~Recipe For A Good Anime Series~

[TheDemonSlayer]

Ok so what makes for a good anime series in your opinion?

[kf1]

Mainly, the story and how well it's paced.

[Caine]

good pacing, not rushed, not overly long, good plot. Its nice to have at least some comic relief. Action usually doesn't hurt. A good soundtrack and good animation style never hurt

[The Million Dollar Prons]

1) Badass super robot with dozens of awesome attacks capable of ripping apart aliens.
2) Badass super robot combos with those badass super robot attacks
3) Badass main character
4) Badass side character
5) Hot chick
6) Explosions

[HitokiriShadow]

I don't think you can make a 'recipe' for a good anime series. No matter how could an idea sounds, it needs a good director and story/script writer to make it work. And there may be some premises/stories that are simply unworkable no matter how good of a director and writer you have.

[Leader Desslock]

^ Seconded. Although I think in the case of an unworkable story/premise, you should always throw in a catgirl. A bad show featuring a catgirl is better than a bad show about no catgirls at all. A catgirl can't fix everything, but it can at least fix the problem of having no catgirls.

[Ramen-Boy]

sarcastic-talking-cats. Or just talking-cats with badass powers.

[DazzleKitty]

Hot men (Gayish ones are an added bonus!)
Romance
Comedy
A good story (of course)

[Danju]

I'm with Hitokiri. However, most of the anime I like usually has all of the following: romance, comedy and a strong plot.

[HitokiriShadow]

^ Seconded. Although I think in the case of an unworkable story/premise, you should always throw in a catgirl. A bad show featuring a catgirl is better than a bad show about no catgirls at all. A catgirl can't fix everything, but it can at least fix the problem of having no catgirls.

This is true. And if you have a crappy story/premise you can at least appeal to some people by turning up the fanservice.

[Levon]

Ok so what makes for a good anime series in your opinion?

Answer: Yoshiyuki Tomino

[SDAnimeFan]

It has to have a good story line accourse.:)

[JuraBasilElden]

I say storiylines that never demean women, regardless. No damsels, @ all.

[Fishbait]

Well, the storyline can't really be all that creative or original...everything's been done 192819 times.

So I'd say

- Animation style
- Voice acting
- Character design

and of course

-HOT CHICKS AND EXPLOSIONS

[Levon]

I say storiylines that never demean women, regardless. No damsels, @ all.

<_< Do you always have to twist a topic into a female rant issue?

[The Million Dollar Prons]

Ya know what? I'm tired of anime demeaning men.

Seriously, male characters these days are big blubbering vaginas.

We need more real MEN in anime

[Harima-kun]

It sould have... Mitsuo Fukuda!!... (joking, just joking!! aaagh!)

[Vaikyuko]

Personally, I would consider these as "success" plans for making good anime:

1) Have a giant robot. Can't stress it enough. I don't care if it's a police unit, a super robot that can destroy planets, a war machine, or the latest incarnation of Mazinger. Giant robots, gotta have them.

2) Story. Unless I'm watching something crappy, I want a story. Even the super sentai shows have a pretty hefty plot, if you go looking for it.

3) Death. I love death in anime, film, etc. It's a real direct way to do a lot of things, especially getting points across. Plus, if you kill everyone at the end, you get recognized for it. *points to Tomino*

4) Good staff. This one might be the most important of all. Without good staff, you're pretty much screwed.

[Prof.Nosebleed]

Story is the most important in an anime with innovation, development, and characters as the foundation.

[Holy Knight]

So long as the story is well made, any script can be excellent. Sure, for some stories you'd need a lot of imagination and creativity, but anything can be good.

For example, if we had an anime called "pear stair", where a pear tries, for 26 episodes, to jump up a flight of stairs, you'd need quite a brilliant cast to take this one off! It can surely be done, anything can and nothing is impossible.

Ya know what? I'm tired of anime demeaning men.

Seriously, male characters these days are big blubbering vaginas.

We need more real MEN in anime

This is one reason why I hold Alucard in such high esteem.

