Year In Review: N-Squared List
Just like last year, I guess some things have not changed. This could be a reference.
Set #1: Twelve random anime-blogging-sort-of things of 2009
In no order…and no reason either now that I think about it. These are just some interesting things that I managed to remember for this post; perhaps you can share your own in the comments.
- Taiga’s Triple Crown - Covering Saimoe is sometimes a drag, but it is more meaningful if you actually participate in it. It isn’t a spectator sport.
- Meta-ology - More a triumph of GRSI than anything. It transformed the way I experience blogging.
- Getting to the Bones - What a joke, but chap was good for it, so bravo!
- Lelangir’s notes, or the end of. It was fun while lasted.
- Limited Chord Works - It’s not everyday some fangirl puts out a cover album.
- The OEG - These international men of mystery are mysterious.
- Funimation’s Virtual Panels - An idea that is a natural extension of what Adam Sheehan experiences year in and year out.
- Fanart citation circlejerk - Something good came of it! So I tried citing since then, and it was surprisingly little work thanks to my narrow range of sources. The pixiv giveth and the pixiv taketh away.
- GUHROOGAMESH - I mean cons are what bacteria culture to meme and bacteria. This one takes both to a new level. And the DMCA takedown is just the fuel for the fire yeaaaa!
- Fare thee good fortunes, Shizuki - Notable industry blogger calls it quits, good luck!
- Moe money, moe problem - This stuff never ends. It’s like OEL now. Can we stop talking about moe next year? If you still feel like you need to, you probably aren’t qualified to anyways.
- Man marries Nene, the world writes about it - Why? I mean Love Plus is fun and all but really. Also, I still think Rinko > Nene as far as having an interesting personality goes.
Set #2: Twelve anime moments of pop cultural reference (no order)
It was too much work to list specific references, so I’m going to toss titles in a list, sort of like a SNL skit on a boat.
- Seitokai no Ichizon - Oh yeah, DBE. Among others.
- Bakemonogatari - Hello IGN. And lolicions.
- Natsu no Arashi - The entire show was a “man the 70s/80s were so cool!” thing. Ah rosy lenses are rosy.
- Kara no Kyoukai - I’ll never see Häagen-Dazs® the same way ever again.
- Nogizaka Haruka - Newtype animated never looked better.
- Maria+Holic - It took me a second to remember why, but it’s all about the YMO.
- Kampfer - Sort of sad that only Yukarin got a real cameo.
- Sora no Otoshimono - she says it better (track 31).
- Eden of the East - I think I was hooked when I heard “Jason Bourne”
- K-ON - mainly for the fan-created crossover album covers
- Canaan - Shanghai! ZOMG China is EXOTIC zomg.
- Saki - Japanese-Tex-Mex make another mark in anime.
Set #3: Top 12 scenes to remember in anime of 09
Stolen from last year, but this is always going to be something I love to recall from year to year.
- Flying panties (Sora no Otoshimono 2) - Really, now.
- Acid Explosion (Queen’s Blade 1) - Bust Gasu Bakuhatsu?
- Lanced from nowhere (Eva 2.0) - Personal alternative: “I seem to have landed in some sort of school.” If you ever meet WAH in real life, tell him to act out that line for you.
- Woah, Nia (Asura Crying 21) - She qualifies as a top 12 character. (As an aside, I could probably do a “top 12 Haruka Tomatsu characters” list this year…)
- Nice Johnny (Eden 1) - Streaking in front of the White House is some kind of tradition for some.
- She dies, again (Cross Game 30) - It’s a great recap episode, and they should be pointed out.
- What is up with those tears and light effects (KnK 7) - KnK7 is memorable in general, but I hate that weird tear effect :(
- Gaijin 4koma (Bakemonogatari 9) - So if you want to get in an anime, start a meme on 2ch with your face in it?
