For the longest time I have wanted to do a list of this nature, about something which I feel passionate about. This was partly inspired by Avaitor's list of the top 25 Marvel Comics stories, which I was really impressed by and got me to want to read more comics in general, especially the ones that Avaitor recommended. The other source of inspiration I had was the idea of that competition thread for greatest story arcs. When I realized that not enough people would participate in that, I instead started brainstorming ideas for this list. I ran this by Cartoon X and Spark of Spirit who I knew to be just as into this kind of stuff as I was. Originally I had wanted to include any animated arc on the list, and even considered live-action to throw into the mix, but all three of us found that it would be far too difficult to incorporate so many different series into just 30 entries when there would undoubtedly be tons of worthy entries that we would have to leave off of the list. Thus, for this feature, we decided to stick to only anime and manga, which each of us has a fair bit more experience with than other mediums (though, the possibility of doing future lists incorporating those other kinds of series is certainly not lost on me).
As for the list itself, we have spent the past few weeks working on this feature, and went through a lot of discussion regarding what arcs to include and what order to put them in. We also set up certain ground rules for what could and could not be included. These include (but are not limited to):
-Only 2 arcs per series were allowed on the list. This was decided in an effort to promote diversity and to abstain from one particular series or another monopolizing most entries on the list. Thus, we picked the 1 or 2 best story arcs per series which we felt represented each of them at their best.
-Series that only comprised of one arc could not have that arc included. This was done to make a clear distinction between acknowledging the great quality of a well-written story-line itself, as opposed to the entire series. Thus, something like Madoka Magica or Lupin III: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine could not be included, with the former being a one-arc series with only one film as a sequel, and the other taking place within its own rebooted continuity, completely separate from the rest of the franchise.
-The stories had to be of a certain length to be qualified as story arcs. So, no one-episode vignettes (as good as some of those may be), or even mere mere 2-parters, could be included.
With those main ground rules, we set about to create our list, and what we're presenting to you here is the final result. Today I am uploading part 1, including our first five entries, and for the rest of the week we will be counting down 5 entries at a time until we get to our #1 choice, and then conclude the final day of the week with our honorable mentions. With that said, please enjoy discussing or complaining about our choices and entries, and perhaps predicting what will be included in future segments of the list.
Entries:
Part 1: #30-26 (http://animationrevelation.com/readables/?p=3067)
Part 2: #25-21 (http://animationrevelation.com/readables/?p=3087)
Part 3: #20-16 (http://animationrevelation.com/readables/?p=3099)
Part 4: #15-11 (http://animationrevelation.com/readables/?p=3118)
Part 5: #10-06 (http://animationrevelation.com/readables/?p=3132)
Part 6: #05-01 (http://animationrevelation.com/readables/?p=3142)
Part 7: Honorable Mentions (http://animationrevelation.com/readables/?p=3163)
This took a good deal of work, but it sure was fun to do. I hope you guys like it.
We seemed to work together quite well so we finished a lot faster than we were expecting to. It sure inspired me to check out some stuff I wasn't that familiar with.
Great stuff so far! I'm only familiar with the GTO arc, but I do remember it being one of the strongest parts of the series.
I'm not very interested in KLK, but this makes me want to go through Astro Boy some more, and try out the other 2 series.
Thanks. :)
KLK isn't for everyone, and to be honest it was kind of controversial among us to include it on the list only because it's so recent, but I do stand by the opinion that it is a truly great story arc.
And I also need to get into Astro Boy. I love what I've read of Black Jack, and Tezuka's works just seems so much up my alley.
Heh, and here I was thinking of PM-ing you guys earlier today about when we were gonna put this up! ;D
I sure had a blast writing entries for this list, and highlighting a lot of great (some underrated) arcs and series that I'm very passionate about. I looked around for other lists of people's top anime/manga arcs before we started making the list for reference, and I think we've definitely created a list that's considerably better than any others of this sort. I'm especially glad that we were able to highlight non-action and non-shonen series in the list as well, since people often overlook story arcs not from battle-shonen series, when really there are so many great ones outside that genre in the medium.
Reading through the list, and I notice that my format for the publishers section is off compared to E-K and Spark's, and I have a small grammatical mistake on my Astro Boy entry. Dang, I should have checked that stuff again. :sweat:
Quote from: Avaitor on September 10, 2014, 09:27:19 PM
Great stuff so far! I'm only familiar with the GTO arc, but I do remember it being one of the strongest parts of the series.
I'm not very interested in KLK, but this makes me want to go through Astro Boy some more, and try out the other 2 series.
