20 Anime Recommendations

Why hello Imgur!

After seeing many anime recommendation posts, I'd figure I try my hand at doing one of my own. Summary's, number of episodes/OVA's/movies, my personal rating (completely different from MAL's rating), as well as a few of my thoughts for some are included in this. I did my best to throw some anime's in here that you wouldn't normally expect to see on a recommendation list. I will also include the intros from the FIRST SEASON of each anime because sometimes it takes a little more than just a summary, a rating, and picture to get someone to watch an anime. Please note:Certain intro's will not be present because of copyright on YouTube. Also this is MY list, I don't care if you don't agree with me on some of these. All summary's taken from Kissanime and MAL

Absolute Duo

We're starting off with this one for a few reasons. Number one, I'm trying to throw some shows in here that you wouldn't normally hear about and two because I need 20 and I've pretty much drawn a blank. This is one of those anime's where the story/plot aren't all that great but the action is pretty flipping awesome. Be prepared for fan service.

The story begins with Blaze—a weapon that is the manifestation of a human's soul. Tooru Kokonoe happens to be qualified for this, but for some reason his Blaze is not a weapon, but a shield. Moreover, he enrolled in a school that teaches combat skills, and thanks to the school's Duo partner system, he ends up living with a beautiful silver-haired girl.

12 Episodes

Personal Rating 6.5/10

Intro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CBctbw3c0s

Accel World

The year is 2046. Haruyuki Arita is a young boy who finds himself on the lowest social rungs of his school. Ashamed of his miserable life, Haruyuki can only cope by indulging in virtual games. But that all changes when Kuroyukihime, the most popular girl in school, introduces him to a mysterious program called Brain Burst and a virtual reality called the Accel World.

24 Episodes + 2 OVA's

Personal Rating 7.5/10

Written by the same guy who made Sword Art Online and IMO I think he did a better job with this than SAO. There are LN's for this so if the anime isn't enough for you I recommend you check out those as well.

Intro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcPFWzw-7p0

Angel Beats

Otonashi awakens only to learn he is dead. A rifle-toting girl named Yuri explains that they are in the afterlife, and Otonashi realizes the only thing he can remember about himself is his name. Yuri tells him that she leads the Shinda Sekai Sensen (Afterlife Battlefront) and wages war against a girl named Tenshi. Unable to believe Yuri's claims that Tenshi is evil, Otonashi attempts to speak with her, but the encounter doesn't go as he intended.

13 Episodes + 1 OVA

Personal Rating 7.8/10

Many will tell you that you will be crying like a baby at the end... This is true, but you will also be spending your fair share of time rolling on the floor laughing before that. Because it's only 13 episodes the anime does have its faults like a rushed plot with some holes and some characters never got their time to shine, but overall, its definitely worth a watch.

Intro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gqxm--Wq82Y

Black Lagoon

Okajima Rokuro is a Japanese businessman in a town full of Japanese businessmen. His normal day consists of social drinking with clients and being kicked around by his bosses. He finally gets a break though, as he's sent by his company to the tropical seas of Eastern China to deliver a disc. But his boat gets hijacked by a band of mercenaries hired to retrieve the disc. Rock (as he is newly dubbed by his captors) catches the interest of the only female merc Revy as she thinks he's worth a ransom, taking him hostage. However, the disc that was stolen has a terrible secret that's unknown to Rock, which causes massive confusion and chaos for both him and his kidnappers.

29 Episodes (Black Lagoon + Black Lagoon: The Second Barage + Black Lagoon: Roberta's Blood Trail)

Personal Rating 8/10

Lots of swearing (366 F-Bombs dropped), shooting, and one scary badass girl, what more could you ask for?

Intro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9Mw4NSM0bk

Cowboy Bebop

Enter a world in the distant future, where Bounty Hunters roam the solar system. Spike and Jet, bounty hunting partners, set out on journeys in an ever struggling effort to win bounty rewards to survive. While traveling, they meet up with other very interesting people. Could Faye, the beautiful and ridiculously poor gambler, Edward, the computer genius, and Ein, the engineered dog be a good addition to the group?

26 Episodes + Movie

Personal Rating 9/10

A lot of people will tell you this is one of the best anime's of all time. Is it the best? No, it definitely has it's flaws but overall it's worth the watch. It also has one of the best soundtracks.

