*hauls old post out from a different board and updates*
01. Cyborg 009: The Android Soldier - This is my favorite for many reasons, but the number one reason I like this is because it shows how people of different races can work together to accomplish a higher goal. The main character was a person with parents of different nationalities and had to learn to accept himself before the world around him would accept him. On a production view, I love the animation, I'm a huge fan of the retro look and it reminds me so much of the manga. It also has some of the best music I've heard in a while, OST, opening and ending, I loved them. The core cast were so diverse, there was literally a character that almost anyone could identify with.
02. Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket - I found this series to be interesting because of the way the protagonist was viewed and how he changed over the course of the series. Seeing a young boy going from thinking that war is something cool and just a game to realizing how horrible it can really be is great. The ending is poignant and really gets across the message of just how grim the realities of war can be. I think this is the only Gundam that's been able to do it in a realistic manner. It had great characters and the animation was pretty good for it's time, loved the mech designs as well. Some people find the main character to be annoying, but that was the whole point. He was a young and naive boy who had absolutely no experience with war, he was just a kid and was forced into a situation where we had to leave behind all his preconceived notions about war just being a game.
03. Turn A Gundam - This series wasn't too much of a success in Japan, and I guess I can see why with the mecha designs they had, but I still loved it. To me it shows what Gundam can do when every member of the production team is giving it their all, and it was great to see a lighter series from Tomonio that wasn't totally about doom and actually gave characters hope and happy endings for once. It was the last series that I fully enjoyed, since then we've had Gundam SEED and Gundam SEED DESTINY, which have numerous faults that I just can't get pass. My favorite Gundam TV series and really one of the last good Gundams made. It had a great idea of mixing the technological aspect of Gundam with the Victorian age setting. It's a character driven series and as such, we learn a lot about the characters and come to care for them so much. Every time a character died, you would feel bad, these are the people that you've learned so much about and more so than almost any Gundam, it was able to make the characters seem human.
04. Card Captor Sakura - My favorite shoujo anime of all time. The series just has this certain magic about it that keeps the viewer captivated through its entire run. I've seen the thing so many times over the years that I've lost count and will often find myself rewatching the episodes at random because they were generally just fun to watch. The characters weren't the most original, but the way they were handled really made it a superb show.
05. Keroro Gunso - Even though it's not over yet, I have no problems placing this on my top ten list. This show is a perfect example of what can be done when a production team generally try to make an interesting an humorous show. The jokes actually make me laugh, I love all the characters and there's basically an archetype in each of the frogs that a lot of people can identify with.
06. Kikaider - A short OVA series, but it was still a great series. It had the retro style that I love in anime so much and really reminded me of the old tokusatsu and manga. Some people found the show to be confusing, but it really wasn't. It's just the struggle of someone trying to understand his own faults and come to terms with the fact that he can never have what he wants. It's the story of a tragic hero done right more or less.
07. Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam - One of the best and darkest Gundam or anime shows out there, before everything was just flash and gore. The show had great substance and really brought new life into the Gundam franchise, it was one Tomino's darkest, but easily one of his best as well.
08. Samurai Champloo - Another great anime from the mind of Shinichiro Watanabe. He was able to replicate the great atmosphere that he first achieved in Cowbop Bebop. As with Cowboy Bebop, the music played an integral part in the show. It helped with the stylization of the Samurai and feudal-Japan. Like many of Watanabe's other works, the main theme of this show is that you can't run from your past no matter how hard you try. This is really one of the only shows that I think really got that message across in a fun yet solid manner.
09. Fullmetal Alchemist - Nothing like this has really been done before. Not in this manner at least, the show relied much more on it's character's than anything else. It's so great to see how almost every character has one connection to another and how that connection helps move the plot along. The mysteries this show presented were great, and while the second half wasn't as good as the first, it still proved to be a near perfect anime.
10. Kaleido Star - This is one of the few shows from the last few years that I can really call a visual masterpiece. It relied heavily on the imagery and settings and it doesn't disappoint. Some of the characters may seem generic, but they're able to breathe new life into the overdone roles that they portray. The vivid imagery and plot were great here, there's not much about this show that I didn't like.
Honorable Mentions: Cowboy Bebop, Romeo X Juliet, Digimon Tamers, G-Gundam, Super Dimension Fortress Macross, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Code Geass, Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann, Fruit's Basket, Berserk, Blue Seed, Betterman, Yoroiden-Samurai Troopers, GaoGaiGar.
