Hi everyone. I'm a fairly big fan of anime, manga, light novels, and some other things. My tastes of it have been on and off through time, and my tastes have also changed as I tried new things out/got tired of older things, but my ratings/favorites are usually up to date based on their latest time stamp and fairly accurate as to how I feel. I write some reviews and random blog posts, and I like talking to new people, so feel free to reach out if you'd like to discuss anything.
I think I probably prefer anime more than manga and manga more than light novels, but all three have been enjoyable to me, and I do prefer them over live action things (I personally find live action to feel more directly "fake" to me, and anime esque plots tended to always be more interesting to me personally). I also tend to prefer these over movies, as I personally find movies to be typically not as engaging or well paced/not as connecting of an experience.
How I Got Into This Stuff
I've watched anime since I was little in varying degrees. I started with a lot of the typical shows on TV like Pokemon and Digimon, but the first show that really made me love it was Hunter X Hunter (1999) when I was probably around 10 ish. I watched a bit more after that but not a lot. Around middle school, I started reading more manga, mainly shonen ones like One Piece but didn't watch much outside that. Then in high school, I saw Code Geass, which quickly became my favorite anime and still mostly is, though I acknowledge that it has some egregious faults (also made my MAL around then when looking for recommendations, though I didn't use it for many years). After that, I continued watching anime on the side, here and there, and I saw some shows like Tiger and Bunny and Danganronpa that I really liked. I even went to my first con at Otakon 2013 (its 20th anniversary)! But it wasn't until around summer of 2015 that I got much more invested in anime and spread my tastes a lot more. After trying out Toradora out of curiosity, I realized I liked romance shows, and I ended up watching many, many more shows (mainly romances at the time though I tried out lots of others too), probably doubling or so what I had watched, knew of, or tried out up to that point, and I also started actively using MAL. Not long after that, I got into more manga and light novels. As of now, I'm a bit picky with what I try out out and continue with, but when I like something, I usually go pretty all-out looking and consuming all the related material I can find.
Anyway, overall, I find the hobby to very enjoyable, and I hope to find more anime, manga, and light novels that are engrossing and stimulating.
Anime List Info/Manga List Info
My ratings are generally based on the descriptions. For example, if I think a show may have some flaws but is overall just a masterpiece, I'd give a "10", and so on. I do also rate even after 1 episode, and sometimes, I will drop a series if I feel watching or reading it won't be worth my time.
When I was younger, I once watched Clannad all the way through, despite falling asleep in some episodes. I hated it and never saw the merit in the show. Ever since then, I decided to never continue watching something if I felt there was a good chance it wouldn't be a good show/worthwhile for my time.
I also find my tastes are very different from a lot of mainstream opinions. For example, I have always found Shinichiro Watanabe and Hayao Miyazaki's works overrated and never particularly loved any of them, except maybe 1 out of every dozen or so (and even then, it was moreso just "like"ing it than loving the series). I also think my average tends to be lower than normal, but that's because I tend to round scores down if I'm stricken between two numbers.
In addition, just because something is rated higher than another, the lower rated thing may still be my "favorite" more out of a personal preference, despite seeing its flaws compared to a less flawed, higher rated work.
Feel free to message me with opinions or recommendations based on my list by the way - I love hearing new thoughts.
