Anime Recommendations Thread

[skreyola]

Since you liked FMP, you might like Eureka Seven (only the original; I don't recommend the other E7 titles). It has a similar mix of mecha, romance, and character arcs. I found the ending unsatisfactory, but the show as a whole was very enjoyable, and I'm picky about endings.

You might also like Darker than Black.

[Zeke365]

I watch most of my anime online. So I don't have collection of anime but these are the anime I watch so far. I'm running out of anime to watch though. Please feel free to make suggestions for me based on this list. I will add to this list if I find more and l look at all the reviews here as well.



dub anime sub animes anime movies (dub movies)

1.D.N Angel
2.Sonic X (season 1 and 2)
3.Trigun
4.Last Exile
5.Angelic Layer
6.One piece
7.Avatar The Last airbender (American I know)
8.Stitch
9.Astro Boy (2003 series) 9.The Cat Returns
10.Yu-Gi-Oh! 10.Howl's Moving Castle
11.Superbook (orginal) 11.Tales from Earthsea
12.Flying house (orginal) 12.Arrietty
13.Fruits Basket
14.Ouran High School Host Club
15.Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle
16.Chobits (currently watching)
17..hack
18.Hamtaro
19.Clannad and after story.
20.Now and Then, Here and There
21.Sgt. Frog
22.Pokémon
23.Digimon
24.Sailor Moon
25.East of Eden (series and movies)
26.Mysterious Cities of Gold
27.Fushigi Yugi
28.Kanon 2006 (currently watching)
29.Princess Tutu

SUB animes/movies
1.Kirby
2.Sonic X (season 3)
3.Mario movie (old movie)
4.Animal Crossing movie
5.Stitch
6.Honey and Clover
7.Nagasarete Airantou (currently watching)

Dub anime movies

1.Digimon The Movie
2.Pokemon 1 and 2 and 3
3..Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro Special Edition
4..Ponyo
5.Summer Wars
6.My Neighbor Totoro
7..Porco Rosso
8.Spirited Away
9.The Cat Returns
10.Howl's Moving Castle
11.Tales from Earthsea
12.Arrietty
13.Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
14.Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva




Zeke365

Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Jul 20, 2013 12:02 pm

[mysngoeshere56]

So, this is a bit of a tall order, but I was wondering... does anybody know of a few anime shows with well-developed female lead characters?

I've seen a lot of anime, but one pattern I've noticed is that female characters are usually only used as love interests of the lead characters, or are given very little depth as far as their backstory and/or personalities go. If you've seen Pokemon, Misty is a perfect example of a running "female character" with a similar personality (sweet when the situation calls for it, smacks guys in the head when they get upset, lacks any sense of emotional depth, etc.). Kaoru from Kenshin is similar as far as her personality goes, at least in the anime. Most all of my favorite characters are male (the Elric brothers, Daisuke Niwa and Dark, the Ouran Host Club members, Sayoran/Fai/Kurogane, Zero Kiryuu, Kenshin, etc.), but I'm looking for a few female characters that are also enjoyable. I'm a bit picky about female characters, but here are a few examples of ones that I like...

Bleach - Rukia, though I didn't bother finishing this series because 1) I don't have time and 2) I hear her role gets vastly cut later on anyway.

Fullmetal Alchemist - I like the girls in FMA, even though not all of them are not necessarily leads, because their personalities are more well-rounded and just as realistic as the guys.

Ouran High School Host Club - I really like Haruhi, though I'll admit that the situation she's thrown into is getting old. That whole "one 'normal and smart' girl around a bunch of guys with one overly-exaggerated personality trait" move has totally been done before, but Haruhi is still a refreshing and well-rounded character, and the fact that Kyoya is a genius does sort've help balance out that cliche (usually the "one girl" is meant to seem smarter than all the guys, so it does seem like they try to balance out the fact that there's only one female character with "positive discrimination", but it typically makes me feel like she's just Mary Sue-ish).

