Thursday, January 18, 2018

I think 2011 was the beginning of my Era of Anime.

My top two favorite Anime may be shows much older then that, Noir and Lucky Star, as well as two other shows that had formally been up there before I watched more shows, Code Geass and Utena.  But those are shows I feel were ahead of their time.  And the main advantage they have over their modern equivalents is how less common it is for shows to be two core now.

I suspected this before I started going over 2011 on MAL and seeing even more basis for it then I first thought.  And some of the 2011 shows I haven't seen yet I'm very much wanting to check out now.  Perhaps that'll result in future updates to this post.  Plus I'm (mostly) not even gonna count here shows I started then put on hold.

None of these shows I watched at the time, or even when their Dubs were new.  This is stuff I was drawn to and really liked after getting more fully into Anime starting around late 2014 and early 2015.

In the Winter season of 2011 was Puella Magi Madoka Magica.  And the start of Suite Pretty Cure, the first PreCure pair I think is good after the OG team.

Spring 2011 had Steins;Gate, Aria of the Scarlet Ammo, C:The Money of Soul and Possibly Control,

Summer 2011 had Yuru Yuri season 1 and Mawaru Penguindrum.

And then the Fall had Mirai Nikki and season one of Fate/Zero.

It's not just that there was a lot of stuff I liked, not all those are even 10s.  It's that I don't think any year has more shows I like that were trend setters.

All these trends have precedent that came before.  With Madoka some people feel compelled to go and on about how there were dark Magical Girl shows before, but there were sort of slasher films before Halloween as well.  Madoka had something the Dark Magical Girl shows before it didn't, that shows since have inherited.  I don't feel qualified o explain what it was, but I definitely know it does.  Regardless of that debate however Madoka was indisputably what triggered the current trend, no one likes Yuki Yuna Is A Hero more then me (now that the Two Fat Guys Talk people are less happy with season 2 then I am) but I'm not gonna deny it wouldn't have gotten green-lite without Madoka.

Light Magical Girl shows also had a transition this year.  Suite Pretty Cure topped the previous PreCure sequels because it began the trend of giving each season a distinct hook, and this is what has kept PreCure shows since then fresh.  And I can't help but feel that musically Sailor Moon Crystal is indebted to Suite PreCure.

As I'd said before, the 2014 Sailor Moon revival is what brought me to Hulu, then Madoka was a recommended show on the Sailor Moon and SMC pages, and that's what sent me down a spiral towards Anime consuming my Nerdiness.

Fate/Zero wasn't the first Fate/ Anime, but it's the first that was a major hit and launched the Fate/Mania we've seen since.  And Mirai Nikki caused an upsurge in Yandere popularity.  Aria of the Scarlet Ammo is a show where I like it's spin off,  Aria of The Scarlet Ammo AA, even more.

A lot of people have considered it interesting how certain 2011 Anime came out the same year Game of Thrones started (to be exact, season 1 aired congruent with the Spring Anime season), given claims they appeal in a similar way.  But while GoT I grew tired of by some point in season 4.  Anime descended from these are still fresh to me.  The Martiness of some popular 2011 Anime kind of helped make SAO, Attack on Titan, The Woman Called Fujiko Mine, and Re:Zero possible in the following years.

But for me personally the more significant corresponding western media was Pretty Little Liars. It started the prior year but only half a season aired in 2010.  In 2011 aired the second half of season 1, the first half of season 2, and the first of it's infamous Halloween specials.  It caught my attention in 2010 but it was in 2011 is became a favorite.  And it overlaps with what I look for in Anime in a number of ways.  It's essentially a Four Girls show with a convoluted murder mystery, lots of pulpy Film Noir homages and Yuri.

Of course somethings in 2011 Anime can also be seen as the end of the era that came before.  Like the K-On movie which I didn't mention above as I was just going through TV Anime.  But while the K-On movie marked the end of one era of Cute Girls doing Cute Things Anime, the start of Yuru Yuri began a new era, that made shows like Is The Order A Rabbit and Engaged to the Unidentified possible.

Update September 12 2018: Some other 2011 Anime I should mention are the Carnival Phantasm shorts and the Kampfer OVA.  And the third PreCure Allstar movie.  Also the Toradora Bento Battle OVA and the Fate/Prototype OVA.  All these I had already seen before I first made this post.

On my MAL I currently have listed 291 Anime I've completed, I'm probably gonna soon add the Death Note Recap movies which I saw awhile ago but neglected to add.

140 are shows who's Air Star Date was after the end of 2010, so that's approaching half of all Anime I've completed.  And remember even most  post 2010 Anime I saw wasn't brand new when I first saw it, I only really started following seasonal currently airing Anime in the Winter of 2017.  I still only follow a handful of currently airing Anime at a time, usually favoring what gets Simuldubbed.

Only 58 of my completed Anime are pre 2000.  And when it comes to pre 2000 Anime I think I've nearly bottomed out on what interests me.  I'm eventually gonna watch more Lupin III and Gundam stuff, and if it ever gets available in English La Seine No Hoshi.  But generally speaking my attempts to try out 80s and 90s Anime leave me concluding their appeal is limited to my tastes.  For the so Bad it's good Dubs I find it more efficient to just watch Anime Abandon videos.

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