Anime that Doesn't Suck

[Bekul]

Okay, three parts - classics, new/lesser known stuff, and non-anime stuff, of either the series, movie, or ova variety. I realize I'm missing a ton of stuff here, this mostly off the top of my head and what I've got on my HD. I'm hoping you'll be able to add in what I've missed.

Also, I'm wanting debate, so if there's something here you think sucks, please, rant about it. I'm wanting discussion and debate here, because I'm bored and curious.

---

1) Classics/Well-Known'ish Anime (that don't suck):

Evangelion
Cowboy Bebop
Serial Experiements Lain
Ghost in the Shell (the movie, and Stand Alone Complex)
Sailor Moon (haven't seen it all, but its one of those Otaku rights of passage)
Akira
Ninja Scroll (very NSFW)
Kenshin
Gunbuster (Gunbuster II is in the next section)
Trigun
Berserk (skip the last 2 eps, because holy fuck, though the manga treats the anime as 'prologue' so meh)
Full Metal Alchemist
Haibane Renmei
Stars Chronicles (Crest of the Stars-Birth, Crest of the Stars, Banner of the Stars, Banner of the Stars II, Banner of the Stars III)
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
Azumanga Daioh
Noir
Love Hina (though personally I found the fem-dom abusiveness to be... eh)

2) New'ish/Less-famous Anime
Gunbuster 2
Mai-Otome (it gets better, trust me)
AirMaster (yeah has crappy/gah parts, but enough cool fight scenes to make it worth it)
Mushishi
Ichigo Mashimaro (it's sweet without the hyperness of Azumanga Daoih, if you can get past a couple creepy-loli moments)
Lovely Complex (seriously. teenage high-school love drama comedy that doesn't suck donkey dong? Only on the third ep, but it doesn't take itself seriously, or make me gag)
Zombie Loan
Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei (freaking hilarious)
Rozen Maiden (if you can get past the 'loli dolls drinking tea' aspect of it, desu)
Jungle wa Itsumo Hale nochi Gu (random Guu is random, Guu)

3: Also you know what? Lets get some decent animation stuff in here that's not anime, that is, North American/European stuff, of which I'm sadly ignorant of there being much to name worth watching:

Aeon Flux (the movie was shit, the animation, awesome)
The Maxx
Spawn (again, the animated version, not the live-action steaming pile)
Avatar (the reason why I realized this needed a non-anime section here)
Reboot (mid-late 90's computer animation that got decent once out from the thumb of network censors)



---

So yeah, basic list there of stuff that isn't crap, imho. Or do I have some stuff up there that really sucks? Let me know. What am I missing?

[Neko7]

Pfff...

To find

Cowboy Bebop
Serial Experiements Lain
Trigun
Full Metal Alchemist
Azumanga Daioh
Noir

in the Classics part, instead of the New'ish really make me feel how old I am...

[Viking-Sensei]

I'll throw a few more into the mix, yo:

Really Real Classics (as in OLD):
Ranma 1/2
Megazone 23
Godmars
Almost anything involving Lupin
Super Bestial Machine God Dancouga
Irresponsible Captain Tylor
Space Pirate Captain Harlock
Endless Orbit SSX (Also Captain Harlock)
Robot Carnival
Flame of Recca (The first half, anyway)
Maze
Big O

Newer/Less Common:
GoDanner Parts 1 and 2
Excel Saga
Infinite Ryvius
Blood+ (The Series)
and lastly... King of the Fuckin' Braves... GAOGAIGAR!!!

Good in Japanese, CLASSIC in "Uhmerican"
Voltron
Robotech
Starblazers
Starvengers (Getter Robo/Getter Robo G)
Battle Of The Planets

Awesome Stuff You've Probably Never Heard Of (Some of which may not have been released in the US... ahem... ahem...):
Tri-Zenon
G-Dangaioh
Tenshi Ni Nuramon (Not sure if that's spelled right)
Akazukin Chacha

Good Original American Stuffs:
Invader ZIM
The Venture Bros
Chowder
Lucy (Daughter of the Devil)

[zanntos]

More good stuff not yet listed (note that you may need to fansub these)
Shakugan no Shana
Kaze no Stigma
Zero no Tsukaima

