Reminiscences of the Anime that made 2009

2009 will be over in just under an hour. We’re in the midst of New Years celebration here in New Zealand (I can hear the fireworks already!) and the rest of the world following suit. So firstly, Happy New Year everyone! Anime this year has been interesting and fun to watch for the most part. There have been endless summers, incomplete productions and lots of moe in the many different shows that aired.

Anime has easily become one of my main interests within the past two years and even amidst juggling my senior school year work, I still managed to squeeze in enough time to watch some anime this year. I had initially planned to write this earlier, but watching movies for many of the past few nights has made me reluctant to go online. But better late than never and so here are Ayano Katagiri’s picks of 2009!

Best character: Misaka Mikoto (To Aru Kagaku no Railgun)

Biribiri is easily my favourite and the best character this year. Starring in both To Aru Majutsu no Index and To Aru Kagaku no Railgun, the Tokiwadai Railgun is the combination of tsundere, moe and kickass electrical power. Last week’s ending sequence in the obligatory swimsuit episode was automatic win. <3

Most annoying character: Daichi Kakeru (Akikan!)

I honestly could not stand Kakeru and Akikan. This mainly was the result of an annoying main character that is a complete pervert and full of himself. The initial idea to the story was interesting, but the execution and character personality certainly put me off. I’ll say no more.

Best OVA: Code Geass R2 – Zero Requiem

Code Geass is definitely one of the greatest anime of all time in my books and Lelouch’s feats as Zero were badass. This Zero Requiem OVA was a summary of R2 done in two hours and although there was no new material, it cut out all the filler and random attempts at slice-of-life in Ashford Academy. The focus on Lelouch’s quest for Zero Requiem was an amazing masterpiece and the reason why Code Geass is one of my favourite anime.

Most messed up/wtf anime: Umineko no Naku Koro ni/Asura Cryin’

This is a bit of a tie between Umineko no Naku Koro ni and Asura Cryin’, both series lacked explanations and really just didn’t make a whole lot of sense on their own. Asura Cryin’ was mysterious, a fantasy mecha anime that didn’t give a lot of explanations to what was going on (until season 2 I believe?). I’ve said before that watching Umineko as a stand alone was a complete

mindfuck and I still maintain that. I doubt I would have made the effort to watch the anime through to the end if I hadn’t been filling the gaps by reading the posts and spoilers posted by VN readers. The series of events that seemed to make absolutely no sense at all have now prompted me to get the VN, play through the entire the VN and catch up to Chiru. Yui Horie’s kihihihihi for Maria were awesome, I can’t get enough of the creepy occult girl’s cackle.

Anime I wished I had made the effort to watch this year: Darker than Black

There are countless anime which aired this year that I would have loved to have been able to watch, and this would have gone to Bakemonogatari or Saki if I hadn’t already started to watch them this month. Bakemonogatari is a great an unique anime and considering how it’s been touted by some as the “best anime of ‘09′”, I look forward to finishing it. The latter, Saki, combines just about every single genre and as underMebius put it “appeals to all fetishes”. Saki has mahjong, plenty of yuri and references to Nodoka’s oppai. Other than these two, I’ve heard DtB is a great anime and so will be something I’ll try to get to watch within the next month before vacation ends. I only just realised that this year’s one was a sequel to the 2007 S1, most likely the reason I passed it by when it aired.

Worst Anime: Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu S2/Kampfer/Yoku Wakaru Gendai Mahou

Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu (2009)/The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya S2 stood out this year as a controversial anime that ripped and tore apart the high expectations of fans. Endless Eight brought forth Haruhi’s power of the endless summer into 8 episodes of more or less the same thing. Who knows what KyoAni/Kadokawa were thinking when this was decided but it seems their plan wasn’t exactly a failure with E8 DVD sales still reaching reasonable figures. Haruhi S2 was basically 8 episodes long; pick any of the first seven E8 episodes, the last E8, Bamboo Rhapsody and the 5 of The Sigh was the only new additions. With the Disappearance coming as a movie, I don’t know if this will be something worth waiting for.

Kampfer really lost the plot early on. So much for the “Kampfers must fight each other” idea and this show degraded into only ecchi and fanservice. The anime just got worse and worse, becoming almost unbearable to watch. And what was up with that last episode? I wish I had dropped this series much earlier. Yoku Wakaru Gendai Mahou wasn’t much better. The only mahou that I can remember being used is the “剣と風、わがコード!” (Turn to swords, my Code!). So much for it being a show about understand modern magic.

Best catchphrase of 2009: Moe Moe Kyun / Kyon-kun denwa~

K-ON!’s Moe Moe Kyun or Endless Eight’s Kyon-kun denwa speak for themselves.

Best Anime of 2009: Clannad ~After Story~

K-ON! should get a mention here because of Azu-nyan and it’s popularity seems to be endless with the announcement of a second season, but it doesn’t beat the awesome masterpiece that is Clannad ~After Story~. Currently rated the Top Anime Series of All Time on MAL, after watching it I could understand why. I loved Clannad, it’s a heart moving and well constructed anime where nothing really felt out of place. There are plenty of likeable characters, the slice-of-life comedy is executed impeccably. Although I somewhat didn’t like how it reached the “time travelling” ending, it was still a great anime to watch. Funny and down-to-earth, the characters are all likeable and most play some significant role throughout the two seasons. This definitely makes it as my anime of 2009.

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And so ends 2009 and my first full year at blogging. It’s been fun, having a blog to express one’s own opinion is a delight. If anything, watching anime in 2009 has confirmed for me that I do like slice-of-life comedies and supernatural action type anime and am slowly warming to horror anime.

Also, underMebius will be joining me with posting on here from now. Other anime interests vary a bit (he’s watched a lot more than I have) so I’m looking forward to reading his posts. :3

Thanks to everyone reading and again, Happy New Year 2010!

[Via http://shadowsofeternity.wordpress.com]

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