Moar graphs!

FINAL EDIT:So after I thought I fixed this post last night, I wake up this morning only to notice that the links from animeblogger and animenano 404′d and the post itself had nearly half the content cutoff, orz. So for the last time, after yet another rewrite, I’ll repost this. If it screws up again then I’ll take it as a sign that it was destined for phail anyways.

Though the reference post was a few months before I hit the blogging scene, I always thought it was a hilariously nerdy idea, ridiculous even. Well skip ahead half a year and here I am carrying out said idea. The fall season probably wasn’t the greatest one to start off with because numerous shows haven’t hit their completion/halfway points yet, but I’ll make do with what I have.

Kanon 2006

Average episode rating: 9.00

As most entries here at Ani-Ari start, Kanon is first up. It’s the top ranking anime this season from a statistical point of view and with good cause. A remake of the an already popular anime and even more popular ero-game, and backed by the production company which turns everything it touches into an instant cash cow; Kanon was made for success. Overhyped? You bet. Overrated? I’d say only slightly.

Kanon started off with a bang…well, a glomp followed by a bang. The introduction of the taiyaki thieving loli Ayu with her multiple “Uguu~”s as well as Nayuki, both sleeping moe mode and her bra scene, made for an excellent start to the season.

The episodes to follow saw the introduction of many more characters: Kaori, Shiori, Mai, Sayuri, et al (Kitagawa?) to form the harem affectionately known as “Sad girls in the snow”. The rapid introduction of multiple bishoujo laid out KyoAni’s difficult task in ensuring that they each got a respectable amount of screentime and a faithful translation from their ero-game arc.

And so episode 3 started things off with the introduction of Sawatari Makoto, the original lolikit. Her arc was centered around the discovery that she is really a shapeshifting fox whom Kyon’ichi met many years ago and has carried a grudge because he abandoned her when he had to leave. This portion of Kanon has the most fluctuating ratings because I wasn’t 100% satisfied with how KyoAni decided to portray the events. Makoto’s degradation was drawn out and over dramatized, whereas her departure, which should have been over dramatized, was given an uplifting feel. Some people thought this was a good move, but looking back, I would have liked the arc to be a little shorter and more of an emotional suckerpunch at the end. Though at the time of watching Makoto’s arc ending I gave it high ratings, I’m sure there must have been a reason so I won’t change them.

After a half episode transition where Kyon’ichi rapidly gets over Makoto, we’re thrown into Kawasumi Mai’s arc. The ratings of these episodes are consistently high because I feel the episode pacing is being done exceptionally well. While I prefer Makoto’s character over Mai and Sayuri, the pacing of the latter arc has been much better so far. There aren’t any needless filler shopping scenes or the reading of the same manga thrice, there has been continuous development and action throughout. Plus it has the waltz scene, made of so much win that it has been compared to SHnY’s “Live Alive”, though eventually declared inferior.

We now interrupt your regularly scheduled programming for some random yuri

Kanon’s technical aspects are obviously above average, being a KyoAni production and all. Animation and character designs are beautiful, hell the supporting cast of Kanon looks better than the main cast of YoakeNa and Kujibiki Unbalance put together. Music is also great, lots of classical pieces that add to the impact of the scenes, lawl @ Canon in D.

With the highest ratings and comparatively low deviation, Kanon is definitely one of the best animes this season, just take a look at blog aggregators every Friday and see count how many Kanon posts there are. Although statistically the best, I personally do not feel that Kanon is THE best anime this season, mostly because of it’s remake status and the fact it’s so overhyped causes some bias against it. It remains to be seen how Kanon will continue to perform, it’s living up to its expectations so far, but the Nayuki/Ayu arc will be the climax of this series, to pass final judgment before that is impossible. I look forward to reviewing the latter half of Kanon in the winter 2006 post, should this blog still live at that point =D.

PS: Yes, the perfect rating on episode 5 is solely because of the bath scene :3

Gift ~ Eternal Rainbow ~

Average episode rating: 7.79

Second under the microscope is Gift ~ Eternal Rainbow ~, my personal favourite amongst the original series (that is, excluding: Kanon, Death Note and Negima). Gift is about a town who’s inhabitants have a strange power called Gift, when a Gift is given under mutual feelings, a miracle occurs that makes the giver/receiver happy. When given under one sided or malicious feelings, the Gift goes berserk and causes pain and misery in an often ironic fashion.

Gift has the beginnings of a typical school romance and so I wasn’t very impressed, however as the graph shows, that quickly changed as the rating quickly ascends and peaks at episode 3. This is, of course, due to the appearance of Riko, a goddess among siscons. Soon after her introduction Kirino is pushed out of the picture and Haruhiko’s love for his imouto comes rushing back. Episode 3 tops out because of Riko’s implied confession and Haruhiko’s gutsy direct confession soon after.