Intro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aw3fN3OPk3A

Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou

Tadakuni, Hidenori, and Yoshitake are students at the all-boys academy, Sanada North High School. This is a tale about just that—their daily lives as students. Winning the basketball tournament? Finding true love? You won't find any of that here. Whether it's sparking random arguments while hanging out with friends, meeting that one weird co-worker at a part-time job, or even letting imaginations run wild on a windy afternoon, we've all experienced the show's ordinary but true-to-life themes at one point or another.

12 Episode + 6 (and a .5 for some reason) OVA

Personal Rating 7.5/10

Literally translating to "Daily Lives of High School Boys" this is anime is exactly like Nichijou (Scroll down for that one) but with boys. There is no plot to this one, it's all just shits and giggles.

Intro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klnSONBgwOE

Deadman Wonderland

Ganta is the only survivor after a mysterious man in red slaughters a classroom full of teenagers. He's framed for the carnage, sentenced to die, and locked away in the most twisted prison ever built: Deadman Wonderland. And then it gets worse. At Deadman Wonderland, convicts are forced into brutal deathmatches for the amusement of the masses, the cheers of the crowd drowning out the screams of the dismembered. Even when Ganta befriends Shiro, an unusual female inmate, his dark fate crushes all hope —until he discovers the strange ability to wield his spilled blood as a weapon. Ganta learns his new skill might be related to the murderous man in red and uncovers disturbing secrets that could expose those who stole his freedom. He's determined to see justice served —but first he'll have to fight for his life in a prison that holds a million ways to die.

12 Episodes---- YOU MUST READ THE MANGA TO GET THE ENDING

Personal Rating 9/10

Sick, gruesome, but so damn awesome.

Intro: WARNING UNCENSORED: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPA2sfsm7us

Fate/Stay Night Unlimited Blade Works

Fuyuki City—a city surrounded by the ocean and the mountains becomes the setting for an age-old ritual. To realize the mythical Holy Grail, which is said to grant any wish from its possessor, seven masters are given seven heroic spirits chosen by the Grail. These heroic spirits or servants are: Saber, Lancer, Archer, Rider, Caster, Assassin, Berserker.Each master will enter into a contract with their assigned servants and battle the other masters and servants to the death until only one pair remains...This is the "Holy Grail War."This story focuses primarily on the heroine Rin Tohsaka. After her father's death, Rin enters the Holy Grail War as the sole heir to the prestigious Tohsaka Household, with her servant Archer. But, she soon finds out that Shirou Emiya, a boy from her high school has gotten himself involved in the battles and unexpectedly saves him when he is fatally injured. Before long, Rin sets out to strike down the conspiracies surrounding the Holy Grail War along with Shirou and his summoned servant Saber. And so, the story begins to explore the truth behind Shirou’s powers and the nature behind his unyielding will to become a "hero."

NOT FINISHED YET: On Episode 18 but supposed to have 24 or 25 episodes

Even though this anime is not finished yet I will give it a 9.8/10

If you're thinking about getting into the Fate series but don't want to download the VN's START HERE. Insanely good animation and very well done art style. This is one of the best anime's airing right now and I HIGHLY recommend that you watch it.

INTRO IS COPYRIGHTED

Fate/Zero

Founded by the Einzbern, Makiri, and Tohsaka families centuries ago, the Einzbern family is determined to achieve success after three successive failures, no matter the cost. As a result, they have elected to bring the hated magus killer, Kiritsugu Emiya, into their ranks, despite his methods and reputation as a skilled mercenary and a hitman who employs whatever he can use to accomplish his goals. Though Kiritsugu had once wanted to become a hero who could save everyone, he has long since abandoned this ideal upon realizing that saving one person comes at the cost of another's life. For the sake of humanity, he will ruthlessly destroy anything and anyone who threatens the peace of others. However, Kiritsugu finds himself deeply torn between the love he has found for his new family - his wife Irisviel and their daughter Illya - and what he must do to obtain the Holy Grail. Meanwhile, Kiritsugu's greatest opponent appears in the form of Kirei Kotomine, a priest who cannot find any sense of fulfillment in his life and sets his sights on Kiritsugu as the possible answer to the emptiness he feels.

25 Episodes

Personal rating 9.5/10

Watch this only after you have completed F/SN UBW. Just like UBW, insanely good animation and very good art style.

INTRO IS COPYRIGHTED

Fullmetal Alchemist 2003 Edition

So it's actually kind of hard to find a good gif for the 2003 version.

