You may as well watch prime time drama. The only two that come to mind that I’ve seen which may fit your needs are Death Note and Ichigo Mashimaro.
Yeah, I’ve seen a lot of Japanese dramas, so I guess that’s what I’m looking for in an anime series. But I’ll check your recommendations out, thanks. =)
My favorites would be the works of Miyazaki, Gurren Lagann, Soul Eater, Kaiba (no relation to the Yu-Gi-Oh character), FLCL, and Pokemon.
Seriously, people in this thread should check Gurren Lagann, Soul Eater and Kaiba out. Gurren Lagann is awesome incarnate, Soul Eater’s an excellent take on the whole “magical school” genre and had a really good way to end the first half of the series, and Kaiba’s just great for going in a completely different art style (kinda looks like Astro Boy meets Yellow Submarine meets The LIttle Prince) and is a really nice exploration of the whole sci-fi idea of digitizing memories/personalities.
I am the biggest “Anime” hater youll ever meet.
I highly respect the work it takes to create the animations, but im just not feeling the whole style of it.
I am more of a Nickelodon style cartoon enthusiest.
Ive never even watched an entire episode of an anime show, i cant do it.
Do i like it, absolutely not.
Do i respect it, absolutely.
Seems a conflict there…
I used to be the same way too. It turns out I just hadn’t found the right anime. The first series I willingly watched and loved was Cowboy Bebop. Up til then all I had been introduced to was DBZ by some friends, which I can’t stand. I thought anime was nothing but absurd battles that took place over multiple episodes, with spikey haired men being on the edge of defeat just before reaching some new unknown plateau of power and winning. Oh man do I hate DBZ!!
Anyway, then Bebop came by and it had actual characters that you could adore or hate, as well as great story, sci-fi elements, action, music, etc.
eh, i hate to be close minded but ill pass on giving it more of a shot than i already have. lol its just not my cup of tea.
Like other in this thread, I like all kinds of animation,. I’d say anime is right up there with Disney and the likes.
Anime and Manga I like
Gundam Wing
Trigun
Fullmetal Alchemist (I prefer the comics, but the show’s good too)
Death Note (comic only)
Outlaw Star
Yu Yu Hakusho
Digimon (1st season)
Ones I kinda or used to like
Rurouni Kenshin (this used to be my favorite show, but I’m not so big on it anymore, still think its good though)
Dragonball (it makes me laugh sometimes)
DBZ (nostalgic reasons)
G Gundam (I think this show is kinda dumb now)
There’s probably more, but this is all I can think of now. I’ve been meaning to watch Cowboy Bebop for awhile, but I don’t want to buy the DVDs before I knw if I like the show of not.
I completely agree with this. Anime and manga can be beautiful art forms, with interesting characters and stories. What bothers me is when people try and draw in that style and think it’s ‘good’ art. Now on dA, instead of seeing a whole variety of different styles where every artist is unique, there are now just so many artists that insist instead on just copying the anime style, and I think it’s a shame. Plus, there are people out there who have suddenly started loving Japan and Japanese culture just because of anime. There’s nothing wrong with liking Japan- it’s a fantastic country- but to proclaim to know everything about it just because you’re a fan of some anime is just tiresome.
Sorry, bit of a rant there. It’s just I know a few people personally who are like this, and it’s really annoying. 
But yes, anime and manga, I respect the art forms, but you’ll never catch me reading a manga book or watching some anime TV show. I’ve given some of it a try, I really have- started reading something called ‘Death Note’ on the recommendation of a friend, plus another one called ‘Fruits Basket’ and I’ve seen a few episodes of Yu-Gi-Oh, but the overwhelming urge to stab the eyes out of every character on the screen or the page means that I’ve learnt to stay away from this genre.
I agree with most of what lizardgirl said. If an anime is good, I’ll enjoy it. But most of it is just completely unappealing and shallow. There are a lot of anime fans in the art department at my school who haven’t developed their own style and completely ignore the basics of writing and life drawing; their “stories” suck and their drawings are flat, ugly, and anatomically correct. Their chances at working in the anime/manga industry are slim if they don’t learn the fundamentals first! Why do so few realize this?
