30-Day Anime Challenge, Day 30 – An Anime You Wished Never Ended And Continued On

Ah, here at last! The final day of my anime challenge. I actually made it all the way to 30 days. Didn’t think I’d actually do it, did you? Well here I am.

This last one is a tough one. It can mean a few things. First of all, it can mean that I wasn’t satisfied with the ending and wanted more. Second, it could mean that the show was so good that I didn’t want it to end. Thankfully, there’s an anime that combines both of these aspects. You probably know what it is.

Angel Beats!

This is a really good show from the makers of my favourite anime of all time: CLANNAD. The studio is different, but the company behind the story is the same. Key Visual Arts, you are amazing storytellers, and Jun Maeda is an amazing composer. Frankly, they deserve far more recognition then they get.

So why didn’t I want this to end? Well, the story is compelling enough. It’s about a group of high-school age students in an afterlife-sort of limbo where they try to sort out their lives’ regrets. The characters are awesome, relate-able and heart-warming. Not only that, but because it is an afterlife, the characters can’t die. This makes for some cool situations and other elements.

The other reason I didn’t want it to end is because it ends so abruptly. They do some fantastic characterization and story development, then rush an ending into two episodes. It’s really unfortunate, really, but thankfully there is a visual novel on the way that will (hopefully) sort all of that out.

 

I rant and rave about music in anime all the time. To me, it’s the most important aspect, and I will say this: Angel Beats! has my favourite soundtrack of all-time. It is completely flawless, emotional, varied, and just downright amazing. This show lives on it’s music, but it also brings so much more. Just watch it.

 

30-Day Anime Challenge, Day 29 – Anime You Wished Was Real

This is a really tough question. The way I look at it, this question really means “anime with the coolest setting/universe” because the stories they show may not play out the same way if I were in said setting. So, with that in mind, some anime have really cool settings. From dream worlds, to alternate realities, everything is really covered. So I decided to pick something with a relate-able setting, Something not too far-fetched, but different enough that it’s pretty awesome. So…

Kuroko No Basket

Imagine a world where basketball is awesome. The players do things that are literally impossible. Like consistent full-court shots. Or the ability to copy another player’s style flawlessly. Or being able to see the entire court at once. Or making yourself essentially invisible through misdirection.

Now imagine these players are not even professional players. They are high school prodigies, known as the Generation Of Miracles. They all come from the same school, and split ways after middle school. Now they all have to play each other, and we all get to enjoy their awesome play.

Sounds cool, right? Hells yes. I actually love this show, the things the players do are pretty awesome.

Let’s be honest, you want basketball to be like this too.

30-Day Anime Challenge, Day 28 – Favourite Quote From Any Anime Character

Anime has a lot of good quotes from memorable characters. Luckily for me, this is a fairly subjective question. Obviously a few quotes came into my mind when I saw this question for the first time. So, naturally, I should pick the first one that came in to my head so many days ago. That quote is…

“People who don’t even try have no right to envy those with talent. Those who fail do so because they can’t imagine the effort needed to succeed.” Yukinoshita Yukino, Ore No Seishun LOVE COM Wa Machigatteiru

More colloquially known as Oregairu, this show is home to many memorable quotes, mainly by this character, and the protagonist. Of them all, this quote from early in the series stood out to me. I have no clip of it, but it rings true.

This is actually a fault I see in far too many people. They attribute success in an individual to merely their status. In fact, much of western popular culture is based on this myth. We elevate those with marginally better genetics to inappropriately high levels.

Nowhere can I see this as being more true than the music industry. Let me set the record straight: I hate most western music. It’s horrible. The singers can’t even hit a note most of the time, and live performances are lackluster at best. That is because there is a severe lack of effort on the part of most of the performers. They look good, so the producers put them on screen and hope they can do something. 99% of the time, it’s a complete disaster to anyone with a musical or performance background. It’s horribly distasteful.

This quote turns that around. It implies that success is not based on appearances, luck, or genetics, but hard work. I love that idea. It means that anyone can do anything they want to. It means that I can do anything I set my mind to. This is a very clear difference in culture.

“Talent” means you’re born with it. Most successful people aren’t.

