Yep, I’ve finally put together a top shows list. As I hopefully made clear in part one and part two of my critical biases post, this is obviously my list – it represents the things I think are most valuable in stories in the way I think they’ve best been articulated. It’s also just a list of shows I enjoy – there’s no hard criteria here, so I wouldn’t stress the numbers too much. Also, it’s a bit front-loaded – I only started watching anime seasonally about two years ago, so the last couple years are disproportionately represented. Incidentally, I’m not including movies here either – I think direct comparisons between shows and films are a bit of a stretch, but if they were included, this list would certainly be somewhat different. And finally, I’m absolutely (and thankfully) certain this list will change over time – there are still piles of widely beloved shows I’ve never seen, so I’m sure the current rankings will be filled out in the years to come. So with that all said, let’s get to the list – Bobduh’s Top 30 Anime of All Time.
-edit- I have now created a Top Shows Addendum for shows that have either fallen off or just barely missed this list. Please enjoy these additional almost-top shows!
Flip Flappers marries the blossoming artistic vision of many of anime’s most talented young animators to a story teeming with the rich psychological inquiry that anime does so well. Centered on a girl on the verge of young adulthood who feels too paralyzed by consequences to decide who she wants to be, Flip Flappers takes her on a wild adventure through a series of evocative alternate realities, all of which ultimately reflect back on the human interiority of her own world. Flip Flappers appreciates the inherent beauty of our distinct internal worlds, and pairs a wild tour through the human experience with a core character arc that reflects thoughtfully on the complexity of love, identity, and growing up. Slotting somewhere thematically between FLCL and Evangelion, it is a can’t-miss addition to anime’s coming-of-age pantheon.
Here’s my review of Flip Flappers.
Flip Flappers is available streaming on Crunchyroll.
Gatchaman’s a goddamn busy show – in the course of a 12-episode run, it covers everything from internet culture to crowdsourcing to the necessity of leadership to social responsibility to human nature to… well, you get the idea. And it explores all these ideas while also staying remarkably light and breezy – you could enjoy the show purely as a fun, visually interesting, musically brilliant adventure without even thinking about how identity is constructed in the digital age, or whatnot. And when you combine these two strengths, you get a show that proves you don’t have to be dry to be smart – you can make awesome points about how the internet will change the world without ever giving up a sense of fun and moment-to-moment excitement. Brain food and comfort food at the same time.
Here’s my review of Gatchaman Crowds.
Gatchaman Crowds is available at Amazon and streams on Crunchyroll.
Giant Robo is Bombast Incarnate. Featuring an epic clash between the Experts of Justice and Big Fire, there’s no room for subtlety in this production – it’s all massive robots and deadly superspies and fights for the fate of the world. It’s also a beautiful thing – a series of seven OVAs released over most of a decade, the show is a gorgeous ode to classic super robot storytelling, brought to life with strong animation and rich colors and epic orchestral scores. And yet for all its larger-than-life size, the show also tells a gripping story, full of fully-articulated characters and reflections on family and human ambition. Giant Robo essentially feels like the final act of the Greatest Robot Story Ever Told – it has absolute confidence, and earns the viewer’s trust through constant dramatic hooks and total polish in execution. Even if you generally like smaller stories, I’d give Giant Robo a chance.
Here’s my essay on Giant Robo.
Giant Robo is vaguely available on Amazon.
Bokurano manages the difficult feat of staying tonally downcast and even desolate at all times while simultaneously conveying an unflinching message of optimism, and belief in humanity as a species. Its premise is terribly arbitrary and cruel, and very few members of its young cast survive, but the stories they tell in their leaving reflect the kaleidoscopic spectrum of the human experience. Its compelling scifi narrative ultimately becomes little more than a stage for its young stars to shine, as they each take up an impossible mantel and fight on behalf of their species, their cruel guide mocking them all the while. But Bokurano does not believe in its guide’s cynicism; though the world it posits is harsh, its young heroes shine all the brighter for it.
Here’s my review of Bokurano.
Bokurano is available streaming on Crunchyroll.
Kyoto Animation excel at making quietly excellent little dramas, and Sound! Euphonium counts as one more feather in their distressingly pincushioned cap. The show is as gorgeous as you’d expect, the drama is understated but well-articulated, and the episodes are full of those alternately funny or poignant little moments that KyoAni’s mastery of animated storytelling always provokes. And Kumiko is one of the most fun people you could possibly follow around a story like this, with her snark and clumsy bluntness making her a refreshing and relatable protagonist. You can enjoy this show for its close viewing of the classic band experience, for its funny mess of jokes and characters, or for its well-articulated personal drama and reflections on goals and identity. It succeeds on all levels, making it one of the most impressive and fully realized high school dramas around.
Sound! Euphonium is available streaming on Crunchyroll.
As the only long-running shounen on my list, HxH’s a bit of an outlier. But HxH is not your typical shounen – directed by Madhouse (likely my pick for the best studio of all time) and adapted from a source by the writer of Yu Yu Hakusho, Hunter x Hunter is basically a master class in what makes adventure entertaining. Though it starts off “only” demonstrating it knows how to make challenge-based television entertaining (in lieu of actual fights, it generally sets up compelling puzzles of all shapes and sizes for its heroes), it ends up jumping from genre to genre, dabbling in crime thriller, tournament shounen, and even war drama. And through it all, the show’s fantastic aesthetics elevate it above almost everything out there – in direction, in sound design, in pacing, in animation, in basically every relevant aesthetic metric, Hunter x Hunter triumphs. That it’s been maintaining this level of quality for well over a hundred episodes is nothing short of astonishing – in fact, I’d say Hunter x Hunter has only gotten better over time.
Here’s a critical breakdown of HxH episode 116, and here’s an essay on the recently concluded (and breathtaking) Chimera Ant arc.
Hunter x Hunter 2011 is available streaming on Crunchyroll.
Mushishi is one of those strange, special shows that seem to just emerge confident and fully constructed, exude excellence for all of their running time, and then go quietly on their way. Its vignettes are dreamy and ambiguous, full of resonance and compelling ideas but never didactic. Its world is mysterious and enchanting, evoking both a more resigned and possibly more dangerous version of Miyazaki’s mystical forests. Its production is fantastic, with beautiful backgrounds matching a wonderfully understated musical score and a great sense of pacing to conjure its powerful, singular atmosphere. And all this works in service of a show that’s fundamentally just incredibly calming and sedate – a series of long, lazy afternoons spent enjoying the company of a master storyteller.
Here’s my essay on Mushishi.
Mushishi is available at Amazon and its sequel streams on Crunchyroll.
Grouped together because they really do feel like two sides of the same coin, both of Gainax’s Buster shows would also make this list independently. Flippant and heartbreaking, cynical and triumphant, personal and universal, each of these OVAs tells a story of humanity’s struggle against all the forces of the universe with style and heart. And each can stand alone, as well – Gunbuster is helmed by a pre-Eva Anno already exhibiting his unnerving style of direction, and Diebuster offers a very appropriate conclusion to the FLCL era of Gainax production. Only six episodes each, too – it’s pretty remarkable how much story each of these manage to tell.
