Anime Attack on Titan is anime Game of Thrones

[Spork3245]

I just started watching Attack on Titan last night. 4-5 episodes in... holy crap, the writer does not give a crap about who lives and dies in this show. Loving it so far, and something tells me it's only going to get crazier.

I saw that there's a live action movie they made in Japan that follows the first season, is it worth watching or is it crap? How are the games?

[gamer.tv]

I really enjoyed the first season (the first and last anime that I've enjoyed since DBZ). It's a shame that the other seasons haven't made it on to Netflix.

[Spork3245]

10 minutes ago, gamer.tv said:

I really enjoyed the first season (the first and last anime that I've enjoyed since DBZ). It's a shame that the other seasons haven't made it on to Netflix.

They’re on Hulu if that helps.

You might like Naruto, btw (since you’re a DBZ fan like myself). Just make sure you “search around” for “Naruto Kai” - it’s a fan-made edited version that removes the insane amount of filler (including the constant flashbacks).

[legend]

Great show. I found the first season kind of rough because it was just so depressing. But the story really goes places. Your perspective on everything will change. I'm really looking forward to season 4.

[Greatoneshere]

1 hour ago, Spork3245 said:

I just started watching Attack on Titan last night. 4-5 episodes in... holy crap, the writer does not give a crap about who lives and dies in this show. Loving it so far, and something tells me it's only going to get crazier.

I saw that there's a live action movie they made in Japan that follows the first season, is it worth watching or is it crap? How are the games?

 

The live-action movies (there are two) are terrible and are in no way connected to the anime and so do not follow the first season or anything, they are their own thing. The anime is an adaptation of the manga series, and is excellent and is very binge-able. There are currently 59 episodes (plus 8 OVA episodes) so far, spread across three seasons. A fourth and final season is due to come later this year or early next.

 

It's nothing like Game of Thrones though to me.

[Ghost_MH]

33 minutes ago, Greatoneshere said:

The live-action movies (there are two) are terrible and are in no way connected to the anime and so do not follow the first season or anything, they are their own thing. The anime is an adaptation of the manga series, and is excellent and is very binge-able. There are currently 59 episodes (plus 8 OVA episodes) so far, spread across three seasons. A fourth and final season is due to come later this year or early next.

 

It's nothing like Game of Thrones though to me.

 

It's "anyone can die" like GoT, but it doesn't weave multiple storylines like GoT. It's also not really political enough to make the comparison for me either.

 

That said, I do enjoy a good "anyone can die" series. There aren't a huge number of them in the anime world, at just not in the action/adventure genre. I'm thinking Akame ga Kill and...my head is coming up blank here.

[Spork3245]

Yea, I was only referencing the “anyone can die” (and in a quick and unceremonious way) aspect in the GoT comparison.  

What’s “Attack on Titan Junior High”? Should I watch that (and when)?

[Greatoneshere]

27 minutes ago, Spork3245 said:

Yea, I was only referencing the “anyone can die” (and in a quick and unceremonious way) aspect in the GoT comparison.  

What’s “Attack on Titan Junior High”? Should I watch that (and when)?

 

All you need to watch is the main TV series and the OVA episodes, that's it. The live-action movies are a waste of time and the chibi, silly spin-off series Junior High is also not connected to the main show. 

 

Just the main show and the OVA episodes, trust me. The rest is non-canonical, unless you want to directly read the original manga. 

[Spork3245]

Just now, Greatoneshere said:

 

All you need to watch it the main TV series and the OVA episodes, that's it. The live-action movies are a waste of time and the chibi, silly spin-off series Junior High is also not connected to the main show. 

 

Just the main show and the OVA episodes, trust me. The rest is non-canonical, unless you want to directly read the original manga. 

Are the OVA streaming anywhere? Where do they fit in (ie: between what season/eps should I watch them)?  

[Greatoneshere]

2 minutes ago, Spork3245 said:

Are the OVA streaming anywhere? Where do they fit in (ie: between what season/eps should I watch them)?  

