5) Kanon (2006)

Big-eyed weepy sad girls in snow. Toei animation produced a 13-episode TV series based on Key/Visual Art's first ero-ge back in 2002, and KyoAni followed that with an all-around higher quality 24-episode adaptation in fall 2006. I enjoyed both thoroughly on their own merits for the compelling, emotional central story and engrossing snowbound atmosphere. Magical is the word that embodies this series for me, making it a personal pick of the decade.

4) Genshiken (2004)

Not since Otaku no Video has there been such a comprehensive look at, and parody of, otaku subculture. Where in Otaku no Video and Comic Party, we saw otaku shamelessly pursuing their hobbies and glorifying their antisocial pursuits, Genshiken represents the most honest depiction of otaku we have seen in anime to date: obsessive, perverted, socially inept, and beneath all that, as human as anybody else. Easily the smartest and funniest take on the otaku world to date.

3) Planetes (2003)

From TOKYOPOP's English language release of the first book of the manga, I was hooked on Planetes. Hard science fiction anime and manga are not exactly commonplace, and at first glance, you'd think it'd be difficult to make a series about orbital garbage collectors interesting, but as short as the manga is, it packs a tremendous amount of excellent character writing in a unique setting. The anime brings some out of place comic relief into the picture, but balances it out with stellar writing for new characters and an increased scope for the overall story, even discussing the politics of development in space and its impact on third and first world nations.

2) Banner of the Stars (2000)

Banner made its debut on Japanese TV around the time I first discovered Crest of the Stars back in high school and was impressed by the depth of its character writing and cultural exploration. Banner continued Crest's fantastically well written space opera saga of the Abh Empire into their conflict with the United Mankind, yielding an even more engrossing second season for Jinto and Lafiel's story. Up there with the late '90s' Infinite Ryvius as one of the best anime space operas in a long time, with some of the tensest battle scenes I've ever seen. Banner easily earns its position as my second favorite show of the decade, having aired all the way back at the beginning.

1) Haibane Renmei (2002)

Yoshitoshi ABe first made a splash back in the '90s with Serial Experiments LAIN, as confusing and convoluted as it was. He followed that with the much less noticed NieA_7 early in the decade — an eccentric comedy consisting of a lot of interesting ideas especially difficult to sell western otaku on. He followed that with 2002's Haibane Renmei, my personal pick for show of the decade, a Haruki Murakami-inspired story of young winged women hatched from cocoons into a strange society, seeking what it means to be who they are, and what it means to live. On every level, this show is Yoshitoshi ABe's masterpiece.