Top five... wow, that's tough!  I've seen and loved so many anime now, to my own surprise!

1. Shoujo Kakumei Utena
2. Kino no Tabi
3. Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
4. Boogiepop Phantom
5. Hikaru no Go

6. Haruhi Suzumiya no Yuutsu
7. Death Note
8. Ima Soko ni Iru Boku
9. Eve no Jikan
10. Yakitate!! Japan

I'm stopping at ten, not because it's a magic number, but because these are the ten anime I love without reservation.  I don't know what item eleven would be.  The only things I feel bad about in this list are that Eve no Jikan isn't higher -- it's just too damn short! -- and that Haruhi Suzumiya got pushed out of its deserved #5 spot by its second season. 

Of these, Eve no Jikan, aka Time of Eve, is the one I just finished.  You guys, it's six episodes long, most of them just fifteen minutes, and it's just beautiful.  It's like someone decided to make a story in the style of "I, Robot" into an anime, but the person writing the adaptation understood human relationships several times better than Asimov did, and had just come off reading To Kill a Mockingbird.  Just fantastic.  But it ends with so much space unexplored.   It sets out to tell a very short story, and it tells that story brilliantly, but there's so much more to be said about the setting and the characters... I want more!

So, lately... I've been avoiding anime... even the ones most people said it's good. I'm referring to Baccano, mostly.

Why? Because well-designed, fleshed out characters... They're my greatest weakness! I'll develop crushes! Like I had with Folken from Escaflowne (OH GOD!!! :GONK:) On top of that they are hot! DDDX

But, today, I decided to watch Baccano. Oh god, it's awesome! O_O Even the dub was nice! I think I am willing to fight against my weakness toward awesome characters. (What the hell kind of weakness is that?!?!?!)

But yeah, I've made a return to anime, thanks to Baccano...

Favorites... Hmm I think I'd definitely miss a ton of them without properly looking over my collections but off the top of my head I can think of:

Utena: The shock, I know. ;P

Road or Die OVA: I haven't seen the actual series, I've been meaning to but just haven't sat myself down and watched it. The OVA though I do adore very much.

Boogiepop Phantom: Hands down this would probably be right near the top of my favorites. Everything about the series is just amazing. I'm so glad they translated even the first four of the light novels.

Hellsing Ultimate: I liked the original run for getting me into Hellsing, but the new OVA series sticks closer to the manga and is just generally so awesome that I can't deny that it's so much better.

Azumanga Daioh: I'm fairly picky when it comes to comedy anime but this series really just is my pick me up of choice.

Sailor Moon: What can I say, it was a huge part of my growing up years, and I'll always adore it.

Evangelion\Cowboy Bebop: I'm sticking these both together. I love them very dearly but due to who exactly they're tied to in my life I don't quite know if I'll ever actually watch them again. We'll see, needless angsting aside I do love both of these series. End of Evangelion is also an absolute masterpiece.

Trigun: I haven't watched it in forever but I did love it the few times I've watched the series through. I've been meaning to check out the original manga to see the differences for a long time, so maybe I'll stop being lazy and do that soon enough.

I have a bunch of anime bought recently that I've been meaning to sit myself down and watch (Wolf's Rain and Baccano namely), so who knows, maybe one of them will make an impact on me.

Last edited by Calamity (06-23-2010 06:31:35 PM)

In no particular order:

Utena - really needs no explanation

Princess Tutu - Well, you know the ninjas with guitars watched-expected-got image that always gets passed around about Tutu?  As a visual metaphor, it's pretty spot on for the quality of the series.  It goes from being an above average mahou shoujo show to...something quite different.  Basically, the last arc is what the Matrix sequels should have been.  That statement won't make sense until you've watched it, but it's really true.

Nodame Cantabile - I don't even like classical music much and I loved this show.  Nodame's such a great character, and her awkward (from his perspective) interactions with Chiaki that yet somehow slowly win him over... well, it's worth it regardless.

Toradora - I know even mentioning this brings out the trolls, but here it is.  And honestly, it's largely the side characters I found interesting, more so than, say, Taiga.  But at its peaks, it's just so well done; it goes from slapstick to fairly weighty without it being terribly noticeable about it, and all the characters have some meat to them, yet there's still a lot of comedy to it.

Bubblegum Crisis - What can I say, I have kind of a hardon for the 80s/cyberpunk aesthetic.  And the artstyle, and...oh, you know, the whole thing.

