top ten anime of 2013

 One of the anime blog traditions is to name your list of favorite anime for the year, and it sounds like a tradition that I should probably partake in.

 

As all top ten lists seem to need warning and the like here are my personal conditions for the list. To make the list they must be an anime series that finished In 2013. That is my explanation for Silver Spoon, Golden Time, Log Horizon and the like not being on the list. Also they must be shows that I finished, currently I am behind with Monogatari and need to catch up on the second season of Chihayafuru otherwise they might be on the list as well.Beyond that the usual disclaimer of this is all my personal opinion but isn't that always the case with anime blogs? So without further rambling here is my list in no particular order.

 

1.Eccentric family
This was a mostly unheard of drama that caught my eye. It was also the first audio review that I ever did.

 

2.Attack on Titan

This was the breakout title of the year and this time I was swept up on this hype train. If you are somehow the anime community equivalent of living in a cave I suggest you watch this dark action show.

 

3,From the new world

This was a really interesting show that stretched the boundaries of what I thought science fiction was capable of and is one of the most mature anime shows I have seen in a while.

 

4.My youth comedy is wrong as expected

This show is perhaps one of the best light novel adaptations I have seen in a while. It subtley subverts many of the stereotypes that plague high school romantic comedies and is really fun.

 

5.Gargantia

This is perhaps the most original mecha show I have seen in years. The sheer creativity in both story and visuals easily make up for a couple of weak episodes.

 

6.Psycho Pass
This cyberpunk cop show Is a nice call back to the style of old classics while being a strong piece in it's own right.

 

7.Pet Girl of Sakura sou

This show has gotten a lot of undeserved hate but I found this to be a really thoughtful and heartfelt series.

 

8.The world god only knows

I have always found the the world god only knows to be a fun and interesting show but this season just blows everything else coming before it out of the water.

 

9.Love Lab

This is the kind of show that I am in the blogging business for, the show that you didn't expect to be good. Excellent character chemistry and solid humor make this an exceptional comedy.

 

10.Little Busters Refrain

To be complete honest I am a bit of a Key fan and I am glad that this second season of Little Busters lived up to what the franchise was capable of.

So that's it for 2013. I look forward to a splendid 2014 with all of you.

 

Review Galilei Donna

 

In a nebulous future decade (just far enough into the future to have skyships and a new ice age) live the three Ferrari sisters, Hozuki, Kazuki, and Hazuki. Even though they appear normal they are in fact the decedents of the great scientist Galaleio. One day they are attacked by a mysterious organization who is looking for the inheritance of the Galaleio. They escape on the goldfish skyship that Hozuki built and begin the worldwide search for the six moon sketches which will show the way to the treasure that the organization is looking for.

 

Those things look sharp, Maybe she is a yogi or something.

Galalei Donna is one of the two shows that are in the autumn 2013 Noitamina block and is an original work. The show is something of an adventure show with some soft science fiction elements. Although there are several other characters the bulk of the character focus falls on the three sisters, particularly the youngest sister Hozuki. Several characters and plot threads feel rather underdeveloped.

 

Would explain how she can fall four stories onto a car hood and only get a cold.

In fact underdeveloped is perhaps the best word to describe this show in it's totality. Galilei Donna tries to cram several characters, a worldwide treasure hunt, the development of the antagonists and world building into eleven episodes. The show does this very poorly and leaves the viewer with several two dimensional characters  and dangling plot elements. This is compounded by the show taking a detour in two of the later episodes covering nothing that has come before it.

 

Well you are just non Hozuki characters afterall

This is not to say that this show is without merit but the problem with this show is that the first two episodes are very promising and then the story starts to get bogged down by an overly ambitious story with too little time flesh out it's elements.

 

Overall I found Galilei Donna to be show that had some promise but without enough follow through to be anything other than light entertainment and there are plenty of shows that fit that bill much better than Galilei Donna. 

 

Rating the Tin black rock (black rock shooter) Showing again that being an original work in the Noitamina slot isn't a guarantee of quality.

Review Outbreak company

 

One day the hardcore Otaku Shinichi Kanou took an online job interview that required a thorough knowledge of anime. Even though his employer is a bit evasive until Shinichi finds out that the job will require him to be transported to the fantasy empire of Eldant and become a missionary of otaku culture. Will Shinichi be able to navigate the foreign fantasy culture or will he succumb to his juvenile lusts and commit a fatal blunder?

 

Her loli highness is not pleased

Outbreak company is simple comedy show with fantasy and fan service elements. The show can be all over the map in terms of tone and theme as Outbreak company can switch from a boob joke to a discussion about discrimination without missing a beat. What makes this show worth watching is how no single element of the show really interferes with the other elements of the show.

