This is part 2 of a post from yesterday. It goes without saying there are spoilers here for some categories. I also included some joke categories, so have fun reading and sharing your own.

Speaking of awards though, I got a total of 100 likes on my posts on Monday.

Note: If not specified, only anime from 2017 are applicable.

Worst Moment in Anime

Tazuna’s encounter with the chain couple, Hand Shakers

This is the reason I jumped ship on Hand Shakers. Nothing screams “evil” than a man stepping on his female partner, and why not have the woman’s breasts be strangely moving even though she’s being bound by chains. Also, garish colours are involved. *rolls eyes*

Most Eyeroll-Inducing Anime Not Originally From 2017 (but Completed in 2017)

Birdy the Mighty: Decode s1

• This anime really shows its age, from its phones to its date ideas.
• One antagonist is called Shyamalan, which I kept laughing at…because it was one year too soon for this butchering by the real life dude with the same surname.
• Shamallamadingdong (as I saw Shyamalan being referred to in a YouTube comment) owns a company called Playmaker Industries. He develops medical marionettes. That…doesn’t quite work, eh?
• Muroto doesn’t know when to stop, does he?
• Of course the protagonist has to fall for the one girl who hosts the Ryunka…

Most Boring Anime

Sakurada/Sagrada Reset

It was so boring I forgot about it and had to look into my AniList forum archives to remember its existence. Judging from the thoughts Karandi gave it, it seems I was right to put it on hold. (It’s a wonder I haven’t kicked it off the “on-hold” list though.)

Plus, that title has a discrepancy simply because someone didn’t check off on it properly…I guess.

Most Rage-Inducing Anime

In Another World With My Smartphone

The fact this isn’t the worst anime of the year is amazing enough. Lessee here, protag gets to keep his phone in another world, he masters all the magic, he doesn’t need to charge his phone in the other world, he gets two sisters (which is basically a harem starter pack) to protect…and that’s the first episode alone.

Yeah, let’s move on.

Most Disappointing Region Lockout

Kekkai Sensen (Blood Blockade Battlefront) and Beyond

I loved Kekkai Sensen’s season 1 (if you saw my 2015 rankings linked in part I, you can see how much I loved it) and automatically signed on for season 2. However, Amazon had done their damage for the fall season and so Crunchyroll and Funimation played their cards close to their chest.

Most Eyeroll-Inducing Character(s)

Snake and Dragon (the Tatsumi brothers, Takeyasu and Nagayuki), Juuni Taisen

When the Snake is more interesting as a zombie, you know you’ve done something wrong. When the Dragon solely exists to be sliced up by the Rabbit, that’s…somewhat excusable, considering the plot. However, that doesn’t excuse the clearly off-model treatment of the characters in their own backstories and the fact the twins were the least compelling characters of the series (even though they had the potential to be much more with their ice/fire equipment and Dragon’s levitation – Snake’s power is apparently feeling vibrations to detect the location of targets which you can do, regardless of whether you possess a head or not, with enough practice).

History-Making Moment (Which Does Not Involve Yuri!!! on Ice)

Konatsu does rakugo in front of an audience for the first time, Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu: Sukeroku Futatabi-hen

To make it Jugem, of all the stories she could’ve done, is a testament to how far rakugo could go without Yakumo 8th’s shackles, and how far it does go without him (I love Yakumo 8th, but he is very much entrenched in his past).

Best Use of CGI

Kado and Houseki no Kuni

Both used their CGI to depict something not quite of this earth, to devastatingly beautiful effect.

Best Reference Within Anime

Sold Out Offline (Anime-Gataris episode 1) and “anime man shames a bootleg” (episode 7, Kado)…that’s the only name I know that Kado reference by, so whatever.

Best OST

Seikaisuru Kado

Classicaloid‘s the only show where the OST actually is a part of the plot. (Arguably) more than YoI, at least. However, that’s cheating for that very reason, so Kado wins this one.

That One Infamous OST Track

Sky Show (The Reflection)

*groan*

The next two categories are dependent upon their finalists being from this series of forum posts. (Just find a post from “chesarka” and check the relevant category.)

Best Character

Kikuhiko/Yakumo 8th, Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu: Sukeroku Futatabi-hen

Worst Character

Shinya Miyasaka, Room Mate

Best OP

Can’t pick, so I’ll separate by the season:

• Winter: Imawa no Shinigami (Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu: Sukeroku Futatabi-hen)
• Spring: Tabiuta (Kado)
• Summer: Deep in Abyss (Made in Abyss)
• Fall: Saturday Night Question (Netjuu no Susume)

Best OP Visuals

Kado and Juuni Taisen

Kado is the Big Bang Theory-esque opener of the year (as in, it’s a history lesson compressed into a tiny space of time), while Juuni Taisen is the epic one (CGI models with glinting eyes! Cityscapes! Epic walking towards the camera! Symbolic bird explosions!…

Uh, maybe not that last one…).

Best ED

Hikobayuru (Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu: Sukeroku Futatabi-hen) 

I’d use recency bias and go Liquescimus (from Houseki no Kuni) if I could, but that’s cheating (in part because it’s so spoilery).

Best ED Visuals

ACCA

A lot of the EDs chose simplicity over complexity this year – Ancient Magus’ Bride in particular lacks them. I kept coming up with Mob Psycho 100 as my winner, but that’s a 2016 show, so I thought again and found my closest 2017 approximation.

Number of Husbandos (?) Obtained

6

Husbando (?) wall of fame:

• Yahakui zaShunina (Kado) (Is this a husbando?)
• Antarcticite (Houseki no Kuni) (Canonically genderless, but has the looks of a husbando.)
• human!Holdem (Grimoire of Zero) (I only fell for this guy a little, which is why you don’t see me angsting about him too often)
• Victor von Grannzreich (Royal Tutor)
• Nezumi/Tsugiyoshi Sumino (Juuni Taisen)
• Ox/Eiji Kashii (Juuni Taisen)

Number of Shows I Dropped

23

Biggest Surprise Anime

Saiyuki Reload Blast

No one was expecting me to become a Saiyuki fan when I started Saiyuki Reload Blast, but I did. I surpassed all the odds of trying to be a Saiyuki fan when most of the source material is inobtainable, and now I’m trying to find out more about Saiyuki in 2018.

Best Moment in a Anime

Antarc gets taken by the Lunarians, Houseki no Kuni

After one episode, Antarc was my favourite gem. Their loneliness, their unique condition, the responsibility they carried – it was enough to set my heart aflutter.

So when I saw an image of Antarc shattered on ANN, my heart stopped for a moment.

In context, it was even worse – not only does Antarc get broken, he gets taken (which is not helped by Phos’s being trapped in a cube). Phos gets to be badass, sure, but they failed to get Antarc back and that, topped with the superb ED Liquescimus, shattered something else – my heart.

This moment kept me glued to my screen even though Houseki no Kuni was my second show in my top 10 ranking this year.