Animation Blog

If you’re living in the same generation, then you most probably have your own top picks. In our five favorite anime series of all time, however, we based the results from other top name-a-number lists in the blogosphere and other online communities. It’s not quite scientifically sampled, but in the number of sites that we’ve checked, these five names appeared consistently.
So now, in no particular order:

Ranma 1/2. Ranma Saotome is a high school student who’s arranged to be married to Akane Tendo by their fathers so they can inherit the Tendo’s Dojo. Though secretly in love with each other, the people around them who are either infatuated with Ranma or Akane just wouldn’t give them up without a fight. To make things even more complicated (or funnier), many characters in this anime turn into an animal, except for Ranma who turns into a girl, when they’re doused with cold water and can only turn back into the normal form with hot water. This anime has everything that a teen is looking for in a series: action, comedy, romance and a little bit of suggestive content, if you know what I mean.

Dragon Ball Z. Let’s face it, Son Goku has been a part of our formative years. With almost all the letters of the alphabet augmented to its title, the series was enough to kill most of our spare time during our childhood so we think it’s quite reasonable enough for this anime to make a cut into this list. This is based on the Chinese myth of the Journey to the West with a little bit of futuristic content to it. Though it did not quite focus on the development of the characters, Dragon Ball has banked on in-your-face action and explosive fight scenes to capture its audience.

Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto’s aspiration to become a Hokage and to retrieve his rogue shinobi friend, Uchiha Sasuke still has everybody scrambling over the internet and stores for the latest manga releases and animation episodes. What drives anime fanatics crazy are the complex characters, cool techniques, awesome fight scenes and the gripping storyline. If the creator of this series could end it with a bang, Naruto could even rise above its current “rivals”, such as Bleach and One Piece, and its predecessors.

Yu Yu Hakusho/ Ghost Fighter/ Poltergeist Report. This epic battle against evil has made its name (or names) particularly because it followed a similar formula that the Dragon Ball series has used: intense fighting action. And what better way to showcase action than to plot good versus evil in an arena, video game- team coop style. Several series have followed suit afterwards like Flame of Recca, but Yu Yu Hakusho takes it to another level or, in its case, to another dimension. Though the creators released a corny anime movie based on it, we still gotten over how cool it would be to have a powerful energy burst come out of your finger tips.

Rurouni Kenshin/ Samurai X. This is probably the most serious anime to make it to this list since it is set in a real era in Japanese history and has political references. The story’s about a legendary samurai, Himura Kenshin who vowed not to kill anyone ever again due to his tragic past and who has found a new family in the Kamiya Kashin Dojo. However, even after the war and chaos has ended, other samurais of the previous era still believe that everything has to be settled through the sword. Kenshin reawakens his deadly “Hittokiri Battosai” side to protect his friends as well as to atone for all the sins he has committed in his past. We all love it when this small, gentle, red- headed guy suddenly turns into the feared slasher that for a time, watchers of this movie have fantasized that they all have dark sides to them just waiting to be unleashed.

So, you’re this anime wiz and you have very violent reactions towards our top five picks. We really can’t blame you, but we would love to hear from you unless, of course, you’d suggest including Winnie the Pooh or Mickey Mouse in the list. Clearly, something would be very wrong with you there.