The Grand Search for the Best Anime of the 2000s

[Mr. Hat'n'Clogs]

Welcome to the NHK! (2006)
Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' On Heaven's Door (2001)
Howl's Moving Castle (2004)
Toradora! (2009)
Fruits Basket (2001)
Read or Die OVA (2001)
Black Lagoon (2006)
Bakemonogatari (2009)*
Gankutsuou (2005)
Bunny Drop (2011)
The Tatami Galaxy (2010)*
Samurai Champloo (2004)
FLCL (2001)*
Ouran High School Host Club (2006)*
Macross Frontier: The Wings of Goodbye (2011)*
REDLINE (2009)
Macross Frontier (2008)*
Library Wars (2008)**
Wolf's Rain (2003)
Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 (2009)*
Darker than Black (2007)
Last Exile (2003)

aka the round with all of Hat's favorite things.

[Neane]

Repechage Round
Welcome to the NHK! (2006) **
Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' On Heaven's Door (2001)
Howl's Moving Castle (2004)
Toradora! (2009)
Fruits Basket (2001)
Read or Die OVA (2001)
Black Lagoon (2006) *
Bakemonogatari (2009)
Gankutsuou (2005)
Bunny Drop (2011) *
The Tatami Galaxy (2010) *
Samurai Champloo (2004)
FLCL (2001)
Ouran High School Host Club (2006) *
Macross Frontier: The Wings of Goodbye (2011)
REDLINE (2009) *
Macross Frontier (2008)
Library Wars (2008)
Wolf's Rain (2003)
Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 (2009) *
Darker than Black (2007)
Last Exile (2003) *

[FllMtl Novelist]

[s]Natsume Yuujinchou San (2011) ★]

I guess we can't have everything. :'<

[color="Magenta"][SIZE="3"]Repechage Round[/SIZE][/color]
Welcome to the NHK! (2006)
Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' On Heaven's Door (2001)
Howl's Moving Castle (2004)
Toradora! (2009) *
Fruits Basket (2001)
Read or Die OVA (2001)
Black Lagoon (2006)
Bakemonogatari (2009)
Gankutsuou (2005)
Bunny Drop (2011)
The Tatami Galaxy (2010) *
Samurai Champloo (2004)
FLCL (2001)
Ouran High School Host Club (2006) *
Macross Frontier: The Wings of Goodbye (2011) *
REDLINE (2009) *
Macross Frontier (2008) *
Library Wars (2008) **
Wolf's Rain (2003)
Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 (2009)
Darker than Black (2007)
Last Exile (2003)

[Atria35]

Man. I would have thrown my lot in with Time of Eve if I had known it would be knocked out ;.;

Repechage Round
Welcome to the NHK! (2006) *
Black Lagoon (2006) *
Gankutsuou (2005) *
Bunny Drop (2011) *
The Tatami Galaxy (2010) *
Samurai Champloo (2004) *
Ouran High School Host Club (2006) *
REDLINE (2009) *
Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 (2009) **

ARGH! So difficult ;.;

[Zeldafan2]

I hate to do this, but I have to step out of this round.

[AngelicTotoro]

Welcome to the NHK! (2006)
Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' On Heaven's Door (2001)
Howl's Moving Castle (2004) *
Toradora! (2009) **
Fruits Basket (2001) *
Read or Die OVA (2001)
Black Lagoon (2006)
Bakemonogatari (2009)
Gankutsuou (2005)
Bunny Drop (2011)
The Tatami Galaxy (2010)
Samurai Champloo (2004)
FLCL (2001)
Ouran High School Host Club (2006)
Macross Frontier: The Wings of Goodbye (2011)
REDLINE (2009)
Macross Frontier (2008) *
Library Wars (2008) *
Wolf's Rain (2003)
Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 (2009)
Darker than Black (2007)
Last Exile (2003)

[Vii]

Repechage Round
Welcome to the NHK! (2006)
Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' On Heaven's Door (2001)
Howl's Moving Castle (2004)
Toradora! (2009) ★
Fruits Basket (2001) ★
Read or Die OVA (2001)
Black Lagoon (2006)
Bakemonogatari (2009)
Gankutsuou (2005)
Bunny Drop (2011)
The Tatami Galaxy (2010)
Samurai Champloo (2004)
FLCL (2001) ★
Ouran High School Host Club (2006) ★★
Macross Frontier: The Wings of Goodbye (2011)
REDLINE (2009)
Macross Frontier (2008)
Library Wars (2008)
Wolf's Rain (2003) ★
Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 (2009)
Darker than Black (2007)
Last Exile (2003)

[MomentOfInertia]

Repechage Round
Macross Frontier: The Wings of Goodbye (2011)*
REDLINE (2009)**
Macross Frontier (2008)*
Darker than Black (2007)*

[skreyola]

Ohnoes! Well, at least I get another chance to vote for them...

