So as the title says, this post provides a list of my current top 100 favorite anime/manga series, complete with an image and description of why I love the anime and/or manga for every entry on the list. You may be asking why I would find the need to make a top 100 list. Well, there’s a story behind it:
A few months back, a couple of guys came over for some tabletop gaming at our house for the first time. They were talking to me in our game room and one of them asked what Collectable Card Games (CCGs) we are into.
I said, “We (my wife and I) don’t really play any. We both used to play Magic, but don’t really play anymore. I’m not really into that sort of gameplay.” (I do actively collect the My Little Pony CCG, but no one really plays so I didn’t find the need to mention it.)
He then said, “Oh, well, you know they’ve brought out a new version of the Dragon Ball Z card game!” (He sees the anime wall scrolls in the house and seems to think this might be a way to entice me into getting back into CCGs.)
I respond, “I’m not really that big of a DBZ fan.”
And the two guys look at me like I’m some kind of alien for a second then say, “So your wife is the big anime fan then.”
“No, I’m the one who got her deep into anime. I liked DBZ well enough back in the day, but it’s not really one of my favorites anymore. It wouldn’t even be in my Top 100.”
And the other guy was like, “You have a Top 100?!”
So yeah, that’s how we got here. A conversation with a couple of casual anime fans planted the idea in my head and made me feel like it must be done. Just a quick description before I get into this thing, each entry in the top 100 is for the overall series/franchise. For example, my Evangelion entry includes the original TV series, the End of Evangelion movie, and the new Rebuild movies. The link provided is either the most relevant entry in the series for why I love it or just the first part of the series. So anyway, let’s get started!
Top 100 Anime/Manga Series
100. Serial Experiments Lain
When I was first getting really into anime in the late-1990s/early-2000s, Lain was all over the place. It was THE smarty-pants anime to be into to show that you’re a cool anime fan. It is still a rather interesting show, but it really didn’t age well, especially when it comes to the themes and technology in the show. You have to keep in mind that this came out nearly 20 years ago! Popular internet use was really new in those days and the predictions of what it would do to society in the long term was pretty off. Still a cool show and honored piece of anime history.
99. Dragon Half
Released in 1993, this little comedy OVA is the oldest thing on my list other than some classic Miyazaki movies. I’m not sure why, but this little two episode anime amused the crap out of me! I just found it very charming and stupidly hilarious. It also tickled a nice little fantasy itch so it made me happy there, too. Reminiscing about it, I really want to read the original manga now.
98. Gosick
What if Sherlock was a cute little loligoth girl? Victorique is just adorable and her relationship with Kazuya makes it all the cuter. Nice show!
97. Ikoku Meiro no Croisée
Speaking of cute girls, Yune is crazy cute and it’s very interesting to see how her Japanese ways mesh with those of her new 1800s Paris home and how she interacts with Claude.
96. Goth
And we go from the cute to the graphically violent. This cool single volume mystery story had some murder crime scene imagery that literally made me physically uncomfortable and that was just extremely fascinating to me.
95. Dragon Crisis!
And back to cute small girls with cute relationships! Yeah, Rose is a cute girl-thing and it’s fun to watch her relationships evolve. There’s also a guy with a suitcase handcuffed to his wrist, so that’s cool, too.
94. Higashi no Eden (Eden of The East)
Eden of the East is a fun show with an interesting male lead and likeable female lead. The game premise is also very interesting with how things work out, but it does feel a little dry at times. It’s definitely cool, though.
93. Seikimatsu Occult Gakuin (Occult Academy)
Occult Academy is just all over the place in very amusing ways. The Occult themes are played with well and the female lead is strong and dominant while the male lead is extremely submissive. This results in some fun situations and there are a number of cool and/or random twists that keep you on your toes more than most shows.
92. Ao no Exorcist (Blue Exorcist)
I’ve heard this shounen series described as a bit of a mix between Fullmetal Alchemist and Soul Eater. I think that’s a pretty apt description. Rin is a very interesting shounen lead since while he is determine to be tough and overcome an unfortunate fate, he is also a very good cook!
