Otakuism

Looking back, I guess I can say 2006 was an ok year anime wise. I finished a good number of series, most of which I can hardly remember so that’s not too good, and I started a blog to talk about said anime. However, for every one show I finished this year, I feel like there are three more I didn’t. It’s not that I have a huge backlog, it’s just that I seem to lose interest in shows and don’t feel like finishing them anytime soon. So when compared to anime I didn’t finish, the finished list is rather short. Then throw in stuff I did finish, but didn’t come out this year and…oh well. You get the idea. Here’s my picks for the best anime I watched this year, in whichever random categories I could think of.

Best ” Anime That Was Decent But Introduced Me to It’s Better Game “- Fate/stay Night

Before Fate/stay Night came out last January, I had the vaguest of ideas of who Type-Moon was. The only thing I really knew was that everyone said the anime for Tsukihime was crap. But then I got caught up in all the hype around FSN and decided to watch it. I enjoyed it and decided to look into TM and their games. TM’s been an addiction of mine ever since. The stories, characters, mechanics, it all just sucked me in. I’m now a Nasutard, and eagerly eat up any new announcement about a TM game, anime, figures, etc. I even got to finally play Tsukihime. I have FSN to thank for this. It may not of lived up to the game, but it had it’s moments (Garcher, ep. 26 ending song), so it wins for introducing me to the wider world of TM fandom, a world I’ve yet to turn back from.

Best ” Guilty Pleasure ” show - Demonbane

Anyone who read my early entries knows how much I love Demonbane. It’s the most perfect bad anime ever. The nonexistant plot, the bad cg mecha, the horrible sideburns on all the characters, the random loli fanservice. It was a show made to be mocked. The only good thing were the characters. Al, Hadou, Kurou, the butler, all so great. Best seen with a couple of friends to see who can make the most sex jokes. Cause there’s a ton of them. Also wins for finally getting me to read Lovecraft.

Best ” Overhyped but still good ” show - The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi

I’ve never been a member of Haruhiism. I’ve never rewatched the show after it finished. I don’t collect Yuki fanart (only Ryouko, cause she’s a psychotic maniac) and I abhor Mikuru with a passion (too much moeblob). Yes, Haruhi was a good show I enjoyed, whether it was because of the plot or the animation is up for debate. But it’s not the best show evar. It kept me occupied in the long spring months, so it served it’s purpose. For this it wins my overhyped but still good category. I’ll still watch the second season when it comes out though.

Best ” OVA ” - Diebuster

Because Nono is Loev.

Best ” OVA that didn’t come out this year but I finally saw ” - Gaogaigar FINAL

Because it’s made of hotblood and gar. And Renais has a hot ass.

Best ” Stylish/Artsy ” show - Black Cat

I’m probably one of the few people, that I know of, that liked the Black Cat anime. Maybe it’s because I never read the manga beforehand. People said it butchered the manga, and maybe it did. I’ve read some of the manga though, and let me tell you, it’s not shakespeare. But this isnt’ a best story category, this is about style, which Black Cat had plenty of. This was Gonzo’s artsy side at it’s best since Gankutsuou. Two episodes in particuar stand out to me: The one where Train has his final battle with Creed, and the last episode fight for Eve. Those were the highpoints of the series style, with the fights being the best. They were fast-paced and not like normal shounen fair where the stop every second. I still go back and watch those episodes just to enjoy the action. Gonzo did really well with this one (now let’s hope they do the same for Romeo x Juliet).

Best ” Show I’ll probably never finish ” - Higurashi no Naku Koro ni

I love blood and horror, but by the time Higurashi got around to Satoko the show was boring as hell to me. The constant resets may of been innovative, but after two I was through. I thought the HEAVEN OR HELL LET’S ROCK! thing would get me interested again, but that was also meh. The only good thing I got from this show is great Shmion twincest porn. Really, that’s all that matters.

MKM narrowly beats out Ouran Highschool Host Club for best comedy show. If Ouran didn’t have those annoying twin episodes it maybe would of won, but it’s hard to beat Miki, especially drunk Miki. Since I love both shounen and parody, a show that parodies shounen instantly wins for me. Even if the plot was ” Miki beats up everyone, doesn’t learn a lesson, rinse, repeat ” I still loved the whole thing. All the characters, Nya guy, Sensei aka. evil ghost, Megumi the assassin maid, Miki’s stronger than everyone mom, were so great. Also had one of the best OP’s of the year that I still listen to. I pray for the day this gets a second season.

Best ” Show Who’s Fansubs aren’t Done ” - ARIA the NATURAL

It’s hard to call ARIA a best anything since I haven’t even finish it yet, but it’s so good I have to give it something. What exactly is there to say about ARIA? It’s a show you experiance, not describe and analyse. It’s about three incredibly cute girls goofin’ around, it’s about how beautiful Neo-Venezia is and making you want to drop everything and book a flight to Venice, it’s about those magic moments in life we rarely experiance anymore. And for all that it wins a special place in my heart. Maybe not for the best show, but certainly the most touching one. Also wins for Alice, the most awesomest moe girl evar! Short hair Aika is also great.

