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th3l3fty posted...

Kakegurui S1 is top 100 on MAL popularity with over a million people having completed it

I'd say that is very much not a "niche" series!

Fair enough, I was thinking more about Children of the Whales and Lost Song, but Kakegurui definitely was a lot more popular than those two. All three are Netflix anime that came out around the same time, I guess I just lumped them together in my head

I support whatever version of the rules that allows Kate's dad from the movie Gremlins who pretended to be Santa and broke his neck trying to come down the chimney

(I'm clearly bad at coming up with nominations. I might just sit them out like I did with Satan and see what people come up with)

Is there any chance we allow characters who have dressed up as Santa or do they need to be somewhat mythical and try to fulfill the role?

Most of the characters I can think of just dressed up as Santa once

Or is it? We killed Diablo, but we still haven't smashed his soulstone at the Hellforge

25. Flying Witch
https://myanimelist.net/anime/31376/Flying_Witch
Spring 2016 (12 episodes)
My Score: 9/10, MAL Score: 7.51/10
Best Character: Kowata Makoto

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82mm5JvJOmo

Premise: When a witch turns fifteen, they need to go out into the world to continue independent study. Apprentice witch Kowata Makoto moves in with her cousins in a rural town full of magic and nature.

The Good: Flying Witch is a relaxing slice-of-life anime, specifically from the iyashikei subgenre (it's Japanese for "healing"). Makoto is a nice girl who moves in with her nice cousins in a nice town, and she meets nice people while having nice adventures. I'm a big fan of relaxing shows like that, but my definition of iyashikei appears to be narrower than most. Looking at the TVTropes page for the subgenre, among the ones listed are depressing junk like Taisho Otome Fairy Tale (relaxing... suicidal thoughts, forced marriage, and abuse?) and even Yuki Yuna is a Hero (relaxing... dark magical girl traumatic battles?). It also lists Squid Girl, which at least isn't bleak, but I'd call that a comedy first and foremost. Iyashikei anime can have jokes, but humor usually isn't the focus. To me, at least, the distinction comes down to the pacing and the mood. When I was having a rough day and I needed some relaxing vibes, I rewatched Flying Witch and it was perfect.

Makoto may not have reached my top 100 characters, but I still really like her. She's an apprentice witch, and quite a few stories involve her gathering materials or flying on her broom. She's also a nice girl who spends time with her family, makes friends, or explores the town. Makoto has an awful sense of direction too, which is a cute trait. I like all of the side characters too. Makoto's free-spirited older sister visits often, her young cousin Chinatsu is cute, and they encounter various friendly magical beings. Flying Witch has really nice vibes whether the characters are doing something fantastical like practicing broom flying or doing something as mundane as helping a relative pick fruit. It was always relaxing to watch, and the colorful and vibrant visual style was always nice to look at.

The Bad: Flying Witch is basically flawless. It is exactly the kind of anime it sets out to be. My only complaint is that it's only one season, and that other anime with the same relaxing vibes are so hard to find.

Overall: The subgenre Flying Witch belongs to definitely won't appeal to everyone. There isn't a whole lot of plot or character development in this. Sometimes, though, all I want is to sit back and relax. Flying Witch is perfect for that. It isn't quite my favorite relaxation anime, but it is one of the best. The lighthearted adventures of Makoto's daily life were more than enough to elevate this into my favorites.

COMING UP TOMORROW:
25: This anime went for a walk and got hopelessly lost.
24: This anime is tired of biking uphill.
C30: This character started out with nothing.

We're moving into the top 25! Even anime ranked as high as 28, 27, and 26 were all ones I had reservations about, but now we're officially moving into anime I think are varying degrees of flawless. There are a bunch I know for a fact other people hate, but I'll defend these twenty-five to the bitter end!

26. Kakegurui
https://myanimelist.net/anime/34933/Kakegurui
Summer 2017 (12 episodes), Winter 2019 (12 episodes), Summer 2022 (6 episodes)
My Score: 9/10, MAL Score: 7.24/10 S1, 7.20/10 S2, 7.30/10 Twin
Best Character: Jabami Yumeko

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNAP32b9ZWM

My Yumeko figure: https://imgur.com/FdTkB61

Premise: Hyakkaou Private Academy is an elite school where gambling is common. The new transfer student Jabami Yumeko seems nice and normal, but she actually loves the thrill of a high-stakes gamble.

The Good: Kakegurui is a drama anime about gambling. It's set in a private school for the rich and elite. Gambling is encouraged to teach things like how to read others, manipulation, and cheating without getting caught. It also separates the strong from the weak. Any student who falls into debt becomes a house pet that everyone else can push around. If someone falls far enough, they could even be forced to sign their entire future away. It's not a school for the faint-hearted, but it turns out to be a paradise for Jabami Yumeko. Under normal circumstances she's nice and friendly. When taken by the thrill of an exciting bet, though, she turns into an insane gambling freak willing to take any risk.

The first season of Kakegurui was so amazing that the series was once one of my 10/10s. Yumeko is one of my favorite anime characters because she's such a fun and interesting enigma. I like the contrast between her friendly everyday persona and the gambling demon lurking beneath the surface. She happily accepts any challenge, and she's never worried the game might be rigged. After all, Yumeko loves the thrill more than anything else, and what's more thrilling than seeing if she can overcome stacked odds? I love how the narration never peeks into her thoughts, usually leaving that to her opponents or friends watching the game. Yumeko is an enigma, and even the audience is left wondering how much she knows at any given moment.

The Bad: The second season isn't bad, but it's a huge step down. None of the gambles were as good as anything from the first season. It also introduced a plot arc and then didn't conclude it. I waited years for another season... and then they came out with a prequel starring Yumeko's friend Mary instead. Kakegurui Twin wasn't bad either, but it was also a huge step down even compared to season two. It also introduced a plot arc and didn't conclude it, so now Kakegurui is weighed down by two unfinished arcs. Maybe they'll pay off in future seasons, but Netflix is scaling back on anime now so I'm afraid this might be all we ever get. The first season was such a masterpiece, it almost would've been preferable if it had been left to stand alone.

Overall: Even though the prequel and sequel seasons had weaker gambles and left their stories unfinished, I still love Kakegurui. It has an interesting setting full of fun characters for Yumeko to face off with. She is such an amazing character, and I loved every moment I spent wondering if she'd be able to overcome the odds.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/5/4/5/AAcDcBAAD4qx.jpg

CHARACTER: Jabami Yumeko (Kakegurui)
https://myanimelist.net/character/119413/Yumeko_Jabami
Voiced by: Hayami Saori
TOP 100 RANK: 7th

SPOILERS FOR KAKEGURUI

VIDEO LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehEql1DHIIc

I already talked quite a bit about why I love Yumeko in the anime write-up, but now I can get specific without fear of spoilers! The video I linked is from the first episode, and that game with Mary was the perfect introduction to the setting, the characters, and the two sides of Yumeko. She comes off as friendly to the point of being naive. Mary, who has the game and spectators rigged in her favor, figures this will be an easy score. And it is, at first. Yumeko loses the bet and is forced to make a larger one. It turns out she's hustling poor Mary, however, because Yumeko has already figured out the cheat. Mary has stacked the rock, paper, scissors deck to have uneven amounts that only she knows about, giving her a huge advantage.

