As a start to getting my posts going again, I’ve decided to compile a list of my favourite 10 anime. Of course, I know a lot of people out there aren’t going to agree with me, but these are based on my own personal preferences, and we all know not everybody has the same taste.

At the same time, this is a very fluid top 10; with the exception of the first 3 positions, nothing guarantees that it will be exactly the same next week. Anyways, here goes, from #10 to #1:

10.) Sister Princess

I’d be surprised to find Sister Princess in the top 10 of a lot of people who read this. The story revolves around Minakami Wataru, a top-scoring student who somehow fails his high-school entrance exam. On orders from his father, he gets packed off to a random island where he has been accepted to a high-school by recommendation.

That’s all fine and good, but not long after arriving, Wataru gets to discover he has 12 little sisters.

Sister Princess is an endearing anime; at times almost cloyingly sweet – which I suppose would put a lot of people off. But even now, it manages to bring a smile to my face whenever I watch it.

9.) Lucky Star

Lucky Star was a simple slice-of-life school comedy that took me by surprise, quite simply because I was somewhat bored by the first two episodes, but something made me come back and watch the third, and then I was hooked.

The series also contains the one character any Otaku should try and measure themselves up against; one Izumi Konata, very sporty and intellegent, yet she refuses to do sport and does badly in school quite simply because studying and exercising would interfere with her anime, manga and gaming.

Also home to one of the catchiest opening themes in the anime world.

8.) Rozen Maiden

My list takes a slightly darker turn with the arrival of the Rozen Maiden series, which focuses on a young boy who avoids going out in public after flunking out of school due to a nervous breakdown. Having developed a habit of ordering anything and everything off the internet that interests him (and returning it before the trial period expires) – he one days comes across a mysterious case that contains a doll – a doll, that once her key is wound, comes alive.

The doll is Shinku, a Rozen doll, fated to battle other Rozen dolls for their Rosa Mystica in order to become the perfect girl – Alice.

The storyline was had a slightly mysterious feel to it – both Shinku’s domineering personality and Jun’s inability to come to terms with his past providing the lighter and darker sides of the story as you work your way through the series.

7.) Mai HiME

Not only did the title of this series contain a world’s worth of wordplay, but Mai HiME itself introduced one of the most well-defined heroines I have ever come across, anywhere. In addition Mai HiME combined action, comedy, fantasy, romance, drama and a dash of sci-fi in a near flawless manner.

The story itself revolved around Tokiha Mai, who transfers into the prestigious Fuuka Academy and quickly comes to realise that there are some pretty disturbing things going on underneath the idyllic exterior. Apart from that, she gets called on to fight things she never knew existed with powers she never knew she had, while battling with her conscience and memories at the same time.

6.) Elfen Lied

Elfen Lied pulled out all the stops to shock its audience, and managed it pretty well – with the opening sequences falling amongst the most bloody and violent scenes I’ve ever seen. The manga wasn’t well drawn, but the anime was awesomely well animated and the character designs had been completely overhauled.

Soon after arriving in the city where he was planning to attend university, Kouta and his cousin Yuka come across a girl on the beach, naked and bleeding. She was completely innocent with no ability to speak; moreover, she had two horns protruding from her head. Youta decides to take her home, unaware that behind that innocent face lurked a cold, calculating monster that wouldn’t hesitate to kill.

5.) The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

What would you do if you suddenly discovered that God was in your class? This isn’t quite what happened to Kyon (the only name we know him by), but it came pretty close. Shortly after their opening ceremony a beautiful girl in his class introduced herself as Suzumiya Haruhi and stated that she was only interested in becoming friends with aliens, espers and time travellers.

Kyon was none of these, but he somehow ended up helping her found a club, and had the surprise of his life when, unbeknownst to Haruhi, an alien, time traveller and esper actually turn up to join the club. And very shortly afterward, he discovers that Haruhi has the power to completely remake the world if she became dissatisfied with the current version. Not only that, but the other three were depending on Kyon himself to make sure that Haruhi didn’t get bored.

