Carrying over from the previous post, we’ll be going through time and have a look at more anime from the past decade! The last five years seemed to have a lot more interesting shows than before, but it’s also balanced out by an equal amount of purposeless, moe-pandering harem comedies created for the sole purpose of selling more merchandise. Still, I managed to pick out a whole bunch of titles that have been very, very memorable and significant (to my eyes, at least).

So here’s the continuation to our very, very long list of notable anime titles from the past decade, featuring a short commentary for each one. Again, bolded ones mean that it is highly recommended!

2005

Eureka Seven's characters were very solid and portrayed with a lot of depth in the original series - it made the movie felt so awkward because everyone just... acted out of their characters.

The Anime Bubble reached its peak as we get to see eroge adaptations and moe-oriented shows appearing by the truckloads – meaning lots of moe merchandise up for sale. Odd thing was, most of them seem to follow similar patterns, with harems and love comedies everywhere. Good shows were few and far in between this year.

• Ah! Megami-sama! – The spritiual successor (lol) to You’re Under Arrest. Heart-warming love comedy, it’s like chicken soup for the otaku’s soul.
• Eureka Seven – Mecha adventure at its best. Fantastic story-telling, solid characters, great music and lots of expensive animation. Medal winner, here!
• Jigoku Shoujo – If Saikano was the Best Tragedy of the decade, Jigoku Shoujo is a very close first runner-up. Season Two drove me to tears.
• Karas – A tokusatsu hero in an anime. Great story, lots of CG eye-candy. Lots of thrills and excitement in this one.
• Kino’s Journey – Very deep and profound without even trying to use any complicated philosophy talk. I love it.
• Mushishi – Mystery and fantasy set in Edo period. Not for ADD sufferers as it tends to put you to sleep. Especially with its slow pace, beautiful backgrounds and soothing music.
• Noein – Time-paradox sci-fi. Weird character designs but definitely a lot of fun to watch.
• Shuffle – Introduced the world to the Yandere archetype. Awesome.

2006

C.C. and Kallen set the hearts of many anime fans ablaze.

2006 was a lot of fun. There was a huge amount of wonderful seinen stuff that I could really sink my teeth into. I could safely ignore an entire assembly of moe anime because there were so many other great shows to enjoy. In fact, there was quite a lot of them, so back then I only followed 3-4 titles, and waited for the rest to finish so I can marathon them all during semester breaks.

• Bartender – Elegant slice-of-life, using liquors and cocktails as metaphors.
• Black Lagoon – Bullets, blood, guts and lots of profanity. Amen, hallelujah, peanut butter.
• Brave Story – Shonen RPG-esque adventure with lots of pretty CG!
• Code Geass – This marked the point when we started calling them Elevens instead of Japanese. One of the most exciting mecha anime ever, featuring shojo character designs by Clamp.
• Death Note – Great franchise that is nearly ruined by a completely retarded fanbase.
• Ergo Proxy – Very profound post-apocalpytic, amnesia-recovery journey. Great story and great animation.
• Fate/Stay Night – People die when they are killed.
• Freedom – The most expensive advertisement campaign for a brand of cup noodles. It’s great piece of sci-fi, too.
• Ghost Hunt – Horror is fun. Like, horrifyingly fun!
• Hataraki Man – Nothing quite as dazzling as getting a tight slap of workplace reality right across the face.
• Honey and Clover – Best Romance of the Decade. No contest.
• Higurashi no Naku Koro ni – Psycho meets Moe. The Yandere Archetype taken to the next level.
• Pale Cocoon – A wonderful short sci-fi piece. This went under a lot of people’s radar as it was released as ONA.
• Paprika – Mind bending sci-fi. Literally. Lots of fun fucking around with people’s brains.
• Rescue Wings - Lots of suspense, very close to reality. Read the review here!
• Saiunkoku Monogatari – Political drama set in a reverse harem during an Imperial Dynasty. Lots of handsome men fawning over one girl.
• Suzumiya Haruhi – Moe appeal? I don’t know, seriously. I still don’t get it – I don’t think I ever will.
• Tekkon Kinkreet – This movie is made purely of post-modern art and style.
• Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo – Fantasy/slice-of-life movie. Heart-warming story, wonderful music and a memorable watch.
• Welcome to the N.H.K. – There was once an anime about an anime club. This one is about a hikikomori. I knew it was awesome right from the beginning.
• Witchblade – Gonzo’s adaptation turned the Witchblade franchise from a steamy, lustful, action-drama to a tear-jerking, action-packed display of maternal love. Refreshing, to say the least.

