it’s faaaaantastic
Categories: power rankings
Tagged: ano hi mita hana no namae
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This season has been like the NBA playoffs… just a nice combination of storylines, drama, and, most importantly, no clear favorite. However, both the anime season and the NBA season are almost over, and, well, let’s see where we’re at.
(Needless to say, if you’re not an NBA fan, skip this post and watch this video instead.)
C / Minnesota Timberwolves
Much like C, Minnesota is a mess. Neither show nor team has any real semblance of cohesion… just shit tossed together like a leftover stew and hoping it doesn’t taste putrid. It is as awesome of an idea to make an anime about ATM machines as it is to draft two point guards in a row with consecutive lottery picks. And bypass Stephen Curry.
Tiger & Bunny / Detroit Pistons
Tiger and Bunny are Ben Gordan and Charlie Villanueva. Not a compliment to anyone involved.
Hiden no Aria / New York Knicks
The last time a JC Staff show was on my radar, Patrick Ewing was still with the Knicks. (Shana, of course, would be Patrick… she was just enough of a superstar that JC Staff wouldn’t do anything other than Shakugan no Shana ripoffs after that series, much like how the Knicks continually deny that they are rebuilding and keep giving terrible contacts to over-the-hill players. Both are desperately clamoring for the good but not so great days. Needless to say, I don’t think the Knicks will win an NBA championship anytime soon.)
Maria+Holic Alive / Los Angeles Clippers
Donald Sterling = Mariya. Clippers fans = Kanako. ’nuff said. (Any Clippers fans reading my blog would be nodding their heads right now. If such a thing existed… Clippers fans. Ha!)
Deadman Wonderland / Orlando Magic
Dwight Howard leaving. Dwight Howard leaving. Dwight Howard leaving. Dwight Howard leaving. Dwight Howard leaving. Dwight Howard leaving. Dwight Howard leaving. Dwight Howard leaving. Dwight Howard leaving. Dwight Howard leaving. Dwight Howard leaving. Dwight Howard leaving. Dwight Howard leaving. Dwight Howard leaving.
Steins;Gate / Atlanta Hawks
You just have no clue why it would be good or why it would be enjoyable, yet you still watch and enjoy. Defies logic. On the bright side, I have been microwaving bananas like a madman.
The World God Only Knows S2 / Boston Celtics
KG is as intense about basketball as Keima is about gal games. Imagine KG’s “swat of your practice shot” as Keima’s “I can see the end!” Pierce would be Haqua… the star who always thought he should win but never did until KG arrived, much like how Haqua never captured jack shit until Keima helped her. Allen would be Elsie, which doesn’t really fit, but whatever. Close enough. Allen raining threes is like Elsie acting adorable, and they both love shiny, red firetrucks.
Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko / Los Angeles Lakers
Too easy. Show that everyone liked until the bandwagon crashed on I-405? Yep, that’s Denpa Onna. Lake Show also stormed out of the gates, but they had nothing left in the end, except the team self-destructing. Fans of both are in denial… wait, Denpa Onna isn’t bad! Lakers can still win next year! Mike Brown will fix things! Plot with futon girl will go somewhere! This would be a freaky prediction if suddenly Shinbo retires. On the bright side, we have a lead who is too full of himself (Makoto / Kobe), a reclusive character who can’t ever seem to stay in the game (Erio / Bynum), someone in the Kardashian clan (Ryuuko / Odom), and a character who likes to dress up in various costumes (Maekawa / Artest)
Hanasaku Iroha / Chicago Bulls
Rose managed to be the MVP this year over a slightly better performance by Dirk and Wade. Dirk carried the Mavs, and Wade made the three horsemen relationship work between him, Global Icon, and Big Ball of Yarn. Rose won because he’s a new face, and he plays so unselfishly. That’s Ohana… she’s a refreshing strong female lead (in a sea of weak male leads), and she is unselfish to a fault. Like how Hanasaku Iroha can do slice-of-life very well but can’t generate drama when it has to, Chicago can play lockdown defense but has issues with crunch time scoring. You know. The kind the MVP should provide.