Here are my essays on Gunbuster and Diebuster.
Both Gunbuster and Diebuster are available at Amazon.
Shinsekai Yori is basically tailor-made for fans of fantasy and scifi novels. Heavy on worldbuilding and questions of human nature, its story unfolds on a scale far greater than most anime, exploring a compelling dystopian society by following one generation from childhood through adolescence and well into adulthood. Though I often feel its characters fade into the background of its storytelling pretensions, it all works in service of an incredibly compelling central narrative, and its devastating conclusion justifies everything that came before. It’s a rare and valuable thing – few shows work on the scale of Shinsekai Yori.
Here’s my review of Shinsekai Yori.
Shinsekai Yori is available at Amazon and streams on Crunchyroll.
An idol show?!? I could actually go on for a while about what makes various idol shows great (and I have), but as far as Idolm@ster specifically goes, this show is just a solid episodic drama that succeeds in almost everything it attempts. It’s got a rich and well-developed cast of characters, lots of great little character stories, and a bunch of fun adventures like “the team runs a Sunday game show” or “one idol ends up as a runaway bride while another fights yakuza goons.” On top of that, Idolm@ster features one of the best creative teams in recent memory – a bunch of former Gainax staff and other great creators combine to make this one of the most beautifully directed and animated shows I’ve seen. Even if you don’t have any interest in idols, Idolm@ster’s combination of fun stories and gorgeous execution makes it a rare and impressive show.
Here’s my review of The Idolm@ster.
The Idolm@ster is available streaming on Crunchyroll.
Also, I agree on Madoka being more polished and “perfect” than EVA while EVA will probably still remain my all time favorite anime show (and favorite piece of audio-visual entertainment in general, for that matter) for life. It’s just so raw, unapologetic, and honest, and it profoundly changed what I came to expect of fictional worlds and characters. Urobuchi’s stories are filling the void EVA left quite nicely, though.
Honest, compelling shows about people, their struggles, interactions, fears, and emotional growth in life while learning to accept themselves or despairing over it because they can’t? Princess Tutu. If you have seen it, I would wonder why it doesn’t show on your list, judging from the other titles you like? If you haven’t seen it yet, you might really, really enjoy it. It’s absolute, complete honesty, in all it’s pain and beauty. The fairy-tale setting you could easily enjoy in the company of 8 year olds does not take away anything from it’s emotional maturity.
Also, House of Five Leaves, maybe? Heavily character focused, unique artwork, beautiful soundtrack, gorgeous seyiyu work…
And what about Monster?
Completely agreed on Eva. I’ve yet to find anything that strikes me as powerfully as that piece did in any medium. As for your suggestions, the first two are both on my shortlist of critically beloved classics I still have to watch! I should hopefully get to both of them within the year. And I actually own most of the manga for Monster!
Going to go ahead and second both Princess Tutu and House of Five Leaves, Tutu is great because it takes what sounds like a fundamentally simple premise and creates this sweeping, grand story where everything from the setting to the characters changes and doesn’t shy away from having happiness and tragedy in the story. House of Five Leaves I haven’t seen as recently but I remember it was one of the first character-drama-driven shows I saw and I was really struck by just how well it created a story by exploring these characters lives, their pasts, and how that motivated their present. So yeah, watch them!
There are too many good shows.
You’ve put Mushishi on here despite not even having finished it right? I wouldn’t be surprised if it jumped up a few more places for you by the time you’ve seen the whole series + the OVA. As you’re probably expecting, It’s really rather good.
Yep, pretty likely that one will move up. It’s been building on itself wonderfully so far.
Call me a perfectionist, but for me Eva doesn’t belong even close to the top of my personal list. Stunning? Yes, indeed – End of Eva is especially haunting. Emotionally powerful, and with greatly well crafted characters? Too, even though I’d argue it is not so unique in this (Planetes understands people pretty well too. The just finished Silver Spoon, while certainly more optimistic and less ambitious, delivered some of the best human drama – and comedy – I’ve ever seen). But in a way, all this only contributes to make me rage MORE at its imperfections – the way it squandered its one shot at being absolutely perfect by just not caring about properly pacing and planning the plot, or studying better its aesthetic (the cheap, Powerpoint-like animation of the last two episodes I could have forgiven – I forgave Kill la Kill, Eva would have been nothing. The Judeo-Christian symbolism thrown in randomly for coolness factor without going through the effort of trying to understand it and give it actual meaning is a bit too lazy for me to overlook though).
For me, the best anime ever made is and remains Paranoia Agent. I don’t know if you saw it. If you did, I wonder what made you leave it out of the list, and if you didn’t, watch it now – it’s this incredibly outlandish choral story full of surrealism that ultimately ends up meaning something that’s very real. It’s very akin FLCL in this sense. My number 2 would be Utena because I love its perfectly oiled theatrical machine and its craft. PMMM a close third – as you said, absolutely perfect in many ways, though lacking the added layer of symbolism that so much intrigues me in the other two.
Eva’s definitely a divisive one! There’s a lot of different things to like in it, but there’s also all sorts of snags for various people. And I still need to see Paranoia Agent – that’s another one everybody loves, so it’s high on my list.
Yeah, well, Eva’s the very definition of divisive. I think my feelings for it have been wildly oscillating also because when I finished it I had the bad idea of marathoning the last three-four episodes AND the movie in one go. As a result, I experienced a tremendous slump into depression. Took me a while to cheer me up again. After that I felt kinda trolled and hated it for it. Then I acknowledged that it being able to summon such powerful emotions makes it alone a worthy work of art. Yet I still hold a grudge to it somewhat, so I’m not exactly unbiased.
Man, you and Eva have one seriously abusive relationship.
What I personnally find the most interresting about Eva is not only the show itself, but the relation people have to it. It’s an incredibly divisive show that can be hated and loved for the exact same reasons. It’s really… “full”. Full of a lot of things.
It nearly justify by itself discussion about anime.
Yeah, Eva is a lot of things to a lot of people, which I think is partially a result of its messy production. Along with the fact that some people will just hate its characters for being such flawed people, of course.
More like Guy Ritchie’s movie.
I’d say Samurai Champloo is equally great.
I just wish it had more jazz.
Samurai Champloo never struck me the same way as Bebop – for me, I felt it leaned a little too far into comedy, so I wasn’t as invested in the characters. I still think it’s good, though – I don’t think Watanabe’s made a bad show.
I know it’s not a common way of thinking, but I felt Cowboy Bebop ending… rushed.
It would have been better if the last episode was made into 2 episode, because it was too abrupt, and didn’t let emotion pass as well as it should.
Samurai Champloo’s ending is better made in my opinion.
Cowboy Bebop is still more interresting overall, but Samurai Champloo is more “complete” if that makes sense. It does less, but what it does, it does it perfectly.
