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!
Not done one of these for a while.
"Anime doesn't do women well"
This person is either blind, ignorant, stupid or has only seen ten anime, let's go with ten anime. It's easy to look at the ten most popular anime right now and think there isn't much in the female character department, Naruto definitely hasn't got that development but has improved in Boruto, My Hero Academia isn't much better but at least has a couple of standouts. I think the issue here is watch more than ten anime and don't be afraid to push out of your comfort zone.
"People only remember Macross for the idols"
It's the only thing I remember about Macross.
Real talk, when Macross was released it was up against the more colour friendly Gundam so in order to standout more, they added idols which also coincided with the new craze of idols in the 80s, after seeing Lynn Minmay, it's hard to picture that Macross was indeed a war sci-fi with fighter jet mechs, a lot of 40+ year olds would disagree with me but Lynn Minmay was so popular back then that there was an idol in every series of the show afterwards and that is harder to defend, even Gundam Seed's Lacus Clyne is a nod to Minmay.
"Vegeta is stronger than Goku"
Not really but Vegeta is the better man. Ego aside, his background makes him very well versed in being a leader and knowing what's important.
"Taiga from Toradora is a dumb character"
I've not seen Toradora but given how I feel about tsunderes recently, I don't think I'll like her, hardly a dumb character though, she's better written than most tsunderes, in fact the best written tsundere of all time isn't even an anime character, it's Hey Arnold's Helga Pataki.
"Bleach is overhated"
It's balanced and the criticism it gets is justified considering how much of it's own universal laws it had to break to make the story work.
Surprised to get this far with this series but here we are.
"Anime is better when written by women"
Women have an excellent track record of anime, a lot of that stems from the fact that a woman did the likes of Demon Slayer and Full Metal Alchemist but its fairly balanced in the creator category between the genders.
"Deku is one of the most boring protagonists in shonen anime"
Why doesn't anyone love me?
Real talk, no main character in any long running franchise starts off as the best character or even the most interesting, it's only after their series ends where the audience judges whether or not they were a good character based on how their journey progresses and ends, Deku will get his chance.
"Healin Good Precure handles the shock value more than Madoka Magica could and has a great message about saying no to those who hurt you"
Healin Good Precure was boring, had no shock value, it's ending actually insulted the audience and it's message was saying no to anyone wanting to mess with your body.
Madoka Magica had a magical girl lose her head to a low level enemy quite close to the beginning, that's shocking.
Honestly this hot take was poorly written.
"G Gundam is better than Gundam Wing"
Comparing G Gundam and Gundam Wing is like comparing night and day, they are so different that you forget that they are both Gundam series, both had a hand in reviving the franchise, G Gundam's outlandish designs and ridiculousness revived the franchise from going bankrupt while Gundam Wing finally broke the western market that it's older series couldn't achieve, it's a fascinating story and I hope to write it someday, I don't judge one as better than the other, but I will say that G Gundam got the better dub.
"Zoids deserves a reboot"
I love Zoids Chaotic Century, New Century was okay, everything else was terrible, it's a franchise that is done. I'll tell you what it does need, to be re-releashed on streaming with a new dub.
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.
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.
End
