10.) DRAGONBALL Z
A top ten anime list will never
be complete without the immortal Dragonball Z (let’s just pretend that
Dragonball and Dragonball GT do not exist, okay?). I liked DBZ, but not to the extent that I really
became a die-hard fan. Yes, the series
entertained me much, but, seriously, it’s kind of ridiculous. Characters are too powerful. The plot is so annoyingly slow-paced
sometimes – heck, an entire episode can go on with just the two combatants
staring at each other. There are times
that the story would be predictable (i.e. Goku will be resurrected again by the
Dragonballs after being killed for the nth time).
But it does have its moments of epicness
and badassery (in fact, a lot of it).
Moreover, it’s probably the most popular anime in the world, so it at
least gets my number 10 spot.
9.) CINDERELLA MONOGATARI
Ah. I really love this when I was a kid. The greatest reinvention of the Cinderella
fairy tale. This is what I wrote some
time ago about Leonard (the prince) and Cinderella:
With no "love at first sight at the Ball" nonsense, they started as friends and had their bond strengthened by several adventures together, which ultimately blossomed romantically in that Ball.
Each episode was refreshing to watch because of this.
8.) VANDREAD
I love the premise of
“Vandread.” In the far future, space has
been colonized by humanity. But during
this time, in a specific system, the battle of the sexes become literal as
males and females are alienated and at cold war with each other. A crew of female pirates attacks and takes
over a male battleship, and takes three male prisoners. Then the living core of the ship fuses the
male ship with the pirate crew’s own ship to form a hipper but mysterious ship
which is later named “Nirvana”. Nirvana
suddenly warped far away in distant space.
Aside from the ship, the Vanguard (a male-designed humanoid robot) that
was in the male ship and three Dreads (female-designed fighter spaceplanes) of
the pirates are also changed as well that enable them to combine into a
Vandread mecha (thus, the title). In
their journey to go back home, the males and females in “Nirvana” learn to
co-exist. The experience planted the
hope of men and women possibly living together again. And, oh, they also have to fight human-harvesting
AI machines along their way back (and to warn their people – men and women – about
the incoming danger)…
7.) ONE PIECE
I was hesitant to include animes
that are still ongoing since I won’t be able to evaluate it in its entirety.
I had considered adding “Naruto”
and “Bleach”, but though I love these two for years already, I still
think it’s too early to add them to this list.
Especially with “Bleach”. I
really considered it because it contains mindblowing twists and has some of the
best action you can find in anime. But
it also has annoyingly long irrelevant arcs that are not related to the main
story, which put it out of discussion.
One Piece, however, deserves to
be in this top 10. Among the “Big 3” –
hottest manga/animes today – composed of “Naruto”, “Bleach”, and “One Piece”,
“One Piece” is the best. Characters and
storylines are interestingly conceptualized, and filled with humor and action
and adventure that will never tire the fans. Obviously, its ranking will definitely
rise in a future list.
6.) DORAEMON
A robot cat from the future that
aids an elementary boy in his daily struggles (e.g. school, girls, bullies,etc.) by loaning him farfetched
gadgets? A sure winning formula for
comedic scenarios. And this show effectively
delivered just that.
5.) SLAM DUNK
This
anime was one of the reasons I started to get interested in basketball. The Shohoku High team is the centerpiece of
this anime, detailing its journey from a non-playoff "one-man" team to one of
the elite teams of their district. I
really love how the action and excitement of the basketball court was translated by this series. It’s just a bummer that
the national tournament never made it to the anime.
4.) YU YU HAKUSHU
This is the anime that got me
interested in anime as we know of today.
Yu-yu Hakushu – or “Ghost Fighter” as it is known in these parts – was my
favorite anime back then. It has excellent
characters, action, and storylines – a formula that future anime series would
emulate. Others had perfected that
formula since then, but Yu Yu Hakushu is the first of its brand of anime.
3,) GENSOMADEN SAIYUKI
Gensomaden Saiyuki is a hip
reinvention of a Chinese classic novel called “Journey to the West” (published
around the 1590s). This anime featured
the greatest foursome in fiction (Yup, I consider Sanzo’s Party better than
even the legendary foursome, the Fantastic Four). And they are a big part why this show was
awesome. Each episode is a guaranteed
performance of badassery and coolness by the four of them. They’re always on a roll and
unstoppable. Aside from the charisma of
the main characters, the show’s success is also attributable to its animation
techniques that greatly enhance the already superb storytelling and music
scores (especially “For Real”) that effectively stir the emotions of the
viewers.
2.) SAMURAI X (RURUONI KENSHIN)
Samurai X features one of the
best anime fight choreographies ever. It
tells of a former infamous samurai, Kenshin Himura, who made a commitment to
not kill again after being known as “Battōsai the
Slasher” during the war. He became a
peaceful wanderer, and eventually settled down in the Kamiya Dojo (where his
adventures during the show’s run start).
To be able to enforce his vow of non-killing, Himura make use of a
unique “reverse-edged sword”. This had
become a disadvantage for Kenshin in his fights, but he continues to beat the odds
without breaking his vow. This theme has
been constant in all the show’s storylines.
1.) CODE GEASS
Greatest anime ever. Hands down in a landslide, “Code Geass” gets
the top spot. Deep and interesting characters, exceptional
concept and themes, plenty of mind-blowing twists, and a superbly constructed
story… in fact, this anime is one of the best pieces of fiction I have ever
encountered.
I don’t want to reveal too much since it’s
really really worth seeing for yourself.
But, here’s the story in a nutshell… The story revolves around a high
school student named Lelouch, who is secretly the notorious rebel leader “Zero”
who desires to take down the Brittanian Empire and free Japan from its
clutches. Zero is granted a geass that
can mind control people by a mysterious immortal named CC. With his geass and CC by his side, Zero also
has the Black Knights – freedom fighters – under him to help him in his
goals. Lelouch has his own selfish
reasons on fighting the Brittanian Empire.
But in the end, his goals would realign and he would bring out the best
of his talents in strategy and manipulation to create the universally coveted
world peace. Watch the show on how that
came about. It’s worth it.
Honorable Mention (i.e. other
animes considered for the top 10): Cowboy
Bebop, Hunter X Hunter, Nadia: Secret of Blue Water, Dual, Gundam Wing, Detective
Conan, Lupin III, Full Metal Alchemist, Robotech (The Super Dimension Fortress Macross)
1 comment:
hehe, I was expecting Geass to be on the no 1 spot. but for the others on the list.. a lot are better, duno if you managed to watch them already.
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