Nerdy New Years Resolutions

First of all I'd like to wish everyone out there a very happy new year! I hope that 2012 will be made of awesome for all of you.

In the past I always used to make New Years Resolutions that were pretty damn easy to keep and while I used to be good at it, in the last couple of years I've failed miserably to fulfil them. This year however, I now have a blog and with various different anime and manga related things I wish to do, I figured that maybe by posting my resolutions here and potentially blogging about them, it might actually help me stick to them. So here we go, lets see how many I actually manage to stick to!

Anime:

• Finish series one of Gintama and start series 2.
• Re-start and then finish Kateikyoushi Hitman Reborn.
• Make a sizeable dent in the backlog of Detective Conan I still have to watch. I'm not going to say get up to date because I'm still 400+ episodes behind.

Manga:

• Get up to date on History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi. I'm well over 300 chapters behind.
• Get up to date on Toriko.
• Get up to date with Medaka Box.

Blog:

• Blog more than I have been in the previous few months. With 25 Days of Manga and 12 Days of Christmas I proved that I am capable of regularly updating, so I aim to try and keep some of this momentum going and maybe aim for 2-3 posts a week.
• Finally get my series of posts on youkai up and running. I've had the ideas plotted out in my head for a while, just need to actually get to doing them.
• Re-watch both Fullmetal Alchemist and Fullemtal Alchemist: Brotherhood and blog about them.

On the Twelfth Day of Christmas, My True Love Gave To Me...

Twelve Awesome Anime
Eleven Weeks of D'AWWW-ness
Ten Heaping Cow Turds
Nine Stop-Motion Wonders
Eight Slappable Arseholes
Seven Crazy Hairdos
Six Splendid Sequels
Fiiiiiive Kick-Asssssss Duuuuuuudes
Four Mindf**k Minutes
Three Shounen Timeskips
Two Crazy Whores
And A Pair of Giant Matrix Boooooobiiiiiiieeeessss!

So, I wholly admit that the title for the final of my 12 Days of Christmas is a bit of a copout, but I wanted to pick twelve of my favourite anime moments from the last year from the good to the bad and the just plain weird. Some are scenes, others full episodes, and there's even an entire series. So here they are, some of my favourite anime moments of 2011. Merry Christmas Everyone!

Katanagatari  (Episode 12) Before I started watching, everyone had told me how epic and awesome Katanagatari was. It seemed that everyone, even those who are hard to please, seemed to love it so I was a little concerned. Too much hype often leads to big disappointment. When I started watching, however, I was far from disappointed. Initially it was the art style that leapt out at me most, it's very different to most anime and utterly gorgeous. Then I got more into the story and damn, I was addicted. But, what REALLY made the series for me was the epic final episode. Following the end of the previous episode, Shichika in the castle, just OH. MY. GOD. I kind of want to re-watch it all again just to get to that last bit.

Shiki (Episodes 14 & 20.5) I don't care how much I've raved about Shiki this year, I'm going to do it again. In particular this time I want to pick on two specific episodes. Firstly, episode 14, which contains what is, for me, one of the most disturbingly dark scenes I've ever seen. Watching Ozaki perform live experimentation on his undead wife was gruesome, cringeworthy (in the good way) and down right uncomfortable. That scene marks the distinct change between the show's quiet beginning and it's bloody, frenzied finale and boy, what a way to do it. My second pick is episode 20.5 which is actually one of the DVD specials. This particular episode depicts some of the manga content that was omitted. Set during theheight of the shiki-hunt, it focuses on the villagers chasing their prey into the irrigation pipes. It's dark, very dark, a bit on the gory side and just plain awesome viewing.

