Welcome to the Fantasy Zone
This Zone is dedicated to the lesser known elements of anime hosted by the cast of Victory Script.
What weapon is the best?
Who will win in this Death Battle?
Is this costume practical?
You name it, it's all covered here in the Fantasy Zone!
Yeah I couldn't think of a better title.
Hot Take Review is where I gather different hot takes on anime all over the internet and give my two cents on each opinion, there will be five per episode.
"Sasuke Uchiha is Overhated"
In the past, I've made my hatred well known for Sasuke mostly for the fact that his development was stunted when he left Konoha and after tons of filler his moping turned into a bad DC vengeance story but in Boruto he actually did grow out of it and I can't really hate him anymore and by the looks of it the fans agree.
"I don't think Sakura Haruno is useless"
Kishimoto in general is not good at writing female characters so she was always going to be the third wheel in a team with Sasuke and Naruto, but she's backed up with insane physical strength and potent healing abilities and her battle against Sasori is easily top ten battles. I agree, Sakura is not useless.
"Nana is the worst romance anime"
Nope, not even top ten, it's overly dramatic and very soap opera like but far from the worst, it's stylized animation gives the impression that it will be a Seinen drama so you'll know instantly whether you're in to that genre or not.
"My Hero Academia is the best constructed shounen"
Would you believe that statement looking at that face?
Real talk, My Hero Academia does have a phenomenally well constructed world for a hero story and can create some fantastic narratives but it's got a long way to go to best One Piece and Dragonballz. My Hero has a rather underwhelming cast and has a few bad habits of not really taking on the narratives it creates.
"Good Characters are way more important than a good story"
You need both, you can create the best characters ever but they need a story to make me care what happens to them otherwise they are just nice looking pictures, equally you can write works more inspirational than Shakespeare but you still need a good character to pilot the story. Using Fairy Tail as an example, they have some of the best characters in shonen but what stops them being S tier is the fact that each arc is just the same plot with stronger enemies each season and they tend to write too many ass pulls to bail themselves out of writing into a corner.
Like it or not, I'm old, but as I sit in my lounge recovering from a cold while Retrowave plays in the background, I can't help but reminisce of the Halcyon Otaku Days.
10. Dub Acting
Yes it was raw in places but I found the mix of dubbing teams across America, Canada and even my own UK fascinating, these days it's just crunchyroll and while the quality is better it's not exactly memorable anymore. Also I liked it when it was just acting and no baggage.
9. OVAs
I find too many mediocre anime undeserving of getting 12 episode runs all the time, those are the shows that needed the three episodes at most treatment, they are generally better quality and make more of an effort to cram in the best it has to offer.
8. Advertisement
Above is an image from a magazine promoting ADVFilms releases, this is back in the day where everything was advertised no matter how obscure it seemed.
(I don't miss the absurdity of being charged more for the sub)
7. Trailers
ADV used to put trailers on before every anime showing, I would not have discovered anime without it.
6. Discovery Stories
Gone are the days where you can discover anime on your own and have a story to go along with it, these days you just find out because it appeared in Fortnite.
5. Variety
You'd think it would get better but the variety has actually gotten worse in recent years, another look at the picture, you see a Sci-Fi, a Historical Drama and a Fantasy. These days it's Isekai, a slightly different Isekai or a no this is actually a good Isekai along with a host of other shows with an outstanding waifu as it's main selling point, along with a show just to keep Twitter busy for the season, what ever is still airing despite it being years old and a major anime revived from the dead.
4. Less Long Series
Remember the days you thought nothing could be as long as Inuyasha? Long series are nothing new, they hold the record for it but there are way too many these days, no one asked for a fight to take nearly half a year to finish!
3. TV Channels Playing Anime
I'm a Toonami viewer and a FoxKids viewer, I also lived through the 4Kids era, dodgy censorship aside, I wouldn't know half of the most legendary anime without it having a TV spot.
2. Old Anime Style
I still miss the old styles of anime, it was striking, sharp and felt more adult.
1. Missing the Wow Factor
Anime rarely wows me these days, this plays into why so many modern anime are missing from my top lists.
Notes: Age, changing tastes and how much anime I've consumed has played a role in my recent slumps in watching anime, there are things I don't miss about the past as well. Call it rose tinted glasses but I can't help but miss the old days of anime.