2007

I hate to admit it, but even I couldn't run away from Lucky Star.

This is the year of beautiful illustration and animation. Many action shows are very well-made, featuring elegant choreography and fluid animations. Panning and stills featured beautifully drawn backgrounds, gradients and transitions. This is especially prominent in anime films, and I definitely enjoyed a good anime year.

• 5 Centimeters Per Second – Shinkai’s masterpiece, a collection of 3 short stories (from what was originally 10) depicting romance and distance. Very real, very moving.
• Bamboo Blade – OMG sports! I’m not usually a big fan of sports anime, but this one, I highly recommend because it’s a lot of fun to watch.
• Clannad – Another one of the few eroge visual novel adaptations that I appreciate and respect. Very beautiful backgrounds and animation. A lovely watch.
• Dennou Coil – This has to be one of the most fascinating sci-fi ever. 10 years of planning, and it blossomed into a very immersive world carrying a very engaging storyline. Must watch!
• Darker Than Black – Superpower shonen action! Very exciting story, with excellent animation and music, too.
• Evangelion 1.0 – The decade-old franchise was given a new breath of life with the production of a series of theatrical films. All the fans roared in joy, and all is right with the world.
• Ghost Hound – This anime is for audiophiles. Watch it with quality speakers or cans for a unique aural experience!
• Gundam 00 – After SEED, Gundam pilots are now made up of handsome young men with perfect skin and great hair.
• Kara no Kyoukai – A glorious series of seven theatrical films, adapted from a series of novels. Recently concluded, absolutely must watch!
• Lovely Complex – A humble love comedy presented in Kansai-ben. Great chemistry between the two lead characters. Fucking hilarious.
• Lucky Star – This is not an anime: it’s a fucking phenomena. Very meta, very moe. Sold billions worth of merchandise, for sure.
• Moyashimon – Cute bacteria floating around in a slice-of-life. Hehe.
• Nodame Cantabile – The musical counterpart to Honey and Clover. It’s nice, but not nearly as charming.
• Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei – Satire in anime is very rare, and this one takes the top spot. Absolutely hilarious.
• Seirei no Moribito – Children’s novel adapted into an epic adventure. Watch it for a good time.
• Sword of the Stranger – Shonen samurai action! Read the review here!
• Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann – Do the impossible, see the invisible, ROW ROW FIGHT THE POWAH! Touch the untouchable, break the unbreakable. ROW ROW FIGHT THE POWAH!
• Vexille – Very pretty CG showcase paired with a very weak story. Watch it for the eye-candy. Once, I saw an I.T. store looping it on its LCD showcase units.

2008

Yes, Horo. I can hold more drinks than you, HAH!

By now, HD anime is in full swing. Many shows are now available at 720p, and in a few months, 1080p Bluray rips are available. Boxtorrents (now known as BakaBT) have begun listing up complete HD anime batch torrents. The prices of HD-capable GPUs and 1080p monitors have dropped drastically this year, too. Suddenly, enjoying anime in HD has became very affordable!

