One of the great resources in anime fandom of late has been this guy. His charts have become almost indispensable when trying to figure out what to watch in the upcoming anime seasons. Recently, he’s started to compile these charts for previous years and the information that can be gleaned from these charts are extremely interesting and a real eye opener.

Last year, 2008, was the first year of this blog and as a result I watched many shows I probably won’t have otherwise and tried to make sure that I discovered all the “good” anime of a season so I could help other people discover these anime shows. So one of the first things I wanted to figure out was how much of the 2008 anime did I watch in the end.

Percentage of Shows Watched

This is the chart in question that I’m using; you can find it and more here. It lists 130 total anime shows that begun airing in 2008 and looking over these shows I realize there is a handful of shows that are aimed at very young viewers and these shows are never fansubbed, talked about, or licensed so the first step I’m going to do is remove these shows from consideration. I then tabulated how many shows I’ve watched, dropped and completed and I’ll summarize them here.

• 114 total shows (19 from Winter 07/08, 34 from Spring 08, 21 from Summer 08, 37 from Fall 08, 3 from Winter 08/09)
• 50 shows watched (5, 15, 9, 18, 3)
• 19 shows dropped (0, 9, 3, 5, 2)
• 31 shows completed (5, 6, 6, 13, 1)

I should note that the Winter 07/08 season was a season that I essentially took off. I needed the break and the only new show I watched that season while it was airing was Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei s.2. Yes, It is strange that I decided to start a blog during a season I wasn’t actively watching but that just how I like to do things. Because of this, the only shows I watched from this season where ones that I really wanted to see at a later time. This skews some of the results I’ll highlight below.

• Overall watched percentage by season – 26.3% of Winter 07/08, 44.1% of Spring 08, 42.9% of Summer 08, 48.7% of Autumn 08, 100% of Winter 08/09
• Overall watched percentage of 2008 – 43.8%
• Percentage of watched shows that were dropped by season – 0.0%, 60.0%, 33.3%, 28.8%, 66.7%)
• Percentage of watched shows that were dropped in 2008 – 38.0%

While going over the list of shows, I’ve noted that there were a few shows that I still have some interest in catching and could see myself watching at some point in the future, time willing.

• Possible unwatched shows that may be watched in the future by season – 2 from Winter 07/08, 2 from Spring 08, 0 from Summer 08, 4 from Fall 08, 0 from Winter 08/09
• Total unwatched but still interested in shows for 2008 – 8
• 2008 Total of shows watched and possible shows watched in the future – 58 or 50.9% of all 2008 anime shows

This leaves 49.1% of the entire 2008 year of shows as shows that I have not watched nor am I interested in doing so. Just looking at the raw number, it seems like I’m leaving a huge percentage of shows unwatched but looking over the shows the I’ve missed – I don’t think I’m missing much. I wonder how this compares to other anime fans.

Excellent Shows and Strong Seasons

Next, I compiled a list of shows that I consider being the best of 2008 – the titles that I would recommend to other people and would be worthy series to own on DVDs, if possible. I was curious to see how these shows were distributed and if the general thinking about the spring and fall seasons being the strong seasons seemed justified.

• Excellent shows from Winter 07/08 – Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei S.2 and Spice & Wolf – (2)
• Excellent shows from Spring 08 – Wagaya no Oinarisama, Library Wars, Kaiba, Soul Eater, Kurenai (5)
• Excellent shows from Summer 08 – Natsume Yuujin-chou, Birdy the Mighty Decode, Somedays Dreamer’s S.2, Ryouko’s Case Files (4)
• Excellent shows from Fall 08 – Toradora, Clannad S.2, Shikabane Hime:Aka, Ga-Rei:Zero, Mouryou Hako, Kurozuka, Michiko to Hatchin (7)
• Excellents shows from 2008 – 18

Looking at the pure number totals, it appears that the fall season was the strongest season and that’s definitely on way to look at it but I wanted to see it from another perspective.

• Percentage of overall shows that were excellent by season – 10.5% of Winter 07/08, 14.7% of Spring 08, 19.1% of Summer 08, 18.9% of Autumn 08, 0% of Winter 08/09
• Percentage of overall shows that were excellent for 2008 – 15.8%
• Percentage of watched shows that were excellent by season – 40.0%, 33.3%, 44.4%, 38.9%, 0.0%
• Percentage of watched shows that were excellent for 2008 – 36.0%

Looking at the number of excellent shows in the context of the rest of the season shows, it turns out that the Summer season squeaks in front of the fall season as having the highest percentage of excellent shows. If the saying about how only 10% of anything is worth fighting for and the rest is garbage then one can’t complain about the quality of anime from 2008 since it beat that by a bit.

