Last season's top 3

[neflight86]

It's that time again!

Top 3 of Summer 2017:

3. Boku no Hero Academia Season 2: While the beginning and middle portions were more overall exciting than the ending transitional arc, Boku came through again, managing to be both hot-blooded and thoughtful; an ideal combination for shounen that can appeal to both sides without really compromising the shounen core values. You already know where you stand on this show.

2. Made in Abyss: A close second only really coming down to number one being a relatively complete story, Made in Abyss managed to be both beautiful and somber most episodes. Showcasing a dangerous frontier that did not harbor any sanctity for human life, but not apparently belligerent toward it either. I enjoyed the scenery and the mystery of the general deviance of the White whistle class of Cave Raiders. Often sad, but not melancholy; highly recommended.

1. Princess Principal: The opposite of a certain “award” below, Princess principal does all of the ‘not based on a manga/LN/NV’ things right with competent writing, good intrigue, and self-styled storytelling that crafts a stronger narrative than you might expect. Yes, you could argue that our moe-spies are poor spies, but I think in the framework of the show, they work marvelously and are actually elevated by the steampunk aesthetic. This is the closest thing I’ve seen to Read or Die in tone and I greatly enjoyed every episode; there were no outright duds. Open for more, but what we have is plenty enough as well, I highly recommend unless espionage performed by young girls (that can fight and defeat grown men) is just too derpy a pill to swallow.

Special awards
I watched entirely more anime this season than I typically do, hence this bloated special awards section.

The envelopes, please…

The “Got Robbed” suspect sketch goes to New Game!! Season 2. Most seasons this would have easily made top 3, but the competition was extra fierce this time around, making this a pleasant footnote in an above average season to me. Unfairly, this show also sports multiple ‘best girl’ candidates that make it easy to wish for a dubious third season. Simple but effective light drama with moe-overload. What’s not to like?

The “Standards are Real” break-up text goes to… Katsugeki/Touken Ranbu. The most post-processed anime of the season, doubtless brought to us by ufotable, this one immediately began to wear on me after the visual climax of the first episode. An evil half-time, half-CG army is trying to muck up the future by doing unhistorical things, so the god guys recruit weapons turned into people who know how to wield… themselves? Why would weapons care about history? Isn’t time travel inherently paradoxic-… nevermind. I just entered into edgy nit-pick mode when my issues with the show stem actually from how uninteresting the entire thing became. (Non)people standing around sharing dry, philosophical dialogue with personality rivaling the slabs of iron and steel they represent in between the generically choreographed fight scenes. I’m glad to feel like I won’t just watch a show because it is gorgeous.

“Double Derp” award presented to “Aho Girl”: Short form, and even shorter on common sense, this one crossed the language barrier with largely situational comedy that takes itself seriously when fully committing to the dumbest jokes. It got to me a lot. Slightly enhanced by the Main VA also playing the lead in Symphogear (crossover derp is meta funny).

The un-prestigious “Waste of Everyone’s Time” award is split between “Battle Girl High School”, and “Action Heroine Cheer Fruits”. About as toothless an entertainment can get, both shows set up meager perils one after the other for its girls to overcome with the power of… plot convenience. No tension felt, no deep characters, no competent fanservice, nothing ventured and nothing gained. Quickly forgetting this would be the most favorable outcome for anyone that watched it hoping for more.

The “I hate everything” award was burned in honor of “Chronos Ruler”. When you get to be as jaded as we are, you tend to go from black to red to… grey when presented with trashy shows. Unambitious titles become more of an eye rolling exercise (see above) in our lament of the ‘state of the industry’, and so on… But this trash made me feel kinda mad in its lazy bad-ness. The entire package here is just rote to the point of being patronizing. Do they (the producers) think we haven’t seen anime adaptations of light novels like this but better for the last five years that we still complain about not being very good or innovative? Is anything about this show supposed to be endearing or likeable? Are we supposed to just accept the revisionist power system, copy-paste characters, and done-to-death premise with nothing craftsman-like to make it palatable? Respect the audience, and we might give a show more of a chance than it deserves.