Little back story, have you ever seen a character act in such a way that you could feel the cringe a mile away, that's a character clearly trying too hard by design or personality, these characters are villains and seem to follow a pattern, no order for this and a separate list for heroes will follow.
1. Alois Trancy and Claude from Black Butler
I'll get the worst offenders out the way first, Alois and Claude were the worst substitutes for Ciel and Sebastian period, it just hurts watching them trying to be characters let alone poor imitations.
2. Seiji Noumi from Accel World
Considering that the bullies in Accel World are usually the typical bruts several times the size of lead character Haruyuki, the fact that Noumi is doing pretty much the same thing but could just as easily be beaten up by same bruts is just laughable.
3. Garou from One Punch Man
I'm pretty certain Garou has improved recently but he's the wrong villain for a show like One Punch Man especially when he's already been defeated by Saitama and I doubt Garou could defeat Boros anyway.
4. Infinite from Sonic Forces
Cheating a bit with a video game but my god! Say what you like about Shadow, he at least had the right amount of edge and can laugh about it these days but Infinite in a 2017 Sonic game is the most cringe character ever created in Sonic media and that's a well contested spot.
5. Ulquiorra from Bleach
Look at the picture, he looks like Sephiroth after being forced to listen to My Chemical Romance for a week non stop, he's the most emo looking character in anime history.
6. Pain from Naruto
This was a hotly contested spot, I was looking at Kabuto for a while but then I remembered the character who is literally called Pain, painful looks, painful dialogue, painful actions, you picked to lead the Akatsuki, every obsessed fan of the Akatsuki, the Naruto era was a testing one.
7. Mello from Death Note
Look at me, I'm as smart as L and Near, I eat chocolate as well but I'm actually a colossal prick with an inferiority complex, when Near is looking like a better character you know you've failed.
8. Gladion from Pokemon
Thankfully toned down in the anime, Gladion with those stupid arm poses was so off brand for Pokemon it gave me bad 00s flashbacks.
9. Tomura Shigaraki from My Hero Academia
If Gladion had more hands he'd happily copy the most ridiculous looking villain in anime history, why the disembodied hands? You already look intimidating without them.
10. Zeo Zagart and Brooklyn from Beyblade
Beyblade really struggles with villains, the only successful one has been Tala who looks genuinely terrifying in battle.
Brooklyn is trying too hard to be Kai.
Zeo is just trying too hard to be anything, he didn't work as a Pinocchio like character nor does he work as a cyber newtype mind controlled puppet, it's a toy anime I guess.
No I am not kidding, Lupin the 3rd is the greatest anime of all time.
Some context is needed.
Lupin the 3rd was written by the late manga writer Monkey Punch way back in 1967 and to this day still exists as one of the longest franchises in Japan with the anime alone surpassing 50 years of service, only Sazae-San and Astro Boy can claim longer innings, but while Astro Boy has a very stop start history and Sazae-San's history is a post war manga and an anime that never ends, Lupin the 3rd has been consistent in every generation of anime from pre otaku era of the 70s, up to modern day with no sign of running out of steam but there is more than just longevity, it's got itself a unique legacy with two very well known people in the industry, Hayao Miyazaki and ShinichirÅ Watanabe.
Miyazaki needs no introduction, the Lupin film Castle of Cagliostro was the first film he worked on as a director which jump started his career proper.
Watanabe directed Cowboy Bebop often called the best anime of all time and cites Lupin the 3rd as his biggest inspiration.
That's already a big boast and we haven't got to the actual anime yet.
Lupin is an anti hero with a goofy front but extremely clever skills always keeping you on your toes.
Jigen is the straight shooter who goes along with anything but isn't afraid to shoot to kill.
Goemon is the noble samurai who maybe takes that honor a bit too seriously but is very capable of some super human feats.
Zenigata is a bumbling interpol detective but is actually very capable outside of going after Lupin.
Fujiko is not only the first waifu and sex symbol of anime but has infinite lore.
There are very few episodes that doesn't have you compelled to find out what happens next.
It might be formulaic but there is enough in universe too keep going, even others in it's genre like Detective Conan and Cat's Eye have crossed with the phantom thief.
