What Are You Watching?

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Crunchyroll is going to start simulcasting Detective Conan!!!

Interesting. That said, I think I'll just stick with the manga whenever I finally get around to this series, which I will, eventually. I remember really enjoying it back when it aired on the old school anime block of Adult Swim. Hopefully the manga has that same spark to it.

[LumRanmaYasha]

The anime for Detective Conan is better than the manga, imo, so I'd advise you to watch it over reading it, especially since you can skip the cases that aren't related to the plot much easier. Not to say the manga isn't good, it is, but the anime is just a better way to experience the series, since there's a lot of talking in it so the manga gets pretty text-heavy sometimes, which makes it much harder to marathon read, whereas the Conan anime doesn't have that problem at all since, even though it's still a lot of talking, the direction, music, voice acting, etc. is all so good it really keeps your interest much tighter. Again, I do like both, but I do think the anime is a preferable experience over the manga if you were just to choose one.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Alright, I'll go with the anime, then, but I'll have to look up a guide of filler episodes beforehand so that I know which ones to skip.

[Foggle]

Season 1 of Full Metal Panic alternates between awesome and mediocre. Some episodes are interesting, exciting, and/or hilarious, while others are just boring. The pacing can be kind of wonky and the animation is generally pretty bad (thanks Gonzo), but the villain is great, certain episodes are fantastic, and overall, it's definitely worth watching as a lead-in to the much better Fumoffu and TSR.

[Avaitor]

Season 1 of Full Metal Panic alternates between awesome and mediocre. Some episodes are interesting, exciting, and/or hilarious, while others are just boring. The pacing can be kind of wonky and the animation is generally pretty bad (thanks Gonzo), but the villain is great, certain episodes are fantastic, and overall, it's definitely worth watching as a lead-in to the much better Fumoffu and TSR.

I second Foggle. The good outweighs the bad for FMP, but it's just a taste of the awesomeness that's to come.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Alright, I'll go with the anime, then, but I'll have to look up a guide of filler episodes beforehand so that I know which ones to skip.

Here's a pretty good list of all the most essential episodes in the series that I just found. 

I think Vlord is using a different list than this one, though, so maybe he can chime in and share that one as well.

Personally, I got into Detective Conan thinking it was an episodic mystery series and wouldn't have any real story, and I can dig that, and so that's why I like watching pretty much every episode, even the ones not related to the overarching story, especially since most of the cases are and have always been so incredibly well done. But, since the plot is so addicting/good and there are just so many episodes, I do recommend skipping the non-essential episodes until you get caught up, and then maybe go back and watch the others later.

As for FMP!, I'm pretty sure I'll like the first season just fine, despite whatever minute issues it might have. And since the entire dub is on Hulu, it'll be easier for me to watch more of it in chunks and while doing other things, so it should all be good.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Thanks for the list, though I actually just meant episodes adapted from the manga in general, rather than just the ones about the main plot. I actually do want to watch some of the good mystery episodes that have nothing to do with the main plot, but I don't want to get bogged down in too much filler, which is why I'd watch the ones adapted from the manga rather than the anime only ones, unless those are also just as good.

As for FMP, I definitely think that the good outweighs the bad in the first season, but just be ready for some really boring episodes in the middle. Both the 2nd and 3rd seasons are worth it, though, as well as the first season, for that matter. And then after that you can either read the LN translations or the Sigma manga to finish up the rest of the series.

[VLordGTZ]

I think Vlord is using a different list than this one, though, so maybe he can chime in and share that one as well.

This is the list that I use:
http://www.detectiveconanworld.com/wiki/Anime

Some of the anime-only episodes are good, but the manga adapted eps tend to be consistently better, imo. 

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

So, should I take it that any episodes with any symbols attached to them are the ones worth watching, and that the ones without symbols are mostly just filler and can be skipped?

[LumRanmaYasha]

The ones with symbols next to them are the most essential to watch in order to understand the overall story. However, you said you wanted to watch all the cases adapted from the manga, in which case you should watch all the episodes that list the chapters they are adapted from next to them, and skip the majority of the episodes listed as TV Original (not all of those, though, since the ones with symbols next to them are recommended viewing as well).

[Spark Of Spirit]

If you're going for pure overall plot relevance it looks like there's a lot of dead space in there. I'd imagine you would catch up fairly fast that way.

Oh, and FMP has a few pacing issues, but the overall experience is worth it. It's just a shame they never adapted the rest of the story.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Well, looking at it again, for some reason they don't list certain episodes which are a part of multi-part episodes/arcs with symbols, so you gotta be wary of that. Overall, about half the series is comprised of plot-important episodes...which still amounts to around needing to watch 350+ episodes. So, it's still going to take a considerable amount of time to get caught up, overall. 

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Hey, I've managed to marathon over 300 episodes of One Piece before, back when I was first getting into the series and had already caught up with the manga, so it's definitely possible for me to do. That said, I no longer have the time to pull something like that off in just a matter of weeks. It's probably take me at least all year long to do.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Oh, and FMP has a few pacing issues, but the overall experience is worth it. It's just a shame they never adapted the rest of the story.

Well, if we're talking about the anime, than no. But, I'd like to point out that the manga, in and of itself, is an adaptation, and that has finished adapting the rest of the story for well over a year now. Hell, it even adapted one some of the short stories, particularly Voice From The North, which I consider to be an excellent one-shot chapter in both the light novel and manga series that details Sousuke's origins, and his history with Kalinin (the story is told from Kalinin's point of view, which is brilliant).

[Avaitor]

"If you have time to say all that, you have time to run, you little brat."

Okay, Stardust Crusaders is growing on me.