Top 5 Anime Shows

[Dartheyegouger]

Well, we did songs already...

5.Naruto
4.Outlaw Star
3.Rurouni Kenshin
2.Zoids Zero
1.Yuyu Hakusho


RESPOND!!!

[johnny139]

I don't have the biggest collection, but...

5. Naruto
4. One Piece
3. Gundam Seed
2. Castle in the Sky: Laputa
1. Rurouni Kenshin!!!

[CornPuff]

#5 is a tie between Naruto 1-140 ish (until the filler begins) and Bleach 1 - 60
4. Cowboy Bebop
3. Hellsing
2. Samurai Champloo
1. Trigun

Honorable mention: Lain

I feel like I'm forgetting some big ones....

[edit: I forgot Full Metal Alcemist! It'd probably be inserted at #3 in my list]

oh well, Trigun is definitely the best 26 episodes of anime ever. If you ever watch too much anime.... go out and get Excel Saga and watch it with the pop-up video turned on. Brain Frying.

[Havokscry]

5. Wolf's Rain
4. Record of Lodoss War
3. Naruto
2. Berserk
1. Full Metal Alchemist

[CupidsArt]

1. Wolf's Rain
2. Samurai Deeper KYO
3. Chobits
4. Desert Punk
5. Samurai Champloo (I was commissioned to MOD the Ninjas like these three, :) )

[Fallen Templar]

#5 Trigun
#4 Full Metal Alchemist
#3 Naruto before Fillers
#2 Ruroni Kenshin
#1 Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex

[oni]

1. Bubblegum Crisis (classic, not 2040)

2. Neon Genesis

3. Ghost in the Shell: SAC

4. El Hazard

5. Tenchi (first version)

Honerable mention and not even on DVD: Gunbusters.

Are you going to do Manga next?

[oni]

Oh yeah, Gunbusters to be released in Feb 07. Check it out.

http://bandaivisual.us/pdfs/PressRelease_Gunbuster.pdf

[brigade101]

Don't know if I have 5 I really like but #1 would be Cowboy Bebop in spades. Can't get enough of it

And Outlaw Star . That was the one with the cat girl warlord wasn't it ?
Sad to say she somewhat turned me on :oops:

[Agent Minivann]

1. Wolf's Rain
2. Samurai Deeper KYO
3. Chobits
4. Desert Punk
5. Samurai Champloo (I was commissioned to MOD the Ninjas like these three, :) )

Pictures?

I don't get to see much anime, but here are my picks:
1: Cowboy Bebop
2: Samurai Champloo
3: Area 88 (haven't seen all of it yet)


Bebop and Champloo really make me laugh. The stories and character development is great. Some of the stuff in there, Bebop in particular, just blows my mind. I really dig Area 88. I've seen most of it, and it just pulls me in. Great stuff.

And the others:

I started out really liking Cromartie High School, but it lost the magic after the first third or so of the series. The last episode kind of got the mojo going again. I liked what I saw of Eureka 7 (I think that was the name), but I only saw a couple episodes. Full Metal Alchemist looks good, but I haven't seen enough to really have a good opinion. I really wanted to like Trigun, but it seemed like every other episode bugged the crap out of me. I thought the ending was awful. Maybe if I only watch a few episodes of Trigun then I really like it. Neon Genesis didn't really do anything for me, unless your talking about the, well, never mind. I saw the Yuyu Hakusho movie. I thought it was OK, but it didn't do anything for me like I was hoping. I liked Princess Mononoke a whole lot, but I figured this was more about series.

[Aldin]

1) Starblazers
2) Robotech
3) ... *Aldin looks around, realizes all the young, "cool kids" are staring at him*

What?!? Did I say something wrong?

~Aldin, as the smiley below looks up with pity at me

:poorpost:

[Rhydderch]

1. Rurouni Kenshin! Before Season 3 Anyway. Fillers SUCK :(

Ok I guess I have not seen too much anime. Ironic for someone who was President of his anime club in college, expanded the club by leaps and bounds, and later organized a mini-convention :P

I also liked School Rumble so that would make my Top 5 if I actually had 5. I enjoyed the Miyazaki works, Noir, and the parts of Naruto and Full Metal Alchemist I saw. Most other anime shows are pretty mediocre. Then again I only like a few American cartoons too so I might just be picky!

By the way anyone know of any Kenshin figures which would be to scale with Heroscape?

[Tiberius]

Record of the Lodos War
Naruto
Ninja Scroll
Ghost in the Shell
Ranma

[Karkadinn]

