Year in Review 2013: N-List

So, the usual.

Top 12 seiyuu 2013 edition (no order)

• Ayaka Ohashi
• Aya Suzuki
• Yui Ishikawa
• Kana Hanazawa
• Ai Kayano
• Manami Numakura
• Kaori Ishihara
• Ayana Taketatsu
• Mai Fuchigami
• Ayahi
• Yoko Hikasa
• Mimori Suzuko 

Bonus:

https://twitter.com/seiyuusokuhou/status/389024574483877889

12 top girls (no order) 2013 edition

• Benten
• Hajime
• Maou
• Kazusa
• Okashiya
• Megumi Chihaya
• Himawari
• Azusa Azuki
• Ayase
• Kuroneko
• Takao
• Hakaze

12 Uncanny valleys (no order)

• Miss Monochrome
• Walkure
• Eva Q
• IS
• Love Live
• Arpeggio
• Valvrave
• Saki
• Nagiasu
• Titan
• Shining Hearts: the Bread Anime
• The Wind Rises

12 Not memorable shows that are totally worth watching in 2013 (no order, not counting shorts)

• Silver Spoon
• Sasami-san@ganbaranai
• Zetsuen no Tempest
• Noucome
• Servant x Service
• Henneko
• Tamako Market
• Prism Ilya
• ZKC: The Unlimited
• GJ Bu
• Yozakura Quartet remake
• C3-bu

Top 12 TV anime shows, 2013 edition

1. Uchouten Kazoku
2. Girls und Panzer
3. Kill la Kill
4. Log Horizon
5. Chihayafuru
6. Flower of Evil
7. Non Non Biyori
8. Gargantia
9. Yuushibu
10. Kyousugiga
11. OreImo
12. gdgd Fairies

12 ways Anime Was Saved in 2013

Thank you for saving Christmas @Trigger_usa ! @Trigger_Tattun pic.twitter.com/gh5f2qrfs4

— Mic (@micnax_) December 20, 2013

1. Yuasa completes Kick-Heart, the first major anime studio kickstarter.
2. Watanabe blows open Space Dandy with USA USA USA
3. Anime Sols completes its first crowdfunding campaign successfully.
4. Yamakan’s Wake Up Girls is announced.
5. Studio Trigger has its first original anime on home video
6. Nagahama does Flower of Evil as rotoscope
7. Kill Me Baby is licensed and sold in North America
8. There was a second season of Teekyuu
9. The angry and dumb comments in the post where a fansubber drops Yozakura Quartet Hana no Uta
10. OreImo loves USA USA USA
11. gdgd Fairies does the lighting kick parry
12. FUNi does sub only!

This kancolle cosplay, so that's how they fight, pretty nice. LOL #kancolle pic.twitter.com/dYcB6c3RGi

— ???? (@MasterOrange) November 18, 2013

12 feels (in visual modern culture etc) for 2013

• Seeing team Tari Tari do their sentai stuff, seeing Sphere, Riya (eufonius), AiRI, Clammbons, nano.Ripe, Yuuki Aira, others.
• Yoko Kanno & Otakon 20
• Meeting JP folks in JP
• Becoming a P of sorts, group-watching iM@S lives
• Singing Preserve Roses, doing calls to Rice to Meat You
• Joining 059pro and getting it off the ground
• Meeting Yuko Minaguchi and thanking her for Love Plus, attending the Nagahama and Maruyama panels at Animazement
• The Wind Rises, Wolf Children
• Recognizing the viewer mail from OreImo Radio season 2
• gdgd Fairies
• Planning for JP trips
• JManga goes kaput

12 reasons for being in Team Kirino

• Because you think she’s always right
• Because you’ve said, “Preach it, sister.”
• Because you like the Fang.
• Because she reminds you of Miki (nano).
• Because you like tsundere.
• Because you like her dere mode.
• Because you like it when she is abusive.
• Because you like a girl who likes eroge.
• Because you don’t have a little sister.
• Because you have a little sister.
• Because you sympathize with Kyousuke and his dad.
• Because you like little sisters.

Military otaku things about 2013’s anime offering that makes me take note

• Girls und Panzer: Tank tread sliding – yeah right.
• Girls und Panzer: Seiyuu tank-riders, also, LOL Sentai Filmworks, nice display.
• C4-bu: Some really cool courses
• C4-bu: Bikini and airsoft lololol
• C4-bu: Seiyuu gun-slingers
• Arpeggio: You gotta give the American battleships more screen time than that!
• Wind Rises: Rivets never looked sexier
• MJPR: What kind of military command is this lol
• Kancolle: It’s not a thing yet, hur hur
• VVV: ARUS is kind of terrible, you would think they matter more.
• Galilei Donna: All of it, what.
• Copellion: LOL

