It was a busy year - at least when it comes to new anime - for me. A large part of that was because I started to get more interested in the ongoing seasons, despite my general tendency to rather watch anime as a whole in a few sittings. Nevertheless, somehow I found myself changing that, probably to a large part because you can only rewatch so much and I was running out of things that really interested me. Spring and autumn season were especially busy for me. In fact spring started the trend. So here are all the new anime I've watched in relative order of watching them and a few sentences what I thought about them.
Yes! Pretty Cure 5 GoGo: Starting out the year I continued as I finished, rewatching Yes! and finally getting to catch up with GoGo now that the subs had finally been released for the missing episodes. The ending was in fact quite good, even if I did not quite enjoy GoGo as much as the original season. Still, the Yes! group will probably still remain the one I'm fondest off.
To Aru Majutsu no Index: Thanks to my beta for recommending this to me. A thoroughly enthralling series. Index was often a bit jumpy in its plot threads, going from one character to the next and almost completely forgetting the rest, including the actual name giver of the series for many episodes. On the other hand, the movie blew me away since I was so not expecting something so utterly perfect out of Index. Kiseki no Endymion took about all the best bits from the series, together with an interesting new character and combined them into a small masterpiece.
To Aru Kagaku no Railgun: Of the two I believe I can be counted among those that enjoyed Railgun more. The pacing was better and the characters stuck more with me. First season had a nice group feel about it and gave us more insight on the science side of things as well. Second season had me with some ambivalent thoughts. On one hand I loved seeing the scenario from Misaka's POV, giving us a far more emotional attachment to the situation. On the other hand, it came at the cost of sidelining the rest of the cast I had come to like in the first season. Yet, in the end, all this resolved in a nice and satisfying final scenario. As a whole, watching Railgun was definitely one of my highlights this year.
Shingeki no Kyojin: March had me finally watching that thing everyone claims to be greatest gift to animekind or some such nonsense..... I was thoroughly disappointed. So, it has giant, grotequesly-looking Titans. And that's it. I'm sorry, I did not get much enjoyment out of it. Perhaps because it's entirely TOO shounen for me. I'm not saying it's a bad show but all the hype to me sounds a little exhilarated. The Wow effect definitely didn't set in for me.
-Spring Season-
Akuma no Riddle: A fun little show that I found myself liking despite all the weird factors. The setting made little sense, the plot was decent at best. I guess most of what pulled my interest was the strong Yuri-vibe from Tokaku and Haru (and there were at least two others as well) and for once I was glad it ended on a happy note. Of course, as much as I did like that, the ending was also utterly disregarding everything built up and felt more like a deus ex machina... Oh well. I still enjoyed myself.
No Game No Life: And here we are. THE ANIME OF 2014. Enough said. No, really. I have not seen a single thing (at least among those that aired this year) that topped No Game No Life. And I was already having a hunch about it after the first two or so episodes when others were still wavering. Thoroughly addictive and funny! The great combo of siblings both awesome and cute! The sheer epicness! A few sentences cannot give this show enough credit (screw you ANN for not rating this higher). I have not seen an Anime that blew me away like this in a very long time. While on the technical some others might come close, for sheer enjoyment this is definitely the winner of the year, on this both my beta and I are pretty much in agreement. I most definitely PRAY for more. I have only two words for everyone that hasn't done so already: WATCH IT!
Selector Infected/Spread Wixoss: The show that was probably the one with the highest amount of discussion during its split-coeur run between my beta and I. A nice little gem indeed. I wouldn't say it was among my most enjoyed this year, however, it deserves a little more attention than it seems to be getting. Reminiscent of Madoka, the similarities are there especially in the exposed closed loop system that seemingly has no escape for those involved and the main heroines struggles to find a solution as well as Wixoss ability to thoroughly pull in the viewer at its darkest points (and there's plenty dark and angst here). There are some moments I like to call "train wreck moments" that really make you forget everything else around you. Irritating was that the card game and its rule was NEVER really explained. It was merely the means to an end for the system to be set up and the story to progress. Without outside knowledge the viewer remained completely lost when it came to the rules. Eventually one learned to regard this as the norm and ignore it. Everyone that liked Madoka might give this a chance. Do not be put off by the card game thing, it really matters VERY little.
