The "Otaku" animes you've seen

[shooraijin]

I was going to put Urusei Yatsura...but wasn't sure if I'd classify it as classic...most people I've talked to haven't seen it/heard of it....but I sure love it.

I would definitely call it classic, and I've got five box sets and movie #2 (with movie #1 on the way, and box set 6 on pre-order).

Long time Ranma fan as well.

Maison Ikkoku, I don't think I'd call it "otaku" (not as well known) although it comes from that generation.

[Bobtheduck]

LOL I can't tell if that's a joke or if you're serious.

And Bob, you're completely off in that post about Perfect Blue.
You've seen a couple music videos...ok. Have you ever seen a music video to an anime that completely changed the theme of the original story? MANY of them do that. You can't judge a movie/show by a music video. Read a review or plot synopsis to get a better idea, rather than take guesses of a video. (don't mean to sound cold)

and Kite, I'd recommend YOU staying away from Perfect Blue. But to anyone else, it's a good psychological thriller, if you can handle the adult situations.

Whoa there, kitty. I didn't base what the plot was about by the music video. I based that on summaries I read. IOW, I don't know the details about the plot, but what it did say were the things I said. As for the music video, the only thing I ascertained from that were some of the scenes that they showed. When she worked in the porn movie company, and some of her paranoid fantasies. I had the summary to tell me the other things.

However, I may have been hasty. I watched "1 Hour Photo" which has some serious sexual issues in it (FULL nudity, and some hustler type shots, not to mention the disturbing nature of the scenes in the climax), maybe somewhat comparable to and I loved that movie. The scenes that I did see in that music video really did turn me off, but I saw them a while ago when, of course, my tastes were a bit different. Also, I'm not fond of "Manga"'s Dubs... They tend to really screw them up. They're the DiC of the legitamate anime world, or rather they usually make them more suggestive and slicker than they were originally.

Besides that, while Perfect Blue is one of the few anime to be released in Theaters in the US (akira, GitS, X, Pokemon, Digimon, Cowboy Bebop, Mononoke, and spirited away are others) I don't think it's really an "otaku" anime. It's just very different. Something people don't expect. It's not something one thinks of making into an animated feature... A psychological thriller like that, it's just different. It's not really in the "popular" list of anime, nor is it a classic.

[Orange Kitten]

Whoa there, kitty. I didn't base what the plot was about by the music video. I based that on summaries I read. IOW, I don't know the details about the plot, but what it did say were the things I said. As for the music video, the only thing I ascertained from that were some of the scenes that they showed. When she worked in the porn movie company, and some of her paranoid fantasies. I had the summary to tell me the other things.

A psychological thriller like that, it's just different. It's not really in the "popular" list of anime, nor is it a classic.

You got valid points. I wasn't saying it was a classic; I don't believe it's classic, but I do think it's somewhat popular. And just for the record, the girl in Perfect Blue does not work for the adult industry. She is an actress in a movie, and in that particular scene she is ACTING out a rape scene. So in fact, she doesn't get raped, it's her character acting in a movie. (a movie inside a movie, if you will)

[rocklobster]

How about Memories, Gundam Wing, Voltron (someone get this on DVD NOW!), Serial Experiments Lain (ooh...pretty!), and Sailor Moon. Those are the only ones you haven't listed yet.

[Maledicte]

Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, Hellsing, Ghost in the Shell: SAC, Inuyasha, Gundam Wing--the more popular animes out there.

Vampire Hunter D--the first movie. Can't say I enjoyed it all too much, though.

Lupin the 3rd--Only a few eps, but I loved it all the same.

[Corkyspaniel]

[color="DarkOrchid"]I don't know which ones are considered "classics", but AIR seems to be popular in Japan, and it's one of my favorites.[font="Comic Sans MS"]^^[/font][/color]

[Lochaber Axe]

Phew wee... this thread sure has some fermentation, don't it? Four years is a long time I know notice.

On topic... The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya has become an otaku show in my opinion. Also gotta put on that list, Genshinken.