91. Papa no Iukoto wo Kikinasai! (Listen to Me, Girls. I Am Your Father!)
So this was a very surprising series. With a premise of a young male college student ending up as the guardian of his three young nieces, I was expecting some cheap and somewhat incestuous fan service. Now, while there was a small bit of these themes, it was nowhere near as prominent as I expected and the show was actually extremely sweet and had a lot of heart to it. It was a very touching series.
90. Highschool of the Dead
Yes, the fan service in the show is just damn ridiculous. Like, laughably and physics defying levels of ridiculous (boob bullet time!!), but if you can overlook it or enjoy it for its dumbness this really is a fun zombie show.
89. Kamisama no Memochou
There’s a NEET girl who calls herself Alice and is good at solving problems, but needs a team of people to take care of the physical stuff since she almost never leaves her room. The way she bosses around Narumi (a new member of the team) is interesting and it’s cool to see how he develops as a character.
88. Hoshi no Koe (Voices of a Distant Star)
This short film, Makoto Shinkai’s first major project, had me in major tears the first time I watched it. I rewatch it recently and it didn’t have the same impact that I remembered and the animation didn’t look as good, but it is still rather impressive when you take into consideration that Shinkai basically created the entire project all by himself! Good stuff.
87. Houkago Play
This 4-koma manga shows the relationship of a Girlfriend and Boyfriend who play video games. They are never given any names other than just being referred to as Girlfriend and Boyfriend. They have a relationship that I don’t think is very common in anime/manga. Also, I’d only ever read the original single volume book and because of doing this list I now know that there have been four sequels and a sidestory! I have some reading to catch up on.
86. Hanasaku Iroha
Hanasaku tells the story of a determined girl as she goes to live and work at her grandmother’s hot spring inn. Unlike most anime in this setting, the focus is not on fan service and instead is about the intricacies of running a business and what it’s like for the people working there. It’s interesting and cute.
85. Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru
This eccentric story is about an energetic girl working in a maid café. Like Hanasaku, there isn’t anywhere near as much fan service as you’d expect from the show based on this description. It’s mostly a silly slice of life comedy, but it actually hits a pretty deep emotional note near the end that got me pretty hard. It was a very nice surprise.
84. Alice 19th
Yuu Watase is probably best known for her Fushigi Yuugi and Ayashi no Ceres series, but the concept never really enticed me to get into that world, especially with how much anime and manga is involved in it. Maybe I’ll give it a try some day, but the much smaller self-contained story of Alice 19th was much more appealing to me. Alice 19th is something of a magical girl series similar in ways to Cardcaptor Sakura, but a bit more mature and a little darker at times.
83. Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko
This charming little Shaft series is about a strange girl who claims to be an alien from outer space and how she interacts with her cousin when he comes to live with her and his aunt.
82. Durarara!!
With its original story by the same creator as Baccano! (which is higher on the list), Durarara!! has a large cast of interesting characters. Although it can be chaotic to keep up with everything that is going on, it is a lot of fun.
81. Shinryaku! Ika Musume (Squid Girl)
Squid Girl is a crazy little creature who came from the sea to dominate humanity. She has the body of a little girl and powerful tentacle hair. She’d probably be able to succeed in her goal if it wasn’t for two things: she is hilariously stupid and clashes with a young boy and his two older sisters working at a restaurant on the beach.
80. Pale Cocoon
The shortest thing on my list by two minutes after Voices of a Distant Star, this short film is an interesting depiction of a dystopian sci-fi story. I really love this little film. Speaking of little films, I’d like to go ahead and give a shout-out to a couple of great little films that I just felt were a little too short to include on my big Top 100 list: Tsumiki no Ie and the Comdey short from Studio 4°C’s Sweat Punch compilation. Great stuff.
