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punderfulowl · 4 years

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Top 10 Anime (That I've Seen) in 2019

Three months late than never, I guess? There has been a LOT going on in my life and recent developments going on in the world doesn’t help things. However, I recently found a bit of a silver lining to help me back up onto the positive side of things and I hope to turn this into momentum.

With that said, I want to explain the rules of my end of the year list. As the title shows, this list won't be a showcase for the best anime that came out last year, but rather the best anime that I happened to view last year. I’m not the first to make a list in this format, but I find it fun to do so.

Okay, let’s finally put 2019 to bed! Starting with...

10. Lord El-Melloi II’s Case Files (2019)

Once again, something Fate-related graces its presence on my end of the year list. Sure, being simply what it is gives it a good chance to make it on here, but what made it earn its spot, at least for me, is that this anime gave me a pleasant detour of what I’m used to from the Fate franchise. In short, this anime expands on the Fate lore, specifically on the mages of the Clock Tower, through eyes of an older Waver Velvet (Fate/Zero) as he solves magical mysteries with his Saber-faced partner, Gray. There’s no earth shattering revelations here, but, like I said, it’s a fun detour with magic, decent fight scenes, world building, and some “feels” if you stay till the end of the series.

9. Humanity Has Declined (2012)

Well, isn’t this the most colorful post-apocalypse ever?

Humanity Has Declined takes place on a post-apocalyptic world where the human population is down, resources are scarce, and tiny being called “Fairies” seem to be everywhere. The show is episodic in nature, but it doesn’t need to be anything more than that. After all, we don’t always need some deep commentary with a story that takes place after the world ends. Sometimes we just want to see how the remaining inhabitants live their lives in this soothingly-colored environment. If only Covid-19 was more colorful...

8. Shigofumi (2008)

What if you suddenly found yourself in the afterlife and had the opportunity to write one last letter to someone that’s still alive? Who would you send it to? What would it say? Shigofumi takes place in a universe where these happen and, well, there’s not much else I can say about it. Full disclosure, I can get pretty sappy when it comes to stories that involve heartfelt letters. I’m not doing a good job at convincing you to seek this anime out, but please give it a chance.

7. Kakegurui (2017)

Yeah, jumping from a show that tugs at my heartstrings to a show that scratches my head, here’s Kakegurui!

Kakegurui takes place at a prestigious (you guessed it) high school where your place in the social order is decided on gambling. Me trying to describe anything that happens in this anime won’t do it justice. It’s nuts, but it has my respect despite the violence and fan service. A philosophy I have for stories like these is if you’re gonna go crazy, go all in and it surely does. If any of this doesn’t appeal to you, at least check out its OP because it is, as the kids say these days, a “bop”.

6. Aggretsuko S2 (2019)

When putting this list together, trying to figure out what I’d rank where, and coming up with what I wanted to say for each, I decided to add a new rule: No more sequels. That doesn’t mean that I’ll never watch new seasons of a show, but I just won’t include them on the lists for now on.

With that said, Aggretsuko season two was more of what made me a fan since last season: relatable scenarios for us twenty-somethings. Season two decided to focus on the struggles of romantic relationships and even though it was touched upon in the previous season, it went a little deeper this time.

5. Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl-Senpai (2018)

This anime fascinates me in more ways than one. In the biggest way, I consider this show to be on par with the movie, “Cabin in the Woods,” because fans of both have done a good job without giving anything away. To keep this (kinda) tradition up, I will also not say too much. I WILL say that I loved the dialogue and dry sense of humor. Please watch this so you can be in on this, as well!

4. The Rising of the Shield Hero (2019)

I didn’t watch this because it was recommended to me, I watched it because people kept making memes from it.

The Rising of the Shield Hero surprised a lot of anime fans considering that it was ANOTHER isekai, but it just goes to show that an overexposed genre still has room for the occasional compelling story. I was originally going to put this in the top three, but decided to dock it a spot out of precaution. It has another season coming up which means a whole season to screw this up...please don’t screw this up!

3. Infinite Ryvius (1999)

It’s Anime Lord of the Flies in Space. Yes, it’s better than it sounds.

Infinite Ryvius follows a big group of students living and learning in a space station, but one thing leads to another and now these kids have to fend for themselves. The biggest strength this anime has is how lived-in the environment feels. You get to see all these minor characters live their lives whenever the camera isn’t focused on the main cast. It’s also nice to look back on the amazing 90s animation. Take some time for this underrated classic when you get the chance!

2. Made in Abyss (2017)

“Don’t judge a book by its cover,” indeed.

I was definitely one of those that went into this thinking this was going to be a cutesy adventure, but coming out the other end being several shades of wrong. The abyss is a strange and fascinating world that, in a way, becomes a character in its own right. Can’t wait to learn some more when the movie comes out!

