Alright you anime newbies listen up! This is your bible of must-see and/or classic anime, as defined be ME, Sivran! Who am I to determine what anime is a must-see? I'm Sivran! I've been an otaku for many years since my best friend introduced me to anime. Record of Lodoss War the OVA was the first anime I saw and actually knew what I was watching. This may have affected my bias, but to this day I consider it one of the best animes ever. Second to Nausicaa, of course.

Last updated 10/29/2008

One of these days I'm gonna sort this thing, maybe break it into multiple pages. One of these days.

Have a suggestion for the lists? Remove the fruitfly to email sivran+animelistsuggestion@gmail.com but be sure to check the Currently Viewing List first.

The Must-See List

• Shuffle! (Added 10/16/2008. 24 Episodes) - AnimeNfo - It's Tenchi Muyo! with schoolgirls, and even more fanservice. What's not to love? "Memories" OVA is not a sequel, unfortunately, though episode 12 is "new."
  
• Lucky Star (Added 07/28/2008. 24 Episodes) - AnimeNfo - Reminds me of Azumanga Daioh. On crack. And Heroin. And Meth. It's awesome. At the very least, check out the OP on Youtube, though it doesn't really do the h.264 fansub justice. (Duh)
  
• The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (added 2/18/2008. 14 episodes)(promoted to must-see 2/26/2008) - AnimeNfo - Each episode of this anime has enough insanity to fill both episodes of the ultra-condensed Puni Puni Poemi.The first episode may be kind of "WTF?" but trust me, it provides some nice set up for the rest of the anime. The main (title) character is sort of a cross between Nabiki Tendo, Excel Excel, Lina Inverse and Amelia--though thankfully, she doesn't toss any fireballs around--and kicked up several notches. Bam, as Emeril would say. Words cannot describe it. You must watch. Rumor has it a second season is in the works. Not so much a second season but a parallel story or re-telling of the story. Meh.
  
• Last Exile (Added 2/18/2008. 26 Episodes) - AnimeNfo - Bearing the distinction of being the first anime added to the Must-See list since Elfen Lied, Last Exile most certainly delivers. In this fairly distopian world ruled by the mysterious Guild, courier pilot Klaus Valca eeks out a meager living. Rescuing a young girl from a downed "vanship" is only the beginning of his epic adventure.
  
• Video Girl Ai (6 episode OVA) - AnimeNfo - Pathetic loser rents a video. Girl emerges from TV. Her mission: help him become non-loser. Funny at times, but overall a very sad anime. It's been said the manga provides better closure. Very good anime nonetheless.
  
• Record of Lodoss War (13 Episode OVA) - AnimeNfo - Classic anime in a fantasy setting. Knights, goblins, magic, dwarves, and Deedlit. Who could ask for more? If you don't know who Deedlit is, watch this anime. Hey! I said watch the anime, not google for Deedlit hentai!
  
• Tenchi Muyo (13 Episode OVA) - AnimeNfo - Tenchi Muyo! is your classic "harem" anime. Young Tenchi Masaki awakens the long-sleeping demoness Ryoko, and hilarity ensues. Note that I don't include the spin-off TV series, Tenchi in Tokyo and Tenchi Universe. Watch them if you like Tenchi. The OVA is best though.
  
• Ranma 1/2 (7 26-episode seasons, 2 movies, 12 episode OVA) - AnimeNfo - Boy falls into cursed spring that causes boy to turn into girl when splashed with cold water. Boy is promised by his father to marry several different girls. Gender-changealarity ensues. Watch at least a season or two. Art in the OVA and movies is of course better than in the TV series.
  
• One or two Gundam animes, particularly Gundam Wing, 08th MS Team, or Gundam 0083
  - Gundam Wing: (AnimeNfo) Political intrigue, good character development, and an epic scale elevate Gundam Wing far above your average action anime. - 08th MS Team: (AnimeNFo) - Gundam 0083: (AnimeNfo)
  
• Saber Marionette J (AnimeNfo) On a planet populated entirely by males (reproduction by cloning), robotic dolls known as marionettes are used to provide female companionship. Hilarity ensues when pauper Otaru Mamiya discovers three very special marionettes... get your mind out of the gutter!
  
