Top Ten Anime List
I figured it was time to write a post like this, and link to it from the front page for the benefit of the one or two people who care (of course, it will be updated in the future if necessary). And if you think you have an anime that hits my notes better than one of these, feel free to reccomend it. There are plenty of series I haven’t had time to watch yet, after all.
My favourite anime span a few different genres but for the most part they are character-oriented and have dramatic elements (I don’t watch too many straight comedy or action anime).
I should point out that I’ve purposely limited the number of Ghibli films on this list to 3. If I were to honestly list my favourite anime, this post would be filled with Ghibli anime including My Neighbor Totoro, Porco Rosso, and others. However, for the sake of having a somewhat meaningful and diverse list, Ive allowed only three Ghibli films.
These are listed in no particular order. You can find the full reviews of each series on the reviews page.
Honey and Clover (Review)
I watched this at the time when I was starting to think about a lot of the questions explored by the main characters here. The parts of H&C that strike with me the most are that of self-discovery, especially that of Takemoto. I think of it as a story about growing up and carving a role for yourself in the world foremost, and a romance or comedy afterwards. It’s also simply one of the most well-made series I’ve had the pleasure of watching, with great direction, animation, and writing. The comedy is amusing without being crude, the characters are thoughtful without being melodramatic, and as a bonus, they are all intelligent and deal with their lives and relationships in very non-superficial ways, unlike a lot of anime out there. For this reason I find it much more satisfying than anime like NANA.
Planetes (Review)
A show set in the near future where humans are just beginning to really make a permanent presence in space. Our main characters are space junk collectors – not the most glamorous job. Planetes spends the first half (and a bit more) getting you invested in the main characters in a slice-of-life atmosophere that only occasionally becomes heavy handed. Then, once you have grown fond of them, thrusts them into a climax that is utterly captivating, emotionally moving, and thought provoking while also providing immense character drama. My enjoyment of this series genuinely surprised me. When I started it, it was enjoyable enough and I continued to watch it at a slow pace, but somehow I was shocked by how much the climax and ending affected me, it was almost as if I had grown very fond of the characters without realizing it. A lot of people say the series starts slow, and I will admit that this is true, but it would be a waste to push it away solely for that reason.
Maison Ikkoku (Review)
This series tells the story of Godai, a young, naive (at first) student, meeting Kyoko, a widow who becomes the manager of his apartment. The kind of series that they don’t make any more. Nearly one hundred episodes of gradually becoming familiar and attaached to a set of characters, so that by the end the satisfying conclusion arrives, it feels as rewarding as watching a group of friends. Maison Ikkoku is a romantic comedy-drama. Through it’s long length, we watch the main character, a young student, grow up from being a meek and immature boy – as well as watch the main relationship between the leads evolve from one-sided puppy love into something more admirable. While it delivers tons of fun as a comedy, there are also a wealth of poignant moments that are down-to-earth and realistic, dealing with serious and understandable conflicts within characters. Maison Ikkoku isn’t as consistently good as some other shows, and there are places where it descends to tropeism, but the story told remains one of the most memorable ever told in anime, and blows most of the modern anime in this genre out of the water.
Natsume Yuujinchou (Review)
A story of a boy who sees spirits. This initial plot could lead to about a dozen different kinds of anime, but Natsume Yuujinchou goes down a more unique path. The series revolves primarily around showing interactions between spirits and between spirits and humans as a way of examining themes of friendship and loneliness. Natsume begins the series being wary and fearful of spirits, but begins to learn about them and realize that they are not too different from one another. Much of the anime consists of different stories which are related to these themes, but it does not become repetitive. There are many touching, poignant moments in this series that are bittersweet while also being ultimately optimistic, and the best part is that the series never lingers too long on these moments or makes them too sentimental. Instead it’s the viewer who consciously reflects on them as they pass fleetingly, and I found that a lot more effective. I can say without a doubt that every episode got me emotional at one point or another. Ths is one anime consistently hit nearly all the right notes for me.
Touch (Review)
It is fitting to mention this series after Maison Ikkoku because I think of it very much as something of a partner to that series. They are both nearly a hundred episodes and use that length to take a slow and satisfying approach to their character work. Like MI, you’ll end up caring very much for the characters as you literally watch them grow up and experience their ups and downs through their youth. I think they complement each other well – Touch is a youthful coming of age story while MI continues on with the process of becoming an adult. Like MI, it is also rough around the edges at times, but the overall experience is something you won’t forget all too easy. Now, Touch involves baseball as a significant element of the plot, and when I started watching I was nothing close to a sports fan, but I was converted by the end. My advice is to not hold preconceptions about what you will or will not like.
