Do you ever wonder how your tastes change over time? How you remember loving one show to death but now it doesn’t hold up very well, or the shows that you hated stick with you after all this time? Well, that’s the idea behind this retrospective: a look back at the year 2010 in anime, and to those shows from yesteryears. For me though, it’s more of a way for me to play catch up with these 2010’s offerings, since I only watched about a handful of shows from that year; many of them were years ago and my sweet memory just fails me sometimes. I hope this retro review serves as a reminder for long-time fans and as a recommendation for those who want to check out shows in the starting year of this decade.
I have heard many people complain that 2010 was a low point for anime, with a significant decline in both quality and quantity of shows produced. Shows were mostly reduced to 1 cour in length (a trend that continues to this day). Moe anime – cute girls doing very cute things – took the anime fandom by storm with the likes of K-On!! and OreImo. The terrible trend of incest onii-chan love flourished, as many popular shows like Yosuga no Sora, OreImo, B Gata H Kei and KissXsis embraced it at full force. On the other end of the spectrum, fanservice anime and crude, vulgar comedy anime had an unexpectedly great showing, lead by B Gata H Kei and Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt with the former and Mitsumodoe, Seitokai Yakuindomo with the latter. It was a year with great loss too, as Satoshi Kon, one of my favorite directors EVER (animated or not) passed away unexpectedly, leaving a big wound that still hasn’t healed. Even now I still visit The Dreaming Machine’s website from time to time. Just an old habit.
On a brighter side of things, noitaminA remained as relevant as ever, with 4 shows (5 if you count Katanagatari which re-aired in later years) ending up in my top 10. Makes me really sad to see how they have struggled in recent years. What is wrong with you, mate? We also witnessed the short-lived but ambitious Anime no Chikara – a project that tried encouraging more original anime produced by A-1 Pictures and Aniplex. As much as I love noitaminA for its focus on mature themes for a mature audience, it was projects like Chikara that I would support wholeheartedly; original, fresh and new ideas that aren’t based on mainstream sources should receive more attention. Whatever happened to the project, I would love to see it alive again.
On a personal note, despite everyone complaining about 2010, with all the shows I sampled, especially with the top 10, I found that this year wasn’t bad at all. The top 10 could be a solid lineup for any given year. And come on, in a year where the top 10 is so diverse it consists of a sports show, a horror show and an incest show (*achoo), it wouldn’t be that bad, right? RIGHT?
To make this list more consistent (and I’m intending to do more retro reviews in the future), here are some basic rules:
– There are 30 shows this year that I decided to sample. I will rate, rank and give short reviews on those shows. Shows are eligible in their year of airing. Shows with split-cour in different years will be eligible for both years (for example, Fate/Zero will be eligible for both 2011 and 2012). Shows that have 2 cour but run in two years will be eligible on the year they start airing (for example, the holy quartet From the New World, Blast of Tempest, Psycho-Pass and Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure will be considered as 2012 anime); likewise for long-running shows (meaning Cross Game will be 2009, Hunter x Hunter will be 2011).
– For movies, I will pick exactly 5 movies that air in each year and then choose the best one. Think of it like having a nomination round and then picking out the winner. Short movies that are longer than 30 minutes are eligible in the Movie slot, as are short-form OVAs (meaning Time of Eve or FLCL are eligible here). Multi-part movies will be considered as one entity (like Kizumonogatari Trilogy and Garden of Sinners. Evangelion movies however, due to their separate releases, will be considered as different nominees).
– For rating, I will use psgels’ 100 score system, but beware that my barometer might be different than his. For instance, I consider 60/100 (not 50) as a line between medicroce and passable shows. 75/100 to 89/100 are recommended shows and from 90/100 upward are the cream of the crop. In some rare occasions, I will include plus (+) and minus (-) but remember that they don’t have anything to do with the quality of the shows. (+) is awarded for shows that have strong feminine message, or shows that portray female characters in a positive, sensitive or realistic angle. (-) is casted for shows at the opposite end of the spectrum.
There will be mild spoilers. It’s worth mentioning that this list is highly subjective. For instance, you will see me talking a lot about how female characters are portrayed in some shows (I hesitate to use the term “feminist” here). And don’t get furious when you see shows like Yosuga no Sora make a top list (there. I said it) because that’s just how subjectivity works. With all the groundwork established let’s hit the road before it gets dark, starting with #30: