Favorite Anime

[The Shadow Gentleman]

Never heard of it.

[TheEclecticDude]

Hi, heres my Top 10 Favorite Anime series

1. ROD the TV Series

2. Madoka Magica

3. Ah My Goddess (OVA, Movie and TV Series)

4. Sakura Wars (Just the TV Series, haven't seen much else of it)

5. Baccano

6. FLCL

7. Diebuster

8. El Hazard The Magnificent World

9. Tenamonya Voyagers

10. Neon Genesis Evangelion

[Foggle]

Hi

Hiiiiiiiii!

[LumRanmaYasha]

Welcome, TheEclecticDude. 

[TheEclecticDude]

Thank you. I did join up on this forum months ago, but took a while to actually post on here ^_^

[TheEclecticDude]

Oh yeah Honorable Mentions to my list:
Bodacious Space Pirates
Crest of the Stars
Gunsmith Cats
I Dream of Mimi
Magic Knight Rayearth
My Dear Marie
to name a few...

[Avaitor]

Your taste live up to your usnername. I like!

[Rynnec]

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2013-05-17/blazblue/calamity-trigger-fighting-game-gets-anime-green-lit



Not sure where else to put this.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Might as well Update this.

Favorite Anime List:
25: Neon Genesis Evangelion
24: Ouran High School Host Club
23: Shin Chan (Funimation Version)]
22: Sgt. Frog
21: Puella Magi Madoka Magica
20: Samurai Champloo
19: Gun X Sword
18: Black Lagoon
17: Baccano!
16: Azumanga Daioh
15: Pani Poni Dash
14: The Big O
13: Lupin the Third (1st and 2nd anime series and The Woman Called Fujiko Mine)
12: Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
11: Case Closed
10: Cowboy Bebop
9: The Slayers (Franchise, although my favorite among them is still Slayers NEXT)
8: School Rumble
7: Fullmetal Alchemist/Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood- Moved it down because I feel both anime have some problematic flaws that keep me from justifying them as a top 5 entry for me, at least not over Dragonball.
6: Dragonball
5: Yu Yu Hakusho
4: One Piece
3: Ranma 1/2
2: Trigun
1: Bobobo-Bo Bo-bobo

Yeah...Monster will probably make my top 5 once I finish it, and Maison Ikkoku will probably break into my top 20.

[Grave]

01. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
02. Samurai Champloo
03. Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex/2nd Gig
04. Gungrave
05. Rurouni Kenshin/Samurai X: Trust and Betrayal
06. Cowboy Bebop
07. Hellsing
08. Trigun
09. Yu Yu Hakusho
10. Death Note

For the most part my list don't change much unless I see something that really catches my eye, and for the most part that's very rare especially since I'm very picky about what I watch.

I might as well update this as well.

01. Ghost in the Shell: SAC/2nd
02. Samurai Champloo
03. Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood
04. Gungrave
05. Hellsing/Ultimate
06. Cowboy Bebop
07. Rurouni Kenshin/Trust and Betrayal
08. Yu Yu Hakusho
09. Hajime no Ippo
10. Trigun

Same list for the most part, just the order changed quite a bit not to mention the removal of Death Note and the addition of Hajime no Ippo. I caught wind of HnI around 2010 I think, and was pretty much hooked on everything about the series. The bad thing about HnI is that the experience was nearly ruined because of New Challenger. To me, next to RK and YYH, HnI is the next greatest shounen series. I'm not a fan of boxing (MMA all the way) nor am I a fan when it comes to sports and anime together, but Madhouse handled HnI so well that it made me feel like I was watching just pure good action instead of a sports/boxing anime.

[Lord Dalek]

TOP TEN BEST INDIVIDUAL EPISODES OF ANY ANIME EVER MADE AS PICKED BY ME...

