[Anime] Suggestions With A Purpose

[Geckomayhem]

And that purpose is to improve my Japanese listening skills while at the same time receiving both visual input and enjoyment from what I am doing. I know full well that a lot of anime uses unrealistic circumstances as well as language (kono yarrou! kutabare! etc); but there are sure to be a good number of cultural, humourous, historic, intriguing anime that I am unfamiliar with, and which I can get into while also increasing my listening ability. I'm a very visual person, so listening to J-drama podcasts and the like is pretty torturous.

Here's a bit of history: I used to be a big anime fan. I watched a fair amount across the board, from comedies to full-on fighting. After moving to Japan, my watching dwindled until it was non-existent. Is that irony? One of the main reasons I moved here was to get access to more anime, and instead I "outgrew" it or something. But I want to get back into it!

So, being about three years out of the loop, but having tried to work on my Japanese skills for the last three and a half years (all but the last six months having been banging my head against a wall of frustration), I'd like to know what sort of anime people are watching these days. Consider how realistic the language is, and suggest things that have interesting content, maybe a bit of humour, but a good overall storyline. I still love action, but a lot of action-oriented series seem to lack a good story and, as I said, use "anime" language.

I won't go on. Just seeing what people around here think and where a good place to launch back into it all would be. I heard that Clannad: After Story was pretty emotional and had a good story. I did watch Clannad a few years ago and, surprisingly, liked it (since I'm no drama fan in the least). That's a good place to start. I'm sure there are dozens of series that people could throw at me. So a little bit about what stuff is about and maybe a one line review would help me a lot.

If worst comes to worst, I'll just go back and re-watch stuff that I've seen and really enjoyed. But if there is recent, fresh stuff that is likely to hook my interest, by all means, fire away!

Arigatou gozaimasu.

[Aksor]

I'm pretty sure all the anime's I've watched have "anime-language", so can't help you there (naruto, FMA, etc)
but little question, are you still living in japan?
and....: Death note was really good, if you haven't watched it yet, go watch it

[Skizzit]

Well I do not speak Japanese so I am not sure I would be able to tell if a series has realistic language or not. You might want to steer clear of period anime series, like ones that take place in the Edo or Meiji period because they will sometimes use older styles of speech.

Have you seen Fullmetal Alchemist or Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood? Very good series. Good action, interesting characters, a bit of humor and a really great plot. Both Fullmetal Alchemist and FMA: Brotherhood are adaptations of the same manga. The first one started while the manga was still ongoing so when they can out of plot from the manga, they wrote the rest of the series themselves. Thankfully, the manga author oversaw the series to the end and helped them write a decent series. Way better then most anime original filler. Then a few years later when the manga was finished they figured since the first series did so well, they should redo it and this time have be completely true to the manga. Both are good, but I liked Brotherhood a bit better.

You might want to watch some comedy series as well, especially ones that have alot of puns. I am just guessing here, but I would think that puns would help with those words / phrases that either sound alot like each other or have the same pronunciation but different meaning. Gintama might be a good series for that. Outside of the pun humor, it also does alot of parodies and poke fun at anime cliches. It also does have a few more serious story arcs and even some pretty good action.

[Incognito Noctix]

- Hajime no Ippo (Fighting Spirit): It's an anime about boxing, but even if you're not into that you should really watch it. A young bullied boy meets a pro boxer and aspires to be stronger. He goes on to become a professional himself through the course of the series. The story is great, and even the filler eps and movies are greatly entertaining.

- Death Note: A Death God drops his Notebook into the human world. If a name is written in the notebook, that person dies. A young student finds this book and starts punishing criminals. It's got great intellectual stuff. A GREAT story. You should watch it. Preferably right now.

- Code Geass: Futuristic anime; Britannia has invaded and overtaken Japan and most of the world. Some rebels remain, and a small group starts fighting back for Japan's freedom. Also a REALLY nice anime, with some nice plot twists and intellectual stuff as well.

- Hikaru no Go: About the game of Go (sort of like chess); A spirit from ancient Japan accompanies a young boy on a "quest" to become a professional Go player. It sounds like a dull concept, but it's a really nice story.

- Chobits: It's a bit more silly than the others, but very "slice of life" with not too much action stuff and such. It's set in a near future, with very human looking robots with fully sentient AI called Persocom's. People use them as computers, phones, etc. For cooking, cleaning and work. Some fall in love with them and get married, though that is mostly frowned upon. A student finds a mystical persocom dumped nearby, and the story revolves around those two. It's got a nice story, and I like it a lot.

There's a few that I could think of right now. Hope you enjoy some of them

[Deleted]

Macross Frontier - if you live Sci-Fi, music and planes
Yukikaze - same sans music.

[Skizzit]

Another series that is just filled to the brim with puns is Yakitate Japan. Very fun series. It is about a kid who aspired to be a world renown baker and create a signature bread for Japan. Most other counties have breads that they are known for, but he thinks Japanese people will only eat ride and not bread. So he goes to the city to try and get a job at this super famous bakery. He doesn't get the job, but he is talked into joining one of the smaller offshoot bakeries.

The series then becomes about the kid and his coworkers traveling around Japan and competing in bread making competitions. That is when the series is at it's best. The competitions are so over the top crazy and the judge constantly goes spinning off into wild descriptions of the beads most of the time including hilarious puns. Hell, the name of the series is a pun. Ja-pan since pan means bread so bread of Japan.

