h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Just to show it's not all long-johns and secret IDs. Could anyone recommend a nice starting point in anime for someone who's sole exposure to it so far has been Adam Warren's Teen Titans one-shot? Ta.

It depends on what you're into. A good starting point is Ghost in the Shell, as it has all of the anime characteristics (action, brief nudity, violence, and some sort of philosophical message). From there you can decide what you want to see. For lots of depth, I advise Neon Genesis Evangelion (for more action and some giant robot-things) or Serial Experiments Lain (more cyberpunk), but be warned: they can be slow moving and tend to tax your brain heavily. For slightly less depth and more action (and more giant robots), go for Vision of Escaflowne. If you're in the mood for something more lighthearted, Slayers and Saber Marionette J are good choices. That should get you started. If you've got any questions about any of the series or are more interested in manga (i.e. comic book form instead of animated), ask that as well. And a word of advice when buying/renting anime: try to get the subtitled version if at all possible. Unless you absolutely can't stand subtitles, they make for an overall better experience. The english voice actors tend to screw up the voices and make everybody sound odd.

Cool! I must confess I always get manga and anime mixed up and did in fatc mean the paper-based stuff, but thanks anyway. I've seen a fair few anime things, the obvious stuff mostly - Akira, Patlabor, Devilman, 3x3 Eyes. A friend of mine has most of Evangelion on tape so I'll drop him a line.

For manga, I highly recommend Ranma 1/2. If you haven't already been introduced to it, introduce yourself to it with all possible haste. Its main purpose for existing is to make you laugh, and it achieves this aim with a minimum of fuss. For more of a standard superhero type thing, Bio-Booster Armor Guyver is pretty good. It does a very good job of showing the differences between Japanese and American superheroes (i.e. Japanese ones think more and get hurt). Also, many anime are based on manga, so if there's an anime you discover you like you may wish to read the manga.

A logical first step from Adam Warren's Titans one-shot would be to his very own 'Dirty Pair' series, loosely based on a well-loved anime series. Published by Dark Horse in America, a number of trade paperback compilations are available. Our heroines are really the 'Lovely Angels', but there's so much collateral damage caused when they are on a case that the general public throughout the galaxy has this rather less flattering name for them! Dark Horse also reprint some fine genuine Japanese manga; my favourite is 'Gunsmith Cats', the adventures of a pair of bounty hunters (and gunshop owners) set in Chicago. Or anything by Johji Manabe, such as 'Outlanders' or 'Caravan Kidd'...a number of trade paperback compilations are out there, and your friendly neighbourhood comics shop ought to be able to order them from Diamond for you.

I agree with you on the Dirty Pair, I've not seen Gunsmith Cats except as a trailer. The scene was very Matrix-like, or possibly The Matrix's scene was based on it. Basically, one of the characters holds open his trenchcoat and lining the inside in much the manner of a counterfeit watch salesman is a very, very large number of guns.

I've made the near-fatal mistake of 'saving up a few copies to read', so I am way behind on the comic now. But when I do have an excuse to indulge myself, it should be a pretty intense experience (and no quoting that out of context, friends...)! A different version of our main heroine, Rally Vincent, appears prominently in the video 'Riding Bean'. You've got to love the funky way the anime-meisters use our language for names and titles.

Here are a few anime recommendations, mainly if you're looking for something funny.

Slayers- highly recommended, stars an over powered, beautiful genius sorceress named Lina Inverse. Other characters include a swordsman Gourry, a half golem, half demon, half human sorcerer/swordsman Zelgadis, and a justice freak Amelia. This anime is a lot of great laughs.

Lost Universe- Created by the same people who created slayers, also has similar voice actors, and I hear it is about as funny as slayers as well.

Trigun- Incredibly funny anime about a ace gun man with a large amount of money on his head, who turns out to be a complete goof, yet a goof who knows what he is doing. I've seen about 4 episodes, laughed my pants off.

Bastard!- Another really great anime, some nudity, but still really funny, about a sorcerer who is released from a small boy (his counter part) by the small boy's friend.

There are a few others, can't remember them off the top of my head now, but always try out sailermoon(later episodes are better because they have more of a story line) or Dragonball Z(can be slow as in, I wanna scream, punch someone in the face, and cry)

Hope that helps.... hehe this post is only 16 weeks old

I would also say Akira, allthough the artwork style is different from the norm.

i can't belive no mentioned the dominion series of both anime and manga exelent and not to taxing but you will need to enkoy black comedy for a lot of the humor is very dark indeed