Year in Review: N-Listing

My tribute to the 12 days of Christmas blog thing. See M3 for more details. As usual I will do a list of 12 things, each thing being a list of 12 items. Some are counted down, some are counted up, others are unnumbered.

I’m a little late this year, only because of my blog being down. It’s surprisingly annoying that you can’t look back to what you’ve written.

1. Best simulcasts – The true first year of simulcast for the whole duration,  yeah?

1. OreImo – for breaking street – you can’t get more zero day than negative. And it’s not some kind of boring show nobody watches (sorry TogaInu). Heroman actually gets the record for the earliest leaks, but let’s keep that hush-hush ;)
2. Kuragehime – For not only being another goal in Funi’s big win in simulcast this year, Hulu actually places the ads during proper ad breaks!
3. House of Five Leaves – Taking it easy.
4. Shiki – Taking it less easy.
5. Tatami Galaxy – Lower only because Funi isn’t streaming the bonus episodes. All four (2-5) are really kinda tied because the Funi x Fuji thing is pretty awesome.
6. Sora no Woto – Anime no Chikara – flagship title, good stuff, and like Durarara we even got the OAV episodes! Also, nice HQ feed.
7. Sora no Otoshimono – The seiyuu video CR made Hayamin & company do hands down wins. And also, it’s kind of a show that is prone to spoiling, so the speedy simulcasting is appreciated.
8. Panty Stocking w/ Garterbelt – So cash. In fact thanks for all the Gainax pickups. Even including Hanamaru Kindergarten.
9. High School of the Dead – TAN’s “simulcasts” are well timed now, even if it’s horribly managed (like, how the hell do you cancel crap?) and half the time it doesn’t even work for me.
10. Occult Academy – Anime no Chikara – Fun little show that is retro just right.
11. Giant Killing – this sort of anime works best for simulcast, that weekly sauce makes those cliffhangers feel just right. Also, World Cup synergy almost.
12. Basically any show that aired within 24 hours of Japan o/ Down with “simulcasts” that are a week behind srsly.

2. Anime with CHIKARA, in no particular order. I don’t even know what this means.

1. Panty Stocking and Garterbelt
2. Heroman
3. Qwaser
4. Yosuga no Sora
5. Strike Witches 2
6. Occult Academy
7. Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya
8. Mai Mai Miracle
9. Chu-Bra
10. Sora no Woto
11. K-ON!!
12. Star Driver

3. Sex jokes, no order:

1. Training with Hinako has an Android app?
2. Yosuga no Sora ED – Sora’s deep throat shot, and that whole joke.
3. Star Driver – Kissing with glass without glass is just a kiss?
4. Amagami’s instructor play – because it is actually funny.
5. Fate /stay night: Unlimited Blade Works – Dolphins.
6. BakaTest’s Hideyoshi – Going to the bath house, gets own gendered changing room.
7. Panty & Stocking episode 3b – Probably the one segment that signaled to me that the series worth sticking around for.
8. Chikyubi (the hamster from Mitsudomoe) – It’s a running joke, all right. It’s got little legs this big!
9. Seikon no Qwaser – the tsurupettan Song
10. Shino Amakusa – Seitokai Yakuindomo’s lead character is generally pretty funny once you get caught up with her pace.
11. B Gata H Kei – The entire show is a sex joke
12. Koe de Oshigoto – Oh MAKO lol and the entire show is also a sex joke

4. Scenes from 2010 anime that I remember, no order:

1. Gundam UC episode 1: Floating out into the fiery inferno, Banager’s dad smiles.
2. Cross Game: The final confession
3. Seikon no Qwaser: Boob fountain (which one?)
4. K-ON!!: Lycopene…
5. Eden of the East: The King of Eden: Walking around @ Angelika Film Center in NY.
6. Asobi ni Ikuyo: Manami and Aoi’s skinny bike chase
7. MM!!: Mio’s episode one batter-up maid debut
8. Panty & Stocking: the car “chase” scene in episode 6
9. Macross Frontier: Nyan^2 Clips: Northern Cross is… woah damn.
10. Working!!: NEW ITEM
11. Yosuga no Sora: He just keeps on going.
12. Bakatest and Mayoi Neko Overrun: The spats/bloomer feud.

