Tabby's Top Picks

Most anime fans have a few favourite series. I'm no exception. I've only really been much of an anime fan for a little over a year now, but in that time I've watched a pretty significant number of shows, and had time to develop some a list of favourites. Running the gamut from the comedic shows like All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku to the serious Starship Operators, these are some of my top anime picks.

The Top Five (In Alphabetical Order)

These are shows that I have a particular liking for. Of course, my taste is highly subjective, so these shows aren't necessarily a lot better then some of the ones that didn't make the list, but I still think that all of them have merit.

All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku (Original OVA)

Ever imagined what would happen if you had a child custody battle (in the most literal sense of the term) between a loopy scientist and a megalomaniac CEO? Ever wondered what would happen if the scientist took off with a prototype android he was working on? Ever wondered what would happen if he decided to save the life of a cat that got caught in the crossfire by transplanting it's brain into the android’s frame?

Probably not. But those questions should give you some idea what to expect from the plot of All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku, at least for the first half of the series. I probably give this six episode OVA more credit then it deserves, (being one of my early favourites, it’s kind of special to me) but nevertheless this show is very funny, and can be quite touching despite it's subject matter. The show's artwork isn't the most spectacular thing ever, but it suits the series pretty well. Just make sure you get the right version of this show -it has two spin-offs, Nuku Nuku TV and Nuku Nuku Dash!, both of which are very, very different from their progenitor and neither of which can match up to it (especially Nuku Nuku TV, which is one of the worst animes I've ever had the displeasure of watching).

Blood+

This series tells the story of Saya, a girl who can't remember anything from more then a year ago. She lives quietly with her new foster family on Okinawa, but the tranquillity of her relatively ordinary existence is shattered when her past comes back to haunt her. It seems that Saya is the only person in the world whose blood can kill a Chiropteran, a type of monster that feeds on humans, and thus she is the trump card of Red Shield, a secretive organisation that intends to wipe out the Chiroptera and which has been watching over Saya for a long time. But things are more complicated then they initially appear, and Saya soon finds that she herself may be quite closely linked to the monsters she's fighting...

Blood+ isn't the longest series I've ever watched in terms of episode count (Monster is longer), but at fifty episodes long, it's pretty darn close. Thankfully, it makes good use of its length. The show has a bit of a fall shortly after it's midpoint, but thankfully by that point it's reached such heights that it can afford a bit of a drop. Featuring great writing and excellent production values (I wouldn't be surprised if this show's budget was big enough to have made several lesser shows out of) this show is definitely not your average anime series. Just be warned that while it is generally pretty leisurely paced, when it does get into action sequences it has a bit of a tendency to live up to its title.

Full Metal Panic! (Season One)

Sometimes light heartedly comedic and sometimes deadly serious, this story of a socially inept teenage mercenary who is assigned to go undercover to protect a short tempered school girl (without her permission) was one of the first somewhat serious animes I ever got into. Very well executed, with a great cast of characters, this show is likely to be the subject of my next 'Spotlight On' post.

School Rumble (Season One)

"It's so over the top it borders on being a parody of the entire adolescent experience."

That was about how one of my friends described School Rumble, and it does a good job of explaining why this series is so good. While there are many high school comedy animes out there, School Rumble stands out from the crowd through sheer, hilarious insanity. Simply put, it's a total laugh riot. Also, it features some characters which are quite unique for it's genre, such as male lead Harima Kenji, a notorious delinquent who is head over heels in love with one of his classmates (but can't ever seem to get her to notice) and Eri Sawachika, a wealthy half-Japanese, half-European girl who quickly becomes a lot more then just the requisite 'rich snob' character.

Starship Operators

This shows got some serious flaws, and it's not to all tastes, but because of what it does do well, it's still great (at least in my opinion). There's a reason it was the subject of my first 'Spotlight On' post.

Other Good Shows (Also in Alphabetical Order)

Of course, there's a lot more then five good shows out there, and its not like I'm dead certain of all my choices. Therefore, it makes sense to give credit to some of the other good shows that are out there.

Ah! My Goddess Sorezore No Tsubasa (Season Two)

I already covered with this one in a previous post. A very good show, despite some weak episodes near the end. Unfortunately, it's the sequel to a first season which had some issues (a very slow start comes to mind).

Cowboy Bebop

Okay folks, I have some Good News and some Bad News. The Bad News: despite what others may say, Cowboy Bebop isn't God's Gift to Anime Fans. The Good News: Despite that, this sci-fi story about down on their luck bounty hunters in the year 2071 is still pretty darn good. Drawing on many different genres for inspiration, viewers can expect something different each episode. The downside of this of course is that the show doesn't exactly have a ton of continuity (though there is some).