Best ” Show of the Year ” - Black Lagoon (both seasons)

Hands down, Black Lagoon is the best anime I’ve seen this year. It has everything: action, drama, comedy, garness, engrish, necrophiliac crossdressing lolitwins. EVERYTHING. The first season was awesome, and the second one just made it better. The lolitwin arc and yakuza arc were both great. I’ve seen all the characters change, from Revy becoming softer, Rock more accepting, to Balalaika being nastier. Such a great cast of unique characters you won’t find anywhere else in animedom. Sadly we won’t see any new Black Lagoon anytime soon. It’s completely caught up with the manga, and that comes out kind of slowly. If there’s still interest maybe there will be a third season in a couple of years, but that’s forever in otaku time. I guess now I can only wish that either the manga is licensed or for it to be scanlated faster for my black lagoon fix.

Honourable Mention - Honey & Clover II

The first season of H&C is one of the best shows I’ve ever watched and I still think that. However, the second season just wasn’t as enjoyable to me. I liked the drama, though certainly there was lack of comedy, but the ending just left a sour taste in my mouth. Specifically, the Hagu/Takemoto/Shuuji storyline. The way the whole thing ended just felt stupid to me and ruined the rest of it. The bumbling Yamada/Nomiya relationship didn’t help at all either. So H&C II gets a mention for me, just becuase it’s descended from it’s better parent. It’s still a series I have problems with.

And since now it’s the last day of the year, I liked to wish everyone a happy new years, and best wishes for ‘07! I hope you’ll continues reading this crazy blog well into the new year. Also, just so you know, the girl in the yukata is actually a he. THANK YOU JAPAN!

Can I get another “Oh gawd Al is Hawt!”?

I finally mananged to get through the rest of Demonbane today, and I have to say I’m quite satisfied with the ending and the series as a whole. Oh now I know the game is probably a million times better and I would love to play it, but taking Demonbane on it’s own merits I quite liked it. It isn’t a series for everyone really, especially if you like serious anime with competent plots. Demonbane is just about cute moe demon books and hot-blooded mecha action, which is fine with me. I was drawn into Demonbane first by how outrageous everything was and how easy it was to make fun of. After ep. 7 though the show went darker, dishin’ out more plot and battles. Really plot is the show’s biggest weakness, but I still enjoyed the later episodes a lot. I think how over the top each one was compared to the last really helped. This is definately a show to marathon.

Daijuji Kurou: pedophile extraordinaire.

Now a short long plot description from where I last left off with ep.7. Al was dead but Kurou continued to fight anticross with the help of Elsa, killing a lot of them. Eventually Al does indeed come back (I’m not sure how though. I think she never really died in the first place.) and her and Kurou discover the Shining Trapezohedron and use it to kill Claudius. In Anticross Augustus kills the last member, the big red hair guy, and goes insane summoning Chutlu, so Kurou and Al go to fight him. During the fight Augustus is Killed by the mecha Nameless One piloted by Ennea (yeah the little annoying catgirl we thought was dead). Turns out her name is actually Nero (that cool bondage chick we saw) and she’s the last member of Anticross. She and Kurou fight, her wanting Kurou to kill her, but at the last moment Kurou stops to save Ennea and have her be with them. Too bad that can’t happen, as Master Therion (another dead character) bursts from Ennea’s body in a bloody mess. Apparently he’s been reborn, with Nero as his mother and the god Yog-Sothoth as his father. He then uses Ctuthlu to summon Yog-Sothoth and open a gate to the nether realms of space.

Still lookin’ kind of cool there Kurou.

Kurou of course goes after him to stop the world from being destroyed. During their epic fight (seriously this was epic business. I swear every character’s name must have been yelled at least ten times.) we all realize that all the character’s have been traped in some sort of time loop (like Higurashi without the killer loli’s) and this whole fight has been arranged by Nya aka. Nyarlothotep (the big breasted mystery woman) to release the old gods. Though even old gods can’t stand up to hot-blooded yelling and she’s killed by Kurou. Therion and Etheldrea go on to live happily together and Kurou and Al end up floating in space. Using the last of her power Al sends Kurou back to earth. Eventually Al comes back also, apparently helped by…Kurou and Al. Wiki tells me that it’s their elder gods self’s or something. Doesn’t really matter as it was still nice for them to be together.

Elder God’s Al and Kurou. Al needed to wear that outfit more than two episodes.

Whew that’s a lot. As you can see it got kind of confusing with all the dead character’s coming back, but it all worked out. I’m so glad Therion and Etheldrea came back. One, Augaustus was a terrible villian, and two Etheldrea was too cute to die. I’m glad she got a happy ending. Only thing I don’t like is that from viewing the Demonbane fanbook released I know that Ruri and the church lady have bigger parts and I’m sad we didn’t see them, especially Ruri as I really liked her (mostly her striped pantsu). I would reccomend that people should watch Demonbane, but only if you know your not getting into something serious. Best to just make fun of the early episodes, and after it get’s serious you’ll like the charcters so much you won’t care. Wonder what the chances of a translated Demonbane game coming out…?

