Spastic Minnow's Anime
take a look at Spastic Minnow's MangaMy ratings. As you can see, the vast majority of my rankings are "Good."
I see it this way, I LIKE anime, so by that virtue most of it is good and I get pleasure out of it.
Everything good and above I feel I can easily recommend to like-minded viewers.
I also I try to go by the descriptions used by ANN.
A Masterpiece is a show that I personally can find no real fault with. I may be able to understand why others wouldn't like it, I can see what others don't like, but they don't affect my personal enjoyment at all. These are anime I can watch multiple times without ever really getting tired of them
If it's Excellent I definitely think it's worth owning and worth rewatching multiple times.
As it says, "Very Good" means I highly recommend seeing it at least once.
Good anime is Good anime. Although this category is the most subjective in my opinion. Shows are good here because they feature characteristics that I personally enjoy and I think like-minded viewers will too. this is the bottom level of enthusiastic recommendations.
"Decent" is the ranking I use for shows that I personally received some enjoyment from but don 't feel comfortable recommending more widely to others. These are shows that I can clearly see faults with and if asked for my opinion I would immediately think of those faults.
Ratings below 'decent' are basically as their ANN descriptions say.
So-So- is the worst worded of the rating descriptions, but it's true that "didn't catch my attention" is a valid way to describe these anime. The Decent rating assumes there is some aspect that really attracted me and caught my attention, even though there are faults. So-so anime means it has faults but the best aspects were mostly just unobjectionable and hinted at what I like.
Not Really Good- Not a total waste either. Can't describe it much better than that.
Weak- yeah, as it says, something may have given me hope- but that promise wasn't fulfilled and I really wish I hadn't watched it.
Bad- "Really not recommended" I don't rate stuff I don't see a significant portion of, so there's not much rated at this level and below. If I rated something at this level consider the advice to be "I suffered so you won't have to."
Awful and Bad seem very close. I guess this is just for stuff I watched for some reason and hated completely but doesn't quite reach "torture" level.
Worst Ever= MD Geist, at this point that is the only show I have rated here. It really does offend me on all storytelling, aesthetic, and moral aspects. Absolutely worthless in my humble opinion.
Below is it "Wiil Not FInish" section. which I use more as a "no plans or much desire to finish".
I had previously put some of these in my "Seen Some" section but I decided to limit that to shows I really would like to finish or am currently watching.
| Seen all▲▼ | Rating▲▼ |
| 3D Magical Play (OAV) | Not really good |
| 5 Centimeters Per Second (movie) | Decent |
| A-Channel (TV) | Good |
| - Barely Good - This one is all stereotypical moe all the time. Cute girls doing inconsequential cute girl things like going to the beach, eating desserts, playing with cats, stressing over breast size and completely unnoticeable weight problems, having innocent girl-crushes on each other, wearing yukata to the festival- it's all there. The show really tested my general positive disposition for such shows though, it is such textbook fluff, the girls in K-On, Hidamari Sketch and even Lucky Star are downright industrious in comparison to the girls in this show. You see, although the girls in those shows were lazy with their goals and desires, at least they had some, not in A-Channel. Yet there are more songs in A-Channel than in K-on. There's a new song in every episode... boring, completely forgettable, Kareoke ready songs set to frolicking girl montages. | |
| Abnormal Physiology Seminar (OAV) | So-so |
| Abnormal Physiology Seminar (TV) | So-so |
| Absolute Duo (TV) | So-so |
| Ace of Diamond (TV) | Good |
| Actually, I Am… (TV) | Decent |
| Advancer Tina (OAV) | Not really good |
| Ah My Buddha (TV) | Not really good |
| Aharen-san wa Hakarenai (TV) | Good |
| Ai Tenchi Muyo! (TV) | So-so |
| I can't believe I'm rating a Tenchi property this low but the honest truth it is by far the worst the thing in the franchise. The story and plotting is a mess, the characters we know are basically ruined -especially the wussified Tenchi, the new characters are unlikable retreads, the art is weak and it can't even succeed in being a area tourism promotion, which is apparently a big reason it was made in the first place. | |
| Ai Yori Aoshi (TV) | Very good |
| Ai Yori Aoshi ~Enishi~ (TV) | Very good |
| Ai-Mai-Mi (TV) | Decent |
| Air (TV) | Good |
| Aiura (TV) | Decent |
| Akane Iro ni Somaru Saka (TV) | Decent |
| between its forgettable title and bevy of cliches I feel like I will forget this show pretty quickly, but for the most part it was enjoyable. As an ero visual novel adaptation I realize anyone can "get" the guy in the end but the way this is constructed I don't like who the final girl is in the anime. Goes against the flow of the action and the morality of the characters. | |
| Akira (movie) | Masterpiece |
| Alien Nine (special) | Very good |
| Amaenaide yo!! Katsu!! (TV) | Not really good |
| Amagami SS (TV) | Good |
| Had to up the rating to good after all. I bought the two- found myself enjoying it. The KEY is to realize an interesting thing about each route. The guy is actually, basically, a different person in each route... same name, same friends, but he has to be the guy who would fall in love with the girl AND the guy the girl would fall for... which is not the same guy from another route. | |
| Amagami SS+ (TV) | Good |
| More of the same from the previous season- which is much of the problem with the series. Except for the Rihiko story (which was left unresolved in the first series) most of the series involves de-volving the couples relationships and repeating the same things that happened before with slight variation. It doesn't matter that each previous story ended with the pairs being sweetly intimate with each other- in this one the guy was back to his voice-cracking flustered behavior. | |
| Amagi Brilliant Park (TV) | Good |
| And Yet the Town Moves (TV) | Very good |
| Android Kikaider - The Animation (TV) | Decent |
| Angel Beats! (TV) | Very good |
| An interesting story with good characters, although it could do with a little more fleshing out. Watched weekly the story arcs didn't seem to very flow but upon a marathon rewatch it does work well and better features the good emotional moments. | |
| Angel Densetsu (OAV) | Very good |
| (The) Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten (TV) | Good |
| Angelic Layer (TV) | Decent |
| anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day (TV) | Very good |
| Best of 2011 #9 - I considered rating it excellent but I guess it doesn't rate that because it didn't do much that I didn't expect it to do. It's warm, nicely emotional, Menma was a great "poor little dead girl" for everyone (the characters and the audience) to attach themselves to. I guess you could say Menma was the good kind of moe- a cuddly character you have good reason to wish the best for, as she truly had a pitiable story. And I guess it's odd but you have to credit a big part of the quality of the show to the character of Yukiatsu, he's an egotistical, hypocritical, jealous, screwed up jerk through most of the show and the show needed him, a hard cynical edge to take away from the softness of the others. | |
| (The) Anthem of the Heart (movie) | Very good |
| Appleseed (movie) | Decent |
| Arakawa Under the Bridge (TV) | Good |
| It started off rough- I was intrigued by the concept but barely laughed at the first couple episodes. But as I hoped, once a number of characters were introduced and Ric wasn't freaking out at every second it got better. | |
| Arakawa under the Bridge × Bridge (TV) | Good |
| consistently and creatively funny | |
| Aria - The Natural (TV) | Very good |
| Aria the Animation (TV) | Very good |
| Aria the Origination (TV) | Very good |
| Aria the OVA ~Arietta~ | Very good |
| Armitage: Dual-Matrix (movie) | |
| Ascendance of a Bookworm (TV 3) | Excellent |
| Astarotte's Toy (TV) | Decent |
| - Decent - I had been ready to give this a marginal "Good" rating but the lack of a substantial ending that said anything about anything dive-bombed that modest potential. I wouldn't readily recommend it to others but it got me smiling or wincing at the points when I believe they meant the audience to do both. But it consistently wanted to straddle the line between lolicon-pandering and feel-good show about sweet little girls that needed a parental figure to connect with. Both sides can argue their case as to which it was and have a good case because the show refused to commit to either extreme. | |
| Azumanga Daioh (TV) | Masterpiece |
| Top Ten All Time #3: Like a Miyazaki kids movie this show always makes me happy (just thinking of Chiho in a penguin outfit releases instant endorphins of pleasure) . It is a brilliantly executed comedy that you never want to end. I love every character in this show and wish there were real people out there like this that I could befriend. | |
| Azumanga Daioh - The Very Short Movie | Excellent |
| Azumanga Web Daioh (ONA) | |
| B Gata H Kei - Yamada’s First Time (TV) | Good |
| The fact that it was quite funny helped to gloss over that I didn't understand the attraction the couple had for each other, and the pacing wasn't the best. | |
| Baby Steps (TV) | Very good |
| Best of 2014: #9 Ping Pong was not a typical sports anime, the sport comes secondary to the coming of age story. Of the more traditional sports shows of the year this was my favorite. No villains, no over the top moves or personalities, no fujoshi-baiting bromances, just a talented and kinda nerdy teen learning how to excel in tennis and maybe how to get closer to the tennis star girl who got him into the sport in the first place. | |
| Baby Steps (TV 2) | Very good |
| Best of 2015: #2 Really love this character's story and the way the sports are and aren't the point, If it were a stronger year, it would get rated this high, but it' suspenseful (in it's way), sweet, and, and well told. I wish more was available to watch. | |
| Baka and Test - Summon the Beasts 2 (TV) | Good |
| Baka and Test: Summon the Beasts OVA | Decent |
| Bakemonogatari (TV) | Excellent |
| Bakuman. (TV) | Good |
| it’s a pleasant show with likable characters that I want to succeed. Ends, basically, in the middle of nowhere, but I figure it will continue again eventually. | |
| Bakuman. 2 (TV) | Very good |
| Bakuman. 3 (TV) | Good |
| Bamboo Blade (TV) | Good |
| Banner of the Stars (TV) | Very good |
| Barakamon (TV) | Very good |
| Best of 2014: #6 Kawaii kid of the year award here. A young master caligrapher from Tokyo with no social skills exiles himself to a rural Japanese island where he befriends the villagers, particularly a sweet little elementary school aged girl who barges into his home daily. | |
| Basilisk (TV) | Good |
| Battle Angel (OAV) | Very good |
| Beautiful Bones: Sakurako’s Investigation (TV) | Good |
| Best of 2015: #10 The mysteries in the show are mostly pretty weak- but the main character really captivates me and I'm very hopeful for a sequel. (The is the first year I've had to include "good" anime in my top ten... and I have to do it three times. Well, I haven't watched a lot of the popular "best shows" because I didn't like the concepts or because they looked like shows that would work better as marathons) | |
| BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad (TV) | Very good |
| Beelzebub (TV) | Good |
| There are points early on that really stink up the place... like the episode about Baby Beel flooding the house, street, city, etc. with his pee... skip that one. But eventually it introduces a host of funny supporting characters, mostly gives up the pretense that this is a serious tournament fighting show, makes everyone more likable, and becomes a fun watch. | |
| Ben-To (TV) | Good |
| A nice cast of characters, consistently fun, some quality pandering and character design. This one had the advantage of surprising you with its story progression. It featured a ridiculous premise that somehow worked by never apologizing for its silliness but also never taking it too seriously either. The final arc also nicely turned away from the expected resolution. | |
| Best Student Council (TV) | Very good |
| Betterman (TV) | Weak |
| Beyond the Boundary (TV) | Good |
| (The) Big O (TV) | Decent |
| Big Windup! (TV) | Good |
| Black Lagoon (TV) | Good |
| Black Lagoon: Roberta's Blood Trail (OAV) | Good |
| Black Lagoon: The Second Barrage (TV) | Good |
| Black Magic M-66 (OAV) | Good |
| Black Rock Shooter (OAV) | So-so |
| Black Summoner (TV) | Decent |
| rated episode 9 | |
| Blood+ (TV) | Good |
| Blood: The Last Vampire (movie) | Good |
| blossom (special) | Excellent |
| Blue Gender (TV) | Not really good |
| Blue Spring Ride (TV) | Good |
| Blue Submarine No.6 (OAV) | Decent |
| Bodacious Space Pirates (TV) | Good |
| There’s some wasted potential in the show, it doesn’t seem to want to commit to being a dramatic action showcase or a cute school based comedy. It is also true that emotions never really go to any extremes. But I like the cute pirate girls and they have succeeded in some fun space action. I’d welcome a return of these characters and am glad to hear of the upcoming movie. | |
| BOFURI: I Don't Want to Get Hurt, so I'll Max Out My Defense. Season 2 (TV) | Good |
| Boku no Imōto wa "Ōsaka Okan" (TV) | So-so |
| Boogiepop Phantom (TV) | Good |
| Boys Be... (TV) | Good |
| A Bridge to the Starry Skies (TV) | Decent |
| Bungaku Shōjo (movie) | Good |
| Bungaku Shōjo: Kyō no Oyatsu - Hatsukoi (OAV) | Good |
| Bunny Drop (TV) | Very good |
| Best of 2011 #7 - The show is wonderfully simple, an examination of a dramatic situation featuring a cute little girl and guy whose feelings I can understand. It’s sort of a Yotsuba &! that takes itself seriously… but not too much. | |
| Burst Angel (TV) | Bad |
| Bad enough I have to make a special mention: Actually it wasn't all that long ago I watched this, last year I think. Like Noir it was just barely interesting enough to keep watching and like MD Geist at the end it was just an exercise to get to the finish. I think I liked the girls at times but the show rewarded patience with frustration. I didn't like the art, the fanservice was crap not only because it was impractical and obnoxiously shoved in your face but mostly becasue it simply didn't look good. The experience finally convinced me that it's fine to stop a show even if you are 2/3 of a way through it and you don't like it. You have to cut your losses. | |
| By the Grace of the Gods (TV 2) | Good |
| C – Control – The Money and Soul of Possibility (TV) | So-so |
