You are reading #15-11 of the Top 25 Animated Television Series Countdown.
15. MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM 00
Dates: 2007-2009
MBS (Japan)
50 episodes
Directed by Seiji Mizushima
Starring (English dubbing): Brad Swaile, Alex Zahara, Richard Ian Cox, Samuel Vincent
Synopsis
In the future, a private force armed with Gundam mobile suits fights to put an end to war.
Why It Made The List
It sounds like a simple struggle between good and evil: a fight between idealists trying to end violence and unite humanity, and those who would provoke or fund war. But
Mobile Suit Gundam 00 shows the conflict, and its consequences, from all sides. The Gundam pilots' motivations are born from brutal personal tragedy. The opposing soldiers are mostly honorable and likable, and the civilians simply struggle to understand what's happening.
Its thoughtfulness, and its awareness of the ambiguities on all sides, provoke the viewer into pondering its world—and by extension our world—more carefully. But
00 also triumphs as pure entertainment. Its plot and premise are given life by plenty of exciting, gorgeously animated giant robot battles that rivet the attention.
14. SAMURAI CHAMPLOO
Dates: 2004-2005 (Japan), 2005-2006 (USA)
Fuji TV (Japan), Adult Swim [Cartoon Network] (USA)
26 episodes
Created by Shinichirō Watanabe
Starring (English dubbing): Steven Blum, Kirk Thornton, Kari Wahlgren
Synopsis
Three wanderers search for
the "Samurai That Smells of Sunflowers".
Why It Made The List
A thin plot becomes a flexible thread on which hangs a series of stories about three very endearing and memorable characters. This shouldn't be a surprise, since Champloo is director Shinichiro Watanabe's follow up to Cowboy Bebop, another series that featured strong characters.
And, as with Bebop, the action is thrilling, with minutely realized and perfectly detailed fight choreography that shows off each fighter's distinctive style. It even improves on Bebop by showcasing more melee battles. The excitement is only abetted by a catchy hip-hop theme and the excellent use of an anachronistic jazz score.
13. PHINEAS AND FERB
Dates: 2007-present
Disney Channel
79+ episodes
Created by Dan Povenmire & Jeff "Swampy" Marsh
Starring: Vincent Martella, Thomas Sangster, Ashley Tisdale, Dee Bradley Baker, Dan Povenmire
Synopsis
Two pre-tween boys stave off summer boredom with outrageous adventures.
Why It Made The List
This wide-eyed, optimistic exercise in wish fulfillment shows suburban boys having the kind of summertime fun any boy has ever dreamed of. Cartoony and completely unrealistic, it is as unbounded as the imagination of its two protagonists.
The series also benefits from an eccentric secondary plot, in which the family's pet platypus battles an incompetent evil scientist.
12. INVADER ZIM
Dates: 2001-2002 and 2006
Nickelodeon
27 episodes
Created by Jhonen Vasquez
Starring: Andy Berman, Richard Steven Horvitz, Rosearik Rikki Simons
Synopsis
An incompetent alien tries to conquer the Earth.
Why It Made The List
Well, what other children's show would feature a cartoon about an alien harvesting kids' internal organs?
Unabashedly morbid and gloriously macabre,
Invader Zim revels in its portrait of human folly and depravity. It bleakly portrays a civilization given over to madness, stupidity, and grotesquerie; even men of science are shown to be oblivious and lacking in common sense. Nor are the aliens excepted from scrutiny: Zim's malice is exceeded only by his stupidity.
Beyond that, the show had a marvelous sense of the absurd, delighting in word play, non sequiturs and (in the form of Zim's defective robot, Gir) a random but antic sense of fun.
Like
Gulliver's Travels, another fang-toothed satire that has entertained children,
Invader Zim is a series that can deliver different messages for different audiences, and be appreciated by all ages.
11. FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST
Dates: 2003-2004 (Japan), 2004-2006 (USA)
MBS (Japan), Adult Swim [Cartoon Network] (USA)
51 episodes (plus 5 OVA)
Created by by Hiromu Arakawa
Starring (English dubbing): Vic Mignogna, Aaron Dismuke, Caitlin Glass, Monica Rial, Travis Willingham
Synopsis
Two boys seek the philosopher's stone so they can repair their injured bodies.
Why It Made The List
A strong story is driven by its strong lead characters. In a nice break from typically underdeveloped shounen shows, Edward and Alphonse Elric are likable, relatable, and fallible, but also courageous enough to try correcting their past mistakes. They also gain definition from a set of secondary characters and villains who are also well-developed. The villains in particular are intriguing; they start with an air of mystery, but become even more interesting as they reveal themselves.
Fullmetal Alchemist also benefits from excellent animation, in both its quiet moments and during the superb fight sequences.
You are reading #15-11 of the Top 25 Animated Television Series Countdown.
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