My Favorite Anime Series Part 1

Please note that these are my favorite anime series in no particular order. I did not include any movies as it would be of a different genre.

So I just finished a catch up marathon all movies and missed episodes for One Piece and I decided to write about some of my favorite Anime series.

Supposedly the very first anime or Japanese Animation was done as early as 1907. It was a three second film called Katsudō Shashin. It is about a boy who writes "活動写真", removes his hat, and bows.

info and image credit to Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katsud%C5%8D_Shashin

From then on Anime has developed into many different genres that we enjoy today. I in particular love Samurai, RPG and Mecha animes. So my taste in anime series will reflect that. I remember buying DVDs before the advent of streaming and downloading.

FULL METAL ALCHEMIST/FULL METAL BROTHERHOOD

Image credit to http://fma.wikia.com/wiki/Fullmetal_Alchemist:_Brotherhood

How to I even start to describe this masterpiece. I was first drawn to it because it talked about the Philosopher's Stone. Albeit this was mystical rather than philosophical but we did touch on the concept of alchemy as one of the disciplines borne of philosophy.

So without going through a lot of spoilers, the story involves two brothers, Edward and Alphonse Elric who have did alchemy's greatest taboo. In order to reverse that they are in search of the Philosopher's Stone and they had many adventures and met a lot of people. The anime touched on what is humanity, the Law of Equivalent Exchange which states " Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost." , death, forgiveness and the horrors of war. It was a pretty mature anime to watch. If you had to start somewhere I would really suggest this one.

DAIMOS

Image credit to Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%C5%8Dsh%C5%8D_Daimos

I remember as a kid watching this show and I was doing Karate at that time so that opening scene of Richard doing some moves looked totally bad ass! I would even sing along without even knowing what it meant! Here is a clip of that opening song and I hope you get LSS(Last Song Syndrome) as well haha

So the story is the surviving Brahmin goes to Earth to negotiate a peaceful treaty for them to live in Earth in peace. Somehow there is an assassination, things go to hell in a handbasket and a war between the survival of two races occur. Lots of karate moves, mecha action and a Romeo and Juliet type of love affair blossoms between Richard and Erica. I am using the Philippine dub names because I am more accustomed to it.

I was too young to understand the political intrigue and that it is not only a war between the conqueror and conquered or a clear cut of who is evil and who is good.

VOLTES V

Credits to Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C5%8Ddenji_Machine_Voltes_V

Another old anime because this was one of the shows I grew up watching. The plot was a horde of aliens called Boazanians descend on Earth with the goal of conquering it. Army after army, nation upon nation each fell against their Armada until they get to Japan were it is protected by the Voltes V team. There is a twist in the middle that I would leave out the details.

Incidentally this was banned in the Philippines during the time of the dictator, Ferdinand Marcos, because it dealt with rebellion and revolution. Official reason was because of the excessive violence it promoted. Who knew that this could be politic.

Voltes V was so ingrained on the minds of the young at that time that it appeared in pop culture. One of which was a three piece sculpture called Last, Lost, Lust for Four Forgotten Episodes (aka San Voltes V)

Credits to the original artist Toym Imao http://toymimao.com/artwork/3824069-Last-Lost-Lust-for-Four-Forgotten-Episodes-aka-San-Voltes-V.html

FATE STAY/NIGHT

This was one of those animes that I accidentally discovered and had grown to love. I have watched every single series under the Fate banner even the cutesy Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya (please don'y judge me!)

The story revolves around a magical tournament held every fifty years and the prize is getting the Holy Grail which is said to grant the person whatever wish they may desire. There will be Seven Magis who will compete using their chosen Heroic Spirit. The heroic spirits would be classified into Saber, Archer, Rider, Magician, Berserker and Lancer types. This brings a very interesting part of guessing the backstory of the hero they summon. Although in a way it is also sad because heroes become bound to the Grail and do not rest in peace.

This particular show revolves around the trials of Shirō Emiya and his quest to understand and survive the Holy Grail War. The back stories are awesome and the way that the different series are interconnected just blew my mind. Even the stories of the Heroic Spirits made me feel for them. If you want to binge watch something long this would be a great series for you.

ASTRO BOY

Credits to Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astro_Boy

Oh God I am so old for even remembering and watching this one. I was fascinated by a robot who looked like a kid but fought of bad guys when needed. The concept of androids were so way above my head yet. I was drawn to the action as he punched the bad guys and shot lasers and fired machine butts from his butt! Say what machine guns from his butt? I kid you not on those. I remember asking one of my sisters if he was pooping bullets.

So it follows the exploits of the titular hero, Astro boy who was patterned after a real boy. His creator had lost his son and in an attempt to fill the void he created an android boy. Eventually he realized that this was a farce and he discarded Astroboy. Again I will not give spoilers but looking back now I am amazed at how this was even made.

So this is part one of the series I will be making on my favorite anime series. Do you remember these shows? Are you hoping to see some of your favorites come up on my list? How about you create your own and we can discuss under #myfavoriteanimeseries

Hope you liked it.