Guaporense certified great TV series

[Guaporense]

Edit on August 2014: now I "inflated" the ratings to full ratings because the distinction between great and masterpiece is in fact rather juvenile as the desire to rate different works of art differently. I will do like Roger Ebert who gave full ratings to everything he though it was great.

Today we live on a golden age of television. While the quality of hollywood movies appears to stagnate or even decline the quality of television programming has never been higher, thanks to cable to dvd/blu-ray sales that provide the incentives for channels to invest into high quality TV shows. As result TV is now on the position that movies were in the postwar years: peak economic demand which gives artists a greater degree freedom. Many masterpieces were made in the 1950's because those days the negative box office effects of TV weren't fully active, during the 1960's, in Europe, US and Japan, real theater box office declined greatly and never fully recovered, even to the present day.

Still, since there aren't remotely as many TV series as there are movies I am posting here TV series that watched that I think deserve a full blown masterpiece rating: 5.

Masterpieces of TV:

1) Breaking Bad (2008 - 2013) (http://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=900179)
3) Fanny and Alexander (1982) (http://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=900204)
6) Rome (2005-2006) (http://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=900378)
9) Babylon 5 (1994 - 1998) (http://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=900530)
10) Puella Magi Madoka Magica (2011) (http://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=900539)
12) The World at War (1973 - 1974) (http://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=900790)
14) Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995-1996) (http://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=904677)
16) Haibane Renmei (2002) (http://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=1138025#post1138025)
17) RahXephon (2002) (http://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=1138111#post1138111)
19) Serial Experiments Lain (1998) (http://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=1139317#post1139317)
22)Saikano (2002) (http://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=1140315#post1140315)
2) Battlestar Galactica (2003-2009) (http://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=900198)
4) Seinfeld (1989-1998) (http://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=900216)
5) Band of Brothers (2001) (http://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=900373)
7) The Sopranos (1999-2007) (http://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=900447)
8) Lost (2004-2010) (http://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=900492)
11) Game of Thrones (2011 -) (http://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=900773)
13) Future Boy Conan (1978) (http://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=900847)
15) Legend of the Galatic Heroes (1988-1998) (http://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=1137938#post1137938)
18) Aria the Origination (2008) (http://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=1139302#post1139302)
20) Texhnolyze (2003) (http://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=1139339#post1139339)
21) Shinsekai Yori (2013) (http://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=1140313#post1140313)
23) Clannad: After Story (2008)
24) Trigun (1998)
25) Gurren Lagann (2007)
26) Kaiba (2008)
27) Space Battleship Yamato 2199 (2013)
28) Now and Then, Here and There (1999)
29) Ping Pong: The Animation (2014)
30) Detroit: Metal City (2008)
31) I Claudius (1976)
32) Shirobako (2014-2015)

[Guaporense]

1) Breaking Bad (2008 -)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/77/Breaking_Bad_logo.svg/250px-Breaking_Bad_logo.svg.png

Boasting some of the finest acting I ever seem on TV combined on many of the most entertaining and tense situations I ever experienced while looking at a screen, it is hard to not to think that Breaking Bad is not a pinnacle of TV.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/.a/6a00d8341c630a53ef0133edb8e262970b-pi

Breaking Bad boasts some of the finest cinematography ever seem on TV as well and a surprisingly low amount of filler material, given it is a multi-season TV series.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/.a/6a00d8341c630a53ef013480eb2feb970c-pi

Focused on the life of a overqualified school professor who becomes a meth cook after a life changing experience (i.e. cancer), Breaking Bad is also one of the most visceral and aggressive TV series ever made, since the main characters are always trying to not only prosper among the highly lucrative market of methamphetamine but also survive against the very aggressive players that interact on that market (including the police).

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/.a/6a00d8341c630a53ef0133edb8e93d970b-pi

One of the very few TV series that are a must watch.

[wintertriangles]

Breaking Bad can't be a masterpiece for me because both wives are insanely annoying and Junior's dialogue generally consists of either ".jwAHTT" or "I want a muscle car!"

But aside from that it's pretty good.

[Guaporense]

2) Battlestar Galactica (2003-2009)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/40/Battlestar_Galactica_intro.jpg/250px-Battlestar_Galactica_intro.jpg

This is post-apocalyptic science fiction TV series about a journey of a small fleet of survivors from the genocide of a whole interstellar civilization, whose objective is to find an habitable planet and to escape destruction from the threat of a race of sentient machines. A race that they had previously created themselves.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/9d/BattlestarGalactica_--_3x17_-_Maelstrom.jpg/250px-BattlestarGalactica_--_3x17_-_Maelstrom.jpg

This show is epic in its scope (as it can be easily noticed from the paragraph above) and deals with a huge variety of themes, from religion, war, human rights and the role of technology in society. It still suffers from flaws, the two most severe are: it's long running time, which lead to a significant amount of filler episodes that do not contribute to the overall plot and the atrocious ending.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/8f/Fivecylons.jpg/250px-Fivecylons.jpg

Despite it's numerous issues, Battlestar Galactica comes close to being a candidate for the title the best science fiction series produced in English of all time (in fact, I think it is the second best English science fiction TV show I ever watched).

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/1/16/Daybreak_Part_2.jpg/250px-Daybreak_Part_2.jpg

[Guaporense]

3) Fanny and Alexander (1982)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/56/Fanny%26Alexander.jpg

Fanny and Alexander is Ingmar Bergman's 312 minute TV series that aired in four parts (also edited for theatrical release as a 188 minutes film). If one compares Fanny and Alexander with Battlestar Galactica the difference in average quality per minute is enormous, given that BSG lasts for over 3,000 minutes, it is almost impossible for every minute to be gold. Fanny and Alexander, however, attains near perfection, being perhaps one of the top 5 TV series of all time in terms of average quality per minute.

http://lisathatcher.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/f_fanny_alexander.png

However, again if compared to BSG, the lack of an epic and complex plot makes in some aspects a less viscerally compelling series that BSG was for me. Though on the whole there isn't any comparison between the two, clearly Fanny and Alexander is a superior work of art. In fact, one can even argue that it is the greatest TV series of all time.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ACG6lH-LdJA/TRVzo9hrLgI/AAAAAAAAA3s/h7bQL3EjY1Y/s1600/fannyalexander1.jpg

This series essentially reflects Ingmar Bergman's childhood, not factually but in terms of spirit, in an analogous way to Miyazaki's My Neighbor Totoro (though on the second case the execution is much more visceral than the more contained "nordic" notions of repressed childlike behavior, though that also might be a consequence of the limited acting skills of the child actors).

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kw7lav0WZq1qzmlijo1_500.jpg

Anyway, the TV version of Fanny and Alexander is a must watch and is even better than the reduced film version (for quite obvious reasons).

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UiNivesfwPg/T_uCEz6VxQI/AAAAAAAADwk/8Z3OVE0Tm6U/s1600/fanny+e+alexander.3.jpg

[Guaporense]

4) Seinfeld (1989 - 1998)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/78/Seinfeld_logo.svg/250px-Seinfeld_logo.svg.png

Possibly the greatest sitcom of all time, Seinfeld is a must watch for any true lover of screen entertainment. Less grotesque than the trio of highly popular comedy cartoons (The Simpsons, Family Guy and South Park) also smarter and much more subtle (though not so subtle in some jokes).

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4b/757_New_Hampshire_Ave_2.jpg/755px-757_New_Hampshire_Ave_2.jpg

Seinfeld called itself "a show about nothing at all" but I might say that it is a show about all aspects of life that can make life itself a funny experience. Truly the work of genius.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6d/Tom%27s_Restaurant%2C_Seinfeld.jpg/800px-Tom%27s_Restaurant%2C_Seinfeld.jpg

It was even called the greatest show of all time, but I personally do not consider it to be among the top masterpieces of television (but it is perhaps one of the top two or maybe the best comedy series I ever watched). Given that I don't rate comedy as highly as others do, I might say it is the masterpiece of the genre.

[HitchFan97]

I usually don't see Fanny and Alexander included on TV lists, but props for including it here.

[donniedarko]

I love Seinfeld and Breaking Bad. George Kastanza is my idol.

[Mr Minio]

I've only seen TV version of Fanny and Alexander. Don't want to watch the theatrical one. Even Bergman said to watch only TV version because the other one is a piece of crap!

[Guaporense]

5) Band of Brothers (2001)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/49/Band_of_Brothers_poster.jpg

Much superior to any recent Hollywood movie about WW2 (think Pearl Harbor and Windtalkers :rolleyes:), Band of Brothers is among the best HBO TV series an impressive feat given the high quality of HBO series.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/88/BoBWintersNixon.jpg

Despite a few flaws (in my opinion it glorifies war and the importance of the GI Joe too much: the fact was that individual infantryman were responsible for a very small fraction of battle casualties in WW2, most casualties were caused by heavier weapons).

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_X6kkcybsZLQ/S7MxcBkpfMI/AAAAAAAAJFk/wWRzj22pOXc/s1600/imagem+1.jpg

Despite this small flaw the series also represents one of the most realistic depictions of warfare on screen, in fact more realistic than WW2 films such as Saving Private Ryan. And some episodes can be very touching in fact, the one where the kid makes his first kill and then becomes a casualty is one of the greatest moments of a TV series.

[Guaporense]

6) Rome (2005-2006)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e6/Rome_title_card.jpg

Rome is the best depiction of Classical Antiquity that I have seen, in fact superior to any movie about ancient Rome that I have watched (such as Gladiator or Ben-Hur).

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/43/Pullo_vorenus.jpg

The series created an ancient world with uncompromising realism. Instead of the Rome of white marble we usually see at Hollywood productions we got a Rome of dirty and poorly painted wooden and brick buildings. The sets are among the most ambitious ever build for a TV series:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/46/Set_of_the_tv_series_Rome_HBO_cinecitta_studios_edit.jpg/800px-Set_of_the_tv_series_Rome_HBO_cinecitta_studios_edit.jpg

Featuring huge amounts of sex and violence, Rome is also a very visceral TV show and was my favorite show of all time when I watched it over six years ago.

[Miss Vicky]

It's seen not seem. ;)

Breaking Bad and Rome are quite good. Battlestar Galactica and Band of Brothers are not my cup of tea (don't like Sci-Fi, don't like War). I've not seen any of Fanny and Alexander though it looks like something I might enjoy. I've seen several episodes of Seinfeld and I'm completely baffled as to why the show is so insanely popular. I didn't laugh a single time.

[Guaporense]

7) The Sopranos (1999-2007)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/6e/Sopranos_titlescreen.png/250px-Sopranos_titlescreen.png

Called by some the greatest TV series of all time, though I might disagree, it is excellent overall. One thing that bugs me about the gangster genre is the idea that beating innocent people up and exploiting the flaws of the legal system is "cool". So these genre elements prevent me from saying that The Sopranos is a masterpiece, though others like these genre elements and find the series cool.

http://tabernadosmok.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/thesopranos.jpg

Another flaw (also shared with multi season series such as Battlestar Galactica) is that there are many filler episodes that don't serve to develop the plot. But still despite those flaws the Sopranos I still think that the Sopranos can be considered a great TV series.

http://hollywoodhatesme.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/sopranos-family-dinner.jpg

It is consistently entertaining, with very well developed characters which are more human and less like the caricatures of the mafia as portrayed in most Hollywood films. Fundamentally, the Sopranos is a drama series about family, just like the movie The Godfather.

[Guaporense]

8) Lost (2004 - 2010)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f3/Lost_main_title.svg/250px-Lost_main_title.svg.png

Perhaps the most flawed series that I consider great but also one of the richest TV series in terms of characters and mythology. All these fantastical elements only add to the fascination that this TV drew on it's viewers.

Though, the complexity of the series' mythology was so great that the writers themselves became embroiled in it and in the end failed to give satisfactory explanations for everything that happened earlier. However, I still think that the ending was good and the whole series can be regarded as a flawed success.

It suffers from a lot of filler material, but special episodes like The Constant, keep this series on "great" on my scale.

[Guaporense]

9) Babylon 5 (1994-1998)

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/9d/Smb5-s4.jpg

While Battlestar Galactica is great, for me, Babylon 5 clearly remains the best English science fiction series of all time. The Star Trek TV series were all second rate, episodic series that lacked any actual character development and long running story arks.