10. Puella Magi Madoka Magica #12: "My Very Best Friend"
9. Neon Genesis Evangelion #18: "Ambivalence (The Choice of Life)"
8. El-Hazard The Magnificent World #7: "The World of Endless Adventures"
7. Casshern Sins #7: "The Woman of the Tall Tower"
6. Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam #50: "Run Through The Cosmos"
5. Puella Magi Madoka Magica #10: "I Wont Rely On Anyone Anymore"
4. Cowboy Bebop #26: "The Real Folk Blues Part II"
3. Neon Genesis Evangelion #26': "My Purest Love for You/ONE MORE FINAL (I Need You)"
2. Cowboy Bebop #5: "Ballad of Fallen Angels"
1. Panty and Stocking With Garterbelt #6: "Les Diaboliques"

[Foggle]

Hooray! Great list.

Mine:

10. Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai, Episode 7: Massacre Chapter Two - How to Change Destiny
9. Cowboy Bebop, Episode 5: Ballad of Fallen Angels
8. Neon Genesis Evangelion, Episode 19: Introjection
7. Fate/Zero, Episode 24: The Last Command Seal
6. Cowboy Bebop, Episode 20: Pierrot le Fou
5. Black Lagoon (The Second Barrage), Episode 22: The Dark Tower
4. Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid, Episode 12: Burning Hong Kong
3. Neon Genesis Evangelion, Episode 25': Air / Love Is Destructive
2. Cowboy Bebop, Episode 26: The Real Folk Blues (Part 2)
1. Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt, Episode 6: Les Diaboliques

10-8 would probably be episodes of Stand Alone Complex, Woman Called Fujiko Mine, and Baccano!, but I can't for the life of me remember which episodes I liked most. Looks like it's time for a rewatch...

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Cool idea! Those are great lists, but as for me I'd need to do some re-watching to recall my specific favorite episodes of any anime.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Late to this party, but whatever; Great idea, guys! As for me, I'm terribly indecisive when it comes to making lists like this, but I'll do one anyway.

Instead of a Top 10, though, I'm doing 26! A full anime season's worth of episodes! Overkill? Probably, but I like too many episodes in anime to leave out some of my favorites, and I already had to cut down the list from five times as many episodes. 

Note that the only reason a shitload of Monster episodes didn't make the list is that I feel the show is best watched in bunches than single episodes for the most part, and so I would be listing arcs instead of individual episodes. This same mentality also led to me not having a couple of awesome two parters from various series, Baccano!, the Laughing Man arc from Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Dragonball, the set of episodes from Dragonball Z where Mr. Satan befriends Majin Buu (yes, I love those episodes, bite me), and One Piece in the list as well. I also limited myself to only listing up to three episodes max from any particular series in my list , AND no double representations within the top ten for variety's sake, because otherwise my list would basically be 30% Bobobo-bo Bo-bo, 30% Monster, 20% Cowboy Bebop, and 20% Trigun  .

Yes, this is overcomplicated, but I guess I'm just I'm super obsessive when it comes to these things.   

I'm actually gonna go the extra mile and explain my choices for my top 11 favorite episodes in any anime, but only those ones because I'm too lazy right now to do all of them. Also this is gonna be a two-part post because it apparently exceeded the maximum allowed length for posting, so...yeah, this is gonna be long. Anyway, I'll start by listing the most honorable of my honorable mentions, numbers 26-12 in my list!

26. Casshern Sins #8: "A Hymn of Hope"
25. Puella Magi Madoka Magica #10: "I Won't Rely on Anyone Anymore"
24. Ranma 1/2 #109: "Into the Darkness"
23. Neon Genesis Evangelion #21: "He Was Aware That He Was Still a Child"
22. Neon Genesis Evangelion #22: "Don't Be"
21. Yu Yu Hakusho #83: "Game Over"
20. Black Lagoon #22: "The Dark Tower"
19. Yu Yu Hakusho #84: "Kurama's Anger, Gourmet's Guest"
18. The Slayers #10: "JACKPOT! The Great Life or Death Gamble!"
17. Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo #23: "Weddings, Wiggins, and Water Torture!"
16. Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo #16: "Snot in My Neighborhood!"
15. Cowboy Bebop #6: "Sympathy for the Devil"
14. Cowboy Bebop #20: "Pierrot Le Fou"
13. Trigun #24: "Sin"
12. Trigun #23: "Paradise"

And with that, here's my TOP 11 FAVORITE INDIVIDUAL ANIME EPISODES EVER!:

