Your Top 10 Anime of All Time

[CONFUCIUS]

Every time some anime forum brings out a top 10 anime of all time poll, I would cringe and say to myself "Am I too old or these little kids have no taste ?" I mean, shows like Gundam Seed ?! Full Metal Alchemist ?! Ok, sure, they are popular, but top 10 of all time ?! Considering most of the posters here are mature types (age 20 to 30) who have watched a fair amount of classic anime and appreciate the good stuff. I thought it would be interesting to see what your top 10 anime of all time is (please put in your reasons as well )

Here's my list :

1- Neon Genesis Evangelion: Most of the Macross fans would probably disagree but EVA is my No.1 because it was one of the few shows which was driven by flawed characters. Shinji, Asuka, and many others may not be the types that we like, but they are the types that we can relate to and find in our society. It's not hard to see somebody in your workplace or school and think " Hey, that poofy little wimp over there reminds me of Shinji." And that's what makes EVA my no.1

2-Macross: There isn't much to say as most of the posters here know how good this show is. Main reason I would put Macross above Gundam is that Macross is more complete, it's enjoyable from the first episode to the last where as Gundam took a while to become enjoyable.

3-Gundam: IMO the first half of Gundam is ordinary and quite repetitive, but the awesome battle scenes and the storyline in the second half is what makes it such a classic.

4-Akira: When I first saw Akira I was stunned, I did not have a clue on what the story was about but the ride through the city scene and the action just captured me, a few years later I watched it again and I still don't have a clue on what it's about but hey, I still love Kaneda's bike and that Ride through the city scene.

5-Maison Ikkoku: There are very few love comedies that doesn't provide a dose of fan service, and Maison Ikkoku is one of those. Maybe it's the female character's widow status, or the hilariously unique characters, or the humble suburban Japanese background, there's no doubt Maison is one of the most original love anime around.

6-Patlabor TV Series: Character driven mecha show at it's best. Personally I don't think the mecha design is as original as EVA or Gundam(though I do love the Griffin) but the characters and the satire display of Japanese culture in this show makes it absolutely fun to watch.

7-Nadia-Secret of Blue Water: Like it or not, I think Hideaki Anno is a genius and this adventure anime of his is extremely underated. Like EVA, the characters are flawed but unlike EVA they are not dislikable. There's no stunning artwork or amazing battle scenes, just intriguing characters and simple but interesting storyline.

8-Gunbuster: If it wasn't for the last two episodes, I reckon Gunbuster wouldn't be regarded as a classic. The last two episodes are the only time where I feel captured by the sacrifices Noriko and her companions made to save humanity. If the first four episodes are as emotionally powerful and intriguing as the last two, Gunbuster would have been my No.3 instead.

9-Gundam 0080-war in the Pocket: I've put this OVA series in my top 10 because it's probably the only mecha show that display the cruelty of war through a civilian's eyes. And IMO the last duel scene is the one of the most powerful and dramatic scenes in anime.

10-Cowboy Bebop: I'm not sure if Bebop is the right choice yet as there are numerous animes that could easily be on it's spot (Macross Plus, Nadesico, Orange Road, etc) But at the end of the day, Faye's bum and boobs, Megumi Hayashibara's electric voice and Yoko Kanno's music just persuaded me, eventhough the dialogue in Bebop can be cheesey and corny at times, and the title "Cowboy Bebop" is as bad as "Samurai Champloo".

[Roy Focker]

I'll bite...

In no order of importance.

1. Macross TV

2. Macross DYRL?

3. Flash Back 2012

4. Macross Plus

5. Gundam 0079

6. Macross 7

7. Gunbuster

8. Cowboy Bebop

9. Orguss

10. Gundam 0080

[Nightbat]

I can't even name 10 that 'met my expectations', but I'll add a few

2- Macross (TV/FB/DYRL - I see them as a single entity)

3- Chrno Crusade

4- Rozen Maiden (S1)

5- Shakugan no Shana

6- Mahoromatic

7- (New) Dominion Tank Police

8- Project A-ko

9- Mai HIme

10- Martian Successor Nadesico

1- Fate Stay/Night

[sketchley]

I think this list could be more along the lines of 'inspiring my imagination' above and beyond anything else. There are a lot more anime and manga that I like, but the following gets the most hits in my reference library.

