2007 Flashback: The Rundown

Run, Mihashi, run...

It's already 3 months into 2008... And I'm still stuck writing posts about yesteryear (This is what happens when you restart your blog at an odd time of the year -_-"). Perhaps not the best time to publish this, but what the heck, this list has been sitting in a word file for much too long.


The 16 anime that made my year in 2007 (no real significance to the number, just so happen 16 of them I considered above average by my technically loose standards. And no series continued from 2006 or continuing into 2008 either, it's a purely 2007 list), in ranked order (good to great to best) :

The Good:
16. Dennou Coil (spoiler: RIP Densuke T_T)
15. Nodame Cantabile (Mukyaa~!)
14. Lucky☆Star (L-O-V-E Lovely~Tsukasa!)
13. Claymore (The Idiot's Guide to Self Mutilation)
12. Seto no Hanayome (Masa-san!!!)
11. Lovely Complex (All Hanshin-Kyojin BANZAI!)
10. Darker than Black (BONES)

The Great:
9. Sketchbook ~full color'S~ (Slow down world...)
8. Hidamari Sketch (Sorry ef and Bamboo Blade, the Miya of the year is here)
7. Moyashimon (The "You Absolutely HAVE to check this one out for yourself" show of the year)
6. Minami-ke (KANA IS BOSS)
5. Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei (~Burebureburebure~)
4. Potemayo (Honi, honi!)

Top 3:
3. Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
2. ef ~a tale of memories~
1. Seirei no Moribito

Ranking done by the more serious, rational, and supposedly objective side of me that's supposed to judge the overall aspects of the show (Story, characters, presentation, blah blah blah) though obviously influenced by the whimsical, instinct-following, impressionable me (an indication of how much I felt the show impacted myself as a viewer, whether it tickled me silly or made me go "HOLY SHI- THAT WAS AWESOME , now I just have to sit down and let the other side of me think why...").

Of course anyone who's read this blog lately will probably notice the omission of one particular title, which at the time of this list's conception (a few months ago, mind you) was done on purpose since I wasn't done watching the series in question... But in the back of my mind there was no doubting its place on the list - the question is where? If serious, rational and objective had more of a say, this series would probably rank 4th pushing the current #9 to #4 a position back (and Gurren Lagann would have to switch places with ef). But based on my sheer enjoyment of this series and how it really changed the perception I had of its genre, I'm giving the 2007 top honour of personal favourite anime on Tondemo Nothing! to...

0) issa-sa's personal fave of 2007: Ookiku Furikabutte

Which neatly rounds up the Top 10 standouts series (#s 9 to 0) on my list with OoFuri coming out tops. *applause* A similar situation arose the year before that: Mushishi was easily the best overall 'serious' anime of 2006 (this time, it's Seirei) and Haruhi to me was best in just about every other respect (and was no doubt the iconic series of its year -whether you liked it or not- much like Gurren Lagann), but my personal favourite Ouran High School Host Club won me out anyhow. Call it personal bias or 'bad taste'/'good taste' or whatever, but what can I say, my blog my pick =P When you have strong shows colliding at the top, I'm the kind who'll pick the one that just feels right, and there's no denying that Ookiku Furikabutte is that series for 2007. Even back when I was only halfway through the series starved for subs, OoFuri had already impacted me so positively that I just knew it was the year's Ouran for me. I'd like to say more about the show now that I've officially completed watching it, but that'll be another post for another day.

It's also interesting to note what others ranked as their best show of the year: Specifically, Jason chose Gurren Lagann, Kurogane went with Seirei, Jeff Lawson pulled pleasant surprise by crowning Potemayo ^^ while the guys at Epic Win championed the best of the best: Mushishi! (Okay their real choice I wasn't as excited about). Besides these that come to mind, there was quite the Minami-ke love as well if I remember correctly.

I won't be debating why one series is better than another (or explaining why I didn't include/watch/finish watching series XXX not on the list) since this post is quickly becoming dated material. As a whole, I think 2007 offered myself many surprises in terms of series I liked (and utterly disliked) and though there were less hard-hitting sure-hit shows than 2006 and more average fodder running around (which even if I completed watching, did not make the top 16) there was generally enough to impress me at any given time during the year. So here's hoping for as good/a better showing of shows this year.