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!

Happy New Year!

2010 has come and passed. Another either wasted or well-spent, depending on how you look at it. We got K-ON!!, Disappearance, Squid Girl, and Panty & Stocking. What will 2011 bring us? I dunno, but I can't wait to find out! Can January 4th come any sooner?

Being the year of the rabbit, I think one of my favorite Touhou characters should get some love. As such, here's a few images of everyone's favorite rabbit.

Fall 2010 Season Review

I won't lie. I had really low expectations for this season after the crapfest known as Summer 2010. As such, I wasn't expecting much from the fall shows. Man, oh man. I would be proven wrong in a heartbeat. I ended up finishing 4 series this fall, out of 7 that I started. Not too bad, if I do say so myself.

It was certainly progressive, but I initially picked up a single show: Shinryaku! Ika Musume. I think I can safely say it was the best show of the season. The mix of gag comedy and heartwarming moments created a unique show, without creating extreme mood whiplash.



The other 2 shows I picked up shortly after starting Ika Musume were MM! and The World God Only Knows. I would be sorely disappointed by MM! in the end, but TWGOK was a unique show with a character-heavy plot. That is, it was divided into "character arcs" of 2 to 3 episodes each.

The last show I picked up, about halfway through the season, and finished was Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt. This show was... unique, to say the least. The characters were bizarre, as was the premise: a sex-craving slut and a sugar-addicted goth loli come to the surface world to fight Ghosts. Did I mention that these two are angels?

As great as this season was, there were a few disappointments. One was My Little Sister Can't Be This Cute, or OreImo for short. A mid-season pick up, I enjoyed the show at first, before one of the characters started to get on my nerves. I ended up not finishing OreImo, dropping it after 10 episodes.

Another disappointment was the aforementioned MM!. A show about sadomasochism? Well, I like twisted humor, so sign me up! This was another show I enjoyed at first. Unfortunately, the show started to derail into a cliched romantic comedy, even putting in the Pocky kissing game.



There were 2 other show I started, but did not finish: Star Driver, and Princess Jellyfish. I didn't watch enough to really get interested, so I can't give an honest opinion here.

All in all, a great season. Winter looks to be pretty good. Expect reviews of Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica throughout winter season, as well as a review of Dirty Pair Flash, when ever the last tape decides to come.

Just a quick note/plug

I will be appearing on the December 16th episode of the Otaku in Review podcast. I'll join the regular hosts and discuss MM!, as well as Panty and Stocking. Please tune in, or better yet, subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, or at www.otakuinreview.com. Also, the MM! review will be a bit late this week, due in part to final exams and late subs.