30-Day Anime Challenge, Day 27 – Most Badass Scene From Any Anime Character

When I first read this category, I thought to myself, “This has to be a Kamina scene.” And sure enough, that opinion hasn’t changed. But which one? There are so many to choose from. So I picked the most epic one, the one that was the most meaningful to the series. You know which one it is.

Kamina’s Giga Drill Breaker & Death (Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann)

Kamina is the manliest character to ever exist. He is the very definition of what it is to be a man. He inspires those around him while not slacking off. He aims for impossible goals and sets out to achieve them. He doesn’t even last the whole series, but Kamina is by far the most memorable character in TTGL.

Unfortunately he dies. In episode 8, Kamina is skewered through the heart by a large robot immediately after knocking the sense back into Simon. But you know what? Screw that. Despite being, for all intents and purposes, a dead man, Kamina comes back to save the day.

Simon is flustered after the death and Kamina can sense that. He wakes up, says some very inspirational things, and does one final combination and attack with Simon, the iconic Giga Drill Breaker. He immediately dies afterwards, but not without saying goodbye to his friends.

 

It’s not often you can say you avenged your own death, but Kamina is so manly that he can do so. Truly one to remember.

30-Day Anime Challenge, Day 26 – Best Anime Fight

Sigh. Here we go again.

Some anime battles are boring. In fact, most anime battles are boring. The villains are predictable, as are the results are stagnant. You can always tell what’s going to happen to some extent, and thus far I haven’t seen many exceptions.

So I decided to pick one. “Best anime fight” is a very broad term. Doesn’t put any restrictions on length, number of characters involved, or who wins. This makes my choice very nice and easy. So far, this is the only fight that had me on the edge of my seat the whole time. As you may have guessed, it is..

The Battle For Trost (Shingeki No Kyojin)

I tried as hard as I could to not pick a currently-airing show. But seriously, this battle trumps all the others I have seen. It spans a grand total of 9 episodes, making it one of the longer battles I’ve seen. As my brother said, episode 5 is one of the biggest wake-up calls he’d ever seen, and he couldn’t be more right. Humanity is trying to fight against what are essentially larger versions of themselves who seem to eat them for pleasure. It is an absolute slaughter.

I’m trying to keep this as spoiler free as possible, so for those who haven’t seen it yet, watch it as soon as possible. Several important, seemingly primary characters meet an end that a background character doesn’t deserve. The titans are swift and severe.

In the end, humanity barely edges out the titans. This isn’t because humanity is great, and must always win. They win on the backs of two absolutely ridiculous people while everyone else is getting slaughtered. But even that isn’t enough. In the end, they essentially end up really lucky and cheat out a win. Just watch it, you’ll understand.

 

A start that epic deserves a good battle. And it absolutely delivers.

30-Day Anime Challenge, Day 25 – Saddest Anime Death

Remember a long while ago, how I said I was saving an even sadder moment for later in this challenge? Well here it is. If you watch the following scene and don’t shed a tear, you are not a human being. I think that should be a test. If any one individual can see this and not cry at least one bucket, they do not qualify as “human”. For those wondering, it is from CLANNAD. If you have yet to watch CLANNAD, stop reading right here because this will literally ruin the story for you. I’m not kidding. Seriously, go away.

You’ve been warned.

 

The Death of Okazaki Ushio

Remember that little girl from so many days ago, crying in her daddy’s arms when she lost her first gift? Yeah. She dies. Not spectacularly, not in any amazing fashion. She dies in her father’s arms only shortly after they are reunited.

She, like her mother, became very ill. So ill that she had to stay home all the time. Her father, Tomoya, quit his job so he could take care of her. A job he got specifically to help himself and take care of Nagisa. This moment, to me, is the most quintessentially heart-wrenching moment of all-time in an anime. This death defines all sad deaths. No other death even comes close, really.

Don’t believe me? Check it out yourself:

 

Try not to cry too hard, ok?