Thanks for the comments Avaitor! I'm glad to see you're interested in checking out more of Astro Boy, as well as UY and BECK. I think you'd really enjoy the latter, in particular. :)
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on September 10, 2014, 09:32:50 PM
Thanks. :)
KLK isn't for everyone, and to be honest it was kind of controversial among us to include it on the list only because it's so recent, but I do stand by the opinion that it is a truly great story arc.
Well, it was never much of an issue of contention for it to be in the list (at one point we had it in the top 20, iirc), but yeah, because it's so recent it didn't feel right to put it over a lot of stuff that has stood the test of time for over a decade or more and stuff. But I brought it up initially because I do think it's a fantastic story arc, and because I think KLK is one of the best anime of recent years, and of all time period. I think it's inclusion is a good reflection of how, while there might be a lot of crap coming out of Japan these days, there's still some great stuff coming out as well, some of it standing on par with time-tested favorites.
Yeah, it does represent some of the best material to come out of the medium in recent years, which is why I was OK with including something so recent on the list, although I did make the motion to push it back to the last spot since it was still too new.
BTW, I'd like to see if anyone can try to guess what our top 5 entries for this list are (before we post it, of course). It'd just be interesting to test how well certain people know us.
While I don't want to spoil any of the list, I can at least assure you all that most people on this board have either watched/read at least 3 or 4 of our top 5 entries. That'll be my only clue, though.
::EDIT::
Also, I went back in and fixed 2 of your minor mistakes which I noticed, CX. I just thought that you'd like to know. ;)
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on September 10, 2014, 10:11:22 PM
::EDIT::
Also, I went back in and fixed 2 of your minor mistakes which I noticed, CX. I just thought that you'd like to know. ;)
Thanks! :thumbup:
Can I ask you to edit one more thing for me, in this line in my Astro Boy article?
Quote
Yet, even so, he does not hesitate to stand up for what is right, though as he soon finds out, there is only so much of a difference he can make?
That question mark should be an ellipses instead. It doesn't read right the way it is now. :sweat:
Done. :thumbup:
Part 2 is up! (http://animationrevelation.com/readables/?p=3087)
Reading through these write-ups again, I'm reminded that the FMP! arc is the only arc on this entire list that I haven't seen. I really need to fix that sometime. ;)
And hopefully Spark's Vinland Saga write-up gets all y'all who haven't read it yet to start it up. It's easily one of the very best ongoing manga around.
The only ones that I'm not familiar with on here are Magi and Vinland Saga, and you make both sound very appealing! This is going to be a great way to help me keep track of what to try out in anime/manga to help me fully get back into it.
The other 3 are fantastic, though! But wow, it really seems like the average Toonami crowd did not like Black Lagoon at all.
I also need to check out Vinland Saga. As for Magi, to be honest, I thought it was alright during the first few arcs, but I didn't love it. It was actually the Magnostadt arc where I truly started becoming engrossed with the series.
Thanks for the comments, Avaitor! Both Magi and Vinland Saga are two of the best ongoing manga out there, and highly recommendable. VS might be more your alley (really, it's one of those series that's up everyone's alley), so between the two, I'd suggest checking that one out first. I know that would sure make Spark happy. ;)
And yeah, it's too bad that BL didn't do so hot in the ratings (though at least the final episode went out strong). I was really surprised to see so many people on TZ dislike it as much as they did. Some of the reasons why were understandable, but others just made me scratch my head. It's a fun action show, with some deeper dynamics under it, and Fujiyama Gangsta Paradise is it's most interesting and best written part of the story so far. It's kind of baffling to me that some people on TZ actually hated that arc as much as they did, but I guess there are detractors for every series.
Hmm, alright. I should have some time to go further into AnJ this weekend, so hopefully when I'm done, I can get to VS.
Glad to hear it!
Is there any chance Foggle can update the banner now? :sweat:
name those stupid reasons why people hate black lagoon, cx.
Good work everyone. Don't really know what else to say, since I've barely read/seen any of these story arcs. TSR definitely deserves it. I do think the amount of stats at the beginning of each entry feels quite long in the tooth, though; might want to cut that down or remove the double spacing or something.
Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on September 11, 2014, 12:54:21 PM
Is there any chance Foggle can update the banner now? :sweat:
I should probably just remove that thing entirely tbh. I always forget to update it recently. Done.
Well, the stats are mostly meant for easy access to info about each arc and where to read or watch them and such. As for the double-spacing, I was trying to get rid of that but wasn't sure how, since WP seems to do that for me automatically, unless I'm typing out a paragraph. You could always just skip them and read the main paragraphs if you're not interested in any if that info, of course.
As for ones that you have seen, I think that there are about 3 story arcs that have appeared so use from shows that you have watched, and I'm positive that there will be at least a few more later on in the list.