1. Macross

2. Ghost in the Shell

((Following in semi-particular order. Tastes change with the seasons, after all.))

3. Gall Force

4. Patlabor

5. You're Under Arrest!

6. Fushigi no umi no Nadia

7. Porcco Rosso and any other work by Hayao Miyazaki

8. Orguss II

9. Shin Seiki Evangelion

10. Gundam 0083 in particular, but manga like "MS Gundam: The Origin", "MS Gundam: Ecole du Ciel", "MS Gundam: Lost War Chronicles", and "MS Gundam: Space to the end of a flash" are quite good and getting me interested in 0079, Z, and ZZ Gundam. Though as the titles are in manga format...

11. Perfect Blue

Yes, asked for the top 10, but I can't fit in Perfect Blue without knocking something off. And Perfect Blue demands to be included on these types of lists simply because it is unprecedented in anime. People compare it to Alfred Hichcock. I compare it to Stanley Kubric's "the shining"!

[1st Border Red Devil]

Hmmm....

1.) Southern Cross (Well, duh! What else did you expect for me to say?)

In no particular order....

Genesis Climber Mospeada

Rhea Gall Force

Macross: DYRL?

Video Girl Ai

Mobile Suit Gundam: 0083 Stardust Memory

Mahoromatic: The Automatic Maiden

Devil Hunter Yoko (1st eps. only)

Record Lodoss War OVA

Project A-ko (1st movie only)

[Penguin]

In no particular order...

Macross Plus

Super Dimension Fortress Macross

Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory

Spirited Away

Kiki's Delivery Service

My Neighbour Totoro

Patlabor the Movie 2

Patlabor TV series

Perfect Blue

Last Exile

[Noyhauser]

LOGH (obviously)

Macross (everything)

Nausicaa (especially the manga, which is so dark)

Future boy Conan/Laputa/Porco Rosso (the rest of Miyazaki's works)

Lupin III (Whatever movie or TV series)

Gundam (only the UC stuff)

Black Jack (the older stuff)

Doredamon

Armored Troopers Votoms

FPM (I've got to have ONE new one right?)

Edited November 9, 2006 by Noyhauser

[Twoducks]

First 10 things that come to mind right now:

1. Miyazaki stuff (they deserve a list of their own): to much good to list.

2. SDF Macross and DYRL?: mmh, it purty?

3. Heidi: the story of a little girl that embodies the joy of life. Girlfriend and I will see this together again when we have kids.

4. Twelve kingdoms (or 12 Kokki): Great fantasy series full of well developed characters and political intrigue that truly takes you to another world.

5. Gundam 0083: great touching look at the horrors of war.

6. Gunbuster: showing how the relativity of time can be so evil wins this story points.

7. Turn A Gundam: another great character driven story.

8. The League of Galactic Heroes: EPIC space drama.

9. Evangelion: great action, mysteries and set up (yes, Shinji must die and they leave a whole lot of dangling plot lines by following a philosophical route in the ending, but like the whole package nonetheless).

10. Trigun: fun adventure with very likable characters in a strange yet familiar future.

[chrono]

The Slayers

Haibane Renmei

Perfect Blue (Best Anime movie ever!)

Millennium Actress

Grave of the Firefly's

Macross

Getter Robo: Armageddon

Figure 17

GenoCyber

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (this series could've been one of the BEST animes ever if they would have gotten Saitoshi Kon as the director)

Special Mention: GunBuster, is one of the two finest science fiction space operas animes ever to appear.

Neither NGE or RahXephon go on the list because both are lacking in tons of those little things that make an anime 'special' for a singular person, though RahXephon attempts to fill in those holes it never really follows through.