Notably, Yumeko still takes a risk. There was a chance she wouldn't get one of the rare cards. When she did, though, knowing how Mary was cheating instantly lets Yumeko win the game. Still in her gambling freak mode, Yumeko requests the money... and then the switch flips back and the friendly side returns. She thanks Mary for the fun game. Yumeko is even grateful to the guy who helped Mary cheat, because it made things more exciting. All of this plays out without the viewer getting a look into Yumeko's thought process. We have no way of knowing if she's figured out the cheat or how to beat it. I loved the tension that created.

Yumeko is also just such an interesting character to think about. She values the thrill of gambling above all else, and that results in some truly alien and insane ways of seeing the world. She has a game of what's basically Russian roulette with Midari. It's real guns with real bullets, literal life-and-death stuff, and Yumeko is disgusted... not at the risk or the game, but at Midari for stacking it against herself in a way that made things boring. In the final gamble if the first season, Yumeko has her future in the school on the line. Her friend Ryouta is choosing a tarot card, and he realizes one of them is marked. If he's right, that card would win it for Yumeko, but theres also the chance this is a trick. Thanks to Yumeko's influence, though, he looks past those considerations. The marked card was meant to be noticed, meaning that, if he picks it, it won't be a real gamble. He decides to choose another card at random. Despite what's at stake, Yumeko is delighted at the thrill it gives her. Shes so happy he understands what's important.

My main problem with the second season was that the gambles weren't as good. The finger guillotine was so obviously rigged that there weren't any stakes. The tower of doors was stupidly convoluted. The final auction was just stupid altogether. Still, even during all of those, I enjoyed watching Yumeko. I love her disarming friendly side, and I also love the gambling freak that rises to the surface whenever things get thrilling.

(We finally return to my biggest mistake in the ranking. I originally put this in the low 6/10s. I realized that was wrong as soon as I started thinking about it for the write-up. Still, even I was surprised by how much it rose after I rewatched it. This write-up is mostly just a cleaned up version of the one I wrote for it before, only without all the bits where I lamented how low I accidentally ranked it.)

27. Lost Song
https://myanimelist.net/anime/34338/Lost_Song
Spring 2018 (12 episodes)
My Score: 9/10, MAL Score: 6.92/10
Best Character: Finis

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozyMtXPZDzc
(Couldnt find the OP, linked the trailer)

Premise: Rin was always told to hide her ability to sing magical songs, but she's discovered after saving an injured knight. Then her village is attacked, forcing her to go on the run.

The Good: Lost Song is a fantasy musical anime. It has some shortcomings as I'll cover in the next section, but I still feel like this anime is special. It's set in a fantasy world that reminded me of a fairy tale. The heroes are idealistic good guys, the bad guys are bad because they're the bad guys, that sort of thing. It's not deep, but it's instantly relatable. Even within that simplistic morality, the royal songstress Finis goes through one hell of a complex character arc full of forbidden love and sorrow and hope. It really goes places.

Rin, a village girl who also has the abilities of a songstress, is the other half of the story. She's forced to go on the run early on because people want her power. Her journey reminded me of an old SNES RPG. Her and her inventor brother Al gather a cast of zany characters who are basically party members. One of them is named Pony Goodlight and she's awesome. Lost Song has some great musical sections. Since that's how magic works in this setting, they often have a plot purpose beyond just being a song, too. Still, my favorite thing about this is the way the story comes together. I can't go into it without huge spoilers, but basically there's a moment in Lost Song that blew my mind and recontextualized everything that came before it. This anime did a lot of things that really appealed to me. The plot goes one direction in particular that would probably turn a lot of people off, but I absolutely loved it even if it didn't make a whole lot of logical sense.

The Bad: I compared Lost Song to a fairy tale above, and there are times where that's to its detriment. I can see people being put off by the tone, for example. The evil prince is really over-the-top evil. Still, I enjoyed it enough to forgive its occasional simplicity or unexplained magical mumbo-jumbo. It was the kind of anime where I was more than happy to go along for the ride.

Overall: Lost Song really appealed to me. Everything from the setting's tone to how certain aspects of it were revealed to how the two separate stories between Rin and Finis came together, it was all great. I don't want to hype this up too much, the production values were average and I can see some of the things I loved being sources of annoyance to other people. Lost Song just surprised me with how much I enjoyed it.

He's not the most manly man, that's for sure. He's only 14 though, maybe he'll grow into it someday

Robot Devil

28. Children of the Whales
https://myanimelist.net/anime/34712/Kujira_no_Kora_wa_Sajou_ni_Utau
Fall 2017 (12 episodes)
My Score: 9/10, MAL Score: 7.17/10
Best Character: Chakuro

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5DSs-Qi5-o

Premise: The Mud Whale is a small island floating aimlessly on a sea of shifting sand. The few hundred people living there know nothing about the rest of the world, but that changes when they encounter another island and find a lone, injured girl.

The Good: Children of the Whales is a fantasy anime. The reception most places I looked (reddit, the anime board, etc) is pretty negative on this show. I was pleasantly surprised the first time I watched it, however, and I thought it held up okay on a rewatch. I won't claim that it's flawless. I'll have a few things to talk about in the bad section. Still, the world-building in this is excellent. I liked most of the main characters. The direction the story went also really shocked me. With the beautiful art style and serene life on the Mud Whale, at first this looks like it'll be a laid-back anime. Instead it goes in a surprisingly dark direction. Part of me wonders if that's the reason for the negative reception. Children of the Whales becomes bleak to the point of being hard to watch at times. Even then, I still enjoyed seeing how the characters approached things.

The story takes place on the Mud Whale, a large boat-shaped island that floats on a sea of sand. Only a few hundred people live there, and they've forgotten everything about the outside world. I enjoyed learning more about their society. It had a lot of customs that were interesting. Most of the people are Marked, meaning they have a kind of psychic power but are doomed to a short life. Only a handful of Unmarked grow old, and they move into leadership positions. The main character is Chakuro, the Mud Whale's record keeper. He writes down things about everyone's lives so that, even if the Marked live a short life, something of them will remain for people to remember. The Mud Whale travels aimlessly, and the people have a quiet, serene life. Then they happen upon another island, meet an injured girl named Lykos, and they begin learning just how dangerous the world really is.

The Bad: I thought Children of the Whales told a really compelling story. Sadly, it reached a natural stopping point at around ten episodes. The last two kind of meander, setting up various things that maybe would've paid off if there was ever a second season. Since there wasn't, the story ends on a boring note. I saw a lot of complaints elsewhere that the characters act stupidly, too. I won't claim that they're geniuses, but one of the most interesting things about this anime for me was seeing how a peaceful society faces unprecedented danger. It makes sense, to me at least, that the characters don't always do the right thing.

