best of 2005: trends

Categories: best of 2005

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Some quickie end-of-the-year trendspotting for 2005…

Worst Trend of 2005

Winner: Gonzo’s butchering of respected franchises

Gonzo hasn’t done an above average job on an anime series since Gatekeepers. Everything they have done is either up to or below expectations, and I’m really cringing whenever they start doing popular series. For Samurai Seven, it was bad enough that they decided to make one of the samurai gay, but giant robots? WTF? Kurosawa must be rolling in his grave. Then Gonzo descended upon Basilisk like lotus, and, yes, the blood and gore look fantastic, but there’s no drama left in the series. Then there’s Black Cat… I’m not sure if anyone who enjoyed the manga can find the same level of enjoyment with Gonzo’s interpretation.

Honorable Mention: Vampires

What next? A vampire who pilots giant robots! And can we finally make a damn vampire that can’t go out in the daylight?

Best Trend of 2005

Winner: Widescreen anime

Welcome to the twenty-first century. Widescreen is easier on the eyes and generally makes for better composition of the image (see: Lied, Elfen and Belldandy, Goddess). Even though anime has been shown in 16:9 format, none has been shown in 1080i, which is the dominant American HDTV broadcast standard. Ergo Proxy is slated to be the first… of course, since DVD doesn’t support HDTV, we’ll have to wait for next-gen DVD, and the whole Blu-ray and HD-DVD format war will probably be 2006’s Worst Trend.

Honorable Mention: Thinpak boxsets

Honestly, I think they should stop selling individual discs and just sell thinkpak’ed seasons like what they do for American shows. If I can get 26 episodes of Everybody Loves Raymond for $39.99, why am I paying $29.99 times 6 for 26 episodes of Belldandy? Even though you make less money per boxset, you’ll sell a lot more, and I’m glad to see some companies catching on (i.e. Bandai with their $40 Avengers set… though it’s still Avengers).

Best Meme of 2005

Winner: “Twincest”

Honorable Mentions: “omega best meme of the year!”; OTL; “Hard gay.”; “Goes Kaede on them.”

3 Responses to “best of 2005: trends”

  1. 24 Dec 2005 at 6:07:36 AM Kabitzin

    I like these, but no mention of schoolgirls with katanas? Thinpacks are awesome, but they really highlight how badly priced the normal DVDs are.

  2. 24 Dec 2005 at 10:05:38 AM Nunka

    “Hard gay” has to be my favorite meme ever. It’s so great. So, so great.

  3. 24 Dec 2005 at 10:11:29 AM Jeff Lawson

    I am SO sick of vampires. Except Karin. She’s cute.

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