UK’s most wanted anime (5 through 1)

5. X TV
With humanity’s future balanced on a knife edge, the fate of all mankind lies on the shoulders of one boy, Kamui Shirou, a young man with a turbulent past and attitude problem. As Kamui inevitably struggles to come to terms with his destiny, the fated apocalypse draws ever closer and everyone he ever considered a friend is now in danger.

To try and cram more of the story of X TV into 1 simple paragraph would require a degree of blaggery I simply don’t possess. Indeed, the story is so complex and deep that even Tolkien would be proud.

Expertly jam-packed with great individual characters and an atmosphere you could cut with a knife, X slowly builds that feeling of impending doom until everything finally climaxes in fantastic fashion. The animation, produced by Madhouse, is as great as their reputation suggests, but what really stands out here is the story. It’s so engrossing and interesting to watch you’ll literally be gutted when there is nothing left to watch.

Somehow managing to find hope in tragedy, X TV is an amazing series.

Predicted UK appearance: Early 2005

4. Trigun
Trigun follows ‘Vash the Stampede’ as he travels across an old-western style planet and gets into all kinds of adventures along the way. Given his nickname and violent reputation (Every city Vash enters is apparently destroyed), you’d be forgiven for imagining that Vash is some kind of brute – when quite honestly, he is anything but!

For series created in 1998, Trigun has a massive and ever expanding fan base. What starts out as a fairly light hearted, joke filled anime transforms into this amazing juggernaught of emotional depth and character development. Based on just the first 10 episodes, Trigun is nothing special, however as more and more revelations start to become unravelled, we finally start to understand Vash and the reasons for his journey.

Similar in style to Cowboy Bebop, the American influences are here for everyone to see. From the old west setting, to the classic gun designs and even Vash himself – a classic loner on a mission of revenge.

Predicted UK appearance: 2005?

3. Naruto
It’s fair to say that Naruto is taking the anime world by storm right now. Not even licensed for release in the US yet, Naruto is strictly a ‘fansub phenomenon’. One episode is usually released per week and what follows can only be labelled as a frenzy of hungry fans desperate for their Naruto fix. At its peak, 10,000 have been recorded concurrently downloading the latest episode… It’s just that popular.

But what’s it all about though? It’s essentially all about the title character, Naruto, growing up and learning to be a ninja. On the surface, it’s an incredibly basic formula for a story, but what makes Naruto so good are the many different characters and their often dark histories. People just randomly fighting isn’t interesting, the clever guys behind Naruto know this and make sure that every punch that is thrown – is thrown for a reason.

It’s riveting stuff and will no doubt go onto global domination. Despite containing many adult situations, Naruto is basically made to appeal to young adults and as such, will come complete with a thousand games and toys. Get ready chaps, we’re standing on the brink of invasion!

Predicted UK appearance: Late 2005

2. Berserk
A TV series that many people cite as quite possibly the best anime of all time, it’s a depressing thought to think it still isn’t available for UK fans to enjoy.

Berserk is set in a world that looks remarkably like medieval Europe. Wars are being waged between empires and hand-to-hand combat is common. Indeed, these are gritty and violent times in which only the strongest survive.

The story focuses on perhaps the ultimate anime anti-hero, Guts, a mountain of a mercenary who also happens to be an incredibly skilled swordsman. He takes no prisoners when fighting and often leaves a trail of destruction in his wake.
Griffith is his mercenary commander but also his good friend.

There’s no doubt Berserk is primarily about these 2 characters and how their ambitions evolve and change according to the influence they have on each other.
It’s amazing to think almost all of the main characters start out with a certain personality but somehow manage to finish the series a totally different person. The fact many of the main characters have their ‘dark’ sides makes everything so unpredictable and exciting to watch.

The oft-talked of violence is another key point here It’s never uncalled for, or just for the sakes of seeing blood. Every time a character is forced to draw their sword, it has reason and is often very important to the overall impact of the story.

For a sword swinging fantasy, Berserk displays some of the most incredible, moving characters I’ve ever come to witness in anime.

Predicted UK appearance: Maybe never? Someone licence this… please!

1. Cowboy Bebop (TV series)
After Neon Genesis Evangelion, Cowboy Bebop is by far the most influential anime series to come out of the mid to late nineties. Featuring some incredibly stylized animation and a great jazz influenced soundtrack from Yoko Kanno, all SUNRISE (production studio) needed to add was a half decent story and they’d be a shoe-in for a classic series. Did they succeed? What do you think?!

Everything you need to know about Bebop is in its title. Cowboy in that it’s a story about futuristic bounty hunters (dubbed ‘space cowboys’) and Bebop because events are often played out to Yoko Kanno’s amazing soundtrack, which is almost exclusively a mixture of jazz and blues.

The characters of Bebop are the things legends are made of.
Taking Spike Spiegel for example, the word ‘cool’ doesn’t do this guy justice. Constantly laid back, sporting a funky afro haircut and a crazy kung fu expert, you’ll never catch this guy off guard.
His bounty hunter partner, Jet Black, is almost his polar opposite. Up tight, strict and enjoys tending to his bonsai trees, Jet prefers to do things by the book.

It’s not just eye candy though, as we find out by the time the final credits roll, each character has a lot of history to resolve.

Memorable moments for me are often the rare scenes when the Bebop crew are together and talking/arguing. Not only can it be really amusing, but it has this kind of warmth to it that is very rare to find in any show, regardless of genre.

It’s a testament to the quality of the show that despite the fact it’s yet to get a UK release, almost every UK fan worth their salt knows about Bebop. Yep, it’s just that important and sadly, we’re still waiting for it.

Predicted UK appearance: Early 2005

You can view the previous 10 to 6 titles by [clicking here]. I hope you’ve enjoyed our list and feel free to send us your own!