Overall: Children of the Whales may not appeal to everyone, but it definitely appealed to me. The world-building was excellent. Life on the Mud Whale was interesting to explore, and every little detail they learned about themselves or the rest of the world felt important. I'm sad that the first season ends on a meandering note setting up a second season that never came. The first ten episodes still told a compelling story that went many interesting directions.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/3/3/4/AAcDcBAAD4ne.png

CHARACTER: Chakuro (Children of the Whales)
https://myanimelist.net/character/149265/Chakuro
Voiced by: Hanae Natsuki
TOP 100 RANK: 96th

SPOILERS FOR CHILDREN OF THE WHALES

(Couldnt find a video for him)

Chakuro is the Mud Whale's record keeper. Since most Marked only live until thirty or so, death is a frequent occurrence. Mentors pass away, lovers outlive their partners, and children die before their Unmarked parents. The anime opens with a funeral rite where they send the body into the sea of sand. They have a custom where people aren't supposed to cry. People need to be strong, after all, because otherwise the pain of this constant loss would break them. Chakuro channels his feelings into writing, leaving a record of everyone they lose so that at least something of them will remain.

Things get a lot darker after they stumble across another island and rescue Lykos. Soon after, the Mud Whale is attacked by an unknown army for reasons no one understands. Since this was a peaceful island and they're caught completely off guard, it's basically a massacre. It only ends when the attackers pull back to regroup, and even then everyone knows they will soon return. Even for an island well-versed in loss, death on this scale is unprecedented. Chakuro even loses his childhood friend and love interest Sami. They need time to mourn, but they don't have it. The residents of the Mud Whale need to train, organize, and prep defenses if theyre going to survive the coming assault.

Chakuro, along with everyone else, is sad. They struggle to make sense of the unfair situation. They never give up, though. When the elders want to sink the island, preferring that quick death over an agonizing execution, Chakuro and others refuse to let it happen. They would rather face the pain and fight. Later on, when he's given a choice by a fantastical creature to remove his emotions, Chakuro refuses this too. Even though it hurts to lose people, that's simply part of life. That pain is also a sign of how much he cared for them, and a part of their lingering presence on the world. Chakuro doesn't want to trade that away. Everyone on the Mud Whale shows impressive resilience given the horrors they go through, and I found that really compelling.

Women drivers m i rite fellas

This is what I read on the TVTropes page, at least. I haven't looked into it at all otherwise.

"On April 28, 2018, a second season was announced in the form of 6 theatrical releases"

I would've vastly preferred just a regular second season. I'm also not a fan of getting another small portion of the story every few years.

Dark Prince/Satan (Puyo Puyo)

COMING UP TOMORROW:
28: This anime is sinking beneath the sand.
C96: This character wants to write down everything that happens.
27: Lost Song
26: This anime went all in and lost the bet.
C7: This character loves the thrill of gambling.

I'm doing three anime tomorrow because one of them is Lost Song, the one I initially ranked 6/10 before I moved it up after rewatching it. I'll still do a new write-up for it, but it doesn't feel like it counts.

The three tomorrow are also some pretty niche favorites of mine. I went back and forth for a long time between 9/10 and somewhere in the 8s, and I'm still not sure I made the right decision. It'll be nice to get past them all at once and move into the top 25, which I have no doubts about!

NOTE: This has a sequel movie, but I haven't watched it yet because it's apparently going to be a six movie series. Rather than wait years at a time between them, I'll just wait a decade until it's all done.

29. Princess Principal
https://myanimelist.net/anime/35240/Princess_Principal
Summer 2017 (12 episodes)
My Score: 9/10, MAL Score: 7.70/10
Best Character: Ange le Carr

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QjqkATvH9M

Premise: At the height of its power, a revolution split the Kingdom of Albion in half. A large wall divides the city of London, and spies like Ange le Carre work in the shadows.

The Good: Princess Principal is a spy anime set in an alternate history steampunk setting. The main divergence is that Albion, the alternate version of Britain, discovered a technology that let them alter gravity. A fleet of airships made Albion the undisputed world power, at least until the lower classes rose up in revolution and split it in half between the Kingdom and the new Commonwealth. A large wall divides the city of London, and spies regularly operate on both sides. Ange is a top spy for the Commonwealth, and her team often gets difficult assignments. She has also managed to recruit Princess Charlotte, who is fourth in line for the Kingdom's throne.

I really enjoyed Princess Principal. It isn't flawless, and I'll talk about a few problems in the bad section. I just really liked all five of the main characters. The serial liar Ange was my favorite for reasons I'll cover in her write-up, but everyone on the team was fun and had unique skills. Dorothy is the driver and seductress, an adult pretending to be in high-school. Beatrice is a mostly normal girl but she can mimic anyone's voice, which proves useful. Chise is a samurai who is monitoring the conflict in Albion for her master (I guess at least one character needed to be Japanese). And, lastly, there's the princess Charlotte who joins the team for her own reasons. All of them are great, and I like their team dynamic.

The stories are mostly episodic with each covering one assignment, but theres also an overarching spy plot building up in the background. I really like the animes tone. It stars five high-school girls, but this isn't a cute girls anime. While it isn't devoid of comedy, the focus is on the serious spy action, and it gets pretty dark at times. Another spy anime I ranked really low was Release the Spyce. That one was ruined because it tried to be a cute girls spy anime while still having serious stuff, and the two conflicting tones ruined each other. I was glad Princess Principal chose the serious side and stuck with it, because it did a great job.

The Bad: The episodes are out of order chronologically and I'm not exactly sure why. It doesn't ruin the anime or anything, it's just baffling. I can see arguments for some of them, but one episode heavily features Chise and then the next episode introduces Chise. Why did those need to be out of order? There are also a few times when the story creates drama seemingly just for the sake if it. I preferred the conflicts that were more logically rooted in the spy assignments.

Overall: Princess Principal was an excellent spy anime. It had occasional lighthearted or comedic moments, but for the most part it was serious. The characters were all unique and they had a great dynamic. My biggest complaint is the episode order, but thats a nitpick overall. The story between Ange and Charlotte was more than good enough to outweigh any flaws.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/5/9/8/AAcDcBAAD4b-.jpg

CHARACTER: Ange le Carr (Princess Principal)
https://myanimelist.net/character/150943/Ange_le_Carr%C3%A9
Voiced by: Imamura Ayaka
TOP 100 RANK: 15th

SPOILERS FOR PRINCESS PRINCIPAL (First season only)

VIDEO LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OITlDCssAww

Ange is an excellent spy. That much is clear from the beginning. The video I linked is from the first episode. She all but admits that nothing she says is true, and some lies are obviously like her being from another planet. She's still so great at lying that I believed a lot of the little things she said. She expertly figures out the defector is a double agent thanks to clues anyone else would've missed. Then she bluffs him into dropping a loaded gun by telling him it was unloaded. And, just to confirm this won't be a cute girls spy anime, Ange shoots the guy dead. The only happy part about any of this is that Ange also took out insurance on the guy to help his sick little sister.

She has a clear soft spot for the children who have been orphaned and forgotten by the horrific state of the world. Eventually, the reason why becomes clear in a really awesome reveal. Ange was actually originally the princess Charlotte. She befriended a commoner lookalike, and they had switched places on the fateful day of the revolution. Ange was forced to find her way in the unstable Commonwealth, and she became a spy mostly to reunite with Charlotte. Ange once had a dream of becoming Queen and fixing the broken world. Now Charlotte is the one dedicated to making it happen. I really like the dynamic those two have.

