Volt1993's Blog

Back to Volt1993's Blog

So here is my list. My method for rating anime is very simple. I don't have a checklist to make sure each anime I watch as the necessary criteria that an anime is supposed to have. If thats what you do, then cool, but that sucks the fun out of it for me.

My literal requirement for rating something a 10 (Masterpiece) is asking myself: "Am I glad I got to see this before I died?" If the answer is yes then it is a 10. If the answer is no, its something else.

So without much further ado, the list:

10. Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, rating: 9

Babbies first mecha? Sure, but that doesn't make it not enjoyable. The story heavily impacted me at the time and inspired me to explore more anime which I'm very thankful for. Made me cry a couple of times. For me this show will most likely fall out of the top 10 for me as its aging for me has declined in a sense but I can honestly see myself giving this show a 10 again in the future depending on how I'm feeling about it.

9. Usagi Drop, rating: 9
As someone who aspires to be a father someday this show was a huge inspiration. I had this show rated as a 10 initially just because of how well rounded and nearly perfect it was. It was a simple, yet emotionally investing story. The only reason I dropped the score was finding about the ending of the manga which totally ventured from the initial reason I loved Usagi Drop was because of its motif about the fruit and pains of parenting.

8. Samurai Champloo, rating: 10
As someone who loves music as much as I do, Samurai Champloo has changed my life. Nujabes (the one who made the OP and a lot of the soundtrack) and his music has changed my life. The story is very episodic most of the time, but it has lovable characters. Some points in the show were weak but it ended VERY strongly, enough for me to rate it a 10.

7. Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica, rating: 10
For someone who really doesn't care about the Magical Girl genre, Madoka Magica brought something new and refreshing to it and made it appealing for me. The art at times is... interesting... but for the most part its original, something that is lacking in the industry today. Overall artistically Madoka Magica is very good, the style and character design mostly. Ended pretty strongly and had great music as well.

6. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, rating: 10
FMAB is shounen done right for once! The stage of the plot intensifies at a very good pace. The characters are solid both in design and in personality. Arasawa made a great decision to not make FMA a long running shounen. The pace in the beginning some would say is too fast but my refute to that is that we've ALL seen the beginning. FMAB did a great job at getting to the meat of the story that was yet to be animated before.

5. Fate/zero (season 1 and 2 combined), rating: 10
As someone who hasn't read the visual novel Fate/stay night in its entirety, I have to say I don't dislike the FSN anime as much as most people do. That being said Saber in this anime loses some of her personality in comparison to her future self in FSN but gains some style points in combat. The main character of FZ I find to be more compelling than the main character in FSN as well. Very solid animation and amazing plot and dialogue.

4. Eureka Seven, rating: 10
Eureka Seven is another great show that I love because of its music. E7's soundtrack is one of my favorites. The concept of the plot and how it ended I also find extremely compelling. The sense of romance was amazing and very prominent in the show. The ending is pretty heartwarming and the story has a lot of charm to it.

3. Angel Beats!, rating: 10
Angel Beats! was interesting to me. I dropped it after 2 episodes because I thought it was going to be another typical high school drama with a gimmick. After picking it back off I couldn't be more wrong. Angel Beats! starts out slowly but works on character development extremely well in a short amount of time. The ending affected me emotionally in so many profound ways as well.

2. Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion (season 1 and R2), rating: 10
To be honest this is more like a 1b instead of a 2. Code Geass to me embodies the spirit of the human desire to rebel against control and achieve peace. This anime hits a lot of different aspects politically, emotionally, and artistically. The characters are so morally ambiguous that you'll find yourself rooting for different ones throughout the series and they'll all end up surprising you. In everything this is honestly the mecha anime for people who don't like mecha because in everything the mecha aspect is secondary. The first season has one of the best cliffhangers of anything ever, and the ending of the 2nd season impacted me even more than AB! and its impacted me more than anything I've ever seen.

1. Neon Genesis Evangelion (the franchise as a whole), rating: 10
Of course the original series has a ton of flaws but that is why I love it. I love the way the budget ran out and the low quality ending happened. Talk about working with what you have, wow. The characters are so psychologically compelling that I've never been able to evaluate a cast of characters with as much enthusiasm as I do with Evangelion. In a refreshing and intense revival of the mecha genre, Shinji Ikari is probably the most accurate representation you'll ever find in a 15 year old boy who has the chance to save the world. He's scared and tentative and not your typical anime hero who finds the strength in the right moment. He's someone who seriously contemplates whether or not humanity is something worth preserving and protecting. End of Evangelion of course is a masterpiece through and through even though it was meant as a big f*ck you to the fans. Musically and aesthetically it was probably the most beautiful and disturbing piece of work I've ever seen. Evangelion has in many ways disturbed me mentally rather than impact me emotionally in comparison to other things that I have seen. Rebuild of Evangelion 1.0 is a solid remake. 2.0 is a masterpiece all things considered. It's a refreshing twist to the old story. And 3.0, even though it is getting mixed reviews, is a masterpiece as well in my book, even though it didn't spoonfeed me all the conflicts I wanted to be resolved and in turn created new ones. I'll ultimately wait until I see FINAL, but 3.0 as an experience alone was one for the ages and you have to look at it in that regard.

Honorable mentions: Clannad, Interstella 5555, Tamako Market
Things I'm watching now that have a chance to make the list: Clannad After Story, Steins;Gate, Nichijou, Kimi ni Todoke