imho every codec has it's own purpose for Anime i would use AVC or VP7 even if the Source is Mpeg-2 (DVD,HDTV or DV). For uncompressed sources like those from a Film scanner i would use AVC,VC-1 (Hollywoods choice) or VP7 and for Mpeg-2 Real footage (DVD,HDTV or DV) i'm still for ASP XviD,DivX and company finaly for HD-DVD backup (if anyone will ever be able to backup it) i would use AVC, VC-1 or VP7. But it's all a matter of personal taste