if you like naruto...

[*V Guyver]

glad to hear, just bare with the first espide, by the second one it blows up into something incredibly intresting.

[Aether]

ah, fist of the north star... a classic anime. I used to watch that years ago. maybe.. over 15 years ago i watched that. although, what i watched was either an ova or a film. it wasn't very long and i'm pretty sure i don't recognise the clip you showed. was there another production? like a series?

if it was that long ago it was probably the film. the ovas you are thinking of arent oavs, it was probably the tv series episodes they released on video english dubbed a bit later on. they only ever released about 20 something episodes - they didnt even finish the first story arc!! - idiots.

the FONTS film is really a film version summing up the first half of Hokuto No Ken 1 tv series with better animation, then in the tv series the long arc finishes and then we get HNK2. theres 152 eps all together. yeah its slightly dated but like you say- it is a classic. its's dope.

heart of madness did a fan sub version, the first version i watched was a hong kong sub version which was cool, but y'know chinglish is sometimes not the best.

btw nice clip Durendal, i dont know why those bad guys dont just run the other way when the see ken coming!!

Edited June 5, 2010 by Eether

[*Jess♥]

what i really like about dragon ball is the pure innocence with which they approach sexual themes.

it is so refreshing. in my view, it is in no way fanservice, it's pure comedy.

and wow, dragonball was made in the 80s... i never expected that.

the style is so different to nowadays anime. it reminds me of ushio to tora. that's probably the oldest anime i watched.

[*V Guyver]

oh Dragon Ball is awesome. IMO it's better then later DBZ and the silly GT.

Oh I jsut thought of another awesome anime. Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi. It was such a funny anime... god it made fun of everythign it could in the short span it run. so much so, that I still crack up at the site of certain japanese meia because of those spoofs. It even spoofed Back to the Future.

[Toku Warrior]

Ah yes, Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi was definitely a great series. I liked the manga for it better in some points though it was way too short.

Ryuki, about D.Gray-Man, I would probably skip it. I have the whole series subbed. I do like it but, like Bleach, a good 25% of the series is filler episodes. Some of the fillers are really great bu they take to long to get to the actual manga points of the series sometimes. It's about 96 episodes long.

Fairy Tail, I have up to.....Eps.33 DLed.....I think. I've only watched the first 2-3 and it's ok. It has an animation style that's sorta like a combi of FMA and One Piece.

The only series I know of that have a long episode track listing are Bleach, Naruto, One Piece, Pocket Monsters and DB-Z-GT-Kai.

If you like short series (13-26 episode length series) then maybe something along the lines of Chrono Crusade. The anime was ok but the manga is far superior...especially the ending.

And Durendal is right about the Moe thing. Series like KisxSis, Lucky Star, Girls Bravo, DearS and SHUFFLE! are the moe setting. Maybe you like a series with a girl that's more of the tsundere type of character like those in series such as Naruto (Sakura) and FMP (Chidori)?

I would possibly suggest Air Gear! as the main character, Ikki, is voiced in english by the same VA for Sho (Guyver) and Sasuke (FMP). That is if you can get past the ecchi to the almost H related material. It's really funny and quite enjoyable as it's more of a futuristic roller blading sport with funny moments galore.

Zone of Enders was also a good series and it's one of the few anime that I know of that actually ties into its video game predecessor as a part of its past background storyline. The OVA was also really good.

If you like romance series but have a mix of school-life, slice of life and sports then maybe Suzuka would be nice. You could also try Witchblade, Karin, Fate/Stay Night, Angelic Layer, Ookami Kakushi, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (When They Cry in English) and AzuManga Daioh! (possibly the funniest series I've ever watched).

If you hate or are not interested in series that go the over-the-top ecchi, near H related content then stay away from series like Ikkitousen (good fight scenes but it's more near naked to naked woman anime), Seikon no Qwaser, B Gata H Kei, Queen's Blade, KisxSis, Air Gear!, Witchblade, DearS, SHUFFLE!, Kampfer and Ichiban Ushiro no Dai Mao.

A few other series I would recommend are Kaichou wa Maid-sama, Durarara!!, HEROMAN and Isekai no Seikishi Monogatari (this is related to Tnechi Muyo but it's not revealed as so until half way into the series).

