With the end of 2007 almost upon us, here’s a look back at some of the best series this year had to offer. Also included at the end are the final results to the Reader’s Choice Poll.

Disclaimer: These are purely my personal opinion based on the shows that I saw in the past year. You could argue that I’m ignoring some of the less popular but equally good shows like Seirei no Moribito or BACCANO!, but I unfortunately don’t have the time to watch everything and can only talk about what I’ve seen. For a show to even qualify for consideration, it had to have met the requirements outlined in the Reader’s Choice Poll. That means that series like CLANNAD, Shakugan no Shana II, and Gundam 00 are not up for awards this year – they’ll be saved for 2008. There is also a big spoiler in here for those of you who haven’t seen School Days and still plan to do so, but hopefully that’s not too many people.

In terms of just action alone, there’s not a doubt in my mind that Gurren Lagann was the best this year. There were parts in the first half of the series just felt like one continuous exciting battle, and as the series went on, the scope just kept getting bigger and bigger, up to the point where they were fighting for the entire universe. I think that qualifies this series as being quite epic. I was also constantly impressed by how well choreographed the action sequences were, and this series had the animation quality to back it up.
Honorable Mentions: Darker than BLACK

Unlike last year, when Ouran was a clear favorite, this year had a ton of good comedy-oriented shows. This decision was made even harder by the fact that Jaalin is the resident comedy expert here, and since he’s gone missing, I had to do a lot of catching up. I ended up not finding SZS nearly as funny as some of my friends had made it out to be, and I’d say the same for Minami-ke (plus I was already familiar with parts of Minami-ke’s story from having read the manga). That brought me back to Lucky Star, which was the one comedy series I had actually watched as it was airing. Jaalin’s written extensively in the past about what makes Lucky Star so good, and I don’t have much to add to it other than the fact that I loved the Anisawa Meito scenes and all of Shiraishi Minoru’s EDs.

Honorable Mentions: Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, Minami-ke

I almost gave this to Romeo X Juliet, but after thinking about it, I couldn’t justify saying that it was the best because despite a good beginning and end, RXJ was pretty average overall. Kanon (and most likely Clannad for next year’s list), on the other hand, was a beautiful series that consistently tugged at my emotional strings, whether it was the sadness in the Makoto arc or the happy ending. And though I don’t treat this as a comedy series, Yuuichi’s sarcastic manner was a great source of humor and a reason why I liked his character so much as the main protagonist.
Honorable Mentions: Romeo X Juliet, ef – a tale of memories

School Days definitely wasn’t the best series of the year, but it did deliver what I felt was the biggest shock with the way it ended. I think a lot of us who were watching the show suspected that there was potential for a bad ending based on what we knew about the game, but for them to actually animate one – and in such a graphic way – was quite shocking to say the least. Even after the now infamous delay, I wasn’t fully prepared for Kotonoha to cut off Makoto’s head or to cut open Sekai.

Honorable Mentions: Gurren Lagann Episode 08, CODE GEASS Episode 22

Surprise Hit is an admittedly very subjective category based on my own expectations before a series starts and how that series turns out. As I’ve mentioned before, I originally approached Gurren Lagann with some skepticism due largely to the Sunday morning time-slot it was given. And boy was I blown away, as were apparently many others. Gurren Lagann ended up raising the bar for its genre, and for a lot of folks, it became the best series this year.

Honorable Mentions: School Days

It’s kind of unfair for me to give this to a feature film since weekly series tend to have to have to stretch their budgets to cover more ground, but Byousoku 5 Centimeter was so beautiful that I had to choose it. This was as close to technical perfection as you can come, from the way sunlight fell through windows to the use of all the gorgeous and detailed backgrounds to the way the sakura petals and snowflakes floated towards the ground. Simply a masterpiece.
Honorable Mentions: Darker than BLACK, Kanon, Gurren Lagann

I was very tempted to choose Manabi Straight for this because I think it’s a show with a good soundtrack that deserves more recognition. However, for me, a truly great soundtrack can make a good scene into a great one, and Iwasaki Taku‘s score here did just that. One of the examples of this is “Libera me” from hell. I initially didn’t like its unorthodox combination of opera and rap, but it’s now my favorite song of the soundtrack, and it was the driving force behind what made the dream sequence of episode 26 so incredible. “raw! raw! fight the power!”
Honorable Mentions: Manabi Straight

I honestly haven’t been listening to many anime-related songs in recent months because I’ve felt that openings and endings this year haven’t been quite as good or memorable as in years past, but that doesn’t mean there weren’t any. I chose Inori ~You Raise Me Up because it’s a beautiful ballad, and Lena Park has such a powerful voice. It’s technically a cover of a popular song, but it’s a big part of what made me like the first episode of Romeo X Juliet so much.
Here’s a YouTube link if you haven’t heard the song yet.

Honorable Mentions: SunSet Swish – Mosaic Kakera, Rie fu – Tsukiakari

And finally…

Although Gurren Lagann wins out in the pure action category, I felt CODE GEASS was more deserving to be called the Best in 2007 because it was a much more complete package with its storytelling and character development. Now, I’m not going to bash Gurren Lagann because I still think it’s a ton of fun to watch and a fantastic show – I just felt GEASS was better overall. And that’s not to say that GEASS is without flaws (some would argue that it relies too much on coincidences), but the show has so much to offer with all of its political intrigue, plot twists, and its large cast of characters. At the same time, it doesn’t get overly complicated or convoluted as I felt some others shows did, and like most Sunrise series, CODE GEASS an original story – that counts for a lot in my book in a time when it feels like practically everything is adapted from a game or manga. It’s been a long time since a show got me so excited from week to week and stayed that way for the entire series.
Honorable Mentions: Gurren Lagann

The Top 5:
CODE GEASS – 986 votes (22%)
Gurren Lagann – 768 votes (17%)
Lucky Star – 332 votes (7%)
DEATH NOTE – 274 votes (6%)
Kanon – 232 votes (5%)
Total Number of Votes – 4470
Here are the full results.
I had suspected that CODE GEASS and Gurren Lagann would be the top two vote getters, but I didn’t know which would come out on top. As it turns out, GEASS grabbed the lead early on during voting and never let go of it. DEATH NOTE also performed a lot better than I thought it would, but I’m admittedly a little bias against the show because I read the manga first, and the anime largely followed the manga. In any case, this was a very successful poll, with almost twice as many people voting as last year, and I’m considering allowing people to vote for multiple series for next year’s.