Princess Mononoke
The first film, of which there will be three on this list, all by Studio Ghibli. Princess Mononoke is a rich, mythological epic which tells the story of a battle between man and nature, represented by an industrial town warring against the spirits of the nearby forest. In betewen these two sides are the two main characters, humans who are torn between both worlds. The film mantains a delicate balance between the large scale battle and the more personal story of our two main characters, and also presents very beautiful images of nature and spirits which I find to be unforgettable. The perfection of the artwork and music are mere bonuses. If there is ever an anime that I would suggest as an introduction to the possibilities of animation to tell serious stories, this would be the one. It could simply not be done in live action with the same effect.
Banner of the Stars II (Review)
Banner of the Stars II is, as you may expect, a sequel to Banner of the Stars, which in turn is a sequel to Crest of the Stars. As such, to watch this installment, it would be best to watch the first two as well. The earlier parts introduce the show – a war between species in space, with a human who for varous reasons becomes a member of the opposing side. Although the setting is interested, the greatest part of this anime is the characters, particularly the lead pair. This particular installment is where the series really hits its satisfying emotional climax, which is why I’m listing it here. The earlier segments were good as introductions but this is where their bond is put to the test, and all the investment you have put into the series will have been worth it just to reach this final ending. Truly one of the most memorable lead pairs in any anime I’ve seen and the series, at times light, at times heartbreaking, is ultimately very valuable and reccomended to anyone whether a sci-fi fan or not (I’m not particularly one).
Ookiku Furikabutte! (Review)
This is one of the “lighter” series on this list, and the topics it deals with are not quite as serious as in others here. Nevertheless, I think it is one of the best anime purely because it picks a subject and then delivers an immensely satisfying show which keeps itself within its boundaries. The show revolves around baseball, but unlike Touch, I think having some minimal knowledge of the sport will help, because what this show really does is present a case for all the possibilities of competitive sports. The friendship, teamwork, hard-won victories, bitter mistakes – it even shows us the perspective of families cheering on their sons. Really a very likable series that never falters because it focuses on one broad subject instead of trying to be too much at once.
Grave of the Fireflies
Another film by Studio Ghibli, Grave isn’t the kind of film that you watch on rainy Saturday afternoons with your friends, but it is one of the most important animated films or series that have ever been created. I won’t detail it too much because writers like Roger Ebert have already covered what makes the film as powerful as it is in their own, longer reviews. I will just say that I don’t think there is any other anime that has ever moved its audiences as consistently as this one. It is a story that does not bog itself into the politics of war, instead telling a story of how these believable and realistic are affected by it – a story which can repeat itself anywhere in the world at any point in history. A lot of people dislike the film because they feel that the tragic events are the fault of the main character’s decisions. Yet this is entirely the point. Grave of the Fireflies is not powerful because it shows two perfect characters who are hit with unavoidable tragedy over and over. It’s powerful because the audience is forced to watch these two young children make choices they are not ready to make and put in situations they aren’t ready to handle – we want to reach out and help them and put them on the right path, but can only watch helplessly as the events unfold.
Whisper of the Heart (Review)
My list closes with this optimistic, heartwarming film by Studio Ghibli. This is something of a coming of age story which shares similarities with several other, more familiar anime, but with that Studio Ghibli touch which puts it over the edge. Wonderfully believable characters meet to make what is really one of the endearing young love stories that I’ve ever seen. If you’re tired of the cliched high school stories this will certainly be a breath of fresh air. But really, it is simply a snapshot of youth and childhood, the sensation of experiencing new things and meeting new people from a time before cynical adulthod kicks in. The film contains one of the best musical sequences I’ve ever seen, with the main characters participating in an impromptu rendition of Country Road. This one scene is a good enough justification for the entire film.
16 responses so far
Nice list, but also a good example of how even people with similar taste have different preferences.
Maison Ikkoku, yes. Banner2, yes. H&C, yes. And clearly I have to watch Touch. But Natsume Yuujinchou and Ookiku Furikabutte just never clicked with me. I’ll have to try again. Whisper of the Heart and Byousoku 5cm are my favorite anime movies. Princess Mononoke and Fireflies are below those somewhere, for me.
I guess it’s time for me to think about what my list might be. Last time I did that, a couple of years ago, I had a lot fewer titles to choose among, lol. Thanks for the post.