My God, too many people know nothing of anime besides CN. ;)
That said, CN did happen to show two of my favorites: Cowboy Bebop and Paranoia Agent.
My other favorites are Serial Experiments Lain, Key the Metal Idol, and Perfect Blue.
Haibane Renmei, His & Her Circumstances, and Boogiepop Phantom could have made it, but I haven't seen enough episodes of those to make a full judgement yet. Evangelion would have made it if we were just counting the movie and the last half of the tv series minus the two finale episodes, but the first 50% of the series was just average in too many respects and the finale was a complete joke. It's a pity that the movie is far too adult in content for CN... then again, I never thought they'd be showing Evangelion at all, so I should be thankful for what we got. :)
Miyazaki movies are excellent as a rule, but once you've seen enough of them you realize that mostly they're just the same basic story being told over and over again with the outer trappings changed. I'd consider his best movie to be Nausicaa. After you see that one the rest are semi-redundant.
Kenshin is schlock. Schlock extraordinarily excellent action scenes when the animators bother to try, but still, schlock. Totally predictable and bursting with bishounen.
Samurai Champloo and Wolf's Rain are both extremely disappointing and predictable, albeit with excellent production values. There's something wrong with a show when you can tell what roles the characters play just by looking at them. Also, I'm sick to death of people idolizing wolves because they happen to look pretty.
Full Metal Alchemist is schlock, but with an excellent bgm for the villains. So excellent, in fact, that the musicians remade it like seven times. *counts mp3s* Hm, actually 'just' six times, my bad.
Trigun is schlock.
Ghost in the Shell SAC has incredible production values and maturity of presentation, but is hampered by a soulless, heartless ***** of a protagonist and the complete lack of an ultimate philosophical point to make or sentimental hold on the viewer. The writers seemed to have gone to the same writing school that the Gasaraki people did, where you're taught that longwinded boring business-like conversations and day to day work with no overall meaning, symbolism, or emotion = adult anime.
Noir is schlock with pretty music and art.
Outlaw Star was slightly above average, cheesy but entertaining. Moderately schlocky.
Naruto is complete and total schlock.
Yuyu Hakusho is complete schlock.
Gundam Seed is pretty good for a Gundam series, which means that it's only a little schlocky, but ultimately failed to live up to its tantalizing premises and emotional teasings. Worth a watch, just don't expect all the interesting things they tease you with to actually pay off in the end.
One Piece is complete schlock and I can't even watch it without wanting to kill something.
Inuyasha is complete schlock and it's the equivalent of DBZ for girls. Rumiko Takahashi is a literary *****. Yes, I know no one mentioned Inuyasha, but I wanted to say how much I hated it. ;)
Tenchi Muyo is schlock.
I watched Robotech as a kid but don't remember enough about it to make a judgement call.
These are my opinions. Let the hating commence. 8)

[atmospro]

My God, too many people know nothing of anime besides CN. ;)
That said, CN did happen to show two of my favorites: Cowboy Bebop and Paranoia Agent.
My other favorites are Serial Experiments Lain, Key the Metal Idol, and Perfect Blue.
Haibane Renmei, His & Her Circumstances, and Boogiepop Phantom could have made it, but I haven't seen enough episodes of those to make a full judgement yet. Evangelion would have made it if we were just counting the movie and the last half of the tv series minus the two finale episodes, but the first 50% of the series was just average in too many respects and the finale was a complete joke. It's a pity that the movie is far too adult in content for CN... then again, I never thought they'd be showing Evangelion at all, so I should be thankful for what we got. :)
Miyazaki movies are excellent as a rule, but once you've seen enough of them you realize that mostly they're just the same basic story being told over and over again with the outer trappings changed. I'd consider his best movie to be Nausicaa. After you see that one the rest are semi-redundant.
Kenshin is schlock. Schlock extraordinarily excellent action scenes when the animators bother to try, but still, schlock. Totally predictable and bursting with bishounen.
Samurai Champloo and Wolf's Rain are both extremely disappointing and predictable, albeit with excellent production values. There's something wrong with a show when you can tell what roles the characters play just by looking at them. Also, I'm sick to death of people idolizing wolves because they happen to look pretty.
Full Metal Alchemist is schlock, but with an excellent bgm for the villains. So excellent, in fact, that the musicians remade it like seven times. *counts mp3s* Hm, actually 'just' six times, my bad.
Trigun is schlock.
Ghost in the Shell SAC has incredible production values and maturity of presentation, but is hampered by a soulless, heartless **** of a protagonist and the complete lack of an ultimate philosophical point to make or sentimental hold on the viewer. The writers seemed to have gone to the same writing school that the Gasaraki people did, where you're taught that longwinded boring business-like conversations and day to day work with no overall meaning, symbolism, or emotion = adult anime.
Noir is schlock with pretty music and art.
Outlaw Star was slightly above average, cheesy but entertaining. Moderately schlocky.
Naruto is complete and total schlock.
Yuyu Hakusho is complete schlock.
Gundam Seed is pretty good for a Gundam series, which means that it's only a little schlocky, but ultimately failed to live up to its tantalizing premises and emotional teasings. Worth a watch, just don't expect all the interesting things they tease you with to actually pay off in the end.
One Piece is complete schlock and I can't even watch it without wanting to kill something.
Inuyasha is complete schlock and it's the equivalent of DBZ for girls. Rumiko Takahashi is a literary *****. Yes, I know no one mentioned Inuyasha, but I wanted to say how much I hated it. ;)
Tenchi Muyo is schlock.
I watched Robotech as a kid but don't remember enough about it to make a judgement call.
These are my opinions. Let the hating commence. 8)

What He said.
Note Gunsmith Cats could have been a good serial judging from the pilot movie "Riding Bean" but the series ruined the premise

[CupidsArt]

How about Elven Leid (sp)?

