My stated intention to devote a lot of 2023 to helping start the Nostalgia Boom early 2000s Anime was not as successful as I’d have liked it to be. But some fruit was borne.
One thing I noticed is a lot of what I devoted time to wound up being specifically from 2004, shows that will be having their 20th Anniversary this year.
2004 was an important year for the Magical Girl Genre with the original Futari wa Pretty Cure, much of PGSM airing that year, and the first season of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha. But also Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch and its sequel Pure which I still have On Hold even though I think about it a lot. Tweeny Witches is another obscure show from 2004 I may return to.
Madlax is an enjoyable Hot Mess of a show that I like to consider a good example of the kind of Anime you can only find in the 2000s, along with Burst Angel which was a fun Anime NeoWestern.
Monster also started in 2004. I still haven’t finished that one but what I’ve seen I agree is good television. And it’s not an Otaku show at all, Normies can get into it.
Most controversially of course was my passionate defense of Elfen Lied.
My preferring the original Fullmetal Alchemist to Brotherhood is also moderately controversial.
Specifically the Winter of 2004 had another show I still haven’t finished called Gilgamesh, that show has a lot going for its premise but its vibes don’t gel with me as much as I want them to.
From late in the year Mai Hime and To Heart Remember My Memories are two other shows I have On Hold I’ve been meaning to return to. While Gankutsou and School Rumble are two more Classics of 2000s Anime.
I also enjoyed Rozen Maiden and Howl’s Moving Castle. But we don’t talk about Kanazuki no Miko.
On the subject of Detective Conan aka Case Closed the first episode of 2004 was 345 the climax of the Vermouth Arc, and the very next episode opens with some aftermath to all that, but then it's two years before the main storyline picks up again. In Spring was 356 the Kaito Kid episode of the year and the same month also had the 8th Movie Magician of The Silver Sky which I still rank among the best. Episodes 371-372 I’ve noted as being one of the Columbo Style cases which I always have a fondness for. Then 2004 ended with 383 a two hour special Heiji episode about Baseball that I wound up enjoying. I still haven’t seen most 2004 episodes so I’m sure there are other Gems.
On the subject of Pokémon, some of the Pokémon Chronicles Episodes aired this year in Japan, while the main series was still in the Advanced generation. And the movie for this year was Destiny Deoxys which I rank up in the upper tier generally preferring the Odd Number movies during the early Gens.
So I want to devote some time this year to revisiting some of the above and maybe watching more, but I won't be limiting myself to 2004. Some 2002 and 2003 or even earlier stuff will be having the 20th anniversary of their English Localizations this year, but it’s not always easy to find out exactly when such localizations were made.
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