Ok, for the second day, I am supposed to talk about my favorite anime. This is stupid because I have none. As someone who spent two years killing his bias to write more meaningful anime reviews, it means sacrificing my own personal favorites. A lot of people has asked me personally for my favorite anime and requested I make a list of my top ten or something. I don’t want to, or rather, I simply can’t. Normally, I’d just pick one anime and be done with post. I say f*ck that. Let’s take this sh*t up a notch. Since I truly do not have a most favorite of all time infinity times two, then I’ll be doing something different.
I’ll list down my favorite anime…
Of every genre.
That’s forty three genres and I’ll be picking my favorite for each. I can work easy this way because then my own bias is a strong component but it doesn’t stray away from my regular impartial stance when I do my reviews. In my two years of sporadic absence in here, I have actually embraced my role as the pantless anime blogger so I take my sh*t seriously.
Rambling aside, let me now tell you my favorite anime for every anime genre in existence.
This genre is characterized with a thin storyline full of clashes and enemies getting their ass kicked. My favorite action anime would have to be BLACK LAGOON. Perhaps the most high octane action anime you’ll ever come across with. It’s full of shooting, violence, foul language and it has a maid that can literally kill an army. I think she did that as well in the Black Lagoon OVAs. It’s about a bunch of modern day pirates stealing, making a buck by taking up jobs and shooting a bunch of people along the way. It centers a mild mannered Japanese salary man making a decision to become a pirate and soon introduced to the crazy world full of people ready to shoot him in the head.
It’s about characters going through a journey fighting along the way. It focuses on the travelling and the various encounters in different places. Most Shounen also has Adventure as a subgenre so I think it’s easy to choose a favorite for this one. The hipster in me would easily choose SPICE AND WOLF for this genre but I have a better show for this one. It’s CLAYMORE. Of course, it’s a Shounen anime but it is also about travelling and gore and girls who obviously don’t wear bras because their breasts are impressively perky. The show is so engaging that I was glued to my screen as I keep watching it seeing a lot of demons and humans die in horrific fashion. It’s a shame the anime ended quite quickly but I still loved every minute of it.
It’s basically a genre that heavily revolves around racing or anything mechanical. 1980s is littered with shows like these as it also crosses with Action and Steam Punk. Normally, people would choose INITIAL D as their choice for this genre. My favorite Cars centered anime would have to be ROUJIN Z. It’s an old OVA and I actually only watched it because Satoshi Kon is part of the production crew. It’s about a robotic bed that was designed to forever nurse any old people in its care. It’s a revolutionary idea but a few bugs caused this AI to turn rampage. This hospital bed raced across Japan heading to wherever the old man riding him wants to go. If only he wouldn’t rampage and destroy things along the way then everything would be good. The entire thing blew up with the police chasing it and soon every military force of Japan tried to stop the nursing bed. It’s a dark comedy OVA reflecting on society’s need to dispose of its elderly. Well, in this case, the elderly strikes back.
Anything superbly funny with a simple plot that just focuses on the characters being goofy. A good example of this genre would be Gintama. I have never seen Gintama before so my favorite comedy anime would have to be DAILY LIVES OF HIGH SCHOOL BOYS. I particularly like this one because it’s just stupid. The comedy genre is a fickle genre though and I bet you won’t laugh at this show as much as I did. Still, from the relatable stupid boy pranks to the smart rip at the cute girl doing cute things genre, this anime easily won me over. It’s about three boys just hanging out and spending time with their other boy classmates. It talks about the various stupid things young boys tend to be focused on. It also has the literary girl segments that I consider my favorite segment in any anime.
Basically, it’s anything mindf*cked and hard to grasp. It’s a limited genre because there really isn’t a mainstream dementia anime. I think MONSTER falls under this category. The silently famous SERIAL EXPERIEMENT LAIN also falls under this one. My favorite dementia anime would have to be BOOGIEPOP PHANTOM though. It’s really just like Serial Experiement Lain but it’s more boring and harder to understand. Even if you do understand, the plot never really show any sign of clarity. I particularly like this one because it’s my first dementia anime. It’s about various alien disturbances in the city. The plot is so widespread as each episode stands alone but trickles a few components of the main story along the way. It has a soft place in my heart mainly because I promised myself never to touch anymore Dementia anime.
