I have several criteria for liking animé (artwork, character development, music, plot line etc.) Some of these animé meet at least one but possibly more of these.
Some of these are incomplete, ongoing amimé and some are over and done with but are worth checking out.
I'm NOT putting links to these as there are several, sometimes redundant sources. Okay I'll give links to one.
These are sometimes forced not to give links to the animé because of licencing agreements.
I recommend checking the three sites I gave links to in the front age. Some of these series have WikiPedia entries.
I'm not giving away plot lines or spoilers.
I'm skipping over the juvenile dreck, the posed animations with no "tweening" and crappy artwork out of an eighties video game,
I'm giving you a list of the animé that I watched more that one episode of, which usually means that I watched all of the episodes.
M through Z
The series:
- Madlax is another piece if the Girls With Guns trilogy,
- Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica is another one of those magical girl series. Its well drawn enough that it passes under my radar.
- Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai! is another ecchi piece on fan service for fall 2011.
- Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro is an animé that I found on Hulu but its was woefully incomplete so I ended up finding the episodes (in French,) on YouTube.
- Maken-Ki! is a new ecci fun one for fall 2011.
- Mashiro-Iro Symphony: Love Is Pure White is a new series for fall 2011. Cute too.
- MM! is this little animé about perversion. There's a cross-dresser, a masochist, a sadistically deluded girl who thinks she' a god. This is hentai at its twisted best (for an animé. [Lets not get carried away. Its not graphic or explicit {which makes it even kind of cute.}])
- Maria†Holic is a really(fun) weird one about an all-girl high-school, lesbianism and, bullying at the hands of a cross-dressing boy (and his sister...) There is now a sequel: Maria†Holic Alive.
- Mawaru Penguindrum is another of these weird series like Arakawa under the bridge with a fatalism so deep or a rebellion so desperate against it that it leaves one feeling odd.
- Mayo Chiki is pure fan service for summer 2011.
- Mayoi Neko Overrun! because I'm curious about the premise. A pastry shop and a cat(girl.) The series has gone to shit. I don't give a rat's ass about some rich bitch, semi-sane, spoiled brat, and that is what its become. (Later: Its really jumped the shark now. Some mech themed crap that just makes no sense at all.) Okay it must have been an aberrant episode. The series seems to be back to normal. It still ain't great but its well enough drawn for me to let the shallowness of the plots go like water off of a duck's back. (See I am sticking with it)
- Medaka Box is a cute semi-ecchi piece o fluff for summer 2012.
- Mirai Nikki is a weird one. I'm pretty sure I've run into the manga before... Fall 2011 is not all ecci... ;-)
- Mitsudomoe is at my limit for chibi and kawaii but episode 1 was funny enough to make me come back.
- Mouretsu Pirates (though it should be Horetsu Pirates [ 法律上の海賊 ]) looks like its going to be an interesting romp for winter 2012.
- Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit is an animé with a strong female heroine.
- Moshidora is a fun one (torn from the headlines at The Economist,) about a high school girl who mistakenly reads Drucker's Management and she leads a baseball club to victory according to the lessons in the book
- Myself; Yourself is an animé I stumbled over while I was rolling around the archives and picked up.
- Nabari no Oh seems to be a engaging little animé.
- Nana (I can't recommend this one enough. It scores a ten in every category from music, to artwork, to plot line to ... I absolutely loved it. [The music and the Punk Rocker put me in mind of Bif Naked, who I also love. {Nana was surprisingly adult in theme and approach, sensitive in treatment and in how it handled the story line and the characters. The end is something that still demands that I watch it now and again. It so wise in its understanding of the effects of time. (I know is not how it was handled in the 2 volume manga [ まんが ])}]) Ai Yazawa created a real winner.
- Natsuiro Kisek is a winner for Summer 2012.
- Natsume Yujincho (27 episodes,) is a great series, well drawn, good plot, likable characters (even in the villains [which is hard to achieve]) followed by Zoku Natsume Yuujinchou (13 episodes) and then by Natsume Yuujinchou San. (1 episode so far.) This is a series that brings me the warm and fuzzies.
- Nazo no Kanojo X ( 謎の彼女X [ Her mysterious X ]) is a strange but amusing one for spring 2012.
- [Her mysterious X
- Nekogami Yaoyorozu just squeaks under the bar. The kritterz are kawaii but tolerabe because of the plots. Summer 2011.
