So I was skimming a few anime blogs and decided to read their favorite 10, or 20, or 30 anime series of all time. I got to thinking about what I would consider my top however many anime series. So I decided to make a list. I am making some rules to this list. It has to be on my completed list on myanimelist.com. You can find my list here, . I will also include any series that I want on the favorites list that are more than 50 episodes and still running. I will also exclude movies and live action stuff. So here it is, my top 30 favorite anime of all time, until something better comes along. Note: much of this list will probably change depending on how I am feeling from day to day. Many series could easily just swap places with one another. Also there will probably be spoilers. But enough of that, onto the list!
30. Shrine of the Morning Mist: I first saw this series when I watched anime OnDemand. And it was weird. Magical shrine girls fighting against an age old curse to save the main heroines crush, who is also her cousin. And I think their grandmother is an immortal cat. But when I looked past the weirdness I saw surprisingly fun characters that grew with the series, and it was also just funny. For like a third of the series the girls think that the love interest is actually having a torrid affair with another male classmate, and the way they go about it is honestly funny. And the villains are so sympathetic, I think they became some of my favorite characters in the series. It is a bit of a guilty pleasure, as the incest romance makes thing awkward at the best of times, but still, it has its high moments and just makes me smile.
29. Acchi Kocchi- God damn Io is the single best male character in the world. The dude is smooth as hell, makes all the ladies, and most of the men, and all animals, fall in love with him at a drop of a hat, and isn't a douche bag at all. He is really nice and doesn't try to make people love him, they just do. Also he could probably fight on even ground like 50 shonen protagonists. But he is not the reason this is on my favorites list, though he helps. I loved the dynamics between the characters. The romance was cute and the characters were funny. It was moe as hell, but sometimes I just like moe. This was a fun series, though you might go into diabetic shock if you watch too much too quickly.
28. Ben-To- Ben-To is fascinating to me on two levels. The first is a very academic, anthropological level. The sub group in society those fighters created is amazing, and with a few leaps of logic you can see how and why everything in their little society fits together. From the nicknames to the holy stickers, to their rules, you can make a case of how it developed and grew. But on another level, it is a show about people beating each other up for cheap food, and it is awesome. This is a show that you can turn off your brain and just have some fun. It isn't perfect, but it is fun, and that's all you need sometimes.
27. Wedding Peach- This series strong point was its natural development of the main characters blossoming romance. Yes, it was very silly. Yes, it was ridiculous. But the romance is one of the best I have ever seen in anime. Everything else you can find in my larger review. It is just a good magical girl show.
26. C: The Money and Soul of Possibility Control- I first saw this series the same summer I started this blog. I actually thought about writing a post about the show, but it just never came together. But here is a good time to do it. C was a really great series, mixing economics and high concept battles, using money as both health and power levels. It had some really cool concepts. The only real negative is how bad it ends. This show just needed a better ending, and an explanation of what the whole economy fights were. But up until the end this show had me completely captured.
25. Jyu Oh Sei- This was one of the first series that actually forced me to stop watching an episode and just look at a wall or something, because I needed a moment to just process what was going on. This is another OnDemand anime, from my youth. And I think I was too young to watch this show. Not because of violence or sex or anything like that, but just because this was a very mature show. It dealt with things that I was not yet ready for, and because of that it holds a special place in my heart. I plan on rewatching this series again one day, and give it a really deep look though. But until then I can look back of my memories of a character named Thor, who had a light-saber, fighting for his life on a planet made up of mostly plants and trying to become the Beast King.
24. Azumanga Diaoh- To be honest, most of the love I feel for this series comes from the manga. But I did watch the series first, it is just that I feel the manga is the superior of the two. But the anime is really great. It is a perfect representation of the feeling and connections one makes while in school, with friends and teachers, and even the feeling of having to leave that place and even though you know you will always be connected to those people, it is still sad. Of course this isn't a sad series, it is a nice, relaxing series. It is the perfect show to sit back and relax with.
