This list is pretty easy for me to fill out, because my personal top ten has not really changed over the last twenty-five years. It’s mostly denoted on my MAL with tens, which I fully admit were bias on my part and probably not objective to the shows themselves. So I will adjust those scores more evenly for this guide.
Kidou Senkan Nadesico
Aired: Oct 1, 1996 to Mar 25, 1997
Episodes: 26
Studio: XEBEC
Tenkawa Akito is a refugee from Mars who came to Earth to realize a dream of becoming a chef. But before he could realize his dream, he is thrust aboard a privately-chartered battleship heading back to Mars, with his childhood friend in the Captain’s seat. With a motley crew of weird and eccentric nobodies, they must embark on a dangerous journey to determine the fate of the universe.
I am first and foremost a science fiction nerd. I am second and utmost a giant robot nerd. So when I first watched this show back in 2001, having downloaded fansubs for it off IRC XDCC in Realmedia format, I stayed up almost all night watching every episode until I passed out at nearly 4AM and was almost late to school later in the morning. Not only was it such an amazing parody of other mecha series of the time, but it morphed into its own plot and character stories. I was also irrationally attached to Hoshino Ruri as a character, in what I would later find out to be me gravitating towards introverted and autistically-coded characters in media. This show has never budged from my top ten, even with how bad The Prince of Darkness movie was for doing my boy Akito dirty.
Score: 9.5/10
Where to Watch: Crunchyroll, Pluto TV, Apple TV
Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha
Aired: Oct 3, 2004 to Jun 19, 2015
Seasons: 4
Episodes: 64
Studio: Seven Arcs, A-1 Pictures
Takamachi Nanoha was just a third-grader going about her daily life when an injured ferret appears both before her dreams and then her, thrusting her into a fantastical and magical tale that has her defending her hometown, family, and friends, befriending her enemies, and ultimately crossing entire worlds and universes in pursuit of justice.
Rather than rate each series separately, I decided to put them all together as a franchise and make it my number two choice, despite the performance of Nanoha StrikerS. The charm of Nanoha is that it leads you to believe it is a traditional shoujo magical girl show, but turns very dark towards the end of the first season, and even darker the second. StrikerS is by far the most heavy-handed and expands the universe substantially, before reeling it back in a bit for Vivid. As of yet, no anime adaptation has been made of the Force manga, which is a goddamn shame because that has some real good use of our hero, and more Vita. Stupid Sexy IT’S HAMMER TIME Vita.
Unfortunately, this show does not seem to be on any streaming services. So if you’re truly interested, I suggest sailing the high seas or buying it on DVD somewhere.
Score: 9/10
Where to Watch: No streaming services have this title.
Senki Zesshou Symphogear
Aired: Jan 6, 2012 to Sep 29, 2019
Seasons: 5
Episodes: 65
Studio: Satelight
Amou Kanade, one-half of the famous idol duo “Zwei Wing”, uses her extraordinary power to save a girl at their concert from an alien attack, at the cost of her life. Two years later that girl, Tachibana Hibiki, sees that same power awaken in her, and must come to terms with how to use it in order to defend everyone from further alien attacks alongside the other half of the duo, Kazanari Tsubasa, and others.
What I might have dismissed as just another show to promote the careers of Yuuki Aoi, Takagaki Ayahi, and Mizuki Nana, ended up being a five-season incredible fighting humanoid-mecha experience that I enjoyed the fuck out of a lot. It channeled that successive spirit of Nanoha and gave it a sort of Karate Kid-esque experience. The songs were catchy, the transformation sequences were the goddamn greatest part of the show hands-down. Example from XV:
Simply put, Symphogear is just pure unaltered action meant to energize all of your senses and get you standing up and shouting FUCK YEAH HIBIKI FUCKING CLOBBER THEM FOOLS or stare at Stupid Sexy Chris all day. The only downside is that the writers kind of lost the plot going into AXZ, so while they did their best to pump up XV with amazing transformation scenes and good music, by the end not even I knew what the hell was going on.
Score: 9/10
Where to Watch: Crunchyroll
Kidou Tenshi Angelic Layer
Aired: Apr 1, 2001 to Sep 23, 2001
Episodes: 26
Studio: Bones
In a game called Angelic Layer, contestants battle each other with dolls controlled by their mind. Suzuhara Misaki moves to the city and witnesses its top player reign on national television, and embarks on her own quest to battle with her own Angel, Hikaru.
