1. Koi Kaze

My personal favorite, although it is not for the conservative. You have got to be very open-minded to watch this, but if you are, then you will thoroughly enjoy this.

It is about a man and his younger sister (by 12 years). They were separated not long since the younger sister’s birth due to their parents’ divorce. Now, one is 27 and one is 15. They meet again, and begins to live under one roof as the sister goes to a high school near to her brother’s house. The brother begins to find out that his feelings for her are more than just brotherly. This is the story of how the pair comes to terms about their feelings.

A very very beautiful anime, so sweet that it is painful. The opening theme is simply holy. After watching the anime, whenever I hear the opening theme, my heart would ache, literally. The characters are not your typical cute girl and handsome young man, but very realistic instead. This is what I feel differentiates this from the other animes I have watched. The music throughout the episodes is minimal, yet very appropriate. There is a lot of character development and you will find yourself (at least I did) falling in love with the protagonists, and you will really laugh and cry with them. Highly recommended if you think you can handle this.

2. Melody of Oblivion

The first full anime I have watched (other than those on kids central, which are so immature and should not be counted as anime. I mean Beyblade?! YAKS!). Though various reviews I have read had very different opinions, I felt that this is a very good show, on the condition that you read the wiki for it before u watch the anime.

This is about a world where monsters (like mythical creatures from Greek mythology, e.g. Minotaur, Medusa, Pan etc) conquered the Earth after a bloody 20^th century war. Now they concealed themselves to the new generation and put up a façade that nothing is really wrong. A boy called Bocca discovered that he is a Meros Warrior (the warriors who fight the monsters) and set off on a journey to rediscover his world, his powers and his responsibility.

Now this anime is far from perfect. Firstly the monsters, when they show their true form (they walk around in human form), can turn people into stone, dolls and bowling balls (wtf?!). Oh, did I mention, Bocca, the boy, is really non-gender specific? I mean, they say he is a boy, and he does not have breasts. But his face, voice, clothes, can really pass him off as a girl without any question. (wtf?!) But these are some things you have to accept for you to watch and enjoy it. Once you come to terms with the above and some other stuff, you will find that the overall effect produced is really very good. Separated, the story is average to lousy. The characters are average. The episode story is average. The music is very good, but that is only one factor. Put it all together, for the first 20 episodes, it is watchable and perhaps a little nice. The last four episodes are THE thing. It left me thinking about it for days. The ending (for me) is simply beautiful. However, as mentioned, the rating for this anime is really controversial, so if you do not want to risk wasting 12 hours, don’t watch. If you feel like taking a risk, you might really gain a vast amount of enjoyment, like I did.

3. Elfen Lied

German for Elven Song. WARNING! The opening theme is full of nudity. The FIRST scene of the anime is a severed arm, with its fingers still twitching. You got it. This is one anime FULL of nudity and gore. It makes Terminator (where Arnold Schwarzenegger tore out someone’s heart) seem like FF7 (where the characters do NOT bleed no matter what u do to them). Maybe a little exaggerated but you get the idea. So if you are faint-hearted, skip this anime. If you get offended by nudity, skip this anime. Otherwise, you are in for a stunning series, where they tear apart any remaining shreds of your innocence.

The story is about a mutant race called Diclonius. They have 2 horns on their heads, which look suspiciously like cats’ ears. But that’s not important. They have vectors, invisible arms, strong enough to break solid steel. One of them escaped the compound they were kept in (after massacring the guards) went out into the world.

All the nudity and gore is not tasteless fanservice, they have significant value in the anime. The nudity firstly has very little sexual context, more of a display of innocence. The gore sets the dark mood for the dark world. This series speaks a lot about our need for control, our fear of the different, alienation of the feared, abuse and other social ills. Surprisingly, even in the darkness, there is romance involved too. Oh yes, the artwork is really beautiful. I cannot say anymore without providing spoilers, so if you think you got the guts, go watch this. You will not regret it.