Anime/Manga Your Favourites

List five to ten of your favourite anime series, but don't leave it at that. Tell us why you love them and why we should all give them a try.

The Love Live! Franchise - Aside from enjoying cute anime girls, I literally cannot come up with a valid reason based on the work alone that you should watch this. It's something you're either going to be swept away by how fun you find it, the music, the fandom, and the characters doing cute things over what can be a pretty cliche story in spots, or you're going to find it's not your cup of tea at all. That said, pretty much every episode has left me with a dumb grin on my face.

The Genshiken series - this is the story of a college "visual media" club from one student's enrollment to his graduation and a bit beyond. It has compelling characters, comedic punchlines and references, and is very well written IMO.

K-On! series - It's about an after school rock music club and follows our main characters through their 3 years of high school. It's got some pretty good music and some charming moments, as well as quite a bit of layered storytelling and actual growth even if it feels like a very slow-paced show compared to what many people here seem to enjoy. Most episodes leave me with a warm, fuzzy feeling with a dumb happy grin on my face. I think the only time I haven't was when I completed the movie as that meant there was no more animation left of these 5 girls and their teacher. I felt a void upon completing this, that's how much of an impression it left on me.

Non Non Biyori series - If you thought K-On! was too slow, this one is probably not for you, either. This is arguably even slower paced as its two seasons center around different standard life events that happen over the same year - the second season is literally titled "Repeat" to indicate it happens concurrently and even interweaved within the storyline of the first season. This is a show that exists for healing and is part of the Iyashikei (healing) genre. It's a slow paced show that's calming and has a charming cast. Pretty much every episode has left me with a warm, fuzzy feeling and a dumb grin on my face. I think only the last episode of Repeat did not but that's because it was the last of the adaptations at the time I completed it.

R.O.D. The OVA - There were a few series I could have picked, but for me, this was the easiest to write about. It's a show largely set in the modern day, except that there are a bunch of spies working for a secret agency that have supernatural powers, and there are some battles involving other spies and a few surprises that are totally worth it. This 3 episode OVA is an adaptation of one of the volumes of the novel series by the same name. It will require some suspension of disbelief but it should be a very fun ride.


And that's way more writing then I've done in quite a while. Took nearly half an hour to write all this up.

Higurashi - Anyone who knows me is probably not surprised by this lol. Higurashi is a mystery/horror series that follows a tight-knit group of friends in a small town as across different timelines different members of the group lose their minds and start killing each other off all while a bunch of other mysterious things happen in the background. The story of Higurashi is really intricately woven and complex (and amazing), there's a lot of compelling characters and the atmosphere in particular is incredible.

Serial Experiments Lain - I love how this show only becomes more relevant over the time, questioning the nature of reality and society's connection to the internet. Lain's another complex thriller - albeit a cyberpunk one - and arguably the biggest mindfuck you'll come across in anime. The series knows exactly how to suck you in, make you severely uncomfortable at times and make you question everything. You really feel for the unfortunate characters that get dragged through the story.

Hanbun no Tsuki ga Noboru Sora - It's sad that not enough people know about this six-part series. It's a romantic drama taking place in a hospital and it deals with some really deep emotional material and it doesn't blow it. The small cast of characters makes it easy to connect to each of the important characters well and you get hit hard by the highs and lows they experience. It's really well done.

AnoHana - A supernatural drama about a guy who ends up being haunted by the ghost of a friend who died as a child. At first the story seems to be a bit comedic, with the idea being that he needs to help her pass on properly and finish off some forgotten unfinished business but the true nature of the story quickly becomes apparent as we see how the passing of Menma served as a catalyst for the collapse of the central characters' friendships and watch them still struggling to deal with the grief. It's an emotional rollercoaster of a series and very bittersweet.

Violet Evergarden - Not only are the art, animation and music all amazing but the story itself is beautiful. Violet Evergarden follows a child soldier who at the conclusion of a war is left with artificial arms and lost with no sense of purpose or identity without the conflict. The story explores the tragedy of war through the lens of a post-war survivor who through her work writing letters for other people, helping them cope with their own emotional turmoils learns to identify her own feelings and must struggle with her own grief and guilt over the events of the war. The story is paced brilliantly and the emotional journey of the protagonist is handled brilliantly.

Basically I have a soft spot for bittersweet series and mindfucks.

5. Sakura Trick: Thats a light anime at all. Sakura Trick is all about comedy and cute girls in a more deep relationship, this anime was what a probably I consider the perfect comedy, this is the kind of thing you want just watch with a smile in the face.

4. Hunter x Hunter (2011): Pretty much a standard. I loved all the adventure this anime provided to me and when the series becomes more dark and serious... Jesus, that's something to keep the attention. All the details and rich world makes this anime magical to me I even managed go to the manga when I completed the anime.

3. Neon Genesis Evangelion: Old and sad... just what I like. Evangelion is a weird one, I can understand why some people just can't like this anime but that's one of my favorites of all times. All the characters psychological approaches are great and the tense plot just add so much to this. Even if you don't like old anime I think this is a good way to go.

2. Revolutionary Girl Utena: This anime is how I fall in love to Ikuhara's work. That's a giant and weird allegory who takes the shoujo anime to another level. From the characters, plots, music, visual, even the meanings, all of this anime seems just perfect to me.

1. Monogatari Series: Yes, the toothbrush scene's anime. I don't know, all seasons of this anime are kinda a new thing but ever maintain the feels over them... It's just weird. This anime was my favorites characters ever made and the plot seems to have no hole. Don't mind how much I rewatch this anime, something new comes up and the experience keeps magical. The direction are eccentric and cool and probably will carry the entire series at the start if you like this kind of thing.

https://myanimelist.net/profile/RealCW

List is right there. I don't need to explain why, just watch them and you'll figure it out. Japanese only though. Absolutely no dubs.

The flower we saw that day is one of my favorite series. It is all about to resolve the wish.