Once more, with feeling: Finding the Best Anime of 2012

[skreyola]

Maybe it's silly and baseless, but as I said, if I voted only in rounds where I'd seen both shows, I'd be out of the voting for most of the tourney, and Mao would have fewer votes to tally.

Y'know, it would be great if we voted solely on the basis of show merit, but then we'd all need to have seen all the shows. I don't have time for that (and am not interested in all the shows that made it into the brackets), so I'd be out of the voting entirely.

The problem with your logic is that you assume the only scenarios are "vote for rounds where you've seen both" and "vote for rounds where you've seen neither." I've voted in most rounds because I've usually seen at least one of the shows, or I've specifically been trying to game it like blkmage or other people.

You seem to think promoting obscure shows is desirable, but if you haven't actually seen those shows you have no way of knowing whether or not you've just pushed a show that is worth your time. If a show makes it far because no one's seen it, you've essentially just recommended a show to people even though if you saw it you might find it garbage.

I'm not assuming that. I'm saying that a lot of people have said things (as reasons they're skipping a vote, or as reasons for dissing someone's gamist or underdog reasoning for a vote) that indicate they think people should vote only when they've seen both shows. I fully understabd having seen only one of the shows. It's one of my reasons given recently.
I do think promoting obscure shows is desirable. I'd be sad if next year, the only shows people voted for were, for example, Free!, Silver Spoon, and ServantxService. I don't think shows should sweep the tourney just because they're the only ones most people have heard of. I desire for the tourneys to bring some hidden gem that hardly anyone's seen but on its merits everyone should to at least the semifinals. Some of my votes have been for things I haven't seen because they're on my list of maybe, if I run out of things with better recommendation, I'll try this and wish I'd seen it sooner, in other words, looks interesting.
If it's not a good show, it won't win on the basis of game theory votes, anyway, unless it's up against a juggernaut everyone knows but nobody really likes in the finals.
Anyway, I've never seen these tourneys as being "shows I recommend." If I like a show, I say so.
We should probably take any further discussion of this to a separate thread or PM so we don't derail the tourney thread.

[Maokun]

Aaaand the results for the last matches for Round 2 are:

Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou 2
Sukitte Ii na yo. 4


Hyouka 10
Moyashimon Returns 0

An expected landslide and a very unexpected reversal!

This is by far the most surprising top16 round I've seen in the 12 iterations of this contest. 5 out of 8 titles who advanced as second of their group defeat their matching "head of group" contender! I'll post the first match for round 3 the monday.

[Maokun]

Alright! After a surprising Round 2, we're left with only 8 titles, the best of the best. But only 4 of them may advance to the semi-finals! Let Round 3 start!

Please vote in the following two matches. As always, please try to share with everyone the reasons behind your choice:

WOLF CHILDREN vs SHIN SEKAI YORI

and

TONARI NO KAIBUTSU-KUN vs HYOUKA

Voting will be open for 1 day.

[MangaRocks!]

WOLF CHILDREN

I was really rather surprised that Natsume was edged out by SSY in their match, but at least that makes what I originally thought was going to be a very painful decision in *this* match a whole lot easier. I mean, yes, I did think that (minus some content ) SSY was good, and it was certainly intense, intriguing, and thought-provoking. But Wolf Children is beautiful in every possible way, from its gorgeous visuals to its great characters to its realistic depiction of motherhood (and just how much strength and love it really takes)-- and everything in between. (Plus there's the recommendability factor to consider.) So yes, my vote goes wholeheartedly to Wolf Children here.


HYOUKA

This match, on the other hand, is actually a rather more difficult choice than it may appear (at least for me ). Both of these series feature quite interesting characters, and TnK is certainly both funnier and much more romantic. (It's also a fantastic adaptation, which gives it even higher points in my opinion. ) However, I'll have to go with Hyouka this time because I seriously love mysteries and genius-type characters, I really like how it made such mundane things so interesting, and the animation is of course on another level entirely.

[GeneD]

Wow, slow voting day.

WOLF CHILDREN
It's really hard comparing a movie and a series, especially since with both of these I had concerns about the direction the story went in in the later parts. So do I judge them on these parts vs the rest of the good stuff outright or try and place it into proportion to the length of each work? I'm probably over thinking this way too much.
Since my issues with both pertain to, like I said, later parts/the endings I'll spoiler tag it. SPOILER: Highlight text to read: I mentioned this in more detail in the thread for the series, but the latter half of SSY focuses almost exclusively on the monster rat story line. While that and the ogre/fiend events were truly interesting, I would have really liked to see them address the issues relating to the methods for keeping their society peaceful and the powers of their children under control. I felt that this was really just glossed over at the end, the implications of which kinda sours the hopeful ending a little bit.

As for Wolf Children, my concern there was that I thought the paths chosen by the two kids were a bit cliche and I would have much rather seen one or both of them try to balance the two conflicting sides of themselves more. I guess though that might have been the case had the movie actually been about them and not, in fact, their mother. That said, I decided to give my vote to this for the sheer emotional impact and I think overall it's the more memorable piece.

HYOUKA
I'll have to go find a cute picture to post since I'm getting bored of writing reasons. I think it may be time for a re-watch if I'm finding it difficult to wax lyrical about this. It's well animated, I liked the characters, I didn't like TnK as much. Also, Oreki hallucinates tiny Chitanda angels at one point. Here you can watch 9+ minute loop of that one scene: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1FTEm2g9nc
Yes that's the sound of your brain leaking out your ears.

[blkmage]

SHIN SEKAI YORI

A tough choice, but ssy is more clearly worse than hyouka

HYOUKA

[Vii]

Can't decide between the first pair.

Hyouka -
Best bedhead.

[Maokun]

Hmm too few voters for such an important stage. I'll leave this open for another day.

SHIN SEKAI YORI

A tough choice, but ssy is more clearly worse than hyouka

Oh, you.

@GeneD: Not sure that "cliché" is the word that you are looking for. There was very little cliché about the resolution of the movie. SPOILER: Highlight text to read: For starters, we first got a surprise reversal of the tropes established by the own narrative: timid, needy Ame, wary of being a wolf and being hated by everyone became a proud alpha wolf that shed away his humanity for the benefit of other creatures, while proud, wild Yuki became a meeker, humbler girl who found her place in the world of humans. Cliché would have been that both of them found a balance and then all three lived together happily ever after, but the movie went the extra mile to show that the final suffering of a mother is accepting that her kids will grow up in the way they choose, following paths that will take them away from her, instead of going the sticky-sweet happy ending way.

And that's my vote for Wolf's Children.

[skreyola]

It's really hard comparing a movie and a series

I quite agree, and I wish they didn't have to be in the same tourney.

I'm abstaining, because I have no strong opinion about any of these four.

[ForeverInspired]

Yeah! I've accomplished watching all eight quarter-finalists!

SHIN SEKAI YORI

Okay, I really didn't want to pick between these two. Like some others said, it's hard to choose between a good anime series and movie. Yet, since there are already a few abstaining and I'm late to the party, I figured that it would be best to vote.

Let me start off by saying that both shows are very emotion driven, focus on plot well, pace well, have good endings, and have great music and voice actors. So where did I draw the line? Well, to be honest, I decided to choose by the characters. Don't get me wrong, Wolf Children has great characterization, but I only found Yuki to be special in my eyes. The other members of the family (especially the mother) have to undergo trial, but it seems that the only one who really struggles along to find her identity and later discovers it is Yuki. It was such a pleasure to watch that energetic little girl turn into a soft-spoken and (mostly ) gentle young lady. Now, that's enough talk about the loser of my vote. Shin Sekai Yori really surprised me with so many memorable characters: Maria, Shun (<3), Satoru, Inui, Squealer (die!die!die!die! I have never wished so strongly for such a fate), and especially Saki. Even though I love Yuki, I adore Saki. She takes Yuki's character development to a whole new level. You empathize with her so much and feel her pain and short moments of joy. I don't have many favorite female characters, and she ranks right up there with CC, Aika, Shana, and Yuki (before her of course). I can't forgive the fact that SSY had some very questionable sensual material in it even though it was picturing a distopian society, but I do like its discussion of other ethical problems and how thoughtful it makes the viewer.

