Well, we’re at the end of 2005, which was my first year blogging anime. These past few seasons have had their share of good and bad series, but I’m writing now about the ones that deserve to be recognized. Without further ado, here are my choices:
Best Opening Song
And The Winners Is… ▼
「少年ハート」 (Shounen Heart) by HOME MADE 家族 and 「創聖のアクエリオン」 (Sousei no Aquarion) by AKINO
I really couldn’t decide on this one. There have been plenty of good opening songs this year, but only 「少年ハート」 (
Shounen Heart) by HOME MADE 家族 and 「創聖のアクエリオン」 (
Sousei no Aquarion) by AKINO stood out. The Aquarion OP is part of what got me so interested in that series (from watching the first episode), and the Eureka Seven OP is just a lot of fun to listen to.
Best Ending Song
And The Winner Is… ▼
「ほうき星」 (Houkiboshi) by Younha
Unlike opening songs, there were a LOT of good ending songs this year. It ended up being between 「ほうき星」 (
Houkiboshi) and Suneohair’s
Waltz, and this won out. Younha’s song about becoming a comet has been my favorite ever since I heard it way back spring of this year. She’s is quite the talented singer, but I have to admit that I haven’t liked anything else of hers nearly as much as this song.
Best Soundtrack
And The Winner Is… ▼
Kamichu! Original Soundtrack
It’s really hard to choose a favorite OST because every one of them features a few songs that I like. But one of the defining features of Kamichu! is how much it resembles a Miyazaki work, and I think that the OST truly exemplifies that. My favorite tracks include 「自転車で帰ろう」 (
Jitensha de Kaerou) and 「神々Cガール」 (
Kamigami C Girl), which are some of the slower pieces.
As a side note, the only reason Honey and Clover didn’t win this category is because few of the insert songs made it onto the actual soundtrack. If you include all the Spitz and Suga Shikao, then H&C wins this in a heartbeat.
Best Animation
And The Winner Is… ▼
AIR (by Kyoto Animation)
Done by Kyoto Animation, AIR has very cleanly animated characters, almost unnoticeable CG integration, and most importantly, breathtaking sky backgrounds. The sky I see in AIR is more beautiful than any I’ve ever seen in real life. AIR is definitely one of the prettiest, if not the prettiest, series I’ve ever seen.
Favorite Character
And The Winner Is… ▼
Honey and Clover’s Shinobu Morita
For me, Shinobu Morita became the comedic face of Honey and Clover, and he was quite good at it. But aside from his wild antics, Morita had many a hidden talent along with a great concern for the other people in the H&C group. He’s simply a loveable character and the kind of guy you’d want to be friends with.
Best Sequel
And The Winner Is… ▼
Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid
Sequels are very murky ground. Too often, they feel empty, like the producers just wanted to eek out a little more cash from a franchise. Fortunately, Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid turned out to be nothing like that. With a very good set of novels to work off of, every aspect of this series is as good as, if not better than, it’s two predecessors, with the exception of comedy (which was what Fumoffu was all about). From when it opened in the Republic of Balic to the final battle in Hong Kong, FMP! TSR had me hooked.
Best Ongoing Series
And The Winner Is… ▼
Bleach
There’s really no contest here. I don’t watch any other the other long-running series (i.e. Naruto or One Piece), but Bleach’s Soul Society arc is one of the best written shounen stories I’ve ever seen. Plot twists and turns abound with a massive cast, yet everyone gets their own bit of development. Bleach this year never had me bored, and always had me wanting the next episode.
Best Comedy
And The Winner Is… ▼
Honey and Clover
I know some people are going to argue that Honey and Clover isn’t purely a comedy series, and I’d agree that it’s more than that. However, this series got more laughs from me than anything else I’ve watched this year. Notable scenes include the Christmas party in episode four, the Twister game in episode eight, and all the scenes with Takemoto’s teachers in the later episodes. In fact, the later episodes used a lot of the supporting cast – Takemoto’s teachers, Leader, the Fujiwara brothers – for hilarious comedic relief.
Best Romance Drama
And The Winner Is… ▼
SHUFFLE!
If I remember 2005 as anything in terms of anime, it would be the year of romance dramas based on h-games. But out of all the series I followed, there is only one clear winner: SHUFFLE!. For me, SHUFFLE! simply did the romance and drama aspects better than any other series. That’s with heavy emphasis on drama because this really had some of the best character relationships and interactions in recent memory.
