Cool Media

Music

All links are YouTube unless otherwise specified.

• bôa: cool 2000s rock, only three albums Twilight, Get There, and Whiplash
• Rush: the entire frickin' catalog
• Yes: albums Fragile, Close to the Edge, Going for the One, 90125, Talk. They have other albums too, not as good but worth checking out if you like these.
• DJ Shadow: albums Endtroducing, Diminishing Returns (less readily available, search on YouTube), Preemptive Strike, The Outsider.
• The Beths: album Expert in a Dying Field. They have other albums but I haven't listened to them.

Anime

The list below is anime that I like and would recommend to others, not a comprehensive list of all that I've watched. Be aware that I like dubs, albeit only when they're well made.

• Steins;Gate: A fantastic show and a must-see for basically anyone in my opinion. The good parts about Okabe's situation are basically the dream: a gang of cool friends, neat stuff to work on, a place to hang out in the summer. Steins;Gate Zero, the sequel/prequel show, and the movie (Load Region of Deja Vu) are not great, don't bother.
• 86: This is a short, 13-episode show with fantastic animation and music by the glorious Hiroyuki Sawano about mechs and racism and youth and connections. Don't bother with Part 2, it tries too hard to be like the first part, is much less interesting, and the music isn't nearly as good. The dub is good, just a little bland.
• Neon Genesis Evangelion: duh. watch evangelion.
• Cowboy Bebop: duh. also watch bebop.
• FLCL: FLCL (or Fooly Cooly) was a 6-episode OVA by Gainax that came out in the early 2000s. It's unlike anything else and amazing in its own way. This is one to watch subbed, it just fits the whole vibe better.
• Rakuen Tsuihou: (English title: Expelled from Paradise) This is a movie about some androids and a deserted Earth and something like the metaverse. It's pretty cool. The main character was designed by our glorious king Masatsugu Saito (Xenoblade 2 and 3 character designer and artist) and that alone makes it worth watching. This is another one to watch subbed.
• Lycoris Recoil: Even if you don't know this show, you probably recognize the characters. This is a creative and well-paced girls-with-guns anime that is a surprisingly good depiction of how a modern first-world terrorist might behave (which means that in 15 years we'll look back on it and laugh). I didn't like the dub.
• Kill la Kill: I love this one. Trigger said "we have an awesome idea" and then made sure it was awesome until the very end. Plus! Sawano music. The dub is very good.
• Darling in the FranXX: The other big Trigger production. This is a mecha-not-really-mecha show about teenagers coming of age in a future where stuff really sucks. The story is the most Takahashi thing ever outside of Xenoblade---if you told me he was the writer I would not be the least bit surprised. The dub is very good and the music is surprisingly good too.
• Haruhi: duh. watch haruhi. the dub is extraordinarily good, to the point that it feels like the show was made by English speakers (aside from the school uniforms and class ranks and such).