TBA’s Top Ten Anime Of 2007
Two Thousand and Seven has been a great year for Anime with many new releases that kept fans and Otakus alike up late at night. Today, tbA will attempt to do the impossible by listing the Top 10 Best Anime of 2007.
What a way to kick off 2008 the year of the Rat!
All of the anime in this list are new titles freshly made or ended in 2007. Sequels or OVAs were not considered when making this list. The genres represented in this list varies from action to drama, comedy to romance. However, they all have one thing in common and that is that they are all excellent anime series.
NUMBER 10: Claymore
Summary:
In a world that “Youma” (Imagine: Mutated Zombies with Monstrous Strength or some Crazy Ability) roams, a silver eyed warrior, Clare, works for an organisation that trains female Youma ‘half breeds’ into warriors with the ability to fight these creatures.
Why:
Never have an anime series contain so many blondes! Although the series followed a typical demon/monster anime storyline, what made it special was the different perspective that they took - making the protagonist female blondes, and their greatest enemies being themselves. The only reason Claymore has a low rank is due to its mediocre ending which leaves more to be desired. Overall, the flow of the story was planned through well with a flash back that really captured the audience. On a final note, read the Manga if you truly want to enjoy this series.
NUMBER 9: Romeo x Juliet
Summary:
Everyone should know Shakespeare’s famous play of the star-crossed lovers!
Why:
A fantastic animated adaptation and take on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. The animation was flawless, the music is superb, and the storytelling is uniquely wonderful. The series stayed true to the theme of the play and really brought out the romance and the eventual bittersweet ending. However, the only down-side of the series was that they may have stretched the story for too long (24 episodes) leaving the middle of the series to be quite tedious and lacking in action.
NUMBER 8: Hayate no Gotoku (Hayate the Combat Butler)
Summary:
16-year-old Hayate is really down on his luck. His unemployed parents are good-for-nothings who waste the money they have on gambling. One day, his parents have racked up a huge gambling debt that they had to sell Hayate to the yakuza for the value of his organs. In a desperate attempt to avoid that fate, Hayate decides to become a “bad guy” and kidnap someone to be held for ransom, but his efforts to do so are mistaken as a confession of love by the girl he targets. For that moment on, Hayate’s life took a somewhat ‘unexpected’ turn for the better, or ‘worse’. (Summary courtesy of Anime News Network)
Why:
A truly unique story, filled with comedy and puns from a lot of popular Anime of the past and present (so many puns in fact, it puts Yakitate!! Japan to shame). Add a combat butler, an unbelievably rich spoiled girl and elements from every anime you’ve ever watched and you got Hayate no Gotoku.
This is not an Anime I would recommend for Anime virgins as the jokes are very contextual and require understanding of the references made. However, this is a must watch for those that already has some anime under his/her belt.
NUMBER 7: Lucky Star
Summary:
Konata Izumi, an athletic and intelligent girl who, despite these attributes, is not in a sports club and has low grades due to her Otaku nature. The series follows her and her friends as they advance through their high school life.
Why:
Its Chibi styled artwork, exaggerated facial expression and otaku culture puns was the craze of 2007 – all the way up there with Haruhi! However, most people would be stunned by Lucky Star’s rank, but please, just hear me out first before you lynch anyone. Yes, Lucky Star had everything Otakus could ever ask for in an anime, but slice of life genres with no actual build up to a purpose are great for laughs and — laughs only. This series is definitely recommended to you (Otakus) when you feel like tuning out, having senseless humour and testing your otaku knowledge.
NUMBER 6: Moonlight Mile
Summary:
The sky is no limit for two mountain climbers, Gorou Saruwatari and Lostman. The story follows the two as they strive to achieve their dreams to become astronauts after an incident at the peak of Mt Everest.
Why:
‘Mountain climber turned construction worker turned Astronaut and machine specialist,’ anyone would want to watch the anime after reading that! This anime takes on a realistic and relatively untouched genre of space exploration which they have done well. The anime may require a more mature audience to appreciate its content and themes on politics and such, but a story based on aspirations is enough to get any dreamers blood boiling!
NUMBER 5: Darker than Black
Summary:
In Tokyo, an impenetrable field known as “Hell’s Gate” appeared ten years ago. At the same time, psychics who wield paranormal powers at the cost of their conscience also emerged. The story follows Hei, one of the strongest of these psychic agents.
Why:
It’s the diverse personalities and qualities of the characters in this anime that somehow attracted me the most to this anime. This anime’s storytelling is also quite impressive. The story unfolds quite abruptly throughout the series, leaving viewers with that constant nail biting sensation.
