Ten years of anime. Somewhat fitting to pick the ten shows that personally rank as the best. This is a case of comparing apples to oranges, but some releases transcend their genre and, most of all, this is opinion rather than edict. One cannot of course have seen all that is released within the decade, some will slip through the cracks or just be ignored due to indifference, cynicism or underappreciation.
In the lead up to the new decade a ten article series, in descending numerical order and ranked wholly arbitrarily, will be posted at 20:00 GMT (15:00 EST, 12:00 PST) every day, culminating in the pick of the decade on the 31st December 2009.
Below is a short list harvested from the brilliant AniDB which, if you tweak the search settings correctly, you can peruse as well. To make the list the series, movie or OVA must have been released or started on or after January 1st 2000 and must have completed by 31st December 2009. This is why series such as Bleach and Book of Bantorra are not present.
That is my Hitman Blood Money narrated playthrough complete now; all eleven rated missions have been completed on the Pro difficulty level getting Silent Assassin ranking, I've retrieved and escaped with the suit and used in total only three bullets. I've excluded the tutorial mission, what some consider the first mission, "Death of a Showman" as it is not rated and forces you to use a lot of moves I make absolutely no use of during the game; I've also omitted the last level, "Requiem", as again, it isn't rated and to complete it requires as much luck as it does skill and there's very little of the latter.
Mission eleven: Amendment XXV. With the ICA closed up and Diana on the run, this final mission comes from Agent Smith who was last spotted on the side of the road when 47 threw him out of the getaway van for mission ten. While we are ostensibly working for the US government now, the face off with Mark Parchezzi (the third) would have happened sooner or later due to his "nearly complete clone" status. Set in the Whitehouse, our mission is to take out the Vice President, a cats paw of The Franchise, and March Parchezzi who has been sent to kill the President.
Hitman Blood Money is classified as "18" in the UK and "Mature" in the US which means that it is unsuitable for minors; fairly warned be thee.
Mission ten: A Dance with the Devil. The second mission set in Las Vegas although they don't tell you this, it could be in any part of America. The playing field is a building currently hosting a "Heaven and Hell" party split into requisite areas (penthouse and basement) with an expansive parking lot (purgatory?) in between. Two mission targets, a CIA agent (Anthony Martinez) playing both sides and Vaana Ketlyn; during the mission you'll also meet two other assassins: Maynard John who challenges you to a contrived duel, and "Eve" who takes time out of butchering a song to try and seduce 47.
Hitman Blood Money is classified as "18" in the UK and "Mature" in the US which means that it is unsuitable for minors; fairly warned be thee.
Mission nine: A House of Cards. A Las Vegas casino and a three way transaction for clone DNA, no kitschy weddings here. A long and involved mission which doesn't give nearly enough reward for your patience. A cosmopolitan set of targets this time: a scientist, a South African seller and a Middle Eastern buyer.
Hitman Blood Money is classified as "18" in the UK and "Mature" in the US which means that it is unsuitable for minors; fairly warned be thee.