Are there any animes or TV shows you can’t stop recommending?
I RECOMMEND EVERYBODY LOVES HYPNOTOAD. IT IS A GREAT SHOW.
ALL HAIL THE HYPNOTOAD.
I feel like I’m missing the context… Where did this meme starALL HAIL THE HYPNOTOAD.
ALL HAIL THE HYPNOTOAD
ALL HAIL THE HYPNOTOAD
ALL HAIL THE HYPNOTOAD
👏😐👏😐👏
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OMG!!! I get to recommend Delicious in Dungeon!!! The show is a bit of a slow burn, but the early episodes set up the incredible world building and the basic plot points. Then as it starts churning it gets crazy. The story is strong enough on it’s own, but it’s animated by Studio Trigger so the anime is pure perfection.
I keep hearing it’s amazing but I bounced off hard on the first couple episodes. I wish anime didn’t need the 5 episodes rule, things should sell themselves from the start. Maybe I’ll give it another go. My wife is keen to watch it.
I powered through as I kept hearing everyone recommend this. It felt pointless because I didn’t get watching a cooking show about stuff you could never eat because it isn’t real.
The comments I read said it took a tonal shift when they finally got back to the red dragon. It’s about halfway through, which took me weeks to get to.
The second half is awesome! If this is what it was like all along, it would have been amazing. The first half gives you nothing to expect what the second half is, which makes it feel more intense, but I still feel is kinda terrible pacing.
I want more now because the characters really are good, which is probably why they used that first half the way they did, but it was tough before seeing where it was going. Frieren had a much better buildup before it really started getting serious for example.
Drag liked the first half better. Drag came for the cooking. Drag thinks the second half has too much drama. Drag likes the kitty, though.
anon does not judge Drag negatively for having different preferences. anon understands why a dragon person may not enjoy the second half. anon also approves of the kitty. anon and drag find common ground.
I was hooked by the second episode.
I was also watching a lot of cooking shows while playing Elden Ring. So maybe it was right fit right time.
Read the manga first to get past that initial hump. You can clear like 5 episodes worth of material in the time it takes to watch an episode and see if it’s for you.
Gurren Lagan
Fucken watch it
Also,
Log Horizon is what SAO wishes it was
Just who the hell do you think we are?
Yeah absolutely clicked on this to spout my spiel about Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. It’s my favorite anime ever.
Neon Genesis Evangelion is up there too, but I like TTGL more.
Fuck i forgot about Gurren Lagan. What am I doing with my life
Gurren Lagan
What is so great about this? Just watched the first couple of eps. First impression is not good: It seems like the classical mindless shonen fighting anime alongside pretty childish humor and a distastefully sexualized main female character. Her outfit is literally a bikini and she’s sexualized in the very first scene and in basically every scene she’s in since that one, wtf?
Clearly your drill is not the drill that will pierce the heavens. /s It’s not for everyone, and for all the sexualization there is never any sex or nudity depicted. At least you gave it a try though!
The Good Place
Season 1 is just setting up the story
Holy motherforking shirtballs… someone stole my post idea!
Maybe not everyone cup of tea but to me Mr. Robot.
At first sight you may thinking the show is about “individual” hacker taking down corporate but once you understand it has longer lasting effect especially when you relate/something similar with Elliot. The cinematography, the score is chef kiss👌🏻, Season 2 slow burns on the first half but worth to not miss them.
The magical thing is this show on rewatch make more sense and definitely Sam Esmail planned everything from get go on writing.
Among the best TV series I have seen.
The thing that’s so great about Mr. Robot is that it ends perfectly. You can tell the show writers decided exactly what story they wanted to tell and then executed on that plan. They didn’t just meander about and eventually land on a half-assed ending once the show’s budget dried up.
I disagree. First season was perfect. But then it went downhill into unresolved Lost mystery boxes. The last episode of the last season itself was great but Esmail had no idea how to fill out the episodes of the last season to get there.
He was throwing around split personalities like Ronald Moore threw around Cylons. The time machine story went nowhere despite a multi season build up.
imo the ending, last half of season 4 is justified. If you take the “Time machine” fan theory and in case of Elliot meeting himself to me it’s just happen inside his head like what happen at some moment in S1 and S2.