Why It’s Hard To Be a Fan of Anime Without Resorting to Fansubs

I want to say up front that I’m not writing this to defend fansubs per se nor am I trying to pick a fight – it’s been my observation for a while that oftentimes when an anime is announced as being licensed, I’m disappointed because it’s not one that I felt deserved to get licensed and I want to see if this observation is backed up by the data.

The first thing that needed done was to compile a list of what shows where licensed from 2008. I started with the list that animesuki keeps of shows that are licensed and thus they no longer list and then I checked out the various licensing articles from anime news network and finally I checked crunchyroll. I might have missed a couple but they won’t be enough to change the conclusions that I discovered. Onto some data.

• Total number of anime shows licensed from 2008 – 32
• Total number of licensed shows that I watched from 2008 – 13
• Total number of licensed shows that I completed from 2008 – 9
• Total number of licensed shows that I consider excellent shows from 2008 – 5
• Total number of excellent licensed shows that will come out on DVD – 3
• Total number of excellent licensed shows that will be dubbed on DVD – 2

I’ll note here that of the 19 licensed shows that I have not watched, none are on my list of shows that I might be interested in watching so those figures are final. Without running the exact numbers it’s pretty apparent what can be concluded but let’s run the numbers for completeness sake.

• Percentage of total anime shows that were licensed from 2008 – 28.1%
• Percentage of total anime shows that were not licensed from 2008 – 71.9%
• Percentage of licensed shows that I watched – 40.6%
• Percentage of licensed shows that I completed – 28.1%
• Percentage of licensed shows that I consider excellent – 15.6%
• Percentage of excellent licensed shows that will be released on DVD – 9.4%
• Percentage of excellent licensed shows that will be dubbed and released on DVD – 6.25%

The one glaring conclusion that I have to conclude is that the “anime fan” that the North American companies are going after is not me. If they were, I’d expect to see almost all of my excellent shows as having been licensed. (Afterall they should be picking the best titles to maximize the number of DVDs bought.) That’s not the case, though, and looking over the shows that did get licensed I find a lot of shounen/fighting shows, fan-service shows, and shoujo shows. I can’t help but feel that one of the results of a licensing pattern like this is that once an anime fan has been sated with enough shounen, fan-service, and/or shoujo shows that these fans discover they are no longer anime fans because anime has become either too childish or repetitive.

The reason I took the category down to excellent licensed shows that will dubbed and put on DVD even when I’m not the biggest dub fan is because there’s a segment of anime fandom that are people who like anime but don’t want to read subtitles and also want to watch on a TV. My one sister is like this and in the end she buys almost exclusively manga because she can find so little anime that interests her. When I was starting up my blog she told me that she’d read my site to find shows to buy but she quickly realized that this was not possible. I don’t blame her, of all the shows that I’ve watched and blogged about in 2008 there is a total of two shows – Soul Eater and Spice & Wolf that I could possibly recommend to her to buy and I don’t think she’d like Soul Eater. That leaves Spice & Wolf as the only anime out of the 114 anime that started airing in Japan during 2008 that I could recommend her to buy.

I feel like I should repeat that; for the entire 2008 year of anime, there is only one anime that I could recommend to my sister as being good enough that it’s worth buying on DVD. And these companies complain about the fans – maybe it’s not the fan’s fault.

I realize that 2009 saw a large increase of shows getting quasi-licensed on crunchyroll so by now it’s possible that my title about having to almost having to resort to fansubs may not hold as much water but I’ll leave that to a follow-up article in the future to see how the numbers work out. I want to hold off for a while to see how many of the 2009 shows get physically licensed and which ones will get dubs. Also left for a later article is my thoughts on how exactly to get the North American anime scene going in the right direction; here’s a hint, I don’t think there will be many people who will become fans of anime from having crunchyroll stream subtitled anime.

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As an aside, if you happen to be looking to buy a good anime series on DVD (maybe for a Christmas present) and want a quality show that will get rewatched more than once, let me point out that Bamboo Blade is coming out soon. And there’s Spice & Wolf as well but it’s coming out the week of Christmas.

Posted in anime, anime rants/views

This delightful slice-of-life show is a “sequel” but the only thing it shares with the first season is the general world setting – I don’t believe there’s even any cameos of the first season cast. Therefore calling this the second season is a bit of a misnomer and shouldn’t stop a potential viewer from starting with this series.

