Anime

DISCLAIMER: All artwork, characters, stories, and anime are Copyright their respective owners. They are NOT of my making.

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Top 10 Anime/Manga Series List
Top 8 Anime Movies List
What I Look For In A Focus
Top "10" Anime/Manga Guys List & Runners Up
Top 10 Anime/Manga Girls List
Honorable Mentions: A-C, D-F, G-K, L-R, S-T, U-Z
Top 7 Anime/Manga Villains List
People I Just Plain Hate List
Top 10 Anime/Manga Fights List
Anime Smiley Dictionary: Lesson 1, Lesson 2, Lesson 3, Lesson 4
Ichigo Trinity: Unraveling the Mystery of Ichigo's Enormous Power
Runaway Dream: Deconstructing Griffith
The Many Faces of Fukki
The Saint Seiya Drinking Game

Top 10 Anime/Manga Series List
Standardized Rating System
: Story, : World, : Powers, : People,
: Action, : Drama, : Humor

BERSERK

Set in medieval times, the TV series is basically one long flashback that sets up the rest of the manga. It is dark, serious, brutal, addicting and one of the greatest cases of character study/development in anime. Griffith has one of the most complex, charismatic, and powerful personalities I have ever seen. It completely eclipses everybody else in the show. The manga itself is even better, and a true Wiccan revisionist dream!

Related Links: Runaway Dream, Carol of the God Hand, Griffith Cosplay
Song I Associate With It: "Empty Walls" by Serj Tankian

Story
World
Powers
People
Action
Drama
Humor
Average: 4.6

SLAYERS

Whatever you're looking for, Slayers has it. It is probably the most diverse show I have ever seen that still manages to keep a coherent plot going on in the background. It can be silly, dark, bloody, funny, serious, action-packed, or completely random, and it never ceases to entertain. Lina Inverse, the heroine of the show, is unlike any other girl in anime and truly does take center stage.

Story
World
Powers
People
Action
Drama
Humor
Average: 4.6

PANDORA HEARTS

Here is a series with a rather ominous, creepy mood combined with laugh out loud humor and a very intricate plotline. Most of this plotline revolves around a tragedy that took place 100 years ago, and the intricacy comes from the challenge of piecing together the scattered memories of several characters in order to figure out what exactly happened back then. With such wonderful characters and an intriguing story, what's not to love? The anime follows the manga nearly verbatim and at a very good pace.

Related Links: Trouble in Wonderland
Song I Associate With It: "Bye Bye Beautiful" by Nightwish

Story
World
Powers
People
Action
Drama
Humor
Average: 4.4

YU YU HAKUSHO (Poltergeist Report)

Yu Yu Hakusho has not only some of the most memorable characters in anime (Kurama, Hiei), but also some of the most impressive fight scenes. Most of the longer story arcs follow a very linear tournament setup, which I enjoy because it gets to the fighting faster. But if that's not enough for you, there is enough drama built up between opponents to make you care about what's happening.

Story
World
Powers
People
Action
Drama
Humor
Average: 4

BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL

Manji, a skilled fighter cursed with immortality until he atones for his crimes by killing 1,000 evil men, decides to help Rin avenge her family's deaths at the hands of the Itto-ryu sword school. It is an odd mix of Japanese feudal culture, political intrigue, gratuitously bloody fight scenes, and morbid humor. There are many things you can do to a guy that can't die.

Story
World
Powers
People
Action
Drama
Humor
Average: 4

BLEACH

A series that gets exponentially better* through the Soul Society arc, the story snowballs into mind-blowing revelations and shocking plot twists. The TV series follows the manga very closely and even expands upon it. The world, the powers, the fights, and the story arcs are amazing in themselves, but what impresses me the most is how many fascinating characters you can fit into one series.

Related Links: Ichigo Trinity

*Actually I'm gonna have to cut off my adoration of Bleach at the conclusion of the Soul Society arc (or possibly up until the Ichigo-Hollow rematch), since it has degenerated significantly afterwards.

Story
World
Powers
People
Action
Drama
Humor
Average: 4.7

HOUSHIN ENGI (Soul Hunter)

Taikoubou is sent down to Earth in order to stop the evil Dakki who has seduced the Emperor of China to obey her every whim. He soon realizes it is too much for him to handle alone and goes on a quest to win powerful allies over to his side, some by force, some by cunning, some by sheer cuteness. There's some great characters and fights in this anime, but it has nothing on the manga. The manga brings the story to a climactic conclusion that the anime only hints about.