[Nikolai Melodie]

Oooh, don't disturb the bodies. We certianly don't need a MillyFan zombie. -hadto-

But as far as classics, I would say for sure on Cowboy Bebop and Ninja Scroll. I enjoyed them both. Perfect blue...heh heh....I have a few words on that one. Not CAA appropriate words.

[the_wolfs_howl]

I do not presume to know what animes are to be designated as "otaku classics," so I'll just say which of the ones already mentioned I have seen.

I've seen a few episodes of Dragonball Z, but I can't say that I think very much of it. It seems like a bunch of pointless fighting to me (but of course I haven't seen very much, so I'm not one to talk), and I've heard many stories about how the various enemies keep coming back to life again and again. I also dislike the animation style, but that's just me.

Pokemon was what got me into anime as well. I got very into Pokemon back in the day: episodes, movies, video games, the card game.... I would have bought a bunch of stuffed Pikachus if I could have ^_^

I'm in the process of watching Rurouni Kenshin, and I can definitely see why it would be considered a classic. A wonderful anime so far. I also plan on seeing Trigun, since I've heard so much about it.

...And I firmly believe that Full Metal Alchemist should be considered a classic in later years, after more people have seen it, etc. Truly the best anime ever made.

[Radical Dreamer]

GRAVEDUG'D. Wow.

I don't know which ones are considered "classics", but AIR seems to be popular in Japan, and it's one of my favorites.

I would hardly count Air as an "Otaku Anime". It's extremely far from being well-known, much less as popular as shows like Cowboy Bebop. I do love Air, though. XD

Anyways, I've seen:

Rurouni Kenshin -- One of my favorites, if only because it was my first.

Cowboy Bebop -- One of the few overhyped anime that actually deserves all the hype it gets. A very well-done series.

Trigun -- I enjoyed it. Not my favorite, but I liked it and would watch reruns.

FLCL -- Eh. Not all it's cracked up to be.

FullMetal Alchemist -- Good show for a while, but the ending was severely lacking. I'm finding the manga to be MUCH better.

DragonBall Z -- Only good for nostalgia, here. XD

That's all that comes to mind for the moment. XD

[beau99]

Would Azumanga Daioh fit into this category?

If so... yes. I loves it.

[Saj]

Should i be shot if i havent seen FLCL?

[creed4]

ranma1/2
Trigun
Cowboy Bebop
I'll update later

[LadyRushia]

Naruto
Bleach
One Piece
. . .basically all popular shonen titles will probably become classics soon enough.

Would Azumanga Daioh fit into this category?

Azumanga Daioh fits into every category of epic win, so yes.

[mitsuki lover]

One classic that I don't see mentioned yet is Kimagure Orange Road.
Kimagure Orange Road is an adolescent romance comedy combined with elements of fantasy.

[Roy Mustang]

Gundam Wing can't count as an Otaku anime.

Gundam Wing wasn't that like in Japan that much and only did well in the US, since it was the first Gundam series to be aired on TV and put on DVD.

GW was hated by Gundam Otakus and the fanbase for GW was from people that never saw any other of the Gundam series.

As for Otaku anime that I have seen.

Cowboy Bebop

FLCL

The very first Gundam series

Macross

FMA

Tenchi OVAs

and a few others that I can't remember now.

[color="Red"][font="Book Antiqua"]Col. Roy Mustang [/font][/color]

[jon_jinn]

Cowboy Bebop
GTO
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
FMA
DBZ
Pokemon

[Alexander]

Pokemon. (Who didn't watch this?)

Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z. (We all watched it on Toonami when it aired)

Trigun. (I didn't like it, so I never finished it, but I suppose it can count)

Lucky Star. (IT HAS A CULT FOLLOWING ONLINE!) And yes, I like it.

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. (I have yet to know if I even like this. But I've seen it).

Sailor Moon. (Every girl knew about it)

Digimon (Every boy knew about it to an extent)

Cardcaptor Sakura. (CLAMP's most famous series, and one I'm re-watching right now)

And that's it for me.

