Favorite Anime, Manga, Video Games, and RPGs?

[Inquisitor Melchior]

Given that OVA is so closely tied to anime, manga (manga... it receives so very little credit ^_^), and video games I found myself wondering what the favorites of the OVA community are.

What are your favorite anime, manga, and video games? Also, what pen-and-paper RPGs do you find most enjoyable?

My preferences are...

Anime: Neon Genesis Evangelion, Rahxephon, Vampire Hunter D (especially the latter movie), Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040, Escaflowne, original Tenchi Muyo, most any Ghost in the Shell, Ai Yori Aoshi, Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, Eat Man, Ah! My Goddess, Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, Tekkaman Blade (especially the one premiered as 'Technoman' in the US) Berserk, Shinesman (a little-known but hilarious parody of sentai shows), Inuyasha, Orphen, X:1999, and Ruroni Kenshin (Including the 'Samurai X' releases). There are several others that I think I would highly enjoy, but simply haven’t had the opportunity to see yet (either due to lack of Cable TV or simply a lack of funds).

Manga: Neon Genesis Evangelion, Tsubasa, Samurai Deeper Kyo, Ghost in the Shell, Love Hina, Negima, Chobits, Video Girl AI, Magic Knight Rayearth, Ah! My Goddess, Parasyte, X:1999, Ai Yori Aoshi, Bersek, and Trigun.

Video Games: Disgaea: Hour of Darkness, Breath of Fire 4, Zone of the Enders: 2nd Runner, Darkstalkers (any), Samurai Showdown (especially 3), Grandia 2, Wild Arms 3, Growlanser Generations, Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana, Xenosaga, Star Ocean ('2' and 'Till the End of Time'), Guilty Gear XX, Katamari Damancy (both), Soul Calibur III, Gundam Battle Assault (1 and 2), Castle Shikigami 2 (despite the horrid translations), Final Fantasy (VI, VII, VIII, X, and Tactics), Shadow Hearts: Covenant, Chronotrigger, Xenogears, the Lunar series, and Skies of Arcadia.

Pen and Paper RPGs: Fudge (a good set of rules to create an RPG system), Risus (a bit on the simplistic side, but great for comedic games when you have little preparation time), D20 (so long as the campaign is more than just a dungeon hack), BESM (Though I have some issues with how the combat system works I still enjoy it), OVA (I've yet to actually play it, but there are several aspects of the rules that I like), and Adlib (not so much a system as a group of people who want to play...and a willingness to 'wing-it').

[Cloud]

ok, well my lists change very often but here you go

Anime- favorite at the moment would have to be Nadesco, followed by Naruto (subs), Ranma 1/2, Lupin III, Trigun, One Piece (dont mess with luffy, he will mess you up), Dragon Ball series, Orphen, King of bandits jing, Scryed (watched it before they got it on cartoon network), Slayers, Sailor Moon, Ultra Maniac (liked the only ep i saw), City Hunter, Cyborg 009, Fruits Baskit, G Gundam, Robotech (oh yeah!)

Manga - I dont collect as much manga but I do really like Rave Master and Case Closed.

Video Games- many are like yours. I like Atleir Iris, Megaman series (all even legends), Breath of fire series (except dragonquarter), Wild arms series, xenogears, final fantasy series, Castlevania series (some of it counts), Chrono series, Dragon Quest series (eight is beautiful)

Pen and Paper- BESM (although OVA may have just replaced it considering its been a year or two since I used it) Savage Worlds (i would recomend it to anyone, it rules!) Exalted (great rpg based on anime), D20 (good games from here, and i run eberron) OVA, and i think that's really it... oh and Ghost Busters International (actually tracked down a copy, its fun)

[jblittlefield]

Anime & Manga: Surprisingly enough, I don't really like anime...I like the idea of anime and the tropes that it supports. Really, the only anime series that I've ever watched are Ghost in the Machine, Cowboy Bepop, Vampire Hunter D, Hellsing, the Gundam series, and Slayers. I pretty much was unable to watch the other stuff I rented....either too corny or too boring (or both).

Video Games: Other than the Age of Empires series, I don't play video games at all. Haven't since I reached puberty.

RPGs: Topping the list is Savage Worlds. I use it for 95% of my gaming needs. The remaining 5% is filled by Fudge, Risus, and OVA.

