Kita ze Inbou! - キタぜ陰謀!

I couldn’t think of a better way to end this then calling this last part the end, so you get your oshimai instead. This final entry has a whopping eight categories so this is where the best of the best lie. Our focus here is on the story and direction of the show and overall how it was handled in the end. Cheers to 2008, but let’s hope 2009 is even better!

Best Original Story

Winner: GHOST HOUND

This was a tough one. For me to able to come up with a choice I chose to go with series that weren’t from existing franchises. Therefore, the choices came down to Druaga, true tears, and GHOST HOUND. My choice for Best Original Story therefore goes to GHOST HOUND. It amazed me throughout its entire run and actually even managed to freak me out on a regular basis. One really had to pay attention so as to soak up everything that was going on and it even taught me a few new things every episode spanning various topics. The characters were quite interesting and the issues each of them had to deal with were unique. It’s one of the more interesting stories out there that really caught my interest from the very first episode and I can’t recommend it more to anyone looking for something fresh. Go watch it!

Winner: Garei -zero-

While technically based on the Ga-rei manga, this was actually an original story set before the manga’s time, making it a prequel. I’m not very far into the manga, but knowing how the life of Kagura and Yomi was before the present time was a fascinating idea and I commend the staff for doing this. Not only did it have a great cast of characters, but the direction and execution of certain events were handled fluidly and sharply. When you think about it, Ga-rei -zero- became a sort of coming-of-age story about Kagura and Yomi. It showed what they went through in their childhood and what happened that lead up to the moment where they were standing on opposite sides.

Winner: Kaiba

The premise may seem simple. In the fictional world where Kaiba takes place, memories are stored into chips and they can be transferred from on to another. This may seem simple, but the writers knew exactly how to build upon that for the first half of the series, only later to end it with a bang with the second half.

Best Adaptation

Winner: SOUL EATER

Honorable Mention: Spice and Wolf

It’s pretty hard to 1UP SOUL EATER in this regard. Bones stayed pretty faithful to the manga for as long as they could before having no other choice but to go for an original ending. Seldom does an adaptation improves upon the source material but SOUL EATER excelled at it through and through. Who knows, maybe it’ll receive a ‘SOUL EATER 2′ a few years from now like Fullmetal Alchemist? That would be pretty sweet. I also must give a nod to Spice and Wolf that aired pretty early in the year. It was a very enjoyable show that I felt did a decent job following the manga. I’m looking forward to the second season of that quite a bit.

Winner: SOUL EATER
The anime was very faithful to the manga and even added extra oomph to the coolness, pop, and action factor that the series is full of. While the manga is great on its own, it’s the anime that made the panels of each chapter come to life in full color and sound, and I think BONES did a swell job at it. In the last quarter half of the show that, BONES has started shifting toward an original end sans Fullmetal Alchemist. I don’t know how this will turn out, but up til now I’d say they did a fantastic job of transitioning the manga to the anime format.

Winner: SOUL EATER

SOUL EATER wins not only for staying true to the manga, but also for bringing to life the immense world it’s based on. Just showing a single snapshot of it is enough to make it distinguished and definitely one of the most memorable adaptations in recent memory.

Winner: CLANNAD ~AFTER STORY~

lol I broke the chain. Don’t read the SOUL EATER manga so I can’t pick it. Anyways, kudos to KyoAni for another great adaptation from Key. Having played the visual novel myself, I can say that I’m content with what they’ve done with the show. Given that they can’t include everything due to time, what they do manage is incredible. Thanks for the Tomoya OVA btw. It was short, but sweet. Now how bout that Kyou one?

Most Underrated

Winner: The Tower of Druaga ~the Aegis of Uruk~

When I first thought about this I came up blank. Then my mind wandered to Druaga. I think it might have been underrated from the very start given that GONZO was in charge of it. After the disaster of Dragonaut, it wouldn’t surprise me if many didn’t give it a try. However, after watching the full first season I can only conclude that it would be a crying shame if it wasn’t given a chance. The characters are pretty enjoyable and the story, while technically nothing new, is quite fresh. Jil, the main character, is one of the more stable and likeable leads that I’ve seen in a while. He doesn’t start off uber-strong but gradually gains more strength alongside his friends. The music is pretty good as well and the humor is awesome. Given that it has a second season currently airing, I’d definitely say it deserves more attention. I’m glad to say that Druaga was one of my favorites of last year and hopefully the second season is even better.

