Well I did say that I would do at least one top 25 list this month and well, here it is. So for years I wasn't too keen on anime mainly because I watched a lot of them on TV and well, let's just say that I was young and didn't enjoy it too much. However I'm now much older and over the past few years, I've come to love anime. Now for those of you not too familiar with the term anime, its a sub genre of animated films and shows that were primarily made in Japan. That's really the best way I can describe it so Wikipedia is your friend if you're still stumped about it. So this is a list of my all time favourite anime. As always, its anime that I have seen and liked and wouldn't mind watching it over and over again. All personal preference so your favourites may not appear here, but it will be shows and films, not one or the other. And seeing as I may not have reviewed most of them, I will do those too. I'm also putting in ones that are accessible for everyone or most people and I prefer those that have an English dub so any that don't have that will not be counted. Lastly, I'm also including those which aren't considered to be anime for whatever reason, but its animation says otherwise (examples being Avatar: The Last Airbender and Teen Titans) even if it wasn't made in Japan. So let's get to it:
25 - Highschool of the Dead
We've had many zombie things over the years and for the most part, it's a sub-genre with a very mixed reception. But if The Last of Us and The Walking Dead has taught me anything, its that zombie things can be done well when given to the right people. Highschool of the Dead to anyone would sound like those typical dumb teen horrors just because school is part of the name. But for an anime, its actually not that at all. Its all about a group of surviving teens from a school who along with a little girl, a dog and the school nurse, fend for themselves in a world where zombies are slowly taking over. And they do this by using various weapons from rocket launchers to other things. Its pretty badass and even manages to be relevant by referencing things like Breaking Bad. The only problem I personally had with it was that it was too short, being only 13 episodes and one long. But aside from that, its funny, badass and even has some pretty hot and steamy moments too, all while kicking some zombie ass. 7/10
24 - The Animatrix
When the Matrix films first came out, much like with say Star Wars, there is a lot to the story that was never addressed in the films. So The Wachowskis were quick to address this issue and with the help of several animation studios (mostly in Japan), they began writing the history of the Matrix and created this film. As the name implies, its a pun on anime and Matrix. As an anthology film and the first anime one of its kind, its very good. A tad confusing at times, but this collection of short films puts my mind at ease on a lot of the things going down in The Matrix universe and even though The Matrix sequels weren't great, at least we got an idea of how things turned sour prior to us meeting Neo and its good. 7/10
23 - Monster Rancher
A lot of you may not remember this anime, but back when the Pokemon craze of the 90s was big, there were many animation studios in Japan that wanted to do their own take on this craze and one of these was Monster Rancher. A pretty straight forward story about a boy and his monster companions who go on a quest to free the monster world from some kind of evil being called Moo. I will admit, when doing this list, it actually took me a while to remember this anime because it had been so long since I watched it last. But anyway, if you need a break from Pokemon, but don't want something that's too similar to it but similar nevertheless, then this anime will serve you well even if it was short lived. 8/10
22 - Blood Lad
I do get sick of hearing how Twilight made vampires and werewolves depressing when Universal made it very clear that these are monsters worthy of being interesting. At least one of those things has never been made more clear to me than it has now thanks to this anime. The anime takes place in a place called the Demon World where a fanboy vampire called Starz Charlie Blood resides along with other demons. Then a human girl enters the world and soon enough his world starts to get interesting, though things happen and he makes it his goal to bring her home. While I will admit that its not among the greatest of animes, its nice to have an anime about a fanboy of other animes and things. It just makes it funny, nostalgic and relevant to today's events and I love it. 9/10
21 - Neon Genesis Evangelion
Yes I know. Everyone loves this anime to the point of telling Guillermo del Toro, the director of Pacific Rim, that this exists. Now as everyone may remember, Pacific Rim was a film that pitted giant human controlled robots against kaju monsters and was largely set in Japan despite having a mostly American-British cast. Neon Genesis Evangelion follows a similar concept, but has been around longer than Pacific Rim so you could say that Pacific Rim is an unintentional live action version of this anime. Regardless, I gave Pacific Rim a perfect 10/10 because I didn't care much about its problems and just loved how well made it was and how it showed what summer blockbusters should be like and could be like. But anyway, I like NGE as well despite how complex it may be and I have to praise it for unintentionally helping in the creation of one of the best summer blockbusters in recent years. 10/10