- The yakuman Rin Shan Kai Hou/gang shang kai hua (Saki 19) - I mean, how could you not remember the most ludicrous hand ever. I actually came close to doing it once, that being said.
- Don’t Say Lazy (K-ON 1) - It’s undisputed that Kyoani says “we can make an awesome AMV” with K-ON ED.
- Pedro Martinez (Kimi ni Todoke 6) - Sorry, this guy was pitching in the World Series just the week after his cameo. How could I disassociate that puppy when I see him on the mound?
- Endless Eights (Haruhi S2 3+) - Love or hate, it’s a big deal.
(Yea, what the hell.)
Set #4: Unordered awesome things, for no reason
A lot of awesome happened this year, I apologize if I didn’t get to include them all. Also, vague on purpose.
- Yamakan!
- Nana Mizuki live!
- Yoko Kanno & friends!
- Duets!
- Link love!
- People at Jtor!
- Kajiura + Kalafina! (As an aside, this is awesome)
- Watching old anime people talk!
- Anime on 1080 and/or 2k and/or 4k and/or 35mm!
- Mandarake & stores like it!
- Japanese food culture!
- Cons & friends! Blogger pow wows!
Set #5: Favorite OP/ED of 2009 (visuals and all)
No real order to this either, although I think the ordering is suggestive.
- K-ON ED - This is a lazy answer, I know.
- Maria+Holic OP - I thought it was provocative and fun, and meaningful!
- Rideback ED - Koreans, yeah. Also that ballad thing works.
- Nogizaka Haruka Purezza OP - Newtype.
- Xam’d OP version 2 - That song rocks, and it doesn’t help that I heard it live… The visuals are awesome too. Heck, all the new Xam’d EDs are awesome too!
- K-ON OP - Only if they didn’t hax in Azunyan like that, but it’s still p. good.
- Canaan OP - Only if the rest of the anime was like this…
- Eden of the East ED - The music and the paper-witchcraft make it the most plain ye memorable ED this year.
- White Album OP 2 - It makes a helluva more sense than OP1 that’s for sure. And believe it or not, its arrangement is just like Shin Ai, and the melody is actually a little more catchy!
- Natsu no Arashi OP - Makes me want to learn how to play the bass.
- Toradora OP 2 - The song just works because it is catchy.
- Saki ED1 - TENPAI SUKI RI WAI WAI. It’s visual crack IMO.
Set #6: Favorite Anison of 2009 (which is just about music)
No real order to this either, and besides the suggestive ordering, it should be compared with the previous 12 for some curious insight as to how I think and qualify these things.
- Hatsukoi Limited ED - This song is like drinking alcohol to my mind.
- Bakemonogatari OP3 - Pure aural moe.
- K-ON ED - Nice to meet you too Yoko Hikasa.
- Umi Monogatari OP - It’s emblematic of Marble in 2009, and very relaxing.
- Maria+Holic ED - It’s catchy, it’s YMO. Yeah.
- Bakemonogatari ED - This kind of piano rock is nothing special but it sure is fun.
- Railgun OP - UNCE UNCE UNCE.
- Natsu no Arashi ED - I rather like Ryoko Shiraishi’s delivery.
- Hatsukoi Limited Insert Song Ep 6 - Merry Christmas and Happy New Years lol.
- White Album OP - Harp! The angel sings!
- Asura Cryin OP - It’s catchy, sorry.
- Gundam 00 S2 Insert Song Ep 18 - So is this.
Set #7: Twelve anime that I wanted to talk more about this year (no order)
My blogging habit this year has solidified some more, and it’s even more sporadic. I tried to ration things out the best I can but often times it still doesn’t work out. On that note, I am also more regular because of it. I think of it as discipline and not as much as “I need to get x post out per y time period” although it does motivate me to write when I don’t want to, as it is the case for a disciplined writer. It just doesn’t read any good. That said, often times I fail to blog about things I want to write about out of concern of things I want to do even more, like watch said anime.
