These are a couple of shows I really liked. I know that a lot of people don't really care much for anime, but these are coming from a person that's not a big fan of anime either. All of these are on Netflix, by the way. Attack on Titan I really enjoyed Attack on Titan. I had a couple of friends that were really into it, and I'd make fun of them for it. I was reluctant to watch it, because it's art style- mainly how the titans looked. After a while, however, I decided to give it a try. One thing they never told me is how good the story is. Every episode is building on the last; there's no filler. There's no shoehorned love story that puts a damper on everything. It's just 100% story and action, and I love it. It's beautiful, too. Here's a image from the show: The story is a little tedious to explain, so here's an article on it. Soul Eater Soul eater is kind of hard to explain. It revolves around a bunch of kids trying to fight evil, but some of them turn into weapons. It's not like Attack on Titan, because it's not as grown up. However, it's not exactly a kid's show either. It's got this middle balance of childish interactions and grown up seriousness. I wouldn't really classify it as either one of them however. Still, besides the Exalibur episodes, it's pretty great. Sword Art Online Sword Art Online is about a bunch of people that get these VR headsets for a game, but get stuck inside them until the game is complete. If anyone tries to take them off, they die. If the person dies in game, they die in real life, too. The story follows a kid named Kirito, who is really good at the game. To make a long story short, he meets and falls in love with a girl named Asuna, beats that game, and tries to find her in real life. There's a lot more to it after that, but I don't want to spoil the entire series. The story is pretty solid, and show is enjoyable to watch, but it's far from perfect. There's a lot of filler, which is frustrating when you just want to find out what happens next. There's a whole story arc (Alfheim online) that gets pretty tedious, and a little creepy. Nevertheless, it's a great show.
I really couldn't get into SAO. I only made it to episode 12-ish until I just kind of got sick of it and the episodes started to seem really, really repetitive. Soul Eater was hilarious, and Attack on Titan was amazing on so many levels. I recently watched the Monogatari series and really, really enjoyed it. I'm trying to find something with the same sort of style as Monogatari, but I'm finding it a little difficult.
Was episode 12 about the time they got out of Aincrad, or before it? That's when I got kinda bored with it. However, I pressed though it; and while it was an enjoyable show, I was really not up for watching any of the sequels.
Ah it must have been fairly early on then. I half-watch quite a few anime. They were still in Aincrad and every episode was just Kirito saving one girl after the other. I was watching them as they came out and it just didn't seem like something worth waiting for a new episode. Some of my friends later on were talking about them turning into fairies or something? It just seemed too ridiculous at that point so I knew I wasn't going back to it.
Attack on Titan is a simply masterful series; an extraordinary visual composition, a soundtrack that still sends chills down my spine just thinking about it, and a relentless, beautifully written story. I put it up there as one of the best television series of all time without reservation, along with the modern Battlestar Galactica & Firefly. Another recent anime I deeply enjoyed was Psycho-Pass. It explores a dystopian world where every persons psychological state can be scanned by sensors; the series follows a group of police officers tasked with hunting and dispatching the seriously unbalanced and psychopathic before they can cause further psychological harm to society. It's a really fleshed out and deep examination of the consequences of such a technology, and doesn't pull any punches.
Psyco-Pass seems like a really cool series. I might have to check it out next time I get in an anime mood.