Beyond all of that, Ange is also just a cool character. She carries herself with such quiet confidence, and she has the skills to back it up. Her gravity-altering C-ball leads to lots of neat action moments. I also like her background with Charlotte. Ange can act happy and vulnerable with her, the one person in the world who knows the truth about her. And Ange is dedicated to keeping Charlotte safe. Towards the end, even if Ange hadnt been set up as a liar, I would've known she was lying when she agreed to kill Charlotte. The last few episodes get a bit too dark for my tastes, but I was glad the two of them were able to get through together.

Robot Devil

9/10 AMAZING TIER

30. Revue Starlight
https://myanimelist.net/anime/35503/Shoujo%E2%98%86Kageki_Revue_Starlight
Summer 2018 (12 episodes) plus one movie
My Score: 9/10, MAL Score: 7.65/10
Best Character: Hoshimi Junna

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ha07uSQmtLc

Premise: Seisho Music Academy trains students in dancing, singing, and acting to prep them for a life in theater. Then nine girls are pulled into a series of mysterious auditions unlike any other.

The Good: Revue Starlight is a music anime that at first seems like it'll be a cute girls doing theater slice-of-life. It has an amazing first episode twist, however, and, fair warning, I'm going to spoil what that is because otherwise I can't talk about anything. It quickly turns out to be an action anime. Nine girls are drawn into auditions by a mysterious talking giraffe, and the so-called revues take the form of musical battles fought on an impossible shapeshifting stage. The animation and visual style are beautiful. The characters are all unique and relatable. The battles are also some of the best I've ever seen, and they're bolstered by nice songs with a lot of meaning in the lyrics.

Still, my favorite thing about Revue Starlight is that it's brimming with symbolism. There's a nice surface level story for each character, plus an overarching plot about them battling to become the top star. There is also just so much depth beyond that. The revues blur the line between reality and fantasy, starting with a wonderful scene when Karen leaps from a high place and has a full magical girl transformation sequence before she elegantly arrives onstage. In that scene, one basic bit of symbolism is the hair clip she got from her childhood friend representing their promise to stand onstage together someday. It gets melted down in the sequence to power an engine. Her dream and their promise fuels her transformation! That's an easy one, but there is so much more and it goes so deep. Every time I focus on something and think about it for a bit, I keep finding more and more symbolism about acting and theater and dreams and life. I love stories with so much to examine. It also helps that the surface level story is flashy enough to be compelling on its own. The symbolism feels more like a bonus, a reward for attentive viewers rather than something that's necessary to appreciate the story.

The Bad: There are a few plotlines and characters that kind of bug me. I'm not a fan of Hikari because she's so needlessly antagonistic at times and a lot of her actions don't make sense to me. She drags Karen down a bit as a result. It isn't anything that ruins the anime, but that is my least favorite part.

Overall: Revue Starlight was such a wonderful surprise when it first aired. I thought it would just be about cute theater girls. I would've been happy with that too, I mean the theater bits were fun in Hinako Note. Then Karen found a mysterious elevator where a wall used to be, fell into the basement to meet a talking giraffe, and then she leapt into the auditions with an amazing transformation sequence. The revue that followed, a well-animated battle with good music, was beautiful. The rest of the anime maintains that level of excellence. It's also chock-full of symbolism, which I love. The anime felt like watching an impossibly intricate theatrical performance. I also enjoyed the sequel movie when I watched it recently.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/5/2/7/AAcDcBAAD4a3.jpg

CHARACTER: Hoshimi Junna (Revue Starlight)
https://myanimelist.net/character/151668/Junna_Hoshimi
Voiced by: Satou Hinata
TOP 100 RANK: 90th

SPOILERS FOR REVUE STARLIGHT

VIDEO LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXz51nX7dLQ
(From the movie)

I like all the characters in Revue Statlight (except for Hikari). None of them were an obvious favorite, though, so I had to think a bit before settling on Junna. She might seem like a weird choice, and Junna herself would probably agree. She's not a childhood actress like Claudine, and she doesn't have the raw talent of Maya. She isn't effortlessly capable like Nana, and she isn't an heir to a prestigious dancing school like Kaoruko. Even a goof like Karen has moments where she can flip a mental switch and blow everyone else away. Against all of that skill, the only thing that Junna has is discipline and hard work. She fears that will never be enough to catch up to her peers.

I'll talk mostly about the movie now since it's still fresh in my memory. Everyone is choosing what path to take after graduation, and Junna wants to go to a higher level school. She reasons that she isn't ready to go onstage, not yet, so she wants to continue working hard to get there. The video I linked is her battle with Nana, which is all about calling Junna out. During the anime series, despite her doubts, Junna fought and clawed and struggled to be the top star. She lost, but she at least tried. Now she's seemingly giving up, cloaking herself with excuses that she isn't ready yet. Nana dominates her for most of the revue. All that Junna has is a bunch of famous quotes about acting and perseverance.

Then, as Nana is walking away, Junna finally decides that she's not done yet. Using one of Nana's swords (rather than her bow, which I viewed as symbolism for the way she distanced herself from things to make it hurt less when she couldn't reach her goals), Junna fights back. There are no more excuses. She gets knocked down, over and over, but she gets up every time. Then, finally, she gets the upper hand. She beats Nana, someone who easily defeated everyone else in a 1v6 earlier in the movie. I really related with Junna. The question of talent vs hard work resonated with me, and I was glad that she won't lose sight of her dreams.

Robot Devil

Ned Flanders

Ned Flanders as the Devil

Robot Devil (Futurama)

Trading for Ned auto, I can't get Georgia

36. From the New World
https://myanimelist.net/anime/13125/Shinsekai_yori
Fall 2012 (25 episodes)
My Score: 8/10, MAL Score: 8.30/10
Best Character: Squealer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mz1ypuGJ3VM
(Couldnt find the OP, linked the ED instead)

Premise: In the future, Watanabe Saki and her friends are going to a special school to train their psychic powers. As they grow older, they learn more about the world and the dark truths of their society.

The Good: From the New World is a sci-fi drama about a world where pretty much everyone has psychic powers. I didn't rewatch it for the ranking, mostly because it has no top 100 character and I couldn't rewatch everything. Still, I remember that my favorite thing about this anime was becoming immersed in the world it created. The child characters start out with an innocence that fades as they grow older and learn more about their world. It's an incredibly interesting setting that examines themes like dealing with incredible power and what it means to be human. I'm being vague about all of this because going in blind and learning everything alongside the characters was an amazing experience and I don't want to ruin that for anyone.

Having said that, there is one semi-spoiler thing I want to talk about. It only relates to the premise and setting, not any plot stuff. Still, since this anime doesn't have a spoiler character write-up, I'll just tag this here and anyone who hasn't seen this and wants to go in blind can skip it. From the New World is a really dark anime, but I loved how the darkness all made a lot of sense. No one was being evil just for the sake of it. You could see the logic they used every step of the way, and even kind of sympathize with it despite the actions often being horrific. This is a world where everyone has deadly psychic powers, for instance, so it makes sense that they'd raise their kids a certain way.

The Bad: None of the characters in this came anywhere near my top 100. They werent bad, and they all worked excellently in terms of being viewpoints to explore the setting. Sadly, none of them really resonated with me beyond that. If the setting itself were a character, it'd be in my top ten. The actual characters are all merely fine, in my opinion, and I couldn't justify ranking this any higher because of that.

