Dark Anime

ChocolateSauce · 28-09-2008 1:14pm #1

Hey, I'm looking for Anime of a dark and serious nature. It must have good plot, no (or very few) weird anime faces being made, and good characters couldn't but help. Any recommendations?

I short list of other anime fitting this description that I've seen and liked are Mnemosyne, Elfin Leid, Full Metal Alchemist, the second half of Trigun and Princess Mononoke.

Thanks in advance!

tman · 28-09-2008 1:23pm

Menmosyne and Elfen Lied were the 2 shows that jumped to mind when I saw the title of this thread...

Berserk should be right up your alley.
Claymore is fantastic as well, I'm such a sucker for a good tale of vengeance:)
Darker than Black is well worth checking out

Black Lagoon, Basilisk, Blood+, Ghost in the Shell SAC...

Cravez · 28-09-2008 3:38pm

Ergo Proxy and Gungrave are another two. Im just on the third episode of the anime 'When they Cry' (Higurashi no Naku Koro ni) and its already getting tense and it seems it will get crazy (and bloody) sometime soon,so it should be another one to look out for

Pretty much most of what T-man posted (havent seen all of them though) are great to watch also, particularly Berserk

IronWolf · 28-09-2008 6:37pm

Check out/ google:

Monster
Black Lagoon
Claymore
Death Note
Afro Samurai

Thomas-G · 28-09-2008 7:11pm

Now and Then, Here and There had a pretty dark story, and the Hellsing OVAs are superb.

fitz0 · 28-09-2008 7:17pm

Sounds like you would like Texhnolyse (sp?) very dark, moody and a whole 11 minutes into the first ep before theres any talking!

GO_Bear · 29-09-2008 9:21am

Hellsing is good
And is serious

Edit did not see someone else added it to the list , And yes it is short , but pleasently Dark

Funky · 29-09-2008 9:40am

Basilisk is pretty good and serious

Evangelion · 29-09-2008 10:44am

Cowboy Bebop (similar to Trigun, except no silly faces)

Blackjack (cant remember if it's good, but it's serious)

mankind123 · 29-09-2008 7:11pm

If you have not seen Ghost in the Shell it deals with some serious issues same goes for Code Geass.

SmileyPaul · 29-09-2008 7:31pm

whats code geass bout then?

mankind123 · 29-09-2008 7:41pm

It is basically a what if scenario, here it is about britain taking over a majority of the world. The King has many heirs to his throne and the main character, himself an heir runs away after his mother was murdered vowing revenge on the empire. He lives in Japan now known as Area 11 under a new name, years pass when he meets with a strange woman who gives him the power that could help him in his quest for vengance.

SmileyPaul · 29-09-2008 8:34pm

that sounds lethal!
good build up by the sounds just hope the rest follows through

Moneymaker · 30-09-2008 4:09am

Berserk
Berserk
Berserk
Berserk
Berserk

Get my point? Also, GitS, Hellsing, Black Lagoon are spiffing.

Varkov · 30-09-2008 10:31am

mankind123 wrote: »

years pass when he meets with a strange woman who gives him the power that could help him in his quest for vengance.

With giant robots on rollerblades!

Lucky Star is pretty sinister too. Don't watch if you're squeemish to blood.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar · 30-09-2008 12:13pm

I would like to echo

Berserk
Berserk
Berserk
Berserk

I used to have it on Dvd, but a Canadian asshole stole them from me. On the plus side, he was one of only three assholes in all of Canada.

seraphimvc · 01-10-2008 11:44pm

Monster ftw tbh

if ya want some sci-fi actions try ARMS,others like Ergo Proxy,Mushishi

or you mean bloody?try Gantz.

Shimei · 05-10-2008 6:13pm

gunslinger girl
and gantz has to be one of the strangest ive watched

corkstudent · 05-10-2008 9:37pm

lol mainstream choices.

Try some darker mecha anime, like New Getter Robo.

K.O.Kiki · 06-10-2008 11:13am

I've heard some good things about Casshern SINS, will watch the 1st ep 2nite & report back.

Shimei · 06-10-2008 4:46pm

corkstudent wrote: »

lol mainstream choices.

Try some darker mecha anime, like New Getter Robo.

no.good choices.lol.
didnt realise this was teh 1337 place for cartoons!

Varkov · 07-10-2008 4:25pm

There's a new Lucky Star OVa coming out soon. It's supposed to be even bloodier than the series :eek:

K.O.Kiki · 07-10-2008 4:38pm

Saw it.
WTF factor went up to 11 in the last segment.
KERO KERO KERO KERO KERO KERO KERO

tread_softly · 07-10-2008 5:43pm

corkstudent wrote: »

lol mainstream choices.

so mainstream ones, albeit gems, are not good enough to recommend?

i'd suggest, as everyone already has, gungrave and elfen lied.

also, higurashi no naku koro ni!

redshoulder · 08-10-2008 4:37pm

Twilight of the Dark Master
Serial Experiments Lain
Texhnolyze
Ergo Proxy
Gungrave
Wicked City
Pet Shop of Horrors

fitz0 · 09-10-2008 10:07pm

Shimei wrote: »

gunslinger girl
and gantz has to be one of the strangest ive watched

The Gantz manga is infinately better than the anime! Its still ongoing and the battles get insane.

Cy_Revenant · 10-10-2008 10:31pm

fitz0 wrote: »

The Gantz manga is infinately better than the anime! Its still ongoing and the battles get insane.

The [INSERT MANGA NAME HERE] is infinitely better than the [INSERT NAME OF ANIME ADAPTION HERE]

Elle Victorine · 12-10-2008 2:40am

Ergo Proxy is amazing. Definately a must.
Elfen Lied is pretty intense in some of the episodes so again it's a yus.

