Er, h-hey readers of Frog-kun’s wonderful anime blog. This is that one guy from that one obscure and not as w-wonderful anime blog, Deadlight’s Anime Blog (took me forever to think of that title. Clever, don’t ya t-think?)
Even though I lack the charismatic, c-charming, creepy and all around brilliant personality of Frog-kun, he asked me if I could take over his blog for a while. Guess he said our humor was alike…
*Wipes away sweat and looks down at note cards only to drop them*
Fuck.
Uh, anyway I’m just here to fill the time while he’s out partying in the Philippines and hopefully I can entertain you readers rather than alienate you. S-so, uh, for the next few weeks expect a couple first impressions of the Winter season, a mega end of the year podcast I recorded with 8 other bloggers and maybe an editorial. I don’t know. But to start things off, I guess I’ll post my favorite 2013 anime and also the waifu of the year so you can kinda get a look into just how shit my taste is. I’m not including anime that aired in 2012 and just finished their run this year. And, uh, without further ado, let’s get to that list…
Please don’t kill me.
10. Dansai Bunri no Crime Edge
Crime Edge is Mirai Nikki, Fate/Zero and all those other “Kill ‘em all for the Grand Prize” shticks, but with a wide array fetishes constituting as one’s lethal weapon. We’ve got scissors to signify our male lead’s fetish with hair, whips as one antagonist’s to signify bondage and uh…. syringes as… yeah…
Easily one of the most visually impressive series; its animation is fluid, its artwork mystical and dream-like, and its cinematography is gorgeous, utilizing shaky cam sparingly at all the right times rather than the all too frequent seizures most other works suffer from.
Amidst all its obvious flaws, Crime Edge was a bizarrely enthralling experience, so passionate with celebrating its fetishes and having a cast so utterly charming that it captivated me till the very end.
9. Aiura
Underneath my love for series showcasing how dreadfully sadistic, terribly hypocritical and essentially what God-awful things humanity and society can be, I have a soft spot for some adorable feel-good moe.
I’ve said this before, but it’s not moe itself that I tend to hate, but how it’s often poorly handled in anime. With a format no longer than five minutes, Aiura is a package of Skittles or something or another. It’s short and sweet.
The series is subtle, reserved, and laid-back rather than mutilating the senses and beating your head into a dead horse with the bombastic gags and the drawn out cries and whines. (Of course, I’m sure Non Non Biyori does this a lot better, but I haven’t had the chance to see that series yet.)
8. Turning Girls
Just graduating highschool and nowhere near the age of thirty yet, Turning Girls was still mighty relatable because at core its really all about personal determination to achieve your ambitions, fulfilling your goals and doing all you can before you grow old all while failing miserably, of course. It’s
awkward cringe-worthy humor, but sympathetic too. Rather than laughing at these characters, we’re laughing with them.
awkward cringe-worthy humor, but sympathetic too. Rather than laughing at these characters, we’re laughing with them.
7. Silver Spoon
Its overly dry direction is a bit of a bummer and the humor doesn’t always work, but its damn big and endearing heart is what makes this series so great. Seriously, I did not anticipate myself getting so emotionally attached to Hachiken and his tragic relationship with Porkbowl.
6. Kill la Kill
It took six episodes until I finally bathed in the light at the end of the tunnel. Imaishi’s works never took off with me, but here Ryuko and Mako have finally won me over.
The series is the epitome of taking a generic story on paper and making it kick ass on the screen with delightfully boisterous presentation and very polished execution. Some more substance thrown into the mix would be nice and, for all I know, the second half might devolve into shitty territory, but as of now, it snags a cautious 6th spot.
5. Teekyu S2 + S3
SEASON FOUR, WHEN??!!
4. Kyousougiga
Kyousougiga has, hands down, the best visual direction I’ve seen all year. I just love how unconventional it is. The creative use of backdrop to transition character movement is pretty awesome and the jarring, purposefully inconsistent camera angles whenever a character moves into a different position really give the series an extra “oomph” of life.
When it’s wacky, it’s wacky. But when it shifts tones to something heavier in drama, it does so naturally and with shrewd cohesion. Just like people say, Kyousougiga is an enchanting experience to behold. It’s the perfect synergy of madcap zaniness and heartfelt drama.
3. Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru
Yahari is a brilliant social commentary told through distinctive multifaceted characters providing viewpoints from all ends of the spectrum. Its cynically honest and poignant when it comes to tearing apart everything wrong about highschool , ranging from the superficial cliques to the narrow-minded
perspective of encouraging communal participation to the hypocritical student body authorities and etc. But it’s also heartfelt when highlighting that highschool isn’t a complete dumpsite without any benefits and how social interaction is significant.
perspective of encouraging communal participation to the hypocritical student body authorities and etc. But it’s also heartfelt when highlighting that highschool isn’t a complete dumpsite without any benefits and how social interaction is significant.
But all in all, Yahari digs deeper than simply giving a genuine insight on highschool. It’s also a series that actually understands youth. A series that understands that awkward period of adolescence and all the haphazard events that come at you like a brick to the groin. It understands loneliness. It understands
building relationships. It understands what it truly means to be a teenager.
building relationships. It understands what it truly means to be a teenager.
2. White Album 2
Absolutely beautiful. Pretty much how a love triangle should be handled. Its visual direction is fantastic,loaded with attention to the littlest details, and its writing is mature and emotionally gripping rather than emotionally manipulative. It lets the moments speak for themselves rather than
force-feeding every aspect, knowing perfectly when or when not to completely defenestrate subtelty
force-feeding every aspect, knowing perfectly when or when not to completely defenestrate subtelty
It’s a series that recognizes how powerful the emotion love is and how multi-layered it is unlike the one-note romance series we see so often. The lead trio is deeply flawed which makes everything so much more satisfying. Yeah, none of them are inherently malicious people, but as they fall in love they make monstrous decisions, back-stabbing each other and selfishly tearing the other one down.
Thank God for this series. I’ve been waiting for a while now. I was getting sick of shit like
“I really dig your body”
“I really dig your body too”
“Let’s make out”
“Oh, we can do more than that”
1. Flowers of Evil
Yeah, the ending was disappointing, but damn it, I still love this series to death. It’s everything, everything I want in a psychological drama. It’s dauntily brutal, it’s hopelessly bleak, it’s painfully unrelenting; whenever a lovely daffodil manages to sprout from the cold untilled ground, it’s mercilessly ripped out and in its place weeds are planted. Aku no Hana throws you out of
your comfort zone and masterfully showcases just how cruel and cynical peeps can really be at times, that sometimes there really is no hope.
your comfort zone and masterfully showcases just how cruel and cynical peeps can really be at times, that sometimes there really is no hope.
And aside from that ending, I just admire everything about this series. From forcing Saeki’s gym clothes on Kasuga to the water-dumping to the flawless wrecking of the classroom and to, yes, even the arduous walk home. The weight that hangs over this series sucked me in and every episode felt too damn short.
But yeah, that ending? I know it was a cliffhanger finishing right before shit really hit the fan, but what this series managed to accomplish beforehand is simply astonishing. To me, that ending is just an insignificant strike amidst a heap of game-winning home runs.
And finally…
The Waifu of the Year is…
Akane Tsunemori
I didn’t like Psycho Pass and there are many reasons why that is. However, I stuck with the series for its whole run and I’m probably going to check out the second season. Why?
Akane Tsunemori of course. Gen Urobuchi’s best character. Period.
She actually felt human at core. Her trials, her troubles, her growth, all of that felt real. And her whole slowly shaping up and becoming a bad-ass was surprisingly quite relatable. At first, her moe-stoner eyes bugged me out. Then she slowly became cute. Then gradually I fell in love with her and, uh… kind of found her alluring.
But yeah, Akane is fucking awesome.
Frog-kun's Blog 
Man, two of your series I watched (Kill La Kill and Kyousougiga), three I dropped(Crime Edge, Silver Spoon, Aku no Hana), five I know nothing about xD.But I think I already like you for having Crime Edge in your top 10 xD.
And Akane is <3. I love the scene where she blows a fuse at the other inspector telling him firmly but mostly politely not to question her ability in the workplace.
Interesting picks. Also the fact you’re the first animeniac, besides myself, who added a 3-5 minute episodic show in your fav list of the year. Not only that, you beat my record and added THREE! Respect dood. What else? KLK I am enjoying immensely and hope the second half will keep up the pace and not pull a Pirates of the Caribbean. I haevn’t seen any of the others but the 3-5 minute ones definitely sound “OG-worthy”.
I always love “best of” lists because you get to see the favorite picks of lots of different people with different tastes. I don’t keep up with seasonal anime (mostly because i’m still catching up with older ones >.<), and hadn't heard of some of your picks so i'm grateful for you bringing them into the spotlight =)
Happy New Year to both you and Froggy-Kun!