| Call of the Night (TV) | Very good |
| Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill (TV) | So-so |
| Cardcaptor Sakura (TV) | Very good |
| Cardcaptor Sakura The Movie 2: The Sealed Card | Good |
| Cardcaptor Sakura: The Movie | Very good |
| Carnival Phantasm (OAV) | |
| Case Closed Movie: The Time Bombed Skyscraper (movie 1) | Very good |
| So starts the Detective Conan movies, none are taken from the manga and almost all mix the mystery with absolutely over the top action/disaster films in which the characters get trapped in bombed buildings, boats, planes etc. and Conan ends up getting into ridiculous chase scenes. Still, these early films in particular do succeed in being a lot of fun and if you take away the sensationalistic action movie trappings they also usually feature good mysteries. | |
| Case Closed: Captured in Her Eyes (movie 4) | Very good |
| Case Closed: Countdown to Heaven (movie 5) | Very good |
| Case Closed: The Fist of Blue Sapphire (movie 23) | Good |
| Case Closed: The Fourteenth Target (movie 2) | Very good |
| Case Closed: The Last Wizard of the Century (movie 3) | Very good |
| Case Closed: The Phantom of Baker Street (movie 6) | Very good |
| My favorite of the Conan movies, the plot is absolutely preposterous, but both the virtual reality game and the real world adventures deliver the most fun of the movies. | |
| Castle in the Sky (movie) | Masterpiece |
| Castle Town Dandelion (TV) | Decent |
| Cat Planet Cuties (TV) | Excellent |
| Best of 2010:#6 - It had one of the best first episodes I've ever seen, everything in it was familiar yet unexpected. It seemed no one fit their expected character-type the way you'd think. If it continued at the pace of the first episode this would have been a masterpiece, but that's a hard thing to do and things did slow down a bit and go into some more typical territory. Yet, they still played around with genre conceits, it stayed fun from beginning to end and the plots were much smarter and thoughtful than you'd think. The final episode didn't resolve things too well though so I hope they make another season. We need more shows like it- Sexy without being obnoxious, fun without being stupid, a harem (or love quadrangle) show with strong girls. | |
| Cat Planet Cuties (OAV) | Good |
| This is simply a fan service special, not an iota of plot, just the girls losing their clothes (although, one girl losing her clothes may answer a question you might have had). It's pleasant though, and provides some mild laughs. | |
| (The) Cat Returns (movie) | Excellent |
| Cat Shit One: The Animated Series (ONA) | Not really good |
| Bad enough I have to make a special mention: Okay, this has some things going for it but I wanted to highlight a newer anime I didn't like. The computer animation is of high quality and the military scenario was a high tension one, but the use of animals as the characters comes off as a meaningless gimmick or worse, a farce. There seems to be no meaning to it, the use of rabbits as Americans is apparently just a pun (USA GI/Usagi) and others are just sort of plugged in with minimal reasoning. This ain't the allegorical stuff of Maus. It's a gimmick and serves a new and more literal way to dehumanize and make what should be a very serious situation into a "fun" little action tale. And let's face it, if they weren't bunnies and camels than no one would give a damn about such a hollow little tale. If they were humans than you wouldn't care becasue they are given no form of characterization and the scenario is given no wider frame of reference. They're saving hostages, why they're hostages- who the camels are- no reason is given. But the heroes are incredibly cute and fluffy bunnies, blowing sh!t up- so you watch. | |
| Cat Soup (OAV) | So-so |
| Celestial Method (TV) | Good |
| A Certain Magical Index (TV) | Good |
| A Certain Magical Index II (TV) | Good |
| Still has the same annoying villain problems (all start off psycho but if they survive- you learn their sob story and chances are they become allies of some sort). But again, I’m weak for the cute girl characters and their harem-lite relationship with the unfortunate Touma. If the show does continue it does promise to finally get to some nitty gritty big story ideas and complicated antagonists they’ve only been teasing us with so far. | |
| A Certain Magical Index: The Miracle of Endymion (movie) | Good |
| A Certain Scientific Railgun (TV) | Good |
| ANd here we have the cute schoolgirl squad basically using super powers to thwart evil plots. A solid plot, an interesting world... occasionally poorly executed and cliched villainy. I want to see more of this world. | |
| A Certain Scientific Railgun S (TV) | Good |
| Charlotte (TV 2015) | Good |
| Chihayafuru (TV) | Very good |
| Best of 2012 - #7: Others praise this show much more than I do but there's no doubt it was a quality show with excellent characters and good card-game action. | |
| Chihayafuru 2 (TV) | Very good |
| Best of 2013- #4: How they bring out so much tension into these matches is a wonder to behold, and the characters are wonderfully realized and naturally developed. | |
| Children Who Chase Lost Voices (movie) | Very good |
| Chillin' in My 30s after Getting Fired from the Demon King's Army (TV) | So-so |
| Chivalry of a Failed Knight (TV) | Decent |
| Chobits (TV) | Good |
| Chronicles of the Going Home Club (TV) | Good |
| Chrono Crusade (TV) | Decent |
| Chu-Bra!! (TV) | Decent |
| I wish this ended up better, the show could never decide what it wanted to do. DId it want to be shameless middle-school fanservice comedy? Did it want to be a moe girl tale of friendship? Did it want to deal with dramatic storylines and take its naughty subject seriously as a coming of age issue? It touched on all of these but committed to none and mostly succeeded in being boring and forgettable. It also annoyingly set up the show for a second season by leaving almost everything unresolved... but it definitely doesn't deserve a second season. | |
| Clannad (movie) | Decent |
| Clannad (TV) | Excellent |
| Clannad After Story (TV) | Excellent |
| Classroom Crisis (TV) | Decent |
| Coicent (OAV) | Very good |
| Colorful (TV) | Weak |
| Comic Girls (TV) | Decent |
| Comic Party (TV) | Decent |
| Cowboy Bebop (TV) | Masterpiece |
| Top Ten All Time #6: Masterful working of episodic adventures and continuing character drama. The action is extremely dynamic, Each set piece is unique with innovative direction. The character drama is involving, full of past tragedies and heartbreaks. It also has Ed, the perfect foil to these grown-ups with all their grown-up drama and wonderful sense of humor even when it's not about Ed. | |
| Cowboy Bebop: The Movie | Excellent |
| Coyote Ragtime Show (TV) | Decent |
| Crest of the Stars (TV) | Very good |
| Croisée in a Foreign Labyrinth - The Animation (TV) | Very good |
| A sweet little girl character trying her best, sympathetic and friendly characters, a wondrous and romanticized setting, it’s a typical Junichi Sato set-up, but no one does a setting like this like he does. There are problems though, for such a sweet and calm little show it’s packed with too many issues to focus on, everyone has their own little problems and none really come close to resolution, instead it just resolves with everyone feeling a little more comfortable with each other. It’s very much a set-up for another series or two and I guess there’s no problem with that, I’ll watch | |
| Cromartie High School (TV) | Good |
| Cross Game (TV) | Masterpiece |
| Best of 2010:#2 (now #1) -A drama about mourning the loss of a loved one in the guise of a teen sports baseball series- not short on good comedic moments and a romantic story as well. Absolutely wonderful characters, heartfelt story, very good baseball suspense. If you can take a 50 episode series this is one that anyone, anime fan or not, should be able to enjoy. After my 4th watch in a year I finally decided this one deserves my elusive "Masterpiece" rating, and reflectively it should probably considered my #1 of 2010, but I'll leave my rating as it was then. | |
| D-Frag! (TV) | Very good |
| Best of 2014: #10 This is just a madcap comedy about a school "game club," highly enjoyable. | |
| D.N.Angel (TV) | Not really good |
| Dai-Guard (TV) | Good |
| Daily Lives of High School Boys (TV) | Good |
| There are numerous very funny bits in this show that I absolutely loved, but it doesn't quite make the VG category because their ratio to the mediocre and unfunny bits was just too low. | |
| Dance Dance Danseur (TV) | Good |
| Danchigai (TV) | Decent |
| Date A Live (TV) | Decent |
| Dead Leaves (OAV) | So-so |
| Deadman Wonderland (TV) | Weak |
| Deaimon: Recipe for Happiness (TV) | Very good |
| DearS (TV) | So-so |
| Demon City Shinjuku (OAV) | Weak |
| Demon King Daimao (TV) | So-so |
| For a couple weeks early on in its season this was actually the show I looked forward to the most. Cute harem, a possibly good action storyline, effective fan-service. But it ended up horribly rushed with multiple drastic and jarring tone changes and an ending that was so jumbled I couldn't be bothered to try to understand what happened. | |
| Den-noh Coil (TV) | Very good |
| Denpa teki na Kanojo (OAV) | Good |
| Detective Conan: Crossroad in the Ancient Capital (movie 7) | Very good |
| Detective Conan: Full Score of Fear (movie 12) | Good |
| Detective Conan: Jolly Roger in the Deep Azure (movie 11) | Good |
| Detective Conan: Magician of the Silver Sky (movie 8) | Good |
| The reliance on disaster scenarios really start to run their course by this point in the movie series, they can still be enjoyable but it's starting to get old. | |
| Detective Conan: Strategy Above the Depths (movie 9) | Good |
| Detective Conan: The Lost Ship in The Sky (movie 14) | Good |
| Detective Conan: The Private Eyes' Requiem (movie 10) | Good |
| A really contrived villain and hostage situation that makes little sense but the mystery is good. | |
| Detective Conan: The Raven Chaser (movie 13) | Decent |
| It has some good parts, and any fan should watch it, but this is the worst of the movies IMO. The incident that initiates/inspires the murders in the movie is badly written and takes uncommon liberties (for DC stories) with setting up a scenario that would not realistically happen (having to do with the way emergency evacuations occur in a hotel fire). And the reckless way the BO acts in the movie is very out of character, particularly in the finale of the movie... which also features Conan basically using lethal force. | |
| Detroit Metal City (OAV) | Excellent |
| (The) Devil Is a Part-Timer! (TV) | Good |
| Diamond Daydreams (TV) | Good |
| (The) Diary of Tortov Roddle (ONA) | Very good |
| Dirty Pair: Project Eden (movie) | Very good |
| (The) Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya (movie) | Excellent |
| Dog & Scissors (TV) | Good |
| Doki Doki School Hours (TV) | Not really good |
| Dominion Tank Police (OAV) | Decent |
| Don't Toy with Me, Miss Nagatoro 2nd Attack (TV 2) | Good |
| Dragon Ball Z (TV) | So-so |
| Dragon Ball Z: The World's Strongest (movie 2) | So-so |
| Dragon Crisis! (TV) | Decent |
| Nothing special, but diverting. | |
| Dragon Half (OAV) | Very good |
| Dragonar Academy (TV) | So-so |
| Dream Eater Merry (TV) | Good |
| I really like the overarching story and the art was very appealing to me bu it went downhill a bit at the end of the show with the overpowered Mistletin and her psycho host. It’s also a slight problem that a BIG part of the show was an anime original story. I would welcome further seasons though, in which the main characters, like the criminally underused Chaser Doe, would take a bigger role. | |
| Dual! Parallel Trouble Adventure (TV) | Very good |
| Dual! Parallel Trouble Adventures Special | Very good |
| Durarara!! (TV) | Very good |
| Best of 2010:#10: A very cool and unique action show with the years best cast of characters. A seemingly normal group of three school friends that all keep great secrets from each other, a bunch of supernatural goings-on, gang fights, a headless female motorcyclist who wields a mystical scythe- and the men that love her, a giant Russian who runs a sushi shop, an easy to enrage "bartender" who tends to throw vending machines around and the tremendous asshole who works all the angles. | |
| Dusk maiden of Amnesia (TV) | Good |
| I liked the comedy, I liked the stylish mood and atmosphere, occasionally the two clashed a bit but there was also at the heart of it a tragic tale of a ghost greatly wronged and the boy who is able to help relieve her of some of the torment she’s been bottling up and denying. It’s an effective story. I do wish they had gone a bit deeper into the “why” of the story- It does a good job of the “how” but I think theres still much more substance to what happened. Some parts, the school festival in particular, felt rushed as well. | |
| (The) Eccentric Family (TV) | Very good |
| Best of 2013- #3: Good art, fun ensemble, and a refreshingly different type of story. Universal story of family loyalty and love... but also about shape-shifting Tanuki | |
| Eden of the East (TV) | Very good |
| Eden of the East: Paradise Lost (movie) | Very good |
| Eden of the East: The King of Eden (movie) | Good |
| Eiken (OAV) | Not really good |
| Elfen Lied (TV) | Very good |
| Encouragement of Climb (TV) | Good |
| AKA Encouragement of Climb. This was one of those short shows (3-5 min.) that would probably benefit from a regular sized length. | |
| Engaged to the Unidentified (TV) | Good |
| Ergo Proxy (TV) | Good |
| Escaflowne: The Movie | Decent |
| Eureka Seven (TV) | Very good |
| Excel Saga (TV) | Excellent |
| At one time it earned a place on my "Top Ten of all Time" and had a Masterpiece rating, ten years later I have to admit it might not be that stupendous but it is still a great show that I highly recommend. Frenetic comedy basics, constant genre spoofs that I personally don't think you have to be completely familiar with to find funny (although if you can find and buy ADV's old "Imperfect Collection" I suggest buying it for the ADVid-Notes feature that explain the myriad of references that are made) and the CRAZIEST main character you are ever likely to see. Notright in the head, yet somehow still very likable. | |
| (The) Familiar of Zero (TV) | Good |
| Farming Life in Another World (TV) | So-so |
| Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children (movie) | Decent |
| Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (US CG movie) | Good |
| Fireball Charming (TV) | Good |
| Fist of the North Star (movie) | Very good |
| FLCL (OAV) | Masterpiece |