I know this is old but…. gosh I disagree completely. I absolutely love Samurai Champloo’s execution, but the ending seemed way too implausible and simplistic. Bebop confuses me in a lot of ways, but Champloo has that big glaring issue.
Considering how much you like stories about identity, I could easily see you enjoying Kaiba and the first half of the show is akin to Kino’s Journey with the protagonist playing the observant role on a journey through various places, learning many things along the way. Tatami Galaxy is probably Yuasa’s most well rounded and accessible show, but Kaiba tries to make up for it with (perhaps, more?) ambition and imagination.
Yeah, I got some specific recommendations to watch Kaiba from other bloggers at Anime Boston. I’ll likely start that one after I finish Mushishi and watch Haibane Renmei.
Well bob, it seems you and I are cut from the same cloth. I love reading all of your stuff and am so glad that you do it.
Thank you! I really appreciate that.
It says volumes about how different our ability to watch stuff is that we both started watching anime seasonally around the same time, and yet our watch resume difference is outstanding.
I also like how different our priorities are in regards to describing our favorites. You focus more on the show whilst I focus more on myself. I love Tatami and all that, but me praising its visual style just seems off. I’d rather praise the fact that I liked how the main dude realized he was experiencing what made life great through those repetitive time loops, problems aside, and his best friend was the catalyst to make him come to that realization. That’s something that really stands out to me.
On a final note, the only series that surprised me on this list is Code Geass. Never really took you for a fan of that kind of thing. Then again, I have Great Teacher Onizuka on my top list (which I think you’ll like, as it tackles a lot of different social issues through its dirty humor), so it’s not like I don’t know tastes can be flexible.
As for the rest of Yuasa’s series, I doubt you’ll like them better than Tatami. Kaiba has some of the best buildup in an intelligent series, but the ending is kind of iffy. Kemonozume is more an exploitation piece about adults doing crazy adult things like drinking, having sex, and eating each oth–okay, that last one isn’t really an adult thing. The romance aspect is cool, but it’s not what I’d call high literature.
Man, I am so bad at watching anime. Three months to watch Utena, about a month and I’m halfway through Mushishi. I need to get better at that.
And yeah, I kinda wondered to myself what specifically I should prioritize in describing the various shows, but this seemed most natural to me. It’s basically how I talk about shows anyway – I’ve always been the guy who’s selling new stories to his friends.
Code Geass is just fun – like Gurren Lagann, it does what it does well enough that it doesn’t really matter that it’s not my kind of thing. I’d happily watch more shows like Code Geass if most shows like that were actually that entertaining.
And yet, you both love Hyouka.
I think it says a lot about this show.
Utena took me a week. I’m so proud of myself.
Aside from the fact I hadn’t watched (or completed, at least), 10 of these shows, which is a third, looking at what my top shows are, and some of the reasoning, it’s quite interesting just how different the lists are.
Also, I still chuckle at your inclusion of OreGairu. I feel that’s the most “personalized” inclusion here, of one of the show speaking to someone rather than the show’s so-called “Artistic merit”, and yeah, I liked the show 😛
Then again, that’s what personal lists are, and the only non-personal lists are aggregate ones.
You leave OreGairu alone! History will redeem that show!
I’m actually curious what specifically stuck out to you about the reasoning behind shows, though.
I’ve watched 25 of the shows listed here. I certainly don’t hold a lot of them to the same fervor you do. Hell, MAL states we have 78% shared anime compatibility if only because you tend to rate things higher than I do. But that is the point of toplists, is it not? It helps readers understand how distinct each person’s taste is. And at least you explain sufficiently why you like the things you like.
I’m going to highlight Gankutsuou, Shiki, Fullmetal Alchemist, and Hourou Musuko from your Plan to Watch list as my personal suggestions. I also want you to add Detroit Metal City to that if only because you haven’t watched Detroit Metal City yet and why in God’s name have you not done that yet.
Detroit Metal City doesn’t really seem like my kind of thing at all… but that is the director of Mushishi and Aku no Hana. Hmmm.
The others I’m definitely watching soon. Shiki I might just marathon, I am strangely compelled to watch that show.
Nice list.
And you should definitely watch Detroit Metal City and Casshern Sins.
Getting a lot of recommendations for Detroit Metal City, I’ll have to check it out! Casshern Sins I do have on my (endless) plan-to-watch list.
Not sure why DMC is getting recommendations here. I checked it out last night through episode 8, and it’s just a straight comedy, of the cringe/vulgar/shock kinds. Leave it for when you need another WCW-type mindless enjoyment slot.
Meanwhile, the actual band anime with proper character development and a (more) realistic look at the Jrock scene is Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad, which I can recommend. (The sister series in the fashion world is apparently Paradise Kiss, but I haven’t seen that one.)
A fantastic list, I respect every anime on there (even the ones I don’t personally like). I think there were only 3 I have not seen yet, and of those I plan to watch 2 of them. I’ll probably give OreGairu a pass as it does not seem to appeal to me and comparing it to one of my least favorite novels of all time doesn’t help it (I personally cannot stand Catcher in the Rye for the same reason I cannot stand Eva, but again I respect both).
As for things you might like that are not on your MAL. You mention 7 Samurai, so you might like the anime version Samurai 7. It tells basically the same story, but over 26 episodes, and for some reason the bandits pilot mechs. It’s quite good, but it’s a tossup whether you’ll think it improves on the classic movie or not.
Seven Samurai is actually my favorite movie, so it’d be a hard one to beat, but I’ll definitely check out the show. Glad you liked the list.
Solid list! I’ve seen the majority of the shows here and the one’s that I haven’t are on my plan to watch list. Funny to see Kyousougiga and Cowboy Bebop right next to each other on here since those are far and away my top two. I didn’t fully appreciate NGE until End of Evangelion actually, which is my current favorite anime movie and now I can’t stay away from Eva. I guess recommendations wise I think Durarara, Eureka 7. Eden of the East, and Ghost in the Shell:Stand Alone Complex might be up your alley.
I should really get to Durarara before that second season comes out – that one I might be able to marathon, since if it’s anything like Baccano, I’ll probably just want to enjoy it more than take notes on it. Eureka Seven I also really want to watch, and Stand Alone Complex I know I HAVE to watch.
Judging from what you have on your list, I think you may enjoy Bokurano a lot. I enjoyed reading your opinions.
I second this.
Bokurano is a show that stay with you far after watching it.
It’s really cruel, but done with such intelligence it doesn’t feel exploitative.
I’ll have to check it out. Glad you enjoy the posts!
I don’t like your list.
I don’t get why people praise so much the evangelion series while the budget used on it was so low that there was still images for almost 30 seconds in a few episodes and the quality overall was mediocre at best not talking about that rushed as fuck ending, yeah, it’s a nice story, the mecha desing in cells is fantastic and that amazing soundtrack. No complaining about EoE though, that’s what makes EVA what EVA is nowadays and the best film ever made in japan.
