Wednesday 1 January 2014

Year End Top 10: Anime

the only titles that are eligible to be one this list are shows i watched in 2013 (i'm going to try and avoid adding rewatches)



Lets start with the bad... cause i don't want to end on a rant.

10. Free!
I think Free is silly harmless fun and the only reason it is here is cause it has done a few things i'm not happy with. I'm not thrilled that thanks to it we are getting this wave of crappy fanservice bait without plot... sorry but you can have all the pretty boys and i wont give a shit if i don't like them as characters. we also got a lot of copycats on the horizon which will hope to cash in on Free!'s success while completely missing what made free work. as much as the show irritated me i couldn't put it any higher on the list cause there were MUCH worse things this year.

9. Sunday without God
There are some things this show tries to do well, i think the world is interesting and the art... while kinda bland is still very pretty. i don't like how the show ended and i really don't like how disjointed it felt. it hasn't even been that long and I barely remember what some of the plots were about.
it's not terrible... but it's one of the worst shows i watched this year.

8. Log Horizon
another show i don't hate... it was just really boring... i was hoping for a better sword art (cause sword art was terrible and i'm kinda bummed i can't put it on this list cause i reviewed it in 2012... but it would probably be number 1 or 2) but it was just... bland... and boring... and the art wasn't good... and the music was nothing special... and there were no stakes... and i kinda just stopped watching...

7. Hakenden
Bored.... pointless... pretty stupid too... i just couldn't get into this show... granted i'm not a fan of the "shota" undertones that have entered a lot of show in general but this one was too much monster of the week and after one season i deemed that i didn't care enough to give it anymore time.

6. Oreshura
this show was good till it became a harem. now it doesn't hide the fact that it's a harem show but since it just starts off with the two girls wanting him adding the 3rd and 4th really just throws the balance and in the end i coudn't even finish the show cause the characters were so annoying.

5. I couldn't become the hero so i reluctantly decided to get a job.
i saw.... maybe 5 or 10 minutes of this show before i gave up.... in my first impresssions it's actualyl one of my longer rants... it was just blatant fanservice and the part that made me quit was when a girl was gropped but it's okay cause it was by a customer.
no japan... just no.
that is not okay or funny, you want to have a fanservice show? thats fine but that doesn't change the fact that it was one of the most unpleasent shows i tried to sit through this year.

4. Beyond the Boundary
after the first episode i essentially said "wow that was really boring, i know nothing about this world other then that crap you spewed which makes no sense cause i am lacking in context"
my friend informed me that i can't make that decision just based on one episode.
so 6 episodes later i was still bored as hell and annoyed cause NOTHING had happened... something tried to happen but then it was followed up by moe moe idol time and i just quit.
this show could have been good... just cut out all the moe filler, make the characters interesting and show us their motivation instead of telling us and all would have been good..
but no...

3. Kinmoza
the fact that this show is on the list makes me sad
the fact that it's number 3? ugh... so sad
this is the biggest case of Bait and Switch i have EVER seen
the first episode is so damn sweet, it does a great job of dealing with two languages and is just so utterly adorable i think i got a cavity just from watching it.
then it becomes moe moe school time and just... loses all it's heart and charm and dropping it was the saddest thing i had to do... but i'm so glad i did cause it doesn't get better. (i watched a chunk of the final episode so i know this)
i would say watch the first episode if you have a chance to cause it's really good
but do not watch any more.

2. Meganebu
i was worried about this show.
I really like guys with glasses.
so a show that was blatant pandering to that niche was.... well i was worried cause i gave free a really hard time.
then the first episode was terrible
terrible art
horrible characters
crappy music and plot
not a single redeemable quality.
maybe it got better? i seriously doubt it.

and the number one worst show i watched this year was~

1. Amnesia
I have a four letter world that perfectly describes how i feel about this show... but even though i swear quite profusly in real life i do try to avoid it here.
but seriously... this show broke me for a long time... i don't think i'm over it and it's been a long time.  even though i love the intro song Zeotrope every time i hear it i get a moment of rage.... i HATE this show.
it gets everything wrong
it's idea of romance is just completely messed up.
and worst of all it rewards some pretty atrocious behavior.
but i've already ranted about it here   so.... yeah
i hate this show
i hate that it is as well liked as it is
it's rigth up there with school days and Sword art online and K-on for my most hated shows of all time...
just... no...


