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[Yossarian]

As for Captain Tylor, I LOVE that show.. Buuuut, I don't think it qualifies as being among the greatest. I don't know. It's certainly one of the funniest anime out there. Where would you put it, if you could?

88.5

I think its more influential than a lot of things on the list, but there are several shows you've listed above 88 that are definitely superior to Tyler. However, I think overall it definitely fits in the latter part of the list.

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

Done. I agree with that. Though, I think films like A-Ko and Vampire Hunter D do have more influence than Tylor, this list is not just about influence. It's a combination of both greatness and influence. And ICT certainly fits that description.

 

[GaimeGuy]

wtfwtfwtfwtfwtf in Samurai 7

Spoiler

Was the whole thing with Ukyou becoming emperor and stuff in the Seven Samurai movie? o_o

 

[Pellham]

I could never fathom compiling a list of what I think are the top 110 most influencial anime, considering that while i've watched a lot of anime, I haven't lived in Japan all my life and watched what they've been exposed to. We really only get a fraction of what Japan gets and although we're getting most of the newer series these days, there's still 30+ years of old anime that most people have not been exposed to.

Just my thought on the matter.

 

[SickBoy]

Things I just can't get over:

Yu-Gi-Oh>Spirited Away?
Dragon Ball>Grave of the Fireflies?

...different strokes in a big way, I guess...

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

Things I just can't get over:

Yu-Gi-Oh>Spirited Away?
Dragon Ball>Grave of the Fireflies?

...different strokes in a big way, I guess...

Yep. Like it or not, Dragon Ball's influence is just too large to ignore, even in the face of a teriffic film like Grave of the Fireflies....

...which reminds me...Barefoot Gen? Perhaps that should have been on the list?

It definitely inspired Grave of the Fireflies, and probably a mess of other 'realistic' anime.

 

[bloke]

Problem with that list is that is kinda irrelevant to today's tv anime production, both as a influence tracker and even less as quality indicator.

 

[Kintaro]

PatLabor needs more love. Higher dammit. Also lacking Armored Trooper VOTOMS on the list as well. And no GIANT ROBO?! =(

And get Love Hina the fuck off that list. =)

 

[Zaptruder]

Because the list is also considering the most influential, I don't really have much to say about Cowboy Bebop's position...

but if it were the greatest list... then CB would definetly have to rank much closer to the top.

It's one of the few anime that manages to not only get the character, story, setting and all that right, it also excels in departments such as animation, music and voice acting. In essence, all the individual parts of CB are excellent, and they sum to become even more.

 

[Trevelyon]

And get Love Hina the fuck off that list. =)

Agreed. Even being ranked last on that list is too generous. :X

 

[cvxfreak]

Interesting, YuGiOh and Pokemon made it...

 

[J2 Cool]

Considering what a hit Bebop was in the states, especially relative to other anime, I think it should be far higher up. That's the first anime dvd I ever bought. Berserk I'd love to at least make the list meanwhile, though it didn't have the impact Bebop had. Still it's one of the very greatest. Oh, and Spirited Away winning an Oscar was a big honor I thought, and something very cool to see happen. That should be up higher too.

 

[Dead]

Where's Ideon

45. Cat's Eye(1983)

Holy shit, nice.

Yep. But to be honest, you don't HAVE to watch ZZ Gundam(Though, its not like you have a choice in that matter, as it hasn't been localized, and probably never will be) to get the full impact of the story. Still, it is an interesting show.

I'm pretty sure Bandai have said multiple times, that every Gundam series will eventually make it here, though I suppose they will rely on limited run boxsets like Zeta, since a regular release would be ridiculous. But also I can't imagine myself or many other wanting to pay the same amount for ZZ than they what they did with Z ;P

 

[Lardbutt]

As long as Gunbuster is in the list, it has my approval.

Also, no Riding Bean? That was one of the most-watched OAVs. Also I'm surprised how little Shirow stuff there is in the list.

 

[Porridge]

dr. slump had an animated series?

 

[anotheriori]

these might fit in somewhere...

genshiken
kiminozo
hana yori dango
dragonhalf
azumanga daioh
initial d

 

[Mugen]

Hmm... influential then I guess it's kind of a good list. But greatest? I dunno. Bebop all the way to 67? Just doesn't compute.

