Top 100 Animated Series Nominees – 2000s!

Hey guys,

Thanks for making this. I’ve been following these top 100 nominees roll-outs and been exciting for the votes. However, the shortlist for this 2000s era is underwhelming in my view. As a person who grew up during this period, I feel that the decade is much richer than what represented here.

There are a few issues with this list as following:
1) More than any other decades, you include too many children shows (Dora the Explorer, Peppa Pigs, The Backyardigans, Dinosaur Train, Clifford the Red Dog, Curious George). While I would welcome kids-friendly shows in the shortlist, the panel didn’t make a good case why they appear on the list (“this is a kid show, I’m not the main audience”) and some of them received no votes from previous countdown. Justice League and Justice League: Unlimited should combine into one.

2) The anime shows in this list are not the best presentation of 2000s anime. For instance, Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood (2009) should be the one over the 2003 version. It’s the version where it follows faithfully to the manga and received widespread reception. I would argue you can separate the 2003 and 2009 as two entities but if you have to choose one, it’s the Brotherhood version. Likewise, Inuyasha and Yugioh (Mike will disagree with me here) are not the best ones for “anime blocks. Other shows like Gurren Lagaan (2007) or Monster (2004) and Baccano (2007 – people assess that if Tarantino directed an anime, that would result like this one) are much more popular and critically acclaimed, just to name a few.

Here’s the list that I feel strongly is top-100 contenders (limit to 5):
1) Clone High (2002): it has since received critical acclaim and a cult following despite its short run.
2) Metalcalypse (2006): as a whole I feel Adult Swim is under-represented in this list. Like them or not, they were influential in the 2000s. Also fit under this are: Sealab 2021 (2000), Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law (2001), Frisky Dingo (2006). The first and the last are from Adam Reed before he made it big with Archer
3) Shaun the Sheep (2007): If there is one children show this decade that deserves to be in the top100, it’s this one. Both children and adults can enjoy.
4) Totally Spies (2001): this was popular back in the day. You can also consider other French-productions such as Wakfu (2008) or Code Lyoko (2003).
5) Red vs Blue (2003): I feel this one is a great example for a web series that managed to cross over. Web series become a big thing as well as the end of the decade.

Here’s some anime recommendation for this list (lesser known but critically-acclaimed – limit to 5)
1) Mushishi (2005)
2) Nana (2006)
3) Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit (2007)
4) Planetes (2003)
5) Paranoia Agent (2004): the great Satoshi Kon’s only series

Some others recommendation that could sit in this 50 list (limit to 5)
1) Moral Orel (2005): a very daring and twisted stop-motion show, again from Adult Swim
2) The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack (2008)
3) Tom Goes to the Mayor (2004) & The Life and Times of Tim (2008): same creators
4) Total Drama (2007)
5) Chowder (2007)

This, again, just a list of shows that I feel need more attention, and too bad we couldn’t vote for any of these in the final countdown. You guys have a solid pre-80s, 80s, and 90s shortlists, so I just feel a bit let down to have the 2000s list not as strong or vibrant as these ones. Maybe like Mike mentioned you guys could sample its first 5 episodes to see if any of these ones could be great alternatives instead?

Still cheers to you guys for all the efforts you’ve been putting!! Bravo!!