There are so many shows I've seen it's not even funny. I will say one of the worst I've ever seen is Gantz. It can be good at times, but it's mainly about a lead character trying to get some from another lead character, almost like Chobits but not as much plot.


A.D. Police is a descent one as well.

One of the funniest I've ever seen is Dragon Half, only 2 episodes and really not the best anime, but still pretty funny.


Oh and I will get pics of the ninjas up soon, :D

[Point Blanks]

1. Cowboy Bebop
2. Gundam Wing (the original, mind you)
3. Samurai Champloo
4. Berserk
5. Outlaw Star/ Trigun (I can't decide between them)

[Agent Minivann]

Thanks CA, I'm looking forward to them.

Kark, thanks for the mention of Paranoia Agent. I saw a bit of that show, and I found it really interesting. I wanted to watch more of it, but never got the chance. It seemed like it might move a little slow, but it seemed to pull me in. I'll have to hunt it down and give it a watch.

[Dartheyegouger]

Oh yeah, Big O gets an "honorable mention" from me, it was pretty good (from what I saw).

Also, I cannot express my hate for One Piece and Tenchi Muyo in the language of mortals. They really are THAT bad.

[dragonfire]

1.Naruto
2.Bleach
3.Full metal alchemist
4.trenity blood
5. DBZ{It was once an old favorite}


_________________________________
6. DeathNote

[Rhydderch]

My God, too many people know nothing of anime besides CN. ;)

Pfft... I was anime club leader (against my will). I was exposed to quite a bit of random anime. Just not that much left an impression on me. Also most series I never got to see the entirety of.

Anyway I find some of your responses interesting so I think I'll engage you in anime conversation for fun :)

My other favorites are Serial Experiments Lain, Key the Metal Idol, and Perfect Blue.
Haibane Renmei, His & Her Circumstances, and Boogiepop Phantom could have made it, but I haven't seen enough episodes of those to make a full judgement yet.

Lain... Perfect Blue... Boogiepop... I should introduce you to our old anime club librarian. He liked all anime but was an expecially big fan of the more abstract and often deeper anime. He was always trying to get the club to show stuff like Lain and Perfect Blue which is NOT something you look forward to when you are president and responsible for anime nights (24 hour marathons) which are located in the intersection between all the dorm rooms. We got weird enough looks WITHOUT showing Perfect Blue... :P

Miyazaki movies are excellent as a rule, but once you've seen enough of them you realize that mostly they're just the same basic story being told over and over again with the outer trappings changed. I'd consider his best movie to be Nausicaa. After you see that one the rest are semi-redundant.

True. The Miyazaki style is fairly redundant but I still enjoy it. I still need to see Nausicaa though.

Kenshin is schlock. Schlock extraordinarily excellent action scenes when the animators bother to try, but still, schlock. Totally predictable and bursting with bishounen.

I thought the story for Kenshin was fairly good. In some ways I think its meant to be predictable as its light-hearted anime. Personally I like the way it remains light while still dealing with some deeper issues. How much have you seen by the way? Also what did you think of the OVA?

Samurai Champloo and Wolf's Rain are both extremely disappointing and predictable, albeit with excellent production values. There's something wrong with a show when you can tell what roles the characters play just by looking at them. Also, I'm sick to death of people idolizing wolves because they happen to look pretty.

Never saw Wolf's Rain. Don't understand the popularity of Samurai Champloo. The story never seems to get anywhere and I dislike the look of the characters. And both the characters and conversations seem dry or exaggerated as well.

Full Metal Alchemist is schlock, but with an excellent bgm for the villains. So excellent, in fact, that the musicians remade it like seven times. *counts mp3s* Hm, actually 'just' six times, my bad.

Only seen parts of this one. What's a bgm?

Trigun is schlock.

Trigun = Cowboy Kenshin. Seriously. He's got a lot of the same issues. He even looks like one of the characters from Kenshin, albeit one of the bad guys :P

Ghost in the Shell SAC has incredible production values and maturity of presentation, but is hampered by a soulless, heartless **** of a protagonist and the complete lack of an ultimate philosophical point to make or sentimental hold on the viewer. The writers seemed to have gone to the same writing school that the Gasaraki people did, where you're taught that longwinded boring business-like conversations and day to day work with no overall meaning, symbolism, or emotion = adult anime.

What did you think of the movies? I know the second movie at least was largely a philosophical statement.

Noir is schlock with pretty music and art.

I thought Noir had great music and some really neat action scenes. The characters were also ok though I admit the story was only mediocre. It never really made complete sense to me. A lot of the emphasis is place on the style though and I think that came through well.

Outlaw Star was slightly above average, cheesy but entertaining. Moderately schlocky... Gundam Seed... Yuyu Hakusho... Tenchi Muyo... Robotech

Not familiar with these, except Robotech but like you, I do not remember it :P

Naruto is complete and total schlock. Inuyasha is complete schlock and it's the equivalent of DBZ for girls.

I think both of these are ok. At least until they get to the point where the story NEVER EVER seems to finish. Actually I've only seen a few episodes of Naruto so I'm not sure I can say much there. The later episodes I saw seemed ok but the earlier ones seemed kinda dumb.