Princess Tutu - Ahiru and Rue are both deeper characters than I initially expected them to be; both of them have really good motives and, being a dancer myself, I could definitely see those sorts of roles in a classical ballet performance.

Revolutionary Girl Utena - I won't elaborate on this series, because it's a DND title, but I will admit that Utena is one of my favorite female characters.

Shugo Chara! - Amu is an adorable character, and despite the fact that this anime does seem to cater mostly toward the young audience most magical girl anime aims for, she seems to be more well-developed in her personality (seeming "cool and spicy" but also "sweet and quiet"). I really like Amu, because she's really cute and sweet, but doesn't totally stray from being well-developed.

There are a few other female characters that I "like" in certain continuities, but not so much in others; for example, while I adore Fruits Basket in any form, Torhu does seem to be a bit Mary Sue-ish and very one-dimensional in the anime but the manga gives her a lot more depth. Sailor Moon is sort've a toss-up, because Usagi was annoying and whiny throughout most of its run, but does get a lot better in the last season (I like some of the outer senshi too, but their roles aren't as large as the other female characters I've mentioned above). I think the perfect example of female characters I'm looking to avoid would be those in Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch, as that one's basically full of cliched female characters (Luchia being the ditzy and clutsy girl who tries to save the world, Hanon being the stereotypical girl who obsesses over hot guys, Rina - though half decent - doesn't go beyond what you'd expect Hanon's polar opposite to be, etc.). Fairy Tail does the same with Lucy and Erza (gave up on this one because of length as well). Cardcaptor Sakura is one of my favorite animes, and while I love Sakura, I'll admit that her character isn't extremely developed in the sense that characters in most anime aimed for an older audience are (which is why I was particularly impressed with Amu, as she is, in my opinion).

Overall, my personal favorite kind of genres are darker, melancholy, and more Gothic stuff (for example, I'm a die-hard fan of Poe). Though I enjoy action and fighting shonen, I do also enjoy emotional/drama sort've anime, as well as some romantic shojo (as you can see with Ouran and Fruits Basket). All this still doesn't stop me from being a fan of Winnie the Pooh, though. As you can see, I'm obviously willing to give almost anything a chance. So... Anybody have any recommendations?

[Davidizer13]

So, this is a bit of a tall order, but I was wondering... does anybody know of a few anime shows with well-developed female lead characters?

Puella Magi Madoka Magica will be right up your alley, methinks, especially since you're a fan of Utena. If you're willing to dip into mecha (and you're not that concerned about mature content) Evangelion and Gunbuster are pretty good too.

[KazeShiki]

Hmm I'm not sure exactly how developed you are looking for in female characters, but what I understand is characters who at least have sustenance and aren't just "there because we need females in the story." The combination of dark genre, developed AND likable (for you) girl is throwing me off too. First, I'll second Gunbuster and Madoka.

Nanoha series - it's a magical girl series so obviously, largely female cast, but it's one of my favorites. The girls have their own personalities/beliefs/problems and while it may more often than not focus on action and beam spam over other things, the main characters definitely aren't flat.

Phantom: Requium for the Phantom - I think this might suit your tastes quite well as it's a fairly dark show. The main girl starts out very stoic and quiet but that's what gives room for her development. It's about brainwashed assassins, so lots of killing if you're okay with that.

Bungaku Shoujo - mainly a movie (+a few OVAs) so development might be less than what you want but the girls are all soooo well written. The movie is romance/drama but the character Miu I think will give you what you are looking for (actually, you might hate her... but the character is well done!). Touko is super lovable though. It's a crime to dislike her. Mizuki Nomura is just a really good writer of female characters.

Ginban Kaleidoscope - figure skating is similar enough to dancing right? I really only thought of this when I read you are a dancer so it might not be something you like but at the least the girl is not "just a love interest," although it's a romance so she still is.

