Board 8 > Tazzy Ranks 101 User-Nominated Anime with Write-ups

(+) Yeah! (+)

Sankarea was one of the first anime I watched and I still consider it to be slightly above average. The dad's creepiness was a bit much but it had a lot of fun characters and a neat concept. The biggest problem in my opinion was that it finished with a total non-ending.
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90. Honey & Clover (2005)
PumpkinCoach (2/2)
https://nefariousreviews.files.wordpress.com/2017/03/honey-and-clover-featured.jpg?w=672&h=372&crop=1

This is the slice of life tale of a group of college students just living life as people tend to do. I watched it a long time ago and found it boring, but it might be worth checking back out, at least in manga form that is. This was another drop, and, much like Rozen Maiden, my largest problem came from one character, Hagumi.

The voice actress for Hagumi is dreadful. People were shitting on this new Black Clover anime for having a shitty VA, but this was brutal to the ears, and it completely ruined the show for me. It was also really weird how they gave her the body of a six-year old, but that's josei for you. Though I found it boring, I also only got interested in shounen and seinen stuff back then, so slow SoL stories were pretty much guaranteed to be drops. Though I'm not super interested in it, it's worth at least thinking about.
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89. Another (2012)
Raka (5/5)
https://i.makeagif.com/media/4-21-2016/bnwqjt.gif

Another is a horror anime about a guy unraveling the mystery of a death that occurred in the school years ago. Anime and horror has never really gone too well together, mostly because anime isn't really scary. Though some anime can do a pretty good job at being unnerving, that isn't really present either.

I already have trouble with horror stories, since I don't believe in things like spirits or demons. I just don't find many things to be scary anymore. It's why I opt for more psychological horrors, that deconstruct the psyche of their protagonists. Fear of the unknown will always get to me more than a clear spiritual, demonic, or human presence. Another plays out like a Final Destination flick in a way, where the students slowly get picked off one-by-one until the finale where they just start dying in droves.

The biggest issue, for me, is that the death scenes are almost always.... comical. The very first death involves a girl tripping down the stairs and impaling herself on an umbrella, with the amount of blood spilling that you'd expect from one of those 80s B-movie body horror films. Then there's one where a guy just swims right into a motorboat in the ocean because I guess he's a total dumbass. Then there's the infamous gif I used. Really, it's just difficult to take the show seriously, and that kills the atmosphere, and thus kills the entire purpose of a horror show.
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Another is one of the greatest comedy anime of all time

I honestly think the umbrella scene was probably the hardest I've ever laughed in an anime
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the finale was a real laugh riot

that's the only episode i saw though
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honey and clover might literally be the only one of these i've even heard of, school days aside

couldn't get thru more than 1-3 episodes, don't even remember. nodame cantabile was tough too.
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Honey and Clover had some decent stuff but it was so slow sometimes.

That's not always a bad thing but it definitely was here. Not exactly sure what the real difference is.
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I didn't mind Honey and Clover being slow but I didn't care for over half the cast so that was my issue with it
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yeah, i just didn't know why i was watching. maybe i should give it another go - i could relate to boringness better now, probably
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honey and clover hit me hard, especially takemoto's journey. i should rewatch it sometime - it should be interesting to go back to after 10-ish years with a different perspective on life.

SeabassDebeste posted...

nodame cantabile was tough too.

never seen the anime, but the j-drama is hilarious.
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The only J-drama I've watched was Densha Otoko, which was quite good. Not counting tokusatsu shows. And a little bit of one cop show (Bayside Shakedown).
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only ones i've seen are nodame cantabile, and assorted kindaichi episodes dubbed in cantonese.

always meant to check out more, though.
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H&C definitely has some terrible issues, but also some great parts. IIRC, the first few episodes of S2 are just amazing 10/10 content for a while.
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only jdrama i've seen is million yen women on netflix lmao

it was watchable due to its concept and brevity but good lord it was terrible
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88. Kakegurui
Eerieka (1/5)
https://i1.wp.com/www.unotaku.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Kakegurui-5.png?resize=640%2C369

This is the last of the shows I didn't like, or at least the ones I feel ultiately negative about. Kakegurui is about this highly stratified high school where students partake in gambles to determine who will be safe and who will be demoralized. When you're in debt, you become a "pig" and are forced to obey the commands of those with money, and face their ridicule. It's not a bad concept, and it has a lot going for it through the first few episodes! But I quickly grew tired of the formulaic nature and it's complete ineptitude at creating conflict.