[Clay]

I'm always so very bad at making lists. As such, I'm going to limit these lists to my very favorites of all time...

Anime: .hack//sign, Cowboy Bebop, Darkside Blues, Macross Plus, My Neighbor Totoro, Record of Lodoss War, Revolutionary Girl Utena, Unico and the Island of Magic (had to be said, sorry), Vision of Escaflowne

Manga: Chobits, Drama-Con, Gunslinger Girl, Louie the Rune Soldier, Nausicaa, Stigma

Video Games: Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy IV, Final Fantasy VI, Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy Tactics, Guilty Gear X, Ico, Metal Gear Solid, Riviera: The Promised Land, Shadow of the Colossus, Soul Calibur (series), Starfox 64, Xenogears, Zone of the Enders , ZoE: Fist of Mars

Pen and Paper RPGs: Sadly, I actually haven't played an RPG in many years. But some of my all time faves are d20 (Dungeons and Dragons), Silhouette (Heavy Gear, Jovian Chronicles), and Fuzion (Champions: the New Millenium). I could be a punk and add Battletech to this list...the nostalgia compensates for its utterly bore-inducing game mechanics.

[Dreamstryder]

Anime (I often go for surreal & insightful): .hack//SIGN, The Adolescence of Utena (movie), Azumanga Daioh, FLCL, Gundam Seed (I like character drama!), Miyazaki favs: Princess Mononoke, Porco Rosso, & Laputa, The Vision of Escaflowne

Manga (Science & Fantasy, mainly): Corner Alley 13 (webcomic), FLCL, Girl Got Game, InuYasha, Megatokyo, Mermaid Saga, Naruto, Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind, Neon Genesis Evangelion, No Need for Tenchi!, Shutterbox

Video Games(...w/ a douse of frenetics & a touch of strategics): Chrono Cross, Disgaea (Item World!), Final Fantasy (esp. 4, 6, & 7), Megaman Legends 2, Mischief Makers (N64: Who wouldn't want to play an Ultra Intergalactic Cybot G household maid & rescuer of a pervy professor who constantly gets into extraterrestrial political dilemmas? Okay, well I would!), New Super Mario Bros. (Yipee! Yahoo!), Phantom Brave (cute&moving..for me, at least. Throwing people & random objects around is also a plus), Secret of Mana, Shadow of the Colossus (very tactile), Sigma Star Saga (Zelda+Gradius+conspiracy plots=?), Xenosaga, Zelda (the Adventure of Link & the Wind Waker)

P&P RPGs: D&D(Monsters & magic), besm d20 (I combine this with D&D & run it classless), ...OVA once I get my hands on a copy!

PS: forgot Fruits Basket manga/anime!

[Wolfson]

Ah... It's all such a broad topic these days: There's usually a little something for everyone. I have to thank my friend, Darkling, for broadening many of my horizons.

While my list tends to change on a daily basis, I suppose I'd put my preferences as:

Anime: El Hazard (the original OVA), El Hazard: The Alternative World, Scrapped Princess, Louie the Rune Soldier, Full Moon wo Sagashite, Midori no Hibi (Midori Days), Full Metal Panic (the first season), Dual: Parallel Trouble, Bubblegum Crisis: Tokyo 2040, AD Police (the newer version), Steel Angel Kurumi (but only in the Japanese), Tenchi Muyo! (the original OVA), and Hellsing (for a little something different).

Manga: Louie the Rune Soldier, InuYasha, Midori Days, Full Metal Panic, and Mahoromatic. Hmmm... Haven't found as much good manga as I'd like yet...

Video Games: I haven't played too many anime-styled video games, with the exception of bishoujo (which enjoys a bad reputation in some quarters), but there was an old one, called New Horizons, which I really enoyed. In the bishoujo category, my favorites include Brave Soul, Chain, Crescendo, Eve: Burst Error, Heart de Roommate, Hourglass of Summer, Knights of Xentar (a classic), and Season of the Sakura. Brave Soul and Knights of Xentar heavily influenced my first writing projects.

Pen and Paper RPGs: BESM was my favorite (aside from combat system issues), with OVA rapidly trying to replace it. Teenagers from Outer Space (when I'm in the mood for something silly). Most of the other anime RPGs I've encountered bogged down in mechanics.

