j1m0ne's blog

Reflections on the decade begin.

Here we are at the end of the 00s and what a good 10 years for anime it’s been! I suspect that’s probably because it’s the first full 10 years I’ve actually been actively following shows by the season. I think my choices are fairly obvious and similar to many of the lists other people have done (refer to Kitsune’s post for a compilation) – a good show should always be a good show no matter the subject matter and the intended audience.

Without further ado!

Juuni Kokki is always one of the first series I recommend to friends looking for a good fantasy anime. Although it remains an unfinished work with at least two story arcs left hanging, the depth of the storytelling along with well-fleshed out characters and a rich historical background in the parts we do get to see make this an absolute joy to watch.

While the first part of the series (Crest of the Stars) was all about building up the characters and backstory, Banner of the Stars is pure action and dialogue with many intriguing, intricate battles of wills and egos – it was like watching an animated tactical RPG at times. The Abh universe and its rich cast of characters are never better portrayed than in this installment of one of the best sci-fi stories of all time.

Learning to enjoy the little things and to appreciate the small moments in life, that’s what ARIA is so good at doing. Bringing as much warmth as a sweet baked potato treat on a freezing December afternoon, the series consistently delivers powerful and meaningful tales wrapped in simple, sweet packages. Afforded three seasons and 1 OVA (total 54 episodes) to develop its story(?) and characters, the ARIA universe is so well illustrated that Akari, Alicia, Aika etc feel like a part of our own lives that we laugh and cry along with every success and failure. Iyashi-kei anime at its finest.

The original Sunrise ‘trainwreck’ – by the last 8 or so episodes, things had descended into such chaos that I no longer knew what the hell was going on and who was going to get green-sparkled next. Whatever one might think of the execution, Mai-HiME was a barrel-load of fun and laughs with every viewer having their own favourite HiME (mine is inevitably Natsuki) and Child (Mega-Duran). Oh, and this is the show that gave birth to the legend that is ShizNat.

As crazy as the notion of a middle-school girl turning into a minor god (along with all the other minor tofu and tyre gods) sounds, Kamichu! manages to make it work in the most wonderfully whimsical and charming kind of way, successfully aping the Ghibli format to bring wholesome family entertainment to the small screen.

Deceptively bright, ABe Yoshitoshi’s masterpiece doujin-turned-anime Haibane Renmei is dark and depressing beneath the surface, giving plenty to ponder with its abstract religious symbolism and themes of loneliness and redemption. Despite explaining very little of its mysterious world, you’ll never find yourself scratching your head wondering what’s going on – instead you’ll get gently sucked into the lives of the haibane and it’ll be plenty hard to not be moved by the events of the last couple of episodes. A few more plus points (as if you need them) – Haibane Renmei contains some of the most beautiful art and music work seen in an anime.

Although Hunter X Hunter actually started at the tail-end of the last century the strongest parts fell within this decade – namely the latter half of the TV series and OVA 1. As far as shonen shows go it was a cut above the rest with brilliant storytelling (the Celestial Tower and Genei Ryodan arcs in particular) as well as a cast of compelling characters. Now only if Togashi will pull his thumb out of his ass and finish the Chimera Ant arc so we can get more episodes of this wonderful series.

Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu may have a lost a lot of goodwill with that sorry excuse of a ’sequel’ but at the time of airing it was such a marvelous breath of fresh air with its wrongly sequenced episode order, sharp dialogue and exquisite animation. Over-rated is obviously the wrong phrase to use to describe a series that nobody had any expectations of beforehand. In all likeliness Haruhi is the series that people will most remember the 00s for, and rightly so.

Like most people who watched and loved Honey and Clover during its run, I could identify with the ‘what is the point of studying, what is the point of falling in love, what is the point of life?’ phase every college student goes through, because that was what I was going through. I could share in the joys, the fears and the pain of rejection that Takemoto, Mayama and Yamada experienced, because I know what it felt like. What Hachikuro shows us is that there is meaning in all those experiences – they’re what make us human.

The best reverse harem anime of all time? It’s not just that though, Ouran High School Host Club is arguably one of the best harem anime of all time. Unusually for a shoujo-pandering series Ouran has break-neck pacing, is stuffed full of wit (the recurring light bulb joke!) and has genuinely lovable characters that you can totally root for, from the obnoxious Renge to Haruhi’s flamboyant okama father to the loony Lobelia girls.

On paper, a 75-episode story about a boy playing a board game shouldn’t be as interesting as Hikaru no Go turned out to be. Though the focus is squarely on Go with plenty of matches and tournaments (those damn cliffhangers!), there is also lots of room for character development – the rivalry between Hikaru and Akira throughout the years was fascinating to watch. Like many others, I had zero interest in the game going into the series but found myself getting caught up in the fever as I was following the show through its run – I even bought a plastic Go board in a (failed) attempt to learn to play. Oh the crazy things people do.

Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu is slapstick comedy at its best. Plucking the characters from the overly serious (and frankly incredibly silly) FMP! series and throwing them into a string of ridiculous random comedy situations chock-a-block with furry fanservice was an act of genius. Pretty much the only anime in recent history where I laughed from the first minute of episode one to the last minute of episode 12.

