I consumed more media this year than in any other year of my life, and most of the media is related to my anime and manga hobby. Given how the anime and manga I do consume are recommendations from friends and acquaintances who I either trust, or know me well enough to bet that I’ll enjoy the recommended work, I did enjoy most of what I watched and read. It’s been an awesome year in fact. I made this list to distinguish moments for shows and books that actually air and publish in 2009. That list will follow this one, and I will dedicate each post to a particular moment. I do feel that I would be remiss if I don’t make this particular list, given the volume and awesomeness that I plowed through. Here’s a sample (I only list shows that I completed):
Manga
- Bokurano
- Narutaru
- Solanin
- Pluto
- Beck: MCS
Anime
- Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (TV)
- Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team
- Turn A Gundam
- Martian Successor Nadesico (TV and movie)
- Legend of the Galactic Heroes
- Eureka SeveN
- FLAG
- Grave of the Fireflies
- Kaiji
- Moyashimon
- Seirei no Moribito
- The Sky Crawlers
- Sword of the Stranger
- Aria the Natural
- Aria the Origination
- The King of Braves Gao Gai Gar Final
- Macross 7
Wow that’s a lot of anime (at least 5 shows are 50 episodes long and LotGH is twice that)! These are manga and anime that impressed me a great deal, and if I were to list down the big moments that really made an impact on me this year these shows and books would dominate the list. That would be a shame, I think; because this year had it’s moments too. I will remember love for those moments in succeeding posts. For now, here are some big ones. BEWARE OF SPOILERS, FOR THERE ARE MANY!
Turn A Gundam, Epilogue
This song, so powerful. While never completely running out of dramatic tension, I found Turn A Gundam quite difficult to engage as a dramatic work bringing with me an appropriate seriousness. This is not to say I didn’t find it enjoyable, quite the opposite. However, it was a lighthearted kind of fun that contrasted with the seriousness of the events in the narrative. However, this ending, this epilogue gave the whole show a measure of gravitas that I fully appreciate. Only here the epilogue voices out and resolves the romantic tensions. Poor Sochie ;_; [SPOILERS IN THE VIDEO]
I am very fond of this particular device when resolutions of plot points require conversation (logically speaking) and yet as a viewer we are denied the ability to eavesdrop. The only voice we hear is Sochie’s, screaming. This stays with me, I like this pain.
Legend of the Galactic Heroes, (Bucock’s) The Last Lecture
The last stand of the Admiral against an overwhelming fleet led by Kaiser Reinhard von Lohengram himself. Reinhard asked him to surrender. He didn’t. Instead, he lectured the young Kaiser and it was gentlemanly, honorable, and GAR. The Kaiser ordering a salute to the Admiral from his whole fleet was almost as equally awesome.
Bateszi said it best:
At the Battle of Marr-Adetta, Old Admiral Bucock meets his maker. Battle-weary, yet too old to do anything but fight, he evacuates his remaining soldiers before rejecting Reinhard’s offer of mercy, instead choosing to go down with his ship. His final speech to Reinhard blazes with the kind-of respect and pride one can only feel for a man who has seen it all. He closes with a toast to democracy, composed as he tastes the last wine of his life, completely and utterly unshakable in his belief. It is a brave man’s end.
A salute for the heroic fallen! I realize that however I admire the likes of Wenli and Reinhard, it’s these words by Bucock that resonate with me most.
Eureka SeveN, ANEMONE!
This show already has a pantheon Love is in the air moment™, I gushed all over it here [->] But this one is just as good, near the end. What I love about it is how Anemone opens up as a character to become improbably sympathetic; cruelly juxtaposed with her resigned yet relentless assault against Eureka and Renton.
[In my next life…] I’ll get myself a mirror so I can practice smiling.
This line just kills me. It kills me dead. When Dominic arrives and their love story is finally, and for the first time fully voiced out. It’s amazing. This is a confession scene, after all; only done in a near-climactic mecha duel and it outright steals the show.
I cried harder than I did for Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. That is all.
