Six of one, half a dozen of the other. It's like the fact that you cannot create a category that includes all "fish" that doesn't also include humans (or, if you want to exclude humans by way of things like body plan or living on land, then you have to include cetaceans and start excluding things like lungfish).
To use your example, most people would probably say there are actually pretty clear expectations of tone & pacing between "a Netflix show" vs. "an HBO show" vs. "a syndicated television show (from before streaming services)" despite them all being the same on the surface.
[gif from The Amazing World of Gumball, with the titular character sitting behind an office desk with a large button sitting on it, before he says, "I think we all know where this is going"]
I have a hard time conceptualizing PSG as an ecchi anime. Between the majority Tom & Jerry style animation and the much larger emphasis on toilet humor over leering at the girls, it just slides under my mental gate for it.
I can absolutely see all the inspiration but with the skirt, the wings, the little tail, and some other little details, I'm kinda seeing this like a Welsh Dragon gijinka.
I have to distinguish "classic" big three because I'm more of an oldtaku and the young'ins these days consider the "big three" to be One Piece, Naruto, and BLEACH. I don't necessarily mean "classic" here in terms of absolute quality but more "these were the three everyone at the time knew about" -- which I know is also subject to region/culture when things like Knights of the Zodiac AKA Caballeros Del Zodiaco would have been THE anime of LatAm around the same time but virtually unknown in the U.S.
The way I see it, Hosoda's films are a natural progression for anyone who likes Ghibli films, which I probably should have included in the post but it was already growing overly long. Low-key agree with you on Mirai and Belle but I'd say they're still worth a watch. Also Summer Wars makes a lot more sense if you're familiar with Digimon, as it's just the Our War Game OVA extended out to a full movie.
Kinda fair wrt Perfect Blue, I'm used to its reputation preceding it. Generally all of Kon's works are "kinda fucked up" tho; actual adult material (and not just gritty or overly-sexualized) that draws people to them.
Oh, no, I'm aware that DBZ jumped the shark from the word "go", and also vaguely aware of the original Dragon Ball being a retelling of Journey to the West. Truthfully, I expect I will actually enjoy Dragon Ball more than DBZ because while I hold a lot of nostalgia for DBZ, in rewatching it I realized how much it's very much like a modern mythology story, where you already know the outcome (Goku wins) so there's not the same kind of narrative weight we're used to (not to mention some absolute bullshit maneuvers from time to time), but a lot of the fun is just getting to see the big, unbelievable battles and how they keep getting bigger and unbelievable-er. Dragon Ball being just an adventure story is probably going to be closer to my tastes nowadays.
Okay, I see where the confusion lies: fanservice is what that T&A in most anime is called. Ecchi is when that's the main focus of the show. Again, it's like how in a PG-13 movie they're allowed a certain level of "suggestive themes" like an implied sex scene, but if they're too blatant/obvious/frequent they've got to go up to an R rating.
So, like,
Yoruichi in BLEACH: fanservice
a zombie anime where every girl's chest is as big as their heads and the shirts cling impossibly close to their skin and bullets travel between their individually flapping breasts (Highschool of the Dead): ecchi
naked wolf girl with no visible tits in an otherwise grounded story about Medieval commerce (Spice & Wolf): fanservice
an entire anime based around gaining superpowers by drinking breast milk straight from the tap (Qwaser of Stigmata): Ecchi
beach or onsen episodes: fanservice
harem anime where the girls are constantly in states of undress: ecchi
The anime community (especially in the West) has had a bad reputation about making the fanservice front-and-center (for various reasons I won't get into here) but I think one should make a clear separation between what you see at fan meetups and what the actual content of the anime is.
I have never heard of Saiki at all. I'm also reasonably certain that I've only ever heard of Gintama by name, never seen a scrap of it in all my time. I'm also a certified hater of AoT, so there's that.
As much as I do like Yu Yu Hakusho, I don't think I'd call it particularly rewatchable. I will agree that FMA/FMA:B deserves it's spot on the list, tho.
I do not think I like this list, but I don't think I've cared for top X lists since I was a tween some two decades ago.
I'd like to hear your thoughts on Dragon Ball, though. I've been meaning to watch it for real and have been putting it off since I got gifted the entirety of DBZ and revisited my childhood.
Yeah, and as a matter of fact I think most ecchi anime don't even show nipples (tho panty shots are often frequent). The furthest most ecchi anime will ever go is showing nipples, but generally you're going to see things that are purposefully towing the line (barely-there swimsuits, groping, shirts/towels/hair just conveniently hanging down to cover important bits, references to sex toys and/or BDSM, et cetera.). The point of an ecchi is to be sexually arousing first, rather than just having a naked dark-skinned cat girl in an otherwise fairly serious action show about soul people with sentient swords. Most ecchi anime tends to be comedy as a result.
