Favourite anime arc

[Kitsune Hunter]

Pretty much what it says on the tin, just state what your favourite arc in anime/manga. It doesn't have to be from long running shows, it can be certain stories or the whole stories itself from short anime as well and just give an explanation why you like the arc in the first place. Also you can have more than two if you want.

My favourite arc would be the Chimera Ant arc from Hunter x Hunter. I had a bit of trouble deciding what my favourite anime arc was before, but once the CA arc came about, my decision became a lot easier. What I like about it is that it's very dark, you will see people getting killed in very brutal ways, massive amounts of character development for all characters, especially for Gon, Killua and the Ant King, who by the way is one of the best villains I've seen in anime. The arc also tackles mature themes like identity and human nature very well, especially in regards to human nature as it starts off showing how cruel and vicious the Ants can be, but near the end, it shows that humans can be just as violent, if not more so than the Ants and it handles it so well. Great OST, one of my favourites to date, especially the track, Kingdom of Predators which really sets the mood for the arc

Spoiler

Finally it's ending is a masterpiece, just beautiful and sad

So I talked long enough, what's your favourite arc?

 

[R4ptur3]

I'm a bit bias because bleach was what got me into anime and so it will always be one my favourite anime's, but the soul society arc where ichigo first goes to the soul society and meets the gotei 13. So much good stuff happened and it was awesome, plus it had a few good twists and one which I really did not see coming.

 

[Sean Hollyman]

Anti Spiral Arc from Gurren Lagann. Soooo much crazy shit happpens in space, it's beautiful.

 

[ShinyCharizard]

I'm going to go with the Chimera Ant arc in Hunter x Hunter as well, for all the reasons you stated. Another favourite of mine was the Yorknew Auction arc, the Phantom Troupe are such a great cast of villains.

 

[The Wykydtron]

I suppose the arc in Log Horizon towards a third of the way in where the main character Shiroe has this kickass plan to bring order to the main town but it sounds super evil out of context. He broods over whether he should actually go for it since it basically involves controlling the entire town in one move, with all the old moral stuff like "who am I to rule people?" then his friends just tell him to stop brooding and just fucking do whatever the plan is.

It's incredibly obvious once you think about it but it's not something you'd expect anyone to actually go and DO.

Spoiler

Buying out the entire Guild building that is. So every Guild in Akihabara can be kicked out by him at will, lucky he's such a nice guy right?

 

[Shoggoth2588]

The Detroit Metal City anime only had 12 episodes and they were all pretty self contained. So my favorite arc isn't so much a favorite arc as it is a favorite episode and that episode is Frustration. Up until this point, it's kind of a mystery how Soichi turned out as the front-man for DMC (a hardcore metal band) since he's really into light, romantic, folk-music and this episode demonstrates nicely how his writing process likely works. It doesn't show him starting or, being put into the band but if does show him sing a new folk-song he's written, which is instantly ridiculed by a designer he looks up to...all in a trendy clothes shop/cafe...all in front of a girl he has feelings for. So, once he's been told to "stop playing around", he goes home, gets drunk and, completely perverts the song into a new DMC track. The episode itself if on Hulu if you use or, borrow it and the song is on Youtube.

 

[DarkhoIlow]

You may call it clishee but Aizen's arc in Bleach really blew me away on how badass it was.

That's the only one I can think of since Bleach is the only anime with multiple arcs that I have watched.

 

[llew]

The ennies lobby arc in One Piece, it has some of the best fights in any anime ive seen and definitely has the most emotion of any anime ive seen (MERRYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!)

 

[William Fleming]

I can't really decide between a few personal favourite arcs including (word of warning, if you don't like long running Shounen fighting series, you most likely disagree with my picks):

Sasuke Retrieval arc and Chuunin Exams arc from Naruto for very similar reasons; numerous fights with varied characters with Sasuke retrieval arc ending with an epic battle between Naruto and Sasuke and ending Part 1 of the series. I may be a bit biased with this one due to Naruto being the gateway into anime for me (as in watching subs for some obscure stuff and watching new series airing each season as they air).

