Welcome to the first annual Faulty Reviews Anime Awards! For these posts, I’ll be taking a look back at the year 2013 and the anime that aired throughout it. To be eligible for an award, a series must have had the majority of its episodes air in 2013 and must have finished airing in 2013. Each category will have three-spot podium, like the Olympics. In this first part, I will cover my favourite openings and endings of the year.
Best OP:
3. Shingeki no Kyojin/Attack on Titan – OP 2, Die Flügel der Freiheit by Linked Horizon
The Shingeki no Kyojin fandom seems to be pretty well divided between people who prefer the first opening, Feuerroter Pfeil und Bogen, by Linked Horizon, and the second one (embedded above), by the same group. I definitely fall into the latter camp. Don’t get me wrong, the first opening is addicting and energetic, but the second one just has more oomph in my opinion. It fits well with the overall theme of the second half of SnK – the idea of counterattack. If the first opening represents humanity’s decline, the second one is what would play as society claws its way back into the light. Of course, both openings have that lovely gratuitous German. Really, either one could hold this spot on my list, but Die Flügel der Freiheit just slightly edges out its predecessor in my opinion.
2. Servant x Service – May I Help You? by the cast of Servant x Service
There are two parts to any anime opening – the song, and the animation. May I Help You? is certainly a good song, and I do like it when the openings/endings are sung by cast of the show itself, but it alone is not why Servant x Service is occupying the second step of this podium. Rather, it is A-1 Pictures’ great animation that caused me to never skip this opening. Animation isn’t even the right word, perhaps – the opening is a wonderful blend of drawn figures and actual photography. The end result is an opening that is thoroughly unique. A-1 Pictures really does have a knack for openings, as displayed by SOA‘s first opening, Working!! seasons one and two, and OreShura‘s Girlish Lover (which probably would have been on this list, if not for Servant x Service). I’m looking forward to see what they can do in 2014.
1. Uchuu Senkan Yamato 2199/Space Battleship Yamato 2199 – Uchuu Senkan Yamato 2199 by Isao Sasaki
There are technically two openings for Yamato 2199. The alternative opening is basically a slight reworking of the first one – a remix, if you will. The reasoning behind this is to pay homage to the two openings of the classic 1974 series Uchuu Senkan Yamato, of which Yamato 2199 is a remake of. For those who are curious, this is the first one, and this is the second.
Either opening is worthy of this top spot, without a doubt. Space Battleship Yamato was a landmark anime that set the stage for all anime space operas (Gundam, Macross, Legend of the Galactic Heroes, et cetera) to come. It was also one of the first anime to become big in the west, where it was dubbed and released as “Star Blazers”. Yamato 2199 is one of those rare remakes that takes the original source material, and improves it in practically every way imaginable. Definitely worth a watch, both for the OP and the show that follows it.
Best ED:
3. Machine-Doll wa Kizutsukanai/Unbreakable Machine-Doll – Maware! Setsugetsuka by the cast of Machine-Doll
I really like this ending. So much so, that I’ve put it on this list, despite the fact that I haven’t watched Machine-Doll, nor do I know anything about Machine-Doll. Besides the fact that it has a good ending, that is, that I found whilst looking at lists of 2013 endings. Seriously, though, this thing is criminally catchy. Enjoy.
3. Free! – ED 1, Splash Free by Style Five
No, I haven’t completely failed at numbering. There are two bronze medalists on this list, because I have declared a tie between them. Yeah, I’m indecisive, but hey, this is my list. Why a tie? Besides the fact that both Machine-Doll’s Maware! and Free!‘s Spash Free are great, they have in common the fact that I haven’t actually watched the shows that they both stem from. Free! is on my list of shows to watch, and Splash Free definitely deserves a spot on this list.
2. Kakumeiki Valvrave/Valvrave the Liberator – ED 1, Boku Janai by Angela
Valvrave has four ending songs, and all of them could have reasonably made a claim to a step on this podium. The second and third openings, Soba ni Iru yo and Realism, both by Elisa, are definitely worth a watch, as is the fourth opening, Momoko Kanade’s Akai Memorīzu o Anata ni. However, Angela’s Boku Janai is my personal favourite out of the bunch. Not really a surprise, given that Angela is also the voice behind Seitokai Yakuindomo’s ending, Aoi Haru, which is one of my favourite endings in general. Just as Aoi Haru fits the fast-paced, cheery nature of Seitokai Yakuindomo, Boku Janai works well with the in-the-face melodrama that is Kakumeiki Valvrave.
1. Kyoukai no Kanata/Beyond the Boundary – Daisy by Stereo Dive Foundation
Kyoukai no Kanata was a fair series, that lacked a bit in terms of consistency and overall plot direction. No faults can be found in its ending, though. The visuals are very good, as one would expect of Kyoto Animation, but what wins it this category is Stereo Dive’s great song that accompanies it. If A-1 Pictures is the taikun of openings, than KyoAni can make a similar claim when it comes to endings, as seen by the aforementioned KnK and Free!, as well as past works such as Hyouka‘s second ending, Kimi ni Matsuwaru Mystery, and The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya‘s famous Sunny Sunny Happiness. Kyoukai no Kanata is certainly in good company.
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