As I’ve grown out of student-hood these past few years and moved on to being what the Japanese call a “shakaijin” (person of society), I’ve been taking the word “nostalgia” more to heart. I’ve often wondered, “How old does one have to be in order to feel nostalgic?” And while pondering this questions, I’d like to pay tribute to some old anime that hold particularly nostalgic memories for me…

While I’ve known the word “nostalgia” for a long time, it’s only recently that I’ve understood what it means by experiencing it myself. The first wave of nostalgia I remember came less than five years ago when I discovered that episodes of an old CG animated cartoon from the 90s I used to love called Beast Wars (based on the Transformers concept) had been uploaded to Veoh and I started watching it. It brought back memories not just of the show itself, but of what my life was like back then and how I viewed things at that age, compared to how I am now. That’s what nostalgia is to me – when you reach a point in your life where you can clearly perceive the line between the “then” and the “now,” and often you pine for something in the “then” that you can’t have now. It’s not just “Oh yeah, I remember that!” so much as remembering the feelings and lifestyle you had during the time you experienced the nostalgic object in question. This is why I think one has to reach adulthood, or close to it, in order to really understand nostalgia; since children tend to live in the moment, they don’t compare their past and present the way adults do. It’s when you reach that point in life where things become more busy and complicated that you’re finally able to compare it to the simpler times of the past through remembering these nostalgic things, whether it’s a place, TV show, book, movie, or even a smell or sound.

While I didn’t discover anime until late in my childhood, things have changed enough for me since then that I can feel nostalgic about certain titles I watched early in my fandom. I’ve found that any show or movie has to be at least ten years old in order for me to feel nostalgic about it. Hence, all of my nostalgic anime are from the 90s or very early 2000s. I watched a lot more than this in my early years as a fan, but these are the ones that are most nostalgic to me (though not necessarily my favorites). Do they make you nostalgic, too?

Pokemon (original series)

Nostalgic associations: I was still in middle school when I got into Pokemon and I would time-record all the episodes on VHS when they would air on Kids’WB. I played the old GameBoy games on my GameBoy Color and would often trade pokemon with others through the games’ link cable feature. I collected the trading cards and would go to my local mall every weekend and play the card game there, earning badges and sometimes prizes. I was also a big Rocketshipper. I had a friend that I chatted with about Pokemon almost every night and we’d even watch some of our recorded episodes together over the phone.

Cardcaptor Sakura

Nostalgic associations: I had never heard Japanese sung or spoken before CCS. Having watched the dub of CCS before discovering the Japanese version, I also learned how horrendous dubbed kids anime was back then (not that it’s a big deal now). I started collecting the series on subtitled VHS released by Pioneer, which was Geneon’s old name, at a local anime store (which sadly doesn’t exist anymore) before switching to DVD later.

Jubei-chan

Nostalgic associations: This was the first non-kids anime I ever watched and the first I bought fully on dubbed VHS. I didn’t mind the dub then but if I watched it now it would probably be pretty bad. Despite that, it was still a very funny show. I still especially love the ending song.

Slayers

Nostalgic associations: During my freshman year of high school, one of my good friends who I still see today invited me to her house to watch Slayers for the first time. I liked it very much and later bought season 1 dubbed on VHS. I bought the other two seasons on DVD and watched them on my old iMac computer until I finally got a DVD player.

Bakuretsu Hunters

Nostalgic associations: I think DVDs of Bakuretsu Hunters were among the first DVDs I ever watched, again on my old iMac computer. I liked both the dubbed and subbed version back then, but when I think about it now, the dub voices were pretty bad. The OP was an example of coolness back in the day.

Record of Lodoss War

Nostalgic associations: I think I saw this series strictly on VHS. I liked the OVA better because it was more focused on Deedlit, my favorite character in the series. Also, the dub of the TV series wasn’t so good despite having Crispin Freeman as the main protagonist (maybe he just wasn’t experienced enough back then?) But the OP of the Lodoss War TV series is still one of the best openings I’ve seen to this day.

Chobits

Nostalgic associations: I read Chobits by borrowing the manga volumes from a friend. I watched a few episodes of the anime dubbed by coming across them in RealPlayer files online…how old-school is that? I liked the “City With No People” storybooks featured in the series so much that I actually scanned them all on my old computer and sort of recreated the books on my site.

Fushigi Yuugi

Nostalgic associations: Fushigi Yuugi used to air dubbed on the International Channel (which I don’t even think exists anymore). I didn’t have cable TV then so a friend of mine recorded the episodes on VHS for me. I read the manga by borrowing it from a friend. At one point my group of high school friends were so into this series that we started nicknaming each other after certain characters. I believe I was Nuriko since he was my favorite character :3

Tenchi Muyo!

Nostalgic associations: Like Fushigi Yuugi, I borrowed VHS tapes recorded from Toonami from friends in order to watch Tenchi. I loved it right away and eventually bought the DVDs, again using my old iMac as a DVD player before getting a real one. I was glad that Pioneer’s DVDs included the non-censored versions of some of the more violent/dodgy episodes, but upset that they included “dubtitles” for their Tenchi Universe episodes. I eventually sold most of my Tenchi DVDs and stopped collecting the manga.

Love Hina

Nostalgic associations: Unlike most other series, I only read the 14 volumes of the Love Hina manga and didn’t get a chance to watch the anime until years later. If I recall correctly, there was some fan service gags but nothing too ecchi…it was actually pretty funny. I remember laughing out loud to myself at certain parts of the manga, which I rarely do.

Revolutionary Girl Utena

Nostalgic associations: I borrowed the Utena manga and anime on subbed VHS from a friend of mine who was really into romance/shojo series (I also borrowed Chobits, Love Hina, and Fushigi Yuugi from her). Besides Eva, I hadn’t yet seen an anime that messes with your head as much as Utena.

Trigun

Nostalgic associations: Vash was one of my first and biggest anime crushes :3 The Trigun DVD box set was also one of the first I purchased along with Tenchi Universe. I liked both the dubbed and subbed versions.

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I didn’t mention some of my bigger old favorites like Digimon, Inuyasha, Naruto, and Evangelion. The reason – like Pokemon, Digimon and Naruto are still ongoing now, Eva is still as talked about as ever and has new movies coming out, and for Inuyasha, it hasn’t been that long since the anime and manga ended.

Like I mentioned, it’s not so much what these old anime are about that makes them nostalgic to me; it’s the time in my life that I experienced them and those past feelings and memories that I now associate with them. Being in school at the time, having things like VHS and CDs, anime on Toonami and Adult Swim, stores with anime that don’t exist anymore, when Geneon and ADV were booming and the only way I could watch anime was through DVDs and TV – all those things add up to a time and place very different from now, and it’s finding that distinction between a simpler, more innocent past and a more complicated, busy present, that bring out nostalgia.

