[Anime] Best anime of all time?

[Sorrior]

Samurai Jack wasn't anime. But god damn, it was good.

(And yes, anime is a GENRE. It's not a medium.)

No not really well i GUESS you could call it a genre but it's more like a medium than a genre. I mean do you consider TV and Movies genres of the moving picture variety? Anime is pretty much the same in my mind. Different enough that it deserves it's own classification.

[Deleted]

Gintama (funniest and best anime in my eyes)
Samurai Champloo
Code Geas
Death Note
Hunter x Hunter
School Rumble
Tengen Toppa Guren Lagan
Darker then Black
Fairy Tail
Ao no exorcist (new, but i like it)
naruto/bleach/one piece (but i have to say, i HATE fillers!!!)

[Starsurge]

Trigun, or Cowboy Bebop.
Also have a soft-spot in my heart for FMA: Brotherhood

[Vinland]

Monster, Planetes, TTGL, Eureka Seven.

[Sorrior]

Keep in mind Robotech is an American bastardization of 3 animes (4 if you include the movie which was Megazone 23). Macross, Southern Cross, and Mospeada which all had very different stories. Macross has a much better storyline (especially once you see the other Macross series) and it's lore is much different.

Akira was just raw at the time and blew people away. It's violent, bloody, and a total mindfuck compared to anything Americans had seen at the time. Pretty much anything put out by Manga Entertainment (IIRC they originally had the rights to Akira) back then was some of the best stuff (already listed a few in my first post, namely M.D. Geist, Appleseed, Bubblegum Crisis, Fist of the North Star, Ghost in the Shell, Ninja Scroll, Macross II, Macross Plus, etc)

As someone mentioned, it's a medium. Akira is easily one of the best drawn and painted animes. Most modern anime is at least colored on computers instead of painted, and even more of them are using computers to do much of the animation (keep in mind, I'm not saying this is a bad thing, as it makes series look better and they don't have to reuse footage). So as an art form, many of the old animes are higher on my scale. Doesn't mean the stories are the best though lol

Yeah i know that about robotech i DO own all three primary series AND the protoculture collection for robotech.

Oh and i'd say robotech and it;s ilk started the second boom more than Akira did thing is speed racer premiered here in the 60s if i recall right FAR predating even macrosss' creation. Oh a few other shows from the second boom are Ronin Warriors and Saint Saya oh aso G-Force/Battle of the Planets. Again Akira to me is more of a nostalgia based series for most. See Duke Nukem forever no nothing new but then again it;s what duke ALWAYS WAS but people propped the games up on sucha pedestal that they expected more from duke than there ever was and as such it gets ALOT of hate. Same thing for Akira IMO. One reason why i'm avoiding Madoka till the fan craze is over so i can get a more subjective view on it. I also didn't see eva till the craze was over and done with and as such i don't have the whole mob mentality or best thing ever bit going on.

But anyways yeah Akira did some new things but not nearly as many as most people spout i suspect.

[MisterSoup]

No not really well i GUESS you could call it a genre but it's more like a medium than a genre. I mean do you consider TV and Movies genres of the moving picture variety? Anime is pretty much the same in my mind. Different enough that it deserves it's own classification.

Yes, yes really. "Anime" is just a japanese bastardization of the word "animated." It only refers to animated films and shows made in Japan, or with japanese styles.

ANIMATION is the medium. "Anime" refers to the style and localization of the work.

It's a genre.

[Skizzit]

Samurai Jack wasn't anime. But god damn, it was good.

(And yes, anime is a GENRE. It's not a medium.)

Explain to me how something like Berserk and pokemon are in the same genre? Would you consider Sesame Street and The Sopranos in the same genre cause they are both TV series? Mecha is a genre. Shonen is a genre. Anime is a medium.

[-Ethos-]

Anime branches itself off into every other genre and sub-genre possible.

Being the only "genre" able to do so, it seems more fitting for it to be a medium.

[Skizzit]

Yes, yes really. "Anime" is just a japanese bastardization of the word "animated." It only refers to animated films and shows made in Japan, or with japanese styles.

ANIMATION is the medium. "Anime" refers to the style and localization of the work.

It's a genre.

So any movie made in Hollywood is the same genre? Yes, in common english speaking terms, anime is a term used to describe japanese animation, but source of origin does not designate theme or ideals.

[KCguy]

Naruto. Yeah sue me I know it's probably overrated. I'm not much of an anime fan to start with, but I watched a hell of a lot of episodes and now I'm enjoying it. While I'm sure there are so many better ones I can't stomach having to sit through and watch them all from the start. Takes too long. haha.