Not sure how you managed to watch only two of the classic big three but you absolutely need to go back and watch the original Trigun if you liked both Cowboy Bebop and Eva. (my rec: dubbed)
Similarly, you'd probably dig both Samurai Champloo and Space Dandy. Both are made by the same guy behind Cowboy Bebop and can kind of be seen as a thematic trilogy of sorts. Do be warned that Space Dandy is a little bit heavier on both the fanservice and nonsensical comedy, tho. (my rec for both: dubbed)
You'd probably enjoy Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit based on your other series. It's a very down-to-earth tale of a prince saved from a prophecy by a swordsmistress, and it's a bit of a slow burn but it's well worth it. (my rec: dubbed)
Kino's Journey is another one you might like. Similar to Cowboy Bebop it's so episodic it's practically slice-of-life but with a throughline of this character and their talking motorcycle going on an adventure through this dark and whimsical world. It's kind of hard to properly explain without going into the entire plot. (my rec: dubbed)
I've never seen Food Wars, but I'll cautiously recommend Interspecies Reviewers as a raunchy comedy with some actual thought put behind the world. Like, you can absolutely go in just thinking your in for brainless sexy monster girls but you'll be presented with a world more fully-fleshed out than a vast majority of fantasy anime. (only 1 episode was ever dubbed b/c Funimation are COWARDS)
If I'm reading between the lines correctly and you're a bit of an older fan who's had to endure their share of unrewarding jobs, check out Aggretsuko. It's kinda like if Hello Kitty and The Office had a baby. Aggretsuko is my spirit animal. (my rec: subbed).
Series, my personal faves:
Den-no Coil (I think there's been multiple romanizations of this title). It's a supernatural mystery/thriller with a very-near-future cyberpunk coat of paint, aesthetically it's kind of like a cyber-Mushi-shi, but it shares a lot of the same themes of connection as NGE (my rec: subbed)
Gurren Lagann probably a Gainax classic, full-blown machismo cranked up not just to 11 but to 20, but somehow the plot ramps up in an appreciable way so that when they throw entire galaxies as shurikens by the end it's not just complete bullshit. (my rec: dubbed)
Interviews with Monster Girls AKA Demi-chan wa Katatirai On the opposite end of the spectrum from Interspecies Reviewers, come for the idea of fun escapades with monster girls in the modern day and instead get some of the kindest, most poignant messages about people with disabilities, neurodivergence, special needs, and PTSD. (my rec: dubbed)
Nichijou Probably THE most well-known gag anime out there, it has an impeccable sense of comedic timing and some of the most well-animated gag shots in anime history. (my rec: subbed)
Movies
You need to go check out Mamoru Hosoda's films:
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
Summer Wars
Wolf Children
The Boy and the Beast
Mirai
Belle
All of them have great dubs.
Also Satoshi Kon's works:
Perfect Blue
Millennium Actress
Tokyo Godfathers
Paprika
I don't think any of them have dubs
Also watch Redline because it's fucking gorgeous (dub is good). Also The Night Is Short, Walk On Girl because it's gorgeously animated* in another way (subbed unless you can keep up with the breakneck pace of the dub).
If you like Ghibli in general then check out both Miss Hokusai and In This Corner of the World. I think two different studios did the both of them but they're both high-quality in terms of both animation and story.
This is probably going to sound like the most milquetoast take but my favorite has probably got to go to Interspecies Reviewers. I went in expecting the stupidest raunchy antics and instead got some of the best worldbuilding I've ever seen for a fantasy anime. It also directly led to me checking out one of my favorite anime (for entirely different reasons), Interviews with Monster Girls AKA Demi-chan Kataritai.
Some honorable mentions, tho:
Golden Boy, for a fun, raunchy comedy with a character who doesn't turn into a total creep
The Qwaser of Stigmata AKA Seikon No Qwaser for being unapologetically batshit insane throughout while still maintaining an air of being like a sex-filled FMA
EDIT: Highschool of the Dead -- very much not my jam and unfortunately unfinished due to the author dying but it seems to be a love letter to classic schlock horror movies while servicing the most ridiculous boob physics for its time
Ecchi comes from the romanization of how the Japanese pronounce H, which is used to denote more-or-less explicitly sexual tones and themes -- I cannot say with certainty the cultural context of the word in Japan but generally I think it would be equivalent to an MPAA R-rating (where most anime would fall under PG-13 equivalent ratings), as actual hentai/porn is considered a step or three above ecchi.
As a side-note, I think you mean isekai, not izakie. Isekai is also a direct romanization of the Japanese word meaning "another world", so if you ever come across pedantic arguments over what "counts" as isekai, it's because of that.
