Favorite Anime

[Foggle]

Oh fuck yeah.

Notice the "CONTINUED" over three different screenshots. Looks like they might be doing all three routes...

[VLordGTZ]

 

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Here's a slight update to my previous list:

1. Yu Yu Hakusho
2. Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid
3. Trigun
4. Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket
5. Great Teacher Onizuka
6. Hunter X Hunter (1999) + first OVA
7. Cowboy Bebop
8. Digimon Tamers
9. Hajime no Ippo
10. Black Lagoon

[Foggle]

Tried to go to bed 4 hours ago. Couldn't sleep. College has turned me into an insomniac. I hate it. Now I can't stop thinking about friggin' top 10 lists for some reason. So here's my finalized anime one:

1. Cowboy Bebop
2. Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid
3. Gurren Lagann
4. Baccano!
5. Lupin III (Series 1 & 2, and Fujiko Mine)
6. Hyouge Mono
7. Fate/Zero
8. Higurashi (and Kai)
9. JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (TV)
10. Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex

I'm not counting movies, but if I was, The End Of Evangelion, Redline, and Dead Leaves would be in there somewhere.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Cool lists. Was Death Note ever on your list before, Ensatsu-ken? I thought it might have been.

Now I can't stop thinking about friggin' top 10 lists for some reason.

lol.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Cool lists. Was Death Note ever on your list before, Ensatsu-ken? I thought it might have been.

It used to be, but now it's more of an honorable mention. It's still one of my favorite manga, though.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Top 10 heroes of anime and manga


1. Vash The Stampede (Trigun)



The 60 billion double dollar man is my favorite hero not only for his heroics, but because of his constant sacrifices, his ability to think ahead and to think of others, and that he never backs down at the sight of evil. Vash's vice would probably be that he lies and refuses to trust anyone, taking on the entire mission of stopping Knives to himself... until he is stopped in his tracks by his friends. His friendship with Meryl and Milly, and eventually wandering priest Wolfwood would be the first people he would let see the real him and his scars. It was only through them that he could finally understand what it was he saw in humanity that made him desperately want to save it when before it was only through Rem's example of self-sacrifice that he could go on. While Vash is my favorite hero for being both 'The Idiot' and 'The Man With No Name' at the same time, it's really the fact that despite his superhuman and supernatural abilities I find that he's the most human character in anime and manga. He is what I think of when I think 'good guy'.


2. Nicholas D. Wolfwood (Trigun)



On the flip-side, as always, is Wolfwood. A wandering gunman, not unlike what you would really find in the old west, Wolfwood has seen so much evil that he has almost forgotten that there is good in the world. Despite how little he sometimes thinks of the human race, he does want to save it no matter how much others tell him he should let it burn. He does everything he can to not only help Vash but to help those who are suffering along the way. He is not like Vash in that he is not idealistic and is completely honest with his emotions (and can always spot when Vash isn't) giving him an ability to read people. Though Vash reminds him heavily of the person he wants to be (and Milly does what he can't like it's no big deal at all) he finds that both their personalities rub off on each other. Vash comes to understand the nature of sin, something Wolfwood knows too well, and Wolfwood comes to understand the concept of forgiveness (his reluctance to go to confession before he met Vash, and his final speech indicate that most of all) he dies telling Vash to just try harder next time.


3. Kenshin Himura (Rurouni Kenshin)



Kenshin is a lot like Vash in a lot of respects, except in the most important. Rurouni Kenshin is about a man who already moved on from his past, and it's the world itself that is fighting the change that is coming where Kenshin has already embraced it. Kenshin is primarily hated by his enemies because he is no longer the Hitokiri Battousai, and is now simply the wandering samurai who wishes to move on. The entire series is about the last gasp of an era that is about to end, but Kenshin represents both everything that had come before and what was to come after it and no matter how hard his enemies wanted the old Kenshin back (and the old era), he was gone and what they got was someone far stronger than that.


4. Dr. Kenzo Tenma (Monster)



Monster is about the worst of humanity and the best of humanity. The problem is how easy this can make the bad guy an Aizen type who annoys the reader or the good guy a Gary Stu who is seen as perfect. Tenma isn't perfect, not by a long way. He hesitates, makes mistakes, bad judgements, and even says and does some downright nasty things- in other words, he's human. The only way for Tenma to ever overcome the monster that is Johan is not to sink to his level and become like him, but to rise above the monster and conquer him with the truth. The whole story of Monster is about Tenma's journey from well-meaning, but ignorant, doctor to a good human being who can rise above the pitch-black evil that Johan creates. That is what makes the ending one of my all-time favorites, when Tenma gives Johan back his real identity and the monster is finally gone. As much as I like other heroes like Grimmer, Nina, and Martin, I think that nobody would have been able to stop Johan except the man who saved his life. And then he does.


5. Eikichi Onizuka (Shonan Junai Gumi / GTO)



He's scuzzy, sleazy, a moron, and constantly single-minded in everything he does. By the same token, he's always trying to do the right thing (even in his own stupid way), he's strong (not just physically), and he never backs down from a challenge. Onizuka is probably the one character you could put in anything and he would steal the show. In a strange way, he's the moral compass of both stories when everyone else has lost their way, which always makes him an invaluable member of both series. In SJG he was the breakout character and in GTO he proved that he could carry a different genre by himself. Simply put, he's a great character and one of my favorite heroes.


