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Your Single Most Favorite Anime of 2006.

While it's hardly one of the year's better series by any criteria, the other one straight-out-of-Japan that really caught my attention was Karin, the anime version of the manga known in the States as Chibi Vampire. Although I didn't care much for the title character's overly busty design, The oddball take on vampires in this offbeat romantic comedy amused me greatly.

Definitely Honey and Clover II

I'd put my vote in for NHK ni Yokoso, mainly for resons that make me personally connect so strongly to the series, and which I'll say something about further down. But there were quite a few very strong candidates for the title.

I think my most intense viewing experience, albeit more short-lived than NHKnY, must have been Kemonozume. This series blew my mind on so many levels. From the intense drawing and animation style (beautifully analyzed by Cloe in the Kemo-thread), literally a smorgasbord of visual treats, to the mind-boggling story of it all, blurring the line between monsters and humans until you're not sure yourself, this anime took me for quite a ride. The colorful cast of characters, human and shokujinki alike, each with their own idiosyncracies and human flaws marvellously portrayed, made the human element stand out all the more. Yeah. I think if not for my obsession with NHK ni Yokoso, Kemonozume would have been my choice for "Best of 2006."

Other runners-up that I think highly of include Ergo Proxy, Mushishi and Death Note. Ergo proxy started out as a default favorite, I just loved the first 6-7 episodes or so, thinking this was going to be an all-timer, until rather strange things started happening. I'm not saying the series took a bad turn, but my enthusiasm definitely dropped at the mind-fudge that ensued, and I didn't feel a great sense of fulfillment or even revelation at the end of the series. It definitely needs to be viewed more than once, and possibly subsequent viewings will restore my initial sense of awe for the series. We'll see, I'm buying the DVDs in any case As for Mushishi, although I marvelled at the very idea of the show, it felt a little bit too episodic for the kind of story that was being presented, lacking an underlying direction. Finally Death Note is some piece of work, having me at the edge of my seat throughout every episode, definitely aspiring for some high marks, but since the show isn't anywhere near finished (as far as I know...?), it'll have to be one of the condenders for 2007.

Now NHK ni Yokoso....
I don't know if anyone else has characterized it this way yet, but to me it was actually quite the tearjerker, unlike any of the other titles I mentioned above. NHKnY made me laugh till I cried, with Sato's and Yamazaki's hare-brained galge production; with Sato's and Misaki-chan's counseling sessions on everything from Freud to Kami-sama; with Sato's exploration into the world of computer games in general, and the MMORPG in particular. And then there were the other kind of story arcs with the offline meeting, and finally learning the truth behind Misaki-chan - they made me cry for real. The real story of NHKnY is about real people with real problems: we could call them dysfunctional, but in my experience they are a large part of our own society, and could just as well be called "average" - we're just not exposed to them very often. Paranoia, manic depression, childhood trauma - doesn't sound like ingredients for a great anime, does it. But the way it is scripted into NHKnY lets us see both sides of the coin, the heart-rending misery that can be, but also the beauty that exists within that tiny piece of the pie chart that Misaki-chan drew during one of the counseling sessions. The fact that most of us ever live inside that tiny happy slice and never venture much into the "90% misery" slice that is shared by the likes of Satou and Misaki-chan, is part of what makes me feel that this show is showing us something special, and not just your run-of-the-mill slice of life.

Well I could probably go on and on, and maybe the NHK thread is a better place for that

EDIT: Spelling, spelling....my kingdom for a spellchecker!

For series that started this year I honestly would pick Eureka Seven. I love the fact that it has such a huge cast and actually makes use of them while still developing a significant back story in the process. Renton's voice took some getting used to in the dub but it's pretty good at this point and the rest of the dub cast is doing a terrific job so I really have no complaints despite, again, the large cast of characters that required dubbing. I don't mind the slow pace of the story either, I like that it isn't rushing the story along and that there's actually down time or quiet time as it gives it a better sense of reality, which is vital in a sci-fi series that's already way past that boundary. The music is terrific and the animation and artistry is also really well done. While it was odd at first I love the strong and vibrant colors they use in the series, it actually fits the style really well.
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