Yeah yeah, so I'm doing a list of Ten Anime of 2010 that one should watch if they should so choose. Though, stuff like Hidamari Sketch, K-On!! and Trigun aren't on this list since they require having to watch previous seasons of stuff not in 2010. So ya... counting down after the jump.
I seriously wanted to make a Top Ten Anime of 2010, but realized that doing so would be folly. So instead I just listed 10 anime from the past year that you should probably watch if you haven't already.
10) Asobi ni Iku yo!
The Skinny:
Kio Kakazu is a young high school student who ends up taking in a alien girl named Elis. All sorts of things happen from there as the alien race makes itself known to the world, much to the chagrin of various underworld factions, including another alien race that has a deep hatred for Elis and her race.
Why you should and shoundn't watch it:
This series is actually quite funny and hilarious if you shut your brain off from the total inaccuracies of the plot and storyline.There are a ton of anime tropes in this series, and it makes fun of most of them - and tends to steal it's opening lines from various 1970 American syndicated action TV shows. Really, you should watch this for the absolutely adorable and awesome Assistdroids.
9) Koe de Oshigoto
The Skinny:
Kanna Aoyagi is a sixteen year old girl who decides to visit her older sister's place of work. Come to find out, she happens to work at a Eroge company (AKA they make anime porn games.) Hilarity ensues as her sister tries to get her to become a voice actress in one of their games.
Why you should and shouldn't watch it:
The premise alone is enough to make any guy watch it, and maybe make most girls not watch it. The anime itself though is completely PG-13 as there is no nudity or such at all. It's actually quite funny, and it's a shame that it's only one OAV to this point.
8) Tamayura
The Skinny:
A young girl named Fu Sawatari takes photos as a hobby, due to the influence of her deceased father. She uses her father's camera - which due to a special defect during the exposure on the film that causes the "Tamayura" or "children of the light" to appear on her photos.
Why you should and shouldn't watch it:
This anime has a very serene feel to it - and is very scenic heavy. As someone on the MegaTokyo forums called it - it's very heavy on the snapshot porn. The feel of this anime has very much the same feel you would get from watching ARIA the Animation. As with ARIA, the slow relaxed pace is not for those who like their anime to have more things going on or want some action.
7) Panty & Stocking with Garderbelt
The Skinny:
Panty & Stocking are angels who were kicked out of heaven and are now sent to fight crime... or whatever the heck Garderbelt decides he wants them to fight. Their goal is to get Heaven Coins from the ghosts they fight so that they may earn their way back into heaven. By the way, did I mention their weaponry are formed from their respective names?
Why you should and shouldn't watch it:
There's a ton of action every episode of this series, and much like anime like Excel Saga, FLCL, and the like - the storylines and plots of every episode seem to go totally random sometimes. As you can tell from the artstyle, GAINAX - the animation studio behind FLCL, Neon Genesis Evangelion, and Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann - decided to use a very Cartoon Network-ish style of animation for this series. So much so, Jhonen Vasquez (of Invader Zim fame) noted one of his characters getting new work in the series. The one negative that may shy people away though is that it uses a ton of tropes from not just anime, but from Cartoon Network-style cartoons as well (as well as the art) and for those who hate these type of shows, that can shoot the entire anime down for them.
6) Amagami SS
The Skinny:
A high school boy named Junichi Tachibana had his heart crushed two years ago on Christmas Eve, when the girl he asked out never showed up for their date. So he goes out to possibly hook up with one of six girls to change his loneliness during Chirstmas Eve.
Why you should and shouldn't watch it:
This is one of your proto-typical high school romance animes with a interesting twist. After four episodes, the series resets back to the beginning and starts off with a new girl - so each main girl in the series has four episodes to shine. Which also means each arc of four episodes can be hit and miss where you may end up angry at Junichi, the girl, or the storyline - or a combination of the three. It's still one of my favorite animes of the year, and includes one of the best characters of the year in Ai Nanasaki.
5) Angel Beats
The Skinny:
Guy named Yuzuru Otonashi suddenly wakes up in a schoolyard in the middle of night. Next to him is a girl with a sniper rifle aimed at a silver-haired girl. It is there she welcomes him to the afterlife - where it's a struggle to survive where one cannot die. Seems kinda ironic, doesn't it?
