More EDs! These ones missed the first list for one or more of these reasons: I forgot about them; I didn’t want to include two from the same show; I counted it as not awesome enough because I was being a lazy dick; I haven’t actually seen the anime it comes from but know the ED by reputation.
TO MAKE THIS LIST, if I can actually think of how the song or video goes, it’s got a good bet.
I’m watching the first season of Working!! in preparation for the upcoming sequel, and as I look at the character Souma Hiroomi, I can’t help but think of Durarara!!’s Orihara Izaya. As a matter of fact, I’m wondering if Kamiya Hiroshi’s performance as that manipulative bastard landed him the role in Working (which started during Durarara’s second cour).
The primary similarity between these characters is that both have extensive information on everyone in the story and use this knowledge to their advantage, often by way of exploiting others’ misfortune. That’s a pretty definitive connection, considering that Souma is from a comedy wherein each character has just one or two defining traits. Not to mention they’re both voiced by Kamiya Hiroshi (and both of their shows have two exclamation points, but that’s far less relevant here!!) (Aside: If they make a second season of Durarara, I’ll kill someone if they call it Durarara’!!)
These days, there seems to be a lack of great male supporting characters in anime. The average series tends to feature far more girls than guys, and the men are usually either the main character or the main character’s sidekick. The only shows that have a significant number of male characters and actors tend to be aimed at women, such as Hetalia or Kuroshitsuji (neither of which I watched, by the way). Still, there was at least one excellent anime of 2010 that brought forward a slew of great male supporting roles.
(There were originally more nominees for this category, but the only ones I ended up writing about were the ones from Durarara!!)
Just a quick post on another funny seiyuu connection I noticed.
Kamiya Hiroshi plays the voices of Araragi Koyomi in Bakemonogatari and Orihara Izaya in Durarara!!
Araragi Karen
Throughout Bakemonogatari, Araragi’s two middle-school sisters make several appearances, though they don’t end up doing much (being major characters in the later novels).
Araragi Tsukihi
The new Durarara!! OVA introduced Izaya’s twin younger sisters who likewise haven’t had much screentime yet, but are also major characters later in the novels.
Orihara Mairu
I thought it was interesting that both Kamiya Hiroshi characters had two younger sisters. Doesn’t seem like a strong connection? In both shows, the more energetic sister is played by Kitamura Eri and wears a hooded yellow jacket, while the younger/introverted sister wears green.
Orihara Kururi
The response to my Acadime Awards announcement has been overwhelmingly positive, and a number of volunteers have already come forth. I’m excited to see how this’ll turn out, however, I think there’s been some confusion as to how this all works and what part you can do to help, so I decided to present a preliminary award to show what it’ll be like.
Art by 0123456789 http://gelbooru.com/index.php?page=post&s=list&tags=0123456789
So Ra No Wo To
Some of the most gorgeous art this side of Yoshitoshi ABe; characters who’re instantly endearing and have a natural chemistry; an engaging central narrative that pushes it one step farther than shows of its like—Sora no Woto wasn’t only great, but surprising. I loved it from the first episode, but it constantly found new ways for me to love it—for the art and animation, the impressively developed characters, engrossing world, fantastic directing, and consistently interesting episodic plots—tied together by an even-more-interesting dramatic plot. What makes Sora no Woto my favorite anime of 2010 is that there are so many aspects which I adore, and which have kept me rewatching the episodes, finding new things to say or to think about them. It’s a show that nags at the back of my mind, asking me to watch it again and find the next gem of knowledge or interpretation that’ll make me love it even more. This is the kind of show I’ll still be blogging about years down the line, and I love that, because it’s so much fun to blog.
