Awesome Anime

[Showtime 1-1]

Growing up when I did, I was exposed to a LOT of cartoons, and many of them were Anime. Kids grew up watching Pokemon, Digimon and other, more bizarre anime shows after school, and some downright badass ones on Friday nights.

I had one problem with anime: The plot, characters and voice acting were usually... embarrassing, to say the least. If you've ever sat there watching an episode of any anime with your parent looking over your shoulder, you'll know what I mean. Yet for some reason, it was all so entertaining that we loved it and continued to watch.

That is, until the final definitive battle is won with the power of love, friendship, trust, faith or any other of those mushy, lame, non-awesomeness related factors.

ARE YOU SERIOUS? THE GIGANTIC MECHA TURBO-MEGA BLASTER OF DOOM DIDN'T KILL HIM, BUT THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP DID?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? 

Some shows avoided this (Gundam, Stand Alone Complex, etc.), but these usually had long, meandering plot lines and annoying characters who gave the show an action-teen drama feel. Still good to watch, but seriously? 

So, where am I going with this? Well, I set out to find a show which took anime awesomeness Into a proper... show. The criteria were:

1- good combat scenes (this is pretty much default for all anime)

2- good characters (once again, par for the course)

3- basic, reasonable, believable story line (that's pretty rare)

4- no final victory due to power of love, friendship, faith, etc. (rules out all Digimon and most other after-school shows)

5- no teen-drama relationship related plot twists ("OMG! Guy X was so traumatized from battle/rage/jealousy/spite that he totally shunned Girl Y, and now she's going to fall for guy Z, who happens to have a crush on Girl A...")

6- Something constructive to the story must happen every episode. (No 5-episode long dialogue or stand-offs)

7- It still had to be entertaining.

I think I came up with the one anime which fills all these criteria, but I thought I'd see what the community here could come up with. 

Consider this an attempt to break the mid-winter boredom for some of us...  :oops:

[ThePointingMan]

You ever watch Gurren Leggan?

Just if you watch some, watch the whole thing, cause unlike the anime's that I'd never watch, it is not to long, 26 episodes, so you can actually finish it. Also there are things in older episodes, that you may think oh that's lame... ARRRR I don't wanna spoil it.

based on one aspect of your criteria, You'll be like oh that's lame, and then you'll be like oh that's freakin' awesome, only you might not be like oh that's freakin' awesome, but you'll be like I understand now.

Anyways, I'm no fan of Anime, BUT I SERIOUSLY LIKED THIS ONE!!! Just gets so much more WAAAAAAAAAA as you go on.

[Vy'drach]

I'm a fan of the Tenchi Muyo/Universe shows, not always action packed and it could be considered a "romantic comedy", although with some good explosions and fight scenes, and depending which Tenchi you watch, the final character is beaten in a different way, my personal favorite is in one of them (won't say which), the main villain and his space battleship are sliced clean in two by a beamsword that makes a lightsaber look like a 3 year old's wooden sword.

[Showtime 1-1]

I'd just like to point out about point 5 that relationships between the characters are essential, but not when it becomes one of the focuses of the show. Essentially, if the climax of the series is a break-up instead of an explosion, you're doing it wrong.

And sword battles are perfectly incredible. As long as it's not a sword made of or powered by feelings.

@ TPM, I'll look it up. Sounds good.

[Sabre]

Bubble gum crisis 2040. The rest have been a bit crap really.

[Thomas Draco]

You ever watch Gurren Leggan?

Just if you watch some, watch the whole thing, cause unlike the anime's that I'd never watch, it is not to long, 26 episodes, so you can actually finish it. Also there are things in older episodes, that you may think oh that's lame... ARRRR I don't wanna spoil it.

based on one aspect of your criteria, You'll be like oh that's lame, and then you'll be like oh that's freakin' awesome, only you might not be like oh that's freakin' awesome, but you'll be like I understand now.

Anyways, I'm no fan of Anime, BUT I SERIOUSLY LIKED THIS ONE!!! Just gets so much more WAAAAAAAAAA as you go on.

Agreed.

I could also suggest Mobile Suit G Gundam, which is the only Super Robot Gundam series.

Or you could choose from the other 10+ Gundam series that's out there.

Oh, and Cowboy Bebop basically covers all of the criteira in your list.

[Steve]

Gurren Leggan was really awesome, a little bit too crazy, but really nice. I'd also recommend full metal panic series, Prince of Tennis (dragonball+ tennis, basically) and Vandread (16+)

[fox1235]

Avatar the last airbender was a good show but techanicly it wasnt really an anime,there was some romance but its usually only brief moments of the show,the final battle was pretty awsome with the main character Aang getting god like powers,my favorite character of the show was the guy was the funny one and making jokes(but always got the girls )

there making it into a live action movie thats coming out this summer the main character from slumdog millionire is going to be in it as the villian

[Showtime 1-1]

I've watched all of the Gundam series, even that strange one where the Gundams were four feet tall and befriended a kid, line in digimon.