- Night Stalker,
- Night Wizard,
- Nijuu Mensou no Musume (aka 二十面相の娘 which translates to "Daughter of twelve looks") is a great animé I found over at anilinkz without being able to find it also at my regular provider. Its a surprisingly engaging story. We don't get anything like those on american TV. This is fun. The characters and their motivation are certainly as believable as anything that's on American TV. This is an engaging 22 episode series. Sort of like the mysteries in books like Nancy Drew, but with a dark, intriguing past.
- Nisemonogatari is a little weird (but a little echi, :-) one for winter 2012.
- Nogizaka Haruka No Himitsu, a story about, horrors, a girl otaku. Twelve episodes so far. Its a break from some of the other stuff I like but its かわいー [kawii { cute.}] :-)
- Noir is another piece of Girls With Guns. (Google it.)
- No. 6 is another of these post apocalyptic stories. Given the Japanese propensity for disaster, I figure, why not?
- Nurarihyon no Mago is derivative but well drawn enough that it flies below my yuck! radar. Worth watching. There's even a sequel
- Nurarihyon no Mago: Sennen Makyou Summer 2011
- Nyan Koi! is a take on a manga of the same name.
- Nyarko-san: Another Crawling Chaos is an animé for summer 2012. The art style is reminiscent of Working. The story style is reminiscent of Onii-chan no Koto nanka Zenzen Suki Janain Dakara ne!!. Pretty bad, but pretty scary if you really think about it. Luckily, you dont (think) when watching this.
- Omamori Himari,
- Onii-chan no Koto nanka Zenzen Suki Janain Dakara ne!! is another of these scurrilous hentai brother-sister things.
- Ookami Kakushi, was one of those mystical tales...
- Ookami-san to Shichinin no Nakamatachi looks like its going to be interesting.
- http://www.animefreak.tv/watch/onii-chan-no-koto-nanka-zenzen-suki-janain-dakara-ne-online
- Hoshizora e Kakaru Hashi look like its going to be a delight.
- Otome Yokai Zakuro is another series that I think I'm going to enjoy.
- Ore no Imoto ga Konnani Kawaii Wakeganai (My Little Sister Can't Be This Cute) is going to be a fun one. A big brother is suddenly stuck with his little sister's live of animé and has to handle all of the complications. Watch out for heltai! :-)
- Oretachi ni Tsubasa wa Nai (俺たちに翼はない ["we are not the wing" {but its called "under the Innocent sky"}]). I'm still making my mind up about this one. It looks good and its well drawn.
- Ozuma is a little juvenile (I hate überkinder) but it seems entertaining for summer 2012.
- Ok, I admit it, I never watched Samourai Shamploo before because I thought anything with Shamploo in its name starring a blood thirsty break dancer probably wasn't going to be much. I was wrong. I liked the episodes.Very watchable. Very watchable indeed.
- Papa no Iukoto wo Kikinasai! is one with potential for winter 2012. Its a little chibi but than again, its not... Could have an interesting story to tell.
- Persona: Trinity Soul is an oldie that I just encountered. Good drawing style.
- Phi Brain: Kami no Puzzle is this season's first brain teaser.
- Princess Resurrection is a weird one for fall 2011.
- Psychic Detective Yakumo is an oldie that I went back for.
- Queen's Blade, is a big flowing epic battle for the Queen's Blade by a bunch of unbelievably pneumatic heroines. This is as close to hentai as I have seen and still have a story line (though the battle scenes are pretty damn well drawn! :-)
- Queen's Blade: Rebellion is another installment for spring 2012.
- R-15 is a weird but sort of fun ecchi animé for summer 2011.
- RideBack is a "new style" animé, very reminiscent of what the Belgians and the French are doing, involving a ex-ballerina and a kind of quadrupedal motorcycle. I quite like it. Its not realistic in the drawing style of faces but the mechanist drawing looks great. (Like the "La 'Rhinoreros' " car in Spirou.) That was a short and sweet series.
- Rinne no Lagrange is a mecha animé for winter 2012 that has some nearly ecchi bits to it so its worth watching.
- Rinne no Lagrange Season 2 is a sequel to it...
- Sacred Seven is something that is rare, an exception. I'm really not much on mecha as they are too juvenile, but this is an exception, I'm actually interested. Sacred 7 translation sucking is. In desperate need for competent translator they are. Series ruined is.
- Saki: Achiga-hen - Episode of Side-A is one all about mahjong. (Which I must confess doesn't appeal to me) I'm giving it a try because of Chaiyafuru.
- Sankarea is a delightful (so far) series about zombies for summer 2012.
- Seikimatsu Occult Gakuin looks like its going to be interesting. The late father was obsessed by the occult. The ignored daughter hates the occult with a passion. (But the first episode ends with a naked stranger descending from the sky so who knows? ...) Okay, its episode 4 and I'm hooked.
