The Grand Search for the Best Anime of the 2000s

[Mr. Hat'n'Clogs]

A: Abstain
B: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
C: Baccano!
D: Abstain
E: Mawaru Penguindrum
F: The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
G: Mononoke
H: Summer Wars

[Vii]

I just had to be gone the day that I could have tied the vote between Code Geass and Tatami Galaxy and possibly saved it. >:/

Group A
Abstain/Seen neither

Group C
Princess Tutu (2003)

Group D
Puella Magi Madoka Magica (2011)

Group E
Mawaru Penguindrum (2011)

Group H
Chihayafuru (2011)

[ClosetOtaku]

Group A
REDLINE (2009)

Group B
Kara no Kyoukai (2008)

Group C
Baccano! (2007)

Group D
Haibane Renmei (2002)

Group E
Monster (2004)

Group F
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006)

Group G
Mononoke (2007)

Group H
Chihayafuru (2011)

[KnightOfFive]

Because people didn't vote for it? I think it's a very common rookie move to think Code Geass is on the top of the food chain, but it really isn't. It's just a decent anime that is easy to get in to. I'm not gonna say it's bad (A bad anime would be something like Roots Search: Life Devourer X or Macross Zero), but you're in for a very pleasant surprise if you think CG is one of the best that anime has to offer.

Um yeah so how exactly is either Tatami Galaxy or Mawhou Penguindrum better than Code Geass? We're talking a series where a deprived prince through guile and cunning manages to challenge an Empire that controls 1/3 of the world while still managing to attend classes and keep his revolutionary identity a secret. He achieves all this while the story remains (largely) believable and keeps the viewer on the edge of his/her seat.

And that's just Lelouch! It would take a much longer post to examine the series's entire merits but it just dissapoints me that a show about colledge and another about a possesed hat would be voted over something so epic!

This isn't meant as an insult to those who voted for either series it just saddens me that a show that good would fall by the wayside and then get down-talked to add insult to injury.

[goldenspines]

Um yeah so how exactly is either Tatami Galaxy or Mawhou Penguindrum better than Code Geass? We're talking a series where a deprived prince through guile and cunning manages to challenge an Empire that controls 1/3 of the world while still managing to attend classes and keep his revolutionary identity a secret. He achieves all this while the story remains (largely) believable and keeps the viewer on the edge of his/her seat.

And that's just Lelouch! It would take a much longer post to examine the series's entire merits but it just dissapoints me that a show about colledge and another about a possesed hat would be voted over something so epic!

This isn't meant as an insult to those who voted for either series it just saddens me that a show that good would fall by the wayside and then get down-talked to add insult to injury.

Hello and welcome to the best of anime tournaments, where your heart will be broken and stomped on multiple times before the end result. But don't worry, we're all in this together. <3
I mean this totally seriously, too, it's dreadful. :\

If it was me, Ouran would beat everything in this tourney, but thankfully it's not me, or else Maokun (and others) would be angry. :< I don't need more broken hearts on my guilty conscience.

I can't speak for much of Tatami Galaxy (besides the first few episodes, which were good, I thought. Pretty on par with the quality of Code Geass), but Mawaru Penguindrum is something out of the league of Geass. The problem with Penguindrum is that it's not for everyone (it's crazy symbolic and well, crazy), but for the people who watched it and got it, it's a brilliant series. Code Geass appeals to a wider audience, but has a far less impact on those who enjoyed Penguindrum.
Mawaru Penguindrum, in a nutshell (if that is possible), is about self sacrifice, love, greed, and penguins. It goes beyond simply one man's struggle; it goes all the way to addressing the whole struggle of humanity.
Lulu was kind of the only good part about Code Geass (or the only part I cared about). It was a solid series, but not enough to sail beyond the A tier to the A+.



As a side note, I voted for TG over CG because while I think they are both on the same tier, but I personally like TG's story-telling better. It's quirky and fun.

[mechana2015]

Um yeah so how exactly is either Tatami Galaxy or Mawhou Penguindrum better than Code Geass?

This isn't meant as an insult to those who voted for either series it just saddens me that a show that good would fall by the wayside and then get down-talked to add insult to injury.

