Your "10 out of 10" shows

[something]

(Note, this isn't for you stingy people who insist that only 1-2 shows ever should get ranked with whatever the highest ranking in a given system is. You're boring!)

Short version: Another overly analytical and overly long thread about anime you've seen! I'm interested in what sort of shows have become your "10/10" series. How many are there? How do you define them? Does looking at the list surprise you, if you've been keeping it for awhile? Are there shows you didn't think you gave a 10, or shows you think you should have? Do you revisit your top ranked shows and cull ones that fell out of favor? How many sequels?

This isn't just a list of your Top 10 favorites, mind you.

I'm basing this off my list at ANN. If you keep a "seen" list elsewhere, use whatever is comparable to 10/10. Like, 5.0/5.0 (with 1/2 pt steps), high 90's out of 100, A+, etc. I've never made a full sweep of the ANN db to fully update my lists, but currently I'm at Seen some (224) / Seen all (370). Generally I only rate Seen all shows, and only finish shows I like at least a little I only have 12 shows from 0-3. So my median is 8, average is 7.49. I've toyed with the idea of rating the Seen Some shows, which would definitely really lower median and average, but never got around to it.

Regardless, the point is that I've only given 10/10 to 25 of 369(593) shows, including all my Top 10 shows.

First, the list:
Air (TV) (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=2480), 　　Aria the Origination (TV) (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=8657), 　　Azumanga Daiou (TV) (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=799), 　　Clannad (TV) (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=7809), 　　Clannad After Story (TV) (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=9701), 　　Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion (TV) (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=6704), 　　Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 (TV) (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=9173), 　　ef - a tale of memories (TV) (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=8192), 　　Full Moon wo Sagashite (TV) (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=872), 　　Heroic Age (TV) (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=7627), 　　Hidamari Sketch (special) (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=8695), 　　Hidamari Sketch × 365 (TV) (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=8989), 　　Kanon (TV 2/2006) (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=6431), 　　Lucky Star (TV) (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=7222), 　　Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha (TV) (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=4576), 　　Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha A's (TV) (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=5770), 　　Martian Successor Nadesico (TV) (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=42), 　　My-HiME (TV) (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=4155), 　　My-Otome (TV) (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=5378), 　　Scrapped Princess (TV) (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=2083), 　　Serial Experiments Lain (TV) (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=166), 　　Stellvia of the Universe(TV) (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=74), 　　Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu (TV) (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=6430), 　　Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (TV) (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=6698), 　　Touka Gettan (TV) (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=7508)

Note: Most likely next addition will be Toradora, barring an apocolyptic collapse the likes of which has never been seen before. Possibly Marimite 4th.
　　
Unique franchises: Of those 25 shows, we have 20 franchises. Note that this is broken up by individual production, which is how ANN does it.
　　
Shows with multiple entries:
　　Clannad + After Story
　　Code Geass + R2
　　Hidamari Sketch x 365 + S1 specials
　　Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha + A's
　　My-HiME + My-Otome
Other parts of 10/10 franchises that scored less than 10/10:
　　Air in Summer - 9/10
　　Aria the Animation - 9/10;　　Aria the Natural - 9/10
　　ef - a tale of melodies - 8/10
　　Hidamari Sketch - 9/10
　　Lucky Star OVA - 9/10
　　Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS - 6/10
　　My-Otome Zwei - 7/10;　　My-Otome S.ifr - 7/10
Shows by animation studio - unique/(total):
　　Kyoto Animation - 5/(6) - Clannadx2, LS, Haruhi, Air, Kanon
　　Xebec - 3/(3) - Nadesico, Heroic, Stellvia
　　Sunrise - 2/(4) - Geassx2, HiME/Otome
　　SHAFT - 2/(3) - Hidamarix2, ef-memo
　　Studio Deen - 2/(2) - FMoS, Touka
　　Seven Arcs - 1/(2) - Nanohax2
　　J.C. Staff - 1/(1) - Azu
　　Gainax - 1/(1) - TTGL
　　Hal Film Maker - 1/(1) - Aria Orig.
　　BONES - 1/(1) - SutePri
　　Triangle Staff - 1/(1) - Lain　　
5 "Weakest" 10/10s:
　　Heroic Age, Full Moon wo Sagashite, Martian Successor Nadesico, Scrapped Princess, Serial Experiments Lain
5 "Strongest" 9/10s (with no related 10/10 series):
　　Gakuen Utopia Manabi Straight!, Maria-sama ga Miteru (3rd season?), Kaleido Star, GitS:SAC (1st?), Honey & Clover (2nd?)
Type of release (TV, OVA, Movie, ONA, etc):　　
　　TV series - ALL
　　Anything else - NONE [Hidamari specials aired on TV]
Length [of whole franchise, including sub-10/10 parts]:
　　~1 cour - 3 - Haruhi, Air, Lain
　　~2 cour - 11 - Azu, ef, TTGL, Heroic, Hidamari, Kanon, LS, Nadesico, SutePri, Stellvia, Touka
　　~3 cour - 0
　　~4 cour - 6 - Aria, Clannad, Geass, FMoS, Nanoha, HiME/Otome,
　　~5+ cour - 0Anyway, you don't need to take such a statistical approach, just thinking about it and answering some of the questions I posed at the start works fine. My list doesn't surprise me a lot. I know I haven't often downgraded 10/10 series (only Evangelion and maybe KareKano dropping to 9 come to mind), so it seems like I just don't give out too many.

Rating is, of course, more art than science. I almost always rate immediately after finishing, and it's all just pure gut feeling. But looking at my list, it doesn't seem like I dish out tens easily in a fit of euphoria (9's maybe, but not 10's), and for the most part the ones I have given it to deserve it.

There are probably some franchises I'd consider an overall 10/10 for, as sometimes cumulative effect is greater than the sum of the parts. Major examples are Honey & Clover, GitS:Stand Alone Complex, and above all Maria-sama ga Miteru.

No surprise at KyoAni's dominance either. They are by far the studio with the highest average, as everything they've done ranks 10 or 9 except for Munto OVA 1 at 7. The TV series is on track for an 8 or 9, but will may miss 9 due to its extreme short length (nine eps wtf) and bizarrely unique circumstances.

As for content, based on unique franchises:

