Giant Rec List

[lanerose]

This is a somewhat belated holiday gift for werven_scy, who asked for "Suggestions of good, honest-to-goodness entertaining things to see and read." I tried to target it for werven_scy, actually, but then I remembered that her tastes are as crazy diverse as my own and said, what the hell I'll throw the kitchen sink on there too and see how it goes.

So! Rec List!

My big rec for you is a site I found recently that has links to subs of most anime, including some of the harder to find ones: Anime6.org I've only been using it a short time, but I'm already in love. Most of the series I'm going to recommend are linked to from there. I'm going to do this alphabetical, because I really enjoyed all of these and can't think of a better way to do it. XDD

Best places to read manga at the moment in my mind are Onemanga.com or Mangafox.com. Generally, what one lacks the other has (Case in point: Whistle! on Mangafox, and Skip Beat! on Onemanga), so I'm listing both here.

Also, for anyone looking for something to listen to while reading, check out Pandora.com. I've found some great artists through it who I otherwise would never have known about, and it's nice when you don't quite know what you want to listen to but aren't in the mood for random radio.

There's also a bunch of other wonderful series that belong on this list but aren't here yet, but if I wanted to have this list ready any time this century needed to be left off for the moment. (See: Scrapped Princess, Trigun, Prince of Tennis...) They'll get here some day, promise!!!



Good Things to See and Read

Anime/Manga:

Angelic Layer ~ Misaki moves to Tokyo to live with her aunt. On her first day there, she's introduced to Angels – a kind of doll that can move in response to their owners thoughts when the owner is hooked into a system and the doll is on a surface known as a layer. (Creative title, this has not.) This is a little girly girly, but still quite enjoyable.

Bakuman ~ Well, this manga isn't very far along at all, but it's meta. Manga about manga somehow works. Very shonen. Also, same creative team as Deathnote, for what that's worth.

Deathnote ~ Boy genius finds a notebook that grants him the power to kill people by writing down their names. Boy goes somewhat insane and decides to create new world order by making people too scared to be criminals. Notebook comes with apple eating shinigami, and causes epic battle of geniuses as the kid with the notebook and a famous detective track circles around each other. Reccing the manga through chapter 59, and not a bit more.

Fruits Basket ~ Orphaned girl stumbles upon cursed family that includes two of her classmates. Cursed family invites girl to live with them. Curse involves characters turning into animals when hugged by members of the opposite sex. I just… I have difficulty explaining why I like this series, because I like pretty much everything about it. Come to think of it, it's the only anime series to ever make me go completely incoherent. It's funny, it's sweet, it's clever. I ♥ Furuba.

Fullmetal Alchemist ~ While trying to resurrect his mother, boy accidentally causes his brother to lose his body and traps the brother's soul in a suit of armor. Boy then joins the army to get access to better research materials and travel abilities so that he can find a way to fix his brother. Meanwhile, boy's superior officer (and superior's other underlings) plot to change the way the country's run. Will any of them succeed?

Get Backers ~ If you want to get technical, I'm only reccing the first half of this, because that's all that I've seen so far. However, on the basis of Ban-And-Ginji-Are-Made-Of-Win-(Especially-Ban!), I'm going to go ahead and throw it on here anyway. So the official plot summary says something about a retrieval agency and trying to get things back for clients, but what I love about this is the way the characters' back story is woven into the fabric of the series.

Ghost Hunt ~ What you would get if you took one of those ghost hunting shows (Ghost Hunters International, Paranormal State, etc.) and added in actual and obvious haunted results. Taniyama Mai is an ordinary school girl who enjoys telling ghost stories with her friends. Shibuya Kazuya is a psychic researcher who gets called in to investigate a possible haunting at Taniyama's school. After Mai accidentally breaks one of Shibuya's cameras and causes his assistant to get hurt, she's forced to work off her debt to him as his ghost hunting assistant. The series is based on a manga that's based on a set of novels by Fuyumi Ono, and having read the synopsis for the novels is enough to make me seriously consider learning Japanese because the story's just that good and the manga/anime still hasn't gotten that far and may never get all the way through the plot. Come to think of it, given the knowing Japanese thing, reading the novel would probably work for you. XD Anyway, it's fabulous~~~.

