UlasanAnime.com – The anime industry’s existence is truly a marvel.
This past month has been quite busy, despite a lack of major events. Nevertheless, I’m making an effort to compile some thoughts to reflect on a year’s worth of content consumption. Introspection is valuable, and establishing a tradition of it is a commendable practice. I’m uncertain how much of this will resonate with or entertain anyone other than myself, but here goes.
If I were to create a video version of this post, it would commence with the following:
Twelve memorable, remarkable, or interesting ways to kick off an anime series episode (unranked):
- Two-Cars: Good morning Miyakejima!
- Sukasuka: We’re in for a sad time.
- 12 Taisen: Let the body hit the floor.
- Imoutosae: Sister’s milk and eggs.
- Osomatsu-san S2: Same as usual.
- SideM 00: I cried.
- Kemono Friends?..??? Technically 2016, but this show was all the rage in 2017, a bit like YOI.
- Chaos;Child sure was weird.
- Rakugo S2: It resumed being great right from the get-go.
- Alice & Zoroku can get surreal.
- Maid Dragon.
- Taylor – Abandon ship? Or abandon all hope, ye(ry?
Bonus: Hand Shaker: MY EYES AHHH.
Twelve memorable, interesting, or remarkable episodes:
- Nora 6 – GOTY.
- Anime-Gataris 11 – Animation breakdown.
- Konohana Kitan 8 – Probably the most mono no aware expression in that ‘kirafan’ style.
- BBB S2 10 – This is the most succinct expression of Nightow’s appeal to me.
- GBF 13 – I like DJ, okay?
- Saekano S2 4 – I love the eroticism in this series.
- Eromanga 13 – Kind of like Anime Gataris but actually entertaining.
- Eromanga 3(?) – Sets the tone for 2017 for this category of anime.
- Hand Shakers 8 – My eyes are bleeding, but man, sure is sakuga.
- Bang Dream 3 – It worked for me, okay?
- Twin Angel Break 9 – RIP tuna duo.
- Fate Apocrypha 22 – It’s very sakuga, but I’m not sure I liked it more than 21. Gorgeous animation is meaningless without form and purpose; I think this is a good comparison point.
Twelve OP/EDs I liked, in no particular order:
- Wake Up, May’n! – Surprisingly, the one crossover between the two worked out so well that WUM might even be WUG’s most popular song to date. It’s funny, May’n does add something to WUG that makes it better.
- Saturday Night Question – Mixes what I like best about Yanagi Nagi and swaps out the singer entirely?
- SideM OP – One of the pains of watching SideM on Crunchyroll was seeing the opening animation mosaic-d into dust by the low-quality encode, every week. Please enjoy the official upload of it at 1080p here.
- Alice & Zoroku ED – I need my Itou fix. I guess hearing eufonius @ Konohana Kitan also helps in a different way, but this one is a bit more noteworthy.
- Sukasuka OP – FWIW, I think Tadokoro Azusa’s So What is the best anisong album this year, and this song kind of grounds that whole experience.
- Centaur ED – Shoutout to Asaka’s new song that kept my eyes on her this year. Occultic;9 was good too!
- Maid Dragon OP – Gotta do that dance. Also, the PV depicts the story of how fhana came together as a band, if this wasn’t detailed enough. The Kyoani thoroughbred OP is good too, but this is one super rare case where I think the PV is actually better.
- Eromanga ED – If there was one song that summed up my feelings and moods in 2017, this was it. I was so glad that I was able to see it performed live at least once. But now it’s on TV, so you can too.
- All PriPri Chichan OP/ED – Being a dirty Muray shill aside, I think I like the concept in the show for OP/ED. It’s particularly amusing when the ending dancing matches the singers’ styles. Nansu, Mocho, Haruka, and Aki all had a hand in it.
- ImoutoSae OP – At first, this song was really too straightforward, but at the end of the series, it’s just crying earnest. Also written by yuxuki waga of fhana.
