Animesou.com

Best Action - Gungrave

C’mon now, did anyone seriously think anything could match Gungrave’s firearms galore? The sweet, sweet gun action is unmatched in any other anime I’ve seen, Cowboy Bebop included. Especially that moment early on in the series when Grave goes down an elevator, enters a room, and kills everyone in the entire room in approximately 10 seconds flat as roses float all over the place is a moment of machismo beauty. John Woo would be proud. What was especially nice about the show’s action was it didn’t rest on its laurels, the action constantly expanded and changed to make things always interesting to watch, and I would just sit in awe of it all.
Runner Up: Samurai Champloo

Best Drama - Wolf’s Rain

I really wish more people had given this show a chance, instead of reeling at the idea of 4 consecutive recap episodes and subsequently brushing the show aside. The story of 4 wolves traveling to find paradise is a great starting point to tell the journey of these 4 people (ahem…wolves) who grow and change as the story moves on. Also, with the introduction of a plethora of other characters who you also grow to care for and relate to make the ending of the show all the more sad. I don’t want to spoil anything for you, but your heartstrings will be more than tugged, it will be dragged, pulled, and carried as you see the show come to a close. It’s that riveting.
Runner Up: Gungrave

Best Comedy - Overman King Gainer

I’m not one for Japanese anime comedies. They tend to cater to the dumb and baseless men of society who will laugh at anything remotely involving panties or breasts. Me, I tend not to laugh at shows where the general idea is to have lots of hot women with one man and then have the one man go nowhere with the ladies as sexual hijinks ensue. Leave it then to Yoshiyuki Tomino, the creator of the Gundam franchise, to get me laughing. Overman King Gainer is a story rife with satire and irony. The characters interact with one another as if they are playing out an episode of Seinfeld, whether they are supposed to be against one another in the show or not. Characters will battle it out in mechs only to run away and come back again, and again, and again, with it becoming blatantly obvious that neither side has any intentions to really harm the other. The plot is nice, the point being that the story isn’t even a big enough deal to fight over in the first place. Why the villains want to stop the good guys is beyond us and makes what happens in the show even funnier. You’ll like this one.
Runner Up: Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu

Weirdest - Paranoia Agent

I think it would be best to start out with saying that just because something is weird, does not necessarily make it bad. I found Paranoia Agent to be one of the best shows I saw last year. I also find it to be one of the most offbeat, unique, and different shows I’ve ever seen, period. The plot is infused with a lot of social commentary and philosophies. But to show that commentary and those philosophies, a story was created about a kid on inline roller skates who wields a golden bat and hits people really hard on the head with it, but only hits people who are stuck in some serious problem where they can find no way out of. There are a lot of twists and turns that I don’t want to ruin for you, but suffice it to say that the story goes in a lot of different and wildly unique directions. Keeping up with Paranoia Agent is worth it in and of itself.
Runner Up: Gantz

Worst Anime - Mobile Suit Gundam SEED

I want to say first off that Gundam SEED isn’t that bad a show. I didn’t really watch that much bad anime in 2005. But of all the ones I have seen, this easily is the worst. I’m a Gundam fan. I have been for awhile now. I’d already seen both Mobile Suit Gundam and Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam by the time this came out. I say this because SEED borrows HEAVILY from those two shows. I don’t believe there is an ounce of originality lurking within SEED. Five hotshot Gundam pilots with accompanying massively powerful Gundams? Gundam Wing. White Base with requisite crew of mixed personalities? Mobile Suit Gundam. Special pilot on the side of Earth? Mobile Suit Gundam. And so on and so forth. Sure, the show has decent animation and nice music, but the story becomes bogged down in flashbacks and recaps, on top of constantly reused animation. The ending was also abrupt and anticlimactic. Some people are ok with an updated remake that mixes and matches older Gundam shows. Me? I need something new, especially with something that has become as stale as Gundam.

Best Manga - Bleach

I have to hand it to manga-ka Tite Kubo. He really outdid himself with this one. Bleach’s artwork is probably some of the cleanest, most nicely done work in a manga I’ve ever read. The dialogue, with the art, mix perfectly, and you never get confused as to what’s going on, even during the action, something not all mangas do well (Trigun, I’m looking at you). The story is also intriguing from what I’ve read so far, and has a nice chance to really expand into something epic. I have no complaints with Bleach, and only hope the anime adaptation is just as good.
Runner Up: Hellsing

Best DVD Covers - Texhnolyze

ABe’s (as he prefers it spelled) character designs on each cover of this 7-volume DVD release look positively stunning. You can easily tell just by looking at the covers for each volume what kind of show Texhnolyze is. The dark greens are accentuated to a degree of which I’ve never seen, and the sparing use of bright colors tells you the kind of drab, dark, and dank world the characters in this show live in. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Runner Up: Samurai Champloo

