2009 fandoms highlights - part I
Now that the year's almost over, here are some highlights of what I watched, read, and listened to during 2009. It's kind of like a super extended version of this meme, except this time I want to babble about my choices more so I'm splitting it into three parts. The other two entries should be posted in the remaining days of 2009...because I'm that free \o/
For my reference (lol), these are roughly all the series I've watched/read this year. Note that they don't have to be released/aired/etc in 2009, as long as I watched/read/finished the series in 2009 then they shall do. Rewatches don't count though.
TEN FAVOURITE ANISONS IN 2009:
10. Seiza by Suara
YOUTUBE
I only discovered the song from Animelo 2008 earlier this year; it probably beats Kimi Ga Tame and MOON PHASE as my favourite Suara ballad. (And haha, thanks for the YT upload yuuram_jak0lotr! xD)
09. Trust You by Ito Yuna
YOUTUBE
While it's far from my favourite Yuna song in 2009 (surprisingly I much prefer Let it go - and that isn't even a ballad...!), it's still a truly beautiful piece accompanied with an amazing ending animation that got me to loop it unlimited times at the beginning of the year. Some says the lyrics is supposed to portray Saji/Louise and Lyle/Anew's relationship (with Alle/Marie left out like usual, of course), but somehow I never affiliate the song with those two couples...much. One of my favourite memories of this song is actually Hallelujah's hummings in the drama CD though. *laughs*
08. Dear My Friend -Mada Minu Mirai he- by ELISA
YOUTUBE
Finally another ELISA song that I love since Hikari! This time it's something positive and bright that can cheer you up when you are down. Maybe it's just me, but I also find it amusing that it sounds so much like what Mizuki Nana in the old days would sing. Like, I can easily imagine Nana's voice in it instead o.o;
07. Again by YUI
YOUTUBE
Since they mostly played Uso in the FMA:B promos, I never knew Again was the real opening until I started watching the anime - and I didn't realize how well the lyrics fit the story until recently. It took quite a while for the song to grow on me as I liked Uso a lot at first, but after several listenings I actually prefer it over the former. It's also the song that introduced me to YUI; I was surprised to find out how young her voice is!
06. Golden Time Lover by Sukima Switch
YOUTUBE
...Now now, I would never have thought a funky song like this one would ever appear on my "Top 10 songs in the year xxxx" list, as it's far from the style/genre that I usually like. It's partly due to the stunning accompanying animation that BONES put on; when I'm listening to it every time I just have to remember that sense of trill seeing Olivier all mighty with her grand army behind her on top of the snowy wall.
And I was amazed at how many of those english phrases I was able to pick out without looking at the lyrics, considering how often I mishear english lyrics in japanese songs. I was like, "What? Did I just hear POKER FACE?" lol
05. Ao no Ether by Nakajima Megumi
YOUTUBE
One of the most underrated Ranka songs out there (and imho, probably Megumi's best), as the world was all hyped with the "キラッ！" craze in Seikan Hikou. The live performance at the Budokan live was beyond beautiful; it made me enjoyed the song three times more ever since. I didn't realize how much depth the lyrics has until I read a certain Chinese translation of it either...
04. Unmei no Hito by Fujida Maiko
YOUTUBE
Let's get this straight, it's all thanks to this Lockon/Tieria MAD that I discovered the song (I believe it was a theme song of some BL game? Who cares though, it's a beautiful song even by itself alone), and ever since then I never stopped looping it everyday. I simply love the sadness and nostalgia of it, and the whole concept of soul mate ;w; I have always wished someone would make a Tomoya/Nagisa AMV out of it someday too, as the lyrics also fit them well (from Tomoya's POV, of course).