Love Hina

I’m not generally a big fan of harem shows. This story of a down on his luck university hopeful who is asked to become the manager of his grandmother’s all girl’s dormitory is hilarious though. Sure the humour is repetitive, and the show isn’t exactly very deep (it’s rather episodic in nature), but when it comes to being amusing, it has a good record of delivering the goods, despite a few dud episodes. Just make sure you steer clear of the Love Hina Again OVAs that were made as a sequel –they suck.

Monster

Monster is incredible. Seventy-four episodes long, with a vast cast of characters and a very complex story, this well written thriller certainly left me very impressed. The plot, in simple terms, involves a Japanese neurosurgeon in Germany who saves a young boy and later finds out that the boy is a psychopath. Hunted by the police (who think he's the one responsible for the murders) he sets out to track down the now grown up boy. Add to that a huge number of characters and subplots, as well as a number of plot twists, and you've got quite a ride ahead of you. Just don't watch too many episodes at once, or you may lose interest despite how interesting the show can be. I recommend a pace of about six episodes a week.

School Rumble Nigakki (Season Two)

The sequel to the aforementioned School Rumble. It has some weak spots near the end when it moves into filler material (apparently the people who did the show didn't want to adapt the manga's Kyoto arc quite yet...) but it certainly has it's moments. People who are fans of the first season should definitely check it out.

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzimaya

Ok, I think this show is massively overrated, but I also have to admit that it’s not completely without merit either (it did, after all, make it onto this list). The basic plot... well, Kyon, a relatively normal guy, goes to school with Haruhi, a super-eccentric girl who is actually God but doesn't know it. He inadvertently gives her the idea of starting her own club, and is soon dragged into it, along with a data alien, an esper, and a time traveller, all of whom were summoned by Haruhi's will and all of which disguise themselves as (somewhat) ordinary humans. And don’t tell Haruhi about their true nature. The big problem with all this: Haruhi must be kept from becoming bored, or she might decide to remake the world. Yeah, it’s a little weird (scratch that, a lot weird) but it’s got a certain charm to it as well.

Spotlight On: Starship Operators

This is the first of my ‘Spotlight On’ posts, in which I will give special attention to series I consider especially good. In this case, the series is the massively under-acclaimed Starship Operators, which is one of my top favourite animes.

The Amaterasu: one formidable warship.

Like all my favourite animes, Starship Operators (SSO) is what can be considered a flawed masterpiece. It’s not quite perfect, and in fact some of its flaws are pretty significant (like the super clunky first episode), but somehow it still manages to be great, at least in my eyes.

Before the Storm: Left in the dark by their superiors,
the cadets hold a discussion in the Amaterasu's mess hall...

The plot of Starship Operators is as follows: The 72nd Class of Cadets from Planet Kibi’s Defence University are on a pre-graduation practicum aboard the new, state of the art battleship Amaterasu. Shortly before they’re due to return, they get news that their home planet was attacked by an expansionist power (the Henrietta Alliance of Planetary Nations, derogatorily know as ‘The Kingdom’), and that their government has probably capitulated. While they’re kept largely out of the loop, the cadets deduce from what’s going on around them that the Amaterasu has been ordered to stand down. One of the more hot-blooded cadets is unhappy about this and wants to commandeer the Amaterasu, but is shot down due to the fact that the Amaterasu can’t fight for long without resupply. This doesn’t mean leveller heads have prevailed however. See, when the Kingdom conquers a planet, they cancel all contracts for military hardware, thus the Amaterasu’s ownership will revert back to its manufacturer, AGI. The intent of such a policy is to allow the Kingdom to expand its military by buying hardware at firesale prices, but technically, anyone can buy the Amaterasu –including the cadets. They just need the funds to do so. Thus, in order to buy the Amaterasu and the supplies that will be needed to maintain it, the cadets make a deal with a TV network called the Galaxy Network: they get the funds they need, and in exchange the Galaxy Network gets exclusive rights to the action.

This deadly Stealth Ship is one of the many threats the cadets
must determine how to counter in the course of the series...

At this point I’d like to take a moment to point out the fact that Starship Operators is not, for the most part, a comedy show. It has its occasional humorous moments, but for the most part it’s a very serious show, with a significant amount of politics and a heavy emphasis on tactics. Space battles in SSO are not ‘seat of your pants’ affairs, they involve strategizing and counter-strategizing. Oh, and as a note, the plan to buy the Amaterasu and use it in a rebellion is neither as simplistic nor as spontaneous as it may first appear to be…

This is only part of SSO's massive cast. This shot doesn't
even cover all the girls, never mind any of the guys...