 

I believe the OVA's are Japanese only (though I do watch the main series dubbed) and while not essential, they do play well where they are meant to be watched in the course of the show, so it's worth hunting them down, but you'll have to find alternative means to get them (I have suggestions if you need help, PM me). The reason they are hard to find is they still haven't been officially released in the West (I believe), but fansubs exist for them. They were one-off episodes bundled with releases of volumes of the manga rather than as part of a release with the main show on bluray or something.

 

There are three Attack on Titan recap/compilation films, you can ignore those. There are also silly spin-off shorts called "Fly, Cadets, Fly!" which you can also ignore. Just ignore everything except the main show and the OVA episodes.

 

The first three OVA episodes (Ilse's Notebook, The Sudden Visitor, and Distress) can be seen after you finish the first season (the first 25 episodes) of the main show. The two-parter OVA "No Regrets" (which elaborates on Levi's backstory) can also be seen right after you finish the first season (but after seeing the first three OVA episodes). The final three OVA episodes, the two-parter "Wall Sina, Goodbye" and the one-off "Lost in a Cruel World", should not be seen until after you finish season two (so after you watch episode 37 overall) but before you go on to watch season three. And that's it! Otherwise, you can just watch the main show and be set. Junior High is a manga by the way, not a show.

[Spork3245]

3 minutes ago, Greatoneshere said:

 

I believe the OVA's are Japanese only (though I do watch the main series dubbed) and while not essential, they do play well where they are meant to be watched in the course of the show, so it's worth hunting them down, but you'll have to find alternative means to get them (I have suggestions if you need help, PM me). The reason they are hard to find is they still haven't been officially released in the West (I believe), but fansubs exist for them. They were one-off episodes bundled with releases of volumes of the manga rather than as part of a release with the main show on bluray or something.

 

There are three Attack on Titan recap/compilation films, you can ignore those. There are also silly spin-off shorts called "Fly, Cadets, Fly!" which you can also ignore. Just ignore everything except the main show and the OVA episodes.

 

The first three OVA episodes (Ilse's Notebook, The Sudden Visitor, and Distress) can be seen after you finish the first season (the first 25 episodes) of the main show. The two-parter OVA "No Regrets" (which elaborates on Levi's backstory) can also be seen right after you finish the first season (but after seeing the first three OVA episodes). The final three OVA episodes, the two-parter "Wall Sina, Goodbye" and the one-off "Lost in a Cruel World", should not be seen until after you finish season two (so after you watch episode 37 overall) but before you go on to watch season three. And that's it! Otherwise, you can just watch the main show and be set.

 

Okay, I’ll hunt them down after I finish S2  
 

3 minutes ago, Greatoneshere said:

Junior High is a manga by the way, not a show.

Junior High got a 12 episode anime release  

[Greatoneshere]

18 minutes ago, Spork3245 said:

Junior High got a 12 episode anime release  

 

Sorry, my bad, I was thinking of Spoof on Titan. Junior High did eventually get a 12 episode anime, it's fun and silly but doesn't amount to much (and is of course non-canonical).

 

Also some things will be ruined if you watch all the OVA's after season 2 since some OVA's hint at things that then season 2 makes clear but it works either way, just wanted you to know.

[Zaku3]

5 hours ago, Spork3245 said:

Yea, I was only referencing the “anyone can die” (and in a quick and unceremonious way) aspect in the GoT comparison.  

What’s “Attack on Titan Junior High”? Should I watch that (and when)?

Need to watch some of those kill em all Tomino shows.

[Spork3245]

I really like General Pixyas, so, he’s probably def dying at some point  

[Spork3245]

Finished season 3 a couple weeks ago... holy F. Watched Attack on Titan Junior High, dear god that was hysterical: it's amazing that it had all the VAs from the real show - the show would NOT work without having watched AoT and on paper still shouldn't work at all, but JFC, the way Mikasa says "Eren" in the super serious tone from AoT but does it every couple minutes somehow makes it a comedic masterpiece.  