Well here's the thing... Goldy explained one of the reasons (specifically hers) and I'm gonna give another (my personal reason) that... while harsh sounding will probably make you glad I'm only one vote, and hopefully happier that it's made it through into this part of the competition.

STRONG OPINION MODE ON:
If it had been up to me... Code Geass wouldn't have made it into the contest at all. I have seen a lot of it, know the plot, charachters and whatnot and made a few attempts at watching it and it is just not a show I like at all. I'll address your assertions to explain how we have such a wide disparity in opinions. (And this is JUST my opinion, and an explanation as to why I voted the way I did).

We're talking a series where a deprived prince through guile and cunning manages to challenge an Empire that controls 1/3 of the world while still managing to attend classes and keep his revolutionary identity a secret. He achieves all this while the story remains (largely) believable and keeps the viewer on the edge of his/her seat. And that's just Lelouch! It would take a much longer post to examine the series's entire merits but it just dissapoints me that a show about colledge and another about a possesed hat would be voted over something so epic!

I found the premise of the show very difficult to believe, particularly the school part of the show, and was quite bored with much of what was happening and thought it was a pretty bland show. I also thought that Lelouche's abilities were... too powerful, or made too powerful by virtue of the people around him, even with the limits given to him which results in me finding him unbelievable. Even worse, I found him unlikeable as a person. I'm OK with an unlikeable protagonist, but the problem I found eventually is that I didn't like anyone in the show. At that point where I'm not fond of the plot and the characters, I have one last chance to like a show, and that's the aesthetic, which is where I'm going to be stepping away from your reasons for liking the show.

Unfortunately for this show, CLAMP designed it's characters, and while I like some CLAMP work, CG is not one of the shows I think they needed to do art for. Outside of that the art style is bland (architecture, setting, fashion, art style and color choices). It's one saving grace for me is the mechanism that was used to move the mecha around, but as soon as combat starts and the grappling hooks come out, I don't like the mecha combat either.

Is it a bad show? Neane was right, it's not, it's just not a show that I enjoyed well enough to consider it best of the 2000's. Mawaru Penguindrum succeeded in my opinion on artistic merits alone far above CG, as did Tatami Galaxy. I think that Penguindrum has better characters and more shocking twists than CG and that it's about much more than a hat. I'm (mostly) pretty analytical about things like this, so there's my opinion that resulted in how I voted.

OPINIONATED SECTION (mostly) OVER

And just so you don't feel alone, I'm of the opinion that Sword of the Stranger, Eureka 7 and Millennium Actress ought to be going further, but they won't be, and that's not bad company for Code Geass either, whether I personally think it deserves it or not.

[airichan623]

Um yeah so how exactly is either Tatami Galaxy or Mawhou Penguindrum better than Code Geass? We're talking a series where a deprived prince through guile and cunning manages to challenge an Empire that controls 1/3 of the world while still managing to attend classes and keep his revolutionary identity a secret. He achieves all this while the story remains (largely) believable and keeps the viewer on the edge of his/her seat.

And that's just Lelouch! It would take a much longer post to examine the series's entire merits but it just dissapoints me that a show about colledge and another about a possesed hat would be voted over something so epic!

This isn't meant as an insult to those who voted for either series it just saddens me that a show that good would fall by the wayside and then get down-talked to add insult to injury.

Code Geass is my favorite too. And I love to death- that being said, it's not artistic. It does a lot of things well, but it's not terribly original. It improves on old concepts. This contest reminds me of the Oscars- the artistic trumps all. Occasionally something popular gets in there, but for the most part crowd favorites usually don't win.

[Mr. Hat'n'Clogs]

Um yeah so how exactly is either Tatami Galaxy or Mawhou Penguindrum better than Code Geass? We're talking a series where a deprived prince through guile and cunning manages to challenge an Empire that controls 1/3 of the world while still managing to attend classes and keep his revolutionary identity a secret. He achieves all this while the story remains (largely) believable and keeps the viewer on the edge of his/her seat.

