So I really want an anime with a great story...

[xLANx]

i wud recommend..

ergo proxy
elfen lied
fullmetal alchemist
code geass
claymore
soul eater
basilisk
cowboy bebop
darker than black
n what else..i forget already..

btw, cud anyone suggest any other anime dat is heavy..darker..n no fan service..i hate fan service scenes..

 

[Sakunyuusha]

btw, cud anyone suggest any other anime dat is heavy..darker..n no fan service..i hate fan service scenes..

I don't know that I would say that Kaiji is heavy, but it is smartly-written and takes a thrilling, piercing look into the dark depths of the human existence. There are places where it may require you to suspend some disbelief but nothing depicted was impossible for 20th Century Japan which is where the story takes place. Everything could happen. And while the games themselves might seem superficially silly, the motives that drive both the players and the organizers are very, very real.

Is it a "dark show?" No, not in the sense that Serial Experiments Lain is a dark show. Is it a show which deals with dark concepts and dark characters? Hoo you betcha. You had damn well better believe it. There are several characters who are very dark and what makes them all the more chilling is that their darkness is very real. They are psychotic in believable ways; they do cruel things that really can be done in the real world and that we wouldn't be surprised to learn are done in the real world. Yet qre still so shocking, so horrifying to witness that you're like the proverbial "guy watching a train wreck" -- you can't take your eyes off the screen.

ANN's Kaiji page is free of spoilers while Wikipedia's is much more dangerous to read yet also more informative. (If you want to avoid major spoilers stop reading when you finish Endou's profile and reach Funai's.)

Yes, the character design is ugly. Let's get that out of the way right now. Beak-nosed Jay Leno-chinned characters everywhere. But if you're watching Kaiji then you're watching it for its excellent plot, not its silly-looking characters. (Besides, having watched Akagi first I can tell you that this design really grows on you. You begin to think of it, rightly so, as "the Fukumoto look" and you associate it with great times.)

That reminds me, while it's a bit slower and (in my opinion) less entertaining, many fans of Kaiji also enjoyed Akagi. Maybe I like Kaiji more because I saw it second and I appreciated the absence of a 13-episode plot arc.

 

[euclids]

I recommend Juuni Kokuki too! :bow-pray:

I can't more than agree. It is one of the absolute must sees in anime. It has nice intertwined plots and an amazing character development.

Warmly recommended.

I liked your Avatar as well, Nakajima Yoko.

 

[gauze]

higurashi no naku koro ni and Elfen Lied
I like both of them so much..

 

[xeruel]

higurashi no naku koro ni and Elfen Lied
I like both of them so much..

yeah they both rocked, Gauze we got something in common here :shake:
try Mnemosyne and blassreiter for awesomeness

 

[redrasengan]

i'm surprised no one mention gurren lagann best anime last year
guranteed manly tears

 

[BartSimpson]

i'm surprised no one mention gurren lagann best anime last year
guranteed manly tears

Well, personal tastes are different but in my opinion Gurren Lagann is highly overrated. I mean the whole "naive-little-scaredy-cat-gets-punched-by-his-friend-and-suddenly-saves-the-world-by-himself"-crap and then after a even bigger threat appears he's blamed for everything....come on. And those robots...

- although I watched every Gundam series and really liked them (G was the worst though), I'm not a fan of piloted robots in other series(I hate extreme transformations like a jet turning into a human-shaped robot)...but the japanese seem to like them since they appear in nearly every Science-Fiction series, so it's hard to get past them if you like that genre -


Ok, coming back to Gurren Lagann: two robots, "Gurren" and "Lagann" are joining together to "Gurren Lagann", then "Gurren Lagann" boards a walking(!) ship with two absurd large feets and transforms into a gigantic human-shaped-robot...in the end, that gigantic robot boards a even bigger spaceship which was camouflaged as the moon :rofl: and turns again into a hyper-mega-super-gigantic human-shaped robot.......:sigh:
So we have a robot joined with a robot in a robot in a robot :exhausted:....like a Matryoshka :spit:


The character's age is another point, the main character (what was his name again) is way too young, but that's also a common nuisance in other series...only a few have mostly adult main characters (e.g. Cowboy Bebop).

I got most of the time I was watching the feeling, that the target audience were like 12 year old boys.

This may sound a bit hard, the series isnt that bad, but clearly overrated and story-wise far from the best.



Most of the series I'd recommend are already stated here, so I'll add some others:

Legend of the Galactic Heroes has a really complex story and is one of the few Sci-Fi series without human-shaped robots rance:

maybe not so epic story but still great:

Welcome to the N.H.K

Last Exile

Scrapped Princess

oh and I totally forgot Zipang,
pretty similar to that Hollywood movie(forget the name) where a modern US aircraft carrier gets into a strange storm and leaps back through time to 1942 I think (right before the Pearl Habor attack)...only in this anime its a japanese destroyer which tries to avoid casualties on both sides...pretty cool

you also may like Nadia: Secret of Blue Water,
although for a younger audience but still not as annoying as Gurren Lagann

 

[Rizzy]

xLANx had some good suggestions (by that, a number ones that are VERY good)...

In the end though it really depends on your tastes in Anime and what you consider a story - Hell, I consider "Lovely Idol" having a storyline... yeah, srsly, I do... sue me

rance:

If I gave you a whole bunch of Bishojo titles to watch - which is my personal favorite - and you happened to crave Mecha like a crack-addict and believe any new Gundam series is like the second coming then I wouldn't be any help to you.

