Post by Koda, Master Crunchyroller on Dec 31, 2007 2:53:31 GMT -5
*The crowd stands and applauds as Koda walk onto the stage in a tuxedo*
Thank you, all of you, here at the WrestleCrap forums for attending my first annual Best of the Year awards for anime. Being the resident anime expert, I've taken it upon myself to compile the awards and winners for the inaugural event. I usually only do a Best of the Year Awards for video games, and that thread and list will come within a few days as that is harder for me to decide on than anime. So without further ado to the first award! First, we shall take care of the dubious awards, basically...marks of shame. Some of these marks of shame will have runner-ups, and some won't. All the good awards will have at least 1 runner-up however.
Most Boring Series
This is self-explanatory, it is the series that is the most flat out boring and sleep inducing of the bunch.
Winner:
Mushi-Shi
This series is critically acclaimed, and I can see why, it has good characters and a good story, but you can only see those if you can actually...you know, stay awake during it.
Most Drawn Out Fight
This goes to the fight that has lasted the longer than it should've.
Winner:
Szaeyel Apollo Granz vs. Abarai Renji, Uryu Ishida, Nemu Kurotsuchi, and Mayuri Kurotsuchi(Bleach)
This fight has been going on for over 20 chapters in actual appearance, but was started at the beginning of the year! The battle is still going on, thus as it lasted ALL YEAR and still hasn't ended, it wins bar none.
Runner-Up:
Jiraiya vs. Pein(Naruto: Shippuden)
This hasn't been going on for as long as the winner, but fans of the series all admit the fight went on way longer than it should have, and we all knew what the result would be so the prolonged fight was excruciating.
Most Pointless Fight
Sometimes a fight isn't really needed and are used just to kill off a character the creator wasn't going to improve anyways.
Winner:
Byakuya Kuchiki vs. 7th Espada(Bleach)
This is how pointless the fight was...I don't even remember the 7th Espada's name! Really, his power is he can control up to 50 things with his 50 eyes on his body. Only problem? Byakuya's Bankai(super awesome special move in the Bleach universe) is he can turn his endless row of giant swords into millions of little sakura petal blades that he can reform into millions of normal sized pink katanas. Get the picture? Byakuya shredded the 7th in no time flat and no one cared except for the Byakuya fans waiting for his appearance in Hueco Mundo.
Worst Villain
You either hate a villain because they truly are evil, or you hate them because they suck, this is the latter.
Winner:
Szaeyel Apollo(Bleach)
This guy...just...won't...die! The fact that he is a bland character that was already done before in the series(in the form of Mayuri Kurotsuchi) doesn't help him either. Point is, this guy has been given too much screen time but lacks the charisma and skill to have earned it(basically, he is the Bobby Lashley of anime).
Worst Opening
When it comes to anime, the openings need to be good in some way. This is the worst opening I could find this year.
Winner:
youtube.com/watch?v=s8XogVE7e_g
After Dark by AKFG(Bleach Opening 7)
I'll just let you watch it to see why....
Worst Anime
Too much filler, not enough action, too boring, many factors to consider with worst anime of 2007.
Winner:
Naruto: Shippuden(or Hurricane Chronicles)
So much potential...but all the fillers ALREADY into the second series of Naruto(and we are only what...40 episodes in?!) and the dreaded Dragon Ball Z Syndrome(taking forever for something to happen in the episodes) are hurting the new Naruto anime. I mean, the first 5 episodes were spot on with the manga, but after that....well come on, they gave Kankuro's fight with Sasori what...2 or 3 episodes of its own? Their fight in the manga was less than a page! Kankuro pulls out his puppets and Sasori kills all 3 and poisons Kankuro in a grand total of about 5 panels.
Worst Manga
This goes to the manga that's been the biggest pain to read this year.
Winner:
Bleach
This series' manga started out GREAT when it came out, the Soul Society arc is one of the best story arcs in recent time, and hell even the Arrancar/Hueco Mundo dual arc began nicely, but then....the prolonged battles with uninteresting characters(see Most Drawn Out Fight, Worst Villain, and Most Pointless Fight for more details) started to happen and now Bleach is currently in hell. Think of it as Shelton Benjamin's career in the WWE, started great, and even got good(tag title runs and IC champ) and now it is in development hell(like Benjamin is in ECW).
Worst Series Overall
This is the ultimate mark of shame award I could give. It is reserved for only a series with both an anime and manga, and it fails at both.
Winner:
Bleach
It pains me to do this...really it does, especially since I cosplay at multiple characters from the series, but Bleach this year SUCKED! The manga is moving at the speed of a glacier, and the anime is also filled with pointless filler. Naruto and Bleach were the kings of the anime world in 2006, but in 2007 both have fallen from grace ala Lucifer in John Milton's Paradise Lost.