| Top Ten All Time #5: What is truly special about this show is how it works so well on a number of levels. First of all it is simply strange in a fascinating experimental way: Guitars are weapons/tools, a Vespa scooter can fly out in space, robots grow out of bumps on the head, there's giant iron in the middle of town that people take for granted as a factory that no one works at. Secondly, from the moment you are introduced to any of the main characters you want to know about them and often really feel for them. Naota is a lonely kid who misses his brother while also suffering an inferiority complex in his shadow, Mamimi the social outcast who feels abandoned, crazy charismatic Haruka with unknown motives, Third, it's simply funny. Fourth, the mystery of the pirate king is intrigueing. And in the end it all comes together into a cohesive whole... with the best rock soundtrack synergy I have ever heard. And while it may take multiple viewings to understand some of it you can enjoy every viewings on a superficial level, unlike other shows of this type whose focus is drowned in how deliberately obtuse the mystery is. | |
| Fortune Arterial: Akai Yakusoku (TV) | Decent |
| I'll mention it's season-mate, Otome Yokai Zakuro, here. At it's core I thought the story here was about as good as Zakuro's story- but execution murdered this and elevated the other one. Characters here came off bland, art was weak. | |
| Fractale (TV) | Good |
| a good story but somehow it never felt completely fleshed out. | |
| Free! - Iwatobi Swim Club (TV) | Decent |
| From Up On Poppy Hill (movie) | Excellent |
| (The) Fruit of Grisaia (TV) | Decent |
| Fruits Basket (TV 1/2001) | Excellent |
| Full Metal Panic! (TV) | Very good |
| Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid (TV) | Very good |
| Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid (OAV) | Very good |
| Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu (TV) | Very good |
| Fullmetal Alchemist (TV) | Very good |
| Fullmetal Alchemist: The Movie - Conqueror of Shamballa | Very good |
| Fusé: Memoirs of a Huntress (movie) | Very good |
| Fushigi Yugi (TV) | So-so |
| Fushigi Yugi (OAV) | Not really good |
| Fushigi Yugi (OAV 2) | Not really good |
| Fushigi Yugi Eikoden (OAV) | So-so |
| Future Boy Conan (TV) | Masterpiece |
| Gad Guard (TV) | Decent |
| Galaxy Express 999 (movie) | Excellent |
| Galilei Donna (TV) | So-so |
| I feel a bit cheated for watching. Some good characters, an interesting macguffin hunt, it definitely had potential. It was all wasted with tremendously bad logic, cheap tricks, inconsistent themes, and cutting corners at every step of the show. And even though it cut corners, logic, and reason, all in the apparent service of getting the show to fit in 11 episodes, it was completely unable to finish with any sort of definite closure. Instead depending on someone wanting to greenlight a sequel... but considering the quality of what we've seen, that possibility is given a snowball's chance in hell. | |
| Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo (TV) | Very good |
| Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet (TV) | Very good |
| Best of 2013- #10: This is simply a solid action show that mostly avoids the generic villainy of anime that I have come to loathe. One ideological automaton [sic] does show up near the end but it's mostly an interesting sci-fi story of a mostly peaceful post-apocalyptic earth set on the waves, contrasted with humans living half a universe away in constant war with an alien [sic] menace... and it doesn't hurt that is has cute girls in skimpy clothing too. | |
| Gatchaman Crowds (TV) | Good |
| Gatchaman Crowds insight (TV) | Good |
| GATE (TV) | Good |
| Gate Keepers 21 (OAV) | Good |
| Gauche the Cellist (movie) | Very good |
| Geneshaft (TV) | Not really good |
| Genshiken (TV) | Excellent |
| Genshiken (OAV) | Excellent |
| Genshiken 2 (TV) | Excellent |
| Genshiken: Second Generation (TV) | Very good |
| Best of 2013- #6: The show continues having excellent characters and wonderful development. It also continues its interesting and humorous look into the depths of otaku fandom. Unfortunately the scope of characters and focus of subjects have both narrowed to a disappointing degree. It's always about fujioshi behavior and interests and the plot is almost entirely about the cross-dressing boy who loves BL. It's still funny, interesting, and solid story-telling but it's a slight step down from the original Genshiken, the best otaku-focused anime (and manga) I've ever seen (read). | |
| Ghost Hunt (TV) | Very good |
| Ghost in the Shell (movie) | Very good |
| Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence (movie) | Good |
| Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (TV) | Decent |
| Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - Individual Eleven (OAV) | Decent |
| Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex: Solid State Society (movie) | Good |
| Ghost Stories (TV) | Decent |
| Gingitsune (TV) | Very good |
| (The) Girl Who Leapt Through Time (movie) | Very good |
| Girl's High (TV) | Decent |
| GJ Club (TV) | Good |
| Godannar (TV) | Very good |
| (The) Gokusen (TV) | Good |
| A Good Librarian Like a Good Shepherd (TV) | Decent |
| Good Luck Girl! (TV) | Good |
| Gosick (TV) | Good |
| Gourmet Girl Graffiti (TV) | Good |
| Grave of the Fireflies (movie) | Decent |
| (The) Greatest Demon Lord is Reborn as a Typical Nobody (TV) | So-so |
| Grey: Digital Target (movie) | Good |
| Ground Control to Psychoelectric Girl (TV) | Good |
| Gugure! Kokkuri-san (TV) | Decent |
| Gungrave (TV) | Not really good |
| Gunslinger Girl (TV) | Good |
| Gurren Lagann (TV) | Good |
| H2 (TV) | Good |
| lacks the level of humor of the manga and only adapts the first third of the story. | |
| Haganai (TV) | Good |
| It fell into a rut after the beginning but it was still consistently fun. A decent male lead, a good cast of bishoujos, cliche's done right. The return of the attractive Buriki (Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko) character design's. It is pandering to current otaku tastes but in a quality fashion. I also always felt there was a strong subtext in their interactions, reflecting each character's insecurities and deeper issues. | |
| Haganai NEXT (TV) | Good |
| Haibane Renmei (TV) | Masterpiece |
| Top Ten All Time #7: Usually I get really annoyed with animes that don't explain their world to such an extent but it works here very well. It tells a personal but universal story (well... maybe two or three) about human experience, trusting one another and learning self-worth. Knowing the reasons and history behind everything really would detract from it. | |
| Haiyoru! Nyaruani (ONA) | So-so |
| Hanamaru Kindergarten (TV) | Excellent |
| Best of 2010:#4 - It is one of the great feel-good series and is very funny. I really wish this show was continuing and is at the top of my wish list for an additional season or two. It has so many sweet and cute moments of kids being kids, adults being clueless and eccentric, and moments of genuine emotion between characters. It plays with situational comedy as well as gag comedy and very cartoony fun. At the beginning of the season the worry was that it would be another Kodomo No Jikan, except it would take the innapropriate lolicon theme of that series to the much more disturbing level of toddler-con. Instead we were shown how the same sort of situation from KnT can be handled appropriately and with genuine humor. They still play a little with some of the taboo subjects of anime, but don't treat them as pervert bait, but as something that has a reasoning behind it that isn't actually perverted at all. | |
| Hanamonogatari (TV) | Very good |
| Best of 2014: #5 (Sharing spot with Tsukimonogatari) Latest of the Bakemonogatari series. No great stakes to this one but a fine addition to story that previews things to come. | |
| Hanasaku Iroha - Blossoms for Tomorrow (TV) | Very good |
| Best of 2011 #8 - It is beautifully designed, it has characters that appeal to otaku types without pandering too much, it features well defined character dynamics but it never really goes for the heavy melodrama. It teases the drama, the situations often feel like soap opera situations but time and again when characters start down a path where they could act all crazy because things aren't going smoothly they instead end up acting rather reasonably and with the interests of others in mind without insulting the audience. | |
| Hanayamata (TV) | Good |
| Happiness! (TV) | Decent |
| Happy Lesson (TV) | Decent |
| Happy Lesson Advanced (TV) | Good |
| Happy Lesson The Final (OAV) | Good |
| Haruka Nogizaka's Secret (TV) | Good |
| Haruka Nogizaka's Secret: Purezza (TV) | Good |
| Hayate the Combat Butler (TV) | Very good |
| Hayate the Combat Butler! Cuties (TV) | Good |
| Hayate the Combat Butler! Heaven Is a Place on Earth (movie) | Good |
| Norio, O Norio, wherefore art thou Norio? It's nice to tell a complete story in a movie, but the loss of 4th wall b reaking Norio and other similar jokes does hurt the unique humor of the first couple seasons. This also takes place after a large bit of canon story that never got animated and this and the new series after it suffer if you're not up to the manga story. | |
| Hayate the Combat Butler!! (OAV) | Very good |
| Hayate the Combat Butler!! (TV) | Very good |
| Hayate the Combat Butler: Can't Take My Eyes Off You (TV) | Good |
| The Very Good? A complete story told within a season. The Good? Some character interaction stuff, like Hayate and Hina going to the park, was quite satisfying. The Weak? the "wacky" otaku comedy, like the trip to buy video games, manga, and Dojinshi, was definitely a step down. I never got used to the huge-forehead designs- they looked like neanderthals some of the time. the Hayate-Nagi schism in the middle was too forced. I've only watched the anime and some of the manga, I did not know some of the characters and wasn't familiar with new settings. No Norio meant little to no 4th-wall breaking, and what was there wasn't nearly as effective. | |
| Heaven's Memo Pad (TV) | Very good |
| A mystery series that with character that follow usual types but stop short of pandering to them, The cases are urban and a bit dark but are not excessively flashy. Occasionally it can go cute and the main female character, Alice, is a product of the moe times but the cases are quality stories, with only one completely comedic episode. There are a couple minor plot holes and a couple cases go a bit longer than necessary but I very much recommend the series. | |
| Hello!! KINMOZA (TV) | Good |
| Hellsing (TV) | Good |
| (The ")Hentai" Prince and the Stony Cat. (TV) | Good |
| Hidamari Sketch (TV) | Very good |
| Hidamari Sketch × 365 (TV) | Very good |
| Hidamari Sketch × Honeycomb (TV) | Very good |
| Not as good as the first couple season but has a better focus than Hoshimitsu. A series that can always give me the warm fuzzies and it has that added element of Shaft's artistic touches. Pure candy goodness- the content is sweet and the art delights me. I also like how this season often focuses on how the two older girls are about to graduate and Yuno is attempting to act more mature. That said, as necessary as the linear story-telling has become I miss the randomness of the early seasons and I have never really grown as fond of the freshmen girls as I am of the other four. I'm assuming they have a couple specials, or a movie, or maybe even another season in them to focus on Sae and Hiro graduating but I don't what comes after that. The main character is Yuno, and it is mainly about her coming of age- but can the franchise survive without Sae and Hiro? I have no idea where the source series goes after this. | |
| Hidamari Sketch × Hoshimittsu (TV) | Good |
| Okay, this was the weakest of this franchise so far. I still enjoyed it but this was more of the same from previous seasons, pleasant stories of girls doing pleasant things but a lot of the humor was lost, Yuno was a bit too composed, Miyako not really as crazy anymore, Hiro and Sae played things a bit too straight (pun intentional). Plus they mostly did away with the novel anachronistic and literal "day-in-the life" story telling, in order to introduce two freshman girls- who unfortunately turn out to be rather bland. Even Shaft's creative design felt a little flat this time around. Good, but a slight step down. | |
| Hidamari Sketch: Sae & Hiro Graduation (OAV) | Very good |
| Himouto! Umaru-chan (TV) | Good |
| His and Her Circumstances (TV) | Very good |
| Hōkago no Pleiades (ONA) | Decent |
| Honey and Clover (TV) | Very good |
| Honey and Clover II (TV) | Very good |
| (The) Honor Student at Magic High School (TV) | Good |
| Honto ni Atta! Reibai-Sensei (TV) | Very good |
| Horus - Prince of the Sun (movie) | Very good |
| House of Five Leaves (TV) | Very good |
| Best of 2010:#8: I love the odd art direction in this one, it's a historical drama about a very capable but chronically depressed, and depressing, samurai in the Edo era. While unemployed he makes the acquaintance of a charismatic man who he eventually finds out runs a kidnapping ring. They and the other people in the group form an odd little family unit and work though their personal histories. It doesn't sound like much but it's not quite like anything you've seen before. | |
| Howl's Moving Castle (movie) | Excellent |
| Hyakko (TV) | Good |
| HYOUKA (TV) | Very good |
| I was very close to dropping this, at least temporarily, at the end of its first half, it really felt like it was missing something, like its benign mysteries were detracting from a focus that it really needed. But from the beginning of the school festival arc it became apparent a shift had taken place. There WAS now a new focus, the core characters were front and center, the mysteries were secondary and somehow that made them all the more interesting. And, of course, it looked great. | |
| I Can't Understand What My Husband Is Saying (TV) | Decent |
| I Can't Understand What My Husband is Saying: 2nd Thread (TV 2) | Decent |
| I couldn't become a hero, so I reluctantly decided to get a job. (TV) | Good |
| I Don't Like You At All, Big Brother!! (TV) | So-so |
| meh, that guy really is a waste of space and the girls are idiots for being obsessed with him. Occasional laughs but mainly a disappointment. | |
| I've Somehow Gotten Stronger When I Improved My Farm-Related Skills (TV) | Decent |
| (The) Ice Guy and His Cool Female Colleague (TV) | Good |
| Ichigo 100% (TV) | Decent |
| (The) IDOLM@STER (TV) | Decent |
| The girls are cute and appealing character types but that’s all they are. I guess you could say it’s cutely and appealingly brain-dead. The cuteness kept me watching, the stupidity kept me asking “why?” | |
| If Her Flag Breaks (TV) | Good |
| In Search of the Lost Future (TV) | Good |
| Inari Kon Kon (TV) | Good |
| Infinite Stratos (TV) | Good |
| Quite fun. If you want harem shenanigans, nice fan service and a male lead you could maybe believe could attract these five girls this will fit the bill, it's a bit shallow... but shallow waters are good for beach episodes. | |
| Infinite Stratos 2 (TV) | Decent |