The rules of alchemy state that to gain something, one must lose something of equal value. Alchemy is the process of taking apart and reconstructing an object into a different entity, with the rules of alchemy to govern this procedure. However, there exists an object that can bring any alchemist above these rules, the object known as the Philosopher's Stone. The young Edward Elric is a particularly talented alchemist who through an accident years back lost his younger brother Alphonse and one of his legs. Sacrificing one of his arms as well, he used alchemy to bind his brother's soul to a suit of armor. This lead to the beginning of their journey to restore their bodies, in search for the legendary Philosopher's Stone.

51 Episode + 1 Movie <---- THE MOVIE IS THE ENDING

Personal Rating 8/10

Everyone recommends Brotherhood so I figured I'd stir the pot a little and recommend the 2003 version (and IMO I think this version is better). This one follows the manga up until about episode 12 (I think) and after that it goes off on it's own route because at the time, the manga wasn't finished. Personally I prefer this story over the manga's/brother hood.

Intro #2 (this one is an exception): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8hPp9xYR6s

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex

In the not so distant future, mankind has advanced to a state where complete body transplants from flesh to machine is possible. This allows for great increases in both physical and cybernetic prowess and blurring the lines between the two worlds. However, criminals can also make full use of such technology, leading to new and sometimes, very dangerous crimes. In response to such innovative new methods, the Japanese Government has established Section 9, an independently operating police unit which deals with such highly sensitive crimes. Led by Daisuke Aramaki and Motoko Kusanagi, Section 9 deals with such crimes over the entire social spectrum, usually with success. However, when faced with a new A level hacker nicknamed “The Laughing Man”, the team is thrown into a dangerous cat and mouse game, following the hacker’s trail as it leaves its mark on Japan.

52 Episodes + 1 special

Personal rating 8.5/10

No words are needed for this one. Just watch it.

Intro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFqhyUHicQU

Girls und Panzer

You may have heard of kung fu, but the girls at Oarai High School practice gun-fu - really, really BIG 75mm gun-fu, in fact. It's called Sensha-do, and it's the martial art of operating armored tanks! They take it seriously too, and since winning the national Sensha-do championship is such a huge deal at Oarai, they sometimes go to extreme ends in order to get the best students from Panzer class to sign up. Which is how Miho Nishizumi, who HATES operating tanks, gets drafted to join doomsday-driven driver Mako, even-triggered gunner Hana, highly receptive radio operator Saori and combustible tank-fangirl and loader Yukari as the incomparable Anko Team. They may not be on the half-track to fame and fortune, and maybe a few of them would rather shop for tank tops than become tops in tanks, but once their focus is locked and loaded, they're absolutely driven.

12 Episodes + 1 Movie + Another movie in the works

Personal Rating 7.5/10

This anime is exactly what it sounds like, girls and tanks. When they're not having battles it's a tad boring but the battles themselves keep you interested and on the edge of your seat.

Intro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ES06Fkkl8ac

K-On!+K-On!!

Hirasawa Yui, a young, carefree girl entering high school, has her imagination instantly captured when she sees a poster advertising the "Light Music Club." Being the carefree girl that she is, she quickly signs up. However, Yui has a problem, she is unable to play an instrument.

When Yui goes to the clubroom to explain, she's greeted by the other members: Ritsu, Mio, and Tsumugi. Although disheartened at Yui's lack of musical know-how, they still try to convince her to stay to prevent the club's disbandment. After playing Yui a short piece which re-ignites her imagination, they succeed in keeping their new member and guitarist.

Along with the tasks of school and homework, Yui begins to learn the guitar with the help of the other band members, experiencing many mishaps along the way. However, with the school festival drawing near and Yui getting stuck with her practice, will the Light Music Club be ready in time for their debut?

41 Episodes + Movie

Personal Rating 9/10

I've never had an anime make me as happy as this one does. Seriously, if you're feeling down about something, just watch an episode of K-On! and that sadness will instantly disappear.

Intro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnd1wSIyN-g

Nichijou

While the title suggests a story of simple, everyday school life, the contents are more the opposite. The setting is a strange school where you may see the principal wrestle a deer or a robot's arm hide a rollcake. However there are still normal stories, like making a card castle or taking a test you didn't study for.

26 Episodes

Personal Rating 8.5/10

It's insanely random and insanely funny. There were many moments that I had to pause because I was laughing so damn hard. Also the faces they make in this are in fucking credible.

Intro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0oBhwNpptk

Ore no Nounai Sentakushi ga, Gakuen Love Comedy wo Zenryoku de Jama Shiteiru (Noucome)

Kanade Amakusa is a high school student who is suffering from a curse called "Absolute Choices." This curse requires him to select an action from a list of two or three options that appear before him at any time, and has no control over what choices appear. Many of them are weird or perverse and as a result, the curse has tainted his reputation with his classmates and other people around him, making his life very difficult. However, one day, a choice he makes on his way home from school causes a mysterious, beautiful young girl to fall from the sky.