[Leader Desslock]

I say storiylines that never demean women, regardless. No damsels, @ all.
Seems to me that women are strong enough creatures to take some gentle-natured ribbing along with the rest of us. Do you think that women should be placed on some sort of pedestal with the words "Thou Shalt Not Ridicule" written on the bottom?

I think you're being sexist. It's people like you, spreading your hateful lies about how women need extra consideration and protection that make it difficult for women like Kasumi Tendo to be taken seriously. Geez.

[Midoriko87]

Two men kissing. Well-dressed, attractive men. :thumbsup:

Themes. Sometimes, you may have a mediocre story, but the anime shines because of its exploration of a universal truth of Mankind.

[kt-san]

good plot and themes

[Levon]

Seems to me that women are strong enough creatures to take some gentle-natured ribbing along with the rest of us. Do you think that women should be placed on some sort of pedestal with the words "Thou Shalt Not Ridicule" written on the bottom?

I think you're being sexist. It's people like you, spreading your hateful lies about how women need extra consideration and protection that make it difficult for women like Kasumi Tendo to be taken seriously. Geez.

I just don't understand how someone can hate an anime because they don't like a certain type of character. I'm not that shallow, even my favorite anime has annoying characters(Katz) that I hate but I still love the anime. I think its great when an anime has all different types of characters & its dumb to be offended by a certain type of character.


3) Death. I love death in anime, film, etc. It's a real direct way to do a lot of things, especially getting points across. Plus, if you kill everyone at the end, you get recognized for it. *points to Tomino*

Tomino likes to kill off his characters because he hates sequels....which is very ironic since theres so much Gundam. But everytime he makes a Gundam for the most part its different, although trying to make ZZ into a comedy was a stupid idea to make it different.

[JuraBasilElden]

Two men kissing. Well-dressed, attractive men. :thumbsup:

Themes. Sometimes, you may have a mediocre story, but the anime shines because of its exploration of a universal truth of Mankind.YUCC. :eww:

[Leader Desslock]

I just don't understand how someone can hate an anime because they don't like a certain type of character.
I think that some people spend so much time obsessing on what an anime series isn't that they lose the ability to appreciate what it actually is. Ah! My Goddess is a wonderful romance, but you're always going to get those people who think Belldandy's a doormat because she genuinely enjoys cooking for Keiichi. :rolleyes:

[TheDemonSlayer]

Yeah things like this tend to happen I guess. And although such ideas become repeticious at times, it's only to be expected. It's one of those human characteristics, or ideas that make forums like this one so interesting.

[TheDemonSlayer]

But what anime in your opinion has redefined animation as we know it today?

[Leader Desslock]

I'd be sorely pressed to objectively define "as we know it today", much less give a title of an anime I thought redefined it from whatever it was previously.

Was it the first anime to make the transition from giant robots to mecha being tools of war? Was it the first harem or magical girl anime? Was it the first psycho/philosophical anime? Gundam? Urusei Yatsura? Cutey Honey? Akira? How about the first animation to go from cartoony entertainment to serious subject matter? Which one was that?

Tell you what - you tell me what anime was before, then tell me what it was after the redifinition, and I'll see if I can come up with a title to fit. What I think you're actually doing is throwing around an idiom like "redefined animation as we know it" without any idea what you actually mean by it. Which means you're gonna get a bunch of people saying "DBZ! Evangelion! Last Exile! Cowboy Bebop! GitS:SAC!" when none of those titles necessarily mean anything in the grand scheme of things. I can list you a bunch of reasons I think Bebop is a significant and defining work, but that doesn't mean I think it redefined anime as we know it.

[TheDemonSlayer]

Yeah I see your point, I should have specified a little more further, when I say redefined animation as we know it, I mean what do you think started the transition of animation just being a child like experience that didn't have any significance to anything. Better yet, since there are so many various titles out there, you could probably think of a couple. So I'm pretty much asking this, what started the transition from being a childs pass-time, to being something great, a way of life for some people?

[Jon]

Answer: Yoshiyuki Tomino
Levon speaks the truth.



1) Have a giant robot. Can't stress it enough. I don't care if it's a police unit, a super robot that can destroy planets, a war machine, or the latest incarnation of Mazinger. Giant robots, gotta have them.


