Forum - View topicYour Top 5 Anime of 2014 (And Ours)
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zawa113
 Posts: 7357 |
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I definitely need to check out Yona at some point. For one simple fact: it's based on a manga by Mizuho Kusanagi, I believe it's her only work so far to receive an anime. NG Life (currently in the RightStuf Xmas sale) is simply one of the best of its genre, but since Tokyopop went under, I'm not sure anyone will be getting the manga anytime soon.
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YotaruVegeta
 Posts: 1061 Location: New York |
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I feel ashamed for forgetting Ping Pong, but Parasyte basically kicked it out of my memory.
Mike Toole's list is the closest to mine. |
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lys
 Posts: 1008 Location: mitten-state |
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@classicalzawa, yes you should be watching Yona! :D (everyone should! I interpret its only showing up on one staff list (but #1 there!) as evidence people just haven't realized that it's awesome.) I'm really impressed with how the author grew through writing NG Life, and how great all of the characterization and development is in her latest work. And as a mostly-manga fan, I don't remember the last time I was so excited every week to get a new episode of an anime series. I think it's my favourite series in general right now, and the adaptation is excellent!
My top five (in order) were Yona of the Dawn, Noragami (my appreciation for the series has grown since reading the manga), Blue Spring Ride (the only one I actually watched in its entirety! *terrible at watching things* (it's because once I know I like something, most times I'd rather just wait for the manga to be licensed...)), Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun, and Barakamon. |
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Parsifal24
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My Top Fiver were Parasyte: The Maxim, Tokyo Gohul, Log Horizon, Fate/Stay Night Unlimited Blade Works, and Tarra ForMars. As far s how that broke down.
#1. Parasyte: The Maxim: It's got a bit of something for everyone so it's got the mainstream aspects it cuts down on the excessive gore of the manga looks gorgeous. Voice acting is top notch and action is fluid. #2. Fate/Stay Night Unlimited Blade Works: Only reason this isn't number one is the "learning curve" might be too hard for people unfamiliar with the FSN universe. As is I adore this the amount of detail to the animation an character design, while also capturing the personalities of the characters in the voice acting. Ueda, Kana made me love Rin, while Noriaki, Sugiyama captures the hot bloodedness and idealism of Shirou with aplomb. #3. Tokyo Gohul: Natsuki Hane deserves some kind of award for his turn as Ken on this and is the main reason this ranks higher than my other choice. Other than that the atmospherics and over all mood of impending tragedy and madness made for a compelling watch. #4. Log Horizon: I already like this series and season two did'nt betray my faith in the series still capturing a good balance of world building and character development and never feeling as if it gets lost while making a relateable protagonist that doesn't feel like a self-insert for the fan base. Also dedicating an entire arc to the female characters was classy. #5. Terrafor Mars: This series had a horrible beginning but once it got into the backstory of the crew members or the various over the top kills it became throughly enjoyable Honorable Mention: Cross Ange: While the first five episodes of this are inexcusably hateful and "rapey" the series manages to pick it's self up and make for a compelling if heavy handed portrayal of the hell of war and the ignorance of prejudice. Discoverable Mention: Coffin Princess Chaika: I loved the frist season of this and while the second season still has many of the elements I loved in season one the middle of the series is aimless. While 10 episodes is simply to little to tell a good story with something that has this much going on in it. Enjoyable but it could of done so much more with it's premise |
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Tenchi
 Posts: 4469 Location: Ottawa... now I'm an ex-Anglo Montrealer. |
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I can't speak for anyone else, but, personally, if animation issues were an issue for me, I wouldn't like the original Sailor Moon TV series either and especially not season 1, still my absolute favourite season of any 1990s TV anime. I mean, I love classic Sailor Moon for what it is, but the animation quality was bargain basement even by 1992 TV standards (and even compared to later seasons of Sailor Moon, with the monsters-of-the-week in Sailor Moon S being noticeably better designed and animated than most of season 1's youma). |
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Daerian
 Posts: 165 |
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Personally I think main problem of series is nostalgia for old anime. It's extremely hard to stand up to old memories - and new Crystal is at mediocre anime at best. This leads to very hard awakening for fans. |
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Nonaka Machine Gun B
 Posts: 819 |
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I compiled the staff's top 5s into a point system: Basically, #5's received one point, #4's two, #3's three...