And so, as 2007 comes to a close, I can say for sure that it’s been another exciting year for anime. Truthfully though, I’m already looking forward to 2008 (the Winter Preview will be coming in the next few days). If Macross F’s first episode is any indicator, and with the CODE GEASS and Haruhi sequels coming, it should be another great year.

204 Comments

  1. Gurren Lagann is a show that only 13 year olds view as “greatness”. i didn’t say it was a bad show, but it was no more than average. the show lacks depth, and story. its far to cliche in being “cool” and i got rather bored with it as i watched. I expected it to do very well in this poll, because when i saw a previous poll labeled something like “Have you ever kissed someone of the opposite sex”, and 80% of you said “no” i assumed that the same crowd would go nuts over GL. I personally voted GEASS, but Darker Than Black and Baccano! held a spot in my heart. I’m glad that Gurren Lagann did not win.

    Jay
  2. good stuff Omni, I dug most of them, except I would have given best song to “Euphoric Field” english version from ef, just had more impact for me than Lena Park’s “You Raise Me Up” XD

    OropherZero
  3. I honestly don’t see the fascination of Gurren Lagann. I gave it a lot more time(10 full episodes of no fast-forwarding) than the usual anime that I don’t particularly like, because of its popularity. And still felt no urge to keep watching…

    And this isn’t because I dislike the genre either. I like comedy and action. I just didn’t care for the ones in Gurren Lagann.

    Code Geass, on the other hand, is pure awesomeness.

    Meh
  4. Code Geass is also my no.1 as it had such a dramatic and good story I’ve never experienced before in a anime (some shows can catch up to it with story like Eureka Seven or Last Exile in my opinion, but Code Geass rulz all the way here).

    As for comedy I totaly agree, Lucky Star is absolutely awesome and, what I also like about this show, picks up the Otaku’s way of life. I admit though, Minami-ke is definitely also very funny, it just has a different charm (more a slice of life comedy whereas I felt Lucky Star often as satire).

    Gurren Lagan I watched since so many were positive on it, but it didn’t feel that great to me. Especialy for the music I totaly disagree, it’s just not my taste at all.
    For me no.1 here where I can listen to every track are the Aria soundtracks (and fav song the single from ~Arietta~).

    Ah and then School Days, as someone who knows the game I just disliked that show. No to mention that I was pissed off by all the fuss people made and still are making about it.
    The ending was tasteless and totaly overdone, when people are blinded by such stupid stuff it can’t be helped.

    Romance was a difficult one for me, ef was on the same lenght as Kanon, in the end I gave Kanon the win since of it’s visual novel bonus 😛 I’d have voted for Clannad since I like this series till now more than Kanon and ef. Romeo and Juliet is also a great show, but then again, not my taste at all.

    Finaly for my fav song, “Nana iro no Sora wo” from the Aria OVA (it’s the op song) is so beautiful and relaxing that I can hear to it again and again. I also like “Colors” (first op of Code Geass) a lot.
    As for best soundtrack I didn’t get my hands on many from the new series. Kanon is one I’ll definitely rank high (the game OST), the rest was so so for me. The point is, a lot of songs and bgms are nice in this or that anime scene, but a song is really good to me when I can listen to it and enjoy it without thinking about the anime it was written for. And from that point of view, there aren’t many soundtracks out which I can listen to. Aria is my absolutely favourite till now (both OSTs).

  5. I really liked Code Geass, but it seriously fell apart towards the end and it’s obvious the thing was rewritten to make another season. Now it’s full of Sunrise writers and is obviously pandering to fans. I guess some can ignore the flaws in it because it was new and fresh, if Gundam meets Death Note is new and fresh I guess. The sub par lack of an ending also to me makes it so far from complete there is no way it should even be in the top 5 best anime of 2007. Good show? Yes, but Gurren Lagann, Heroic Age, Denno Coil, Toward the Terra and others were much better.

    anne
  6. I think Myself; Yourself deserves some place on there for best romance/drama, biggest shock, best OST, or at least surprise hit.

    Also what happened to best horror 😛 Jigoku Shoujo Futakomori or Higurashi Kai?
    Speaking of which, Higurashi Kai should get something for biggest shock (aka announcement of 3rd season) considering the way it ended.

    As for best song, definetely Inori ~You Raise Me Up~ as one of them, others for me would have been Naraku no Hana and Tear’s Infection. Either way good choice for Inori.

    Kit-Tsukasa
  7. At least the initial posters are being open about Omni’s choices, though we’ll have to see if that is still the case in a few hours…

    Remember, deep breath, and remember that Omni’s choices here will probably not segue with a lot of other people’s choices for the best shows of the year.

    And now, for my own thoughts. For a girl, I loved Gurren Lagann, despite the show’s flimsy initial premise… I have to admit, I only got into it 12 episodes in, and only through some convincing by a friend (who knew I had a thing for SR series, and also knew that I hadn’t watched a good action anime in months), but never turned back.

    Code Geass started out strong for me, but I felt that the series more or less fell apart during the last few episodes (probably due to writer’s fiat than anything else), so I can’t agree on it being the best for the year. Too much happening so conveniently at so little span a time, well, it took quite a bit of disbelief suspension on my part (and I’m actually a follower of the SF genre).