11. School Rumble #29: "Beautiful Beast vs. Beautiful Beast! God of War vs. God of Warfare! Teacher vs. Student!"



While the series started out mostly based in fairly common tropes and cliches (and it IS mostly in the beginning. It managed to evolve beyond that), School Rumble is one of my favorite animes, a lot because I find the kind of over the top humor in the series hilarious, but also because I really related to Harima and also enjoyed the growth and interactions of several other characters like Yakumo, Mikoto, and (surprisingly especially) Eri. That said, while there are a lot of good episodes in the series, very few of them probably break my unedited top 50 favorite anime episodes list, much less the top 26. But this one does. Why? This episode lacks most of the character development and character interactions that I enjoyed about the series for the most part, and it doesn't really focus on Harima's love OR work struggles that I found endearing, so what made this episode of all of them make the cut for my favorites list?

Because this episode is just that hilarious.

Basically, in the previous episode, Class 2-C, being unable to decide whether to do a play or a shop for the Culture Festival (an anime cliche, yeah, but it leads to episode 32, which is another one of my personal favorites from the show  ), is coerced into playing a "survival game" by Akira in order to decide which will be done. The result was this episode, a parody of war flicks and survival game type stories that is played straight on the surface, but ultimately only to provoke humor from the absurdity of the situation. It's akin to the Paintball episodes of Community; the characters act like they are in some high stakes, life or death scenario fighting for their lives, but it's just a game. And thus the episode plays out like a drama, with betrayals, mock deaths, and even romantic tragedies, played straight for the hilarious absurdity of the situation. I never get tired of watching this episode; like the aforementioned Community episodes it's dramatic elements get you invested in the situation even though you know it's just a game, but of course the ridiculousness of it all and how seriously the characters take the game and all the developments makes it hilarious. And to boot, there was some character development for some minor characters in this episode as well. Heck, a lot of the fun in the episode was how it took the very little information we knew about some of the minor characters and managed to use them for memorable bits of humor throughout the episode. There really isn't much to say more to say except this is one of my favorite episodes in any anime, and a highlight in one of my favorite anime/manga romantic comedies.

10. Monster #21: "Happy Holidays"



I said before the reason that a shitload of Monster episodes didn't make the list is because for the most I feel the series' finest material can't be separated out into just individual episodes, but into chunks of multiple episodes. However, there are a lot of episodes in the series that I think are great stand alones, like the episode where Tenma learns how to shoot a gun, "Petra and Schuman," "Lunge's Trap," and even some parts of the long-running story arcs could be singled out as solid individual episodes. However, out of all those, the only one that ended up making my personal list of favorite individual episodes was this one, titled "Happy Holidays."

This episode doesn't focus on one of the main or major recurring cast members, and it isn't an arc focused on a particular character either like the Martin episodes. It focuses on a very minor character who we only saw a small bit of, acting as an antagonist, very early on in the series, and in that episode, he had very little personality nor did he talk much or have memorable dialogue, and design-wise he was plain and generic compared to his mustached companion. This episode takes a character who was a forgettable minor character in his first appearance, and makes him manage to be sympathetic, likeable, and more than some random flunky manipulated by Johan. It explores the moral character of this man, Muller, who Johan blackmailed into killing Nina's parents back in episode 7, and we see that, in the traditional sense, he isn't a despicable, bad guy, nor is he just pathetic like his drugee partner. He doesn't feel a grand amount of remorse for what he's done, mind you, but he's a normal guy in most respects, and we see good in him as he tries to kindle a relationship with a woman he loves and bond with her son, who has trouble accepting him as a father. He's a good person for the most part, and not the kind of guy who you would expect to mercilessly murder three people, in cold-blood.