 

Anyway - this show is un-F'n-believable. I went ahead and started reading the manga... you guys saying it's "not like GoT" beyond the constant deaths of main/side-characters have def not read the manga.

Spoiler

There's a ton of political factions that pop-up and a ridiculous amount of swerves within. I read that the creator of AoT is a huge GoT fan too.

 

I absolutely cannot wait for season 4, but I'm admittedly likely going to wait until it finishes airing so I can binge.  

[Greatoneshere]

4 hours ago, Spork3245 said:

Finished season 3 a couple weeks ago... holy F. Watched Attack on Titan Junior High, dear god that was hysterical: it's amazing that it had all the VAs from the real show - the show would NOT work without having watched AoT and on paper still shouldn't work at all, but JFC, the way Mikasa says "Eren" in the super serious tone from AoT but does it every couple minutes somehow makes it a comedic masterpiece.  

 

Anyway - this show is un-F'n-believable. I went ahead and started reading the manga... you guys saying it's "not like GoT" beyond the constant deaths of main/side-characters have def not read the manga.

  Reveal hidden contents

There's a ton of political factions that pop-up and a ridiculous amount of swerves within. I read that the creator of AoT is a huge GoT fan too.

 

I absolutely cannot wait for season 4, but I'm admittedly likely going to wait until it finishes airing so I can binge.  

 

I've read the manga and never once thought of Game of Thrones, a book series I'm also a gigantic fan of. In maybe the most superficial sense but that's like saying anything with warring families/factions/houses and is bloody with sudden character deaths that takes places in a vaguely medieval high fantasy Western European-esque setting is "like Game of Thrones" when really that's an entire subgenre unto itself which Game of Thrones isn't responsible for. I don't know, it has just never been a comparison I'd have made since in no substantive way do they seem similar to me.  

 

Either way, glad you're enjoying it! Manga is good too, though I prefer the show.

[Spork3245]

7 hours ago, Greatoneshere said:

 

I've read the manga and never once thought of Game of Thrones, a book series I'm also a gigantic fan of. In maybe the most superficial sense but that's like saying anything with warring families/factions/houses and is bloody with sudden character deaths that takes places in a vaguely medieval high fantasy Western European-esque setting is "like Game of Thrones" when really that's an entire subgenre unto itself which Game of Thrones isn't responsible for. I don't know, it has just never been a comparison I'd have made since in no substantive way do they seem similar to me.  

 

Either way, glad you're enjoying it! Manga is good too, though I prefer the show.

Spoiler

There’s practically a red wedding with the tainted wine  

 

[Nokt]

On 7/8/2020 at 10:32 AM, legend said:

Great show. I found the first season kind of rough because it was just so depressing. But the story really goes places. Your perspective on everything will change. I'm really looking forward to season 4.

I actually really liked the premise before the plot twist in the first season. Humanity is on the brink, people getting massacred, just has this bleak outlook. It was intriguing to me, then the plot twist happened. I held on about halfway through the second season I think and then dropped it.

[Greatoneshere]

5 hours ago, Spork3245 said:

  Hide contents

There’s practically a red wedding with the tainted wine  

 

 

Yeah, but that's not Game of Thrones' specific MO. That's typical European history in political settings/War of the Roses shit. I guess Game of Thrones is so mainstream now that it's become the face of this type of thing I suppose, which makes some sense. 

[Spork3245]

15 minutes ago, Greatoneshere said:

 

Yeah, but that's not Game of Thrones' specific MO. That's typical European history in political settings/War of the Roses shit. I guess Game of Thrones is so mainstream now that it's become the face of this type of thing I suppose, which makes some sense. 

Comparisons don’t have to be 1:1.  

You get similar types of highs and lows in AoT and GoT (in terms of suspense, political movements (on a smaller scale in AoT), character deaths, victories, losses) is where the comparison is coming from. 
For example: Fullmetal Alchemist (Brotherhood) has the same kind of Germanic-European setting as AoT, but I definitely wouldn’t compare it with GoT (I just finished FMA for the first time after watching AoT. It was good but has to be the most overrated anime/manga in existence (considering so many seem to claim it’s the “greatest of all time”)... but that’s for another thread )

[Greatoneshere]

5 minutes ago, Spork3245 said:

Comparisons don’t have to be 1:1.  

