Friday, 21 December 2012

Year end Top 10s - Anime -

cause the last one was pretty fun.... i just hope i can keep this to 10....

Again this is to show
a) how much my taste jump around
b) to show how strange my taste overall is.

This is a personal list.... most of these things i like for personal reasons.... You will probably disagree with me and that's fine... cause I'm a bit strange when it comes to what i like.

OK.... lets get started.

Honourable Mention: 

Sailor moon: the first Anime i ever watched, granted i didn't know anime and cartoons were different until i was 13 or so... i just knew i liked this show and not others that all my friends liked.
I guess i technically watched Dragon ball before Sailor moon..... but i liked sailor moon way more... and i remember it much better.

Macross: I love this show. I was a bit worried when i started watching it cause i have this odd fear of space but since 90% of macross is a love triangle i was able to enjoy it Panic Attack free.... unlike shows like Gurren Lagaan or Gunbuster where the latter had me take 3 days to watch one episode... funny the same friend lent me both those titles, now i have to ask before she lends me anything else "does it go to space in ANY capacity"

So yeah love those shows, but i like 10 more just a hair more.

10. Honey and Clover
I first saw this show before i went to art college myself. I always considered being an artist so a show about people working towards that dream really seemed inspiring.... 
but the show ended up being about so much more.... It's about life and love and regret and failure and working as hard as you can and still never reaching the same level those around you seem to be at...
It was about Venting and growing and working through the tough and the seemingly impossible times.
It is a slice of life show in the purest sense.... this is a slice of these college students life... yes it's a little crazy and zany but it never feels phony.... i loved it before i went to College... and i still love it now.... just a sweet show.
also that moment when she damaged her tendons in her wrist.... i cannot even imagine how scary that would be...

9. Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai. (aka Ano Hana)
Aka: We still don't know the name of the flower we saw that day
and i probably translated that wrong.... i don't care.... the title is insanely long.

Without going into any personal details I really connect to this show, as i said in my little review I know a lot of people see it as being manipulative because the idea of a kid dying is just trying to pull the tears out.... I respectfully disagree because i felt in all but one situation all of their actions upon seeing their long gone friend were completely genuine and it is an excellent idea as far as a tough experiment go. Would you be happy to see them again? or would it be a constant reminder of the pain? would you help them move on even though it means saying good bye again?
This show made me think about things like that and for any medium of story telling to accomplish the "what would i do in that situation" needs to be commended... so even though it's not perfect and can be borderline manipulative i still really enjoyed it.
Even though i cried... a lot
that's actually a theme on this list.... Honey and clover made me cry too... hmmm

8. Lovely Complex
A Tall girl and a short girl seem to be the perfect comedy act... but over time the two grow closer and seem to fall in love.... too bad they do it as different times.

I will say the manga is better cause it has a bit more story after the anime ended, however this is one of the best Rom Com anime i have seen.... i actually pretty much hate the rest of the girl meets guy they fall in love genre cause none of it feels as real as this show.
though i do worry that when i re-read it... which will be right after i finish some of the series I'm working on... that it wont be as good...i mean i used to like Peach girl, now it actually makes me angry... i have changed over the years... more then i even realise...

did i cry? Yep! all I'll say is Bear curry and leave it at that...

7. Cardcaptor Sakura
So we have a girl who wears pretty outfits and catches all sorts of cool character design cards....
 and for the bulk of the show all her stuff is red.... yeah i love this show.... another one that i watched on TV (despite the messed up airing schedule.... i swear in Canada they tried to make it seem like Li was the main character....)
The animation was pretty the story was really really good... especially when i got the uncut version and saw how it was barely about the card and mostly about the different types of love that exist.... To date the second movie is probably one of my all time faves...
still the show has some issues and i couldn't put it any higher then this...
and yes i cried lots.... most memorable for me is when the nothing card hits Li.... my heart... it broke.

6. Durarara!!
Hey.... i don't think this show made me cry : D
yay~
I normally HATE non-linear story telling......
but since this show does non linear story telling in a somewhat linear way i think i really got into it....
The characters were fun, the 'twist' that's revealed midway through is interesting (though predictable) and even though some things were never explained in the anime i still really loved it all.
Plus the intro and ending songs..... so good.

5. Gankutsuou
Oh... oh this show made me cry....
This show has a single perfect moment in it that i think no show will ever top for me. the music (and lack there for for most of the scene) the sound and the way it is all framed is simply heartbreaking. I could probably write an essays worth of stuff on why 'that' scene makes me tear up just thinking about it.... but that would go into spoilers....

All i will say is that if you tried watching the show and said "these patterns hurt my eyes" then i have to ask How many episodes did you watch.
if the answer is 1 or 2, i suggest at lest watching up to the third episode.  When they get off Luna and get back to earth the craziness of the patterns dies down to the point where it's just kinda an added texture....
however i you still can't stand it past that point then fair enough... the show is not for everyone...

on a side note it's sad that an anime with a blue alien vampire parasite thing and space travel is the most faithful adaptation of the source material... it obviously changes some things but others are spot on... it's kind of surprising.

