all-time favorite anime?

Wonderduck started this by posting his Top Four – 1, 2, 3, 4 – of these, I tried watching Noir but got bored, though maybe I should give it another shot (though, my anime queue is very long and barely functional nowadays. Is this still an anime blog? There’s an existential question for you…). The other three I probably should add to my list as well.

Steven weighed in as well and defined favorite in a slightly different way, which is of course the entire point of the word “favorite”. I think I’d have to qualify my choices by different metrics:

Most rewatchable: Samurai Jack. It’s actually amerime, not anime, but it blew everything else away. The plot is nonlinear and the animation astounding. If I had to choose an anime equivalent, I’d have to go with Kino’s Journey.

Most moving: Haibane Renmei, tied with pretty much everything by Makoto Shinkai. (By “moving”, I mean in a positive way. Graveyard of the Fireflies doesn’t count).

Most warm and fuzzy: Totoro. This also counts partially under most-rewatchable, though only partially because half of my repeat viewings are under duress. I’d put Someday’s Dreamers in close second place.

Most dramatic: Death Note. This is probably the most intense anime, or even television series in general, I’ve ever seen. It stands head and shoulders above everything else.

Most exciting: Cowboy Bebop. I was just hooked on this. intensity and energy of this series blew me away. The only thing that came close is the “sequel”, Samurai Champloo, which I haven’t adequately blogged about yet but definitely had a better ending.

Most philosophical: In a wierd way, I’d have to go with Dennou Coil. The modern mobile revolution is pushing us down that path to Augmented Reality much more quickly than I imagined back when I first saw it only a couple of years ago. The implications are astounding.

Unfortunately, if I were to measure my favorite by tallying the raw number of episodes watched, Ranma probably counts as my favorite. Curse you, Steven!