Now enough of the loser awards, time for the REAL winners!
Best Hero
To be the Best Hero, a character has to do something valiant, brave, and well...hero-like.
Winner:
Allen Walker(D. Gray-Man)
How could this scrawny little 15 year old beat out all the others for Best Hero? Simple....name another hero in 2007 to not only lose their left arm, but regain it, never lose faith or sight of their goal no matter what(such as having a hole chewed into their heart), and still come back stronger than before and ready to defeat the main villain. Also, Allen experienced the physical pain of death and having his mind filled to the brim with another person's memories. He also was the apprentice of General Marian Cross, a training period that left Allen mentally scarred for life.
Runner-Up:
Shikamaru Nara(Naruto: Shippuden)
It is hard to recover from the death of your teacher, especially when he died right in front of you, but Shikamaru was able to do it, he pulled through, and lead an assault on Hidan and Mr. Stitches of Akatsuki, and killed them both(well took one of Mr. Stitches 5 lives). Keep in mind that no other character has defeated an Akatsuki member by their self so far.
Best Villain
These are the villains that make you hate them because they are bad guys. The winner and runner-up are the two most vile scum in anime right now.
Winner:
Pein(Naruto Shippuden)
This dude killed the legendary Sannin, and didn't end there...he killed all of Sannin's friends, family, pets, associates, basically anyone that was on Sannin's good side was killed. Pein was solidified as a God to the people of the Village Hidden in the Rain, and is the leader of Akatsuki, it just so happens he takes orders from Madara Uchiha(who is a member of Akatsuki under the guise of Tobi). Few things are worse than what Pein has done in 07.
Runner-Up:
Millennium Earl(D. Gray-Man)
Yeah....remember that I said few things were worse than what Pein did? Well, the Earl is the villain that can do those things. What he does is preys on people grieving the loss of a loved one. He gets the person to make a deal with him, and he brings the loved one's soul and places it in an Akuma skeleton. The skeleton then kills the person that made the deal and wears their skin. The Akuma then goes around killing people at will. Thusly, the Earl uses your dead loved ones to do his killing for him. Granted, he isn't weak by any means, he just doesn't want to wipe everyone out in one fell swoop(he's that strong).
Best Fallen Hero
Sometimes a good guy does something bad and is no longer good. They then become a fallen hero. Some try to redeem themselves, others just go with the bad guy flow.
Winner:
Suman Dark(D. Gray-Man)
Suman was an Exorcist, or a person that could fight the Akuma that the Millennium Earl summoned. Suman literally fell from God's grace and became a Fallen One by begging for his life at the feet of a Noah, the descendants of the biblical figure and the Earl's personal servants, in exchange for giving away the locations of all the other Exorcists traveling around the world. Suman's fall was the jump pad of a story arc in the manga and anime, but in the manga the character was a no body. In the anime, however, there was a filler episode dedicated only to him and it greatly fleshed out his character, making his fall all the more better.
Runner-Up:
Lelouch(Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion)
Lelouch was a good kid at the start of the series. He was even clearly thinking when he was first given the Geass by C.C., but then....the Geass took over Lelouch and now he is crazy ala Light Yagami in Death Note. Lelouch is in a position to take control over Japan and lead a successful rebellion against the British(or Britannia) Empire.
Most Heart Wrenching Death
When a character dies, their death can either be pointless, or make the tears start flowing.
Winner:
Suman Dark(D. Gray-Man)
Suman's death wouldn't have been a big deal in volume 7 of the manga, if it wasn't for that filler episode of the anime that fleshed him out. His death is the culminating point of his fall from grace and had a huge emotional effect on several characters in the series, as he was good friends with Lenalee Lee and Jonny(both of whom burst into tears upon the news that he would die) and Allen Walker tried his hardest to save him, but it was all in vain as Tyki Mikk planted his Tease golems into Suman's body before Suman became a Fallen One and then caused Suman's body to explode right in front of Allen when Allen thought he had saved Suman.
Runner-Up:
Jiraiya*
One of the legendary Sannin along with Tsunade and Orochimaru. Jiraiya was known for his perverted nature, but deep down, he truly had respect for his elders and cared for others. Jiraiya went down fighting the 6 bodies of Pein, one of whom was one of his former students. Jiraiya fought bravely, but even his ultimate form, the Hermit Mode, couldn't defeat Pein. This was only because for most of the fight, Jiraiya fought 1, and then 3, of Pein's bodies and killed those 3 bodies, but then the other 3 revealed themselves, revived the 3 he killed, and all 6 proceeded to use an extending sword that could suppress his chakra and drain his life force. Ultimately, with his throat crushed and impaled with 5 of the special swords, Jiraiya burned a final message into the back of the Toad Father and slid into a deep pool of water. His current fate is unknown, but he is likely dead.
