David's Best and Worst of 2004

Well, it was the "best" of times, and it was the "worst" of times.
2004 had some greatness, and had some shortcomings. The highs and lows. Here's a taste of the year, as it were. The good and the bad.

Best Animes of 2004
Hmmm... without a doubt I'd have to say that the Best of 2004 (for me at least) when it comes to Anime has got to be BANDAI's Ghost in the Shell : Stand Alone Complex and ADVFilms Azumanga Daioh.

The two choices couldn't be more different even if they tried to be!
GITS : SAC, an "Elseworld" style sequel to the original GITS movie (but spinning from the assertation that the original movie ended differently than it did) returns us to the GITS universe in grand style and really really grabs ahold of you from it's first episode (and doesn't let go as you go through episode after episodes)!

On the other end of the scale we have Azumanga Daioh, a slice of life school story about the students of Miss Yukari's English class.
Compared at times to Seinfeld, it's a beautiful, funny, and downright solidly done series that is going to be one of those series that you simply must have in your collection.

Honourable Mention Animes (2)
Honourable Mention... that's the same as series I liked, BUT not enough to say they're at the top of my list? Okay. I can do that...

Two series that come to mind have to be Panyo Panyo Di Gi Charat (ADVFilms) and His & Her Circumstances (Right Stuf).

Yeah, yeah, Right Stuf's H&HC is glitched with technical problems with it's subtitles and voice track (occasionally the subs shut off or the voice track goes silent during certain scenes) but that doesn't make this gem of a romantic comedy well worth having in your collection.

As for Panyo Panyo Di Gi Charat? It's Di Gi Charat Lite (compared to the manga series), and a "prequel" show on top of that, but that doesn't mean it's not a cute little show that could. It's not the best but I had a spot for it in my collection nevertheless as being quite watchable and nice.

Sleeper/Surprise Anime Hits (2)
What was the little series that could?
Hmmm... though I didn't watch it yet I have a feeling that Kaleido Star (ADVFilms) fit's the bill of delightful little sleeper hit to a T.

The story of a girl seeking her dream to star in the Kaleido Stage (a circus she was awed by when she was young, and same circus that inspired her dream to be in the circus in the first place) and all the ups and downs, hardships and triumphs of her quest.
If a little series about a person's dreams and their struggles to make them come true isn't a "sleeper" hit waiting to happen I don't know what is!

The second little gem of a series would have to be BANDAI's Galaxy Angel.
Somehow I don't think people are catching on yet how good this is. Yet.
But considering this series is now enjoying it's 4th Season on Japanese TV, and has quite a solid fanbase? It is a sleeper hit just waiting to blossom into a large fan fave.

Worst Animes? (3)
I didn't have a truly 100% hated with a vengeance Anime to diss here...
HOWEVER, that being said, I did have some "situations" in series I hated.

The "Let's kick the fun out and become dreadfully serious" idea from (dot)hack//Legend of the Twilight! (BANDAI)
When I first got ahold of this series (manga Graphic Novel 1), and it seemed to be (dot)hack//lite I was quite intrigued by this change of pace! Then I got ahold of the Anime and it seemed to have the same charm as the first Graphic Novel I read... then I saw Volume 2 and watched as they threw the fun to the curb and tried to be serious.

Yeah. Thanks a lot. That was appreciated... not.
People? If I wanted a serious title I would have been clammoring for (dot)hack//SIGN 2!
I would NOT have been praising a series for being different as LotT was BEFORE this unwarranted and unwanted change!

They should have stuck to the risque humor and the near naughty moments instead of trying to go for the serious plotline.

Then there's the "Missing Yukikaze" thing (BANDAI).
Uh... I reviewed Yukikaze Vol. 1 like... well... a YEAR ago!
When do I get to see Vol. 2?!? At some point in my overall exsistence there WILL be a Volume 2... Right?

And, lest we forget, when it comes to bad nothing tops the bad thoughts of whoever thought it was a GOOD idea to give Melissa Joan Hart free rein to butcher an Anime into a live action movie, let alone a title like Real Bout High School!
The title was not exactly a fan favorite series, but it doesn't deserve this treatment either!
And from what I heard it will have less to do in terms of resemblance of RBHS as it would resemble a rejected plot for a Buffy the Vampire Slayer spin-off movie!
Seems to me UNLESS they change their ways soon this'll be a lame duck movie before it even goes into production, and how sad is that anyway?!?

