'Modern' anime.

[kearlywi]

Full Metal Panic is serious?

Actually yes. Full Metal Panic continuously rotates from serious, dark, mech anime to off the wall zany romantic comedy. I've seen the first 13 episodes, and I'd say 40% of the show so far has been serious (and dark as hell in some places), while the other 60% is very funny shonen romantic comedy (complete with fanservice). I highly recommend it even though it contains some things you (DJ_Izumi) said you wanted excluded.

I don't want magic, there's a reason I hated Ramna...

You hated Ranma because of Magic? Just how much of the show did you see? I saw my first glimpse of Ranma 1/2 (2 episodes) 6 years ago, and at the time I wasn't terribly impressed with it (I wasnt really an anime person then). All I remembered of the show for years was how the gender switching thing was weird, and how the show was rare in that it felt like it was taking place in a sunny, happy, modern day japan (or should I say, the sunny, happy, prosperous Japan of the 1980's).
I found that... ~feeling, rare and special, and after a few years that nagging, almost nostalgic feeling caused me to download some of the series to see what it was like again.

Granted it does contain supernatural elements, but the core of the show revolves around friendship, competition, love, and feelings. It has a very good plot through nearly 3 seasons (the other seasons are ok too), and has some of the most endearing characters I've seen in a single anime.

Hell, the real Magic of Ranma 1/2 is the emotional lift it gives. Takahashi's story is excellent in that it mixes sad and happy feelings well, and makes us really care for almost all of the characters, *laughs, even when they are doing really silly things.

I'd rather watch animes that rely on plot for their story, then magic or something.

I am the same way.

[Mroni]

Izumi I know what you want You want two shows One is called Gravitation and the other is called Fake and they are right up your alley.


Mr Oni

[koronoru]

And I don't care what anyone else here says. I think FLCL has enough serious themes in it (and little enough sci-fi) that it fits your criteria. (Just be warned that it also has a lot of zany action that doesn't always make sense the first time you watch it.)

I don't know the right music for it yet, but I want to make a serious FLCL video. Using it in my most recent project caused me to see what a lot of "serious" content the show actually contains.

[DJ_Izumi]

Patlabor - I know you mentioned it, but look for all of it: three movies, 7+ DVDs of the TV show, and the OAV series should be released soon.

*points to a shelf in her bedroom* Two movie DVDs, one movie VCD (The third movie) Three out of print VHS tapes of the first OVA, eight out of print tapes of the TV series, and the first two out of print tapes of the second OVA. I think I've seen most of it.

Izumi I know what you want You want two shows One is called Gravitation and the other is called Fake and they are right up your alley.

Seen both, the Graviation OVA was better then the 13ep series. If you intend to 'shock' me wit Yaoi, try harder.


The sad fact here is, I've seen most everything everyone has suggested, and that that I have not, like GTO, is really just animated fanservice.

[kearlywi]

GTO's pretty popular, hell I'd even say its over rated, but I think it worth seeing. The fanservice dies down a little (at least as far as I got) and the show focuses on more serious things, including suicide (and how he helps a guy get out of it). In the process the (lecherous) Principal has his car smashed up twice. MY SHESTA! *engrish moment

[Gaikotsu]

Gasaraki: One of the few plausible mecha shows out there. Near-future setting, believeable mecha, serious storyline. Some sci-fi elements, but nothing that should bother you.

Jin Roh: Very realistic and serious. No sci-fi themes at all, and almost entirely plot-driven. The setting is either the current time or in the very near-future.

Also, I've heard good things about Key the Metal Idol. I haven't seen it yet, but I've got the DVDs on order. I've heard it's pretty unique, and although it seems to have a fair amount of sci-fi elements in it, you still might find the premise interesting.

The basic plot revolves around an android (Key), who is left with a message from her creator before he died, that if she can gain the friendship of 30,000 people, she can become human. But apparently she holds some sort of secret that other people want to get their hands on. I don't really know much more about it, but the trailer and some AMVs I saw caught my interest. I'll let you know more once I've seen it.

