Way too hard for me to pick overall favourites. So, I'll just pick my favourites for 2007!
#1: Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann
Left: Driving force of the show.
Right: Huge exploding ship on the left was just KICKED by the huge ship on the right. In mid-air. Huge Kicking Ship does not fly. INSANE.
Insane, ridiculous mecha action. A show so bold, so over-the-top, so epic it practically forces you to type in caps lock when you type about it. (This post has been edited.) Since I first saw Dragon Ball Z many years ago, I have never been so pumped while watching anime. And even beyond the outrageous testosterone and physics-breaking antics of the cast, there is a continuous theme to the show with an ultimate message. Even with TWO major shifts in the direction of the show, the core element remains the same and is strengthened throughout. What starts as the smallest point on the tip of a drill grows exponentially by the series' end. It's an awesome turn-your-brain-off anime, but if you leave it switched on just a little you'll catch a lot of the underlying themes.
#2: Dennou Coil
Left: Bunch of kids with cyberbeards. One chick's cheek declares war on the other cheek and launches a nuke.
Right: 'No Data'. Strange, dangerous things can happen if your cyberbody is separated from your real body.
If Gurren-Lagann wasn't so off-the-charts awesome, this would definitely be at the top of my list. The basic premise is that this city that the children live in exists in two forms: the real world and the Cyber world (though they don't call it that. They rarely, if ever, distinguish the difference between the two with labels--part of the plot development). The Cyber World is an exact replica of the real world and in fact exists as an overlay. In order to access the Cyber world, you use special glasses. You can probably see it in those pics. The kids are not visally impaired, they're all wearing these glasses. This Cyber world in conjunction with the glasses basically renders cell phones and computers obsolete (though they still exist). Through the glasses you can call other people Inspector Gadget style, access e-mail, internet and basically anything else you can do on a computer today. Much more than a novelty, they're even used for school classes. Additionally, having cyberpets is very popular. Of course with computer-type things, you have hackers and other mischievious people. And with an entire city that is basically one huge living wireless network, things can get interesting.
Anyway, I'm not really supposed to be explaining the show, but perhaps you have an idea of just how imaginative this series is. It has excellent world-building which makes some things later on easier to understand (like the girl's cyber facial hair launching a cyber nuclear missile targeted at her other cheek). As things get more serious later on, it touches on some issues like distinguishing what is real and what is fake, and what each is worth to the individual. This draws some parrallels to today, where a lot of us grew up with videogames, the internet, cel phones etc, we get somewhat detached from reality. It's quite interesting throughout the show when we see Adults--they're rarely wearing the glasses. But every single kid has the glasses, and even sleeps with them on. To them it's their life, and it's all real. This show has a very 'Ghibli/Miyazaki' feel to it, with a little bit of Lain. While it feels a little like those two, it is entirely unique. I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like it. I think it's an instant classic.
#3: Ookiku Furikabutte
Left: Never having pitched 'properly' in his life, the uncannily talented Mihashi loses his balance when being taught 'properly'
Right: Momoe Maria, the team's coach.
A baseball anime, based off a fairly popular boy's manga. I only started watching it a few weeks ago and I haven't finished it (unlike the rest of the shows on my list), but it has really charmed me. I prefer the more realistic sports anime like this or Hajime no Ippo as opposed to stuff like Prince of Tennis. There are no annoying characters, there are no 'evil bad guy teams'.
#4: Nodame Cantabile
Left: The main crew.
Right: Instruments!
College life/Comedy/Drama/Light Romance/Music anime! Based off a very popular women's manga (don't run yet!) that's actually in print in the US now. Colourful cast, great classical soundtrack (to be expected of a music anime), plentiful comic situations that are genuinely funny, it's a very heartwarming story. My only complaint is that a couple of their epic musical scenes have truncated music. The show is actually sponsored by Yamaha, a Japanese instrument maker, so the various instruments themselves are lovingly recreated in both 2D and CG. I'm a semi-professional musician myself, so this show tickled my fancy then gave me more than just the music hook.
#5: Serei no Moribito
Left: She uses a spear. And gorgeous clouds!
Right: Balsa's quite a bit older than your average anime heroine, but she's up there with Motoko when it comes to awesomeness. And she's gorgeous!
I kind of struggled with this one. It was either this or the anime 'Baccano!', but Seirei no Moribito won out. The show is gorgeous, which is to be expected from the animation studio. It's a fantasy anime based off a series of novels, though I think this only covers the first book. As such, the story and environment are very fleshed out. At times it seems a little slow, and some character developments I would have liked to see (such as Balsa and Tanda) never really go anywhere (favourite line of the show, "Why don't you just sleep with her?"), but taken in the context that it's a long, long story it's a little forgiveable. Though in the context of a single season of anime, it's disappointing. However, the story remains its strong point when the incredible action sequences die down. It probably won't be for everyone, but for a Fantasy sucker like me, I enjoyed it quite a bit. Enough to be in my top 5 for the year. Perhaps it can be compared to 'The Twelve Kingdoms', which is one of my all-time favourites.
Honorable Mentions:
Baccano!, Darker Than Black, Moyashimon, Minami-ke, Ooedo Rocket
Every now and then, there's a show that reminds me why I love anime. This year I had two: Gurren-Lagann and Dennou Coil. Last year was Haruhi Suzumiya, before that was Eureka 7/Mushishi and before that was Gankutsuou. There are several other excellent shows, but some stand above everything else and re-ignite the love in me. I tend to drop shows I don't like instead of suffering through them since it would dull my impression. I'm glad I have the luxury to do so, because if I was stuck with the stuff that's on TV, I'd probably not be an anime fan.
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