I disagree with this. I love series with giant robots, but after awhile you just want to get away from them for awhile. Example: Gundam 0080. I was just so glad there wasn't a damn robot in every scene, which truthfully is the reason I enjoyed it over the other Gundams I've seen.

[Talon]

Sex, violence, action, controversy. (an intelligent plot is too much to ask for nowadays) plot twists are also good... and an interesting art direction or style always draws me in.

A good non-jpop opening and closing theme have become essential for first impressions as far as im concerned...

[tofuman]

A good story, plot, animation, and characters I think are the most important things. Also not to long and violence.

[TheDemonSlayer]

Yeah violence is always good.:lol:

[Infrazael]

This is one reason why I hold Alucard in such high esteem.

Gene Starwin from Outlaw Star

Spike from Cowboy Bebop

Brandon from Gungrave

Kenshirou from Fist of the North Star

[Beaver_Nation]

My input, make sure the creator has full, or close to full, control of the production. How many series have been ruined when the studio took control away from the creator?

[TheDemonSlayer]

This is true as well, it's very tragic when such things happen.

[MedaMember]

Uhmm.....Realistic violence......Depth characters and plot......A bit of comedy.......Cool character Designs......And Plot twists..

[goddessofanime]

1. Good story which grabs you from the first episode and makes you want to watch to see what happens next

2. Good, fully developed characters

3. Art/graphics/design that grabs you.

[TheDemonSlayer]

Yeah I can see that, I've seen a couple of shows that had potential, but the characters were just so boring..

[Prof.Nosebleed]

A good supply of fanservice :naughty: ....

[Reflect]

I think it depends on what direction your taking the anime. There are three basics ways to go, comedy, romance, or unique.

When I think of a great anime along the comic/unique lines, I think FLCL. I mean GREAT GREAT music, i loved the animation, there were tones of hilarious things that you catch everytime you watch it, and the jokes were pretty good. Also, I liked the overall theme of growing up and the end wasnt like most other anime where romance is involved. Noata kissed her, said I loved you, and then they parted ways. I thought it was perfect. I mean, I have not found any other anime out there like it, and the real life references to other anime were hilarious. I think anime that stands out takes the cake.

To have a good serious anime its important to have a fairly deep plot line. Series like Evangelion and Akira are perfect examples of this. I didnt like the animation of Evangelion, but its deep subject matter really pulled me in. As for Akira, on the surface its just gang fights and a run down city, but then when you get passed the first 15 minutes it starts to develoup into the creation of the universe. Both of these subject matters were dark in some ways, and they really stood out.

To have a good romance anime, you need to distract from the romance. What I mean is have the main character set out on another task, team up/meet a girl, and let the audience see thier relationship over time. Such series like Chobits, Elfen Lied, and Berserk are examples of these. They are all unique to begin with, as chobits is funny, elfen lied deals with a lot of explicit stuff, and berserk is set in a unique middle aged europe. They all met thier girl, and over time they started to change toward them and eventualy showed thier care for them by some act. These kinds of romance always stand out to me.

Regardless of what route you take, I think the more unique a series is and the more deep will compensate for any other areas that it falls short in.

[Khorell Nataz]

Yes...I feel that a combination of a few ideas are what help set a good series/story apart. Sure you want memorable characters but that doesnt mean jack without a good story/backstory. You want a fleshed out world with history however nothing matters if there is no threat to it. And as good as powers are they are useless if powers, rights, situations arent challenged.

And while you could have comedy and romance and action I think to really stand out you would have to make sure that a series isn't a one trick pony that appeals to only one type of fan. Let's face it a lot of the stuff out there and stuff that's coming out can usually remind you of something that's been done before.

You have to think differently, even if it's about the same lists others posted on this thread. Stories are usually the same...it's all about the telling of them.

[cyborgaaron]

Charaters you can adapt to, a good story line, something with alittle of everything (romance, comedy, drama, etc.) The look of the anime cannot be crappy and yet it can't be very, very good; can't be too realistic looking. It also has to have someone hot that guys or girls can droll over but cant be solemly based on that. Thats all I can think of.

[Hunter Yumi]

~Good art
~Good plot
~Not super long
~A good shonen or shoujo- ai romance
~Dark themes/imagery

[TheDemonSlayer]

Makes sense to me...

