Favourites

I am often asked what are my favourite anime or manga and which titles I would recommend. For me it is a question that is very difficult to answer. I've seen or read so many of them, and I like so many, to some level, for one reason or another, that it would probably be easier to make a top 50 than a top 10. If selecting the shows that I prefer--those I would like to introduce to a newcomer or that I would take to a desert island--is already a difficult task, putting them in order of preference is nearly impossible; so I won't. In this alphabetical order selection, I took account of the quality of the title, its historical impact, its popularity and of a certain personal sentimental value. This selection is a choice frozen in the moment; it might very well be different tomorrow.

Anime:

Dennou Coil (TV series)
Escaflowne (TV series & movie)
Evangelion (TV series & movies)
Ghost in The Shell: Stand Alone Complex (TV series)
Gundam Seed (TV series)
Kimagure Orange Road (TV series)
Nausicaa (movie)
Robotech series (particularly the Macross and Mospeada segments)
Rurouni Kenshin (TV series & OVAs)
Whisper Of The Heart (movie)

Of course I could also includes all other Miyazaki movies (beside Nausicaa I particularly like Laputa, Totoro, Porco Rosso, Mononoke Princess) and series (particularly Future Boy Conan, Red-haired Ann), Akira (movie), Beck (TV series), Blood+ (TV series), Bubblegum Crisis (OVA series), Cowboy Bebop (TV series), Dot Hack//Sign (TV series), Fantastic Children (TV series), Giant Robo (OVA), Grave of the Fireflies (movie), GTO (TV series), Gunbuster (OVA series), the Gundam OVAs (0080, 0083, 8th MS Team), Hataraki-man (TV series), Initial D (TV series), Irresponsible Captain Tylor (TV Series), Kacho Ohji (aka Black Heaven, TV Series), Kare Kano (TV series), Megazone 23 Part II (OVA), Moyashimon (TV series), Nadia: Secret of Blue Water (TV series), Nana (TV series), Night Head Genesis (TV series), Nodame Cantabile (TV series), Noein (TV series), Paradise Kiss (TV series), Patlabor (series & movies), Rahxephon (TV series), Record Of Lodoss Wars (OVA series), Seirei no Moribito (TV series), Tide Line Blue (TV series), Twelve Kingdom (TV series), Wings of Honneamise (movie), Witch Hunter Robin (TV series) and so many more. But it gives you an idea.

Manga:

Blade of the Immortal (L'Habitant de L'infini)
Buddha
Detective Conan
Ghost In The Shell
Nana
Nausicaa
Paradise Kiss
Please Save My Earth
Rose of Versailles (Lady Oscar)
To Terra

I could also includes all the other works of Osamu Tezuka (beside Buddha I particularly like Astroboy, Dororo, Kirihito, L'arbre au soleil) and of Jiro Taniguchi (L'homme qui marche, Au temps de Botchan, etc.), but also Akira, Area 88, Beck, Cat's Eye, City Hunter, Fushigi Yuugi, GTO, Ikkyu, Rouruni Kenshin, What's Michael, Yakitate Ja-pan, etc. Most of those title are available both in English and French, and most of them I would recommend to a beginner (save maybe Ghost In The Shell which is too cyberpunk hardcore and difficult to follow). Strangely, I have much more trouble listing my favourite manga than anime (probably because I've seen more anime than I've read manga).

There you have it. Now, stop asking me which are my favourites!

For my other favourites (blogs, books/comics, interest, movies, music) check my profile.