79. Strawberry Panic
Strawberry Panic is the only explicitly yuri item on my list. There are a few other entries that have yuri undertones or subplots, but this is the only one that puts lesbian relationships front-and-center. While there is some drama involved, this series is mostly just fun adorable fluff. But it is just such nice fluff!
78. Tokyo Marble Chocolate
I feel like I have probably use words like charming, sweet, and nice a little too much and will probably continue to use them as this list goes on. Oh well, this is a nice little charming OVA depicting a sweet romance story.
77. R.O.D OVA
In the early 2000s, this was one of the most attractively animated OVAs that was released. It has an interesting story about a girl who loves books and controls paper to fight bad guys. Yeah, it’s a little out there, but a lot of fun. Sadly, I’ve never gotten around to watching the TV series.
76. Ga-Rei: Zero
Beautifully animated with great action, this anime goes back and forth in some weird ways but is rather good in the end. I’ve began reading the original Ga-Rei manga, but haven’t gotten too far into it yet.
74. Kore wa Zombie Desu ka?
A high school boy who is technically a zombie ends up taking on the powers of a magical girl complete with frilly dress! One of the most amusing things I’ve ever seen in anime. Sadly, I have actually only seen the first season of the anime so far. I need to get caught up.
73. Tonari no Totoro (My Neighbor Totoro)
The first of a few movies on my list from Hayao Miyazaki. I mostly just like Totoro because it’s a rather cute movie and of course very well done.
72. Juuni Kokuki (The Twelve Kingdoms)
This was a rather critically acclaimed fantasy anime from over 10 years ago, getting a lot of attention for the female lead who is praised for having a pretty realistic reaction to being transported to a fantasy world and then gradually developing into a strong leader in the world. Unfortunately the series had a rather bad drop-off ending. I’ve heard that it is especially bad because the anime was originally meant to run for a few episodes longer, but ended earlier because of production issues.
71. Air
The company Key is known for producing very emotional dating sim games. Kyoto Animation is a studio known for having great production values. Put them together and you’re pretty much guaranteed to at least have something that’s rather good. Air is considered a bit of a classic in the genre by now and it packs a major emotional punch by the end; I cried pretty hard at the end.
70. Mushishi
Mushishi is a wondrous episodic journey in a fantasy world inspired by traditional Japanese folklore. It should probably rank higher on my list, but I wasn’t really able to connect with the characters as much as I’d have liked to. It’s still a great series, but I feel that it could have been better. While I’ve finished reading the original manga, I’m only about half way through the anime version.
69. Canaan
One of the lesser known series created by Type-Moon, the original creators of the Fate/ series. Personally I didn’t enjoy the old Fate/stay night anime an especially great deal, but I really connected with Canaan. It was a very good self-contained story that didn’t make me feel like I was missing out on a crap load of other story elements because I didn’t play/read the original material that inspired it. But I have heard very good things about the Fate/zero anime and the newer Fate/stay night; I’ll probably check them out eventually.
68. Watashi ga Motenai no wa Dou Kangaetemo Omaera ga Warui! (WataMote)
Almost more of a psychological study than a traditional slice of life comedy, this is a story that can be very compelling but could also hit a little too close to home for some people. I think the most natural reaction to Tomoko for most people is a bit of a love/hate feeling as she can be rather relatable for people who were/are socially awkward in school or other situations, but she is also just so damn bitter! In the end, if she doesn’t pull at least a little sympathy from you, this series probably won’t be for you.
67. Kuragehime (Princess Jellyfish)
Speaking of socially awkward girls, now we have Tsukimi and her roommates who all exhibit some kind of obsessive-geek behavior and have next to zero social skills. This series has more of a grown-up shoujo/josei style to it than WataMote’s traditional shounen slice of life style. This story is all about how the lives of these women get shaken up when a beautiful crossdresser enters Tsukimi’s life.