[*V Guyver]

Oh, Zone of Enders! I keep hearing great things about that one. Thanks for the reminder. Ryuki, keep that one in mind too. It's very un-stereotypical with it's lead character.

[*Jess♥]

why would you take a series i have obviously made a decision to give a look at, and just crap all over it?

you tell me i should skip it and that it's mostly filler, how can i take it seriously now?

i don't care if there is filler in a series if the story follows and is enjoyable. i watched the sanbi arc in naruto and i really enjoyed it until somebody mentioned it was filler and therefore had no real substance. it made it fake and i lost confidence in it.

i feel it's really unfair to look at a series somebody has chosen and then tell them they are wasting their time.

also,

remember this thread is about appropriate anime to fill a slot similar to naruto.

it's no good throwing random anime at me that you just so happen to like. that would go in a plain anime recommendations thread.

[Toku Warrior]

Whoa, whoa, don't just shoot me man.

Jeez-o-pete, must you take it in such a wrong way.

Half the series I just recommended are series even I don't like. I'm not going by my complete preferences but going by things that you MIGHT find interesting.

Not many series that people recommend will fill the Naruto gap because, like Naruto Shippuuden, they are also on a 1 episode a week schedule and are nothing like that series.

If you read the part i wrote about the filler for D.Gray-Man, then you'll see I said that the fillers are descent enough to watch. ONLY SOME TAKE TO LONG TO GET THROUGH. Not all of them. I've read some of Bleach, Claymore and Naruto and when I see a filler I don't judge it by first view.

I watch it twice. Once for the sole purpose of viewing it and then a 2nd time to rate it to cannon material of the manga.

I only said to probably skip it as IT IS only 25% filler. But when you take it into account that the whole series is 96 episodes long, that's a fairly small portion. Besides, you and I have a different perspective on percentage when it comes to anime, J-Drama, Tokusatsu, etc...

25% to me in an anime is 1 filler episode for every 9-10 cannon material episodes in a series like D.Gray-Man, Naruto or FMA. To you, I don't know.

Damn, ya know what? Just leave it. Watch it or don't, it's up to you. I'm tired of trying to help people out and then end up getting my butt chewed off for it.

I'm not going to bother providing a suggestion and my opinion on things if this is what is to be expected. Criticism and constructive suggestion is one thing but not this. I don't fully know what you want in a series as I don't know of every anime you watch.

Me, I watch just about everything and if it doesn't catch me within a certain amount of episodes (5-6 for 24/26 or 2-4 in a 12/13 series) then I stop watching it and delete all the files. Go-Onger, Shinkenger, One Piece, Umi Neko no Naku Koro ni....it's all the same as they were pure crap after only 5-8 episodes of viewing and friends told me they were good.

What's good to me may be crap to you or vice-versa. We only have different tastes in genre's.

So, like I said, I won't make another suggestion. Let the others do it instead.

Durendal, V Guyver, you two obviously know what he's looking for. please, continue as you may have better luck.

P.S. - Yes, for the record, I've been having a bad day as of yesterday morning and it's been ongoing since then. So don't take this as me having an outburst due to stress. This is just due to getting my head chewed off for trying to give a suggestion and my own personal opinion. That is all.

Your ever so loyal Toku and anime loving friend,

HyperGuyver

[*Jess♥]

sorry to hear about your day dude. hope it get's better

and sorry if it seemed like i was chewing you out. that wasn't my intention

you gotta admit though, it does seem like a bit of a bombardment though

[Toku Warrior]

Like I said, just forget about it.

But my day just got better. As I just told BK, I finally got my new medication being sent to me in the mail. Remember how I suffer from Psoriasis? Well, I now have the medical insurance to cover the medication for it.

[*Jess♥]

good to hear, nicely done

Me, I watch just about everything and if it doesn't catch me within a certain amount of episodes (5-6 for 24/26 or 2-4 in a 12/13 series) then I stop watching it and delete all the files. Go-Onger, Shinkenger, One Piece, Umi Neko no Naku Koro ni....it's all the same as they were pure crap after only 5-8 episodes of viewing and friends told me they were good.

i'm about the same.

i think it's cool your reaction to go-onger, shinkenger and one piece. I was the same. didn't like them.

i think you have good taste in anime and when somebody else recommended d gray man, I remembered that you had spoken well of it in the past and that's why i decided to watch it, not because of somebody else but because i remembered that you liked it. [emote=monkey]psst[/emote]

i wanted to watch azumanga daioh, the subs were pretty bad though and i couldn't enjoy it.

i loved the game for zone of the enders. somebody said the anime was good.

i tried watching abenobashi once, didn't like it. can't remember why. i watched one episode.