HYOUKA

This is another tough choice, but it's thankfully not as hard as the first. Hyouka has the superior visuals and music in my opinion. It's also more exciting and always had me on the edge of my seat. TnK is a great character developing story, but Hyouka has those memorable characters that you can't get out of your mind. I still imagine that face filling my screen at least a dozen times saying "I'm curious!" Also, though both are school stories, Hyouka ventures into territory that few - if ever a high school anime - have tried with success: the developing of a good mystery with a believable and focused plot, characters, and clues. On the other hand, there are countless good (I'm not necessarily saying better) school animes that have sweet romances: Special A, Maid Sama, Say, "I Love You", Lovely Complex, etc. Of course, this is not a great reason for choosing one over the other, but I am about to fall in bed here and used up too much of my brain's power for the reasoning for the match above.

[GeneD]

Yeah! I've accomplished watching all eight quarter-finalists!

That is really awesome, nice going, ForeverInspired.

@GeneD: Not sure that "cliché" is the word that you are looking for. There was very little cliché about the resolution of the movie. SPOILER: Highlight text to read: For starters, we first got a surprise reversal of the tropes established by the own narrative: timid, needy Ame, wary of being a wolf and being hated by everyone became a proud alpha wolf that shed away his humanity for the benefit of other creatures, while proud, wild Yuki became a meeker, humbler girl who found her place in the world of humans. Cliché would have been that both of them found a balance and then all three lived together happily ever after, but the movie went the extra mile to show that the final suffering of a mother is accepting that her kids will grow up in the way they choose, following paths that will take them away from her, instead of going the sticky-sweet happy ending way.

No, cliche is exactly what I meant, but also note I said "a bit". SPOILER: Highlight text to read: To me the fact that the changes in both kids were almost completely 180 degree shifts was rather predictable and kinda the easy way out. I don't think both of them seeking balance would have necessarily led to a perfect happy ending, since there can be a greater struggle in finding balance than in picking between two extremes. I'm phrasing this harsher than the movie portrays it, but discarding the parts of yourself that you don't like/can't deal with can be easier than learning to love yourself completely.

Maybe had the movie shown a scene where Ame visits his family in human form or Yuki joining him on the mountain as a wolf, I'd have been more satisfied that they've come to mature decisions about their chosen path. And no, I'm not saying that out of the viewpoint of wanting a 100% happy ending.

However, I agree that the movie is about the struggles of a mother, and as such her kids might not have been as rounded as they could have been.

[blkmage]

Yeah, I think Wolf Children is an excellent film, but you can't really call the character arcs of the two kids a surprise. I pretty much knew where both of them were headed by the middle of the movie.

[Maokun]

Man, I hate when we lose like 60% of our voters for the most important stage. Anyway.

WOLF CHILDREN 2
SHIN SEKAI YORI 2

Wolf Children takes it, because it advanced to the direct elimination rounds with 9 points, while SSY only had 7.

TONARI NO KAIBUTSU-KUN 0
HYOUKA 5

Now, the two other matches of Round 3:

SUKITE II NA YO. vs KIDS ON THE SLOPE

and

LIBRARY WARS: WINGS OF REVOLUTION vs TSURITAMA

I usually have a bit of trouble finding suitable art for these series, but the amount of existent (and official) art for Tsuritama is as breathtaking in its quantity as it's in its beauty. Do yourselves a favour and check google images for Tsuritama.

[skreyola]

I'm going to vote for SUKITE II NA YO because it's one of the better romance shows I've seen.
And even though I haven't seen it, I'm going to vote for LIBRARY WARS because the title sounds interesting.

[MangaRocks!]

Abstaining from the first match because I have seen neither; however, as for the second match:

TSURITAMA

As mentioned before, I do love the Library War movie, and it was a fantastic finale to the series' story; however, Tsuritama is just the complete package. It's quirky and heartwarming and touching and hilarious; the characters truly learn and grow and develop from their experiences, overcoming their respective issues believably and beautifully; the friendships (+ the characters' families and community) are awesome; and it leaves you with both a grin on your face and a feeling of happiness that linger long after the last scene.