Final Series Score: 11.5/12 Near Perfect
Rewatchablity: med - high
Pros: likable cast of characters, interesting world that the show takes place in, unique uses of magic keep the show feeling new, great OP/ED and background music, masterful job of creating the perfect slice-of-life feel, good job done by the seiyuus
Cons: Twist towards the end was a little too abrupt, animation style takes getting used too

Awards given to this show by this blog

• Strongest Female Character for 2008
• Runner-up for Best Slice-of-Life for 2008
• Runner-up for Best Ending Song for 2008
• Best Music Soundtrack for 2008
• Ranked #9 in Overall Top 10 Anime of 2008

Story

The world of Someday’s Dreamers resembles our own except magic exists and the government regulates the use of magic. Sora, an empathic and outgoing young woman, has inherited her deceased father’s great skill in magic and wants nothing more then to become a licensed magic user. Doing so will force her to leave her rural home to attend magic school in Tokyo. Along the way, as you might expect from a slice-of-life show, she’ll meet new friends, discover the unique joys of living in a city, and learn that even magic has it’s limitations.

Thoughts and impressions

In my personal experience, a very good slice-of-life show produces a unique effect (something like a soothing, mellow, warm feeling) that no other type of show can replicate. It’s one of the reasons that I like that type of show and it’s also a useful means to test if a certain slice-of-life show is good or not. In the case of Someday’s Dreamers season 2, I can say that it passed with flying colors with almost every single episode giving me that feeling.

Watching the first season right before this season aired made me worry that the plot of both seasons would be similar and I’d grow bored of the repetition. This turned out to be a baseless worry because there was only very minimal overlap in plot development. One of the overriding issues of the first season – the main character losing all faith in the ability for magic to be a positive thing – barely showed up in this season. And the issue that drove the second season (even if we didn’t figure what that was until late in the series) was completely absent from the first season.

The aspect of Someday’s Dreamers that most of the anime blogosphere spent talking about was the animation style which was a mix of photo-realistic backgrounds and simple character designs. It definitely was a unique look and, while I would have liked the characters to have had a more detailed design, it did grow on me. The thought even came to me that this design choice was intentional because it helped reinforce the idea that the characters lived in the world and not that the world was a prop for the characters. What surprised me was the fervor of some people’s hatred towards the animation style and their attempts to prove it was cheap and inferior. If animators never experimented, then anime as an art would never evolve and improve in quality. Besides, a show should be judged on it’s content and not if it has the latest animation bells-and-whistles.

Because of my policy of not revealing major plot points and endings, I can’t really discuss what I mean by saying the twist in the show towards the end was too abrupt. In hindsight, it’s a twist that’s plausible and I’m not saying it shouldn’t have happened but a few hints earlier in the series would have helped.

If you’re a slice-of-life fan and haven’t watched this series then I’d definitely recommend watching it. If you don’t like slice-of-life shows then this one probably isn’t for you but I’d still recommend watching an episode or two to see if you like the characters and the use of magic.

Essential Information

• 12 episodes
• genre: slice-of-life
• animation studio: Hal Film Maker
• director: Osamu Kobayashi
• OP: “fly away” by THYME
• ED: “Kawaita Hana” by micc
• Seiyuus of note: Kana Hanazawa, Marina Inoue, Tomoaki Maeno, Daisuke Namikawa, Fuyuka Oura

Posted in anime, series review

Only a month later then just about everyone else .

I thought 2008 was another very solid year of anime, with good shows to be found in most, if not all, major genre types. The fact that I became an anime blogger this year pushed me to watch more shows then I would have otherwise and I was rewarded in finding several quality shows.

Before getting to the countdown I wanted to clarify the status of a few shows. Last year, I decided to consider Kanon a 2007 show and the first season of Clannad as a 2008 show in the matter of ranking the show. The same reasoning will push the second season of Clannad to 2009 so for this countdown only the first season is eligible. Also pushed back are Xam’d: Lost Memories and Michiko to Hatchin because too much of the story was unresolved by the end of 2008. Toradora is getting split, the first 13 episodes will be considered for this countdown and the rest for the 2009 list. I did this because the show seems to have been structured in such a way that it could have been aired in 2 – 13 episode seasons.