Did you just actually say that Code Geass is believable? I hardly consider something with a high school student toppling gigantic empires through his own planning and leadership a believable prospect alone, making pizza with robots aside.

And that's just Lelouch! It would take a much longer post to examine the series's entire merits but it just dissapoints me that a show about colledge and another about a possesed hat would be voted over something so epic!

So basically Code Geass is good based on the "size" of the protagonist's accomplishments? Literally anyone can write a story where someone accomplishes anything if their powers and skills are strong enough to let them accomplish it. It also kind of offends me that you seriously are going to say The Tatami Galaxy is "just about college" and that Penguindrum is "just about a talking hat". Have you actually seen either show?

[blkmage]

Um yeah so how exactly is either Tatami Galaxy or Mawhou Penguindrum better than Code Geass? We're talking a series where a deprived prince through guile and cunning manages to challenge an Empire that controls 1/3 of the world while still managing to attend classes and keep his revolutionary identity a secret. He achieves all this while the story remains (largely) believable and keeps the viewer on the edge of his/her seat.

And that's just Lelouch! It would take a much longer post to examine the series's entire merits but it just dissapoints me that a show about colledge and another about a possesed hat would be voted over something so epic!

This isn't meant as an insult to those who voted for either series it just saddens me that a show that good would fall by the wayside and then get down-talked to add insult to injury.

It seems to me that this is just an instance of figuring out where people are coming from in voting. It sounds like you're voting primarily based on the contents of the story (who did what, how they did it, etc.) while a lot of other people are taking into account more technical aspects, such as production, themes, ambition, execution, and other things. To those people, it doesn't matter whether a show is about penguin hats or machiavellian plots, as long as it's crafted well.

Fun fact: Mawaru Penguindrum, much like Code Geass, is about terrorism.

[KnightOfFive]

I just had to be gone the day that I could have tied the vote between Code Geass and Tatami Galaxy and possibly saved it. >:/

It's not your, we all have real lives to attend to after all. Still tis sad.

Hello and welcome to the best of anime tournaments, where your heart will be broken and stomped on multiple times before the end result. But don't worry, we're all in this together. <3
I mean this totally seriously, too, it's dreadful. :\

If it was me, Ouran would beat everything in this tourney, but thankfully it's not me, or else Maokun (and others) would be angry. :< I don't need more broken hearts on my guilty conscience.

Indeed dreadful depressing business. Although in all honesty I sympathize as a fellow Ouran fan i wouldn't mind seeing it go all the way to the top (not that it would be MY first choice but it was undeniably a good series).

I can't speak for much of Tatami Galaxy (besides the first few episodes, which were good, I thought. Pretty on par with the quality of Code Geass), but Mawaru Penguindrum is something out of the league of Geass. The problem with Penguindrum is that it's not for everyone (it's crazy symbolic and well, crazy), but for the people who watched it and got it, it's a brilliant series. Code Geass appeals to a wider audience, but has a far less impact on those who enjoyed Penguindrum.
Mawaru Penguindrum, in a nutshell (if that is possible), is about self sacrifice, love, greed, and penguins. It goes beyond simply one man's struggle]

I would disagree in several ways in that respect. Code Geass affects the viewer quite deeply. You've got the conflict between personal moral behavior versus just moral outcomes. A brilliant hero being slowly p[oisoned by revenge and increasingly immoral actions to defeat what he views as the greatest evil in this world. On the flipside his best friend bound by guilt and a desire to atone fights for that self-same Empire in hopes of washing the blood from his hands. You've got intrigue going on both sides of a conflict for the world while innocent people on both sides get destroyed as they try to make the world a better place in their own small ways. CG touches on many deep aspects, it's more than just a crowd-pleaser.

As a side note, I voted for TG over CG because while I think they are both on the same tier, but I personally like TG's story-telling better. It's quirky and fun.

Well that is your taste and I hold nothing against you for it.

Code Geass is my favorite too. And I love to death- that being said, it's not artistic. It does a lot of things well, but it's not terribly original. It improves on old concepts. This contest reminds me of the Oscars- the artistic trumps all. Occasionally something popular gets in there, but for the most part crowd favorites usually don't win.