    Lucky Star, oh wow, lot of contention for this one. Personally, I loved it, but not for the comedy. Rather, I loved it for the fact that nothing really happened — just a group of people going through their (admittedly wacky) high school lives. I’ll freely admit that I’m a sucker for slice of life/iyashikei anime, but there’s also the added tidbit that Lucky Star also poked rabid fun at the idiosynchracies of the average otaku, but without itself transforming into an otaku-centric show like Genshinken.

    Myssa Rei
  8. It’ll be interesting to see what the results of a “Best Show of 2007” will be a decade or so from now.

    I suspect that CG will utlimately be remembered as “Oh yeah, that CLAMP mecha series”. TTGL, on the other hand, is going to be at least at the level of Gunbuster/Diebuster, and possibly even (whisper it) Evangelion.

    Mind you, I’m not blaming anyone. Most people in 2001 would have called X TV the series of the year at that point.

    Simon
  9. I’m not sure if the best song should go for Lena Park’s Inori ~You Raise Me Up~ because I believe there are many better songs out there than this one. Indeed the honourable mention Rie fu’s Tsukiakari would be better but still there are others. Ie: Denno Coil’s OP and ED both performed by Ikeda Ayako and Seirei no Moribito’s ED, Itoshii Hito e. Indeed a few good animes had been sidelined and you have named them as well – Seirei no Moribito and BACCANO! In the case of BACCANO!, I doubt it would make the cut in the first place, considering the lack of animation quality control.

    Now, I can see 2008 will be owned by Gundam 00 if not by Haruhi. I bet 2008 will be more excited than previous years 😉

  10. @Alex

    Hey it had it’s funny witty commedy moments

    Ahh damn, Busou Renkin didn’t make it. Oh well the other ones I did call made it except, for Ef – A tale of Memories. Yeah I agree with void, it deserved some recognition. Put it up for 2008 polls ^^ maybe we’ll see more of it.

    Sora no Kaze
  11. If only Gundam 00 is in, otherwise it would be a good contender for best OST. Don’t you all agree? Another honourable mention for best anime is Denno Coil.

    I guess no stopping for Geass as the best anime though, considering the SUNRISE is behind the production. They always make great animes and just to name a few (besides Gundam), Cowboy Bebop, Witch Hunter Robin, Gintama, Kekkaishi.

  12. Your polling system sucks. Massively. Too lazy to explain the details but use this analogy.

    You’re asking your population to vote for a President from ALL the Democrats AND Republican candidates AT the same time, giving them one vote to choose from 16 or so silly people. Your initial pool of candidates is too big and the voting populace is filled with fanbois who bias out the results.

    Yourpollsystemsucks
  13. I like Code Geass, but I am pretty indifferent about it’s win. On the other other hand…I am ecstatic that Gurren Lagann lost! Apparently some fans managed to avoid drinking the kool-aid after all.

    Rukia
  14. Lucky Star was OKAY, but Minami-ke had LOL moments for me. I don’t see why Minami-ke wouldn’t sweep the comedy category.

    Also, I’d say ‘ef’ is clearly the best drama or at least something resembling a melodrama of the year.

    As for surprise hits, I would actually say Umisho and Hitohira were up there. Right alongside them has to be Bamboo Blade (if you can count it within this year) and Sketchbook.

    Shippoyasha
  15. I made a mistake by voting for HiguKai. I should have voted for Code Geass. *facepalms*

    But then again, HiguKai is good, although I have to agree that Code Geass sure owned everyone this year. That’s just me saying without having seen TTGL… yet. 😛

    sadakups
  16. i was abit suprised that claymore didn’t get pick on any categories at least school days is on 1 of them so i’m happy about it. would be nice though if we got another person to summarize a series cus there’s more and more people coming in to the site for the reviews.

    thnx again for another great year. hope to c more comedy shows in the future

    p(_)shke
  17. This is extremely disappointing. Code Geass the best anime of 2007? Pfeh, don’t make me laugh. It pales in comparison to many other, better, more deserving animes. My fellow Anons, and yours truly, all agree that Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann is the best anime of 2007. Now, time to h4x the Code Geass official website…

  18. Thanks god Geass is here… although i may not agree with some of the picks (Kanon..uhhh >.>), but “best of best” nearly completely matches my opinion.

    Thankful that claymore did not get into the top. With such a stupid ending, it did not deserve it.

    Quite sad that there’s so few Mononoke fans out there, oh well…

    Don’t know if Gurren Lagann should be called surprise hit, as it had quite a big hype even before airing…but I agree that it turned out far better than expected.

    Death Note was nothing exceptional. Yes it did have story, yes it did have characters, but Geasss beats death note in plot twists by a mile and there were far more anime with far better developed characters.

    Agreed on Lucky Star. In these years when Comedy genre is falling apart with countless loli and lame comedy-tries, Lucky Star pulled out nearly everything right.

    As for me – best of best romance was Sola, but oh well…

    Unknown Voice
  19. My opinion is the same as Jay’s opinion (somewhere in the first page). Code Geass is definitely the best. I liked it for the excitement, for the storyline, for the romance subplots — it was all well done. Although I felt disappointed that certain events had to happen, it was still a terribly enticing anime. Everyone I showed this to (non anime lovers) loved this show. Baccano and Darker than Black also hold “runner’s up” spots in my heart. As for TTGL, I watched some of it, but never got into it, and could never really figure out why people liked it aside from just the pure randomness of that show. I’m somewhat shocked that it made #2.

    Cyrilix
  20. These choices are pretty typical of a mainstream fangirl/boy who only watches a few shows that jump out of them.

    Seriously, don’t just watch Lucky Star and Code Geass and pronounce them the best, watch Baccano, Seirei no Moribito and Dennou Coil. On top of that, I felt Gurren-Lagann was far better than Code Geass anyway.

