Ask John: What Were the Best Anime Shows of 2006?

Question:
What are your picks for the best and worst anime of 2006? Do you think the year as a whole was better or worse than 2005?

Answer:
2006 has been the most prolific year in the history of anime. Apart from the numerous continuing series that spilled into 2006, more than 175 new anime series premiered on Japanese television and on the internet. And, naturally, there were many new OVA series and motion pictures this year. Regrettably I haven’t had an opportunity to see some of this year’s highest profile and most highly praised anime – particularly three motion pictures likely to be the very best anime debuts of the year: Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo, Paprika, and Tekkon Kinkreet. So, regrettably, I’ll have to limit this analysis to TV and internet broadcast anime which I’ve had greater access to. I’ve arbitrarily excluded select full CG children’s animated series (such as Pocoyo and Monchichi to Ai-chan no Baby Chichi Igo), educational anime for very young children (such as Inai Inai Baa!), and foreign animation like American imports and the Korean animated series Shoujo Janggum no Yume. And my list may still be incomplete. Among the 183 titles remaining, I’ve had the opportunity to watch at least one full episode of 145 of them. I know that it’s unfair to critique an anime series based upon just one episode, but I think I have enough first hand experience with this year’s TV anime to segregate a reasonably authoritative objective list of highest quality shows. I will try to be objective, but my list is based on my own reactions and experience. So, without further ado, my personal picks of the best five anime series of 2006:

Although only half of the short internet broadcast series Flag was actually released during 2006, those six episodes alone are among the most thematically rich and visually striking anime I’ve ever watched. This amazing but largely overlooked masterpiece literally tears its setting from world events, placing viewers in the middle of a Mid-Eastern civil war stewarded by an international peacekeeping coalition. But rather than illustrate the conflict exclusively from a military perspective, Flag takes great effort to depict the war from a civilian perspective, focusing on the culture and religions that have spawned the conflict. The show’s documentary style is further heightened by its stylistic technique of framing virtually the entire series through a camera’s viewfinder. The technique has been used in countless live action films for decades, but I’ve never seen it used so extensively in any film before, animated or live action. The objectivity of the show’s perspective, and its precise realism make the show fascinating and provocative. War, as depicted by Flag, is neither glamorous nor evil. It’s a struggle between people with conflicting ideas. It’s sudden, terrifying, and deadly. And it feels simultaneously pointless and important enough to die for. Flag is simply brilliant because it genuinely forces viewers to re-evaluate their expectations of what anime is, what it can be, and what it should be. Flag transcends the realm of simple entertainment and reaches into the territory of documentary and agitprop. This series isn’t the complacent and conventional anime that modern viewers are used to. It’s a groundbreaking work that challenges the potential of the anime art form and elevates anime from commercial entertainment to provocative artistic, political statement.

On the other hand, Ouran High School Host Club was simply, consistently a joy to watch. Ouran Host didn’t try to revolutionize anime or set any new standards, but it did constantly keep in mind the principles of anime and seek to live up to them. From beginning to end, Ouran Host was gorgeous looking and immensely entertaining. The show’s visual design was outstanding. From the elegant background design of the school to the attractive character designs to the show’s visual flourishes, reminiscent of Utena, the show was bright, colorful, lush, and gorgeous. The series’ humor evenly mixed situational comedy, personality quirks, and outlandish absurdity, keeping the comedy always lively, quirky, and touching at all the right moments. Ouran Host simply established a perfect formula for success and consistently executed that formula, resulting in, arguably, the most entertaining and enjoyable series of the year.

Death Note has likewise excelled by perfecting each of its component parts. Although the series is still relatively new, even its inevitable ebbs in production quality have still remained above average for television anime. The visual design of the show, specifically its crisp character designs and the illusion of reality created by its carefully crafted backgrounds and color scheme, are striking and immediately captivating. The show’s better than average animation quality is subtle, creating a convincing sense of realism that’s not distracting. And the story, particularly the believability of character actions and dialogue, and the steadily increasing suspense, are involving and fascinating. The cat and mouse tension between Light Yagami and L – the fascinating way that both young men are simultaneously hunter and hunted- is utterly absorbing. The mental acuity and insight of both young men is amazing. And the way Light steadily morphs from heightened morality to self-absorbed evil allows him to remain seductively admirable, which brilliantly undermines the audience’s complacency. Like Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Death Note’s succees is practically a given because it has so much potential and so many resources supporting it that it virtually can’t fail.