Alice takes the gloves off, Aria the Origination
The last will be first. The genius pair becomes a Prima undine. It’s historic, it’s unprecedented and to me, a big narrative problem:
Alice is an undine for Orange Planet. She first appears (in volume 3 of Aria/episode 3 of Aria the Animation) as a standoffish, detached girl of 14.[32]Aika later describes her as anti-social and complains about her tendency put on a grim face and speak in a quiet voice. Alice speaks in a deadpanmanner, though she frequently uses dekkai (でっかい?, literally, “huge”) as an intensifier. Although initially only a Pair, her rowing already surpasses both Aika and Akari’s—for which skill she was scouted by Orange Planet despite her young age.[33] Despite working for rival companies, Alice, Akari, and Aika often practice together, and Alice sincerely enjoys the others’ company, though this does not stop her from telling them to be quiet when they argue. Because of her age and lower status, Aika often addresses her as “kōhai-chan” (後輩ちゃん?, “junior” said in a friendly manner). Through her friendship with Akari and Aika, Alice lightens up as the series progresses, though she still struggling with her detachment.[34] For a long time, Alice is not confident in singing skills, until Athena advises her simply enjoy what she sings and not worry about her performance. In volume 11 of Aria, Alice graduates from middle school. She is later promoted to Prima straight from Pair, the first undine to do so, and is given the title “Orange Princess” (黄昏の姫君 Tasogare no Himegimi?, lit. “Twilight Princess”). Her name comes from Lewis Carroll, author of Alice in Wonderland.
Before anything else, I loved this scene. So much was going on: the refrain that is the test by the waterway by the great windmills overlooking Neo Venezia, Aika’s feelings of inferiority and envy clashing with her genuine love and respect and delight for her friend, and Akari looking on towards the prize of her journey — so tangible now, but not quite there yet. This was the turning point of the narrative wherein the end was clear, resolution is happening, and it is happening fast! The story suddenly (suddenly? really?) becomes that of young people making it in their world, living their dreams; and perhaps that of a planet continuing its order of things through a new generation.
(I figured that this is the only way I can sneak in Moyashimon in this post)
However, this scene posed a conundrum that I along with a few other fans of the show was not able to solve: Alice graduated from middle school after three years, represented by the three installments: the Animation, the Natural, the Origination. Three Martian years, twice as long as Earth years… and you can tell by the number of times they changed into their winter uniforms that this is indeed the case. IF SO, ALICE THE GENIUS JUST SPENT 6 EARTH YEARS IN MIDDLE SCHOOL. MAKING HER 20 YEARS OLD UPON GRADUATION.
Her boyfriend is a pilot, who is also a cook part-time, Miss Martian Successor Nadesico (episode 19)
Things like this make Nergal Industries a fun corporation to work for. Sure it’s some kind of underhanded plan to wrest power (oh the irony)
Yes I actually like Yurika. Self-delusion completely in the service of a cheerful outlook… or is it the other way around? She’s fun to watch, make fun of, and cheer for either way. It is in 2009 where I noted three shows that, along with Gurren Lagann, are the best examples of what I appreciate in terms of my ‘remembering love’ aesthetic ideology; that is they are excellent tributes to older shows in their tradition (mecha anime). These shows that I watched in 2009 are Eureka SeveN, Turn A Gundam, and Martian Successor Nadesico. This scene remembers love for Super Dimension Fortress Macross, by paying homage to the Miss Macross contest, all the way to using live electronic votes tallying. The episode went as far as meme-ify the Macross franchise, something I can appreciate: “Nadesico: We Remonstrate Love.”
(banner made by otou-san)
Genesic Gao Gai Gar, Final Fusion!
I find it hilarious how Mamoru was giving a traditional shonen anime play-by-play while the ultimate form of The King of Braves finally fused. Who is he talking to? Is he telepathically communicating with all of the Gutsy Galaxy Guard? Is it completely a soliloquy? Is he breaking the 4th wall: the SHEER AWESOMENESS before him tore the 4th wall down like it was cardboard? Maybe it’s not so much the breaking of the 4th wall, Mamoru, Guy, and the Gao Machines FINALLY FUSING created a new dimension and WE WERE BROUGHT INTO IT. It’s like the DIVIDING DRIVER, only it involves the viewers. Is this dangerous? WELL YES! Palpareppa and the 11 Soul Masters are still at large, and Pisa Sol keeps bringing them back. BUT IN GUY I TRUST, IN GENESIC GAO GAI GAR I TRUST.