Winner: Telepathy Shoujo Ran

I’m pretty sure a lot hasn’t ever heard of this, nor care for that matter, but even if it wasn’t up on everyone’s radar, it was at least decent to watch. Telepaths and drama are hardly common these days so a show that includes these plus mystery and drama gives you that sort of Scooby Doo gag, but this is far less goofy and cynical. And c’mon, who doesn’t wanna hear Ueda Kana with a Kansai dialect?

Winner: Kaiba

Honorable Mention: Natsume Yuujin Cho

The choice this year was pretty easy. People were turned off by Kaiba’s design that looks like a young kid’s drawings or some scrap work of Osamu Tezuka. While the character designs are simplistic, the show is far from juvenile, and if you can look past that, you will enjoy it.

Natsume Yuujin Cho is yet another anime many of you missed. It was thankfully good enough to not only be acknowledged and streamed on chrunchyroll.com, but also to warrant another season that is airing at this very season.

Winner: Skip Beat!

I’m sure a lot of people glanced over this when Fall arrived this year. But with a strong lead seiyuu cast featuring Inoue Marina, Konishi Katsuyuki, and Miyano Mamoru, I thought to myself that I had to see at least an episode or two. So I went in, I saw it, liked it, and continued watching. I was given what I expected from reading the synopsis: an awesome female lead, comedy, and bishies. The show doesn’t redefine the shoujo genre or anything like that, but it’s entertaining and definitely worth a check out.

Best Animation

Winner: Gundam 00 and Macross FRONTIER

Honorable Mention: SOUL EATER and Xam’d: Lost Memories

Tough choices when it come to this category. There were quite a few contenders: SOUL EATER, Macross FRONTIER, Gundam 00, Nabari no Ou, Kannagi, Geass R2 and Xam’d. In the end though, I had no other choice but to give the nod to Sunrise and another studio. Oh? For which Sunrise series, you ask? Well, Gundam 00 of course! Who’s the other studio? Satelight for Macross FRONTIER! Both of these shows were absolutely gorgeous in their own right and the mecha designs were breathtaking. Character designs were marvelous with Gundam 00 in particular having the talents of Kouga Yun. BONES did a marvelous job this year as well but, for me, is just a tiny bit behind. In the end though, last year was definitely a treat to the eyes.

Winner: Kannagi

Honorable Mention: SOUL EATER

Simply. Stunning. Animation. Nuff said. But let’s talk a bit more! The production comes from A-1 Pictures. Now is that supposed to mean Animation’s #1? Something like that, but they’re right on with that, because Kannagi has the most visually appealing animation I have seen from a company other than Kyoto Animation (you do have Production I.G. and Studio 4C, but you know what I mean). Though, I really think A-1 outdone themselves, perhaps slightly more than KyoAni does. Looks like they have some competition on their hands. At first glance, Kannagi’s art reminded me of Lucky Star. After the premiere, I still think it’s like that. The charming designs and the amazing frame-by-frame accuracy is gorgeous. You seem them blinking, hair blowing in the wind, and most importantly, movement! Stiffness is not an option for this division of A-1. Just take a look at the OP sequence and tell me that’s not good.

Soul Eater also had blazing animation thanks to BONES’s work. The choreography of the fighting and non-fighting scenes are well drawn and the quality hardly dies down. One thing I really love are the explosions and the smog that comes out with skull marks on them. Well, okay, Shinigami-sama’s face is on nearly everything, but seeing smoke skulls are pretty sweet. Sometimes the visuals are so good they look rather symmetrical!

