9^th Place: Saber Marionette J, 1996. (27 points, one first-place vote) The colony ship Mesopotamia suffers a critical failure as it nears the planet TerraTwo. There are six survivors. They are all male. This is the premise to a story in which the only girls are robots, and darned cute ones at that. But beneath all the high-powered action and silly comedy is a serious science-fiction quandary that is explored quite thoroughly and intelligently in this series as well as its two sequels (J Again and J to X.

8^th Place: Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne, 1999. (28 points, one first-place vote) Though it first appears to be a stock Sailor Moon-type magical girl series, a surprisingly convoluted plot and complex characters made this series popular among the female THEM members in the last year. How enduring this series will prove is another matter entirely.

tied for 6^th Place: Ranma 1/2, 1989. (31 points) The sole Takahashi Rumiko work in the top 10, Ranma 1/2's mix of action, romance, comedy, and gender-bending (heh) have made it a fan favorite in the US, even though it will probably never see a single television broadcast outside of niche public television. Later seasons fail to maintain the magic of the first season, but this series remains a favorite long after its contemporaries are forgotten.

tied for 6^th Place: Marmalade Boy, 1994. (31 points) An unabashedly shoujo series about high schoolers and relationships (many of which are highly taboo), this is the anime equivalent to Beverly Hills 90210, except that the visual style is far more psychedelic and the characters are far cuter. (And, of course, Japanese.) Before you all run away screaming in horror, it should be noted that this series has probably some of the best voice-acting ever done in a television series. It's also highly addictive, even to quite a few of the male THEMers (something 90210 could hardly brag about).

5^th Place: His and Her Circumstances (Kareshi Kanojo no Jijou), 1998. (31 votes, one first-place vote) Escaping a three-way tie with the first-place tiebreaker, this series about two high-schoolers who ditch their smarmy valedictorian facades and decide to act like their nerdy, lovey-dovey selves may not have made for great ratings in Japan, but THEM simply adores this all-too-short shoujo romance-with-a-twist. Perhaps unlike many mainstream Japanese, THEM members can tune in better to the not-so-normal Yukino and Souichirou, and the zany supporting cast (our favorite is Tsubasa). Look forward to Right Stuf's upcoming release in 2002!

4^th Place: Child's Toy (Kodomo no Omocha, 1996. (34 points, one first-place vote) Kurata Sana is too cool for words. Despite this, she uses a LOT of them - rapping, yelling, and singing her way through this half-gonzo, half-serious story about her (a child actress), her adventures through elementary and junior-high school, and her misbehaving classmates, led by Hayama Akito, a withdrawn, jaded boy with a mischievous, silly streak. If anything, anyone who has ever known or better, been an eleven-year-old girl should feel right at home with Sana. Note: the manga for this series is being released by TokyoPop under the rather sketchy title Popstar Kodocha.

3^rd Place: Card Captor Sakura, 1998. (43 points) And, no, we're not talking about CardCaptors. Card Captor Sakura has to be the cutest series out of the top 10, and it's the top-ranked shoujo title on our countdown. Male and female THEMers alike have found it hard to resist this sweet-hearted magical girl fantasy, and we were one of the first to lament the lack of "cuteness" in the American dub. The original is full of heart and spirit, and it is this series, not CardCaptors, that we embrace and support.

2^nd Place: Cowboy Bebop, 1998. (50 points, two first-place votes) The second "space cowboy" series in the top 10, this incredibly animated and well-acted TV show is probably technically the best series of the whole list. However, its often gritty, hard-edged feel has deterred some THEM members from continuing with the series after the first several episodes, which is a shame, for despite the seemingly episodic nature of the show, Cowboy Bebop is film noir at its very best - something done quite rarely in a TV series, much less an anime.

The envelope please. And the award goes to ...

1^st Place: Slayers, 1995. (63 points) Our third straight first place without a first place vote! However, despite that statistic, it should be said that this series is a favorite with so many different members of THEM that it deserves the number one spot on this survey. And why is that? Slayers is a good approximation of what would happen if THEM were to run a role-playing session - in fact, our own fantasy campaigns are so similar in tone, that we felt right at home watching the Ultimate Munchkins, Lina Inverse and Gourry Gabriev, in their endless quest for fame, fortune, and, of course, food. (Which would make them Munchkins with the Munchies, wouldn't it?)

And with that, we conclude our Top 10 Television Series and Specials. But where did all the Specials go? I guess nobody voted for them...or they got stuck in the movie and OAV categories by mistake. Who knows.

Back to the Millennial THEM Anime Awards home page!