Back to kozad's Profile kozad's Profile

If you liked Given add

...then you might like Umibe no Étranger add

Both are mature takes on BL without many of the negative tropes from the genre weighing them down.

If you liked Umibe no Étranger add

...then you might like Tasogare Out Focus add

Both are BL, but Stranger by the Shore is definitely the more mature title of the two. Stranger, like Twilight, shakes off a lot of negative tropes from other BL media.

If you liked Given add

...then you might like Tasogare Out Focus add

Given and Twilight Out of Focus are both modern BL which break some of the more disturbing tropes of yesteryear involving a high school boy and an older man becoming, erm, involved. They also cast aside the trope of one half of the couple tripping and falling into some seductress waifu for added drama. These shows keep the relationships age appropriate and occasionally the relationships even feel genuine and well written, as if the writers were interested in character building and not rushing a relationship onto the screen for the sake of reminding the audience that the BL anime that they are watching is in fact a BL anime. Given is the better of the two anime, but Twilight Out of Focus breaks some additional tropes with one character who plainly states that they are gay and another character loudly proclaims that he is on the prowl for a boyfriend and is stereotypically flamboyant enough to leave nothing to the imagination. Twilight Out of Focus also has Whoo-Hoo scenes. 😈 Twilight Out of Focus is the stronger of these two anime with the first 4 episodes doing the bulk of that lifting, despite Given being the better anime overall. Neither show is perfect, they still fall into familiar tropes – all the guys are eventually dating each other for seemingly no reason, some stuff happens which makes no sense, there’s drama for drama’s sake, the writing wavers at times… but these anime are a fresh break from the likes of Junjou Romantica and Love Stage!! which demonstrates the growing comfort the anime and manga industries with same-sex couples being the focus of a story rather than being a punchline or a bad trope. We’re still a long way from having an LGBT Cowboy Bebop or Nana, but when that does eventually happen, look back on these two anime as trailblazers for that moment.

If you liked Nana add

...then you might like Given add

If you loved Nana or Given, you will love the other. I'd even be bold enough to say the writer of Given was inspired by the Nana manga or other Nana media, which is not a bad thing at all. While Nana is a sprawling classic with 47 episodes vs. Given with 11 episodes, both shows use similar story telling and settings and Given manages to not feel too cramped by the shorter runtime. Both shows begin with a chance meeting which changes the lives of the characters, feature complex characters with complicated and even obscured backgrounds, slice-of-life scenes abound, rock bands starting from near the bottom, groupies, drama, secrets, and romance abound. Differences - While Nana's cast is entirely adult and hetero/bi-curious, Given has a cross section of bi/gay young adults and older teens for the main cast. Nana has a longer run, so more story is able to be told and pacing is able to relax, while Given received the more-and-more common 11 episodes, so we're not able to see the story progress beyond the band getting noticed. In Nana and Given, romance is omnipresent in every episode in one fashion or another, but we spend much less time with the lead in for these relationships vs. Given. Nana's art is more detailed overall, but leans much more heavily on still backgrounds than Given (if that's something you are passionate about).

If you liked Koukaku Kidoutai: Stand Alone Complex add

...then you might like Cyberpunk: Edgerunners add

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex is a great watch if you liked Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, and vice versa. Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex is also fast paced, but there is much more world and character building which can get you more immersed in the experience. Edgerunners has some characters on the screen we'll never learn much about, and without playing the game, much of the lore can be lost on viewers. Both of these shows take place in the future, feature cybernetics and hackers, and powerful corporations. Ghost in the Shell follows a special law enforcement team which fall in and out of favor with the government vs. Edgerunners which follows a team of street mercs who take odd jobs from just about anyone. Ghost in the Shell is more concerned with ethics than Edgerunners, but protagonists in either show will put down a rabid dog when they must. The lead characters in both of these anime have tragic backstories, and also experience issues with their extensive cybernetics, though cyberpsychosis is not a thing in Ghost in the Shell. If you're coming from Edgerunners to Ghost in the Shell, I recommend watching the first two seasons, then the sequel movie (Solid State Society), then the SAC 2045 sequel on Netflix if you want the full experiance. If you're coming from Ghost in the Shell SAC to Edgerunners, I strongly recommend playing Cyberpunk 2077 so you're not so lost on lore and world details - there's a lot detail to the world of Edgerunners that simply cannot be conveyed in the OVA.