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 a list of all anime I can recommend, and some I cannot. I am a dub cuck, but not exclusively: unless otherwise specified, I watched every show dubbed and I like the dub. I always try dubs and I have a pretty low tolerance for bad production or voices. This list is in no particular order or ranking.

• Steins;Gate: A fantastic show and a must-see for basically anyone in my opinion. A bunch of college kids make a time machine and get in far over their heads. 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 is 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.
• 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).
• 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. The story is, well, interesting. Be aware that it starts a little slow then hits its stride before throwing everything away.
• Frieren: Everyone knows Frieren. I like that it's a fantasy story that isn't isekai, and genuinely my only problem with the entire show is that I feel that none of the humor is remotely entertaining---it all seems completely out of place. This doesn't detract from the show however. The dub sucks, watch subbed.
• my isekai trio:
  • Konosuba: Konosuba is required viewing. It's also genuinely entertaining and heartfelt. I have not watched it dubbed but it's probably good.
  • Re:Zero: Also required viewing, not because it's sooooo amazing (though it is pretty damn good), but because it's iconic and actually deserves the hype. The dub is decent but falls off in Season 3 because they didn't dub any of the songs, which are fairly important to the story.
  • Mushoku Tensei: I actually cannot recommend anyone watch this. The story is fantastic but the main character is possibly one of the most vile characters ever written, not because he's immoral, but also because he's very immoral. If you can handle that, it's great, and also one of my favorite dubs.
• Lucky Star: A classic, it shows up everywhere and it's just really good. Watch it subbed (the dub is okay but a lot of jokes are about Japanese culture so it seems odd to translate them), and use this list or another to help you get the 2000s Japanese culture references.
• March comes in like a lion: Teenage orphan is really good at shogi but also depressed, makes friends, finds love, etc. Read the manga too.
• Parasyte: - the maxim -: Alien thing grows into kid's hand and causes him to ponder humanity's position at the top of the food chain. This one has a slight slump but it's worth getting through it.
• Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood: Fullmetal is my kind of shounen, none of that powerscaling overdramatic JoJo's crap, but people actually using their brains and their powers to do new and interesting things.
• Panty and Stocking: This show actually sucks, but in the right way where the writers knew it sucked and made it good. It's a parody of American cartoons among other things. I have heard that the dub is very good but no way in hell I'm watching this one dubbed.
• Gurren Lagann: Fantastic mecha show, you probably knew that already. Watch it.