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「覚醒の鼓動」 (Kakusei no Kodou)
“Awakening Beat”
It’s too early to call Elements Garden’s original “music” anime a surprise hit, but this impressive first showing already has me thinking it will be. With highly successful pop star Mizuki Nana pairing up with former TWO-MIX vocalist Takayama Minami as the “Zwei Wing” vocal unit, this premiere delivered both a high-tension live performance and fast-paced action.
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「絢辻詞 前編 ユウワク」 (Ayatsuji Tsukasa Zenpen – Yuuwaku)
“Ayatsuji Tsukasa, First Chapter – Temptation”
Amagami SS is back and just as enjoyable as ever. I may be a bit biased when it comes to the sequel to my favorite romance of 2010, but I really couldn’t wipe the smirk off my face while watching this premiere.
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「軌跡 reassortment」 (Kiseki)
For a one-hour recap special that added absolutely nothing new — not even from the small amounts of narration — this felt like a pilot episode more than anything else. Viewing it as such, I dare say it was a pretty darn good one too because it cut out all the irksome developments and simply focused on all the stuff that makes Guilty Crown good.
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「ハヤテのごとく! HEAVEN IS A PLACE ON EARTH」 (Hayate no Gotoku! HEAVEN IS A PLACE ON EARTH)
“Hayate the Combat Butler! Heaven is a Place on Earth”
It’s been a while since the 2nd season of Hayate no Gotoku ended, and I’ve been looking forward to the movie which premiered back in August of last year. The series has always been among my favorite harem comedies, so I watched this with high expectations, and all in all it provided what I was looking for.
Spoiler Warning: if you haven’t watched the movie yet and don’t want to know what happens, stay away from this post for now.
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「きみがため」 (Kimi ga Tame)
“For You”
After a long build-up, the circle – or at least the triangle – is finally in place as Arata rejoins the narrative. This time, it looks as if he’s here to stay.
Now that 2011 is over, here’s a look back at some of my favorite shows from the past year. Due to the subjective nature of it all and the fact that I’m constrained to what I’ve seen, I’m not trying to pick series that the vast majority finds agreeable. Instead, I’m here to convey my personal favorites for 2011, after which you’re more than welcome to chime in with your respective choices.
Continuing from last year, there are numerous categories in the following areas: Production, Miscellaneous (fun stuff), Genre, and Notable Others. This year, I’ve also added some new genres and divided the seiyuu category into male and female. Included at the end are the final results to the Reader’s Choice Poll.
Please Read: I got a bit of flack last year for some of my choices despite providing more justification than necessary for an opinion, so please keep in mind that “best” is subjective. What’s best for me is not necessarily the best for you. I did manage to finish 72 of the 99 shows included in the poll (complete list here), so before you go knocking one of my choices, please make sure that you’ve at least seen it and know where I’m coming from. Finally, all I ask is that you respect my opinion, just like I respect yours. If you happened to watch more series than me in the past year, I’d love to hear what your favorites were.
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「反逆者たちの船出」 (Hangyaku-tachi no Funade)
“The Rebels Set Sail”
Leave it up to anime to make goofy characters a lot cooler and more respectable than they originally seem, much like with the chocolate bar-munching Commander Stoller Guavaran here.
Hello everyone! My name is Stilts1, and I’m the latest chump new writer that you might have heard about. Are you excited? Because I sure am! I’m really looking forward to writing for you all, and bringing you the most insightful analysis I can dredge up from the far corners of my dark, twisted and eldritch horror-infested mind. That’s a promise ; )
Okay, so a little about myself. It’s hard for me to pinpoint exactly when I got into anime, because I have a crappy memory. I remember rushing back from school as a little’un to catch the latest episode of Dragon Ball Z, and I know I first watched Neon Genesis Evangelion, Cowboy Bebop and a few others on Toonami sometime after that, but those weren’t really the start. They just primed the pump. Probably the start was watching Naruto and Bleach during my freshman year of college. I distinctly remember marathoning ~50 episodes of Bleach over the course of a day or two. That’s when it really started to take off.
…more after the jump.
