Anime Recommendations?

[ladybastilla]

My boyfriend is coming for a visit in May and we've decided that it's a great chance to check out some new anime together. (Our main entertainment use to be going through games I couldn't play or beat, but we have a camera set up that lets us do that now.) I know there are a lot of people here who enjoy anime, and I'm sure some of you have seen some that we haven't. We are willing to either buy DVDs / BluRays or to sign up for a subscription service. We would strongly prefer animes that have been dubbed since I am legally blind and subtitles while sharing a screen with someone is not a good match for me.

Here are some anime that one or both of us have liked. I will put an * next to those I know we've both seen.

-- Sailor Moon
-- Fushigi Yugi
-- InuYasha
-- Yu Yu Hakusho
-- Dragon Ball Z *
-- Code Geass *
-- Death Note *
-- Full Metal Alchemist
-- Sword Art Online *
-- Rosario + Vampire *
-- A Certain Magival Index *
-- A Certain Scientific Railgun *
-- Future Diary *

I'm definitely still missing a few, but that covers a pretty good chunk of what we've seen. In addition to anime we also like well written cartoons (stuff like Avatar: The Last Airbender or Young Justice) as well as visual novels (Danganronpa, 999, Zero Escape, etc.) . Any suggestions on things we might want to look into would be totally welcome. I'm doing research outside of this post, but I figure asking here will likely lead to some good suggestions and hopefully some interesting discussion.

[Princess Lala]

My avatar is from Yuki Yuna Is a Hero, I recondmend that one! I also recondmend Digimon Tri if you like digimon!! Right now I'm watching Sailor Moon Crystal s3, School Live!, Is it wrong to pick up girls in a dungeon, and this weird anime that just came out my friend is watching on my tv (something with the word inu in the title, has nothing to do with dogs though.) I recondmend Seven Deadly Sins, Tokyo Ghoul, Tokyo ESP, Parasyte, Assignation Classroom, Nichijou, Himouto Umaru, and Pokemon xyz series!

[SunbeamV]

The two anime I'd recommend that seem to fit in with what you like would be Akatsuki no Yona (similar feeling to ATLA, and InuYasha to a slightly lesser extent), and Rurouni Kenshin (seems to share a lot of fans with InuYasha and Yu Yu Hakusho, I find.) 

[Keemax]

I'd have to say Shiki and Assassination Classroom.

Shiki revolves around a remote village where a lot of people are dying from what the doctors think is an epidemic, however it turns out the cause is more supernatural. You don't find out what it is until about episode 5, but the plot is really engaging so you won't become bored waiting for the next reveal of information. It's got about 22 episodes and two 'in-between' episodes (20.5 and 21.5, I think) toward the end of the anime that don't exactly further the plot but explain some of the backstory of a side character who will be relevant in the next episode. (They love to cover all the plot holes in this anime) Just to warn you, there's also a bit of a gore element to it, but only towards the end of the series. Mainly it's just blood, though.

Assassination Classroom focuses on Class E ('the end class') of an elite Academy. Students of Class E are generally put through social humiliation by the faculty to ensure the hard-working of the other students. (That is, an incentive to keep their grade up so they don't end up in E class). The students of E Class are thought by the rest of the school to have no potential and no future.
Then one day a biologically engineered life form destroys 70% of the moon and threatens to do the same to the planet in a year's time, but makes the government a deal on account of said biologically engineered life form being practically un-killable.
For some reason he requests to become the teacher of Class E under the condition that they have until their graduation (March) to assassinate him. Whoever pulls it off gets a 10 million yen bounty and if they fail the world gets destroyed. The first season has 22 episodes and the second has nine so far.

Hope this helps

[Cloudclimber06]

Vampire Knight. Loved it; wished there were more seasons. Is available on Netflix (dubbed), DVDs and Manga..

[Trinity]

I think I'm going to watch this thread.

