dvd recommendations

[arrow]

can anyone recommend any anime series on dvd.

I know that this is a recurring topic. I'm more interested in epic sci-fi shows that end. similar to sdf macross, neon genesis evangelion or area 88, nothing with comic relief characters or overly comedic scenes.

[eugimon]

a few that I liked, in no particular order:

vision of escaflowne is a sci-fi/fantasy show, great story, animation was pretty good, incredible music.

cowboy bebop... just a perfect show. the movie is great as well.

Last exile is pretty good, aerial combat sequences are pretty darn good, engaging story and characters.

[CoryHolmes]

If you don't mind old-school anime, Detonator Orgun is an oldie but a goodie.

[areaseven]

If you've seen Evangelion, check out RahXephon. As a matter of fact. in terms of overall quality (story, animation, character development), RahXephon succeeds where Evangelion fails. Not to mention that it has one of the best opening themes ever recorded in anime history.

[Pat S]

If you've seen Evangelion, check out RahXephon. As a matter of fact. in terms of overall quality (story, animation, character development), RahXephon succeeds where Evangelion fails. Not to mention that it has one of the best opening themes ever recorded in anime history.

What? Switch Evangelion to RahXephon and RahXephon to Evangelion in that entire paragraph, and then it would be a true statement

[wolfx]

If you've seen Evangelion, check out RahXephon. As a matter of fact. in terms of overall quality (story, animation, character development), RahXephon succeeds where Evangelion fails. Not to mention that it has one of the best opening themes ever recorded in anime history.

What? Switch Evangelion to RahXephon and RahXephon to Evangelion in that entire paragraph, and then it would be a true statement

I concur.

[Jolly Rogers]

I third that.

I'd also recommend Aura Battler Dunbine if you can handle 80s bad hair do and animation style (on par with SDF Macross).

[Californium]

I fourth that and second Dunbine.

[Anubis]

I stamp seal and sign off on that. (As far as Eva and RahXephon, haven't seen Dunbine though I'm interested in seeing it).

I also highly recommend Escaflowne, and also Crest/Banner of the Stars.

[Stampeed Valkyrie]

I also prefer Eva over Rahxephon, but back on topic... Infinite Ryvius, Geneshaft, Last Exile.

Rob

[EXO]

Last Exile is my favorite series after Macross now. I'm glad that they don't have merchandise for it though... I would be in so much trouble.

Although a nice diecast metal vanship would be cool...

Do yourself a favor and get it!

My current sig is from the series.

[JELEINEN]

I'd also recommend Aura Battler Dunbine if you can handle 80s bad hair do and animation style (on par with SDF Macross).

There's nothing wrong with the style of animation. The problem is that it was a TV series and so didn't have enough of a budget to use a lot of cels per episode. I'll also throw in a recomendation for the series.

[bsu legato]

You can't go wrong with Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. Also, while it only touches on SF, Fullmetal Alchemist is one of the best anime in years.

[mikeszekely]

If you've seen Evangelion, check out RahXephon. As a matter of fact. in terms of overall quality (story, animation, character development), RahXephon succeeds where Evangelion fails. Not to mention that it has one of the best opening themes ever recorded in anime history.

What? Switch Evangelion to RahXephon and RahXephon to Evangelion in that entire paragraph, and then it would be a true statement

I concur.

I dissent. Evangelion was a mildy interesting anime about characters that were all mental (but only Shinji in a way that makes you care about him), mecha so lame they had to physically plugged in, and a confusing plot that to this very day lacks any kind of ending that even approaches something that makes sense. Not a bad series, but by far the most over-rated work in the history of the entire universe.

[areaseven]

Wow...I take it you guys prefer two half-assed endings over a decent one.

[ewilen]

I third that. 

I'd also recommend Aura Battler Dunbine if you can handle 80s bad hair do and animation style (on par with SDF Macross).

On a similar note, I'd recommend both Super Dimensional Cavalry Southern Cross and Genesis Climber Mospeada. SC gets dissed a lot for various reasons; personally I wasn't very crazy about the Robotech-ized version of Mospeada. But both are much better in their original form.

You might try Legend of the Galactic Heroes. I've probably only seen about a dozen episodes, but it was pretty good stuff and I know there are people around here who will recommend it. But--it's very long, and acquiring a complete set could be pretty expensive (if/when one is available in the US).

This might also be useful: Recommended Anime

Edited December 6, 2004 by ewilen

[Prime]

You can't go wrong with Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex.

