In mood for sci-fi

[Tenzen12]

Let's leave out mechas and stuff with mystic/religious undertones. I don't realy care whether manga or anime as long as it is old school-like sci-fi.

Examples: PlanetES, Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio, Ghost in the shell or (Yes, I count that too) Mouretsu Pirates.

Thanks

[Sheba]

Legend of Galactic Heroes and Yamato 2199?

[Student no.0]

Qualia the Purple is the best sci-fi manga I'm currently reading right now. I recommend reading the first 6 chapters to really get yourself hooked to it. Take your time with it and don't rush yourself when reading it so you can get the scientific theories that get brought up and play a huge role in the series. Oh and don't believe those tags that say that it's a shoujo-ai manga or has GL subtext, because it doesn't. The manga's already finished in Japan with just 18 chapters but currently there're just 13 translated so far. If you like psychological thriller thrown into the mix, then this series is worth giving a shot IMO. Do your very best to stay away from spoilers and sites that'll really spoil you though.

Here's a spoiler-free summary that has everything you'll need to know about the premise:

From MangaHelpers:

Hatou Gaku has a very odd friend at school named Marii Yukari. Yukari has purple eyes and a bizarre way of looking at the world: she sees all living things as robots. This has not always worked out well for Yukari, even costing her a best friend when she was younger. However, Yukari insists that the things she says she sees is true, and her vision seems to give her insight into the abilities of others.

Gaku thinks she's just weird, but she soon realizes that Yukari has unexpected talents. It seems she can fix anything, and even the police come to hear her insights. It turns out that Yukari's purple eyes are not unique in the world! However, there is one important distinction among those who see humans as other objects. Do humans appear as unimportant as objects, or do those objects appear as important as human beings? [tethysdust]

[AbZeroNow]

If you aren't watching it, then I highly recommend Uchuu Kyoudai (Space Brothers).

You might like Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita (Humanity Has Declined). I personally think Gatchaman Crowds is a great show this season.

[jedinat]

Kurau Phantom Memory
Outlanders
Level E
GUNNM/Last Order
Musekinin Kanchou Tylor
Kiseijuu
Seikai no Monshou

[Tenzen12]

Sheba: Yamato is have to, I will watch it. For LoGH I tried once but animation was too bad even for me who has high tolerance. And if I am not mistaken ratio of politics and sci-fi is about 100:1 so no.

AbZeroNow : both Jinrui and Gatchaman are on wrong side of Clarkes 3rd law, it's not what I sough for right now (Jinrui was awesome and I loved it). Kyoudai is almost exactly what I look for. Unfortunetely I just finished them.

Mare Boy: Qualia isn't exactly that either, but thanks for introduction interesting manga. Just finished it

Jedinat: I saw Kurau, Level E and Crest. Thanks for reminding me Alita, from what you picked it closest to it and I will pick it again now. I don't have confidence about rest of these, but if my withdrawal symptoms get worse I might try.

Thanks and keep going.

[Kotohono]

Since you listed Ghost in the shell, I'll suggest another sci-fi crime show, Psycho-Pass.

[SeijiSensei]

Wow, none of my suggestions have appeared yet.

1) Dennou Coil - One of my ten best anime of the past decade. Director Iso Matsuo peddled this script about kids living in a virtual reality world for seven years. Now we have the Glass Project. Like most Japanese science fiction, it has touches of the supernatural. The "metatags" used in Coil are identical to "ofuda," a supernatural talisman. They appear liberally in the remarkable Bakeneko arc of Ayakashi Samurai Horror Tales.

2) Noein - A riff on the "many-worlds" interpretation of quantum physics. Two parallel universes are fighting a war which involves our universe as well. Conforming to the nature of anime, the crux of the conflict is a nice middle-school girl named Haruka living in the port city of Hakodate. Noein was a "director-of-the-week" show, so there is considerable variation in the style of illustration from episode to episode. Still Akane's vision holds it all together. Please do yourself a favor and watch it with subtitles; the dub is pretty horrendous.

3) Ghost Hound - Production I.G's twentieth anniversary production by GitS creator Shirow Masamune, a strange mix of psychiatry, science-fiction, and astral projection about a middle-school boy with PTSD. As a small boy he had been kidnapped with his sister and watched her die alongside him while imprisoned. This show may have too much of the supernatural for you. Shirow made another show with I.G soon thereafter that is more classically sci-fi called Real Drive. You might like that.

4) Oh! Edo Rocket - A story about censorship, justice and aliens set in 1843-44 Edo. The hero makes fireworks for a living, a pursuit made illegal by the recently-instituted Tenpou reforms. He fires off the occasional blast to keep his hand in the game and returns home one morning to find a mysterious young woman waiting to ask him to build her a firework that can reach the moon.

5) AKB0048 - Keeping with the censorship theme, this surprisingly interesting story from Okada Mari follows a group of young girls who want to become members of the idol singing group "AKB0048," a successor to the current AKB48. The show is set in the far future, but the group's members not only carry forward the names of the current AKB48 members, they sing the same repertoire! Still the battles are well-choreographed, the girls are spunky, and a good time is had by all.

6) Summer Wars - A recent movie about a MMORPG that threatens to take over the world. Family and love conquers all in the end.

[Student no.0]

Originally Posted by Tenzen12

Mare Boy: Qualia isn't exactly that either, but thanks for introduction interesting manga. Just finished it

You mean caught up until 13 or the entire manga?

[Tenzen12]

Only translated chapters, no metter how much I would like to be able read kanji, I can't ( I were learning them on my own, but combined ones was too much for me...)