The “You mean ‘Seinen’ as in Berserk ‘Seinen’, right?” award was won by Nanamaru Sanbatsu. You can tell me this was written for older teens/young men, but I ain’t buying it. One cross dresser and a single panty shot do not elevate this about WSJ’s content filter (or any other young boy’s magazine), so the publication classification is confusing to me. About the show itself, it plays out like a serviceable ‘boy learns to become passionate and great at a thing: prologue’ show. No idea if it will be popular enough to get another season but what we got is digestible enough. Oddly, the show cheated in being able to hold my attention via fairly diverse trivia getting my “Jeapordy Senses” bubbling to answer some trivia along with the characters. I’ll also admit that I felt the ‘scales fall from my eyes’ as they explained the tactic of cutting the question at strategic points to guess the rest of the question so they could formulate an answer. I like twists like that; it's part of anime’s way of making anything more interesting.

The “Bucket bottom-out” award made a wet flop for “Koi to Uso”. Not being a great romantic, I’ll admit the series had a bit of a hurdle to overcome with me from the outset, but my issue was when the entire lynchpin of the drama of the story, the assertion that you must marry your assigned partner, was casually relegated to a ‘black mark’ on your record partway through the show. What?!? You just spent five episodes building up the bittersweet conflict of emotion versus the system, and now you tell me it won’t be tangibly enforced? Even if it was the author’s intent all along, I wish it had never been brought to the audience’s attention. Every time afterword, whenever main character McNiceGuyThatsActuallyJustADecentGuy fretted about his firstiest of first world problems, I got mild cringe-strokes. Trust me pal, the world of professional burial mound excavation isn’t so competitive that the rejection of your first wife candidate will really hurt your chances of becoming one (what a loser). Character designs were cute, but the whole thing felt frivolous, and the non-committal ending actually gave me hope that there won’t be a second season.

The “My trash, get your own!” trophy has been mailed to Symphogear Season 4. Nothing here hasn’t been done already, by the Symphogear’s earlier seasons, no less. Still enjoyable in a ‘I was there before it was cool to hate Symphogear’s ability to get additional seasons’, way, the ever expanding cast of singing warrior-girls faces off against a new overwrought and ultimately slightly redeemable foe. My burning questions are twofold. Firstly, how did the interview process go, I wonder, to get into the separate production and animation team dedicated to Cagliostro’s boobs? They are in a class all their own, and I will not accept that the same studio making this show had the budget, manpower, and conviction to elevate just her jigglies above the mortal realm; it must have been crowd funded or something… Secondly, I feel it would be in humanity’s best interest to teach commander TuckTie to sing, as his battle ability easily surpasses all of the girls, and a Symphogear for him would be a wiser use of the resource. Also, I would have liked to see more of Hibiki’s dead-beat dad. He was an interesting character in… whatever season he was in…

The “Rabbit Hill” award gift-card has been credited to Isekai Shokudou. My favorite fiction book I’ve ever read has got to be Rabbit Hill. It was a jolly feel-good story about a bunch of critters in a rural area with little better to do than discuss new humans moving into a nearby homestead. The animals are ecstatic about all of the benefits that human co-habitation would bring, and, while not without some drama, generally displayed an optimistic hopefulness that I found and still find refreshing. Isekai Shokudou gave me those vibes. Essentially, the episodic format goes: problem, delicious food, problem solved. It is a little difficult to imagine that the fantasy world is so primitive in its culinary arts, as they should be the longest practiced art of any sentient beings capable of taste in my estimation, but I digress. It’s just fun to watch folks have a good time and there’s a nice little twist at the end. Enjoyed every week.

The “Diamond in a Dung heap” award is being hosed off for “Isekai wa Smartphone to Tomo ni”. Just narrowly avoiding the “Waste of Time” and “I hate Everything” awards by the miniscule merit of the main character being slightly sleazy. Just enough so, in fact, to confuse me into harboring the delusion, ever so briefly, that he had a discernable character (which he doesn’t). Tension or narrative stakes are luxuries Isekai wa Smartphone couldn’t afford while focusing on bringing us one of the most generic harems since the original Tenchi Muyo. Save yourself a few hours and don’t bother, unless you like to see a literal Deus ex Machina solve all of the problems this character faces in a generic fantasy world where things wait until it is convenient before going wrong. Flaccid and smelly- just take the award and go.