[Karkadinn]

What He said.
Note Gunsmith Cats could have been a good serial judging from the pilot movie "Riding Bean" but the series ruined the premise

I've not seen Riding Bean, but I rather liked the Gunsmith Cats anime. It was shallow fluff, but it was fun shallow fluff.


Kark, thanks for the mention of Paranoia Agent. I saw a bit of that show, and I found it really interesting. I wanted to watch more of it, but never got the chance. It seemed like it might move a little slow, but it seemed to pull me in. I'll have to hunt it down and give it a watch.

It's an extremely Hitchcockian series. It doesn't really speed up as such, but all the buildup does more or less pay off in the end. Worth it if you're interested in exminations of human p.s.ychology.

Oh yeah, Big O gets an "honorable mention" from me, it was pretty good (from what I saw).

I'd forgotten about Big O. I'd put it about the same place as Gundam Seed. Nice style, lots of good buildup, but ultimately no clue what to do with it so the finale fizzles.


Pfft... I was anime club leader (against my will).

How do you become an anime club leader against your will?
"Look 'ere now, bub, yer gonna tell us what Japanimation we're gonna watch each weekend an' yer gonna LIKE it! An' if you make us watch somethin' we don't cotton to, we're gonna sit you down in this here chair and pry your eyelids open and make you watch a slideshow of Ted in his Sailor Moon cosplay outfit. Ted here likes them short skirts, dontcha Ted?"
http://www.fansview.com/2002/animecentral/img1221.jpg

Lain... Perfect Blue... Boogiepop... I should introduce you to our old anime club librarian. He liked all anime but was an expecially big fan of the more abstract and often deeper anime. He was always trying to get the club to show stuff like Lain and Perfect Blue which is NOT something you look forward to when you are president and responsible for anime nights (24 hour marathons) which are located in the intersection between all the dorm rooms. We got weird enough looks WITHOUT showing Perfect Blue... :P

24 hour marathons, that is so college. ;)
Hah, I know exactly what you mean. Some anime take more explanation for the casual viewer than others. There's always a particular scene in Perfect Blue I fast forward over if there's a non-fan in the same building with me at the time... I think you know the one.... ;)


I thought the story for Kenshin was fairly good. In some ways I think its meant to be predictable as its light-hearted anime. Personally I like the way it remains light while still dealing with some deeper issues. How much have you seen by the way? Also what did you think of the OVA?

I don't care how 'light' a story is, there is no excuse for Bishounen Script Immunity. I ended up watching the entire series (via downloads; I have too much time on my hands but far from too much money, lol) past the part where the main villain died, and well into where it just seemed to dive into an endless pit of filler. I never liked the filler; the animation quality for the fights was worse, and the antagonists were less fleshed out and didn't present a credible threat. I can only remember one filler villain being at all interesting, the hypnotism dude.
I never did see the OVA.


What's a bgm?

Background music. The instrumental stuff used for mood within the episodes.


What did you think of the movies? I know the second movie at least was largely a philosophical statement.

I've only seen the first movie, the old one. It had the same essential business-like soullessness to it, which makes me think that it's a component of the original manga that all the animations are derived from. The animation in and of itself was so incredible that it was well worth the watch just for that, though (not something I say often; it's hard to impress me with animation), and the ending was a somewhat satisfying, in a creepy sort of way.


I think both of these are ok. At least until they get to the point where the story NEVER EVER seems to finish. Actually I've only seen a few episodes of Naruto so I'm not sure I can say much there. The later episodes I saw seemed ok but the earlier ones seemed kinda dumb.

I make a point of despising any anime where I can predict 50% or more of an episode's major plot points and scenes before they happen. ;) I can usually predict an entire episode of Naruto based just on the previews. It's revolting. To me, Naruto is anime in the same sense that Britney Spears is music... a commercial product cobbled together from the most shallow influences that came before it, distinctive only because it uses the broadest stylistic strokes possible, and utterly lacking in personal vision or soul. A completely commercial product has no place in an artistic endeavour, IMHO.
With Inuyasha, it's the same basic thing, only with an added advantage (Rumiko Takahashi is good at creating likable, memorable characters, colorful in a Charles Dickens-ish sort of way) and an added disadvantage (Rumiko Takahashi can't bring herself to end a running plot or subplot, EVER). It angers me the most in Ranma 1/2, actually, because the initial premise is so freaking brilliant, but then it goes nowhere. Years and years of nowhere.
Although, there's a funny benefit to that - If the public gets their hands on a product with a solid premise but no ultimate payoff, it tends to inspire countless reams of excellent, well-written fanfics that take the premise and use it to make a payoff of their own that they crave from the official product but never get.
By contrast, a really well-written, perfect story generally doesn't insprie any good fanfics because there's nothing good you can add on to it. I can't remember a single excellent Godfather fanfic I've read, but I've read Ranma and Sailor Moon fanfics that would could compete with Shakespeare for eloquence and depth.
Okay, I think I've rambled enough for one post. :D

[Rhydderch]

Pfft... I was anime club leader (against my will).