- 5 of 20 franchises originated as visual novels - Air, Clannad, Kanon, ef, Touka
- 8 of 20 are anime original - Geass, TTGL, Heroic, Nadesico, HiME/Otome, Lain, Stellvia and yes I'm counting Nanoha
- 2 of 20 are based on light novels - Haruhi, SutePri. Will grow with Toradora and possibly Marimite 4th.
- 5 of 20 are based on manga - Aria, Azu, FMoS, Hidamari, LS
- 15 of 20 involve numerous elementary, middle or high school aged characters (who actually attend a school) - all but TTGL, Heroic, Nadesico, and SutePri. Aria is a tossup, only Alice goes to school, but the three singles/pairs are in that "zone". I didn't count it in the end though.
- 7 of 20 can be argued to be contemporary school life anime - Haruhi, Azu, Clannad, ef, Hidamari, Kanon, LS. Touka is too weird to count. Contemporary knocks out Stellvia and Otome; Nanoha, Aria, Lain, HiME and Geass don't spend enough time in class. I don't think we ever see Air's Misuzu in school.
- 1 of 20 is shoujo - FMoS only. But I really do like shoujo! I think in large part it's because there not as much of it. As mentioned, H&C and Marimite are serious contenders for 10/10 on a franchise basis.
- 4 of 20 have significant mecha elements - Geass, TTGL, Heroic, Nadesico. Stellvia seems borderline at best, HiME/Otome have machine elements but not really mecha.
- 7 of 20 involve significant war/battles - Geass, TTGL, Heroic, Nadesico, Nanoha, HiME/Otome, SutePri
- 4 of 20 have no real plot, or are "slice of life", if you will - Aria, Azu, Hidamari, LS
- 7 of 20 have made me cry seriously, more than just sniffling or tearing up, and in more than one episode - Air, Aria, Clannad, FMoS, TTGL, Kanon, Nanoha. I can't remember if ef-memo qualifies, but it'd be close. Most of the rest did it at least once. Hard to distinguish between sad and happy tears though.
- 5 of 25 (going off each production here) are unlicensed - Clannad AS, ef, Hidamarix2, Touka. Full Moon was licensed but canceled. Aria Origination is an assumption of license.
- 6.5 of 20 are ostensibly set outside Japan - Aria, TTGL, Heroic, Nadesico, Otome (but not HiME), SutePri, Stellvia
- 6 of 20 have a recurring cat - Haruhi [Shamisen], Aria [the presidents], Azumanga [Maya, Chiyo-chichi, Nekokoneko, etc], Clannad [Misae's cat], Geass [Arthur], LS [cat-like thing from the eyecatches]. Takuto in FMoS does not count!
- 3 of 20 mess with time and don't follow a linear forwards progression - Haruhi, Hidamari, Touka

And I can't think of any other good ones at the moment. This is long enough! So, tell me interesting things about your highest tier of favorites.

[EmperorBrandon]

Here is "Seen All" list on ANN sorted by rating (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/MyAnime/?user=EmperorBrandon&categ=3&sort=rating)

There's probably a few that I'm iffy on or need to reevaluate, but I had done some cleaning on it before, so it should be reasonably up to date. I'll compile my statistics in a response to this post (going to take a little while :P )

[Fencedude]

Takuto in FMoS does not count!

Like hell he doesn't.

Anyway...I have no idea. I'll try to get back to you on this, but it involves effort, and you know how I am with that!

I think my list would end up looking quite a bit like yours, at least half of yours would be on mine, easily. Only thing on your list I viscerally disagree with is Nadesico. Can't STAAAAAAAAAAAAND Nadesico.

[something]

Here is "Seen All" list on ANN sorted by rating (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/MyAnime/?user=EmperorBrandon&categ=3&sort=rating)
Why is CCS listed twice? They go to the same page. Is one meant to represent the edited Cardcaptors, and if so how did you make it list it twice?

[something]

Takuto in FMoS does not count!Like hell he doesn't.
He's shinigami first, plushy cat second =P

I think my list would end up looking quite a bit like yours, at least half of yours would be on mine, easily. Only thing on your list I viscerally disagree with is Nadesico. Can't STAAAAAAAAAAAAND Nadesico.
AIIIIIIIIIIIR doesn't get a "viscerally disagree" anymore?

[Fencedude]

AIIIIIIIIIIIR doesn't get a "viscerally disagree" anymore?

Well, I only watched AIR once, and it was quite some time ago. I certainly wouldn't rate it 10/10, but I want to watch it again before I make any firm commitments.

On the other hand, I've watched Nadesico three times in two languages, and managed to hate it more each time.

[EmperorBrandon]

"Seen All" list on ANN sorted by rating (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/MyAnime/?user=EmperorBrandon&categ=3&sort=rating)


Unique franchises: 14 "Masterpiece" ranked entries, with 11 franchises represented (changed this as I started count Sammy with Tenchi when I was figuring below)
Shows with multiple entries:
　　Clannad + After Story
　　Cardcaptor Sakura + Movie 2
Other parts of 10/10 franchises that scored less than 10/10:
　　Magic User's Club TV - 9/10
　　Cardcaptor Sakura Movie 1 - 9/10
　　tons of Tenchi and Pretty Sammy stuff - just looks at my list above for the details because it's going to take too long :P
Shows by animation studio - unique/(total):
　　Ghibli - 3/(3) - Spirited Away, Cat Returns, Whisper
　　Madhouse - 2/(3) - CCS, CCS Movie 2, TGWLTT
　　J.C. Staff - 2/(2) - Azu, Mahoraba
　　Kyoto Animation - 1/(2) - Clannadx2
　　AIC - 1/(2) - Magical Project S, Tenchi OVA special
　　Triangle Staff - 1/(1) - Magic User's Club
　　Hal Film Maker - 1/(1) - Princess Tutu　　
5 "Weakest" 10/10s:
　　 The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Tenchi Muyo OVA Special, The Cat Returns, Whisper of the Heart
5 "Strongest" 9/10s (with no related 10/10 series):
　　 Magic User's Club TV, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Tenchi Muyo OVA 1st series, any of the Tenchi Muyo movies, Super GALS
Type of release (TV, OVA, Movie, ONA, etc):　　
　　TV series - 7
　　movie - 5
　　OVA - 2
Length [of whole franchise, including sub-10/10 parts]:
　　movie-only - 4 - Spirited Away, TGWLTT, Cat Returns, Whisper
　　~1 cour - 0
　　~2 cour - 4 - MUC, Princess Tutu, Mahoraba, Azumanga Daioh (MUC's about 1 and a half cour in full, though)
　　~3 cour - 0
　　~4 cour - 1 - Clannad
　　~5+ cour - 2 - CCS, Tenchi/Sammy-verse


And yeah, I'm one of the boring people that have too little rated as "Masterpiece". I intentionally did things more on scale on my ANN ratings (I believe if you rate too many things too high, then your rating isn't trusted as much, and same if you rate too many too low). It's a good exercise to help keep things even too. I used to have many more rated on the highest rating.

But maybe I'll reconsider some of them. TGWLTT might get demoted, since while it's a great film, for some reason the replay for it feels weak. I haven't seen Whisper and Cat Returns in a while (and only saw Whisper once), so my current attitude is a bit of an unknown (I'll have to watch again). CCS Movie 2 and Spirited Away are definitely steady masterpieces among the movies, though. I may add a few series from my "Excellent" column back into "Masterpiece". As with my board rankings, things can be shaky on the borderline cases.

[EmperorBrandon]

Why is CCS listed twice? They go to the same page. Is one meant to represent the edited Cardcaptors, and if so how did you make it list it twice?

One of them is the CCS series, and the other is CCS Movie 2. Unless you're seeing something different from me... :P

[Prede]

Well here (http://myanimelist.net/animelist/Prede) is my list. I try to keep it up to date.

How I rate my series

Anyway after I get pretty far in a series I start to rate it (most of the time) from 1/10 to 10/10. I try not to jump the gun, although I do tend to change my scores as I watch more and more of a show. So there are a bunch of series I've gotten pretty far, but haven't finish, that my rating may go up or down a few points depending on the rest of the show. I do change my scores from time to time as I see more shows, and my "Top Ten" list changes slightly.

So here are the shows rated a ten :


FLCL
Now and Then, Here and There
Case Closed
Case Closed Movie 2
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion
Kino's Journey
Eureka Seven
Death Note
Hell Girl
Speed Grapher
A Wind Named Amnesia
Gunslinger Girl
Grave of the Fire Flies


What makes a it a ten

I'm surprised at the low amount of shows that got tens from me. I've given out a lot of 9's over the years, but very few tens. It's hard to define what makes a show a ten to me. Pretty much I'll know what's a ten when I'm almost done watching it. I'll be thinking "damn this is really, really good!. The enjoyment of the show is a very important factor, among many other things, like how well written and directed they are for example.

