This post is dedicated to the good, the bad and the WTF’s of this year. It’s really been an interesting year…..

Heh, I was supposed to post this yesterday, but with all the shopping, satelite tracking, celebrations and epic rickrolling, I only finished it today. I guess this will be my first real post of 2009, hehehe.

Anyways, the point of this post is to relive the more memorable moments of 2008 for me, in terms of anime and such. Another year filled with good things, bad shit and “just WTF were they thinking?!” craziness.

The Good.

Redeeming ending of the year: Code Geass R2

I have to admit, despite the general descent to craziness, R2 managed to cap it off with one of the more touching endings of this year. Rest in peace, dear prince, rest in peace.

Studio of the year: Studio Gonzo

Despite the general decline of their quality, one thing makes Studio Gonzo stand out this year, the beginning of their free online streaming of their shows, WITH SUBTITLES, on major video-sharing sites such as Youtube and Crunchyroll.

Probably the single most celebrated initiative by any Japanese production company in this decade, Gonzo braved through critisicm from their peers in the industry and semi-legalized what most fans have been doing all along anyways.

Besides, their shows this year weren’t all that crap. Strike Witches even made it in to my Top of 2008 list, not to mention the more significant milestone of topping the DVD sales chart. Let’s just hope news of their near-demise is greatly exaggerated.

Pose of the year: Ranka’s (ﾉゝ∀･)~キラ☆ pose, Macross Frontier

Seriously, is there any challenge for this award? Ranka’s (ﾉゝ∀･)~キラ☆ pose has been spotted even on politicians. There’s something to be said about that pose that’s so powerful it disarmed an entire platoon of rebelling alien giants.

GAR Male of the year: Negi Springfield, Mahou Sensei Negima.

Sure there was Ozma Lee and Orange-kun, but this year’s GAR award goes to Negi for sure. Especially after single-handedly pwning a professional bounty group with his bare fists.

Furry of the Year: Horo

Anyone disagrees?

Miko of the Year: Kou

I thank the gods for Wagaya no Oinari-sama for fulfilling my miko quota this year.

Gym Shorts of the Year: Fujibayashi Kyou, CLANNAD series

Legendary episode is legendary. CLANNAD 17 nearly pulled my trousers down me over the edge. That said, balancing two coins on top of each other is a task I still fail to achieve T_T.

Imouto of the Year: Sunohara Mei, CLANNAD series

“What are you saying? Onii-chan, you’re acting strange~”
“Why can’t I call you ‘Onii-chan’, Onii-chan?”
“Onii-chan~ what should Mei do?”

Saishuu Heiki Imouto Sunohara Mei. God damn you Sunohara for having such a cute lil’ sister!

Cosplay of the Year: Hiiragi Kagami, Lucky Star as Hatsune Miku, VOCALOID series

It just fits her so well. KyoAni really has a knack to stir up their fans and hit them right where it counts.

The Bad

Disappointment of the year: ef – a tale of melodies.

After the highly praised ef – a tale of memories, the inevitable announcement of the sequel was a happy news for me, but sadly, the show itself didn’t quite match up to the first season in terms of connecting the audience to the characters and the pacing was, quite frankly, awful. Even the ending lost some impact despite of its intended tear-jerking qualities due to how rushed the final two episodes were. SHAFT… if only… if only…

“I only watched this because of my favourite seiyuus were in it” show of the year: Kanokon.

Oh, the power of a seiyuu(s) doing crazy roles compels me to watch even the shittiest of shows.

“I can’t believe I actually finished watching this show” of the year: D.C. II. S.S & Zero no Tsukaima III.

Honestly. The fact I actually followed both those shows until the very end should win me an honorary title or something. Especially for finishing the piece of shit that was ZnT III. Even the DVD OVA.

Controversial Ending of the Year: Akane-iro Somaru Saku.

Akane-iro seemed like it went down the much more supported Yuuhi end, made more significant since it was the first time in YEARS that Rie Kugimiya voiced an ACTUAL tsundere, but betrayed all expectations of Yuuhi camps to choose a WINCEST ENDING with “Imouto of the Year” runner-up, Nagase Minato. Really reminds me of a certain 2005 show….

Most Tragic Death of the Year: Shirley Fenette, Code Geass R2

SHIRLEY!!!!!!!!!! BAWWWWWWWWWWWW. That homo shota totally misunderstood her and killed her despite that she actually kept Lelouch’s identity a secret even after she remembered it. It was made even more painful as she confessed her love for Lelouch as she lay dying in his lap. I could write volumes more about her death, but I’ll just leave it at here, it’s too painful to continue talking about it.

