Anime Anime Matching Service

I just realized I've hit another lull in my anime viewing. The last time I watched something that really hit my fancy was 2006. That was an unusually great year for me, considering it marked the debut of three series now on my favorites list - Haruhi Suzumiya, When They Cry, and Death Note.

Nothing new has emerged from the past three years to really tickle my fancy. I've really only clung to my known series and viewing more of the same. That's cool and all in itself. In 2007, I was happy to have a second helping of Higurashi to answer some of the hanging questions. I was absolutely pumped when Slayers came out of an eleven year TV hiatus in 2008. And last year, I happily gobbled up the 14 new episodes of Haruhi, even though eight of them were essentially the same. When I look back, I've still been watching something every year, and that's great.

But nothing new that I've seen has taken a definitive place in my upper graces.

I admit to running with a few cheesecake titles: Goshusho-sama Ninomiya-Kun and To-Love-Ru for example.

Denno Coil was unique, but lacked something.

What is out there to satisfy my craving?


What I like to think I like in my anime:

1) Character-driven pieces.

Massive scoped battles, political intrigue, and nonstop action can all take a backseat to me actually wanting to invest in the characters I'm seeing.

I want to care about them when I am supposed to. I want to hate them when they're the bad guy. I want to know what motivates them to do whatever it is they do. I want to be able to have such a clear understanding of who they are that I could sit down and write the next TV series if I was suddenly comissioned to do so.

And I want to see them grow. I don't mean like in Dragonball Z where they unlock some new power level previosuly unheard of. I want their character to develop. Maybe it's a tragic past the hero has tried to keep hidden. Maybe the jerk finds out deep down he cares for someone.

2) Clearly defined story.

A beginning, middle, and an end. I want something I know has been planned out in entirety. Length isn't the root of the problem, but something overstaying its welcome for the sake of milking fans for all its worth is.

This mostly targets titles that are extended beyond their intended lifecycle, be it with additional stories that are tacked on after the true ending, or with filler injected simply to inflate its production count.

3) Some form of mystery or intrigue.

What is causing everyone to go insane? How did this girl gain such incredible power? Which genius will outsmart the other one first?

I don't like it when it's overdone, but I love when there is just enough suspense injected to edge me from episode to episode. Not to the level of perplexing me with the unknown. Rather with small tastes of speculation that stretch out until they get explained enough in the end.

4) Uniqueness.

I want something new. More specifically, something that sets the story apart from everything else. It might just be a bizarre out of this world concept. It might be an unorthodox manner of presentation. Whatever it is, it isn't just a re-themed showing of something that came before it.



So, those are my sweet spots. Anyone care to make a suggestion that hits all four?