Sunday, January 1, 2012

Happy New Year!

Ahoy there! It's the New Year and BartreTheBeast and I (ExtraCareful) thought it might be nice to have a New Years' post for you all. It's been a pretty hilarious year, and I hope the next year is better. There are a lot of big names coming out in 2012, so get ready for an explosion of awesome if the sky doesn't fall on our head and the U.S.S. Kennedy doesn't come crashing through the White House.

So here are five wishes for the upcoming year and some anime series awards for the year of 2011!

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Dark Haruka. Because I can.

ExtraCareful's Wishes for 2012:

1. PLEASE iDOLM@STER SEASON TWO PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE. I don't care if all they do is screw around (even more than they did in season 1), I don't care if they have a lot of fillers (ok maybe I do), but just have a season two...so many characters with so much potential means a hungry ExtraCareful :3
(Oh and To Love-Ru Darkness series would be nice for the same reason)

2. I would give much to have more energetic OPs with a ridiculous number of simultaneously playing parts from Hyadain. Make it so (I firmly believe that Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu Ni!'s OP flopped mainly because it was not made by Hyadain. You heard it here first.)

3. Please, for the love of God, follow the visual novel paths closer if you're going to turn it into an adaptation. See what Mashiro-iro Symphony did with their adaptation? All they did was add in the bits and pieces from a terribly standard VN and turned it into a decent fanservice series. Same with Amagami SS, except their VN actually had ok characters, so the anime turned out to be good/great. It's not that hard. Don't add in random plot filler crap. If you're running out of ideas, just do side-stories/alternate arcs/fanservice eps.

4. If you guys are going to have "mystery"-genre adaptations, make sure that it's actually either mysterious or doesn't involve the main detective handwaving everything. What the hell was up with Gosick and the whole "crystals of logic" fiasco? No wonder nobody wanted to watch Kamisama no Memochou after that crap. There's a difference between "mystery" as in Sherlock Holmes novels and "detective/master brain" as in Deep Blue solving a fucking robbery case. Know it.

5. As always, I want series that stay away from repetitive patterns. Yes, I know it's a great hook to get the viewers to watch the entire series, but no, I DON'T WANT a "happy-happy-happy-OMFGepisode10suddenpitfallnoweveryone'semo-Disneythemefriendshipovercomeobstacles-end" crap. It's predictable and therefore stale. Please, find a way to be creative.

ExtraCareful's Awards/Honors for 2011:

Yes, I realize that I've left out so many series for recognition and I probably haven't seen many series (like Deadman Wonderland) that would have won an award if I had seen it. However, I am only one obsessed fan and can only do so much. I apologize in advance if my list of watched anime in 2011 is not as good or varied as yours.

Also, not including as many awards as I might like to (and I probably forgot some) just to show some restraint.