    Den
  21. YES! Lulu wins! ^____^

    I’ve heard that Gurren Lagaan is really popular and has recieved lots of praise so I tried watching it but I never made it past episode 5 or 6.
    I guess I’m no fan of small kids who are short and fat; young girls wearing little clothes and has enormous breasts; and spiky hot-headed crazy people who is like the guy from Eyeshield21.
    The characters just don’t appeal to me.
    The story – drills, just don’t appeal to me either.
    It’s not like I don’t know it gets good at around ep.7 but still I can’t get myself to continue watching it. Just the 5 or 6 episodes I did watch made me feel like I had to force myself into watching them.

    As for Geass, I was totally hooked and in love with it from the first episode until even now I’m still really looking forward to season 2.

    Yukiruchan
  22. I pretty much agree with all the choices here, though sadly I have yet had the time to watch Gurren Laggen, and was gonna give up on it but seeing how it ranks #2 to Code Geass, I guess I really should clear up some time. 2007 has really been a great year, with Sunrise and KyoAni churning great shows althrought the season (seeing Kanon as the most romantic here has left me feeling nostalgic, though I still wish it didn’t go with the loli ending), and hopefully 2008’s bounty will prove to match, what with sequels galore.
    Sayonara 07, it’s been fun!

    kaisis
  23. I honestly don’t see why Gurren Lagaan got so much hype. Sure it was a decent anime, and the anime to come out in 2007 in my opinion was fairly weak, but still I did not enjoy it very much. Though I am happy Code Geass took the best of 2007, as it truely was a great show, and let us hope its sequel will continue the goodness

    Kazuki Shikimori
  24. @Yukiruchan
    The stuff with lagann gets better after ep 08. Its not shocker for me that Episode 08 made into mentions of the Biggest Shock moment. Overall, series really matured bit by bit after that point. And thats normal, since the whole Lagann stuff is tribute to all the centuries of mecha anime – from the shonen with robots for kids till the Evangelion and Rahxephon.

    Unknown Voice
  25. I still don’t think it was a good idea to have Code Geass on the list, let alone call it the best show of 2007. Code Geass had two episodes that aired this year. Just two. Are you seriously telling me that just those two episodes, not the rest of the series, are better than anything else that came on this year?

    meep
  26. I’m almost sick reading all of this. Seriously Code Geass was so stereotypical it was funny for me. Everything from Suzaku and Euphemia’s love confession to the EUPHEMINATOR were fucking hilarious. I’d actually nominate it as the best comedy of 2007, but I suppose this is a case of differing opinions. At least Gurren-Lagann pulled off the stereotypes in a tongue-in-cheek way.

    Megy
  27. Disappointed to see Dennou Coil not even being an honorable mention. And I agree with some others, Code Geass should NOT have been the best, because it wasn’t. Although it was decent, there were better shows this year.

    ninjamaster2482X
  28. Guess I grossly overestimated the pull the name Kyoani has in relation to how the readers choice poll went. Code Geass was one of my favourites of 2007, but I still voted for Gurren Lagann as my first. If I had to see a series take it though I’m glad it was still my 2nd option and my first was second.

    As for the honorable mention of Manabi Straight in best soundtrack, I have to laugh a little at that as I frequently skewer that series as being little more than an excuse to sell the soundtrack and character single CD’s, so to me that makes perfect sense. If ever there were an overly commercialized series award though, Lucky Star would still win it.

    Well here’s to hoping for a good 2008 as 2007 brought us back from what I thought was going to be an anime market crash.

  29. I do not see how Code Geass is more complete than Gurren lagann. I mean seriously, we have Gurren going from a minor simple story of survival to an epic quest to save the universe, and it pretty much completes the story. Code Geass ends on a cliffhanger… leaving space for a second season. Character development in Gurren was better too, if largely due to the time slips.

    I guess it’s a matter of personal preferrence in the end, but for me, Gurren pretty much pwned both Code Geass and Death note. I wish I had noticed the poll earlier, would’ve surely voted. Ah well XD

  30. Agreeing with Death Grin. Although, since a movie was chosen for Best Animation, I think Paprika deserves an honorable mention too. :9 Can’t say much about its ending, but the animation was so eyepoppingly delicious and sooo fun to watch.

    Also, Baccano! was the Surprise Hit of this year for me.

    Acappella
  31. ppl keep saying code geass was better than TTGL without proving some valid point…that juz sad…
    either way…i’m happy both of my fav anime this year end up in the 2nd n 1st place…

    nutsy
  32. Ya know i just can’t see the excitment for GL. I thought it was WAY overdone. Sure it was decent enough to be added to the list but to win most of the catagories was not what it deserved.

    AND WTF!? how the heck did Lucky Star get 3rd!? it deserved 1st or at least 2nd!

    And congrats to CG for winning.

    Hudson
  33. I can’t comment on TTGL since I didn’t like the first couple of episodes and never finished it, but Geass should not have been first. An anime that didn’t have a conclusive ending and that aired mostly in 2006 shouldn’t qualify. Shouldn’t it be rated after the second season? That having been said, I don’t dislike CG, I just don’t think it should have been in the poll. I am also surprised that Claymore was 6th since the ending wasn’t that great.
    I also don’t find RXJ op that great. There were many other songs that could have been “the best”, but that’s a personal opinion in the end.

    Quirks
  34. Yeah! Code GEASS was my selection too. It has a lot of goods points, despite of being a SUNRISE series and all. Hopefully they’ll do a good job with teh sequel (I’m praying for it). And I’m still crying over Gurren Lagoon… becuase I haven’t watching teh series since episode 6 (damn myself for that). I’ll see it next year with a HQ on my hands.

    It was a good year indeed.

    Syaoran Li
  35. For those who keep saying Code Geass aired mostly in 2006, you might want to look at ANN’s episode listing for airing dates. Episodes 1-11 aired in 2006 and episodes 12-25 aired in 2007. That makes the majority of the series a 2007 series.