6. Yusuke Uremeshi (Yu Yu Hakusho)



Yusuke ranks so high to me because he's one of the few protagonists in any anime or manga I've read that actually acts like a teenage thug probably should. I give special points to the dub for coloring up his language, because it really helps his character shine. He starts as a dumb punk who saves a kid without really knowing why and then grows throughout the manga to the point where you see exactly why he did in the first place. As he grows into that person you see a glimmer of in the first moments of the story he only gets better and better. He starts the story very selfish and thoughtless but through knowing loss, pain, a mirror reflection of who he could be, and the possibility of a future where he could literally do whatever he wanted- fight all the time, sleep in, anything... Yusuke eventually grew into a real hero and was no longer angry and confused at the world as he returned to the place he was needed, and finally became the person he always had the potential to be.


7. Thorfinn (Vinland Saga)



This is tentative for now and depending where the manga goes with it, but being that Thorfinn was little more than a villain for most of the story (despite being the protagonist... think Light Yagami) and had just more recently become a hero I have to list him for now. I really don't want to spoil it for those who haven't read this yet, but most everyone in Vinland Saga is in a struggle with demons both internal and external in a way. Yet, unlike Berserk, it's not on a physical plain against them but both psychologically and in signs that some characters cannot see but others can. Characters are constantly tasked with choosing between the right and the wrong thing, and most do not choose the right way or instead let themselves fall into the wrong way. Thorfinn destroyed himself in more ways than one throughout the story, but eventually pulled himself back together (before he let himself be damned) and has finally done what nobody else in the story has done- the right thing. As I said, it's tentative for now, but we'll see where Vinland Saga goes. The only reason this isn't an anime is because it's actually about something.


8. The crew of the Nadesico (Martian Successor Nadesico)



This can probably be called cheating, but it's the only rating I can manage for this series. Every character in the show bounces off of each other to make the crew feel more like a neighborhood than a spaceship at times. Though some characters I like more than others, taken together they make a great group of characters you just want to spend time with. It's a dynamic I haven't found in too many anime or manga, let alone shows from here, but its what helps really elevate Nadesico to one of my favorites (that and the story) where most similar anime simply don't catch my attention. Not everyone on the Nadesico has pure motives, but most have their reasons for wanting to save the world, and the heroes are pretty memorable on their own. If you're not a fan of Gai within seconds, then you probably won't understand what I mean.


9. Kenji Harima (School Rumble)



School Rumble is one of the few wacky Japanese comedies I legitimately find funny due to the convoluted nature of it (High School is like that after all), and how about every character has a somewhat tenuous link to about everyone else. There's a lot going on, but it's also quite humorous. The funniest character in the story by far is Harima who never takes a joke or story in the way you're expecting it to and has the emotional stability of a mad duck. Why is he a hero? Because he's always trying to do the "right" thing despite being a delinquent who always finds himself naturally inclined to do something else. He is the protagonist of School Rumble with Tenma, but to be honest he steals the show in any scene he's in. His action sequences and fights are usually really good, too. So yeah, he's my other comedy entry for the list.


10. Krillin (Dragon Ball / Dragon Ball Z)



Weird choice, huh? But Krillin has always been my favorite Dragon Ball character despite how often he is kicked around. He's also the strongest human canonically, so I guess that's worth mentioning. But Krillin's growth from a scummy backstabbing weakling, to being a cautious and tactical fighter is my favorite in the series. He makes good comic relief in the Namek saga, and put it up against every main villain in Z almost killing Nappa, Vegeta, and potentially Frieza (I won't talk about Cell, because that was lame) and being essential to the best parts of DBZ and the best side-character in the original series. Krillin really got hosed by Toriyama like all the other human characters, but he was always plot relevant. All in all, he is my favorite Dragon Ball character and I've always thought he was Toriyama's best.

[Avaitor]

Don't think it's THAT weird. I love Krillin too. He's definitely up there for me.

Sick list!

[Spark Of Spirit]

Thanks!

I'm not sure if there's a pattern in my list beyond a character who wants to do the right thing but doesn't always succeed yet keeps trying regardless. No Gary Stus for me!

[LumRanmaYasha]

Heh, I was going to make a favorite anime/manga character thread sometime, but you've beat me to it. 

Great, great list, man!  A lot of my favorite characters in there! I'm especially, and happily, surprised to see Harima and Krillin in your list.  I just have one question. Among the Nadesico cast, which character do you like the most? Personally, my favorite character from the series is Yurika, followed closely by Akito and Ruri. But like you said, they're all great. 

I'll put up my own list of favorite anime/manga characters (hero, villain, or otherwise  ) sometime soon.

[The Shadow Gentleman]

Awesome list! Several of those entries took the words right out of my mouth.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Thanks guys!

Great, great list, man!  A lot of my favorite characters in there! I'm especially, and happily, surprised to see Harima and Krillin in your list.  I just have one question. Among the Nadesico cast, which character do you like the most? Personally, my favorite character from the series is Yurika, followed closely by Akito and Ruri. But like you said, they're all great. 

It's pretty hard for me to pick a favorite, which is why I chose the cast. But Yurika, Jun, and Akito are great, but so are lesser seen characters like Goat, Gai, and Howmei. Most everyone is a ton of fun.

[Foggle]

Yay Tenma!

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Great list!

Here would be my top 10 anime/manga heroes (minus the explanations):

1. Eikichi Onizuka (Great Teacher Onizuka/Shounan Junai Gumi)
2. Kenzo Tenma (Monster)
3. Kenshin Himura (Rurouni Kenshin)
4. Kurama (Yu Yu Hakusho)
5. Chōji Ochiai/"Otcho" (20th Century Boys)
6. Son Gohan (Dragon Ball)
7. Vash The Stampede (Trigun)
8. Yusuke Urameshi (Yu Yu Hakusho)
9. Sousuke Sagara (Full Metal Panic!)
10. Endo Kenji (20th Century Boys)

[Spark Of Spirit]

Great list!

Speaking of which, anyone remember these? Back when Adult Swim got (most of) the cream of the crop.