The anime are listed in chronological viewing order.
1. Dragon Ball
Credit: READ: First.Anime.Ever.Watched.
Ah..the good old days.. Dragon Ball is the first anime I ever watched, if I can remember it right. Every weekend, I will turn on the tv to watch badly dubbed Dragon Ball, and then talk about it at school the next day. Every week I hear my friends say “did you watch Dragon Ball last weekend?” and “OMG, **** was so cool last episode”, and of course “**** gonna die next week”.
The series may not attract people nowadays, but back then, Dragon Ball was very cool to me. Over-powered characters never looked cooler back then. That’s when I started having fantasies of me having superpowers when I grow up (lol). Back in the old days, I loved Dragon Ball and I keep watching the series every week until the end of Dragon Ball Z (yea, that’s like 300 - 400 episodes), so you can say that I grew up watching the series.
I’m sure that most of you will say that Dragon Ball was your first anime as well. And in the future, people will say that Code Geass or CLANNAD was their first anime..heh…
2. Digimon
Credit: My most memorable childhood memory..
Yep, I said it. Digimon is probably my most memorable childhood memory, this includes the anime and the game. Back when I was in primary school, I watched Digimon from the 1st season to 3rd one (then the series got suckish) every week, just like what I did to Dragon Ball. And when I’m not watching Digimon, I played the game, Digimon World 1, Digimon World 2, and Digimon World 3 (again, 4 sucked). I finished 1 and 3, but 2 was damn hard and time-consuming. Heck, I even re-played 1 and 3 MANY times.
In other words, Digimon has been part of my life from when I was 7 until I was 12. Every time I think of Digimon, I think of my childhood, and vice versa. I learned so many life lessons from the anime, from trying your best and not giving up, to accepting life’s hardships. All the sweet memories of watching and playing Digimon is stuck in my head, probably forever. It is my first ‘fanboy’ level anime, and will always be.
3. Doraemon
Credit: Taught me that life is fun and we should just enjoy it! ^_^
Surprised? Well, you shouldn’t be. Doraemon is a great series and it has many fans, which explains why it’s one of the longest running series ever (1200++ episodes). I had fun while watching Doraemon during my childhood, and it taught me how fun life can be, when you enjoy it. Every character in Doraemon are likable for many reasons, and Shizuka is probably my first anime crush..
I mentioned before in my School Rumble, To Read or Not To Read? post that I can never bring myself to enjoy reading manga, but Doraemon is the only exception. I really enjoyed the manga during my childhood, more than the anime version. Every week, I’ll check my local bookstore to see whether the new volume of Doraemon is out yet. Actually, the new volume that I’m talking about has been released decades ago..lol..
4. Bleach
Credit: First downloaded anime, which brings me to the anime download world
As much as I hate shounen anime now, I used to adore Bleach. 2 years ago, my friend introduced me to Bleach, saying how cool it is. Then I thought, “Anime? Now why would I watch that?”, something I’ll regret ever saying. All this time, I watch my anime from the tv. Since Bleach haven’t made it to my local tv yet, I have to find other sources for it. So, I looked it up at Google and saw a fansite of Bleach, where I can download the anime. And guess what? I marathoned over 100 episodes of Bleach…
Back then, when I didn’t know the existence of other anime, Bleach was the only thing on my mind. But now, I dropped the series (or on-hold) since there are lots of better anime out there. Even though I regretted ever wasting my time on more than 100 episodes of Bleach (heck, I watched even more episodes of Naruto after that), I’m glad that I did so. Without Bleach, I’ll never know that anime can be downloaded, and I’ll never be exposed to other anime. Which brings me to my next one.
5. Death Note
Credit: Amazed me with the pure EPICNESS that the anime has, and still the most EPIC anime ever.
Death Note is one of the greatest anime I’ve seen, and it’s one of my top 5 favorite anime. After I got kind of bored with Bleach, I jumped right into Death Note, which resulted in me being amazed and kind of shocked at how awesome Death Note is, and how awesome an anime can be.
I came across Death Note when I was looking for some anime recommendations in some forum, and many people mentioned Death Note. At the same time, my friends asked me out to go watch the Death Note live-action, which I didn’t go. My friends told me that it was awesome, so I downloaded the anime version and I couldn’t agree more with my friends.
The series is pure genius on a level that I can’t even describe. Light and L has the best rivalry ever, and nothing is better than a rivalry between 2 geniuses. If anyone wants me to recommend an anime to them, Death Note is on top of my list.
6. Ouran High School Host Club
Credit: The first time I laughed so hard because of an anime, the anime that made me love shoujo and comedy, and the first time I felt so attached towards the cast in an anime.
I’m sure that everyone loves Ouran, it has romance, comedy, lovable characters, and most importantly, it’s damn funny. Ouran made me dump shounen (Bleach) for shoujo, and I still prefer shoujo even now. I never get tired of the jokes in Ouran, every character has a funny side in them, and guess what, the funniest character in Ouran to me is Kyouya, who is always serious..lol..
I started watching Ouran when my interest in anime increased, thanks to Death Note. So, I was looking for something in the comedy genre and in the genre that is not-so-Bleach (didn’t knew it was called ’shoujo’ back then}. So, for some reason, I came across Ouran. After I watched the 1st episode, I was addicted to the anime and kept watching more, and laughed all the way to the last episode.
Besides the comedy, the characters in Ouran are very likable. Each host club member have their own traits and flaws, and when they’re together, everything becomes great. It’s hard for me to view them individually, they just can’t be separated.