[KeybladeWarrior]

Otaku animes that I have seen alot or some of:
Pokemon (I was crazy for it. I bought the video, games, cards, etc.)
Dragon Ball Z
FullMetal Alchemist (who said that armor can't talk?)
Bleach
Naruto (Shippunden is so much better)
Trigun (one of my recent favs)
Ah! My Goddess! (I am mostly just seen the TV series and like two episodes of the OVA.)
Azumanga Daioh (I have to say it is a very funny show.)
Sailor Moon (My first shojo anime.)

Does Rurouni Kenshin count? Because I have seen quite of few piccys of people cosplaying as the characters.

[Blitzkrieg1701]

Lesse, which of the anime I've seen really count as Otaku Classics...

Castle of Cagliostro. I LOVE this movie!

Akira. One of the biggest of the big deals. I actually think this movie lives up to most of the hype, which is a rarity for me.

Macross. Oh yeah. Good stuff, this. It kind of looses steam during the last arc, but even that's better than a lot of the shows that tried to follow in it's wake.

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. Now, this one I didn't care all that much for. The story's too heavy handed, the soundtrack's oddly disappointing, and the ending is way too abrupt and unsatisfying.

Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honneamise. Kind of unfocused, and with the one of the first unlikable sad sack protagonists, but still interesting to watch.

Gunbuster. Like most Gainax productions, it's too indulgent in too many places, but not so much as to hide the many clever scifi concepts lurking underneath.

Ghost in the Shell. I love Stand Alone Complex, but the movie is so SLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW.

Rurouni Kenshin. Okay, but too dependent on the shonen clichés for me to really get into.

Evangelion. You know, I don't think I've every actually met a person who honestly thought this show was as good as "everyone" says it is. I sure don't.

Cowboy Bebop. Still one of my all time favs. I don't know if I've ever seen another show with such a consistently high level of quality.

Trigun. Honestly, Vash embodies almost every character trait I DON'T want in a protagonist, so I can't really get past that to enjoy the rest.

FullMetal Alchemist. Not bad, though I've never really understood the intense interest.

FLCL. You know, this is kind of immune from the usual Gainax criticisms since it never pretends to be anything BUT indulgent. That way, you can just watch the train wreck happen guilt free!

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Honestly, I like it better than I expected to, but it's still nowhere near as good as the fanatical following would suggest. Oh, and the TV episode order is TERRIBLE.

[KhakiBlueSocks]

[font="Trebuchet MS"][SIZE="4"][color="RoyalBlue"]Otaku anime? Well, here are a few:

Akira - From opening credits to ending credits, I was confused. I printed out the article from Wikipedia and I'm STILL confused!

Evangelion (Series and Movies) - Thought provoking--nuff said.

Pokemon - I saw the old school episodes on TV this morning, and it was a blast from the past! I actually found myself laughing at a few parts!

Cowboy Bebop - A great anime, but...IMHO, it's a little over-hyped.[/color][/SIZE][/font]

[Zeonic Freak]

I'll agree with most on that list, but some I disagree with. As some are popular, they don't belong on a "classic anime" list that "most otaku has seen or at least heard of"



Otaku no Video is a total classic. I mean, the name alone explains it.

.

Otaku no Video happends to be my favorite too, seeing how a certain charactor designer worked on it that happens to be my most respected artist.

And i do agree what people have put down so far (Minus FLCL).

Azumanga Daioh - After watching AMV Hell 3 with pretty much every skits with Daioh in it, i checked it out, till about episode 12, when i offically just gave up on the series altogeather. It was really slow paced, i only found myself chukling here and there and it just felt that i was wasting time on it. So, it was ok all in all from what ive seen.

Gunsmith Cats- Man, oh boy, how can i not say anything negitive about GSC. The man behind Otaku no Video Kenichi Sonoda did this good ol masterpiece about 2 bounty hunter chicks that turn Dog the Bounty Hunter into a puppy sucking on its mom for some milk. And so far, im hooked onto the GSC Burst manga, which Vol 3 will be coming out in December hopefully !!!! Of course, i dont know if this is Otaku community regardless, and if it not, it should be on everyones top 10.

