Top Five Animes You Should Watch

Top Five Animes You Should Watch

I am an Otaku. If you do not know what that means, in short: I love Anime. The brilliant colors, the sound of the Japanese voice actors, special effects used and often serious/dark storylines that can take place. Like most Americans, cartoons were seen as something a child watches and will eventually grow out of, mainly due to the very shallow nature of older cartoons. Seasons meant nothing to Bugs Bunny or Tom and Jerry because their episodes rarely ever referenced one another and it was mainly episodic and meant for cheap laughs.

If you grew up in the 80s or 90s, you were introduced to Toonami.

For a few hours after dinner was hours of Anime on Cartoon Network(The best thing they have done and ever done and they should bring it back on their old schedule.) Tenchi Muyo, Dragon Ball Z, Rurouni Kenshin, Gundam Wing, Yuyu Hakusho, and so many others were unleashed onto us and told us stories far too deep and covered with mature themes that we had not ever seen before.

We learned that honor, friendship, respect, and loyalty matter and should be held in high regard. When evil rolls into town, you do have the power to confront and overcome it, but you must first be willing to do what others are too afraid to do and yes, the road shall be hard and yes, you may walk it alone for a time but it is the right path and you shall know that you are just. Your actions shall ignite the flame of positive change. (Damn, I should write an article about why Anime is rad!)

But I digress. If you are an Otaku like me or liked Anime but are not sure which ones to watch, have no fear for Geek Lyfe is here! *This list is in no particular order*

Top Five Animes You Should Watch:

5. LOVELY COMPLEX

Lovely Complex is a slice of life romantic comedy about two teenagers going through high school who, of course, are searching for someone to love. Not exactly an original idea but trust me when I say that this show will hit you in the feels, the jokes will have you on the floor laughing and you’ll ship characters together so hard that your life will not be complete until your dream couple is together. It’s been years since I’ve seen this anime and it still comes back to me. I  can not recommend this anime enough!

4. Hajime No Ippo

 Hajime No Ippo is a sports anime about a high school kid named Ippo whois bullied in school, helps his mom out so much that he has no time at all to hang out with people from his class and has no real ambition in life. That is until a boxer notices him getting bullied and steps in to save the day.

They find out that because he lifted so many heavy things to help his mom and he had such intense dedication, he made for a great boxer. The show has penis jokes, they have classic nose bleeds over beautiful women and there is some accidental boob touching. Pretty much everything you love about anime!

Everyone in this show has a back story and you learn about it and they instantly become apart of your life. From Ippo to the greatest villain, you’ll cherish them all and root for everyone. By the end of this series, you’ll want to not only move to Japan but also more than likely sign up with your local boxing gym to see if you can master the Dempsy roll as well.

 

3. Mobile Suit Gundam Seed

There area a lot of Gundam shows. A lot. Gundam Wing, G Gundam, Gundam SD, etc. I will be honest and say that this Gundam is another story about giant robots piloted by good-natured guy who wants nothing to do with war but is the best pilot out there. What makes this show interesting is that it deals heavily with race. I’m actually not talking about nationalities nor various skin colors, but two types of humans. One is a regular human who are called ‘Naturals’ and their fellow man who has been genetically engineered to be better, faster and stronger called ‘Co-Ordinators’. Naturals mistreated their Co-Ordinator brethren and they eventually split into two factions and go to war. The main character is a co-ordinator pacifist who gets wrapped up in the war and fights for the Naturals in order to protect his friends. This is much more of a serious show dealing with PTSD, depression, the horrors of war, political grey areas and so much more. It even has a season two called Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Destiny.

 

2. Akame Ga Kill

Akame Ga Kill actually surprised me quite a bit. From the first episode alone, I thought this would be a typical anime where a simple farm boy walks into a room and is incredible, solves everyone’s problems and never loses his pure heart. Well, that is pretty much what this anime is. The giant weapons, entertaining characters, underdogs facing an evil government and all while having no problem killing off characters help to make up for how much of a mary sue the main character is. If you enjoy action, adventure, ridiculous enemies and good guys coming out on top, this one is for you!

 

1. Great Teacher Onizuka

GTO is an anime/manga that is a bit older than the others on this list but is timeless. Onizuka is an ex-thug who decides that he no longer wants to do odd jobs but rather wants to become a teacher. Now both characters from Akame ga kill and GTO both come into an impossible situation and resolve the issues, however, GTO’s main character is much more believable(at least as far realistic as anime can be). He does not have a special power gifted to him from God, he isn’t the smartest man in the room, he is nowhere near being a white knight, hell it would be safe to say that everyone in the show is far more skilled and intelligent than he is. However, he handles problems he always has, with complete honesty and brute force.

In the show he takes on the worst class in the entire school, every single student has deep emotional issues rooted in various aspects of their life. He meets these people, does not judge them, learns about them and then gives them a much-needed dose of reality in his own crude way(Usually whipping out a few cosplay outfits). You will laugh, you will cry, you will want GTO to be real and in your life, and you will re-watch this series every other year because it is that good.

Well! That is our list of 5 animes that you may not have seen but you should totally watch! What were your favorite animes? Post them in the comments below! I do also want to mention, there is an awesome article about Sense of Coherence I wanted to let you know about! it is really interesting!