Hello everyone! Justin here and welcome to the Otaku Mind where we’re celebrating my birthday and I thought it’d be fun if name my all-time favorite anime. I’ve got to be honest this was a tough list to make. How do you take x number of years watching anime and convert it down into one simple list? It’s something I’ve learned that gets harder with age. This was a blog that went through a number of rewrites but through it all I think I’ve managed to create a list of what I consider to be the best animes of all time. Keep in mind these are my picks and don’t reflect the opinions of anyone else so feel free to agree or disagree with all you want, just do it in a respectful manner. With that said, I’m the birthday boy Justin and these are the Top 11 Best Animes.
#11. Fullmetal Panic
Hands down my favorite comedy series. A military/comedy anime about a girl named Kasame whose normal life gets interrupted when a boy named Sousuke from the military comes to be her bodyguard and starts going to school with her where hilarious hijinks ensue. While seasons 1, 3, and 4 are good with a nice balance of story, action and comedy, the second season is without a doubt my favorite season. This season just went for laughs, nothing else, and delivered. Each episode had me cracking up and I still consider it the funniest anime to this day. Seriously, I can watch any episode from this season and still get a good laugh out of it. It’s also one of my favorite dubs. Chris Patton and Luci Christian are a riot in this anime and they fit their characters perfectly. If you’re looking for a good laugh I highly recommend checking out the second season and the other seasons as they’re good too.
#10. Kuroko’s Basketball
I love basketball. I love anime. Put them together with a good story and characters and you’ve instantly made me a fan. Watching sports animes has never really been my thing but Kuroko’s Basketball instantly won me over with its setup and characters. The basketball games were great and stayed in reality. While the moves the characters do are exaggerated for the sake of the story they’re all stuff that can be done in real life and as someone who has played basketball for a majority of his life sometimes playing basketball does feel like this at times. I remember entering the Zone in games and feeling invincible. The games are easily the best part of this anime. They’re shot well, the animation is great, and the emotion of the characters is intense and believable. While this is mostly a story-driven series the character elements are good such as Kuroko’s relationship with Taiga and his old teammates. The chemistry between the duo of Kuroko and Taiga was awesome and seeing him reconcile with his old teammates to become friends/rivals was a feel good moment and one that was well-earned. I have heard that a lot of people prefer Slam Dunk over Kuroko which is another good anime about basketball I recommend, I still prefer Kuroko. If you’re just starting to get into basketball then check out Slam Dunk for a more character-driven series, but if you’re a fan of basketball and have been playing it for a while like me then check out Kuroko for a more story-driven series.
#9. Dragonball Z
What else is there to say about DBZ that nobody else has said before? It’s the series that got a whole generation into anime. I remember as a kid always coming home from school, doing my homework and turning on Toonami to watch Dragonball Z. I was just blown away by what I saw. I had never seen anything like it before in my life and I couldn’t get enough of it. The characters, the moves, the lore, the action it was just mind blowing and I couldn’t get enough of it. I say this with no hint of sarcasm or exaggeration in my voice. If it wasn’t for DBZ I don’t think I or a lot of people in America would have gotten into anime. It’s a great series that’s still going strong today and I thank Akira Toriyama from the bottom of my heart for creating this shonen masterpiece.
#8. Death Note
Always a fan favorite and for a good reason. It serves as the perfect story into how power corrupts people and how we as humans can never play God. Serving as one of the first non-battle battle animes to go mainstream, Death Note has often been noted as being one of the greatest animes of all time. The battle of the minds between Light and L is phenomenal and Light’s descent from a good person wanting to help the world to a madman with a god complex was done excellently. It was believable and the story kept your attention from beginning to end. If I had to name the biggest highlight for me in the anime it would have to be the camerawork. The way the camera moves and the way the anime is shot just brings this anime to the next level. This anime was directed by Tetsuro Araki who would go on to direct Attack on Titan and from watching these two animes you can tell this is a person who knows and understands the importance of camerawork and how it can impact a scene. Death Note remains one of the great psychological thrillers and coming out at a time when a lot of kids were going through that whole emo/goth/dark phase in their life this series really spoke to them. If DBZ didn’t turn you into a fan of anime then Death Note sure as hell did.
#7. The Four Horsemen of Isekai
Yeah, I’m cheating. But hey, it’s my list, my birthday and I’ll do whatever I want. Suck it! During the 2010s anime entered the golden era of isekai. Isekai has been around for a long time now but thanks to the success of SAO and Log Horizon the genre just exploded in popularity. Unfortunately, some studios started getting lazy and just released awful uninspiring isekai anime that nearly ruined the genre because they were telling the same story over and over again. Thankfully, isekai anime was saved thanks to Konosuba, Re:Zero, Overlord, and Tanya who I like to refer to as the Four Horsemen of Isekai. It was thanks to these four anime that the isekai genre became revitalized and set the standards for what an isekai anime should be. Konosuba showed us that isekai animes can be funny and how what you would like to happen in an isekai situation most likely won’t happen. Re:Zero showed us how realistic and dark isekai can be. It didn’t always have to be bright and colorful, it could be cruel and traumatizing at times. Overlord and Tanya showed us how the main character didn’t always have to be the hero. They could be seen as the villain and still be compelling and interesting characters that you couldn’t bring yourself to hate. The success of the Horsemen opened the door for other isekai like Reincarnated as Slime, Shield Hero, and I’m a Spider to gain popularity when they aired and to develop a fanbase. Even opening up the door for studios to take chances on more unique isekais like Knight’s & Magic and I’m Standing on One Million Lives in order to present something new. With a new decade upon us isekai is still going strong in the anime industry and with the announcement of another season of Shield Hero and Tanya I think this genre will be sticking around for a couple more years.
