My Top 5 Favorite Anime List

I'm suppose to be blogging something more relevant, but it's not shaping up like I want it to just yet. So, instead, you get this. :D I'm going based off of stuff I've finished, so anything airing that I'm following/set aside for a moment has room to become my favorite, but yeah. Here you go, if you care:

#5 Katanagatari

At least, among my circle of friends, I feel this is an underrated/unnoticed gem, but it's a legitimately good series. It follows a martial artist, named Shichika, who leaves his life of isolation behind to travel with Togame, a female general/strategist from the shogunate, to collect twelve legendary blades in order to realize her ambitions.






Things I Liked About This Series:

• It's only 12 episodes, but each episode has a run time of about 45+ minutes. I feel that this keeps the story from becoming diluted and allows the audience to connect with the main characters more. Also, when shit goes down, we don't have to wait for the next two episodes for it to finish.
• Shichika's martial art, Kyoutoryuu, actually makes him a literal sword in this universe. While he is human, he cannot wield a weapon because he is considered an actual weapon. Found that interesting.
• The action was legit, but the build up to the fights is actually pretty mild and usually ends up being more about calculation (aka Togame planning out Shichika's tactics) rather than going all out. The contrast between that and the last few fights makes the ending SO much better.
• Nanami, Shichika's sister, is broken.
• The art is very colorful and vibrant. Aside from the unique clothing designs, many significant characters have differently shaped/color pupils or hair, and the depicted landscape of feudal Japan is drawn beautifully.

#4  Kara no Kyoukai

A series of movies from Type-Moon is already enough to get me hype on principle. These movies follow Shiki Ryougi and Mikiya Kokutou as they are surrounded by events of the supernatural and the occult. Shiki is a young woman with the rare power of the Eyes of Mystic Death Perception (aka, she can kill/break anything that exists by perceiving it's "lines of death" and cutting it) while Mikiya has a penchant for investigating and gathering information, using that to assist Shiki and their employer, Touko Aozaki.

I feel sometimes it was hard to follow, since the movie order is not parallel with the full story's chronological order, and because I don't have a Type-Moon textbook/encyclopedia close at hand to fully understand some of the confusing/not-fully-explained stuff. Still good stuff, though.

Things I Like About This Series:

• Shiki is quite possibly my favorite Type-Moon character and one of my favorite anime characters overall. She's so aloof and indifferent to the standards and opinions of others that it's interesting to see how she interacts with the world around her. She also wears a kimono everywhere.
• For a show that's mostly about magic, it minimize the amount of time actually using magic (aside from barriers/illusions/etc.), trading it for explanations of complex magic being dealt with. If not that, just universally-known magic (like fire or runes) is briefly used. Less action time for magic users means more action time for Shiki. ^___^

#3 Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

Edward and Alphonse Eric lived a happy life with their mother as children, even though their father left them years ago. They also show talent for alchemy- an almost limitless power to understand and change the things around them. So when their mother dies from illness, the two brothers decide to commit the highest taboo of alchemy: transmutating a human, namely their mother. The procedure ends in disaster, causing Edward to lose a leg, and soon after his arm while fixating his younger brother, who lost his entire body, to a suit of armor.

After some grief, recovery, and aspiration, Edward is set up with metal prostheses and the two brothers set out to find a way to recover their original bodies.

Things I Liked About The Series:

• It's an emotional roller coaster ride. As the Elric Brothers meet and acquaint with new people, they lose many in the process to a tragedy that is circulating in the background. They also have to deal with despair as each step they take towards their goal throws them a curve ball that continually puts it just out of reach.
• As 13 and 14-year-olds, they also have to struggle with the affairs and ideals of adults. In this they learn from the wisdom of adults, challenge them with their own ideals, and witness constant death as they interact within the military. Watching them grow up in this manner (as highly intelligent as they already are) is part of the FMA experience too.
• This dude, Edward, can clap his hands and make stuff out of stuff. Sure you gotta pass Chemistry 101 for this, but that shit is cool. The fact that he has an easier process than other alchemists (who have to draw complex circles on the spot or have it already drawn/engraved on an item on their person) is also kinda busted.
• Colonel Mustang is a beast. I lost my shit during that episode.
• SOOOO much shit is going on. You have the basic premise of the story, stuff that pops up to hinder the general direction of that premise, the stuff controlling the stuff that pops up, then the ultimate reason as to why that stuff is being controlled. I sometimes ended up forgetting that Ed and Al are just trying to get their bodies back instead of dealing with all the extra bullshit being thrown at them. Just the scale of the plot is insane.
• Since this follows the plot of the manga (unlike the previous anime rendition of FMA), it feels less thrown together. When things tied up in the previous FMA, I was unsatisfied with the conclusion. Then a movie came out to run off of the conclusion, and even THAT was unsatisfying. Brotherhood did quite the opposite. Since the plot was changed to run parallel with the (then) on-going manga, there was more elaboration on certain points and everything in the plot was modified to work off a much grander scale.
• I was always on the edge of my seat because I never knew what to expect.
• Being a bad ass isn't an exclusivity in this show.

#2 Hayate no Gotoku

 Yes, this is my #2 over FMA. Generally speaking, I enjoy (good) comedy over action.

Hayate Ayasaki is an unfortunate guy. His parents are sleazeballs that constantly waste and gamble money (including his), and while he's worked through all of his childhood to manage for himself, he can't keep a job for long due to child labor laws.

We meet Hayate at age 16, during the Christmas season, where he's working to earn money, as usual. Not only does he find out that his boss gave his pay to his parents, but they have apparently racked up a 150 million yen debt and have sold him to the Yakuza to pay it off. Hayate escapes from the pursuing gangsters, he runs into Nagi Sanzenin, a girl from a rich family. In desperation, he decides to hold the girl for ransom to pay off his parents debt. When the plan fails and he ends up saving Nagi, she pays off that debt and he begins to work as a butler at her estate as compensation.

What I Liked About This Series:

• The comedy is great. It constantly breaks the fourth wall and parodies/makes references to everything, from Gundam, Tsukihime, Gurren Lagann, Knight Rider, Haruhi, Pokemon....the list is insane.
• It has a harem element to it, but Hayate is COMPLETELY oblivious to the feelings of all the females. 
• The narrator joins in on the fun. Yes, that makes it more hilarious.
• Hayate exhibits superhuman qualities. That in itself gives potential to hilarious situations, like beating the Knight Rider's car in race.....on bike.

#1 Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann

No.

If you don't already know why this show is awesome or haven't watched it yet, then there's a problem. The epicness of this anime can't be described in (my own) words. Just go watch it and know that I consider it the ideal- the bar line for what an action anime should be and one of the best (if not THE best) anime of all time, whatever my opinion may mean to you. The animation is surprisingly GREAT for a TV show, the wheels are just constantly in motion, just about every character has something unique that makes them particularly awesome, and the climax of the story hits like an orgasm- once the action starts, it just doesn't stop!