*Goes back to the days where I only read Mentar & Garten’s Memento and Omni’s RC for blogs*
I would certainly put your no. 3 to my no. 1 – that’s really the best performance from Hiroshi Kamiya (rewatched the episode when he recovers from the accident). Man…, you’ve brought up nostalgia.

Chrno Crusade, when Rossette meets his brother. Fafner, when Kazuki returns to the island with Mark Sein. One Piece, when Chopper leaves and cries at the sight of big sakura (don’t blame middle schoolers crying over there). 12 Kingdoms, when Youko breaks from the curse of her sword. FMP! 1st season, last episode.

your no.2 goes back from TRAINWRECK-Sunrise tradition from Mai Hime, the episode when Mai lost everything, his brother and *urgh*Tate (I mean, yeah, trainwreckedness already starts from Tomino, but for me who started watching anime from bootlegged CDs in 2000, trainwreck begins there lol). But that’s no. 3 for me, since no. 2 will be Gungrave’s ending, when Brandon told Harry that although he’s most loyal to Millenion, he chose Harry in the end, sacrificing himself to someone that wrecked his life. For mobstory anime, that ending bests Cowboy Bebop’s in my book – that’s the Madhouse before Light’s swimming lesson.

I can’t really think of my top ten moments at the moment, but here’s some that I could think of:

Scrapped Princess, Episode 18:
This is the first time I can truly remember (trying to prevent myself from) crying during an anime. Fulle’s death was a pretty sad scene, which is only made worse by the fact that Pacifica can’t remember him at all later on, except in the form of her “protective charm” at the end of the series. Well, I don’t think many people watched this show, but I’ve always liked this episode It’s so sad, yet so good.

Turn-A-Gundam, Episode 1 (end):
The music only makes this scene even better Loran’s joy at finding out that their old homeland is a great place, and then yelling at the moon and wanting everyone to come back immediately was so great, it made me go, “Wow,” and rewind to watch it again. It’s hard to explain why exactly I like this scene so much, but when someone mentions this show, this is the part I think of!

Cowboy Bebop, Episode 26:
I don’t think this really needs an explanation
&I’ve always thought Faye’s little speech at the end was so sad

Darker than Black, Episode 14:
Gai’s statement about how nobody should be treated like a doll tugged on my heartstrings, especially considering the world that DTB takes place in, and the fact that he didn’t know that Yin was a Doll. Yin’s crying and being able to make a decision on her own really made an impact on me.

Pumpkin Scissors, Episode 17:
Seeing the (end of) the interactions between two survivors of two different Invisible 9 squads was….. really sad, actually. Not only because you knew these guys were (illegally) experimented on, but that they couldn’t really fit into society or go back to a normal life afterwards. (Okay, well, Oland could have a pretty normal life, but he’d still be somewhat of a giant! A strong giant with subliminal(?) messages implanted in him to have him kill people….. yeah…..)
The flashback at the beginning of this episode was wretchedly well done, especially since you can’t see Hans’ face the whole time, so you can only guess at what kind of expression he’s having as his friends die all around him. Of course, adding to the disgust, we have was scientist-lady’s happiness at being able to get back a dead body in the end for her to study or whatever.
This was one of those episodes where I so desperately didn’t want someone (Hans) to die, but I really couldn’t see any other way for him to continue living as he was. How depressing

Well, that’s all I can think of for now.

What a great show. There are so many inspiring and touching moments throughout. I’m glad you enjoyed it greatly as well

@ Dorian Cornelius Jasper

Haven’t seen them myself, might have to look into them sometime.

@ Logopolis

Haven’t seen most of those, but the Haruhi concert scene and final Code Geass scene were both great moments. The concert in Haruhi was so enjoyable, and quite a change from the usual atmosphere of the show with good music to boot. Code Geass R2 often disappointed me when it went off on tangents and introduced new characters that never really went anywhere, but the ending was very much worth it.

@ Emperor

While I can understand your sense of frustration, radical sudden change or even violence rarely creates lasting or positive changes. While one can argue that positive things have come from the two World Wars and their massive conflict (and from other massive conflicts in history), most of the good that came from them was out of a desire to create institutions and have gradual change. I probably would have sympathized more with Lelouch when I was younger, but after learning more about history, politics, and international relations late in high school and in my current studies I’ve come to the conclusion that violence, while sometimes necessary, screws things up like nothing else. Violent or sudden revolutions are the same way. It’s almost always a better option to take the Suzaku route and change a system from within than to create something from scratch.

As for the overpopulation, Mars would make a great place for colonies if only national space agencies would get off their butts and start going there. We could have done it with 1980’s technology, and people like Robert Zubrin have written in great detail on how it could be done relatively cheaply. THAT is frustrating to me, personally.

(I’d also hardly find projecting myself on painfully contrived storylines very appealing, either, but that’s just me.)

World Wars don’t happen out of context just because someone felt the “need” to make them happen. (Even Hitler’s rise was greatly helped by the Treaty of Versailles.) Imagining a partial purge of humankind to solve the world’s problems is naive at best, and narrow-minded at worst, because the vast majority of world issues today can be traced straight to simple human needs, wants, and desires not limited to specific “acceptable target” groups. It’s all the result of “human nature” as it were, merely on a massive scale. In order to get rid of these problems, you simply have to get rid of humanity. Frankly, I’d rather not live in a world where I’m dead because some guy wanted to commit global suicide. Or accidentally set off global suicide because he wanted to get rid of “just a chunk, honest guv.”

