I love anime. It may not seem like it, as I rarely write too many posts about anime these days, but I really do. Not having enough time to watch as many shows as I used to may seem like an excuse, but it’s not. There’s always much more out there that demands my time and attention, or it’s usually a mood thing. Do I feel like watching an anime series or a TV show? Do I want to game or read? What I feel like doing during my downtime changes from day to day or week to week.
At the moment, the only real anime viewing I have been doing is watching the old and new Sailor Moon series. It’s really the only show I’ve been able to make time for every single week. Just because I may not binge entire anime series like I used to in high school and college, it doesn’t mean I don’t have a few shows on my radar. I’ve compiled a list of shows I plan to (hopefully) watch in the near future with a brief description I’ve gotten about each show from friends or bloggers who have recommended them.
1. Steins;Gate. I wasn’t really aware of this anime series until a few friends have recommended it, or I’ve read a few discussions about the show on blogs. From my understanding, the series has a time travel element to it. I’m usually fascinated with time travel stories as long as it’s done well and isn’t completely convoluted. Once a time travel plot gets really complicated and there’s no good explanation for arriving at the place the characters find themselves in, I tend to not really care much for the story after that. I’ve been assured this won’t be the case for this series. A big selling point for me wanting to watch this show as soon as possible are the characters. I’m in love with books, games, and shows that focus a lot on the character. A well-written character will hook me every time and I’ll keep watching, reading, or playing until the end. The evolution of a character, whether they become good or bad at the end of the story, speaks to my emotional core. It gets me thinking about them and reflecting on how they get to the place they get to by the time a series ends. I’m really excited to dive into this one.
2. Kill la Kill. This is one of those series I’ve heard a lot of people talking about in the world of anime. I’m not one to watch animes just because they’re popular, but a good friend has watched it and enjoyed the series. The general gist of the story is it’s about a school girl who’s on a mission to avenge her father’s death by looking for his killer. My knowledge of the show is very limited, but I trust my friend’s taste in anime to give this one a go.
3. Puella Magi Madoka Magica. Another series recommended by the same good friend who recommended Kill la Kill to me. The only thing my friend wanted me to know about this series, because I wasn’t familiar with the show at all nor have I heard of it, was it’ll take everything I knew about the magical girl genre and turn it on its head. He also mentioned how I may want to watch a much happier series after I’ve seen this one. I’ve always been a fan of the magical girl series from Sailor Moon to Cardcaptor Sakura. To have a friend tell me that this show will change how I view a lot of magical girl series is enough to pique my interest and have this on my watch list. I’m almost nervous to know why I may need to have a “happier anime” on queue to watch after I see this one.
4. Attack On Titan. One of the most well-known animes in recent years next to Kill la Kill, there has been a ton of hype for this show that’s hard for me to ignore. It has become one of those shows where I’ve heard of it, but never knew what it was about. The only thing I managed to figure out about the series through photos I’ve seen is there are some scary looking Titans that need to be eradicated. A little Google search about the series informed me that Titan is about humans who live in a world where Titans attack and eat people. This definitely doesn’t sound like your super happy anime, but I’m not opposed to watching dark shows when they’re worth watching.
5. Gurren Lagann. You know you’re out of the anime loop when two of the animes on your watch list are the only ones you’ve heard of. I only heard of this show after reading a few blog posts praising it. It has mechs, action, and a little bit of romance. When a show has a little bit of everything, I’m more inclined to watch it. I’m the world’s biggest romantic sap, but I also like some explosions and gun fights mixed in between. At least if it’s done right. I’ll be saving my viewing of this for a rainy day.
Got any more anime recommendations you think I should put on my list? Tell me in the comments below!
simpleek 
I’ve heard a lot about Kill La Kill too, but haven’t really been willing to check it out…but maybe I will now. I’ve also watched the first season of Attack On Titan, and yeah it’s definitely not a happy anime. However, it has a world that I definitely want to know more about, and characters that have an unexpected level of depth given the kind of show it appears to be at first glance…it’s not bad.
As for recommendations: I’ve been enjoying Tokyo Ghoul quite a bit lately. It’s very character driven, mostly focusing on the protagonist and how they deal with becoming something they didn’t didn’t understand and dealing with the reality of it as well as the world around them. Unfortunately, the season was only 12 episodes long, and a second series isn’t guaranteed, but it’s gotten all kinds of positive attention so far, so I’m confident that there’s more to come.
Just got a few more here: Log Horizon – an mmo game becomes reality. It’s interesting because it’s not your typical “trapped in a video game” set up. In this one, the game was an mmo played though a mouse/keyboard/monitor setup like we have now, but one day our characters wake up in a living, breathing world, that seems to be what the game would look like as if it were reality. It gets more involved than that, but that’s the gist of it. Good action, a healthy dose of intrigue. Not as much character development as I would like, but fun nonetheless. Second season out next month!
