Ever since FMA finished airing on Adult Swim, I've been looking for something to fill the anime void (yeah, it's been awhile). I've tried a couple anime but nothing has been able to keep my attention. Eureka 7 seemed pretty good (same creators as FMA even), but the really slow starting pace has pretty much made me lose interest (stopped watching around episode 11-ish) plus mecha anime have never really been my thing. Now I'm trying Wolf's Rain and it seems pretty interesting but I can tell it's not really going to be anything I can get into.


I don't know what it was about FMA I liked so much, but I'm trying to narrow it down to these thoughts:

- Long interesting plot with lots of twists (FMA basically had like 2 filler episodes and those are arguable and so many episodes had such huge impacts on the rest of the series (ie. Episode 25, Episode 34, etc).
- Realistic, likeable characters... even the bad guys made you feel for them and other then the whole alchemy & homunculous thing, they acted like normal people. Like how when they first introduced Scar he seemed like a pretty typical bad guy bent on killing innocent people, but later in the series they went into such detail about his past and his situation that it almost made you understand his actions.
- Relatable situations (war, discrimination, etc) and realistic locations (I like the fact the locations were based in european-esque cities rather than how most anime takes place in some unrealistic futuristic city or in modern day japan, not that I got anything against japan, I just found it fresh and somewhat original)
- Wasn't loaded with uncomfortable fanservice and whatnot (not a fan of pixelated chicks with obscenely large knockers and any romance in FMA was generally of a humorous nature (ie. Episode 37) minus a few subplots or backstories (lust) which I found necessary) and it's important since I like to let my non-anime watching friends watch a couple episodes from time to time and unless they're really open-minded that kinda stuff usually doesn't go over too well. FMA was a great starter anime.
- It was newer, so the dub was more than bareable (I'm a dub fan) and the animation and music was superb.

-----------

Sorry, I'm starting to ramble on about why I like FMA.


Point is, I haven't found any anime yet that has drawn me in as much as FMA. I am just hoping for some suggestions as I'm not really in-depthly experienced with all the anime out there and I'm sure you all know a lot more than me. Based on my ranting up there, you might have some idea what I am interested in... perhaps you know of some anime I can look into?

Thanks in advance.


P.S: I've basically seen everything Adult Swim has to offer as of this moment and the only ones I've really enjoyed were FMA, Trigun and possibly Wolf's Rain (I haven't seen all of it yet). So anime like Cowboy Bebop, Bleach, Inuyasha, etc... don't really need to be suggested.

@Dreakon - I think I agree with you that FMA was quite unique!! But, I'm sure there are some other interesting anime out there, and some of our Anime experts (? ^^) can get you some recommendations.
I assume you're in the U.S., right?? And you don't mind watching the anime outside Adult Swim, right?? (Just checking. ^^)
Anyway, later on I'll be merging your thread to Anime Recommendation thread. You can check out that thread and see what others are recommending also.

I don't mind watching outside of Adult Swim, but I am mainly a fan of dubbed anime. I've tried fansubs from friends before but I find it much more comfortable to watch and follow when it was in english.

And sorry, I didn't notice the Anime Recommendations thread, I'll take a look through it. Sorry for the hassle, feel free to merge this thread or do whatever you moderators do with threads like this.

@Dreakon - No problem!! ^^
I'll leave the thread as is for a while, so that it would be more noticeable.
Hope you can find some anime to catch your interests as much as you did for FMA!!

Mm, the first anime that I thought of after reading some of your points is Blood+...and it pretty much satisfies all of your requirements, I think. (Though I'd recommend it even if it doesn't. )

It's not quite like FMA (what with a completely different story and art style and all), but in terms of how engaging the anime is with the viewer, it ranks right up there with the best of them. I was hooked from the first episode.

I'm not sure, but I think it's currently airing on Adult Swim? I haven't seen any dubbed episodes, though I heard the voices are pretty good.

Negima!

One of the best shows I've ever seen, though it's probably more for girls. It's only 26 episodes but all the characters are pretty average and cool. If you're a guy looking for an anime girl you've got a good pick out of 31 girls. (and I'm only talking about the ones in class 2-A). The book is really good too, but I prefer the show. It does have funny parts, sad parts, all of that. You should see it if you've got nothing better to do .

Negima has quite a bit of fanservice tho doesn't it? The first volume of the manga had quite a bit. I like Negi myself (what I've read at least) but I don't think it's what he's looking for.