- Book of Bantorra - More people need to talk this up. It’s rather good in the anime format so far.
- Cross Game - I think I do it right by suppressing the desire to talk about this, because it sits behind a thin veneer of narrative magic in which loses its power through analysis.
- Aoi Bungaku - Seriously, this is good stuff. Just don’t have the time to watch/talk about it before end of the year.
- Trapeze - Admittedly, it isn’t easy.
- Basquash - I would if I watched it all.
- Summer Wars - I would if I could watch it a couple times.
- Eva 2.0 - I would if I could rewatch it a couple more times.
- Aoi Hana - It’s hard to talk about it, so I didn’t.
- Umineko - Just didn’t have the time.
- Mouryou no Hako - I guess it almost makes it to this year? Let’s leave it to wabisabi, so we don’t have to.
- Darker than Black 2 - The ending is a good setup actually, maybe…
- White Album - This sucker is complex! WTB timeline.
(I see good girls!)
Set #8: Twelve anime I (almost) finished this year that I don’t want to forget, yet I will anyways.
These are the shows that I would like to buy if they’re dirt cheap, and would love to hear more thoughtful chatter about. At the same time, none of them are worth writing home about, which is partly why you don’t hear all that much.
- Sora no Manimani
- Tower of Druaga S2
- Shangri-la
- Rideback
- Kanamemo
- Taishou Yakyuu Musume - Yes I like it, but it’s just not that memorable!
- Yokuwakaru Gendai Maho
- Nyan Koi
- The Sacred Blacksmith
- Linebarrel of Iron
- Needless
- Asura Cryin’
(It’s hard to dig her up.)
Set #9: Tsutsuji versus Shizuku.
Last year I was all meromero for Hiromi, but Tsutsuji Baba is really dead-locked with Shizuku Sango this time. Okay, I’ll be honest–there weren’t really anyone that stood out for me in 2009, with the above exceptions (and maybe one or two more). It’s also kind of hard to do 12 points with Tsutsuji alone, even if she clearly is the most interesting character that happened the past year. At any rate, I will just combine them and whip something together. They’re close enough right? No order:
- Shizuku is Kaori Nazuka’s hottest voice performance ever. On that note, it is a repeat year for a Kaori Nazuka character and that really surprised me. Who knew she could do it both ways?
- I always like it when people are GAR enough to jump out of airlocks and behave like badasses. Is that on tvtropes already?
- Shizuku accessorizes.
- Tsutsuji whips.
- Shizuku kicks high.
- Tsutsuji is on a self-searching journey.
- Shizuku is on a self-searching journey, too.
- Shizu-chan is no man’s woman. Because her man is a woman, and not because her man is not a man.
- It’s sort of like how Tsutsuji is her own woman, but also a woman of … a thing. Something about jumping.
- Shizuku may put out, but she has some shreds of dignity left. I personally want more but it’s a good showing.
- Tsutsuji keeps it together in an otherwise insane situation.
- And Shizuku clearly likes it when a plan comes together.
Give it up to two girls who think outside the box. I fear 2009 is not a year for strong characters, at least ones I like anyways.
Set #10: Twelve Haruka Tomatsu 2009 Characters.
Lo, behold, so I could. This is nuts, by the way. And I mean most of these have large speaking roles in the shows they belong to. Aoba and Corti basically carry their respective shows on their shoulders. They really wanted her to get out there! Oh if it wasn’t obvious, she voiced more than 12 roles this year!
- Corticarte Apa Lagranges - The first, one and only, and I think it’s a good symbolism to the range she occupies as far as otaku fodder goes. Then again, Polyphonica is that sort of show.
- Aoba Tsukishima - It’s a precarious balance between natural tsun and hard tsun, although I think Aoba is a classic tsundere as far as those archetypes go. Tomatsu does a good job overall with this “basics of basics” character of Cross Game.