Awwwwwwwww…

Lol I am the bone of my sword.

As the title say’s after ambling around for a few episodes and generally parodying (or being) bad mecha shows Demonbane finally decides it actually has a plot and it’s time to kick it into high gear. So much shit goes down in ep. 7 it’s hard to find where to start, but I guess I’ll go with resident psycho badass Master Therion. Remember him? Last time we saw him he was kickin ass and takin names, namely Kurou’s as he owned his mecha with just his hands. Now it appears Therion is actually a big pansy that get’s killed by last episodes loli-shota. Man that sucks. Too bad his grimoire had to die, she was pretty hot. Of course Therion’s death is caused by all the member’s of Anticross (who I thought were already dead) deciding to revolt because Therion goes and summons Chutlu for god knows what. Interesting point, for being an insane old god that kills everything Chutlu only appears for two minutes as a disembodied tentacle before disappearing. Even if Demonbane does do plot it’s still pretty dumbed down.

I know this is an eroge but do you really need to show her panties when she’s dieing?

The second biggest thing comes in character development for our young loli Al who decides she does love Kurou and actually kisses him. Al is the best pink haired loli tsundere ever. Take that zero Louise! Too bad after shortly proclaiming her love for dumb man Kurou she somehow dies protecting Kurou from loli-shota’s energy blast. Oh shi-! how the hell can a main character die in just the seventh episode? I have a feeling she’ll be back by next week though seeing as the preview shows a wacky ” Adventures of Doctor West and Robo ” installment. See? Demonbane can’t even have a plot for a whole episode.

God I love Demonbane. It never fails to thrill me with lovecraftian mumbo jumbo and mecha harem comedy. Face it people you can’t make this shit up. Spoilers and zingy one liners below.

I like where this is going. We need more anime with bdsm chicks with guns.

You wake up with a loli on top of you. What do you do?
A) Politely ask her to move.
B) J-J-Jam It In!

Kurou apparently chose to jam it in many times over. And then invited Al for the fun.

He’s a pedophile with a hair color complex?

Now I’m a gothloli kinky amnesiac catgirl with a fang who may or not be a bdsm expert. Turns you on eh?

USODA!

Kurou’s livin the life! and he forgot to mention the wealthy tsundere Hadou Gay.

Ok sure I’ll buy that. In Utah.

Ok different situation. A loli in a school swimsuit appears inbetween your legs. What do you do?
A) J-J-Jam It In again more fiercely.
B) Invite Al for more fetish fun.

Oh it seems Kurou goes for B again. He quite likes the ole “school days” scenario eh?

Ok what the hell is that orange thing with a mind of it’s own? I know it must figure into an H-scene somwhere. This is what makes Demonbane awesome. It doesn’t deny it’s roots. NO dragons here.

Jesus Christ it’s a clown and a shota! Quick get in the Demonbane!

Gomu Gomu no JET Gatling!

Oh snap! Loli vs. Rock! Rock Wins!

THESE FIST OF MINE GLOW WITH AN AWESOME POWER!

THEY TELL ME TO SHOOT YOU!…wait what?

Yeah I spend way too much time on 4chan…

I don’t think Demonbane is even pretending to have a plot anymore, making ep. 5 the best episode yet. The whole thing is basically harem hijinks with a cult and some mecha thrown in. On a non-fanservice note does anyone know if a single was ever released for the Op? Because it’s a pretty cool song to listen to.

The Producers must of been thinking something like ” Hey let’s throw all the characters from the last four episodes into swimsuits and put them on a beach! That’s an episode right there! “.

Nice but no Jun.

The Producer’s must be thinking ” Hey lets have them all get drunk and let crazy drunken hijinks ensue. And since traps are so popular we’ll put Kurou in a dress for no reason at all. That’s an episode right there. “

Kurou like zero chest Al Azif. I have no idea why there’s this random almost rape scene in here, the only thing I think of is that this was an h-scene in the game or something. No dragon here. Al Azif really is like Louise now if you think about, being tsundere and with zero chest, but she actually has useful magical powers. Need to give her a magic love potion… Rest of show is lame mecha action where demonbane fights a giant lobster, only good part seeing a new outfit for Al. Is it odd I’m enjoying the fanservice in Demonbane way more than all of Zero no Tsukaima?

God Al Azif is Hawt!

God bless the cheese. (warning one liners ahead)

My what small panties you have.

Plug into my USB drive-robo.

Oh shi-! It’s a prime taradox Hadou!

Way to be supportive Mr.Useless Butler Guy.

Lol Magicbabble.

Spell casting. With a 100% more panty flashing.

You know personally if it was me, and I’m just saying, I would be entertaing the girl, if you know what I mean. But maybe you don’t. I don’t know people tell me I’m a weird guy.