blog好き

Jun 15 2012

Categories: best of 2011

3 Comments »

A waitress. A professor. And a witch.

As always, shows that started in December 2010 through November 2011 are eligible. I felt like 2011 was excellent. Rather than trying to fit in ten shows for the sake of having a top ten, I rather just go with the tier that’s above the rest. There’s no show I don’t feel good about including this year. As much as I want to praise Guilty Crown… not sure if I can. Honorable mentions: Mirai Nikki (eh, manga was better), TWGOK II (eh, manga was a lot better), and Usagi Drops (never finished cause someone spoiled the ending and made me go, “Wait a second…”).

#8: Hanasaku Iroha

Also wins for 2011:

• Best Waitress
• Most Festing It Up
• Best Daughter/Mom/Grandmother Combo
• Best Slice-of-Life Series
• blog好き Hanasaku Iroha Posts

Ohana is the main selling point of Hanasaku Iroha. She’s like the highschool girl version of Onizuka: she goes into a situation festering with underlying decay, and then she uses her energy and unconventional style to breathe life back into it. I felt like this show had every chance to be generic and bland, but Ohana and her grandmother saved it. They approach life in vastly different ways, but as the show goes on, it seems like they are more and more similar. Also, the rest of the cast have very relatable issues, either about jobs or creativity or responsibility or stupidity or trying to get of a superior sibling’s shadow. Hanasaku is just a great example of how to do an original slice-of-life series and using characters rather than gimmicks to distinguish itself.

#7: Nichijou

Also wins for 2011:

• Most YouTube-able
• Best Female Mad Scientist
• Best Troll
• Best Manga to Anime Adaptation
• Most Impressive Bullet Time Sequences
• Most Orchestral
• blog好き Nichijou Posts

Calling Nichijou a moe anime is like calling a pug a cat. Nichijou is troll anime: it’s about the best of friends trolling each other. It shouldn’t be surprising that this show came from Kyoto Animation. After all, no studio trolled their audience harder than when Endless Eight was unleashed upon us. There’s just a lot to like about this show… the whole coffee incident… the principal vs. deer throwdown… professor giving birth… Mio laying a smackdown… eeeeeeeeh?! Not to mention all the cute Professor interstitials, Sakamoto-san being Sakamoto-san, and, of course, misfortune. Nichijou is pretty much the most YouTube-able series of the year and a worthy spiritual successor to Azumanga Daioh.

(With Nichijou in this year’s top ten, a Kyoto Animation series has appeared in every single one that I’ve done, even going back to before I started doing a formal top ten. The Second Raid, Haruhi Suzumiya, Clannad, Clannad After Story, K-On!, K-On!!, and Haruhi Suzumiya again. Kyoto also scored #1 three times so far, with only Sha– err– maybe I shouldn’t reveal this tidbit yet.)

(Oh one last video. My favorite.)

#6: Ben-To

Also wins for 2011:

• Most Delicious Thigh Meat, Even If They Aren’t Half-Priced
• Best Use of a Grocery Basket
• Most Delicious Bentos
• The Xia Yu Fan and Xia Yu Lan Memorial Twincest Award
• Best Heroic Nicknames
• blog好き Ben-To Posts

Just a fun show. Pure fun. It’s not pretenious or grand or thought-provoking: Ben-To tries its best to entertain on a visceral level. Fanservice? Check. Action? Check. Comedy? Check. Occasional heart-warming sequences? Check. It’s a series that knows what it wants to do and do it well… which is sorta like bento battlin’, I guess. Anyway, the rookie anime from David Productions scores a lot of points for having such a ridiculous premise that is a joy to watch. And, yes, pants are stupid. Oddly enough, this show had better fighting sequences than the show in front of it in the ranking…