I would definitely recommend that as well. It is coming out in 4 episode sets (I have the first 2 so far). It seems to be easy to find here in North America.

[MrDisco]

in addition to all of the titles listed how about stellvia? it's not as strong or as deep as some of the other titles but it's still sci-fi-ish.

[Major Johnathan]

Definitely Cowboy Bebop. I liked Wolf's Rain, though it's not a Mecha kind of show. Last Exile seems cool, but I've only seen a few episodes. The Patlabor series is great, but there are occaisions for comic releif... the first two movies are great. And of course Mospeada rules, but it is old school 80's style. As for Gundam, I like 0080 and 0083.

[Noyhauser]

You might try Legend of the Galactic Heroes. I've probably only seen about a dozen episodes, but it was pretty good stuff and I know there are people around here who will recommend it. But--it's very long, and acquiring a complete set could be pretty expensive (if/when one is available in the US).

This might also be useful: Recommended Anime

I'd like to second this. LOGH is one of the greatest Japanese Sci fis in my mind ever, and I've been watching anime since I was a child. (but I haven't got all the way through... I'm only at the end of the second season, because if I start Season 3 I'm not going to stop and its exam time)

Its shockingly good. You want a realistic space battle using real tactics? This series has it. Its not really comedic, but serious with a deep dark overtone. Realism is the key, politics, war and people are all thrown together and you really have an epic. You can find boots on EBAY if you need to...

No other series comes close to this one for its deep story.

[treatment]

You can't go wrong with Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex.

I would definitely recommend that as well. It is coming out in 4 episode sets (I have the first 2 so far). It seems to be easy to find here in North America.

Yup.

Gits-SAC is a highly-recommended series. It's a no-nonsense/no-bs sci-fi cyberpunk action-thriller series. It's got non-"traditional" mechas, but it's all good.

Just try to avoid the region-1 SE-versions as there were production-issues, as Bandai fscked vol-1's japanese-dts, fscked the OST1+, switched the dts/dd-5.1 discs in vol-2, and fscked the english-dts on vol-3.

Fwiw, an even better one is the current season-2 (2nd Gig) and hopefully it'll come out soon in R1:

[Less than Super Ostrich]

If you want a modern mecha series (ex-Gundam)... I thought Gasaraki was great

Also, if you like air battle scenes... you can't go wrong with Yukikaze

Edited December 6, 2004 by Less than Super Ostrich

[NERV]

i liked blue gender, i would also reccomend evangelion and rahxephon

[CoryHolmes]

If you want a modern mecha series (ex-Gundam)... I thought Gasaraki was great

Also, if you like air battle scenes... you can't go wrong with Yukikaze

Gasaraki was alright, but it suffered greatly from Evangeltionitis. Far, far too much. The mecha designs were great, but the overall plot did nothing for me.

mecha so lame they had to physically plugged in, and a confusing plot that to this very day lacks any kind of ending that even approaches something that makes sense.

I'll disagree with you on the mecha. It was a plot point that they had to be plugged in for power. I will agree with you on the ending, though. I feel Evangelion suffered from a terrible last quarter of the show and the endings were so incredibly anti-climactic that it's not funny.

EDIT

Gits-SAC is a highly-recommended series. It's a no-nonsense/no-bs sci-fi cyberpunk action-thriller series.

I'll agree with that, except for its ending. I found the last episode to be very terrible in terms of direction and writing.

Edited December 6, 2004 by CoryHolmes

[areaseven]

You might also want to check out Submarine 707R.

Edited December 7, 2004 by areaseven

[gerwalk25]

You might also want to check out Submarine 707R.

I liked Blue Submarine #6 but I must warn you though the ending falls flat on it's @$$. And might I suggest Megazone 23 part one and easily one of the best Gundam OVA's, Gundam 0083 "Stardust Memory".

[Phyrox]

Here are my meager suggestions:

Story - Gundam 0080: The only animated Gundam I have truely enjoyed. Zeta was fine, as was 8th MS team, but 0080 is the only one I own.

Mecha - Gall Force (original): A bit old animation wise, and the story seems very rushed...like it was supposed to be an entire series smashed into an OVA. As a fan I still like it, but the mecha designs are really the saving grace.

Overall - Evangelion: Overrated or not, I thouroughly enjoyed it. I must say that the first 2/3 -3/4 were the best part. I don't mind the ending(s), but they do seem a departure from the earlier feel.