Tsukihime - yeah, yeah, no Tsukihime anime, whatever.  I never played the VN, but watching this, as much as the plot was a bit too crunched together and unclear, Arcueid really won me over.

Paradise Kiss - Really, Ai Yazawa kind of has a distinctive, magic touch.  And she doesn't dumb down the complexities of human interaction to the teenage/otaku level.  And I love the fashion sense, and all of that.  Besides, Isabella was a fantastic character.

I've read the mangas of, at least as much as I've been able to, (and I strongly suspect that if the anime are similar, that I'm going to love them) Kimi ni Todoke, Lovely Complex, and Nana.  Believe it or not, I do watch some things that aren't shoujo or romance.  But not very much, and it's not likely to make it onto a favorites list.  For example, just finished the first season of Rozen Maiden, and I find myself craving more.  Currently, I'm watching Gunsmith Cats and Skip Beat, and hopefully after that I'll have all the discs of Vampire Princess Miyu (the anime, not the OVA which I have).

chrisb wrote:

^ The Read or Die TV series is VERY different from the ROD OVA/movie so just keep that in mind. While the OVA is a James Bond-ish fantasy action movie, the TV series is more of a family drama with a decent amount of action but more slice of life and character development-y. I loved both really but I preferred the series because it was just so charming and suspenseful.

Thank you very much for the heads-up. I've heard Yumiko makes an appearance in the series so that alone would keep me in anticipation. I do like slice of life series (hence why Azumanga Daioh makes me so happy), so I think as long as I go into it not expecting the same kind of actiony romp from the OVA I should be all set.

You twisted my arm. I ended up ordering the first DVD of the series off Amazon (I was going to try to get the whole thing so I could take it all in but the boxset is $179 :S). I'll bring my rambles about it to the Current Anime topic.

Last edited by Calamity (06-27-2010 04:06:23 PM)

I can only list what I have seen, which isn't a lot (I'm really picky about anime); a few of which I haven't finished...

1.  Utena
2.  Clannad/Clannad: After Story
3.  Azumanga Daioh (Four episodes left ><)
4.  Magikano
5.  This Ugly Yet Beautiful World (I really liked it, but I stopped watching it for some reason...)
6.  Nanaka 6/17 (Really cute, even if the plot is really cliche)

This doesn't really count, since I was into it when I was a kid, but Sailor Moon is one of the most badass animes ever.  Just sayin'.

Sorry to bring back a thread from the graveyard, but I've had an itch to post about my favorite anime for a while (though it's pretty clearly a self-indulgent task). In no particular order (Besides Haibane Renmei and Rahxephon):

Haibane Renmei: If I didn't watch this in my 7th grade year, I don't know what would've happened to me. It came when I faced my first major depressive bout

Rahxephon: Just, the most well constructed anime I've ever seen. The creators put so much thought in putting together an elaborate world. It's just the type of show that you have to watch at least a few times before you can fully comprehend it. And the 19th episode is simply the best I've seen in any anime.

Neon Genesis Evangelion: Oh Evangelion. A lot of people tend to pick between sides when comparing Rahxephon and Evangelion but I love both of them. I love the entire series, but the last two episodes and End of Evangelion are my favorites.

SKU: Need I say more? I feel bad because I haven't watched it in a while, but I do love me some Utena.

Toward the Terra: This is an underrated gem. Beautiful space epic.

Samurai X: I'm glad I waited till this year to watch this OVA series. It left me speechless.

Kino no Tabi: I'm in love with Kino. I want to be her. I want to travel on a talking motorcycle, I want to live her life.

Kaiba: I love a series that represents how creative the medium can be. And it has one of my favorite love stories ever told.

Boogiepop Phantom: I love the way this show is so interconnected with the book series. A lot of people complain that it's too hard to follow or there are too many characters to count but really if you've read the books everything will make much more sense.

Bokurano: This show was made for me. I swear.

Zettai Shonen: This anime has gone almost virtually unnoticed by the anime community, and I think that's a shame. It's a great little show about flying saucers that appear in a quiet little town and the way that it affects the people who come in contact with them.

Mushishi: I basically feel the same way about Mushishi as I do about Kino's Journey.

Cowboy Bebop: Of course.

