Well just in time for Thanksgiving, I give you the final 4 of the list.
Warning rather LONG post.
#4-1
#4
FLCL (Synch-Point)
There is no question, no contest that Gainax and Production I.G's six-part OVA is the coolest thing ever created by human beings. By filling it with everything he loved, director Kazuya Tsurumaki created a universal tale of the trials of growing up, a tale that's spectacularly bizarre and entertaining. Naota is already dealing with his big brother's absence when he's hit on the head by self-proclaimed alien Haruko Haruhara. And then the robots start bursting from his head. And then come the space pirates, arson, a giant hand, a guy with seaweed for eyebrows and so much more (including an obese cat voiced by Evangelion director Hideaki Anno). And thanks to the incredible music from guitar gods the pillows, the whole thing rocks harder than every other anime. "It's compact but complete, and enjoyable viewing it just once or a hundred times," says Broccoli International USA's director of operations Shizuki Yamashita, who helped produce FLCL's U.S. adaptation. "There's so many layers in this simple boy-gets-hit-with-a-bass-guitar-by-an-alien-girl-on-a-Vespa story."
#3
Millennium Actress (Dreamworks)
Satoshi Kon impressed many with his psychological thriller Perfect Blue, but his reputation as one of anime's leading minds was cemented by Millennium Actress, a heartbreaking cinematic masterpiece. Filmmaker Tachibana and his unconvinced cameraman sit down for an interview with retired film star Chiyoko, who was inspired as a child to become an actress while harboring a wanted man for one night. Despite his short stay, Chiyoko fell in love with the artist, who left behind a key to his art case. Determined to return the key, she became an actress in order to travel the world, hoping he'd one day recognize her on the silver screen. Her career spanned playing a princess in ancient Japan to a space-age astronaut, and the interviewers are pulled in for a strikingly real ride through her roles. Each echoes her eternal quest and surrounds he filmmakers as she recounts her experiences. Tachibana becomes her overlooked protector, shielding her in real life during an on-set earthquake. Yet Tachibana also learns a heavy truth: Chiyoko will never find the man she seeks. A marvelous journey into magical realism, the film is a dizzying blend of visual technique and masterful storytelling. Like Chiyoko's many roles, a number of animation styles were employed, allowing the characters to slip out of time and into her memory. Yet there's more to it that pretty images, and the film's emotional appeal and character make it an instant classic.
#2
Porco Rosso (Buena Vista)
There are a lot of Hayao Miyazaki films on this list, and rightly so. So why does Porco Rosso, one of Miyazaki's least known films, rank ahead of such classics as Nausicaa, Totoro, and Cagliostro? The answer simply is that Porco Rosso is perfect. A longtime lover of airplanes and flight, Miyazaki truly soars in this movie, creating a film that's funny, sad, amazing and entertaining all at once. The eponymous pig is Marco, a former WWI Italian fighter pilot who became so disgusted with humanity he literally turned into a humanoid swine. Now a bounty hunter, he deals with rival flying gangs, a mechanically minded young girl, a suave American and Gina, the woman he loves but can never tell. There are thrilling dogfights, unspoken romance, comedy and the specter of WWII looming all over the whole production, casting a pall that truly lifts Porco's deceptively simple tale into the realm of masterpiece. The film is more sophisticated than Totoro, less preachy than Nausicaa and Mononoke and just as adventurous and entertaining as Cagliostro, but with a maturity and melancholy that turns Porco into the most perfect film Miyazaki has ever made. Perhaps it's because the planes-one of Miyazaki's favorite subjects-are so prominent in Porco Rosso that the filmmaker's talent is so pervasive throughout the film, and his joy is so clear. Or maybe it's because the gruff, disillusioned Porco is the closest character to Miyazaki that has ever appeared in his films.