• Bubblegum Crisis 2032 or Bubblgegum Crisis 2040 (AnimeNfo: 2032 or 2040) In a distopian future, machines known as Boomers helped in rebuilding civilization. There is one problem - they occasionally go mad. Enter the Knight Sabers, a team of chicks in power armor. Anime greatness ensues.
  
• Sohryuden (AKA Legend of the Dragon Kings) (AnimeNfo) is a story of four brothers, and how they come to know their legendary secret identities. Various forces want the powerful brothers for their own purposes, and they must fight to retain their freedom, and their lives.
  
• Noir (AnimeNfo) Three deadly assassins, (ok, two, Mireille is kinda weaksauce) each pawns in the grand plans of a shadowy organization. Some say Noir is slow and has too many flashbacks. I call it an excellent story, with strong characters.
  
• Nausicaa (along with any other Miyazaki film, Nausicaa is the masterpiece, but don't tell him that) Nausicaa needs no description, AnimeNfo cannot describe it. Nausicaa is an absolute masterpiece of anime. If you see only one anime in your life, make it this one. Just watch it, dammit.
  
• Slayers (TV (AKA First), Next, Try. ~78 Episodes. OVAs and Movies optional) (AnimeNfo) Slayers is your quintessential action/slapstick-comedy anime. It rates a must-see because it represents the genre so well, and it's a great anime. There's now a fourth season of Slayers! It's called Revolution, and it's still airing in Japan. A few fansub groups have picked it up, and the new episodes can be downloaded via their bittorrent trackers. See AnimeSuki for more!
  
• Chobits (AnimeNfo) Complete loser Hideki Motosuwa finds a very special persocom (essentially, robot) tossed out in the garbage. He breaks the cardinal rule of persocom ownership: don't fall in love with your persocom. Hilarity ensues. Pan-tsu! Pan-tsu!
  
• Excel Saga and/or Puni Puni Poemi - Outright insanity spread out to 26 episodes, or compressed into 2, respectively. The only anime to compete with these two for sheer dementedness factor is The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.
  
• Ghost in the Shell (first movie, + the Stand-Alone Complex TV series) Cyberpunk futuristic thrillers, the first movie is critically acclaimed both in Japan and in the States as a masterpiece of animation. The movie also stands as one of the few animes to have a fairly good dub AND a dub without plot-breaking script changes. (IIRC, only a few words were changed at the end, and a couple phrases changed into more appropriate english counterparts). Personally I didn't like the second movie (Innocence). The Stand-Alone Complex movie is good though.
  
• Cowboy Bebop - AnimeNfo - Space, with a western feel, but not quite Firefly. Good anime. Faye needs smaller boobs. Ed is hilarious.
  
• Rurouni Kenshin (OVA + at least half of TV series) (AnimeNfo) The OVA has a more serious, bloody, and darker feel than the TV series. The TV series is famous for its silliness and slapstick, though is still quite serious in places, and does in fact lightly explore some historical issues in Japan.
  
• Elfen Lied (AnimeNfo) Just plain excellent anime. Great story, great characters, nudity, violence. Everything.
  
• Outlaw Star (AnimeNfo) A reckless captain, a boy genius, a catgirl, an android, pirates, and ships with grappling arms. What's not to love? Has a western feel, but again not Firefly-ish, and less-so than Cowboy Bebop. If even has magic, in the form of "Tao masters" and Casters, guns that fire special self-contained spells in cartridges.

Ok. I think that's enough for the essential anime list.

The Good List

Other good animes that don't quite make the cut for the essential list.

• Gargoyle of the Yoshinagas - AnimeNfo - A safe-for-kids anime following the adventures of Gargoyle, a dog-like magical stone... gargoyle. Fun to watch and very fucked up. As a hint, the main character's name is Futaba-chan. Any anime with a Futaba-chan must be fucked up. It's a law, or something.
  
