I don't quite have a top 5.

My second favorite is Death Note, and my ultimate favorite is Speed Racer. My favorite anime movies are Spirited Away and Whisper of the Heart. As a young artist and someone who used to play violin, I can especially relate to Whisper of the Heart.

In no particular order, Death Note, FLCL, Cowboy Bebop, Akira, and Princess Mononoke (spelling?).

Oh all time? Counting shows and movies? Hmmm...
1) 3x3 Eyes
2) Yu Yu Hakusho
3) Gundam(mostly Wing, 0089, 08th MS Team, but MS and the others are good too)
4) Dragonball series
5) Oh wow this is a tough one...I guess Rouroni Kenshin, Cowboy Bebop or Outlaw Star. Hahaha yea..one of those. XD

I'm into:

Naruto: I have'nt been watching it regularly lately (last I saw was where they were guarding some merchants).
But all the characters seem fleshed out and real. You can sort of relate to them. The action is pretty involving, too.
Plus, y'know, there's a strategic element to the battles and that's pretty interesting too.

Godannar: It's a Giant Robot anime where they're fighting a race of creatures called The Memetic Beasts. It's laden with fanservice, character interaction and development and stuff seems to change frequently. It's pretty entertaining to watch the Godannar Twin-Drive robot just awesome it`s way past whatever huge fighting monstrosity they're fighting. Mira(Mila? I forget how her name's spelled) is my favorite character. Really the fact that she's my favorite character spoils enough, so I wo'nt elaborate.

Death Note: Whenever I tune in I'm just sort of like "Boy, that Light. What Brilliant shenanigans is he going to get involved in next?" Seriously, just watching the plots L and Him come up with run their course is pretty entertaining. I haven't seen any episodes past the ones where he lost his memory...

Sailor Moon: I have'nt seen it since it went off Toonami but I miss it still. I think everyone here knows what it is, so I wo'nt explain. I just kind of miss the cheery, light-hearted atmosphere.

DragonBall series: High-speed, High-Intensity fighting, a little humour sprinkled here and there, memorable villains, interesting plots (I know some of them have been used before but they're still interesting to me!) and just... everything. It's just entertaining, I do'nt know why! >_<

All of these are of their english dubs, BTW. And they're in no particular order...

EDIT: Honorable Mentions: FLCL, S-Cry-Ed, Kikaider, Fullmetal Alchemist and Great Teacher Onizuka... there's probably others I can't remember.

1. Dragonball, the one, the orignal for me.
2.Deathnote.
3.Bleach
4.Cowboy Bebop
5.Uh, pokeyman?

In no particular order:

Black Lagoon: Crazed action anime with a realistic bent. No fillers, no energy blasts, no robots, no super powers (unless you call being extremely resilient a super power); just the misadventures of a crew of bad-ass modern-day (well, mid-90s at least) pirates in the South Seas. It's basically Michael Bay: THE ANIME.

Gurren Lagann: Epic epic epic epic EPIC Gainax super robot anime featuring great animation, lots of hot-blood and EPIC.

Excel Saga: Insane irreverant comedy featuring parodies of Japanese and American pop culture. Also Pedro.

Monster: Fantastic drama anime about a Japanese fugitive journeying across mid-90s Germany while trying to prove his innocence and find the murderer he inadvertantly helped many years ago.

Okay, maybe there's a slightly particular order...

#1: Cowboy Bebop. Do I really have to explain this one? REALLY?

No you don't my friend because Cowboy Bebop should be Number One by default.

My List!

1: Cowboy Bebop
2: Samurai Champloo
3:Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
4: Eureka Seven: Psalms of Planets
5: Rockman. EXE

I would've put Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion on their, but R2 is so @$$ backwards it's at times almost embarrassing! XD

1. Haruhi
2. Gundam Wing
3. RoboTech
4. uuuh.... DBZ?
5. .... pokemon I guess?

Top FIVE? That's a tough one. I've seen at least a hundred titles.
Here's my current top 5

1. One Piece - My current favorite.
2. Gurren Lagann - Pure, unadulterated hotbloodedness.
3. Ranma 1/2 - the series that got me seriously started on anime.
4. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya - This series is just plain fun.
5. Bleach - One of the better action titles I've watched.

Close placers: Slayers, Code Geass, Godannar, Irresponsible Captain Tylor (I think this particular one may be #6)

1. Shakugan no Shana (Watch now)
2. Haruhi
3. Yuyu Hauksho (However it's spelled)

...I've certainly seen more anime, just those are the ones I liked the most.

