[putumaya]

Hello, could anyone please recommend good japanese anime or manga, beside Naruto and Full Metal Alchemist ?
My interest is like those two, fighting manga, not the horror or girly manga.

Thanks beforehand,

[amphibian]

In the beginning, Bleach is rather good.

However, One Piece is up there with Lost and The Wire for one of the greatest series ever made. Once you get past the initial rough spots, it rewards careful attention and entertains like few other television series ever.

[T'renn]

One Piece, if you like fun as well as fighting

[Ulrik]

Basilisk - chosen ascendents (ehm, supernaturals) of two ninja clans fight each other -  gore, heroic, brutal, breathtaking.

[Chance]

If your into fighting the berserker manga tend to be quite unbeatable. The anime is decent but covers only the opening arc of the story and not exactly perfectly.

Seconds Basilisk a lot more artfully done fighting then Naruto or FMA.

Bleach is fairly good for about ~50-60 episodes (the first arc...then there are fillers...)



Twelve Kingdoms anime while not centered on fighting there is quite a bit and a great world around it.

Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto is another anime with quite some fighting more or less alternative history with magic thought.

Then of course for comedy and swordfighting nothing beats Samurai Champloo.


/Chance...whose seen more anime then he care to recall...

This post has been edited by Chance: 29 December 2009 - 11:19 AM

[Puck]

The Breaker. It's korean not japanese, but it's got fighting AND story. Also, Veritas does have both. Both are martial-arts centered.

I also used to read Hunter X Hunter, but I ignore the existence of at least the latest story arc, if not the last two arcs, turns too much into Dragon Ball reloaded But up to then it's good. It's similar to Naruto and FMA insofar as it's set in another world. The anime's also quite well done.

[Bent]

Ninja Scroll is the only manga I've ever seen (although there was a couple of Rambo movies in the 80s) and it was good. A bit adult oriented (rape scene, snake coming out of a womans who ha, lots of blood) but over all the story was good, and the action was pretty much non stop.

[Gem Windcaster]

I can recommend One Piece as well, although I've only read the manga.

[QuickTidal]

I'm still a die hard Neon Genesis Evangelion fan and can still vouch for it's mind-bending story.

Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex is still great.

[Saccian]

Most of my recommendations have been said. Here are my picks along with quazi-genres within the genre.

Very Violent Ones - Berserk, Basilisk, Claymore

Fantasy Types - Twelve Kingdoms, Utawarerumono, Record of Lodoss War, Guin Saga, Tears to Tiara

Mecha Style Action - Code Geass, Full Metal Panic

Gun Shootout Action - Black Lagoon, Black Cat

Ninja/Samurai Action - Naruto Shippuuden, Samurai Deeper Kyo, Samurai Champloo, Samurai 7, Rouroni Kenshin

Girly style love story w/ action - Shakugan no Shana, Zero no Tsukaima, Kaze no Stigma,

If you like Boxing and don't mind a laugh - Hajjime no Ippo

Anime has become a guilty pleasure of mine, don't tell my friends!!

[amphibian]

Terragarth, on 02 January 2010 - 04:39 PM, said:

Post

Would you mind telling us why you recommend each one?

I have significant problems with Naruto: Shippuuden. It has incredible amounts of filler - not just arcs, but times when the characters literally do nothing but stand and reflect. There are certain battle sequences that are incredibly well done - Sasuke/Naruto, Hidan-Kazuku/Naruto-Kakashi, Jiraya/Pain - and a few episodes that are nicely done. However, the series as a whole spends far too much time in flashback, drags its feet immensely to allow the manga/animators to get a significant lead and has inconsistent pacing. I wait a while, read the wiki summaries to figure out which episodes are meaningless filler and watch the actual story's arcs, yet I'm still frustrated with the fitful pacing.

I also never got Neon Genesis Evangelion. To me, it's empty intellectualism and I couldn't connect to any of the characters. Gave up on it about 3 or 4 episodes in.

