Samurai Champloo (2004)
- a slice of life journey involving two samurai and a girl looking for a samurai who smells of sun flowers
- that sh*t doesn't have a scent???
- introduced me and so many other to Nujabes (rip)
- the ost is among the best I haven't seen someone do it like Champloo
- mixing the edo period with the influence of hip-hop/street done very well
- in between all the main story plot points, I especially enjoy the silly filler episodes
- especially ep18 and the dojo graffiti battle
- a perfect length of 25 episodes makes it digestable and rewatchable for YEARS
- been rewatching it since 2013
- the best beginner anime to watch handsdown
Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt (2010)
- over the top comedy featuring two angels
- Panty loves sex and Stocking loves sweets
- there's a whole episode dedicated to c*m innuendos
- Trigger definetly loved adult animation in the US and it shows
- having the side A & B episodes, the Ghost explosions, explicit humor; you can see the fun and influence Trigger had here
- i can't wait for season two it's been so long...
Lucky Star (2007)
- a show about a group of school friends who all lead different lives
- all of them with different views, interests and perspectives
- but in the end, they all share the same experiences in small things like, "how do you eat a pastry?"
- light-hearted and funny moments in the anime still being quoted to this day
- Lucky Star's influence is still strong
- There's the otaku geek who loves video games and anime, the tsundere and airheaded twins, and the smart kind rich girl
- These character tropes don't define who they are to the extreme- showing them grow and change throughout the series that makes Lucky Star stand out
- There's lots of pop-culuture humor littered in every episode and explains the nerd culture surrounding it
- I love the Keroro Gunso (SGT Frog) refernces in a couple episodes
- Slice of Life comedies are my favorite genre and Lucky Star is the best series to explore it!!
Persona 4 The Animation (2011)
- the older I get, the more I forget plot points
- feels great when I get that "aha! i forgot" suprise
- Persona 4 Golden had me in a choke hold
- my Vita was the P4G machine until it got ported elsewhere
- replaying is commiting 60+ hours of my time
- watching this fills the want to be apart of this world again
- kid comes from Tokyo to spend a year in rural Inaba and doesn't know what to expect
- you make some great friends along the way, discover a "TV World" full of shadows, befriend a talking bear and figure out the mystery of the Midnight Channel
- each friend has their own troubles and worries in life that manifest into a shadow of themselves that they confront and accept- granting them a "Persona"
- this series takes some liberties with the game and gives the main character more personality, a voice and even a shadow to face his fears
- they added some really funny bits and filler episodes not from the original game
- i love they gave Nanako her own episode
- as much as i love this adaptation, it won't compare to the game as it leaves out lots of character plot due to the 25 episode run time
- BUT it does a great job on it's own
- Persona 4 Rewind is soon, but if you can't wait that long, P4G is always available everywhere and of course, watch this anime!
FLCL (2000)
- A darling of 2000's anime
- the Toonami revival of 2012 exposed me to this cult classic
- The 2010's was my intro to anime and all these years later, i still hold the love and admiration for it
- I'll continue to appreciate the history and dedication of every illustrator, animator and storyteller that I've been a fan of or have newly discovered
- however, it's fast paced and action packed with innuendo's, fighting scenes and lots of humor
- kid feels stuck in a loop of "everyday is dull and uneventful"
- that's until the Vespa women crashes into him- resulting into a mass building up in his head
- him not knowing what to do, he goes home and discovers she is staying with him and his family as a cleaning lady
- With all these insane situations happening around him, he's starting to grow up and face a lot of emotions about friends, love and pride
- A lot of the visuals seem to represent puberty and growing up as a kid
- every episode throws in scenes in different styles of animation
- a South Park style sequence, CGI and manga panel scenes to name a few
- this show is bleeding with personality and style
- not to mention the SOUNDTRACK done by The Pillows
- they capture the mood of somber moments of vulnerbility and bombastic moments of attitude
- to keep it simple, FLCL is short and sweet with lots of flair and creativity you can feel as someone who is growing or grown up