The distinction between Best and Favorite.

Is something I believe I've talked about on this blog before.  What I actually consider the best of a series is not always the same as my personal favorite. That's not a denial that what I consider the best is still itself an ultimately subjective opinion, but often what I personally enjoy rewatching the most isn't what I consider the most flawless.

When it comes to long running Anime franchises with a lot of movies like Lupin III, Detective Conan aka Case Closed or Pokémon, what I consider the Best is a more consistent opinion as my personal favorite may fluctuate. 

And a third distinction I like to make with those is what movie makes the most ideal entry point to the franchise.  For each of these (almost) every movie can be a perfectly fine entry point, none of them are bogged down by continuity (the most recent Conan films kind of are, but not too much). But I'm still able to consider some better at that specifically then others. There is a bad entry for Lupin III actually, never under any circumstances let your first impression of Lupin III be Castle of Cagliostro, it is antithetical to everything Lupin stands for.

With Lupin The Third the Best and the most ideal entry point are the same, the film known as both The Secret of Mamo and The Mystery of Mamo. But my personal favorites tend to be among the TV Movies.  Missed by A Dollar is the one I've been calling my favorite lately. Blood Seal of The Eternal Mermaid is of those Lupin III stories where he's going after something we're told the original Arsene Lupin also went after the one with the best understanding of the original Arsene's character.  But The Secret of The Twilight Gemini is the best at drawing on a specific classic Arsene Lupin story (Teeth of The Tiger).  The Columbus Files is one I'm maybe biased for because it happens to be the first one I ever watched early in my Anime fandom, but it did hold up on my recent rewatch.  

For Detective Conan the ideal entry point is the first movie, The Time Bombed Skyscraper.  The best is the third The Last Wizard of The Century, and in this case the best may also be my favorite.  However three other candidates for my personal favorite do exist, movie 4 Captured In Her Eyes, movie 5 Countdown to Heaven and movie 11 Jolly Roger in The Deep Azure.

With Pokémon I am hard pressed to consider any a better entry point then the others.  The best is definitely the third movie Spell of The Unown. But I often feel most compelled to rewatch either Pokémon Heroes Latios and Latias or Mewtwo Returns.