ANIMEEEEEEEE

Since year 12 is about to begin, I probably won't be able to watch much anime if any. So I thought back to all those hours I wasted/spent on animated entertainment. The year was 2006 and I was playing Narutimate Hero 3 at my friend's house. Upon seeing the awesome ninjaness of the orange jumpsuit clad dumbass, I decided I had to watch Naruto, and so my adventure began.
Deathnote, Bleach and FullMetal Panic followed in that order later in 2006, before a few more anime were touched but left alone throughout 2007 and'08. Then in the fateful year of 2009, I became an animaniac. Upon finding dignaruto.com in April, I explored more to discover animeseason.com, which I use to this day to stream anime.
Soul Eater was completed in 3.5 days, Code Geass was paused because I got capped, and I became addicted. March 2010, I came upon myanimelist.net. Hours later, the short list of completions was added, but I wanted more. By June, my hard drive was stocked with unwatched anime, but I didn't stop there, only starting more series. Now in October 2010, my list has reached a big milestone. The 100th anime has been completed. I wonder if it's a sign that the date is 10-10-10.

Nearing the 100, I thought it would be fitting to watch something good. Unfortunately due to poor scheduling I ended up needing another two so I decided to watch Howl's Moving Castle and Spirited Away, both great films from what I've heard.
Howl's Moving Castle was quite different from what I've seen, seemingly more of a British cartoon and without much action. However there are some interesting characters and a decent, albeit boring, plot.
The next film Spirited Away was filmed 3 years prior to Howl's Moving Castle, and the numerous similarities are very obvious. The main character is a young shy girl, someone gets transformed into something and needs the help of a young man.
This young man can turn into a flying beast, and they share an almost romantic relationship throughout the film. That pretty much sums up the two films. The resolutions to the plots are both quite boring and there isn't any complications during the film.
The one thing which can't be denied are the funny,cute and unbelievably imaginative characters in these films. Without watching other Hayao Miyazaki films I can't be certain, but the characters he has made here are amazing.

From the highs of Gintama and FLCL to the lows of Aoi Bungaku Series and Petit Eva: Evangelion@School, anime has been a huge part of my life, despite all parents calling it 'cartoons'. So looking at my past, here are my top animes:

1. Gintama- For the outrageous and endless hilarity, not to mention the best set of characters.
2. FLCL- Cool art and the best OST ever, coupled with comedy and a great plot.
3. Toppen Tengen Gurren Lagann- Some of the insanest and most outrageous action scenes coupled with the manliest Kamina produces something beyond 'epic'.
4. Detroit Metal City- Utterly random and funny scenarios with some decent music, sure to make you LOL.
5. Soul Eater- Looking past the horrible ending, the humour made this a shonen anime above the rest.
6. Golden Boy- Surprisingly only the least ecchi chapters of the manga were animated, but created some hilarious sexual scenarios with an awesome protagonist.

Some other recommendations must go to Toradora! (great characters and plot), Angel Beats (memorable characters), the FullMetal Panic series (awesome action and comedy) and the Dragonball series (for all the fun schoolyard battles). Hope Gintama comes back soon!