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Thread: Your Top Ten Anime List

  1. #1

    Kirby Your Top Ten Anime List

    I know it's one of those incredibly 1997 threads that you thought you might not have to participate in again by hopefully just a few years later, but here it is nearly a decade on and you're being asked for a list again. Well you're all older now and have had time to develop tastes and to experience probably a fairly broad spectrum of stuff, so I'm curious what you've landed on as your favorites over time.

    And yes, I got this idea and cut and pasted from another thread to start it.

    *Bubblegum Crisis: Hard to call it a series as it's an OVA, but the animation in this show is phenomenal and the really dark subtext and atmosphere is pulled off as good as any dystopian future in anything ever. Seriously.

    *Cowboy Bebop: It's an homage to the old and a slick packaging of the new. Good action series well directed and animated with two lead characters that are now iconic in their own right.

    *serial experiments lain: I realize this show put a lot of people to sleep and made little sense to even more people, but its eerie presentation and extremely well directed vision are as good to me as it would have been live action. Take that as you will I guess. There was some trippy philosophy in this show and some well pulled off mind fucks. At the end of the day, think of it as a mecha series, seriously, and then think over its entirety from that perspective; it's a very interesting take on that genre in my opinion. I've never seen Boogiepop Phantom, but switch them out if you feel it necessary as plenty seem to.

    *The Vision of Escaflowne: What makes this series really special to me is how incredibly alive the world of Gaia was made, from politics to religion, ethinicity, race and species, regional attributes... It was a fully formed world. One of the better fantasies in either hemisphere. Reminded me a lot of a series of books I read by Guy Gavriel Kay years ago: The Fionavar Tapestry. I think Escaflowne was pretty literary.

    *Macross (Robotech) : It's a space opera/soap opera. The main backdrop of the show (the war) pales in comparison to the relationships between the characters. Sure it has its fair share of corny stuff, but the characters that start off seeming to just be archetypical really develop and show three dimensions. This is something I really appreciate when something animated can pull it off successfully which goes to my next few shows as well.

    *Kimagure Orange Road: Certainly not without its share of filler eps, the episodes that do drive the series forward are touching and it ultimately comes to a rewarding conclusion. It's a romantic comedy with some Ranma-esque shenanigans (the main character's family are ESPers) but there's something really melancholic about the three way relationship of the principles. It's all couched in what it was like to be 15 years old and is narrated somewhat, in a way that the main guy is looking back on those years and it moves me. This show also provided one of the funniest moments I've ever seen in anything (spoiler warning just in case: the first time one of the girls sees a penis it's done in such a true but absurd fashion that I nearly died laughing).

    *Maison Ikkoku: I have the same feelings about how the relationship is handled in this series. Mostly because the main woman is a widow who loves her dead husband still and is having trouble coping. But throughout the course of the show she gradually is moving on. It's a kooky comedy that's trying at times because the residents of the apartment building are pretty much assholes when it comes right down to it, but the relationship is compelling enough to want to keep up with it.

    *Kodomo no Omocha: This series cracks me up. I like the concept: a child star trying to cope with her celebrity plus middle school and boys. It sounds pretty mundane, but as funny as the comedy is (and I think it's very funny), the relationship stuff and bits of drama here are equally well done. The art style is pretty different than what I'm used to as far as character design goes (long thin limbs and whatnot) but I actually got used to it quick and like it a lot now. When Sana (main girl) in the middle of conversation breaks into song on her little synth and uses her digital note taker as a sampler, all is right in the world.

    *Touch: It's true that I'm not very far into this show yet, but it's quickly becoming a favorite. It's another romantic comedy that can be fairly heavy on the drama. It's also considered a sports series as a lot of it revolves around baseball. The first thing of note about this series is how true it is to the three main characters as friends or prospective romantic interests. Two twin boys grow up since birth next door to a girl and are inseparable from her, almost like family. But when they hit puberty, things start to get complicated and watching it play out in a truthful manner is really nice. Plus the girl's attitude is refreshing: she's pretty outspoken without being abrasive and is very honest though tries to take care to not really hurt her friends, but to help them as much as possible. The second thing of note is a huge spoiler that I accidentally stumbled upon while researching this series and it puts a whole slant on my perspective of the show, even though I haven't reached this point yet: one of the brothers is killed in a car accident his first year in high school (27 or so episodes in). At this point I can only imagine how this effects the other two principle characters, but I'm excited to find out how it all unfolds.

