OVA Anniversary! Favorite Animated Series – Overly Animated Podcast #197
By: Dylan Hysen
It’s our one year anniversary/birthday! To celebrate, Dylan Hysen, Delaney Stovall, Justin Cummings, and Michelle Anderer list their favorite 10 animated series ever.
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Dylan Hysen
Dylan is a software developer from the DC area who hosts the Overly Animated podcast discussing everything animation.
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I’m never gonna agree with Book 3 being that good for LOK, I actually enjoy Book 1 way more than everything else and I think it’s more coherent and fun to watch for me. Book 3 is a close second. And it’s honestly gorgeous in a way the rest of the seasons don’t quite capture, Republic City never looks that good again. That’s more the budget they had though, I don’t blame them.
All this to say the show is still my number 1 in terms of favorite. Like Delaney the show was really important to me accepting my sexuality, I was having a really rough time for a few years and the final episode came at such an important time for me. I watched the finale with my friends the second it came out, so I wasn’t spoiled for anything and me and another friend of mine were crying. I was so happy and in shock it was crazy. And nothing in ATLA got that type of emotional reaction from me during it’s run, or during the many many rewatches I’ve done. I listen to the final music cue all the time.
If this was a best list I’d have to put ATLA at number 1. Book 4 and Book 2 drag it down below ATLA for me and ATLA made better use of its time and had better pacing in my opinion. That’s a discussion for another day.
List with some personal explanations:
1.LOK
2.ATLA
3.Steven Universe
4.Rurouni Kenshin (Kenshin is maybe my favorite male character ever but I’d have to think more on that)
5.Justice League-the DCAU in general if I can cheat- (comics have shaped my life in a big way and I’m only very into comics now because of this show, and this has been the case since it came out years ago)
6.The Boondocks (seeing black characters talk about being black and everything that comes with it, and parody ourselves at times, was /is very important to me. To be able to laugh but not feel like I was being laughed at. My parents didn’t like me watching adult swim shows when I was younger but they let this one slide and we’d watch it together and talk about what it meant. Huey is basically me in terms of opinions and activism. It’d be higher if it had black women in it in any significant way, but it doesn’t comment on us much.)
7. Toradora(I was surprised this got mentioned at all. This show was formative to me, this got me back into anime after a slump that Naruto put me in. I watch it every Christmas for the Christmas arc and because it’s incredible. I’ve been searching for a romcom on this level for years since I’ve seen it)
7. Kim Possible
8. Gargoyles
9. Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood
10. Danny Phantom
Honorable mention to Nichijou, Samurai Jack, Gurren Lagann, Daria, Gravity Falls(number 12 after Nichijou) and Eureka Seven.
I also feel like shows like Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain, The Tick, and shows like that from the 90s/early 2000s are their own category. I felt weird trying to consider them for the list even though I love so many of the series, don’t know why that is.
Awesome stuff, thanks so much for sharing your list and thoughts! Woo Toradora on your list too, yeah it’s a constant state of looking for anything close to what Toradora does romance wise and always failing. It’s probably one of a kind.
Are any of you guys Phineas and Ferb fans? It may not be up there with Steven Universe or Gravity Falls, but I think it’s a good show in its own right and no one seems to be talking about it any more.
I have not watched it but yeah I know people really like it. Hopefully I’ll check out a few episodes one day.
Congrats on making it to one year! Found you guys on iTunes when Jail Break came out and have been listening ever since.
Thanks Jim and thanks for sticking with us!
Anyone seen Sym Bionic Titan, very under rated show.
Another show I like to mention especially since you guys are Miraculous Ladybug fans, American Dragon: Jake Long, it is like Ladybug only if either Ladybug or Catnoir were on the villain’s side.
As for anime, no mention of Fullmetal Alchemist.
Congrats on the anniversary.
Definitely Sym bonic titan and FMA fans among us, just not the people on this specific one I guess. And yeah I know of big American Dragon fans, I should probably check it out one day.