When it comes to anime rankings, the great question is whether quantity = quality. Suppose a series has 50 fantastic episodes, but they are stretched out between 400 mediocre or even bad episodes. Is this series better or worse than a series that is only 48 episodes long and all 48 are fantastic? From one point of view, the first series has produced more 'total good' than the 2nd. But from another point of view, one series is torturous and the other is perfect.
Traditionally, I've gone with the theory that more is always better, no matter how much nonsense you must wade through to reach it. I've also tried to rate shows by 'entertainment density', however, as shown in Anime Roundup #3. Perhaps both of these theories are wrong. It's okay to be a long series if every episode delivers. A short series that delivers will never be as good as a long series that delivers. But there should be Some sort of penalty for a series that is largely bad with only occasional flashes of brilliance. At some point the bad undermines and subtracts from the good. With that in mind, I should be giving top ratings to those series which were long, but never let me down. Then I should give credit to series that were short, and never let me down. Then I should give credit to series, long or short, that let me down least often. And finally I could give credit to series that were letdowns most of the time, but had occasional flashes of brilliance. I'm not sure if this ranking system is any better than the previous ones, but at least it's another way to view the data, which is always helpful.
Before we get to this new theory of rankings though, I want to include my newly updated great anime openings:
Anime That Doesn't Let You Down:
1. Clannad
2. Code Geass
3. Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha
4. Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni
5. K-On!
6. Haruhi Suzumiya
7. Crest of the Stars
8. Kanon
9. Katanagatari
10. Angel Beats
11. Record of Lodoss War OVA
12. Cowboy Bebop
13. Sora no Woto
14. The World God Only Knows
15. Working!
16. Puella Magi Madoka Magica
17. Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu
18. Ore no Immouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai
19. Saki
20. Vandread
21. Kiki's Delivery Service
22. Mononoke Hime
23. Summer Wars
24. Bastard!
25. Macross +
26. Broken Blade
27. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
28. Alien Nine
29. Iria: Zeiram the Animation
30. RG Veda
31. Tengen Toppa Gurrenn Lagann
32. Full Metal Panic!
33. Toradora!
34. Kobato
35. Basilisk
36. Samurai Champloo
37. Bakuman
38. Ef
39. To Aru Majutsu no Index/ To Aru Kagaku no Railgun
40. Evangelion
41. Kimi ni Todoke
42. Bakemonogatari
43. Berserk
44. Valkyria Chronicles
45. Utawarerumono
46. Fatal Fury
47. Claymore
48. Akane Iro no Somaru Saka
49. Amagami SS
50. Angelic Layer
51. Sora no Manimani
52. Air
53. Fairy Tail
54. Hayate no Gotoku
55. Inuyasha
56. Da Capo
57. Battle Athletes
58. Galaxy Angel
59. Uuchuu no Stellvia
60. Mahoromatic
61. Major
62. 12 Kingdoms
63. Prince of Tennis
64. Saber Marionette
65. Guyver
66. Read or Die
67. Negima! Magister Magi Negi.
68. Martian Succesor Nadesico
69. Sora no Otoshimono
70. Zero no Tsukaima
71. Spice and Wolf
72. Sailor Moon
73. Ranma 1/2
74. Card Captor Sakura
75. One Piece
76. Naruto
77. Bleach
78. Rurouni Kenshin
79. Pretty Cure
80. Dragonball
The methodology for this ranking is simple. Anyone who waters down the quality of their story with filler, or simply weaker story arcs, gets punished. Those artworks which are most watered down, appear lowest on the list, because they are the least trustworthy anime to deliver consistently every episode.
This gives us a dramatically different result from the previous rankings. But it's not clear that these rankings are a 'better' way of thinking. In any case, sometimes people just want to watch good anime, without having to worry about being bored or disappointed. For these people, this list is a must. I would say, at least for the top 30 anime in this list, there are no weak episodes. Most of the series are only a little shaky in quality out until the top 50. After that it's pretty hit and miss -- more episodes are below par than above par, making for a very frustrating viewing experience.
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