All will be well.
Gigil’s Power to the Dream, Macross 7
Fire Bomber’s Basara makes bad girls go good. Basara also makes bad guys go good (and arguably bad traps too). How does he do this? BY THE POWER OF ROCK. When and how does the transformation happen? Don’t look for subtlety here, because this is Macross 7 after all. YOU CAN TELL THAT THE TRANSFORMATION IS HAPPENING WHEN THE BAD GUYS START SINGING ALONG. But oh yes, it’s wonderful. I cried and cried. If there is a common thing between these moments, I cried my eyes out (except for Gao Gai Gar when I laughed out loud). Macross 7 is terrible, and yet it has this awesome power to just take hold of my heart. So for Gigil, and all the Macross fans, let’s listen to Basara’s song: POWER TO THE DREAM
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There were many other moments, given that I’ve watched so many shows — and am in the middle of so many (Mobile Fighter G Gundam, Monster, Overman King Gainer, Mobile Suit Victory Gundam), but these are the ones that stand out in my mind right now, recency bias be damned (I had just rewatched Gao Gai Gar Final). What about you? Any moments that stick out in your mind? Give spoiler warnings in the comments please, and try to keep it about shows that did not air in 2009 (same with manga). For youtube clips, [open bracket]youtube=[openquote]”[url]”[close quote][close bracket].
We Remember Love 
Nice non-seasonal list! I haven’t really taken time for non-seasonal stuff since 2006 D: The only thing I can comment on is E7 and Anemone. So amazing. She left such a good impression on me as a character, and her pairing is great. I was totally tsundere through her development in the series. Good stuff to remember.
Rawr, Aria. I need to continue that… manga gave me a great impression.
Yeah it’s quite the moment!
The Aria experience for me is rather incredible, especially since I didn’t expect it to be. It wasn’t relevant to my interests at all, but ended up being one of the shows I really love.
Oh god, I just finished Eureka Seven a week ago and you posting about that scene — yeah, I’m pretty much about to start crying again.
It hasn’t failed me yet… that upside down confession as they plummet to the ground… joined by that… thing… they have for a pet… I’m reduced to puddles.
I, too, was about ready to tear up just seeing that image from E7.
Unfortunately that’s all I have to say, because it’s the only moment I’ve seen (well, in the past 2 years anyway)
The more people I talk to who love E7, I’m happy to find out that they love this particular scene as much as I do.
Yeah, that scene in Aria the Origination is amazing and is my favourite in that series. All throughout the episode, you’re waiting for the reveal that Athena was going to promote Alice. They go have a nice time and all, and by the end you end up at the windmills and she takes off the glove. Of course, you saw it coming and you’re sitting there smiling waiting for the conclusion of the episode. And then she takes off the other glove.
My mind was promptly blown.
Same here. Like gaguri said below… when Alice sang it was a superlative moment. We’ve seen in the episodes leading up to this how much Alice has been working on her all-around game, but if I’m not mistaken this is the first time we heard her sing the way Athena does. It’s really grand.
Thumbs up for Aria! 😀
Thumbs up for you!
Ah a series of posts to remember the love of 2009. As for me I’m in the process of making one huge post to remembering this decade before I fly off to Gold Coast on holiday (oh, yes! *fist in the air).
Anyway, I’ve seen Aria/LoGH/TTGL from your lists and yes, they’re all huge moments. Alice’s promotion was my favourite moment too, as well as many fans’ (the episode was just perfect…first you have a calm, peaceful interaction of Alice and Athena, then an incredibly beautiful song sang by Alice under orange sky that just pierces us inside, then that unexpected twist of Athena taking gloves off for Alice and my eyes just burst oozing of river of tears ;_;
Those words spoken by Bucock are really of wisdom and courage, his years of experience has put him a tier above Reinhard and Wenli. And Reinhard ordering salute for his death reflect was great, like those in RoTK novel where a honourable general would respect a defeated enemy general for his bravery and unbendable will. Although the moment that had most impact on me from LoGh had for me was a certain death of someone, which changed Reinhard forever. Didn’t cry, but I think I sat utterly speechless long after the credits started rolling.