[ClosetOtaku]

Just wanted to drop in and thank Maokun for running this again. I have only seen a couple of these titles, so I won't be voting at all, but have enjoyed the discussion so far.

[Vii]

KIDS ON THE SLOPE
TSURITAMA

Kids on the Slope is a great drama, I really like the animation style, and I have a personal attachment to it because it has jazz and piano. Tsuritama is a quirky little series with a bright art style and is paced extremely well for a 12 episode series.

[Maokun]

Just wanted to drop in and thank Maokun for running this again. I have only seen a couple of these titles, so I won't be voting at all, but have enjoyed the discussion so far.

Hey! There you are! Too bad that you cannot participate in this competition, but I'm glad that you are enjoying it nevertheless


KIDS ON THE SLOPE

While not the best of Shinichiro Watanabe's works (likely, for being based on another person's material as opposed to his original creation) it becomes immediately obvious why he decided to adapt it for TV: there are not many other stories out there that would let him compose an ode to his beloved Jazz and Blues and the magic experience of finding about it as a teenager in Japan during the 60's. Using it as a backdrop and conduit for a tale about tearing barriers of insecurity or self-loathing and finding friendship and love is charming and surprisingly effective. Most of my gripes with the series concern mainly the plot during the second half, but that's how the story was originally written; Watanabe's directorial work and Yoko Kanno's score get no complains from me.

TSURITAMA

I've mentioned my love of its palette before and I believe that if more things used that palette, the world would be noticeable better. But that's just the most superficial of Tsuritama values. The clever visual metaphores, the believable and natural character growth of the protagonists, the unabashed love for old traditions and new pastimes, and many other virtues are its true beauty. I still remember how surprised I was when Yuki calmly and politely (but firmly) asked Haru to stop shooting him with his magical water because he didn't like it. That's a way of conflict resolution almost unheard of in the medium, surprising and unexpected in its simplicity and common sense!

[MomentOfInertia]

WOLF CHILDREN 2
SHIN SEKAI YORI 2

TONARI NO KAIBUTSU-KUN 0
HYOUKA 5

You know, I was expecting these two to be reversed, with Wolf Children in a shutout and Hyouka edging out. I guess there are more people who've seen SSY and not WC than there are that saw Tonari and not Hyouka.
---


This round I have to vote for TSURITAMA. Library Wars is good but it's a sequel movie and some elements of the premise irritate me.

[GeneD]

KIDS ON THE SLOPE

It actually made me like a song from Sound of Music. I'll love this scene forever (from ep 7, so spoilers for that ep obviously): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZNPdUjaXys

TSURITAMA

Gah, this one hurts. I really love Library War, but unfortunately I did have some suspension of disbelief issues with parts of it and at this stage of the contest I gotta dock points for that. On the other hand, for me, Tsuritama is perfect.

[ForeverInspired]

Here are some quick explanations.

KIDS ON THE SLOPE
Even though Sukitte Ii na yo. is a great romance, Kids on the Slope made it seem shallow to me. Now, that's a feat. Unlike the former, Kids on the Slope does have a pretty slow start, but once your past the premise, you are on a fast downward track. There is so much depth to this series that I am shocked as to how they were able to fit it all into 13 episodes. The characterization and emotions are unbelievable. Also, the twists are done quite well in ways that I didn't expect. This may not make it to the finals, but it definitely deserves a watch.

TSURITAMA
I was really torn on this one. I really, really liked Library Wars, and I was bothered by that red-haired chararcter's horrendous face in Tsuritama. However, the unique story and great visuals in Tsuritama do surprise the viewer and give a new plot to anime. Even though I don't like to have anything to do with fishing, I actually found this series quite interesting - a huge compliment to it. Also, the banter between the alien and the grandmother is one of the most entertaining conversations that I have heard as of yet.

[Maokun]

Hmm I wonder where is Hats. He missed voting for WC and LW.

SUKITE II NA YO. 1
KIDS ON THE SLOPE 4

LIBRARY WARS: WINGS OF REVOLUTION 1
TSURITAMA 6

And that's a wrap for Round 3!