[Mr March]

Good topic. Hasn't been something like this in a long while. My list changes from time to time, but in rough order it's would look something similar to this:

1) Super Dimension Fortress Macross, Macross DYRL?, Macross Plus

2) Cowboy Bebop, Cowboy Bebop Knockin' On Heaven's Door

3) Miyazaki movies, Nausicaa Of The Valley Of The Wind, Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke

4) Ghost in the Shell, Ghost in the Shell Innocence, Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex

5) Akira

6) Patlabor Movie One, Patlabor Movie Two

7) Vampire Hunter D, Vampire Hunter D Bloodlust

Grave of the Fireflies

9) Mobile Suit Gundam 0080 War in the Pocket

10) Jin-Roh The Wolf Brigade

[JELEINEN]

Vision of Escaflowne

Aim for the Top!

Legend of the Galactic Heroes

Wings of Honneamise

Di Gi Charat

Giant Robo: The Animation

Ususei Yatsura Move 2: Beautiful Dreamer

Future Boy Conan

Daicon IV Film

Robot Carnival

Edited November 10, 2006 by JELEINEN

[LinxCrossq]

Copy/paste from other site with little changes to the descriptions:

1. Macross, all the series.

2. Mobile Suit Gundam, practically created mecha anime as we know.

3. The Vision of Escaflowne, reached almost perfection at every single level.

4. Sousei no Aquarion, hippy fun for everyone.

5. Eureka seveN, greatest ikano circus on digital format.

6. Saint Seiya, I got to choose a shonen title, didn't I?

7. Last Exile, after watching it for the 7th time it wouldn't be fair to not put it here.

8. Neon Genesis Evangelion, greatest bleeding mecha.

9. Fullmetal Alchemist, best combination of humor and drama ever.

10. Gungrave/Trigun, Trigun manga is better but I gotta love Nightow's work.

Yeah, I cheated on the last one.

[Phyrox]

I don't watch much anime, so I'll just list the few that I really enjoyed in no particular order:

Evangelion (total entertainment, I loved the art direction, loved the action, loved the story, loved the characters)

Gundam 0080 (least "action" Gundam = best Gundam...maybe someone shoulda taken note of that)

Macross Plus (I can't really put my finger on this one, nothing really stands out, but it feels really good)

Jin-Roh (watched it on a lark and couldn't get it out of my head for a week, nice dark character drama)

Porco Rosso (I love Miyazaki's settings, how his worlds always look so...pleasant. Nothing captures this like Porco Rosso's Aegean Sea)

There are others I enjoy simply for nostalgia or the mecha or the "could have been great" stories like Mospeada, DYRL and Gall Force, but the ones I listed are the best in my opinion.

edit for spelling

Edited November 10, 2006 by Phyrox

[Gunbuster]

Here's mine for now

1.Berserk

2.Gunbuster

3.Naussica

4.Sprit away

5.Princess Monnonke Hime

6.EVA

7.Macross(and Macross plus)

8.Millennium Actress

9.Haibane Renmei

10.Fullmetal Alchemist

honoerable mention: Ninja Scoll and Kenshin OVA

Edited November 10, 2006 by Gunbuster

[Ladic]

in no order

ninja scroll

spirited away

the castle of cagliostro

castle in the sky

howls moving castle

princess mononoke

grave of the fireflies

[Keith]

Also in no specific order

-The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (listed first since I just finished watching it)

-Macross (all series)

-Eureka Seven

-Mahoromatic

-Please Save My Earth

-Gunbuster/Diebuster

-All Leiji Verse (Yamato, Galaxy Express, Harlock, Galaxy Railways, etc)

-Giant Robo

-Gundam (truth be told, I do enjoy all of it, tops is the U.C. Stuff + Turn A, but I also enjoy G, W, & SEED)

-Escaflowne

Cowboy Bebop, Miyazaki's Films, & the Tenchi Muyo Ryo-Ohki OVA universe (including GXP) all get honoerable mention.

Edited November 10, 2006 by Keith

[bandit29]

In no order of importance...

