What's your top five anime?

[Zeke Johnson]

1: Evangelion,
2: Fruits Basket,
3: Dragonball Z,
4: Deathnote,
5: Cromartie High School,

Zeke Johnson ( Ex-Captain )

 

[Ermine]

I haven't seen much anime that I find interesting, but I really like Hellsing.

 

[hairlessbluetick]

In no order:

Evangelion
Serial Experiments Lain
Boogiepop Phantom
Wolf's Rain
Witch Hunter Robin

I also really enjoy Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, Lupin III, and Azumanga Daioh. I have seen the first episodes of Gankutsuou and Elfen Lied and am exciting about them both. Especially Elfen Lied.

 

[loveofreason]

Ranma 1/2
AKO
Ghost in the Shell
Evangelion
Battle Angel Alita (just having a blank moment on it's proper name... memory's not what it used to be)

I used to enjoy Bubblegum Crisis too. I haven't seen any of the more recent offerings.

 

[hedgehogbe]

Wow, this is really hard to decide...

Wolf's Rain
Ghost in the Shell
Welcome to the NHK
Last Exile
Death Note

I have seen a LOT of anime, and I really love a lot of other series, such as Samurai Seven, Gankutsuou Cowboy Bebop, Rurouni Kenshin, Legend of Galactic Heroes, Ranma 1/2, Scrapped Princess, Great Teacher Onizuka etc. Sooooo many that I like lol.

I actually just watched the first episode of Serial Experiments Lain, and I thought it looked really interesting, so I am going to watch more of it. I'm also watching Yakitake!! Japan which is surprisingly fun for a show about bread lol.

 

[Radioactive_Springtime]

It's been forever since I've actually sat down and watched an anime, or any other form of television, and followed through with continually watching it but, my favorites always were:

Cowboy Bebop
The Gundam franchise (except G Gundam, and SD)
Rurouni Kenshin
Inuyasha
Pilot Candidate

 

[Oblivious]

Evangelion Rebuild
Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei <--- Godly
Code Geass
Kara no Kyoukai <--- Godly
Simoun

 

[murkrow]

I saw a few anime on TV when I was in the states and they seemed really interesting but I never really caught the titles.

maybe you anime heads could help me out.

The one that I really liked was about some like... secret investigators or something? investigating paranormal things. In the episode I saw they were in this big church at some point, it was set in the real world. They wore trench coats.

any possibilities?

anyway of the anime that I've seen from start to finish my favorite is Gundam Wing because it's the perfect balance of plot and theme.

Gundam Seed was shit.

 

[Ermine]

Did that anime with the church and the trenchcoats involve vampires? In that case, it could be Hellsing.

 

[Radioactive_Springtime]

or it might have been witch hunter robin

 

[murkrow]

it was modern day

and the people used tech of some kind, like cel phones and crap.

not as weapons, they just had them.

 

[vic]

in no particular order:

- cowboy bebep
- visions of escaflowne
- hajime no ippo
- full metal alchemist
- full metal panic fumoffu (short lived 12 episode miniseries =|) or love hina

 

[Thread Killer]

.Hack//Sign
Full Metal Alchemist
Yu Yu Hakusho
Trigun
Tenchi Muyo

In that order, though I'm going by favorite and not 'best' because as far as I am concerned, Full Metal Alchemist pwns all in terms of pure awesomeness.

 

[Kuu]

Evangelion
Full Metal Alchemist
Cowboy Bebop

Someone mentioned Serial Experiments Lain. I never fully understood just what happened since around the middle of the series. It just went crazy philosophical from there on. Maybe I need to watch it again.

 

[Dr. Why]

Evangelion
Elfen Lied
Gundam Franchise
Tenchi series
and Cowboy Bebop

 

[Olba]

Death Note. One of the best anime I've ever seen. A real masterpiece, I have to say. The soundtrack is good, the characters are unique, the story is original and the fact that the main character is evil make this one of the best possible anime out there.

Fullmetal Alchemist. A really interesting anime with a really good soundtrack and interesting characters. Also, the obvious philosophical aspect and rebellion against the militarian nation makes this a really good anime.

Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei. A funny anime with an interesting main character. Also shows a good way of being overly dramatic. It's also interesting how the anime belittles death itself.

Full Metal Panic. Another interesting anime. Ironic as it is, I don't take that great of a liking to mecha anime and tend to avoid them as much as possible. Also, all the comedy works really well to lift the mood. Strangely, this anime is probably the only one which actually contains technology that I would be interesting to research further.

And finally, Neon Genesis Evangelion. A classic, as seen by it appearing on the lists here over and over again. I don't really care about the fighting so much. If anything, the philosophy and the fact that everyone has some kind of an issue in the anime makes it worthy to be on my list.

All of these anime are ones that I would recommend without any hesitation for those familiar with anime and those who less familiar.

However, I'm currently watching Nodame Cantabile and I believe it will claim one of the five spots, probably that of FMP or NGE.

 

[Mischz]

A list of my animations I enjoyed for a variety of reasons:

Claymore (manga plot still continues)
Fate/Stay Night
Elfen Lied
Death Note
Blood+ (original + Japanese versions)
Kenichi: History's Strongest Disciple
Gundam 00
Project Lain
Code Geass

 

[loveofreason]

Thanks for posting a synopsis for each of your choices, Olba.

It's been many years since I've caught up with Anime. Have some now on my wish-list to see.

 

[Olba]

Thanks for posting a synopsis for each of your choices, Olba.

Well, I've always been like that. If asked why you like something, answering with "because it's good" just doesn't work.

It's been many years since I've caught up with Anime. Have some now on my wish-list to see.

Well, but then the topic is serving its purpose, isn't it? After all, "Favorites"-topics are always the ones people browse if they want something good.

 

[fullerene]

Death Note!!
Full Metal Alchemist
Elfen Lied
Claymore

Don't really have a 5th... none I enjoyed anywhere near enough to list with these 4. Of course, Death Note is head, shoulders, and torso above the others.

 

[Integer]

Cool, some people know Wolf's Rain (believe me, not a lot do).

WR
Furuba
Gunslinger girl
School rumble
The girl who leapt through time


And ... yeah I quite like Chobits and Bleach. The current fillers are crap though.

 

[Kumori]

Full Metal Alchemist
Ghost In The Shell (I love the transhuman stuff)
FLCL
Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei
If I can discount the entire second season, then Death Note, otherwise Code Geass.

 

[tfa1]

Ghost in the Shell: SAC
Bleach
Clannad
Inuyasha (the first few seasons only - the latter half was boooring and pointless)
Haruhi Suzumiya

 

[fullerene]

for those of you who said so... why Bleach? I've only just been getting into anime recently, but I've seen probably 8 or 9 "famous" series', and I thought bleach was by far the worst (although I've only seen the first 75 or so of them... yeah I know I know, I got bored this summer).

The reason I say so is because the series lives and dies on how ridiculous it can be... every time you don't think people can get stronger, stronger people appear. Whenever ichigo becomes the fastest guy, a faster one appears out of nowhere... then he trains til he can accomplish whatever objective, then does it.

The only shred of useful thought I can even take out of it, if you look at the themes, is that "if you just try hard enough at something, if your determination is strong enough, you do anything." Blech... shallow lessons which, if held onto with enough tenacity, can only lead to depression. Plus, kon is freaking annoying. Not funny... no comic relief... just irritating.


Compare to something like death note and the intricate plots and counterplots, questions of what makes justice and who has the right to decide it, etc... or even fullmetal alchemist, which brings up what it means to be human and searches for the distinction between science and superstition... hell, even nausicaa of the valley of the wind threw some environmental propaganda and tensions of imperialism in there to make it mean something.

So I wanted to ask... what makes bleach worth it? Have I just not watched it far enough? Does the series continue on this trend through the bounto story arc, or does it become more valuable and interesting somewhere down the line?

 

[Dissident]

Just not to bore you all with series already mentioned I wont say my top 5 but the ones that are good (IMO) and havent been mentioned.

Berserk (Anime + ongoing manga) -Awesome-
Texhnolyze (Alternative and interesting narrative, reminds you of Lain)
Gantz
Fooly Cooly (if you find a crazyer one, let me know)

 

[tfa1]

for those of you who said so... why Bleach?