How do you become an anime club leader against your will?
"Look 'ere now, bub, yer gonna tell us what Japanimation we're gonna watch each weekend an' yer gonna LIKE it! An' if you make us watch somethin' we don't cotton to, we're gonna sit you down in this here chair and pry your eyelids open and make you watch a slideshow of Ted in his Sailor Moon cosplay outfit. Ted here likes them short skirts, dontcha Ted?"

ROFL! Except the guy dressed as Sailor Moon part. THAT was unnecessary :P Anyway the previous president asked me to sign the paper so the club could continue being a club but said we would find a new president shortly thereafter. Since I'm a nice guy and had lots of friends in the club I went ahead and signed the paper. Fast forward to next year and I'm STILL president. Ugh! And since I'm responsible I actually did my duty as president, and more. I greatly expanded the club, revised the constitution so future presidents would have a much easier time with all the crap I had to put up with, re-made my exec board, undid all the crap the previous president had done, started a library for the club which totalled about 5000 worth of anime and equipment by the end, helped start/organize a mini convention which coordinated close to 30 clubs on campus, etc etc. Yah I'm a sucker for responsibility. Ironically no one took me up on my offer to help plan for GenCon Socal :P

24 hour marathons, that is so college. ;)
Hah, I know exactly what you mean. Some anime take more explanation for the casual viewer than others. There's always a particular scene in Perfect Blue I fast forward over if there's a non-fan in the same building with me at the time... I think you know the one.... ;)

Yah now think about showing Perfect Blue in a PUBLIC place through which almost all students pass. Then imagine you are responsible for the club and what it shows! You'll get a glimpse of why I *dreaded* the suggestion of "lets watch Perfect Blue!" :P

I don't care how 'light' a story is, there is no excuse for Bishounen Script Immunity.

Uhh... whats that? :P

I ended up watching the entire series (via downloads; I have too much time on my hands but far from too much money, lol) past the part where the main villain died, and well into where it just seemed to dive into an endless pit of filler. I never liked the filler; the animation quality for the fights was worse, and the antagonists were less fleshed out and didn't present a credible threat. I can only remember one filler villain being at all interesting, the hypnotism dude. I never did see the OVA.

Oh you never watch past the second arc (Shisio). Afterward it devolves into utter trash. The animators unfortunately decided to write their own story while they waited for the manga author to finish the third and final arc of Kenshin. Most fans of Kenshin just pretend the third arc never happened. The real third arc of Kenshin is a lot darker and brings the story inward again, focusing more on personal issues. It also avoids the escalation of more and more powerful villains. Many of the third arc villains are actually weaker than those in the second arc.

I'd give the Kenshin OVA a chance. It is very well done and a less bishounen than the series with a completely different animation style. The story is still predictable but it is also quite good. It basically focuses on Kenshin's past so you get no sappy happy endings, which I think you must dislike given some of your votes for best anime :P

What did you think of the movies? I know the second movie at least was largely a philosophical statement.

I've only seen the first movie, the old one. It had the same essential business-like soullessness to it, which makes me think that it's a component of the original manga that all the animations are derived from.

Yah I always wondered about that. The movies have more depth to them but there is a dead feeling to the world. Like you I think it is intentional especially given the picture of the future in Ghost in the Shell: almost all the people have cybernetic enhancements. The second movie focuses less on the girl protagonist as she only makes a few short appearances. The visuals are brilliant. The overall story and atmosphere closely matches the first though so I'm not sure you'd like it.

I make a point of despising any anime where I can predict 50% or more of an episode's major plot points and scenes before they happen. ;) I can usually predict an entire episode of Naruto based just on the previews. It's revolting.

That explains a lot of your choices for best anime and schlock anime then. You picked all the "weird" (:P) anime because its harder to predict. Hehe. Actually I enjoyed a lot of the odd anime although I never did get to finish Boogiepop. Also I have a non-anime question for you: what do you think of HP Lovecraft? Most of his stories are incredibly predictable but I personally think his strength comes in the presentation of the predictable, in the style of the reveal, even if you already know what the reveal will be. Since you despise predictability I'm definitely interested in how you feel about his work.

By contrast, a really well-written, perfect story generally doesn't insprie any good fanfics because there's nothing good you can add on to it. I can't remember a single excellent Godfather fanfic I've read, but I've read Ranma and Sailor Moon fanfics that would could compete with Shakespeare for eloquence and depth.

Godfather also doesn't inspire the same kind of fans who dress up and cosplay or attend Godfather conventions. Or at least I don't think they do. So part of it is the type of people inspired. Ironically what Godfather does inspire is lifeless games like "the Godfather" where people just walk around and kill stuff. Funny, isn't it? :P

[CupidsArt]

How about Blue Sub No.6?

A mini series but none the less was very well done (IMO).

[boom]

1) Starblazers
2) Robotech
3) ... *Aldin looks around, realizes all the young, "cool kids" are staring at him*

What?!? Did I say something wrong?

~Aldin, as the smiley below looks up with pity at me

:poorpost:

Right on, brother! I saw this thread and the first thought in my head was "Starblazers." I LOVED that show. Robotech was a close second. Sadly, that's about my only experience with Anime, unless you count "Spirited Away." Starblazers..... awesome stuff. 8)

[Aldin]

*chuckle*

Thanks, boom!

