|
AOTY stuff: 1) Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time - Look, I'll level with you all. I'm typing this entry many months in advance, before the English release of the movie is even out. But to be honest? I don't even need to see it to know that it will be the best anime of the year (After all, as I type this I'm only a few days away from the news that Masaaki Yuasa's newest movie has been delayed to 2022, which realistically is the only anime that could even compete for my favorite of the year). In fact, it doesn't even have to be good. Just the fact that it exists is enough for me. Back in 2016 I decided to give up on the mecha genre for awhile, since to me that year was a dire year for anime and mecha anime especially so. I got so burnt out that I decided that I would take a break from the genre until the final Rebuild came out, and back then we didn't even know what the release year was. But heck, I'm good at quitting things cold turkey and it honestly felt liberating to not feel obligated to have any takes at all on new entries in the genre. Will I return to watching mecha stuff after having seen the final Rebuild movie? Time will tell. 2) Wonder Egg Priority - Gave me a lot of what I want out of a non-Yuasa anime these days. 3) Pompo the Cinephile - I'm a total mark for movies about movies and this is a pretty well-made one of those! Even more importantly, it's only 90 minutes long which as the eponymous Pompo says, is the perfect length for a movie. You gotta admire an anime that practices what it preaches. 4) Attack on Titan: The Final Season - Not actually the final season, but I quite like the branding for it if only because the show has transitioned to feeling like a sequel without actually being one. It takes a lot of risks and they've all paid off. At this point there's not a lot new to say about AoT as a whole, I find it to be one of if not the best long-running serialized stories in anime these days, and I'm very excited for the actual final season. I've certainly heard the chatter about the manga ending but simply put I generally do not trust anime fans when it comes to the quality of endings. Some pals who read the manga told me that while they weren't a fan of the ending they think I'll like it a lot, so speaking as the only person on the planet who still hasn't checked out the manga I'm quite excited to see it unfold! 5) Gintama the Very Final - Even though I'm quite behind on Gintama, I couldn't pass up the chance to see this on the big screen. I might not have known everything about the plot of the final arc going in, but I was able to get by. After all, in a show like this it's more important that I know about the characters and the emotions going into it as opposed to the nuts and bolts of the plot. It's an excellent sendoff to the series, and I can't wait to watch it again someday when I'm properly caught up. Honorable Mentions: 1) Oddtaxi - A well-crafted anime that deserves all the praise thrown at it. Always nice to get an excellent anime that seemingly comes out of nowhere. Can't wait to see more from that director! 2) My Hero Academia: World Heroes' Mission - Really deserves kudos for being the rare shonen jump movie with a solidly-written original character instead of someone annoying who exists to suck up the oxygen in the room while drip feeding the plot to the viewer. Other than that it's a standard but competently executed kind of shonen jump movie. Hey, as long as they keep making them I'll keep putting my butt in those theater seats and have a blast each time. 3) Higurashi: When They Cry Gou/Sotsu - Haven't quite finished it yet since it's hard for me to make time for tv anime these days but just like last year as someone who hasn't seen the original anime or read the VN I have found it to be a palatable entry point. Alternate Honorable Mentions - Shows still ongoing in 2022 & movies from 2020 that weren't readily available in English until 2021: 1) Josee, the Tiger and the Fish - Anime-likers can be a fickle bunch. I'm not saying that as a diss, because I'd lump myself in that category too. I'm saying it because this movie delivers what a lot of anime fans claim to want but all too frequently tend to avoid; a romance anime between two adult characters that's not afraid to definitively commit to their relationship instead of the 'ol will they/won't they. It's quite good and I'm glad I had the chance to see it on the big screen! 2) Lupin the 3rd Part 6 - Part 5 lost me with its extremely serialized format; each story arc felt like watching a mediocre Lupin movie in 20 minute chunks. I'll be honest, it made me pretty concerned for any future Lupin projects, outside of the Koike movies of course. Thankfully Part 6 has been more in line with Part 4; a bunch of standalone episodes with the occasional plot episode thrown in. The latter is okay enough but the former has resulted in a bunch of fine episodes, with the obvious highlights being the two episodes Mamoru Oshii wrote. Dude got to work some of the concepts from his canceled Lupin movie into one of his episodes so that's cool as hell. 3) Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train - what if there was a demon slayer 4) Looking for Magical Doremi - When it comes to fandom I say fandon't. Despite not being familiar with Magical Doremi at all I was rather taken with this movie between Junichi Sato's usual solid direction and its sensibilities that feel more in line with a certain kind of indie movie than an anime. 5) Poupelle of Chimney Town - Studio 4C is back, baby. The story itself might be some fairly standard children's movie fare in its plotting but it's a solid execution of it with a nice aesthetic to boot.
|
#
¿
Jan 17, 2022 01:35
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 14, 2024 01:46 |
|
|
Xelkelvos posted:5ch and 4chan also separates out Movies and OVAs unlike OP for some reason though that really only affects one place value in the totals. idk if it has any further reaching effects. Looking back through previous years as far as I could tell based on my quick skimming it looks like this year was the first time in awhile (maybe even ever?) that a movie actually landed in the top 10.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 17, 2022 22:19
|
|
|
Tales of Woe posted:a lot of movies don't even have english subs in time for these threads so that's not surprising Yea absolutely. There are some other factors at play too, like it's harder to get awareness out there for non-franchise movies that aren't by known names or certain studios (Watch Josee, everyone!) but that's definitely one of the biggest factors at play.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 17, 2022 23:04
|
|