Overall: From the New World is a dark anime, and usually I'm not a big fan of those. Despite that, the setting this story created really resonated with me. The characters are all fine, but they work best as viewpoints to explore the world. The plot also went a lot of interesting places. I apologize for being vague for most of this write-up, but learning everything alongside the characters was a big reason why I love this anime. I didn't want to spoil that for anyone who hasn't seen it.

COMING UP TOMORROW:
35: This anime is leaving home to find its father.
34: This anime will die as many times as it takes to succeed.
C12: This character looks similar to the world's greatest evil.

I also wanted to mention that 33 will be the one anime in the ranking with three characters! Not many people tried to guess what that was, but there are only 35 anime left after today, so if anyone wants to look at my spreadsheet to see what's left and make a guess just for fun, I'll allow it. The alphabetical tab is best for seeing what still doesn't have a ranking. It's a few days behind but I'll update it when I get home.

Georgia

I'm just a sucker for anime that go for sad emotions. I also thought Angel Beats had an excellent tone. Even if it changed a lot, it accomplished whatever it was going for at the moment.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/8/1/5/AAcDcBAAD3g3.jpg

CHARACTER: Otonashi Yuzuru (Angel Beats
https://myanimelist.net/character/24502/Yuzuru_Otonashi
Voiced by: Kamiya Hiroshi
TOP 100 RANK: 60th

SPOILERS FOR ANGEL BEATS

VIDEO LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yk9zaP1E_JE

Otonashi awakens in the afterlife and immediately meets Yuri. She has a sniper rifle aimed at a girl she claims is a dangerous angel, but Otonashi isnt the kind of guy to just accept something like that. He heads down to talk to her, asks for some sort of proof that this is the afterlife and then the Angel promptly stabs him in the heart. When he wakes up again later, its easier to accept that this is the afterlife. He also joins Yuris Afterlife Battlefront, having experienced how dangerous the Angel is firsthand. They warn him not to live by the rules of the world because anyone who becomes contented tends to fade away. They also bring him along on their missions to disrupt the world, which the Angel tries to stop.

I really like how Otonashi never stops questioning things. He was stabbed once by the Angel, sure, but once he sees the kinds of things Yuri is up to, he begins to wonder who is right. Stealing Angel's food tickets feels like petty bullying. Messing with her grades just feels cruel. He also realizes that the Angel, while strict and emotionless, can actually hold a nonviolent conversation. Otonashi learns more about the world and eventually accepts the fact that the students shouldnt rebel against it. This is a place for them to come to terms with the unfair circumstances of their deaths, and he partners with the Angel, actually named Kanade, to make that happen.

A whole lot of stuff goes haywire before the end, but ultimately Otonashi succeeds in convincing the others. One by one, they overcome whatever regrets were holding them back and fade away. The video I linked is the final credits sequence, and watching it always gets to me. I knew all of those people, and seeing them fade away is bittersweet. I know its a good thing, though, because all of them were at peace. And its thanks to Otonashi that they were able to get there. His own story ends with one final tearjerker when he realizes his connection to Kanade. He donated his organs when he died, and she received his heart. The two have fallen in love and, despite knowing its wrong, Otonashi wants to remain in the afterlife with her. Kanade refuses to let him stay in limbo, however. Its sad watching her disappear, followed by Otonashis anguish as he desperately grabs at the empty space where she was just a moment ago. Its sad, but its also the right thing, and he surely mustve moved on as well soon after. The after-credits scene where they seemingly find each other again in their next lives was the perfect note to end the show on.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/8/1/6/AAcDcBAAD3g4.jpg

CHARACTER: Tachibana Angel Kanade (Angel Beats)
https://myanimelist.net/character/22369/Kanade_Tachibana
Voiced by: Hanazawa Kana
TOP 100 RANK: 20th

SPOILERS FOR ANGEL BEATS

VIDEO LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKqUdg5MUqk

I really liked Yuri in the early parts of Angel Beats, but Kanade won me over the more I learned about her. She tries to maintain order in the afterlife because she knows its the right thing. This world exists for them to come to terms with things and move on, not to wallow forever in how unfair their lives were. It helps that Kanade's regret is relatively uplifting. She just wants to meet the person who donated her a new heart and gave her a bit more time. There were probably better ways for Kanade to go about maintaining order than the violence she usually chose. Otonashi enters that conflict well after the beginning, however, so maybe she was different early on and things degraded over time.

In any case, she eventually gets to know Otonashi, and the realization that shes just an afterlife student too puts Yuri's disruptions into a new perspective. I felt bad thinking about Kanade just trying to have her favorite food at the cafeteria, only for the Afterlife Battlefront to steal her meal ticket. The way her and Otonashi grow closer is really cute and believable.

The final episode of Angel Beats is bittersweet. Having resolved the problems threatening the afterlife and convinced everyone to move on, only a few students remain. They have a nice little graduation ceremony, and it was tough watching these characters Id come to know and love disappear. Nothing hit harder than the final goodbye between Kanade and Otonashi, though. She probably did want to stay with him, but she knew it would go against all the lessons theyd learned. So Kanade does the hard thing and moves on first. Im glad the post-credits scene implied their souls found each other again. It was the perfect emotion to end the series on.

37. Angel Beats
https://myanimelist.net/anime/6547/Angel_Beats
Spring 2010 (13 episodes)
My Score: 8/10, MAL Score: 8.07/10
Best Characters: Tachibana Angel Kanade, Otonashi Yuzuru

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Turf7WDB3iY

Premise: Otonashi Yuzuru awakens in the afterlife, which has the form of a high school. He quickly meets Nakamura Yuri, the leader of a rebellion against the Angel trying to maintain order in this world.

The Good: Angel Beats is a supernatural drama about a bunch of high school kids in a dimension between life and death. Otonashi is the latest arrival, and hes thrown into the middle of a conflict right away. Theres an Angel, student council president Tachibana Kanade, who violently enforces the school's rules using her incredible powers. The staff and most students are effectively NPCs who live basic lives. The other afterlife students all follow Yuri, a girl with a grudge against God who refuses to live the way the world wants her to. The so-called Afterlife Battlefront does everything they can to disrupt order and oppose the Angel. Since no one can die in this strange dimension, the conflict is relatively low-stakes. Some specialists can create weapons, too, leading to lots of fun, flashy battles. Otonashi tentatively joins Yuri's crusade, but he also tries to understand all sides of this world trapping them all in limbo.

There are a lot of things about Angel Beats that appeal to me. I love the bizarre afterlife setting. It was always interesting to learn more about how it worked. The characters were all good too. The main three, Otonashi, Yuri, and Angel were all compelling in different ways. The goofy side characters like TK were a lot of fun too. Still, my favorite thing about this anime is how it absolutely nails whatever emotion it goes for. Lots of it is zany fun. One of my favorite running gags is, whenever a character does a noble sacrifice, a sappy song will play for a few seconds like its a huge moment but no one can die so the weight of it is undercut. It made me laugh every time. The battles were flashy and impressive. And, when it wanted to, the story could also get serious and have some genuinely heartfelt moments. Trying to juggle all these different feelings would ruin a lesser anime, but Angel Beats makes them all work really well.

The Bad: I remember reading somewhere that this was originally supposed to have more episodes. There are a lot of side characters who couldve used more focus, so it's a shame there wasnt time for them. The main story doesnt feel rushed, at least. I also really didnt like Yuri's backstory. It was so over-the-top brutally dark that it became off-putting. It was the one time the anime lost me emotionally.

