Top 10 Animes

Suggestion week again and this time it is Aaron's suggestion's turn. :P Also like I keep saying, gimme more suggestions! Oh and just so you know, I did not add animes that are just one movie on here, I will probably do an anime movies list later.

Top 10 Animes 

10. Spice and Wolf

This anime deals with doing business in a very lovely way that you cannot help but get captivated by the story even if you really do not care much for such matters. The main cast is also very lovable and includes my top favorite anime character, Horo the wise wolf of Yoitsu. Can't really ask for a better combination than wolf + god. ;) The dialogue between the two is really lovable as well.. and I guess basically everything about this series is lovable. [Sneak Peek].

9. Gundam 00/ Code Geass

I could not choose between these two mechas since they are both really awesome, so they shall share this spot. :P Both of them are a really nice blend of politics, drama (+ a bit of humor) and mobile suit action.  If you want a really touching and serious storyline, these are the sort of animes you should turn to. The character cast in both is very broad, but still somehow you manage to get a nice grasp on each of them and each loss and gain will really reach your soul. Also, Gundam 00 has a great soundtrack, Code Geass' did not really do it for me, at least OP and ED -wise. :P [Sneak Peek] / [Sneak Peek].

8. BECK

The best band anime there is in my opinion. It nicely goes through the difficulties and steps a new band has to deal with in order to gain fame. The whole cast of characters is very lovable, as it is very easy to find someone to relate to or sympathize with from them, since they are ordinary and unique in their own ways. Minami Maho is a character I can relate to very well. :) The soundtrack is really amazing, albeit being very much in Jinglish, and stays stuck in your head for weeks. The only beef that I have with this anime is that it really needs a second season, as it ends in the middle of the story. Don't get me wrong, the ending point is good but there is so much more awesome stuff and definitely more character development in the second half that it would really be amazing to see in anime format in addition to reading it from the manga. [Sneak Peek].

7. Aoi Bungaku

Ah, this anime is really a treat for a bookworm like me, as it consists of the stories from some of Japan's classic works of literature. To be exact: Osamu Dazai’s No Longer Human and Run, Melos!, Natsume Soseki’s Kokoro, Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s Hell Screen and The Spider's Thread, and Ango Sakaguchi's In the Forest, Under Cherries in Full Bloom. They provides a nice peek into Japanese literature for people who cannot understand Japanese well enough to read them. The stories are really interesting and quite poetically twisted - so in other words it is quite the work of art. Not to mention that Nana's singing capabilities are utilized in the most fitting way for the crazy lady she voices. [Sneak Peek].

6. Bakemonogatari

Quite the random anime that really well mixes up atmospheres such as what can be found in Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, Arakawa Under the Bridge and Garden of Sinners. It is full of philosophical and clever dialogues that you really need to pay attention to in order to get the most out of it. All the characters are weird in their own way and have certain ways to react to things that really make them all quite unique and lovable. Also quite many of my favorite seiyuu are in this, Sawashiro Miyuki, Horie Yui and Hirano Aya (even though her character doesn't even speak haha), who do a great job with their character specific opening songs as well. Oh and the way it has been drawn is really beautiful. [Sneak Peek].

5. Darker than BLACK

Misaki. Porsche. Pocari Sweat. Nana.... need I say more? Haha, ehum, so. This is an anime that ingeniously weaves together a story that is very serious in nature, but at the same time humorous to the right extent. Then still add a very lovely soundtrack to that and you end up with a very nice mixture to enjoy. The background and reasons for everything that happens has been very nicely build and it makes sense, which the second season sadly does not do that well making a 3rd season very much preferable. Oh yes, and one thing I really love is how for once a criminal - cop pairing does not get stuck in the endless loop of them not understanding each other's point of view, as that seems to usually be the case. Misakimisakimisakimisakimisaki. <3 [Sneak Peek].

4. Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom

Probably the best drama anime out there. It is a story about desperately trying to break free and will touch you in many ways (yes, even in the Claudia way). It has this devious habit of first making you quite hopeful and then bring you crashing down - till the very end. This is also where I first encountered one of my top favorite seiyuu (voice actor), Sawashiro Miyuki, who did the voice for my favorite character, Cal Devens. I still remember how I was enchanted by her way of saying "zenbu", so cute! Also I have to say, that the soundtrack is simply amazing, even if one of the OPs and EDs is done by ALI PROJECT, whom I do not really like. [Sneak Peek].

3. Neon Genesis Evangelion (series + movies)

This was one of the first animes I ever saw, and still one of the best.  The flow of the story is really amazing, as the first half of the series makes you believe that this is just your average anime series with action spiced with hilarious scenes in between. But just when you've started to totally expect that each episode, they pull out the big guns.... and everything, before you know it, turns into one huge mind fuck at the end of which you don't really have any idea what actually happened. Then you watch the movie, End of Evangelion, in the hopes it will clear things up for you as it retells the last two episodes from a different perspective. And let me tell you, at first you do feel like it did make more sense than what you saw before, but after you think about it more it actually does not and just creates more unanswered questions. And then there are the Rebuild movies, that in addition to using Hikki's Beautiful World as the ending song, really fuck with your mind. They are sort of a retelling of the whole series (+ last movie is apparently something completely new) and it plays around with how you assume certain things will happen and then boom, they don't happen after all and instead something you would never have expected does. Damn you Gainax! Oh yeah, and I really love the fact that all the characters have their own problems, even if at first they had seemed quite stable. Asuka especially is close to my heart as I can relate to her to a certain extent. [Sneak Peek].

2. Garden of Sinners

 This is one of the deepest animes I have ever seen and is full of many philosophical topics and dialogues. It also does a great job with keeping you confused with the movies not being in chronological order, making it very important to pay active attention to as many details as possible such as the month and year each movie took place. Which is why every time you watch them again you'll very likely spot something new that connects the movies to each other, making it very pleasurable to rewatch many times. The plot and the characters are excellent as expected from TYPE-MOON, not to mention Nana is in the 6th movie. <3 Oh and just so you know, 5th movie is the best and most fucked up. ;) [Sneak Peek].

1. Canaan

This anime is a perfect blend of everything: humor, action, suspense, drama, craziness, etc.  That is the main reason this anime is my top favorite, not to mention the fact that the plot is really deep and well executed over the course of the episodes. The pace is just perfect as well, it's fast enough to keep it to the point without needless fillers to bore you and it's slow enough for you to stay on track of what's going on. Also, all the characters are interesting in their own way and it has one of the best openings I've seen! Plus... Yun Yun's meat buns. <3 [Sneak Peek].

Oh yeah and I have to say that I could not put The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya on here because I am still bitter about the suffering it made me go through with The Endless Eight. >:( I shall have my revenge this way!!