Redline Everyone and their granny has been banging on about Redline this year, so when I got the chance to purchase the Blu-ray at Expo a fortnight before it was released tot he public, I jumped ta the chance. I have to admit, though it's generally not my sort of thing (racing + intergalactic spacey stuff) I did enjoy it. The visuals are pretty damn awesome and fall somewhere between horrifically ugly and too cool for school, while the movement is impeccable. Well done Madhouse. Do I think it's over-rated? If I'm honest, yeah, a little bit. But it's still well worth a watch, if only to make up your own mind about it.

One Piece (Ace's Death) AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCE! That's really the only way I could begin this bit. Having been up to speed on the manga for some time, I knew that this was coming and I was kind of dreading the moment when I'd st down to watch One Piece and Ace would meet his end. I cried at the manga and generally I tend to blub more at the anime (with the actual movement, sounds and music, it's hard to resist when the tears well up). However, for me, as much as I loved Ace, what upset me most was not his demise per-se but the profound effect it had on Luffy. Watching those scenes and the ones that followed were like watching his heart systematically crumble and fall apart. Heart-wrenching stuff, truly.

Nichijou (Deer Fight) Had it not been for the fact that I really wanted to mention this scene here, the principal in Nichijou would have ended up on my list of "Five Kick-ass Dudes" for this one skit alone. Without a doubt, the deer scene is the luminescent highlight of an otherwise underwhelming series. There's no particular story to it, quite simply, it's just the quite gentle-looking principal going at it in an all out battle for supremacy with a deer. Why is the deer there? WHy are they fighting? Where did that guy learn all his moves? No one knows and really, who cares, it's just awesome viewing!

Gintama (Episode 38) I have an odd relationship with Gintama. I'm only around 40 odd episodes in, but despite the promises that it's utterly hilarious, I personally have never quite managed to get into it. Generally I've found it to be quite hit and miss, with some episodes bordering on the just plain dull, but then along comes a plotline that reminds me why I really like the series, and one of those was episode 38. The gang participating in a scnow sculpture contest was hilarity in a bucket, packed with stupid humour that had me giggling like an idiot the whole time.

Hanasaku Iroha Without a doubt, one of my favourite new series this year has been Hanasaku Iroha. It demonstrates some of the best characterisation that I've seen for some time and is a true ensemble piece. With the exception of a filler-esque mid-section I looked forward to each new episode with increasing anticipation. Plus with P.A. Works pulling out all the stops in the animation department, such exquisite eye-candy made it a genuine joy to watch.

Shinryaku!? Ika Musume (Beach Aerobics Scene) Now, I love Shinryaku Ika Musume, but it's not one of those series where there's a laugh a minute. Mostly it's fairly gentle with some decent giggles from time to time. However, in the latest series there came the most brilliant section that had me full-on belly-laughing. Quite simply, Ika-chan is taking part in a beach aerobics session with elementary school kids and her tentacles keep hitting the kids. It sounds like dumb slapstick, and it is, but the comic timing is perfect, and it's played out in such a way that by the end it's like there's been some kind of child massacre. Genius. Absolute genius.

Detective Conan: Quarter of Silence (Avalanche Scene) What I love about watching the Detective Conan movies is that inevitable moment towards the end where the whole thing entirely detaches itself from reality in favour of a big flashy finale. Whether it's the tone deaf Conan singing into a faraway phone in order to dial the correct number, or two teenage girls successfully performing an emergency landing in a jumbo jet on a ridiculously short and narrow strip of land, the antics are ridiculous. Safe to say Quarter of Silence didn't disappoint with the supposedly seven-year-old Conan riding around on his jet propelled skate/snowboard in order to cause an avalanche and stop a rampaging flood from hitting a village. So dumb, so epic, so fun!

School Days (Episode 12) I ended up marathoning all of School Days in two days, not because it was any good - it wasn't - but because I wanted to know what the hell the infamous ending was and just how such an initially innocuous series could descend into something with such a reputation. I'd like to say that watching it was wholly worth it, but it was only half-so. It was worth watching so that I could witness first hand the insanity of the events, but at the end of the day, the entire series was shite.