20 - Akira
Highly regarded as one of the greatest anime films of all time, Akira is pretty awesome. It shows us what the world could be like should World War III be initiated as well as playing on the scenario of a guy being experimented on and becoming a major threat to the world because of the sheer amount of power he or she gets. It is a really good anime film. But why is it at number 20 you may ask. Well as much as I like it, it does at times sound very confusing, but I ain't letting that put me off from how freakin' awesome the film is. Its visually stunning, its well acted, it plays on the idea of disbelief so well and anyone who loves anime should watch this. Some moments may put you off, but it is awesome as I keep saying. 10/10
19 - Pokemon
Even though I may have said in the past that I was forced to watch this as a kid, over the years, I've actually come to like it. However like many fans, I have now come to understand the show's problem and its a problem that many long running cartoons have had. The age of the characters. In the case of Pokemon, we're expected to believe that Ash Ketchum is 10 for the entirety of the anime and yet he does so much that we begin to question why he hasn't been able to turn 11 yet. Most people nowadays would tend to see Red as the best Pokemon trainer of them all because of our disbelif of Ash. But when you really think about it, the anime wouldn't be where it is now if it wasn't for him. I've seen most of the anime, I've seen several of the films and for what it is, I enjoyed it. Not so much nowadays with other fans, but for a while, I liked it and one day I will play one of the main games and get passed the stage of playing nothing but Pokemon Go. Only time will tell if that happens though. 7/10
18 - Bleach
To sum up this anime, this is basically what the grim reaper does every day. It follows the adventures of Ichigo Kurosaki who obtains the powers of a Soul Reaper (which in Japanese, is literally Death God) and must use his powers to protect humans from evil spirits and guiding departing souls to the afterlife. Of all the anime things I've seen, this is among the few that in all honesty, doesn't go too over the top with what it offers. Its also one of a few that actually does well to give us a more pleasant Japanese pop song than something that too intense which isn't a bad thing as such. But its not great when you hear it all the time. But anyway, this anime is a good anime. Its funny, it explores a lot of things and I like it a lot. 9/10
17 - Planet Hulk
A lot of us know the Hulk as being this angry monster who wants nothing more than to smash everything. Well there was a time where his smashing proved to be so bad that fellow Avenger Iron Man and a group of the smartest minds in the Marvel universe, sent him away from Earth in the hopes to have him go to a planet where he wouldn't harm anything. Unfortunately, Hulk smashes the ship and instead enters a world where monsters like him have to entertain the locals by killing other monsters in order to gain his freedom. While largely based on the comic book of the same name, the film has us see Hulk in a whole new light. No longer do we see the smasher we've come to know and love. Now we see a monster who just wants to be free and to understand why so many people fear him. It is a great film and its also one that for all that Hulk is, is original. Its great, but likely not everyone's cup of tea. 7/10
16 - Death Note
Death Note is an anime that shows how a simple person can have the power to kill anyone he/she wants just by writing their name in something called the death note (hence the anime's name). While not the most original of scenarios, we get treated to some kind of demon who the person using the death note can be the only one that sees and hears it and so therefore the demon stays with this person until such an event occurs either with the death note or their own lives. The anime is very interesting and the more interested I was about it, the more I started to like it. It is one of the more serious animes in this list, but it is a very intriguing one at that which is why I like it. Its great, but sometimes very disturbing to a certain extent. 8/10
15 - Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva
I reviewed this one a while back so for a more in depth look at it, check out that review. So everyone knows the rules of the video game film. If its based on a good series of games, its going to suck (such was the case with Assassin's Creed, Angry Birds, Ratchet & Clank, Warcraft, Hitman, Doom and Super Mario Bros. just to name a few). If its a good film, then the games are going to suck. Basically one thing is going to be better than the other thing, but surprisingly, we finally got a film that broke that one rule. Now everyone knows of Professor Layton and how it managed to take on gameplay and combine that with anime style cutscenes and as such, it was a good series of games. So good in fact, that it helped the Ace Attorney games get the anime treatment too. The film is a good one as it remains faithful to the games from getting the animation nearly identical to bringing in the puzzle elements as well as the original voice actors too. Its a great and well made film and one day, we will get more good video game films. Its just good that there are a handful out there that are good.
