Are there any animes or TV shows you can’t stop recommending?
Honestly, Cowboy Bebop. The universe it builds feels lived-in, and the animation style is incredibl, but the music is really the star.
Be aware, however, that while there are happy moments, it is an anime about bounty hunters, and there are very few happy endings. Beautiful endings, poetic endings, satisfying endings - but never happy.
Lately Slow Horses on apple+
Very good UK agent/crime show.
- Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
- Death Note
- The Apothecary Diaries
- Ranking of Kings
All of these animes have a fantastic story that even people who don’t regularly watch anime’s will love.
Monogatari series. I must have watched that entire series like a dozen times already. I absolutely love the VA’s performance. Finally reading through the Light Novels now.
Hajime No Ippo. Manga is still a blast and the anime was incredible too.
I had a good time with Blue Lock as well.
Steins;Gate, can’t believe I haven’t seen anyone mention it yet. It’s good, but do watch at least halfway before you judge it.
Yeah this one takes several episodes to set the hook and understand some behaviors. But once it does it’s binge worthy
Oh man so many. Most of which others are already mentioning. And I’m sure I’m forgetting many that have been constants througj the years. But these stand out.
Anime: Your Lie in April, Mushi-Shi, Scavenger’s Reign, Violet Evergarden, One Punch Man
Anime but it’s more of my selfish mention than a masterpiece: Tomo-chan is a Girl, The Wrong Way to use Healing Magic (English dub is really well done and I can be a sub snob most of the time), Bartender: Glass of God, Mashle:Magic and Muscles, Goblinslayer
Live Action:The Expanse, Midnight Diner, Midnight Diner:Tokyo Stories, The Goes Wrong Show, Blood Machines, How It’s Made (I know, not likely what is being asked for but I thoroughly enjoy the show)
I have a really hard time getting into Live Action shows because too many of them either drag on, or they are just too predictable or forumlaic, or too samey, or it’s all about people being horrible to each other. And there is also a severe lack of laid back story telling or unique story options. Hollywood is berift of interest for me 99% of thr time.
Your Lie in April
Such a great show! It slows down a bit in the middle, but gets going again!
For shows: My name is Earl was a very funny one that never got a proper ending before being cancelled.
For anime: Serial Experiments Lain.
Anime:
- Pluto (Dark alternative story of Astro Boy)
- Banana Fish (heartbreaking, hard to forget. Don’t get spoiled too much looking it up)
- Heavenly Delusion (brother gets brain transplanted into dead sisters body; interesting plot and characters but only one season so far)
Cartoon:
- Bojack Horseman (great mix of realistic depiction of depression and comedy)
- Arcane (almost makes one want to play League)
TV:
- Atlanta (surrealism and critique of society, also I just love Donald Glover)
- Dark (the one German show that is not ass)
- The Expanse (great sci-fi and politics, only gets weaker in the later seasons)
- Severance (one big black mirror episode, I am so hyped for season 2)
Heavenly Delusion was a trip. I enjoyed it a lot
Delicious in Dungeon!
Another one that I found gave a kinda similar feel is Dr Stone.
Though instead of diving deep into fantasy mechanics, that one is based on real world physics (well, other than some characters having super-human levels of skill) and rebuilding a modern society from scratch.
I find them similar due to their attention to detail and using their environment to build up their capabilities. The overall plot is very different and DinD has a bit more charm. Not that Dr Stone doesn’t have charm.
If I could choose which one I want to see one more season of right now, I’d pick DinD. If I could choose which one gets seen through to the end, I’d pick Dr Stone.
I recommend this to non-anime fans too! The episodes are so good and non-anime tropey.
This one is great. I was skeptical the first three episodes, but around ep 4 it picked up and the plot just went into overdrive. I really enjoyed it!
Thanks for your comment, I gave it 2 episodes and stopped. I’ll give it another go.
Yeah, around ep 4 they stop making it like a cooking show and it starts to get interesting. They still have those little cooking montages, but it stops being the focus.
Those montages and deep dives into monster mechanics and biology are my favorite parts of the show.
I love that peeling away the layers of fantasy. It feels like a DnD campaign where the players wanted to get really weird with stretching the rules while staying within them and the DM enthusiastically agreed and joined the party with their dwarf that had been doing that for years.
So i always recommend Mugen no Ryvius/Infinite Ryvius. Think of blue lagoon in space, but with a whole space ship of kids.
Mushishi. Very slow & contemplative, but I still think about it decades later.
Fuckin love Mushi-shi!! Just started a rewatch of it. It’s way better and different to the overwhelming majority of so many animes. Top 3 of all time for me.
Comedy: What we do in the shadows;
Action: Black Sails;
Anime: Monster;
Depression: Bojack Horseman.
Berserk 1997. Berserk is my favorite thing of all time, but it is deff not for the faint hearted.
Highly recommend the manga too. Its a bit different, but same atmosphere and general story. It has more context as 1997 was only designed for one season, so it cut out a lot of things that would have become important later on.
Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood. For me, it’s the perfect anime. An amazing blend of action, narrative, great characters, and an extremely good and satisfying ending.
Archer is a great adult animation. I find it so goddamn funny.
Bojack Horseman is probably has the best fictional depiction of depression ever. Also has plenty of funny moments.
Fucking DEADWOOD.
I can’t get anybody in my life to watch it and it is literally in the running for best show of all-time.
This thread is case-in-point!