And of course, that clip is my favourite moment from TTGL too.
I’m eager for that decade post… it’s just something I don’t have it in me to do lol. Congratulations for your holiday!
Good job breaking down that moment in Origination. You just made me want to see it again.
Re: Bucock, I don’t think he was a match for the two youngsters the same way I don’t think Merkatz is a match for them. I place him on the tier of Reuenthal — who isn’t really that far behind Reinhard and Wenli; or at least that’s the impression I get (it’s funny how Reuenthal turns out to be the ideal combination of talents to become Kaiser, in comparison to Reinhard who is a sword who seeks only to be a sword).
That death scene got to me too, but the inevitability from the previous episode’s
spoilerstrailer ruined it for me somewhat.Ah, I meant Bucock was a tier above the two youngsters when it came to perspectives in life and wisdom. He has seen much more and experienced lot more than the two, I think both Reinhard and Wenli would be ‘stronger’ and more resolved in their decisions (and less doubtful) if they lived and saw as much as Bucock.
As for tactical strengths, I’d personally place Yenli, Reinhard and Reunthal at the very top (although I think Yenli is better at Reinhard, but Reinhard makes up for it with more ambition, power to inspire, and leadership).
I have this conceit in that I imagine myself to be the Good Old Bucock of the Anime blog world, while you young geniuses ;P carve up the galaxy with your posts that I entertain myself reading.
Sochie~! I never knew how tragic her story would play out, even when I was innocently raving to my Gundam mentor about what I loved in Turn-A. When I said “Sochie”, he shrugged and said “crazy lady”. ;_;
Speaking of recency bias, there’s the Griffin arc slugfest in Patlabor, and some utterly mindblowing mecha fights in Gasaraki.
Yeah Sochie doesn’t get that much love does she? It actually works out because she was so utterly crushed in the end. What could’ve been just this cute tsundere-ish character, was given substance in her bitterness.
Best of all, there’s absolutely no redemption.
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I don’t think I can as clearly delineate what year I saw which anime as you can, but I know just this calender year, I think I added something like ~100 completed series to my MAL? A little astounding now that I try to remember them all. I know there were a bajillion shorts and movies, but just the longer series include titles such as Beck, LotGH, the Aria trio, Eureka Seven, Utena (you should finish that btw), Monster, Planetes, Bamboo Blade, the FMP trio, and on and on and on. It’s funny that for me, there are actually too many memorable moments, such that things I watched early this year seem like a past from a far distant era (I first saw Princess Tutu and Bartender this year? Unbelievable).
I’m not a “new” anime fan by any means, and admittedly I’m not the caliber of manga consumer as I am with anime, but your old post you linked to does get at to why I’ve seen so many new/old shows: reading blogs is a new thing to me, and this level of interaction and community makes this anime thing much more fun than when I used to consume it in a relative vacuum. It’s really changed how I enjoy anime, and for the better.
My goodness you watched a whole bunch did you?
Yes I will finish Utena, as I love it already.
I’ve thought of hanging up the blogging gloves while I was burnt out, but I think I enjoy the interaction and discussion way too much. It would be interesting on how you’d take stock of the year you’ve had.
I know I’d want to read it.
That sounds like a shrewd lure to get me to start my own little blog thing (or maybe I’m just paranoid and imagining it), but certainly blogging has crossed my mind on more than one occasion. However, I always come back to two things: 1) I’m leery of the additional workload I’d take on to maintain a blog I’d be satisfied with, and 2) I’m already very satisfied with how I interact with the anime community, reading reviews and commenting on blogs, so I’m not quite ready to make that jump yet.
