Forum - View topicAnime in America: The Best (and Most Notable) of 2011
|
Goto page Previous 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 Next Note: this is the discussion thread for this article |
| Author | Message | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mad_Scientist
 SubscriberModerator  Posts: 3011 |
|
|||||||||||
|
Hey Theron, if you don't mind me asking again, what did you think of the opening of Future Diary? I'm curious.
|
||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
vinamara
 Posts: 229 |
|
|||||||||||
|
I pretty much match with Theron on most counts.
My favorite anime of the year is Hanasaku Iroha simply because there was no other anime that I waited for every week with unabated breath. This down-to-earth slice of life tale truly took me on a fun roller coaster ride through a kaleidoscope of emotions. Realistic interactions and believable characters topped off by a touching story and a beautiful ending makes this an obvious choice for the best anime for 2011. Also, in my book, Ohana Matsumae tops every other female protagonist this year. Scene of the year would be when Ohana gets slapped thrice by her grandmother. Boy was that one hell of a wake-up call or what. Runner-up would be Kimi to Boku because it struts on its own deliberate pacing that screams subtlety. Its underlying romantic exchanges were simply amazing. And I'm pretty sure Theron would not have chosen Ao no Exorcist if he watched the latter episodes. The Disappearance of Suzumiya Haruhi would be my favorite flick pick. I'm really glad to see B Gata H Kei categorized as a guilty pleasure because many would just walk away from reading the premise. I was surprised myself when Yamada started to learn more about love and found the show had another side hidden to it. Wandering Son and Fractale are the worst anime that should not have seen the light of day. |
||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
LagannImpact
 Posts: 574 |
|
|||||||||||
|
Storm a weak version of herself in the X-Men anime? Really? They obviously didn't see Wolverine. That characterization of Logan as some kind of teenage punk was not only insulting to the mystique (no pun intended) of the character, he was voiced by one of the biggest stiffs ever to try anime voice acting: Milo V. (I ain't gonna try to spell his last name) from Heroes. The guy was so awful he made Darrel's Mikado Ryugamine sound like gold!
|
||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
old_yoshi
 Posts: 42 |
|
|||||||||||
|
I wish they would have mentioned Redline and Children who chase lost voices from deep below
|
||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
|
belvadeer
|
|
|||||||||||
|
DRRR: Wait Theron, you thought Michelle Ruff's performance as Anri was "prominently weak"? Based on what? I'm just curious as to what brought you to declare this. As for Bryce, he's really come a long way since voicing for RPGs in the old days. I can't wait to hear him in Tales of Graces F as Asbel. I bet his father would be very proud if he could see how far his son has advanced. He was a great Masaomi. "Boobylicious!" Haha, that one's a keeper. XP
Guin Saga: Can't argue with the Guin Saga dub award. It's a total train wreck. I'm so glad I watched it subbed prior. They ruined a great fantasy epic with whatever that was they were trying to do (odd I say this since I listened to only a few lines here and there, but it was really a downer to watch). If they weren't certain they could pull it off, they shouldn't have bothered. I understand that a release can sometimes make or break sales depending on a dub's availability, but seriously? On the positive side, I can also agree "Saga" is just an amazing theme. I haven't heard music that captivating since Clannad's soundtrack. Fractale: I just lost all drive to continue watching this. I don't know what to make of this show either. I know the show was honestly trying in the beginning, but it just tapered off as it went on. |
||||||||||||
The King of Harts
 Posts: 6712 Location: Mount Crawford, Virginia |
|
|||||||||||
|
Regarding Michelle Ruff's Anri in DRRR: I agree with Theron in thinking it was the weakest performance. To me, Michelle is a lot like Sam Regal where she's a pretty good actress, but she doesn't have the chops to carry a show in a leading role. She's good in those side performances like Yuki in Haruhi Suzumiya, but her lead roles are where she seems to be at her weakest. The one exception is her Miharu in Girls Bravo, but even there Liam and Yuri definitely carry that show, despite Michelle being a main character.