03. Let it Out by Fukuhara Miho
YOUTUBE
My favourite FMA ending theme ♥♥♥ I love the third ED a lot too, but I simply can't help but miss hearing Let it Out at the end of every episode. And you just have to agree that it's the perfect ending song for episode 22. Ohhh the Ed/Winry goodness ♥ \o/
02. Sousei no Aquarion by AKINO
YOUTUBE
Never watched the show with the same title, but oh dear this is another of my favourite songs from Kanno Yoko along with Platinum and Diamond Crevasse! The live performance at Animelo 2008 was simply breathtaking. And oh god the lyrics. THE LYRICS. I just have to mention the lyrics because you still hear me playing around with it every now and then. *laughs* They make the song five times more memorable, if the melody alone wasn't memorable enough already. I also love the English counterpart of it, Genesis of Aquarion.
01. Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari by Supercell
BAKEMONOGATARI ENDING THEME
YOUTUBE
Finally the big winner of 2009! Lots of people will probably agree with me, it's the big selling ending theme of a certain anime that stirred up all the Senjougahara fascination craze after all. To put it simply, Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari isn't only one of the best in 2009, but also one of the best anime songs ever written. Despite the pop-ish style and background music, the vocals are soft to the ears. It's something that you don't hear often. And many thumbs up to the lyrics -written specifically for episode 12 of the show- you'd be surprised to find out the depth and the charmingness of it after watching the show. Scratch that, just watching the episode should be good enough. In order to further convince you its awesomeness, the song held the first place at Gendou's ranking for months ever since its release -with over 1600 ratings- even up to today. Alright, I should stop talking now. JUST LISTEN TO IT, PEOPLEZ.
BEST OPENING SEQUENCE:
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood OP3 - Golden Time Lover by Sukima Switch
YOUTUBE LINK
Because I'm lazy like that, c&p'ing from here: The animation and storyboard is freaking AMAZING. I love how they can showcase so many characters in a merely 1:30 opening sequence, and foreshadow the events that are going to happen in the associated episodes at the same time (And it's those kind of foreshadowing that won't make too much sense until you have seen the episodes so it doesn't spoil too much). I especially love the Olivier scene for some reasons - the combination of her mightiness and her standing on top of a snowy wall with an army behind her with super fluid animation was simply thrilling to watch. Plus Edward in that black shirt is made of pure win ♥
Honourable Mentions: Hakanaku mo Towa no Kanashi, You Raise Me Up, Bakemonogatari OPs
BEST ENDING SEQUENCE:
Gundam 00 Second Season ED2 - Trust You by Ito Yuna
YAHOO LINK
A perfect continuation of Prototype - I loved all those beautiful imageries and foreshadowing in the first ending a lot already, so it's amazing to see the animated version of several freeze-frames in the older sequence. The imagery used in this ending is no less powerful than its predecessor, this time with all those rusting Gundam and clothings to symbolize the end of war and the interactions between the main characters (although as a biased Tieria fangirl, I'm quite sad to see everyone's clothings getting paired up while Tieria's were sinking inside some random fluid all alone ;A;). No honourable mention this time because Trust You beats everything else by a long shot in this category imho.
BEST OVERALL MUSIC: Macross Frontier
This one is a super easy choice. *laughs* Kanno Yoko + May'n + Nakajima Megumi = PURE WIN ♥♥♥ I started watching Macross F in January/February, and ever since I've been looping its OSTs almost everyday...yeah, "almost" because I didn't have the guts to during my final exams orz. Anyway. Some of my favourite tracks include Diamond Crevasse, Iteza Gogo Kyuuji Don't be Late, Northern Cross, Infinity #7, Neko Nikki, Ao no Ether, Anata no Oto, Aimo O.C., Lion, Universal Bunny, Eien, and Obelisk. Tl;dr, it'd be faster to ask me which songs I didn't like.
FAVOURITE SEIYUU: ......
