Whatever you're looking for, Slayers has it. It is probably
the most diverse show I have ever seen that still manages to
keep a coherent plot going on in the background. It can be
silly, dark, bloody, funny, serious, action-packed, or
completely random, and it never ceases to entertain. Lina
Inverse, the heroine of the show, is unlike any other girl
in anime and truly does take center stage.
A series that gets exponentially better as it goes along,
the story snowballs into mind-blowing revelations and
shocking plot twists. The TV series follows the manga very
closely and even expands upon it. The world, the powers, the
fights, and the story arcs are amazing in themselves, but
what impresses me the most is how many fascinating
characters you can fit into one series.
Set
in medieval times, the TV series is basically one long
flashback that sets up the rest of the manga. It is dark,
serious, brutal, addicting and one of the greatest cases of
character study/development in anime. Griffith has one of
the most complex, charismatic, and powerful personalities I
have ever seen. It completely eclipses everybody else in the
show. The manga itself is even better, and a true Wiccan
revisionist dream!
Yu Yu Hakusho has not only some of the most memorable
characters in anime (Kurama, Hiei), but also some of the
most impressive fight scenes. Most of the longer story arcs
follow a very linear tournament setup, which I enjoy because
it gets to the fighting faster. But if that's not enough for
you, there is enough drama built up between opponents to
make you care about what's happening.
Taikoubou
is sent down to Earth in order to stop the evil Dakki who
has seduced the Emperor of China to obey her every whim.
He soon realizes it is too much for him to handle alone
and goes on a quest to win powerful allies over to his
side, some by force, some by cunning, some by sheer
cuteness. There's some great characters and fights in this
anime.
Angel Sanctuary has a promo OVA out, but it does no
justice to the actual manga. The manga is not only much
more in-depth and notably different, it also goes far
faaar beyond the OVA. The series is a twisting moral
rollercoaster that's guaranteed to make you rethink the
nature of good and evil by the time it's through. It'll
blow your mind, man!! O.o Also, Lucifer is really
unbelievably hot.
The world, the bloodlines, the character designs, the
various powers are all superb. The fights are heavily
laden with stimulating strategy. However, at around
episode 100 the series inexplicably starts to kill itself. Sasuke
runs away, Orochimaru disappears, Kakashi is barely
around, Shikamaru doesn't do anything, and last I heard
Gaara is missing. All the interesting characters are gone.
Manji, a skilled fighter cursed with immortality until he
atones for his crimes by killing 1,000 evil men, decides
to help Rin avenge her family's deaths at the hands of the
Itto-ryu sword school. It is an odd mix of Japanese feudal
culture, political intrigue, gratuitously bloody fight
scenes, and morbid humor. There are many things you can do
to a guy that can't die.
Inu Yasha is basically Ranma
1/2 remixed into a supernatural world and given an
ongoing plot. Inu Yasha and Kagome are on a quest to find
the scattered pieces of a magical jewel and restore it
before it falls into the wrong hands. The story arcs get
darker, the battles get bloodier, but it can get repetitive
since there is primarily only one villain (Naraku) in the
entire thing.
Although I love the concept of X, and
the manga was very pretty, it drove me
insane and I stopped collecting it
("if they repeat that same damn
flashback one more time..."). As it
happens, the manga is on indefinite hiatus
right now, but that didn't stop people
from making a movie, OVA, and a TV
series speculating on how it'll end. I
love the TV series and the characters
are wonderful.