The Greatest Anime Episode Ever Tournament

[LumRanmaYasha]

Sorry for the lateness, guys. Been caught up in other things these last few days and this completely slipped my mind. 

Results:

Shirobako #19: "Did You Catch Any?" - 8
Blood Blockade Battlefront #4: "Blood Line Fever" - 7
Princess Tutu #13: "Swan Lake" - 6
Urusei Yatsura #71: "Shinobu's Cinderella Story" - 9

"Shinobu's Cinderella Story" and "Did You Catch Any?" move on to round 2! The next match will be up shortly.

[LumRanmaYasha]

5000th post!

Round 1: Match 15


Dragon Ball Z TV Special: "A Lonesome, Final Battle - The Father of the Z Warrior Son Goku, who Challenged Freeza (Bardock -- The Father of Goku)"

VS.


The Rose of Versailles #19: "Farewell, Little Sister!"

VS.


Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid #5: "Beautiful Sicily"

VS.


Cowboy Bebop #5: "Ballad of Fallen Angels"

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Only one episode that I need to watch this time. But damn are the other three tough as hell for me as is!

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

OK, This was ultra tough, especially since I nominated two of these myself and CX purposely put them both in the same round just to fuck with me because he's a jerk.

"Bardock: The Father of Goku" - This is a super biased pick on my part, but I am a MASSIVE Dragonball fan, and I just love everything about this special from its somber tone to its surprisingly morally skewed protagonist. Not only was this a very dark and risky thing to do for Dragonball as a series at the time, but it was an incredibly unexpected thing to see from a Shonen Jump series in general, and the fact that it's anime original content that Toriyama liked enough to retcon into his own manga's continuity (only to later retcon it out for the the abomination that is DBM) says a lot about its quality. And on that note, this is a legitimately well-animated, written, and directed episode that explores a pretty interesting theme. This also gave us one of composer Kikuchi's best pieces of work in the form of the incredibly memorable and iconic "Solid State Scouter". So yeah, the other episodes on this list may be "objectively better", but fuck objectivism. I love this episode.

"Beautiful Sicily" - This has all of the style and slick pacing of a good Mission: Impossible movie, with a healthy dose of humor and great set-up for both Sousuke and Kaname's respective character arcs throughout the rest of this story arc. Really underrated, IMO.

"Ballad of Fallen Angels" - A superb episode, and probably will be everyone else's top choice. And it totally deserves to be. I have nothing but positive thoughts about it. I'm just a biased motherfucker and took pity on the two choices that I have a lot of personal love for. I have no qualms whatsoever with this episode winning this round, though.

"Farewell, Little Sister!" - Just like the last entry from this anime, it really does make me want to watch this series, and I probably will eventually. That said, since I'm unfortunately seeing it out of context, there isn't much that I can really say about it other than that it's clearly great stuff.

Fuck that was tough!

[LumRanmaYasha]

"Ballad of Fallen Angels" -

Spoiler

This is probably my favorite episode of any anime ever. Every piece of the episode just feels so thoughtfully and meaningfully put-together. The way it establishes Vicious as a threat with so little and makes him one of the most memorable and frightening anime villains ever is brilliant. The way the episode explores Spike's past with just a coupel of images and subtle visual touches and hints in bits and pieces of dialogue is masterful. The action drips with tension and is enthralling and nerve-wracking, and the battle in the church in particular is chock full of great and potent imagery. This isn't just Bebop's finest half-hour, it's one of the finest pieces of television ever made.

[close]

"Farewell, Little Sister" -

Spoiler

This is a really satisfying and tragic payoff to the Rosalie and Polignac subplot. Rosalie has been consumed by revenge on Polignac for several episodes, and the revelation that Polignac is in fact her birth mother her dying mother told her about just shakes her world. She tries to deny any familial attachment to her, but ultimately, she's just too kind-hearted and sentimental of a person to kill someone, even someone she despises as much as Polignac. By relinquishing her revenge and accepting the truth for what it is, Rosalie is able to move on with her life, even if she'll never be able to forgive and acknowledge Polignac as family. As for Polignac, she has been a manipulative and callous bitch since the start, and reaches the height of despicably here when she forcibly arranges a marriage between her 11 year old daughter and a pedophilic duke for money and power. At the same time, this is perhaps the most sympathetic we ever see her, as she faces a series of karmic retributions in her estranged daughter attempting to murder her, learning she unwittingly killed her old friend, and the piece-de-resistance, her youngest daughter committed suicide because of the mental stress and trauma she put her through. Polignac deserves misfortune because of all the people's she's hurt and used to accrue power, but that doesn't mean that Charlotte's death is any less tragic or saddening. Charlotte was just an innocent little girl, too mentally immature to handle the weight of getting married, and the duke psychologically fucking with her certainly didn't help her mental state much. We see all that pressure and anxiety build up with ominous dread, until finally she snaps and commits suicide, to her the only option she has to escape her fate. It's such a powerfully dark and tragic moment for this character, and for her family as well. Polignac because she unwittingly pushed her daughter off that tower by putting so much pressure on her. Rosalie because she never got to know her sister, and Charlotte never got to know she was her sister, and so now yet another family connection of hers has been lost. Just such a powerful episode and cap to this arc.

[close]

"Beautiful Sicily" -

Spoiler

An incredibly fun episode that has the sharp action and quick-witted humor sensibilities of a good heist or chase movie. Thrills and laughs a minute, with some good character development burgeoning in Sosuke's growing responsibilities becoming too much for him and him needing to think about what he wants and not just what he's ordered to do, as well as in his and Kaname's relationship and dependency on one another.

[close]

"Bardock: The Father of Goku" -

Spoiler

A very unique installment of the DB franchise because of how dark and pessimistic it's tone is and Bardock's interesting characterization as a merciless killer loyal to his comrades, which stand in stark contrast to the more upbeat tone of the tv series and Goku himself. It's because it's such an interesting and tragic story and so different from most else in the DB franchise that it and Bardock as a character have been well-remembered for many years and canonized to the story itself. Until Toriyama retconned that with DB Minus, but let's all just pretend that doesn't exist.

[close]

[Avaitor]

I'll try to do this tomorrow, if that's okay.

[Pharass]

Ballad of Fallen Angels
Farewell, Little Sister
Bardock: The Father of Goku
Beautiful Sicily

[Spark Of Spirit]

Ballad of Fallen Angels
Beautiful Sicily
Bardock: The Father of Goku
Farewell, Little Sister

Lots of good picks.

[Avaitor]

Reverse of Pharass

[gunswordfist]

I am too tired to watch anime.

[LumRanmaYasha]

So you're not going to vote?

How about you, Foggle?

[VLordGTZ]

Same as Spark

[gunswordfist]

Not this round.

[Foggle]

How about you, Foggle?

Sorry, I've been really busy the past month or so, so I haven't had time to watch episodes or vote in a while.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Results:

Dragon Ball Z TV Special: "A Lonesome, Final Battle 'The Father of the Z Warrior Son Goku, who Challenged Freeza'" - 14
Rose of Versailles #19: "Farewell My Sister" - 11
Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid #5: "Beautiful Sicily" - 16
Cowboy Bebop #5: "Ballad of Fallen Angels" - 19

"Beautiful Sicily" and "Ballad of Fallen Angels" move on to round 2! The next match will be up shortly.