Presenting toonzone's Top 25 Anime of All Time!

You know it makes me laugh how people forget how loved Bobobo was on here when it aired on Toonami, those talkbacks on the Toonami forum were verrrrryyyy fun.(Feels like only yesterday..)

Very good list, Bebop's finale always did win me over.
 
You know I'm not what you'd call a Bebop fan but I respect it enough to understand why people would vote it #1. Of course my #1 got #2 so that's cool.

Gundam Wing remains my favorite Gundam but I know it has far too many flaws.... and yet I enjoy it. Heh... kind of like Kampfer.

Pretty good list TZ.
 
Makes me sad, though. I think it still holRAB up today, and it still airs on [adult swim] - though, admittantly, those are the fairly lame Season 2 episodes - so I guess it's just fallen to the wayside.



HinRABight is 20/20. Five years ago I would have called it the best anime ever, but when you look at it with a critical eye... it really really sucks compared to its manga. A lot of potential, but much of it realized.



I think it's the newness factor - along with Gurren Lagann, Geass is the only popular anime to air on TV in the US for a while, so it makes sense that it would have more fans. If we were to do this again in five years, I'd imagine Gurren would be in the Top 20 at best, and Geass would be gone entirely.

So, let's see how my list holRAB up in comparison.

1) Cowboy Bebop = 1ST
Called that one. No surprise.
2) Grave of the Fireflies = N/A
REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY surprised, and equally disappointed, this didn't end up anywhere on the list. I mean, it's such a fantastic film. Probably the most painful, emotional things I've ever seen.
3) Porco Rosso = N/A
Not as surprising. My favorite Miyazaki, but I can see why Mononoke and Spirited Away made it higher. Porco is the outlier of Miyazaki's stable, no doubt.
4) Yu Yu Hakusho = 3RD
Another pretty clear correlation. We like Yu Yu 'round here, I guess... good to know that some classics never die.
5) My Neigrabroador Totoro = N/A
Same as Porco Rosso, though I expected SOME more support for Totoro. I guess that Ghibli's more... action-ish movies are the popular ones 'round here.
6) One Piece = 2ND
Not too big a surprise. I would have ranked it lower, though, as I would have Yu Yu Hakusho, as they do less with the medium. Pretty much straight manga adaptations in both cases; not a bad thing, but...
7) The Big O = N/A
Sad face.
8) Paranoia Agent = N/A
Didn't really expect to see this one place at all. Doesn't seem to get much love 'round these parts.
9) Castle in the Sky: Laputa = N/A
Another bet on the wrong Ghibli horse. But, well, this is objectively one of Miyazaki's more linear films, so, I can see why it didn't place.
10) Fullmetal Alchemist = 4TH
Yeah, I'd buy it there. I placed it lower, but that might just be because I haven't seen it in a while... maybe... I dunno...

Weird. You drop out all of the no-placers, I have the top four. Bebop, Yu Yu, One Piece, FMA. Just switch the middle two and it's in the same order and everything.
 
Wing was the only current-gen animation show on a very gracious schedule back when afternoons meant something. Nostalgia's easier when it's aired 5 times a week with a movie every now and then, compared to UC's showing of random Saturdays with an OVA...or a show made in 0079.

When you personally ask people what happened in Wing beyond things blowing up with a questioning look, I'm not putting "quality" as the answer to why it's popular.
 
That's a very.......modern list. I must say I've never watched any of them. I love anime, but I'm super picky about it. I take it age has something to do with the list, otherwise, I would expect to see things like Fist of the North Star, Macross/Robotech, Astro-Boy, Ranma 1/2, etc...

Oh, and if Spirited Away can make it into the list, how did Grave of the Fireflies not make it?! Insanity, I say!
 
Funny, I seem to recall when Wing was on Toonami back in the day it's was getting a lot of praise for have a level of sophistication not seen in most action animation at the time.
 
I will confess to being a tad vexed by the "only blind nostalgia could justify anyone liking Gundam Wing these days!" sentiment. I mean, hi. I'm GWOtaku. We have met, yes? If this thread is any indication, maybe I should indulge in talking seriously about it again sometime soon.

The order is bit off in my book (yeah, I would flip 00 with Wing) and of course I'm disappointed my eternal #1 (Legend of the Galactic Heroes) didn't sneak in at the bottom, but as far as the selection goes I've seen worse. Just remeraber, to an extent it's a popularity check and top 10's are pretty limiting. There are so many anime that I adore that I couldn't put on my list. For instance yeah, I didn't vote for Naruto, but that doesn't mean that I don't like it just fine.

My biggest surprise? Yu Yu Hakusho at #3. The story is not that spectacular so my guess is that it's the characterization that carries it for people, which is something that I can definitely understand. One Piece is little shock at all, if any, considering that it has that and a story that is still expanding. I see it was popular on the old list too, but it's definitely gained prominence around here since then. And for good reason! In early 2004 I didn't know much about it besides the name. Amazing, no?

I'm impressed by Mononoke's staying power, though I'm glad a few people voted for Nausicaa, which I find is really growing on me more and more. Mononoke's solid quality though, it's a movie in the upper tier of Ghibli films and for a lot of people it was probably the first Ghibli movie seen.

It's almost cruel of Fullmetal Alchemist to hog two spots on the list, but what can I say? I didn't vote for it but it's totally one of decade's best. The way fandom has supported this series over the years does a lot to give me hope for our collective good taste. I really can't wait to get deep into Brotherhood.

You know, I've defended Code Geass around here, but I didn't so much as consider it for my top ten. Why? Because I had to rank the whole thing instead of just season one. Without getting into R2 at length, suffice to say that it just wasn't the same. I think it's a case study in how bigger isn't always better.

It's too bad Kenshin fell off, though I didn't vote for it so I can't complain too much. In my defense though I did vote for Samurai X Trust and Betrayal, which is one of the finest OVA's ever made and a brilliant Kenshin story. If you haven't seen it, you really must.

I did suggest that I would discuss & defend my top ten, and I even have ideas about trying to figure out a serious top 25 list or even a top 50...I'm thinking I'll tackle this later and see how far I get.
 
That's probably because Wing really was what we thought a level of sophistication not seen in most action animation at the time.

Of course, that was "at the time." Now we've got other Gundam's to compare it to.
 
I'd actually agree that most of the support Wing gets comes down to blind nostalgia. As others have said, it hasn't really aged well. Fair do if you still like it (even I have elements of it that I enjoy), but I think the popularity is indeed the Toonami generation looking at it through rose tinted glasses. Plus when the argument I seem to be seeing here is 'Wing is good because it was awesome!'...well, obviously that isn't even an attempt to explain anything. It kind of reminRAB me how 30 year old Transformer fanboys will tell you the G1 cartoon was bursting with depth and mature themes when really this is their bad memories and fan pandering later comic books.
 
what Tenchi is only 25...perpostorius I say! & why is gurran laggen so bloody high? thats not right! but I am glad to see Case Closed made the list, always good to see conan get his due (although I guess it would'nt hurt to have him a wee bit higher up, but glad he's on it none the less.

But overall a decent list..I guess. (Tottally disagree with One Piece being #2, but I digrese.)
 
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