Action/Sci-Fi/Drama Anime

[IllegalPAP]

I didn't see a post for this, so here's what I was thinking: I'm a big anime consumer, but I tend to only go for anime that fall into the Action/Sci-Fi/Drama(and a bit Fantasy) categories. I figured we could use this thread to discuss anime that fall into these categories. I've been having trouble finding some new anime that fits well within those lines that have grabbed me, so maybe someone has some recommendations.

Not that this is a final list by any means, but if you are looking for along those lines, this is what I own and recommend:

Naruto
Bleach
X
Wolf's Rain
Basilisk
Samurai Champloo
Noein
Cowboy Bebop
Outlaw Star
Samurai 7
Ergo Proxy
Darker Than Black
Tokyo Majin
Red Garden
Gunslinger Girl
Mushi-Shi
Claymore
Now and Then, Here and There
Code Geass
Fullmetal Alchemist (just starting)
The SoulTaker
Le Chevalier D'Eon
Giant Robo
Soul Eater
Naoki Urasawa's Monster (SO upset that we didn't get more than one volume. Anyone know if they will ever release the series in english?)
Sailor Moon
Otogi Zosh
Shiguri: Death Frenzy

[Robotech Master]

When people say "Sci-Fi/Drama," I always heartily recommend the Seikai no Monshou and Seikai no Senki series (Crest of the Stars and Banner of the Stars here in the states). I notice a lack of space opera-ish genre in your examples though, so I don't know if you're trying to talk about something else, but alien worlds, space ships, and futuristic culture clashes are all big Sci-fi elements.

Other space faring Sci-fi shows that are good, but also with some comedic twists instead of just straight drama, are Irresponsible Captain Tylor and Vandread.

Infinite Ryvius is very good--might be up your alley if you like the idea of Lord of the Flies in Space.

[Ghost]

As usual, I recommend To Aru Majutsu no Index and To Aru Kagaku no Railgun. The former has fantasy elements, the later being more pure sci-fi. Both are excellent.

Guilty Crown has also been very solid, though admittedly I haven't seen the latest bunch of episodes.

Also, Senki Zesshou Symphogear. I mean, even if you are not usually into Magical Girl anime, how can you not love this?

[Melchior]

Another suggestion for the Space Opera genre - the works of Leiji Matsumoto:

Galaxy Express 999 or Arcadia of My Youth are both a lot of fun.

From Studio Gainax:

Gunbuster, Gurren Lagann, and the Rebuild of Evangelion movies.

Well, you have Outlaw Star and Cowboy Bebop on your list, so you probably need to round it out with Trigun.

Huh, and have you tried the Ghost in the Shell: TV Series?

For a sampler of the original series, Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket is excellent.

For something with a striking art style: Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo (try to watch a clip before buying. People either like the art style, or literally cannot watch it).

For near-future giant robots, Gasaraki is supposed to be coming out again.

Boogiepop Phantom should be closer to Ergo Proxy, Darker than Black, and the like. Oh, and Witch Hunter Robin! Cannot believe I forgot that after seeing those titles.

For something classic and fun, Project A-ko is great.

Iria: Zeiram the Animation would be close in feel to Outlaw Star.

If you want me to expand on any of these, just let me know.

[IllegalPAP]

When people say "Sci-Fi/Drama," I always heartily recommend the Seikai no Monshou and Seikai no Senki series (Crest of the Stars and Banner of the Stars here in the states). I notice a lack of space opera-ish genre in your examples though, so I don't know if you're trying to talk about something else, but alien worlds, space ships, and futuristic culture clashes are all big Sci-fi elements.

Other space faring Sci-fi shows that are good, but also with some comedic twists instead of just straight drama, are Irresponsible Captain Tylor and Vandread.

Infinite Ryvius is very good--might be up your alley if you like the idea of Lord of the Flies in Space.

I think I could get into some of the space opera stuff if it could engage me enough. I've added Crest of the Stars (couldn't find much for previews on it, but it seemed interesting enough), and Banner of the stars 1 to my Netflix. Are they the same story? Continuations/seguels?

I find that comedy in anime is really hit or miss for me, so I tend to go more straight faced, but I did watch a few minutes of Irresponsible Captain Tylor, and decided to add that. Vamdread seemed a bit to fan service-y and goofy, but I'm slightly intrigued by the first episode, so I might watch it on youtube if I have some time.

