#vaguely inspired by adolescence of utena. if you know you know.

[daydreamycrustacean]

Loved by god

[cviperfan]

1–10!

1. best anime you’ve watched

This is tough (especially since i just finally got around to watching FMA: Brotherhood for the first time) but the more i think about it the more Gankutsuou is probably my personal favorite of all time.  

The Count of Monte Cristo was one of my favorite adventure stories and Gankutsuou manages the extremely rare feat of adaptation that stays faithful to its roots while also being brave enough to explore it beyond the surface, and its core conceit of breaking off of pretty much every single adaptation before it and refocusing Edmond Dantes from vicarious wish fulfillment hero to cunning duplicitous but still sympathetic antagonist is an inspired choice that puts the whole thing in a new light.  The characters here are nuanced and complex and its web of intrigue is supremely compelling to watch play out, elevated by a Wagnerian score that captures an operatic level of heightened, stylized emotion and drama.  On paper, none of this should work together-- the futuristic Treasure Planet-style high tech fantasia paired up with a 15th century Dumas novel, but somehow it doesn’t just work, it excels.

Not perfect but excellently written and paced and of course its unique art direction doesn’t hurt either.

2. worst anime you’ve watched

I really, really dislike “battle of the sexes” type narratives because they almost always come down to a) being built around tired-ass stand-up comedian level conceptions of binary gender tropes and b) ignoring the long long history of men benefitting from misogyny for a “men and women need to work together!!!” handwave.

Vandread has all that PLUS harem anime touches AND of course our lead guy is Naturally Gifted at being a Way Better Mech Pilot than all these girls amirite

It’s too bad because apparently there’s actually a positively handled romance with a trans character way later? but I gave up long before that it’s fuckin bad and i hate it

3. favorite character from your favorite anime

Franz is great because despite kind of being stuck as the Doomed Gay Character with a Doomed One-Sided Romance he’s also the emotional and moral heart of the story and the center of truth and reason through the whole thing and honestly that’s kind of incredible?

Still, I kind of have to give the edge out to Peppo, who is great and also kind of amazing?  I mean there’s some Bullshit involved with her at first but for a trans character in a fuckin 2004 anime to be treated like an actual person??? with an arc??? and a good end who doesn’t die?????? whaaaaaaa

4. least favorite character from your favorite anime

MMmm that’s hard since there’s so much competition from shitty motherfuckers in Gankutsuou lmao

I probably gotta give it up for Fernand de Morcerf/Mondego who not only betrayed his bff so he could pressure his fiance into marrying him but then also used his falsified position of power to displace and enslave an entire race like damn son

I mean hot dad but awful fuckin person

4. best ending of an anime you’ve watched

I think i gotta give this to FMA: Brotherhood, despite my relative newness to it.  Really satisfying conclusion that still leaves the characters on a path to future growth while also acknowledging that many of them had to do some shady bullshit to end up on the right side of history, which is surprisingly thoughtful and realistic for any kind of series, really

5. worst ending of an anime you’ve watched

I’m hard pressed to think of the last time I saw one that was just overall bad?  Like that left me stunned and angry?  I’m partly inclined to give this to End of Evangelion because Eva (especially near the wrap-up and maybe moreso now) exists in a weird limbo between the characters and story getting to go where they lead to on their own and being subject to the whims of Anno and also being a reflection of himself and also not and???? honestly there’s a lot to unpack there

I kiiinda feel like this goes to Last Exile tho, which while it’s a great overall show and one of my favorites (Maeda was kind of appreciably ahead of the curve in terms of consistently having implicitly queer characters, which while maybe not as admirable as a lot of other series definitely stood out to me during a formative period of my life) its ending is bad more in the classically “vague and unclear” sense of the term

6. favorite opening sequence

Yo i know everyone loves Bleach OP 1 again and that’s cool and all but Shounen Heart is the Actual Correct Answer don’t @ me

Like ok we can definitely argue about Eureka 7′s overall quality all day but every single one of its OPs is Fuckin On Point which is some kind of achievement

7. top anime you plan to watch

Is it bad if I admit that I’ve never seen Utena cuz I know I need to I’ve seen Adolescence tho

8. first anime you’ve ever watched

Pokemon!  I think I’d watched some Speed Racer in the old days of Cartoon Network and I’d seen the original-ass dub of Castle of Cagliostro but I feel like Pokemon was the first time I watched an anime actually conscious of what it was?  I mean it was the 4Kids version on WB but still we all gotta start somewhere

9. lastest anime you’ve watched

Devilman Crybaby!  Gotta say I was disappointed with the overall level of gay in there compared to what the internet led me to expect but a really strong series, though definitely not for the faint of heart. I remember someone saying that the structure of it was extremely close to Greek Tragedy in the classical sense of the term and honestly this holds up extremely well on closer inspection.  idk why there are a bunch of ppl acting like this is The First Good Netflix Anime tho like... Little Witch Academia is right over there my kiddos

10. top 5 characters you would die for

1) Soifon (Bleach)

2) Franz d’Epinay (Gankutsuou)

3) Sayaka Miki (Madoka)

4) Jonathan Joestar (JJBA)

5) Akko Kagari (LWA)