Blade & Soul: If I consider that I thought this actually looked promising... for all but 2 or 3 episodes. The utter blandness and void of emotion that Alka presented for a good half of the series was not exactly helping. Funnily enough more people died here than in Akuma no Riddle which was about a classroom full of assassins. Yeah, the setting was promising, the execution wasn't.
Date A Live 2: It's still definitely one of the better harem shows out there. I still don't like Tohka very much as the main heroine but there was surprisingly some rather good stuff in this season. Compared to the complete failure Infinite Stratos managed to produce last year, I liked this season quite a bit. All the more disappointing was the entirely too short ending scenario. Everything was gearing up for the great confrontation with evil Tohka and it lasted what... half an episode? Still, one of the more enjoyable ones among the lot.
Inugami-san to Nekoyama-san: I really don't like shorts like this. However, I have to admit, I doubt this would have worked as a full series. As such, in this short form it was cute, funny and sweet. All Yuri fans may safely take a look.
Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei: Mahouka is the one thing this year that more than others I have to judge in two ways. On the technical side, Mahouka was definitely second-best this season. There has definitely been put a lot of thought and effort into it. Apparently its one of these light novels that a lot of people like. There are, however, a number of problem that did not derail me from watching it to the end but thoroughly dampened my enjoyment. The overpowered main character for one. While this was explained in the end, it came a little too late and still did not do much to make it better. Where one could say Sora and Shiro (NGNL) are overpowered as well, the setting there is quite different and NGNL has a far more humorous approach in which this works. Mahouka wants to be serious and pseudo-realistic, yet Tatsuya seemingly able to weather any problem thrown at him without ever losing a battle makes this awkward at best, thoroughly annoying at worst. Also the established reality is not that well explained. The magic system seems really complex but we get very little insight about the mechanics and the show often generally assumes we still understand it nonetheless. Mahouka is a good series but I didn't pull enough enjoyment from it really.
Seikoku no Dragonar: If Blade & Soul was a disappointment, Dragonar was a... disaster. Again the setting was interesting but it quickly turned into one of the most basic and clichéd harem/ecchi anime ever, complete with TENTACLES. My main grievance with the series really. They were EVERYWHERE and often enough they were just there for the sake of being there. The one instance the show seemed to be getting good, introducing a character I really liked... it was once again ruined by the damned TENTACLES. Thank you, no. I am not watching a second season if there ever is one.
-Spring Season-
Bubblegum Crisis: Tokyo 2040: Outside of the spring season, April was spent looking at something I wanted for a VERY long time. I've only been sporadically in contact with Bubblegum Crisis here and there, mostly through fanfiction crossovers, so I had some good idea what I was getting into. The age of the anime definitely showed but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. I'm afraid I don't really remember much of my impressions from this anime but as far as classics go, you cannot do anything wrong with it. Apparently the series is available on Blu-ray now too as I've noticed just recently.
Kiddy GiRL-AND: My May anime. I've known Kiddy Grade for awhile and really enjoyed it. As such following a rewatch I decided to give this sequel another go. Yes, I tried before and dimly remember that I did not like the initial peak. And indeed Kiddy Girl takes a long time to get good. Whereas Kiddy Grade also started slow but was at least enjoyable, the squeaky main heroine and general setting here takes a lot of patience. Until around episode 7 from which point this anime suddenly makes an almost complete turnaround and actually becomes both quite good and a worthy sequel to Kiddy Grade. So, for any potential viewers. Gruel yourself through the first six to seven episodes, it'll be worth it.
Chrono Crusade: Going in June, I was right in the spirit of going after my assembled recommendations from various sources. And yes, Chrono Crusade is actually a good anime. Unfortunately it's also one of that which deserves the sad/tear-jerker ending warning tag. I suppose it was fitting that way but anime that end this way almost always make me mad. While I have not much to say, another good anime as long as you can stand the ending.