- Misao Minakami - I think this is still Haruka Tomatsu’s best type of role, and it is probably my favorite Tomatsu role this year. This Asura Cryin’ Good Girl gets basically stiff-armed, but she really shined (like they all do) during the few moments of spotlighting.
- Yunyun - Probably the universally second best thing from Canaan. Because people will argue what is the best thing, and it’s hard to deny that this character and her acting, despite being nothing fancy, really added a dimension missing from the otherwise dreary deliveries from the other characters.
- Kotone Kirishima - The yandere from Nyankoi. It reminded me when Yamakan talked about how Kannagi was cast, and Tomatsu was suppose to be Zange-chan. I guess this is not quite that, but it’s lols.
- Akari Kirishima - The tsundere from Nyankoi. It’s basically magic to me how Tomatsu makes Akari sound so different than Aoba (when she’s fired up). Yet at the same time, well, she’s a magical girl.
- Rouge - She has a hard task in Basquash, both as a singer and as a character, so while I didn’t think she did the best job possible, it was still pretty good. Maybe it helps if I finished watching the thing…
- Yumiko Ichinose - She plays a straight-up Oujosama type here, but it’s good contrast with her more down-to-earth tsundere stereotypes.
- Hime Makita - It is totally a Aya Hirano role here, I guess what makes the difference between Hime and Kurumi-chan from Kimi ni Todoke is the brevity of Sora no Manimani. And Haruka Tomatsu’s voice just doesn’t emo down as much compared to Aaya.
- Mana Mizuki - Yeah, we are not the last person to make the Nana Mizuki joke, right. White Album probably would have sounded better with Tomatsu as Yuki, but then again Mana was better for it.
- Azuki Edomae - Did anyone else but me watched any Kigurumikku V3?
- Kanade Miyashiro - She had a one-scene role in Saizon ep9, and it was pretty distinctive in that I knew it was her right away. I guess not like it matters.
Set #11: Old shows in 2009 that I want to finish/finished.
In no particular order, there were shows I was watching/watched/going to watch this past year. It’s a good way to being the new year.
- Manabi Straight - This show is turning into an instant classic, I’m afraid. It’s only 2 years old!
- Kanon 2002 - Speaking of which, I have some R2 DVDs to give away. I should run a contest.
- Tweeny Witches - Thanks, Best Buy. Maybe I’ll be motivated to finish…
- Gundam 8th MS Team - The last episode wasn’t so bad.
- Good Witch of the East - the anime goes farther than the translated books :x Partly why I want to watch Guin Saga :(
- Simoun - Still in the thick of it.
- Giant Robo - I think it’s about time.
- Samurai Champloo - Let’s see how this BD holds up…
- Someday’s Dreamer ~ Natsu no Sora - … yeah.
- Darker than Black S1 - It’s on the back burner. But I might just key in on my favorite pairs.
- Heroic Age - On 1.5x speed. But that Yui Ishikawa act… man. Wait, she’s back as Tanya isn’t she…
- True Tears - How else can I tell if the BD box is worth it!
Set #12: Twelve well-wishes and random thoughts.
Just random things, in no order:
- Support the works. And I mean it by the ethical, responsible way. Do it both with money and with action, but within your means, in a sustainable manner. Show that you care, regardless if it’s via fan routes or commercial methods. In fact it’s expected that different people will support the stuff in different ways, as it should. The enemy is common and it is ignorance, and not each other.
- Best anime couple of the year has to be Enomoto and Kusuda, no doubt about it. Screw Yuuto and Haruka!
- It’s also a good example of how to be excellent to each other!
- I think it’s a social networking axiom that being genuine is the best way. So be genuine. You might be a shill and you might be a critic trying to build creds through your own perspective by putting things up or down, but without being genuine to your audience you’re going to piss off the same amount of people as if you were being genuine about it, but make no headway.