Best Main Character: Sakata Gintoki (Gin Tama)
Best Supporting Character: Sui Shijima (Hanasaku Iroha)
Best Villain: Makoto Waltz Segai (Guilty Crown)
Best Overall Cast: casts of Gin Tama Hanasaku Iroha (two-way tie)
Best Voice Actor/Character Combo: Flamberge/Ami Koshimizu (Dantalian no Shoka)
Best OP: Hyadain no Joujou Yuujou (Nichijou; OP2)
Best ED: SUPER∞STREAM (IS <Infinite Stratos>; Youko Hikasa) / Zzz (Nichijou; ED1; Sayaka Sasaki) (two-way tie)
Best Overall Soundtrack: THE iDOLM@STER
Best Overall Graphics: Nichijou
Best Initial Plot Background/Premise: Ben-To
Coolest Weapon/Item/Power Used: Mystletainn Kick (Kore wa Zombie Desu ka?; Ayumu vers.) / Staff of Surtr (Dantalian no Shoka; wielded by Hal Kamhout) (two-way tie)
The "Upton Sinclair" Award for the Series that Misses its Mark Completely: Guilty Crown
The "Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai" Award for the Most Relatively Disappointing Adaptation*: Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai
The "Donald Trump" Award for the Most Money Probably Spent on Production Values/Voice Actors: Dog Days
The "5 Centimeters Per Lifetime" Award for the Most Profound Series: Usagi Drop / Hanasaku Iroha (two-way tie)
The "CLANNAD" Award for the Best Slice-of-Life Series**: Hanasaku Iroha
The "ASDFJKL;" Award for the Most Incoherent Series: Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon
The "People Die When They Are Killed" Award for the Series that Takes Itself Too the Most Seriously: Guilty Crown Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai. / Dantalian no Shoka (three-way tie)
Funniest Series: Nichijou
Weirdest Series: R-15 / Kyousogiga (ONA) (two-way tie)
"Cutest" Series: Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko / Nichijou (two-way tie)
The "WAT" Award for the Series with the Most Tragic/Dramatic Moment (AKA probably Deadman Wonderland had I watched it): Kamisama no Memo-chou
Most Uplifting Series: Shinryaku!? Ika Musume
Favorite Male Character: Shinjuurou Yuuki (UN-GO) / Koujirou Sasahara (Nichijou) (two-way tie)
Favorite Waifu Female Character***: Miki Hoshii (THE iDOLM@STER)
The "To-Love Ru" Award for Best Fanservice: Mayo Chiki!
The "Ikki Tousen" Award for Worst Fanservice: Maken-ki!
The "Kanokon" Award for Most Fanservice: Mashiro-iro Symphony: The Color of Lovers
The "FUUUUUU" Award for Least Relative Fanservice****: THE iDOLM@STER
Worst/Least Favorite Series of the Year: Oniichan no Koto Nanka Zenzen Suki Janain Dakara ne!!

Annnnnnnnnnddddddddd............

Best/Favorite Series of the Year: Nichijou

That's all for now; happy New Year! I'll pass it off to BartreTheBeast.

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If you know the context you should be tearing up with me right about now :(


* Cube x Cursed x Curious would have won this handily, but it already sucked as a light novel, so...
**Barring really good competition, this is essentially my highest praise, since slice-of-life IS my niche...
***lol be glad I don't have Azusa here
****Pretty much meaning that they were able to control themselves despite the situation. National Geographic wouldn't be able to get this award, for instance, no matter how many serious documentaries they had.

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Now it's BtB's turn. My list will be significantly less diverse and creative simply because I have watched a significantly smaller number of series. And they will also be more obvious.

BartreTheBeast's Wishes for 2012:
(sure to be simpler than ExtraCareful's, since I don't watch enough series).


1. I don't have anything personal against Koeda and Chelly; they are both very good vocalists, and its good that they can let their talent shine. But Yanagi Nagi will forever remain the true vocalist of Supercell to me. She helped boost the band to popularity with Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari, and has been an excellent singer. Kimi no Shiranai, Hoshi ga Matataku Konna Yoru ni, and Hero have all been sung by Nagi and are all in my top 25 most played list on my iPod. The vocalist and the band just fit together, and I see no reason as to why they had to branch off. Get back together already. And while I'm on the subject of reuniting old vocalists, Nao should get back with fripSide.

2. There has been at least one new anime song each season that I have deemed worthy of putting on my iPod and listening to fairly regularly. Winter, it was SUPER∞STREAM and Immoralist. Summer, it was Hyadain no Kakakata Kataomoi-C. Fall, it was HIGH POWERED. But to be honest, this is not enough. I need more good songs, especially so that the series I do watch at least have a chance at having a decent soundtrack (Boku wa, you fail). Black Rock Shooter had better have a good OP or ED.

3. Like ExtraCareful said... visual/light novels that get adapted into animes normally have a decent plotline. Please follow it and save he show. And don't make it move like a snail (haha mayoi arc) either. BOKU WA I'M LOOKING AT YOU.

4. A new Touhou OVA would be nice. Perhaps a continuation of A Summer Day's Dream, with the same expensive cast of voice actresses and preferably a different artist (Gensou Mangekyou had a nice feel to it...supposedly animated by Ufotable?).

