Forum - View topicThe Best Anime of 2015
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18388 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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"Character development" can also refer to "showing depth beyond just a one-note portrayal." That's what I was referring to in that sense. There are several key supporting characters in the series who get explored beyond just being one-dimensional characters - Liliruca, Welf, and Ryu in particular. (And frankly, I think both Hestia and Bell showed at least a little more than what we normally see on the surface, but YMMV more on that.) No, these aren't stunningly-deep character profiles, but they're also well beyond the minimal effort all-too-commonly-seen in series like this. |
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Panoptican
Posts: 160 |
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I'm glad to see Baby Steps made at least one of the lists. It saddens me that such a great show is mostly overlooked.
My top 5 for the year: 1. Baby Steps, Season 2 - I haven't watched a ton of sports anime, but this one is easily my favorite. I guess I'm a sucker for realism. The main character, Maruo, is a natural fit for tennis, but that doesn't mean he magically amazing at the game. Watching his progress through both seasons is just great fun. 2. One Punch Man - What can I say? I'm a fan of sakuga animation and OPM delivers that in spades. It helps that it's also a pretty amusing show. 3. Sound! Euphonium - This show really surprised me. I'm usually not one for Kyoto Animation shows, but for once the characters didn't bore me. Kumiko's band struggles and relationships all felt very well realized. Oh and the animation was amazing. 4. Maria the Virgin Witch - Way more love for this show on here than I ever would have guessed. I really enjoyed how well researched the setting was. I'm no expert, but the battles and social classes all seemed realistic. Maria was also a great protagonist. She didn't always do the right thing, but I was always rooting for her. The show also sported some great antagonists. 5. Noragami Aragoto - This season is much improved over the first one. Maybe it's because they've spread the drama across more characters this time around? I'm not sure, but this is just a fun, easy to watch show. It's the kind of show I could see recommending to new fans of anime. It's just likable. Last edited by Panoptican on Thu Dec 17, 2015 5:09 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Responder
Posts: 45 |
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Given her weekly reviews of Tokyo Ghoul, I actually thought that she may have included that in her list. I don't really think Yurikuma was that good, because Ikuhara's directing aside, Ginko and Lulu were the only characters I could really get behind, and I think that the series prioritised weirdness over the message. Plus, the fan-service (if you can call it that here) was way overblown. |
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Angel M Cazares
 Posts: 5492 Location: Iscandar |
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You are right. I did not consider MLS as one of the usual suspects. |
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zrnzle500
 Posts: 3768 |
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Now that we can agree on. There ain't no good guy. There ain't no bad guy. There's just you and me and we just disagree. {In case no one caught the reference, here's a link. ~nobahn} |
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relyat08
 Posts: 4125 Location: Northern Virginia |
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I guess I never thought of it as a comedy from the get go. The "SNAFU" part of the title was key for me. The English title for the LN is actually: My Youth Romantic Comedy is Wrong As I Expected. If that doesn't scream "this is not your typical rom-com", I'm not sure what would. I think there are enough reviews, essays and other literature on SNAFU at this point to prove that it is a lot more than a pointless drama. Nothing wrong with not liking it, of course, but I think it's a little unfair to say that it is as shallow as you are painting it. I got a lot out of it. And reading Nick's weekly reviews, I can't imagine someone coming away from it thinking it was that pointless. Oh well.
 Well.. yeah.. Noragami has a LOT to offer beyond its action sequences. There is a surprising amount of depth to it, it has consistently good art and animation, the story is an incredibly well written and researched take on many aspects of Japanese folklore and Shintoism, and I think the characters are excellent as well. I'm glad you like it, but I don't think you're getting nearly as much out of this show as you could be.
Nothing wrong with enjoying anime as shallow entertainment, but it gets a little frustrating when you mark off a show as shallow, when it isn't at all. |
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meiam
Posts: 3443 |
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I'm with you there, but I think we're a minority both in anime and in general. Just look at every year oscar, it's rarely the most entertaining movie that win, rather it's usually the one that seems the most "though provoking" or something like that (when was the last time a comedy won?). Similarly Witcher 3 is gaining lots of GOTY nomination, but it's basic gameplay is extremely basic and not that enjoyable really, but it got that tear jerking father daughter story. I'd half agree with you on Noragami. Similarly I am enjoying it purely on the action and comedy sequence. But I think the show is trying to be deeper than that, I just think it's not doing a very good job at it and I find that the deeper I dig into the story the more shallow it feel. But here again I'm definitely a minority who thinks that. |
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cloud8100
Posts: 550 |
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I think the only main anime I've been watching this year is Noragami and Fairy Tail. Never really got round to anything else but was interested in Blood Blockade Battlefront and a couple of others that I can't recall atm.
Oooh, Seven Deadly Sins was a favourite. That may have started last year though. |
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zrnzle500
Posts: 3768 |
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It did in fact start last fall. It only became available this november. Thanks Netflix (both sarcastic and not). |
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AnimeLordLuis
 Posts: 1626 Location: The Borderlands of Pandora |
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Yuri Kuma Arashi takes three #1 spots so far. Excellent I love when the under dog Anime series of the Year wins against all odds not to mention Yuri Kuma Arashi being my favorite Anime of the year it's just the icing on the cake.
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FilthyCasual
Posts: 2336 |
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Lesbears Uncensored is far from the underdog. It received near-universal critical acclaim on ANN not only from its first episode, but for the entirety of its airing. |
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AnimeLordLuis
Posts: 1626 Location: The Borderlands of Pandora |
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KH91
Posts: 6176 |
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Rose has Yuri Kuma at #1? I love you, Rose.
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Go Mifune
 Posts: 63 |
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I am not sure whether you just have some kind of bias, or if you really don't know the developmental history of the anime industry. Obviously, Key thought (I think as many did) that you were referring to artistic style. But in your clarification you are refering to production methods. Let me first say that had it not been Production IG, it would have been another company and if it had not been Blood: The Last Vampire and then Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex; it would have been done by some other company in some other show. Now I will clarify the above. Blood (2000) was the first anime done using the CGI methods you are referring to and GitS:SAC (2002) was the first series to do so. Even if these two shows were technically mixed media, The process was first done by Production IG. Genesis of Aquarion (2005) may have been the first mecha anime to do so, but it was hardly the first to use the methods, even if it was the first to do so entirely. And once again even if it had not, some other show would have. These things are industry trends and done to save money which is why they have been adopted, not because your favorite show is somehow ground breaking, especially given that that ground was broken 5 years earlier.
That would be the 2014 awards, the last one a year ago when Birdman won. |
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Moroboshi-san
 Posts: 174 |
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I thought it was Gonzo in 1998 OVA-series Ao no Roku-gō. |
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