Top 5 anime of 2010

Honestly, there were several excellent anime this year, which makes it kinda hard to pick just 5. But somehow, I was able to. On that note, here are my top 5 anime series of 2010:



5. Strike Witches 2.
I rather enjoyed the first season of Strike Witches. It was for that reason that I watched the second season, which, naturally, wasn't as good as the first one. But, on its own, it was very good, provided you've seen the first season. Otherwise, you'll be left wondering what the hell the characters are talking about.




4. K-ON!!
Like Strike Witches, I got a kick out of K-ON!. And like Strike Witches 2, K-ON!! was not quite as good as its predecessor. A decent show on its own, but hurt by dragging on too long. Despite not finishing it, I still enjoyed the first 14 episodes or so of K-ON!!, earning it the #4 spot on my countdown.






3. The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya

Yeah, yeah. Technically, it's from 2009. But I'm sure most of us haven't seen it till recently, so I'm putting it in with 2010 anime. This movie really showed what Kyoto Animation is capable of when they put in the effort. The soundtrack is beautiful, as is the animation. However, I'm going to put my fanboyism aside for the time being, and give Disappearance the #3 spot on the countdown.





2. Invasion! Squid Girl

Remember when slice-of-life anime wasn't all cake and tea? Yeah, it's been a while since that kind of show came around, and frankly, I had missed it. Then a girl with blue tentacles for hair came ashore. In hindsight, I'd never become so attached to a show, to the point where playing the OP on my iPod depressed me. This show and the #1 show of 2010 are probably interchangeable, though.






1. Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt

Easily the biggest surprise of fall 2010 season alone, never mind the whole year. An over-the-top parody of Western cartoons, drawn by the nutcases over at Studio GAINAX. Mind you, these are the same people that made Evangelion and Gurren Lagann. Every aspect of Western cartoons was parodied to seemingly no end. A lot of the humor was relatively character-driven, yet still fresh after the first 4 or 5 episodes. Orgasm of a soundtrack, too.



That's my top 5 of 2010. What's yours? Leave a comment to tell me!

New York Anime Fest 2010

October in New York. Two things come to mind: postseason baseball, and New York Anime Fest. Both are very important to me, but since this is an anime blog, I'll discuss the latter. Among the announcement at NYAF this year were: Durarara! release dates (Aniplex).

Aniplex announced release dates for Durarara!, as well as part of the cast. The series will be released in 3 parts, with the first part coming out January 25, the second on March 29, and the third in May. Each part will come with feelies in the form of collectible postcards. I like to every 2 months release schedule. It's timely, and I hope Aniplex sticks to it.

Bandai had a couple things to announce: Gundam , and more K-ON! cast members. Bandai will release Gundam 00 The Movie: Awakening of the Trailblazer, as well as the first Mobile Suit Gundam TV series. I'm not a Gundam fan myself, but I'm sure longtime Gundam fans are going to be overjoyed by this.
Bandai released information about K-ON!, too. 2 cast members, Cassandra Lee (Ritsu) and Shelby Lindley (Mugi), as well as DVD/Blu-Ray details. 4 parts, each retailing at $29.98 for each DVD, with both standard and limited editions (with feelies, I hope) planned. I'm not sure if doing limited editions for K-ON! is such a good idea, giving the lackluster sales that the Lucky Star LEs produced.

The anime streaming site Crunchyroll added several titles, including Lucky Star, Cosplay Complex, and Tantei Opera Milky Holmes, a series about a small 4-man detective agency that busts criminals misusing superpower-granting toys. Crunchyroll also stated that 3 Gundam series will be re-added to the site. Adding Lucky Star and Cosplay Complex will be good news to anyone who wanted to see these series, but can't afford DVDs.

Manga publisher Yen Press announced a digital storefront for the iPad. I know that digital books are trendy and all, but at least make it a multi-platform e-bookstore. Till the iPad e-books are up, Yen will release the final, posthumous volume of With The Light, whose author passed away recently.

Thanks to Janaiblog and ANN, for updating me. Since I don't really have time to go to conventions, Janai and his cohorts are a helpful bunch. Check out his coverage of NYAF here: http://www.janaiblog.com/2010/10/10/new-york-anime-festival-announcement-roundup/

As always, I encourage you to let me know what you liked about NYAF. Leave a comment, and don't forget to vote in the poll!