Whats your favorite anime and why

[Taffeta]

I love a lot of anime and manga. I don't get on really well with super-mainstream series (although up till the newest arc, which could win an award for its lameness, I was very much up with Bleach), but I have a lot of series I love depending on my mood.

In terms of favourite, well, that's hard. I have many. But in terms of seminal to my life, there are two in particular I must mention. Both of them actively changed my life and that is no exaggeration.

The first is Fushigi Yuugi. This was the first anime I saw in Japanese. It was a long time ago, before I spoke Japanese. A friend sent me a clip of Tasuki's song and I was captivated by it, so I ended up watching the first few episodes on Youtube. It was subbed, with Japanese track. I loved it. I saw one ep in English and it almost killed me. I went out and bought the DVD. From that moment two things happened. #1 I never watched anime in English ever again and #2 I began learning Japanese. Although it had always been there in the background of my childhood, with my mother teaching English to Japanese people, this was my first decision to fully embrace it. So Fushigi Yuugi made me learn Japanese.

The second is Harukanaru Toki no Naka De. As a development from the Yuugi craze, I got all into japanese voice artists, and several of them crossed over to the Neoroma world. I got into the Neoroma scene and became totally hooked on Haruka. (It has an English name, I will not use it xD). When Haruka 3 came out, though, I was particularly captured by the tragic story of Atsumori. By this time my Japanese was good enough to play games in Japanese, and so I had played Haruka 1-3. When I found out Atsumori was a 'real person' and read the tale from the Heike Monogatari about his death, I wanted to know more.

I asked for Heike Monogatari for Christmas, and got it. Read it.

Now I'm a PhD Student in Japanese Pre-Modern literature and History at the University of London. From reading that English translation of Heike, I am now working with the original texts in old Japanese, and translating sections of them while writing about their influence. Ironic considering their influence on me.

But if Yuugi hadn't made me learn Japanese, and Haruka hadn't introduced me to Heike, I would not be here, doing this now. And I LOVE being a student of Japanese old stuff. But in this case, anime (and the related worlds around, in the case of Haruka, which is way more than just anime) literally put me on the path I am on now.

So I guess in the context of this thread, I'm going to say those two. But there are others too. Saiyuuki is one. I adore Saiyuuki but I wonder if it will ever be finished, because the mangaka is so often ill, she has had some horrific health issues over the years. Saiunkoku Monogatari is maybe the best constructed anime plot I know of, because it comes from (even more intricate) novels. Sotsugyou M is another which has never been translated to English and the best of it is not animated, so it's totally obscure...Fruits Basket is unbearably cute too. Tenchi Muyo was my first ever anime, and I am still fond of it. So yes, there are many. Just Yuugi and Haruka are the most seminal for the reasons above.

Although it royally annoys me when people talk about Haruka as a rip off of Yuugi, when Haruka is set in various old Japanese settings and Yuugi is ancient China...

(And with Bleach, I still love translating it, and breaking it down and pulling out all the gazillion symbolic images and references to old Japanese culture and Buddhist tradition and superstition, because that's the kind of geek I am, but the current arc is just horrible...and I really miss it because of that fact.)

[Princess Lala]

I ah.... watch maybe too much anime  I've been watching anime literally as long as I can remember! My first anime was Trigun, something a 6 year old probably shouldn't watch! I turned out fine, so oh well to that LOL Always been a fan of Japan, art, so anime is my . I prefer to watch anime in Japanese.

I like literally most anime you can think of. I love to watch apocalyptic thrillers, anything cute about talking animals, anything from the Meiji era, anime about cooking competitions, slice of life comedy's, and especially most definetly magical girl or romance. With romance I am very fond of homosexual couples- especially females. Magical girl says it all though! one of my first few anime's I have seen also included Card Captor and Sailor Moon so there is my influence there! I have always wanted to be in an anime about magical girls, I want a pink pretty outfit with a wand too! x3 I have noticed most magical girl leaders have bright reddish hair in their casual form and have pink hair in their transformation. This is a reason I decided to dye my hair flame-red! Hoping something will tell me I'm chosen to be a magical girl xD

Himouto Umaru is very very close to my #1 favorite of all time just because that is totally a mirrored life of me but with a husband (oottoo-saaaan!) But my absolute ultimate favorite of all time is Tokyo Mew Mew, its nostalgic for me. It came on TV when we didn't have cable and I saw ichigo on TV and wanted to be her. I loved that show as a kid!  Its like Sailor Moon but with rainbow members that have powers of endangered animals. There's romance, the main villian Deep Blue is hot, and messages about saving the planet and animals. I own the whole manga series! I absolutely love Ichigo, she is my favorite character! Sailor Moon comes crazy close because of alllll the romance that goes on.

I love me a sappy love story anime!