[Clay]

Wow, Wolfson, you mean someone else watches Rune Soldier? Impossible!

I recently watched FLCL, Dreamstryder, and I would add it to my list. ^^ And I love Adolescence of Utena...I just thought it'd be redundant with Revolutionary Girl Utena.

[Wolfson]

Wow, Wolfson, you mean someone else watches Rune Soldier? Impossible!

Heh... Yeah, a friend of mine turned me on to it. He wanted to use the setting and story line to run a game set in my omake world and, after I saw the first few episodes, I bought myself a copy. And then the manga (which is possibly better than the anime).

I forgot to mention the Chobits manga, which is also better than the anime, in my opinion.

[Clay]

And then the manga [of Louie the Rune Soldier] (which is possibly better than the anime).

I forgot to mention the Chobits manga, which is also better than the anime, in my opinion.

A comrade-in-arms! I am no longer alone in my Chobits/Louie manga crusade! I read the Chobits manga in its entirety as each volume was published, but found myself rather unsatisfied by the anime. Louie kind of suffers the same problem...while both are comedies tacked onto other genres (romance/sci-fi and fantasy respectively), the manga each allowed themselves moments of genuine sincerity. From what I watched of Chobits (only two discs) and Louie (I'm currently watching volume 5), they seem to place the comedy as their sole reason for being, and even the sincere portions that manage to survive the manga-anime transition are hopelessly garbled with slapstick. Louie's fist-fight with Genie for instance. It's hard to take Louie seriously, even though his dialogue is, when his face is puffed up like a marshmallow. -.-

Worse, I'm pretty sure ADV canned the manga. A new volume hasn't been released for years, and with the entire anime selling for $40...I'm assuming the series as a whole did poorly.

[Wolfson]

I read the Chobits manga in its entirety as each volume was published, but found myself rather unsatisfied by the anime.

I saw the anime first, and liked it in general, but when I picked up the manga, I was hooked. My basic thought was that the manga took the time to better explain some of the intricacies of what was going on in the story. Rune Soldier has much the same status with me: I enjoyed the anime, but the manga is giving me a better picture of the 'whole story', after a fashion.

From what I watched of Chobits (only two discs) and Louie (I'm currently watching volume 5), they seem to place the comedy as their sole reason for being...

To some degree... Chobits actually grabs the darker and more intense side of the anime a little bit, especially as the story progresses toward the end. However, they don't entirely explain clearly just what the hell is going on, and why things panned out the way they did.

With Rune Soldier, the slapstick doesn't entirely let up, but they do have to face the reality of 'The Big Confrontation'. And, again, many questions are left implied and unanswered. From the first issue of the manga, they drop hints of things that only got vaguely adressed in the last episode of the anime.

Worse, I'm pretty sure ADV canned the manga. A new volume hasn't been released for years, and with the entire anime selling for $40...I'm assuming the series as a whole did poorly.

I'm not sure about that... I don't know how many volumes you've got/seen, but I just picked up Volume 4 of the compilation, which has the first printing dated 'January 2005'. And there's a plug for Volume 5 in it at the end. I quess I'll wait and see. By the way, that would take me up to issue #22 in the 'single releases' of the manga.

[Belmonte]

Hey! New here, thought I'd take the poll, having just purchased OVA.

Anime: Not a lot. I've seen a few here and there, from Ranma 1/2 to Tenchi Muyo to Urusei Yatsura. In general though, like someone else here, I like the idea of anime more than anything. I admit, I dislike some of the tropes of shoujo though--FY annoyed the heck out of me. :) I kept hoping Yui won.

Manga: None!

Video Games: Not a lot anymore. I miss the days of turn-based RPGs. Nowadays with real-time and pseudo-real-time games, I don't play nearly as much. I miss the days of Wizardry and its ilk. :)

RPGs: Uh. Okay, too many to list. Some include: Arcana Evolved (D20), Iron Heroes (D20), Mutants and Masterminds 2E (D20), Nobilis, NWoD (Mage, Promethean primarily), Talislanta, TORG, Unisystem (both flavors)

[Shooting Star]

Anime: Well i watch a lot of anime (when i can grab enough time i mean! XD) my favourites are .hack//sign, Zero no Tsukaima, Record of the lodoss War, Rune Soldier Louie (Yes Clay, i know it too, it's really funny and i still hope for a sequel), Utawarerumono, Innocent Venus, Demonbane, Gundam Seed, Soukyu no Fafner and the list could go on but i got to mention Saint Seiya too! XD

Manga: Saint Seiya Episode G, Berserk, Glass no Kamen, Tokimeki Tonight, Lone Wolf & Cub, Spriggan, Project ARMS, Ashita no Joe.