I can understand Ookiku, I suppose it is a bit of an acquired taste (particularly the ten episode long play-by-play baseball match). I an unashamedly a fanboy for Natsume Yuujinchou, though. I just love the warmth of that series, nearly every episode was moving at some point or another, in a very gentle kind of way. For me, it’s one of a kind.
I need sum planetes rewatch….and by that i mean more nono fapping
From this list, it seems that stories with strong dramatic elements (especially romance) are what resonate with you.
My tastes tend towards adventure, mystery, horror, etc, but I do appreciate how well done drama can help such stories. As a result, I would recommend the following:
Mushi-shi – My favorite anime, tastes mentioned above notwithstanding. Similar in some respects to Natsume Yuujinchou, but superior to my mind because of its excellent visuals and more mysterious, fantastic atmosphere.
Jin Roh, The Wolf Brigade – Set in an alternate historical timeline where Japan was occupied not by America but Nazi Germany. However, the setting is really incidental to the storyline, which is about a secret policeman who, after seeing a girl blow herself up in front of him, falls in love with her sister. A much darker version of Little Red Riding Hood than most of us are used is also threaded through, and parallels, the story.
Kino’s Journey – About a traveler and her talking motorcycle who travel from city to city, spending no more than three days in each. This thought provoking show has a somewhat surreal, fairy-tail-like atmosphere, but there are no simple morals.
I’m currently watching both Mushi-shi and Kino no Tabi. I like them both and Mushi-shi in particular is certainly one of the best anime series ever made. However, while I do think that both are excellent anime, I feel they are bit more detached emotionally than the kind of series that I adore. Some of the anime in my top ten may not be the most perfect anime (eg, Maison Ikkoku has plenty of weak points), they are just simply the ones that overall managed to move me the most. That’s what I like the most out of my anime.
Natsume Yuujinchou sounds like something I might have to check out sometime. Much agreement with Honey and Clover, it’s at the top of my list too. Personally I kind of found the anime version of Planetes disappointing though, but maybe that’s just because the manga is just that good.
Speaking of manga vs anime, how do the Crest of the Stars/Banner of the Stars anime compare to the manga? I’ve only read the manga and watched a little bit of CotS.
I wasn’t even aware there was a mange. I know that it follows the original novels very well.
Theowne:
In light of what you’ve said above, you’ll probably feel similarly about Jin-Roh as to the other two I mentioned. The romance is between two people who are hiding in shells, so the drama is not very overt.
A few less emotionally detached stories:
Eureka 7
Gunslinger Girl
Noein
5cm Per Second
The first three all have Science Fiction and Action elements, but all have very strong relationships at their core. I would guess that especially E7 and 5cm have a chance to make it onto this list someday (assuming you haven’t already seen them).
As for the Crest/Banner of the Stars manga, my understanding is it is a direct adaptation of the anime, with one volume for each of the series. I would expect that a lot is left out, and that the anime would be a much richer experience.
Oops, I just found you MAL list and saw that you’d already seen 5cm. Never mind.
Yeah, I have all three volumes of the Seikai Trilogy, and when I found out that there was a season per manga volume I had to think that a lot was left out (or added into the anime). I guess I’ll have to watch it eventually, but there’s just so much I need to finish first.
Just a bit of odd trivia, they switched illustrators for Banner of the Stars II for some reason. It was an obviously different style, but it wasn’t jarring (I’m kind of glad that the latter artists didn’t try to imitate the former’s style.)
Oh, PS @Theowne: Just noticed that you’re in Toronto. What a great city! I need to make another trip up there sometime.
I find your list interesting as we seem to have some similar interests. I’ll have to check out some of these anime now.
My list is a bit different however.
I would put:
Starblazers: Part of this is nostalgia, as I remember watch Starblazers as a small boy, and it was quite meaningful for the time I grew up in. I was quite aware from an early age that the world was on the verge of nuclear holocaust. I think alot of people aren’t really aware of how dangerous and intense the Cold War was. A show about a post apocalyptic Earth there had meaning to me. However, most of all I remember 2 scenes, that I haven’t seen since I was eight, but I still remember very clearly. Both had to do with the communication between the sailors on the ship, and their families back home. The first was Derek Wildstar, when his turn came to use the limited ability to communicate with Earth he wasn’t there in line. His friends try to hunt him down and force him to talk to his family. He goes to the room, and his friends are waiting outside. They peek in and see him there just staring at an empty screen. So they come in and demand to know why he won’t talk to his family when everyone else would love to have his share of communication time. And then Derek answers in repressed anguish: “There’s nobody left on Earth for me to talk to.” He’s the only surviving member of his family. There simply isn’t anyone else. My poor description can’t do scene justice.