Repechage Round
Howl's Moving Castle (2004) *
Fruits Basket (2001) *
Darker than Black (2007) **
Last Exile (2003) *

[samurai10]

Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' On Heaven's Door (2001) *
Howl's Moving Castle (2004) *
Fruits Basket (2001) *
Ouran High School Host Club (2006) **
Wolf's Rain (2003) *
Darker Than Black (2007) *

[airichan623]

[color="Magenta"]Repechage Round[/color]
Welcome to the NHK! (2006)
Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' On Heaven's Door (2001)
Howl's Moving Castle (2004) *
Toradora! (2009)
Fruits Basket (2001) *
Read or Die OVA (2001)
Black Lagoon (2006)
Bakemonogatari (2009)
Gankutsuou (2005)
Bunny Drop (2011)
The Tatami Galaxy (2010)
Samurai Champloo (2004)
FLCL (2001) *
Ouran High School Host Club (2006) *
Macross Frontier: The Wings of Goodbye (2011) **
REDLINE (2009)
Macross Frontier (2008) *
Library Wars (2008)
Wolf's Rain (2003)
Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 (2009)
Darker than Black (2007)
Last Exile (2003)

[Maokun]

More people need to watch Bakemonogatari >< preferably in the next 16 hours so they can come and change their vote before the start of the next round!

Goldie and blkmage where are youuuuu

[mechana2015]

Repechage Round
Welcome to the NHK! (2006)
Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' On Heaven's Door (2001)**
Howl's Moving Castle (2004)
Toradora! (2009) *
Fruits Basket (2001)
Read or Die OVA (2001)*
Black Lagoon (2006)
Bakemonogatari (2009) *
Gankutsuou (2005) *
Bunny Drop (2011)
The Tatami Galaxy (2010)
Samurai Champloo (2004)
FLCL (2001) *
Ouran High School Host Club (2006) *
Macross Frontier: The Wings of Goodbye (2011)
REDLINE (2009) *
Macross Frontier (2008)
Library Wars (2008)
Wolf's Rain (2003)
Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 (2009)
Darker than Black (2007)
Last Exile (2003)

[GeneD]

Repechage Round
Welcome to the NHK! (2006)
Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' On Heaven's Door (2001) ★
Howl's Moving Castle (2004) ★
Toradora! (2009)
Fruits Basket (2001)
Read or Die OVA (2001) ★
Black Lagoon (2006) ★★
Bakemonogatari (2009) ★
Gankutsuou (2005)
Bunny Drop (2011)
The Tatami Galaxy (2010)
Samurai Champloo (2004) ★
FLCL (2001)
Ouran High School Host Club (2006)
Macross Frontier: The Wings of Goodbye (2011)
REDLINE (2009)
Macross Frontier (2008) ★
Library Wars (2008) ★
Wolf's Rain (2003)
Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 (2009)
Darker than Black (2007)
Last Exile (2003)

[ClosetOtaku]

Repechage Round
Welcome to the NHK! (2006) *
Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' On Heaven's Door (2001)
Howl's Moving Castle (2004)
Toradora! (2009)
Fruits Basket (2001) *
Read or Die OVA (2001) *
Black Lagoon (2006)
Bakemonogatari (2009)
Gankutsuou (2005)
Bunny Drop (2011)
The Tatami Galaxy (2010) **
Samurai Champloo (2004)
FLCL (2001) *
Ouran High School Host Club (2006) *
Macross Frontier: The Wings of Goodbye (2011)
REDLINE (2009)
Macross Frontier (2008)
Library Wars (2008)
Wolf's Rain (2003)
Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 (2009)
Darker than Black (2007)
Last Exile (2003) *

[Maokun]