The very first fansub I ever downloaded of a first-run anime series in 2001 was Studio GAINAX’s Mahoromatic. The second series I began downloading that year was Angelic Layer. Now, at the risk of people telling me what my sexual preferences were, or are, for liking this show, I still think it’s an amazing and cute series combining a teenage girl’s coming-of-age slice-of-life with that of a highly-competitive, do-everything-it-takes-to-win sports series. It’s also futuristic in its premise, and Mihara “Icchan” Ichirou is such an adorable autist, which is probably another cue for me as to my preferences in characters.
That said, it’s a CLAMP series, though one of their more less-abstract, more streamlined plots. No noodle people or weird shit, and Hikaru is obviously a homage to Magic Knight Rayearth. Also being fairly old and niche, it’s not on any streaming service I could find. This will be another sea voyage, and even then I’d be impressed if you find it. I have the first-run ADV DVDs, the manga in both English and Japanese, and maybe a few wall scrolls left. Listen man, I make no apologies for my high school and post-high school cringe. It was a bad time for me.
Score: 8.5/10
Where to Watch: No streaming services have this title.
Tenchi Muyo
Aired: Sep 25, 1992 to May 28, 2021
Seasons: 5 (OVA) 4 (TV) 3 (Movies)
Does not include the spinoffs “Magical Girl Pretty Sammy” or “Ai Tenchi Muyo”
Episodes: 121
Studio: AIC
An ordinary boy, Masaki Tenchi, lives with his father and grandfather helping maintain a shrine. Listening to tales about a sword used to seal a demon by an ancestor, Tenchi seeks the sword, and winds up encountering an entire universe full of trouble.
Tenchi Muyo combines a handful of genres together, but probably the most prevalent among them are science fiction, harem, and slice-of-life. Much of the show pays homage to Star Wars in the way both Tenchi and Ryoko use lightsabers and energy shields. It probably helped that this show aired on Toonami back in the day, but even beyond that, it’s just such an amazing classic franchise that has a bit of something for every kind of anime fan. The only part that gets most people is that there are so many shows, OVAs, timelines, and other-such. The simple watch order is:
Tenchi Muyo Ryo-Ohki (OVAs) -> Tenchi Universe (TV) -> Tenchi Muyo in Love (Movie) -> Tenchi Muyo GXP (TV) (Optional)
Don’t bother with Tenchi in Tokyo or the second and third movies. Garbage. The OVA and first TV series and movie are the cream of the crop and best harem ending for our man Tenchi. May the force be with you.
Score: 8.5/10
Where to Watch: Crunchyroll (Limited Selection)
Strike Witches
Aired: Jul 4, 2008 to Dec 24, 2020
Seasons: 4 (TV) 1 (OVA) 1 (Movie)
Episodes: 51
Studio: Gonzo, AIC, Silver Link, David Productions
In an alternate version of 1944, Miyafuji Yoshika, a healer from a village of the Fuso Empire, is thrust into the war against the Neuroi when she successfully defends the Fuso fleet from an attack. Joining the 501st Joint Fighter Wing “Strike Witches”, she joins a team of experienced fighters from all over the world attempting to reclaim their homelands from Neuroi attack.
I’m not what you would classify a furry, nor am I particularly into chibi girls, but there is something neat about an alternate WWII history world where animal-girls with sophisticated feet-airplanes and big fucking guns blasting shit. This show was the spiritual successor to Sky Girls, and the basis for other shows like Arpeggio of Blue Steel which would morph further into the ship-girl fad that predated isekai shows.
But if you can get past some light fanservice, and lesbian-coded characters doesn’t bother you, Strike Witches is a cute fun militaryaboo series with a lot of great characters. If you haven’t seen my usage of Sanya V. Litvyak almost everywhere and wondered where it came from, this is it. She is the best girl. Lynette Bishop is not far behind. A Shirley is fine too.
Score: 8/10
Where to Watch: Crunchyroll
Shakugan no Shana
Aired: Oct 6, 2005 to Mar 24, 2012
Seasons: 3 (TV) 1 (OVA) 1 (Movie)
Episodes: 75
Studio: J.C STAFF
Sakai Yuuji leads a normal school life until one day time and space is ripped apart by beings known as Crimson Denizens, who feed on the life energy of normal humans. Before he could react, a girl with blazing red hair and a long sword appears, cutting down the Crimson Denizen, and using the remaining energy within the space to repair the tear, at the further expense of the humans within it, reducing them to “torches”. Yuuji attempts to seek the truth behind this mysterious girl, but discovers he too is now a “torch”.