    *Ranma 1/2: At the very least, the first few seasons. The main reason I love this show is because of Akane. It's too bad her and Ranma's relationship has very little development and that I'm not willing to watch the later seasons to find out if they ever really get together, but I still like to rewatch the early seasons every now and again. Oh, I like Shampoo too. And Tatewake Kuno, The Blue Thunder of Furinkan High School spouting off his poetry and pursuing Akane is funny.
    Last edited by Scourge; 07 Apr 2006 at 11:08 AM.

  2. Wow that lists look familar.

    Anyway i will refrain my list to things i have fully seen. Their are a lot of anime I just never finished. Also this is IMO

    Cowboy Bebop: Great writing, characters,plot,design. everything just clicked.

    Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex: While I find the movie beautiful but extremely complicated and arrogant the show kicked ass. it replaced the philosphy with politics which (shock) is far more interesting than whether or not machines can have souls.

    Full metal Alchemist: It's a nice story with an interesting story.(Thugh it gets full of itself later on)

    Dragonballz: Pure machoism. It didn't go for politics,satire or deep inner meaning. It came to entertain. It did it well.

    Gundam Wing: This was the first Gundam I had ever seen from start to finish( I had snippets of earlier seasons) It blew my fragile pre-teen mind. It had politics, a love story, Crazy ass mechs and some quotes i still use to this day. Years later i realize the show isn't all that great, but it will always have that place for me. that and....

    08th MS gundam team: Funny how the most human gundam peices are told in the shortest amount of time. i was moved more by 12 eps of MS than some of the 50 ep. series. great characters, scenery and they portrayed a mech battle in a realistic light.(no lone 12 year old killing everything with ease.)

    Paronia Agent: Creepy and crazy. Got a little bogged later on in the series though.

    Magical Shopping arcade Abenabashi: Funny and crazy. This is one of the few "comedy" anime's that can actually make me laugh.

    Fooly Cooly: Same as above.

    I'll finish this list later.

  3. Irresponsible Captain Tylor (TV series, NOT THE OAVS): A welcome 180 from the typically angst-ridden space war genre. Unparallelled slacker Justy Ueki Tylor is put in command of a broken-down battleship with the dregs of the United Planets Space Force, wackiness ensues as both the opposing forces and the top brass of the UPSF continually try to put Tylor and his crew out of the picture. Of particular note is the amazing ending, a rarity for anime series in general.

    Cowboy Bebop: Yeah, yeah, old hat, whatever. Amazingly stylish direction, art, and music can't be denied. I'm also a fan of the way most of the epidsodes tell a complete story and can be fully enjoyed in any sequence, as IMO anime has become much too reliant on long multi-episode arcs.

    Escaflowne: A very good exercise at reimagining the mech genre by way of classical fantasy. Like Scourge, I'm also a big fan of the attention to the diverse style of the world and the dead-on medieval armor style of the mechs.

    Boogiepop Phantom: A dark supernatural mystery that explores many viewpoints on a series of events. Over the course of the series, pieces of these events are gradually filled in by the different perspectives and it all comes together in the end in a very satisfying fashion. In many ways it's the polar opposite of Lain; where Lain gets weirder and weirder and ends on a "arg what the hell just happened" sort of way, BP starts out with a lot of fragmentary scenes that make you say that, but then adds onto those fragments as the series goes on; you're made to say "OH" a lot, until by the end most everything has been made sense of.

    More later...
    Last edited by Bacon McShig; 07 Apr 2006 at 02:33 PM.