If you have an issue with your government, take it up with your government. If your government won’t listen, then either live under its boot or revolt. (And good luck either way.) If you have an issue with the world over, then you’re probably just going to have to learn to live with it since, frankly, it appears the best solution you could come up with is another purge fantasy like Hitler’s nutty pulp sci-fi hijinks.

On another note: Empires don’t last for a reason. Keeping an empire running takes a lot of work, and even the most successful empire in the history of humankind eventually just gave up because it wasn’t worth bothering with. The shattered delusions of one’s own imperial ambitions are nearly as oppressive as living under the heel of someone else’s empire.

Too often I see people think of their ideal “end scenarios” without bothering to think about how to get there. Or, just as bad, without bothering to think realistically on how to get there or whether or not it’s even a good thing to get there in the first place! All this sympathizing of “revolutions” and “fixing everything” and “making the world a better place” never ends well, and any sufficiently weathered person should be able to understand why. People who don’t understand are probably just too young, too self-absorbed and self-righteous, and too caught up in their own anger at the world to figure out that the world don’t work that way and don’t care, yo. Or, even worse, are just pretending not to understand so they can take advantage of the actual idealogue idiots.

Personally, I’d rather just make do with what we have. Beats living in the dark ages anyway. People who want to fix the world the “quick and bloody way” lack both the perspective and patience to enact any real change for the better. If you were to tell a medieval serf about the world we live in, he’d think you lived in Second Jerusalem! And getting the world just to the point where it is now–relatively civilized and slightly less bloody than usual–was not at all quick and took a lot more sweat, blood, toil, and thinking than the average angry young man on the internet is actually willing to give.

Don’t take things for granted, always assume things could be worse. Because it’s true. Instead of indulging in imperial power fantasies, why not enjoy the words of a man known for wit, wisdom, and warmth? A bit of cynical comedy from a funny man.

“Don’t put your trust in revolutions. They always come around again. That’s why they’re called revolutions.”
–Terry Pratchett, Night Watch

I live in Europe and I can see that my land is suffering and future is really unstable but overall whole world is unstable. One would believe that one empire upon all mankind would be best solution,but nothing like that will ever happen.Every day I hear from random people about same problems but nobody will raise their voice to say it in public,there is nobody who would stand for those people and if was noone would support him that is the real irony. Believing in pacifism or not the world is overpopulated ,I won’t go to details and there are more problems which need more discussion, world war would fix many things as it was in the past. It is said that we should learn from the past from, those mistakes but maybe that is the solution. Everyone have choice to choose. It’s only my belief, for someone maybe too radical.The whole problem is more complex and maybe I’m just seeing it trough shattered glass but some facts cannot be denied. No offence.

Gunbuster episode 6: the ending:

First time a story drew a tear from me. (Although with anime, it seems to have become a semi-regular occurrence.) But the years have not lessened the way so many conflicting thoughts and feelings are wrapped up into this apparently simple scene.

Utena episode 37: the mutual poisoning scene:

The first thing I ever encountered which I suddenly realised I understood, despite not actually being able to explain it.

Lain episode 12: heartbeats:

This show may spend most of its time looking cold, harsh and uncaring, but it’s actually the most human and affirming thing ever. So there.

KareKano, somewhere in the middle: Uno scene:

That’s what a family which truly works looks like. Right there.

Princess Tutu episode 12: Ahiru clumsily tries to explain herself to Fakir as they head towards the end of season encounter:

I could quite happily just say ‘Princess Tutu’. But that’s stretching the definition of a moment slightly, so… Actually, it’s a bit like Utena, I can’t quite explain what’s so great about this scene. I just know that when I think of the wonderful experience that was Princess Tutu, this is what immediately comes to mind, as representing all of it.

Narutaru episode 12: Aki’s death:

As someone who was bullied at school myself, (though certainly not that seriously), I can rather connect with the idea of wanting revenge. So the (brilliantly acted) apologising in this scene hits quite a complex nerve…

AIR episode 11: Mama!:

I just think this is the most exquisitely crafted moment I’ve ever seen. Just the way the waves hide the sound of the struggle beforehand, and then that one word cuts through it all, and affirms gloriously what is just now sinking in. And then the music.

Haruhi episode 12: God Knows:

Before this, I found the notion of there being any appeal to live music utterly incomprehensible. Now I wanna see some.

Simoun latter parts: One of the Sibyllae gets pushed aside by a military guy:

I can’t remember the episode. I’m not even quite sure who it happened to, it seems like such an insignificant thing on the surface. But this stands out in my mind long after the event, as just a fundamental violation. Which continues my trend of appreciating being made to feel things which are usually foreign to me.

Code Geass episode 50: the big ending death scene (tries to be slightly obscure, even though there are spoiler warnings around and everyone knows anyway):

Well, the massacre certainly has impact, but for me it’s a bit too reliant on having a capricious universe mess with Lelouch as if it’s aware of his destiny to feel fully real. But the ending is just astonishing. To conclude so many threads so well, in keeping with the story themes, and with such impact, “the saving of the world from all that was wrong with it is one person’s tragedy”. Fantastic.