Top 5 Anime for Harry Potter Fans

The end of Harry Potter is near! Part Two of the last movie of the last book--Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows--is just days away.

While some Potter-philes will be prone to weeping, we'd like to lumos their gloomy moods and give them our

Top 5 Anime for Harry Potter Fans

These shows lend themselves to some of the familiar themes and archetypes of J.K. Rowling's wizard world, courtesy of Japan.

#5 - Vision of Escaflowne

Instead of a special boy stumbling upon a wizarding world, Escaflowne features a schoolgirl sprinting (literally) into a fantasy world with dragons, wizards, and castles. Instead of broomsticks, though, this world boasts mystical mecha for all your transportation needs. We'd like to see one of those giant armors play a round of Quidditch.

#4 - Witch Hunter Robin

What if witches were all around us? That's what this show asks, and in most cases, the answer is not a good one. Not for the witches, especially the naughty ones.

Fortunately, Robin Sena is a witch fighting on the side of good along with the rest of the STN-J. Ditching wands, this team of witches and non-witches packs heat--courtesy of their Orbo guns. (Who wouldn't want to pop a cap in Lord Voldemort's heiny?)

#3 - Kiki's Delivery Service

One of the best Studio Ghibli movies, Kiki's asks the same question as above, and the answer is much more pleasant. Young witch-in-training Kiki doesn't have to worry about witch hunters, but rather must overcome the challenges of coming of age. At least she has her talking cat Jiji with her.

As a bonus, check out this movie for some of the best animated broomstick flying ever.

#2 - Soul Eater

We all know the best part of Harry Potter isn't the spells or magical creatures. It's Hogwarts. J.K. Rowling (and the movies) depicts the School of Witchcraft and Wizardry with precision that echoes school life known by all of us muggles.

So be true to your school now . . . like you would to your girl or guy . . .

In Soul Eater, the kiddos all attend Death Weapon Meister Academy in Death City to learn how to protect the world from evil Kishins and witches. If you thought Dumbledore was the coolest head schoolmaster, check out DWMA's founder: death god Shinigami. Both are cheery, but only one can wield the Direct Noggin Shinigami Chop.

And Meister Maka Albarn has got to be the lost twin of everyone's favorite overachiever Hermoine Granger. She even has the school uniform.

#1 - Naruto/Naruto Shippuden

Another anime made special by a special school. Instead of wizards, Naruto features a school for ninjas.

So what makes Naruto land on top of Soul Eater for Harry Potter fans? It has to be the tight-knit trio of heroes and their misadventures, combined with an enormous cast of memorable and unique characters, each one deserving their own chance in the spotlight. (Sound familiar?)

And at over 200 episodes (twice that counting its Shippuden sequel), Naruto rivals the 4,176 pages of J.K. Rowling's forest-killer of a series.

That's right, trees. You can breathe a sigh of relief now.

Mischief managed!

Next Top 5 Openings

Time flies, and we just flew past our ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY!

To celebrate, here's a sequel to our very FIRST Top 5 List. We're calling it the

NEXT Top 5 Anime Openings

There are so many excellent opening animation sequences and songs, we just gotta enjoy five more. (Review our list of #1-5 HERE.)

#10 - .Hack//SIGN

Step into "The World" with this anime's main characters, courtesy of composer Yuki Kajiura and her See-Saw J-Pop duo. We recommend keeping your clothes on.

#9 - Last Exile

Bagpipes and beautiful steampunk CGI animation. What else do you need?

#8 - Bleach (Opening #2)

Bleach boasts a bunch of coolness througout its openings (best episode # bumpers, too). We're partial to the second opening, with its rocking anthem featuring the Soul Society story arc.

#7 - The Vision of Escaflowne

This show beautifully blends elements of mecha and fantasy, and its Yoko Kanno-composed opening number encapsulates all this amalgam anime has to offer.

#6 - Ergo Proxy

Just how cathartic is goth? Check out this opening and enjoy the 360 degrees of anguish at the one-minute mark.

NOT the Top 5 Anime Movies

The Razzie Award Nominations are out for "Dis-honoring Hollywood's Worst" in movies of 2009 and the past decade. Check them out at HERE.

Until the winners (losers?) are announced, let's share our

NOT the Top 5 Anime Movies

We're not saying these are the worst Anime movies out there; just NOT the Top 5. (Nowhere close)

#5 - Tie--Escaflowne: The Movie

and

Rahxephon: Pluralitas Concentio

These two movies tie because they both take excellent TV series and leave us with a bad taste in our mouth.

Escaflowne's movie drops the chivalrous European fantasy flavor of the TV show and dons a more Asian/Eastern feel. The movie makers also overhauled character designs--making some almost unrecognizable--on its mission to make it more of an action flick rather than the fantasy mecha romance drama that made the series unique.