[Toku Warrior]

Sigh, well if i must.

I did say I liked D.Gray-Man. I never said I hated it. It's just some of the fillers for the series to drag on a bit but the anime still get's the job done nicely. Though it does pull an Inuyasha on us. I'll let you simmer on that bit of info.

I have the boxset for AzuManga Daioh!. ADV, one of their best dubs of all time to me. See if you can purchase it from animenation. They may have it for sale still.

Wait, they still have it. here's a link.

http://www.animenation.com/daz-100.html

Probably one of the best places to find anime DVD's for legit official sale.

As for the other series or any anime at all, if you want, I can at least tell you the ecchi to H factor of a series ahead of time. That can at least make your decision easier. If I do remember, you don't like anime that's too flashy, ne?

Other than that, your call on what ya wanna see.

[*V Guyver]

Well there was one other series I really enjoyed that can fill in your little gap is Betterman. It's an old anime by almost a decade, but it's animation is pretty good, and it's still got a very likable combination of Tokusatsu/Guyver and Evangelion. it has it's share of Techno-babble like Guyver including a protaganist who can morph into various giant monsters to lay waste to other monsters while humans piloting machines to unravel the mystery oftheir origin are constantly in the mix.

[*Jess♥]

betterman? never heard of it, sounds interesting enough, I'll do some research on it.

[*V Guyver]

Got another one that came to mind. Hajime no Ippo. It's a fairly old one by some 5 years I think. It's about boxing, but it's done in a way that is neither over the top nor boring for an anime. Test out a few clips on youtube if you'd like. But they usualy don't show the incredibly fun humor and lovable plot, just the fights for the most part.

[odin]

Got another one that came to mind. Hajime no Ippo. It's a fairly old one by some 5 years I think. It's about boxing, but it's done in a way that is neither over the top nor boring for an anime. Test out a few clips on youtube if you'd like. But they usualy don't show the incredibly fun humor and lovable plot, just the fights for the most part.

ahhh, you beat me to it, i was going to suggest Hajime no ippo, what Vguyver says its true, it is a very enjoyable anime to watch and faithful to the sport at the same time which is hard for this type of genre i think the only other one who managed to do it like that too was Slamdunk in which it's a basket ball anime and i dont like basketball but i love this series. my other suggestions are:

Fruits basket (supernatural comedy combined with a slice of life, very enjoyable if you want to get lots of laughs)

One piece (one of the best animes out there on my opinion)

full metal alchemist: Brotherhood (way better than the original, the manga version is already finished so the anime is not too far behind and you can watch it legally and free on funimations official web page)

Outlaw star

Fate/stay night

Fist of the north star (if you like action and bruce lee you will love this series, you will understand once you watch it)

and amongst other series of which i will post later, need to find the names first.

[*Jess♥]

I've been watching dragonball recently so I got to episode 11. so far I'm finding a lack of emotional involvement. like.. character development seems to be lacking somewhat, it seems a little bit shallow and perhaps concentrating mostly on comedy and action perhaps.

I'm not sure, do you understand what i am saying?

I am sticking it out though, I want to see what dragonball is all about.

I mean, it's pretty popular and the comedy has been rather good so far.

only thing is, I'm finding it a little emotionally draining so far as I find that i can't really relate to the characters very well.

let's say, the moment when i really became invested in the characters in naruto was when sasuke and naruto were caught by that guy on the bridge, as kakashi was fighting zabuza. so I realise that dragonball may needd a siilar amount of time for me to become invested in it.

some series are quicker, some are slower, some just are no-hopers. dragonball has some really good elements in it that i am willing to give it a lot of my attention even if i am unsure if it will really satisfy me in the long run.

I'm paying attention to your recommendations, thanks

I have a few on acquisition at the moment so i can't really go for any more right now.