 

Yeah she is the only one who knows what sexual harassment is

I would be somewhat hesitant to call Outbreak company a harem anime show although I would understand if someone else did. Most of the story centers around Shinichi, his half elf maid Myucel and the empress of Eldant Petralka with most other characters, male or female, being minor characters. I would also mention that the fan service in the show prevalent but not so overwhelming that it feels like a crutch. There are also several anime references but again this is more of a bonus than a crutch.

 

possibly the best anime maid of 2013

Make no mistake, Outbreak Company aims to be entertainment first and foremost. Think of it like a dessert that has some useful nutrients as well.

Berserk egg of the King movie one

Berserk egg of the King movie one

In an dark medieval world wracked by war there is a mercenary who goes by the name cats. He is a loner but also very powerful sword. One day after finishing a battle he catches the attention of a certain mercenary band called the band of the hawk. Even though he is manages to fend off several members its leader, Griffith, manages to defeat him in a single stroke. When Guts awakens from his injuries Griffith has enjoyed the band of the hawk. And so their story together begins.

Hey look at my creepy thing

Let me start this off by saying I am bit of a fan of the desert franchise. The us without saw the movie I was distinctively comparing it to both the television anime series and the manga of the same name. In this comparison this movie and I suspect the other two movies in the trilogy well, far short. Even though this movie hits most of the important points that is brought up in the material it covers it also feels like is quite rushed several spots.

Fantasy movies need castles

As for the movie itself is a decent enough target action movie is set in the medieval setting. I found the animation quite jarring especially the movie’s uses of computer animation for the larger fight scenes. In other spots the animation is decent. The music is reminiscent of the music in the television version of the anime as the same composer has returned to work his magic. 

Some say this series has some homoerotic subtext

Overall I found this to be a decent movie although if you really want the Berserk experience I suggest you watch the 90’s tv anime show or read the manga. 

Rating The bronze titan for being a decent but definitely not great  grimdark fantasy anime movie.

Review Garden of words

 

Takao is a young man who has decided to skip school on days that it rains and walk through the park. One day he happens upon a woman who is drinking beer in the park. The two of them find a connection with each other and meet on rainy days. Takao tells the woman of his dream of becoming a professional shoemaker and offers to make a pair of shoes for her. However she is a rather guarded woman who has secrets of her own and parts of her life that she would rather runaway from.

 

Garden of works is the fifth and latest (at the time of this article) movie made by the acclaimed director Makoto Shinkai. Much of the reason why I am unable to give a more complete  It is a rather short movie clocking in at fourty eight minutes if you include the credits. In fact the movie's short run time is perhaps the root of most of the movie's shortcomings, as even though the two main characters have some decent development and character depth with the two main leads they are still a bit more shallow than they could have been with a longer run time. This is also another movie about a doomed romance, which is something that Shinkai seems to do with almost all of his works and definitely covered better than in other works of his.

 

Still the movie does have some strong points. There is a strong element of animation in this movie coupled with Shinkai's trademark direction. As such even though the movie's plot isn't as great as it could be it is still a joy to watch visually.

 

Overall I find myself conflicted with this movie. One one hand I think it is overall a good movie but one that is ultimately stunted by it's run time. I recommend it to those more into art films but maybe not the average anime fan.

 

Rating the bronze cloud, after all it is a Shinkai work.

Magic knight rayearth overview part four, attack of the filler

When we last left out trio of protagonist girls they had just gained their magic evolving Escudo swords but were left without any further direction luckily the show's mascot character is capable of projecting messages from the show's once ambulatory exposition fountain, Clef (fortunately being turned to stone doesn't stop Clef from fulfilling his role as exposition fountain). He informs dour protagonist girls that they need to find (either the Ma Shin or Rune Gods depending on whether you feel puns or changes made in a dub script are more heinous). Unfortunately this show needs to stretch three graphic novels into twenty episodes so the would be magic knights aren't going to get their in a timely fashion.

I know filler episodes tend to have sub par animation but come on

This filler parade begins with the reintroduction of Ferio, who runs afoul of Zagato's minion Du jour, Ascot. As Ferio is not the protagonist he is quickly overpowered and has to beg for his life by convincing Ascot to spare him if he can lure the magic knights into a trap. He tricks them only to have second thoughts at the last minute, where he then decides to sacrifice himself only to be caught by Ascot's friend cum monster of the week.

You aren't gross and slimy enough to be my minion

The magic knights are a bit disheartened by this turn of events, but Fuu decides that the best course of action is to sleep the whole thing off. This off course is a ruse on her part as she goes off to rescue Ferio on her own in the middle of the night. She has no real plan or reason to go off on her own rather than have all three magic knights attempt the rescue, other than possibly the fear that Hikaru or Umi would rescue Ferio and he would be their love interest instead.  What follows is a strange sort of battle which culminates in Fuu having some ill-defined moment of resolution which results in her sword evolving and her thus being able to beat the monster. Ferio bids farewell to our protagonists and runs off into the monster infested earthquake wracked wasteland.

