2007 Sort-of Year In Review
edit: you need to be viewing just the post itself to get at the pages, apparently. How bizarre! So that would be here, then.
For most of this year it seems I’ve always had something else to do rather than watch anime. It figures, then, that on New Year’s Eve I can’t think of anything else I’d rather do than round up what’s been a rather odd year for me from an anime point-of-view.
2007 has made me realise why I watch anime, to an extent. Sure, I love attempting to discuss plot points in a mildly intelligent manner, or oohing and aahing at impressive animation, but these are secondary to the main reasons I watch anime:
To relax, and enjoy myself.
The reason I haven’t watched so much anime this year is because I haven’t needed to relax. Without wishing to go all horribly real-life on people, my anime viewing habits have changed out of the necessity of stopping sponging off society and Leaving The Nest - aka moving out and getting a job. Unfortunately, said job is currently comparable to the experience of, say, watching an episode of Piano on a black-and-white telly with the sound off. It’s not exactly bad, per se, and it’s got a point to it in a way, but it’s almost totally devoid of stimulation of any kind. The last thing I need when I get home from work with my well-mannered-but-in-desperate-need-of-Ritalin personality is passive interaction with a screen; I need to actually wind myself up before I can sleep in the evenings as otherwise I’ve got too much left over energy!
As such, it’s taken a Herculean amount of effort to get through a very small amount of anime this year. I’ve had to take breaks at the eyecatches because my attention span won’t last any longer than 10 minutes and I have to do some washing up before I can focus again. I got through a couple of episodes of Seirei no Moribito by doing press-ups in front of the telly (unsurprisingly this didn’t last; I have the upper body strength of a pygmy mouse, but it was a worthy effort!). I’ve watched things at double speed and laughed at the squeaky voices (and this is anime we’re talking about!).
Maybe 2007 just underwhelmed me a bit. After April gave us an absolute truckload of promising shows, a lot of them seemed to fall by the wayside as they progressed. Some of the more “cult” shows I thought I’d love have disappointed me in various ways. I’ve also found myself watching rather too much American television programming recently (and no, I don’t pretend that all of these are/were good, but there’s no accounting for taste; you should see the shows I dropped…).
However, there were, as always, some pretty good TV series around (and a masterpiece of movie-making in Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo, which I won’t be covering here) and some that I’m going to persevere with once I’ve plucked up the courage to continue. Roll on 2008, of course, but in the meantime I’ve written some thoughts on the shows I finished watching this year and the shows I’m still continuing with - or at least intending to continue with!
I’m not really interested in doing a preview of January 2008, especially as so many others have already done them. I can’t say I’m actually looking forward to anything that’s airing; I’m interested in a couple of shows, obviously, but I’m not going to be eagerly anticipating them. Perhaps I should go back and try some of the series I never really gave much of a chance - ef, perhaps? It looks beautiful in screengrabs, but I don’t know how high my bishoujo gaming tolerance is these days…
Anyway, use the page links to see thoughts.
Page 1 - Introduction
Page 2 - Completed in 2007 - Dennou Coil, Emma 2, Nodame Cantabile, Red Garden, Seirei no Moribito, The Skull Man, Tokyo Majin Gakuen Season 1, Toward the Terra
Page 3 - Shows still in broadcast - Kekkaishi, Shugo Chara!, Ghost Hound
Page 4 - Shows I intend to catch up with - Bokurano, Darker Than Black, Romeo X Juliet, Baccano!, Mononoke, Moyashimon
December 31st, 2007 at 9:32 pm
I think I’ve possibly watched even less that you this year, and with one of the shows I have seen being Xenoglossia you’ve probably spent your viewing time far more wisely…
I did rather like Baccano though, but I suspect it’s largely for the reasons why you aren’t sure about it - with so many shows these days being little more than an attempt to sell merchandise by endearing a host of moe-stereotypes upon the viewers, a show that concerns itself more with being a whole load of madcap fun with little depth in characterisation or plot was highly refreshing.
That, and I’m predisposed to enjoy anything which seems dumb and pulpy ^^;
January 1st, 2008 at 6:52 am
It’s funny, I thought Baccano was one of the best shows of the year, partly just because of the characters. I guess they really weren’t fleshed out that much at all, but after the first few episodes I was attached to all (ok, most) of them. I also really liked the jumping around all over the place because everything came together eventually (although it all started giving me a “Hey, this is forming a coherent whole!” feeling before episode 5). Have you just watched the episodes here and there? I marathoned most of it; maybe that’s how it should best be watched. Or maybe it’s just not your type of show?
(I just finished watching it and was blown away, so that’s why I randomly decided to comment on it.)
January 1st, 2008 at 12:59 pm
I felt like you did regarding Baccano! from the first episode onwards and just couldn’t bring myself to watch anymore - is it still like that up to episode 5? I really trust your taste, so I suppose I’ll just let it fade away from my mind…
But I also guess I agree with you quite a bit re: SnM and MF. To be honest, I caved in and checked out MF because you mentioned it and was sadly bored to tears by the end of it. At least I suppose I really enjoyed some episodes of SnM like the gambling one a lot; but I dunno whether MF has that sort of thing to offer…
I personally liked Mononoke the most in 2007 though, but maybe that’s the stuck-up pretentious art student (..very funny) in me demanding to be heard. I just found it relatively refreshing and harder for me to hate because it was in small story arcs. Yet despite all of that, I still haven’t rewatched it… I think one has to be in a certain mood in order to really enjoy it. I love the show a lot and would embark on annoying proselytizing, but I’d rather a viewer watch it when he/she is ready to. It’d be nice if you watched it till the end, at least - ’specially the Nue arc. (Out of curiosity, did you watch Bakeneko? I think it’s still the best. Maybe.)
Have a happy 2008! Only thing I’m genuinely looking forward to is, of course, Gag Manga Biyori season #3.
January 2nd, 2008 at 5:11 pm
Meh, I felt pretty much the same this year. I watched atleast a few episodes of almost all the shows you mentioned, and none of them really grabbed me the way, say, Mushishi did last year. Nor did I really have as much throw away fun as I did with, say, Black Lagoon.
I did enjoy Nodame a lot– although I much preferred the Live Action version after I saw it too. That was really the only new show I finished. I liked Denno Coil, but eventually it sort of lost that whimsy that drew me in in the beginning, and got lost (for me) in a sort of tedious plot.
I’ve been thinking about checking Gunslinger Girls since it’s going to have a second season this Spring. And I’m eager to check out the Paris Special for the Live Action Nodame show, but that’s about it so far.
January 3rd, 2008 at 11:44 pm
Ah, the years wear. Early in the year I felt like I just didn’t have motivation to watch any anime, but feeling fine now, sort of.
Seeing the Kekkaishi bump makes me want to get in on it, but it seems like there are a bunch of episodes, so I’ll probably delay it.
Baccano! was a solid series, hope you enjoy it the end. Cheers to a great 2008!
January 8th, 2008 at 9:20 pm
I think I’ve possibly watched even less that you this year, and with one of the shows I have seen being Xenoglossia you’ve probably spent your viewing time far more wisely…