Best Drama Anime of 2000

Boogiepop is a rumored shinigami said to hide where no one can see them. Five years ago, a series of brutal murders terrified the public, and students blamed some of those deaths on this so-called death god. Now, as strange events once again disrupt the lives of students at Hijiridani High School and Shinyo Academy, rumors of the mysterious Boogiepop are revived. The tales being shared might hold fragments of truth, or perhaps the world humans think they know is far more perilous than they ever imagined.

This year, Sakura Kinomoto’s elementary school class is putting on a play for the Nadeshiko Festival. She is cast as a princess struggling to respond to a love confession from a prince of a neighboring country. Sakura relates deeply to her role, as she herself has yet to give an answer to the boy who confessed his love to her four months ago. When cousins Shaoran and Meiling Li make a surprise visit from Hong Kong to see their friends in Japan, Sakura gains more encouragement to finally confess her feelings. Yet she keeps getting sidetracked by a presence that feels like a Clow Card, along with strange disappearances occurring around town. Eventually, Sakura discovers another of Clow Reed’s creations—the “Nothing”—which was once sealed beneath the magician’s old house. It holds power equal to all 52 cards Sakura possesses, and it seeks to take those cards from her! With each card stolen, objects, space, and people vanish from Tomoeda. Sakura sets out to capture the Nothing so everything can return to normal, but what will she have to give up along the way?

Ceres was a tennyo who descended from the heavens to bathe in a stream, leaving her hagoromo on a nearby tree as the key to her return. When the robe was stolen, the thief forced her into marriage, resulting in a lineage of descendants mixed with human and tennyo blood. In the present day, Aya Mikage is a descendant carrying significant tennyo blood. On her sixteenth birthday, during a celebration with her twin brother Aki, her grandfather attempts to kill her because her latent tennyo powers threaten to transform her into Ceres, a figure capable of destroying the Mikage family. Since Aya can reverse this transformation, the change occurs repeatedly. With her protector Yuuhi by her side, Aya must keep Ceres at bay, though her complicated relationship with an ex-worker of her villainous grandfather serves as a potential distraction.

Long ago, humans and demons coexisted peacefully until the demons turned hostile and conspired to free Gyumao, a malevolent entity imprisoned for millennia. Genjo Sanzo, a renegade priest, joins forces with three demon companions—Sha Gojyo, Son Goku, and Cho Hakkai—to undertake a dangerous expedition westward. Their mission is to prevent the resurrection of Gyumao and reestablish equilibrium between the human and demon realms.

The 21st century was meant to herald humanity's golden era of space exploration. But those dreams are cast aside when Earth is suddenly assaulted by alien beings. These colossal invaders crush everything in their path, leaving only ruin and death behind. Having lost loved ones to the attack, Takuto Kaneshiro takes up arms against the extraterrestrial threat. Driven by a desire for revenge, the embittered young man must search for potential allies, though the boundary between ally and enemy is dangerously blurred. As old powers collapse and new chances emerge, many are eager to exploit the turmoil. Takuto soon discovers that the aliens might be the least puzzling aspect of the deeper truth behind the catastrophic invasion.

In the realm of Mushrambo, humanity has nearly vanished. After a lethal virus drove mankind to the brink of extinction, a new species known as the Enterrans was crafted to sustain life on Earth. But peace between the Enterrans and their human creators did not endure. A conflict erupted, pitting the Enterrans against humans and their mechanical allies. The Enterrans emerged victorious, renaming Earth as Enterra in celebration of their triumph. Before humanity's final collapse, one of the last scientists sealed his daughter, Yakumo Shindou, inside a cryogenic chamber. His hope was that she would eventually awaken and discover the human refuge called Shinzo, thereby reviving humanity and bringing harmony back between humans and Enterrans. Centuries after the war, Yakumo stirs from her slumber and meets an Enterran named Mashura, who vows to aid her journey. Joined by fellow Enterrans Sago and Kutal, the group must track down Yakumo's missing memories and locate Shinzo. Yet not all Enterrans are friendly; some will stop at nothing to ensure humanity never returns.

Marin is a cheerful junior high school girl living with a caring adoptive family. Her ordinary life is shattered when a strange mirage appears in the sky above the entire planet. Deadly androids known as Monomakia descend from this sky formation, called Brigadoon, and begin to pursue Marin. While fleeing, she discovers a blue bottle in a shrine, and from it emerges a protector: an alien named Melan Blue, who wields a sword and a gun. Together, they must save Earth while facing family troubles, prejudice at school, and the police, all while uncovering the truth about Marin's past and Melan Blue's mysterious mission—and learning to trust each other. Set in 1969 Japan, the story features a colorful cast of friends and enemies.

Following Gutsy Galaxy Guard's triumph over the Zonder Empire and the 31 Primevals, a fresh menace emerges on Earth. GGG—led by Guy Shishio and the newly-built GaoFighGar—joins forces with their French counterpart, Chasseur, to fight the evil organization BioNet. Among Chasseur's soldiers is Renais Cardiff Shishioh, a former BioNet cyborg driven by a relentless need to destroy those who stole her humanity. But as GGG and Chasseur clash with BioNet, GGG's bases across the globe come under sudden attack, and the recently-found "Q-Parts" plus the original Gao Machines are taken by Mamoru Amami, who has been kidnapped and cloned by an even greater threat called the "Eleven Kings of Sol." Forced off Earth by the United Nations, GGG must travel to the farthest reaches of the galaxy to fight the Eleven Kings of Sol and rescue Mamoru before time runs out.

The brilliant robotics scientist Dr. Komyoji constructs Kikaider, a humanoid robot designed to safeguard his son and daughter. Equipped with a conscience circuit, Kikaider gains the ability to simulate genuine emotions, enabling it to tell right from wrong. Can Kikaider successfully protect Dr. Komyoji's children while confronting the malicious Dr. Gill and his army of androids? The struggle to prevent global conquest rests squarely on Kikaider's shoulders.

Harry is far from a typical American teen; he perfectly embodies the "alienated youth" archetype—no friends at school, exceptionally odd, and so anxious he borders on paranoia. A random event leads Harry to begin displaying what seem to be psychic abilities, but he neither accepts their existence nor has any conscious control over them. Meanwhile, sinister forces are active that do believe in Harry and try to exploit him in frightening and dangerous ways.

Yuko and Eri are two ordinary girls who are transported to an alternate world populated by miniature people. The inhabitants of this mysterious land view them as their "Great Protectors," destined to safeguard their realm in a time of crisis. The two girls embark on a journey alongside a band of village warriors to discover how they arrived in this world and how they might return home. However, a conflict is brewing, and these Great Protectors have become a political prize coveted by every faction seeking to rally the people to their side.

A narrative set in the mid-1800s follows a young doctor educated in Western medicine and a young samurai striving to uphold the old ways of his class and culture. The story is based on real individuals—the doctor, Ryoan, was Tezuka's great-grandfather. In the Second Year of Ansei (1855) in Edo's Koishigawa district, two young men cross paths: Manjiro Ibutani and Ryoan Tezuka. Ibutani is a low-ranking samurai with exceptional swordsmanship and a blunt, powerful sense of justice. Tezuka, by contrast, has a more carefree demeanor—he has an eye for women but is deeply passionate about becoming a physician. These two opposite characters come of age against the backdrop of the turbulent final years of the Tokugawa Period (1600–1868 CE).

The narrative centers on Shimizu no Jirochou, an early yakuza known for gambling and maritime trade. The anime comprises ten stories, each spanning three episodes. This specific tale draws from the rendition of Hirosawa Torazo II, a performer of roukyoku/naniwabushi.