Best Action
And The Winner Is… ▼
Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid
There are a lot of strong contenders in this category, including Bleach and Sousei no Aquarion, but in the end, FMP! TSR had the best action. Armed with its R-15 rating, this show was not afraid to display blood, gore, nudity, and fast-paced mecha battles. And with Kyoto Animation behind the helm, it never failed to impress on the battle sequences, whether it was the underground battle in Nanjing or the high-speed car chase in Sicily.
Biggest Surprise
And The Winner Is… ▼
Futakoi Alternative
If you watched the first Futakoi series, you’d know that it was an average harem series about sets of twins who liked the main character (whose name I don’t even remember). So imagine our surprise when they took those same sets of twins, gave them a strong male lead that was Rentarou, and completely changed the landscape by arming them with guns. Add in killer squids and now you have a series that had most of us asking if this were the same Futakoi characters we had seen angsting in the previous series. I don’t think I can see Sara and Souju in the same way ever again. Futakoi Alternative definitely goes down as the biggest surprise of the year (in a very good way).
Biggest Improvements
And The Winners Are… ▼
Tsubasa Chronicle, Sousei no Aquarion, and Lamune
A lot of series start off well and then get boring, or just start off poorly, but some series manage to pick it up again at the end. This year, Tsubasa Chronicle, Sousei no Aquarion, and Lamune were such series. Tsubasa had a good manga behind it, but the story doesn’t really get interesting until they get to Outo country. In the anime, it seems like it was then that the budget went up for animation and music. Everything was suddenly more interesting. Aquarion, on the other hand, started off with a bang, but tapered off in the middle. However, the story got quite good again in the final set of episodes, and made this series a great sentai mecha show. As for Lamune, the first half of the series is just plain boring, but once they got past introducing the characters and moved onto focusing on the main couple, I really started to enjoy the series. The ending even brought tears to my eyes.
Good Shows I Probably Should Have Watched
And The Winners Are… ▼
I think Eureka 7, ARIA the Animation, Genshiken, Victorian Romance Emma all deserve a little recognition for being good series, but I just never got around to watching any of them. All of these series have gotten pretty good reviews from multiple people, but again, I just didn’t have the time. Maybe in this upcoming year I’ll get a chance to watch them…
Best Show You’re Not Watching
And The Winner Is… ▼
Mushishi
Each story of Mushishi is like a folk tale complete with heroes, heroines, mystical creatures (usually the Mushi), and the main character Ginko, who plays the wise-man part. At the end of every week, there’s always a moral or some understanding about human nature. And despite it’s episodic nature, Mushishi has one of the deepest storylines I’ve seen in a long time, not to mention some of the best instrumental pieces of music. However, it feels like this is one of those series that doesn’t get a lot of viewership, which is why I vote this to be the best show you’re (probably) not watching.
Runner-Up for Anime of the Year
And The Winner Is… ▼
SHUFFLE!
If you had told me at the beginning of the year that one of my favorite series would be based on an h-game, I probably wouldn’t have believed you – for me, SHUFFLE! really is one of the most unexpected hits of the year. You always wonder at the beginning of such a series who the main character will end up with (if anyone), but I never predicted that Asa would be Rin’s choice. And then there was the journey getting to that point, including the Lycoris/Nerine/Primula arc and then the Kaede arc, all of which was way above and beyond what I thought I’d be seeing in a series like this. The gut-wrenching drama is really some of the best I’ve seen in years.
Anime of the Year
And The Winner Is… ▼
Honey and Clover
It’s a close contest between SHUFFLE! and Honey and Clover for best series of the year. What clinches it for Honey and Clover was the bevy of musical talent. Between Suga Shikao, Spitz, YUKI, Suneohair, & THE BAND HAS NO NAME’s songs and Hayashi Yuzo/Salon’ 68’s compositions, this show gave me something new to listen to almost every week. Meanwhile, the animation had a very unique, watercolor feel to it. And as I mentioned in the best comedy series blurb, this really is more than a funny show, because it explores the intricate relationships between Takemoto, Morita, Hagu-chan, Yamada, Mayama, and the large supporting cast. We grow to love these characters and share their moments of laughter, romance, and friendship. And the final theme/lines about finding what you’re looking for someday is really something that I feel I can connect with. For all those reasons, I feel that Honey and Clover deserves to be number one this year.
So, 2005 has been a surprisingly enjoyable year for anime. There’s been good and bad, sequels and original series, and overall it’s been pretty exciting. And with all of the upcoming shows (NANA, School Rumble, xxxHOLiC), here’s to hoping that 2006 will be even better!