Old weebs, especially those who consumed the cream of the crop in the mid-naughts through the mid-tens, or Saimoe tournament veterans, will often talk of the “Kugimiya Rie” clones that began with this series in 2005. While Rie had plenty of roles prior to this series, such as Rizelmine and Pita-Ten, lending her voice to this fiery sword-swinging tsundere put her and that tsundere-type show on the map, with series like Zero no Tsukaima, Hayate no Gotoku!, Rental Magica, Toradora, and Shana’s spiritual successor, Hidan no Aria.
But as for the show itself, the first season is absolutely the best season of this three-cour and one OVA franchise. The second and final seasons are good, but like most sequels, it’s just so hard to capture the badass that was Shana storming into everything half-cocked and full blade mast. I had to refresh my memory with my final review of the final season, which included some bits from the first two seasons not covered on that iteration of the blog, and I made mention of the fact that the movie and later seasons tried to stick closer to the novels, which explained why they felt a bit dull at times. If you just want the quick-and-easy Shana experience without watching three seasons, just watch the movie. That at least has the fucking badass ED.
Score: 8/10
Where to Watch: Crunchyroll
Rozen Maiden
Aired: Oct 8, 2004 to Jan 27, 2006
Seasons: 2
Episodes: 24
Studio: Nomad
A traumatized shut-in who spends his days ordering things online and sending them back, Sakurada Jun unknowingly agrees to receive a wind-up doll, that upon winding up, begins to walk and talk as if it were a real person, and immediately thrusts him into a world of supernatural events spurned by a mysterious doll maker.
Boatlights and balljoints, more commonly abbreviated to DESU in the vain of one of 4chan’s oldest original memes when the platform first launched around the start of this show. Rozen Maiden only got two seasons unfortunately, half-cours at that, but it was some of the most amazingly well-done animation and story you’ll see by a studio whose debut series was this, and has only done about thirty or so shows since, including Milky Holmes and Kampfer. It also happens to be among my wife’s extremely short list of favorite anime, and she is not what I would call a weeb at all. So if you’re looking for a normie-approved series, this is your best bet. Just don’t get weird with dolls.
Score: 8/10
Where to Watch: Apple TV
Uchuu no Stellvia
Aired: Apr 3, 2003 to Sep 25, 2003
Episodes: 26
Studio: XEBEC
After the supernova of a nearby star in 2167 that causes a radiation wave to decimate much of the population of Earth, humanity begins to develop countermeasures to protect the planet. By 2356 humans have colonized much of the solar system and built “Foundations”, which serve as learning, training, and eventually mission-critical hardware to prevent the second wave. Katase Shima arrives on Foundation II Stellvia to begin her studies and training in space, and discovers she has many more abilities that may help save humanity, and even the universe.
Some scholars of early anime consider this title to be a spiritual successor to Nadesico, given it was produced by the same studio, but nothing suggests the two share the same universe. Stellvia kind of straddles the line between a slice-of-life, school life, sci-fi adventure, that turns a little more action and dramatic in the backhalf. There are plenty of cheeky rom-com moments as well, and Shipon is our adorable unfortunate programmer who didn’t realize she was a programmer. Classic programmers. The show was supposed to get a second season, but it never materialized. I always hold out hope though in the post-Production I.G merger that they might revisit their old catalog and bring this and Nadesico back.
Score: 8/10
Where to Watch: Crunchyroll
Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio
Aired: Oct 8, 2013 to Dec 24, 2013
Episodes: 12
Studio: SANZIGEN
In 2039, the world is gripped by climate change and rising oceans worldwide. In response, a rogue AI takes control of powerful warships with human avatars and initiates a sea blockade, restricting countries to their own borders and preventing any air or sea travel. Seventeen years later while attending a naval academy, Chihaya Gunzou encounters the submarine I-401 and its human avatar, Iona. Siding with humanity, Gunzou and Iona embark on a mission to subdue or defeat the other warships and their avatars on the sea.
Blue Steel was a curious show that upon picking up in the fall/winter of 2013, I similarly started reading the manga. The manga turned out to be an amazing read, even moreso than the show, to which I penned a fairly detailed deconstruction of the two. I still enjoyed the anime a lot though. Like Strike Witches and what would become the ship-girl craze soon after, it combined very sci-fi-esque action scenes with a decent ship-of-the-week plot. The best comparison I could make would be if they rewrote The Hunt for Red October for weebs, replacing Connery with a standard male anime protag, and a bunch of cute ship girls. Hyuga being the tech girl, of course, sways my vote for best girl. The animation is a little janky, as this show employed some early CGI that had not been seen in more traditional hand-drawn animation prior.
Score: 8/10
Where to Watch: Crunchyroll