Oh, dear. I'm still new to Lemmy but now that you mention it it would normally have the original message appended. I can see the "cross posted to:" link but I've got to fix that so I can attribute the artist. My internet was being difficult this morning and ended up posting the image twice to c/RWBY (_;) I'm guessing the same issue caused this problem.
Six of one, half a dozen of the other. It's like the fact that you cannot create a category that includes all "fish" that doesn't also include humans (or, if you want to exclude humans by way of things like body plan or living on land, then you have to include cetaceans and start excluding things like lungfish).
To use your example, most people would probably say there are actually pretty clear expectations of tone & pacing between "a Netflix show" vs. "an HBO show" vs. "a syndicated television show (from before streaming services)" despite them all being the same on the surface.
Calm down, dude ʕ థ౪థʔ
I can hear this gif.
Ah, thank you. I thought this was possibly a trans meme or Ranma ½ reference.
[gif from The Amazing World of Gumball, with the titular character sitting behind an office desk with a large button sitting on it, before he says, "I think we all know where this is going"]
I have a hard time conceptualizing PSG as an ecchi anime. Between the majority Tom & Jerry style animation and the much larger emphasis on toilet humor over leering at the girls, it just slides under my mental gate for it.
I can absolutely see all the inspiration but with the skirt, the wings, the little tail, and some other little details, I'm kinda seeing this like a Welsh Dragon gijinka.
I have to distinguish "classic" big three because I'm more of an oldtaku and the young'ins these days consider the "big three" to be One Piece, Naruto, and BLEACH. I don't necessarily mean "classic" here in terms of absolute quality but more "these were the three everyone at the time knew about" -- which I know is also subject to region/culture when things like Knights of the Zodiac AKA Caballeros Del Zodiaco would have been THE anime of LatAm around the same time but virtually unknown in the U.S.
The way I see it, Hosoda's films are a natural progression for anyone who likes Ghibli films, which I probably should have included in the post but it was already growing overly long. Low-key agree with you on Mirai and Belle but I'd say they're still worth a watch. Also Summer Wars makes a lot more sense if you're familiar with Digimon, as it's just the Our War Game OVA extended out to a full movie.
Kinda fair wrt Perfect Blue, I'm used to its reputation preceding it. Generally all of Kon's works are "kinda fucked up" tho; actual adult material (and not just gritty or overly-sexualized) that draws people to them.
I haven't seen OPM yet, it's been on my radar but I've been working on clearing things off my old personal list before adding more to it.
CITY I've only recently heard of but I keep seeing it brought up in relation to Nichijou so I'll need to check it out eventually.
Oh, no, I'm aware that DBZ jumped the shark from the word "go", and also vaguely aware of the original Dragon Ball being a retelling of Journey to the West. Truthfully, I expect I will actually enjoy Dragon Ball more than DBZ because while I hold a lot of nostalgia for DBZ, in rewatching it I realized how much it's very much like a modern mythology story, where you already know the outcome (Goku wins) so there's not the same kind of narrative weight we're used to (not to mention some absolute bullshit maneuvers from time to time), but a lot of the fun is just getting to see the big, unbelievable battles and how they keep getting bigger and unbelievable-er. Dragon Ball being just an adventure story is probably going to be closer to my tastes nowadays.
Okay, I see where the confusion lies: fanservice is what that T&A in most anime is called. Ecchi is when that's the main focus of the show. Again, it's like how in a PG-13 movie they're allowed a certain level of "suggestive themes" like an implied sex scene, but if they're too blatant/obvious/frequent they've got to go up to an R rating.
So, like,
The anime community (especially in the West) has had a bad reputation about making the fanservice front-and-center (for various reasons I won't get into here) but I think one should make a clear separation between what you see at fan meetups and what the actual content of the anime is.
I have never heard of Saiki at all. I'm also reasonably certain that I've only ever heard of Gintama by name, never seen a scrap of it in all my time. I'm also a certified hater of AoT, so there's that.
As much as I do like Yu Yu Hakusho, I don't think I'd call it particularly rewatchable. I will agree that FMA/FMA:B deserves it's spot on the list, tho.
I do not think I like this list, but I don't think I've cared for top X lists since I was a tween some two decades ago.
I'd like to hear your thoughts on Dragon Ball, though. I've been meaning to watch it for real and have been putting it off since I got gifted the entirety of DBZ and revisited my childhood.
Yeah, and as a matter of fact I think most ecchi anime don't even show nipples (tho panty shots are often frequent). The furthest most ecchi anime will ever go is showing nipples, but generally you're going to see things that are purposefully towing the line (barely-there swimsuits, groping, shirts/towels/hair just conveniently hanging down to cover important bits, references to sex toys and/or BDSM, et cetera.). The point of an ecchi is to be sexually arousing first, rather than just having a naked dark-skinned cat girl in an otherwise fairly serious action show about soul people with sentient swords. Most ecchi anime tends to be comedy as a result.
