Pardon me for my
lack of experience with enough anime to make an amazing list like other people
was able to do so. With around 1.5 years of strictly following seasonal anime
and occasionally watching anime when I was a kid, I'm pretty sure my list isn't
as outstanding as most people are.
Inspired by the post
made by Xana in his own blog - Xana's Top 20 Anime!!!, I've decided to
make my list as well(: I hated the idea that I have only finished around 108 TV
series BUT that doesn't really matter. I'm pretty sure that this list will grow
and change over time. If anyone can suggest to me any good anime, I'd be willing
to try them. I've seen a lot of interesting anime to watch whenever I do some
blog-hopping *v* and I'm just looking for the right time to watch them (or
resources for some).
Disclaimer: all images came from zerochan.net, if one of the images I used
is yours and you want them down, just email me at: czai.theblacksheep@gmail.com
:D
Now, here's my
list(:
Quick knowledge: Weekly Shounen JUMP, Duel
Monsters (duh!), Card Game, Historical
Original Run: April 18 2000 - September 29 2004
(224 episodes)
I know this anime
won't usually appear on everyone's top 10 or even top 100 list but I've really
liked this anime. This is the original Yu-Gi-Oh!
anime excluding the season
0 which included Nosaka Miho. I've never watched the Japanese dub - English
sub version of the anime and I've finished this show in Filipino dub but that
didn't stop me from enjoying the intense duels, comedies, action, really
interesting alternate Ancient Egypt history and good characters. With a long
224 episode run, Yu-Gi-Oh! had some
pretty smooth character development with each side characters getting their
short quick introduction and an episode about their background story. I've
definitely like each arc with the Battle City (and the semi finals and finals),
the Seal of Orichalcos and the Memories of the Pharaoh as my favorite arcs.
I'm currently
re-watching this in English dub and I still enjoy it(: Although I have to admit
that there are a lot of things that I find really funny and stupid, re-watching
this makes me feel nostalgic about how crazy I was with Yu-Gi-Oh! when I was in 5th grade.
[9]
Yakitate!! Japan
Quick knowledge: Weekly Shounen Sunday,
Sunrise, Bread Making, Parody, Comedy
Original Run: October 12, 2004 - March 14, 2006
(69 episodes)
This has got to be
one of the funniest and the best parody anime I've watched. I randomly stumbled
upon Yakitate!! Japan when I was in HS
and I did find the idea of making a huge deal about bread making kind of stupid
but who knew that this anime would be really great? I know that it's an anime
about making a national bread for Japan. It's a weird idea but that's what makes
this anime really great. Yakitate!! Japan
has also presented some really interesting characters and a wide variety as
well. They can be serious and all but each of them still gives off at least 30%
comedy time. Even pink-haired serious genius Kanmuri Shigeru can be funny at
times whenever he's with Kawachi Kyousuke :3
I've watched this
series 2 times, the 1st time is in Filipino Dub and the 2nd time being in
Japanese Dub - English Sub. Both had been pretty funny and enjoyable. This
one's recommended for those who're up for some real time comedy - their bread
reactions are the best! Oh and for some fair warning, there could be some
bread-making-and-ingredient geekiness but hey, even if they're from an anime
with some seriously insane characters, they're some pretty real knowledge
though you can actually ignore them if you like(:
[8]
Kimi ni Todoke
Quick knowledge: Shoujo, Romance, Slice of
Life, Production I.G
Original Run: October 7, 2009 - March 31, 2010 (25 episodes)
Kimi ni Todoke has got to be my favorite
romance anime. I've definitely watched a number of anime under this genre being
a fan of it and Kimi ni Todoke has got to
be the best. It had some pretty good share of comedy, romance and drama. I've
also come to like how realistic the characters are most especially the two
main, Kazehaya Shouta (Namikawa Daisuke)
and Kuronuma Sawako (Noto
Mamiko). I really liked Kazahaya's happy-go-lucky nature and his
overwhelming popularity. It's cute how popular he is and still gets to be the
typical guy who gets shy at times when he talks to the girl he likes. The
ending was a little open but it did continued with 2nd season
which I wasn't entirely fond of other than the appearance of Miura Kento (Miyano Mamoru).