66. Alien 9
Now for some weirdness. I love Hitoshi Tomizawa’s style. Crazy creature designs, weird stories, and cute little girls. After a bit of a mediocre debut with Treasure Hunter Jubei, Tomizawa really found his niche from Alien 9 and onward when he mixed in the “cute little girls” portion of the equation. Maybe it’s a little screwed up to enjoy stories where young children are essentially traumatized and/or tortured, but it can give a story a rather interesting twist and kicks up the emotional investment up a notch.
65. Detroit Metal City
And now for some good old-fashioned bad-taste comedy! If you don’t think the yelling of the word “rape” over and over again by a death metal artist can ever be funny, this series probably isn’t for you. But everything in this series is so over the top that it is just ridiculous in the end.
64. Binbou Shimai Monogatari
Now back to some cute sweetness. The title translates to “Poor Sisters Story” and follows two poor sisters who are essentially orphans, but make the best out of their situation in the most cheerful and loving way possible. It’s a great little series.
63. Aishiteruze Baby
And MORE cuteness with this nice shoujo series about a high school boy who takes care of his young cousin. Damn, Yuzuyu is so freaking adorable! The story isn’t particularly deep very often, but it is some great feel-good fluff.
62. Minami-ke
This slice of life comedy follows three sisters and their lives together and at school. I don’t exactly remember where their parents are, but I don’t think they’re ever around for whatever reason. You know, parents are a bit of an endangered species in anime and manga (whether they’re dead, “disappeared”, or at work all the time). Anyway, yet another series that I need to watch/read more of.
61. Suki. Dakara Suki
I used to read/collect a LOT of CLAMP manga doing my best to own everything they’ve made. However, a little while ago I began to feel like I was just buying CLAMP manga just for the sake of buying it so when I was selling off a lot of my collection about half of my CLAMP stuff ended up going. Anyway, Suki was one of my favorites that made the cut to stay on my shelf and I consider it to be one of CLAMP’s most underrated titles. Yeah, very charming cuteness.
60. Mitsudomoe
Ahhh, when cute meets crass. Sometimes I feel like Mitsudomoe is much funnier than it should be, but I love it well enough. Probably not for everyone though.
59. Soul Eater
This is my wife’s favorite shounen anime and it is rather great. Great action, stylish, interesting concept, etc. I’ve been trying to read through the original manga, but I’ve been getting distracted by other things.
57. Boogiepop wa Warawanai: Boogiepop Phantom
Boogiepop Phantom was one of the first series that really made me make the shift as a sub-only anime watcher. The series just worked so much better in the original Japanese for me. And as for the series itself, it is haunting and interesting. I had some of the original novels for a while but never got around to reading them. I really need to try reading more....
56. Fruits Basket
This was one of the first really big shoujo anime to come out when I was really getting into the fandom. Funny and emotional and just a great story with an incredibly loveable female lead.
55. Milk Closet
Shortly after Tomizawa finished Alien 9 he seemed to realize he found his style and made another series about young kids being terrorized by crazy creatures. While Alien 9 was confined to a school setting, Milk Closet went all over the place crossing into different dimensions to deal with these creatures. Great stuff.
54. Mai-HiME
This series was a fun action series with interesting themes. I had tried the Mai-Otome spinoff series, but couldn’t really get into it. I prefer the traditional school setting opposed to the generic fantasy world that the spinoff was set in.
52. Moyashimon
A story about a guy in an agricultural college who can see microscopic organisms. Probably one of the most original concepts that I’ve come across for a series. It’s fun, interesting, and kind of educational!
51. Power!! (Girl Got Game)
A girl starts crossdressing to play basketball and falls in love with one of her teammates. Kind of a generic story, but it is executed very well. It has some of the most amazing facial expressions I’ve ever seen in a manga.
50. Toaru Majutsu no Index
The world of Index and its Railgun spinoff is a lot of fun and Touma and Mikoto are great lead characters.
49. NHK ni Youkoso! (Welcome to the N.H.K.)
Similar to how WataMote gets rather dark and can be a little too close to home for some people in relation to their high school years, N.H.K. can do the same for your adult years. While it can be fun to laugh at while watching this at times, it can more often be sad and touching. It’s a very interesting journey to watch.