For me, I guess it's because I don't watch a whole lot of anime and nothing else came to mind. If movies are allowed (I just assumed we were talking series), then I'd probably replace Inuyasha and Bleach on my list with Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle. I love Miyazaki films (though I haven't seen Nausicaa yet - plan to do so soon).

Plus, kon is freaking annoying. Not funny... no comic relief... just irritating.

I agree whole-heartedly. The only thing he ever did that ever made me laugh was when he first took over Ichigo's body. "Early to bed, early to rise; that's my motto."

 

[fullerene]

haha ok, thank you for being honest (I actually suspected it got written down when people didn't have many--I almost did it myself). Spirited Away was a pretty sweet movie... I've never seen Howl's Moving Castle though. Don't get your hopes up for Nausicaa... I also hated that movie, and only inclcuded it to emphasize how much less substance there was to Bleach . In my opinion Anime (at least the stuff I've seen) is great when dealing with people and psychological issues, but weak (like all TV and music and movies) when it starts turning political.

That said, I'm going to re-emphasize Elfen Lied in my list as well. I watched the series through again and it still made me cry 2 or 3 times (and it's only 13 episodes long). Extremely depressing, but a remarkable series. Just don't watch it if you're offended by gratuitous amounts of blood and nudity, have to see people within the next 16 or so hours, or empathize well with pain and would rather avoid an emotional meltdown.

 

[Kumori]

Just not to bore you all with series already mentioned I wont say my top 5 but the ones that are good (IMO) and havent been mentioned.

Berserk (Anime + ongoing manga) -Awesome-
Texhnolyze (Alternative and interesting narrative, reminds you of Lain)
Gantz
Fooly Cooly (if you find a crazyer one, let me know)

Fooly Cooly, I do prefer calling it FLCL or Furi Kuri (The Japanese pronunciation of FLCL) though, Fooly Cooly just sounds really strange. I didn't think much of Berserk, but I did like Texhnolyze, haven't seen Gantz but I'll give it a go.

Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei can be as insane as FLCL at some points, and it's pretty funny (It's a comedy), the second series is a little dissapointing though.

haha ok, thank you for being honest (I actually suspected it got written down when people didn't have many--I almost did it myself). Spirited Away was a pretty sweet movie... I've never seen Howl's Moving Castle though. Don't get your hopes up for Nausicaa... I also hated that movie, and only inclcuded it to emphasize how much less substance there was to Bleach . In my opinion Anime (at least the stuff I've seen) is great when dealing with people and psychological issues, but weak (like all TV and music and movies) when it starts turning political.

That said, I'm going to re-emphasize Elfen Lied in my list as well. I watched the series through again and it still made me cry 2 or 3 times (and it's only 13 episodes long). Extremely depressing, but a remarkable series. Just don't watch it if you're offended by gratuitous amounts of blood and nudity, have to see people within the next 16 or so hours, or empathize well with pain and would rather avoid an emotional meltdown.

Spirited away is great, and I am going to watch Elfen Lied very soon, I keep hearing it's good.

 

[ElectricWizard]

Not in any particular order: Lain Texhnolyze Monster ...I don't watch much. Those three I watched on the computer, and it's not a particularly entertaining experience waiting for each to load.

 

[FreakOfNature]

1) Death Note
2) D Gray Man
3) Vampire Knight
4) Ouran High School Host Club
5) Fruits Basket

Yeah, I guess you're right Olba, Light Yagami (protagonist of Death Note) is evil. And yet he has such a devoted following. (In both Death Note and in various fandoms).

 

[fullerene]

whoa... someone who likes death note best lists four other anime I've never heard of before?

*hopeful grin*

 

[Raison D'etre]

Ouran High School Host Club and Fruits Basket are romantic comedies.

 

[Kumori]

That said, I'm going to re-emphasize Elfen Lied in my list as well. I watched the series through again and it still made me cry 2 or 3 times (and it's only 13 episodes long). Extremely depressing, but a remarkable series. Just don't watch it if you're offended by gratuitous amounts of blood and nudity, have to see people within the next 16 or so hours, or empathize well with pain and would rather avoid an emotional meltdown.

