aloe, dream

And just when we believed 2006 was some sort of awesome… the dawn of 2007. Alright, that’s probably not totally true. With the end of 2007 drawing near, it is time for year-end reflections. Yes, it is that time when bloggers confront their senses and memories with “best-of” questions. Yes, it is time to see the outcome of the pearly hands we were all dealt as viewers. Who wins? Who loses? What happened in 2007 that makes this a memorable year? Yes, all these things, will not be lost in time, they are just ahead.

Before the specifics fly, the seasonal aspect:

Whether it is vintage year or last aired date, I usually consider in-year series to be 50% or more in a given year, and/or were finished airing within the year. The old balls for 2007 come from the 2006 Autumn season, but I don’t find it an easy task to fit a series in a year-end entry, when it hasn’t been finished; there can be speculation, but what if it slowly digresses and was rendered mediocre? Therefore my 2007 will definitely concern those Autumn 2006 series which ended at the end of the past Winter (Kanon, Code Geass, Death Note, etc), as well as the current seasonal affairs bloggers are enjoying (Shugo Chara, Minami-ke, Shion no Ou).

Frankly, 2007 was a good year, but offered extremely little during the Winter and Summer seasons compared to 2006. Sure there was service and a couple solid series, but with respect to Spring and Autumn, there is no comparison; hence I have become bias over time spent blogging time on priorities and impressions for the weaker seasons; I may not do any for Winter and Summer in 2008. Now that these things are out of the way; Bonzai!

Venturing into January I was strongly hanging on 4 series: Code Geass, Kanon, Yamato Nadeshiko, and Bakumatsu Irohanihoheto. As soon as the Winter season began, I was into another 4 series: Nodame Cantabile, Manabi Straight, Tokyo Majin, and Kyoushiro to Towa no Sora. With 8 series trickling it was a mellow time for anime-viewing. During the idle hours I caught some episode on the ever-growing backlog, but for the most part my free time was decent, and I began pondering the existence of a new media project which would bind my time throughout the rest of the year; it wasn’t an ill investment. My blogging frequency tapered, but I just wasn’t as enthusiastic as I had been in during the previous Autumn, when I began AloeDream.

Spring came and I think everyone was pumped about the multitude of potential stirring from the production houses. My priorities were in gear, and I went full on into the season. I read a lot of giddy blogs and felt it was a good time for the anime blogosphere, because it was a good season. Lucky Star and Gurren Lagann took in a ton of attention and for good reasons; Kyoto Animation and Gainax were up to familiar things. Though, there were other series that struck me better than the Lucky Star, series like Lovely Complex and Seirei no Moribito. Lucky Star was enjoyable, yes, but it was seriously over-hyped; that’s my take.

Straight into Summer and I didn’t have my personal life together (I was building and moving and schooling), so I was very half-hearted about the season in general. Pure indifference, so the season wasn’t given much time, School Days was meh, and Umisho and SZS were about the only series I was working with. Perhaps something died in my heart, as Summer 2007 didn’t have that flare of 2006, and it didn’t have Onimaru Miki ( a statement much greater than the 5 words used to say it ), though the Umisho girls and Kaufka were pleasant company. Other interesting things did lie in the Summer, but not everyone can do 100%, 100%.

When Summer split and I received a few weeks of freedom from classes, I was entirely ready for Autumn. It was a brilliant flame that had been reignited; I was plenty psyched (possibly Potemayo influence). Without a doubt, I had new enthusiasm about seasonal affairs and blogging. There was a fair count of posts about anime blogging, and it did well to read up. On top of the ongoing franchise anime (Shana, Gundam, Clannad) all of which I hold for 2008, this season has held many delights to indulge. This Autumn has been the best season of the year, imo, for there are so many single-season series (12-13 episode) which hit all the right spots; Sketchbook, Minami-ke, ef, Moyashimon, Shion on Ou… simply a fantastic bunch, but Spring did have the best series(plural) I considered for 2007. The double-season series of Autumn (Ghost Hound, Clannad) will be remembered for 2008.