Claire, Rose, Rachel, and Kate are in a horrible situation. Not only have they been told that one of their common friends, Lise, has committed suicide; they also have been informed that they are actually dead and that the only reason they still seem to be breathing is that they're needed for a very special mission. If they want to keep living, they need to fight for their lives against monsters that look like bestial men. And so, armed with nothing but their will to live, the four girls start to investigate what ties Lise's death with the bestial men.

Red Garden is a very strange series: On the surface, we could say it's another girls vs. monsters series, where our four protagonists learn the power of friendship while they save the world. However, while it is that, it also gives the viewer a very interesting mystery to solve. Not only that, it's one of the very few anime series that recorded the voice acting before the animation process started. Because of this, if you watch it in the original Japanese, you can see the lips sync perfectly with what the characters are saying. If you want to watch a very different brand of warrior girls, Red Garden will fit the bill.

Chise and Shuuji have a complicated relationship. He is quite bitter and, very often, it seems to other people that he doesn't really care for her, while she is incredibly shy and constantly apologizes for everything, which only infuriates Shuuji. But all that falls to the background when, during an aerial attack by a neighboring country, Shuuji discovers that Chise is turning into a living weapon that is supposed to protect Japan. From then on, as the war continues, Shuuji and Chise have to fight to preserve Chise's humanity, as she grows more and more detached as her transformations become more extreme.

Saishuu Heiki Kanojo, better known as Saikano, is one of GONZO's best-known anime with good reason. It's both a heartwarming love story and a harsh criticism against all wars. It's also a story that will make many hardened viewers cry, as there's no happy ending. But at the same time, the story is quite solid, and the changes made from the manga to the anime make sense and help to make the whole thing a bit less depressing without butchering the original message.

The best swordsman and the strongest warrior in the entire world are the ones who possess the "Number One Headband", but they can be challenged by whoever wears the Number Two Headband. The current possessor of the Number Two Headband is Afro, a young samurai who is dedicated to avenging his father's murder by the man who is now wearing the Number One Headband. Problem is, while only Afro can challenge this man, anyone can challenge the wearer of the Number Two Headband, and thus, those who look to get the headband and the right to challenge Number One constantly interrupt his mission.

Afro Samurai has a very interesting story behind the scenes, as it's a creative collaboration between Takashi Okaza, who did the original doujinshi on which the series is based; Samuel L. Jackson, who voices Afro; GONZO, who of course provides the animation; and RZA from the Wu-Tang Clan, who made the music. It's an amazing mixture of hip-hop and anime, which gives us a very futurist feudal Japan, as crazy as that sounds. It's also a short series with only 5 episodes, so it makes a great way to spend one afternoon.

Train Heartnet and Sven Vollfied are two bounty hunters who try to get by with small jobs that give them little cash. It would be awful, but the truth is that both enjoy having no real worries. Unfortunately, they both have secrets, and Train's tend to catch up with him at the worst times possible. Because see, Train was one of the most feared assassins working for Chronos, an organization dedicated to conquering the world. Even worse, his old partner, Creed Diskenth, is now trying to overthrow Chronos with his own group, and both groups want Train in their ranks.

Black Cat is a very fun and exciting action series, for those who enjoy spy stories. While most of the story follows Train and his quest to leave his past behind, we also get a lot from Sven, who used to be part of the police force who fought against Chronos, as well as from their allies, Eve and Rinslet. While there's also a very serious plot, we get to see some fun capers of the smaller jobs Train and Sven take. While the ending of the anime may be a bit frustrating, the whole series is a fun ride for viewers that you shouldn't miss.

After a terrible series of wars and division within the land, the Kanna village has nothing more to give except for their rice harvest. Which is a real problem when the Nobuseri bandits decide to attack them, as the Nobuseri are terrible ex-samurais who have merged with machines and thus have become deadly cyborgs. Convinced that only other samurai could defeat them, the villagers send three envoys to search for samurai who will be willing to defend their village in exchange for all the rice they can eat. While the mission is not easy, they manage to find seven samurai who fit the bill and are ready to fight against the Nobuseri, and, if needed, the whole government that has caused so much misery.

Anyone familiar with the Seven Samurai movie by Akira Kurosawa may recognize the basic plot. And yes, what happened here is that someone at GONZO saw the movie and decided that what it really needed was mecha because mecha makes everything better. And while it is not a cinematic masterpiece, it is a very enjoyable action series that showcases all of GONZO's animators' strengths.

