Weekly Art- Elyon’s Top 10 Anime Ever!
It’s time once again for weekly art, which we haven’t actually had in a few weeks. You’ve seen Renn and Tofu’s top 10 anime posts of 2010, but since I’m a dirty copycat, I decided to make this post all about me create my own list of my top 10 anime series of all time (mostly because I couldn’t really think of a better theme.) Anyway, this is an art post, so I’m not really going to get too into why some of these are my favorites (after all, you’re not here to read a wall of text.) Feel free to share your own personal lists below! I’d really love to see them.
10. Now and Then, Here and There
I almost didn’t include this in the post just because the selection of art for this anime was so slim. Seriously, where is the love for Now and Then, Here and There?!
I, like a lot of people, wasn’t impressed at all with the first episode of this show. In fact, I dropped it for two weeks before reading on Star Crossed that psgels had a similar experience, only to realize after watching the second episode that it gets a lot better. As you can see, I’m glad I gave it another chance. I could write paragraphs and paragraphs about all of the things that NTHT did right, but since I said I’d keep these brief, the bottom line is that this was an emotionally engaging and utterly depressing story, and I loved it to pieces!
9. Last Exile
Anybody who has read our Fall Preview has probably seen that there’s going to be a sequel to Last Exile this October. Do I think it will be as good as the first Last Exile though? Well, it would be awesome if it was, because this is one of those rare few series that managed to suck me in and keep me hooked to the very end. It was so addicting that I think I finished the whole thing in a day!
8. Revolutionary Girl Utena
Utena is a classic for a reason. Oh sure, it’s a bit slow and a bit repetitive, but the characterization is nothing short of amazing. Add in some crazy visuals, heavy symbolism, jaw-dropping plot twists, and a little dose of mindfuck, and you have one hell of an epic anime.
7. Arakawa Under The Bridge
Within the first minute of the show, there is a man hanging above a river in his underwear. And it only gets crazier from there. I love how Shaft employs so many different wacky styles of animation, and the anime has one of the most well put-together, intelligently written scripts I’ve ever seen. The second season, however, I wasn’t crazy about…
6. Higurashi no Naku Koro ni
Oh, how I curse DEEN for animating this so horribly, because this series deserved so much better. You might be thinking “ugh, there goes Elyon again with her yanderes”, but there’s really much more to it than that (although it is a plus.) The experience of watching Higurashi is intense, thrilling, horrifying, and just plain exciting right up to the very end. The carefully constructed mystery is fascinating to watch unfold, and the cast of characters are all so fun to watch that even the quiet moments are enjoyable (albeit not nearly as interesting as the insane ones.) Plus, Shion is awesome.
5. Baccano!
Baccano! intimidated me at first with the huge cast of characters and the completely incoherent first few episodes. Yet, as the pieces slowly began to come together, I started to realize the sheer brilliance of it. Baccano!, in all of it’s insanity, has some of the best writing I have ever seen. Not only that, but the creators don’t waste a single second, achieving the seemingly impossible by fleshing out it’s characters, solving it’s mystery, and tying all loose ends in just 16 episodes.
4. Shiki
This is horror anime at it’s very best. What Shiki excels at is creating that perfect haunting atmosphere, and it manages to be genuinely creepy without relying on just shock value and gore. It’s slow and a bit tedious at first, but your patience is rewarded during the second half when everything finally hits the fan and it utilizes all of that build-up. The feeling of being absolutely desperate for the next episode to come out each week is something that no other anime has ever been able to do to me, so I guess you could say Shiki will always hold a special place in my heart even with it’s flaws. Oh, and Tatsumi’s wardrobe was godly. <3
3. Code Geass
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. Code Geass is chock full of plot holes and blah blah blah, BUT I HAD FUN. Code Geass was pure entertainment from start to finish, and I adored every minute of it of it, even when my brain was screaming at me to criticize it and stop being so darn easily amused. It’s the kind of show where you just have to be like “fuck you, brain. I’m watching animu!” and enjoy the ride, and that’s exactly what I did.
2. Fantastic Children
Fantastic Children was, indeed, a fantastic anime. In fact, I almost put it in first place. The story is compelling, the setting is unique, the cast is diverse and well-developed, and some of the plot twists just left me speechless. This anime took me over a month to complete because I had a lot of trouble finding all of the episodes, but it was so worth it. The art turned me off of it a bit at first (though I later grew to like it), but the background visuals are nothing to scoff at. And, if it means anything, this is the first and only series that I’ve actually paid money to get the OST for.
1. Gankutsuou: The Count Of Monte Cristo
Personally, I think this is GONZO’s best, and it’s one of the reasons I still consider GONZO to be my favorite studio even after it went bad. In fact, I’d be so bold as to say that this was a masterpiece. So why are you still here? Go watch it right now!
So that’s it! Some honorable mentions that it REALLY pained me to be unable to include are Haibane Renmei, Fullmetal Alchemist:Brotherhood, Saikano, The End of Evangelion and Berserk.
I hope you guys enjoyed the art this week! I unfortunately couldn’t link to the artist’s pages since, believe it or not, most of this is art that I’ve been hording on my computer, but all credit goes to the original artists.
Thanks for reading!
Great spin on the Weekly Art segment and solid list overall. Glad Shiki is getting love as well.
Have to say I've never heard of Fantastic Children. I'm intrigued so I'll be looking into it.