I have a problem though, my guy friend (who is subscribed to AnimeLab, which has a free version with ads) has seen LOTS of anime, and by comparison, I barely know any... It's hard to choose when he's seen a lot of things already, and like to respond to me with, "I dunno, what do you want to watch?"

I saw one episode of Assassination Classroom and it didn't really tickle my fancy - but maybe I have to see a bit more.

Shiki sounds interesting, and I think I'll put that down as a suggestion for me and my guy friend.

To add to your list: Maybe consider some of these classics: Trigun, Cowboy Bebop and Slayers. The latter doesn't have the greatest story though, I find it cute.

Of more recent: King of Bandits, Kyo Kara Maoh, and Fairy Tail - they are quite cute.

[Lore-Lei]

- Magical Pokaan
- Lovely Complex
- Nana
- Gakkou Gurashi
- Kodomo no Jikan (lolicon themed, but very heavy and personal on conflicts so I recommend it anyway)

They're mostly Slice of Life and Romance themed though.

[tikibirds]

I prefer stories with a supernatural element to them (translation - Hot demon men  ). I actually enjoy the ones that are ment for teenage boys more then the silly shoujo for girls. I like action and fight scense but not so much gore and I hate sci-fi/meccha. And for romance it depends on the story. Most females are freakin annoying in romances - the exception being Maid-sama and Kamisama Kiss.

These are my favorites - in random order:
Nura Rise of the Yokai clan
Noragami & Noragami Aragato
Blue Exorcist
Kamisama Hajamemashita (Kamisama Kiss)  - This one I think is considered romance but it has my favorite character *points to avi*
Soul eater
Maid sama
Hakuouki: Demon of the fleeting blossom: The mysterious tale of the shinshingumi


THE CLASSICS
Rurouni Kenshin
Yu Yu Hakusho
Fruit Baskets (although I never finished the series)
Inuyasha

Ledgend of the Legendary Heros - I think this is based off a book?
The Devil is a part-timer - I like this one but it infuriates me that there is no ending to it and I dont think there are plans to finish it.
Gintama
Mushishi shi - this one is kinda strange - it seems more like every episode is a short story on its oen as there isnt much connecting the episodes except for the main character.

Fairy Tale and bleach are both good but they both have over 100 episodes. Dective conan is also good but its been around as long as Pokemon and also has like 900 or so episodes. One peice also has a ton of episodes and is super popular in China but I have never seen it. Ditto for naruto.


I suppose if I had to pick my favorites they would be - In Order
1) yu Yu Hakusho 
2) Nura rise of the Yokai Clan
3) Rurouni Kenshin
4) Noragami & Blue Exorcist

[kaoskat]

Kodocha.

[Nebula Light]

I highly recommend Madoka Magica, Yuki Yuna (both are magical girl themed), Fairy Tail, Durarara, Nana, Pokemon XY series, Noragami, Red Data Girl and Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood. If you're into supernatural anime, Natsume Yuujinchou and Mushi-Shi are great. Some great mecha animes are Gurren Lagann, FLCL, Evangelion and Eureka Seven (these are a little bit more bizarre but very good).

I'm currently addicted to Fairy Tail, there are tons of episodes, its funny, interesting and the characters are loveable.

Oh, and Princess Tutu!

[Bekuno]

*coughs* Excuse my extreme bias here but if you're going to watch Fullmetal Alchemist I highly recommend the Brotherhood series over the original. The original anime pulled what Game of Thrones is doing now where the show was finished before the manga so it follows a different story. Brotherhood is the second anime that follows the manga perfectly and I found it to be much better    Watching both is good too though, as the original series didn't end awful or anything, it's just different from what would be series 'canon'.