 

[Romaji]

.
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.
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<---

 

[anotheriori]

double post

 

[JackFrost2012]

I came in here all ready to mock yet-another-stupid-anime list, but you actually did a good and balanced job. You put Rose of Versailles at #16 which makes you a good person! Good job!

...I would have liked to have seen Millenium Actress eke its way into the top 100, as it's way better in every respect than Perfect Blue. Also, I agree Hoshi no Koe deserves a spot somewhere. Otherwise, a really good list that manages to avoid most Western-perspective pitfalls, congrats.

 

[isamu]

Macross Plus also has no love in Asia. (And I too found it to be junk, soundtrack aside)

you are fucking dead to me!

 

[anotheriori]

Perfect Blue > Millenium Actress

 

[bloke]

Actually to be little bit more constructive, here's top30 influential anime of last 10 years (nothing from '03-'05 cause it's too early to tell ), imho of course, and in lot of cases not much to do with actual quality.

01 Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995)
02 Cowboy Bebop (1998)
03 Pokemon (1997)
04 To Heart (1999)
05 Hunter X Hunter (1999)
06 FLCL (1999)
07 Card Captor Sakura (1998)
08 Rurouni Kenshin (1996)
09 Azumanga Daioh (2002)
10 Love Hina (2000)
11 Fruits Basket (2002)
12 Trigun (1998)
13 Excel Saga (1999)
14 Kanon (2002)
15 Serial Experiments Lain (1998)
16 X TV (2001)
17 Martian Successor Nadesico (1996)
18 Mahoromatic (2001)
19 Fuushigi Yuugi (1995)
20 Noir (2001)
21 Infinite Ryvius (1999)
22 Revolutionary Girl Utena (1997)
23 Now And Then, Here And There (1999)
24 Di Gi Charat (1999)
25 Kodomo No Omocha (1996)
26 RahXephon (2002)
27 Onegai Teacher (2002)
28 Hellsing (2001)
29 Sister Princess (2001)
30 Soul Taker (2001)

If you're wonder what's To Heart doing so high (and other bishoujo/moe stuff), you're obviously not aware how spread is that genre these days. As for HxH I have a feeling every recent kiddy shounen anime owes it something, starting with Naruto.

 

[Pellham]

Well, in fairness, Perfect Blue was more influencial than Millenium Actress, even though Millenium Actress is a much better film (it's practically near perfect). Satoshi Kon is definately my favorite anime director though, i've loved everything he's put out.

Sonic, do you live in Japan or did you just compile this list based on similar lists from Japanese sites? There are just so many titles on there that make sense from a Japanese perspective, but it would seem strange that a westerner would have watched them to completion. Of course if you're not a westerner, then forgive me for the offense...

 

[FnordChan]

And once more, JackFrost beats me to it; I was just about to post with Rose of Versailles, Millennium Actress, and Hoshi no Koe love. Stop reading my mind, Vestal!

Overall, I like this list quite a bit. However, I do have a few suggestions and disagreements.

- For influential, it's hard to beat Star of the Giants (1968), the quinessential shounen sports anime (baseball or otherwise), as well as it's distaff counterpart Attack No. 1 (1969). I'm particularly fond of Attack No. 1, particularly as it's the direct inspiration for Aim for the Ace! and was itself inspired by Japan's suprise gold medal in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics (as immortalized in Ishikawa's excellent documentary Tokyo Olympiad).

- I'm trying not to get too hung up on rankings, but, considering how utterly derivative it is, I'm having difficulty with seeing Gunbuster listed above Ace wo Nerae!

- While we're on the sports tip, Yawara is an excellent example of the genre, has tons of heart, and captured a helluva lot of the public imagination, particularly whenever the olympics rolled around.

- Brother, Dear Brother is noteworthy for at least two reasons. First off, it's the pinacle (or damn close to it) of shoujo melodrama. Second, it's got more evil bitch per second in it than anything you can possibly imagine.

- Legend of Galactic Heroes, man, Legend of Galactic Heroes!

