Three to Five Essential Anime

[ClosetOtaku]

I'd like to offer a challenge to those who will take the time to think about, and provide an answer to, the following scenario.

Imagine, for a moment, you are asked to select a few anime DVDs to be sealed in a time capsule for some future civilization to be able to answer the question, "What was this 20th/21st century phenomenon called 'anime'?"

Which three to five anime titles (either movies or series) do you think would be best suited, and why? (If you cannot answer this without invoking Do Not Discuss titles, please PM me instead.)

Note that this question is not too far off from a similar one where you might recommend to people who are unfamiliar with anime which titles to watch.

Soliciting only serious responses, please. Forgive me if this topic has been covered before, although I've been unable to find it in the currently available topics.

And, there is a purpose: I want to assemble a small library of loaner DVDs for friends, but do not wish to rely on my own assessment of what anime title are most representative.

[Tenshi no Ai]

*Looks at my own DVD collection* Wow this is so hard to pick ONLY 5!

[Rocketshipper]

What's wrong with listing something from the Do Not Discuss List? It's not like we have to get into a deep discussion about anything, we would just be listing the title. Anyway...I think the 5 I would choose would probably be...

1. Pokemon
2. Sailor Moon
3. Dragon Ball Z
4. Evangelion
5. Mobile Suit Gundam

I think those 5 would showcase a good variety of genres and each one of them has been a series that majorily impacted anime as a whole.

[Myoti]

Yes, I'd have to agree with a couple of those, namely DBZ. Despite how some think of it now, it DID greatly impact how Shonen is today.

I can't think of five good ones at the moment, as I haven't experienced enough to truly put out on anything, but I do have one in mind, and yes, you guessed it:


One Piece. Why? It wasn't afraid to break the "traditions" and "rules" of the Shonen genre, and I find it could easily be considered a modern day epic (comparable to those such as the Odyssey, Lord of the Rings, etc.). Yet at the same time, it goes back to what makes entertain so good, which is to allow the viewer to have fun, even in the more serious and trying moments.
This is shown in every aspect of it, the dialouge, the characters, the plot, the art (no matter how much some peopel don't seem to like it >_> ), and is worth more recognition than what our American dub has caused it to become.
Adding on to that point, it should be noted that it seems due to the One Piece dub that we are now recieved some "better treatment" in dubbed anime (i.e., Bobobo and Naruto) and hopefully this will continue on in days to come.

[chimera189]

1. Slayers
2. .hack//sign
3. Ah! My Goddess
4. Nadesico
5. Akira

[Shao Feng-Li]

Samurai 7
Spirited Away
Fruits Basket
Cowboy Bebop
Azumanga Daioh

[uc pseudonym]

I don't feel qualified to make such a list, but I think that in terms of representing a genre and having great influence on the medium, Love Hina should probably receive a spot. Similarly, Astroboy or another of the old anime would be of historical importance.

[Technomancer]

Cowboy Bebop
Wings of Honneamise
Now and Then, Here and There
Haibane Renmei
Full Metal Alchemist

[Joshua Christopher]

Gankutsuou, Giant Robo, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Voices of a Distant Star, and Now and Then, Here and There.

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

Spirited Away
Noir
Last Exile
Kiki's Delivery Service
Metropolis

[Debitt]

- Cowboy Bebop
- Spirited Away
- Mobile Suit Gundam OR 08th MS Team
- Naruto/One Piece/DBZ (leaning towards Naruto)
- Fruits Basket/Love Hina/His and Her Circumstances

Outside of Cowboy Bebop and 08th MS Team, I didn't really pick my favorites, nor did I include all the "classics" (Evangelion and Akira would have gone on there), I instead opted to pick a broad spectrum of series because anime obviously has a lot to choose from.

Cowboy Bebop is there because it's the sort of series that even non-anime fans could possibly enjoy - it's got a very distinct flavor that I've yet to see duplicated (Samurai Champloo, being by the same studio, did come vaguely close).

A Miyazaki film, IMHO, is a must - his films capture anime as an artform, both through visual art and story telling. I said Spirited Away because it has a distinctly Japanese feel to it, and was visually amazing.

MS Gundam was chosen because it's the classic "giant fighting robots" series that anime is known for, and I think it represents the genre much better than Robotech or Eva.