You get similar types of highs and lows in AoT and GoT (in terms of suspense, political movements (on a smaller scale in AoT), character deaths, victories, losses) is where the comparison is coming from. 
For example: Fullmetal Alchemist (Brotherhood) has the same kind of Germanic-European setting as AoT, but I definitely wouldn’t compare it with GoT (I just finished FMA for the first time after watching AoT. It was good but has to be the most overrated anime/manga in existence (considering so many seem to claim it’s the “greatest of all time”)... but that’s for another thread )

 

Well, I never made the connection myself, perhaps others here agree with you by comparison though?

 

I'm a big FMA fan (the original 2003 show and Brotherhood) but they are most certainly not amazing or anything. Are they overhyped these days? I was obsessed with the manga and 2003 show back in the day, and enjoyed Brotherhood when I saw it much later, but I was into anime long before FMA so FMA just seemed like well done anime, but nothing mind blowing. It may also seemed aged now compared to newer anime I imagine.

[legend]

3 hours ago, Nokt said:

I actually really liked the premise before the plot twist in the first season. Humanity is on the brink, people getting massacred, just has this bleak outlook. It was intriguing to me, then the plot twist happened. I held on about halfway through the second season I think and then dropped it.

 

I mean, if you only got halfway through season 2, there is still shit tons you don't even understand yet about the world  

[legend]

I absolutely think FMA Brotherhood is amazing. It's one of the tightest anime's out there. Nothing felt like filler. At most something early on might feel like filler, but then you realize later it wasn't.

 

It still holds up because I only watched it recently and still think it's one of the best I've seen.

[Spork3245]

15 minutes ago, Greatoneshere said:

 

Well, I never made the connection myself, perhaps others here agree with you by comparison though?

 

 

If you google there seems to be others that make a similar comparison. I didn’t look before because I didn’t want spoilers  

 

Quote

I'm a big FMA fan (the original 2003 show and Brotherhood) but they are most certainly not amazing or anything. Are they overhyped these days? I was obsessed with the manga and 2003 show back in the day, and enjoyed Brotherhood when I saw it much later, but I was into anime long before FMA so FMA just seemed like well done anime, but nothing mind blowing. It may also seemed aged now compared to newer anime I imagine.

It’s definitely good, but it’s definitely not “omgwtfbbq GOAT”. It’s super overhyped these days, all the “best anime ever” lists usually have it in the top 5 (and if it’s not at least number 3 the fanbase floods the comment section  ). I’ve watched anime since the early 90s, fansubs I had to buy on VHS from Race Street in Philly since the late 90s, along with ones I’d order from sketchy fansites. Macross/Robotech and/or Ronin Warriors were my first animes. I’d argue FMA is on the same level as a great anime like Trigun, Kenshin (up to Shishio), or Inuyasha. Maybe the hype hurt it for me, though? I think DB, Naruto, AoT, and One Punch are superior.

[Greatoneshere]

4 minutes ago, Spork3245 said:

 

If you google there seems to be others that make a similar comparison. I didn’t look before because I didn’t want spoilers  

 

It’s definitely good, but it’s definitely not “omgwtfbbq GOAT”. It’s super overhyped these days, all the “best anime ever” lists usually have it in the top 5 (and if it’s not at least number 3 the fanbase floods the comment section  ). I’ve watched anime since the early 90s, fansubs I had to buy on VHS from Race Street in Philly since the late 90s, along with ones I’d order from sketchy fansites. Macross/Robotech and/or Ronin Warriors were my first animes. I’d argue FMA is on the same level as a great anime like Trigun, Kenshin (up to Shishio), or Inuyasha. Maybe the hype hurt it for me, though?

 

If others are making the same comparisons, then it's valid I think! Just never something that struck me then.

