Area 88
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An OVA series that makes no qualms about what it is, a melodramatic anti-war drama that is all about the effects of the battlefield on unsullied souls and the morality of anyone who trained for the purpose of killing for whatever they may have. It's pretty much as close as you'll get to an anime version of Catch-22, as our protagonist essentially finds himself trapped in a paradoxical situation that forces him to continually engage in air-based combat. Unsubtle for sure (characters tend to bemoan their fate for a couple of minutes at a time) but it works precisely because these types of situations call for the type of emotional responses present here. What's chilling is how our protagonist's outlook towards his situation changes, no spoilers but it leads to one hell of a memorable ending. Also, it's chock full of kick ass jet fighting action scenes. It's a shame they didn't use Kenny Loggins' Danger Zone as an insert song for the dogfights. How awesome would that have been?
Azumanga Daioh
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It took me forever to get through all of Azumanga Daioh, but I mean that in the best way possible since I simply didn't want to live a world where there wouldn't be any more gags of airheaded Osaka going on surreal mind-trips, or seeing Tomo be what is essentially the amalgamation of every horrible but ultimately innocent friend I've had since I was a kid. On top of all the silly meandering, the show is a pretty darn good nostalgic character driven piece. Unlike other, more aimless comedies, it doesn't forget about the passage of time. Thus, the characters cherish the limited time they spend with each other as I the viewer did with them.
Baccano!
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The perfect example of making every scene of every episode count towards something joyous and worthwhile. Baccano! is one hell of a puzzle in terms of presentation, but it's a puzzle that's a load of fun to piece together. The mishmashed timeline is a thing that you'd expect would create disastrous mess of badly handled of convoluted plot threads, but Baccano! manages to keep it all together by the time it wraps up its insane tale of gangsters, thieves, immortals, and any combination of the three. I've never put down a title for being "style over substance", and Baccano! is the main reason as to why.
Berserk
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A series that has definitely gotten a bit of an unfair reputation from its manga fanbase. What I dig about Berserk is how it did good a job of condensing some of the best material the manga had to offer without any of the cuts screwing up the story that the anime was tasked with presenting. Given the show's focus was to tell the story of how painting the general picture of how everything ended up the way we saw in the first episode, the actual ending didn't upset me much at all, though we really could have done with a proper denouement. The path to said ending is still exceptional stuff filled gory battles, political intrigue, and some darn well-handled grey characterization. Berserk is still king of the Dark Fantasy landscape in anime as far as I'm concerned.
Black Lagoon
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An awesome amalgamation of Western action flicks with high production values and an excellent English voice cast that blows the original out of the water. Black Lagoon is made up of separate arcs, but still takes time to build on it's cast, namely Rock and Revy, who together (despite their many, difference) serve as the show's emotional stronghold. Rock is the one that grew on me the most however since he turned out to be far more than the "scared fish-out-of-water type character who fucks everything up for the cool characters" type of guy I originally had him pegged as. Instead, he manages to find his niche in the Lagoon Companies' operations and ends up becoming a valuable asset in his own way. He's the show's moral compass, a compass that grows more and clouded by the madness of Roanapur threatening to swallow him up. The show might be a bit pretentious and repetitive with its dialogue, but there's more than enough here to come out smiling on the other end. I'd read the manga too but I the last thing I need is another series to suffer through a hiatus with.
Bokurano
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Gimmicky in concept, but the delivery is all there. Bokurano is something else compared to your garden variety post-Eva mech title in that it doesn't provide much of a reward for the pilots to get into the robot and fight since doing so comes at a high price. Kids are generally rather selfish and care about petty crap whilst taking everything their given for granted (adults aren't much better, but we actually have responsibilities), so seeing them deal with the reality of having given up everything they value for the good of the ones they love is heart wrenching, heart warming, or sometimes an odd combination of the two. Also, the OP is fucking amazing.
Brigadoon
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Brigadoon probably doesn't look like it's a great show, but it's by far the least appreciated title championed on this list. It's an odd, sometimes a bit confused title for sure, but for me it snugly fits under the category of "flawed, but unique and ambitious to the point where I can't help but love it". I've said pretty much everything I've wanted to say about it already in this review, so have a look at it if you don't mind.