5. Episodes from 2010 that I remember, no order:

1. Strike Witches 2 6: The rocket episode
2. Panty & Stocking 13: Bitches, and more bitches, and a pair of legs.
3. Hidamari Sketch *** 12: Tomato jamboree
4. Seikon no Qwaser 13: What a recap episode.
5. Mayoi Neko Overrun 6: The music video episode. Yes, I remember it better than ep 4!
6. K-ON!! 20: The last school festival. It was such a high.
7. SoreMachi 12: The day that Hotori died, bye bye Miss American Pie?
8. OreImo 11: Most of the jokes were pretty solid, which is unusual. Even the dad joke.
9. Angel Beats 3: Iwasawa was a big impact. Sold me a CD. Heck, Angel Beats 10: Yui-nyan! Sold me a CD too! LOL. Oh what is this with dead music people.
10. Gundam UC 1: It’s just so pretty.
11. The World God Only Knows 4: Take me down to minori city where the music’s by Tenmon and the girls are pretty~
12. Katanagatari 12: Great conclusion for something totally Nisioisin-y.

6. Things that can’t be something else:

1. My MM can’t be this fanservice-free
2. My foot fetishism can’t be this pervasive
3. My little sister’s anime’s title can’t be this verbose
4. My Love Plus habit can’t be this expensive
5. My camel militants can’t be this racist
6. My blog hosting can’t be this cheap
7. My AsoIku can’t be this furry
8. My Prime Minister can’t be this good at mahjong
9. My Azunyan can’t go all the way in Saimoe
10. My Bisei Tokei apps can’t be iOS only
11. My Aniki can’t be this hedgehoggy
12. My Selvaria figure can’t be this expensive

7. AX 2010 moments:

12. Listening to gabber at the Nokia Plaza was surreal. It’s like being in Akiba.
11. Seeing Konishi cosplay Aniki was pretty boss.
10. Kitaeri’s panel, a lot of fun. Plus High Jumper.
9. Clover Brewed Coffee is p. good if you are a junkie like myself. They even have Kona that weekend, if you like Kona (I’m so-so on it).
8. Spotting Kenji Kamiyama scouting terrain. Totally expecting to see LACC/Nokia theater/Staple Center complex in his next work now.
7. Nabeshin being, well, Nabeshin.
6. Manga Gamer guests, plus High Jumper. CooRie and Kuribayashi, huh.
5. Yoko Kanno reprises their MacF/Tanabata routine at May’n and Mamegu’s live. Also it’s as MacF as it can get in America. Damn you Harmony Gold.
4. Alexd’s “luck and chance” sketch GET
3. The “No Photo” sign story
2. Group pic with KitaEri
1. Being in on the joke on Horie as collaborators with Morita and Asakawa.

8. Things I did to celebrate Satoshi Kon’s memories

12. Make a pun.
11. Whine on it on the internet.
10. Buy a copy of New York Times. Ugh buying newspaper ugh.
9. Realizing some (somewhat) famous guy who died actually matters to me.
8. Realizing my autograph from him will skyrocket in value!
7. Looking for copies of his stuff that I don’t have, like that lush LE box for Millennium Actress.
6. Stare longingly at his storyboards.
5. Learn more about the man after he has passed, from others who also knew him.
4. Follow the going-ons of his last words and its ripple, like that Farewell Project thing.
3. Read his final blog post.
2. Rewatch his movies, or at least clips from it.
1. Feel better about it after getting all sad from the news of his passing.

9. Reasons why I can’t pick a favorite character in 2010, no order

1. Amagami SS sunk my omnibus – I like all the arcs, can’t choose… Alternatively, Amagami SS’s Tsukasa route was totally crap! – It’s Kaori Nazuka’s last shot at 3-peat!
2. Runner up: Noloty from Bantorra is a great character, except she’s just a side character and doesn’t get much love from the series, in more than one ways.
3. Way too many sequels – It’s hard to like what you didn’t like the year before.
4. Way too many Kana Hanazawa roles – They are all kinda alike! And I like too many of them for my own good!
5. Love Plus: hearing Saori Hayami’s moe voice confuses me with Manaka flags – Manaka is a no-no for me.
6. Runner up: Teresa from Qwaser just didn’t get enough development to qualify.
7. Runner up: All of K-ON cast, but I love you equally (which is honestly not that much).
8. Runner up: Shoko from BakaTest, but she hasn’t had enough time to flesh it out. Also, too many other people’s waifu.
9. Runner up: All those endless pleasure sticks.
10. Runner up: Mii from Railgun, but she doesn’t have enough dimensions to her character.
11. Runner up: Rin Tohsaka, because it’s not like Mii a more refreshing cool take by the same Kana Ueda. Also, dolphins? Really? (Wait is this supposedly in the sex joke category?)
12. I usually pick my stuff from serious shows, and when the shounen romance pieces this year let me down, I had nowhere to go.