14 - Batman: Gotham Knight
Of all the Batman films that I have reviewed on this blog, I don't ever recall reviewing Gotham Knight and well here we are. Like the Animatrix, this is an anthology film that brings in several short stories made by several different japanese animation companies all on Batman. While initially a tie in to Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy telling us of the events that took place between Begins and The Dark Knight, its good to know that all these stories could very well fit into any Batman timeline or continuity. Plus what makes this even better is we have Kevin Conroy reprising the role that made him a big name in the world of geeks. We have stories that show how Batman and Bruce Wayne handle pain, stories on how he tackled Killer Croc, Scarecrow and Deadshot on occasions and a few on how people see Batman whether they see him as a threat or the hope and protection that Gotham needs or deserves. Its a good collection of films that I could watch all day, even if it becomes too graphic for my liking. And its films like this that prove once and for all that Batman is an interesting character that you can make many stories about for many years to come. 9/10
13 - Teen Titans
So as I previously mentioned, I am including things from the west which even though may not technically be considered anime for whatever reason, the animation makes it difficult for me to differentiate the two. The original Teen Titans show was good in that unlike the comics, they actually look and act like teenagers. Skinny, have some form of hormones, a likeness for pizza and other typical teenager stuff. All the while saving places from the forces of evil. It had a lot of interesting story arcs, some being more dark than others. And it also made us fall in love with these characters. So much in fact that Cyborg became a member of the Justice League while Raven and Starfire have become eye candy for the men (and to a certain extent, so has Robin and Beast Boy for the ladies). Its fun, full of heart and joy, all while kicking some ass in the process. 9/10
12 - Yu-Gi-Oh!
With the popularity of the Pokemon trading card game in the 90s and early 00s, an anime would come to our attention that would turn a card game up to 11 with the idea of using beasts and status elements to gain the upper hand. The end result we got for this is Yu-Gi-Oh! Sounds like a pretty straight forward scenario and in all honesty it is, but with some likable characters and everything hanging in the balance of this game they play, this truly is an interesting anime, of course that's what makes it great. Its interesting, its marketable without doing to much of that and everyone including myself, like it. Not much else to say than just that. 9/10
11 - Spirited Away
It was difficult having to pick only one Studio Ghibli anime film to go on this list as plenty of them are really good and are certainly up there as some of the best animation of all time. So in the end, I went with the film that introduced me to the works of Studio Ghibli and that film is Spirited Away. It took me so long to find out the ending because the first time I watched it, I just didn't have much time to see it all. But having now watched it in its entirety, its a great film. Its about a girl who goes to this land and must serve as a maid of sorts at a bath house in order to save her parents who have turned into pigs. In this, we get to meet some interesting characters like a spider version of Eggman, a giant baby, a woman with many wrinkles and can fly despite being huge, a talking frog and of course, the power hungry consuming entity that is No-Face. Its a great film and one that certainly set the standard for anime to come following it. 9/10
10 - Code Geass
Much like with the anime previously listed, this is another anime where a human gets immense powers and uses it to achieve his goals. In this case, the character is a former prince called Lelouch who obtains a power called Geass and uses it to obliterate a superpower that has been conquering many countries, simply known as the Holy Britannian Empire. While it follows a scenario that has been used a lot before, all I can say is that its great. It uses giant robots, has characters that are both interesting and because of how they have been drawn, pretty attractive and its simply brilliant. Unfortunately Star Wars follows this scenario too and maybe does a better job of it, but this anime certainly gives Star Wars a run for its money. 8/10
9 - Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox
A while ago, I called this my all time favourite DC film and looking back at when I did that list initially, its still my all time favourite. It very action packed, its got us seeing a different side to Batman and other heroes and villains and it just makes me think how bad it could've been if we were living in a world like that. And then there's also the fact that The Flash TV series is playing on this storyline which makes me excited for how that will play out. I have yet to see it myself, but I have heard good things about it which is good. So yeah if you ever want to go back in time to save your loved ones, don't try it because this film tells you why as hard as it is.
