Compilation of top anime of the decade lists around the internet – Series
Posted: March 6, 2010 Filed under: Anime, Series, Top Animes of 2000s | Tags: Anime, anime of the decade, Japanese animation, series, series of the decade 26 CommentsThis is my first blog post ever so I would appreciate any comment on this:) It’s a little long but I hope if you are an anime fan, you will find something interesting in it.
Having been a huge fan of anime for a while, I always enjoy seeing people’s top anime list, seeing where my personal favourite animes rank alongsides. So when the last decade ends and lots of bloggers put out their best of decade list, it has always been good fun to read all of them. Seeing so many on the list makes me wonder though, what the most popular anime out there are. I know that people’s opinion are vastly different and some anime that come top in one list may never make it in another. However, the wisdom of the masses cannot be that far wrong right? I am also intrigued how well my favourite shows are really doing. With so many lists out there, one can easily get an impression that certain shows are more popular than others and I just want hard statistics to prove that.
This got me thinking and I decided to compile the results into a list. I came up with a criteria as follow
1). It has to be published in a proper blog or in a forum post with substantial comments to describe each ranking (rationale being that the writer has to put quite a bit of thought to articulate the list and it is not just some random throw-whatever-together thing)
2). It has to have a ranking (I ignore those lists which are in no particular order. Since I’m a stats guy, I get a lot of kick out of seeing how things rank against each other:) )
3). The anime has to start airing this decade. This means that for those lists that are the favourite of all time, I intentionally exclude those animes outside the 2000s. This also excludes the likes of Great Teacher Onizuka or Infinite Ryvius which start airing in Japan in late 1999 (according to Anime News Network anyway)
4). I cap the rankings to 50 (i.e. if there is a top 60 list, I only use 50)
With aids of sites like … that already has a few listed on (Many thanks!) I started to compile all the best of the decade list together. Currently, I am on 45 blog results and 8 forum comments which should definitely be enough to get a somewhat reliable result.
Having done all the groundwork of data collecting, putting the results together is always the most fun part. I toyed around with a few weighting methods but without getting into too many technical details, the scoring system that I find to be the most appropriate is based on a combination of rankings and frequency.
ANIME SERIES
The top 50 anime series results are presented below:
***[See this post for more information on the top 10 series in this list]***
A few comments:
1). Haibane Renmei owns the poll by an enormous margin. 26 out of 47 blogs that list anime series (a staggering 55%) actually place this little gem of an anime in their best ranking. It has also come number one a record 7 times. There is no denying the quality power of this one.
2). Also ahead of the rest of the pack and bested by one anime is Mushi-Shi. This appears in 22 out of 47 blogs. Very interestingly, none of the blog actually put this as their first choice but a list-high 7 rate this their second favourite anime this decade.
3). Monster also comes first 6 times. Pretty high praises for this amazing series
4). Looking at the top 10, it is very fascinating it is a somewhat neat split between slower shows and high octane action ones. The former are Haibane Renmei, Mushi-Shi, Kino’s Journey, Monster. I would probably add Honey Clover in the list as well. The latter are FMA, GITS:SAC, Gurren Lagaan and the craziest one of all Baccano!. Suzumiya Haruhi I probably should throw into the latter too for good matter. Also, the fact that the consensus top three (Haibane Renmei, Mushi-Shi and Monster) are all more serious shows seem to strongly suggest that when the light comes on, it is these shows that leave a more lasting impression that any action or comedy can provide.
6). With qualifier of having 6+ frequency, the best ranking anime is ARIA The Origination at 5.4 (the 7 blogs that rate this anime place it at their 5-6 spots). Second place is Mononoke at 5.8 average ranking followed by Planetes at 6.2. Number three is ARIA. These animes may not be on a lot of people’s radar, but when they are on, they do rank pretty high. (Bear in mind though that average ranking alone may not mean much since an anime can rank 40 in one top 50 list and that would totally tank the average score for that anime).
7). A few series are also surprisingly left out of any top anime series list. The likes of NOIR, do not make it in any list at all!
8). Despite the amazing popularity, Naruto is mentioned only twice (placed 5th and 44th) and Bleach not mentioned at all…
9). The title of “least seen but highly rated” anime series go to Kaiba followed closely by ARIA The Origination (based on how many people have seen and rated them on Anime News Network website). These are probably series I will have to check out myself
Looking at anime series by year, we see a definitely concentration 2002-2007. Anime series from 2000, 2001 or 2009 seem to be so underrepresented. Not quite sure why not many series from 2000-1 make the list actually. See highest ranked anime series for each year below:
One can argue this decade list should probably be done not right at the end of 2009-beginning 2010. Most of the people are not likely to have seen many shows from the 2009 season and they are going to be severely under-represented. Only 3 series make it to the top 100 (Kemono no Sou-ja Erin, Eden of the East and Bakemonogatari). Think about shows like GTO which was released at the end of 2009. Not many people would have seen it for it to rank highly if the list of the 1990s were compile, yet when it comes to list of 2000s, they are usually not included!
This list will definitely prove pretty handy to me when choosing animes to buy in the future. Out of the top 50 above, I have only seen 24 so there are over half in there I need to check out. Simply working my way down the list and that should keep me busy until the next set of decade lists comes along!