Hold shift and press enter when making new lines to create a single-spaced line break. ;)
Thanks. I'll try to go back and fix that later, and also use it for the rest of this list.
Quote from: gunswordfist on September 11, 2014, 01:37:59 PM
name those stupid reasons why people hate black lagoon, cx.
Not so much "stupid" reasons than ones of different taste and perspective. For instance, some people found Revy to be an irredeemable, obnoxious jerk, and didn't find the protagonists in general sympathetic enough to root for (during the Roberta arc a lot of people were rooting for her and not the BL crew). A lot of people also felt that the series tackled subject matter it really couldn't handle with much tact, especially in the Vampire Twins arc. Many people just couldn't get past a few things that bugged them about the series, and that made some of it's really great elements not quite as impressive to them in comparison to others who were engaged with the series. It's a shame that they, and most of Toonami's audience, just couldn't click with the show for one reason or another, but not everyone likes everything the same way or the same extent, so I can understand where most of them were coming from, even if I really can't agree with their perspectives at all.
They hound on BL for not handling it's subject material well, yet these same people praise AoT which is hilariously terrible at conveying it's material. That's Toonami's general fan-base for you.
Actually, a lot of people on TZ watching AOT for the first time on Toonami are not finding it as good as the hype suggested it would be. Generally, opinions are more positive than negative on the series, but few people seem really that hyped on it.
Of course, ratings suggest otherwise in regards to Toonami's general fanbase.
Part 3 is up! (http://animationrevelation.com/readables/?p=3099)
I also fixed the spacing issue with both this entry and the previous ones. Thanks for the tip, Foggle. ;)
Oh, and sorry about the picture for the Namek arc, CX. For some reason the one you gave me wouldn't post properly, so I replaced it with something else. I'll see if I can go back and fix that later on.
^ That's okay. If my previous doesn't work, can we use this one instead?:
Spoiler
(https://animationrevelation.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2F2.bp.blogspot.com%2F-VOx19EIg7Zc%2FUbkRrVPqu0I%2FAAAAAAAAACk%2FEPyOIKSe6wE%2Fs1600%2Fdbz_season3_frieza_saga.jpg&hash=59f14d8611144aa6ff52744492a1e78334fa4850)
Sure, I'll edit it in a little later.
Boy, is everyone here going to be surprised when they see that #1 is the
Spoiler
Cell Saga
No one is going to see that coming.
:sly:
My Digimon is rusty, but I am familiar with all of the arcs in this set! Rikiishi's is especially a thing of beauty, wow.
Your timing for reading that arc couldn't have been more perfect. :sly:
Also, that reminds me, Desenitized is the only one of the three of us who made this list who hasn't read AnJ yet. You should really get on that shit. No excuses. :thinkin:
Oh, and in case anyone was turned off by too many unrecognizable series in the early portions of our list, I'm fairly certain that most people on this board have read or watched at least 8 of our top 10 entries, so there are really no excuses there. :bleh:
Of course, part of the point of the list was also to expose some people to maybe trying out some new series that they hadn't seen before....because, you know, it never hurts to try something new....well, at least not anything that we would recommend, anyways. :humhumhum:
Though if you want to expose people to trying out some new shows, it wouldn't hurt to do something like an "Anime from the Past 4 Years That Don't Suck" thing.
True, but modern anime is more the department of you, Foggle, and Dalek. I haven't kept up with enough new shows. I'm more experienced with older stuff, in general, which understandably is off-putting to a lot of people, so I never really expected anyone to gain interest. Even so, I choose to write about what interests me personally, hence why I would do a list of this nature, even if almost no one cared to read it.
Quote from: Dr. Insomniac on September 12, 2014, 09:40:57 PM
Though if you want to expose people to trying out some new shows, it wouldn't hurt to do something like an "Anime from the Past 4 Years That Don't Suck" thing.
I could probably make a list of that nature with manga. Though, I might narrow it down to shonen manga, since there's much more quality seinin currently-running series that I'm aware of but haven't gotten to than shonen ones.
Part 4 is up! (http://animationrevelation.com/readables/?p=3118)
I wrote the majority of the entries in this part! The Maison Ikkoku entry is also the longest write-up in the entire list! Yay, me! :>
I just noticed that the picture used for Munich is in fact actually from Ruenheim. I dunno if Spark wants to change that or not. :P
I noticed that as well, beforehand actually, but I forgot to bring it up to Desensitized. I temporarily replaced it with another picture from that arc, but if he wants to give me a new picture to use, I'd be happy to re-replace it.
Also...Monster isn't streaming on FUNimation.com. So that should probably be removed too. :sweat:
Yeah, now that I think about it, Desensitized also put that for HXH. Where did you get that information from? FUNi doesn't even have the rights to HXH, and upon checking, they aren't streaming it. :sweat:
The write-ups for this section are just fantastic! Although I'm only familiar with Munich, you guys have made each of these sound totally appealing.