But to respond to your initial query: What do I take away from this year, in terms of the anime I’ve seen and what the time means to me as a fan? Obviously to address titles individually would invoke a special class of “tl;dr”, but in general I think this year has been about getting back to the basics of my anime fandom. That seems a little weird considering I’m consuming more now than ever, having just really started following blogs this year (a huge boon to my fanboying ways, no doubt) and the sheer volume of new shows I’ve consumed, but the overarching theme is that I’m moving away from seasonal lineups as my main source of regular viewing and back to watching older, established series. Basically constantly whittling down “the backlog”, following the recommendations of those whose opinions I highly respect and trust, just like how I used to do it when I first started this anime thing.
The big difference now from then is that I’ve greatly expanded my tastes since and make an effort to be especially open-minded with new genres and styles. Years ago I wouldn’t have given a show like Revolutionary Girl Utena a chance, and in fact, I didn’t. I ridiculed my sister for watching that super-girly cheese, confusing, obnoxious, with yards of pretty pink hair and even prettier boys. I’d complain, “When does someone get punched in the face?” Alas, one does not care to acknowledge the mistakes of one’s youth.
This is a terribly obvious thing to say, but watching great shows regularly has been incredibly rewarding. Right now, everyone’s bemoaning the crap seasons, how the economy and moe is declining the industry, even predicting the death of the medium itself. And right now, I love anime more than I ever have, with a reverent knowledge of the classics and deeper appreciation of the trailblazing efforts of those that pioneered the medium in the past, and those that continue to test the boundaries of visual storytelling today. This might seem strange, but I’ve never experienced anime burnout, and if I keep crafting my personal experience as something that’s highly enjoyable, I don’t think I’ll see burnout for a long time.
Perhaps the only downside is that I have a lot of shows to rewatch.
If you feel like writing but don’t want to maintain your own site, write here. I think WRL is the best place for casual bloggers/writers to guest in and just post without commitments.
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What you said about watching great shows regularly is very true for me as well. What’s great about chancing upon newer works too is one can map out how tradition plays out — how tropes evolve from novelty to imitation to common usage to cliche to subversion to subversion to cliche and so on… over many shows across different genres: one can trace path through the web of influence from Terra e to Gundam’s Garma Zabi to outright bishoujo works and back to Wing Gundam all the way to Code Geass, Gundam 00, and Macross Frontier.
That rewatching thing is murder, but it’s an embarrassment of riches so no big deal.
20 years old?! I’ll need to see some ID.
Do the math. It could just be some gaping plot hole. But yes, it’s clear that 1 Aquan year is approximately 2 Man-home years. Each season lasts for six months. Just by counting the costume changes you get to around 3 summer uniforms and 3 winter uniforms. That’s 6 Earth years.
That’s one looooooong middle-schooling, and inconsistent to Aika’s graduating from middle school at age 15.
Welcome back! 😀 Among your list I watched Eureka Seven, TTGL, 08 MS team, Nadesico, Moyashimon and Seirei no moribito. I just finished reading Bokurano manga and it is even more depressing than the anime.
Dominic and Anemone pair is so lovely (especially the confession). It is really touching and bring tears compare to TTGL. I always think that Nadesico should be one of the frontier in shaping the current anime standards (girls, mecha battle and story plots). Other anime often repeat the plots again and again =\.
I think Nadesico identified and had fun with the tropes rather than create them, which is not to say that it isn’t influential.
Thanks for the welcome! I’m glad to be here again.
Wow, the list is jam-packed with ausum anime, as always.
And yes, ghostlightning has been nagging me to get Eureka Seven because it’s “mechanically heartwarming”, so it’s on my to-download list now.
Then again, you guys have been also nagging me to watch/read Aria first…
Can’t go wrong with either. Winners both of them.
Yes! Read it! It’s fantastic! Aria! Yay!
Still haven’t found the time to actually watch Eureka. I kept on pursuing shows with 12-13 episodes orz.
Yes a 4 cour series can be very daunting, especially a show with deliberately slow episodes like Eureka SeveN. Where many detractors find this kind of pacing off for an action/mecha series, I find it very much in place within the tradition of say, Turn A Gundam where many ‘slice of life’ moments are strung together at various points of the narrative.
