We’re finally here, the last part of my reflection on the best anime of 2008 – the top 5 anime. If you’ve looked at the other parts then this list probably won’t be much of a shock so let’s not waste anymore time and get to the list.

5 Ga-rei: Zero

The show I called the second most surprising show of the fall season starts this half of the countdown.

I like to see animators willing to take chances with a series because that means creativity isn’t dead. The creators of Ga-rei: Zero could have just done a straight adaptation of the Ga-Rei source material; instead, they decided to create a prequel that would fill in the scant information given in the manga and explain how things got the way they did. Since this would involve a lot of character development and not action, they had to make sure to hook action-philes that might grow bored of the character development and they came up with a doozie. It was probably the best first episode hook since Haruhi and left me completely mystified and wanting to know more.

Overall the show kinda felt like watching the Star Wars prequels because you knew what was going to happen but Ga-Rei: Zero differed in that this show was actually good. I loved the character development, the animation was very well done, top-notch seiyuu work, action scenes where well done and cool weapons. All that and the animators gutsy-ness propelled this show to #5.

4 Bamboo Blade

I absolutely loved Kamina’s voice - Katsuyuki Konishi - and after Gurren Lagann, I wanted to hear more so when I saw that Bamboo Blade was going to feature him as the kendo teacher, I had to watch. After enjoying a few episodes of listening to Kamina’s voice I realized that I actually liked the show itself. It wasn’t a kendo sports show but a show about a group of characters that happened to all belong to the school’s kendo club.

In a lot of ways it’s similar to Wagaya no Oinari-sama. It let the characters drive where the story went, it blended a bit of comedy and drama into itself, and it never tried to be overly complex or forget to be entertaining. Where this show had an edge over Wagaya no Oinari-sama was the kendo actions scenes were suspenseful and generally very well done. I was really sad to see this show end and I hope when there’s enough source material to do a second season that a second season is made.

3 Toradora

I just adore Toradora.

Last year I mentioned that I could believe if someone told me that Gainax sold their souls to the devil in return for Gurren Lagann because it didn’t seem possible that Gainax could do something that great anymore. This year, I could almost believe that J.C. Staff sold their souls over Toradora because they haven’t shown this level of ability for quite a long time and their other show right now, Index, is no match for Toradora either. Is this really the same group of people that mutilated the first half of Shana 2?

I could spend 2000 words praising the different parts of this show that deserve praise like how the characters feel like real people and not clichéd character types or how they never act intentionally dumb to force the story to go in a certain direction or how well the individual episodes flow together or … you get the idea. This is one of the few shows that I think that any anime fan could watch and like a lot, even those fans that hate school-based anime shows. As an aside, I was just reading that the author plans to end the light novels series at 10 volumes so with like 6 episodes left and 7 volumes already covered, we might get a real ending to this anime series.

2 Natsume Yuujinchou

Natsume Yuujinchou, aka Natsume’s Book of Friends, was the best slice-of-life show of 2008 and definitely one of the best of all-time. Watching it felt akin to watching a world class orchestra perform – every note was struck perfectly and nothing felt out-of-place. Even when the show ran, late summer into early fall, helped contribute to giving the show a bit of a melancholic, reflective mood which I associate with good slice-of-life shows.

One aspect I thought real different about this show is that the spirits that appear are mostly very lonely creatures. If they want to harm humans, it’s often because of cruel things that humans have done in the past or because they’ve been lonely so long, they get all twisted up inside. This loneliness reminds Natsume of his own loneliness that being able to see spirits has caused in his life and this pushes Natsume to help these lonely spirits with their problems.

If the second season wasn’t already airing, I’d take this opportunity to complain about how it was only 13 episodes long but it’s running, so I’m happy right now.

1 Kaiba

No other show was discussed more on The Null Set this year then Kaiba and with good reason because it was the best show of the year. The story was definitely intellectual but at the same time it focused that on the individual characters and was able to remain compelling and entertaining. I was surprised on a couple of occasions that this show was able to get me to shed a few tears. The animation was artistic and unique but it never forgot that it needed to tell the story and impress the viewer. I remember there were several sequences that literally made my jaw drop.

I don’t know what else I can say that I already haven’t repeated several times by this point about Kaiba so I’ll just end now saying this show was awesome and one I’d really like to buy on DVD but probably will never see licensed.