Babylon 5 remains one of the most innovative TV series being one of the very few US TV series that had all of it's story written before they began shooting the first episodes, so this TV series play out as an integrated whole, something lacking in almost any other multi-season TV series I have ever watched (see Lost, The Sopranos, Breaking Bad for examples of series with plots made up as they go).

Babylon 5 remains a masterpiece of TV storytelling, nothing I ever watched comes close to it's scope.

[Godoggo]

I miss Lost. The ride is always more fun than the destination and Lost was a great ride.

Seinfeld was a great sitcom. I try to catch an episode every now and then.

I'm waiting to see if one of my favorite shows comes up on this list. Hint:It's animated.

[CelluloidChild]

I miss Lost. The ride is always more fun than the destination and Lost was a great ride.

Seinfeld was a great sitcom. I try to catch an episode every now and then.

I'm waiting to see if one of my favorite shows comes up on this list. Hint:It's animated.

Ditto. Seinfeld was hugely funny. Admittedly, humor is highly subjective, but clearly lots of people got it.

There's no arguing that Seinfeld is one of the most influential sitcoms ever.

I'm also waiting to see if my favorite series makes this list. Hint: it's a drama and it's HBO.

[jal90]

Madoka Magica is indeed a great one. It was the anime hit of 2011.

Funnily enough, my two only experiences in the field of magical girl anime are both original screenplays (which is worth of notice since most of TV anime are manga adaptations) and deconstructions of the genre; in different ways though. One of them is this sadistic and twisted work with very misleading innocent looks, and the other one is 2002's Princess Tutu. I recommend this one too, it is my favorite out of the two and one of my top5 ever series. Unlike Madoka, it is still a shojo, and it is still pretty girly at many points, starting with a premise that mixes magical girl imagery and ballet, while the comedy is the innocent slapstick type; however this appearance hides one of the most complex and well-delivered storylines in anime format, which explores points of conflict that seem very unlikely in these kinds of stories, and develop the characters in quite unique ways, while the plot gets darker and more complicated. Its fairytale symbolism and the emphasis on the aesthetic embellishment of the ballet pieces are some great points too.

[seanc]

Breaking Bad, Seinfeld, and The Sopranos are all in my fave 5 shows. I would rate them all as 5. I would also include Mad Men and The Shield in that category. Band Of Brothers is also perfect imo. I personally would put mini-series in a different category but I consider The Pacific, Lonesome Dove, and John Adams perfect as well.

I have yet to see the television version of Fanny And Alexander but am looking forward to it. The theatrical version was great, but the couple of issues I had with it I feel could be resolved with a couple of the characters being more fleshed out. I am very interested to see if this is the case in the longer version.

[wintertriangles]

8) Lost (2004 - 2010)Six seasons of blue balls.

[honeykid]

From choices 5-7 this list was superb... Then it went to ****.

I've only seen the first season of Breaking Bad, which was very good, but I could see things which may well've annoy me when I get around to continuing with it. BSG was ok, but I felt it was horrendously heavy handed with its symbolism and metaphors. Of course, I also prefer the original. :D A shame it was cancelled before it started to do something similar with its story.

Bring on the next choice. :)

[HitchFan97]

The Sopranos is deadlocked in a tie with Twin Peaks as my favorite TV show ever. I don't think it glorifies the violence of the gangster lifestyle at all; rather, it portrays the Mafia honestly and is unflinching in its portrayal of criminal brutality. More so than any other work of the gangster genre, The Sopranos goes very far to examine the morality of the lifestyle it depicts. Loyalty, sacrifices, Catholic guilt, the divide between the family and the crime family, etc. ... these are all themes that the show handles brilliantly, and that's without even going into the grander statements about life's fragility that the brilliant final season in particular spends a great deal of time examining. I don't think a single episode is wasted.

[Gabrielle947]

I like Breaking Bad and it is very good although I wouldn't call it the best show ever made.Maybe the best modern one.

Recently finished Band Of Brothers.I enjoyed it,beautifully shot and overall entertaining series but I would argue that it is very realistic.Also,I found it very similar to Saving Private Ryan,maybe the plot is different but the whole style of the film is alike.

The Sopranos was very entertaining and Lost is probably the most captivating thing I've seen.I like only the first 4 seasons,though.

Ok,if I see Futurama here,then you definitely have a good taste in TV shows. :D

[christine]

7) The Sopranos (1999-2007)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/6e/Sopranos_titlescreen.png/250px-Sopranos_titlescreen.png

Called by some the greatest TV series of all time, though I might disagree, it is excellent overall. One thing that bugs me about the gangster genre is the idea that beating innocent people up and exploiting the flaws of the legal system is "cool". So these genre elements prevent me from saying that The Sopranos is a masterpiece, though others like these genre elements and find the series cool.

http://tabernadosmok.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/thesopranos.jpg

Another flaw (also shared with multi season series such as Battlestar Galactica) is that there are many filler episodes that don't serve to develop the plot. But still despite those flaws the Sopranos I still think that the Sopranos can be considered a great TV series.

http://hollywoodhatesme.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/sopranos-family-dinner.jpg

It is consistently entertaining, with very well developed characters which are more human and less like the caricatures of the mafia as portrayed in most Hollywood films. Fundamentally, the Sopranos is a drama series about family, just like the movie The Godfather.

I'd rate Sopranos as an outstanding. It's definitely a 5 star from me. I don't think a single episode is a filler really, and I've watched the whole lot more than three times. Eps where there's no action or don't further the actual storyline just go to enrich the characters and the family interplay.

Other 5 stars are Madmen (always sad to think it's drawing to an end) and The Wire. Boys from the Blackstuff is the 5 star series closest to my heart tho - hugely reflective of the time it was made, funny and heartbreaking at the same time.

[Guaporense]

11) Game of Thrones (2011 - )

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/d/d8/Game_of_Thrones_title_card.jpg/250px-Game_of_Thrones_title_card.jpg

Like Breaking Bad this TV series is still running and I think that only a small fraction of what it will become has been produced as of today, still what has been show already promoted it to an already a great TV series in my book. So HBO has already several TV series on this list.

I think this is their first take on the epic fantasy genre. So it represents the first large scale US TV series to take fantasy to the mainstream, doing what Lord of the Rings did for fantasy films.

Like another HBO series, Rome, this series also shows nudity very often which I think is a bit of a manipulative effort to attract viewers. Still that doesn't detract from the quality of the show.

[Daniel M]

The Sopranos is by far the best show that I have seen.

Lost I would rank alongside it in terms of enjoyment, the first great show that I watched, it gets a lot of criticism but I really think it's brilliant.

[Guaporense]

12) The World at War (1973-1974)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/2/29/Worldatwar.jpg/200px-Worldatwar.jpg

I though about including documentaries on a list of TV series but I though: well, I enjoyed watching The World at War more than 99% of anything else I ever watched on TV.

The show is so compelling that they may even convince you that Stalin's regime was good (in the 1970's Britain socialism was very popular so they had a pro-Soviet bent on the documentary). Still this is by far my favorite documentary TV series and is an awesome portrayal of the events of the most devastating war in recorded history.

It is a masterpiece.

[Godoggo]

I've just started the second season of Game of Thrones because I wanted to read some of the books first. I don't think any other show grabbed me from the first episode the way GoT did. Usually, I kind of have to force myself into a show and it grows on me.

The second book was my least favorite, so I'm not expecting to like the second season as well as the first, but that still leaves a lot of room.

As far as the sex and nudity, every HBO show I've seen has tons of it, but to be fair the books contain a good amount of it. It doesn't bother me, I just hate when the scenes go on to long because it takes away screen time from the good stuff.

[Cobpyth]

My favorite TV show is Mad Men (I'm just in love with its style). Sopranos is a close second.

[Guaporense]

13) Future Boy Conan (1978)

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_tRkuSF_7C00/TLoH_PxVg5I/AAAAAAAADYc/E7FIyAn4LsU/s1600/conan_banner.jpg

Miyazaki directed TV series before he became focused on film making. His greatest TV series is Future Boy Conan, which was voted the greatest animated TV series of all time in the Laputa Animation Festival.

Incredibly, despite being a hard core fan of Miyazaki's work, I didn't think this TV series was the best animated TV series I ever watched (the Madoka show numbered at 10 was significantly more powerful), though I can understand it as the best executed animated TV series I ever watched: Miyazaki's superior talents can be seem in this series, yet not applied to full effect.

Still it is a great TV series.

[Guaporense]

My favorite TV show is Mad Men (I'm just in love with its style). Sopranos is a close second.

I watched some episodes of Mad Men but it didn't interest me enough to finish watching a full season so I cannot say how good it is. Usually the easiest way for a TV show to become interesting me is to use some genre elements (such as war, fantasy, history or science fiction elements) to grab my attention and the 1960's vibe of the series did not grab my attention.

[Guaporense]

I'd rate Sopranos as an outstanding. It's definitely a 5 star from me. I don't think a single episode is a filler really, and I've watched the whole lot more than three times. Eps where there's no action or don't further the actual storyline just go to enrich the characters and the family interplay.

Well, in that case I could say that no episode in any series can be regarded as filler since we can always say it contributed something to the characters and stuff (which is always true).

Other 5 stars are Madmen (always sad to think it's drawing to an end) and The Wire. Boys from the Blackstuff is the 5 star series closest to my heart tho - hugely reflective of the time it was made, funny and heartbreaking at the same time.

I have only watched a couple episodes of Madmen and The Wire. Don't know the third one.

[CelluloidChild]

I have only watched a couple episodes of Madmen and The Wire. Don't know the third one.

There goes my pick - The Wire. I highly recommend that, when you have a stretch of time, you watch it. All five seasons are excellent.

[seanc]

I really enjoyed The Wire but put it in the second tier of good television because I had a lot of issues with season 2 and 5. 1,3, and 4 I would put up against anything.

[CelluloidChild]

I really enjoyed The Wire but put it in the second tier of good television because I had a lot of issues with season 2 and 5. 1,3, and 4 I would put up against anything.

I don't want to subvert this thread, but at some point I'd be interested in what those issues were.

[Daniel M]

The Sopranos is deadlocked in a tie with Twin Peaks as my favorite TV show ever. I don't think it glorifies the violence of the gangster lifestyle at all; rather, it portrays the Mafia honestly and is unflinching in its portrayal of criminal brutality. More so than any other work of the gangster genre, The Sopranos goes very far to examine the morality of the lifestyle it depicts. Loyalty, sacrifices, Catholic guilt, the divide between the family and the crime family, etc. ... these are all themes that the show handles brilliantly, and that's without even going into the grander statements about life's fragility that the brilliant final season in particular spends a great deal of time examining. I don't think a single episode is wasted.

HitchFan says it better than I ever could, and I have to agree with his love for Twin Peaks as well, one of my other favourites and one of the most unique and brilliant shows that I have seen.

I also love Dexter and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia which have a lot of seasons, Homeland is great so far and there's a couple of British shows I like such as The Inbetweeners and Misfits, not sure if people on here would like them as much as me though.

[Brodinski]

When I think about great TV series, I always think about consistent quality. Not every season is going to be as strong, but overall, there has to be a very high level of quality. Now, that already eliminates about 95 % of all series out there. Besides that, I like to judge a series on it improving throughout its lifespan. In this sense, a great series is a like a great red wine. It gets better with age.

That taken into account, I think there's probably only 5 series I could rate as such (so far).

The rest goes from ***** to very good. But all time greatness is rare.

And above greatness, there's The Wire.

[Guaporense]

There goes my pick - The Wire. I highly recommend that, when you have a stretch of time, you watch it. All five seasons are excellent.

I am watching it. Crime is not my favorite genre but the first season has been quite entertaining.

[CelluloidChild]

Cool. If you stick with it you'll see that all the seasons put together give a unique view on various urban issues, not just crime.

[Guaporense]

So far zero likes for Battlestar Galactica, Babylon 5 and Future Boy Conan. At least Future Boy Conan was in Linespalsy top 100 (and very high on the list, by the way). Madoka received a like from Jal, who is another animation buff.

Nobody here has watched Babylon 5? The ultimate epic in science fiction TV?

[Guaporense]

That taken into account, I think there's probably only 5 series I could rate as such (so far).

The rest goes from ***** to very good. But all time greatness is rare.

And above greatness, there's The Wire.

You should note that a film buff that's able to select 100 great movies probably watched twenty times more films than TV series. So it's natural for such film buff to not find more than half a dozen series great.

I personally can say to have watched about 7 five star TV series and about 80 five star movies.

[Guaporense]

Note: this was edited in July 31, 2014 into a more informative review.

14) Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995-1996)

http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20121124210337/evangelion/images/9/9e/SIB_Vol_1.png

I have added a movie from the rebuilt tetralogy to my list of certified great movies. But I find the TV series even superior to all the associated films (4 of which are all in my top 100 favorite animated movies list). In terms of artistic ambition no TV series I ever watched can claim to come remotely close to Evangelion. That's because it was the personal product of someone who was suffering from deep depression while trying to make a giant robot cartoon aimed at teenagers into a personal work of art. And no other series has produced a strong set of zealot hardcore fans as NGE did, who consider it the greatest thing ever. I can say that no other TV series appear to be as aggressively ambitious but one could say that it's because

The main flaw of this show is its complete lack of subtlety: it is a sledgehammer. Nothing I ever watched (either film or TV) comes close to it in terms of raw aggression, specially the last 10 episodes and nothing I ever watched on TV comes close it's level of pretension. Some say it's like David Lynch directing Gundam but differently from Lynch's uncanny work, it's more emotionally aggressive, not in a melodramatic way but in it's representation of suicidal depression as applied to teenager characters.

Interestingly, Hideaki Anno, to make his thematic points crystal clear, choose to even abandon the entire fictional narrative by the last couple of episodes. Something he did not plan to do at the beginning though the tone of the series and all main thematic elements were defined from the beginning but the series evolved as a work of art during it's production, as Anno said, it was like a live jazz performance involving a great deal of improvisation. What are the main thematic elements? Social alienation, depression and coming of age as well as the sexual awakening of early teen years. Basically the main elements that characterize the world of a socially dysfunctional teenager in depression. As a result, socially dysfunctional teenagers suffering from depression who watched this show became it's legion of lifelong ardent zealots. The degree of personal identification that can arise combined with the emotional power of suicidal depression during the emotionally turbulent times of adolescence makes it the material that eventually resulted in a new religion.

Evangelion remains also perhaps the single most influential work of TV animation of all time. Why? Before NGE OVA's dominated adult Japanese animation (hence, OVA were most adult animation up to 1995), after NGE, several thousand TV cartoon series were made focused on the anime nerd market instead of children and young teenagers and most animation made in the world today is composed of these otaku oriented TV series. Indeed, by 2007, 12 years after it first aired, it was voted by a pool organized by the Japanese ministry of culture, as the single greatest animation of all time.

[Guaporense]

Madoka Magica is indeed a great one. It was the anime hit of 2011.

Funnily enough, my two only experiences in the field of magical girl anime are both original screenplays (which is worth of notice since most of TV anime are manga adaptations) and deconstructions of the genre; in different ways though. One of them is this sadistic and twisted work with very misleading innocent looks, and the other one is 2002's Princess Tutu. I recommend this one too, it is my favorite out of the two and one of my top5 ever series. Unlike Madoka, it is still a shojo, and it is still pretty girly at many points, starting with a premise that mixes magical girl imagery and ballet, while the comedy is the innocent slapstick type; however this appearance hides one of the most complex and well-delivered storylines in anime format, which explores points of conflict that seem very unlikely in these kinds of stories, and develop the characters in quite unique ways, while the plot gets darker and more complicated. Its fairytale symbolism and the emphasis on the aesthetic embellishment of the ballet pieces are some great points too.

I watched Princess Tutu through in June-August of 2013. It's indeed a very sophisticated series and I would rate it as 4_5, it's not as exciting as Madoka though and it's very different in tone and execution, very subtle as well, and among the Princess Tutu's director's works, his best is Aria: The Origination in my opinion, it's very slow paced and very calm, almost "boring" in fact, but it's great all around and widely regarded as one of the best slice of life anime of all time (some might claim it's better than Only Yesterday and Whisper in fact).

Also, to call PMMM sadistic and twisted would be perfect characterizations of it. I would say that "astonishingly cruel" would be the best two word description of PMMM (first given here http://www.isugoi.com/puella-magi-madoka-magica-review/).

[Guaporense]

14 series so far and only 3 animated? As an animation buff this is disappointing considering that I have watched more adult animated series than live action series over the past decade (that is, from the point when I was about 15 as my tastes haven't changed that greatly since). Let's add some animation to this list. I will only include stuff that I have watched at least a year ago, so that they have proven themselves memorable works of art. I will also not add my personal moe guilty pleasures but only the series that I perceive to be works of substantial artistic value. This way I can add to my forum profile

I also noticed that my reviews previously here are lacking in terms of providing information for the people who haven't watched any of those series. I will correct that mistake over my next few

15) Legend of the Galactic Heroes (1988-1998)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/5d/LoGH_Overture_to_a_New_War.jpg

Despite it's goofy title (combined with the fact that this is an animated series may imply that for people who are not into ) this represents perhaps the single most complex example of world building in the history of screen fiction, being easily superior in that regard to any other TV series or film that I have so far watched over my lifetime. The depth of character development is also greatly impressive, rivaling works of classic literature. It's greatest weakness in my opinion would be the relatively uncreative direction and lack of visual audacity, being very conventional looking. Though this may be said to add a touch of maturity in the sense of the director not being seduced by the juvenile attraction of aggressively violating the standards of anime direction (such as Shimbo did from Hidamari Sketch to Bakemonogatari, Nisekoi and Puella Magi Madoka Magica). The animation also suffers from the super low budget and combined with the highly complex character designs and background art resulted in super low framerates of 4-5 frames per second in some scenes.

Legend of the Galactic Heroes was originally conceived as a series of seven science fiction novels by Yoshiki Tanaka, being one of the very few writers with a PHD in literature whose work was adapted into an animated series (if not the only one). The name of the series is derived from the main theme of the novels which is the concept of hero in the historical sense as being single individuals whose actions become so influential that they shape the course of world history. Obvious examples of such individuals are Alexander the Great, Napoleon and Adolf Hitler. Hitler, for instance, is the single greatest "hero" of the 20th century because he is responsible for changing the course of history from a world culturally and scientifically dominated by Western Europe, as it was before WW2, to a world culturally and scientifically dominated by North America (to a great extent at least as Western Europe still remains influential). Hitler managed to achieve this great feat by taking control of Europe's most powerful country, Germany, and declaring war on most other European countries, effectively destroying the continent in the process of war that followed, leading to the move to the US of the cultural and scientific center of gravity in the world.

In Legend of the Galactic Heroes we have the depiction of similar process as the two main characters, among a cast of nearly a hundred well developed characters, Yang Wen-li
and Reinhard von Lohengramm have the potential to change the history of the galaxy. The galaxy of LOGH is divided into two great superpowers, The Galactic Empire and The Free Planet Alliance, which are in a war of attrition similar to WW1 and in a state of stalemate which has lasted for centuries. Over the course of 50 hours of this cartoon we gradually witness the process by which Reinhard von Lohengramm, thanks to his exceptional military genius, breaks the stalemate in this war, leading to the victory of the Galactic Empire, takes personal control of the now galaxy spanning Galactic Empire (thanks to it's autocratic nature, it is a regime that can be easily controlled by any single individual after a coup) and establishes himself as the ruler of the galaxy and finally getting sick and dying at the age of 25 (in Alexander the Great style). Wang Wenli actually appears to have been endowed with greater tactical genius, but being a historian who become a military officer due to lack of job prospects in civilian academia, does not possess any ambition and by being employed by the democratic government of the Free Planet Alliance, which does not allow any single individual to achieve autocratic power, is unable to take personal control of most of the Alliance's military forces and the Alliance is hence unable to use his military genius to it's full potential. The cartoon series appears to make the case that autocratic governments can possess an important advantage over democracies in war though this can backfire by

Yang Wen-li:
http://gineistatic.com/w/images/thumb/6/6b/Yang_1.jpg/294px-Yang_1.jpg

Reinhard von Lohengramm:
http://gineistatic.com/w/images/thumb/d/d8/Reinhard_8.jpg/294px-Reinhard_8.jpg

Boasting it's incredible array of fictional battles (http://gineipaedia.com/wiki/Category:Battles, of which http://gineipaedia.com/wiki/Battle_of_Rantemario was the most decisive) and focus on strategic warfare and politics in an extremely rich fictional but internally consistent world, LOGH has attained great popularity among military history buffs and science fiction fans in general.

Although originally conceived as a TV series, LOGH was regarded as commercially unfeasible, being a strictly serious series without any elements of mass appeal (unlike, for instance, the thematically similar Game of Thrones who exploits many mass appeal elements to be commercially successful while heavily simplifying on the politics and strategy aspects). LOGH it was made commercially viable as a Original Video Animation satisfying the tastes of Japan's population of hardcore anime nerds, who make these series possible by dedicating their lives, and most important, income in purchasing anime and manga related products.

I would rate it as 4_5 (hence, lower than Babylon 5), why? Because it is, well, boring in some parts and also it lacks emotional depth, working on a strictly intellectual level. Being perhaps the cartoon equivalent of War and Peace, similar in size, thematic scope and character development, it also required some patience to be watched, as it is a single continuous plot that encompasses 110 episodes (each is longer than usual animation episode at about 29 minutes, making the whole series almost like a 3000 minutes long continuous cartoon movie featuring long dialogues of strategy, history and politics). It also boasts some of the worst comedy I ever witnessed. The writer, while greatly skilled in character and world building, doesn't appear to have a good sense of humor.

If one compare with PMMM, which is 10 times shorter, it's completely different in many ways. PMMM is characterized by super concise exposition and dialogue while LOGH is characterized by super complex exposition and interminable dialogue. PMMM is characterized by audicious visuals and music, LOGH is characterized by super conservative visuals and music.

It's on youtube as well, episode 1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzwbChsGQcU. I have already posted two of the associated movies in my top 100 cartoon movies thread, one of these is a prologue to the series while another serves as substitute for the first two episodes.

[jiraffejustin]

+rep because it looks interesting. I've never actually heard of it.

[Guaporense]

16) Haibane Renmei (2002)

http://img4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120409163213/haibanerenmei/images/5/5c/Haibane.jpg

In my opinion, Yoshitoshi ABe's masterpiece, although he was also deeply involved in the creation of Serial Experiments Lain and Texhnolyze, Haibane Renmei is very different from any other cartoon series so far in this thread, being more like an art film rather than TV series. Although still incorporating a linear plot, it's use of symbolism is much heavier than usual in TV shows (being in this sense exceptional like Legend of Galactic Heroes is exceptional in the complexity of world building and it's focus on the elements related to the fictional world being depicted), as much of what's shown lacks clearly defined meaning and allows the viewer to form his/her own perceptions of their significance.

Basically, the plot begin which Rakka, a young haibane, being born from a giant cocoon inside an old building into the rather uncanny town of Glie, It's told that she existed before though she doesn't remember who she was and who knew her also wouldn't recognize her if they saw her again. While the series leaves some clues to what all this represents it is all left ambiguous. Being completely different, for instance, from Puella Magi Madoka Magika, which I regard as a masterpiece for the exactly contrary reasons, as being a very elegant and concise work that carefully and beautifully explains to the viewer the fictional world being depicted in all of it's important elements. While similar in elegance (and in fact, far more subtle and mature), it is as of now my second favorite animated series (or TV series in general).

Being a work of visual art, as Yoshitoshi ABe is essentially a painter with a MA in Fine Arts (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoshitoshi_ABe), Haibane Renmei possesses visual qualities that make it very different from conventional anime series. ABe said that he consciously choose to mute the colors to give it a rather "rusted" and old appearance to the world in which the haibane lived, the town of Glie:

http://cff.ssw.net/merchandise/bluray-caps/morning1080blu.png

Definetly a 5 series, this 300 minute long series is among the shortest series on my list of great TV and also the one that I found the single most aesthetically impressive, indeed, being the only one that was written and directed by a graphic artist among the series on this list.

Also has my favorite TV series soundtrack featuring emotional romantic style chamber music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCgQZFMG3Mg Similar in emotional power to Hisaishi's best scores.

[Guaporense]

17) RahXephon (2002)

http://images6.alphacoders.com/341/341841.jpg

Written and directed by Yutaka Izubuchi, RahXephon was his personal project as an artist who worked for his entire life in giant robot cartoon art, as his attempt to raise the artistic bar of giant robot cartoons that was set by Evangelion seven years earlier. He indeed succeeded in my opinion, creating a giant robot cartoon that can be characterized as serious art and of mature sensibilities (as opposed to the juvenile antisocial angst that mainly characterizes the tone of Evangelion). Being a very rare gem among TV series.

While usually compared to Evangelion they are extremely different. RahXephon is logically consistent in terms of narrative and thematically focused but not heavy handed, opposite to Evangelion. In fact, like Madoka, it's main appeal is how beautifully the plot is portrayed, though, unlike Madoka, it is more subtle and require some cognitive effort from the viewer in assembling the narrative structure whose parts are given by the 26 episode cartoon series. It is also, differently from all other TV series on this list, in being at it's core a very beautiful and poignant heterosexual love story, being a very traditional work in that regard but using "giant robot symbolism" in representing the emotional states of the characters, one of the most obvious cases:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrNH0yReOxo

Also characterized by an incredible soundtrack and some great voice acting (like Madoka in that regard) and the fantastic incorporation of CGI in 2002 in a subtle manner that enhances the hand drawn animation instead of sharply contrasting with it. Interestingly, later animation series and films failed to incorporate CGI in this subtle manner which I found admirable and much better than the crude mixture of CGI and hand drawn animation in contemporary animation (either made in Japan or outside of Japan).

Also, like Haibane Renmei it makes heavy use of angelic symbolic elements which I always tend to like. While I am not religious I like the emotional purity achieved by religious fervor and so I like "religious" art such as Heavy Metal music (yes, it's a very religious type of music if you think about it) and screen fiction characterized by these elements. Although the visual symbols mostly used in the series are mesoamerican in origin rather than christian. It's certainly a great work of visual art.

[Zotis]

I'm surprised you didn't mention Saikano. Did you just forget to?

For anime series my favorites are Saikano, Hellsing, Claymore, Yu Yu Hakusho, Otogi Zoshi, and Flag.
For live action I love Freaks and Geeks, and Halt and Catch Fire.

https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTzh6jqHf3nZghpzSS-JV7PCFYJRlF0WaUkuJfJsfrFCRsU8NuY

Saikano really surprised me. It was probably the first cutesy anime that I actually enjoyed. But it captured me right away, unlike PMMM which took a while to grow on me. I couldn't explain it but for some reason I was instantly blown away by Saikano. It was just cutesy in an adorable way and not an annoying way. Also I just loved the quality of its animation, the dialogue, and the characters.

http://i39.tinypic.com/34o3bc1.jpg

Otogi Zoshi is set in ancient Japan before the dawn of the Samurai. The coloring is exceptional and the motion of its animation is very fluid. The plot and characters are very well developed. It's just a great series.

http://www.anime-planet.com/images/anime/screenshots/flag1.jpg

Flag is extremely well drawn. The story is told from the perspective of a photographer like an outsider observing events. It's a very interesting approach.

[Guaporense]

18) Aria the Origination (2008)

http://cdn.myanimelist.net/images/anime/7/46913l.jpg

While I say I wouldn't include moe guilty pleasures on this list that wouldn't mean that I wouldn't include any elements of the CGDCT genre (cute girls doing cute things), specially considering that such a genre has a masterwork such as Aria the Origination. Directed by Junichi Sato, one of the finest animation directors of all time, and quite possibly his masterwork (and I am comparing it to other very important works of his "animeography" such as Princess Tutu), Aria the Origination is a short 300 minutes long TV series characterized by a serene and contemplative mod, snail pacing and a dose of drama (which make it superior to earlier iterations of the same manga adaptation: Aria the Animation and Aria the Natural). It's also very beautiful if not slightly aggressive in it's vibrant colors (including the color coded characters).

There isn't any actual plot in Aria, as Sato said in an interview, this is a character driven work not plot driven: I don't want people to misinterpret me, but the events in ARIA are only a means to show off the characters. The most important part of the show is the emotion and feelings it evokes. The quality of the episode is contingent on how well those two factors are expressed; the story is just a tool to achieve that. Under normal circumstances, you wouldn't think that would work for a thirty minute anime, but the manga pulls it off wonderfully, so I had no choice but to believe in it and do it.

Also features the voice talent of Chiwa Saito, who also acted as Homura in PMMM, who is among the most talented voice actresses in the industry. Although her work here is very different than in PMMM, which was more serious. Here voice acting tends to focus in sounding very mellow, very softly to reflect the overall tone of the show. Although during moments of more serious drama the more "natural" voices can be perceived.

There isn't anything more relaxing in terms of TV cartoons than Aria the Origination, perhaps you could compare it to Miyazaki's lighter films such as Totoro and Kiki's Delivery service in those regards. The whole series is on youtube as well, episode 1:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUQfqcKYiZA

Though watching the earlier (but weaker) The Animation and The Natural would be best to understand well the world of Aria before watching The Origination, which sort of serves as a climax to the whole Aria franchise.

[Guaporense]

19) Serial Experiments Lain (1998)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/32/Serial_Experiments_Lain_DVD_vol_1.jpg

One of the works of the triad of Yoshitoshi ABe, Chiaki J. Konaka and Ryutaro Nakamura. It is indeed one of the greatest of their works and also their most cerebral work. Lain behaves as if it is a very self important and artsy thing, being obviously something that cannot be mistaken for low brown entertainment (as usually happens with some Miyazaki's films for instance). Dealing with themes such as social alienation, difference between perception and reality and the consequences of the internet, being itself a title from 1998 it managed to predict well the severe consequences that the internet would have on modern globalized society.

While featuring similar character designs to Haibane Renmei and perhaps many similarities in tone, as well as similarities in both being serious dark "seinen" titles, it is also very different from it. Incorporating horror elements and the way in which it distorts your own perception of reality make it a very disturbing watch. In fact, it is among the scariest things I ever watched. And the human drama is a bit more subtle than usual, since you almost never see characters burst into emotions during it's duration but it is existent and can be very affecting.

Visually it is also a very sophisticated piece, like Haibane Renmei, being a very interesting work of visual art:

http://ilarge.listal.com/image/754715/968full-serial-experiments-lain-screenshot.jpg

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/images/reviews/275/full/1355425260_5.png

http://myswordisunbelievablydull.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/coalgirls_serial_experiments_lain_01_1008x720_blu-ray_flac_f0ef8af8-mkv_snapshot_01-46_2011-07-18_14-41-44.jpg

[Guaporense]

I'm surprised you didn't mention Saikano. Did you just forget to?

I know dozens of animated series that can be considered great. Here I am including only the ones among my favorites which I regard as being the most successful as pieces of art besides being ones that touched me on a personal level.

For anime series my favorites are Saikano, Hellsing, Claymore, Yu Yu Hakusho, Otogi Zoshi, and Flag.

I watched 3 of these, all are very good indeed.

Saikano really surprised me. It was probably the first cutesy anime that I actually enjoyed. But it captured me right away, unlike PMMM which took a while to grow on me. I couldn't explain it but for some reason I was instantly blown away by Saikano. It was just cutesy in an adorable way and not an annoying way. Also I just loved the quality of its animation, the dialogue, and the characters.

I wouldn't regard either Saikano or PMMM as cutesy anime. Real cutesy anime is like Aria, that's a hardcore CGDGT title.

http://i39.tinypic.com/34o3bc1.jpg

Otogi Zoshi is set in ancient Japan before the dawn of the Samurai. The coloring is exceptional and the motion of its animation is very fluid. The plot and characters are very well developed. It's just a great series.

http://www.anime-planet.com/images/anime/screenshots/flag1.jpg

Flag is extremely well drawn. The story is told from the perspective of a photographer like an outsider observing events. It's a very interesting approach.

Haven't watched those two. I will try to watch in the future. Thanks for the recommendations. :)

[Guaporense]

20) Texhnolyze (2003)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/6d/Texhnolyze_DVD_vol_1.jpg

And talking about TV shows that succeed as art, Texhnolyze is certainly among the most impressive on a visual level. Part of the same creative collaboration that resulted in another two titles on this same thread (Haibane Renmei and Lain), Texhnolyze is the most visually impressive of the 3, being perhaps also the least instantly engaging (i.e. "entertaining"), as Haibane Renmei is endowed with great emotional power while Lain is full of interesting concepts, Texhnolyze is much more violent than both and also more "masculine" being a show featuring yakuza gang war but in a cyberpunk environment (it occurs in an underground city and many yakuza gang members are cyborgs) and also dealing with a sort of pseudo-post-apocalyptic philosophical themes.

However, the best thing about it is is visual qualities. It's the best among the 20 shows I listed here and the best among shows I have watched. Instead of depending on my lacking skills in writing about art I would rather link to some more skilled description of some of it's visual qualities:

http://guriguriblog.wordpress.com/2010/09/23/texhnolyze-2/

[Zotis]

I started watching Haibonei Renmei. It's really good so far. I'm really looking forward to seeing where the story goes. It's one that has been on mt to watch list for a while.

[Zotis]

Woah, this song gave me goosebumps. It's so good! I don't normally like Anime music, but wow, this song is mesmerising.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Fo2myUedaU

[Guaporense]

Woah, this song gave me goosebumps. It's so good! I don't normally like Anime music, but wow, this song is mesmerising.

Normally anime music is just j-pop, which I find mediocre music though not really bad and the score tends to be generic. Haibane Renmei music is something very different from other TV anime music, it's composed by Ko Otani who is a major composer of music for films and videogames. So far my favorite in terms of scores for TV series.

[Guaporense]

21) Shinsekai Yori (2013)

http://cdn.myanimelist.net/images/anime/12/36775.jpg

Based on a speculative novel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_the_New_World_(novel)), it's one title that I was in doubt in including here but reflecting on how deeply I was affected by it after finishing watching it, I decided to include it here despite being the mostly flawed series on this list (in terms of featuring problems related to pacing: I think it was a bit too slow in parts and to fast in others).

Like the best science fiction, From The New World is something that worked on a mostly cerebral level and not visceral level in dealing with the social consequences of some fantastic concept: what if 0.2% of the human population gained telekinetic powers making it possible for these people to murder others just by thinking about it.

The show follows the lives of six characters, from childhood to their mid 30's, during a period in the far future by the time when human civilization regressed from our urbanized industrialized culture to an agrarian society, it allows us to see how society changed to adapt to this change from the perspective of these characters. Overall I would say that in terms of pure character development it is not among the best but instead the characterization here serves a different purpose from the usual in literature. I found all the concepts dealt in the series to be fascinating though so these weakness were more than compensated by the thematic power of the series.

Visually it's quite interesting as well. Beautiful in many ways but sometimes the use of CGI (as common in animation of 2013) hurts the visuals in some parts. It appears that more powerful computing software decreased the quality of the use of CGI in animation because now they use it too much instead of adding subtle touches like they did with Haibane Renmei and RahXephon in 2002. Despite this problem it remains one of the most visually interesting animated series I watched. Direction is also interesting though not particularly daring.

[Guaporense]

22) Saikano (2002)

http://cdn.myanimelist.net/images/anime/1/529.jpg

Contrasting with Shinsekai Yori, a mostly theme driven series, Saikano is mostly character driven. Instead of being cerebral it is visceral, emotionally charged to the maximum. Some even say it's melodramatic and forced though I can understand where that comes from it still deeply affected me. Similarly to Shinsekai Yori is the presense of science fiction/speculative themes, this time about the effects of loss of humanity and it's effect over a relationship.

It's a love story featuring some of the best characterization I ever encountered in fiction, The two main characters feel more real than most fictional characters I know and which lends some depth to the tragedy being depicted as the world is in a state of total war, as result the emotional intensity of the show does not feel forced. The show is basically about the relationship between Shuuji and Chise and it's effect when Chise is chosen by the government to serve as a human test subject to cyborg military experimentation and as she struggles with the nature of her loss of humanity. Like Ghost in the Shell, Robocop and Gunnm it's one of the classics of the "cyborg genre" in exploring the meaning of being human under the perspective of the existence of technology to severely modify the human body. However, here the focus is not mostly on the science fiction aspects but on the human aspects, it is first and foremost a tragedy war story (similar in many regards to Grave of the Fireflies in that sense) and second is a work of science fiction.

The art of this series is not exactly on the same level as the other 10 animated series above but the muted color palette adds to the general bittersweet feeling the series evoke. The direction is also conventional and these two factors combine what I could call "standard seinen anime visual style".

[Pussy Galore]

I have Shinsekai Yori on my Crunchyroll queue and I'm not sure whether to watch it because of the ''hentai'' aspect. Is it subtle or full of fanservice?

[Guaporense]

I didn't notice much fanservice. It has a lot of gay kissing though showing the male characters getting into each other a lot. But it doesn't show anything actually.

[Zotis]

I'm going to have to check out Shinsekai Yori, it sounds interesting.

I recently started watching Tower of Druaga. The first episode was really funny so I got the impression it was a comedy, but the second episode was more serious. The premise reminds me a lot of Wizardry. There's a mysterious tower and people try to get to the higher floors where the monsters get stronger but the treasure is more rewarding. At the top is rumored to be the demon Druaga whom heroes long to defeat.

http://www.jeuxvideofrance.fr/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/51Iwa3bKODL._SX500_.jpg

[Guaporense]

Never heard of it. Though I am just a beginner in terms of animation but I have reached the conclusion that the artistic peak of cinema is in TV cartoons since it lacks the constraints that bind the artistic potential of film: the time constraint as films must be at most 3 hours long, the economic costs of making a well acted, well produced film are very high while a TV anime series several times longer can be made for less than 2 million dollars and live action imposes severe limitations on the degree of visual creativity allowed (just compare what painters can do with what photographers can do), though modern CGI effects are allowing modern Hollywood to disregard that problem (at the cost of tens of millions of dollars in budget though which by itself imposes severe limitations on the degree of artistic creativity allowed since it must satisfy a mainstream audience given a huge budget). A TV cartoon like Haibane Renmei can be made for 1 million dollars while an equivalent live action film of the same length with similar levels of visual beauty would cost at least 100 times as much and not be commercially feasible.

[Zotis]

Actually, it got kind of mediocre after the first episode. But the first episode was pretty hilarious.

How about Steins Gate? I binged the whole series in about three days, it was pretty addicting. It's about an eccentric young scientist who discovers time travel when his microwave sends a text message back in time.

http://s1.zerochan.net/Steins%3BGate.600.1399926.jpg

[Guaporense]

Stein's Gate is very good indeed. However there are about dozen of series that I would presently rank higher than it. Though in terms of thrills it is almost unmatched.

[Zotis]

I totally agree.

[Guaporense]

This is perhaps the best favorite anime list I ever seem for those interested in furthering their knowledge of the medium:

http://guriguriblog.wordpress.com/2009/12/04/top-50-anime-series-of-the-decade/

This top 50 series of the decade 2000-2009, quoting the whole list (just because it is MY thread):

50. Ergo Proxy – Ergo Proxy gets a lot of flak for being pretentious and I can offer no defense for it. What sold Ergo Proxy for me however wasn’t its philosophical nonsense, it was innovative direction of stand-alone episodes sitting within main plot. These episodes are truly outstanding in their unconventional methods of directing, simply brilliant examples of film-making in animated form. If you prefer atmospheric and artsy directions over solid writings and characters, give Ergo Proxy a try.

49. Tweeny Witches – Tweeny Witches is one of the most imaginative and enthralling children’s anime you will find. No doubt some will leave disappointed by how simple and childish it turn out to be. I ask only to loosen that pessimistic outlooks we develop as adults before hopping on Alice’s broomstick, and look around with more whimsical and innocent sight. There is genuine feeling under that childish simplicity. There is unfaltering light beckoning behind Alice’s naive smile. And there is magic. Enjoy the adventure and all its wonders.

48. My-Hime – Although lacking as a whole product, there are key moments where My-Hime simply breathes of creative fire. Sometimes the animation and other technical elements can be so good, the screen gleefully dance in flames of energy. Very few anime can boast as much of excitement and intensity as My-Hime‘s best moments, and I am sure to revisit them again for thrills.

47. Kanon 2006 – The stories of Kanon 2006 sings is like a melody in Pachelbel’s Kanon. Each melody is sad, like a girl hopelessly trying to reach out for someone, but also hopeful for precious promises we make. Each melody repeats itself with varying tone, different pitch, different feeling. And each melody comes together as a beautiful orchestra of touching stories of the girls and their promises. Its beauty lies not only in each individual melodies but in how they are all linked together to produce more wholesome, heart-warming music.

46. Natsume Yuujinchou – Aesthetics of Natsume Yuujinchou is as pleasantly subdued as its story-telling, which can be like a refreshing breeze in summer heat, or the warmth of a hug in winter. Simple, funny, soothing and heart-warming. Such are the appeals of this wonderfully healing anime.

45. Ef ~ tale of memories – I have no fond of moe or melodrama. Yet I want to recommend ef ~ tale of memories to anyone who can appreciate anime as a medium capable of great artistry and story-telling. Innovative cinematography, engaging narrative flow, evocative symbolisms and Tenmon’s heartfelt music; these are the wings that elevate ef from the ruins of failed melodramas to soaring emotional flight.

44. Oh! Edo R0cket - Going to the moon by building rockets in Tenpou era? Sounds ridiculous doesn’t it. That’s because it is and the show knows it. Filled with self-awareness, humour and wit, Oh! Edo Rocket never misses a chance making fun of its own historical inaccuracies, as well as the idiocy of 2D drawn figures trying to be more than what they are; endearing characters in a beautiful story of hope and love. Funny thing is that we do fall for these characters by the end due to the kind of characterisation rarely seen in comedy series, and we can’t help but root for their hilarious attempt to reach the moon. Now that’s rocket science of storytelling.

43. Code Geass – There is little denying the sheer entertainment value of this unstoppable train. And what an exciting experience this was for me as anime fan! Sometimes speculating about future events, making fun of its ridiculous nature, or in my case, shipping CC x Lelouch and defending ‘HE IS ALIVE’ theory to the end. Although it isn’t going to win any award in my book, Code Geass offers an immensely fun and memorable experience for everyone.

42. Nodame Cantabile – How one’s life turns out arguably depends on one’s encounters with people. Although memories can imprison us, there is still hope of change through encounter. This is a humorous and well-crafted prelude to these two great musicians’ tale, a series of touching encounters and circumstances we will remember as Nodame Cantabile.

41. Kemonozume – “Neurotic, chaotic and everything in between, Kemonozume doesn’t simply break the conventional anime mold; it takes a sledge hammer and shatters it. Half of my brain is wondering what the hell I just saw. The other half can only think of one word: genius”. – Shadowmage

40. FMP: Fumoffu! – While I am not the biggest fan of Full Metal Panic franchise, FMP: Fumoffu! is an absolutely hilarious addition to anime comedy genre. Although not exactly high-brow, I highly recommend it to anyone looking to kill themselves with laughter. As well as delicious fanservice.

39. Ouran High School Host Club – What impressed me the most about this little gem was its artistry. Art and animation here are free, ready to deform at any minute and materialising itself in wildly imaginative ways in order to bring humour and characteristics of what could be conceived as clichéd situations. Sprinkle an ounce of self-awareness with a pinch of emotional touch, and you have one comedy concoction that will please just about anyone.

38. Samurai Champloo – What an incredibly seamless fusion of Edo-period Japanese and modern hip hop culture! Whether it be breakdancing sword fights or exercising unique blend of graffiti and caligraphy, Watanabe Shinichi has not once failed to cook up something deliciously hilarious, stylish, enthralling and surprising each episode. Although lacking emotional and philosophical depth of Cowboy Bebop, one can not ask for more from such a harmlessly funny and exciting entertainment.

37. Red Garden - Red Garden boasts some of the best voice direction in anime. Recordings were done prior to animation to allow voice actors to freely express character’s raw emotional states, and oh does it show when their words cuts like a knife. Add to this elegant character designs, quirky animated expressions and atmospheric direction by Kou Matsuo (Kure-nai), Red Garden is the place to visit for a quality dose of feminine melodrama.

36. The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi – A marvel of both ground-breaking ideas and flawless execution. Not only did it consistently surprise us week after week with the unexpected, it not once failed to carry superbly with the highest degree of animation and directing quality, whether it be fighting a giant cricket in alternate dimension, or being blown away by the best animated musical performance ever.

35. Higurashi no Naku Koro ni – Higurashi is a fascinating mix of opposing elements. There is light-hearted joy in irresistably adorable smiles of girls, but underneath that crawls malicious suspense and horror. There exists supernatural forces, yet the bloody hands of each murder are all very human. The characters want to believe and depend on each other, but they become demons by succumbing to doubts and malignant intents. Between what is magical and real, cute and frightening, and their will to believe and deceive, what is left is that inexplicable sense of impending doom at hearing a cicada’s cry admist the sunset.

34. Baccano! - Watching Baccano! is like setting a pack of dynamite on fire. We are at first introduced to a fantastic cast of the most unusual and bizarre quirks and personalities, mostly unrelated to each other. But their roads become intertwined, and there is that indescribable sense of thrill, suspense and anticipation at watching different plots advancing towards one big explosive finale. If you enjoyed Guy Ritchie’s Snatch!, then this is one dynamite entertainment you don’t want to miss.

33. Toward the Terra – A painfully underrated space opera. Not only does Toward the Terra feature some of the best visual designs, the characters are as immense and endearing as its relentlessly propagating plot. A timeless epic that is sure to inspire and move anyone who stumbles upon it, for many decades to come.

32. Gunslinger Girl – If only every ‘girls with guns’ series was as mature and well-written as this. When introduced to the girls brainwashed and trained to assassinate without second thought, we can’t help but feel sorry for their cruel fate. And yet, also glad for their opportunity to savour happiness in playing violin, playing with dolls, eating gelatos, and just enjoying life as pure as young girls should. Such is the melancholic beauty of Gunslinger Girls.

31. Princess Tutu – Under the fine delicacy of Princess Tutu you will find astoundingly daring approaches to break standard conventions. What you will see is truly greater and more genuine than any girl-meets-prince story you’ve seen. I only wish that you can also experience the inexplicable delight of watching Tutu remain true to herself by dancing with her own strengths, which was infinitely more beautiful than any fancy magic or costume. After all, not every duck has to become a swan through magic, be it fairy tales or anime.

30. Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex – Although not as exhausting and intense as Oshii’s movies, one still has to earn the right to appreciate GITS: SAC by being attentive to heavy dialogues and political intrigue. Once you jump over the hurdles though, you will be treated to a wealth of creativity and intelligence of Cyberpunk genre, as well as empathetic characters of the second season (2nd GIG).

29. Mouryou no Hakko – This series could not have picked a better title than Mouryou no Hakko (Goblin’s box). Its mystery can initially seem like a goblin-like entity, because anything we fear and don’t understand tends to appear supernatural. As we follow different stories written inside the boxed perspectives of each character, we actually become more lost and deceived by this intricately web of heterogenously mingled plots! The web is untangled one by one in the end, as each opened box reveals a truth more horrifying and disturbing than the last. A masterfully crafted mystery that will blow your mind.

28. Paranoia Agent – The premise of Paranoia Agent is fascinating in that it explores prevalent social issues present in today’s insecure and xenophobic Japanese society. And Satoshi Kon uses his renowned art of stepping in and out of reality/dream to paint horrifyingly vivid psychological visions of stress and the ways in which people want to free themselves from such paranoia. It’s a minor miracle that a man like Satoshi Kon even got to direct a TV series and it will be foolish not to indulge ourselves by watching Paranoia Agent.

27. Denou Coil - Possibly the most mature children’s anime you will find, Dennou Coil is cute, funny, charming but also surprisingly intense and dramatic. It has the emotional depth that is rarely seen in children’s anime, if ever, and I wholeheartedly recommend what is surely one of the finest animated production of this decade.

26. Gungrave – The portrayal of friendship and brotherhood in Gungrave is perhaps the most beautiful one in the animated medium. Between your ambitions, friends and families, which will you choose? Which are you willing to forsake to protect what you value the most? What endures at the end is that eternally lasting friendship, stronger than any metal and more beautiful than any flower in the world. This is The Godfather of anime and I can not recommend it enough.

25. Fantastic Children – Astroboy-like designs, soundtracks evocative of 80’s, classic narrative style and animated by the veterans of Nippon Animation studio, Fantastic Children is one fine trip down to old school animation. The fact that a story as epic as this went unnoticed by many is a tragic shame, since one rarely gets to encounter a story and characters as gripping as those in Fantastic Children.

24. Bokura Ga Ita – As you can tell from my list, I don’t like romance anime. Well, most of them anyway. Bokura Ga Ita was different. At first, like one of the characters, it was hard to feel for a girl who would still date a guy that beats her, cheats on her and stand her up. But maybe there is no need to know why you truly love someone, just as there is no reason to know why coffee is warm to enjoy its warmth. And boy did this romance know how to make me feel warm inside.

23. Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei – Chaotic would be an apt description of this outrageous comedy series. Do note that chaos is not randomness, it’s just that the comedy of Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei is so biting in black humour and relentless in pacing, it’s almost impossible to look at it with any semblance of order. Surely not for everyone, nevertheless it is easily my favourite comedy series of the decade.

22. Simoun – Aside from its complexity and depth, as well as some of the best designs, music and voice acting you will ever see in anime, it is also a mature look at Yuri in relation to our purity of adolescence. When these girls fly and draw beautiful lines in the sky, they are liberated from rules and obligations, and there is beauty to be found in their rebellious defiance, but also feelings that are honest and uncompromising. Simoun is, in a word, mystifying, and very few are as enchanting as its enigmatic world.

21. Casshern Sins - “Casshern Sins is visual poetry; evocative; melancholy; beautiful. This is when words are insufficient, it simply must be seen. Like ballet or wuxia, as if on stage, these characters spin, twist and jump, towards and around each other, every movement an indirect, evocative step forward, like feathers carried by winds of fate, blown across red pools and rocky desolation, secretly dancing to the soundtrack, transfixed by an insatiable desire to understand the other. It is emotion in action, confused, joyful, elegant.” – bateszi

20. Banner of the Stars – This sequel to one of the greatest space opera series (Crest of the Stars) has lost none of its charms. Subtlety governs just about everything here, including character interactions, humour, space battles and even fanservice. Banner of the Stars find it crass in explicit display of brutally butchered soldiers screaming horribly in pain, it much prefers to let silent cries of lost souls resonate under the quiet surface, ever so softly, but with a resounding ring of longetivity. Classy, philosophical, but not without its own share of witty humour and heated conflicts, the Stars Trilogy is a must-see for every fans of space opera.

19. BECK: Mongolion Chop Squad – Although a little unpolished in visual and engrish department, no anime can rock as hard as BECK can when it comes to a coming-of-age story (aside from FLCL). Pleasantly surprised you may be when treated to a number of electrifying performances, BECK‘s forte is still characters, and the show never misses a beat developing them to their fullest. You will learn to get annoyed with them, but also like them, love them as they grow, and rock with them harder than ever before.

18. Hataraki Man – A career can mean many things for different people. Sometimes a passion, sometimes a burden, and maybe bit of both. Hataraki Man thoroughly explores a fascinating microcosm of working people in Japanese society, giving generous amount of screen time to every single characters to capture their unique quirks, personalities, histories and most importantly, their perspectives and decisions regarding their work and life. And with consistently solid animation, flawless narrative flow and the level of maturity and sophistication rarely found in anime, one could not ask for more from this absolutely brilliant silce-of-life series.

17. Shigurui - Violent manga-to-anime adaptations are rarely better than its predecessor, simply because the animated violence can almost never triumph over the meticulously painted scenes we envision in manga. Shigurui is a miraculous exception to this in that the Madhouse studio managed to breathe life into the repulsive, yet absolutely captivating world of cruelty without losing an ounce of the original’s vigour. Shigurui sings song of merciless brutality, but does it with a voice of an alluring siren, and any hard-seasoned viewers sturdy enough to stomach gratuitous gore will be treated to an enrapturing symphony of disgust and pleasure.

16. Koi Kaze - The very premise of Koi Kaze is outrageous. How can you seriously expect anyone to swallow a romantic relationship between a 27 year-old salaryman and his 14 year-old sister? You don’t have to swallow it because Koi Kaze makes no statement. Doesn’t endorse nor condemn incest in modern society. There is only sense of desire and longing; of feelings that are beautifully transcendent, and woefully temporal. It saddens me to know that no anime like Koi Kaze will ever be produced for another decade or two.

15. Boogiepop Phantom – Forget the complexity of Evangelion or FLCL. With a timeline randomly jumping ten times each episode and nameless characters looking pretty much the same, this is by far the most difficult and demanding viewing one will likely encounter in anime. Beneath this enigmatic puzzle however remains grim tales of defeated hope and tainted innocence, as well as that fleeting desire to escape reality, and be lost in blissful memories of the past. Boogiepop Phantom is a confusing puzzle of haunting beauty that is sure to be treasured for many sturdy viewers.

14. The Twelve Kingdoms - One thing The Twelve Kingdoms excels over Serei no Moribito is its clear sense of direction and organisation, which brings together all the subplots and orchestrates them in an explosively dramatic finale. Sadly The Twelve Kingdoms still remains an unfinished masterpiece. It’s promising second arc was suddenly dropped and never picked up again, while its final arc pales in comparison to its previous arcs. Nevertheless, the first arc is an incredible character-driven journey of our heroine’s rise to leadership, while the third arc is an epic building of this compelling world as well as its fantastic characters. Perhaps its fictional world was always to be fragmented like Coleridge’s Kubla Khan, forever left unfinished, yet never to be forgotten once we do enter it.

13. Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann - Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann is very much like a drill. It starts out small, yet eventually spiraling out into something much more epic in scope and intensity. What’s even more impressive is its ability to capture a non-mecha fan like me, who usually complains about ridiculous plot holes and transformations, to vigorously kick reason to the curb and lose myself in the thrill of watching Simon and his friends beating the impossible. Animated by stylish Hiroyuki Imaishi (FLCL, Dead Leaves) and written by Kazuki Nakashima (award-winning playwright), TTGL has power of the drills that pierces through logic and strike at our heart, shouting blood-boiling cries of who the hell do you think we are.

12. Kino’s Journey – Kino’s Journey is less of a criticism and more of a tribute to human imperfections. Some things in this world, like massacring a group of innocent people for sport, are repulsively ugly. But the world is beautiful because of it, for if the children they gave birth to and held in their arms weren’t precious enough, would they have willingly killed all those innocent people for the children’s sake? Such is the beautifully grim nature of Kino’s Journey, utterly thought-provoking and enchanting journey into celebrating our imperfections.

11. Kaiba – Franz Liszt once described Beethoven’s delicate second movement of Moonlight Sonata as a ‘flower between two chasms’, which sat between its haunting first and relentless third. One gets a similar melancholic impression from Kaiba in that, despite all the depressing aspects of this futuristic world stripped off its humanity, we still find tiny sparkles of hope driving the series. Finding warmth and light at the edge of coldest and darkest places, watching Kaiba is a pleasure more than divine.

10. Aria – No anime can heal like Aria can. Serene, joyful and impossibly cute, it is a bliss to find beauty in even the most trivial things through Akari’s aqua-tinted lense. It’s too easy to become cynical in our real life, if only more people could visit Aqua and learn to appreciate tiny wonders around us. Now wouldn’t that make our world a brighter place to live.

9. MONSTER – Like a fine wine, the beauty of Monster lies in slowly savouring every moment of its deliberately sluggish narrative flow. Caring efforts are given to build up suspense, intrigue and terrifying revelations in each side story, but the series never loses its focus, for every mystery threads are weaved meticulously together in an explosive finale. MONSTER is a truly fitting title for this uncompromising beast, for we are rendered helpless at the mercy of its unbearable atmosphere, and the terror of its psychological drama.

8. Gankutsuou – A novel-to-anime adaptation of the highest distinction. It re-wrote half the content of Duma’s timeless classic, re-worked the setting of 18th century Europe into futuristic world of aliens and spaceships…and still came out absolute winner. A majestic amalgam of sheer ambition, innovation, visual ingenuity and technical brilliance. Give in yourself to the majestic flight of imagination it takes, inviting you to a visually and emotionally enthralling ride of something different and more refreshing to the novel. Gankutsuou is a monumental proof that adaptations aren’t always doomed to be cast as fading shadows.

7. Mushishi - To watch Mushishi is to drift into lucid dream. The world is rendered strange and bizarre, yet everything feels so beautifully integrated as a whole, it can not be described as anything other than sublime. Mushishi talks of abstract and surreal, yet we take them to our heart and leave mystified and enlightened. There is not a sense of ourselves watching this dream so much as ourselves in the dream. When we do wake up, there is only longing for return. And why not, Mushishi is the most absorbing and gratifying dream one will likely have.

6. Infinite Ryvius - Lord of the Flies of anime, only better. An incredibly intelligent and detailed look at the limitations of different political systems in the time of crisis, and although not as thoughtful as that depicted in Legend of the Galactic Heroes (which is impossible anyway), what is truly commending is its remarkable ability to capture fear, desperation, malice as well as hope of characters struggling to survive at the brink of demise. In a sense, Infinite Ryvius is an antithesis of Bokurano because nobody is willing to die, and the series sets this desperate search for hope into soaring emotional flight. Truly one of the most dramatic and intelligent anime one will find.

5. Mononoke – What a truly menacing beast of visual phantasmagoria! Boasting colours and textures so rich one might as well feel the series with eyes. Mononoke has undoubtedly the most uniquely beautiful designs and engrossing art direction of this decade, and its masterfully crafted mystery will crawl inside your skins, inch by inch, before the terrifying truth materialises itself tearing you apart limb by limb. Blissfully affecting as it is beautiful, Mononoke is this decade’s greatest truimph for aesthetics in anime. I am sure to hold this gem precious for many years to come.

4. Haibane Renmei – Haibane Renmei is an enigma. There is no finding out what’s behind the Wall, and no hints are given about the nature of haibane or the origin of just about everything in this perplexing world. These questions do not need answering however, for Haibane Renmei sings of wisdom and beauty too elusive and immense for our comprehension. A truly special place is Haibne Renmei, where we can spend an eternity swimming in a pool of thoughts, or losing ourselves in its rejuvenating warmth.

3. Planetes – Planetes is nothing short of masterpiece, it’s just so incredibly written and directed. What I loved the most about it was its mature, intelligent and emotional approach to the theme of love and understanding. In one scene, a scientist looks at the earth and shed his tears at remembering his country ravaged by civil war. “All we can see is earth, and even when you can’t see any borders from here…”. Perhaps more people need to look at earth from the above, because the truth is we are all connected together, and the only universal language that connects us together is love. Planetes is one of very few stories to actually make me feel that way.

2. Honey and Clover – One could spend an entire evening trying to find a four-leafed clover with friends without success. And the characters in the series struggle and run, defeated from broken relationships and mistakes that can’t be undone. It’s painful to watch. And yet there was meaning to searching for that special clover, fleeting moments that are as elusive as they are beautiful. Watching Honey and Clover is to discover layers upon layers of overflowing affections, to know that there was meaning to all those unrequited love and failed endeavours right here. All you can do is cry your heart out, bite the sandwhich, and savour it all with its bittersweetness.

1. Now and Then Here and There – The lesser I say about this series the better. One only needs to experience it. What I do want to note is that there is a shot of orange sunset that is absolutely beautiful. What a lovely scenary it would have been, if I did not know the sufferings it concealed. This is an adventure of a boy transfigured into horrors and affirmations of human life, where we are left to helplessly despair and rejoice at the worst and best of human nature. Boundless in its raw emotional power, Now and Then Here and There is my anime of the decade.

