(refrainX2) There is a fire that will burn through the streets of the city
Have you ever really thought about technology? We move our vehicles by exploding the liquefied remains of dragons from millions of years ago. And we've used this power to go to the moon and back, which was so complex we had to make artificial brains that ran bottled lighting through crystals (silicon is a crystal) to do the calculations. Sometimes it's good to just sit back and appreciate what you have.
So, just for posterity's sake and for those lucky few who peruse my journal, I'm going to list the best anime I've seen (and I assure you I've seen at least part of a great many series).
Top Tier: Baccano!, Dokuro-chan, Gurren Lagann, Perfect Blue, Revolutionary Girl Utena (TV) -
All are different genres and for different moods so it's hard to pick a best, though if I had to it would probably be Utena.
Tier Two: Neon Genesis Evangelion, Slayers (the first three seasons), Cowboy Bebop, Martian Successor Nadesico, Busou Renkin (Papillion Mask is really what puts it here), the El Hazard OVA (again, mostly because of Jinnai) -
Picking the second tier is actually harder, as the first tier is all things that are absolutely the best in their genres whereas it's more difficult to distinguish between really good and great but not the best. The easiest way to tell is how many times I want to watch it (or the highlights of it) over again. Azumanga Daioh almost made the list and if they ever animate Yotsuba&, I'm certain it will, unless they screw up immensely. Princess Tutu, Mai Hime, and Black Lagoon were other runners up. Excel Saga is great but requires a lot of background knowledge of other anime to appreciate. For that matter if the first few episodes weren't so slow starting, I'd put Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha up here as how to do an extremely good traditional magical girl show (as opposed to Princess Tutu, Jubei-Chan: Secret of the Lovely Eyepatch, and Mai Hime which are great nontraditional magical girl shows).
So, just for posterity's sake and for those lucky few who peruse my journal, I'm going to list the best anime I've seen (and I assure you I've seen at least part of a great many series).
Top Tier: Baccano!, Dokuro-chan, Gurren Lagann, Perfect Blue, Revolutionary Girl Utena (TV) -
All are different genres and for different moods so it's hard to pick a best, though if I had to it would probably be Utena.
Tier Two: Neon Genesis Evangelion, Slayers (the first three seasons), Cowboy Bebop, Martian Successor Nadesico, Busou Renkin (Papillion Mask is really what puts it here), the El Hazard OVA (again, mostly because of Jinnai) -
Picking the second tier is actually harder, as the first tier is all things that are absolutely the best in their genres whereas it's more difficult to distinguish between really good and great but not the best. The easiest way to tell is how many times I want to watch it (or the highlights of it) over again. Azumanga Daioh almost made the list and if they ever animate Yotsuba&, I'm certain it will, unless they screw up immensely. Princess Tutu, Mai Hime, and Black Lagoon were other runners up. Excel Saga is great but requires a lot of background knowledge of other anime to appreciate. For that matter if the first few episodes weren't so slow starting, I'd put Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha up here as how to do an extremely good traditional magical girl show (as opposed to Princess Tutu, Jubei-Chan: Secret of the Lovely Eyepatch, and Mai Hime which are great nontraditional magical girl shows).