This episode is the first that shows how many of the people Johan uses for his bidding aren't necessarily horrible people, or vicious killers like Roberto, who has a shocking and memorable introduction in this episode and ends up being the only other really threatening recurring antagonist in the series besides Johan himself. Muller does end up atoning for his sins, but on his own without huge provocation or guilt-tripping from another character like what would happen in most series, sacrificing himself to save Nina's life, even though he was finally able and could have lived the happy, carefree life he had always wanted. I love how the characters in Monster, be them protagonists or antagonists, are still people, and are hence complicated figures just how real people are. This episode was the first episode to highlight that even "bad-guys" must and are still complicated human beings, even Johan, the titular Monster of this series as later episodes show. Furthermore, it took a generic, forgettable antagonist that had like 2 minutes of screen time in a previous episode and made him likable, sympathetic, and tragic, and when he dies you are able to feel sad for him, a feat that very few series I think have ever accomplished. It's certainly not one of the best parts of Monster as a whole, but as far as the anime's individual episodes went, this is the one that stuck out and entertained me the most.  Heck, I think the fact that it's not even one of Monster 's greatest moments but is still a great episode shows just how fantastic the manga and it's anime adaption really is. So what individual anime episodes do I like more than any given episode of a true masterpiece like Monster ? Hmm...

9. Ranma 1/2 #111: "The Case of the Missing Takoyaki"



Sometimes I see people criticize Ranma 1/2 for being formulaic and only being a bunch of wacky humor that's drawn on by wacky antics and never any character-based humor. I seriously disagree with this sentiment. The characters don't develop a lot, and Ranma and Akane aren't more complex beneath the surface than Lum and Ataru from Urusei Yatsura are, but they do change in little ways throughout the manga, although it's never anything that major. However, what the cast might lack in character development I feel they make up in their overall characterizations. Most of the cast of Ranma 1/2 are very sneaky, manipulative, and selfish individuals trying to get their way or achieve some overall end in any given situation, but individually they have character-specific quirks and attitudes towards life and the other characters that lead to a lot of great humor spurring from the characters playing off each other than playing off a wacky situation. Ranma 1/2's forte is wacky comedy, and in my opinion it does wacky comedy very, very well, but a lot of it's wacky humor only works because the characters are themselves amusing and do amusing things to and with each other, just being themselves.

What does all this have to do with how much I like this episode? Well, while I'm not sure if I'd say this is the funniest episode of the series, since there's plenty of hilarious episodes scatted throughout (most of them in the middle and near the end of the anime, in my opinion). But when I think of Ranma 1/2, I think of this episode first. Why? Well, it's funny, yes, but plenty of episodes in the show are funny. What makes this episode stand out to me, out of all the episodes, is that it takes the residents of the Tendo Dojo, presents them with a mundane, inconsequential situation, and lets them run wild. It's a completely character driven episode playing off of the established charactes and insecurities of the involved cast, and simply by their own inate craziness does the situation of missing Takoyaki turn from a seemingly mundane event into a hilarious, absurd event. The jokes in the episode keep growing more and more over the top while never resorting to the kind of wacky slapstick the series is known for, and oddly enough the absence of silly slapstick actually benefits the episode's memorability in my eyes. It almost feels like Ranma 1/2's take on a slice-of-life episode yet while still having the show's love of crazy, over the top humor. And because of all these elements, not only does this episode work, but I dare say it's one of the most memorable episodes in the show.

I feel as Ranma 1/2 went on, it stopped relying on the formula of ridiculous martial arts challenges and started to do more of these  goofy, slice of life kind of situations (the wacky martial arts wasn't dropped, but in the later parts of the manga several arcs involving them were decidedly more serious situations). This episode was one of the first episodes that took away the usual kind of scenarios the characters were put in and used their own characters to build an episode, a hilarious episode, from something insignificant. That's why the episode ends up being as memorable as it is, my personal favorite episode in the Ranma 1/2 anime, and my 9th favorite individual episode in any anime.

8. Case Closed #11: "Moonlight Sonata Murder Case"



Case Closed has so many episodes; 700+ and counting. I've only watched around 100 of them at most, but the majority of the episodes are brilliant detective tales that keep you interested and guessing throughout. There are a lot of great cases in the anime and manga, but the one that I'm the most fond of is this one, "Moonlight Sonata Murder Case." The first double-length episode of the anime, this story has possibly the most interesting murder motif of any murderer in the series, and one of my favorite backstory/conspiracies behind the murders as well. I suppose the culprit was made more obvious than in other, equally great cases, but this one had one of the more sympathetic backstories and tragic deaths of any of them, and overall the story is just a great, interesting mystery and detective story all the way through. It was probably the episode that truly made me a fan of the series, and the one that I remember the most fondly from my days of watching the show on Colours TV. Really, this episode just captures the best of Case Closed . If you want to know why the series is one of the 5 most popular anime in Japan and still running to this day, all you need to do is watch this episode, and it'll be clear why Conan Edogawa will always be on the case (until Aoyama finally decides to end the series, that is  .)