I greatly enjoyed the absurdity/awesomeness of FLCL. Its six episode run is essentially perfect and I wish the creators had done more, yet accept its brevity. It's about a middle school boy whose athletic superstar brother has left to go play baseball in the US. He's kind of lost in the shadow of his brother's towering legacy. All of a sudden this girl runs over him with a scooter - it turns out she's an alien chasing another alien and swings a maid job with the boy's father and grandfather. Her chase somehow gives the boy special powers, which a huge corporation notes and there's an organic robot fight per episode. There's a heck of a lot of puns, stuff going on in the background, so watch the subtitled version, with the sound loud. Great, great show.

Cowboy Bebop is fantastic as well. I think that one has 26 or so episodes plus a movie, which are all very sophisticated, funny and surprisingly affecting. It's a small cast of characters who are "good" bounty hunters, yet have a lot of complicated history and interesting personalities. The artwork is beautiful and the episodes are very solid.

[Saccian]

Ok, I'll do a brief review on some of them. I do agree with your assessment of Naruto Shippuuden. For some reason though, I am a sucker for the show and enjoy the battles scenes. Less talking throughout the battle would be better though.

Berserk - I like how they develop some of the characters in this show. Especially the relationship between Guts and Griffith. I'm a sucker for medeival style shows with good sword fighting. I usually hate characters with the giant sword like Cloud, but I loved Guts. The ending kinda sucks though. Despite this, Berserk is one of my all time favorites.

Basilisk - This is a good ninja flick show casing many neat Ninja abilities like Naruto, although each person is unique. Storyline is not too bad either. This one is bloody. I own the live action movie called Shinobi as well, but the anime series is better.

Claymore - I like warrior chicks. Personal quirk of mine. This one had a crazy pace although sadly no true ending.

Twelve Kingdoms - This one is actually aimed more towards women, but its a cool epic adventure story with a neat world and good characters.

Record of Lodoss War - This was the first anime I ever enjoyed. Its a soft hearted epic tale, essentially a band of good guys against an army of bad guys with some grey witch screwing everything up. The second season version is done better than the first.

Tears to Tiara - New anime that I am watching right now. I haven't found anything to complain about. It has a nice warrior chick in it for me and the rest of the cast is decent and not annoying.

Tower of Druaga - Not previously mentioned but it is the best RPG adaptation that I have seen to date.

Code Geass - I never cared for the whole people in giant robot shows, but watched this due to reviews I have read. Personally, I think this show has the best storyline for any anime I've seen. It reminded me of Death Note but with even more twists and turns. My friend calls it an Emo series due to the heavy emotional impact at certain parts.

Full Metal Panic - This one wasn't as good as Code Geass but for me it was an ok Mecha style show. The relationship between the main hero and the main female characters was awkward and entertaining. That was probably the best part of that show.

Black Lagoon - Interesting show about pirates. Nerdy 'office man' is thrust into a modern age pirating lifestyle. Neat concept, I enjoyed the storytelling. It's like a more rough version of Cowboy Bepop.

Samurai 7 - I was a fan of the Seven Samurai movie which this series is loosely based on so I enjoyed seeing how they adapted certain characters to the movie. It's a little crazy though watching men slash down giant flying robot thingers with swords.

Samurai Champloo/Rouroni Kenshin - These two are your basic samurai/ninja group face trials as the go about whatever journey they are on. Action scenes in both are OK. Kenshin is closer to Naruto with special moves each having their own name. Champloo is more of an adventure/action show. They are both set in the Meiji/Edo eras.

Samurai Deeper Kyo - Essentially a bunch of 'legendary' characters join up and fight battles to save/destroy the world. Similar to Rouroni Kenshin but a little darker.

Hajjime no Ippo - This show is packed with 'guy jokes' and has really good boxing battles. There is a reoccuring theme that sometimes gets a little old though. One of the funniest series I have watched as well.

Shakugan no Shana/Zero no Tsukaima - For some reason I am a sucker for Rie Kugimiya's tsundere characters. I found both shows cute, it appealed to my softer side. I think you have to be open to some silly stuff though to enjoy these.

