The Masterpieces of Anime

[Nicο]

Jojo was always a big thing in Japan though, even before the anime. It was never a risky venture, David adapting Jojo.

I'm not saying it was, just the thought of such an old piece in general. Maybe that should have been worded better, though.

[vla1ne]

this is my list of anime that i consider masterpieces.

 

none of you peasants mention spice and wolf? i'm ashamed of you. you all need economics, and i need S3 now!

 

knights of sidonia. it's CG, but it's one of the best mecha anime i've ever seen. if you can get past the CG, it's definitely a hidden gold mine.

 

avatar is not an considered anime by some, but it is a masterpiece that runs with the best of japan's stuff.

 

Shiki, is top 10 anime of all time, but really got to me was the way it played out. frighteningly beautful story,  pacing, and characters that felt real (for better or worse) with a premise that while old, never seems to run out of new stories.

 

Carnival phantasm is a shining example of what a franchise can do with its characters when they decide to say "f*** it, let's throw them all together and watch the fun" 

 

Ergo proxy was nuts, even the boring parts, and i loved it.

 

shin sekai yori (from the new world), this anime, along with shiki, was just beautiful, and an example of what anime can transmit through pacing, story, music, and characters, everything is a 10.

 

clannad, there may be objections from others to this one, but i consider it among my top series watched. as said by nico, afterstory imo would lose it's impact if you took

away the first season. the first one might be average, but it established the characters you care about. also, tomoyo and sonohara FTW.

 

Welcome to the N.H.K. is worthy of the title masterpiece. from what i heard, the manga (LN?) got way darker than the anime, but the anime was still great.

 

gosick is another one. no spoilers through, and everything i can praise comes from the spoilers.

 

sayonara zetsubou sensei. is worthy of the title too imo.

 

eureka 7 was definitely up there with the best of them. definitely a glorious example of anime. the soundtrack seals it in this one. (AO was stupid though)

 

baccano was a 10 unquestionably, no hidden messages, no self reflection, just a great  story to be told, and it was told perfectly.

 

[spoiler= they're definitely among my favorite anime of all time, but i don't quite hold them as high as the above ones in the same categories, Honourable mentions:]

Eden of the East is not a masterpiece, it's a contender, but it's missing... something. i'm not sure what it is, but after watching the anime, and the following movies, it's definitely good, 9/10 at least, but just like kyoukai no kanata, it's missing something that i just can't put my finger on. probably the fact that i still can't buy that damn phone!

 

backstabbing magician orphen (1st season), i didn't much care for the second season, it was good, but the first was just pure bliss all the way through.

 

NO.6, is one i haven't seen on this thread (or this site) while i generally stay away from shounen ai, this one's definitely up there. not quite masterpiece level, but it deserves an honourable mention.

 

Noein was great, in fact, i'm still on the fence about whether or not it's a masterpiece, so instead of spoiling it, i'm just gonna put it here and say it's worthy of a watch.

 

Haibane Renmei was definitely good, but the pacing... left somethings to be desired.

 

durarara isn't done yet. so i can't say it's a masterpice, but if it continues the way that it has been, it'll be a masterpiece.

 

log horizon. along with durarara, the story isn't over, but if it continues the way it has, then it'll make it up there. (animation budget aside)

 

 

 

[spoiler=Dishonorable mentions:]

tsukihime and wizard barristers. that is all.

 

 

"Oh, and some of the Gundam series are supposedly masterpices as well. "

turn A, MS team(the non superpowered gundam series), build fighters (not try) and 00 gundam, are the ones that i consider the closest to masterpieces out of the ones i've watched start to finish. XXgundam, seed(s), try, and reconguista aren't quite there. i've seen more, but they were all within the middle range of anime, good, even great, but not masterpieces (no, i have not seen the original, wing, V, G, or any of the movies aside from 00).

 

 

i have WAY more i can list, but i'm lazy, and these were the ones that jumped to my mind. and some others were already mentioned a lot.

[mitchermitcher]

Carnival phantasm is a shining example of what a franchise can do with its characters when they decide to say "f*** it, let's throw them all together and watch the fun" 

baccano was a 10 unquestionably, no hidden messages, no self reflection, just a great  story to be told, and it was told perfectly.

i can get behind these two

 

KIMI TO

[Smear]

Bakuman. - Probably not on most peoples list, but this is by far my favourite Anime and I would 100% consider it a masterpiece. I love how well done the Slice of Life aspect is, and how cheesy the Romance is done. It motivates the hell out of me and makes me feel like my life goals are actually achievable. Even though they're characters in an Anime/Manga, if they can do it then why can't I?

 

Clannad - Another one that not everyone will agree with, and just thinking about it now I must have a thing for well done Slice of Life. More specifically After Story, but you have to watch the first season to love AS. I think it's amazing for how it shows the characters growing up and turning into adults. Need to re-watch someday.

 

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann - I love the scale of this Anime. Starting out dwelling underground with drills, to flying giant mechs throwing galaxies in space. Characters are great. A load of fun to watch.