I still occasionally find myself humming:

Fight the comet empire
battle with the blazing fire
Filled with the hope that
Earth will survive

So keep peace alive with

our

Star

Blazers!

~Aldin

[boom]

Now you're just making me cry on purpose. Ah, nostalgia.

[yagyuninja]

5. Samurai Champloo (I was commissioned to MOD the Ninjas like these three, :) )

Man I can't wait to see that. I loved Samurai Champloo. I'm guessing the "landing from a jump" ninja is Mugen, right? :)

[CornPuff]

Naruto is Schlock????


Oh yeah. It is. :-P
But I still liked it. 20 minutes a week of good and simple fun, followed by silly speculative conversation about "who would win if they fought"

Ditto for Bleach.

Trigun isn't schlock because of the story arc being so nicely constructed.

Cowboy Bebop had episodes I really didn't like, and most of the episodes weren't really useful in defining the greater plot. There was only one episode of Samurai Champloo I didn't like (number 2, blech). The soundtrack on Champloo is fantastic, good chilling/driving music.

[Havokscry]

Am I the only one that disliked Lain? I just found it extremely boring. Give me brain numbing CN anime over that anyday.

[Fallen Templar]

Robotech= :puke:

[woodsxdragon]

Hellsing
Bleach
Naruto
Shaman King
one piece

[CupidsArt]

5. Samurai Champloo (I was commissioned to MOD the Ninjas like these three, :) )

Man I can't wait to see that. I loved Samurai Champloo. I'm guessing the "landing from a jump" ninja is Mugen, right? :)

Yeah, but with a little more "Flay-Va"

[Neveryll]

Before I say anything on this subject, I'll have to put this out there. I have been watching anime for a long time. Probably 15 years now if you count back to watching Robotech and Voltron on television. I like to watch anime that is funny, cute, action based, or just plain entertaining. I don't have to pick it apart or expect huge deep plots in everything I watch. I don't like gory movies or always like my head being messed with when watching shows. In short keep it fun and entertaining and I'm happy. Ah yah and I like some of that "other" stuff too... :p


DragonBall - I've watched it and just don't care for it. I always like to joke that each episode is about two people running at each other shouting at the top of their lungs and fighting and either the area blows up, the region blows up, or the world they are on blows up. Its got some cute moments and an interesting premise but just not for me.

Naruto - I've watched a bit of it and its a neat action series but its to reminicient of Dragonball to me. The fight scenes are certainly neat but after so much fighting I just don't care for it as much.

Robotech - This series was one of the first I watched so it is definitely colored by sentiment. For its day it was an awesome series that mixed fighting with an interesting story plot. I felt the first part was a bit week but the second and third parts had more depth and were more interesting. Anyone wanting to try Robotech I suggest trying to make it through the first part to the section with the Robotech Masters and then the Invid. The series is dated but still good.

Voltron - Lol. This one is hookey by most standards but again is one of the first anime series I watched. Very action based and not much plot. Its reminicient of Power Rangers in this day. Central villian wants world. Sends monsters to stop its defenders. Monster shows up and is destroyed by defenders with cool monster lions and giant robot.

Tenchi Muyo (The first series)- This series is actual best seen as the OVA and not the American release. The plot is much better and the series itself much longer. This series is cute with an ok story line. Something nice to watch when you just want to chill and be entertained.

The Mysterious Play - this series has a very interesting story with the main characters being whisked away to medievel Japan early on and getting tangled in a web to find the chosen warriors of that age. Its been a while since I've seen it but had a fair amount of action, a romantic interest for the main character and some neat plot twists. A bit more heavy than Tenchi. Overall a solid series in my book.

Those Who Hunt Elves - This series is just zany and whacky. A group of people from our world are trapped in an alternate world and the only way they can leave is to find the pieces of a spell on the bodies of various elves throughout the world. They of course have to strip them to find this spell fragment. Yah its one of those ones.... You could probably watch it once and never see it again. Its cute, has a fair amount of curves to it and is fun to watch. Not the best out there but an entertaining series in my book. Young viewers defintley not recommended.

Please Teacher - This series I watched just recently and has a relatively simply story line but has some depth to it overall and was a bit of a tear jerker for me for some reason. *snif* Its a romantic comedy with a little drama thrown in for good measure. If you want an anime that speaks to relationships and some of the more common things you can see happen in them its worth a watch. ITs kind of a space/snaime soap opera. I recommend older viewers watch it as it definitely rings true on some who have been in relationships before. Young viewers defintley not recommended.

[Neveryll]

Wierd can't put rest of post here for some reason odd...

EDIT: Found out why I was trying to use a forbidden word to describe Neon Genesis and the boards didnt like it lol.

[Neveryll]

Sorcerer Hunters - This is another series like Those Who Hunt Elves which involves equal parts action, stories, and curvage. the premises is in an alternate world were Sorcerer rule as corrupt magic users and people are used and thrown away the Sorcerer Hunters are the only ones to stand up to them. The plot is unique but not terribly deep. Young viewers defintley not recommended.