10 Soul Eater

Shounen series were what got me into anime and they still hold a special place in my heart. One of my favorites had been Bleach but it had finally struck out from the combination of poor filler, failing to excite even when they finally got back to the storyline, and the appearance of Soul Eater. Soul Eater oozed style and felt fresh when compared to the well-known shounen series so I could finally stop torturing myself with Bleach and watch a better shounen show.

It wasn’t quite smooth sailing at first though. Up until about episode 20, the show felt a little slow. The individual episodes where good but collectively they didn’t feel like they were really building towards anything. That changed at the episode 20 mark and since then the show has really been on a roll. So for 20 episodes of good anime, 16 episodes of great anime, a unique style, a likable cast, good animation, and for showing that a shounen show can still feel new, Soul Eater makes the top 10 at number 10. Now, I’m just hoping the final 15 episodes of Soul Eater won’t disappoint.

9 Someday’s Dreamers Season 2

Count me in the small camp of people that actually liked the animation style of the series. It wasn’t perfect but I thought it worked with the subtle nature of the show because it helped deemphasize the individual characters. And the show was subtle which caused me on several occasions to rewatch a scene to make sure I saw what I think I saw.

This slice-of-life show had many excellent qualities: a diverse cast of characters that were likable, good vocal performances by the seiyuu, an interesting setting, an engaging story and memorable music. The one thing that prevented it from ranking higher was the ending. The ending itself isn’t the big problem but how abrupt the show shifts it’s tone to get to that ending. It could have been handled better; maybe if the series had been longer, they could have. I’d still recommend this show to anyone looking for a great slice-of-life show, just know that the ending will probably feel different then what would normally be expected.

8 Wagaya no Oinari-sama

This was a show that I really only caught because I was blogging and thought for completeness-sake to catch an episode or two before dropping it for being generic and fan service laden. I was surprised when I found myself starting to like the characters, especially with Sakura’s appearance in episode 3, and not being subjected to mindless fan service in the place of real content. So it didn’t get dropped like I thought it would and my opinion even slowly creeped up with each passing episode.

At about episode 8, I fully realized why I liked this show. It was always entertaining, it focused on the characters and allowed the characters to drive the events of the show, the story never felt stale and it could make you laugh or suck you in with a bit of drama. The show also ascribed to the K.I.S.S. rule – Keep It Simple, Stupid. It never tried too hard or made itself overly complex; it never relied on the latest meme or character type to be funny and entertaining. I wish more shows would follow this show’s lead.

7 Library War

The show’s slightly absurd premise and short episode count only mildly marred my liking of this show because this show seems to have been created with me in mind. I loved the idea of libraries creating armies to defend themselves from the censorship proponents and their thugs.

A quick way to describe this show is to compare it to Planetes because they share a lot of similarities. The big difference is that at only 12 episodes, Library War wasn’t as able to explore the topics relevant to the setting as Planetes was so it focused more on the relationship of the two main characters. I hope we see more Library War in the future, it was too good of a show not to want more.

6 Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei

If you found this show’s warped sense of humor funny and odd visual style interesting then you’ll agree that the show belongs somewhere on this list. If you didn’t then you won’t and probably wonder what’s wrong with me.

I thought the first season tailed off at the end a bit too much but this season stayed more interesting throughout it’s run. I liked the introduction of more male characters during this season, it helped set up different possibilities with the show. Assuming there’s still plenty of source material, I would like to see a full third season in a year or two.

Posted in anime, awards      

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      

Or if I rearranged the words, the VMA Awards or the AMV Awards .

It is certainly possible for an anime show to be good or at least watchable without stellar music, voice acting, or animation; however, it does definitely help. For example, for the first half of Shana 2, the only redeeming features of the show was the well-done OP/ED, Rie Kugimiya as Shana, and the good animation. So this part celebrates those components of an anime that aren’t vital but significantly help it along.

Before I get to the awards I wanted to mention that I’ve been having computer troubles with the computer that’s connected to the internet. Between spending a day trying to fix it so it wouldn’t need a reformat, moving all the important files off so we can reformat and taking this opportunity to finally back up our digital pics onto dvd discs, I haven’t had the time to finish writing these or watch much anime. Luckily, I have an old laptop (it has a Pentium 3 chip in it ) that I can use to keep connected to the internet until it’s fixed.

Top Seiyuu “Discovered”

Winner: Marina Inoue

Yes, Marina Inoue is not a new seiyuu and I’ve liked characters she’s done in the past like Yoko from Gurren Lagann. What’s different is that before this year I never really paid attention to how well she voices her roles and recognizing when it’s her. It was the perfect match of her voice to the character of Kana in Minami-ke that really started my deeper appreciation of her work. From that point, I started to look for her roles and I continued to be impressed with how well she can match her voice with the character’s thoughts and actions.

