Anime appreciation thread~!

I'm already on episode 11. Going to be the fastest completion ive done. 

Last week I finally got around to watching the 1995 anime adaptation of Ghost in the Shell, I've been a huge fan of the original manga for a long time. While the anime doesn't have as involved a plot and simply can't spend as much time on the character, it does manage to tell an interesting crime/espionage thriller storyline as well as preserve most of the basic thematic insights about technological development's impact on humanity simply in the setting despite being way more realistic in style and tone. (perhaps to appeal to a larger audience) I also enjoyed the episode or two of Stand Alone Complex that I've watched.

What are people here's takes on the other incarnations of the GITS-verse? The film sequel Innocence seems to really divide audiences with some intensely disliking it but others finding it even more interesting, plus I think some of the later manga spinoffs Shirow Masamune himself was not satisfied with at all - because some complications regarding the business contract to the publishers prevented him from writing the storylines he had planned. (can't remember what they were called though)

bloodnarfer wrote: Michael678 wrote: watched another overall-good anime Angel Beats! not the best i ever saw but still good. I also finished Angel Beats! in the past few days but I'm undecided on it. I think it needed to be 26 instead of 13 episodes maybe for what they were trying to do (and amount of main chars)

KingCrInuYasha wrote: I went to Hulu and, for the first time in about 20 years, I became reacquainted with an old friend: "The Fastest Car On Earth" was okay, but I had a blast watching "The Race Against The Mammoth Car". Assuming the rest holds up, this still might be one of my favorite animé of all time.

Michael678 wrote: bloodnarfer wrote: Michael678 wrote: watched another overall-good anime Angel Beats! not the best i ever saw but still good. I also finished Angel Beats! in the past few days but I'm undecided on it. I think it needed to be 26 instead of 13 episodes maybe for what they were trying to do (and amount of main chars) that would definitely be nice.

I was a fan when I watched it. I still think it's good. I still enjoy that kind of humor.

It's also got some of the best female vocals in singing I have heard in an anime.

Just finished Death Parade. I really liked it until the end of the 11th episode and the 12th episode where the drama was a little overdone. It seemed like they were trying to milk all the emotion of scenes that would have been just fine with a less overstated approach.

Finished Kids on the Slope today. One of the few anime I've watched recently that made me sad it was over. Soundtrack is pretty jammin' too

See You Space Cowboy

UPDATE #1: yeah, earlier today i decided to watch Your Lie in April as well; i didn't cry at it like a majority of people (i'm not sure that'll ever happen with anything.....omg i don't have a soul ), but i still really enjoyed it overall nonetheless. animation and music are of course high points, and i don't mind the emotional points, especially near the end. okay, hopefully everything's back to schedule soon!! (was originally a part of the previous comment for a couple of days but somehow the site doesn't note it was updated for everyone to see...weird...)

My favourite animes:

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (also known as When They Cry) - my favourite anime and my personal favourite story ever written. Though the visual novel is still better. It is a mystical horror drama with some humour, which tells about the dark secrets of a Japanese village in the 1980s.

Baccano! - also a very good story about 1930s gangsters and alchemists, I think you have to watch it at least twice to piece everything together

Claymore - beautiful landscapes, frightening creatures and cold-eyed warrior beauties

Red Garden - a mysterious story about four very different girls being confronted with the death of one of their friends and a secret battle, which will also decide if they will survive

Clannad - about the life of a frustrated student who gets to know a few girls, helps them with their problems and starts to enjoy life, but has to face new hardship. A slice of life story with supernatural elements

Elfen Lied - a melancholic and gory story about krypto-scientific research which turns girls into killing machines