#I've never seen evangelion.

[nekomaster69]

Taylor, you have the best taste in anime in school. So what's the best anime?

I, in respect for you coming to me, have been thinking long and hard about this question and how to answer it. it seems near impossible however.

The best anime is entirely subjective. My personal favorite is different from many others. It also depends on the genre you prefer. If you wanna talk about the sheer impact of certain anime, you can look to Lucky Star, Fruits Basket, and Haruhi Suzumiya for some amazing slice of life esque highschool anime.. I also think School Live! is underrated- though not by any means a perfect anime. Sailor moon also had a huge impact on magical girl anime, alongside Tokyo Mew Mew- we could also talk about the shonen that many first were introduced to anime with. One Piece is fantastic and STILL GOING.

Is the best anime something that fits the perfect bill of what an anime should be? is it the most beginner friendly? is it my favorite? All of these questions have to be asked when settling on the best anime. We should also keep in account waifu and husbando potential. Re:Zero, for example, has probably one of the most famous waifus of anime history with Rem. There is also a fair amount of anime I don't think are inherently good- but I love watching for sheer enjoyment factor. Sankarea is a pretty C-B tier anime with some weird stuff, but I ended up falling in love with it and, while not being great- the nostalgia factor has kept me coming back to it. I don't really recommend it, but it's the reason my favorite flowers are hydrangeas and it formed an appreciation for zombies in me.

Should art style be accounted for as well? The soundtrack? I think My Dress Up Darling has one of the best scores and art styles in anime. Spy x Family is one of the cutest though- which, alongside If It's for My Daughter, I'd Even Defeat a Demon Lord, are some of the best family anime out there for me. They're heartwarming- and while the plot is somewhat contained, that doesn't stop it from being great. Naruto and Dragon Ball Z had huge impacts, the isekai trope has thousands upon thousands of series to review- can one even judge the best anime when they could not possibly watch them all...? There are also niche underrated anime I believe deserve more recognition... but, after analyzing this question, I had to come to a conclusion. And to a conclusion I have reached.

Neon Genesis Evangelion.

I know, basic choice. But I genuinely believe this. There is no song that gets me as excited and hyped as A Cruel Angels Thesis- and this anime has done so much for the artform as a whole that leaving it out would be insane. It still holds up after all these years- and even thrives in our current day. This anime not only has one of the best tsundere tropes and generally just likeable characters with intense and interesting stories- but with emotional and subversive writing, it tilts what you may think makes a perfect anime on its head. The story stems from the depression of the creator. to quote: "It is a production where my only thought was to burn my feelings into film". He succeeded- those feelings radiate from every episode. The characters feel realistic, the art is BEAUTIFUL, and psychologically it can really fuck you up if you aren't in the place for it. I find myself relating to it a lot recently. It's incredibly consistent, beautiful, and has an ending that, if you haven't been spoiled to already- I refuse to be the one to spoil for you. It's had an incredible impact on all anime since- and there has yet to be any that live up to the standard it set. Plus the soundtrack is killer, and there are giant mechs. What isn't there to love?

[scrumpygoat]

do you think hideaki ano will kill me if I steal his animals >:)

testing out shapes for Gimble’s primary golem. The jaws open and she can sit in a lying position above the upper palate. Can rotate between terrestrial/aerial/bipedal stances etc

[brinty]

[th3e-m4ng0]

one day i'd love to go to a tf convention, preferably in the us. they always look so fun and cool. grahhhh !!!

[exeggcute]

who remembers it's gendo

[sydns]

Derieri after Monspeet's death, being absolutely heartbroken and not knowing what to do:

Assault Estarossa after absorbing Monspeet's commandment:

[ur-stepdad]

i'm currently at a very difficult point in my life that will surely leave an imprint on me forever so i have to be VERY CAREFUL what media i consume rn bc if i latch onto it it will be in my heart 4ever

[ryuki-blogs]

Oh, Neon Genesis Evangelion, we're really in it now.

[fitzfunnymoments]

Hello everyone I am insane <3

[moinsbienquekaworu]

I love doing anime opening blind tests alone and feeling satisfied when I get the answers right

[one-time-i-dreamt]

I was watching Neon Genesis Evangelion (I've never actually seen it). Some catastrophe was happening and people were relocating, but in the middle of it all, Shinji was talking to a childhood friend who he had a crush on. Out of nowhere, Asuka in her mech came out of nowhere and slammed a flat sheet of concrete down on top of Shinji's friend. Shinji's face crumpled American-cartoon style and Asuka turned and sped away. Then it cut to the intro.