For split personalities/MPD, if you rewatch the show Sam Esmail definitely laid out everything from start ever since Season 1, that’s why rewatching the show especially on S1 some scenes make senses.
Watched this show back in late 2022. Avoided forums/online discussion so I can fully grasp the show on my own thoughts.
Yes the split personality was fine. It was the last season where there’s child Elliot split personality and, mom split personality. And no, they weren’t in Season 1.
Esmail went down the Ronald Moore path where he had an idea but lied to the audience that he had a plan. Again first season was perfect but I don’t think Esmail expected it to be such a success and quickly had to fill in extra seasons with mystery boxes.
SPOILER ALERT
First time I realized that the ending/revelation was that near in S1, jaw dropped really hard.
@Crafter72
I watched a good chunk of it when it was first coming out, but I had to drop it because i was frankly not in a good enough place to hear the things that show was trying to say.I can see your point as I watch the show after everything released (late 2022).
I was only able to get a couple episodes in. When his surrogate gay dad said that he’d do anything for him and two scenes later you have Rami Malek going “AHH I have noone who can help me what do I do?!??”, I couldn’t keep watching.
Though it might also be my inability to watch a show where characters get ‘worse’. I got upto the third last episode of Arcane and when a pivotal moment in a characters story went bad It took me 5 days to finish the show.
Honestly, Cowboy Bebop. The universe it builds feels lived-in, and the animation style is incredibl, but the music is really the star.
Be aware, however, that while there are happy moments, it is an anime about bounty hunters, and there are very few happy endings. Beautiful endings, poetic endings, satisfying endings - but never happy.
Bang.
See you space cowboy…
Scavengers Reign is incredible, easily the best animated sci fi show made in the past few years IMO. It’s weird and emotional and deeply sincere in a way a lot of media isn’t anymore.
If you liked Fantastic Planet you’ll probably like Scavengers Reign.
I really enjoyed this show. The characters were all good the life cycles and the weird biology were interesting and largely made sense. There were only a couple points where I went that’s silly the writers clearly just wanted x to happen but x was cool enough for the silly to not bother me too much, it just took me out the moment a little. Solid recommendation, one of the best sci-fi I’ve watched in the last couple years.
scavengers reign knocked me on my ass, great recommendation.
thanks for the recommandation. I just bingewatched it. Not my kind of show since the story is so thin: It’s a road trip,
except the road is full of weird alien biology plant slowly trying to kill you
But that crazy alien biology is cool to watch
Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End
The first half was some of the best anime I’ve seen. Then it devolved into a by the numbers shonen complete with a magical school and “tests” with unnecessary action scenes. I was ultimately disappointed by it because the whole season didn’t live up to the amazingly high standard the first few episodes set. I still enjoyed it and would give it a solid recommendation but it gets worse as it goes on in my opinion. The first half where you are properly seeing the world through the eyes of someone ageless has that beautiful sadness I don’t think I’ve seen anywhere else.
The first episodes just gave me existential dread every time haha. So I was glad when they “softened up” after a while. But in hindsight, you’re right, the end of season 1 got somewhat stereotypical. I wonder if season 2 will be better.
100% agree with you. Loved the first half and was really let down by the 2nd.
The only other show that’s given me similar vibes to the 1st half of Frieren was Violet Evergarden. Not so much for the content but in the melancholic, beautiful-yet-bittersweet vibes the whole show gives off.
I think that show greatly benefitted from the limited runtime though and would have suffered if they’d tried to push it out to Frieren length.
Steins;Gate, can’t believe I haven’t seen anyone mention it yet. It’s good, but do watch at least halfway before you judge it.
Yeah this one takes several episodes to set the hook and understand some behaviors. But once it does it’s binge worthy
This one happened during a period when moe was more brain-dead than cute, and the sister character who is supposed to be his motivation for everything just ruins the whole show for me she acts so stupid.
There’s definitely a bit of untasteful moe stuff but it’s not a big part of the show. But yea it would be better without it.