Best Performance by a Seiyuu

Winner: Rie Kugimiya as Taiga from Toradora

Runner-up: Rikiya Koyama as Kogarashi from Maid Guy

Rie Kugimiya often will play the short tsundere with violent tendencies character in a show. It’s a combination that always will spice a show up and is one of the reasons why she’s one of my favorite voice actors. I figured before Toradora started that she really couldn’t surprise me by doing another short tsundere with violent tendencies role but it became readily apparent that I was wrong. While it’s still obviously her doing Taiga, she’s never been this good before. Some of excellence with Taiga is due to the great story but she’s definitely been a huge factor in taking a well-worn character type and making it feel authentic. When she’s tsun-tsun, her anger fits the situation and when she’s dere-dere, her love-sick attitude is realistic as opposed to when she was Louise in Zero’s Familiar where her personality was artificial and lacked vivacity.

Best Seiyuu

Male: Hiroshi Kamiya

Since no single male voice actor really stood out from the crowd this year, I decided to prepare of a list of favorite performances to see if I could find any overlapping names. Two roles on this list were Natsume from Natsume Yuujinchou and the Sensei from Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei. I was surprised when I found that Hiroshi Kamiya did both roles. The pair of characters are polar opposites; one’s theatrical, loud, likes to over-react and is prone to huge emotional swings whereas the other is calm, cool under pressure, mature, and considerate of other people. The fact that I didn’t realize or even think to myself that either performance sounded familiar speaks highly of his ability. As does the way he was able to fit his performance and delivery to impeccably match the type of character he’s playing.

Female: Marina Inoue

Marina Inoue kept appearing in shows I watched and kept impressing me with her voice work this year. Often the characters that Marina Inoue voices have to have a very scary and imposing “I’m ticked off” voice in their repertoire. Marina has one of the best angry voices around. When you hear it it’s easy to understand why the other characters wither when being subjected to it. And yet when these same characters are supposed to be happy, Marina can infuse their demeanor with such boisterous happiness that it’s contagious to the viewer. What really impressed me and helped her earn this award is that, even though it’s relatively easy to recognize a Marina Inoue role, each character is distinctly different from each other. For example, Kana from Minami-ke is the sneaky middle sister but Iku Kasahara is the energetic idiot in Library War and Chiri Kitsu is the angry perfectionist in Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei.

Best Seiyuu Cast

Winner: Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei

Runner-up: Toradora

Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei inherited a large number of characters from the first season and added even more characters during it’s run. One of the things that is needed for shows with big casts like this is many distinct voices so it’s easy to pick out who’s saying what. With every additional voice used, though, the chance of duplicating a voice or picking a bad one increases. This problem didn’t plague this show though; in truth, almost every single voice used was unique and well done. I already mentioned Hiroshi Kamiya’s Mr. Despair and Marina Inoue’s character but the list goes on. Of particular note is the illegal immigrant Maria and the student that’s known as Kafuka.

Best Overall Opening

Winner: Kaiba

Runner-up: Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei

Tastes in music are really subjective to begin with and for me this is compounded even more in regards to anime because I don’t know Japanese. Therefore any category that relates to music is going to subjective.

Kaiba’s opening was great on many levels. It had a song that was good all by itself and it helped get the viewer ready for the show by getting them in the proper state of mind. The animation used showcased many of the characters of the series and helped reinforce some of the core concepts of the series. It was also pretty to look at, which always helps as well.

Best Overall Ending

Winner: Kaiba

Runner-up: Someday’s Dreamers Season 2

The ending got picked for essentially the same reasons that the opening got picked. I do think it’s a bit funny that the same singer of the OP/ED also did the ending to Chaos;Head and just about no one liked that song.

Best Overall Music

Winner: Kaiba

Runner-up: Clannad

If the music in the series is average then I’ll not even notice it enough to form an opinion about it. Therefore, any show that I can remember some of the background music after the fact means it’s above average. The music to both Kaiba and Clannad are used to good effect but it was only Kaiba that had music that actively wowed me while I watched it.

Best Music Soundtrack

Winner: Somedays Dreamer’s Season 2

I often don’t like anime soundtracks even to shows that I liked the music because the full versions of the songs aren’t as good as the parts used in the show. However, I found that I liked the soundtrack to Somedays Dreamer’s Season 2 better then when the pieces where used in the show. One reason why I like this soundtrack is the wide variety of instrumental music genres on it. There’s a couple Celtic songs, a blues rock one and a synth-pop track to name but a few. I also think it’s entirely possible to like this album without ever watching the anime which is another way it’s different from most albums.

