Preservation edition · October 3, 2026 · Geekenstein Editorial
Historical source: Curtis Stone, January 20, 2014. This edition contains a newly written, condensed account of the original coverage, with historical opinions attributed to their author. It is not the original article or a new firsthand review.
A personal list from January 2014
This is Curtis Stone’s ranking of the anime he discussed as his 2013 favorites. The original article presented the selections from fifth place to first. It was a personal list, not a comprehensive poll or a claim to have seen every eligible title. References to continuing shows reflect what had aired when he wrote it.
5. Attack on Titan
Stone emphasized its enormous visibility and impact, while resisting the idea that popularity alone made it the best anime. He appreciated the strength of its production even where its pacing could disappoint him.
4. Kill la Kill
He enjoyed the energetic animation and exaggerated action after initially doubting whether he would like the series. His assessment covered the first portion of an ongoing show, with the larger story still developing.
3. Yozakura Quartet: Hana no Uta
He praised the fluid action animation and sound work, but criticized the abrupt dependence on Hoshi no Umi’s OVA material around episode nine. His viewing advice was to understand that preceding material rather than treat the recap as sufficient.
2. The Flowers of Evil (Aku no Hana)
Stone valued its psychological unease, music and rotoscoped animation. He warned that the deliberate pace and unusual look would not appeal to everyone, while arguing that restrained scenes could have considerable force.
1. The Garden of Words
Shinkai’s detailed imagery and compact character story placed this film at the top. Stone’s enthusiasm was explicitly personal. The selection belongs to the original list; it is not a new ranking by the current Geekenstein team.
Use the ranking with its original boundaries
The article appeared on January 20, 2014. Predictions about later episodes or future US releases are not current availability information. All five selections and their order are preserved here in a newly written synopsis, without republishing the original article or its images.
The film review in its own context
Read Stone’s separate Garden of Words review for the observations about rain animation, music and voice performances behind his first-place choice.
Preservation source and omissions
The historical article container was recovered from a Common Crawl capture dated 2017-07-26. The full original prose, author biography, advertisements and third-party media are not republished. Archive availability alone does not grant reuse rights. The original publication date is shown only where verified.
Common Crawl source file (compressed archive record; capture timestamp 20170726123241).