48. Texhnolyze
Speaking of dark, the world of Texhnolyze is just downright grim. But it is just so captivating and heartfelt in its dystopian society.
47. Howl no Ugoku Shiro (Howl's Moving Castle)
I honestly wasn’t that big of a fan of Howl’s Moving Castle the first time I watched it, but it was amazing in the rewatch. I don’t know what my problem was during my first time seeing it. It also has probably the best English dub out of any of the Miyazaki movies I’ve seen. I think the fact that it’s one of his least Japanese movies helped my enjoyment in the English version.
46. Cardcaptor Sakura
The second and final CLAMP series on my list, Cardcaptor Sakura is a classic magical girl series. I originally watched the Americanized Cardcaptors version of the anime when I was a kid and then read the original manga later in life and the uncut anime. Good Stuff.
45. Escaflowne
And here’s another anime that had a heavily cut version air in the US in the late-1990s/early-2000s. Escaflowne has been considered one of the best anime ever made and it is rather great. I might need another rewatch to see if it’s held up over time.
44. Usagi Drop (Bunny Drop)
This series is kind of like Aishiteruze Baby but with a more serious tone to it. Instead of a single high school boy taking care of a young girl, it’s a single working man in his 30s taking care of a girl. The anime is very well done and the manga is really good too, but I haven’t quite finished the original manga and hear that it gets a little weird at the end.
43. Byousoku 5 Centimeter (5 Centimeters Per Second)
This is one of the most realistic high school love stories I’ve seen in anime. Things just don’t always work out in the end. Another great anime from Shinkai.
42. Zero no Tsukaima
The physical and verbal abuse of the male lead in a shounen romantic comedy can be off-putting to some people, but in all honesty Saito usually deserves the abuse he receives from Louise. As the series goes on from season to season, you really learn that the two of them just belong with each other; they deserve and even maybe enjoy what they do to each other. My favorite of the three seasons I’ve watch so far is easily the second, Futatsuki no Kishi, because I feel that was where the best development of their relationship took place. I still need to watch the final season.
41. Elfen Lied
Oh, Elfen Lied. Everyone’s favorite ultra-violent anime from the mid-2000s. The anime is a great stand-alone work, but the original manga is also rather good and adds a lot to the story if you can’t deal with the unanswered questions that the anime leaves behind.
40. Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
I didn’t really get into video games until I had money to buy my own Playstation. A friend of mine let me borrow his copy of Final Fantasy VII until I got my own and the game holds a very special place in my heart. It’s not my favorite video game of all time, but it was the first game (other than maybe Pokemon) that I invested over 100 hours in. I loved the Advent Children movie when it came out, but some of it felt a little off. Thankfully they later came out with the “Complete” cut which I felt was just perfect.
39. Kumo no Mukou, Yakusoku no Basho (The Place Promised in Our Early Days)
The final Shinkai work on my list, this movie came out after Voices of a Distant Star and he really refined his skills. Although other animation staff was brought in for this project, Shinkai still did the bulk of the work.
38. Gake no Ue no Ponyo
This is another Miyazaki movie that didn’t completely click with me the first time I watched it, but it really grew on me in time. It’s cute and fun and touching.
37. Clannad
Another project from Key, this series has a very heavy emotional impact. However, I still haven’t watched the second season, After Story. I’ve heard that is even more emotional than the first, so I really need to get around to watch it soon.
36. Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi (Spirited Away)
And now my favorite Miyazaki movie. Unlike Howl and Ponyo, I loved Spirited Away for the first time watching it and continued to love it just the same viewing after viewing.
35. One Punch Man
I think this is the newest series on my list. It is just a perfect shounen superhero anime in my opinion. I don’t think I’ll ever read the original manga since I love seeing it in animation too much, but I am hoping that they release more seasons of it. I’d love it if they start getting away for the whole Naruto/Bleach/One Piece shounen mentality of releasing a continues stream of anime for the manga, screwing up the pace and adding pointless filler in the process. I hope releasing 12-13 episode bursts will be the norm from now on, releasing new seasons when there is enough new manga to adapt. It kind of seems like they could be using this strategy for My Hero Academia as well. One can only hope this is becoming a thing.