Overall: Angel Beats has an interesting world, and the characters all have compelling reasons for how they act within it. I enjoyed almost everything about this anime. The comedic moments were hilarious, the battles were fun, and the serious emotional stories always got to me. Otonashi was a great main character, but I also really liked the Angel. Ill talk about them both more in their write-ups below.

COMING UP TOMORROW:
37: This anime was stabbed in the heart.
C60: This character wants to understand their enemy.
C20: This character strives to maintain order.
36: This anime's psychic powers have awakened.

38. Plastic Memories
https://myanimelist.net/anime/27775/Plastic_Memories
Spring 2015 (13 episodes)
My Score: 8/10, MAL Score: 7.91/10
Best Character: Isla

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xl7WIDaIgXo

Premise: Sentient androids called Giftia can only live for a predetermined length of time, just over nine years, before their minds violently degrade. Mizugaki Tsukasa is the newest employee of a division that collects Giftias when their time is up, and he's partnered with the veteran employee Isla.

The Good: Plastic Memories is a sci-fi drama/romance about people who collect androids who are about to reach the end of their predetermined lifespan. I'm a huge fan of sci-fi concepts like this. Each Giftia knows exactly how much time they have left. How do people live with that knowledge, and what are the different ways of reacting as that time approaches? Plastic Memories explores those questions, and the resulting stories are equal parts heartwarming and heartbreaking. Tsukasa and Isla come into people's lives mere days before their stories end, and usually there are a lot of things left to resolve.

Most of Plastic Memories tells these standalone stories, but theres also an overarching plot between Tsukasa and Isla. Shes closed herself off emotionally after years of thankless work, but Tsukasa is determined to get through her shell and get to know the person underneath. I liked those two a lot. I also liked most of the other workers in their division. Michiru is mostly a typical tsundere, but she was also supportive in a way I really appreciated.

The Bad: There are parts of the setting I felt werent explored as much as they should've been. I would've liked to see more about how Giftia have impacted society, stuff like that. For example, one subplot involves a black market scavenger who tries to steal Giftia, but he seemingly has no plan for how he's supposed to profit from it. The character stories, both big and small, are still excellent. I just think they would've been more compelling if the world-building was a bit more solid.

Overall: Plastic Memories keeps introducing stories that are guaranteed to have, at best, a bittersweet ending. Even though I knew that every single time, it was impressive how much it made me care regardless. Tsukasa and Isla trying to help Giftia and their loved ones resolve lingering issues and come to terms with the inevitable end resulted in some beautiful, heartfelt stories.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/0/9/1/AAcDcBAAD3Vj.jpg

CHARACTER: Isla (Plastic Memories)
https://myanimelist.net/character/124049/Isla
Voiced by: Amamiya Sora
TOP 100 RANK: 42nd

SPOILERS FOR PLASTIC MEMORIES

VIDEO LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lR-6nZMj31w
(This video is edited badly and doesn't even include the part I most wanted, but oh well)

At the beginning of the story, Isla has been stuck at the office making tea for a long time. She's closed off emotionally, barely reacting even when she's partnered with Tsukasa and sent back to do fieldwork. When he asks if the job has an instruction manual, Isla gives him her old diary as if she has no desire for privacy anymore. When he asks if there's anything important he should know, all she says is that erasing Giftia at the end of their lives is thankless work. Still, even early on, it's clear Isla isn't an emotionless robot. She has a garden to grow different kinds of tea leaves. Since that was her only task for so long, she put a lot of effort into perfecting it because it was the only way she could support people. She also does her best to ease each Giftia's passing, which shows that Isla still cares.

She's strangely clumsy and awkward, in stark contrast to how competent her Giftia peers always are. It's revealed pretty early on that this isn't just a cute character trait. Isla is nearing the end of her own lifespan, and her clumsiness is due to her mind already breaking down. Tsukasa realizes this later than anyone, and he's obviously devastated. However, he refuses to pull away from Isla. He's already fallen in love with her, and the only thing the short time limit does is spur him to act fast. They trip over a few hurdles, grappling with questions like whether its even a good idea to get closer when the end is so near. Ultimately, though, the two begin a relationship. I thought it was really heartwarming and sweet how dedicated Tsukasa was to giving Isla as many good memories as he could before the end. They were cute together.

Like with so many other Giftia they've encountered during the story, the final day arrives all too soon. I liked how they approached it, doing things like cleaning their dorm room to make things easier for whoever comes next and leaving notes for everyone. Then they go to the amusement park, and they have so much fun they don't even realize how much time has passed until the park is about to close. They end with a ride on the ferris wheel. Tsukasa, who has been trying to be strong for Isla's sake, finally breaks down. The video I linked doesn't include this part, sadly, but my favorite moment between them was when they shared the things they love about each other. Tsukasa says things like her clumsiness, which Isla feels insulted by, but he can't help it. Those little things that made her who she was were truly the things he loved about her. That really got to me. The ending did too. Tsukasa erases Isla with the same love and care she showed other Giftia during the story. It's heartbreaking, but at the same time I was glad they found each other and grew closer even though it made the inevitable end so much more painful. Being hurt like that is a part of love and life, after all. Its still better than living without being close to anyone at all.

Sorry for basically killing your Satan, Snake, but it was down to the wire for old Neddy. Let me know if yoy want to switch our deal to anyone else

Pokewars posted...

Any Ned fans want to trade for Paradise?

Yes

Paradise

MacArrowny posted...

It's even more of a plot hole because she actually does move things to prove her existence later in the series lol

My personal fix for the plot hole would be changing it so Menma can only move objects she has a connection to, like her diary. It would fix everything and Jinta wouldn't look like an idiot for not just having her pick up a cup.

Ned Flanders as the Devil

39. Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day
https://myanimelist.net/anime/9989/Ano_Hi_Mita_Hana_no_Namae_wo_Bokutachi_wa_Mada_Shiranai
Spring 2011 (11 episodes)
My Score: 8/10, MAL Score: 8.32/10
Best Character: Honma Menma Meiko

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYAP9wvETUQ

Premise: Yadomi Jinta is visited one day by the ghost of his childhood friend Menma. At first he wonders if she's a hallucination, but he's soon convinced she's real, and he'll need to reunite their old friend group to figure out Menma's unfulfilled wish in order to put her to rest.

The Good: Anohana is a drama about a group of childhood friends who were torn apart by the untimely death of Menma. Years later her ghost returns, and Jinta must try to bring everyone back together. That won't be easy given how everyone has changed, and it'll mean confronting old wounds that never quite healed. I'm a big fan of stories that are about childhood friends reuniting. It's always interesting to compare personalities and group dynamics of the past vs the present. I'm also a sucker for tearjerkers, and Anohana is all about tragic loss.

I like all the characters quite a bit. They can get frustrating at times, sure, but it's hard to hold it against them given what they went through and the fact that they're still just kids. Jinta and Anaru are good, but my favorite character was easily Menma. Partly thats because, as the ghost, she has the most compelling role in the plot. I also liked how cute and friendly she was, always trying to bring her old friends back together. Anohana has a lot of solemn moments, but it also has fun characters and nice themes.