23. Hunter X Hunter- I first read the manga for this series when I was a kid. I loved everything about it, how dark it was, the characters, the world, it was, and still is, one of my favorite manga series of all time. I found the older anime adaptation while reading the manga, and while it wasn't bad, I could never really get into it. But then I heard about the 2011 adaptation, and I was so excited. And that excitement has paid off. This is one of the best anime adaptations I have ever seen. It is faithful to the manga, but still explores some of the fights and character moments that the manga didn't go into for one reason or another. What I love about Hunter X Hunter is that it is almost a dark mirror to every other shonen manga series when it came out. It started about the same, young man in fantasy world, makes friends and fights, but it takes so many dark turns and twists that it is almost a parody of those shonen shows. Everybody dies, gruesome deaths are possible, and the heroes do dark and dirty things to save the day. Also, the main character is not na ve about sex or women, not is he a pervert.That little thing always made me smile, because if you look at most shonen main protagonists, they fall into one of those two categories, or they just don't care about women. Gon, he is an experienced ladies man, and knows it.
22. Space Brothers- This show is just amazing. I connect to the main character a lot. I empathize with his life practically, and really understand where he is coming from with his decisions and how he sees himself and the world. But that's not the sole reason I like this show so much. This show really stands apart from others. I mean, it is a show about people in their late 20s to 30s trying hard to live their dreams. Where else do you see that in anime today? Space Brothers is an inspiration and I can't wait to see Mutto make it to the moon and Mars.
21. Jojo's Bizarre Adventure- I am completely new to the world of Jojo. All have seen is the 2012 anime that came out recently. I've heard about the series in the past, when I was young and read Shonen Jump monthly, but back then I just never got into it. And I feel like I missed a truly great ride. The 2012 anime adaptation, covering the first two arcs in the Jojo manga, is wonderful. The show is alive with energy and action, and is really a fun time. It is just a fun show to watch, and see how ridiculous it can get. From Speedwagon and Zeppeli , Dio's cries of WRRRRRRYYYYYYYYYYY, the Sword of Luck and Pluck, and that's just the first arc! My favorite moment still is when I first realized that Speedwagon's whole name was basically R.E.O. Speedwagon. I hadn't realized until that point all of the musical references that were going around, and it made it much more fun to spot them. I love this show, and I hope that they adapt the later arcs also.
20. Mobil Fighter G Gundam- I've never been much into the Gundam series. I respect it as a franchise, but I could never really get into any individual series. All except G Gundam. I watched this show on Toonami as a kid, and every episode was incredible. The way they piloted the robot was just the right way to do it for me. It wasn't sitting inside some lame cockpit hitting buttons and switching levers, it was actually one to one fighting. It was based on combat skills and knowledge of some kind of martial art. And the story is actually really good. It is a tale of revenge and finding lost loved ones. Mixed inside a huge giant robot fighting tournament. Yes, it is silly at times, and a bit racist, Tequila Gundam comes to mind, but it was awesome. There was a German ninja for Christ's sake! This show is awesome, and no one can say otherwise.
19. Kamisama no Memochou- The first episode of this series was actually an hour special, mashing the first two episodes into one. It presented all the major characters, set up the relations between them, and presented us with a very human mystery, about finding lost friends and how people have two sides and stuff like that. It set up perfectly the themes and tone of the series. It was a fanciful NEET detective series with crimes that had an emotional impact, mostly because those crimes could happen to people we know. All seen through the eyes of a character that started out as the Shinji everyman, but grew into a force to be reckoned with by the end. This series actually made me cry a bit at the ending, it had that much of an emotional impact. It was a beautifully done show.
