Top 25 Anime of the 2000s: #25-21
#25: Kurokami
Two words: simulcasted dub. Bandai Entertainment shocked the anime community in 2009 by announcing that they'd be airing an English dub of the series on American TV the same day it aired in Japan. Not sub, DUB. To get an official English dub in that little time was unheard. Of course it didn't help that it aired on a Channel virtually no one in the United States gets. & they could have picked a better series too. Kurokami has proven to be a huge failure in Japan, & more recently the series has caused a huge controversy in the US that hearkens back to anime in the 1990s by announcing that the Blu-ray release would be dub-only. It'd be interesting to see what would have happened with this experiment if they had chosen a series that didn't ooze of fail, but it was still a pretty cool move to do nonetheless.
#24: Akira
Arguably the greatest anime of all time got new life in the final year of the first decade of the 21st century. The legendary classic is now available in HD, ever since it was released on Blu-ray in both Japan & America earlier this year. It may be a 20 year old movie, but it now looks better than ever. This is the one title every serious anime fan needs to have on their shelf. This is the title you show to your friends how freaking awesome anime really is. & if all that isn't enough, Leonardo DiCaprio has been trying to adapt it into a live-action Hollywood film, which might be something to look forward to next decade if it comes to fruition.
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#23: AIR
The love for moe anime certainly existed before AIR, but it did help escalate the moe boom greatly. Airing in 2005, AIR was the first Key/Kyoto Animation joint title. Key was a eroge/dating sim game making company that were quickly growing in popularity with Kanon & AIR, & Kyoto Animation was just beginning to boom as well. Mind you that KyoAni made AIR before working on Haruhi Suzumiya, & it wasn't until they released Haruhi that KyoAni truly became a household name among anime fans. But now they're famous for two main things- Haruhi & their Key adaptations. AIR turned out to be such a rousing success for KyoAni that they decided to do another adaptation of Kanon, which previously had a horrible anime adaptation earlier this decade. & most recently, they made two seasons of Key's third huge title, Clannad. But if it wasn't for AIR, the anime community would be severely lacking in sad moe girls in summer/snow/school/whatever. & while moe has become so mainstream that most of what gets released now is garbage, all the Key/KyoAni titles remain strong, powerful, & touching series that should not be snubbed just because they're moe.
#22: Neon Genesis Evangelion
Evangelion is another title that comes to us from the previous decade, but it sure left its mark on this one as well. For one, this infamous title finally aired on US television for the first time in 2005. Like Akira, this is one title every anime fan needs to see at least once. Akira may be the definitive anime movie, but Evangelion is the definitive anime series. & it was great having it on mainstream American TV. Then the following year, it was announced that EVA would be reborn in a series of four brand new movies. While all four were originally scheduled to show by the end of the decade, we only wound up getting two. The first one stayed pretty faithful to the beginning of the television series, only it look a lot prettier. & even though most of the world has yet to see the second film, is that one that truly breathed new life into the franchise & changed the game. Evangelion has never been as good as it is right now. The next two films can't come fast enough.
#21: Isshoni Training
The premise is simple yet brilliant- make an exercise video targeted at otaku that stars a young, busty anime girl. The result was 2009's "Isshoni Training: Training with Hinako," & it is startling hypnotic. This became extremely apparent when it became the #1 selling DVD on all of Amazon Japan & sold out all over Akihabara. The astounding success of this simple title isn't the only thing that makes it deserving of being in this list. No, what really gets it here is that the entire project planned, written, & funded by one man. When he first went around pitching the idea, no company would bite. So he decided to do the whole thing himself, & did it ever pay off. Lovely art & limited animation made this guy serious dough. More than anything though, it shows the anime world that if a fan is passionate enough about his project, you can make yout dream come true & release your very own anime series. A role model for fanfic writers everywhere.
To be continued!
[ Prologue]