2008 was hell of a year. Since it was my second year of activelly watching anime ongoing series, I decided to make a recap of everything that I watched and what caught my attention. This won't be an easy task, the year was filled with awesomeness indeed. But I'll try to make a subjective and biased summary, just for the fun of it. Also, I didn't watch everything, so it might not be absolutely fulfilling, but it's the story of my 2008 anime year.

Winter 2007/2008

It all started at the end of 2007. Yeah, this should be about 2008, but I just can't let these titles go (since they aired till 2008 anyway). And they are awesome. Let's start with Gyakkyou Burai Kaiji: Ultimate Survivor. I haven't seen Akagi, and I stepped into this one with skepticism. But oh boy was I wrong to doubt it. Got really hooked up by it and every episode was a festival of awesomeness.

Another title that started in winter 2007 was Clannad. As I enjoyed Air very much, this was a shot that I had to make. And it was fucking worth it. Divided into arcs as every Key-based anime, it gave a wonderful experience, with comedy, drama and romance all in one. Yeah, retard moe? So what.

A Gundam, huh? Gundam 00? What kind of name is that? Well, why not, haven't seen a gundam in a while, so let's go. Bam, another great title in the list. Although sometimes slow, but generally very enjoyable, with great cast and big battles.

Mindfuck? Ghosts? Production IG? Ghost Hound. Although I haven't finished it yet (doh), it is pretty good. If one enjoyes scifi, creepy sounds, creepy settings, weird phenomena and high quality 720p releases.

This paragraph is special. 1.12. 2007 was the day, when the first movie of 7 was released on DVD, that shook the ground of Type-Moon anime adaptations. As it was the day when Kara No Kyoukai first movie hit the scene. And oh man was it a hard hit. Four movies have been released on DVDs since then, last one just 17.12. 2008. And if I should vote for the best anime of 2008, the Kara no Kyoukai movies would have one of the very top spots (if not the highest). Based on Kinoko Nasu's novel from the 90s, it is a story that precedes Tsukihime, creating the prototypes of it's characters, introducing the concept of Mystic Eyes of death perception, Mages, and the power of death itself.

In december 2007, a special episode of a special series was released. Called the Deculture version of episode 1, it hyped the series up with it's magnificient CG, music and space battles. It took a few more months for it to start airing in full, but the wait was well worth it. Yes, it's Macross Frontier. One of the most enjoying shows of 2008 for me, it combined love, drama, music by Yoko Kanno, likeable characters and space battles to a wonderful collage.

In the beginning of 2008, I started watching a few shows. I dropped a few (H2O, Persona), but made some of them through. Shigofumi was one of the nice ones. A girl, delivering last letters from the dead to the living. Divided into episodical parts, but combined by the main story about the girl and her own "death".

Romance, drama, love polygon. That is True Tears, a pure romance series from the beginning of 2008. I still vividly remember the discussions I had with friends about how it's going to progress. Although only 12 episodes, the tension was very good, and all the characters were very likeable and one didn't know how's it going to end till the last episode.

Then it was time to get into some furry business. Is it a fox? Is it a girl? No, it's a wolf spirit, Horo. Ookami to Koushinryou, or Wolf and Spice, was a fresh wind into anime. I have to agree, that if it wasn't for the character of Horo, the show wouldn't have been half that successful. But she was there, and her great character and also the character of Lawrence made it very enjoyable to watch their endeavours. Also, economics.

Hakaba Kitarou was psycho, maybe I liked it, maybe not, not sure, didn't finish it, let's move on.

Scifi, immortals, lesbians, blood, tits. Mnemosyne has it all. A 5 part OVA about immortal women, that strive through generations as private detectives, and try not to get eaten by angels. And they pay for information with lesbian sex. Hey, it was pretty good btw.

Spring 2008

The sun is shining, flowers blooming, and Chi's at home. Chi is a cat in 3 minute long episodes about the life of a cat in a home. It was fun.

