I haven’t been watching anime is for a while, except for bleach. so I’m looking for a new one…with a really good plot!
This is actually a good question, even if it was brought up by a spambot. What stuff is being broadcast right now in Japan that’s worth watching over here?
Sure, there’s stuff that has been going forever like Bleach and Naruto. But there’s also newer stuff like Haruhi Suzumiya (well it’s new to me) or Squid Girl. Truth is that I’ve been out of touch with Anime for a while… I used to be in an Anime club but that was literally last century (hah.) I have never even seen a single episode of Nanoha!
Thing is there’s SO much anime in Japan and little of it stands out from its similars. However those that do often have some very creative ideas- I can’t say I’ve ever actually seen a series with a concept like Haruhi’s before (not as a regular series anyway.) Also, quite frankly, I’d rather watch a generic shonen action anime than most american superhero comics these days, they’ve gotten too damn dark for my taste… so, recommendations would be welcome.
Unfortunately, I’m just as behind the times as you are Wil. Right now the only anime I’m watching is Slayers: Next, but from what I’ve been hearing, Star Driver sounds to be the pick of the season. The best way I’ve heard it described as was as a super robot show with magical girl elements to it (not to be confused with a magical girl show with super robot elements to it like Nanoha is).
Another one I’ve been meaning to check out is the SRW:OG2 anime since I’ve heard that this one has so far managed to be not terrible like the other SRW anime attempts (and that’s in light of the fact that the game it’s based on is a huge clusterfuck of characters, factions, and plotlines). But you’re millage may vary on it given the fact that it’s a sequel and I don’t know if you even like the super robot genre of anime.
Unfortunately, I’m not too familiar with the other offerings this season, and even these shows I only know about through word of mouth.
if you go to www.animenewsnetwork.com and check out the encyclopedia, you can sort by newest and see what the most recent titles are and check out the viewer ratings for a good idea of what to look out for.
Killmore: I LOVE the Super-Robot genre, Mazinger Z was probably the first anime I followed religiously. 
However I have never played the SRW games or seen the anime adaptations- gotta research those one of these days.
DR: Thanks.
If you can stomach harem-ish plots, try The World God Only Knows. Short summary: Lelouch seduces girls while not giving a shit.
Longer summary: Ludicrously apathetic Dating Sim nerd is forced to make girls fall in love with him or he (and they) will die giving birth to a demonic Godzilla monster. It makes sense in context, roll with it. The catch being that he hasn’t got the first clue, nor care, of how real relationships work and thus has to apply dating sim logic to everything. Mind you, this is NOT the story of an awkward self-insert-stand-in learning to be confident and having girls fall on his lap for no reason. You really need to see Keima in action to get what I mean, but trust me, he makes the show. The harem antics are purely fluff, some of the best chapters are those dedicated to him being a gigantic nerd.
What? The world god only knows has been made into an anime? Curse you DSL lite for keeping me away from anime for so long! If it’s anywhere near as good as the manga it’s got to be absolutely epic.
From the series I’ve actually watched that are airing right now, I’d give my vote to To Aru Majutsu no Index, or, A certain Magical Index if you’d like the english name.
I wouldn’t really recommend Index due to it being little more than a massive worldbuilding infodump. It would be more prudent to recommend A Certain Scientific Railgun (aka A Certain Lecherous Teleporter) instead. Better characters overall, less infodumps, and fight scenes (though unfortunately it also features less nun punching than the second season of Index).
Also for recommendations are Baccano!!! and Durarara!!!, both of which are series that follow a bunch of seemingly totally unrelated characters through a major event and the individual lead ups to that event (in Baccano!!! it’s a train ride that’s more like a train wreck in motion and I haven’t really seen enough of Dulalala!!! yet to say what the colossal train wreck was in that series). Both are fine options for non-linear storytelling.
Edit: Also good to hear from you again Videospirit. It’s been awhile.
Isn’t A certain scientific Railgun between seasons right now? And Baccano!!! finished quite some time ago. I’ve not watched any of Dulalala or even heard of the show however. Non linear storytelling being a plus aside, is what you’ve seen of it high quality?
And I don’t think I’ll ever leave this place permanently, even if I may drift away from it as my whims consume me. This was my very first internet community after all. It’s nice to know I’m remembered Killmore, and good to see you too.
Baccano!'s biggest strength pretty much lies in it’s characters who are a mix of crazy, awesome, and crazy awesome. Everyone’s pretty much a character who’s got something awesome about them, including the reciter of the tale. Without giving too much away it’s mostly set on a train crossing 1920’s America and a mafia war breaks out between gangsters, hitmen, assassins, terrorists, and a pair of bumbling bandits over a bottle of wine, meanwhile the train itself seems to be haunted by a killer ghost known as the rail chaser, and off on the side an aristocratic girl goes off in search of her missing brother who is both a petty thug and holds a secret that’s got every mobster in town after him. And despite what it sounds like, it’s both funny and awesome as hell (although there is one part that really is hard to watch and is probably better to skip since it’s pretty gruesome even in context). The episodes themselves focus more on individual characters or character groups and their points of view. Definitely worth a watch. It’s 16 episodes long and can be found on Youtube and Hulu for watching (or at least when last I checked earlier this year).
Unfortunately I haven’t really gotten around to watching more than one episode of Duralara! (or whatever the hell it’s called) back in spring but it operates under a similar premise as Baccano! (i.e. following around a loosely associated clusterfuck of strange and eccentric people) but this time set in one of those modern day Japanese cites. If it’s even half as good as Baccano! was, then it’s a pretty safe bet that it’s worth a watch too. It came out earlier this year but unfortunately at the time I was swamped with desperately trying to marathon both Mobile Suit and Zeta Gundams while keeping up with FMA:B at the same time.
As for Railgun, yeah it’s between seasons. Second season’s probably going to be better than the first anyways given the better plot and fights from what I’ve seen in the manga. Also helps that the main characters in that series do more than just talk, make everyone look like a fool, talk, punch some people in the face, and talk.
The tl;dr is that yeah they’re not the newest series, but considering that the long harsh winter has set in, why not. There’s probably plenty to catch up on while waiting for better shows to show.
I second Baccano! as an awesome anime.
I also think it’s funny that people should mention Nanoha, since I decided on a whim to watch the series over Christmas (and I finished it with watching the movie just now). I can recommend it too.
As long as you get past the first few episodes, which are a bit slow, the rest is gold.
(just posting to say Hi to Poke and Video. Nice seeing you again guys! 
)