Best Animation Style

Winner: Kaiba

Runner-up: Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei

I think the reason most people thought Kaiba was an experimental anime was because of the odd animation style employed. It certainly does appear odd when looking at screenshots but it’s a totally different story when watching it in motion. I found that the style of the animation works very well with the story, it’s ideas and the overall tone. If the creators had decided on a more realistic or detailed animation style then I really think that it would have been an impediment to the show.

Best Animation

Winner: Kurozuka

Runner-up: Xam’d: Lost Memories

I mentioned earlier that I liked Kurozuka even though it was almost a purely action show. To successfully pull off that type of show and not rely on character development and plot, the action needs to wow us almost continuously. In anime, that also means the animation needs to impress and Madhouse’s Kurozuka impressed. It looked good, it moved good and it was artistic, detailed and imaginative.

Top Animation Studio

Winner: Madhouse

There’s no question that Madhouse deserves this award. No other animation studio had the sheer number of quality shows this year that Madhouse had. Some of there shows included Kaiba, Maid Guy, Kurozuka, Mouryou no Hako, and Chaos;Head. I’m surprised how infrequently their name comes up in the anime community when talking about great animation studios. And I hope 2009 sees more great shows from Madhouse.

Posted in anime, awards, youtube      

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      

Let’s get this out of the way before I get back to the top picks of the fall season.

This was another good week of anime watching. Two shows I didn’t list below but I did want to mention was that I finished up a re-watch of Library War and the first season of Minami-Ke with my sister. The first thing that struck me was that hearing Marina Inoue featured prominently in both really drove home how much I enjoy listening to her voice and the roles she plays. Also it reinforced my belief that Library War was one of the most entertaining shows of the year and the first season of Minami-Ke is one of the best anime comedies of all-time.

The scores:

To Aru Majutsu no Index, episode 9 – 10/12 A

Toradora!, episode 9 – 12++/12

Soul Eater, episode 33 – 11/12 A+
Soul Eater, episode 34 – 12/12
Soul Eater, episode 35 – 12/12

Kannagi, episode 9 – 10/12 A

Yozakura Quartet, episode 9 – 11/12 A+
Yozakura Quartet, episode 10 – 10/12 A

Chaos;Head, episode 8 – 11/12 A+

Somedays Dreamer’s S.2, episode 10 – 12+++/12

Skip Beat, episode 8 – 10/12 A
Skip Beat, episode 9 – 12/12

Earl and Fairy, episode 8 – 11/12 A+
Earl and Fairy, episode 9 – 10/12 A

Shikabane Hime: Aka, episode 7 – 11/12 A+

Clannad S.2, episode 10 – 12+/12

Xam’D: Lost Memories, episode 17 – 12/12

Ga-Rei Zero, episode 8 – 12+/12 A

Kurozuka, episode 8 – 11/12 A+

Kemeko DX, episode 9 – 10/12 A

Which shows have momentum this week

Up – Ga-Rei Zero : The second most surprising good show of the season

Down – Kurozuka : Still a great show but it’s been living off it’s style and it’s beginning to let it’s weakly developed story drag it down

Thoughts and Highlights

After the first two episodes of Ga-Rei Zero, I really had no clue where the show was going and a sinking feeling that the animators where too ambitious by opening the show how they did and would be unable to keep the viewers interesting. It appears that I was wrong because I’m liking this show week-in and week-out. One thing that I thought would hurt this show, like the Star Wars prequels, was that I know one of the main characters ends up evil. In the Star Wars case, this prevented me from sympathizing with Anakin because I know he becomes Darth Vader but not so with Ga-Rei Zero. I got to really like Yomi in these flashback episodes and when we get back to the present, I’m going to feel very sad if they can’t save Yomi somehow.

I feel bad about picking Kurozuka for losing momentum this week but I have to at least try to be objective and these last few episodes have felt very underwhelming. I think it’s safe to point to the shows padding of a thin storyline as the culprit. Hopefully, episode 8 will be the last of this padding as we transition to the conclusion.