A matter of taste (you might lilke or hate this)
Lucky Star
Negima
Ah! My Goddess

The Dub is GOOD?!?
Hellsing
R.O.D (Read or Die)

Watching this season (so obviously fansubbed and/or youtubed)
Shakugan no Shana Second Season (ok, not quite as good as first season, lots of charactor developement)
Da Capo II (all the old Da Capo goodness without several of the more... toxic... old elements)
Zero no Tsukaima Second Season (done at this point, also not quite as good as first season)
Rental Magica (good series, does a bit of Haruhi chronological mix up so a little disorienting at first)

[Vavrek]

Well, I'm not sure I have much to say about what's already up there. (Except that I really need to watch Lain someday.) However, I'd like to add something you missed.

Samurai Champloo
Made by Shinichiro Watanabe, the same Writer/Director as Cowboy Bebop and my favorite parts of The Animatrix: A Kid's Story and A Detective's Story. Samurai Champloo has a number of similarities to Cowboy Bebop, and I feel it represents certain character designs far better. On the other hand, it's a whole lot less approachable for the average person, because rather than the "Space, Jazz, and the Old West" of Bebop, Champloo combines the mid 1600s Japan with the early days of hip-hop culture and aspects of modern day Japan. I recommend it to anyone who liked Cowboy Bebop.

[zanntos]

Still haven't got around to watching either of those sadly. I think half the problem is i know that Cowboy Bebop is pretty high on the "thou shalt watch" list of anime and i just drag my feet a bit about watching stuff i feel is on that list. Evangelion didn't do much to help my aversion to the "popular stuff" either, End of Evangelion damages your brain. I will probably get around to watching Cowboy Bebop at some point, but i tend to stay fairly busy watching more recent stuff so more "classic" stuff has a bit of a time making it to my watch list. Also being a bit of a sucker for the insanity of Harem series doesn't help.

Just finished watching Air here recently, good series but so full of hate for the ending, so good and yet so annoying.

[Imp-Chan]

I really liked Full Moon wo Sagashite back when I was downloading.

And I like the Nerima Daikon Brothers, too.

^-^'

[Vavrek]

Don't worry yourself about Cowboy Bebop. It's highly recommended because it's very good... in an easy to pick up, high quality, action-comedy way. There's a story to it, but unless you're watching the whole series, it's not the Important part. Pick up a random episode from the middle (I recommend #9) and watch it to get a feel for the show. I have a friend who's heard all the "This is amazing, you must watch this" about Bebop, but he just doesn't like the style of it.

Evangelion, in my opinion, only belongs on these lists because of the huge cultural phenomenon around it. It doesn't feel good in-of-itself to me.

[Viking-Sensei]

Don't worry yourself about Cowboy Bebop. It's highly recommended because it's very good... in an easy to pick up, high quality, action-comedy way. There's a story to it, but unless you're watching the whole series, it's not the Important part. Pick up a random episode from the middle (I recommend #9) and watch it to get a feel for the show. I have a friend who's heard all the "This is amazing, you must watch this" about Bebop, but he just doesn't like the style of it.

Evangelion, in my opinion, only belongs on these lists because of the huge cultural phenomenon around it. It doesn't feel good in-of-itself to me.

Plus, you know, Evangelion did sort of ruin giant robot anime for about 10 years afterwards. Every time there's an influential mecha series, for years and years we get the fallout (IE bad clones) of it... Platinum Hugen Ordian, Fafner, Rah Xenaphon, Dual, Martian Successor Nadiesco, Infinite Ryvius... all are tainted (at least conceptually) by Evangelion. Now, I'm not saying they're all bad... I liked several of them... but I can just feel that the story planning meeting went something like "I have a wonderful idea for a giant robot anime." "Yes, yes, we like it... but can you make it more like Evangelion?"

[zanntos]

Well it could be worse on the giant robot front, you can always dive into the pain that is Gundam where you have a million series that all tend to feel the same. Some are still good, but there are only so many times you can watch the same "Emo teenager on giant mech" theme before it gets old. And on that front i'll post a link to a comic that i think sums it up pretty nicely, Commissioned Nov 22, 2007 you know it to be true.