Looking back at 2011
Where shall we go next?
Late as usual but here goes ^^; It's been a little over a year and four months since my first journal entry. Ah, how I kept bringing up things I'd like to translate only to never get around to doing them. I'd like to apologise once more for the ever decreasing updates. Most of my fanboying and news updates have been on twitter as of late but fear not, the blog will still have my usual translations and entries up whenever I get the urge to put them up. I'll also strive to have more dvd/bd/book/merchandise reviews up (I've been preparing the pictures but never the actual reviews...). The rotating banner needs to be updated too.
Now for the main dish, my personal selection of the top 6 anime series that have won me over the past year.As with the first one I did, there really is no real ranking except for the first spot. I like them all for different reasons and can't really make up my mind about how to rank them. I even included the two series that I considered the biggest surprise and biggest letdown of the year respectively.
Before I begin, I'd like to correct my 2010 ranking by giving a special mention to The Tatami Galaxy (Yojohan Shinwa Taikei). I never got around to watching it that year despite it grabbing my interest and when I finally did, I was awestruck. Tatami Galaxy is nothing short of brilliant with it's fast spoken dialogue, unconventional character designs and crazy animation by Madhouse and Masaaki Yuasa. For that it earns the title of Best TV Anime of 2010. (Katanagatari is still an top-tier show, of course)
Without further ado...
Best TV Anime of 2011
1. Mawaru Penguindrum
Penguindrum
Oh Penguindrum, I love you so much. It hit all the right buttons with me from start to finish. I even proclaimed that it would be in the running to be my favourite show of the year by the end of the first episode itself a thoughts about this and boy was I not let down. I'll let my AS forum post on the last episode thread convey my feelings:
"Oh my god, this ending. I'm still thoroughly electrified. Fabulous max doesn't even begin to express how I feel about the final episode. Almost every scene was amazing. Each character getting the focus they deserve and the emotions that were conveyed through the great imagery, stunningly beautiful soundtrack and the voice actors performances. Just so goddamn amazing. I'm thoroughly satisfied and more.
Ikuhara, you bastard you. Don't come up with a new series so soon. I don't think I can handle the fabulous max."
Penguindrum also earns the award of being the show with the most infectious catchphrases. You're bound to have one of them stuck in your head by the end (All of them, in my case). I'm afraid I'll have to leave it at here before I end up writing a long love letter about the show.
2. Hourou Musuko
Wandering Son
Based on the manga by Takako Shimura, this beautifully told tale of a boy who wishes to be a girl and a girl who wishes to be a boy really struck me hard and left a strong impression. This rare little gem truly embodies the soul of the noitaminA block. It's not often at all that you see anime tackle an issue such as Gender Dissociative Disorder with such maturity and for that I salute the production committee who decided to go through with such a high quality undertaking.
Of course, the author herself deserves most of the credit for giving life into this series in the first place. Sure the characters tend to appear rather mature for their age but that's a trivial matter in the grand scheme of things. Also worth praising is AIC Classic's utterly gorgeous backdrops, watercolour effects and soothing music. Shuichi in his crossdressed form exploring town with the track Onna no Ko no Kimochi (A Girl's Feelings) playing is but one of the many scenes that display the calming beauty of the show, much like watching an episode of Natsume Yuujinchou. They're vastly different but to me the result is the same: A feel good show I could watch to lift my spirits up and just be happy for a moment.
3. Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon
Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere
Sunrise really went all out with this. The production quality and fight choreography is some of the best I've seen throughout the year (Soundtrack too). The cast it huge but each have their own personalities that make them unique and stand out whenever their time to shine comes. The setting is massive and very in depth to the point people have been put off by it but to me, that's what makes it so good. It also helps that the story itself tends to not take itself seriously at times (i.e. the epilogue of the last episode). There's just so much fun to be had in this show but at the same time there's actually a really interesting story going on.
4. Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai.
anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day
I'll go ahead and say that the cast of Ano Hana shed tears virtually every episode (Hi Menma) to the point it felt excessive but I'll be damned if it didn't make me feel like shedding a tear or two with them. This was a touching story of a group of friends coping with death and their individual problems. The soundtrack by REMEDIOS and the OP/ED are also worth giving a listen to. Maybe you'll start remembering about the friends you haven't seen since forever or that special one you never had the chance to know? =)
5. Mahou Shoujo Madoka☆Magica
Puella Magi Madoka☆Magica
SHAFT x Akiyuki Shinbo x Gen Urobuchi x Yuki Kajiura x umeaoki x Kishida Takahiro. I don't think much needs to be said anymore. Went in full of expectations and came out with all of them met and more. While it did not make it as my top choice of the year, it is definitely the biggest hit of 2011. Just look around, you can't miss it.
6. Steins;Gate
Time travel. If there's one thing it never fails to do it would be giving people headaches as they try to work out the mechanics and little knick knacks surrounding it. Steins;Gate is a model example of good sci-fi anime with a good cast of characters to boot. All that time travel adventures across different world lines and the realm of endless possibilities was wonderfully complimented with our zany mad scientist Okabe Rinta- no, Houhouin Kyouma's growing relationship with one of the most impressive female leads of the year, Christiiiina! (It's not "-tina"!)
In series jokes aside, I really enjoyed watching Okabe and Kurisu interact. Such chemistry they have! By the time you're done with this roller coaster of time travel, deception, truth, twists, turns, despair, hope, tuturuu~ and even budding romance you'll find yourself saying "El Psy Congroo". It's so cool, sonuvabitch!
A bit of a shame that I felt Feyris and Rukako's key episodes were a bit of a drag to watch.
Biggest Surprise of 2011
Oretachi ni Tsubasa wa Nai -under the innocent sky.
We Without Wings -Under the Innocent Sky.
If I had been given a brief description of every show that would air in 2011, never would I have imagined that I would end up liking Oretsuba so much. What appeared to be just another eroge adaptation full of fanservice and nothing else turned out to be highly enjoyable and (do I dare say it?) clever. Oretsuba is filled to the brim with random fanservice segments that feel odd at first but actually become fun once you get the gist of what's going on. The cast are all mostly wacky and likable that I found myself fond of all the main heroes (Takashi is debatable but he won me over with his siscon lecture) and heroines, a rare feat worthy praise. Throw in an actual story amongst all this T&A, parodies and whatnot and we have ourselves a winner.
Biggest Disappointment of 2011
No.6
From AS forums:
"Such a shame, I really enjoyed the show. The voice acting was really good too. Shion and Nezumi's chemistry and interactions were one of the show's strongest points. I liked that Safu was supposedly fleshed out more, though at the expense of well... the ending. OP/ED were a good listen and quite addictive too."
Boy did No.6 shit all over itself in the last episode or what. I won't go into specifics but what started as an intriguing little dystopic sci-fi show with an equally intriguing relationship between the main pair suddenly takes a turn for the worst and left me scratching my head before sighing at what could have been if magical deus ex machina rainbow wasp gods, yellow tornadoes and questionable character decisions had not suddenly popped up in the finale. Yeah you heard me right, magical rainbow wasp gods and yellow tornadoes.
There are still plenty of shows worth mentioning but I've already written enough and it's really late.
So with that I bid you all a belated Happy New Year. I'll always be trying to do whatever I can on this humble blog of mine!
May your galaxy continue to shine!