7. Lupin the Third: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine #10: "Dead City"



Lupin the Third: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine is definitely the best Lupin series, and was awesome beginning to end. However, as much as I love Lupin, this is the only episode in the franchise that managed to make my top 26, although the two-part series finale is my favorite set of episodes in that show, but I like them best as a set more so than individually, which is actually the reason why I cut a couple of great two-part episodes from the Red Jacket anime from my list also. But this episode made the cut, and I love it enough for it to be a top 11 for me. It's a creepy ass episode playing with expectation and psyche, while furthering the plot of the anime into intriguing, bold territory. Actually, it's more akin in mood, subject matter, and plot to storylines from Monkey Punch's manga moreso than any of the previous Lupin anime or movies, and it captures the mystery and suspense in his more serious Lupin stories perfectly. More than that, this is just an artistically rich episode throughout, and that just adds to the atmosphere and eerieness in this episode. In my opinion, this episode is the closest an adaption of Lupin has gotten to capture the feel of Monkey Punch's more serious Lupin stories, with jaw-dropping gorgeous art and gripping plot to boot. What more can you ask for in Lupin the Third; this is just a perfect Lupin episode, serious and fun at the same time, always entertaining.

6. The Big O #26: "The Show Must Go On"



Endings of shows, animated or otherwise, are never usually top favorites of mine because a lot of them just never lived up to expectations previous episodes built up, or are just wind-ups that don't leave lasting impressions. That said, the last episode of The Big O was just a perfect finale for the series. The mysteries behind the Big's, Paradigm City, and Angel are all revealed in powerful, incredible moments, not to mention the fight between Big O and Big Duo is just fantastic. I loved every bit of the finale, moments such as Big O choosing not to control Roger, Dorothy re-activating on her own and saving Roger, Beck screwing over Rosewater to help Roger activate the Big O's final stage, and of course Roger's speech convincing Angel to preserve Paradigm City and the memories of everyone in it. Really, it ties up every lose end and made use of every major character to great effect, and produced one of my favorite endings in any animated series in general. I really don't get the people who think the show doesn't have an "ending." No, all the pieces were set out before in the previous episodes, and this one tied it all together and wrapped up the package. In the end, Roger the Negotiator did a much needed job in Paradigm City. And the result was this episode; a great ending to a great show.

[LumRanmaYasha]

5. Yu Yu Hakusho #69: "The Power of Taboo"



This might be an untraditional choice for a favorite episode, but I've always really loved this one. Both Hiei and Kuwabara, strong and powerful fighters, were rendered useless and had their very souls captured due to the rules of Kaito's territory, preventing violence and the sequences of words "h-o-t" from being uttered. Brute strength and a normal brawl or even a fight with special limitations was not an option here-this was a battle of wits, pure and simple, and this physically weaker human had the advantage, and was winning, holding the lives of Hiei, Kuwabara, and Botan in his hands. I've always really liked how this was a battle of wits and careful playing with the "rules" of Kaito's territory. Kurama managed to exploit Kaito's own rules to his advantage, using "non-violent" uses of his powers to get the key and freak out Kaito with a horde of plants springing a veritable jungle in his room. The tension in this episode came from whether Kurama could outsmart a much smarter opponent, with the stakes being the forfeit of both his and his friends souls. I've just always liked how untraditional this battle was.