Legend of Koizumi This is a bit of a lesser-known and slight shock entry really. Legend of Koizumi is a short OVA that's basically political parody with mahjong. Big important political figures meet in neutral areas to play a game with high political stakes on the line. As an anime, it wasn't that great, and in truth, it was kind of dumb, but you know what... it stuck in my mind. Despite its inherently idiotic foundation, it's somehow incredibly epic. Hell it's so epic that the snivelling dude accompanying Koizumi can't help but piss his pants half the damn time.

Ben-To (Any of the Supermarket Scenes) Ben-To started out for me as a fun, throwaway series, but very quickly got to the point where I was bored of it and couldn't wait for it to end. However, the one part that still makes me chuckle like a maniac are the various supermarket battles. No matter how many times I see them, or how crappy the plot gets, the utter ridiculous notion of fighting bloody battles over half-priced lunch boxes just does not get old. Serious comedy at its best (just a shame about the rest of it).

Anime Comfort Food: Detective Conan

Despite the wealth of anime out there both old and new, whenever you venture into a new series, you never quite know what you're going to end up with. So sometimes, to break up all the trial and error of picking up new anime, it's rather nice just to settle down and watch something where you know pretty much what to expect. For me, one of those shows is Detective Conan.

At a behemoth 630+ episodes, I've still only scratched the surface and am currently less than a third of the way through. I don't marathon it, but instead I go through phases where I want to watch something safe, and this is one of my go-to anime whenever I get that urge.

The format generally remains solid and unchanging throughout. Conan goes somewhere, then shortly afterwards someone dies in mysterious or suspicious circumstances. Then the young boy somehow figures it all out and reveals all to those nearby, normally by tranquilising Kogorou and using his voice-changing bowtie to imitate him. Then the ridiculously convoluted murder method unravels in front of the culprit's eyes until they break down and confess everything. Case closed (pun half intended), the end.

What I love about Detective Conan is that each case manages to be both predictable and wholly unpredictable at the same time. On the one hand there's the inherent familiarity of certain Conan staples that despite their completely ludicrous nature still have a certain charm to them. For instance, that Kogorou miraculously manages to collapse and fall asleep in a perfect sitting position (sometimes even making a pose that presents him as being deep in thought) every. single. time. he's tranquilised is ridiculous - especially when it involves him turning round on the spot or stumbling half way across the room! But somehow, knowing that he's not going to ruin the whole plan and just flop on the floor, snore loudly, and drool a bit is comforting. Likewise, seeing each culprit give up and confess with surprising ease instead of insisting that it wasn't them is so cheesy it may as well be a pizza topping, but again is familiar and comfortable.

The predictable aspects of Detective Conan such as the ones mentioned above and the knowledge that Conan will always reveal the truth may open the series up to becoming repetitive. However, like knowing that your favourite shounen hero will always beat the bad guy, the security that offers allows you to just enjoy the ride until you get to the inevitable conclusion. This leads me nicely onto the other joy of this franchise: the variety of weird and wacky cases. How Detective Conan manages to remain so fresh for so long while relying on the same format is entirely down to the remarkable and convoluted methods that each culprit uses. I've never been one for predicting how a trick is done, but to be honest, even if I did I doubt I'd ever be able to figure out the cases in this series! I love seeing what improbable actions each culprit takes and marvelling how how downright weird, crazy, or just plain stupid their plans are. I remember one particular episode where a murder was committed with fishing wire attached to a bottle of soy sauce and thinking "what in the name of all that is holy was this person smoking when they came up with that?!" and it's that sense of jaw-dropping disbelief that keeps me watching.

Detective Conan is one of the best types of anime comfort food because you know precisely what you'll get from every case, but the unique truth behind each crime keeps the brain engaged. Sure, it may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I love it. In fact, it's been a long day so I think I'll grab a drink, snuggle up under a blanket, and enjoy an episode or two while I unwind.

Oi, what do you mean I'm predictable?