What to Watch: Xy's Top 5 Anime

Hello Interwebz! Lemme hit you with a brief, albeit spectacular, introduction which may be a precursor to a fever dream carnival ride on rails! Or maybe just a personal top 5 anime list from Great Geek Refuge’s newest contributor XY(pronounced)-zy for all y’all who may confuse it with that gazillion dollar pocket monster franchise. So here’s a little bit about me: I love Anime and many other parts of Japanese culture too but there’s something about Anime specifically that pulls on my heartstrings. Maybe it was being a kid in 90’s and trying to stay up late enough to watch Adult Swim without getting in trouble or it was trying to get up early enough to watch Sailor Moon at 5am that has my dopamine receptors all out of whack. Nonetheless, anime fandom has burst onto the mainstream where we legit have babies being born named “Goku” and “Naruto.” As the Internet would say “I’m here for it” sooo here goes the “I’m writing to anyone who’s reading a ‘Top 5 anime list from yours truly Xy’”

5. Mob Psycho 100%

Surprised that I’m starting this list off with the second most popular franchise of Japan’s legendary manga creator “One”( #1 is One Punch Man)? Well allow me to explain. Mob Psycho 100% follows a kid in high school named “Mob.” He also happens to have extraordinary psychic abilities in a world where not everyone has superpowers. You’d assume a kid with psychic abilities would be the coolest kid in school right?? Well guess again! Mob is extremely socially awkward and hardly has any friends. His closest allies are his boss at his part-time job and his little brother, who happens to be on the student council and one of the coolest kids in school. 

Without giving away any of the plot, I’ll tell you why it made this list. Similar to other titles from “One,” this franchise takes mundane aspects of everyday life and turns it on its head with mature comedy and intricate story telling. The narrative style makes you care about the characters development as they face their trials which range from slice-of-life to world ending events. Adding to the amazing storytelling is the simple yet amazing animation of this series. You don’t expect it when you first tune in. It catches you off guard but before you know it, you’re waiting to see what happens next to the colorful cast of characters and adding the intro tracks to your workout playlist.

4. Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Absolutely a magical girl Anime made this list!! I grew up with Utena and Sailor Moon but that’s not quite why it made this list. It’s on this list based on its own merits. Don’t be distracted with transformation scenes and a dangerously adorable alien creature attempting to form a contract with grade school girls. Actually pay attention to the story. Seriously if you don’t, you’ll find yourself backtracking through episodes trying to understand where it all went wrong, to say the least. 

The story follows your ordinary grade school girl named Madoka who gets ups every morning and gets ready for class. Her mom gets ready for work and her dad packs their lunches and sees them out door. Madoka goes to school and makes friends and then the story gets progressively darker. Not your typical darker either, like psychological thriller darker with cupcakes and pain. You’ll appreciate the animation by Shaft Studios which for the most part guides you between the fantasy realm and real world environments of the series. It’s most definitely a wild ride you’ll end up enjoying and it’s worth a binge watch.

3. Shinsekai Yori

So this anime isn’t as well known as the other titles on my list. There wasn’t too much fanfare nor did it have the backing of a powerhouse animation studio. However, this series by far is one of the more impactful series you’ll ever watch. 

It follows a group of kids from a village far in the future where mankind has created a utopian society. Wars and violence for the most part are a thing of the past and living in harmony is central to survival in this very structured utopia. You’ll follow the journey a girl named Saki as she matures and discovers the truth behind this harmonic utopia. Plenty of serious subjects get tackled throughout the duration of this series. While it’s light on comedy and heavy on horror elements and drama you’ll appreciate the perspective of the story telling. How imperfect can a perfect society be? What sacrifices have to be made to maintain harmony and order? And what’s left of what you had to sacrifice to live in your ideal utopia?? You’ll probably be thinking something along those lines after you watch this series but you’ll enjoy the characters, the simple color palate, and all the jump scares. Don’t watch this late at night if you’re prone to frequent bad dreams because there’s plenty of nightmare fuel in here, folks.

2. Serial Experiments Lain

So I totally watched this as a kid and had no idea what the hell was going on. I had no qualms about circling the wagons and to my satisfaction if was worth the binge watch. It helped that I know could actually understand the content. This was the embodiment of one the greatest generations of Anime where scrappy sci fi animation and nondescript storytelling where you bounce from genre to another was commonplace. 

The story follows a girl named Lain who receives an email from a friend who committed suicide a few days ago that invites her to “the Wired:” a virtual world that is eerily similar to what we now consider the Internet. She becomes obsessed with “the wired” and gets immersed in this world where everything’s isn’t quite as it seems as she takes her existential journey. This series is a psychological rollercoaster. It’s not the most fast paced thing you’ll watch on this list nor is it the most stunning visually. What you will truly appreciate will be the subtleties of what’s going on and that it was made in the 90s. It’s a crazy take on Internet addiction or even being consumed by a realm not grounded in reality. The story goes way past addiction and escapism FYI so take the time to watch with a friend and a blanket.

1. Neon Genesis Evangelion

Most people have heard of EVA or even watched it. If you haven’t  though, there’s never been a better time with it being on Netflix. Why it makes number one on my list is simple: it was the flame that started the fire. I respected the Gundam series for its military Mecha action with confidence the protagonist will save the world from impending doom and overcome overwhelming odds. With Evangelion you absolutely will not get that. 

You follow a high school boy named Shinji Ikari who for all intents and purposes isn’t thrilled with his life. He hates his dad and his remaining family and does not want to get in the damn robot. Aside from these objections, Shinji gets pushed into the EVA unit having to choose between his self-satisfying desires or being the savior of the world, protecting it from the impending “third impact” which will ensue the extinction of all living things on Earth. Throughout the series you’ll see the progression or regression of Shinji’s mental state and how the environment around him begins to shape his logic. The content is dark and very mature absolutely NSFW but the direction in itself is extremely profound and you’ll most likely watch more than once to fully grasp the magnitude of the story. 

That’s my top 5 anime List! And hey Internet, just to make sure we understand each other, my top 5 list shouldn’t be your top 5, 10 or even 100. The coolest thing about anime is there’s an unlimited library of titles you can watch via stream. Anime has a little something for everyone regardless of preferred genre so enjoy and keep watching internet….Deuces!! -Xy