Best Anime of 2010 2: 2011

[goldenspines]

<まどまぎ>

[Falx]

<まどまぎ>

[TheSubtleDoctor]

Are you officially not counting votes that do not come with commentary? Nudge, nudge Falx.
---
<まどまぎ>

This is such an unkind draw for Tiger and Bunny. I think that show is good enough to be in the semi-finals. Such is the nature of the tournament format (that's why it's fun!).

As much as I adored TnB, it's not in the same league as Madoka, as mech rightly points out. The former is a show that made me go, "That was pretty fun." The latter is a show that made me stand up out of my seat, cover my mouth with one hand, point the other at the screen, and say "OH !@#$."

[blkmage]

Pictures are fine, but yes, please include something.

There's an interesting fact about tournaments. While you can try to organize your tournament as best you can so that the tournament tree reflects the correct ordering, tournaments really are only good for determining the best of something. Technically, you can't just pick the second place, you'd have to organize a tournament for each kth element that consists of all the direct losers to the k-1th element. In order to come up with the correct ordering, you need to run k tournaments with each tournament by some decreasing log factor and so you can get the ordering in O(n + k log n) time for n elements and order up to k.

[TheSubtleDoctor]

mathematical gobbledy-gook

Look, you may turn some heads at parties, you may get the naive, insecure ones to join your cause, but your magic-talk won't work on me, nor is it appropriate. You can discuss that stuff with your weirdo friends, but stay away from my family!

[FllMtl Novelist]

<まどまぎ>

The writing absolutely blew my mind. More than once.

EDIT:

I wish I could have voted, but considering I've only seen a few of the shows all the way through, my options are limited.
Interesting to see the ones that I HAVE watched all the way through have made it this far though. ^^ (Yay!)

You can still vote. I haven't seen everything here either, but there's nothing stopping you from voting for shows you do know.

[TWWK]

<まどまぎ>

What can you say about Madoka Magica? On almost every level, it was superb. Someone mentioned that it was on a different tier - and it really was. A masterpiece.

[Falx]

Are you officially not counting votes that do not come with commentary? Nudge, nudge Falx.
---
<ま]such [/I]an unkind draw for Tiger and Bunny. I think that show is good enough to be in the semi-finals. Such is the nature of the tournament format (that's why it's fun!).

As much as I adored TnB, it's not in the same league as Madoka, as mech rightly points out. The former is a show that made me go, "That was pretty fun." The latter is a show that made me stand up out of my seat, cover my mouth with one hand, point the other at the screen, and say "OH !@#$."

Ugh. Reading bad. Tired now.

<まどまぎ>

Yeah this is a good show, haven't seen any Tiger & Bunny yet but just going from what I know with reactions and discussions amongst fans that while it's a good series, it's not even close to Madoka's level of execution.

[MomentOfInertia]

I'm going to abstain from this round, I've seen some of each show but all of neither.

My first impulse is to vote for Tiger & Bunny, I like the genre better, it's been more fun, and so forth.
However, I've received the impression that despite the strong start it finishes weak, and that Madoka starts slower and ends very strong.

I can't give a fair vote to either of them so I'll stay out of this one.

...

Aww, skip it, Kotetsu deserves at least one vote.
<タイバニ>

[airichan623]

<まどまぎ>

[MangaRocks!]

<まどまぎ>

Can't really say anything more about Madoka than has already been said (both by others in this thread and also by me after I watched it, LOL ), so I'll just comment that yes, it was indeed excellent, and worth every bit of both the 10 and the favorite that I gave it on MAL.

[Mr. Hat'n'Clogs]

[S]Macross Frontier: Sayonara no Tsubasa: 1-0-2 (3/10)[/S]

It would appear that even given perfection, the masses will take lesser things.

[S]Ano Hana: 1-1-1 (5/11) -4 0 +2 = -2[/S]

At least I could take this down with it.

[color="lime"]Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn: 2-0-1 (3/13)[/color]

I will not rest until the day this is brought down to it's rightful place. TILL MY DYING DAY

10 December - Usagi Drop vs. Nichijou

PFFFFT- I knew it was inevitable but I fear the day it comes.

Anyways, decision time.

Anyone who has talked to me about Madoka probably knows that, after going through the initial ZOMG BEST ANIME EVAR stage of seeing Madoka, I'm a little less impressed with it. It's not that it isn't brilliant, it's a very well-written, imaginative, powerful show, but I can't help but feel a lot of the credit it seems to get is just for the fact that it's a deconstruction. While these aren't inherently bad, does that make Evangelion inherently better than GaoGaiGar because Evangelion is "mature" because it's darker? I'd like to think the answer is not. Are powerful, epic, stories on a grand scale with dark consequences for every action inherently better than shows that are fun? If you aren't watching anime for entertainment, what are you watching it for? Why is it that making a dark turn makes more lighthearted fair better than it was prior to the shift?

On the other hand, I will give Madoka large credit for the fact that in spite of being grimdark(and legitimately grimdark, none of this Death Note crap) it had a very positive outlook. While it may appear incredibly grim because of all the people who die because they're magical girls, it ultimately shows a maturity, I think, in the fact that Madoka wins because of both her heart and mind, both of which many people who failed lacked. Madoka not only wins because she outhinks Kyubey, she ultimately wins because she is a good person.

That, and I haven't seen more than three episodes of Tiger and Bunny so <まどまぎ>

[Neane]

I haven't seen more than three episodes of Tiger and Bunny so <ま]

That's the only thing I noticed when I read your post.

[This] show... made me stand up out of my seat, cover my mouth with one hand, point the other at the screen, and say "OH !@#$."

Same thing happened to me.

[MasterDias]

<まどまぎ>

T&B was a good show, but Madoka blows it out of the water in terms of writing and execution.

