Comments on: THAT’s Official “Best Anime of 2008″ Post

By: JadeMatrix

JadeMatrix — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 12:51:59 +0000

@ Myu

Completely agreed. Although for me, I kinda saw through the fanservice in the middle episodes — ie I was able to see it as some sort of character development.
As for Shikabane Hime, another reason people started dropping it was because Funimation picked it up. One, this caused C&D letters to fansubbers, and two, the *late* subs that were released weren’t available outside the US. People didn’t like it.

By: Myu

Myu — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 20:46:03 +0000

@JadeMatrix:
Ga-rei started off splendidly, but the filler fan-service episodes that followed the flashy exposition were rather dull and I presume that is the reason why many viewers simply gave up on the series. I’m glad to say now, when the show has been finished, that as soon as things went back on track, Yomi and Kagura’s relationship was handled quite nicely, the whole turn of events providing a satisfactory prequel to the original manga plot.
Very much like Shikabane Hime: Aka. The first half made me feel disappointed with the repetitive, albeit high-quality, “monster-of-the-day” episodes. But when the true plot line surfaced, I was excited to hear that there was going to be a sequel.

By: JadeMatrix

JadeMatrix — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 00:04:00 +0000

Eve no Jikan is definately the best of 2008, hands-down. While I’ll admit I didn’t even watch half the anime this year (who can, plus I only seriously started into anime in Summer 08), I did watch most of the ones in this article. So I’m surprised Ga-Rei -Zero- didn’t get in. Sure, it’s a plug for the manga, but it’s one hell of a plug. Some of the others people mentioned, like Casshern Sins, Kurozuka, and Xam’d, are great in their own rights, but not the best of the year. Casshern Sins isn’t even finished, and seems to have little plot direction (I expect it to pick up in Winter 08-09). Xam’d, from what I can see of the plot pacing, isn’t going to be finishing soon — it’s probably slated for 50 episodes, like Eureka 7 (yes I know it’s officially ~26, but it’s also been said that only the first season is ~26, especially since it originally ‘aired’ on US PSN, etc…). By the time it’s done it will be considerably epic — no way it can’t be now.

Wait, Kimikiss aired 2008? I watched it after it finished — happy with ErikoxKazuki, not YuumixKouichi. /random

By: zihark

zihark — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 18:54:57 +0000

@limewarrior

I will say a mistborn movie or maybe a mistborn miniseries would be awesome. I just loved the Hero of Ages and how it involved a lot of minor characters from the first 2 books and turned them into semi-main characters. I especial loved Spook’s arc of the story and how he became the new survivor. And yes see what burning Atium looks like with special effects would be awesome.

By: Myu

Myu — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 18:05:54 +0000

@reika:
I don’t know what exactly you have in mind when you say the story didn’t touch deep enough, but I felt that the whole idea of going around in circles, a string of events that are bound to repeat infinitely, locking one man’s life in place, was rather flawlessly portrayed. Furthermore, the transition that the crew had to make from the manga had to have been extremely hard. Originally, Kurozuka was fit for mature audiences only, with a significantly larger cast of different characters and guts flying all over the place. And so many of those scenes had to be cut and censored. In any case, everything about the show, including the zealous fast-paced action, blew me away, making it one of my favorites of the year.

By: limewarrior

limewarrior — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 05:19:11 +0000

Eve no Jikan was amazing. I look forward to more. It was refreshing to have serious sci-fi series presented so well. I haven’t seen a good sci-fi show or movie from neither Japan nor America in forever.

Kannagi and Toradora took me by surprise. They were good, ’nuff said.

You know what, I liked Birdy the Mighty: DECODE. If anything because the bad guy was named Shyamalan. I swear I spent the whole series picturing him as M. Night Shyamalan. I took great pleasure in his ultimate fate. (psyched for another season of Birdy: DECODE)

What about Spice and Wolf? or did nobody like that here, I can’t remember. It did air a year ago. I really loved the intelligence of that series.

@zihark
I really enjoyed Brandon Sanderson, enough to buy all his books. I wish more fantasy was that innovative with their magic. I want the mistborn series to be a movie, just to see what burning Atium looks like.