But enough of cats, let's get pilots. Allison to Lillia is a very simple show, about young people and their adventures, with Allison as the man (a blond girl pilot) and Wil as her bitch (a Shirou type guy, but likes shooting). Simple animation, but pretty nice and happy stories.

When we say loli in 2008, we might notice Kurenai. What other show gives you a naked loli bath in the 3rd ep? On the other hand, it really wasn't pedobait. Shinkurou with his hidden powers, protecting the small girl Murasaki from her family, that wants to seal her off in their mansion and make her have her brother's child. Action, drama, but also comedy, with some really nice characters has put this show pretty high in my ranking.

We started slow with the loli, but now it's time for boobs. Big boobs. And also small boobs. And fox ears. And straight shota. And lots of cocktease. Yes, it's ecchi, and it's called Kanokon. Now, I don't know how they did it, but in 12 episodes they managed to raise the amount of ecchi in every single episode. And that's tough. Oh and the main MALE protagonist was voiced by Mamiko Noto. Fuck.

How about some shounen? I got tired of Bleach really, shit sucked, so this came and made my day (and year). Soul Eater, the fresh wind in shounen. Pure style in animation, weird ass but awesome characters, and it doesn't take itself seriously. Just fun and awesomeness. Also, Eruka is love.

Another I.G. scifi, give it to me. Real Drive was a great eye candy, I really have to finish watching it sometime. Made some people into loving chubby girls - damn, there were like 0 thin female characters in that show. Not that I mind, I think it fit that show very well. Yeah and some matrix shit and Neuromancer-like diving in the net.

We're still in spring, and just getting started with the best. If the name Masaaki Yuasa rings a bell, then read on. Yes, Mind Game, Kemonozume and others are his works, and he made another series that made me question the artistic possibilities of anime. Kaiba, a story about the king of memories, a universe of just vessels with minds that can be transfered to other vessels, and one mind in an immortal body traveling and looking for his lost path. The animation and music as it's highest values, Kaiba blows ones mind also with it's sometimes mindfucking and sometimes really sad story. Manly tears.

It's a war. A war about freedom of speech. A war against censorship. A war to protect our books! In Toshokan Sensou (Library War), a girl joins the Library protection army to help guard the books from the government organisation, that censores them. That might sound a bit weird, but the story makes it all up. The characters are awesome, their interaction is wonderful, the main character is a tomboy (you gotta love tomboys), and it has one of the best animations of the year.

Which series is the most underrated and unnoticed of 2008? I'd say it's definitely Nijuu-Mensou no Musume, or Daughter of Twenty Faces. Adventures of a young girl, who was raised by the famous bandit known as Twenty Faces, consists mostly of action drama - with grandious animation, James Bond and Pink Panther-like fights. Is it even fully subbed yet?

Hey, do you want to know something about your sexuality? Watch Naisho no Tsubomi, you will get your answers about menstruation, puberty, and where the babies come from.

Now what makes one more happy, than sibling love? Especially if those siblings are two twin sisters (non-fraternal). And they sleep in one bed. And they hold hands. And this and that. Really, just innocent sibling love. Candy Boy - this show has fit into one 15 minute OVA so much shoujo-ai sauce that other series couldn't do in 12 episodes. Really, no kidding.

Summer 2008

There were things in summer, like Mahou Tsukai ni Taisetsu na Koto: Natsu no Sora, Slayers Revolution, and others, that I couldn't finish. Maybe bad for me, but oh well. Anyway, the real bang in the summer of 2008 was definitely one show. This show was made by GONZO, most probably as a last frontier to save them from bankrupcy. And oh hell did it work out. How can you go wrong with a universe, where girls don't wear pants? Yes, Strike Witches - pure fanservice, second world war upside down. But this is what's anime all about - making the impossible possible. Every girl was based on a real WW2 pilot, their special flying pants-machines were based on real planes, they had real weapons, the settings they flew around was based on real WW2 settings, their enemies were based on real WW2 experimental machines. There was even Churchill. And oh, panties, no panties, tits, small tits, big tits, grabbing tits, butts, and yuri pairings. 2nd season where?