1. Space Dandy - 24 - 5 votes 2. Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun - 20 - 5 votes 3. Ping Pong - 19 - 5 votes 4. Mushi-shi - 8 - 4 votes 5. Parasyte - 8 - 3 votes 6. Fate/stay night - 8 - 3 votes 7. JoJo's Bizarre Adventure - 8 - 2 votes 8. Shirobako - 7 - 2 votes 9. Barakamon - 6 - 3 votes 10. Hanayamata - 5 - 2 votes 11. Tokyo Ghoul - 5 - 2 votes 12. Yona of the Dawn - 5 13. Yowamushi Pedal - 5 14. Rage of Bahamut - 4 - 2 votes 15. Yuki Yuna is a Hero - 4 16. Your Lie in April - 3 - 2 votes 17. Terror in Resonance - 3 18. The World is Still Beautiful - 3 19. Free! - 3 20. Chaika - 2 - 2 votes 21. Hozuki no Reitetsu - 2 - 2 votes 22. Engaged to the Unidentifed - 1 |
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zensunni
 Posts: 1293 |
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My personal list is (in no particular order):
Your Lie in April - Possibly one of my all-time favorites once it is done. One Week Friends - If they ever finish the story in anime, this may be up there too. The World is Still Beautiful - Fantastic show and great characters. The Kawai Complex Guide to Manors and Hostel Behavior - Also a potential all time fave if they finish the story in anime. Witch Craft Works - Ditto... Honorable mention (because 5 is just too few...) Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun - Probably the better show, but I will most likely buy the ones listed above and not this... so it dropped out of the top 5. Hanayamata - Cuteness and light personified, but not enough substance in the end. Engaged to the Unidentified - If it had more of a sense of completeness... I hope they make more. Others that grabbed my attention and were in consideration: Chaika The Coffin Princess - I haven't kept up with the 2nd season, so I could be wrong about this one... Noragami - Really good and I hope they make more. Blue Spring Ride - If they ever finish it I'll be really happy. As it is, it is just too incomplete. No Game No Life - Fun show. Nisekoi - We'll see what they do with season 2... Sakura Trick - Pure fun, but not much substance. Inari Konkon Koi Iroha - Far to incomplete and unlikely to see more anime... sigh. Baby Steps - A really good show, but too many issues with shoddy animation, especially considering it is a sports show. I will still watch season 2... [EDIT: I didn't see that the post right before me did the same thing! Oops!] Incidentally, I tallied the reviewers picks, including the top five from the poll, and this is how they came out (5 points for #1 ... 1 point for #5): Space Dandy 25 Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun 20 Ping Pong: The Animation 15 Parasyte: The Maxim 13 Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works 12 Mushi-Shi: The Next Chapter 9 JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders 8 Shirobako 7 Tokyo Ghoul 7 Barakamon 6 Hanayamata 5 Yona of the Dawn 5 Yowamushi Pedal 5 Rage of Bahamut Genesis 4 Yuki Yuna is a Hero 4 Free! Eternal Summer 3 No Game No Life 3 Terror in Resonance 3 The World Is Still Beautiful 3 Your Lie in April 3 Chaika 2 Hōzuki no Reitetsu 2 Engaged to the Unidentified 1 I think I need to watch a few of these that I didn't make time for... |
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CrownKlown
 Posts: 1762 |
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I don't want to be the rain cloud, but Space Dandy? The hell is wrong with you people.
I love Cowboy Bebop, I think Samurai Champloo is better, and even Boys on the side wasn't that bad. But please can you separate the man behind the work and the work itself. Space Dandy is a terrible show. I find it to be kind of a low grade imitation of shows like Adventure Time and Ren Stimpy and South Park, but no where near as well executed as any of those. I am also sure the fact the show was "targeted" and basically "made" for the west has no bias on any of these reviews. Its not like people are sitting there saying, crap this show sucked, but if we want Japan to make more anime directly aimed at us, lets just say it was really good. Oh wait, maybe that is exactly what is going on. Regarding the other top fives, kind of surprised to see Chaika on any lists, felt it was a middle of the road LN and adaptation, certainly not any where near as good as say NGNL. Kind of pleasant surprise to see Nozaki Kun though, because its actually a really fun show with amusing characters. Also I hadn't seen them prior to making my top 5 but Inou everyday battles and Amagi Brilliant Park were both really good and should have been higher. |
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HeeroTX
Posts: 2046 Location: Austin, TX |
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Based on recent history, I really do think that if Shinichirou Watanabe put out an anime that was EXACTLY the same as "Recently, My Sister is Unusual" but with a different title and maybe different character names, some people on here would hail it as avante garde and likely "a breath of fresh air" in the genre, especially if he got Yoko Kanno to give it a nice, jazzy soundtrack. |
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Daerian
Posts: 165 |
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I wouldn't go as far as you, but I also consider both Space Dandy and Terror in Resonance as weak shows (and well, I didn't watch any of them to the end). |
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noblesse oblige
 Posts: 279 Location: Florida |
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Ha! You might be right, but for me, Dandy just eeked out a space in my top five for the following reasons: The visuals, the variety, and the occasional beautifully executed, self-contained episode. I don't think it always works strictly as a comedy, but each episode succeeds in different ways. PS: Here is my Top 5: Psycho-Pass, Ping-Pong: The Animation, Barakamon, Space Dandy, My Neighbor Seki-kun. |
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Marzan
 Posts: 515 |
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Space Dandy thoroughly deserves the love it gets from the reviewers. Specially the second cour was mindblowing.
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Zac
ANN Executive Editor
 Posts: 7912 Location: Anime News Network Technodrome |
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He just put out Terror in Resonance and both myself and Justin rip it to pieces on today's podcast. Some critics liked that show but plenty didn't. He doesn't get blind praise. Saying stuff like this is no better or different than me saying something dumb like "you people praise anything with fanservice in it" and it's just as insulting and pointless. |
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Yuki_Kun45
Exempt from Grammar Rules
 Posts: 725 Location: U.S.A. |
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I didn't watch much this year were really only four TV Shows and one movie.
Yona of the Dawn I'm absolutely loving this one! It's nice to see a series take it's time when so many shows have been crunched for time lately. One Week Friends - Sweet, gentle, kind, memorable a great watch and a great coming of age story. Ronja the Robber's Daughter - I don't care if it is CGI animation I think this series looks really great and the story is a lot of fun too. and The Wind Rises which yeah I'm really cheating with that one because it's a movie and it came out in 2013 originally but I got to see it in the theaters earlier this year. Selector Infected Wixoss was decent but kind of bland in places, Spread Wixoss is pretty much the same as the first season. |
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