OKAY
Positive time~

when i made my short list i ended up with 15 titiles.... here are the five that i just couldn't justify in the top ten.

In no particular order

My teen romantic comedy SNAFU 
The title of this show made me think i would hate it... i ended up with a really cute and sweet story about someone who has chosen to deal with social situations in a way that makes him a loner.
it's funny, it's sweet but honestly it's not that memorable so i couldn't justify it being in the top ten
but i really enjoyed it... stupid title aside

Devil survivor 2
It hurts me that this isn't on the list... i love it... it's like if natsume and matoba actually confronted each other. but unfortunately a lot of my enjoyment was from the voice actors... some part of the season drag and if you don;t know anything about SMT games then some things may be lost... granted have the time i was saying "must be nice having Mazio or maziodyne right off the bat" which got an odd look from my friend.
good show, but yeah... couldn't rank it higher then my top ten

Nagi no asakura
I love the world of this show, it's just so neat... it's a show i hope NISA licenses cause it seems like it would fit in with their other titles. but other then the pretty art and really neat world i still couldn't say it's in my top ten... which hurts cause yeah i've really liked it.

Genshiken season 2
I wasn't expecting much from this show... i enjoyed the 'first' season of Genshiken but it never really stuck with me... it was cute but i didn't even think about it... this 'second' season on the other hand had some really nice moments and dealt a lot with the female anime fan... granted they focused on the yoai fangirls which is fine but i don't identify with that... still it was well done and i hope they do another season sometime.

Toradora
It's an older show... so even though it was my first time watching it i felt odd if i put it in the top ten. i know i said in no real order but this would easily be #11 in my list. it's cute, it's funny, it's heartbreaking and it's the only reason i'm watching Golden time (same creator). i wasn't always a fan of the art but everything else is so well done...

OK.... onto the real list...


10. Shin Sekai Yori
this was my "what am i watching" show for a while but even with the content being a bit... uncomfortable at times... i still really enjoyed the world and the story... and those ending songs were just so pretty. I would call this an art show through and through but it's also a social commentary. I may or may not understand everything it was trying to get across but even after all this time i still remember it from time to time.

9. The Unlimited Hyobu Kyosuke
I love this show, it was a lot of fun and though it had a few moments of me going "really" (sure andy... just casually run up the side of the ship... it's cool)
i love the characters and the visuals and the music and my only complaint is length...
now i know it's a spin off to another show and i haven't watched/read the other show but i wanted more of andy's story and from what i understand he's not in the other series.
still really really good show and i'm starting ro realize how hard putting this list together is going to be.

8. Macross Plus
it's old... so... i don't want to put it higher... but seriously this series is probably part of the reason i'm such a fan of anime... despite never having watched it till just this past year.
When you have been humming voices to yourself your entire life and you didn't even know what it's from that moment of "thats the song" hits like a ton of bricks.
i probably saw it with my father when i was little but i don't remember it... i just remember the music.
the show is really good too... though short... and doesn't really have much to do with macross... but i don't care... this show, or at least it's music, helped shape my taste when i was too young to realize it... and thast crazy looking back.

7. Blast of Tempest
When aniplex announced they licensed this here i had a little cry... their standard edition 13 episode half a season deal was about 80 bucks...
and it came with not much... unlike NISA who gets a lovely box/artbook/freebies and is only around 50 bucks.
still... thanks to rightstuff i'm getting it for a little cheaper which is nice cause i want to own it.... but yeah... i wish Aniplex would stop licensing stuff here... i don't care that it was theirs to begin with... 80-100 bucks for half a season is too much.
70-120 bucks for 4 episodes (PMMM) is too much
i love this show... even the middle bit which is a bit slow... i don't know why but this show just made me smile at every turn and even made me cry occasionally.
i'm surprised it's only at number 7 but looking at the rest of my list... yeah i'm not that surprised.luckily it went on sale with aniplex' 12 days of christmas sale so i was able to get it for 50ish... but still. so much money