| INTERSTELLA 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem (movie) | Very good |
| Inu X Boku Secret Service (TV) | Good |
| It was nice, not much happened, but I'd watch more if more was made- they might be able to improve on it now that the core relationship is mostly sorted. | |
| Inugami-san to Nekoyama-san (TV) | So-so |
| Inuyasha (TV) | Decent |
| InuYasha the Movie 2: The Castle Beyond the Looking Glass | Decent |
| InuYasha the Movie: Affections Touching Across Time | Decent |
| Invaders of the Rokujyōma!? (TV) | Decent |
| "Ippon" Again! (TV) | Good |
| (The) irregular at magic high school (TV) | Good |
| Is the order a rabbit? (TV) | Good |
| Is the order a rabbit?? (TV 2) | Decent |
| Is This a Zombie? (TV) | Good |
| I LOVED the comedy in the show and the slasher story was alright, but the drama with the King of the Night- not so much. If it were just a comedy show I’d rate it higher | |
| Is This a Zombie? of the Dead (TV) | Good |
| After the first season I said I would have preferred it if they had ignored the dramatic bits more and focused on the comedy more and that I would have probably rated it higher than “good” if they had done that. I got my wish, but it turns out feeling like something’s missing after all. It’s still funny though, some of it outrageously so, so it still deserves a strong if not unqualified recommendation. | |
| Ishida and Asakura (TV) | So-so |
| Ixion Saga DT (TV) | Good |
| It's a good and silly fantasy farce. Occasionally goes a bit too far with the manic shouting sort of anime humor but overall a show I looked forward to watching each week. | |
| JAPAN, Our Homeland (movie) | Very good |
| Jewel BEM Hunter Lime (OAV) | Weak |
| Jin-Roh - The Wolf Brigade (movie) | Good |
| Jinsei - Life Consulting (TV) | Good |
| Jormungand (TV) | Decent |
| My pacifist beliefs got in the way of enjoying the show. I can watch shows with violent characters of dubious moral fiber if they can give a good story for whay I should root for the “heroes” over the other side and give me a glimpse into a unique world. This show doesn’t do that so well, it’s a hard sell and I’m a bit surprised I didn’t drop it. I guess I keep hoping for better reasons to care whether they live or die. I feel the way the way they live their lives is tragic, why should I think it tragic if they died? | |
| Jubei-Chan 2: The Counterattack of Siberia Yagyu (TV) | Decent |
| Jubei-Chan The Ninja Girl - Secret of the Lovely Eyepatch (TV) | Good |
| Junkers Come Here (movie) | Good |
| K-ON! (TV) | Very good |
| K-ON! (movie) | Very good |
| K-ON!! (TV 2) | Very good |
| I may bump this up to Excellent once I rewatch it. It's a show about girls spending time together and having fun, so it only makes sense that the more time you spend together the more fun you'll have- so it works well as a show to marathon in a few bunches. | |
| Kaguya-sama: Love is War -Ultra Romantic- (TV) | Excellent |
| Kai Doh Maru (OAV) | Not really good |
| Kakurenbo - Hide & Seek (movie) | Decent |
| Kamichu! (TV) | Masterpiece |
| Top Ten All Time #8: Another in my category of feel-good anime. Yurie is the ultimate in cute moe girls and one you never feel skevy about. She is lazy, she has a crush on the weird boy in class, she is a loyal friend and loves her hometown, the towns people and her classmates are charmed by her innocence and good nature, it just so happens that she has realized that she is a God and doesn't quite know how to handle it. | |
| Kamisama Kiss (TV) | Good |
| Another example of a director of an earlier favorite work (Fruits Basket) putting out a work that pleasingly replicates some of the aspects of the earlier work but fails to flesh out the characters. So I enjoyed the show, I'll tell you to watch it if you liked Fruits Basket, but you won't like it as much and you won't get as attached to this show or its characters. | |
| Kanamemo (TV) | Good |
| Kannagi: Crazy Shrine Maidens (TV) | Very good |
| Kanon (TV 2/2006) | Excellent |
| Karin (TV) | Decent |
| Katanagatari (TV) | Excellent |
| Best of 2010:#3: I wouldn't say it's a profound series but it was very well done. The first episode had me thinking it'd be a ninja and swordsman of the month series and in some ways it was, but it constantly played with that format. And the whimsical art style belies the fact that it's really very thoughtful and often tragic. Characters were great, two-dimensional villains in the beginning seemed to be an intentional feint as every character gained more and more depth. | |
| (The) Kawai Complex Guide to Manors and Hostel Behavior (TV) | Very good |
| Best of 2014: honorable mention... actually probably should have hit the top 10, very charming and funny. | |
| KenIchi the Mightiest Disciple (TV) | Decent |
| Kiddy Grade (TV) | Good |
| Kids on the Slope (TV) | Excellent |
| Best of 2012 - #3: Quality writing, a story worth telling, characters that feel real and defy current tropes, and a authentic feeling period piece that is very nicely augmented by the jazz music framing device. In order to fit a complete story into 12 episodes (but hey, at least Noitamina didn’t limit to 11) they did have to rush a couple bits, but I found it done well enough that I could easily reason out those motives in between the lines. | |
| Kikaider-01: The Animation (OAV) | So-so |
| Kiki's Delivery Service (movie) | Masterpiece |
| Kimi ni Todoke - From Me to You (TV) | Excellent |
| Best of 2010:#5 - Teen romantic comedy done right. Funny, very sweet. | |
| Kimi ni Todoke 2nd Season (TV) | Excellent |
| Best of 2011 #2 -OK, it does have the obvious fault of being very slow, but it’s a fault that is almost completely negated when marathoned at any speed and you are given a solid story and you see that the second thoughts and timidness that can be so frustrating when taken weekly are central to the stary and they could never be any other way. And then there’s the pay-off, this is the show with the perfect pay-off, one that isn’t technically the end of the story but still feels perfectly satisfying. Also retroactively re-rating the first season as Excellent, the only reason I didn't previously was its incompleteness, not an issue with this sequel/continuation. | |
| Kinmoza! Kiniro + Mosaic (TV) | Good |
| Kino's Journey (TV) | Excellent |
| Kiss×sis (TV) | So-so |
| Not a great story, one of the worst bland male leads in a story of it's type. Only occasionally genuinely funny. The only reason to continue to watch it is if it had any ability to turn you on. For me- it did, the animation wasn't great but the sisters in particular were examples of the shows appealing female character designs and the situations were effectively mildly erotic (well, except for the peeing scenarios- definitely not my thing). | |
| Kite (OAV) | Very good |
| Kiyo in Kyoto: From the Maiko House (TV) | Very good |
| Kobato. (TV) | So-so |
| Koi Kaze (TV) | Very good |
| Kokkoku (TV) | Very good |
| This is that time-stop show... I'm rating this a year later because I saw an article about it and realized I had completely forgotten the NAME of the show despite the fact that the the show itself is quite memorable to me. I see that Sentai has now added a subtitle "Moment by Moment" which is more memorable... although kind of inaccurate... as they are actually STUCK in a moment in time. | |
| Kokoro Connect (TV) | Very good |
| Komori-san Can't Decline (TV) | Decent |
| Kono Aozora ni Yakusoku o - Yōkoso Tsugumi Ryōhe (TV) | Decent |
| Kubo Won't Let Me Be Invisible (TV) | Very good |
| Kujibiki Unbalance (OAV) | Decent |
| Kurenai (TV) | Very good |
| Kyousogiga (ONA) | Decent |
| Ladies versus Butlers! (TV) | Good |
| It's a fine ecchi comedy, nothing for you to struggle with here. Boy meets girls, accidentally fondles her breasts, proceeds to accidentally do the same over and over, while also falling into many crotches, yet girls all like him because he is really a nice guy after all. Often tis drops to the "decent" level but it works a bit better than other shows of this type somehow. | |
| Lagrange - The Flower of Rin-ne (TV) | Good |
| Lance N' Masques (TV) | So-so |
| Last Exile (TV) | Very good |
| A Letter to Momo (movie) | Good |
| I thought it would be better, but the bumbling spirits come off more as grossly incompetent, selfish, and thoughtless than endearingly mischievous. It's still touching and sweet, but this ain't Totoro. It's totoro if Totoro caused the mother's illness, drove the girls to run away, and only helped at all because he knew he'd be severely punished if he didn't. | |
| Level E (TV) | Decent |
| That first arc ended wonderfully and the final story ends well… but then there were the short stories in between. Occasional good laughs but The Prince without Yukitaka proved to be quite irritating and the Rangers stories could have certainly been better. | |
| Listen to Me, Girls. I Am Your Father! (TV) | Good |
| It pulled off a show with some heart while still delivering some questionable loli-teasing to those that like that. | |
| Little Busters! (TV) | Good |
| Little Busters! Refrain (TV) | Good |
| Living for the Day After Tomorrow (TV) | Good |
| Locodol (TV) | Good |
| Lord Marksman and Vanadis (TV) | Good |
| Love Hina (TV) | Very good |
| Love Hina Again (OAV) | Very good |
| Love Hina Spring Special - I Wish Your Dream | Very good |
| Love Hina X'mas Special - Silent Eve | Excellent |
| Love Lab (TV) | Good |
| Love Live! School idol project (TV) | Not really good |
| Superficial, weightless, cliched characters, horribly cheap drama. The songs are quite accomplished idol pop numbers... which makes you think they're done by industry pros... instead of, ya know, novice high school girls. | |
| Love Live! School idol project (TV 2/2014) | Decent |
| Definitely better than the first season. There's so much energy and the plot was allowed to proceed at a much more natural pace. Although it still has plenty of flaws inherent with the superficial cast and plot, everything still goes way too smoothly and the group is way too perfect to be believed, so I still can't personally recommend it too highly. But at least they definitely deliver some fun. | |
| Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions! (TV) | Very good |
| Best of 2012 - #5: KyoAni quality animation, cute and engaging characters, very effective humor, good couple, good drama (although a bit rushed and forced at the end), and that wonderful thing you just don't get in 12 episode shows much- a complete story. Really not much to complain about. | |
| Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions! -Heart Throb- (TV) | Very good |
| Lovely Complex (TV) | Good |
| Lucky Star (TV) | Good |
| Lucky Star OVA | Good |
| Lupin III: Episode 0 'First Contact' (special) | Very good |
| Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro (movie) | Excellent |
| Lupin III: The Fuma Conspiracy (movie) | Good |
| Lupin III: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine (TV) | Excellent |
| Best of 2012 - #2: I have to admit I started to get a little worried in the middle of the show, as I was getting a little tired of the episodic adventures, then they go ahead and finish it off with a very cool final arc that connected parts of the episodic parts, presented an alternately trippy and sinister story of psychological torture, break-downs and even had a psychotic villain that I thought was a well written character (very rare, I usually have an extreme dislike of psycho bad guys). And that art, I so love it when expressive art serves a story so well. | |
| Lupin the 3rd: Blood Seal of the Eternal Mermaid (special) | Good |
| M.D. Geist (OAV) | Worst ever |
| Bottom 5 of all - #1 Worst: Okay, THIS ONE really is horrible, the only anime I've labeled "worst ever"- Why? Well, fortunately I've been able to forget what it was all about (I watched it years ago) so I can't really tell you. I remember actually grimacing while watching it, being thankful it was so short and actively hating what I saw, an exercise in tolerance. I don't think there was a story per se, I'm pretty sure the character didn't have a redeeming quality, the animation was cheap looking and the story telling jumped around incoherently. Ah yes, I remember thinking it must have been made by people who thought violence, big guns and gore was cool and who cares about story or anatomy, kind of a Rob Liefeld philosophy | |
| Macross Plus (OAV) | Decent |
| Madlax (TV) | Good |
| Magic Kaito 1412 (TV) | Good |
| Good, but the majority of the stories in this series were already told in the Magic Kaito Kid specials and OVA | |
| Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha (TV) | Good |
| Magical Girl Pretty Sammy (OAV) | Decent |
| Magical Play (ONA) | Good |
| (The) Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess (TV) | Good |
| Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi (TV) | Good |
| Magician's Academy (TV) | Good |
| Mahoromatic - Automatic Maiden (TV) | Good |
| Mahoromatic: I'm Home! (special) | Good |
| Mahoromatic: Something More Beautiful (TV) | Good |
| Mahoromatic: Summer Special | Good |
| Mai Mai Miracle (movie) | Very good |
| (The) Maid I Hired Recently Is Mysterious (TV) | Decent |
| rated episode 6 | |
| Maid Sama! (TV) | Good |
| I really liked Misaki and the supporting cast, didn't like Usui- which hurts it a bit, considering it's a romance series. It ends incomplete, which isn't uncommon for a romantic series with more story to tell, but the way it's incomplete bugged me. I don't feel like doing spoilers so I'll have to go further into it in the series thread. However, if you take each episode (or paired episodes) by itself than it tells a series of very fun stories. | |
| Mangirl! (TV) | Decent |
| MAOYU (TV) | Good |
| Martian Successor Nadesico (TV) | Excellent |
| Martian Successor Nadesico: The Motion Picture - Prince of Darkness | Decent |
| Mashiroiro Symphony - The color of lovers (TV) | Decent |
| So, it was certainly pleasant, but largely disposable and interchangeable with other eroge adaptations turned into innocuous harem shows with a bland male lead and generic bishojos. | |
| Masquerade (OAV) | Decent |
| Mayo Chiki! (TV) | Good |
| Mayoi Neko Overrun! (TV) | Decent |
| So wildly uneven. 13 episodes, 1 very good episode, 1 very unfunny slavishly loyal giant robot "spoof" episode, a few relaxing and comforting ensemble/harem episodes, a few mildly grating "beat on the hapless guy" episodes and 1 of the most pointless recap episodes ever-- pointlessly placed at the end, | |
| Maze (OAV) | Weak |
| Medaka Box (TV) | Good |
| This show gave us a slow burn of character and world introduction and partially fools the viewer that its something that it’s not. A wider framework for what’s really going on in this school that apparently has no teachers doesn’t get introduced until the end. I still enjoyerd it becasue I was always getting the sense that there’s some melancholy hidden in Medaka’s cheery perfection. I’m glad that theory was partially rewarded and look forward to the promised continuation. | |
