1 Jan 2011

Anime of 2010 (Watch List)


Happy 2011! It's been a good year for anime for me. AFA X, CosFest 2010, figurines and a couple of really good shows. Here's the year in anime!



Watch List 2010
Nearly everything I've watched in 2010

Touched and Dropped (series)

Asobi ni Iku Yo! - Cheesy as hell.

Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu - Meh. Did not like the designs.

Inuyasha Kanketsu-hen - Was thoroughly confused since I only watched bit and pieces of the original.

Kuroshitsuji II - Episode 1 really surprised me (in a good way), but after that it went back to normal (in a bad way).

Ladies VS Butlers - Fan service.

MM! - Dull jokes. Can't see it going anywhere.

Motto To LOVE-Ru - Fan service.

SEKIREI ~Pure Engagement~ - Fan service.

Sengoku BASARA Two - Nice action, but can't see the plot improving.

Shugo Chara Party - Totally slaughtered the Shugo Chara series for me.

Shukufuku no Campanella - Campy.

Sora no Otoshimono Forte - Fan service, weird story. Interesting animation and style though.

STRIKE WITCHES 2 - Fan service.

Tegami Bachi (Letter Bee) - Did not interest me, although I heard it gets a lot better later on.

A few episodes... and then Dropped (series)

Amagami SS - Did not like the episodic format.

Dance in the Vampire Bund - Gave it a few episodes, but Shaft showed that they could not replicated Bakemonogatari's success.

GIANT KILLING - Rather realistic soccer series, but the story did not capture my attention, unlike One Outs.

HEROMAN - Western style story in anime doesn't work that well. Animation was not bad though.

HIGH SCHOOL OF THE DEAD - Animation was WOW. Story was CHEESY. Fan service stretch a little too far.

Mitsudomoe - Gross without any merit. Not my kind of humour.

Ookami-san to Shichinin no Nakama-tachi - Was kind of interesting, but did not fully make use of its premise.

Senkou no Night Raid - Just wasn't interested. Reminds me of Darker Than Black.

Tentai Senshi Sunred 2 - Funny, but gets dull.

Yumeiro Patissiere - A little too kiddy in its story.

Completed "new" series

Angel Beats - Wasn't as tear-jerking as I expected, but upon reflection, the animation and music were great, as well as Hanazawa Kana's voice acting (AFA's live dubbing made me appreciate her more).

Arakawa Under the Bridge x Bridge - Was OK. Expected a little more plot development.

B Gata H Kei - Surprisingly, there's a lesson to be learned here. Not bad.

Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu - Quite funny, and loved the style. Hideyoshi is the new best trap.

Chu-Bra!! - I was bored, so I watched this.

Cross Game - The series that made me cry for a character within 1 episode. Made me a Adachi Mitsuru fan.

Durarara!! - Fantastic show! Both halves were great for different reasons.

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood - Amazing animation by Bones, amazing story by Arakawa sensei.

Hanamaru Youchien - Fun, cute series by Gainax with AWESOME new ED every episode.

K-ON!! - Moe anime with great animation and nice relaxing feel to it, without fan service.

Kaichou wa Maid-sama! - Not the best JC Staff romcom, but good nonetheless.

Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai (The World God Only Knows) - Great style, but such a let down with its drawn out episodes.

Kimi ni Todoke - Not bad, though a little slow. Hints of greater drama in the future. (Season 2 coming soon!)

kiss x sis - Don't judge me.

Kobato. - Surprisingly good! Kobato really grows on you, which makes the conclusion that much stronger.

Kuragehime - Great, but a rushed ending. Review coming soon!

Mayoi Neko Overrun! - Also surprisingly good.

Nodame Cantabile Finale - Live-action is sooo much better for this series.

Ore no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai - Characters were a little out-of-character at the end.

Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt - It's rather great. And crazy.

Seikimatsu Occult Gakuin (Occult Academy) - Interesting story with some weird voice acting.

Seitokai Yakuindomo - Funny immature humour with great characters.

Shiki - Really intense conclusion. Review coming soon!

Shinryaku! Ika Musume - Great comedy series with a cute main character.
 
Sora no Woto - A bit too moe, but not a bad start for the Anime no Chikara timeslot.

Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru - Not a good comedy, but great slice of life.

Tantei Opera Milky Holmes - Weird and crazy. Just feels too cliche.

To Aru Kagaku no Railgun - Pretty good animation and characters but story a little heavy at times. Not very well told.

WORKING!! - Pretty good comedy and slice of life.

Yojouhan Shinwa Taikei (Tatami Galaxy) - So awesome! Tight conclusion.

Nurarihyon no Mago - Great characters but a draggy shounen series.

Shinrei Tantei Yakumo - Interesting so far, but seems unable to compare to Ghost Hunt.

Completed "old" series

FLCL - Gainax, how I love thee.

Gag Manga Biyori - Hilarious! Even people who don't watch anime should watch this (on youtube). Could not find the latest season though.

Paranoia Agent - Kinda awesome at points, but many boring episodes too.

"New" OVA/Movies

BLACK ROCK SHOOTER - Expected so much more, but I guess this wasn't bad. Crap story though.

Eden of the East the Movie I: The King of Eden - Pretty good (in a way better than the series) Waiting for the 2nd one!

Evangelion: 2.22 You Can (Not) Advance - Characters became more lovable, but less depth.

Eve no Jikan (movie) - The movie did well to fill out even more story to an already awesome series.

Gundam Unicorn (OVA) - Not as good as I thought it would be. Dropped.

Haiyore! Nyaru Ani - Kinda funny, but too short and pointless.

Halo Legends - Should have been much better. On hindsight, this is just a better Iron Man anime.

Katanagatari - Dialogue heavy, so not my first choice when looking for something to watch after school.

Mudazumo Naki Kaikaku (The Legend of Koizumi) - Super funny, but I can't find more!

Summer Wars - Mamoru Hosada does it again! Great movie!

Suzumiya Haruhi no Shoushitsu - Reignited my interest in Haruhi. A little long though.

xxxHOLiC Rou - Great atmosphere, but you need to follow the manga in order to appreciate.

"Old" OVA/Movies

Millennium Actress -Unique premise.

Tokyo Godfathers - Well-timed comedy and drama.

Perfect Blue - Perfect murder thriller.

Ongoing/Almost Done

Star Driver - Nicely animated, though the actual fight choreography is a little boring.


Bakuman - Perhaps because I've read the manga, this adaptation seems to be slow and quite boring. Animation quite static and sometimes the drawings are a little off.

Revised Review Scores
Due to the review ratings definition, some series needed some time in order for me to properly rate it. Some series might slowly become a thing I would want to go back to and re-watch, and hence upgrade it to a 4 star rating.

Angel Beats!
Original rating: 3 stars
New rating: 4 stars
Reason: I expected too much in the emotional department and failed to realise that it was a decent comedy, good drama at parts, and fantastic animation (best music-playing animation).

Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt
Original rating: 3 stars
New rating: 4 stars
Reason: There's too much good and crazy animation to dismiss this. 4 stars, despite various problems.


Note: Part 2 will continue with awards

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