- Eccentric Family ED – Really powerful with all those montages of Benten.
- Koi? de Ai? de Bokun Desu! – Not so much anything about Renai Bokun, but more the WUG aspect of this, and by that I mean the live, the calls, the PV, and the song itself, of course.
Bonus: Tenshi no 3P ED.
Ranked 12 events that I attended in 2017. Here’s the list (not counting, I guess, anything on 12/30-31).
- Hotch Potch Festival – This was so… good? In a way that I can’t really imagine another series pulling it together in this way. It still blows my mind as I try to rank it. I think it is one of those cases that its goodness is obfuscated in our ability to really verbalize it. I think anyone who knows his imas can put it together on their own by looking at the setlist and performers, but it was still mind-boggling. It’s like, half of it is unremarkable because the live is built on your everyday eventer pieces, but the product needs its own instruction manual, and it’s so freaking great.
- Anisama 2017 – This is the Anisama everyone wanted Anisama to be. It’s easily the best Anisama in years, since they went from 2 to 3 days. The only thing that probably topped it was IMAS x LOVELIVE.
- Angela Budokan – So high partly because it’s a bucket list item checked (a full solo Angela live), but also this is their grandest live ever. The only possible complaint is that they played fewer anisongs than their more anisong-focused live last summer. But, you should get the blu-ray; it comes with both lives and English subtitles!
- THE IDOLM@STER Million Live 4th Anniversary – Tezukuri Budokan complete. The wheel begins to spin towards Theater Days. Wrapping up a chapter of my life? Also did not imagine this to be 4th ranked at the time, lol, so low for so much emotional impact!
- 765Million TW – It’s Hotch Potch Lite, but also fun because 765pro TWbu is a great host.
- Megaton Voice – My most YOLO trip did not disappoint. It’s a glorified release event, but it was really fun, and seeing South and Corey, LOL.
- Anisong World Matsuri @ AX – IMAS IN AMERICA AAAAAHAHHHH. Anisong day and Idol day both were great, and it’s the focal point for North American eventers this year. I’m glad the offkai worked out and people generally enjoyed it. I would love to do it again, now that people know how it works, but AX was a major ‘problem’ I had to work around, so I’m not sure if it’ll happen unless I can figure the AX part of the equation out. I can also expand on this some more, but this is one way that North American eventers can create some culture together, as we really need more? FWIW, AX doing this is something that had to happen; it made no sense that people wanted to go to AFASG, in my mind, when AX is right here and can/should do even better than AFA completely.
- ZAQ acoustic – I know she’s good, but dang, she’s good. It’s a blessing that she got to write all these anisongs, I guess, and we got to hear those songs really given a chance live, even if she doesn’t sing them normally.
- AniRevo Summer 2017 feat. Itou Shizuka, Kato Emiri, Ueda Kana, Konishi Katsuyuki – For an anime con with seiyuu content, this is nigh impossible to top, I think. I mean, I guess you can go drink with Shizukasama normally, but man.
- AnimeNext 2017 feat. Ueda Reina – Ueshama is wonderful. I can’t say that enough. Such a bundle of joy, and she has the natural ability to share her joy with you as well.
- Shinso Ongaku Ensou Kai 4 – I was surprised this event was as good as it was.
- Sphere Yoyogi 2017 (Sunday) – My last Sphere live for some time, I guess, but also my first Sphere one-man.
Bonus: Watching Kawamori dance to Walkure ga Tomaranai HAHAHA.
Note: I went to a lot of great events that didn’t make the cut, like WUG solo and Anisong World Matsuri @ Otakon, but this is my life now with Japanese events in the way. Hell, even Anime NYC’s live was great, relatively speaking to what we’ve been getting in America the last 5 years.
Twelve personally interesting eventing moments I witnessed this year:
- Onegai Shangri-la – Angela’s parody song for Onegai Cinderella for alien magical idol Acchan?
