The Greatest Anime Episode Ever Tournament

[LumRanmaYasha]

Yeah, this was a toughie, but I prefer it that way. The competitions are much more intense, exciting, and fun when they're squared on nominations people are truly enthusiastic and passionate about. And now that I've rewatched these episodes, I'm ready to vote on this match:

"The Death of Genkai" -

Spoiler

A terrific and tragic culmination of Genkai's character arc and a fascinating exploration of her relationship with Toguro, revealing layers to the character previously unseen as well as cementing his formidable, intimidating presence as a villain while adding a deep personal grudge between him and Yusuke into their conflict. Genkai's laments on not being able to make Toguro see the light before she dies and her tearful pleas to Yusuke to not make the same mistakes and become like him are heartbreaking moments that really tug on the heartstrings, as is Yusuke's livid and futile attempts at revenge at Toguro and his ensuing frustrating at his own helplessness to stop him. Even though one might know Genkai will come back to life in a couple episodes, the impact of her fight with Toguro and her death still stings upon rewatching it, and makes for one of the most powerful and best episodes of the entire show.

[close]

"Sleep, Doctor, Sleep" -

Spoiler

A brilliantly directed fights with incredibly fluid and expressive character animation, awesome cinematography, and intense use of dark shadows and claustrophobic lighting. Visually, it's one of the best looking and most inventive fights in not just YYH, but in any Shonen Jump anime adaptation. In standard Togashi fashion, all the characters are well-utilized here, and the situation is made intense for the heroes because of psychological strategy and mindgames moreso than any physical treat. Of course, what really makes the fight so unique is the moral quandary posed by the Doctor's invulnerability and Yusuke's decision to take his life in order to save the lives of countless innocents. It would be so easy for him to do it, but that's not the point. The point is whether or not Yusuke will cross that line, and whether he can live with the guilt of his actions after he goes through with it. In the end, he makes his choice, and given the circumstances it was the only choice available to him. His conscience is assuaged thanks to Genkai, but this is only the beginning of the trials Sensui puts in his way to challenge his morals and ethics, and the Doctor's chilling monologue at the end of the episode establishes an ominous tone that casts a huge layer of dread and tension for the events to come. Everything involving the fight between Yusuke and the Doctor is masterfully done, but in rewatching and comparing these episodes I found that the Keiko/Shizuru scenes, while enjoyable in their own right, broke a little bit of it's momentum at several intervals during the episode, whereas I felt a more consistent tone and pace while watching  "The Death of Genkai," hence why I favored the latter a bit more here. But both are among my favorite episodes from the show.

[close]

"Wings of Death; Albatross -

Spoiler

One of the two episodes in Part II directed by Miyazaki and regarded by many as the series' best. It's definitely a very Miyazaki-esque premise, with tons of high-flying adventure and action set-pieces, and of course, beautifully detailed and animated planes. It's a pretty packed and fun episode that moves at a brisk pace and has some great animation and a fun story to it to boot, almost as if it were a mini-sized version of one of the Lupin movies.  While it's not my favorite episode of Part II, it's pretty close to being a "perfect" Lupin episode if there ever was one.

[close]

"The End of Lupin III" -

Spoiler

This is a great sequel to Part I's "One Chance to Breakout," and immediately goes in a different direction than that one by having all of Lupin's old tricks prove ineffective and placing him into a situation where he's seemingly met his match. Of course, Lupin isn't the world's best con artist for nothing, so it's all part of his crazy elaborate plan. But the meat of the episode isn't so much in figuring out Lupin's scheme, but in seeing Zenigata's reaction to putting Lupin through this trial and realizing how much he means to him and how he's defined his career in his pursuit of him, and if he was gone, he wouldn't know what to do with himself. I always enjoy episodes where Zenigata shows his softer side towards Lupin, and I love his proud laugh when Lupin outsmarts him and escapes at the end. He wouldn't want it any other way.

[close]

[Spark Of Spirit]

Sleep, Doctor, Sleep has just about everything in it. The stakes, the drama, and the dialogue, in this episode are so good. But for a shonen anime, the animation is surprisingly great as is the direction. The light outside the hospital is pitch white, and inside it's black with only the light from the windows shining through. Even when they show the bad guys waiting outside, they're all covered in black shadows even though the light is pitch white. Pierrot went all out with this episode and it shows. The way Kamiya degrades physically and mentally as the encounter goes on is extremely well done and matches well with how Yusuke's dilemma is presented. This is Togashi at his best, in my opinion.