I just finished watching it, and it's the second fictional story I've ever watched/read that made me cry.

 

[Kumori]

whoa... someone who likes death note best lists four other anime I've never heard of before?

*hopeful grin*

Code Geass is very similar to Death Note, but I preferred it. Elfen Lied can be as tense as it, but for different reasons.

 

[icywindow]

Oh, cool. Animes. That I like.

Pita-Ten
Scrapped Princess
Honey and Clover
Saikano
Nodame Cantabile

Higurashi was also pretty good, but there was about half of it that I couldn't watch because eww. I liked the cute part, not the psychotic part XD.

I also like anime based on Key games (Air, Kanon). Yay for Shoujo series.

 

[zaradr]

its tough for me to narrow down my favourite anime list to just five. many of my favourites have already been mentioned so here are five i really enjoyed but haven't seen mentioned yet:

bakumatsu kikanetsu irohanihoheto
seirei no moribito
noein
kekkaishi
baccano!

as for animes already mentioned that are on my favourites list:

death note
claymore
saikano
fate/stay night
ghost in the shell sac
full metal panic (including fumoffu and tsr)
full metal alchemist
neon genesis evangelion
serial experiments lain
blood+
cowboy bebop
trigun (not sure if this one was mentioned, too lazy to go back and check though)

well, that's quite a bit more than five so i guess i cheated. oops.

 

[Kumori]

its tough for me to narrow down my favourite anime list to just five. many of my favourites have already been mentioned so here are five i really enjoyed but haven't seen mentioned yet:

bakumatsu kikanetsu irohanihoheto
seirei no moribito
noein
kekkaishi
baccano!

as for animes already mentioned that are on my favourites list:

death note
claymore
saikano
fate/stay night
ghost in the shell sac
full metal panic (including fumoffu and tsr)
full metal alchemist
neon genesis evangelion
serial experiments lain
blood+
cowboy bebop
trigun (not sure if this one was mentioned, too lazy to go back and check though)

well, that's quite a bit more than five so i guess i cheated. oops.

Seirei no Moriboto was awesome, Buccano! too, man that was awesome, I loved the Rail Tracer thing .

 

[rocky00753]

Deathnote
MONSTER --- Highly recommend this one if you haven't seen it!!!!
Chobits & Elfen Lied (kinda put them in the same catergory, though Chobits was more entertaining)
Cowboy Beebop
Evangelion
Full Metal Alchemist
also Full Metal Panic was very addictive!

 

[Waterstiller]

I'm just getting back into Anime. I forgot how much I loved watching new series.


1. Haibane Renmei - "Rakka, a newly born Haibane (Angel) awakens into an unfamiliar world with only a strange dream of falling from the sky as her only memory. Alone and scared of who and what she is, she is cared for by fellow Haibane as they try and search for the meaning of their existence as well as what lies beyond their town's imprisoning walls." This made me weep. It's just beautiful. It is also open for deep analysis, but doesn't exactly require it. Which seems perfect for INTP's. Watch the show's opening.

2. Trigun - About a pacifist who has a huge bounty on his head for destroying a city. It starts off ridiculous but gets progressively darker and always makes me cry at points. I love it for its characters, mainly. I hate stereotypical characters, and all of the main characters are far from it.

3. Visions of Escaflowne - "Escaflowne is the story of a high school girl who one day witnesses a light from which a strange boy and a dragon arrive from. After a frightening battle, Hitomi is sucked into the light with Van, ending up in an alternate world where Earth hangs in the sky. The mysterious world she enters is Gaea. A world similar to the ones of King Arthur - inhabited by kingdoms, dragons and knights." It's really enjoyable. I need to watch it again because I forget exactly why I loved it.

4. Anything directed by Hayao Miyazaki. Namely Princess Mononoke, Howl's Moving Castle, Spirited Away, and Laputa: Castle in the Sky. The others are good as well.