I'd recommend Angel Sanctuary. It's a very dark story, with a lot of plot twists, and characters you can really sympathesize with. It also deals with social issues, but mostly in the context of religion. It's a big tear jerker too. It does have romance in it tho - the story mostly centers around a pair of siblings who are in love with each other. (Please don't be squeamish about the incest tho. I was at first, and rather disgusted...but when I read it I felt so sorry for the two of them, I just wanted to cry ;_; )
However, the only anime they did of it was a 3 episode long OAV that only covered the first part - vols 1 to 3 and half of 4. There are 20 volumes of the manga. I'd suggest reading the manga, but if you're still unsure, you can try the anime first. (But the anime lacks KIRIE!!! ;O; And the big spoiler that gets revealed about Sara -the sister of the main character Setsuna-and [spoiler]the angel Gabriel[/spoiler] later on! ;_; )


Other than that...hmm...I'm drawing a blank. I'll see if anything else comes to mind.

Azumanga Daioh:
Long interesting plot with lots of twists: Kagura V Sakaki, Evil grey cat of Death, Elevators or Escaltors? Plenty of twists and thought provoking episodes.
Realistic, likeable characters: Plenty.
Relatable situations: Many.
Wasn't loaded with uncomfortable fanservice and whatnot: Does Chiyo-chan count?
It masterfully blends tender human emotions, relatable events and high class drama and is the uncontested king of it's genre. Very faithful to the source material (spanning a number of volumes) and an extremely well preformed dub are the icing on the cake.
Can get very dark at times: Poor Tomo. That Vending machine was a jerk for not putting down the cup for her drink. So many Yen lost and then Yomi gets TWO cups! A brilliant metaphor for social inequality.

Some that I've found that filled the void:

Witch Hunter Robin
Shrine of the Morning Mist (kinda slow but its still a good one)

I just got Boogiepop Phantom and I don't recommend that one haha.

Most of my anime is all mainstream so I'm not sure if I've helped at all lol

I've only read vol.9 because the manga's story line sucks compared to the anime, though it is only a little different, the anime is a thousand times better. And the show almost has no fanservice except for 1 episode but I'm not going to get into that, even though it wasn't anything that bad.

Hmm, I think if Negima! isn't really his type then you might wanna try Ghost in the shell (if you haven't already). It's really complex but really good too. So are Chrono Crusade and Peacemaker Kurogane. Another one that is really good is Spiral. Now that is a really good show.

Popogeejo- I've heard good things about Azumanga Daioh but never really checked it out myself, is it really that good?

Nothing in my post was a lie. That's all I'm saying.

Try Texhnolyze. That one, too, has a hero with prosthetic limbs who hates his father.

Heh, meets all my requirements.
Looking at it, I honestly don't know what to expect... I like a little humor in my anime but everywhere I turn I see people saying its "dark and disturbing" but it's also very unique and original. Also hear the story is a bit drab and/or slow.

Is it actually any good or did you just suggest it cause of the limbs and father hating?

Thanks for the suggestions everyone and keep 'em coming! I'm having quite a bit of fun looking into all these anime, can't wait to see them.


P.S: I hear D. Gray Man is a lot like FMA, though I'm not personally into subs and will probably wait until its dubbed, but perhaps this suggestion will help someone else out.

I think that there's BUSO RENKIN it's just like BLEACH and FMA you can watch episodes of BUSO renkin at www.youtube.com

I was just about to create the exact same topic as this.
There's no point saying what I'm looking for as you might as well look at Dreakon's post. BUT, I would actually prefer to watch a fansub and have no access to Adultswim anyway.Nothing has really interested me so far.
Just to add,FMA is the only anime I've seen so far and I really want to get drawn into another one.

A very good one is samurai champloo. Exciting,funny,action I loved it!! I don't know if it's on adult swim since i don't live in the US. So forget i mention it, if you have already seen it.

Another could be Trigun. It has some humor in it, but not too much character depth. But it is like FMA in that the characters always roam and are in new places. You could also find episodes pretty easily.

Lol, I've read this thread and checked out them all, but none of them replace FMA...
It was just to good, and they had to finish it I say they should continue the series, and since Ed and Al are on the other side of the gate, introduce some new main characters!

http://www.anime-planet.com/anirec/437.html

Dreakon,

You said that you stopped watching Eureka Seven around episode 11. I hope you dont mind me saying that you gave up on it too soon.

I recommend that you give it another chance. Eureka Seven starts out rather slow but it gets really good as the series goes on.

Eureka Seven actually took FMA's place as my favorite anime.

i got tired of searching and became a complete yaoi fangirl. meaning i stopped only watching shounenai and continued to yaoi, ecchi yaoi, and actual people yaoi. so basically, after fullmetal ended, my mind snapped and went to good ol' bl for consolation. im truly insane. everyone else in my unjapanese family hates yaoi.... but that wont stop me from showing them. i also became a doujinshika... making my own manga and movie sequels... living in my yaoi dreams...wait... im also obsessed with gackt camui.. hes a great singer. check im out!