[mikeszekely]

and easily one of the best Gundam OVA's, Gundam 0083 "Stardust Memory".

I actually didn't care for Stardust Memory. Sure, the animation was great, the mecha were slick, and the battle scenes were fantastic. But it's schizophrenic in terms of story, and it creates more plot holes than it fills. IMHO, a much better Gundam OVA was War in the Pocket. Sure, Alex is the most boringly generic Gundam, the Kaempfer looks like it belongs in another series, and the animation is slightly above TV quality. But it's got one of the most human stories to be found in Gundam.

As far as Gundam goes, Z Gundam is by far my favorite, but if you're going to watch it, at least check out the Gundam movie trilogy (although I think the pacing in the TV series is a lot better).

I'll second any votes for Escaflowne.

And again, as for Evangelion... I'm probably being a little to hard on it. Fact is, I really enjoyed the first 3/4th of the show. The ending(s) are just horrible, though, and even if someone came and did a really spectacular ending, it's still only a decent series. It definately doesn't live up to its own advertising as "the greatest anime of all time."

I don't watch a whole lot of anime anymore, though, so I can't really come out and reccomend any other mecha/sci-fi shows. When I do watch anime, it's usually fansubbed comedies.

[eugimon]

hmm, watched eva, loved eva, didn't find the ending confusing or disapointing at all, well, after the movies cleared things up.

eva seems to me a clear cautionary tale, it ended, the only way it could, in tragedy.

but i thought escaflowne was immensely superiour to evangelion in almost every way.

[Raptor]

Ehehe, you could probably get a copy of Space Warriors (Aka the Space Warrior Baldios movie) for about $5 on Amazon.com...

Although I seriously can't tell you what it's about or whether it's any good since it's been like 10 years since I've seen it and I was 9 ten years ago.

I thought it was awesome back then though... first anime, lol.

[Noriko Takaya]

This may not be up to your liking, but I really liked the TV series version of Vampire Princess Miyu. It's not sci-fi, but more along the lines of horror and drama. It was released on DVD by TokyoPop and can be bought as a complete set with box, CD soundtrack, and some inane little trinket. Give it a try if you can find the first volume to rent. A word of advice though: Stay away from the dubbed version. It is horrible. The subtitled version is way better.

[zeus the zentran]

I would recommend Orguss(any Macross fan would love the art by Mikimoto),Galaxy Express 999,Space Battleship Yamato,Captain Harlock,I jsut saw GodMars cool retro mecha retro anime,Iczer one(forget about the sequels),and the Megazone 23 trilogy.

[areaseven]

I would recommend Orguss(any Macross fan would love the art by Mikimoto),Galaxy Express 999,Space Battleship Yamato,Captain Harlock,I jsut saw GodMars cool retro mecha retro anime,Iczer one(forget about the sequels),and the Megazone 23 trilogy.

With the exception of Megazone 23 all the titles you mentioned are not available on R1 DVD.

[HWR MKII]

hmmmm Rahxephon, convoluted story, giant mecha, weird ending that makes perfect sense.

Evangelion, convoluted story,giant mecha, weird ending that barely wraps up the story in any understandable way unless you have studied the bible,koran,and the book of life.

which series total would you get the most enjoyment out of. i own both and Rahxephon gets more play. it may not have the violence but more thought went into the overall story. the end wasnt tacked on because fans didnt like the first one.

also Zone of the enders is a good watch too.

[lord_breetai]

This is kinda pushing it in the comedic sense... but I'll recomend my personal fav next to Macross Sakura Taisen (Sakura Wars)... now the problem with this series is the bulk of the story is in the games.... but in terms of what is out on DVD.

Sakura Wars TV (Kinda Dark, Story Driven... full story... not comedic.. pretty good actually, not popular among ST fans but non ST fans might like it... animation simillar to that of FF: U)

Sakura Wars the Movie (Production IG baby... dark, nice, make sure you know who the characters are before you watch it!!!)

Sakura Wars OVA 1 (Slightly comedic... great music... okay story)

Sakura Wars OVA 2 (Comedic for all.... but episodes 1, 5 and 6 have interesting and dark sub plots)

Sakura Wars Sumire (skip it... it'll bore you to death... skip it).

For the non-game fan I recomend OVA 1, TV, OVA 2, Movie in that order (and where the TV series disagrees with everything else... ignore it).

now.... hmmm... what else could I recomend for you that isn't Steam Punk?

Oh easily Gundam the 08th MS team of of course Zeta Gundam... those have probably already been said though.