I’ve been busy and a bit distracted lately but I didn’t want February to pass without wishing everyone a Merry Christmas in February. Since Christmas in February is a holiday that my family created 16 years ago I don’t expect most of those reading to even realize I was late in the first place .

For those reading that have never heard of Christmas in February, it’s pretty much what you’d guess it would be.  The impetus to start came from the realization that there’s always Christmas cookies left over and normally a turkey (or ham or Cornish hens or some other holiday-type meat) that was bought cheaply during the holiday season still in the freezer and no real good way to finish them. So,  for fun, my family started with picking a day in February and having a Christmas-style dinner but, as things normally go, we slowly increased what we did for Christmas in February – we got a small 2 foot artificial tree and started decorating it then my parents started buying a small, inexpensive gift for us all. Which snowballed into a bigger Christmas tree and the $5 dollar gifts have now gotten to be $15 dollar gifts and now we invite extended family members to come .

One of the nice things about Christmas in February is that we get to pick when in February we want to celebrate it – this year, it was on February 19th but next year might be the second Tuesday or the last Saturday of the month. Another nice thing is that it gives the dreary month of February a holiday that’s fun. There’s also a near 100% chance of having a white Christmas in February though this year was the first time we had a green Christmas in February. Also, since it’s not the official Christmas, it has all the nice parts of the holiday without any of the stress.

And since this is an anime blog here are some Christmas themed anime pictures:

Filed under: anime, general anime interst, other news

The end is fast approaching for The Null Set’s examination of the 2011 year in anime so let’s switch gears, drop the categories, and let the various anime series go head-to-head.

I’ll readily admit that the anime series occupying the top spots on this list probably won’t be a surprise based on a simple tally of which anime won the most categories but using just that method doesn’t give a wholly accurate picture of the relative strength of the top anime series. Sure it’s causes one to compare apples to oranges, as the saying goes, or maybe more aptly, forces one to mix oil and water together but humans seem hardwired to try to do just that.

On that note, let’s head to the countdown and discover which series juuusst squeaked onto the list.

13  -  Rio – Rainbow Gate

At number 13 and better than over 46 other series that aired in 2011 is the much derided Rio- Rainbow Gate. It’s an easy show to denigrate and a cursory watch would seem to confirm the need to criticize it. However, as I found myself watching more of the series and wondering why I kept watching, I realized that if the show was merely generic then I would have tired of it very quickly and dropped it like I did four other anime series that season. Generic is bland and predictable. Rio – Rainbow Gate was never predictable; every episode surprised and delighted with some silly, absurd story. It takes genuine knowledge and skill to make a show entertaining for 14 episodes. How many anime series have come out even just recently that showed promise in the first or two episodes but quickly fell apart after those couple of episodes?

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12  -  Ben-to

Ben-to is the story of a Japan that hosts impromptu daily gladiatorial competitions in it’s supermarkets where the prize is a half-priced box lunch. Ridiculous? Absolutely, but sometimes it takes the ridiculous to break the mold and create something great. What made this anime so appealing was it’s frequent well-constructed and thrilling fight scenes but that wasn’t the only reason why Ben-to succeeded. There was also a killer soundtrack that matched the over-the-top perfection of the action. Then there was the delight Ben-to showed while fleshing out the world that it inhabited. Wolves were supposed to have respect and pride; dogs and boars should be looked at with disdain; food only tasted good when one fought for it; one has to give thanks before eating to everyone from the farmer that grew the food all the way to the people who were beaten to get the half-priced box lunch. It helped make the world seem more authentic and helped make the fights more meaningful.