Anime such as RahXephon is probably the type of mecha show made for people who abhor mecha shows (like me) in that the mecha parts are the least important thing about it. Instead, the writers decided to pour on layer after layer of confusion in an excruciatingly slow setting with characters who just turn up randomly and spout meaningless phrases (Hi Quon and Mishima Reika!), which sounds just like my kind of thing. Somehow, the series managed to move me in a way Evangelion failed – maybe that had something to do with the fact that protagonist Ayato behaved normally and most importantly, did not whine.

Azumanga Daioh was my first experience of the 4-koma manga-to-anime format and it remains the funniest and best example of the high-school girls comedy genre for me. “It is said that most Japanese have a unique character of shame”. Yukari-sensei, QFT.

I watch Tokyo Godfathers every Christmas to heighten the festive mood – nothing like a good old yarn about a bunch of homeless misfits (drunkard hobo, okama, runaway teenage girl) who embark on a quest to find the parents of a baby they stumbled across in the trash. Great way to warm the soul during the blustery winter nights.

Attempting to watch the Boogiepop Phantom anime by itself will probably be an incredibly confusing ordeal for most people – it can be very trying to process the messed-up, overlapping timelines, the huge cast of characters and the seemingly unconnected events of each episode without suffering from information overload. I actually only managed to get through the show on my second go, in one sitting and with a notepad at my side. What you will find when you do take the time to explore the world of Boogiepop is a richly rewarding study of the darkness found within each human soul and its desire to escape from reality. Best consumed with the light novels, manga and the live-action movie.

A visual feast with a great story to boot. Millenium Actress is Kon Satoshi’s journey through the history of cinema from the classic era to modern age. Its non-linear approach can be a tad befuddling at times with the constant shift from flashback to present time and back, but you do get used to it – especially when you’ve watched it more than 5 times. It would be worth watching for the nifty cinematography and soundtrack alone, but this little glimpse into the life of a big-screen idol is genuinely poignant and funny, wringing both tears and smiles out of me.

Human drama disguised as baseball anime. I don’t think I’m jumping the gun by choosing a show from this year that’s not even approaching its end yet – but I’m not gonna wait ’til 2019 to decide that ‘Hey actually Cross Game was one of the best anime of the last decade..’. It’s quite refreshing to see the characters here behave like real teenagers do with all the awkwardness and 素直になれない-ness (not being honest with oneself), the unsaid words and the unseen actions. Adachi Mitsuru may like recycling his themes and plots repeatedly, but when it works as well as in the case is here, why bother fixing what isn’t broken?

Not the first nor the best shoujo-ai anime made, but Maria-sama ga Miteru S1 was instrumental in opening the floodgates (literally) for other yuri shows. A beautiful girls’ ‘love’ story that was fluffy and emotional but most importantly, not nauseating. Unfortunately the series has gone terribly stale in recent installments, which probably has something to do with the fact that Sei is no longer an integral part of the storyline.

Lots of tits and ass in Ichigo Mashimaro, only problem (or delight, depending on your preferences) is that they’re all flat as a washboard. Loli jokes asides, this was simply one of the funniest, cutest shows around that you’d have to be an ogre not to like it. Cuteness is Justice!

The world is ugly, thus it is beautiful. Kino’s Journey provides food for thought for its viewers every episode as Kino and her companion, the talking motorrad Hermes encounter all kinds of strange beings on their travels, making for an absorbing study of the human psyche and social behaviour. The Coliseum and railroad episodes are particularly memorable for me, being brilliant examples of the ‘What drives people to behave the way they do?’ kind of story that is the driving force behind the Kino series. I’m sure that a lot more people spent their time wondering whether Kino was a boy or a girl though.

Youkai/spirit of the day isn’t a new concept, but Natsume Yujincho wins by successfully marrying that otherworldly element with the healing properties of ARIA while injecting a healthy dose of humour for good measure. Nyanko-sensei probably edges Aria-shachou for the ‘Coolest cat of the decade’ award.

Typical shoujo manga adaptation on the surface, Fruits Basket is much more than that. At turns hilarious and at other turns, heartbreaking but always heartwarming and with a little life lesson to tell. The characters and their interactions are just great fun; from Tohru’s protective Yankee and denpa friends, the restless Kyo and his rivalry with Yuki and the cute kid couple of the Juunishi, Kisa and Hiro. Too bad the anime is left with an unsatisfying conclusion (the usual ‘we’ll make shit up cos we ran out of story to animate’ syndrome), but it is still a great adaptation of a great manga.

Never judge an anime by its first episode? Gintama had one of the worst 1-hour openers I’ve ever seen but after that little blip it’s gone on to be the smartest, funniest shounen show still gracing our screens. Where else can you find an anime with giant penguins, Chinese aliens and the shinsengumi? Certainly Gintama is one of the few anime that makes good use of filler episodes – thoroughly creative and parody-laden with the most important thing being that they’re actually funny.

The world of Mushishi is one that is colourless, dull and drab yet the characters that inhabit it are anything but. In many ways similar to Kino no Tabi with its subtle yet vivid approach to story telling (you might as well dub this ‘Ginko’s Journey’ with bugs instead of a talking bike), every standalone tale in Mushishi leaves a very strong impression, often moving and always enthralling.

While compiling this list I have come to the conclusion that I like:

There’s still quite a lot of anime from this decade I want to but have yet to watch though (Gankutsuou, Mononoke, Katekyo Hitman Reborn!) and God knows I’ll want to revise this list in 4-5 years’ time. For now though, I have a firm belief that these 25 anime are shows I’ll continue to treasure and re-watch well into the future. Here’s hoping that the 10s will be just as memorable!