Hikaru no Go ~ A boy and his ghost. Or, a boy and his rival. Or both. After losing his allowance because he did poorly on some tests, Shindou Hikaru visits his grandfather's shed intending to find some antiques to sell. Instead, he finds Fujiwara Sai, a ghost from the Heian era who used to teach go (AKA igo) to the emperor until some stuff happened and he wound up drowning himself. For a couple of reasons, Hikaru winds up agreeing to help Sai continue playing go. There's also this awesome awesome awesome guy called Touya Akira, but that comes later. For this series, I'd actually recommend reading the manga rather than watching the anime, because the entire thing revolves around a board game and to a certain degree it's harder to take the SUPER SRS moments seriously when watching it. XDD Also, Obata-sensei's art. ♥

Hunter x Hunter ~ When Gon Freecs finds out that his father isn't actually dead, he decides to go find him. The thing is, his father works as a Hunter, and is nigh on impossible to find. Hunters are an organization that finds… well, pretty much anything, depending on what kind of Hunter they are. (Seriously not kidding here – from black list (bounty) hunters to epicurean hunters to music / sound hunters, there's one who finds pretty much everything.) So Gon goes to take the exam and become a Hunter to find his father. The plot's nice in this, but I'll admit I mainly enjoy it for the characters. The first couple of episodes can be a bit off-putting because it's just Gon, but the story picks up a ton once he meets Leorio, and Kurapika, and especially Killua. (KILLUA~~~!!!! ♥)

Kaleido Star ~ Sora joins Kaleido Stage, a Cirque du Soleil-like group, and proceeds to be very shonen about performing. Characters are fabulous, the visuals are gorgeous, and once the main plot finally kicks in, it's really cool. A little slow to start, but ultimately one of my favourite series of all time.

Katekyo Hitman Reborn ~ Italian hitman arrives on the doorstep of a Japanese chronic underachiever to inform him that he's the last remaining heir to a mafia family. In spite of the boy's protests, the hitman proceeds to train the boy (and the family the hitman gathers for the boy) in the ways of the mafia. The family characters are particularly well developed in this.

Nana ~ Two girls with the same name get stuck on a train together while they're both moving to Tokyo. Nana O. and Nana K. (called Hachi for the sake of decreasing confusion) become friends and wind up sharing an apartment. Or is it the other way around? Anyway, the series follows the two of them. It's a little slice of life (josei, for those it'll mean something to), but in a fun kind of way, aided by the fact that both Nana O. and her sometimes soulmate Ren are in competing bands. The music's really good, too, in a punk sort of way. I hear the live action for this is also quite good, too, but ultimately I like the anime best.

Nodame Cantabile ~ While we're talking music series, can't forget this one! Chiaki wants to be a conductor, but he can't leave Japan because… well, he's got reasons. Moreover, he's all intelligence and no passion. Nodame, on the other hand, wants to be a pianist. She's got plenty of love for music but is a little backwards when it comes to mastering technique. Between the two of them, can they figure it all out? I think I could watch this series a million times just for the scene with the Rachmaninoff in episode 10. The characters are all out of their minds, but once you get over that (and they stop being caricatures of themselves), it's cool.

Princess Tutu ~ A fairy tale about fairy tales, with ballet. In warning, the whole "duck becomes girl becomes magical girl" thing is a little lot off-putting at first, but it gets toned down pretty quickly. Tied with Kaleido Star for best characterization in an anime because it convinced me to completely hate a character and then to completely love that character.

Romeo x Juliet ~ Bit of a cross between Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and someone's idea of a Robin Hood story. With unicorns. *LOL* Actually, the unicorns are pretty enjoyable in their own way. But it's got a very strong Juliet, which I enjoyed.

Saiunkoku Monogatari ~ In some ways, this is a classic reverse harem anime; in others, it's exactly like most Chinese history-based soap operas. The blend makes it work well, even if the protagonist occasionally gets annoying. That happens more at the beginning of the series than later on, just so you know. At least, I thought so, anyway.

Saiyuki ~ Four guys on a mission to save the world: two are demons (one by birth and one through unfortunate life incidents), one's a monkey, and the human is a pissy priest with a gun. The manga for this is brilliant.