Coming off an antagonist like Toguro, most shows would have just gone the route of having an even stronger enemy just show up and wreak havoc. Not Yu Yu Hakusho , though. It did what I thought was the coolest thing ever when I first watched it as a kid; it introduced antagonists who by all means were far, far weaker than the main protagonists, but because of the special rules and uses of their powers, they presented more than a legitimate, dangerous threat, rivaling that of any powerful antagonist that came before. So yeah, I always loved that about the Chapter Black arc (well, the fight with Sensui was more straight-foward, but it's still really well-written), but this episode is my favorite "fight" from that arc, and my favorite moment in the series in general. I'm glad Togashi expanded on the concept of Territories with Nen powers in Hunter X Hunter, because in a world of traditional beat-em up action cartoons and comics, I've found only Yu Yu Hakusho and  Hunter X Hunter have the balls to go beyond the fist-fighting and create untraditional fights where the victor isn't always going to be based on the strength of one's abilities, but on the smartest use of one's skills.


4. Black Lagoon: Roberta's Blood Trail OVA #5: "Codename Paradise, Status MIA"



This is a gripping episode. Yes, Fujiyama Gangsta Paradise and the previous episodes of the Blood Trail OVA are also such, but this one is the most so, because not only does it center around the American Army fighting a bat-shit insane Roberta in a freaking jungle, but so much is riding on the line due to Rock's plan of using Roberta's attack to inform the world about the existence of Roanapour in a bid to destroy it, and also because Garcia and Fabiola, refusing to used as a means to an end in Rock's plan, must try and save Roberta's life before she destroys it in her blind rage. Rock is willing to risk his soul to manipulate people as pawns in his plan to save Garcia's life and prevent anymore people like Yukio from being corrupted and destroyed by Roanapour's influence, while Garcia is willing to risk his life to save Roberta, and Roberta, having lost all senses besides her blind, misguided lust for vengeance, is ready to sacrifice and destroy almost anything for a reason she no longer remembers. Great character development and action make this a great episode for me. The battle between the American Army and Roberta is suspenseful and brutal, and very different from the normal shootouts the series usually has, but provides a tense atmosphere that perfectly sets up the conclusive confrontation of Garcia and Roberta. And of course the conclusion of the entire ordeal is just perfect, although I could have done without a small part of it, but that doesn't ruin the overall picture of it. Like the final episode of The Big O, this is a great finale for a great arc, but thankfully the Black Lagoon manga isn't over yet , and hopefully the next arcs are also fine storytelling capable of producing episodes of this caliber in an anime adaption.

3. Cowboy Bebop #5: "Ballad of Fallen Angels"



...Why do I need to explain this one? It's just a perfect episode. The shootout in the church is awesome, as is Spike's confrontation with Vicious with leads to that incredible, powerful image above. Furthermore, it has one of the most memorable introductions for an antagonist in any series, a character whose motivation and screen time is small, but still ends up being an unforgettable character. To top it off it has the most brilliant telling of a back story for any character, perfectly show-don't tell, set to a great, emotional song and powerful imagery, and it lasts just two minutes, maybe less, gets it's impact from all that's come before and what we already (thought we) knew about Spike, and it not only works, but it works fantastically, and is easily one of the most memorable sequences ever to grace television. It's a fantastic episode, one of the best in any series, and in Bebop fashion is an episode anyone could watch and love. What else is there to say?

2. Trigun #25: "Live Through"



At this point in the series, things were looking pretty dark for Vash the Stampede. Lenof, Hoppered, and Grave's attack on the last SEEDS ship cost him the lives of many friends and the destruction of a place he held dear. Then, Brad died shielding him from a bullet from Lenof. Later, he couldn't save Zazie from the monster within him nor could he stop Wolfwood from killing him. In fact, he wasn't able to save the lives of any of the Gung-Ho Guns despite his desire to protect all human life. But it kept getting worse. Knives finally made his move, starting mass murders across Gunsmoke, wiping out entire towns at a time. Wolfwood, his best friend, was murdered by an unwilling Chapel, controlled by Legato. And then, to top off all the despair, Legato forces him into a situation where he could not find the other option Rem always said there would be, and he does the unthinkable, the unforgivable. He kills someone.