• Akahouri Gedou Hour Rabuge - (Sorry No AnimeNfo) - Two series in one, following the misadventures of comedy team-cum-destructive superheroines Love Pheromone and the "evil misdeeds" of the witch team Gedou Otome Tai. This is a good anime for a night with a bottle of saké, but not as good as Ranma. AnimeNfo curiously has no page on this anime at the time of this writing. (added 5/18/2008)
  
• Utawarerumono - AnimeNfo - Strange masked man wakes up in a village of dog-people (think catgirls, but dogs) and adventure, war, the birth of a nation and the death of a religion ensue. Actually quite good. (added 5/18/2008)
  
• Azumanga Daioh - AnimeNfo - School/Comedy. Funny as hell. Osaka-san is awesome. 26 full-length episodes or 130 five-minute episodes. Take your pick. (oversight corrected 4/15/2008)
• Strawberry Panic - AnimeNfo - Drama/Romance/Comedy anime. No male characters at all. Shoujo-Ai abounds, even more than Kashimashi. Doesn't have much of a plot aside from following the relationships of the characters - duh, it's drama! I liked it. Hikari is cute enough to give Chii a run for her money. (added 3/27/2008)
  
• Chrno Crusade (At first I thought it was pretty average, but it turned out fairly good. I'll give it a spot on the Good list.) (added 2/26/2008)
  
• Martian Successor Nadesico (I can't believe this wasn't on the list. It's worth seeing for Ruri-chan alone.) (with apologies, oversight corrected 2/18/2008)
• Jigoku Shoujo/Hell Girl (It's repetitive and predictable like Utena, but there's just something about this anime that kept me hooked. I can't explain it, but to me, it definitely qualifies for the Good list) (added 2/18/2008)
  
• Claymore (Girls with big swords and l33t skillz, monsters, and blood. What more is there to want? Obviously something, as even with all that it doesn't make the must-see list) (added 2/18/2008)
  
• Shakugan no Shana (Although it had the potential to become a new generation's Tenchi Muyo!, it doesn't quite live up to the legacy of hilarity) (added 2/18/2008)
• Aishiteruze Baby (26 episodes) (High-school playboy suddenly finds himself thrust into the role of foster-father for his cousin. Touching and funny though it may be, this story is not for kids.) (added 2/18/2008)
• Gunsmith Cats (3 episodes) (Can't believe I forgot this one) (added 1/26/2007)
• Kashi-Mashi Girl~Meets~Girl (12 episodes with more Shoujo-Ai than you can shake a stick at, but not as much as Strawberry Panic) (added 1/26/2007)
• Daphne in the Brilliant Blue (26 episodes) (As much bare female flesh as possible, without showing anything) (added 1/26/2007)
• 2x2=Shinobuden (seems kiddy, but is too er, ecchi, to be for kids) (added 1/26/2007)
• Irresponsible Captain Tylor (TV, then OVA. Azalyn is such a babe!)
• Initial D (The guys in Tokyo Drift ain't got nothin on Takumi)
• Hyper Police (Catgirl. Nuff said.)
• All Purpose Cultural Catgirl Nuku-Nuku (OVA. The TV Series and DASH! don't seem to be as good)
• Record of Lodoss War: Chronicle of the Heroic Knight (When watching, keep in mind that the events in CotHK occur after episode 8 of the OVA, before certain other events in the series)
• Dragon Half (Just plain fun. Has boobies.)
• Fullmetal Alchemist (Similar to Slayers, but with its own flavor, and no Naga, or Marchina)
• Those who Hunt Elves (Elf stripping for fun and profit! Spoiler: mannequin nudity)
• Gantz (Worth a look. Somewhat fun. Main female spends much time naked early on.)
• Gunslinger Girl (needed more of an ending, but a second season is in the works. Fingers crossed. This could become a must-see)
  
• Gunbuster (Girls, fanservice, and mecha. Nuff said.)
• Key the Metal Idol (Good story. Nice art. Nudity.)

The Bad List

It occurs to me you might want to know what to AVOID. Here we go:

• Get Backers (Just very blah. Not worth bothering with.)
• Legend of Crystania (a disgrace to the name Lodoss. Claims to be a spinoff)
• Ebichu (available only on Fansub. Let's hope it stays that way. Tries hard to be funny and sexy, but fails, miserably. The Angry Video Game Nerd would call it a steaming pile of fuck.)
• Sexy Commando Gaiden SUGOIYO! Masaru-san (Just. Horrible. Stay. Away.)
• Dragonball Z (Unlike Dragonball, DBZ has no redeeming qualities at all. Repetitive and boring.)
• Revolutionary Girl Utena (Better than DBZ: Has shoujo-ai, cute chicks, good music. Worse than DBZ: even MORE repetitive and boring!)