Anyway, I was in the shower this morning, frantically trying to decide which of the many half baked ideas in my head I should develop for today's post, and I realized something: we are in the last year of the 2010s. I mean, yeah, that's an obvious thing to say, but it presents an opportunity: A chance to talk about the best anime of the decade. Now, obviously, that sort of post is not possible yet, since three quarters of the anime from this year haven't been released yet, but it gave me an idea. Why not look back at a few previous decades and talk about my favorite anime from each?
Now, when it comes to anime from previous decades, I've only really seen enough of anime from the 1990s and the 2000s to really feel comfortable building a top five list, let alone a top ten list. And while I don't feel strongly enough about ten 90s anime to really build a top ten list, I definitely have my favorites, and as the decade where I first entered both the world and the world of anime, I at least want to give it its due.
You all should know my rules by now. Only tv anime are going to be considered, as I don't consider pitting them against films to be a fair comparison, which means that incredibly important and truly great films like Ghost in the Shell and Princess Mononoke are ineligible (though you should watch both of them as soon as possible if you haven't yet). Also, only anime that I have seen will be eligible, as I cannot judge an anime by reputation alone. Sadly, this means that some very popular 90s anime that I really want to watch but haven't had the chance to yet will not make the cut, such as, off the top of my head, Great Teacher Onizuka, Sailor Moon, Revolutionary Girl Utena, Digimon, Gundam Wing, Outlaw Star, Hunter x Hunter 1999, or Serial Experiments Lain. Finally, this list will be based on my favorite anime from the era, not necessarily the most popular or even the best written or produced series. That's how all of my top lists work, and it's the only way I can honestly write anything on the blog.
And of course, it wouldn't be a top list from me without a bunch of honorable mentions that I like, but don't love enough to include in the main list:
- Samurai Pizza Cats
- Neon Genesis Evangelion
- Slam Dunk
- Rurouni Kenshin
- Detective Conan
- Cardcaptor Sakura
- Cowboy Bebop
- Yu-Gi-Oh! Season 0
But enough stalling! Let's get on with it!
Number Five: Pokemon
I've briefly discussed the original Pokemon anime before when I ranked the different generations of the Pokemon anime against each other, where I found it middling, to say the least. But when compared to other 90s anime I've watched, OLM's adventure series stands out in my memory as something truly special.
In case you are somehow unaware of what Pokemon is (in which case you are either an infant or an alien), Pokemon is an adventure-comedy kids series that focus on the adventures of Ash Ketchum and the collectible monsters he trains for battle, as he travels the land with his friends in his quest to be the best competitive Pokemon trainer, and occasionally save the world in the process.
I will freely admit that I am heavily biased towards Pokemon. It is the first anime I have ever watched, after all. I will swear to my dying days that Ash is an underappreciated character, a perfect personification of a bratty kid who genuinely grows and matures over the course of his journey through Kanto. Granted, his character development gets reset on every new adventure he goes on afterward until Pokemon XY, but that still doesn't take away from how good his first journey is. And even at its worst, Pokemon is still fun to watch, with a great deal of character given to both the human characters and the little monsters who can't even speak. Is it perfect? Not even close. But I can't help but love it.
Number Four: The Vision of Escaflowne
Oh, look, it's the best isekai anime ever made. That's cool. The Vision of Escaflowne is a shojo fantasy adventure/mecha anime from Studio Sunrise. It tells the story of Hitomi Kanzaki, an ordinary student with an interest in fortune telling, who is accidentally transported to the world of Gaia, where Earth is considered a moon...somehow. And she really chose a poor time to visit, since she is sent to the kingdom of Fanelia right when it is being invaded by the evil Zaibach Empire. Forced to run for her life alongside Prince Van Fanel, Hitomi embarks on a journey to gather allies to fight back against Zaibach and get caught up in a love triangle along the way.
Escaflowne is the kind of anime that has something for everyone. If you like imaginative fantasy worlds, then this is the show for you. If you like exciting mech combat, then this is the show for you. If you like surprisingly well written teen romantic drama, then this is the show for you. If you like well-written female characters in an action setting, then this is the show for you. If you like good 90s animation, then this is the show for you. If you like cute cat girls, then, well, you should just go on the internet, but you should watch this show anyway.