Kaname Chidori is not having a nice month. This is because of the new transfer student, Sousuke Sagara, who is a really weird guy who speaks as if he was in the army and keeps following her around all the time. What she doesn't know is that he is not just a military enthusiast; he's a sergeant who was raised as a child soldier and belongs to the anti-terrorist organization Mithril. Not only that, he was sent undercover to protect her from different agencies who want to kidnap her for their own goals.

Full Metal Panic!, based on the light novel of the same name, is one of the funniest anime made by GONZO, which makes it a shame that they were only involved in the first season. The contrast between Kaname's normal life and Sousuke's inability to understand civilian high school life is always funny and it's constantly commented on by Sousuke's unit: Captain Testarossa, Mao, and Weber, who are quick to realize that Sousuke is falling in love with Kaname. While the following seasons, Fumoffu and The Second Raid, tend to be more popular; the original GONZO series is one you shouldn't miss.

Episodes: 24
Aired: November 2003 – June 2004

When demons attack mankind, only a few well-trained individuals can fight back. Those people are members of the Order of Magdalene, nuns, and priests that know exorcisms as well as combat in order to exterminate all demons. And yet, one of their own, Sister Rosette Christopher, is allied with a demon, the horn-less Chrno. The Order allows this because it's quite obvious to them that Chrono is also fighting against demons, and as the saying goes, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”.

Based on the manga by Daisuke Moriyama, Chrno Crusade has everything a fan of action and fantasy could want. While the idea of combat nuns is not precisely new, the secret twists in the story make it feel quite original, especially when we get into the relationship between Rosette and Chrno. The animation is also very smooth and the ending is quite fitting, even if some may describe it as heart-wrenching.

When the Montague family seized control of the kingdom of Neo Verona, they had no mercy on their rivals and slaughtered the entire Capulet family in one night. However, they didn't know that the heir to the throne, Juliet Fiammata Asto Capulet managed to survive thanks to the captain of the guard. And years later, she started fighting against them under the identity of the Red Whirlwind. But near her sixteenth birthday, she meets Romeo Candorebanto Montague, son of the man who killed her family, and since neither of them knows the true identity of the other, they fall in love.

"For never was a story of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo". This is the last sentence in the famous Romeo and Juliet play by William Shakespeare, which serves as the blueprint for the Romeo x Juliet series. Is not a spoiler, since the ending of Romeo and Juliet is so well-known that even people who have never seen the play know it. Still, GONZO manages to give some really interesting twists to the old classic and make you wish that the ending could be different this time around. In the end, Romeo x Juliet is a great series for those who like reimagining old stories, which has enough surprises even for a jaded fan.

When Viscount Albert de Morcerf and Baron Franz d'Epinay meet the Count of Monte Cristo after a night of partying on the colony of Luna, they couldn't know that he would end up ruining their families and their lives. While to Albert, the Count presents himself as a self-made millionaire who desires to be part of the high class on the Moon, in truth he is a cold, calculating man who is planning his revenge against many of the nobles Albert calls friends.

Gankutsuou is based, quite loosely, on the novel The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas. Since it's a bit less known than Romeo and Juliet, we really don't want to give too many spoilers, but the main difference is that while the book is told in the Count's point of view, Gankutsuou gives us the point of view of his victims, which make the story look quite different from the original. It also has some of GONZO's most experimental animation, because while the characters and backgrounds move, the textures of their clothes don't, which creates a very distinct visual effect that makes it an unforgettable series.

Tatsuhiro Satou is twentytwo and has not left his room since he was eighteen and he dropped out of college: He is a Hikikomori, a shut-in, with no real employment or future for himself. This is a common situation in Japan, but he is convinced this is not by chance. He believes that the Nihon Hikikomori Kyokai –the Society for Hikikomori in Japan- or NHK for short, is the one to blame for this. They're an evil conspiracy that is dedicated to destroying social life in Japan by spreading the hikikomori culture. This is when he meets Misaki Nakahara, a girl that is completely dedicated to helping him get out of the apartment, and face society once again.

NHK ni Youkoso! is a fascinating series because it portrays a part of Japanese society that has been, at times, misunderstood. Hikikomori culture has grown in the past decades, and whenever they appear in anime, it's usually as the punchline or as the very creepy individual who has no grip on reality. Tatsuhiro, in contrast, may have delusions about conspiracy theories, but he is very sympathetic, and makes NHK ni Youkoso! a very layered story that all fans of Japanese society and culture should watch.