As a disclaimer, these were chosen from a pool of series that I have seen, and are thus my own personal opinion. Also, I am somewhat counting out certain very good shows that are still in the middle of their broadcast (i.e. Mai-Otome). Please feel free to leave comments and thoughts about my choices and/or your own.
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Yes!! Honey and Clover! Definitely my pick for best anime of the year too!
Where you posted the pics of logos from all the anime you nominated on the main page, what anime does the logo belong to for the bottom middle one?
Suzuka
I knew GSD wouldn’t have made it ^^
Thought I thought it had some funky music (OP/ED wise) I never really listened to the inserts.
Mmmmmmmmmeh, I would have liked to see Shakugan no Shana on that list somewhere (at least for Best Opening! 😛 ), but then, the series still young (especially compared to all the series on this list, which are either near their end, completed, or have way, way more episode than Shakugan no Shana), so I guess it can’t be helped. 😛
Dude, if GSD had made this list in anything except best OP or ED (even in those categories, it was kinda iffy), I would have lost all respect for this blog. 😛 Nice to know this blog doesn’t dissapoint. 😀
Taking back part of my last post, I would have actually been pleased if GSD had made the Best Soundtrack of 2005. I really liked GSD’s BGMs, it was pretty much the only thing keeping me from tossing my monitor out the window during the “action” of the later 15 or so episodes of the series. 😛
Nobody liked Nami Tamaki – Reason ? for GSD Ending OP
Still Omni you outta check out Eureka 7 out man its a a verry good show and i like it too and the 3rd op is kick ass man. Youd be wise the check it out come 2006
“Nobody liked Nami Tamaki – Reason ? for GSD Ending OP” – Alex
I did ^^
“Taking back part of my last post, I would have actually been pleased if GSD had made the Best Soundtrack of 2005” -Shinj103
That’s what I meant =D
And wasn’t Reason a GSD ED?
ah lamune didnt get anything ;_;
hehe am agree with you in almost all
except in the part of honey and clover better then Shuffle!……
but it still good….quite interting opinion^_
GSD’s music was one of the good points of the show. Pride was really good (IMO) and some of the BG music was really nice, like Contract with the Devil.
But still, Honey and Clover, by far, had the best music.. so many insert songs that fit in perfectly with the story. Sakana was my favorite, which I believe was played when Takemoto and Mayama had their conversation while riding the ferry. Ah, so memorable. 🙂
very nice choice, but for best romance drama i´d choose ICHIGO 100%( + comedy) or suzuka, because i think has less ” FRESCURA” T_T ( sisi drama events ), but the kaede arc was impressive and the asa choice was even more.but for honey and clover could be the best original anime of 2005 and you are forgeting MOEKEN TV ( the ova is disgusting but the TV funny like hell) , TRINITY BLOOD( was in some way a vampire cliche anime with a nice story) PANI PONI ( LOL ) like honeyAclover EUREKA talks about human behavior too a very nice anime for the best of 2005 too( teh main caracter for a kid thinks like an adult too) for the funniest animes pani poni , kore ga watashi no goshujim sama( lol ), DOKURO CHAN LOLLLLL, for fun service comic party revolution TV , ultimate girl, mahoraba, for the best surprise of 2005 would be AQUARION( for coming without warnning a great production) , MY OTOME….a lot more but for the best of 2005 for ME would be FMP! TSR or TSUBASA CRONICLE
and you are talking with someone that has watched almost everything this year ( MY HOBBY )
my soul is more than otaku…..I LOVE ANIMATION !!
People as I could not come tomorow , happy new year for everybody in this wonderfull blog and that the best wishes from each one here next year comes true!!Let´s hope for the best things happening this new year and that our new animes will be wonderfull with nice sequels too!!
HAPPY NEW YEAR AND GOD BLESS THIS BLOG!!
yeah happy new year all and may we have more wonderfull blogging days ahead of us… 😀 anyways thnks for this mini summarization thingy it actually helped me find an interistinf anime like Full metal Panic.. looks cool and never watched it…
i had a question,,where is AIR? u seem to have a picture of it in the main page..
happy new year everyone!! may 2006 bring more anime choices for awards!! kyoto studio rocks!! xD
I agree with all of your choices…
About posting your most dislike animes of this year? But that could be problem, since some people might flame on the comments.
LoL! I guess the awards aint that vast. Still loads of shows that are good.
Best Show You’re Not Watching …
…so true…XD
seems like Honey & Clover scored well with a lot of Omni’s topic; i know that I found it as the most satisfying anime, in a way. But bleh, I only watch ever so few series…and I don’t know if many of the 2006 anime will interest me. As far as I know I’m going to try Fate–but I’m not sure what else is good.