5. Scrapped Princess - The story takes place in a fantasy world and revolves around a 15-year-old princess who is prophecied to be "the poison that will destroy the world" when she turns 16. She was supposed to be killed as an infant but makes it out alive. The relationships between the characters and the revealed story are why I like it so much. Unfortunately, the characters are in many ways stereotypical and every female character has overly huge breasts. As a whole, it's charming and I love the sense of aimlessness it conveys.

I've heard good things about Kino's Journey, so I'll probably be purchasing that soon. I need to watch Noein, Elfen Lied, Fruits Basket, Death Note, and The Third.

Oh, and Paprika is a must-see for anyone who likes to spin their brain around and be assaulted by stunning dream logic visuals. Do yourself a favor and at least check out the trailer.

 

[fullerene]

Paprika looks amazing visually... I've gotta watch that this weekend, or sooner if I can find the time.

 

[FusionKnight]

1. Gundam X
2. Macross Plus
3. Spirited Away
4. Lain
5. Evangelion
6. Jin Roh (Wolf Brigade)
7. Ghost in the Shell
8. Scryed



Edit:
9. Battle Angel Alita
10. Pat Labor
11. Berserk
12. Escaflowne
13. That really wacked out one with the boy who has a robot growing out of his head...

Edit 2:
13. FLCL - Ha! I remembered!

 

[Waterstiller]

I just finished Noein today and have to say that it was incredible. I'd put it at #2 on my list. Jawdropping.

I'd say it's pretty much tailored for INTP's. It deals with identity, time, quantum physics, multiple dimensions, causality, and has great character development/interaction. And does it all very coherently. It's as touching as it is weird. Repeatedly switches between depressing and cute. It's just so damned unique.

The dub is really bad for this one.

Here's the first episode:
Noein Episode 1

 

[Kumori]

I'm going to have to add Shigofumi to my list, it's amazing. The dingy, run down feel of FLCL, with intense episodical storylines, that develop into a full fledged story almost seamlessly.

 

[FusionKnight]

Compare to something like death note and the intricate plots and counterplots, questions of what makes justice and who has the right to decide it, etc...

I just started watching Death Note (I'm on episode 8) and it is crazy awesome! It's like a mind duel between the two main characters over who gets to define justice and how it's implemented. Every episode brings these two closer to direct confrontation, and it keeps me on the edge of my seat.

Very cool!

 

[Dissident]

I think noone mentioned Ergo Proxy, I wonder why. If you havent already, watch it, its very interesting.

 

[fullerene]

isn't it? Dude, it only gets better, too, at least until the end of the first section.

what do you see in FLCL, by the way? Maybe I'm just retarded or something, but I had absolutely no idea what was going on in that anime. I even read the episode summaries after each episode, and I still had no idea what was going on. Does it make any sense if you watch it again, or was there something you were supposed to have seen before it, or am I just dumb?

 

[FusionKnight]

I don't think it was supposed to mean anything. I was under the impression that it was an experimental work, mainly highlighting various animators. I think it was just visual play...

 

[didyouknow]

1. Trigun for the characters and the dark side of it in the later parts
2. Death Note for the simply amazing battle of wits that has unexpected twists at every turn, not to mention the amazing genius of both L and Light...
3. Cowboy Bebop for the smooth fight scenes, awesome music and that hilarious magic mushroom episode
4. Full Metal Alchemist for the questions of humanity and the scary realisation that they had in fact created a monster
5. Eureka Seven for the interesting questions that came out of it, the sadistic Holland and that random old guy who's always drinking tea...

I can't really say these are in order though, I enjoyed them for different reasons...

 

[Chimera]

_________
____________

1 : Death Note
2 : FLCL
3 : Samurai Champloo
4 : Cowboy Bebop
5 : Fullmetal Alchemist or Hellsing, I can't decide.

I'm not really into anime though. Death Note was the only thing that I would actually plan to watch on TV. . .and even then I forgot most of the time.

By the way -- FLCL does have something like a plot, but it's really not the main focus of the series (at all.) After I watched it a second time, it made a bit more sense. But part of the reason I like it is its sheer eccentricity.
____________
_________
​

 

[Ermine]

I stayed up till 4 AM watching Death Note once. I'm just bummed about how it ended.

Also watched Hellsing till 3. Great anime is so addicting!