The Search Continues On: Blake (Kind of) Makes Another List

So as many of you know, summer for me has consisted of sitting around and not doing a whole lot except watching shows, playing games, and reading. Earlier today I was reminded of this post that I made a bit over a year ago now (as a fun note, my prediction of Pluto being the second manga series I'd own came true). Probably because I had to initially make a list to write that post, since then I have actually been keeping an up-to-date list of everything Japanese I have read or watched. After finishing Soul Eater today, I kind of realized how large this list has grown in the past 13 or so months. What was originally 24 items has now

more than doubled its length to around 54 items, assuming I haven't forgotten anything. So ya, considering I did have things like classes and the occasional social life, way more hours of media consumed than I had consciously realized (considering this doesn't include books and non-Japanese shows...). 

My initial plan was to try and re-do a top ten list, but even just re-glancing at my original list, I realized how ridiculously hard it would be to balance the "classic" top-ten list with new contenders. So rather than attempt this challenge, I have decided to go for the easy-out and just go with a top 10 out of the new items on the list (which starts with Abenobashi on the picture, if you're curious). Here goes nothing.

The List

10) Fate/Stay Night

This is the anime that is trying so hard to tell an excellent story, and problems just keep getting in its way. In large part because it's based on a dating-sim eroge with three branching parts, F/SN finds itself struggling to please everyone: those looking to see an adaptation of an action-packed story with a very interesting magical universe, and those looking to see Saber-chan looking cute on a date. I feel if F/SN had found its roots in manga or novel instead of a visual novel, and had not needed to cater to that particular fan-base, the anime would have been close to fantastic. However, lackluster animation, poor pacing, adherence to bad genre tropes, and a fantastically aggravating main character serve to weigh down the story. You can absolutely see the potential lying there, and it's disappointing it doesn't shine through.

As a disclaimer, I am currently working through the visual novel out of curiosity (having finished the 'Fate' route and a bit of ways into Unlimited Blade Words). The VN itself does have more, as some people have claimed, but more is not necessarily better: while you do get more information and more character development (to an extent) you also get a lot of pointless information, like tons of detail about meal contents, and again some genre conventions Nasu seemed forced to adhere to stick out sorely. 

In short, Fate/Stay Night manages to make me very confused. (After writing this, I realized I had actually done a review before: oh well.)

9) Summer Wars

I believe I already reviewed Summer Wars earlier, so I won't go into too much depth. Having watched both of the studio's recent hits (this and The Girl Who Leapt Through Time), both films are pretty great, but Summer Wars wins out by a bit not from any one aspect, but rather from me just feeling overall it's the superior film.

8) Carnival Phantasm

Carnival Phantasm is 3 "seasons" of 4 episodes that essentially serve as Type-Moon's self-parody of Fate/Stay Night and Tsukihime. I am going to make the somewhat bold claim that Carnival Phantasm makes Fate/Stay night worth watching; a few of the episodes are downright hilarious, perhaps first and foremost Berserker's First Errand (or whatever it's called). The Tsukihime portions are boring, repetitive, and (more importantly) not funny, but the portions dealing with the Fate/Stay Night characters and story are absolute gold. From personal experience it's also great to watch with friends who are also familiar with F/SN, and while it has absolutely no depth to it, it's excellent comedy featuring characters acting in fantastic fashion. If you don't feel like watching all twelve episodes, I can safely recommend each of the season openers (episodes 1, 5, and 9, respectively, which feature a Grail game-show, Berserker's First Errand, and a Grail Grand Prix). Also an opening song that is far more catchy than I feel completely comfortable admitting. 