Length of the shows

I only have 4 movies up there, 2 of which are related to some franchise I also rated a ten. The only stand alone movies I can rate a 10/10 is A Wind Named Amnesia and Grave of the Fireflies. I find most movies too short to get their point across, or in fact have no point to begin with. Or the movie just doesn't work out as well as a TV series does. I think I have a bias against movies though. I like a lot of them, but rarely give any a ten. Most movies aren't fully developed or work out as well as TV series. I found A Wind Named Amnesia to be incredibly deep and philosophical. It's a movie like no other, and does things which really makes it stick out. Plus it just mesmorized me from it's first scene to the ending, I instantly loved it. As for Grave of the Fireflies I'm no fan of Ghilbi, in fact I dislike many of their movies ( I know that's a sin to say as an anime fan, please don't stone me!), but this movie really touched me. It''s very dark and incredbly depressing, but it has something there not a lot of movies have. It really impacted me, and I'd have to be nuts not to give it a rateing of a ten. I really enjoy emotional movies, and few anime movies are as emotional as this.

FLCL is the shortest anime I have up there, and it's the only OVA. The show is so undescrible, very deep, incredbly interesting, and very different. From the first time I saw an episode(first one I saw was episode 2) I was mesmorized and had to see the rest.

The rest of the series (excluding the oddballs that are Case Closed, Eureka Seven and Death Note) are one or two cores in lenght. Useally I find if a show goes on to long it loses it's luster (Which I hope to be disproven with Monster if it ever comes out on DVD). One core shows if done extremely well can come out the best overall. Look at how much can be said/done with shows like Kino's Journey and Now and Then,Here and There. Both are only 13 episodes but both go on for the perfect lenght. One is a long story, the other is episodic, but both work. Longer enough to tell their stories, but not too long. The others which are 24-26 episodes long use their lenghts to their advantage. They never get weaker and stay strong thoughout the entire show. They tell longer stories and never get bogged down. In fact being longer in lenght gives more time to devlop the characters and can set us up for an interesting ending (See: NGE, Hell Girl, and Speed Grapher). I find it rare that a show with more then 26 episodes gets a ten from me. But I'd like it to happen more often.

For Case Closed it uses it's 520+ episodes to it's full advantage. It has an overall plot, but it moves incredbly slow, but it also has a different mystery in each episode. Useing this formula which slowly teases at progession of the story, while giving up amazing mysteries in each episode, is something I haven't seen done very often, and never this well. Useally when a show goes on for this lenght it loses it's power over me, but this hasn't yet. Sense it's basically a show about a lot of different myserious it can go on for a longer lenght then most shows. I do hope Gosho Aoyama ends the manga one day though, so it' a complete story!

As for Death Note and Eureka Seven, they are both great shows that I love, and play out more like two core series then anything else. High quality thoughout, and never losing it's edge. (Well I haven't finished Death Note yet so I'll see if the overall opinion is true or not.)

Studios
Gainax: 3 (1 movie, 1 OVA, 1 TV series)
TMS 2 (1 TV series, 1 Movie)
AIC/Pioneer Entertainment 1 (TV series)
A.C.G.T 1 (TV series)
Bones 1 (TV series)
Madhouse 3 ( 2 TV series, 1 movie)
Deen 1 (TV series)
Gonzo 1 (TV series)
Ghibli 1 (movie)

5 "Strongest" 9/10s (with no related 10/10 series):
1. Paranoia Agent
2. Maze: The Mega Burst Space
3. Black Lagoon 2
4. Shadow Star Narutaru
5. Animation Runner Kuromi

Based on
Anime Originals: 6
Light Novels: 3
Manga: 3

[EmperorBrandon]

Why is CCS listed twice? They go to the same page. Is one meant to represent the edited Cardcaptors, and if so how did you make it list it twice?

One of them is the CCS series, and the other is CCS Movie 2. Unless you're seeing something different from me... :P

Oh, nevermind, I see what you're talking about now. When you give different ratings between the dub and sub, they appear twice, it seems. I did that with CCS obviously because the English dub adaptation for the series and first movie is highly flawed. The second movie is not though and has the same rating for both sub and dub.

[something]

And yeah, I'm one of the boring people that have too little rated as "Masterpiece". I intentionally did things more on scale on my ANN ratings (I believe if you rate too many things too high, then your rating isn't trusted as much, and vice versa). It's a good exercise to help keep things even too. I used to have many more rated on the highest rating.
Hmm, well as a percentage of Seen All, you have more. I'm 25/369, or 6.8% Masterpiece. You've got 14/173, or 8.1%. Although you have a lot of movies listed, and they can skew the numbers. I almost never watch movies, so that's a big difference.

I've tried to be stricter with rankings before, but it never works. I tend to rate based on pure enjoyment, and I tend to really enjoy almost everything I finish. Thus 290 of my 369 are 7-10.

Totals: [10] - 25; [9] - 69; [8] - 127; [7] - 69; [6] - 38; [5] - 21; [4] - 8; [3] - 4; [2] - 6; [1] - 2; [0] - 0

I figure if I were stricter on my ratings, I'd have to inject something of an objective scale, which I'm neither willing nor able to do. I guess I'm basically just keeping it high level - I really liked 290 of the 369 I've finished. And even some of the rest were totally watchable, which is why I have almost no shows under 4-5. The items with the dubious honor of worst things I've ever finished are Green Green OVA and Kimikiss.

[something]

Oh, nevermind, I see what you're talking about now. When you give different ratings between the dub and sub, they appear twice, it seems. I did that with CCS obviously because the English dub adaptation for the series and first movie is highly flawed. The second movie is not though and has the same rating for both sub and dub.
Ah, I saw a lot of your entries saying "dub & sub" so I thought it'd also come up dub.edit on the one and sub on the other. Instead it just lists it twice without explanation. I guess I didn't really think about it because I haven't seen an anime in two languages since my first few years of fandom.

[EmperorBrandon]

Ah, I saw a lot of your entries saying "dub & sub" so I thought it'd also come up dub.edit on the one and sub on the other. Instead it just lists it twice without explanation.

When you don't have the list sorted by rating (take off the "&sort=rating" from the URL), all of the entries are only listed once and it will show the different ratings if you have assigned them differently on the title. The problem is, if you've only seen an title in dub, or only in sub, then it won't show which one in parentheses. It seems the same type of thing is happening here when you give different ratings for different versions and have it set to sort by rating (the version indicated doesn't appear, causing some confusion)

[EmperorBrandon]

I've tried to be stricter with rankings before, but it never works. I tend to rate based on pure enjoyment, and I tend to really enjoy almost everything I finish. Thus 290 of my 369 are 7-10.


Well, most of my ratings tend to edge towards the positive side anyway too, I think. The few things I do rank negatively tend to be not to my taste in some regard, and most aren't in the "Seen All" category since I'll usually drop them some way. I've tried to keep the descriptions for the ratings on ANN (this only applies towards ANN, I'm really not thinking particularly of number ratings when I do things there) in mind when rating a title, and after I had a lot in there, I got to comparing with other things I've rated the same and moved up or down accordingly until I have things even.

[Sly05]

I don't maintain a ratings list so I'll go with my feelings at the moment. My statistics are much less detailed than somethings.

