You know I made these reviews so that I could recommend titles and give information to those who may be interested in seeing different titles. And honestly I'm thinking I've seen a LOT of anime. However all of this is opinion based. So it seemed to me that I should give a bit more information about myself and such so that you know what sort of person is even writing these reviews. I mean I COULD be anyone... hell, maybe I'm your mom. Go clean your room.
I wouldn't say I'm well rounded, but I definitely have varying tastes in the titles I like. One key thing to keep in mind about Archen is that I'm totally OLD SCHOOL. I have a fondness for old titles. And actually I don't care much about the actual age of a title, I just care whether it's good or not. I guess it's a key thing to keep in mind that the majority of anime fans out there are probably teenagers now days, aside from the traditional foundation of college going anime fans. What that means is that you will find tons of opinions from these two demographics that will probably differ from mine. Why? Simply put, anime is new to them. It is not new to me. They'll rave about a title like it's the most awesome thing ever, and a totally new concept; while I've probably seen the same thing 3 or 4 times before.
I'm also not a big fan of the computer generated glitz effects you see in anime a lot in modern anime. In an anime with budget restrictions you usually got a lot of cheap panning and just all around stills. The new thing to do is to do jerky computer movements and such on anime stills. Sorry but that's still not animation. I've also become rather disenchanted with the artistic quality of many modern animation titles. The good news is that the anime industry seems to be pulling out of the shock with the loss of pulp cells. For a time computer generated anime was new, yet cells had stopped production. I'd say this was around 2001. Many anime titles had very dead colors, and character designs were unappealing when compared to their predecessors. Slowly but surely anime has been coming back to show some vitality, so I'm finding myself enjoying modern titles a bit more than the first CGI anime generation. And as far as computer effects go, they don't impress me much either. All I really care is about the artistic qualitative animation. And in all honesty the heyday for those titles was in the 80's. With only a handful of notable titles in the 90s and 00s.
All around I'm sort of atypical for an anime fan. I enjoy comedy, action and romance but I get rather picky about them quick. Comedies for instance I enjoy but if a title crosses a certain threshold of gimmicks then it's almost guaranteed I won't like it. I've also been watching anime for quite some time so many comedy gimmicks that are new to some fans are old hat to me. Action is also something I'm picky about. If a title doesn't have a story, then I just won't like it regardless of how cool the action is. I'd say I have a fondness particularly for sword fight/gun action sequences, but I've seen anime do just about everything action oriented in a cool way. I also like romance. Yeah, I know. I can hardly believe it myself. But it always seems like I'm way more interested in a show if there is some sort of love interest. It's not a necessity with me, but I do seem to like them for some reason. In an odd sort of way this has led to me typically liking shoujo titles. Yeah, it's totally bizarre man.
Okay so what do I recommend? Now I would typically not do this because likes with everything are a matter of taste. I mean I've seen some people list "Sister Princess" as a top 10 best title, and while I believe those people should be sterilized for the good of humanity; it goes to show that there is indeed always someone that likes a show no matter how bad YOU think it is. So anyway, if you want me to just say, "here watch this", then here's where it is. If you don't like them... well though luck.
My favorite anime titles are Record of Lodoss War OAV, Hourglass of Summer, and Area 88 OAV by the way.
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Record of Lodoss War OAV This series is just too cool! The epic feel of this fantasy anime is absolutely amazing. At the start I thought it would be rather simple good against evil sort of thing (it does appear that way, and it is to some extent). However, the story and plot develops this anime into one of the best series ever in my opinion. I actually doubt that this anime will every be surpassed (in story and feel) in its genre. |
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Devil Hunter Yohko Personally, I don't care if anyone likes this series or not, it's still one of my favorites (not counting Yohko 6 which was a big disappointment). Why? Because it's COOL that's why. Although one of the first tiles I've ever seen, I still find that to this day, I can watch DHY and still enjoy the series a lot. Action, comedy, fan service, with a dab of the supernatural, and some kick ass fight scenes: DHY is a classic just because it's Yohko. - 'nuff said |
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Kodomo no Omocha ( A Child's Toy ) An anime about the exploits of an eleven old girl certainly doesn't sound like any sort of ground breaking material. I guess I could say this or that about this anime, but simply said, it has to be seen to be believed. Beware since this anime is not for people who are new to anime. If your a veteran anime fan, then I highly recommend it. It's touching 10% of the time, the rest of the time the show resembles a hilarious crack induced hysteria. |
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Mahou Tsukai Tai! (Magic Users Club) Well I don't much like Cutesy' anime, but this series managed to be absolutely charming, while not alienating me. I really adore this show. The animation is fairly good, the character designs are terrific, the story is very interesting, and the comedy is some of the funniest I've ever seen. The comedy is somewhat ecchi, but not grossly so. Just about every time Ayanojyo flirts with Takeo I just about roll on the floor laughing. This is something everyone should see! |
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Area 88 (OAV) The animation kicks ass, the soundtrack kicks ASS, and the story kicks ass... what else could you ask for? Area 88 is an OAV from a bygone era in anime when realism was paramount. Coupled with breathtaking animation sequences, you get quite an experience with Area 88. Where this show truly excels is in the story, and interactiveness of the main character Shin. Good show, highly recommended. |
| Title | Reason | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Sailor Moon | Popular | Who hasn't heard of this one? Warning: BAD dubbing. |
| Akira | Influential | One of the most influential anime titles EVER |
| Vampire Hunter D | Influential | One of the first titles to hit American shores. Old school, but cool. |
| Neon Genesis Evangelion | Classic | Must see for anime fans. You may like it, or you may not |
| Battle Angel | Classic | Sad but soo good! |
| Mermaid Saga | Classic | Mermaid Scar + Mermaid Forest = twisted classic anime |
| Vampire Miyu | Classic | Yay vampire girls! |
| Fairy Princess Ren | Most Insane Anime | Wow man... wow. |
And what about anime that Archen actually owns? Out of the many many anime titles I've seen, many if not most have been rented. Also many were viewed out of courtesy of friends. I still actually go out and buy titles despite the fact that I may have already rented them. This list isn't complete since I haven't gotten around to buying all the titles that I want to (budgetary concerns). This is mainly for reference purposes.