I rarely read manga, so no, I haven't read the manga, nor do I intend to. I just feel like they completely pulled the spoiler["I am your grandfather, I love, now let me sacrifice your brother and eventually you BLAH BLAH BLAH"] out their asses and they couldn't make it work. I also felt the show was losing steam several episodes before where I feel like it dropped, so it didn't exactly drop from my climax as enjoyment. The episodes started to feel like they were padding and not really doing much, but I still liked them because they were interesting. When the spoiler[grandfather] was introduced, though, it just dropped and never recovered, in my opinion. Everything before that was either really good to fine (mostly fine), but that last arc was awful.
Yea, and in your own reviews of QB2 you mention how Lisa's performance is one of the best of the year, but then you talk about how Kari blows everyone else out of the water. That's the part I strongly disagree with. If you want to give her the award, fine, but she was in no way head-and-shoulders above everyone else, especially Lisa, who you yourself recognized as being a great performance. I also want to make clear that I'm not in anyway angry about this. As far as anime goes, dubs are the only thing I really know a good deal about since I've seen many of then and I watch them all the time, and so I feel confident about getting passionate about them, as I'm sure I've put on display here. Last edited by The King of Harts on Fri Jan 06, 2012 10:03 am; edited 1 time in total |
||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
|
PetrifiedJello
Posts: 3782 |
|
|||||||||||
|
I read this summary twice just to be sure I wasn't off my rocker, but there's no mention of Spice & Wolf II?
I'm rather stumped over this omission since it's crystal clear it was definitely a top contender. Oh, wait. I see. Because the first 4 episodes was officially streamed at the tail end of 2010 it gets a bye from 2011? SHENANIGANS! I'm calling it. 
Despite this obvious flub of an omission, I will have to say the opinions were enjoyable to read, as always. I may not agree with some of them, but it's always nice to see what details were used to base the opinion. I will have to say I'm not seeing the same love for Angel Beats most people are. While I did enjoy it, a single viewing was all I would ever want. I found the drama to be very unnecessary from a group spoiler[which can not die, well, until they came to their senses]. The ending was nice, and I think this is why people enjoyed it so much. It wasn't the expected crap ending we're so used to. I loved Hanasaku Iroha, but I will have to admit it was more for the eye candy than the all-too-common story plots. It's entertaining, that's for sure, and I'm going to be furious if no business in R1 distributes it. This one's going into my collection. Having looked in retrospect over the year, the winner was, hands down, Gosick and I'm very excited Bandai will not release it. Victorique the Goth Loli aside, the series really surprised me. At first, it started off with the mystery-of-the-day format only to turn 180 degrees and give a very compelling and deep story. It's not without faults (such as the idiotic tsundere moments from Victorique or Kujo's reluctance to take control of a few situations), but it's definitely made up for it over the stretch. Damn it, FUNimation, get it. Get it yesterday. Please! (You don't touch it, Sentai, unless you're dubbing it). *cough* As for Spice & Wolf II (yeah, I'm adding it because it was 2011 for me for all the episodes!), while some stated it was better than the first, I can't agree. I felt a little disappointed Lawrence would actually ... no, I won't spoil it, even with tags. If you've not seen it, make up your own mind. Still, it tops out third place for me because despite my feelings of dislike of how... *smacks self*, the series still invoked them and that's always a bonus when I still enjoyed it overall. As for the rest of 2011... meh. I don't see Steins;Gate or Deadman Wonderland being collectable worthy, and the rest of what I watched, including the controversial Lotte's Toy, just didn't pack any punches to be memorable. Well, except one series, which goes down as a guilty pleasure (because it's really mundane, but cute): A Bridge to the Starry Skies. Typical harem, quick pantsu flashing episode, but after that, mellowed out to be rather enjoyable. I'd buy it, but it's a series I don't see any R1 picking up, including Sentai. Oh well. Can't win 'em all. See you in 2012 (when it ignores titles late in 2011). SHENANIGANS!
|
||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
|
Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18262 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
|
|||||||||||
No, the whole thing was available in subtitled streaming form from Funimation's Web site before the end of 2010. I distinctly remember that because I was watching its release schedule carefully over the course of December to see if enough episodes would come out in time for it to qualify for 2010's Best of the Rest.