Best Anime Site - Animenewsnetwork.com
Sure, they’ve been around awhile, but this is the first time I get to award them. And they deserve it. Their anime encyclopedia is unmatched in sheer size of information and every part of it is carefully analyzed and put up so no misinformation gets through. This makes it even better than wikipedia.org. Their constant stream of anime news makes them the best place to stay up-to-date with anything anime-related, and serves to show just how infantile everyone else’s anime news sections really are. Hats off to you guys.
Runner Up: Animeondvd.com

Best New Series - Ah! My Goddess

OMG! I put a romance/harem/comedy anime in ‘best new series’! What has happened to you Dark Wind!? I know, I know, I’m even surprised at myself. But I have to hand it to My Goddess. It’s easily the best I’ve seen in the romance/comedy genre, and does it with such a nice, slow-paced, ‘I’m not here to impress you’ style that I just relax and enjoy myself watching each volume. It’s unhurried pace and chill sense of humor really combine to make it pretty funny when it wants to be, and the romance is done with the proper subtlety that I believe these characters are in a real, growing relationship. And Belldandy (the main female character) is probably every man’s wet dream of a bride. She’s just…perfect. Everyone should look into this show.
Runner Up: Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo
Honorable Mention: Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex-2nd GiG, Fullmetal Alchemist

Movie of the Year - The Place Promised in our Early Days

Ah…Makoto Shinkai’s new pet project. After Voices of a Distant Star, I thought Shinkai had nowhere to go but down. But, he has proven me wrong, going even further up, making him worthy of being a household name with any anime fan. Early Days is, in every way, an improvement over the problems I had with Voices. The character designs are better, their animations are better, the foreground animation has improved, the music has become noteworthy, and the story has been lengthened and expanded to give proper time to every character. Shinkai has also grown as a director, and has a handle on lighting and mood that no one can match. Shinkai’s ability to make the viewer feel lonely and isolated, even if watched by a group of people, is beyond my comprehension. Every single scene is done with the expertise of an experienced master, and yet this is merely Shinkai’s second project. The story of two men and a girl trying to reach a massive tower in an enemy country as war rages on is merely the backdrop to the growth and development of the characters as they go from humble, innocent teenagers to lonely, complex adults. I expect great things from Shinkai in the future.
Runner Up: Steamboy

Sleeper Hit - Texhnolyze

I barely know anyone who actually watched this show. Most people I do know who tried it watched the first volume and gave up. They didn’t explore further and find the amazing, constantly evolving story within. I love the story element of slowly dolling out details as the main character ‘wakes up’ and becomes more involved with the world around him. The first episode is basically an acid trip, but as time wears on the show becomes more and more understandable. I’m at a loss for words as to explain what Texhnolyze really is. But it’s totally worth watching.
Runner Up: Overman King Gainer

Must Have - Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex

The first season of the Ghost in the Shell TV series is easily one of the best written shows in anime. The story requires one’s attention and the dialogue is written to succinct perfection. There is never a wasted word or scene in GitS. The action, when there is some, is wonderfully animated, and is written for the story, not the other way around. The music, by Yoko Kanno, is some of her best, mixing a lot of techno with cold, distant vocals to really set the tone and mood of the show. The production values are off the charts, thanks to the wonderful, cohesive work of Production I.G. The show’s main plot is a wonderful suspense thriller, and will keep you guessing until all of it is revealed. There isn’t one bad aspect in all of GitS’s cybernetic bones. With GitS’s second season, 2nd GiG, progressing just as nicely, there is a good chance that Stand Alone Complex will win this award a second year running.
Runner Up: Wolf’s Rain

A Look to the Future - Next year looks to not be as good as 2005. There are shows that are currently being released that I am enjoying (Gankutsuou, Samurai 7, Ah! My Goddess, 2nd GiG, Fullmetal Alchemist), but there don’t seem to be to many new shows that look to interest me on the horizon. There is Eureka 7, Trinity Blood, Hellsing Ultimate, Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny, and My Hime, but beyond those, I don’t know what could happen. I hope to be surprised.

*Note*: The only eligible anime TV series and OVA’s were ones that FINISHED their release in 2005 (obviously this does not apply to movies, since they are a one-time DVD release). It is my belief that you can’t award something until you’ve seen it in it’s entirety. I also only counted shows released on US DVD. Clearly, my some of my comrades don’t feel the same way, and that’s fine, but just in case you, the reader, were wondering how I picked what I did, that’s how.