Approved Anime

This is a list of /tg/ approved anime, organized loosely into genres.

Add important details (e.g. tv series or OVA, number of episodes or movies) in brackets.

Before you add anything...

/tg/ likes it's anime, but if we listed every single one that could be interpreted as being /tg/-related this article would be large enough to be its own wiki. So before you add in a new title, ask yourself these questions:

• Is it a licensed material from a traditional game? (If yes, add it right now, no questions asked. And homebrews don't count- it has to be a real, established game.)
• Does it feature traditional gaming? (If it's an important part of the show, add it.)
• Is it fantasy or sci-fi? (We have a huge boner for that, but explain how it's relevant first.)
• Does it cater to our demographic? Fa/tg/uys tend to be males in their 20s. (Again, see if it fits the other criteria well enough.)
• Does /tg/ talk about it a lot, or does it have some historical relevance to /tg/? (Like the one directly above, it's not enough on its own, but it might get a pass if it fits more criteria.)
• Is this just /a/'s flavor of the month bleeding over into /tg/? (NO.)

Science Fiction

• Cowboy Bebop: Animu fans will argue forever if this is the best anime or not, but it is probably one of the best space-westerns anybody has made ever. An astounding look into one of the best parties an RPG could ever have. [tv series: season 1 - 26 episodes; 1 movie]

Related games: Traveller, GURPS Space, Diaspora

• Ghost in the Shell: /k/ makes a show about cyborgs and politics. The two movies and TV series take place in different continuities, and have very different feels. You may love one but hate the other. [2 movies; tv series: season 1 - 26 episodes, season 2 - 26 episodes, 1 made-for-TV movie]

Related games: Eclipse Phase and Shadowrun

• Serial Experiments Lain: The trippiest philosophy class you will ever take. A near-future set around 2020 or so, diverging around 1990. A must-watch for cyberpunk and conspiracy fans, as well as existentialists.

Related games:Shadowrun, Eclipse Phase, and maybe Paranoia and Server Crash.

• The Big O: Batman meets Gigantor meets Japanese monster movies in a post-apocalyptic world where nobody remembers anything prior to forty years ago and advanced androids walk the streets of an otherwise 1920s-era city dominated by glass domes. One of the biggest contenders for "Most Confusing Ending" award, it is otherwise well-regarded by the anime community and it's lack of a third season to answer all the questions is much-lamented. That said, the director had originally been given two seasons to plot out his story, had it cut to one, then had a second season greenlit thanks to it's performance in the US, only to give us another season of questions.

Related games: Mekton, Dungeons & Dragons: Eberron, Spirit of the Century

• Trigun: An impossibly skilled and improbably young outlaw (Arbitrator) roams a barren Wild West planet helping people out with his skill at shooting people, aided by a somewhat faithful party of well-armed priests (Clerics) and insurance agents (Adepts). Replete with pseudo-religious symbolism and Metal Gear-worthy antagonists.

Related games:Dark Heresy, Deadlands

• Armored Trooper VOTOMS: A Mecha pilot of few words and fewer expressions seeks revenge on those who framed him, uncovering an ancient conspiracy along a way. One of the grittier and "realest" entries of the real robot genre without going into the hard sci-fi. Inspired Heavy Gear, which the japanese described as "The Votoms mecha in the Dougram setting", the latter referring to Fang of the Sun Dougram, VOTOMS creator's earlier real robot series.

Related games: Heavy Gear

Action

• Fist of the North Star: The singular manliest show ever made.

Related games: Street Fighter the RPG (by White Wolf)

• Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagaan: The singular Orkiest show ever made. [TV Series: 30 episodes; 2 movies]

Related games: Battletech, Toon

Gaming anime

• Girls und Panzer: Just what it says on the title. WWII Tank warfare for sport, done by schoolgirls. You will make a Ōarai Girls' Academy themed Leman Russ tank company after watching it. The anime is now officially associated with World of Tanks.

Related games: hexmap historical war simulations, too fucking many quests

Horror, Grimdark & Mindfuckery

• Neon Genesis Evangelion: A philosophical character drama and Lovecraftian Horror Mindrape that pretends to be a mecha anime for its first half. Either one the greatest anime ever produced, or an overrated piece of tripe that collapsed under the weight of its own pretentiousness, depending on who you ask; there is no middle ground. Inspiration for Adeptus Evangelion. Obviously. [TV series: 26 episodes; 5 and counting movies]

Related games: Adeptus Evangelion, CthulhuTech

• Puella Magi - Madoka Magica: It starts out as Sailor Moon, then somewhere around the third episode becomes a character study of five girls discovering a horrifying magical realm, with enough crazy-as-fuck plot twists to give M. Night Shyamalan whiplash. Liches, bizarre Terry Gilliam-looking monsters, and blatant lesbian undertones give the show a pretty big /tg/ fanbase. It also has a falling paladin, a Lovecraftian horror who doesn't have tentacles for once, and the physical embodiment of /k/. Feels at times like newbie players versus the world's biggest killer DM. [TV Series: 12 episodes; 3 movies; a fuckton of spinoff comics]

Related games: Magical Girl Noir Quest, Magical Burst, Princess The Hopeful

Fantasy

• Berserk: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: The Anime. Guts, a brutal and unstoppable swordsman, walks the land of grimdark as he recounts his impossibly bad-assed past. Noted for being GUTS HUEG because HUEG GUTS has HUEG GUTS.

Related games: Warhammer Fantasy

• Record of Loads of War: Some anime producers made a cartoon out of their D&D campaign.

Related games: Dungeons & Dragons

• Slayers: AD&D 2nd edition: The Anime.

Related games: Advanced Dungeons & Dragons

• Strike Witches: (Little Girls in Panties): WWII flying aces redrawn as loli airplane machines which zap aliens while flying around without pants. Not really beloved by /tg/, but someone thought something about it would make a good homebrew.

Related games: Axis & Allies, Axis and Allies Angels 20, Ace of Aces,

Comedy

• Haiyore! Nyaruko-san: It's one of those wacky highschool comedy bits that Japan shits out every season, except starring Nyarlathotep. Yes seriously. Pop culture references, /d/eviance, Sanity loss (complete with Call of Cthulhu character sheets), and gratuitous canon rape ensue. "She's an Eldritch Abomination, not your waifu!"

Related games: Call of Cthulhu (barely)

Things Which Aren't Anime, But People Think Are

• Touhou, which is not actually an anime or manga but is frequently confused as such by those unfamiliar with it. It has however, received several official manga spinoffs.

Related games: /v/ stuff, shmups, D&D 4th edition (that's a joke, a joke someone made terrifyingly real)

• Wakfu: A French cartoon about a kid named Yugo who discovers he is part of a long-lost race of people with the ability to create portals. A fun world with fun characters and a surprisingly deep Big Bad. Not to be confused with your waifu.

Related games: /v/ stuff, generic mid-Europe fantasy setting, and apparently has its own RPG rules in France.

• Avatar: The Last Airbender: we argued about it once

Related games: Exalted