Cowboy Bebop
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I'm sure you've seen plenty of "favourite anime lists" before. You can live without seeing another detailed Bebop entry.
Daicon Opening Animations
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During the 80s, a group of ambitious and nerdy youngsters slapped together some silly short animation telling a ludicrous tale about a robot girl with a daikon shaped spaceship and her mission to break every copyright law known to man throughout the skies and space. Said nerds went on to become hot shit with the formation of a studio you may have heard of called Gainax. Oh and Electric Light Orchestra is awesome.
Death Note
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Being the most popular psychological thriller to ever hit the anime landscape, as was with Cowboy Bebop, you probably don't need to hear much more about how awesome Death Note is. Though to be honest, If this was a ranked list it wouldn't be all too high up (the last third of the series truncates some important explanations, the manga's ending was changed for the worse, Misa is an awful character, etc) but it's still damn hard to top in terms marathonability and the sheer overblowness in the direction was a welcome addition to a story that was always a bit inherently silly. It's certainly a whole lot better then what anime studios today are trying to pass for crime=thrillers (looking at you, Zankyou no Terror and Ranpo Kitan).
Digimon Tamers
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Easily the best children's anime I've seen. The reason why I hold it up such is because it was not only fun and welcoming enough for me as a youngster, it's also mature and well written enough for me as a young adult to enjoy as something more than a mere nostalgia watch. It's also interesting, now that I look back on it, how much disturbing shit this season was able to get away with. Nothing that'd fly on your 4Kids Saturday morning block for sure. Also, props to this one for having a legitimately good dub that doesn't rely on shit puns like in the first 2 seasons.
FullMetal Alchemist
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Pretty much the standard bearer for all adaptations of unfinished work. I fully understand how shaky some of its plot elements are, especially towards the end, but there's still plenty of meat to make up for it. This is a show that is absolutely dedicated to it's themes, without sacrificing narrative or character. Virtually everything thematically introduced in the first episode survives to the conclusion. Equivalent exchange (and the impossibility of it), coming of age, making your path in life, the price of prodigy, the lies we tell ourselves, the best-laid plans gone wrong, and most importantly, obsession. Full Metal Alchemist is a show about obsession. It's about Ed and Al's obsession. It's about Dante's obsession. It's about Mustang's obsession. It's about Tucker's obsession. It's about the obsessions of the homunculus. The things that drive people at their very core. The things they refuse to compromise on and will even hurt the people they love to claw a little closer to achieving. It's sad to see this series go by the wayside in comparison to the remake, but seeing how I get to enjoy great takes on the same intriguing premise, I guess I shouldn't be too sad.
Gambling Apocalypse Kaiji: Ultimate Survivor
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What we have here is essentially 26 episodes of essentially "Survival of the Jerkwad-iest". The insane levels of psychological drama are what makes this anime so incredibly difficult to turn my attention from, and if anything, the glacial pacing only helps add to the ridiculous levels of tension. It's damn great to see a nobody like Kaiji struggle to stick it to the most arrogant pricks with sheer cunning, and downright heartbreaking to see him fail. And the narrator is amazing too. The 2nd season is pretty cool too, with Chinchirorin arc living up to the 1st. The Pachinko arc, however, goes out of control in terms of pacing, which is an unfortunate caveat for such a fantastic anime.