All of this tragedy in Vash's life, alongside Wolfwood's pervasive words criticizing Vash's lack of an idea of how he hopes to stop Knives's spree of terror, culminates in this episode, which right at the start depicts a broken, defeated Vash. The scream he lets out early in the episode highlights the sheer hopelessness he feels at this point, his heartbreak for all the friends he lost, and his disgust and hatred for himself for violating the principle Rem held dear. Throughout the beginning of the episode, Vash wears a face of nothing but sadness and gloom, contrary to his normal, upbeat self, even in the face of worries. Meryl and Millie try their best to return him to his old self, but it's clear even they know Vash may never be the man he used to be, and Meryl blames herself for inadvertently causing Vash's greatest, most troubling burden. The hopelessness of the situation is highlighted throughout the beginning of this episode, and it ends up signaling the most tragic, heartbreaking thing ever. Vash the Stampede has given up. He took a life, and no longer felt he could continue his crusade to save lives, willing to simply stay idle and live with Millie and Meryl in the quiet town he's recuperating in. But he's not giving up because he's simply tired of a loosing streak. He hates himself. He thinks he's a murderer, no better than Knives. This one line from the episode still resonates with me; when Vash is being tortured by furious villagers believing Vash responsible for Knives' massacres. Vash doesn't defend himself; he confirms who he is, Vash the Stampede, but he also says this: "You're right about me...I..I'm nothing but a killer!"

This is the saddest episode of any television show I've ever seen. And I watched all of Monster, tearing up at Grimmer's death which is something I almost NEVER do. And I've watched other sad moments in shows like Madoka Magica, and the Real Folk Blues Part 2. One Piece has plenty of sad moments but none, not even Luffy's broken state after the death of Ace, are as sad as this. And besides those I can't say much else comes close for me, neither in live-action television nor western animation excluding of course some of Mr. Freeze's episodes, "Baby Doll," and "I Am the Knight" in Batman: The Animated Series and moments in various Disney and Pixar films, like the story of Jessie's abandoment in Toy Story 2. Yeah, those are all sad, sad moments, but this is the saddest for me. Vash the Stampede, the most upbeat, happy guy ever, was completely, udderly broken, and he hated himself. Really...nothing has topped that for me in terms of sadness since I watched this episode. Nothing.

Yet, this is also the most inspirational, uplifting episode of any show I've ever seen too. At the end of the episode, Meryl's words, echoing those of Rem, provide Vash a simple understanding; everybody makes a mistake, but people have to live on and learn from those mistakes, in order for mistakes never to be made again. Humans must keep living, survive, move forward, live through. Thanks to these words Vash realizes what Rem meant all those years ago when she told him to "take care of Knives." He realizes he has to finish what must be finished and do what must be done. And he returns to his old self again, and taking up Wolfwood's Cross-shaped gun, "full of mercy," he heads off to finish things once and for all.

This episode starts out tragic and ends up inspiring. It breaks a character to a disheartening extent and then rebuilds him better than ever. It's got a great message, it's got great scenes. It gives something the last four episodes of the series had slowly, surely, taken away. It's gives hope. To both Vash and the viewer (well, at least me). You feel confident Vash will succeed and "save" Knives and the lives of everyone once and for all. It's good enough to be a series finale, in my opinion, but luckily we get a definite conclusion to everything in the very next episode, another one of my favorites in this series. But this one is my favorite episode from Trigun, for all the emotions it evokes and for the return of hope for innocent ol' Vash the Stampede. Just a great episode, and a great prelude to an end.

But all this said, it's only my second favorite individual episode in any anime. There is one I rank above this phenomenal episode. An imperfect episode from an imperfect series, but an episode I absolutely adore the most from the series I absolutely adore the most, and that episode, my favorite individual episode in any and all anime, is...

1. Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo #21: "Goodbye, Bo-bobo! The Final Showdown?"



I don't think there's single episode of Bobobo that I don't like, especially in the dub. It's a wild, insane ride of randomness and spontaneity held together by a purposefully straight-foward battle-adventure style shonen plot that's there solely to make fun of the cliches in those kind of series, and otherwise just because it's an easy structure to let the plot and characters move forward and keep the jokes rolling and rolling. Plot is definitely not what the show cares about; it's all about the jokes and the characters behind the jokes, and Bobobo is willing to go to any extreme (within content restrictions for children's television, of course) to keep you laughing beginning to end. There was nothing else like Bobobo when I was younger, and even today, while I think there are plenty of smarter comedies out there animated or in manga form (f.e. the Excel Saga manga), there is still nothing like the humor, world, and characters of Bobobo for me, and I feel it'll always be, if not always my favorite show and comic, one that I will still enjoy and love for years and years to come.

