Now that the Spring Season is ending... what are our top five anime of the season?

Another season almost over already? Blah! Actually, this season wasn’t as great as last season for us for some reason. The more popular anime like K-ON and FMA Brotherhood became dull after a while… but surprisingly, there are a few gems for each of us this season from the most unexpected places. Who knew anime that we scoff at the preview become such jewels after giving them a try? Proceed to see what we mean with our top five writers~

Minnie’s Top Five Spring 2009 Anime

5) Cross Game

Reason: When I first read Cross Game’s summary, I did not expect this! Cross Game is a brilliant anime that combines all the anticipation of progression sports anime are known for and all the touching and raw emotion slice of life anime are known for. Who says an anime can’t be both emotional and action-packed? Cross Game proves this and I believe it is one of the most underhyped anime of Spring for all the wrong reasons. Oh, the characters are wonderful too!

4) Hatsukoi Limited

Reason: This was my most anticipated anime of Spring and it didn’t let me down at all! JC Staff manages to take one of the most unknown manga and make it into one of the best anime this season. There’s a lot going for Hatsukoi. The reason why I’m a fan of the manga is because of its format- it switches perspective every new chapter to show different stories of first love. The anime changes that but manages to make it flow better at the same time. Besides, the character designs are gorgeous (not as much as the manga but close enough). Add that and lots of cute comedy and you have a nice romance comedy to watch for the season.

3) Hanasakeru Seishounen

Reason: I always like reverse harem shows and Hanasakeru takes it up a notch by emphasizing not only romance but mystery and politics too. I am a sucker for politics in my anime. I know most of my friends don’t know that but it’s true! Politics can turn a boring anime to an incredible thriller for me. There’s another reason why I like this show so much though. The designs are very old-school thanks to the manga being old but I feel that sometimes, we need to take a step back and enjoy something a lot of modern anime viewers forget- the story. Yes, having awesome graphics and music are always a plus but at times, let’s forget those and love an anime for what it is. This is one of those. Decent music/graphics but the plot and characters make up for it, especially Kajika who is probably one of the most likeable heroine lead in both recent times and back then.

2) Eden of the East

Reason: What? Eden of the East is not my number one? Who would have thought? I know all the others have this anime on their list so I’ll leave it to them to tell you why this anime is so fabulous. As for me, I’ll tell you why it’s not number one. Eden of the East started out with a lot of promise. Actually, I’ll even argue that Eden of the East has the second best first episode next to Cross Game. However, Eden of the East slips from Episode 3 on. With so much promise, it didn’t live up to the overhyped and the huge expectations IMO. There’s a couple of weak episodes in comparison to the earlier ones (the ones that took me longer to fangirl for). In the end, I’m not satisfied with the last episode opening its way to a movie as well. I feel that it’s milking money and Eden of the East should have taken the 24-episode anime route instead but I digress, it’s still one of the best anime this season and it deserves its number two placement in my list.

1) Phantom ~Requiem of the Phantom~

Reason: Yup! The anime that I did not even care to watch at the sound of its summary but end up blogging it anyway thanks to a competition through HSA between its members and Raccoon being behind in it every week is indeed my number one anime of this season! Who would have known this anime with its strange title would be so… amazing? Phantom has one of the best OP and ED of the season along with an incredible BGM to back it up. I am totally mesmerized by its music as well as its dark yet beautiful graphics. Gosh, look at that animation in the OP and ED! You know what I’m talking about!

Aside from the extras, the plot is dark and engaging all the way through. I find myself attached to the two main leads Ein and Zwei in no time. Actually, I become extremely sympathetic to them both. Every direction you look at for those two spells doom. They don’t have a choice in the first place. Yet, in the middle of all this darkness, they manage to find strength and maybe even love, in each other that transforms them both from being puppets of mass murder to human beings who feel, love, and think like the rest of us. It’s this character transformation/development that makes this the anime to watch of the season. Besides, that climax episode two weeks ago is the best episode of all the spring anime IMO and that alone helps.

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Garrick’s Top Five Spring 2009 Anime

5) Hayate no Gotoku Second Season

Reason: Well, this season has been a very lazy and bad one. I didn’t watch much anime, I didn’t review much, and honestly, that is probably the reason HnG SS is here. This anime hasn’t exactly been overwhemingly amazing, but has been hilarious at times. While not one of the very best this season (although it is in my top 5, I attribute that to me not watching much), it has its merits.

4) Eden of the East

Reason: Eden of the East was originally much higher on my list, but, for some reason, I stopped being able to watch it. Not that it’s bad, oh, no. That’s totally not the case. I stopped watching everything for a span of a few weeks, other than a few anime. Eden of the East… wasn’t one of them. Its combination of intensity and ability to draw me in (despite the fact that I did stop watching it) makes for an awesome show… but I just didn’t finish it.