-Summer Season-
Sailor Moon Crystal: Oh... no. I refer to my thorough and detailed recaps on this blog. I have said it all there and what a big letdown this was so far. Of course, I should have seen this coming and actually commented on it as such when the staff was announced... Yuji Kobayashi for scripts was so far the expected utter failure. But what can you expect from someone that wrote scripts for Smile Precure? I'm not getting into this here again.
By the way since we reached July, I need to say it once more:
WE ARE WORLD CHAMPION! GO, GERMANY! ^_^
Ahem, on with this.
Sword Art Online 2: The other thing that started other than Crystal around that time. I must say, I had mixed thoughts about the setting. SAO was always about swordfights, later on mixed with some magic in ALO but still plenty of traditional weapon fighting. Setting the arc in a shooter VMMORPG didn't really elate me. BUT I found myself liking the arc more and more, even if the ending was somewhat corny and over the top with its themes. Shion was an interesting and likeable character. The second half was spent on a side story and some more insight on Asuna's family life and struggles therein. Both were nice enough. I actually liked the relaxing get-together quest with everyone together without some imminent death hanging over them for once. This was really the first time all the "main" characters were shown doing a quest together (even Shion was there). The Sleeping Knights arc was definitely a strong point, even if somewhat fluctuating here and there. It definitely had a strong finish and damn it, I actually did shed a few tears at the beginning of the final episode.
Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance: Eh, not as bad as Dragonar but could have been more. A lot of wasted potential in here as well although I generally enjoyed the various elements much more than Dragonar and the season (because there obviously is more) ended on a fairly strong note. I may be persuaded to watch more if another season comes out as long as the strong pace of the final can be maintained.
Hanayamata: KAWAI! My K-On! of the year and definitely worth the comparison. As far as Slice of Life shows go (and I watch very few of them) this is the type of thing I can enjoy. Hanayamata started out looking gorgeous but not much more. I wasn't sure where this was going but quickly learned not to underestimated this little gem. The character episodes/drama was quite excellent. Tami's episode made me cry, damn it! And the others weren't so bad either even if Hana's final scenario honestly seemed just a little forced/clichéd at this point. It all worked out for the best to bring the show to a satisfying final that left me both wanting more but also not terrible disappointed if there never will be anything new. Very few anime can manage that really. On top, Hanayamata definitely brought me my favorite opening theme song of the year, even slightly topping out those of NGNL. It just grows on you. ^_^ Until recently, as far as pure enjoyment went this was still my number two of the year until autumn season came along and something I watched close to year's end. Still, I will always fondly remember those Monday evenings when a new episode of Hanayamata came about. I WANT to see more after all.
-Summer Season-
Ryuugajou Nanana no Maizoukin: Technically should be counted into Spring season but since I'm going in order and I watched this post-season in one go... My beta pestered me quite a bit until I actually watched it ^_^ and I have to agree that I probably could have rather spent the time during the season watching this than the likes of Dragonar. A very enjoyable show with lovable characters, especially the detective. I am somewhat hoping there will be more of this in the future seeing as not everything has been resolved at the end.
Kill la Kill: Oh boy. Another one I had been putting off for awhile. And another one I once tried but didn't like too much. I still do not like the particular art style but I am very glad I gave this show another chance. The addictive level of Kill la Kill is definitely off the charts. It had me even going out of my usual routine of watching up to five eps per evening and had me finish the whole thing in a marathon session. The last time this happened was with Madoka. Granted I was fairly bored otherwise around the time I did watch Kill la Kill, but still. You cannot adequately describe the epicness of this anime but it's definitely up there. Considering this comes from the same creators as Gurren Lagann (one of the few mecha anime I can stand), you can't do anything wrong. Just don't expect sane, model anime characters. It's all pretty crazy but that is part of the show's charm. Whoever is as indecisive as I am about Kill la Kill... watch it.
