Nijuu-Mensou no Musume
Synopsis : One night the Phantom Thief (the Gentleman Thief with Twenty Faces) steals a little girl. Her name is Chizuko. Until then, she had been a lonely girl. But that night, she embarks on a great adventure. Experiencing freedom for the very first time, surrounded by friends, finding a place where she can be herself, Chizuko starts changing gradually. A string of bizarre events start happening, centering around the tremendous mystery called the Legacy of the Phantom Thief and involving people with pathetic motives. Chizuko has to move on nevertheless... no matter how chequered her life will be.
Genre :action, adventure, coming of age, detective, manga, seinen
Thoughts : Daughter of Twenty Faces was one hell of an anime. Bones did a great job of animating this fantastic story. I love shows with truly strong female protagonists and Chizuko is up there with the best of them. Daughter of Twenty Faces is one of those shows that always leaves you in suspense, as you wonder what will happen to Chizuko next. A must watch for any Anime fan.
Macross Frontier
Synopsis : Macross F sets out in the year 2059 A.D. The "F" is short for "Frontier", which is also the name of the migration fleet this story is about.
We join the fleet's journey when the concert of the famous pop-idol Sheryl Nome, is just around the corner. Sheryl is visiting Frontier from Macross Galaxy (another colonisation fleet), on her tour around the galaxy.
Just like with the Macross Seven migration fleet, the main ship is a huge city-dome. This is the home of the majority of the fleet's population, on the scale of 10 million people. It is a place where they can live life, just as they would back on Earth.
However peace is soon broken when strange alien creatures attack the fleet, just when Sheryl's concert is well underway.
What could it be that have drawn them to this fleet? Is Sheryl the only one on board with a talent for singing? What secrets will we learn about the past? And what cool new Valkyries will be revealed for this show?
Follow the series to find out all that, along with music and dogfights, that will take the Macross universe to a new high.
Genre : action, alien, humanoid alien, idol, love polygon, mecha, military, music, piloted robot, romance, sci-fi, seinen, space travel
Thoughts : Macross Frontier, the latest in the long running Macross franchise is a combination of Amazing music by Yoko Kanno, visuals that are pure eye-candy, top notch animation from Satelight and a story which brings something new to the Macross universe while still giving homage to its roots. Like huge battles in Space? Romance? Idols? Backdoor Conspiracies that threaten entire colonies? Macross Frontier is for you.
Aria the Origination
Synopsis : Aqua and Aria take place in the twenty-fourth century, on the planet Aqua (formerly Mars), which has been terraformed into a habitable planet covered in oceans and seas.
The series is the story of Akari, an apprentice gondolier with Aria Company, one of the three most popular gondola companies in the city. She is training to become a full-time gondolier, or undine, as they are called in Neo-Venezia.
Genre : comedy, daily life, manga, seinen, slapstick
Thoughts : Those that know me, know I see the Aria as one of the best anime franchises of all time. With Origination being the best series of the lot. Origination is the final season of the Aria franchise, bringing everything to a close. But with even better animation than the previous seasons and a lot more emotional episodes. Aria is one the few shows that fills your heart with joy.
Ookami to Koushinryou
Synopsis : Kraft Lawrence (Spice) is a travelling medieval merchant, who finds a 600-year-old pagan harvest deity named Holo (Wolf) in his wagon one night. She begins travelling with him, and her wisdom helps increase his profits. But her true nature draws unwanted attention from the church...
Genre : adventure, fantasy, goddess, juujin, novel, seinen
Thoughts : Spice and Wolf the anime was a great adaptation of the price winning novel. It did a fantastic job of transporting the viewer to a magical world of adventure and deities. With great characters like Horo and Lawrence, amazing visuals and a attention keeping storyline. And some possible romance ;) Spice and Wolf is well worth seeing. Heck even watching the smart trading and the logic behind them unfold is well worth it.
Strike Witches
Synopsis : It was the year 1939 when the Neuroi appeared. Nobody knows where they came from or what their ultimate agenda is, but the fact remains that their attacks drove people out of their towns and cities.
In order to take arms against them, humanity develops a new anti-Neuroi weapon called the Striker Unit. Using the power of magic to fight against the monsters, this new device enhances and amplifies the power of female magic-wielders. To use this device, young witches from all over the world have been brought together to form an elite task force unit called the 501st Joint Fighter Wing, commonly known as the Strike Witches.
Genre : action, ecchi, gunfights, juujin, lolicon, mecha, pantsu, power suit, sci-fi, seinen, shoujo ai
Thoughts : What do you get when you take Gonzo animation, cute girls with animal ears, guns, propeller pants, an all star cast of seiyuu and aliens attacking the earth? Strike Witches. Yes it's perverted, yes they have no pants, yes it's a bit silly at times but damn is it worth watching.
At this time you are probably shouting to me through your screen, "BUT YOU FORGOT X SHOW!" which is possibly true. Everyone has different tastes and thoughts and I would love to hear yours. So post away in the comment section and let me know what you think of the shows I've listed. And what were your favourites of 2008.
Also Noteworthy Mentions from 2008 were Allison and Lillia, Itzura no Kiss, Codes Geass R2, Library Wars, Birdy the Mighty Decode, Kemeko Deluxe, Nodame Cantabile Paris Chapter, Skip Beat, Ga-Rei Zero.
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