Skip Beat ~ When Kyoko discovers that the musician she moved to Tokyo with and has been providing for while he starts his career thinks of her as nothing more than his slave, she decides to take revenge… by becoming an even bigger star than him. My inner theatre geek *glees* over this story. It's technically a love story, but it goes about it in a very slow, very delicate way, which makes sense, because Mogami (Kyoko) is pretty much convinced that she'll never fall in love again. Tsuruga Ren (male protagonist) also has really interesting back story, plus he's tall dark mysterious and handsome (in other words, lots of things I like in male characters). This series keeps surprising me, which is fabulous.

Uchuu no Stellvia ~ Hundreds of years ago, a nearby star went supernova destroyed a big chunk of the Earth. People survived, but they could see an oncoming second wave – leftover debris and what not – and have been training and developing technology since then so that they can stop it when it comes. Shima Katase arrives at Stellvia as a prep student not long before the second wave hits. Will humanity survive? Fantastic Fantastic Fantastic~!!!!!

Uta~Kata ~ Ichika's life gets turned upside down when she meets Manetsu, a mysterious girl who emerges from a mirror in a rundown school building and insists that Ichika help her with a project. This somewhat stereotypical magical girl anime makes my list for its ability to address difficult issues in a way that's sensitive and non-preachy. The ending has a nice twist, too.

Whistle! ~ Soccer manga~. Or, well, football, depending on who you ask. Whatever. I like the characters in this so I'm throwing it on here. It runs sort of opposite to Prince of Tennis in my head, because that had a protagonist who was always completely self-confident and the protagonist here is kind of a loser but very determined and very sweet. Plus, team love.

xXxholic ~ Seeing as this and Tsubasa were meant to be intertwined, it's probably weird that I'm only reccing xXxholic, but Tsubasa was very repetitive in ways that this never was. I like that I don't always know what's going on in this series – it's ever so slightly set off from the average story line, but always in good sorts of ways. A little mysteriousness to keep you coming back? Also, Watanuki and Doumeki are among my favourite OMG-they're-totally-friends-even-though-they'll-never-admit-it friendships. With bonus of Yuuko's outfits which I can only dream about having the cosplay skills to pull off because some of them are just gorgeous.

Books:

Hobb, Robin – The Farseer Trilogy and its sequel, The Tawny Man Trilogy ~ I have not words to express my love for these books. Basically, Fitz's life sucks. No, seriously. At age six his grandfather forces his mother to abandon him at the local castle because he's the Crown Prince's bastard son. Through various circumstances, Fitz winds up being trained as an assassin. I'm sure there's a better summary for this, but I'm just not coming up with it. It's high fantasy, and the writing is fabulous. Also, less preachy than Hobbs' Soldier Son trilogy, which is still entertaining, but a little high handed. I liked the moral ambiguity here.

McCaffrey, Anne – The Masterharper of Pern ~ All right, so technically, you should probably read the other Pern novels first. But Robinton is my favourite character, and this one is all about him, so this one gets to be on my list. He's a kick ass musician who hears dragons. What's not to like? XD

Moore, Christopher – Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal ~ This is one of those books where the title really tells you everything you need to know. I laughed until I cried. And at times, I just cried. Although in some ways, I feel like this book might not work for someone who isn't from a Christian background, because there are more than a few "in" jokes. With that in mind, go listen to Mary Catherine's Ash Wednesday Journal Entry. The bridge in this song kills me for the same reasons that this book totally killed me, so I think if you laugh at it, you'll probably enjoy the book. (Any Bible-thumpers out there might want to hide your eyes and ears. This is, after all, proof that my agnostic friends were not the first to tempt me to blasphemy. But it's the fun kind of blasphemy, so whatever.)

Sweeney, James – War's End ~ Let me preface this by saying that getting a copy of this can be a nightmare, but in many ways it's worth it. This is an eyewitness account of the atomic bomb missions that ended World War II, written by the pilot of the plane that bombed Nagasaki. History is so not my genre (I initially read this for a class in high school), but this book's really just fascinating, in my opinion. I'd also really love to hear an opinion from someone who's not American but who has read the book, so if anyone ever gets to it, please drop me a line!