5. More Kodomo no Jikan. A third season with a different company (the original series was odd; Rin's face/mouth in profile always looked really lumpy) or speeding up the manga to a weekly series would be nice. Although, in retrospect, that might make the plot more generic and even more predictable (ExtraCareful has predicted the story for the next 4 chapters as well as the conclusion/epilogue of the series).

BartreTheBeast's Awards/Honors for 2011:
NOTE: My list will be significantly shorter, less diverse, and less creative simply because I have watched a significantly smaller number of series (which I think you'll see). And they will also be more obvious.I have no hesitation in saying that there are probably better substitutes for my award recipients in the many series I did not watch. But oh well. I'm writing this, not you.

In short, I'm just "leeching" off of ExtraCareful's post (Arakawa reference anyone?).


Best OP: HIGH POWERED (Shinryaku!? Ika Musume, season 2)/ Hyadain no Kakakata  Kataomoi-C (Nichijou OP1) 
Least OP-ish OP: Sekai wa Odoru yo, Kimi to (Ikoku Meiro no Croisée OP)
Best ED: SUPER∞STREAM (Infinite Stratos) 
Worst Vocals (as opposed to worst OP): Chase the Light (Kaiji 2)
Worst Engrish Lyrics: READY!! (THE iDOLM@STER)
Best Trap: Kinoshita Hideyoshi (Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu ni)
Best Reverse Trap: Charlotte Dunois (Infinite Stratos)
Biggest Blockhead: Orimura Ichika (Infinite Stratos)
The "Koihime Musou" Award for Best Harem: Infinite Stratos
The "Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai" Award for the Most Disappointing Adaptation: Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai (no shit)
The "Kodomo no Jikan" Award for Best Loli*: Touwa Erio (Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko) /Hakase (Nichijou)

Best Series: Nichijou (Because sausage scene. 'Tis all)

*I classify short and flat-chested as loli. Which is why I call Aisaka Taiga a loli.

And that concludes my pitiful contribution T-T.


Again, thanks for reading this blog, and Happy New Year!

Starting off the new year with a bang. You never mess around her donation box. NEVER.
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This is MorningLescue. I saw the awards and thought it looked fun so I'll do one too. Here goes.

Favorite Male Character: Satou Jun (Working'!!)
Favorite Female Character (Waifu): Christiane Friedrich (Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai!) / Cecilia Alcott (Infinite Stratos) / Charlotte Dunois (Infinite Stratos)
Most Pleasant Surprise: Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica
Most Disappointing: Hidan no Aria
Lesser Pleasant Surprise/Not Complete Shit: Mashiro-iro Symphony: The Color of Lovers / C³ - CubexCursedxCurious / Level E
Best Graphics: Fate/Zero
Best Soundtrack: Fate/Zero
Best Sequel: Working'!!
The "Neon Genesis Evangelion" Award for Most Pussy Main Character: Guilty Crown
Most Epic/OP Ability: Ionian Hetairoi (Rider from Fate/Zero)
Best Fanservice: Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai!
Stupid Fanservice: Itsuka Tenma no Kuro Usagi
Chou Kawaii Desu Neko-chan-sensei-senpai-sama Series: Nichijou
The "Clannad" Award for Making Me Shed Manly Tears: Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai
Best OP: Core Pride (Ao no Exorcist)
Best ED:  SUPER∞STREAM (Infinite Stratos)
Happiest OP: High Powered (Shinryaku!? Ika Musume), Coolish Walk (Working'!!)
Happiest Series: The iDOLM@STER
Best Series: Fate/Zero
Most Boring Series: Fractale
The "Garen" Award for Falling Off Late Game: Mayo Chiki!
#1 Loli: Illyasviel von Einzbern (Fate/Zero); if she was a loli in Fate/Stay Night, imagine her in the prequel

Clip of Rider's Noble Phantasm shitting on Assassins:



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