All hyperbole aside, I have no real complaints about Escaflowne outside of the bad dub, which is par for the course at the time. I first watched this show in 2009, when I was first exploring the wonderful world of YouTube, and I loved every second of it. Any show that can combine the myth of Atlantis, mecha that resemble medieval knights, and Sir Isaac Newton in its plot is an instant classic in my book.
Number Three: Berserk
Can you believe that this is from the same studio that made Pokemon? Me neither. Berserk is a seinen fantasy action series from Studio OLM that tells the story of Guts, the Black Swordsman. Guts is an orphan whose mother died in childbirth and who was forced to kill his father in self-defense before taking up the life of a mercenary simply because he had nothing better to do. After being recruited by Griffith, leader of the up and coming mercenary Band of the Hawk, Guts is caught up in the Kingdom of Midland's war against the Chuder Empire, and soon learns that human soldiers aren't the only enemies he has to worry about.
I have yet to see an anime as hardcore as Berserk. When someone asked me to describe it to them a few years ago, I jokingly told them that it was 25 episodes of blood, gore, and breasts. And while that isn't entirely inaccurate, that description vastly undersells what makes Berserk so special. I don't think that there is any anime protagonist who is better written than Guts, and although most of what makes Guts a great character is only explored in the original manga (which is still going strong after several hiatuses, this anime's cancellation, and the horrendous attempt to revive the anime in 2016), there still is a great deal of growth in just the one story arc that ends up being covered here. Seeing an antisocial and violent brute who struggles with childhood trauma and social anxiety get swept up in the ambitious crusade of the enigmatic and charismatic Griffith find a home and a family in his unit, only to panic upon realizing that the group has no reason to stay together after the war ends and leaves the group before they can abandon him is already a powerfully tragic character arc on its own, but when combined with Griffith and Casca's arcs and how they all affect each other, it becomes something profound. Griffith's story feels like a Shakespearean tragedy, where a young man's pride and ambition are both the source of his success and the cause of his downfall, and Casca, while underdeveloped compared to the two male leads, is an incredibly badass character who is still a top-tier waifu compared to all this modern trash.
Honestly, the only reason that this show doesn't rank any higher is that the visual quality is not very good, even by the standards of the time. Animation is recycled in battle scenes, and there are so many still frames that even Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka would think it's excessive. But unlike Asuka, the story, dialogue, voice acting, and character design are all so well done that it gets away with it. And if it didn't get cancelled on one of the biggest cliffhangers I have ever seen, it might have gone on to become number one.
Number Two: Yu Yu Hakusho
Yu Yu Hakusho is a supernatural shounen action series from Studio Pierrot. It tells the story of Yusuke Urameshi, a 14 year old street punk who surprises everyone by pushing a child out of the way of a speeding car, resulting in him dying before the bureaucracy in the afterlife is ready. As such, Yusuke is given a second chance at life, if he can prove that he is more than the violent thug that everyone thinks he is.
I love this freaking show so GOD DAMN MUCH! I mean, I don't even know where to begin. I mean, the first episode of this show alone is better than the entirety of most other anime series! I have watched it like 17 times, and Yusuke's funeral makes me cry every single time. As someone who has felt as alone and unloved as Yusuke has in the past, to the point of contemplating suicide, seeing him so honestly surprised to see that there are even five people who are upset that he is dead gets to me in a way that no other work of fiction has. Any time I feel that the world would be better off without me (which has been worryingly common in the past, though I am getting better), I would play this episode and imagine myself as Yusuke. Even though I didn't believe it entirely at the time, it was strong enough to convince me that I would be hurting people I loved if I actually followed through with killing myself, and I would live another day. And then I would survive, at least for a little while longer. It is not an exaggeration to say that I owe Yu Yu Hakusho my life.