I watched the 1st place because of this list and indeed it's a 5/5 thing. I will just wait some time for it to establish itself as a memorable masterpiece before I add it here. I might try to re-watch Boogiepop Phantom because I didn't understand much of it on a first viewing.

[Zotis]

I have a DvD with the first couple episodes of Now and Then, Here and There, but I never got around to finishing the series. I should get on that. 12 Kingdoms is a great series, I binged it and loved it absolutely. I don't really agree with a lot of anime on that list though. Code Geass was un-watchable for me. Stand Alone Complex was an abomination and a disgrace to the Ghost in the Shell legacy as far as I'm concerned. Gurren Lagann is highly overrated in my opinion. That's one of those anime I just throw into the boat with Bleach, Naruto, and One-Piece. Popular mainstream garbage. Gungrave, Boogiepop Phantom, and Gunslinger Girl just don't look remotely appealing to me, I have nothing really to say about them as I never gave them much of a glance. Ouran High School Host Club looks respectable, but still not very appealing to me personally so I haven't watched it.

Ergo Proxy is decent, I watched a big chunk of it but finally got bored and stopped. Planetes is pretty solid, but I haven't seen beyond the first episode or two. Haibane Renmei is really cool and I'm still not finished watching it. Mushishi is pretty awesome, I've seen the whole series and it's great. Too bad the live action movie sucked. Monster bored me to sleep, but I wouldn't say it's bad, just too slow paced with nothing really going on. I hope for it's own sake it picks up, but I can't be bothered to watch it. Beck was pretty good, I probably watched about six episodes or so. I kind of moved on and never got back to it. It was good, but I doubt I'll bother to finish watching it.

I don't think I'm familiar with the rest of that list.

What about things like Iria: Zeiram the Animation, AD Police Files, and Angel Cop? They are Original Video Animations broken down into episodes/parts. I guess they aren't TV series or movies? They're like a paradox...

[Guaporense]

OVA's are a shaky ground. I actually include OVA's that last less than 3 hours as movies and longer OVAs as TV series (my personal rule, there are a couple of OVA's divided into several episodes into my top 100 animated films list (Gunbuster, Trust and Betrayal, FLCL, etc)).

I loved Gurren Lagann though,yes, it is aimed at teens, not adults, but it is soooo good! I felt like I was 14 years old again when I watched it. I don't think it is like Naruto, Bleach and One Piece, it is not adult but also different in that regard. Similar to Gurren Lagann is Kill la Kill:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bv8JfpeG0jI

Same director and writer, another creation from Imaishi. So far my favorite 2014 anime though I haven't watched much from this year.

I liked Ergo Proxy very much, I don't think it is a masterpiece but it was very entertaining and I binge watched it. Haven't watched 12 Kingdoms yet. I liked Planetes as well (it's theme of space colonization is very interesting, being one of the most realistic science fiction series/movies ever, they even hired people from the Japanese space agency as consultants), it's starts comedic and becomes dramatic.

[Zotis]

Well, I only watched the first episode of Gurren Lagann and it didn't appeal to me in the slightest. I've seen lots of clips of it. It's not my taste anyway. I kind of write it off. It's my friend's favorite anime, but he likes Naruto and he didn't like the Ghost in the Shell movie, so I actually avoid talking to him about anime even though he's my friend. :P

Well, Angel Cop and Iria: Zeiram the Animation are two of my favorite anime. They are both 6 episode OVAs. Angel Cop is about psychics and cyborgs, it's really cool. It's very violent with a lot of swearing in the English dub. I actually prefer the English dub over the Japanese, it's well done, but there isn't as much swearing in the Japanese. When they dubbed it they wanted to make it more vulgar to add to the severity and harshness of it. Iria is about a space-age bounty hunter who is trying to defeat this unstopable alien monster/weapon called Zeiram. It's based on a really cheesy live action movie, but the anime is far from cheezy. Iria is a really lovable character, a very down-to-earth chick. It's well drawn and the story and dialogue are good.


12 Kingdoms is probably the coolest fantasy anime I've seen. It's much more solid than say, Escaflowne (which I thought the movie was way better than the series). The animation is good, the characters have a lot of depth to them. Even the minor characters have quite a lot of personality and uniqueness. The fantasy elements are very creative too. It's almost a bit like Narnia or The Never Ending Story with talking animals and monsters. The series is quite long with several different story arcs that focus on different characters. So the main character of the first story arc is not the main character of the whole series. The first story arc was my favorite because I really loved the character Yuka Sugimoto. There is a lot of emotion in the series as well. It really had me sucked in like a vampire.

http://img2.photobucket.com/albums/v112/peterwj/Anime/Angel.jpg

https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSGaTY5dwCYSbTt34NAx1dXDn95JS7m_EudmqNXajFTaEAXQqrA

http://www.animecrave.com/_content/info/reviews/12_kingdoms/12k_5.jpg

[Guaporense]

@ Zotis, very interesting recommendations. I plan to watch those in the future.

Oh well, now that I added the most artistically successful animated series I watched I will add my guilty pleasures! Well, not exactly guilty pleasures but stuff that I wouldn't consider the most artistically impressive but that connected to me on an emotional level.

[Guaporense]

23) Clannad: After Story (2008)

http://cdn.myanimelist.net/images/anime/13/24647.jpg

Clannad is widely regarded in the animation community as a type of series that if your tastes are refined enough you are not supposed to like it. It was even in the list of titles you were not supposed to like in the UberElistist club at MAL (http://myanimelist.net/clubs.php?cid=35120). It's basically like Shawshank Redemption in being an emotionally manipulative piece of work with millions of fans (it's rated 9.15 by 160,000 users in MAL, that's mainstream for you) who were touched by it and thousands of snobs who say it's manipulative garbage. However, I personally loved it, it was one the first TV series that made me cry while watching it.

Everything about it is designed to maximize emotional impact in a very explicit way. It is very unlike, for instance, Ozu's films and Only Yesterday, which are more subtle (and are more powerful for those who are anime/film snobs). But I like this way, since it is much "easier" as it doesn't require any patience: instead of paying attention for like a couple of hours before your subconscious process the information and generates an emotional response it comes almost instantaneously but you just have to not pay attention to your rational mind telling you it is manipulative (in a way, we could say everything is manipulative, even Late Spring, since your brain can always interpret a work of fiction as trying to manipulate your emotions using artificial images, sounds and writing) as to not spoil the emotional response.

Even it's soundtrack is extremely dense emotionally (especially the 13-18 minutes part, I don't know why but i loved that part in particular, better than the Beatles):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EOEcE-3v0E

It's pretty much the Shawnshank Redemption equivalent of the medium with melodramatic music, writing, voice acting, visuals (with heavy glossy look) and character designs. Also the author of the soundtrack is Shinji Orito, who is heavily influenced by Joe Hisaishi, Miyazaki's "official" composer.

[Guaporense]

24) Trigun (1998)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/5/5f/Trigun_manga.jpg/345px-Trigun_manga.jpg

A space western, Trigun is one of the best westerns ever made, even compared to any medium of fiction. Why? Excellent character development. The visuals are a bit lacking in comparison to the other animated series and movies among my favorites, they are fairly conventional looking. However, the main character is perhaps the single fictional character which I identified the most. Why? He is an extremely stubborn character, extremely unwilling to change his way of life even if he has to risk his life to do so. He has a set of principles and follows those principles to the depths of hell if it would be required to maintain those principles. In a sense, a immature samurai.

I dislike characters which are slimy, who adapt to the situation and behave like creatures not like men, such as the characters of Goodfellas (in fact, I rate it among my favorite movies because of the emotional reaction I got from trying to kill the characters on the screen). The main character of Trigun is the complete opposite. The fact that he is endowed with exceptional skills and intelligence enables him to actually survive in this stubborn way.

Finally, like some other anime series, it begins comedic and transitions into drama by the middle of the 26 episode run. The transition is done flawlessly and because of the earlier comedy, the later drama is much more impact-full. Like Cowboy Bebop, it is a series more popular in the west than in Japan.

[Guaporense]

25) Gurren Lagann (2007)

http://cdn.myanimelist.net/images/anime/4/5123.jpg

Finally, the only "children's" series on this list. Though it is completely different in terms of tone and attitude to Disney/Pixar stuff. In fact, I would consider Gurren Lagaan to be the single most aggressive work of screen fiction which I ever experienced. It is completely over the top: everything is big, irrational and explosive. And how many explosions it has: millions of explosions are show on screen and it is in a sense the spiritual descendant of Gunbuster, which is my favorite OVA, also extremely over the top.

But here, in Gurren Lagann the "over the topness" reaches levels that were previously unimaginable: it's extremely masculine and aggressive, believing in the power of irrational aggression is able to overcome all odds. Think of 300, but even more aggressive and even more juvenile: nothing is more juvenile than Gurren Lagann: it is the definition of juvenile. The character, Kamina, is among the most juvenile and masculine characters I ever seen perhaps the single most aggressive character in the medium.

[Zotis]

Trigun is a classic of course. :up:

[Guaporense]

Decided to do a decent review of this (I actually think this is worth posting on the MAL reviews section):

10) Puella Magi Madoka Magica (2011)

After well over a year after I first watched this and after seven rewatches, and a bit of more knowledge of the work of each of the artists involved in it I think I have a well informed perspective to explain why it is my favorite piece of audiovisual media. Madoka is essentially the work of a combination of two artists: the director Shinbo and the writer Urobuchi. To understand Madoka one has to understand the artistic elements of the works of these two artists.

Shinbo is currently one of the most significant anime directors. Working with his distinctive style which emerged in the mid 2000's and is crystallized in works such as Hidamari Sketch (2007):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42HnumMuPrQ&feature=youtu.be

It is charaterized by extremely fast shoots on average of 2-3 seconds each, his cuts are called irrational cuts because they violate the standard in hollywood directing where each shoot follows a logical order, instead, for example, he violently cuts from the head to the feet to abstract figures and plays around with all sorts of symbolism (as apparent in the video above, where the fever of Yuno, the main character is represented in the water counter of her apartment and compared to the normal temperatures of her neighboring houses). Before that his directing was more conventional but still quite distinctive, such as his work no Nanoha (2004), the first strictly adult work in the genre of magical girl (yes, Hidamari Sketch is also strictly adult: Shinbo is one of the leading directors in the genre of pedophile animation :D):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RokGy2iXnTo

Like Hidamari Sketch, Madoka is extremely aggressive on a visual level. I like the level of aggression achieved in animation that one cannot achieve (easily at least) in live action film.

Madoka borrows heavily from earlier Shinbo works such as Hidamari Sketch and Nanoha. Urobuchi said that his main inspiration for writing Madoka were these two titles and Le portrait de petite cossette, a horror direct to video animation. So essentially, Madoka is the exciting mix of several radically different genres that managed to work really well on all levels.

Urobuchi is a writer of tragedy, horror, action and psychological thrillers anime series. His nickname among western fans is "Urobutcher" and "agonize them all Urobutcher", because he likes to write plots where he makes the main characters suffer in agony for the pleasure of the viewers. Madoka is among his most sadistic works, indeed, I was greatly impressed by how evil and twisted it was and it made it so much cool and exciting. It's like Saw, but does not suffer from the dumbness factor of that movie.

This figure illustrates some of the common themes and characteristics of Urobuchi's writing:
http://i.imgur.com/h4xQEPY.png
:D

I wouldn't consider his brutalistic writing anything like a sophisticated form of poetry. He is very simple and focused. I have watched 6 of his works already and they are all very concisely written and I notice that he appears to be a very smart guy as well (he shows that he has a good knowledge of many things). Though he doesn't know how to write good less violent stuff, he tried to write a lighter series for teenagers and people who just turned into adults, Gargantia where nobody dies or suffers in agony for extended periods of time but he failed to do anything really good, becoming just another plain mediocre work of fiction like many others (and the ending was as bad as the ending of movies like Avatar).

