The anime thread sequel (it's still not as good as the Manga though),
- Thread starter Werewolf
- Start date
I'd possibly add base.com as they sometimes have prices that are better than amazon and zavvi, and io've known them to have stuff in stock that's been out of stock elsewhere.There's a few options I've used for UK orders:
https://www.alltheanime.com - probably most up to date site, does a fair few releases. Christmas sale on at the moment.
https://www.anime-on-line.com - similar to ATA but seems smaller, less staff etc. Still they also do their own releases under the MVM banner. Christmas sales also on at the moment.
https://www.up1.co.uk - terrible site but orders seem fine, and they work OK. Tend to be a bit cheaper but the website experience shows it.
Amazon have a good selection of anime blurays as well, including releases from ATA and MVM.
Zavvi sometimes have alright sales on especially on the Manga titles.
I guess the top 2-3 in my list would benefit more from your business as they rely on a smaller customer base
At the moment I'm mainly ordering from ata, aol and zavvi for my anime, especially ata when it comes to pre-orders as their early bird prices are usually the best.
Soldato
I'd guess rough top 5:
Monogatari
Madoka Magica
Death Note
Clannad: After Story
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
Death Note holds a special place for me, as I loved it years and years ago, I don't think it quite stands up as well today, but it's still very good
Special mentions for some others that didn't quite make my top 5, so more of a varied top 10!
Shinsekai yori (From the New World)
Kill la Kill
Rascal does not dream of Bunnygirl Senpai (This one gets the most bizarre title award that's kind of misleading but it's really good).
Miss Kobayashis Dragon Maid
Violet Evergarden
If I had to list some more beyond those these also deserve mentions!
Gurren Lagann
Fate/Zero
Your Lie in April
Attack on Titan (this one is a very solid 8/10 for me for the overall thing btw, it's definitely amongst my top shows)
Hyouka
Fate/Zero
Overlord
Konosuba
Saga of Tanya the Evil
Land of the Lustrous
I have a load more but won't delve into them too much. In any case I think that is a decent list of shows I have there with some varied themes and things
Soldato
Yeah base.com not a bad shout as well, think I've only used them once or twice though.
https://www.best-bluray-price.co.uk/ can help you find stock of stuff sometimes, I use it if I'm after something in particular.
Lately all I've ordered is the new Death Parade CE though. I am considering the Kakegurui boxset that ATA are doing.
Soldato
Top 5...ugh I hate trying to work this out:
Kanon 2006
Toradora
Spice and Wolf
...
Not sure on the OTHER 2...possibly out of Death Note [First Half, Second half doesnt exist...], Welcome to the NHK, Elfen Lied or Beck. Special mention to Black Lagoon maybe, I'm not sure how well it has aged though. I saw so many shows 5-10 years or so back, I watched some real gems and I find it hard to specify my absolute top favourites; in fact the only favourites that are absolutely top of my list are Toradora and Spice and Wolf, the rest of my favourites will depend a bit on my mood. All of these are excellent and classics though.
Some of the others mentioned like Fate, Violet, Overlord, Clannad etc are also very very good, but they lose out to the ones mentioned above (for me). In fact Clannad is arguably better than Kanon; BUT I personally always though Kanon works better than Clannad S1 by itself; and Clannad really needs the second season to come into it's own. Kanon could be seen as somewhat more of a distilled/condensed/prototype that Clannad then refined and extended. Both are excellent, and well worth a watch even though they're now over a decade old. Early 2000s - early 2010s was somewhat of a golden era in some ways for anime.
There is also some excellent newer stuff; Beastars, Land of the Lustrous, aforementioned Violet/Overlord etc.
I also go against the grain above by stating I'm really not that fond of Attack on Titan, to me it's really not on the same level as other shows like Clannad, Kanon, Black Lagoon etc.
Best 'endless' shounen to me is Naruto; loads of filler; but the actual story stuff was sometimes pretty damn good. My younger brother and one of my friends were really into it, and watched a fair bit of it because of them; and some of it was genuinely worth a watch. Much better story than the likes of DBZ.
Kanon 2006
Toradora
Spice and Wolf
...