 

And I got into anime about the same time as you it sounds like - and I'd agree that FMA fits about where you're saying it does - around Kenshin/Trigun levels (I couldn't get into Inuyasha after trying for I think 30 episodes or so when it was on Adult Swim haha). Never been a big Rumiko Takahashi fan though. FMA is definitely nowhere near top 5, even a mainstream/gateway anime top 5 list. Maybe top 20 of the latter, but still not the former. 

[Spork3245]

6 minutes ago, legend said:

I absolutely think FMA Brotherhood is amazing. It's one of the tightest anime's out there. Nothing felt like filler. At most something early on might feel like filler, but then you realize later it wasn't.

 

It still holds up because I only watched it recently and still think it's one of the best I've seen.

It’s definitely good/great, that’s not in question. I’m just surprised that so many seemingly stick it on a pedestal. 
The filler-thing is because it followed the manga 1:1. Filler kills a lot of anime, so I always enjoy ones that aren’t scared not to be perpetually weekly, so they can take breaks and follow the original content (or, simply ones that wait until the manga is finished/almost finished). Dragon Ball Kai is a great example in showing how much better an anime can be when it follows the manga directly instead of constantly padding to buy time. Naruto is a god damn mess with filler... ugh... I should probably drop my ranking for that down a LOT because of this  

[Spork3245]

5 minutes ago, Greatoneshere said:

(I couldn't get into Inuyasha after trying for I think 30 episodes or so when it was on Adult Swim haha). 

I never watched the dub, would get the fansubs online about 3 days after it aired each week in Japan. It was frustrating when the anime caught up to the manga so the anime just said “see ya!” and bailed for like 3-4+ years. When it came back there was absolutely NO padding and the pacing was so fast it was almost hard to follow - almost as if they were given X budget and had to fit 50 eps of content into 35 eps (those are random numbers btw  ). Because I only ever watched Inuyasha while it was new, I have no idea if or how it holds up.

[Keyser_Soze]

37 minutes ago, Spork3245 said:

I just finished FMA for the first time after watching AoT. It was good but has to be the most overrated anime/manga in existence (considering so many seem to claim it’s the “greatest of all time”)... but that’s for another thread

 

Yup. Pretty boring stuff and lame.

[Greatoneshere]

46 minutes ago, legend said:

I absolutely think FMA Brotherhood is amazing. It's one of the tightest anime's out there. Nothing felt like filler. At most something early on might feel like filler, but then you realize later it wasn't.

 

It still holds up because I only watched it recently and still think it's one of the best I've seen.

 

Brotherhood is a great show, but not top 5 anime of all-time material I don't think. Additionally, Brotherhood has one enormous failing (otherwise it's great) that immediately hurts it and keeps it out of OMGWTFBBQ status and that's the rushed pacing of the first 10 episodes. What takes longer in the manga and in the first anime (it took 25 episodes in the first anime to get to the same point) happens quite fast in Brotherhood since Brotherhood is trying to speed through the manga material that the 2003 anime already covered well, trying to get to where the big split happens where the manga went one way and the 2003 anime slowly starting going another way, it's own way. The rest of this post is just aimed in general, not at you.  

 

And it shows - I always suggest to anyone who wants to watch Brotherhood to watch the first 25 episodes of the 2003 anime first, and then to switch to Brotherhood and start there from the beginning. It feels much more lived in (as it's meant to be) than it does early on in Brotherhood. Brotherhood recovers, and it's an ultimately better show than the 2003 show because the manga is simply telling a better story than the filler the 2003 show went with, but even with that, the 2003 is often better directed, because Seiji Mizushima (Gundam 00) is a flat out better anime director than Yasuhiro Irie, it's just Irie had much better material to work with (and Brotherhood is often well directed, it's just not Mizushima-level, obviously in my opinion haha). The sequel film (Conqueror of Shamballa) to the 2003 anime series really shows off Mizushima's directorial skills, even though there's a lot plot-wise that didn't make sense by then for their filler story.  