Welcome to the NHK! (2006)
Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' On Heaven's Door (2001) ★
Howl's Moving Castle (2004) ★
Toradora! (2009)
Fruits Basket (2001)
Read or Die OVA (2001) ★
Black Lagoon (2006) ★
Bakemonogatari (2009) ★
Gankutsuou (2005)
Bunny Drop (2011)
The Tatami Galaxy (2010)
Samurai Champloo (2004) ★
FLCL (2001) ★
Ouran High School Host Club (2006)
Macross Frontier: The Wings of Goodbye (2011)
REDLINE (2009)
Macross Frontier (2008)
Library Wars (2008)
Wolf's Rain (2003) ★
Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 (2009)
Darker than Black (2007)
Last Exile (2003) ★

[Hugo Bernhardt]

[quote="Atria35 (post: 1591441)"]Man. I would have thrown my lot in with Time of Eve if I had known it would be knocked out ]

I'm with you. Wishing I wasn't so busy the last two days. Oh the irony of missing a CAA vote because I was putting on an anime night ....

Welcome to the NHK! (2006) *
Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' On Heaven's Door (2001)
Howl's Moving Castle (2004) *
Toradora! (2009)
Fruits Basket (2001)
Read or Die OVA (2001) **
Black Lagoon (2006)
Bakemonogatari (2009)
Gankutsuou (2005)
Bunny Drop (2011) *
The Tatami Galaxy (2010) *
Samurai Champloo (2004)
FLCL (2001)
Ouran High School Host Club (2006)
Macross Frontier: The Wings of Goodbye (2011)
REDLINE (2009)
Macross Frontier (2008)
Library Wars (2008)
Wolf's Rain (2003)
Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 (2009)
Darker than Black (2007)
Last Exile (2003)

I have to give the ROD OVA two stars becuase it's a favorite guilty pleasure show, though I've never heard of Library Wars somehow, maybe I should check that one out. I've also always heard good things about Last Exile, but can't say I've ever tried it.

[Maokun]

I have to give the ROD OVA two stars becuase it's a favorite guilty pleasure show

I fail to see how liking something awesome is a guilty pleasure

Results for the repechage round of the first preliminary round:

[color="Magenta"]Edged in[/color]
Ouran High School Host Club (2006) [color="Magenta"]★★★★★★★★★★★[/color]
Howl's Moving Castle (2004) [color="Magenta"]★★★★★★★[/color]
Read or Die OVA (2001) [color="Magenta"]★★★★★★[/color]
The Tatami Galaxy (2010) [color="Magenta"]★★★★★★[/color]
FLCL (2001) [color="Magenta"]★★★★★★[/color]
REDLINE (2009) [color="Magenta"]★★★★★★[/color]
Macross Frontier (2008) [color="Magenta"]★★★★★★[/color]
Library Wars (2008) [color="Magenta"]★★★★★★[/color]

[color="Magenta"]Left Behind[/color]
Macross Frontier: The Wings of Goodbye (2011) [color="Magenta"]★★★★★[/color]
Welcome to the NHK! (2006) [color="Magenta"]★★★★★[/color]
Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' On Heaven's Door (2001) [color="Magenta"]★★★★★[/color]
Black Lagoon (2006) [color="Magenta"]★★★★★[/color]
Toradora! (2009) [color="Magenta"]★★★★★[/color]
Fruits Basket (2001) [color="Magenta"]★★★★[/color]
Bakemonogatari (2009) [color="Magenta"]★★★★[/color]
Wolf's Rain (2003) [color="Magenta"]★★★[/color]
Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 (2009) [color="Magenta"]★★★[/color]
Bunny Drop (2011) [color="Magenta"]★★★[/color]
Samurai Champloo (2004) [color="Magenta"]★★★[/color]
Last Exile (2003) [color="Magenta"]★★★[/color]
Gankutsuou (2005) [color="Magenta"]★★[/color]
Darker than Black (2007) [color="Magenta"]★[/color]

Well, I'm sure we all lost a loved one or more in this heart-rending round but we must push forward. Only 37 out of 76 were able to move into the next round and will be joined by the finalists of each year (the ones that didn't win) to make a neat 48... of which only 21 will move into the first proper round! Welcome to the second preliminary round!