Thanks, though CX and Desen deserve most of the credit for this portion. For the record, I've only seen 2 of these entries, myself. I have a lot to catch-up on.
Thanks, Avaitor. I wrote most of the write-ups in this part, so I'm glad to hear that they've come across well. :)
Good work again today. Due to personal bias, I find anything from One Piece ranking higher than anything from Monster somewhat questionable, but all three of ya did a fine job articulating your points, as usual. :thumbup:
While I love Monster way more as a series, that particular OP arc deserves its dues. It's iconic for a reason, and while I doubt that it would appeal to everyone on this board, it's still unquestionably one of the best story arcs in its genre for the reasons that I explained in the write-up.
Also, keep in mind that sometimes we ranked certain arcs lower than we normally would when there were better arcs directly relative to the same genre. In this case, that OP arc was one of the best in the battle shounen genre. With Monster, Munich is a great arc, but relative to other seinen psychological thrillers, there are even better ones still, a bit more than there are for OP. I would recommend waiting until you see the top 10 before judging whether you disagree with our reasoning or not. As said in the very first part, it's a opinionated list at its core, though, so I don't expect anyone to completely agree with all of it.
Quote from: Foggle on September 13, 2014, 07:33:53 PM
Good work again today. Due to personal bias, I find anything from One Piece ranking higher than anything from Monster somewhat questionable, but all three of ya did a fine job articulating your points, as usual. :thumbup:
Thanks, Foggle!
I actually did want that OP arc a little lower on the list at one point, but since it's
Spoiler
the only OP arc on this entire list
I feel that it's placement is pretty deserved. It really is one of the best arc in it's genre, and the medium as a whole.
Also, like E-K stated, we arranged the list in a way that took into account what were some of the best in a particular genre/type of series and placed them accordingly. We also tried to stave off personal biases as much as possible in some of these cases as well. For instance, the
Maison Ikkoku story arc is actually my favorite story arc in anime/manga (tied with a certain section of AnJ), and I could have easily made a case for it being top ten worthy. But I'm the only one between the three of us making this list that has seen/is very passionate about MI, and I also wanted the top ten to be series that more than one of us could justify and write about, so I was perfectly satisfied leaving it just outside the top 10. I think our top ten ended up very well-rounded and is organized well with diverse, solid entries. While I don't think there are a lot of people on this board that have seen all of them, rest assured they are some of the very best and more than two of us could agree on that outside of just our personal biases. I think you'll understand our reasoning on how we ordered this list a little bit better once you see it.
I can say for sure that Avaitor has seen at least 8/10 from our top 10 entries (possibly 9, but I'm not sure about one of them). Foggle has seen at least 5 of them, and I believe that Dr. Insomniac has actually seen all of them at one point or another.
It'd be interesting to see if anyone can correctly predict what our top 10 will contain based on that knowledge, and knowing about our personal tastes and biases as well. There is one particular arc that if anyone on this board knows me at all, they will know it's going to be featured pretty high on the list.
I think I have an idea for some of them, but I'd rather not say.
I'll give you all a hint: one of them rhymes with Raptor Zack. I bet nobody will see it coming. :humhumhum:
:o
But is there room for *insert random Naruto story arc here*?
(https://animationrevelation.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2F4.bp.blogspot.com%2F-1Nd8ibS5XJI%2FUpCtZjPNgmI%2FAAAAAAAACpA%2FErr3Qd8eVOg%2Fs1600%2F29980-rebellion_head.jpg&hash=ea2662a6bce758bcecae019b1154c50bf3281a34)
That feel when Naruto will finally end soon.
Well, OBVIOUSLY the incredibly excellent and in no way laughably terrible Pain arc of Naruto was always going to be our number one. I mean, that's not even a spoiler. Who wouldn't have seen that coming? Even CX can vouch for that. Now whether it's the Arrancar or Fullbring arc from Bleach in second place is an entirely different story which I won't spoil for you.
Quote from: Dr. Insomniac on September 13, 2014, 10:09:54 PM
(https://animationrevelation.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2F4.bp.blogspot.com%2F-1Nd8ibS5XJI%2FUpCtZjPNgmI%2FAAAAAAAACpA%2FErr3Qd8eVOg%2Fs1600%2F29980-rebellion_head.jpg&hash=ea2662a6bce758bcecae019b1154c50bf3281a34)
That feel when Naruto will finally end soon.
I think that you have it backwards. That's the feel that everyone already has with Naruto while they wait for it to end. The actual finale will be like the equivalent of curing MDD, which is technically impossible.