Naruto/One Piece/DBZ - text book examples of action series that are more aimed towards the teen crowd. I'm leaning towards Naruto simply because I think it's overall the best done out of the three.

The last list is obviously the shoujo/relationship oriented series, all of which also happen to have elements of anime-style humor in them as well. I was kinda reluctant to add Love Hina, and originally I had Kyou Kara Maou listed instead, but UC is right...it had a huge influence on anime.

EDIT: I sort of wish the list were longer so I could include some series that are "historically" important - Astroboy, Evangelion, Akira, and Sailor Moon come to mind, and I would also like to add Escaflowne if I could, as a representative of the fantasy genre.

[Rev. Doc]

1. Astro Boy: 1963 - The classic that helped point the way.
2. Sazae-san - The longest running anime in Japan (still running) should definitely have a place.
3. Hello Kitty - The title that put the cute in Kawaii. You can't turn around anywhere in the world today without running into this image.
4. Spirited Away - From one of the most successful directors of anime. While not the highest grossing in Japan I chose it because it has the most recognition world-wide.
5. Genshiken - A look at otaku and also a great overview of the influence of anime and manga on Japanese society.

[Rogie]

Wow, tough call. I suppose I can make a stab at it.

1. Astro Boy - obvious reasons
2. Mobile Suit Gundam - for one, it's excellent, but it also provides a good look at Japan's view of war and the possible future of war (not to mention the whole "giant robot" thing)
3. Comic Party - For purposes similar to Rev. Doc's Genshiken nod - a good look at otaku and manga/doujinshi.
4. Grave of the Fireflies - Beautiful, poignant, and a great way to see another side to WWII.
5. Any classic Miyazaki film - Take your pic, but the Disney of Japan deserves at least one film; Spirited Away or Mononoke are the top two choices here.

And honorable mention: Jubei-chan, simply because Bantaro and the Ruffians should live forever.

[Maledicte]

Cowboy Bebop
RahXephon
Giant Robo
Gankutsuou
Spirited Away

[ChronoShinobi]

1. Trigun
2. Fullmetal Alchemist
3. Cowboy Bebop
4. Naruto
5. Noir

If I could I would probably include Megatokyo archives, DNAngel manga, and the Fruits Basket manga.

If you don't know megatokyo, here's a link:
http://www.megatokyo.com/
If it wasn't for MT, I might never have taken an interest in anime (if you haven't read it, you should), and Fruits Basket was my very first Manga.

[Ichigo_89]

Akira
Cowboy Bebop
The Animatrix
Giant Robo
Samurai Champloo

[mitsuki lover]

It would be so easy to just list my top five personal favorites but I will try to refrain doing so and instead would list:
1.Inuyasha
2.Sailor Moon
3.Ghost In The Shell
4.RahXephon
5.Full Metal Alchemist

[Sami_jane]

Inuyasha
FMA
Fruits basket
Trigun
samerai champloo (or in place of that i would choose one of myazaki's films)

[Mr. SmartyPants]

I think we need to put in something from different styles and genres. Nothing like "Pokemon and Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo and Rurouni Kenshin" and stuff. We definately cannot put all mainstream titles in, I believe that the lesser known titles ought to be recognized as well, because not everybody likes the stuff that is on Cartoon Network or is read the most by all otaku. (Fruits Basket, Naruto, FMA, that stuff)

Anyway, a list that I'd compile would be:
-Monster/Death Note/20th Century Boys (For its realistic art and spooky, dark, serious, and psychological nature)
-Spirited Away (It being a classic by Miyazaki)
-Full Metal Panic (As it covers both mecha action and nonmecha action, plus school comedy, a good mix is always good)
-Rurouni Kenshin/Samurai X OVA Or Cowboy Bebop (For its historical setting/For it's intricate plot and untraditional ending)
-Some type of good shoujo (Fruits Basket or Full Moon wo Sagashite come into mind)

[Lynx]

for serious animes
1) cowboy bebop
2) trigun
3) evangelion
4) lain
5) hellsing

for comedys
1) love hina
2) azumanga daioh
3) genshiken

for shoujo
1) fruits basket
2) his and her circumstances
3) someday's dreamers

[PigtailsJazz]

1 - Neon Genesis: Evangelion
2 - Kodocha (though they have yet to release about 20 of the DVDs in English...)
3 - Spirited Away
4 - Grave of the Fireflies
5 - Rurouni Kenshin/Samurai X (they're classics)

[freerock1]

1. Pokemon
2. Sailor Moon
3. Dragon Ball Z
4. Evangelion
5. Mobile Suit Gundam

I think those 5 would showcase a good variety of genres and each one of them has been a series that majorily impacted anime as a whole.