• Allison and Lillia – Very nice adventure series. Reminds me of Tin Tin, with a love-comedy twist added to it.
• Antique Bakery – Fabulous, stylish men in aprons. Kissing each other. Awesome.
• Astro Fighter Sunred – Epic parody comedy is epic. Read the review here!
• Bounen no Xamdou – Spiritual successor to Eureka Seven. A brilliant tale of sci-fi/fantasy romance, extraordinary animation and heart-lifting music.
• Casshern Sins – Remake of an old post-apocalyptic show, saturated with style and elegance.
• Chi’s Sweet Home – Cat moe therapy. Made me wanna go kidnap someone else’s kitten.
• Detroit Metal City – Insane death metal comedy. A genius product of Studio 4C
• Eve no Jikan – An ONA mini-series about robots and AI sentience. Short, sweet and profound. Read the review here!
• Fireball – Disney’s CG gag mini-series. Lots of clever language jokes. I want a Drossel figma.
• Kaiba – The Picasso of Anime. I’d call it the best Romance of 2008 for its unique sci-fi setting and art style.
• Kannagi – Awesome comedy with lots of language jokes. Every episode has one golden nugget that sent me ROFL-ing.
• Kure-nai – Fantastic voice acting and charming music makes this ‘bodyguard’ series a must watch!
• Macross Frontier – Valkyries and singing idols. Same old Macross formula animated with modern technology – and a big budget.
• Mnemosyne – Blood, gore and sex. Read the review here.
• Natsume Yuujinchou – Fantasy has never been so intimate and romantic.
• Shigofumi – Somewhat dark and tragic, laced with a bit of moe. A very interesting title, indeed.
• Shikabane Hime – Shonen action with lots of zombies, explosions and tentacles.
• Skip-Beat – Shojo comedy-drama about idols struggling to climb the ladder of fame. An exciting watch, if not for the cliffhanger ending (the manga is still running, I think).
• Toradora! – High-school love comedy, lots of fun. A brilliant run throughout the first half, and then it slowly went downhill before reaching a ‘meh’ ending.
• The Sky Crawlers – It’s beautifully boring; Mamoru Oshii style. Something you’d watch alone, in the dark, with a nice hot drink.
• Wolf and Spice – Fantasy, romance and commerce adapted from a series of light novels. A weird combination, but as a result, I fell helplessly in love with Horo.

2009

Bakemonogatari went against all odds and came out at the top of the game, selling more DVDs and Blurays than its other competitors (especially a certain pointless moe-blob music show).

This is the year of incredible voice acting! A number of (relatively) not-so-famous seiyuu rose to prominence with their charismatic voice-acting. Some notable seiyuu of the year would be Miyuki Sawashiro (as Canaan), Chiwa Saito (as Senjougahara) and Kobayashi Yuu (as Mariya). Sure, voice actors have always breathed life into 2D characters, but beginning late 2008, many new talents have risen up with their incredible vocal work and completely took us by surprise.

• Aoi Hana – THIS is how a yuri romance should be. Dramatic and elegant without any puke-inducing scenes. Absolutely beautiful.
• Bakemonogatari – Charismatic voice-acting by the two cast members allowed this… collection of panning, still frames and talking heads to become The Best-Selling Anime of All Time.
• Canaan – Girls and guns, a formula that hardly ever fails. Character designs by Type-Moon, yet remains completely detached from the Nasuverse.
• Cross Game – Sports! It’s adapted from a love-comedy that was cleverly disguised as a baseball manga. Absolutely fun!
• Eden of the East – Kamiyama’s new pet project after S.A.C. A post-amnesia, conspiracy-theory, action adventure, soon to conclude in two theatrical movies in 2010. Must watch!
• Hetalia – Satire comedy with each country represented as anthropomorphous people. Italy is the cute main character, and German is a very gar dude.
• K-ON! – Introduced the world to the new genre of MoeBlob Anime. No story, no depth, no nothing, just moe.
• Maria+Holic – Shojo comedy with lots of gags and language jokes. Absolutely genius!
• Rideback – University students join a revolt against the mighty powers, while riding on transforming bikes. Quite fun, but too short.
• Ristorante Paradiso – Fabulous, bespectacled, middle-aged men, serving as waiters at a classy restaurant in modern-day Italy. Josei romance meets oyaji fetish. Yummy.
• Sasameki Koto – This is another yuri romance done right. Leans more towards comedy, though. The lead character (especially her voice-acting) carried the show all the way.
• Sengoku Basara – GET YOUR GUNS ON! IT’S PARTY TIME! One stroke of Takeda’s mighty war axe sends up an epic tornado, whipping up hundreds of soldiers into the air. Exaggeration personified in an anime.
• Summer Wars – Sci-fi adventure, the spiritual successor to Tokikake. Must watch!
• Railgun – Index was too boring, but this one was a lot of fun to watch. Sci-fi action adventure with lots of yuri fanservice.
• Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 – Delicious disaster survival porn. Not to be missed.

Conclusion

With that very exhaustive list over and done with, it’s time to greet 2010 with lots of empty harddisk space and a happy heart. We hope you enjoyed going through the lists and tell us what you think of the past decade :D

This is Silencers signing out of 2009 and on behalf of everyone here at Ocha!, I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

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