snowynight

Gundam Wing is my first introduction to the Gundam Franchise, in which a squadron of five giant robot pilots of a beleaguered Earth colony is sent to bring the war to their oppressive home planet. Relena is one of the main characters and my favourite.

At the beginning, Relena is the daughter of Darliano, the Vice Foreign Minister of the Alliance and peace advocate. She's lonely but leads a peaceful and sheltered life. Then her world gradually crumbles. Darliano is assassinated. Before his death, he tells her that she's actually the daughter of King Peacecraft, who dies upon the Alliance's attack of their country. Still a teenager, Relena now has to take the mantle of being the sovereign of the newly reestablished Sanc Kingdom.

Like her birth and adopted fathers, Relena is a pacifist and advocates peace between the Earth and the colonies. She holds on to her ideal in the face of attack of the Alliance, willingly surrenders to save her people . The Alliance wants to use her as a puppet, but they underestimates her. I really like the scene that during her captivity, she gives a public speech about pacifism. She sees Heero in the shadow and correctly guesses that he is coming to kill her for supposedly betraying her principle, but she says her last word and is ready for death.  It's inspiring to see how she grows from a sad rich teenaged girl to a charismatic and principled leader.

Made in Abyss is an anime that follows an orphaned girl named Riko, who finds and befriends the humanoid robot Reg, and descends with him into the titular "Abyss" that leads deep into the Earth, in hopes of finding her mother. Riko is a daring trickster, and the the scenery is striking:
 

My list of top speculative fiction work. One of the criteria is that I have read/watched/etc and enjoy them so I'm sure many worthy are missing because of my lack of knowledge.

Anime/Manga
Phoenix (manga) by Osamu Tezuka: It's epic, spanning from early Japanese civilization to near future science fiction, dealing with the matter of life and death.

Pluto by Naoki Urasawa. It's a futuristic thriller, set in a world that robots work, marry, adopt children alongside humans. I think it's the most complete work of the author.

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Comlex: I like the description of the post-modern futuristic world and the examination of the issue of transhumanism.

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind: A post-apocalyptic classic by Hayao Miyazaki

Sailor Moon: The first to combine magic girls with sentai team. Influential to my childhood. Featuring homosexual couple and a het romance that defies gender convention.

Angel Sanctuary: When I first read it at a tender age, I was amazed by the massive world building and the use of mythology. Of course I know that it's problematic in many way, but it still has a place in my heart.

Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle by Clamp: I can't not include Clamp's work, and I chose it because I have a weakness for multi-world

Gundam Franchise: Well, it's just influential in realistic robots anime/manga.

Dennō Coil: I like the thought it it in imagining a world that tradition and near future technology co-exist.

Hoshin Engi by Ryu Fujisaki: Another influential work in my childhood. The original work it's based on is dull to me, but the manga manages to create an interesting premise, thoughtful exploration of fate, loads and loads of great characters and action.

Book (single)

Journey to the West by Wu cheng en. Chinese literature classic. Characters bigger than life, imaginative world, and just great fun to read.

Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio or Liaozhai Zhiyi . Another classic. A wide world of supernatural interseded with the ordinary, sympathetic characters, and great lots.

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin. My first encounter with the concept of genderqueer and fluidity of sexuality.

I Robot by Issac Asimov. Love Susan Calvin and sci-fi mystery

The Tough Guide to FantasyLand by DWJ. Scathing and funny

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez: An epic that defines magical realism.

Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Caroll: I find the world inspiring and just funny.

Un Lun Dun by China Mieville. I like the twist of the chosen one and the under city.

Sunshine by Robin McKinley. I love the hint of a bigger world and would like to see more.

Half Human by Bruce Coville: Just lovely.

Book series

Onmyouji by Baku Yumemakura. I love the description of the supernatural Japanese world. It has been adapted into movies and manga.

Kino's Journey: I love the sense of wonder, the description of the various countries Kino visits. It has been adapted into an anime.

Legends of Galactic Heroes by Dr. Yoshiki Tanaka. Epic space opera. The world view is a bit dated but is still good.

Lord of the Rings Trilogy by J. R. R. Tolkien. Yes, it's on the NPR list. Yes, it's a classic that defines a genre.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to Galaxy by Douglas Adams. It's great fun to read

Tales of the Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin. The first time I hear about it I'm told it's a series that girls are not allowed to learn magic. Not my idea of fun. But I'm glad that I give it a chance.

The Steerswomen Series by Rosemary Kirstein: I love that it deals greatly with knowledge and the pursuit of it.

Yin Yang series by Nu Heng: Paranormal romance done right.

Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko: I like the take of light and darkness.

Comics/Graphic novel

Hero: An amnesiac boy and a demon on a journey to cities. Poignant. Fascinating

Planetary by Warren Ellis. I like exploration and wonder and strangeness and the reference to mainstream comics.

Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures in the 8th Grade: Socially awkward girl superhero meets loyal mad scientist genius. Time travel done right.

Marvel Adventures: Avengers. The list can't be complete with more mainstream superhero comics, and MA: A is clever, fun and constantly good.


Game:
Planescape: Torment Multiverse. A world so great I can forever play in it.


TV

Star Trek: The Original Series It's classic sci-fi TV.

Legend: Detailed historical details with fantasy elements

Links


Unusual opinions. I was entranced by this fandom-related post, where people came out of the woodwork to declare the things they loved.


Duck Duck Go A search engine that doesn't save your data or railroad your search results towards sites you are more likely to ideologically agree with