And I agree about the Japan thing. I’ve seen a lot of otaku over here who openly diss “mainstream” American music, and yet their knowledge of Japanese music spans a few pop singers and bands that have done songs for end credits of anime shows. Don’t get me started on Japanese cinema! I just wish some kids would put in a little more effort to expand their horizons. huge facepalm
I used to love anime. but I kinda got out of it. I agree with lizardgirl. Fans get way t extreme about it. o_O And there usually seems to be the same type of characters in almost every one. They’ll have a pretty boy, a ditzy girl… etc. I dunno it doesn’t really float my boat anymore. I refuse to watch any now.
lizardgirl i totally agree with the whole “just because they can draw anime doesnt mean its good”
I never tried to draw it, nor will i ever, but its pretty simple to draw squinty eyes, a huge mouth, and a tiny nose on a huge watermelon head. 
Wow, most people jump right to “way to big eyes” when talking about anime, but you actually went completely opposite.
I agree that simply being in the anime style doesn’t instantly make something good, but there are a bunch of really good artists who draw in the anime field. Miyazaki anyone? The biggest problem I have with anime artists is that the characters often look too similar. I like Tetsuyu Nomura’s(Final Fantasy VII, Kingdom Hearts) style alot, but he reuses alot of his designs in diffferent games. He’s a good artist, but not so great a designer. Then there’s Akira Toriyanma (guy who made DBZ). I don’t get why peopel continue to praise him. I think he has about 4-5 different faces for both men and women that he uses, and then just changes the hairstyles to make them different. I’ll give him his backgrounds and landscapes, but he is not a very good character designer.
lol i was actually just talking to my teacher today about me going into animation for dollege, and all he had to say was…
“All i ask is for you to NEVER make any of that anime stuff, please!! We dont need anymore of that garbage, make a spongebob or something”
haha, hes a funny guy, so it was serious, but he said it in a funny manner.
Amen to that though.
^ See, I’m one of those people who think the exact opposite. I can’t stomach anything on Nick or CN (with the exception of most WS and other [AS] shows) at the moment. I prefer in depth and rich content to 15 minutes of “zany wacky fun time”. I find shows like Spongebob and Chowder to be very aggravating.
That’s not to say I’d be above working on shows like these, but I’d be far happier working on something with a continuous plotline. Sadly, these are rare coming from american studios.
In other anime related news, I just got back from Ohayocon. I actually got my cosplay done in time and we had a great Soul Eater photoshoot. When Youmacon rolls back around in October I plan on entering the amateur competition for cosplay construction. But first I need to redesign how I get into it. It took almost 2 hours to set up and a ½ hour to get out of it. Not to mention I lost some skin thanks to the medical tape -.-
Ah well. Thus is the life of a cosplayer.
As of right now I’m watching Soul Eater, Shippuuden (Naruto), and Gurren Lageen. And I highly recommend watching Princess Tutu to shoujo fans. It sounds like a stupid show, but the plot twists around a lot and gets really good.
Well props, because you’d see me watching CNN before you catch me watching anime. 
Heh, watch a lot of that too.
So I watched the whole of Azumanga Daioh the past two days and loved it to death. I’ve already ordered the mangas it was based on.
I also do watch a lot of anime nowadays. It includes:
- Code Geass
- Hajime no Ippo: New Challenger
- One Piece
- Midori no Makibaoh
- Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood
I started One Piece. Then I found out there was a gazillion episodes and gave it up.
Been watching K-ON! and Lucky Star. OH! And they started season two of Haruhi Suzumiya! YAY!
I’m not a super anime fan, but I used to watch Yu-gi-oh. It was the first anime I had watched. Then I got into Teen Titans, and more recently, Sailor Moon. I was too young at the time to really watch Sailor Moon when I was younger, so I’ve only recently started to watch it. Please don’t give anything away from seasons 2-5! I’ve only watched like the first 6 or so episodes in season 2, and all of season 1 so far. I know, I’m a little pathetic.