The WTF?!

WTF Ending of the year: H2O ~Footprints in the sand~

H2O almost ended up in the previous category, but thanks to it’s ending, it barely escapes that and instead making it over here. Sure the ending had its good bits, but dear god, it was still bloody “WTF?!”. One thing’s for sure, H2O managed to rock my soul.

WTF Father of the year: Mikawa Kirameki, Shigofumi

Norio Wakamoto nearly ended up here, but Mikawa Kirameki really is the better (or worse) choice for this award. Probably the biggest narcissist ever seen in an anime, you really have to admit his dedication for beauty was awe-inspiring and disgusting at the same time. Poor Fumika T_T.

WTF Mother of the year: Queen Marianne, Code Geass R2

After making Marianne out as some sort of heroic existence throughout most of Geass, it was surprising to discover that she was still alive all this while, hiding inside the body of a loli. Then when she finally appears before Lelouch, the first damn thing she does is to do a single can-can styled twirl to greet him. And to think she was one of the big reasons that Lelouch became a ruthless manipulator who would sacrifice even his siblings to find out the truth behind her “death”. Sigh…

Control Mechanism of the Year: Nipple controllers from Magical Heart Kokoro-chan.

Really one of the single most WTF moments in anime this year, the supposedly April Fool’s joke that was Magical Heart Kokoro-chan actually came to life as an OVA and 0verflow sure made a lot of people 0verflow with it.

Prettiest Male of the Year: Saotome Alto, Macross Frontier

Admit it. Alto is undeniably the prettiest amongst the trio, especially when he is in his Sakurahime-mode.

Trap of the Year: Hamaji Yakumo, H2O ~Footprints in the sand~

Solely in this list because not only he’s 99% a girl already, he actually manages to score with his best friend to the point of marrying and having kids AND THE WIFE DOESN’T MIND HIM STILL CROSSDRESSING! Living proof that traps can still achieve real happiness.

Wasted yuri potential: Sheryl x Alto x Ranka

Macross Frontier would’ve been 100x more awesome if Alto was really a girl. Yuri love triangle three-some…. ooohh I shiver at the thought.

“What was I thinking when I was doing this” Post of the Year: “I am now heartbroken….. T.T”

The Suki Suki Sat-chan fanclub is still accepting membership applications.

©2009 Kurogane's Anime Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Finished the show. All I can say at first is… “oh wow”.

Continuing off from 11, the trauma has caused Takuma to revert to a child state, and he thinks of Hayami as his mother. With no options, Hayami leaves for Tokyo with Takuma to try and make him recover by going back to apartment where he used to live. They both live a happy life there for a while, until one day Takuma follows Hayami out to do grocery shopping.

On that fateful day, Hayami finally asks Takuma of what he really thought about his real mother, in front of a railway crossing, and the question stirs up painful memories. Takuma falls in to a trance, and suddenly realizes that Hayami isn’t hold his hand. Hayami tries to save a kid whose ball bounced in to the railway crossing, and Takuma realizes it was the same thing that happened on the day his mother died. He finally opens his eyes, only to see Hayami… getting run over by the train.

A recital of the “Footprints in the sand” by the main cast is read, and time jumps to years ahead. Hotaru is now the village elder, Maki and Hamaji got married and actually have a child and Yui is still Yui. Takuma is now a handsome tall guy (lulz), and his eyes are fine. He’s putting on the finishing touches on a huge windwill, built on the same hill he met with Hayami, when he hears a familiar voice. Loli-mode Otoha appears out of the bushes chased by a wild pig, a reenactment of sorts, and dives right in to Takuma, telling him that it was hard for her to persuade the Spirit World to do this.

Takuma is left wondering on the meaning of the words, when another familiar face walks out from the bushes. It’s Hayami-chan, miraculously back, and Takuma is dumbfounded for a moment before he smiles back to her, and the both of them look up on the newly completed windmill. The End.

Really a nice ending there, relatively speaking here though, considering how botched up most of the anime was. I’ll say it’s the most solid ending episode yet (until true tears 13 airs) of this season, packing a lot of closure in one episode, yet still managing to insert a lot of drama in to most of it. Truly, I didn’t expect Hayami to actually “die” in order to finally salvage back Hirose’s heart, and it was a rather shocking moment when it happened.