Related Links: The Many Faces of Fukki

Story
World
Powers
People
Action
Drama
Humor
Average: 4.6

SAINT SEIYA (Knights of the Zodiac)

Truly this is the Holy Grail of shounen anime. It's like an endless parade of character templates that would appear in all the series to come. I doubt there is a power in existence that this show failed to cover. The main characters are determined, dramatic, and relentlessly cheesy. The battles are very formulaic, and the overall story patterns so repetitive that it's easy to confuse a current event with a flashback. But that's what makes it so awesome!! Like an old Kung Fu movie. :P

Related Links: The Saint Seiya Drinking Game
Song I Associate With It: "It's Raining Men" err, I mean "Rain of a Thousand Flames" by Rhapsody of Fire

Story
World
Powers
People
Action
Drama
Humor
Average: 4.4

ANGEL SANCTUARY

Angel Sanctuary has a promo OVA out, but it does no justice to the actual manga. The manga is not only much more in-depth and notably different, it also goes far faaar beyond the OVA. The series is a twisting moral rollercoaster that's guaranteed to make you rethink the nature of good and evil by the time it's through. It'll blow your mind, man!! O.o Also, Lucifer is really unbelievably hot.

Song I Associate With It: "Heaven's a Lie" by Lacuna Coil

Story
World
Powers
People
Action
Drama
Humor
Average: 4.3

D.GRAY-MAN

I'm at a loss at how to describe this series. Its quirkiness ranges from bizarre to incoherent, but just keep reading and hope it'll make sense later. The plot revolves around the Black Order's Exorcists hunting down Akuma controlled by the Earl. And the Earl has his own fighting team of Noahs who hunt down Innocence (and the Exorcists who use it). Yeah, something like that... I'm in it for Kanda and Tyki. ^_^;; Oh yeah, there's also an anime, but it drags on and then stops short of any real resolution, so I'd recommend going straight to the manga.

Song I Associate With It: "End of All Hope" by Nightwish

Story
World
Powers
People
Action
Drama
Humor
Average: 4.3

Top 8 Anime Movies List
1	AKIRA Every time you watch it you see something new!	5	SWORD OF THE STRANGER A sweet, bloody story set in feudal Japan.
2	SPIRITED AWAY Wonderful thing to watch before bed.	6	SPRIGGAN Smooth, brutal action.
3	POLTERGEIST REPORT Some of my favorite characters in some of their best fights.	7	PRINCESS MONONOKE Nice pro-environmental message.
4	FINAL FANTASY VII: Advent Children Some of the prettiest guys to ever grace the screen engaged in jaw-dropping action. Related Links: Jenova's Legacy	8	PAPRIKA One hell of a mind trip.

The Saint Seiya Drinking Game

(Guaranteed to get you drunk in 3 episodes or less)
Take a drink when....

1. A main character says something about friendship in the middle of battle. (Take another drink if the others do also.)

2. A main character cries. (Take another drink if all 5 main characters begin to cry in the same scene.)

3. A main character “dies.” (Take another drink if he comes back to life in the same episode.)

4. Shiryu loses his eyesight.

5. Shiryu strips off armor in the middle of battle.

6. Shun strips off armor in the middle of battle.

7. Shun says he doesn't want to fight and tries to reason with his opponent.

8. Shun says “nii-san.”

9. Ikki saves Shun.

10. Ikki uses Genma Ken. (Take another drink if it doesn't work.)

11. Shun fights a musical Saint.

12. Somebody explains Shun's sacrificial role as Andromeda.

13. Hyoga uses Diamond Dust... and nothing happens.

14. Hyoga thinks about his mother.

15. Seiya uses Ryuseiken.

16. Seiya's arrow misses Poseidon.

17. A girl shows interest in Seiya. Seiya is oblivious (by virtue of his own personality, or being unconscious, etc.)

18. Somebody gets their 5 senses removed.

19. One of the main characters is wrapped/strangled in something tentacle-like.

20. The current bad guy says, "You're just Bronze Saints! You'll never defeat me!" (Take another drink if the bad guy is beaten up by the Bronze Saints.)

21. Somebody says “that attack will never work against me.”

22. Somebody says “the same technique doesn’t work twice on a Saint.” (Take another drink if it works anyway.)

23. Somebody is declared the strongest among their peers, and then somebody else is, and then somebody else is, etc.

24. Saori is slowly dying somewhere and needs rescuing.

25. Seiya has fallen and can't get up (and needs somebody to either morally or physically help him).

DISCLAIMER: All artwork, characters, stories, and anime are Copyright their respective owners. They are NOT of my making.