The Twelve Best Anime of 2012

Unlike last year when it was hard to create a list because I felt there only were a handful of good series, it is now hard due to there being too many good ones to choose from.

I hate lists.

12 Days of Christmas 2012 #06 – Kick-Heart and the Future of Anime

This year the way anime is created has changed. The Kickstarter Kick-Heart managed to gain $201,164 (of a $150,000 goal) with 3,232 backers in total. That is an average of $62 per person!

2012 marks the year of the success of crowd-funded anime.

Why Eureka Seven AO is Bad #01 – When Shallow Characters Dominate

Note: It is suggested that you watch Eureka Seven AO before reading this post, but it is not necessary. It is divided into three parts so that anyone can read it: 1. Relatively spoiler-free thoughts on the characters.  2. Spoilers on Eureka Seven AO. 3. Spoilers on Eureka Seven AO and Eureka Seven. Each section is clearly marked.

It has now been a while since Eureka Seven AO finished and I feel like it is time to share some of my thoughts on the series. I will avoid going too deep into the details since I do not remember them all, which is not that odd considering how the series introduces lots of ideas but never really does anything with them and the fact that I never really like it to begin with.

In other words, if you see some mistake, please call me out on it! When I someday re-watch it in the near future, I will go through every episode and point out the flaws. You can view this post, along with the other coming two, as scattered thoughts on what I believe the Eureka Seven AO did wrong.

To start, let us talk about how poor the characters are.

Anime on Kickstarter – Masaaki Yuasa’s “Kick-Heart” and Why You Should Help It

Do you remember my old post back in March 2012 on how I raised the question whether or not funding platforms were a possible future for anime? Prayers have been heard and anime has finally found its way onto Kickstarter.

Called Kick-Heart, it is a short animated film about a pair of pro-wrestlers which will be directed by Masaaki Yuasa (Mind Game, Kaiba) and animated by Production I.G (Ghost in the Shell, Guilty Crown). Not only could this be a piece of interesting animation in itself, but more importantly, this could be the start of a new era in the anime industry.

If you are a fan of anime, I wish you head over to the Kickstarter page and donate your share to the project and help make it a reality.