Top Favorite Anime?

[Poofiemus]

I got the idea for this thread from something SunSamurai said in the "Terrible Voice Acting" thread. She raised the question of what our top three favorite anime ever are, so...Here's a thread for it.

Just some general guidelines for making this actually USEFUL, though...

1. Keep it to just three. If they technically tie for first, well...too bad. You can let us know that's how you feel, but let's not have lists of twenty here, okies?
2. Give a BRIEF summary or note of premise so we know what we're dealing with.
3. If you can, please try to list why it makes your list of top three.
4. Please specify whether it is a feature, a series, or OVA, since some actually have versions in each of those formats.

Thanks for your cooperation!

I would say what mine are now, but I actually have to ponder this...^^;

[sunsamurai]

Okay here I go ... I GOT SO MANY TO LOVE! Just out of the top of my head ...

1. Arjuna (Why? I really Have no clue I am just liking the random ones ...) : (series) About a girl who dies then sees what the future of earth is! She gets powers AND Why don't I show you ... here
2. Mew Mew Power (WTF?) : (Series) About these aliens who attack the earth and these girls have powers and stuff ... DON'T ASK ME WHY I LIKE IT! I DON'T KNOW!
3. Haibane Renmei (I LOVE the music!) : (Short series) About this young girl who wakes up in a place where the town is surrounded by walls and she can't remember her past ... oh yeah I forgot ... SHE HAS WINGS!

Yeah me = werid!

[Poofiemus]

Well, here are the top 3....FOR NOW.

1. FullMetal Alchemist. (TV series with feature film capstone).
I think most of us know that this one is about two young alchemists in another world who pretty much go through hell and back trying to correct a major-league mistake they made. I'm attracted to the intricacies of the plot, the ethical issues that the characters have to consider, and how endearing the two protagonists are. (I know I've said this before, but while the anime is excellent, the manga is even better).

2. Millenium Actress, Feature Film.
This strangely intriguing romance follows the life story of a longtime film actress who keeps trying to locate her lost first love, which becomes a returning theme in all her films. My main attraction to the film is that it's a bit of a mindtrip; it's implied that her films, which take place in many eras, are possibly a representation of her search being reiterated through many reincarnations. I'm also drawn to the tone of the film, which more closely resembles that of live-action films than animation, the beautiful quality of the animataion itself, the deep characters, and the skill with which the scriptwriters poke a hole in the moment.

3. Voices of a Distant Star (or Hoshi no Koe), short OVA.
The bittersweet tale of two childhood sweethearts who, in a distant future torn by an interstellar war, are separated by time and space with only cell phone text messages to communicate. With the primary sender literally light years away, the messages reach their recipient at greater and greater time intervals...
For an OVA, the animation is spectacular. Short and sweet, it makes its point in only a half-hour, but does so with surprising power. This is one of the few anime at which I actually cried. The tie-in to Einstein's theory of relativity was used just enough to be quite effective without distracting from the actual point, which is the two lovers. Also, I love the theme song, "Through the Years and Far Away."

Those are the top three reccomendations I have at the moment. However, I am keeping up with Deathnote and D. Gray Man, and so far those are quite good too, despite having only 3 episodes at this point. I may add them retroactively if their quality keeps up. ^_^ I'd also like to second the reccomendation of Haibane Renmei. Wonderfully sweet but deftly done series!

As my anime experience and repitoire is fluid and constantly expanding, these top three are highly subject to change.

[drunkendragondirge]

1. I guess, i like the dot hack series,excluding the chibi-one. I Really like the idea of a massive multi-player on-line role-play becoming alive in a sense, each character feels defined, and with quirks. (Sign ties to the first four, while Roots is to tie into G.U, Sign 25-29 ties a few huge wonderings)

2.Ghost in the shell, and Stand-alone complex. Its action, suspense, drama, and at times makes you question about oneself, though i do disagree with the attire of motoko, the major, on more than one occasion.

3. I rather enjoyed Wolf's Rain, and the way the characters were, so harsh and unforgiving, yet moments of asking, surely they must see what lies at the end?