Now I know that description sounds idiotic but trust me, it is amazingly funny. Check here for more info and read viewer reviews.

[Geckomayhem]

Thanks for the suggestions! Yeah, I really enjoyed Death Note. Not sure I want to watch it through again, though. Code Geass sounds right up my alley. The boxing one and "goh" one don't really sound like my cup of tea, but sometimes anime about rather mundane things (such as sports, of which I am not a fan at all, sorry) can be interesting.

I've seen some of the original FMA (about 10 episodes or so), and really liked it. Some people prefer Brotherhood, while others prefer the original. If I get time, I can try watching through Brotherhood, but time is very limited and to watch any given series is going to take me a fair while anyway; so I have to choose wisely! In Japanese the series is called "Hagane renkin jutsushi". Hagane means steel (kane means metal), renkinjutsu is the art of alchemy, while the suffix "shi" denotes someone that practises something.

I vaguely remember Chobits. I never got into it, but my brother liked it and watched the whole series way back when. Macross Frontier is, I assume, a sequel to the famed Macross series, which I guess can be paralleled to Gundam.

Yakitate is also one that my brother enjoyed, but which I wasn't interested in (because it's about baking bread). However, if it's as funny as claimed, I'm all for puns, and now that my Japanese level is a lot higher, it's not such a bad idea to look into it! Especially since I love Japanese breads (especially melonpan!)

I want to try watching some of my old favourite anime, too, such as Ranma and GTO; although both of those are a bit long to actually get through!

Once again, thanks for the replies. I never really thought about finding stuff that has pun-type humour, but that does indeed pique my interest. My wife just groans when I have the insight to make a Japanese pun. My language skills are lacking, but I can be very witty in English, and so the more Japanese I learn, the more chance I have of drawing upon that wit and crossing the languages in what I would deem a clever way.

[Skelington]

Some that you might enjoy are Enzai, Saimin Jutsu 2, Anejiru, Yosuga no Sora, and Discode.

[Windry]

If you're looking to improve your Japanese, anime with the settings of current times and pop cultural references should be the way to go.

I highly recommend:
The Melancholy of Harui Suzumiya
Welcome to the NHK
Bakamonogatari
Nisemonogatari
5 Centimeters per Second
Bokura ga Ita

I sorta recommend:
Arakawa Under the Bridge
Sora no Otoshimono
Angel Beats
Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko
Hourou Musuko

Also yes, Code Geass is a much watch.

[Incognito Noctix]

I'm not a sports fan either, far from it. I was very reluctant to watch Fighting Spirit, but my friend convinced me to anyway. I can safely say it's one of my favorite anime's, which I did not expect at all. You might want to give it a shot

[Kworal]

Not sure if it's up your alley, but if you want a good story you should try "Ef - A Tale of Memories". The story is very sentimental, well-written, and the characters are very well fleshed out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLe5VdarUPk

An AMV depicting the relationship between two of the characters.

As people have said, Code Geass is a must watch. Death Note as well. Serial Experiements Lain, also, but it's not for everyone. Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. Ergo Proxy.

Many out there, all very very good.

[Demonakat]

- Hajime no Ippo (Fighting Spirit): It's an anime about boxing, but even if you're not into that you should really watch it. A young bullied boy meets a pro boxer and aspires to be stronger. He goes on to become a professional himself through the course of the series. The story is great, and even the filler eps and movies are greatly entertaining.

- Death Note: A Death God drops his Notebook into the human world. If a name is written in the notebook, that person dies. A young student finds this book and starts punishing criminals. It's got great intellectual stuff. A GREAT story. You should watch it. Preferably right now.

- Code Geass: Futuristic anime; Britannia has invaded and overtaken Japan and most of the world. Some rebels remain, and a small group starts fighting back for Japan's freedom. Also a REALLY nice anime, with some nice plot twists and intellectual stuff as well.

- Hikaru no Go: About the game of Go (sort of like chess); A spirit from ancient Japan accompanies a young boy on a "quest" to become a professional Go player. It sounds like a dull concept, but it's a really nice story.

- Chobits: It's a bit more silly than the others, but very "slice of life" with not too much action stuff and such. It's set in a near future, with very human looking robots with fully sentient AI called Persocom's. People use them as computers, phones, etc. For cooking, cleaning and work. Some fall in love with them and get married, though that is mostly frowned upon. A student finds a mystical persocom dumped nearby, and the story revolves around those two. It's got a nice story, and I like it a lot.

There's a few that I could think of right now. Hope you enjoy some of them

thank you for mentioning ippo, i was really about to!!!


Also, I've been watching Naruto, and I've picked up quite a few Japanese words from there.
Also, Kenichi, the Ultimate Disciple. It's also about fighting, and it's AMAZING.
There are some... slice of life.. type shows that will give you good Japanese skillz.
But really, Hajime no Ippo.. you'll learn so much about boxing and old fighters and some good words in there too. It's one of my favorite manga currently, and a great anime.

I think I've picked up the most from naruto, probably because it's the only one I've really TRIED to learn some words from. I'll be attempting with some other anime soon, and probably pick up japanese rosetta stone or something.