- I talk out of my ass a lot in 2009, and I wish I didn’t. But the alternative is sort of boring, and awfully passive-aggressive-like. For this I apologize, and I ask again for people to show me wrong when I am!
- Thanks for reading this blog. Even more if you dared to comment…I could do better with not biting people’s head off, or trying.
- The Naughties/00s/etc was a big decade for anime. It’s going to take a while to take it all in. Surprisingly times like this I think of Gundam 00. Or, lol, Shangri-la.
- I really enjoyed that Time of Eve thing.
- I also really enjoyed that Yoko Kanno thing, and I think it’s almost cruel that someone who works with so many international collaborators and have fans all across the world don’t have shows outside Japan (Ok except that RO2 concert)! Or at least, something more than a con show, you know? Something more elaborate and proper (like that RO2 concert. Bah @ Koreans).
- I’m touched, really, when people do that warm fuzzy thing when some people I sort of read link back to my blog saying something about something I’m not really sure. I am sorry, but I am poorly equipped to link back or return the favor in some way. Such is how I roll.
- Which is to say, I think the blog can use a once over. And maybe you won’t even notice it.
- Just 3 more days until Momotato’s update proper! WE ARE SO EXCITED! Maybe he will talk about his Japan trip? I know Lawson owes us a report proper…
You know where to let me know aobut error/missing stuff/additions–
Year in Review 2009:
Haha, nice list for Tomatsu. YunYun was great for her ad-libs!
And thanks for mentioning ’some fangirl’.
So yeah, what happened to anitations anyway? Did people just decide GRSI is better? I thought it was a nice alternative to Ani-nouta. (Plus, unlike Ani-nouta, they actually covered some of my stuff).
“Yea, what the hell” indeed!
I think people just used GRSI for their purposes thus the death of anitations, as it was kind of an experiment to begin with. Too bad, because not everyone is on the Google wagon.
@some fangirl: any time!
Hey, lemme do 12 things in this comment too!
1. Quite sad to see anitations go. (屮゜Д゜)屮
2. I liked both seasons of Druaga a lot, but sadly there ain’t anything meaty to write about it. I’m afraid I might just ramble about Fatina…
3. Isn’t Tsutsuji Baba a Miyuki Sawashiro character? I keep telling myself I want to watch Cake Girl, but the art isn’t my cup of tea.
4. Being genuine is good advice!
5. You really have to watch Giant Robo. For stronger effect, try watching it before Shin Mazinger Z.
6. Natsu no Sora was quite lovely. Someday’s Dreamers is, in general, and I fancy it to be some sort of “real” magical girl subgenre. Ho ho ho~
7. I would’ve been happier if I didn’t saw the last episode of 8th MS Team, but that’s me.
8. Kappa FTW
9. Pedro-inu is my first Pedro Martinez, and I’ll never unsee it as well.
10. Glad to see someone liking Rideback ED as well.
11. LOL at Tomatsu list. I’ll be seeing more of Mana Mizuki as I get around to watching the rest of White Album next year.
12. Thanks for keeping this blog, too! You and digiboy (among others) inspired me to start my own, and it’s been great fun–I’d never thought I’d keep on doing this!
3. Yes she is done by Sawashiro.
12. No need to thank me, it’s all just a matter of course.
[…] Limited - Ah, the innocence of adolescent romance. I’m with Omo. Enomoto x Kusuda get the award for the year’s best couple, rivaled only by Chikura x […]
Holy Jesus there is a lot going on here! Set #10 XD
Also, Tsutsuji, oh dear god that voicework was great. I didn’t follow Kampfer so I can’t comment on Shizuka, but Tsutsuji is definitely some gold.
Really glad you didn’t fall off blogging this year, your pace in recent months has been solid imo, so cheers to blogging in 2010!
Solid lists. (屮゜Д゜)屮
Nice list.
“Book of Bantorra - More people need to talk this up”
YEAH § More people need to know Hamyuts.
I’m also waiting for Momotato’s update.