Don't think I ever saw that one, since it wasn't (IIRC) used on the first episode. It's got a neat enough visual aesthetic that it probably also deserved an honorable mention, but the Angel Beats! option still tops it on strength of song. |
||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
here-and-faraway
 Posts: 1528 Location: Sunny California |
|
|||||||||||
|
I loved seeing Alison and Lilia getting some love.
There are some titles I haven't seen yet that I'll need to check out. Thanks for the thoughtful input. |
||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
zensunni
 Posts: 1294 |
|
|||||||||||
In order to be a trainwreck, you have to be on the track in the first place. BLOOD-C started out off the rails and dug its own grave deeper with every episode. I can't believe I actually watched the whole thing...
But Time of Eve was available legally on Crunchyroll prior to 2011, so it doesn't qualify for this list, and would be a series by their definition...
My Unlicensed Gem choice!
This confused me too. It would probably be the top of my list...
OOOOOH! Now I get it.... But that doesn't explain why Brina didn't win best female dub performance for Holo or Natsuki! They were both great performances! I am surprised about the love for Durarara! dub. Most of what I had heard about it said it was horrible. I haven't seen it myself... I would have to say that I disagree about the general quality level of series this year. Four of my top 15 favorite anime series are from the eligible series for this article (Gosick, Hanasaku Iroha, Steins;Gate, and Kamisama no Memochou), and two more are not (Madoka and Penguindrum) I found it an extremely entertaining year in anime, with some very well written shows. Angel Beats is one that I loved, but I wouldn't put it above Gosick, Hanasaku Iroha, or Steins;Gate. If it had gotten 6 to 10 more episodes to round out the story without that rushed feel at the end, it would, but the last couple of episodes were just too much in too little time. (I do not hate the ending, like many people do, I just think it could have been soooo much better.) |
||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Cecilthedarkknight_234
 Posts: 3820 Location: Louisville, KY |
|
|||||||||||
|
funny most of the shows on the list are the ones I enjoyed the most.. Nice to ano hana and ben-to getting a mention as well. I really love reading your guys reviews or picks end of year line up.
|
||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
darkchibi07
 Posts: 5484 |
|
|||||||||||
It's a rock solid dub, and I totally agree with Kari's Celty; she was a definite bright spot. It's most likely those peeps watched the Japanese first so they tend to have this knee-jerk reaction every time they hear something remotely English. |
||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
|
streexanime
Posts: 78 |
|
|||||||||||
|
What about Tiger & Bunny for "Best Series To Bring Back Older Anime Fans"?
I am definitely for Bunny Drop and Tiger & Bunny for appeal to older fans without being all about sex or getting some carbon copy girl. I know us older Americans aren't the target audience for Japanese made animation, but it feels great when Japan does produce something developed characters, not overly dramatic plots, and of course very nice animation. I like some of the cliche "that kinda show" and high school dramedies, but I need a little more substance every now and then. Angel Beats almost brought about the "m" word from me, but I was amazed that Key's writers outdid themselves again. |
||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
d_ace_shines
 Posts: 17 |
|
|||||||||||
|
Well.. I love Angel Beats! too..
But a list without Steins;Gate and Madoka looks like fail list to me. Just watch Steins;Gate, you'll never regret it. After all, Steins;Gate is the only 2011 Anime (season, not long series) that make it to the big three in MyAnimelist |
||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
|
PetrifiedJello
Posts: 3782 |
|
|||||||||||
Interesting, because I stopped watching it on the belief the remaining episodes would be released in the span the bluray was to come out. I'm not doubting you, but rather surprised I missed them all being released in December considering how much I was waiting for it. Though, that's always a bad time of year to try and keep track of anime when I'm too busy making macaroni pictures. |
||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
 |
All times are GMT - 5 Hours |
|
|
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group