I’ve been enjoying the heck out of Please Teacher!, a semi-goofy anime series I randomly added to my Netflix queue like two years ago, which finally worked its way up. It got me to thinking about my favorite series’ of all time, and before I knew it, I was making this list.
I don’t claim to be a hardcore anime fan by any means, but I had a surprisingly hard time narrowing it down to 15 (and I was originally going to do 10.) I’m sure “serious anime dudes” would find this list laughable, but I likes what I likes, and plenty of “highly acclaimed” stuff sucks hard (Dragonball Z, My-Hime, Naruto among many others.) Anyway, remember when it was called “Japanimation”? I miss those days…
My Top 15 Favorite Animes:
- Macross
- Zeta Gundam
- Outlaw Star
- Bleach
- Mobile Suit Gundam
- The Big O (Season 1, mainly)
- Death Note
- Cowboy Bebop
- Gokusen
- Beck +Mongolian Chop Squad+
- Mobile Suit Gundam The 08th MS Team
- Fullmetal Alchemist
- Akira
- The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
- Vampire Hunter D
AKA Robotech in the U.S. Dated and charming and awesome. I didn’t get into this until several years ago, but I’ve LOVED it and watched it many times since.
Also very dated, but equally awesome. I watch every winter for Christmas-y goodtime feelings. “Lt. Quattro” is the coolest.
Has it all. Fun characters you care about, space battles, comedy, cat girls, pirates, variety, great storyline.
For a show that is two dudes standing on a battlefield discussing nonsensical powers half the time, there is just something about Bleach that I freaking LOVE and look forward to every week. Likeable characters, dark story, sharp comedy.
The O.G. A little hard to watch, because it is just ancient, but so many great aspects and colorful design and storyline twists and turns are well worth it.
Great self-contained stories, amazing soundtrack, Roger Smith is awesome, Dorothy is awesome, GIANT ROBOTS.
Lots and lots and lots of talking and psychobabble, but I love every second of it, and the resolution of the storyline was pretty awesome.
Very much in the same vein as Outlaw Star, just not rated as high because some episodes here and there get a little boring.
Not something I would normally like at all, but the characters and voice acting went a long way towards turning me around on this series about a substitute teacher who is actually a Yakuza boss.
Makes me feel good, makes me proud to be in a band. Highly underrated. Great soundtrack, too.
A smaller, more character-driven Gundam series. Like a Vietnam love story with giant robots instead of riverboats.
Just finished this recently. A surprisingly VERY well-done mix of darkness and comedy at their most polar extremes. Very very dark story at times. Super likable main characters.
Didn’t like this much back in the day, but watching it recently with more maturity, I’ve turned around on it completely. Not as overrated as I always felt it was. A GREAT, well-made movie, story, animation and design-wise.
Another series I wouldn’t normally like at all just reading the bullet-points, but Haruhi is one of the best characters ever. A total bitch to everyone around her, but in a way that makes her completely lovable. Everyone’s great in this.
Both versions are great. The original being one of the very first animes I ever knew about, still love deeply, and therefore could not possibly be excluded from this list.