Posts I did on this anime: Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3, Eps 4 and 5, Episode 6, On Talent
Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha The Movie 1st
Never has the tale of a girl winning the friendship of her rival looked so god damn good! The Nanoha movie is special not just for being amazing, but for being amazing in replacement of a shitty series, and creating a magnificent springboard into the second season, which it rivals in brilliance (perhaps surpassing it by way of production quality). This film is wildly fun to watch and easily rewatchable, not to mention a perfect excuse to introduce my friends to the wonder of mahou shoujo anime. I love the genre, and Nanoha takes everything that makes it great and writes it for an adult audience without losing any of the magic. The final scene is one of the best emotional climaxes in anime, even if it was already done in the original show. What the original doesn’t have, however, is one of the best aerial dogfights I’ve seen.
Posts I did on this anime: Recommendation
K-On!!
The dialog and seiyuu performances in this series almost transcend anime as I know it. I can’t think of any pair of characters whose interactions are as entertaining as those that Satou Satomi and Toyosaki Aki create in Ritsu and Yui respectively. I single them out for their godliness, but that’s not to mistakenly forget that the other actors and their characters are all superb as well. Kyoto Animation continues to prove that they’re amongst the best production studios in TV anime. No other studio has the sheer attention to detail that they do, nor the general brilliance in directing. K-On is always entertaining, and at times even profoundly emotional. It has an unmistakable stage presence not unlike its own characters, which is no-doubt intentional. Add to that some excellent openings and endings, which are vitally important, because while a weak opening or ending can rarely hurt an anime, a strong one can make it all the more legendary. The only thing holding me at bay with K-On is that not every episode is equally brilliant. There are definitive god-tier episodes, great ones, a slew of average ones, and a couple of rather poor ones. The great outweighs the merely good, though, and rewatches should prove vital to the series’ strength.
Posts I did on this anime: Eps 1-6, Episode 7, Episode 20
Strike Witches 2
I couldn’t have prepared myself for how much awesomeness would come from season 2 of Strike Witches. I enjoyed the first series a lot, even if I never thought of it as something special, so I was expecting the same kind of laid-back enjoyment from this. Instead, I got a show that constantly kicked ass from start to finish and left me begging for more. The only thing that could’ve been better about Strike Witches 2 is that it could’ve been longer. Besides that, every episode had a crowning moment of awesome for one of its characters, and all of those characters etched their names into my heart. From a special attack that rivals the awesomeness of a super robot move to one of the most ingenious action scenes of the year, I was always impressed. Episodes flew by and made me look forward to watching them again, which I’ll be doing sooner rather than later with the uncensored blu-ray rips coming out. This is the best kind of popcorn entertainment, and something I want to show my friends.
Posts I did on this anime: Moments
Glasses and ponytail! *dies*
The first roles that I would’ve heard Hanazawa Kana in, had I been able to ‘hear‘ seiyuu at the time, were Kajiwara Sora in Sketchbook ~full color’S~ and Potemayo from the eponymous anime, both of which aired in late 2007. The irony there is that the former is a character who’s too shy to speak aloud—so all of her dialog is mental narration—and the latter is a 2-foot moeblob who can only say two syllables per breath and mostly makes noises. —Not exactly roles that tell you if an actress is going to be good, in spite of being leads.
Twice in the past, I’ve blogged extensive lists of my top 100 favorite anime characters, and I’ve regretted the decision to set that 100 limit for a while; partly because a favorite character list is bound to transform every time I finish a show, and also because I love a lot more than 100 characters.
For eight months now, I’ve seen Chii of Oishii Anime run her ‘365 Days of Anime Characters‘ series, which is very admirable, even if I wouldn’t personally want to talk about characters that I dislike alongside those I love. I’ve also been jealous of Glothelegend’s character page on Eye Sedso, wherein he selects his favorite character from every anime that he’s watched and talks about them.
I can’t do what either of them have done, because I only want to talk about my favorite characters, and I want to do more than one per show. Of course, a post series like this would get boring if I didn’t liven it up and innovate somehow, so I hope you’ll enjoy the formula I’ve come up with for these posts. I’m setting them to go up once a week, indefinitely.
Each post will contain two characters selected randomly off the top of my head. The numbers are just for archiving purposes. If you don’t know the character, you can click on their names to get some basic information.
My Sword Is Unbelievably Dull 