Month: December 2005

My next pick for top 5 anime of 2005 is Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan, which translates to “Beat to Death Angel Dokuro-chan.” This series combines the the violence of Elfen Lied (ok, maybe not quite as much violence) and the cuteness of Pita-Ten (ok, maybe not quite as cute). Dokuro-chan is a guardian angel for Kusakabe Sakura, but she doesn’t do much protecting. Actually, basically all she does is put him in compromising situations (read: seeing her naked), beat him to death for it, and then revive him with her magical spell (pi piru piru piru pi piru pi!). This anime basically has no plot, besides Dokuro finding new ways to expose herself and in the process, kill Sakura, but it’s an OVA, so I can forgive it a little.

Because it’s an OVA, the character design for the 4 main characters and animation is excellent. You really learn to appreciate the super high framerate blood and gore animation that an OVA provides. Dokuro-chan is top among her peers in cuteness too, unless you count the scenes where she’s having diarrhea (you need to have seen the anime to understand).

The OP is fun and catchy, and it’s running in my head as I write this. The ED is pretty slick too. I’d recommend both, although I can’t see myself driving in my car while “pi piru piru piru pi piru pi” plays in the background…

This series is short, only 4 episodes long (well, 8 if you believe their marketing department), so it’s basically a no commitment anime. Overall, the high animation quality and excessive violence do it for me as I name Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan one of 2005’s top anime.

Say what you will about crazy gag anime, but I like them. Pani Poni Dash is yet another anime that is set in a high school with a short person as the main character. You’ll recall Azumanga Daioh had a young genius Chiyo-chan, and Sensei no Ojikan had the short teacher Mika. In Pani Poni Dash, we get the best of both worlds with Rebecca Miyamoto, a short, young genius teacher!

There are a lot of things in this series that seem like a rip off of other shows, but remember, this is a mainly a parody anime. With that in mind, the character designs are really original. The characters are all damn cute (even the “plain” ones), and the animation is among the better that I have seen.

Because the series has so many parodies, one thing to watch out for (at least in the Oyasumi subs I’ve been watching) is the insane number of obscure cultural references thrown into the show. Personally, I like knowing about the small blurry object that just flew past the screen in .03 seconds, so I keep the pause button handy.

The OP is passable, and so is the ED. Nothing spectacular here, I think mainly it’s the show’s voice actors trying to jump start their singing careers. I do have to note that the ED contains some good examples of Engrish (Girlppi?)

This series hasn’t been fully subbed yet, so I can’t say whether it will continue to meet my expectations or flop like a dead fish. Hopefully it’ll remain one of the best anime “of the year!”*

Check out: Previous top Anime of 2005: 5

*if you haven’t watched yet, you won’t get this reference!

I haven’t quite figured out the format I’ll be doing preview for anime yet, and the new season of anime has already started, so I thought I’d go ahead and make a feature presentation: The Top 5 Anime of 2005! It’s pretty much the end of the year, and Top N lists are in demand, so here we go! Note: these are in no particular order, and in reverse, so when they’re all up, it’ll look like they’re in order! Oh, stack data structure, how I love thee…

5. Hachimitsu to Clover

I was really surprised by how enjoyable this series was to watch. Basically a slice of life anime with one particular insane gag character to keep it interesting, this anime kept my attention until the very end. The thing is, nothing monumental happens. No giant Gundams are forced upon the characters, no magical powers are given to the girl. Even so, all of the characters are well developed, and the art style is really cool. I especially like the water color backgrounds used in the animation.

As far as cuteness goes, Hagu holds up nicely, although I find it kind of creepy that these college students are infatuated with a girl who looks like she could be 8 years old…

The OP by Yuki is great, and so is the ED by Suneohair. I liked it so much I made it my cell phone’s ringtone! The first ED could have stayed for the whole series as I was not too fond of the second ED.

Overall Honey & Clover was one of my favorite anime of this year. Hopefully it gets licensed along with the manga so I can check out what happens after the TV series’ end!