himself over the course of the series. Keitaro grows from being your average super beta-male to almost GAR-like alpha-male-ness (ok, I'm exaggerating here, but it's not that far from the truth). And the girls evolve and grow with him. They mature and actually even grow out of your typical anime/manga stereotypes. This is something you will find very rarely in the anime and manga world, especially nowadays.
This is why it is such a shame the anime did what it did. It focused almost entirely on the slapstick humor and the fanservice, almost raping everything that the manga is about, while also giving Akamatsu an undeserved reputation as a fanservice god. Which in turn causes a lot of people to avoid his other works, which are just as great. (AI ga tomaranai and Mahou Sensei Negima)

But anyway, a couple of shows I would like to recommend:

Aqua/Aria: The single best slice-of-life series out there. Only the most inhuman amongst us could watch this without feeling even a tinge of fuzziness and warmth inside. That being said, it is a very slow-paced show. If that's not your thing, avoid it.

*looks at clock*
Bah, don't have the time to write summaries for everything right now, so I'll just list a couple of shows I really liked. I might update this post later, but we'll see.

Nana, Hanasaku Iroha, Pani Poni Dash, Steins;Gate, RahXephon, PlanetES, Mushishi, Hidamari Sketch (This show especially needs more love), Katanagatari, Seirei no Moribito.

Also, go watch Fate/zero, which started airing last saturday. Although I would like to recommend people to read the Fate/stay-night visual novels first, so as not to spoil the story, but I doubt people here are interested in that :p

Now to my question: How do people react when they find out you're watching/reading manga/anime?

It used to be that they were mostly indifferent. They either don't know what it is, or don't care.
Nowadays I'm studying Japanese, so it doesn't really come as a surprise anymore :p

[morvelaira]

Not completely on topic but I have a question for you guys.

First I have to say that I'm very surprised there are so many people interested in manga/anime here.

Now to my question: How do people react when they find out you're watching/reading manga/anime?
I'm asking because my experience is that people think manga/anime is something for children only ... which obviously isn't the case but I can only get like 1 out of 10 to believe me ...

I've been a fan of anime, manga, and Japanese culture for many years now. In additon, I grew up in a certifiably "geek" household with some of my earliest memories being sitting in my father's lap, rolling dice and killing adventurers. He also introduced me to anime, having me watch Akira at about 10 years old or so. Ok... so maybe not the best choice for a 10 year old, but it was the best thing out at the time ;) On top of that, I've been lucky enough to earn myself a career in the games industry, where there's all sorts of this stuff about.

So, to answer your question, it's normal for me.

[Stormweaver]

I only got into anime/manga about two years back....I'm 21, so maybe I was a bit late. While it's not a hobby that often gets welcomed too warmly by people, I can't think of many people my age that didn't grow up to things like dragonball Z and pokemon, or that still won't watch them again for a laugh anyway. Just have to explain most anime is like that, but aimed at people who are infact a few years older.

I've got a question also - when it comes to anime, what do people prefer - subs or dubs? I'm a subs person myself.

[M!C]

I tend to try to keep that a secret for me and a few friends... I dont like the prejudice that comes along with people finding out that you like watching it...

I usually do it that way too. I still hope to find someone in real life with that interest though ...

I've got a question also - when it comes to anime, what do people prefer - subs or dubs? I'm a subs person myself.

subs ... if it's dubbed i won't watch it ...

[morvelaira]

Some notable exceptions. I love the dub of Ghost in the Shell. It's cereberal enough that's hard enough to just keep up, let alone have to deal with reading subtitles ;)

[PatrickSJ]

Subs. There are some good dubs such as Ghost in the Shell, Paranoia Agent, and Ponyo but I can't think of any others.

[TheGuy]

Also, go watch Fate/zero, which started airing last saturday. Although I would like to recommend people to read the Fate/stay-night visual novels first, so as not to spoil the story, but I doubt people here are interested in that :p

Do not watch the anime of fate/stay night either. Play the visual novel. It makes the anime look like a pile of puke.

Fate/Zero on the other hand really pulls it off(READ Fate/Stay Night first or prepare for major spoilers). I'm looking forward to episode 2.

[logorouge]

Now to my question: How do people react when they find out you're watching/reading manga/anime?
I'm asking because my experience is that people think manga/anime is something for children only ... which obviously isn't the case but I can only get like 1 out of 10 to believe me ...

I mainly got 2 kinds of reaction when someone learned I watch anime (or used to anyway):
-"You watch anime? Me too!!"
-"But... those are cartoons. Cartoons are for kids."

And yeah, for some people, understanding that some animes aren't for children is like dividing by 0.

Another anime suggestion: Busou Renkin. Very standard "Gotta get stronger to protect everyone" kinda deal with an unique twist of alchemy. Very well done, entertaining to the end and most of all, got a decent ending. No rushed conclusion. Also, there's a big amount of humor in this one, but imo only when appropriate.

[DaveYanakov]

I've found there's not much stigma attached to it anymore unless you get really obsessive about it. Then again, I went to a high school that had an officially recognized Star Trek club so I may be a bit abnormal. Most of the people I met at Otakon over the years were normal, healthy folks with good jobs who knew what showers were. Those who didn't got shunned even by the guys dressed as Sailor Moon.

I also was introduced to Akira at too early an age. Watching a guy smush his girlfriend between his fat cells mucked me up good for a few days. Not as bad as my dad tricking me into going with him to see Event Horizon when I was 13, but still...

As for subs vs dubs, the original voice actors are almost without exception the better choice when watching a series. Not only are they generally more professional, having the audio sync up with mouth movements is important. English speaking voice actors who care about their work are becoming more common but they often don't feel right. In my case, though, even when I'm watching a Hollywood production I'll usually leave the subtitles on. I don't actively read them but for some reason they allow me to hear dialogue more clearly without turning up the volume on my already battered listening bits.

Oh, and Kare Kano. Great series and proof that the director of NGE has a train crossing fetish.

[ilovekintoki]

I only started watching Gintama and Mushishi because a friend recommended them. Those are the only animes I've ever watched.

[Zhil]

I'm intrigued by the Japanese culture (or lack of), but I hate wapanese. All these people trying so hard to be soooo Japan, not realizing that the most interesting part of their culture is the fact that they almost have none.

Anime is nothing but the Japanese extension of 60's Disney work. The ninjas are all based mostly on the Kouga Ninja Scrolls, again from 1960. Their music is highly derivative of Western music, etc

My opinion is that Japan got a real hard-on for the West after WWII and lost a lot of respect in their own classic culture (and what a lovely culture it was). This is all no problem for me, it's part of history and I love researching it, but when I see Japanese ganguro girls emulating Western girls and then look at Western girls trying to look like Japanese girls, it all seems so trite and derivative and I get a little sad.

That said, there's one thing we can learn from Japan, they venerate a culture of respect in idols, a culture of color, a culture of excess. We lost that in the 80s and if you compare movies, cartoons and music from 2000 onwards, you can see that in a lot of cases, the Japanese ones might be derivative, but at least it's good.

[DaveYanakov]

Yes, and the modern idea of Bushido was developed as propaganda in the first half of the twentieth century. That isn't the point. The point is that it's fun!