Sora no Otoshimono: How to describe this? It was fun at first, stayed that way actually but also got rather deep at times. Tomoki is a neat main character who doesn't adhere to the usual harem leader stereotype of the indecisive "priest without hormones", instead being open about his perverse tendencies yet still managing to maintain a honest and likeable character when it counts. The interaction between him and the angels is also nicely done, touching upon some pretty deep subjects here and there. I enjoyed watching this even if the anime only carries a part of the original story. I have not gotten around to reading the manga yet, sadly.
Love Live: Despite my adamant refusal to watch an idol show – especially after just watching the first episode of Idolmaster once immediately drove me away again –, I gave this a chance and I am glad about it. Definitely more relaxed for an idol show and despite managing nine characters at once, the development feels natural and not rushed at all (something by far not every one coeur show, going by individual seasons, manages). While I probably won't ever be a big fan of idol anime, these girls grow on you and in the end came around for a nice wrap-up that was similar satisfying as what I said about Hanayamata.
Dog Days: If you are looking for a nice anime with magic, cute nekomimi girls and a rather pleasantly relaxed plot, then Dog Days is for you. One can quickly see that this is done by some person who directed Nanoha by the colorful magic and general design. Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad show and I'm definitely going to watch third season when it comes out this winter. The characters are all lovable and the interaction is quite nice, there is just not much of an overreaching plot and no nemesis or big bad. While first season at least built up an antagonism, it quickly became clear there was a different motive behind it and second season seemed to abandon all intent of creating any sort of greater conflict. It makes for a relaxed watching in such a setting but also takes out any sort of drama-building and greater plot advancement.
-Autumn Season-
Last but certainly not least, the latest season which has just ended its run. While NGNL and Hanayamata aired earlier, the overall quality of this season was flat out amazing. Whereas spring had mostly NGNL and perhaps Mahouka along with a set of average to disappointing anime, not a single anime in this season that I watched disappointed me. In fact almost all can be counted at the very least into my like category, some of them even into my greatness corner.
Selector Spread Wixoss: This was already covered earlier. But I wish to note that the ending surprised me in its happy, everything is resolved version. Considering the rather dark themes over the course of both seasons, getting an ending like that was unexpected. Not that I am complaining, mind you.
Inou-Battle wa Nichijou-kei no Naka de: At first it was the concept that intrigued me. I wasn't really sure what this show would do with it and that in fact became the dominant theme for Inou-Battle. If there ever was an anime that made being unpredictable a theme it is this one. From classy humor, to deep character interaction complete with quite some shocking moments (Hatoko's sudden rant), to standard harem fare, all underlined by the occasional reminder of everyone's superpowers, you could never quite predict what we would be in for every episode. I have to admit Inou-Battle hit its title and description as perfectly as was somehow possible. All this is carried by a male lead that does not disappoint and is capable of carrying deep conversations just as much as living out his chuunibyou obsession. The girls also fit well together with him, each adding their own weight to this anime's weird way of mixing together many genres. In any other season this could have easily been at the top of my list but it's still very much up there. I am definitely wanting another season of this.
Nanatsu no Taizai: Another recommend from my beta, otherwise I may have passed this by and regretted it later. Definitely a candidate for the next long-term anime a la Fairy Tail. And unlike Fairy Tail this show might even be better off, especially when it comes to characters. Each of the characters has their own story and pulls their weight. And while Elizabeth does not have celestial spirits or any such powers, her willingness to put herself in danger and determination to her cause clearly outshines Lucy's character who for all the love she may be due is often reduced to eye candy and hasn't been able to fight and win a serious battle in ages..... Still, the action is pretty good so far and the concept of having a group of overpowered "heroes" (branded as villains) in the spotlight actually works out surprisingly well, despite my usual disliking of such settings. Definitely a keeper and I may be looking at the manga before long, perhaps after first season is over. After the end of Naruto this is definitely my replacement for long-term anime. The one thing it suffers from in terms of recognition outside of Japan is probably not having a stream/sub on any of the bigger platforms.
