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[Messofanego]

4. (tie) Natsuyuki Rendezvous

A difficult to watch series about people placed in an incredibly unpleasant situation. While the series experienced some pacing problems it has some of the most believably written characters of the year, as in, the characters actually remind me of human beings.

This sounds awesome, more my speed. I love me some depressing stuff. Only 11 episodes, too. Marathoning, here I come.

 

[Noirulus]

I don't know if many people even remembered it.

Also, it wasn't that bad despite the shitty first few eps.

I see. That would explain it.

 

[fertygo]

I see. That would explain it.

The last 5 eps full of stupid twist ala Okadabot, don't listen.

 

[Dresden]

I'm a bit surprised that Aquarion Evol didn't get any mentions. I thought it sucked?

ex:

 

[Mature]

This sounds awesome, more my speed. I love me some depressing stuff. Only 11 episodes, too. Marathoning, here I come.

Probably a good show to marathon. The pacing can already be a bit glacial, so the week to week wait makes the events feel vapid.

 

[Noirulus]

When it was "good" it was "good" in a hilarious, off-the-wall fashion only a Kawamori/Okada collaboration could produce, and when it was bad it was bad in a hilarious, off-the-wall fashion only a Kawamori/Okada collaboration could produce.

See: holes; "if we get naked we'll go faster"; "happy birthday!"; "my romantic partner is a reincarnated dog"; etc

---

ex:

Those pictures are relevant to my interests. I might just have to finish the rest of the show.

 

[Branduil]

Those pictures are relevant to my interests. I might just have to finish the rest of the show.

 

[firehawk12]

Still the best firehawk12 quote regarding SAO:

It's still true!

Ano Natsu de Matteru all the way down to 17 makes me sad. ;_;

It was high on my list at least. lol

 

[Branduil]

Ano Natsu had two things going against it:

1. However well-made it was, it was still a standard romcom.

2. It ended over 9 months ago which means it wasn't fresh in anyone's memory. Combine this with the unoriginality of the story and the only thing anyone remembers is :kanna.

 

[Dresden]

http://i.imgur.com/MYMTQfd.gif

 

[Empty]

haven't watched an anime tv series in a long time but i think this will be a handy tool for trying out some shows. gonna start at the top with hyouka!

 

[firehawk12]

Ano Natsu had two things going against it:

1. However well-made it was, it was still a standard romcom.

2. It ended over 9 months ago which means it wasn't fresh in anyone's memory. Combine this with the unoriginality of the story and the only thing anyone remembers is :kanna.

Honestly, given how badly most of these turn out (at least in recent years), I feel like this is an achievement that shouldn't be dismissed out of hand too quickly.

 

[Haly]

Romcom is hard.

 

[Branduil]

Honestly, given how badly most of these turn out (at least in recent years), I feel like this is an achievement that shouldn't be dismissed out of hand too quickly.

It shouldn't, but that doesn't mean it won't happen. But honestly I think the biggest factor was recency bias.

 

[firehawk12]

Romcom is hard.

It's difficult to sustain in serial format because eventually you have to come up with reasons why characters can't be together.

For American sitcoms, they just end up mashing random people together in order to delay the OTP as long as possible. Anime doesn't even seem to want to go that far nowadays. lol

 

[Basileus777]

It's difficult to sustain in serial format because eventually you have to come up with reasons why characters can't be together.

For American sitcoms, they just end up mashing random people together in order to delay the OTP as long as possible. Anime doesn't even seem to want to go that far nowadays. lol

You can't taint the purity of waifus by pairing them with other men.

 

[Kagami]

Ano Natsu had two things going against it:

1. However well-made it was, it was still a standard romcom.

2. It ended over 9 months ago which means it wasn't fresh in anyone's memory. Combine this with the unoriginality of the story and the only thing anyone remembers is :kanna.

The funny thing about that is, it actually wasn't standard at all.
The premise may be described in those terms, but short, highly-focused relationship-resolution stories like that are actually rare in anime. It's not a harem. It's not an adaption of a meandering, multi-arc light novel. It's not an adaption of an on-going manga with no conclusion.
I'm hard pressed to list many anime similar to AnoNatsu besides the original Onegai series it pays homage to.

 

[Jarmel]

And now for the fun part, the dishonorable mentions:

Maybe I shouldn't have written that post, now it's going to be harder to trick people into watching AO.

 

[firehawk12]

The funny thing about that is, it actually wasn't standard at all.
The premise may be described in those terms, but short, highly-focused relationship-resolution stories like that are actually rare in anime. It's not a harem. It's not an adaption of a meandering, multi-arc light novel. It's not an adaption of an on-going manga with no conclusion.
I'm hard pressed to list many anime similar to AnoNatsu besides the original Onegai series it pays homage to.