It all comes down to Yumeko's character, really. The gambles have absolutely no weight behind them because of how she functions. To give an idea, when she actually loses a match, she takes her punishment like a champ and actually gets enjoyment out of the ridicule. She's in a constant state of ecstasy through the mere performance of a gamble, so, whether she wins or loses, there's no weight to the result, and it trivializes the entire focal point of a gambling anime. I know people like to look at this "Not a gambling anime", but you kinda have to make huge leaps to create that argument, since gambling is at the forefront of every episode.

Of course, that's nothing to say of the characters. Yumeko herself is a lot of fun, but she can't really carry the show when literally every other girl has a carbon copy of her personality, with the extremity raised or lowered. None of them really feel unique by the end, and it plays into the formula, which always results in Yumeko winning, even when she loses. It's one of those shows where I just don't understand why so many people enjoy it since it's so...

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTTvFj2h0PQnMJ9fFEtgXo1-9Jn0gR926E3fircvnW9gd0rXIoE
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTAXiBp00u5ySUUksHC5LraG5jQcpjIPl1BFZ-ICUW-8FrO8wDP
http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/001/271/004/b12.gif

...Oh, yeah.
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Kakegurui is currently my fifth favorite anime, and it's for a lot of the reasons why you didn't like it! I enjoyed how Yumeko was in it for the thrill more than the victory, she was always so fun to watch. I also really liked how the gambling mostly came down to tricks and mind games rather than mere luck. I always love unique settings like the school's gambling society, too.
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wow, wasn't expecting to see a user DELETED in just 14 series, though it looks like Eerie deliberately picked some bad shows
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DELlGHTFUL
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Mac Arrowny posted...

wow, wasn't expecting to see a user DELETED in just 14 series, though it looks like Eerie deliberately picked some bad shows

They said they were gaming the system to get DELETED quickly.
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it has been scientifically proven that the best gambling/competition anime are the ones where the protagonist is obsessed with winning and comes up with clever ways to cheat

if yumeko can't even come up with clever ways to cheat then what the hell is she doing in the protagonist position...
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There is plenty of cheating in Kakegurui
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Yumeko never cheats, but the whole schtick is that other people are cheating and she's just finding ways to unravel them. Sometimes it's through bullshit superpowers though, like when she has the ability to perfectly memorize the individual backs of 52 cards in seconds.
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Gonna blow through this next set because they're shows I barely remember and didn't really feel comfortable putting them anywhere on the list. Should've just said no but whoops.
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87. The Diary of Tortov Roddle
PumpkinCoach (1/2)
https://assets.mubi.com/images/film/112871/image-w1280.jpg?1445944987

This is one that I'd forgotten until I saw it mentioned and looked it up, but all I really have is my memory of watching it, and not much else. I remember that it had the same director as The House of Small Cubes, which was a pretty solid short film. This was pretty different though. The stories were episodic and light-hearted, if I recall correctly. The art style is pretty unique, and definitely what draws me to this the most. Unfortunately, that's all I can really muster.
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86. Spice & Wolf
Xeybozn (4/5)
https://www.toonzone.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/splash-spiceandwolf-790x494.jpg

I probably shouldve denied this one entry, since my opinion of it was warped by age. It was one of the first anime Id ever watched, even before Naruto and Bleach, on the recommendation from my brother, who was way more into the medium at the time. Id never experienced a show that has such a slow-moving feel to it, and because of that, I thought this was the most boring thing Id ever seen.

So yeah, sorry that this write-up isnt much, but I do plan on returning to it at some point. Just a brief glimpse into the mind of 15-year old tazzyboyishere.
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85. Yu-Gi-Oh!
Johnbobb (3/3)
http://uploads1.yugioh.com/carousel/1/yugioh-feature.jpg?1376491088

Okay, so I actually do remember a little bit about this show compared to the other 5 that will be getting the fake placement treating. It's a kids show about card battles, and apparently far darker in Japan. The 4Kids version wasn't bad I don't suppose. I only saw a few episodes, but I didn't really get much out of it when I was a kid. I think most people only like this series because of YGO abridged, but from what I've seen, it's not terribly funny to me. I was going to start watching the sub on Crunchyroll, but the first episode was so overly dramatic that it kinda threw me out of proceeding.