:exhausted:

 

[gizmogal]

I recently started Kemonozume. WOW. What a great plot, and such unique animation.

 

[cattz]

Higurashi really has some of the best detective/mystery type story, but you really have to get what it's about, truly appreciate it, or understand it for that matter.

Monster is epic with it's story, characters, character development, etc. Nothings wasted with it, It's a story that ranges from pretty realistic, to pretty ridiculous, but always entertaining and deep.

Honey and Clover's got a decent story for a more slice of life type story. It's mostly about romance and character development, with a lot of story twists throughout.

Seirei no Moribito is a more shonen esque one, but even having said that, it's a pretty good story. Lots of development, a large scale story, pretty entertaining with a lot of likable characters, etc.

If you really feel the need like most people on here for fighting and shonen type action, I'd only recommend Berserk really. In between the bloodbaths and fights, there's a pretty damn good story in it, even if the manga's much much more recommended.

Can go on and on, but tried to give different kinds of examples, from detective, to shonen, to slice of life, etc. Really depends which kind you favor anyways.

 

[AnimaticallyInsane]

try 5cm/s trust me its an anime movie

its one of the best anime movies ive ever watched seriously

oh and Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo is a runner up

 

[xLANx]

4 d moment i'm watching bounen xamd...trust me it's really gud...

 

[cake756]

Eureka 7 is so damn boring. It has the same lame plot as most other animes. Corruption/Exploitation. GAY! The fighting between the 2 main Bots were sooo good; but nooo, they decide to make it more story orientated. Those fools.

I reccommend Gankutsuou. Original story, very original art. May be a little boring in beginning but it picks up.

I agree also that Eureka 7 is overrated. The story was becoming so boring after the first few episodes.

On the other hands I watched Infinite Ryvius recently and found it to be great. The turn of event has kept me locked to each episode. I know the anime is kind of dated but the story is so well presented.

If you want something that can hurt your head, try Ergo Proxy. It really make me think after each episode and I still can work out some of the details after rewatching some episodes for 4 or 5 times trying to see if I missed anything.

 

[wolf03]

Hmmm, Long thread but no mention of EF A tale of memories.

I will agree with 5cm per second too.

 

[bonjob]

you want an anime with a great story?
well watch Special A. i'm sure you'll enjoy it.
i can say that it's my favorite anime of all time.
ahaha. better watch it now.

 

[nipponboy911]

I think Monster is great but the whole thing couldve ended in about 52 eps if they wanted to, they just kept it dragging. Smart people.

Eureka 7 is so damn boring. It has the same lame plot as most other animes. Corruption/Exploitation. GAY! The fighting between the 2 main Bots were sooo good; but nooo, they decide to make it more story orientated. Those fools.

I reccommend Gankutsuou. Original story, very original art. May be a little boring in beginning but it picks up.

About Twelve Kingdoms, the story seems a lot like China history. haha. Pretty good show.

Once you find out about the Exploitation and Corruption in the storyline for animes the show gets really lame imo. I could so enjoy many animes but now that I am actually aware (concious) about these things it doesnt work for me anymore. Even Scrapped Princess; I mean it good but the story is so concentrated on how stupid the masses are and how they are controlled by Religion. It just isnt the same anymore. Damn it!!

Well, i wouldn't say that Gankutsuou is completely original since it is based on the book "The Count of Monte Cristo" by Alexandre Dumas. they do add their own touch to the story and the animation style was definitely something new at the time. I think i've only seen like 2 other animes with similar animation styles.

i agree with you though on how lame animes are recently. These days, i can't help fast forward through animes and dramas as well because they're either too slow or predictable. so sad T__T

I've seen Gankutsuou and I seen Juuni Kokuk up to episode 8, the main character pisses me off...she gets too emo, does that go away?

hahaha the main character is really annoying isn't she? But yeah that does go away and in my opinion, she becomes pretty badass and Twelve Kingdoms ended becoming one of my favorites. I watched it a long time so i'm not too sure but i think the ending, even though it was good, felt kind of incomplete. I think it's because it's based on a series of light novels that weren't finished yet but i don't really remember anymore haha

 

[kornbucket]

Have you seen Mind Game?

The movie is awesome, and the art is really unique, too.

 

[newsn]

Monster
Twelve Kingdoms
Haibane Renmei
PLANETES

I really enjoyed the story in those anime, and I highly recommend you check them out.

Is Monster only a manga series or is it an actual show or film? I've heard about it before but can't seem to find it anywhere, help anyone.

 

[reingiolt]

it is also an animated series with 74 eps. definitely a must see. the latest the torrent i remember seeing was probably back in 2005 -2006. it was in avi and wasn't a single batch torrent. i suggest u look for dvds of it since the chances of someone uploading the entire series again anytime soon is pretty slim.

http://www.animenfo.com/animetitle,1346,gjauhe,monster.html

 

[shadowster]

Hi All, the anime that I have seen with a great story would have been:

Gundam Seed
Gundam Seed Destiny
Death Note
Suzuka
Shuffle
Immortal Grand Prix
Air Gears
My Hime

I'm just watching through my anime collection that I've got to see which one has a good story. Some of them end and you would way 'what the' what happened to the ending.