- I dunno how influential it actually is, but for older anime films it's hard to beat Flying Ghost Ship. God, I love that bizzare, trippy film. Hold on a sec, I've gotta go crack a Boa Cola open before I can continue...ahh. Refreshing!

- My own personal list so totally includes Patarillo! it isn't even funny, but I acknowledge that I'm going to be in the minority on this one. I also acknowledge that the OVA Holy Trinity - Assemble Insert, Blazing Transfer Student, and Prefectural Earth Defense Force - isn't what you would call influential. I'm tempted to argue for the inclusion of Here is Greenwood and Please Save My Earth, if only to provide a bit more shoujo love, but they're still pretty damn niche.

- Speaking of shoujo love - or, to be more specific, boy's love - Song of the Wind and the Trees (1987) is not only an impressive OVA in it's own right, but it helped establish that, yes, there was a market for manga fangirls who were willing to buy shounen ai anime. Natsu e no Tobira (1981) is an interesting early example of shounen ai influenced anime, but I'm thinking Song is where things really get going...as it were. While we're discussing late 70's gender bending shoujo manga adaptations, I've gotta take a moment to pimp They Were 11.

- It's probably a bit early to be canonizing very recent anime releases, but I'd peg the following for serious consideration: Studio 4oC's astonishing film Mind Game (an excellent example of truth in advertising in a film title), Planetes (possibly the best example of hard SF in anime, period), Paranoia Agent (blistering satire and brilliant style pastiches), Genshiken (an affectionate, hysterical ode to anime fandom, even moreso than Otaku no Video), and Monster (drop dead serious, highly realistic, and still stylish as all hell).

- Finally, you rule for listing Obaqe no Q-Taro. In appreciation, check out this remix of the Obaqe no Q-Taro opening theme.

FnordChan

 

[DrForester]

Hmm...name some of their stuff. I'm not familiar with the Brocoli name, unfortunately.

Digi-Charat
Galaxy Angel
Pita-Ten
Tiny Snow Fairy Sugar

Digi Charat and Galaxy angel being the big marketing whore shows.

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

Well, in fairness, Perfect Blue was more influencial than Millenium Actress, even though Millenium Actress is a much better film (it's practically near perfect). Satoshi Kon is definately my favorite anime director though, i've loved everything he's put out.

Sonic, do you live in Japan or did you just compile this list based on similar lists from Japanese sites? There are just so many titles on there that make sense from a Japanese perspective, but it would seem strange that a westerner would have watched them to completion. Of course if you're not a westerner, then forgive me for the offense...

No, I don't live in Japan, heh heh. Actually, if you want to know how I managed to compile all that information..it's just basically years and years of talking to other anime fans and reading countless anime articles. I'm somewhat of an animation historian(in other words, I horde useless information in my mind for no reason). It helps if you've seen the actual Anime, of course. I have seen(Though, not always in it's entirety) almost everything listed on here(A few exceptions. I haven't seen any of Sazae-San or Cream Lemon. I ranked Sazae-San because of it's enormous popularity and long-lasting appeal, and Lemon for being the first in it's respective genre). I've compiled this list on many factors. First, I look at today's anime and try to figure out the direct inspirations for them. The top 10 were pretty simple to put up. Gundam, Yamato, Macross, Lupin are all the top because they are both great AND hugely influential. Doraemon got the top spot because of he's basically the most popular character in Asia, and helped pave the way for countless children's shows.

Also, FnordChan, you sure know your stuff! You mentioned several anime that deserve to be listed, most notably Attack no. 1 and Legend of the Galactic Heroes.

Also, props to whoever mentioned Armored Trooper Votoms. One of the greatest 80's TV mecha shows, for sure.



I'm gonna revise the list a bit. First, I'll drop Love Hina as many have suggested(I agree. Actually, when I was compiling the list, it just sprung to mind and it just happened to stay at the very bottom.)

 

[Troidal]

Nice list.

I would call the list "Most Influential" as opposed to "Greatest" because that is subjective ;-)

Did I miss it, or is Astroboy not in the list?

 

[Jill Sandwich]

Im not an expert or anything, but here's a list of my favourite numbers:

0
1
1.618033988749895
3.14159265
7
10
18
50
69 DUDE
99
199.99
1024
1976
1,000,000

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

Im not an expert or anything, but here's a list of my favourite numbers:

0
1
1.618033988749895
3.14159265
7
10
18
50
69 DUDE
99
199.99
1024
1976
1,000,000

Ah, the almighty Pi.