Let's first introduce the 48 participants:

Spirited Away (2001)
Read or Die OVA (2001)
FLCL (2001)
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (2002)
Full Moon wo Sagashite (2002)
RahXephon (2002)
Full Metal Panic! (2002)
Kino no Tabi (2003)
Tokyo Godfathers (2003)
Texhnolyze (2003)
Fullmetal Alchemist (2004)
Paranoia Agent (2004)
Howl's Moving Castle (2004)
Planetes (2004)
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd GIG (2004)
Eikoku Koi Monogatari Emma (2005)
Eureka Seven (2005)
Paprika (2006)
Ouran High School Host Club (2006)
Mushishi (2006)
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzuyima (2006)
Dennou Coil (2007)
5 Centimeters per Second (2007)
Seirei no Moribito (2007)
Death Note (2007)
Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion (2007)
Sword of the Stranger (2007)
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (2007)
Mononoke (2007)
Kara no Kyoukai (2008)
Macross Frontier (2008)
Library Wars (2008)
Xam'd: Lost Memories (2008)
Natsume Yuujinchou (2008)
Spice and Wolf (2008)
Birdy The Mighty Decode (2008)
Casshern Sins (2008)
Cross Game (2009)
Macross Frontier: The False Songstress (2009)
REDLINE (2009)
Eden of the East (2009)
Durarara!! (2010)
The Tatami Galaxy (2010)
Princess Jellyfish (2010)
The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya (2011)
Mawaru Penguindrum (2011)
AnoHana (2011)
Chihayafuru (2011)

Now, for the first day of this round, please order the titles in the following groups from 1 to 6 (1 being the one you believe the best of the group, and 6 the least good.) Feel free to assign any bottom order to titles you simply haven't seen.

[color="Red"]Group Fire[/color]
Death Note (2007)
Planetes (2004)
Xam'd: Lost Memories (2008)
FLCL (2001)
Durarara!! (2010)
Spirited Away (2001)

[color="LightBlue"]Group Ice[/color]
Sword of the Stranger (2007)
Kino no Tabi (2003)
Full Moon wo Sagashite (2002)
Macross Frontier: The False Songstress (2009)
Paprika (2006)
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (2007)

Voting will be open until Thursday at 21:00 EST

[skreyola]

Poor Darker than Black. *snif*

Wasn't sure what you meant by bottom rank, so I did it 2 ways...

Group Fire
Death Note (2007) 3
Planetes (2004) 7 (4)
Xam'd: Lost Memories (2008) 2
FLCL (2001) 7 (5)
Durarara!! (2010) 7 (6)
Spirited Away (2001) 1

Group Ice
Sword of the Stranger (2007) 7 (3)
Kino no Tabi (2003) 7 (2)
Full Moon wo Sagashite (2002) 1
Macross Frontier: The False Songstress (2009) 7 (5)
Paprika (2006) 7 (4)
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (2007) 7 (6)

I guess that'll do.

[Maokun]

By bottom rank I mean that once you have numbered the titles you actually have seen, you may give any order to the other titles, so if you only have seen 3, you have three "bottom" titles to assign places 4-6.

[color="Red"]Group Fire[/color]
3 Death Note (2007)
5 Planetes (2004)
6 Xam'd: Lost Memories (2008)
1 FLCL (2001)
4 Durarara!! (2010)
2 Spirited Away (2001)

[color="LightBlue"]Group Ice[/color]
4 Sword of the Stranger (2007)
3 Kino no Tabi (2003)
6 Full Moon wo Sagashite (2002)
5 Macross Frontier: The False Songstress (2009)
2 Paprika (2006)
1 Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (2007)

[Zeldafan2]

Group Fire
Death Note (2007)2
Planetes (2004)3
Xam'd: Lost Memories (2008)4
FLCL (2001)6
Durarara!! (2010)1
Spirited Away (2001)5

Group Ice
Sword of the Stranger (2007)4
Kino no Tabi (2003)3
Full Moon wo Sagashite (2002)5
Macross Frontier: The False Songstress (2009)2
Paprika (2006)1
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (2007)6

[mechana2015]

Group Fire

Spirited Away (2001) 1
Durarara!! (2010) 2
FLCL (2001) 3
Xam'd: Lost Memories (2008) 4
Planetes (2004) 5
Death Note (2007) 6