It’s now New Year’s Day here in the US, and like always, I want to do a “picks of the year” type post to celebrate. I started participating in the blogsphere’s annual “12 moments of anime” project in 2009. Since last year however, I’ve preferred to list my moments all in one post, unlike other bloggers who give each moment its own post. I usually reserve New Year’s to countdown my favorite anime of the year, but since I’ve already done that via The AniBloggers’ Choice Awards, I’ll be posting my 12 moments today instead. So, without further adieu, here are my 12 best anime-related moments of 2011…

#12: Completing 300 anime titles

In September, my MAL list finally hit 300 completed anime titles. I didn’t reach that milestone with the most dignified anime (my 300th was the Haganai OVA), but it still felt like a great accomplishment as a fan even though I knew I’d reach that number eventually.

#11: Rewatching many anime

Towards the end of 2010, I made a semi-New Year’s resolution with myself to rewatch as many of my favorite anime as I can in 2011. Though I love to rewatch anime if it’s a series I really like, for some reason I have trouble finding the time and motivation for it among watching seasonal shows. But I’m proud to say that I stuck to it and rewatched quite a few series in 2011. Starting with rewatching Wolf’s Rain and Angel Beats! in late 2010, in 2011 I rewatched Cowboy Bebop, Eden of the East, Toradora!, Canaan, Itazurana Kiss, OreImou, and even newer titles like AnoHana and Madoka (both of which I watched with my mom though she didn’t like them as much as I had hoped). And just yesterday I started rewatching Code Geass because I have extra time with all the seasonal shows having a New Year’s hiatus. There are still a few more anime I want to rewatch and then I’ll hopefully motivate myself to watch more older shows I haven’t yet seen. That shall be my resolution for 2012 XD

#10: Maintaining a blog for five years

Obviously my blog turns a year older every year, but it turned five years old in 2011 and I think that’s a pretty big milestone. I honestly think that 2011 was one of my blog’s best years in terms of generating comments and discussion (thanks to wonderful visitors like you!) I hope to continue that trend in 2012 ^_^

#9: Haruhi movie on Blu-ray

The release of the Haruhi movie in 2010 was a huge deal for me; I took a trip to San Fransisco to see it in theaters during its US premiere in May 2010, and I also took another trip to West Hollywood to see it again in another screening about a month later. And finally, in September 2011, it was released on DVD/BD in the US. It feels great to finally own a copy of one of my most anticipated anime of recent years XD

#8: Getting back into Japanese self-study

From roughly mid-2004 to mid-2009, I studied Japanese formally at college, first at my junior college and then up to Advanced Japanese at my university. Since I graduated over two years ago, I’ve been meaning to keep up my studies on my own, but was hardly able to do so in 2010. It was mostly due to having a job with no vacation time other than a few 3-day weekends, thus I wanted to just be lazy whenever I did have time off. This year however, especially since I quite my job four months ago and have had lots of free time, I got myself fully back into Japanese self-study – I’ve been having 3+ hour study sessions about once every 1-2 weeks (compared to once every couple of months like I had previously), I’ve put together a new method of kanji and vocabulary learning for myself that seems to be working (since I already have a good grasp of Japanese grammar, kanji and vocab are what I need to focus on), and I started writing journal entries in Japanese on Lang-8 in March. I plan to continue my studies as much as I can in 2012 =D

#7: The disasters in Japan

Since this is far from a positive moment, I wasn’t sure whether to include it or not. While it’s not a favorable moment like the others, I felt it should be part of my list since it was just so impacting to everyone, even if they don’t have a special tie to Japan through anime the way we do. This isn’t so much a moment for myself as it is for me to give a moment to all the people who died and suffered during these disasters, as well as all those who helped out in any way they could. Even though the earthquake/tsunami disasters in March 2011 didn’t affect the anime world too much other than some delays and event cancellations, it was still an extremely saddening, emotional, and frightening time for all of us who followed the event online even if we weren’t there in person. Something like this happening in any country is a horrible thing, but it affected me a lot more because of my special feelings for Japan. I hope 2012 is a much better year for the land of the rising sun!

#6: Angel Beats! on Blu-ray

Like the Haruhi movie, I was eagerly anticipating a US release of Angel Beats! and finally got my wish in 2011. Even though I like the Haruhi movie better, I rated the AB! release higher on my moments because I wasn’t as certain it would even get a US release, much less a Blu-ray release, anytime soon. It wasn’t simulcast when it aired and it took a while for Sentai to license it. But thankfully they did and it became the first anime series I bought on Blu-ray =) Although the English dub wasn’t as good as I’d hoped, it was still a nice release.

#5: US release of Pokemon Black and White

The Japanese release of Pokemon Black and White ranked #1 on my last list of moments. The US release that came out in 2011 was still a big event for me, but not quite as big since I had already played the Japanese version. What was equally as exciting as the US release of the games themselves was the promotional mall tours that were being held a few weeks before the games’ release. The mall tour I went to was tons of fun, as are the games themselves of course =D

#4: Madoka Magica

It’s no surprise that my #1 anime of year had to have a place on my list of moments for the year =) I’ve already praised Madoka enough so I won’t say anymore about it here. I’m sure you’ve all seen it by now and know whether you agree that it’s praise-worthy or not.

#3: Moving up to Blu-ray

In April 2011, I purchased my first Blu-ray player and first movies on BD. I’ve had a 40″ HD TV for over a year, but for a while I was hesitant to take the step up to Blu-ray. I finally gave in though, and have been enjoying it immensely. I’m slowly building a collection of anime and movies on BD, and I don’t have to worry about all my DVDs being obsolete anytime soon since I can play them all on upscaled quality on my Blu-ray player. The high quality picture on Blu-ray really is worth it for newer anime and movies with their more detailed imagery. I’m glad I decided to upgrade =D

#2: Anime Expo 2011

Anime Expo, the largest anime convention in North America, has been my yearly highlight every year I’ve gone. It ranked much higher on my moments for 2011 than 2010 because I was able to go all four days and had tons of fun ^_^ I’ve already posted about it in detail here, but to summarize, I bought lots of anime goodies, hung out with great friends, met some fellow bloggers in person, went to rocking events, and saw incredible cosplay. AX 2012 can’t come soon enough!

#1: Haruhi novels 10 and 11

Imagine your favorite series going on an unexplained hiatus for four years in the middle of a cliffhanger story with no clear idea of when it will be returning. Then, imagine the joy you feel when that series finally comes back with not just one, but a double release, as if to compensate for all those years of waiting and wondering. That’s what I experienced with Haruhi in 2011. Since it’s been my favorite series for many years now, I’m not only into the anime but the original light novels as well. Novel 9, published in 2007, ended on a cliffhanger, and other than a short preview chapter in April 2010, there was no new novel material again until 2011′s release of volumes 10 and 11. I was so ecstatic about it that I even provided some unofficial fan translations of portions of the novels. There certainly were some great anime moments this year, but when your favorite series has a release like this, how could it not be #1? =)

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Anyway, I hope you all have a safe and happy New Year! ^_^ Here’s to more great anime in 2012! See you soon~

Since 2008, I’ve been selecting my top 5 anime of that year and posting about them on the blog around New Year’s. This year however, I’m trying something new with Kiddtic’s AniBloggers Choice Anime Awards project. Instead of picking only five 2011 series, I’m picking twelve, as well as an overall series of the year and licensor of the year…

Before I get to the list, I just need to say that I tweaked some of the original rules for the project to better suit the usual way I do these lists. Instead of only counting anime that started airing in 2011 as eligible for the list, only anime that have completed their airing in 2011 count as a 2011 title for my list. So a fall 2010 two-cour series like Bakuman, that finished airing in March 2011, counts. Likewise, though not finished quite yet, Fate/Zero will finish airing before 2011 is over, so it also counts. On the other hand, the currently airing Mirai Nikki, which won’t finish airing until next year, does not count. Also, the project proposes that we pick our top three anime from each of the four seasons, but I’ll just be making a straight top 12 list regardless of season. I feel you’ll get a better sense of my overall 2011 favorites rather than limiting myself by season.