(Oops. I forgot the NBA awards MVP based on the season. Actually, only about 75% of the season, since ballots come in before it ends. Would make too much sense to award the best player who steps up his game when it actually counts in the postseason. Why is there a Finals MVP and an MVP? And does it really take weeks to count the votes? Don’t we have futuristic devices that can automatically count, add, and store memory by now? Maybe even a few with user interfaces. Mmm…)
Nichijou / Miami Heat
Everyone loves to hate both of them, but just don’t let the hate cloud proper judgement because both are stacked with talent, focused and locked in, and executing like well-oiled machines. Like Miami, Nichijou has its own Big Three… Professor / LeBron needs (and gets) the attention and are prone to fits when they don’t get what they want as well as major pouting (see Celtics vs. Cavs in 2010 playoffs or Professor not wanting to brush her teeth). Nano / Wade do all the thankless work but is secretly carrying the show / team. Sakamoto-san / Bosh… don’t they both look like they want to play with a big ball of yarn?!
(Of course, The Principal is Pat Riley. Since I can easily imagine Pat Riley getting into a fight with a reindeer and come out with his hair still slicked back.)
Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Boku-tachi wa Mada Shiranai / Dallas Mavericks
If you told me that Dirk, Jason Kidd, Jason Terry, Shawn Marion, and Tyson Chandler would be gunning for an NBA championship, I would have thought you were talking about 2004 and not 2011… much like the gang from Ano Hi… better late than never getting the gang back together! Of course, Jason Kidd is Menma, having left the Mavs because of the Jimmy Jackson / Toni Braxton love triangle and coming back. The tragedy, of course, is that Menma’s role should have gone to Steve Nash!!! Would have been perfect if Nash was the one who came back and helped Dirk, Marion, and Terry win a championship.
(Yes, both fun and disturbing, in unequal amounts of course, to imagine Jason Kidd wearing Menma’s white dress. He does kinda have Yukiatsu body type.)
(Going to start referring to Ano Hi as Friendship Anime. Much better name.)
(Fun fact: Jason Terry has four daughters. They’re named Jasionna, Jalayah, Jaida and Jasa. The NBA… it’s faaaaantastic!)
My preseason prediction was the Heat… so I’ll still go with them. Heat in six, but hard to count out Mavs since Dirk is playing on another level right now.
9 Responses to “it’s faaaaantastic”
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Speaking of Maria+Holic…. the latest Megami has Matsurika in a nurse’s outfit.
Who loves to hate Nichijou? I don’t believe that for a second. Nichijou is awesome.
While you have to be in awe of the ability of the Heat, their annoying arrogance makes me want to root against them. Go Mavericks, I guess. I’m not amped up about this final at all.
@K.K.: Who loves to hate Nichijou? I do, I’m your man. I remember a scathing comment that I wrote involving hobos and falling down 10 flights of stairs but unfortunately Jason deleted it. Anyhow, there’s a difference between Nichijou and Azumanga Daioh that I’m surprised that nobody bothered to point out: plot. Azumanga Diaoh had vignettes that weren’t completely ridiculous, alowwing characters to be cute ok their own. Nichijou, on the other hand, insists on being quirky and bizarre in EVERY SINGLE PIECE. This works when you have an ensemble cast like Zetsubou Sensei, where each character is distinguished by their own little quirk, or Arakawa Under the Bridge, which contrasts the absurdity by at least having some half-serious moments. The only thing that sets aside the Professor is that she needs a good spanking, while Nano should be pitied for having to put up with DV. I’d say the house-bound trio had plot-induced stupidity… except again, there’s no plot.
Nichijou has the quality definitely, but one doesn’t get the feeling that it’s, like, moving ‘forward’. Azumanga did that (the characters did end up graduating after all), as well as Lucky Star, but Nichijou has continued being vignette after weird unrelated vignette. Not only that, but the comedy aspect is a mixed bag, which decrease the entertainment value even more for people not aminable to such.
Also why not just call Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Boku-tachi wa Mada Shiranai, you know, AnoHana? It’s why me and many others call it.
Myssa nails it. The development of Sakaki’s character would be a good example (and her joy in being able to pet and hug a cat in the end is worth the price of admission). With four episodes to go, I find it hard to see what changes there have been from the beginning of the series, and I suspect that the episodic nature of show will allow one to rearrange episodes 2-12 (setting aside the Go Soccer Club bits) without losing much, if anything.
Currently we are expecting 26 episodes on Nichijou. Especially since there is suppose to be a new OP soon.
Well, I hope they get some plot going in here soon, or else it’ll join Cinderella Boy as the only other show I’ve ever dropped.
I want my Sonics back, preferably in Bellevue.