Oh My Goddess - This series is one part fantasy and one part romance with a bit of the usual anime schtick thrown in. Short guy misdials phone and calls goddess help line and ends up with her as a girlfriend. While there are moments of silliness it is a warm and affectionate series and bears watching if you like these kinds of anime. Watch the series before the movie if you can help it.

Video Girl AI - A romantic comedy and another relationship delving anime. Its been so long since I watched it I can only remember bits and pieces but loved it as well.

Hand Made May - A cute series about a guy who is into making his ultimate invention a talking Squidbot lol. He inherits a small anime maid several inches tall that falls in love with him. this isn't A class A anime but certainly funny, cute, curvy and has some cute relationship pieces that talk about what it means to love someone.

Neon Genesis Evangalion - This series is about an apocolyptic time where the race is being attacked by aliens and the only thing defending it are the giant robots piloted by several young kids. Its an action thrill ride gauranteeed to mess with your head. Very good story and overal animation though towards the end it crawls inside your head.

Dual Parrell Universe - This is a more tame version of Neon Genesis without being as crazy and less gory. Overal its a more cute clone that still to me seems as enjoyable to watch. If you want something more cute than serious but still like action I'd recommend checking it out.

[Karkadinn]

ROFL! Except the guy dressed as Sailor Moon part. THAT was unnecessary :P

My only regret is being unable to find a picture with a shorter skirt.


I don't care how 'light' a story is, there is no excuse for Bishounen Script Immunity.

Uhh... whats that? :P

Bishounen = A character that conforms to the Japanese ideal of male beauty (IOW, slender, smooth, agile) while also being inhumanly confident and competent in serious situations. Such a character can only be significantly harmed in a serious situation due to dishonorable trickery, his own will for it to be so, or by facing an opposing bishounen. 99% of the time you can tell who the cast bishounen is simply by looking for the most handsome-but-unsmiling person in the cast. Really big, unusual, gravity-defying hair is a bonus.
Kenshin is a bishounen. Other examples include Alucard from the later Castlevania games, Sephiroth of Final Fantasy, Kunzite of Sailor Moon, Zechs of Gundam Wing, and pretty much the entire cast of Heroic Legend of Arslan. In addition, there's at least one female bishounen that I know of, the Major from Ghost in the Shell SAC. I believe she was presented as such to contrast the 'submissive doll' character type that tends to dominate the female gender in anime/manga. But IMHO, going from one extreme to the other doesn't fix anything. Moderation is always the key.
I dislike bishounen as heroic figures because they, like the Superman of American comics, are heroic primarily because of an impossible innate perfection that can't be achieved in the real world, thus reducing any moral or philosophical messages within the story to irrelevance. I don't mind them so much as antagonistic figures, but they're still overused by lazy writers as ways to present credible threats without having to add any real depth to the character.


That explains a lot of your choices for best anime and schlock anime then. You picked all the "weird" (:P) anime because its harder to predict. Hehe. Actually I enjoyed a lot of the odd anime although I never did get to finish Boogiepop. Also I have a non-anime question for you: what do you think of HP Lovecraft? Most of his stories are incredibly predictable but I personally think his strength comes in the presentation of the predictable, in the style of the reveal, even if you already know what the reveal will be. Since you despise predictability I'm definitely interested in how you feel about his work.

I own a Cthulhu plushie. 8)
I do consider unpredictability to be the chief virtue of modern storytelling, and predictability to be the chief sin. However, I grant significant leniency towards older storytelling, such as the works of Lovecraft, Tolkien, and Dickens, because what is cliche now was not necessarily cliche then, when the art of storytelling through non-oral presentation was much younger and newer to the world. For instance, I'm sick to death of Tolkien style elves, but I don't hate the Lord of the Rings because they were invented there. I'm just tired of everyone copying LOTR without even throwing in a decent parody or metacommentary or anything.
So yeah, what Lovecraft writes of is cliche now, but it wasn't when he was writing it, so I can read his stuff with all due enjoyment, keeping that in mind. In particular, I enjoy his grotesque and imaginative descriptions for monster aesthetics. And there's no denying his prose style really draws you in if you let it, same as with Dickens. Verbose, but very vivid for being so.

[Neveryll]

Some interesting info on your post. :)

[Tiberius]

I own a Cthulhu plushie. 8)



Nice, my friend owns a T-shirt that says, Cthulu Tequila, this time the worm eats you.

[Rhydderch]

ROFL! Except the guy dressed as Sailor Moon part. THAT was unnecessary :P

My only regret is being unable to find a picture with a shorter skirt.

Thank goodness you did not find a picture with a shorter skirt. Anyway there's a specific picture out there which is really really bad. Its of a really large guy is in some sort of sailor moon type costume except its too (way) small...

I was subjected to it when some of the club members decided I hadn't suffered enough :P

Bishounen = A character that conforms to the Japanese ideal of male beauty

Oh I know what Bishounen means I just didn't know what you meant by script immunity. I usually just define Bishounen by whether or not the character is fair or otherwise feminine. Of course Japan may have its animated Bishounen but we have our real life Bishounen:

http://www.patriotresource.com/lotr/pics/characters/legolas.jpg

I dislike Bishounen but can see past it so I'm still able to enjoy a lot of the lighter anime. I'm surprised you've seen so much anime when you dislike predictable plots and Bishounen! I mean my friends and I are huge fans of Kenshin but I think you're the only person I know who sat through and suffered through the entirety of the third arc :shock:

I own a Cthulhu plushie. 8)

I want one of those! Haha. Those are cool little buggers.