Kara no Kyoukai - maaaaybe? Shiki might not be developed enough for you? I get the feeling you just won't like her type of character...I don't know. But she has an interesting and very unique background. Still an awesome heroine and a relatively dark and mature (one scene in particular stands out...) series of movies with very good animation.

[Kaori]

does anybody know of a few anime shows with well-developed female lead characters?

You might have already seen most of the well-known Hayao Miyazaki films (esp. Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle, Princess Mononoke) and the two Hosoda films with female main characters, Toki wo Kakeru Shojo and Ookami Kodomo Ame to Yuki, but of not, those would be a good starting place.

Paprika comes to mind because its female lead is very strong, complex, and multifaceted. Check the reviews on this to see if you're comfortable with the content, though.

Millennium Actress is far milder in terms of content, is all about exploring the life of the title character through her reminiscences about her film career, and is probably my single favorite anime movie.

You really need to see Haibane Renmei if you haven't. It has an almost-entirely-female cast, and their character development and growth as individuals is what the series is primarily about, though the world-building ties heavily into that as well.

Seconding Evangelion, though you'll need to be patient because IIRC the development of the two female pilots (esp. Asuka's backstory) doesn't happen until later in the series.

12 Kingdoms definitely needs to be mentioned because the main character is a girl who goes through an extraordinary amount of growth throughout the series. Again, be patient with this one, because she is pretty annoying for the first four episodes, but after that she gets much better. It's also just a really good, really overlooked fantasy series.

Also going to toss out the criminally-overlooked Otogizoushi (if the trope of a girl dressing as a boy to take the place of her sickly brother isn't too cliche for you). The characters live out their lives in the Heian era and then get reincarnated into modern-day Tokyo for the second half of the show; other than that I can't say very much that isn't a spoiler, only that the premise has to do with the heroine carrying out a task that her brother was supposed to do but can't because his health is too weak.

Vampire Princess Miyu is both an OVA series which has its own merits but is short and doesn't have much character development and a TV series in which the most significant development of Miyu's character takes place in the final arc. Whichever one you watch, it's not horror that is actually meant to frighten so much as supernatural stories about creatures that prey on humans and Miyu who hunts them. It's at most occasionally creepy, but Miyu has a pretty balanced personality and is very unlike the stereotypes you mentioned. Since you like the gothic genre it is probably at least worth checking out.

Finally, speaking of gothic, Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust is a movie with a very gothic atmosphere and a strong female character.

[Lynna]

So, this is a bit of a tall order, but I was wondering... does anybody know of a few anime shows with well-developed female lead characters?

I was going to mention Shugo Chara, but then I saw you've already seen it. If you haven't read the manga, though, it isn't as juvenile as the anime, and has a much better ending.
While I've never actually watched Spice and Wolf, I saw a review that heralded the lead female as one of the greatest female chacters ever, so you might want the check that out.

While Tomoya is technically the main character, Clannad has some very interesting female characters, and it's an anime that that lots of people consider to be really, really good. It's not necessarily gothic, but the second part of the show, AfterStory, basically attempts to rip your heart out.

Aria is a slice-of-life, so I'm not sure how you'd like it, but almost it's entire main cast is female, and I never felt like any of them were cardboard-cut or put in a box. I will admit, though, that I've only read the manga.


Juliet of Romeo x Juliet is pretty well-rounded, unlike the original Juliet. If you watch it, watch it dubbed, because it is fantastic, and I'm not even a dub person. It can be pretty intense, but I suppose it's not really gothic either.

I also second Madoka Magica and Haibane Renmei.

[skreyola]

So, this is a bit of a tall order, but I was wondering... does anybody know of a few anime shows with well-developed female lead characters?

I'll second the recommendation of Madoka.

Some others that came to mind:
Bamboo Blade, Tari Tari, Beast Player Erin, Glass Mask, Sora no Woto, Croisee in a Foreign Labyrinth, and Gunslinger Girl, among others. Also, anything by Bee Train, probably.

