Forum - View topicAnime in America: The Best (and Worst) of 2013
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kotomikun
Posts: 1205 |
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Well, I don't exactly have a defined set of rankings or anything, but generally I agree with Theron's picks with somewhat disturbing consistency. I need to go watch Colorful, apparently...
I feel like there must be some recency syndrome with Kyousogiga but... geez, that show was like a blend of FLCL and Abenobashi with none of Gainax's trademark obnoxiousness. As of now, I'd say it was my favorite series from last year, and even if I change my mind it'll certainly still be near the top of my list. Kotoura-san had its imperfections, but it was a very emotional and relatable experience for me, and it portrayed social isolation, loneliness, and bullying extremely well while also managing lots of genuine comedy. Better than Watamote did, I think, which also felt genuine and realistic, but was so cruel and cynical that it became depressing instead of funny or inspiring. My character of the year is probably Kotoura. Outbreak Company and Gatchaman Crowds were both much better than expected--I didn't even watch the latter until after reading a review here--but Pet Girl of Sakurasou tops them both for inexplicable quality, as proven by its mention in the "Worst Series Concept" section. Just like Outbreak Company, it has an idiotic premise (and title), which it quickly deconstructs and rebuilds into a much better story than you'd think would be possible. From The New World was also surprisingly good dark sci-fi, or...whatever genre it was supposed to be. I'm not sure how Eccentric Family didn't make the cut; I'd probably have it take the place of Devil Is A Part-Timer. Also, Illya vs. Saber was epic and I'ma let you finish, but Homura vs. Mami was the greatest magical girl battle of all time! (Seriously, the former was dramatic and well-animated but otherwise a pretty formulaic Epic Anime Battle, complete with giant chi-beams and drawn-out expositing. Rebellion's flagship duel pushed the limits of the abilities of both characters in creative ways while producing an even more destructive spectacle. Then again, I'm definitely biased towards the latter...) |
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jymmy
 Posts: 1244 |
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True, you can't judge a series on its concept, but I think an award for particularly bizarre premises could be fun. |
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Fencedude5609
 Posts: 5088 |
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I think "Weirdest" premise would be a more interesting category. There's nothing about Crime Edge's premise that inherently makes it terrible. It just turned out to not be very good. On the other hand, its getting a little tiring seeing people go on about "wow this anime is just so weird!" season after season. |
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Elves
 Posts: 269 Location: USA |
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I always enjoy your year-end-wraps guys! Thanks for the informative and entertaining read! I always enjoy the back-and-forth chatting in the article too.
 Hope there was more popcorn to be had! I also have some more anime to watch thanks to some of your awards to boot.
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Meygaera
 Posts: 324 Location: Maryland |
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I'd love to comment on every new anime I've watched this year! Brb let me check my Crunchyroll History...
crap, it's full of Chihayafuru season I and II rewatchings back to back... |
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KLAC
Exempt from Grammar Rules
 Posts: 1121 |
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well give mention on 2013 dub anime batch
Funi dub 2013 batch baka test s2 quite same as usual. lagoon blood trail rare treat for canada dub on anime did well. future dairy brina as yuno oh this is just beware the crazy & neves as 9th bomber total show-stealer voice in 2013. good luck brina & clink as leads did quite well give was expect a 2nd coming of panty stocking dub but oh well. guilty crown dub did decent. dxd s1 oh YES now this dub too much worthy to watch ready for s2. is zombie quite showing give fresh voice like austin & morgan with continue rise of saxton. fujiko series did quite well. Michiko & Hatchin rial & saxton combo did good on it. we without wings did fine. Sentai dub 2013 Another sure got dub ok give last few eps went shiki again? battle girls time paradox yea dub is ok to check. Bodacious Space Pirates worth a watch. btooom mad bomber version survivor did ok watch. Campione! decent watch. girls panzer loads of female dub on it sure did it fine. Hiiro no Kakera series decent good dub. horizon s2 same usual give quite the ha ha. kamisama dolls yea dub sorts give still watch for utao face & hibino. kids on slope now that good dub sound to watch. kill me baby luci & haag yea did well give ninja still need spin-off. Kokoro Connect fine decent dub. medaka box s1 give well still dub decent yet calling series the female john cena of anime. girlfriend x i say dub really showcase it well. Nakaimo quite good dub watch on it. nyan koi decent. Penguin Drum it so very dub fab to watch. say i love you dub well give remind of degrassi. shining hears bread dub did sorts ok. special a yea quite watch