Starship Operators has a very large cast, which is both a strength and a weakness of the show. Most of the characters are likeable, but are somewhat stereotypical, and while the series does a good job at using little things to drop hints about these characters… let’s face it, when you have fifteen plus characters and thirteen tightly focused episodes, some characters are going to be a bit neglected. Thankfully, the neglected group does not include Sinon Kouzuki, SSO’s series lead and one of the best things the show has going for it.

Sinon Kouzuki: Reluctant tactical genius.

Just as Starship Operators is not your typical, seat of your pants type of sci-fi action flick, Sinon isn’t your typical sci-fi heroine. Quietly reserved, but not emotionless (despite what some reviewers might have you believe), this intelligent beauty apparently joined the Defence University more for the opportunities it would provide then out of any desire to serve her planet in a war. Much more level-headed then most of her fellow cadets, she’s sceptical of her comrades’ plan to use the Amaterasu to fight the Kingdom, but gets caught up in the whirl of events and eventually finds her own cause to fight for: namely, keeping as many of her fellow cadets alive as possible, a goal she pursues with a combination of quiet determination and formidable intelligence. While she’s only the ship’s Deputy Captain (a position which seems to be somewhat akin to First Officer), it’s no exaggeration to say that the Amaterasu would have been blown to pieces several times over without her battle strategies.

Sinon's astronomer friend Miyuri. Who says cute and
geeky can't mix?
Thankfully, Cisca seems a little more competent later in
the series then he does in the first two episodes.

Other notable characters in SSO include Miyuri, Sinon’s cute, cheerful, and geeky best friend, Rio, the niece of the former Prime Minister the Amaterasu ends up taking aboard and a key player in the ship’s affairs, and Cisca, the cadet who is appointed as the Amaterasu’s Captain, and whom eventually proves to be a capable commander despite his initial tendency to crack under pressure (something that I feel was a little overdone early in the series). Interestingly enough, despite his higher rank, it actually seems like he’s part of a support network for Sinon rather then the other way around –his taking on the duties of Captain allows her to take on the ‘detached observer’ perspective she needs to properly analyse situations and formulate countermeasures.

A look at the inside of the Galaxy Network studio.

Of course, no description of Starship Operators would be complete without a discussion of its Reality TV aspect. This aspect of the show is more prominent during the first and last sets of episodes then it is during the middle set, but is present throughout the show, and plays a significant role, especially during Episode Three and the finale arc. This also means that the Galaxy Network characters –Dita Mirkob and Peter Spikes- have an important role to play in the show, and they prove to be more complex characters then their initial roles as ‘ditzy TV show host’ and ‘heartless bastard producer’ initially suggest. The reality TV aspect of the show also provides a significant amount of the show’s limited amount of humour, and is used to justify the rather unbalanced distribution of positions on the ship (most of the operators on the Amaterasu’s three bridges are attractive female cadets), though the fact that most of the characters seem to be competent at their assigned tasks suggests that the cadets did have some input.

The use of CGI for technical readouts leads to some slick visuals.

A fire control readout.

Production values in Starship Operators are somewhat inconsistent, (the animation often seems to be a little raw, and there's a few bits near the middle which look particularly bad) but when the series' visuals are their best, they work pretty well. Especially notable are the CGI technical displays on the Amaterasu’s bridge, which are very slick looking and look quite good when used as a background for the animated characters.

By Starship Operators standards, this is pretty fan-servicey.

Another commendable trait of Starship Operators is that it’s relatively low on fan service. Sure, the uniforms worn by the female cadets are tight fitting and include short skirts, but those tight fitting uniforms are about the only form of fan service the show has. There aren’t even any of the panty shots anime is infamous for, something I find quite noteworthy in a series that has a large number of girls wearing short skirts in low gravity environments (though I’ve got the impression that the SSO girls wear more then just panties under the skirts of their uniforms, a move which makes a heck of a lot of sense given the environment they work in).

The Amaterasu fires her main cannon.

Overall then, Starship Operators is an excellent show for those looking for good tactics and better then average realism (though people with solid scientific backgrounds can still shred this show without mercy if they wish to). It’s complex enough to take an active effort to follow, but can be quite rewarding for those who are willing to put that effort in. The first few episodes are rather weak, but once the show gets good, it get really good, and it’s concise thirteen episode length gives this show a tight focus that many others lack. Sure, it may have problems with things like it’s cast size, (hint: the character profiles on the DVD site aren’t great, but they’re useful until you get a grasp on who’s who) but overall, SSO is still a masterpiece, and deserves much more praise then it’s been given. Just make sure you watch it with subtitles, because the English dub really messes things up.

SSO's excellent finale episode wraps things up in a
manner that is well suited to this unique series.