Chaika: The Coffin Princess – this is best described as a mystery series that adds to the intrigue as often as it provides answers. It’s got a unique magic system and like-able characters. The world could use a little more flushing out though. Second season out next month too!
Alright, last one (I swear!) – No Game, No Life – I absolutely love this one. The basic setup is that a brother and sister, both masters of gaming (in general, not just video games) find themselves transported to another world where everything is determined by playing games (cards, rock-paper-scissors, new ones you’ve never heard of..)
The draw is the world, the characters, and seeing just how our protagonists will manage to outwit their opponents each episode. The only downside: fan-service stuff. They go there way too often, to the point where it gets annoying. that aside, it’s really entertaining show!
Thanks for all those recommendations! Hopefully, I can eventually get to some of what you’ve suggested. I used to breeze through anime series like nothing. Now, I’m lucky if I can even finish one whole series!
It helps that many of these are on the shorter side, 12-25 episodes. but yeah, strange how free time becomes scarce isn’t it?
That’s a great list! I second the recommendation for Hitsugi no Chaika. But, I hope that you’ve seen Ichiro Sakaki’s prior works, Scrapped Princess and Strait Jacket, because their influence is discernible in Chaika.
Also, Sabagebu makes for a great comedy and Psycho-Pass is a dystopian future story you must see–Shin Sekai Yori (aka From the New World) also for that matter.
Unfortunately, I’ve never seen Scrapped Princess but have heard of the series. Looks like it’s one of the ones I’ll have to add to the list. I’ll also keep the other ones you’ve recommended in mind once I’m through with the ones on my own list!
Numbers one to four on your list are excellent and worth checking out. I cannot comment on Gurren Lagen as I haven’t watched it.
Yeah, luckily I’ve got a number of friends who are huge anime fans. Clearly, they’ve got good taste when it comes to new series to watch.
I want to know immediately what you think of Gurren Lagann once you see it. It’s funny that you put Kill la Kill higher on the list since I’d say most people watch it for its ties to the same people behind Gurren Lagann!
Either way, both are enjoyable, but TTGL has a lot more heart and I cried over the romantic bits despite that not really being the point.
Actually, when I wrote the list it wasn’t meant to be in any particular order of interest but I didn’t know the close connection between Kill la Kill and Gurren Lagann! I’ll be sure to let you know what I think of Gurren Langann once I get to the series. I feel confident that I’ll like that series too. 🙂
All of the animes on your list are awesome mainly Stein; Gate. However except one, I think it is just me that think Madoka Magika is a little overrated. :3
I started Steins;Gate recently and I’m loving it so far! I have to see how I feel about Madoka Magika. I am intrigued by my friend’s description of the anime, especially since he said it isn’t the typical magical girl series you’re used to.
Big fan of gurren lagann, but the visual quality drops off at a certain point and left me disappointed. Story is a blast though. Kill la kill is also fun, but it takes a certain kind of person to enjoy is sense of style. Personally my favorite anime in a long time was sword art online, but my all time favorite is trigun. I’m currently watching hunter x hunter, and it’s easily nearing my top few favorites ever:)
I loved the Trigun series when I used to watch it way back when. My cousin introduced me to that series and I loved how it had the right balance of humor and seriousness in the anime. I’ve heard of Hunter x Hunter, so I may check that out at some point as well.
I should be the last person comment on anime, but I recently watched a couple episodes of The Mystic Archives of Dantalian, and it was quite good. Sadly, we can’t seem to find the show any more on Crunchy Roll, but have been on the lookout for it.
All recommendations are always welcome, especially from you! 🙂 I’ve never heard of the series before, but that’s a shame the show disappeared off Crunchy Roll. I wonder if you can see it somewhere else? I’ll be sure to keep an eye out for it and hopefully I can watch it sometime!
I generally recommend Kino’s Journey and Mushishi, which are both very mellow, philosophical anime, which don’t rely on a traditional antagonist to move the plot along.
If you like Attack on Titan I’d recommend Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress, which is a very similar anime but involves zombies and trains, instead of titans and 3D gear.
Thanks for the recommendations! My anime viewing is still a bit slow, but I’m always in the market for any series, old and new, to watch. I’ll certainly add these to my personal list.
If I may, do you have an online anime list that you maintain. Mine is on anime-planet, if you care to compare.
http://www.anime-planet.com/users/Folken24/anime/watched?sort=rating&order=desc
Actually, no I don’t keep an online list. My list is usually kept in my head!