Other favs of mine:

Spoiler

(mostly in order!?)
Tokyo Mew Mew
Himouto Umaru
Kilala Princess/ Kirara Purinsesu
Pretty Cure (entire series, but Princess is my favorite gen)
Yuki Yuni
Sailor Moon (SMC and Stars are my favorite)
Rurouni Kenshin
Card Captor
Chobits
Madoka Puella Magi
Wolfs Rain
Strawberry Panic
Nichijou
Digimon
Pokemon
Zoids
Gurren Lagann (boobs LOL)
Wolf Children
FMA (all series)
RomeoXJuliet
Super Sonico animated series (more boobs LOL)
I Don't Know What My Husband is Saying
Chi the Cat (all series)
Poyopoyo
My Bride is a Mermaid
DoReMi
Tokyo Ghoul
All of those Studio Ghibli films.
Food Wars
7 Deadly Sins

Im sure I'm missing some more anime I flip out over LOL there's soooo many. Some if them I can't list because they are NSFW xD but I really love gay anime love stories. 

Husband is also a huuuuuge fan of anime. He watches an encyclopedia of anime including nsfw genres lol. He recently started watching more girly anime eith me which is adorable! His ultimate favorite is Crayon Shin Chan, Gurren Lagann, and the entire FMA series and manga- he even has LE figures and rare merchandise signed! We are probably one of the biggest otaku couples someone could meet, we would have to live in Japan to go to the next level! We are even learning Japanese and have a special keyboard set up! (灬ºωº灬)♡

[Carrehz]

omg yessss another Doremi/Tokyo Mew Mew fan!! -highfives Princess Lala-

[Aerora]

Princess Tutu's my all-time favorite! I love the use of classical music (and gorgeous ballet animation to go with), and it does such neat things with the concept of rewriting fate and fairytales - and, you know, I love all the characters more than life itself, so that helps.

I actually found the only (non-twelve-year-old-garage-kit) merchandise of Rue on ebay a few months back and picked it up! Hopefully someday I'll be able to find the matching Ahiru to keep her company.

[Princess Lala]

omg yessss another Doremi/Tokyo Mew Mew fan!! -highfives Princess Lala-

*highfives back and does a little dance* OMG of cooouuurrsseeee I looooooooooove those anime's! That was my tween childhood since I didn't have cable! xD its funny when most people my age were into rap music... buying makeup, starting to date, ya know.... trying to grow up....I was in my jammies watching doremi Saturday morning eating ramen for breakfast xD

To this day I love that DoReMi and I REGRET not buying that bandai merchandise of the toys at Dollar General or the dolls wherever I saw those.... oh dear because eBay is scary place for that stuff.

Have you ever seen those MewMew Korean dolls!? I have been constantly looking for the transformation Ichigo one for YEARS! the one with the pink brushable hair omg she is adorable! I once made my own OC character of a white kitty cat MewMew with a red dress and pale pink hair, I neeeeed to draw her again soon! I named her Mew Salmon or something lame xD Mew Mew for LIFE!

Post Merge: April 27, 2016, 07:23:55 PM

Princess Tutu's my all-time favorite! I love the use of classical music (and gorgeous ballet animation to go with), and it does such neat things with the concept of rewriting fate and fairytales - and, you know, I love all the characters more than life itself, so that helps.

I actually found the only (non-twelve-year-old-garage-kit) merchandise of Rue on ebay a few months back and picked it up! Hopefully someday I'll be able to find the matching Ahiru to keep her company.

I have been meaning to watch this, its on my question along with several others LOL I used to be in ballet as a girl and teenager, so this would be something I would like!

OOOHHH! HAS ANYONE WATCHED THE OLD SANRIO MOVIES!? My husband and I, for one of our first night dates, decided to have a nostalgia night watching movies from our childhood that were like cartoons sort of like anime. We watched A Journey Through Fairyland and the Fire Child and the Sea Prince. Unico is also adorable, very interesting to watch on at night after taking sleep aids LOL. Those forst two are very romantic movies, timeless classics. Not exactly anime, but very close in my opinion- as a kid I watched them and loved them like I do Disney movies! Someday I will own a Prince and Malta doll OOAK....

[tikibirds]

my favorite? If we are going by the one with the best storyline and characters then it has to be Nura: rise of the Yokai Clan. I love the ones with demons/gods as characters and this one has a whole bunch of demon characters and the 2nd part of the story has some good action going on.

However, I think I would have to say my favorites are Rurouni Kenshin and Yu Yu Hakusho. Kenshin was the first series that I picked out by myself and really liked. My BF likes anime as well but he likes the weird stuff or Scifi/meccha and I really dont like those.

[Kitkumi]

Though I have a lot of favorites that I still enjoy watching, my all time top favorite would have to be Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit. There is so much about it that I just love! The music is beautiful, I love the animation and art style, the characters are memorable and grow throughout the series. It's also a wonderful blend of realistic and fantasy. There are very obviously parts that couldn't happen in the real world, but at the same time there are 'slice of life', I guess we'll call it, sections that just make you love the story. And also the ending.... the entire series wraps up in a way that I still think about today, years after watching it the first time. (I also like the fact that it isn't a series that drags on forever; it wraps up in something like twenty four episodes or so, without leaving any plot holes or plot threads)