| Medaka Box Abnormal (TV) | Good |
| This is another story where the idea is much better than the actual story. This series completely eschews the normal process of character development. It may just be an experiment in Literary naturalism, in which the the motives and temperaments are much more important than character traits and morals. These guys really are just a collections of motives and back story- how they react to each other is based on their philosophy and personal stance rather than how likable or unlikable they are. Because I really don't like the more common industry practice of showcasing characters that only have traits and charisma that make them seem cool and intriguing while abandoning actual character substance I like the experiment- but it's still a weak and cliched story. I hope it continues but I'm glad its one for now- the experiment gets tedious when it goes too long. | |
| (The) Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (TV) | Excellent |
| (The) Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (TV 2009 renewal) | Good |
| Memories (movie) | Good |
| Metropolis (movie) | Very good |
| Mezzo (TV) | Good |
| Mezzo Forte (OAV) | Good |
| Michiko & Hatchin (TV) | Very good |
| Millennium Actress (movie) | Masterpiece |
| Top Ten All Time #2: I love multi-layered stories within stories and this may be the best example of such a story. Do you know the optical illusion where you see a duck if you look at the picture one way and a rabbit another way? It's called a "Perceptual Organization" Optical Illusion and that's this movie's ingenious trick, it messes with your perception, you can see it in different ways depending on how you view it but however you look at it it is a fantastic picture. Once again I am just struck by the tragedy of his passing. | |
| Minami-ke (TV) | Very good |
| Minami-ke Tadaima (TV) | Very good |
| Minami-ke: Okaeri (TV) | Good |
| Minami-ke: Okawari (TV) | Good |
| Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid S (TV) | Very good |
| Miss Monochrome (TV) | Decent |
| Mitsudomoe (TV) | Good |
| I barely laughed or even smiled during the first two obnoxious and often gross episodes. Luckily it got much better. The girls each got their own thing and the point stopped being about torturing the teacher. The jokes are often quite cheap little double entendres and misunderstandings, but they're still funny. | |
| Mitsudomoe Zōryōchū! (TV) | Good |
| Plain good comedy, thank goodness that they mostly ditched the gross-out crutch from the first few episodes of the first season.. | |
| Miyuki (TV) | Decent |
| The manga features some sexist stuff and borderline lolicons, this adaptation makes them downright creeps. Every slightly annoying point of the manga is exaggerated and made obnoxious in the anime. However, once he stops pulling panties out of his pocket, the MC turns pretty respectable, the core relationships are pretty good, and it does pull off some good humor. But for some reason the anime takes the first 2-3 years of the manga and condenses them into 1 year, so when the manga's story got to the point where they graduate school, the anime characters haven't even moved up a grade yet. The anime ends at this point and it finishes incomplete. | |
| MM! (TV) | Good |
| Just pleasant enough not to drop it down another level or two | |
| Modern Magic Made Simple (TV) | Decent |
| Monogatari Series Second Season (TV) | Very good |
| Best of 2013- #2: Eventually, when all of the monogatari stories are adapted this franchise may combine to be a "masterpiece" but in parts it always feels a bit too segmented. Segmented but absolutely brimming with eccentricity, each part riffing on different aspects of fantasy literature and films, geek culture, Otaku versions of sexuality, popular culture and pop psychology. And always with striking art and sharp dialogue. | |
| Monster Musume: Everyday Life with Monster Girls (TV) | Decent |
| Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun (TV) | Excellent |
| Best of 2014: #2 great little comedic satire of "girls manga." Stoic and manly Nozaki is also secretly a popular author of a monthly girls manga. Without knowing this, his classmate Sakura tries to confess her feelings for him, but when she says "I'm your fan" he gives her an autograph (using his psuedonym) and has her become his artist's assistant. As the show moves on you find that Nozaki has based most of the characters in his story off of his other eccentric schoolmates, but always gender-swaps them. Hilarity ensues. | |
| MoonPhase (TV) | Good |
| Moribito - Guardian of the Spirit (TV) | Excellent |
| Morita-san wa Mukuchi (OAV) | Good |
| Morita-san wa Mukuchi (TV) | Decent |
| Moshidora (TV) | Very good |
| Good/Very Good - I had some small problems with the show. -The baseball players are largely interchangeable and aren't all that deep. -I never completely believed the great usefulness of the "Management" book, all the lessons learned about teamwork and discovering your talents seem to be basic motivational techniques you could probably find as readily in a sports management book with less enigmatic language. -It was basically a concentrated version of just about any sports drama. Characters learning the love of the game, others overcoming weaknesses. And the sick friend, sn't there always a sick friend? - Yet it still gets the VG rating for pulling off that motivation, that team spirit and emotional punch of the sick friend rather well. | |
| Motto To Love Ru (TV) | Decent |
| I've watched all of these stories and don't feel sorry (occasionally a little pervy) but I would really prefer something to happen!. Nothing happened here other than girls further understanding how much they like Rito, plus fun time with nipple slips and panty shots. It was sometimes fun and funny but when you realize they skipped over so many unanimated stories to get to this stagnant point then it annoys me. | |
| Moyashimon (TV) | Excellent |
| Moyashimon Returns (TV) | Very good |
| Is it as good as the first season? No. But it is a strong continuation and very good to see the characters again. The season basically depicts a small tale in what is obviously a very longer story and by the end it is a satisfying one. There's obviously much more to tell, and it'd be nice to get more. | |
| Muromi-san (TV) | Good |
| My Beautiful Girl Mari (Korean movie) | Very good |
| My Bride is a Mermaid (TV) | Very good |
| My Hero Academia (TV 5) | Decent |
| My Hero Academia (TV 6) | Good |
| My Isekai Life (TV) | Weak |
| My Little Monster (TV) | Good |
| I pair this with "Say 'I love You'" which aired in the same season. They have similar set-ups, are similarly good and eerily have some of the same first episode flags. And though both take them into different directions they also have a problem freeing themselves from their sub-genre's conventions. Monster is a Wacky rom-com, that has problems with earnest teen drama. A repeated "gag?" is Haru accidentally hitting Shizuku- but it's hard to know if its funny or something that will destroy the couple or what. The two shows also similarly end when they're both just getting started. If the show continues I may very well rate this higher- but at this point it is woefully incomplete and I'm limiting it to a "good" rating. | |
| My mental choices are completely interfering with my school romantic comedy (TV) | Good |
| My Neighbor Totoro (movie) | Masterpiece |
| My Neighbors the Yamadas (movie) | Very good |
| My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! X (TV 2) | Very good |
| My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU (TV) | Very good |
| My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU TOO! (TV) | Very good |
| Best of 2015 #7: This season did such a splendid job of deepening the difficult relationships of the core group and skillfully showed that there are no easy answers. | |
| My Wife is the Student Council President (TV) | Decent |
| My-HiME (TV) | Decent |
| My-Otome (TV) | Good |
| Mysterious Girlfriend X (TV) | Excellent |
| Best of 2012 - #1: I feel a bit sorry for those that couldn’t see past the drool. Unique characters, a sweet coming of age story that takes its time exploring the strange little idiosyncracies of the awkward teen boy and his odd girlfriend with her unexpected abilities and talents. By presenting such a exaggerated couple and their unreal obstacles it seems to nicely represent the awkwardness we all experience in relationships, especially in these teen years. | |
| (The) Mystic Archives of Dantalian (TV) | Good |
| Nadia - The Secret of Blue Water (TV) | Very good |
| Nagasarete Airantou (TV) | So-so |
| Occasionally genuinely sweet, sometimes a slapstick pratfall will be really funny, but mostly this is stpidly base cartoon idiocy full of annoying cliches. The worst are the characters who I guess are supposed to charmingly mischievous but actually come off as sadistic. Like the shrine priestess who routinely tortures her sister, literally... and just about anyone else... but she's not "evil" apparently, everyone loves her as a member of the community... for no good reason. Ha ha.... she's horrible to family and friends and has no redeeming qualities... what a scamp! I don't really know why I forced my way through all 26 episodes. | |
| NANA (TV) | Good |
| To tell the truth, this show makes me mad. It's a mix of pure manipulation and doing some awful, awful things to its characters. If something good happens, it must be followed up with something horrible. It is also woefully incomplete and leaves almost everyone at just about the absolute worst place possible. It would be rated at least a couple ranks lower if it weren't for the fact that it does feature some of the most fully realized characters I've ever seen in anime. For instance, there is a character in the show who is an absolute bastard- a jerk on many levels and deserves a karma backlash of fatal proportions, but he is BELIEVABLE in his actions, he has motivations and justifications that make sense. And the main girls are so believably flawed. That is what I honestly loved about the show. So, "Good" is usually a solid recommendation in my system- but this comes with pretty big WARNINGS. It will drive you crazy and as I said, it is very incomplete, and promises to stay that way- the source material is on indefinite hiatus due to the poor health of the manga-ka who says she might not want to finish it anyways. And I can understand it to, near the end, when I realized just how horribly screwed over everyone had been and that it wasn't coming close to resolving anything I litterally felt physically ill watching it- I could believe a person in poor health might not want to continue writing it either. | |
| Nanaka 6/17 (TV) | Decent |
| Nanana's Buried Treasure (TV) | Good |
| Natsu no Arashi! (TV) | Very good |
| Natsu no Arashi! Akinai-chū (TV) | Very good |
| Natsuiro Kiseki (TV) | Good |
| Cute fun girls doing what they do best, a fine example of this type of show, if not mindblowing. | |
| Natsume's Book of Friends (TV) | Very good |
| Natsume's Book of Friends (TV 2) | Very good |
| Natsume's Book of Friends (TV 3) | Very good |
| Best of 2011 #6 - This series deals so fantastically with it’s relaxed nature. Even when the situation itself is tense the viewer feels at ease. Natsume is the definitive sympathetic character, the viewer feels for him and you can see why the other characters are drawn to him. The show is also brimming with imaginative spirits and is a pleasure to see and hear as well. | |
| Natsume's Book of Friends (TV 4) | Very good |
| Best of 2012 - #6: I keep loving this show, not much to say. Sweet, yet still pulls off moments of genuine spookiness. This season focused even more on Natsume's childhood and I thought it was very effective but still managed more than one "continuing" story regarding the "exorcist" people that sometimes cross his path. | |
| Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (movie) | Excellent |
| Neon Genesis Evangelion (TV) | Very good |
| Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death & Rebirth (movie) | |
| Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion (movie) | Very good |
| Nichijō (OAV) | Good |
| Nichijou - My Ordinary Life (TV) | Masterpiece |
| Best of 2011 #1 - I rated the first half as very good and rated one or two shows above it but the second half was such an improvement on a show I already enjoyed that as a whole it may have become my favorite series of the year. Throughout all 26 episodes there are sequences that are so funny it left me in tears- what it improved on as it went on was the consistency of hilarity (early episodes have large bits that either went too long, were too esoteric for a wide audience, or both) and despite enlarging the cast it became a much better integrated show. Nano and the Professor weren't only doing their thing, separate students felt like a part of the wider school and each character felt more defined. | |
| Night is Short, Walk On Girl (movie) | Excellent |
| The only thing I didn't really like was its somewhat gross and passive celebration of binge drinking. There were no discernible drawbacks to what should be considered lethal amounts of alcohol consumption. Some people got red-faced for awhile but our heroine's reaction was always "Mmmm booze GOOD!" and ran on to her next adventure. | |
| Night on the Galactic Railroad (movie) | Very good |
| Ninja Scroll (movie) | Decent |
| Ninja Scroll (TV) | Good |
| Nisekoi - False Love (TV) | Good |
| Nisekoi: (TV 2) | Good |
| Nisemonogatari (TV) | Very good |
| Best of 2012 - #4: A slight step down from Bakemonogatari, but it was a different show than the original and still pretty cool. The crazy design sense, the witty patter, and even their brand of of weird self-conscious and maybe self-derogatory fan service was all to my liking. | |
| No-Rin (TV) | Very good |
| Nobunagun (TV) | Good |
| Nodame Cantabile (TV) | Excellent |
| Nodame Cantabile: Finale (TV) | Excellent |
| Nodame Cantabile: Paris (TV) | Excellent |
| Noein - to your other self (TV) | Good |
| Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu: Finale (OAV) | Good |
| Noir (TV) | Weak |
| Bad enough I have to make a special mention: Okay, every time there was a fight it seemed super-assassin Mirreile was useless, she got caught, she got shot, she failed... How did she stay alive up to this point? Some thoughts while watching...Why should we care? Lordy this is slow. How many times you gonna play that stupid pocket watch music? Did someone say this was the best soundtrack they ever heard? What? Oh, Stop with the staring contest and just kill the person! It was an ordeal to get through the first 11-12 and I was about to give up... then they stopped staring at the watch all the time and introduced Chloe and things looked like it should get interesting... and it was, slightly, especially when they ignored Mirielle. Then it just descends into a mess again and had just about the least fulfilling ending I've ever seen. Why do I hate Noir so much? Because it was only just interesting enough to keep me watching instead of just giving up, repaying my patience with frustration. | |
