Anime series for grown-ups; suggestions please.

thecountessp

I'm always really stuck for anime; I loved Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex (Series 1, 2 Solid State Society & Innocence), Paranoia Agent and I'm in serious withdrawal after Samurai Champloo (very, very highly recommended). Every other series seems to be too kiddie, too look-at-my-massive-sword, too fantasy (mystical furrie babes with pointy ears) or too tits-and-ass.

I'm watching Cowboy Bebop and I'm going to be really stuck when I'm done. Any suggestions welcome. Non-cheesy j-pop laden, a decent fan-sub and three dimensional characters a good starting point. I like to think I'm an intelligent woman, so hentai and Death Note ain't gonna cut it...

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

There is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting people to look at your massive sword, watch Berserk and you'll see what I mean.

tman

Definitely give Elfen Lied a go anyway, a lot of the nudity is a little unnecessary, but don't let that put you off an otherwise fantastic series!
Ergo Proxy is definitely worth checking out as well
Blood+ maybe?
Claymore...

Check out the synopsis of them on animenewsnetwork and see which one sound like your cuppa, you're sure to find something to like out of those few anyway!

Ammunition_Magi

the Hellsing OVA's (wasn't a big fan of the normal series)
Serial Experiments Lain

Look them up and see what you think!

Ishmael

Monster is a good read/watch i find

Prime32

Fate/stay night? Maybe one of the darker Gundam series?

I second Claymore, but switch to the manga before it gets to Pieta - that's where it starts going downhill.

Fringe

Death Note is very good. It's more of a psychological thriller rather than an action fantasy. It's very intelligent and entertaining. You should give it a go. The mind battles between the two guys are fascinating.

Adam

Fringe wrote: »

Death Note is very good. It's more of a psychological thriller rather than an action fantasy. It's very intelligent and entertaining. You should give it a go. The mind battles between the two guys are fascinating.

+1

do not make assumptions before watching something, death note is incredibly intelligent.

The guy

Fringe wrote: »

Death Note is very good. It's more of a psychological thriller rather than an action fantasy. It's very intelligent and entertaining. You should give it a go. The mind battles between the two guys are fascinating.

+2 Death note is brillant and should be watched. The first twenty episodes or so.

Cy_Revenant

Xam'd: Lost Memories. Love, war, suicide bombings, has everything. Also, excellent animation.

Claymore. Excellent stuff, surprising depth and a good female lead.

Also, you shouldn't be so quick to judge. Gurren Lagann has cartoony animation and fanservice but is excellent regardless. Similarly, Macross Frontier is top notch yet is filled with J-Pop from end to end. Having two main characters as pop stars does that to a show.

Also, Berserk proves that giant swords are not childish things.

Death Note is very good, but the manga has a better ending than the anime. Some people don't care for such convoluted detective stories though.

tman

Cy_Revenant wrote: »

Death Note is very good, but the manga has a better ending than the anime. Some people don't care for such convoluted detective stories though.

Yep, I would suggest ignoring the last few episodes and pretending that it ends at around episode 25-26 (can't remember which one exactly, but they could have just used that as the final episode)

Farguc

I did not watch Elfien Lied but I have heard its really good . From what I have seen I will suggest :

Death note &
Full metal Alchemist

Overheal

I'd only seen the Death Note pilot but you can smell the Win.

I've always liked Gundam. Seed and Seed Destiny were very Kiddish but Gundam Wing and Gundam 00 seem much less age oriented. Hell the main protaganist in 00 is a kid who was brainwashed into shooting his own parents for a start. It also has a few political themes like What would happen if the New World Order takes over everything.

If you can find Zone of the Enders: Idolo, give that movie a shot too.

And you're a sap if you don't appreciate Gurren Lagan.

People also keep telling me Neon Genesis Evangelion is fantastic but I keep putting it off. I got 2-3 episodes in and failed to get hooked.

thecountessp

Thanks for all of the suggestions, keep 'em coming. I know that there are tonnes of good series out there, but it all falls down to personal taste and whether the story/characters click with you or not, so the more I check out , the better my chances. (Or the more drivel I end up watching... Can't be helped).

thecountessp

Ergo Proxy is definitely worth checking out as well

Oh yeah, also - does Ergo proxy get any less impenetrable as you go along? I felt like I needed an online guide to get through the first ep. Looks great though.