(https://animationrevelation.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fmangawall.com%2Fstatic%2Fuseruploads%2F153052-81208821392007046.gif&hash=f64aaa195419628c77401c6a038c54e6c6555289)
Okay, the actual feel when Naruto finally ends.
Well, Madoka and Homura definitely sum up my feelings, but Mami actually looks disappointed. Huh, I never would have pegged her as a Narutard.
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on September 13, 2014, 10:12:27 PM
Well, OBVIOUSLY the incredibly excellent and in no way laughably terrible Pain arc of Naruto was always going to be our number one. I mean, that's not even a spoiler. Who wouldn't have seen that coming? Even CX can vouch for that. Now whether it's the Arrancar or Fullbring arc from Bleach in second place is an entirely different story which I won't spoil for you.
And of course we all know that the Tenrou Island arc of Fairy Tail will be #3. The moment where every member of Fairy Tail held hands in that giant friendship circle before getting blasted by Apocalypse Dragon was the greatest, most tear-dropping scene in any anime or manga and that is a fact. A FACT I SAY! The time-skip was super-duper important and totally necessary to the story as well. Fairy Tail is so much better than any other shonen on this list (besides Naruto and Bleach, of course, they be godly) it ain't even funny, amirite?
Well, unless we're specifically talking about the Fishman Island arc from One Piece. Now THAT was class!
Aw, yer right. That arc was damn exciting and intense. I was on the edge of the seat during those chapters where the Straw Hats fought Hodi's crew and wiped the floor with them effortlessly in the end even though it took them a long time. Hodi Jones was like such the best villain ever. Hell, all of the villains were so much more interesting and fleshed out than any of the previous ones. WAAYYY better than Baroque Works or the CP9!
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on September 13, 2014, 09:41:43 PM
There is one particular arc that if anyone on this board knows me at all, they will know it's going to be featured pretty high on the list.
Trost, no doubt.
Part 5 is up! (http://animationrevelation.com/readables/?p=3132)
Wait, when has Trigun been considered the lesser of the Space Western Trilogy? I thought only the Outlaw Star diehards considered it to be superior.
But hey, I'm familiar with all of these but Slam Dunk. Great stuff!
Thanks again for the comments!
I personally haven't seen many people consider Trigun the lesser of the three either, but it is true that considering it the lesser of Bebop is a fairly common opinion. I'd say that both Bebop and Trigun are about equally popular though, and even Outlaw Star is fondly remembered by the vocal nostalgic Toonami fanbase.
Great job, guys! I really need to get around to reading Slam Dunk and Berserk sometime. Also, I loved your write-ups for Maison Ikkoku and Stone Ocean in the previous part, CX. :thumbup:
Thanks, Vlord! :) Do give SD and Berserk a shot sometime. They're both pretty darn great.
Thanks for the comments, guys. Slam Dunk really is an underrated masterpiece. In particular, Inoue Takehiko is a master of great character development. All 3 of his major manga series are available from Viz Media in English, and I highly recommend all of them, though I haven't read Vagabond in quite some time, and I have a lot of catching up to do with that one.
As for the Sannoh arc, I felt that it was such a legendary match that it really deserved a high spot on our list. It's also just so great because it is the perfect conclusion to each character's arc. Kuroko no Basket, another very popular WSJ manga about Basketball recently just concluded, and it's weaknesses were perfectly exemplified in its final game where, when it should have been as intense and emotional as the final part of a Slam Dunk, ended up falling flat in its attempt at feeling big, and instead came off as both completely over-the-top ridiculous and incredibly underwhelming at the same time, which obviously is not a good combination of qualities to have.
That said, I suspect that the more controversial entry will be our Dragon Ball selection, especially since it's ranked higher than the most iconic arc from the series, but if anyone cares to question our opinion on that, I would personally be more than happy to defend it as best as I can.
As for Gundam, RSC was a no-brainer for me, but since I have no real knowledge of the rest of the series outside of G Gundam and Gundam Wing, I'm not sure if the hardcore Gundam crowd would agree with that opinion. That said, from what I can gather, most fans seem to consider this arc one of the best. That and Unicorn seem to be the most popular from what I can tell, actually. That said, I couldn't understand Unicorn's plot if my life depended on it, so I picked this arc for being way more accessible.
My favorite Gundam story is probably Char's Counterattack, but 0080 is the most deserving of a spot here, so you chose well!
