Your top 5 favorite and least favorite anime series

[Momiji]

Topic: Name your top 5 favorite and LEAST favorite (read: most hated) anime series. However, you must explain why you like or dislike them.
Note: You can post more than five, of course.

Please, and this goes to everyone, do not get all pissed off when someone puts your favorite anime in their least favorite list or when someone puts your least favorite in their favorite. It would be nice if this thread didn't end in an arguement. Besides, they have explain why they like or don't like it, and you may feel the opposite way for that same reason. So please everyone, act mature.

My lists:
Favorite
1. Chobits
This is easily my favorite anime ever. I loved the story, the animation, the soundtrack, everything! It was funny in the right moments and sad in the right moments as well. Everything seemed to be perfectly set up. I also like how there are deeper meanings to things in the series.

2. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
I like this one for basically the same reason I liked Chobits (I just liked Chobits more). The characters were unique, the storyline was great, maybe a little difficult to understand at first, but great nevertheless, and the soundtrack was fantastic!

3. Azumanga Daioh
I am eternally grateful to Behold the Void for suggesting this one to me. It's absolutely hilarious, every single second of it. The humor is only enhanced by the characters, who each add humor to the series in their own special way. Not to mention that Chiyo and Osaka are hilarious in themselves.

4. His and Her Circumstances
To me, this series is like a fantastic work of art. It has a storyline that many people can relate to, along with some really funny parts. However, I sort of dislike how repetitive the episodes get (lots and lots of flashbacks).

5. FLCL
Short but sweet in only 6 episodes. It IS a bit hard to follow at first, but you'll get it if you watch it more than once. It's really funny and has a great ending song, along with innovative animation styles.

6. Negima
Sure, the story isn't the best and the whole series seems to be like Harry Potter plus an entire class of anime school girls, but for some reason, I really enjoyed this one.

Honorable mention: Full Metal Alchemist
This was really what got me interested in anime. The storyline is great and the characters are as well, not to mention the animation was good as well. However, it just falls short in my eyes.

And now, my least favorites. I'm going to make a lot of people mad on this one, so please follow the rules I posted above.

5. Dragon Ball Z
I HATED this anime. The story was boring, the fights were repetitive, and the humor was dry. Not to be confused with the original Dragon Ball, which I DID like.

4. One Piece
I couldn't even sit through a full episode. I thought it was extremely boring.

3. Anything past the first Pokémon series
I liked the first series, but after that, the storyline stagnates and becomes repetitive. I never cared for the lousy sense of humor the series had, either.

2. Yu-Gi-Oh!
I loved the card game. Really. I did. But come on-- a SERIES based on it?! Not to mention the stupid 'heart of the cards' thing.

1. Naruto
Yes. Naruto. What makes me hate this the most is the massive fanbase it has. It has a dumb storyline and boring characters. The concept of the series is a good idea, but it was executed horribly. This whole series is awful. Believe it.

Honorable Mention: Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo
What the heck is this?!

[Aerith's Knight]

i dont even know that many anime series

[blackmage_nuke]

I dont have alot to say because ive only ever watched about 5 anime series but i hope your not basing some of your opinions soley on their english version because thats sort of like saying a song sucks after youve only heard a remix but not the original. If youre not thats cool, but if you are i guess its your own loss.

[Momiji]

I dont have alot to say because ive only ever watched about 5 anime series but i hope your not basing some of your opinions soley on their english version because thats sort of like saying a song sucks after youve only heard a remix but not the original. If youre not thats cool, but if you are i guess its your own loss.

It isn't just the dubbing, although that plays a major part. I look into storylines as well, and if I don't like the story or animation in English, what makes you think I'd like it in Japanese?