10. 12 OP from this year, no order

1. K-ON!! OP2 – Mainly because it is probably the best out of all of K-ON’s. S1 OP still is kinda special too… well.
2. Kuragehime OP – I don’t think much needs to be said.
3. B Gata H Kei OP – Still a very nicely choreographed and catchy thing
4. Mayoi Neko Overrun OP – It’s like a mind attack with a strong audio component
5. SoreMachi OP – As smooth as SHAFT gets.
6. Arakawa UB OP – Season 2 OP was disappointing compared to season 1’s, but that’s not saying much when it’s this good. Sayo Yamamoto, right?
7. Angel Beats OP – Lia actually delivers something worthwhile here. Visually moving too.
8. AsoIku OP – Pretty standard stuff, but I like the song.
9. World God Only Knows OP – The full version is pretty interesting, but overall it is simple yet sophisticated in the way Eden of the East OP was.
10. Big Windup S2 OP – I like it for the song. Animation was hauling ballz too!
11. Dance in the Vampire Bund OP – for the shock in nekkid loli dance and the song is pretty good too!
12. Star Driver OP – I like it for the use in whiplashing the viewer, but also for seeing something kind of pretentious but also kind of mesmerizing.

11. ED from this year, no order, because I’m out of ideas for lists

1. Durarara ED1 – Pretty catchy and visually interesting. Kind of reminds me of Persona Trinity Soul ED.
2. Amagami ED4 – Yukana has this super ero voice power, I cannot resist.
3. K-ON!! ED2 – Yeah, yeah.
4. Tatami Galaxy ED – My favorite of the year, easily.
5. Qwaser ED2 – I like this song more than ED1, but the visuals in ED1 is more cohesive. (Not to be confused with this)
6. Yosuga no Sora ED (second one) – It’s hilarious and visually exciting.
7. MM ED – It’s the psychological attack version of Mayoi Neko Overrun OP. Except now with Aso Natsuko.
8. Hidamari Sketch *** ED – Really like the concept and how the music works with it.
9. Hanamaru Kindergarten EDs – I guess I can just fill this list out with them. I recommend #2 and 7.
10. K-ON!! ED1 – Cake Fairy is probably one of the best music video on TV in anime.
11. Bakemonogatari ED (final) – I like this composite version the best for some reason.
12. Angel Beats ED – It’s actually a nice song. The ED itself is more a joke that is subtle than anything. How about that Aoi Tada…

12. 3D and miscellaneous things I probably should mention, no order

1. Hiyocchi is good-natured and FUNNY!!!
2. Cosplay Girl gets you what you think you will get
3. My random seiyuu soup…and now koe.booru.org
4. It’s totally cool to see that slick WoW addict and his compatriots at Otakon this year. I should pick up Kikuta’s Touhou album, shouldn’t I. Also, they still haven’t give up that CD single they promised back in August. That’s pretty egregious.
5. Kamiyama’s trip at AnimeNext made that con worth it alone.
6. K-ON Live BD is a good time, can’t wait for the next one.
7. Sphere joins Shukufuku no Campanella in 3D TV land. Wasn’t some May’n show also done that way…
8. First time I did karaoke during a con. In the normal way and not the weird American way. Need to happen more often.
9. B156 and Dan Kanemitsu’s bone.
10. Figures are serious business, but when you run a figure panel make sure you get a ton of super rat’s shots and just slideshow them.
11. Almost done figuring out the illumination “problem” with UOs and renewable glowsticks and battery-powered stuff. I’m going to have to test drive these suckers this year, but so far I’m impressed with the one I have.
12. minorigate is at an end. Oh God the memories flooding back.

And that’s a wrap folks, see you in 2011!