| Non Non Biyori (TV) | Very good |
| Best of 2013 #8: This is just one of the sweetly funny shows that provide good natured laughs and big smiles. | |
| Non Non Biyori Repeat (TV 2) | Very good |
| Best of 2015: #6 More high quality comedy, sweetness and light | |
| Noragami (TV) | Good |
| Now and Then, Here and There (TV) | Good |
| Nyan Koi! (TV) | Good |
| Nyaruko: Crawling with Love! (TV) | Good |
| it’s funny, it’s weird, but sometimes this group irritated me. It is a rather quotable show though, the characters interactions and unexpected motives for the "villains'" heinous acts provide some really fun situations and though you’ve quickly gotten used to the fact that these monster attacks are never for the generic “taking over the world” reasons, the punch line for their reasons for their actions still usually surprises you with its absurdity all the way until the final episode- whose "monster" has some of the most hilariously wrong reasoning for his scheme of any antagonist of the series. | |
| Oblivion Island: Haruka and the Magic Mirror (movie) | Very good |
| Occult Academy (TV) | Good |
| This could drop down to the "decent" rating. It had its problems negotiating the differences between drama and comedy and when that dissonance really didn't work it could be bad (The one that starts with the dead cows- skip it!) but it was overall a good story. | |
| Ocean Waves (movie) | Very good |
| Ōkami-san & Her Seven Companions (TV) | Good |
| When it focused on the separate adventures and interaction between the companions than it's quite enjoyable. Bring in the plot with its out of proportion dark secret and absolutely boring sadist villain and it's not as enjoyable anymore. Luckily there's more enjoyable material than not, so it's worth watching. | |
| Oldboy (Korean movie) | |
| I just stumbled over the fact that this has an entry here. As a movie I'd rate it Masterpiece/Excellent. It's disturbing, exciting, and very interesting. In Park's Vengence trilogy I consider OLDBOY to be about all-consuming vengeance that destroys your life, MR. VENGEANCE is about an unending cycle of vengeance, and LADY VENGEANCE is about how vengeance doesn't really solve anything- no matter how deserved the vengeance may be. All brilliant, but to keep it separate from the anime, I won't actually give Oldboy a rating here. | |
| One Off (OAV) | Good |
| Definitely good... for an extended Honda advertisement. | |
| One Week Friends (TV) | Good |
| OniAi (TV) | Decent |
| It's superficial fun, but damn is it superficial- It doesn't fall to the levels of ick of KissXSis but also doesn't have character designs nearly as appealing (IMO). Not it has ugly designs, not nearly as bad as that other oni-con show from last year with the stick bodies and big heads. And its best feautre is that it often doesn't take its shtick very seriously. They are very much in on the joke. Does that make it a good show? Well, it makes it "decent." | |
| Only Yesterday (movie) | Excellent |
| Onsen Yōsei Hakone-chan (TV) | Decent |
| Oreimo (TV) | Good |
| Beyond all the debate, I still enjoyed it. I don't love shows where the girl beats on the girl for no reason, but despite those reasons not being clear, I believed there were reasons, onto another season- hopefully one structured a bit better. | |
| Oreimo 2 (TV) | Good |
| This season takes off from the special OAV episodes and, like those, improves a bit on the sometimes annoying pace and tone of the first televised season, but not quite enough to up the rating. I guess you could say it went from a "low" gGood that almost dropped to Decent to a "high" Good that almost brought its rating up. | |
| Oreshura (TV) | Good |
| Otona Joshi no Anime Time (TV) | Good |
| Ouran High School Host Club (TV) | Very good |
| Outbreak Company (TV) | Good |
| Outlaw Star (TV) | Excellent |
| Owarimonogatari (TV) | Very good |
| Best of 2015 #3: another yar,another great installment. Once it concludes, it might well all get bumped up to a materpiece as a whole. pieced out though, over many years, I keep thinking "what have I forgotten? where does this fit in? | |
| Ozma (TV) | Not really good |
| I wanted to like it, I wanted to believe in Matsumoto again, and the show did have some neat things going for it and a retro style I dug, but the hope that I’d come to care for the characters more was never really realized and the ending really fell off a cliff of reason and logic and ultimately resolved in a really crappy “message” ending. Ugh. | |
| Pale Cocoon (OAV) | Very good |
| Pani Poni Dash! (TV) | Decent |
| Paprika (movie) | Excellent |
| Parallel World Pharmacy (TV) | Good |
| rated episode 9 | |
| Paranoia Agent (TV) | Excellent |
| Patlabor 2: The Movie (movie 2) | Decent |
| Patlabor WXIII (movie 3) | Decent |
| Patlabor: The Movie (movie 1) | Decent |
| Penguindrum (TV) | Very good |
| Best of 2011 #10 - This one does stand out amongst the rest for some of it's superlatives. In a year full of shows with great art design this had some of the best, the story was complex and had strong themes, it was very impressive, but in the end I think Ikuhara once again went a bit too far, symbolism and methaphors became tortured, things that could have, and maybe should have, been presented more straight forwardly were given full on metaphorical treatment, (The Child Broiler being the worst example). It still greatly deserves a recommendation though, it will stick with you. | |
| Perfect Blue (movie) | Excellent |
| (The) Perfect Insider (TV) | Good |
| (The) Pet Girl of Sakurasou (TV) | Good |
| Petite Princess Yucie (TV) | Good |
| Phantom ~Requiem for the Phantom~ (TV) | Weak |
| Mostly, just isn't my type of show but still- story logic and even the action logic goes all over the place (for most of the show- running into a gunfight means danger- but At the end- only if you're not a main character)... It's all quite pointless and nihilistic. And the villains!: laughing, sneering, theatrical, wine sipping jokes. | |
| Photo Kano (TV) | Decent |
| Photon: The Idiot Adventures (OAV) | Excellent |
| Ping Pong (TV) | Very good |
| Best of 2014: #4 There was a high number of decent sports anime this year. This new adaptation of an older sports drama was the best. Universal coming of age story if you can get past the "ugly" art. | |
| (The) Place Promised in Our Early Days (movie) | Good |
| Place to Place (TV) | Very good |
| This brand of light-hearted fun comedy seems simple but recent examples of the sort show it can be hard to do. These characters are a fun bunch and have cute little adventures but they don’t fall into the pander trap that so many shows fall into when dealing with cute girls doing cute things. The main pair’s chaste non-romance is sweet and funny, from the first episode it seems they like each other but between her lightly tsundere attitude and his apparently dense understanding of how much she likes him they play off the relations hip well for smiles and laughs. | |
| Play It Cool, Guys (TV) | So-so |
| Please Teacher! (TV) | Very good |
| Please Teacher! (OAV) | Very good |
| Please Twins! (TV) | Good |
| Please Twins! (OAV) | Good |
| Polar Bear's Café (TV) | Very good |
| Best of 2013 #7 (honorable mention 2012): It's strange and cute at the same time. I miss having it on each week. | |
| Pom Poko (movie) | Good |
| Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea (movie) | Excellent |
| Popotan (TV) | Very good |
| Porco Rosso (movie) | Excellent |
| Poyopoyo (TV) | Very good |
| (The) Princess and the Pilot (movie) | Good |
| Princess Jellyfish (TV) | Very good |
| Good adult romance, extremely likable characters, fun but not frivolous. | |
| Princess Mononoke (movie) | Masterpiece |
| Princess Tutu (TV) | Excellent |
| Problem children are coming from another world, aren't they? (TV) | Good |
| Project A-ko (movie) | Good |
| PUCHIM@S (ONA) | Decent |
| Puella Magi Madoka Magica (TV) | Excellent |
| Best of 2011 #3 -Visually inventive, nice and unique dark take on Magical Girl shows, a “villain” not to be forgotten and unexpected twists aplenty. This is a show that will be talked about for years. | |
| Punch Line (TV) | Decent |
| Puni Puni Poemy (OAV) | Weak |
| R.O.D -The TV- | Excellent |
| RahXephon (TV) | Very good |
| RahXephon: Pluralitas Concentio (movie) | Good |
| Rail Wars! (TV) | Decent |
| Rainbow Fireflies (movie) | Very good |
| Effectively nostalgic and heartfelt. A couple grieving children linked by a common tragedy meet each other in a time displaced summer vacation 35 years in the past in a place that, like their loved ones, no longer exists and has to be said goodbye to. It works very well, if predictably. Some may not like the almost impressionistic think-lined art but I liked it. | |
| Rampo Kitan: Game of Laplace (TV) | Decent |
| Ranma ½ OAV | Very good |
| Ranma ½ (TV 1/1989) | Very good |
| Ranma ½: Big Trouble in Nekonron, China (movie) | Very good |
| Ranma ½: Nihao My Concubine (movie) | Good |
| Re-Kan! (TV) | Good |
| Read or Die (OAV) | Excellent |
| Reborn to Master the Blade: From Hero-King to Extraordinary Squire (TV) | Weak |
| Recently, my sister is unusual. (TV) | So-so |
| Record of Lodoss War (OAV) | Good |
| Recorder and Randsell (TV) | Not really good |
| First half comment: They keep repeating the same stupid poor running gag, and the rest isn't that great either. It's short though. sometimes it'll get a chuckle. Second half comment: Three minutes a pop, when Atushi wasn’t being arrested as a sexual predetor by the worst police department in the least aware neighborhood in the world, it produced some chuckles. But that one joke was more than half of the show and if an episode took just a minute more though- it’d be too much to take. | |
| Recorder and Randsell Mi (TV) | Decent |
| as they keep making more of these, and I keep watching them because they're so short, they've inched towards decency. And FINALLY they've stopped arresting the kid every other episode. | |
| Recorder and Randsell Re (TV) | So-so |
| Red Data Girl (TV) | Good |
| Redline (movie) | Very good |
| Reign: The Conqueror (TV) | Decent |
| (The) Reincarnation of the Strongest Exorcist In Another World (TV) | So-so |
| Revolutionary Girl Utena (TV) | Not really good |
| Revolutionary Girl Utena: The Movie | Not really good |
| Ro-Kyu-Bu! (TV) | Decent |
| Robotics;Notes (TV) | Very good |
| Ronja the Robber's Daughter (TV) | Very good |
| Best of 2015 #5 almost forgot this ended this year (ANN didn't rate it as a 2015 show because they categorize anime by the year they begin in). For a CG show, this look great, the character is super sweet and has just amount of spunk expected of a young Astrid Lindgren heroine. Nice to see that Ghibli can do good work without the movie budget. I hope they can do more. | |
| Rosario + Vampire (TV) | Decent |
| Rosario + Vampire Capu2 (TV) | Decent |
| Rumiko Takahashi Anthology (TV) | Very good |
| S-CRY-ed (TV) | Decent |
| S.A (TV) | Good |
| Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend (TV) | Good |
| Saki (TV) | Very good |
| Saki - The Nationals (TV) | Good |
| Saki Episode of Side A (TV) | Decent |
| The original Saki series is no masterpiece, but it was fun to root for and get to know the series heroes, this side story just doesn’t deliver near the levels of fun and excitement, you barely understand the talents/powers of the main cast and don’t really get the impression that they’re really tremendous players... they do well to present their opponents though, for some reason. | |
| Samurai 7 (TV) | Good |
| Samurai Champloo (TV) | Good |
| Samurai Deeper Kyo (TV) | Not really good |
| Samurai Harem (TV) | So-so |
| Sankarea: Undying Love (TV) | Very good |
| Best of 2012 - #10: It finishes with out a resolution but leaves you wanting more. The lead male is a nice twist on a normally bland lead, the cute girl living in his house trope is cut with a seriously dark twist and the family secrets of both the girl and a the boys apparently zombie related family problems offer a lot of intrigue. The scumbag father is a bit icky to consider and it really doesn’t seem like he gets what he deserves, but one can hope there’s more story to come. | |
| Sasameki Koto (TV) | Good |
| Sasami-san@Ganbaranai (TV) | Good |
| Say "I love you." (TV) | Good |
| I pair this with "My Little Monster'" which aired in the same season. They have similar set-ups, are similarly good and eerily have some of the same first episode flags. And though both take them into different directions they also have a problem freeing themselves from their sub-genre's conventions. This is an honest teen drama/rom-com with inserted sexuality that has problems with traditional rom-com sweetness. For instance, Yamato is seen as a bit of a playboy and is sexually experienced- but is also seen as a silly love-struck idiot teenager in a way that doesn't always make sense. The two shows also similarly end when they're both just getting started. If the show continues I may very well rate this higher- but at this point it is woefully incomplete and I'm limiting it to a "good" rating. | |
| School Rumble (TV) | Excellent |
| School Rumble Sangakki (OAV) | Decent |
| School Rumble: 2nd Semester (TV) | Excellent |
| School Rumble: Extra Class (OAV) | Excellent |
| Science Fell in Love, So I Tried to Prove It. r=1-sinθ (TV 2) | Good |
| Scrapped Princess (TV) | Very good |
| (The) Secret World of Arrietty (movie) | Excellent |
| Not the most exciting film even under the standards of Ghibli, it'll take a patient child to really enjoy it, but they are the masters of presenting a world of wonder like no others and of course it looks beautiful. | |
| Seitokai Yakuindomo (TV) | Very good |
| Best of 2010:#9: Simply, very funny. At times during its season this was the show I looked forward to the most just because I wanted a good belly laugh. It's usually very dirty-minded but in a more appropriately mature way than the other sometimes dirty minded show of the season, Mitsudomoe, not to say it's extremely sophisticated, it's more "mature" in the sense that it trades panty and pee jokes for dildo and masturbation jokes. And while the sex jokes often go a mile a minute it does not emphasize obnoxious fan service. There are a couple bath scenes but they are legitimately used as part of a joke instead of an excuse to show off cartoon boobies. PLus there are brilliant bits of comedy gold that have nothing to do with its perverted humor. | |
| Seitokai Yakuindomo (OAV) | Very good |
| Seitokai Yakuindomo* (TV) | Very good |