Not sure on the OTHER 2...possibly out of Death Note [First Half, Second half doesnt exist...], Welcome to the NHK, Elfen Lied or Beck. Special mention to Black Lagoon maybe, I'm not sure how well it has aged though. I saw so many shows 5-10 years or so back, I watched some real gems and I find it hard to specify my absolute top favourites; in fact the only favourites that are absolutely top of my list are Toradora and Spice and Wolf, the rest of my favourites will depend a bit on my mood. All of these are excellent and classics though.
Some of the others mentioned like Fate, Violet, Overlord, Clannad etc are also very very good, but they lose out to the ones mentioned above (for me). In fact Clannad is arguably better than Kanon; BUT I personally always though Kanon works better than Clannad S1 by itself; and Clannad really needs the second season to come into it's own. Kanon could be seen as somewhat more of a distilled/condensed/prototype that Clannad then refined and extended. Both are excellent, and well worth a watch even though they're now over a decade old. Early 2000s - early 2010s was somewhat of a golden era in some ways for anime.
There is also some excellent newer stuff; Beastars, Land of the Lustrous, aforementioned Violet/Overlord etc.
I also go against the grain above by stating I'm really not that fond of Attack on Titan, to me it's really not on the same level as other shows like Clannad, Kanon, Black Lagoon etc.
Best 'endless' shounen to me is Naruto; loads of filler; but the actual story stuff was sometimes pretty damn good. My younger brother and one of my friends were really into it, and watched a fair bit of it because of them; and some of it was genuinely worth a watch. Much better story than the likes of DBZ.
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Soldato
I need to try Kanon and AIR at some point, though both are fairly old KyoAni ones I think?
Toradora was a fun watch I saw that for the first time last Christmas, though the ones I shipped in the show didn't get shipped
Spice and Wolf was good but will just never end sadly. No season 3 probably ever.
Welcome to the NHK didn't seem like my kind of show though I tried it, Elfen Lied was super edgy but it was one of the first anime I saw after getting back into it, so it holds a special (yet edgy) place in my list, the OP song for that was really good.
Not seen Beck
Naruto was one I used to like and at the time I agree, it was good but also I stopped at some point as I think I was just in filler land.
Toradora was a fun watch I saw that for the first time last Christmas, though the ones I shipped in the show didn't get shipped
Spice and Wolf was good but will just never end sadly. No season 3 probably ever.
Welcome to the NHK didn't seem like my kind of show though I tried it, Elfen Lied was super edgy but it was one of the first anime I saw after getting back into it, so it holds a special (yet edgy) place in my list, the OP song for that was really good.
Not seen Beck
Naruto was one I used to like and at the time I agree, it was good but also I stopped at some point as I think I was just in filler land.
Soldato
Yeah, Kanon was basically the show before Clannad and you can feel it. I just prefer the more condensed form of Kanon, although it doesn't really get going until about half way through. I feel it carries the same spirit, and essentially I feel does it better in a way. Clannad IS better; BUT it takes twice the airtime to do so; and if you take Clannad WITHOUT S2 (Afterstory); I always felt Kanon was better. Clannad and Afterstory together though are masterpieces. Kanon will always come first for me though, not because of its airtime or I saw it first; I just think it does more with the time it has than Clannad did, Clannad relies on Afterstory to shine.
Toradora and Spice and Wolf are both just classics, excellent at what they do; for Spice and Wolf the word play and interactions were just delightful though; the chemistry between the two main Japanese voice actors was brilliant. Nicely for Spice and Wolf all of the books the show was (mostly faithfully) based on have been translated (I have them all, and a chunk of the manga version, and the collectors edition all in one omnibus, and the DVDs, and the Blurays, and the Japanese Ep 0 Disc...errr...yeah a fair bit for this one haha). I saw it around the time my grandmother died; and something about it I just fell in love with. I really wanted to find some of the Yunomis they released for the series at the time, but they were impossible to get even fairly shortly after the airtime of the show
Welcome to NHK is very quirky, but I found I really enjoyed it, and although I cannot remember it all, I do remember the feeling that I really really enjoyed it, and the way it tied things together and the plot by the end. Genshiken also falls into this same category of self aware, self-knowing of the stereotypes; although Genshiken is more of a comedy. Both really good though if you want to take a bit of a side swipe at the NEET/Otaku/Gamer/Geek audience, in a well intentioned, honest way.
