NHK's "Top 100 Anime" Final Tally

Well, here is the final tally (as of May 3rd, 2017) from NHK's Top 100 Best Anime of all time as voted by viewers and fans. The selection features every anime ever made in the past 100 years and includes TV shows, movies, specials, OVA, and ONAs.

Top 50:
1. Tiger & Bunny
2. Tiger & Bunny: The Rising
3. Puella Magi Madoka Magica
4-5, Love Live
6. Tiger & Bunny: The Beginning
7. Code Geass
8. Card Captor Sakura
9. Love Live The School Idol Movie
10. Mr. Osomatsu
11. Gintama
12. Joker Game
13. Legend of The Galactic Heroes
14. Neon Genesis Evangelion
15. Code Geass Season 2
16. Is The Order A Rabbit?
17. Mobile Suit Gundam
18. Digimon Adventure
19. Psycho-Pass
20. Sword Art Online
21. Clannad After Story
22. Girls Und Panzer
23. Haikyuu
24. Detective Conan/Case Closed
25. Hyoka
26. Puella Magi Madoka Magica: The Movie
27. Fullmetal Alchemist BROTHERHOOD
28. Attack on Titan
29. Space Battleship Yamato/Star Blazers
30. Revolutionary Girl Utena
31. Bungo Stray Dogs
32. Prince of Tennis
33. Love Live Sunshine
34. Cowboy Bebop
35. Steins Geate
36. Natsume's Book of Friends
37. Fate/Stay Night [Unlimited Blade Works]
38. Hoshi no Ko Poron
39. Future Boy Conan
40. Gundam SEED
41. K-On
42. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (Season 1)
43. Gurren Lagann
44. Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro
45. Monogatari
46. Ghost in The Shell: Stand Alone Complex
47. Sound Euphonium
48. Free
49 Girs Und Panzer Movie Version
50. Fate/Zero


Top 51-100
51. Your Lie in April
52. Shirobako
53. Pokémon: Giratina and the Sky Warrior
54. Nausicaa of The Valley of The Wind
55. Gintama' (sequel)
56. Uta no Princess-sama
57. Your Name
58. K-On!! (sequel)
59. Laputa: Castle in The Sky
60. Sailor Moon
61. Re: Zero
62. Free! Eternal Summer
63. Free! Starting Days
64. Katekyo Hitman Rebotn
65. Yu Yu Hakusho
66. The Idolmaser
67. Haikyuu Second Season
68. Is The Order A Rabbit?? (sequel)
69. Mob Psycho 100
70. Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron Blooded Orphans
71. Fullmetal Alchemist
72. One Piece
73. Macross F
74. Shonen Hollywood
75. Farewell Yamato
76. Card Captor Sakura Season 2
77. Angel Beats
78. Mushishi
79. Urusei Yatsura
80. Descending Stories: Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju
81. K
82. Kuroko's Basketball
83. Anohana
84. Hunter x Hunter
85. Pokemon (first series)
86. Armored Trooper Votoms
87. The Twelve Kingdoms
88. Blood Blockade Battlefront
89. Hetalia The Beautiful World
90. Secret of Blue Water
91. Mononoke
92. Kill la Kill
93. Inu Yasha
94. Urusei Yatsura 2 - Beautiful Dreamer
95. Denno Coil
96. JoJo's Bizarre Adventure - Stardust Crusaders
97. Akira
98. Macross: Do You Remember Love
99. Gan and Gon
100. Tatami Galaxy


Here's a small list of other well known anime that did not made it to the Top 100.
118. One Punch Man
123. Saint Seiya
127. JoJo's Bizarre Adventure - Diamond is Unbreakable
137. Princess Monoke
140. Lupin III Part 1
142. Superdimensional Fortress Macross/Robotech
144. Bleach
168. Slayers
176. Dragon Ball Z
193. Lucky Star
194. Summer Wars
199. Ranma 1/2
202. Yu Gi Oh 5D's
203. Gundam Wing
209. Rurouni Kenshin/Samurai X
218. Naruto Shippuden
219. Yu Gi Oh The Dark Side of Dimensions
224. Mazinger Z
255. Hellsing & Dragon Ball (Tie)
266. A Certain Magical Index
270. When They Cry
280. Paprika
288. Naruto
296. Yu Gi Oh Duel Monsters
304. Doraemon
381. Fist of The North Star