In no particular order:

1. Dragonball/Z/GT
2. Tenchi Muyo
3. Pokemon
4. Naruto
5. One Piece

Oh, and Ranma 1/2 as well as anything by Hayao Miyazaki. I don't care about this not being a top 5 list.

Thanx everbody's!!!

"I would've put Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion on their, but R2 is so @$$ backwards it's at times almost embarrassing! XD"

Aww c'mon Gammer it's not that bad...& don't tell me you don't like C2's new personallity, I find it....Dare i say it..KAWII!!!!! But seriously C2 has always been one of my favs on the show & her new personallity just makes me like her even more......although i have to admit R2 does have its...well not so good moments LOL!

1. Ah! My Goddess - Cute and adorable romance anime which doesn't involve too much fansevice, making it amazing in my books. Add this to a compelling universe, rich and colorful characters and some pretty cool action scenes (particularly in the Christmas special and movie) make it my all time favorite. Manga is still better.

2. Gundam SEED - My old obsession. Two protagonists are on opposing sides of a war, the cast is made up mostly of teenagers and drama/angst are going on all the while giant robots are shooting at eachother. This show tugs all my heartstrings and can make me jump in the air with adrenaline and then cry at the sadness five minutes later. Shame about the sequel series...

3. The Slayers - Of the list, this is the only one still running (yay Revolution!), like AMG, the Slayers universe is unique and interesting enough to draw me in, the comedy and action is top notch and the characters are, well. There can not be two Xellos'.

4. The Melancholny of Haruhi Suzumiya - A stunningly faithful adaption of a superb series of novellas. Once again, the universe has alot of cool and unique things about itself, it handles time travel in a rather interesting fashion and the books have a fair amount of awesome and drama in them, hopefully season 2 will happen in our lifetimes. Animation is freaking amazing, too.

5. Trigun - Lacking a definitive anime that I enjoy, I put Trigun here as it is just a thoroughly entertaining show and an example of an anime being chained down by it's manga. Only after Trigun has stopped adapting manga issues does it get really really good, the ending episodes in particular shine brightly. It was either this or Outlaw Star, which is also pretty dang sweet. Dub is better than sub on this one.

Oh gosh! Good call Craig. I forgot about Trigun. And Tenchi Muyo Rishi...geez. I've forgotten about that one too. Throw them in for 5th also. XD!

The whole Dragonball series, Yu Yu Hakusho, Bleach, Ruroni Kenshin, and the Gundam series up until SD came out. In no order.

I'm leaning towards more live action drama series and movies lately but I still watch anime every now and then. Mine, not in order since I can't make up my mind:

Nana
Vampire Knight
Card Captor Sakura
Tenchi Muyo Ryo-ohki
Hiroshi Nadeshiko Shichi Henge
(Inu Yasha, Slayer series, Tsubasa Chronicles and others came close)

Anime Movies: Honey and Clover, Hotaru no Haka (Grave of the Fireflies), Mononoke Hime (Princess Mononoke), Howl's Moving Castle, Macross Plus, among others

Hmm..Looks like you all have good taste..thats..good...You know the Street fighter anime movies & series are Pretty good..I just started watching SF II V..im on episode 14 right now...The Movies are great too ive seen all of them except SFA: Generations.

& Whats your problem with SD Peaches....Wait..THAT WAS AN ANIME..OMG!!!! (I though it was a crappy U.S. Parody! LULZ!!!!)

I'm not saying it was an anime. I'm just saying I liked the Gundam series until SD started. Sorry for the confusion.

OMG!! 100 POSTS!! YEAH!!! I'M GONNA THROW A PARTY!!!

I'm not saying it was an anime. I'm just saying I liked the Gundam series until SD started. Sorry for the confusion.

Its OK...I myself found SD funny...But to be honest...even if it was made in japan...no way it deserves to be called an anime...I'm bored..I know lets move on to everyones top 5 anime characters. of all time (this can be from any anime not just your top 5.)

OK me.

1.Majin buu (He's hilarious)
2. Chun-Li (she's HAWT)
3.Arale (again, funny as hell) (& Kid Goku would Tie for 3rd.)
4, C.C. (...She leaves me spechless, beutiful personallity in both seasons)
5.Hinata (Becuase shy female characters are good for story development..& she's got the whole cutenessfactor...she reminds me of a chao.)

Top five character? ........ I'll have to get back to you on that one.

Hahahah well hey I can surely as helk Chun-li is on my list as well[just got done playing with her on SSFII]. But yes...once again..i'll get back to you.

Top five character? ........ I'll have to get back to you on that one.

THERE! I saved you the trouble

This thread is over... Your Welcome!

HAHAHAHAH! Yea, yea. He's cool, he's cool.