Sorry I didn't add too much detail. Hope that helps a little bit more.

PS - FLCL was darn crazy. If you don't mind watching shows about high school kids, then Azumanga Diaoh and School Rumble are almost as absurd and about as random as that series. No action in these two though.

[Nina]

I would recommend Bleach, too.
I also would add Inu Yasha, and, of course, Rurouni Kenshin (Samurai X). A new one, Fairy Tale (it's like One Piece and has a lot of fighting and humor) is nice, too.
You also may try some sports anime, like Prince of Tennis or Hikaru no Go (it's not about fighting in a strict sense, but it does not make all the battles less entertaining )

[Fizban]

putumaya, on 29 December 2009 - 05:24 AM, said:

Hello, could anyone please recommend good japanese anime or manga, beside Naruto and Full Metal Alchemist ?
My interest is like those two, fighting manga, not the horror or girly manga.

Thanks beforehand,

Hajime no Ippo is a good semi-realistic boxing manga. Its got 879 issues out and still going, so it'll keep you busy for awhile.

Baki the Grappler is another fighting series that has been going on for a long time. It has 2 anime series and then the manga continues the story from there. Still being written.

Claymore is an ok fantasy manga. I like it well enough, and it comes out monthly, which is always a plus.

Cowboy Bebop is must-see, imo. 26 self-contained episodes with great music is hard to beat.

Neon Genesis Evangelion is one you need to see also, if only to understand what people are talking about. It gets really out there toward the end, but its still enjoyable.

I've seen Berserk mentioned a lot, so I'll do the same with a caveat toward the manga and the anime.

The anime isn't that long (20-something episodes, I forget), and only covers the first two arcs of the manga. Unfortunately, they decided to end the anime at the worst possible place in the story. If you all you do is watch the anime, you will probably have nothing but hate for anyone involved with it and anyone that recommended it to you.

The story does continue in the manga, however, and its quite good. The art is superb and and the story carries a long at a decent pace. This will erase the frustration you felt over the anime's ending. Here's the bad part though: Kentaro Miura, the mangaka of Berserk, is the Japanese equivalent of George R.R. Martin. The past 3 years he has put out about 12 issues. He'll put out about 3 issues in a row, every two weeks, then take a long break. So again, all you will be left with is rage and frustration at the release schedule or lack thereof. But, if you don't mind this, then by all means, read it. Its my favorite manga, despite all the crap that has come with it.

Lastly, Blade of the Immortal is pretty good as well. Another fighting manga.

[Dolmen 2.0]

Surprised I'd forgotten this thread, plenty of great suggestions in here.

Anyways I'm gonna Recommenced One Punch Man.
Its waaaay better than I expected. Really Funny and oddly quite deep at times.

I have also come across Toriko which is kinda Bleach but with food? Manga is better than the anime IMO

Hunter X Hunter is back on track as is Claymore and Beelzebub. all in all I need to thank this thread for highlighting some great reads.

This post has been edited by Dolmen Weeks: 27 June 2014 - 01:09 AM

[stone monkey]

Karas is fun. And incredibly pretty.

For something that's completely different, and neither girly nor horror, I'd recommend Yukikaze. Although it really doesn't meet your "fighting" requirement; it's more sf oriented. But it's occasionally nice to try something different, surely.

This post has been edited by stone monkey: 26 June 2014 - 08:44 PM

[Lycaenion]

Aside from FMA and One Piece, I also like Wolf's Rain, Shaman King, Cowboy Bebop and I have heard good things about Attack on Titan.

[Inane Babble]

Hellsing and Feng Shen Ji are strong recommendations from me, action packed, great art, nonsense but awesome plot lines.

[Andorion]

There was this short series called Getbackers. Interesting fight sequences, and I found it very funny.

[Gryllen]

For some nice samurai action I recommend Shigurui - half of the story is also adapted to anime. Contains nudity and gore