:anime: Decade's Best…So Far (2008 Edition) :: Anime (Top 20) ::: Overview & Honorable Mentions

<--To 2007 Edition

The twenty best anime of the decade, as they stand as of December 31, 2008:


20. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

19. Black Lagoon

18. Fighting Spirit

17. Monster

16. Le Chevalier D'Eon

15. Haibane Renmei

14. FLCL

13. The Twelve Kingdoms

12. Last Exile

11. Gungrave

10. Gurren Lagann

9. Eureka Seven

8. Millennium Actress

7. Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo

6. RahXephon

5. Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex

4. Fullmetal Alchemist

3. Death Note

2. Mushi-Shi

1. Spirited Away


Insight


Out of over fifty years of Japanese-animated features, this decade has produced an exceptional amount of high-caliber titles, perhaps the most in its history. There were many good works to place on this list, so much so, I had a little hard of a time figuring out what anime would make it and which, unfortunately, would have to be left out. That meant ones like Ouran High School Host Club, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Metropolis, Samurai 7, Genshiken, Planetes, and Voices of a Distant Star were absent, despite the accolades they have received. To provide a bit of lip service to these and works that were good, but not quite "Top 20 good", I created a separate listing of 55 titles of "honorable mention" (bringing the list to a total of 75), in no particular order outside of "alphabetical." I did this (and not stretched it to 100) as a small way of creating "intrigue" in what "could have been" and allowing anyone to compile their own listings. This is basically an acknowledgement of the other great anime to have appeared thus far, so I suppose that ordering them numerically is rather moot. New additions are shown italicized, while de-listed titles from the previous edition are given at the bottom. This does not necessarily mean that they are no longer considered good, but it does denote that they are now below the Top 75 (it may also give you a hint as to where they might have been prior on a numbered list...). On a side note, some of the new titles listed, such as Fruits Basket and Kamichu!, are ones that were completely overlooked in the previous edition, so now they are getting their just dues. All rules pertaining to the Top 20 pertain here, as well, and this list will, too, be revised each year until the end of the decade.


::Honorable Mentions::


5 Centimeters per Second

Air (TV)

ARIA [all seasons]

Azumanga Daioh

BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad

Chrono (Chrno) Crusade

CLANNAD [including sequels]

Claymore

Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion / R2

Dennou Coil

ef – a tale of memories.

Ergo Proxy

Fantastic Children

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children

Fruits Basket

Full Metal Panic [including sequels]

Genshiken [including sequels]

Gunbuster 2 (Aim for the Top 2! Diebuster)

Honey & Clover / II

Howl's Moving Castle

Kamichu!

Kanon [2006]

Kino's Journey

Lucky Star

Macross Frontier

Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi

Metropolis

Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit

Nodame Cantabile / : Paris

Noein

Ouran High School Host Club

Paprika

Paradise Kiss

Planetes

Princess Arete

Princess Tutu

Read or Die / -The TV-

Rune Soldier

SaiKano

Samurai 7

School Rumble [including sequels]

Scrapped Princess

TEXHNOLYZE

The Animatrix

The Galaxy Railways

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

Tokyo Godfathers

Towards the Terra (TV)

Vandread / : The Second Stage

Voices of a Distant Star

Welcome to the NHK!

Witch Hunter ROBIN

Wolf's Rain

X (TV)

Zipang


No Longer Among the Top 75: 009-1, Afro Samurai, BLEACH, Naruto, One Piece, s-CRY-ed, Samurai Champloo