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11  –   Ao no Exorcist

Ao no Exorcist is one of the reasons that doing this countdown is warranted in my eyes. It didn’t win a single category and was nominated in only two categories; yet, it earns the number eleven spot for being one of the better shounen series of recent memory. It had a very tough slate of rivals during the two seasons it ran and found itself constantly playing second fiddle to them. Initially, I wasn’t that impressed with Ao no Exorcist because the first couple of episodes seemed to suggest that the show wanted to be “dark” but it came off as wannabe dark like Deadman Wonderland. However, once those episodes established the “tragic nature” of our hero main character and we moved into the story proper the show started to get better and better. The main character was a nice guy; the type of person that one can’t help but root for and the supporting cast is a diverse, interesting bunch that interact well with each other. The plot was more interesting than I thought it would be and I liked how the animators didn’t try to just continue once they burned through most of the source material.

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10  -  Hyouge Mono

Having only seen 11 episodes of this 39 episode anime, it was difficult to give this show it’s proper due in the category section; yet, this anime about a man living in the Sengoku period who seeks security and comfort for his wife and child through success on the battlefield even when he does not have a warrior’s heart convincingly earns this spot of top anime for 2011. The thing that surprised me about this anime is that it takes the political intrigue of the era seriously while still allowing the eccentric characters to be larger-than-life and interesting. For example, I was prepared for disappointment over Hyouge Mono’s version of Oda Nobunaga aka the Demon King after his portrayal in Sengoku Basara but he’s as interesting here as he was in Sengoku Basara.

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9  -  Tiger and Bunny

I think Tiger and Bunny is the result of someone at Sunrise looking at all the super-powered movies coming out from America and deciding that it’d be cool to try making one as well. The result was loads of fun with the occasional flash of brilliance. What prevented it from going higher on the list was the infrequent lapses in the plot that would deflate the momentum that it had built up for itself. These lapses bothered me when I first watched this series but later in the year I decided to rewatch it with my one sister and the second time through it was easier to just focus on the strengths of Tiger and Bunny – it’s characters, production values, and entertaining nature. The end hinted at a possible sequel and I’m hoping it comes to pass.

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8  -  Ikoku Meiro no Croisee

This, the story of a young Japanese girl transplanted to Paris in the late 19th century was full of all the fish-out-of-water experiences one would expect (and enjoy) and had the interesting and well done backdrop that an anime with high production values set when it was would have but, ultimately, the part I most liked about Ikoku Meiro no Croisee was the characters and their relationships with each other. Which made the decision to have  what was named episode 4.5 be a DVD extra so baffling. It was an early episode that focused on character development and would have shown people that Ikoku Meiro no Croisee had a subtle bite to it (and wasn’t just an anime about cute girls doing cute things). I’ll hold out hope that, even with the low sales numbers it had, a sequel will eventually be made.

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7  -  Hanasaku Iroha

During it’s run, Hanasaku Iroha’s popularity suffered from people’s assumptions about the story turning out to be wrong. At the beginning it was assumed by many that P.A. Works was attempting to make an anime version of a Japanese dorama series but as the story unfolded it started acting more like a slice-of-life series that really wasn’t concerned with including some sort of overarching plot structure. I felt it was wasting it’s potential but continued watching because it was better than several other series I followed. It was only during the last episode that I realized how much I’d come to like Hanasaku Iroha. (Much like how it wasn’t until episode 20 of the second season of K-On! that I realized how much I’d come to like that franchise.) I needed to rewatch Hanasaku Iroha to see how well it held up on a second viewing. Maybe it was because I knew what to expect and not expect or it was the new light I saw the characters in after finishing it the first time that did it but it was a much improved series the second time through. As for a sequel, I could see the merit of one if it was set a few years in the future when the inn was being re-opened and focused on making it profitable.

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Whew, only one more section – the top 6 anime of 2011 – to go. Then maybe it’ll be time to start covering this excellent winter 2012 anime season.