    Personally, I was stuck between Code Geass, Death Note, and Darker Than BLACK, but in the end, I chose the series that really kept my attention. Out of the 3, it was the only one that had me really itching for more (Death Note sort of did too, but I knew what happened in the end, so I wasn’t in a dire need to watch it). I’m glad Darker Than BLACK made it to the top 10.

    rxdragon
  36. Code Geass definitely receives my support as best anime of 2007. As for Gurren Lagann, everything about the anime was raw epicness. However, CG definitely wins in every other category – especially in its sophisticated execution and amazing plot twists. Most other votes were pretty spot on, though I didn’t watch Lucky Star or Romeo X Juliet. I’m not a big fan of ballades, so the Best Song seemed kinda blah to me. Some other songs that I liked this year: Myself;Yourself – Tears Infection, Myself;Yourself – Kimi to Yozora to Sakamichi to, ef – Euphoric Field, 00 – Daybreak’s Bell.

    Overall, I’m pretty happy with the votes – they were exactly the way I had expected them to come out. Can’t wait for 08…obvious reasons 🙂

    yesmilord
  37. Yourpollsystemsucks: You’re blowing this out of proportion – this isn’t a presidential election. It’s a simple online poll to see what people liked best, and I never made any claim that this was anything more than that, so I didn’t concern myself with sampling method or getting a perfect system up where we have different rounds for different genres. It’s up to the voters to rally their friends if they want to see a particular series win out.

  38. For everyone who didn’t think Lucky Star was funny or didn’t deserve first in comedy, you probably should realize by now that Lucky Star’s comedy is unique comedy that most times only works if you understand the Japanese language.

    As for Death Note lovers, as he listed, he already read the manga which made the series basically a repeat. Most manga readers find the animated series worse than the manga, so you have to take that into consideration.

    As for Code Geass, this anime gives us a main character who has the charisma to lead and attract a large amount of people. He is a disowned prince fighting his own family and best friend, and is an older brother who would drop his leadership in a war for his younger sister. I feel that in the end, Code Geass sorta did deserve it mostly for Lelouch, I voted for Lucky Star because I’m a huge fan of comedies, but Code Geass really did have huge impact, especially some of Lelouch’s quotes.

    Convael
  39. Code Geass was pretty awesome
    but Gurren Lagann was the best anime of 2007

    period

    ive never seen any anime grab and captivate so many people to unite and become brothers
    not only on 1 forum but many over the entire internet it was quite amazing

    anyway, i guess Code Geass is ok as a winner too
    ive watched it with fun and im looking forward to the next season

    keep up the good work in 2008!

    uncanny
  40. While I’m not surprised GL ranked #2 (it appeals to a much larger audience), I’ve gotta say that Code Geass was much better imo. Sure, I loved Gurren Lagann but like many others had said, some parts were blown way out of proportion. While its fun watching people drill each other shouting random phrases just for laughs, I didn’t get the impression that alot of thought went into its plot. Sure, the plot was “epic” but it felt out of place. I find it strange that some little kid finds a drill starts shouting and ends up destroying a threat to the universe… like… WTF? Basically, it was fun, but overall, CG definitely beats it. I am surprised that Death Note didn’t attract as much attention, but I guess the genre doesn’t exactly pan to everyone’s likings. Definitely agree with Kanon. Although I liked a few other series more, it was likely because I was already knew most of Kanon’s storyline. Biggest surprise to me was Romeo x Juliet. Didn’t expect it to be as good as it was and it completely deviated from the original play (plus I liked the Count of Monte Cristo novel far more than the R&J play but found my position reversed in the animes). School days didn’t really seem like a surprise but then, I marathoned it after it aired so I heard quite a few comments on its ending beforehand. I should also mention that I absolutely loved Darker than Black. Definitely #2 on my list overall (Gurren imo is like 1st for action but probably around 5th overall). I guess I just like badass characters with a darker side… tired of good guy wins the day…

    Disgradius
  41. It’s spelled “GURREN-LAGANN” with the hyphen by the way. “Gurren Lagann” is only used because Gainax couldn’t fit the hyphen on the character page of the GL website, but the hyphen is IN the URL.

    Anonymous
  42. This is just a popularity poll, people saying crap like Geass > lagann only on this blog should look at dvd sales in japan where people voted with their wallets. Geass is a 44k per volume series compared to Laganns 17-19k and Lagann had the better time slot… well if you ignore Pretty Cure being on the same time..

    2nd season of geass + AS airing in america will mean geass will always beat lagann in polls like this from now on.

    Anyway happy to see Baccano! finish up in 7th place, you should slap yourself if you call yourself an anime fan and haven’t seen this series.

    Westlo
  43. My own version of best of anime 2007

    Best Action Gurren Lagann
    Honorable Mention Darker Than Black, Code Geass

    Best Comedy Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei
    Honorable Mention Seto No Hanayome , Minami-ke, Lucky Star

    Best Romance Ef- A Tale of Memories
    Honorable Mention Nodame Cantabile

    Biggest Shock School Days
    Honorable Mention Episode 22 of Code Geass, Episode 08 of Gurren Lagann, Episode 11 of Myself;Yourself

    Suprise Hit Gurren Lagann
    Honorable Mention Ef- A Tale of Memories

    Best Animation Byousoku 5 cm
    Honorable Mention Kanon, Ef- A Tale of Memories

    Best Soundtrack Gurren Lagann
    Honorable Mention Gakuen Utopia Manabi Straight, Myself;Yourself, Ef- A Tale of Memories

    Best Song Euphoric Field by Tenmon feat. Elisa
    Honorable Mention Ashita He No Hikari by Hinoi Asuka, Allegro Cantabile Sound by SUEMITSU
    A Happy Life by Megumi Hayashibara, Tears Infection by KAORI, Tsuki Akari by Rie Fu
    Taishou.a by aNina

    Best of Anime 2007 Gurren Lagann
    Honorable Mention Code Geass, Byousoku 5 CM, EF- A Tale of Memories

    Well that ends my 2007…. with the memorable anime of the year goes to School Days. So sad that I can’t forget that end sigh it even overlaps Gurren Lagann that any otaku won’t forget as the years went by.

    arigatou
  44. I would have at least put Seto No Hanayome as an honourable mention for the comedy category. That show really did a good job of keeping smiles going right to the end. Ah good times :).