I liked Le Portrait de Petite Cossette as well but it's a movie. Dark theme to it throughout though

Ooo also Hellsing if you get a chance!

Saruwatari · 12-10-2008 2:39pm

Anything by Satoshi Kon. Man is a legend.
Other than that;
Tekkonkinkreet (genre-defying story of a town and it's two orphan guardians)
Mushishi (mellow fantasy drama set in rural Japan)
Blood : The Last Vampire (atmospheric vampiric action)
Angel's Egg (short OAV, very surreal and haunting)
Neo Tokyo (anthology with three completely different stories)
Cat Soup (surreal adventure with cats)
Kakurenbo (interesting CGI tale of a children's game of hide n' seek)

corkstudent · 12-10-2008 8:44pm

tread_softly wrote: »

so mainstream ones, albeit gems, are not good enough to recommend?

i'd suggest, as everyone already has, gungrave and elfen lied.

also, higurashi no naku koro ni!

People are already aware of the mainsteam ones so it's kind of pointless.

Of course what's mainstream on the net is different to what's mainstream on ireland, but you know what I mean.

Thomas-G · 12-10-2008 10:21pm

corkstudent wrote: »

People are already aware of the mainsteam ones so it's kind of pointless.

Of course what's mainstream on the net is different to what's mainstream on ireland, but you know what I mean.

Not really, only recently has there been more anime on television. A lot of people I know got into anime through sky, enjoyed X series, then wanted more, thus turning to the internet. That was also me. All the other people I know were advised to watch X series by someone who's fairly into it, or just looked it up.
Bottom line, most of the top rated anime series on the net (and yer man with spirited away's movies) and what Irish people watch are the same. Can you name an anime which us Irish have an interest but the americans do not. I can't!

Tar.Aldarion · 13-10-2008 1:06am

Sailor moon.

Acacia · 13-10-2008 1:17am

1. Death note ( about a teenage boy who finds a book belonging to the 'death gods' which allows him power to kill whoever he pleases).

2. Kaiiji ( about a bloke who gets involved with loan sharks. He tries to get out of debt by participating in 'games events' organized by the sharks, these games are not as straight forward as they appear. Good psychological drama.)

fitz0 · 13-10-2008 12:35pm

Cy_Revenant wrote: »

The [INSERT MANGA NAME HERE] is infinitely better than the [INSERT NAME OF ANIME ADAPTION HERE]

Usually but not always. Claymore anime was way better than the manga until the ruined it near the end, Bleach is better than the manga (apart from the awful fillers) and Im sure there is others but you're right for most of it.

DingChavez · 13-10-2008 1:29pm

fitz0 wrote: »

Usually but not always. Claymore anime was way better than the manga until the ruined it near the end, Bleach is better than the manga (apart from the awful fillers) and Im sure there is others but you're right for most of it.

That's a nice opinion. Too bad its wrong.:pac:

fitz0 · 13-10-2008 1:33pm

DingChavez wrote: »

That's a nice opinion. Too bad its wrong.:pac:

Ah your damning evidence and clear examples have outwitted me yet again!:p

corkstudent · 13-10-2008 3:29pm

Thomas-G wrote: »

Not really, only recently has there been more anime on television. A lot of people I know got into anime through sky, enjoyed X series, then wanted more, thus turning to the internet. That was also me. All the other people I know were advised to watch X series by someone who's fairly into it, or just looked it up.
Bottom line, most of the top rated anime series on the net (and yer man with spirited away's movies) and what Irish people watch are the same. Can you name an anime which us Irish have an interest but the americans do not. I can't!

Not really, an awful lot of the people I know who are into anime don't even really know Gurren Lagann. Gunbuster is another good example, most people online who are huge EVA fans know that Anno also made that. Also most of the stuff that's classic in Japan, like Mazinger Z, Getter Robo, Cutie Honey(all Go Nagai, lol) would be recognised online, but nobody in Ireland would have a clue really.

Also, only Gundam Wing is really all that recognised over here. Series liek Turn A Gundam are well known online, but not here.

I could go on and on and on.

It's a lot to do with the kind of anime, more hot blooded anime isn't very popular here, more shonen and silly moe stuff

Shimei · 13-10-2008 5:17pm

awww man your so unique and cool!

redshoulder · 14-10-2008 4:35pm

corkstudent wrote: »

Not really, an awful lot of the people I know who are into anime don't even really know Gurren Lagann. Gunbuster is another good example, most people online who are huge EVA fans know that Anno also made that. Also most of the stuff that's classic in Japan, like Mazinger Z, Getter Robo, Cutie Honey(all Go Nagai, lol) would be recognised online, but nobody in Ireland would have a clue really.

Also, only Gundam Wing is really all that recognised over here. Series liek Turn A Gundam are well known online, but not here.

I could go on and on and on.

It's a lot to do with the kind of anime, more hot blooded anime isn't very popular here, more shonen and silly moe stuff

I know about them, have watched some of them, not Go Nagai in particular because most of his shows aren't Licensed over here and there aren't fansubed either.

caff · 24-10-2008 4:00am

Lain and noein would be worth a look too

Shinji Ikari · 04-12-2008 8:05pm

If your looking for blood and guts I don't know. But if your looking for something thats dark in a psycological sense as well as some violence then watch the End of Evangelion. Most of it won't make sense unless you watch the whole series though.

Thomas-G · 05-12-2008 11:34pm

Shinji Ikari wrote: »

If your looking for blood and guts I don't know. But if your looking for something thats dark in a psycological sense as well as some violence then watch the End of Evangelion. Most of it won't make sense unless you watch the whole series though.

And gay. If you're looking for something gay watch EOE. You forgot that:P

Dark Anime

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