* = As of now he is dead, however we don't know if he truly is dead, and it is that mystery alone that prevented Jiraiya from taking the prize.
Best Drama Series
These series try to deliver a message, or at the least a very compelling story with much emotion and great acting. A good drama series could be the high point for a Seiyu/voice actor if they get the lead role for their gender.
Winner:
Welcome to the NHK
This series deals with a 22 year old hikikomori/NEET, meaning he doesn't leave his house and he is in no way making money. Satou is his name, and a young 17-18 year old girl named Misaki that Satou met at his door step one day tries to break him of this life style. Along the way, Satou falls in love with Misaki and tries to balance the several tasks in his life.
Runner-Up
Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad
A Japanese rock band forms up and tries to get to America where they hope to hit it big. Lots of the standard drama to expect for a "behind the scenes" look at forming a band.
Best Comedy Series
Comedy is a wide genre for anime, and as such each genre tries to have at least some comedic moments, but these series awarded here have the best deliverance of the funny.
Winner:
Lucky*Star
Completely random....with tons of references to other anime series, namely The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. The main character, Konata Izumi is a major otaku with a master IQ level, but she wastes it by playing eroges(hentai dating sims), MMOs, and other types of video games and watching anime both into the early hours of the morning. As such, Konata has a tired look to her compared to everyone else, and she procrastinates all the time. Despite this, she makes grades like 98% on a test that all of her other friends at least TRIED to study for(only one actually truly studied, the other pushed it back too much) and made only Bs or Cs on, and she never even studied for it.
Runner-Up:
Welcome to the NHK
Life is messed up for hikikomori Satou. He thinks everything is a conspiracy against him led by the NHK, a Japanese broadcasting station famed for their mostly anime programing(think the Cartoon Network or Nickelodeon of Japan). This leads to him occasionally imagining all of his electronics coming to life and talking to him. At the same time, Satou morphs from just a hikikomori into a perverted otaku addicted to eroges and it gets so bad that he has random erotic daydreams of Misaki, the girl of his affections, at the worse possible times. These daydreams are a double dose of funny, as after he catches himself daydreaming, he'll usually bash his head into a wall or something, or try to smash something(like the laptop of his friend, Yamazaki).
Best Mystery Series
Move over Detective Conan, these are the mystery series of the future.
Winner:
Higurashi - When They Cry
A murder mystery in which everyone in a small village die. Each episode follows the murders from the point of view of different victim each time. Things keep getting weird in the small village and things are going to continue to get weirder as the series enters its 3rd season in 2008.
Runner-Up:
Spiral
Ayumu Narumi, a teenage master detective, and his best friend from school, Hiyono Yuizaki, the school journalist, listen to the chords of justice and solve murder case after murder case to find out the secret of the Blade Children.
Best Shonen Series
Shonen is series aimed at guys from teens to adults, and these are the best examples of the genre as a whole this year.
Winner:
D. Gray-Man
It has the fights, it has the villains, it has the hot babes, what more do you need?
Runner-Up:
Welcome to the NHK
This series has everything guys like in anime as well, just less fighting and more chicks.
Best Shojo Series/Most Pretty Men
Shojo is for the ladies, and features either sappy love stories or guys that look like chicks(or both in CLAMP's case).
Winner:
Tsubasa Chronicles
Oh like this wasn't obvious. CLAMP is the kings(or is it queens?) of the Shojo world, and Tsubasa has the lead characters from all of CLAMP's best works mashed together for a series that is every Shojo fan's wet dream.
Runner-Up:
Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion
This actually is a shonen, but the art is by...guess who? CLAMP, and well, I didn't see any other Shojo's I liked besides Tsubasa, so I had to give this runner-up just for CLAMP's involvement.
Best Opening
An opening has to catch your attention, and get you pumped for the show. It also has to be catchy to boot, and well, these two are the most catchy openings I could find this year, and both are symbolic of the series they are attached to.
Winner:
youtube.com/watch?v=ViEH57xQu1c
Mottoke! Sailor Fuku(Lucky*Star Opening)
Runner-Up:
youtube.com/watch?v=LCJiRrQGtt0
Doubt & Trust by Access(D. Gray-Man Opening 3)
Best Fight
This is more or less an additional Shonen award, as fights rarely occur in Shojos, that being said, these fights were awesome to the max, and it is the only way Bleach enters the good awards to at least stop the bleeding of negative awards.