Why you should and shouldn't watch it:
In Key Visual Art's first anime project to not be associated with Toei Animation or Kyoto Animation - as well as their first Anime Original series - it has much of feel of Key's previous works in AIR, Kanon, and Clannad yet incorporating elements from other animes such as Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu and FLCL. However, it's because of the blend of these elements that at times the storyline tends to lose focus and becomes bland. One of best things in this anime though is the soundtrack, which includes the "Keep the Beats!" album from the fictional band Girls Dead Monster (or Girls DeMo).
4) Black Rock Shooter
The Skinny:
One day, a young girl suddenly disappears almost without a trace. It is up to her friend, Mato Kuroi, to find her by the sudden discovery that she is "Black Rock Shooter" - a silent girl who wields a cannon of a arm... literally. Along the way, she finds out why her friend disappears.
Why you should and shouldn't watch it:
This anime spawned out of the Miku Hatsune Vocaloid craze that has been happening for the past five years. The character Black Rock Shooter was formed first from a drawing (inspired from Miku Hatsune) that inspired a song using the Vocaloid software and became a instant hit in Japan. It proved so popular that the newly formed Studio Ordet (featuring the director and writer from Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu) made it the studio's first anime production. If there's a negative - it's very unexplanatory and quiet and the school scenes seem to just end up being filler for the high paced action scenes.
3) Durarara!!
The Skinny:
Mikado Ryugamine is a young high schooler who moved to the Ikebukuro district of Tokyo - known for it's high crime rate among other things. He ends up getting involved in the going-on's of the district and it's host of unbelievable characters.
Why you should and shouldn't watch it:
Durarara is one of those thinking animes that has action in it. It's easy to get lost in the action and miss some of the moments that when they get revealed later - make you want to rewatch previous episodes. One of the unfortunate things about the series is that I personally think it actually jumps the shark mid-way through the series, which is pretty much a shame. It's still a great anime anyway to watch regardless.
2) Highschool of the Dead
The Skinny:
Two young high school boys and a high school girl run across the roof of their school - smashing students turned zombies as they go. One of the boys get bit from one of the zombies, and a painful choice is made when the other boy is forced to kill the now-undead boy in front of his girlfriend. Now they must survive the Zombie Apocalypse that has enveloped the entire world.
Why you should and shouldn't watch it:
This is the best series of the year not tied to some anime from a previous year. This series is very much your Zombie Survival story in a anime format - and it works. It borrows obviously from other zombie survival films before it and combines it with anime fanservice. Obviously, if you aren't a fan of Zombie Survival flicks, you probably wouldn't be that much into this either.
1) Toaru Kagaku no Railgun
The Skinny:
A bio-engineered girl named Mikoto "Railgun" Misaka begins her attendance to the prestigious Tokiwadai middle school - where only the rich and powerful attend. Due to her power as one who can control electricity and her level five status - she already is called a "Onee-sama" of the school and is one of it's most well-known students.
Why you should and shouldn't watch it:
It's a spinoff series of another anime named Toaru Majutsu no Index where Mikoto was only a side character to that series. Because of the spinoff status, a viewer doesn't need to know anything about the main series this spun off from (in much the same vein one doesn't need to watch Triangle Hearts to watch Magical Lyrical Girl Nanoha). Mikoto is one of the best characters of the year (winning the 2010 MegaTokyo Anime Grand Prix and nearly beat the eventual 2010 Saimoe champion, Azusa Nakano, by a mere 26 votes in the block final.) and she's almost reason enough to watch this series - but throw in one of the other best characters of the year, Ruiko Saten - and it's a must-watch. The only major negative of this anime is the poor storywriting, which tends to get lost sometimes and also sometimes just flat out doesn't make sense sometimes.
Honorable Mentions - These are listed because they either 1) were not good enough, 2) I didn't end up watching it much or at all, or 3) require watching a previous season. The number in parenthesis is to indicate the reasoning why they aren't in the top 10.
K-On!!(3), Hidamari Sketch Hoshimitsu(3), Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu season 2(3), Suzumiya Haruhi no Shoshitsu(3), Sengoku Basara: Samurai Kings(3), Katanagatari(2), Yosuga no Sora(1), MM!(1), Ore no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga nai(2), Dance in the Vampire Bund(2), Book Girl(1 - due to the movie).
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