It's difficult to start this, so let's mention all my favourite stars this year one by one. Females first, Nakahara Mai's performance as Nagisa in Clannad would forever stay in my heart. It's such a sweet, sweet girl-next-door voice, every time she says "Tomoya-kun" the world brightens up for me. Yes I'm serious. On the other hand, Saitou Chiwa's Louise Halevy from Gundam 00 and Senjougahara Hitagi from Bakemonogatari stole almost everyone's hearts (especially the latter), including mine. She managed to pull of Hitagi so well, surprising many audiences as many of her bigger roles used to be loud lolis...or at least anything far from the sarcastic, mature type. Nakajima Megumi also deserves some mention for her debut as Ranka Lee from Macross Frontier, mostly from the singing department. Onto the males, Nakamura Yuuichi has been really consistent with his roles as Alto (Macross), Graham (Gundam 00...the drama CDs were gold ohohoho), Greed (FMA) and of course my favourite, Okazaki Tomoya from Clannad. And then Miki Shinichirou steals my heart every time he speaks he simply steals my heart with his sexy voice as Lockon, Roy and...oh yes I just reminded myself that I want more Okiura. But despite all those awesome people mentioned above, my shiny favourite seiyuu award goes to...
Kamiya Hiroshi
Because that guy's voice acting is beyond amazing. I lost count how many series I watched this year had him in it already (Gundam, Macross F, Bakemono, Earl and Fairy, Kobato, Digimon F, SZS, Natsume...anything else?) and he was perfect in every one of them, whether he is playing a kind gentleman or a skirt chaser or a b*tchy giant robot pilot or a regular perverted teenager. Out of all his roles I like Araragi Koyomi from Bakemonogatari the best, probably because he shows the widest range of emotion within the show. I mean, you've got everything from narration to natural conversations to quiet (or not) complaints to painful screams. Oh god that was thrilling to hear. xD; Anyway. His voice doesn't change much among those characters mentioned above unlike some other seiyuus with hundred-different-voices (Sawashiro Miyuki and Orikasa Fumiko, anyone?), but rather, it's the way he talks -the tone- that changes. Minus the extreme high-and-low pitches in those crack Gundam dramas, of course.
Dear lord this turns out to be way longer than I expected. Part II should be on characters and pairings, that's if I manage to type it up within the next few days. xD;
For my reference (lol), these are roughly all the series I've watched/read this year. Note that they don't have to be released/aired/etc in 2009, as long as I watched/read/finished the series in 2009 then they shall do. Rewatches don't count though.
TEN FAVOURITE ANISONS IN 2009:
10. Seiza by Suara
YOUTUBE
I only discovered the song from Animelo 2008 earlier this year; it probably beats Kimi Ga Tame and MOON PHASE as my favourite Suara ballad. (And haha, thanks for the YT upload yuuram_jak0lotr! xD)
09. Trust You by Ito Yuna
YOUTUBE
While it's far from my favourite Yuna song in 2009 (surprisingly I much prefer Let it go - and that isn't even a ballad...!), it's still a truly beautiful piece accompanied with an amazing ending animation that got me to loop it unlimited times at the beginning of the year. Some says the lyrics is supposed to portray Saji/Louise and Lyle/Anew's relationship (with Alle/Marie left out like usual, of course), but somehow I never affiliate the song with those two couples...much. One of my favourite memories of this song is actually Hallelujah's hummings in the drama CD though. *laughs*
08. Dear My Friend -Mada Minu Mirai he- by ELISA
YOUTUBE
Finally another ELISA song that I love since Hikari! This time it's something positive and bright that can cheer you up when you are down. Maybe it's just me, but I also find it amusing that it sounds so much like what Mizuki Nana in the old days would sing. Like, I can easily imagine Nana's voice in it instead o.o;
07. Again by YUI
YOUTUBE
Since they mostly played Uso in the FMA:B promos, I never knew Again was the real opening until I started watching the anime - and I didn't realize how well the lyrics fit the story until recently. It took quite a while for the song to grow on me as I liked Uso a lot at first, but after several listenings I actually prefer it over the former. It's also the song that introduced me to YUI; I was surprised to find out how young her voice is!