 

[Bowflex]

I think this list fucking rocks. The ones I've seen, fairly accurate... and the ones I haven't seen I'll be sure to check out.

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

I went back over the list and highlighted all the ones that are available in the US. Just in case anybody is interested in checking them out.

 

[Hero]

Slayers on the list, good man.

 

[Nostrildamus]

Pretty good list. My only complaint really is that Giant Robo isn't in the top 100.

Also I'd add Oniisama e... and Please Save My Earth somewhere in there.

 

[JackFrost2012]

Good job keeping the list updated.

But you haven't seen Hoshi no Koe? Get on that shit NOW, man.

 

[XMonkey]

Hmmmm, I would put Akira higher. Like top 10 or top 15.

 

[Cold Shadow]

I think Pokemon should be higer on that list, not because it's a very good anime. But it did influence many people to go watch other anime series. I know alot of people that all started watching anime with Pokemon and then started searching for more.

 

[JackFrost2012]

This is a list of the actual influence/importance of the anime to the medium, not its perceived Western importance. So Pokemon can fuck RIGHT OFF down to #57. And I must protest Ninja Scroll being anywhere on the list at all; I think renting that set my ability to enjoy anime back 3-5 years. Just cause Blockbuster had it in 1989 doesn't meant it's worth a shit.

 

[duckroll]

I don't see how Eva can be at #12 and Escaflowne at #127. Both series pretty much defined the previous generation of Japanese animation (the 90s) and to have one so high up and the other so low is completely retarded. Escaflowne was also the first TV anime to push the use of digital animation and CG effects which have become mainstays in the entire industry. Also, aside from Macross, Escaflowne is Kawamori's defining work for mecha designs.

I'll also have to support JackFrost's thoughts on how it's insulting to have Ninja Scroll on the list at all, because not only did it not define anything in the industry, its also well, pretty bad. Having said that, I'm a big Kawajiri fan, but Ninja Scroll was pretty much just a slash em up. It would be like putting Conan the Barbarian on a "110 Greatest/Most Inflential Movies" list.

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

While I agree that Ninja Scroll should probably be taken off the list(it achieved more fame in the US, really), I'm not so sure about Escaflowne.

The only real reason I had it at all on the list was because of its influence in the fantasy/Mecha genre, and CG Animation.

Escaflowne has achieved somewhat of a cult status, especially in the United States. But I seem to recall that it did quite poorly in Japan. Evangelion was a wild success in Japan, and is still inspiring a ton of anime today, which is why it is placed so highly. In fact, I think Escaflowne was supposed to have gone on a lot longer than it did, but the studio had to cut the number of episodes down to 26 due to poor ratings.

However, there's another series that, at first, had tremendously poor ratings in Japan, but eventually met with high success - Mobile Suit Gundam.

So, I'm not sure if Escaflowne ever achieved the fame that it should have in Japan. I could be wrong of course, as the show must have done well enough to inspire 'Escaflowne: The Movie'.

Can anybody confirm the Japanese perception on Escaflowne?

 

[duckroll]

While I agree that Ninja Scroll should probably be taken off the list(it achieved more fame in the US, really), I'm not so sure about Escaflowne.

The only real reason I had it at all on the list was because of its influence in the fantasy/Mecha genre, and CG Animation.

Escaflowne has achieved somewhat of a cult status, especially in the United States. But I seem to recall that it did quite poorly in Japan. Evangelion was a wild success in Japan, and is still inspiring a ton of anime today, which is why it is placed so highly. In fact, I think Escaflowne was supposed to have gone on a lot longer than it did, but the studio had to cut the number of episodes down to 26 due to poor ratings.

However, there's another series that, at first, had tremendously poor ratings in Japan, but eventually met with high success - Mobile Suit Gundam.

So, I'm not sure if Escaflowne ever achieved the fame that it should have in Japan. I could be wrong of course, as the show must have done well enough to inspire 'Escaflowne: The Movie'.

Can anybody confirm the Japanese perception on Escaflowne?

