Truly epic animated series... Recommendations?

KidL

Well-Known Member
I'm a true fan of animation and it's ability to tell compelling stories in it's own unique way. I've long been enamored with 'epic' animated television series and am hoping to be introduced to some new properties.

In a nutshell, by 'epic' I mean:

-involved character development
-sweeping story arcs
-engaging lore
-memorable scores

Some series that immediately come to mind:

-Gargoyles
-Pirates of Dark Water
-Cowboy Bebop

And as much as I love Ducktales and Batman TAS, I'm really looking for series with more emphasis on continuity and long-lasting consequences.

So, any suggestions? Or if not, any other fans of the above mentioned series?
 
Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood is a good choice as is Death Note, but if you really want to invest some time, in my opinion nothing can beat Naruto. though definately skip all the filler episodes (easily over 100+)
 
Epic's not the word you're looking for.

However, i think you'll like Full Metal Alchemist.
You might also give "Read or Die" a try.

Great! I've heard of "Full Metal Alchemist" but know nothing about it aside from a few character designs I've seen. I'll give it a go! "Read or Die" is completely new to me, which immediately piques my interest.

But I have to ask, why not "epic"?

ep·ic
adjective
noting or pertaining to a long poetic composition, usually centered upon a hero, in which a series of great achievements or events is narrated in elevated style
 
be sure to specifically watch Brotherhood if you do watch FMA. the original was ok but completely strayed from the source material. Brotherhood is way more rewarding
 
Kashimashi: Girl meets Girl

All right, another new one! Thanks!

Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood is a good choice as is Death Note, but if you really want to invest some time, in my opinion nothing can beat Naruto. though definately skip all the filler episodes (easily over 100+)

Granted, I know nothing about Naruto besides the headband and spiky haired blond guy, but I never thought it was a series requiring investment. That said, this thread has already paid off. Thank everyone! Keep them coming!
 
Naruto gets really good. its an investment considering its 135 episodes or so in the original series (not counting the year of filler after ep135ish) and up to 231 episodes in Naruto Shippuden so far and still going
 
another :thumbsup for Full Metal Alchemist: Brother Hood
despite the movie, Avatar: The First Air Bender is actually a really good show.
Spider Man the Animated Series from the mid 90's is another great cartoon I just finished revisiting on Netflix.

Some more from my favorites list:
Starship Troopers: Roughneck Chronicles
Reboot
Teknoman
Ghost in the Shell, all of em

and I liked Blue Submarine #6.
 
another :thumbsup for Full Metal Alchemist: Brother Hood
despite the movie, Avatar: The First Air Bender is actually a really good show.
Spider Man the Animated Series from the mid 90's is another great cartoon I just finished revisiting on Netflix.

Some more from my favorites list:
Starship Troopers: Roughneck Chronicles
Reboot
Teknoman
Ghost in the Shell, all of em

and I liked Blue Submarine #6.

Ah, "Reboot"... I vaguely remember this series. I never saw it in it's entirety, but certainly recall it's style/premise. As for "Ghost in the Shell", I love the original feature but have never seen any of the following series/movies.

On a side note, while it's not exactly "epic", Serial Experiments Lain is a series that people interested in this thread might enjoy. I haven't seen it in a while, but I distinctly remember some excellent sound design that is both unnerving and hypnotic.
 
Naruto gets really good. its an investment considering its 135 episodes or so in the original series (not counting the year of filler after ep135ish) and up to 231 episodes in Naruto Shippuden so far and still going
I've been reading the manga since way back when and despite many of the preconceptions people about have about it being an atypical shonen series it has very compelling characters, engaging story arcs and the right combination of slapstick, drama and action to keep you riveted. Just be sure to steer clear of the filler and you'll be copasetic.

My own recommendation is Transformers Beast Wars, it's the direct continuation of the Transformers G1 series and features the best written characters and stories in the entire Transformers animated franchise. It's also the most accessible as it doesn't require you to know most of the extensive mythology.

There is a lot depth in this show and it's certainly worth a gander.
 
I would recommend Shigurui : Death Frenzy That was an awesome series. Short, but sweet. I also enjoyed Eureka 7 it's sound track was mostly Dance if you're into that. Evangelion was good too. I also liked Full Metal Alchemist: brotherhood. I watched both series, of FMA, and if you watch the original series, it basically follows Brotherhood to a point, and expand on the earlier episodes, but Brotherhood had a much more satisfying conclusion.
 
I love watching clone wars. The first 3 seasons are available on DVD/Blu Ray and you don't have to know the entire star wars mythology to understand it. In fact it's more or less it's own thing.

I'm not a really big fan of anime, but Gundam Wing was a really cool series. The I liked the most was that all the mobile suits were different style wise.
 
Are you just looking for series, or do you want movies as well?

A couple groundbreaking ones from the 1980s include:

Akira
Wings of Honneamise

The had stunning visuals, good stories and pretty good musical scores

As for one with more western influences, try "Starchaser, the Legend of Orin". Okay, so it did try to capitalize on the Star Wars craze as the story is a bit derivative in spots. But, it has its own slant. Plus, it was one of the first films to make use of CGI for the ships. I am not talking TRON or Last Starfighter though as what they did here was use the computer to render in wireframe and drew cell art over it. The result is some nice clean motions to the movements. The background artwork takes some obvious cues from SF paintings of the day and the story is also pretty engaging.

The Filmation Flash Gordon movie and series are some good examples of late 1970s animation where Filmation tried to push what was possible. Here they used motion control models for some scenes and animated over the top for good clean motion as well. And the story in this was a lot more adult than Saturday morning cartoons and it was serialized, so there were consequences to actions and at least in the film, people did die. Only thing is I don't believe these ever came out on DVD. Youtube has the film in segments, but the quality isn't great.
 
Well, if we're opening it up to movies as well, I love Appleseed: Ex Machina, and Vexille. They're both beautiful and the storylines are really great.
 
I have to second Avatar the Last Airbender!
The movie is nothing like the serie (and was an utter disappointement to whoever had watched the serie before the movie)... and to date it ranks pretty high amongst all the other animated series I've seen.

However... You'll most likely get the feeling that it's a kid show with e first few episodes... But as the serie advance, it gets more and more serious.
 
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