Beck is excellent if you're into music orientated anime (with an honourable mention to Nodame Cantabile, K-On and Carole and Tuesday).
RE: Naruto; yes, it lost me part way through Shippuden.
I keep thinking I will go and checkout the unofficial Naruto Kai project; it basically re-edits the entire Naruto and Shippuden run into an (extensive) series of essentially short movies/long episodes, with filler cut away, and what is left is the content that is true to the original Manga. That does mean unfortunately some decent stuff/exposition that the anime studio added gets chopped; but I think the prune of the filler will decidedly make this a superior watch for those going back to watch it for the complete story. From memory it runs about 70 one hour episodes, with not a lick of filler left; all manga authentic plot!
Long, but MUCH shorter than the entire Naruto/Shippuden air release! From all of the long running Shounen shows that I have seen some of though, Naruto has to be the best. No idea about the follow on Boruto stuff, that is maybe a bit far, but the original run at least. For a shounen some truly decent story, emotion and character development through the run.
I also have rather fond memories of Chrono Crusade; starts off light; gets very heavy by the end and the very ending is a real kicker.
Toradora and Spice and Wolf are both just classics, excellent at what they do; for Spice and Wolf the word play and interactions were just delightful though; the chemistry between the two main Japanese voice actors was brilliant. Nicely for Spice and Wolf all of the books the show was (mostly faithfully) based on have been translated (I have them all, and a chunk of the manga version, and the collectors edition all in one omnibus, and the DVDs, and the Blurays, and the Japanese Ep 0 Disc...errr...yeah a fair bit for this one haha). I saw it around the time my grandmother died; and something about it I just fell in love with. I really wanted to find some of the Yunomis they released for the series at the time, but they were impossible to get even fairly shortly after the airtime of the show
Welcome to NHK is very quirky, but I found I really enjoyed it, and although I cannot remember it all, I do remember the feeling that I really really enjoyed it, and the way it tied things together and the plot by the end. Genshiken also falls into this same category of self aware, self-knowing of the stereotypes; although Genshiken is more of a comedy. Both really good though if you want to take a bit of a side swipe at the NEET/Otaku/Gamer/Geek audience, in a well intentioned, honest way.
Beck is excellent if you're into music orientated anime (with an honourable mention to Nodame Cantabile, K-On and Carole and Tuesday).
RE: Naruto; yes, it lost me part way through Shippuden.
After Jiraiya dies.
Long, but MUCH shorter than the entire Naruto/Shippuden air release! From all of the long running Shounen shows that I have seen some of though, Naruto has to be the best. No idea about the follow on Boruto stuff, that is maybe a bit far, but the original run at least. For a shounen some truly decent story, emotion and character development through the run.
I also have rather fond memories of Chrono Crusade; starts off light; gets very heavy by the end and the very ending is a real kicker.
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Soldato
It's AIR that I've had the OP come up in Youtube sometimes, so I've heard the song but not seen the show yet, will have to correct that as I'm trying to at least try most of the KyoAni shows as I've seen a lot of them.
Clannad After Story is immense though, but it took half the show to get running with the first season being a required watch to appreciate it. If there is any anime that I can accuse of being life-changing, I think it's Clannad.
Both songs kind of remind me of eachother I think, same singer maybe? Not sure.
Clannad After Story is immense though, but it took half the show to get running with the first season being a required watch to appreciate it. If there is any anime that I can accuse of being life-changing, I think it's Clannad.
Both songs kind of remind me of eachother I think, same singer maybe? Not sure.
Soldato
Yeah, Air is probably my least favourite of the three. It feels like an underbaked version of the other two. It IS the Proto-prototype I guess you could say though. For me though Kanon was where it really came together though, and they GOT the formula, and for that it is my highlight, rather than Clannad.
