The Voting Block

Here is where the series will be placed with their positive and minuses after enough comments in the thread recommending them (I will place Anime/Mangas in the voting block after it has been recommended three times or three agreements within the thread) Here reply to the voting block with a AIE! or NAY! If the vote fails, I will remove it and give the series more time to be discussed. To vote for the anime/manga's reply with voting block as a header in the post.

Currently voting on:

Baccano - Votes: 3

Note:

Please recommend a number votes needed for a pass or a time limit for voting thank you. Any other recommendations on how this system could be better are welcome, reply within thread or message me.

The List(s)

Here once the series has passed the voting block it shall be added to the list where we can honestly say that this series is truly a must watch. And will stand with all their glory and nacho cheese.

Anime List:

Not much here

Manga List:

Or here

hmm... this is a good idea.

Baccano: Despite how many there are, the characters are all really well developed and lovable. The story is exciting and interesting, and the setting of 1930's USA is unique. Not to mention it expands on the Naritaverse.

Shiki: A vampire story that's not romantic or girly, but not stupidly bloody (although there is blood). It shows the vampires and the humans in both a pleasant and bitter light, as two groups who are just looking for a place to exist. Also: Dat music.

Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou It's insanely funny. I really don't know how else to put it. Reminds me of Nichijou a bit.

@DarkChaplain Yes I agree with Bakuman and your idea for linking the MAL page I will add that to the instructions.

Here are my recommendations: (I have a lot)

Berserk - Manga

Berserk the is a masterpiece. When you first start the series your interested however the character seems stereotypical. A black sword man with a mysterious past bent on revenge. The art is also kind of underdone due to a shading technique which just didn't fit in. While reading you see the art and story evolve (goes from a computer shading into more of a sketchy rough feel which fits the world of Berserk) and unfold, drawing (no pun intended) you deeper into the story and characters. The main character guts is the most realistic character I have ever seen in my life. He is more human than programs and stories outside of anime and manga. The manga could have ended at the end of the golden ark but it is the fact that it keeps going is what makes it a masterpiece. This story is not for those with a weak stomach, and is rated R+ for a good reason(s).

Darker Than Black

Darker than Black is a must watch simply because it is so original. It is a great and interesting supernatural story that has dark overtones. The characters are developed well, but it is the world and how the contractors powers is just original. What is the gate? Are doll's thoughtless? Are contractors always calculated? These questions are answered, and then they are not. It really draws you in, and allows you to make your own ideas of the meaning behind it all.

Great Teacher Onizuka

An inspirational and wonderful anime about the relationships between students and teachers. The characters are sometimes unbelievable but none the less you want to believe there are people just like them out there. Onizuka is the best and worst teacher ever. Sometimes everything you need to learn, isn't something taught on the blackboard.

Lucky Star

One of the most funniest series out there. The jokes are directed completely towards otaku's and often times you will find your self saying 'Hey I know that' or 'What the heck are they talking about'. The character design is great, so cliche that it makes the anime it self original. The main character, Izumi, has so many stereotypes blasted in to her she may be the only original character in the series. Regardless this is a great laugh.

Durarara!!

Surprised this wasn't recommended first. We owe our creation to this anime. The Anime it self is great because it masterfully tells an intricate story through many eyes, all which naturally have their own perspectives. Which is unexpectedly difficult to find within Anime now days. The plot is original and is completely unpredictable, yet is smooth and flows nicely.

I completely agree with Shiki being on there.

Monster A bit of an older anime here, and it's quite long, but it's well worth it.
The main plot line is a doctor saved a "mosnter" and now he's trying to undo the damage he's done from saving the person.
There's multiple sub plots that all relate in one way or another, and it never throws too many at you at once. I'm not really sure what I can say about it without just going off on a rant about it.

Natsume Yuujinchou Maybe I'm a bit biased for this one because it got me through some hard times, but I think this is a really sweet anime. Each episode has it's own small plot, and generally leaves a warm feeling after watching.
One thing I'd like to note about this is that it will be potentially soul crushingly depressing, but then manage to wrap up the episode with a sincere happy feeling.
Most 'happy endings' I've seen before this give you a false sense of happiness, as if they're just telling you you're supposed to have some form of emotion there, I don't get that sort of feel from Natsume.

I dunno about the rest of the world but it certainly cheers me up when I'm sad to watch it.

Code Geass R1/R2: This series has some really well developed characters and makes you really feel for them (except for Shirley, she was useless in my opinion). On top of that is has awesome action scenes, nice pacing, great art, and lots of nice twists to the plot. Hell, I'm not even a fan of mecha and I still enjoyed it so much that I've watched it twice. And it's one of the few that left me feeling actually satisfied with the ending.

Katekyo Hitman Reborn!: While the show starts out being a wacky light hearted comedy series about "No-Good Tsuna" Sawada Tsunayoshi and his spartan style home tutor Reborn, (who is a baby I might add.) And is filled with humor that quickly grows stale, after the first story arc the series slowly gains pace and picks up into a serious shonen anime about Mafia wars and time travelling.

The story transforms Tsuna from a useless teenage loner with no skills or prospects into a strong leader of his own mafia family, with a good heart and the will to protect those close to him. The fights are spectacular, each character has a fighting style rather unique to them, ranging from explosive experts to transforming into Human-Dinosaur hybrids to do battle. The main cast are extremely likeable from the carefree baseball player Yamamoto to the aggressive head of the Disciplinary Committee Hibari.

