Board 8 > Tazzy Ranks 101 User-Nominated Anime with Write-ups

(+) Yeah! (+)

tazzyboyishere posted...

The biggest kicker is how these events don't even change Riko as a character. I mean, you would think that after suffering something as traumatic as she does in episode 10, there would be some kind of psychological damage.

I thought the implication was that she knew exactly what she was getting into from the start and that she was already mentally prepared for things like this.

Of course you can very reasonably claim that's not a believable character trait, but I think that's the show's explanation for why she can still remain optimistic.
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I've actually been reading Dragon Ball lately, and got up to the massive twist...

...that Goku is 14 years old. WTF? Who designs a 14 year old to look like that?
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Doesn't that only get revealed like way later? I thought he was introduced as being 12ish and then they figured out he was 14 once he learned to count or something.

Made me suspect that it was a retcon?
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It's in one of the first few chapters, where he wants to take a bath with Bulma or whatever, and it turns out that she's 16 while he's 14, so having a bath with him isn't exactly cool.
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56. Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (2006)
Mac (2/5)


Time to sink your teeth into another lame write-up. It's been way too long since I watched this to give it much of a thoughtful write-up, but I'll do my best, regardless. Higurashi is a tale of mystery and horror surrounding a small town's annual festival. Many murders and disappearances have occured over the years, and when our protagonist starts digging for information, he begins to realize everyone around him is insane.

The thing that bugged me the most about the show was it's structure. When I watched this as a young pup, I had no idea visual novels worked the way they did. The story is told over the course of multiple timelines, and it doesn't relay this to the viewer until the second season. Needless to say, I was really confused. I chalked it up to "bad writing" but I'll admit that I was dumb. Still, to this day I haven't revisited the story, so it still has a bit of that sour taste in my mouth. The first season does an excellent job setting up the inevitable conclusions of it's arcs, ranging from unsettling to gratifying. The pacing of each story is great for the most part. I do have MAJOR issues with the show's sense of humor, which was a massive cringefest. I'm shocked I lasted past the first episode with how awful that shit is.

The second season answered a lot of my initial confusion with the first, and it ditched the horror atmosphere to push something a bit more fantastical in nature. It was a welcome change to me, since I quite enjoyed Kai. You never really get to the level of darkness achieved by season one though, and I think I'd probably like it less on rewatch, just based on my current memories. Then you have Rei, which I remember nothing about, and Kira, which made me want to die. I don't think either are canon though.
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IIRC they retcon him as being 12 a bit later with the excuse that he didn't know how to count past 10 correctly or something.
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higurashi nailed it for me
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55. Love Lab (2013)
Maria (4/5)


I feel like this show kinda fell by the wayside, which is a shame because it was pretty funny. The main character, Riko, is a forever virgin who walks in on the student council president of her new school making out with a pillow. They then collaborate on a schoolwide project to help girls with their love lives, while trying to figure out romance themselves. It has a few more characters whom I dont really remember, but its basically just an episodic comedy centered around these girls who are so inexperienced to the point of sheer idiocy. One of the gags that I liked was the presidents constant image of the perfect guy being her pillow.

I think a lot of people were disappointed that this wasnt yuri or something? It had the same director as Yuru Yuri, and, from what I gather, a pretty similar structure. I havent actually seen it, though. Its a shame, because I wouldnt mind seeing this get some more material animated. Theres always the manga, but it takes me a year to read one chapter of manga, so its pretty hard to just jump on that.
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Higurashi great show
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Love Lab's later episodes were not so great. Less comedy focus, more drama/'romance' and the romance wasn't that good IMO. Going in a yuri direction would've been a lot better, I think. It started out awesome though.
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AxemRedRanger posted...

IIRC they retcon him as being 12 a bit later with the excuse that he didn't know how to count past 10 correctly or something.

Ah, yeah, just got to this part. 12's still a little old I think, but much better than 14...
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Love Lab was my introduction to Minase Inori. Don't remember much else about it since it's been about 5 years now.
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You've inspired me to watch Love Lab. I've only watched one episode so far, and it was a very good episode, but-

tazzyboyishere posted...

I think a lot of people were disappointed that this wasnt yuri

This is probably true because I'm already disappointed to know it won't go that way.
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The tears of lonely yuri fanboys have inspired me to buy Love Lab. Thanks Tazzy.
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higurashi's format confused me/kind of turned me off at first but GMUN (the person who recommended it to me) reassured me it would be explained and all tied together. that was good enough to help me thoroughly enjoy the first season (and kai even more.) I've rewatched the anime, read the manga, and played the VN. I don't count the series as one of my all time favorite's but it's one I've loved every time I experience it again.