Dishonourable Anime Mentions (3)
What?!? More?? You want more??
What is this?! Oliver Twist??
Alright! More now with Dishonourable Mentions!

All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku TV and the "relentless" personality disorder.
Yes, I did kind of like the first half of the original Nuku Nuku OAV series.
And while I'm not totally down on the TV Series... I'm not totally for it either.
With a cast that is so relentless in their character "quirks" that they will turn you off more than thrill you, the new TV Series is a box of one shot jokes that are relentlessly repeated over, and over, and over, and over, and over again... you get the point.

Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie
Yes. When you put movies out into theaters more on the amount of money you can pocket for mass merchandising of said movie's stuff over the quality of said movie your releasing? Well that can't be a good thing no matter how you slice it! Nuff said!

Disney putting the brakes to Miyazaki
Uh... weren't we supposed to have had that release by now?!?
That release being, of course, the second batch of Miyazaki DVDs.
Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind (Patrick Stewart), Porco Rosso (Michael Keaton) and My Neighbor Totoro.
First it's December 2003, then it was supposed to be August 2004... And now I don't even know when the next batch of Miyazaki DVDs are coming out!
What's with that anyway?!?
Hurry up and release them already so we can complain about a third release!

Theatrical Animes of 2004
If you just paid attention to the mainstream media then you might have thought the year only had Yu-Gi-Oh the Movie as it's only anime releated theatrical release... but then, of course, you'd be wrong about that.

Three other movies came out this year that I know of.
Ghost in the Shell : Innocence, from Dreamworks (BANDAI).
While it did not suck release wise nearly as much as Millennium Actress did, it also didn't make enough of an impact in theaters.
It wasn't a 4-6 theater blunder releasewise, but it wasn't a major theatrical release ala Yu-Gi-Oh the Movie... you'll just have to take it as you see it and that's it.

An Inu Yasha movie from VIZ is second of the list of movies that didn't get enough exposure when released. It did come out, from what I heard... I just never heard WHERE it came out or in how many theaters it showed in. Weird.

Third movie of the trio? That'd be the even less heard of Gundam F-71 movie from BANDAI. Recently "released", this movie seems to not be attracting much interest since not very many people are talking about it. No buzz, no news it seems. Go figure.

How many did I see in theaters? None. Wish I could say I saw some of these but the matter of fact is most of these didn't even make it to Hawaii theatrical-wise.

What did I find in stores like Blockbusters to buy? Yu-Gi-Oh and that's it.
I expect GITS : Innocence will be in Blockbusters soon since they carried Millennium Actress, so I'm looking forward to that.
And since Blockbusters carried Cowboy Bebop the Movie I'm hoping they carry the Inu Yasha movie and Gundam F-71... Then I can actually see them.

Hot Pick for 2005
Right off the bat the first thing I recommend is Magical Neko Neko Taruto from BANDAI (slated for a Late February 2005 release). This cute, fascinating and emotion tugging little series is just one you can't miss.

Once upon a time there was a distant dimensional world called Ganache, where lived a race of cat humanoids. This world, once ruled by a kind and peace loving clan, was overthrown by a dark clan and thrown into chaos. But before the fall of the kingdom the king of Ganache had his daughter spirited away to safety, the fate of the world and her clan depending on her.

The story starts years later as she, named Taruto, has grown into a beautiful young Ganache girl. She lives on Earth (as do other Ganaches who humans perceive as normal cats when they are anything but) with her human "master" Iori and his niece.
They have just moved to a new city, and new adventures await Taruto as she begins to learn her destiny... and comes face to face with both good and evil in Ganache and Humankind, complete with all the good and bad moments that comes from these new experiences. A 7+ age series that will captivate both young and old alike!

The second series of 2005 I recommend is the Second Season of Galaxy Angel, which is just coming out now. I haven't completed my Season One batch of DVDs yet, but I am already hyped about Season 2 (Galaxy Angel A) and can't wait to start buying DVDs... but maybe after I buy the rest of Season 1 that is...

The third I recommend is Ghost in the Shell : Stand Alone Complex Season 2! The second season, now showing in Japan, is another high point I hope sees release this year!

Theatrically I'm holding out hope that Howl's Moving Castle gets released in 2005.
It's a long shot but hopefully it does come out this year... hopefully.

(NOTE - Today I just saw the Appleseed theatrical release and I'm quite hyped about it... won't be able to see it since it's in Honolulu, but I'm hyped nevertheless.)