Other than here's some I enjoyed:

Soul Eater
Wolf's Rain
Tiger & Bunny
Black Cat
FLCL
Spice & Wolf
Kill la Kill
Elfen Lied

Movies:
Anything from Ghibli
Tokyo Godfathers
Summer Wars
Wolf Children

[Midnight_Dream]

The classics you need to see:
-Anything by Studio Ghibli
-Cowboy Bebop
-Trigun
-Hellsing(both versions)
-Tenchi Muyo(only the OVA and Universe)
-Samurai X
-Rurouni Kenshin
-Outlaw Star
-Gundam Wing
-The Vision of Escaflowne
-Fullmetal Alchemist(both versions)
-Wolf's Rain
-Cardcaptor Sakura(including the second movie)

Personal Recommendations:
-Chrono Crusade(I also highly suggest the manga)
-Peach Girl
-Shikabane Hime(Corpse Princess)
-Elfen Lied
-Ceres Celestial Legend(seriously, only read the manga)
- Perfect Blue
-Blue Seed
-Chibi Vampire Karin
-Samurai Champloo
-Love Hina

A lot of the shows I like have a smaller amount of episodes, as I'm not a fan of ones that go on for 100+ episodes. The thing with something like Inuyasha is that the story starting out is really good, but you don't need to watch all 167 episodes because after, about episode 30-ish, over 50% are filler.

[Pokeyonekenobie]

My favorites are:
Gundam Wing
Kyo Kara Maoh
Ouran High School Host Club (on Netflix at the moment)
Fruits Basket
E'S Otherwise
A Letter to Momo (movie, not a series)
Here is Greenwood
Princess Jellyfish
Summer Wars (movie, not a series)
Tsubasa
The Fantasic Adventures of Unico (movie, not a series)
Unico in the Island of Magic (movie, not a series)
XXXholic
Vampire Knight (on Netflix at the moment)
Robotech
No. 6
Kids on the Slope
Anything Studio Ghibli (with my favorite being Whisper of the Heart and my least favorite being Tales from Earthsea)

Some are Mechas, some are slice of life, some are fantasy, but all are good enough for me to have bought (or are on the list to be bought) so I can watch them over and over again.  I also liked Sailor Moon, Death Note, and Sword Art Online, but you said you've seen those already.

[Taffeta]

Vampire Knight. Loved it; wished there were more seasons. Is available on Netflix (dubbed), DVDs and Manga..

This is hugely incomplete, though. And that means the storyline tails off rather than properly concluding. The same applies for Fruits Basket, which is wonderfully sweet but highly misleading because of the way it ends vs how the manga goes on.

I would suggest Saiunkoku Monogatari (Tale of Saiunkoku or also known, I think, Colour Cloud something or other...(Saiunkoku means Colour Cloud Country). It's the tale of a young woman in an ancient Chinese country setting whose dream is to become a court official, but there's no legal precedent for a woman to attain that kind of rank. She kinda gets convinced to join the imperial harem to help the Emperor learn to govern, and all kinds of things kinda spawn from there. That's a misleading explanation, but there are so many twisty things with characters, saying any more than that is a spoiler. It has 2 seasons of 30-something episodes.

Another favourite of mine is Saiyuuki. (Gensoumaden Saiyuuki/Saiyuuki Reload I think are the key names of the anime). Again it's much better in manga, especially the last arc which is butchered, but I still love it. I find it very hard to explain to people what it's about other than four guys in a jeep crossing china to save the world - but it's a spoofed story based on an old Chinese legend. There are around 110 episodes but the thing is being split up into series, there's not really an obligation to watch all of it. Gensoumaden is 2 arcs and comprises 50 eps, the second half of which are part filler and part canon. Reload and its sequel comprise 25ish eps each. There's also a movie and some OVA. Burial being the best (3 eps).

Yuugi is an old favourite of mine too. I know Ayashi no Ceres by the same mangaka is popular...I haven't seen or read it, though. Yuugi is emotional. I believe Ceres is worse.

[Pokeyonekenobie]

The same applies for Fruits Basket, which is wonderfully sweet but highly misleading because of the way it ends vs how the manga goes on.

Yeah, Fruits Basket is one of those that the manga wasn't complete before they completed the anime (I think another one that was mentioned on this thread was Fullmetal Alchemist) so it definitely ends differently.  You don't even get to meet some of the Zodiac members in the anime (like the Rooster).