About the rest of your list, Oreigaru, gatchaman, hyouka, sakimichi no apollon, fucking chu2koi, what the hell man? It’s your taste and that’s fine, but in my opinion, you’re taste is shit man. Not trying to offend you but I can’t related with those tittles.
What a shitty english, apologies for that.
Those stills are actually some of my favorite moments in the series! And as I said in the piece, I just think Eva’s character writing blows the rest of the medium out of the water.
Literally the only problem I can find with Sakamichi no Apollon is that it was directed by a guy who makes shows that are nothing like it.
It’s such a gripping story, I dunno what to say.
Great list! A lot of my favorites and a lot that I’ve been meaning to watch for years. I want to yell at you to watch more older anime, but I know how backlogs get. Based on that and your love for character-based shows, these are my recs:
Hajime no Ippo
Kogepan
Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei and Paniponi Dash!
Joshiraku
Golden Boy
Urusei Yatsura and Maison Ikkoku
Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam – This series is a lot smoother than the original 0079. If the episode count is a bit daunting, try 0080: War In The Pocket, or the 0079 movie trilogy instead. These Gundams are more about the characters and politics than Super Awesome Robot Battles.
Chihayafuru
Excel Saga
Great Teacher Onizuka
Ashita no Joe
Yeah, I’m catching all sorts of hell for the recency bias, but what can ya do. Thanks for the recommendations – I’ve actually been meaning to watch War in the Pocket, and everyone seems to love Chihayafuru. I also love the Ippo manga, so I’m sure I’ll enjoy the show.
Great list! I noticed you haven’t watched FMA/Brotherhood, Dennou Coil, Time of Eve, or Gankutsuou yet. I’d greatly recommend those.
Oooh, seconding Time of Eve as well, it’s super short so you can easily watch the entire show in a day yet it really says something and makes you think, it’s wonderfully put together. (and if you watch the movie there’s a scene during/after the credits which explains/confirms one or two suspicions you might have)
When Bob was saying he was missing an entry, I suggested Time of Eve, it’s only 1.5 hours long as well.
I watched it as it “aired”. Man, waiting 3+ months per episode and never knowing when it’d come, and friends alerting me on ICQ when an episode appeared and we’ve all been happy 😀
I thought he left out FMA: Brotherhood because he didn’t care much for shonen – but yeah Bob, if you haven’t seen it, THAT’s another show up for a watch. I highly doubt the first FMA would end up anywhere on this list. While Brotherhood benefits by Hiromu Arakawa’s amazing writing skills (especially when it comes to writing relatable characters, AND she has some of the best “true” strong female characters in all anime), the first FMA’s plot was an anime-original jumbled mess. The writers didn’t have a clue about what the fuck they were doing, they went for the maximum emotional impact without caring for coherence in either rules of alchemy or characterization. They also went for some very troubling choices which basically turned everyone into an unlikeable jerk (you know you’ve done something wrong when your supposed “heroes” seriously discuss the possibility of ripping limbs off a child who’s done nothing wrong except not being born a 100% human). Plus women were demeaned to incredibly low levels, with implied rape being used as a method to quickly elicit the viewers emotions rather than actual characterization. And the ending didn’t make a sliver of sense, with the movie only making things worse (a straight-faced movie about Nazis from another dimension? Who thought THAT was a sensible idea?).
They’re on my list! I should just burn through Time of Eve after I finish what I’m watching, few shows are so convenient time-wise relative to how much they’re praised.
I always enjoy reading your posts and this one was no exception.
Anime that I would recommend that I don’t see on your completed or planning list are Nodame Cantabile, Usagi Drop, and the movie Wolf Children. These are definitely a few of my favorites that I feel like you’d enjoy.
In regards to your list, the only one I didn’t quite enjoy was Shin Sekai Yori. I did think that it presented a lot of interesting concepts, but I found the show off putting at times. It might be largely due to the lower animation budget, but I felt like it made use of a lot of shock value and shortcuts to try to manipulate the viewer, and I guess that just bothered me.
I’ve actually read both Nodame and Usagi Drop, and am definitely a fan of both. I really should watch Wolf Children, too – I really liked Mamoru Hosoda’s other films, so I’m sure I’ll enjoy it.
Watching the Nodame live-action drama and movies instead of the anime. It’s one of the few J-drama adaptations that is not only not horrible, but really great.(It’s one of the undisputed gateway J-dramas.) And the setting definitely benefits from being live action, as opposed to the K-ON! levels of budget required to do justice to classical music in animation. The movies are even on location in Europe.
Yeah, I’ve heard the live-action versions are pretty great. I’ve never watched any J-dramas before, but I may give it a shot, since I’m not really interested in watching the show.
*Watch, not watching
Wow, nice list! we have really similar tastes, most of this stuff is in my plan to watch or my favorites. (Probably explains why I like reading your blog a lot.)
On the more shounen end of things, Fullmetal Alchemist (Either version but especially Brotherhood) and Durarara!! are really good shows. I’d also recommend anime shorts like Pale Cocoon. It’s a stellar use of 30 minutes, and it’s by the director of Time of Eve.
I’m gonna try and get through Durarara before the second season begins, but we’ll see how that works out. And yeah, apparently I need to watch everything by the Time of Eve dude!
Hmm, these all seems like good shows and I think I have a pretty good idea of what you like to watch. I really wish both fullmetal,alchemist,magi and kotoura-san were there but I think they I should at least recommend these shows to you. Both versions for fullmetal alchemist and their movies. Kotuora-san is probably the most likeable for you since it is about a girl with psychic abilities who was disowned by his friends and family(except her grandfather) learning to make friends again(in sometimes strange ways); Magi and Fullmetal alchemist are both needs to watch though they may not super fit your taste(and I have had experiences with some people watching magi episodes 1-3
and hating it so you really need to give it a chance)
Since It gets good after episode 7)
I enjoyed Kotoura-san! I should have an old review of it around here somewhere… there!
https://wrongeverytime.com/2013/05/21/kotoura-san-episode-12-and-final-assessment/
Fullmetal Alchemist I definitely need to get to. EVERYBODY’s recommending it.
Thanks for reminding me of the shows I have yet to watch (principally Tatami Galaxy and Kino’s Journey).
I like most of what I’m seeing here (especially Hyouka. I love this show so much)
About my recommandation :
Silver Spoon, once again. I don’t think it can have a place in your top list, due to its pacing issue, but it seems to be totally your kind of show. It’s a show about Hachiken growing up, and understanding the adult better and about realizing your dreams.It’s a show that knows there is no easy way out, and that fulfilling your dream will take a lot of effort, but still stay firmly optimistic.
Another show that is more a personnal choice would be Kimi to Boku. It’s definitely soothing and low key, but season 2 have the best description of first love I’ve seen in anime.
For something totally different, Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei. If Madoka is the show where Shaft’s style is the best exploited, SZS is where it was the most freely used. It’s an exploration of everything the anime medium can do.
