100th post!
This year has been eventful and a major turning point in my life. It has also been a year of finishing anime I keep putting off since 2013. Rules are the same: no one title gets more than one award, spoilers are marked, recipient can be released any year but I have to start/finish it in 2017, and every award is based solely on my preference.
Unlike last year, there are many good titles I’ve watched/read this year, so strap on and let’s go!
First, Best Action (anime) goes to: Youjo Senki (2017)
Tanya the child soldier is actually a Japanese salary man reincarnated. Will she survive Being X’s trials or will she fall to the madness of war?
Youjo Senki is something that I didn’t even think was going to be good, but it was a love at first sight and I still like it a lot. My reviews on Youjo Senki are here.
Honorable Mention: Juuni Taisen (2017)
It was really hard deciding which one I liked better. I love Juuni Taisen’s characters better than Youjo Senki’s, but action-wise Juuni Taisen is more of a realistic one-slash-death and Youjo Senki has more exciting battles, so too bad. Reviews here.
Best Action (manga) goes to: Gunka no Baltzar (2011)
Baltzar is sent to be an instructor at a crumbling military academy in a neighboring nation. Faced with strained alliances, riots, and enemy attacks, will Baltzar be able to lead his students through perils?
Blend of politics and military, each chapter filled with tension, Gunka no Baltzar is a very enjoyable (and educational) read.
Honorable Mention: Killing Bites (2013)
Giving literal meaning to the phrase, “The honey badger doesn’t give a shit.” Killing Bites is a guilty pleasure that I find more entertaining than Terra Formars.
Best Sci-fi goes to: Paprika (2006)
Things go wrong when you poke around in people’s minds.
Paprika is very imaginative and vibrant. I saw it twice this year, one time alone and one time with my friends at college and I still did not understand the ending. But it was really well-told, much characterization is subtle, and it takes more than one time to kind of understand it.
Honorable Mention: Blame! (2017)
In an endless city, Killy, a man in black, searches for human with the Net Terminal Gene.
Badass action and amazing theme song, though the movie only touches the tip of the iceberg of the manga. Still, Blame was an enjoyable watch. I did one post on it.
Best Historical: Shut Hell (2008)
This manga is the reason why I want to visit Mongolia. Shut Hell tells the story of a man who is the reincarnation of the Mongol killer Shut Hell, and after her hanging in the 13th century he transport his soul inside her body so that she lives…or something like that. I don’t really claim to understand it.
Most importantly, YURUL BEST BOY.
Best Drama (anime): Tokyo Godfathers (2003)
Three homeless people found a lost baby and tries to find the mother.
This is going to be my Christmas movie next year. It’s a beautiful movie. Really beautiful.
Best Drama (manga): Life (2002)
Following up on last year’s Vitamin. Life is a very serious, no nonsense, if a bit over the top shoujo about bullying. Ayumu lost her best friend because she got into a good highschool but her friend didn’t, so she aims to start fresh. However, highschool life is not what she dreamed of…
Remember, kids, don’t be a bully or karma will get back at you.
Best Comedy: Kill la Kill (2013)
Girls in skimpy clothing fight clothes.
Ah, Kill la Kill, how guilty I feel to leave you hanging for years. Be it overexcited friends, stripper teacher, talking uniforms, overly-dramatic appearances, or absurd superpowers, the satirical Kill la Kill has it all.
Best Comedy (manga): Dear (2002)
Lycanthrope meets one cursed by a lycanthrope.
“Miniskirts, hurrah.” Dear brings Fujiwara Cocoa’s previous works together. It’s one of those manga that you need to give a few volumes for it to be good. Although I’d say this is more of a fantasy slice of life, it has its funny moments.
Honorable Mention: Marriage Hunting of the Legendary Brave (2016)
OP hero tries to woo girls, to no avail because of his awkwardness and weird clothes.
Best Fantasy (anime): Made in Abyss (2017)
Made in Abyss is a tale of two children who challenges the Abyss to find out the truth behind their lives. It’s everything a fantasy is, from the imaginative setting to colorful cast to the sense of adventure. Reviews here.
Honorable Mention: Dantalian no Shoka (2011)
Fantasy anime with a GOSICK vibe. Lord Hugh Anthony Disward inherited a mansion from his dead grandpa and with it comes a little girl who is actually Bibliotheca Mystica de Dantalian which is the archive of 100,666 Phantom books. The two begin a partnership, solving crimes involving these Phantom books.