However, things take a drastic turn for the worse at this point. Riko initially turns down Haruhiko and the series suddenly turns into a pile of garbage, filler like episodes with characters who have potential that is quickly wasted with irrelevant sidestories. These episodes only serve as minor build up to the upcoming angst, providing a bit of background on the power of Gift and the happiness/pain that can come with it.

The revival of the series comes at episode 8 when Haruhiko and Riko are on their school trip and they reconcile their love for each other. This episode also sets in motion the series of events that would take the Riko, Haruhiko, Kirino love triangle on an angst filled rollercoaster of emotion. Prior to leaving Kirino asks for a love charm from a temple as a souvenir, having started his relationship with Riko, Haruhiko denies her request and all hell breaks loose.

The following episodes are full of drama which, although corny at some times, was my main draw to the anime. Sure I knew that it was going to be a Riko ending but every passing week left me wondering how far Kirino would go to get Haruhiko back. Though I was a little disappointed that she didn’t go Kaede-level psycho, I was still quite pleased with the episodes leading up to the ending and the ending itself. Though the dip at the end is because of the rather cliche final episode, renewal of friendship is fine and all, but the speed at which Kirino forgave the two lovebirds is rivaled only by how fast Light went from wussy civilian to murderous mastermind, but that’s for another entry.

All in all an excellent series. Animation wasn’t spectacular but it got the job done, gigantor eyes though O_O. Music was mediocre and repetitive, but again, it fit the situation and didn’t detract from the experience. This anime isn’t going to top any blogger’s year end list, but it was an entertaining watch and worthy of entering my archives.

If this turns out to be a surprise turnaround ending OVA a la Kashimashi, I’m going to hurt someone

Yoake Mae Yori Ruri Iro Na ~Crescent Love~

Average episode rating: 5.21

EDIT: In the original post Adun commented that I was extremely lenient with the ratings for YoakeNa. Realizing that it may give the wrong impression to other possible viewers I lowered the scores to reflect my true thoughts. Sorry YoakeNa, reality is harsh, but hey 5.21 is still a pass =D

I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again: Damn that’s a long title. Thankfully this should be the last entry I’ll ever have to write on this series. YoakeNa is the definition of wasted potential. I don’t understand how something with such revered source material turned out so horribly, I probably should have taken that opening sepia-toned battle sequence as a hint of the horror that was to follow, _|￣|O.

I went into YoakeNa expecting a romance drama with a touch of fantasy and A LOT of Feena, so much so that I became a self-proclaimed member of the FFF. What were fans greeted with instead? A LARGE SPHERICAL GREEN ORB! Yes the cabbage that has become 4chan /a/’s idol, competition for GARcher in Saigar, and the symbol for poor animation quality.

YoakeNa had a rocky (but full of potential) beginning, filler-esque middle, craptacular main plot and a WTF deus ex machina end rivaled only by Mai HiME for the worst “they should have stayed dead” finale. The final scene caused me to tear with joy, not because Tatsuya and Feena got married “many years later” but because the series was finally over and it was purging the phail with tears.

YoakeNa has been a punching bag all season, taking abuse from many a blogger, so why did Danny, Hinano, myself and countless others keep watching? Train wreck syndrome. It was an anime so bad that you couldn’t help but keep watching, carrying only the SLIGHTEST glitter of hope that it would turn around. But then Tatsuya’s dad shows up and you realize you’ve just wasted four hours of your life in 20 minute intervals.

I think it was Kurogane who said something to the effect of: Bad art mars good drama. That was exactly the case here, there were some parts that I wanted to take seriously, but the quality of the animation was just so detracting that I couldn’t enjoy it. The wreathlit arc brought potential salvation with an interesting character and an ever so slight recovery of animation, but the Jurgen shows up and it all went to hell.

With such revered source material, and Feena, it really was a shame to see YoakeNa go down the path it did. Who knows, maybe one day it’ll get a remake and become the success we all know it could have been *nudges KyoAni*.

- - -

Well, it took three rewrites and a whole lot of frustration, but I’m finally done with this post. It was a little longer than what I had originally planned, especially my YoakeNa rant, but it’s a decent start. The graphing and analysis takes a bit more effort than I thought it would, but it’s fun to look back at a season and try to break down what I was thinking at the time.

Due to the fansub delay with many of the shows this season I’ll split these posts into blocks of three. Death Note, OtoBoku and either Geass or Tokimemo should be up next. Until then!

~ Shirukii ~