34. So Ra No Wo To
Some people call this “Military K-ON!” and I don’t think that’s too far off. Thankfully for me, the military aspects of this series are rather underplayed for the most part since I’m not a huge fan of military themes. It’s mostly just a good slice of life series in a very interesting setting.
33. Mnemosyne: Mnemosyne no Musume-tachi
This is probably the most explicit series on my list. Yes, more explicit than Elfen Lied and Goth. Sex and Violence sells and this set of six double-length episodes just has loads of it! The main female character is immortal and that allows her to be tortured in horrible ways, usually in some kind of sexual nature. This may make me sound like kind of a bad person, but it is very interesting, well executed, and has a very cool story to back it up.
32. Shakugan no Shana
Shana is an adorable and interesting tsundere and the series has an interesting story and great action. Like Zero no Tsukaima, I still need to watch the most recent and final season.
31. NANA
NANA is a great shoujo/josei series about two girls named Nana and how they meet and end up living with each other. One is a rock star and the other is a hopeless romantic girly-girl. It’s a very touching series which made me tear up at least once during almost every episode.
30. Outlaw Star
My official first favorite anime ever. I just loved it when it was on Toonami in the early-2000s and it was the first anime that I ever bought on DVD. Just such a fun fantasy sci-fi series with great characters. Sadly, the animation is rather dated at this point so it may be a bit difficult for new fans to get into.
29. Tokyo Godfathers
I really like Miyazaki movies, but personally I love Satoshi Kon’s work more. Tokyo Godfathers has become a Christmas tradition in our house. It’s a crazy story about homeless people who find a baby in the trash, but it’s so touching and fun.
28. Great Teacher Onizuka
Best teacher ever! Not much else to say about GTO. It’s so funny and has great characters. Love it!
27. Eve no Jikan
From the creators of Pale Cocoon, this series takes a deep look into robotics and artificial intelligence. This takes a very everyday life, non-threatening look at the subject matter.
25. Sennen Joyuu (Millennium Actress)
More from Satoshi Kon, this is a simple story about a Japanese actress’ extraordinary life told in a very creative way.
24. Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei
The main character of this series is a high school teacher who is obsessed with trying to kill himself. Sound like a great premise for a comedy? Well, mix in a crazy cast of female students and crank the ridiculousness to 11 and it all works!
23. Baccano!
An endless supply of style and fun characters set in 1930s America.
22. K-ON!
I liked the first season of K-ON! well enough, but it really came into greatness for me with the second season. A big part of season two is that Mugi became my favorite character in the show. She is just so silly and awesome! Aside from that, it’s just a great slice of life series with some really nice music (especially the ending theme songs).
21. Mousou Dairinin (Paranoia Agent)
More Satoshi Kon! This series goes pretty deep into psychological themes and my favorite episode is when a group of three people make a suicide pact together on the internet and meet up in real life to carry out their end. Funny thing is that’s probably the most up-beat episode in the series!
20. Kaleido Star
My absolute favorite “suitable for all ages” anime. Following a Japanese girl going to the US to join an acrobatic performance troop (think something similar to Cirque du Soleil). It’s a great series about determination and following your dreams.
19. Fullmetal Alchemist
Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood is my favorite traditional shounen action/adventure anime series. I liked the original Fullmetal Alchemist anime well enough, but the story of Brotherhood was just so much better in my opinion. Now I’m not saying that as a manga adaptation purist; I never plan to read all of the original manga. I just felt that the first Fullmetal Alchemist went off into some weird places when it started making its own story after running out of manga to adapt. It just felt weird when they connected to our world and all that. Just wasn’t my thing.