 

I was saying the same about Hunter X Hunter in another thread - the 1999 show is better directed than the newer, better animated 2011 reboot, and everyone just watches the 2011 reboot but the 1999 version directed by Kazuhiro Furuhashi (Rurouni Kenshin; Samurai X: Trust & Betrayal, Zipang, Le Chevalier D'Eon, etc.) is better directed, and more in line oftentimes with the tone of the original manga more than the 2011 version, which had enough material to adapt two more story arcs than the 1999 version. The 2011 version is good too, but it's a shame the older version gets forgotten.

[legend]

What are your guys top 5? There's still a lot I haven't seen, but I have now seen a lot and Brotherhood is still in my top 5.

[Greatoneshere]

1 hour ago, legend said:

What are your guys top 5? There's still a lot I haven't seen, but I have now seen a lot and Brotherhood is still in my top 5.

 

It's a tough question, so before I even try, to be clear, are we doing: "top 5 what I think are the objectively best anime of all time"; "top five what I think are the most influential anime of all time"; or "top five what I think are my personal favorite anime of all time". Of course, there's potential overlap between all three categorical lists, but I just wanted to be clear since people confuse the three types often when ranking movies/TV/games/anime/books/whatever.   

 

I should note that my anime knowledge is pretty impeccable until 2007-2008, and then me getting older (and college and law school) and the "moe" trend of the time made me follow but not watch much anime for many years. In the last few years I've come back to anime and tried to watch what I've missed, but while I know the good anime of the last decade, I haven't seen at least some of them (if not many of them) so my lists will be incomplete regardless, but I have seen a lot of anime. @Ghost_MH can vouch for me since he was around when I first started frequenting a message board for the first time when I was 15 (April 2001)  on the IGN Anime General Board and the Anime Community Board and he was around then too, with the same screenname as he has now (same for me). How we're both around with the same screennames nearly 20 years later I have no idea. So my list would definitely have some validity, but I wanted to be clear seems like anime has gotten really good in the last 5-10 years and I've missed some of the best ones (many of which seem better than classics like FMA even).

 

Edit: Also, we should separate anime TV series from OVA's from movies probably when making the lists too.  

[Spork3245]

1 hour ago, legend said:

What are your guys top 5? There's still a lot I haven't seen, but I have now seen a lot and Brotherhood is still in my top 5.

 

Not in any order, and take note that I always use AnimeFillerList.com to skip non-canon BS  :

Dragon Ball + DBZ/DB Kai

Naruto (for the love of god, get "Naruto Kai" - it's a fan made edit that weeds out 90% of the filler, including the constant flashbacks)

One Punch Man (I'm cheating here as Season 2 made me start reading the manga, and I'm counting what I know is coming for Season 3 )

Attack on Titan (as with OPM, I'm cheating a little here by knowing a lot of what's going to happen in S4  )

Gundam Wing tied with Cowboy Bebop (I cheated for 60% of this!  )

 

Admittedly, outside of One Punch Man, I only recently started to watch (newer) anime again with Attack on Titan, so, I am also looking for suggestions. There are a lot of older ones I certainly have missed as well.

 

2 hours ago, Greatoneshere said:

 

Brotherhood is a great show, but not top 5 anime of all-time material I don't think. Additionally, Brotherhood has one enormous failing (otherwise it's great) that immediately hurts it and keeps it out of OMGWTFBBQ status and that's the rushed pacing of the first 10 episodes. What takes longer in the manga and in the first anime (it took 25 episodes in the first anime to get to the same point) happens quite fast in Brotherhood since Brotherhood is trying to speed through the manga material that the 2003 anime already covered well, trying to get to where the big split happens where the manga went one way and the 2003 anime slowly starting going another way, it's own way. The rest of this post is just aimed in general, not at you.  

 

This may have been what hurt it for me, then. I only watched Brotherhood. The first 3 minutes of ep 1 neither my fiance or I was paying super-close attention and when we started to, both of us felt completely lost, almost like we should know who all these characters are, so we restarted the ep.  

 

 

[Ghost_MH]

@Greatoneshere Ha. I'm about in the same boat until around 2007. I have seen some pretty stellar anime in the years since, but not nearly as much as I would like. I'm not going to bother going all time, but I think I can list a top five for the last ten years. In no particular order, is go...