I think my list would probably most closely resemble Rocketshipper's, with a couple changes...

Pokemon
Cowboy Bebop
Eva
Gundam (my personal favorite was 0083, but the original MSG was probably more groundbreaking)
something Miyazaki (Spirited Away will probably go down as the film with more notoriety, although my preference would probably be Castle in the Sky)

I really can't disagree with any on Rocketshipper's list, though. I wanted to keep DBZ on there, but I thought Eva was more historically significant and Pokemon did more to bring anime to the mainstream. Bebop was included because it was probably the series that did the most to bring more adult-oriented (meaning truly adult and not porn) anime to the mainstream.

[tripperdan99]

Seeing that this Time Capsule would represent my exposure to anime, it's almost tempting to give Miyazaki all five, lol. Though my list is shallow as far as historical impact, it reflects some of what I think is good about anime. So for, a real simple list ...

Last Exile (great animation work, fantastic score, etc)
Noein (mind candy)
Aria The Animation (beautiful slice of life, to show it wasn't all about slice & dice)
Gundam SEED (a little slice&dice, yea it was an alternate time line, don't get mad. Plus a fantastic music score)
*Last spot reserved for a "complete collection of Miyazaki" So launch has to come after March 7th, lol

[Steeltemplar]

Azumanga Daioh
Cowboy Bebop
Lupin III
Rurouni Kenshin
Excel Saga


Note that Lupin III, especially due to its animation style, is something of an special taste I have found. So for something more universal, I should say Love Hina. But, really, it was Lupin III that got me into anime.

[termyt]

After considering it for a while and reading everyone else's posts, my list and reasoning are as follows:

1) Irresponsible Captain Tylor
2) Love Hina
3) Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
4) Princess Nine
5) Cowboy Bebop

Irresponsible Captain Tylor is one of the most superficially deep anime I have ever seen. On the surface, it is a comedic parody of the great space epic anime of the past like Macross, Gundam, or Legends of Galactic Heroes. However, Tylor goes much deeper than that. It is not only a parody of space epics, it is in itself one of the greatest space epics ever animated. I’m a Macross fan, so as a second choice, I choose it over Gundam or Star Blazers. If Legends had been released in the West, I would recommend that, but, alas.

Love Hina is probably the best of the harem romantic comedies, although I wouldn’t dare tell that to Rumiko Takahashi. It takes all of the great elements of the genre and pushes them to the next level – it really is well put together. Alternate titles to fill this role are Ai Yori Aoshi, which puts a different spin on harem anime, and anything by Takahashi-san (preferably Ranma ½).

I wrote Nausicaä because it is my personal favorite, but inserting your favorite will work, too. Miyazaki’s contribution to anime it too large to be ignored and one of his works should be included in any kind of collection like this. My personal recommendations are Nausicaä and Laputa: Castle in the Sky.

No collection would be complete with out a solid shojo title, either. An excellent example which probably won’t bore male audiences to tears is Princess Nine. The key difference between shojo and shonen anime is the handling of relationships. The heroes in shonen anime handle their relationships like guys do (picture DBZ). Shojo titles handle the relationships like girls do. Princess Nine takes a story familiar to all – a baseball team striving to win a championship – and tells it form a girl’s point of view. Kind of the anime version of “A League of Their Own.â€

[Azier the Swordsman]

I would have to say...

1. Dragon Ball/Z

2. Mobile Suit Gundam

3. Tenchi

4. Cowboys Bebop

5. Rurouni Kenshin

[beau99]

1. FMA (my current favorite anime)
2. Castle In The Sky (best Miyazaki film... ever)
3. Trigun (another good one)
4. Evangelion (controversial, but still essential)
5. Pokémon (without it, I wouldn't be watching FMA now)

[Myoti]

These are getting so varied, perhaps you should just put an episode from each mentioned on a DVD?

[faithfighter]

>trigun
>last exile
>Gankatsuou
>Rave master
>Kenshin

hands down!

[mitsuki lover]

I think the majority opinion would include Inuyasha.