[Polaris]

5. Dragon Ball Z

3. Anything past the first Pokémon series

2. Yu-Gi-Oh!

wow you actually consider them anime... me and my bro don't even consider that anime! One anime that I find too brilliant is Ghost In the Shell! Honestly i gave up watching it coz it was so confusing Or perhpas I'm too dumb ;_;

[The Summoner of Leviathan]

1. Sailor Moon
It was my first anime that I really got into. So there is the whole nostalgia factor. While the dub is quite painful to watch, I cannot really stand much of the first season in either sub or dub format. It only gets good for me once all the Rainbow Crystals have been gathered. Besides that, the story evolves beautifully getting more complex in later seasons. By far my favourite season is the last, Sailor Stars. Usagi is an amazing character. Yes, the meatball head klutz. The great thing about her is that she knows she is far from perfect and admits her flaws, yet as a person she is pretty awesome. She stands her grounds and fights for what she believes in. Truly deserving of being Sailor Cosmos. Plus the manga is pretty sweet and just makes it that much better (the last arc is awesome). Plus Michiru and Haruka are like my all-time favourite anime couple. Yes, me who loves Boys' Love (male-male relationships) favourite couple are lesbians.

2. Loveless
Two things that are attractive are: scoring and the beauty of the art. Ritsuka is quite the interesting 12 year old to boot, I mean he reads Nietzche. It is quite an interesting series for such a short run, though hopefully there will be another season as more volumes of manga are created. The whole spell-battle system is very interesting.

3.Kyou Kara Maou!
You know how anime series, especially those shounen, go on and on for seasons filled with fillers and you simply want to pain to end? KKM! is a wonderful series that is long (78 episodes and a fw OVAs) but spreads the fillers enough to give you a chance to relaxe from the main plot without forgetting about it for a whole season. It does have undertones of BL in it, like Yuuri getting (accidentally) engaged to Wolfram or Gunter's nose bleed when Yuuri wears a thong. But overall, it has a good balance of hilarity and seriouesness. It is a light-hearted series that can be enjoyed by many.

4.Zegapain
A mech anime set in a post-apocalyptic future? OMFG IT IS EVA ALL OVER AGAIN. Before the little Eva fanboys and fangirls get their pants in a wad, it is far from being an Eva rip. Zegapain is a well done anime, that makes you think a bit. It questions what qualifies as human-life since humans are reduced to quatum data as they were wiped out by a virus. They fight the Guardsom who are sentient computer like beings with human bodies. It brings to mind what truly makes us humane. Quite a nice anime for those mech fans out there.

The next would be pretty hard for me to decide. It is basically a four-way-tie between: Ouran, Escaflowne, Mushishi and Fushigi Yuugi. All good in their own right. Ouran High School Host Club is a wonderful comedy, Escaflowne is a beautiful steam-punk mech anime with a wonderful OST, Mushishi is amazing and Fushigi Yuugi is classic (though maybe the least deserving of the 5th place).

As for my least favourite:

5. Serial Experiment Lain
*hides from Roto and gang of people who are about to kill me*
It seems like a good anime and has a very interesting premise but I simply cannot get into enough to get pass episode 5. I hear by the 7th episode it picks up, but I just cannot get into it. I am far from hating the series, and think that it is pretty interesting just not enough to keep me into it. Simply not my type of anime. Maybe in the future, this will be remedied since the first time I watched Cowboy Bebop I did not like it, though evetually I did come to like it. Ed is <3.

4. Saiyuki
I dunno if it was the crappy version I had, but I just could not get into this series either. I hear good things about the manga but the anime was just...ugh.

3. DBZ
It was good when I was 10. Thankfully I am no longer 10. Namek taking 5 episodes to blow up when it was suppose to blow up in 20 seconds? Yeah, even that young I realized it was messed up. Still entertaining, just something I rather never watch again.

4. Meine Liebe
I had heard good things about this. Also I heard that there was suppose to be some BL action into it. On both fronts I was greatly disappointed. It is like this weird parallel-universe-school-life-Renaissance-Europe anime that fails to deliver. I watched all 12 episodes and found my time wasted.

5. Meine Liebe Wieder
Sequel to the aforementioned series. I think I got two episodes into it before I realized I was wasting my time.

[blackmage_nuke]

I dont have alot to say because ive only ever watched about 5 anime series but i hope your not basing some of your opinions soley on their english version because thats sort of like saying a song sucks after youve only heard a remix but not the original. If youre not thats cool, but if you are i guess its your own loss.