Part 6 is up! (http://animationrevelation.com/readables/?p=3142)
With that, we now have our full top 30 posted. However, don't forget that tomorrow I will post up our honorable mentions, so if there's an arc that you like which didn't make the list, there's still a chance that you will see a brief write-up for it in our honorable mentions section. Also, please feel free to ask us about our justifications for anything we included or did not include on the list, as well as how we ranked these entries if you find those questionable. We'd be glad to answer any questions about that at this point. :)
Also, I sincerely hope that anyone who bothered reading it enjoyed the list. I was well aware that most people on this board don't care about this stuff that much, but me, CX, and Spark wrote it anyways just because we personally feel really passionately about it, so it was still well worth writing just to express our opinions. It was a ton of hard work, but personally I really enjoyed writing and discussing these arcs with the both of you guys. :thumbup:
I hope you guys like the list! It was a lot of fun to construct! All that's left is our honorable mentions!
Quote from: Avaitor on September 14, 2014, 12:50:50 PM
Wait, when has Trigun been considered the lesser of the Space Western Trilogy? I thought only the Outlaw Star diehards considered it to be superior.
But hey, I'm familiar with all of these but Slam Dunk. Great stuff!
Anime reviewers from a few years ago would claimed there was an "obvious hierarchy" to them, but I don't agree with them. They might all be action shows with sci-fi space-western settings, but that's where the similarities end. None of them attempt the same thing.
WHAT ONLY #3 WHAT
Although to be fair, against Monster, it makes sense. I really need to find the time to keep up with AnJ, though. I just keep on getting busier, that I end up pausing it for a while.
I would've placed it even higher, myself, but I conceded to let Monster go ahead of it.
Part 7 is up! (http://animationrevelation.com/readables/?p=3163)
And with our Honorable Mentions posted up, our list is now complete. Like before, let us know if you feel we left anything big off and failed to mention it in this section of our write-up.
Otherwise, I'll take the general silence as everyone being so blown away by how amazing our list is that they were left speechless. Either that or nobody really cares, but clearly it must be the former, because we (most me, though) are just that awesome.
E-K, the title section for the Buddha arcs is wrong. It should be "Devadatta/Forest of Uruvela & Prince Ajasattu." When I wrote the section before I mistook Forest of Uruvela and Deer Park as being part of the same arc, and then later I was re-reading some of the series at the library and noticed that it's actually Devadatta and Forest of Uruvela that are part of the same arc, and Deer Park is a different one entirely. I went back and rewrote that entry, but it seems that somehow the title for that section wasn't altered to reflect the change in the arc represented. :P
This list was a whole lot of fun to write. I'm glad to have been able to write about some of these series and these arcs that really mean a lot to me, and it was a lot of fun. Even if not a whole lot of people read it, the fact that there were people who did, we highlighted some stand out and underrated series/arcs that many people might not have heard of/experienced, and created the best list of this sort for anime/manga story arcs out there, is all the satisfaction I need.
Quote from: Cartoon X on September 16, 2014, 12:56:22 PM
E-K, the title section for the Buddha arcs is wrong. It should be "Devadatta/Forest of Uruvela & Prince Ajasattu." When I wrote the section before I mistook Forest of Uruvela and Deer Park as being part of the same arc, and then later I was re-reading some of the series at the library and noticed that it's actually Devadatta and Forest of Uruvela that are part of the same arc, and Deer Park is a different one entirely. I went back and rewrote that entry, but it seems that somehow the title for that section wasn't altered to reflect the change in the arc represented. :P
Alright, I'll fix it a little later.
QuoteThis list was a whole lot of fun to write. I'm glad to have been able to write about some of these series and these arcs that really mean a lot to me, and it was a lot of fun. Even if not a whole lot of people read it, the fact that there were people who did, we highlighted some stand out and underrated series/arcs that many people might not have heard of/experienced, and created the best list of this sort for anime/manga story arcs out there, is all the satisfaction I need.
Yeah, basically this. I just had fun writing it, and reading the entries that you guys wrote. I love a good story arc, and I love to discuss it with others who share the same enthusiasm. ;)
Taking a look back at this, I'm still really pleased with how this list turned out. About the only entry that I would personally change is Kill La Kill, which I still feel is relatively too recent to properly judge whether it will hold up or not.
At any rate, I'm glad that we made this list. I was inspired by seeing so many diverse lists of this nature for Western comic book story-lines, but was utterly disappointed to see that the manga equivalent it boiled down to whatever Weekly Shonen Jump series were popular. I think that it was interesting to highlight a varied array of different works from Japan in our list, with the one binding theme in all of them simply being that they are composed of high-quality writing in terms of plot and character development.
Yeah, I still think the list is ace too. There is nothing I think shouldn't still be in there, but I do think that, if we made the list now instead of back in August, I would have really pushed for a Buddha arc, a Vagabond arc, and a Revolutionary Girl Utena arc to be represented, and maybe put up a few others into consideration too.
