Cartoon: 1. Avatar: The Last Airbender (available on Netflix instant streaming if that's available in your territory)
2. She-ra: Princess of Power (now available on Hulu, if you have access to that in your region!) - This was one of my formative narratives. Women warriors! Princess! Queens! Rebellions! Perfect for my little girl self.
Anime/Manga: 3. Akira - so I usually hate those top 10 anime lists put together by The Experts because I tend to feel they're the top 10 anime you'd be willing to show people who don't watch anime and therefore not be ashamed of your hobby. Bah, I say. BAH TO THAT. But Akira is one of those titles that I agree deserves to be on those lists. While I do think the manga is better and more coherent than the anime, I do think both are seminal works in their respective formats.
4. Fullmetal Alchemist (all 64 anime episodes can be found here if available in your territory; I'm only linking Brotherhood because as far as I'm concerned, that's the only one that counts! FMA:B & the manga are pretty much the same.) - Science and faith and war and genocide and redemption and forgiveness, all wrapped up in a story about two brothers seeking to get their bodies back, after losing them in a single disastrous act of alchemy.
5. One Piece (the manga's better, but many -- but not all -- episodes of the anime are available here if available in your territory) - It's not just a story about pirates with weird abilities gained after eating a gross-tasting fruit who want to become the Pirate King. I promise. To quote a certain Japanese celebrity: "This manga teaches you everything you need to know about life!" And in a way, it's true.
6. Claymore (manga only!) - A shounen manga about female, half-demon warriors featuring some of the most unpredictable plotting ever! How could I not nominate it?
7. Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon (manga's better) - Not only it did launch the modern-day magical girl genre (henshin sequences + sentai teams), it features a het OTP that reversed the romance tropes (he gets kidnapped, she rescues him!; he takes care of the kid, she saves the world!) and had lesbians. No matter what the first English dub said. They were lesbians! Not cousins.
8. Blade of the Immortal - An epic revenge cycle story, told in all its messy glory. There are no simple answers and it's never black and white.
Book series: 9. Kushiel's Legacy series by Jacqueline Carey - To my shock & awe, this actually made the NPR list! I couldn't believe it. Jacqueline Carey is one of my favorite writers because she always tries to do different things with her novels, even if she doesn't always succeed. The original Kushiel trilogy remains one of my favorites.
10. Valdemar series by Mercedes Lackey - I would never argue that these books are quality because they're not. But for a certain age bracket (let's say 12-15), they really hit that spot in terms of featuring misunderstood, ostracized teens who gain awesome powers and save the world! And for a certain type of young reader, this is exactly the kind of story you need to read. I will always think that's worthy of note.
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Date: 2011-08-13 12:41 am (UTC)1. Avatar: The Last Airbender (available on Netflix instant streaming if that's available in your territory)
2. She-ra: Princess of Power (now available on Hulu, if you have access to that in your region!) - This was one of my formative narratives. Women warriors! Princess! Queens! Rebellions! Perfect for my little girl self.
Anime/Manga:
3. Akira - so I usually hate those top 10 anime lists put together by The Experts because I tend to feel they're the top 10 anime you'd be willing to show people who don't watch anime and therefore not be ashamed of your hobby. Bah, I say. BAH TO THAT. But Akira is one of those titles that I agree deserves to be on those lists. While I do think the manga is better and more coherent than the anime, I do think both are seminal works in their respective formats.
4. Fullmetal Alchemist (all 64 anime episodes can be found here if available in your territory; I'm only linking Brotherhood because as far as I'm concerned, that's the only one that counts! FMA:B & the manga are pretty much the same.) - Science and faith and war and genocide and redemption and forgiveness, all wrapped up in a story about two brothers seeking to get their bodies back, after losing them in a single disastrous act of alchemy.
5. One Piece (the manga's better, but many -- but not all -- episodes of the anime are available here if available in your territory) - It's not just a story about pirates with weird abilities gained after eating a gross-tasting fruit who want to become the Pirate King. I promise. To quote a certain Japanese celebrity: "This manga teaches you everything you need to know about life!" And in a way, it's true.
6. Claymore (manga only!) - A shounen manga about female, half-demon warriors featuring some of the most unpredictable plotting ever! How could I not nominate it?
7. Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon (manga's better) - Not only it did launch the modern-day magical girl genre (henshin sequences + sentai teams), it features a het OTP that reversed the romance tropes (he gets kidnapped, she rescues him!; he takes care of the kid, she saves the world!) and had lesbians. No matter what the first English dub said. They were lesbians! Not cousins.
8. Blade of the Immortal - An epic revenge cycle story, told in all its messy glory. There are no simple answers and it's never black and white.
Book series:
9. Kushiel's Legacy series by Jacqueline Carey - To my shock & awe, this actually made the NPR list! I couldn't believe it. Jacqueline Carey is one of my favorite writers because she always tries to do different things with her novels, even if she doesn't always succeed. The original Kushiel trilogy remains one of my favorites.
10. Valdemar series by Mercedes Lackey - I would never argue that these books are quality because they're not. But for a certain age bracket (let's say 12-15), they really hit that spot in terms of featuring misunderstood, ostracized teens who gain awesome powers and save the world! And for a certain type of young reader, this is exactly the kind of story you need to read. I will always think that's worthy of note.