So that brings me to this episode, my favorite Bobobo episode. Of course this episode is wild, crazy, and more importantly-funny. There isn't an unfunny episode in the show! But this episode actually did more than just make jokes. It used the plot to make this episode, specifically the battle in the episode, an event, and gave the villain of the episode not just a gag sob-story backstory like what most of the antagonists in this show get, but a truly sympathetic, understandable one.

Captain Battleship was built up as a big bad from very beginning of the series, and was behind several of the foes the gang defeated in traditional Bobobo hilarious fashion. Battleship could've been just another joke/parody villain, and in many way he is-he's basically a parody of the more serious rival archetype in battle shonen, so much so his abilities and hairstyle and direct counterparts to Bobobo. But from his first appearance it's clear he isn't just another joke villain. Although he is a high ranking member of the Crome Dome/Margarita Empire, a member of the Four Heavenly Kings, he and his subordinate Suzu were responsible for sabotaging several Hair Hunt Troop bases. This, and his very similar to Bobobo demeanor, and his friendly relationships with his subordinates, made him very different from the other antagonists Bobobo fought in the past. And in this episode, we see why.

Captain Battleship and Bobobo were both students of the Fist of the Nose Hair, but unlike Bobobo, Battleship was not a native to the Hair Kingdom, so he was always ignored and discriminated against. Because of that, he worked harder than anyone else, in order to prove his worth and get people to notice him. Ultimately, he became the best pupil of the Nose Hair Dojo. However, when it came time to name a successor to the Fist of the Nose Hair, he was not chosen, but Bobobo was, solely for one reason-he was not a descendent of the Hair Kingdom.

That event not only gave Battleship a grudge against Bobobo, but made him desperate to prove his worth to others, by becoming superior to them, crushing all those standing in his way. He joined the Hair Hunt Troops for power, working his way up to becoming a member of the 4 Heavenly Kings, gladly shaving and destroying towns, like Gasser's hometown of Pu Pu City, that didn't accept him as their superior. He then proceeded to use his position to destroy the Hair Hunt Troops from the inside, in order to ultimately usurp the organization. Battleship was willing to destroy and hurt anyone, just so that people would finally acknowledge him, and show him some respect.

But even that wasn't what he truly wanted. He didn't need the world to acknowledge him or fear him. Really, he only ever wanted the respect of one person, his childhood friend, his only true friend.

All he ever wanted was for Bobobo to acknowledge him as his equal.

Captain Battleship isn't the most complex antagonist in the world, far from it. But he was the most layered villain in Bobobo, and his relationship with the title character made the battle between them a true event for me when I was a kid. Even now, the ending of this episode still makes me smile (and then laugh of course since Bobobo doesn't exactly care for sentimental moments ), and all the jokes in this episode really work, of course, including another great hilarious false flashback depicting Bobobo and Battleship as giant robots, that still brilliantly highlighted Battleship's grievances against Bobobo and the world that ignored him.

Despite the title, this wasn't the last episode in the series, and thank goodness for that because the next 55 episodes are wonderful, continuous gems of hilarity. But if it was the last episode it would have been a great, if not bittersweet ending to the series. It's the only time Bobobo in the anime gave it's plot weight and held it in equal value with the jokes. No other villain after Battleship in the anime matches up to his level of depth, much less beyond. And that more than anything is why I find this to be my favorite episode. It might not be the funniest episode, as the show and manga increasingly get funnier and funnier, but this episode is the last time the plot really feels important, and the only time the villain really is a true, developed antagonist, unlike later antagonists who are strictly parodies of common shonen battle manga villains or just played for laughs like OVER/Torpedo Girl and Giga. And for all these reasons, it's my favorite episode of my favorite show, and also, my favorite individual episode in any anime series. Ever.

And so that's my list! My Favorite Individual Anime Episodes. Hope you enjoyed it! Heck, going over all these great episodes, I just might go ahead and rematch some of these right now!