Steven Universe Season 4 Finale Review

So the latest round of episodes of Steven Universe is airing this week on Cartoon Network in the US. I did post some previews of the episodes on my Toon Inferno blog, and personally I wasn't that much impressed, and even dare I say it made me lose interest even more in the show than it already had. I made a video giving my thoughts on my current standing with Steven Universe back in April, with the link in the video description so you can see for yourself.

In any event, I did watched the latest Stevenbomb episodes anyway, which is now available on the Cartoon Network app, with my expectation bar set virtually to the bottom. Hopefully these episodes are good enough that it restored my confidence in the show. As I said earlier, my review of these episodes will contain spoilers, so last chance to back out right now.

We begin with the episode "Lion 4: Alternate Ending", which was actually uploaded to the Cartoon Network's On-Demand service weeks ago, but was quickly pulled out - Not until the fans already saw the whole thing. Now it's back up.

To recap, Steven is obsessed in finding his true purpose for being around, and searches for clues in the video message Rose left him. This led him to a wild goose chase until he stumbles across another tape titled "For Nora". As the title of the episode suggests, "For Nora" is an alternate version of Rose's video to Steven in the event that Steven was born instead as a girl. Basically, everything Steven has done in this episode is indeed just one wild goose chase that's all for nothing, and this has some fans upset on the show's progress in the narrative. At the very least, Steven learns that rather than being born as some sort of grand scheme Rose cooked up, he was born simply as Rose's son and to live and grow like any other human being, nothing more.

Given that Steven is actually in his teens, I expected that he would've been smart enough to figure out about the Nora tape, rather than let Greg explain it to him. Then again, since his shape-shifting powers allow him to control his age, and he changed himself to be as old as Connie, I'm guessing this may have affected his noggin as well.

Now that I mentioned it, I do remember a conversation on how Steven's height varies episode by episode, mainly due to the way he is designed by each storyboarder. So the birthday episode was likely a way to explain it by saying Steven intentionally or unintentionally changes his height (it unfortunately doesn't explain the other characters, though).

In "Doug Out", Steven, Connie, and Doug Maheswaran investigate some strange happenings going on in Beach City Funland. After a series of rather painful situations for Mr. Maheswaran, they eventually found Onion and deduced him as the intruder, despite the latter showing gestures implying it wasn't him. Doug would let Onion off the hook and the trio returned home before Onion is taken by the real intruders.

Until this episode, Doug Maheswaran wasn't given much focus as a character. So this is a good way to know more about him. Despite being a security guard, Doug is almost like the show's version of Disney's Goofy, who wants to experience the same kind of adventures as Steven has. It does make me wonder how he and Priyanka, Connie's mother, hooked up given their distinct personalities.

I had three issues with the episode. The first, which a very minor one, is that I had a hard time listening to Crispin Freeman as Doug Maheswaran. American anime fans will remember Freeman as the voice of Itachi in Naruto, Alucard in Hellsing, and Zelgadis in Slayers. He also provided the voice of Roy Harper in Young Justice, and recently, Teen Titans: The Judas Contract. I guess I find Freeman's voice somehow doesn't quite fit with Doug.

The second, which was my biggest issue, is that throughout the second half of the episode, Steven does his Mario impersonation. Comedy isn't Steven Universe's strongest trait, and this is one of them. The fact that Steven continued his impersonation throughout the 2nd half has made it less funny, and more irritating.

The third is the plot hole at the end. How could Steven, Connie, and Doug leave Onion by himself in Funland when they left? Sure, Onion can be quite scary at times, but he's still around kindergarten or younger and it's baffling for the trio to just left him there instead of giving him the ride home. I'm aware the writing staff wanted Onion to be captured, but surely they could've done a much better job writing a scenario that would make Onion reach that point.