Well if you really want to get technical i could very well argue that there really when you get down to it is nothing new under the sun. That being said Code Geass was a fairly original show. With deep characters, ahero who is an unusual mix of villain protagonist and revolutionary hero. An empire who despite possessing some stereotypically brutal subbordinates also possesses many good-natured people who are fighting for their own reasons. Most of the popular ideas in it are either turned on their head or spun in new ways.

Aside from that it's an enjoyable and at the same time tear-jerker ride and i find it to be fairly artistic in it's own right. Granted these are merely my opinions but I would be remiss as a fan not offer CG some rhetorical defense.

[mechana2015]

I would disagree in several ways in that respect. Code Geass affects the viewer quite deeply. You've got the conflict between personal moral behavior versus just moral outcomes. A brilliant hero being slowly poisoned by revenge and increasingly immoral actions to defeat what he views as the greatest evil in this world. On the flipside his best friend bound by guilt and a desire to atone fights for that self-same Empire in hopes of washing the blood from his hands. You've got intrigue going on both sides of a conflict for the world while innocent people on both sides get destroyed as they try to make the world a better place in their own small ways. CG touches on many deep aspects, it's more than just a crowd-pleaser.

I'm just gonna point out that this is how Code Geass affected you, not the viewers as a whole. Going by the voting and post responding to you it's quite obvious that this wasn't a universal experience (and it never is for any media, no book ever got a 100% perfect review from every person that's ever read it).

[Hugo Bernhardt]

Group A
abstain

Group B
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (2009)

Group C
abstain

Group D
Haibane Renmei (2002)

Group E
Monster (2004)

Group F
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006)

Group G
Mononoke (2007)

Group H
Summer Wars (2009)

[FllMtl Novelist]

Gosh, running in at the last minute here.

[color="Red"]Group A[/color]
REDLINE (2009)

[color="Magenta"]Group B[/color]
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (2009)

[color="Sienna"]Group C[/color]
Baccano! (2007)

[color="DarkOrange"]Group D[/color]
Puella Magi Madoka Magica (2011)

[color="YellowGreen"]Group E[/color]
Mawaru Penguindrum (2011)

[color="Yellow"]Group F[/color]
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006)

[color="Lime"]Group G[/color]
Mononoke (2007)

[color="Cyan"]Group H[/color]
Chihayafuru (2011)--Because [s]it's my favorite,[/s] we'll always have karuta, I'm not focused so much on reaching Class A as I'm focused on becoming someone who doesn't run away, it nearly made me cry, and Summer Wars is a shoo-in anyway.

[KnightOfFive]

I'm just gonna point out that this is how Code Geass affected you, not the viewers as a whole. Going by the voting and post responding to you it's quite obvious that this wasn't a universal experience (and it never is for any media, no book ever got a 100% perfect review from every person that's ever read it).

To flip it around your personal experience is not universal for wachers either, as noted earlier CG's lack of success was a for want of a vote situation. Also on a side-note most of my buddies (the ones into anime anyhow)feel much the same way about the series. Now that being said I know it isn't everyone's cup of tea but is there anything wrong with expressing my heartfelt opinions?

[mechana2015]

Nope, just gotta understand when you ask a question like 'How exactly is either Tatami Galaxy or Mawhou Penguindrum better than Code Geass?' that you might not like the answers you get.

Also, understand that representing any show as a shining beacon of narration does set it up to get shots taken at it by people that will disagree with you, especially when you pose questions that open it up for things like that. There's pretty good odds that you aren't going to change peoples opinions of a show if they've already seen it, especially five years down the line.

Just don't let those opinions cheapen your enjoyment of the show. Redline going out with pretty much straight losses doesn't change the fact that it's one of my favorite animated films, and I know people quite vehemently don't like that, even though many of my friends like it as much as I do.

[goldenspines]

To flip it around your personal experience is not universal for wachers either, as noted earlier CG's lack of success was a for want of a vote situation. Also on a side-note most of my buddies (the ones into anime anyhow)feel much the same way about the series. Now that being said I know it isn't everyone's cup of tea but is there anything wrong with expressing my heartfelt opinions?