Wilde, Oscar – The Picture of Dorian Gray ~ Classic in the traditional sense of the word, not just in my head. The aphorisms alone make this book worth reading. Basically, it's a Faustian bargain – guy pretty much sells his soul to look young and handsome, so that all the horrible things that he's done show up in a painting him instead of on himself. Little freaky at times, but most enjoyable.

Television:

Babylon 5 ~ Quintessential sci-fi show about a space station where humans and aliens all try to live together after several rather nasty wars. It's a bit like an intergalactic UN, since half the species there hate each other. The plot in this is particularly wonderful because it was a planned series – they knew at the beginning of season one where it was going through season five, which does truly fabulous things for continuity. I'll admit, I kinda wish that they'd cut it at four seasons because the fifth doesn't do much for me (except for the very last episode, which was originally filmed as the last episode of season four anyway), but the tapestry of story that Straczynski wove is just gorgeous. The characters are complete love, too. I ♥ this series!!!

Dancing with the Stars ~ Light, fluffy, and lots of good clean fun. The hosts irritate me, I'm generally not fond of the judges, but especially the later episodes of each season feature some really fabulous dancing, and that's enough to keep me coming back.

Doctor Who ~ So there's this guy. He's an alien. He's got this machine that travels through time and space (TARDIS). And he's got this habit of picking up hitchhikers and/or strays to travel with. And depending on when you catch him, he may be a completely different person entirely. I dodged this show for like, ever, and then when I finally got dragged into watching it I could've kicked myself for dodging for so long because it's brilliant. I'm really not joking about the Doctor looking different, too – in an incredibly clever series-prolonging trick, BBC invented a character who regenerates when mortally wounded and becomes someone completely different. My favourite is either Peter Davison or Christopher Eccleston, with a lean towards Eccleston because he was my first. And because Eccleston's Doctor came with Captain Jack Harkness, a human from the 51st century who's on the run from a time travel agency. And those are just the minor plot points. ^.^;;;

Early Edition ~ Guy gets tomorrow's newspaper today, and uses that knowledge to try to prevent the really awful news from happening. Gary and Chuck are damn cute friends, and the show makes me laugh at least as often as it put my heart in my throat. Very happy feel good kinda show.

The Mole ~ Reality-tv spy games. Seeing as how I love spy games, no real shock that I'm a big proponent of this. Basically, a bunch of strangers travel around and try to complete a bunch of missions in order to win lots of money. One of them (the mole) is being paid by the producers to trip them all up so that they make less money. The person who correctly identifies the mole at the end of the season is the winner. Good times!

The Pretender ~ Naïve boy genius is taken from his parents and told that they're dead. Twenty years later, he finally catches on to the fact that he's been kidnapped and has unintentionally caused the deaths of thousands. He escapes and sets out to figure out who he is. Finally available on DVD, this is a piece of my childhood that I love for characters, for plot, and for purely sentimental reasons. Mostly for the characters, though – Jarod (the boy genius) and Sydney (his guardian / kind-of captor) have the most fascinating relationship.

Torchwood ~ You may recall me mentioning above this in Doctor Who one Captain Jack Harkness, who is made of awesome. Torchwood (notice the oh-so-clever anagram XD) is a Doctor Who spin-off featuring him. I usually don't go for spin-offs, and the characterization in the first season is really spotty, but season two was fabulous.

West Wing ~ Because it's everything that politics should be. Also, for the characters. Rather defines the idea of fictional presidencies in a way matched only by movies like Air Force One, the American President, and Dave – excellent movies all, by the way. Definitely good for politics junkies, though it does eventually jump the shark. The early seasons are the best, though.

Comments

[aishuu.livejournal.com]

It's kind of intimidating HOW MUCH I AGREE WITH YOU.

Plus... Skip Beat? *looks at you with hearts in her eyes*

[lanerose]

... yay, agreement? ^_^;;;

Also, Skip Beat - really really?! *didn't know anyone else who had watched/read it yet* ♥!!!

[aishuu.livejournal.com]

All caught up with the manga, and to episode 11! In the process of writing a fic, which should be out in a week or so. I blame 100fandomhell.