[TheDemonSlayer]

Ok this has been down long enough, so once again, what in your opinion makes for a good anime series?

[Shiroiyuki]

Well to me, the BEST combination a series can have is....

1.) A sexy, vagrant, knight-errant of sorts hero with dark wavy hair and a deep voice, who is divided by his inner turmoil and dark nature--and his overpowering need to do good despite those around him who succumb to their evil ways.

2.) Vampires, who are indeed dark and enticingly evil...yet, so sexy you can't help but bare your neck and scream VICTIM HERE into the darkness!

3.) A sexy, gothic style....black lace, harpsicords, corsets...basically it has to have a vampy Renaissance vibe.

4.) Um, did I mention sexy vampires? Hmmmm.....

[TheDemonSlayer]

Ummm, Hellsing, Vampire Hunter D, Blood: The Last Vampire...:lol:

[Shiroiyuki]

Vampire Hunter D:lol:

Exactly. Right on, man!!!


*Sigh* D. There shall be no one better than that....sexy dhampile beast.....

*points to her 'D's official groupie' T-shirt* I'm on a mission to convert the world!! D haters beware *glares*.

[Reidar]

Fighting and testosterone. That is all.

[Yoshio]

a good anime shouldnt follow a "recipe"

[Shiroiyuki]

a good anime shouldnt follow a "recipe"

Unless of course, it is my above recipe ^_^. THAT makes for quite an exciting anime-watching experience!

HAHA

[Reidar]

By saying a good anime doesn't follow a recipe, you are giving it a recipe to follow by.

[Soaker87]

-Isn't ridiculously long
-Crazy, confusing ending with mass death
-Dead characters don't come back unless there's a very good explanation for it
-Mecha with competant pilots both male and female
-Cute, fluffy romance scenes
-Angsty romance scenes
-Comical moments
-Lots of SD
-Mysterious characters doing mysterious things
-Cute character designs (lolis and shotas wouldn't hurt)

[TheDemonSlayer]

Exactly. Right on, man!!!


*Sigh* D. There shall be no one better than that....sexy dhampile beast.....

*points to her 'D's official groupie' T-shirt* I'm on a mission to convert the world!! D haters beware *glares*.
Yeah I really enjoyed watching D as well, and I must say, vampires are pretty cool, well atleast when their not at your neck.:lol: But I get the feeling you would enjoy that... -_-;

[Aaluaine]

side splitting comedy ,
good characters
good animation
awesome storyline ...
good voice actors ...

and yes hot chick + explosions !

[Neo0tak0n]

Art. both character designs and landscapes/background should blow you away
Violence. If there is going to be violence, don't be a ***** about it. I want exploding heads and body parts a-flying.
Japanese. Its always good if the anime takes place in japan or involves japan. And I don't mean inu yasha style fantasy history for 12 year olds.
Mature factor. nudity, not fan service. see violence.
Crazy factor. make the show "a little out there." like dark crystal "crazy"

[Chicito]

Good storyline/plot, something that leaves you on the edge of your seat
Characters that go along with the story
Story not rushed but not stalled
Good art style/animation quality
A few cliffhangers are good
Good voice acting
Extras are nice (dvd extras)

[TheDemonSlayer]

Story not rushed but not stalled
This is very true as well, you want certain titles to have a nice length to them, but then when doing this, producers sometimes allow the title to stall, and eventually die....

[LostCause]

*Sigh* D. There shall be no one better than that....sexy dhampile beast.....

*points to her 'D's official groupie' T-shirt* I'm on a mission to convert the world!! D haters beware *glares*.
I've got a proposition for you.

I shall join you, and open a new front in europe, converting euro otakus.
But I have a condition. Just this once, admit that Meier is hotter than D, because you can hardly see D's face from under that damn hat!

Now, do we have a deal?

[Shiroiyuki]

Just this once, admit that Meier is hotter than D, because you can hardly see D's face from under that damn hat!

Now, do we have a deal?