Well, I don't know much about anime history, but the idea of a transfer student coming in and sweeping the hero off his feet and leaving the childhood friend out in the cold isn't exactly new.

The fact that it was a purely original series - which, funny enough, there is only one (well, the K-On! movie is original in a way) on the list is kind of telling - probably helps greatly because there's no underlying franchise to support. Well, outside of the Onegai reference I suppose.

There isn't the need for a cliffhanger ending or a fickle protagonist that can't or won't express his feelings for the girl. The only thing that stands in their way is that, like all exchange students, she's going to have to go home at some point.

 

[Basileus777]

So of the top 10, 4 are based off of novels, 4 on manga, and 2 on original material. Of the top 20, 9 from manga, 8 from novels, and 3 are original.

 

[Lafiel]

I'll admit for being superficial but none of those looked appealing because of the art style (except for Space Bros), and I only know one anime (Kids on the Slope), but upon reading I might watch Hyouka, Space Brothers, and that sci-fi anime From the New World that Branduil calls mature.

Is Hyouka well-written slice-of-life? I liked slice-of-life stuff like Usagi Drop and Beck. The only comedy slice-of-life I liked was Azumanga Daioh.

Is there any psychological thriller like Welcome to NHK or Paranoia Agent currently?

Based on your tastes in movie-gaf. You'll definitely enjoy Tsuritama along with the directors previous works - Mononoke and Trapeze. Which for the record actually deal directly with psychological-based topics.

 

[firehawk12]

It shouldn't, but that doesn't mean it won't happen. But honestly I think the biggest factor was recency bias.

Clearly the solution is to have a top 2/3 anime each season and then just build year end list based on those picks!

 

[Haly]

Clearly the solution is to have a top 2/3 anime each season and then just build year end list based on those picks!

I actually think this is a good idea.

 

[zeroshiki]

So of the top 10, 4 are based off of novels, 4 on manga, and 2 on original material. Of the top 20, 9 from manga, 8 from novels, and 3 are original.

There's a big difference between a novel-novel which From the New World is based on and a light novel which is everything else on the list.

 

[madp]

Clearly the solution is to have a top 2/3 anime each season and then just build year end list based on those picks!

Were there even three good anime in Winter and Summer last year?

Out of what I voted for, four were from spring, two were from fall, one from summer, one from winter, and two were yearlong.

 

[Branduil]

There's a big difference between a novel-novel which From the World World is based on and a light novel which is everything else on the list.

Hyouka's origins are somewhat ambiguous.

 

[Basileus777]

There's a big difference between a novel-novel which From the World World is based on and a light novel which is everything else on the list.

I know, I just lumped them together for simplicity's sake. I also wasn't sure whether Hyouka's source material qualified as a light novel or not.

 

[fertygo]

It shouldn't, but that doesn't mean it won't happen. But honestly I think the biggest factor was recency bias.

Ano natsu just isn't that good. Its solid and deserve the top 20 spot, but aren't have that high in both critical or entertainment value. All of it just screaming "solid B"

 

[trejo]

Maybe I shouldn't have written that post, now it's going to be harder to trick people into watching AO.

But why would you do that? It's one thing to trick people into watching "so bad it's good" shows because there's at least a chance of some enjoyment to be gleamed out of the experience by the viewer. Subjecting people to AO, though, just seems wrong and mean spirited.

 

[zeroshiki]

Hyouka's origins are somewhat ambiguous.

The Kotenbu series' first 2 volumes (Hyouka and Endroll) were published as light novels. Hyouka won awards and stuff but only after the author got famous for a different work did they put out the 3rd one which was published under a different, non-light novel label. The first 2 novels eventually got reprinted on the same label.

So yes, its quite convoluted.

 

[Cwarrior]

Oh well Another year another bad top 10 not sure if worse or better then the other years anyways theses list highlight how dead anime is, there aren't even 10 good animes made out of the two hundreds made each year..

 

[Jex]

I must say, I think this may be the least embarrassing yearly list we've yet put together, with number 1 finally occupied by its just owner. Good job anime-watching gaffu.

Tsuritama is still too low, though.

It's the best list in a bad world!

 

[fertygo]

Oh well Another year another bad top 10 not sure if worse or better then the other years anyways theses list highlight how dead anime is, there aren't even 10 good animes made out of the two hundreds made each year..

Its hard to make anime with one piece standard bro.

 

[Messofanego]

Based on your tastes in movie-gaf. You'll definitely enjoy Tsuritama along with the directors previous works - Mononoke and Trapeze. Which for the record actually deal directly with psychological-based topics.