A Baoa Qu arc in the original Mobile Suit Gundam series; a good conclusion to the series but what makes it one of my favourite arcs is (continued in spoiler since it gives away awesome moments of the series conclusion)

Spoiler

Amuro and Char continuing to fight each other when both their mobile suits are destroyed and are duelling with rapiers in a weapons gallery in zero gravity with the help of jetpacks. It also has one of the most instantly recognizable scenes in the franchise as far as I'm aware

Google search link if you are unable to view the image:
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Gundam+last+shooting&es_sm=93&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=Ad57U6i4GMiS7AbNx4C4Cw&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=1920&bih=993#q=Gundam+last+shooting&tbm=isch&imgdii=tL-sKwmvQQRRPM%3A%3Bm6USrWZoZ3eJFM%3BtL-sKwmvQQRRPM%3A

Soul Society arc in Bleach; Similar reason for why I love the arcs in Naruto I listed above varied characters fighting each other in epic fights (especially Ichigo versus Byakuya). Though for whatever reason I could not get into the Fake Karakura Town arc and enjoyed the Arrancar and Hueco Mundo arcs better with Soul Society being my favourite.

Anti Spiral arc in Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann; as someone commented above, just overly epic and amazing (but a bit ridiculous at times which makes it even more amazing). Shame that the ending of Kill La Kill didn't have the same level of impact for me, don't get me wrong it was awesome and I felt the creators were trying to get the same reaction of TTGL.

 

[thesilentman]

Impel Down in One Piece man. Impel Down... Such badassery and such tears. I haven't read or watched an arc like this in a loonnngggg time. =)

 

[Objectable]

The Vampire Twins from Black Lagoon.
It was the moment the series went from "Darkly Humorous" to "Dark with some humor in it."

 

[gLoveofLove]

I have a couple I have to choose from.

Water Seven/Enies Lobby Arc(I always see them as one) from One Piece without a doubt. Both the scale and the emotion in this arc are amazing. It also marked an unexpected turning point in the series- from this point on the Strawhats were officially big wigs. Or in other words: **** just got real.

The Zabuza Arc from Naruto will always be my favourite in the series. Perhaps nostalgia. But also, this was the only time in the series where their being ninjas actually felt relevant. It felt a little bit more like a ninja battle anime rather than a battle anime with ninjas-or-whatever-who-gives-a-****. Also I really enjoyed the atmosphere of that arc.

It depends on how you want to break it up but; the first half of Death Note. It was just so thrilling and like nothing i had read up to that. L is an absolute hero.

Like others have said:
Gurren Lagann Anti-Spiral. Pure Eye-Exploding Epicness.
HunterxHunter Chimera Ant. When I reread this arc in the manga after a few years I realised just how brilliant of a mangaka he is. That final chapter of the arc is one of the most beautiful things I've read in any manga.

 

[FPLOON]

-Both the Soul Society/Aizen arcs in Bleach
-The Impel Down Arc in One Piece (what an arc to get me back into the series)
-The VForce arc in BeyBlade
-The Orange League/Master Quest/Advance arcs in Pokemon (The original first arc gets an honorable mention, though)
-The Hades arc in Fairy Tail
-All the arcs in the original [4Kids] Yu-Gi-Oh! series (with all of 5D's arcs as an honorable mention)
-The first arc in Darker Than Black as well as in Death Note, Haganai, and Gravion
-Every arc out of anything from Gainax and Trigger
-Every arc in both DragonBall and DragonBall Z
-All the Afro Samurai arcs
-The original arcs in Tenchi Muyo

These are the only ones that come to mind, in terms of arc I really liked overall... Honorable mention to Code Geass for still making me indecisive over which arc I really liked overall, I guess...

 

[LobsterFeng]

Impel Down in One Piece man. Impel Down... Such badassery and such tears. I haven't read or watched an arc like this in a loonnngggg time. =)

Man I was gonna say that. Water Seven is pretty good too, them feels man.

The ennies lobby arc in One Piece, it has some of the best fights in any anime ive seen and definitely has the most emotion of any anime ive seen (MERRYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!)

One Piece, the show that makes you cry over the death of a boat.

 

[Mahorfeus]

My favorite had to be the Lost Substitute Shinigami arc from the Bleach manga. I think I am one of the few people who legitimately feel that way about the series.

I love how the arc harkened back to the first one, with Ichigo being in a more mundane setting. We see him struggling to cope with being a powerless human, unable to protect the people he cares about. So when they are threatened, he is desperate to get his powers back. That of course, leads him right into the antagonist's trap.