Anime is Japanese Animation (the word is the Japanese
term for animation in general, but American fans tend to use it
as the name for Japanese animation in particular). It is one of
my favorite forms of entertainment, offering beautiful artwork
in a style very different from American animation, good music,
great voice acting, and excellent stories that range from action/adventure
to romance, from lyrical fantasy to cyberpunk science fiction,
from moving tragedy to lunatic comedy.
There's a lot more Anime out there than I've seen, but here
are my top ten favorites from what I have seen, with descriptions
and some sample artwork. I hope the list piques your curiosity
enough to look further-- there's some really good work out there.
The images are a mix of ones I've scanned myself and ones I've
found on the Net. The list is alphabetical by title, and my two
favorite series ended up at the end of the list (where I give
them more text than the others). So I guess this page saves the
best for last.
When college freshman Morisato Keiichi picks up the phone to order
some Chinese food, he dials a wrong number and reaches the "Merciful
and Helpful Goddess Office" instead. When the goddess Belldandy
appears to grant him one wish, Keiichi thinks it's a practical
joke and says, "I wish you would be my girlfriend forever."
Beautiful artwork and music, and a storyline both funny and touching,
put this one on the Top Ten.
| Belldandy as an Angel | |
| Belldandy's Older Sister, Urd | |
| The Three Goddesses |
Kei and Yuri are trouble consultants (criminal investigations
division) for the WWWA ("Worlds Welfare Work Association"),
an interstellar police agency in the 22nd century. Code-named
Lovely Angels, Kei and Yuri have picked up the unfair
nickname "Dirty Pair" as a result of some unfortunate
incidents which were not, repeat not, their fault.
They were recruited to the WWWA directly out of college after
a problem in the chemistry lab, which wasn't their fault, and
the University needed a new chemistry building anyway. Since then,
they've solved every case they've been assigned to and if a few
planets got blown up in the process, well, it's not their fault,
after all you can hardly expect Galaxy-threatening supervillains
to go out peacefully, now can you?
| Kei | |
| Villain's-eye View | |
| In Pursuit |
Kimagure ("Whimsical") Orange Road is a wonderful
series that mixes comedy, fantasy and romance in a unique blend
of its own. Kasuga Kyosuke is a 15-year-old high school student
with a secret: he's a powerful psychic (it runs in his family).
He's also carrying a torch for classmate Ayukawa Madoka, but is
"officially" going with Hikaru, who adores him. Kyosuke
can't quite figure out what to do about this, or about his sisters,
cousin and grandparents who all seem to have a bit of trouble
keeping the family secret.
Despite the fantasy element of the Kasuga family's psychic powers,
the series draws most of its story elements from the humor and
drama of an uncertain teenager trying to handle his first romance.
| Ayukawa Madoka (1) | |
| Madoka (3) |
An alien spacecraft crashes into the tiny island of Italia,
bearing the marks of a deadly battle in space. United Nations
forces set about restoring the gigantic battleship, called the
Macross, attempting to decipher its advanced technology
for use in the Earth's planetary defenses. Ten years later, the
Macross is ready for its first proving flight when
its alien pursuers arrive, determined to retake the battleship
and willing to destroy the Earth in the process. soon the Macross
and its inexperienced crew are involved in a flight across the
width of the Solar System, fighting to protect themselves and
the Earth from the alien Zentradi.
This is the best of the Anime space-opera adventures, with exciting
action and a storyline that revolves more around the characters
whose lives are affected by the war than around the war itself,
and which moves into deeper science-fiction themes as the story
progresses.
| The Macross lifts off | |
| Ichijo Hikaru and Hyase Misa | |
|
|
|
Three Tokyo schoolgirls are summoned
to the magical world of Cephiro, a world where the will of the
inhabitants determines the shape of reality, to become the legendary
"Magic Knights" who will save Cephiro from destruction
when its Princess is held captive by a dark sorcerer.
A fantasy/adventure in the "Magical Girls" genre of
Anime, Magic Knight Rayearth has outstanding artwork
in a very distinctive style, excellent music, and a good blend
of humor and suspense.
| Hikaru | |
| Fuu | |
| Magic Knights |
From the pen of manga artist Takahashi Rumiko, a departure
from her usual trademarks of insane comedy combined with science
fiction or fantasy (see "Ranma 1/2" and "Urusei
Yatsura").
Ikkoku-kan is an old, run-down apartment building in Tokyo, home
of Yusaku Godai, a struggling student trying to study for his
college entrance exams (which he's failed once already) despite
the other tenants' determination to hold drinking parties in his
room every night. To add to Godai's distraction, he's fallen hopelessly
in love with the new manager of the building, Otonashi Kyoko.
But he's too insecure to ever quite do anything about it (especially
with the not-always-well-meaning "help" of his party-loving
neighbors). Kyoko herself is a recently-widowed young woman, still
not fully recovered from the loss of her husband and unsure how
to handle the feelings she begins to have for Godai.
Maison Ikkoku mixes comedy and drama as it follows
Godai and Kyoko's tentative, uncertain romance from their first
meeting through the next 5 or 6 years of their lives, telling
a single, lovingly developed story in its 96 episodes. It's a
beautiful, moving series.
| Godai | |
| Mrs. Ichinose | |
| Akemi | |
| Godai & Kyoko |
| Nausicaa's flier, the Mehve | |
| Another Nausicaa |
Saotome Ranma, of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts, and
Tendo Akane, of the Tendo Dojo, have a problem: their fathers
have decided to arrange a marriage between the two of them, but
they can't stand each other. Or else they're in love with each
other. They can't quite make up their minds about that.