Mayushii acting stupid I cannot recognise at all. She’s just extremely genuine and she’s probably way more emotionally intelligent than any other character in the show.
It’s been a very long time since I watched it, but I distinctly recall being very annoyed by her character. I just checked out the Wiki, and the very first line on her personality is “[she] possesses an extremely childish and naïve attitude for her age.” While not stupid exactly , is just about what I recall hating about her.
Better call Saul - a beautiful drama with a hint of comedy and action. Better than Breaking bad and doesn’t require much knowledge of it.
And then once you finish it, you can watch Breaking Bad again. Then El Camino. Then loop back around the Better Call Saul again. And once you’re done, you can watch Breaking Bad again…
Gurren Lagan, to second like a dozen people. Kill la Kill is A+ if you can get over it being weird Also I adored Promare.
Cyberpunk Edgerunners is another great one from Trigger. Set in Night City, same world the Cyberpunk 2077 game, a year or so beforehand (but the plots are largely independent).
Real strong warning though: There are no happy endings in Night City. The ending will fuck you up.
Yeah someone already spoiled me on that, I find myself not enjoying stuff that has turbo-downer endings.
Wife refused to watch anime because “of all the weird shit”. Inuyasha broke the ice, Naruto got her a little further, and then I said “Let’s watch this - but I’m going to tell you right now, your first reaction is going to be to recoil and cringe. But I promise - if you give it a chance, you’ll enjoy it”.
And probably ONLY because she loves me so much, she did give it a chance. And WOO boy that helped open the flood gates to sooooo much more. She loved Kill La Kill by the end of it, and ended up being so much more willing to trod through uncomfortable stuff with me. Which, unfortunately, sometimes you have to do when it comes to Anime.
My wife sat down and started watching JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure with me on a whim about half way through part one and she’s a bigger weeb than I am now.
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David Tennant deserved an award
For anime, I highly suggest Serial Experiments Lain if you haven’t seen it. Non-anime cartoons I’d recommend are Adventure Time and Lower Decks (its star trek and hilarious). For crude/absurd humor Rick and Morty and Human Resources. For non-animated tv I’d recommend Strange New Worlds (star trek again), Sandman, Fall of the House of Usher, Severance (I haven’t seen season 2 yet but the 1st season was really good)
I had like a good month long period where I’d just randomly stop whatever I was doing and think to myself, “God DAMN Fall of the House of Usher was SO GOOD.”
Really? I’m super curious what made you feel this way. I have to say I was pretty underwhelmed by it compared to Flanagan’s other series’.
It may have been because Poe was one of the few authors I read as a kid, and seeing what they did with the stories tickled my brain in all the right ways.
Delicious in Dungeon!
I recommend this to non-anime fans too! The episodes are so good and non-anime tropey.
Another one that I found gave a kinda similar feel is Dr Stone.
Though instead of diving deep into fantasy mechanics, that one is based on real world physics (well, other than some characters having super-human levels of skill) and rebuilding a modern society from scratch.
I find them similar due to their attention to detail and using their environment to build up their capabilities. The overall plot is very different and DinD has a bit more charm. Not that Dr Stone doesn’t have charm.
If I could choose which one I want to see one more season of right now, I’d pick DinD. If I could choose which one gets seen through to the end, I’d pick Dr Stone.
I just couldn’t get into the groove with Dr. Stone. I felt it required a much greater degree of suspension of disbelief since the setting is rooted in our reality, but they hand-wave over a lot of infrastructure needed to create the technologies they produce. When they got to cell phones/radios I just had to stop.
Tap for spoiler
Yeah, I think they shouldn’t have called them cell phones, they looked like just AM radios, which aren’t that complicated. Just need a microphone (membrane attached to a magnet), amplifier (they used vacuum tubes), and an antenna (whose length would determine the frequency). Receiver is the same thing but backwards (with adjusted geometry on the mic/speaker, but they are electrically the same). If they had the vacuum tubes, copper wire, and magnets (which they could make more of once they had one), then I don’t think that part was that far fetched (though I could be missing something big tbf). But a cell phone is a lot more than a 2-way AM radio, even if you’re talking about a simple phone with no display.