6. Yowapeda
I hate bikes... i also am not a fan of sports anime... btu this show is wonderful. the CG is a bit awkward but i just love seeing the main character stuggle against all odds. I also like that this is the first show where i was able to pinpoint Junichiro Suwabe.
he's the voice of Matoba from Natsume yuujinchou and he's in everything... and i can never tell... for whatever reason i'm voice blind to him yet i can find other voice actors about before they even say anything. so when i saw the older bro character and went. "sounds like matoba" and then thougth a moment to let that click... i was so happy.
i still can't figure him out in other shows but 2 shows is a start.
the other great thing about this show is that show is that not all the characters are pretty and there is a large variety of shapes and silhouettes... thats pretty rare for anime so gotta give credit where credits due.

5. Chihayafuru 2
this show is great, i do wish they had covered more content in the season but thats okay what we did get was just more awesome to add onto the first season. also the art is probably the prettiest of all the shows i wtached this year. but yeah i want more chihayafuru.... just gotta wait for it...

AH this is getting hard to pick

4. Gargantia
this would be higher if not for the silly fanservice but honestly this show made me so happy. it was like if a zentradi soldier made his way back to earth and was stranded and just the amount of culture shock. also the use of colour where the soldiers all have thi kind of monochromatic look and earth by sontrast is filled with every colour imaginable.
I'm happy Viz licensed it and i plan to pick it up as soon as i see it posted for sale somewhere.
i do wish it was longer... but yeah it had me sobbign at a certain point so good job show.

3. Samurai Flamenco
I expected to loath this show.
it looks so dumb from the previews
but i was watching an episode of every show this fall season.
and then when i watched it... it was like Kickass but so much better cause it was still grounded in reality.
we are getting more episodes in winter so thats great cause i would be sad to see it end already. still because it's not technically over i can't put it any higher.

2. The Eccentric family.
True story: one day i was checking my emails and i saw there was one from NISA... they didn't have anything i wanted coming out soon but i figured i should at least look at it cause they may license more.
and i scroll through and suddenly i gasp.
now... i was really sick so the fuzzy part of my brain goes. "why did i gasp... did i see something?" and i scroll back up and there it was... eccentric family licensed by NISA.
i let out something like a squee and then i quickly checked another source to make sure i wasn't reading the email wrong... cause if i had i was going to cry. again i love NISA box sets so to be able to own another one of my favorite shows from them made me really really happy.
I am surprised this isn't number 1.... but i'm not considering what number 1 is.

and my favorite show in 2013 is *drumroll*

1. Kuroko's Basketball 2
again.... i'm not a fan of sport anime but i love this show... every week i look forward to it and i yell at my computer when it ends (i hate cliffhangers).
i hope it starts picking up the pace soon... and i know we'll be getting more in winter but yeah... this show is great.... someone (NISA? though that's unlikely cause it's not really like anything in their catalog.... hm... Viz? i think it's technically shonen jump so it would make sense...)
Kuroko is great, i love everything about his character.
Kagami is great, i love his anger and how Kuroko always manages to put him in his place.
i love the generation of miracles cause even though they are grossly overpowered they all have real talents and real weaknesses. 
Also this is a show i can recommend to anyone.
my friend: what should i watch?
me: Kuroko's basketball is really good
her: i hate sports anime
me: me too... and it;s my fav this season... give it 3 episodes.
her -the next day- : i wtached it all.. .that was great.
me: good *evil grin* i'm glad.

and i've done this at least 4 times so far.
best show this season
best show of the year (in my opinion of course)
but honestly this has been a great year for anime and thanks to sites like Crunchyroll, Hulu (which i don't get cause canadian but i hear it's good), Netflix and funimation we can enjoy it pretty much at the same time as japan and it's legal... it's a great time to be a fan.

next i'll probbaly do games or music... we'll see.... for now i think i have some shows to watch~

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