Man that's completely fucking off. The entire issue about Escaflowne going from a 39 episode series to a 26 episode one was a concept in the CONCEPTUAL stage. Before it even went to air. Escaflowne was aired at a primetime slot in Japan and enjoyed a pretty solid success. To say that Escaflowne was not successful in Japan is to basically be talking out of you ass because it single-handedly launched Maaya Sakamoto's carrer as a singer and as a seiyuu. If not for Yoko Kanno's strong influence on Escaflowne, Bones would probably not have used her for Cowboy Bebop.

In fact I'm really starting to get confused about the real nature of your list because if you feel that it is purely Japanese popularity that should drive the list, Escaflowne should be way ahead of Cowboy Bebop on the list. If you feel that it is about influence on other material that drives the list, Escaflowne should also be way ahead of Cowboy Bebop. Much like Big O, Cowboy Bebop is a series that is only really consideringed "hugely successful" in the US alone. In Japan it was met with low ratings, a late night timeslot, and only a strong limited "fan" fanbase. To compare Escaflowne and Bebop would to be compare Pirates of the Carribean with Fight Club.

 

[duckroll]

For reference here's a list of TV ratings for "popular" anime in recent anime fandom, first run on TV only. Bolded ones are of interest for comparison.


Mobile Suit Gundam SEED
Highest rating: 8.0%
Lowest rating: 4.6%
Average rating: 6.1%

Mobile Suit V Gundam
Highest rating: 5.3%
Lowest rating: 2.4%
Average rating: 3.9%

Mobile Fighter G Gundam
Highest rating: 7.3%
Lowest rating: 1.7%
Average rating: 4.1%

New Mobile Report Gundam Wing
Highest rating: 6.8%
Lowest rating: 1.8%
Average rating: 4.3%

After War Gundam X (Note: Gundam X episodes 1 - 26 aired Fridays at 5 pm while the remainder of the series aired on Saturdays at 6 am)
Highest rating: (all eps) 6.2% (eps 1 - 26) 6.2% (eps 27 - 39) 1.7%
Lowest rating: (all eps) 0.6% (eps 1 - 26) 1.8% (eps 27 - 39) 0.6%
Average rating: (all eps) 2.8% (eps 1 - 26) 3.5% (eps 27 - 39) 1.2%

Turn A Gundam
Highest rating: 4.1%
Lowest rating: 1.7%
Average rating: 3.0%

Dragonball Z
Highest rating: 27.5%
Lowest rating: 12.1%
Average rating: 20.5%

Macross 7
Highest rating: 5.5%
Lowest rating: 1.4%
Average rating: 3.4%

Neon Genesis Evangelion
Highest rating: 10.3%
Lowest rating: 0.9% (early morning broadcast at the beginning of the year)
Average rating: 7.1%

Vision Of Escaflowne
Highest rating: 9.2%
Lowest rating: 3.7%
Average rating: 5.2%

Gasaraki
Highest rating: 2.6%
Lowest rating: 1.2%
Average rating: 1.9%

Cowboy Bebop (13 episode TV Tokyo run only)
Highest rating: 5.6%
Lowest rating: 3.2%
Average rating: 4.6%

Trigun
Highest rating: 2.9%
Lowest rating: 0.6%
Average rating: 1.8%

Love Hina
Highest rating: 2.8%
Lowest rating: 1.2%
Average rating: 2.2%

Rahxephon (Note: Rahxephon eps 1 - 9 aired on Mondays at 4:25 pm while later episodes aired just before 2 am on Wednesdays)
Highest rating: (all eps) 3.6% (eps 1 - 9) 3.6% (eps 10 - 26) 2.2%
Lowest rating: (all eps) 0.9% (eps 1 - 9) 1.9% (eps 10 - 26) 0.9%
Average rating: (all eps) 2.0% (eps 1 - 9) 2.7% (eps 10 - 26) 1.6%

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

Hmm. Interesting.

Well, I wasn't just pulling that 'out of my ass', I had always been led to believe(through ramblings mostly) that Escaflowne didn't do well in Japan. But those charts indicate that it did garner fairly strong ratings.

