I'm the type who watches serious anime. I don't want kids stuff and those 'special' powers crap that prepubescent teens talk about (Naruto, I'm looking at you). So far, I've finished Witch Hunter Robin, Ergo Proxy, and Beck and I'm moving on to Wolf's Rain and Texhnolyze. Can anyone recommend me Darker Than Black?
shareIMHO, it's better than all those series mentioned.
shareBold statement. I'll check this one out and post my verdict in the coming weeks. :)
shareTOO bold a statement. I'm on episode 13, and the action is very sparse. There's more dialogue than anything exciting, but I'm hoping the energy level kicks up a few notches. So far, it feels like I went to a nightclub expecting a raging party, but instead, I'm listening to an "ok" DJ. Not many girls are around to even talk to, much less look at, and I'm thinking about checking out another event that everyone else went to. Yeah, I hope more starts to happen....
shareWhoa. That was faster than I though. I didn't have anything to do the last couple of days so I kept watching Darker Than Black. As for my thoughts on the series, I thought it was alright. Darker Than Black doesn't top Ergo Proxy in my book though. It pales in comparison to the very mature and serious themes and topics I generally look for in animes, or in any form of media for that matter. With all that said, Darker Than Black is a million times more beneficial than sitting through 10 episodes of mainstream anime crap.
shareSo what score would you give it?
Personally I found DTB fairly deep. Reason vs emotion, free-will vs fate all played out through humans and Contracters. And Hei was the solution that will unite both sides, a human choosing to live as a Contracter giving hope that someday both sides will find peace.
And I found it more engaging than Ergo Proxy as well.
I don't know if you have watched this already or not, but I suggest you watch Black Lagoon. Trust me, it is nothing like Naruto or some immature BS that kids these days watch. It is 100% serious, but a little bit hard to get hooked into at first.
Black Lagoon is centered around a delivery business. But it's not THAT kind of delivery; rather, they do jobs for certain mafias and organizations. It focuses on a man who joins them due to some circumstances. The philosophy of the girl he works with is quiet messed up, but it's all in all very good.
Give it thought.
As far as story goes, I enjoyed Gungrave. The animation is at times laughable, but the character development is very rich, and the plot had me about 3 episodes in. It had the feel of Berserk in the sense that both stories actually begin with the protagonist much later in life and then go into a back-story.
I suppose the similarities don't end there, so if you liked Berserk, you'll probably enjoy Gungrave.
Erm... agreed.
Except the statement about Naruto and kids and whatnot...
I hate Naruto, but... can you really compare anime that is marketed towards older audiences with anime that's marketed towards children?
Just like any form of entertainment, anime -- which is simply just another form of entertainment in the form of animation, developed in Japan -- series have different ratings and target audiences, as well as genres.
So you can't really compare Naruto (shounen, for little boys) to Darker than Black (which is more seinen/josei/shoujo... with a bit of shounen aspects, but not really...)
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I don't know what your getting at when you say "serious anime", it actually sounds a bit ridiculous to me, but if your looking for an anime with a lot of action and good story I would suggest watching Claymore if you haven't already. I personally prefer the ones that have super cute anime girls. ^_^;;;
Pluto was rejected as it was too far out there. Years later, it will become the Death Star.
After all these recommendations, I'll look into the following:
Black Lagoon, Ergo Proxy, and Claymore.
Yet, I still have trouble with DTB. I finished watching the anime and although I enjoyed the theme very much I had the impression very little was explained regarding the whole Contractor and Gate issues.
The situations and themes as a whole (as the different contractors portrayed) interested me a lot a more than the main protagonist and in the end I just felt left without answers.
Help?
I am currently watching DTB. Out of all the anime series I am currently watching it grabs me the most. I am only about 10 episodes in. So far it feels like what would have happened if Heroes didn't cannibalize itself over and over again. And Yoko can always be counted on for phenomenal music!
I tried Claymore but as soon as it turned into a bunch of bitchy cat-fighting between Claymores I stopped watching. I just kept getting flashbacks from high school ;) And the part where Priscilla (or whatever her name is) said something along the lines of "Entrails..." or whatever it was she said about wanting to eat human guts. I laughed HYSTERICALLY and couldn't stop .
Black Blood Brothers is ok but the little brother Keiko is annoying the hell out of me. I am only five episodes in.
We've been watching Bleach now for two years. I am currently on disc 15. It's fun, fluffy stuff and I can't help but love Johnny Bosch's Ichigo. But, seriously, does it ever end or will this go on for eternity ala Inu Yasha?