Ontop of everything, Lupin also manages to age well, keeping a fresh animation style, working in CGI and even live action.
The only thing he couldn't do, was convince the estate of the Arsene Lupin author to use the name Lupin but that's a story for another time.
Take this with a pinch of salt though.
I don't begrudge MAL or IGN for constantly showering praise on Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood, it's still a great anime. Cowboy Bebop set such a high standard that still resonates today, even all the shonen, the stylish look of Jojo, the decades of experience Sazae-San has, the impressive legacy the Pokemon anime has and even my own favourite anime Black Lagoon all are just as capable of being the best and there's no stopping them from achieving that because what's really important is what you consider the best.
Take all that subjective thought out, and you can see it better when you take everything into consideration even then, you will probably disagree and l accept that.
Time to look at the trash taste of IGN, if it's anything like MAL's taste, expect some rough takes.
Before we go into IGN's Top 25, let's look at the ones they missed off.
Ranma 1/2
Already they've annoyed me by leaving this one off, Ranma is in my top ten for a good reason, it defines the mantra of anything goes storytelling and that anime never feels restricted.
Kill La Kill
I'm on the fence with this one, well made but not top 25 worthy.
Sailor Moon
They pretty much snubbed all of Shojo by leaving this one off.
Utena
Same with Utena really, gave Shojo a real bad snub.
Chihayafuru
Shouldn't even be considered for a list.
Steins Gate
In the grey area of being good but not great.
Jujutsu Kaisen
Too new to be considered for a top anime list.
Well let's dissect this so called list.
25. Haikyuu
It's a good series but so is a number of other sports anime, consistent quality but hardly spectacular.
24. Trigun
I agree, gripping narrative and a light hearted lead character done right.
23. Dragonballz
I wouldn't bet against it, it's got wrestling publicity, it's dumb fun.
22. My Hero Academia
While I appreciate the effort in world building, the characters aren't really the best.
21. Made in Abyss
Not for the faint of heart and can easily back up that statement, you'll remember how cruel this series can be.
20. Jojo's Bizarre Adventure
There's no other series like it, it cannot be imitated.
19. Naruto Shippuden
Overlooks the original series, remember what got Naruto there to begin with.
18. Death Note
Epic thriller for an anime only worth watching once.
17. Attack on Titan
This series is the master of self promotion, you will not forget this series.
16. Ouran High School Host Club
Of all the shojo anime, you choose this one, don't get me wrong it's good but REALLY?!
15. Devilman Crybaby
No. Devilman is iconic but it really has a terrible history.
14. Demon Slayer
It's so professionally made, it's the truest definition of effort.
13. Code Geass
Gundam style story, Clamp style art, surprisingly good combo.
12. Samurai Champloo
Still haven't seen it yet, I hope to put that right one day.
11. Baccano
Durarara was better.
10. FLCL
Pretty unique coming of age story but I don't always remember it.
9. Yu Yu Hakusho
I find that Yu Yu Hakusho is the default high standard for shonen anime.
8. Evangelion
I get why it's here and I don't doubt it's impact, very divisive still.
7. Hunter x Hunter
It's still the default high standard for shonen anime but Yoshihiro Togashi hasn't improved and my god this series has the worst history of manga releases with only Clamp being even worse.
6. Mob Psycho 100
Way too new to be this high on the list.
5. Hajime no Ippo
If I had to pick a sports anime, I would pick this as well.
4. Monster
Not seen it but won't argue it's quality, the story telling is up there with some of the best thrillers in fiction.
3. One Piece
I wouldn't bet against it, even when it's going through a rough patch it comes back to surprise you.
2. Cowboy Bebop
The default best anime for a long time, I agree to an extent but having seen what live action did to it is making me doubt.
1. Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood
It's a very well made anime but there is one fatal flaw that will forever stop this anime getting the number 1. IT'S A BLOODY REMAKE!!!! There was still a series before it and Brotherhood wouldn't exist without it.
Overall
It's hit and miss, calling it best anime of all time list doesn't include some argubly more influential anime such as Pokemon, Astroboy and Gundam. The actual best anime ever created isn't even mentioned, it's not Black Lagoon, it's my number 1 best anime but that's subjective, there is actually a best anime of all time without a doubt, that will be tomorrows post.