Which brings us full circle to the happy fact about these tournaments, hearts will be broken when everyone gives their heartfelt opinions. :3

But on the plus side, look at it as an opportunity to teach, learn, and grow from interacting with others and developing strong relationships through different interests. In fact, there are a lot of anime that I would have not considered watching had people not given their "heartfelt" opinions about them. And I've made some good friends because of it too. =D

So if you come in expecting your favorites to win, you'll be disappointed and probably become frustrated (because frankly, just like you, others are opinionated about their favorite series and probably won't back down easily). But if you come into these tourneys not worried about who wins or how one series is better than another as much as finding new anime to watch, recommending series you like, and learning from others' watching experiences, you'll gain a lot more. =D

[Maokun]

Ah nice, we've reached that stage of the tournament already where healthy discussion is sparked and maybe we all left enriched or at least find sense in our hearts being trampled when our favourites are trumped by a show that we apparently don't get (Haibane noooooooo!! Ouran... now it's personal!)

Let's see the last results for round 1:

[color="Red"]Group A[/color]
Kaiba (2008) 4
REDLINE (2009) 7

[color="Magenta"]Group B[/color]
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (2009) 11
Kara no Kyoukai (2008) 4

[color="Sienna"]Group C[/color]
Baccano! (2007) 9
Princess Tutu (2003) 6

[color="DarkOrange"]Group D[/color]
Puella Magi Madoka Magica 10
Haibane Renmei (2002) 5

[color="YellowGreen"]Group E[/color]
Mawaru Penguindrum (2011) 8
Monster (2004) 9

[color="Yellow"]Group F[/color]
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006) 9
Fullmetal Alchemist (2004) 5

[color="Lime"]Group G[/color]
Noein (2005) 3
Mononoke (2007) 11

[color="Cyan"]Group H[/color]
Summer Wars (2009) 10
Chihayafuru (2011) 6

Only the following 16 titles, out of our initial 98, remain and advance to the finals:

Spirited Away (2001)
Tokyo Godfathers (2003)
Princess Tutu (2003)
Monster (2004)
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006)
Paprika (2006)
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzuyima (2006)
Ouran High School Host Club (2006)
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (2007)
Baccano! (2007)
Spice and Wolf (2008)
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (2009)
Summer Wars (2010)
Durarara!! (2010)
Puella Magi Madoka Magica (2011)
Mawaru Penguindrum (2011)

Now, as a preparation to the things to come, here are the pairings for the first knockout round:

The feels, guys, the feels. Prepare to experience them! The first matches of Round 2 will go live Monday at 20:00 EST.

[Neane]

This is going to be fun.

[skreyola]

Whew. Well, since my first few choices for absolute best animes ever got voted off the island early on, I'm happy to be able to say at this point that there are two shows there i would be satisfied seeing crowned the winner of the decade.
Let the battle begin in earnest.

[Maokun]

Let's see what can we get from this past round:

-Years 2002 and 2005 were obliterated from the tournament. They probably won't be missed much.
-Even though Year 2006 was a distant third after 2007 and 2008 in the number of titles contributed to the second stage of competition, it is now the one with most titles with impressive 4 out of 16. That's some quality there.
-Year 2009 remains the weakest year in short memory, only redeemed by its champion, FMA:B.
-With the elimination of 5 cm/s no titles suggested by the public at the beginning of the tournament remain.
-3 previous Year Champions were eliminated: Kaiba, Haibane Renmei and Noein.
-Kaiba is survived by Spice and Wolf from its same year (2008), a title that it never has had the chance to compete against and which was eliminated from that tournament by the now also eliminated Kara no Kyoukai. In all fairness, it's very unlikely that S&W would have managed to survive in that diabolic Group B.
-Of the five Year Semifinalists that managed to make it into Round 1, only two remain: Durarara!! and Paprika.

[GeneD]

Those stats/facts are quite interesting.

As sad as I was to see some titles go, I do think the final 16 are pretty stellar in terms of quality, even if I haven't actually personally seen them all.

[KnightOfFive]

Cannot wait for the next round. Glad to see that Monster and FMA:B made it this far. *cracks knuckles* This is going to be fun.