It isn't just the dubbing, although that plays a major part. I look into storylines as well, and if I don't like the story or animation in English, what makes you think I'd like it in Japanese?

Some times they way its expressed changes with language and sometimes its the little things that they change in dialogue all adding up rather than the overall plot. For example sometimes instead of using a phrase because of some awkward wording the dubbers might choose to change it to a more common phrase, this can make the plot feel cliched and doesnt have the same impact and that leads to not absolute hate but the gradual dislike of the entire story. Its almost as important as the back ground music in setting the mood.

I guess if you REALLY hate the overall storyline its not gonna help any but the way some things are originally expressed can make some lines which you previously observed to have a completely different meaning and gets better characterisation.

[Ramza Beoulve]

Let's see...


Favorite

1. Mushishi

There's something about this anime that I cannot explain. It doesn't have an extreme plot or things other new animes have, but it shines by itself with everything it has to show. Sadly, not many know about it.

2. Gankutsuou

Wow. Just... wow. Based in an excellent story, with an excellent animation and excellent songs and voices. Sadly, some people cannot get the animation style.

3. GTO

The funniest thing I have seen in my life, I would love to have a professor like that xD.

4. Caballeros del Zodiaco (Knights of the Zodiac)
A classic here in México, I actually grew up with KotZ and DB, and with the addition of the Hades saga I have more reasons to like it .

5. La visión de Escaflowne (The Vision of Escaflowne)

Wonderful, I love the story, the characters, and the animation. One of the first animations I saw. Just... great.


Runner up. Dragon Ball / Dragon Ball Z

You know, sadly, all the people that have said that DBZ sucked have something in common: They saw it in English in USA. That's maybe the worst error someone can do when they are seeing anime. Sadly, a lot of anime in USA get censored a lot of things, and changed more. And it's lame that they think that's the ultimate edition and that they will never see it again, not even in japanese IMHO. But yeah, you can think whatever you like .

Thankfully, I saw it in México, complete, and without censorship. It is great, and I love it .



Least Favorite

2. Dragon Ball Z (USA version)

This version really sucked, and the song they used in the intro sucked more. Thankfully, I saw it just once. God, how could have they censored it that much!?

1. Naruto

I just don't like it.


Actually, there isn't a lot of anime that I don't like, but most of the anime I have seen is old, what could happen if I get to start to see more actual anime?

[Vermachtnis]

Favorites

1. Azumanga Daioh
Go Team Seaslugs! It's just so completely epic. Everything about it.

2. Meloncholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
Who doesn't want to meet an alien, time traveler, or esper. I love how it's done too, it seems real.

3. Fate/stay night
A serious anime on my list o_0. I love the animation style and the characters. Archer caught me guard.

4. Saber Marionnette J
Again, I like all the characters. Except for Faust, I hate him. I feel bad for Tiger too.

5. Full Metal Panic!? Fumoffu
Can't have an anime list without a mech anime. And Bonta-kun counts as a mech! I love how the well trained Sergent gets taken down by a paper fan.

Honorable Mentions: Tenchi Muyo!, Excel Saga, Elfen Leid, Digimon, FLCL

Least Fav.
1. Blood +
Just couldn't get into it. Too gorey for me (if you ignore that Elfen Leid made it to honoable mentions)

2. Cutie Honey
Way way way way too pervy! From the name I thought it was a parody like Pretty Sammy, but I was wrong. Never ever watch Cutie Honey.

[Roto13]

*jabs Summoner of Leviathan with a pitchfork*

Favourite:

1. Serial Experiments Lain

This was the first anime I ever saw that made me take anime seriously. It's amazingly deep and leaves a lot for you to think about later.

2. Neon Genesis Evangelion

I like it for a lot of the same reasons I like Lain. :P

3. Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

It's hard to explain why I like this anime to people who haven't seen it. It just has a certain charm that's impossible to resist. All of the characters are so likeable. Also, there's a Phoenix Wright parody scene, so instant win.