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Top anime 2011 Awards Part 0: Introduction and Anti-Awards
Top anime 2011 Awards Part 1: Cast and Character Awards
Top anime 2011 Awards Part 2: Genre and General Awards
Top anime 2011 Awards Part 3: VMA Awards
Top anime 2011 Awards Part 4: The Misfit Awards
Top anime 2011 Awards: Top 13 Anime – #13 – #7 <- you are here
Top anime 2011 Awards: Top 13 Anime – #6 – #1

Filed under: anime, awards

I’m sure I’m not the only person that after building something will sometimes find a small pile of odds’n’ends that one hopes does not belong in the completed product. This part of the awards is like that pile of parts; as I was arranging awards into the various groups I started accumulating awards that didn’t really fit with the others. Instead of putting these categories in a little bag and forgetting about them until something goes wrong, I decided to add this fourth part to be able to cover them as well.

Before getting to the awards, as a reminder, I’ll try to keep spoilers to a minimum but there’ll be some because of how they’ll relate to specific awards. As for the continuing shows, only the part of the series that ran during this year is under consideration for this year’s awards.

 

Best Villain

Seasonal Winners:

Winter – Kyubey from Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Spring – Heaven from Dororon Enma-kun Meeramera

Summer – CERN from Steins;Gate

Autumn – Ades Federation from Last Exile — Ginyoku no Fam

Wildcard –  Ouroboros from Tiger and Bunny

Overall Winner: Kyubey from Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Kyubey is insidious and dangerous – the truer portrait of evil in the world; without him PM3 would not have been nearly as good. I read in an interview that Shinbou had wanted Kyubey to be animated like a normal cute magic girls mascot but the animators knew too much about Kyubey and could not draw him anyway but creepy.

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Best Dressed Characters

Seasonal Winners:

Winter – Star Driver

Spring – Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko

Summer – Nichijou

Autumn – Chihayafuru

Wildcard – Hyouge Mono

Overall Winner: Nichijou

I really should just name this the “KyoAni Production Values and Fashion Sense Award” and be done with it but I hold the hope that someday, someone will outmaneuver KyoAni. In all honesty, though, it is slowly becoming more of a competition.

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Best Fight

Seasonal Winners:

Winter – Episode 7 from Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Spring – Episode 12 of Dororon Enma-kun Meeramera

Summer – Episode 16 of Ao no Exorcist

Autumn –Episode 2 of Ben-To

Wildcard –  Episode 10 of Ben-To

Overall Winner: Episode 2 of Ben-To

Ben-to should be required watching for most animators before they try their hand at animating a fight scene. I’m looking at you J.C. Staff and Bones and AIC for starters; Shana and Star Driver and Persona could really be helped by including fights that are actually well done. I’m also going to throw Fate/Zero in as needing help; all the posing and monologuing gets old – spend a little less on the backgrounds and more on animating fights.

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Most Unexpectedly Good Show

Seasonal Winners:

Winter – Level E

Spring – Hyouge Mono

Summer – Mayo Chiki

Autumn – Ben-To

Wildcard –  Dororon Enma-kun Meeramera

Overall Winner: Ben-To

Episode 2 of Ben-to won best fight in part because it helped sale the anime to the viewer because the premise behind Ben-To did not seem like the recipe to create a great anime and we needed the convincing. While Ben-to was the clear winner, it seems like every season of anime includes at least one anime that is shockingly good, the proverbial diamond-in-the-rough, which is why one needs to have an open mind when deciding which anime to try.

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Best Show No One Saw

Seasonal Winners:

Winter – Level E

Spring – Hyouge Mono

Summer – Ikoku Meiro no Croisee

Autumn – Tamayura – Hitotose

Wildcard –  Rio – Rainbow Gate

Overall Winner: Hyouge Mono

Saying that no one watched these shows is stretching the truth since each title had it’s fans but in each case the anime failed to really catch fire on a large-scale (at least initially). Hyouge Mono won because it’s a great show and it’s been basically ignored by the subbing community. I’m thankful that there is at least one group subbing it but the slow speed probably implies a single person is doing everything himself/herself and that makes me worried because something might come up and it’ll never get finished.