To start things off, here’s a list of all the 2011 anime I’ve completed (or, in the case of certain ones, will complete before the year is over):

-finished airing from 2010
Bakuman
Digimon Xros Wars
Gosick
Tegami Bachi Reverse
To Aru Majutsu no Index 2

-finished airing from the winter ’11 season
Fractale
Hourou Musuko
Kimi ni Todoke season 2
Kimi ni Todoke Katomai special
Madoka Magica
OreImou specials

-finished airing from the spring ’11 season
Baka Test Matsuri OVA
Baka Test Ni!
[C]
Digimon Xros Wars: Aku no Death General to Shichinin no Oukoku
Hanasaku Iroha
The World God Only Knows season 2
Nichijou
Nichijou episode 0
Steins;Gate

-finished airing from the summer ’11 season
Ikoku Meiro
Ikoku Meiro special
Kami-sama no Memochou
No.6
Usagi Drop
Mawaru Penguindrum

-finished airing from the fall ’11 season
Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai
Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai episode 0
Fate/Zero
Working’!!

And so, out of those, here are my top 12. I’ll be brief on each since I’ve already written about most of them on the blog before.

12. Hanasaku Iroha

11. Hourou Musuko

10. Tegami Bachi Reverse

9. Working’!!

8. Fate/Zero

7. Baka Test Ni!

6. Ano Hana

5. Steins;Gate

4. Usagi Drop

3. Ikoku Meiro no Croisée

2. Bakuman

1. (and Anime of the Year) Madoka Magica

*Licensor of the Year* I haven’t bought too much anime this year, but from what I have bought, I’d have to give this honor to Aniplex for their great OreImo limited edition DVD set. For less than $80 I got all 12 TV episodes plus the 4 specials, a mini artbook, sixteen beautiful postcards (with images from all the OreImo endings), and a two-sided poster. Very few R1 releases have those kinds of extra goodies for such a good price. Plus, Aniplex licensed Madoka and will be releasing the series on three BD sets, also with lots of extra goodies. More expensive unfortunately, but hopefully worth it. Thanks Aniplex for including nice character goods with your anime sets!

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So there are my picks for the 2011 AniBloggers Choice Awards. Be sure to check Kiddtic’s blog for results of the project, as well as an upcoming podcast. Since I won’t have to make a post about my top 5 anime of 2011 for New Year’s anymore, I’ll do another yearly post that day instead. Thanks for reading and I’ll be back with a regular post in a few days! ^_^

Other blogs participating in the AniBloggers Choice Awards:
2DT from 2D Teleidoscope
Kuuki from Enkuuki
Sam from The Otaku Study
TWWK from Beneath the Tangles
Marina from Anime B&B
Ephemeral Dreamer from Ephemeral Dreams
Judge from Moar Powah
AJ from AngryJellyfish’s Blog
Cytrus from Yaranakya
Nopy from Nopy’s Blog
Marow from Anime Viking
Akira from Moe Fundamentalism

A common question among anime fans is what titles would be good for introducing someone to anime. It’s actually something I haven’t given much thought to since all my friends are into anime themselves or at least familiar with it. So, for the person who doesn’t have a clue about anime but is willing to watch, what would be good titles to show them?…

Here in America, whenever I’m brought into a conversation where I’m asked about my hobbies with people who I’m 99% sure aren’t into anime, I tend to say “I like anime…do you know what that is? Japanese animation?” Usually the person vaguely nods or gives a casual “Oh, yeah…” while I think to myself “Even though they say that, I’ll bet they have a very distorted idea of what anime is.” Unless they indicate otherwise, these people probably have any number of misconceptions about anime – they could think it’s just Pokemon/Yu-Gi-Oh!/Bakuman kids stuff, it’s just pornographic/really violent cartoons for creepy nerds, or, if I’m lucky, they might have a slightly more positive idea about it from the shows that used to air on Toonami, Adult Swim, or even the Ghibli movies that have been brought to US theaters.

From the people who admit they have no clue about anime to the people in my above example who think they know what it is but really don’t, what would be good titles to show them that would enlighten them about anime? (in a positive way of course XD)

Since anime covers such a wide variety of genres and styles, I think it’s only necessary to point out what not to show new viewers as opposed to what to show them. Probably the most important thing to avoid is anime that has a lot of otaku references and revolves around appreciating otaku character tropes, since obviously a person new to anime is not going to understand any of it. So shows like Lucky Star, Angel Beats!, OreImo, and The World God Only Knows would be out. I’d even question something like Steins;Gate and Bakuman, since both aren’t explicitly focused on the otaku world but might have enough of it to deter someone completely unfamiliar with it.

Going along with that, anime that relies on an understanding of Japanese cultural or historical references might not be good either. Something like Ouran that relies on understanding the host club concept in Japan, Durarara!!’s emphasis on Ikebukuro’s culture, and Eden of the East and its focus on Japan’s NEET-dom, are examples. But in this case, it might not matter if the person is open minded enough. It just depends. For anime that’s very immersed in Japanese history/culture, such as Inuyasha, Rurouni Kenshin, and Katanagatari that are set in ancient Japan, their foreignness will either entice or deter the average American depending on that person’s taste.

Saying whether the anime-specific slice-of-life genre would be good for a newbie is hard. For the comedic titles, I’d say the ones with humor that’s at least somewhat universal would be fine, Azumanga Daioh and Chi’s Sweet Home for example. Likewise, for the dramatic/romantic ones such as Toradora! and Fruits Basket, as long as the source of drama and romance is universal, which it usually is, there shouldn’t be a problem. But for the slice-of-life series that are very slow-paced and character-driven, such as Aria, True Tears, Ikoku Meiro, and even K-ON, the average American who’s used to their entertainment being either funny, action-packed, or dramatic probably won’t go for these.

One last thing I would avoid in anime used as introductory series is very radical, avant-garde art styles or methods of storytelling (unless you know the viewer is into that stuff). Ikuhara’s titles such as Utena and Mawaru Penguindrum would certainly fall into this category, and perhaps other symbol-heavy series like Bakemonogatari. And obviously, you’d want to avoid niche genres that are even niche among anime fans, such as yaoi, yuri, and hentai, again unless you know the person likes that kind of thing.

