[spoiler=Disclaimer]
Please forgive me for possibly starting an anime war.
I wish for peace among all Otaku's in the forum
What is your number one of the Big 5 and why?
Personally I am a huge fan of Naruto but I also love Bleach and Hitman Reborn! and they are both close seconds , Fairy tail is not one of my favorite anime but it's still good by me. Due to years as a Hardcore Naruto Fan I used to have a passionate hatred for One Piece but in my recent years I have come to terms with my hate for One Piece and will soon start watching it , I have heard good things about some of the back stories but a whole lot of warnings about useless fillers , so here's hoping.
Naruto was one of the first anime I watched properly and I grew up with the story (after some catching up) this lead me to develop emotionally with the story , strengthening my love for the show and that's why even now with all the flashbacks I can still say Naruto is my No.1 .
Naruto has strong back stories for almost all of its characters , while the main story may not always seem to have a major point to it the many relations between characters help to push you through those few tough points in the story.Naruto also has some great fights which have great amounts of thought put into them due to the many types of attacks and traps that each character has at their disposal , there are also some incredibly deep and serious points in the story which are often not given enough praise by even the fans themselves.
With Kateikyoushi Hitman Reborn I found that if you can make it past the first 25 episodes you will find an amazing story full of surprises and some great battles .While the anime can look a little childish and has a lot of childish features it is definitely not a childish anime and deserves to be watched with the same level of respect as the rest of the big 5 .
Bleach has some of the best fights in all of the big 5 and while the story is shaky it has some extremely good plot points. This anime has some incredible fights and can be seriously thought provoking of you look past the fighting and into the reasoning that the characters have for their actions and why these characters are the way that they are.
Fairy Tale is another of the big 5 , this anime has some very strong back stories to its characters and also has some great fights. this anime has many different and individual characters , giving the anime a vibrant and often comedic look but this should not detract from how serious some of the feelings that the characters have and how well this anime shows these feelings to the viewer.
One Piece [i have not watch One Piece as yet and I plan to start watching it soon so I will be using my knowledge gained from the many fans that I call friends] One Piece may look a little comic and childish but it has a wealth of deep and meaningful back stories for their characters and some great fights with unusual weapons or fight styles being used showing the creativity and hard work put into the anime.