Most of my memories come from the card game, however. I don't think anyone at school actually knew how to play the game, you just kinda went with the rules of whoever owned the cards, and the rules would usually strangely favor their hands. Needless to say, I never won a game of Yu-Gi-Oh, and now I'm a jaded fuck.
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inb4 the reeees of Spice & Wolf being so low
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yugioh's dub is waaaay better
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SeabassDebeste posted...

yugioh's dub is waaaay better

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84. Dream Eater Merry
Maria (5/5)
https://static.zerochan.net/Merry.Nightmare.full.409213.jpg

When I saw this nominated accompanied with the message that I saw it and gave it a good score, I kinda thought, Um, what? But looking it up I vaguely remember this one.

I remember checking it out specifically because I was playing Disgaea at the time, and the main character is basically a genderbent Laharl in design. I remember the villain was some giant talking cat and thats really it. I hate to leave the write-up there, but yeah.
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Mac Arrowny posted...

wow, wasn't expecting to see a user DELETED in just 14 series, though it looks like Eerie deliberately picked some bad shows

I was. I told Tazzy I was gonna go to his MAL and select the five lowest rated shows that he completed (and that others hadn't yet nominated).
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yeah I was mostly wondering just why exactly anyone would give Yumekui Merry a decent score and I guess the explanation is "I didn't remember anything about it"

LOL
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83. Inu x Boku SS (2012)
Ange (4/4)
http://meownime.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Inu-x-Boku-SS.jpg

Last of the one's where I basically have nothing to say, though this one's a bit sillier, since it's more recent than the others and I scored it an 8/10 whoops. It's about a girl who ends up living with a bunch of supernatural beings in a mansion, and I think she's a tsundere.

The only notable thing I remember is the SM dude, where he takes random objects and explains whether they are sadists or masochists. That was pretty hilarious. It's probably fine, since I doubt the series ever topped that without my knowledge.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFjGyPffiks" data-time="
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tazzyboyishere posted...

The only notable thing I remember is the SM dude, where he takes random objects and explains whether they are sadists or masochists. That was pretty hilarious. It's probably fine, since I doubt the series ever topped that without my knowledge.

You stated pretty much my exact thoughts on this show lmao.

I feel like there was also a character voiced by Mamoru Miyano that I liked. It may or may not have been the same character I have no idea.
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InuBoku good times. The last few episodes were pretty great IIRC. I do wish that I'd liked the series more - I generally liked a lot of things about it, especially the MC who's wit was incredible, but it felt kinda poorly written. Like, it had episodic stories or whatever, but a lot of those stories were kinda bad, so the show's strong fundamentals couldn't quite keep it as high flying as I would've liked.
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82. Free! (2013)
kateee (2/2)
https://nefariousreviews.files.wordpress.com/2016/02/free-featured.jpg?w=672&h=372&crop=1

Free! is about a group of beautiful boys who swim in competitions That's it. Most sports/competition-based anime don't really need to break grounds with their concept, just work with the setting and utilize it to the best of it's abilities. Most of these shows strive for fluid animation, intense music, over-the-top vocal performances, and tons of scenes that make the viewer mutter, "Coolio".

Free! doesn't really do it for me. I don't think it's all that bad, but it's pretty boring. I initially watched it because I was pretty interested in a swimming anime, because I swam in high school, and something relateable would've been neat. But I was also a fat nerd in high school, so I dunno why I saw this and thought I'd have something to relate to! It's blatant fujoshi bait without the yaoi, rather than a show that would appeal to people interested in the sport.

Free is pretty weak, all hings considered, though I didn't finish. The characters are flat, which is lame in an individual sport. It's difficult to root for anyone when they all fit into archetypes and fail to remove themselves from said archetypes. The show does have great visuals, as expected of Kyoto Animation, but it would've been great to see this as more of a shounen series.
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The abridged version, 50% Off, is fantastic.
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I thought Free was at least fairly entertaining. I thought the cast at least had half interesting development/motivation compared to a lot of the casts of series KyoAni picks up.
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81. Highschool of the Dead
Snake (5/5)


Fun fact: This was the first anime I ever watched as it aired, all on shitty dial-up through a third-party streaming source. I dont think this show is as bad as some people like to say, but I do think its pretty weak on the whole.