The List
Aria (all three)
Dennou Coil
Haibane-Renmei
Now and Then, Here and There
Evangelion
Gurren Lagann
Cowboy Bebop
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
True Tears
Toradora (baring the last episode doesn't suck)
FLCL
Kaleido Star
Petite Princess Yucie
Kanon (2006)
Azumanga Daioh
Mushishi
Maria-sama ga Miteru (all 4)
My-Hime (I'll forgive the ending)
Rozen Maiden (including Traumend)
Honey and Clover

Length (in cours) of entire franchise
1 or less: 5
2: 11
3: 0
4: 4

Shows with other seasons that scored less
My-Otome 7/10, My-Otome Zwei 5/10, S.ifr 7.5/10
Kaleido Star: New Wings 8/10
Honey and Clover II 7.5/10 (Kind of went in a weird direction)

[malazar]

I am a fairly easy grader, if a show is amongst my favorites, I give it a 10. With that being said, 33 of the 553 shows/movies I have watched completely have received a 10 rating (roughly 6%). My average score is 7.2.

Series with multiple entries:

City Hunter (4) - City Hunter, City Hunter 2, City Hunter 3, City Hunter '91
Crest/Banner of the Stars (4) - Crest of the Stars, Banner of the Stars, Banner of the Stars 2, and Birth special
Hajime no Ippo (3 completed/4 total) - Hajime no Ippo First Series, Champions' Road Special, Mashiba vs. Kimura Special. For reference, I also am giving the New Challenger series a 10 although that is only 11 episodes in at this point, so unless it suddenly has a huge drop off in quality, this series will end up with 4 entries.
Gunbuster (2) - Gunbuster and Gunbuster 2 OVAs. I still prefer the original OVAs to the Gattai movie even though it looks a lot better.
Cardcaptor Sakura (2) - Cardcaptor Sakura series and Movie 2
Master Keaton (2) - apparently this is considered a separate tv and ova series on myanimelist, so there you have it.
Urusei Yatsura (2) - TV series and Beautiful Dreamer (movie 2)
Other shows/movies I gave a 10 rating:

5 Centimeters Per Second
Berserk
Cowboy Bebop
El-Hazard: The Magnificent World
Fantastic Children
Macross
Only Yesterday
Patlabor Movie 2
Perfect Blue
Planetes
Record of the Lodoss War OVA
The Place Promised in Our Early Days
The Wings of Honneamise
X TV

[HitokiriShadow]

This looks interesting, but it requires a lot of effort and time, and I would need to finally go through my ANN list and re-rate everything. I would also need to figure out exactly how I want to go about my ratings, as its been somewhat inconsistent, hence part of the reason I need to re-rate my list. I used to use a stricter rating system, so 10/10 used to be reserved for shows that were damn near perfect. Now I'm not sure what my rating system would be.

Anyway, I don't really have time to do this now, so I'll have to come back to it in a few weeks.

[Suwako Moriya]

*Reads* I've come to the conclsion that you're addicted to statistics. In any case, this is a bit tough for the following reasons. While I have rated things in the past, I've never been that consistent. Also I tend to rate and forget. Thus forcing me to rely on vague memory to rate anything. Finally any ratings I do would be more based on subjective level than anything technical.


I do have several higher level favorites, but it can be hard to decide sometimes which ones truly qualify at a 10. It also doesn't help that I don't maintain a list. I'm not sure if I want to join a random site just to maintain a list, but then again that may be the simplest way to do it.

I guess I could consider ANN since they do have a pretty large list of series, so if I do join at a site I'm leaning towards that. Although I'm not sure if I'd use them for anything aside from ratings. Also I'm not sure if joining ANN just for that purpose is a good idea. So I might look into a different site instead. Or heck maybe I'll just make a manual list...

Regardless, even if I do put a list together I'll likely just list the titles in question. I'll let someone else figure out how many have twin tails in them. How many have fang girls. So on and so forth.

[Westlo]

I use MyAnimeList (link in my sig) which I prefer to ANN's listing by quite a bit. Anyway as 10 out of 10 shows go I only have 6 to date.

Baccano (13 episodes)
Gunbuster (6 ovas)
Macross: Do You Remember Love? (Movie)
RahXephon (26 episodes)
Rurouni Kenshin: Tsuiokuhen (4 ovas)
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (Movie)

2 of my 10/10 shows are from the eighties, 1 from the ninties and 3 from this decade.

Looking through my 35 series given a score of 9/10 to see if anything should be bumped up to a ten I found nothing.. more like I found a lot of shaky nines lol...

As for potential 10s from what i haven't finished or stuff I'm currently watching.. hmm... Mushishi and Monster seem to have the best chance of stuff I've got on hold. Airing stuff.. Eve no Jikan and maybe Rideback if it knocks its ending out of the park...

[EmperorBrandon]

I guess I could consider ANN since they do have a pretty large list of series, so if I do join at a site I'm leaning towards that. Although I'm not sure if I'd use them for anything aside from ratings. Also I'm not sure if joining ANN just for that purpose is a good idea. So I might look into a different site instead. Or heck maybe I'll just make a manual list...

I recommend ANN since it's really simple to do. There's a box at the top of each series entry where it asks if you've seen some or all and if you want to rate a title (after you've marked it as seen).

[Suwako Moriya]

I recommend ANN since it's really simple to do.

I've already joined ANN and am in the process of adding in titles right now. After that comes the ranking. Although my memory of what I've seen is vague. So some titles that I've seen all of could end up under "some" and some titles I've seen some of could not be listed at all. However that's what happens when you're late to the game.

*Is currently browsing the D Section* On a side note, sometimes it takes me a minute to realize that oh X is actually Y.... Sometimes I'm so used to the X name that I don't really use the Y name. I wonder if it would be bad to point out that a lot of the ones under some, I saw like an episode or two at most of. Sometimes even less than a single episode...

[Westlo]

I wonder if it would be bad to point out that a lot of the ones under some, I saw like an episode or two at most of. Sometimes even less than a single episode...

One of the reasons I prefer the listing style of MAL to ANN, also helps to keep track of what I'm upto in certain series... not that it's that big a problem for anime.. more so manga for me.

[EmperorBrandon]

One of the reasons I prefer the listing style of MAL to ANN, also helps to keep track of what I'm upto in certain series... not that it's that big a problem for anime.. more so manga for me.

MAL does allow you to be much more specific, but when I tried starting up on it several months back, I just got overwhelmed. I prefer to keep things simple by using ANN since it doesn't take as much time (and I'm always browsing ANN Encyclopedia to check on and contribute stuff anyway)

[something]

*Is currently browsing the D Section* On a side note, sometimes it takes me a minute to realize that oh X is actually Y.... Sometimes I'm so used to the X name that I don't really use the Y name.
Well, if you're going through the full list, they'll be listed as many times as it has alternate titles. So I might completely skim over "Hell Girl" while I look at H, but my eye will immediately catch "Jigoku Shoujo" when I get to J. So I won't miss it.

I just really dislike that it seems you can't pick which title it goes under in the seen some/all lists. Using the above example, I as very confused why I had Jigoku Shoujo Futakomori listed as an 8, but could not for the life of me find out what I'd rated Jigoku Shoujo. It wasn't until I went to the individual page and saw that I'd already rated it (also 8) that I realized what happened, and that it was listed as Hell Girl. Splitting pieces of a franchise like that is pretty irritating. See also Strawberry Marshmallow (TV) vs Ichigo Mashimaro (OAV). It's worse for the ones that aren't direct translations.