Would you mind coming a little closer, so I can beat the CRAZY out of you?

... Please tell me she's a troll that's milking on hackneyed fangirl stereotypes...

Please?

i reccommend samurai champloo! it's freakin awesome and i learned alot from it too like in fma. and i got addicted to it fast. its just awesome. freakin awesome i tell you. there is alot of cool ass-whoopin too^_^ lol.

I second that! Except my problem about Samurai Champloo is that it's a little too much,perverted.

First post!

Now to the serious bit; I recently finished watching FMA (except the movie) and I feel like I have a big hole in my soul.
Í have been searching the interwebs for several hours trying to find some guidance for a new anime/manga series to follow.
The anime/manga I am looking needs to have a similar plot or story and tragic [the loss of someone precious]
Several of the animes/mangas people have suggested have either been to "girly" [need a man as the main character] or have been just to violent and the story seemed to fade as fast as the blood covered the screen.

Some of the animes/mangas i have followed and is following:
Naruto
Bleach
One Piece
FullMetal Alchemist
Fate Stay Night
Hellsing
Berserk
Neon Genesis evangelion
and plenty of other movies.

Would be thrilled to have a new anime to fill the hole that Alphonse and Edward left me.

Sincerly yours//
Fredrik " greger "

If you have to follow these I'd tell you to read the manga instead. Same goes for Berserk but for different reasons.

Right now it seems like you have a solid list of stuff to watch without us adding more.
If you insist though: Death Note, Guren Lagann and Monster would be good for you to check out.


You'd do well to get over this. There are some great shows with female leads.

Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu and Claymore, for example.

I'd recommend Code Geass, Gurren Lagann, Zetsubou Sensei, and Mononoke from the top of my head.

Fate/Stay Night
GUN×SWORD (*pokes signature*)
Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion
Cowboy Bebop
Blood+
Saiyuki
Le Chevalier d'Eon
Tsubasa RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE



I agree; there are many anime/manga out there with female protagonists and are way awesome...and these include:

Gunslinger Girl
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
R.O.D the TV and Read or Die
Blood+
Ouran High School Host Club (Okay, this is shoujo, but it's very good shoujo)

But if you insist...

Fate/Stay Night (supporting lead is a girl though)
Cowboy Bebop
GUN×SWORD (supporting lead is a girl)
Trigun
Code Geass
Saiyuki
Le Chevalier d'Eon (supporting lead is a girl)
xxxHOLiC (slightly more focused on the male lead)
Tsubasa RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE (see above)



I assure you, Blood+ may sound like all gore and no story, but it has an excellent plot, and is a lot less bloody than you may think. Same goes with everything I listed above. Also, try the manga versions of the anime. Whether the anime or manga version of a fandom is better will be up to you.

You can always contact me for more info on the listed animanga (I can be a walking encyclopedia when I want to, because I tend to OBSESS over fandoms I love XD), thank you very much.

Thank you for all these tips!
I just got a hold of Cowboy Bebop, Death Note and Elfen Lied[friend thought it would fit me (?)]. So now Iam going to lock myself into the basement and see if these can pass my judgement and possibly fill me the same joy and grief that Edward and Alphonse once did.

Many thanks from the northern country of Sweden

@greGer - Welcome to the board!!
I'm glad you got those anime!! Yes, I think those are good anime. ^^

You can also check out some of the recommendations on Coud you recommend me something like FMA? thread, and you can continue this discussion on that thread.

ETA: Moved the posts to the above thread.

Hello again. Just want to say thank you again for all the tips!
Today at approximately 04.15 (GMT +01) I had finished watching Death Note, Elfen Lied (???), The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and Tsubasa Chronicles, have 2nd series to watch.
Death Note was pretty much the most excellent series I have ever seen, the only negative thing I have to say is my own. It took some episodes before I could grab the plot due the constant talking [only been watching series with two words lines], the ending however was not what I expected, but still brilliant,
Elfen Lied was pretty much the most f**ked up anime I have ever seen (even more absurd then the tentacle hentai ^^).

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, what can I say about it?
It rocked my socks. This totally changed my view on female leads!
I LOVED IT! And I need more.
The absence of an ending shocked me! I need more, more much more of Kyon, Haruhi and the rest of the SOSBrigade.
Would appreciate any information regarding The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.

OnT: Got some tips from buddies that D-Grayman is a series that also would fit me (Same guy that said the Elfen Lied would fit me?!?), SwordXGun is also on the way.