Yup!!!! I agree H & C being the best anime of the year!! Yeah!
Good stuff. Glad to see Suzuka didn’t make anything, heheh.
I thought AIR is the best anime of 2005, no other anime except Shinseiki Evangelion has impressed me so much like AIR did (I watched the whole series in one day, literally and still wanted more). And AIR opening (Tori no Uta) is one of the greatest openings (and songs) I’ve heard.
And I just gotta agree on your best ongoing series choice, Naruto has been reduced to stinky junk and One Piece is keeping its “20 episodes for one fight” scheme. Definitely no contest there, although Shakugan no Shana runs close.
Good summaries, Omni.
yay! houkiboshi!
nice choices!! and I totally agree with you about honey & clover being the number one anime of the year.. Gooodd.. that anime rockz.. not only funny but it also has deep meaning… for GSD, yeah.. the series suck (compared to GS =[ )… thanks anyway, for all the summaries… ^^; it was neat and nice
I agree with u omni. Air is the best animation and the story iss so sad man T_T LOL.
My favourite anime for 2005 would be ARIA, AMG season 1, FMP TSR, Suzuka and Yakitate Japan
i like yakitake japan too, its funny when all give out the reactions to tasting the food man its funny as hell.
Why do people like ARIA The ANIMATION? Isn’t it a story about a girl riding tourists around Italy in her gondola? Besides the eye candy in the series, can someone feel me in on what makes this anime so great?
Also Alex, the anime logo in the main page preview about this post is from Honey and Clover. It actually says Hachimitsu to Kuroba, but yeah…
Look here Alex: http://anidb.info/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=anime&aid=2835
-Karasuhebi
I meant to say “Can someone fill me in on what makes this anime so great”, not “feel me in”. Sorry about that.
-Karasuhebi
I fully agree with your choice for anime of the year. Shamefully, I wouldn’t have watched it, if I hadn’t been goiven ep 1->16 for my birthday. But it was sooooooooo worth it. I’m especially looking forward to getting all the songs. My favourite one was the one where Nomiya drags Yamada away, while Mayama wathes bewildered.
Ari is by far the prettiest anime I’ve seen. Which is why I watched it…. was rather disappointed by the plot though. At least when the Misuzu arc started for good. It got much too repeptitive and confusing. Still I watched it all (sans ep 13).
Shuffle!, well it’s not my first priority, I enjoy Paradise Kiss much better (haven’t read the manga). I mean, it’s good for a laugh, but I wasn’t particularly impressed by the ‘drama’ . Then again, last episode I saw, was no 16.
The rest? Haven’t seen them. As I generally try to download anime’s that are already finished. Hate waiting for ongoing series. In fact, it was your blog that convinced me to watch other on going series (beside H&C), like Shuffle, Parakiss and Jigoku Shoujo.
Yes, definitely agree about H&C and Morita. I don’t think there will be other anime can match H&C in terms of comedy and story, it’s unique in its own way. Bleach is also a very good shounen-ai series because I haven’t get bored with it yet. It seems that 2006 anime line-up is not that attractive yet, we’ll see.
Happy New Year! ^o^
(it’s new year over here already)
time differences ehh. you in japan or asia somewhere over there?
wooo! i agree that honey and clover is the best anime of the year!
BTW, I would suggest Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha A’s to anyone who likes fantasic actions. Don’t let the naming fool you, it’s an excellent sequel to Lyrical Nanoha, and it’s one thousand times better than Card Captor Sakura (Or Gundam Seed if you want a stronger comparison). Only 13 episodes though 🙁
yeay! honey & clover!
Howdy, 1st time postin’ here. Like ur site.
‘Nyways, you make me wanna watch more anime!!! Great winners, congrats to them. Luv houkiboshi XD
BTW, ain’t surprised to see GSD not listed here *runs away from GSD fans*
so honey and clover worth dlin and watching? ^^
i thought “Shakugan no Shana” would have at least made it for something… imho
Yay Futakoi Alternative!
No Pani Poni Dash? I guess that’s pretty niche, though.
Re:Genshiken: The manga is better, but the anime is a good adaptation.
Definately, Shuffle! is a good show and all, but i’d rather see AIR running up for Anime of the Year, than Shuffle!
AIR is one of the most beautiful stories i’ve ever seen, and that’s what I can call a drama, not those KGNE craps who can’t even make a decent story without forcing char x doing some really unbealivable stuff just for char y act that way, in response to char x’s action.
Anyway, I pretty much agree with everything, except maybe for best OP, Hishoku no Sora really has some catchy beat, but Akino song is really great too.