A for the subject ? It uses it’s absurd comedic tone first to deconstruct every common anime trope, but later moves to the japanese society as a whole, while still being as sharp as ever.
It is really worth watching.
I might read Silver Spoon sometime soon. I dunno. The humor really didn’t do it for me when I tried the anime, but everyone says the show’s actual subjects are the sort of things I’d really be into. I’ll check out the others, as well.
Why do you have so many recent anime on your list? I mean yeah, Kyousogiga, The Eccentric Family, were great and all. But to put them so high on a list? I just get the feeling that you feel they’re so great because they just aired but by next year you’d forget all about them. But it’s your list man obviously you can do whatever you want. I mean you can’t tell somebody their opinions wrong, that’s fucking dumb. I just found it a little funny.
Kyousogiga and Eccentric Family in particular I have great confidence will bob to the top in hindsight. I watched a lot of these shows in the last year or two, including a bunch of the older ones (as I said at the start, I only started watching tons of shows a couple years ago), and I think they easily stand toe-to-toe with most of the classics. We only get a couple truly great shows a year, but we do get them, and I think last year’s crop was Uchouten Kazoku, Kyousogiga, and Monogatari S2.
Are you planning to write reviews on the ones on this list that don’t have one?
Anyway, I can’t complain. You got all the shows in my own top 5 except for two, and those two are kids shows. Not that I don’t recommend Digimon Tamers and Dennou Coil. Dennou Coil especially if you like the story structure of slice-of-life vignettes that develops into a fuller story like how you described Eccentric Family. Planetes and Kaiba are like that too, you might like them.
Gunbuster’s an interesting choice. The ending definitely hit me right where I live. I still need to finish Diebuster though. The only recommendation I can think of for Gunbuster is Giant Robo.
I’m not actively planning on reviews for the stuff I’ve missed, but they may come up in other pieces. The reviews are a lot of work!
Dennou Coil’s on my shortlist of classics I need to get to. And yeah, I’d definitely recommend finishing Diebuster – I think that show just gets better and better as it goes on.
I actually did finish Diebuster the other day, and yeah. The ending hit me at least as hard as the ending of Gunbuster.
There’re a few titles here I haven’t seen, nothing I actively disliked, and plenty that I do like. If I were to make my own top 30 list, then Mushishi, Toradora!, Kids on the Slope, Cowboy Bebop, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, and the Evangelion TV series would definitely all be on it. (In no particular order though, my top 3 anime of all time: Bebop, Usagi Drop, and FMA Brotherhood.)
Usagi Drop’s one of my favorite manga, so it’d definitely be on this list if I’d seen the anime. I still need to see Brotherhood, though…
I haven’t read the Usagi Drop manga, but the anime had me tearing up a couple of times – not because I found it a depressing series, but because I was just that touched by various scenes.
Usagi Drop was an anime I could really get into to my surprise.
The manga….wasn’t
Well-explained list which I agree with for the most part (when it comes to shows I’ve seen). Some highly regarded (by intelligent viewers, not just by me) shows not on the list are Legend of the Galactic Heroes (epic space opera with lots of good characters and political themes, very high ratings all round) and Serial Experiments Lain (trippy, artsy cyberpunk, gets more of a mix of love-it-or-meh responses).
(Just checked your MAL and saw you’ve already seen Lain, but still reccomend bumping LOGH up the queue despite it’s length.)
Uuugh, I know. LOGH is like the most highly acclaimed anime out there, but even Utena took me three months to get through, and that’s only 39 episodes and a movie. Maybe I’ll just have an absurd marathon during a vacation or something.
Fine list. I won’t push new shows on you because I see you have a lot on your plate already and I immensely enjoy reading your blog, so whatever selection method and pace you’ve set to watch anime is fine by me.
You’ve said before Toonami stuff was your gateway, but judging by the vintage of most of these titles and the surprising thinness of your MAL I’d guess you didn’t really dive into anime until a few years ago? Still, most of my 9s and 10s either correlate with yours or you plan to watch, so you must be doing something right. 😀
In all honesty, you have very refined insight of storytelling mechanics and you are self-aware of and highly articulate about your preferences, qualities I love in writers. You’ve also remarkably avoided a lot of junk, which is good because a lot of fans go through a junk consuming phase and end up hating anime in a short time. I hope I will have the pleasure of reading your essays for a long time to come.
Thank you! You’re right, I watched shows here and there for years, but really started watching seasonally and methodically going through my backlog about two years ago. I’m very happy you appreciate the work, and hope to keep writing for a long time as well!
Nice list. Some of my favorites made it on there (Madoka, Steins;Gate, Gurren Lagann, Toradora, FLCL, Baccano, Code Geass, Kids on the Slope). I made my own top 25 list if you want to check it out: http://www.ign.com/blogs/fiercealchemist/2014/01/11/my-top-25-anime
Have you seen Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Anohana, or Trigun? I love those shows. Nichijou’s also great if you love kyoto animation and ridiculously over the top physical comedy.
I have seen some of Eva and the thing that keeps me from loving it is that I hate, HATE Shinji. He’s the most whiny, annoying, and hatable protagonist I’ve seen in an anime. I actually liked 2.0 because it ended with him taking action for himself, but I’ve heard 3.0 doesn’t go in that direction.
I liked Anohana but didn’t love it, need to see Fullmetal Alchemist, and have been getting a lot of Trigun recommendations as well. And yeah, Shinji’s often the sticking point with Eva – whether you find him compelling or insufferable is often going to decide how you feel about that show. 3.0 actually does continue with Shinji taking action, but… well, it doesn’t really work out for him.
Yawn.
http://i.imgur.com/nQe4z5M.gif
Considering you had to extend your top list of 2013 to “Top 12” instead of 10, it’s sort of surprising you reduced this list to “Top 30” instead of the usual “Top 50”. However after going through the list, I’d really like to know your choices of top anime upto 50. Just a list would be great if you could make one.
I gotta watch more shows first, frankly. I didn’t even really want to include Haruhi on this, since it’s been so long since I’ve seen it that I couldn’t feel confident it’d hold up. But other than knocking that one off, I’ll probably just keep adding to the number here over time.
Also, good news, everyone! Brains’ Base finally broke their curse of not making second seasons, so we may get a second season for it (if only in about year and a half at best).
If you’re referring to Durarara!!, then S2 isn’t by Brains Base, technically.
Funny thing is, they DID greenlight a second season
Brain’s Base made a second season!… of Spice and Wolf. Which they didn’t originally animate.
Firstly, since quite a few people here are doing some Eva bashing, let me pitch in with the opposite: it’s not flawed at all. It’s tight as hell, its gradual stylistic and tonal changes are completely deliberate and in accordance with the meta-narrative. In a bit more detail: it’s gradually breaking down anime formalism to nudge the viewer from a normal “suspension of disbelief” mode to the reflective, metafictional mode displayed in EoE. This structure is also super relevant to whatever Anno wanted to express regarding otakudom and escapism. You could say it’s an extremely rare example of “deconstruction” done right (a word I otherwise tend to dismiss as useless and overly fuzzy).