I’ve heard fans say that original anime movies are good ways to introduce people to anime. They take up less time than watching a whole series and, like I discussed in a previous post about original anime films, they tend to be more universally appealing than the average anime TV show. I definitely think they’re good for giving people a better idea about anime, but ultimately it’s the anime TV shows that make up the majority of what the fandom is about. So watching a Ghibli movie or two is good, but watching an anime TV show would offer a better understanding of what defines anime for most fans.

Now that I’ve discussed what I feel is best avoided when picking an introductory anime series for someone, I’m going to list examples of series I think would be good choices from a few broad genres. The reason I’m listing them by genre is because you of course want to know what genre the person likes before deciding what first anime they should watch. After all, you don’t want to recommend Clannad as a first anime to someone who mostly likes action movies/TV shows. All of the titles I’ve listed below have plots, characters, and styles that aren’t too deviant and can be appreciated by viewers who aren’t necessarily knowledgeable about Japanese culture or otaku tropes. These are all my opinion of course so feel free to disagree.

Action/Fantasy
Shakugan no Shana
Fate Stay Zero/Night
Fullmetal Alchemist
Madoka Magica
Wolf’s Rain

Action/Sci-fi
Cowboy Bebop
Darker than Black
Code Geass
Evangelion
Death Note

Comedy
*comedy is kind of tricky since the Japanese idea of humor (jabbing at character flaws) is very different from the American idea (sarcasm and slapstick). Plus a lot of anime humor relies on recognizing anime iconography and other Japanese concepts, and most romance/comedies tend to be fan service/harem-y. The best I can come up with are…*
Azumanga Daioh
Haruhi
Slayers
Love Hina

Romance/Drama
Toradora!
Fruits Basket
AnoHana
Itazurana Kiss
Fushigi Yuugi

Kids
*like with comedy, kids series can be tricky since Japan’s idea of what’s appropriate for kids is extremely different from America’s. Just about all Japanese kids anime I’m aware of would need to be censored for American kids. The best I can come up with are…*
Pokemon
Digimon
Chi’s Sweet Home

Other
Usagi Drop
Paranoia Agent
Trigun
Noir
Kemono no Souja Erin

If you have ideas for other good introductory series (especially for the comedy and kids genres) feel free to share. To summarize, I think just about all anime outside the slice-of-life/harem/comedy/otaku pandering shows could make good introductory titles. I actually think showing the person an anime from their favorite genre is your best bet, as long as it doesn’t require too much knowledge of Japanese/otaku culture of course ;)

Time for another favorites list, and one that I’ve surprisingly never done before. Anime is full of cute animal mascots, whether they’re integral to their respective series’ plot or not. Even if they don’t serve a major purpose in the anime, they’re great for creating a simple, iconic image to associate with it, as well as opportunities for cute merchandise ;) So, out of the 300+ titles I’ve seen, what would be my top 10 favorites of these mascots?…

As always, just a few quick notes for the list. Firstly, I am not counting any Pokemon or Digimon. There’s just too many of them I like and would make the list very one-sided. Also, any character counts as long as they have an animal form (they don’t necessarily have to be an animal).

10. Sakamoto (from Nichijou)

My number 10 spot was being fought over by two black cats, Sakamoto and Kuroneko (from Trigun). A third may have come up with Jiji (from Kiki’s Delivery Service) but I’d have to watch the movie again to say for sure. In the end though, although Kuroneko is a charming little enigma, Sakamoto is just one of the funniest animal characters I’ve seen (mostly thanks to seiyuu Minoru Shiraishi). He’s part of the reason why I found Nichijou funny enough to keep watching despite its gags being more miss than hit to me. For having such a simple design, his reactions are hilariously animated, as are his facial expressions. He’s funny without even needing to try.

9. Ein (from Cowboy Bebop)

Ein is, plain and simple, a good dog who happens to have above average intelligence. Despite this, he can still act silly and somewhat oblivious when hanging out with the happy-go-lucky Ed, but he’s also proven himself to be helpful to the Bebop crew as well. And just a little anecdote, thanks to watching Cowboy Bebop several years ago, one of my friends decided to buy a Welsh Corgi puppy and named him Ein. I still see him today and he’s still a good boy!

8. Ryo-ohki (from Tenchi Muyo!)

Although you hardly see her around nowadays, back in the late 90s/early 2000s when Tenchi Muyo! was popular, I probably saw more of Ryo-ohki decorating anime web sites and merchandise than any other animal mascot. Nowadays she’s pretty much a has-been in terms of mascot-hood, but I still find her adorable. Personality-wise, she’s very sweet, and in the Tenchi OVA (which is what I mostly cared about) she even got a human form and briefly joined Tenchi’s harem XD Although I’m not nearly as into the Tenchi series as I used to be, I’ll always remember being a new fan and thinking how awesome it was whenever Ryo-ohki turned into a spaceship.

7. Kyubey (from Madoka Magica)

It hasn’t even been a year since Madoka Magica aired and Kyubey has already become an Internet phenomena, showing clear signs of being one of the most memorable anime mascots of recent years. And it’s not hard to see why given the extremely unpredictable, deviating role he plays in the magical girl series. I can’t help but find a character like him strangely appealing.

6. Umagon (from Konjiki no Gash Bell!!)

Gash Bell is a lesser known of the long-running shonen series, and thus Umagon isn’t very well known either. But once I got to know this little pony I couldn’t help but love him. He’s a bit bungling but his heart’s in the right place, and his coolness factor goes up greatly when he finally gains his Mamodo powers! Although he doesn’t speak, seiyuu Satomi Koorogi does an excellent job making his pony sounds adorable~

5. Luna (from Sailor Moon)

How could I forget the very first anime animal mascot I liked before I even knew what anime was? Although personality-wise Luna is more serious than cutesy compared to the others, she’s a good character nonetheless and probably treated more like a character than a mascot in Sailor Moon. Also, the second Sailor Moon movie, in which Luna plays a significant role, holds a special, nostalgic place in my heart.

4. Kirara (from Inuyasha)

During the five years I was obsessed with Inuyasha, this little nekomata brought me so much joy~ Her design is one of my favorites for an animal character, plus she’s sweet, strong, loyal, and cute without ever needing to assert her cuteness in the series. Just a great little mute, and perhaps underrated, companion for Inuyasha and company. Though she hardly got any attention in the manga, the anime gave her some more screentime as well as one of the most adorable cries for an anime animal =)

3. Kero (from Cardcaptor Sakura)

Kero is the perfect magical girl companion, as well as a good character on his own. He’s cute and fun-loving like any mascot, but certainly has his share of flaws, such as being a tad hot-tempered, cocky, and loud-mouthed. But when he’s not being funny with his hilarious Osaka accent (courtesy of Aya Hisakawa) he knows when to be serious and comforting to Sakura too. He’s just an entertaining little guy.

2. Chi (from Chi’s Sweet Home)

In Chi’s case, the animal mascot is also the main character XD Not only does Chi’s cuteness hold more universal appeal than probably any other animal character, I find all of her little kitty thoughts and actions to be incredibly realistic (having lived with many cats over the years). She’s just an endearing embodiment of cuteness and animal naivety that, unless you have some aversion to cute, I don’t see how anyone couldn’t find her any other way.