[durendal]

I have seen the original dragonball and I did enjoy it, the pacing and the fights are very well animated. Although it gets tiring eventually (this is probably because I kept watching reruns over reruns of a same arc in local TV). The story does pick up in the tournament. You get to see how powerful the old perverted Roshi actually is.

[durendal]

By the way, just to add to what I said, you might not find the "emotional involvement" that you found in Naruto because Dragonball is basically an action anime and doesn't quite have the drama that are prevalent in current anime. The story concentrates more on the struggles of Goku and his development into adulthood as a martial artist.

[*V Guyver]

Yeah Dragon Ball is a bit shallow, it wasn't until Dragon Ball Z came out that it got a bit more emotional. Still ways off from other series. It was mostly over the top as usual. Still it has it's appeal as an anime you can enjoy without having to think much.

[Aether]

just to echo what durendal and vguyver have said- dragonball is not emotionally involved . really its action. it starts off as action comedy but as it gets towards the end it kind of trails off and as you get into Z the comedy is more or less dropped. there are a few 'emotional' parts in the story, certain events on namek for example, but nothing as involved as naruto at all.

i think dragonball was enthused about as you mentioned it in your first post of the thread and it is long running, certainly not because it was like naruto...

as you said yourself in the naruto thread -other anime is lesser than Naruto.

DB is more light hearted and is really about Goku growing up and overcoming anything in his way be it a large dinosaur or the most powerfull evil being in the universe, he does it for good and with a smile in his heart,with his friends in tow.

[*Jess♥]

ok that's a nice way to look at it.

well I think that lack of emotional involvement wasn't the most of my concern, I guess it was something that would make me continually interested in it.

some mystery or something. for the majority of the beginning episodes it is basically "we want to get a wish granted so we look for dragonballs" now that, to me, is hardly any substance at all... really not enough to go on and if it were to continue like that then i could not imagine how anybody could enjoy that for so long.

anyway, now i have seen gokus secret. he looked at the moon. so now i have to see where it will go from here.

I think .. from here I am going to see if my interest will raise or if it will flop.

edit:

so many people have recommended FMA brotherhood.

I was very reluctant as i remember the original series being somewhat depressing at stages.

but so many people have recommended it... I think i can at least give it a look. what's the worst that can happen?

it is a very long series as well! 61 episodes so far? well that's more than a year, that's pretty good.

[Aether]

so now i have to see where it will go from here.

I think .. from here I am going to see if my interest will raise or if it will flop.

the dragonballs were obviously Toriyamas main creation point for the story but they soon fall by the way side and end up being a plot device in certain situations.

soon you will get to Gokus training with Roshi and the Budokai fighting tournement which may get you more interested.

ive loved DBZ as long as Guyver -i wont go into in depth details of my anime history again at this time- but i ended up seeing DBZ b4 DB, i think many people did. i like DBZ better than DB but still like DB, but in your position i think you cant watch Z or Kai without first watching DB. it would be rude not too. and really its how it should be watched!! although your manners towards anime is really none of my buisness!!

Edited June 18, 2010 by Eether

[*V Guyver]

ineed, dbz became a monster of a hit to fans despite the shody treatment it had in the US.

I'm currently watching venture bros from start to current. I have to say, it's not an anime and the first season is rather lackluster in plot, but damn is it funny.

[durendal]

Ryuki, the first FMA series were not exactly consistent with the manga, and several elements were changed. True, the first series was somewhat depressing, especially the ending. Additionally, they changed the story halfway that really degraded the story like

Scar dying pointlessly

. But I can guarantee that the second series FMA: Brotherhood is a lot better. For one thing, the new series includes the character Lin and a lot of characters that make the ensemble good. Sticks very closely to the manga. And lastly, seeing that the manga recently concluded, I'm pretty certain that the animation might near its end as well, so you won't be left hanging.

With regards to Dragonball, what compels me to watch it was the development of Goku. Another interesting aspect of dragonball is that the fights are utterly unexpected. I mean there was a point during a match that a certain individual won because of a ridiculously funny reason.

like a match between Klilin and a stinking guy. Klilin got paralized because of the stench and was only able to win the match because he was reminded that he doesn't have a nose!

Of course these all depends on ones tastes.