06. Golden Time Lover by Sukima Switch
YOUTUBE
...Now now, I would never have thought a funky song like this one would ever appear on my "Top 10 songs in the year xxxx" list, as it's far from the style/genre that I usually like. It's partly due to the stunning accompanying animation that BONES put on; when I'm listening to it every time I just have to remember that sense of trill seeing Olivier all mighty with her grand army behind her on top of the snowy wall.
And I was amazed at how many of those english phrases I was able to pick out without looking at the lyrics, considering how often I mishear english lyrics in japanese songs. I was like, "What? Did I just hear POKER FACE?" lol
05. Ao no Ether by Nakajima Megumi
YOUTUBE
One of the most underrated Ranka songs out there (and imho, probably Megumi's best), as the world was all hyped with the "キラッ！" craze in Seikan Hikou. The live performance at the Budokan live was beyond beautiful; it made me enjoyed the song three times more ever since. I didn't realize how much depth the lyrics has until I read a certain Chinese translation of it either...
04. Unmei no Hito by Fujida Maiko
YOUTUBE
Let's get this straight, it's all thanks to this Lockon/Tieria MAD that I discovered the song (I believe it was a theme song of some BL game? Who cares though, it's a beautiful song even by itself alone), and ever since then I never stopped looping it everyday. I simply love the sadness and nostalgia of it, and the whole concept of soul mate ;w; I have always wished someone would make a Tomoya/Nagisa AMV out of it someday too, as the lyrics also fit them well (from Tomoya's POV, of course).
03. Let it Out by Fukuhara Miho
YOUTUBE
My favourite FMA ending theme ♥♥♥ I love the third ED a lot too, but I simply can't help but miss hearing Let it Out at the end of every episode. And you just have to agree that it's the perfect ending song for episode 22. Ohhh the Ed/Winry goodness ♥ \o/
02. Sousei no Aquarion by AKINO
YOUTUBE
Never watched the show with the same title, but oh dear this is another of my favourite songs from Kanno Yoko along with Platinum and Diamond Crevasse! The live performance at Animelo 2008 was simply breathtaking. And oh god the lyrics. THE LYRICS. I just have to mention the lyrics because you still hear me playing around with it every now and then. *laughs* They make the song five times more memorable, if the melody alone wasn't memorable enough already. I also love the English counterpart of it, Genesis of Aquarion.
01. Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari by Supercell
BAKEMONOGATARI ENDING THEME
YOUTUBE
Finally the big winner of 2009! Lots of people will probably agree with me, it's the big selling ending theme of a certain anime that stirred up all the Senjougahara fascination craze after all. To put it simply, Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari isn't only one of the best in 2009, but also one of the best anime songs ever written. Despite the pop-ish style and background music, the vocals are soft to the ears. It's something that you don't hear often. And many thumbs up to the lyrics -written specifically for episode 12 of the show- you'd be surprised to find out the depth and the charmingness of it after watching the show. Scratch that, just watching the episode should be good enough. In order to further convince you its awesomeness, the song held the first place at Gendou's ranking for months ever since its release -with over 1600 ratings- even up to today. Alright, I should stop talking now. JUST LISTEN TO IT, PEOPLEZ.