    Maybe next time can add a few categories. Like for the best plot since if yoru going to cover animation thats a worthy area to examine for the year. Not a bad job overall with the choices though.

    FlareKnight
  45. It was a great year. Looking at the top 20, I could not disagree with any of them.

    I voted for Dennou Coil. That show has not gotten nearly enough attention. It has something for everyone, and the OP/ED are simply beautiful.

    Mogley
  46. well this sucks i like code geass but best anime? That Suzu-something is a total jerk with his constant whining anout why he is the good guy when he killed his dad.Meh its probably the fangirls fault.CLAMP designs are hard to resist for them.

    God~knows
  47. Seto no Hanayome IS FUNNIER THAN LUCKY STAR IN All EPISODES(FOLLOWED BY MINAMI-KE)…BUT FOR ME MY ETERNAL FAVORITE COMEDY IS ” GINTAMA ” FAR..FAR ALWAY FROM THE OTHERS!!!EVEN Sayonara Zetsubou-sensei AND Moyashimon ARE FUNNIER THAN LUCKY STAR!!

    DEATH NOTE WAS MY BIGGEST SHOCK!!AND MY SMARTEST ANIME PLOT TOO FOLLOWED BY HEROIC AGE!!!

    MACROSS FRONTIER WAS MY BEST ANIMATION THIS YEAR (FOLLOWED BY DEATH NOTE) AND I REALLY THINK FOR THE REST OF THE COMING YEARS TOO ^_^ !!!UNFORTUNATLY OMNI YOU CAN SAY ANYTHING YOU WANT TO…BUT I´VE ALREADY SEEN THIS PEARL IN MOTION ” THIS YEAR ” AS AN OVA SO IT COUNTS FOR ME T_T!!

    GURREN LAGANN WAS MY BEST ACTION FOLOWED VERY CLOSELY BY HEROIC AGE!!!

    HEROIC AGE WAS MY THE MOST INTERESTING CHARACTERS CHOICE!!

    Ghost Hunt: WAS MY SURPRISE HIT THIS YEAR( NICE ANIME REALLY REALLY NICE AND INTERESTING ANIME PLOT )

    Negima!? WAS THE BEST REMAKER EVER FOLLOWED BY KANON!!!

    Potemayo WAS THE BEST WARM SHOW OF THE YEAR…VERY NICE FOR KIDS( I RECOMMEND )

    Touka Gettan WAS THE BEST ADULT CONTENT OF THE YEAR( FAN SERVICE WITH A COMPLEX STORY )

    Shounen Onmyouji: THE BEST FEUDAL (HISTORICAL)ANIME OF THE YEAR!

    Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi-henge: THE MOST CRAZY ANIME EVER DONE THIS YEAR!!

    Devil May Cry THE STYLISH ANIME OF THE YEAR(^_^)

    GENSHIKEN2 AND Doujin Work THE BEST OTAKU ANIMES OF THE YEAR!!

    Tensai Otaku
  48. BUT….
    MY BEST ANIME THIS YEAR GOES TO….
    GOES TO….

    ” CODE GEASS ”
    BECAUSE…
    JUST LIKE GURREN LAGANN IS MAKES YOUR HEART GOES FAST..
    JUST LIKE DEATH NOTE IT MAKES YOU STAY TUNNED AS A STONNE IN THE CHAIR IN SUSPENSE..
    JUST LIKE SETO NO HANAYOME IT MAKES YOU LAUGH….
    JUST LIKE TSUBASA AND XXXHOLIC IT HAS CLAMP´S CHARACTER DESIGN….
    BUT EVEN IF IT IS JUST BEATEN A HELL OUT IN ANIMATION FROM MACROSS FRONTIER, IT HAS IT´S GOOD POINTS IN ANIMATION(EVEN KNOWING THAT DEATH NOTE IS ALOT BETTER IN ANIMATION TOO)….SO I REALLY THINK IN OVERALL I WAS CONTROLLED BY THE GEASS POWER IN MY DECISION…
    CODE GEASS!!

    Tensai Otaku
  49. Wow that is quite a list! To which mostly I agree :3
    I have compiled my own Top 5s in my blog (click my username)
    Will be posting the best 5 anime in 2007 soon, but it’ll be a little different than the reader’s choice 😉

  50. Im quite disappointed that Seto no Hanayome was not the best comedy anime for 2007 and I felt more disappointed that seto no hanayome was not even included in the honorable mention mention, I find seto no hanayome funnier than Lucky Star

    edo
  51. Lucky Star is really lucky. It seems to show up on a lot of very different lists. I share little of your taste, but agree about Lucky Star. (To me, Code Geass was a meaningless wreck; I couldn’t watch more than a half-dozen episodes of Gurren-Laggan, well-made as it was; Byousoku was clearly the best show of the year, a cut above everything else, etc., etc.) Chacun a son gout.

  52. Yuna

    You are right!! I´d tottaly agree with you if you put death note in the ” BEST ORIGINAL ANIMATION FROM 2007 ” OR ” BEST ANIMATION STORY AND DESIGN FROM 2007 “….
    but….I really need to tell you that…inside my otaku heart i still think that DEATH NOTE was really the best anime from 2007 because of it´s originality( it´s not a simple tantei thriller story)…that story , that ending and that animation was amazing!!!
    it´s just that code geass was a little more funny to watch than death note that´s all!!

    Tensai Otaku
  53. well…i dont even remember what i gave my vot 🙂 anyway i just finished watching gurren lagann…its indeed a good anime but…i liked only the episodes that had kamina in them and the one with the deaths of the majority of the main characters…the rest didnt interess me….i just keeped watching hoping that kamina would come back or something….anyway still a great series….2008 will be a blast…cant wait!

    Diabolikul
  54. @Hudson: Your taste of anime sucks because you only watch animes done by Kyoto Animation. Lucky Stars isn’t a great show at all and shouldn’t won the comedy section.