| Best of 2014: #3 Very perverted humor about a school council with a guy playing straight man to a bunch of wise-cracking perverted girls but somehow succeeds in making everyone very likable at at the same time. Somewhat ironically, it also avoids objectifying the perverted women of the story. There are tons of sex jokes but almost no actual "fan service" shots. | |
| Seiyu's Life! (TV) | Good |
| Sekirei (TV) | Decent |
| Sekirei: Pure Engagement (TV) | So-so |
| I don't think I'll bother with this if it gets a third or fourth season. The show's brand of ginormous breasted women fighting each other in duels to the "death"? may be a step above the others but that's not saying much. The villains are still populated with cliched cackling morons and the fights are still clothes shredding affairs that rely on silly special moves and powers. The characters do show some personal development but not enough for me to care about and it still comes down to the same 'ol story of girls who don't want to fight but have to in order to protect their friends! And please, Tsukiumi, you're 22 years old- not the usual high school dweeb harem lead, when are are your balls going to drop! Someday I hope his voice changes and he'll learn to enjoy beautiful women throwing themselves at him, but I'm not going to stick around to find out when. | |
| Serial Experiments Lain (TV) | Decent |
| Servant × Service (TV) | Very good |
| Best of 2013- #9: From the creator of Wagnaria (aka Working!) A rare sklice-of-life comedy about adults, it starts off a bit unsteadily but as soon as Lucy and Yutaka start spending more time together and the extended cast is introduced it becomes a hilarious show about the unique people who work at the most boring place in town. | |
| Seto no Hanayome (OAV) | Very good |
| (The) Severing Crime Edge (TV) | Decent |
| Shangri-La (TV) | Good |
| Shigofumi - Letters from the Departed (TV) | Good |
| Shikimori's Not Just a Cutie (TV) | Good |
| SHIMONETA: A Boring World Where the Concept of Dirty Jokes Doesn’t Exist (TV) | Good |
| Shinesman (OAV) | So-so |
| Shingu: Secret of the Stellar Wars (TV) | Good |
| Shirobako (TV) | Very good |
| Shomin Sample (TV) | Good |
| Shuffle! (TV) | Very good |
| Silent Möbius (TV) | Good |
| Silver Spoon (TV) | Excellent |
| Best of 2013- #1 There's a part in an early episode where I tear up just a little.... while they're making pizza. It's a simple scene but it's a good example how this show can get so much from simple things. Here we see a kid with an unhappy past, opening up to people, being shown appreciation and getting simple joy from camaraderie and a job well done. It's sort of the series in a nutshell, and such a message couldn't be told much better than it was in this series. | |
| Silver Spoon (TV 2) | Excellent |
| Best of 2014: #1 The first half of this "Future farmers of Japan" show was tops last year, this year's was just about as good. The Main character gets more involved in the equestrian club and starts to learn his personal limits as he tries to do too much and help too many people. | |
| Sin Strange Plus (TV) | So-so |
| Sket Dance (TV) | Very good |
| Best of 2012 - #8: It is mainly a crazy and wacky comedy with ridiculous set-ups, outrageous characters, and impossible situations. As a comedy it can be hit or miss, but mostly hitting. What makes it it better show is its occasional dramatic touches and gradual, and deeply effective, character development. Early in 2012 the core back story of the main character was revealed and it made for some addictive watching (despite the fact that plot was riddled with holes). | |
| Sketchbook ~full color'S~ (TV) | Good |
| I've watched this show twice now, with about 10 years in between showings. It is, no doubt, a very sweet and relaxing show with a laid-back humor but on second viewing I dropped it from "very good" to "good" for a couple reasons. Even though it's been about 10 years, I'd think that I'd remember something more about the show than "the girl is spacey and she likes cats"- but that was it- not much is extremely memorable. And while it's supposed to be "relaxed," it regularly presents itself as just "slow." | |
| (The) Slayers (TV) | Decent |
| Slow Step (OAV) | Good |
| Has a tighter focus than the manga, but it achieves that by jettisoning multiple very funny extended sequences. Nice characters, but lack of chemistry between the girl and any of the guys she is supposedly trying to decide between. | |
| Snow White with the Red Hair (TV) | Good |
| Best of 2015: #9 Not a great show but a nice little romance with a feminist fairy tale feel- although "snow white" is not really an apt comparison for the fairy tale story as shown. It also has a second half coming up that could help it out. (The is the first year I've had to include "good" anime in my top ten... and I have to do it three times. Well, I haven't watched a lot of the popular "best shows" because I didn't like the concepts or because they looked like shows that would work better as marathons) | |
| Softenni! (TV) | Very good |
| This one surprised me. The first episode was a little strange but it mostly seemed to be a very ordinary show. As it went on it proved itself otherwise. Very often the show goes into very strange and very funny territory. One of the favorite bits has to with the busty senior riding off nude on a giant salamander as an aproximation of the "lalala" Nausicaa theme plays. There's also the occasionally cross-dressing male member of the rival soft tennis team who is completely oblivious that his massages send the girls into sexual ecstasy. It doesn't quite reach the absurdity levels of Nichijo but there are occasional periods when it comes within spitting distance. And as you can tell from the gags I've mentioned, it does specialize in (but isn't exclusive to) ecchi humor, but I find it to be hilarious ecchi humor, often surrounding the main character's very perverted delusions. You may want to block out the fact that they're all supposed to be middle-schoolers though- they don't act like middle schoolers, they don't look like middle-schoolers. It does also play the girls-club card a bit but doesn't really go into moe territory often. | |
| Sola (TV) | Good |
| SoniAni: Super Sonico the Animation (TV) | Decent |
| (The) SoulTaker (TV) | Bad |
| Bad enough I have to make a special mention: Muddled in every sense. Characters, art, storyline. Simply a mess. It shows some promise in its ambition but simply doesn't work. Eventually though this writer director becomes one of the best, recently putting out the Excellent Puella Magi Madoka Magica. | |
| Sound of the Sky (TV) | Good |
| I did not have a problem with it's "moe" factor, in fact I think it served the theme of the show well. This may basically be a war-torn and post-apocalyptic world of lost technology, war orphans and plague but friendship and community can survive and in fact is more important than ever. I think the makers of this show thought of this and realized one of the best ways to tell this story today was to use the symbol of friendship and camaraderie of the day, the moe girl squad. | |
| Sound! Euphonium (TV) | Very good |
| Best of 2015: #4 Kyo-Ani are the masters of slice of life goodness and following cute girls doing "Brass band" is a unique take on the theme. It's got great teen drama, bits of romance (with the slightest taste of yuri feelings) and it,of course, looks great. | |
| Space Brothers (TV) | Excellent |
| Spaceship Agga Ruter (OAV) | Good |
| Upping the rating on this... Definitely not great... definitely needs a strange sense of humor. But on a rewatch where I was focused on the story, I realized it really is funny! It even has a deceptively interesting idea... but it's also hentai... and it's annoyingly incomplete (unless you know Japanese and can get an ero-game that finished the story) | |
| Sparrow's Hotel (TV) | Decent |
| Spelunker Sensei (OAV) | Good |
| Spice and Wolf (TV) | Very good |
| Spice and Wolf II (TV) | Very good |
| Spirited Away (movie) | Masterpiece |
| Top Ten All Time #1: It never fails to cheer me up, just such a wonderful story. The world he creates in this film is one that stuns me, the creatures, the varied personalties of the workers, the not so malevolent but certainly not benevolent motives of Yubaba- it all fascinates me. Then there are the separate sequences of the film, each fascinating, captivating and unique. Take any separate part of the film set in the realm of the spirits and you have to ask "what kind of person comes up with something like that?" and my answer is "a genius." The other Miyazaki films rate high with me as well but I'll limit it to the one, other wise half the list would be his stuff. | |
| Spy×Family (TV) | Very good |
| Squid Girl (TV) | Good |
| consistently and creatively funny | |
| Star Driver (TV) | Good |
| Quality action with fabulously stylish art. Some might have a problem with the "fight of the week" structure but when compared to others of that type I think they executed it very well, really integrated each fight with valuable character development and moved the story along. It could have maybe done with a half dozen more episodes or so more to really flesh out the end though. | |
| Steamboy (movie) | Very good |
| Steel Angel Kurumi (TV) | Decent |
| Steins;Gate (TV) | Good |
| I liked it well enough to rate it "good" but that first half really took too long to get going (I think it was episode seven before a planned d-mail was sent), IMO Okabe was really getting annoying, and until the second half all of the characterizations of the supporting cast was quite flat. So I can't second the very high rating. Yet I do recommend sticking with it, although the second half gets as overtly heavy as the first half was frivolous (admittedly with a couple light breaks) the story itself is quite good and makes up for some faults in story-telling. And yes, it has a very satisfying ending- a rare beast in anime. | |
| Stella Women's Academy, High School Division Class C3 (TV) | Good |
| Strange+ (TV) | So-so |
| Strawberry Marshmallow (TV) | Very good |
| Strawberry Marshmallow (OAV) | Very good |
| Strawberry Marshmallow Encore (OAV) | Very good |
| Strike Witches (TV) | Decent |
| Submarine 707R (OAV) | So-so |
| Summer Wars (movie) | Excellent |
| Super Dimensional Fortress Macross II: The Movie (OAV) | So-so |
| (The) Super Milk-chan Show (TV) | Decent |
| Survival Game Club! (TV) | Good |
| Suzuka (TV) | Good |
| Sweet Blue Flowers (TV) | Very good |
| Sword Art Online (TV) | Good |
| some is "very good" propulsive action that keeps you want to keep watching but if you stop to think about it it feels shallow. | |
| Sword of the Stranger (movie) | Very good |
| (The) Tale of the Princess Kaguya (movie) | Masterpiece |
| Tales from Earthsea (movie) | Good |
| Tamako Market (TV) | Good |
| Tamala 2010 (movie) | Masterpiece |
| Top Ten All Time #9: O.K. This movie is art-house anime. It is slow, especially in that part where the zombie cat/dog(?) is languidly explaining the history of Catty Co. but the tremendous arty wierdness so makes up for it. And if you can make it through the explanation it's a very interesting concept. A swearing, violent, sexual but still very sweet "Hello Kitty" character caught up in an thousands year Illuminati type conspiracy- is she a god, an avatar of an all encompassing corporate entity or just a kitten in her first heat enamored by the artsy, hip, metrosexual cat she meets when her spaceship crashes on the way to Orion. Plus the music is fantastic ambient trip-hop. | |
| Tamayura (OAV) | Good |
| Tamayura - Hitotose (TV) | Good |
| Basically Junichi Sato in auto-pilot mode. Very sweet, nicely "healing" but ultimately it flows past you like a warm breeze that will only leave the slightest pleasant impression. | |
| Tamayura - More Aggressive (TV) | Good |
| Tari Tari (TV) | Very good |
| I had actually dropped it after the unsensational first couple episodes but I kept track of reactions to it in its thread and came back to it and I'm glad I did. It doesn't blow a person away but the show ended up being a very solid, feel-good, coming of age, high school friendship series. | |
| (The) Tatami Galaxy (TV) | Good |
| An interesting show with an interesting structure. It's not as if the time loop repetition is unique but the variation helped it from getting too stale. It was also often very funny. Still, the fact that you knew what he had to do after the first episode made it a bit of a chore to get through-- spoiler[Just give her the stupid stuffed figure!]. That and the lightning fast sub pace had me dropping the show down from a VG rating- objectively that shouldn't make a difference- it was made for a Japanese audience that wouldn't have a problem with it, but subjectively it bugged me. | |
| Team Ranma vs. The Legendary Phoenix (movie) | Good |
| Ten Tokyo Warriors (OAV) | Weak |
| Tenchi Forever!: The Movie | Very good |
| Tenchi in Tokyo (TV) | Decent |
| Tenchi Muyo! (OAV 1/1992) | Masterpiece |
| Top Ten All Time #4: (Comments for the entire OVA series and franchise in general) What can I say, I like harem anime and this is my template for them and has never been outshone. Funny and romantic with decent intrigue in its action moments. It was also my real gateway anime, previously I had watched the occasional anime as a diversion, Tenchi was what got me to actively search more out. | |
| Tenchi Muyo! GXP (TV) | Excellent |
| Tenchi Muyo! Mihoshi Special | Very good |
| Tenchi Muyo! Ryo Ohki (OAV 3/2003) | Excellent |
| Tenchi Muyo! Ryo Ohki (OAV 4/2016) | Good |
| Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki (OAV 2/1994) | Masterpiece |
| Tenchi Muyo! The Night Before The Carnival (OAV) | Masterpiece |
| Tenchi Muyo! War on Geminar (OAV) | Masterpiece |
| Best of 2010:#1 - This series is part of the Tenchi Muyo franchise that really got me into anime and it shares so much of the franchise's hallmarks of harem hijinks mixed in with quality action. But the action tends to me more intense, the harem more incidental than intrinsic to the show and the parallel world created for this series is detailed and great. Absolute shame this show isn't getting more attention. | |
| Tenchi the Movie - Tenchi Muyo in Love | Very good |
| Tenchi The Movie 2 - The Daughter of Darkness | Very good |
| Tenchi Universe (TV) | Excellent |
| Tenjho Tenge (TV) | So-so |
| That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime (TV 3) | Good |
| Thermae Romae (TV) | Decent |
| If it were longer it would be a complete failure, but it had its charms. | |
| This Ugly Yet Beautiful World (TV) | Good |
| Tiger & Bunny (TV) | Good |
| It does its Japanese take on Western styled superheroes very well, borrowing villain types and grandiose and bombastic superheroics to the hilt while bringing in the best of cute anime girls and utopian/dystopian ideals as well. The high amount of adult characters is a refreshing change to most anime hero types too. The only problem I have is how very sick I’ve gotten of western styled comic book action. | |
| Time of Eve (ONA) | Very good |
| To Love Ru: Darkness (TV) | Good |
