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[Mugen]

Kimba the white lion. That brings me back.

 

[duckroll]

14. Gundam Wing(Brought in a lot of female fans with it's bishounen character designs)

Gundam Wing was probably single-handedly responsible for creating the foundation for years of terrible Guy x Guy anime slash fan fiction to come. :lol

 

[Pellham]

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.

You realize that if the list was based on (Japanese) popularity, neither Escaflowne nor Cowboy Bebop would make the top 110, or even the top 200, or even the top 300, right?

 

[duckroll]

You realize that if the list was based on (Japanese) popularity, neither Escaflowne nor Cowboy Bebop would make the top 110, or even the top 200, or even the top 300, right?

Actually I beg to differ. There aren't even 200 anime that most Japanese can list off the top of their heads. Vision of Escaflowne is definitely one of them, Cowboy Bebop less so. The fact that Escaflowne and Bebop characters constantly appear on Newtype and Animage "favorite male/female characters" lists even recently says that you're very much wrong. If you're talking about general popularity over all entertainment, I would agree, anime is a very small subculture in Japanese entertainment. But if you're talking about a pure anime popularity list, the Japanese anime fans definitely recognize these works. Please don't talk out of your ass.

 

[Finaika]

How about Tenchi Muyo? It basically started the harem genre.

 

[Cold Shadow]

This thread lacks Transformers

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

How about Tenchi Muyo? It basically started the harem genre.

That's a good one. A lot of the romance/comedy anime today has a little bit of Tenchi Muyo!'s influence.

Though I think the harem genre has more roots in some older 80's manga/anime like Kimagure Orange Road, Ah! My Goddess, and Ranma 1/2, Tenchi Muyo! definitely provided the template.

 

[Shig]

Irresponsible Captain Tylor should be near the top, IMO, but props for putting at least putting it in. That series gets no respect.

Also, I would argue that Boogiepop Phantom beats the everliving shit out of Lain.

As far as the western top 20 goes, I'd switch out Mononoke for Spirited Away. SA is the first anime to win an Academy Award, that's a pretty huge milestone.

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

Irresponsible Captain Tylor should be near the top, IMO, but props for putting at least putting it in. That series gets no respect.

Also, I would argue that Boogiepop Phantom beats the everliving shit out of Lain.

And I would agree with you.

As far as the western top 20 goes, I'd switch out Mononoke for Spirited Away. SA is the first anime to win an Academy Award, that's a pretty huge milestone.

Really? I could be off, but I coulda sword Mononoke won something, too. Ah, why be lazy? I'll google it.

Damn, it was released the very year before they ever had the "Best Animated Feature" category. Tough luck. Though Chicken Run probably would have won that year, anyway.

 

[Pellham]

The fact that Escaflowne and Bebop characters constantly appear on Newtype and Animage "favorite male/female characters" lists even recently says that you're very much wrong.

So when did otaku drive the Greatest/Most influencial Anime List? Because as much of a force otaku are, they in no way beat out the mainstream viewers. Saying the Newtype/Animage favorite character lists mean something is like saying Famitsu's Top 30 Most Wanted means something.

If you're going to make the ridiculous "if it's popular among otaku, it's popular/influencial", then where are all the H game based anime or fanservice jackoffs like Kiddy Grade? They get characters on those lists every now and then too!

Sure in the minds of otaku, Cowboy Bebop and Escaflowne mean something among a small percentage of them, but for the average Japanese joe schmoe, they're more likely to name Doraemon (hence its deserving #1 spot) than either of them.

 

[Kintaro]

As much as I can agree with the inclusion of Escaflowne and it's impact...as a show itself, that damn thing just completely fell apart at the end. Sadly, the fact that out of that entire list, plus a shitton of other shows I could rattle off as well, Escaflowne never came to mind, speaks volumes bout my opinion for it. More like "Oh yeah, Escaflowne...yeah sure throw it on there." Hell, I'd throw GTO on there over Escaflowne. Ain't jackshit influential bout GTO as an anime, but it's damn good. =)

 

[Shig]

...but about 90% of anime falls apart around the end or ends disappointingly. If you're including that as a major criteria, a lot of it (EVA & MS Gundam most notably) would be flung far off the list.

 

[bloke]

So when did otaku drive the Greatest/Most influencial Anime List? Because as much of a force otaku are, they in no way beat out the mainstream viewers. Saying the Newtype/Animage favorite character lists mean something is like saying Famitsu's Top 30 Most Wanted means something.

If you're going to make the ridiculous "if it's popular among otaku, it's popular/influencial", then where are all the H game based anime or fanservice jackoffs like Kiddy Grade? They get characters on those lists every now and then too!

Sure in the minds of otaku, Cowboy Bebop and Escaflowne mean something among a small percentage of them, but for the average Japanese joe schmoe, they're more likely to name Doraemon (hence its deserving #1 spot) than either of them.

But when we're talking about 'the most influental' we're talking about overall anime production in Japan and thing is 80% (if not more) of that production is aimed at otaku. Mainstream watches same ol' shit all the time (Doraemon, Sazae, zillion reincarnations of Gundam, Conan...), with occasionaly something new every now and then that catches their attention (Inu Yasha, One Piece, Naruto...).
Otaku tastes are the ones that are deciding what will be current trends in todays anime (and therefore what's influencing it) and not the average joes that watches Doreamon and Sazae. That's why we're having 30-40 moe/bishoujo shows this year and not 30-40 Doreamon-like shows.

 

[Kintaro]

...but about 90% of anime falls apart around the end or ends disappointingly. If you're including that as a major criteria, a lot of it (EVA & MS Gundam most notably) would be flung far off the list.

Just looking at that list, 90% is a bit (WAY) off. However, you do have a point that endings leave a lot to be desired. But Escaflowne's was just ass. =/ Eva's ending was fine if you include the movie as the ending (which you should). MS Gundam obviously kept going into more and more series. I'd say Char's Counterattack is a fitting ending to the Amaro/Char saga of MS Gundam though.

 

[distantmantra]

I'd say Char's Counterattack is a fitting ending to the Amaro/Char saga of MS Gundam though.

I agree with this statement wholeheartedly. Regardless of how you feel about the fate of our favorite mobile suit pilots, Char's Counterattack wraps up the entire UC Amuro/Char storyline perfectly.

 

[GaimeGuy]

um HOLY SHIT I was going through anidb when I stumbled upon the page for Seikai no Senki III, which will start airing august 26th. o_o

I guess I have some catching up to do.