Trivia that matter
What I saw of Hare & Guu left me indifferent, but this ending is an outstanding production number. It’s my pick for the best anime ending, at least for today.
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Jungle wa itsumo Hale nochi Guu Deluxe, “Fun Fun and Shout” by Sister Mayo.
You can see the videos in full size at my video weblog, and you can compare my list with Astro’s.
Number two. Astro and I have very different tastes, but we agree on this one:
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Paranoia Agent, “Shiroi Oka – Maromi no Theme” by Susumu Hirasawa.
Merry Christmas, everyone, and I hope you didn’t get Maromi plushies among your presents.
Now see if you can guess what number one is. Go on, I dare you. I will be astonished if anyone comes close.
Number three:
[flv width=”640″ height=”480″]http://tancos.net/flv/wp-content/uploads/ExcelEnd.flv[/flv]
Excel Saga, “Menchi Aishou no Bolero” by Excel Girls. I’m not posting the clean version because the words matter, and because some who frequent this corner of the otakusphere might recognize one of the names in the credits.
Number four on my list of best endings:
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Denno Coil, “Sora no Kakera (????; A Fragment of the Sky)” by Ayako Ikeda. (The karaoke is annoying; I hope this is licensed soon so I can post a clean ending.)
I had planned to spend some time this evening rambling on about anime endings, but I’m dead tired. Instead, here are a couple of honorable mentions, plus an extra. The countdown begins tomorrow.
While it was introducing the characters, Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei was fine absurd humor. Later episodes were hit and miss, with misses predominating. (Macademi Wasshoi seems to be following a similar pattern.) The ending is pleasantly nightmarish.
[flv width=”704″ height=”396″]http://tancos.net/flv/wp-content/uploads/szs ending.flv[/flv]
The first few episode of Tweeny Witches left me cold, though I may give the series a second chance when I have time. The ending, with broomstick surfing, flying jalopy and Strauss, embodies all the fun that was missing from the show.
[flv width=”704″ height=”396″]http://tancos.net/flv/wp-content/uploads/TweenyWitches.flv[/flv]
If this had been the actual ending for The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, it would have been number one on my list. The real ending, which is pretty good as anime endings go, is nevertheless frustrating to watch: I want to see all the steps.
[flv width=”704″ height=”396″]http://tancos.net/flv/wp-content/uploads/HareHareYukai.flv[/flv]
You can see the videos at their full width at my video page.
Astro is counting down his top five endings. It looks like fun, so I’ll probably post my own list, though it will have to wait until next week. Astro’s fourth choice, incidentally, almost made my list. It will be interesting to see if there is something we both pick.
As Astro notes, it’s harder to find good endings than good openings. Openings are intended to sell the show; often the trailer for a show is the opening. Consequently, producers typically lavish great care and expense on the opening. In contrast, the ending usually just serves to list the necessary credits, and the production is consequently perfunctory. Sometimes the ending tune might be worth hearing, but the visuals are rarely interesting. Nevertheless, I managed to come up with five that are worth both hearing and seeing.
*****
Here’s something I forgot to post back in October. It’s from the ninth episode of Denno Coil.
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