 

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood - I wouldn't list the original FMA in this considering when I watched it (before brotherhood) I didn't really enjoy it much at all. Brotherhood is just a huge journey that's amazing to go on with the two brothers trying to fix their mistakes.

 

Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso - Feels trip. Hard feels trip. Cried like a jabroni for at least 10 minutes afterwards. Watch it as soon as you can.

 

Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai - Most people know it as AnoHana. Great Anime, more tears. Characters and relationships are done really nicely and would greatly recommend people watch.

 

Basically if it makes me cry, it's amazing. At least that's what this list looks like.

 

Also, so far Boku dake ga Inai Machi is really, really good. Gotta wait until how they end it to call it a masterpiece though.

[Aix]

Monogatari Series - Perfect in its own special and novel way. Hard to think of any way which it could do what it does any better. Amidst all the comedy, the beautiful and artsy frames, and the witty and strangely enthralling dialogue, it's got great drama and tension. Much love for this series.

 

Legend of the Galactic Heroes - To be honest, it's not the ultimate anime some people seem to claim it is. However, it's got an amazing sense of epicness and scale; feels like you're watching history unfold before your eyes. You're getting pretty up close and personal with these Heroes who, through their actions, will be deciding the fates of billions. Not to mention that it's got some Death Note-like stuff going on with two of the galaxy's brightest young commanders duking it out in grand strategic battles.

 

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood - In my eyes, this is a pretty exemplary series. I haven't watched the original, so I can't compare the two. Brotherhood just seems complete to me; it's got a good cast of characters, and a very well-written plot that takes the characters through many struggles and steadily leads everything to a resolution. There's laughs, there's moments that will make you cry, and there's great Bones-animated action. The main villain and climax was pretty disappointing, but overall it's still a masterpiece.

 

I really loved Steins;Gate and Ghost in the Shell: Standalone Complex, but I need to watch them again. I'm also in the midst of enjoying Tatami Galaxy, which is also special in its own way.

 

My definition of a masterpiece is really just something I think is really praiseworthy as a writer.

[Nicο]

Actually, Clannad is still my favourite anime, and has been for a few years now. I just didn't know what to say since it didn't seem like too many people would agree. (^～^;)ゞ

But I did think of a way that it could be improved, and probably give people more tears. 

 

Baccano has no hidden messages? Well after I did finish it I had quite a bit of time to think by now, another few years actually (less than Clannad, though), and I've come to the conclusion that for me, personally, having that many immortals without any of them really having seemed to be portrayed in a tragic manner, as immortals, made it incredibly iffy. Of course maybe I STILL missed something, since I was wondering for a while now if there was anything it was trying to hide, but eh. But due to that being why I'm so iffy on it, I have to say I enjoy Durarara a whole lot more.

 

About Gurern Lagann. I wanna say that even if I had liked it, I would agree with earlier people about how it wouldn't really be quite right as a masterpiece. It's why I'm still wondering about JoJo. But unlike GL, JoJo came in from nowhere, since I literally never heard of it until 2012 despite now knowing how ridiculously popular it is. That has nothing to do with if it should be a masterpiece, even to me, so idk.

 

Just straight up have no reason not to agree with From the New World or Your Lie in April. Arguably AnoHana either. *sniff*

 

I agree with Log Horizon, too. Well, it's more so that I'd probably keep it an honourable mention even when it finishes. It does an actual great job with the game's gameplay and mechanics, fits my taste in pace well, but while I really like some of them, none of the characters are really incredibly well developed.

[vla1ne]

i didn't get any meaning from it at least. i just saw it as a great show that did great things.

 

as for log horizon, you might be forgetting demikas, the archer elf guy, and the princess. i consider them some of the best characters s far as development goes in that series. not to mention nureha seems to be another great character. but i look at it similar to how i look at spice and wolf, most of the characters are adults already, so they come for the most part, pre-developed. it's more about the world they're in and the things they do than it is about the way they grow (for the most part anyways, they still have growth,it's just usually either subtle, like shiroe's and nureha or really blunt like the kids).

[Nicο]

i didn't get any meaning from it at least. i just saw it as a great show that did great things.

 

as for log horizon, you might be forgetting demikas, the archer elf guy, and the princess. i consider them some of the best characters s far as development goes in that series.

No... no I'm not. That's still not really a whole lot but it was great. Well, I remembered William and just didn't particularly care for Demikas, but I guess I can't say none.

[mitchermitcher]

Agreeing on Demikas, S2 handled him brilliantly. Him asking to be called by his name was a great scene, made me ponder stuff for a while.

 

Although I'm a little hesitant to straight up call LH a masterpiece. There's something lacking about it I can't quite put a finger on...

 

Oh I know what it is. It's the lack of an S3.