Winner: SOUL EATER

Studio BONES does it again. I can blabber hours on how unique the world of Soul Eater is and how it reminds of The Nightmare Before Christmas, but I’d rather ask you, the reader, to just watch the first five minutes of the show and tell me the animation is bad, I dare you. Every fight scene is beautifully choreographed and even the quiet moments are animated beautifully.

Winner: Xam’d: Lost Memories

Honorable Mention: SOUL EATER

BONES is no doubt one of the best animation studios out there. Their name immediately catches the attention of many and for good reason. Their animation is very fluid, consistent, and just stunning to watch. Especially with their most recent project, Xam’d: Lost Memories. This show is something that begs to be watched in HD because it’s just gorgeous. Of course BONES had another show this year: SOUL EATER. I gave my vote to Xam’d because compared to SOUL EATER’s more simplistic and zany visuals, Xam’d’s was more intricate and vast. This might be more of a preference because I honestly don’t know which one’s is “better”; but clearly the animation is a top quality in both of them.

Biggest Shock

Winner: Episode 1 ending of Ga-Rei -zero-, Episode 21 of Code Geass R2

This probably isn’t a surprise. Simply put, the ending of the first episode of Gai-rei -zero- was pretty damn shocking. For the majority of the episode we’re led to think that the new characters were the main characters (promo images even showed them off) only to have them brutally murdered by none other than Yomi. It almost seemed to be a cruel joke. I honestly thought that they were going to air the series in reverse with the first episode being the last. It was that damn convincing. Episode 21 of Geass R2 was pretty shocking as well. After almost two full seasons of hating each other and fighting to the death, Lelouch and Suzaku become allies. What the hell? My brain went pretty screwy there and Lelouch suddenly ascending to Emperor didn’t make things any easier. Yikes.

Winner: Ga-rei -zero- Episode 1 ending

Honorable Mention: Shigofumi’s Episode 1 and Geass R2’s 18

Clearly we all thought these guys would be the main cast. Why else would the promotional poster have the team on it? Why else are there a lot of scenes with them? Well clearly, that’s what AIC x asread wanted us to think because they played us good with the end of the first episode. So apparently they wanted to keep it a secret that -zero- was actually going to be an original prequel to the manga only revealed on the site’s net radio after the first episode aired. Quite ballsy, but it was a trip. It’s a shame Natsuki and Tooru weren’t the main protagonists (though they did cameo once). See how badass Natsuki was on her motorbike? And heck, Mami-chan was a cute girl, but she was unfortunately infected and pulled a Persona.

Shigofumi also had a crazy first start. I was expecting a mysterious anime like Jigoku Shoujo. Yeah, it certainly was, but Ayase’s shifting attack was unexpected and I thought this would lead to some crazy execution or something. Of course the episode later on were rather mild compared to this moment, but I still enjoyed the series as a whole. Are all the biggest shocks the deaths of others? Probably, because even Geass’ total nuke time was totally barbaric. It looked like a whole lot of main characters were doomed from the blast. Gilford, Nunnally, Sayoko… And I thought Episode 15 was ridiculous, this episode clearly showed how ridiculous things were getting from this point on.

Winner: Episode 21 of CODE GEASS Lelouch of the Rebellion R2

That was a pretty easy decision for me. Everything about this episode was unintelligible and bizarre. The writers were pushing the coincidences and plot twists to an all time high with this episode and it was an important pivotal point to the main characters of the show, even if it was for the worse.

Winner: Episode 13 of CODE GEASS Lelouch of the Rebellion R2

I was a Lulu x Kallen fan back when R2 was airing. And honestly, I thought Shirley was pretty annoying. She had no real importance to the story so when I first heard that she was going to die I was like lol ok (yeah I was spoiled). So the episode’s subbed and I go in expecting the usual. Then her scene hits, and by the end I find my eyes teary. The shock for me here wasn’t her death, but how powerful that scene turned out to be; especially for a character I thought I couldn’t care less about. If Sunrise is good at one thing, it’s death scenes. Bravo.