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Most in Need of a Sequel

Seasonal Winners:

Winter – Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Spring – Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko

Summer – Kamisama Dolls

Autumn – Un-Go

Wildcard –  Hanasaku Iroha, Ikoku Meiro no Croisee

Overall Winner: Kamisama Dolls

There were flaws with Kamisama Dolls but the first season (see how I’m hoping) accomplished much between the introduction of an interesting setting and the promise of more surprises just waiting to be discovered. It’s also the title that most gains from a sequel. In the case of PM3, the series was perfect by itself but, much like Toy Story, if a story can be created that can equal/surpass the original then it should get made. Un-Go might be better served by redoing it’s 11 episode run into something longer where the defects of the short episode count could be addressed.

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Best Anime Extra

Nominees:

Young Animators Training Program

Ikoku Meiro no Croisée Episode 4.5

Shiki Episodes 20.5 and 21.5

Umi Kara no Shisha

Overall Winner: Young Animators Training Program

The four shorts that comprise the Young Animators Training Program are the result of a Japanese government program to help ensure the continued health of the local animation industry. How successful such an idea will ultimately be is open to debate but judging by the end result, there’s definitely much worse ways to spend other people’s money. An even more obscure nominee is Umi Kara no Shisha (trailer seen here). I happened to come across it, decided to watch it sight unseen, and was blown away by equal measures of WTF?! and awesome. At only 8.5 minutes long it’s well worth a watch or three.

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Best Anime OVA Seen in 2011

Nominees:

Yozakura Quartet OVA

Hidamari Sketch SP

Kara no Kyoukai – Epilogue

Katte ni Kaizo

Carnival Phantasm

Toradora OVA

Overall Winner: Yozakura Quartet OVA

A dim memory of watching the Yozakura Quartet anime series – released several years ago – and finding it completely boring, generic, and forgettable stopped me from bothering with the Yozakura Quartet OVA. That is until I read a review of the third episode and it was mentioned that Ryo-timo was animating and directing this OVA series. That name had recently became meaningful when I realized some of my favorite animation scenes from Noein and Birdy: The Mighty Decode had their key animation done by Ryo-timo. I decided that I had to watch it and was pleasantly surprised to find the OVA turned the boring, generic, and forgettable anime into a pretty good anime. The animation was the big draw but the story and plot were given a boost at well.

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Best Anime Movie Seen in 2011

Nominees:

Redline

Evangelion 2.22

Summer Wars (English Dub)

Sengoku Basara: The Last Party

Lupin III: Blood Seal – Eternal Mermaid

Overall Winner: Redline

There are a few anime movies that I didn’t see this year that appear to be worth a nomination from what I’ve been reading . One such movie, The World of Arriety, I’m purposely waiting on the chance to see it in theaters. As such those movies will most likely show up on next year’s nominee list but it’s not like I’m left to pick from a list of second-tier movies. The winner, Redline, is a feast for the eyes and a feast for the little kid inside that thinks driving a fast car is the most awesome thing in the world. It’s a memorable experience; the type that comes only once in a blue moon.

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That’s part 4 of my retrospective look at the 2011 year in anime. Next will see a shift from award categories to counting down the top anime of the year.

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Top anime 2011 Awards Part 0: Introduction and Anti-Awards
Top anime 2011 Awards Part 1: Cast and Character Awards
Top anime 2011 Awards Part 2: Genre and General Awards
Top anime 2011 Awards Part 3: VMA Awards
Top anime 2011 Awards Part 4: The Misfit Awards <- you are here
Top anime 2011 Awards: Top 13 Anime – #13 – #7
Top anime 2011 Awards: Top 13 Anime – #6 – #1

Filed under: anime, awards

Step 2 in making extraordinary anime is to take your cast of memorable characters and give them a stage that lets them shine.

I’m not fussy about which stage is chosen nor do I think one type is inherently superior to another. A well-done comedy is as difficult to make as a well-done drama and both deserve the same level of praise for succeeding in their respective spheres of influence. With a competent execution, a shoujo anime is as good as a shounen anime and/or a slice-of-life anime and/or a sports anime and/or a science fiction anime and/or romantic comedy anime and so on and so forth.