As awesome as episode 9 of Toradora was, the best episode of the week was episode 10 of Somedays Dreamer’s S.2 which earned the absolutely highest rating I can give out for a single episode. There was a big revelation, which I won’t spoil, and it caught me totally off-guard. It really shouldn’t have since there had been a few hints but I really didn’t expect the show to go in the direction it now seems to be going. Nor was the revelation the sole reason for the high score, the way in which the show went about revealing it was perfect and the character’s actions throughout the episode were just right.

Episode 9 of Yozakura Quartet finally did something that made me really interested in this show. The Nana-gou trees that help protect the city were being altered and this caused the Youkai of the city to have a harder time controlling their Youkai powers. So, for example, the pair of vampire children had to start using umbrellas to walk around in the daytime. A little touch but it was the first original thing this show has done so far.

The past two episodes of Clannad have really covered a lot of territory and watching Tomoya trying to succeed post-H.S. is something that I haven’t seen much in anime and a nice change of pace. There was a small scene that encapsulated this so well – he was worrying over finding a cheap apartment and we see a high school girl with her friends worrying about her hair. The huge gulf between the two worlds couldn’t have been articulated any better and the use of shadows and also Tomoya’s loneliness only reinforces this.

And finally, if you dropped Soul Eater before episode 20, you should give the show another chance. The show’s pacing has picked up dramatically around then and it has been going full tilt ever since. I’m really enjoying just about everything about this show right now – we where introduced to a few more characters, the fights are awesome, and they’re intertwining many plot threads right now. Soul Eater is really showing why it’s the best shounen title right now.

Posted in anime, weekly anime review      

I was hoping to get this out on Monday but I ended up putting up the Christmas tree instead, which can see pics of over at my personal blog.

As we’re nearing the midpoint of the season, it’s getting to be that time when I get to look ahead at the next anime season and reflect on the current season. Due to the high number of quality shows, I think it’s prudent to wait a few more episodes before posting my reflections but I hope to write my winter preview this week. Right now it’s time to look at the scores.

The scores:

Soul Eater, episode 31 – 12/12
Soul Eater, episode 32 – 12/12

To Aru Majutsu no Index, episode 6 – 10/12 A
To Aru Majutsu no Index, episode 7 – 9/12 A-

Kannagi, episode 6 – 11/12 A+
Kannagi, episode 7 – 10/12 A

Skip Beat, episode 5 – 10/12 A
Skip Beat, episode 6 – 12/12
Skip Beat, episode 7 – 12/12

Shikabane Hime: Aka, episode 4 – 11/12 A+
Shikabane Hime: Aka, episode 5 – 11/12 A+

Kemeko DX, episode 5 – 11/12 A+
Kemeko DX, episode 6 – 10/12 A
Kemeko DX, episode 7 – 11/12 A+

Earl and Fairy, episode 5 – 8/12 B+

Ga-Rei Zero, episode 6 – 12/12

Kurozuka, episode 5 – 11/12 A+
Kurozuka, episode 6 – 12/12

Chaos;Head, episode 5 – 12/12
Chaos;Head, episode 6 – 12+/12

Toradora!, episode 7 – 12+/12

Xam’D: Lost Memories, episode 14 – 12/12
Xam’D: Lost Memories, episode 15 – 11/12 A+

Clannad S.2, episode 7 – 12/12
Clannad S.2, episode 8 – 12++/12

Hyakko, episode 5 – 8/12 B+

Michiko to Hatchin, episode 4 – 11/12 A+

Yozakura Quartet, episode 7 – 9/12 A-

Somedays Dreamer’s S.2, episode 9 – 12++/12

Which shows have momentum this week

Up – Kannagi, Kemeko DX : Both shows seem to have gotten their acts together.

Down – To Aru Majutsu no Index : It lost any momentum that it had when it decided to reset the show at the end of the sixth episode.

Thoughts and Highlights

I guess I shouldn’t be shocked that To Aru Majutsu no Index continued it’s downwards momentum. I’ve totally given up on my initial thought that the Shana-group of J.C. Staff had finally learned how to adapt a light novel properly. It’s still an enjoyable series and as long as Yoshida’s clone doesn’t show up – it still might end up a better series then Shana. On the other hand Kemeko DX and Kannagi have been gaining momentum by making the story more compelling , fleshing out it’s characters, and making the viewer laugh more.

The best episode of this bi-week period comes from Somedays Dreamer’s Season 2 though Clannad gave it a good run. One reason for it’s placement above Clannad this week is, whereas Key’s story twists aren’t as surprising as they once were (not that I’m complaining), Somedays Dreamer’s actually shocked me with it’s twist towards the end of the episode. Too many people, it seems to me, judged this show early based on it’s art style and not on it’s content. With each episode my estimation of the show increases and I’m getting to the point that deciding between Natsume and Somedays Dreamer’s is becoming difficult.