    Code Geass as best of 2007? It all bullshit because Code Geass is like Gundam meeting Death Note. Gurren Lagann should have won the best of 2007.

    *Goes back to his corner to cry more about Kamina’s death*

    KazeKage
  55. @KazeKage

    “It all bullshit because Code Geass is like Gundam meeting Death Note. Gurren Lagann should have won the best of 2007.”

    I was fine with you saying Lucky Star not being a great show since it WAS a love it or hate it series…but saying Geass is Gundam meeting Death Note crosses a line. Well…it’s not like I can do anything about it…so I’ll just say “go f*** yourself”.

    Dmo
  56. Well pershame that a couple of great animes really fell under the radar Denno coil for one, though at least it was known, and of course Toward The Terra, now that really fell under the radar.

    Machi
  57. You know, for some odd reason I find inukami really funny… haven’t seen the movie of it yet but the series was awesome (though it ended in 2006 :[)

    Upon rereading the list… I’m actually quite surprised gurren lagann received best soundtrack… it was good, but best? Well, to each his own I guess.

    Disgradius
  58. My choices of Best Drama candidates (number does not indicate ranking):
    1. Bokurano – A spin on reality TV show that gives new insight into what it means to “save the world”.
    2. Cantibell Nodame – Superb storytelling skill. Success doesn’t come easy for Chiaki, which makes you want to cheer for him more.
    3. Gurren Lagann – Challenges one’s imagination into how to break through one’s own limit. GAINAX rocks again.
    4. Seirei no Moribito – Next best thing to Miyazaki-typed fantasy anime.
    5. School Days – H-game turned realistic is no joking matter. One can read very deep into a lot of social problems through the conflicts in the story.

    My choices of Best Comedy (number does not indicate ranking):
    1. Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei – A gem in the social satire genre, even though the author is a little bit “right-winged” (and anti-Chinese).
    2. Lovely Complex – A heart-warming and funny story.
    3. Kenkouzenrakeisuieibu Umishou – Some of the jokes are actually a little sick. But the overall story is very positive. And Amuro rocks.

    My choices of Worst Anime (number does not indicate ranking):
    1. Ikki Tousen Dragon Destiny – Even a work of fiction needs a believable plot, which the anime totally lacks. However, I think this one deserves the Best Female Character Design.
    2. Darker than Black – Characters act cool but do nothing to advance the story.
    3. Hero’s Age – A superman-saves-the-world type of one-dimensional story. Princess and Age always right. Too heavy-handed in terms of making other people look stupid. The battles scenes are, however, spectacular.

    Matroid
  59. Almost forgot: Best Actions
    1 and only. Claymore – The graphics is more beautiful than Shanna. Its style of sword fight is new and more intense than Bleach. Major characters are more subtly developed than Naruto.

    Matroid
  60. I agree w/ everything except for lucky star being the best comedy. Yes, there were tones of parodies that made us laugh, but I think Potemayo deserves a place somewhere (it never got mentioned,huhuh). I have to say that I enjoyed Minami-ke more than Lucky Star.

    eiram
  61. @Kazekage: Yeah the number of people appearing to only watch Kyoto Animation shows out of all the anime airing each year was freaking me out for a good year or so. Thing is, I still actually know a lot of people who do. Shame really as as much as they do alright with the whole Key adaptation and Moe series thing, it’s such a small small slice of the bigger pie. It’s like saying I’m only going to read books by one author and I refuse to even attempt to enjoy anything by anyone else or acknowledge their efforts.

    Looking at the bigger picture, sometimes when I look at some fans talk in forums and on blogs, it’s like to them no other studio or genre exists but their own favourite (I actually made a huge crack about this in a joke poll I put up on my blog once where there was only one option). The degree of obliviousness to some things in the history of anime I see in some people, the inner workings of the machine, and legacies of some it’s classics and founding series that seem so matter of fact to me, yet still with the metaphorically flapping off of the mouth :(, is sometimes really startling, and it seems to be a direct result of this narrow viewpoint that some fans have. Here’s what it all boils down to in the end though:

    There isn’t just one genre and one studio out there, otherwise we wouldn’t even have all these categories like in Omni’s list. A lot of people are missing out man.

    Moreso on topic, in my view, people who only watch one genre or one studios work don’t really have much right to preach to others about quality and such. Me, I watch a lot of mecha, but I always try to watch at least one show from each of the major genres a year (Comedy, Mecha, Slice of Life, Drama, Sci-Fi, Fantasy etc etc).

  62. This is really great ^^ i though death note will get much vote than this but it seems that CODE GEASS worth it 🙂 I’m gonna watch it for sure !

    Happy new year everyone 🙂

    silverwolf1492
  63. its got to be Gurren Laggann! Code Geass is a good show, but its a bit too ambitious for the plot and it didnt really deliver to what you would expect. also the soundtracks, the opening and ending themes are just trash.. sorry. i love anime music, but this one i gave up. gurren laggann i way better and the story is trully of epic propertions. when the ending came, its was all perfetc, when Code Geass ended, it was like, “aww men, 26 episodes, and i saw that coming.. and i feel so hanging up on the story” too bad

    Lance
  64. Ah well the list is inconclusive..I see no mention of Nodame Cantabile-easily the best romantic comedy to come out in 2007..
    then you have series like:-
    Seirei no Moribito
    Denno Coil
    Toward the Terra
    Baccano
    Le Chevalier D’Eon-a surprise package..

    all of these were pretty good

    Avradeep
  65. No Darker Than Black in top 5? Fail. That and Code Geass were the best of 07 IMO.

    And GL is the most overrated show I’ve seen in years. Though it still belongs in top 5.

    Yarrharharhar
  66. I thought Death Note and Hell Girl II (Jigoku Shoujo Futakomori) were 2006. If they are counted as 2007, then they should be among the top 10 also. As for Death Note, I think the anime is not as good as the manga and probably shouldn’t be top 5. But Hell Girl II is really good and deserves to be one of the top 5 Best Drama. (Perhaps it can replace Nodame in my earlier list.)