It also had an uncanny habit of killing off characters just when you grow fond of them. Leaving fans with an unsavoury flavour in their mouths, but in the end, this is only proof of how hooked the viewers are.
Unfortunately, I felt that the overall story fell short of the hype generated throughout the episodes and the ending left many questions unanswered. But it’s theme of stars fading, dying being no big deal and ‘duty of contractors’, created beautiful moments within the anime that has made it worthy of number 5 on this list.
NUMBER 4: Kanon
Summary:
Yuichi Aizawa returns to this city after seven years, but something happened in the past which has caused him to block out his memories of the past. While in the city, he meets a girl carrying a backpack with wings on it called Tsukimiya Ayu, soon after he begins to recall the memories he had lost.
Why:
An anime that shares the same passion with me in classical music, especially Pachelbel’s Canon in D major may have made this a bias choice, but nevertheless this anime beat the odds of becoming a terrible/mediocre anime like many others that is derived from games. Kanon delivered a great romance story in the popular Harem style that not only made us cry, but laugh and supported through music that really bring out the emotions for those dramatic moments easily made it 2007’s best romance anime.
NUMBER 3: Baccano!
Summary:
A hectic story that combines immortal alchemists, American mafias, idiotic thieves that does nothing more than take you on an action-pumped and fast-paced ride.
Why:
Baccano’s story progressed in an unorthodox manner with unrelated plots that somehow comes together at the end making it impossible to stop watching until the curtain falls. It uses a brilliant mixture of pulp fiction and comedy in an infrequently used 1920s American setting that gave it a distinct cabaret-like jazzy feel.
Its enormous array of characters and personas allowed the anime to live up to its name (Baccano means stupid commotion) as almost every episode was more chaotic than the last and remembering all the characters became no easy task as the story flowed on (maybe that’s why the OP had the names of all the main characters?). In addition, I’m pretty sure they is a sizable crowd somewhere that’s eager to put a couple of holes through Isaac and Miria, because I know they drove me insane through the 13 episodes!
NUMBER 2: Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion
Summary:
The Empire of Britannia has invaded Japan using giant robot weapons called Knightmare Frames. Japan is now referred to as Area 11, and its people the 11’s. A Britannian who was living in Japan at the time, Lelouch, becomes the masked Zero to lead the rebellion to destroy Britannia once and for all.
Why:
Watching Japanese rebel against oppression is probably every anime fan’s dream and Sunrise/Clamp has done a fine job of making that dream into a marvellous piece of anime. When two of the greatest in the anime industry come together, you know that something great is bound to happen! With Sunrise’s meaningful, captivating, yet serious plot that thrills the crowd and Clamp’s comprehensive character design, there was not much room for flaws in this anime!
NUMBER 1: Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann
Summary:
A most unlikely partnership of a narcissistic man by the name of Kamina, who dreams to grasp the stars with his manly grip and a hesitant boy called Simon who has an uncanny skill to dig holes. Together they aspire to escape their underground village on to the surface and do great things.
Why:
‘Great things’ is an understatement. C’mon, I would put saving the universe in the category of epicness beyond all proportions, but that’s just me. Now, many of you would argue, “so what? Many anime have saving the galaxies as a plot as well.” But none has done it like Gurren-Lagann that is why as the anime that put Hollywood action movies to shame and redefined the whole anime mecha genre, it is TBA’s Best Anime of 2007!
Many will disagree due to the fact that Gurren-Lagann may have lack an intricate storyline (still pretty original story nevertheless), but it made it up with great structure and flow of the story – I don’t think anyone saw Kamina’s death coming or the greater ploy after they defeated the Spiral king. It’s incredible pace through the series would leave its audience gasping for air after every episode. Its ability to maintain and build the climax until the very end even when you thought it could not get any better was phenomenal and unlike any other series in 2007.
If you are still not persuaded that Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann is the best anime of 2007, then let tbA’s very own 7 reasons to watch Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann convince you!
Viva La Gurren-Lagann! Do the impossible and kick reason to the curb! Join the Dai-Gurren brigade now!
Best Leading Male:
It could have been Simon or Kamina and even Lelouch for their dazzling charisma, but none of them was sold off by their parent to Yakuzas so this year’s Best Leading Male will have to be Hayate Ayasaki of Hayate no Gotoku.
Best Leading Female:
This year’s Best Leading Female will have to be Nia Teppelin of Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann series. With her silky hair and flower-like eyes, she is truly the Snow White of Anime that gracefully played the role of a denzel in distress, and like a true leading lady, she awaited for her knight in shining Ganmen to save her!
Pictures Courtesy of Random Curiosity