I have heard many comparisons between Black Lagoon and Cowboy BeBop. True? I don't know if BeBop is considered "serious" (wtf is "serious anime" anyway?) but that series along with Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke brought me to anime after I had shrugged it off as "cartoons". If the OP has not seen Cowboy I suggest it. Not overly serious but certainly not childish either. I also suggest pretty much anything by Watanabe. Anyone know what the hell he is up to these days? Been a long time since Champloo and Animatrix!
My favorite anime series that we have watched in the last two years...
Mushi-Shi (I'd consider this to be a pretty "serious" anime)
Noein: To Your Other Self (I really liked this one - the English dub outtakes are serious - seriously hilarious)
Gungrave (I liked this much better than Berzerk. So shoot me.)
Hell Girl (Enma Ai is just a fascinating character IMO)
Elfen Lied (I guess I like naked girls who kill)
Ergo Proxy (Very dry, very serious, very Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep-like)
XXXHolic (I love Yukko and Watanuki. Pipe Fox is the cutest thing ever. If you want serious stay away from this one)
Death Note (God, I couldn't believe Light Yagami went down like such a b*tch! Crying, whining and generally lacking any kind of dignity. This is the guy who is responsible for the death of L? So much for the all-powerful effing Kira ).
Aquarion (OK, so not the best anime. Did I mention I'm a fan of Yoko Kanno? Here you hear her American classical composer influence strongly - she channels everyone from John Williams to Aaron Copeland.)
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"Aren't you...Maria?"
Why does no one ever suggest Basilisk? One of the best animes ever and VERY serious!
My vote history link:http://imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=5504773
Because it's terribly overrated *beep*
shareBecause it's terribly overrated *beep*
It is and I never said it wasn't. I still think Basilisk is much weaker than any of the titles suggested by the OP or even stands a chance in comparison to Darker Than Black which is overall more mature and told much better despite its shortcomings.
Basilisk is average at best.
Berserk is one serious anime. My favourite by far. The animation is a tad outdated (not as pretty as say, Death Note), but the story was... wow.
shareI like:
Kiddy Grade
S-Cry-ed
Trinity Blood
Tsubasa
not sure if the last one is serious enough for this topic but the other are, Im dying to see DTB and Witch Hunter Robin though.
Why do you feel the need to belittle a genuinely good anime, such as Naruto, to get your point accross? You may not like it, but "crap" it isn't. In fact, I would say that Naruto Shippuden is probably my favourite anime at the moment.
And for the record, I am a 22 years old student - certainly not a "prepubescent teen", or indeed a "little boy" as another poster remarked - studying Philosophy at university, so I am no stranger to thinking deeply about things. However, I enjoy the escapism and fantasy of Naruto, even if it is cliched and not thought provokng - Naruto rocks regardless!
yeah narutos awesome, some people wont believe how good the fights get later on.
shareIt looks to me like people want this anime to be good and placate themselves by saying its "deep" and better than better written works out there. Comparing this to Ergo Proxy is like comparing a Snail to a lion, sure one might take a steady pace and hold a formidable ground, but the other is ferocious and demands to be seen.
To me, DTB isn't as captivating as Witch Hunter Robin nor is it as action packed as the rest. It is however more appealing than WHR but it falls under the same category of slowly developed one dimensional characters and very few action scenes. I would of enjoyed the assassinations better if they actually had more than three. It seems half of the time it was a conversation segway into another conversation.
It all falls on the average meter, I wasn't in suspense or thrilled in anything the anime presented. They don't give you enough on Hei to make you care for the character, nor do they give him any personality besides eating a lot, which really felt like more fan service.
"One gay beer for my friend, because he's gay, and one normal beer for me, because I'm normal."
I can't believe no one's recommended Cowboy Bebop yet. Lots of good action, very grown up anime. It's basically what Darker than Black was trying to be and didn't quite get there.
And Trigun can be sort of silly in the beginning, but the last few episodes are pretty intense. And Samurai Champloo! Fuu can be a little annoying, but the fight scenes are amazing. Mushi-Shi is gorgeous, if not very action-filled. And some might disagree, but I thought FMA: Brotherhood was much more mature than the original anime. There was much less filler and silly humor in it.
I don't remember liking Witch Hunter Robin very much. I don't even remember what happens in it though, it's been a while since I watched it. I seem to remember a lot of unanswered questions that bugged me.
How do you define "serious"? Lack of comedy? Well, then just go watch anything that doesn't include comedy in it.
Also, there is nothing inherently wrong with Naruto, people enjoy things for different reasons.
As for your question, I recommend anyone who is interested to watch things beyond shounen to watch Darker than Black. It is hard for me to tell exactly what made me enjoy it so much especially during my rewatch, but I really enjoy Hei, and the action included while sparse, is beautifully done. I just wish they had properly pulled it all together in terms of story and the ending felt rushed. Aside that though, the first half is very strong, especially to those who enjoy noir.