Anime List

RailGunFan75’s Anime Favorites A-Z Challenge

Introduction

Thanks to RailGunFan75’s for this tag! It’s a challenge for the tag-ee to name a favorite series starting with every letter of the Roman alphabet. I’ll cheat just a little and use the Roman-ized or English version of the title where it’s convenient.

By the way, I was one of the first wave of nominations — how cool is that?

The Rules

Can’t have a tag without rules. Else, there’d be cats and dogs living together. Chaos! The ending of days! Anyway, here’re the rules, as presented by the Founder, RailGunFan76 in the post of origination:

  1. Pick a favorite series/movie for each letter of the alphabet. For titles starting with “a” “an” or “the” use the first letter of the next word of the title.
  2. Since many titles have multiple names based on the language that you are using please pick one language for the entire list (Use all English titles or all Japanese titles) and let the readers know which language you will be using. If a title has the same name regardless of the language then it can be used in any list.
  3. If you don’t have a title that fits under a particular letter, you can name another favorite from a different letter in it’s place, just indicate which letter spot you are using for that series. This can be done up to three times. If you can’t fill a spot then you can leave it blank. No more than 26 total series are allowed.
  4. Including a picture for each series is encouraged.
  5. Share who tagged you for this challenge and nominate 3 more to try it themselves and include links to their blogs.
  6. Just have fun with this challenge. I wanted to get everyone to share some favorite series and to spread the word about awesome blogs!

Yes. I copied and pasted. With attribution, mind you! So it’s all legal.

The 3 Nominees

According to the rules, I must solemnly pick three other people to carry on the tradition (well, maybe “solemnly” is too strong a word…). I nominate:

  1. Shallow Dives in Anime
  2. The Otaku Author
  3. Couch and Chill

Do you have any idea how hard it is to choose just 3? There are so many outstanding bloggers out there! I kinda feel guilty! But the rules are the rules.

Anime Favorites A-Z

I’ve struggled recently with being concise. No, really! So, for each series, I will use only a single sentence to say why I love the series so much.

After I finished with the screen caps, I noticed a pattern. See if you can figure out what it is!


A: Akame ga Kill!

Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Why I chose it: I miss Sheele.


B: Bakemonogatari

Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Why I chose it: Because Hitagi Senjogahara gave to Koyomi Araragi the starry sky.


C: Campione!

Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Why I chose it: Erica trusted Godou, and together they changed the world.


D: D.Gray-Man

Capture from the Funimation stream.

Why I chose it: Allen Walker treated everyone with respect — everyone.


E: Elfen Lied

Capture from the HIDIVE stream.

Why I chose it: I understood why Lucy wanted to forget.


F: Freezing

Capture from the Funimation stream.

Why I chose it: Because Rana Linchen was all that.


G: Gate

Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Why I chose it: Because Rory Mercurycan’t die.”


H: High School of the Dead

Capture from the HIDIVE stream.

Why I chose it: I mean, come on: the show stars Saeko Busujima, so I had to include it!


I: Infinite Stratos

Capture from the HIDIVE stream.

Why I chose it: Ichika Orimura might be annoyingly clueless, but the women around him were spectacular.


J: Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita

Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Why I chose it: It’s all Irina’s fault.


K: Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai: Megami-hen

Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Why I chose it: That final concert hit me right in the feels.


L: Little Witch Academia

Capture from the Netflix stream.

Why I chose it: Because eventually, Atsuko Kagari and Diana Cavendish will realize they are perfect for each other.


M: Mahou Shoujo Tokushusen Asuka

Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Why I chose it: Kurumi Mugen proves that it doesn’t matter how far into insanity you travel, if you have someone to fight for, you can find your way home, even if it’s just for a short visit.


N: No Game No Life

Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Why I chose it: Even Jibril the god-killing Flügel can get really, really excited about reading a good book.


O: Outbreak Company

Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Why I chose it: Because anime needs more beautiful, competent, adult women like Minori Koganuma.


P: Planet With

Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Why I chose it: Because Ginko Kuroi is not only a top notch maid, she’s a top notch alien princess maid!


Q: Qualidea Code

Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Why I chose it: Asuha Chigusa helped me see holsters in a whole new light.


R: Re:CREATORS

Capture from the Amazon Prime stream.

Why I chose it: Shunma Suruga was so dedicated to her writing that she was willing to take a bullet for it.


S: Shikabane Hime: Aka

Capture from the Funimation stream.

Why I chose it: Makina Hoshimura had a tough row to hoe, and she never backed down.