| To Love-Ru (TV) | Decent |
| Tokko (TV) | Not really good |
| I just noticed this was in my "Seen Some" section, but I learned some time ago that I had in fact completed the series, it's just that it ends so badly that I was sure there was something I had missed. Nope, it ends in a cliff-hanger that never resolves because no one bothered to continue the show. | |
| Tokyo Godfathers (movie) | Masterpiece |
| Tomo-chan Is a Girl! (TV) | Good |
| Tonari no Seki-kun: The Master of Killing Time (TV) | Very good |
| Best of 2014: #8 This was just a gag joke comedy and while each episode ran only around 5 minutes, they're all great. Simply about a boy who sits at the back of the class and comes up with exceedingly elaborate activities to amuse himself with instead of paying attention to class, and the girl who sits next to him and gets distracted by his actions every day. | |
| Tono to Issho (OAV) | Very good |
| If you watch (or tried to watch) this on Crunchyroll in it's weekly gag format you're probably surprised at this rating, I suggest watching it as the complete OVA, when the jokes are constant it is SOOO much better, when a joke misfires you just have a second to adjust before the next one hits and compiled together it is very funny- therefore the very good rating. NOTE- after writing this I realized that not all of the segments from the 2 minute TV gag version were stolen directly from the OAV and the TV original bits are funny- still, this long form is best. | |
| Tono to Issho: Gantai no Yabō (TV) | Very good |
| Toradora! (TV) | Excellent |
| Top Ten All Time #10: Akira should probably be here (it's technically rated higher), but I wanted to highlight a romance series in this list. I really like romantic comedy series but I haven't quite found one I'd qualify as a "masterpiece" yet. So, it was Toradora or Clannad. I get annoyed with the weepy part of After Story, so it's Toradora that gets the special mention. Taiga is one of my anime crushes, she's a vulnerable ass-kicker, it's a dichotomy I really like. She puts forward the hard exterior but when she melts you really feel for her character. Ryuji is not just your typical bland romantic lead, he's a bit strange, has vulnerabilities of his own and you can see why, when friends discover his manner isn't even close to his harsh visage, that they really rally around him. The themes of running away and returning to tough things out and accepting people faults and all really work for me. And personally I find the ending, that some feel is rushed, to really work, certainly better than drawing it out. | |
| Touch (TV) | Very good |
| Touch: Are kara, Kimi wa... - Miss Lonely Yesterday - (special) | Very good |
| Touch: Cross Road - Kaze no Yukue (special) | Very good |
| Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs (TV) | Good |
| Trigun (TV) | Very good |
| (The) Troubled Life of Miss Kotoura (TV) | Very good |
| Best of 2013- #5: Widely seen as the most surprisingly good show of the year. When you initially read about it you figure it will be just another high-school comedy with mind-reading jokes. No one expected it to take the scenario seriously. The first half of the first episode was actually downright depressing, maybe too intense actually, but it evened out soon after. The art was cutesy and some of the school stuff isn't too far removed from a typical school romantic comedy anime, but the fact that they didn't downplay the drama made this a special show. | |
| Tsukimonogatari (TV) | Very good |
| Best of 2014: #5 (Sharing spot with Hanamonogatari) Latest of the Bakemonogatari series. No great stakes to this one but a fine addition to story that previews things to come. | |
| tsuritama (TV) | Very good |
| Best of 2012 - #9: group of talented young boys have to bond together, use their unique skills and maybe they can save the world from an alien attack, all the while dealing with their family problems! Sounds so very standard for anime, right? Well, throw in fly fishing, panic attacks, traditional dancing, mind controlling water pistols, much more and expressive art and you have something very unique. If there’s any problem with the approach it might try a little too hard too push the normalcy barrier. | |
| Twin Spica (TV) | Very good |
| Typhoon Noruda (movie) | Good |
| Ultimate Otaku Teacher (TV) | So-so |
| Umi Monogatari (TV) | Not really good |
| Un-Go (TV) | Good |
| Plenty of neat things going on, I greatly appreciated the ambition but maybe they ended up overly ambitious? Too much was left mysterious, too much was maybe based on one's knowledge of a intellectual post-war mystery stories by an author western audiences aren't familiar with, and that movie episode (ep.7?) remains one of the least enjoyable episodes of the year, extra annoying as it's pretty important to the plot. | |
| Unbreakable Machine-Doll (TV) | Decent |
| Urotsukidoji: Legend of the Overfiend (movie) | Decent |
| Utawarerumono (TV) | Good |
| Vampire Hunter D (OAV) | Good |
| Vandread (TV) | Decent |
| Vandread: The Second Stage (TV) | Decent |
| Venus to Mamoru (TV) | So-so |
| (The) Vision of Escaflowne (TV) | Good |
| Voices of a Distant Star (OAV) | Very good |
| Wagnaria!! (TV) | Excellent |
| Best of 2010:#7: cute and funny. I really like the character of Takanashi as a unique leading man. He's blunt, self deluded but basically a nice guy and Inami turned into one of the most adorable characters ever- with a great hook (and jab, and uppercut). Had one of my favorite opening themes as well. | |
| Wagnaria!!2 (TV) | Excellent |
| Best of 2011 #4 -This is just purely good comedy. Nothing gets resolved but I'm fine with that. It's basically a sitcom and coupling up your characters can ruin a sitcom, while the real fun can be had in the process. Yet they added more fun characters, made Inami even more adorable and solidified some characters more. I considered rating this Excellent because it definitely proved to be the best time I had all season, but looking at my full list it doesn't quite reach the levels of others I put there. | |
| Wagnaria!!3 (TV) | Excellent |
| Best of 2015: #1 retroactively rating all previous seasons as "excellent" now that the finale special has done what so many comedy shows of this kind never do: Provided a perfect resolution. Everyone gets a fitting happy ending, the important couples are paired off, and as a viewer I was left very happy. Not to mention that the comedy never goes stale in this series. Funny from beginning to end. | |
| Waiting in the Summer (TV) | Good |
| I like what was tried here, take a taboo-teasing fan-service sci-fi comedy with multiple things going on, Please Teacher, and pare it down to its emotional and romantic core. It was more natural and easier to relate to, but there was defin itely a little something missing. Still nice though, and I guess those without the previous of PT didn't see much problem with it. | |
| Wakaba Girl (TV) | Decent |
| Wakako-zake (TV) | Decent |
| Walkure Romanze (TV) | Decent |
| Wandering Son (TV) | Good |
| This has been getting some good reactions but the common criticism of the show is one that keeps me rating it higher. Usually I completely admire maturity in anime, but these barely out of elementary school kids were so mature it caused me to constantly step out of the story. Although I have to admit, by using younger characters I think it made it easier to focus on gender identity rather than sexual identity. | |
| Wasteful Days of High School Girl (TV) | Very good |
| WATAMOTE (TV) | Good |
| (The) Weathering Continent (movie) | So-so |
| Welcome to Irabu's Office (TV) | Very good |
| Welcome to the NHK (TV) | Good |
| When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace (TV) | Good |
| When Will Ayumu Make His Move? (TV) | Decent |
| rated episode 10 | |
| Whisper of the Heart (movie) | Masterpiece |
| Windy Tales (TV) | Good |
| Witch Craft Works (TV) | Good |
| what drives this is that the character's relations is a stereotypical Yuri relationship, a strong sorta manly girl protecting a weaker but pure and good girl... except the pure girl is a boy. | |
| Witch Hunter Robin (TV) | Good |
| Wizard Barristers: Benmashi Cecil (TV) | Decent |
| Most of this show (obviously meant to spearhead a series of shows) is "good" and showed a lot of promise. Unfortunately the story didn't end well and the art at the end was quite bad, especially the second to last climatic episode which was not only bad, but embarrassingly incompetent. Hopefully the DVD/BD releases were completely redone. | |
| Wolf Girl & Black Prince (TV) | Decent |
| yeah, just decent, but the Black Prince is not a guy and the much maligned girl largely fills the role of an emotionally abused person making excuses for her boyfriend "who may do bad things, but I'm sure he loves me." | |
| Wolf's Rain (TV) | Good |
| Wolf's Rain (OAV) | Good |
| Wolverine (TV) | Weak |
| I started out liking it, there seemed to be a plot with intrigue and interesting relationships, but the plot was ditched and it simply got boring. Every episode is a meaningless action set-piece, usually made up of identical patterns and it just gets even worse with the second half basically being a tedious "storming the castle," story. In the end it culminates an absolutely horrid final episode in which he's stymied by two complete wussy badguys and all of the sparse logic the show had left is thrown out the window. And the whole point of the show -saving the girl- is disposed of like a fly with a swatter, the entire resolution of that taking about a single minute. It's obvious the show had no use for anything that didn't make generous use of impalings. I’m glad I’ve never read the classic Claremont/Miller story that this was (obviously very loosely) based on and dragged out to obscene proportions- I’m merely left very disappointed, not apoplectic with rage, the reaction I assume actual fanboys will have. | |
| Wooser's Hand-to-Mouth Life (TV) | Decent |
| Wooser's Hand-to-Mouth Life: Awakening Arc (TV) | So-so |
| Wooser's Hand-to-Mouth Life: Phantasmagoric Arc (TV 3) | So-so |
| (The) World God Only Knows (TV) | Decent |
| Good concept but I wish it were done differently. Some moments of heart but I didn't love the characters that much and the otaku humor often fell flat with me. | |
| (The) World God Only Knows Season Two (TV) | Good |
| (The) World God Only Knows: Goddesses Arc (TV) | Good |
| X (movie) | So-so |
| Xam'd: Lost Memories (ONA) | Good |
| (The) Yakuza's Guide to Babysitting (TV) | Decent |
| Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches (TV) | Good |
| Best of 2015: #8 Not a great show but it shows a lot of promise as a show likely to have a sequel and improve even more. (The is the first year I've had to include "good" anime in my top ten... and I have to do it three times. Well, I haven't watched a lot of the popular "best shows" because I didn't like the concepts or because they looked like shows that would work better as marathons) | |
| Yamishibai: Japanese Ghost Stories (TV) | Decent |
| Yamishibai: Japanese Ghost Stories (TV 2/2014) | So-so |
| Yondemasu yo, Azazel-san (OAV) | Very good |
| Yosuga no Sora - In solitude where we are least alone (TV) | Decent |
| Even though the storytelling was executed well and in unique ways, in the end none of them actually touched me, I come to the conclusion that these people needed friends more than someone to skrew. | |
| You and Me. (TV) | Good |
| A good slice of life, nice to see the male half of the "cute students doing cute things" but you have to admit the first four boys were rather boring, and while the fifth added some energy he was also sometimes very irritating. They did "unspoken feeling" rather well though. | |
| You and Me. Season 2 (TV) | So-so |
| I really don’t know how I survived until the end of the series. One kid who needed some Ritalin and the others apparently all dosed with prozac. Chizuru was usually plain irritating and theres just so much detached emotions I can take from the rest of them. I think the only way I’d be convinced to watch a third season if it was shown would be if it is announced that Shun will be coming out of the closet. And that’s not homophobic, it’s freaking supportive of a character that seems to have no interest in the least in girls- it is seriously a development I’d support in the show. | |
| You're Being Summoned, Azazel (TV) | Very good |
| Best of 2011 #5 - This one isn't sweet, it isn't beautiful, it isn't wistful or thoughtful in any way. It is ugly, obscene, profane, blunt and very often it is absolutely hilarious. A college girl takes a part-time job at a detective agency and ends up working for a master of the Occult who contracts the worst demons imaginable.... and traps them in cute little plushie-type forms of themselves. It's kind of like a parody version of John Constantine: Hellblazer. | |
| You're Being Summoned, Azazel Z (TV) | Very good |
| Your Lie in April (TV) | Very good |
| Best of 2014: #7 Teen romantic dramaady about a piano prodigy who has suffered a personal trauma and the violinist who is trying to get him to play again a couple years after he has given it up. A little cloying but told very well. | |
| Yowamushi Pedal (TV) | Decent |
| Started really strongly as the MC joyfully learned how to ride well and gained camaraderie with his teammates and respect his competitors... then it turned into weakly battles with Naruto villians... on bikes. Couldn't get more than a couple episodes of the sequel series. | |
| Yumeiro Pâtissière (TV) | Good |
| If Crunchyroll had suddenly lost the rights to stream this show- I probably wouldn't have cared too much, not sure I'd even put any effort in finding alternate ways to watch the rest of the season. But it grows on you, the show is as sweet and diverting as its subject matter and it's hard to hate. | |
| Yumeiro Pâtissière SP Professional (TV) | Good |
| I didn't really love that a large part of this season seemed to be more like a business school lesson than fun with baking (especially since the final drama was rather stupid) but ultimately it delivered the sweetness and fluff it promised, like the first season. On to "Full Metal Pattesiere: The Fairyhood" to retell the manga faithful story. | |
| Yumeria (TV) | Decent |
| Yuruyuri - Happy Go Lily (TV) | Good |
| It is often funny to very funny, it is also occasionally very tiresome. | |
| Yuruyuri - Happy Go Lily (TV2) | Good |
| Yuruyuri Nachu Yachumi! (OAV) | Good |
| Yuruyuri Nachu Yachumi!+ (TV) | Good |
| Yuruyuri San Hai! (TV 3) | Good |
| Yuyushiki (TV) | Good |
| Zakuro (TV) | Good |
| I considered rating this very good based greatly on its supreme visuals but I thought about it and realized that if it wasn't for the visuals, if it looked unimaginative like Fortune Arterial or a show of that caliber it might not even get to this level. But the art is wonderful and really emphasizes what they were going for. An d not to say it isn't a good story, it is. | |