Looking over the recommendations, I’d like to second some and add some hitherto unmentioned titles. You could look though at my MAL account anytime and pick out other names (my account is AndrasKovacs).
Kaiba
A must see, especially the first half. Yuasa has a couple of disctinct directorial modes, and here he deploys the melancholic-depressive mode in full strength (you could take a look at the short movie “Happy Machine” to get a taste of the style, it’s on Youtube AFAIK). The aforementioned first half is a loosely connected collection of stories primarily about loneliness. The loneliness of an old widow, the loneliness of a king, the loneliness of an artist, to provide a sample from the top of my head. But there’s plenty of other thematic juice there too. And God, the melancholy… It’s crushing. At the end of episode 3 I was already crying. And I shed my tears for a character who had less than 10 minutes of screentime! That’s Yuasa for you. The second half tried to advance and wrap up an actual main plot, and it was pretty much okay, but the contrast to the sheer emotional slaughter of the first half is just too great.
Paranoia Agent
The best of work of Satoshi Kon. This says a lot, since the other Kon films range from good (Paprika) to awesome (Perfect Blue), and PA is even better. PA is a surreal David Lynch-esque quasi-psychothriller-like collection of stories mostly about self-deception but also reflecting on a vast array of societal and psychological topcis. It sounds very ambitious, but it’s a resounding success at pretty much everything it touches.
His and Her Circumstances
I pretty much agree with you regarding OreGairu; it’s awesome. However, there is yet another intelligent romcom, one that’s even more intelligent and awesome, and in my opinion a better overall show, despite an actual Gainax ending stemming from authorial conflitcts and production woes (in contrast to Eva which wasn’t derailed or had its quality suffer in meaningful ways). The most important thing to note about Kare Kano is that it’s a Hideaki Anno show immediately post EoE. It shows in the wacky, highly experimental stream-of-consciousness style, but is contrasted by the remarkably positive, life-affirming and humanist tone and message of the series (you could say though that EoE also expressed a life-affirming disposition). I could gush endlessly about Kare Kano, but I won’t here. It’s a supremely funny (probably the funniest anime I’ve ever seen) and smart romcom with a strong emphasis on psychology (a trademark of Anno) and a structure that mostly eschews romcom conventions. As a bonus it can be also interesting to fans of Hiroyuki Imaishi and new-Gainax style animation (FLCL, Gurren Lagann, etc.), because a couple of their later tropes and visual abstractions were starting to emerge in this show. An unfortunate Gainax ending kicks in starting from episode 18 (stemming largely from disputes with the mangaka; interestingly Anno actually pulled an “Alan Smithee” move and disowned the ending), but I beg you to shift mind gears or try to compartmentalize, because the rest of Kare Kano is just fantastic and it would be a pity to let anything tar that experience.
Damn, that is an incredibly convincing recommendation of Kare Kano. Kaiba was already near the top of my to-watch list (I’m probably going to Haibane Renmei then that), and Paranoia Agent’s something I’m obviously missing, but I guess I’m going to have to prioritize Kare Kano more than I expected. It being actually reflective of both a post-EoE Anno and FLCL/Diebuster-era Gainax sounds fantastic, even if you weren’t directly comparing it to OreGairu as well.
I heard Anno abandoned the directoral role of Kare Kano around Episode 18 due to disagreements he had with the rest of Gainax.
I believe it was actually a disagreement with the original author, but I don’t know the full story.
Happy Machine is so, so good
I think this is a well-constructed list. Mushishi is my personal favorite so I was glad to see you enjoyed it, and looking through the comments, it seems you still have to finish it. Please post about it when you do, I’d love to discuss it! I glanced at your list and I’m sure someone mentioned it, (too many comments to read at this point) XD but FMA: Brotherhood. Man I was such a doubter. I always assumed that if it was popular, then it was something along the lines of the big three and would be mindless fodder, but no, it’s a powerful, and at times chilling, story.
The most intersting anime on your list is Kino’s Journey. Besides Gintama, that’s one of the incredibly acclaimed anime that I just can’t get into. It has always been suggested to me because it’s considered a great companion to Mushishi, but I felt like something was missing. Upon reflecting, I concluded that the only thing I really appreciated about it was it’s writing, or more so, the vast array of interesting settings they created. What was making it hard for me was the low-level of emotion that the characters portrayed. In Mushishi, the side characters are vividly affected by their situations and problems, while in Kino’s Journey, I felt everyone was strangely apathetic. It had the story and writing I wanted, but didn’t seem to have the weight of emotion that I watch anime for.
Yeah, I’ll definitely put together a Mushishi post once I’m through. I think I’ve got a pretty fun angle to tackle that one from. And I have to get to Brotherhood as well…
Kino’s Journey is an interesting one. I actually found Kino herself to be a pretty great character – she’s basically an ambassador, and always has her own thoughts, but tends to let societies play out on their own terms. Which is I think kind of key to what the show’s doing – it doesn’t judge people, because it doesn’t know everything – it’s simply interested in people, and always interested in learning more. But then you get to the Coliseum pair, and finally there’s a situation she can’t abide, and BAM.
im ok with most of them BUT considering madoka magika as the PERFECT anime is too big , because it’s not that perfect , if you watched Fate/Zero you will probably love it and put it in this list insteed of madoka xDDD
I’ve actually seen Fate/Zero! I thought it was pretty okay, but had a fair number of problems with it.
There is only one thing I like better than a well-written top anime list, and that is recommending own favorite anime. My very favorite of which is Haibane Renmei.
Haibane Renmei is simply one of the finest redemption stories I’ve seen. There are fantasy elements to the story and world, and they are important, but they are to reinforce rather than distract from the characters’ arcs of overcoming their regrets and failings. Now that I think about it, this might make for an interesting companion piece with Eva – both deal with depression and the importance of personal connections, and both feature Christian-inspired religious themes. And the ending may just be the most moving finale of anything I’ve ever seen. So I’m really looking forward to your thoughts after you watch it.
Mononoke is also really good.
For something not already on your watch list, I recommend Darker Than Black. It’s a super-powered espionage thriller with Noir influences from the guy who created Zvedzda Plot and Wolf’s Rain. It’s not perfect, but I enjoy the heck out of it. I could talk about the unique worldbuilding or the memorable characters or the grown-up sense of cool that we haven’t seen the like of since Cowboy Bebop, but I won’t. The best thing about Darker Than Black is the writing, which has an intelligence and subtlety (most of the time) that’s rare in anime, and makes me remember it fondly in spite of – well, never mind.
Oh yeah, belated congratulations on your book, I’ll check it out as soon as I have an e-reading device again. Also, now that I know your real name, I’m spending way too much time trying to work in into dirty jokes.
Thank you… and don’t work too hard on that. Goddamnit.
Haibane Renmei is gonna be the next thing I watch! I’m very excited to get to that one. Darker than Black seems a bit less my kind of show, but it’s also something I’ll get to eventually. What a burden to have so much good anime to watch!