T: Toaru Kagaku no Railgun S

Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Why I chose it: Because even Mikoto Misaka had to admit that Touma Kamijou had done good.


U: Uma Musume: Pretty Derby

Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Why I chose it: Teamwork is really, really, really hard, but Special Week and Silence Suzuka showed that it’s worth it.


V: Violet Evergarden

Capture from the Netflix stream.

Why I chose it: An indomitable will is timeless.


W: Wagnaria!!

Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Why I chose it: Mahiru Inami had a lot to work through, and Souta Takanashi was (surprisingly) strong enough to help.


X: xxxHOLiC

Capture from the Funimation stream.

Why I chose it: Because when Kimihiro Watanuki wasn’t busy being a spastic basket case, he could open up worlds containing breathtaking beauty.


Y: Yuusha ni Narenakatta Ore wa Shibushibu Shuushoku wo Ketsui Shimashita

Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Why I chose it: Because there was a whole lot more going on than meets the eye, though to be honest, what met the eye wasn’t bad at all.


Z: Zombieland Saga

Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Why I chose it: When all was said and done, Kotaro Tatsumi did everything, and I mean everything, for Sakura Minamoto.


Summary

Did you see the pattern? Aside from the shows being a lot of fun, I mean! I only realized when I was done, but all the screen caps except one feature women characters. Only one features a man, and that was Watanuki. I guess I really do like strong female characters!

RailGunFan75 was right. Narrowing some of the letter down to a single choice was rough — but it’s a sacrifice i was willing to make! I enjoyed taking a trip down memory lane. I hope you enjoyed the journey, too!

Do any of the series I mentioned jump out as your favorites? Have any thoughts on my reasons? Let me know in the comments!

tcrow
Copyright 2022 Terrance A. Crow. All rights reserved.
https://www.crowsworldofanime.com

13 thoughts on “RailGunFan75’s Anime Favorites A-Z Challenge

  1. Thanks for the nomination, this is an excellent tag. I do feel like I will be using several of the same ones as you.

    Also, Elizbeth Mably is correct reason to like Freezing. Rana is great, too, but Mably… well… I think deep down in your heart of hearts, you know.

    1. You’re welcome!

      And I certainly can’t fault your taste. For me, though, Rana has a secret (well, not so secret, but it sounds cooler if I say “secret”) edge: she’s from a rural area, just like me!

      That put her over the top.

      But you know, the whole cast is pretty amazing. If you ask me which cast I prefer, Freezing or Sekirei, I’m not sure I could really choose. I’d have to involve the “false dilemma” clause and pick both.

  2. I like quite a few shows on this list, though my favourite starts with J.

    The nitpicker in me wants to point out that you’re usually using the Japanese titles, but you use the English one for “Wagnaria”; doesn’t matter, though, since the Japanese title is “Working!!” (Funny that the English word is the Japanese title, and the exotic/Romanised Germanic title is the English one.)

    There are shows that are so much associated with their English title that sometimes people don’t even know there is a Japanese one. What about, say, “Neon Genesis Evangelion” or “Paranoia Agent” (I’d have to look up the Japanase titles for those – a couple of minutes later: Shinsekei Evangelion and Mousou Dairinin).

    I think the nitpicker in me should just shut up. (But I do find it fascinating how some titles just catch on to the extent that we think they’re the Japanese titles, too.)

    1. “I think the nitpicker in me should just shut up. (But I do find it fascinating how some titles just catch on to the extent that we think they’re the Japanese titles, too.)”

      You bring up a fair point.

      Honestly, it’s something I debated. But I decided on this approach by happenstance. I switch which anime list sites I use for citations about weekly, and this week it was My Anime List’s turn. So, I went to my list of watched series, and used it to help me pick.

      Interestingly, MAL uses mostly Japanese titles. But, as you pointed out, they’re not completely consistent. I tried to find Wagnaria, and I was surprised it wasn’t there. But it was there under Working.

      I just checked, and if I’d’ve used Anime Planet, most of the titles would be the English versions.

      I suppose I could get ambitious and do both! I mean, I kinda felt like it would look like I was showing off how well I knew the Japanese names, when in reality I was just reading from MAL!

  3. You have a bunch of awesome choices on the list! I think Akame ga Kill, GATE, and Re:Creators are all awesome series and it killed me to keep them off the list.

    Nothing wrong with the strong female characters you featured. It is one of the great things about anime. My collection of anime stuff is about 90 percent female characters lol.

    Thanks for taking part! It was awesome to read your picks!

    1. “Thanks for taking part! It was awesome to read your picks!”

      Thanks for coming up with the tag! I thought it was a lot of fun.

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