I'm sorry my friend, but to do that would be committing blasphemy against all I stand for :P


But, Meier was pretty hot too. What with his cute little accent and dark vampire disposition :naughty: Is that enough to make you happy? ^_^

D's sexiness involves that hat *drool*....let's just leave it at that *wicked grin*

[LostCause]

^oh, well. It was worth a shot. :naughty:
I'll be off to euro front now, I was going to do that regardless.

[Krueger]

1. An adult cast
2. Romance
3. Closure

[Professor Funk]

I normally watch a series for it's comedic value, If there are no dirty jokes or comedy in a series then there is no point in watching it. I really can't stand series that are tense at all times.

I also do enjoy Blood in an anime series.

[Krueger]

Well to me, the BEST combination a series can have is....

1.) A sexy, vagrant, knight-errant of sorts hero with dark wavy hair and a deep voice, who is divided by his inner turmoil and dark nature--and his overpowering need to do good despite those around him who succumb to their evil ways.

2.) Vampires, who are indeed dark and enticingly evil...yet, so sexy you can't help but bare your neck and scream VICTIM HERE into the darkness!

3.) A sexy, gothic style....black lace, harpsicords, corsets...basically it has to have a vampy Renaissance vibe.

4.) Um, did I mention sexy vampires? Hmmmm.....

Geez, have you seen Gankutsuou? LOL!

http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/animenation_1903_15048902.jpg

[TheDemonSlayer]

I also do enjoy Blood in an anime series
Blood in what way?:lol:

[Shiroiyuki]

Geez, have you seen Gankutsuou? LOL!

http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/animenation_1903_15048902.jpg
:O How is it possible I've never even heard of this!?!?!?! *faints from uber-sexy vampire man* I AM NOW GOING TO BUY THIS SERIES....


:smokin: Thank you Krueger!!!!! *bows*

[TheDemonSlayer]

Yeah this title looks interesting, is it a new title?

[Levon]

It came out a few years ago in Japan. R1 of Volume 5 comes out Tuesday.

The show is GREAT.

[TheDemonSlayer]

It came out a few years ago in Japan. R1 of Volume 5 comes out Tuesday.

The show is GREAT.
Really now, wow, I really don't remember seeing this one before. Is it similiar to Hunter D, or completely different?

[Krueger]

:O How is it possible I've never even heard of this!?!?!?! *faints from uber-sexy vampire man* I AM NOW GOING TO BUY THIS SERIES....


:smokin: Thank you Krueger!!!!! *bows*

Haha... I'm surprised you haven't even heard of it. The Count is not a vampire in the novel, but I'm not so sure in the anime. At least he bares resemblance to vampires and the like, from his appearance to his cold hands. From the post you gave it seemed like you were describing him "to a T." Gankutsuou's a great series either way though, definitely worth a buy.

Some more pics for your delight.
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/danieljr82/images/gankutsuou04.jpg http://mywebpages.comcast.net/danieljr82/images/gankutsuou08.jpg http://mywebpages.comcast.net/danieljr82/images/gankutsuou38.jpg

[Levon]

I'v seen the first 4 volumes so far & I don't think its really clear if he is a vampire or what. Its a mystery which I'm sure will be explained.


Is it any good? If you don't believe me read these reviews::P

http://www.animecritic.com/_metareview/viewtitle.php?aid=1286

http://www.animeacademy.com/finalrevdisplay.php?id=565

[Krueger]

Really now, wow, I really don't remember seeing this one before. Is it similiar to Hunter D, or completely different?

Though the character of the Count may bare resemblance to D, the anime couldn't be more different. Vampire Hunter D has a bit of everything, at least in Bloodlust I mean. Action, monsters, love, etc. Gankutsuou on the other hand is more of a drama show. It's based on the novel by Alexandre Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo, and while not 100% faithful to the novel, it still maintains the overall feel and atmosphere of the original story. It's a story about friendship, betrayal, love, and of course revenge. In fact, most of the story is The Count carefully and slowly executing his revenge on those who did him wrong. The novel also has a message of redemption and new love, so I don't know if the anime will retain these.

Still though, Gankutsuou is a fantastic anime series. I highly highly recommend it to anymore, especially the more mature audience as I think they will appreciate it more (and it's aimed for a mature audience anyways).