Well, that’s it. I hope everyone that took the time to read this look back at the 2008 year of anime found it worthwhile. I tried my hardest to make it so. This year, I’m kinda sad that two of my favorite bloggers, Jason from Derailed by Darry and Jeff Lawson from Hop Step Jump, are taking a break from anime blogging and thus haven’t written their look back at the year. I wouldn’t want to see them forcing themselves to write when they didn’t feel like it but I do miss their writing.

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Last year I had a single award given to the most memorable moment of 2007. It went to episode 10 of Manabi Straight when it’s revealed that the school festival will be held. This year, I wanted to go a little further in depth to spotlight my favorite episodes and memorable moments. Since I don’t want to spoil a bunch of shows for those readers that haven’t seen them yet, I’m going to just list these without explaining why. First though, there’s a couple final awards that felt like they belonged in this part.

Best Final Episode

Winner: Natsume Yuujinchou

How do you end a slice-of-life show and still give the show a bit of closure that non-structured shows normally don’t have? You do what Natsume Yuujinchou did and bring back several of the characters from the series and reflect upon how Natsume has changed over the course of the series. It simply was perfect.

Best Ending

Winner: Bamboo Blade

The ending of Bamboo Blade was able to walk the fine line that shows based on source material that continues past the end of the anime series has. It was able to give an actual ending that tied up the plot threads introduced in the first season. As well as slipping in a few tantalizing hints at possible plot points if there is a second season without these new characters and stories interfering with the feeling of a satisfying ending.

Best Show No One Saw

Winner: Kaiba

Runner-up: Wagaya no Oinari-sama

If this award was based solely on the number of people that talked about the show then Wagaya no Oinari-sama would have won because I saw far fewer people mentioning this show. Wagaya was a good show and if the animation had looked a little better or if it had come from a more popular studio then it would been a huge hit. Kaiba did get talked about more often but I could tell that outside of the more adventurous viewers and the SF viewers, almost no one watched it. In the end, I gave Kaiba the award because they were both relatively unwatched but Kaiba was a better show.

Memorable Moments

• Ending of episode 1 of Ga-rei: Zero
• Tennis match from episode 18 of Clannad
• The play from episode 22 of Clannad
• Tomoya’s marriage proposal from episode 12 of Clannad season 2
• Iku Kasahara’s media interview from episode 12 of Library War
• Air reference from episode 11 of Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei
• The race from episode 13 of Toradora
• The Soul Ascension ceremony from episode 5 of Wagaya no Oinari-sama
• Sora’s first official job as a mage from episode 12 of Someday’s Dreamers Season 2

Favorite Episodes

• Episode 26 of Bamboo Blade
• Episode 3 of Kaiba
• Episode 7 of Kaiba
• Episode 52 of Hayate the Combat Butler
• Episode 2 of Natsume Yuujinchou
• Episode 7 of Natsume Yuujinchou
• Episode 9 of Ga-Rei: Zero
• Episode 2 of Toradora
• Episode 4 of Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei

Next part of my 2008 anime year in review is the first half of my top 10 anime of 2008 and should be posted within the day.

Posted in anime, awards      

I start with the character awards partly because I feel once a show establishes a great cast of characters then it’s 70% of the way to ensuring that I’ll like it. And it doesn’t matter what type of show, any show can be improved with good character development.

Best Female Main Character

Winner: Ryoko from Ryoko’s Case Files

Runner-up: Iku Kasahara from Library War

An accurate description of Ryoko would be a cross between an adult Haruhi Suzumiya and the police skill of the Major from GiTS:SAC. A very potent combination and it helped make the show a must watch. My favorite Ryoko-ism was towards the end of the series when she took refuge in an empty underground mall, trying to hide from numerous soldiers trying to kill her. She realizes that her clothes are torn and dirty so she picks a killer outfit out, leaves her charge card, then calmly showers and dresses as if she’s going to a party and not to a firefight. We really need to see more shows like Ryoko’s Case Files that focus on characters that are adults because it’s so refreshing for the change of pace.

Best Male Main Character

Winner: Ryuuji from Toradora

Runner-up: Kogarashi from Maid Guy

Everyone has their little problems that they have to live with. For Ryuuji, it’s the fact that he looks like his Yakuza father – mean and dangerous. This is a problem because Ryuuji is a nice guy and just wishes for people to treat him normally. He happens to be a bit odd though because a sale at the grocery store or having the chance to clean away mold makes his day. What makes him the best male main character is that he’s truly a really nice guy. He’s also fiercely loyal to his friends, willing to go to whatever means necessary to help them with whatever their problems are and he’s also insightful and thoughtful.