2013 Anison Playlist (in playlist order) – too lazy to find full sizes so live with it?

1. Gargantia ED - Sora to Kimi no Message – Choucho has a lot of songs that are really good this year but this one tops them all!
2. Ro-kyu-bu SS ED – Rolling! Rolling! – Because I love this dumb meme. Also makes me want to listen to that Rolling1000t song.
3. Psycho-Pass ED2 – All Alone With You – If it wasn’t feels from a Urobuchi anime, this song could’ve gone real far.
4. Samurai Flamenco ED – Date TIME! – I really like the chorus, and Tomato does her seiyuu vocal magic here as usual.
5. Sasami-san@ganbaranai OP – Alteration – I like ZAQ as a writer in general, but this might be her only “song” that I like. Not counting 2012’s entry in the same playlist anyway.
6. Nagi no Asukara ED – Aqua Terrarium – Hii hii hii hii. I still listen to her cover album more than her actual solo songs after supercell.
7. Magi ED2 – The Bravery – Another ryo song but yes, it’s probably my favorite track from them/him this year. Tia’s Wooser ED runs up second.
8. Attack on Titan Insert song – The Reluctant Heroes – Because Suwano’s vocal songs are pretty ok? To me this is THE song from Titan, other than Guren no Yumiya of course.
9. Uchoten Kazoku ED – Che Sera Sera – Yep, fhana much.
10. Valvrave OP1 – Preserved Roses – It’s a male-female duet which makes it rare. It’s not the kind of duet I like in this genre but it’s also a lot of OTT in a very enjoyable way.
11. Vividred Operation OP – ENERGY – I actually like Earthmind. This song also really stands out from their works for some reason.
12. Kamisama no Inai Nichiyobi ED – Owaranai Melody wo Utaidashimashita- One of my favorite songs of the year. Only if Mikako Komatsu did a whole CD like this.

Bonus: Splash Free. Great song to sing along to!

My tastes in OP/ED is pretty flat in 2013, probably because I didn’t spend as much time hunting/sampling music this year than prior years. I blame it on iM@S. Also a terrible year for anime OPs huh.

The official ruling is in for Infinite Stratos Pilot Charlotte Dunois. Here's the referee with the call: pic.twitter.com/YC7DHxXlhJ

— Sentai ? (@SentaiFilmworks) November 12, 2013

Since I have no time to write this list this year, you’ll have to do with this paltry list from my danbooru collection:

• Ryuuzaki Ichi’s chipmunk
• Fate/Extra’s Caster is best caster 
• Likewise, Himawari is Best Vividred
• These two sisters are never this intimate, although they should be.
• I like her better in a KOF costume.
• Misaki Kurehito sure is something.
• iM@S CG girls I can name (1/2)
• Despite suffering through her stories, I have a soft spot for Corte.
• iM@S CG girls I can name (2/2)
• It’s very nice to see her in a proper anime, finally.
• I’m one of those people who don’t get all the Black Rock Shooter hate.
• She, and Himawari, make the best non-canon OTP this year.

Lastly–I think 2013 in terms of anime has been mostly a thought-provoking one. I have a hard time pinning down a show I really love outside of Uchoten Kazoku and Girls und Panzer. So a list of thought provoking anime in 2013 and why?

• Gatchaman Crowds – Thematically speaking this show is leagues above any other anime this year. Nothing even comes close, or almost–maybe The Wind Rises? You really deserve all this creative leeway your bosses give you, Nakamura Kenji.
• Oregairu – I always thought the way this story construct its main male character is the most intriguing one (short of sabotaging that concept directly). It’s the same trick Oreshura employed, except there’s this rebound from the heroines. It’s like, a character-based story with character-based interaction that drives development. Never has unpleasant feelings been this plot-positive? Also see C3-Bu.
• Genshiken Second Season – It’s got the same thematic bag of tricks as season one. It’s only a turn-off compared to season one because a gaggle of fujoshi is not as appealing as you think they may be. It’s a good litmus test to how powerful your rose-tinted glasses are.
• Blast of Tempest – You think Danganronpa was good? This is better. By better I mean it’s better at being retarded. Also you have to give both Aiko and Hakaze a lot of props. I mean, Aiko? I am not worthy to have her as waifu.
• Shin Sekai Yori – I recall a story from someone who played with a very good GM, and this GM described a fantastical world where organic spires raises to the unreachable ceiling, where the ground gives to the touch, where water falls from the sky as if there is no end to it. This is a setting where the players are born and raised underground in a lab, and have no knowledge of the natural earth-like environment. This is the kind of cloak that this series was able to pull over its viewers. Unfortunately this is also a very simple trick.
• Oreshura – When Chiwa called her Love Clothes and Ai-chan called her Thousand Japan, I started to think about it. But this show is neck deep in punny analogies isn’t it?
• Flower of Evil – If you get why rotoscope was used, you can move on to the next level. I hope they make more, as unlikely as it may be.
• Maoyu – Unlike Log Horizon, the world is Maoyu’s playground–it’s the one decisive advantage it has over Log Horizon. Rather than play with economics, however, the story progressed way too fast to give you time to appreciate the minute details that are the most amazing parts of a global economy.
• Gundam BF – The meta, it’s driving me crazy.
• Love Live – It’s like Gundam BF but not as complicated, just even more crazy. Also makes great juxtaposition for how aniM@S and Puchim@s worked.
• Yuushibu – When Fino kid about opening a Leon in the underworld, I opened my eyes and wrote a blog post.
• Gargantia – Aside from a lot of fun, it’s also pretty interesting in the usual SF kind of way.

And that’s a wrap! Go read someone else’s end-of-year blogs. There are a lot of great ones, I’m particularly fond of not just the usual customers (like JP/Hinano’s write-up) but schneider’s list this year is a base-loaded home run. Beginning on the first day of Christmas is just the icing on the cake.

Year in Review 2013 Index:

• Introduction
• Shorts
• Literacy
• Figures
• New World Disorder
• Love Lab
• iM@S
• N-list
• Signs from a Mermaid