So here is the scenario team. God or Aliens (or Alien Gods) arrives at your house and tell you their transporting you to another planet…. A planet without anime - da da DUM!!! But since these are kind gods / aliens, they’ll allow you to bring along 3 Anime series with you (you know to watch on their alien DVD players), what 3 shows would you pick. What are the 3 shows that you could watch over and over again without getting bored. Why do you only get three? Because inter-planetary shipping costs are outrageous.
Here are Kira and Asuna’s Top 3, what’s yours.
Kira’s Top 3 Most Re-watchable Anime
Neon Genesis Evangelion
I call this a personal breakthrough anime, because it was completely different that anything that I’ve seen prior. I first watched this sometime in the late 90’s and it broke all the stereo types that I had about anime. The reason EVA is on this list though is quite simple. I could watch this series from start to finish about 15 times and still probably wouldn’t fully understand the ending. In fact I would probably have 15 different interpretations of the ending. The other reason EVA is on my list is because Asuka holds a special place in my memories as she was my first anime crush.
As an added bonus I could show EVA to my new Alien friends… and blow their minds. Then a civil war would erupt over the ambiguous ending, at which point I would feed them my knowledge of what the ending means. Then I would be declared their king.
EVA wins despite Shinji, not because of him
Lucky Star
Call this my anime crack. I know there are better stuff out there, and I know it probably does my body harm watching it over and over again. But I can’t help it, I’m addicted to the show. Plus - I figure that if I’m gonna be watching the heavy and serious EVA, I need something fluffy and sugary to balance out my diet. And what fits the bill of fluffy and sugary better than Konata and the gang. They would be the perfect pick me up for tough days on the new planet.
The other reason this is on the list is because its one series that would keep me laughing after watching the same scene over and over.
Everyday is like christmas when your watching Lucky Star…while high
Zeta Gundam
I actually watched Zeta after Wing & Seed, but it’s the one I enjoyed the most. Granted its old (1985) and it’s not the original Gundam Series. But watching it when I did (2004) was kinda like tracing your family tree. You discovered the roots of most current anime. It was also from Zeta that I discovered the awesomeness that is Char. Char plays an interesting role in Zeta unlike the other series where he’s the bad guy. And that’s one of the reasons I find Zeta so interesting.
I think by re watching it I’d discover a lot that I missed the first time through and find even more roots of current anime devices. The fact that the Zeta has a great story line and has the balls to kill off characters also makes this a great watch. Sure being a 50 episode series doesn’t hurt, but length doesn’t make everything. There is no way that I sit through the Dragonball series again. I don’t care if it does have 300 odd episodes, it’s just too painful for me to sit through.
A lot of awesome things come from 80’s, like us … and Zeta Gundam
Asuna’s Top 3 Most Re-watchable Anime
Sailor Moon
I love this anime, it was the first one that I ever watched so it obviously will hold a special place. My opinion is that there is a stage that girls who watch anime go through - the magical girl anime stage, with me i never got over it. I loved everything about the genre, the cute girls, the cuter guys, the transformation scenes and the whole wand thing… its great to see strong girls in an anime. Personally i could and most likely will watch Sailor Moon over and over again, it’s just a great series, a long series, but a great one.
What the hell is Mercury doing in this picture?
Gundam Seed
Its the very first action / war / mecha anime i watched and i just loved it. What appealed to me was how the mecha action was intertwined with the romance aspect. The story linealso makes it re-watchable. I’d watch Seed over and over again just to forget that Destiny every existed.
We gotta give props to Seed, it brought us back to the glorious world of anime.
Ef-a tale of memories
Surprised to see this one my list huh? A complex story and the art is great and that’s two of the things I need to make an anime re-watchable. Plus the two differet stories within this one series kinda makes it seem like your getting a 2 for 1 deal, and I like deals, especially shoe deals. Whenever I’m in between series, I find myself watching the last two episodes over and over again.
12 sweet episodes… we can’t wait for Ef A Tale of Melodies
Tags: Ef - A Tale of Memories, Gundam Seed, Lucky Star, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Sailor Moon, Top Anime, Zeta Gundam
July 3rd, 2008 at 6:34 pm
I agree with Lucky Star but I find Cardcaptor Sakura and Azumanga Daioh to be very re-watchable.