- Seikon no Qwaser,
- Sekiei Ayakashi Mangatan is a cursed animé. The animation house that produced this has taken what would be a single episode, chopped into three 5 minute eisodes, used a lousy art style, or at least a very mechanical art style with too few tweening cells and I'm still compelled to watch this. (The writing is interesting. But it had better stay well written or else, I'll drop in like a stone.)
- Sekirei and Sekerei Pure Engagement and deep and mysterious, Just jushing. Its got lots of pantsu shots and some mysticism about some megalomaniacal imbecile who's discovered 108 sort-of-angels on an island, in a spaceship, reanimated then and has set up some bullshit about there can be only one.
- Seitokai Yakuindomo is a boy-girl animé that I am finding fun.
- Self is an unprepossessing manga about masturbation. (I KID YOU NOT! :-) It must, MUST be a comedy. ... By the end of episode 3 I was practically in tears laughing.
- Sengoku Collection is an epic animé for summer 2012.
- Senkou No Nightraid Another series that reminds me of Hergé
- Shakugan no Shana is another one of these tales supernatural tales staring impossibly cute girl young and old and a boy who just wants everybody to get along. There's a sequel series or two or three as well. Its got kick-ass theme music. Real rock with a Japanese girl's nice voice. (for some reason I'm reminded ofMTV2 Video Mods - Bring Me to Life [Starring "Dusk" and "Dawn"
-
] ) - Shikabane Hime: Aka &
- Shikabane Hime: Kuro,
- Shingetsutan Tsukihime,
- Shinigami no Ballad,
- Shining Hearts: Shiawase no Pan is a delightful animé for summer 2012, all about bread ... and elves (Not the Keebler kind,) and it looks like its going to be interesting.
- Shinryaku! Ika Musume 2 is a sequel to Shinryaku! Ika Musume Squid Girl... Which is a brilliant series full of play on words.
- Shuffle! (シャッフル!, Shaffuru!) I sort of get the feeling I've seen this one before... I had... As "Kaze No Koe" (かぜ の こえ {"Beyond The Cold"]]). This is a re-issue. I used to hate it when scifi books were re-issued under a new title like that. Know what? I still do.
- Shukufuku no Campanella is well drawn little animé.
- Softenni (soft tennis) is a fan-service animé. So far its cute, but...
- Sora no Otoshimono an unassuming little animé, that grew out of the manga. Its about an angel(oid), not be an angel and the schmuck who's saddled with her. (Eh them... [Its complicated, okay]) but
- Sora no Otoshimono Forte is the sequel.
- Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru (それでも町の府のマワテイル [The office of the town still Mawatteiru]) This is starting off go-oo-od. I love the music (stars a kickass grrl band) and the premise (which is totally nutso!) I hope Maid Cafés come to the USA. Second episode and it looks like its going to keep me entertained for the entire series. I'm loving this. (The art style reminds me of Bécassine andor some other French or Belgian comics I read in the 50's and 60's.)
- Space Brothers is a good animé for summer 2012 and it points out why the US is never going to space again but the Japanese and the Chinese are. They still have the guts to dream about it. In the 'States we just dream of being lawyers, politicians and other useless parasites.
- Spice and Wolf is another one of those animé series that I can just tell is going to be good because I love the intro music. If they're paying that much attention to the music, they're paying attention to the rest. (Lets see...) Okay, its even better then I thought. There's a lot more to this series than a twisty plot. I have been drawn in inexorably. Between the art (it leaves some others in the dust,) the music, (which is great!, and already pulled off of YouTube and onto my iPod,) and the writing (the witty interplay between the protagonists [both male human and female wolf,] is pleasant banter between two adults discovering each other. Ooo,ooo, I just found out there was a second season.
- Starry Sky is an animé that I stumbled on it seems to be ongoing and I've watched plenty worse. I have no idea where this series is going.
- Steel Angel Kurumi is a CrunchyRoll animé that I'm trying out. Its about a boy, a steel angel and an accidental kiss. Let your imagination follow.
- Steins;Gate is the sequel to Chaos;Head.
- Sumomomo Momomo is a weird little ecchi that I'm watching. It seems to have a plot as well as the obvious.
- Sword Art Online is an entertaining one for summer of 2012.
- Tamayura: Hitotose is the opening salvo for fall 2011.
- Tasogare Otome x Amnesia is a potentially creepy one for summer 2012.
- Tears to Tiara was a tolerable tale.
- Tenjou Tenge,
- Itsuka Tenma no Kuro Usagi is a little fan service with a plot for summer 2011.