dub. rest of dub tokyo 8.0 did well dub to watch. K sure fine sorts dub. Lagrange sure well dub to check. Tiger & Bunny alright dub ok to watch. Zetman just decent dub. yet for dub voices that been really to hear in 2013 sure there been female side Marchi indeed Rias too much good to hear. Rial indeed 2013 overload hearing her. Karbowski yea same thing as overload hearing 2013. Brina yea as Yuno she can channel the crazy side. Luci quite batch of 2013 variety dub. Saxton since 2012 really she been rising more on dubs. Haag from utao, yasuna, & Shiranui still same Neves really is now very example of fast rising from clannad to fast forward right she keeping multi-range all type voice. male side Scott freeman as issei really quite the ha. Andrew really voice he got really from takuma, sentaro, etc well done. Austin from zombie to shu yea next era dub on the rise? Grelle from yuki to oscar well decent hearing. Greg Ayres overload hearing 2013. really keep it mention dub voice of 2013 give notice rise of fresh names dub anime voice coming in sure in really nearing mid 2010s point yea indeed more dub to come. |
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dcadint
Posts: 7 |
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I didn't think Severing Crime Edge was that bad. I found it entertaining (Not a waste of time) but I wouldn't go out and add it to my collection (I can say that about many others). Agree on the movie picks. I actually found Watamote annoying 4 episodes in; the whining and blaming got to me. I really liked Attack on Titan and Maoyu but the contrast hit me funny. Maoyu would progress months at a time from episode to episode and Titan would move minute to minute sometimes. I liked the economics and politics basis for Maoyu similar to Spice and Wolf (both need another season or two), which makes them stand apart from the common fair. I don't agree with "The Pet Girl of Sakurasou" being runner up for the worst; I thought it was good; not in the best category for me it wavered between tragedy and comedy adding a feeling of inconsistency. I was actually disappointed in Freezing Vibrations having read the Manga, I stopped watching when they had a Gothic Castle as a hotel in Bali and the ludicrous reason for visiting being the lack of treatment facilities. They kept the worst/mediocre content from the manga and rewrote over some of the best.
My Favorites: Comedy - Servant X Service, Devil is a Part-Timer Harem - Oreshura Fantasy - Hakkenden, Arata Kanagatari, Beyond the Boundary, Attack on Titan SciFi - Gargantia Drama - Eccentric Family School Romance - Golden Time, Nagi no Asukara |
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diadumenian
 Posts: 26 |
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I checked the "Best of 2012" column; neither Psycho-Pass nor Robotics; Notes was mentioned last year or this year so I think they're both being overlooked. Psycho-Pass would make my top 5 in either year, and the opening song for Robotics; Notes was one of my favorites. Closing song? Big fan of "Dating TIME" from Samurai Flamenco. So catchy and bright, JPop at its finest.
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ChibiKangaroo
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Just a few of my thoughts:
Series of the Year From the New World, by leaps and bounds. I won't go crazy and say that this was a perfect show. It wasn't. There were some issues with awkward info dumps and there were some loose ends that never got tied up. However, this show accomplished so many great things, and with such amazing artistic flair and aesthetic charm. First and foremost, this series had a compelling larger vision, which became somewhat obvious early on. The writing was just constantly building, building... building. It took its time, but rarely, if ever, felt too slow. As a result, I always felt like each episode was advancing its larger agenda, taking the viewers on a journey with a very definite destination, while having great experiences along the way. I think this is an important part of great story telling - keeping the viewers hooked on some greater plot that can span a number of short story arcs, constantly wondering about the ultimate "truths" of the story world. I think a lot of shows that have potential to create such an attractive overall plot get distracted by the small ball antics and back-and-forth between the characters. They don't have the vision to execute intrigue and excitement over the long haul. This is one of the primary differences for me between From the New World and Maoyu, which I will talk about later. From the New World had that vision, allowing little choices and interactions of the characters to plant seeds that didn't grow to impact the larger plot until years later, often in ways that we never would have expected. Also, it was aided by the fact that we were watching the characters grow up before our eyes, and were thus able to witness such long term impacts. To be honest, at first I wasn't really excited about the idea of the characters changing so dramatically (starting as children and ending the series as adults). I was worried that we, the audience, wouldn't be able to stay attached to the characters if they changed too much from arc to arc. However, I really never lost interest in the show's characters. I suppose they were just written so well. Their emotions, hopes, dreams and fears seemed to constantly be on the mind, even as all