Video Games: Tales of Symphonia and all the opther Tales of titles except Tales of Eternia, Suikoden (all except IV), Grandia I & II (i was rather deluded by the III), Secret of Mana, Wild Arms (All), Dragon Quest VIII, Arc the Lad, Shinign Tears, Shinign Force Neo, Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne and Final Fantasy IV, VI, VII & IX.

RPGs: Actually i don't have enough time to play but my favourite are still Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (For the setting and especially for the 2nd edition), D&D (i've learned to play rpg with the old red box of classic D&D), OVA, Silhouette (pretty good rules!) and the Chaosium Basic RPG.

[BM15]

Anime: Cowboy Bebop, Hellsing, Outlaw Star, Naruto (net subs), Tenchi (any), Gundam (most, my fav being '0083: Stardust Memory'), Akira, Princess Mononoke, Inuyahsa (sometimes), Trigun.

Manga: Gunsmith Cats, Red Prowling Devil (I love fighter jets), Hellsing, Cowboy Bebop (what few there were), XXX-holic (the one I read anyway).

Comics: Battler Britton (again, fighter planes), The Punisher (Max / Marvel Knights version), Nextwave, Red Sonja, Ultimate Avengers, Gen-13 (there is a lot of stigma attached to the Wild Storm re-launch, but this one looks good), Batman (more for the Joker), The Leauge of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Gold Digger (what I've read).

Video Games: Ace Combat series (FIGHTER JETS!!!!!111), military / paramilitary based shooters, real-time strategy games (Command and Conquer series, Starcraft, Warcraft, etc), Harvest Moon series, Grand Theft Auto series, Guilty Gear series, Hitman series.

RPGs: Dungeons and Dragons, d20 Modern (I love modern action), BESM (tri-stat and d20), OVA (a recent addition), Spycraft (again, modern action). For the most part, I play d20 Modern, but hope to get a few good OVA games going soon.

[Jandar]

Hey, I am really glad that someone has started this thread here. Thanks.
When I posted a list of some of my selected favorites on a similar forum, almost no one cared.

OK, here goes:

Anime: Boy, that's a tough one ... Admittedly, it would be many to list and the list will be frequently expanded. Long-standing favorites include, in no particular order, Mazinger Z, Great Mazinger, Getter Robo (in all its incarnations and sequels), Daiku Maryu Gaiking, Kotetsu Jeeg, Voltron, Superdimensional Fortress Macross, Devilman, Devilman Lady, Cutie Honey, Mazinkaiser, Dororon Enmakun, Godannar, Giant Robo the Animation, Astro Boy (any version), Raideen (any version), the animated version of Ultraman, the original Captain Harlock, Queen Emeraldas, Galaxy Express 999, Maetel Legend, Harlock Saga and the entire Matsumoto/Captain Harlock universe, 3x3 Eyes, Burst Angels, on the comedy side of things I like Urusei Yatsura, Tenchi Muyo, some episodes of Slayers, El-Hazard the Magnificent World, Dirty Pair, Ikki Tousen (did anyone get the story of that?), Naruto. I'm sure there are some that I forgot.

Manga: Astro Boy, Lone Wolf and Cub, Mazinger Z, all the super robot, Cutie Honey and Devilman manga by Go Nagai, 3x3 Eyes, Bastard, Rurouni Kenshin, Slayers (better than the anime!), most of Record of Lodoss War, Full Metal Alchemist, Urusei Yatsura, and so on; many of the classics, all the way back to Speed Racer; I have also started to read some Korean fantasy series, like King of Hell, Archlord, Banya.

Video Games: This may surprise some people, but I don't play any video games at all.

RPGs: RuneQuest (current edition), Stormbringer, Pendragon, Champions/Hero System, DC Heroes, BESM, Cartoon Action Hour, HeroQuest, Faery's Tale, Sengoku, Mutants and Masterminds, and of course, OVA.