By: Ascaloth

Ascaloth — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 02:43:57 +0000

Crusader, I want a high-rez version of that Macross F image you have there. New wallpaper for me. ^_^

By: XXX

XXX — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 22:14:49 +0000

I think the best shows of 2008 were Xam’d (excellent all across the board) and Kaiba (originality and trying to do something different), really.

Everything else…isn’t necessarily bad, but still not as good. Say, Macross Frontier and Gundam 00, for instance, or even Geass R2 in spite all the flaming and memes which actually count as a negative for me. In that sense I’d agree with Kaioshin’s remarks above.

To paraphrase something I mentioned a long time ago about R2, I had no problems taking the basic storyline seriously even right up to the end and didn’t let distractions get in the way. I don’t think it’s that hard when there is a will.

I suppose that means I look “ridiculous” in Calawain’s eyes but…nah, let’s just say I don’t agree with him, period. I gave the show a C+, which means I enjoyed it and not just for laughs, but still saw a lot of flaws. Not quite to “shit” level though, but there’s no point in debating that now.

Other than that…definitely didn’t see Kannagi or most of the other shows mentioned so I have no real comments on them.

By: Izumi Konata

Izumi Konata — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 21:51:28 +0000

You’ll forgive me if I don’t consider lulz and meme contribution an aspect of quality. I guess though that 2008 has given me some new insight in the realization that sometimes that’s the only reason people will like certain shows and that is can become a dominating force in how they view them.

By: reika

reika — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 17:18:31 +0000

Kaiba, utterly awesome, right down to the minor characters.

Mouryou no Hako — even though it’s not ended, but I LOVE the way they handled the lighting, and the pace for the narrative. Pace is really good, oh and camera angle too. If you like Eve no Jikan for the lighting, go watch mouryou no hako.

Lost memories of X’amd — It’s near conclusion now. Havn’t seen anything with such a concept for some time. It’s a very interesting universe/setting/world construct whatsoever.

Ga-rei Zero — The sheer surprise. And how they were dishing out things other anime would probably dangle as fan-baits with such nonchalance. And their treatment of Yomi, the way they shaped her up with multiple facets yet strongly unique, and then killed her off cleanly and briskly. Episode 9 was really really good. The link to the manga storyline spoiled the ending for me. Oh, and the nice subtle use of the ED.

@Myu:
Kurozuka..I don’t know. The story didn’t really touch deep enough? Some point near the middle I suspect they got too carried away with the effects [which are impressive nevertheless] rather than the story. [I cannot stop being distracted by the bag of faecal material...(*&^%$#]
While michiko to hachin…it’s very entertaining, and realistic, just perhaps not my cup of tea?
Mouryou no hako — that’s the one I’m totally in love with.

By: Kraker2k

Kraker2k — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 14:58:21 +0000

I’m glad someone else on the interwebs enjoyed Votoms: Pailsen Files.

By: lelangir

lelangir — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 13:57:01 +0000

I also totally forgot about Kaiba! D:

Too bad it’s such a pain in the ass to watch because it’s so mentally taxing – just like Casshern Sins…but then again, if I would stop reading anime it may be a bit more fun. Natsume Yuujin-chou is also up there but I’m at a loss of [insightful] words as per its entirety.

By: Rakuen

Rakuen — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 13:06:55 +0000

I still haven’t thought about my year’s pick.
Soul Eater looks promising enough.
Kannagi and Toradora gave me serious LOLs.
Ef – A Tale of Melodies kinda got me disappointed for some reason.
Code Geass R2… ughhh…
True Tears is good. That’s it.
Kimikiss… Well I didn’t finish it.
To Aru Majutsu no Index looks savy enough.
That’s what I remember for now. So i’m gonna go refresh my memory.

By: Marmoset

Marmoset — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 11:05:58 +0000

Hmmmmm some interesting and downright strange choices there. I’m disapointed Kaiba’s getting no love.

By: Myu

Myu — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 09:13:40 +0000

Seriously, no Kurozuka or Mouryou no Hako? Anyone? With all of the extensive praise you're giving to Kannagi, I feel like I should actually give it a chance and try to watch an ep or two. I agree that Eve, Tears and Kure-nai were spectacular shows, however the ones that left me feeling giddy after each episode were most definitely Kurozuka and Mouryou no Hako. I'd even say Michiko to Hatchin didn't really receive the attention it should have and I'm baffled as to why, because it's a wonderful high-quality animation series. Oh well.