Just Anime

To be clear about this, there are certain things I look for in anime. The most predominant is action, and I'm not talking about gratuitous violence. The action in an anime must fit within the confines of the story, a part of it rather that it's sum total. I also look for adult cartoons, not that I get turned on by anime sex or nudity, but like violence, if it fits well within the story, a part of the overall picture, then I don't feel like an older man watching kiddie cartoons. Rather, I feel like a dirty old man watching something that was made for me to watch, which puts me in my comfort zone. A story can only be as good as it's underpinnings, plot and dialog, so those elements must be well above par to make for a good anime. I also feel that since anime is a visual art, that aspect must be well done, and any musical score done for the anime, the performance art aspect, must rise to at least the level of the visual art on order to complement it correctly. I also like a good laugh, so if humor is a part of what I am watching, more the better.

What I don't like in anime are what I like to call stupidity plot elements that do nothing but cheapen the show. This includes chibi, cat girls, harem, jail bait fan service, lolicon, slapstick, cutesy, etc. With the exception of exactly one anime listed below, "Girl Power" or Shojo anime, though I do watch them on very rare occasion, would never make it on this list, there not meant for me anyway. Animes that show people playing games, most especially TCG's, ones that center there plots around sports or romance are way off the list.

I have listed below my top 10 animes of all times in descending order. Listed are the names, there release date, rating, possible objectionable content, and a short comment about each.

10. Speed Racer (1966) Rated G (Cartoon Violence). This was my first introduction into the world of anime went I was a kid. This campy anime has never been redone right, and has stood the test of time as a classic.

9. Vandread (2000) Rated PG (Violence, Mild Adult Themes). Funny, action packed and with some romance, one of my favorite all time Space Operas, much different than most of the others I've seen.

8. Venus 5 (1994) Rated XXX (Hardcore Sex, Full Nudity, Foul Language, Violence). If you look past all the sex in this one, it was a funny "Sailor Moon" parity professionally done with plenty of fighting, and a good story based on Greek mythology.

7. Demon King Daimio (2010) Rated R (Partial Nudity, Sexual Themes, Violence). Funny and action packed. This one avoids being a Harem since all the girls in this are either out to use the main character for there own purposes, or kill him. We don't see Magitech as a genera in too many animes, and it's one of my favorites.

6. Twin Angles (1994) Rated XXX (Hardcore Sex, Full Nudity, Foul Language, Violence). Once again , you need to look past all the sex in this one to see a fine story and plenty of combat action in this Heaven vs. Hell tail. The one thing I like about it most that the bad guys in this (ie the forces of Hell) actually win! (Not that I'm rooting for them, just that it takes the predictability out of the story).

5. Iria Zeiram the Animation (1994) Rated PG-13 (Violence, Child Murder). You can classify this one as a Space Opera, a Horror or a Western and be right on all accounts, since it has plot elements from each. Zeiram was the nastiest, baddest assed monster I have ever seen, and I am a big fan of Gothic horror. Violence directed at children is taboo in the west, so you don't see this too often as well.

4. Robotech (1985) Rated PG (Violence). This came out around the same time as the original "Transformers", but was a series meant for older folks like me (Transformers was considered babyish at the time). This was my intro into the world of Mechas. Great story, plenty of action.

3. Ceres, Celestial Legend (2000) Rated PG-13 (Violence, Adult Themes). This emotional roller coaster ride has one element you don't see in too many Shojo animes, extreme violence. All the elements that make for a good anime where rock solid in this one.

2. Deathnote (2006) Rated PG (Adult Themes). Before seeing this, when was the last time you saw an anime story centered from the villains point of view? At that rate, when was the last time you saw a villain win? This series takes us into the mind of a very smart young man who is doing some very disturbing things for what he sees as justice. Another very smart young man sees it for what it is, murder, and the two are locked in a battle of wits. Even without any real violence, this one manged to hold me tightly at the edge of my seat.

1. Record of the Lodoss War (1990) Rated PG (Violence). I have yet to see any anime test the supremacy of this classic fantasy epic. Each an every detail, though every second of this 6 hour long series was methodically perfect. It grips you hard out of your seat and this world for a wild ride thought an animation experience unequaled by any other.

That's my top 10, what are yours?

I really wanna start watching Deathnote.. It sounds really good!

I don't have a full top 10 list cause I haven't watched that many anime's, but here's my list.

1. Fullmetal Alchemist - I absolutely loved the original series. The end was very disappointing to me until I saw the movie. But the movies end was sort of unsatisfying to me as well. lol. I guess I just wanted more. :P

2. FMA: Brotherhood - Not sure if I should combine the two or not, but I really like this one, but I don't like it as much as the first series. It seems rushed and some things aren't covered which makes some things in it a bit confusing if someone didn't watch the first series. (not sure if those things were covered in the manga or not.)

