Welp, last week of the season. Some shows triumphed, some shows floundered, and some just stopped producing new episodes. Let’s run it down!
Author Archives: Bobduh
Top 30 Anime Series of All Time
Yep, I’ve finally put together a top shows list. As I hopefully made clear in part one and part two of my critical biases post, this is obviously my list – it represents the things I think are most valuable in stories in the way I think they’ve best been articulated. It’s also just a list of shows I enjoy – there’s no hard criteria here, so I wouldn’t stress the numbers too much. Also, it’s a bit front-loaded – I only started watching anime seasonally about two years ago, so the last couple years are disproportionately represented. Incidentally, I’m not including movies here either – I think direct comparisons between shows and films are a bit of a stretch, but if they were included, this list would certainly be somewhat different. And finally, I’m absolutely (and thankfully) certain this list will change over time – there are still piles of widely beloved shows I’ve never seen, so I’m sure the current rankings will be filled out in the years to come. So with that all said, let’s get to the list – Bobduh’s Top 30 Anime of All Time.
-edit- I have now created a Top Shows Addendum for shows that have either fallen off or just barely missed this list. Please enjoy these additional almost-top shows!
Ridiculous Announcement: I Am Publishing a Book
Hello internet. I have a ridiculous announceah shit I already gave it away in the title. Yep, that’s right, I’m publishing a book. This book, specifically:
Kill la Kill – Episode 24
Well here we are. Allies gathered, enemies looming, stage set. It’s been a long and somewhat uneven ride for Kill la Kill, but it’s pretty much always held on to its core strength – an earnest and beautifully articulated love of pure spectacle. It’s generally kept things visually interesting in spite of anything approaching fluid animation, but this is the very last episode, so I’m guessing we’re actually gonna See Some Shit this time. I don’t expect this show to suddenly become a narrative masterpiece, but I’m perfectly happy to settle for twenty-three minutes of absurd visual excess. Let’s Kill la Kill.
Winter 2014 – Week 12 in Review
Fell behind on basically everything this week because of Anime Boston, so I’m struggling to catch up as fast as I can. Of what I have watched, well…
Sekai Seifuku – Episode 11
Alright, very behind, but here I am. The last two weeks have done a tremendous amount of work in pulling this show’s threads together – family, identity, childhood, belief, it’s all lining up and it’s all working great. The Neverland the main characters have inhabited is falling apart under the disapproving gaze of Asuta’s father, and pretty much everyone is fighting back in their own way. Kate’s dream has powered Zvezda’s belief so far, and last episode featured each member of the team in turn sacrificing themselves in service of that belief. On the one hand, this was very generous of them, and demonstrated how much the members of this family care about each other. But on the other, none of them really had a choice – as the Chief glibly stated, he’s only done what promised the greatest chance of survival. All of these characters have been thrown away, but up until last week, Asuta didn’t realize this – he thought he still had power, thought he held the trump card of still being valued. That’s not the case anymore – he is a member of Zvezda through and through, reviled by the real world and given purpose only by the girl who believes he has value in spite of all evidence to the contrary.
Girls, actually. Renge also believes he has value, and unlike Asuta, Renge actually deserted a family that truly valued her. White Light may have lost its purpose and surrendered itself to power for power’s own sake, but it still had a job for White Robin. In abandoning that, Renge may have made the first act of willful rebellion against the defamilyzing status quo – she’s not a misfit, she’s a beacon. That’s interesting, but I honestly hope it’s not relevant – what would it say if the people this inhuman structure valued really were more valuable? Better to be valued by Kate, who sees purpose in everyone, than to be the favorite child of callous, unfeeling parents. Better Zvezda by far.
Alright, that’s enough rambling. I like this show, you guys. Let’s see where it goes next.
Dai Sato at Anime Boston
As I’ve said elsewhere, all my writing was pushed back by Anime Boston this past weekend – but I didn’t leave empty-handed! Both literally (bought more manga and wall scrolls I have no idea what to do with), and figuratively, because Dai Sato was there and I managed to catch him at two fantastic panels. I didn’t actually take notes during his talks, unfortunately, but he had tons of interesting things to say that I figured you folks might appreciate, so I’ll run down the highlights of what I remember.
Kill la Kill – Episode 23
Jeez internet look at the time I am super sorry this is so late. I’ve been wasting time and money at Anime Boston all weekend, so I am embarrassingly behind on my cartoons – but that all ends RIGHT NOW. Kill la Kill’s been kind of a narrative mess in this second half, but last episode made a very intelligent choice that did a lot of work to address that – it gave Mako her awesome uniform back, meaning I don’t give a shit if KLK even has an ending at all. Last episode was the “everybody finally loves each other” fanservice-fest – this episode’s likely to be the “EVERYBODY’S A BADASS” one.
I don’t use the word “fanservice” in a necessarily pejorative sense, by the way. Normally it is a bad thing – I generally define fanservice as something added to please a certain audience demographic that either doesn’t aid or directly works against the show’s other goals. Which is why voyeuristic nudity is fanservice in a show that generally wants you to respect its characters as people, or why long shots of mechs are fanservice in a show that’s actually also trying to tell a well-paced story. Most people tend to define fanservice as sexy stuff in general, but I find that a far less useful definition – some shows actually do make great, purposeful use of sexuality (cough Monogatari cough), and I think limiting fanservice to sexual content kind of obscures the reason fanservice is considered bad storytelling in the first place.
But with Kill la Kill? The purpose is fanservice – what Kill la Kill is best at is pleasing the fans. It’s pure spectacle, and always at its best when it’s letting its visual aesthetic, sense of humor, and solid direction just go wild. I quite frankly don’t think Kill la Kill is a very good story, but I do think it’s a very distinctive spectacle, and Kill la Kill’s most impressive moments are often also its most indulgent ones.
So go nuts, Kill la Kill. Get stupid, get funny, get big. Do what you do best.
Sword Art Online – Episode 6
Part One: Captain
The witness flops over like a manatee in heels, hitting the pavement like a fish hitting an equally hard surface. Her body dissolves in moments, a grim reminder that in this city, even a corpse won’t talk for free. I look to my partner, but he’s already moving, that damn loose cannon out chasing our shadowy perp across the rooftops. “Take care of this,” he shouts, like I’m his goddamn desk jockey, not the commanding officer. And then he’s gone, Batmaning away like this is some fucking game.
Well, it is a game – but not like that kind of game. There’s no second chances in this city, and if you don’t play by the rules, it’s Game Over and a quick trip to the electro-helmet morgue. This is Sword Art Online, and if you didn’t know by now, let me tell you – it’s a serious game for grown-ups only. In this game, losing can kill.
Winter 2014 – Week 11 in Review
Fantastic set of episodes this week, even from shows I’ve kind of given up on. Glad to see the season ending so well!