1. Chopper (from One Piece)

Maybe I’m cheating a bit having Chopper on this list since he’s also one of my top 10 most favorite characters. But there’s no denying he’s an animal (a reindeer for those who don’t know) and he’s certainly a mascot, as I’ve seen his mug on more One Piece products than any other character. It would be too much if I went into detail about what makes him such an appealing character, from his well-written backstory, cool transformation powers, and naive but sensitive personality. I’ll just say that he’s got a lot of traits I happen to love ^_^

Original anime movies, “original” meaning their content isn’t based on an existing series, don’t seem to get as much attention or produce as big a fan following as other forms of anime among English-speaking fans. The obvious reason for original anime films being less spotlighted than anime TV series is simply because much fewer of them are produced, so there’s just a lot less of them in total. But wouldn’t having less make each one more valuable?…

It’s actually quite the opposite in Japan, where the average original anime film is better known among Japanese than the average anime series. Most anime movies not based on an existing otaku-aimed franchise are targeted to the general Japanese public. Studio Ghibli is like Japan’s version of Disney and just about every Japanese person, young and old, has seen a Ghibli film or at least heard of them. And of course, movies based on kids anime such as Pokemon, One Piece, and Naruto get the mainstream treatment as well.

Among English-speaking fans however, even when a new original anime film come out, I rarely find people cosplaying the characters or rabidly discussing the movies among general online discussion. I think there are a few reasons why original anime films don’t seem to get as much love as TV series among Westerners. First, like I mentioned before, there’s just fewer of them in existence, thus fewer fans. But I also think there’s another, less obvious reason that has to do with what draws Western fans to anime in the first place – namely, character development amidst plots and settings that are complex and fleshed out. While original anime films can certainly have these things, TV series have the advantage of length, which can be important when dealing with a media title’s staying power. A movie might not get the chance to develop its cast of characters while simultaneously advancing its plot and fleshing out its setting all in just two hours, while a 13-episode anime series might be able to do this more effectively with its longer length of five hours (22 minutes per episode). And longer series of 26 or more episodes might be able to do this better, until we reach the point where we’ve been following certain characters and their world for so long we can’t help but get attached. Of course, this isn’t so in all cases as plenty of anime films can fully solidify their characters and stories in less than two hours while plenty of anime TV series fail to do this. But generally speaking, a title with a longer length has more time to pull us into its world.

Similarly, especially in our modern days of non-Japanese fans being able to watch all the newest airing anime from Japan, watching an anime weekly adds a factor of suspense that movies don’t have. Following 22-minute bits of a series over many weeks may provide more suspense and more opportunities for speculation and discussion than finishing the whole story up in two hours. Novelty might also be a minor reason, since good animated movies aren’t hard to find among Westerners (Pixar for example) but good animated TV shows are.

And lastly, one thing non-series based anime movies tend not to provide is, well, things that pander to otaku. The kinds of bishonen, moeblobs, tsunderes, yanderes, etc., you find in the late-night anime that most of us watch are rare in original anime films. Again, since most of these movies have the general Japanese audience in mind rather than the otaku audience, tropes specific to otaku aren’t necessitated. Fans who are sick of otaku pandering and anime cliches often praise and admire this aspect of original anime films, while other otaku might respect these films for that but still prefer the anime tropes they know and love.

However, there is one thing that just about all original anime films excel at more than TV series – animation quality. All anime films, original or series-based, tend to have a much higher animation budget than your standard TV anime. So whether the movie itself is to your taste or not, if you like good animation you can at least enjoy that in anime movies =)

So, now that my examination of the appeal of original anime films among Westerners is out of the way, what would be my top favorites of these films? I’ll admit that I’m not as interested in original anime films as TV series, for some of the reasons I’ve mentioned above. But I have great respect for them and love some very much. But since I really haven’t seen that many, and Studio Ghibli movies make up over half of the ones I’ve seen, I’m only listing my top 5 rather than top 10:

5. Tokyo Godfathers

This movie is so much fun. The three main characters are very entertaining and the story has a great mix of heart-warming moments, comedy, drama, and even mystery-solving to it. I’ve only seen three of the late Satoshi Kon’s films but Tokyo Godfathers is my favorite =)

4. 5 Centimeters Per Second

While this movie may be too slow-paced and uneventful for some, I personally found it to be a beautiful and bittersweet portrayal of its theme of distance forcing young love to fall apart. Its three story arcs get this theme across almost perfectly in my opinion. It’s other main driving point is obviously its gorgeous scenery, which director Makoto Shinkai is famous for.

3. Summer Wars

Good characters, unique story, and a fantastic theme that juxtaposes advancing technology with traditional family lifestyles. I’ve already written a post about Summer Wars so I’ll leave it at that =)

2. Nausicaa

Nausicaa is Hayao Miyazaki’s first movie before Studio Ghibli was officially established (based on an original manga of his) and is still one of my favorites. Nausicaa is a very appealing protagonist, being kind and compassionate but also strong and brave. Miyazaki is known for the environmental messages in his movies and I think he does one of the best jobs with that in this movie, especially putting it through rather ugly looking creatures like the Ohmu.

1. Princess Mononoke

The first original anime film I’ve seen is still my favorite. Probably the darkest Ghibli film with a diverse cast of characters, gorgeous animation, and a brilliant representation of conflict without any clearly defined hero or villain. Mononoke’s only flaw to me is its abrupt, but still tolerable, ending. Also has one of my favorite English dubs, which I actually prefer to the Japanese version.

—–

Feel free to share your thoughts on original anime films or recommend any I haven’t seen =)

A few months ago I wrote a post about six things that have disappeared from anime over the past decade. Today I’m doing a follow-up to that topic with six things that have increased in anime over the past decade…

Just to note, I’m including both things that have increased in anime over the past decade, as well as things that were not part of anime a decade ago but are now. Like the previous list, I’m not counting extremely obvious or inevitable things like “better digital animation,” “anime streaming sites,” or “anime on Blu-ray.” I’m more interested in things that are results of changes in the fandom and not just outcomes of better technology. The list is in no particular order.

Cold openings (and endings): For those who don’t know what this is, a “cold opening” is when an anime episode jumps right into the show before showing the opening song. Likewise, a “cold ending” (I think that’s what it’s called…) is when the episode continues even after the ending credits have finished, before the next episode preview or any omake. This has actually been one of the biggest increases I’ve noticed for TV anime in recent years. I don’t remember any anime from a decade ago having cold openings or endings. All old anime I remember followed the strict structure of 1) opening song, 2) Part A, 3) eyecatch, 4) Part B, 5) ending song, 6) next episode preview. Nowadays however, it’s more common for anime episodes to have cold openings than not. A few anime, such as the first season of Digimon Xros Wars and the first episode of Steins;Gate, don’t even show the opening song until halfway through the episode! Even anime that started airing without cold openings, such as Pokemon and Naruto, have them now. Cold endings aren’t as common but they’re increasing too. As for why anime episodes have started utilizing cold openings so rapidly, I’m not sure. Perhaps companies have discovered that the method catches viewers’ attention better than starting every episode off with the opening song.

