Pocket-Gog~ said:
I think I stopped reading around this snowy place.
You mean Briggs? If that's the case, I'd say to continue, or at least start FMA:B from around episode 30 or so.
Nah, any recommendations?
Legend of the Galactic Heroes - I know you said you found it "boring" at first, though if you ever feel like watching something that has extensive world building, highly fleshed out and logical characters, multiple topics of theme exploration such as politics, history, morality and religion, as well as offering no plot armour/conveniences to it's cast; it doesn't get much better than this.
Ashita no Joe - One of the few good sports series and easily the best Shonen series in my opinion. Completely different from most of the Shonen to be made after the DB era with it's protagonist starting off as quite a selfish and abrasive asshole rather than some perfect boy scout, excellent character development/introspection and each fight in the series having some sort of consequence and permanent effect on it's characters. Only real minor faults to it are the children in the support cast not really having a role and the logic behind most boxing tactics being questionable, though the fights are great more for the drama and character writing than actual choreography.
Rose of Versailles - It's protagonist, Oscar, was the main inspiration behind Griffith's design, plus her role as a female attempting to play a man's role in combat makes her somewhat similar to Casca. It's perhaps the only Shojo series I'd recommend due to having a good historical setting, juggles between the focus/perspective of it's cast well and has quite a bleak, memorable ending. Whether you choose the anime or manga is up to you since the anime has good ost and decent animation for it's era, plus an extra sense of drama with Osamu Dezaki's signature painting shots at the end of each episode. Only critique I have of it is the pacing being quite slow in some of the early and mid episodes.
Hokuto no Ken - A fun, testosterone fuelled action series that inspired Parts 1-3 of JoJo, as well as Guts' character design to a minor extent. It sets itself apart from most other Shonen with how tightly woven the narrative around character relations is, skill being a major factor in many battles and very few characters being plot armoured. Just don't read anything past chapter 136 since it starts to make numerous retcons after the timeskip and turns it's protagonist into a complete Gary Stu, plus the first part has an extremely solid ending anyway.
Area 88 - Great war drama that focuses on how a soldier is permanently changed by becoming used to battle and addicted to bloodlust, essentially what post-Chimera Ant Arc Gon should've become. It also has the best aerial battles in anime. Just watch the OVAs though, since whilst the plot is somewhat inconclusive, this is secondary compared to how the prior events changed the protagonist to the point the conclusion of the conflict doesn't matter (also, the manga's ending is a
reset for a generic happy ending).
Kinnikuman - As far as writing goes, it can go from decent to Fairy Tail levels of idiocy, though it stands out if looking for something that's just dumb fun and is an interesting series from a historical perspective for popularising many of the tropes DB is credited for bringing to Shonen despite doing so long before it; alien protagonist, enemies constantly escalating in strength and scale, reforming numerous villains into heroes and even the power level concept.
Part 7, it pretty much has the best of everything. But I do consider Stone Ocean to be the best out of the original 6.
Agreed on Part 7 combining all the best elements of previous parts. What was your opinion on Diego being the final villain? Did you believe it worked well as a tribute to Parts 1 and 3, as well as provided a unique conclusion, or did you find it somewhat contrived?
