| I wouldn't say everyone, since some anime should not be viewed by people under a certain age and that includes: Death Note and Code Geass. However, for people who are in high school or above, these two are actually great animes. A few more suggestions are as follows: Air: slice of life drama Code Geass R2: politics + battle of wits Persona: Trinity Soul: megaten Spiral: mystery + battle of wits Though you say everyone, but I still have my doubts. Most people over 50 would probably be not interested in anime. In fact, these anime are more suitable for people between the ages of high school to 30s. However, I might be wrong on this. |
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| In my humble opinion, every anime fan should see: 1) A Ghibli movie (ex. Princess Mononoke) 2) An ecchi anime (ex. Girls Bravo) 3) A slice of life anime (ex. Azumanga Daioh) 4) A comedy (ex. School Rumble) 5) A deep, meaningful anime (ex. Mushi-shi) 6) A bloody anime (ex. Kara no Kyoukai) 7) A filler type anime (ex. Naruto) 8) Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, Ghost in the Shell, Full Metal Panic, Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei |
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| Death Note definitely, but not Code Geass. Mobile Suit Gundam 00 is more of a srs bsnss than Gayass. I would say Terra e is a must. It would be a compulsory in schools if it was a book. And Neon Genesis Evangelion, Kaiji and Grave of the Fireflies, though they might not be that entertaining |
georgi said: In my humble opinion, every anime fan should see: 1) A Ghibli movie (ex. Princess Mononoke) 4) A comedy (ex. School Rumble) I wonder how many people have seen a Ghibli film. I'd say over 60% of the US. Maybe not. |
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| hmm.. a few ^^ just based on general story, characters, and aesthetics/style Monster *amazing* Rurouni Kenshin and OVAs Death Note *though the manga is much better* Fullmetal Alchemist Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann Kino's Journey Mushishi Baccano! Samurai Champloo |
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| The Ghost in the Shell movie would probably top my list of an anime that everybody should watch(given your age is appropriate). It isn't my favorite anime, but it has the stuff of legends. Stellar animation and crazy plot make it a must see imo. |
| Claymore, Great Teacher Onizuka, Full Metal Alchemist and Panic, Juuni Kokuki..... |
| Interestingly "everyone should watch" threads in other places always are classics threads, whereas on MAL, they're "recommend whatever is popular" mixed with "here's my favorite anime." So I'll recommend anime that, if you haven't seen, you're fundamentally missing something in the anime experience. NGE Cowboy Bebop Great Teacher Onizuka Rurouni Kenshin Ninja Scroll Outlaw Star Read or Die OVA Serial Experiments Lain Record of Lodoss OVA Chobits Akira Ranma 1/2 FLCL Lupin III (season 2, movies, especially Cagliostro) Urusei Yatsura Porject A-ko Top wo Nerae GITS movie Grave of Fireflies And a great deal of Miyazaki stuff. I also neglected to add much mecha since, despite being a huge part of anime, you can get away with not watching and still not sound like you're completely new. There's certainly a lot more, but these are the ones I can remember quickly. |
| Every anime fan should be able to discuss all of the really popular stuff: - Death Note - Full Metal Alchemist - Fruits Basket - Bleach/Naruto/One Piece - The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya/Lucky Star - Code Geass - Evangelion - Cowboy Bebop - Ouran High School Host Club - Elfen Lied - Higurashi no Naku Koro ni You should also be aware of some anime "classics": - Ghibli movies (Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Nausicaa, Castle in the Sky, etc) - Classic Mecha (Gundam, Robotech/Macross, Ideon, Mazinger, Getter Robo, Voltron, etc) - Ghost in the Shell - Akira - Lupin III - Hokuto no Ken - Record of the Lodoss War - Astro Boy edit: Damnit, looks like Plate beat me to a lot of these. Oh well... |
| Death Note Sword of the Stranger Gintama The Girl Who Leapt Through Time Mushishi Neon Genesis Evangelion Golden Boy Pale Cocoon I don't understand why people are saying Code Geass. There's nothing special about it. |
| Ach, I forgot Golden Boy. :< |
Touka said: Death Note Sword of the Stranger Gintama The Girl Who Leapt Through Time Mushishi Neon Genesis Evangelion Golden Boy Pale Cocoon I don't understand why people are saying Code Geass. There's nothing special about it. Matter of opinion. |
| (づ°‿°.)づ |
Touka said: Gintama |
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| Wait, no mention of Legend of the Galactic Heroes? For shame. It's a cult, classic, masterpiece and should-watch all in one. Touka said: I don't understand why people are saying Code Geass. There's nothing special about it. The second season was specially... narratively challenged, for one. |
