Thursday, April 26
Anime Top 25 Flash
Way back when, I posted my anime top 25 list. (TV shows and OAVs, no movies.) That was about when I was starting to get into fansubs, and I've watched a whole bunch of stuff since then, so I thought it might be interesting to see how that list holds up.
To quickly recap, the list then consisted of:
Before we look at evicting any of these, let's look at what in the past four years or so (based either on release date, or my belated viewing) is worthy of consideration:
Aishiteruze Baby is charming, but not quite up there with the rest of the field, and Popotan I'm tempted to add just to annoy people, but I don't think it really makes the grade.
Galaxy Angel I like a great deal, particularly seasons two and three, but the early episodes were weak and so was season four. I'm way behind in watching Pretty Cure - I haven't even finished the first season, and they're into season four (though three and four are different continuities), so I'll hold that one back for now.
Gakuen Alice hasn't yet been fully fansubbed yet, so I'll hold that back too, much as I like Mikan-chan and Hotaru. And I haven't finished watching Fullmetal Alchemist either - it was licensed mid-season.
Abenobashi, Nanaka 6/17, Popotan, and Midori no Hibi share two things in common: They are short (13-episode) shows that use absurd plot contrivances to tackle serious issues, and they are surprisingly charming. I'm a sucker for that, but I don't know that I can justify placing them all on the list.
Okay, now let's see who we can give the flick:
Then... Hellsing, Utena, Blue Seed, and Love Hina bite it. That gives me four slots, which I'll fill with Haibane Renmei, Kamichu!, Haruhi Suzumiya, and... Midori no Hibi. I love that show.
So, now we have the following showdown:
Honestly, I can't convince myself that any of those new shows are either definitively better than any of the old ones, or that I found them more enjoyable.
Edit: Changed my mind.
So we have a list, which I shall order according to my whim:
Afterword: Steven Den Beste has his own top five recommendations, and there's only one item in common with my top twenty-five. Let's see:
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Way back when, I posted my anime top 25 list. (TV shows and OAVs, no movies.) That was about when I was starting to get into fansubs, and I've watched a whole bunch of stuff since then, so I thought it might be interesting to see how that list holds up.
To quickly recap, the list then consisted of:
- Slayers
- Dirty Pair
- Urusei Yatsura
- Tenchi Muyo
- El Hazard
- Azumanga Daioh
- Fancy Lala
- Cowboy Bebop
- Trigun
- Oh My Goddess
- Maison Ikkoku
- Fushigi Yuugi
- Escaflowne
- Love Hina
- Bubblegum Crisis
- Irresponsible Captain Tylor
- Dominion/Tank Police
- Saber Marionette
- Hellsing
- Blue Seed
- Cutey Honey
- Ranma ½
- Revolutionary Girl Utena
- Jungle Guu
- 3x3 Eyes
Before we look at evicting any of these, let's look at what in the past four years or so (based either on release date, or my belated viewing) is worthy of consideration:
- Galaxy Angel (2001-2004)
- Tiny Snow Fairy Sugar (2001)
- Full Moon wo Sagashite (2002)
- Haibane Renmei (2002)
- Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi (2002)
- Tenshi na Konamaiki (2002)
- Fullmetal Alchemist (2003)
- Nanaka 6/17 (2003)
- Popotan (2003)
- Aishiteruze Baby (2004)
- Gakuen Alice (2004)
- Midori no Hibi (2004)
- Pretty Cure (2004-2006)
- Kamichu! (2005)
- Shakugan no Shana (2005-2006)
- The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (2006)
Aishiteruze Baby is charming, but not quite up there with the rest of the field, and Popotan I'm tempted to add just to annoy people, but I don't think it really makes the grade.
Galaxy Angel I like a great deal, particularly seasons two and three, but the early episodes were weak and so was season four. I'm way behind in watching Pretty Cure - I haven't even finished the first season, and they're into season four (though three and four are different continuities), so I'll hold that one back for now.
Gakuen Alice hasn't yet been fully fansubbed yet, so I'll hold that back too, much as I like Mikan-chan and Hotaru. And I haven't finished watching Fullmetal Alchemist either - it was licensed mid-season.