I wonder if it would be bad to point out that a lot of the ones under some, I saw like an episode or two at most of. Sometimes even less than a single episode...
That's why it's only "seen some" =P The moment I watch anything I try to mark it Seen Some, which makes it easier to do sweeps of things I've finished. It also lets me easily skim through and see what I should be giving a second chance, not that I ever have the time.

[Splitter]

My List:
- Air TV (Kyoto Animation, 2005)
- FLCL (Gainax, 2000)
- Gakuen Utopia Manabi Straight! (ufotable, 2007)
- Haibane Renmei (Radix, 2002)
- Higurashi no Naku Koro ni + Kai (Studio Deen, 2006-2007)
- Kaiba (Madhouse, 2008)
- Kaleido Star (GONZO, 2003-2004)
- Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (Gainax, 2007)
- Voices of a Distant Star (Comix Wave, 2002)

Probable Additions: Mushishi, Eureka Seven (something tells me once I rewatch it...)

"Weakest" 10/10:
- Higurashi no Naku Koro ni + Kai
- Haibane Renmei

"Strongest" 9/10s:
- Eureka Seven
- Aria the Origination
- Honey and Clover II
- Paranoia Agent
- Cowboy Bebop

Type of release (TV, OVA, Movie, ONA, etc):　　
- 7 (8) TVs, 2 OVAs

Length [of whole franchise, including sub-10/10 parts]:
- 1 cour or less: 6 (Air, FLCL, Haibane Renmei, Kaiba, Manabi Straight, Voices)
- 2 cour: 1 (Gurren Lagann)
- 4 cour: 2 (Higurashi, Kaleido Star)

- 2 of 9 franchises originated as visual novels - Air, Higurashi
- 7 of 10 are anime original - FLCL, Gurren Lagann, Haibane, Kaiba, Kaleido Star, Manabi Straight, Voices
- 2 of 10 have made me cry seriously, more than just sniffling or tearing up, and in more than one episode - Air, Kaleido Star, Voices
- 3 of 10 (going off each production here) are unlicensed - Higurashi Kai, Kaiba, Manabi Straight
- 4 of 10 are ostensibly set outside Japan - Gurren Lagann, Haibane, Kaiba, Kaleido Star

[Suwako Moriya]

Well, if you're going through the full list, they'll be listed as many times as it has alternate titles.

Yeah, I quickly noticed that after awhile. Truth be told at a certain I didn't really care if I failed to add a title. My figuring is if I did then it probably wasn't worth adding. Right now I'm in the rating process.

Although to be honest when they ask me to list what version I saw, I'm tempted to point out that sometimes there's only one version and sometimes I've seen both...

[Vegard Aune]

I suppose that, being how I only have 4 titles that I gave a 10, I could be considered one of those "boring" people whom this thread is not for at all, but WHATEVER, I'm gonna list them anyway. (Although, being that I've only seen about 30 series in all, having any more than 5 shows with a perfect score would be severely overusing it...)

- Clannad After Story
- One Piece
- Kanon 2006
- The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

Considering how short the list is, I suppose there's no use going into details about anything...

[Suwako Moriya]

Trying to organize things on ANN is taking longer than I thought. (And worse I think I missed a few titles anyway) Plus I find when I'm actually forced to give a specific rating I get decisive. So instead I'm going to list some titles below...

Aria the Animation/Natural/Origination
Maria Watches Over Us (1-4)
Strawberry Marshmallow
Mahoraba ~Heartful Days~
Gauken Utopia Manabi Straight
Sunshine Sketch
Sketchbook ~full colors'~
Azumanga Daioh
Cardcaptor Sakura
Kanon
Air
Clannad
Clannad ~After Story
Pani Poni Dash
sola
Galaxy Angel (In General)
Toradora (Unofficial, but...)
My Series (HiME/Otome)
When They Cry (1-2)
Etc (I may think of more to add later once I'm sure of what I want to add).

Note: The enjoyment level among these shows varies and not all of them are perfect. However I am including them because each has something about it that makes the said title stand out for me in terms of the enjoyment factor. If that makes any sense.

Also some of it's based on the seasons together as a whole rather than separately. Such as the case with Aria for example. That and When They Cry only truly shines if one includes both season. Finally there is a bit of fluctuation in terms of deciding what I should and shouldn't have added..

[Ty]

Heroic Age (TV) (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=7627)

Nearly all of your list are also favorites of mine as well, but I couldn't help but raise my eyebrow a bit at this one.

I need to stare at my collection a bit and come up with my own list for once. :sd:

[something]

Nearly all of your list are also favorites of mine as well, but I couldn't help but raise my eyebrow a bit at this one.
It's one of the shakiest, but it's an amazing show. Do you raise an eyebrow because you haven't seen it, or because you didn't like it?

[Ty]

Nearly all of your list are also favorites of mine as well, but I couldn't help but raise my eyebrow a bit at this one.
It's one of the shakiest, but it's an amazing show. Do you raise an eyebrow because you haven't seen it, or because you didn't like it?

Mostly because it's Gonzo actually. They're not known for cranking out greatest hits afterall. I have not seen it, but I do follow some blog entries about it and it didn't appeal to me enough to try it. This all ties into my whole "watch less this year" spiel otherwise I probably would've given it a shot.

[Fencedude]

Mostly because it's Gonzo actually. They're not known for cranking out greatest hits afterall. I have not seen it, but I do follow some blog entries about it and it didn't appeal to me enough to try it. This all ties into my whole "watch less this year" spiel otherwise I probably would've given it a shot.

Its not GONZO, its XEBEC.

[something]

Mostly because it's Gonzo actually. They're not known for cranking out greatest hits afterall. I have not seen it, but I do follow some blog entries about it and it didn't appeal to me enough to try it. This all ties into my whole "watch less this year" spiel otherwise I probably would've given it a shot.
As Fence noted, it's Xebec. From the studio breakdown: "Xebec - 3/(3) - Nadesico, Heroic, Stellvia".

Heroic Age is in all honesty more like a 9 on average for sheer mindbogglingly epic scale, but the final scene of the show was so amazing, so emotionally powerful, that I gave it that extra bump to 10. I don't anticipate it staying a 10 forever (we'll see how I feel when I watch Funi's release), but it certainly won't drop below a strong 9.

[Westlo]

Its not GONZO, its XEBEC.

That might make things worse though lol... personally I prefer Gonzo's latest efforts to Xebecs.. Strike Witches, Druaga and Kurogane > Zombie Loan, To Love Ru and Kanokon. And Shangri-La looks a lot better than Pandora Hearts as far as next season goes.

[Fencedude]

Its not GONZO, its XEBEC.

That might make things worse though lol... personally I prefer Gonzo's latest efforts to Xebecs.. Strike Witches, Druaga and Kurogane > Zombie Loan, To Love Ru and Kanokon. And Shangri-La looks a lot better than Pandora Hearts as far as next season goes.

Yeah, thats real fair, choose the best shows GONZO has done and compare them to the worst shows XEBEC has done and act like it means something.

[Westlo]

Its not GONZO, its XEBEC.

That might make things worse though lol... personally I prefer Gonzo's latest efforts to Xebecs.. Strike Witches, Druaga and Kurogane > Zombie Loan, To Love Ru and Kanokon. And Shangri-La looks a lot better than Pandora Hearts as far as next season goes.

Yeah, thats real fair, choose the best shows GONZO has done and compare them to the worst shows XEBEC has done and act like it means something.

No it actually is fair since those are some of the latest Gonzo series and likewise for Xebec, Xebec's been horribly mediocre for years and deserve to get a lot more flack.

http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=producer&prid=2

And lol @ those 3 Gonzo shows I mentioned being the best shows Gonzo has done.