Remember to check your pets for creepy glowing red eyes

The next episode begins with our protagonists wandering through Cefiro when they happen upon a bunch of dead animals. There is also a rock monster which the magic knights assume is the cause of the carnage. Quick work is made of the monster. There is also a wounded puppy-like animal found which Hikaru immediately latches onto naming it Hikari, the same name as her pet dog back in Japan.

The magic knights visit the tomb of the unknown monster of the week

However this is a trap set by Ascot, as Hikari is actually a beast whose real name is Viggur. One morning while Hikaru is picking flowers with her new friend Viggur transforms into his beast mode. Umi and Fuu show up but are quickly dispatched by the monster as they are not the focus of the episode. Hikaru looks on, wondering whether she should save her friends from an animal she met yesterday. Eventually she caves in and defeats the monster.

The episode ends and everyone is sad, the magic knights and Ascot who is depressed that sending his friends into danger seems not to be working out. However as this episode is essentially filler the events here are never spoken of again.

Secret Santa Review, Time of Eve aka Eve no Jikan

This holiday season there is a wonderful anime blog community event organized by those smart people at Reverse thieves called Secret Santa. Everyone involved chooses three anime recommendations to another anime blogger involved. Among the anime recommendations that I have received is an Oav called the Time of Eve (Eve no Jikan). Even though there is a movie version of this media I have watched Time of Eve as the six episode Oav on crunchyroll.

Misunderstanding are almost necessary in anime

In the near future robots have become commonplace and androids now live in many households. Rikuo is a normal student in such a house. He suspects that his houseroid is going to places that it is not commanded to. He and his friend Masaki become interested in this and end up learning about a cafe called the Tme of Eve. The cafe has one rule, that there is no discrimination between humans and robots and the holographic ring that denotes robots is invisible while inside the cafe. This is the story of what Rikuo and Maskai learn when they are in the cafe.

Now that's why she works here for eight bucks an hour.

The Time of Eve is by genre classification a pretty hard science fiction Oav and by usual assumption is one of those smart people kinds of shows. While oftentimes such material is often used to pad the ego of those who claim to watch it I found that Time of Eve is one of those Oavs that really walks it's walk in terms of being material that makes the viewer think. In this I think I chose rightly to watch this as a six part series and viewing each part separately as most of the parts are kind of short, being just long enough to give you something to think about. While The Time of Eve is usually about topics about questioning our assumptions but is slightly vague about the conclusions the viewer is supposed to reach. Thus it is a thought piece asking you to think as opposed to propaganda of some sort that tells you what to think.

Don't look and maybe tin can won't notice us.

Another point in the shows favor is the tone of the piece. While some of the more artistic shows might be a bit dry in order to bolster it's intellectual credentials I found that this is not the case with Time of Eve. The show knows when to crack a joke or two or go for an emotional appeal. The animation for Time of Eve leans heavily on CG but I found that it works in the show's favor given that it is a science fiction show.

Overall one of the taglines for the show is "Are you enjoying the time of eve?" The answer is I did and if you like science fiction in any medium you should really watch this.

Rating The Silver Motorad (Kino's Journey) for being a very enjoyable and enlightening anime show.

Review K On the movie

Yui being Yui

Since a long time ago I have been kit of where he of any franchise movies especially something called whatever the movie. Even so I decided to watch the movie and found it somewhat entertaining.

A music movie needs a good jam session

Well having a chat with girls of another club the members of Hokago teatime decide that they need to do something special for the graduation namely going on a trip somewhere. After some thinking about it and have fast deception on the part of Yui, they decide to go London. They also decide that they need to do something special for their youngest member Azusa, before they graduate.

Look it's overpriced food

If the previous paragraph made it sound like this movie is a bit short on plot then I think said paragraph did its job. However as with the television show K On has never been about plot. It is instead nearly 2 hours of being a charming slice of life show with some comedy.

The person in the middle is supposed to be white yet the person on the right is Japanese

Thus the question is if you do like K On at all sure you see this movie? My answer is a most emphatic yes. The general character antics which are the staple of the show are still present in this movie. Yui is still hurt air-headed self, Azusa is still the adorable but reliable underclassmen, and so on. On top of that the animation is quite good as to be expected from a movie and the plot finds ways to have the girls sing four times during the movie.

The movie crams as much music into itself as believeable

 So final review the K On movie is little more than a long episode but somehow I'm okay with that. This is a movie created entirely for those who like K On no one else.

Rating the bronze Hokago teacup (K On) for being a movie that is charmingly true to it’s television source material.