3. Bleach: I really enjoyed the first story arc, but after watching the second arc with the bounts, I don't feel a huge rush to go back to it.. really didn't like it.

4. Rurouni Kenshin - I use to watch this one all the time when I was younger. I don't remember much of it, but i remember I really liked it.

5. Blood+ - I've seen a handful of episodes of it and it seems really good. What turns me off is that it seems too serious all the time. I think some occasional humor would make it more enjoyable for me.. but it doesn't really fit with the the vibe of the story.. lol

My list is going to change a lot.

1. Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood - I love both series but Brotherhood ended it better. On the other hand, the 1st series had more danger in it and a unique way to create Homunculus. Scar was better in the 1st one because he was a badass to the bitter end.
2. Sket Dance - One of the only Slice of Life titles that I enjoyed. Despite its humorous misadventures where Sket Dan is always helping students, there are times where it gets dramatic and sad. Those are the jewels that keep the anime great. I loved Hime, Bossun, and Switch who really keep the anime entertaining.
3. Rave Master - Despite how it ended abruptly, I loved the characters and their struggle to fight for their friends. It's such an emotional shonen series. I cried in that show during the Tower of Jin arc. It was the best arcs in the show.
4. Samurai Champloo - I loved the anime for its characters. I wish it was a bit longer with a better ending. Mugen, Jin, and Fuu really made things funny and sad for me.
5. Fairy Tail - Loved the series and enjoyed the characters with their back stories. Their pain and struggle reflects Rave Master's style.
6. Avatar the Last Airbender - A great series. Can I count this as anime? It has great characters and how they grow up is where the series shine.
7. Teen Titans - A group of friends not just superheroes who learn to trust each other and beat their foes. A great series that matures.
8. Dragon Ball Z - Despite the plot is not spectacular, I loved the characters especially future Trunks, Android 18 and 17, and Krillin.
9. Abenobashi - Short but what I love about was the characters. Like Sket Dance, it's funny, but it has sad moments about the origins of the main character's true parents.
10. Fate Stay Night - I hated the Holy Grail War plot because it's going to be the same ending. People die to get something that doesn't live up to its name. The only I like was the romantic relationship between Shirou and Saber. Saber is one character that truly captivates me. I hate Shirou but like him. Archer and Saber were the best characters for me.

@lordbane666:

I remember Iria. I found those tapes from an abandoned house after salvaging the house when the owners left it as a young boy. It was a good series yet horrifying.

@Petiew: I can't say that I have seen that title, but it sounds like a fun one. I'll be sure to look for it.

@Slush: Great, diverse list. I agree the first FMA was better than the sequel in every department but action. Blood was a great series, but I didn't like the way they victimised the little brother character (I forget his name) and it had a great love triangle element.

@Taka: Good list, and yes, Last Airbender is an anime, despite being made in the US. Another good example of this is Spawn. Iria left a real impression on me, running the artistic spectrum from beauty to horror, and everything in between. One of my favourite Impressions from this came at the middle of part one, where Iria was being targeted for assassination by the Tedan Tippedai Corp, and they tried to kill her by tossing a bomb into her home. Fujikuro rescues her and the pair are chased by tanks and terminator robots bent on blowing them up. This was nothing, an absolute picnic, compared to what Zeiram was going to throw at her.

Dragon Ball

Berserk

Shin Getter Robo

Devilman

Robotech

Bastard

Record of Lodoss War

Golden Boy

Vampire Hunter D

Demon City Shinjuku

No particular order.

Nice lists do far, but I was hoping you'd put your impressions of these along with the title. Just a short blurb will do. I'd like to know what drew you to it. Any guys out there who didn't like DBZ? If there are, I have yet to meet them.

@AgentJ- Nice list. I have seen more than half of the ones you listed. I was wondering when Code Geass would make it on someones list, it has a huge fan base. Angel Beats was my top pick for an anime series (non-adult) for 2011, and I posted that to this forum, I also did a review for it and gave it 5 stars. My biggest problem with it was that the band was under utilized, even forgotten about at times. Eureka Seven was a classic, and it dealt with some very poignant social issues.

@gravitypress - You don't know how happy it makes me to meet a fellow fan of both Robotech and Lodoss Wars. Some of the others on your list that I have seen are some real classics, with the exception of Golden Boy, which I found to be gross (the main guy kept getting caught sniffing the toilet seats in the women's restroom, yuck!).

Some great list so far, keep them coming!

@lordbane666: Yeah Lodoss and Robotech are some classics. I have seen tons of anime and I keep going back to the classics. The ones on my list all made me feel something and to me that's what its all about.

Thanks for keeping the thread alive DCypher. I thought when I started it I'd get a ton of replies. Everyone has there favorites, even newbies, and I thought many more people would be willing to share what they think are the best animes they ever saw. As it is, the posts are trickling in slowly.