But the most interesting thing you bring up is the comparison between it and Cowboy Bebop. I wasn't aware that Bebop wasn't as successful there as it was here. In that case, Escaflowne should be placed higher, and Bebop much lower.

By the way, what website(if any) are you getting those ratings charts from? Those are pretty helpful.

 

[JackFrost2012]

I can tell you from anecdotal evidence that I have only met one Japanese person who has ever heard of Cowboy Bebop ... it is WAY not popular in Japan, it's about 10x more popular in the U.S. Of course, it's really good and deserves success and popularity, but it didn't get it in Japan.

 

[Mugen]

For reference here's a list of TV ratings for "popular" anime in recent anime fandom, first run on TV only. Bolded ones are of interest for comparison.


Mobile Suit Gundam SEED
Highest rating: 8.0%
Lowest rating: 4.6%
Average rating: 6.1%

Mobile Suit V Gundam
Highest rating: 5.3%
Lowest rating: 2.4%
Average rating: 3.9%

Mobile Fighter G Gundam
Highest rating: 7.3%
Lowest rating: 1.7%
Average rating: 4.1%

New Mobile Report Gundam Wing
Highest rating: 6.8%
Lowest rating: 1.8%
Average rating: 4.3%

After War Gundam X (Note: Gundam X episodes 1 - 26 aired Fridays at 5 pm while the remainder of the series aired on Saturdays at 6 am)
Highest rating: (all eps) 6.2% (eps 1 - 26) 6.2% (eps 27 - 39) 1.7%
Lowest rating: (all eps) 0.6% (eps 1 - 26) 1.8% (eps 27 - 39) 0.6%
Average rating: (all eps) 2.8% (eps 1 - 26) 3.5% (eps 27 - 39) 1.2%

Turn A Gundam
Highest rating: 4.1%
Lowest rating: 1.7%
Average rating: 3.0%

Dragonball Z
Highest rating: 27.5%
Lowest rating: 12.1%
Average rating: 20.5%

Macross 7
Highest rating: 5.5%
Lowest rating: 1.4%
Average rating: 3.4%

Neon Genesis Evangelion
Highest rating: 10.3%
Lowest rating: 0.9% (early morning broadcast at the beginning of the year)
Average rating: 7.1%

Vision Of Escaflowne
Highest rating: 9.2%
Lowest rating: 3.7%
Average rating: 5.2%

Gasaraki
Highest rating: 2.6%
Lowest rating: 1.2%
Average rating: 1.9%

Cowboy Bebop (13 episode TV Tokyo run only)
Highest rating: 5.6%
Lowest rating: 3.2%
Average rating: 4.6%

Trigun
Highest rating: 2.9%
Lowest rating: 0.6%
Average rating: 1.8%

Love Hina
Highest rating: 2.8%
Lowest rating: 1.2%
Average rating: 2.2%

Rahxephon (Note: Rahxephon eps 1 - 9 aired on Mondays at 4:25 pm while later episodes aired just before 2 am on Wednesdays)
Highest rating: (all eps) 3.6% (eps 1 - 9) 3.6% (eps 10 - 26) 2.2%
Lowest rating: (all eps) 0.9% (eps 1 - 9) 1.9% (eps 10 - 26) 0.9%
Average rating: (all eps) 2.0% (eps 1 - 9) 2.7% (eps 10 - 26) 1.6%

Wow, Trigun, Love Hina, Rahxephon that low? Damn. And DBZ is a monster! :lol

And nice post about Escaflowne there duckroll. Escaflowne is a fucking epic anime.

And is Bones an offshoot from Sunrise? I always thought so given the connections from Escaflowne to Bebop.

 

[duckroll]

Well, I wasn't just pulling that 'out of my ass', I had always been led to believe(through ramblings mostly) that Escaflowne didn't do well in Japan. But those charts indicate that it did garner fairly strong ratings.

Yeah I was referring to the people that obviously misled you, since I've heard the same goddamn rumors for years.

But the most interesting thing you bring up is the comparison between it and Cowboy Bebop. I wasn't aware that Bebop wasn't as successful there as it was here. In that case, Escaflowne should be placed higher, and Bebop much lower.

Well, there was a reason why I asked you about the exact nature of this chart. There are many other factors aside from pure popularity, influence or ratings. Here's why I feel both Escaflowne and Bebop are VERY important to the Japanese anime industry -today-.