Clannad After Story really is immense; and I'd say Clannad's legacy entirely relies on it. After Story needs you to have watched Clannad, but Clannad itself as a series just isn't as good as Kanon IMO. Clannad S1+2 though are excellent, some absolutely incredible feels there.
Essentially if you could only watch 25 episodes, watch Kanon 2006, NOT Clannad. If you have time to watch 50+ episodes, Clannad is absolutely deserving of a watch....and I now have the damn Dango tune in my head again
At one point I used to keep a MAL up to date; after a while it got so extensive I just stopped updating it lol nowadays I can't remember for the life of me all the shows I've watched, but some have had dramatically a much larger impact. I don't think all anime is great, good or even worth a watch. Some of it is just terrible, but sift through the muck and there are some real gems of shows out there that are just so much better than the vast majority of muck on the TV; and some stories and storytelling that are just completely unlike virtually anything produced in the west.
Clannad After Story really is immense; and I'd say Clannad's legacy entirely relies on it. After Story needs you to have watched Clannad, but Clannad itself as a series just isn't as good as Kanon IMO. Clannad S1+2 though are excellent, some absolutely incredible feels there.
Essentially if you could only watch 25 episodes, watch Kanon 2006, NOT Clannad. If you have time to watch 50+ episodes, Clannad is absolutely deserving of a watch....and I now have the damn Dango tune in my head again
At one point I used to keep a MAL up to date; after a while it got so extensive I just stopped updating it lol nowadays I can't remember for the life of me all the shows I've watched, but some have had dramatically a much larger impact. I don't think all anime is great, good or even worth a watch. Some of it is just terrible, but sift through the muck and there are some real gems of shows out there that are just so much better than the vast majority of muck on the TV; and some stories and storytelling that are just completely unlike virtually anything produced in the west.
Soldato
Yeah, and if you have time watch them all! (which is my plan ).
I think I have Clannad S1 like a 7/10 and S2 like a 9/10, S1 was fine just wasn't as good, but it's definitely needed to really appreciate After Story
Dango Dango Dango Dango Dango Dango daiii kazoookkuuuu!!
).I think I have Clannad S1 like a 7/10 and S2 like a 9/10, S1 was fine just wasn't as good, but it's definitely needed to really appreciate After Story
and I now have the damn Dango tune in my head again
Dango Dango Dango Dango Dango Dango daiii kazoookkuuuu!!
Soldato
Yep, if you've not seen Kanon, go watch that and you'll probably see what I mean; once it gets going IMO if Clannad S1 is a 7/10, and Afterstory is 9/10, then Kanon is 8-9/10. Clannad as a complete set/saga is better; but Kanon stands alone better as a better use of your time if you only have time to watch 1
On this note, also an honourable mention to Angel Beats. Genuinely love that show. More condensed, more humour, not AS good as the above 2/3 shows, but still very good.
And no...(goes to Youtube to listen to the Dango tune).
Also another honourable mention to Full Metal Panic S1-4.
Honestly, I just can't even put Attack on Titan on anywhere near the same level as some of these other shows; it makes me laugh, despite its length I just think it is no where NEAR as good as some of the other shows I'd rate as classic; despite its wide popularity.
On this note, also an honourable mention to Angel Beats. Genuinely love that show. More condensed, more humour, not AS good as the above 2/3 shows, but still very good.
And no...(goes to Youtube to listen to the Dango tune).
Also another honourable mention to Full Metal Panic S1-4.
Honestly, I just can't even put Attack on Titan on anywhere near the same level as some of these other shows; it makes me laugh, despite its length I just think it is no where NEAR as good as some of the other shows I'd rate as classic; despite its wide popularity.
Soldato
I really liked Angel Beats I saw it recently, but I think I needed to watch Haruhi Suzumiya to truly appreciate the cast, it's as if they transported some of them into Angel Beats (MC = Kyon, President girl = Haruhi, Tensei = Yuki) in a way.
Angel Beats OP song was really cool too!
Angel Beats OP song was really cool too!
