Anime/Manga Recommendations?

[Elite]

It's simple: just post what anime/manga you like, a brief summary, and why you liked it/them. I'll start off.

Shoujo Kakumei Utena/Revolutionary Girl Utena
Anime or Manga: Anime, haven't read manga
Genre(s): Drama, Fantasy, Shoujo, Psychological
Warnings: hints of incest and homosexuality
Summary: After her parents died, young Utena Tenjou was confronted by a kind prince who gave her a ring with a rose crest on it. So impressed she was, by the prince, that she vowed to become a prince herself one day. Years pass and that hasn't changed. Utena, now a tomboyish teenager, is attending Ohtori Academy, where she meets a timid student named Anthy Himemiya, later revealed to be the "Rose Bride". Through a series of events, Utena finds herself involved in some dueling competition where the prize for winning is the Rose Bride herself. Overcoming the strangeness of this situation, Utena must fight to protect her friend and discover the secrets of Ohtori Academy.
Why I liked it: To be honest, I discovered this anime through a yuri AMV. However, there really isn't any yuri in the series (not counting the horrible movie). I think what moved me the most was all the symbolism and hinting that goes on that reminds me of Shakespeare. There's a lot of deep stuff in there that, if you aren't watching carefully, you'll miss. It's also pretty dark and psychological, though it has a lot of light moments, especially in the beginning. To top it off, it Revolutionary Girl Utena has a fun, diverse cast of characters that make the show very enjoyable and memorable. I give the anime a 10/10. ^^

Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni/When They Cry
Anime or Manga: Anime, haven't read the manga
Genre(s): Comedy, Mystery, Horror, Psychological, Thriller
Warnings: Blood and violence-- a lot of it
Summary: The story revolves around a group of friends, Keiichi, Mion, Rena, Satoko, and Rika, and how they live through a never-ending hell where friends aren't as friendly as they once thought. The first season is pretty much just them killing each other; once someone's dead, we start over back to the beginning, all happy sunshine and rainbows, until the next murder happens and just go cycling like that. It doesn't really make sense at first. The second season gets better though, but I don't want to spoil it~
Why I liked it: It's hard to say exactly why I liked it. At first, the killing parts made me go "Whoah O_O" and it was hard to go to bed at night, but as I watched on I got used to it. Perhaps even liked it. But before I went absolutely mad, the second season started up, which clarified a lot of things. But again, I don't want to spoil it. I rate this series a 10/10.

Girl Friends
Anime or Manga: Manga
Genres: School, Shoujo-ai/Yuri
Warnings: YURI :U gets a bit mature near the end
Summary: Kumakura Mari, to put it bluntly, is your typical, reserved loner. She's rather plain and and has very few friends, always eating lunch by herself and spends her time reading. One day, she is approached by Oohashi "Akko" Akiko, an outgoing, fashionable girl who says she wants to be friends with Mari. Though Mari is a bit skeptical about Akko's intentions, she goes along with it, starting a great friendship and, perhaps, something more.
myanimelist.net/manga/3102/Girl_Friends/reviews If you have the time, read tehnominator's review. I loved it. :'D
Why I liked it: Girl Friends portrays the drama of a teenage girl's life. Friends, school, fitting in, peer pressure, going through all sorts of ups and downs... It's something any teen can relate to. But then we have our protagonist, Mari, who thinks she might be falling for her best friend-- who's also a girl. So while going through all this "normal" teenage drama, she's also dealing with this, each day worrying if this feeling's true and denying it and wondering what other people would think-- especially Akko. The whole manga is portrayed in a realistic way, like I could picture this happening at my school, even within my own group. Though the ending was a bit lackluster, I give Girl Friends a 10/10.

... The actual shows/manga are better than my summaries, rest assured. And you don't have to use the form I did if you don't want. o3o
-waits for someone to post a shounen-ai anime/manga... or anything else xD;-

[Suki.hime]

Hmmm. I'll give it a go. Be warned for mild spoilers. I'll try to be good about that though. I'll also try to focus on my favorites that are more unknown~

