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Mar 06 2012

Categories: best of 2010

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A jellyfish. Some triplets. And a Capturing God.

So I finally found some time to get around to recapping a pretty non-eventual year. Unless if you were living along the Gulf of Mexico. (I wrote that originally in 2010. I swear. I think I should update it to Greek debt crisis Fukushima Hurricane Irene Thailand flooding Guilty Crown Greek debt crisis Skyrim Italian cruise ship disaster Midwest tornadoes Reaper invasion Greek debt crisis. Full circle!) As always, shows that started in December 2009 through November 2010 are eligible. (Yes, I’m perfectly aware this is 2012. Makes it oh so more delicious.)

When I think of 2010, I think of one of the most horrible years for anime in recent memory. Maybe the economic downturn caused studios to produce less anime… according to Wikipedia, 2010 saw 118 shows vs 135 for 2008, 151 for 2007, 203 for 2006, and 204 for 2005. In fact, it was the lowest number of shows since 2000… pre-Modern Golden Age of Anime.

(Good news! We had over 200 shows for 2011, and only 20 of them are Hidamari Sketch.)

#10: Princess Jellyfish

Also wins for 2010:

• Most Otakuness
• Most Knowledge of Aquatic Pets
• Most Unlikely Show to Appear on This List
• The Mariya Memorial “Who the Fuck Cares if I Crossdress?” Award

Why is Princess Jellyfish (Kuragehime) is on this list? Instead of relying on tired shoujo tropes, Princess Jellyfish actually tries to advance the story by developing the characters, and, more importantly, the web of relationships beyond the characters such that they seem less like characters and more like people.

I really enjoyed Princess Jellyfish (Kuragehime). The animation, music (lai~ lai~ lai~), and voice work were really well done, but the show is on this list because it’s well-written too. The stories are funny and interesting and is driven by the characters and their ability (or inability) to change. I loved how each character had their own personal fetish, whether it be Three Kingdoms or jellyfish or Benzs or women or dresses or dolls or whatever, and the fetish doesn’t define the character but colors them. Also helps that Kuragehime manages to skirt a lot of typical shoujo angst and just go with an emphasis on advancing in life… when you don’t want to. In other words, everyone in their twenties on the verge of adulthood.

I would rank Princess Jellyfish higher, but it has a really terribly abrupt ending and leaves too many dangling threads. Since this is a josei series, I doubt we’ll see a sequel. Too bad.

(And, no, I’m not putting it on this list because of the trap. Come on. It was either this or Highschool of the Dead, Star Driver, Hanamaru Kindergarten, or Ika Musume.)

(Just to spoil it for everyone. #1 is K-On!!. Deal with it. It was a crappy year.)

#9: Mitsudomoe

Also wins for 2010:

• Most Prolific Reader
• Best Pure Character-Driven Comedy
• Most Adult Conversations for Grade Schoolers
• The Minami Memorial Broken Siblings Award

Funny? Broken? Perverted grad schoolers? Check. Check. Double check. Mitsudomoe does one thing and one thing well: character-driven shock comedy. Whether it’s about Futaba’s melonpan fetish, Mitsuba’s evilness, or Hitoha’s win, there’s always something entertaining going on with the Marui clan. I’m only ranking the original season as the second season just presented more of the same, and it got old. I’m sure by the time this series hits a fourth season in 2014, it’ll be so milked, it might as well be called “Angry Birds.”

(Honestly, editing this post in 2012, I should have just gone with a top six for 2010… partly because I’m lazy and need to work on a Best of 2011 post but partly because it’s a weak year.)

#8: The World God Only Knows

Also wins for 2010:

• Most Dominant Capturing God
• Most Moe Sidetail
• Best Cute, Clumsy, and Adorable Sidekick
• Most Scoring of Heroines

My TWGOK archives can be found here. Keima scores (a) sidetail girl, (b) petite tsundere, (c) rising idol, and (d) shy librarian. Not even the ultra-crappy OP can derail it. Reminds me of the scene at the end of Babe… “That’ll do pig. That’ll do.”

(Note: This is 2010 rankings, so let’s pretend 2011 TWGOK II didn’t air yet. Yes, I’m probably the only blogger a solid year behind his posts… so, uh, look SHINY RED FIRE TRUCK!)