And we’re back.
This post gets me thinking though that it’s too bad I sometimes feel like I’ve already seen all the best anime I will ever see in my life already. I’ve long since accomplished my goal of watching all the Gundam series for example and after Legend of The Galactic Heroes is done I really don’t know what’s going to be next. I’ve been watching this one slow for a reason. In the past few years I’ve branched out and widened my tastes a bit in order to better enjoy some of today’s offerings, but I feel that now there’s just too much saturation of certain kinds of shows that I’ve just grown bored with it all. Hence my resurgent interest in games to fill the hobby void.
It seems like I can’t watch anime at all right now though….just doesn’t interest me at the moment. I am however making insane progress in finishing up games I’ve had lying around for a while. I’d actually say I’m probably all caught up by now so tomorrow could very well be the first day I watch any anime in about a couple months. I think I’ll treat myself to some Votoms first and then follow up with some more Legend of The Galactic Heroes. I think it might also time to start finishing up some of my oldest backlogged series like Heavy Metal L-Gaim (started that one in 2006), Tekkaman Blade, Zegapain and Dragonar.
My best hope is that there’s some more socio-political oriented series somewhere over the horizon for 2010 because I’m really craving something different right now. Something that requires me to think while watching. And if Sunrise ends up having to carry the mecha genre on their own again in the 00’s like they did for much of the 90’s then I hope they have a lot more coming out next year than just Gundam and Votoms to start things off.
Last thing I want to do is strongly recommend Tetsujin 28th (Tetsujin 2004). Here is I think one of the more underappreciated and less well known works of the 21st century so far. If you like Imagawa (and I know you do) then you’ll probably love his take on the original giant robot franchise.
Well, you’ve been limited to your preferred genre IMO. While I don’t make hierarchies and rankings for the most part, many of 2009’s shows gave me memorable moments, as you’d end up seeing throughout this month.
Have you even caught up with Bakemonogatari and Toradora!?
I have Tetsujin in my archives and I’ll look into that soon.
Wait, you watched Overman King Gainer? All of it? YOU MY FRIEND, ARE CONSIDERED ROCKIN’ COOL.
I’m also watching Nadesico as part of that project. So far, it’s been tons of deconstructing fun.
Also, one moment that I remember recently.
GaoGaiGar Episode 49. Warning, spoilers up the wazoo. In fact, the entire last half of the episode is a 12 minute moment.
First, we have GGG getting their asses kicked because Mikoto became a G-stone Energy guzzling MONSTER. They’re low on energy, and they still have the nerve to save the world.
Cue epic desperate robot battle. Everyone sacrifices their lives to defeat Mikoto… … …
And then… … … Guy apologizes to Mikoto just before he get’s Zonder’d. For being unable to save her.
And that’s when the Guy had a human body. Shit was EPIC HEARTWARMING.
Okay, I have another. Astro Fighter Sunred (Not Sunred 2), Episode 26.
Let’s just say seeing Sunred’s girlfriend AND his enemies sticking up for him in front of overwhelming evidence (he’s a Hero and all, but all he does is bum around, play Pachinko, and be a gorram jerk to almost everyone he knows, and totally does not deserve that) is also rather heartwarming.
Okay, another one. Gurren Lagann is already mentioned, but this has to be mentioned.
Simon and Nia’s marriage. ‘Nuff said.
And have another. 08th MS Team. Packard’s last battle.
NORRIS PACKARD IS A MANLY MAN AND HE TOTALLY DESERVED TO NOT DIE. That is all.
Thanks for the moments! I should’ve put in Norris Packard’s last stand as well. That was ridiculously awesome, and “The World Without Lies” episode of Overman King Gainer — which was stupendously charming.
Very nice list, Nadesico is one of my favorite animes. Back in the day when I was just an anime newbie, and Eva was all the “new” rage, Gundam Wing had us see the slow turn of the G franchise into what Gundam 00 would eventually be. I couldn’t connect with any of it, until Nadesico. It was great fun with some very good serious points. A great, initially reluctant hero, but when the chips were down we saw him grow as a man an show compassion in the face of just plain crazy.