[RedCorvus]

Short version: Another overly analytical and overly long thread about anime you've seen! I'm interested in what sort of shows have become your "10/10" series. How many are there? How do you define them? Does looking at the list surprise you, if you've been keeping it for awhile? Are there shows you didn't think you gave a 10, or shows you think you should have? Do you revisit your top ranked shows and cull ones that fell out of favor? How many sequels?


Its difficult for me to give anything the perfect 10 score but there is a few anime out there that I would give a 10 too, maybe a dozen or so. Sure there is plenty of anime that I almost feel guilty about only giving them a 9 and not a 10 to. My score of 9 list is very long for sure LoL

Been keeping a top ten list for about 2 decades now :bigsmile:

Instead of defining what makes me score 10 on an anime, let me give an example of one.

And I have already noticed that I seem to have an odd taste in anime compared to the average here so not sure if anyone will agree with this or not but...


Trigun~ (One of my "10" rated animes)

Believe it or not, it was this anime that started me buying anime for my anime collection. I watched it the very first time, then about half an hour later... I started to watch it a second time. Then I just had to go buy it so that it was mine to watch anytime. It had me pulled in and addicted, which is always a good thing to look for before scoring 10.

The sound track... not sure why but I really like the music. Its always fun to turn the volume up a little bit louder with Trigun.

Story, sure in some ways used many times before but it was the details of the story that made it fresh and new. I did not even come close to guessing the true origin of Vash until the very end after they reveled it. Sure the ending made you expect at least one more episode to view. If I start getting into manga it would to be able to know what happened after the anime.

Guessing, curves and twists... I also really enjoyed the fact that I had to keep second guessing myself if Vash was a lucky idiot or a serious bad ass that wanted others to think he was harmless. The scene with him and vertigo I would have never guessed that it would end that way, took me totally by surprise.

Style and artwork, sure its not something for eye candy for todays standards. But there is something about the art styling I really enjoyed seeing.

Characters, where of course awesome. The character development was great and well paced and they all seemed to work so well together. I liked that it was a slow process to learn about vash and everything about him.

The mixing of slap stick, mystery, suspense, romance, dramatic, action, gun fighting, humor and sadness was so well done. I don't like having the same mood and the same setting all the time, I like the change up or the humor when an anime starts to take its self to seriously. Also the mix between sci-fi and old west was kind of fun.

So for me to score ten, I would have to say that I review everything... Audio, video, art, music, style, characters, development, pace, mood, setting, background, story and how much it pulls you into it. Did I cheer for one of the characters? Did I laugh out loud? Did I feel anything? How hard was it to guess the ending? Was there any moments when you wanted to fast forward? And everything else rolled up together :bigsmile:


In case there is any Trigun fans out there reading this....
Trigun The Movie 2009 (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-02-27/animated-trigun-the-movie-planned-for-2009-in-japan)

[something]

No it actually is fair since those are some of the latest Gonzo series and likewise for Xebec, Xebec's been horribly mediocre for years and deserve to get a lot more flack.
http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=producer&prid=2
And lol @ those 3 Gonzo shows I mentioned being the best shows Gonzo has done.
Xebec is hardly one of my favorites these days, but if we're pointing out shows from the past couple years for them my own highlights would be Hitohira, Heroic Age and Kyou no Go no Ni. Kanokon was okay for what it was (superior to To Love-Ru in that respect), and I have no interest in seeing Mnemosyne, Zombie Loan or Overdrive.

Overall they're fairly mixed since 2007, not terrible but not great either. ::shrugs::

[something]

Its difficult for me to give anything the perfect 10 score but there is a few anime out there that I would give a 10 too, maybe a dozen or so. Sure there is plenty of anime that I almost feel guilty about only giving them a 9 and not a 10 to. My score of 9 list is very long for sure LoL
I think there are two different ways people think of "10/10".

The more restrictive way is "The Perfect 10". Where 10 itself is the highest that can exist, and implies exclusivity, or darn near so. In this mindset, even a 9.9 or a 9.99 isn't a 10.

My own "10" is more of a "highest tier" concept. If I were rating shows on a 100 point scale, I'd round up such that anything 95+ would be a "10/10" because that's closer to the truth than 9/10. Of course it's very much gut feeling here. There's no remotely feasible way to divide "enjoyment" into 100 thin, even slices. There's no such thing as a clearly 94 point show vs a clearly 95 point show, so of course everything blurs a little. But generally speaking, I know a 10 when I see it, when I feel it, and I can feel that way even if a show isn't "perfect". Using the latter concept, I think almost anyone would be more likely to have more shows in their 10/10 category.

So, "very highest tier", not "absolute perfection". Try to use that mindset.

[LelouchLamperouge]

I use MyAnimeList as well, I transferred over my ANN list a couple years ago.

I've given 10's to the following TV series/OVAs/Movies:
Completed
- Black Lagoon / Black Lagoon The Second Barrage (12x2 episode TV series)
- Freedom (7 episode OVA)
- Giant Robo (7 episode OVA)
- Kanon 2006 (24 episode TV series)
- Le Chevalier D'Eon (24 episode TV series)
- Macross, Super Dimension Fortress (36 episode TV series)
- Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's (13 episode TV series)
- Ouran High School Host Club (26 episode TV series)
- OverDrive (26 episode TV series)
- Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann (27 episode TV series)
- The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (Movie)
- Top wo Nerae! / Top wo Nerae! 2 (6x2 episode OVA)

These will either remain 10's or become strong 9's:
Ongoing/Still Watching
- Baccano (13 episode TV series)
- Clannad (23 episode TV series)
- Hellsing Ultimate (ongoing OVA)
- One Piece (ongoing TV series)
On-Hold
- Macross Frontier (25 episode TV series)
- Seto no Hanayome (26 episode TV series)
- D.Gray-Man (103 episode TV series)

That's 21 out of 362 entries, counting just Completed, Watching and On Hold. I will not include the remaining 248 entries, as they are either Dropped series or stuff I Plan To Watch.
Not half bad, I'd say.
---
As for my strongest 9's:
Completed
- Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo (24 episode TV series)
- Shakugan no Shana (24 episode TV series)
- The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (14 episode TV series)
- Kaleido Star (51 episode TV series)
- The Third: The Girl with The Blue Eye (24 episode TV series)

These are strong 9's, which could very likely stay the same or become 10's:
Ongoing/Still Watching
- Aria the Natural (26 episode TV series)
- Lucky Star (24 episode TV series)
- Princess Resurrection (25 episode TV series)
On-Hold
- Heroic Age (26 episode TV series)
- Ookiku Furikabutte (25 episode TV series)

I've given 9's to 33 of 362 entries counting just Completed, Watching and On Hold.
---

As for studio of the 21 entries I've given 10's too, let's see...
Animation Studios List (some recurring titles)
AIC - 1 (Seto no Hanayome)
Artland - 1 (Macross: Super Dimension Fortess)
BONES - 1 (Ouran High School Host Club)
Brains Base - 1 (Baccano)
Gainax - 3 (Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, Top wo Nerae!, Top wo Nerae! 2)
Gonzo - 1 (Seto no Hanayome)
Kyoto Animation - 2 (Clannad, Kanon 2006)
Madhouse - 4 (Black Lagoon, Black Lagoon The Second Barrage, Hellsing Ultimate, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time)
Mu - 1 (Giant Robo)
Production I.G. - 1 (Le Chevalier d'Eon)
Satelight - 2 (Hellsing Ultimate, Macross Frontier)
Seven Arcs - 1 (Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's)
Sunrise - 1 (Freedom)
TMS - 1 (D.Gray-Man)
Toei - 1 (One Piece)
XEBEC - 1 (OverDrive)

...

