Oh yeah, I wrote this post at 2:00 in the morning while on a caffeine high, so I’m sorry if I’m more vicious and sarcastic than usual.

Best of 2010

#5: Angel Beats!

Take some of everyone’s favorite character archetypes, throw in an awesome sci-fi/mystery story with some drama and top-notch animation, and you have Angel Beats! KEY’s original production certainly turned out to be a fan favorite, and it’s easy to see why. If you dismissed this show as “hurr durr generic moe crap” or you just really hate KEY, then you should clear your head of your bias and give this show an honest chance, because it’s one of the more interesting and creative shows to come out recently.

#4: Strike Witches 2

What’s better than 12 episodes of pantsless girls flying around shooting aliens with huge guns? Why, 12 more episodes of that! Strike Witches 2 took everything that was great about the first season and made it even better. This time around, there’s more action, more character development, and even better animation. Of course, it wouldn’t be Strike Witches without the gratuitous fanservice… which of course is all the more reason to watch it! BECAUSE I SAID IT’S AWESOME.

Currently available on Crunchyroll

#3: Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt

Take all the crude humor in the world – all the fart jokes, piss jokes, and anything that’s ever offended anyone ever – mix it all in a blender and you get Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt. Because of the show’s ridiculous title, I honestly wasn’t expecting much. However, I soon came to discover that this show causes extreme loss of breath due to viewers laughing their asses off. But actually, Panty and Stocking has very polarized opinions. You’ll either love it like I did, or you’ll want to throw stink bombs into Gainax’s offices, like Scott probably does. Actually, I think everyone wants to do that after the show’s WTF ending.

Currently available on Crunchyroll

#2: Squid Girl (Shinryaku! Ika Musume)

The concept of a cute girl with squid-like powers coming out of the ocean to exact revenge on humans for polluting the ocean doesn’t exactly sound like the most attractive synopsis for a show. Despite that, I gave the show a chance, and I’m very glad I did. Squid Girl is a wholesome, family-friendly (mostly) show that really just makes you feel good while watching it. Whether you’re cracking up at the show’s delightful humor or “d’awwwwing” at how freaking cute Squid Girl is, you’ll always be entertained with watching it. Absolutely no one should miss out on Squid Girl.

Currently available on Crunchyroll

#1: Occult Academy (Seikimatsu Occult Gakuin)

Yes, really. I thought this show was fantastic. Yeah, it has weaknesses, but overall I had a ton of fun watching this series. With an excellent cast of characters, a totally sweet sci-fi story involving time travel (time travel makes everything better), great production value with detailed art & animation, and an overarching mystery filled with suspense, this show turned out to be a real treat, easily making it my favorite of 2010.

Currently available on Crunchyroll

Worst of 2010

#5: Ookami Kakushi

There was a time when I thought that Ryukishi07 was a genius who could do no wrong. This time was shortly after I had finished watching Higurashi a.k.a. The Best Anime Ever. Then along came Umineko which, to say the least, was an utter mess. But there’s no way it could get worse, right? I mean, this guy created mother effing Higurashi. Well, it got worse. Ookami Kakushi was a “horror anime” with very little actual horror in it. Now, in all fairness, I only watched about 3 episodes, but one should expect to see some decent plot development after 3 episodes. Such was not the case with this series. Instead, all I saw was lots of filler fluff with very little plot. Although there was lots of HASSAKU!

#4: Sora no Woto

YAWN. This show put me to sleep before I could say “BORING.” Yeah, I know it’s intended to be a slow series, but there are ways to have a slow-paced show still be interesting. I guess the creators weren’t going for the “interesting” part there, because “K-ON! Goes To War,” as many people called it in a failed attempt to be witty, was just a big snoozefest. In all fairness, the backgrounds and animation were nothing short of beautiful, but even with that, “Valkyria K-ONicles” was just too tedious for me to handle.

Currently available on Crunchyroll

#3: Seikon no Qwaser

Dear Japan,

If you’re going to broadcast a show that’s so terrible that its only saving grace is the fanservice, then for god’s sake, DON’T CENSOR IT!