Dantalian is underrated, probably because it seems to go on forever and ever, but one cannot get enough of its creative ideas. The two leads are lovely, we have the sharp tongued sweet addict Dalian and the ex-WWI pilot who calls himself Huey despite being from a noble family. If Dantalian didn’t end in the pillow-throw it did, I would have liked it a lot more. (I’m still pestering the publishing companies in Thailand to localize the light novel. Why is nobody responding, damn it lol.)
Best Fantasy (manga): Mahoutsukai no Yome (2013)
I heard of this manga through NHK’s Imagine-nation. Mahoyome is about a girl called Chise, whose affinity for magic caused her to be shunned and finally sold. Before drowing in the sorrow, a magus who looks like a buffalo’s skull, Elias, took her in as his ‘bride’. Is this the happiness Chise hoped for? Or is it going to drown her even further?
This is a fantasy manga more than a romance manga, and the first three volumes I had to literally trample on people to be able to buy is centered around Chise’s magic training and Elias’s mysteries. I love the world of magic this manga has constructed.
Best Slice of Life (anime): Koe no Katachi (2016)
My biggest regret is that I could not watch it in the theater when it came to Thailand, and the company in charge of selling the DVD and Blu-ray got some horrible reception, so I turned to my old, old friend Youtube. Koe no Katachi is very heavy. Every character has their own flaws, Ueno and Kawai can go get themselves stuck in a ditch, and how they overcome their flaws and be together, how much guts it takes to repair what is lost, is what makes Koe no Katachi so memorable. Also because of the moon.
Best Slice of Life (manga): River’s Edge (1993)
The art is pretty strange but the story has a lot of impact. Also has a lot of good quotes.
Best Soundtrack: Sword of the Stranger (2007)
Why oh why is this movie not well known? Who knows, because it’s a visual and aural masterpiece. From epic battles to tender moments, Stranger has the perfect track to go with everything. Check it out if you have time, it’s an epic Samurai movie not for its plot but its visuals.
Favourite Art: Kujira no Kora wa Sajou ni Utau (2017)
Children with special powers called ‘Saimia’ are cursed to an early death. They live on a moving island called the ‘Mud Whale’, drifting in isolation in an endless desert. But one day, they have a visitor…
What is there not to love about the art? Reviews here.
Best Shoujo: Piece of Cake (2003)
Troubled by her ex, Shino moves away to live in a flat, where she is attracted to a mysterious neighbor…
Piece of Cake is not a piece of cake to read, because it’s not your typical romance. It’s about Shino’s struggles with her love life. The storytelling and metaphors are superb.
Best Mystery (anime): Rokka no Yuusha (2016)
Six Braves gather to defeat the Demon God, but apparently instead of six people there are seven. One of them is an imposter, and they must figure out who the wolf among them is before it’s too late. Still, though, the mystery aspect of this anime is confusing the heck out of me because they don’t really explain it so that I understand. Maybe it’s just me. Rokka no Yuusha is a refreshing twist on the old defeat the big bad genre, so I will give it an award for that.
Best Mystery (manga): Mayonaka no X Giten (2014)
Why is this even here? Oh, I know, because of its use of a red herring to fool people. Hiroki was introduced to a game where he can temporarily swap bodies with other 8 participants, and ended up in the idol Mikuni’s body. However, when he came back to his own body, he had stabbed and killed his own sister. Now, Hiroki must find out who got into his body and killed his sister. I usually hate body swapping but Mayonaka is pretty good if you look past the obvious fanservice of the first few chapters. And the idea of using body swapping to solve crimes is pretty cool.
Best One Shot: Rico (2009)
The ultimate warrior, Rico, has 3 minutes memory capacity. Rico is short and cool, the plot is great. I wish it was a bit longer, though.
Most Enjoyable: Kakegurui (2017)
How can you say no to those faces? Kakegurui is trippy and entertaining. Watch girls stress the heck out of each other by making outrageous bets. Reviews here.
Other Random Awards
Most Unsettling: Usagi ga Kowai (2002)
Two rabbits play an eating game with a blindfolded girl.
I…did not think it was going to be this creepy. How the sounds and visual work together sends chill down my spine.
Most Confusing: Abara (2005)
Huh?
Who is Cutting Onions?: Letter Bee Light and Blue Night Fantasy
Saw it three times, cried every time. Ugh now I want to rewatch the entire series again.