18. Paprika
And now we have my favorite standalone anime movie of all time and the last movie Satoshi Kon finished before he died. I don’t really know what to say about it; I just love the story and animation. Great stuff and a wonderful legacy for Satoshi Kon to leave behind. I really hope someone is able to finish his Dream Machine project someday, though.
17. Nodame Cantabile
One of the most fun odd-couple anime pairs ever. Nodame and Chiaki are just great together and the music they make together (both figurative and literal) is wonderful.
16. Black Lagoon
Do you like Hollywood action movies? Then watch Black Lagoon! This is pretty much my standard recommendation for people who aren’t really into anime but are interested in trying it out.
15. Love Hina
And here we have my first ever favorite manga series. In the early-2000s I picked this series up along with Chobits. Is Love Hina a bit of a generic shounen harem rom-com? Yeah, but I still love it and it will always hold a special place in my heart.
14. Cowboy Bebop
Another anime that is largely considered one of the best of all time. It really is great. Great action, great episodic stories, great music, great characters; it’s pretty much the whole package and is an original self-contained story. Great stuff.
13. Genshiken
Just about the most realistic fictional depiction of otaku. There is a lot here for otaku to connect with or for casual fans to be educated on the ways of hardcore fans.
12. Kimi ni Todoke
My favorite shoujo series! Sawako and Kazehaya’s relationship is adorable and the supporting cast is great. I’m rather proud of myself that I’m pretty much caught up on all of the anime and manga of the series (up to the most recent volume I’ve bought in English). With at least 26 volumes worth of the manga being released in Japan so far, I’m really hoping that it ends soon. I mean, I love reading it, but I don’t want it to stretch on for too long and lose too much of its shine.
11. Evangelion
Yeah, Evangelion. The End of Evangelion might rank a little higher than Paprika when judging all anime movies. Some people get pretty annoyed by Shinji, but I’ve pretty much always maintained a sense of sympathy for his situation. He really got dealt a bad hand in life.
10. Azumanga Daioh
My all-time favorite slice of life series! Just such a fun little series and, in my opinion, the most perfect manga-to-anime adaptation I’ve ever seen. Just wonderful.
9. Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
EPIC!! That’s just about all I really feel like I need to say about Gurren Lagann.
8. Katanagatari
Although I haven’t actually read the original light novels, I feel like Katanagatari is the most concise anime adapted from a light novel series. A finished series of 12 books was adapted into an anime with 12 double-length episodes. Perfect anime with great dialog, awesome and epic action, and some emotional twists and turns.
7. Haibane Renmei
For most of the first half of the 2000s, Haibane Renmei stayed strong as my #1 favorite anime. It’s touching, spiritual, calm, introspective, etc. Just a wonderful series that explores some great themes.
6. Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica
The series that completely turned the Magical Girl genre on its head in a very serious way. It was probably the first series that did a deconstruction of the genre in a serious and dark way instead of a comedic way. Stylish and emotional greatness. I actually still need to watch the movies, but hope to watch them soon.
5. Bakemonogatari (Monogatari Series)
That dialog! Those characters! Just love it. I went on and on about why I love the Monogatari Series in a blog post a few weeks ago, so I won’t go deep into it now.
4. Toradora!
Best rom-com anime ever! Best female anime character ever! Yay ultimate tsundere!! That is all.
3. Higurashi no Naku Koro ni
A crazy story with fun and interesting characters. Some people like analyzing mystery stories and trying to figure out the story before it ends, but I just like being along for the ride and Higurashi was a great ride. And what I think really makes Higurashi great in my eyes as a mystery is that I still love rewatching it. I’ve watched the series (the first and second seasons) all the way through at least three times already and would love to watch it again!
2. Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou
My #1 favorite manga. It’s a wonderful and lovely look at the apocalypse. Instead of being filled with despair and violence, the world of YKK has a sense of calm and hope in the future with new forms of beauty taking over the world. These 14 manga volumes are a quick read that I would recommend to anyone. I’ve heard that there are some people who can’t get into it, but you would know after reading the first volume if it’s for you or not so you’ve only got about 30 minutes to lose.
1. Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu
And after ten years, the Suzumiya Haruhi series is still my #1 favorite. I find it funny how the 2009 episodes with Endless Eight killed the series for so many people. I personally thought E8 was brilliant and one of the most amusing experiences I’ve ever had as an anime fan. Although most of that is due to how crazy other fans got over it. I’ll always love the series. I just hope the damn author will get back to writing again and finish off the series. Some more anime would be nice, too.
And that’s it! I’ve made a Top 100 list of my favorite anime and manga series! Hope some people found it fun to go through. If you actually read every word I wrote, damn, thanks! You must have either been really bored or I’m a more interesting writer than I thought. This list will likely evolve and I might post an update in a few years. I have it on an Excel spreadsheet for easy adjustments. So anyway, until next time!
Posted by
pluvia33
| May 22, 2016 3:51 PM |
5 comments
I read the whole list and found only 26 I've already seen :-)
Here are some of them with some comments from me :-)
Dragon Half - I would love to see more of the story animated. Hoshi no Koe (Voices of a Distant Star) - This was also my first Makoto Shinkai anime. When I watched it around 2008 I also thought it was great. But then I watched more anime, and more Shinkai stuff, and while I still can see good parts in it, it's not that great anymore. Pale Cocoon - I had to watch it couple of times to fully understand the story :-) Majo no Takkyuubin (Kiki's Delivery Service) - The most re-watched anime from Studio Ghibli on my completed list. I've already seen it 4 or 5 times :-) Byousoku 5 Centimeter (5 Centimeters Per Second) - This was the first anime with a bit sad ending that I've seen. Zero no Tsukaima - You have no excuse to not watch the final season :-) Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children - FF7 was my first jrpg game I've played (back in 1997). I agree that the first version of the movie was not that great, but the "Complete" version is perfect :-) Kumo no Mukou, Yakusoku no Basho (The Place Promised in Our Early Days) - After "5 Centimeters Per Second" I wanted to see another anime by Makoto Shinkai and this was what I watched. Clannad - This was the first anime to made me cry. And for two different reasons. First, I laughed till tears when Tomoya got two achievements at once (one for manipulating Fuko and the other one I still can't remember). Second, I the "After Story". But I do not write when, as it would be spoiler :-) Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi (Spirited Away) - The first anime I watched dubbed in Polish :-) Shakugan no Shana - I waited almost two years to watch the final season. And I'm ashamed it took me so long to do so :-) Outlaw Star - I would love to see other works in the Toward Stars Era animated. Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica - I watched it for the wrong reason :-P Everyone was talking about it, so I looked at it and saw it was magical girl. I thought it couldn't be anything good, so I decided to watch it to see how bad taste people can have :-) Higurashi no Naku Koro ni - A friend of mine told me that I would love it. So I started watching it without knowing what it was. After the first scene and following episode I was convinced that it would be a nice mystery anime. You can imagine how my faced look while I was watching episode 4 :-) Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou - If it gets proper anime adaptation it could rival "Aria" as the best SoL anime ever made :-) Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu - How about the movie? Or the entry is for the whole series ?
@mikebz45
Haha! Well, I think at least with Higurashi, I made you watch that when you visited me at Holloman that one time! I might have made you watch Haruhi then, too. And we watched Azumanga Daioh together back in the day! Fun times. ^_^
Wow. I can't believe I "went" through the list. I skipped the ones I knew of or plan to check out. Surprised that I saw most of your top 20; thought there would be fewer of those there.
Read through the whole thing. I've seen some things on there, some I had already planned to watch/read, and some things I now plan to watch/read. Those include:
Seikimatsu Occult Gakuin
Hanasaku Iroha
Mekakushi no Kuni
Air
Kuragehime
Detroit Metal City
Moyashimon
Byousoku 5 Centimeter
Zero no Tsukaima
AnoHana
Sennen Joyuu
Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei
Mousou Dairinin
Kaleido Star
Genshiken
Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou