My top #5 Anime series

Hello all!

My two biggest hobbies are probably playing video games and watching anime and for the former I have already dedicated a blog. I realized that while I love playing video games I have long gameless periods when I mainly watch anime. Now I'm having one of those periods and I'd like to write about the anime I have recently watched.

I can't count Tanoshii Muumin Ikka and Pokémon as my first anime series since I didn't even realize back then that I was watching Japanese animation. What sparked my interest in anime was probably reading "Detective Conan" in elementary school but I think it goes a little farther than that. I was much younger when I watched anime together with my brother. Even though the subtitles were a bit too fast to read, I remember enjoying the colors and music in Jungle Wa Itsumo Hare Nochi Guu. It would take me another 10 years to watch the series from beginning to end while understanding everything, but I have still counted Hare Guu as my first anime.

As an easy start I will now list my all time favorite anime series. They are in no particular order because they are all from very different genres and that makes it difficult to compare them. On top of that, after pondering for a while I came to the realization that I love all of them equally. So, let's begin!

Monster

This is probably one of the first anime series that really blew my mind. It's one of those anime that you think you have the hang of, until something dramatic happens and changes the rules once again. I've never enjoyed anime series that are too long, but with only 74 episodes Monster left me craving for more. So far I've watched Monster only thrice, but I have a feeling that I need to watch it again soon.

Monster tells the story of Kenzou Tenma, a Japanese brain surgeon living in Germany. He's living the perfect life - about to be promoted at work and married to the hospital's director's beautiful, yet superficial daughter. Everything changes when Tenma thinks he makes the right choice. Instead of performing surgery on the mayor like he's supposed to, he decides to save the life of a young boy with a bullet wound on his head. Murders start to take place around the young boy he saved, and Tenma starts to doubt his own moral guidelines.

 Hana Yori Dango

This is in my opinion the best shoujo series out there. The anime is amazing, the manga even more so and I also love the live action series and films. The main story may seem a bit basic but with 51 episodes Hana Yori Dango has a lot to tell. And now I feel like watching the series again...

The story revolves around Makino Tsukushi, a girl from a poor family who enters the prestigious school of the rich, Eitoku Gakuen. She wants to finish her studies while going unnoticed, until one day she gets a "red note" from the school's Flower-four, F4 (school's most popular male students). This is the beginning of Tsukushi's torture at school but it is also the start of an unthinkable romance.

 Hajime no Ippo

I can't think of many sports anime that have made my heart bump like Hajime no Ippo. It's a long series with many seasons but in my opinion it manages to keep up it's quality up to the very last episodes. The beginning of the series was a bit boring but don't stop there! It gets a lot better.

Makunouchi Ippo is a bullied high school student. One day he gets rescued from his bullies by a guy with amazing reflexes and boxing skills. This event changes his life for good. Determined to become stronger, Ippo begs the man to teach him boxing.

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (Kai)

Higurashi is a series with loads of mystery and gore. When I was younger I enjoyed the first season more but watching the series again with my fiance I realized that the second season is much better. While the first season is much creepier, I enjoy the twists in the second season.

Hinamizawa is a seemingly quiet and peaceful village where Maebara Keiichi and his family move to in summer 1983. Keiichi becomes friends with four girls at his new school without realizing at first that they all have dark secrets in their past. Around the annual festival Keiichi discovers about the many murders plaguing Hinamizawa village in recent years. After learning too much about the legends of Hinamizawa, weird events start occurring around Keiichi.

 Sword Art Online

This is the newest series on my favorites list since I only finished watching the first season this year. Usually when I talk about SAO I talk about the first season. I've watched the two first episodes of season 2 but didn't like it enough to continue watching. I love SAO because as a video gamer the characters are so relateable.

The story begins with Kirito (his online name) immersing himself into the virtual reality of Sword Art Online. The game is accessed through a "Nervegear" that enables the players to move their characters through mere thought. The twist in the plot happens early on in the anime - the 10,000 or so players cannot log out of the game, and if they die in the game they also die in the real world. The only way to escape the gruesome world of Aincrad is to complete all hundred levels of the game.

I have a few series I'm currently watching so I'll probably write again soon. Until then!