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.

Another year passes. Man, it’s hard to believe I’m already in to my 9th year of being an otaku as well as my 4th year of blogging. Time sure flies. I’m now well over 1500 posts with nearly 16k comments, and it’s thanks to everyone’s support that I’ve gotten so far.

This year was marked by an increased number of good shows, but surprisingly, it wasn’t as “happening” as last year. To put it in another way, while the average increased, the top end of the bell curve wasn’t as high as last year. Nevertheless, this year still had its moments.

My choices here aren’t particularly graded using a strict measure, it’s more of an overall rating of shows of this year that I greatly enjoyed in one way or another, so please view it as that rather than a solid indicator of quality.

Of course, being a mere mortal with a real life outside of the Internet, I will inevitably miss a few gems here and there, so feel free to voice up any other shows that you, my dear reader, believe I should have watched and not missed for this year.

With that said, here’s the list.

14. Spice and Wolf

Mmm… economics animu. Well, actually calling “fox god animu” would suit it better because, seriously, everyone only watched it for the bundle of furriness that is Horo.

13. Lucky Star OVA

Kagamiku! Tsunderella! Cherry-dog! Christmas-cake Nanako! Kagamiku! Oh wait, already said that.

Anyways, the Lucky Star OVA was awesome because we all missed the cast of Lucky Star so badly, especially in this KeyAni-dominated year. Not to say that’s a bad thing but we all missed the light-heartedness. Here’s to hoping for another extension or a spiritual successor of the awesomeness that was Lucky Star.

12. Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu

Honestly, Noto-sama as a closet otaku ojou-sama? I’m sold.

While NHnH seemed like it’ll be a one-trick pony, it had a surprisingly coherent plot and good character development, characterized by a few choice episodes. That, and Mika is fucking jailbait.

11. Itazura na Kiss

The Nana Mizuki show of the year. Honestly after last year’s Tokyo Marble Chocolate, I realize Nana’s niche is the slightly naive yet earnest young adult women where she really can be her character. (I suspect it’s because she seems to draw it from her own experiences)

Itazura na Kiss was mainly enjoyable because of that and we even got a full season of Nana Mizuki from it. I realize a lot of people didn’t like the show’s pacing, but it was quite fine to me considering how they were putting in nearly 10 years of story in to 25 episodes.

10. Natsume Yuujinchou

Natsume Yuujinchou wasn’t really in my fielding range until someone IRL recommended it enthusiastically and I tried it out. Oh boy I sure got hooked on it. With tinges of Mushishi and a very likable cast (moe moe fox shouta!) I just couldn’t stop watching it. So glad to hear there’s a second season to it too, premiering next month.

9. Detroit Metal City

GO TO DMC! GO TO DMC! GO TO DMC! GO TO DMC! GO TO DMC! GO TO DMC! GO TO DMC! GO TO DMC! GO TO DMC! GO TO DMC! GO TO DMC! GO TO DMC! GO TO DMC! GO TO DMC! GO TO DMC! GO TO DMC! GO TO DMC! GO TO DMC! GO TO DMC! GO TO DMC! GO TO DMC! GO TO DMC! GO TO DMC! GO TO DMC! GO TO DMC! GO TO DMC!

8. Kurenai

kurenai, characterized by the moe-moe bundle that is Murasaki and the tight writing and direction by Kou Matsuo, really deserves mention for this year. The ending was kinda unexpected, but it only served to enhance the “deep”-ness of the story.

7. Strike Witches

One of the surprises this year, I initially balked at the premise of SW’s no-pantsu flying mecha musume. I mean, for god’s sake, the fanservice is just so fucking blatant. Despite that, and to my own pride, I finally watched it in a batch once it was finished and I was so hooked I finished it in two sittings.

SW’s appeal, once you get over the lack of proper lower body wear, lies in the light-heartedness and optimism of the characters. Gonzo also managed to give equal exposure to every one in the 501st Joint Fighter Wing, and the pacing meant that the show wasn’t too “draggy” unlike the other mecha musume anime Sky Girls (still struggling to finish it). The infamous pantsu-stealing episode also nearly killed me from all the laughing I did.

So, despite my initial hatred of the series, it’s really surprising how things can change, and now SW’s in my Pick of 2008 list. Well, if you can’t win ‘em, join ‘em. :P

6. CLANNAD

Gym-shorts Kyou! Killer violin Kotomi! Tomoyo Raptor Kick! “Why can’t I call you onii-san, onii-san?” Mei! Sanae Rainbow Bread! Dictionary attack! Starfish girl! Nagisa x Ryou!

Yeah, I could probably go on and on, but suffice to say, CLANNAD was pretty damn enjoyable despite being the third KeyAni outing in the past 4 years.

5. Code Geass R2

Despite the illogical plot, despite all the mindfucking, despite all the copying from Evangelion, it’s undeniable that Code Geass R2 was the most entertaining show this year, singlehandedly. Being surprised after every mind-fucking episode and subsequently reading the reactions from other fans really drew out the worst from me. Never had I had so much fun with post titles, ha ha.

