Now that we've
gotten around with the first few weeks of the summer anime season, I definitely
took my time writing this top 3 anime for last season. Even though I haven't
finish AKB0048, I decided to go through
with my top 3 since I most likely won't include it to my list anyway.
For this list, I'm including all airing series that ended together
with the spring season anime - anime ended on/before this summer season
starts. The anime that I've finished this past season are: Kimi to Boku. 2, ZETMAN, Tsuritama, Sakamichi no Apollon, Acchi Kocchi, Natsuiro Kiseki, Jormungand, Tasogare Otome x Amnesia, Sankarea and Haiyore! Nyaruko-san.
So what makes a
series good? Or what makes an anime reach one's ranking list? In my personal
thoughts, when I make my anime ranking list, I initially consider my enjoyment
towards the anime, how it affected me and what I feel about it. The story,
characters, developments, art and animation, loop holes and music just follows.
On a side note, don't go bashing me on how I
made my list, how I ranked the anime in this list and why I didn't include
other anime.
[3]Tasogare
Otome x Amnesia
I've been thinking a lot between Tasogare Otome and Natsuiro Kiseki which I both really liked and enjoyed to its
fullest. Although both having their down sides on me, I chose Tasogre Otome, obviously. Tasogare Otome opened with a pretty fun quick introduction of the
characters. The mystery of Kanoe Yuuko's (Hara Yumi) death was
one of the things that keeps me going in this series. Although it is true that
I stopped watching this for awhile due to the surprise harem that happened but
I quickly recovered and found out how much I missed when watched the episode
wherein Yuuko's past was shown. Those last episodes were really great and
moving and that unexpected (and very moving) twist on Niiya Teichi's (Yonaga Tsubasa)
part. The concluding episode was everything but expected. I don't won't to go
with spoilers so I won't mention it(: This series had a really great run. Other
than the good mystery and romance involve in this series, I really love the
atmosphere than Silver Link has done here. Initially, I don't want to expect so
much from this since I dislike Silver Link's style but this one has just regain
the production company itself with that great BGM and background art which
compliments each other(:
Recommended?
Definitely. This series had some pretty interesting mystery, expected romance,
good combination of comedy, drama and fan service :3 The art and music is very
fantastic. This is definitely worth watching :D AND Okonogi Momoe (Fukuen Misato) is
such a fun character to watch! XD
[2]Tsuritama
Tsuritama could be an anime everyone could say
is near perfect. As an original anime by A-1 Pictures, the company that brought
us AnoHana and Ao no Exorcist which I both really love, this anime just
turned out expectedly brilliant. I initially described this as an anime in
between Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou and Kimi to Boku. but I guess making that statement was wrong. As
an original anime with 12 episodes and aired in the noitaminA slot, everything
worked out pretty fine. Like most people had said, comparing this to the other
noitaminA anime which was adapted, Tsuritama
had that really great advantage of being an original series. AND of course, I
couldn't agree more. Tsuritama had that
really great story and character development. At first, I thought that it's
going to be an anime about fishing but turns out, fishing was just its way of
getting into its real theme - yeah, it's the typical friendship thing. Main
character Haru (Irino
Miyu) has got to be one of the best characters this season. He's very fun
to watch - seeing how he really wants to understand humans - and I really like
how he brought out the best of everyone around him: Sanada Yuki (Ohsaka Ryota),
Usami Natsuki (Uchiyama
Kouki) and Yamada Akira (Sugita Tomokazu).
The art is very beautiful. The colors are so vivid and despite the second half
being serious and a little dark, the colors are still as bright as before.
Newbie seiyuu, Ohsaka Ryota, had done a really great job with Yuki and Irino
Miyu had done a really great job with Haru. The concluding episode wasn't
really the most memorable one for me but it did tear me up a little(:
.jpg)
This series has got
to be something for everyone to watch most especially those who likes series
which focuses on friendship, comedy-drama and slice of life anime. AND I'm
pretty sure that everyone would like Tapioca :3
[1]Sakamichi
no Apollon
I'm pretty much
aware that most people out there would choose Tsuritama
over Sakamichi no Apollon but certainly
won't be influenced. The number one argument here has got to be how well
thought out Tsuritama had been as an
anime and how rushed Sakamichi no Apollon
had been during those last few episodes. Of course there's no helping in that
part. Even I was disappointed and how many issues they are trying to tackle
with one single episode and how fast they were resolved. As a 45-chapter manga
being adapted as a 12-episode anime, I just know it'll be difficult. There'll
be struggles and fast pacing is the only way to finish everything disregarding
the idea of making it a 2-cour anime which could have been the best idea. Anyway, let me get to Sakamichi no Apollon's good bits. First off, the best thing I like
about this series is the drama. I'm a huge fan of drama anime despite how much
I cry over them. Tezuka Productions in collaboration with MAPPA, I love how
much the setting is made in here. With a setting of Japan in 1966, I couldn't
really say how accurate everything had been but it made me feel that it's
1960's with the characters designs, the background art, the overall art style
and the music. Yes, the music especially. I'm really in love with Sakamichi no Apollon's soundtrack. I'm
listening to it over and over with Someday My
Prince will Come, My Favorite Things,
Apollon Blue and Moanin' as my favorites :3 Thanks to the amazing Kanno Yoko for the
amazing soundtrack. The script done by Kakihara Yuuko is
also amazing. BUT of course, the overall success of Sakamichi no Apollon can be blame to its director, Watanabe
Shinichiro. The concluding episode had made me cry so much, I notice that I
was actually crying because of happiness - and this only happened to me when I
was watching Bakuman.. It's the first time in another
series. That final episode was just one of my favorites. It did came out pretty
fast but I actually like its pacing… Even though how much I'd want to talk
about it, I won't since I might end up spoiling stuffs.
Sakamichi no Apollon is definitely a must to
watch most especially to both drama and music fans. Of course, Sakamichi doesn't only tackle the romance-drama
but an overall drama which relates to personal problems and family problems.
Probably the best thing about this is that its' very easy to relate to the
characters and they are very easy to sympathize to.
~the rest of my final impressions can be found here: Spring Conclusion and 2nd Half.