Winner:
Allen Walker vs. Tyki Mikk(D. Gray-Man)
Allen Walker finally gets a chance for revenge against Tyki Mikk for Tyki killing Suman Dark, Daisya Barry, Charkar Rabon, Kazana Reed, Kevin Yeagar, Tina Spark, Gwen Frere, and Sol Golen, and for Tyki destroying Allen's left arm shortly after he killed Suman Dark. Allen and Tyki both give it their all, but Tyki is too much for Allen, and General Cross must come it to save Allen from death.
Runner-Up
Ichigo Kurosaki vs. Ikasoruk Ogihci(Bleach)
Ichigo fights his evil inner self(whose name is unknown, but fans have decided to just spell Ichigo's name backwards for his name)
Best Manga Series
This is for the series that progressed the best in the manga.
Winner:
D. Gray-Man
Simply great. The manga had a standard start as any other Shonen, but the two arcs that set this apart from the other Shonens were the Fallen One Arc and the Ark Arc(the fan nickname for the storyline arc that takes place in Noah's Ark!).
Runner-Up:
O-Parts Hunter/666 Satan
The art looks familiar, no? Well, that's because the creator is the twin brother of the creator of Naruto! However, this brother knows when to end a series when it is good, as 666 Satan ended this year with 75 chapters, much shorter than Naruto, which is nearing 400 chapters! Basically, the main character is possessed by Satan and he becomes an awesome warrior. Yeah. b(^_^)d
Best Anime Series
Needless to say, this is for the series whose anime was better than the manga.
Winner:
Lucky*Star
This series is just hilarious! From the non-important storyline to the characters that people can relate to, such as all American otaku can relate to Konata.
Runner-Up:
Welcome to the NHK
Weird...the same results for Best Comedy appear for Best Anime. Welcome to the NHK is a very solid anime series as it explores and reveals the disturbing truth on some of the darker aspects of Japanese society, such as the REAL Otakus, pedophilia, hikikomoris, offline meetings(group suicide get togethers), and others. Despite being a comedy and drama series, it holds a true message underneath the laughter and wackiness.
Best Overall Series
The crown jewel of them all, the title of Best Series of 2007 baby! This series of course needs both an anime and a manga, and has to do both of them correctly with little fault.
Winner:
D. Gray-Man
This series is just breath taking. The first series for the creator Katsura Hoshino, the series is so good that many actually doubt it is her first manga series and that she is even a she! You see, in Japan, they think female mangaka(manga creators) only make Shojos and not Shonen, and D. Gray-Man is definitely Shonen. That being said, the fact that some claim it can't be her first manga series just because it is GOOD is laughable. Apparently, in Japan it takes several series before you get good at making manga(huh...better tell the Kishimoto brothers, as Naruto and 666 Satan were their first series and are awesome as well).
Runner-Up:
Welcome to the NHK
Believe it or not, but there is actually a manga for this series as well. It was pretty good too, and the anime is top notch, easily the second best series of 2007.
So, let's final tally, shall we? Each Winner is worth 1 point(dubious awards are negative points and good awards are positive), and each Runner-Up is .5 points or 1/2. Except for Best Series Overall, and Worst Series Overall, both of which are worth 5 for Winner and 2.5 for Runner-Up.
Bleach: -8.5, all those Dubious Awards killed them
Naruto: Shippuden: .5, broke even with Pein winning, but Jiraiya's good award brings Naruto to positive.
Mushi-Shi: -1, no comment
D. Gray-Man: 12, sweeped almost everything.
Code Geass: 1
Tsubasa: 1
Welcome to the NHK: 5
Lucky*Star: 3
666 Satan: .5
Higurashi: 1
Beck: .5
Spiral: .5
As for total awards/runner-up won:
Bleach: 6 Dubious Awards, 1 Good Runner-Up, Worst of 2007
Naruto: Shippuden: 1 Dubious Award, 1 Dubious Runner-Up, 1 Good Award, 2 Good Runner-Up
Mushi-Shi: 1 Dubious Award
D. Gray-Man: 7 Good Awards, 2 Good Runner-Up, Best of 2007
Code Geass: 2 Good Runner-Up
Tsubasa: 1 Good Award
Welcome to the NHK: 1 Good Award, 4 Good Runner-Up, Runner-Up Best of 2007
Lucky*Star: 3 Good Awards
666 Satan: 1 Good Runner-Up
Higurashi: 1 Good Award
Beck: 1 Good Runner-Up
Spiral: 1 good Runner-Up
*pant* *pant* *pant*
Took me over 4 hours to do all of this....T^T
Thank you, all of you, here at the WrestleCrap forums for attending my first annual Best of the Year awards for anime. Being the resident anime expert, I've taken it upon myself to compile the awards and winners for the inaugural event. I usually only do a Best of the Year Awards for video games, and that thread and list will come within a few days as that is harder for me to decide on than anime. So without further ado to the first award! First, we shall take care of the dubious awards, basically...marks of shame. Some of these marks of shame will have runner-ups, and some won't. All the good awards will have at least 1 runner-up however.