I've only watched
this anime once and I've also watched the live drama which covered the entire
anime season O.O The live drama was pretty good but pretty messed up and
all-over-the-place as well because it was a bit rushed. Wait. No. It was really
rushed. Anyway, this anime is recommended for those who'd like to watch some
really good romance with some realistic characters :3
[7]
Bakuman. 2
Quick knowledge: Weekly Shounen JUMP, Manga
Making, Romance, Reaching Goals, Drama, Slice of Life, J.C. Staff
Original Run: October 1, 2011 - March 24, 2012 (25 episodes)
I've already talked
about this series on my
top 3 anime for Winter 2012 post last month but I'd be glad to talk about
it again right now(: First of all, Bakuman
had been more of about reaching your dreams no matter how long it takes and how
difficult it could be. That's the best thing about it. The romance and manga
making just came in as part of the story. I specifically added the second
season and not the first
one for one good reason, this sequel turned out a lot better than its prequel. A lot of people complained about
the first season being slow-paced AND I seriously don't know how that felt
because I didn't feel that way. BUT when I was re-watching it, specifically the
first episode, it does seem a bit boring. OR probably it's because I was
thinking about the manga since I've read the 1st chapter a lot of times already and I never get tired of
it. ANYWAY, enough about S1, this sequel has definitely did a good job in
personally touching me and it had moved really well. J.C. Staff has definitely
did a great job in opening Bakuman. 2 well
with that really great episode
1 and ending it with that really moving final episode. Another thing I
really like about Bakuman is how well it
moves me and makes me cry because of happiness from Ashirogi's accomplishments
:D This season of Bakuman sure has a lot
of improvements with characters, comedy, atmosphere, art and most especially
pacing :D
No I haven't
re-watched this since it just finished airing. HAHA. Anyway, like what I said
in my
review of Bakuman. 2,
Bakuman
S2 is a well made
sequel and I am really glad that it did not disappoint and it did better than
the first season. For those who have yet to watch Bakuman, I advice you to do so. I
find Bakuman a very inspiring and moving anime. For those who have watched the
first season and haven't watched this season, you better do so since the third
one is just around the corner (I really can't wait for the 3rd season! -
Nanamine is on the way!! XD) and it's going to be really good :)
Quick knowledge: A-1 Pictures, noitaminA,
Drama, Slice of Life
Original Run: April 15, 2011 - June 24, 2011 (11 episodes)
This has got to be
one of the anime that have made me cry a lot other than CLANNAD: After Story and Angel Beats!. AnoHana
had a pretty moving story about re-uniting friends. I don't really know how to
explain how much I like this anime. The first two episodes have really caught
attention well with episdoe 2 having things getting stirred up a little
already. I was quite busy while watching this that I had to marathon the 4
final episodes and all of them had been pure drama. AND what did I get after
that? My eyes hurting so much from too much crying. Meh. That's bad. But hey,
that's a good sign that this anime had made a really amazing job in its genre.
Oh and did I said that Menma is
one of the cutest character out there? :3
Do I need to write
recommendations for this? Ano Hana is one
of the best anime out there, just watch it!
Quick knowledge: Sunrise, Bandai, Action,
Mecha, Military
Original Run: October 5, 2002 - September 27,
2003 (50 episodes)
First of all, don't
start bashing me for adding this to my list AND making it my top 5. I know Gundam SEED have some pretty poor animation and
yeah, they're making a re-master
version which is a total failure BUT my love for SEED just grew in me and I have some personal reasons for liking
the series AND no, I'm not including Destiny in this list. Why did I actually
liked SEED and not Wing? OR Gundam 00? OR some other Gundam Series out
there which had been a lot better? I know SEED
is a Gundam Series that most Gundam fans might have disliked BUT SEED is my first Gundam Series and I really
liked how much it had been more of a character-base anime than the mecha anime
it should have been. The mobile suits are really good. I love most of them with
the 4 stolen gundams being my fave: Aegis, Buster, Blitz and Duel. Anyway, the
characters had been very outstanding, in my opinion. Of course, I hate some of
them (2 to be specific) BUT that doesn't mean I hate how the characters are
made, I believe that it just made me realize how much they made an impact.
I've watched this
two times already and I'm still up to go for another round though 50 episodes
is quite long already :| Should I recommend this? Not really but if you're up
for some mecha, I guess it wouldn't hurt to touch this series(: BUT if you're a
mecha fan (and a Gundam fan), I doubt that you haven't watch this. HAHA.
[4]
Steins;Gate
Quick knowledge: White Fox, Sci-Fi, Drama, Time
Travel, Serious Comedy, Visual Novel, Nitro+, .5pb, Outstanding Cast
Original Run: March 6, 2011 - September 14,
2011 (24 episodes)
I'm pretty sure that
Steins;Gate has made half of anime fans'
top anime list because of so many reasons that I wouldn't even really like to
enumerate. What is it about Steins;Gate
that makes it so damn interesting? It's the time traveling + mad scientist
Hououin Kyouma. Wait. No. It's the time traveling + mad scientist Okabe
Rintarou (Miyano
Mamoru) + his assistant, Makise Kurisu (Imai Asami) + his
hostage, Shiina Mayuri (Hanazawa Kana) +
super hacker, Hashida Itaru (Seki Tomokazu) + the
entire Future Gadget Research Lab Members! Steins;Gate
is an enjoyable anime to watch and does it require so much thinking?
Personally, I didn't let myself go crazy thinking about things in here though
thinking about things just go around when you're watching. Actually when I
watched the first episode, I was like: What the
heck did I just watched? I seriously had no clue what just happened
there but I just didn't think about that and moved on, you'll just remember
them when the time comes.
If you
haven't touch this anime, I suggest you start right now because you're missing
something really big. Steins;Gate is also one of the biggest anime out there. If
you've gone around watching those magical girls catching witches with their
evil pet anime called Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica, you better make sure you watch this as well. Steins;Gate is an amazing sci-fi, thriller anime and
definitely worth the time. El Psy Congroo.