3) Basquash!

Reason: Basquash… Talk about a surprise this season. It looked idiotic, and in a way, it is. But it’s so much more than just idiotic. It’s got morals and a cute storyline that has a bunch of good sports themes. Being basketball based brings it points in my book, and the sheer TTGL-styled-overdoing of stuff (just to a much smaller scale), is always entertaining. But, sometimes, it is just idiotic.

2) Valkyria Chronicles

Reason: Talk about not being surprised. Coming out of such a wonderful game, I just can’t help but enjoy this anime to the max. Art, storyline, characters, wonderful. It’s amazing because of the differences between it and the game. The new nuances added into just the anime, in every episode. Being able to catch these and smile at the fact that you found a difference is great. Yet, at the same time, having played the game, I know what’s going to happen. While everything about it is great, knowing what’s going to happen is just annoying. But that’s my fault, not the anime’s.

1) Saki

Reason: Huh? Saki at 1? Yeah. Why? Well… It’s entertaining. So very entertaining. For someone who’s played mahjong, both with the point system, and simply first to a 13-piece hand, I’ve played on and off for years. Knowing about it makes the anime much more enjoyable… and even with the fanservice and cliche events in the story, it’s just hilarious the whole way through. I know that most people won’t find much in this, but… in a season for me that has been on and off, sporadically choosing when to watch and when not to watch… Saki, is the only (and I repeat, ONLY) anime that I have been able to watch all the way through, right when the episode comes out. That in itself, puts Saki above all the others this season.

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Steve’s Top Five Spring 2009 Anime

5) Saki

Reason: Saki is entertaining. It has everything I like and more: lolis, dramatic scenes, yuri, fanservice, and action. It is pretty God-damn addicting too. It hurts just to wait for the next episode.

4) Hatsukoi Limited

Reason: I love Ayumi and Koyoi together. They are so funny whenever they’re scheming. Aside from them, I enjoy the one-shot stories throughout Hatsukoi Limited. I find a lot of the story emotional and endearing, especially that Nao story. Besides, the artwork is incredible and the music is fine. Great stuff.

3) Sora wo Kakeru Shoujo

Reason: I blogged this for the LOLZ-ness. It did not fail in that department. Every single episode is filled with LOL. There’s no such thing as foreshadowing. There’s no such thing as logic. Everything is random and incohesive. Despite that, this is so entertaining. Leopard is enough for me to watch this show but add Nami and a lot of fun satire and I am won over completely.

2) Cross Game

Reason: This isn’t an ordinary baseball anime. There’s a lot of slice of life moments that really pull at the heartstrings. The mangaka is a master storyteller and this anime proves it. The baseball takes a back seat to real life situations to realistic characters. This anime is worth the watch and worth the attention. Sure, the artwork is not that impressive but everything else from the beautiful OP/ED to the plot will draw you in no time.

1) Eden of the East

Reason: The anime that everyone’s been talking about eh? I like Eden of the East for many reasons, most of which has nothing to do with Minnie’s favorite pairing that she invented the name of- Sakira. I enjoy Eden of the East because it has the power to hook me with every new episode without fail. I look forward to this anime every week. Also, I adore Akira’s character so much that I pray the entire time for his happiness. The mystery is top-notch and I look forward to how the rest of the story will unfold in the movies. The music and animation are outstanding too. The best thing about Eden of the East though is the Johnnies. The Johnnies will take over the world one day. Heed my words.

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Katt’s Top Five Spring 2009 Anime

5) 07-Ghost

Reason: It’s all about the solid bromance in this one. …Okay there’s more to it than that, but the bromance is a big part of it! All of the relationships that are shown between Teito and the people he meets during the course of the series thus far, really. Whether it is the Teito-Mikage relationship of ‘best friends’ or the kindness of the nuns, the bonds that Teito makes are just so endearing that I can’t help but enjoy this show. Sometimes you just want to believe in the goodness of people, and a main character like Teito shows that that isn’t always easy–but it doesn’t change the fact that goodness does exist. On its own that wouldn’t make the greatest plot, but add to it a bastard of a villain, supernatural elements, and memory loss and 07-Ghost becomes a series that I’ve really come to enjoy. (Now I just need to catch up on the last few episodes. Whoops.)