Honorable Mention: Akatsuki no Yona OVA (2015)
ZENO STOP CUTTING ONIONS PLEASE.
B*tch of the Year: Akane, Kuzu no Honkai (2017)
Why not? Reviews here.
WTF Ending (spoilers): Kumo no You ni, Kaze no You ni (1990)
Ginka joins the 17 years old Emperor’s harem just to get three meals a day and nap time. Little did she know, she will be dragged into a deadly power struggle.
I love this movie somewhat. The characters are all very charming and the story keeps one engaged. The first half could very well be from Studio Ghibli, the second half? They just threw the main plot out the window and replace it with some random one, leading it to an ending that left the viewers going ‘what the heck just happened there?’ Which is why this title ended up here rather than somewhere better.
Honorable Mention: Kaze no Na Wa Amnesia (1990)
A gust of wind blew and the entire human race got amnesia. How did it happen? Why did it happen? A young man journeys to find out what the heck is wrong with this world.
Amnesia is here because finally, after the grand truth is revealed that aliens are the cause, the main guy went like ‘oh well ok’ and proceeds in a mating ritual with said alien. It got honorable mention because they’ve been hinting at aliens from the start so it wasn’t so much of a surprise.
Honorable Mention: Aoharu x Kikanjuu (2015)
A bet gone wrong caused Hotaru, a ‘handsome’ girl to join a survival game team. Goal? Beat the crap out of the strongest team in the league!
AxK’s case is not that the ending is bad, it’s because the ending is funny. Hotaru is a Reverse Hideyoshi and because the other main character (Matsuoka, that blond guy) seems to be in love with her, he thinks he’s gay. Like, OMG why am I feeling this way towards a boy bla bla bla.
Weirdest: Mahou Shoujo? Naria Girls! (2016)
What is it? It’s Naria Girls. I mean, what is it? Naria Girls! No other explanation is available! Review here.
What in the world did I just read: Mikai no Hoshi (2003)
It’s not bad it’s just… I don’t know how to describe it.
Leeeeeeeeeeeeeewd: The Severing Crime Edge (2013)
Middle schoolers perform suggestive haircuts and blood transfusions. Haimura Kiri is the descendant of the most brutal killer in history. The scissor used to commit crimes, ‘the Severing Crime Edge’ was passed down in his family and eventually has him as its owner. However, Kiri’s biggest problem is that he has a hair fetish and has to cut someone’s hair or he would go crazy. He finds solace in Iwai, the Hair Queen whose hair grows indefinitely and can never be cut by anything other than his scissor, but Iwai is hunted down by other serial killer descendants so he must protect her. Their time together leads to this… very lewd hair cutting scenes and a very strange quote: “He violated my hair.”
Guys plz don’t ban this post because of that picture.
Wait there’s no sequel?: Luger Code 1951 (2016)
After the second world war, mankind now fights werewolves. Testa and his superior are tasked with deciphering the Luger Code, which is the language of the werewolves, so they captured one to do the deed for them…
Luger Code has an interesting plot and if this was released back in the early 2000’s it would’ve been a complete series. Too bad, really, I wanted to watch more! I like Yonaga and Testa a lot and I’m sad it’s over so fast.
Why did I even bother?: Clockwork Planet (2017)
I was so looking forward to this but the actual anime is meh.
Honorable Mention: Amon Saga
Read this post to find out why I don’t care about it too much.
Plot Shield Has No Power Here: Pirika, Chain Chronicle Haec-something no Hikari (2017)
I did not put this as spoiler because it happens on the first episode. Pirika is Yuri’s partner throughout the whole journey before the anime’s timeline, and right on the first episode this seemingly important character just went pop, gone. It is hinted that she isn’t actually dead. Chain Chronicle reviews here.
Honorable Mention: (SPOILER WARNING): Kishibe Souta, Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku (2016)
I saw the death flag coming but from how they set him up I thought he would live for a few more episodes. Oh well, nothing to do about it. I did a review on MahoIku before and mention how he’s one of the few characters I actually give a dang about.
Conclusion
Oh, that was more of a ‘shove everything I watched/read into this post!’ than a review. 2017 was a great year, I watched lots of good anime. It’s been a lot more active on this blog and that makes me happy. I was planning to watch Houseki no Kuni and Hoozuki no Reitetsu too but couldn’t because it was a super busy holiday, but there’s always next year!
Thanks for sticking around! Have a very happy new year!
bonutzuu 