I think that's basically it.

[RedCorvus]

So, "very highest tier", not "absolute perfection". Try to use that mindset.

Well in that case... :bigsmile:

Cowboy Bebop
Record of Lodoss War
Black Lagoon
Gungrave
Samurai Champloo
Fate/stay night
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within
Hellsing
Slayers
Chrono Crusade
Ghost in the Shell
Vandread
Outlaw Star
Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust
Rurouni Kenshin
King of Bandit Jing
Berserk
Ninja Scroll
Last Exile
Peace Maker Kurogane
Lost Universe
Samurai 7
Air Gear
New Dominion Tank Police
Saiyuki
Gokudou
R.O.D.
Juuni Kokuki (12 kingdoms)
Gurren Lagann
Ex-Drivers
Full metal panic
Ranma ½
Basilisk
Heat Guy J

[EmperorBrandon]

And since I'm interested in doing them, I'll look at something's other set of statistics too... These are all out of 11 franchises for my current Masterpiece list.

- 1 franchise originated as visual novels - Clannad

Clannad is actually the only visual novel-based series that tops my list. Kanon would come after that, but even though it's in the second column, it's not really one of the highest there for me.

- 6 are anime original - Cat Returns, TGWLTT, Magic User's Club, Tenchi/Sammy, Princess Tutu, Spirited Away

I think Tenchi is anime-original. Kajishima wrote novels for it, but I don't know if those came first (I think the original OVA was first). EDIT: Ack, before I noted Whisper was based on a shoujo manga below, I must had forgotten about here. The author did a manga for Cat Returns too, but it seems the anime was conceptualized first or around the same time, so it stays here.

- 0 are based on light novels

The highest light-novel based anime for me are in the second column: Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu and Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu. There is more to be animated with them (confirmed in both cases, though who knows when), so definitely looking forward to that...

- 4 are based on manga - Azumanga, CCS, Mahoraba, Whisper

- 10 involve numerous elementary, middle or high school aged characters (who actually attend a school)

I only ruled out Spirited Away, giving the setting (Chihiro goes to school, it's not a point obviously, and there are no other characters obviously). The others all count, though. Mahoraba has a mix of college-aged characters in with middle schoolers and high schoolers. So that's almost ALL of my high favorites. Not surprising, I guess. :)

- 7 can be argued to be contemporary school life anime - Azumanga, Clannad, CCS, Magic User's Club, Magical Project S, TGWLTT, Whisper.

So from above, I knock out Cat Returns where it's not a focus, and I guess Mahoraba doesn't revolve around school enough to count (more revolved around Narutakisou in my mind). Princess Tutu is not "contemporary" though it revolves around a school. Tenchi wouldn't really count, but Sammy does, I'd think. Not much doubt on the rest...

- 3 are shoujo - CCS, Princess Tutu, Whisper of the Heart.

CCS and Princess Tutu pinnacle of shoujo anime for me, though there's still a lot I like. Whisper is based on a shoujo manga, so I guess it counts here, though I tend to think of Ghibli movies as family fare and not define as shounen or shoujo as much.

- 0 have significant mecha elements.

Absolutely nothing, which should be no surprise for me. My highest-ranked title with mecha elements is Dual, which is in the "very good" (third) column - I rather enjoyed the mix of Tenchi-style harem romance with mecha. I do like some mecha titles, but there's not really much among my higest favorites.

- 5 involve significant war/battles - CCS, Cat Returns, Magic User's Club, Princess Tutu, Tenchi/Sammy

Do magical girl ballet battles count here? :P I may be stretching what is meant here as they don't really involve any major warring or anything like that, but there are memorable battles with these at least.

- 1 has no real plot, or are "slice of life", if you will - Azumanga

I'm going to be really strict with the definition here, and thus I think Azumanga is the only things that counts (Mahoraba would be somewhat of a stretch, I guess?) A lot of strict slice of life stuff can bore me, but Aria and Sketchbook keep my interest well too and are very high up.

- 1 has made me cry seriously - Clannad After Story.

This is the ONLY one. There are several that have made me teary or sad, but nothing else really compares in its impact on me.

- 2 are unlicensed - Clannad After Story, Mahoraba.

Someone... anyone... PLEASE LICENSE! :)

- 1 is ostensibly set outside Japan - Princess Tutu

Somewhere in a supposedly German-speaking fairy tale land... :bigsmile:

- 6 have a recurring cat - Azumanga [several], The Cat Returns [several, obviously], Clannad [Misae's cat], Princess Tutu [Neko-sensei], Tenchi/Sammy [Ryo-Ohki], Whisper [Baron, Muta]

Huh, you had Azumanga among your favorites, didn't you, something? Even if "Chiyo's dad" doesn't count as a real cat :), there's other recurring cats too. Ryo-Ohki is a cabbit, but I count him as a cat too. CCS had the cat that showed up in at least two eps. (maybe more?), but I don't count that as recurring, though maybe Kero and Suppi could be argued.

- 0 mess with time and don't follow a linear forwards progression

Well, that's it there. Interesting thinking these over.

Looking over my ratings, though, I always see something I think of changing (before I did statistics, I moved Kure-nai and R.O.D the TV down one, and Outlaw Star up one, and there's others I need to adjust).

[gnikdrazil]

Cowboy Bebop
El-Hazard: The Magnificent World
Gankutsuou
Golden Boy
Gurren Lagann
Full Metal Alchemist
Giant Robo
Revolutionary Girl Utena: The Movie

[Arnold]

I'm of the "10 = absolute perfection, or damn near it" mindset myself, so based on that, my list is:

Barefoot Gen
Cowboy Bebop
Maison Ikkoku
Princess Mononoke
Grave of the Fireflies

(though I just started Zeta Gundam and if it keeps up, that may make it onto the list...)

So expanding it to "Highest tier" instead, I would add:

Cowboy Bebop:the movie
Castle In the Sky
Kiki's Delivery Service
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Superdimension Fortress Macross
Macross Frontier
Excel Saga
Gunbuster

And too early to tell, but could make it on the list: Welcome to the NHK (I'm through 7 episodes, and it's looking damned good so far)

[something]

Huh, you had Azumanga among your favorites, didn't you, something? Even if "Chiyo's dad" doesn't count as a real cat :), there's other recurring cats too.
Huh, I thought I mentioned Azu, but it seems not. ::fixes::

[Ty]

Its not GONZO, its XEBEC.

Seems I had a crossed wire. Well, wouldn't want the sky to fall I guess.

[Serial Experiments Nobue]

I'll try to play along here... that's a gigantic example that you've set for us to attempt to follow! :sd:

Anyway, my ANN list is in my signature under "capsule reviews", and here are all of the titles I currently rate "Masterpiece":

Cardcaptor Sakura
Figure 17
Grave of the Fireflies
Haibane Renmei
My Neighbor Totoro
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
Revolutionary Girl Utena
Adolescence of Utena
Serial Experiments Lain
Spirited Away
Whisper of the Heart

That's 11 out of 147, or 7.5% of what I have seen.

If I include my 9s, the list grows quite a bit, as what keeps something from being a 10 to me is usually nearly intangible. Typically when I'm watching something, I'll just "know" if it's a 10 to me and not have to think about it. The 9s usually are 10s that are missing a tiny something that I can't quite place.