Overall, watching Ouran High School Host Club was an amazing experience and it left me speechless. So sad that it ended, hopefully the 2nd season will come soon.XD
7. Kanon
Credit: First harem anime. I had fun, I laughed, and I cried while watching Kanon..and I still do..*sob*
Kanon..is truly amazing. It’s the first ’sad’ anime that I’ve watched, and the first time I cried over an anime, which is pretty rare. When I say ‘cried’, you know which arc I’m talking about..that’s the most memorable part of the anime. What made it so sad was the buildup to that scene, and seeing everyone’s sad faces.. And when it happened, it was so..sad…
I started Kanon and Ouran at the same time. Actually, I watched Kanon, Ouran, and Death Note at the same time, so I was having a great time back then. I found Ouran for comedy, Death Note for action, so I was missing one more thing, romance. Then, someone recommended Kanon. I gave it a try and I knew that this series will turn out great.
Besides that part, Kanon has a decent amount of comedy as well. I love the way Yuichi treats the girls, being nice and fun at the same time. Also, I have to praise the music in Kanon, the piano pieces are absolutely beautiful, I have to learn some of it later (actually, I did. But it was too hard..). Kanon was my first KyoAni anime, so I was amazed at the animation. From that point onwards, I felt in love with KyoAni..
This is definitely one of the best in the harem genre..and to think that it came out last century.. If you want to get into the harem genre, or if you just want to look for a great anime, then don’t look any further, you should give Kanon a try.
8. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
Credit: MY FAVORITEST ANIME EVAR!!
What? Of course you saw this coming. If you know me, you know that I’m an uber fan of Haruhi. So, of course this anime is very influential to me. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, not the greatest anime, but it’s still my favorite. I can’t exactly describe why I love Haruhi so much, but I just love her. That shows how powerful Haruhi is.XD
How did I come across Haruhi? To be honest, I can’t remember it well. I just heard people talking about it, and I saw many pictures of Haruhi on the internet, so I thought “She looks cute, I’ll give the anime a try” and I’m really glad I did it. Up until now, the Haruhi phenomenon is still big even after more than 2 years of her absence. We Haruhi fans will never stop supporting her.
Everything in the anime is great. The plot is very unique and the characters in the series are great, different from other anime. The anime is very funny, that’s for sure. I love watching Kyon living his daily life with the SOS Brigade members, in which all except him are not human..lol. In short, EVERYTHING in the anime is great, I can’t find a single thing I hate in the anime.
By the way, I already wrote my review on the series. I can’t wait for the 2nd season. SUZUMIYA HARUHI FTW!
9. Honey & Clover
Credit: Taught me that friendship is a beautiful thing.
Honey & Clover, it’s a masterpiece. The anime has a good balance between romance and comedy, and both of those aspects have succeeded very well in H&C. The series has a great cast of characters, and they each have something to do with each others’ life.
Speaking of that, the word ‘friendship’ is best to describe H&C. Watching the cast go through life’s hardships and their love affairs, it makes me wonder whether I’ll face the same thing when I’m at the same age as them. No matter what happens, friendship always win in the end.
I first heard of Honey & Clover when it was airing on my local Animax channel. As usual, I’m not interested in watching tv, but H&C caught me. I watched an episode (can’t remember which) of the anime and I’m hooked. So, I went ahead and downloaded the anime, and I love the series very much.
Honey & Clover, slice of life at it’s best. No other anime is like H&C, it’s in a league of it’s own. There will never be another anime like H&C, ever..
10. CLANNAD
Credit: CLANNAD is life, a true masterpiece.
If there is an anime out there that I can crown the title of ‘The Greatest Anime Ever’, no doubt it’ll be CLANNAD. The anime is a masterpiece, perfect in every way. The characters are all lovable, and each character is important in making CLANNAD the way it is. Even the side characters have their own story to tell, which makes CLANNAD unique and the best one in the harem genre.
I first heard of CLANNAD during the preview in the last episode of Kanon 2006. It looked great and I was really looking forward to it. When Fall 2007 came, CLANNAD was the 1st thing on my mind. After watching the 1st episode, it didn’t turn out how I was expecting it to be, it was way better. From that moment on, I kept watching CLANNAD every week, and it ended up being on of my favorite, and the 1st anime I ever blogged.XD
What made the series better is the story. It’s not your usual harem. The theme in CLANNAD is family, so it takes a different road from your usual harem anime, and succeeded very well. I LOVE it. This proves that family is sometimes better than love. Well, of course ‘love’ is present in family, what I meant here is the love between a boy and a girl. Even if the theme in CLANNAD is love, I’ll still love it, it will not change the fact that CLANNAD is a masterpiece.
And let’s not forget, the music in CLANNAD is top-notch, the best one in my opinion. From the happy bgm, to the sad piano pieces, all of them are great. The best one is Shionari/Roaring Tides, the one that you can hear playing in every sad scene. A simple, yet very beautiful piano piece. I learned to play it and I wish I had a better piano to hear the full effect of the song. I get watery eyes every time I hear the piano piece..
With the airing of CLANNAD ~After Story~ this season, I love the series even more. To think that KyoAni will be animating the side arcs as well, I was so happy. The series got better, and I kept saying the word ‘emotional’ in every CLANNAD episode reviews that I wrote. The best thing of all is that the best is yet to come, the real After Story.
I have to praise Key for making such an amazing title, and KyoAni for making it better. I’ve been enjoying every single episode. If things keep going this way until the end, I will no doubt consider CLANNAD to be the greatest anime ever.
Source: http://abanzai.animeblogger.net/2008/11/12/setsukyies-top-10-most-influential-anime/
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