The 10 Best Science Fiction Anime Shows
21. Neon Genesis Evangelion
“Controversial” doesn’t begin to describe the reactions that have swirled around Evangelion since it first appeared in 1995. After Earth has been nearly devastated by an apparent meteor strike at the South Pole, young Shinji Ikari learns his father has been part of a project to create a counterstrike force of giant robot vehicles—which can only be piloted by youngsters like Shinji himself. A great many SF themes figure into the story, but religion, psychology, philosophy and a good deal of extended symbolism are all also woven in. An ongoing remake, Rebuild of Evangelion, condenses the story to good effect and may in fact be the better place to start right now.More »
22. Outlaw Star
A close cousin to Cowboy Bebop, and not just because the same production company (Sunrise) was behind it, either. Tinkerer Gene Starwind and his kid sidekick Jim Hawking come into possession of a prototype experimental spaceship, the Outlaw Star of the title—along with a female android who’s the only one who can fly it. Needless to say, they end up in gallons of hot water, and are chased (or themselves chase) from one end of the galaxy to the other. It’s a lot wackier and more light-hearted than Bebop—just plain fun from beginning to end, with a great cast of characters and some strongly Asian-inspired technological designs for the starships.More »
23. Planetes
In the future, someone’s still going to have to collect the garbage. That’s what the crew of the DS-12 Space Debris Station does—they clean up trash that’s stuck in orbit and which poses a hazard to other spacecraft or satellites. It’s a great premise, and Planetes is resolutely accurate in its technical details, down to how zero-g works and how genuinely dangerous space is for those who choose to go there. What’s even better is how the show keeps focused on the characters and their interactions, not hardware and machinery, and for that reason deserves a broader audience.More »
24. Starship Operators
Starship Amaterasu is on its way home from its maiden training voyage, when the crew learn their home planet’s been seized by a neighboring empire. The crew then hit on a brilliant way to keep the fight going on their end: they declare themselves a sovereign nation, and sell the rights to their voyages to the top galactic broadcast network as a reality TV show. It’s a brilliant premise, and the show follows through on it with great intelligence and wit. Don’t expect Gundamor Macross-style space battles, though; its approach is much more restrained. And like Planetes, much attention is paid to how difficult it really is to do things in space, like finding a ship by tracing its gravitational signature (!).More »
25. They Were Eleven
A Moto Hagio story adapted for animation, this one plays like an SF version of an Agatha Christie murder mystery where all the suspects are locked in the same rambling mansion and one of them is a killer. In this case, it’s a spaceship, the suspects are ten space cadets undergoing a graduation test, and the one extra crewmember who doesn’t belong there (hence the title) may be responsible for the death of the whole crew. The animation’s dated a bit—it’s from 1986—but the story holds up a lot better than many of its contemporaries. A prime example of strongly character-oriented SF.More »
26. Toward the Terra
Adapted from Keiko Takemiya’s groundbreaking science-fiction manga story (released in English by Vertical), this cosmic epic—there’s no better word for it—deals with a young man coming of age in a rigorously-controlled utopian society. When he discovers he has psionic powers, he’s contacted by a splinter group of humanity, the Mu, which believes he is destined to be their leader. In time he accepts his position as their messiah, but that has cataclysmic effects on both humanity and Mu alike. The feature-film version, made in 1980, was issued on DVD with English subtitles, and is well worth it. But the 26-epsiode TV version, created in 2007, is in many ways even better as it expands on much of the material only glossed over in the film.More »
Source...