best of 2007: anime

This particular list will be of interest to only a few of you, but I’m posting it anyway.

2007 was an absolutely terrible year for anime; to make up for the drought, I wound up rewatching some old favorites like Noir. Still, these five were enjoyable and managed to keep me entertained. In no particular order, they are:

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Afro Samurai


Some hardcore otaku claim that this series isn't "real" anime because it was originally shown in America and features English dialogue and American voice actors. Well, that may be true, but it was created by GONZO, so nyah. Anyway, Afro Samurai (voiced by Samuel L. Jackson) is a badass dude who wants to avenge his father's murder by any means necessary. Ultraviolent but fun.

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Nodame Cantabile


Chiaki wants to become a famous conductor, but he's afraid he'll never accomplish this goal because his fear of travel keeps him stuck in Japan. Nodame is a quirky but sweet piano genius. This charming and funny anime series follows them and their friends as they try to make their dreams come true.

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Paprika


When I heard Satoshi Kon had a new movie coming out, I couldn't wait to see it because he's the genius behind my favorite anime movie, Perfect Blue, and one of my favorite anime series of all time, Paranoia Agent. While this isn't as good as either one of those, it's still a gorgeously animated mindfuck about a psychiatrist who enters her patients' dreams through the use of a new invention.

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Devil May Cry


Inspired by the hit video game, this series is surprisingly addictive. I don't know why they tried to make Dante "nicer"---the anime version has a cute little girl as a mascot and loves strawberry sundaes---but when he's slaying demon ass, all is forgiven.

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Moetan


In Japan, there’s a series of books aimed at teaching English to anime and video game geeks. (Sample phrase, courtesy of Wikipedia: “Let’s decide the supremacy over the earth by the blows of robots.”) In the anime, she’s a girl named Ink-chan who receives a magical cell phone that allows her to transform into the scantily clad Moetan, who fights evil and gives English lessons to her crush. A very cute show with some hysterically funny, occasionally raunchy moments.