- The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya is one of the strangest pieces of animé I have ever witnessed. Time travel is involved, paradoxes and who knows what else? (Not me. I'm starting on episode 2.) ARRGGHHHH! I have just been reminded of why I absolutely HATE time travel stories. Infinite loops and other lazy ass shit. I've watched minor variations on the same last two weeks of summer. At long last its over. God, I would have been pissed off if I would have had to watch this over and over It is followed by:
- The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.
- The Familiar of Zero, (A little, well drawn & well animated & a guilty pleasure. Saito is such a masochistic putz. :-) The next season was better and the one after that even better. This is actually good.
- The Tatami Galaxy looks like its stylistically derived from xxxHolic.
- Tayutama -Kiss on my Deity- is a competently (well mostly,) done animé (even it a trifle to, uh, young even for my palate.)
- This ugly yet beautiful world is another one of these kawaii charming twelve parters.
- The World Only God Knows was a series that I'd read the manga of before I discovered there was a sequel.
- To Aru Kagaku No Railgun, a side story of
- To Aru Majutsu no Index, great series which is being followed by
- To Aru Majutsu no Index II which reprises the series and extends the canon.
- Tokko is another of these "young man/boy discovers that to fight monsters he has to acknowledge his inner monster" tales. I know that it was underfunded and too grand a theme to be explored in 13 shows. The art work was nearly crap; it was only available as a voice over. But the story was still interesting. Damn. Aha! I knew that there were more episodes. Unfortunately, it seems to be XVid PC only piece of crap (which makes m e thing its a virus laden trap for idiot Windows users.)
- Tokyo Magnitude 8.0. (Surprisingly touching ending. Episode 8 really tugs at the heart strings.)
- Tokyo Majin Gakuen Kenpucho (good action, unusual drawing style. Stay away from the v-o version and get the subbed one.
- Trinity Blood is an old (2005) one season series that was surprisingly watchable. The plot is unbelievable but that comes as no surprise. :-)
- True Tears is an odd little animé about an orphan girl and her relationship with the family that took her in, specially the son of that family. I can't see where this one is heading so you know I'm loving it.
- Tsuritama is strange but it looks like a fun one for summer 2012.
- UN-GO is a quirky little detective animé for fall 2011. Being Nihongo means that there quite a few twists.
- Upotte!! is a weird one about girls who are weapons for sprIng 2012.
- Uraboku This looks pretty fair. No more than that
- Uragiri wa Boku no Namae o Shitteiru is one of those strange animé where past lives and current lives intermingle.
- Usagi Drop is a strange little animé about a grand father's, uh, late blooming love life, and the child he fathers a few years before he dies. That means you've got the problem of the survivor. Nobody wants to take her in and that pisses off his grand-son who ends up taking her in. So now you've got an unmarried man living with his aunt, who happens to be young enough to be his own child. This one's going to be interesting. There's also a manga.
- Uta No Prince Sama is an entertaining, literally since about entertainment,little animé for summer 2011.
- Vampire Knight and Vampire Night Guilty is living proof that the Twilight Twinkies and Teenies are so last millenium compared to the Japanese. I'm doing both 13 episode series in a weekend marathon.
- Welcome to the NHK is a manga and animé about Japan's NEET (Not currently Employed, in Education nor Training.)
- Witchblade is a great little manga that features very, uh, pneumatic women (specially the holder of the witchblade :-) It come to a tragic and heroic end at the end of episode 24.
- Wolfs' Rain is an odd little animé series about werewolves.
- Xam'd was an entertaining tale, millennial in nature. Japanese take the long view on things.
- xxxHolic (the theme music for this animé is a great tune. [though the manga has a lot more content, to date.)
- xxxHolic Kei (both are great series, and I downloaded all of the music)
- Yosuga no Sora is a weird one about a orphan boy, his sister (who seems to be a off in the head,) school girls who seem to be shy and neighbor schoolgirl who seems to be very well endowed (and look good in her tub.)
- Yumerio Patissiere is almost too chibi for me but it just squeaks under the "don't bother" bar. Its about food. Its well drawn. Its pretty well written. Its got a cast large enough not to bog down in "Johnny One Note" mistakes. Next season is:
- Yumeiro Patissiere Professional which continues the story
- Yumekui looks like an interesting addition to the new season. (2011)
- Yuru Yuri is a guilty pleasure for summer 2011.
- Zetsuen no Tempest is something weird for fall 2012.
- Zombie Loan is another of these Aminé by the death obsessed Japanese.
That's not counting watching hundreds of sub-par episodes. (Sleep! I'll sleep enough when I'm dead! Sleep is for the weak!.)