I will also say that, even though I have now read SBR, I would still keep Stone Ocean as the representative JoJo's arc, ftr. While I do slightly like SBR more (emphasis on slightly) Stone Ocean is easily more representative of the best qualities of the series and it's legacy as a whole (and it's no less well-written than SBR too).
It sounds like the same reason for why we decided to keep CP9 on as the representative OP arc in place of the Whiteboard War Saga. You and I both personally prefer the latter, but the former was just a better representation of the series as a whole.
At any rate, that and YYH, DB/Z, and RK's inclusion were the only really popular entries that we included on there. No Naruto, Bleach, or Fairy Tale crap. Just good quality story arcs that actually deserved to be recognized.
i was going to read this but you guys are clearly hacks for not featuring fairy tale.
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on February 14, 2015, 02:52:06 PM
At any rate, that and YYH, DB/Z, and RK's inclusion were the only really popular entries that we included on there. No Naruto, Bleach, or Fairy Tail cram. Just good quality story arcs that actually deserved to be recognized.
Yeah, most of our choices are very unique ones that I feel few others would probably choose if they were making a greatest arcs list. That's part of what makes it so special. :thumbup:
Quote from: gunswordfist on February 14, 2015, 03:00:43 PM
i was going to read this but you guys are clearly hacks for not featuring fairy tale.
I can't take any opinion that our list is flawed because it doesn't feature a FT arc seriously. :humhumhum:
Especially if it's anything after the Phantom Guild arc. (shudders).
I like the feature, too. There's some new, some old, and a bunch of classics. I would personally give this list to someone who is new to anime to help start them out.
Quote from: gunswordfist on February 14, 2015, 03:00:43 PM
i was going to read this but you guys are clearly hacks for not featuring fairy tale.
We could always do a worst story arc feature if you want to see that show listed so badly.
I'd be game for that, though considering most of the list would probably be Naruto, Bleach, and Fairy Tail arcs, it might be rather redundant.
I've been thinking a greatest fights in anime/manga feature might be neat too.
I was also thinking of doing a story arc list for Western cartoons or for live-action shows, as well, but I won't be able to write any long features until at least the Summer. But, whatever you guys want to do, if by chance you plan to write another feature when I'm also available, then I'd be all for another collaboration. If not, then I look forward to whatever you guys come up with. :thumbup:
i'd be more interested in best western cartoons arc than i would be best fights.
Just off the top of my head:
Spoiler
Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes
Kang the Conqueror
Asgard
Skrull Invasion
Batman: The Brave and the Bold
Equinox
The Siege of Starro
Justice League/Unlimited
The Savage Time
Starcrossed
Cadmus
The Spectacular Spider-Man
Human Development 101
Criminology 101
Gargoyles
Awakening
City of Stone
Avalon
The Gathering
Hunter's Moon
Avatar: The Last Airbender
Ba-Sing-Sei
Szozen's Comet
South Park
Imaginationland
Black Friday
Great list! i would put the zhao and red lantern arc in there as well but that's just me.
Well, I did say just off the top of my head, so I would include other arcs as well, such as the RL arc.
You could probably also include Mr. Freeze's arc through the DCAU if you wanted. Nevertheless, I think the point is that there isn't really a lot to choose from to make a good list outside of these obvious entries.
That said, you should probably go watch them anyway.
I just listed about 20 great ones off the top of my head. Clearly there is a good amount of material to work with, and I wouldn't say that they are all obvious choices.
i know, i meant my suggestions may not be list worthy here. most of yours are more universally accepted.
At any rate, I'm not sure if I'd want to go for a top 30 list. While I'm glad that this one turned out good, it was a lot more work than what I had originally anticipated. :sweat:
Either way, though, since we recently did a massive manga/anime list, I kind of wanted to do something for Western shows, just for the sake of a little diversity.
i agree that a top 20 or so list showing the west some love would be nice.
the simpsons has some good arcs, right? i am guessing "who shot mr. burns" is universally liked here.
If we did a list for just western animated series, I think it'd only be at most be a top 20. I don't think we can think of that many genuinely great entries to fill up beyond that, and even then that's if we don't put a limit on how many arcs from a series we can represent like we did with the anime/manga list.
The Simpsons doesn't have any arcs that I can think of. "Who Shot Mr. Burns" is only a two-parter (it is great, though).
We could just go with 30 best episodes of Western cartoons and keep our old rule of only 2 nominations per series. That would give a lot more options to choose from.
If you were to count two-parters, "Hanky Panky" and "High Anxiety" would have to make it in, no question.
Actually, "Heart of Archness" might not be a bad fit, now that I think about it.
A top episodes list for all western animation sounds like another matter entirely. There's so much great content from so many series to choose from, I don't think limiting it to 30 would even be enough.