4. Texhnolyze

See Serial Experiments Lain. :P (It shares a lot of the same key creators.)

5. Vision of Escaflowne

Giant fighting robots, schoolgirl love, swords, dragons, alternate worlds. It has something for everyone, really.

Honourable Mention: Hellsing

The soundtrack is awesome, the animation is cool, the characters are badass, but it gets kind of ridiculous later on.

Elfen Lied

OMG BOOBZ N BLOOD!!!1!!! Yeah, it has a lot of intense violence and too many giant boobs, but when you get past that there's a very sad story to be told.

Least Favourite:

5. Dragon Ball GT

I actually liked most of Dragon Ball Z. Dragon Ball GT is where it hits the fan, though. Prolly cause Akira Toriyama didn't have a whole lot to do with it.

4. Sailor Moon

The number of apparently-heterosexual adult males who obsess over this show scares me.

3. Sonic X

Stupid, stupid show. Takes the Sonic Adventure games and makes them more cheesey. Also, I dunno if it's just in the dub (probably) but the music is GRATING!

2. Kirby Right Back At Ya

It has almost nothing to do with the Kirby games. Why can Kirby only say his name? Is he a Pokemon?

1. Naruto

I EAT NARUTARDS!

[NeoCracker]

Least Favorite.

4. Blue Gender (Can't really remember why actually :P)

3. Gundam Seed - I'm not really a big gundam fan, but damn, this one is horrid. I didn't like any of the characters, and it seemed entirely to unoriginal.

2. Divergence Eve - This show only has one thing going for it, Fan service. And it even fails in that department, as your only fan service is unattractively large breast.

1. FLCL - Yes, this is easilly my most hated anime. The jokes were dull, the character designs dulled me, and even the plot was lacking. It never seemed like a very well told coming of age story to me either. Overall, there is not a single thing I liked about this show, except for the fact its only 6 episodes.


Favorite: (This ones HArd)

5. Azumanga Daioh - Close call for number 4 for me. Kimura and Osaka are by far my favorite Characters. Much love for Osaka.

4. Ouran(SP?) High School Host Club - Those twins were awesome. Also, I loved all of the characters, and I found the humor to be just a notch above Azumanga.

3. Welcome to the NHK - IF every there was a great show that delved into how messed up a human mind could get, this is it. Great characters, realistic Situations (Well, that last scene is kinda pushing that a bit though, :P), and when its funny, it is freaking Hilarious. She tried to coax him away from an MMO by dressing as a Cat Girl, lol.

2. Paranoia Agent - This is a perfect example of using surreal concepts. (SPOILER)A serial Killer born out of shear Paranoia and fear, how can one get more surreal then that?. But yes, the Ideas behind lil slugger and that little pink doggy, Mamori (SP?) were simply genius.

1. Cowboy Bebop - The greatest anime of all time. Amazing Characters, awesome stories, and a perfect ending. Even the Bebop movie was simply spectacular. In addition, the music in show goes perfectly with every scene, and is equally amazing outside of the anime.

[qwertysaur]

Favorite

5: Pokemon Diamond and Pearl
After years of crap, the pokemon anime actually gets good again. 4Kids losing the dubbing rights also helped improve the quality of the dub.

4: Full Metal Panic!? Fumoffu
This anime is great. I have yet to meet somebody who has watched it and not find it funny.

3: Princess Mononoke
I love this movie. It is beautifully written, and has a great story.

2: Digimon Adventure
I grew up with this one, and still watch it today. And patamon is so cute. Boom Bubble!

1: Katekyō Hitman Reborn!
I love this anime. It has a great balance of plot and humor. Watch it!


Honorable mention
All of the other Miyazaki Movies. I love his work.

Least Favorite

5: InuYasha
The end was way to abrupt in the anime. The manga is great though.

4: Dragonball series
The series is good, but it feels too drawn out and repetitive for me.

3: Naruto
The fanbase is ruining this series for me. I hope the series ends soon before the quality begins to slip and become repetitive. The dub also has an annoying voice for Naruto.