Favorites
Most of my favorites are listed in my favorites section below, but I figure I'll post some more here for fun/for my own sake of tracking. The Favorites listed under Anime/Manga/Characters/People below are generally accurate for ranks 1-4 of each of them or so, but afterwards, they can become quite flip floppy or blurry depending on the days. (By the way, series are usually just grouped into the first series for me, rather than listing it and all the following seasons/OVAs)
Shows in General (includes Live Action though none make my Top 75):
1) Hunter X Hunter (1999 but 2011 is excellent as well, just a bit behind due to Gon’s power up and Nanika, but makes up for it a bit with a better Greed Island and 2 whole extra arcs and a better, more satisfying conclusion)
2) Rokka no Yuusha
3) Code Geass (R1 and R2 seasons only, excluding Akito/Fukkatsu/etc, though Picture Dramas are okay)
4) Digimon Xros Wars (S1 and S2 only up to the conclusion of defeating Bagramon, excludes Boy Hunters/etc after it)
5) Danganronpa: Kibou no Gakuen to Zetsubou no Koukousei The Animation (includes S1, VN of SDR2, and the okay ish S3 conclusion but mainly S1 from this)
6) The Spectacular Spider-Man
7) Tiger and Bunny
8) Steins;Gate
9) Hunter X Hunter (2011) - for being a more complete ish tale than 1999 and a better Greed Island and some other more faithful parts like Hanzos goal etc. Worse for lacking Kurapika vs hisoka and shitty opening music repeated too much and animation a bit too sharp. Also Nanika is too convenient as is Gons power up. Works best as an augment to 1999 to fill some gaps but doesn't deserve the top spot since it has more weaknesses than 1999 which doesn't have any significant weaknesses at all other than needing a better conclusion/finding Ging like this one.
10) Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru
11) Nisekoi (S1 and S2, albeit S1 was much better)
12) Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! (S1+S2)
13) Kokoro Connect
14) Prison School
15) White Album 2 (and Coda ending from VNs)
16) Hajime No Ippo (+OVAs)
17) Major
18) History’s Strongest Disciple Kenichi
19) Trigun
20) One Piece (on-going)
21) Rakudai Kishi no Cavalry
22) Gyakuten Saiban: Sono "Shinjitsu", Igi Ari!
23) Chihayafuru
24) Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?
25) The Devil is a Part-Timer!
26) Detective Conan (on-going)
27) The King’s Avatar
28) Haikyuu!
29) Golden Time
30) Toradora!
31) Digimon Adventures 01
32) Futurama
33) Full Metal Panic! (S1, FMP? Fumoffu, S2)
34) DNAngel
35) S-Cry-Ed
36) The Simpsons
37) Boku dake ga Inai Machi
38) Jitsu wa Watashi wa
39) Ironman Armored Adventures
40) Avatar: The Last Airbender
41) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003)
42) Cardcaptor Sakura
43) Yu-Gi-Oh!
44) Ookami-san to Shichinin no Nakama-tachi
45) Isshuukan Friends (1 Week Friends)
46) ReLife
47) Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo!
48) Dragon Ball Z Kai
49) Naruto (+Shippuden)
50) Digimon Frontier
51) RWBY
52) South Park
53) Anohana
54) Jackie Chan Adventures
55) Kim Possible
56) Future Boy Conan
57) Medabots
58) Wolverine and the X-Men
59) Static Shock
60) Shimoneta: A Boring World Where the Concept of Dirty Jokes Doesn't Exist
61) School Rumble
62) Rurouni Kenshin
63) Xiaolin Showdown
64) Teen Titans
65) The Batman
66) Disney's House of Mouse
67) Batman Beyond
68) What's New Scooby Doo
69) Ben 10 Original Series
70) Kulipari Army of Frogs
71) Recess
72) Arthur
73) Cyber Chase
74) SpongeBob SquarePants
75) Total Drama Island
Anime (Top Tier, usually 9-10s):
- Code Geass (either this or HxH is my favorite, but this is probably it)
- Hunter X Hunter (1999) (2011 could go here too, though probably a smidge lower since I do prefer 1999)
- Danganronpa (only includes first and original series)
- Rokka no Yuusha (this may be my most rewatched/obsessed over on this list though)
Anime (High Tier, usually 8-9s, no order):
- Digimon Xros Wars (possibly the best of these IMO, and its close to the top four but still short - its such a nice, complete tale; only includes S1 and S2 of it)
- Steins;Gate
- Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru. (this is one of the shows that made me realize how much I love anime - was in the middle of gaming, which I really enjoy, but still randomly thought "I'd rather be at home watching Yahari than this". LN version is superior though, and this needs a proper conclusion.)
- Tiger and Bunny (wish the cliffhanger got resolved, movies lessen and dilute this series too - not good.)