And here's the rest (which will receive descriptions in a future update)
Genshiken
Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo
Great Teacher Onizuka
Gungrave
Hajime no Ippo
Hunter x Hunter
Jojo's Bizarre Adventure
Kino's Journey
Kyousogiga
Mouryou no Hako
Mugen no Ryvius
Mushishi
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Paranoia Agent
Perfect Blue
Princess Tutu
Revolutionary Girl Utena
Samurai Flamenco
Shinsekai Yori
Slam Dunk
Space Dandy
Soul Eater
Tantei Opera Milky Holmes
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
The Tatami Galaxy
Texhnolyze
Welcome to the NHK
Zegapain
An OVA series that makes no qualms about what it is, a melodramatic anti-war drama that is all about the effects of the battlefield on unsullied souls and the morality of anyone who trained for the purpose of killing for whatever they may have. It's pretty much as close as you'll get to an anime version of Catch-22, as our protagonist essentially finds himself trapped in a paradoxical situation that forces him to continually engage in air-based combat. Unsubtle for sure (characters tend to bemoan their fate for a couple of minutes at a time) but it works precisely because these types of situations call for the type of emotional responses present here. What's chilling is how our protagonist's outlook towards his situation changes, no spoilers but it leads to one hell of a memorable ending. Also, it's chock full of kick ass jet fighting action scenes. It's a shame they didn't use Kenny Loggins' Danger Zone as an insert song for the dogfights. How awesome would that have been?
Azumanga Daioh
It took me forever to get through all of Azumanga Daioh, but I mean that in the best way possible since I simply didn't want to live a world where there wouldn't be any more gags of airheaded Osaka going on surreal mind-trips, or seeing Tomo be what is essentially the amalgamation of every horrible but ultimately innocent friend I've had since I was a kid. On top of all the silly meandering, the show is a pretty darn good nostalgic character driven piece. Unlike other, more aimless comedies, it doesn't forget about the passage of time. Thus, the characters cherish the limited time they spend with each other as I the viewer did with them.
Baccano!
The perfect example of making every scene of every episode count towards something joyous and worthwhile. Baccano! is one hell of a puzzle in terms of presentation, but it's a puzzle that's a load of fun to piece together. The mishmashed timeline is a thing that you'd expect would create disastrous mess of badly handled of convoluted plot threads, but Baccano! manages to keep it all together by the time it wraps up its insane tale of gangsters, thieves, immortals, and any combination of the three. I've never put down a title for being "style over substance", and Baccano! is the main reason as to why.
Berserk
A series that has definitely gotten a bit of an unfair reputation from its manga fanbase. What I dig about Berserk is how it did good a job of condensing some of the best material the manga had to offer without any of the cuts screwing up the story that the anime was tasked with presenting. Given the show's focus was to tell the story of how painting the general picture of how everything ended up the way we saw in the first episode, the actual ending didn't upset me much at all, though we really could have done with a proper denouement. The path to said ending is still exceptional stuff filled gory battles, political intrigue, and some darn well-handled grey characterization. Berserk is still king of the Dark Fantasy landscape in anime as far as I'm concerned.
Black Lagoon
An awesome amalgamation of Western action flicks with high production values and an excellent English voice cast that blows the original out of the water. Black Lagoon is made up of separate arcs, but still takes time to build on it's cast, namely Rock and Revy, who together (despite their many, difference) serve as the show's emotional stronghold. Rock is the one that grew on me the most however since he turned out to be far more than the "scared fish-out-of-water type character who fucks everything up for the cool characters" type of guy I originally had him pegged as. Instead, he manages to find his niche in the Lagoon Companies' operations and ends up becoming a valuable asset in his own way. He's the show's moral compass, a compass that grows more and clouded by the madness of Roanapur threatening to swallow him up. The show might be a bit pretentious and repetitive with its dialogue, but there's more than enough here to come out smiling on the other end. I'd read the manga too but I the last thing I need is another series to suffer through a hiatus with.
Bokurano
Gimmicky in concept, but the delivery is all there. Bokurano is something else compared to your garden variety post-Eva mech title in that it doesn't provide much of a reward for the pilots to get into the robot and fight since doing so comes at a high price. Kids are generally rather selfish and care about petty crap whilst taking everything their given for granted (adults aren't much better, but we actually have responsibilities), so seeing them deal with the reality of having given up everything they value for the good of the ones they love is heart wrenching, heart warming, or sometimes an odd combination of the two. Also, the OP is fucking amazing.
Brigadoon
Brigadoon probably doesn't look like it's a great show, but it's by far the least appreciated title championed on this list. It's an odd, sometimes a bit confused title for sure, but for me it snugly fits under the category of "flawed, but unique and ambitious to the point where I can't help but love it". I've said pretty much everything I've wanted to say about it already in this review, so have a look at it if you don't mind.