[Poodles]

Yeah i know that about robotech i DO own all three primary series AND the protoculture collection for robotech.

Oh and i'd say robotech and it;s ilk started the second boom more than Akira did thing is speed racer premiered here in the 60s if i recall right FAR predating even macrosss' creation. Oh a few other shows from the second boom are Ronin Warriors and Saint Saya oh aso G-Force/Battle of the Planets. Again Akira to me is more of a nostalgia based series for most. See Duke Nukem forever no nothing new but then again it;s what duke ALWAYS WAS but people propped the games up on sucha pedestal that they expected more from duke than there ever was and as such it gets ALOT of hate. Same thing for Akira IMO. One reason why i'm avoiding Madoka till the fan craze is over so i can get a more subjective view on it. I also didn't see eva till the craze was over and done with and as such i don't have the whole mob mentality or best thing ever bit going on.

But anyways yeah Akira did some new things but not nearly as many as most people spout i suspect.

It's mostly broke the concept that cartoons are for kids in the states. As an art form, I like it. Story wise the movie is hard to follow and the manga does a hell of a lot better explaining (also the remastering of the movie helped too). It's good because it was groundbreaking at the time. Think of it as the Model-T of violent anime to make it to America lol. Personally, I like Guyver better (original, though the remake is better story wise, the original is more violent), but yet again, it's not a movie.

On if anime is a medium or genre. Well, since most people associate anime to mean TV/movie/manga, it's not a genre It's not a specific art style either, it's simply Japanese animation.

Oh, and speaking of oldies, can't forget Voltron (and my god the remake is terrible). One could argue Thundercats was anime becasue IIRC, all of the actual artwork was done in Japan, but can't remember.

The other thing that's kinda cool about what Robotech did, is bring over the mecha models from many different series. Even though they were reboxed as Robotech, it still got the ball rolling on mecha model kits (and I've been hooked ever since). The irony in this is that Harmony Gold went after Battletech for their use of some of the mecha, which Harmony Gold themselves stole...

[MisterSoup]

So any movie made in Hollywood is the same genre? Yes, in common english speaking terms, anime is a term used to describe japanese animation, but source of origin does not designate theme or ideals.

I have no idea how to get this into your tiny mind any better.

Animation is a means of producing something, and is therefore a medium. Just the same as photography, or filming, or puppeteering, or claymation.

"Anime" refers to a style of work, and is therefore a genre. Just like "drama" refers to a narrative and/or visual style, and so does "comedy" or "cartoon" or "reality show"

I really can't explain this any better for you, so if you're still having trouble understanding something this simple, I apologize.

[Don Lionheart]

There's a couple of really good ones out there that I've seen, but my absolute favorite of all time is Dragon Ball Z, with Dragon Ball coming in as a close 2nd.

Some other good ones were, of course, the original Yu-Gi-Oh series, Digimon, Pokemon, I'll even put Sailor Moon on there (even though I'm a guy, haha)

[Bathory]

Full Metal Alchemist. Deal with it.

[Poodles]

I have no idea how to get this into your tiny mind any better.

Animation is a means of producing something, and is therefore a medium. Just the same as photography, or filming, or puppeteering, or claymation.

"Anime" refers to a style of work, and is therefore a genre. Just like "drama" refers to a narrative and/or visual style, and so does "comedy" or "cartoon" or "reality show"

I really can't explain this any better for you, so if you're still having trouble understanding something this simple, I apologize.

Anime is not a style.

[TheEaterofSouls]

Id have to say Gurren Lagann on this! So freaking epic! But I really dont have a best(sorta). Heres my top 10 best (off the top of my head)
1.Gurren Lagann 2.Bleach 3.Sherlock Hound 4.Star Driver 5.DBZ 6.FMA: brotherhood 7.Durarara 8.FLCL 9.Kekkiashi 10.Avatar(I think of it as anime)
Ya my taste in anime is very inconsistant.

[Paoa]

DRAGON BALL Z
/thread

[deathsage]

Naruto(including shippuden)
samurai X
bleach

[Poodles]

DRAGON BALL Z
/thread

Original, unbotched from Funimation, yes. If you can watch it when you want to so you can fast forward through the dumb parts. Suffered the same issue as many other animes, too much filler (hence why Kai is good, but I miss some of the stuff they cut out)

[TheEaterofSouls]

Anime is not a style.

I think of it as a double meaning.
Anime by def.:any animation made in japan
Anime as a style: Any show that convays semi-realistic character body types or includes a darker or fantasy based plot.
(Im sure their are holes in this but thats how I see it.)