#1
Cowboy Bebop (Bandai)
There's a good reason that Cowboy Bebop ran on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block for four straight years, despite there only being 26 episodes. It's because Cowboy Bebop is the most devastatingly entertaining anime ever made, and watching it eight times in a row is still more fun than watching virtually anything else. It's not just because of the decidedly down-to-earth sci-fi setting of 2071, which looks alot like today, but with interplanetary travel. It's not the fully realized characters, who are unique and individual without ever sacrificing believability, and have fantastic designs by Toshihiro Kawamoto. It's not just the action, as these guys fly through the solar system hunting for criminals for bounties. And it's not just the incredible jazz and blues score, composed by Yoko Kanno at her most creative and prolific. Cowboy Bebop is the best because it is all those things, and no other anime is. The show revolves around Spike Spiegel, a bounty hunter who used to work for organized crime; his partner is the former cop Jet Black,and together they seek criminals while planet-hopping in their spaceship, the Bebop. They're quickly joined by the beautiful gambling addict Faye Valentine, whose past is a mystery even to her; the young and totally spastic hacker Ed; and the Welsh Corgi dog Ein, who's likely smarter than them all. They hunt for bounties together and deal with killers, space truckers, mushrooms, spoiled food and their pasts, especially Spike, whose former crime connections and former love collide to form Bebop's incredible finale. But mainly, the four characters are so fun, so cool, so real, they form a family that every viewer feels a part of, and wants to watch again...and again...for years straight evidently. Add to that the music, which contains easily the best soundtrack ever created for an anime. From the bass-heavy, bongo-filled opening theme "Tank!," Bebop's cool is blatantly obvious; and despite all the jazz and rock bent, Yokko Kanno explores-literally-every single musical genre during Bebop's 26 episodes, and probably some that didn't exist previously. From baroque techno to romantic heavy metal, Kanno does it all, with help from her band The Seatbelts. If there's any one element that made Bebop so unique when it first aired in 1998, it's Kanno's music. Whether you are just want to see an episode or are planning on having a marathon. Bebop really does have it all. There are stories focusing on action, on comedy, on the dramatic, troubled pasts of each of its characters, but each episode has something for everybody and, like life, usually mixes them all up together. Whether the plot is set on a decidedly Western planet or features a dogfight in space, it's always familiar; it's science fiction at its most accessible. And whether the episodes are stand-alone or follow the overarching plot of Spike's past catching up with him, Bebop is never anything but captivating and entertaining.
Warning rather LONG post.
#4-1
#4
FLCL (Synch-Point)
There is no question, no contest that Gainax and Production I.G's six-part OVA is the coolest thing ever created by human beings. By filling it with everything he loved, director Kazuya Tsurumaki created a universal tale of the trials of growing up, a tale that's spectacularly bizarre and entertaining. Naota is already dealing with his big brother's absence when he's hit on the head by self-proclaimed alien Haruko Haruhara. And then the robots start bursting from his head. And then come the space pirates, arson, a giant hand, a guy with seaweed for eyebrows and so much more (including an obese cat voiced by Evangelion director Hideaki Anno). And thanks to the incredible music from guitar gods the pillows, the whole thing rocks harder than every other anime. "It's compact but complete, and enjoyable viewing it just once or a hundred times," says Broccoli International USA's director of operations Shizuki Yamashita, who helped produce FLCL's U.S. adaptation. "There's so many layers in this simple boy-gets-hit-with-a-bass-guitar-by-an-alien-girl-on-a-Vespa story."
#3
Millennium Actress (Dreamworks)
Satoshi Kon impressed many with his psychological thriller Perfect Blue, but his reputation as one of anime's leading minds was cemented by Millennium Actress, a heartbreaking cinematic masterpiece. Filmmaker Tachibana and his unconvinced cameraman sit down for an interview with retired film star Chiyoko, who was inspired as a child to become an actress while harboring a wanted man for one night. Despite his short stay, Chiyoko fell in love with the artist, who left behind a key to his art case. Determined to return the key, she became an actress in order to travel the world, hoping he'd one day recognize her on the silver screen. Her career spanned playing a princess in ancient Japan to a space-age astronaut, and the interviewers are pulled in for a strikingly real ride through her roles. Each echoes her eternal quest and surrounds he filmmakers as she recounts her experiences. Tachibana becomes her overlooked protector, shielding her in real life during an on-set earthquake. Yet Tachibana also learns a heavy truth: Chiyoko will never find the man she seeks. A marvelous journey into magical realism, the film is a dizzying blend of visual technique and masterful storytelling. Like Chiyoko's many roles, a number of animation styles were employed, allowing the characters to slip out of time and into her memory. Yet there's more to it that pretty images, and the film's emotional appeal and character make it an instant classic.