As for your list, I've seen most of them, but confess to never seeing your top pick. I did a review here on Anime Vice for your number 9 pick, I thought it was simply a redo of the movie "Dawn of the Dead" done with high school kids and no mall. I did enjoy it though. I as well liked your number 8 pick though it was abruptly ended and some of the men in it looked more like women. I am surprised someone admitted to your number 5 pick, it was a popular title, but for the life of me, I don't know why. Your number 4 pick was great, mindless violence does fill a need every once in a while. Number 3 on your list lost me along the way. The thing that got to me was the voice they had for Naruto in the english version was like listening to a nail being scraped along a blackboard, and the long, drawn out backstories they would do for people who had a momentary roll in the story and where about to die. What's with that? Bleach had me for the first season and lost me in the second. Great job on your list, anyone else care to add to this?

WHAT?!? What about AKIRA?!

@slushinator:

The Bount Arc in Bleach is the third Arc in the anime and it was a filler Arc (in the anime only). The order of the manga is the Death and the Strawberry Arc (from the beginning up to Rukia’s capture), the Ryoka Invasion Arc (saving Rukia), and the third in the manga is the Arrancar Invasion Arc.

As for Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood it was made to be closer to the manga version. The original anime was one of many anime that came out while the original story (the manga) was going on and it resulted in a warped version of the story. Because the manga wasn’t even close to being done when the anime came out the animators made up things to give a complete story. Brotherhood is a more direct animation of the manga and has the “real” story from the manga. Brotherhood has the “real” Wrath, Pride, and Sloth along with Father while the ones in the original anime were created for the anime because those homunculi and Father had not been shown yet. The rushed feeling of brotherhood comes partly because the original anime was “true” up to a certain point in the story that they didn’t need to spend multiple episodes on plots that had been covered for people who had already seen the original anime or read the manga (for example Brotherhood didn’t need multiple episodes to cover the Tucker storyline because most people had either read the manga, seen the original anime, or both).

The two issues you seem to have with these anime are results of the anime versions going faster than manga versions and running out of material to work with. The anime versions of manga almost always seem to either “fix” this by making up substitute story material like with Fullmetal Alchemist (which creates the problem of an alternate storyline separate from the manga) or they instead delay the anime versions by adding the filler Arcs like in Bleach which results in Arcs where no real progress can happen without affecting the storyline.

No FLCL no Clannad and no DB make this list fail

In no specific order,these are some of my all time favorites.

1. Rouroni Kenshin

2. Phantom ~Reqieum for the Phantom~

3. Eureka 7

4. Dararara

5. Full Metal Alchemist

6. Full Metal Panic

7. Guyver

8. Cowboy Bebop

9. Ghost in the Shell

10. Is This A Zombie(please do not ask..I know there is alot better ones but I really like this show)

Did a top 25 video a while back on my thoughts of best anime. Here are the top 10 from memory.

10. Koi Kaze- Favorite romance title, likely one of the very few where you get to have a serious look into incest.

9. Cowboy Bebop- Stylish anime that likes experimenting with different genres in its episodic format, explores its characters and offers a Western-style soundtrack thanks to Yoko Kanno.

8. Aoi Bungaku Series- Cerebral and often tragic anthology anime series looking into aspects of the human condition through a collection of well-known titles in Japanese literature.

7. RahXephon- All-time favorite mecha title. Nuff said.

6. Perfect Blue- Favorite Satoshi Kon movie. Does enough to mess with your perceptions of events with Mima's sanity slipping from her stalker.

5. Kiki's Delivery Service- One of my personal favorite Ghibli films. Family-friendly and has a touching coming-of-age story focused on Kiki's ordeals living on her own.

4. Serial Experiments Lain- Favorite mind-screw title. Ahead of its time in exploring man's increasing reliance on the Internet and leaving one guessing on the nature of Lain's existence.

3. Grave of the Fireflies- Emotionally powerful movie exploring the struggles of two orphaned Japanese children in the final days of World War II.

2. Monster- An engaging long-running mystery/ thriller title that delves into the limitations of human morality and leaves you guessing over aspects of its main baddie (being my all-time favorite anime foe) in the form of one Johan Liebert.

1. Rurouni Kenshin: Trust and Betrayal- A more darker and serious take to the Rurouni Kenshin franchise exploring Kenshin Himura's bloody and tragic past as the Hitokiri Battousai. Features detailed scenery and character designs plus fluid and intense battle scenes.

lets see....

1.- ONE PIECE (totally awesome)

2.- Naruto (really good imo)

3.-toriko (if it keeps going like this it might reach number 2)

4.- bleach (too bad its about to end)

5.-hajime no ippo (nice storyline pretty unpredictable)

6.-rurouni kenshin (great storyline)

7.-dragon ball z (classic)

8.- claymore

9.-death note

10.- kimi ga nozomu eien (usually i hate this kind of animes but this one was really really good)