There was also Birdy. That was nice, but it wasn't Strike Witches.

Batman movies were also nice. But not Strike Witches.

But there was something good too. Bounen no Xamdou started airing on PSN, as rental, with original english subtitles. Ha, rental? Fuck you Sony. But the show is good enough, awesome animation, and pretty dramatic story. Still airing, I should catch up to the latest eps.

Oh, cyberpunk? From the makers of Pale Cocoon? Give me! Eve no Jikan are short 15 minute OVAs about androids and their masters. Very Asimov and P.K. Dick -like. I love that.

And when we are with these weird shows, we should mention one ofthe weirdest of 2008, but still one of the most awesome comedies of the year. Detroit Metal City, based on a manga with the same name, talking about a young musician playing in a death metal band. I'm not really into metal or anything, but this shit is good.

Autumn 2008

And we're coming close to the end of 2008. Autumn was... Something else. Never before I've been watching so many shows at the same time. I just couldn't drop anything, they were all good.

First it was the Lucky Star OVA that made us smile a bit, not bad really. But then, the real storm came down. Someone should remember a really weird (but good) steampunk movie Casshern - well, anime Casshern SINS is totally different, and very good indeed. Dark, atmospheric, postapocalyptic. Just my cup of tea.

Some school romance again? Tsundere character? Nothing special, right? Well, Toradora proved that the genre is still here and is still able to provide original things. Best character development I've seen in a long time.

New Gainax show, Shikabane Hime is surrounded by C&D shitstorm. But it might still be worth it. I'm a bit late on this show, so not too much to comment about it atm. But looks promising.

And remember Clannad? As one of the best VN adaptations? Well, here's the second season, Clannad After Story. And surprisingly, it's even better than the first season.

Oh, another harem show that has nothing to give. Well, wrong! Kannagi, a show about a goddess living with a boy in one house (so cliche) with a childhood friend (so cliche), all going to one school (SO CLICHE). But the good thing is, it doesn't take itself seriously. It's a comedy, but it still delivers a lot of good drama moments. Plus it's really fun and the characters are likeable. (And who cares if Nagi is a slut).

Since the trailer, I was hooked on this one. Kemeko DX is just pure freaky action comedy, with totally random characters and situations. Good shit.

As on the break of 2007/2008, at the end of this year, the Gundam 00 - 2nd season is providing the best mecha action available. As in Clannad, this season is much much better than the first - the pacing is awesome, characters developed, and the plot is accelerating to... Somewhere.

Who has the best animation of this season? I'd vote for To Aru Majutsu no Index - magicians, spells, technology, espers. And moe loli in church sister clothes. And good action too.

In 2007, ef - a tale of memories was a success that surpassed my expectations greatly (Blu-ray releases are coming btw). At the end of 2008, the second season, ef - a tale of melodies, closed up the story. Now, it wasn't that good as the first season, but it still managed to make mi shiver in some scenes. Gj SHAFT.

And we didn't have a gambling anime for a year now, so how about another? That's right, from the creators of Kaiji and Akagi comes another masterpiece - this time from the world of baseball. Eeew, baseball? How can that be interesting. Well, watch One Outs, and see. Everyone is gay for Toua.

I mentioned best animation and Index... Well, maybe I was too fast. There's still Michiko to Hatchin. This one is something special - style, style, style. Action, drama, fun moments too - many people compare it to Cowboy Bebop (with Watanabe doing music heh). It is definitely one of the best shows this season, hands down. (I should catch up).

And there is only one thing I would like to mention at the end of 2008. It's special, and it was released 2 days ago on Comiket. It is not your ordinary anime, because it was made by fans for fans. It is nothing other that the infamous Touhou anime - A Summer Day's Dream. Even if you're not into Touhou, you can still appreciate the awesome effort the creators have put into this project. I remember 2 years ago, when I first stumbled uppon touhou, how I entered it into anidb and it didn't give anything. Now, it's there.

And so the year has ended. This list is by far not everything, and also probably not everything good, but well, it's what I watched and/or noticed and/or liked this year. So good luck in the next year!