BEST OPENING SEQUENCE:
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood OP3 - Golden Time Lover by Sukima Switch
YOUTUBE LINK
Because I'm lazy like that, c&p'ing from here: The animation and storyboard is freaking AMAZING. I love how they can showcase so many characters in a merely 1:30 opening sequence, and foreshadow the events that are going to happen in the associated episodes at the same time (And it's those kind of foreshadowing that won't make too much sense until you have seen the episodes so it doesn't spoil too much). I especially love the Olivier scene for some reasons - the combination of her mightiness and her standing on top of a snowy wall with an army behind her with super fluid animation was simply thrilling to watch. Plus Edward in that black shirt is made of pure win ♥
Honourable Mentions: Hakanaku mo Towa no Kanashi, You Raise Me Up, Bakemonogatari OPs
BEST ENDING SEQUENCE:
Gundam 00 Second Season ED2 - Trust You by Ito Yuna
YAHOO LINK
A perfect continuation of Prototype - I loved all those beautiful imageries and foreshadowing in the first ending a lot already, so it's amazing to see the animated version of several freeze-frames in the older sequence. The imagery used in this ending is no less powerful than its predecessor, this time with all those rusting Gundam and clothings to symbolize the end of war and the interactions between the main characters (although as a biased Tieria fangirl, I'm quite sad to see everyone's clothings getting paired up while Tieria's were sinking inside some random fluid all alone ;A;). No honourable mention this time because Trust You beats everything else by a long shot in this category imho.
BEST OVERALL MUSIC: Macross Frontier
This one is a super easy choice. *laughs* Kanno Yoko + May'n + Nakajima Megumi = PURE WIN ♥♥♥ I started watching Macross F in January/February, and ever since I've been looping its OSTs almost everyday...yeah, "almost" because I didn't have the guts to during my final exams orz. Anyway. Some of my favourite tracks include Diamond Crevasse, Iteza Gogo Kyuuji Don't be Late, Northern Cross, Infinity #7, Neko Nikki, Ao no Ether, Anata no Oto, Aimo O.C., Lion, Universal Bunny, Eien, and Obelisk. Tl;dr, it'd be faster to ask me which songs I didn't like.
FAVOURITE SEIYUU: ......
It's difficult to start this, so let's mention all my favourite stars this year one by one. Females first, Nakahara Mai's performance as Nagisa in Clannad would forever stay in my heart. It's such a sweet, sweet girl-next-door voice, every time she says "Tomoya-kun" the world brightens up for me. Yes I'm serious. On the other hand, Saitou Chiwa's Louise Halevy from Gundam 00 and Senjougahara Hitagi from Bakemonogatari stole almost everyone's hearts (especially the latter), including mine. She managed to pull of Hitagi so well, surprising many audiences as many of her bigger roles used to be loud lolis...or at least anything far from the sarcastic, mature type. Nakajima Megumi also deserves some mention for her debut as Ranka Lee from Macross Frontier, mostly from the singing department. Onto the males, Nakamura Yuuichi has been really consistent with his roles as Alto (Macross), Graham (Gundam 00...the drama CDs were gold ohohoho), Greed (FMA) and of course my favourite, Okazaki Tomoya from Clannad. And then Miki Shinichirou steals my heart every time he speaks he simply steals my heart with his sexy voice as Lockon, Roy and...oh yes I just reminded myself that I want more Okiura. But despite all those awesome people mentioned above, my shiny favourite seiyuu award goes to...
Kamiya Hiroshi
Because that guy's voice acting is beyond amazing. I lost count how many series I watched this year had him in it already (Gundam, Macross F, Bakemono, Earl and Fairy, Kobato, Digimon F, SZS, Natsume...anything else?) and he was perfect in every one of them, whether he is playing a kind gentleman or a skirt chaser or a b*tchy giant robot pilot or a regular perverted teenager. Out of all his roles I like Araragi Koyomi from Bakemonogatari the best, probably because he shows the widest range of emotion within the show. I mean, you've got everything from narration to natural conversations to quiet (or not) complaints to painful screams. Oh god that was thrilling to hear. xD; Anyway. His voice doesn't change much among those characters mentioned above unlike some other seiyuus with hundred-different-voices (Sawashiro Miyuki and Orikasa Fumiko, anyone?), but rather, it's the way he talks -the tone- that changes. Minus the extreme high-and-low pitches in those crack Gundam dramas, of course.
Dear lord this turns out to be way longer than I expected. Part II should be on characters and pairings, that's if I manage to type it up within the next few days. xD;