Next up is "The Good Lars". In this episode, Lars is showing off his baking skills when he, Sadie, and Steven are invited to a potluck by Buck Dewey. Lars, being who he is, doesn't show that he can bake. But he is encouraged by Sadie and Steven to show it off at the potluck. In what is perhaps the most unexpected thing I would see in a Steven Universe cartoon, Lars has settled for an Ube Cake Roll. As Lars explains it, Ube is another name for Purple Yams, which are much sweeter than other yams and is known for its distinct purple color. Purple Yam is often used for preparing desserts like cakes and ice cream, and is quite well-known in the Philippines.

I know so, because I have tried the Purple Yam or Ube desserts and let me tell you - It is indeed amazing. Once you dig into it, there is no turning back and you would want more of it. Even Beerus of Dragon Ball Super would be blown away if he tried Purple Yam cake or ice cream, and he and Whis would probably have a fight over it!

Despite all this, Lars has a moment of revealing how insecure he is in showing his baking skills, as he feels that his love of baking doesn't quite mix well with his personality. In other words, Lars doesn't feel "manly" in a sense if he reveals he can do desserts. We get a moment of Steven showing some maturity as he provides words of encouragement for Lars.

At the potluck, everyone but Lars showed up so Steven went out to look for him, only to find he is nowhere to be found and his Ube Cake Roll is in the trash. Steven thinks Lars's insecurity got the better of him, leaving Sadie by herself with Buck and the others, to which she does well. After the party, Steven and Sadie went their separate ways, with Sadie being followed by Onion's kidnappers.

In "Are You My Dad?", the disappearances of Lars, Sadie, and Onion, and Jamie being the latest, has caught Steven's attention. While searching for them, Steven runs into a gem who asks "Are You My Dad?" before flying away. When Steven tells the Crystal Gems and Connie about it, it lead to the only part of this Stevenbomb where I really had a good laugh when the four showed off their drawings based on Steven's description.

The group decides to split up for their search, with Steven and Connie together as a team. During their search they have indeed found the gem, named Aquamarine, who then orders another gem, Topaz, to take Connie while Steven gets stuck in a tree stump for some reason. Topaz is revealed to have Lars and the others trapped in her body. Steven tries to rescue Connie as she is taken, but is quickly taken down by Aquamarine.

The story concludes in "I Am My Mom", when Steven rendezvous with the Crystal Gems and heads back to Beach City Funland. There they encounter Topaz and Aquamarine, who reveal they were sent by Yellow Diamond to capture a number of people known by Steven, with the last one being "my dad". Turns out they were part of a list Steven told Peridot when the two first met and Peridot was still working under Yellow Diamond.

Unable to engage Topaz without harming the others, Steven claims he is the "my dad" on the list to be intentionally captured, so he can use his Bubble powers to escape with everyone. Turns out that was a very bad idea. Nevertheless, Steven did eventually Bubble himself out and a battle ensues. Because they're fighting inside Aquamarine's ship and is already airborne, Steven notes that fusing with Connie will further complicate things. Add to the fact that Steven blames himself for being the catalyst of this incident. Meanwhile, Lars has shown how much an Old Yeller he is by not helping Sadie when she is in trouble, and instead has gone into hiding.

Aquamarine has shown how powerful she is by paralyzing even Alexandrite very easily. Things looking grim, Steven offered himself to be taken again by revealing that he is Rose Quartz, making Aquamarine let everyone go and taking Steven instead as they left for Homeworld. It's worth noting that while Aquamarine has released everyone to take Steven, Lars remains hidden, making him pretty much Steven's only ally and likely play a huge role in the episodes to come.