I forgot about the cartoon Avatar, I used to love that show. It was written well with a solid story and good characters, and they didn't commit the cardinal sin of trying in vain to continue it with a lame follow-up series.

But still, nobody has mentioned the one show I was thinking of...

[ThePointingMan]

I ALMOST ENTIRELY FORGOT OF THE MOST AMAZING ANIME EVAR!!! The legend of Koizumi.

[X-Gamer]

Ever heard of Code Geass? I don't personally like it but not because it's crappy, it's just not something I would watch. MANY of my friends wouldn't stop bugging me to watch it last year so I guess you could say people like it.

It's sort of a mix of gundams (it has robot thingys), romance, suspense, action, intelligence (I don't know how to describe that. It's sort of like the movie Ocean's eleven where you figure out what happens in the end was really just planned out in the beginning) and what not.

[fox1235]

I've watched all of the Gundam series, even that strange one where the Gundams were four feet tall and befriended a kid, line in digimon.

I forgot about the cartoon Avatar, I used to love that show. It was written well with a solid story and good characters, and they didn't commit the cardinal sin of trying in vain to continue it with a lame follow-up series.

But still, nobody has mentioned the one show I was thinking of...

U know there was rumors that they were going to make a spin off of avatar but the creators said there too busy with the live action movie

[Guest DRL]

Growing up when I did, I was exposed to a LOT of cartoons, and many of them were Anime. Kids grew up watching Pokemon, Digimon and other, more bizarre anime shows after school, and some downright badass ones on Friday nights.

I had one problem with anime: The plot, characters and voice acting were usually... embarrassing, to say the least. If you've ever sat there watching an episode of any anime with your parent looking over your shoulder, you'll know what I mean. Yet for some reason, it was all so entertaining that we loved it and continued to watch.

That is, until the final definitive battle is won with the power of love, friendship, trust, faith or any other of those mushy, lame, non-awesomeness related factors.

ARE YOU SERIOUS? THE GIGANTIC MECHA TURBO-MEGA BLASTER OF DOOM DIDN'T KILL HIM, BUT THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP DID?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? 

Some shows avoided this (Gundam, Stand Alone Complex, etc.), but these usually had long, meandering plot lines and annoying characters who gave the show an action-teen drama feel. Still good to watch, but seriously? 

He,he, completely true. I remember that when I was younger I allways had the remote control at hand, so when one of my parents came I allways jumped quickly to the news channel.

So far the only... "wanna-be-serious" anime I ever watched was Gundam Wing...

There rest were of the embarrasing stile... [say, when I was in kindergarden (like 15 years ago) I was a fan of Pokemon, thought over time I grew tired of it. I mean, duh, the main character never succeded in his final goal. Come on... Also, they are still releasing new seasons... heck.]

[Thomas Draco]

I've watched all of the Gundam series, even that strange one where the Gundams were four feet tall and befriended a kid, line in digimon.

Heh-heh... SD Gundam

Ever heard of Code Geass? I don't personally like it but not because it's crappy' date=' it's just not something I would watch. MANY of my friends wouldn't stop bugging me to watch it last year so I guess you could say people like it.

It's sort of a mix of gundams (it has robot thingys), romance, suspense, action, intelligence (I don't know how to describe that. It's sort of like the movie Ocean's eleven where you figure out what happens in the end was really just planned out in the beginning) and what not.[/quote']

This is a good one, if you don't mind subtle yaoi fanservice (You know, all the LuluXSuzaku crap...).

[DoctorAllosaurus]

I'm gonna have to say Hokuto No Ken (Fist of the North Star) is the best anime I've ever seen. If you haven't seen it, I HIGHLY recommend you check it out. Be warned though that there is alot of violence, so if you are squeamish, you might want to stay away from this one.

[Sabre]

I thought that was silly

"I poke my fingers in your head, now you have exactly 8.92 seconds to live."

[Showtime 1-1]

Ok, well none of you have mentioned the one show I had in mind, so I guess I'll just post away. Here it is: Area 88!

Opening titles:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AnzglRqzTU

One of my favorite scenes:

Link to episode 1 part 1, English subtitles:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYN56K6-NJA

There are two versions, the old 1988 version and the 2004 remake. The remake is the good one. The combat scenes are a nice balance between realism and entertainment, for me that's what makes it stand apart from all other shows. Finally, a cartoon about proper fighter jets!