- Shizukasama talks about top 5 oppai – At Vancouver this summer, Shizukasama did her usual thing, I guess.
- The guy who yakkai’d during Sphere Yoyogi and got hit after – It’s not even tiger.
- You & Me @ Anisama 2017 – Motsu pulled one over us, but it’s great to finally see it in person.
- Airu 2017 – I missed seeing this in person, so it’s a nice treat.
- Cherry & Danketsu – Crying producer is not just a meme.
- Ueshama in AC (in general) – Such a charming person.
- 765proML offkai in TW – There were several. The official tour had a dinner with GamiP and others. TWbu did one Saturday at a club and on Sunday at a BBQ place. HPT-types did another one on Sunday that’s more low-key with friends.
- Thank You @ ML4th – When Kotoha showed up, it was much tears. The whole weekend was much tears, I guess.
- Having to haul butt from Shinjuku to Haneda to catch a flight while checking typhoon on Twitter. Not really an event, but such is a thing. Oh, it was raining hard, too.
- When Theater Days got announced.
- Sanpei Yuko at AZ and at P Meet. Couldn’t make it to SideM 2nd though?
Twelve best girls. You get a best girl. You get a best girl. And you get a b(ry. In no particular order:
- Kaho – Blend S.
- Chihiro – Imoutosae.
- Manami – A Centaur’s Life.
- Benten – Eccentric Family.
- Sakie – Interview with Monster Girls.
- Lily – Netjuu.
- Monkey – 12 Taisen.
- Yukana – My First GF Is a Gal.
- Mamika – Re:Creators.
- Veil – Twin Angels BREAK.
- Hinako – Hinako Note.
- Natsume – Just Because.
Special shout out to all the poor sods from Sukasuka.
Twelve shows, ranked, that I liked the most in 2017:
- Imoutosae.
- Eromanga Sensei.
- Saekano S2.
- Knights & Magic.
- Netjuu.
- Sukasuka.
- SideM.
- Sakura Quest.
- Uchoten S2.
- Food Wars.
- Centaur no Nayami.
- Restaurant to Another World.
Honorable Mentions: Mahoujin Guruguru, Pripri, Pri Pri Chichan, various movies. Maybe BBB, Acca, Just Because, and a few others?
Twelve shows I want to finish watching (if at all):
- Little Witch Academia – I am excited about this IP, but thanks to Netflix, I have no motivation to do so. I guess it’s time to find a relative’s Netflix account? You might find this a trend for this list, actually.
- Yukiyuna S2.
- Oratorio.
- Welcome to the Ballroom – I might still finish it, but I doubt it.
- Urara Meirocho.
- Trickster.
- Tiger Mask W.
- Marginal 4.
- ID-0.
- Girls’ Last Tour.
- Anonymous Noise.
- Berserk.
12 shows I joke about finishing:
You might also be interested in : The Toughest Animation Challenges, Autumn 2017
- School Girls Striker.
- Batoga.
- Clockwork Planet.
- Akiba’s Trip: The Animation.
- Ousama Game.
- LL Sunshine – I did watch that Saint Snow episode.
- The Reflection – Might still do it?! For Stan Lee???
- Shobitch.
- Symphogear.
- Teekyuu – well, what else are you suppose to do with it?
- UQ Holder – HAHAHA.
- Taylor – RIP.
Twelve thoughts from Legend of Galactic Heroes, the 120 or so episodes:
- Why aren’t western SF like this these days?
- How timeless does fiction need to be to be a classic?
- Does it really need a reboot?
- When is the collab cafe? Oh, not when I’m going to be there?
- This Reinhardt character is a thought experiment.
- I see why there are all these diehard fans. But why do they like the imperials?
- As cool as they are, they actually are just space nazis, huh.
- This high court romance stuff is hilarious.
- As bad as Trump was/is, I’m not sure I’m ready to join the imperials or the free masons?
- Oh, they’re going to kill that guy in that way, huh? And damn, it happened?