4. Clannad
I'ts funny, one time i lent this show to a friend and said "don't worry, the sad stuff doesn't happen to season 2!" then i re watched it.... and remembered Fuko's arc could get a little sad.... and Kotomi's arc could get REALLY sad.... and i apologised to her.... she retaliated by lending my the two shows i mention above that literally sent me into a panic.
Seriously did they HAVE to throw around Galaxies? did they have to supernova Jupiter..... TWICE?
NO i don't think they did.... no no no no no no no.

oh right we are talking about Clanand.
This show enjoys ripping out your heart and squeezing it tightly in front of you.... I mean Key/Visual arts tends to do that on a whole but this show perfected it..... Nagisa's arc is just..... it's just mean.

ask me a few years ago and this would have been number one... but then i got a hold of a few things that would forever change my mind.

3. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
Yes.... i know this show does the same episode 8 times...
considering i have re-watched the show at least 4 times..... trust me.... i know.... 
but hey it's not so bad if you only watch the first two and the last one....

However.... despite the endless 8 bullshit (i mean seriously it's only little chapter in the Novel... it's actually really well done in the novel) I love this show.

Yes Haruhi is kinda an annoying Genki Girl and Mikuru's voice in both languages has the ability to crack Glass.... i don't care... i am there for the snark.
Kyon is pretty much my fav snarky character ever... not just cause he may or may not be real god (No spoilers! next novel comes out in April and I'm forced to wait) not just cause despite how stupid he says he is he actually thinks about some deep and complex things. and not just cause he could change the fate of the world with one single sentence...

I love that despite all those things and haruhi's obvious crush on him... and his crush on her that he denies this show never really becomes about the romance.....
the show is about taking Kyon on adventures and keeping Haruhi in the dark about everything.
and it's just so much fun.

I know people consider the show over rated... i know a lot of people blame it for the onslaught of moe titles we saw shortly after that (i still blame K-on! for that.... sorry but haruhi was so pretty and lucky star was stylised.... K-on was just...... why are their hands so small?) but i don't care.... i liked the show when it came out originally, i love the show now that I'm reading the novels and i look forward to seeing how it ends.

2. Princess Tutu
This show is pretty damn perfect, it has a stupid title but once you get past that you are treated to such a good show.... the art is a bit stylised so i can see that turning people off and i often tell people when i lend them the series "watch till episode 13 if you can.... if you hate it by that point... your opinion probably wont change so you can give it back"
no one has returned it without really enjoying the entire thing....   and most of my friends are guys...
but that just shows how good it is....

yes it is stupid that pretty much every problem can be solved with dancing.... yes there is a character EVERYONE hates and then EVERYONE loves.... which is kinda silly but still believable...
and yes Mythos has an aversion to pants and an affinity for jumping out windows.... i don't care.
the music is spectacular and the story gets incredibly dark.... people talk about how dark Madoca magica is... and it is and I'm kinda surprised it didn't make it to my own list.... but it has NOTHING on the heart wrenching darkness that tutu puts forth.

I actually had a friend tell me "don't watch that show, it's stupid and the guy jumps out a window with no pants..."
then i watched it all and yelled at him.... i could have seen to show so much sooner.... but no i listened to his terrible advice.
The he recommended School Days...
and now i take ALL his suggestions with huge scrutiny cause School days actually sends me into a rage..... so i wont talk about it anymore...

essentially despite the terrible title.... this sow rocks.... but it's not my all time fav

1. Natsume Yuujinchou
 I compare pretty much every other show to this one..... of course it's my number one.

Once a friend asked "why do you love this show so much" and i rambled on for a good few lines about how everything was so well done.
the animation is lovely, the style is pretty interesting, the mythos i great, the episodic nature of the show works because the main character has a series long arc. The characters are impossible to define as good or evil which makes them feel more human.... all of them... even Matoba.... though he's creepy.
anyways the music is prefect and one of a few soundtracks that i can listen to most songs out of context and still really enjoy it.
and the show has all kind of moments... from happy to sad but it never feels manipulative.

also Ano hi Time Machine is such a fun song and the perfect way to describe the show.
What people see, what natsume sees.

it's just.... oh it's so good, it's another show i suggest watching at least 13 episodes of which i know is a lot but it doesn't feel like a lot, I understand it's kinda slow and not for everyone but if people would just give it a chance they would see how wonderful it is.

and before i go into gushing mode (yeah this is me holding back, kinda scary) i will end it here.

But Rai! why didn't you put *insert title here*
like I mentioned before, this is a personal list and my taste tend to lean towards slice of life with supernatural elements.
If Mech anime didn't always go to space I'd be able to watch more titles, if more shonen titles didn't focus on tournament style season arcs or having a bazillion episodes i would have more on the list. that doesn't make those shows bad they just have a harder time getting me to sit down and watch them.

but as we established.... i am a strange strange girl and i like my strange things.

hm.... maybe they next one will be fav Novels? but can i do 10 without doubling up series? ugh why do my taste in novels have to be so picky... oh well...

thanks for reading all this, why not tell me your fav shows of all time! or maybe just your favourite show for the moment. 




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