Newtype USA's completed poll - Best 25 animes of all time

[Last Exile]

Here's the list that ended up being it. I have mixed feelings about it.

25 - Excel Saga
24 - CardCaptor Sakura
23 - Wolf's Rain
22 - Gundam Seed
21 - Full Metal Panic!
20 - Vision of Escaflowne
19 - Dragonball Z
18 - Initial D
17 - Azumanga Daioh
16 - Tenchi Muyo
15 - Akira
14 - Chobits
13 - Fushigi Yugi
12 - FLCL
11 - Hellsing
10 - Sailor Moon
9 - Love Hina
8 - Ranma 1/2
7 - Robotech
6 - Fruits Basket
5 - Trigun
4 - Rurouni Kenshin
3 - Inuyasha
2 - Cowboy Bebop
1 - Evangelion

My thoughts:

- Evangelion at 1, no surprise. A pity, but no surprise. One wonders whether people will ever think that anime has ever gone anywhere beyond Evangelion.
- Bebop at 2, well deserved. Watanabe is the king of cool. Spike and Faye are legends in their own right.
- Trigun at 5, sweet. Vash rides on.
- Fruits Basket at 6?! Geez, you guys really do like this one, hey? I knew the manga reached #1 but the series got this big in the US? Wow.
- Love Hina at 9, not bad. Harem still has a place in anime.
- FLCL at 12?! C'mon, this is too low! Furi Kuri should be Top 10 at least, if not top 5! Who voted in this?!
- Chobits at 14. Hmm, it was cute. It does have style and a lote of anime parodies.
- Azumanga Daioh at 17. This should be higher, but yeah, this is a new release in terms of DVD and TV. So I'm glad this was in the list at all. Hopefully AD will be remembered as THE comedy of anime, because it is.
- Full Metal Panic at 21. Bit low, but oh well. Perhaps Fumoffu will convince you guys that Sousuke and Chidori are the dynamite duo of anime.
- Gundam SEED at 22. Phew. At least the US hasn't been conned too much. ;) The SEED series is actually not that bad.
- Wolf's Rain at 23. I don't know why this was even here. Might be because only half the serie sis out over there. Yeah, the 1st half was good. after that, it went down.
- Cardcaptor Sakura at 24. Ah, CLAMP cuteness. This was a goodie.
- Excel Saga at 25. Don't even try to hide your pleasure, Kayla! Dementedness will truly have its place in anime after all.

- Ah well, no Last Exile, no Chrono Crusade, no Paranoia Agent, no Elfen Lied, no Shingetsutan Tsukihime, no Fullmetal Alchemist. Perhaps a bit early to expect them to be in. Hopefully with time some of those will make their way into the list.

Reasonable list. I like it much better than last year's Japanese top 10. 4 Gundam series in a top 10 along with Evangelion is just wrong. At least they included Bebop though.

Still, any list that does not have FLCL in the top 10 is just not right.

[Animelee]

I think they mixed up the word "best" with "popular".

[Last Exile]

Very astute of you, kohai. ;)

[Razola]

Are you positive that Sailor Moon is even on that list...much less NUMBER TEN?

[Roarkiller]

I think they mixed up the word "best" with "popular".

Hear, hear.

Love Hina shouldn't even be on that list, much less dragonball. And where's Spirited Away?! Miyazaki deserves at least top 10! I demand a recount!!!

Well, doraemon aint there, nor digimon or (phew) pokemon. But i think Ryan's right, the list only refers to series released in the US, and most probably referring only to the dub (hence Azumanga Daioh being so low).

[Rudoku]

Are you positive that Sailor Moon is even on that list...much less NUMBER TEN?
If anything, I'd be complaining about number 3, ****ing Inuyasha! At least nostalgia can cloud the Sailormoon fans' minds. The whole series is worse than the second season of Ranma 1/2. That, and the lack of GTO anywhere on the list makes me give it a :rolleyes2:.

[Heald]

Sailor Moon, CardCaptor Sakura and Tenchi Muyo...on the 25 best animes...of all time.

Whoever wrote this really is a failed abortion.

Still, glad Escaflowne made it on there.

No Outlaw Star though. Die please.

Ooh, Evangelion at number one, no surprise...can anyone say overrated to the max?

Cowboy Bebop at #2...not high enough.

[Lorelei]

Ah, Inuyasha and Chobits. Two of the most overrated series EVER get on the list. I love those two series, but they are so overrated it isn't funny. Inuyasha is going in circles and follows an exact formula for each episode, and Chobits is just overrated in general. Its really scary what people do for Chobits. About 80% of the Chii cosplayers in this world have probably never seen Chobits v_v;; Because, you know, throw on a dress and some ears, and there you go! Instant Chii!

Whatever =\ Half of those aren't getting nearly as much recognition as they deserve.

[youdontknowme]

No Gungrave :(

Bah, Inuyasha at 3rd? Personally, I think Inuyasha sucks. I don't really care if Inuyasha made the list or not but 3rd?? Wow.