This bit of enlightenment was something I learned after starting my anime blogging and pushing myself to watch a wider variety of anime. Which is one of the reasons I’d suggest giving anime blogging a chance to people that want to deepen their appreciation of the art form.

Before getting to the awards, as a reminder, I’ll try to keep spoilers to a minimum but there’ll be some because of how they’ll relate to specific awards. As for the continuing shows, only the part of the series that ran during this year is under consideration for this year’s awards.

 

Best Action

Seasonal Winners:

Winter – Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Spring – Nichijou

Summer – Nichijou

Autumn – Ben-To

Wildcard –  Tiger and Bunny, Last Exile — Ginyoku no Fam

Overall Winner: Nichijou

Yes Nichijou is a comedy but no other anime of 2011 could match KyoAni’s level of talent and commitment that made Nichijou’s numerous action segments attention-grabbing, entertaining, and pleasing to the eye. It’s closest competitor was Ben-to and with a little larger budget it might have been able to make this award competitive.

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Most Entertaining

Seasonal Winners:

Winter – Rio – Rainbow Gate

Spring – Dororon Enma-kun Meeramera

Summer – Mayo Chiki

Autumn – Ben-To

Wildcard –  Hyouge Mono

Overall Winner: Ben-To

What Ben-to lacked in budget didn’t stop it from being supremely entertaining. It started with a quirky idea – people willing to trade blows over the chance to snag a half-priced meal – and just kept running with it. Ben-to’s toughest competitor was Rio – Rainbow Gate. This was another show that stuck (some might say courageously) to it’s silly premise and never stopped offering something new/bizarre/absurd.

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Most Interesting Setting

Seasonal Winners:

Winter – Rio – Rainbow Gate

Spring – Hyouge Mono

Summer – Ikoku Meiro no Croisee

Autumn – Last Exile — Ginyoku no Fam

Wildcard –  Ben-to

Overall Winner: Ikoku Meiro no Croisee

I love anime (and basically any type of TV/movie) set in a historical time period because I find the differences between then and now interesting to see. This probably makes me a bit bias towards picking Ikoku Meiro no Croisee but, even so, late 19th century Paris is not a common subject in anime and makes a great change of pace from the usual.

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Best Plot

Seasonal Winners:

Winter – Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Spring – Steins;Gate

Summer – Steins;Gate

Autumn – Mawaru Penguin Drum

Wildcard –  Hyouge Mono

Overall Winner: Puella Magi Madoka Magica

This turned out to be a very close thing for PM3 in the end; back last winter I thought for sure that it had this award sewed up but then came Steins;Gate and then Penguins. Up until the beginning of PM3 I respected Shaft/Shinbou for the ability to tell a good story but being able to handle a show that was plot heavy seemed beyond their grasp. (Look at Vampire Bund, for example.) Then PM3 comes along and suddenly Shaft/Shinbou is handling the plot to perfection and not skimping on the storytelling. I know the credit largely goes to Gen Urobuchi who was behind the script but it still was a shocking thing to see.

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Best Story

Seasonal Winners:

Winter – Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Spring – AnoHana

Summer – Ikoku Meiro no Croisee

Autumn – Ben-to

Wildcard –  Hanasaku Iroha, Steins;Gate

Overall Winner: AnoHana

AnoHana’s win in this category is closely tied to their win in the Best Character Development for Cast category. I actually thought PM3 would win this award as well back last winter but AnoHana was too built from the ground up to win this award to not win this award.

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Best Final Episode

Seasonal Winners:

Winter - Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Spring – Dororon Enma-kun Meeramera

Summer – Nichijou

Autumn – Ben-to

Wildcard –  Hanasaku Iroha, Natsume Yuujinchou 3

Overall Winner: Puella Magi Madoka Magica

PM3 had the plotting and the storytelling that assured the epic awesomeness of the final episode. The most interesting nominee in this category is Natsume Yuujinchou 3. As a slice-of-life series it seems counter-intuitive to expect a good final episode from a series that doesn’t have a clearly defined structure but somehow Natsume finishes another season with an episode that manages to give a sense of accomplishment and completeness. (And conversely makes one yearn for just “one more season”.)