Best Scene

Winner: The Last Stand of Celestial Being (Gundam 00 Episodes 24-25)

Best moments, for me, is going to have to go to Gundam 00. The last two episodes contained so many awesome moments that I lost count. There were a few heartfelt deaths, particularly Lockon’s. There were more than enough exciting battles going on, especially Setsuna versus Alejandro and Allelujah versus Soma. Graham surfacing was pretty hilarious since it pretty much set him up for his Mister Bushido persona. Yup, you didn’t think Gundam 00 wasn’t going to end without its very own masked character did you? The four-years later epilogue was also a great device and only served to excite me further for the second season. Hell, it had hotness!Nena too!

Winner: Orange-kun loyalty, Zero Suzaku (Episode 25, CODE GEASS Lelouch of the Rebellion R2)

Before the finale, I was hoping against hope that this would end good due to all the massive trainwreck and kabooms and deaths that occurred just before. Luckily, this totally made up for the events. There was a glee on my face after seeing Jeremiah nearly taking out Anya flawlessly in the beginning. He dishes out his KnightMare Frame, followed by his regular Frame within that, then he leaps out and lunges toward Anya for the kill! Well, he almost did, but that moment right there was definitely Jeremiah’s best. Don’t underestimate the storm of loyalty!

My other favorite moment is near the end when Lelouch is on his marching throne in all his tyrannical glory, but then… a mysterious shadowy figure appears out of nowhere, standing still and staring across at the Emperor Lelouch. We were left confused and stunned at this new Zero. Attacks were ordered at the symbol of the Black Knights, but, holy crap, look at him move! Seeing Suzaku with his superhuman skills and even dodging the KnightMares’ attacks, plus the “0″ track playing made me excited and astounded at this spectacle.
Winner: Nunnally vs. Lelouch (CODE GEASS Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 – Episode 25)

I have to say that the main problem with R2 was Lelouch rose too quickly and too easily. I think the most interesting of his adversaries wasn’t really Jeremiah and not even Xing-he, but his own sister Nunnally. The thing R2 did better than the original show is giving Nunnally a lot more depth and made her a worthy adversary, not just because she is his sister and she is handicapped, but this time she actually believes in her ideals, which make her probably the most likable character in the show.

And then came the beginning of the final episode, Nunnally vs. Lelouch, Good vs. Evil. Whilst the other confrontations of the show were to prove who is less evil, this was really polarized. I was disappointed to see that despite Nunnally’s maturity, she is still not strong enough to stop her brother, and to add insult to injury, he makes her his slave. Despite the fact she loathed him at one second and then, after a set of events, she loves him again. Yeah, it was topsy-turvy, but it was definitely a moment I won’t forget a long time.

Winner: See you, space playboy (Macross Frontier – Episode 20)

Honorable Mention: Emperor Lelouch + Smugzaku (CODE GEASS Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 – Episode 21)

I was simply blown away at this scene. And I’ll add to the fact that I got spoiled about it beforehand. It was simply breathtaking. May’n outdoes herself with a stunning performance of “Diamond Crevasse”; and mixed along with Michael’s tragic and heroic death, I ended up with teary eyes and a wonderful memory at the end.

Just when I thought Code Geass couldn’t top itself with the Eva crap they pulled earlier in the episode, it does the unbelievable. Lelouch takes the throne and his right hand man is Suzaku. Two of the strongest forces (JUST AS PLANNED and H4X) on Earth joining forces to face the World… just epic.

Movie/OVA of the Year

Winner: Tsubasa Tokyo Revelations

While I didn’t watch many OVAs or movies during the year, I can honestly say that Tokyo Revelations was among the best I’ve seen in a long time. The animation was outstanding and absolutely faithful to the original CLAMP designs. It covered quite a lot of chapters in just three episodes and left me wanting more. One hundred percent faithful to the manga. This is the way Tsubasa is meant to be adapted. Thank you for doing justice to Tsubasa, Production I.G. I wish you had adapted the manga from the very start.