I’m always hesitant to nominate sequels in my “Best Of” lists because sequels have an unfair advantage over original programs. Sequels can build upon characters and stories established by prior series while debut shows must start with nothing. However, it’s also unfair to arbitrarily exclude sequels. I have to nominate Honey & Clover II because the quality of the show is undeniable. Unlike the first series that had a whimsical and innocent charm, the second series felt more mature and serious. Honey & Clover II laid out its emotions with an honest sincerity that was beautiful, elating, and heartbreaking. The show evokes genuine, heartfelt compassion because the characters, their relationships, and their troubles feel absolutely real and sincere. Although it had plenty of opportunity to become melodramatic or cliche, the show deftly avoided both pitfalls by constantly depicting believable human reactions. Situations and circumstances that would have been stereotypical or predictable in lesser shows felt achingly real, pitiful, and inspiring in Honey & Clover II because its characters and story development were convincing and completely engrossing.

Finally, I feel a bit obligated to nominate The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi. This juggernaut has been the most popular anime debut in years, and despite the fact that I think its renown is a bit greater than the show really deserves, the series does have enough merits to justify its recognition. The series has been highly praised for focusing on a cynical character who points out cliches and obvious disparities, but this is really no more than an obvious emphasis of a tactic that countless earlier parody anime like Excel Saga and Miami Guns have done more subtly. The original TV broadcast has been praised for daring to air its episodes out of chronological order. However, the fact that the episodes appear in proper narrative sequence on the archival Japanese DVD release idicates that the broadcast order may have been more of a gimmick than a genuine stylistic aspect of the show. But these compromises are balanced out by the series’ exceptional animation quality, vibrant art design, and engaging characterizations. Suzumiya Haruhi doesn’t have socio-political, philosophical, or convincing psychological depth, but it still managed to be one of the year’s most engaging and fascinating programs.

Narrowing this list to just five titles was difficult because there were numerous exceptional new anime series this year, including Kanon, Renkin 3 Kyuu Magical? Pokaan, Nana, and Kasimasi. There were also a surprisingly few exceptionally bad anime this year. Gundo Musashi was not only the worst anime of this year, it may go down in history as one of the worst major anime ever. Other particularly poor series from 2006 including Tokko, Giniro no Olynsis, Fighting Beauty Wulong Rebirth, Zaizen Jotaro, and Papillon Rose New Season may have been lacking, but none of them were exceptionally awful. Gundoh Musashi suffered from such poor animation quality and stillted, fumbling attempts at storytelling that it even became a short lived running joke in Japan’s fan community. The other series I cited likewise suffered varying degrees of stilted animation quality and absurd story development, but thankfully none of them hit the absolute bottom of the barrel.

The fact that there were so many new anime television series released this year automatically makes 2006 a good year for anime. This year’s massive selection of anime meant that everyone could find something to watch and enjoy. And the average quality of 2006’s new anime was rather high: there were many good or excellent programs this year and very few especially bad ones. But compared to 2005, I think that the average of this year’s best falls a bit short of last year’s. 2005 titles including Mushishi, Akagi, Basilisk, Honey & Clover, and Kamichu, I think, represent a higher collective average quality than the average of the best shows of 2006.