Group Ice

Paprika (2006) 1
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (2007) 2
Sword of the Stranger (2007) 3
Kino no Tabi (2003) 4
Macross Frontier: The False Songstress (2009) 5
Full Moon wo Sagashite (2002) 6

[Atria35]

SAD FACE for that last group ;.;

Group Fire
Death Note (2007) (4)
Planetes (2004) (2)
Xam'd: Lost Memories (2008) (5)
FLCL (2001) (6)
Durarara!! (2010) (3)
Spirited Away (2001) (1)

Group Ice
Sword of the Stranger (2007) (4)
Kino no Tabi (2003) (2)
Full Moon wo Sagashite (2002) (6)
Macross Frontier: The False Songstress (2009) (5)
Paprika (2006) (3)
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (2007) (1)

[Neane]

Group Fire
Death Note (2007) 5
Planetes (2004) 1
Xam'd: Lost Memories (2008) 6
FLCL (2001) 2
Durarara!! (2010) 4
Spirited Away (2001) 3

Group Ice
Sword of the Stranger (2007) 5
Kino no Tabi (2003) 3
Full Moon wo Sagashite (2002) 1
Macross Frontier: The False Songstress (2009) 4
Paprika (2006) 2
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (2007) 6

[Atria35]

^ I think Group Ice is the first time we've had such divergent votes, Neane! It's so strange!

[Maokun]

Some trivia: Years 2007 and 2008 were definitely the best years of anime so far in this century; each of them supplied 8 titles to this round to the average 3 of the other years, meaning that they kept their full top 8 (minus the winner of the year) and got one more. I suspect that year 2003 would have been similar if it wasn't because most of our participating members started watching anime after that.

Also, as we suspected back when we were doing the 2005 tournament, it is the worse year for anime since 2001. Year 2010 doesn't look any better, advancing 3 measly titles despite being in recent memory. Will any of those years have any representation in the tournament proper (besides the winning title of those years)?

Surprisingly, almost half of the 13 titles supplied by the public (as opposed to being gathered from top 8s) made it to this round and most of the other half made it all the way to the repechage round. I guess it was a fine selection, after all.

[ClosetOtaku]

Group Fire
Death Note (2007) 5
Planetes (2004) 1
Xam'd: Lost Memories (2008) 6
FLCL (2001) 2
Durarara!! (2010) 3
Spirited Away (2001) 4

Group Ice
Sword of the Stranger (2007) 5
Kino no Tabi (2003) 2
Full Moon wo Sagashite (2002) 3
Macross Frontier: The False Songstress (2009) 6
Paprika (2006) 4
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (2007) 1

[Vii]

Group Fire
4 Death Note (2007)
6 Planetes (2004)
3 Xam'd: Lost Memories (2008)
5 FLCL (2001)
1 Durarara!! (2010)
2 Spirited Away (2001)

Group Ice
6 Sword of the Stranger (2007)
3 Kino no Tabi (2003)
2 Full Moon wo Sagashite (2002)
5 Macross Frontier: The False Songstress (2009)
4 Paprika (2006)
1 Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (2007)

[MomentOfInertia]

With a nice line to divide the seen from the unseen.

1st and 2nd were agonizing for both. (Can I swap Xam'd and Sword of the Stranger? Please?)


Group Fire
1. Durarara!! (2010)
2. Xam'd: Lost Memories (2008)
3. Spirited Away (2001)
-----
4. Planetes (2004)
5. FLCL (2001)
6. Death Note (2007)

Group Ice
1. Sword of the Stranger (2007)
2. Macross Frontier: The False Songstress (2009)
3. Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (2007) <--need to finish
----
4. Kino no Tabi (2003)
5. Full Moon wo Sagashite (2002)
6. Paprika (2006)

[airichan623]

[color="Red"]Group Fire[/color]
1 Death Note (2007)
6 Planetes (2004)
5 Xam'd: Lost Memories (2008)
3 FLCL (2001)
2 Durarara!! (2010)
4 Spirited Away (2001)

[color="LightBlue"]Group Ice[/color]
5 Sword of the Stranger (2007)
4 Kino no Tabi (2003)
6 Full Moon wo Sagashite (2002)
2 Macross Frontier: The False Songstress (2009)
1 Paprika (2006)
3 Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (2007)