Most Boring Series
This is self-explanatory, it is the series that is the most flat out boring and sleep inducing of the bunch.
Winner:
Mushi-Shi
This series is critically acclaimed, and I can see why, it has good characters and a good story, but you can only see those if you can actually...you know, stay awake during it.
Most Drawn Out Fight
This goes to the fight that has lasted the longer than it should've.
Winner:
Szaeyel Apollo Granz vs. Abarai Renji, Uryu Ishida, Nemu Kurotsuchi, and Mayuri Kurotsuchi(Bleach)
This fight has been going on for over 20 chapters in actual appearance, but was started at the beginning of the year! The battle is still going on, thus as it lasted ALL YEAR and still hasn't ended, it wins bar none.
Runner-Up:
Jiraiya vs. Pein(Naruto: Shippuden)
This hasn't been going on for as long as the winner, but fans of the series all admit the fight went on way longer than it should have, and we all knew what the result would be so the prolonged fight was excruciating.
Most Pointless Fight
Sometimes a fight isn't really needed and are used just to kill off a character the creator wasn't going to improve anyways.
Winner:
Byakuya Kuchiki vs. 7th Espada(Bleach)
This is how pointless the fight was...I don't even remember the 7th Espada's name! Really, his power is he can control up to 50 things with his 50 eyes on his body. Only problem? Byakuya's Bankai(super awesome special move in the Bleach universe) is he can turn his endless row of giant swords into millions of little sakura petal blades that he can reform into millions of normal sized pink katanas. Get the picture? Byakuya shredded the 7th in no time flat and no one cared except for the Byakuya fans waiting for his appearance in Hueco Mundo.
Worst Villain
You either hate a villain because they truly are evil, or you hate them because they suck, this is the latter.
Winner:
Szaeyel Apollo(Bleach)
This guy...just...won't...die! The fact that he is a bland character that was already done before in the series(in the form of Mayuri Kurotsuchi) doesn't help him either. Point is, this guy has been given too much screen time but lacks the charisma and skill to have earned it(basically, he is the Bobby Lashley of anime).
Worst Opening
When it comes to anime, the openings need to be good in some way. This is the worst opening I could find this year.
Winner:
youtube.com/watch?v=s8XogVE7e_g
After Dark by AKFG(Bleach Opening 7)
I'll just let you watch it to see why....
Worst Anime
Too much filler, not enough action, too boring, many factors to consider with worst anime of 2007.
Winner:
Naruto: Shippuden(or Hurricane Chronicles)
So much potential...but all the fillers ALREADY into the second series of Naruto(and we are only what...40 episodes in?!) and the dreaded Dragon Ball Z Syndrome(taking forever for something to happen in the episodes) are hurting the new Naruto anime. I mean, the first 5 episodes were spot on with the manga, but after that....well come on, they gave Kankuro's fight with Sasori what...2 or 3 episodes of its own? Their fight in the manga was less than a page! Kankuro pulls out his puppets and Sasori kills all 3 and poisons Kankuro in a grand total of about 5 panels.
Worst Manga
This goes to the manga that's been the biggest pain to read this year.
Winner:
Bleach
This series' manga started out GREAT when it came out, the Soul Society arc is one of the best story arcs in recent time, and hell even the Arrancar/Hueco Mundo dual arc began nicely, but then....the prolonged battles with uninteresting characters(see Most Drawn Out Fight, Worst Villain, and Most Pointless Fight for more details) started to happen and now Bleach is currently in hell. Think of it as Shelton Benjamin's career in the WWE, started great, and even got good(tag title runs and IC champ) and now it is in development hell(like Benjamin is in ECW).
Worst Series Overall
This is the ultimate mark of shame award I could give. It is reserved for only a series with both an anime and manga, and it fails at both.
Winner:
Bleach
It pains me to do this...really it does, especially since I cosplay at multiple characters from the series, but Bleach this year SUCKED! The manga is moving at the speed of a glacier, and the anime is also filled with pointless filler. Naruto and Bleach were the kings of the anime world in 2006, but in 2007 both have fallen from grace ala Lucifer in John Milton's Paradise Lost.
