Overall Best Site (Jan 2001)
Website: Lunaarts Anime
Ranked Score: 69 points
Lost points for: Dependibility. However, LunaArts gives updates on server down-time.
Gained points for: Service, Content. Still the best site, all anime is offered via direct download too. LunaArts continually introduces new anime series. Her site was one of the first to offer the Kodomo no Omocha episodes.
Ochiba Review: This is a site not to be missed. It sets the example for all anime sites online.
Second Place
Website: Kodocha: Marmalade Boy on Crack
Ranked Score: 65 points
Lost points for: Dependibility, Ethics. While this site is primarily dedicated to Kodomo no Omocha, the anime selections are steadily increasing each day.
Gained points for: Service, Design. This site has brought to light a great but lesser known series called Kaiken Phrase. Also, Sanaaki (webmaster) spends a lot of time helping other sites grow and spread anime. Big kudos for that! Now with her current Kodocha fansubbing project, she is helping out the anime community even more. Her new design is amazing, but you can tell she is still in the process of updating it.
Ochiba Review: With an active forum, constant updates and a beautifully designed site, this site has been and will be one of the best for quite a while.
Third Place
Website: Fumei Anime
Ranked Score: 63 points
Lost points for: Dependibility, Non-Profit, Design. Their online content hasn't changed much, and neither has their design. However one of the hosts, Dunno001 has a server to which he continuously adds new anime.
Gained points for: Service, Content. Fumei Anime is still one of the better sites for anime downloads. While they have a busy FTP, it's still easier to log into their servers. This site probably has the most unlicensed anime available online. If you're looking for anime, this site will usually be your first and last stop for finding it.
Ochiba Review: Fumei has an active forum, and is a great resource for video encoding and website building information. The site contributors are often very helpful to anime downloading newbies.
Fourth Place
Website: Elite Fansubs
Ranked Score: 63 points
Lost points for: Content. This site now offers a lot more than Vandread, but still not enough to compare to most of the anime sites available.
Gained points for: Service. This site is revolutionizing the way fansubs are distributed. No more SASE, no more PayPal, no more material costs and shipping fees. Finally, an anime distrobution group that's doing it the way the way of the age old motto: By fans for free.
Ochiba Review: This site is fairly new, but already it is one of the best. Hats off to everyone involved with the Elite Fansubs project. I can't wait to see how far they go.
Fifth Place
Website: Anime Episodes (AE)
Ranked Score: 61 points
Lost points for: Dependibility, Ethics. At this time most downloads are handled through Free DiskSpace (FDS) or Streamload. Fortunately, if you can't download, you can still enjoy the site, because Jo-chan's site has a lot of other interesting things to offer besides downloads.
Gained points for: Service, Design. Jo-chan's efforts in distributing anime are very admirable. She also created a WinAmp Skins tutorial, thus allowing folks to enjoy anime images while they listen to Jpop hits. Also the artwork on this site is both original and phenomenal.
Ochiba Review: I think many folks will find this site to their liking. Jo-chan's talents as a webmaster and artist are amazing.
Sixth Place
Website: AFI: Formerly Full Episodes Anime Video Links (FEAVL)
Ranked Score: 59 points
Lost points for: Dependibility, Content. At this time this site only offers Love Hina and To Heart. The episodes are available on FTP.
Gained points for: Service, Design. If you're looking for unlicensed anime, AFI is almost as good as the AESearch Forum/Search Engine. They haven't updated their links lately, so now is the perfect time to submit your site to them. Also their new site design is exceptional.
Ochiba Review: The site's ethics are admirable, they never condemn anyone in the community, and yet their site is a clear message that distributing licensed anime are both uncool and illegal.
Seventh Place
Website: Utena Episode Video Download
Ranked Score: 51 points
Lost points for: Dependibility, Content, Ethics. This is a site dedicated to Shoujo Kakumei Utena. And amazingly it's one of the few sites where FDS actually allows you to download. This site has a few faulty links, but all of the download links work.
Gained points for: Service. This site was the original source for Utena downloads. It provides full length episodes, mp3s, and anime music videos.
Ochiba Review: Shoujo Kakumei Utena is my all time favorite anime series (even above HYD ::gasp::), so it's kinda hard for me not to be forever indebted to this site. Note: this site is also the site that introduced me to the world of fansubs ^_^. So everytime you download from my site, remember that!
Honorable Mention
Website: Noated.com -bka- AESearch
Ranked Score: n/a
Ochiba Review: While this site does not distribute anime directly, it sends you to every site that does. It is the search engine of all anime download sites. Lycos, who?