I suggest:

Jigoku Shoujo Series the anime, for me at least, is an eye opener..it reveals basic human nature.. it uses a good plot to reveal how humans make other humans suffer and how to suffer from other humans.. hate and revenge is the main topic of the series.. lastly, it taught me the paradox being inhuman is being human.

Manga:

Cage of Eden here is a manga that focuses on the human nature "survival".. though it has a deep plot, the story is told lightly.. it depicts human instinct when faced in danger.. unlike Jigoku Shoujo, it has a lead character with characteristics that balance the depth of the story.. it is a good read with unexpected twists.. lastly, unlike Jigoku Shoujo (again), its selling point is the characters and not the plot.. it's still ongoing though..

Note

Before a Anime or Manga goes into the voting block it needs to have been suggested three times or have been commented on it two more times within the thread. Once in the voting block it will go through one more voting phase. So if you know some series suggested and agree, mention it.

In that case, I agree with Usagi Drop, Baccano, and Bakemonogatari. The rest I haven't seen.

Wait, wait, wait. Since I don't want to type out everything again,

http://archive.thecolorless.net/thread/266995

ALMOST everything in there.

Should I just put in all the recommended stuff into the voting block then people can write their Aie!'s and Nay's! in the thread along with the recommendations? Then when it is Aie!'d 3 times get's into the list? Again these aren't just recommendations etc. these are MUST watches, masterpiece's. Entry should have some buffer.

@Momimochi I am not going through all that, just by the way.

@Neko-Chan Yeah, that sounds like a better idea to me.

What's that? Another favorite anime thread under the veil of a "best of" list?

You see, if people just throw out ideas, you get a huge list of anime that people really liked. People don't need reasons to like anime/manga, they just do. You need to ask yourself about criteria.

What criteria, you ask? Well I don't know. That's what needs to be discussed.

Take for instance Gunbuster. I have a heavy bias towards it, because it was my intro into Mecha (after G Gundam, but that's another story). I could make a case that it deserves placement on the list because of it's heart warmning, inspirational story. However, the last episode is entirely in Black and White because the studio ran out of money. It's far from perfect in animation.

How about something many of know as of recent, Durarara. I enjoyed it, as many people did, but is it a masterpiece? It has decent animation, a good story, etc. However, the narration took away in some parts and it lacked the overlying cohesive element that Baccano had. Baccano was a convoluted situation in which everything was tied together but everything mattered. Durarara felt more like dominoes in a sequence. Everything was together and influencing each other, but for particular reason.

I like Durarara, don't get me wrong on that. However, it's not a masterpiece.

So, there are two ways to approach this. We can seperate titles by masterpieces of a certain element (Cinematography, Plot, Animation, etc) or we can decide on a means of rating them coughanimenewnetwork*.

I personally feel this would be better in categories. Otherwise, I would remove about

I support

• Baccano
• Code Geass
• Hellsing Ultimate (hell yeah)

I suggest (and try to make it short)

Neon Genesis Evangelion

because it is one of the most discussed series of all times and half of the parody animes have NGE jokes. Some think it's good, some think it's bad but rarely people stay indifferent.

and Death Note

It is also very famous (everyone saw it). It is also considered to be one of the best animes ever made.

also FLCL

It is a must watch for those who like messed up animes. It's often labeled as "masterpiece", something "special" "unique" "pleasantly different" and so on.

and I would support Hayao Miyazaki's works such as for example Howl's Moving Castle or My Neighbor Totoro...

@VivoDePyre I agree, and yet I disagree. I am still trying to think of a proper way for the Anime and the Manga to be sorted and voted into the proper lists. Yes it is some what like a recommendation lists, however this isn't merely just titled "best" recommendation lists. It is suppose to be a list that suppose to be the masterpieces within the medium of Anime and Manga. So yes, I agree that the current system isn't perfect, however I do not agree that just because you don't think an article could be classified as a Masterpiece doesn't mean it cannot be voted for. However I due agree we should bump up the standard a bit and maybe add categories, in which they must be a sorted into. Though there should not be a limit to the amount of pieces accepted into the list. If anyone has a better idea on how to organize the thread to increase the selectivity of the list you may post a comment here or Pm me.

@Neko-Chan categories is a good way of sorting mangas/animes, however it's a format that don't go very well with a forum topic, as the "flow" is only from top to bottom... having categories in such a format would make the research longer, the other way around would be to have more than one topics (IOW one topic per category) but that would complexify thing (hope I made my thought clear, not a native speaker)

back to the main subject, I support :

• Baccano!
• Code Geass

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Many people aren't fond of the story, finding it too obscure I spent many hours (days ?) searching on the web for answers myself

Very well animated, battle are short but intense and there are many references to true scientific theories (Dirac Sea for instance) which is a plus IMO However, the most interesting thing in the anime is the relation between the characters which developed in such a twisted way post-episode 10 it makes you want to see the whole anime again The EoE is very good and add a lot to the story

NHK ni Yokoso!

Following a NEET who is helped out by a girl. The story is fun overall and talks about otakus and their universe. However, some scenes are very sad and give a bitter feeling. The ending was quite a deception but the anime is still very good. Not much to say. The best is to watch it :)

Inbou-da !