- 11-nin Iru! (the only movie on here since I tend to not like much/dislike a lot of Satoshi Kon's/Mamoru Hosoda's/Hayao Miyazaki's/others' works)
- White Album 2 (needs Coda and Concluding Chapter to be a complete work IMO)
- Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! (very nice, conclusive romcom with nice, sweet moments)
- Prison School (manga later goes downhill but does hit a high of tension and excitement after the anime ends, so S2 needed for its pinnacle moments IMO)
- Kokoro Connect (this has a lot of things I have issues with, but the ending is great, as well as the final couple)
- Nisekoi (this one would be much higher if I only considered season 1 but is a lot more frustrating with S2 and things like the manga considered - but season 1 alone would make it on par with the Top Tier Anime above for me, probably. I loved it so much that I think it deserves to be here. IMO, few anime have had such an enjoyable and likable atmosphere like this with likable/whimsical characters IMO.)
Manga (really hard to pick them out since so many endings are bad/so few series are finished):
- Hunter X Hunter
- Angel Densetsu (hilarious and my fave completed manga probably)
Light Novels:
- Rokka No Yuusha (I also run the fanclub, so feel free to PM me if you'd like to join or help out with it too!)
- Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru.
Characters (there are many I've enjoyed, but these are my most consistent favorites):
- Adlet Mayer (world's strongest scientist :) hehe)
- Hachiman Hikigaya (has probably my favorite quotes of any character)
OTPs/Friendships/Character Relationships that I feel MOST strongly about (probably depends on mood though; no particular order; "+"s are friendships and "X"s are romantic relationships):
- Banri X Linda in Golden Time
- Raku Ichijou X Kosaki Onodera in Nisekoi
- Gon + Killua (probably favorite friendship); most other HxH character pairs work well too though
- Aonuma Kiriha + Kudou Taiki (Digimon Xros Wars)
- Seiichirou Kitano + Yuji Takehisa (Angel Densetsu)
- Okabe Rintarou X Makise Kurisu
- Lelouch Lamperouge X Shirley
- Kazusa Touma X Haruki Kitahara
- Hajime Hinata X Chiaki Nanami
- Hachiman Hikigaya X/+ Yukino Yukinoshia/Yuigahama Yui/Kawasaki Saki/Saika Totsuka (so many character relations in this series are done well since its from Hachiman's PoV)
Weapons/Fighting Style Users:
- Kurapika and his Chains
- Ruby Rose and her "Crescent Rose" Scythe
- Adlet Mayer and his gun-sword/chain latch + lock/bombs (flash bombs, gas bombs, etc)/Nails of Saints (love instant kill weapons)/tear gas/hypodermic needles/shoe knife/black cloaks/etc
- Honorable mentions to Killua's Yo-Yos and Gon's fishing pole
- Side mentions for fighting style go to Hibiki "Siegfried, Sieg, The Immortal Composer" Kugenin from History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi, KonoSuba's Megumin's "Explosion" Spells, Chrollo Lucifer's Skill Hunter ability
MAL-listed Writers:
- Ishio Yamagata (I think he's very clever for having managed to write such a unique story as Rokka, which maintains tension without lots of deaths)
- Yoshihiro Togashi (I think he's also a very clever writer, especially for how uniquely he approaches HxH and things like its Nen system)
- Wataru Watari (in my opinion, he has a very good grasp on the issues adolescent teens go through and their social issues, while still writing in a way that is culturally relatable and enjoyable. I consider him a master of subtlety too, which is always highly appreciated)
- Kazutaka Kodaka (I just appreciate his good scripts and the direction he's taken his Danganronpa brainchild, and the way he can make the series so good in so many ways with its mysteries/characters/suspense/etc)
Voice Actors:
- Kana Hanazawa (has voiced so many of my favorite female characters, and she does them so well, both the violent ones and the softspoken ones)
- Jun Fukuyama (love that deep, epic voice change)
Non-Anime/Misc. (no order):
- Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair (favorite storyline from a game, and this one would be in the top 5 if animated, probably around CG/HxH and above its predecessor)
- The Spectacular Spiderman (favorite cartoon series and probably on par with my favorites above)
- Futurama (Favorite sitcom cartoon TV series + films but would be below The Spectacular Spiderman and the listed favorites above. Fun fact: the main character Fry lost in the semifinals of Best Time Traveler Contest to Okabe Rintaro, the contest winner, and protagonist of Steins;Gate)
- RWBY (probably my favorite 3D animated web series, inspired by anime, though I dislike some later parts, like the Maidens of the Seasons)
- I also quite enjoy Maeda Jun x Yanagi Nagi's crossover anime music video songs, like Muteki no Soldier (The Invincible Soldier). I found them sweet but also fun to listen to and watch.