18. Bodacious Space Pirates- I came into this series with no hopes for it. At most, I was hoping for something so over the top that I could watch it for its pure ridiculousness. Instead I got a show that really was better than it should be.From its pumped opening to watching the politics of the space pirates to the teenagers, who we all know will eventually replace the current crew of the Bentenmaru, this show was fun and just really well done. My only complaint is that I would have liked for it to focus some more on minor characters have a lower decks episode or something, but that is such a minor complaint for a show that grew with the main character. I am sure that a show like this will never get a second season, but if it did I would watch it in a heartbeat.
17-Tsukikage Ran- I love samurai stories. The romantic notions of crossing blades, of warlords and warriors, or small time gangsters and of course of the wandering samurai, has always appealed to me. Tsukikage Ran is possibly the best example of this type of story. The episodic nature of the series really helps it, making it like a classic samurai movie series. One of those with 20 movies and one main character, like the Zatoichi series. This is a classic little series that I don't really hear much about, but I think it is better that way. It is understated, and nice.
16. Marmalade Boy- Marmalade Boy is what I consider to be the first real romance anime I ever saw. It was a complicated mess of love triangles and connections, bad parenting, and, when I was a child, and twists that just made the main romance a bit squicky for a second. And I still love it. I actually like seeing how the connections formed and how the sub characters would find love in over sub characters. I admit, this is not the best romance anime every created, but there is something about it that drew me as a kid, and still makes me like it. It is a part of my early watching experience and something that I will always hold dear.
15. Moyashimon- I like different shows. Shows that aren't the usual action anime, or shows that break out of genre restrictions. Moyashimon is one of those shows. I mean, it is a show about alcohol, microbes, fungus, and college life. It is about fermentation, science, and making friends. The only reason I got into this show is because I accidently watched the first episode of its sequel season, and felt obliged to check out the first episode of the original season. And it was worth it. Personally, while I think the second season isn't as good as the first, I think it is still pretty good. And the microbes make the show.
14. Nerima Daikon Brothers- You have probably never heard of this show. And that is fine, because it is not the family friendly music show you want. It is the raunchy, taboo laden, panda fucking, Blues Brothers inspired mix of insanity and awesome you need. This is a strange show, about two brothers and their cousin who are trying to make it big in the world of music, and instead farm daikon and try to scam evil people out of the money that they themselves lost earlier that episode. And then lose that money because they are incompetent. This show is fantastic, a musical comedy with man whoring and pandas. Also the music is really catchy.
13. Nichijou- To me, a good slice of life anime should be funny, a little weird, and ultimately something to relax to. Nichijou is this in spades. It is hilarious, it is very strange, and I can put it on just sit back and relax. It is one of the best slice of life anime I have seen, and every episode took the world this show took place in and ran with it. While incredibly weird, you really get the feel that the world those characters lived in was normal for them, which makes it all the more funny. Also, it had the vice-principle fight a deer. That was awesome.
12. Sakigake!! Cromartie High School- First of all, this show has Freddy Mercury. Any series with Freddy Mercury in it is automatically awesome. But beyond that, Cromartie High School is a great comedy, with perfect timing and a wonderful sense of the absurd. It is just a strange little show that gets funnier with every episode. It is entirely too self-aware, referencing the manga it is based on. For more, go read my full review on the series. But it is just awesome.
11. Irresponsible Captain Tylor- if you didn't know, I really like science fiction. Everything from Star Trek to Star Wars, from Battlestar Galactica to Farscape, I love spaceships and space operas, strong captains and strange aliens. Irresponsible Captain Tylor takes everything I love about science fiction and turns it around and twists it and makes it 1000% better. The story of Tyler, from a bum who just wants an easy life to an intergalactic hero, is really fun. Again, you can go read my review for my full opinion.
10. Cowboy Bebop- There is not much I can say about this classic anime. If you haven't seen it, go fix that. If you have seen it, then you know just how good Cowboy Bebop is. It is a classic piece of animation, with great characters and great stories. Go watch it, it is great.