DingChavez

I'm going to ignore all your ignorant pretentious requests and just list a few good anime.

Nanoha
Cardcaptor Sakura
Tower of Druaga
Berserk
Gankutsuou
Escaflowne
Gungrave
Ouran High School Host Club
Seto no Hanayome
Azumanga Daioh

jim o doom

If you like masamune shirows stuff (Ghost in the shell) - he also wrote/drew the manga "Orion" complicated and interesting stuff - he also did all the Dominion tank police stuff as well as appleseed (both the books and anime)..

There's also Katsuhiro Otomo's masterpiece "Akria" - personall I'd be going with the manga (six large phonebook sized tomes :P ) the movie is good but a lot is left unexplained, the manga on the other hand is unbelievably detailed and nothing is left out at all - the books help understanding the movie much easier..he also wrote; Neo-Tokyo (1987), Roujin Z (1991), Memories (1995), Metropolis (2001), Steamboy (2004) & Mushishi (2006) - list of his works is on wikipedia..

Started reading a series of manga books called "Eden" only last week, got them cheap on a holiday to London - it can be a little confusing, but it's very adult oriented (and I don't mean boobs/sex - themes about loss, moral standpoints etc, it's a damn good read so far)

Loved samurai champloo myself, it's good - in a similarish vein there are the manga books "blade of the immortal" which are a great read..

fitz0

RahXephon
Texhnolyze

Farguc

I forgot afro samurai,its like samurai champloo but better

thecountessp

DingChavez wrote: »

I'm going to ignore all your ignorant pretentious requests and just list a few good anime.

Nanoha
Cardcaptor Sakura
Tower of Druaga
Berserk
Gankutsuou
Escaflowne
Gungrave
Ouran High School Host Club
Seto no Hanayome
Azumanga Daioh

Ignorant and pretentious as my requests may be... I'll still take you at your word and check out your suggestions. I just don't have time to watch series I don't love, and most of the ones I've started to watch have fallen into that category...
In fact who does have time to watch stuff that isn't top notch and to their taste?

Cy_Revenant

DingChavez wrote: »

I'm going to ignore all your ignorant pretentious requests and just list a few good anime.

Nanoha
Cardcaptor Sakura
Tower of Druaga
Berserk
Gankutsuou
Escaflowne
Gungrave
Ouran High School Host Club
Seto no Hanayome
Azumanga Daioh

I wouldn't rate any of those as unmissible, though most are quite good.

Neon Genesis Evangelion is overrated. I watched it, and thought it was terrible.

Prime32

Cy_Revenant wrote: »

Neon Genesis Evangelion is overrated. I watched it, and thought it was terrible.

Some love it, some hate it. No-one walks away from that series the same person.:eek:

K.O.Kiki

Farguc wrote: »

I forgot afro samurai,its like samurai champloo but better

SHENANIGANS, MOTHAF*****!
[/Sam L]

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

Rah-Xephon takes everything Evangelion tried to do and does it better with cooler robots and hotter chicks.

Adam

Father Mordmas wrote: »

Rah-Xephon takes everything Evangelion tried to do and does it better with cooler robots and hotter chicks.

and i managed to lose it before even watching it -_-

L.R. Weizel

lovertits wrote: »

I'm always really stuck for anime; I loved Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex (Series 1, 2 Solid State Society & Innocence), Paranoia Agent and I'm in serious withdrawal after Samurai Champloo (very, very highly recommended). Every other series seems to be too kiddie, too look-at-my-massive-sword, too fantasy (mystical furrie babes with pointy ears) or too tits-and-ass.

I'm watching Cowboy Bebop and I'm going to be really stuck when I'm done. Any suggestions welcome. Non-cheesy j-pop laden, a decent fan-sub and three dimensional characters a good starting point. I like to think I'm an intelligent woman, so hentai and Death Note ain't gonna cut it...

I hate to say it but you have a kind of narrow view of anime(most of the anime you've seen or alluded to are very mainstream, so I guess it can't be helped, the anime that make it popular overhere are often ****e). I know you're asking for suggestions but the thing is there are dozens and dozens of anime that are perfectly grown up. I think the problem might be that you're writing off anything with an element of Shonen. For example I'd consider Casshern Sins, which is currently airing, a very beautiful and "grown up" anime, but because some of the fights are a bit Dragonball looking, you might write it off.

Another example would be The Big O, which has big robots fighting, but is actually a pretty interesting existentialist series.