#6. Kimetsu no Yaiba
Probably the most recent anime on this list. At the time of the anime airing I had never read the manga so I was going into this series blind and once it was over I became a fan. The animation was just beautiful to look at. My God I don’t remember being blown away by animation like this in a long time. On top of that it has a good story. While the story is nothing new the way in which it’s told and the characters within it are done excellently. It’s a shonen series right down to its core, but incorporates a few changes such as the main character not being that emotionally fragile and instead of being out for revenge he’s instead on a journey to save his last family member and even shows sympathy for his enemies. The series knows how to tug at your heartstrings as well as get a good laugh out of you and put you on the edge of your seat when watching. With the anime set to come back I’m excited to see what happens next with Tanjiro and the others on their journey. Kimetsu no Yaiba may be recent but its easily the best modern-day anime I’ve seen.
#5. Monster
If you like Death Note then you owe it to yourself to check out Monster. I’ve talked about this series a number of times in the past and for good reason. It’s one of if not the best psychological thriller I’ve ever seen. The series is like what would happen if Batman and Joker’s ideologies were battling each other in the real world and everybody was getting caught in the line of fire. It’s an amazing battle between good and evil and sticking by your convictions even when everyone tells you not to. Of course, the highlight of this series is the antagonist, Johan Libert. This is the best anime villain in my book, he is everything Light wishes he could be and he doesn’t even have powers. He’s just a charming guy who’s good at manipulating people and bending them to his will.
#4. Hunter x Hunter
The most shonen series out there except when it doesn’t want to be. Created by the man who gave us Yu Yu Hakusho, Hunter x Hunter starts off as your basic shonen stories. It has fun characters but nothing new or interesting and a normal story to go along with these characters, but as you continue you start to see how the series deconstructs the shonen formula and rebuilt it to tell a shonen story with seinen elements. Gon isn’t the most powerful character in the show and loses about 50% of his fights. He doesn’t have any tropes and is just an average resourceful kid who works hard to get stronger and represents pretty much everything good about humanity. However, he has his breaking points and reminds us that even if we do our best there’s a chance it won’t work out for us in the end because that’s life. The villains are great and some of the best written ones I’ve seen in a shonen series. They’re not necessarily evil they just have motives that conflict with Gon’s motives and really don’t care about him because they got their own lives and motives to focus on. There’s nice twists and turns throughout the series that keep you guessing on what’s going to happen next. Just when I think something’s going to happen next they pull a swerve on me and catch me completely by surprise. It’s great. I really do hope when the manga comes to its eventual end the anime continues because I would love to see what happens next in anime form.
#3. Lupin the Third
Of course my favorite anime character will be from one of my favorite animes. The oldest anime on this list, Lupin the Third captured my heart with his fun-loving nature, entertaining heists and stories, and great music. For Lupin, it’s not about getting the prize at the end that’s important, but rather the journey and hoops you jump through to get it. He’s a guy who loves to challenge himself and at the end of each heist he comes out better than when he first started them. Over the years Lupin has gone through a resurgence with the anime continuing and the new parts have been great bringing in new fans as well as old ones. With Part VI set to come out and yes, my review of Part V will up next week I’m excited to continue Lupin’s story and see where he goes. Whether it’s continuing with the regular formula or returning to the series roots and show a grittier Lupin, it’ll be entertaining in my book and proof that Lupin is truly timeless and there’s no one like him.
#2. Watanabe’s Animes
Yep, I’m cheating again. Come at me! Next to Miyazaki, Watanabe is my favorite director of anime. His original works are the perfect gateway for westerners who are new to anime. They have great ideas with well-written characters and stories to go along with them. Samurai Champloo and Cowboy Bebop are still considered by many to be their all-time favorite anime and are still talked about to this day with high praise. Even his other works such as Space Dandy, Terror in Resonance, and Carole & Tuesday have a following with fans praising them and giving them positive reviews as animes that present something new and original from the norm. I even enjoyed Kids on the Slope. While it wasn’t a Watanabe original you can tell this was a project he was passionate about, understood the source material, and presented an anime that was the perfect representation of the original material. I don’t know what Watanabe will be doing next, but if he’s behind it I just know it’s going to be something new and interesting for westerners to see.
And number one. . .
#1. FMA: Brotherhood
I’ve said this was my favorite anime in the past and I meant it. This anime is just perfect to me. It took the original story of the manga and told it in anime form from beginning to end without skipping a beat. The characters are great, the story is phenomenal, and it ends with everything being wrapped up with no loose ends and a wonderful message for the viewers. This anime has everything. Comedy, drama, action, adventure, tragedy, philosophy, psychology, horror and thrills. There’s something in this anime for everyone to watch. Whether it be the dub or sub both versions are a joy to listen to as the VAs match up with their characters perfectly. At a time when shonen animes were playing it safe, FMA took the rules of shonen and pushed them to their limits so that they could rise up to a new level and present a new era of shonen we have today. FMA: Brotherhood is a series I never get tired of talking about or watching. It’s the perfect anime and the greatest anime of all time.
Well, that’s my list. I hoped you enjoyed. Thanks for joining me on my birthday and reading my blogs. It really means a lot to me and I can never thank you enough for your support. I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.