Vision of Escaflowne and Cowboy Bebop were both animated by Sunrise in the late 90s but by two different teams (there was staff sharing, but the key positions were very different) which eventually became Satelite and Bones.

Escaflowne was written and directed by Kazuki Akane and the mecha designs were by Shoji Kawamori. Both went on to found the animation studio Satelite that has since produced Geneshaft, Heat Guy J, Macross Zero, Earth Girl Arjuna, Sousei no Aquarion and the upcoming Hellsing OVA. While Satelite's works are no considered extremely popular, they do carry a sense of higher budgets and very liberal use of 3D CGI.

Bebop was directed by Shinochirou Watanabe, created and written by Nobumoto Keiko with character designs by Kawamoto Toshiro. Keiko and Toshiro went on to found the studio EVERYONE now knows as Bones. Bones is claimed by some to be overrated (bah!) while hailed as the greatest new animation studio by many more (YEAH!!) because of their consistant quality of writing, animation and solid designs. Bones anime include among other things: RahXephon, Scrapped Princess, Angelic Layer, Wolf's Rain, Kurau, The Cowboy Bebop movie, Fullmetal Alchemist and most recently Eureka Seven.

It can be said that without Cowboy Bebop and it's eventual critical success, Bones would never have happened, so the influence is definitely there. While it may not have influenced OTHER shows, it did bring together some very key people who went on to found the studio that create many more rather prolific works.

By the way, what website(if any) are you getting those ratings charts from? Those are pretty helpful.

All information is sourced from http://home-aki.cool.ne.jp/anime-list01.htm as it lists a bunch of shows and data including highest/lowest/average ratings, the original airing period, timeslot, airing stations, episode titles, etc.

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

Yeah I was referring to the people that obviously misled you, since I've heard the same goddamn rumors for years.



Well, there was a reason why I asked you about the exact nature of this chart. There are many other factors aside from pure popularity, influence or ratings. Here's why I feel both Escaflowne and Bebop are VERY important to the Japanese anime industry -today-.

Vision of Escaflowne and Cowboy Bebop were both animated by Sunrise in the late 90s but by two different teams (there was staff sharing, but the key positions were very different) which eventually became Satelite and Bones.

Escaflowne was written and directed by Kazuki Akane and the mecha designs were by Shoji Kawamori. Both went on to found the animation studio Satelite that has since produced Geneshaft, Heat Guy J, Macross Zero, Earth Girl Arjuna, Sousei no Aquarion and the upcoming Hellsing OVA. While Satelite's works are no considered extremely popular, they do carry a sense of higher budgets and very liberal use of 3D CGI.

Bebop was directed by Shinochirou Watanabe, created and written by Nobumoto Keiko with character designs by Kawamoto Toshiro. Keiko and Toshiro went on to found the studio EVERYONE now knows as Bones. Bones is claimed by some to be overrated (bah!) while hailed as the greatest new animation studio by many more (YEAH!!) because of their consistant quality of writing, animation and solid designs. Bones anime include among other things: RahXephon, Scrapped Princess, Angelic Layer, Wolf's Rain, Kurau, The Cowboy Bebop movie, Fullmetal Alchemist and most recently Eureka Seven.

It can be said that without Cowboy Bebop and it's eventual critical success, Bones would never have happened, so the influence is definitely there. While it may not have influenced OTHER shows, it did bring together some very key people who went on to found the studio that create many more rather prolific works.



All information is sourced from http://home-aki.cool.ne.jp/anime-list01.htm as it lists a bunch of shows and data including highest/lowest/average ratings, the original airing period, timeslot, airing stations, episode titles, etc.

Thanks for the link!(and the history lesson)

I switched Bebop and Escaflowne around a bit. I didn't place them too high on the list. With time, they'll undoubtebly move higher once they fade more into 'classic' status. Evangelion is just old enough to earn its spot on the list, I think.

Also, I was discussing this on a different board, and somebody brought up the ida of making a top 20, or top 50(whatever) Greatest Anime from a western point of view. That's probably a good idea, as it would really put this list in perspective.