These are shows about demons mainly as the hero of the story. It’s a limited genre but a lot of anime feature demons so it just spun a genre of its own through time. I don’t really know a lot of demon anime but I think my favorite one would be AO NO EXORCIST. It’s about the son of the devil learning of his evil bloodline. He soon enrolls in a demon slaying school trying to kill his own kind. It’s a wonderful show full of the usual Shounen elements but also a great character story of a man trying to give a child a second chance at life and a guy trying to be more than his destiny dictates of him. It also had Kana Hanazawa as a bubbly airhead so it’s a win all around.
It’s a story of characters experiencing life and different conflicts and emotions. It focuses on the rather sad stories that can just tear you up. A lot of people would chose CLANNAD here or f*cking ANGEL BEATS. I don’t really like those shows. I do think they’re the best drama you can ever watch but I have a few favorites of my own. My favorite drama would have to be TWINS SPICA. It’s a really heartwarming anime about a girl trying to go into space. She has a very sad story to tell and she also has this imaginary friend that was once an astronaut. Her life at college, her imaginary friend’s life moving forward leaving him behind (because he died) and a whole lot of beautiful stories easily won me over. It also has one of the saddest soundtracks I have ever listened to. Seriously, I hear this to this day and I would have tears rolling down my face. You can imagine the person seating next to me thoroughly weirded out.
Anything involving boobs, fan sevice, sexual innuendos and panty shots are filed under here. I think everyone has a different anime they love in this genre. Just to be clear, KyoAni’s FREE falls under here. It’s an Ecchi anime directed toward girls. My favorite Ecchi anime would be MANYUU HIKENCHOU. It’s about an anime where society considers big boobs as royalty. The story follows a ninja warrior that accumulates bigger boobs every time she slashes away at various big breasted girls. Every episode tells of the unjust society and how the heroine fixes the injustice. I love the show because it takes itself seriously when it honestly shouldn’t. It also has tentacle sex which is both awesome and random.
This genre is about anything involving a world full of magic and talking bears often based on various myth and legends. I think this is a staple of most anime since Fantasy is a huge thing for any good story. Do not interchange Fantasy with Supernatural. These two genres are twins but one is a rowdy lesbian while another is more reserved. Also, Shounen anime with Fantasy elements shouldn’t be confused with pure Fantasy anime. For my favorite Fantasy anime, it’ll be UCHOUTEN KAZOKU. Technically it’s also a drama but the fantasy nuances established the story that turns into a drama. It’s about a society full of Tanukis, Tengus and Humans co-existing. It follows the lives of ashamed family trying to hold things together while the world is calling them a joke. They are trying to rebuild their lives after their father died but the process is never easy. It’s a heartwarming story of family togetherness wrapped in a beautifully rendered Fantasy wrapper.
It’s a spin-off of the Sports genre but more about more about nonphysical sports. Basketball is a Sports anime. Checkers would be under the Game genre. There are a lot of wonderful game anime. A good example would be YUGI OH but this one also oddly falls under the Shounen category. For pure Game, there is HIKARU NO GO or SHION NO OU. My favorite show for this genre would be CHIHAYAFURU. It’s an amazing mix Shoujo and Game as a very attractive girl is consumed with the game of karuta hoping to be the best in the world. It features the captivating world of competitive karuta where every matchup is interesting and amazingly well paced. It also has a very frustrating love triangle as fans of Taichi and fans of Arata are debating wildly over which guy our heroine would choose. I am mandly in love with this anime since it is very much feminine with the appeal of the masculine elements of Sports effectively prevalent as well.
One boy and four up to eight girls out to suck his d*ck. It’s one of those wish fulfillment anime often paired with Ecchi. Ecchi anime can just be about boobs though and Harem can just be about a group of girls trying to bang one guy. It’s often more fun watching the two genres rub faces together. My favorite anime for this genre would be ORESHURA or “My childhood friend and girlfriend don’t get along”. Light novel anime often have abnormally long titles. This harem is about a guy serious about his studies blackmailed by a hot transfer student to be her boyfriend. He agreed but this was a huge shock for his childhood friend. Soon, two more childhood friends try to claim the guy and a harem is quietly formed. It focused more on the formation of the harem so fan service is light and the plot is very smartly established. It is also very much character driven as you soon start rooting for your favorite girl to win our main character over. This one stuck to me the most though because of the beautiful plot. The childhood friend injured her arms so badly she gave up doing her sports and this motivated the guy to be serious with his studies. He used to be a goofy idiot who thought he was a Shounen warrior and he wrote down his thoughts on his notebook. This was the notebook the hot transfer student is blackmailing him with. Anyways, the transfer student realized that she might be his girlfriend but his bond to the other girls are stronger especially when he was determined to change his entire life for his childhood friend.
