I fully agree that I personally screwed up by missing the Kiznaiver OP out of the best OP/ED category - I actually had a prolonged period of swearing at my keyboard while writing up our nominations.
As for the others, it's simply that even amongst our staff we can't watch and read everything published in the west, and even if we were doing this gig full time that would still be an issue. For me personally:
- Mr. Osomatsu is a series I really should watch more of personally (although haven't a bunch of episodes been removed now?)
- I like Ryogho Narita's work but guess I'm a little jaded on it personally
- The One Punch Man and Re:Zero worst anime nominations were a joke (well, partly at least) that were instantly jettisoned in the deliberations once we'd done our respective "look at how we hate these popular shows" bit.
"Screwed up" was maybe a tad excessive, it just seemed weird to me that you'd somehow missed the biggest comedy series of the eligibility period and one of the more successful light novel authors didn't even get a nomination, despite having two series being published concurrently. Though, a quick look at your list suggests that only 2 or 3 light novels got nominated, so maybe my expectations were unreasonable.
I believe the first episode of Mr. Osomatsu got pulled due to the threat of lawsuit. Every other episode of the series including it's OVA is still active. Not sure I could have recommended it though a) I don't personally like the show at all and b) I think there's a scene in the Horseriding special that might actually be against the Obscene Publications Act.
Let's just say nobody wanted the phrase "horseriding" to be interpreted like that.
If there's one thing I'm doing a lot of thinking about after 2016's awards, it's exactly this. I want to celebrate amazing anime first and foremost, and December Sky, Your Name and A Silent Voice are all truly amazing, but I do appreciate your point, especially in Gundam Thunderbolt's case. Did we screw up? Maybe, but hot-damn is that film nigh-on perfection.
Your Name is less of an issue for me as it got a very wide theatrical run, sufficiently so to win the reader's choice award! We need to draw a line somewhere for what qualifies and what doesn't, and I suspect we'll draw that line differently in 2017.
I wasn't objecting to any of those films winning awards on an artistic level, it's just a bit weird that you'd be complaining about piracy, whilst also recommending titles presumably beyond the legal reach of the majority of your audience.
For reference, Your Name wasn't on the list of titles I was objecting to either (even if it is apparently easier to see on a plane than in Gloucestershire
). The list of films I thought was maybe pushing it due to only having festival screenings was A Silent Voice, Girls Und Panzer Der Film and Kizumonogatari. Especially given your eligibility criteria is so wide that they could easily be given the award when they're made more accessible, though I appreciate this is perhaps unfair as something like Kuzomongatari is probably never going to get that wide a release.
Also, for what it's worth, I wouldn't worry about FMA, Escaflowne or Death Note not winning. I don't think they need it. It might be good to have more focus on the actual craft of a release though, if you were to separate the two sides out.
Despite all this, I did enjoy the hour or so of deliberations I listened to.
Not surprised that Pokemon has done well given that the insane popularity of the mobile game (plus the new 'proper' games) made even me feel very nostalgic for it. Even though I feel annoyed paying for dub-only releases and am so far resisting.
Jerome still seems very negative overall in those tweets, saying that shows that aren't mass market won't do well and catering to the niche audience isn't worth it. He'd definitely prefer to focus on cheap shows which do really well - which I'm ok with. He's better with that stuff. But if he could try not to squat niche comedy shows which will never sell >2,000 copies here under any circumstances whatsoever, it would be appreciated. I'm still mad.
Also, the live action AoT titles made up two of the top five? I give up. I love AoT and they made me cry.
R
Pokemon was everywhere in Doncaster earlier. It seems to be re-enjoying it's moment in the sun, thanks to Go. I do wonder how long it can sustain this though.
The AoT films are an abomination. I'm not huge on AoT (though I think it's clear Isayama has talent, the narrative doesn't quite hang together well enough for me), even I was shocked somebody approved that screenplay.