  4. #4
    I really do want to check out Boogiepop Phantom. What you say about lain is true; this explains it to a degree:

    The show comprises thirteen episodes, each titled with a theme "layer," as in a software layer. (As software layers accumulate, they become more abstract, and one might argue the same is true with Lain).
    For more explanations on lain, I like to refer people to this review to shed some light on possibly just what the hell was going on. I know that for me that review actually enhanced the series, so haters of lain may be interested to check it out.

  5. ok 1. giant robo(original manga dub). yeah my favorite anime is in the one subgenre of anime that i dont particularly care for. but this was a great dramatic character story, i loved how the ending turned everything on its head.

    2. night on the galactic railroad- dark, slow paced, but also deep and meaningful.

    3. serial experiments lain- dark, weird and increasingly strange, love it.

    4. boogiepop phantom- similar weirdness to lain, the ending wasnt everything id hoped for, but the atmosphere rocked.

    5. slayers- switch gears time, this stands for both the oav's and the series, though i liked the series a bit more, got over fillered later, but especially the eps where we meet amelia's father are hysterical.

    6. excel saga- a very good parody series, very well done, and some of the best quotable lines in anime

    7. bobobo bo bo bobo- makes no sense, totally random, but i love it.

    8. elf princes raine- hyperactive comedy, next to no down time, really wish they had finished the series.

    9.escaflone- a little girly but beautifully done.

    10. dragon half- older comedy, but sufficiently weird.

    i keep meaning to check out paranoia agent, it looks like a good lain/boogie type show. and one more listing
    WORST ANIME EVER- betterman- i tried, really did, but it just sucked on all levels.

    EDIT deux- some lists have reminded me of a few things, first i forgot flcl, it would have probably been around 4 or 5, good mix of unobtrusive philosophy with clever comedy/randomness, loved the soundtrack too. second abenobashi would have just skimmed below my list i liked it but it felt uneven, there was some great comedy, some clever drama, but it always wrapped up each bit too fast and i found the ending a little weak.
    Last edited by frostwolf ex; 08 Apr 2006 at 12:32 AM.
    Quote Originally Posted by Compass
    Squall's a dick.

  6. Cowboy Bebop

    FLCL

    Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex

    Azumanga Daioh

    That's about all I can think of that's worth a shit to watch. The rest, specifically shit like Lain and all manner of Gundams and Dragonballs, are all crap.
    Time for a change

  7. #7
    I considered putting Azumanga Daioh, but didn't. Loved it tho.

  8. Umm, in no particular order:

    Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: I love the manga and despite chapter 3 getting cut to pieces to fit into a grand total of 13 episodes (where the second and first halves were produced about 6 years apart), this still rates as one of the single coolest anime I have ever watched. Now, if only they'd do something with chapter 4 animation-wise...

    Mahjongg Legend Akagi, The Genius Who Descended into Darkness: After only one episode I became fanatical about this series (although, it definitely isn't for everyone.. you know.. being about mahjongg). The art-style is refreshing, the story is intriguing, and Akagi is a total jerk (that and he cheats like hell).

    Planetes: A very realistic look (for the most part) at what our future in space travel holds. It also contains a very compelling story that is certainly relevant with the current state of the world.

    Excel Saga: Frostwolf EX pretty much said all that needs to be said.

    Bubble Gum Crisis: A classic. Even though I think that late-80's/early-90's anime hasn't aged very well, I still find BGCrisis and BGCrash entertaining to watch.

    More later...
    "with new weapons perceived some disquieting movement"

  9. The Planetes manga is fantastic, but the series is filled with whiny crap and stupid japanesy (not funny) jokes.

    EDIT: The only other show I'd like to see but never got a chance was Last Exile.
    Time for a change

  10. Lets see... I'll post mine and then edit it as it's slow at work.

    Ranma 1/2
    Fushigi Yuugi
    .hack//sign
    Bleach
    Tenchi (OAV/Universe)
    Nadesico (Til the Movie ruined that shit)
    Love Hina
    Sailor Moon (If you're in here, you probably grew up watching this in the morning)
    Full Metal Alchemist
    Ronin Warriors (If you woke up early to watch SM, you ran home from school to catch this)

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