Ecchi has fan service. If there is penetration of any form or any visual sex scene then Ecchi has now evolved into Hentai. Um…my favorite hentai? Let’s just skip this. Ok, fine. I’m sure most people would recommend BIBLE BLACK and the most perverse ones would choose NIGHT SHIFT NURSES. For me, my favorite Hentai would be KIMI NO NA WO YOBEBA or “If I call your name”. It has a plot and that’s basically why I like it. So schools in Japan has implemented this thing where stressed students can release some steam with some government appointed f*ck buddies. They don’t have names, just numbers assigned to a school. You’ll find them in the bathrooms naked being gang raped or DPed. It’s a very dirty hentai so I suggest you don’t watch it. Anyways, a guy falls in love with one of these human toilets, fall in love with her enough for her to give her actual name to her. Other people found out about it and she was forced to have sex with people calling out her name, something she hates. The love is strong though that the guy would respect her by giving her a uniform and giving her some chance to be a normal girl. Things go out of hand and she was transferred elsewhere. In the end, they both have passionate sex and I was so emotionally affected that I could not fap to it. I think a Hentai with such a beautiful story deserves some praises. Still, I suggest you do not look for it because it has some hardcore scenes and an upsetting story that’ll change you.
Retelling of history told through some kind of filter. The main characters are historical figures and such. It can also be about a certain time period capturing the era’s appeal and social situations. The safe choice here would be a Sengoku anime about the warring state of Japan. For me, my favorite anime here would be LE CHAVALIER D’EON. It’s about the titular main character setting up a revolution under King Louis XV’s reign. I don’t remember much about the plot and I honestly don’t care much about this genre. I like this particular anime because of the amazing animation by Production IG and the kickass opening song.
These are shows meant to scare people. This is a hard genre since cartoons don’t really scare people much. I have one Horror anime I can never forget though. It’s called Yama Shibai and it’s a collection of Japanese horror stories with some scary lesson at the end. It runs for three minutes so just check out the first episode. This will scare you so be warned. When I saw, I screamed like a little girl and I couldn’t sleep with the lights open. It should be mentioned though that I am a wuss and I live alone so these stories aren’t something I should be watching.
Shows targeted for women in their 20s and such. Shounen is for young kids and Shoujo is for teenage girls. Josei would be for another specific age range. My favorite Josei would be PRINCESS JELLYFISH. It’s about an otaku befriending a cross dressing hot guy. Look at the live action trailer set to come out next year. It’s a cute show about a pathetic girl looking for love while a hot guy is slowly falling in love with her. It has a relatable story to it and characters that’ll just melt your heart. I think the rather unusual tale of love story between the characters is something that I just quite like. Most Josei are about unusual love stories since glitters and butterflies no longer works for its audience. Another good Josei would be NANA. This is a very good genre but it’s like Dementia, it’s not really that popular.
Shows targeted for children with childish stories. It’s never serious and really, it’s just friendly PG crap. I do not watch a lot of these shows because it’s a bit insulting to think kids should be watching stupid shows about robots and flying dogs with magic. I grew up with a half-naked alien dancing naughtily. Still, I know of one kids show that I have seen. It’d be POKEMON because c’mon. I think we have all seen this anime. It’s about Ash and he wants to catch them all. It’s amazing how this guy hasn’t caught them all yet after ten years of doing it. Even I would just say f*ck it when I can’t evolve my Kadabra into an Alakazam.
This genre is about characters using magic. It’ll have wizards or magicians doing something with magic. Yes, magical girls are under this genre. So shows like SAILORMOON are under this genre. Magic is a big part of a lot of anime though so picking a favorite would be easy. My favorite magic anime falls under the magical girl subgenre. It’s called ULTRAMANIAC. Despite its title, this is not something perverted or dirty like something I would watch. Ultramaniac is actually about two magical girls just fighting evil and falling in love. It’s a simple anime that’ll be forgettable to others. I watched this when I was young though and when Animax still catered to young adults so this anime is really a fond show for me. It represents my childhood and my stupid adoration for the magical girl genre.
