Random Anime Recommendations – Episode 02

Hey, i’m back with another list of recommendations. This one is just in written form because I don’t feel like getting everything edited properly. This will still be a list of random recommendations from the nearly 1000-series long list of the anime I have seen, and I’ll still write about the different series out of the top of my head (doesn’t really give the same improvised feeling, but whatever). With this, I hope to introduce a few of you to some series you didn’t know about.

Seikai no Senki II
Seikai no Senki is the third installment of the Seikai trilogy. You need to watch them in order, however all searons are significantly different from each other. Seikai no Senki is the third installment, and the focus is on politics. What sets this one apart is how intelligent it is, and it uses that incredibly well to use these politics to create a very exciting story. And this is in combination with characters who are really, really articulate about their thoughts (this is based on a light novel, and it shows!). The first Seikai seasons were perhaps a bit dry (though still really good as well), but this one knows to excalate perfectly.

Kuchuu Buranko
Kuchuu Buranko is this unique little series about psychology. Right when you see it for the first time, this starts out with its wacky colour scheme and over the top quirky style. Yes, this was done by Kenji Nakamura, the same guy who did Tsuritama and Gatchaman Crowds. It has this formula that you nowadays never see anymore: every episode we see a person with some kind of over the top psychological problem, and the main character of the series is a psychologist, tasked with solving these problems. At first this series seems very shallow, but as it goes on we see a very interesting overall picture develop, and in the end it turned into a series that actually changed my perceptions about the practice of psychology. Its a fun show to watch, however do note that it never shies away from trying to annoy you; however if it didn’t do that you’d miss one of the big points that this show is trying to make.

Shangri-la
Now here is an interesting one. This is basically the series that nearly bankrupted Gonzo. Of course things were already going bad for them, but what they did was they bet their entire future on this series selling well. And it became a massive flop. And it’s a shame, because personally, I really liked it, although it is a series with huge ups and huge downs. The animation varies between absolutely gorgeous and off-model. The story jumps from one place to the other and it has quite a few holes. But I loved how ambitious it was. The creators came up with this really strance concept of carbon trading, and all sorts of neat and interesting ideas. The characters are also a bit of a mixed bag, but there really is a lot of charm to them. A lot of people hated this series though, Do NOT watch this if you like to objecitvely analyze your series!

Romeo X Juliet
Ah, more Gonzo. This one didn’t work, though. This is their re-imagination of the classic Shakespeare story, and in true Gonzo fashion they just created their entire own story and made thankful use of creative liberties. It really could have worked, but unfortunately the story gets really bogged down in the middle by really a LOT of emo and angsting. At a certain point the story comes to a halt and never realy picks up again and it just remains boring for the rest of the airtime. A really big shame.

Jungle wa Itsumo, Hale Nochi Guu
Here is the thing with this series: if you love black humour, then by all means: do not miss this series. The humour in this seires is pitch-black; it tries to make the life of the main character, Hale, as miserable as possible. It’s a journey to crack his mind. And in the process this series produces some absolutely delightful comedy. I watched this before starting this blog, so I don’t have a review of it on this site, but I have never seen a series that does abusive comedy with the same flair as this show. Because while most other series that are so dark, they lack one thing: they don’t feel genuine. And this series does. The downside is that this is quite a long comedy, and it’s not always funny. There will be plenty of annoying scenes amidst the hilarity. And how many other series take place in the junble? Oh, and it’s also got one of those instantly recognizable openings.

Chaos;Head
Chaos;Head is from the same series as Steins;Gate and Robotics;Notes, but apart from that it has absolutely nothing to do with them. It’s a story about paranoia and not knowing who you can trust while the fate of the world is at stake. Apparently the series really butchered the original source material it was based on, but meh. For someone who was unfamiliar to it, it was nice enough. It’s incredibly sloppy, I’ll give it that, and it’s also quite low-budget, but it has interesting ideas and interesting plot twists overall, but it’s also nothing special either. A nice watch if you’re in the mood for something paranoia-ish.

.Hack//Liminality
Tihs is one that my memory is very vague on, but what I remember is that I watched this after becoming a fan of .Hack//Sign. I was excited to see that there was more of the series with .Hack//Dusk and Liminality. While Dusk turned out to suck, Liminality had me intrigued, as it tells the background story of some of the concepts that were used in .Hack//Sign. I was young, and a lot of the dialogue went over my head, but thinking back, it definitely made an impression to me and it still stands as my second-favorite .hack//-installment after Sign.

Himitsu The Revelation
Those of you who followed my blog back in 2008 know that I was a REALLY big fan of this series. This series is based on the works of a mangaka who who has mastered the art of mystery. Her stories are the product of brilliance, and that also really shines through in the anime version. As a murder mystery, it knows exactly how much it should reveal. Every clue adds a tiny bit to the puzzle.The storie are all incredibly varied, and some of them can become really disturbing, but they are all chockful of creativity. Not to mention, the premise was amazing: after death, your memories can be downloaded and viewed, and they use that for murder victims in order to solve who killed them. Also, awesome soundtrack is awesome!

Bokura ga Ita
Here is an interesting shoujo series. I remember really liking it when I watched it. It supposedly had these really realistic characters and this very doned-down atmosphere for a shoujo series. The thing is though, that when I think back at it, I hardly remember anything that really captured me. Of course it was a long time ago and all, but I can only recall lots of angst (and I mean LOTS), along with nothing much happening for 26 episodes. So yeah, it’s probably very good if you like serious shoujo series, though I’m not sure anymore exactly why it was.

Yami to Boushi to Hon no Tabibito
Hentai game adaptations that are actually good are really rare. Especially back in the days in which this series was released (2003). Most really are dull harems with no effort put into them whatsoever. What set this series apart though, was its sense of adventure. It’s about this traveler who goes back and forth between a bunch of creative worlds and has a bunc of creative adventures. It’s not great or anything, there are a bunch of really juvenile and annoying characters here, but when compared to the same old stuff that you usually get with these kinds of series. And I also remember that it had a really good ending: the destination was worth the journey.