Abenobashi, Nanaka 6/17, Popotan, and Midori no Hibi share two things in common: They are short (13-episode) shows that use absurd plot contrivances to tackle serious issues, and they are surprisingly charming. I'm a sucker for that, but I don't know that I can justify placing them all on the list.
Okay, now let's see who we can give the flick:
- Slayers - Slayers earned this position thanks to a great ensemble cast, gripping story, humour, action, and Megumi Hayashibara. Stays.
- Dirty Pair - Stays. 'Nuff said.
- Urusei Yatsura - A classic. Stays.
- Tenchi Muyo - The first two OAVs and Pretty Sammy TV are wonderful. Stays.
- El Hazard - Only the first OAV series holds up, but it does hold up. Stays.
- Azumanga Daioh - Charm and absurdity and a real story that sort of slips past you when you weren't expecting it. Stays.
- Fancy Lala - It's been a while. A likeable enough series, but maybe not top 25 material.
- Cowboy Bebop - A classic. (And features Megumi-san.) Stays.
- Trigun - A very good show, if a little uneven. Probably stays.
- Oh My Goddess - The original OAV series and the movie are superb. The new TV series is meh. Probably stays.
- Maison Ikkoku - A classic, stays.
- Fushigi Yuugi - Needed to be edited down by at least four episodes, and the OAV sequels suck. Still, a great show. Probably stays.
- Escaflowne - A decent enough story, buoyed up by big bouncy catgirls and a brilliant Yoko Kanno score. Probably stays.
- Love Hina - Kind of fun, but... Goes.
- Bubblegum Crisis - An absolute classic. Stays.
- Irresponsible Captain Tylor - A classic. Stays.
- Dominion/Tank Police - Another classic, again with big bouncy catgirls. Stays.
- Saber Marionette - A lot of fun, and another Hayashibara excursion. But... Probably goes.
- Hellsing - Caught my attention at the time, but this one is fading fast. Goes.
- Blue Seed - Another Hayashibara show. But... Goes.
- Cutey Honey - Classic, though the various incarnations are uneven. Stays.
- Ranma ½ - Great early episodes, but definitely outstayed its welcome. Maison Ikkoku is the only Takahashi series that ended satisfactorily. Probably goes.
- Revolutionary Girl Utena - Ehn. Goes.
- Jungle Guu - I need to watch this one again, but it is undeniably brilliant. Stays.
- 3x3 Eyes - Short classic horror series... with Megumi Hayashibara. Stays.
Then... Hellsing, Utena, Blue Seed, and Love Hina bite it. That gives me four slots, which I'll fill with Haibane Renmei, Kamichu!, Haruhi Suzumiya, and... Midori no Hibi. I love that show.
So, now we have the following showdown:
| Old | vs | New |
| Trigun | Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi | |
| Fushigi Yuugi | Full Moon wo Sagashite | |
| Escaflowne | Nanaka 6/17 | |
| Saber Marionette | Tenshi na Konamaiki | |
| Ranma ½ |
Honestly, I can't convince myself that any of those new shows are either definitively better than any of the old ones, or that I found them more enjoyable.
Edit: Changed my mind.
So we have a list, which I shall order according to my whim:
- Slayers
- Dirty Pair
- Kamichu!
- Urusei Yatsura
- Tenchi Muyo
- Azumanga Daioh
- Tiny Snow Fairy Sugar
- Cowboy Bebop
- Bubblegum Crisis
- The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
- Irresponsible Captain Tylor
- Haibane Renmei
- Maison Ikkoku
- El Hazard
- Fushigi Yuugi
- Oh My Goddess (original OAV and movie)
- Dominion/Tank Police
- A Vision of Escaflowne
- Nanaka 6/17
- Saber Marionette
- Cutey Honey
- Ranma ½
- Jungle wa Itsumo Hale nochi Guu
- 3x3 Eyes
- Midori no Hibi
Afterword: Steven Den Beste has his own top five recommendations, and there's only one item in common with my top twenty-five. Let's see:
- Haibane Renmei (age 13+) - A superbly crafted show, but not one that I want to watch again. Still, it makes my list.