Sounds like fun, and indeed, this show was full of it. Part of the fun was the fact that the show was aired out of chronological order – actually watching the show in chronological order took something out of it.

The show had some very unique characters – and a completely unique plot. Or, at the very least, unique for me. At the very least I’m waiting to see what the second season delivers.

4.) Full Metal Panic!

When young mercenary soldier Sagara Sousuke gets a mission to protect high-school student Chidori Kaname, he ends up getting a little more than he bargained for. A professional soldier to the core, with little to absolutely no idea of how normal society operates, he needs to integrate himself into Kaname’s class while (initially) keeping his mission a secret.

Full Metal Panic! managed an excellent blend of comedy, action and elements of sci-fi, with the technology used in the anime having a full background. Sousuke by himself makes the show worth watching, with his clumsy attempts to blend with the normal students being offset by his incredible efficiency when danger threatens his charge.

Full Metal Panic! and Full Metal Panic! – TSR were the more serious seasons, with Full Metal Panic! Fummofu slipping in between the two seasons and being more of a comedy relief which wasn’t taking itself too seriously.

3.) ARIA

And by this I mean all the seasons of Aria.

Aria follows Mizunashi Akari as she undertakes her training to become a Prima Undine (gondolier) in the city of Neo-Venezia on Aqua (terraformed Mars). As she makes her way through her training, she makes a lot of friends, and has many mysterious encounters with the wonders of the city.

At first dubious about the entire storyline, Aria managed to grip me impressively quickly – the characters were excellently portrayed by their respective voice actors, and both the characters and the background art were beautifully drawn. The music in the series was also top-notch, being soothing and creating a laid back atmosphere which suited Aria’s environment perfectly. The series had a lot of laughs, but wasn’t short of its cute and tear-jerking moments.

2.) Kanon

Another one of the first anime I watched, Kanon made a major emotional impact on me – on one or two occasions reducing me to tears (yes I can cry dammit :P).

The H-game turned anime by Key revolves around Aizawa Yuuichi as he returns to the city his cousin Nayuki lives in after being away for seven years. Having forgotten nearly everything from his previous stays there, Yuuichi meets and interacts with a group of girls who all have some connection to his past (with the exception of one), and as time goes by he steadily regains his memories, and also discovers why he lost them in the first place.

Even though it started of as a hentai dating sim, animating studio Toei Animation went a different route with the anime, creating a poignant drama – stunningly combined with good voice acting and very atmospheric background music. Despite the low level of animation and character design when compared to the 2006 version of Kanon, the newer version didn’t make quite as much of an impression on me – which is why I chose Kanon 2002 over Kanon 2006.

1.) Onegai Twins

For those of you that know me, this particular anime sitting at #1 should come as no particular surprise. Onegai Twins was one of the first anime series I watched, and it gripped me immediately – probably because I spent a lot of time identifying with the main character, Kamishiro Maiku.

The story revolves around Maiku, an abandoned child, who manages to work his way out of an orphanage and returns to the house he was born in, in the hopes of meeting the lost twin sister pictured in a photograph which is the only reminder of his past. However, shortly after he settles in, not one, but two girls arrive at the house, both carrying the same photograph and both claiming to be his twin sister.

A bit of a twisted plot, quite a few laughs and some drama, with some very likeble characters (and the return of Morino Ichigo and Mizuho Kazami from Onegai Teacher) – Onegai Twins remains an anime that I can watch over and over again with the same amount of enjoyment.

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And there you go. My personal top ten. Did I mention that it was pretty fluid? It changed while I was busy putting the post together. I actually think that it might even depend on my mood on a particular day. So basically, in my head, there’s a whole group of anime series having a serious fist-fight in order to get to #10 – so I figured I’d give mention to a few others that had a pretty good chance:

Bleach
Tsubasa Chronicle
History’s Strongest Disciple Kenichi
Eureka Seven
Ichigo 100%
Kurenai
Shakugan no Shana
Beyond the Clouds, the Promised Place

And there you have it. Of course, I’d be pretty interested to know what your top ten consists of – so throw them in the comments for me – I might just use that to put together a combined top 10 for the readers of the site.