But of course, Yu Yu Hakusho is more than just one episode. It's 112 episodes. And every one of them are incredible. The incredibly memorable cast of characters, the breakneck pace, the awesome fight scenes, the experimental animation styles (some of which the brainchild of Akiyuki Shinbo, the animator who would go on to create Puella Magi Madoka Magica)...everything about this show is wonderful, and I plan on talking about it in greater detail in a later post, once I can get my thoughts together in a coherent and organized manner.
Number One: One Piece
Is this cheating? I mean, the series debuted in 1999, which means that even if it's technically a 90s anime, the vast majority of its episodes aired after the decade we are discussing. I mean, according to Wikipedia, only 8 episodes actually aired in the 1990s! And while I definitely really like the first 8 episodes of One Piece, they really are only slightly above average at best in the grand scheme of shounen anime. I just can't help myself from proclaiming how much I love this anime at any given opportunity.
Anyway, as I'm sure you know, One Piece is a shounen action-comedy series by Toei Animation that tells the story of Monkey D Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates as they travel the Grand Line in search of the lost treasure of the Pirate King. I love everything about this show, to the point where I wrote an entire blog post on just the setting alone and how much it adds to the story. While I will fully admit the anime is cheap and drawn out compared to the masterpiece that is the manga, I would argue that the series use of music and control of the pacing has elevated some of the best scenes from the manga. It gets to the point where I cannot stand certain story arcs in manga form, even though the manga's pacing and narrative is actually stronger. Crocodile's defeat wouldn't be the same without the inspired decision to use Antonin Dvorak's "From the New World", the way time slows down to show Luffy's Jet Gattling hitting Rob Lucci a dozen times within a single second only to speed back up is something that cannot be conveyed without animation, and few things get me more hyped than seeing the way the colors just cut out when Luffy defies all of society by punching the World Noble Saint Charloss right in his stupid face for the unforgivable crime of hurting one of his friends.
It gives me chills every time.
And the characters! Every member of the Straw Hat Pirates is so cool and interesting that they could each headline their own anime easily, and when they are all on screen together it just puts a big dumb smile on my face. And the sheer number of relevant characters in different factions who constantly shift alliances and effect change in the world and in turn respond to the changes that other characters are making? It's amazing. The sheer amount of work and planning that has gone into making this world feel alive and bigger than its main characters is something that I have only seen matched in George R.R. Martin's incredible and equally unfinished fantasy epic A Song of Ice and Fire. And unlike Martin, I have confidence that the amazing Eiichiro Oda will actually finish telling his story.
I can literally go on for hours about why I love One Piece, but I really need to cut myself off somewhere. I'm just going to conclude with this: If Yu Yu Hakusho is the anime that saved my life by convincing me that suicide would do more harm to those around me than good, then One Piece is the anime that showed me why life is worth living. It may be cheesy as hell with its themes of friendship, adventure, and chasing your dreams, but the fact that it doesn't hesitate to shy away from the fact that life is hard and tragedy is unavoidable and argues that life is still worth living to its fullest gets to me every time. I wouldn't have the courage to get out of bed every morning without the inspiration that seeing the Straw Hats put everything on the line for their dreams and ideals has given me. If Brook can survive 50 years of isolation on the desolate sea with only the memory of a promise he made to see Laboon again, then maybe I can handle a little loneliness from time to time. If Franky can turn his life around after inadvertently causing the death of his mentor and become a positive influence on his community, then maybe I can offer help to someone who needs it. If Nico Robin can survive for 20 years in a world that literally wants her dead before finding her place, maybe I'll find a place where I feel I can truly belong one day as well. If Tony Tony Chopper can find a family that loves him for all the things about himself he hates, then maybe I can recognize that my amazing family feels the same way about me. If Nami can walk through hell as a child and come out the other side smiling, then maybe I can to. If Sanji can survive being on the brink of starvation as a young boy, then maybe I can overcome whatever illness comes my way. If Usopp can find courage and be there for his friends when all seems lost, maybe I can find the strength to do the right thing. If Zoro can push past his limits and cut through steel, then maybe I can do things that nobody would expect of me. And Luffy...if any part of Luffy's amazing personality has rubbed off on me at all, then I would be a better person than I was before discovering One Piece.
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| I love these idiots so much I start to tear up a little sometimes. |
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