[Scintilla]

In the process the (lecherous) Principal has his car smashed up twice. MY SHESTA! *engrish moment

The VICE-Principal has his precious <b>Cresta</b> smashed up multiple times.

[kearlywi]

MY CRESTA!

...10 minutes later...

MY CRESTA!!!

[Kai Stromler]

Silent Service - submarine action movie.

I would gainsay this, because it only gains its real power in the context of the manga, which isn't translated yet. It's a good movie, but it ends just where the manga starts picking up and getting really excellent. As it stands it could feel to someone just randomly watching it like a Red October ripoff; they barely have the time to scratch the political questions of the post-Cold-War world that made it one of the few manga ever discussed on the floor of the Diet.

Kawaguchi's other big manga hit, Eagle, *is* translated, though, and you will never pay Viz a more satisfying hundred dollars (for the five-vol set). The plotting is excellent, and he's really captured the essence of American electoral politics.

The Cockpit - three World War II stories.

Absolutely. Even if you're only able to find the dub, it's pretty well handled. It's Matsumoto, so it's got to be good.

As for other recommendations, here's a few decent anime that haven't been mentioned yet. Marmalade Boy has pretty good writing, but it's almost pure romance, and the plotting can get a little contrived in between resolution points. Black Heaven has a bit of sci-fi, but what it's really about is maturity and the work that goes into making a family. Hanada Shonen Shi has a fair bit of magic (and quite a few Gross Bodily Function jokes), but it's still in large measure a good slice of life in rural Japan in the early '70s.

On that note, I'm surprised that nobody's mentioned the Ghibli productions Only Yesterday (Omoide poro poro) and Ocean Waves (Umi ga kikoeru). No magic, not a lot of flash, but very strong writing.

Didn't notice any overlooked-genre stuff yet, so here's a few:
* Early Reins: 45-minute oat-opera OVA, recent, very, very well done. Not licensed yet and no prospects thereof.
* Kindaichi: older; the movie is better than the TV, which moves very, very slowly, as is typical of detective shows. Quite serious. Unlicensed, but Tokyopop has the manga (more good stuff).
* Puppet Master Sakon: another slow-moving detective series, a little more recent. Like Kindaichi pretty bloody, and Ukon is so lifelike as to cause problems with the no-magic stipulation. Also unlicensed.
* Cooking Master Boy: good: 50+ episodes of Chinese cooking battles, high animation production values. Bad: it's digisubbed from Chinese dubs due to edits made in the Japanese release, and some of the results and techniques border on the magical. Nineteenth-century China isn't quite present-day, either. Again unlicensed, and with no reasonable prospect thereof.
* Yawara!: judo, romance, judo, cranky old men, judo, Japanese high schools, and more judo. Oldish, good, but somewhat long at 124 episodes. Again unlicensed (anyone seeing a trend here?).
* Wild 7: kind of like the anti-Patlabor, a special police unit made up of former outlaw bikers who occasionally seem to forget which side of the law they're supposed to be on. Action OVA, a couple volumes; Urban Vision has it, but it's probably out of print.
* Bomber Bikers of Shonan: another gang anime, this one from AnimEigo and almost definitely out of print. Only one 50-minute movie is licensed, so it's a quick watch if you can find it for rental somewhere.

You might also want to try out The First President of Japan, the presence of which solely determines whether or not I buy Raijin. Excellent political drama in a situation much like that of Silent Service. The first two volumes are allegedly out, but I haven't been able to find the second yet. Damn comic stores for not restocking.

hope this helps,

--K

[DJ_Izumi]

Actually, I've chosen to go with 'Read Or Die' TV and OVA for now, a really neat series, I love the method of action. When something 'cool' happens in Anime, it's typically dramaticly over acted, where as in Read Or Die they do 'neat' things with seemingly no effort or drama, it just happens as if it's a normal part of the universe and no one questions it. Impressive.