[tyrantisterror]

I've seen Utena and Evangelion get compared to each other for both being 1. dark coming of age stories that get increasingly surreal as time goes on and 2. supposedly deconstructing their respective genres. And I think there's a good basis for comparison in there, definitely, and they've both become anime I've made a point to revisit because they struck a very strong chord with me.

I think what gets me when comparing them, though, is that Utena gets to do what Evangelion sets up but never managed to finish - and some people inexplicably criticize Utena for it?

Cause Evangelion was clearly meant to be a longer series. They establish early on that there are eight Evas and eight teenage pilots for them. In the series itself we see four - well, five, technically, since an angel posing as a human named Kaworu tricks everyone into letting him pilot an eva, but still. There three side character teenagers introduced early, one of which pilots an eva (to disastrous results) while the other two remain supporting cast. It's possible they were intended to eventually be eva pilots too, but it's also possible the mystery pilots might have been foreignors like Asuka.

Either way, it's clear the story was meant to become bigger, but because of various behind the scenes reasons it didn't - it ultimately remains focused primarily on Shinji, Gendo (the true antagonist), Asuka, Rei, and to a lesser extent, Misato. And don't get me wrong, that still makes for an incredibly engaging show - I wouldn't trade any of the episodes and scenes focused on those cast members for the world, the depth to which those characters are explored is a huge part of what makes the series meaningful for me.

But Utena, while being a similarly character-focused series, does get to expand its scope in the way Evangelion set up but never paid off. The cast of Utena does get larger, and while the focus remains primarily on Utena, Anthy, the true antagonist Dio, and to a lesser extent Touga and Nanami, it finds time to shine the spotlight on a very rich supporting cast of characters. The Black Rose arc in particular is great for this, because it gives the supporting cast members introduced in the first arc - Juri, Miki, Nanami, garbage boy Saionji, and Wakaba - their own arcs and, in many cases, their own relationships with characters outside of Utena and Anthy's direct orbit. The lives and relationships of all these characters become really rich and interesting, with their own quirks and problems to overcome.

And, like, I've seen some people say this is a flaw - that these are "filler" episodes, that you can skip the Black Rose arc entirely, and it's baffling to me. The way all of these characters interplay with each other, how their struggles and arcs mirror and complement each other, is what makes the world and story of Utena so rich. It's still about Utena and Anthy in the end, but Utena and Anthy's arc is also made so much more meaningful by how it reflects the arcs of everyone around them - that ultimately all these characters are sharing facets of the same struggle, and if there's hope for Utena and Anthy at the end (and there is, especially in the movie), then there's hope for all these characters and, indeed, everyone in the audience who sympathized with them.

One thing that'll plague my imagination till the end of my days is the concept of what Evangelion would be if it could have broadened its scope the way they originally planned, and the way Utena broadens the scope of its narrative only fuels that wonder more. I'd kill to see Evangelion's Black Rose arc, and I'm so glad Utena got to have its world grow.

[harmlessplant]

i've never seen evangelion

[freezing-kaiju]

THE BIG POLL, ROUND ZERO, REPLACE BLADE BRAVE!!!!!

Beautiful show it is, Kamen Rider Blade must come to an end soon. I will cry. But the world must move on.

And I decided to make this one an anime poll, since some of the legacy options from the very first poll ended up being much longer than the rest. SO! This is all shows between 20-50 episodes, around the same length as a Rider show!

You must choose at least one; if u want more, leave it in the comments or tags or replies pls and i'll count your additional votes at the end!

Agatha Christie’s Great Detectives Poirot and Marple - A young detective related to famous detective Miss Marple joins other famous detective Hercule Poirot as his assistant and learns from these two legendry mentors to solve murders. I love detective shows but I'm not too familiar with Poirot and Miss Marple so maybe the show could serve as an introduction to them. It seems cozy but compelling! The lead writer worked on a bunch of the big popular serieses (Pokemon Sun & Moon, Fairy Tail, Death Note, and Anpanman). This one's a legacy inclusion!

Blue Gender - A man from the modern day with a strange illness goes into cryosleep and wakes up in a destroed earth where mechs and aliens fight and there is a cool tall woman who has a mech. It has gore, mechs which I do need to see more of, but it's a military series. Space's also listed in the genre stuff which...is that a spoiler, do they go to space? 26 episodes, so it's on the longer side, less diligence may apply. This one's a legacy inclusion!

Dirty Pair - 80s anime, two Hotted Boobhaving space agents fight and bicker their way through the galaxy in a distinctly 'two bi women constantly getting divorced' vibe. I don't remember if this one is a legacy inclusion, but it's a famous show!