Well, thats my top big ones right now...

[nanikore]

One classic that I don't see mentioned yet is Kimagure Orange Road.
Kimagure Orange Road is an adolescent romance comedy combined with elements of fantasy.

YES. I'm really glad that KOR, as well as Maison Ikkoku, are actually mentioned in this thread. I've lost count the number of times I've made the remark "Why aren't Maison Ikkoku and Kimagure Orange Road mentioned?"

While series on the lists can be considered classics, I don't think any of them can be consider "otaku".

My criteria for an "otaku series" is that the anime involves or makes fun of anime fandom itself, in a sort of "in-joke style" that the non-otaku may have trouble understanding.

A good example would be Lucky Star. If you're laughing at the main character because of the jokes on her anime/manga/game obsession, then you're indirectly laughing at yourself. That's what those otaku series are designed to do.

Another one would be Welcome to the NHK. Wow, look at the closet freak with anime everywhere and uh, naughty anime. When we laugh at the guy or pity him, we're really laughing at (and pitying) a segment of fandom. Not only that, we're witnessing a commentary on a whole segment of society.



If a series makes you kind of uncomfortable as a "fan" and at the same time make you laugh, it's a surefire sign that's it's an "otaku anime" because it's nose-pointing audience is the otaku audience.

Genshiken... another example. Notice the "freak indoctrination process" that new members are subjected to. The ritual is almost something like "yeah... you're not freak (otaku) enough right now, at least you don't admit it. But as soon as we're done with you you'll be just like the rest of us"

Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya- Otaku series. Demands almost no explanation. Note the implication that each fan belong to their own little universe. In that story, each main character has their very own bizarre "world" that makes absolutely no sense treated separately but makes perfect sense when treated on their own (one is time traveling, one is uh, "divine", one is a BOT...) If that doesn't spell "fan interpretatiion of their own Mary-Sue version of their favorite anime/manga story" then nothing does.

There are some other "milder" series like Comic Party that doesn't "rub it in" nearly as hard, but they're also otaku series.

Edit: Uh oh! I've totally forgotten the n-number of series like Hayate the Combat Butler where there are constantly gags about "this is an anime episode" and/or "this is not an anime episode" or "this is a dating sim plot" as in Hayate himself saying "could this mean that the plot is moving toward a [insert female character name here] ending?" and "I guess it's not moving toward that ending after all". Oh, and add the annoyingly hilarious narrator on top of that and you have an Otaku series.

[memmer66]

COWBOY BEBOP & FLCL. I haven't seen much NEON GENESIS EVANGELION (yet) so I can't add it too the list but what I've seen (other then a crappy dub) is AWESOME!!

[memmer66]

And FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST ^_^

[SnEptUne]

List the animes you've seen that are considered "classics". You know, those animes that are really popular in the "otaku" community, the well-known ones, the ones that rabid otaku talk about to no end. You know the ones, the ones that almost every American anime fan has heard of (even if they have not seen), the anime titles that are supposed to make you a "true otaku" to have seen... post your list - and your opinions of them!

Here's the "otaku" series I like personally:

Fate Stay Night - Holy Grail! I especially like Shiro, who wants to prevent the holy war and save other people earnestly, even if he has to sacrify himself. He want to save others just like how he was saved.

Shingetsutan Tsukihime - It is about a pure-blood vampire princess repenting for her sin. The ending is kind of bad however.

Maria-sama ga Miteru - Christian themed anime! Lovely school life that remind me of my elementary school.

Kannon 2006 - Childhood friends, forgotten dreams. Does miracle exists?

Air - Mother Daugther relationship. A very heart moving serie. "The sky is waiting for me."

You can find doujin mangas and doujin games for any of the above series easily. You can also find figures dolls for Fate Stay Night and Shingetsutan Tsukihime, and stuffed dolls such as Neko Arc, Dark Saber, etc...