Despite all that, the ending was surprisingly epic and half redeemed the series for me. Lelouch BAWWWWWWW!!!! Still, I don’t think I can rewatch the series again if for the lack of Geass Sundays. That was practically 75% of the reason I persevered on till the end.

4. Ga Rei Zero

Can’t mention this year w/o talking about the yuri croquette that is Ga-Rei Zero. First, it rickrolled us all by presenting a totally unrelated cast for the promos and the first episode, only to kill ‘em all by the end of it. Only then it went for the real deal, the untold past story of Kagura and Yomi from the original manga, justifying the “Zero” part of its name. It also gave me another reason to like Pocky, XD.

Ga-Rei Zero is also notable for the crazy inventory of weapons, ranging from the gun-katanas, an iron, a boiler and the bloody weaponized wheelchair. Oh and not to forget the bike-fu from Natsuki in episode 1 too. That was awesome.

3. Kannagi

Kannagi oh Kannagi. This quirky comedy show about a bunch of crazy shrine maidens by the much-talked about Yamamoto Yutaka sure delivered the laughs. The karaoke episode also made its mark on me. Oh god Takako made me shat bricks.

While the show was generally light-hearted, Kannagi veered in to serious “self-existential” drama for its final arc, proving Yamakan’s directing chops isn’t limited just making people laugh. This is one show I wouldn’t mind seeing more of in the future.

2. Macross Frontier

Ah, Macross Frontier, my first foray in to the world of Intergalactic Song Wars and Variable Fighters. The show started off a strong note, but really tapered down towards the end, ending with an non-ending kind of ending.

Despite that, the love triangle was still pretty epic towards the end, and the songs of the show are inevitably the best I’ve heard this year. The songs were the biggest redeeming factor for the show as things went rather downhill. God bless Yoko Kanno \o/. I still wish there was a solid ending though…

1. true tears

The only show this year that was so good that I made a rare and passionate opinion post about it. P.A. Works first independent work, it was initially expected to be another eroge adaptation, but quickly turned out to be something much more different.

true tears took everyone by surprise by the clean, crisp visuals, leading P.A. Works to be given the moniker of the second KyoAni. Director Junji Nishimura also kept the story and character development really engaging, coupled with how he kept everyone guessing about the final resolution until the very end, provided weeks of debates amongst fans as to who would end up with whom.

Movie of the year: Evangelion 1.01 You are (not) alone

It was technically released last year, but Evangelion 1.01 is more of a 2008 show for me since the DVD (which I proudly bought) came out this year and even made it in to local shores, which was a real surprise for me.

While many critized it for being another attempt by Gainax to cash in on the franchise, it’s undeniable the show has gotten a much needed facelift from it’s original 1995 incarnation. The action cinematography culminating in the sniping of Angel Ramiel was simply awesome.

Sure it might be another milking of the fans, but Anno Hideaki is delivering the goods here too. Looking forward to 2.0 in 2009. Asuka \o/!

And that wraps up my first 2008 in Review post. There’s another one coming up after this, where I’ll be talking about the other noteworthy things that happened this year.

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

If there’s ever a reason to buy Nyan Tama, Nyan Nyan Service Medley (Toku Mori) warrants more than enough to justify the 3800 yen. It has Iteza, Triangler and… SHERYL SINGING AIMO!

Why couldn’t they have used this version in the final episode instead? :(

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

It’s a ruddy hillarious scan though, with entries such as “watermelon”, “peach” and “I love middle-aged men”. God, I seriously wonder which magazine is this from. And I seriously wonder if people will start using “Clan Clang” to refer to Klan, LOL.

P.S.: Shin has posted some translations from the scan. They really say for themselves, but it’s good to have them translated anyways ^^.

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

It’s too bad only May’n’s going, they could’ve brought Megumi along as well and then we might be able to see Triangler (fight on stage) live!

More information over here, looks like AFA 2008 is gonna be a pretty darn huge event. Definitely not gonna miss it, but looks like I’m gonna be especially broke afterwards ._.

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

Sure is crazy how fast Macross Frontier CD’s are leaking. Not that I am complaining though….