[little.gun.nut]

Hey guys! I was wondering if anyone new of some good dubbed anime? I have already seen:
Princess Jellyfish
Vampire Knight
Vampire Knight Guilty
FMA
FMA:Brotherhood
Princess Tutu
Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles(plus the OVA's)
And some others.

[Vii]

^I dunno what genre you're looking for, but here's a list of anime I've watched dubbed and would recommend:

- Ouran High School Host Club (comedy, bit of romance)
- Baccano! (action, mystery)
- Durarara (action-ish, drama, sort of mystery)
- RahXephon (mecha)
- Fruits Basket (slice of life, drama, comedy)
- Mushishi (supernatural, thought-provoking)
- Romeo x Juliet (romance, drama, some action)
- Eureka Seven (mecha, action, drama)
- Wolf's Rain (drama, adventure, wolves)
- Soul Eater (shonen, fighting, friendship)

[little.gun.nut]

Thank you Vii! I have seen Ouran and Soul Eater and loved them! I will look into the others! Thanks again!

[mysngoeshere56]

Wow! Thanks everybody, I had no idea I'd get this many recommendations. They should keep me busy for awhile.

And in regards to little.gun.nut, if you liked Ouran, you'll probably like Fruits Basket too. You won't be able to get the whole story without turning to the manga, but the anime is still very fun. Regardless of form, Fruits Basket is one of my favorites. And if you liked Tsubasa, have you also seen xxxHOLiC? If not, then you could try that if you want to. It takes place in the same continuity, but it focuses on what happens in Yuko's world, so it's sort've like an alternate view of the Tsubasa universe.

[skreyola]

@little.gun.nut: Like Vii, here's my list:
I'll second Romeo x Juliet.
Chance Pop Session
Heat Guy J
Nanaka 6/17
Black Cat
School Rumble
Those are the ones I scored highly and saw dubbed.
Most, if not all, of these are available on Hulu, which is where I saw them.
Fruits Basket is a good anime, but I didn't care for some of the VAs for the dub.

[little.gun.nut]

Okay guys, thank! I will look into them!

[SierraLea]

So, this is a bit of a tall order, but I was wondering... does anybody know of a few anime shows with well-developed female lead characters?

The Story Of Saiunkoku is centered entirely around a girl. I also think Aquarion has something to offer.

[MangaRocks!]

Got a quick question for you guys:

Apparently I've somehow gotten better at handling violence recently, because-- to my personal surprise-- I was actually able to watch all of the violence in Sword Of The Stranger, Psycho-Pass (this one was especially surprising to me, considering the police guns' *ASPLODE* setting and the criminals' insanity, etc. ), and all of the currently-released Monogatari series with no problems whatsoever! (...Well, okay, actually that one fight in ep. 8 of Bakemonogatari, and the fight in the finale of Nekomonogatari: Black, were both a little sickening -- though, mercifully, the former still wasn't *quite* as graphic as it could have been, due to the artistic color-splattering-changing of certain organs elements at certain moments -- but *otherwise* the violence was fine. )

So, my question is, now that I've been able to clear those visual levels , how's Baccano! in comparison? Because I've been planning to read the Baccano! novels for a while now anyway (and I'm looking forward to them), however I was *also* given some strong recommendations to watch the anime as well back in one of the "Best Anime" threads-- to which I had responded that, from what I'd heard about the series, the violence in the anime might have been a bit much for me visually (at the time). Now, though, I'm wondering if (...well, aside from that infamous train track scene I keep hearing about ) I was perhaps overestimating it (I mean, in comparison to all the stuff that I was able to handle in the first few titles I mentioned )...? What do you think?

[mysngoeshere56]

So, this is a bit of a tall order, but I was wondering... does anybody know of a few anime shows with well-developed female lead characters?