These are shows where characters fight hand to hand or anything with nunchuks or something else. It’s all fist fights and nothing involving super special kamehame wave or ninja techniques. It’s just straight up fists. My favorite show under this genre would be MEDAKA BOX. Nisio Isin is a masterful storyteller who created the wildly popular monogatari series. He also gave us this story of a perfect girl that runs the student council and she faces a lot of super powered people trying to defeat her. It’s a wonderful show full of one-on-one face offs about a girl that never loses and a bunch of underhanded villains trying to beat her. The first season featured unusual fights in the pool or in other colorful places like the school court yard. The second season is the highlight of the series as it focuses on people just like the perfect girl and the pain they experience with their powers. They cope through it by bashing the perfect girl’s head in. I love this show even though manga fanatics claim the anime as a failure. As an anime reviewer who looks at things open mindedly, I would say f*ck you to all the haters.
GUNDAM!!!!!
One of the most popular genres around since giant robots is really a staple of anime. I personally don’t like this genre because giant robots never really appeal to me. Nonetheless, some of the most defining anime shows are under the mecha genre. There is NEON GENESIS EVANGELION, TENGGEN TOPPAN GURREN LANGGAN and a boat load of gundam anime that span multi generations. I have never seen Evangelion though and I think TTGL is over rated. I don’t like Gundam since it has overstayed its welcome a long time ago. Gosh, I just don’t really like mecha all that much. I do have one favorite anime called AQUARION EVOL. It’s made by Sunrise as well but it doesn’t take itself seriously. It’s about sexually tensed students trying to save the world. It’s both funny and cool as you see couples form and relationships blossom. So teens save the world from a bunch of aliens trying to capture women to take them to their world and repopulate. The dialogues are massively stupid but I love how the show takes itself seriously. This anime also has one of my favorite characters named Mix. I like her boobs. They’re big.
These are shows with a strong military element. It can be about soldiers, war with soldiers or just people battle hardened as the focus of the story. This is another quiet genre but I think it presents some of the best shows you can watch. The girls with guns subgenre fall in this genre so shows like GUNSLINGER GIRL or GIRLS UND PANZER are filed under the Military genre. My favorite anime in this genre would be FULL METAL PANIC: FUMOFFU. Oh gawd, one of the finest shows KyoAni has ever developed. They took the serious hard boiled story and made it funny. It’s about a guy trained to be a soldier getting caught up in some misadventures thanks to his lack of normal life experience. He uses his skilled training to cause some trouble for normal people. It often results in some funny moments. Along with a high strung tsundere and a cute mega genius, Fumoffu is the best show in the FMP series. It also had cute mascots with guns so that’s something.
These are shows about bands, idols or just characters singing. The best example of this genre is K-ON. It just features characters having fun while singing. Of course, the IDOLMASTER AND AKB0048 is also under here as it features idols and such. This genre is badly shallow as it is often paired with Slice of Life. Sure, some shows are awesome by their own like BECK but most of the times, it’s just a dull experience heightened by some cute songs. For me, a shallow stupid experience is best felt with my favorite idol anime, LOVE LIVE SCHOOL IDOL PROJECT. It’s about a bunch of cute girls trying to become famous idols so they can save their school. It’s a simple show but I am mostly drawn by the high quality of animation. Have a look at the opening sequence, it’s awesome. Notice the delayed movements as each one seems to be animated by their own. Notice the different movements that aren’t choreographed giving off a true nature of just girls trying to have fun. Also notice the sexy cute girls. The music genre is awesome sometimes.
I’m bored now. It’s also past my bed time so let’s continue this tomorrow. I still have twenty two more genres to list down so tune in tomorrow. Oh wait, I was supposed to do the sixty days of anime challenge. Lol, now it’s now sixty one days. Isn’t that nice? Anyways, I’m sleepy and hungry. It’s 12:25 AM as I finish writing this and I have work at 7 AM. It’s also a Monday in a couple of hours so that’ll suck. Anyways, what’s your fave anime for each genre? Tell me in the comments below.