[airichan623]

So....can we vote now?

[Maokun]

Time to get started with Round 2! Today please vote in the following matches:

[SIZE="3"][color="DeepSkyBlue"]The Girl Who Leapt Through Time[/color] VS [color="Magenta"]Ouran High School Host Club[/color][/SIZE]





[SIZE="3"][color="Red"]Summer Wars[/color] VS [color="DarkOrange"]Tokyo Godfathers[/color][/SIZE]

Starting with this round please provide a small paragraph explaining your choices! Let us know why do you think your title deserve to advance or defeat the other titles.

Voting will be open until Tuesday at 20:00

[Neane]

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
Did you people knew it is based on a 50 year old book and has already been made several times as a movie with real Japanese actors? I watched the 70's version but I must say the anime movie is better, and technically this is probably one of the best movies ever made. Does a movie need to have a message behind it for it to be good? Not at all. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is simply highly entertaining, and it is such because it provides an interesting story and great characters - no special message or exploration of morals required.

Tokyo Godfathers due to the fact that it is the best christmas movie made.

[FllMtl Novelist]

[color="Cyan"]Group H[/color]
Summer Wars (2009) 10
Chihayafuru (2011) 6

Major sadface, but not unexpected sadface. :<


Ah well, voting time.

Does a movie need to have a message behind it for it to be good? Not at all. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is simply highly entertaining, and it is such because it provides an interesting story and great characters - no special message or exploration of morals required.

Minor nitpick--while I didn't detect a message from TGTLTT, I think it sells the story short to imply there's nothing deeper than pure entertainment in it. It doesn't really comment on morals, but it does explore themes of friendship, love, and growing up in a gently powerful way--which goes beyond "pure entertainment" in my book.

...But I'm abstaining from voting for either it or Ouran since I haven't seen the latter and have reservations about the former.


Summer Wars on the other hand I have no problem voting for. I think it's a fantastic movie in pretty much every way, from characterization to animation to music to plot. People who are smarter than I will probably write about what makes it great later, so I'll just add that its treatment of family--and the way it has so much family around, everywhere, doing everything, all the time--makes this movie extra special to me. I don't get to see my extended family, but what family connections I do have are precious to me, and I can't think of anything else that reminds me of that the way Summer Wars does with every viewing.

[SIZE="1"]Also I never really got into Tokyo Godfathers. Maybe I was in the wrong frame of mind at the time, but it didn't strike me as amazing... >_>]

[Zeldafan2]

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time: The movie is touching, and powerful. Clearly, a filmaking masterpiece.

Abstain:

[skreyola]

Some people might have a problem with this, but I'm not going to abstain just because I haven't seen these. If I did, I'd have to sit out most of the rounds remaining.

[color="DeepSkyBlue"]The Girl Who Leapt Through Time[/color]
It looks interesting, and a lot of people seem to love it.


[color="DarkOrange"]Tokyo Godfathers[/color]
Summer Wars looks a little bit too trippy for my tastes.

Sadly, I haven't seen any of these, so I could be totally wrong about these choices, but I'm not sitting out the finalist rounds.

[Neane]

*Edited...curse my internet connection for this mess*

[Mr. Hat'n'Clogs]

The plot in Summer Wars is far fetched and flows way too convenient and the characters are just colourful stereotypes without much room for development.

Two can play at this game.

Monster is full of robotic characters who are just go around for a while until the boring villain can be tackled without any real consequences.

Fun fact? I actually hold the above opinion above. However, I'm not going to tell people voting for Monster is wrong and that they are clearly uneducated simpletons for thinking otherwise, because they probably have some very valid opinions for why they like Monster. If there is one thing I hate, it's being talked down to. People have different opinions on things, which is part of what makes discussion fun, so long as they present their opinions in a thought-out and polite way. Fu clearly stated why she is voting for Summer Wars, and so to talk down to her like that by making a collection of statements we're just supposed to agree with is both incredibly arrogant and rude.

Anyways, I am voting Mamoru Hosoda in both because one of these movies should win in the event Baccano! loses.