I enjoyed love lab but don't have too many memories/thoughts on it. I didn't care about it being yuri or not but it was funny.
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I never really got all the complaining about how Love Lab should have been a yuri series. Most people who watched it agree that it's a good comedy, and the show never really hinted at going in that direction. Are people just offended to see a "cute girl" show where the girls aren't ambiguously gay for each other?
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Higurashi's format confused me but that was one of its appeals, honestly. The "what the hell is going on" was all the stronger for it. The "humor" could be grating but the tonal dissonance was fantastic.
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Some day Mangagamer will release chapters 6-8 of the VN and I will actually be able to talk about Higurashi
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As a general plot point on Higurashi - enjoyed the WTF aspect of Season 1 a lot, but also enjoyed getting everything resolved so satisfyingly in Season 2. That said the focus on Rika was less enjoyable to me.

Also Rena best character, and the S1's OP was OP.
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Oh yeah, forgot to work it into the write-up, but I got Higurashi 1-5 in a Humble Bundle. Not sure when I'll get to them
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The premise of the show was that these girls joining the club were looking for help to hook up with guys... so the yuri route wouldn't work >_>
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GranzonEx posted...

The premise of the show was that these girls joining the club were looking for help to hook up with guys... so the yuri route wouldn't work >_>

I've still only seen the first episode (and I was mostly joking in my earlier post) but they practiced relationship stuff like holding hands on each other in that one. It's not hard to see how that could escalate >_>
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Xeybozn posted...

I never really got all the complaining about how Love Lab should have been a yuri series. Most people who watched it agree that it's a good comedy, and the show never really hinted at going in that direction. Are people just offended to see a "cute girl" show where the girls aren't ambiguously gay for each other?

I already said the problem was that the show got less funny later on.
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54. Fullmetal Alchemist (2003)
SeabassDebeste (3/4)


FMA is one of those all-time classics that most anime fans have seen. The 2003 version has more or less lost a lot of it's appeal thanks to a storyline that deviates from the canon, but I think most people agree that it does the canon parts much better than Brotherhood. I am the only anime fan who hasn't seen Brotherhood, so I can't comment on that, but I have read the manga, and I agree that the path the original anime took was much weaker.

The first half of this show is spectacular, and I think few would argue otherwise. It creates a very intriguing world, and presents us with two unique main characters. The dynamic they create is fun to watch, and their backstory is pretty dark, unlike what many shounen backstories push. The show has a tendency to be bleak. The story arc that hooks nearly everyone involves the Tucker family. No doubt a memorable story thanks to how twisted it is. The first half all culminates into one of the most tragic death scenes in the medium. The show was riding pretty high after so much quality, but they caught up to the manga soon after, and they were forced to write their own conclusions.

I do think the story gets ripped on a bit too much. It's significantly better than 90% of anime-original material that gets thrown into shounens. But it gets hurt simply due to how impressive the show started. I do like some of the ideas it created, and the way characters were written. But the end result is poorly executed, leading to a finale that just blows. I think you're meant to watch the movie, but I didn't bother with it. I do plan on watching Brotherhood at some point, but the original is pretty cool. It's just worth forgetting about after episode 27.
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53. Pokemon: The Origin (2013)
ZXAdvent (1/2)


This is a short 4-episode retelling of the original Pokemon Red/Blue games. It's a lot of fun, but the length creates a few issues, the biggest being wasted potential. The standard Pokemon anime, as much as I love it, is a bit stale. It doesn't attempt to tell much of a story beyond Ash's vague efforts of being the very best like no one ever was. And while the animation has grown to a pretty solid level, you don't get anything that can tap into the sheer brutality of two overpowered monsters trying to knock each other out. It's a kids show, so that's to be expected, but this special does make an effort to show how cool these battles can be, and it does a damn fine job at that.

Obviously, he battles are the only reason to watch this. The story itself is ripped from a 1996 Gameboy game, so there's not much meat, even with the liberties taken to make it more engaging in the animated format. It doesn't function as an adventure like the regular show, so they put far more work into the battles than the writing. And you get some really cool scenes set up because of it. Animation is crisp and polished, making each fight stand out on it's own. The 4-episode length certainly helps in that regard, as you can only get by for so long on action alone.