Biggest issue I had with suspension of disbelief was when they used a vehicle without a road system. Roads came before cars in our history and had to be good enough for horses to pull carts. Using a two stroke steam engine to generate enough torque for offroading with those basic tires was a big hand wave IMO.
Oh also the whole using a celebrity impersonation to convince some of the other side that the US was back up and running was a weak tactic. Like I’m glad they had it immediately get noticed, but a better way to do that bluff would have been to just have other “radio chatter” going on to make it sound like they had joined up with others, at which point they could have talked about all kinds of technologies that might have taken the fight out of people from the modern era.
This one is great. I was skeptical the first three episodes, but around ep 4 it picked up and the plot just went into overdrive. I really enjoyed it!
Thanks for your comment, I gave it 2 episodes and stopped. I’ll give it another go.
I’m the same. Watched the first two and was like this isn’t for me. If you continue and like it, let me know
Yeah, around ep 4 they stop making it like a cooking show and it starts to get interesting. They still have those little cooking montages, but it stops being the focus.
Those montages and deep dives into monster mechanics and biology are my favorite parts of the show.
I love that peeling away the layers of fantasy. It feels like a DnD campaign where the players wanted to get really weird with stretching the rules while staying within them and the DM enthusiastically agreed and joined the party with their dwarf that had been doing that for years.
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Frieren was awesome but it’s so fresh I’m not absolutely sure it’ll keep being that
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Severance season 1 (follow-up seasons upcoming, not sure if they can keep up with the extremely high quality of S1)
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True Detective season 1
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Madoka was great, thanks to tight storytelling and the best soundtrack I’ve ever heard
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Kino’s Journey – somewhat similar to Frieren but 20 years prior
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Chernobyl (2019)
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Dr Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog
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Firefly
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Twin Peaks, especially seasons 1 and 3, but season 2 and the movie might be needed to fully appreciate
- Frieren was awesome but it’s so fresh I’m not absolutely sure it’ll keep being that.
Oh but it does (imo), I mainly read but I think Frieren and Atelier Witch Hat is the strongest running fantasy series currently.
Thats only because bookworm just ended. Idk if you’re into light novels but its the best piece of media i might have even consumed three and a half times.
Are you referring to Ascendance of a Bookworm? If so, would you recommend I keep watching the anime whenever a new season comes out, or jump into the manga?
You are right on the series, but its not the manga. The manga(s) are covering the first 3 parts, but none of them are complete. The anime is going in order but its only decent. Read the bookworm books, i personally have read over a 1000 books. This will be the best you ever read if you pick it up
For a different recommendation, im currently on book 11 of wheel of time and its also a masterpiece with plenty of flaws.
Ok, I’ll plan on reading the light novels then. Seems like it’s pretty long, and I personally adore the premise, so I’m really looking forward to this!
Since you added on a separate recommendation with Wheel of Time, I’ll add one as well and hope it’s not in your >1k books yet: the webnovel called Worm. If you already read it, I’d love to hear your thoughts instead :)
I’ve been wanting to re-watch firefly lately. It’s short but there’s just so much in it. It’s one of two shows I’ve watched start-to-finish more than once.
And since we’re here for recommendations…the other show I’ve watched more than once is Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency. Based on a book by Douglas Adams (Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy) it’s charming and insane in ways you might expect if you’re familiar with Hitchhiker’s Guide but it’s absolutely not predictable either. So much fun. (Available on Netflix (in Canada…last I checked))
Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency
Yeah that’s a good one. Especially the first season, but the second ain’t bad either.
Twin peaks has a third season?
Yup, the season’s called the return. If you liked the first two seasons you should watch it
I struggled to watch season 2 & 3. Fortunately, I had a buddy who watched with me because some scenes, you really question the choices.
As a whole ride on Mr Lynch’s crazy train, I enjoyed it.
Yes and it’s awesome.
Having pushed past season 2, I think the rest of True Detective is worth watching, although they’re still very different from the first.
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