Metropolis - Recommendations

• Movie (1 ep x 115 min)
• 2001

While on the hunt for an underage hacker, Faye is the sole witness to identifying a man who causes a tanker explosion that leaves people up to three miles away in comas. The bounty that ensues is the largest the galaxy has EVER seen, 300,000,000 wulongs. It's up to Spike and the gang to solve the mystery of this strange disease, and to stop the assailant at large, for failure would result in all life on Mars being eliminated on Halloween night.

• TV (52 eps)
• 1980 - 1981

Dr. Tenma is obsessed with creating a robot with a soul, so much that he forgot to care for his own son Toby; and when Toby is killed in a car crash, Dr. Tenma is overcome with grief and models his next robot, who has a soul, after his dead son. Things quickly take a turn for the worse as Toby is not accepted into society; and Dr. Tenma, angry with the fact that Toby is a robot who can't replace his son, drives Toby into the clutches of the evil owner of a robot circus, the place where he earns the name Astroboy. Astroboy is rescued by Dr. Elefun, Dr. Tenma’s successor, after his disappearance. From then on Astroboy has to struggle to be accepted into a society that views robots as inferior to humans, while fighting to protect them in turn. With the help of Dr. Elefun, Astroboy has to find his place on Earth and gain confidence in his own powers – all to become the greatest hero ever.

• Web (6 eps x 15 min)
• 2008 - 2009

In the future, androids live side by side with humans – but not as their equals, as their slaves. Though they look identical, these androids must display a holographic ring over their heads so the difference is clear. One day, a boy named Rikuo finds abnormal activity patterns in the logs of his own android, and alongside his friend Masaki, he sets forth to find where the android has been. Much to their surprise, the duo discovers a secret café known as Eve no Jikan with a single rule: within its walls, there must be no discrimination between humans and robots. In this place, androids appear to be human and are even displaying signs of independence – a trait that should not be possible. Rikou finds his perceptions increasingly challenged as he struggles to come to terms with his own android, and the relationship between man and machines...

• TV (27 eps)
• 2007

Simon lives a boring life in the underground village of Jeeha, where his main job day in and day out is to dig tunnels. His close friend Kamina, however, longs to bust out of their oppressive existence and reach the surface world where open skies and adventure await! One day, during his usual digs, Simon discovers a robot with a big face buried amongst the rocks. No sooner has he shown Kamina his mysterious find when two beings from the surface crash land into Jeeha Village - one is a gun-toting woman calling herself Yoko and the other is a terrifying mecha piloted by a Beastman! Seeing their chance to escape village drudgery, Kamina rallies Simon and Yoko to defeat the invader using their new robot, Lagann. However, upon breaking out onto the surface world, Simon, Kamina, and Yoko encounter enemies more powerful than they could have envisioned. Their fight for adventure just turned into a war for the survival of the human race - will their lust for freedom hold out against such terrible odds?

• OVA (1 ep x 40 min)
• 2005

A young boy named Ryo perished in an accident long ago, and at his parents’ wishes he lives on through an android named Suzu. He must regularly have Ryu’s memories artificially injected into him, and undergo a series of tests at the personality plant he resides at. During a session testing his motor movements, Suzu loses a baseball inside another building and goes exploring; there, he meets a young girl of the same age named Hotori. Though Suzu is an android, he still is able to present human emotions, and feels disheartened when he learns that Hotori rarely leaves the room. More importantly, Hotori suffers from a disease in which her memory rapidly deteriorates. Suzu and Hotori soon form an intimate bond, and question what it really means to live.

• TV (13 eps)
• 2018

As a child, Violet was used by the military as a weapon because of her combat prowess. Her one friend and protector was Major Gilbert, who named the girl, taught her how to speak and write, and cared for her. But after being seriously injured in the war, losing both arms in the process, Violet is brought to the Evergarden household to recuperate. There, she trains to become an Auto Memories Doll: a person who writes letters for others, deciphering their true feelings and expressing it on paper. As Violet travels the world, she helps her clients find love and comfort through the letters she writes; but more importantly, she slowly begins to understand emotions, so that she can finally cope with what she’s done, and what she’s lost.