A look at the other end of scale displays the potential difference between two shows, Hyakko and Earl and Fairy, that scored the same. In Hyakko’s case, I was positive that after the fifth episode, I could safely drop it and know that I wasn’t missing anything; instead, the episode was much better then I hoped and gained the show a week reprieve from being cut. On the other hand, after the horrible fourth episode of Earl and Fairy, I’m not sure that I can get back to enjoying this show as much as I initially was. The fifth episode was better but I currently don’t have much interest in watching the sixth but probably will, only to give the show one last chance before dropping it.

One of the things that I hoped to show when I did my ten most influential animes was to show that I end up having many different types of shows that I enjoy. I point this out because it feels kinda wrong to give both episode 32 of Soul Eater, an Excalibur episode, and say episode 6 of Kurozuka the same score but both excelled at the type of show they are.

And finally, there’s a few brief comments I wanted to make:

• Michiko to Hatchin seems to be shaping up to be a more serious show then what I was expecting. One thing that has struck me so far has been it’s very realistic portrayal of pain and hardship in the characters. My gut is telling me this series could end up being one of the top shows of 2008.
• Yozakura Quartet continues to be enjoyable but at the same time it feels like a lightweight when compared to the other shows.
• Chaos;Head is starting to prove that it has more to offer then just being a poor mixture of suspense and harem elements
• Skip Beat seems to not be impressing many that know and love the manga but for a first-timer like myself, I’m really enjoying it. For some reason, I’m already wondering how they plan to end the anime series. On one hand, we all want to see her get her revenge but on the other, once she does – is there any reason to continue the series? If I know anime, they’ll probably create some sort of small milestone that she has to accomplish in the episode count that’s been allotted.

Posted in anime, weekly anime review      

An exciting week in anime – the summer season is finishing up and the fall season is starting. The last couple of weeks I haven’t really had a lot to write but now I’ve got multiple series reviews to write and first impression posts to write. I’m not complaining, the more I have to write about the better – it means I’m watching shows that I want to talk about. Let’s get to the weekly scores now.

The scores:

Ryoko’s Case Files, episode 12 – 12+/12

Birdy the Mighty Decode, episode 13 – 12+/12 (end)

Xam’D: Lost Memories, episode 12 – 12/12

Soul Eater, episode 25 – 11/12 A+

Somedays Dreamer’s S.2, episode 6 – 12++/12

Natsume Yuujinchou, episode 12 – 12+/12

Wagaya no Oinari-sama, episode 19 – 12+/12
Wagaya no Oinari-sama, episode 20 – 12+/12
Wagaya no Oinari-sama, episode 21 – 12+/12
Wagaya no Oinari-sama, episode 22 – 12/12
Wagaya no Oinari-sama, episode 23 – 12+/12

Clannad S.2, episode 1 – 12/12

Toradora!, episode 1 – 10/12 A

Akane-iro no Somaru Saka, episode 1 – 5/12 C+

Hyakko, episode 1 – 8/12 B+

Thoughts and Highlights

First off, for the in-depth reasons why I scored the new shows how I did, you can refer to the previously posted impression posts.

The biggest surprise, and one that was quite pleasant, was the number of Wagaya no Oinari-sama episodes I was able to watch this week. This show has been one of the most consistently fun shows to watch this year and this group of episodes continue this trend. It’s mix of light comedy, dorama, and loveable characters is a perfect balance – just look at some of these episodes: one episode dealt was a Halloween episode that included the god of poverty showing up, another involved a mystery at an onsen, and yet another involved Sakura trying to stick to a diet. I don’t know how much source material is left but I’d definitely watch a second season of this show.

The best episode of the week comes from Somedays Dreamer’s season 2 but since it’s slice-of-life, it’s difficult to describe why. I’m happy that someone is working on subbing this show – beyond the whole question of if you like the animation style or not, it’s a very solid show.

Everything else pretty much stayed awesome. I did want to mention that this week’s Soul Eater was a transitional episode to gear us up for the second half of the show. The students of Shibusen played basketball and Shinigami-sama called a conference to map out what they should do now that the Demon God is escaped. Anyone else think it’s time to for a new opening? I like it but it’s been the same for the first half of the show and I’d like to see something new, maybe with some hints as to what to expect for the second half of the show.

Posted in anime