of those things were changing with each time skip. By the time the series was ending, I could feel very real affection for the remaining MCs. I really wanted them to survive. Of course, the artistry/music of the show was just fantastic as well. The backgrounds were often so imaginative, even those which were used to emphasize darkness and despair. And last but not least, the "villain" was written to near perfection. I would definitely say that he gives Kyubey a run for his money as far as most compelling antagonist. I'll briefly talk about this in another section though as well. All around, I know I've said this before, but I think From the New World is destined for classic status. It is one of a limited number of anime where, after the final scene was shown (and the final scene was just BEAUTIFUL) I genuinely felt empty knowing that there would be no more. At the same time though, I felt like I had just experienced a pinnacle of anime storytelling, and so I couldn't complain too much
Surprise of the Year Problem children are coming from another world, aren't they? I've gone over this a few times before in other areas, so I won't elaborate too much. I am not a huge fan of fanservice and I have been a little bored with the recent offerings of "kids get transported to a fantasy world" shows. Not since 12 Kingdoms did I see such a show that really made me excited to watch every week. However, Problem Children did such an awesome job screwing around with the usual tropes of these "transported to fantasy world" stories and made fan service fun, clever, humorous, and exciting. I had a blast with this show and just wish it had continued. Character of the Year Squealer Rarely do we get the pleasure of experiencing such complex, well written villains. For me, he was kind of like an un-corrupted Light Yagami... or perhaps a more complex, more conniving version of Kyubey. What I mean by this is, unlike Light Yagami, he wasn't fully corrupted by personal ambition (even though he came across that way for much of the show). At the end of the day, he was actually trying to spoiler[right an historic wrong and free his people from slavery. His methods though, were ruthless and murderous. Even though I know he committed numerous evil acts, it is hard to classify Squealer as "evil" in the same way I can easily classify Light Yagami as such, and I think it primarily has to do with the selfishness of Light Yagami's pursuits and the relative selflessness of Squealer's. At the end of the day, Squealer always knew that he was going to suffer and die for his transgressions. Light Yagami convinced himself that he wouldn't.] In comparison to Kyubey, I think Squealer is just so much more dynamic of a character. His level of cunning is displayed masterfully many times throughout the show as he is forced to adapt to changing circumstances around him, and does while constantly staying one step ahead of the humans who are supposed to be superior to him in every way. He is also obviously more complex, both from a motivation standpoint but also from a personality standpoint. Yes, part of Kyubey's dastardly charm is that he has no emotions and commits his evil deeds purely out of a utilitarian intent to protect the universe. However, that charm is a double edged sword in some ways because Kyubey doesn't change as a character. He is the same as he was in the beginning, its just that we in the audience didn't have the proper perspective. Once we gain that perspective, he is still a very compelling villain but he loses some of his luster. This is another reason why I really really wish Madoka had used her wish to modify his personality. It would have added complexity to his character and forced us to re-evaluate him once again, right at the climax of the series/season. Squealer had that complexity in spades and always kept us guessing as to his ultimate motivations. That's what might give him the edge for me. Worst Series Concept Agree with both Theron and Carl. Those two picks are exactly spot on. Fall from Grace Maoyu When I first heard about this one, I was kind of excited. I love anime involving fantasy worlds. I also heard that the plot was going to dip into politics and economics, which caused me to believe that the show was going to be a lot more intellectually stimulating and involve some kind of epic plot. It seems like this "fall form grace" category is focusing on shows that fell after some great start, but Maoyu didn't even start great for me. After watching just the first episode, I felt awful. The male MC was reduced to a buffoonish, "innocent pervert" who seemed much more obsessed with the female MC's truck-sized boobs than he seemed interested in her story. The female MC was portrayed as excessively clingy, airheaded, and damn near stalker-ish in regard to the male MC (she also had some kind of bizarre body dismorphic disorder, which is played for laughs in a way that was mildly offensive given her ridiculously idealized looks [from horny male perspective]). Given the male MC's boob stare at the outset of their meeting, and the female MC's excessive stalker approach, there was absolutely zero magic for me in their initial meeting. And yet, we in the audience were immediately and forcefully told that they were as Romeo and Juliet, and that their love was as timeless and certain as the rising of the sun. I felt like I was being hit over the head with a hammer. I watched a few more episodes of Maoyu, but I dropped it shortly thereafter. As I indicated above in my discussion of From the New World, I think Maoyu just got too caught up in the (very questionable) antics of its characters, and the whole harem-ish aspect that came into play later just made me take the show even less seriously. I think Maoyu fits the bill for fall from grace just about as well as any other series from 2013. |