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Best Ending

Seasonal Winners:

Winter – Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Spring – AnoHana

Summer – Steins;Gate

Autumn – Mawaru Penguin Drum

Wildcard –  Tiger and Bunny

Overall Winner: Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Getting the ending right is a tricky thing and is where so many anime (and other forms of media) fail. This year, with so many quality original anime series, we had many series that actually got it right. PM3 did it the best and so they win this category.

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Best Slice-of-Life

Seasonal Winners:

Winter – nothing I watched qualified

Spring – Hanasaku Iroha

Summer – Natsume Yuujinchou 3

Autumn – Tamayura – Hitotose

Wildcard –  Ikoku Meiro no Croisee

Overall Winner: Natsume Yuujinchou 3

Hanasaku Iroha finally clicked with me when I realized it wasn’t a drama but a slice-of-life series about a dramatic girl with an interesting family. Even so, nothing could really compete with Natsume. I would have argued that the first two seasons was a display of probably the absolute very best of the slice-of-life genre but the third season came along and somehow found the room to improve upon the first two seasons.

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Best Science Fiction

Seasonal Winners:

Winter – Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Spring – Steins;Gate

Summer – Steins;Gate

Autumn – Last Exile — Ginyoku no Fam

Wildcard –  Tiger and Bunny

Overall Winner: Steins;Gate

This was a very tight race between PM3 and Steins;Gate which would have surprised me more then a year ago, before the start of PM3. On one side there’s a magic girl anime and on the other there’s a visual novel adaptation. However, PM3 impressed me with it’s meditation on the three laws of thermodynamics and Steins;Gate was able to feel fresh and new in the crowded sub-genres of time travel and parallel time lines. It was a tough decision but I finally chose Steins;Gate for feeling more like a SF series and because it showed that there’s still room for new ideas in time travel and parallel time lines.

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Best Comedy

Seasonal Winners:

Winter – Level E

Spring – Nichijou

Summer – Nichijou

Autumn – Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai

Wildcard –  Fireball Charming, gg’s fansub of Hidan no Aria

Overall Winner: Nichijou

Nothing in 2011 made me laugh louder, longer and more often then Nichijou. I’m surprised not more people found it funny but I understand that comedy is a tough business. Second was gg’s fansub of Hidan no Aria; this is how you take a very mediocre anime and make it enjoyable.

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Best Drama

Seasonal Winners:

Winter – Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Spring – AnoHana

Summer – Steins;Gate

Autumn – Mawaru Penguin Drum

Wildcard –  Un-Go

Overall Winner: AnoHana

Some people might say that AnoHana was the best (worse?) melodrama this year but I never felt it crossed the line into melodrama and, instead, was the best drama of the year. (Though, I also like the Key/KyoAni anime series so these same people might find my judgment impaired .) Not that it had a chance but Un-Go earned the wildcard spot for turning out to be a pretty interesting drama series which is somewhat surprising when the series was billed as a mystery/SF series and the mysteries were poorly done and the SF was shallow and generic. I’m glad that I decided not to drop Un-Go early on.

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That’s it for part 2, the next part is the VMA awards.

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Top anime 2011 Awards Part 0: Introduction and Anti-Awards
Top anime 2011 Awards Part 1: Cast and Character Awards
Top anime 2011 Awards Part 2: Genre and General Awards <- you are here
Top anime 2011 Awards Part 3: VMA Awards
Top anime 2011 Awards Part 4: The Misfit Awards
Top anime 2011 Awards: Top 13 Anime – #13 – #7
Top anime 2011 Awards: Top 13 Anime – #6 – #1

Filed under: anime, awards