Shiki definitely deserves more love!
And thank you~ ^_^
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Baccano, Revolutionary Girl Utena, and Gankutsuou would be in my top 10, too. 100% approval for your number one. I just bought the DVDs for that anime (my first anime purchase, not counting my Pokemon cards xD ).
The only one I haven't seen here is Fantastic Children… Going onto the watchlist for sure. There's not a single anime on this list that I dislike. Oh, and beautiful art! :D
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YESSSS WATCH IT, RENN!! I think you'll like it! :D
Ahaha congrats on your first anime purchase. It's a slippery slope though- soon you'll find your shelves covered with dvd's and figures before you know what hit you. ;D
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I really really want to watch Gankutsuou. Im reading the original novel at the moment but since the anime is licensed i can't get the dvd in my region and i feel the art is probably to good to stream.
Baccano is one of my favorite series ever and its really great seeing some art like this.
It's always fun to see more of Arakawa. Surprised it's a top 10 show though.
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There's an original novel? Wowzers, thanks for the comment, now I have to go read it!
I watched it on Funimation streaming, but later regretted it because the quality was terrible. I'm not sure if I should be saying this, but there's a really good batch up on Nyaatorrents at the moment if you can spare the bandwidth. :3
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Awesome list!!! my top favorite is Shiki. I'm always into vampire anime and this horror was the best one yet. I'm a big fan of it. It's right up there with Hellsing. There's a lot to like about it: the music, the characters and the unique fact that the risen characters had a fashion upgrade after they died.
My favorite characters are Seishin, Sunako, Tatsumi, Yoshie, Megumi, Toru, Akira and Kaori. Especially Seishin and Sunako for their Let The Right One In relationship and Sunako's feigned, child-like innocence. It's too bad most of the Shiki were killed. I really liked them except for that bug Masao.
Thanks!! I've been meaning to watch Hellsing, so I'll move it up on my list. :3
LOL I actually kind of liked Masao XD His face made me laugh. The characters in Shiki were all really great- I think my favorite was Ozaki though~ Haha.
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reading your top 10 list gives me another reason to watch shows i've been putting off for quite a while, which includes; Fantastic Children, Shiki, and Utena. although, i only decided to pick up Fantastic Children because i remember seeing it in a handful of top 5's on MAL, yours included.
among those listed, i definitely agree with Baccano and Code Geass as a "great" series; Baccano having the most votes so far doesn't surprise me one bit.
i'm sure you've seen my top 20, but for the sake of posting; Clannad ~AS~, Nana, and Toradora would be somewhere up there. i'm also glad you didn't put Arakawa Under the BridgeXBridge but its predecessor instead which, in my opinion, was better off with its loose plot line laced with decorated characters combined with over-the-top humor. blah blah blah
great post and the art is exquisite ^^
I think you'll really like Fantastic Children. ^^ And Shiki and Utena.
Clannad: After Story was actually pretty close to making a spot on here too, and Nana and Toradora are both really great shows.
Thank you~
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Now and Then, Here and There was really great. I could write paragraphs about how great it was too, and it’s found an easy place in my own Top 10. It’s just such a great, disturbing show and it really has a way of sticking in my head. It’s kind of a shame there’s so little fanart, too, but I guess the art and horrible depressing content turn people off. It’s pretty rare that I see art of Hamdo or Tabool, so good job finding those and the rest of your pictures!
I haven’t watched a lot of other shows on your list, though I’ve been meaning to check out RGU, Fantastic Children and Gankutsuou. Baccanno and Shiki were good ones, too; they miss the cutoff for my own Top 10, but they’re still great and memorable shows in their own right and I enjoyed them a lot. And of course, great art all around; I’m particularly fond of that picture of Chane lunging with her knife.
*Gasp* Another Now and Then, Here and There fan?! Awesome! :D I actually specifically tried to find more Hamdo, but sadly that was like the only one that even exists~ Haha. Thanks ^^
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Shiki, Baccano and Arakawa OH YEAAAAHHH. I see a few obscure ones I haven't even heard of on here too, perhaps I'll check them out. Your number 1 choice looks particularly interesting…hmm *adds to list*
Yay!! You see, the secret ulterior motive behind this post was to get people to watch more anime I like so I could then fangirl with them over it. Haha XD
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I was thinking about watching Shiki, and Higurashi would be definitely in my top 10. Evangelion… if it wasn't because years ago, some dude told me about this "organic robot fights show" i probably wouldn't be watching anime today, totally changed my life.
These Top 10 lists make me wonder about how much good anime I haven't seen yet.
If you liked Higurashi, then Shiki is definitely something I'd recommend checking out since the two are really similar (although Higurashi was more fast-paced whereas Shiki is a bit slow at first.)
I wonder that too sometimes XD There's just so much stuff to watch.
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No Haibane Renmei? What the… How could you do this Elyon…
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I know, excluding it was painful. T__T I'm regretting not making this a top 12 list just so I could squeeze Haibane Renmei and Berserk in…
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Are these just anime with best art or art of your favorite anime?
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Just favorite anime in general. :3 (I'd have to be insane if I thought Higurashi had top-ten worthy art XD )
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I only saw two from your list, Arakawa and Utena. Although, I'm eyeing to include Fantastic Children on my list.
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Arakawa Under the Bridge and Code Geass, I choose them
Nino!!!