Houkago Hokenshxtsu / After School Nightmare
Anime or Manga: Manga
Genre(s): Drama, Psychological
Warnings: Shoujo-ai, shonen-ai, or straight pairings... depending on how you look at it. Also mildly violent and could be seen as disturbing.
Summary: The story revolves around Mashiro Ichijo, a transexual person, upper-male lower-female, that's trying to find his identity. In school he claims he's a boy and is thus an idol to the girls there, as he can relate to them easily... but he doesn't feel entirely right about it. While this is going on, the story centers around a mysterious class, in where the subject is put to sleep and sent into a dream world to find a key, while competing with other classmates to find it -- you must find the key to graduate, but once you do, everyone will forget you ever existed.
Why I liked it: This is my favorite manga of all time, even if I threw the last book at the wall by the end... the whole series is just incredibly smart, and I've never read a manga written with such intense symbolism and hidden depth as it. It is definitely something you have to read again to catch everything that made you ask what was happening before. There's foreshadowing everywhere. Even all of the covers are symbolic... I've been able to predict pretty much everything in every manga I've read, but this series threw me for a loop. The gender identity crisis and all the morals questioned are just lovely, and all the characters are pretty likeable and eerie in a wonderful way. c: The dream world was brilliant to me, in that ((Vague spoiler warning until end)) your physical appearance can change subtley or drastically depending on your current personality, thoughts, etc.... some classmates have clear advantages over others based upon their will, and secrets can be revealed to others just based upon the manifestation of you, and... ooohhh how I love this series! TwT <3

Kanojo-tachi no X-Day / X-Day
Anime or Manga: Manga
Genre(s): Psychological, Romance
Warnings: Only two volumes. ;___;
Summary: The story revolves around four people that meet each other online, and find out they attend the same school. They soon figure out their mutual frustration at their school and meet up in real life, refering to each other under their usernames, to discuss their plans of blowing it up.
Why I liked it: I really just liked the general concept of the story... there isn't much to say other than 'read it'. xD It's by the same person as the other series above. I think it sort of hits home as a student myself, and it's powerful in feeling their determination to end what's made them miserable. Their personalities individually and the references to their usernames also made me smile. The only thing I didn't like was that it was so short. ;___;

Nabari no Ou / Ruler of Nabari
Anime or Manga: Anime and manga. Only seen anime.
Genre(s): Action, Comedy, Drama, Supernatural
Warnings: Subtle shounen-ai.
Summary: This story is a much better version of Naruto about a boy, Miharu, who realizes he's been given the most coveted secret art in the village that leaves his life forever changed; the Shinra Banshou. It's basically his decision to decide what to do with it... to side with his village, the enemy, or a new friend. There's no way to simplify this and not sound stupid, so basically it's a lighthearted action-comedy with some tragedy mixed in, about casual ninjas... xD
Why I liked it: The plot generally interested me, and I found myself loving almost all the characters. There's a lot of personality in it, so that you can have a serious plotline but an easygoing, almost parodying mood. The action is very well-done, I loved the art style, and the relationships between characters are just cute, even if it can be at times cliche. c: It is also a much better version of Naruto.
((Side Note: While I did say this was Shounen-Ai, my friend got through episode 17 without ever realizing that... it was only until I told him that he said 'Oh, well... that sort of makes sense now'. So don't be intimidated by that. On the other hand, as a yaoi fan, I realized that pretty quickly. TwT))

May add more later. : D

[Elite]

-adds those three to her to-watch/read list-

Ah, I've heard of Afterschool Nightmare. I never knew what it was about, though form what you say it sounds interesting. I think I'd like it.

And I've heard of Nabari no Ou too. I think that might've already been on my to-watch list. =o

... -isn't sure what else to say-

[Elite]

Apparently there aren't many good anime/manga to recommend. ;^;

Houou Gakuen Misoragumi
Anime or Manga: Manga
Genre(s): Comedy, Romance, School, Shoujo, Gender Bender
Warnings: The main character's a sapphist, but it takes place in an all guy's school, so...
Summary: Ouran High School Host Club meets Maria†Holic
Kei Saeba is a yuri. Her mother isn't happy. In an attempt to push her daughter to forget girls and marry a rich man, she secretly enrolls her in Houou High, a prestegious all-boys school. Now Kei must pretend she's a boy for the rest of her high school career lest she be "erased".
Why I liked it: OHSH meets M†H... why wouldn't I like it? xD
Admittedly, it's not as funny as either OHSH or M†H (then again, I've only read a few chapters of this >.>;), but the premise hooked me. Probably not for everyone, but I'm liking it so far. Plus Kei and Kousuke are adorable~

SPOILER: Click to show