Thanks so much
//Fredrik "greGer"

^ Second season of Haruhi has been confirmed.

Gundam 00's plot has been really picking up, if you're into mecha at all.

Aye, it was only our pleasure. XD I'm especially flattered since I'm no otaku. XDDDDD



DN is interesting, to say the least. Then it only escalates from the beginning. ^^ And, glad you enjoyed the animes we recommended!



See? All you had to do was give female leads a chance. And Haruhi Suzumiya is one female lead who doesn't disappoint (add the fact that Aya Hirano does a great job voicing her). Well, it seems to not have an ending due to the sequence of the episodes - unless you watched them in broadcast order. Yes, I also loved the SOS Brigade.

Agreed, there will be a second season of MoHS. Can't wait! ^____^



I've heard great things about D. Gray-man and I myself plan to watch it in the near future. A friend of mine recommended it to me as well since she knew that I love FMA to bits, and that DGM is quite like FMA in some ways.

Methinks you mean GUN×SWORD. XD The story may start out slow (I'm warning you), but it'll catch you off guard when you least expect it when the plot picks up.

Hey, this is the first time I've ever been out the roleplay forum, slightly out of my comfort zone, ha ha ha, anyway, yeah I'm looking for an anime to watch, but I find recently I haven't found anything really gripping! So I was hoping you guys, being the anime connoisseurs you all are, would find an anime I would like.

I'm all for anything really, mostly shonen, but I have watched shojo before.

Watched: Fullmetal Alchemist
All the dragonball series
Steamboy (great film, love steampunk)
Macross Frontier
Tales of the Abyss
Black Jack
Chrno Crusade
Code Geass
Ah my Goddess
Ouran High School hostclub
Ranma 1/2

And others will probably come to mind, so please help out.

Pages and pages of recommendations.

^ Thank you, Naivete!!

@Anything - Gahaha, you posted this on the day FMA aime series-2 got it's debut in Japan.

In case you don't care for FMA-2, in addition to the general anime recommendation thread Naivete has kindly mentioned above, you can also check out Something like FMA? thread.

I'll keep this up for now, then merge to the above memtioned Anime recommendation thread later.

Before dear Tombow merges the threads, a few I can think of:

If you like long running series:

Naruto (Shippuden) - Some love it, some hate it. I love it, personally. But expect filler arcs here and there, along with some loose ends in the plot. But overall, it does have it's charms.

FMA 2 (Brotherhood) - Counting it as long running because it'll be manga based, and will most likely double (at least) in episode amount.

Bleach - If you like anime like Naruto (Shippuden) then you'll most likely like this.

Sort running:

Soul Eater - Seems to be the big thing right now. 51 episodes, and good art.

That's all I can think up for now. Good luck.

oh yes, soul eater is good, if you liked the action in FMA.

D Gray Man is also simular in a sense i surpose. though most people have seen it anyway

Claymore..?

Claymore's one of my favorite manga series but I haven't actually seen the anime. I'm assuming that they followed the story line...Anyway, it's bloodier compared to FMA and has a girl as the main character. I would recommend it.

Note for Claymore: Ignore the last two episodes of the anime. They never happened. NEVER.
Just watch up to there then move onto the manga.

Give "Code Geass" a shot. It's really good, until about episode 45. Then the plot stops making sense at all. The action is still awesome in those last 5 episodes. It's worth watching all 50 episodes.

I'm not sure that they followed the Manga story line. I never read the Manga, I was going to, I just forgot about it. Even if I did, I would have forgotten about it. It's been about three in a half years.



The last two episodes were a little..., wtf? Bad cliffhanger. I thought for sure they would have made at least a little OVA. Guessing they continued it though the Manga?

Yeah. Much bloodier. XD

It did until the last two episodes. For those two they just throw together some stupid ending because they caught up with the manga.


Since when? Claymore anime ended in December last year if I remember right.

No. It ended around Sept. of 07'. I remember because me and my family were still living at my aunts house and I watched it all on her computer.

Well last time I checked 2007 wasn't 3 and half years ago either unless 2010 snuck up out of nowhere.

im in desperate need of help -- my brother and i love FMA, and we wanna watch shows that are similar in production quality/story/"vibe" if you catch my drift, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

@LoneRino - Welcome to the board! I recommend you check out Anime recommendations thread, and Something like FMA? thread. In fact, I will be moving the post to Something like FMA? thread later. Please continue further discussions on this on Something like FMA? thread.


ETA: Moved posts from FMA OVA thread.

I think any anime is gonna be like FMA. There is no anime that fits all the characteristics that you like in FMA. I've tried to find that anime many times.
Try Azumanga Daioh and see if you like.