We basically started out with

Astro Boy, Kimba, Gigantor, Speed Racer, Starblazers, Robotech, Akira, Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball Z, and Pokemon.

Though not necessarily in that order.

What would you consider to be the most influential anime from a western perspective? Keep in mind, there are several 'eras' of Anime fandom.

I'd say the first is obviously 1963-1977 starting with Astro Boy.

The second starts with Starblazers in 1978 and goes all the way through 1989.

The third starts with Akira in 1989 and goes to where we stand today.

You could debate that the period of 1989-2005 could be broken up into two eras, really, with the success of shows like Pokemon, Sailor Moon, and Dragon ball Z on US television.

 

[duckroll]

Thanks for the link!(and the history lesson)

I switched Bebop and Escaflowne around a bit. I didn't place them too high on the list. With time, they'll undoubtebly move higher once they fade more into 'classic' status. Evangelion is just old enough to earn its spot on the list, I think.

Yeah it's pretty balanced now. Good job!

Also, I was discussing this on a different board, and somebody brought up the ida of making a top 20, or top 50(whatever) Greatest Anime from a western point of view. That's probably a good idea, as it would really put this list in perspective.

We basically started out with

Astro Boy, Kimba, Gigantor, Speed Racer, Starblazers, Robotech, Akira, Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball Z, and Pokemon.

Though not necessarily in that order.

What would you consider to be the most influential anime from a western perspective? Keep in mind, there are several 'eras' of Anime fandom.

I'd say the first is obviously 1963-1977 starting with Astro Boy.

The second starts with Starblazers in 1978 and goes all the way through 1989.

The third starts with Akira in 1989 and goes to where we stand today.

You could debate that the period of 1989-2005 could be broken up into two eras, really, with the success of shows like Pokemon, Sailor Moon, and Dragon ball Z on US television.

Yes 1989-2005 is definitely two eras imo. Akira really got the ball rolling, although much of it was due to hype and shock value. DBZ is definitely representative of the first time anime made a MASSIVE impact on US television and was recognized as well Japanese animation. I'll say Eva and Bebop in the end 90s really defined the "anime fan" in the US as someone other than Average Joe Suncoast who was buying DBZ for his 7 year old son. It was when a limited number of people got up and noticed that anime series can actually be a lot more than just 100+ episodic stuff. That would form the foundation of anime fandom in the US which then grew very quickly over a few years through word of mouth and media influence, changing the programming on Cartoon Network and defining the market as it is today.

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

Ok, I've got 20. I think this is mostly accurate(the bottom 10 might be a bit vague, though).

The most influential anime...from a western perspective:

1. Akira(Started the anime boom in the early nineties)
2. Astro Boy(First anime to come to the US)
3. Dragon Ball Z(Started the mainstream anime boom in the late nineties)
4. Speed Racer(Probably the most famous anime among non-anime watchers)
5. Starblazers(Started a new era of Anime fandom in the late 70's, thanks mainly to the popularity of Star Wars)
6. Robotech(Carried the torch left by Starblazers, this was the most popul.ar anime of the 80s in the west)
7. Sailor Moon(Responsible for turning many, many girls into anime fans in the mid-90s)
8. Pokemon(Helped introduce a whole generation of kids to anime)
9. Yu-Gi-Oh!(Carried the torch left by Pokemon, and even matched it's popularity)
10. Cowboy Bebop(The most successful non-mainstream anime in the US)
11. Voltron(Besides Robotech, this helped spark interest in anime in the 80's)
12. Evangelion(Probably the second most popular mon-mainstream anime besides Cowboy Bebop)
13. Hello Kitty(Was a moderate success in the early 80's, but the license is hugely popular today with young girls)
14. Gundam Wing(Brought in a lot of female fans with it's bishounen character designs)
15. Ranma 1/2(Was the most popular non-mainstream anime for a long period from 1993-1996)
16. Gigantor
17. Kimba the White Lion
18.Battle of the Planets
19. Princess Mononoke
20. InuYasha

 

[Finaika]

If I'm not mistaken Escaflowne has a big budget for an anime TV series at that time (pretty evident in its production values), and thus raised the bar for the budget of anime TV series. It then catered the way for more big budgeted anime TV series to come after that.