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The Best Sci Fi Anime


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What is the best long-ish running Sci Fi anime series?   (Cowboy Bebop for instance would be too short for what I'm looking for)

 Does not have to be currently running. 

Robots / Mecha /  "deep" prefered but not required.  Popcorn anime is ok , as long as its awesome popcorn.  Too much of the genre is too fluffy.

Suggestions / Ideas?  Bonus points if its based on a Manga that is even longer and I can read like a nerd. 

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Well, I can only go by my experience of what caught my eye.

1. For Mecha: Mobile Suit Gundam - all series. You will find that the majority of all the Gundam storylines have something to do with a character or situation from another Gundam series. My suggestion would be to watch them all so when you hear someone in Gundam Wing referring to an incident that occurred in Gundam 08, you will be up to par. Celebrated 35th Anniversary in 2014.

2. For Bushido: Bleach. The series starts off kickin', but the anime storyline gets a bit side tracked as it has a lot of filler stories while waiting for the next installment of the manga to be released.

3. For Ninja: Naruto and Naruto Shippuuden. Another series that started off strong, but hit a lot of "stall for time" type scenarios in conjunction to the manga release. 

4. For the sake of nostalgia and first generation space mecha: MACROSS. As most fans know, Carl Macek combined The Super Dimension Fortress MACROSS and Genesis Climber MOSPEADA (Armored Genesis MOSPEADA) together to produce Robotech: The Macross Saga. However, MACROSS, in itself, is a long running series and celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2012.

 

Those are just the ones I can call off the top of my head. :biggrin:

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I like the Macross Saga.  Robotech for us in the States.  Came out in the early 80s.  I used to rush home from school just to watch it at 4pm.  Giant aliens, Veritech fighter planes, and Lynn Minmay singing.  What more could you ask for?

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm not super into anime, although I do have the first season of Robotech on Laserdisc.

Does "Ghost in the Shell" not count?  Or is it just that obvious that it requires no mention?  It's been fairly long running.

I've also heard good things about "Neon Genesis Evangelion," but I haven't really looked into it, nor do I know how long it is.

Also screw your length requirements, "Psycho Pass" is awesome, just watch that.

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I don't really go for the long time running anime myself.  Most of the series I watch only go for a few seasons.  I am a fan of Trigun, sort of a space western.  If you don't mind a short series though you might want to check out FLCL.  Psycho Pass is a good choice as well.  If you want to go more into the horror sci fi you can also check out Hellsing.

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Fullmetal Alchemist. Both of them, and yes I count steampunk as sci fi.

FMA deviates from the manga is 51 episodes, 5 OVAs and 1 movie and is still excellent.

FMA Brotherhood is near dead on the manga. 64 episodes, 4 OVAs and 1 movie. Much darker and is great.

 

Psycho-pass is good, only 33 episodes and a movie. A third season is rumored.

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Just now, Vater Araignee said:

Fullmetal Alchemist. Both of them, and yes I count steampunk as sci fi.

FMA deviates from the manga is 51 episodes, 5 OVAs and 1 movie and is still excellent.

FMA Brotherhood is near dead on the manga. 64 episodes, 4 OVAs and 1 movie. Much darker and is great.

 

Psycho-pass is good, only 33 episodes and a movie. A third season is rumored.

Yeah steampunk is totally sci fi.   The Comic book universes are sci fi so steam punk sure would be.      Interesting suggestions.  I remember awhile back people talking about FMA a ton, is it over?  (just haven't heard anything about it) 

 

The last time I was actively into actively into Anime hrmm... well for one, you could not get anime at like Barnes & Noble like you can now.   I had no clue what was "current" and just read whatever little stuff (which was basically just robotech and I remember Akira being a widely acclaimed thing) they had at the local comic book shop and TRIED to read the japanese language (or just guess) what a  few of the actual from-japan telephone book sized serialized series were about. 

I have dabbled in anime on and off but not manga at all.    I think the last thing I can remember reading was something called "Lone Wolf and Cub" I'm not even sure if that was actually manga like from japan or if it was just japanese themed by a western author. 

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On 3/18/2016 at 3:45 PM, michael840 said:

I don't really go for the long time running anime myself.  Most of the series I watch only go for a few seasons.  I am a fan of Trigun, sort of a space western.  If you don't mind a short series though you might want to check out FLCL.  Psycho Pass is a good choice as well.  If you want to go more into the horror sci fi you can also check out Hellsing.

My thing, thinking about shows like say,  The Sopranos, Breaking Bad , WAlking Dead whatever... I get attached to characters so I just tend to (lately) be a fan of longer form stuff. 

 

I actually for a few years there almost exclusively read short stories (during my boyboycott TV phase)  not sure when that shift happened.  (Ray Bradbury's short stories were my favorite) Now even single-novels I'm a bit leery of unless the reviews are epic. 

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On 3/18/2016 at 3:57 PM, Scary Guy said:

If you want short sci-fi horror then GenoCyber is completely screwed up.  There are five episodes with three hours of total runtime.

 

I also like Outlaw Star, although that's way more tame.

hrmm interesting. I clicked the "to be watched" on that. Gods know when I'll get to it. 

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39 minutes ago, Troy Spiral said:

Yeah steampunk is totally sci fi.   The Comic book universes are sci fi so steam punk sure would be.      Interesting suggestions.  I remember awhile back people talking about FMA a ton, is it over?  (just haven't heard anything about it)

Both versions are complete. I wish they would make more series in that world.

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Try Tenchi.  There are multiple series all following the main character as he is growing up in some very awkward and unusual situations.  It was originally created for teenage girls in Japan but I have found that more men enjoy the series for some odd reason.  I was a huge fan of Tenchi Muyo and Tenchi in Tokyo myself.  Tenchi Universe wasn't bad but I sort of fell out of it due to working multiple jobs and life getting in the way.  I would probably get back into it but my girlfriend is not a big anime fan and I don't want to annoy her with it.  

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Given that I work in the geek sphere and am necessary exposed to what some might call an unhealthy amount of anime, I have some suggestions...

Blassreiter was pretty good.  Apocalyptic near modern sci-fi.

 Desert punk, basquash!(if you have any interest in seeing giant robots save the world by playing violent basketball), of the Gundam series I found 0080 War in the Pocket, and 8th ms team to be particularly impactful.  Armitage III.  Serial experiments lain for weird paranoid cyberpunk.  I also absolutely second the suggestion of all of the ghost in the shell ever.  

I can keep going if needed.

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On 3/18/2016 at 2:44 PM, Scary Guy said:

I'm not super into anime, although I do have the first season of Robotech on Laserdisc.

Does "Ghost in the Shell" not count?  Or is it just that obvious that it requires no mention?  It's been fairly long running.

I've also heard good things about "Neon Genesis Evangelion," but I haven't really looked into it, nor do I know how long it is.

Also screw your length requirements, "Psycho Pass" is awesome, just watch that.

I think  Ghost counts, I didn't know it was long running.    Yeah I've watched Neon Genesis a few times it seemed good, the reviews seem EPIC, kinda surprised no one mentioned it until now.  

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I got started with anime with Ghost in the Shell (as far as series goes) so it's always been one of my favorites. Full Metal Alchemist is good too. That's just my longer running, non-fluffy, series picks. My list of generalized favorites is much, much longer.

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  • 4 months later...

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