2006 Anime TV and Internet Broadcast Premiers:

009-1
Ah! Megami-sama: Sorezore no Tsubasa
Air Gear
Akubi Girl
Amaenaideyo!! Katsu!!
Aria the Natural
Asatte no Houkou
Ayakashi ~Japanese Classic Horror~
Ayumayu Gekijou (internet broadcast)
Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto (internet broadcast)
Bakutama Hit! Crash B-Daman
Bartender
Binbou Shimai Monogatari
Binchoutan
Black Blood Brothers
Black Jack 21
Black Lagoon
Black Lagoon: The Second Barrage
Bokura ga Ita
Busou Renkin
Chevalier
Chocotto Sister
Code Geass: Hangyaku no Lelouch
Coyote Ragtime Show
D.Gray-man
Death Note
Demashita! Powerpuff Girls Z
Digimon Savers
Ergo Proxy
Erico
Fate/stay night
Flag (internet broadcast)
The Frogman Show
Funny Pets second series
Furakappa
Fushigi no Boshi no Futago Hime Gyu!
Futari wa Precure Splash Star
Gakuen Heaven
Galaxy Angel II ~ Galaxy Angelune
Gekifu! Bakegyamon
Ghost Hunt
Gift ~Eternal Rainbow~
Ginga Tetsudo Monogatari ~Eien e Bunkiten~
Giniro no Olynsis ~Tokito~
Gintama
Glass no Kantai ~La legende du vent de l’univers~
Gundo Musashi
.hack//Roots
Hanbun no Tsuki ga Noboru Sora
Hanoka
Happiness!
Happy! Lucky! Bikkuriman
Hataraki Man
Hello Kitty: Ringo no Mori no Fantasy
Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni
Himawari!
Himesama Goyoujin
Honey & Clover II
Innocent Venus
Inukami!
Jigoku Shoujo Futagomori
Jinzo Konchu Kabutoborg VxV
Joshikosei
Jyu-Oh-Sei
Kagekara Mamoru
Kagihime Monogatari Eikyuu Alice Rinbukyoku
Kakuto Bijin Wulong Rebirth
Kamisama Kazoku
Kanon
Kasimasi ~Girl Meets Girl~
Katekyo! Hitman Reborn!
Kekkaishi
Kemonozume
Kero Kero Keroppi
Kiba
Kiniro no Corda ~Primo Passo~
Kinnikuman Nisei ~ Ultimate Muscle 2
Kirarin Revolution
Kishin Houkou Demonbane
Kochira Katsushika-ku Kamearikouen-mae Hashutsujo (TV special)
Koisuru Tenshi Angelique ~Kokoro no Mezameru Toki~
Kujibiki Unbalance
Lemon Angel Project
Lovedoll ~Lovely Idol~
Lovege Chu ~ Miracle Seiyu Hakusho
Lupin the Third: Seven Days Rhapsody (TV special)
Magikano
Makai Senki Disgaea
Mamoru-kun ni Megami no Shukufuku wo!
Mamotte! Lollipop
Marginal Prince ~Gekkeijyu no Oujitachi~
Masuda Kosuke Gekijou Gag Manga Hiyori 2
Meine Liebe ~Weider~
Miracle! Mimika
Mobile Suit Gundam Seed C.E. 73 Star Gazer (internet broadcast)
Motainainai ~ Mupi to Ishou
Motto Kanemoto-san Taku
Muteki Kanban Musume
N.H.K. ni Youkoso!
Naikaku Kenryoku Hanzai Kyosei Torishimarikan Zaizen Jotaro
Nana
Negima!?
Nerima Daikon Brothers
Night Head Genesis
Nintama Rantaro 14th series
Nishi no Yoki Majo Astraea Testament
Oban Star Racers
Ocha-ken second series
Ojarumaru ninth series
Onegai My Melody Kuru Kuru Shuffle!
Otogi Jushi Akazukin
Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru
Ouran High School Host Club
Pants Coin-chan
Papillon Rose New Season
Pata Pota Monta
Playball second series
Pocket Monster: Diamond & Pearl
Poka Poka Mori no Rascal
Pumpkin Scissors
Pururun! Shizuku-chan
Princess Princess
Rakugo Tennyo Oyui
Ray the Animation
Rec
Red Garden
Renkin 3 Kyuu Magical ? Pokaan
Ring ni Kakerou 1: Nichibei Kessen Hen
Rockman.exe Beast+
Rozen Maiden: Overture (TV special)
Ryusei no Rockman
Saiunkoku Monogatari
Sarugetchu ~On Air~
Sarugetchu ~On Air~ 2nd
Sasami ~ Mahou Shoujo Club
Sasami ~ Mahou Shoujo Club second series
School Rumble Nigakki
Shibawanko no Wa no Kokoro
Shijou Saikyo no Deshi Kenichi
Shinigami no Ballad
Shinseiki Duel Masters Flash
Shonen Onmyouji
Short DE Anime Damashii
Silk Road Boy Yuto
Simoun
Soukou no Strain
Soul Link
Souten no Ken
Spider Riders
Strawberry Panic
Sumomomomomomo ~Chijo Saikyo no Yome~
Super Robot Taisen OG ~Divine Wars~
Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu
Tactical Roar
Taiyo no Mokushiroku (TV special)
Tama & Friends: Sagase! Mahou no Puni Puni Stone
Tenpou Ibun Ayakashi Ayashi
The Third ~Aoi Hitomi no Shoujo~
Tokimeki Memorial ~Only Love~
Tokko
Tokyo Tribe 2
Tonagura!
Totoko Hamutaro Hai!
Tsubasa Chronicle second series
Tsuyokiss Cool x Sweet
Usahana ~ Yume Miru Ballerina~
Utawarerumono
Wa Wa Wa Wappi-chan
Wan Wan Serebu Soreyuke! Tetsunoshin
Winter Garden (TV special)
Witchblade
xxxHOLiC
Yamato Nadesico Shichihenge
Yoake Mae Yori Ruri Iro Na ~Crescent Love~
Yokai Ningen Bem
Yomigaeru Sora ~Rescue Wings~
Yoshimune
Yoshinaga-san Uchi no Gargoyle
Yukiato no, Okashi no Ki (TV special)
Yumetsukai
Zegapain
Zenmai Zamurai
Zero no Tsukaima