The other day, an acquaintance of my roommate's told her that he hated the entire "genre" of anime.
Immediately, I had to struggle not to strangle him. Let's not even talk about how incredibly wrong it is to group "animation" into one genre.
He went on to rant about how every anime has the same horrible plot cliches, the plots suck, and the characters are 2-D. At this point, I would have stopped the argument, knowing that I couldn't be trusted not to scream in his face and not actually prove any point at all, but my roommate kept at it, using Death Note as an example of a stereotype-defying anime.
Now, don't get me wrong. I liked Death Note a lot, despite the fact that I think it would have been ten times better had Matsuda been the protagonist. (Shut up, I love Matsuda.) But when these sorts of arguments come up, whether it involves someone who hates anime or someone who believes that anime has gone downhill in recent years, I see the same series get mentioned. Fullmetal Alchemist. Bleach. Death Note. While I enjoy those shows, there are so many others, in recent years as well as the "old" greats, that exemplify a wonderful story, not simply a wonderful anime.
So every day this week, I am going to write a recommendation for a recent shows(the past five years or so) that I believe haven't gotten the attention it deserves. Some of these are obscure, and some have gained a moderate following among the right circles, but I believe every one of these shows is fresh, incredibly solid, and could be appreciated by even non-fans of animation.
(If I don't list your favorite, it doesn't mean it isn't awesome! I'm leaving out shows that are older or more popular, because then this list would get way too long. Also, there are a few highly recommended shows that I haven't yet seen, like Mononoke.)
So here we go!
1. Monster
This series needs to have a massive following, like, yesterday, because it's one of the best I've ever seen. It's really shocking to me that mangaka Urasawa Naoki has several series that are the same general length as Monster, because I would think that he'd have only one of these in him.
However, Monster is Urasawa's most well-known work, because of the scope and depth of the story. Monster's plot, following a brilliant surgeon who unwittingly saves the life of a ruthless killer, is incredibly complex, but everything fits together flawlessly as the story goes on. The twists are wonderfully executed; the evidence for each one builds slowly, and at the time of the reveal, you feel like you should have known all along. Every side plot eventually becomes important, and there is very little filler.
But the real draw of Monster is its characters. Urasawa made me care about Dr. Tenma like I haven't cared a protagonist in a long time: his unending desire to help the people he meets causes him a wealth of pain throughout the series. And Johan, the charismatic antagonist, is intriguing and terrifying. The supporting cast is equally wonderful, but what was really amazing was what Urasawa did with characters I absolutely hated at the beginning of the story. By the closing act, he made me love them.
Monster is, all at once, a psychological thriller, a slice-of-life story, and a twisted tale of morality. While it is quite often dark, it's the undercurrent of hope that kept me going until the end.
You'll like this if: you like good things. Seriously. I'd recommend it to almost anyone.
You won't like this if: you can't handle the first ten episodes, which are probably the most depressing in the entire series. Most of the violence isn't terribly bad, but there are some extremely disturbing parts, and a torture scene you won't lose anything by fast-forwarding through. However, Monster understands that sometimes the scariest things are left implied.
Until tomorrow, theO!
