Top 13 Anime Shows Ending in 2013

Well, the year is ending, and I’ve actually watched a large amount of anime shows ending this year (over 60), so here is my list of the top 13 shows which ended in 2013. The shows and their positions are factored by how much I enjoyed these shows and how good (artistically, thematically) I think the shows are. Only full shows had been considered, no OVAs or movies of any sort. The names link to the show’s description and information on My Anime List (MAL).

13. Aku no Hana (Flowers of Evil)

This show is all about atmosphere. An oppressive atmosphere of self-inflicted fear, of being closed in, that one can’t escape. Not much actually happens in the show, but the constant fear of what is about to happen, of what is going to strike our protagonist drives both him and us as we watch the show. It’s hardly a “fun watch”, with each episode weighing you down until you seek respite elsewhere. Its masterful control of psychological horror and how well it conveys Kasuga’s life and the feeling of the town in which he lives make this show one that cannot be ignored, however.

It seems that had there been a second season a lot more would actually occur, and all that happened in this season was merely a precursor, but due to exceedingly poor sales, that is unlikely to happen. The rotoscoping is interesting, but believe it or not, the show I believe is closest to Aku no Hana is K-On! due to its absolute reliance on atmosphere over plot or character development.

12 Days of Anime #2 – Nine Great Anime Related Moments from 2013

Tomorrow I’m going to post the anime moment that had left the deepest impression upon me this past year. I’ve already written of 10 moments, but here are nine more moments that I thought merited a paragraph each, of an exciting, impactful or “other” moment in my anime-related life from the past year. Why nine? Because tomorrow is the tenth, the big one (Order of following moments is arbitrary).
Moments will be included for: Sword Art Online, Samurai Champloo, Oreimo, Little Witch Academia, Suisei no Gargantia, Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun, Valvrave the Liberator, ToraDora!, and Kyoukai no Kanata.

This sense of wonder, isn’t this why we’re here?

1. Little Witch Academia – A Simple Joy: This had been 20 minutes, and, well, just like the previous moment, it filled me with inexpiable joy. I felt like the character had in the opening sequence, I felt like I did when I’ve been taken to the cinema to watch Disney films as a child. There’s nothing extraordinary going on here, but as an experience? It struck me to the core, and I’ve rewatched it several times since. It’s not simply childish, it made me feel like a child, a much worthier feat. Every time I rewatch it, I get more excited, this is probably my #2 moment of the year.

12 Days of Anime #10 – Joining the Shipping Wars – Best Girl Ahoy!

I’ve been aware of fan-fiction for years, after all, I’ve began blogging on LiveJournal, many years ago. For those who don’t know there’s a tendency in fan-fiction to pick two characters and create a relationship for them, even if one doesn’t exist in the original material, which is termed as “shipping” these characters. In harem anime, such as The World God Only Knows (Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai) there are shipping wars under the name of “Best Girl” – Everyone argues who the best girl is, the one that will win, the one that should win, according to them.

Let the confession and shipping wars begin! Chihiro, the “Regular Girl”.

I myself had never truly taken part in such wars, in most shows whoever people argue for is based on who they as the watchers like, who they’d have been with had they been the MC (and thus you can see why some RomCom anime are based on visual novels, or have visual novel adaptations, so people could go along with their choice), rather than who the story fits. I mean, in OreImo (My Little Sister Can’t Be This Cute), it’s just obvious that Kuroneko is best girl and who the MC should end up with. In Boku wa Tomodachi (Haganai – I Don’t Have Many Friends) the lack of decision has the girls equal, but they keep having to have outside forces push for Sena because Yozora is just miles ahead otherwise.

Anime Season Midterms – First Impressions – Spring 2013

Well, I’m actually watching a lot of shows airing right now, so I’ll give each one a paragraph to help everyone else navigate this season’s shows. My opinion might change – there are more than a few series which were amazing until 4-6 episodes and then went downhill, but at 4-6 episodes you also get to feel you begin to see what these shows have to offer.

Let’s begin with new series:

Valvrave the Liberator / Kokumeiki Valvrave – We have a mecha show that really reminds me of Code Geass. Considering how much I love Code Geass, this is a good thing. We have kids running their school/country, we have mecha and inhumanity, we have an oppressive military empire opposed by a jackass capitalist empire… everyone is a jackass in this world, and thus far everyone also has redeemable qualities and isn’t a caricature villain. Good job thus far.
Only complaint is Fukuyama Jun gets a minor adversary role of A-Drei when giving him L-Elf who’s bound to get more time in the show would’ve been perfect.
Watched: 5/12 episodes. Second season already slated for Fall 2013.
Current Grade: A. Worthy of your time, unless you dislike school shows, dark shows, mecha shows, and political shows. In that case, what anime are you watching?