Serial Experiments Lain is another good existentialist one like Big O, Ghost in the Shell.

I don't find there's near enough fantasy based anime, personally.

T3h-Slayer

wow. this is a very narrow view of animes. but you can try gundam 00(surprisingly addictive) and its gona be hard for you to find something not too kiddie or fantasy or too look-at-my-big-sword. also, you can watch code geass and death note.

Moneymaker

lol @ OP. There's ton of animes fitting your "description" that are completely awesome and worth anyone's time watching.

Anyway, try these:

Berserk
Black Lagoon
Gungrave
Hellsing
Last Exile
Initial D

Also, to add to the Death Note love, it's pretty strong for 15-20 episodes or so but it falls off horribly. Still worth a watch though.

Monkeyto

I'd recommend Texhnolyze because it is quite dark and gritty with many a mature theme.

Paranoia Agent covers mental illness very well but is presented in quite a colourful and almost "child-like" way (Family Planning anyone?)

thecountessp

Again, thanks everyone for the suggestions, I've already checked out quite a few, and ended up watching the first ep of Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit too. (Give me another few episodes and I'll know how that is). Black Lagoon, Code Geass are on my list to watch.
Monkeyto Paranoia Agent was fantastic - will check out Texhnolyze too.

I guess, looking more at the kind of anime that grabs me, I've realised how important the artwork & creators' overall style is, and why Production IG and Manglobe have been favourites of mine... Also, it's not that I don't like guns or swords, just nice normal sized ones:P

Sesshoumaru

Gankutsuou is the series you want. Go watch it now

Sephiroth_dude

fist of the north star

lanysmiles:)

avatar!! ^_^ awesomesauce!

dr_funkenstein

I can't believe no one has mentioned NHK ni Yokoso (Welcome to the NHK). It really is an awesome series that doesn't involve magic/robots/aliens/etc. It's about the NEET (not involved in employment, education or training) culture in Japan. I absolutely love it!

laurashambles

dr_funkenstein wrote: »

I can't believe no one has mentioned NHK ni Yokoso (Welcome to the NHK). It really is an awesome series that doesn't involve magic/robots/aliens/etc. It's about the NEET (not involved in employment, education or training) culture in Japan. I absolutely love it!

Agreed, I love that show so much. I watched it in three days. The novel is pretty good too.

I've seen someone else plug Monster, but it's so amazing I have to mention it again. I'm really bad at summarising things so this is copied from myanimelist:

Kenzou Tenma, a brilliant Japanese brain surgeon working in Germany, saves the life of a small boy who has been shot in the head. Little does he know that doing so would destroy his entire career at the hospital and that his fiancé would leave him. When the hospital director and doctors of the hospital staff are suddenly murdered, he gets a second chance but also renders him as the main suspect to the murders. Life goes on for Tenma as he saves people at the hospital, and he goes back to the joy of being a surgeon again.

Years later, an injured thief gets brought to the hospital. After Tenma saves his life, he finds out that the thief is involved with the rising count of serial murders happening in Germany. Suddenly Tenma is involved in it all when the little boy, who is now a young man, turns up and kills the thief in cold blood right in front of Tenma. Now Tenma must clear his name, find out more about the boy he saved in the past, and reevaluate what the value of life is.

dr_funkenstein

ohh ohh.. and GTO (Great Teacher Onizuka!) .. awesome show

OrigamiDragon

Well, I consider anime as intended for grown-ups if it is not overwhelmed with emotions to begin with.
Monster is definitely a seinen - for grown-ups. Kodomo no Jikan - for those who don't freak out cause of their specific humor in the series. xxxHOLiC - definitely. Ayakashi - Japanese Classic Horrors is too emotional I guess, but some may say it's intended for adults. And of course Shinseki Evangelion - don't look at the mecha, and you have another adult anime. Ghost Hound, Hakaba Kitarou, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni. And - don't laugh - Lucky Star, yes. Mushishi, Paranoia Agent, Serial Experiments Lain, and surely Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu ^_^

All of these can be considered as series for grown-ups in some sense. Also, there is Chi's Sweet Home - pure kawaii'ness, intended for cat lovers primarily, but I wouldn't call it as for kids.

You can find a lot more ideas if you just search in anime databases for "seinen". Anidb.net, myanimelist.net to name a few.

Professey Chin

GUYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYVEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!