Looking back, it’s also pretty awesome how they manage to write out the last few moments and resurrect back Hayami from the dead… providing a touching closure to the series. I still accept it’s highly deus ex machina but still… it was nice of them to finally be together. Also, +awesome points for the hot adult Hotaru and I kinda lol’d at the idea of Hamaji being a father. I guess it’s more correct to call him “mother”, rather XD.

Adult Hotaru is kinda hawt.

Anyways, H2O has been a mess, but I think the ending kinda makes up for it. At the least I didn’t feel “Oh i so wasted my time watching this show, orz” at the end of it. Not exactly a show I can recommend, but if you’re really interested, it’s okay to watch, heh.

©2009 Kurogane's Anime Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Hirose injures Hayami in a fit of anger, after he goes out looking for her in the typhoon. When he comes to his senses, he’s back home and blind again, seemingly all this while. With a push from Hotaru’s grandfather, Hayami decides to leave the village in order to not bring any more harm to Hirose. Hirose tries but fails to stop her, giving up because “I’m blind”, but Hotaru comes and knocks some sense in him.

Hayami is about the leave the village, when the two lackeys of Hotaru’s grandfather corner her with shotguns, but she manages to run away, until the mastermind himself appears. She’s cornered back to the ruins of her own house, and almost gets executed, only to be saved by Hirose appearing. He swears to protect… “his mother” this time.

Man, this show is definitely getting more and more messy. Hayami continues to be self-blaming, which is really sad for her. Hirose seems to become more and more dysfunctional by the episode as well. The best part of this episode was definitely Hotaru telling Hirose flat out that no one is forbidden to be happy, which really suits both Hirose and Hayami, as both are still unable to forgive and accept themselves.

One more episode to go… I hope this show will end well.

©2009 Kurogane's Anime Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Oh wow. More dramatic revelations this episode.

So it’s revealed that the Kohinata’s were directly responsible for pushing Takuma’s mother to committing suicide, and the news of this causes Takuma’s trauma to resurface, resulting in a minor amnesia and nightmares for him. Hayami only worsens it more, by being apologetic about it, when Takuma clearly states that it’s not her fault. Tensions between the two soon reach a boiling point…

I have to admit it, Hayami made the situation even more worse herself. Takuma clearly refuses to pin the blame on her… yet she repeatedly tries to lay the blame on herself. It’s also interesting that they’ve shown the context in which the first scene in the anime plays out, the part where Hayami gets beaten up by the two guys… and cruelly enough… it doesn’t seem that one-sided or bullying that at first impression.

Still, I hope that Hayami will be able to resolve her own problems and finally reach a path of happiness for herself. She’s being shackled up too much by the past and the sins of her parents as well.

©2009 Kurogane's Anime Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Finally catching up on this show.

Hirose brings his mom’s bell to school, causing a big misunderstanding because bells are seen as a sign of confession in the village. Yui is just… lol. Unfortunately, the bell breaks, and Hirose entrusts it to Hotaru and Hayami to fix it, while he mopes alone. This causes a feeling of distance between him and the two girls.

Hayami’s trailer gets bombed by some jealous villagers, and she is takes refuge temporarily at Hirose’s house. Hayami forces Hirose to tell her about his mother, and he reveals that his mother committed suicide, leaving him alone behind. Hayami is naturally shocked by the revelation, and on the day of the festival, she tries to pass the fixed bell to Hotaru to return it back to him, but Hotaru tells her that Hirose is waiting for Hayami at the hill where they met. Hayami rushes to the hill, and Hirose indirectly confesses to her, and they both share their first kiss.

Interesting development, as Hirose has finally chosen Hayami between the two. Hotaru is undeniably sad, but she receives it pretty well. However, the anger of the villagers towards the Kohinata clan is still simmering, even if Hotaru’s grandfather has considerably softened his hate. I really feel vexed for Hayami’s trailer getting torched by those two bullies.

©2009 Kurogane's Anime Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Mahou Shoujo Magical Otoha!

Wow, this was a crazy episode.

Hotaru and Hayami are now Takuma’s imouto’s, his uncle is now “okaasan” (don’t ask), Hamaji is “Takuma-chan’s” osananajimi, Otoha is a transfer student-cum-resident mahou shoujo, and her enemy is Yui the Magical Farmer. As if it’s not ridiculous enough. Otoha requires Takuma to tsukkomi people in order to collect enough energy to henshin. Yeah, definitely a whacko episosde. Hell they even inserted a Miku parody… wonder Crypton will sue them or not.