[EVme15]

25 - Excel Saga Too low. Glad it's on there, but it deserves to be higher up. I guess I'm the only one who likes being turned into an insane person. No clue why though, easily amused people are seldom bored!
24 - CardCaptor Sakura Really wish I could have seen this in its unedited form. Really liked it way back when, though...
23 - Wolf's Rain
22 - Gundam Seed Gundam? 22? I don't know whether to be happy this is so low or sad that it's on at all. I honestly thing Wing is better, though.
21 - Full Metal Panic!
20 - Vision of Escaflowne Too low. Too low.
19 - Dragonball Z Too high. Way too high.
18 - Initial D
17 - Azumanga Daioh IMO, seems about right.
16 - Tenchi Muyo Meh, maybe a bit high. Definetely deserves to be on the list, though.
15 - Akira A bit overrated, but yes, it deserves the spot.
14 - Chobits A nice, touching manga with a decent conversion. Maybe a bit lower, however.
13 - Fushigi Yugi
12 - FLCL Now, I don't see why FLCL's insanity gets so high while Excel Saga has to put up with 25.
11 - Hellsing
10 - Sailor Moon Personally, I like this series, if a bit long.
9 - Love Hina
8 - Ranma 1/2
7 - Robotech
6 - Fruits Basket Top 25, yes. Top 10, no.
5 - Trigun Amen. Perfect placement.
4 - Rurouni Kenshin Yes. Deserves it. Probably should have been behind Trigun, though.
3 - Inuyasha Too long, cut off... not top 5. Maybe top 10.
2 - Cowboy Bebop Very much so.
1 - Evangelion OK, I'll admit this right now: I like Eva. Very much. It's my favorite, and while I won't deny it isn't overrated, you can't deny it's good. Maybe not this good, but yes, definetely top 5 material.

- Excel Saga at 25. Don't even try to hide your pleasure, Kayla! Dementedness will truly have its place in anime after all. Yes, but I still say it deserves better!

Personally I'm quite disappointed that X and Kino's Journey didn't make the list. KJ might be too early to expect it up there, I guess. Also, Wing > SEED. Yes, Chrono Crusade should be there, but again, too early. I would have expected, however, for .hack//SIGN to be on. Maybe not. *sigh*

[Last Exile]

Chrono Crusade has only just begun its assault in America, so I bit early for it. Ditto Gungrave.

My predictions for next year would be that Chrono Crusade, Paranoia Agent, Samurai Champloo and possibly Elfen Lied to break into the list, along with some of the Ghibli movies now that they're finally getting a DVD release.

PS. Just noticed...NO GHIBLI MATERIAL ON THE LIST?! Criminal!

Funny note: I looked at the DVD sales for the last month in the US. Ghost In The Shell Stand Alone COmplex and Last Exile outsold all the current material except for DBZ and Yu Yu Hakusho. That kinda puts the list in a fair bit of question. If these sell so much, why aren't they in the list?!

[Roarkiller]

PS. Just noticed...NO GHIBLI MATERIAL ON THE LIST?! Criminal!

Blasphemy, more like :no:


Funny note: I looked at the DVD sales for the last month in the US. Ghost In The Shell Stand Alone COmplex and Last Exile outsold all the current material except for DBZ and Yu Yu Hakusho. That kinda puts the list in a fair bit of question. If these sell so much, why aren't they in the list?!

I'm guessing that this poll was done over a much longer period, hence the exclusion. After all, Innocence shoulda been there too, but its not.

[Dogasu]

Worst list ever.

Animelee was right--this list is a list of the most popular anime, not the best. Akira, Evangelion, and Inu-Yasha shouldn't even qualify for a top-25 list.

[Shadow Kodachi]

DBZ deserved its spot on this list despite what any dub Newbies say.
No other anime can chronicle its heroes life from innocent child to savy warrior as well has dbz can. Its a shame Gungrave isn't on there either. Its better made than most of those listed. Inuyasha is also way too high.

[Chrono Storm]

What? Those people have apparently never heard of Fullmetal Alchemist, Ghibli, or Gankutsuou. Well, it IS an American poll, so FMA and Gankutsuou will show up... oh, maybe next year, but it's a crime against humanity not to have ANY Ghibli on there.

[Dark Scizor]

- Ah well, no Last Exile, no Chrono Crusade, no Paranoia Agent, no Elfen Lied, no Shingetsutan Tsukihime, no Fullmetal Alchemist. Perhaps a bit early to expect them to be in. Hopefully with time some of those will make their way into the list.

Its only been on in America for a short amount of time, but i'm sure we'll see it in a toplist sometime in the future. :yes:


DBZ deserved its spot on this list despite what any dub Newbies say.

I used to like DBZ (chinese subbed) then it got boring. I don't think it even belongs in the top 25, maybe the movies, but not the series.


Sailor Moon, CardCaptor Sakura and Tenchi Muyo...on the 25 best animes...of all time.

