Favorite Anime

[Foggle]

12. Kill La Kill

Would you recommend I read or watch Ashita no Joe?

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Well, I think the first 8-10 episodes of KLK were good for the first act, but it's when this series hit its second act around episode 11 or 12 that it really started to impress me and ultimately won me over.

As for reading AnJ, Absolutely. I'm planning to write a piece on it when I get the chance, but it's one of the greatest manga ever. The only thing to keep in mind is that the scans for the manga are not yet done, and they probably won't be for a while, but it's totally worth experiencing. The second anime is already fully subbed, so you can still finish the story, but it does have significant differences from the manga, yet still follows the same key story so it'll still flow with the events of the manga.

I think it transcends both it's age and the shounen genre. It's really a shame that it's so obscure outside of it's own country, but it's no wonder that it's so critically acclaimed in Japan.

[talonmalon333]

Good list. I haven't seen many of those choices, but the ones I'm familiar with are all great (though I only saw a few episodes of Digimon, and that was when I was a kid, so I can't speak for that show). In my list, I would place Monster higher up, as that is one of my all time favorites. It's one of those shows that I think comes as close to flawless as you can get.

I need to get back to Black Lagoon. I saw about half of that show last summer, but for some inexplicable reason, I stopped watching it. It's not even like I didn't like it, because I found it to be great. Just, for some reason, I fell out of the habit of watching it.

I've been wanting to rewatch Hunter x Hunter lately.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Good list. I haven't seen many of those choices, but the ones I'm familiar with are all great (though I only saw a few episodes of Digimon, and that was when I was a kid, so I can't speak for that show). In my list, I would place Monster higher up, as that is one of my all time favorites. It's one of those shows that I think comes as close to flawless as you can get.

The reason that I don't place Monster higher is because, as great as it is, it's just a copy/paste job from the manga, and that speaks more about the talent of the original mangaka than the creativity and skills of the people who produced and animated the show.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Glad to see Kill la Kill has become a favorite of yours. 

Ashita no Joe 2 will probably rank pretty high up, if not top my list, once I finish it as well. Aside from that, you remind me that I still have to finish Hajime no Ippo and the Onizuka anime, watch Fullmetal Panic! and Gundam 0080, and re-watch Digimon Tamers. My backlog, man. One of these days, one of these days...

Anyways, I see that the favorite anime grid I posted like a week ago is gone now. All the same, it was kinda pointless anyway. I've realized I like too many series for anything besides a top 10 for anime to have meaning anymore. So in that regard, what I consider my top ten truly are what really has resonated with me the strongest and are what are most dear.meaningful to me. I'm not going to post it, because I'm sure I'd just have to change it again anyway once I'm done with ANJ2, and it's not that different from the last time I posted it aside from the fact the Urusei Yatsura anime is in there. But, next time I post my list, I think I'll actually explain it in detail, which would especially be great to do since by July it'll have been 10 years since I became a "fan" of anime in the first place. 

For now, though, I think I'll post up my newly revised favorite anime movie list.



1. Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer
2. Urusei Yatsura 4: Lum the Forever
3 The Wind Rises
4. Summer Wars
5. Puella Magi Madoka Magica 3: The Rebellion Story
6. End of Evangelion
7. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
8. Wolf Children
9. Redline
10. The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya

I'm completely enamored with Beautiful Dreamer and Lum the Forever for how unique those movies are, especially for movies based on a "mainstream" series like UY, and how insightfully they are able to explore the characters while developing relevant, brilliant themes so effortlessly. Wind Rises struck a cord with me that no other Ghibli film really has, probably because it's a grounded, but inspiring and touching story of a man passionate about his work, uplifting and depressing at the same time. Summer Wars is just an awesome and fun movie with some great commentary on social media and how interconnected everything is (in more meanings than one). Madoka 3 and End of Evangelion are fantastic closing pieces to excellent anime franchises that blow me away on story, character, and of course the animation/directing levels. I've grown much fonder of Wolf Children after re-watching it and I like it and Girl Who Leapt Through Time about on the same level. Redline is just a fucking awesomely animated and over the top movie that simply could not fail to entertain my palette. Disappearence is still fantastic and the best thing I've ever seen come from the Haruhi franchise. There are other movies I like that I could mention, but like the tv series list I don't want to bother past the top 10 anymore. Just know that I love the rest of the UY movies not listed here and a few other Ghibli films too.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I'm glad to see that Wolf Children grew on you. Personally, I like it almost as much as Summer Wars. Really, all 3 of Hosoda's original feature-length films are amazing, IMO.