Best Female Supporting Character

Winner: Minorin from Toradora

Runner-up: Ami from Toradora

I didn’t think Ami would become a character I like when she was introduced but she’s been slowly rising in the ranks. She’s a completely different person then either Taiga or Minorin but she’s shown her own positive qualities. It wasn’t enough to dislodge Minorin from the top spot because Minorin has been awesome since the beginning. Her energetic outbursts and attitude always steel the show when she’s onscreen. However, this spastic personality hides a more serious personality that she doesn’t allow people to see though she seems to be lowering her guard to Ryuuji. So for her screen-stealing personality, sunny disposition, and being a good friend to Taiga, Minorin gets my nod for best female supporting character.

Best Male Supporting Character

Winner: Dan-kun from Bamboo Blade

Runner-up: Sunohara from Clannad

One of the surprising things about Bamboo Blade was Dan-kun, Miya Miya’s boyfriend and friend to Yuuji. He was short, looked very egg shaped, and seemed to be there for comedic purposes. Over the course of the series though, we see him mature as he works hard at learning Kendo. He also is a good boyfriend by providing support to Miya Miya so she can face her inner demons and her external tormentors. He earned a lot of respect from the characters and by the final episode, he is elected the head of the kendo club which was something that would have been unfathomable at the start.

Best Non-human Character

Winner: Nyanko-sensei from Natsume Yuujinchou

Runner-up: Kuu from Wagaya no Oinari-sama

Nyanko-sensei is a spirit that had been sealed into a Luck Cat statue until Natsume accidentally lets him loose. He makes an agreement with Natsume to be his body guard under the condition that when Natsume dies, Nyanko-sensei takes ownership of the Book of Friends. At the time I thought that Nyanko-sensei would just kill Natsume at the first opportunity but Nyanko-sensei never seemed to even think of doing so. As the show unfolded, I realized that Nyanko-sensei actually likes Natsume as a friend. His gruff, catlike personality with his liking of alcohol is a great counterpoint to the often sad events of the show. And because he’s strong in his original form and also because he’s well-known amoung the spirits – oftentimes he is the one that saves Natsume from being killed.

Strongest Female Character

Winner: Sora from Someday’s Dreamers Season 2

Runner-up: Nagisa from Clannad

I’m defining strong in a more general sense then just being physically strong and both Sora and Nagisa strike me as being strong women. Neither are particularly physically strong but they both have problems that would make most normal people despair, yet they can smile and live as if nothing is wrong. Sora edged Nagisa out because we still have half a season of Clannad left and much of her story still left to see.

Strongest Male Character

Winner: Kogarashi from Maid Guy

Runner-up: Natsume from Natsume Yuujinchou

I had to give this award to Kogarashi. I can’t say he’s emotionally strong like Natsume because I’m not sure that Kogarashi has emotions. He’s more like a force of nature that’s not totally explainable to us mere humans. He can control crows, has x-ray vision, can plug a USB printer cord into his ear and print images from his mind, he’s taught at M.I.T., can wrestle with a panda bear, and the list goes on. In the show he works as a maid and strives for perfect service, even if his master disagrees.

Best Female Screen-grabber

Winner: Sakura from Wagaya no Oinari-sama

Sakura wasn’t in the show much, maybe once every couple episodes, but when she was, she made her persence known. With an imagination almost as outlandish as Hosaka’s, the ability to come to absurd conclusions, and a talent for over-analyzing a situation – she always made the viewer laugh and at the same time hope she would successful in getting Takagami’s attention.

Best Male Screen-grabber

Winner: Hosaka from Minami-ke: Okawari

Hosaka is another person that isn’t in the show too often but his mere presence is enough to get a laugh. The over dramatic posturing and habit of unbuttoning his shirt helps though. He is consumed with getting Haruka Minami’s attention but a combination of personal shortcomings and bad luck have so far stymied him. His overactive imagination is always a source of laughter – just look at my the recently posted clip from episode 2 of the third season. And the sad thing is that he’s genuinely sincere, has his good points, and would probably make a good boyfriend for Haruka.

Best Villian

Winner: Kazuhiro Mitogawa from Ga-Rei: Zero

I love a villian that’s intelligent and evil and he’s both. As we get through Ga-Rei: Zero, we see that he has this complex plan to eliminate the good guys largely through their own failing and he’s been very sucessful. He’s gotten rid of one of the most powerfullfamilies, reduced another to a single member, and killed or injured to the point of retireing several other very high level people.

Posted in anime, awards