The Story Of Saiunkoku is centered entirely around a girl. I also think Aquarion has something to offer.

I haven't heard of either of those, so I'll have to add them to my "to watch" list. Thank you!

[Mr. Hat'n'Clogs]

I think if the Psycho-Pass guns didn't beat you it would be worth giving Baccano! an episode, at least.

[MangaRocks!]

I think if the Psycho-Pass guns didn't beat you it would be worth giving Baccano! an episode, at least.

Excellent! Thanks, Hat!

[GeneD]

@MangaRocks, let me know when you start reading the Baccano novels so that I have someone to geek out over them with. ^__^

I don't think Baccano! is necessarily more graphically violent than Psycho-Pass but some of it may be a little more disturbing since, for me at least, the violence can sometimes be more personal than in Psycho-Pass, but I totally agree with Hat, give it a try.

[MangaRocks!]

@MangaRocks, let me know when you start reading the Baccano novels so that I have someone to geek out over them with. ^__^

I don't think Baccano! is necessarily more graphically violent than Psycho-Pass but some of it may be a little more disturbing since, for me at least, the violence can sometimes be more personal than in Psycho-Pass, but I totally agree with Hat, give it a try.

I will definitely let you know!

And thank you for your advice, as well.

[steenajack]

So, I've been curious about the anime "Sword Art Online"...(hi guys! Long time no see.) What exactly is the content for it? Particularly violence and sexual content/nudity/fanservice. Also, is the show any good? I keep hearing that I should try it. But is it as good as people say?

[steenajack]

Nevermind, I found out through a review about some of the content. That being said, has anyone seen Sukitte Ii Na Yo/Say “I Love You"?
I'm just curious about the content of that and whether or not it's any good.

[skreyola]

@steenjack: Some violence, some covered nudity, some sexual situations; Inappropriate relationships are discussed from time to time.
That said, I rated the show 7/10.

[Zeke365]

I'm looking for any good comedy anime between Pg-13-16. No rated r stuff but not kids either. No Vampire stories or magical supernatural stuff (though I am trying hero tales). No after the dead stuff perfectly dubbed. Look up on a a list of anime under zeke365 and if you think of any other anime that might fit my style please post them running out of anime to watch (Bleach, narto, and Kiba is a no)

[AngelicTotoro]

I can't remember if I already asked about this...
So, I'm mostly okay with violence and swearing (just not, you know, hoards of it.) and I'd like to maybe watch Record of Lodoss War, but my main concern is spells/incantations and magic circles. :x How bad is it? (because I find most of the time that those things are no-no's for myself. It bothers me greatly you see.) And if I did watch it, which version? Both?

[GeneD]

Mmm I saw this a long time ago but I remember it having mostly standard fantasy magic and a built in mythology with gods and goddesses. There's some reincarnation stuff too, which along with the mythology is significant to the plot towards the end. If you watch it the 13 episode OAV is first, Chronicles of the Heroic Knight is kind of a sequel series and kind of a re-telling if I recall correctly. Personally I preferred the OAV.

[AngelicTotoro]

okay, well, mythology and gods and goddesses don't really bother me all that much, and if the incantations are at a minimum and magic circles are like not really there, then it's okay.
(like seriously, symbolism is the biggest worry for me here.)
Is that the case?
(if so then I'll watch both. If not, oh well, I'll live without it. :b)

[skreyola]

I'm looking for any good comedy anime between Pg-13-16. No rated r stuff but not kids either. No Vampire stories or magical supernatural stuff (though I am trying hero tales). No after the dead stuff perfectly dubbed. Look up on a a list of anime under zeke365 and if you think of any other anime that might fit my style please post them running out of anime to watch (Bleach, narto, and Kiba is a no)

Couldn't find your list; could you link, please?

[GeneD]

Sorry AngelicTotoro, I honestly can't remember the details that well. The best advice I can give is watch an episode or two to check it out yourself and drop it if something bothers you.