#2
Porco Rosso (Buena Vista)
There are a lot of Hayao Miyazaki films on this list, and rightly so. So why does Porco Rosso, one of Miyazaki's least known films, rank ahead of such classics as Nausicaa, Totoro, and Cagliostro? The answer simply is that Porco Rosso is perfect. A longtime lover of airplanes and flight, Miyazaki truly soars in this movie, creating a film that's funny, sad, amazing and entertaining all at once. The eponymous pig is Marco, a former WWI Italian fighter pilot who became so disgusted with humanity he literally turned into a humanoid swine. Now a bounty hunter, he deals with rival flying gangs, a mechanically minded young girl, a suave American and Gina, the woman he loves but can never tell. There are thrilling dogfights, unspoken romance, comedy and the specter of WWII looming all over the whole production, casting a pall that truly lifts Porco's deceptively simple tale into the realm of masterpiece. The film is more sophisticated than Totoro, less preachy than Nausicaa and Mononoke and just as adventurous and entertaining as Cagliostro, but with a maturity and melancholy that turns Porco into the most perfect film Miyazaki has ever made. Perhaps it's because the planes-one of Miyazaki's favorite subjects-are so prominent in Porco Rosso that the filmmaker's talent is so pervasive throughout the film, and his joy is so clear. Or maybe it's because the gruff, disillusioned Porco is the closest character to Miyazaki that has ever appeared in his films.
#1
Cowboy Bebop (Bandai)
There's a good reason that Cowboy Bebop ran on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block for four straight years, despite there only being 26 episodes. It's because Cowboy Bebop is the most devastatingly entertaining anime ever made, and watching it eight times in a row is still more fun than watching virtually anything else. It's not just because of the decidedly down-to-earth sci-fi setting of 2071, which looks alot like today, but with interplanetary travel. It's not the fully realized characters, who are unique and individual without ever sacrificing believability, and have fantastic designs by Toshihiro Kawamoto. It's not just the action, as these guys fly through the solar system hunting for criminals for bounties. And it's not just the incredible jazz and blues score, composed by Yoko Kanno at her most creative and prolific. Cowboy Bebop is the best because it is all those things, and no other anime is. The show revolves around Spike Spiegel, a bounty hunter who used to work for organized crime; his partner is the former cop Jet Black,and together they seek criminals while planet-hopping in their spaceship, the Bebop. They're quickly joined by the beautiful gambling addict Faye Valentine, whose past is a mystery even to her; the young and totally spastic hacker Ed; and the Welsh Corgi dog Ein, who's likely smarter than them all. They hunt for bounties together and deal with killers, space truckers, mushrooms, spoiled food and their pasts, especially Spike, whose former crime connections and former love collide to form Bebop's incredible finale. But mainly, the four characters are so fun, so cool, so real, they form a family that every viewer feels a part of, and wants to watch again...and again...for years straight evidently. Add to that the music, which contains easily the best soundtrack ever created for an anime. From the bass-heavy, bongo-filled opening theme "Tank!," Bebop's cool is blatantly obvious; and despite all the jazz and rock bent, Yokko Kanno explores-literally-every single musical genre during Bebop's 26 episodes, and probably some that didn't exist previously. From baroque techno to romantic heavy metal, Kanno does it all, with help from her band The Seatbelts. If there's any one element that made Bebop so unique when it first aired in 1998, it's Kanno's music. Whether you are just want to see an episode or are planning on having a marathon. Bebop really does have it all. There are stories focusing on action, on comedy, on the dramatic, troubled pasts of each of its characters, but each episode has something for everybody and, like life, usually mixes them all up together. Whether the plot is set on a decidedly Western planet or features a dogfight in space, it's always familiar; it's science fiction at its most accessible. And whether the episodes are stand-alone or follow the overarching plot of Spike's past catching up with him, Bebop is never anything but captivating and entertaining.