Cartoons/Other Shows:
Favorite: The Spectacular Spiderman
Honorable Mentions: Futurama, Jackie Chan Adventures, Kim Possible, Ben 10, Avatar: The Last Airbender, RWBY (as you can see, I like action, and I like humor)
Openings:
- Hacking To The Gate (since putting this up, Ive learned this won the reddit r/anime's Best OP Contest!) (Steins;Gate)
- If It Shines (so romantic and sweet!) (Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso)
- I also enjoy the music of many other series, like Hunter X Hunter 1999's, Rokka no Yuusha's, and some others. Part of it is nostalgia, and the other part is just because it reminds me of the series sometimes, or it just sounds good to my ears :)
Endings:
- Secret Base (so, so sweet and so, so sad) (AnoHana)
Anime Films/Film Series:
- The Were Eleven (aka. 11-nin Iru!)
- Detective Conan Film Series (my favorite is the 13th movie, Detective Conan: The Raven Chaser, but others like The Time Bombed Skyscraper, Captured in Her Eyes, Countdown to Heaven, The Lost Ship In The Sky are all great too and are Honorable Mentions. The series itself has too much filler to be a favorite though, but its heights and climaxes are enjoyable - the movies simply have more sustained action, tension, drama, excitement, and just really well done music and storytelling usually in a complete, contained arc.)
-Other Honorable Mention to Naruto Shippuden Bonds (I still think Sasuke and Naruto's early friendship was nice, and the end of Naruto promising to retrieve Sasuke was sweet. Plus it has Shino, my favorite from the series)
Genres:
- Romance (probably my favorite. A good romance will save an otherwise shitty show for me, but no other genres will do that usually)
- Mystery (depending on the mystery and how well its done. The mystery has to be meaningful in some regard too, and solving it has to carry weight for the show. I also appreciate cleverness in these more too)
- Adventure (probably would be higher but this has the most shows that soured the experience. But well done adventure shows like HxH stick in my mind forever)
- Sports/similar shows (this isn't as beloved, but I found sports to always be consistently enjoyable. I also consider things like Chihayafuru and Hikaru no Go and other game shows to be sport like and find them very enjoyable)
- I enjoy other genres like drama, some comedy, and others too, usually depending on the execution and plot (characters are important too, though plot takes precedence for me personally).
Random Miscellanious:
First Episodes: Nisekoi, Rokka, Cross Game
Studios: Shaft (for the wonderful and whimsical way it did Nisekoi S1), Honorable Mention to Sunrise (aka "Sunrise Smooth" for how nicely and sharply it did Tiger and Bunny and Code Geass)
Sport To Watch: Baseball (Major, Cross Game, many others)
Yu-Gi-Oh Cards: Baby Dragon, Honorable Mentions to Ultimate Tyranno and A Hero Emerges
Pokemon: Dragonite (the best looking and cool dragon and well rounded stats and moves to learn), Honorable Mentions to Gengar, Alakazam, Aerodactyl, maybe Gyarado/Arcanine
Digimon: HolyAngemon (LOVE Heaven's Gate and Holy Disinfectant and Excalibur), Honorable Mentions to Mastemon (prob my fave fusion, good and evil is such an interesting concept! Plus metal is neat too), Beelzebumon, Shoutmon, Apollomon
Dragon Quest Monster: Demon-At-Arms (LOVE how he does comparable or greater damage to monsters with twice his stats with his Hit Squad/Double Trouble, plus LOVE his spiked mace)
Anime Superhero: Origami Cyclone (probably)/Lunatic if he counts as Dark Hero
Random Pictures/Videos/etc
Quotes/etc:
"I'll do it. I love music. Music speaks to people's hearts, all throughout the world. I believe it's a powerful language." - Midori in Hibike Euphonium
"I must get them back. That is my top priority!" - Kurapika in Hunter X Hunter choosing his friendship with Gon and Killua over his vengeance against the Spiders organization that slaughtered his people.
