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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.
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TBA Most Wanted Wii Games
With 14 million units predicted to be sold by March 2008, the Wii is no doubt on track to becoming the most popular home consoles in the history of gaming. And it’s easy to see why… the combination of a revolutionary motion-sensitive controller, a slick design and an affordable price tag almost guaranteed the success of the product since its launch. Furthermore, the Wii has rid itself of the problem that plagued its predecessor; the GameCube which lacked a good selection of games. The Wii has been blessed with a good selection of games — that is already available on the system – and many upcoming games from third party developers.
This is a list of Top 10 Wii Games that the editors of To Be Asian think that everyone must get in this holiday season. This list will not be mentioning launch games, because;
1) It’s just unfair, you’ll always remember your first time, and
2) Do you know of one Wii owner that doesn’t have these games already…? Exactly! Point proven.
Read On For TBA’s Most Wanted Wii Games!
7 reasons to watch Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
Title (Japanese): Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
Title (English): Break-through heaven Gurren Lagann
Studio: Gainex
Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Mecha, Action, Science-fiction
Music: Taku Iwasaki
Synopsis:
The human race on Earth lives in small, separate underground villages, never seeing the light of day, until Shimon (Simon) and Kamina came along. One day Kamina and Shimon made it to the surface by using Shimon’s new found device, where they meet Yoko and discover the conflict between the humans on the surface and the Ganmen (Mechas, pronounced as ‘Gunman’) which are piloted by ‘Beastmens’. Simon and Kamina decides to put an end to this conflict and charges towards the Beastmen’s main base, but little do they know the greater implications of their journey.
7: An Underdog Story!
It’s an underdog story with the same old jazz, high chance of failure and with little hope of survival. But the best part about it, is humans are the underdog! Yes, we are the underdogs! It has everything from dramatic speech to kamikaze suicides.
6: Golden quotes!
One of the greatest aspects of Gurren Lagann is that it has provided brilliant one liners! It’s full of great quotes and speeches that will no doubt be used in the Anime community for years to come! Yes. Believe in me, who believe in you! A real man’s stomach has no limit!
5: Short and Sweet!
Fast paced story, how fast? Break-neck speed fast! Gainex gets straight to the point, no time wasted, each scene was exciting as the last. It’s astonishing that they were able to fit in enough character development to make this a masterpiece! Short and Sweet indeed!
4: Adrenaline rush!
Gurren Lagann will give you more adrenaline then riding a roller coaster and playing Halo 3 on legendary put together! This series never cease to amaze me with its never ending action! Yes, it’s that intense! Epicness just got a whole new meaning!
3: From Gainex!
From the creators of masterpieces like Neon Genesis Evangelion and FLCL! With such as extensive history for great animation, with a reputation for gorund-breaking, experimental anime, need I say more?
2: Galaxy tossing mechas!
Gurren Lagann will put Evangelion and Gundam altogether in shame. Gurren Lagann just took the title of having Mechas made of the awsomeness! Without revealing too much, wouldn’t you want to see Mechas that can throw galaxies at each other?
1: Manly tears!
Hey, there’s only a handful of great anime series out there and there’s even fewer that can make you cry manly tears! Excuse or not, Manly tears are made of the win!… I’m not crying, its manly tears I tell you! This series will bring out your inner GARness!
Honourable Mentions:
Prepare your adrenaline bar to be maxed out from Episode 24 onward. The music was also an essential part in making Gurren Lagann as dramatic and epic as it is, expect nothing less from Taku Iwasaki who also did the music for Samurai X: Reflection & Trust and Betrayal, and Black Cat.
Dishonourable Mentions:
Not much can be said about this. Maybe they could have picked another name apart from ‘Gurren lagann’ which sounds like gibberish? But then again, without this gibberish of a title, would the series be as badass as it is?
So what you waiting for? Do the impossible and kick reason to the curb! Join the Dai-Gurren brigade!
5 reasons to read the new tobeAsian!
With the relaunching of Version 2 of tobeAsian, we have provided 5 reasons for you to join tobeAsian!
Asian side of life:
We aim to let you taste the Asian side of life and much more! Not just taste, we are going to give all 5 of your senses a good work out! We are here to make you laugh, cry and enjoy the journey of discovering and watching Asia grow with us. We cover all aspects of Asian life, from technology to food and drinks, ensuring you content that will leave you in pure delight!
Crème of Asia:
Unlike most parts of Asia, we are motivated to offer quality, not quantity. Sure, Asia has more things going on than your average continents. However, we will bring you those that we know will interest you the most, the crème de la crème of Asia accommodated with unique point of views that you won’t find anywhere else!
Asianhood:
Join a community which promotes ‘Asianhood’. That might not even be a word, but we can make it one! Do not be limited by culture, even if you are not Asians, you’ll become one, the Asianhood accepts all! We welcome all that takes interest in Asia and even those that do not, so what you waiting for? Join in the movement!
Sense of community:
Meet people with similar interest and chat with them on our forums. The new tobeAsian includes a customised tobeAsian forum especially for like-minded tobeAsians to gather and talk about what they enjoy most. With categories that range from Anime to Gaming, you can discuss about Gundam to the Metal Gear Solid series!
All your gaming needs:
Test your gaming skills on our arcade games. In tobeAsian version 2, we have also added in a tobeAsian arcade section for those that loves to game. We will track down the best Arcade games, so that you, gamers can game to your heart’s content. Compete for the highest scores and brag about it on the gaming forum. You might even want to share some of your trade secrets with your fellow tobeAsians!
So what you waiting for? Join in and let us take you for the ride!