Cowboy Bebop
I'm sure you've seen plenty of "favourite anime lists" before. You can live without seeing another detailed Bebop entry.
Daicon Opening Animations
During the 80s, a group of ambitious and nerdy youngsters slapped together some silly short animation telling a ludicrous tale about a robot girl with a daikon shaped spaceship and her mission to break every copyright law known to man throughout the skies and space. Said nerds went on to become hot shit with the formation of a studio you may have heard of called Gainax. Oh and Electric Light Orchestra is awesome.
Death Note
Being the most popular psychological thriller to ever hit the anime landscape, as was with Cowboy Bebop, you probably don't need to hear much more about how awesome Death Note is. Though to be honest, If this was a ranked list it wouldn't be all too high up (the last third of the series truncates some important explanations, the manga's ending was changed for the worse, Misa is an awful character, etc) but it's still damn hard to top in terms marathonability and the sheer overblowness in the direction was a welcome addition to a story that was always a bit inherently silly. It's certainly a whole lot better then what anime studios today are trying to pass for crime=thrillers (looking at you, Zankyou no Terror and Ranpo Kitan).
Digimon Tamers
Easily the best children's anime I've seen. The reason why I hold it up such is because it was not only fun and welcoming enough for me as a youngster, it's also mature and well written enough for me as a young adult to enjoy as something more than a mere nostalgia watch. It's also interesting, now that I look back on it, how much disturbing shit this season was able to get away with. Nothing that'd fly on your 4Kids Saturday morning block for sure. Also, props to this one for having a legitimately good dub that doesn't rely on shit puns like in the first 2 seasons.
FullMetal Alchemist
Pretty much the standard bearer for all adaptations of unfinished work. I fully understand how shaky some of its plot elements are, especially towards the end, but there's still plenty of meat to make up for it. This is a show that is absolutely dedicated to it's themes, without sacrificing narrative or character. Virtually everything thematically introduced in the first episode survives to the conclusion. Equivalent exchange (and the impossibility of it), coming of age, making your path in life, the price of prodigy, the lies we tell ourselves, the best-laid plans gone wrong, and most importantly, obsession. Full Metal Alchemist is a show about obsession. It's about Ed and Al's obsession. It's about Dante's obsession. It's about Mustang's obsession. It's about Tucker's obsession. It's about the obsessions of the homunculus. The things that drive people at their very core. The things they refuse to compromise on and will even hurt the people they love to claw a little closer to achieving. It's sad to see this series go by the wayside in comparison to the remake, but seeing how I get to enjoy great takes on the same intriguing premise, I guess I shouldn't be too sad.
Gambling Apocalypse Kaiji: Ultimate Survivor
What we have here is essentially 26 episodes of essentially "Survival of the Jerkwad-iest". The insane levels of psychological drama are what makes this anime so incredibly difficult to turn my attention from, and if anything, the glacial pacing only helps add to the ridiculous levels of tension. It's damn great to see a nobody like Kaiji struggle to stick it to the most arrogant pricks with sheer cunning, and downright heartbreaking to see him fail. And the narrator is amazing too. The 2nd season is pretty cool too, with Chinchirorin arc living up to the 1st. The Pachinko arc, however, goes out of control in terms of pacing, which is an unfortunate caveat for such a fantastic anime.
And here's the rest (which will receive descriptions in a future update)
Genshiken
Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo
Great Teacher Onizuka
Gungrave
Hajime no Ippo
Hunter x Hunter
Jojo's Bizarre Adventure
Kino's Journey
Kyousogiga
Mouryou no Hako
Mugen no Ryvius
Mushishi
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Paranoia Agent
Perfect Blue
Princess Tutu
Revolutionary Girl Utena
Samurai Flamenco
Shinsekai Yori
Slam Dunk
Space Dandy
Soul Eater
Tantei Opera Milky Holmes
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
The Tatami Galaxy
Texhnolyze
Welcome to the NHK
Zegapain