My choices:

1. Sleep, Doctor, Sleep
2. The Death of Genkai
3. The End of Lupin III
4. Wings of Death; Albatross

Great episodes.

[Pharass]

Same as Spark of Spirit.

It saddens me a bit that The One to Revolutionize the World didn't make it. Although, in some ways, I suppose it was to be expected; Utena is definitely a show that the viewer need to watch from the beginning, in order to get the most out of it.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Same as Spark of Spirit.

It saddens me a bit that The One to Revolutionize the World didn't make it. Although, in some ways, I suppose it was to be expected; Utena is definitely a show that the viewer need to watch from the beginning, in order to get the most out of it.

I'm sure that I would have ranked it higher if I had actually seen the show, and believe me, I really do want to. I just have so much stuff on my backlog that it'll be a while before I can actually get to it.

[VLordGTZ]

The Death of Genkai
Sleep, Doctor, Sleep
The End of Lupin III
Wings of Death; Albatross

[Avaitor]

Sleep, Doctor, Sleep
The Death of Genkai
Wings of Death; Albatross
The End of Lupin III

Great match, but the YYH episodes are definitely the stronger set. But I'm really excited to make it to Part IV now.

[Pharass]

Same as Spark of Spirit.

It saddens me a bit that The One to Revolutionize the World didn't make it. Although, in some ways, I suppose it was to be expected; Utena is definitely a show that the viewer need to watch from the beginning, in order to get the most out of it.

I'm sure that I would have ranked it higher if I had actually seen the show, and believe me, I really do want to. I just have so much stuff on my backlog that it'll be a while before I can actually get to it.

Completely understandable. I too, have a lot of shows on my backlog (anime and otherwise), which is why I'm not sure how much of this tournament I'll really be able to participate in.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Results:

Lupin III Part II #145: "Wings of Death - Albatross" - 8
Yu Yu Hakusho #52: "The Death of Genkai" - 20
Lupin III Part IV #13: "The End of Lupin III" - 10
Yu Yu Hakusho #74: "Sleep, Doctor, Sleep" - 22

"The Death of Genkai" and "Sleep, Doctor, Sleep" move on to round 2! The next match will be up shortly.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Round 1: Match 3


Revolutionary Girl Utena #27: "Nanami's Egg"

VS.


Detective Conan #11: "The Moonlight Sonata Murder Case"

VS.


Outlaw Star #4: "When the Hot Ice Melts"

VS.


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

[gunswordfist]

Hmm Conan's episodes are standalone and I've probably seen this one before so..yeah, I'll vote!

[Avaitor]

I'll give the Utena and Case Closed episodes a watch tomorrow.

How does this RGU work as a stand-alone?

[Pharass]

I'll give the Utena and Case Closed episodes a watch tomorrow.

How does this RGU work as a stand-alone?

Pretty well for an Utena episode, I'd say.

My votes:

The Moonlight Sonata Murder Case: Out of the Detective Conan episodes I've seen, this case has always struck me as one of the most memorable.
Nanami's Egg: The episodes focusing on Nanami tend to be among the more comedic ones that RGU has to offer and this one is no exception. At the same time, it also does a good job highlighting Nanami's innocence and naivete regarding certain matters, adding new layers to her character.
The Power of Taboo.
When the Hot Ice Melts.

[Avaitor]

The Power of Taboo
Nanami's Egg
When the Hot Ice Melts
The Moonlight Sonata Murder Case

These are all good episodes! The Utena episode makes me feel a little more welcome than the previous one I saw, and the Case Closed is pretty solid. I'm still going with YYH at the top, though, since it's just hard to top it at its best.

[Spark Of Spirit]

When the Hot Ice Melts
The Power of Taboo
Nanami's Egg
The Moonlight Sonata Murder Case

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

"The Power of Taboo"
'When Hot Ice Melts"
"The Moonlight Sonata Murder Case"
"Nanami's Egg"

All good episodes, though obviously I'm a bit biased towards the shows that I'm more familiar with. However, I still really did enjoy Conan and RGU quite a bit as well. Moonlight Sonata was a good classic-style mystery, and I just remembered how I find it so unintentionally funny whenever I hear Conan summing up morbid crime details in his child voice, since the voice-acting plays it so straight. It was also nice hearing the full English dubbed versions of the opening and ending themes again. That felt really nostalgic. As for Nanami's Egg, it does work as a surprisingly good stand-alone episode, and I was also surprised at just how humorous it got for a series that isn't really known for comedy.