[chaineddove.livejournal.com]

Kaleido Star and Princess Tutu?

I ♥ you so hard right now and I wish I could use more than one icon at a time, um.

I should like. Write some Princess Tutu fic. I really should.

[lanerose]

That's seriously fabulous! ^_^ *will be looking forward to that now* ^______^

Yay~~~ Skip Beat!

[lanerose]

KS & PT = ♥!!! Definitely feel your pain with not being able to use more than one icon, too. ;_;

And and ♥!!! Yes! Yes you should write Tutu fic!!! 'Cause that would be kinda really fabulous~~

[aishuu.livejournal.com]

If you wanted to be EQUALLY fabulous, you'd write fic, too. ^_~ I'm going through withdrawal!

[lanerose]

I could at that! XDD It's definitely on my to do list, I just haven't coalesced a proper plot yet. ^.^;;;

Also, have you seen the Skip Beat fics that went up for Yuletide yet? Best stuff in the fandom so far, I think. *links like a linking thing*

[aishuu.livejournal.com]

I did! I recced two...

[lanerose]

O_o

Probably this is what happens when I only read the manga this past weekend and Yuletide fics were up a few days before I finished. XDD Sorry 'bout that, then!

And awww... There didn't seem to be much else out there worth reading, from what I could find. ;_;

[aishuu.livejournal.com]

No, not really... I really like Ren/Kyouko, but... seems like fandom has to be unfair to Sho for that to happen. I want BALANCED fic.

[lanerose]

Agreed! It's like, the series seems to be giving off this vibe that Kyoko will eventually find a way to forgive Sho, but the fic completely fails to recognize it. Which is... depressing, a little.

... is it heretical if I say that I'd even go for a well-written Kyoko/Sho fic, with Tsuruga angsting on the side somewhere? Also, the dynamics between Kyoko and that Vie Ghoul guy whose name I can never remember were also really *interesting*, if kinda messed up.

*ponder*

[aishuu.livejournal.com]

No, it's not, especially since I have that fic in progress (though it's not necessarily a HAPPY Sho/Kyouko fic). I do find Sho's growth as a person worth remarking on - a part of me wants Sho/Moko (because DAMN they'd look good together). And Reino... well, I haven't seen any fic for him, but he is EVIL.

[lanerose]

Ooo, rock on!!! That's awesome. I'm not sure how Sho/Kyouko really could be precisely happy, because their history will always be there, even if they did manage to move past it, which is... unlikely, but an interesting possibility. Sho/Moko... would be really pretty. *_* I don't know how well it would work, but it could definitely be cool. Reino fic... I may have to cave to the impulse to write some, because he's kinda fascinating. Also, fic with Ren's parents in it. Or maybe all of it together, because, y'know, waiting for the rest of the series takes to long. XDD

... snap. *_* *goes to find notebook*

[aishuu.livejournal.com]

*g* I am going to drag you into this with me. *sinks claws into you*

I think at some point Sho/Kyouko could be happy - honestly? He was 16 and a brat... if he grows up, it could work...

But Ren's in the picture, and I think the manga is definitely heading for Ren/Kyouko. But there will be some reconciliation with Sho.

I think Sho/Moko could work, since Moko is very similar to Kyouko, plus she's more beautiful... and Sho IS that shallow. Moko would beat some sense into him before it went anywhere.

Curious what could be done with Reino. He's so... strange, and I think his arc is DONE.

As for Ren... anything Ren... yes, please.

[lanerose]

GAH! Claws...? O__o

You're right, if Sho grows up enough he and Kyoko could be happy. I agree that there has to be some sort of reconciliation between him and Kyoko. I think I'd almost throw that in as a precursor to any Sho/Moko, because Sho seemed a bit... focused on Kyoko to me, and Moko would never deliberately hurt Kyoko. (Barring, y'know, extreme provocation.)

Re: Reino - Y'know, any other manga and I'd agree with you, especially because of Ren's throwing off huge "Do Not Mess With Kyoko" vibes, but I'd written off Sho after the PV arc, only to have him pop up again. I'm weirdly struck by the way he tries to get Kyoko to part with the stone, which is an oddly protective gesture for someone who proclaimed to be out to destroy her. I dunno. Things to mull over, I suppose.