Berserk

Record of Lodoss War OVA

Macross DYRL

Fist of the North Star movie

Macross Plus

Vampire Hunter D Bloodlust

Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex

Last Exile

Princess Mononoke

Requiem from the Darkness

[eugimon]

my list, which a jumble and mix of shows and movies, and in no particular order... many of these would be ranked equally at #1 but with different reasons if i were forced to rank them.

macross

Nausica

Escaflowne

Ghost in Shell

Eureka 7

Melancholy of Haruhi

Cowboy Bebop

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Full Metal Alchemist

gundam

[Excillon]

Ok, I'll play too. Here's mine:

Gundam (all the series)

Neon Genesis

Macross

Patlabor

Hellsing

Project Zeormyer

Ghost in the Shell

Guyver

Trigun

Vampire Hunter D

[Pat Payne]

Sure, why not?

1. Macross: 'nuff said

2. Urusei Yatsura: One of the loopiest and funniest shows ever made

3. Lupin III: Particularly the Castle of Cagliostro and Dead or Alive, but really you can hardly go wrong with any Lupin

4. Project A-Ko: Hilarious blink-and-you'll-miss-it humor.

5. Mobile Suit Gundam movie trilogy: Sometimes, a director gets a second chance and doesn't screw it up (Lucas, I'm looking in YOUR direction...)

6. Excel Saga: Milk-out-your-nose funny, but beware if you don't have the right sense of humor

7. Cowboy Bebop: The best animated sci-fi to come out of the '90s

8.Space Battleship Yamato: Along with Gundam and Macross, one of the three classics that should be on any list.

9.Space Gundam--like hell...

The REAL 9. Nausicaa: Miyazaki's triumph. If you see only one anime in your lifetime, it has to be this one, even over (and it pains me to say it) Macross DYRL.

10. Grave of the Fireflies: A gorgeous, if very sad film.

Honorable Mention 11: The Daicon IV opening short.

Honorable Mention 12: An Angel's Egg: A gorgeous film, utterly breathtaking in its animation -- yet storywise denser than a three-year-old fruitcake wrapped in gold foil. When even the writer/director throws up his hands on trying to explain what it means... but gosh, it's a gorgeous film.

Honorable Mention 13: Last Exile. The best story of the 21st century, and the only time that CG and cel animation have ever played well together.

Three most overrated:

1. Evangelion: Watching it makes my head hurt. It's like giving Soren Kierkegaard an unlimited budget and access to the vocal talents of Megumi Hayashibara.

2. Inuyasha: Rumiko Takahashi's better than this Dragonball retread. She's demonstrated that time and time again with innovative, fresh stories.

3. Gundam Wing: So, it's like Gundam, but with a more politically opaque and Byzantine plot, and five teenage male leads who look like they'd be the stuff of most girls' (and Michael Jackson's) dreams? Meh. Oh, and Char called. He wants his schtick back. And remember, he gets three times as angry as a normal person!

Edited November 11, 2006 by Pat Payne

[Mowe]

1. DYRL

2. Millennium Actress

3. Miyazaki’s (Nausicaa, Totoro, Mononoke Hime, & Spirited Away)

4. Masion Ikkoku

5. Eva (The most successful over-rated anime…)

6. Jin Roh

7. Oshii’s Ghost in the Shell

8. Ninja Scroll

9. 3x3 Eyes (pity, the OVA were left uncompleted)

10. Golden Boy (Ok…so I have a range…)

Edited November 11, 2006 by Mowe

[Oihan]

My top ten favorite:

• Macross (TV, II, Plus, DYRL?, Zero)
• Ghost in the Shell (All)
• Cowboy Bebop (All)
• Spirited Away
• Cromartie High School
• IRIA - Zeiram the Animation
• Furi Kuri
• Eureka Seven
• Ninja Scroll
• Casshern: Robot Hunter
• Transformers: The Movie

Edit: After looking at Totoro's list I couldn't believe I forgot about the Transformers movie! WTH? I'll just make this a top 11 instead....

Edited November 23, 2006 by Oihan

[Totoro242]

1. Area 88 Act I, II, III

2. Macross Plus

3. Transformers The Movie (why not?)

4. My Neighbor Totoro

5. Ninja Scroll

6. Nausicaa

7. Ghost In The Shell Stand Alone Complex

8. Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust

9. Cyber City OEDO

10. Wings Of Honneamise

Edited November 21, 2006 by Totoro242