[blkmage]

Anyone who has talked to me about Madoka probably knows that, after going through the initial ZOMG BEST ANIME EVAR stage of seeing Madoka, I'm a little less impressed with it. It's not that it isn't brilliant, it's a very well-written, imaginative, powerful show, but I can't help but feel a lot of the credit it seems to get is just for the fact that it's a deconstruction. While these aren't inherently bad, does that make Evangelion inherently better than GaoGaiGar because Evangelion is "mature" because it's darker? I'd like to think the answer is not. Are powerful, epic, stories on a grand scale with dark consequences for every action inherently better than shows that are fun? If you aren't watching anime for entertainment, what are you watching it for? Why is it that making a dark turn makes more lighthearted fair better than it was prior to the shift?

I am interested in why you became less impressed with it, but I'm not quite sure I understand your reasoning beyond 'everyone else really, really likes it just because it's dark'.

[blkmage]

Puella Magi Madoka☆Magica: 13
Tiger & Bunny: 1


[font="Times New Roman"]SLAP FIGHT[/font]
[SIZE="5"]Mobile Suit Gundam UC [font="Times New Roman"]vs.[/font] Hanasaku Iroha[/SIZE]
<ガンダムＵＣ> ★ <花いろ>

[SIZE="4"]Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn (軌道戦士ガンダムＵＣ)[/SIZE]
The key to understanding
Rank: 13
Aired: Spring 2011
Studio: Sunrise
Director: Furuhashi Kazuhiro
Cast: Uchiyama Kouki, Fujimura Ayumi, Kaida Yuko, Ikeda Shuuichi
Adaptation: Novel by Fukui Harutoshi
Defeated: Ano Hana, Macross F: Sayonara no Tsubasa
Voting Code: <ガンダムＵＣ>

[SIZE="4"]Hanasaku Iroha (花咲くいろは)[/SIZE]
Herons festing it up
Rank: 9
Aired: Spring 2011
Studio: P.A. Works
Director: Satou Keiichi
Cast: Itou Kanae, Toyosaki Aki, Omigawa Chiaki
Adaptation: Original
Defeated: Bakuman 2
Voting Code: <花いろ>

Voting closes at 2300 EST.

[Neane]

Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn!!!

<ガンダムＵＣ>

[Falx]

Say what?

Vote against squishy face?





<花いろ>

[Atria35]

<花いろ>

[Falx]

[quote="Atria35 (post: 1520109)"]<花]

Yoiu HAVE to make a comment, even a laconic one as to why you are voting the way you are or it won't count.

[blkmage]

Also please don't include images that break the page/h-scroll because it's really irritating.

[mechana2015]

I actually can't vote in this one... I haven't seen enough of either to make a fair judgement with comments.

[TheSubtleDoctor]

Yeah, same here. REALLY want to see Unicorn eventually...waiting for that DVD box.

[blkmage]

<ガンダムＵＣ>

I do have some serious thoughts about HanaIro. I was interested largely by the tone of the first episode and that there was some real conflict of values going on. As it turned out, the show wasn't going to go down that route and instead went in the route that I'd expected of it before the first episode. As a show that's basically about Ohana working at the inn and becoming friends with everyone, it's fine, but I feel a bit cheated that we didn't get any more substantial conflict and I think that's a missed opportunity. And that's not to mention the themes and message it was trying to convey, which remained firmly in the realm of conventional/conservative/traditional East Asian values.

[Mr. Hat'n'Clogs]

I am interested in why you became less impressed with it, but I'm not quite sure I understand your reasoning beyond 'everyone else really, really likes it just because it's dark'.

While I'm certainly making a broad generalization when I say that, I think Madoka has certainly gotten a lot of credit because it's a deconstruction, I mean, look at all the people who saw the first two episodes and were like "eh, I don't get what all the hype is about."

Anyways, my own issues with Madoka that may be completely subjective is that I think it relies a little too heavily on shock value for a lot of the very important scenes. While these scenes certainly affect a person the first time through, I don't believe there is a lot to certain scenes aside from the shock on the part of the viewer. The ending certainly is not guilty of this, but it's something I've come to the conclusion of while watching LoGH and Penguindrum, both of which have shocking scenes that I think have a greater emotional impact than just shock.

Also, I'm 99% certain Unicorn is better than HanaIro based solely on 'DAT SOUNDTRACK, but...

[s]Macross Frontier: Sayonara no Tsubasa: 1-0-2 (3/10)[/s]

I mad. <花いろ>

[Neane]

I think it relies a little too heavily on shock value for a lot of the very important scenes.

Exactly, it follows teh route of Bokurano and its spiritual successor Narutaru.
Glad you figured it out.
That said, this series used several shock scenes quite well.

[goldenspines]

I adore the pictures you're posting, Neane, but yes, re-size is your friend and should be used in order to not kill browsers or break pages. =D

I also cannot vote this round since I haven't seen either. I've heard Unicorn is great, though.

[blkmage]

I think the nature of Madoka and what it tries to do necessitates that some scenes will shock the viewer. By comparison, Penguindrum and LOGH aren't trying to do the same thing and I don't think they have many scenes that are comparable to Madoka's.

Although you're right in that a lot of people only think Madoka's great just because it's grimdark. Luckily, the people whose opinions I respect enjoy Madoka for its other aspects as well.

[TheSubtleDoctor]

I also think that, even if you siphon out the "shock," Madoka is extremely well-written, especially Homura's part in the story. The way the world ties together is also super cool.

But, I think what you said about the ending, Hat, is right on. The fact that Madoka's goodness is ultimately what breaks the cycle of suffering is pretty darn awesome.

[MasterDias]

<ガンダムＵＣ>

I like both a lot, but Gundam UC probably has superior execution, even though they aren't really in very comparable genres. Tough decision for me though.