Say Something Nice

I have been feeling a lot of negative energy lately. It's probably because I've been feeling really ill for the past few weeks. It's hard to keep your spirits up when you're puking your guts out every other day.

An artist's rendition of my pain.

So, while I'm resting and healing physically, I figured I could clean up my mental health a little bit by letting go of some hatred. And what better way to do that than to go through some anime I dropped and finding a positive aspect in it? Is that even how mental health works? No? Well, screw it, it'll be fun.

The rules are simple: every anime I will be discussing here is something that I rated as a 5/10 or lower on MyAnimeList. I have to find at least one element in that show that I enjoy. And to make things a little more difficult for myself, I can't mention any sort of potential that an idea the show presented had. I have to find something tangible and praise worthy. Also, I will be trying to avoid any back handed compliments or negative thoughts at all, since this is about positivity and ranting would be counter productive.

But enough stalling! What's first on the list?

Black Bullet

Okay, so I only watched two episodes of Black Bullet, so I don't know much about it, but I do know this: Kagetane Hiruko is a cool villain. Seeing his design, with his fancy suit and harlequin mask, in a clip from the opening that had made its way into a compilation I was watching immediately caught my attention. His dub voice actor does a pretty decent job as well, being deliciously smug and condescending to the main heroes while still hinting at having a greater plan and a possibly interesting motivation. It's like if the Joker was an anime character!

Dragon Ball GT

Obviously, I don't care much for Dragon Ball GT -- otherwise we wouldn't be talking about it -- but the Baby Saga was actually pretty fun and came close to recapturing the magic that was Dragon Ball Z. The story of a rival race that was driven from Planet Plant by the Saiyans, who renamed it after their king Vegeta, brought to a lone survivor creating an artificial warrior for the purpose of revenge is surprisingly compelling and expands the lore in a unique way. Baby's actual acts of villainy felt huge when I was a kid as well. This guy enslaved the entire population of Earth, save Mr Satan, with relative ease, and he possessed Vegeta's body! And then he brought back the Great Ape form! I am unashamed to say that 11 year old Patrick was hyped as hell at all of these developments, and I would be down for Baby getting the Broly treatment and being re-imagined for a canon movie.

Konosuba

There's nothing actually wrong with Konosuba. It's actually pretty good on an objective level. It's just, generally speaking, not my thing. But I do love Darkness here. Her running gag of being an adrenaline junkie who goes on adventures because the sensation of feeling pain and/or humiliation never gets old. Humor is subjective, so I can't really explain why she is the only member of the main four that resonated with me, but I think she's a great character and seeing her back to her masochistic antics is one of the highlights in the first episode of Isekai Quartet that aired a few days ago.

Naruto Shippuden

Say what you will about Naruto Shippuden, Lord knows I have, but it has some of the best openings I have ever seen in anime. Heroes Come Back and Blue Bird are songs I regularly listen to while working on the blog, and the first time I saw Sign as a teenager I actually got a lump in my throat upon seeing Naruto react to Jiraiya's death. And, simple in concept they may be, Diver and LINE capture the themes of the anime they introduce better than almost any other anime opening I have ever seen, with Diver perfectly illustrating how Naruto views Sasuke as a victim of the same despair that gripped him and wants to save him the same way his friends saved him and LINE showing how every character has been trapped in the cycle of revenge and war and missing something that they don't quite understand but yearn for all the same.

Sword Art Online

I'm really trying here, guys, I swear, but all I can think of for this one is that I remember thinking that the cloak that Kayaba Akihiko wore in episode 1 was pretty cool looking. The only reason I don't have this as a 1/10 is because the animation and voice acting are competent enough to squeak by.

Miss Koizumi Loves Ramen Noodles

I like that it gave me this reaction image. Also, the way they draw the ramen itself makes me drool.

Chobits

Honestly, I don't even remember why I hated this as much as I did when I first watched it. Maybe I'll give it another shot. Either way, I found the opening theme to be catchy as hell, and Madhouse definitely did a decent job with the art.

Pastel Memories

Hahahahaha! No, seriously.

Sonic X

I think Sam Speed is great. He tries to outrace Sonic in a race car. That's amazing. It feels like he just wandered in from a completely different anime and it's one of the funniest things I've ever seen, and I can't believe I never questioned it when I was a kid. Also, this anime is what gave birth to "Gotta Go Fast", and that alone outweighs all its faults.

Island

I thought we were trying to stay positive here? Uh...you've become my new standard for bad anime, drawing the line between merely bad and truly awful. You serve an important role in my current critical palette! 

Yes, I know I said no backhand compliments, but it's Island! It gives me literally nothing to work with! I played nice with everything else, didn't I? Ah, forget it. Just like anime, this whole thing was a mistake.