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since 2008 is almost done with, and I just had free time..

With the end of 2007 just around the corner, one can’t help but look back on the year that has passed and wonder, was all that time that I spent watching this stuff actually worth it? Which led me, like so many other bloggers out there, to compile a list of anime worth of “Best of…” titles. To qualify for the list, all an anime had to do was to have an episode aired during 2007, meaning carryovers from 2006 are fair game.

These are of course highly opinionated, based on my personal preferences and etc. Hell, there were quite a few series that people raved about that I didn’t even watch, but personal bias aside, I feel that I was fair in my evaluation. So, without further ado…

There was a ton of series that you could lump under the comedy genre this year, so picking one wasn’t easy. What I find most important in comedy is variety, if the same old jokes are repeated over and over with no changes, no matter how funny it was the first time, the fun fades quickly. This was a problem that various comedies like Hayate no Gotoku, Lucky Star and Nagasarete Airantou faced. I picked Minami-ke because the formula is simple and entertaining, short and sweet comedy sketches varying in comedic range, everything from slapstick humor to double entendre puns. Plus the characters and their interactions are great, I mean how many anime series can boast a trap AND a reverse trap, not to mention Chiaki’s “bakayarou”, Haruka-neesama’s banchou past and Kana’s I AM BOSS. When you throw it all together you get a great comedy that has never once left me an episode without laughing out loud.

If there’s one thing that we’re never short on, it’s harems and romance dramas, with the vast amount of visual novels out there that are adapted to anime series, it’s tough to pick just one. But this little gem of an anime came around at the end of the year and trampled the competition. Ef -a tale of memories- basically took the awesome drama that I love in harem anime and removed the notion of a wimpy male lead, often the destructive force in said series. This award was a toss up between Ef and Kimikiss, and while I think Kimikiss is a more down to earth romance, one that you could perhaps relate to in your high school years, Ef came out on top with its many instances of “WTF! Did that actually just happen?!”. The complex relationships formed over the series, divided over two overarching stories were brilliant, while I found myself much more emotionally vested in Miyamura’s arc, both hers and Chihiro’s were well executed. Perhaps the only detraction would be SHAFT’s odd style, which while not exactly bad, is somewhat of an acquired taste.

There’s no question in my mind that Gurren Lagann deserves this award, I couldn’t even find decent competition for it (preemptive counter: no, I did not watch Darker than Black). From the very beginning Gurren Lagann was all about large scale mecha battles, completely disregarding the governing laws of physics, kicking reason to the curb, and etc. The battles may not have been as complex and intricate as say, Code Geass, but the scale that was fought on and the visuals just can’t be beat. Call me simple for thinking that pretty explosions and fluid animation make Gurren Lagann superior, but visual appeal is pretty much the basis of this category, just go back and watch the latter half of episode 15 or the final confrontation between Simon and the anti-spiral if you need further convincing.

I don’t think this one needs any justification, there are very few out there that would argue against the visual superiority of Makoto Shinkai’s works. He may not be animating galactic mecha battles or close quarter melee combat, but damn his backgrounds are beautiful. Everything from the movement of the clouds, snow and cherry petals to the attention to detail with shadows and lighting is masterfully done. The only slight complaint I have is that his character designs could use a bit of work. It may be unfair to give this award to Byousoku seeing as it’s a movie which took upwards of a year to produce and movies/OVAs always have superior budgets and completion deadlines, but when you’re faced with such a work of art, how can you help but praise it.

Best Death: Itou Makoto (School Days)



There were a lot of anime deaths this year, hell, Gurren Lagann killed off nearly half the main cast and Claymore killed off…well, almost everyone. But the best death of the year has to go to Itou Makoto from School Days. After sleeping with virtually every girl who had a line in the anime, s**t finally hits the fan when he gets Sekai pregnant, refuses to acknowledge the baby and runs off with Katsura. After putting up with so much, Sekai finally snaps and carves the b*****d up with a kitchen knife. This was perhaps the most satisfying anime death I’ve ever witnessed, for 11 long episodes we saw Makoto’s playboy ways put Sekai and Katsura through immense suffering until karma rears its ugly head and it all catches up with him in the worst possible way. The sheer anticipation the anime community had over that one scene was mind boggling, never before have I seen so many people unite to wish death upon one mere mortal.

Byousoku 5 Centimeter was a painful movie to watch. Many of Makoto Shinkai’s previous works were centered on the theme of distance, ie. separation from those who you love. In the past this was achieved through unsurmountable physical or metaphysical distancing, separation by hundreds of lightyears (Voices of a Distant Star) or disconnection with reality (Place Promised in Our Early Days). But Byousoku 5cm hit much closer to home, examining the difficulties of long distance relationships. And it all came together in the final montage as we see the unfortunate truth that love doesn’t always conquer all, that strong feelings fade into nothing but memories and as painful as it may be, there’s nothing to do but move forward towards a new life. That powerful message along with Masayoshi Yamazaki’s ‘One More Time, One More Chance” taking the musical foreground, I was literally moved to tears by this scene.

Last, but anything but least, the best overall anime of 2007. Gurren Lagann was a wild ride from start to finish, from Kamina’s fearless speech in episode 1 to Simon and Nia’s final charge in episode 27 the entire series was brimming with awesome. Admittedly, GL’s plot wasn’t anything revolutionary, plenty of series in the past have used a variant of GL’s “Kick reason to the curb and believe in yourself” motto but GL took it to the extreme and didn’t try to take itself too seriously. The quirky physics, hot blooded GAR and ridiculous, eventually galactic, scale of this series melded together to make it just plain fun to watch. Usually I nitpick about every little detail when there are inconsistencies in almost everything as there were in Gurren Lagann, but I found myself able to sit back and enjoy myself for 24 minutes at a time every Sunday night. I’m not calling Gurren Lagann perfect, nothing is, but there’s no denying that it was a terrific anime and in my opinion, the best of 2007.