Now enough of the loser awards, time for the REAL winners!
Best Hero
To be the Best Hero, a character has to do something valiant, brave, and well...hero-like.
Winner:
Allen Walker(D. Gray-Man)
How could this scrawny little 15 year old beat out all the others for Best Hero? Simple....name another hero in 2007 to not only lose their left arm, but regain it, never lose faith or sight of their goal no matter what(such as having a hole chewed into their heart), and still come back stronger than before and ready to defeat the main villain. Also, Allen experienced the physical pain of death and having his mind filled to the brim with another person's memories. He also was the apprentice of General Marian Cross, a training period that left Allen mentally scarred for life.
Runner-Up:
Shikamaru Nara(Naruto: Shippuden)
It is hard to recover from the death of your teacher, especially when he died right in front of you, but Shikamaru was able to do it, he pulled through, and lead an assault on Hidan and Mr. Stitches of Akatsuki, and killed them both(well took one of Mr. Stitches 5 lives). Keep in mind that no other character has defeated an Akatsuki member by their self so far.
Best Villain
These are the villains that make you hate them because they are bad guys. The winner and runner-up are the two most vile scum in anime right now.
Winner:
Pein(Naruto Shippuden)
This dude killed the legendary Sannin, and didn't end there...he killed all of Sannin's friends, family, pets, associates, basically anyone that was on Sannin's good side was killed. Pein was solidified as a God to the people of the Village Hidden in the Rain, and is the leader of Akatsuki, it just so happens he takes orders from Madara Uchiha(who is a member of Akatsuki under the guise of Tobi). Few things are worse than what Pein has done in 07.
Runner-Up:
Millennium Earl(D. Gray-Man)
Yeah....remember that I said few things were worse than what Pein did? Well, the Earl is the villain that can do those things. What he does is preys on people grieving the loss of a loved one. He gets the person to make a deal with him, and he brings the loved one's soul and places it in an Akuma skeleton. The skeleton then kills the person that made the deal and wears their skin. The Akuma then goes around killing people at will. Thusly, the Earl uses your dead loved ones to do his killing for him. Granted, he isn't weak by any means, he just doesn't want to wipe everyone out in one fell swoop(he's that strong).
Best Fallen Hero
Sometimes a good guy does something bad and is no longer good. They then become a fallen hero. Some try to redeem themselves, others just go with the bad guy flow.
Winner:
Suman Dark(D. Gray-Man)
Suman was an Exorcist, or a person that could fight the Akuma that the Millennium Earl summoned. Suman literally fell from God's grace and became a Fallen One by begging for his life at the feet of a Noah, the descendants of the biblical figure and the Earl's personal servants, in exchange for giving away the locations of all the other Exorcists traveling around the world. Suman's fall was the jump pad of a story arc in the manga and anime, but in the manga the character was a no body. In the anime, however, there was a filler episode dedicated only to him and it greatly fleshed out his character, making his fall all the more better.
Runner-Up:
Lelouch(Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion)
Lelouch was a good kid at the start of the series. He was even clearly thinking when he was first given the Geass by C.C., but then....the Geass took over Lelouch and now he is crazy ala Light Yagami in Death Note. Lelouch is in a position to take control over Japan and lead a successful rebellion against the British(or Britannia) Empire.
Most Heart Wrenching Death
When a character dies, their death can either be pointless, or make the tears start flowing.
Winner:
Suman Dark(D. Gray-Man)
Suman's death wouldn't have been a big deal in volume 7 of the manga, if it wasn't for that filler episode of the anime that fleshed him out. His death is the culminating point of his fall from grace and had a huge emotional effect on several characters in the series, as he was good friends with Lenalee Lee and Jonny(both of whom burst into tears upon the news that he would die) and Allen Walker tried his hardest to save him, but it was all in vain as Tyki Mikk planted his Tease golems into Suman's body before Suman became a Fallen One and then caused Suman's body to explode right in front of Allen when Allen thought he had saved Suman.
Runner-Up:
Jiraiya*
One of the legendary Sannin along with Tsunade and Orochimaru. Jiraiya was known for his perverted nature, but deep down, he truly had respect for his elders and cared for others. Jiraiya went down fighting the 6 bodies of Pein, one of whom was one of his former students. Jiraiya fought bravely, but even his ultimate form, the Hermit Mode, couldn't defeat Pein. This was only because for most of the fight, Jiraiya fought 1, and then 3, of Pein's bodies and killed those 3 bodies, but then the other 3 revealed themselves, revived the 3 he killed, and all 6 proceeded to use an extending sword that could suppress his chakra and drain his life force. Ultimately, with his throat crushed and impaled with 5 of the special swords, Jiraiya burned a final message into the back of the Toad Father and slid into a deep pool of water. His current fate is unknown, but he is likely dead.