But it would've been cool to see this develop into a bigger project. I may talk about it in the Pokemon write-up once it comes up, but the story of Ash and Pikachu has long since ran it's course, and it'd be a fresh new path for the series to take with a more combat-focused series. But it's revealed at the end that this was solely to advertise the new Megastone gimmick that nobody really cared about, so it's unfortunate that we probably never see something like this again. The studio in charge of this obviously put a lot of work into it, but four episodes just isn't enough to capture the magic of Pokemon.
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I really enjoyed pokemon: the origin

made me feel really nostalgic as someone who was into pokemon as a kid and didn't keep with it and the battles were awesome
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Excuse you the episode with Cubone fucked my shit up
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sounds way better than the actual pokemon anime
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SeabassDebeste posted...

sounds way better than the actual pokemon anime

it is
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52. Persona 4 the Animation (2011)
handsomeboy (3/5)


Considering the big appeal of the Persona games is the many optional sub stories and character interactions, an anime seemed like it would be doomed to failure, especially when theyre condensing an 80-hour game into a 24 episode series. Needless to say, theres some good stuff and bad stuff.

The story doesnt stray too far from the game, iirc. Persona 4 has the best story in the series, so it could translate well to any medium, I think. The big problem is that the social links, while explored, are quite rushed on the whole. They arent plot crucial, so I can understand why, but the casual growth of bonds between the main character and NPCs is where so much of the magic happens.

The decision to give Yu the personality he was given, however, was absolutely genius. Basically, he has the personality of a mute protagonist, without being mute, if that makes sense. Hes a dense airhead, and it makes for some amazing character interactions. One of my favorite parts of Persona 5 was that it gave you dialogue options similar to how Yu would speak in this show, so Im worried theyre going to ride that success in the P5 adaptation. Well see I guess.
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51. 91 Days (2016)
Turnsniper (4/5)


91 Days is the tale of a young man who infiltrates a mafia family in order to get revenge on his parents' murderers. It takes place in the United States during the Prohibition era, so it's already got a top tier setting. I watched the simulcast, so it was subbed, but it's a show that would definitely benefit from a good dub. Not sure if tha exists, though. It's a pretty slow-paced show that has a knack for ratcheting up the excitement when it wants to.

Angelo, the MC, is a standard protagonist for this type of story. His main personality trait is brooding, and he comes off as dull because showing emotion would give away his master plan. It results in a character study where the main character is the weakest in the cast, which should be more of a problem than it actually is. But hell, I enjoyed the story quite a bit. The writers did an excellent job at pacing each episode. Outside of the first few which aren't the greatest, it's easy to become invested in it because the presentation is top notch.

It's also home to one of the most UNDERRATED OPS EVER. Give it a watch:
https://vimeo.com/187446462
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The Top 50:
Akira
Angel Beats!
AnoHana
Aria
Assassination Classroom
Attack on Titan
Avatar: The Last Airbender
Baccano!
Code Geass
Daily Lives of High School Boys
Death Note
Death Parade
FLCL
Furiko
Hajime no Ippo
Hunter x Hunter (2011)
JoJos Bizzare Adventure
Kinos Journey
Kurokos Basketball
Monthly Girls Nozaki-kun
My Hero Academia
My Love Story!!
One Outs
One Punch Man
Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt
Penguindrum
Pokemon
Pokemon: The First Movie
ReLIFE
Redline
SKET Dance
Sayonara Zesubou Sensei
School Rumble
Scums Wish
Seto no Hanayome
Shomin Sample
Squid Girl
Steins;Gate
Summer Wars
TTGL
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
The Seven Deadly Sins
The World God Only Knows
Toradora!
Tsurezure Children
Wandering Son
Welcome to the NHK!
Wolf Children
Your Name

Is your favorite in the top 50? Your least favorite? If anyone predicts the top 50 perfectly, I will send you a congratulatory picture.
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Oh, 91 Days. I did like that one a good amount. The setting was good, and it was a well-executed version of a classic plot.
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Anime Yu Narukami is one of the greatest anime characters ever
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There has never been a character who deadpans better than Yu Narukami.

Also, King's Game is one of the best anime scenes of all time.
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If only anime Yu Narukami brought his hilarity to P4 Arena where he went back to being boring
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NowItsAngeTime posted...