The Bad: Theres a gigantic plot hole in the story. No one believes Jinta about Menma's ghost because he's the only one who can see her... but Menma can move physical objects. Just have her lift something and everyone will see it floating and they'll believe you! It gets so frustrating at times. Still, I feel like this is the kind of thing viewers should be willing to look past. There's a beautiful story about life and death and love and loss being told here. I, for one, refuse to let a plot hole like that ruin it!

Overall: Anohana tells a heartfelt story that examines the impact of loss and the catharsis of closure. The five friends were all broken in some way by her early death, but now her ghost is there to bring them all back together. There are plot holes and some frustrating moments, but they weren't bad enough to ruin anything for me. I think this is a really beautiful story, and it got to me in a lot of ways.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/0/0/5/AAcDcBAAD3UN.jpg

CHARACTER: Honma Menma Meiko (Anohana)
https://myanimelist.net/character/40592/Meiko_Honma
Voiced by: Kayano Ai
TOP 100 RANK: 41st

SPOILERS FOR ANOHANA

VIDEO LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4X5HR8BLjWk
(This video is a little long, and it has stuff in it I don't recognize which makes me wonder if it's from a special of some sort, but the beginning part is what I wanted to include most)

By the beginning of the story, Menma has been dead for years. It was never clear to me how she died. The best I could tell was that she slipped into a river and drowned. How she died isn't important, though. What matters most was when it happened, because the group just had a dramatic moment that left each of them with regrets and guilt. Menma had called a meeting for what was later revealed to be about how to help Jinta recover from the death of his mother. Instead, it turned into them trying to resolve crushes and romantic pairings. It was just dumb kid stuff, the kind of thing they would've gotten over and forgotten in a day or two under normal circumstances. When Menma died, those fractures widened instead, turning into wounds that festered. The ghost of Menma returns to find the group shattered, and all of them have turned into very different people.

There are a lot of difficult scenes where Menma sees the impact her death still has on the ones she loved. Her mother is still consumed by grief, to the point of ignoring her living child. Menma sees Anaru and Chiriko fighting on the street, and she can't intervene. Jinta is a reclusive wreck, and even the seemingly successful Atsumu is harboring an unhealthy obsession. Everyone Menma loved is broken in some way, and it's heartbreaking that she sees this yet can do nothing to help.

It takes many painful encounters before the group accepts her ghost is real. They've realized that making homemade fireworks might fulfill Menma's wish, too. They all come together to make that happen... but most of them are doing it for the wrong reasons. Atsumu wants Menma to move on because he can't bear the jealousy of Jinta being the only one who can see her. Anaru and Chiriko want her to move on to free up the guy they like. And Jinta doesn't actually want Menma to move on at all. The fireworks fail, and everyone wonders if their selfish motivations are the reason why. This finally forces them to confront their trauma once and for all. Thanks to Menma bringing them all back together, they all get through it.

Of course, it turns out Menma had a different wish. Before she died, Jinta's mother asked Menma to help him process his emotions afterwards. Menma's spirit returned for that purpose, and, now that the group is back together, her wish has been fulfilled. The ending of Anohana never fails to make me cry, because everyone loses her all over again. It's heartbreaking seeing their desperation to find her. It's hard to watch Menma, as she fades, struggling to write them all one final note. The video I linked shows most of that, and it's wonderful. Menma is disappearing again, but this time there's closure and no regrets. Everyone gets to say they love her, and say goodbye. Menma fades with a smile and a hope that she'll see them again, somehow, someday. And then the people she loved have to move on without her, but they'll never forget her.

Satan (Haxan)

Diablo

LiquidOshawott posted...

Auto for Diablo can save now

For Ned

Trading for Ned Flanders auto, I can save in 17 minutes

Ned Flanders as the Devil

COMING UP TOMORROW:
39: This anime will come back as a ghost.
C41: This character wants to reunite their childhood friends.
38: This animes lifespan was predetermined.
C42: This character is in charge of making tea at work.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/1/6/6/AAcDcBAAD3HG.jpg

CHARACTER: Miyazono Kaori (Your Lie in April)
https://myanimelist.net/character/69411/Kaori_Miyazono
Voiced by: Taneda Risa
TOP 100 RANK: 19th

SPOILERS FOR YOUR LIE IN APRIL

VIDEO LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3sfRgJDpU8

One of my favorite things about Kaori is examining her character and trying to figure out who she really is. The letter that she leaves for Kousei puts almost everything she did in the anime into a new perspective, after all. Like almost everyone who heard him play, Kaori idolized him. He was even the reason why she took up the violin. Kaori wanted to play alongside him someday. Sadly, she had a sickness that was only getting worse, and in her last year of middle school she realized just how little time she had left. Kaori wanted to help Kousei, to repay him for the influence he had on her life. She also wanted to fulfill her dream of playing with him, no matter what. So, Kaori remade herself. She pretended to have a crush on Watari, used Tsubaki as a way in, and that let her meet her primary target, Kousei. The video I linked is their first meeting. Its a moment so beautiful that I even bought a relatively expensive figure depicting it. Kaori plays music for some children in a park, and she looks like the most beautiful, free-spirited person ever. It feels purposefully designed to catch Kouseis eye, which makes me wonder if thats actually how Kaori is or if it was all an act.

Regardless, she drags him in to see her performance, and then she asks him to play with her no matter how terribly it might go. This version of Kaori is demanding and forceful, flooding Kouseis life with sheet music and refusing to take no for an answer. When they do finally play together, it goes predictably poorly. Kousei hasnt even begun to overcome his trauma. Despite that, though, Kaori eventually coaxes something out of him. She reminds Kousei that theres more to music than the abyss his mother left him in. Because of that, he agrees to take part in a competition, and Kaori does everything she can to help him prepare. Kousei struggles in that performance too, but the emotion he eventually settles on is a moment he shared with Kaori. Everyone in the audience gets a sense of them in the music room late at night with Kousei practicing and Kaori sleeping nearby. Its a lousy performance, but in the end it has a lot of heart and it finally convinces Kousei to return to music.

They both want to play with each other again, and they have plans to. Sadly, tragedy strikes the day before their show. Kaori is hospitalized, and it slowly becomes clear just how hopeless her condition is. For Kousei, fresh off the trauma from his mother, this is obviously difficult to deal with. I also cant help but wonder if this version of Kaori might be closest to her true personality. Contrary to a lot of the things she said before about wanting to be remembered, she wonders if it wouldve been better if they never met, and if Kousei can forget her. She accomplished her dream of bringing him back to music, and they played together at least once. Kaori doesnt feel like she has anything left to hope for outside of making one or two more memories with him. She becomes depressed and melancholic. Luckily, her influence lingers in Kousei, and he refuses to leave her like this. He sets up a performance and makes sure Kaori hears it. Its a beautiful moment when she rises from her hospital bed and pretends to play the violin alongside it.