I pretty much love very movie you have on your list that I have actually seen (well, I love half of EoE, anyways). I still need to get into Urusei Yatsura, but that'll have to be a summer anime for me (or manga, if that's the better version).

[LumRanmaYasha]

Yeah, Hosoda's original films really are all fantastic. After re-watching Wolf Children, I think it really does focus on the three protagonists equally and potently after all. I guess maybe my problems with it the first time were the result of long-held expectations that clouded my judgement of some of the character development/focus.

As for Urusei Yatsura, I'd start off with the manga and then only watch the anime and the movies after reading a good portion of it. That's how I experienced it; I only watched the anime and the movies after all I had left to read of the manga was the concluding story arc. If you remember my posts from when I was going through it, it actually took me a while to warm up to the series, but once I did, I fell in love with it completely and now as you can see it's one of my favorite things ever, and I'm obsessed with it. 

The reason I wouldn't go with the anime first is because the anime is actually very different from the manga in a couple of key ways, and while a lot of the changes and additions work out brilliantly, some also don't work quite as well, so there's a bit more inconsistency in it than in the manga. Sometime I might make an "essential" list of UY episodes for people here to check out. But I really do think the anime is a fantastic series overall, and it's easy to see why both the anime and manga were so revolutionary for modern anime/manga comedy series, even though most of it's imitators are no where near as creative and clever as it.

I will warn you that the anime and movies can get a little "weird" at times. Not quite as obtuse as something like EOE, but still some stuff that might not be easy to understand at first. However, it's very purposeful, and to me, effective artistry that helps draw attention and explore various themes, and the critical thing for me was how relevant those themes were for the characters and their situations. The movies are especially insightful of the relationships and natures of the characters as well, and the way they use them to tell strong, engaging stories chock full of thought-provoking ideas yet still remain character-driven films is what makes them really brilliant for me. They might not be everyone's cup of tea (I wouldn't be surprised if Lum the Forever might be too bizarre for some people), but I think they are amazing, and easily put any other movies based on a shonen manga/anime series to shame.

[gunswordfist]

Kill la Kill? I thought you gave up on that show with me.

[Dr. Insomniac]

Kill la Kill? I thought you gave up on that show with me.

[Foggle]

That is my new favorite reaction image.

[gunswordfist]

Meh, I'd rather watch FLCL.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

So, what site do you guys go to in order to make those picture grids?

[LumRanmaYasha]

So, what site do you guys go to in order to make those picture grids?

Here.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

My current top 15 anime heroes/good guys/antiheroes/not exactly saints but certainly NOT bad guys (in no particular order):



Keep in mind that for Yoko, I'm more specifically referring to her in Ashita no Joe Part 2 where she changes a great deal and becomes much more of an authority figure in her own right. As for Impmon, yes, I mean the one from Tamers, and yes that naturally extends to his Digivolution form, Beelzemon, since he's still the same character, either way.

I'll do a list for villains sometime later.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Awesome choices and they're all so different from each other! Several of those are also my favorites as my earlier post on the subject attests. Unabashed good guys are harder to find these days, probably because they're harder to write without becoming Gary Stu characters. It seems it's easier to make them brainless or just as bad as the bad guys are.

Killua is one I'd absolutely agree with. Togashi really pulled him through the hero's arc and far away from who he was at the beginning to be the best character overall. It's a shame certain other characters never got quite his focus, but that's what happens when you let one arc overlap your entire work.