The first episode was great stuff, the kind of despair antics you expect out of zombie fiction. Its a bit played out, but its at least fun to watch. But somewhere along the lines, the show decides it kinda wants to be softcore porn, and honestly, past the first few episodes, I dont really remember much beyond the weird ecchi scenes and the fact that all of the characters are one-dimensional and kind of annoying. It never strays away from showing gore or skin, which I suppose is commendable, but its not as easy to stomach a generic survival plot if one or the other feels like its getting in the way. And considering the first thing that comes to mind for me is the boob dodging stuff, its probably a sign of me losing interest in what the story was trying to accomplish.

Overall, I dont think HotD was wanting to be taken seriously, but it didnt relay that very well. If it just wanted to be a stupid-fun action show with sexual content, then maybe it shouldve cut the stuff that makes it seem like its going for a more serious plotline in the beginning. I was 16 at the time, so this shit actually felt pretty interesting, and to see it turn so heavily into ecchi was a bit annoying.
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I thought the first episode was awesome too but then it never came close to matching that again
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the matrix boob bullet dodge thing is just so ridiculous because if you take the scene at face value you pretty much have to accept he almost just shot his friends breasts off for no apparent reason, but they magically flopped out of the way due to anime physics
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The crappy villains are the biggest problem with HSotD imo
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I dug HoTD. Dumb sure, entertaining, yes.
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80. Fate/stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works (2014)
ZXAdvent_Lucian (2/2)


I have a confession to make. I'm not a fan of Fate. Well, I guess I can't really say that. It's a story originally written for a visual novel format, and I've never read it, and might never do so if it doesn't at least get put on Steam so I don't have to bother with a bunch of patches and settings in order to read it. But every adaptation I've seen has been dull. I like the concept, and all the characters seem fun, but I think the issue lies with how ufotable handles most of their works.

I feel the way in which UBW is told is very dense and dry. Every episode felt like constant exposition dumps, and the action sequences, while gorgeous, didn't really mesh with the way it decided to tell it's story. It was hard to pay attention most episodes because it all felt so disconnected. I probably shouldn't have ranked it this high...

Another hot take: The character art is bad. It looks way too glossy and it doesn't do the show's aniation justice. But I've had enough railing on this popular franchise. Fate/Zero was solid, I guess, but nobody nominated that.
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79. Planetarian (2016)
TRE (4/5)


This one had a lot of potential to me. I really enjoyed the first episodes worldbuilding, how in an empty world, there existed this sheltered sign of hope within the planetarium. But the show drags itself along the rest of the time, presenting a tired plot of the android living there gaining human emotions through the power of love. It spends a lot of time making us watch the two together, and neither of the characters were all too engaging. I did think the androids past was sad, and the part where her creators are saying goodbye is really well-done.

Incomplete is probably the best way to describe the show, and it probably has to do with adapting a visual novel into 5 episodes. The characters and the world simply dont feel all that fleshed out, and the climax of the show where they enter the ruined city is obviously rushed. This all culminates into an ending that I can only describe as trolling. Its a shame because I feel this has a lot of potential as an anime, but as is, its nothing special. I did get the VN on Steam for 3 bucks or something, so I need to check that out.
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tazzyboyishere posted...

Incomplete is probably the best way to describe the show, and it probably has to do with adapting a visual novel into 5 episodes. The characters and the world simply dont feel all that fleshed out

I haven't seen the anime but well this is basically what the VN feels like too

it's only two or three hours long
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It's a 2.5 hour VN so 5 episodes isn't really rushing <_<
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Oh, I didn't realize it was that short...
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I've played the Planetarian VN and thought it was okay. I forget the robot's name but my main issue was that her character often seemed too naive even in the context of her limitations as a robot so I never got too attached to her.
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While I'm fine with Planetarian I dont like it as much as other KEY shows because although it has a unique setting and characters

In both anime and VN you barely get enough time to get the know the characters before the FEELS hit.

Sometimes that's an issue I have with movies in general. Many times character development is rushed or sidelined to make the plot move forward and makes me not get connected as much for later drama.
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