 

Inuyashiki - It's a rather faithful adaption of the manga, I believe it's available on Amazon Prime. Who doesn't like a wrinkly old man tearing gangs to shreds?

 

One Punch Man - Because who doesn't like this series? I love the manga. The second season was a disappointment, in large part because it didn't really tell a full story. I hate seasons that end mid-arc.

 

Attack on Titan - It's incredibly popular for a reason.

 

Kids on the Slope - Nobody seems to ever talk about this series. Why? It's so good. Watanabe and Yoko Kanno teaming up for a series about jazz and life? Yes please.

 

Madoka Magical - I actually get to church to see if this was from the just ten years. It feels like it was so long ago. Then again, January feels like so long ago.

[Greatoneshere]

1 hour ago, Spork3245 said:

Not in any order, and take note that I always use AnimeFillerList.com to skip non-canon BS  :

Dragon Ball + DBZ/DB Kai

Naruto (for the love of god, get "Naruto Kai" - it's a fan made edit that weeds out 90% of the filler, including the constant flashbacks)

One Punch Man (I'm cheating here as Season 2 made me start reading the manga, and I'm counting what I know is coming for Season 3 )

Attack on Titan (as with OPM, I'm cheating a little here by knowing a lot of what's going to happen in S4  )

Gundam Wing tied with Cowboy Bebop (I cheated for 60% of this!  )

 

Admittedly, outside of One Punch Man, I only recently started to watch (newer) anime again with Attack on Titan, so, I am also looking for suggestions. There are a lot of older ones I certainly have missed as well.

 

This may have been what hurt it for me, then. I only watched Brotherhood. The first 3 minutes of ep 1 neither my fiance or I was paying super-close attention and when we started to, both of us felt completely lost, almost like we should know who all these characters are, so we restarted the ep.  

 

With regard to Brotherhood: absolutely. I was a huge fan of the first, it'd been awhile since I'd seen it, I started Brotherhood and was like: "wtf is happening?"  

 

As for the top five, not to hate on your list, but that's my point: you just listed a bunch of tournament shonen fighting anime series. What about all the excellent adult indie anime series like Texhnolyze or Flower of Evil or Gate or March Comes In Like A Lion or Terror in Resonance, etc. etc. That top 5 seems like a strong top five for tournament fighting anime or mainstream anime, but not of all anime or anything, which is what my previous post was getting at asking @legend what kind of list we should be making because I think most people have only seen mainstream stuff. I mean old anime like His and Her Circumstances and Berserk are far better to me than Dragon Ball or Naruto or Gundam Wing (there are way better Gundam shows alone!). Not hating on you at all, just pointing out how my own knowledge is also inadequate as I haven't seen a lot of the good newer stuff. 

 

1 hour ago, Ghost_MH said:

@Greatoneshere Ha. I'm about in the same boat until around 2007. I have seen some pretty stellar anime in the years since, but not nearly as much as I would like. I'm not going to bother going all time, but I think I can list a top five for the last ten years. In no particular order, is go...

 

Inuyashiki - It's a rather faithful adaption of the manga, I believe it's available on Amazon Prime. Who doesn't like a wrinkly old man tearing gangs to shreds?

 

One Punch Man - Because who doesn't like this series? I love the manga. The second season was a disappointment, in large part because it didn't really tell a full story. I hate seasons that end mid-arc.

 

Attack on Titan - It's incredibly popular for a reason.

 

Kids on the Slope - Nobody seems to ever talk about this series. Why? It's so good. Watanabe and Yoko Kanno teaming up for a series about jazz and life? Yes please.

 

Madoka Magical - I actually get to church to see if this was from the just ten years. It feels like it was so long ago. Then again, January feels like so long ago.