Quick knowledge: Sunrise, Action, Mecha,
Military, Super Power, Justice, War
Original Run: October 6, 2006 - July 28, 2007 (25 episodes) | R2:
April 6, 2008 - September 28, 2008 (25 episodes)
Similar to Steins;Gate, I'm pretty positive that Code Geass had landed on most people's top
anime list because of one great thing, Lelouch's character. Other than the
really interesting plot, power of geass, great mecha battle and good art +
animation, Lelouch Lamperounge (Fukuyama Jun) has made
Code Geass an anime worth re-watching
over and over. In my initial thoughts of Code
Geass when I first watched it, I instantly thought about Code Geass = Death Note's Yagami Light enters the Gundam 00 BUT
Code Geass definitely had its own edge
over both shows which both never made my list.
If you're looking
for an amazing anime to watch or just
plain looking for anything to watch, Code Geass
has got to be it. The first season had those really great Lelouch stunts (LOL)
and the second season had a very outstanding
conclusion.
[2]
DURARARA!!
Quick Knowledge: Brain's Base, Outstanding Cast
(Literally), Action, Supernatural, Light Novel, Character-Driven
Original Run: January 7, 2010 - June 24, 2010 (24 episodes)
Looks like my top 4
is made up of anime that had reached almost everyone's top anime list. Yeah, DURARARA!! is one of those really amazing anime
out there. The best thing I like about this series is that it's made up of a
huge cast which have their own stories being connected to each other making a
bigger picture at the end of its two main plots which is highly similar in
style to Narita
Ryohgo's earlier work, Baccano!. I mainly love
all of the characters together with their respective voice actors which gave
them life and a more interesting character. Should I give an example? For some
obvious example, one of the most interesting character in DRRR!! is Orihara Izaya which is voiced by Kamiya Hiroshi.
That character and that voice just went perfectly
with each other. It's amazing. AND if you want to know why I love the cast so
much, I'lljust enumerate my favorite voice actors: Miyano Mamoru, Hanazawa Kana, Ono Daisuke,
Fukuyama Jun,
Sawashiro
Miyuki and Okamoto
Nobuhiko. I can still go on but it'll be a long list.
I've watched DRRR!! around 3 times and I never get tire of
it. BUT honestly speaking the first time I tried watching it, the first episode
somehow bored me out. BUT once I watched episode 2 and Izaya started talking, I
started to gain interest that I just couldn’t stop watching :D This is
definitely a must to watch.
[1]
Angel Beats!
Quick Knowledge: P.A. Works, Key Anime, Action,
Drama, Comedy, Music
Original Run: March 22, 2010 - June 26, 2010 (13 episodes)
Angel Beats! might not take the number 1 spot
of most people's list because of the plot holes it had but I've made it my
number 1 because of so many reasons. I won't go through everything but what's
really great about Angel Beats! is that
it lets you learn something about the painful thing of having regrets and still
carrying them over even after you die. It's very well presented in a very
unlikely environment - a purgatory-like school which only teens that lived a
regretful life go. Angel Beats! also had
that great mixture of drama and comedy and this anime had really moved me. The
episodes that I really liked and really moved me were episode 3 and episode 9.
Both are great and I seriously cry a lot whenever I watch them. Other than the
great execution, art and animation, Angel Beats!
also had a great set of characters with very sad backgrounds. There're a lot of
characters here so not all of them are well developed. I mean how can a
13-episode anime develop the entire main members of SSS with more than 10 of
them? Well some of them were not really that important and were mainly there to
guide the other characters and add fun to the series.
I've watched Angel Beats! around 10 times already and I
seriously never get tired of it. I still cry and laugh a lot. I can even watch
it without the subs already and still know what it is they're saying and I've
even memorize all of the episodes. The ending may have been an open one and had
made a huge plot hole to the series and I am more than willing to ignore that
fact since this anime had been really great. Should I recommend this? YES. This
anime is definitely worth watching :D
Some
final thoughts…
I've always hated
the idea of ranking my anime like this but it sure was fun doing this though it
sure was difficult. I opened my
completed list in MAL and with 108 TV series completed, I had so little
choices that I only made a top 10. Here're the other series that I've thought
about (might be in my top 20): Ao no Exorcist, Baccano!, Bakemonogatari, Hourou Musuko, Kaichou wa Maid-sama, Kimi to Boku.,
Ouran Highschool Host Club, The Girl who Leapt Through Time, Usagi Drop and Yu Yu Hakusho. Again, don't bash me for putting series that
seems not good enough to be added on your opinion *cough*
AoEx *cough*. I added them because I like them and
I'm not going to explain them in a lot of words. As for the series I might
consider including but I haven't finished yet (currently airing series) are Kuroko no Basuke and Uchuu Kyoudai, the two anime that made my top impression for
this series (and yeah, I'm not blogging both 'cause I don't want to blog series
that I really really love - I don't know
how to put them into words!!! XD)
~thanks for reading!
:D