7) Hetalia: Axis Powers (and :World Series)

I have already reviewed Axis Powers, and am mostly done with watching what's been officially dubbed of World Series (technically Seasons 3 and 4 of Axis Powers under a different name). World Series follows the same predicable pattern of 5-minute episodes with various random segments, with the only big different is a bigger emphasis on other countries such as Norway and Greece and slightly less focus on Japan, Italy, and Germany. The quality and content remain about the same, and it's probably still one of the funniest things I've felt vaguely guilty about laughing at. It's also free to watch (both dub and sub, although I highly recommend the dub) on Hulu if you're curious, but if you're looking for something with a story, definitely pass (although the show continues to be surprisingly accurate with its historical accuracy).

6) Broken Blade (sometimes called Break Blade)

I actually did a solo review for Broken Blade, so I really don't have much to add to it, especially since I have not gotten a chance to read the manga (although I do have it, just haven't gotten around to reading it). Good action, solid characters, giant robots: what's not to love?

5) Usagi Drop

My reaction when I was first described the plot of Usagi Drop (Bunny Drop) was "why would I ever want to watch that?" Luckily, I listened to the insistence to check it out, aided by its brevity (clocking in at 11 episodes). The show is very much slice-of-life: no magic, no action, simply two characters going to school, working, and generally figuring out life. Main character Daikichi is a thirty-something lifelong bachelor, just living his generally peaceful life. Upon learning of his grandfather's death, he along with his entire family discover Rin, Grandfather's six-year-old daughter, and technically Daikichi's aunt. Unsure of how to deal with this unexpected and potentially scandalous event, the family is at a loss until Daikichi unexpectedly declares he will care for Rin. 

As stated, the next 10 episodes are simply Rin and Daikichi getting to know each other, and adjusting to their new life together. The big distinguishing feature and why it places so highly on my list is simple genuineness. Rin definitely acts her age, and behaves in a very realistic manner for a six-year-old, and Daikichi, while not perfect, is a very likable individual. The anime is full of just genuinely heartwarming and "d'awww" type moments, and while the plot literally sums down to "they adjust to life together," the character interactions more than make up for a lack of any conventional plot. If you need something just made of pure happy, this is a great show. 

The only other disclaimer I would make is thoroughly avoid the manga, or reading any summary of it before watching the show. After completing it, feel free to look it up, but I urge you to not until then: while the anime ends on a great note, the manga's ending is incredibly stupid and I view the anime as 'canon' in that regard. But that is the only complaint I have with the series, and when the complaint is centered on the source material rather than the show itself, I think you know you're in pretty good shape. 

4) Ouran High School Host Club

Like many others, I reviewed OHSHC earlier, if you want to peruse my original comments. To sum it up, great cast of characters, much better plot than the genre promises, and good comedy elements alongside a remarkably well-done serious side. Good Times. 

3) Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt

I feel bad for saying this that much, but I have already written a review for P&Sw/G. Since then I have had the pleasure of previewing the upcoming English dub for the first two episodes, and I'm happy to say they seem to do an excellent job of preserving the Japanese tone. I will probably be rewatching it in its entirety once the dub drops, but other than that I don't have much to add. Hilarious, over-the-top raunchy, and a brilliant homage and parody to classic American Saturday-morning cartoons, Panty and Stocking is brief yet brilliant and continues to uphold my high impressions of Studio Gainax.

2) K-On!(!)

To begin with: Deal With It. K-On (the first season has one !, the second longer season has two !s). After hearing this show mentioned a lot on places like /r/anime, I decided to finally check it out since I was in the mood for a more light-hearted show. Happily, this show delivered, and I blasted through the almost 40ish episodes in rapid succession. In retrospect, it's not that surprising I enjoyed this show as much as I did: it offers the schoolgirl antics that made me love Azumanga Daioh combined with the excellent J-pop that Macross Frontier entranced me with. Although I do think the Macross Frontier soundtrack is still superior, considering the K-On tracklist is considerably shorter, it's still quite fun to listen to. The biggest problem along those lines is that while "Mio" is an excellent singer, alternate/main singer "Yui" is just this side of tolerable. 

Like Azumanga Daioh, K-On!! tells the story of 5 girls' high school experiences, although unlike AD the girls aren't just a group of friends, but rather 5 friends in a music club together. Yui is incredibly ditzy but able to focus on (one) thing at a time rather well, Mio is the shy type, Ricchan the energetic spaz, Mugi the more reserved, introspective sort, and Azusa's nickname Azunyan has given birth to Aaron's nickname Aaronyan. 

I honestly don't have any real complaints about the series, other than Yui singing in place of Mio in about half the songs. The show never really drags, the humor is excellent, and the songs are great. If anything, I wish it had gone on a bit longer: the 13 episodes first season blasts through years 1 and 2 of high school, whereas the 3rd and final year takes up 24 episodes, which seems the opposite of how it should be. Additionally, the manga (which I haven't read) extends a bit further into their college years, but the anime cuts off after graduation. While I think the ending note is actually great, knowing there was potentially more material they could have worked with is a bit sad, but on the bright side, the content that does exist is excellent. If you don't like slice-of-life shows (and especially ones about Japanese schoolgirls) I don't think there's anything at all here that will change your opinion, but if you're open to the genre, it's excellent. 

1) Fate/Zero

Pretty much every complaint I have regarding sequel Fate/Stay Night is solved in Fate/Zero. No stupid romance option to pursue, no characters that exist solely to flirt with the main character, and no wasted space. Instead, Fate/Zero takes full advantage of the Fate mythos, and throws 7 solidly different Heroic Spirits into direct competition with one another, assisted by 7 very different, fully fleshed-out Masters. The extra-long opening episode does a fantastic job introducing the characters and setting the tone, and after that it's all bets off, with Noble Phantasms exploding everywhere, plenty of excellent 1-on-1 fights, and backstabbing galore (literally in one case). The action is gorgeous, the music great (especially the OP and ED of the second half), the characters memorable, and the story is compelling even if you already know what's going to happen based on hints from Fate/Stay Night. I only have two complaints regarding the show. The first is a couple battles towards the very end felt rushed, although I struggle with this complaint because I don't know what I would cut in favor of the battles. The second is that Fate/Zero makes F/SN look even worse by comparison: it succeeds in every place that F/SN fails. It's one of the most interesting stories out of anything I've watched or read in the past year, and fully takes advantage of the great strengths the Fate universe offers. If you check out any anime in the near future, make it this one. 

Honorable Mentions

Angel Beats!

I summarized this anime as: "19 main characters, 8 subplots, 6 genres: 13 episodes." It has a really interesting premise and some very compelling characters, but it really showcases the creators either overambition or lack of restraint. It tries to be too many things and explore too many character when it clearly does not have the time to do so, and earns the honorary title of the anime "Jack of all Trades, master of none." Still a pretty fun watch, though.

Towa no Quon

In the near-future of Japan, strange mutants are beginning to discover their powers, but must beware a strange, secret government organization trying to hunt them down with cyborgs. As you might gather, this could be viewed as the Japanese take on the X-men story, but it pulls it off in its own way quite well. It's very prettily animated, and the action scenes are great, and most importantly the main character Quon has Shirou's mentality of "I want to save everyone" but manages to be 1000x more intelligent about it than Shirou (not that that number would be particularly large, but still). The 6-part, 40 minute OVA series is a quick watch, and has a lot to offer. My biggest issue is the storyline isn't that great, and in particular the ending has a few out-of-left field events, but its made up for with the solid set of characters and overall excellent quality. If you're looking for a solid action series, this is a good bet.

Neon Genesis Evangelion

I have already reviewed Evangelion, and the honorable mention essentially boils down to it being a very influential series that I thought was worth watching, but not great enough that I'd rewatch it anytime soon. 

___________

Anyway, that's a year's worth of top-end media, or something like that. We'll have to see if graduate school will slow down my consumption at all, or if instead my exile to the cold winters of Europe will mean higher rates of watching. Only time will tell, I suppose, but I'll see you next year for another top ten of some sort. 

-HTMC