I’m hallucinating right? Nope, that really does say Top 5
Wednesday #100. Damn. Other features have fallen off the map since
ive started this blog (AMV Friday and First Impression Friday). But someohow in
addition to the lengthy reviews I write, ive managed to come up with a list of
random topics for more than a year and a half now. There were even one or two times I felt like
it just wasn’t going to happen. Low and
behold, I kept at it. Cause as
frustrating as it can be to think of a random Top 5, these are still a lot of
fun to write. I was thinking about being
lazy and just doing a Top 5 for the Top 5 Wednesday’s ive done. But as I said…that would be lazy. So for this extra special occasion, im going
another route and looking back at the 118 titles ive covered over the last 4
years and choosing 10, not 5, 10 titles that ive had the most fun watching and
reviewing. Choosing this list wasn’t
easy and I was almost close to just doing a Top 5 and Worst 5 list in the same
article, there are a few reviews where I know my all hasn’t been given…or I was
just kicking myself for choosing them in the first place. Anyway, enough dawdling, choosing this list
was one thing, arranging it was another.
Let’s see what nabbed what spot.
#10-Your Name
I cant get over how good this movie was. The hype was 100% real and not many movies
can say the same (except maybe The Avengers).
Your Name has the premise of a cheesy 90’s romcomdrom but because it’s
Anime, it becomes something I not only can stand but can also get behind all
the way. Taki and Mitsuha’s journeys are
beautiful tales and seeing them trying the find each other has me tearing up
everytime. Your Name is turning 1 year
old this summer…and yet it already stands as an unexpected legend in the realm
of Anime filmmaking. Akira and Spirited
Away now have an adequate rival for best of all time.
#9-Escaflowne
What’s weird about this choice is that I wasn’t really a
fan of going back through it. Reviewing
Escaflowne years after id last seen it was a different kind of experience. The flaws, especially in the second half,
were a lot more visible and multiple views couldn’t help me understand the plot
holes. So why is it #9 on my Top 10 Favorite
Titles list? That’s because I learned
something new with Escaflowne: it’s ok to rag on a title that might’ve been a
beloved classic in the past. Time
changes opinions all the time (just wait til I get further into Gundam
Wing). And yet, Escaflowne is still a
technical marvel with crisp animation and one of the best musical scores of all
time. For all my dislike of where the
story goes, I still want to get this series on Blu Ray one day, the movie looks
fantastic in high def.
#8-Martian
Successor Nadesico
Nadesico is the ultimate fan parody of mecha and scifi
Anime…well it was until Gurren Lagaan came along. But starting 2017 with this series was a fun
choice in retrospect. Sure it does shift
gears a bit in the second half. Unlike
the disastrous movie, the TV series remains pretty consistent and has a lot of
undeniable heart to it. From Akito and
Yurika’s infuriating will they/wont they romance (Akito should’ve hooked up
with Ryoko), to Ruri’s unexpected development of feelings for her crewmates, to
the over the top action scenes, this show is a celebration of all the super
robot scifi action that came before it.
And it sure knows how to get your blood flowing with “YOU GET TO
BURNING” every episode.
#7-Neon Genesis
Evangelion/Death and Rebirth/The End of Evangelion
One of my earliest reviews, rewatching and writing down
my thoughts on Evangelion proved to me that this blog idea was a really good
idea. I never felt so connected to the
series, or the movies, until I approached it like this. Sure I had analyzed Eva like everyone else
has, but this felt different. Still,
getting in depth with one of the most in depth Anime of all time didn’t mean I
had to wax philosophy every time I penned a review. This show still knows how to hit you where it
hurts and some of the biggest WTF moments (Eva’s eating Eva’s and the whole
last half of The End of Evangelion) still make me cringe in fear. The fact that Neon Genesis Evangelion is
still discussed so heavily, 20+ years after it came out is testament to it’s
incredible power in the world of Anime.
#6-Black Lagoon:
The Second Barrage
A perfect example of a sequel done right. The Second Barrage took all of the greatness
of the first season, stuck a stick of dynamite in it and set it off on a wild
freaking ride. The world of Roanapur was
expanded greatly with a fun cast of crazy and horrifying new bounty hunters and
assassins. More background was given to
already established secondary cast members like Balialika (marry me you sexy
woman) and Eda. And we got some nice
progress on Rock and Revy’s work in progress friendship. Of course, the action never let up, even when
it was time to develop some characters a bit.