Did not realise I made enough posts in movie-gaf to give away my tastes, hehe. Will check out Tsuritama, thanks for the recommendation! Oh cool, only 12 episodes.

 

[sleepykyo]

What is this from or what is the context behind it? Seems like an unsuccessful attempt to get away.

 

[trejo]

It's from Aquarion EVOL and as for the context, it's exactly what it looks like.

 

[firehawk12]

Were there even three good anime in Winter and Summer last year?

Out of what I voted for, four were from spring, two were from fall, one from summer, one from winter, and two were yearlong.

The only weird thing comes from split cours and the year long shows, but I'm pretty sure everyone could pick 2 from each season at least. Well, assuming people are actually keeping up with anime all year round.

It just depends if you want to eliminate the problem of forgetting shows that were released earlier in the year... a problem that happens with all types of top ten lists in any medium.

I actually think this is a good idea.

Broken clock or something. lol

You can't taint the purity of waifus by pairing them with other men.

They're all 2d, so it doesn't matter!

 

[zeroshiki]

Did not realise I made enough posts in movie-gaf to give away my tastes, hehe. Will check out Tsuritama, thanks for the recommendation! Oh cool, only 12 episodes.

Don't worry, Lafiel is creepy like that. You should ask about Lafiel's detailed files on 7th.

 

[Messofanego]

Don't worry, Lafiel is creepy like that. You should ask about Lafiel's detailed files on 7th.

I've seen that one person keep folders of gaffers' avatars and masturbate to them. No one can compare to that.

 

[KO Traveling Hobo]

Rinne was robbed! And Persona 4...well, that got just about what it deserved, I suppose.

It's surprising and a little weird that SAO didn't make the top ten by virtue of buzz alone. Likewise, I didn't realize Girls und Panzer was really, like, a thing. I knew some people were enjoying it, but not so much as to grab top ten.

 

[Branduil]

Rinne was robbed! And Persona 4...well, that got just about what it deserved, I suppose.

It's surprising and a little weird that SAO didn't make the top ten by virtue of buzz alone. Likewise, I didn't realize Girls und Panzer was really, like, a thing. I knew some people were enjoying it, but not so much as to grab top ten.

This is what happens when you desert the anime thread.

 

[BGBW]

Wtf, K-on the movie is no.10 while Chihayafuru is 11? You guys suck.

That's the power of London for you.

Also this BGBW is both praising and insulting SAO. I don't know whether I should trust his opinion.

 

[KO Traveling Hobo]

This is what happens when you desert the anime thread.

Who knew that the loss of a single shitposter could have such a profoundly positive effect on GAF's anime tastes? I should have joined and left the anime thread years ago.

 

[grandjedi6]

Hmm, I guess I'll try a few of these out. Been wanting to see a new anime, and with how I've heard the Magi anime has turned out, I've been left a little disappointed lately.

But I gotta say, having Tank Girls and Kon in the top 10 sort-of makes me apprehensive about this list lol

 

[Dedication Through Light]

Yay, I was the only person to vote Initial D. lol Wonder if others have just gotten tired of the formula, or if many just haven't seen it/don't like it.

Also, horray K-ON! Movie 10th. ^.^

Ive only seen two initial d fifth stage episodes. I guess it has a chance next year since most interested will probably watch the blu ray or dvds of it.

 

[R_thanatos]

Ive only seen two initial d fifth stage episodes. I guess it has a chance next year since most interested will probably watch the blu ray or dvds of it.

there was not enough episodes for a Initial D vote ( and i love the serie )

 

[Dedication Through Light]

I'm a bit surprised that Aquarion Evol didn't get any mentions. I thought it sucked?

Aquarion Evol was good, but to be in a top 10 considering the other stuff that came out this year is a tough call. The second op and ed were considerable downgrades compared to the first and the plot got a bit on the dubious side as it wound down. Oh well Ill rewatch it a third time once dub, liked it and amata and kagura and andy w hol, and cayenne, and shrado.

 

[Regulus Tera]

Hmm, I guess I'll try a few of these out. Been wanting to see a new anime, and with how I've heard the Magi anime has turned out, I've been left a little disappointed lately.

But I gotta say, having Tank Girls and Kon in the top 10 sort-of makes me apprehensive about this list lol

Girls und Panzer is genuinely fun. Stupid, but fun. And K-ON is K-ON. You either like cute girls doing cute things or not.

 

[Grzi]

Oh shit, so this happened.
Nice list, I think this thread will serve as a good recommendation to anyone looking for newer stuff to watch.

 

[firehawk12]

Girls und Panzer is genuinely fun. Stupid, but fun. And K-ON is K-ON. You either like cute girls doing cute things or not.

Given that they're both Yoshida works, Girls and Panzer is just K-On for military dorks. lol