This right here is my own personal Hall of Fame, of anime I deem worthy. But when I say worthy, I am not talking about my own personal opinion of the anime listed here, but only on the value they have on anime history, meaning you will find anime that I both like and dislike here. Also, these lists only include anime that I have personally seen, so don't go all crazy on me because I have not added "X" here. When I have seen it, I will edit this blog post and add it if I find it worthy too. Now that that's out of the way, let's dive right into the list.
1. Lupin III (1971) - Lupin Sansei/Lupin the Third which was first written by Monkey Punch had originally seen a pilot episode back in 1969, but it wasn't until 1971 it got its fullfledged TV anime, and boy was is something. Lupin proved to people that anime doesn't have to be aimed towards children, feauturing super heroes and such. Lupin took a much more daring approach, making our so called heroes thieves, whom at some times even kill people, while at the same time giving out a sexy feeling, almost James Bond like. It was quite unlike anything showed before on TV in japan in form of animation. But it didn't stop after its 23 episode run. No, no. Lupin continued to produce two more seasons, with the second season being at a whooping 150 episodes long. Not only that, Lupin has since spawned several OVAs, TV specials and movies, even to this date! This makes Lupin one of the oldest series that is still ongoing, and still going strong in Japan.
2. Every Studio Ghibli film (1984/1985) - While the first movie under the Ghibli name is Laputa: The Castle in the Sky in 1985, the company had previously released Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind in 1984, under the name Topcraft. These two movies started something great; the magical wonders of Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli. There are so many things I could say about the company as a whole, but the most important titles in my opinion during its history is the two previously mentioned along with My Neighbour Totoro, Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away. All of Ghibli movies are worldwide renowned due to their fantasy and family friendly style. They are all movies which can be seen by anyone at any age. Ghibli has also produced some realistic films as well, such as Grave of the Fireflies, Whisper of the Heart and most recentely, From Up On Poppy Hill. While these movies aren't nearly as renowned, they are all still fantastic movies in their own way.
3. Dragon Ball (1985) - Written by Toriyama Akira, this is the forefather of all Battle Shounens, without a doubt. Dragon Ball took not only Japan with a storm, but also the entire world when it was released. The series has been extremely successful and has inspired a wide selection of authors to produce their own series' of Battle Shounens. However, while Dragon Ball was very popular, it hit its highest peak with its sequel, Dragon Ball Z, which has since then revolutionized the entire Battle Shounen formula. As mentioned, many authors have drawn inspiration from Toriyama's successful series, such as Kishimoto Masashi, the author of Naruto.
4. Sailor Moon (1992) - Just as Dragon Ball was the forefather of all battle shounens, Sailor Moon is definitely the foremother of all Mahou Shoujo (magical girl) anime. It relied heavely on romance and its characters, and became insanely popular among young girls, all around the world. However, they weren't the only ones into Sailor Moon, no sir. Sailor Moon also managed to get an audience from the male side as well, something very rare during the time it was released. Sailor Moon has since, just as Dragon Ball, remained one of the most loveable series' to ever come out of Japan, all across the globe.
5. Neon Genesis Evangelion (1996) - What could quite possibly be one of the most controversial anime ever, Evangelion was without a doubt probably the most revolutionary anime in the history of Japanese animation, and it probably still is. Evangelion started off as your typical Mecha series, but later, because of budget issues and Anno Hideaki's (the writer and director) period of depression, the show became darker and darker with every episode that passed, starting with Episode 16. The show recieved quite a backlash from fans after the controversial final episodes, 25 & 26. So much backlash that Anno himself recieved deaththreats. Anno responded to this by later releasing yet another controversial quote on quote "real" ending to the series, The End of Evangelion. The series later recieved a tetralogy of movies that would revamp the series and tell it, along with ending it, in a proper way.
6. Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story (1996) - Samurai X as it was called in the west when it was first released, has since become one of the most beloved Battle Shounens ever, gaining a huge supportive fanbase. One of these reason may be because it's not only a typical Battle Shounen, but also as its name would reveal, a love story. The series was loved due to highly likeable characters and straightforward plot, with only three arcs overall. However, the anime was unfortunately cancelled some time after the completion of the second arc, due to low ratings during the time Studio DEEN (who took over after Gallop stopped) only produced filler episodes. DEEN later redempted this mistake by creating the worldwide highly criticly acclaimed 4 parter OVA series, Tsuioku Hen / Trust & Betrayal, which is still to this date often hailed as one of the best OVAs ever produced. The series later recieved an anime original ending with the 2 part OVA, Seisou Hen / Reflection. However, this ending is often shuned uppon by fans due to its bittersweet ending, along with the author, Nobuhiro Watsuki's, disapproval of the way it ended.