Whoever wrote this really is a failed abortion.

It was voted by NTUSA readers, so I think its more then one failed abortion. Just re-read this and it sounds offensive to all NTUSA readers, myself included :sweat4. It was supposed to be targetted at those who pick silly anime in their toplists, but then again. To each his own.

We all know that Ghibli are great and make great anime titles, they don't need a place on that list to be recognized by anime fans :).

[ryandude713]

DBZ deserved its spot on this list despite what any dub Newbies say. No other anime can chronicle its heroes life from innocent child to savy warrior as well has dbz can.

when any show sacrifices its plot for mindless action, it looses its appeal. the fact that after the freeza saga it was just "lets fight anything that moves", shows that akira toriyama was just in it for the money, not for actual love of the show. i mean you people can complain that inuyasha drags on (which it does), but dbz just had badguy after badguy showing up to blow up the world. plus the finale was just fight the dragonballs to save the earth (wtf). thats hella lame.

and dont get me started on the super saiyans. it started out with one legendary super saiyan, (that ended up being some imortal dude that came back in like 5 movies). suddenly, everyone on the show had gold hair and green eyes, and was blasting the hell out of everything. its like on buffy where there was only suppossed to be one slayer, and then everyone with tits could kill the buffest demons and vampires around. you cant sacrifice stuff the heart of a show and expect to get away with it!

[The Muffin Man]

Worst list ever.

Animelee was right--this list is a list of the most popular anime, not the best. Akira, Evangelion, and Inu-Yasha shouldn't even qualify for a top-25 list.

Do your fingers just look for letters, or did you think this true?

InuYasha is a debatable choice, but how can you really think that NGE and Akira weren't great? Akira pretty much made anime what it is today in the states(You know, more than "pop culture"...although this is more of a curse with all the elitism that follows) and NGE was deep and a really good series.

And geez, DBZ and Gundam have almost the same amount of animosity. What the hell is it with you people and anything that CN made popular on Toonami? Christ, Samurai X: Trust and Betrayel could debut, totally unedited, not even DUBBED, on Toonami and you'd STILL probably complain.

This isn't to EVme specifically, but the sickening number of people who have this ltrain of thought.

[Last Exile]

This isn't to EVme specifically, but the sickening number of people who have this train of thought.

Mentioning her name kinda makes it unspecific. :sweat:

[Dogasu]

when any show sacrifices its plot for mindless action, it looses its appeal. the fact that after the freeza saga it was just "lets fight anything that moves", shows that akira toriyama was just in it for the money, not for actual love of the show.

Akira Toriyama wanted to end the show after the Freeza saga (just like Hayao Miyazaki wanted his last film to be Princess Mononoke), but the fans wouldn't let him. He was under pressure to make more, so he created the Cell saga, and then after that wanted to end the show again (and make Gohan the hero). However, the fans STILL weren't satisfied, so they demanded that he make another saga. Toriyama gave in and made one more story arc before finally saying "screw you guys, I'm done with this."

Though I don't see where the show "sacrificed plot for mindless action." There are actual reasons for most of the fights on the show, which is more than can be said for a lot of shonen anime.


InuYasha is a debatable choice, but how can you really think that NGE and Akira weren't great?

Because they're both overrated crap.


Akira pretty much made anime what it is today in the states(You know, more than "pop culture"...although this is more of a curse with all the elitism that follows)

Akira had great animation, I'll give it that. But everything else about it was executed terribly, from the lack of likable characters to a lack of cohesive plot to the horrible soundtrack. The only reason people like it so much is because, back when the country was becoming introduced to "Japanimation," the intense violence in the movie shocked audiences who had only seen animation as a medium strictly for children.


and NGE was deep and a really good series.

No, NGE was a series that had this complex that it was deeper than it really was, and an audience who believed it. The show was a result of poor planning, which is why the end of the show was composed of really low-budget animation and the use of mindless psycho-babble to trick the audience into thinking that the reason they don't understand the show is because it's so "deep," not because the writers actually had an ability to tell a story properly. People seem to cling to any show that has any religious references (i.e. The Big O), and it seems that all you have to do to make a show "deep" is to throw in a few crosses and mentions of "the son of God." Sorry, but I don't buy into that.

[Heald]

No, NGE was a series that had this complex that it was deeper than it really was, and an audience who believed it. The show was a result of poor planning, which is why the end of the show was composed of really low-budget animation and the use of mindless psycho-babble to trick the audience into thinking that the reason they don't understand the show is because it's so "deep," not because the writers actually had an ability to tell a story properly. People seem to cling to any show that has any religious references (i.e. The Big O), and it seems that all you have to do to make a show "deep" is to throw in a few crosses and mentions of "the son of God." Sorry, but I don't buy into that.Give this boy a degree.

[ryandude713]

in a japanese college he could probably write his thesis on that

[Dark Scizor]

All I am gonna say now is:

To each his/her own.