Belldandy is sweet, gentle, and prettily oblivious of Morisato Keiichi's comedic and well-intended attempts to 'put a move' on her. I thought it actually moved fairly slow - it was a pleasure to watch, but the fourth and fifth OAV were the ones I loved. I may have loved seeing them as kids, but it was Skuld's making fun of Keiichi for having no money that really made me laugh.
Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon
Sailor Moon, eternally the hero of love and justice. I didn't actually start watching this when I was twelve - by then, I had already sworn off cartoons and only read the comics in the newspaper. My friend, Amy, swore that I would LOVE Sailor Moon. I didn't believe her. However, she whined and pleaded with me, and forced me to take the first two manga on my trip to Vegas. I was bound and determined to hate Sailor Moon. Fortunately for me, I fell in love with it (more in love with Mamoru than anything), and set my life to converting other people. I still say that this is the ultimate shoujo anime!
Card Captor Sakura
CCS is simply superb. I had heard a lot about CCS on the internet before it was dubbed; this was when I watched Kids! WB daily in hopes of watching Pokemon - and I watched the dub. Around the same time, I recieved copies of the first ten or so episodes subbed. I actually liked the DUB better! I thought Card Captor Sakura was boring, and I couldn't really stand watching it. However, I had heard it was good, so I continued to watch the sub. I am grateful I did, because Card Captor Sakura turned out to be more than amazing - it was spectacular! I especially loved all the touches in the show, like Sakura's mother's picture on the tabletop, Touya's ability to see ghosts, and Syaoran's amazing blushing techniques. I hate the dub now, and I constantly insult myself for not liking it.
Kaitou Saint Tail
If you noticed, four of these anime all start with K's. Besides that, Kaitou Saint Tail is the first anime that I ever watched subtitled. All others had been dubbed (er, well, I don't think Pokemon was an anime after it was dubbed, and Sailor Moon was hacked up...), and this was something very new for me. My sis had told me a description of it (she's the one who provided it - something I find funny, because I liked anime first!), and I admit, I thought it sounded dumb. I had low expectations for it - what could it have on Sailor Moon? But I fell completely in love with it. Kaitou Saint Tail was funny, romantic, and starred two of the cutest characters that I had ever seen. Meimi and Asuka's arguing, which eventually developed into a precious romance, was one of the funniest I have ever seen. (I say they're tied with Sakura and Syaoran.) It completely overpassed any expectations I had for it.
Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne
Maron is 'all alone' in this world - at least that's what she thinks very quietly in the reccesses of her heart. With her own problems, Maron is a funny, haunted heroine that you can't really relate to, but love watching. Her next-door neighbor, Chiaki, is my DREAM guy - if someone like him lived next door to me, I'd be in heaven. Although its plot has enough holes in it to make it look like Swiss cheese, that's ok. KKJ has those humorous romantic moments that I adore so much - most anime that I really love have romance in it. Along with the appropriate amounts of angst that I think is neccesary, KKJ had everything in it to make me love it.
Kareshi Kanojo no Jijou
Well, I must admit that I was sort of scared of this anime. My sister was so obsessive about it, I was more worried about what would happen if I didn't like it. Fortunately, I love this anime - it was so weird! It had such creative, funny ideas that I had to love it. I'd never seen a heroine like Miyazawa Yukino - she was so strange, and yet so true to herself. This anime has some of the best developed characters I have ever seen. It had a lot of things that I hadn't seen before in animation styles - it made me almost want to see Evangelion! (But no anime can induce me to watch that...)
Kodomo no Omocha
Ok, ok - I didn't want to watch this anime either. It sounded incredibly dull (yes, I know, completely wrong), boring, and not exactly humorous at all. I did watch the first episode, and it seemed more like a freaky cartoon than an anime to me. My friend was in love with Kodocha, and constantly nagged me about it. About a month after she had given up on me, I was very bored, and needed to write a review. So, I decided to watch some more of the episodes I had. After watching another, I was so hooked I watched ten more episodes that same night. I was hooked - in love with Kodocha. Hayama Akito was such a gloomy, dark boy - but he was such a good guy! One of the best developed characters in Kodocha, he matches perfectly with Kurata Sana. The latter is often referred to as "caffeine personified", but I perfer to think of her as that sparkly candy stuff that explodes when you put it in your mouth. She's explosively sweet!
Rurouni Kenshin [TV]
When I first made this list, Flame of Recca was actually here instead of Kenshin. However, after watching Kenshin, I fell in love with it after twenty episodes. I am as of yet not done with it, but so far I love the fighting sequences - they're funny and serious, done with all the dramatics that could really happen. Kenshin himself is a wandering samurai who is trying to make up for all the horrible things he used to do - he fights to atone for the innocents he murdered. Even if he doesn't want to fight, people bother him anyway! I think that all the drama has a perfect balance of humor and seriousness, and I truly enjoyed it.
Vampire Princess Miyu
A classic, gothic-like horror anime, I really don't know why I like Vampire Princess Miyu. It has ZERO things that I appreciate in other anime. It does have a fluffy little pink animal, but it isn't really cute when it uses powers. Besides, it's half demon. VPM was incredibly scary, and the plot twists involving Miyu, Larva, her parents, and the end of the show was amazing. One of the things I liked best about it was how human Miyu was - she wasn't supposed to, but having lived among humans so long, even she could not help the occasional 'weak' moment of acting human. Living forever; eternally damned - that was the existence of Miyu. She flings Shinma to the Dark for two parents; people that she should have forgotten years ago. Horrific, amazing, and brilliant, I loved VPM.
Vision of Escaflowne
VOE is not shonen anime, nor is it shoujo. The absolute best of fantasy anime (in my opinion, of what I've seen), Escaflowne has a spectacular plot, amazing characters, and the most amazing sequences I've seen. I never thought I'd like an anime with mechas; I did. I never thought I'd appreciate their noses; I loved their noses by the end. When the ending did come, I was so depressed - twenty-six episodes (no fillers) was too short for me. The amazing world of Gaea; the power of wishes and fortunes, and the tragic romances that were never meant to be - Escaflowne had everything I could possibly want.