[SuzushinaYuriko]

Seconding Dennou Coil. It's fantastic, especially in the second half.

You might also be interested in Steins;Gate.

[SeijiSensei]

I somehow also forgot Ergo Proxy, a classy if sometimes a bit pretentious story about a dysfunctional future involving humans and androids gone wrong. Beautifully animated by Manglobe with some excellent seiyuu performances. Funimation has re-released this series for under $25 using, it appears, the excellent Geneon masters.

[Sackett]

Space Battleship Yamato
Crest of the Stars

[Tenzen12]

Suzushino: saw both, but you hav good tast

Sacked: Both was mentioned already. I saw crest and Just now started Yamato.

[Tenzen12]

Suzushino: saw both, but you hav good tast

Sacked: Both was mentioned already. I saw crest and Just now started Yamato.

Seiji: So far I was avoiding to EP as I got Evangelion vibes, If I am wrong I will gladly go for it.

PS: to make even more clear what kind of sci-fi I would like . I mean something tangible which can either shine or rust, with flickering diods and screens with diagrams. Story where machines are either central themes or at least important. Not realy bio things, paralel worlds nor time traveling (they are all good and I like them, but recently I wannna this kind of stuff).

[Kotohono]

Originally Posted by Tenzen12

PS: to make even more clear what kind of sci-fi I would like . I mean something tangible which can either shine or rust, with flickering diods and screens with diagrams. Story where machines are either central themes or at least important. Not realy bio things, paralel worlds nor time traveling (they are all good and I like them, but recently I wannna this kind of stuff).

Uh any comment towards my previous suggestion:

Originally Posted by Konakaga

Since you listed Ghost in the shell, I'll suggest another sci-fi crime show, Psycho-Pass.

It features a lot of sci-fi tech, notable the Sibyl System and it's dominator guns and their impressive interface and includes plenty of things like holograms, droids, and androids in the story.

[Student no.0]

I'm thinking Solty Rei fits what you're looking for, but I've only seen a few episodes of it when I was just a kid so I don't remember much of it myself besides androids, cybernetics, and future-based disaster-ridden city being the main theme. I remember I really used to like Mujin Wakusei Survive/Unihabited Planet SURVIVE too where survival, teamwork, and space travel are central themes.

[TheFluff]

Here's some obscure shit nobody remembers these days (in other words, great hipster material).

Starship Operators (2005)
A show that tries to be serious space opera. It only kinda sorta succeeds partially because there's a really stupid gimmick involved. I remember thinking it was good, but that was in 2005 and you can't trust me-in-2005's judgement.

Stellvia of the Universe (2003)
I don't really remember the plot but I'm pretty sure it involves an alien invasion of some kind. If I recall its themes properly you should probably think of it as Harry Potter In Space except it's a boarding school that teaches you to fly spaceships rather than cast spells. Also, early 2000's 3DCGI is absolutely bizarrely terrible. I remember being absolutely hooked on this and watching like eight episodes in a row, but again, I stress that this was ten years ago.

Rocket Girls (2007)
Literally nobody watched this and I don't really know why because it was actually a pretty decent show. It's just barely sci-fi but if you're interested in what NASA does today it should be relevant to your interests. On a side note its 2007 3DCGI wasn't really any better than Stellvia's 2003 3DCGI.

2001 Nights (1984)
Probably one of the best traditional sci-fi manga out there. It's a pretty short series of one-shots in a common universe. Definitely worth checking out if you like any of the western sci-fi classics. I would dare to say that this is probably exactly what you're looking for.

Pale Cocoon (2005)
Probably the best 25 minutes you could ever spend on watching anime.



Two more that I haven't actually watched:

Moonlight Mile (2007)
I only remembered this existed because it has an ending theme by The Pillows, no idea if it's actually any good (it's most likely mediocre at best considering nobody seems to remember it ever existed)

Infinite Ryvius (1999)
pretty sure it's Lord of the Flies In Space but I'm also pretty sure it has mecha in it so not exactly what you're asking for

[Tenzen12]

You are my type of guy! (NOT IN THAT WAY!) I liked both of your first two imputs (though I generaly prefere more equal cast, but that's only minor detail) and infinite rivius sound also good.

Yep, I am giving your other suggestions priority.

Mare Boy: Good sugestions, I enjoyed both

Konaga: I was thinking about watching PP for while but I don't like beheaded heroines so I were avoiding it. I might give a try.

PS: Alita finished and Last order waiting for me.

[Jan-Poo]

Originally Posted by TheFluff

Infinite Ryvius (1999)
pretty sure it's Lord of the Flies In Space but I'm also pretty sure it has mecha in it so not exactly what you're asking for

Originally Posted by Tenzen12

and infinite rivius sound also good.

I've seen Ryvius and it's actually one of my favorite anime.
Yes it has strong "Lord of the flies" references but also "Animal Farm" on a minor degree. Just think of two hundreds girls and guys who know nothing about being adults stranded in space on a giant starship that is at the center of several intricate political schemes and now think how much wrong it can get.
It does have a mecha and it has some kind of peculiar nature, but it isn't quite the focus of the story.

And BTW even Stellvia has a giant robo. And it isn't quite about an alien invasion but a preparation to survive a catastrophe on an astronomical scale (there still are aliens though) all else that Thefluff said is correct though, especially the fact that it's extremely addictive.


EDIT: Is it really possible that nobody mentioned "Cowboy Bebop" or it is taken for granted that you can't possibly have missed it?