I think there's enough of us with an interest here to make this a valid thread.

I guess this is aimed at Mike to start with as he should have finished watching Fullmetal Alchemist by now. Cool, isn't it. And the whole "equivalent trade" thing was worked out, so the energy involved is accounted for.
Looking forward to the film.

So if you like anime and have broadband get yourself registered at bittorrent.anime-supreme.com and egt downloading, all of it is great quality, and usually has both audio tracks + subtitles.
Quality shit.


Anyway as with the whole review thing,

FullMetal Alchemist:

Edward and Alphonse are brothers, their Dads away and their Mum dies.
They are also learning alchemy, which in this place means drawing circles then magically transforming one thing into another.
They attempt to ressurect their Mum (Human transformation is forbidden) and as a result they screw up and Ed loses an arm and a leg (literally), and Alphonse loses his whole body and ends up with his soul affixed to a suit of armor.

The basic premise is them travelling aroung trying to get their bodies back. But it gets a bit more complex than that. If you like your anime to actually follow a definite story rather than have related but not contiguous plots, then this hits that spot. Also the animation style is wicked and the whole thing looks great.

Story:
Animation:
Rating: ( 4 increasingly good smilies).

n.b. I may just make up the grading as I go along...

Yep finished watching it (I stole your Av for Empire, hope you don't mind) and enjoyed muchly. Though the end was a bit..."Well we've reached the end of this storyline and forgot to include for the possibility we might be popular enough for more. Quick! Shove in a 'To be continued...' ending. Phew!"

The rest is all good however, storyline is engaging, animation good for TV. Should appeal to the teenaged boy in us all.

I'll think of some anime to review when I can be bothered.

Hellsing

One of my housemates actually has the DVD of the series (13 episodes) but i'm sure it's easily available online.

Basic outline is that Hellsing is (unsurprisingly) a secret anti-vampire (and other general monsters) outfit. Surprisingly it is based in the UK as is the whole series which gives the whole thing a nice twist and some humerous translations (ie Moterways are not the M11 but "Route 11").

Hellsing has a 'trump card' weapon in the form of a 'super vampire' (ala Blade) which they have somehow managed to persuade to work with them to kill other vampires. This guys name is Alucard (one gold star if you guess the origin) and is not your typical vamp. Some of the best bits of the series are his demonstration of quite ridiculous powers.

The story follows the organisation's operations from the beginning when Alucard is forced to 'kill' a young police woman in order to get to a target. He brings her back as a vampire to save her and Seras Victoria becomes another main character of the series, exploring her new and growing powers.

Animation is top notch. One of the major distinguishing points about this is it has been dubbed VERY well into English using english speaking actors. The soundtrack is also extremely good.

The series does end a little suddenly but there is talk of a Firefirly->Serenity type continuation.

Rating: 4 / 5

I've been thinking of looking at hellsing. (oh and for my points perhaps Alucard::draculA)

Next on my list is Arc the Lad...

Right.

Cowboy Beebop has to be the Daddy of modern popular anime series. The two series and film follow the adventures of Spike Spiegel and Jet Black, a couple of raggedy end Bounty Hunters as they hunt down marks in the Beebop. Jet is a grizzled father-figure, Spike a laid back smoker who fights like Bruce Lee. At the end of each episode they've saved the galaxy/planet/themselves from some evil nutcase but generally get no reward due to the lack of alive person to hand over to the authorities. They find themselves where they started though they gradulaly pick up more crew in the form of Ein the Dog, Ed the Hacker and Faye the gambler/bounty hunter with few clothes.
The animation may be a touch worn but it's the touching characters who let you in slowly, the crackling interplay and the topnotch voice acting that keep you coming back for more, that and the mostly gratuitous 'flying to electro-funk' scenes...cracking.
This is one anime best watched in English, you don't get "Spikuu" but the dialogue's better, the whole show has a slightly western feel for anime-virgins. You couldn't find a better intro.

Oh, and there's a solid conclusion to the series...

Naruto is the Daddy of Anime, just been watching it solid for months now. It's an epic and still in the making.
Basically it's about some ninja kids going out doing missions, some very cunning animation here with clever twists. Certainly very addictive at 163 episodes it's still only about half way through, so plenty more goodness to come but if you plan to watch it I would wait a couple more years for them to finish it because you will find yourself in a annoying situation where you have to wait a week for the next episode to come out!!!