Hotel Moscow’s skillful takedown of the Vampire Twins and Revy’s assault
on the Yakuza bowling alley with Ginji are some of the best action scenes
committed to any Anime. If I ever start
watching this season I cant stop until it has all be watched in one night.
#5-Dragon Ball Z
Movie Marathon
Dragon, Dragon.
Rock the Dragon. DRAGON BALL Z!!!
15 movies over the course of two weeks.
I was so excited to finally get the complete collection I just said…F***
it, im gonna review them all. I had seen
most of the films already but others I was seeing for the first time (the
Brolly sequels, Resurrection F). It was
like getting a shortened crash course in the history of Z: the good (Dead Zone,
The World’s Strongest, Fusion Reborn), the bad (Lord Slug, Brolly-Second
Coming, Wrath of the Dragon) and the just plain horrific (Bio Brolly was the
first movie to get a 0/10 on this blog, X: An Omen is it’s only roommate in
that club). As much as I praise the hell
out of Gundam Wing, Dragon Ball Z is the show that really got me into Anime in
the first place. Having some form of it
on this blog was long overdue. Don’t
look forward to me EVER reviewing the series cause that would take for freaking
ever. Still, this was a great marathon
and does sum up Z properly in 15 (mostly) awesome features.
#4-Mobile Suit
Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket
I’ll admit, I wasn’t having the best time reviewing the
first season of Full Metal Panic. It’s
such an uneven series that it was hard for me to find exciting things to talk
about with it. Why mention that
here? Because after FMP’s first season
was done, I reviewed Gundam 0080 and I couldn’t watch or review it fast
enough. 0080 has some of the most
emotional moments of all Gundam and it flows insanely well for only being 6
short episodes long. I was so excited to
write about this one as the start of Gundam Month Mark II last April and I did
it all with a smile on my face while whipping away tears from rewatching all
the heartache with Al, Chris and Bernie.
#3-RWBY Vol.3
I still remember sitting on a bench at work watching the
end of this season unfold. At long last,
something substantial was closing out a season of RWBY…and it was one of the most
horrifying things to witness. Major
characters were killed, the core team was fractured in the worst way and, much
like The Empire Strikes Back, the bad guys had won. The number of emotions RWBY Vol.3 instilled
in me was beyond count. I was sad, angry
but excited and very happy. After two
seasons where there wasn’t really much of an idea where things were going
(enjoyable as the ride was), Vol.3 gave me everything I wanted in a season of
RWBY: action, humor, great characters, and a lasting impact that would push the
series to new heights. Vol.4 built
nicely off of this, but Vol.3 is where everything changed for RWBY. Like it or not, it ended up being for the
better.
#2- Free!
I still cant get over how much I really enjoyed this
one. A show about beefy guys swimming
their hearts out and rediscovering their friendships shouldn’t even be a blip
on my radar. What started out as a
planned joke, just to write something funny for a First Impression Friday,
turned into me continuing to flip to this show for inspiration every once in a
while. The core friendships are real and
the heart is all here…you just have to look past the man meat on display and look deeper. Is it wrong im looking forward to eventually
seeing the new trilogy coming this year?
Most would say yes, but I say no.
Free is a really well done show and I will defend it against anyone who
says otherwise.
#1- Mobile Suit
Gundam Wing/Mobile Suit Gundam 00
Big shock, I know, a Gundam series took the top
spot. You know what though? It almost had to be this way. Gundam showed me how great Anime could be past
all the shouting and action. Gundam Wing
(all the reviews have been written, hence why it gets a spot), was the first of
those shows and rewatching it and reviewing it was a lot of fun. Of course, it’s spiritual successor, Gundam
00 stands along side it because it was the first really long series I reviewed
over an extended period of time and I was having a blast going through it
again. Both 00 and Wing have high marks
and low marks. The high points (the
characters, the mech and action) are stellar and the low points (Graham Acker,
the last act of Gundam Wing, early series Relena) are just begging to be ranted
about. They may not be the best overall
shows in the Gundam pantheon (some will argue more fiercely for Wing than
00). But both of these shows are special
to me in many ways. I still rewatch 00
every summer, just because. And
reuniting with Wing as a long time coming.
This blog is named after Gundam.
Read the reviews for both of these shows and you’ll see why. Also, I think my final thoughts on Gundam
Wing are some of the most heartfelt material ive poured into a review. I hope you’ll agree when we finally get there
in a few weeks.
Thanks for enduring 100 random lists on my blog :) See you next week with a brand new Top 5 Wednesday as I start the next 100 lol
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