My Favorite Anime / Manga / VNs
I used to be very dismissive of anime until I watched it. It then had a bizarre, profound effect on my life: from pulling me out of a miserable rut to making me learn japanese, it was as if for a short time I fixed my life and genuinely enjoyed it.
Unfortunately, eventually I lost interest. And with no japanese media left to consume, the need for learning japanese vanished aswell. Despite learning it for only 8-9 months I was doing well and enjoyed it very much. Anyways, here's the best stuff I watched/read, without spoilers:
ANiME
Death Note
The first anime I've ever watched was 'Neon Genesis Evangelion', but to be honest it's not nearly as interesting as most people make it out to be. 'Death Note', on the other hand, is absolutely thrilling, even despite going awry towards the end and having a weak ending (almost every good anime suffers from this though, so be prepared). If you have heard of it but never watched it (like me, at one point) - this is your chance.
Code Geass
This one is similar to death note in many aspects - random guy gets superpowers, tries to change the world, yada yada, but it also features more action and is more colorful.
Fullmetal Alchemist
The one that blew my pants & socks off. The story is fucking amazing, this one will have you completely glued to the screen, wondering what happens next, until the inevitable major fuck up in the finale. SPOILER ALERT: The characters travel to our world to fight Hitler. WHAT?????? The movie that followed up was even more embarrasing. But everything up to those episodes is fucking nuts. Also the other version - 'Brotherhood' - sucks, and I will die on this hill.
Attack On Titan
This one is the second anime that blew my socks off. The worldbuilding WAS amazing until season 3 or 4 or 3 part bajillion, where everything cool and mysterious that was established up until that point was flushed down the drain, mercilessly. I didn't bother finishing it after that because it got too retarded. It had a really neat artstyle for the first 2 seasons or so too. What a shame.
Steins;Gate
A really cool concept, I'm not gonna spoil it, but it's executed perfectly. The biggest issue is that they went on to make a sequel which is a snoozefest that, together with other boring shit I watched, led me to stop watching anime for almost a year.
Kara No Kyoukai
This was the series that suddenly pulled me out of my misery and changed my life. I have no idea why - it's not that great, and if I had to watch it now I'd be bored. There's several films, but only the first and fifth stand out. The first because of the general atmosphere, and the fifth because it's a genuine MINDFUCK. That one you just HAVE to see. As for the plot, well, I barely remember it. I think the girl hunts paranormal entities or something? And some guy just follows her around? The usual type-moon stuff.
Black Lagoon
Nothing special here, just lots of action.
Re:ZERO -Starting Life In Another World-
Did you watch Steins;Gate? Well, here's an isekai Steins;Gate. If someone would describe it to me that way, I'd be rushing to watch it ASAP because that's one of the most exciting concepts ever. I've not seen the last season (as of 2025) and I'll probably keep it that way..
Monster
The ending was inconclusive but goddamn is this a good show. And the best part is that it has none of the usual anime-slop issues like spamming boring cliches and stupid shit repeatedly. Nope, this one is fully story-driven. A mature, serious show compared to most animes.
Elfen Lied
Fuck you, I liked it. Hahahahahaha!!!! Even read the manga some time after, I think it has some extra scenes but most of them are sort of ... baffling, in an "author's barely disguised fetish" sort of a way. Or maybe I'm misremembering... take care.
Mirai Nikki
Fuck you, I liked it. Hahahahahaha!!!! (2)
I don't remember the details, but basically a group of people is tasked to kill each other, and they have "future diaries" - each with a special ability (e.g. predicting the future, how to escape, etc). The last man standing is to become god... But who shall it be?
Berserk
The original Berserk anime has it all - a good artstyle, a great soundtrack and best of all, an epic story to adapt. Sadly, it's only an excerpt, and the other attempts at adapting it went very, very wrong. Watch it for the soundtrack at least.
Gantz
The anime is actually kind of weak compared to the manga, and like Berserk, it's only a small excerpt. But it has a different ending and is pretty fun overall. People who die wake up in a room with a mysterious black ball.. soon, they're forced to put on suits and take weapons, because they're going to hunt down aliens. Aliens who are a magnitude stronger than they are...
Azumanga Daioh
One of the few slice of life animes worth watching, very nice stuff.
Nichijou
Ditto.
Yuru Yuri
Ditto.
Parasyte -the maxim-
Cool story, guy's hand turns into a parasite and he becomes very powerful, which he needs to do, cause now other parasites will try to kill him.
Texhnolyze
Dark and gritty, with little dialogue.
Boogiepop Phantom
Another dark anime. If I hadn't noted that I've seen it, I wouldn't even know. I wonder what the hell happened in it... But it was nice.
Ergo Proxy
An anime with a unique art style. I don't remember what happens in it and reading a description didn't help me at all. But it was good.
The Tatami Galaxy
Good luck reading the subtitles. The sequel was good too.
Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei
I'm kind of divided on this one. I liked it when I watched it for the first time, but reading the manga bored me so now I'm not sure. Every single episode is focused on some random gimmick, and you're showered with random references you will never even notice without notes (so if you watch with subs - make sure yours have these).
Deadman Wonderland
Very dark and gory, honestly the story isn't even that good, especially if you finish the manga which the anime doesn't fully cover, but I liked it.
Gleipnir
Guy gains the ability to transform into a giant fur-suit (LMAO!) and shit goes nuts. Aliens are involved, as is the case with every good anime.
From The New World
Alright, I'm getting tired explaining what these are about. Clearly I either can't remember or can barely formulate a sentence. Anyways, people live in an alternative world with some sort of demonic entities that can slaughter them en masse. Shit hits the fan. Got it?
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
Mr.Flimsy is tasked with... oops, nevermind. This one is just about cops and shieet.
Tengoku No Daimakyou
Just fucking watch it!
Ima, Soko ni Iru Boku
Dark as hell, really dark, but it stands out somewhat, so even though I didn't like it too much, I can definitely recommend it.
MANGA
Berserk
It feel like it's going nowhere now, but there's a ton of chapters, and the story is pretty interesting, as far as manga goes.
Gantz
The undisputed EPIC. It's just perfect.
Gigant
From the maker of Gantz... This one's about a woman who can turn very big, and a mysterious website that makes whatever is voted to the top of it come true. Much shorter, but nearly as good, and what the fuck was that at the end, with the philosophers? Hahahaha, good stuff. It's easy for japanese learners but there are some parts (like the first 2-3 pages) that are giga hard. Just look at the translation and you'll understand what they're talking about, it's not that important.
Inuyashiki
More by the same guy, this time, a grandpa is reconstructed into a cyborg. He then goes out to save the world from evil. This one is just too short! I wish it was longer. It's not heavy on the dialogue, so it's good for learners.
Billy Bat
From the maker of "Monster", this is a bizarre story, spanning over a century, with a crazy set of characters, everyone makes it here - Einstein, Hitler, Lee Harvey Oswald, etc, all tied together because of a cartoon bat. Was it the white one or the black one..? Hmmm.....
Voynich Hotel
This one's kind of laid back. Shit just happens... Very unique, very good, and very good for learners - just beware of that one page where a single really old kanji is used for no real reason.
Gleipnir
This one's been mentioned before. Good for learners too.
Homunculus
Where do I start? A weird, cross-dressing freak (he barely looks human) is obsessed with drilling people's heads. A willing participant turns up, and, following the procedure, gains paranormal abilities. Very good for learners aswell.
Yotsuba!
From the maker of Azumanga Daioh (actually, Yotsuba came first). The best slice of life manga. It's been running for over 2 decades by now and the artstyle has degraded baaaad. But it's very touching otherwise. Some people say it's a bit difficult for japanese learners because of the slang and some of the things yotsuba says, but I disagree. Plus, someone made a whole google doc with all these words listed there.
Tengoku No Daimakyou
This one's been mentioned before. Good for learners too.
Chainsaw Man
DON'T watch the anime, it sucks so bad. The manga is a millionfold better than whatever the fuck it was. I stopped reading at one point, but I bet it's just as bizarre and crazy still. Good for learners aswell!
Murcielago
More gory nonsense. This time, with a mostly female cast. Lots of chapters. WARNING, ball-bustingly hard for learners, if the first chapter looks like hell, then, well, it pretty much is, wait for another month or so before starting it if it feels that way. Otherwise, you'll blast through it in no time, it's not that hard once you know all those words from other media.
VNs
I'll mention these in brief - they're already covered in 'my favorite games'. Danganronpa is great (the first 2 games), Zero escape also (also just the first 2 games) and Umineko, but I felt like the story didn't go in the direction I wanted it to with this one.
Afterword
Wow, I feel like I've lost brain cells writing this page. I can barely remember anything, let alone describe the stuff I do remember somewhat. If anything, take this as proof that even the brain damaged can learn well. It took me about 5 months of reading stuff to go from zero to reading Umineko at a quick pace. Grind anki in bulk and clock in copious amounts of time per day into reading and watching anime and you'll soon find yourself progressing very quickly. I was writing an article about this in more detail, but I shelved it for some reason. Maybe I'll publish it soon. Anyways, here you go. I wish I didn't lose interest maan this sucks, I was gonna play japanese games and do so much, and for the first time in ages I felt like I was comitted to a good cause, then bam wham and it's all gone. It's been about a year since I've watched anime / read manga. I tried to get into VNs again later, but nope, I just don't like them, they're lame. All that grind and time I spent on japanese was enjoyable, but what's the point if it all goes to nil? Oh well.
Also I just love saying the plural "animes". I WILL keep doing it. You can't stop me.