On a side note, you should watch DaiGuard. To me a great under the radar anime that just so happened to have a better english dub than sub. Premise? Office workers that pilot a giant robot to save the world… and they get no over time for it :D.
Also you get your Official Macross Lifer badge for watching and enjoying part of M7. Gigil singing had to be one of the best points of the series. LISTEN TO MY SONG!
D00d — Gigil singing was the epicest (while Sivil’s and Gepelnich’s moments aren’t that far behind). I’ve seen everything Macross including Lovers Again, and I’ve seen the original series (in an english dub done in the Philippines) back in ’84. You can say me and Macross go back a while now.
DaiGuard has been on my radar for some time now. I’ll be sure to include it when I do my string of salaryman shows (Hataraki Man, Planetes, etc.).
Nadesico is such win. I held off watching the movie because I was warned that it was terrible, but when I watched it I actually liked it a lot.
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Welcome back, young fellow, it’s great to see you posting again. I love how you did an anime moments that won’t make your 2009 list, it’s a nice counterpoint to all the best anime of the decade, and 2009 lists that I and many others will soon be polluting the blogosphere with.
I really agree with your Eureka Seven, Anemone/Dominic moment because I’ve always liked Anemone better that Eureka, but it still kills me how an anime male has to be almost literally dying before he confesses his love for the girl.
“Mikey, why don’t you tell that nice girl you love her? I love you with all-a my heart, if I don’t see-a you again soon, I’m-a gonna die.”
I can’t wait for you to finish Utena because back in my anime club days I can’t remember any series that generated such heated character discussions. The members of my club could argue for hours about Utena, Anthy, and Akio, always great stuff.
Thanks, old man, glad to speak with you again. I couldn’t make that decade list because for a good part of the decade, I was poor and had no access to most anime; and most certainly never watched anything during its initial run until 2008.
LOL it’s rather absurd put in those terms, but yes Anemone was such an interesting play on both Ayanami Rei and Soryu Asuka Langley from Evangelion. It worked out as well as it did, I believe, since Dominic was away for the most part — coming to terms with his own choices.
Anemone dancing with Dewey was another scene I particularly enjoyed — if not precisely at that moment, but for how it helped set up this one.
I’ll get back on Utena sooner than later! ^_^/
Sh*t! Another post I can’t comment on because I’ve yet to finish LEGEND OF THE GALACTIC HEROES! I’m on vacation this week, I need to get it together. “Get it together!”
Great pick by the way, I really need to rewatch Eureka Seven. I was strangely enamoured with Anemone & her development.
I see nothing strange about falling for the Anemone story. It felt designed to be sympathetic as the work went on, otherwise Dominic would have been too pathetic a character. It is necessary, I believe, for Anemone as powerful as she is, is a complete wreck and an incomplete human being. It makes Dominic, who had nothing really to give except a show of effort and feeling be powerful in exactly giving just those.
Anemone: BAAASCUUUUUUUUUDE CR—
Dominic: ANEMONEEEEEEEE!!!
Yeah I just had to rewatch the moment and I was left in a puddle of tears yet again.
Finish your Legend of the Galactic Heroes, so much goodness awaits you.
Few things:
1) Shortest hiatus ever, though since I talk to you via Twitter every now and then, I barely noticed.
2) While Bucock’s final moments was cool, I liked Reunthal’s better.
3) You’re just NOW finished Nadesico? For shame…
4) Okay, maybe I should watch Aria, since I keep hearing nothing but good things about it.
Welcome back, BTW.
LOL 3 weeks don’t seem like much maybe… but I used to publish every other day.
Reuenthal’s is awesome too, and he got to share it with Trunhit… which is a great way to elevate him and infuse his narrative with dignitas and gravitas. It didn’t leave me in tears though — as Buckock’s did.
I only had the chance to watch it this year. I never really knew about it. Naedesico is rad, no doubt about it.
While I don’t think Aria is for everyone, I didn’t think it was for me either.
Thanks, I’m glad to be writing and discussing anime again with all of you.
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