Not only does this mark the end of the latest Stevenbomb, it also marks the end of the 4th Season. For a long time, we've known that Steven will play a huge role in the current conflict between the Homeworld and Earth, and we have pretty much reached that point. The good news is we won't have to wait that long, as the 5th Season will start May 31st (in the US, of course). The bad news is that there are only 26 episodes left in the series, and as I said in my previous video on Steven Universe, there is no confirmation of a 6th Season. So we can very much see the end of the road for this series.

Quite frankly, I'm satisfied with this Stevenbomb. Other than my issues with the first 2 episodes, Rebecca Sugar and the Steven Universe staff are taking the narrative of the show into full gear. I can expect the 5th Season to be heavily story-based to wrap things up. So yes, this Stevenbomb has indeed restored my confidence in the show.

My favorite episode? Obviously "The Good Lars" because of course, the Purple Yam or Ube Cake Roll. It's both nostalgia, and it's one of my most favorite sweets in the world, and I'd be floating in heaven to be able to have some of it again. Lion 4 is my least favorite, for the obvious reasons.

Looking back, it's hard to believe Season 4 is over and it felt like it passed by so quickly, despite the fact Season 4 started in August of last year and ended just this month. So that's 26 episodes in the span of 10 months. I'll be honest, Season 4 did have some lackluster episodes, while others are forgettable. However, it is balanced out by the good ones like we see in the last two Stevenbombs, and with how this Season ended, it makes it all quite worthwhile.

If you feel bummed with Steven Universe recently, this latest Stevenbomb will restore your confidence, just as much as I did. It's a great Season 4 finale and you don't have to wait long for the next one. I will close this video by giving two ratings - one for the latest Stevenbomb, and one for the 4th Season overall. On a scale of 1 to 5, I give the latest Stevenbomb a 4 out of 5. And for the 4th Season overall, I give it a 3 out of 5.

And seriously, you MUST try the Ube Cake Roll or Ice Cream if you ever managed to get the chance to.

Universal and Sony in a Bidding War to buy FUNimation

When you think of FUNimation, you can think of several popular Anime that have made it in America. Among them of course, is the Dragon Ball franchise. Being the biggest licensor and distributor of Anime in the U.S. has caught the attention of Hollywood.

Bloomberg has reported that Sony and Universal are interested in purchasing FUNimation, eyeing the latter's success in home video and streaming releases. Indeed, box sets of the US dubbed Dragon Ball Z series is priced higher than box sets of popular live-action shows. And thanks to the loyal fan base of Anime fans, people are willing to pay top dollar for the DBZ box set - something hardly seen anywhere else.

Sony, for their part, already has its subsidiary Aniplex distribute Anime locally, though mostly in Asian markets. I would think having Sony buy FUNimation would mean we could see more Anime from Aniplex getting a Western release.

Universal of course is part of media conglomerate NBCUniversal, which has a large number of film and TV entities under their belt among others, including Universal Studios and Dreamworks, and TV/Cable networks like NBC. If Universal gets to buy FUNimation, there's a chance the upcoming Dragon Ball Z attraction in Universal Studios Japan may be made available in Hollywood or Orlando.

Nyaa Shutsdown, Leaving Anime Fans Stranded

Nyaa is one of the most well known torrent websites within the anime community and since its began operations, has not faced any legal action from authorities over distributing torrents of Japanese content, from anime to live-action, music, books, and even at times pornography. Sites like Kissanime have relied on Nyaa for both RAW and translated releases for their streaming site.

However, Torrentfreak has recently reported that Nyaa has been shut down, with all its registry and domain names removed. The reasons of the shutdown remain unclear, but people within social media have suspected either the recent laws in the UK giving a 10 year jail sentence for internet piracy, and/or news that the Trump Administration has placed Canada and Switzerland under their watchlist, also for internet piracy, as factors.

What is certain now is that the shutdown of Nyaa means streaming sites like Kissanime will not be able to air the latest episodes of currently running anime on time, if not at all, including Dragon Ball Super, Attack on Titan Season 2, My Hero Academia, Berserk, Boruto - Naruto Next Generations, etc. Those who wish to watch the latest episodes of their favorite anime will have to find alternate means where available.