30-Day Anime Challenge, Day 24 – Moment That Shocked You The Most In Any Anime

Thus far, I have tried to keep this blog as spoiler-free as possible. I’m trying to stop from spoiling some of the great stories that anime tells. But not on this post. This post contains a massive, enormous spoiler for the anime Steins;Gate. If you have yet to see it, turn back now. I’m serious. Simply hearing this spoiler will likely ruin the first half of the anime for you. That’s because the moment that shocked me the most in any anime is…

The Death of Shiina Mayuri (Steins;Gate)

Look at that face. Just look at it. That is the face of someone happy. Someone proud to be alive. A person who is so friendly despite being completely useless to the overall expansion of the laboratory.

But not for long. Shiina Mayuri is shot in the head by a member of SERN, simply because she is “not needed”. The show was very light hearted until this happened. A few things went wrong here and there, but nothing major happens for eleven whole episodes.

Then this. It completely changes the tone of the show. A complete one-eighty, no going back yet. Shiina Mayuri, the face of calm, the joyful spirit, the tuturu, is shot and killed in cold blood. With that, the remainder of the series is incredibly tense. It’s actually awe-inspiring, I remember my eyes widening at this scene, then I watched the rest of the series in one sitting, that’s how shocking this event was.

Honestly, that’s the whole scene right there, and it does it absolutely no justice. If you want to understand it, you must watch the whole series. It’s okay though, the rest of the series is 10/10 anyway. You’ll enjoy it.

30-Day Anime Challenge, Day 23 – Favourite Attack Someone Used In An Anime

I don’t think I can say it enough times – fighting anime really aren’t my thing. They used to be, though. I loved the thrill of those people doing extraordinary things that take them decades to master. This next attack is good not only because it is awesome and extraordinary, but also because it is a revelation. It is the supremely powerful attack of a being whose name need not be mentioned. It is…

Excalibur (Fate/Stay Night)

To be fair, I’m basing this decision almost entirely on the visual novel, however the scene in the anime is quite good as well. Saber unleashes her Noble Phantasm, Excalibur, on an unsuspecting Rider. It is, to put it bluntly, overwhelming. Rider is destroyed in a single hit, with nothing remaining.

The beautiful golden sword is also revealed for the first time in this scene. Excalibur is a sword known only to one hero: Arthur. Thus, Saber’s true identity is revealed in this scene as well. In the visual novel, this is a matter of crucial importance, because Saber kept it specifically hidden from Shirou, the main character. It’s a very good scene.

There’s the full thing, in all its glory. To be honest, it is way better in the visual novel. But most things are like that: the source material is usually better.

30-Day Anime Challenge, Day 22 – Favourite Weapon, Gear, Or Armour Used In Anime

So, like I’ve said before, fighting anime aren’t really my thing. A few of them stand out as good though, and this one definitely qualifies. These small piece of “armour” is so small at first. So insignificant. However, they allow him to decimate much larger opponents, or even groups of opponents. That piece is…

Roy Mustang’s gloves (Fullmetal Alchemist  and FMA: Brotherhood)

Now these gloves are no ordinary gloves, for those that don’t know. They are known as “ignition cloth”, where when he snaps his fingers they create a spark. Seems really innocuous, but with alchemy (the power of this particular anime universe), he is able to modify the air pressure and create powerful explosions at will. For that, he is given the appropriate title of “Flame Alchemist”.

Excuse the Spanish subtitles, but it still displays Roy’s badassery, and his awesome gloves. Not only are they sleek and stylish, but they blow things up.

30-Day Anime Challenge, Day 21 – Favourite Goofy Anime Character

Well, like some previous entries, this category has a lot of entries in it. Almost every anime has a character that qualifies as goofy, so once again I created a couple rules. First of all, they can’t be the main character. Just an arbitrary rule, but I decided on it because it would be and unfair for the other good characters who don’t happen to be protagonists. Secondly, they can’t serve as a punching bag for the main character/cast. That’s way too overdone. So, with those rules in mind, I choose…

T.K. (Angel Beats!)

T.K. is a very unique character. He has a very strange way of living. He always speaks in English and narrates what he does. He’s always dancing or moving somehow, and saying cool things while he does it. Why? I have no idea. Possibly because he can and he wants to. I’m very much looking forward to the Angel Beats visual novel, in part because I hope it expands on T.K.’s character a bit more.

Seriously, how can you not love this guy?