Twelve Days of Anime – Part II (Days 7-12)

アニメの１２日 – 二部

Today is the day before Christmas and to celebrate it, I’m looking back at the reminder of the moments in this year’s Anime that made it awesome. This includes Croisee, Ano Hana, Fate/zero, Idolmaster, Hourou Musuko and Madoka Magica.

If you don’t know what this project is all about, I highly suggest checking out the prelude (Image Source).

6. Ikoku Meiro no Croiseè – Camille & Claude: the Class Separation

Croiseè had many cute moments with Yune and Alice having fun with each other through various activities. However, Camille and Claude caught my attention, especially with their childhood dream of being together not being possible because of their differences of class that got revealed in episodes 8 and 9. Because of this, she could never experience anything outside of the garden, which is why she finds Claude and stray cats interesting. To make matters worse, her family wants her to marry a rich guy that she doesn’t even love just for more power. This makes me feel rather sympathetic towards her since there is no easy solution. Not only that, Claude had grown a very pessimistic outlook of life as a result of it. Still, I hope they will find a way to achieve it so they can live together as a couple.

5. Ano Hana – The Heartwarming Ending Song

While I haven’t finished Ano Hana, it’s probably one of the better dramas Mari Okada produced this year aside from Hourou Musuko from the four episodes I have seen. Although the remaining episodes are still collecting dust on my hard drive, the ending song in particular has caught my attention not only for the excellent performance, but it also brought something special. If you haven’t know already, the ending song is actually a cover version of Secret Base ~君(きみ)がくれたもの~, one of ZONE’s most famous songs, which made that girl band popular. Since then, there has been some cover versions of the song. Needless to say, the “10 years after” remix of the song was simply beautiful and it fits with the rather nostalgic feeling of the show.  Since the song was well recieved with the ZONE reunion being in August of this year that it spawned a tribute album containing some of the band’s hit songs and cover versions of their songs from various artists. This shows how powerful this song is when combined with a very emotional story.

4. Fate/zero – Rider and Weaver is the Most Badass Duo Ever

Compared to Fate/stay night, Fate/zero surpasses the former from its storytelling, animation, music and the characters. Perhaps the most popular duo is obviously Rider and Weaver. Somehow, Rider effortlessly catches everyone’s attention since he only wants to hang around like he did with the other servants over wine and of course, show his power by using his army to bash some Assassins.  Still, Weaver’s complaining and him trying to look cool along with Rider teasing him is still fun. Nevertheless, it’s doubtful that any other duo can gather the same attention and popularity, although Saber might have a chance since she’s the only female servant in the 4^th Grail War.

3. The iDOLM@STER – Chihaya and Haruka

While it’s sad that Azusa and Takane (two of my three favorite idols) didn’t get much screen time, the growing friendship between Haruka and Chihaya became rather special, especially in Episodes 20 and 24. In the beginning, Chihaya acts rather emotionless and doesn’t seem to enjoy the other aspects of being an idol, except singing.  Eventually, Haruka helps to build her self-confidence and also brought her back from an early retirement through the help of everyone after the unfortunate libelous article regarding her past. In turn, when Haruka fell into depression, Chihaya repaid her by bringing everyone back together in front of her eyes. From what they have demonstrated, it shows how close their friendship really is and that makes it one of the strongest aspects of the show.

2. Hourou Musuko – Anna, the Role Model

Hourou Musuko has been the second most memorable show as Transgenderism and homosexuality awareness is increasingly becoming important after various suicides resulting from bullying of these people. For Nitori Shuichi, he faces more difficulties compared to Takasuki since he wants to become a girl. Because of this, his sister views him as a freak and of course, the harshness of society. Thankfully there is another girl that understands. Her name is Anna and she is pretty cool as she views him as a younger sister and protects him. Even though she splits up after he goes to school dressed as a girl out of pressure, they still have quite a close bond because he is the only one that truly understands her feelings, which only reinforces the fact that she is a great role model.

1. Puella Magi Madoka Magica – Kyubey ／人◕ ‿‿ ◕ 人\

Of course, I save this for last because Kyubey is the most notorious cute critter of the year as he incites the fear of everyone!  He is always asking innocent girls to sign a contract so he can get more Grief Seeds for his Incubator. Not only that, his permanent smile and the fact that he creates/has new bodies of himself only make him more sinister and undefeatable… unless you change the entropy thing. Even with that, it doesn’t change the fact that he still scares the hell out of you and me. ¶