Anyways, it all turns out to be Otoha’s own dream world, where she intends to enjoy herself for a last few moments as she’ll be disappearing soon as her duty is done already. She bids Takuma a teary farewell, after wishing him the best.

While the majority of this episode was pretty much whacked, the parting scene was pretty touching, even if Otoha hasn’t got a lot of screentime so far. I feel that’s one of the factors that really hold back H2O from greatness, since the lack of episodes has really cut off the story, and I feel as if watching a summary of it.

Still, this was a pretty enjoyable episode, and they really went all out with the gags, even actually including a real OP of Mahou Shoujo Otoha *facepalms*.

“I’m Papa?!!”

I really want to tsukkomi this part.

Random Miku Parody!!! Leeks are ♥

Takuma Tsukkomi!!!

Hotaru: “Coffee?” Hayami: “Tea?” Otoha: “…or us?”

©2009 Kurogane's Anime Blog. All Rights Reserved.

So, now that Hayami and Hinata made up, it’s time for Yui’s turn.

Despite my expectations for it to be a boring episode, it was actually quite an important one, since it reveals the reason of why Hayami is despised by the villagers. It turns out her family were doctors and they extorted a lot of money from the villagers, causing them to be hated. Yui’s grandfather died indirectly because of this, as the family couldn’t afford the medical fees for his illness. Yui, being pretty close to her grandfather, hated the Kohinata family ever since.

That said, this episode has Yui picking up fights with Hayami and losing much, to Yui’s vexation. Yui storms off, gets lost in the mountains and she’s saved by Hayami, at where the Kohinata house used to stand. Yui starts getting angry at her and shouts out her feelings, Hayami responds with, “It’s my responsibility to receive your hatred, since I have nothing left to return back to you.” (note: abbreviated). This somewhat patches up the relationship between them, although they still have that rivalry thing going on, especially now that Hayami is wearing twintails as well.

Argh, Hayami, why do you have to change to twintails so fast? I prefer the long hair, since it differentiates you better than the twin tails :P. Well, it was kinda hilarious seeing her and Yui actually ordering the same dessert and choosing the same dress. Hayami has a pretty deadly punch though….

©2009 Kurogane's Anime Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Takuma-kun manages to patch up the relationship between Hayami and Hinata, after advice from Otoha. On the way, we also discover that his family is actually a pretty influential one and Hinata’s grandfather wanted to tie the two families together using Hinata.

Wonder what’s next on H2O. Will Hinata and Hayami have hawt yuri relationship together and leave Takuma behind for Otoha?

The preview theater this week is pretty “WTF?!” inducing too.

©2009 Kurogane's Anime Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Ouch.

Hamaji rocks my soul with his awesome trap.

Beach episode, hijinks ensues when Hamaji’s imouto, Yuki comes and she’s jealous of Hirose. Stereotypical development of Yuki drowning, gets partially saved by Hirose, and ends up thinking better of him… a bit.

Hirose also got sum DRAMATIC MOUTH-TO-MOUTH by Hamaji, and discovers later, after getting a full frontal, that Hamaji is really a guy. Laughter ensues… to be followed by the sound of a million facepalms of the guys who have fapped to Hamaji already. I swear though, I seriously swear to God, that Hamaji had boobs while he was in his mizugi.

Hirose: “I fapped to him… I fapped to him… I fapped to him… “

Episode ends on a more serious note, with a confrontation between Hayami, secretly arriving at the beach, Hirose and Hinata. The SD theater at the end remains pretty freaking awesome.

©2009 Kurogane's Anime Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Hinata is a yandere?

H2O rocks my soul with catfights.

Hinata starts to serious hit on Hirose, sparking Hayami’s jealousy. After school, Hirose gets invited to Hinata’s place, and learns that Hinata and Hayami used to be good friends, but the arson incident cut them off. Hirose decides to force them to make-up, but Hinata unexpectedly kisses him, and guess who witnesses it as well…

We learn more about Hayami’s past, and seeds of suspicion are planted on Hinata’s true reason to approach Hirose, as it seems to be planned by the grandfather. Also, we find out Hinata has a younger sister who died a long time ago.

Still a pretty rocking show, though nothing out of the ordinary. The SD art remains pretty cute to watch, and I especially like the preview corners.

©2009 Kurogane's Anime Blog. All Rights Reserved.