Greatest Animated TV Series EVER! (Voting)

[LumRanmaYasha]

Results:

The Spectacular Spider-Man - 19
King of the Hill - 25
South Park - 18
Gargoyles - 28
Yu Yu Hakusho - 30

Yu Yu Hakusho and Gargoyles move on to the final round.

After nearly two months, we have reached the end of this competition! Out of 100 animated series, only 4 remain. One of these 4 will be crowned the undisputed Greatest Animated Series EVER, while the rest...will have to settle for being runner-ups. Which series will come out on top? Everyone who has voted in this competition thus far will decide!

Before we get to the final match-up, though, I would like to list some shows that didn't get nominated for this competition this time (because I forgot/no one else remembered), but should definitely be contenders the next time this competition is done:

Dilbert
Garfield and Friends
Baby Blues
The Oblongs
Clerks, the Animated Series
The Amazing World of Gumball
Fillmore
Pepper Ann
The Jetsons
Wacky Races
Scooby Doo, Where Are You?
Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic
Kill la Kill

And now, without further ado...

THE FINAL ROUND! ELITE FOUR SHOWDOWN! WHICH TOON SHALL RULE THEM ALL?!


Yu Yu Hakusho

VS.


Gargoyles

VS.


Batman: The Brave and the Bold

VS.


Batman: The Animated Series

I'm going to hold off on my vote for now, since I want to do length explanations for my choices for this final round but don't have the time at the moment. That said, I'd also encourage people to really give some good explanations for their choices this round as well, and I'm as curious as the rest of you to see which of these four excellent series will AR declare the greatest animated series. 

[Grave]

Wow, might be the toughest decision in these type of things I've had yet.

Batman: TAS
Yu Yu Hakusho
Gargoyles
Batman: Brave and the Bold

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Yu Yu Hakusho- It's my favorite animated series, plain and simple. It's not perfect by any stretch, but it contains some of the most finely crafted stories and characters that I have ever personally seen from the medium. It takes the guise of a typical shounen action series, and just executes it so well that it puts 90% of the rest of the genre to shame. I think it has the advantage of being based off of great source material, but the writers of this show went above and beyond and actually even managed to improve on the source material to make a great series into a phenomenal one. No, it's not nearly the best animated series out there. You could very well argue that the rest of the series in this match are more deserving of that title, and I wouldn't disagree with you. That said, it's my favorite cartoon of all time because it just flat-out appeals to me the most.

Gargoyles- This is my 2nd favorite cartoon of all time, and it's a close call between this and YYH. Both series have their weak points. With YYH it's the Saint Beasts arc and the admittedly weak final few episodes (with the exception of the very last episode, which was a great epilogue), and with this series it's the world-tour stuff which I feel drags it down just a bit. Even so, I can't knock it down too much for all of the excellent story-telling and characters that it has brought us. City of Stone is enough of a reason for this show to have made it this far, alone.

Batman: The Brave and the Bold- Quite simply, the advantage that this series has is that there really isn't a single other show like it. For once we get an intentionally campy superhero show backed by writers who clearly do have a love for the silver-age of comics, and know how to both celebrate it and parody it at the same time. Siege of Starro and the Equinox story-lines are some of the best arcs that I have seen from a DC animated show, and just about every single vignette in this series is a home. This is hands down the best Batman-related thing that I have seen aside from Return of the Joker and Mask of the Phantasm (yes, I like it even more than The Dark Knight if I were to be honest).

Batman: The Animated Series- Believe me when I say that there is absolutely no shame in being placed last in this round. It's just that the competition is really that brutal. And, on a level of importance and significance, there's no doubt that this series trumps the other three. That said, I do feel that when looking at it on an even playing field with the other three shows, it does feel the most inconsistent to me (the fourth season was all over the place in terms of quality, and it also took the writers a while to find their footing in season one). That said I can't deny that it has some of the most tightly written and timeless vignettes in animation history, so for what it is, it's still an amazing series, and still one of my top 10 favorite shows of all time. I just have to be honest hear and say that I do still like the other shows better, but as it stands any one of these shows could win this competition and I wouldn't be disappointed with the results one bit.

[Avaitor]

Batman: TAS
Gargoyles
Yu Yu Hakusho
Batman: TB&TB

This is tough, since these are all incredible. All of the shows in the last 2 matches have been, though.

[gunswordfist]

Yu yu Hakusho- Yusuke is my favorite anime character. Homework Never Ends.

Batman TAS - Probably my favorite superhero cartoon. I have some sorting to do.

Batman TBATB- I still have some episodes to watch. So far I Jonah Hex, Plastic Man and Booster Gold are my favorite secondary characters.

Gargoyles - I like this show and still need to finish it. Maybe I'll do a restart soon.

[The Shadow Gentleman]

[gunswordfist]

I did not need to remember that booty poking. At least you didn't post Yusuke slapping her.

[VLordGTZ]

Yu Yu Hakusho- My favorite show of all time
Batman: The Brave and the Bold - My favorite Batman series
Batman TAS - My 2nd favorite Batman series
Gargoyles - I really like what I have seen of it, but the other 3 shows are 3 of my favorite animated series.

[Foggle]

Same as Avaitor.

[Spark Of Spirit]

This is the worst round by FAR.

Batman: The Brave & The Bold
Yu Yu Hakusho
Gargoyles
Batman: TAS

Brutal.

[LumRanmaYasha]

This is the worst round by FAR.

Well, it IS the final round, after all. 

[Spark Of Spirit]

Better explanations:

Batman: The Brave & The Bold - I'm doing a series for this for a reason. The fact that this is in the final round with BTAS, YYH, and Gargoyles should be telling enough, but I don't think it gets nearly the same notice as the other three do (YYH gets more discussion outside of anime circles, though) but that I feel this is what all superhero shows should aspire to, I obviously would rank it first. Though I have many more entries to do, and some surprises coming up, rewatching it just further cemented my feelings that as far as action shows go (and action-comedy shows as this does both and does them both so well) there is no better. If you haven't watched the episodes Cartoon X linked to before voting- go do that now.

Yu Yu Hakusho - It's still the best shonen anime out there. High action, original ideas, unpredictable characters, and some good themes, it remains the best of the genre in my opinion and on a storyline basis is probably the best the genre has aspired to. About the only fault would be the Saint Beast arc being a bit predictable and the final arc not as great as the ones before it, but as a whole it stands up remarkably well. I think encounters like Yusuke Vs. The Doctor is probably the one thing that puts it above other similar shows, and gives a hint at what they could be capable of other than massive power level battles.

Gargoyles - This show always has and always will surprise me. Tightly crafted, tightly written, and tightly produced, it is probably the best adventure show ever made or at least one of them. It's quite disappointing how few shows have come out in its genre to challenge it since it came out. Sure, the World Tour goes on too long (though there are classic episodes in there), but on a consistency level, few are higher than Gargoyles.

Batman: The Animated Series - I put this last only because on a pure quality and quantity basis it is not as high as the other three, but in importance and pure classic storytelling- it matches them handily. The best episodes of this show are equal and sometimes better than the other shows, but the weak stuff just push it out of the other three for me. Still, this deserved to be in the final round, and I doubt anyone here would argue with that. It's a fantastic show when all is said and done.

Yeah, it's a brutal round, but at least the shows are all AAA.

[Avaitor]

I'm just a little sadden that the top 4 are all action, but these are completely fantastic shows regardless.

[gunswordfist]

There's nothing wrong with action, you peasant.

[Spark Of Spirit]

TB&TB has both. I suggest watching Four Star Spectacular! for a good time.