Last edited by hayama (03-27-2012 08:54:54 PM)

(In no particular order)

Revolutionary Girl Utena

Princess Tutu

Sailor Moon Stars and S

Simoun

Hunter x Hunter (original anime, not reboot)

Ai no Kusabi (original 2 part OVA)

Also kind of a Ghibli junkie, my favorite of which is Laputa: Castle in the Sky



High up on the list but not something I have watched more than once; NGE, Gurren Lagann, Ouran High School Host Club, Death Note, Code Geass

I like to imagine that I have a wide range of tastes when it comes to anime (so long as it's good). Among my favourites:

Kiddy Grade - When it first came out, I saw the ads which focused on mindless fanservice rather than the actual story, which made me ignore it for the longest time. Years later, I rediscovered it and fell in love with the philosophical themes and especially the final arc with Chevalier D'Autriche. Though some of the resolutions did wind up relying on some heavy deus ex machina. Still the only Studio GONZO show that I really really enjoy.

Haibane Renmei - Pure comfort food. Only problem is that I'm only tempted to see it when I'm feeling down. And, during those times, I want to avoid it so that I don't rely on the show as an emotional crutch. Despite that, very comforting. Even after having read Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World.

Air Master - I fell in love with it from the moment I first saw its trailer. And then I forgot what it was called until I found it again. The story of Maki, a 16 year old former gymnast who had to leave that world because she grew too tall. In order to get the same emotional high that she remembers, she enters the world of competitive street fighting, using her gymnastic skills to defeat all challengers. The action sequences and themed fighters make it fun and ridiculous. I love it. Except Renge. God, I hate Renge...

Kyousougiga - It follows the trials of a group of siblings living in an unchanging world inside of a picture. The stability of both the family and the world are at risk when a girl is transported there, claiming to be their little sister. Beautiful art, beautiful colours, insane action, and an examination of the meaning of family.

Gunbuster - A long-time favourite. I can take or leave the space battles that happen in it. But what seals it for me is how the characters age at different rates because of time dilation and how their relationships are affected by these changes. That second episode still hits me hard.

There's one more that should go on the list. Some show about a pink-haired girl who keeps pulling a sword out of her fiancee's chest. The name's on the tip of my tongue. I'll get it eventually. Ursula's Kiss? Something like that...

(( So… if we're just picking our top-10 without having to worry about the order… I'd have to say these are my top-10

-- High School of the Dead  This is my guilty pleasure.  It just hits the 70s zombie-sploitation mark so well that, while I know it isn't that good, I catch myself watching more than I want to admit too.

--Mahoromatic  For me, this is one of those shows that I was caught completely unawares by episode 3, and then I really started to enjoy it.  Both seasons.

--Devil Hunter Yohko  I think for this one, it's more nostalgia than anything.  This, and End of Summer were amongst the first VHS tapes of anime I ever purchased.  And it has Aya Hisakawa in it, who I do play favorites with.

--Cowboy Bebop  Again, this one might be more nostalgia than anything… though I do enjoy Wendee Lee and Steven Blum a lot too.  And Megumi Hayashibara.  I do seem to enjoy pretty much anything she's in.

--Persona 4: The Animation  When I picked up Persona 4 for the PS2, I thought I was ready for it, as I was a Persona 3 veteran.  But boy was I wrong.  It.  Was.  Awesome!  So awesome that it killed my PS2… and my PS3 capable of playing it.  So, for years, I never actually was able to finish it.  And then it came out on the PSVita, and in anime form!  And.  It.  Was.   Awesome!

--Robotech  Yes, I know.  It's Macross… or Southern Macross.   Or whatever.  I got it.  But, hear me out.  I watched this with my brother religiously when I was 7 or 8… it's kinda fuzzy when.  Point being, watching this with my brother was a good memory for me, so… I'm sticking with calling it Robotech.

--K-On!  Okay, so I picked this up, and… you know what.  It's just fun.  Sometimes I just want something that makes me smile and feel good.  So… K-On!

--Vampire Princess Miyu  I'm not sure if I enjoyed the OVA better… or the TV series.  Both are gothic.  Nihilistic.  Tragic.  and Horrific.

--Magic Knight Rayearth  Growing up on a diet of D&D, adventure games, and my enjoyment of CLAMP, led me to picking this up way back in the day.

--And lastly, a tie between Serial Experiments: Lain and Key, The Metal Idol  Both are dark, twisted, haunting, nihilistic, enthralling, and dramatic.  And both are keen on using the In Media Res style of story-telling, forcing you to pay attention.  Oddly... when Disgaea lets you have a Cheerleader-type class, I tend to name her "Key".

So… there you go.  My eclectic list of 10 shows. ))