- Card Captor Sakura - Better than most of the shows I ditched from the old list, but not - in my opinion - better than the ones I added.
- Angelic Layer - I do not like it, Sam I am. Tried, and bounced, violently.
- Kaleido Star - I bought this in the Madman 10th Birthday sale, but I haven't had a chance to watch it yet.
- Someday's Dreamers - I know absolutely nothing about this show.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at
09:12 PM
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1
It should be understood that my "list of five recommendations" was selected to be titles I thought would be broadly accessible and enjoyable by nearly anyone. That doesn't mean I think they're the best things out there.
I consider Banner of the Stars to be better than Kaleido Star, but only for a subsegment of the audience.
Having said that, it probably is time for me to revisit that list. I don't think I've changed it since I bounced Sugar from it and replaced it with CCS.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at Friday, April 27 2007 02:15 AM (+rSRq)
2
Fair enough. I thought it was curious that we only coincided once, since my general track record with your recommendations has been better than 80% - Angelic Layer being the only big exception that comes readily to mind.
Still, there's a whole lot of anime out there, and my own list is much more tailored to my personal tastes - though there are clearly a couple of different genres on there, so it doesn't quite work as an if-you-liked-X-why-not-try.
Hmm. About half I'd class as action/comedy, which doesn't surprise me. I tend not to like shows that aren't leavened with a little humour - or shows that are pure comedy.
Still, there's a whole lot of anime out there, and my own list is much more tailored to my personal tastes - though there are clearly a couple of different genres on there, so it doesn't quite work as an if-you-liked-X-why-not-try.
Hmm. About half I'd class as action/comedy, which doesn't surprise me. I tend not to like shows that aren't leavened with a little humour - or shows that are pure comedy.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at Friday, April 27 2007 02:29 AM (PiXy!)
3
It looks to me like there's a broad agreement if we do not constrain lists too tight, e.g. only 5 entries.
Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at Friday, April 27 2007 03:29 AM (9imyF)
4
I tend to favor the action / comedy genre myself as well. Most of the pure comedy shows lack plot; there needs to be some conflict or tension to supply the plot. There have been a couple of comedy / drama series I've liked, often somewhat romantic or shoujo in nature, but anime is well suited towards doing action.
I've noticed that series normally tend to get more serious as they progress, as the creators need to ramp up each conflict to sustain the tension. OAV's tend to be less comedic than TV series and movies tend to throw most of the comedy out the window, at least for the same source materiel. My biggest disappointments, however, have been series which have lost all the comedy by the time the halfway point rolls around. If a series starts as comedy, I expect it to get more dramatic as it goes along, but if it gets not just more dramatic but downright dark, it usually is an indicator of major amounts of suck.
I think my sole exception to the rule about series sucking when they lose all humor is Irresponsible Captain Tylor, which is redeemed because the dark section is relatively short and the ending is just so well done.
As a final aside, I also think it is statistically improbable for any two anime fans to completely agree as to which series are good and which aren't. When I read a list like this, I know that there will always be one or two series on which we will disagree, and that in no way invalidates the reviewer as a source of good quality information.
I've noticed that series normally tend to get more serious as they progress, as the creators need to ramp up each conflict to sustain the tension. OAV's tend to be less comedic than TV series and movies tend to throw most of the comedy out the window, at least for the same source materiel. My biggest disappointments, however, have been series which have lost all the comedy by the time the halfway point rolls around. If a series starts as comedy, I expect it to get more dramatic as it goes along, but if it gets not just more dramatic but downright dark, it usually is an indicator of major amounts of suck.
I think my sole exception to the rule about series sucking when they lose all humor is Irresponsible Captain Tylor, which is redeemed because the dark section is relatively short and the ending is just so well done.
As a final aside, I also think it is statistically improbable for any two anime fans to completely agree as to which series are good and which aren't. When I read a list like this, I know that there will always be one or two series on which we will disagree, and that in no way invalidates the reviewer as a source of good quality information.
Posted by: Civilis at Sunday, April 29 2007 05:42 AM (DGRGd)
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