Madoka is very aggressive both on a visual level and on the level of writing. Perhaps one could say it's the equivalent of heavy metal in terms of animation (I wouldn't say that applies for almost anything else in animation).

[Guaporense]

Like on my old top 100 movies thread* I will post the chronological evolution of my favorite TV series since the age of 5 years old (like in my favorite movies chronological list).

* http://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=879480#post879480

Saint Seiya (age 5-7)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRtWWX6MVEo

While I watched many TV series when I was a small kid this one was perhaps the one who left the deepest impression. Indeed, extremely popular in Brazil at the time (mid 1990's), most people of my generation know and many love Saint Seiya as an important element of their childhood.

I think the first movie I saw at the theater may have been either Lion King or a Saint Seya movie (there were like 5-6). Much better than garbage that came later (Pokemon). The video above has the Brazilian dub of it, now playing it I still remember the voices even though it has been nearly twenty years since I watched it.

It's nice to see Japanese manga authors butcher Greek mythology as well.

Cartoon featuring bifurcated starship (age 7-8)

I don't recall the name of this TV series and the thing I remember the most about it was the very elegant design of the starship that appeared in the series. I remember it was probably Japanese (given the sophisticated visual details of the cartoon though I might have been American or European) and that I loved it when I was 7-8 years old, being my favorite TV series at the time.

Yu Yu Hakusho (age 8-9)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHhbpHfqZYM

Brazilian TV rocked during the 1990's showing many of the best juvenile animated series ever made. Those were actually a bit too violent for young children (specially of compared to the tame American cartoons produced at the same time) but it was that seriousness and violence that made them great in the first place.

Also, it features significantly more complex writing and characterization compared to Saint Seiya, being watchable for adults as well (Saint Seiya was considered just a continuum of battle scenes without any psychological depth according to anime critics from ANN, though Saint Seiya featured a continuous plot evolution which is still rate in English speaking TV, Yu Yu Hakusho also features continuous plot given both series are based on graphic novels).

A pinnacle of my childhood TV experiences I remember I was deeply moved by some episodes. Too bad I watched until about episode 76 if I remember correctly as the next episodes were not transmitted at the time, as result I was left deeply disappointed (similarly with the Spider Man cartoon which ended in a cliffhanger and was actually never finished).

The X-Men and Spider Man 1990's cartoon series would be my favorite western TV series when I was 9-10 year old though still I found them a league below stuff like Yu Yu Hakusho.

Dragonball (age 9-12)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fPrS8RjLfk

I watched almost the whole 500+ episodes of Dragonball (the Z in the title is for episodes over 160 but the whole thing is a single continuous saga) and several of the spinoff movies as well as several volumes of the manga. Perhaps the single most important thing I watched in my childhood (including movies into the account as well).

Featuring very rough animation and art design I though when I was 9-10 that Dragonball was made in China no Japan as China was known in the 1990's for producing cheap low quality goods. I posted the original Brazilian dub as well, notice that they dubbed even the intro song in this case, same thing applied to Yu Yu Hakusho as well.

The peak of my fanatism for Dragonball occurred when I was watching some episodes at my family's beach house when I was about 10 and I remember after finishing one episode I just lied in bed and closed my eyes hoping to fall asleep so that I could watch the next episode as soon as possible!

Evangelion (ages 12-15)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7N3Bdg6fjM

While I could say I certainly loved Dragonball I was at first deeply disappointed with Evangelion given my tastes as an 11 year old when I watched it hoping to be the best thing ever. Evangelion is different from the cartoon series I had watched before because it doesn't focus on plot and instead on character and themes, in fact, by the late episodes the whole science fiction plot involving angels and battles is dropped and the series becomes pure psychoanalysis of the characters. As result, when I was 11 I did not grasp it but a few year later, rewatching some episodes and given my own maturation as a watcher of film and TV I could better understand what Evangelion did to me. It wasn't addictive enjoyable escapism like Dragonball it was a psychological thunderstorm that scarred my young soul. I watched it a too young age at the time and I notice that the ages where I put it as my favorite are actually the period of time when it's psychological impact hit me the hardest.

When I was 22 I decided to re-watch the whole series, from an adult perspective the psychological impact was not the same but I still found it an extremely impressive series.

Also one would clearly notice that I had watched significant amounts of anime when I was very young. That is certainly related to the fact that I am a fan of Japanese popular culture right now and that many of my current favorite movies and TV series are anime as I was conditioned to the language of manga from an young age. Somebody who began watching anime from an purely mature adult perspective will not understand it in the same way as I do. Same applies for Hollywood movies as well and other products of American pop culture.

Also after watching EVA and similar more mature anime titles (EVA was originally made for teenagers like Yu Yu Hakusho, but it features some very mature elements specially if compared to western cartoons) I knew that anime was a serious adult medium already at such young age.

Rome (ages 16-20)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uocQ8t9K9FA

Now that I was, well, quite old for "cartoons" it was a "good thing" that finally my top TV series was live action (though deep down the main reason why I stopped watching anime at this period in life was because I was scared of it's potential emotional impact like happened in Evangelion and Lain (which I watched a few years later and it was also very powerful but not became my favorite atop EVA)).

Rome is incredible, as historical mini-series made in the recent past it is perhaps the best and features a combination of great performances, great writing and set designs. The fact that I am a fan of classical history also further increased my pleasure in watching this masterpiece of TV.

Babylon 5 (ages 21-23)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXbKKhEZVVk

Watched it after a recommendation in science fiction forums. Indeed, best American science fiction show ever made and my favorite TV show for several years. Although the acting is a bit spotty the writing more than compensates and I loved the world building.

Puella Magi Madoka Magica (ages 24 - )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YByj8YgVLYw

And back to anime after a brief excursion through English speaking TV (not tht I ever completely stopped). :D But for the first time in a decade it felt like EVA and Lain again but from a bit more adult perspective it felt greater and way more cool as well as better executed than both of these classic series. Plowied through anime series like crazy in the first months after watching this but I don't think I will be able to top it: this is just operating on a level far above any other type of audiovisual media produced in the last decade. I think that it is a safer bet that my tastes will change and them my favorite TV series will change rather than finding something to top it.

[Guaporense]

26) Kaiba (2008)

http://cdn.myanimelist.net/images/anime/7/13193.jpg

Really great series. Kaiba features some really amazing atmosphere and art design, rivaling the aesthetics of well established science fiction masterpieces like Blade Runner while surpassing them in emotional power. The use of The character and set designs of Kaiba are simple, lacking the sophistication of most other recent anime series and harking back to children's anime from the 1970's, however, they still possess great beauty and in a way produce a magical effect as if it were a children's series for adults. In terms of feel it reminded me of Matsumoto's work like Galaxy Express 999 and Space Battleship Yamato, but done for strictly adult audiences.

The world depicted in the series in incomparably sad and brutal. A world where people's memories can be stored and hence the physical dead of the body does not imply in the ending of the self, as result the series deal with common themes of cyberpunk sci fi genre (like Ghost in the Shell, for another famous example) but also works on a visual level being very creative in it's use of animation, one of the reasons why it won the excellence prize in animation in the Japan Media Arts Festival.

[Guaporense]

My new additions, not writing long reviews because I am tired:

27) Space Battleship Yamato 2199 (2013)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/63/Yamato_2199.jpg/230px-Yamato_2199.jpg

Great sci fi battle space opera.

28) Now and Then, Here and There (1999)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/1/10/Now_and_Then_Here_and_There.png/230px-Now_and_Then_Here_and_There.png

Super powerful emotional drama about the brutality of total war. Kinda like Grave of the Fireflies mixed in with Miyazaki's Conan.

29) Ping Pong: The Animation (2014)
http://cdn.myanimelist.net/images/anime/10/58041.jpg

Best anime series of the past 3 years. A total masterpiece, similar to Madoka in the sense that it succeeds in all fronts.

[Zotis]

I'm going to have to check out that ping pong one!

[Guaporense]

I was really skeptical about it but it ended up being really great. IMO it is the best sports screen fiction I ever watched.

[Guaporense]

Also forgot to include this masterpiece:

30. Detroit Metal City (2008)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4D8J_sywY00

Japanese don't know much about metal but it's a great series. It's supposed to be a metal band but the opening song sounds a bit more punk mixed in with metal, anyway expecting them to nail it would be a bit too much, it's a great series, though I don't know if you can classify it as TV since it was released as an OVA.

Some parts I loved from the show:

Rap vs Metal:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHHto0cJOqs

"Mad Monster"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBfypZyxJO0

My top comedies of all time would be: Seinfield, City Lights, Dr. Strangelove and Detroit Metal City. :)

[Guaporense]

31. I Claudius

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/c/c7/I_Claudius_titles.jpg/250px-I_Claudius_titles.jpg

As a roman history buff I couldn't complain about I Claudius, it's closer to the historical accounts than almost any production featuring Ancient Rome (either film or tv). It's certainly among the greatest of TV series, an early one, from the 1970's, before TV have reached it's golden age (well Miyazaki's Conan and Gundam are from the same decade, also great works of art).

The performances are all great and many of the characters are simultaneously monsters and humans. A sad story, detailing the brutality that was the Early Imperial Roman family, a single dynasty (the Julio Claudians) ruling over the Ancient World. Touching TV series, of cinematic quality.

It's on youtube by the way:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlgeQUHSetk

[Guaporense]

32. El Chavo (1971-80)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLhsGNCWr0Q

Any idiot can watch a couple of Bergman films and claims he/she has watched something of great artistic achievement. However, it requires true "effort" to extract the artistic greatness underneath the apparent garbage of El Chavo, which makes the show so much more rewarding. :D It's a true masterpiece of low key comedy for the ages. It's timeless approach to comedy transcends temporal and cultural barriers between Latin American countries. Even today El Chavo airs regularly on Brazilian TV stations. It's a TV series that exudes the culture of the Latin world system and causes deep emotional resonance to people of our culture. :D

I don't know what non-Latinos would expect from it though. I guess they wouldn't like it.

[jiraffejustin]

32. El Chavo (1971-80)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLhsGNCWr0Q

Any idiot can watch a couple of Bergman films and claims he/she has watched something of great artistic achievement. However, it requires true "effort" to extract the artistic greatness underneath the apparent garbage of El Chavo, which makes the show so much more rewarding. :D It's a true masterpiece of low key comedy for the ages. It's timeless approach to comedy transcends temporal and cultural barriers between Latin American countries. Even today El Chavo airs regularly on Brazilian TV stations. It's a TV series that exudes the culture of the Latin world system and causes deep emotional resonance to people of our culture. :D

I don't know what non-Latinos would expect from it though. I guess they wouldn't like it.

That show was ALWAYS on at this taqueria I used to go to. I think I'd give it a shot if I could find it with subtitles.

[Guaporense]

I don't think it's easy to find it with English subtitles. In fact I posted it as a joke, you should watch Ping Pong instead.

[Guaporense]

Done with El Chavo joke! :D While it's jokes are funny the shows lacks any actual artistic substance and complexity (unlike, for instance, Seinfeld).

32. Shirobako (2014-2015)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mp9-T3p2dM

There exists many animated series in Japan that claim to be classics, but few of these rise above the others to become genuine masterpieces. One such masterpiece, a rather subtle one considering it took me some time to really "get it", is Shirobako.

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/thumbnails/max500x600/encyc/A16189-2182528279.1411298434.jpg

I began watching it four months ago, at beginning it didn't appear to be an above average series. However, when I was halfway through it's 24 episodes that it's greatness began to show itself.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjLn-iRDFFA

Now I personally think it's one of the great masterpieces of the Japanese genre that focus on the mundane occurrences of real life. In this case it's an accurate portrait of the Japanese animation industry through the eyes of five girls who were friends in highschool who promised each other to make an animated movie in the future.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNPSIK_k4ak

As a show made by those who love what they make which portrays exactly their own work experience. Japanese fiction is generally distinguished for it's realism and Shirobako is one of the newest examples in the tradition (but not inferior to previous ones in any way), stretching all the way to Ozu in the realm of subtle comedy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCGQVe627As

I think this is perhaps the greatest animated comedy series ever made. And the animation is stellar quality. Better than Disney's movies from the 1990's IMO (less framerate but more physical realism).