The “Foundation” award statuette is still curing for “Youkoso Jitsuryoku Shijou Shugi no Kyoushitsu”. A strong setup in the first episode carried what became a slow burning political classism (no pun intended) struggle that hasn’t really gone anywhere, in spite of having a few good ideas of its own. Really, this is the most tragic kind of series to be adapted as a single cour, because it never even gets to reach a decent zeitgeist to make use of the groundwork and players introduced. Watching this is a gamble, in that if you like it, you may be disappointed that there may be no continuation (in anime). Recommended if you like a ‘broken’ main character.

The “Broken Rudder” award would go to 18if, but there was no address provided. I like the idea of experimental media, but mixed media projects like 18if are prone to a few fundamental problems. Not being beholden to a script or story gives greater creative freedom to the creator, but also removes the safeguards preventing a show from feeling as generally aimless as this one did. After two episodes, I couldn’t tell where this was going, nor be expected to care, as characters shifted personalities on a dime, if they even stayed in the show long enough to develop them. Just a mess, but worthy of a mention for trying to be different if not succeeding at also being good.

The “I can’t believe all the main characters are grown-ups” plaque is hanging in Manoyama’s train station wall for “Sakura Quest”. An unassuming P.A. works slice of life/drama show about one young lady’s attempt to bring vitality back to an equally unassuming rural town. All of the main girls save one are of drinking age. Why is this unusual? Enjoyable enough, but without any great climaxes or hype due to the ‘realistic’ slow moving, generally apathetic world presented, this is a show of small victories and ambitious ideas that don’t go quite as planned. Easy come, easy go.

The “Patience is a Virtue… be Virtuous” award will eventually be given to “Gamers”. A very popular show this season, but all I saw were rom-com misunderstanding tropes with more complex set-ups. The show focused so much on its wacky misunderstandings that I forgot some of these characters were supposed to be gamers until the last episode or two that poked fun at DLC and consumer culture. Some (more interesting) characters were introduced in the first episode to never be used again, and the entertainment topped out for me at about episode 3. Sometimes, I can get behind and enjoy misunderstandings (see School Rumble), but here it just fell kinda flat after a while, and I don’t really get why. Some of the setups were downright ambitious, but I just didn’t enjoy the sequences like I thought I would. A pity, really.

And now for the (even more) miscellaneous awards:

Best Girl(s) in order of best girl-ness: Dorothy (Princess Principal; dat smug smile), Hajime (New Game!!; her ever bouncy PERSONALITY), Chris (Symphogear; Don’t sweat that kid’s leg – pro soccer isn’t a realistic dream for anyone, and now he gets to be alive instead when he grows up), Purple haired Senior (Battle Girl High School; NEET + chip clip twin tails + neko mouth = best girl in a show of wannabe best girls)

Best use of a previous season’s character: Symphogear Season 4: Surprisingly, the leftover loli from last season pulled overtime in plot relevance (and screen time for not having a transformation sequence) this season, arguably enabling the girls to fight and win at all. Not bad, little lady.

Best Single Character: White beard Wizard (Isekai Shokudou). Yes, it’s a feel good tale, but that doesn’t mean characters can’t have a little charm. In the scene where the black ‘death powered’ dragon first entered the restaurant in human form, Shiro Wizard happened to be finishing up his meal at a side booth. When he noticed the magnitude of the being entering, the danger it could pose and the ensuing chaos that could be wrought by a battle as communicated in a single wrinkly glance over his mug, he ponders for a moment, peers in the mug and joyfully orders another beer instead. That aged mindset, plus his stupid bickering with the samurai over what is the best diner food, made him a pleasure to watch.

Best Op (Nanamaru Sanbatsu / Princess Principal): Both were surprisingly catchy and never got old.