But this is nothing compared to the fact that, while training
in China, Ranma and his father fell into the cursed springs of
Jusenkyo. Now, because of the curse, whenever Ranma is splashed
with cold water he turns into a girl, and remains one until he
is splashed with hot water. At this, he's better off than his
father, who turns into a giant panda, or his directionally-challenged
rival Ryoga, who fell into another spring and now turns into a
cute little piglet, or the Chinese Amazon warrior Shampoo, who
turns into a cat, or her suitor Mousse, who turns into a duck,
or...
This lunatic (and highly confusing) comedy is another treat from
the pen of Takahashi Rumiko, who obviously has more comic imagination
than any ten mere mortals..
| Ranma (both versions) | |
| Another Akane | |
| Ryoga (both versions) | |
| Shampoo (both versions) |
Tsukino Usagi is a 14-year-old
8th-grader. She's something of a klutz and (let's be honest) she's
more than a little bit of a crybaby. But she's also the reincarnation
of Princess Serenity of the long-vanished Kingdom of the Silver
Millennium on the Moon. With the mystical power of the Silver
Crystal of Illusion, she fights against evil as the beautiful
sailor-suited soldier of love and justice-- Sailor Moon!
She's joined by her friends the Sailor Soldiers, reincarnations
of the powerful goddess-warriors of the Moon Kingdom, by her boyfriend
Chiba Mamoru, reincarnation of Princess Serenity's lover Prince
Endymion, who fights in the guise of the dashing "Masked
Tuxedo", and by the two cats Luna and Artemis, once advisors
to the Moon Kingdom's Queen. Together, the Sailor Soldiers defend
the world against the forces of evil.
This is my favorite Anime. I realize that on grounds of
objective artistic criticism there may be better titles out there--
some of them even on this top ten list-- but to heck with criticism:
this series is a delight. It has a light heart and a bright spirit.
It's silly and funny but with stories that rise to almost mythic
levels in their conclusions, and on the way it finds time for
unexpected moments of drama that are genuinely moving. The series
just recently ended in Japan after a run of 200 episodes, divided
into 6 distinct storylines ranging from 13 to 46 episodes in length.
Besides the TV series, there have been 3 movies (so far), a short
film, and a number of TV specials and live events. Sailor
Moon is based on a manga series by Takeuchi Naoko.
Images
Sailor Moon Sailor Mars Sailor Venus The Sailor Soldiers with the Masked Tuxedo Princess Serenity wields the Silver Crystal Luna and Artemis Sailor Moon and the Masked Tuxedo
*The picture of the Silver Millennium is not original Anime art, but an image I created myself using Metatools' Bryce 2 landscape-rendering program, based on images seen in the Anime.
Lum, the beautiful alien princess from the planet Oniboshi, is
in love with 17-year-old high school student Moroboshi Ataru (whose
name means "To be hit by a falling star"). In fact,
Lum insists that she and Ataru are married. The rest of Tomobiki
High can't believe Ataru's luck. All the boys in class are madly
in love with Lum. Ataru, however, is the most lecherous human
being ever to live, and is madly in love will all the girls in
class, along with any other girls he might happen to pass on the
street. All the girls in class are in love with Mendo Shutaro,
son of the richest family in Japan (and perhaps the world). Mendo,
however, is in love with himself, but finds some time to chase
Lum as well.
We're just getting started here. Shinobu, another classmate, is
(like all the girls) in love with Mendo, and likes to toss furniture
around when she's upset. The school nurse, Sakura, a Shinto priestess,
has an uncle named Cherry, a Buddhist priest who is in love with
food. Lum's baby cousin, Ten, is in love with breathing fire on
Ataru. Lum's friend Benten is in love with her hyperspace motorcycle,
while her friend Oyuki is really fond of freezing things, and
Ran is in love with the idea of taking bloody revenge on Lum for
all sorts of imagined insults. Of course, Ataru is in love with
all these girls.
The high school principle's best friend is the ghost of a cat
that froze to death one winter, and now haunts electric footwarmers
wherever they appear. Mendo's sister, Ryoko, is in love with pulling
practical jokes to make her brother's life miserable. His parentally-arranged
fiance Asuka is in love with her brother Ton but is mortally terrified
of all other men, and runs around in a suit of armor to keep herself
safe from them. Ryonusuke is in love with the idea of someday
being allowed to wear a girl's school uniform, because her father
so wanted a son that he insists that she is actually a boy. Her
father, meanwhile, loves the sea and usually enters the room on
the crest of a tidal wave.
I could go on but I'd probably begin to confuse you. Did I say
earlier that Ranma 1/2 was a "lunatic" series? Forget
about it-- by comparison with Urusei Yatsura ("Those Obnoxious
Aliens"), Ranma is a dignified family drama. Urusei Yatsura
must be the craziest comedy ever made. It's yet another
classic from Takahashi Rumiko, and ran on TV for 196 episodes,
with 10 OVAs and 6 movies (to date).
| Lum | |
| Lum and Ataru | |
| The Girls of Urusei Yatsura |
- Crusher Joe
- Rumik World (more Takahashi Rumiko)
- Bubblegum Crisis
- Megazone 23
- Captain Harlock
