Anime series everyone should watch at least once!

Similarly to my last blog, I'll be giving some recommendations, but this time anime ones. I won't list OVA/OAV/movie-exclusive anime though, as those are for another blog (I have a LOT of them)! This time, I'm focusing more on lesser known (or almost completely unknown) anime series that are a good or great watch, but will list some more recent ones that went completely under the radar.


Aoi Sekai no Chuushin De
Starting with a pretty average one, but for people on this forum it can prove to be a fun watch. Imagine a medieval world with two kingdoms based on Nintendo and Sega fighting for supremacy, with characters being based on characters from the respective company's games and having superpowers, with the added bonus of seeing hotties getting their clothes blasted away every so often!:P

.hack//Roots , .hack//SIGN , .hack//Versus - The Thanatos Report , .hack//Liminality , .hack//Gift , .hack//G.U. Returner , .hack//Legend of the Twilight , .hack//Quantum
Yeah yeah, I know, expected considering it was in my last blog (hell, if I make a game suggestion blog you can expect these to be in there:rofl2:), but as a huge fan of the series that started almost as many cliches as Akira, it's a must watch for everyone who's interested in game-based anime or anime that blend computers with the real world! If you aren't feeling like watching them all, give SIGN, Liminality and Roots a try in that order. Expect some of the most amazing music you will ever get to hear in an anime when watching these too, so fitting ("GOD Diva" for example is EPIC)!

Grenadier
Sexy busty blonde chick kicks ass with a revolver in a medieval-Japan-like world AND has kinda interesting characters and plot, so what else could you ask for?

Bokurano
Fight to save the Earth from getting cleansed with different Earths getting pitted against one another and being represented by a giant mecha, with home and away fights. While the main premise isn't that interesting, DEFINITELY give this a watch, as it has some of the best character development out of all anime out there, despite having a huge variety of characters with deep backgrounds! This anime mainly revolves around a certain group of early-teen kids, with greatly varying backstories and can get pretty damn dark at times!

K (aka K Project)
Plenty people know of this, but most of the new generation of weebs doesn't know it, so give it a watch. It's edginess overload, with interesting characters and a sort of comical hook which keeps you along until the very end. I'm referring to the original series though, not the second one (which is decent at best).

Mnemosyne: Mnemosyne no Musume-tachi (aka RIN: Daughters of Mnemosyne)
First off, heads up, this is an R-rated show as it contains a pretty damn nice amount of nudity, but also it can get VERY gruesome! This anime takes place around 1990 (but can vary a LOT throughout), in a real world-like place, but one where angels exist among the population. Angels are created from regular people seemingly randomly, with female ones gaining immortality (lucky them... except for all the torture in this show, lol:rofl2:), while males one gain immense strength and other abilities but can only live for a single week. The show follows the stories of two females and can get really interesting!

Rinne no Lagrange
A classic story that takes elements from mecha shows like Evangelion, about a schoolgirl ending up piloting a mecha and protecting her city against enormous aliens, so really cliche, but this one is good! And while this isn't a comedy or anything, whatever humor it has in it is actually funny compared to the cringey humor other shows like it have. On top of everything, it has some beautiful visuals if you are into that kind of anime watching, with a touch of fanservice...

Rozen Maiden (Seasons 1-3 and Zurückspulen)
A show about dolls that have been imbued with life by their creator for the purpose of finding a master to draw power from and fight until only one remains, who will turn into a girl that goes by the name of "Alice", a supposedly perfect girl that their creator has been longing for. A really fun show to watch, an interesting plot, beautiful visuals despite being outdated, AMAZING soundtracks (all 3 openings and especially "Kamp":bow: among others) and the two most important dolls being gorgeous, especially the "evil ones" (with Suigintou being by far one of my favorite characters of all time)!

Togainu no Chi
Here we have an anime with everything it needed to be epic, but falling really short because of bad production. However, it's still a great watch, despite the bad character development and even worse animation! It's about a guy getting framed for something and as means out, he gets sent to a secluded city of undesirables, where people murder one another without a second thought and tries to find a way out of it all. If you decide to watch this series, watch it through to the end, even if it starts losing you, as the towards the climax you will see that awesome powers can make even a badly animated series look incredible!:P