Trinity Seven: Oh boy... I think the anime community is entirely split whether this one is great or a failure. And most of it probably because of misconceptions of this anime's intention. As far as I know it was never Trinity Seven's ambition to be anything more as a harem anime, mixed in with a bit of a magic system. Looking at it under this premise, Trinity Seven is actually one of the better harem animes out there with perhaps the best male lead in a long time if not ever. Arata makes for an almost perfectly normal boy his age who is also completely at ease with any perverted tendencies which ought to be normal for someone his ages around a load of sexy females. His interaction with the Trinity Seven is as such fairly natural and as such does not quickly bore of us with the standard harem anime jokes, in fact giving some of them a new and refreshing spin (like his response to Lilith at being found waking up in bed with two other girls). While I would not call Trinity Seven great, probably not much more than slightly above average, it does not deserve the criticism from some angles (ANN reviewer *cough*, dropping the reviews *cough*).
Sora no Method: Another hard to place anime which I feel could have been better than it was, yet still stayed fairly enjoyable. What hampered Sora no Method despite its beautiful visual, engaging main character and everyone's favorite Noel was its pacing in the first half. Two of its cast members came off as utterly frustrating and downright annoying in their reasoning. It isn't that one couldn't understand why they acted like this after it was revealed but that process, especially with Shione, took a long time at which points I frequently wanted to clobber her senseless for being such an a***. Ahem. The second half somewhat made up for it though as it became clearer what the show really was about. The reversal at the end was somewhat irritating but in a way I think the way it was done, was the only way how to make a happy ending possible without feeling cheated. That is about the only point I really disagree with Rebecca Silverman over on ANN. Most of her reviews mirrored my own opinion but I for one am glad about the ending and it was better this way when how a quick attachment one or two episodes earlier would have felt like. Sora no Method wasted a good bit of potential but came out as one of the better anime this year I think.
Shingeki no Bahamut: Genesis: And just when I thought nothing could remotely challenge NGNL this year, THIS came along. Out of completely nowhere, with nothing as a card game's back story to draw on as material for the plot, Shingeki no Bahamut kind of blows you away from the first few minutes onwards. Not just with the visuals (from which I would like to see at least a fraction in Sailor Moon Crystal really) but also with an engaging story and characters that even though they are actually not my type at all, still did not hinder me from watching this anime because they were all so interesting. Personally I liked the zombie girl the most but that's just me. Despite the lack of a lot of source material Bahamut progresses at an almost rapid pace and does seem to lose steam at all. The only thing that can be said against it is that it tried to do a little too much in too little time. Thus some concepts, especially towards the end felt a little rushed and missing a little meat. However, in this Bahamut stayed true to itself. The storytelling pulled along everything determining character development, worldbuilding and all the other details with its high pace. Otherwise Shingeki no Bahamut: Genesis came out of nowhere to surprise the hell out of a lot of people (those who were actually clever enough to give this a chance) and would have been definitely my number 2 pick for the year if not for...
Log Horizon: Forget Sword Art Online. THIS is how you do a "stuck in a VMMORPG setting" and do it RIGHT. From the unorthodox main character to the fantastic world building Log Horizon takes the genre and gives it a spin that goes beyond the "stuck in a virtual world" setting which is usually followed by "if you die here, you die in the real world". No, the characters don't die, they are revived just like in the game with seemingly no consequences (of course there are, but these only become more obvious later). This creates an entirely different kind of reaction from the trapped players and leads to more far-reaching thoughts than just how to survive. The world-building and how the various issues the proposed scenario offers are handled is just fantastic and perhaps Log Horizon's strongest point. This isn't a show that loses itself in overachieving action either, in fact it is far often about anything but, yet still does not manage to neglect showing us a good battle here and there. I watched most of this post-release and have just now reached the current point in second season and would like to say that I feel bad about having neglected this awesome show in favor of more undeserving ones.
Long-term Anime
Wrapping this up a quick look at the year-long or otherwise long-term anime I'm still following.
