Top 10 (and Worst 5) Anime of 2014

Posted: January 21, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: Amagi Brilliant Park, Animu, Announcement, Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun, Glasslip, Inari Konkon Koi Iroha, Knights of Sidonia, Log Horizon, Magical Warfare, Mahouka, Noragami, Psycho-Pass, Recently My Sister is Unusual, Review, Samurai Flamenco, Seasonal Awards, Shingeki no bahamut, Silver Spoon, Tokyo Ghoul, Update | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Another year, another time to be unoriginal and do a top ten (or some degree thereof) post like everybody else in the universe. But they’re pretty fun to do, so it makes sense why everybody does them.

2014 was a pretty solid year for anime. I think I said the exact same thing about 2013, but this year was even better. When I make my list I go through all of the shows I watched that are eligible, and write down the ones that I think deserve a spot, then after I’m done I sort through the shows and decide which ones will actually make the Top 10. Sometimes I have just enough shows for the list, other times I don’t have enough and need to expand out a bit so I can have enough, and then there are times like this year where I have more than enough shows.

This wasn’t an easy list, I had an especially difficult time deciding the placements for the five through one spots, and if I could I would have given number one and two both the top spot in a heartbeat. But alas, there has to be one single winner.

Before getting into the list, I should explain which shows are eligible. The basic rule is that the show needs to have ended at some point in 2014. Doesn’t matter if it started in 2013 or even 2012, as long as the show ended in 2014, it qualifies. This means shows such as Your Lie in April, Parasyte, Magic Kaito, etc. that are still airing were not eligible.

Normally that would be the single rule of this, but now that split-cour shows are becoming a Thing, I’m adding a new one: split-cour shows where the second half doesn’t finish in the year are also not qualified. That means no JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders, Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works, or Aldnoah.Zero. I’m defining a split-cour show as one that’s clearly incomplete without its second half due to no real resolution, or has a blatant cliffhanger to lead into it. These are shows that are typically planned to be split-cour in the first place and announced as such.

Oh, and also obviously only shows I watched are eligible. If a show you think is great didn’t make my list, there’s a good possibility I either didn’t watch it or it just didn’t manage to make the cutoff. …Or I may have thought the show was shit, but the former are more likely.

With all that out of the way, let’s get down to business.

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Review: Samurai Flamenco

Posted: July 2, 2014 | Author: | Filed under: Animu, Review, Samurai Flamenco | Tags: , , | 1 Comment

Before I start getting into this, I should mention that I originally didn’t want to do a review on this show, I wanted to do a “Why You Should Watch” on it. However, I very quickly ran into a problem: this show is fucking impossible to cover without going over spoilers just by its nature. And I mean spoilers even by my parameters, so you should probably stop here if you haven’t watched the show to completion. As I just said, I wanted this to be a “Why You Should Watch”, so know that it’s a show I recommend watching simply because of how interesting it is, I don’t guarantee whether you’ll end up liking it in the end or not, I just simply believe it to be a show that should be experienced regardless.

With that bit out of the way, I should also mention that this review will be slightly different from normal. Typically when I start writing a review I know ahead of time what my general opinion on the show is and which scenes and such I want to talk about.

The problem here is that I still have no clue what I think of Samurai Flamenco.

I already mentioned I think it’s something that should be watched, but that’s because I know it’s fascinating. What I don’t know is whether it’s the greatest thing ever written or a complete and utter train wreck. Hell I don’t even know if  it’s anything in-between.

So I have no idea where this review is going to go. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if things get philosophical or even existential. I’ll still cover events and such like I usually do, but this is going to be a lot more of a stream of consciousness than usual. Just my brain spilled out for all to see. If you’ve ever wondering what goes on in my head before and during the review process, this will basically be the closest you’re going to get.

Then again, considering my style of writing, there may not even be much of a difference.

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