Great useful descriptions !
A few shows I haven’t seen that you’ve given me reasons to see and a few romances I can recommend to my friend who eat that kind of stuff.
Didn’t expected to see Haruhi or Gurren Lagaan here.
Still think HxH isn’t that great but that’s more down to aesthetic and direction preferences..
Yeah, Haruhi will probably fall off the list in a month or so. Glad you found something useful, though!
My personal recommendation that you’ve probably never heard of is Simoun. Just be aware that the first few episodes are terrible, (“head up ass” was my impression) and I only started enjoying it by going full schadenfreude and camp-enjoyment mode in episode 4, but shortly afterward I was enthralled with minimum cynicism. Its character development, in conjunction with all of the issues and themes it touches upon, especially with regards to identity, are top notch, and it was so good that I binge-watched over two days and two all-nighters, on weekday nights. No regrets, and I fell in love so hard with it that I bought not just the DVD boxset right away (which I haven’t done for any other anime) and hunted down the two out-of-print OSTs.
Otherwise, there’s always this thing.
Simoun is actually on my list, too! It reaaally sounds like my kind of thing, so I’m definitely looking forward to it. I was actually kind of tempted to just buy the DVDs at Anime Boston this year, they are ridiculously affordable.
Let’s just say, the tumblr fandom eagerly anticipates your tears.
Lots of my favorites here :3 It’s funny that Haruhi is the lowest on your list while it would be #1 on mine XD Still nice to see it here though. Code Geass, Cowboy Bebop, Toradora!, and Mushishi would also be among my top 30 and Madoka and Evangelion would be in my top 10.
I like a lot of the others on your list too…except for Baccano!, Penguindrum, and Gurren Lagann. I’ve seen them and I don’t think they’re bad or anything, they’re just not my cup of tea. Also good to know someone else who liked Gargantia =)
Gargantia’s great! I think it’ll get more popular over time, too.
Too mainstream.
You should read the first paragraph!
Really good list I gotta say.
And yeah, even though I have quite a few problems with Evangelion (it tells more than shows, tends to treat the viewer as a moron in terms of delivering themes, Asuka and Gendo’s characters aren’t exactly very likeable in my opinion, the symbolism doesn’t really have a greater meaning beyond Rule of Cool, etc), it still holds the top spot for me simply due to its ambition and compelling tale of what makes us human. That, and because of Rei Ayanami (my one and only waifu :3).
With that said, I also place Madoka as a very close second, mainly because I feel that aside from a few flaws with the characters reacting more than acting, and maybe having less characterization than they could have had, it is also a marvelous work of ambition and thought-provoking themes. In fact, I actually feel that Madoka exceeds Evangelion in quite a few areas (more likeable characters, is more trusting of the viewer to understand the themes, not a single scene or piece of dialogue wasted, symbolism that is used beyond Rule of Cool, etc).
That said, which of the two do you consider stronger in terms of themes and execution?
Madoka wins in terms of cohesiveness of execution – every single element of that production is perfectly calibrated and impressive. Evangelion wins in terms of acuity of message – it has character writing well beyond anything I’ve seen in the rest of the medium. I wouldn’t want to compare them directly though, they’re both fantastic in very different ways.
I very glad Mushi-Shi made it on the list because I considered it one of the best examples of modern telling of folktales. It’s really dreamy in that it can flit into your life, provide a good half hour of beautiful storytelling, and then flit out all the while leaving a faint memory in its wake. I usually don’t like episodic animes (or any shows/games/books) because I like a “larger picture” to be told but Mushi-Shi is the way to do episodic shows. It establishes a world,creates real characters that you connect with within a single episode, and tells a great story each time (there’s no filler that I can really think of). Anyways great list and congrats on your book mate.
Mushishi is super awesome and I am so happy that the new episodes are coming out soon.I had my fill by watching the interseason special another time but I need more. There is some semi-filter in the shots for 10 secs of the sun or sky every five minutes but this happens in most artistic shows.
Mushishi is so good! I’ll hopefully be writing a piece on the first season fairly soon.
Interesting list. I believe that Revolutionary Girl Utena ranks higher than Evangelion in my book. Both shows have some very impressive character studies at their core, but I’m one of those individuals who didn’t completely identify with Shinji and his issues the first time around. I’m able to appreciate its message, especially later on in life and after subsequent viewings, but more as an observer than as someone whose youth was touched by it . I suppose the fact that Utena’s symbols were, despite the gender gap, more intriguing to analyze than Evangelion’s largely incidental Christian trappings also helped. Nevertheless, they’re both excellent series that deserve to be ranked highly.
Spice and Wolf as well as Katanagatari are also great picks. They dealt with very distinct subject matter and the stakes involved were extremely different, especially considering Katanagatari has more of a sense of urgency and mortality at its core, but I appreciated the strength and depth of their respective approaches to character interaction and, as it were, romance.
As for Code Geass it’s definitely primarily concerned with being entertaining to watch, by the staff’s own admission, but I found it did provide some interesting thematic content as well. Particularly about Lelouch’s playing the role of a villain. To some extent you could compare it to Samurai Flamenco, which ironically enough has an almost opposite kind of theme, in the sense that many of its crazy, implausible and outright ridiculous events happen to be fun enough by themselves, but you can also tie the more interesting ideas together if such a thing is desired. I’d also point out that, unlike some of its imitators and unrelated yet derivative works, Taniguchi’s energetic style of direction, which can go from the ultra-campy to the ultra-dramatic and back again, largely makes up for some of the flaws present in the script.
Gunbuster will always have a special place in my heart because it was one of the first anime that I actually bought for myself and, surprisingly enough, one of the few shows from that era I’d still happily rewatch without much prompting, considering its masterful execution at Hideaki Anno’s hands and the relative uniqueness of the resulting content, in spite -but also because of- the evident nature of its construction as a grab bag of what was popular among otaku at the time of its creation. The ending still resonates with me in a way that I’d wish more shows were capable of doing.
Definitely agree with picks like Evangelion, Gatchaman, Monogatari, FLCL, Utena, Tatami, and others. I’m surprised to see Oregairu there, but it really was a great show with actual messages and character studies, and what other LN romcoms should try to be. From spoilers later on in the books, I think you’ll like a possible second season even more.
I think you would love Kuuchuu Buranko/Trapeze, which is a lively colourful Nakamura (Gatchaman Crowds) show, and all intensely focused on people. And I’ll just throw out Legend of the Galactic Heroes too, which is completely different, but it’s quality is top-notch and has a great cast of characters who have real agency on its world.
You will probably be pleased to know that I marathoned Samurai Flamenco based entirely on your weekly reviews, and was suitably impressed.
As for suggestions, I’d say bump Kokoro Connect (due to amazing dramatic paccing, and very well-written characters) up a bit in your queue, add Eureka Seven (It’s a mech show, but where the characters are people instead of stereotypes), and probably bump the Ef series(es) down a bit (while they look beautiful, they fall prey to the standard utsuge adaptation problems of trying too hard to make the characters tug at your heartstrings by making everything just oh so depressing. Go ahead and watch, but only in small doses).