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| Bible Black, Night Shift Nurses 2 and Diakuji. Kaiserpingvin said: Wait, no mention of Legend of the Galactic Heroes? For shame. It's a cult, classic, masterpiece and should-watch all in one.. YES YOU ALL SHOULD WATCH LOGH....  i gave up watching after one to many bishi scenes. |
  "What happens when we die?" I know that the ones who love us will miss us. |
| Otaku no Video, as a warning to get out while you can. |
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Ranivus said: Kaiserpingvin said: Wait, no mention of Legend of the Galactic Heroes? For shame. It's a cult, classic, masterpiece and should-watch all in one.. YES YOU ALL SHOULD WATCH LOGH.... i gave up watching after one to many bishi scenes. What are you, straight? |
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| When it comes to "must watch" I've also heard NGE mentioned. Why is this? I've never watched NGE . . . am I a bad person? D: I think Azumanga Daioh might be one of those which everyone has at least heard of before. I still need to watch that one, too. Perhaps it would also be an idea for a person to see at least one Gundam series. I mean, there are so many Gundam series that I'd think of it as the anime equivalent of Final Fantasy. If someone told me they've never seen a Gundam episode, my reaction would be the same as if they've never played a Final Fantasy game: something like "Whaaat?! No way!" Furthermore, If they told me they've never heard of Gundam before, I'd ask if I could see their cozy home under their rock. ;] |
Adrim said: When it comes to "must watch" I've also heard NGE mentioned. Why is this? I've never watched NGE . . . am I a bad person? D: I think Azumanga Daioh might be one of those which everyone has at least heard of before. I still need to watch that one, too. Perhaps it would also be an idea for a person to see at least one Gundam series. I mean, there are so many Gundam series that I'd think of it as the anime equivalent of Final Fantasy. If someone told me they've never seen a Gundam episode, my reaction would be the same as if they've never played a Final Fantasy game: something like "Whaaat?! No way!" Furthermore, If they told me they've never heard of Gundam before, I'd ask if I could see their cozy home under their rock. ;] Feel free to go "Whaaat?! No way!" squared right now, since I've neither seen a Gundam episode nor played a Final Fantay game. |
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Plate said: Cowboy Bebop Lupin III (season 2, movies, especially Cagliostro) These two are the first that came to mind when I read the title. They are classics that should be watched. Also Gintama. I've found very few people who don't enjoy it. Ah, and I can't forget Terra e.... |
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| Gintama Black Cat Air Gear D.Gray-Man Samurai Champloo |
| - Genshiken: The Society for the Study of Modern Visual Culture - Great Teacher Onizuka - Hokuto no Ken |
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| I'd just have to say most of the studio Ghibli films, beyond that it gets a little too influenced by personal preference...Dammit I can't resist, anything by Mamoru Oshii also. He is great, just look him up under 'people' and watch all his stuff ^_^ |
| Gankutsuou |
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| I can think of enough reasons why people would want something as Gundam or NGE to be seen by everyone in this community, but I simply dislike mecha, without any good reason, so I won't even bother myself with watching those so-called 'classics'. ^_^ But I do think there is one movie everyone should watch, anime fan or not, that is: Grave of the Fireflies. |
Deadpool135 said: Gankutsuou Major_G said: - Great Teacher Onizuka Second these, and also second cowboy bebop. All three are classics. |
| I'd have to say: A Ghibli film, the original GitS movie, Akira and NGE, since all of them have managed to do something quite special. |
| - Any Ghibli movie. - Code Geass 1st season, 2nd season optional you can skip it if you want. - Higurashi no Naku koro ni - Great Teacher Onizuka - Gintama, don't bother with Bleach, naruto and all those. Just watch Gintama. - Genshiken, it isn't one of the best series but nonetheless a true Otaku should have watched this. Even if you aren't too. - Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann - Epic, nothing else to say. - Kanon 2006, even if you don't like Kyoani. - Any good comedy that's not Great Teacher Onizuka, ex: School Rumble, Yakitate! Japan, Ouran HIgh School Host Club, Seto no Hanayome - Sword of the Stranger, if it was made 10-15 years ago this would have been a classic. - Death Note, if you watch it you can cut Code Geass out of the list if you feel like or opposite. - Detroit Metal City, don't come here and say you don't like metal. Even if you don't this is still one you shouldn't possibly miss at all costs. - Welcome to the NHK, we all love these otaku shows. - After you've crossed all those of the lists, go watch Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, don't try to watch this first as you'll miss references. This could be said about Gintama too, don't watch it first. But hey what do I know? :p This is just my opinion if anyone were to ask me what they should watch I'd mention at least these, I can't say as much about the others in the 80s and 90s but this is what I think everyone should eventually at some point watch. |