Another similar trend I’ve noticed (though still too new to say for sure) is first episodes of TV anime not even showing their opening song until the next episode (this season’s Mirai Nikki and Guilty Crown for example), or showing them as the ending for the first episode (Working’!!). There are other deviations, like Madoka Magica not showing its ending song until episode 3, AnoHana merging its ending song with the episode, and many recent anime not having next episode previews or not even showing their openings/endings in an episode if they need the extra minutes for the episode itself. I think all this boils down to is simply the fact that anime is getting more freedom and less structure in its episodes compared to the old days.

Moe and its slice-of-life/harem genres: This is another major increase in anime that I’m sure we’ve all noticed. The typical moe anime girl archetype has been around for a long time actually – a few early examples I can think of are Sasami from Tenchi Muyo!, Sakura from Cardcaptor Sakura, and Shinobu from Love Hina. Recently however, they’ve gone from being an uncommon archetype to one of the most common in many genres of anime. And along with the increased love for moe girls came the perfect type of show to convey all the traits otaku love about them – the slice-of-life genre. Anime such as Azumanga Daioh, Lucky Star, K-ON, Ichigo Mashimaro, and Hidamari Sketch are all prime examples of the “cute girls going cute things” setup that’s become the common theme for the slice-of-life genre. Though not all anime considered slice-of-life is a show about moe girls (some could be romance dramas or reverse harems for example), the majority are often these character-driven, plot-less, often 4-koma based series focusing on the daily lives of an all, or mostly, female cast doing cute, funny things.

The other type of anime that has increased along with the popularity of moe is the harem genre, which is often more ecchi and fan service-filled than the more universally appealing slice-of-life moe. Tenchi Muyo! and Love Hina were two of the original harem anime, but now this type of anime is a lot more common than it used to be. Even if an anime isn’t blatantly harem-focused, the setup of “the (often bland) male protagonist being surrounded by many girls with various personalities” has found its way into many genres of anime with mixed results.

Light novel to anime adaptations: I’m sure light novel adaptations have existed in anime for over a decade, but it seems like they’ve become increasingly more common than they used to be. Of the older anime I’ve seen, Slayers is the only one that’s based on a light novel series while the majority of others are manga-based. I don’t know much about Japan’s light novel industry, so I don’t know if this is simply due to light novels becoming more common overall or if it’s only anime adaptations of them that are becoming more common.

Characters singing opening/ending songs: In the pre/early-2000 years, most anime had CD releases with image songs sung by the characters from that show (or their seiyuu if you will). It was rare, however, for the characters to sing the actual opening and ending songs for the show. The earliest examples I can think of are Slayers and Shaman King, but that could just be because seiyuu Megumi Hayashibara was also an accomplished singer. Back then most seiyuu might have an insert song or two in certain episodes, but usually their character singing was limited to CD releases. I think my beloved Haruhi was the first anime to start the trend of the actual characters/seiyuu singing the anime’s opening/ending with the popularity of “Hare Hare Yukai.” Since then, tons of anime have had their openings and endings sung by seiyuu from the show – Toradora!, Lucky Star, Macross Frontier, Kannagi, Bakemonogatari, Hayate no Gotoku, K-ON, OreImou, and Working!! to name a few. CD-only character songs are still common, but having the seiyuu sing the openings and endings is now common too. The fact that the majority of seiyuu that do this are female may also tie this in to the increased popularity of moe.

Frequently changing openings and endings: A lot of things on this list are related to openings and endings, huh? XD I actually wrote a couple of posts about this before. Old anime would usually change openings and endings each cour, or tweak its current opening/ending a bit if major plots or characters are introduced. In recent years however, anime openings and endings have been changing more radically than ever before. Hanamaru Kindergarten and OreImou have different ending songs and images for each episode, Bakemonogatari changes openings many times in just a few episodes, Angel Beats! tweaks its openings and endings for every episode, Madoka tweaks its openings every episode…the list could go on. Frequently changing an anime’s opening and ending song is most likely a way to increase CD and video sales, as well as keep viewers’ attention. Advances in computer and animation technology probably make it much easier to change them than it used to be.

One-cour anime TV series: This is directly related to one of the six things that have disappeared from anime mentioned in my other post, which was the disappearance of 13-episode-or-less original OVA series. The reason these kinds of OVAs have faded out is because now anime TV series can have an 11-14 episode length too. Before the mid-2000s, it was extremely rare for an anime TV series to have less than 26 episodes (two cour). Nowadays however, the one-cour length of 11-14 episodes has become more common than the old two-cour length. Even two-cour length has gotten shorter over the years as well, with 22-25 episodes becoming common instead of always 26 episodes. I believe this again goes back to advancing technology making it easier to produce more anime, and with more anime each series has become shorter to make room for others unless it proves to be a hit.

———-

I’m sure there are many other subtle increases or new trends in anime that I didn’t notice. If you know of any, feel free to share =)

It’s been close to two years since I made a list of my 50 favorite anime in January, 2010. Since then I’ve seen quite a few new series and my current tastes are a bit different. So I figured it’s time for me to update my list of favorite anime, seeing what new favorites I have and how my feelings for old favorites have changed…

Like my previous top 50, I have a few rules for this list as well. Some rules are based on the ones for the old list while some are new for this list:

- In order for me to consider an anime for the list, if it’s less than 100 episodes, I had to have seen all of it. If it’s more than 100 episodes, I had to have seen enough of it to feel that I can properly judge it. A list of all the anime I’ve seen can be found on my MAL.

- Titles on the list are not differentiated by season or releases. For example, when I list Shakugan no Shana, I’m counting all that I’ve seen of it, which includes the first two seasons and the OVA (the currently airing third season too but not exclusively). And for Revolutionary Girl Utena, I’m counting the TV series and the movie. I do this because in most cases, I like anime holistically, because of their different parts. But if I feel it’s important for me to make a distinction, for example, if I really liked the first season of an anime but not the second, or I loved the TV series but never saw the OVA, I will make note of it.

- Unlike my old top 50, I decided to eliminate original anime movies from the list and focus just on series. The only movies that count are ones that are based on a series already on the list. I plan to make a list of my top 10 original anime motion pictures at a later date.

- Also new for this list, I decided to base my feelings on all media facets of a particular title, not just the anime. For example, Pokemon is rated much higher on this list than my old one because of how much I love the games rather than just the anime.

- In order to show comparison between this list and my old one, I put a symbol next to each anime title. The meaning of the symbols are as follows:
(+) – the anime is ranked at least three places higher than on my old top 50
(-) – the anime is ranked at least three places lower than on my old top 50
(=) – the anime has the same or about the same ranking as on my old top 50
(*) – the anime is new on this list and was not on my old top 50

Guess that’s it for the rules. I added little blurbs about my feelings for each title, but since there are 50 of them, I kept it brief. If I wrote my thoughts about the series already, I provided a link to the post(s).

Here we go!

50. Blood+ (-)
I need to watch it again to properly judge it as it’s been several years. But I still remember how good its story, characters, and music are.