10 Episodes + 1 OVA

Personal Rating 7/10

I honestly don't know why I'm putting this here but if you haven't seen this yet or you don't want to watch it.... watch it. It's so stupid it's good and its pretty damn funny. There really is no other way to explain this anime.

Intro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=um0EUnWa1aE

Madan no Ou to Vandis

Set in Western Europe during times of war, Eleanor "Ellen" Vertalia, one of the Vanadis of Zhcted, leads the battle into Brune. There are, in fact, seven Vanadis, each having received a powerful weapon from the Black Dragon to reign over one of Zhcted's seven territories. The power of the Vanadis invokes dread and fear in their enemies. An earl in the service of the country of Brune, a young archer by the name of Tigre, experiences the Vanadis's power firsthand after being defeated on the battlefield by Ellen. However, Ellen chooses to spare his life after witnessing his skills, but in exchange, he is asked to serve her.

13 Episodes

Personal Rating 6.8/10

As much as I'd like to say "turn your brain off and enjoy" I can't. It's a bit difficult to follow but if you are able to keep up and understand what's going on in the story, it's not half bad. Be prepared for some serious fan service.

Intro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZoVDMjMokc

Ore, Twintails ni Narimasu (Gonna be the Twin-Tail!!)

Mitsuka Souji is a first year high school student who greatly loves the "twintails" hairstyle. One day a beautiful girl, Thuearle, who comes from another world suddenly appeared in front of him and gave him the power to transform into the twintails warrior TailRed. Now Souji, with the help of his childhood friend Tsube Aika who can becomes the twintails warrior TailBlue, must fight in order to protect the peace on earth.

12 Episodes

Personal Rating 7/10

Please don't kill me for this one... Like Noucome this is also one of those anime's where it's stupid, but it's so stupid that it's decent. #TeamTailBlue

Intro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJ7gCgDm_3k

(Again another exception because honestly it's 20x better than the intro) Outro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfvnxozM_aM

Seikimatsu Occult Gakuin (Occult Academy)

The story revolves around Maya, the daughter of the former Headmaster of Waldstein Academy, and a time traveling agent Fumiaki Uchida. In the year 2012, the world had been invaded by aliens and time travelers were sent back to the year 1999 in order to find and destroy the Nostradamus Key, which Nostradamus Prophecy foretold as what would bring about the apocalypse. The series then turns to the year 1999, where Maya returns to the Academy with the intention of destroying the Academy by superseding her late father's position as the principal. Her plan was interrupted when she meets Fumiaki and learns of the forthcoming destruction. Despite being distrusting towards Fumiaki, they form a pact to look for the Nostradamus Key.

13 Episodes

Personal rating 7.5/10

This is an anime I guarantee only a handful of you have heard of. I honestly don't know why this one isn't brought up more often because IMO it deserves more attention.

Intro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjFpxB29ox8

Spice and Wolf I and II

The peddler Lawrence Craft travels through the world selling all kinds of things. After visiting a village he discovers a sleeping girl under the hay in his cart. She has wolf ears and a tail. The wolf girl explains that she has been called a "God" but her name really is Holo and nothing else. Lawrence teases the girl a little, but after hearing more of her story is moved and decides to accompany her further north. On their travels the two have all sorts of adventures & often get into trouble but slowly the bond between them grows stronger.

26 Episodes

Personal Rating 10/10

If I lost your trust with the last 3 I'm terribly sorry and I'm about to make it up to you

My review from Kissanime: My oh my where to start with this one. First off let me just say that this was some of the best character development I have ever seen. The two change their attitudes and evolve the farther you get into the story where it eventually goes from "I'm only with you because I have to be with you." to "I'm with you because I want to be with you." You could also feel the characters (that's the best I can describe it), you will laugh with them and you will cry with them. The whole plot/story was amazing as well. It's well thought out with a few twists to keep you interested (and believe me you'll stay interested the first two episodes). This was a very fun anime to watch and the final episode "Wolf and Endless Tears" stays very true to its name as you will suddenly notice that Niagara falls has made its way to your face once its over. I can say with honesty and boldness that this is the best anime I have ever seen and it has taken the #1 spot on my list. And with that I can confidently give this anime a 10... out of 10.

Intro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MN_WgwEmRaw