I read a few reviews of Infinite Ryvius and it seemed to be hailed as pretty psychological in nature, so I am looking forward to that one.

Thanks for the recommendations

As usual, I recommend To Aru Majutsu no Index and To Aru Kagaku no Railgun. The former has fantasy elements, the later being more pure sci-fi. Both are excellent.

Guilty Crown has also been very solid, though admittedly I haven't seen the latest bunch of episodes.

Also, Senki Zesshou Symphogear. I mean, even if you are not usually into Magical Girl anime, how can you not love this?

To Aru Majutsu no Index seems really promising...is there an english dub DVD yet, or do you have to watch it online? Ditto for To Aru Kagaku no Railgun and Guilty Crown? Senki Zesshou Symphogear seemed to really straddel the line of cool and not for me, but I think I'll have to further dig at it to see. I'm guessing that doens't have a DVD release in the US yet either?

[IllegalPAP]

Another suggestion for the Space Opera genre - the works of Leiji Matsumoto:

Galaxy Express 999 or Arcadia of My Youth are both a lot of fun.

From Studio Gainax:

Gunbuster, Gurren Lagann, and the Rebuild of Evangelion movies.

Well, you have Outlaw Star and Cowboy Bebop on your list, so you probably need to round it out with Trigun.

Huh, and have you tried the Ghost in the Shell: TV Series?

For a sampler of the original series, Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket is excellent.

For something with a striking art style: Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo (try to watch a clip before buying. People either like the art style, or literally cannot watch it).

For near-future giant robots, Gasaraki is supposed to be coming out again.

Boogiepop Phantom should be closer to Ergo Proxy, Darker than Black, and the like. Oh, and Witch Hunter Robin! Cannot believe I forgot that after seeing those titles.

For something classic and fun, Project A-ko is great.

Iria: Zeiram the Animation would be close in feel to Outlaw Star.

If you want me to expand on any of these, just let me know.

Galaxy Express 999 and Arcadia of My Youth I tried, but I really couldn't get into them. I watched an episode of Gurren Lagann on SyFy and just hated it. It just didn't seem serious enough for me. Trigun was a bit the same. Like I said in one of my other replies, comedy bits seem to be really hit and miss for me, and those two missed. Gankutsuou I did watch and enjoy. It got a bit long in the tooth nead the end, but I liked it. The style was the main reason I stayed with it. As for Ghost in the Shell, I've never known where to start. There are a number of different series/movies, and I just never really figured out what to go with. Gundam has never been a series I liked enough to follow, but I've seen episodes from a few of the series and they are good if you like the mecha stuff. Boogiepop Phantom seemed right up my alley, so I added that and Witch Hunter Robin. Iria was ok. I think for the time it was made, it was pretty good, but it doesn't hold up as well for today, but most animation seems to have a shorter shelf life than regular movies.

[Ghost]

To Aru Majutsu no Index seems really promising...is there an english dub DVD yet, or do you have to watch it online? Ditto for To Aru Kagaku no Railgun and Guilty Crown? Senki Zesshou Symphogear seemed to really straddel the line of cool and not for me, but I think I'll have to further dig at it to see. I'm guessing that doens't have a DVD release in the US yet either?

Afraid I can't help you much there, as I'm not American nor in any capacity to seriously collect DVDs. I get most of my anime from the internet via, shall we say, less then legal means.

Apparently all of them are licensed by Funimation, though. I tried checking their website for availability but apparently you have to be a member even to look up their anime. So... *shrug*

Galaxy Express 999 and Arcadia of My Youth I tried, but I really couldn't get into them.

Could never learn to appreciate Leiji Matsumoto either, which is a bit weird since Star Blazers was the earliest anime I encountered.

I watched an episode of Gurren Lagann on SyFy and just hated it.

Curious. Was it that one episode that everybody hates, or one of all the remaining episodes that everybody loves?