Soldato
Oh yes, Haruhi Suzumiya is another show I was just about to mention. Another absolute classic, and the follow on film, Disappearance is probably one of the best 'show-sequel' movies I have EVER seen. Phenomenal follow on. My physical anime collection has vastly decreased this last 10 years, given how much easier it is to stream content nowadays compared to 10 years ago when you either bought the shows when they finally came out in English (or watched the fansub, or both); but the US release BD of the Haruhi film is one of the ones still there.
I have seen so many shows of varying calibers though I kinda forget and re-remember many of them randomly, even the excellent ones haha. 10+ years in a hobby where you will sometimes only watch a show once and never again, even if great, will do that to you I guess!
And yes Angel Beats had some phenomenal music, and some genuine laugh out loud moments; which isn't often for me.
I have seen so many shows of varying calibers though I kinda forget and re-remember many of them randomly, even the excellent ones haha. 10+ years in a hobby where you will sometimes only watch a show once and never again, even if great, will do that to you I guess!
And yes Angel Beats had some phenomenal music, and some genuine laugh out loud moments; which isn't often for me.
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Soldato
Yep I actually put Disappearance of Haruhi in my top 3 anime films at the moment! 
I keep a list on MAL as I watch stuff, it makes it easier when it's been a while to remember what I thought of things, and even when I watched it.
Angel Beats got extra points from me for being a kind of different setting, I had good fun watching that even if it was sad at times
I really like the more modern KyoAni stuff as well though often, Hyouka was really good, Violet Evergarden, Miss Kobayashis Dragon Maid, Amagi Brilliant Part, Hibike Euphonium, all of those are well worth a watch!
I keep a list on MAL as I watch stuff, it makes it easier when it's been a while to remember what I thought of things, and even when I watched it.
Angel Beats got extra points from me for being a kind of different setting, I had good fun watching that even if it was sad at times
I really like the more modern KyoAni stuff as well though often, Hyouka was really good, Violet Evergarden, Miss Kobayashis Dragon Maid, Amagi Brilliant Part, Hibike Euphonium, all of those are well worth a watch!
Soldato
Yeah, I have seen bits of some of those (Violet Evergarden especially) but I do need to give some of them a proper watch. Alas, time! My backlog of anime to watch is almost as long as my other media! haha
And yeah, thats exactly why I used to use MAL.
Even having not updated it for years; it is over 200 series though, can probably see why when life got in the way I stopped updating it haha
tyranuus's Anime List - MyAnimeList.net
Edit: which reminds me Eden of the East is also very worth a watch!
And yeah, thats exactly why I used to use MAL.
Even having not updated it for years; it is over 200 series though, can probably see why when life got in the way I stopped updating it haha
tyranuus's Anime List - MyAnimeList.net
Edit: which reminds me Eden of the East is also very worth a watch!
Soldato
I've seen Eden of the East it was OK, but I found a lot of it a bit silly! I'm missing it in my MAL though apparently I should really add it.
My list sorted by date finished, which I painfully had to go back in time and work out on some of them, but was worth it and keep it updated as I go now: https://myanimelist.net/animelist/Lordhippos?status=2&order=2&order2=0
We have some in common apparently but not loads, I always give scores at the end of each show or maybe season if it's on a break.
My list sorted by date finished, which I painfully had to go back in time and work out on some of them, but was worth it and keep it updated as I go now: https://myanimelist.net/animelist/Lordhippos?status=2&order=2&order2=0
We have some in common apparently but not loads, I always give scores at the end of each show or maybe season if it's on a break.
Soldato
Probably because I haven't really updated my MAL reliably in at least 5 years, so I suspect there would be more overlap than it would initially appear.
I have seen even from just the first 'scroll page' of yours, Hellsing, Dororo, Shiki etc.
I suspect if I went down the list it'd be considerably more!
I have seen even from just the first 'scroll page' of yours, Hellsing, Dororo, Shiki etc.
I suspect if I went down the list it'd be considerably more!
Soldato
If you slack once it becomes hard to stop slacking
Soldato
Yep; throw on top a very hectic job, and backlogs in every hobby and updating MAL kinda fell off the list.
Soldato
Shiki was cool actually I liked it, both the OPs were good in their own way, if a show makes me even want to not skip the OP it's good (I often do tbh).