49. Bakuman (*)
Fun premise, likable characters, and great suspense despite lack of typical shonen action and fantasy. My review here.

48. Mushishi (-)
Consistently whimsical and well-written episodic stories. My review here.

47. Ranma 1/2 (-)
Rumiko Takahashi’s brilliant way with humor, characters, and fantasy shines. I think this is the oldest anime series I’ve watched (started airing in 1989).

46. Canaan (=)
Not sure why I like Canaan so much – the animation, characters, and concept I guess. My review here.

45. Baka Test (*)
Hyperbolic humor done right. Clever jokes, pretty designs, and fun characters. My review here.

44. Darker than Black (+)
The second season and Gaiden OVA brought DtB higher on my list. It’s still a little “dark” for me but it has great action, animation, story, and characters.

43. Konjiki no Gash Bell!! (-)
Only seen 88 episodes of this shonen anime based on a long-running manga but I loved it. Sorely underrated in terms of shonen series.

42. Eden of the East (*)
Rewatching Eden of the East, along with its two movies, made me appreciate it a lot more. Ending was a bit unsatisfying but great premise. My review here.

41. Tenchi Muyo! (-)
Only counting the original OVAs and manga. One of my big favorites in my early years as a fan and a series I should try to get back into one day.

40. Sailor Moon (-)
The very first anime I watched in 1995 before knowing what anime is. Haven’t seen all the episodes nor watched any in years but it will always be special to me.

39. Sola (-)
One of the best twist endings ever. My review here.

38. Ouran High School Host Club (=)
Sincerely funny reverse-harem goodness~

37. Ichigo Mashimaro (-)
So funny though 95% of the humor rides on one character. Seen the OVAs too.

36. Macross Frontier (=)
One of the best soundtracks of any anime. Everything else about it isn’t too shabby either.

35. K-ON (+)
The second season of K-ON is what ranked it higher on my list now. Why I like it here.

34. Chobits (=)
Haven’t seen all of the anime but I’ve read all the manga. Such a sweet yet deep little story.

33. Trigun (=)
One of my favorite protagonists and just an all around great, universally-appealing anime.

32. Clannad After Story (-)
The first Clannad series is good but After Story is fantastic. Few anime have touched my emotions like its second half. My thoughts here.

31. Eureka 7 (-)
It’s just been too long since I’ve seen E7 but I still remember how great I thought it was. Perhaps a rewatch will place it higher on my next list?

30. To Aru Kagaku no Railgun (*)
Great characters and fun setting. Love it much more than its sister series Index. My review here.

29. OreImo (*)
If you can take Kirino and the idea of sis-con with a grain of salt, this series offers great insight about what it means to be an otaku.

28. Revolutionary Girl Utena (=)
The shojo version of Evangelion in my opinion. If the yuri themes don’t scare you away, it’s a mind-blowing series and movie.

27. Slayers (=)
Only talking about the original three Slayers series, particularly Slayers Next. Another old favorite of mine with great humor, fantasy, and Megumi Hayashibara goodness!

26. Fullmetal Alchemist (-)
I like both the original series and Brotherhood. I respect FMA very much, just not as into it as many other fans.

25. Air (-)
Love Misuzu…the last two episodes slay me every time.

24. Cowboy Bebop (+)
Recently rewatched CBB and realized what a classic it is in every way – story, setting, characters, style, music – everything.

23. Kemono no Souja Erin (-)
Beautiful and meaningful series that’s terribly underrated. If only it got more promotion and a better animation budget.

22. Digimon (=)
Newer Digimon series haven’t been as great as the original three, but I’m still hopelessly hooked into watching them all.

21. Toradora! (-)
Watching it a second time wasn’t quite as suspenseful as the first, but it’s still one of the best high school romance dramas I’ve seen. My thoughts here.

20. Shakugan no Shana (+)
The fantasy is a bit over the top but the characters are great. And Shana is one of my most favorite anime characters of all. The currently airing third season has rekindled my love!

19. Hayate no Gotoku (=)
I actually like the shorter second season a lot more than the much longer first season. Lots of good seiyuu and the characters are just so much fun.

18. Code Geass (=)
Very few anime have been as thrilling and suspenseful to me as Code Geass, especially the second season, R2. Satisfied with the ending too.

17. Fruits Basket (=)
One of the sweetest and most uplifting shows of all despite having such a seemingly silly reverse-harem premise. The full story is in the manga, which I haven’t read, but I intend to someday.

16. Death Note (-)
A sheer masterpiece of suspense, mystery, and moral questioning from beginning to end.

15. Chi’s Sweet Home (=)
My guilty pleasure. Let kitty cuteness abound~

14. Madoka Magica (*)
One of the most recent anime that sincerely impressed me to no end. Only time will tell if it’ll continue to hold a place in my heart in years to come. My thoughts here.

13. Naruto (=)
Disregarding fillers, it brings out everything great in the shonen genre.

12. One Piece (-)
Like Naruto, fantastic shonen action, character development, and plots. Not all of its long arcs are of equal quality though.

11. Inuyasha (-)
The series that was my #1 favorite for many years. Obviously I’m not as into it as I used to be but it’s still very special to me.

10. Kannagi (-)

Though the story isn’t that original, I just love the characters, and the animation is great. But with no anime sequel or new manga chapters in three years, my interest is waning. Nagi-sama needs to be revived! My review here.

9. Evangelion (=)

Even without the new movies rekindling my interest, Eva will always be a favorite of mine. One of the most impacting and unforgettable anime I’ve ever seen.

8. Azumanga Daioh (=)

A 4-koma based “cute girls doing cute things” series that has some of the best characters and humor in the genre. I’ve watched the series several times already and it’s hilarious every time.

7. Cardcaptor Sakura (=)

The first anime I watched in Japanese. A magical girl series that does everything right. In addition to good fantasy, drama, and romance, it’s the cutest, sweetest, loveliest show ever without ever insulting my intelligence.

6. Noir (=)

A lot of people hate this series but I’ve watched it many times and think it’s a masterpiece. Unforgettable Yuki Kajiura music, suspenseful plot, thought-provoking themes, and great focus on just a few unpredictable characters.

5. Angel Beats! (*)

I haven’t lost interest in Angel Beats! for over a year now, which is a good indication that it may be a permanent stay on this list, even among my top 10. Half the reason I love it is because Yuri is one of my most favorite characters of all, and I also can’t resist Jun Maeda’s way with drama. My thoughts here.

4. Lucky Star (=)

The humor in LS isn’t for everyone, but I personally can’t get enough of it, whether it’s otaku in-jokes or character-driven humor. Love the characters, animation, and humor, plain and simple.

3. Wolf’s Rain (=)

I’ve watched WR many times and each time I love it more than the last. Brilliant mix of beauty and violence, solid characters, unique plot, fantastic music and animation, and themes that make me ponder anew every time. It has my favorite English dub too.

2. Pokemon (+)

Since I’m counting how I feel about all media aspects of an anime series instead of just the anime portion for this list, my love for the Pokemon games, and the franchise in general, is something that surpasses all the above mentioned titles. Twelve years ago Pokemon started it all for me in terms of my interest in anime and Japan, and it’s never faded since. My history with Pokemon here.

1. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (=)

Haruhi has been my #1 since mid-2007, and as of now it still shows no signs of giving up that spot! To make it clear, I love the anime but the novels more, since there’s more stories that haven’t been animated yet and they’re more detailed. Only a series I love to the utmost would compel me to actually translate extensive portions of it on my own and take a plane trip to see its movie premiere, and Haruhi is one, if not, the only one. Why I love it here.

—–

Comparing this list to my previous one, most of my favorites haven’t changed that much, especially my top 20 or so. A handful of new series have been added of course, and a few that were on my old top 50 didn’t make it onto this one. A lot of series ranked lower than they did on the old list but that’s mainly because of my needing to find spaces for the new favorites.

I’ve discovered that a good way to tell if a series is a true favorite of yours is 1) you love it just as much, if not more, after watching it more than once, and 2) you can easily think and talk passionately about it long after you’ve watched it. Rewatching is also an indispensable way to determine if that title is really a favorite, as rewatching Cowboy Bebop and Eden of the East this year helped we determine how much I really like them. It’s always interesting to find out which series are forever favorites of yours and which eventually wear off. Maybe in another two or so years I’ll make another top 50 and compare it yet again :)

Just as there are numerous books, movies, songs, and other cultural works considered “classics” by many, I’ve often wondered if certain anime should be labeled in a similar way…

I like the Wiki definition of a classic as it’s straightforward and concise:

“The word ‘classic’ means something that is a perfect example of a particular style, something of lasting worth or with a timeless quality.”

I’m sure we can all think of anime that we feel match that description. But the problem with making any concrete list of “anime classics” is, naturally, that such a list would vary because of personal opinion. Anyone who’s spent a decent amount of time in the fandom knows that the tastes of anime fans is as various as anime series themselves, and one fan’s masterpiece is another fan’s pile of crap. So to make a list of anime classics more definable, I’d like to propose that in addition to the title being an irreplaceable example of its style and having long-lasting worth, more than these, an anime classic must also have had a significant impact on the medium of anime in some way (which often influences the former two attributes anyway).

To illustrate with examples, despite the diverse tastes of anime fans, I’m sure the majority will agree that if there’s any series to be called a classic (I’m only discussing series here as movies are different in these respects), it would be Evangelion. Eva matches my proposed criteria for an anime classic perfectly. Its psychological odysseys amidst surprisingly horrifying rather than glorified mecha action, and its unexpected emphasis on character studies above all else, was certainly something that had never before been seen in anime at the time. Not only did it redefine the mecha style, but it went beyond what anime had been until now and set the trend for tons of “psychological” anime to follow. And even as a decade went by with no new anime material, it continued to sell products and be discussed within the fandom, attesting strongly to its timeless worth, before it was “retold” in the new movies. With this way of looking at what defines an anime classic, it’s easy to see that Evangelion fits the criteria regardless of whether you personally think it’s good or not. To summarize, it created a style of anime never seen before, which left a long-lasting influence on anime and its fandom to follow, and it continues to be a fan favorite over fifteen years after its beginning.

Evangelion being called an anime classic then begs the question of whether a series has to be a certain number of years old in order to make the cut. After all, it’s hard to see how strong an anime’s timeless worth and impact on the medium is if it’s only been around a few years. But there are some “younger” anime I think already have the makings of a classic. Regardless of the fact that The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is my favorite anime, in the five years since the anime first aired, there’s no denying its influence on the fandom. The non-chronological order of its episodes, the blending of complex sci-fi and moe/slice-of-life comedy, a sarcastic first-person narrative style via Kyon, a string of clever marketing tactics only Kadokawa/KyoAni could employ, a dance ending theme that blasted the Internet with memes and emulations all over the world – these were things that had never been seen in anime before Haruhi, and like Evangelion, they influenced many anime to follow. Openings and endings performed by seiyuu, girls bands via “Live A Live,” and “Hare Hare Yukai” inspired dances are just a few lasting things Haruhi brought to anime. Also like Evangelion, despite going years without new anime material (though in Haruhi’s case it was only three years until the rebroadcast) the series continued to sell products and be frequently discussed in the fandom. And who will ever forget Endless Eight? (and the fact that its DVDs still sold well!)

Both Eva and Haruhi are considered worthwhile anime among the general fandom and have left lasting impacts on the anime world. There are a number of other anime I consider to be classics as well, though not as firmly as these two. Cowboy Bebop certainly influenced American anime fandom, with its twenty-six episodes rerunning on Adult Swim for years. It was one of the original heavily Western-style anime that became more popular in the US than Japan and is still used as a comparison for similar anime by fans to this day. Cardcaptor Sakura was one of the first and most solid (non-Salior Moon-style) magical girl anime, with Sakura being one of the original moe characters. Death Note introduced a whole new breed of darkness to Shonen Jump, with a surprisingly unlikable protagonist and a wave of controversies to follow. Madoka Magica has the perfect beginning for an anime classic, but being less than a year old, it needs more time to see how long its influence will last. And I’m still not sure whether Azumanga Daioh, Lucky Star, or K-ON! is the most classic example of a moe/slice-of-life 4-koma comedy anime. Some may say AzuDai because it’s the oldest but Lucky Star and K-ON! have arguably had much more impact on the anime world.

To conclude, what I feel defines an anime classic goes beyond just thinking it’s a good series with good characters, plot, etc,. It must also have long-lasting worth and respect in anime fandom in general (regardless of personal taste) AND it must leave a significant impact by “pioneering” something in the medium that continues to influence years later. These traits combined make it a “must-see” for anyone interested in anime as a whole. Of course, there will always be room for debate over what constitutes having impact on anime, but hopefully less so than just going by the quality of the series alone.

My ideas on what defines a classic anime are far from complete, so I’d appreciate any suggestions and feedback you want to offer in the comments section. And feel free to mention anime you would call classics. Again, rather than calling them classic because you personally think they’re good, try to think in terms of how much of an impact they’ve had in the medium of anime and the general regard the fandom has for them.

For lack of a better post today, I decided to try something new and pick my current five favorites amongst the seasonal anime I’m watching (with inspiration from kevo’s ongoing “Anime Power Rankings” project)…

Just to note, I’m only counting anime that started airing in summer ’11 or are still continuing from the spring ’11 season. And naturally, my opinions of these shows may change upon their completion.

5. No.6
(episodes seen: 5/11)

4. Steins;Gate
(episodes seen: 19/24)

3. Hanasaku Iroha
(episodes seen: 19/26)

2. Usagi Drop
(episodes seen: 5/11)

1. Ikoku Meiro no Croisée
(episodes seen: 6/12)

———-

I now realize that all of my top 5 here will be ending in 5-7 weeks. I may write full reviews of all of them if I can get around to it. Mawaru Penguindrum and Baka Test season 2 have potential to become season favorites depending on how much I like their future episodes =)

And just a bit of news before I go, I’ll only have time for one new post next week due to another heavy work week. It’ll most likely be on Wednesday. See you all then~