4) Sengoku Basara

Reason: This series went so unappreciated by our blogging team and that is kind of sad. Yes, it didn’t necessarily fit into the epic summary that it had, but it turned out to be epic in a whole different way. The play on the Warring States Period in Japanese history is both entertaining and enthralling because the conflicts and alliances going on at the time really are fascinating to learn about. Take that already interesting history and turn it into an anime like this? Awesome. In between the absolutely over-the-top actions scenes we also get to see a variety of relationships and the moral codes that samurai had in those times–completely exaggerated, mind you. It is mostly hilarious, though endearing too, in a way, since there is some great comradeship (even bromance?) The main reason why Sengoku Basara really makes my list, though? It’s…Date Masamune. The modern Engrish, the horse with handlebars and tailpipes, the badass attitude, the eyepatch. Yeah. He wins. Screw Nobunaga; let’s rewrite history and have Date Masamune unite Japan! Let’s party (in the sequel)!

3) Hatsukoi Limited

Reason: What a great thing it turned out to be to have Minnie’s opinion on the Spring 2009 anime list! Otherwise, I probably wouldn’t have given this series a chance–and that would have been a shame because it really turned out to be great. So much so that I got impatient and read the manga in the middle of this season! This slice-of-life series was appealing to me from the very first episode because the characters actually had characteristics that I could identify with. Ayumi’s shallow judgment of older Zaitsu, no matter how frustrating it might be at times, is something that I–and I am sure many others–can guiltily admit to understanding. The disappointment when she finally has someone like her and he turns out not to meet her expectations at all–it’s so real, and yet dealt with an exaggerated and often hilarious manner. This combination continues as more and more characters and more and more perspectives are seen, and all are done really well. Everyone can find a part of themselves in at least one of the Hatsukoi Limited characters.

2) Hanasakeru Seishounen

Reason: I am so so glad that I snatched the first episode of this series to blog. Otherwise, who knows? I might not have become so invested in this anime and probably wouldn’t have ended up as its main blogger. That would have been so sad! Moving on to what makes me so invested in this series…You can’t blame a girl for getting so involved in a shoujo series once in a while, and Hanasakeru Seishounen has been such a great shoujo series up until now. All of the characters (save the ambiguous/villainous ones) have been likeable in their own ways. Even though I support Kajika/Lumati at the moment, I wouldn’t be disappointed if she hooks up with Li-Ren or Eugene. I like them all! I also like that it isn’t easy to see into Kajika’s mind. With a lot of shoujo series, we have to listen to the heroine’s inner monologues and how torn they are. Kajika is not like them. We barely know what she’s thinking, and that’s what makes her so engaging; we do know what the boys are thinking, and that’s what makes them so loveable. It’s a win-win situation and only one of the many reasons I love this series~

1) Eden of the East

Reason: The fact that Eden of the East has made it onto all of our top five anime lists says something about this series. From the moment that Akira shows up naked, you are completely drawn in and start asking questions. The questions never stop throughout the entire series, which gives it that addictive factor that has you waiting impatiently for the next episode. I will admit that Eden of the East’s second half didn’t meet up to the expectations of the first few episodes, but that doesn’t change the fact that I still made sure to watch the latest episode as soon as I could. I love the characters, the animation, the premise, the suspense… The fact that I have to wait for the movies to get actual closure? Not so much.

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TAAN’s Top Five Spring 2009 Anime

5) Slap up Party: Arad Senki

Reason: SUP is apparently based on a Korean MMO (which should be coming stateside (via Nexon, who also did MAPLE STORY and MAHBINOGI. I know you’ve heard of them. Yes I just nested parentheses) soon, apparently), and like most anime based on MMOs, it’s very… predictable. Every episode is basically a rehashing of some combination of overused plots. But the thing is, it’s so lame, that I can’t help but think it’s like that on purpose and there’s going to be some kind of epic plot twist or something. There funny thing is, there are absolutely no signs of anything like that, but it’s still enjoyable. I blame the awesome credits.

4) Natsu no Arashi

Reason: This show is completely random, and in this case, it’s random in the way I like. It has paradox-free time traveling ghosts, random references everywhere (yukkuri shiteitte ne!), a reverse trap, random cameos, etc…

3) Phantom ~Requiem for the Phantom~

Reason: Bee Train… I’m pretty sure Bee Train made me into one of their mind slaves somehow, with .hack//SIGN (And Kajiura) and .hack//Roots (and ALI PROJECT) , and MADLAX (and Kajiura again)… Also, assassins.

2) Pandora Hearts

Reason: Kajiura makes the music. The Abyss is creepy in ways that I like. I happened to like Le portrait de Petit Cossette, which has much the same feeling, except this has humor. Or maybe I’m going insane.

1) Eden of the East

Reason: It’s interesting. It’s not the kind of anime you can just predict stuff. Sure I wish some things were elaborated on and stuff, but it’s still good. It’s the most memorable, at least.

This is the final closure of the spring season really. Thanks everyone for following us and please continue to do so for the following seasons!