Hi I'm Dranzerstorm
You may remember me as a regular contestant on the caption battle contest.
Welcome to Retro Retrospective, my world dedicated to the old guard of the Otaku world; expect some reviews of the old & obscure, and in-depth geeky knowledge with the occasional top ten and I now have a logo.

Little info about me
Well I'm British and I'm in to all things animated and nostalgia.
I've grown up with every cartoon going and have watched hundreds of anime.
Oh and to answer a question I was asked once, no I don't wear glasses in real life, I would wear Loke's sunglasses though.

Top 100 Anime 10-6

Now we come to our final two posts.

10. Nisekoi
A romance anime that's basically a better Love Hina. A host of great characters, the biggest tear jerker scenes and a tsundere I actually like.

9. Accel World
This is how you do it Sword Art Online. As the name suggests this is a rush of a show with high octane action coming from the most unexpected characters.

8. Jing King of Bandits
A personal favourite with the coolest looking protagonist ever and the right balance of artistic, surreal and beautiful and everyone is named after booze.

7. Ranma 1/2
A comedy so ridiculous in it's concept of transgender, martial arts and romance that only anime could possible make it, and this was way before Gintama made it cool.

6. Cowboy Bebop
A lot of peoples favourite anime and I agree with them, a perfect blend of action, sci fi, comedy and drama, it's near perfect.

Cowboy Bebop Review

Time to have a look at an anime with a huge reputation for frequently being the best anime ever made. It's time for Cowboy Bebop.

Spike is a Bounty Hunter, he makes his living capturing wanted criminals for the pursuit of money in order to live on, he does this with a former cop and partner named Jet who owns the ship known as the Bebop. Later they are joined by a dog named Ein who possesses a unique brain packed with data, a thief named Faye Valentine who desperately seeks answers on her past and a genius eccentric hacker named Ed.
Each episode has a focus on a particular villain who is more often than not the target for the Bebop crew however occasionally between breather episodes we sometimes dive into the backgrounds of the characters themselves and discover the reasons behind their existence with the most depth saved for Spike as he attempts to keep a distance on the Syndicate he used to work for.
Cowboy Bebop is a perfect Sci-Fi show, it picks it's moments of drama, it chooses the right moments to be comical and its most serious moments can leave an everlasting impression. All the characters including episode characters are treated with respect in their design, not one character comes off as especially bad nor does anyone take too much away from the spectacle on screen, every little detail is done well and being only 26 episodes long, makes sure that it doesn't out stay it's welcome despite having the setup and potential to do more episodes, all rounded off with the perfect ending.
The dub voice acting is top notch from an era where it was starting to become more professional and I would go as far as saying that its far better in English than Japanese and has one of the best soundtracks in anime history.
There is one fatal flaw the show has but not so much when it was released in 1998 but more to do with the era were in now. It shows it's age. Well the anime is 18 years old at time of writing but much of it's content is not as well represented in this current era than it was then. Space Dandy is the closest relative of this show in the modern era which is done by the exact same director, yet there's no other current anime series in this genre other than Space Dandy who can capture the same feel as Cowboy Bebop.
Final Verdict: I often get skeptical when a show is frequently number 1 on any top ten list but with Cowboy Bebop I actually agree that it deserves it's popularity and is one of the most well respected anime of all time, only a hand full of others can claim the same kind of respect, it's only issue is that it's more or less forgotten in this current era through no fault of it's own.

Big Bang Feature: Where'd All the Anime Go?

This entry was inspired by KyraChan's little debate over which is better, Pokemon or Death Note, and I argued that Death Note doesn't warrant talking about these days while Pokemon is still a talking point today but thinking over my comments, I realized that Death Note isn't the only anime like that and many anime that were popular during their initial run are barely mentioned anymore, so what happened to the anime that were once popular staples of the industry? Lets have a run down.

1. Akira & Ghost in the Shell
Akira used to be the one series other than Dragonballz that people used to say was the best but these days it's content has been done better by better shows. Equally Ghost in the Shell is highly rated but has fizzled out of form for the last five years, it doesn't help that it's a source of inspiration for The Matrix who for an icon of Sci-Fi film making hasn't budged since the Trilogy ended in 2003.

2. Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, 90s Anime in General
Cowboy Bebop is highly rated as the greatest anime of all time and it's hard to argue that case unless your Japanese because in reality it didn't do as well back home as it did in America mainly because the content is more understandable to a Western Audience, but it hasn't done much not even warranting a mention these days. Trigun has a similar problem, in fact a good portion of 90s anime that's not set in Japan are not mentioned anymore.

3. Inuyasha
Inuyasha was once the most popular anime in the world way before Shonen Jump clawed back their crown but these days a good portion of young fans won't know what Inuyasha is or have only received it's legacy which isn't a pleasant one, but there's room on another entry on why that is another time.

4. Haruhi Suzumiya & Lucky Star
Remember when Haruhiism was a trend? Not these days, the trend plummeted as quickly as it came in and poor old Lucky Star is starting to be dragged into the same pit of oblivion.

5. Full Metal Alchemist
Has been permanently disowned by the fanbase because of Brotherhood which is obnoxious and very unfair.

6. Death Note & Code Geass
With nothing left to run on the series, the actual Death Note is not as shocking these days since Madoka Magica & Attack on Titan have been argued to be better shows. Code Geass hasn't had much mention in a while either.

7. Yu-Gi-Oh
The Abridged Series has labeled the franchise an absolute joke and has practically died a sudden death.

8. Other notable mentions
Negima has stepped out of the spotlight along with Harem Shows in general.
Slice of Life shows are not popular right now.
And while Shonen Jump still runs strong, the enthusiasm for it's top four shows is dropping.
Ghibli Films are still popular but are losing momentum and might find it difficult post Miyazaki.

Endangered
Gurren Lagann: Might be outclassed by it's owner's new show Kill-La-Kill.
Gundam: Providing it avoids becoming a toy anime it should survive.
Evangelion: Running out of ideas to flog without destroying it's credibility.
Fairy Tail: Since the threat of it being cancelled it's starting to lose momentum.
Sailor Moon: It might struggle against it's new rivals seeing as Madoka Magica has changed the playing field.
Tiger & Bunny: Considering how it ended, it's hard to continue from where it is.
Soul Eater: Hanging on for dear life.

Escaped
Black Butler: Gothic fashion is still in and is still a cosplay favorite.
Ouran Host Club: Is still popular surprisingly.
Berserk: Why? It's rubbish.
Higurashi: Not as much as the others but still holding better than most.
Rurouni Kenshin: Successful thanks to a good Live Action adaption.

Anyway you get my point, a lot of shows which were so high ranking back in their day are hardly mentioned anymore. It'll take a lot of time and effort to pin point why this has happened especially to some of the best shows of all time, but seeing as I've grabbed your attention it might be time to start reviewing some heavy hitters of the industry, so expect some big name titles in my next few reviews.

End