The second scene is when they are moving out of communication range and they won’t be able to talk to their families anymore. Erick Venture draws the final time, and is talking with his family. And you can just tell, that things are bad on Earth but his parents are trying to conceal it, and Erick is avoiding talking about the combat he’s been in, and they’re trying to just talk about good times and the little nothings of life. Then the time starts to run short and everybody starts trying to say the important things that they want to say but kept putting off. The mother is trying to make sure Erick remembers to do all the little things he should to stay in good health and out of danger, and the father is trying to be brave and say something inspirational, and Erick’s promising that they’ll see each other again soon, and the little girl just wants to talk to her brother for a bit longer… and then the screen shuts off, and the chance to talk is gone. Gah… I still choke up thinking about it. All I can say is that even though the dub toned a lot of stuff down it still had emotional peaks that rival “A Bridge Too Far”, or “Saving Private Ryan”.
Maison Ikkoku: For the same reasons given in the post
Fullmetal Alchemist: It’s packaged and sold as a shounen-action show based on the premise: “What if Alchemy actually worked?” In reality it’s all about sin and redemption.
Ed and Al, two brothers, two youngsters in the traditional shounen underage hero motif- except there is a reason they are so young. Only young boys like them would be so foolish, and make the error they do which triggers the rest of the story. They commit the ultimate sin of their world. When confronted, and asked why they would do something that they knew was forbidden, they answer with words that strike every man who was once a boy to the heart: “It was for our mother”. What can be said against such a motive?
Yet in this world good motives do not an excuse make. For every sin, there is a price, and Ed and Al pay that price and it is terrible- and as Ed once says, they keep on paying ever since. They drive themselves out from the Arcadia of their youth and enter the world of men- and a nasty brutish, violent world it is. Ed and Al face constant temptation to become like the world they now live in- and make others pay the price for their sin. Ed in particular, as the eldest, is tempted with finding a way to make his younger brother whole, and take the burden of their sin on to himself. All the other characters in the show are variations on the same theme: temptation, sin, repentance, condemnation, redemption, damnation. Ed and Al have one major advantage though, they learned a very harsh lesson from their sin, a lesson that is constantly before them, written into their very bodies- and so they never want to do evil again- thus they try to resist the temptations they face and find a way that they can fulfill all their obligations and be good people.
Of the two anime adaptations, the first has a much stronger opening and early development of the characters, later as it departs more from the manga storyline it tends to lose a bit of focus and direction. The second anime adaptation follows the manga exactly and so has weaker early character development, but soon develops and has strong later character development and a more satisfying ending (assuming it follows the manga). Personally I think they are both watching, and I just take them and splice them together in my mind. (If I ever become rich enough to blow money on a fantasy movie project I actually will splice them together.)
Maybe a few others, but I think that demonstrates the difference.
Hi,This is an international message…
I’m glad to hear that you seem to like the anime ‘true tears’very much.Because I’m like it too.And I also viewed your piano sheet on Natsume yuujinnchou,I have already downloaded it and planned to play it in my vacation.
At the very first time I got here,I was a little surprised that Canadians(hope I am right)can be very familiar with Japanese Anime.I usually thought that European and American culture is very different from Eastern culture…..
Now here is my point:Since you know about the anime ‘Ture Tears’,and also you are outstanding on piano , why don’t you write some piano sheets about True Tears?And I am sure that lotta peaple would appreciate and admire you (including me…)
Thank you for having my message…
I typically write piano music only for anime music that impress me very much. Unfortunately, none of the True Tears music impressed me. As I have a pretty busy schedule, I don’t know if I’ll be writing any sheets any time soon =(
P.S. I didn’t know this was a surprise, but Japanese anime has fans all around the world. From Canada to India to Japan to Australia.
Hi,me again.
First to say,when it comes to anime my only thought are about Japanese anime,have to admit that i am very unfamiliar with American anime,except for such thing as Mickey or Tom and Jerry…The reason that I’m surprise is that ,in the field of PC games,I often hear fans of Japanese games and American games arguing a lot(while i like them both)…
Secondly,Natsume youujinchou has got beautiful opening music as well as ending music.but on the other hand,I think maybe you thought True tears’ OP and ED are too ‘happy’ for you so you are not impressed,but i do think some of the True Tears’ backgroud musics are really impressive,such as ‘yichi jin no kaze’,I don’t know whether you have listened to it.
at last,i’m feel really sorry about your busy schedule.Obviously not your bad.maybe I should learn to write sheets on my own some day….
Thanks again.
I never mentioned American animation…. This is getting confusing…=P