[Johan Liebert]

I haven't finished watching it, but I don't think anyone mentioned Great Teacher Onizuka; I often hear that it's the masterpiece of comedy anime series. All in all, everything considered, I think that Monster is the masterpicee of masterpieces for me. It's the only anime series I can't find any flaws in. I thought parts of the second half of the series weren't as good as the rest of it, but if the rest of it was a 10/10, the not-as-good parts were like a 9.5/10. In other words, still amazing.

[Johan Liebert]

Oh, and I've heard virtually everywhere that FLCL (or Fooly Cooly) is a masterpiece as well. Or, at least, it's widely one of those "anime you have to watch before you die".

[Aix]

Oh, and I've heard virtually everywhere that FLCL (or Fooly Cooly) is a masterpiece as well. Or, at least, it's widely one of those "anime you have to watch before you die".

My friend loves it, but it's pretty controversial. I've watched the first episode, it was kinda interesting.

[(GigaDrillBreaker)]

My favorite anime is far from secret. I certainly consider TTGL to be a masterpiece. And, honestly, the idea that it can't be because of it not taking itself completely seriously is silly. 

 

Among recent shows, I think Parasyte qualifies, if based on pure quality. It got a tad derivative near the end but it was very well-written nonetheless. 

[Susie]

My favorite anime is far from secret. I certainly consider TTGL to be a masterpiece. And, honestly, the idea that it can't be because of it not taking itself completely seriously is silly. 

 

Among recent shows, I think Parasyte qualifies, if based on pure quality. It got a tad derivative near the end but it was very well-written nonetheless. 

No it isnt silly, you wouldnt put Mad Max: Fury Road on the same level as 2001: A Space Odyssey or Citizen Kane. And for me it not being serious wasnt very much a determining factor at all. Its more of the fact that its just an homage to shows that honestly just seem to be better for me.

 

Parasyte is the only horror anime that ive actually enjoyed so far.

[mitchermitcher]

Among recent shows, I think Parasyte qualifies, if based on pure quality. It got a tad derivative near the end but it was very well-written nonetheless. 

I dunno, I feel that the way Parasyte turned out near the end made the show even better. It was a decent shounen manga with a horror-ish flavor but then it became downright memorable with the sort of themes it tried to tackle in the second half.

[Fusion X. Denver]

Bakuman. - Probably not on most peoples list, but this is by far my favourite Anime and I would 100% consider it a masterpiece. I love how well done the Slice of Life aspect is, and how cheesy the Romance is done. It motivates the hell out of me and makes me feel like my life goals are actually achievable. Even though they're characters in an Anime/Manga, if they can do it then why can't I?

I actually really love Bakuman. It's in my Top 5 manga. I just watched the anime over winter break and I enjoyed that as well, though I feel like it didn't do some moments from the manga justice. Like certain panels made much more of an impact and stood out in the manga, whereas the anime directed it like an ordinary scene. That, and they left some cool stuff out like cutting down the romance one-shots arc. Though I can understand them leaving out the 2nd Nanamine arc; that was never needed really.

 

Also, I do really love TTGL. It's my #1 as well, though I think it just falls short of being a masterpiece since it's not exactly perfect, but I would no-doubt brand it as one of "the greats" where I would classify a lot of the other anime here (Code Geass, Steins;Gate, etc).

[vla1ne]

it doesn't have to be a masterpiece to be great, and it doesn't have to be 100% perfect or loved either (otherwise there would be no such thing as a masterpiece, since there's always somebody who dislikes a show), but in the case of TTGL, i think it's worthy of the title. it set out to make an over the top anime, and it succeeded spectacularly in prety much all aspects that it covered. i'm fairly sure that it's loved by just about everybody who's watched it in the anime community. it's debatable, but i think it's worthy of a spot.

 

also, after some thought, i do consider noein a masterpiece.

 

and if you haven't seen it, bokurano (ours) is another one that i consider to be worthy of the title.

[Johan Liebert]

I dunno, I feel that the way Parasyte turned out near the end made the show even better. It was a decent shounen manga with a horror-ish flavor but then it became downright memorable with the sort of themes it tried to tackle in the second half.

Parasyte isn't Shounen; it's Seinen. I feel like Parasyte was very solid in every category of critique, but the writing got a little rough in the second half. I really enjoyed the series, though.

[Just Crouton]

Bubblegum Crisis. 80's cyberpunk goodness.

[mitchermitcher]

Parasyte isn't Shounen; it's Seinen. I feel like Parasyte was very solid in every category of critique, but the writing got a little rough in the second half. I really enjoyed the series, though.

Huh, I wouldn't have guessed.  The series has a very old shounen-esque feeling to it, my bad.

[(GigaDrillBreaker)]

No it isnt silly, you wouldnt put Mad Max: Fury Road on the same level as 2001: A Space Odyssey or Citizen Kane.

I could argue it was better directed than either.

[Susie]

I could argue it was better directed than either.

Good luck on that one

 

Though the point was that some people prefer to reserve the title of masterpiece to things that are more "higher art" (couldnt think of a Better term), theres nothing silly about doing so, some people just feel that more serious films or animes or whatever deserve the title of masterpiece more so than fun laid back action ones.