1. Ninja Scroll
2. Samurai X
3. Samurai Champloo,
4. Cowboy Beebop
5. Hellsing

I'm not a huge anime fan, although I do like .hack//sign, Paranoia Agent, the works of Miyazaki, and some other things I can't think of. I've only seen the first couple episodes of Death Note and I loved it so I'll eventually watch the rest. I used to like a lot more anime, but some of the things I loved when I was 13 seem silly to me now. I do, however, still have a soft spot for shows like Dragon Ball and Pokemon.

I'm sorry, I can't do a top 5. It has to be a top 10. I'd say that the first five are indeed my favourites over the latter half, but I can't bear to leave them unmentioned. My favourites don't really include many 'classics' - there are many series I've watched and found great - I've really enjoyed them - but I guess they don't click with me on a personal level. My top 10 all have something to them that appeals to me in a special way - they're the series I can obsess over.

1. Evangelion. Definitely my all time fave. It's not perfect - I would even say I hate some things about it - but the good far outweighs the bad. I was originally drawn to it back when it was new (through articles in a gaming magazine - they had a little anime section), but I didn't have a computer back then, so it was a year or so before I could actually see anything animated. I have the DVDs but I also still have the series on old VHS tapes that I had to get overseas relatives to send me. Come to think of it, even if I had internet access back then, would any form of video have been available? This was the mid 1990s, I don't remember what the intarwebs was like at that time. Anyway, there's a lot of memories associated with it.

I was already deeply interested in many elements/themes featured in EVA, but it also actually spawned my interest in a lot of other things (eg; classical music, architecture). At risk of sounding like a crazy person, it's had a huge impact (pun intended) on my life. As my all-time favourite anime it's also the source of my fave characters, songs and artists of all time. I've got a lot out of it - I think it's also made me enjoy little things in life more, too - sunsets, mountains, silence, darkened skies (not a dull/depressive sense - it's kinda beautiful. This kind of sky features prominently in Yoshiyuki Sadamoto's art), ambient noises of environments... Yea, clearly I am a freak, and it's only getting worse thanks to the Rebuild movies.

2. Shaman King. Oh how I love this series. Great characters, action, drama, humor, music. If you've only seen the dub version, please give the original a chance. Very underrated series in my opinion. I love how instead of doing filler to wait for the manga to progress, they went and did their own continuation of the story (including a proper ending, which the manga lacked). As a result, halfway through the manga and anime branch off to be really quite different stories - it's really cool, getting two different versions of something you love. Shaman King also spawned my interest in all of Hiroyuki Takei's other works.
Special reprints of the manga called "Shaman King Kanzenban" (perfect/complete edition) started this year. It features new covers (with transparent overlays of the spirits), author interviews, some touched-up art in the comic itself, a bunch of colored pages per volume including character profile pages (awesome new character artworks, interesting factoids), and a series of collectable spirit-ball pins. There will also be an extra final volume that will finally complete the story! It's made me very happy.

3. Cardcaptor Sakura. I'm not that big on either shoujo or magic, and yet somehow I adore the living crap out of this show. It's really a beautiful series, and the usual culprits are at fault - characters, music, animation. Lovely story, great feel to it, and a great hook in encountering each new card.

4. Digimon Tamers. I love Digimon in general, but this is my far my fave season. Again the characters are a big part of it - the Digimon themselves are actually characters here instead of mere extensions of their respective human partners. The mood/feel of this season is another thing thats makes it click with me. Head honcho Chiaki J. Konaka's major influences include the works of H.P. Lovecraft and - surprise - Neon Genesis Evangelion, and you can often see this reflected in his works. I love Digimon, EVA and Konaka's other works, so it's only natural that Tamers just works for me.

5. Death Note
6. Bleach
7. Di Gi Charat
8. Haruhi
9. Ghost Hound
10. Shakugan no Shana

Lain wants to fit in there somewhere... I'm not sure which I'd bump out though.

In no particular order:

Last Exile. I persoanlly consider it Gonzo's best series. They've had a couple gems since (the epic Samurai 7, The Tower of Druaga), but nothing that's managed to top it in my book.

Here Is Greenwood. Lighthearted and funny, I've never gotten bored whenever I rewatch this series.

Slayers (all series). Great characters, great stories, and an incredibly constructed universe. That, and I'm a self-admitted Xelloss fanboy.

Black Lagoon. Violence, blood, violence, girls, violence, humor, violence, story. And violence. Only thing I've never really liked about the series is the ED, but that doesn't keep it off the list.

Genshiken. This is about the only anime out there (yes, even against Otaku no Video) where I can honestly say, "I know all these people." Yes, I even knew a Haraguchi a couple years back. Grrr... (I'd consider myself a combination of Sasahara and Tanaka, though I seem to be becoming more Tanaka-ish as time goes by).