1. Hunter x Hunter (2011)

I’ll admit that Hunter x Hunter being number one on this list is a bit unfair, but it’s also earned. For a long time, HxH was one of those shows that I would hear about here and there, but never anything in-depth. Any art I would see came across as colorful with nothing that would stand out to me. What would eventually get this anime on my radar, oddly enough, was a bit in an AMVHell. Skip ahead to about this time last year and I would finally give show a try. I don’t remember ever coming across a fictional world that’s this thought out. The rules of the power structure alone is enough to floor me. The characters are likable as well as interesting. The animation is consistent throughout. GAH! Please check this out if you haven’t. This very well may be the best shounen anime ever made!

#lord el melloi ii case files #humanity has declined #shigofumi #kakegurui #aggretsuko #rascal does not dream of bunny girl senpai #the rising of the shield hero #infinite ryvius #made in abyss #Hunter X Hunter

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nextstarblazers · 5 years

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EPISODE 19

“We all know Homer pretty well, and his outburst this afternoon sort of bothers us. He said things I’m sure he didn’t mean--but still, he did touch on what’s worrying all of us. Just what are our chances, really, of getting to Iscandar and returning to Earth with the Cosmo DNA?” -- Mark Venture

This is the last of the smaller, more personal episodes that make up the spine of the middle section of the first series of STAR BLAZERS, and it’s a good example of how the human drama was just as important, if not more important, than the space battles and pyrotechnics in the success of the show. Once again, it’s a bit blunted from its source material, but it still packs an emotional wallop, and is about greater considerations concerning faith and hope and fortitude than any other show during this time period was delivering.

The episode opens by immediately establishing its point of human drama. Homer, the Star Force’s communications officer, is at his wits’ end, and so he goes to visit Doctor Sane. He complains of a constant ringing in his ears, and he can’t eat or sleep. Recognizing the twin signs of homesickness and stress from being cooped up aboard ship for several months, Dr. Sane recommends a session in the Holography Room, a concept that had been set up in one of the earliest episodes of the show, but not touched upon since.

This was more than a decade before STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION made the Holodeck a recurring locale and plot point of its series, and it functioned in much the same way. Nova projects Holography Tapes that Homer recorded before the ship left Earth, reconstructing Homer’s home town. (Presumably, these films were made before the Gamilon bombing, as they seem to be taking place on the tranquil surface.) But when Homer sees his elderly mother gathering wood, he has a full-on emotional breakdown. Nova is mystified as to what is going on with him.

Part of Homer’s stress, it seems, may be due to a new development. Under mysterious circumstances, and despite now being 70,000 light years from Earth, the Star Force has discovered that it can once again communicate with its home planet. It’s a source of much joy among the crew as the recovering Captain Avatar calls in to Earth Defense Headquarters to update them on the Star Force’s mission (In YAMATO, a number of specific details are listed that STAR BLAZERS omits, such as the fact that their mission is presently 51 days and 61,000 light years behind special, but that by warping twice a day for a distance of 1,200 light years each time, he believes they can be back on Earth in 152 more days.) but some uncertainty to, as the crew becomes aware of just how bad conditions are currently on Earth.

Adding to this, Homer bursts into the room and has a full-on meltdown: “You’re all a bunch of idiots listening to that! What are you all doing here? Do you like being fooled? Don’t you realize no one here knows anything at all about where we’re going? Captain, have you ever been to Iscandar? Every space warp takes us further into the dark unknown! We’re on a fool’s errand, and Gamilon is waiting, and waiting, and waiting! They know all about space! They’re playing with us! They let us go a little ways, then pounce! Like a cat with a mouse! You don’t know how bad things are on Earth! They won’t tell you!” It’s a tour de force performance by Homer’s voice actor. When Captain Avatar asks Homer about the source of his information, the communications officer hyperventilates and passes out.

Morale continues to break down for the Star Force crew that evening, when Captain Avatar invites the senior staff to dinner, to thank them for their assistance during his recovery period. Rattled by Homer’s outburst, Mark Venture takes the opportunity to voice what is running through everybody’s minds at this point: is Homer right? Is their mission to save Earth doomed? What, really, are their chances of success, alone against an overwhelmingly more powerful enemy force? STAR BLAZERS makes an interesting and positive choice here, to eliminate the upbeat cut of music that plays over Venture’s monologue in the YAMATO episode. It’s one of the few times that I can think of where the American show drops music from the soundtrack--but it lends a greater sense of weight to venture’s question.