[madsniper]

Alright, I'm going to leave Avatar out of this list because it's not technically an anime. So here goes:

1) Full Metal Alchemist
2)Fushigi Yuugi: This one is what they call a "shoujo", anime by girls, for girls, but, that being said, it is one of my favorite shows ever, not just anime. The story follows a girl who gets sucked through a book (ala Neverending Story) into a weird magical ancient China, where she becomes a catalyst for a war between two nations, each of who worship different animal gods. She has a team of "Stars" who recieve powers from their god, and her best friend Yui, twisted by the circumstances of her own journey into the book, becomes her enemy, and the priestess for the "Stars" of the other nation. Blah. All in all, great characters, very funny, powerful and haunting at times, made me bawl my eyes out both times I watched it through.
3) Princess Mononoke: The first movie by Miyazki I saw, and it remains my favorite. The plot follows a young warrior from a tribe of people living near this ginormous forrest. The animals in this forest ar huuuge and can talk, because I guess they are closer to the spirit of the forest that animals are today. This guy Ashitaka has to leave his village because he becomes poisoned by a boar spirit that had turned into a demon. The rest of the story is him finding this town where they are making guns, meeting the girl San who lives in the forest with her wolf family, trying to stop the bad guys from slaying the forest spirit, etc. It's complicated, but fascinating, and I highly reccomend it, in either dub or sub.

[kaertos]

I must see "Princess Mononoke". I meant to when it came out, but I have been lazy there. As for me... well, I've only seen like two anime... ummm... ever. But I have to say that, despite the fact it is "shoujo", I thought Fushigi Yuugi was pretty tremendous.

But now that I have the mushy stuff out of the way, I need to hit up my anime connections (You know who you are) for some GIANT FREAKIN' ROBOTS!!!! ;-)

[martiansushi]

Princess Mononke is good up to a point, but then it's like the plot hits a wall and oozes down it into not-so-great land... and when you see it you'll understand why I say oooze...

Actually, I think Spirited Away is a much better Miyazaki movie. Howl's Moving Castle is good, but if you've read the book it's a little irriating (they're not really the same things). I could say more about other movies by Miyazaki, but I don't want to railroad the thread .

[Tala]

Ok, I feel like posting here.

1. FullMetal Alchemist-- The storyline was already explained above, but I personally liked it because of the awesomely complex storyline, the depressing and cruel way that so many of my favorite chars dropped dead, and most of all the fast pace that it moved at. I've noticed that with a lot of Anime the battle scenes are really dragged out and last for 10 episodes, but FMA doesn't do that for which I am highly grateful.

2. Wolf's Rain-- I've actually only just started watching the series and I'm only a few episodes in, but I'm already addicted! I love wolves! And of course, what girl doesn't love an anime with lots of guys? And then there's the blood and action to top it off.

Naruto and DNAngel are competing for my next favorite, but I'll go with Naruto just because it's the one that's fresher in my mind.

3. Naruto-- I'm not sure why I like this series, it's a little too slow and dragged-out for my tastes, and Naruto's motto tends to be a little corny in the dubs. Mostly I'm in it because of Kakashi's total PWNage. He rules! ^^ and also, if you ignore how slow it goes, the plot really is intense. I'm pretty sure we all know the story, but for those who haven't seen the series, it's about a kid with the spirit of a raging kitsune locked inside of him and he must go out to try and prove himself by becoming a ninja warrior.

[shadow]

i dont have much tim to watch anime any more but the ones that are my favorites i've seen

Naruto: because when i started watching it i had liek 300 episodes i could watch and when yo uwatch at your own leisure the series is really nice.

Cow boy bebop: i liek this because it's pretty much different from all other anime in that it was a japanese american who made it and was originally in english. to bad the guy kileld off spike after three seasons and the worst part is that 3 seasosn was only liek 26 episodes >.<. oh and it has good humor.

theres really not any other anime series i've seen that really worth while but i hear deathnote is good and hellsing OVAs are too.

[huawei]

1. Saikano

2. Haibane Renmei

3. Black Lagoon

I enjoy love stories, and yes, Black Lagoon is a love story. Haibane is about love in a more... generalized sense.