 

See my post responding to @Spork3245. Your list is similarly very mainstream. More diverse in choices than Spork's, but still mainstream. I love Attack on Titan and One Punch Man, but better than Showa Genroku? Thunderbolt Fantasy? Made in Abyss? Monster? Any Masaki Yuasa anime? You know what I mean? I think none of us know the truly great anime that is much more intellectual and arthouse than the blockbusters we've all named. I'm happy to post my anime lists by year which lists what I sussed out as the best in anime (TV, OVA, and film) every year for the past 7 years. They are pretty thorough lists, and I haven't seen even a tenth of what's on them, which tells me I'm missing a lot of good anime (I have similar lists for films per year as well, since I'll never catch up to watch them all I needed some way to keep track of all the good and great ones and interesting ones.

[legend]

3 hours ago, Greatoneshere said:

 

It's a tough question, so before I even try, to be clear, are we doing: "top 5 what I think are the objectively best anime of all time"; "top five what I think are the most influential anime of all time"; or "top five what I think are my personal favorite anime of all time". Of course, there's potential overlap between all three categorical lists, but I just wanted to be clear since people confuse the three types often when ranking movies/TV/games/anime/books/whatever.   

 

I should note that my anime knowledge is pretty impeccable until 2007-2008, and then me getting older (and college and law school) and the "moe" trend of the time made me follow but not watch much anime for many years. In the last few years I've come back to anime and tried to watch what I've missed, but while I know the good anime of the last decade, I haven't seen at least some of them (if not many of them) so my lists will be incomplete regardless, but I have seen a lot of anime. @Ghost_MH can vouch for me since he was around when I first started frequenting a message board for the first time when I was 15 (April 2001)  on the IGN Anime General Board and the Anime Community Board and he was around then too, with the same screenname as he has now (same for me). How we're both around with the same screennames nearly 20 years later I have no idea. So my list would definitely have some validity, but I wanted to be clear seems like anime has gotten really good in the last 5-10 years and I've missed some of the best ones (many of which seem better than classics like FMA even).

 

Edit: Also, we should separate anime TV series from OVA's from movies probably when making the lists too.  

 

I guess I would take either "objectively" (to the extent one can) and your favorite. I exclude influential because plenty of works of art may be highly influential but be easily surpassed by those they influenced, so I don't think that's as relevant for this discussion.

 

 

2 hours ago, Spork3245 said:

 

Not in any order, and take note that I always use AnimeFillerList.com to skip non-canon BS  :

Dragon Ball + DBZ/DB Kai

Naruto (for the love of god, get "Naruto Kai" - it's a fan made edit that weeds out 90% of the filler, including the constant flashbacks)

One Punch Man (I'm cheating here as Season 2 made me start reading the manga, and I'm counting what I know is coming for Season 3 )

Attack on Titan (as with OPM, I'm cheating a little here by knowing a lot of what's going to happen in S4  )

Gundam Wing tied with Cowboy Bebop (I cheated for 60% of this!  )

 

Admittedly, outside of One Punch Man, I only recently started to watch (newer) anime again with Attack on Titan, so, I am also looking for suggestions. There are a lot of older ones I certainly have missed as well.

 

 

This may have been what hurt it for me, then. I only watched Brotherhood. The first 3 minutes of ep 1 neither my fiance or I was paying super-close attention and when we started to, both of us felt completely lost, almost like we should know who all these characters are, so we restarted the ep.  

 

 

 

 

Nauto Kai might be good. I tried watching it and bailed in the first 15 minutes lol. It was like I could feel the filler coming  

 

Similarly, I watched season 1 of Bleach, really liked it, and then bailed in season 2 when it felt like endless battle speech filler.

 

I guess I'm the inverse of a lot of you. I've mainly watched recent animes since I didn't watch many until recently.

 

I have to think hard about my top five, but here are some (more recent) series that I really enjoyed and would be contenders for my top list.

- FMAB (as we discussed)

- Death Note (the last act gets bogged down, but ends well and everything before is incredible)

- Attack on Titan

- Steins;Gate

- One Punch Man

- SAO (gets better after season 1)

- Kakegurui

- Akame ga Kill

- My Hero Academia

- That Time I got Reincarnated as a Slime

- Dr. Stone

- Parasite