suggestions

[General Tso]

Hi, I'm a fan of Japanese storytelling and characters found in some video games, but I recently realised I haven't actually seen very much anime.

So I would appreciate some suggestions according to my tastes. I prefer more mature themed plots and character development. And I don't mean mature as in necessarily violent etc. Obviously, stand-alone movies on DVD would be easiest for me to get into, but I would also appreciate a series suggestion or 2.

Here are some of my tastes:

Ghost in the Shell - brilliant plot and subject matter.

Akira - astoundingly detailed animation, but I found the characters to be shallow and the plot to be fairly linear and typical. Disappointing.

Berserk - My favorite anime I've seen.

Jin Roh - very cool

Spirited Away - impressive animation and nonlinear plot, but perhaps not mature enough for my liking.

Thanks

[Tsuchi]

try these:

Fushigi Yuugi
Kannazuki no Miko
Ai Yori Aoshi
Evangelion

they have great character development, and interesting plot

[Yodama Man]

Full Metal Alchemist has an amazing story and plot to follow. mostly coming on the end. however it is a long series to buy all at once (cough)www.torrentspy.com(cough) and they are cheap on the animation.

[Dark Magic]

Movie wise the only thing that comes to mind is Karas.

And While I won't reccomend Ruroni Kenshin, because of the length but maybe Samurai X, which is mostly a prequel to Ruroni Kenshin, and is art is really good, in my opinion.

[General Tso]

thanks for all the suggestions

I am of course aware of Evangelion, but haven't checked it out yet. And Full Metal. Again, plot and characters are most important to me, but I also appreciate the truly well animated.

These I don't know their genre/subject matter or even whether they are a series or movie:

Fushigi Yuugi
Kannazuki no Miko
Ai Yori Aoshi

I shall look up Karas too.
Also, I nearly just started watching Ruroni Kenshin, except my local video store doesn't have the beginning of this series for some reason. I've heard Samurai X is a great prequel. I'm usually not a fan of anime attempts at comedy (which I've heard Ruroni Kenshin has lots of, but not so much Samurai X, so i'm interested), but after learning about the different versions of Kenshin, I didn't know where to start. In other words, can I jump into the prequel and just skip the comedic series Ruroni Kenshin?

thanks again

[KoYue]

Fushigi Yugi is a shojo series and a very good one. If you do see it and like it, I recommend Ayashi no Ceres. Both feature character development and good plots, but Ceres is darker in nature than Fushigi Yugi.

[General Tso]

Hmmm....well, I'm all for something dark, but Wikipedia says that Shojo is anime/manga aimed at a young, female demographic. Unfortunately, that does not include me, so perhaps I will stay away from Fushigi Yugi and Ayashi no Ceres...

[KoYue]

That doesn't mean you should shy away from it. I read shonen and that's meant for boys, but I'm a girl.

[General Tso]

But I'm neither female NOR young. I've just never seen anything aimed at that type of audience and enjoyed it. I figure if it was dark and mature enough, why would it be aimed at that audience in the first place.

[Tsuchi]

Fushigi Yuugi
Kannazuki no Miko
Ai Yori Aoshi

these are all great series and are in no way geared toward young people.

[Dark Magic]

Samurai X I believe has four disk, not sure but i know at the end they sum up the Ruroni Kenshin series.

[maven]

Also, I nearly just started watching Ruroni Kenshin, except my local video store doesn't have the beginning of this series for some reason. I've heard Samurai X is a great prequel. I'm usually not a fan of anime attempts at comedy (which I've heard Ruroni Kenshin has lots of, but not so much Samurai X, so i'm interested), but after learning about the different versions of Kenshin, I didn't know where to start. In other words, can I jump into the prequel and just skip the comedic series Ruroni Kenshin?

thanks again

"Samurai X: Trust and Betrayal" is certainly a great prequel and is one of my favorites, I suggest you watch the OVA's instead rather than go through the whole series if you rather want to see the more serious side of the said anime (I myself skipped a few episodes).

A few titles I highly recommend are:

Mushishi - Categorized as seinen (targets young adult males).
I suggest you see this one for something original and refreshing. Great animation that somehow gives off that "Hayao Miyazaki" feel.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mushishi

Samurai Champloo -(seinen)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samurai_champloo

Honey and clover - Sure it sounds girly but the story has depth and it is well animated not to mention the beautiful insert songs that comes with it. This is a great anime that older teens and adults (particularly college students)can relate to as it deals with love and self discovery. This is a slice-of-life type of anime.