Utena's a great series, but I can't honestly say it's my favorite.  I'm pretty much a fan of almost all the anime I write about in my fan fiction... mostly Devil Lady, Tenchi Universe and Azumanga Daioh

Utena's my second, I'd say. Holding that #1 is The Five Star Stories. Great art, epic storyline, wonderful execution...really, the only reason more people haven't heard of it is because its English release ended prematurely.

Up until a few months ago, my answer would have been an unshakable yes. After having experienced Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, I'm... not sure.

I respect Utena for it's depth, but I'm a sucker for action/suave badassery sometimes, and FMAB feeds that desire like nothing I've ever experienced before.

I don't really watch much anime anymore, when I do watch something it's because I set out to do so, and rarely am I disappointed.

Series I've seen (semi-recently) and enjoyed (Besides Utena and FMAB)

Berserk (Manga! Sweet holy hell the manga... it's become rather difficult to follow in later chapters, but I just can't get enough of Gattsu overcoming Lovecraft-esque horrors through sheer force of will. The guy makes just about every other conceivable badass character look pathetic by comparison...)
Cowboy Bebop
Black Lagoon
Kikaider
Escaflowne

I can't think of any more right now on that front T_T

Movies:
Hellsing Ultimate
Ghost in the Shell
Akira
Howl's Moving Castle
Princess Mononoke
Nausicaa (I haven't seen the rest of Miazaki's works)

Again, There are more I've seen that I don't have the memory for :\

Honestly, I'm not a huge anime fan. I did watch a few series back in high school, but it kinda dwindled after that. However, SKU has always stuck and, in all likelihood, will remain in my top anime list for quite some time.

The only other things I've watched are:

Trigun (pretty good, short and sweet)
RockMan.EXE (Good jap, terrible eng)
Shaman King (only saw the dub, still liked it)
YuGiOh (Hey, it's alright)
Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni (dub was actually pretty damn good)
Nausicaa of the Spirited Away Castle (all pretty good)
Grave of the Fireflies (damn you, diseases!)


And then there's animu-like games, like:

Tales of Symphonia (in my Top 3 Games for life)
Tales of Legendia (AMAZING soundtrack)
Tales of the Abyss [Why are Lowenthal and Bosch in everything?! (Not complaining about O'Brian or Platt, though )]
Persona 3 (dark, ominous, pretty decent, if you can look past Fuuka)
Persona 4 (a bit too weeaboo-y for me)
Star Ocean: Till the End of Time (Long, good, but not high on the replay value)
Rogue Galaxy (nice idea, short, not as cool as it could have been)


That's all I can think of...

Please Save my Earth (OVA + manga)
Legend of Basara (+ manga)
Loveless (+manga)
Pet Shop of Horrors (OVA + manga)
No. 6 (+ novel)

Decrescent Daytripper wrote:

I have an inexplicable attraction to the (nominally not that good) dub of PSME.

Is the Pet Shop of Horrors anime really that good, gorgeousshutin? Is it very close to the manga?

PSME's most dramatic parts happen in the manga vols 7-21 after the OVAs, so those are a must get for any serious fan.  The manga has a sequel, but its mainly wish fulfillment fluff/filler and can be ignored IMHO.

As for Pet Shop, the OVAs are fairly atmospheric, but the plot do deviate quite a bit from the manga.  And, on the manga side, the Tokyo Sequel is no where near as good as the original series.

Valeli wrote:

I remember I liked one of the Kenshin things a lot... I think it was an OVA of four episodes or so, but I'm not sure... it's been a long time since I watched that. But it was pretty and well done.

You're most likely talking about Rurouni Kenshin: Tsuiokuhen (Trust and Betrayal), which is, in my opinion, a masterwork.

Utena is unquestionably my most favorite anime. Prior to three years ago, I couldn't have answered that definitively, but returning to the franchise after over five years was truly like coming home. I am definitely a Born Again Utenian. (If you so wish, you can read about the experience in incredible detail here.)

But I've been watching anime continuously for roughly 15 years now. There have been so many wonderful stories. I've been a truly fortunate person to have been able to partake of so many. Here's a short and doubtless very incomplete list of some of the ones that have special meaning for me:

Aria (all seasons)
Maria-sama ga Miteru
Battle Athletes (OVA and TV)
Haibane Renmei
Kaleido Star (season 1 only)
Kannazuki no Miko
Simoun
NieA_7 ("Niea Under Seven")
Someday's Dreamers
Kids on the Slope
Princess Nine
Rose of Versailles
Tamayura
Ace wo Nerae!
Pretear
Shugo Chara!
Figure 17
Millennium Actress
Blue Drop
Yawara!
The Story of Saiunkoku
Chihayafuru
Skip Beat!
Aoi Hana
Hidamari Sketch
Sketchbook ~Full Color's~
Spice & Wolf
Mouretsu Pirates
Air Master
Paradise Kiss
Taisho Yakyuu Musume
Dirty Pair (both original and Flash, but the original is unarguably vastly superior)
Hataraki Man
Yakushiji Ryoko's Mysterious Case File
Junjou Romantica
Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi
Seirei no Moribito
Yami to Boushi to Hon no Tabibito
Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha
You're Under Arrest!
Cleopatra D.C.
Binbou Shimai Monogatari
Vision of Escaflowne
Shamanic Princess
Corrector Yui (never been able to finish this, sadly. Subs don't exist.)

That'll do for a start...this list is by no means grouped in any sort of way. Some of these are merely shows I thought were well done and thoroughly entertaining, while others had profound meaning and left deep and lasting impressions on me. However, with the exception of Utena, perhaps none more so than...

Sailor Moon.

This was the show that brought me into anime. It was a dramatic love affair, complete with a tragic ending in that I never got to finish it in my youth, but that story is an entire other post (or thread). Its only very recently that I've been able to watch the entire 200 episodes thanks to the wonderful people at Sailor Moon Center, and it truly is one of my most treasured shows, both for its contribution to my past and my enjoyment of it in the present.

(Also, as chance would have it, I just happened to start watching Legend of the Galactic Heroes recently. I'm only a few episodes in, but enjoying it a lot so far.)

Last edited by Aelanie (11-20-2012 02:04:59 AM)

Wow, seems like Utena fans have similar tastes! Pretty much all the series I love have had a mention already.

For me it's always been a toss-up between Utena and Oniisama E. I love all the symbolism and quirky stuff in Utena, buuuut... on the other hand, Oniisama E has St Just.

Other shows that are awesome:
Simoun
Marimite
Haibane Renmei
Madoka
Paranoia Agent
Kaze to ki no uta (manga)

Before Utena became my favorite anime, it was One Piece. And not to say that I made a bad decision in being a fan of that but...wow, I think Utena's got a lot more to offer for me. I wasn't really into in-depth discussions when it came to OP. Suffice to say, SKU's lit that "let's discuss everything until our brains hurt" fire in me.

I do appreciate other things like Magic Knight Rayearth, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Ceres: Celestial Legend (I haven't watched it in a long time; bear with me!), and--more recently--Mawaru Penguindrum. I used to be big into anime when I was still a teen but now that I'm reaching my 21st birthday I've taken the route of watching anime that predates me and playing video games in my spare time.

I deeply regret not finding Utena sooner though. I was always interested in watching it but never took the time to do so. ;

Revolutionary girl utena is my favorite anime along Neon genesis Evangelion and Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann(and other anime that I will not mention)

I've seen Basara, and I remember liking it, but I couldn't tell you the first thing about it, except that there's a sort of Mulan/Twelfth Night thing going on, and a hot springs episode.

Ah! I've watched a bit of Basara, but I stopped because Netflix kept bugging up on me every time I watched it.

But that doesn't mean that I didn't enjoy it! I've been thinking of picking it up again, actually.