Scrapped Princess - Fantasy setting, A local white girl doomed to destroy the world and her adoptive siblings travel the world to avoid her devastating fate. also... There's mechs?? Wikipedia tells me it’s a lighthearted but mournful show that uses Clarke’s third law to bridge the gap between scifi and high fantasy. This one was handpicked by a dear friend!

Texhnolyze - by the creators of Serial Experiments Lain, it’s a show that seems similarly angsty and cerebral but much grimier. A boxer gets dismembered, cyborgized, and possibly radicalized deep in the bowels of a city that never sees the sun. ALSO GACKT IS THERE?

R.O.D. READ OR DIE -THE TV- - a potentially jojoish, gay little show about a novelist with a heady mix of hubris and self-loathing and three bibliophile sisters with Paper Abilities fighting various goons and also Britain. It seems like a romp!

Captain Earth - In the vein of Super Sentai (sadly without the precious masks), a color coded group of teens that seems to include a Yaoibait Kaworu fight aliens on behalf of NASA, with a robot that has a REALLY big hat. Supposedly it’s got a lot of intellectual depth!

RahXephon - the second name on everyone’s lips when someone says Evangelion Rip-off, after Darling in the Franxx. Mechs that are blatantly angels, a JSDF, and blue-blooded men in black. I tried a bit, and it’s got a great capture of humanity in times of crisis and such a beautifully 2000s aesthetic.

Devilman Lady - what if you were Devilman and a Lady??? What if there was a blond woman and you were a beast and there was all this blood and violence. Psychological, grungy, and gorgeously 90s. And it's a yuri!!!

Chrno Crusade - Cisgender Bridget and a devilboy (no relation to devilman or devilmanlady) do exorcisms for an order of nuns in 1929 New Yawk Citay. It's a het romance, full of bumbling and comedy and period era ghostbustiness. Also for some reason in a lot of the art (like this one) Chrno is whitewashed?

ITS NOT LETTING ME PUT AN ELEVENTH VIDEO TAKE THIS AND SOME POSTERS

A Precure - I've seen Kamen Riders, Super Sentais, an Ultraman, but I've not seen the sister show to them all; Pretty Cure! SO clearly I need to, and if this one doesn't win it'll flood the poll to replace Ryuki. These options are suggestions; might be others.

[original image sources: agatha's is from the op but can be found screencapped here, gender, dirty, scrapped, texhnolyze, die, earth, rahxephon, lady, crusade (official magazine art findable here), pre tty cure (official posters findable in those places). i replaced them with trailers tho lol. but check the ones that are oroginal anime wallpapers out theyre very nice]

[weaselbug]

full thoughts on dungeon meshi

gotta say, i absolutely loved it. every minute of it.

ive never been so enthralled into something that i read it for 3 days straight. helps that i was live blogging it. and you guys absolutely loved it, though. you guys didnt love my long posts about where i got to.

i want to talk about Mithrun (i think thats his name?)

CW: suicidal ideation, depression, and stuff

but I've never seen a piece of media actually capture the feeling of wanting to die but having the willpower to just keep going. I had experienced this after high school because well, I had kept telling my self that I would commit suicide after high school, I dont really like talking about it all that much, because it feels self pitying, but I'm so glad a character in something actually got that feeling into a character, like a just left confused and aimlessly existing after you thought for sure that you were going to die, and you wanted to. disappointment is what I would call it.

the only other piece of media that talks about that kind of thing well is evangelion, but only kind of...

END OF CONTEND WARNING

i just love how there was no fan service, because well. it doesn't serve the story at all. i mean there were a couple up tunic shots for senshi, but really i dont really count those. i also dont like the idea of celebrating the fact that it was just a guy character who got them, thats just as weird if someone was celebrating the fact that there were panty shots of the female characters. please stop.

i love how the curse was real from the winged lion, made Iaios repulsive to monsters. also i really love the winged lion. i loved how he really did seem like a good dude, and it didn't feel cheap too, at least to me.

i love how you can tell the authors love for fantasy, where its not just eastern fantasy but its also not just lord of the rings. and each monster has a reason for being. like the red dragon doesn't have wings, because well, why would it need to fly if it has fire breath?

although, somethings i dont really like is that there were no lizard folk, kind of weird i geuss? you'd think there would be some of those.

also feels like Laios kinda doesn't really lose anything? while I'm glad they went with getting farin back, i think the story would have been much better if the resurrection didn't work.

this is great, but now i kinda have no reason to watch the anime anymore lol. oops, ruined it for my self haha.