Akira
Alien Nine
Angelic Layer
Animation Runner Kuromi 2
Azumanga Daioh
Boogiepop Phantom
Cardcaptor Sakura Movies 1 + 2
Castle in the Sky
The Cat Returns
Cowboy Bebop
FLCL
Fruits Basket
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
Gunslinger Girl
His and Her Circumstances (lop off the last 8 episodes, give it a proper ending, and this is a 10)
Howl's Moving Castle
Kamichu!
Kiki's Delivery Service
Magical Play
Maria Watches Over Us (due for a hard promotion, I think, especially after seeing the first three seasons now)
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
Moon Phase
My Neighbors The Yamadas
Neon Genesis Evangelion
End of Evangelion
NieA_7
Oh My Goddess! OVA
Paranoia Agent
Planetes
Porco Rosso
Princess Mononoke
Princess Tutu
Samurai Champloo
Stellvia
Tenchi Muyo OVA 1 + 2
Texhnolyze
Vision of Escaflowne
Witch Hunter Robin
X TV


Whew! As with any list, I'm sure there are some things that could change if I went back and went over everything again. Strawberry Marshmallow could probably be promoted a bit higher, for example. It's very similar to Azumanga Daioh in some ways, and that made the list, so why I should leave the girls who insist I don't call them cute out? Not to mention other potentially obvious reasons. :sd:

So, I guess that's my list. My favorites of my favorites from my collection.

[GundamWingMan]

"Perfection" when it comes to anime is dreadfully subjective, dependent on the whims of the individual and his or her tastes. Still, I have my own list of shows that, in my mind, reached that lofty plateau (in alphabetical order):

Ah My Goddess (OVA and series)
Akira
ARIA (The Animation & The Natural)
Azumanga Daioh
Cardcaptor Sakura
Fruits Basket
Fushigi Yugi
Hellsing Ultimate
Kaleido Star
Le Chevalier D'Eon
Maria Watches Over Us
Millennium Actress
Read Or Die
Revolutionary Girl Utena
Spirited Away
Video Girl Ai

[Njr Scrawl]

10/10 is hard to figure. Sometimes its one final episode or happening that makes it a full 10. For example, Kimagure Orange Road. It would be 9 without, but the final story, movie 2 "Summer's Beginning" makes it score 10.

Evangelion TV, all episodes, scores 10/10. Episodes 25 & 26 are the ending I want, & are unique for their character insights, "in the chair" psychological interviews & upbeat ending. Using EoE instead would knock the story's score down to 7.9.

Rurouni Kenshin TV, all arcs is a skin-of-teeth 10/10. What gives it the 10 is its combination of Japanese voice acting, BGM, op & ed music & adherance to the character's values, character development, humanity, plus good suspense right the way through to its optimistic ending.

Rurouni Kenshin:Reflections, as a separate feature, also scores 10/10. Its beautiful soundtrack & tale of love & loyalty through good, bad & worst, with a very poignant ending make it a work of art IMO.

Finally; Gunbuster OVAs. Another story of personal pain, triumph, love, bonding & re-bonding. I gave it 10/10 for the first 2 episodes alone, & the next 4 heavily re-inforced that opinion.

Angel Heart, the City Hunter alternate reality sequel is a 10/10. It took some time for me to realise how great it is, but after about 15 episodes, I became hooked & when more background to the AH reality characters' pasts is revealed, & what initially seemed staple action stories had more behind them, Angel Heart reveals itself as more complex & modern, but retaining what makes City Hunter great as well.

Lots of shows in the 8 - 9/10 range, but those above are all I can instantly would be my "Desert Island" choices

[Suwako Moriya]

Xebec is hardly one of my favorites these days, but if we're pointing out shows from the past couple years for them my own highlights would be Hitohira, Heroic Age and Kyou no Go no Ni.

I can neither disagree or agree with Heroic Age as I never bothered to watch it. However I did like Hitohira and Kyou no Go no Ni TV. Although the former did get a bit melodramatic sometimes. So that's two out of three.

In terms of both Gonzo and Xebec, I've had series I've liked and series I've disliked. The same can probably be said about almost every company. Henceforth why I've never been that big on automatically hating shows based on the company.

[Suwako Moriya]

So, "very highest tier", not "absolute perfection". Try to use that mindset.

That's a mindset I prefer myself because it allows one to be more relaxed when making the list.

[Ty]

Effort expended, I present my own list for once. Series only, no movies otherwise half the Miyazaki films and some other things would be here. This is more or less alphabetical and not in order of preference. I loosely define 10/10 status as a show I couldn't imagine enjoying anymore than I did if it were done differently. Basically shows that left me feeling very satisfied after watching, not necessarily for the sames reasons in each case.

10/10's:
- Air
- Azumanga Daioh
- Bamboo Blade
- Berserk
- Clannad/After Story
- Haibane Renmei
- Haruhi
- Kanon
- Lucky Star
- Minami-ke (season one only)
- My-Hime/Otome
- Nanoha/A's
- Shana/Shana Second

Shows that come very close to making this list but aren't quite there:
- e.f. ~a tale of memories~ (not including melodies)
- Escaflowne
- Hayate no Gotoku
- Hidamari Sketch/x365
- Higurashi/Kai
- Kamichu
- Kannagi
- Manabi Straight
- Nadesico
- Onegai Teacher
- School Rumble

Shows that would be on the list if they were finished:
- Toradora!
- Technically this includes After Story but I put it up there anyway

Shows that I suspect would be on the list if I'd seen them (and I plan to see them at some point):
- Aria

It seems like I have quite a few recent shows, but I don't think that is just because they are fresh in mind. These last few seasons really have brought some of the greatest anime I've watched in many years. As I look through my collection I see many series that I know I did not and still would not enjoy watching as much as some of the series I've seen in the last couple of years and that really says something about the state of anime despite the financial hardships the industry is going through.

I think the only one that actually surprises me after thinking about it is Bamboo Blade. I typed it out on the rough draft then never felt the need to take it off. I'm not entirely sure why but I really love that show for some reason.

[Ty]

I have no interest in seeing Mnemosyne, Zombie Loan or Overdrive.

I think I may be the only person here who actually did watch Zombie Loan. It was a pretty decent show actually (chibi Shinigami ftw), though I wish they hadn't ended it in such an open way when it's obvious there isn't going to be a second season.

[something]

It seems like I have quite a few recent shows, but I don't think that is just because they are fresh in mind. These last few seasons really have brought some of the greatest anime I've watched in many years. As I look through my collection I see many series that I know I did not and still would not enjoy watching as much as some of the series I've seen in the last couple of years and that really says something about the state of anime despite the financial hardships the industry is going through.
Absolutely. For all the perpetual talk of "anime sucks now" that goes on, I look at my list and only... I think 8 of 25 started airing before 2005, and I think two of those were 2004. partly it's due to changes in tastes, but I truly believe that anime as a medium learns from itself, improves itself, and just simply does things better than it used to. Not always, of course, but the best of the best just keeps getting better - for my tastes anyway. I imagine if I were heavier into certain genres I might not feel that way (say, mecha maybe?) but while I'll watch almost anything, the shows that I find most enjoyable seen to me making considerable strides each season.

And hell yeah for that. I want my hobby to keep improving, else there'd be no point in continuing to follow it! If my favorites list was full of shows from a decade or two ago, I'd have to reevaluate just what it is I'm still getting out of anime.