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| Code geass Death Note Genshiken, for hardcore anime fans AND BACCANO, i can't stress this enough, it's an extremely underrated anime |
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| Cowboy Bebop Gurren Lagann Evangelion Code Geass Macross And alot of Studio Ghibli I guessing most have seen Akira and it seems to be the best know, add in Trigun, Haruhi, GTO and Ghost in the Shell if yah want a bit more but i don't think there a must. |
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ntHai said: I would say Terra e is a must. It would be a compulsory in schools if it was a book. I wholly disagree on that last bit, unless you're referring to some sort of Bizarro World schools where the required reading is actually worth reading =P So yeah, Terra e... definitely a good pick. A lot of other people have touched on anime that they think is classic or particularly good, and I suppose both are important, but I think I'd lean towards series I found particularly unique and artistic or moving. Stuff that transcends the usual genre barrier, like Mushishi, Kanon, Seirei no Moribito, Cowboy Bebop, NANA, Princess Mononoke or Higurashi. Come to think of it, there are a lot of good shows I'd tell people to avoid until they've got a pretty good foundation in classic and popular anime - it'd be a shame to watch something like Zetsubou Sensei, Welcome to the NHK or Lucky Star and miss all the in-jokes and cultural references and such. |
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| Cowboy Bebop Neon Genesis Evangelion Lupin III (season 2, Secret of Mamo, Castle of Cagliostro, Episode 0) Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Trigun Kaiji These are MUSTS. |
| D.Gray Man Great Teacher Onizuka |
Krelian said: Come to think of it, there are a lot of good shows I'd tell people to avoid until they've got a pretty good foundation in classic and popular anime - it'd be a shame to watch something like Zetsubou Sensei, Welcome to the NHK or Lucky Star and miss all the in-jokes and cultural references and such. That happened to me... With all three of those series. I loved them, but maybe I'll rewatch them in a bit when I'm more knowledgeable and maybe I'll understand them more. |
| (づ°‿°.)づ |
Soulstrider said: AND BACCANO, i can't stress this enough, it's an extremely underrated anime I'll say. Baccano! TV, 13 eps, scored 8.72 11,361 members |
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| underrated at an 8.72? What do you want it to be rated? A 10? Or, I think your usage of the term underrated is totally off base. I see this very often. |
DigimonTamer said: underrated at an 8.72? What do you want it to be rated? A 10? Or, I think your usage of the term underrated is totally off base. I see this very often. Way to say the exact same thing Neverender was getting at. Although it's true - the words underrated and overrated should be banned from the english language. |
| Clannad...great anime.. |
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ZerOne01 said: Clannad...great anime.. Wasn't that great IMO. |
| (づ°‿°.)づ |
Ontario said: Kanon?ZerOne01 said: Clannad...great anime.. Wasn't that great IMO. 2006 Version anyway. |
Blaze-San said: Ontario said: Kanon?ZerOne01 said: Clannad...great anime.. Wasn't that great IMO. 2006 Version anyway. I haven't seen, but I probably wouldn't like it much. |
| (づ°‿°.)づ |
Blaze-San said: Ontario said: Kanon?ZerOne01 said: Clannad...great anime.. Wasn't that great IMO. 2006 Version anyway. Yes, Kanon (2006), definitely! It's better than Clannad and moreover the only perfect winter mood anime. |
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Blaze-San said: Ontario said: Kanon?ZerOne01 said: Clannad...great anime.. Wasn't that great IMO. 2006 Version anyway. No one should ever have to watch either of those... |
| Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu. It's funny, and you don't need to know who the characters are to laugh at it (though, it does make things funnier if you do) |
  Dango, dango, dango, dango, dango, daikazoku~ |
psgels said: So wait? Has this now simply turned into a "list and pimp your favourite series"-thread? My take is that series everyone should have seen should be series of a good quality that appeals to many different people. How does Kanon not fit those criteria? At least the place in the score board proves that it appeals to many different people. Of course a minority will think differently. As for myself I also think some anime there doesn't deserve the ratings, but that's democracy. On another note I think you must mention the movie 5 Centimeters per Second when you talk about anime that is a must watch. The art alone is worth the time. |
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| Ouran Host Club. It's really funny :) Chrno Crusade Haibane Renmei Grave of the fireflies. |
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