RahXephon's movie DOES provide additional exposition and explanation for some of the key character relationships and events. For that, we give it props. But it also tries to adult up the story by including an unnecessary sex scene. Even worse, the film creators commit the cardinal sin of anime movies based on television series--cramming 26 episodes of a show into 2 measly hours.

The creators call it an encore. But if that's what we get for applauding a series, then we should've just stayed in our seats.

#4 - Pom Poko

Far be it from us to criticize any production from Studio Ghibli (Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service), but we just can't stomach shape-shifting tanuki ("raccoon dogs") with their--ahem--"pouches" bouncing along while the hijinks abound.

There are much better movies by Ghibli (Princess Mononoke, Nausicaa) that entertain and inspire us to protect the environment. All Pom Poko does is beckon us to the garbage can.

#3 - Robotech II: The Sentinels

Robotech: Macross was a masterpiece of Americanized anime for 36 episodes. And in the mid-1980s, Harmony Gold tried to capitalize on the first Robotech series to make a brand new sequel series. The project lasted long enough to finish only 3 episodes, though, so the creators worked their mixmaster magic and out popped a feature-length film.

The movie is rather forgettable, as it shows an impending danger that never gets resolved in a couple of hours. But Sentinels does show us the wedding of star-crossed lovers Rick Hunter and Lisa Hayes, so for that we won't rank it worse. (You'll always have your music career, Lynn Minmei.)

#2 - Akira

We can hear the "boos" from otaku everywhere. Suck on your inhaler, boys. And rewatch the film and you'll notice that despite it's revolutionary impact on anime, Akira is not that great a movie.

Sure, it's got post-apocalyptic sci-fi action and a sweet motorcycle. But it's also got some hints of misogyny and tired techno-Rambo warfare. Plus, it's guilty of the cardinal sin for anime movies, this time by cramming 2,182 pages of manga into one movie. Out go several subplots and most of the manga's second half. And out goes any second viewing for us, unless Leonardo DiCaprio can ever get the live-action Akira off the ground. (Leo's just that dreamy.)

#1 - M.D. Geist

No controversy here. Every anime viewer knows this movie blows. M.D. Geist is an ultraviolent, poorly animated blend of Mad Max and Universal Soldier without the morality.

Somehow this movie inspired a sequel, which defied all laws of physics and sucked more than the original. The end result was an Akira-like black hole somewhere over Midtown Manhattan.

(Oh wait. That was licensor Central Park Media's bankruptcy.)

Time for a brain cleansing.

And next time we'll look at the Top 5 BEST Anime movies!

Top 5 Angstiest Mecha Pilots

Almost as common as whiny boy mecha pilots—and just as annoying—here we have our

Top 5 Angstiest Mecha Pilots:

#5 – Van Fanel (The Vision of Escaflowne)

We actually like Van and his excellent mecha/fantasy mixture of a show. But don’t forget to mention a mix of romance, too; otherwise, you’ll be sorely disappointed if expecting an all-out action show. Van’s heart slowly gets warmed by schoolgirl Hitomi, but it takes some time, since he has to overcome a backstabbing brother, two dead parents, and a pair of foppish fairy wings.

#4 – Setsuna F Seiei (Gundam 00)

Setsuna was a prepubescent guerilla fighter before he plopped into the cush job of Gundam pilot. Unfortunately, one never outgrows a childhood of urban warfare and a brainwashed execution of your own parents. No wonder Setsuna’s no fan of diplomacy. Good thing he’s a Gundam pilot.

#3 – Viral (Gurren Lagann)

All Viral wants is to get married and have some kids. But he’s also a bad guy who gets his bootie kicked by the human heroes. Still, Viral gets a second chance and bailed out of the slammer to help Simon’s ragtag bunch fight the impossible war against the Anti-Spirals. The enemy of my enemy . . . means you’re one lucky duck, Viral.

#2 – Heero Yuy (Gundam Wing)

We don’t know Heero’s real name—he’s just an orphan picked for combat and named after a matyred colony leader. Same name, different methods. Heero spearheads Operation Meteor to start the whole Earth/Colonies War. And when he first meets future love interest and heart warmer Relena, what are his first words? “I’ll kill you.” Not exactly our first choice for a pick-up line.

#1 – Lelouch Lamperouge/Zero (Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion)

Lelouch is angst king—royal blood and everything. This private school brat’s estranged pop is oppressive Britannia Emperor Charles, who’s not too sad about killing his wife—little Lelouch’s mom. So what does Lelouch do? Acquires some mind-controlling powers, starts up a mecha army and begins his own conquest of nations. The apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree, does it?

That’s our Top 5 list of angry, arrogant, and antisocial teen pilots. Somebody give ‘em a hug.