A top two or multi-part episode list could be something we can narrow down to around 30 or so choices.
And yes, if we were to do a greatest story arcs list for animation, "Heart of Archness" would make it in, no question. ;)
Make it top 60 episodes. Segregate comedy and action into separate lists, and that might be able to work.
i nominate the boiling rock and northern water tribe then!
A top episodes list actually feels to me like something that would be appropriate to go so far as a top 100, even though that'd take a lot of work to write up.
Two-parters could work.
Multi-parters seems to be best if we want broad options to choose from but still don't want to make a super long list.
We can explain that since Western cartoons don't really do long story arcs like anime, the multi-parters are like the American alternative to that. In that case, I'd definitely add a few more potential options:
The Day of Black Sun (ATLA)
The Boiling Rock (ATLA)
Two-Face (BTAS)
Robin's Reckoning (BTAS)
World's Finest (STAS)
Wild Cards (JL)
Gamma World (AEMH)
The Ultron Initiative (AEMH)
Actually, even that is pretty hard to condense into just 30 entries. I can honestly think of A LOT more....
If we allow two-parters then I'd definitely be on board. It opens up much more choices.
I would still put in High Anxiety / Hanky Panky, though. 8-)
Yeah, allowing two-parters seems like the way to go if we want to have a diverse list like the Anime/Manga one.
I can easily think of plenty of two-parters that immediately come to mind as must-puts, myself.
ah, two-face. probably my favorite two parter ever. i'd pick siege of the north over day of black sun.
So, I just came across this video on YouTube that briefly but directly references our list: https://youtu.be/M5IoH5xDhvM
That's pretty cool! Way to go, CX, your bit in particular got noticed! :joy:
O0 Congrats, guys. *reads*EDIT: I grinned like an idiot when I saw those names.
Wow!
That's so cool! I've always been afraid that people would just be talking shit about us if we were ever mentioned elsewhere. :il_hahaha: I'm really happy for you guys! :joy:
Glad to see people like the list!
Congrats, CX!
Quote from: Foggle on October 30, 2015, 03:16:44 AMThat's so cool! I've always been afraid that people would just be talking shit about us if we were ever mentioned elsewhere. :il_hahaha: I'm really happy for you guys! :joy:
You know, it's funny, I have a tendency to always look back on my writing and be dissatisfied with it. The positive comments on my AnJ article are great, but I still feel embarrassed when I think of other people reading the stuff that I wrote.
This list is an exception, though, since it was a collaboration with two other people who's opinions I highly trust and respect, so it kept the balance of quality in check. So, I am personally proud of our combined effort. That said, I still tend to view my entries as the weakest, because old habits die hard, I suppose. :D
:joy:
I'm so,
so happy that my write-up for "Once Upon a Time" actually inspired someone to not only read
Astro Boy, but to also go on to pay it tribute and interest even more people to read it in turn.
Astro Boy is so criminally overlooked by manga readers these days, even among some Tezuka fans, and dismissed as just a kiddy series because of how it's age and cartoony artstyle, even though it has such rich and brilliantly explored themes and characters that cements it as a true classic and, imo, one of the all time greats. The fact that the "Once Upon a Time" in particular is so rarely discussed (literally the only times when I've ever seen it mentioned are when people reference the part where Astro Boy sacrifices himself in the Vietnam War), and everyone only ever seems to talk and know about "The Greatest Robot on Earth" pretty much solely because of it's relationship to
Pluto particularly boggled my mind, because while I love that story arc as well, it's not the only damn arc in the series worth talking about, and OUaT in particular is so ambitious and rich with incredible themes and ideas and character development. I'm thrilled to see that in some way, however small, we've gotten more people to pay it the attention it deserves. It's not just the best part of
Astro Boy, imo, it's also one of the best stories Tezuka has ever written period, and most certainly one of the greatest story arcs to ever come out of the medium, which is why it's on our list, of course.
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on October 30, 2015, 06:54:32 PM
You know, it's funny, I have a tendency to always look back on my writing and be dissatisfied with it. The positive comments on my AnJ article are great, but I still feel embarrassed when I think of other people reading the stuff that I wrote.
This list is an exception, though, since it was a collaboration with two other people who's opinions I highly trust and respect, so it kept the balance of quality in check. So, I am personally proud of our combined effort. That said, I still tend to view my entries as the weakest, because old habits die hard, I suppose. :D
Heh, I always feel the same way about my writing. Even with the most recent After the Jump write-ups, I always find myself reading through them again the next day and telling myself "ugh, I wished I had written this another way!." :D
But yeah, I think our list and our write-ups is really strong, and if it's influenced people to check out the series on it, we clearly did something right with it. ;)