July 3rd, 2008 at 6:35 pm
Funny you should mention ef, I was very seriously thinking of rewatching it in the near future — at the least, I will rewatch it before a tale of melodies, for sure. The Chihiro/Renji arc is honestly one of the most hauntingly beautiful and bittersweet love stories I have ever seen or read, and while the other story started out a bit generic, it made up for it with an ending that absolutely blew me away. Prime storytelling, and something I’d recommend to anyone with an inclination toward love stories in their fiction.
I’m not as big a fan of Evangelion as others, and I still think it would have been a lot better if Ano didn’t project his depression and his anger at the Otaku community into the last few episodes and the movie, but it’s worth watching again if only because I notice something new every time I watch it.
As far as your other choices… eh, I can take or leave most of them. Lucky Star was very much a throwaway show for me — it was a good waste of half an hour while it aired, but I predict it won’t age well, and as all the cultural references in it go stale, so will the show.
What I would put on my own top 3 list? ef for sure, but to add to that…
Haruhi Suzumiya would be another. It’s sometimes a bit shocking how amoral Haruhi can be in pursuit of her own non-boredom, but at the same time, there’s a lot of intriguing characters and fun scenarios that I keep coming back to. Kyon’s a great protagonist because he’s a great everyman stand-in for the viewer, and watching his interactions with the other members of the SOS-dan is a lot of fun. Almost any character on MoHS who gets more than 5 minutes of screen time is fun to watch and analyze.
Black Lagoon is the other anime I find myself rewatching time and time again. Again, it’s the characters that bring me back in large part, especially Rock, Revy, and Balalaika. Their characters are multi-facted and amazing to watch. Watching Rock “fall” to become a full fledged member of the criminal underworld, or watching how Revy and Balalaika and others like them live, mostly stripped of morals but showing mezmerizing personalities that even have hints of humanity in places, is something that I don’t think I will ever get tired of. The last half of episode 7 is perhaps my favorite anime scene of all time (Though you have to watch all the episodes that precede it to fully appreciate it).
Plus the awesome as hell action sequences don’t hurt at all.
July 3rd, 2008 at 7:38 pm
No anime is rewatchable, not even my favourites. I need a period of at least 3-4 years between each rewatch to forget the finer details, if not my rather decent memory just keeps telling me what’s going to pop up.
The series I have indeed rewatched were Yakitate Japan! (rewatched after I began majoring in food science, upon which I got greater insight into the show), and Gatekeepers and Vandread since I saw them back in the year 2000 or so.
July 3rd, 2008 at 8:18 pm
If I were ever abducted by an alien spaceship, I would only bring Card Captor Sakura with me. I find it the most rewatchable. =D
July 3rd, 2008 at 8:22 pm
Hmm, this is making me feel like I should actually watch ef… I’ve been thinking of doing so lately anyway.
Sailor Moon is so re-watchable - I don’t care how cheesey and recycled it can get, it’s such a good re-watch. I don’t even have to use my brain! ^^;
August 3rd, 2008 at 9:35 pm
Three animes eh? And rewatchable at that? Well, I’d go with
1. Fate/Stay Night - AWESOME. First anime to actually leave me going MORE!!!!!!! in a long time.
2. Solty Rei - Actually made me tear up at the end (I’m a bid softy, leave me alone!)
3. Martian Successor Nadesico - Pure hilarity. I loves it.
(Though if I were taken after Macross Frontier finish, it would have to replace Solty Rei. No question)
August 16th, 2008 at 6:58 am
most re-watchable anime eh, easy top 3 for me. In no particular order.
1. Suzumiya Haruhi, proud to be one of those that read the novels before the anime came out.
2. Aria, love everything about this anime, love everything about it, its manga and all its related works that i’ve seen.
3. Lucky Star-yes very re-watchable.
December 6th, 2008 at 10:47 pm
Definitely mine would be:
3) Ghost Hunt
2) Full Metal Alchemist
1) Ouran High School Host Club