Wise Turtle Publishing

Hello guys,

Since this year is drawing to its close now, and all the magazines have done their typical year-end polls and such, I was wondering what your favorite anime were in 2007.

This can be any television series, OVA (original video animation, not the game abbreviated OVA), movie or special that you've seen this past year. Anything you'd like to comment on.

It can even apply to both new and old shows, anything at all you would call a personal favorite: either an anime that came out during 2007, or an anime that you just happened to see during 2007, no matter how old it is.

I'm starting with my own picks. I have to tell you up front that I am not informed about any real new releases, and since I usually wait for anime to be actually officially released in my area (no illegal downloading whatsoever), the stuff I watch tends to be about 3-5 years old. I'm also surprised almost every year at how much I dislike or don't care for series that have got critical acclaim by famous critics, magazines, and websites. In other words I always have a completely different taste.

In the last year, I've really liked:

Koutetsu Shin Jeeg (new TV series)
Scrapped Princess
Re: Cutie Honey
Hinotori - The Phoenix (TV series)

Western-produced animation:

The Fantastic Four (new TV series)
Avatar
Oban Star Racers
Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo (original movie)

Jandar wrote:I was wondering what your favorite anime were in 2007.

For me:

* Coyote Ragtime Show
* Baccano! (not far into this one yet, but it has flair)
* Hoi Hoi-san

I was disappointed by "Ergo Proxy" which looked better than it was.

As to doramas, I would have to say that "Sexy Voice and Robo" (based on the manga of the same name) knocked it out of the park! If you can get ahold of the fansubs of it, do yourself a favor and snag it.

The Manga is also very good, but has a darker tone.

The dorama is very bittersweet (you will get a lump in your throat more than once each episode) and also very funny!

Hello Judd,

Thanks for writing.

I must admit I've never heard of "Baccano!"

What is that, approximately, genre-wise? What's the story?
Send me a few lines summarizing it if you like.

Animes that I've watched and liked in the past year?

Grenadier. Laugh or snark all you like.
Legend of the Galactic Heroes. I wouldn't say it's a must watch for everyone, due to its length, but it's a good one if you can stick it out for all 110 episodes.
Aria. Hey, a series where Earth colonizes space and things don't go to hell in a handbasket! How novel!
Fist of the North Star. See my comments on LoGH above.
Azumanga Daioh. Well, either you like that kind of thing or you don't.

Slated for 2008:

Hajime no Ippo
Hidamari Sketch
LoGH Prequel movies

If it weren't for the non-action sequences and the parallels to Trigun, I'd like Grenadier.

Let's see, what did I watch in 2007....

-Full Moon wo Sagashite: Best time I've had with a shoujo series, quite possibly because there's no teenage angst (thanks to no teenagers)
-Hayate the Combat Butler: References a-plenty, although a second season may be pushing it
-Macross Plus: All the coolness of the original series but with none of the Minmei
-Pumpkin Scissors: Yay, guns. Yay, tanks. Yay, head-seeking dogs.

/Shouldn't this thread be moved?

The moderators can move this thread to the general "random topic" area if they want to.

I put it here just because I thought most of the people interested in any anime would go here first, and I also wanted to know what shows other OVA players watch.

Eh, I could move it I guess, but I'm not much of a stickler for this sort of thing. Maybe I will. Eventually. *laughs*

Anyway, one of the most pleasant surprises for me wasn't really an anime at all...but bear with me...

Avatar: The Last Airbender is a really great show. Cast aside preconceptions as a kiddy Nick cartoon, the characters show a lot of depth and are almost universally likable and awesome. Even the plot has clever and memerable moments. It's worth checking out.

Dennou Coil is another show, one I just started watching fansubs of. It's hard to summarize the plot yet, but it features an astounding quality of animation, and again the characters reveal subtelty and depth that often gets lost in the anime world of big guns, big explosions, and big...ahem...feminine assets. Like Avatar, it's pegged as a children's show, but I'm not sure why. At times I'm finding it hard to follow.

The best of this year for me:

Lucky Star
Zero no Tsukaima - Futatsuki no Kisshi
Code Geas
Kodomo no Jikan
Minami-ke
Ghost Hunt

Ergo Proxy and Gurren Lagann were unfortunately dissapointing :(

TsukasaGr wrote:The best of this year for me:

Lucky Star
Zero no Tsukaima - Futatsuki no Kisshi
Code Geas
Kodomo no Jikan
Minami-ke
Ghost Hunt

Ergo Proxy and Gurren Lagann were unfortunately dissapointing

Gee, I have to do a couple of detailed internet searches.
I don't know any of the above anime.

I read a report on Gurren Lagann. What a shame it was disappointing. By far not all giant robot shows are good.

By the way, Happy New Year everybody!

TsukasaGr wrote:The best of this year for me:
...
Kodomo no Jikan

You're creepy.

Joe_Mello wrote:

TsukasaGr wrote:The best of this year for me:
...
Kodomo no Jikan

You're creepy.

I don't get you. Did you see all of it?

Jandar wrote:I must admit I've never heard of "Baccano!"

What is that, approximately, genre-wise? What's the story?

It is a character-driven story set in the 1940s-ish. The town is run by immortal gangsters and the plots of several roustabouts kind of collide into a mega-plot (like a farce with more action and higher stakes). Its owes a good deal in style and form to "Snatch" - even the intro is a hommage. So far, it looks really cool.

I did leave out "Lucky Star" - which was also a great 2007 anime. "Gomen nasai, Lucky Channel!"

OK, you're going to laugh at my list, because they're not new anime. I just recently got back into anime, and I've been collecting and borrowing as much as I can. So here is my list of the ones I really enjoyed:

Blood+
Witchblade
Cowboy Bebop
Appleseed

And I'm currently viewing The Slayers.

calibur1 wrote:OK, you're going to laugh at my list, because they're not new anime. I just recently got back into anime, and I've been collecting and borrowing as much as I can. So here is my list of the ones I really enjoyed:

Blood+
Witchblade
Cowboy Bebop
Appleseed

And I'm currently viewing The Slayers.

I'm not gonna laugh at anyone here. Don't worry.

I heard Blood+ was very good. I've seen many ads for it, also.
The Slayers is hilarious ... a classic series, but I don't collect it much. Witchblade is one of the series I really want to get the complete edition of on DVD. Good fun! (If it were only about monsters and boobs, it wouldn't be a big deal after two episodes, but they really made some fun characters for that, including kids and older people.)

Let's see, Anime that I watched in 07 and finished and enjoyed....

Lucky Star
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai
Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann
Macross 7
Elfin Lied
Mahoromantic



And anime I'm still working on that haven't finished yet

Bleach
Gundam 00
Macross F