__________________________________________________________________________________
Welp, I'm tired, so I'll leave it at this for now... I mainly got tired trying to decide what series to recommend as I have HUNDREDS of them I want to, but I'm too lazy to write descriptions of...;-; I'll probably make a part 2 sometime soon, but don't count on it, may instead do the OVA/OAV/movie one first! Anyway, let me know what you think about these recommendation blogs of mine down in the comments and also whether you have watched these or what you thought of them after you watched them due to this blog!
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Have people forgotten how to read? I specifically said I won't be listing famous shows, yet half the comments are with those!:/

In the entire second page of comments, the only person suggesting lesser known shows has been @Subtle Demise... So, Subtle, Gantz was overlooked because I was going to either put it in the part 2 or skip it and instead suggest it in the OVA/OAV/movie blog I said I may make (I'll be listing "Gantz O" instead though). Genocyber is OVA, which was already planned to be put in the aforementioned blog:P NGE is a series everyone should watch, but Evangelion in general is just as famous as Akira, beating the purpose of having to recommend it... Interstellar 5555 is OVA and IS an amazing anime, but it falls in the same blog as the things mentioned before, plus anyone who knows Fooly Cooly knows of it too! Finally, Midori is a movie, not a series, reason I left it out, on top of it not really being for that wide an audience (I try to suggest things a large variety of people will enjoy, not just things I like).
 
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V
Hey,I was born not knowing how to read dont blame me blame sexual reproduction.
 
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Freaking Puella Magi Madoka Magica
You must watch it, it also has one of the best english dubs ever
 
Blue Gender is weird as well. Black Cat I wish came to adult swim, I watched a lot of the mainstream Anime on there.. Yes, even Inuyasha..

The Devil is a Part Timer needs a season 2..
 
@Memoir Yes, A Season 2 is definitely in need not that the Japanese will ever listen to what we have to say on the matter.
 
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Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon (If you want to watch this dubbed watch the ViZ redub, its better in all aspects. If you want a shorter version that is more faithful to the manga watch Crystal.)
All of Dragon Ball (sans dubbed Z or GT. If you just want the story watch DB, Kai, Kai Final Chapters, then Super)
Puella Magi Madoka Magica
FLCL
Kill La Kill
Panty and Stocking
Toei Yu-Gi-Oh!
Your Lie in April
Ghost Stories (only watch it dubbed, the subbed version sucks)
 
shouldn't it depends on what you like?
some people prefer shonen, while others don't.

I like everything (almost, no porn/yaoi crap) and am open to new animation style or author to discover new things. sometime I watch unknown random series or movies and enjoy it a lot (sometime less).

I like everyday/slice of life, (like Usagi drop, Windy tales, barefoot gen), or more funny (K-on or Working), or stranger (aku no hana), or completely unsane (Harakawa under the bridge or Jungle wa itsumo), surnatural (ano hana, Natsume, or Mushishi), short and experimental (Kigeki, mind game), romantic, sports, shonen, etc.
from serious to fun, from scifi to thriller to historical, everything is fine.

what to recommend is hard. I would recommend old things, to learn and see how the animation evolved.
If you like movies or anime in general, watch all you can!

I didn't watch anime for 2-3 years (lack of time) and found they became less interesting, more repetitive and already seen the same genre/story.
I'll get interest again later. I watch many in the past.
 
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I'm the same Cyan! I'll watch anything that isn't too crappy at least once, especially old shows, going back to even things like Anpanman or Cutie Honey:P I LOVE watching old shows and paying attention to the animation and the techniques of that time, as it allows me to appreciate them a lot more. I'm more of a realistic, technology or historical anime, with favorites like Serial Experiments Lain, Shigurui, etc., but as I already said, I'll watch pretty much anything! Things that involve a serious version of politics or mechas are also a favorite and same goes for mafia/yakuza/military stuff (Baccano!, Code Geass, etc.). Finally, I'm an enormous fan of slightly old, hardly known, anime movies (expect a blog about these)!

While not a "hidden gem", I'm about to rewatch Hanasaku Iroha, which is a great anime with simple themes but everything about it is hella rich!
 
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ah yes, I forgot mecha, I love mecha :P

I didn't watch a lot recently, but I hope to watch more again. (new season of Major soon)
 
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Didn't watch a lot of anime or mecha ones recently? I've stopped watching new stuff or doing anything new lately besides 4 or so new episodes a week and I boringly spend my time rewatching stuff over and over again while thinking about life... I've forgotten how to relax when doing stuff like watching anime, so got any recommendations to help loosen me up a bit? Something kinda dark and realistic or at least dark with subliminal messages will do (considering watching "The Big O")...
 

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