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Animegomaniac
Posts: 4082 |
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Ok, this covers about everything I have to say about what I liked and what I didn't about the new stuff - as well as reminding me of a few shows on my watch list- I'll mention performances both new and new in 2013 and yeah, that is cheap. Hey, I got the new Nyankoi in December so does Yuu Kobayashi's performance as Nagi count now, back when it was originally released or back when it was done it in Japan? Anyway, I agree with Carl on the best male performance in Japanese, Takuya Eguchi as Hachiman Hikigaya. Weird, because if I did an "overall dub" topic as well, then I'd give credit to the whole cast of of My Romantic Life SNAFU. As opposed to a show original produced in 2007 because highlighting those actors as time wouldn't make much of a difference, would it? And again, Watamote? I'll just say "crippling social disorder" BS and leave it at that. So my pick was Maaya Uchida as Hajime of Gatchaman Crowds who, rather than being the show, she stole the show with a stellar performance. And when you can steal a show from weird aliens with pointy teeth and cubic creatures just by talking, you're doing something well. Dub performances of the year? I haven't talked about my favorites anywhere else so here we go. Male performance of the year would be Connor Leach as Junpei Kosaka in Nyan Koi!. Fantastic job in a kind of standard harem lead but one asking for a mix of anger, drama and comedy. Plus, he did the kid version of his character too, and he did it well; A really uncommon feat. Hopefully, he'll get to do more leads in the future. Female performance would be Luci Christian {Surprise! Not really...} as Himeko Inaba in Kokoro Connect. Especially the end of the "uncontrolled emotional release" arc. And the beginning of it. And the rest of the show, sure, why not? Just the same as Miyuki Sawashiro, she made Inaba cute and vulnerable through acting but unlike Sawashiro, she could do it without sounding like a boy. I probably should change it to "too much like a boy". No, it's fine. Best overall dub? I didn't hate the dub for Tokyo Magnitude 8.0, I hated the show; It's "Realistic" if realistic also means forced dramatic framing in order to forestall an obvious plot point that any observant viewer should see a mile away. It's a fair representation of shock but the way the other characters reacted, one in particular especially, makes me want to hurl things at my TV. Or am I spoiling the show, which was already fairly rotten? Would have made a fine movie though. I don't ever plan on watching or getting Roberta's Blood Trail. It's bad enough I had to get the second barrage with the first season, I'm not heading out into the danger zone again just for a few episodes more. Best overall dub: Call it a tie between High School D x D and Girls Und Panzer for disregarding the word "and". Also, the overall performances and direction, despite a few problems in Girls Und Panzer. Ok, one problem. Has a name, not going to mention it here... Still, despite her performance, I'm find it harder and harder to go back to the Japanese track {yeah, part of that is the locked language tracks}. And High School DxD, which was a welcome surprise buy on my part for a somewhat forgettable show, for its male lead Scott Freeman and Chloe Daniels as Asia as well as its fellow cast of Funimation "second stringers". |
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crosswithyou
 Posts: 2892 Location: California |
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Yes, yes, yes, YES! OMG. And then they end up coming up with shorter ways to say the title-- Just go with that from the beginning! -__- The first notable series with a long title that I can remember is AnoHana.
Oh man, how OLD is that photo of Eguchi? XDDDD |
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dtm42
Posts: 14084 Location: currently stalking my waifu |
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OreImo beats it by six months. That's the first excessively long titled show that I can remember. |
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FireChick
 Subscriber Posts: 2392 Location: United States |
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Yay! Discotek is featured! They really deserve it.
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crosswithyou
Posts: 2892 Location: California |
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Ahh. I haven't seen the series so when it came out didn't really stick. These long titles are very, very obnoxious though and I really wish Japan would stop. |
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Stretch24
Posts: 107 Location: Ohio |
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I'm glad to hear that I wasn't the only person who enjoyed Valvrave and found Haruto's death to be a moving scene. What I especially liked was that L-Elf, a seemingly heartless secret agent, acknowledged the dying Haruto as his friend.
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