Favorite Shows

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A while back I made a list of some of my favorite books. Now it's time for tv shows:

Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood

Probably the single best tv show I've ever seen, period. I cannot praise this show highly enough. The first few episodes seem a little kiddy, stick with it and the depth quickly becomes apparent. The plot is excellent, with elements from early episodes coming to fruition during the finale. Every single character, including many of the one-shot characters, get an impressive amount of character development and all have unique personalities and motivations.

There are actually two different FMA animes. Both start out with the same first couple episodes, as they were both initially based in the manga, but the original (just Full Metal Alchemist) diverges after about episode 13. The writers decided they'd rather make their own ending than make five years of crappy filler episodes to wait for the manga to finish up. All in all, they did a very impressive job, and it's a very good show, albeit with a very bittersweet ending.

Brotherhood, however, sticks to the plot of the manga. And while the first few episodes aren't quite as good, which turned off a lot of fans of the first anime, once the plot picks up there is no contest. Brotherhood is better, hands down, with an huge cast of awesome characters, intense character development for essentially everyone, and one of the most satisfying finales of any tv series I've ever seen.

This is also one of the few shows that actually made me feel for the villains. Many of the bad guys are absolute monsters, yet you often see how their character flaws dragged them down and you can't help but emphasize with them. Several of the 'bad guys' actually make you respect them in spite of the things they've done. I'll bet money you'll cry at least a little for more villains in this show than in anything else.

I'll cut it short here so it doesn't turn into an essay. Long story short, this show is a must-watch. It's easy to find on Netflix and Hulu, so you have no excuse, though a few of the later episodes may not be dubbed yet so you'll have to read the sub-titles.





A Game of Thrones

HBO's series is a very faithful adaption of one of the best epic fantasy series in print today, and they did an outstanding job. An epic tale of the slowly evolving train wreck caused by feuding families fighting to control the throne to start out with, but once they get to the later books you'll start to realize that there is a much bigger threat out there, and that winter is coming.




Archer
@#$%^& hilarious. @#$%^&*, #$%^&*#$% hilarious. Totally not safe for anywhere but privacy, but this is the funniest tv show I've ever seen, period. Imagine M was James Bond's mom, and that every person in the agency had various personality disorders, and that James Bond's cavalier, cold and selfish nature was played up for laughs.






Avatar the Last Airbender
A kid's show, that wasn't written for kids. Apparently like My Little Pony, except that instead of ponies and rainbows and girly stuff you have element-wielding martial artists fighting over the fate of the world. It's great for both kids and adults. In fact, I'm almost surprised Pixar didn't produce it or something.

Just avoid the Last Airbender movie, though.





Burn Notice
Another spy show, but this time it's action instead of comedy. Michael Weston was burned and dumped in Miami for unknown reasons. Now he has to track down who burned him, while taking odd jobs using his super-spy skills to cover the bills, all while his retired SEAL friend spies on him for the FBI and his ex-terrorist ex-girlfriend hangs around for fun.






Angel Beats
A short anime about a high school student who wakes up dead with no memories, in a high school filled with other dead people. While it looks like a comedy on the surface, every person in the show is at this afterlife/high school because of unresolved personal issues. I would be amazed if this show didn't make you cry at several points.

[url]http://archaeon.blog.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/00/03/07/84/3078498/files/anime/angel-beats.jpg[/url]





Clannad
Another anime. It's nothing fancy, just a simple show about a former delinquent high schooler and some of his friends. The first season isn't anything special, though it is still fun to watch. The second season, though, will make you cry. I would bet money that anyone who watches this show through will start bawling non-stop at I think episode 16 of season 2, and won't stop until the finale. Even though the show is just about a poor guy trying to live his life with his loved ones, without many of the fantastical story elements in most other shows, Clannad is the most emotionally moving piece of fiction I've ever experienced.

[url]http://animeguyspl0x.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/clannad-3.jpg[/url]



Baccano
This anime is the complete opposite of Clannad. While Clannad is amazing because of the emotional connection to the characters and the crap they go through, Baccano is awesome, over the top, break neck, nonstop fun. It's set in 1930's gangland America, and jumps around non-linearly between multiple story lines with a huge cast of unique and fun characters. Several aspects of the show, and the first episode in particular, will be very, very confusing at first. Don't worry about it. Just go with the flow, and you'll start putting the pieces together one little bit at a time and have a blast doing it.

And watch the opening sequence. All the main characters, their names, and some of their relationships with the other characters are cleverly explained in the opening sequence, and with the non-linear storytelling and large cast of characters you're going to need all the help you can get.






Generation Kill
Based on the book of the same name, as well as One Bullet Away, Generation Kill follows a company of Recon Marines during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. It does not pull punches, it does not try to paint a pretty picture or hide anything, it just tells the story of what happened as accurately as possible. If you liked Band of Brothers, this is an excellent choice.

Do keep in mind this is a show about Marines and modern military forces, so there is a lot of cussing. A lot. As in, a whole ************************************************** ************************************************** **** lot of it. So, yeah, not for kids.