The Grand Search for the Best Anime of the 2000s

[KnightOfFive]

Monster Despite the ultimate conclusion leaving a bit to be desired was nothing short of a masterpiece. It managed to be positively bone-chilling without excessive gore, the suspence, the plot twists, the various characters good, evil and otherwise, heck even the opening and closing themes were amazing. It is oe of the best if not the best anime example of the Mystery/Crime/Suspence genre.

Baccano! It hits me as an interesting a worthy tale, but primarily this vote comes in response to the seeming purposelessness of Durarara.

[Atria35]

Monster (for the reasons Neane stated above - it's a brilliant series, and while Spirited Away has a lot of heart, it doesn't compare)

Baccano! - I haven't seen all of DRRR!, but it's not as strong as its predecessor. The story isn't as well-done, the characters aren't as fun or memorable, and from what I've heard, the ending wasn't strong at all. Baccano! kinda had it all, plus an awesome way of telling the story that really worked

[FllMtl Novelist]

And also I really didn't like the three protagonists, Anri was probably the most tolerable of the three though she didn't have much to offer. Both sides of Kidas bi-polar personality were extremely irritating, either he was acting like a cross between a playboy and pinkiy pie or he was acting like some kind of angsty emo *******. But Ryugamine was worst of all, I don't think I can remember a more useless protagonist off the top of my head. He goes around acting like a less whiny version of Fam and furrowing his non existent eyebrows at everyone while blindly fumbling through all these dangerous situations. **** I hate his non existent eyebrows so much.

I'm really curious how you'd see those three characters "improved". They seemed completely fine/tolerable/likeable/workable to me. I also don't understand why Mikado is useless, considering his, erm, interesting connections.

[SIZE="1"]By the way, he does have eyebrows. xD]


Anyway, I'm actually going to vote for Baccano! as well. Durarara was the series that got me watching a lot more anime (well a relative lot, anyway), it's insanely fun, and I could watch it over and over--but its second half disappoints me. Baccano, on the other hand, was crazy and strong (albeit a little confusing at first since it's non-linear) all the way through. I may not like my favorite Baccano bits as much as my favorite Durarara bits, but I think Baccano was more consistently great, and thus the better show overall.

[SIZE="1"]Sorry, Shizuo. :'<[/SIZE]

[skreyola]

Spirited Away, because it's Miyazaki, one of his finest, with beautiful storytelling and characterization; and because the other one dragged so much and was so bland and hopeless that I finally gave up on finishing it.

Durarara, because its description looks more like something I might eventually watch.

[mechana2015]

Spirited Away - While monster is good it's artistically bland and pales in comparison to it's own manga release. Spirited away is still the movie that really brough Miyazaki to america full force, and it's clear why. All ages story with beautiful art and some very subtle tricks and treats in the storytelling.

Baccano! - Love them both, but Baccano IS the better show, more innovative storytelling, more memorable charachters, amazing setting work, better music, and honestly a much more experemental story format that works GREAT.

I don't think Durarara would have nearly the same fanbase without Baccano paving the way, and Baccano is much more consistant in the quality of the stories it tells as opposed to the more episodic nature of the arcs in Durarara.

[Hugo Bernhardt]

Monster oddly enough 2 of the things that caused anime to really catch on with me were Monster and the Studio Ghibhli oeuvre, but Spirited Away has never been my favorite. If it has any real moral at all, its rather simplistic 'don't be a pig.' It has none of the character or thematic development that other works have in various degrees. Sure, it's inventive and all, but I just don't think its the greatest SG has to offer.

Monster, on the other hand, despite being a bit monochromatic and Doctor Tenma can seem a little too goody-two-shoes in subsequent viewings, has very interesting and varied situations, scads and scads of great characters, and the setting is so well done it makes Germany itself into a major character. It seemed like a hard choice at first, but at the end Monster gets it my a landslide.

I've seen half an episode of Baccano, since my wife has gotten intrigued by it, but I haven't seen enough to merit having an opinion on it or Dururaa.

[skreyola]

If it has any real moral at all, its rather simplistic 'don't be a pig.'

I'd say the message is more in the vein of 'Remember who you are.'

[GeneD]

Spirited Away: I've only read the Monster manga and Spirited Away is I think the only anime I've watched with my whole family, including my dad, which is a feat let me tell you. It's also the thing that (indirectly) kick started my anime purchases and helped me realise that anime is actually available for purchase here.

Baccano!: I agree with everyone's comments about why this is the superior series. Durarara!! had some serious pacing problems and left me wondering if I was missing something that everyone else was raving about. It also started my year long anime drought and although that might not be the fault of the actual series, it still loses points for that.