One Piece: This started out somewhat disappointing. The Punk Hazard arc suffered horrible pacing on the anime's side due to trying not to overtake the manga. The episodes were often horribly dragged out and the content was not as enjoyable to begin with. Following some of the most worthless – but thankfully very short filler episodes –, we got to Dressrosa, however, and now One Piece finally feels like One Piece again. I'm really geared to see how this all turns out.
Fairy Tail: Fairy Tail made its return this year after a good year of taking a break. I say it again, despite my earlier disappointment this may have been for the best. Too bad that they did not learn from their own example and instead of another break after the arc, the anime really hurts its viewers with the most horrible filler arc in Fairy Tail history. Otherwise I can't even say too much about it because I had gone ahead and read up on the conclusion of the arc in the manga after last year's break. Still, the ending of the arc actually made me cry somewhat, that scene when Gray recognized the aged Ultear was more emotional than I remembered it from the manga.
Happiness Charge Precure: And here something happened that I did not think possible anymore. The series has recovered after the disaster of Smile. It still took a great while to make me like this installment but unlike the jumpy presentation of DokiDoki filled with (and ultimately ruined by) unnecessary deus ex machinas, this one grew on me more and more as the season progressed. Towards the end, despite all its still present flaws, Happiness Charge showed an astonishing maturity with its themes as well as some awesome battles not seen since Heartcatch or Suite. I was about ready to give up on any hope for Precure to ever recover its flair it held to me until Smile came along but the last stretch of episodes did restore my faith somewhat.
Charts
This is all rather tight. I don't really like giving rankings and outside of the Top 5 or so in each listing, the order is really not that important or fixed. Also I do not count One Piece and Fairy Tail in here because of their endless run (even if Fairy Tail took a break). Precure gets listed because each installment runs roughly a year.
Top 10 Anime of the Year (aired this year)
1. No Game No Life
2. Log Horizon
3. Shingeki no Bahamut: Genesis
4. Nanatsu no Taizai
5. Hanayamata
6. Inou-Battle wa Nichijou-kei no Naka de
7. Mahouka no Rettousai
8. Happiness Charge Precure
9. Ryuugajou Nanana no Maizoukin
10. Love Live 2nd Season
Nothing tops NGNL, Log Horizon and Bahamut came as late entries for me. Mahouka is there for recognizing the effort. It's a tight scramble from place 7 onwards.
Top 10 Anime of the Year (based on pure enjoyment)
1. No Game No Life
2. Log Horizon
3. Hanayamata
4. Shingeki no Bahamut: Genesis
5. Nanatsu no Taizai
6. Inou-Battle wa Nichijou-kei no Naka de
7. Happiness Charge Precure
8. Sora no Method
9. Ryuugajou Nanana no Maizoukin
10. Love Live 2nd Season
Hanayamata takes third place because of pure enjoyment factor. Sora no Method despite not perfect replaces Mahouka.
Biggest Flops
1. Seikou no Dragonar
2. Blade & Soul
3. Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance
4. Sailor Moon Crystal
Should have been obvious. However... Biggest Letdown (based on anticipation) is still Sailor Moon Crystal.
Complete Watchlist Top 10 (of those newly watched + enjoyment factor)
1. No Game No Life
2. To Aru Kagaku no Railgun
3. Kill la Kill
4. Log Horizon
5. Hanayamata
6. Shingeki no Bahamut: Genesis
7. Nanatsu no Taizai
8. Inou-Battle wa Nichijou-kei no Naka de
9. Kiddy GiRL-AND
10. Sora no Otoshimono
This was hard because all of them deserve recognition for their greatness up to Bahamut. Nanatsu is too fresh to really say yet whether it deserves to be called epic in the long run. Kiddy GiRL is in there because it got way better after a grating beginning. I wasn't sure about tenth place really but gave it to Otoshimono because I generally enjoyed watching it a lot, although I was half-tempted to give it to Precure for the effort lately. Let's say they share.
And with that. A Happy New Year and all that. May we be blessed with more great anime in 2015. After all based on the winner of the year the motto can only be:
NO ANIME NO LIFE!
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