Glad to hear it! I actually have been hearing a lot of good stuff about Kokoro Connect, and I think I’m going to love Eureka Seven. I’ll probably fit that into my schedule as a fun breather after the next couple shows.
Do you have EF: A Tale of Memories on your watchlist?
Yep! You think it’s something I’d particularly like?
I’d think you’d really appreciate its direction. This is one time Shaft really goes all out in its unconventional, surrealistic visual experimentation, and it paid tremendous dividends in my view. It and its sequel were the first times in any visual media I was legitimately terrified to borderline mad at what transpired during certain scenes. No jump scares, no uneasy feelings. I was literally besides myself, my mind a complete mess, throughout those scenes and then some after. And this is a romantic drama of all things… how that, amongst the horror that I’ve watched up until then, managed to frighten me that badly, is astounding.
Oops. Sorry for the super-duper delayed response, but yeah, I’d think you love it. My favorite romance and some of the best direction I’ve seen outta SHAFT. It’s not perfect, but the presentation, the writing, the characters, are all so raw, passionate and genuine. The romantic atomsphere that looms over the series is just so immersive and multifaceted, capturing emotions from every end of the spectrum. 10/10
My insights:
I thought that was a cohesive list though I would have ranked Steins;Gate and Cowboy Bebop in the top 10, with the latter being number 1. I am yet to watch every anime you suggested as greatest but given that many of those I love ended up in your list (Kyousougiga and Steins;Gate for example), I will give those a try. 🙂
I find it fascinating that I am not the only one captivated by Hyouka. Heck, I thought that was the most good-looking anime I saw in my life. The story was not bad either and it was far from moe and nothingness that Kyoto animation is offering to us lately.
While I am a fan of Chuunibyo, I cannot and I will not place it in a “best-of” list due to its superficial second half. The drama dragged the show down. Don’t even begin with the second season: it was meh beyond episode three.
Notable omissions in my opinion?
*Clannad After Story – For me, it is and will always be the standard setter for anime drama. Episodes 9, 16, 18 and 21 made me bawl like a baby you know.
*Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood – Who would not want a badass anime like that?!
Hyouka is so good! I really do hope it’s not the Last Great KyoAni show, but I guess it’s at least a strong show to go out on.
I wasn’t really a fan of Clannad personally, but I still need to see Full Metal Alchemist. In fact, I’d say it’s my most-recommended show at the moment – I’ve clearly got some work to do!
Some advice: I notice that, in your “plan to watch” list, there is featured Macross: Do You Remember Love? and Macross Frontier. While I have no problem with you showing interest in the Macross franchise – quite the contrary in fact, it’s almost definitely my favourite franchise within the medium, with Frontier most probably being my favourite Anime ever – I would suggest firstly to watch the full SDF series rather than DYRL (the latter suffers from heavy formatting problems: An attempt to condense thirty – six episodes into a mere two hours or so, despite it’s large visual production values), and secondly to make sure you watch it BEFORE Frontier – Frontier sometimes likes to pull the strange trick of both giving nostalgia fanservice and developing it’s themes with the same events by comparing and contrasting these events with those in previous Macross series, by far most commonly SDF itself, often perfectly fitting in with it’s (probably largest) theme of how the past conflicts with and influences the future: In order to understand what these events represent fully, viewing SDF beforehand is required (it also spoils Macross Zero on it’s first episode, so if you intend to watch that as well that’s another consideration :v). I will also warn you that there is some amount of sexual fanservice in both series, but I doubt it would be enough to ruin your experience: It’s minor and the rest of them are fabulous Character dramas. Also check out Macross Plus if you have the chance: A great story about the contrast between pleasure and true satisfaction, backed by some fantastic action scenes and a fine soundtrack (there’s also Macross 7 as well, but that ends up as a fairly standard Super Robot show for the most part, although a fun one: I doubt it’s something you’d care for much). Check them out when you have the chance.
Thanks for the advice! I’ll start with SDF, then – I know I wouldn’t have gotten nearly as much out of Diebuster if I wasn’t able to see it as basically the capstone to an entire era of Gainax coming-of-age stories, so I definitely don’t want to rob myself of that experience here.
A small correction: I said that Frontier spoils Zero within it’s first episode. It doesn’t: The Zero spoilers are in fact present in the tenth :v
I saw Macross DYRL without watching the series and now I feel no need to. One of the best animated things ever and it told me all I needed to know about the SDF storyline without having to lose ten or so hours of my life. Kind of like a better version of the Clannad movie. Condensed storytelling easily triumphs slow-paced character development crap (the Diebuster/Gunbuster summary movies are terrible though).
Also regarding ef-a tale of memories, I can’t speak for how you’ll enjoy that, but don’t watch the sequel: ef-a tale of melodies. It is bad. Really really bad. Like “practically every sequel Shaft makes that’s not Monogatari SS” bad.
(Ashes here, my emails security was compromised, so I decided to just use an account I made some time ago with an old email address, rather than make a new one :v)
I don’t get the feeling of “condensed storytelling” from the film: Rather, it seems to simply play out like a series of events which it expects me to care about without putting in any work to do so (perhaps thinking it can rely on the strength of it’s source material as a substitute). It looks pretty, but it never really has any weight: Weight given in the series by that “slow-paced character development crap” you mention. I am sorry, but for me to care about your story, you have to make me care about the people in it in some form: “slow-paced character development crap” commonly becomes the necessary element that allows me to like or even love a story, and with SDF, that was certainly the case. Of course, if you just want to get to Frontier quickly, then watching Do You Remember (and Zero if you care about spoilers for it) is an option: But I would say that adding more weight to what you’re calling back to can add more weight to the callback. Also, judging by things he’s said previously, i think Bob would prefer a more Character-focused story than one that doesn’t really spend much time in that area at all.
Also, as a side note, while I don’t consider it of the same quality as the initial series, I find Melodies to be decent still: It almost lapses into unearned drama at times, and it’s cast is more uneven in quality than Memories, but it still manages to get through it’s run respectably.
Thank you for putting Spice and Wolf on your list, I totally respect you for that. Although not the best, it was my favorite anime to watch.
Yeah, it’s incredibly enjoyable to watch those characters hang out together. A very soothing show.
For someone who just got into watching anime seasonally, I really enjoy the input! It made a very insightful read, your reviews are extremely well thought and make my soon-to-watch list much more sound!
Thank you 🙂
You’re welcome! Glad you enjoyed the list!
Disappointed Serial Experiment Lain didn’t make the list.
Just barely. I think it’s very good, but I had issues with some of its tangents, and I didn’t really personally enjoy it enough to put it on in spite of them.
Code Geass should really be a lot higher up in the list. Not to mention Death Note, FMA and Fairy Tail should be included.
*full metal alchemist brotherhood.. didnt really like FMA