And, a happy new year everyone, and thanks Omni for supplying us with the latest Anime info.
Subarashi!
I agree with you in every category…
FMP! TSR, Honey & Clover and Shuffle! rocks
cool. i agree with u on most of the catagories.
My favorite OST is the Emma Soundtrack. All the BGMs are really lovely and soothing. Though I didn’t get to see more than 5 eps of Kamichu (Its really a great series and I want to see more), I think I’m pretty certain I think the Emma OST is better. If you get a chance, I recomend listening to it or watching the series (Or you could just read the Manga with the ost playing ^.~).
I totally have to agree about Shuffle! I never get too into H series games since they all feel the same to me, but Shuffle was actually really well done. Yay for someone getting it right.
And I Love Houkiboshi
The only two I would really argue with are Biggest Surprise & Anime of the Year. Biggest Surprise – There are two that I thing were big surprises and we benifited from it — Suzuka and Oku-sama wa Mahou Shoujo. Anime of the year was clearly Speed Grapher —- I would put it out there with Monster and Koi Kaze for not being afraid to go in a different direction than everything else.
One you should have had was Guiltiest Pleasure – That had to be hands down —- Okusama wa Joshi Kousei……..
I didn’t see My wife is a magical girl, but how is Suzuka any surprise? I think your getting surprises such plot twists mixed up with surprises like ‘wow, this anime blew my expectations completely out of the water and into space while offering something new and/or setting the bar higher”.
Don’t get me wrong, I like Suzuka, ..kindof, but its not something we haven’t seen from Ichigo100% or I”s or any manga/anime about a school love drama involving more then one girl with a less then manly/cool male lead.
Is SHUFFLE! Really “that” good of a drama/romance? I know the plot is basically watching who the guy ends up f**king, I mean … um, well IT IS based on a Hentai Game. But anyway. Is it really worth checking out?
SHUFFLE! is worth checking out.
Honey and Clover was alright, but I don’t see how Air could be considered anything other then anime of the year. It’s the best show I’ve seen in years.
I couldn’t even finish Air, i stop around ep6 or 7 and never got around to finishing it. For a series that is 13 Eps short, it sure took its time getting into the main plot. Great animation and the muisc was really well done. But the overall story as far i got was boring and nothing i haven’t seen before.
Shuffle on the other hand was a big suprise. I wasn’t even going to watch it when it first came out as I was a little tire of the H-game/harem anime adapations. But i was bored and there wasn’t much else so i decide to download a few eps that release. While the initial eps didn’t have anything that was too original it was a nice comedy and keep my intrest going, i also really like the opening song. And the final straw i found a summary of the game for each of the girls and i became really intrested in watching how they will handle the storyline for all the girls.
And for Dann, yes shuffle is worth checking out. The first half is mostly comedy but 2nd half is where the drama starts and they really pick up a notch for the Kaede and Asa storyline.
One last comment:
Ama-san is just cute for words.
Ama-san best MILF of 2005
You don’t watch naruto or one piece?
Wahh.. You didn’t see Genshiken, huh? T__T Hilarious. Good to relate to.
I agree with you on Honey and Clover, I am a few episodes from finishing it :>
Eeto.. Mushishi, I can’t live without it! That kind of stuff is really a big part of me o_o the greenery, wai wai. I love Bleach, and I love Kamichu. I didn’t pay attention to the music though..
Tsubasa Chronicles improved? Wow. I can’t believe I forced myself to watch so many episodes. It’s just one of those anime you just have to keep reading the manga instead xD
XXXHolic better be good. I’m about to watch FATE/Stay night as well :>
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son locasos los dibujos envienm en mi correo por favor me encantanb es por eso q se los pido envienmlos
I still prefer naruto before bleach
Shuffle is the biggest pile of shit I’ve ever seen, that Honey and Clover won best anime and that Morita won best character are wise choices, but Shuffle is and will always be a complete pile of crap. However, episode 19-24 were interesting because at that point the story actually took on some value, but before that it was mindnumbing crap.
In Bali, do not drink water from the taps. Drinking water is cheap and easily available in sealed bottles. When buying water insures that the seal on your bottle is intact.
Geez, I guess i’ll have to watch Honey and Clover, looks good though. Damn, i should’ve known about that.
yeah me too Daydreamer 🙁 if only I knew about this blog back in 2005
I still have to watch Honey and Clover. But, as I´ve already read 8 volumes of the manga, I think I’ll wait for the last 2 volumes to be available here, read them and only watch the anime after that.