You can get a quick preview in the official site: http://www.montecristodvd.com/

[TheDemonSlayer]

The animation looks pretty cool...

[EmberAlchemist0]

-Lots of action/battles
-Well put together characters
-Some romance...not alot though. Too much is actually annoying in my opinion. >_<
-Great story lines/plots
-Good looking men...can't forget that. :lol:

[TheDemonSlayer]

Yeah I see your point, I should have specified a little more further, when I say redefined animation as we know it, I mean what do you think started the transition of animation just being a child like experience that didn't have any significance to anything. Better yet, since there are so many various titles out there, you could probably think of a couple. So I'm pretty much asking this, what started the transition from being a childs pass-time, to being something great, a way of life for some people?
Ok I asked this once before, so I'll try again...

[TheDemonSlayer]

Anyone at all? I mean there may very well be multiple reasons, but just give a few if you can...

[Yukito Kunisaki]

-Funny main character
-Bishoujo
-Indepth storyline
-Great opening music
-Great ending theme
-Great BGM
-Good animation
-Seasons/Series under 60 episodes (Like how Sailor moon goes up to 200 episodes, but seasons have a good amount of episodes, and not like Inuyasha)
-Good voice acting, be it dub or sub
-No five day long fights

The topping that aren't needed but always good:

-Shoujo-Ai
-Gore
-Alot of Jrock within the BGM (Like FLCL)

[TheDemonSlayer]

Sounds good to me. Although, if the fight scenes are going to be long, there very well be a damn good reason for it, if you get what I mean...

[Yukito Kunisaki]

Yea... I just can't stand ones that drag for days and you just get so bored you stop watching it... I would like a 1-3 day fight tops if anything, but as said, there would have to be a good reason. I remember a mission in FMP that took 3 episodes out of Japan and in a war field... that was for a good cause, and I liked it, but things like the Cell fight in DBZ...gah...forget it.

[master terrence]

an original story makes me interested. If it has uncany parallels to love hina or something like that, the anime settles for second to another series... and thats just not good.

[TheDemonSlayer]

It's always nice to see some originality thrown into the mix, and fortunately, I've been seeing quite a bit of that lately.

[TheDemonSlayer]

Just thought that I'd start this up one last time..

[GreatNekoKoneko]

...if i may quote Chris Griffin on this one:

BOOBIES!

[KitsuneMaryohki]

For me, I like good art [although that doesn't mean "I like art that looks like it was good within the last 10 years and everything else sucks", but more "The art needs to be something I can look at without wanting to look away". I like 80's and older anime and the art is perfectly fine to me in those. I mean thinks like...Reign.].

Plotline and character development are of high priority to me, and should work together.

Some minor things that can *help* are music and fanbase. Though if a fanbase acts like Eva or Haruhi Suzumiya's, then I get a bit turned off. (will explain that better later. I'm being called away)

[Yukito Kunisaki]

For me, I like good art [although that doesn't mean "I like art that looks like it was good within the last 10 years and everything else sucks", but more "The art needs to be something I can look at without wanting to look away". I like 80's and older anime and the art is perfectly fine to me in those. I mean thinks like...Reign.].

Plotline and character development are of high priority to me, and should work together.

Some minor things that can *help* are music and fanbase. Though if a fanbase acts like Eva or Haruhi Suzumiya's, then I get a bit turned off. (will explain that better later. I'm being called away)

Fanbase throws me off too, but Haruhi, I am giving it a fair chance, and after four episodes, its not too bad. I am hella confused about a few conversations though. xD. I can't get into Naruto, Eva, and many others though, despire the fanbase. Eva looks fine, but ehhhh....

[KitsuneMaryohki]

Fanbase throws me off too, but Haruhi, I am giving it a fair chance, and after four episodes, its not too bad. I am hella confused about a few conversations though. xD. I can't get into Naruto, Eva, and many others though, despire the fanbase. Eva looks fine, but ehhhh....

Actually, Eva's fanbase hasn't hurt me as much as ADV has in desire to watch the anime.

As for Haruhi, I'd like to try it, but I do not want to associate myself with rude idiots that don't understand what a preconception is and that they can be changed.