....what is with anime today? Everything is starting to run together.

I didn't expect Pokemon to be in most people`s top 5 lists, that's for sure... ;

Oh, and since most people here probably haven't heard of Godannar, I'm going to post this...

I can't stop laughing. I have to find that volume one ASAP! GIANT ROBOTS...HO!!!

lol I kno rite

I love me some giant robots.

Darn it CT

1A.) Outlaw Star is full of Epic Win!
1B.) The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is also full of Epic Win!
2.) Lucky Star
3.) Um... Love Hina, maybe...
4.) Uh... Negima?
5.) Hana Kimi... I think...

But on the whole, not really sure after number 2.

1/ Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex Gig 1&2
2/ The Melancholoy of Suzumiya Haruhi
3/ Dragonball
4/ Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagaan
5/ Cowboy Bebop

EWW @ anyone saying the Shaman King and Negima animes. Ewwwwwwwwwwww.

EI noticed a lot of people are mentioning OUTLAW STAR..Ive never heard of that..is it good...all so what are Ghost hound, Di Gi Charat, Negima & Hana kimi?

& Peaches...everybody loves giant robot...well except people who get crushed by them lol.

I liked Digimon when I was a kid. And Avatar's cool, but it's not an anime, so forget I said anything.

Let's see... my favorite shows are at the moment:

Fullmetal Alchemist
Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi
BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad
Lucky Star
FLCL

Honorable mention: Speed Grapher

BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad

One of the BEST anime series I've seen in 2007. Canada was very lucky that MUCHmusic aired BECK back to back during the summer.

Easily on my top ten!

What's wrong with Negima? Sure it can be a little perverted at times, but same goes for any anime...

Depends which Negima you're talking about. The original first series with the god awful animations, un proportionate characters, heck, even incorrectly coloured characters with terrible music and just general crappiness or Negima?!, which is a new series completely ignoring the first travesty because the creators knew it was just that %!@@. I haven't watched Negima?!, but what little I've seen looks pretty awesome.

So which do you mean? Negima, or Negima?! Or do you mean the manga, which IS awesome, but then has no place being listed in a Top 5 anime poll considering, well, its not an anime!

(well technically it is but not the anime we're talking about )

Negima?!

Damn, I completely forgot about Digimon! Okay, scratch Ruroni Kenshin and put Digimon in there... Only Digimon Adventure 1 and 2 though. Tamers sucked, Frontier sucked, and Data Squad sucks. But even though I didn't like those seasons, a lot of the digimon they introduced were cool... Except the spirits in Frontier, that was pretty stupid.

*Note: Ruroni Kenshin is still in my top ten... if I remember all the ones after six.

Well, then start remembering, because I want to know. 😛 Seriously though...

1. Slayers: Do I need to say why? Others have already mentioned why Slayers is awesome, not to mention its still running.

2. Yu Yu Hakusho: I just fell in love with this series from the beginning. And the action was cool, not to mention the awesome plot twist in the second half of the series...

3. Yugioh: Okay, sue me. *Is sued* I watched it as a kid <.< I knew it was really corny, but I always liked watching the comeback victories. You always knew they were coming, it was just how it was going to happen that was the question.

4. Speed Grapher: Loved this series to death. Its nature, atmosphere, everything about it filled me with awesomeness =D

5. Bleach: Yay, humongous swords ^_^

1. Tenchi Muyo

2. DBZ.

The rest?
Er.
Lame.

1. Tenchi Muyo

2. DBZ.

The rest?
Er.
Lame.

Thank god you're here to render such amazing commentary. Why, I can feel myself getting awesomer just THINKING about how awesome you must be.

EWW @ anyone saying the Shaman King and Negima animes. Ewwwwwwwwwwww.

What do you hate about Shaman King? I love both the anime and the manga, and so I'm curious. It's something I don't understand ^^` Please share.

Legionfan: Just take a look at Wikipedia's pages on each of the series you enquired about, they'll each have a series synopsis that will give you a good idea of what each series is about. But be careful in reading too much further, you could start getting into spoiler territory.

This thread is handy because it's giving me ideas for what to watch next. After researching some of these series I'm currently eyeing up Code Geass, Genshiken and Speed Grapher. Eureka Seven has been on my must watch list for a long time now, but I've not got around to it yet.

Thank god you're here to render such amazing commentary. Why, I can feel myself getting awesomer just THINKING about how awesome you must be.

And thank God you were here to be the 'Topic Jerk'.

Stay on topic, and try to grow up.

You're not as much of an 'omg interenetz god lolol' as you believe you are.