"Regardless of warnings, the future doesn't scare me at all" - Kingdom Hearts song
- More to be added soon
These are most of my favorites. There are more characters/series/etc to write about, but these are probably my core favorites.
Other Stuff
Aside from MyAnimeList, I also have a BoardGameGeek, VideoGameGeek, RPGGeek (though this is perhaps the most sparse), BoardGameArena, GoodReads, and some other accounts, so feel free to reach out if you wanna buddy up, game, or just talk about any of these things!
If you have any recommendations for things based on my ratings, please feel free to reach out and let me know too! I always appreciate new things to look into and experience (I also try to comment why I may like or dislike some things alongside my rating, so if you'd like, you can check out my ratings and comments for some recommendation ideas too!)
You were asking me to send you back my sis' book recommendations month ago. Told you I keep it in mind, I didn't forget. I wrote them in PM. Check 'em out.
It may be the number of series/listed of the anime you watched the 2nd time or more. I watched some of these series more than I can remember so the counter for "Rewatched" is off
For your previous message:
Sorry for the late reply! I'll reply to my older messages (from the beginning of this month) once my cursor stops having a spasm. Literally moving all over the place and clicking at random by itself.
Show me your videogamegeek account lol. xD
We'll play that game one day.. but the game we'd be playing would be on a site called NinjaKiwi.
Life's tiring. How's yours?
Yeah, lol. I'm often behind since i watch in small doses. Check out Alderamin on the Sky too, i think you might like it!
I often read them on my 6 years old laptop which has 2GB RAM. You can always adjust the settings of the VN to suit your comp. If you're not already familiar with the sites that you can get the VN's from, i'll help you out d(๏ฝฅ∀๏ฝฅโ)
Jeez, sorry for the late answer. I started working 1 week already now and I'm coming home exhausted, I wasn't in my senses to reply to your comment.
I didn't send you a message back in PMs but don't worry, I opened the recommenations for my sister to see, and she started browsing the books, so...
Thanks anyway. ^^
I'll be working the entire August month, therefore I apologize in advance that I can't pm you my sister's book recoms til the end of the month :/, bc like I mentioned above I'm pretty much tired and not thinking properly, haha.
Still no worry, I have in mind that I have to write you 'bout the books.
From this season + leftovers from the previous one (shorts excluded):
91 Days
Alderamin on the Sky (MC in this reminds me of Adlet! He's great.)
Amaama to Inazuma
Arslan Senki S2
Battery
Binan Koukou Chikyuu Bouei-bu S2
Cheer Danshi
Fukigen na Mononokean
Handa-kun
Hitori no Shita: The Outcast
JoJo Part 4
Kuromukuro
Kyoukai no Rinne S2
Love Live Sunshine
Macross Delta
Mob Psycho 100
Orange
Qualidea Code
Taboo Tattoo
(will soon check out Amanchu, New Game and Tales of Zestiria the X too)
Naturally, i'll end up dropping some of them.
Older ones:
Ansatsu Kyoushitsu S2
Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu (on hold)
Monogatari Series S2 and onwards
Saint Seiya
Urusei Yatsura
As for reading, i'll soon start playing Higanbana no Saku Yoru ni: Second Night VN.
Such anime are mainly targeted towards female audience and although I myself am a female, well, the fanservice slightly can bother me in times bc tbh I'm more of a serious-natured person. But definitely see Cheer Danshi if you could; it is 1 up in execution compared to Days and Battery so far imo.
Hm, let's see. Sis is a teenager but not a fan of self-help books so exclude them totally. Please do recommend some others of the children & classics; she said she's interested in those categories. And, do you read adventure ones by any chance? She also likes to see of that category too, if possible.
Um, about mystery...She's rarely interested. She do likes the ganre/category but currently not in the mood to read stuff of that sort. So "mystery" is out.