Winner: Lucky☆Star OVA

Simple choice for me. This OVA was the biggest thing I was waiting for ever since it’s announcement months and months back. Hearing a delay in the release made me furious, but finally seeing it made me joyous. Several segments slapped into one original visual and animation feature was all I needed to satisfy my Lucky☆Star fix. Kagami’s Tsunderella story and Tsukasa’s Attack No. 1 were my personal favorites, and I also enjoyed the live action Lucky Channel return. Not to mention the awesome cover of Ai wo Torimodose! performed by Akira-sama and Shiraishi. Shocked indeed. Shocked by the amount of funny I got, that is. I only wish now that KyoAni continue the series with a second season. Yaranaika?

Winner: One Piece: Episode of Chopper Plus – Fuyu ni Saku, Kiseki no Sakura

Anybody who has seen the movie knows that it’s basically a retelling of one arc in the series. And it feels stranges to give my choice for Best Movie to something like that. But IMO it really deserves. I won’t exaggerate here. There were tears while I watched the movie. But it just didn’t happened once, I must have cried at least four times; all during one movie. I’m a One Piece fan so I knew what to expect when watching this, but even so this movie still got to me. I cried manly tears when I read the arc in the manga, and I cried manly tears watching it animated.

Anime of the Year

Winner: Gundam 00

Hmm. Perhaps this was a surprise to even myself. It was a tough battle betwen Gundam 00 and CODE GEASS R2 for me, especially since both gave me almost the same level of entertainment. However, Gundam 00 won out this year for me because it was the stronger of the two. CODE GEASS R2 is in no way inferior to me but I must admit that the first season was much more organized and stronger than the second. Gundam 00 featured more of what I’ve been hungering for as well. That is, mecha battles. They weren’t just simple skirmishes either but rather battles of wit, will, and determination. No one fought for no reason. I loved the political intrigue and really liked that there was more than two sides involved throughout the season. Everything about Gundam 00 was absolutely awesome from animation to music and to the characters. I’m currently enjoying the second season and it has yet to disappoint me and is looking to remain a strong contender in my choices for the awards at the end of this year. Gundam 00, I salute you as my pick of Anime of the Year for 2008!

Winner: Ga-rei -zero-
Honorable Mention: Kannagi, SOUL EATER

If you’ve been keeping track, I’ve been praising Ga-rei -zero- for countless things by now. It was inevitable that it would lead to me selecting it as the best of ‘08 in the end. From the characters, the music, the story, the action, the drama… everything about it was great, great, great. Ironically, I despise asread for fucking up Minami-ke. Of course, this was actually a joint between AIC Spirits and asread so this could be why Ga-rei -zero- actually turned out to be marvelous. The finale was very open ended, and it could lead to where the manga starts. If they ever decide to do this, I’ll be anxiously awaiting.

Kannagi was, from start to finish, a real divine show. Haha, yes, that was a pun. The gags were immense and the characters are unique and memorable! The animation was brilliantly done and excellently flourished. There was simply nothing wrong with it, but I felt that Ga-rei -zero- turned out slightly better overall. Same with why I honorably mention SOUL EATER. While it is, for the most part, faithful to the original story, plus the awesome music and touch-ups in animation, the story itself was a bit lacking compared to Ga-rei -zero-.

Winner: Kaiba

Honorable Mention: Natsume Yuujin Cho, SOUL EATER

This year of anime, unlike video games or movies, wasn’t that great. Most of the year is comprised of romantic comedies that lack personality, whereas Kaiba has a lot of charm and personality to it. It may to tossed aside in favor of witness the trainwreck that was R2, but all in all, just to prove that even the smaller shows can be triumphant.

Winner: CODE GEASS Lelouch of the Rebellion R2

No, I’m not trolling here, folks. Let me explain. I really didn’t decide on this choice with the word “best” in mind but more with the word “favorite”. The anime in many ways was flawed, but that definitely did not reduce it’s entertainment value which the show was full of and why it’s my pick for this year. I can still remember those Sundays where when I first woke up in the morning, the next thing I did was turn on the computer, and spent the rest of the morning/afternoon camping out on gg/Eclipse’s IRC channel with hundreds of other eager fans waiting for the latest sub. Whether you were watching it for the sake of finishing it, for the lulz, or because you genuinely liked the show, everybody got something out of, with no doubt, the biggest show of 2008.

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