    As for Dennou Coil, I think it is definitely the Best SciFi, but I don’t know if it one of the Best Drama. (Comparing to Ghost in the Shell, everything in the Cyberadventure genre seems pale.) Baccano has quite a few witty moments. But it is too confusing at times. (On that note, I don’t blame the production because the whole plot is intentionally set up so that everyone could have been the main character. It is an admirable attempt– it just doesn’t suit my taste.)

    Finally, about the Best Song, I like Chiaki Ishikawa’s “Vermillion” (Bokurano ED2) even better than “Uninstall” (Bokurano OP). Azurite (Heroic Age ED1), “Knee and Kiss My Foot” (Kaibutsu Oujo ED), and “You are not There” (School Days ED4) are also top 5 candidates.

    Matroid
  67. Man, i’ve just realized that three of my favourite anime of all time came out in 2007
    Code Geass, Gurren Lagann, and Death Note.
    this year of anime was insane, i can only hope 2008 matches with it
    CODE GEASS SECOND SEASON FTW!!!!!!

    OMG
  68. Best anime for 2007 should be death note if you didn’t read the manga and im sure most people would agree. I love code geass but that fact that it was rewritten they did make some mistakes. Death note animation was beautiful for a series.

    Unu
  69. Oh I didn’t know the poll n couldn’t vote for it but Code Geass won anyway ^_^ I love Code Geass, Darker than Black, and Baccano. Death Note is very nice, but for those who read the manga twice like me then..hm.. I gave up on Gurren. It is just not my type

    mangastuff
  70. I thought that One Piece would make it to one of the top, but it seems to me you guys don’t watch it. Just go watch it and you’ll surely change your mind. It’s the longest anime as well as the most hilarious anime in the world!

    dadmda
  71. I know this is old, but I would just like to shout out to all you naysayers out there who think you are somehow above Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann because you watch shit like Dennou Coil and Baccano!. Anime, like any media, is entertainment foremost and art second. Gurren Lagann is pure entertainment. It is not meant to be deep or enlightening. If you cannot acknowledge Gurren Lagann for the entertainment masterpiece that it is and connect with that inner child you have burried under all that pretentious, snobbish bullshit you front because you think you are some kind of hardcore anime badass who is too sophisticated for shows like Gurren Lagann, maybe you should not be watching fucking cartoons. Yeah, I said it. That is all anime is. Try to escape it all you want, anime is just cartoons for big kids. Get over it. You are not special. That is all.

  72. Totally agree with the choice of song of the year. it’s about what made me watch romeo and juliet. thought i didn’t like kanon’s beginning as much as i liked romeo and juliet’s i still believe that all these are great choices. i also agree with where death note is, being third instead of first. if the ending was different in death note it could’ve been first, but the disappointment’s and the conclusion it came to just makes you feel empty. like the animator had to just end it someone and just make him lose so they just say, oops yeah near wins. i believe that they could’ve done alot for the anime, or at least finished it after L died so it’d leave more suspense and let the audience decide what was right, killing criminals or catching Kira.

    PharaohofDuels
  73. Totally agree with the choice of song of the year. it’s about what made me watch romeo and juliet. thought i didn’t like kanon’s beginning as much as i liked romeo and juliet’s i still believe that all these are great choices. i also agree with where death note is, being third instead of first. if the ending was different in death note it could’ve been first, but the disappointment’s and the conclusion it came to just makes you feel empty.
    Show Spoiler ▼

    Show Spoiler ▼

    PharaohofDuels
  74. I loved the Code Geass, and i can see how it would win first, but how did Claymore not get any mention at all. If you guys think ep 8 of Gurren Lagan was shocking then you haven’t seen episode 8 of claymore. Im surprised Gurren lagan got as high as it did, it had some slow episodes. I would pick Claymore first then Code geass.

    claymoreguy
  75. Where is death note in all off this its the most amazing plot and its just the right lenght,it ends when your still so in love with it.

    Light vs L………the battle of the minds!

    Shinzou
  76. …. u serious?? darker than black??…i have seen alot of anime shows and darker than black was the absolute…worst… it is way too repetitive… i literally guess whats gonna happen on any episode after the second… bad guys come (first episode)… bad guys die (second)… and it keeps going like that… adding like new dumb stories… that whole series is just like a naruto filler…. code geass on the other hand.. jus finished it 2day and it was amazing really… and yeah death note??? was cool… till L died then it was the most boring experience ever or worst ima watch garren lagunn (however u spell it) next so im jus gonna go get 2 downloading now

    Mr.Ty
  77. Kanon is the best anime of 2007! but u should give the best animes of the years the hounor that they desire as there are many animes which have touch me and others And that are

    1-Ruroni Kenshin
    2-sister princess
    3-flame of recca
    4-ScRyed
    5-kenichi {histories strongest

  78. Ya its sad that people out there are such tards that they need to be reminded that this clearly states “Best of 2007”. Meh personally I like the yahoo japan top anime list and I think its more accurate. Because no offense because I found your list basically Gurren lagann repeated with the honorable mention and one code geass. (Which don’t get me wrong the latter of which I find amazing, while the aforementioned not so much) I think the yahoo japan list is a better indicator of a popularity of an anime. And shame on you no mention of Gundam 00 for best animation. HD gundams ftw.

    Splicer
  79. I’m yet to decide which one is better, but I just watched Geass and that was an excellent, well made animu.. I guess I need to watch Lagann then and come back and tell you which one is better 😉

    but it’d be hard for me to find an anime that’ll top geass.. I’ve already put it in my best 5 anime evar o.O

    Misa
  80. That picture of lelouch is just epic. I loved that moment in the anime. Code geass is one of my favorite animes (but not the best), if there was only a category for the ‘best anime moment’ I would definitly give it to code geass.

    dxb_blackwolf

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