Beserk is also a quality anime although a little dark in a hole with an owl and a mahoosive sword

Escaflowne is OK but after watching Naruto I find the Anime to be a bit old

Cowboy Bebob well nuff said speaks for itself

Evangelion pretty sweet but what's the ending all about very bizarre

Hikaru NoGo another amazing 80+ episode anime also very addictive considerring it's all about a Boardgame. Some tense scenes in this one

Appleseed = Crap dont bother watching it

Fist of the North Star - Pretty good odschool anime

Some of DBZ is quite entertaining to watch on the Toonami channel. There's just too much of it to watch though.

Films

Ninja Scroll- One of my Favourates

Princess Mononoke- Another good film

All of the Hayao MIYAZAKI films are class, especially Spirited Away

Vampire Hunter D - Good old anime, a must see

Ghost in the Shell - Class films and series - Sam did her dissertation on it.

Blood the last Vampire is good just a shame it's so short really

The next anime waiting for me on the shelf is Bleach, which is susspose to be on a par with Naruto and also on the next to watch list is Initial D

Not been a post here for too long, so here we go.

Hellsing - I agree with Danson, it's quality. Also for Dan's listening pleasure: [attachmentid=119]

Trigun - Took a while to get into to this one and get used to the crazyness of it sometimes, but it was well worth it. pity they don't pick up the story hardly at all unitl Episode 11... Vash is too cool though. Set in another world, mostly dusty/desert not very exciting, so the Western theme come's in again. Story is Vash (the Stampede) is an Outlaw wanted for $$60000000000 (yes thats sixty billion doble-dollars), and a couple of insurance girls (with big guns - calm down Govind i actually mean guns) going from place to place as Vash figures out whatever it is he needs to figure out, while bullet-dodging and generally being random - oh and eating donuts.
It is good - honest.

FLCL - Furi Kuri or Fooly Cooly or however the fudge it's pronounced. This is just a six Ep OVA at the moment, but I really hope they make some more of it becuase it's genius.
Once again the story is bizarre at it's most sane. It starts with our hero being hit in the face with a guiter by a girl on a vespa who is quite possibly not human. Then a lump appears on his forehead out of which pops a robot. Later he gets bunny ears. But forget the story, as the animation on this is second none! It is gorgeous - quite possibly the best animated anime I have ever seen.
Watch IT!

GITS: SAC 1st Gig. - Each Ep is accesible on it's own but this hasn't really grabbed me enough to make me want to watch all of it. Have enjoyed what I've seen tho.

next time...

Gunslinger Girl, Ninja Scroll TV, Zone of Enders, .Hack/Sign.

I think this thread should receive an award simply for the fact that Mango made an entry.

Oh my God!

Anyhoo - whatsabout some Urutsukidoji (Eroticasododgy...hmmm) - has anyone had the mdispleasure of watching this stuff - pretty grim - and I can take credit for not choosing to watch this - handed to me by a mate at uni, this stuff is full of typically anime manga stylee 'these are the bad guys who are actually the good guys because they want to vaporize the world cos its gone so bad...blah blah - some very good suspense-filled bits where everyone tries to find out who the uber moster bad guy is...and then it all goes to sexually depraved monster raping hell as everyone goes on a shag binge...

You will love how some monster's spunk turns anormal guy into a monster.

Has anyone seen Dead Leaves - it will change your life - this shit was made over 17 kazillion years - all hand drawn and is so fast you;ll have to watch it twice to catch on. Breathtaking animation and the speed of the matrix on...er...speed. Wild colours and wild characters...go get it...you won't regret it.

Govi*

PS - who likes my new av? Heavy metalll bbaybee....

Watched the first 3 eps of Hellsing the other day. I have to say I'm not so sure; the subtitles can be incomprehensible, and while the majority of the English dub has enough quality; some of the minor characters are terrible (ie the 'priest' in the first ep). However, the story has interest to check it out further; even if I'm really not sure why he had to shoot Seras Victoria in the end as he had a clear head shot...I reckon he just fancied her.

A sense of humour wouldn't go amiss either; the animation style is more FMA than Manga and to me that says 'not completely serious' but it's all so straight...

Stick with it - there are some hilarious moments (although apparently the comics are full of comedy genius). The series definitely takes getting into. Watch in english not subtitles. And notice and enjoy the soundtrack!

Ichi The Killer

Im told an animated feature meant to be a prequel to the film. About a boy who is traumatized as a kid, bullied, etc etc who then turns out to be a kick ass kung fu monkey chopper who gets off on ultraviolence. What this means is loads of close ups of his crotch whenever violence occurs. I thought this wasn't the best manga I ever saw, but interesting nonetheless. 2.5/5

Have you guys seen Dead Leaves yet? You will love it.