In the end, Im not sure how much of Kaori is real and how much is her acting the way she things she needs to in order to drag him back to the piano. Its interesting to speculate, but in the end I dont think its possible to know. One thing is for sure, though. The free-spirited dreamer that she was (or at least pretended to be) faded after her hospitalization, but Kousei brought it back. The next time he visits, Kaori is back out of bed playing music with children on the hospital rooftop. Its a scene reminiscent of their first meeting, but I have no doubts that this one is genuine. Kaori made Kousei a better person, and then he returned the favor. It's really heartwarming that he was able to reawaken her will to live. The ending is obviously tragic, and even on a rewatch Im not ashamed to admit that it made me cry. It was still uplifting, though, because even though Kaori died, she went down fighting, wanting to live. Even if the outcome is the same, I still believe thats a better way to go. And, if nothing else, the lives she touched will carry her influence for the rest of their lives. Your Lie in April really was a beautiful story, and Kaori is the main reason why.

40. Your Lie in April
https://myanimelist.net/anime/23273/Shigatsu_wa_Kimi_no_Uso
Fall 2014 (22 episodes)
My Score: 8/10, MAL Score: 8.66/10
Best Characters: Miyazono Kaori, Sawabe Tsubaki

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUZRNcnXDuM

My Kaori figure: https://imgur.com/ye6NuxA

Premise: Arima Kousei was trained to be a perfect pianist by his abusive mother, but he hasnt played at all in the years since her death. Then he meets Miyazono Kaori, a free-spirited violinist with a crush on Kousei's best friend.

The Good: Your Lie in April is a music drama about Kousei, a prodigious pianist. He hasnt played in years due to trauma from the death of his abusive mother, and even if he tries hes incapable of hearing the notes. One day he goes on an outing with his friends Tsubaki and Watari, which was set up so that the popular Watari could meet Kaori, a girl who has a crush on him. She catches Kousei's eye too, though. Partly because shes a violinist, partly because of her energetic free-spirited attitude, but mostly because Kaori insists on dragging Kousei back to the piano whether he wants to or not.

Despite ranking it this high, I have mixed feelings about Your Lie in April. The characters go through a lot of introspection and sorrow, and there are times where I think it gets too bleak. Ill talk about that more in the bad section below. Still, I think the good easily outweighs the bad. Kaori is one of my favorite anime characters for a lot of reasons, and the way she influences everyone around her is magical. This might be controversial, but I found Tsubaki really compelling too. Shes known Kousei almost all her life. The arrival of Kaori shakes up their dynamic and leaves Tsubaki struggling to understand her own feelings. Ill talk about them both more in their character write-ups. Otherwise, the anime has some beautiful piano segments full of deeper meaning. The themes also delve into things like passion, love, and life, and it was all interesting to think about.

The Bad: One of my biggest problems with Your Lie in April is Kousei's mother. She was incredibly over-the-top abusive towards him, and it ruined entire portions of the anime for me because I couldnt bring myself to care about her. It stretched my disbelief too much that she could do some of the things she did and no one would intervene. I was also disgusted whenever the story expected me to sympathize with her because she was an irredeemable monster. Its all so pointless, too, because the story wouldve worked just as well and been a lot more relatable if she wasnt evil. A loving mother dying is more than enough to traumatize a kid into quitting the piano. Other than that, this anime often had goofy comedy segments. Usually those would be my favorite thing in a show, but in a story like this most of them just felt out of place.

Overall: Your Lie in April is a beautiful anime for a lot of reasons. I think the abuse from Kouseis mother is way too much, but it isnt bad enough to ruin the overall story. Kaori is a wonderful character who helps Kousei out of the abyss hes trapped in, and there are a lot of nice piano songs along the way.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/1/6/5/AAcDcBAAD3HF.jpg

CHARACTER: Sawabe Tsubaki (Your Lie in April)
https://myanimelist.net/character/69409/Tsubaki_Sawabe
Voiced by: Sakura Ayane
TOP 100 RANK: 74th

SPOILERS FOR YOUR LIE IN APRIL

VIDEO LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ag2uz1X5opI

I saw mixed feelings on Tsubaki when I looked up discussions for Your Lie in April, so her being one of my favorite characters may be controversial. I dont like everything about her. She has a lot of out of place comedy sections (she smashed a baseball through a window and nearly killed Kousei I dont know why the anime expected me to laugh at that because it isnt funny). Tsubaki also does some selfish or stupid things. Those Im much more willing to forgive, though, because Tsubaki is a dumb kid trying to work out her own feelings. It makes sense that she wouldnt be perfect. And then theres also the fact that the situation everyone is in is so complicated and sad. Im not sure there is a good way to approach any of this, so I can hardly blame Tsubaki for occasionally making a mess of it.

At her core, I think shes a really interesting character. She loves Kousei (a fact everyone except for the two of them can see), but he was always dominated by the piano. It makes sense that Tsubaki would come to resent it but, even then, Im not sure I believe her when she says that. There are scenes after Kousei starts playing again where she listens contentedly from next door. In any case, even after Kousei stopped playing, it was due to trauma rather than his own choice. Tsubaki even admits that she could accept it if he chose to stop playing of his own will, but instead hes trapped by it. This is why she helps Kaori drag Kousei back to the piano. Then, during their joint performance, theres a moment I really like where Tsubaki sees how Kaori and Kousei are looking at each other. Tsubaki's mood immediately drops. She doesnt even understand why yer, but she can feel shes made a huge mistake bringing those two together.

Tsubaki takes most of the rest of the anime to accept her feelings for Kousei. By the time she does, the situation couldnt be worse. Kousei is planning to move away for high school. Kaori is sick and hospitalized. And Tsubaki is a mess of complex emotions. She does a crappy thing. She tells Kousei that Kaori likes Watari, not him. He has no chance so hell have to settle for Tsubaki. Then she runs away, hoping her words will stir something in him just like hes stirred so many feelings in her. She hopes hell finally see her as a girl, not just a sister figure. Then she begins avoiding Kousei, because Tsubaki is afraid of what might come next. Still, despite the schism between them, despite her mixed feelings about piano itself, Tsubaki goes to see Kousei's performance. At the moment where hes about to break, thinking hes about to lose Kaori, about to lose everything its a sneeze from Tsubaki in the audience that pulls Kousei back from the brink. He realizes that he isnt losing everyone. There are still so many people there supporting him, and Tsubaki, if no one else, isnt going anywhere.

I often like to think about how things might go for Tsubaki after the series ends. Kaori wrote in her letter to Kousei to apologize to Tsubaki, because she didnt mean to cause any problems when she was just briefly passing through. I think Kaori vastly underestimated the impact she had on their lives, however, because I think her influence will linger forever. I hope Tsubaki is strong enough to face that. Even if she and Kousei got together someday, would he forever compare her to a ghost? And, even if Kousei doesnt, would Tsubaki be the one forever comparing herself to Kaori? Its a sad situation all around, and it really makes me feel for these kids because its too much for anyone their age to deal with. Out of everyone swept up in the whirlwind of Kaori, both the good parts and the tragedy, I found myself feeling for Tsubaki a lot.

Satan (Haxan)

Ned Flanders as the Devil

Robot Devil

MacArrowny posted...

Hinamatsuri's real good. The manga's consistently quality to the end, too.

I'm still hopeful it'll get another season, but as that gets increasingly unlikely, it's definitely one of the manga I'd like to check out someday.

Suprak_the_Stud posted...

Mephisto

Auto for Robot Devil

For Ned Flanders, please

Satan (Haxan)

COMING UP TOMORROW:
40: This anime cant hear the music anymore.
C74: This character broke a window with a baseball.
C19: This character brought color to a monotone world.