So like, we didn’t want to be left out from listing out the anime we liked from the past decade. It’s been a fantastic 10 years, with the bittorrent protocol taking fansub distribution to exponential levels, the growth of the anime bubble as well as its burst. We’ve had the pleasure of watching many great shows, many horrible ones and most of them are memorable and dear to us.

So here’s our very, very long list of notable anime titles from the past decade, as well a short commentary for each one. Bolded ones come highly recommended!

2000

I started ‘consuming’ anime around this time, actually. I started to actively seek out fansubs back then, and I could only watch anime on AXN Asia or from Kazaa (yes, Kazaa). I don’t remember much from this time, but I was first introduced to delicious thighs and boobs – thanks to Gonzo.

• Blood: The Last Vampire – I didn’t know about this until late 2004. It’s a fabulous short movie with lots of blood and action. Got butchered by Hollywood into a lame piece of live-action shit.
• Gatekeepers – Lots and lots of fun. The Gatekeepers 21 OVA had a darker tone and was even better than the TV series.
• The Seikai Saga – Epic space opera, running a theme of romance and galactic politics. Read the review here!
• Vandread – Boobies. I followed this show religiously on AXN to see Jura’s beautifully bouncing boobies.

2001

I don’t really remember that many shows from this year, too. But there are a few select titles that were really, really awesome.

• Earth Maiden Arjuna – This is how a mahou shoujo show should be done. Awesome Shoji Kawamori material.
• Fooly Cooly – FLCL gave me an epiphany to what ‘madness’ truly meant.
• Love Hina – Perhaps the show that defined the harem genre in anime.
• Mahoromatic – One of the last anime to be hand-drawn on cels before the shift towards digital animation. A sweet romantic-comedy, with a rather dark ending.
• You’re Under Arrest – Police stories have never been as good as YUA. Too bad its following sequels aren’t nearly as exciting. The third season was simply terribad.

2002

I started to learn how to download from various anime sharing sites around this time, particularly DownloadAnime.org (lol). I think fansub distribution via bittorrent is already in full-swing by then. I suppose the so-called ‘Anime Bubble‘ started inflating around this time too, as digital animation has made the cost of producing quality anime a whole lot cheaper than it used to be. Naturally, we see a lot of fantastic action and sci-fi in this year.

• Azumanga Daioh – Definitely a landmark in anime comedy. You are not a true anime fan until you see it.
• Bible Black – I shall not elaborate :D
• Full Metal Panic – Mecha, action, drama and comedy have never blended so well together. The OVAs and sequels were even better!
• Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex – Kenji Kamiyama’s Stand Alone Complex franchise is undeniably the Sci-Fi Crown-Bearer of the Decade.
• Hoshi no Koe – Makoto Shinkai’s 30-minute debut work left my English class emotionally stunned.
• Gundam SEED – This was the point where fighter pilots are reduced from tough, hardened, military men, to wimpy, emo, crybaby, pretty-faced boys. It was just a landslide waiting to happen.
• Macross Zero – The first Macross to abuse 3D animation. And boy, was it GOOD. There’s an Arjuna cameo in there, too!
• RahXephon – Studio Bones‘ brave attempt at de-throning Evangelion, only to fall short at the lack of any moe – and for trying too hard. I love it to bits.
• Saishuuheiki Kanojo – Sweet, sweet, tragedy. I have yet to see anything nearly as painful as Saikano.
• The Twelve Kingdoms – Best. Fantasy. Epic. Ever.
• Yukikaze – Got mercilessly outshined by Macross Zero, but still a great OVA to watch.

2003

Shall I call this The Year of Shonen Passion? It seems there were a lot of shonen action that sprouted near the end of 2002, and early 2003. Naruto showed up around that time, and I remember a lot of my friends going apeshit about Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. There seemed to be a lot of action-adventure stuff going on that year, too.

• Chrono Crusade – Shonen action that didn’t involve climbing a ladder of power levels, it was great!
• Fullmetal Alchemist – Whenever someone new to anime asks me what show to watch, I point them to this. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed.
• Gunslinger Girl – Girls with guns. Action and drama. So beautiful it hurts.
• Kimi ga Nozomu Eien – Heart-wrenching love triangle. One of the very few eroge-anime adaptations that I have come to respect and appreciate.
• Last Exile – This is the lone diamond out of Gonzo’s collection of glass beads. Steampunk dog-fighting action with beautiful character and mecha designs.
• Munto – Few people knew about KyoAni back then, and I discovered that Munto is a charming piece of fantasy romance. Got adapted into a 9-episode TV series in 2009, soon to conclude in a theatrical film.
• Planetes – Brilliant sci-fi about garbage collectors in space. Read the review here!
• Someday’s Dreamers – Magic and modern day society weaved into an elegant drama and slice-of-life. Beautiful.
• Wolf’s Rain – Post-apocalyptic drama and adventure. Fantastic plot and animation. Enchanting music by Yoko Kanno. I insist that you watch it.

2004

The Anime Bubble really grew to epic proportions this year. Lots of moe stuff began to flood the market, and the merchandise are being eaten up like hot goreng pisang. I think both the industry and fandom enjoyed a lot this year, seeing from the number of good shows and the amount of merchandise sales from that time.

• Appleseed – Fabulous CG action, paired with head-bangin’ beats from Boom Boom Satellites. Looks a bit plasticky, but the sequel was a whole lot better.
• BECK – Best. Music. Anime. Ever.
• Beyond the Clouds – Makoto Shinkai’s theatrical debut. Sci-fi romance that moved even the hardest of hearts.
• Dead Leaves – Production I.G.’s challenge to Gainax’s FLCL. I still prefer FLCL, but this one is equally hilarious, too.
• Elfen Lied – Extremely cute. Extremely gory. Extremely emotional. Extremely thrilling.
• Futari Ecchi – I’ve never had so much fun watching hentai. I remember laughing so hard I banged my head on the CRT.
• Genshiken – An anime about an anime club that watches anime. So meta, it changed my life forever. Literally.
• Maria-sama ga Miteru – Yuri onee-sama extravaganza. My brain melted after 10 minutes and I stopped watching.
• Midori no Hibi – Cute love comedy is cute.
• Monster – Criminal thrillers are rare among anime. This one was 75 episodes, and I dare say that its the best of its kind.
• My-HiME – Another mahou-shoujo done right. I can’t think of any other way to describe it.
• Samurai Champloo – Samurai, ninjas, and hip-hop. An impossible formula but it resulted in an unbelievable miracle.
• School Rumble – High school comedy at its craziest and its best.
• Steamboy – Tried to be the next Akira. Didn’t quite happen because it was too dim, dull and overall boring.

Wait, that’s it?

This merely covers the first half of the decade, and it’s already a extremely long post as it is (lol). We’ll continue looking through the rest in the next post, so see you then!

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