{"id":142210,"date":"2024-08-19T01:06:33","date_gmt":"2024-08-19T00:06:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/starcrossedanime.com\/?p=55994"},"modified":"2024-08-19T01:06:33","modified_gmt":"2024-08-19T00:06:33","slug":"2023-anime-awards-and-top-10-list","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gamefootballmobileanimeiphone.com\/index.php\/2024\/08\/19\/2023-anime-awards-and-top-10-list\/","title":{"rendered":"2023 Anime Awards and Top 10 List"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Wooper:<\/b><\/span> At this point in the lifespan of Star Crossed Anime, we publish whatever we want, whenever we want. Sometimes that means timely season previews and first impressions, other times it means unscheduled standalone pieces (like Lenlo\u2019s recent Ancient Greek Love<\/span><\/a> article) – and sometimes it means a six month delay in getting an Anime of the Year post out the door. In order to dismiss the memory fog caused by that postponement, we did a bit of rewatching before sitting down to write our contributions, and what we found was that 2023 had more to offer than just the obvious picks, even if one show in particular stood head and shoulders above the rest (despite the short stature of its protagonist). Click through to read our thoughts on that series and plenty of others – including some honorable mentions – and rest assured that next year\u2019s AOTY post won\u2019t take nearly as long to release!<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Worst of the Worst<\/span><\/h1>\n

Worst Show: The Fire Hunter<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Lenlo:<\/b><\/span> God, where do I even begin for The Fire Hunter<\/em>. Everything about it was set up to be good. An experienced, if odd director. A decent studio held back more by their subject matter than their ability to animate\/produce a show. It even had one of the best OPs of the year, a stunning, beautifully styled, brightly colored example of what the show could have been. And instead? Instead we got one of the most nonsensical, frustrating, disasters of a production I\u2019ve seen in a long time. Fire Hunter clearly had vision, it wanted to do things differently, it wanted to stand out. But it ended up doing so for all the wrong reasons, ending up an absolute mess that failed in narrative, visuals, audio, name a metric and Fire Hunter managed to screw it up. It only hurts so much because of what it could have been.<\/p>\n

Runner-up:<\/b><\/span> KAMIKATSU, for new lows of abysmal animation, excessively dull characters, uninteresting world building, and just one of the overall worst premises this side of ecchi.<\/p>\n

Biggest Disappointment: Zom 100<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Mario:<\/b><\/span> Zom 100 gained our attention with its provocative, and above all fun, take on the well-worn zombie genre. It\u2019s a show about a man who is burned out by the demands of corporate work, to the point that he functions like a zombie, and all it takes is for the real zombie apocalypse to break out for him to feel like he\u2019s truly free. It\u2019s a neat concept, but sadly Zom 100 ran out of steam after two episodes. Just as the series checks off activities on protagonist Akira\u2019s bucket list, it also checks off many of the genre\u2019s tired tropes. Visit a hot spring with the girl you like? Check. Become the hero of your own story? Check. In addition, the supporting cast is bagful of generic archetypes, from the best friend who loves to go nude (what!) to a ninja foreigner with a love for Japanese culture (duh). It says something that our staff nominated two different characters from Zom 100 as the worst of last year (the winner is just down below). For every refreshing step it took in the first episode, it\u2019s such a shame that the show was content to go down the beaten path.<\/p>\n

Runner-up:<\/b><\/span> ATTACK ON TITAN: THE FINAL CHAPTERS, for worming its way out of a complicated endgame by hitting the Idiot Protagonist button.<\/p>\n

Worst Character: Kanta Higurashi<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Wooper:<\/b><\/span> Spike and Vicious. Light and L. Reinhard and Yang. Anime is full of relationships between foil characters, whose significant differences serve to highlight not just the traits that make them unique, but the ones that make them so similar. Just because this trend is part of the language of anime, however, doesn\u2019t mean you should throw caution to the wind and write \u201cthe main character, but evil\u201d into your story. Unfortunately, that\u2019s exactly what happened in Zom 100 beginning with episode 9. Kanta Higurashi closely mirrored series protagonist Akira Tendou: they both attended the same college, hated the state of their lives just before the zombie apocalypse, created bucket lists in the wake of the outbreak, and formed quartets of like-minded people to help fulfill their dreams. The difference, of course, was that while Akira wanted to do fun stuff like \u201cpig out at a nice sushi restaurant,\u201d Kanta\u2019s notebook included such wishes as \u201cfuck up society\u201d and \u201cturn everyone I hate into zombies.\u201d This blunt force characterization made Kanta utterly uninteresting, so when it came time for him to be humanized in the finale, his backstory of antisocial joblessness landed with all the grace of a decapitated head. This show had already passed its expiration date before Kanta\u2019s introduction, but he was the straw that broke the zombie\u2019s back.<\/p>\n

Runner-up:<\/b><\/span> HELCK (HELCK), for being the most boring caricature of a hero possible and ruining an otherwise decent adventure story.<\/p>\n

General Categories<\/span><\/h1>\n

Best Individual Episode (TIE):
\nVinland Saga #22 \/ Skip and Loafer #9<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Lenlo:<\/b><\/span> Back to back with episode 21, the 22nd episode of Vinland Saga\u2019s<\/em> second season, titled \u201cThe King of Rebellion\u201d, is not only one of my favorite episodes of the year, but possibly of anime at large. It\u2019s simultaneously a poignant condemnation of war and violence in all their forms, for all their reasons, and a sad acceptance of the flawed nature of man and how even the greatest among us can\u2019t stop the waves of the ocean, even for but a moment. Yet at the same time it\u2019s hopeful, showing us how we can improve, how we can make the conscious choice to be better than our base instincts, how if we wish to improve the world and create paradise on Earth, we must do so from the bottom up, saving and bettering the worst of us along the way, forgiving rather than falling into violence. The philosophies of the episode aren\u2019t perfect, Vinland Saga<\/em> makes it clear that these are just the first steps necessary. But it makes it clear that no one is above salvation, no one is ever so far gone that they can\u2019t strive better themselves, and those around them. It\u2019s so hard to condense my feelings for this episode into a single paragraph, so instead I recommend you go read my post on the episode<\/span><\/a> instead. Suffice to say though, I can\u2019t think of a more deserving episode than this.<\/p>\n

Wooper:<\/b><\/span> There\u2019s no conflict to speak of in Skip and Loafer\u2019s ninth episode, which is split between Mitsumi\u2019s all-too-brief summer vacation and her return to high school in Tokyo. That calmness is a large part of its appeal, especially in its morning montage of Ishikawa Prefecture, the silence of which is only punctuated by the sloshy sounds of Mitsumi snacking on watermelon slices. All of her scenes back home give this story a wonderfully relaxing quality, but what makes it one of the year\u2019s best is how Mitsumi\u2019s rejuvenation equips her to bolster her friend Shima\u2019s spirits. Her last-minute offer of extra squid crackers is such a simple gesture, but for someone struggling with self-doubt, it makes a world of difference, and provides a thoroughly heartwarming ending to a quietly memorable episode.<\/p>\n

Best OP\/ED: \u201cAnytime Anywhere\u201d (Frieren ED1)<\/h2>\n