It falls to Captain Avatar to try to put the crew’s mind at ease, even while he must be holding some of the same misgivings himself: “Venture, we’ve come this far together. It’s true we don’t know what lies ahead, but no one knows tomorrow. There are no guarantees. We know we’ve been entrusted with the life of Earth. Only the Star Force can save Earth. To do that, we must believe in a future for all of us. To do our job today. If we don’t, we’re lost. Earth is lost.” The rest of the meal passes in silence.

At this point, as they did a few episodes ago, the production team on STAR BLAZERS chooses to shuffle a few scenes from the source material, to more clearly convey what is going on. So at this point we cut (with a bad slice on the music cue) to Balan, where an aide reports to General Lysis that their communications relay satellite is allowing the Star Force to contact Earth, and that this is all a psy-ops strategy to destroy the morale of the crew (while also gathering intel about the Star Force, I’d assume.) In YAMATO, this scene doesn’t show up until much later.

As the previous music cue fades up again, we see Homer awaken in the middle of the night and make his way down to the communications room, dismissing the crewman who is on station there. With nobody else around, he contacts Earth--and specifically, the home of his elderly parents. He’s been doing this routinely, we learn--and his father is extremely ill.

Actually, he’s quite a bit more than ill, but STAR BLAZERS cuts out the harshest portions of this next bit from YAMATO, as Homer’s mother tells him that Food is growing scarce and that riots have become a daily danger in the underground cities. In order to provide for his wife, Homer’s father went out into one of the riots to secure them food, and was terribly injured as a result. (STAR BLAZERS chalks up his conditions to fatigue from having worked so hard to build the underground cities.)

As his mother turns the viewscreen to the bed in which her husband lies, so that he can see his son Homer one last time, Homer’s father tells him to get back to Earth, that his mother needs him--and then he dies. Again, STAR BLAZERS conceals this death, having him simply pass our--but you can see the sheet covering his face in the very last shot in this sequence, as Homer turns to discover that Wildstar has learned his secret. Almost insane, Homer bolts from the room.

Homer races to the bridge where, for some reason, Venture is the only one on duty, piloting the Argo. Homer begs Venture to turn the ship around: “Venture, we’ve got to get back to Earth! Turn around! It’s not too late yet! Please! I’ve been talking to Earth! My family--my father’s sick! My mother--s-she cried! Look, I’m begging you! We’re never gonna make it! Turn back!” Again here, Homer’s voice performer really sells the genuineness of the moment. But it’s to no avail--Venture will not chance course, and so Homer races out again, just steps ahead of Wildstar, who’s been pursuing him.

The pair call down to Conroy on the flight deck, who saw him creeping around near the space suit lockers. YAMATO provides a bit of ill-timed fan service at this point, as Nova comes out of her room in her nightgown. She was looking out of the porthole in her cabin and saw Homer drift past, scaring the hell out of her. From here, we get a wonderful shot of the very end of the standard Argo fly-by, with Homer left in its wake, trying vainly to swim through space back home.

This is the point in YAMATO where the narrative switches to Balan and General Lysis explains about the communications satellite he’s set up to follow the Argo and allow them to communicate with Earth. STAR BLAZERS instead has another rough music cut as the Argo, amazingly, comes to a halt and the Black Tiger squadron is dispatched to fly a search patrol for their missing crewman. It’s a very human gesture, but given that the fate of all mankind is at stake, it’s a bit astonishing that the Star Force puts the mission on hold this way.

Meanwhile, Homer is floating through space, experiencing a full-on nervous breakdown. He hallucinates the Earth in the distance and half-passes out trying to reach it. Amazingly, he floats crash-bang into the relay satellite that’s been following the ship. It’s a pretty huge stretch given the size of space (and the fact that STAR BLAZERS never establishes that the relay satellite is literally trailing the Argo) but we’ll go ahead and give it to them. Recognizing the satellite for what it is, Homer realizes the implication and the danger to the Star Force that it represents. But he has no way to contact them. (You might think that, being the communications officer, he could use this enormous transmitter he’s sitting on to send them a message. But no such luck.)

Fortunately for Homer, Wildstar comes across him just a few minutes later. Now snapped back to reality by his discovery of the relay satellite (YAMATO spends a few seconds and some repeated footage in making Homer’s sudden recuperation feel more earned) Homer tells Widstar what the satellite is all about, and they destroy it using the guns in Wildstar’s fighter.

Communication with Earth is now once more cut off, but perhaps that’s for the best. “Our next message, we’ll be on our way home, “ says Homer, “with good news from Iscandar!” It’s quite a turn-around for the young officer, whose language almost makes him seem a bit Born Again. But it makes for an upbeat ending, and that’s what’s called for her. As the pair and the rest of the rescue team returns to the Argo, narration tells us that there are still only 255 days remaining for all life on Earth, so the mission must go on!

#Star Blazers #Space battleship Yamato #Yamato

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