Anime or Japanese animation have been around for more than 50 years. We all have seen or atleast heard of the term ‘Anime’ which is the short form of ‘Animation’. Some of the popular animes are DRAGON BALL Z, NAURTO, ONE PIECE, DORAEMON, SHIN CHAN etc. Over the years the anime market has grown. And in the present it has 29 billion us dollars worth of market value.

Now anime, they are usually adapted from Japanese novels or comics, known in Japan as MANGA. And the writers of manga’s are known as Mangaka’s. Currently few of the popular animes are DEMON SLAYER, JUJUTSU KAISEN, SPY X FAMILY etc.

I made this list based on the animes’ that I like very much and can watch anytime. I believe that in many ways animes’ can change our lives. Their characters, philosophies, view point etc, speak to our soul. These animes that I have mentioned here have changed my life in more ways than one. They helped me see the world in different light. It made me think about life differently and helped me explore my the question WHO AM I.

List of the Top 5 ANIME ‘s:

Number 5: DRAGON BALL Z

Now who hasn’t heard about DRAGON BALL Z. Without going into explanation I want to say why it became such a popular show. One of the main reasons is because the whole ‘TRANSFORMATION’ concept become famous because of this show. Golden hair the ‘SUPER SAIYAN’ it became a phenomenon in the 90’s. Before Z many animes showed transformation. But the way DBZ did it, broke all records, it is one of those rare animes that are famous even to this day. There are 4 parts of Dragon Ball anime and many movies have been released since the start of the orginal show. DBZ which became the most famous is the second part. It has 291 episodes and it ran from 1989 to 1996.

Number 4: YU YU HAKUSHO

YU YU HAKUSHO released when DRAGON BALL Z was at its peak. Yet it hold on and made itself prominent with its unique style and characters. Sadly because of the mangaka’s health issue YU YU HAKUSHO got an abrupt ending but still its ‘TOURNAMENT OF POWER’ arc is one of the best tournamnet arcs in anime history. The basic plot line that it used ‘a teenager dies by trying to save a kid but gets a second chance to live as a spirit detective who huts down spirits that escaped the afterlife with his friends’ was new and it became a hit. It released 1 movie during its run. It ran from 1990-1994 and has 112 episodes.

Number 3: BLEACH

One of the big three, my personal favourite out of the big three BLEACH in every sense is a shounen masterpiece. I believe the release timing of BLEACH is the reason why it never got the recognition it deserved like the other two (ONE PIECE, NARUTO). The technology that was needed to execute an anime like Bleach was not available at that time but it is now. Bleach was back in the day an ahead of its time anime.

From the story line to character design to their personality, their powers everthing was very new even to this day. No body ever explored the concept of “SHINIGAMI” like BLEACH ever before. YU YU HAKUSHO’s premise might have based on the ‘AFTERLIFE’ but that was a vague exploration. Bleach has 5 movies that released during the orginal anime’s run. BLEACH TYBW (Thousand Year Blood War) released on 2022, and core 3 is hopefully coming somewheen this year. The original series has 366 episodes in total and it ran from 2004-2012.

Number 2: GINTAMA

Now anything I say about GINTAMA won’t be enough. This is a complete package of anime genre, be it Comedy, Action, Drama or Romance – anything you want. On Google it is considered a comedy series, and that is correct but at the same time it is much more than that. Anyone who has completed this series will agree with me. This anime will make you feel some very strong emotions and will challenge your idology to a certain degree.

All the arcs are great and the storyline and character developement only increases with each arc. I think the one thing I absolutely love about this series is that it does not have a main character who trains to get stronger or defeat villains in diffenet arcs and his character slowly develope with each arc. The main character Sakata Gintoki is already at his peak condition, it is how he defeats his opponents with his idology and why he fights is the most interesting reason to watch Gintama multiple times. And I should also mention there are a lot of supporting characters and all of them have their proper share of screen time. Gintama released 3 movies during its run. Gintama has 367 episodes in total and it ran from 2006-2018.

Number 1: DIGIMON SAVERS/ DIGIMON DATA SQUAD

Many of you never heard of this anime. Even if you have heard the name DIGIMON, there is less chance you have heard the name DIGIMON DATA SQUAD (in U.S.)/ DIGIMON SAVERS (in JAPAN). Back in the day and even now it is considered a cartoon that is the reason why so many adults avoid it, and this concept is not completly incorrect. Digimon series is a cartoon but this show in particular deals with some very mature emotions. But god knows why after introducing such mature characters they were treated like little kids. And that is one of the major reasons why it is not popular.

I connect with this show mostly because it helped me realize that I possess the power of imagination and I can use that power to write stories. Data squad/Savers released 1 movie during its run. It has 48 episodes in total, and it ran from 2006-2007.

Conclusion:

As I have mentioned in the title, animes or specially its characters have a big influence in my daily life. When I first started watching anime I was just a teenager I loved characters like Vegeta from DBZ and Hiei from YU YU HAKUSHO. Mostly because they were anti heros so I started incorporating some of their traits in my life. And believe me when I say this, I started getting different reaction from people around me. Then few years later when I encountered Gintama it challenged me to set up my own codes and morale that I will abide by in my life. And Data Squad/Savers, it gave me a purpose, my passion in life. So this was about me, you guys can tell me about your anime experiences in the comment section or you can contact me using the Contact Me page.