[KnightOfFive]

While monster is good it's artistically bland and pales in comparison to it's own manga release.

Artistically bland? Monster? You're kidding right?

[mechana2015]

Artistically bland? Monster? You're kidding right?

The anime looks pretty generic and has flat uninteresting coloring that makes it look like it's got a brown filter borrowed from every mid 2000's shooter game and 'gritty' action movie. It scrapped some of the detail from the manga, and lost much of the contrast that made the art good, and comes of as a grey brown ball of blah artistically.

I say it pales to the manga release due to this, and due to the manga using extra techniques to make it stand out, such as colored paper for the childrens book segments, which instead of taking note of, the anime did everything it could to keep it's overall screen appearance around a 50% grey-brown, instead of using color well to improve the environment. I'd rather read the manga due to the color treatment of the animation and I'd consider that a serious problem for an animated show.

[Maokun]

Spirited Away I'd like to contest the notion that it lacks a proper "moral". In fact, I'd say that the movie doesn't need a moral, because it is full of good morals: Chihiro is a noble, hardworking girl that in spite of finding herself in indentured servitude in a strange world, hardly gives herself time to cry or pity herself but puts hands to work and, boy is she committed about it. Not only that: after the initial shock and anger has fade, she also puts her heart into it in such a way that people around her are transformed too.

Spirited Away also has a subtle but smart twist if you look at it carefully: It starts apparently -as many other fairy tales- as the story of a young girl that is unjustly wronged by an evil witch. A classic morality play of good vs evil, weak but virtuous heroine courageously stands against a powerful villain... and then is saved by the righteous prince who slays the villain? Not this story. As the plot advances we realize that the "evil witch" is just a bitter old woman who went a bit overboard while punishing some thieves (Chihiro's parents) and who always thought that the only way to secure the obedience and loyalty of his employees was with threats and aggressiveness and who didn't need slaying but a touch of kindness. Similarly, the closest thing to a prince in the movie couldn't save the heroine, as he needed to be saved himself. Chihiro just pulls her sleeves back and does everything that needs to be done without looking back and ends turning all tropes and cliches on their heads.

Monster was great, but I agree with Mechana about its visual blandness. I also believe that it overstayed its welcome just a teensy bit. I have in the past talked about Urusawa's vice to keep adding ideas, twists and characters to his stories each, admittedly, more awesome than the previous... however, this comes at the cost of a dilution of the plot and of the characters' initial motivations, plot holes and retconnings, and ends causing a kind of fatigue that makes you wish that the darn thing finished already. Monster is -by far- the one of his stories to suffer the least of this, but there was just enough of it not to allow it to trump Spirited Away in my eyes.

Baccano! Man, I'm glad to find out I'm not the only one to notice the flaws about Durarara!! DRRR!! is dripping with style and coolness (I recommend you to do a google image search to see tons of cool stuff) but it just cannot compare to the tightness of plot and overall better narrative of Baccano!

Next matches will go up in a couple hours.

[blkmage]

Spirited Away because I was impressed with it even when it followed some Ghibli heavy hitters in my Ghibliwatchathon.

Durarara!! because I [s]value style over substance[/s] enjoy the atmosphere and vibe of the urban spaces that DRRR explored much more than 1920s American train plot (even though I love trains). Also, DRRR was interesting enough to get me to keep reading (and it gets good; DRRR, the series, is on a much more slow burn in terms of what it's setting up), something I haven't felt the need to do with Baccano.

[Maokun]

Results for day 3 of Round 2:

Spirited Away 5
Monster 4

Bacanno! 7
Durarara!! 2


Now for the last matches of this round before we advance to the quarter finals:

[SIZE="3"][color="Magenta"]Puella Magi★Madoka Magika[/color] VS [color="Red"]Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann[/color][/SIZE]
[SIZE="1"]Battle of the 4-words, 23 characters-long titles[/SIZE]




[SIZE="3"][color="Yellow"]The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya[/color] VS [color="DarkOrchid"]Mawaru Penguindrum[/color][/SIZE]

Voting will be open until Friday at 20:00 EST

[Maokun]

The good news are that if a giant meteor obliterates the Earth right now, we won't have to choose between Madoka and TTGL! Right? Right? hahahahaHAHAHAHAhaha[SIZE="1"]haha[/SIZE]..

[Zeldafan2]

Abstain: I've heard really good things about both of these series, but like I said in the previous round, I can't make a honest decision without actually watching at least some of either series. However,

I can safely vote for The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Even if I had seen Mawaru Penguindrum, I just can't see myself voting for it over Haruhi. Not only was it one of my gateways into anime, it also had animation, and characterizations that blew me away. Not only did it have one of the best english dubs in anime IMHO, it also had a lot of humor, and touches my heart in a way I've only felt from one other anime (which is, coincidentially, also by Kyoto animation.)