* = As of now he is dead, however we don't know if he truly is dead, and it is that mystery alone that prevented Jiraiya from taking the prize.
Best Drama Series
These series try to deliver a message, or at the least a very compelling story with much emotion and great acting. A good drama series could be the high point for a Seiyu/voice actor if they get the lead role for their gender.
Winner:
Welcome to the NHK
This series deals with a 22 year old hikikomori/NEET, meaning he doesn't leave his house and he is in no way making money. Satou is his name, and a young 17-18 year old girl named Misaki that Satou met at his door step one day tries to break him of this life style. Along the way, Satou falls in love with Misaki and tries to balance the several tasks in his life.
Runner-Up
Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad
A Japanese rock band forms up and tries to get to America where they hope to hit it big. Lots of the standard drama to expect for a "behind the scenes" look at forming a band.
Best Comedy Series
Comedy is a wide genre for anime, and as such each genre tries to have at least some comedic moments, but these series awarded here have the best deliverance of the funny.
Winner:
Lucky*Star
Completely random....with tons of references to other anime series, namely The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. The main character, Konata Izumi is a major otaku with a master IQ level, but she wastes it by playing eroges(hentai dating sims), MMOs, and other types of video games and watching anime both into the early hours of the morning. As such, Konata has a tired look to her compared to everyone else, and she procrastinates all the time. Despite this, she makes grades like 98% on a test that all of her other friends at least TRIED to study for(only one actually truly studied, the other pushed it back too much) and made only Bs or Cs on, and she never even studied for it.
Runner-Up:
Welcome to the NHK
Life is messed up for hikikomori Satou. He thinks everything is a conspiracy against him led by the NHK, a Japanese broadcasting station famed for their mostly anime programing(think the Cartoon Network or Nickelodeon of Japan). This leads to him occasionally imagining all of his electronics coming to life and talking to him. At the same time, Satou morphs from just a hikikomori into a perverted otaku addicted to eroges and it gets so bad that he has random erotic daydreams of Misaki, the girl of his affections, at the worse possible times. These daydreams are a double dose of funny, as after he catches himself daydreaming, he'll usually bash his head into a wall or something, or try to smash something(like the laptop of his friend, Yamazaki).
Best Mystery Series
Move over Detective Conan, these are the mystery series of the future.
Winner:
Higurashi - When They Cry
A murder mystery in which everyone in a small village die. Each episode follows the murders from the point of view of different victim each time. Things keep getting weird in the small village and things are going to continue to get weirder as the series enters its 3rd season in 2008.
Runner-Up:
Spiral
Ayumu Narumi, a teenage master detective, and his best friend from school, Hiyono Yuizaki, the school journalist, listen to the chords of justice and solve murder case after murder case to find out the secret of the Blade Children.
Best Shonen Series
Shonen is series aimed at guys from teens to adults, and these are the best examples of the genre as a whole this year.
Winner:
D. Gray-Man
It has the fights, it has the villains, it has the hot babes, what more do you need?
Runner-Up:
Welcome to the NHK
This series has everything guys like in anime as well, just less fighting and more chicks.
Best Shojo Series/Most Pretty Men
Shojo is for the ladies, and features either sappy love stories or guys that look like chicks(or both in CLAMP's case).
Winner:
Tsubasa Chronicles
Oh like this wasn't obvious. CLAMP is the kings(or is it queens?) of the Shojo world, and Tsubasa has the lead characters from all of CLAMP's best works mashed together for a series that is every Shojo fan's wet dream.
Runner-Up:
Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion
This actually is a shonen, but the art is by...guess who? CLAMP, and well, I didn't see any other Shojo's I liked besides Tsubasa, so I had to give this runner-up just for CLAMP's involvement.
Best Opening
An opening has to catch your attention, and get you pumped for the show. It also has to be catchy to boot, and well, these two are the most catchy openings I could find this year, and both are symbolic of the series they are attached to.
Winner:
youtube.com/watch?v=ViEH57xQu1c
Mottoke! Sailor Fuku(Lucky*Star Opening)
Runner-Up:
youtube.com/watch?v=LCJiRrQGtt0
Doubt & Trust by Access(D. Gray-Man Opening 3)
Best Fight
This is more or less an additional Shonen award, as fights rarely occur in Shojos, that being said, these fights were awesome to the max, and it is the only way Bleach enters the good awards to at least stop the bleeding of negative awards.