[Melchior]

Galaxy Express 999 and Arcadia of My Youth I tried, but I really couldn't get into them. I watched an episode of Gurren Lagann on SyFy and just hated it. It just didn't seem serious enough for me. Trigun was a bit the same. Like I said in one of my other replies, comedy bits seem to be really hit and miss for me, and those two missed. Gankutsuou I did watch and enjoy. It got a bit long in the tooth nead the end, but I liked it. The style was the main reason I stayed with it. As for Ghost in the Shell, I've never known where to start. There are a number of different series/movies, and I just never really figured out what to go with. Gundam has never been a series I liked enough to follow, but I've seen episodes from a few of the series and they are good if you like the mecha stuff. Boogiepop Phantom seemed right up my alley, so I added that and Witch Hunter Robin. Iria was ok. I think for the time it was made, it was pretty good, but it doesn't hold up as well for today, but most animation seems to have a shorter shelf life than regular movies.

Hmmm.... yeah, Leiji's stuff does have some odd pacing. Makes it hard to watch if you are not in the mood.

Gurren Lagann I would try out for 2-3 episodes before writing it off. Same with Trigun, though Trigun is constructed a bit differently. The first half of Trigun is lighter than the second half, but that gives it time to connect with the characters.

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, I believe, is the first of the TV series, and should work well as a starting point.

Gundam 0080 has an advantage as a relatively self-contained 6 episode series. It happens it the original timeline, so knowing the bare bones is useful: that the Earth Federation and the Principality of Zeon have been fighting for about a year, with the Federation desperately trying to catch up with Mobile Suit technology for the vast majority of the war. It is fairly character driven, looking at the lives of some people living in the colonies who do not realize they are part of the war. The animation does date from the late eighties, if that matters.

[ChrisIII]

0080 also has Macross's character designer and is OAV quality, so it doesn't really look too dated IMO. It's also interesting that a lot of the mobile suit designs are also sort of transitional to the 80's UC series/movies.


And they actually made the Gog, one of the ugliest suits in the original series, into something really cool, the Hygog.

[IllegalPAP]

Afraid I can't help you much there, as I'm not American nor in any capacity to seriously collect DVDs. I get most of my anime from the internet via, shall we say, less then legal means.

Apparently all of them are licensed by Funimation, though. I tried checking their website for availability but apparently you have to be a member even to look up their anime. So... *shrug*



Could never learn to appreciate Leiji Matsumoto either, which is a bit weird since Star Blazers was the earliest anime I encountered.



Curious. Was it that one episode that everybody hates, or one of all the remaining episodes that everybody loves?

Not sure. It was a while back, but I think I remember a girl getting her ridiculous jell-o boobs smooshed on someone's face, jumping around in some frog thing (maybe out of some big craft?), and a lot of juvenile whinging. I did watch the whole thing, but I was uninterested in returning for more of the same.

I like a good weighty drama. Now and Then, Here or There, that's like a nice afternoon tea movie for me.

[IllegalPAP]

Could never learn to appreciate Leiji Matsumoto either, which is a bit weird since Star Blazers was the earliest anime I encountered.

Hmmm.... yeah, Leiji's stuff does have some odd pacing. Makes it hard to watch if you are not in the mood.

Gurren Lagann I would try out for 2-3 episodes before writing it off. Same with Trigun, though Trigun is constructed a bit differently. The first half of Trigun is lighter than the second half, but that gives it time to connect with the characters.

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, I believe, is the first of the TV series, and should work well as a starting point.

Gundam 0080 has an advantage as a relatively self-contained 6 episode series. It happens it the original timeline, so knowing the bare bones is useful: that the Earth Federation and the Principality of Zeon have been fighting for about a year, with the Federation desperately trying to catch up with Mobile Suit technology for the vast majority of the war. It is fairly character driven, looking at the lives of some people living in the colonies who do not realize they are part of the war. The animation does date from the late eighties, if that matters.

I give it up to the guy, his style is really gorgeous, but like you guys had pointed out, it was slower, and maybe a bit out-dated...like when you go watch the old Thundercats or He Man and She Ra. They were so cool back then, but seems more juvenile or unsosphisticated now....if that makes sense.

[an angry space man]

12 Kingdoms
Utena
Nadia: Secret of the Blue Water
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood ( skip the 1st series, it's overrated)
Zeta Gundam
RahXephon
She the Ultimate Weapon
Last Exile

Not sci fi/ action/ or drama but maybe worth a look:
School Rumble
Azumanga Dahio
His and Her Circumstances

[Yun Lao]

If you liked Ergo Proxy, you may want to also check out Texhnolyze. I consider the two of them to be spiritual sibling shows.