In this feature as a homage to the Oscars, I'll be discussing the one off American Anime Awards held back in 2007.
Held at New York Comic-Con back in 2007 the awards were presented by a number of ADVFilm actresses, the criteria covered every series/film/manga released during the year of 2006, even those films re-released at the time onto DVD despite being many years old.
So without further ado, lets see how well everyone did, and in true Oscar style, today's picture features Loke
Best Anime Feature
Nominees: Akira, Final Fantasy VII Advent Children, Full Metal Alchemist Conqueror of Shamballa, InuYasha: Fire on the Mystic Island, Pokemon: Lucario & the Mystery of Mew.
Winner: Final Fantasy VII Advent Children
Comments: I always believed that Advent Children shouldn't technically count as it's a CGI production, to judge it as anime is the same as saying all animated productions in Japan are anime even though there are some shows that have been imported such as Tom & Jerry. Akira shouldn't be there, it's too ancient to be compared to the other nominees. The other three are worthy nominees but out of them I would choose Pokemon: Lucario & the Mystery of Mew, for restoring my faith in the franchise I was at the time beginning to leave behind.
Best Comedy Anime
Nominees: Ah! My Goddess, FLCL, Kodocha, Ranma 1/2, Tenchi Muyo
Winner: FLCL
Comments: No surprise really, FLCL's surreal humor was quite a phenomenon on it's western release. Ranma & Tenchi are too old to be serious candidates and Kodocha & Ah! My Goddess aren't as strong in comedy as their opponents. I always had a soft spot for Tenchi Muyo but I consider FLCL a worthy winner.
Best Long Series
Nominees: Naruto, InuYasha, Full Metal Alchemist, Rurouni Kenshin, Samurai Champloo
Winner: Full Metal Alchemist
Comments: 26 episodes is not a long series so Samurai Champloo should not have got a nomination. You'll notice a trend that Full Metal Alchemist arguably dominated most of these awards. Not much to say on the others, most of us were glad InuYasha was finishing & Naruto was starting to drag on too long. Rurouni Kenshin doesn't really deserve a nomination especially if you've seen season 3.
Best Short Series
Nominees: Hellsing Ultimate, FLCL, Gravitation TV, Elfen Lied, Ranma 1/2 OVA
Winner: FLCL
Comments: Yeah FLCL was also quite dominate but it's opponents were weak. Hellsing while good can't really justify the price tag, Elfen Lied while thought provoking was more famous for it's controversy, Ranma 1/2 still too old and Gravitation is just crap.
Best Manga
Nominees: Bleach, Naruto, Death Note, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Fruits Basket
Winner: Fruits Basket
Comments: Not to be a Death Note fanboy but that story is one of the best written manga of all time and to lose to a manga series I gave up on because I was hating the characters so much quite late on is down right unfair. The other nominees aren't worth the page their written on compared to Death Note.
Best Cast
Nominees: FLCL, Full Metal Alchemist, Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex 2nd Gig, InuYasha, Naruto
Winner: Full Metal Alchemist
Comments: *Shrugs* Alchemist had the better dub cast nuff said.
Best DVD Package Design
Nominees: Final Fantasy VII Advent Children, Full Metal Alchemist, Naruto, Bleach, Hellsing Ultimate
Winner: Full Metal Alchemist
Comments: Redundant Award.
Outstanding Achievement
Peter Fernandez
Comments: The late Peter Fernandez was responsible for some of the earliest imports of anime such as Speed Racer and Astroboy, without him you may not have seen quite as many anime as you do now. *Salutes*
Best Theme Song
Nominees: Asterisk - Bleach
Heart of Sword - Rurouni Kenshin
Rewrite - Full Metal Alchemist
Ride on Shooting Star - FLCL
Rise - Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex 2nd Gig
Winner: Full Metal Alchemist (AGAIN!)
Comments: Asterisk is a much better song and more memorable than Rewrite, other songs are just meh.
Best Actor in a Comedy
Nominees: Greg Ayres, Johnny Yong Bosch, Liam O'Brien, Tony Oliver, Dave Wittenberg
Winner: Dave Wittenberg
Comments: Wittenberg won that for Zatch Bell a series about a boy in a dress. Although I find it odd that Johnny Yong Bosch's nomination was for Akira of all things, that's not a comedy. Prefer Greg Ayres for Nerima Daikon Brothers.
Best Actress in a Comedy
Nominees: Laura Bailey, Debi Derryberry, Hilary Haag, Michelle Ruff, Luci Christian
Winner: Debi Derryberry
Comments: Again it was for Zatch Bell. Luci's Nerima Daikon Brothers or Hilary's Pani Poni Dash were better performances.
Best Actor
Nominees: Johnny Yong Bosch, Yuri Lowenthal, Crispin Freeman, Richard Hayworth, Vic Mignogna
Winner: Vic Mignogna (No surprise there)
Comments: Yes it was for Alchemist, over Crispin Freeman for Hellsing & Utena. RIGGED! Funny enough Yuri Lowenthal's nomination wasn't for Naruto it was actually for Bleach.
Best Actress
Nominees: Luci Christian, Susan Dalian, Maile Flanagan, Mary Elizabeth McGlynn, Michelle Ruff
Winner: Maile Flanagan
Comments: Despite it's ridiculous popularity this was Naruto's only triumph but then again it's rivals were another Naruto voice actress and a couple of hit and miss roles. Bit one sided.
And that's your lot, a look at the class of 2006. The awards show itself was heavily criticized for lack of clarity in some nominations particularly with voice actors as fans were unsure whether to judge on one performance or a whole body of work and those who did win won on one role and were up against people who were judged on multiple roles.
The awards were only presented once and never came back, mostly because ADVFilms went into bankruptcy a year later.
If you want a decent Anime Award ceremony then watch the Tokyo Anime Award.