Tracklist：

01 Prologue F
02 ノーザンクロス／シェリル・ノーム starring May’n
03 トライアングラー(fight on stage)／ランカ・リー＝中島愛＆シェリル・ノーム starring May’n
04 HighSchoolLife
05 トランスフォーメーション
06 アナタノオト／ランカ・リー＝中島愛
07 Test Flight Delight
08 星間飛行／ランカ・リー＝中島愛
09 イヌミミランカ
10 妖精／シェリル・ノーム starring May’n
11 追憶のトランペット
12 真空のダイアモンド クレバス／シェリル・ノーム starring May’n
13 愛・おぼえていますか～bless the little queen／ランカ・リー＝中島愛
14 蒼のエーテル／ランカ・リー＝中島愛
15 is this LOVE?
16 shadow of Michael
17 アイモ　O.C.／ランカ・リー＝中島愛
18 Battle Frontier
19 娘々サービスメドレー／ランカ・リー＝中島愛＆シェリル・ノーム starring May’　[(1)ﾗｲｵﾝ (2)ｲﾝﾌｨﾆﾃｨ (3)私の彼はﾊﾟｲﾛｯﾄ (4)ﾀﾞｲｱﾓﾝﾄﾞｸﾚﾊﾞｽ (5)星間飛行 (6)what'bout My Star? (7)愛･おぼえていますか (8)ｱｲﾓ]
20 プロトカルチュア

My favourite OST tracks are Prologue F, High School Life and イヌミミランカ. Those three tracks are probably the “signature” tracks of the show for me and it’s good to finally get to hear them in full. High School Life’s full version was a bit different than I expected though.

This time, the number of vocal tracks nearly equal the BGM ones. Aptly named Triangler (fight on stage) ver. is the Sheryl x Ranka duet of the song, and damn, it would be fun to actually see them “fight” on stage with that song, LOL.

It’s also good to hear the full version of Anata no Oto finally, and it’s a catchy song as I expected. Sheryl’s Yousei and Ranka’s Ao no Ether is also in the album, but I’ve already heard the full versions. Still, it’s good to get the official releases.

There’s also the remixes. Without doubt, Shinkuu no Diamond Crevasse is the official, best version of Diamond Crevasse ever, and it’s good to see they actually gave justice to it with a full track. Ranka’s Do you Remember Love ~ bless the little queen~ doesn’t really evoke much excitement to me, since it’s basically Ranka singing the full version isntead of a excerpt. Aimo O.C. is best described as a “demonized” version of Aimo, and I do think that description fits it the best, considering the context it was made. Wonder what does the O.C mean? “Over Clocked” maybe? Or “Over Charged” ?

Finally, the highlight of the album is THE MEDLEY, “Musume Service Medley”, which is the clean version of the one played at the end of the series. Needless to say, it’s an awesome listen, but I do feel the medley more better in the context of the series. Frankly, the medley song changes got a bit weird to me during the early parts, mostly during the transition to “My Boyfriend is a Pilot” and when “Seikan Hikou” comes in.

Overall, another awesome sound track from this series. Of course, we still have the movie to wait and anticipate much. Man, I hope we get more Sheryl tracks. I still feel there’s not enough pieces from Ranka and Sheryl.

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

But I still feel the “clean version” feels lacking. I think it’s the awesome Alto shouting.

Maybe I should just rip the audio straight from the show.

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

You gotta admit, despite the inconclusiveness of the love triangle (god I feel so damn trolled), the mecha porn was good. Damn good. Especially with that medley. The part where Alto becomes so angry that he breaks his helmet was just awesome. “HITORI DAKARA KOSO! DAREKA WO! AISHETERUNDAAAAA!!!” At least Lion was used properly.

I wish they will put that medley as a track on the second OST. I might just be suckered enough in to buying it for the keeps.

Now, I just hope we get more details of the MacF movie. I guess details will be announced in the upcoming magazines. Will it be a true sequel or “historical movie”? God, if they do a sequel, I hope it’s not gonna be like this episode. I can’t take more of this trolling!

Finally, Sheryl’s (ﾉゝ∀･)~キラ☆ was just so awesome. So so so so awesome.

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

The ending is so… inconclusive. Worst type of end in my opinion dammit. Urge to kill Kawamori seriously rising. It’s never revealed who Alto chooses and everyone just manages to survive and land happily on the planet. I just feel like my feelings have all been trampled over and thrown away like a used dirt rag. Oh man, I was at least expecting some deaths.

Anyways, there’s still the just-announced Macross Frontier movie as well. I guess it’s probably a retelling of the series or even maybe an DYRL-style “historical movie”. But I hope it continues the story instead. I need more Alto x Sheryl!!!

P.S. WE ALL HAVE BEEN TROLLED HAVEN’T WE? HAVEN’T WE?!!!! *breaks down in a corner and cries*

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

And so, the penultimate episode of MacF ends with a terrible cliffhanger. I sure didn’t expect Alto to explode up so nicely, especially after he promises Sheryl he’ll definitely be back and technically confessed to her already.

Speaking of that part, that was definitely the scene I have been waiting for all this time to happen, Alto strongly confessing his feelings for Sheryl right before the final battle begins. It’s a bit predictable, but damn, I am thoroughly satisfied with that.

Also, it’s finally confirmed that Sheryl is a true Nome, and she is Mao’s grand-daughter. Of course, that also leaves the question of how she ended up in the trash alleys of Galaxy unanswered.

Well, another week wait for the finale, and that’ll wrap up one of the signature shows of this year. Please please please please please please let Sheryl live. And I hope she also has a new song too. I suspect we’ll just probably get a duet of Aimo, maybe Lion too though.

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