Thanks,
Janai

#2: Yosuga no Sora

Dear Japan,

Actually, sometimes a little censorship won’t hurt. Because when I see shows like Yosuga no Sora depicting a guy having sex with numerous girls including his goddamned sister, I get a little weirded out. This show should not be allowed to exist. Fanservice is fine, but this show takes it to a whole new level, and has no shame. Worst of all, it was on television. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go back to banging my head against the wall for saying this show would be the next Clannad.

Owwwwwwch,
Janai

#1: Highschool of the Dead

Now I’ve said before that fanservice isn’t a bad thing. Zombies aren’t so bad either, and in fact they kick ass. But there’s a time and place for everything, and Highschool of the Dead is a shining example of how not to make a show about a zombie apocalypse. After a few episodes, I found myself a lot more interested in the zombie killing than the fanservice (it also doesn’t help that the fanservice just plain sucked). Unfortunately, it seems the producers didn’t actually have a zombie show in mind, they just wanted to exploit the fanservice as much as they could. The only good parts of this series were the first episode and the final episode. Which is great news, because if you too want to watch this trainwreck of a series, you can watch the parts that matter in less than an hour!

Currently available on The Anime Network

I give my final thoughts on Highschool of the Dead (spoiler: I hated it) and Strike Witches 2 (spoiler: I loved it) while Scott continues to facepalm at how much I love the show. I also do a quick review of the PlayStation Move and give my initial impressions. We get into a mini-debate over Square-Enix and why I don’t like them too much. Scott is also not amused by my inability to care about anything Pokémon.

In the news… Redline gets an awesome trailer that makes me want to see it. Section23 licensed an anime about cats. Some jackasses ruin things for everyone by stealing valuable Bakemonogatari art. Live action Cowboy Bebop apparently costs half a billion dollars. And someone actually invented the Dragon Ball Z scouter (insert “OVER 9000″ joke here).

Otaku in Review – Episode 32 – Black & White and Pokémon All Over | Subscribe in iTunes

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Scott & Jon talk about technology (again), with Jon being especially impatient about not getting his iPhone 4 yet. Jon’s playing the extremely long dating sim Kira Kira and hasn’t gotten any yet. Scott states his qualms with the B Gata H Kei finale and the possibilities of why the writers have been receiving death threats. Also, Jon talks about the totally awesome shooter game Deathsmiles (check out his review).

K-ON!! has been confirmed to be 26 episodes. Where will the series be headed in its third and (possibly) final season? We speculate in this episode.

And of course, we talk about all of the totally freakin’ awesome license announcements that came out of Anime Expo 2010.

Other News

• Puffy AmiYumi to Perform at New York Anime Festival
• Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood Movie Green-Lit
• Nico Nico Douga Streams 6 Anime Right After Airing

Otaku in Review – Episode 22 – We Haven’t Gotten to a Sex Scene… Yet | Subscribe in iTunes

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Scott and I discuss Zero no Tsukaima, Sora no Woto, Final Fantasy XIII, the Clannad dub, and upcoming anime conventions. Not much in terms of news this week, but we still had plenty to talk about. Check back next week where I’ll give my thoughts of I-Con 29 and Scott and I will talk more about the upcoming Anime Boston!

Otaku in Review – Episode 7 – Zero no Something Sensai | Subscribe in iTunes

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Otaku in Review – Episode 4 – Sleeping with Hisui | Subscribe in iTunes

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I just watched the first episode of the much anticipated Winter 2010 anime series So-Ra-No-Wo-To (also known as Sora no Oto – “Sound of the Sky”). I was very much impressed. After one episode, this show already looks very promising with its detailed art style, excellent characters, and tranquil yet catchy music.

Of course there’s the criticisms. Yeah, So-Ra-No-Wo-To is “just another one of them moe shows” but really, that’s no reason to pass this up completely. It’s certainly worth a look, even if moe isn’t your thing. The art style looks very similar to that of K-ON! so naturally people are comparing the two shows, despite the fact that they are both very different.

Regardless of what some may think, I very much enjoyed episode 1 and look forward to watching more soon. Definitely give it a try.