Also, Ren. ♥ Not sure anything else really needs to be said on that. ^_^

[dyxlisa.livejournal.com]

WORD ON EVERYTHING ARGHHHH ♥

Most of those you already know my opinion on, but also wanted to mention, I love the first arc of Get Backers too (w/Makubex), and I've been meaning to either read or watch Skip Beat eventually but...I HAVE NO TIME!! *SOB* eventually!!

(i'm trying to catch up on LJ but it isn't working very well)

[lanerose]

♥!!! Skip Beat manga is bloody fabulous~~!!! You'll get there eventually~!!!

(Yay catching up on LJ! ♥)

[dyxlisa.livejournal.com]

I will!! Probably sooner than I should XD;;

(GETTING THERE)

oh btw it might be getting to late for you to work out, but I sort of have some spring break plans now! Lulie is visiting me during her spring break (end march/early april-ish), and I'm considering going to phoenix during mine beginning/mid march (if I can afford it/her dad is ok with it!) Only, I need to warn you we might be really...boring. DX Part of the agreement with her dad is that we'll actually be studying for the USMLE during that time (well, actually, I do have class anyway lol) so....well, you could write or do other fun stuff while we study and we can do fun things at night? that's not really fair to you though... On the plus side, there's really not as much to do in Toledo as there is in New York!

[lanerose]

(YAY!)

So I've been thinking about this whole spring break thing. (Yay, getting to see Julisa~~!!! ♥) It's not too late for me to get tickets, but~~ I'm kind of distracting. And I know it. XD And you both have big ZOMG MAJOR EXAM thing coming up really quite soon. And I know that if it was me, and I was studying for my LSATs again, or (oh kill me now it's three years away and I don't even wanna think about it) the Bar exam, putting together distractions and study time probably wouldn't work so hot. Definitely I can come and write (maybe I'd actually get somewhere on my original novel or that Skip Beat fic I might be writing XDDD), and I know for sure that *I'd* have a good time. But I worry that (best intentions aside) y'all wouldn't get as much studying done as you want to / should. Besides which, you should probably be studying in the evenings as well, since during the day you (and then she) will have classes. Which is why (though I love you both dearly and miss you and want to see you) it's really not a good idea for me to come. ;_;

So then I started thinking, when do people take the USMLE, anyways? I google'd it, but all I got was that it was prometric, which means you can take it pretty much any time you want within a certain window. But, y'know, summer is a good time for visiting people, too. I don't know what sorts of USMLE and post-USMLE plans y'all have, but would it make sense for us to get together and/or for me to come visiting (if that's all right? or y'all are welcome to come here, too? or we could all go somewhere that's completely different and that could be fun?) *AFTER* the whole giant freaking exam thing, rather than before it?

I don't know. XDDD Either way works pretty well for me, since I'm planning to take time off both at some point late-March/early-April-ish and July/early-August-ish. (If I'm not coming to see y'all, I know a great little place upstate that I'd run away to for a few days. ^_^) So so~~~ let me know? Yay! XD

[dyxlisa.livejournal.com]

hmm!! ...I don't have time to write a long entry, but, actually, there's a couple weeks between when I plan to take the exam and when I have to start class again, and I plan to be in California at the time (ROFLMAO) And, I imagine, you would probably enjoy that more for a number of reasons, not the least of which it would be California and not Toledo. XD The only problem is, I don't know about Lulie!! I'll have to ask her about that--I'm pretty sure her dad won't be down with us visiting each other yet AGAIN. XD; I would be delighted to see you though, but it wouldn't be the same if it wasn't all 3 of us D:

Still, even if I wasn't the most productive during that spring break, it could be a lot worse!! That's not even the "heavy duty" study time (that would be may to mid-june) so maybe the chance to be relax would be better. XD ...we should probably get lulie in on this conversatio huh?? LOL ( i don't even think she's bought her plane tickets yet! so still room for juggling!)

[dyxlisa.livejournal.com]

On that note, I'm writing a summary email to send to all 3 of us! \o/

[lanerose]

You're so good to me! ^_^ ♥♥♥