9. Daily Lives of Highschool Boys- This series is great on two levels. The first is that it is a perfect parody of all those moe girls doing x, usually just hanging around and talking and being nice to one another. It takes those usual tropes and twists them into a series where guys are talking about how much they hate their friends, even though they are still their best friend, and how sisters are scary creatures outside their usual perceived human standards. But on another level, it is a perfect representation of what it's like to hang out with other guys. I've had some of the conversations that go on in this series. It is a great comedy that I would recommend for anyone. Especially those who love, or hate moe anime.
8. Beck Mongolian Chop Squad- I am pretty sure that I have mentioned before that I love musical anime. I love shows with bands and music and stuff like that. And I believe that Beck is the single best musical anime ever made. The story of the life of a band, from first inception in the mind of a random dude, to it slowly growing and getting band members, to the band getting big and, well any more would be spoilers. Beck is in an incredible show, both musically and as a story about growing up, about being a teenager, and just having to deal with the oncoming adulthood. Also it has Freddy Mercury in it for a brief moment, and any show with Freddy Mercury in it is awesome.
7. Tsuritama- This show is basically Beck but with fishing and aliens. That might sound strange, and it is. This show is essentially about growing as a human being, crossing that line from teenager to adult. The main character is the perfect representation of the awkward adolescence of the modern day, his constant checking of the internet for understanding represents the modern day bit. And his journey from a person who can barely talk to another human being without blowing up on himself, to a leader of a small team of people and saving the whole world is a great metaphor for just growing as a confident person. It is a show that struck close to home for me, and I love it for that.
6. Baccano- Baccano is the anime that I recommend for anyone just getting into the whole anime thing. It is fast paced and bloody and fun, but also has some really good and intelligent storytelling, and a good amount of mystery and fantasy mixed in. It is also one of the best dubs ever made. Seriously, the dub for this show is amazing, possibly because the show takes place in America. Go watch Baccano, and then watch it again, because it is worth it.
5. Katanagatari- This show is just beautiful. From the art, to the story, to the characters, to the weapons, this show is just amazing. Honestly, the advancement of the main character throughout the series is one of the best I have seen. There is not much to say about this series that I haven't already said.
4. Giant Killing- This is the single best sports anime you will ever see. ETU! ETU! ETU! ETU! ETU!
3. Bartender- I found Bartender on a list of shows that people probably haven't heard of. It seemed so different and strange that I just had to give it a watch, and it was worth it. To me, alcohol is really interesting. The meanings behind the drinks and the history of an alcohol is really cool to me. But that is not the sole reason I love this show. It is because of the way they told the stories. Each episode told its story in a completely different way. Yet oddly enough never from the perspective of the titular Bartender. That actually made me so interested about the character I sought out the manga, and now read it regularly. It is an intriguing series that I would recommend at the drop of a hat.
2. Trigun- I didn't watch Trigun when I was a kid and it was on Adult Swim. I just never watched it. But one day a few years ago I randomly remembered that this series existed, and decided to give it a watch. And I was amazed. The ballad of Vash the Stampede, the man the 60 billion double dollar bounty on his head, The Human Typhoon, was just so well done. Everything about this show, from the characters to the evolving story, was just done perfectly. If pressed, I would call Trigun the perfect, or at least the closest to being perfect, series ever made. But it is not the number one on my list.
1. Super Gals- I've talked about how important Super Gals was to me growing up. It made Monday a great day for an entire year, because every Monday was another day that Super Gals came out. I connected with so many of the characters, and rooted for the couples and Ran Kotobuki became one of my role models growing up. This show is about feminism, and being what you want to be, and that regardless of age, gender, race, anything you make who you are, and not anyone else. I love this show, and it has helped me grow and become a better person. It helped me in my adolescence, and it will continue to help me in the future. This is my favorite show, of all time.
And that was my favorite 30 anime I have seen. I expect this list to change about 10 seconds after posting this, as I remember some long forgotten anime, or realize that I never really liked this show or that show on this list. You know how it goes. So until next time, have fun watching.
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