Nostalgia: remembering my “former” anime favorites

It’s to be expected that our favorite anime titles and characters change as we discover new series over the years. For those of us who have been into anime for at least a few years, we ourselves often change as people and thus our tastes in anime change too. So today I’m going to be looking back at my “former” favorite anime and characters – ones that I used to love during my early years of fandom (no later than 2004) and seeing how they compare to my current tastes…

First I decided to look at my current favorite characters side by side with my former favorites that I had about 7-9 years ago. Since I can’t make a very accurate list of my top 10 characters from all those years ago, I opted for a top 7.

Obviously all of my top 7 favorite characters have changed over the years (though Asuka, Vash, Kagome, and Sakura still rank in my top 30). But has my taste in characters really changed? The first thing I noticed in both cases is that female characters tend to be my favorites (though coincidentally each list has one male character). As far as characters go, I can’t see any major changes in my tastes – I’ve always preferred female characters who are cute and also have other interesting, unique traits and personalities that appeal to me. The only reason all the characters in both lists are different is because I’ve simply discovered new ones over the years that I like better.

As for how my favorite titles have changed…

Former favorites
1. Inuyasha
2. Evangelion
3. Tenchi Muyo!
4. Pokemon
5. Cardcaptor Sakura
6. Slayers Next
7. Trigun

Current favorites
1. Haruhi Suzumiya
2. Angel Beats!
3. Lucky Star
4. Wolf’s Rain
5. Noir
6. Kannagi
7. Evangelion

Once again, I don’t think my tastes have changed all that much over the years. Evangelion remains on both lists, and Cardcaptor Sakura and Inuyasha still rank among my current top 10. Pokemon is also still my #1 franchise together with Haruhi, but in recent years I just think more highly of the games than the anime. Both of my top 7 lists have a mix of genres. The only distinction I can make is that my current tastes are slightly more geared towards the slice-of-life genre, but that could also be because it’s a newer genre to begin with.

After making these lists, all I can conclude is that I’m not one of those fans whose tastes have changed drastically over the years. I’m sure some fans have gone through big changes, like going from a mecha/sci-fi fan to a moe/slice-of-life fan, or a shonen fan to a romantic comedy fan. My favorite titles and characters have changed, but my tastes haven’t, if that makes sense. It’s strange that even though my favorite types of characters aren’t that diverse, my favorite anime come from a variety of genres.

Have your favorite anime titles and/or characters changed much over the years? If so, does it have to do with your own personal change or something else? Just some food for thought.

No Comments… read them or add your own.

  1. Myna says:

    Let’s see, when I first started out, I liked shounen. The first anime I started watching were Pokemon, YugiOh, and Yuyu Hakusho. In terms of manga, I started off as more of a shoujo fan. Fruits basket, and Ultra Maniac, CCS, and MeruPuri were some of my very first.

    My favorite titles back in like, ’05-’08 included: Pokemon, Fruits Basket, CCS, Yuyu Hakusho, Ouran, Suzumiya Haruhi, and Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles.
    My favorite characters back then included: Ash, Misty, Kyo, Syaoran, and such.

    These days, my favorites consist of: FMA, Utena, D. Gray-man, Madoka Magica, Yuyu Hakusho, and Cowboy bebop, among others.
    Favorite characters: Utena, Edward Elric, Akemi Homura, Spike, etc.

    I went from bring a more lighthearted shoujo fan to a darker, more thought provoking fan. I guess that’s because I gained an obsession with symbolism in high school, so it’s influenced my favorites as well. Of course I still like shoujo and lighthearted series, but I prefer darker ones more. :)

    • Yumeka says:

      Yeah, sounds like you were into the more family/kid oriented anime like Pokemon and the shonen/shojo titles. I was the same too – it just has to do with exposure and how accessible a variety of anime was at the time. Also like me, I see that you’re still interested in these titles even though you’re now drawn to more “mature” anime =)

  2. I think one’s tastes doesn’t change easily, but only the favorite characters because we get to discover new ones? xD

    I am tempted to do a similar list but I am having a hard time ranking my current favorites, haha!

    • Yumeka says:

      I know a few people whose tastes in anime have drastically changed, but you’re right, once we reach a certain age our tastes usually don’t change much. We simply discover new anime and characters that match those tastes.

      A favorites list is not as easy as it seems but making one is a lot of fun ^^

  3. H says:

    Agian, i haven’t been in the anime world that long and i really just started watching anime a year ago. So… i really have no clue what my favorites would be. Hmm. Let’s see. Got it.
    1 Oran High School: Host Club
    2 Kenichi: Earth’s Mightiest Diciple
    3 Black Butler
    4 Mushi Shi
    5 …
    that’s it i guess. Well, bye.
    bye.
    –End–

    • Yumeka says:

      Ouran and Mushishi are great. Try and remember these now and see if you’d still rank them among your top 5 several years from now =)

  4. Kal says:

    Hehe, interesting. I like either very complex anime, very detailed and that feels alive, or anime that makes me feel something. Haruhi is pretty complex, so it’s up there with the favorites. Kanon, Clannad, Angel Beats! as well.

    I’m not good with lists, but I will remember characters that simply feel so well together. Like Sagara Sousuke and Kaname Chidori (Full Metal Panic!). They are so different that simply fit well together :) I guess they would be my favorite characters in anime. I guess they invoke some nostalgia, because I haven’t seen them in a while :S

    • Yumeka says:

      Have these series and characters that you mentioned always been your favorites? You say that Full Metal Panic! is nostalgic to you so I’m wondering if you still consider it a favorite even now.

      • Kal says:

        Oh yes :) Full Metal Panic! will always be one of my favorites. There is just something about it that really agrees with me. I know everyone is different, and likes different things, but for me, the combination of characters and situations in that story just strikes gold :D

  5. f0calizer says:

    This is odd…I can’t answer your question about favorite anime characters because my fanboyness doesn’t really work through favorites, I guess. My mind works in terms of series and which characters I like more or less in each one, but doing a list of favorite characters makes me draw a blank — you’ll notice on MAL I’ve left that profile space blank too! But as a quick response I always say my #1 favorite is President Aria from ARIA, since he’s a cat and probably some immortal demigod too. That will never change! =)

    • Yumeka says:

      That’s interesting that you can’t make a list of favorite anime characters. There are many series where I don’t have a favorite character but there are also many where I love one or more specific characters. I assume if you did make a list, Aria and Motoko from GitS would be your top 2 =)

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