Sorry.Just got my hands on the 1989 series for the 1st time in about 12 years:o

pierrot

My former boss (40 year old Japanese guy) used swear by One-Piece.

Faylum

Haven't really read all the pages here but over the past 2 years i've really gotten into anime and have gone thru a massive list. Mainly sticking to main stream but if your interested then i'd say any of these would be worth a watch:

Naruto
Naruto Shippuden
Avatar
Full Metal Alchemist
Claymore
Berserk
Bleach
D.Gray-man
Elfen Lied
Code Geass
(My Favourite) Death Note
Any of the Dragonball
Shaman King
Ghost In A Shell
Cowboy Bebop

If anyones got time can they give me a list of Ninja Related Animes, ones that are quite good? Also wondering if anyone knows where i can stream Akira?

Thx

tman

Faylum wrote: »

If anyones got time can they give me a list of Ninja Related Animes, ones that are quite good?

Check out Samurai Champloo and Basilisk for starters
And no, we can't give you a streaming link to Akira

OrigamiDragon

Faylum, most of the stuff you've posted is far from definition of a grown-up anime. And even Death Note is one of my favorites as well, I don't consider it as grown-up anime, Elfen Lied, Code Geasss and Claymore too.

Try watching Afro Samurai btw. Oh, and of course Mononoke. Yeah, Mononoke is pretty grown-up anime alright. Why would you want to watch streaming anime? The quality is awful!

thecountessp

I've seen most of the Studio Ghibli stuff, some much better than others. Just watched The Sky Crawlers too, which was fine.

On the series suggestions I've received so far, I've checked out and enjoyed Black Lagoon, Blood + (which is a little bit Buffy, but what the hell...), Texhnolyze may take me a few eps to get into, but has me interested.

I'm definitely going to watch Afro Samurai (Adult Swim picking something up is usually a good sign for me) and Cowboy Beebop (got the subbed version at last).

I'll keep checking out everyone's suggestions, thanks again!

OrigamiDragon

I personally don't consider Afro Samurai as a grown-up anime. I suggested it to Faylum as ninja anime or whatever. Don't get me wrong, Afro Samurai is awesome. It's just not really grown-up. Do watch it anyway 8)

Cunning Alias

Im also starting to find alot of stuff childish nowadays.
Always loved "Last Exile". Starts a bit slow but has a great story. Saw it on amazon for around £25.

Agasarsis

I've found Wolfs Rain to be a very good series also if you're looking for something messed up, have a look at Gantz.

Macsimus

lovertits wrote: »

I'm always really stuck for anime; I loved Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex (Series 1, 2 Solid State Society & Innocence), Paranoia Agent and I'm in serious withdrawal after Samurai Champloo (very, very highly recommended). Every other series seems to be too kiddie, too look-at-my-massive-sword, too fantasy (mystical furrie babes with pointy ears) or too tits-and-ass.

I'm watching Cowboy Bebop and I'm going to be really stuck when I'm done. Any suggestions welcome. Non-cheesy j-pop laden, a decent fan-sub and three dimensional characters a good starting point. I like to think I'm an intelligent woman, so hentai and Death Note ain't gonna cut it...

Have not seen my favorite in the previous posts:

Tekkon Kinkreet: Black and White - have not seen the film yet but the book is most excellent - not really fantasy set, more of a pre apocalyptic near future - Kind of a manga Clock Work Orange but a real thought provoking read.

White rocks :cool:

Faylum

Well i suppose its not exactly a list of Adult Anime, but to me its the best Anime's I've seen. Have watched some of the Afro Samurai and others, gotta say they were very boring.

I suppose the more childish the anime the more fun it is to watch them.

And how can you say Death Note wasn't aimed at Adults, i mean i'm sure most kids would get bored of it fast but i assumed the aim was for teenagers and above!

Cy_Revenant

Death Note is a shounen, like all shounen it is aimed at teenage boys.

Say 14-21.

OrigamiDragon

Indeed. But I wouldn't say that Death Note would be boring for a grownup. Quite the contrary ^_^

HelenMcc

Master Keaton is a good one - all about the problems of being an ex-husband, father, academic, worker and dreamer and not quite feeling you're getting any of your roles right! Yugo The Negotiator is low-key but considering the world political situation it's very relevant. Area 88 always works for me - I prefer the classic version to the more recent one but both have a lot to offer.