2: Mach GoGoGo (Speed Racer)
The dub is horrible. It makes a 4Kids dub seem good in comparison.

1: Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo
This anime makes absolutly no sense. Some random is good, but this is too much.

[NeoCracker]

I like Bobobo though. Whats with all the hate?

[Spatvark]

Haibane Renmei:
By the guy who came up with Serial Experiments Lain, Texhnolyze (god that show was depressing) and NieA Under 7, Yo:skull::skull::skull::skull:oshi ABe, it's more akin to a lighter-hearted Lain. From the awesome music, the great animation, the lovely characters and the slowly developing but wonderful story, but not forgetting the overarching sense of mystery as to the true nature of the Haibane, it's just a series I can't understand anyone not liking.

Monster:
Naoki Urasawa is like, the greatest mangaka alive, I swear, and Monster is his magnum opus. This anime adaptation of the hit series is virtually a scene-by-scene recreation, just as it should be, and as such, while it isn't exactly better than the manga, it's no worse either. I guess it just comes down to which medium you prefer. I love this kind of story, something that gets me going "Holy :skull::skull::skull::skull:!" at all the plot twists and revelations, and I can't recommend this highly enough. Both the anime and the manga are what I'd recommend to someone who is somewhat sceptical about either as a mature storytelling medium. The only problem is that it's 74 episodes long.

Fullmetal Alchemist:
When you compare FMA to Monster, they're really quite different in their adaptations. While Monster is absolutely faithful, Fullmetal Alchemist (which is no relation whatsoever to the Full Metal Panic series) is slightly different from the get-go, and only diverges further as the series goes on. While I'd definitely say the manga is better, that's not to look down upon this. Awesome animation, especially the fight scenes, a nice and twisty plotline, and the true nature of the homunculi is just utterly fantastic (better than the manga's version, I think). Again though, this is a fairly long series; 51 episodes and a movie, and to be fair, while the movie is gorgeous, it's a poor cap to an awesome series.

Kaleido Star:
And now for something completely different. Kaleido Star is very much a feel-good anime, one of those "Chasing your dream" stories that the Japanese do so love. One of the things I did enjoy about this show so much is that they totally pushed romantic relationships aside for the main characters as they press onwards with their hopes. The animation is gorgeous, especially in the surreal acrobatic scenes, and while there are distinctly daft scenes that sometimes bug the hell out of me, I can't not love this show. There are 51 episodes and 3 OVA's (though the third can, and probably should, be utterly discarded), with the second OVA, "Legend of Phoenix ~Layla Hamilton Monogatari~" probably being the best part of the entire series.

Seirei no Moribito:
Production IG animation, mock-feudal Japan setting, awesome martial arts fights, and an engaging plot. What more could you ask for? Seirei no Moribito is probably the best series to air in Japan in the last three or so years, by quite a margin. Just seriously, watch it. You won't regret it.

Hajime no Ippo:
I don't like sports anime or manga very much, and boxing in general doesn't hold much interest for me. But Hajime no Ippo just crapped over all expectations I had for anything based on the sport. The animation isn't always great, Madhouse sensibly saving it for the fight scenes, and the voice acting took a little while to get used to, but once I got to grip with those, I found this to be an incredibly faithful adaptation of the excellent manga. My only issue with it is that at 75 episodes and two OVA's, it's not even close to up-to-date with the manga, where so much more awesomeness has happened after where the anime finishes up. Still, this series is most definitely worth watching.

Honourable Mentions: Ai:skull::skull::skull::skull:eruze Baby, Aria, Azumanga Daioh, FLCL, Scrapped Princess, The Twelve Kingdoms

As for the worst, I honestly couldn't say, since I tend to give up on series very quickly and push them out of my memory, so I don't really remember them very well.

[Roto13]

I watched Haibane Renmei just before Christmas because it's another Lain/Texhnolyze team anime. I thought the atmosphere was great. It relaxed me. xP Still, I kind of wish they had (SPOILER)eventually gone beyond the walls like in Texhnolyze when they leave Lux. I'd like to have a better idea of exactly what the Haibane are.