Animal Yokocho translates to “Animal Alley.” The plot revolves around this 5 year old girl and cute animal friends that visit her from a secret door in her room. Ok, so I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking this is a kid’s anime. Actually, I’m not too sure myself if this anime targeted at kids, but I like it anyway. What you really get is a weird gag show (which seem be be prominent on my top 5, I’ve just now noticed) that sort of resembles a kid’s show in between the weirdness. The animals, Iyo the rabbit, Kenta the bear, and Issa the panda (making this anime a bit bear-heavy) pretty much torment Ami-chan as she tries to live a normal kindergarten life. There’s also a horse (that resembles nothing like a horse) named Yamanami-san that drops by from time to time.
The animation really isn’t that great, but I think the animators do a good job with what they have. The characters are all fairly cute. Nothing spectacular here though. The show mainly counts on its multiple comedy gags and occasional parodies to keep it going. I find it especially entertaining seeing the normally cute characters make their surprised reaction faces. I’ve included a bunch of those with the screencaps.
The OP is this sort of schizophrenic ska/rock tune. Good enough for an OP, I guess. The opening animation complements it well. The ED, “Fantasista Girl” done by The Indigo is surprisingly good. You might recognize The Indigo from their songs on series like Ai Yori Aoshi and Someday’s Dreamers.
This series is still fairly new, but I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it, so for that it has a place in the top 5 Anime of 2005.