7. Pokémon (1997) - What is argueably the most successful video game adaptation, Pokémon took the hearts of every child around the world by storm. Since its release, it can no longer be called a video game adaptation, but a series of its own, after producing 4 different series with 750+ episodes in total. Since then, other video games have tried to do the same, most have failed. The only ones that are still going strong, besides Pokémon, are Digimon and Yu-Gi-Oh! Whether you love its repetitive plot or not, Pokémon will continue to air for years to come, bringing smiles to thousands, if not millions of children.
8. Berserk (1997) - Even though the manga is often hailed as one of the best manga of all time, the anime was originally just supposed to be an adaptaion of the first arc of the series, cutting away a lot of content from the manga and ended with one of the most gutcrushing and teethgrinding cliffhangers in anime history. Many people have since disapproved the anime due to its poor animation and lackluster ending, but even so it still lives on and is still extremely popular. So popular that 15 years later, it finally got what it deserved and recieved a remake series, starting with a trilogy of films remaking the first arc of the series. Berserk is often praised due to the depth of its characters, interesting plot and the soundtrack composed by Hirasawa Susumu.
9. Every Kon Satoshi film (1998/2001) - While his first written work was the successful Millennium Actress, Kon started directing movies with Perfect Blue. Since then he also produced the highly acclaimed Tokyo Godfathers and Paprika, along with the TV series Paranoia Agent. Kon is often praised to his creativity, surrealism and extreme detail to the plot and characters of the story. Many directors have since taken inspiration from him, for example: Black Swan (2010) has clear camera angles (and tone) that were borrowed from Perfect Blue, legally and all. Many have also often compared Inception (2010) to Paprika, due to the similar plot. Most unfortunately, Kon passed away due to pancreatic cancer August 24th, 2010, leaving his final written work, Dreaming Machine, unfinished. However, there are still plans to finish the film in memory of Kon, as the script is finished. However, we won't be able to witness the creative directing of one of the best Japanese directors of all time, Kon Satoshi.
10. Cowboy Bebop (1998) - What is often hailed as in the west as one of the best anime of all time, Cowboy Bebop excels in cinematogrophy due to the amazing directing of Shinichirou Watanabe. Even though it was cancelled in Japan due to low ratings, airing only 13 episodes instead of all 26 episodes, the series recieved extreme popularity in the west because of its similarity to western shows. One can only describe it as such; Western cowboys meets Sci-Fi. The show plays out much more of a movie split in several parts than a TV series, using several tricks only seen in full-lenght movies. The show was also praised because of its great animation of the time and the still loved OST by Kanno Yoko, along with the opening theme being one of the most famous openings ever in anime history.
11. GTO (1999) - Great Teacher Onizuka took Japan by storm when it was first released. It was originally a sequel to Shonan Junai Gumi which had a 5 part OVA series, but overshined its prequel by miles around the world. The series was so popular it even managed to get a TV Drama series before the anime, which was extremely rare for the time. The anime has since remained very popular and is often considered to be the best high school anime ever, due to its great character development and actual plot with real development, which isn't something often seen in a high school comedy. The series could often at some times become much more serious, dealing with subjects such as prostitution and suicide, which could very well explain why it became so popular. The anime unfortunately caught up to the manga eventually which ment that they had to create an original ending for the anime. Still to this day, people are still longing for a remake of the series.
12. Hunter x Hunter (1999) - What would at first be seen only as a typical Battle Shounen later proved itself to be something very different, being much more of a Seinen. Hunter x Hunter became very popular due to its small but loveable cast of characters, intense plot, well thought-out battles and dark tone. The TV series was later cancelled after 62 episodes, but managed to get not only one, but three OVA sequels, expanding the episode count to 92 episodes. Hunter x Hunter later recieved seven years after the last OVA, a full scale Televised remake in late 2011, which is planned to animate the entire manga from start to finish. Togashi Yoshihiro, the author, had previously also written the highly successful manga and anime Yu Yu Hakusho, however it is definitely not as popular, but still very deserving of its praise and popular nonetheless.
To be continued...
↧