Vote for your favorite (recent) anime!

[Drew Van T.]

Note: I defined "recent anime" as an original series or creation (not a spinoff, sequel or movie based on a TV series) of which the first episode came out (in Japan) in 2004 or later.

I used AnimeNewsNetwork to check these criteria; their "most popular" lists are also the starting point for this poll.

[Buzz Dixon]

I think The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya would be just as funny -- perhaps funnier -- without the bona fide sci-fi elements (i.e., let Haruhi just wish she could meet such people) but from what I've seen it is delightful.

[Alex L]

This season?

Higurashi no Naku koro ni (http://animesuki.sandwich.net/series.php/800.html).

Haven't had the time to watch very much for...a long while, but I've heard good things about Monster.

I've actually dropped Bleach.

[Spastic Minnow]

School Rumble

absolutely hilarious.

It looks like it'll be the first anime series I'll ever be buying from volume to volume.

[jboncha]

Out of those choices it would have to be Samurai Champloo without a doubt.



J B

[Drew Van T.]

I think The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya would be just as funny -- perhaps funnier -- without the bona fide sci-fi elements (i.e., let Haruhi just wish she could meet such people) but from what I've seen it is delightful.

You may be right. Haven't had a chanced to see it yet...

Higurashi no Naku koro ni.

So far it hasn't shown up in AnimeNewsNetwork's Top 50 Most Popular yet, nor at the top of the other lists. Otherwise I might have put it in...

I've actually dropped Bleach.

Given that they've basically started doing fillers, I'm not surprised. The fillers are quite watchable, though.

School Rumble


That was going to be my 10th option. But the 10th option had to be "other", so it fell off...

[Violently Apathetic]

Had to go with Monster as it is easily the 'smartest' anime I've seen in a while, but both Ouran High School Host Club and Honey and Clover are charmers too. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya seemed to me a case of being more style than substance and while Bleach is a lot of mindless fun it is still just mindless fun. Howls I judge differently as it is a movie and I haven't seen enough of the others to have a strong opinion.

[Alex L]

Higurashi no Naku Koro niSo far it hasn't shown up in AnimeNewsNetwork's Top 50 Most Popular yet, nor at the top of the other lists. Otherwise I might have put it in...

Relatively few people know it exists, but that doesn't mean it's not quality.

Wiki to the rescue!
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (ひぐらしのなく頃に, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni? lit. When Cicadas Cry) is the title of a Japanese murder-mystery style doujin visual novel series based on the NScripter engine, produced by 07th Expansion. The series revolves around a group of young friends and the strange events that occur in the village they live in. The first game in the series, Onikakushi-hen, was released on August 10, 2002 and the final game, entitled Matsuribayashi-hen, was released on August 13, 2006.
--------------✂----------------
The main character, Keiichi Maebara, moves to Hinamizawa and befriends his classmates Rena Ryugū, Mion Sonozaki, Rika Furude, and Satoko Houjou. Keiichi joins their after-school club activities, consisting mostly of card and board games. Hinamizawa appears to be a normal, peaceful village to Keiichi. However, the tranquility abruptly ends after the annual Watanagashi Festival, a local festivity to commemorate and give thanks to the local god, Oyashiro-sama. Keiichi learns that for the past four years, one person has been murdered and another has gone missing, never to be seen again, on the day of the Watanagashi Festival. Keiichi himself soon becomes implicated into the strange events surrounding the Watanagashi Festival and Oyashiro-sama. As the series unfolds, numerous questions are encountered.

[Drew Van T.]

Had to go with Monster as it is easily the 'smartest' anime I've seen in a while, but both Ouran High School Host Club and Honey and Clover are charmers too.

Have you seen episode #22 of Ouran High School yet? (came out a few days ago). Oodles of fun. It starts off as Shinsengumi cosplay (Peacemaker Kurogane, woooot) and from there it becomes the first episode that actually focuses on Mori-sempai fo a change *gasp*...you know, the quiet, morose guy who rarely says anything.