Thank you very much for all the trouble, I'll show her the titles you just told me for now. Either way, freely list a bunch of titles so she can have a vast choice. But if you please, I would like you to write me those in PM next. We deal? ^^
Not a fan of books nor reader, but since lil sis is, I'll tell you hers instead. Just I gotta ask her first and she'll write me the titles down and then I'll fetch them to you. Will take some time but consider I'll definitely tell you.
Amaama is the only decent one I can offer you from this season and also the sports anime - out of the 3, Cheer Danshi seems sort of unique to me and so far better than days and battery anime.
Hey, since you read books...May I ask you to list me titles which you have read or are you favorite ones, please? My lil sis is desperate to find a good online book and she just can't, so maybe I thought she'll find at least one among yours.
AD is on my backlog, I really like delinquent stuff. Sadly there's so many series i'm watching atm that i haven't read much recently.
Yeah, i know that feel. Especially with older anime, there's so much i haven't checked out yet.
We have some differences in ratings, and i do disagree with some of the scores you've given. However, the arguments you make are all solid, and i see where you're coming from. There's no epic memes or buzzwords, and you're fair with your reviews. Keep it up!
I think plenty of people here just don't bother with it. I personally don't have faith in my ability to review in a way that's compelling or interesting to read. I also don't rate as objectively i could, because it's all about enjoyment for me.
All Comments (140) Comments
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What are you watching???
You were asking me to send you back my sis' book recommendations month ago. Told you I keep it in mind, I didn't forget. I wrote them in PM. Check 'em out.
Yes, that's the one.
For your previous message:
Sorry for the late reply! I'll reply to my older messages (from the beginning of this month) once my cursor stops having a spasm. Literally moving all over the place and clicking at random by itself.
Show me your videogamegeek account lol. xD
We'll play that game one day.. but the game we'd be playing would be on a site called NinjaKiwi.
Life's tiring. How's yours?
I often read them on my 6 years old laptop which has 2GB RAM. You can always adjust the settings of the VN to suit your comp. If you're not already familiar with the sites that you can get the VN's from, i'll help you out d(๏ฝฅ∀๏ฝฅโ)
I didn't send you a message back in PMs but don't worry, I opened the recommenations for my sister to see, and she started browsing the books, so...
Thanks anyway. ^^
I'll be working the entire August month, therefore I apologize in advance that I can't pm you my sister's book recoms til the end of the month :/, bc like I mentioned above I'm pretty much tired and not thinking properly, haha.
Still no worry, I have in mind that I have to write you 'bout the books.
I hope you understand.
I'm currently watching:
As for reading, i'll soon start playing Higanbana no Saku Yoru ni: Second Night VN.
And you? How's this season been for you?
Hm, let's see. Sis is a teenager but not a fan of self-help books so exclude them totally. Please do recommend some others of the children & classics; she said she's interested in those categories. And, do you read adventure ones by any chance? She also likes to see of that category too, if possible.
Um, about mystery...She's rarely interested. She do likes the ganre/category but currently not in the mood to read stuff of that sort. So "mystery" is out.
Thank you very much for all the trouble, I'll show her the titles you just told me for now. Either way, freely list a bunch of titles so she can have a vast choice. But if you please, I would like you to write me those in PM next. We deal? ^^
Not a fan of books nor reader, but since lil sis is, I'll tell you hers instead. Just I gotta ask her first and she'll write me the titles down and then I'll fetch them to you. Will take some time but consider I'll definitely tell you.
Hey, since you read books...May I ask you to list me titles which you have read or are you favorite ones, please? My lil sis is desperate to find a good online book and she just can't, so maybe I thought she'll find at least one among yours.
Yeah, i know that feel. Especially with older anime, there's so much i haven't checked out yet.
We have some differences in ratings, and i do disagree with some of the scores you've given. However, the arguments you make are all solid, and i see where you're coming from. There's no epic memes or buzzwords, and you're fair with your reviews. Keep it up!
I think plenty of people here just don't bother with it. I personally don't have faith in my ability to review in a way that's compelling or interesting to read. I also don't rate as objectively i could, because it's all about enjoyment for me.