Now let's get started right away with the semi-finals! Here's the first match:

WOLF CHILDREN
Movie, 1h57m
Summer 2012
Madhouse Studios
Defeated: Shin Sekai Yori, Persona 4: The Animation, Library Wars: Wings of Revolution, Mysterious Girlfriend X, and Acchi Kocchi


VS



KIDS ON THE SLOPE
TV, 12 episodes
Spring 2012 to Summer 2012
Tezuka Productions
Defeated: Sukite Ii Na Yo., Zetsuen No Tempest, Chuunibyou, and Fate/Zero 2

[skreyola]

LIBRARY WARS: WINGS OF REVOLUTION 0

Not counting my vote?


KIDS ON THE SLOPE

[ForeverInspired]

So, now we are left with three short school series and one family movie.

KIDS ON THE SLOPE

Wolf Children and Kids on the Slope are both very moving and emotional pieces of work - making it very hard on the voter to choose between them. They both have memorable characters, great art, and sweet romances. I've spent some time thinking this over, and I still am having doubts on which one to choose. Nonetheless, I am going to go with Kids on the Slope because I really like the characters' interactions, the music, the handling of serious topics, and the depth. I really wish that I could vote in favor of Yuki since she is the only character to really touch me in both animations, but it unfortunately is not to be.

[goldenspines]

The voter numbers have dropped significantly, haven't they?

WOLF CHILDREN
Still for the same reason I gave above, but let's simply sit back and realize that a movie has to be pretty good to be among finalists of series (granted, Summer Wars did something similar).
I came into Wolf Children skeptical (as I do with all anime series people hype up) and I was not disappointed in what I saw. The movie had an amazing way of endearing you to the characters very quickly and even within the first 5 minutes, you already have that connection with the characters enough to care if they live or die. SPOILER: Highlight text to read: ;o;

Plus, I was unable to really "get into" Kids on the Slope. I might try again, but nothing about it that people are saying has really struck a chord with me. ^_^;

[Okami]

I've been waiting for the voting to get significantly smaller (series wise) because there weren't many titles I've seen/tried in this season.

My vote goes for Wolf Children - the fact that it follows the mother despite the title being about the kids really piqued my interest. I'm going to set my wolf bias aside and say: The storyline was one of the better plots I've seen done in a while, and the animation was excellent. The music followed suit, adding to the drama unfolding before the viewer. Watching the kids grow up and choose their ways and watching the hardship the family endures had a sense of wonder and reality to it (despite the 'magical' parts), and that for me wins it because I appreciate a good touch of realism to my fantasy. Spiney also said it well when she noted the connection the viewer feels towards the characters. More often than not, I would find myself crying with them when they hurt, and that's not typical of me as a viewer...the sense of feeling and emoting was incredible, and unlike anything I've really experienced with anime before.

[blkmage]

KIDS ON THE SLOPE

Wolf Children was a fantastic movie that lived up to my expectations of it. Kids on the Slope, on the other hand, was actually kind of disappointing. A lot of my anticipation for it was wow Watanabe and wow jazz, but I don't think I ever really liked the characters in the same way that I did with Tsuritama. I guess this has a lot to do with time and place colouring my perceptions of a work.

[GeneD]

WOLF CHILDREN

I may or may not like this better than Kids on a Slope. I may or may not have literally flipped a coin for this one. I may or may not be crying a little on the inside.

[MangaRocks!]

KIDS ON THE SLOPE

Wolf Children was a fantastic movie that lived up to my expectations of it. Kids on the Slope, on the other hand, was actually kind of disappointing. A lot of my anticipation for it was wow Watanabe and wow jazz, but I don't think I ever really liked the characters in the same way that I did with Tsuritama. I guess this has a lot to do with time and place colouring my perceptions of a work.

Anyway, abstaining from this match because I haven't yet seen KOTS.

[KazeShiki]

Haven't been able to vote since I've been just a little busy moving countries. Results aren't very surprising though.

Wolf Children
Both shows have their flaws, to be honest, and I think Wolf Children's flaws just aren't as prevalent since it's a movie. I think good movies will naturally be better than good series, if they are close in quality. I guess I'm just really happy with how Wolf Children turned out as a well done family film that doesn't try very hard to do any more than it should.