[skreyola]

Yay! Narrow victory, but still a victory, for Spirited Away!

Even though I don't remember if I've seen even a moment of the other one, I'm voting for Puella Magi★Madoka Magika, because it was very deep, insightful, and clever, and the art was beautiful, even when it was ugly (in the labyrinths). It's one of the two that are left that would satisfy me as best of the best.

My other vote this day goes to The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, because I've seen it, and the other one doesn't seem as interesting to me as I previously thought it might be from how many people like it.

[blkmage]

Either of Madoka or Gurren Lagann may or may not be amazing, but Madoka is the anime that came out of focus testing on a group made up entirely of me.

I enjoy Haruhi a lot and I give it far more credit than a lot of people are willing to in the year 2012. But, Mawaru Penguindrum is a much more ambitious work that's actually well-executed for all the splurging on symbols and style that it has.

[Neane]

Puella Magi★Madoka Magika

Madoka is the only anime from studio Shaft that I like and this is because of the fact that SHAFT's usual style often detracts from what is otherwise good material so it's no surprise that the only anime I really loved from them was Madoka partly due to the fact that Shinbo's artistic ego did not get in the way of good storytelling for once. The eccentricities were used sparingly and actually had a point as far as PMMM goes.

Also Gurren Lagann's cute, but I didn't really grow up with the kind of giant robot shows it's harkening back to so I kind of feel like I'm missing something when I'm watching it, and I kind of think Hiroyuki Imaishi's hyper-kinetic visual and narrative style is better suited to concentrated, machinegun-like bursts (e.g. Dead Leaves, PS&G's better episodes) than a long-form story.

Mawaru Penguindrum
Even if the ending wasn't quite like I expected, it managed to stay interesting and kept it's entertainment level high for the whole time. What I'm trying to say is that MP was (at least for me) one of these shows so good throughout the broadcasting that ending could have only made it perfect if it was good, but it couldn't ruin the show even if it has been horrible, which it wasn't.

[Atria35]

Maruwaru - I don't like Haruhi

Abstaining. I honestly can't decide between these two fantastic series.

[goldenspines]

Abandoning my thick-skulled stupidness for a bit and voting for Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann to clear my conscience.

Gurren Lagann was one of the few series that keeps building excitement as it goes along. It is also one of the happiest series I have ever watched (and one of the few mech anime I enjoyed). I never get tired of watching it. From beginning to end, the series builds up enough cheesy and beautiful optimism as big at the final battle (far beyond the size of galaxies, truthfully).
It has a fun and quirky animation style and while the story is shaky at the beginning, once it gets the ball rolling, it doesn't stop one upping the previous episode for anything.

Sure, when you think about it, it's kind of dumb to say, "Believe in the [your name] that believes in you!", but somehow, I found hope and power in the line. When you have nothing left to cling to, throw logic out the window and do the impossible.


Or something. >_>;



*quietly exits out the back door*

[Vii]

Gurren Lagann -
The logic is nonexistant, the animation quality ranges from awful to decent, there's fanservice, the story is absurd, the lines are corny, and it's naive optimism knows no limits.

Mawaru Penguindrum -
I really liked the art style and the story was entertaining and fairly gripping.

[ClosetOtaku]

Puella Magi Madoka Magica. I think Goethe would have been impressed. A taut re-telling of Faust, exploring the darker side of the Magical Girl "contract". The characters are a little one-dimensional, which is too bad, because there was quite a bit of depth to plumb here.

Ah, and now for the tough one. Let me preface by saying I found Mawaru Penguindrum simply bizarre, although the core 'trick' of the series (that I won't reveal here) is actually pretty clever. But I ended up filing the series with others like Bakemonogatari for its repeated yet unnecessary suggestiveness.

Don't get me wrong though -- The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya has its shortcomings. As main characters go, Haruhi is about as close as you're going to get to a true anti-hero without completely alienating the audience. It's the supporting cast that keeps me watching, although they tend to be a little thin on characterization as well. (All except Yuki, of course, who channels Rei Ayanami as well as any anime character; she's not supposed to have a personality -- or even a soul, I suppose. But she got me to read Hyperion, which was a very good novel, so I owe her one.)

Anyways, deliberately ignoring the atrocious second season, and the marginal Disappearance movie, I think The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya gets my vote this time.

[MangaRocks!]

Puella Magi★Madoka Magika

Because it's beautiful, epic, and moving. And has amazing music. And amazing directing. And... well, just amazing everything, really.


Mawaru Penguindrum

I love Haruhi-- but this isn't even a question for me, because I have never experienced anything else like Penguindrum. It has multiple layers and levels of symbolism and meaning woven throughout every aspect (from its story to its dialogue to its imagery to even its music), making you think (and also spawning some fantastic in-depth discussions); it has the surprising power to make you hold one opinion, then make you completely (or almost completely) change that opinion, and then do so again, and again, and again-- and no matter how many times it happens, you pretty much never see it coming; it kept me on the edge of my seat every single week; and it quite literally moved me to tears with its powerful (and, IMO, absolutely perfect) ending. Most of all, despite (or, rather, perhaps even through) some occasional disturbing elements, Penguindrum powerfully accentuates just how unbelievably amazing true sacrificial love-- a love with possible extreme personal consequences and with no hope nor thought of reward-- really is, and how it can save people. And that really hit home for me.

[airichan623]

Madoka Magica- because they killed off a certain character too fast in TTGL. The kill offs in Madoka was well timed.
...and I've seen neither of the second set all the way through...so abstain.

[Maokun]

Well this has been the hardest choice for me so far in the tournament. I love TTGL to bits... but I know Madoka is better... better paced, with less filler, with more consistent production values, with a more intelligent and less predictable plot... But TTGL is so filled with pure, undiluted [color="Magenta"]a[/color][color="Red"]w[/color][color="DarkOrange"]e[/color][color="Yellow"]s[/color][color="YellowGreen"]o[/color][color="Lime"]m[/color][color="Cyan"]e[/color][color="RoyalBlue"]![/color][color="DarkOrchid"]![/color] It pushes cheesiness and over-the-top ridiculousness so hard into your face that it forces the spectrum to loop and becomes genuine greatness. This is the truest battle of reason vs heart.

I'd abstain but it's quite likely the Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann won't make it to the next round and I couldn't forgive myself if I didn't show it my support till the bitter end.

The other match is a bit easier on account of not having watched Penguindrum. I trust everyone here that it is amazing and it's is my short-list (which is stupidly long, anyway) to watch, but it's clear that it would be another battle between reason and heart, and ignorance allows me to vote with my heart guilt-free. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is the anime that brought me back to anime after getting increasingly disillusioned with it to the point I couldn't bother to try and fit it in my busy schedule. It reminded me why I liked anime and it's clever and intelligent premises that do not really need to take themselves too seriously or be too pretentious and dare to have fun in the meantime. People may complain about Haruhi's personality but they miss that she was smartly written that way and I personally appreciate the break from the usual goody-two-shoes or the aloof, mysterious types. Love her or hate her, she won't leave you apathetic.

[GeneD]

Puella Magi★Madoka Magika: Although through no fault of its own, I just wasn't able to get into Gurren Lagann when I tried it. Madoka on the other hand kept me hooked throughout.

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya: I have literally just finished watching The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya. And I'll take it's message for the whole series, even if things weren't normal, even if we complained, even if Endless Eight almost killed us, was it still fun? Definitely! I'd be disappointed in a world where this doesn't exist.

[Maokun]

Sorry guys, Internet it's being super obtuse now.

Just trying to upload this short message took several attempts and now it's late, so I'll be extending this one till tomorrow.

[mechana2015]

Puella Magi★Madoka Magika VS Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
Wow...
Hard choice so far, given the similarities in tone. Im going to have to go with Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann over Madoka. This is mostly bull headed bias, but there is another part to it and that is that I think Madoka isn't really an anime of the 2000's. Not just because it's a show from the 2011 Winter season, but as a whole I think it's the beginning of the sort of shows we're seeing coming out now, not the exemplar of the 2001-2011 era, it more feels like a 2012 show. If I was picking the paragon of 2001-2011 I'd pick Gurren Lagaan because, while they both have very similar impact on me, it better exemplifies the era in which it was made.


The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya - Easy choice, as I did like Penguindrum, but the Haruhi series does many things better than it storywise (in my opinion). I find the charachters in Haruhi more likeable, and despite the interesting art techniques and aesthetic in Penguindrum, found that they served less of a purpose than I hoped in the end (which I also found to be a bit dissappointing).

[Maokun]

Results for last day of Round 2:

Puella Magi★Madoka Magika 7
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann 4

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya 6
Mawaru Penguindrum 5


Now we are left with only the top 8, like this:

Since Sundays are the deadest day around here by far, I'll start Round 3 the Sunday at 20:00 EST. Thanks everyone for participating so far!

[Neane]

Well this is going to be interesting. Out of the 16 anime that made it to this part, Princess Tutu was the one that I wanted to win. Oh well, I will make due with what is available and out of the 8, I will support Madoka.