Series, probably to your tastes:
Not sure how you managed to watch only two of the classic big three but you absolutely need to go back and watch the original Trigun if you liked both Cowboy Bebop and Eva. (my rec: dubbed)
Similarly, you'd probably dig both Samurai Champloo and Space Dandy. Both are made by the same guy behind Cowboy Bebop and can kind of be seen as a thematic trilogy of sorts. Do be warned that Space Dandy is a little bit heavier on both the fanservice and nonsensical comedy, tho. (my rec for both: dubbed)
You'd probably enjoy Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit based on your other series. It's a very down-to-earth tale of a prince saved from a prophecy by a swordsmistress, and it's a bit of a slow burn but it's well worth it. (my rec: dubbed)
Kino's Journey is another one you might like. Similar to Cowboy Bebop it's so episodic it's practically slice-of-life but with a throughline of this character and their talking motorcycle going on an adventure through this dark and whimsical world. It's kind of hard to properly explain without going into the entire plot. (my rec: dubbed)
I've never seen Food Wars, but I'll cautiously recommend Interspecies Reviewers as a raunchy comedy with some actual thought put behind the world. Like, you can absolutely go in just thinking your in for brainless sexy monster girls but you'll be presented with a world more fully-fleshed out than a vast majority of fantasy anime. (only 1 episode was ever dubbed b/c Funimation are COWARDS)
If I'm reading between the lines correctly and you're a bit of an older fan who's had to endure their share of unrewarding jobs, check out Aggretsuko. It's kinda like if Hello Kitty and The Office had a baby. Aggretsuko is my spirit animal. (my rec: subbed).
Series, my personal faves:
Den-no Coil (I think there's been multiple romanizations of this title). It's a supernatural mystery/thriller with a very-near-future cyberpunk coat of paint, aesthetically it's kind of like a cyber-Mushi-shi, but it shares a lot of the same themes of connection as NGE (my rec: subbed)
Gurren Lagann probably a Gainax classic, full-blown machismo cranked up not just to 11 but to 20, but somehow the plot ramps up in an appreciable way so that when they throw entire galaxies as shurikens by the end it's not just complete bullshit. (my rec: dubbed)
Interviews with Monster Girls AKA Demi-chan wa Katatirai On the opposite end of the spectrum from Interspecies Reviewers, come for the idea of fun escapades with monster girls in the modern day and instead get some of the kindest, most poignant messages about people with disabilities, neurodivergence, special needs, and PTSD. (my rec: dubbed)
Nichijou Probably THE most well-known gag anime out there, it has an impeccable sense of comedic timing and some of the most well-animated gag shots in anime history. (my rec: subbed)
Movies
You need to go check out Mamoru Hosoda's films:
All of them have great dubs.
Also Satoshi Kon's works:
I don't think any of them have dubs
Also watch Redline because it's fucking gorgeous (dub is good). Also The Night Is Short, Walk On Girl because it's gorgeously animated* in another way (subbed unless you can keep up with the breakneck pace of the dub).
If you like Ghibli in general then check out both Miss Hokusai and In This Corner of the World. I think two different studios did the both of them but they're both high-quality in terms of both animation and story.
It can be both
This is probably going to sound like the most milquetoast take but my favorite has probably got to go to Interspecies Reviewers. I went in expecting the stupidest raunchy antics and instead got some of the best worldbuilding I've ever seen for a fantasy anime. It also directly led to me checking out one of my favorite anime (for entirely different reasons), Interviews with Monster Girls AKA Demi-chan Kataritai.
Some honorable mentions, tho:
Ecchi comes from the romanization of how the Japanese pronounce H, which is used to denote more-or-less explicitly sexual tones and themes -- I cannot say with certainty the cultural context of the word in Japan but generally I think it would be equivalent to an MPAA R-rating (where most anime would fall under PG-13 equivalent ratings), as actual hentai/porn is considered a step or three above ecchi.
As a side-note, I think you mean isekai, not izakie. Isekai is also a direct romanization of the Japanese word meaning "another world", so if you ever come across pedantic arguments over what "counts" as isekai, it's because of that.
::: spoiler Dango
::: spoiler Dango
::: spoiler Dango
::: spoiler Dango
::: spoiler Dango daikazoku
NAKAYOSHI DANGO TE WO TSUNAGI WO OOKI NA MARUI WA NI NARU YO
:::
Oh, dear. I'm still new to Lemmy but now that you mention it it would normally have the original message appended. I can see the "cross posted to:" link but I've got to fix that so I can attribute the artist. My internet was being difficult this morning and ended up posting the image twice to c/RWBY (
_;) I'm guessing the same issue caused this problem.I mean, yes, that is where I cross-posted this from ᏊˊꈊˋᏊ
I'm trying to drum up activity in that community atm but not getting much more than a handful of upvotes right now.