If only anime Yu Narukami brought his hilarity to P4 Arena where he went back to being boring

nah he's still great in Arena, just for different reasons now

and he gets plenty of good lines from the perspective of other characters due to everything getting muddled in their conversations
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91 Days is licensed by Funi and it does have a dub. I can't comment on it since I'm not really interested in English dubs, but you may want to check it out.
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I like the persona 4 anime but I wasn't crazy about it. I think it's probably impossible to capture the atmosphere/feel of a persona game in any medium besides a video game. that being said, yu is fantastic in it.
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anime i know absolutely nothing about in the top 50:

Aria
Assassination Classroom
Daily Lives of High School Boys
Death Parade
Furiko
Monthly Girls Nozaki-kun
My Hero Academia
My Love Story!!
One Outs
Penguindrum
ReLIFE
Redline
SKET Dance
Sayonara Zesubou Sensei
Scums Wish
Seto no Hanayome
Shomin Sample
Squid Girl
Summer Wars
The World God Only Know
Tsurezure Children
Wandering Son
Wolf Children
Your Name
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anime I haven't seen in the top 50:

Redline
SKET Dance
Seto no Hanayome
Shomin Sample
Summer Wars
Your Name

shomin sample obviously the most egregious...
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Also, since I nominated FMA and amd slowly going through it again, I suppose I will weigh in on it.

I don't think the show falls off after the divergence. In fact, I think that many of its best "answers"/inventions come after the split, and that the mystery of what Homunculi are + the key to destroying them is actually more enjoyable in the 2003 anime. The scene where the Philosopher's Stone is synthesized in Al's shell doesn't happen until near Episode 38 or so, and then there's Ed vs Greed before that. And you also had Roy vs Fuhrer King Bradley (Pride in 2003).

That said the last 13 or so episodes really failed to finish things properly, so it's impossible for me to vouch for it over Brotherhood to a new watcher. What it does do right is better than what Brotherhood achieves, but Brotherhood tells a complete, satisfying story.
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oh huh I've still got all my noms left

nice
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Have Not seen at least 3 eps of

Akira
Assassination Classroom
Daily Lives of High School Boys
Furiko
Kurokos Basketball
Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt
Redline
Scums Wish
The Seven Deadly Sins
Wandering Son
Wolf Children
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I've actually seen or read everything in the top 50, heh.
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Anime I haven't seen in the top 50:

Assassination Classroom
Attack on Titan
Daily Lives of High School Boys (am actually watching now though)
Furiko
Hajime no Ippo
JoJos Bizzare Adventure (have seen like 5 episodes of S3 I think?)
Kurokos Basketball
One Outs
One Punch Man
Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt
SKET Dance
Sayonara Zesubou Sensei
Summer Wars
The Seven Deadly Sins

Note: Read the Scum's Wish manga but did not watch the anime

Actually a higher watch rate than I expected tbh.
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whoa, I'm surprised you haven't attack on titan
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tazzyboyishere posted...

The Top 50:
Akira
Angel Beats!
AnoHana
Aria
Assassination Classroom
Attack on Titan
Avatar: The Last Airbender
Baccano!
Code Geass
Daily Lives of High School Boys
Death Note
Death Parade
FLCL
Furiko
Hajime no Ippo
Hunter x Hunter (2011)
JoJos Bizzare Adventure
Kinos Journey
Kurokos Basketball
Monthly Girls Nozaki-kun
My Hero Academia
My Love Story!!
One Outs
One Punch Man
Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt
Penguindrum
Pokemon
Pokemon: The First Movie
ReLIFE
Redline
SKET Dance
Sayonara Zesubou Sensei
School Rumble
Scums Wish
Seto no Hanayome
Shomin Sample
Squid Girl
Steins;Gate
Summer Wars
TTGL
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
The Seven Deadly Sins
The World God Only Knows
Toradora!
Tsurezure Children
Wandering Son
Welcome to the NHK!
Wolf Children
Your Name

Is your favorite in the top 50? Your least favorite? If anyone predicts the top 50 perfectly, I will send you a congratulatory picture.

I've seen the bolded. Still have a lot more to go.
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These are the ones I've seen.

AnoHana
Attack on Titan
Daily Lives of High School Boys
Death Note
My Hero Academia
One Punch Man
Scum's Wish
Squid Girl
Steins;Gate
Toradora!
Tsurezure Children

Every so often I worry that I'm running out of anime but then reminders like this set me straight, there is still a ton of anime left
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Robazoid posted...

These are the ones I've seen.

AnoHana
Attack on Titan
Daily Lives of High School Boys
Death Note
My Hero Academia
One Punch Man
Scum's Wish
Squid Girl
Steins;Gate
Toradora!
Tsurezure Children

Every so often I worry that I'm running out of anime but then reminders like this set me straight, there is still a ton of anime left

With how good anime has been consistently these days (imo) you'll never run out
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