8 - Fairy Tail
Fairy Tail has had a mixed to positive reception over the years and in all honesty, I think its great. Its like watching Harry Potter if all the characters had a wide variety of personalities and characteristics all while producing some magic to help in battles. You got a woman who can summon spirits, a man with a scarf who uses fire magic, a man who for some reason has a problem with wearing any form of clothing who uses ice magic as well as a talking blue cat and other things. And they are all part of a guild. I do have to say how very attractive these characters look which tends to be a common thing in most anime shows and films. But anyway, its a great series that's full of heart and humor with some serious moments in between and some good story arcs too. 8/10
7 - Cowboy Bebop
So I can see why so many people love this show. Its got a similar setting to Firefly in that its sci-fi, has some western themes and some interesting but likable characters. It takes place in 2071 where space travel is possible and focuses on this bounty hunter team who travel on their ship, the Bebop and take on various jobs to help them get by. Its a pretty good show that doesn't take itself too seriously and manages to give us some humorous moments as well as some serious moments too. Its fun, somewhat similar to Firefly and a very enjoyable anime all around. 9/10
6 - The Seven Deadly Sins
When I started using Netflix, the first anime I watched on it was The Seven Deadly Sins. A anime about this war between knights and the titular team where one side thinks the other side is the enemy, before realising that the whole thing was a manipulation from someone on the knights side. As such, a girl from one side, defects to the other side to reunite them all once again and it brings in a lot of humor, likable characters and plenty of action packed and sometimes emotional moments. Only thing that may put people off, is how the leader of one side has a perverted side underneath all that likability of his. But other than that, its a fun anime and definitely one that makes you have to choose sides, but not quite in the way Batman V Superman or Civil War did. 9/10
5 - Dragon Ball Z
Much like with Pokemon, everyone knows this anime. Basically think of a world where its just more Superman style people than anything else with everyone having these immense powers and using them to fight against those who want nothing but dominance among other things. You all know the Over 9000 meme as well as the team of dedicated fans called TeamFourStar. Not to mention the famous announcer at the beginning and end of every episode. While I sometimes wonder why have story arcs spread over several episodes while some of them could be done in very minimal episodes, it is a very action packed show. So action packed that it would give you an adrenaline rush. That's how great Dragon Ball Z is. Now as for the prequel and sequel, most people would tend to ignore one or both based on how they have performed. But if you want a true Dragon Ball experience, then Z is the way to go. 8/10
4 - Psycho-Pass
This is basically if we had an anime version of all those police force shows, but it takes place in the future and things work differently. So we meet a rookie cop who joins a team that consists of herself, her superior detective and about 4 enforcers. All get equipped with a gun that can make the decision of what to use against the target. So an example being if its a criminal who's killed dozens of people, the gun decides to allow whoever is using it to use lethal force. On the other hand, if its one of their own team members, the gun decides to go on stun. A pretty interesting concept, though I know the scenario has been used many times before. But having said that, there is a lot of things to enjoy in this anime. We get one story arc that mostly takes place in the online world and then we get another where a criminal has committed crimes and yet the gun somehow thinks the criminal has not committed crimes and therefore is disabled as a result. Its a pretty serious anime, but one that has some likable characters, pretty decent storylines and doesn't play out like normal police force shows tend to do which I'd say is good. 9/10
3 - Avatar: The Last Airbender
Like Teen Titans, Avatar is also technically considered a westernised cartoon, but the animation makes me believe that it has the workings of an anime. Now I've previously praised this show as being one of Nickelodeon's best shows in recent years. Its got great characters, a good balance of humor and serious moments and it always manages to get me pumped for the next episode in its series which is quite rare for me with most TV shows. Not only that, but it has some of the best animation I have seen, ever. It is a great show, whether its considered anime or not.
2 - Ghost in the Shell
In light of the live action remake being released this year, this was an anime that I heard good things about, but wasn't really sure if it would be as entertaining as critics have been calling it. And honestly, I like it. I'm not too sure about the whole idea of these human robotic beings being nearly butt naked when doing its job, but I can't really say that its a bad thing. The film is a good film and I love how it all plays out, but I guess if I watched more of the anime, then maybe I'll enjoy it more. It is a great anime don't get me wrong, but just misses the number one mark on this list. 9/10
1 - Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood
The perfect anime for me. This is pretty much the one that takes the cake. It has quite a sad story, but not too sad to the point of making it too serious. Its about these two boys who only want to reunite physically where one has a robotic arm and one is literally a suit of armour with no one inside. In doing this, they both learn about being alchemists and join the ranks of other alchemists like them to help stop a potential threat that threatens their very existence. Is a great anime with likable characters, a lot of action packed moments, plenty of humor with some serious moments here and there and has some great animation to go with all of that. And even the climax just makes me want more. And it's not even a one trick pony as it brings in new characters in every part of the anime that are interesting to watch. Love it. 10/10
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