I do consider unpredictability to be the chief virtue of modern storytelling, and predictability to be the chief sin. However, I grant significant leniency towards older storytelling, such as the works of Lovecraft, Tolkien, and Dickens, because what is cliche now was not necessarily cliche then, when the art of storytelling through non-oral presentation was much younger and newer to the world.

Yah I feel the same way about older material. Honestly I do not think LOTR is the "best" fantasy ever written if it is simply compared to every other fantasy. However I think it holds an incredibly important place because of its historical value, sort of like some of the Halls of Valhalla customs.

Dickens was painful to read though. I never really enjoyed Great Expectations. It relied too much on a contrived story and coincidences. I did like A Tale of Two Cities even though I predicted the end pretty much as soon as they introduced the girl and the two characters who liked her.

[Ugly-Caco]

1. Dragonball Z
2. Yuyu Hakusho
3. Gantz
4. Baki the Grappler
5. Akazukin Cha Cha

[Sci-fi Messiah]

I didn't include Afro Samurai, because I wasn't sure if it was actually anime or not-someone enlighten me on this one. Inuyasha got on my list cause I really liked it when it first came on. Now it would most likely be replaced by Samurai Champloo, Ruroni Kenshin, or Ronin Warriors. I would also like to give an honorable mention the the mini-series Blue Submarine #6.

5. Yu Yu Hakusho-the only anime show I've seen that n compare too its original manga
4. Inuyasha-the first season was good, then it went to crap
3. Outlaw Star-it was short, but good
2. Dragon Ball (Z) -- none of that GT crap, though
1. Cowboy Bebop

[King of the Marro]

1. bleach
2. samurai champloo
3. gundam seed
4. ghost in the shell
5. naruto shippuden

[NiteRaider]

I'm not sure if I can come up with 5, but I'll try:

1. Code Geass (note the Kallen avi ;) )
2. Silent Mobius
3. Geneshaft
4. Lain
5. Last Exile

2-5 were on "Anime Unleashed" (G4 are idiots for taking that off the air). I know my list is relatively old, but I just got back into anime with Code Geass (thanks STAR! :D ). I would watch the other anime shows on Adult Swim, but I would have no clue what the storyline was about and get lost immediately.

[STAROCEAN980]

1. Eureka Seven
2. Code Geass(Me and NiteRaider are in love with this now. Go KALLEN!!)
3. Bleach
4. Death Note
5. Samurai Champloo
6. Naruto
7. Ghost in the Shell
8. Full Metal Panic Fumaffo(The comedy version of the show.)
9. Blood+
10. One Piece

:up: :)

[NEMT]

1. Eureka Seven
2. Code Geass(Me and NiteRaider are in love with this now. Go KALLEN!!)
3. Bleach
4. Death Note
10. Samurai Champloo
6. Naruto
7. Ghost in the Shell
8. Full Metal Panic Fumaffo(The comedy version of the show.)
9. Blood+
5. One Piece

:up: :)

Fixed. :p

I haven't watched Anime in forever but I used to like Dragonball (forever ago) and Inuyasha (not as long ago).

[Dartheyegouger]

:reaper:

[Onacara]

Speed Racer Original
Pizza Cats
Speed Racer Original
Pizza Cats
Pizza Cats

[Shades fan]

Speed Racer Original
Pizza Cats
Speed Racer Original
Pizza Cats
Pizza Cats
:lol:

[johnny139]

1. Code Geass

Ugh. Admittantly, I'm only four episodes in, but from what I've heard, it doesn't get much better than Episode 2... and it's a snore fest. I needed to FORCE myself to watch this far. Heck, I'd rather spend my time with Blue Dragon...

[09167]

#1- Trigun
#2- Naruto
#3- Chobits
#4- Gacha Gacha
#5- Parasyte

[09167]

acctually if I think about it I don't have favorites but I guess I'll choose those :)

[Richard]

I don't watch much anime but I'll have to say:
1. DBZ
2. Hellsing
3. Full Metal Alchemist
4. Inuyasha
5. Yu-Yu-Hakusho

#3, 4, and 5 are really in no particular favorite order, and DBZ and Hellsing are practically tied with DBZ ahead slightly.

[n1ck3l]

1. Bleach
2. Full Metal Alchemist
3. Trigun
4. Naruto
5. Pokemon???

Meh, I don't really watch anime all that often.

But Bleach still beats Naruto. Except for the Soul Society/Rescue Rukia Arc.

[Einar's puppy]

#1. Ruroni Kenshin. That show was AWESOME!
#2. Princess Mononoke (or however you spell it) It didn't have all of those anime cliches in it.
#3. DBZ. It's in my blood. I've watched it sence I was a little 'un.

The other two are up in the air. Naruto was cool, and I liked laputa, but I didn't really ever love them like Kenshin and Mononoke.