Winner:
Allen Walker vs. Tyki Mikk(D. Gray-Man)
Allen Walker finally gets a chance for revenge against Tyki Mikk for Tyki killing Suman Dark, Daisya Barry, Charkar Rabon, Kazana Reed, Kevin Yeagar, Tina Spark, Gwen Frere, and Sol Golen, and for Tyki destroying Allen's left arm shortly after he killed Suman Dark. Allen and Tyki both give it their all, but Tyki is too much for Allen, and General Cross must come it to save Allen from death.
Runner-Up
Ichigo Kurosaki vs. Ikasoruk Ogihci(Bleach)
Ichigo fights his evil inner self(whose name is unknown, but fans have decided to just spell Ichigo's name backwards for his name)
Best Manga Series
This is for the series that progressed the best in the manga.
Winner:
D. Gray-Man
Simply great. The manga had a standard start as any other Shonen, but the two arcs that set this apart from the other Shonens were the Fallen One Arc and the Ark Arc(the fan nickname for the storyline arc that takes place in Noah's Ark!).
Runner-Up:
O-Parts Hunter/666 Satan
The art looks familiar, no? Well, that's because the creator is the twin brother of the creator of Naruto! However, this brother knows when to end a series when it is good, as 666 Satan ended this year with 75 chapters, much shorter than Naruto, which is nearing 400 chapters! Basically, the main character is possessed by Satan and he becomes an awesome warrior. Yeah. b(^_^)d
Best Anime Series
Needless to say, this is for the series whose anime was better than the manga.
Winner:
Lucky*Star
This series is just hilarious! From the non-important storyline to the characters that people can relate to, such as all American otaku can relate to Konata.
Runner-Up:
Welcome to the NHK
Weird...the same results for Best Comedy appear for Best Anime. Welcome to the NHK is a very solid anime series as it explores and reveals the disturbing truth on some of the darker aspects of Japanese society, such as the REAL Otakus, pedophilia, hikikomoris, offline meetings(group suicide get togethers), and others. Despite being a comedy and drama series, it holds a true message underneath the laughter and wackiness.
Best Overall Series
The crown jewel of them all, the title of Best Series of 2007 baby! This series of course needs both an anime and a manga, and has to do both of them correctly with little fault.
Winner:
D. Gray-Man
This series is just breath taking. The first series for the creator Katsura Hoshino, the series is so good that many actually doubt it is her first manga series and that she is even a she! You see, in Japan, they think female mangaka(manga creators) only make Shojos and not Shonen, and D. Gray-Man is definitely Shonen. That being said, the fact that some claim it can't be her first manga series just because it is GOOD is laughable. Apparently, in Japan it takes several series before you get good at making manga(huh...better tell the Kishimoto brothers, as Naruto and 666 Satan were their first series and are awesome as well).
Runner-Up:
Welcome to the NHK
Believe it or not, but there is actually a manga for this series as well. It was pretty good too, and the anime is top notch, easily the second best series of 2007.
So, let's final tally, shall we? Each Winner is worth 1 point(dubious awards are negative points and good awards are positive), and each Runner-Up is .5 points or 1/2. Except for Best Series Overall, and Worst Series Overall, both of which are worth 5 for Winner and 2.5 for Runner-Up.
Bleach: -8.5, all those Dubious Awards killed them
Naruto: Shippuden: .5, broke even with Pein winning, but Jiraiya's good award brings Naruto to positive.
Mushi-Shi: -1, no comment
D. Gray-Man: 12, sweeped almost everything.
Code Geass: 1
Tsubasa: 1
Welcome to the NHK: 5
Lucky*Star: 3
666 Satan: .5
Higurashi: 1
Beck: .5
Spiral: .5
As for total awards/runner-up won:
Bleach: 6 Dubious Awards, 1 Good Runner-Up, Worst of 2007
Naruto: Shippuden: 1 Dubious Award, 1 Dubious Runner-Up, 1 Good Award, 2 Good Runner-Up
Mushi-Shi: 1 Dubious Award
D. Gray-Man: 7 Good Awards, 2 Good Runner-Up, Best of 2007
Code Geass: 2 Good Runner-Up
Tsubasa: 1 Good Award
Welcome to the NHK: 1 Good Award, 4 Good Runner-Up, Runner-Up Best of 2007
Lucky*Star: 3 Good Awards
666 Satan: 1 Good Runner-Up
Higurashi: 1 Good Award
Beck: 1 Good Runner-Up
Spiral: 1 good Runner-Up
*pant* *pant* *pant*
Took me over 4 hours to do all of this....T^T