I guess I should ask how much time you're willing to devote to a series. But anyways here goes:
- Kare Kano (aka: His & Her Circumstances) (26 episodes) - Synopsis: Yukino Miyazawa is really, really vain, and loves to hear people praise her. She's always been the best at everything, and always tries to look perfect. But when Yukino goes to high school, she's finally upstaged--by Souichiro Arima, who scores better on the entrance exams and instantly snatches the attention of the class. By accident, Arima finds out that Yukino is just pretending, and this starts off a series of events that lead to Yukino and Arima falling in love. They then have to cope with a lot of obstacles in their relationship.
This one'll draw you in. I don't think I've ever seen an anime that's so thought provoking. I thought it was kinda 'girly' from the 1st episode, now its one of my fav series.
- The 12 Kingdoms (45 episodes) Synopsis: Yoko Nakajima, an unhappy high school student, is one day suddenly faced with a strange man who swears allegiance to her. After a battle with demon-like beasts, he then takes her to another world along with two of her classmates. There, her appearance has changed and she can understand the language even though her classmates cannot. But their status as "Kaikyaku" (people who come from Earth) makes them hunted fugitives, so they wander the land of the 12 countries, simply trying to survive and to figure out the reason why they were brought to this world.
I really love this one. The music is good too. Too bad it wasn't finished (They ran out of money I think). Its still worth a viewing.
- Wolf's Rain (25 episodes) Synopsis: In some distant future, it's common knowledge that all wolves have been extinct for 200 years. However, it seems this is false as wolves have not disappeared but rather have taken human form. Kiba, a lone wolf, wanders into a city, trying to sniff out the Lunar Flowers that are supposed to lead whoever follows the scent to paradise. The source of the smell is Cheza, a girl who sleeps in what appears to be suspended animation in a lab. She and the wolves are drawn to each other, and Kiba hopes to find paradise once he finds the source of the scent of Lunar Flowers. However, once Kiba finds Cheza, she is kidnapped by a mysterious person called Darcia, and his search begins anew. Before he leaves the city, he meets 3 other wolves, Tsume, Hige and Toboe. All four wolves have very different personalities and ideas, and their friendliness towards each other is a little rough around the edges. However, they soon band together to continue to search for paradise.
This one's pretty sad, but the story was good.
- Berserk (26 episodes) Synopsis: Guts, a man who calls himself "The Black Swordsman" looks upon his days serving as a member of a group of mercenaries, the Band of the Hawk, nicknamed "the Grim Reaper of the Battlefield." Led by an ambitious, ruthless, and intelligent man named Griffith, together they battle their way into the royal court, and are forced into a fate that may change their entire lives.
Okay, 1st off, the anime style for this is older (Its an older series), but after awhile you forget about it because the story is so great! And WOW, what a shocker ending. The manga for this one is still ongoing (Yeah, another one you're gonna want to keep going) so you can pick up the story there when the series ends. (PS: There's alot of gore and sexual content in this one)
- Saikano (13 episodes) Synopsis: Shuji and Chise are two Hokkaido high school students barely starting a relationship with each other. Then, with no warning, a squadron of bombers from an unknown country destroy the city of Sapporo. All hope is lost when suddenly, the bombers are destroyed by a small red light floating across the sky. At this point, Shuji finds out that the one responsible for eliminating the enemy forces is Chise, who reveals herself as a cyborg engineered for mass-destruction.
This is probably one of the sadder(est) series out there.
- F.L.C.L (6 episodes) Synopsis: Naota is a normal Japanese 6th grade boy (although a little cynical), but when his older brother leaves for America to play baseball, his brother leaves his homeless 17 year old girlfriend Mamimi behind. Mamimi is sending mixed signals and advances to Naota, and he doesn't know what to do about her. But to make matters worse, Naota's world is totally turned upside down when he is run over by a woman on a Vespa. During their first encounter, she hits him over the head with her guitar, which then causes a horn to grow out of his forehead. She calls herself "Haruko" and her presence changes Naota's life to even further insanity.
One of the craziest/wackiest OAV series out there! Its funny at times, but mostly you have to see it to know what 'wacky' is like in anime circles.
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- X (TV) (26 episodes) Synopsis: It's the year of destiny and 15 year old Kamui Shiro, a powerful psychic, has returned to Toyko after a 6 year absence. He returns to protect his childhood friends, Fuuma, and Fuuma's younger sister Kotori. But destiny and fate are haunting Kamui and pulling in himself and his loved ones. It is his destiny to decide the fate of the world and mankind, no matter if he wants the role or not.
Was good. Maybe not spectacularly good, but enjoyable enough to remember and want to see again sometime when nothing else is out.
Well, I could go on a bit more, but I really haven't seen as much as alot of other people. Another series that I think worth recommending would be: Claymore, D. Gray Man (Doesn't really get GOOD good until in the 50-something episode range, then its great until the final episode, which is 103), Basilisk (Kickass ninjas!), Code Geass (Only 1st season worth watching IMO) and maybe Scryed.
Anime movies to see:
Akira (A classic)
Ghost in the Shell (Another classic)
Grave of the Fireflies (Classic)
Ninja Scroll
Vampire Hunter D (The Original one)
Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust
There's prob more, but I gotta go!!
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