I have also segmented the titles into different category (drama/slice-of-life/sci-fi/action etc.) and will try to post those sometime later. That’s it for now. I will post the same for Anime series at some point in the future.
—
SOURCES:
Below are the list of all the 47 lists I have used to compile the analysis you have read above. Thanks go to the authors of these blogs. As stated above, I really enjoy reading these! Apologies for not putting any description to any of these lists. It would have taken me too long… Also special thanks goes to Kitsune’s Thoughts blog for putting together a better described list then mine, one that I have used as a starting point for this analysis.
SERIES+MOVIES
Top 50
Nihon Review – Sorrow-kun: http://behind-the.nihonreview.com/20100102/sorrow-kuns-list-of-50-great-anime-of-the-decade-2000-2009/
Japanator: http://www.japanator.com/elephant/index-short.phtml?t=Anime%20of%20the%20Decade
Fuzakenna!: http://fuzakenna.com/2009/12/25/200-anime-worth-taking-with-us-into-the-next-decade/
Mono no aware: http://mononoaware.concretebadger.net/2009/12/29/fifty-noughties-animu-speculation-first-half/
The Coke Machine: http://coke.dasaku.net/2009_12_06/top-50-anime-of-the-decade/
Heterochromia: http://chrome.dasaku.net/?p=614
The AZ Otaku: http://www.theazotaku.com/2009/12/top-50-anime-of-2000s-final-part-5-1.html
Top 35
Funkgun: http://www.anime-planet.com/users/Funkgun/blog/posts/1807
Top 30
The Cart Drive: http://thecartdriver.com/my-top-30-anime/
Top 20
Nihon Review – Kavik Ryx: http://behind-the.nihonreview.com/20100104/20-decade-highlights-kavik-ryx/
Behind the Nihon – Zzeroparticle: http://behind-the.nihonreview.com/20091231/zzeroparticles-list-of-20-noteworthy-anime-titles/
Awesomely Shitty: http://awesomelyshitty.wordpress.com/2010/01/03/20-awesomest-anime-of-the-decade-2000-2009/
Celestial Kitsune: http://celestialkitsune.wordpress.com/2010/01/02/best-anime-of-the-decade-2000-2009/
Anime Dream – Lionrampant: http://www.animedream.com/ad/media-spotlight/view/2898
THEM Anime – Tim: http://www.themanime.org/editorials.php?id=23
The Anime Review: http://www.theanimereview.com/index.html?specials/bestworstof2000s.html
THEM Anime – Robert: http://www.themanime.org/editorials.php?id=27
THEM Anime – Chad: http://www.themanime.org/editorials.php?id=26
THEM Anime – Bradley: http://www.themanime.org/editorials.php?id=28
Top 10
Anime Dream – Mark: http://www.animedream.com/ad/media-spotlight/view/2903
Anime Dream – Tsukasa: http://www.animedream.com/ad/media-spotlight/view/2902
Anime Dream – Viarca: http://www.animedream.com/ad/media-spotlight/view/2897
Anime Dream – Mike: http://www.animedream.com/ad/media-spotlight/view/2899
Animesuki – Upiro: http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?t=88806&page=7
SERIES ONLY
Top 50
Guri Guri Blog: http://guriguriblog.wordpress.com/2009/12/04/top-50-anime-series-of-the-decade/
Oishii Anime: http://oishiianime.com/2009/12/my-top-60-series-of-the-decade-2000-2009/
Top 20
Star Crossed Anime: http://psgels.blogsome.com/2009/09/28/my-top-20-favourite-anime/
Nihon Review – AC: http://behind-the.nihonreview.com/20100101/acs-top-20-anime-of-the-decade/
Behind the Nihon Review – Reflection: http://behind-the.nihonreview.com/20100105/a-reflection-on-a-decade/
Kenholic: http://www.kenholic.com/2010/01/kenholic-top-20-anime-of-past-decade-pt_20.html
Mikotoism: http://www.blogcatalog.com/blog/mikotoism/2edc3e6ab016da229bd911065a1da5c0
Grand Punk Railroad: http://omisyth.wordpress.com/2009/12/31/my-top-eleven-anime-of-the-decade/
Anime Diet – Ray: http://animediet.net/commentary/rays-top-ten-list-from-the-last-decade
Animesuki – Ermes Marana: http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?t=88806&page=3
Anime Diet – DC: http://animediet.net/commentary/yet-another-top-ten-list-of-the-decade
Anime Diet – AD: http://animediet.net/top-10-lists/ad-top-10-list-1-top-tv-anime-of-the-2000s#more-11326
Anime Diet – CIAG: http://animediet.net/commentary/ciag-attempts-to-wax-poetically-about-the-decade-in-anime#more-11558
Top 5
Animesuki – Reckoner: http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?t=88806&page=2
Animesuki – LifeAspect: http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?t=88806&page=7
Anime Dream – Matt: http://www.animedream.com/ad/media-spotlight/view/2900
Canne’s Anime Review: http://canime.wordpress.com/2009/12/26/last-post-2009/
Animesuki – Fevvers: http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?t=88806
Animesuki – Albafica: http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?t=88806&page=2
Animesuki – zzeroparticle: http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?t=88806&page=3
Animesuki – dr marronflower: http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?t=88806&page=7
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