Best of Manga & Anime 2008: Nomination, Suggestion and Discussion thread

[Dark Soul # 7]

Greetings fellow manga and anime fans of all ages, gender, religion, ethnicities and so on and so forth. 2008 has been yet another great year for us all with loads of great stories, moment and characters in both mediums. So I thought that it would be fun to have a “Best of” voting thing here on the forum where you guys get to vote for what you think is the best to have come from manga and anime in 2008.

To do this we naturally need categories and nominees. I’ve already built up a few of the obvious categories, but if you think that there’s a category missing that should be in here feel free to suggest it or if there’s a category you think doesn’t deserve to be in there you can suggest that it gets taken out.

Now I just need you guys and gals to supply the nominees. Feel free to suggest for any category. Just keep the following things in mind. I’m looking for at least three nominees for each category and at most six. I’d prefer it if there was only one nominee per manga/anime for each category, though I’m not above allowing two nominees from the same series to be in the same category. Also, since this is for the best of 2008 keep it to things published and televised for the first time in 2008. Beyond that, the sky’s the limit.

Nominations can come in up until the 31 December at which point I will gather up the nominees for the final voting, which should take place over January 2009.

In coming posts I will be posting the categories I’ve come up with so far. Most of them are pretty self-explanatory. But I’ll add in specifics for a few, just in case.

And yes, this thread’s other purpose is to see how much interest there is in this thing. If it does take off, like I hope it will, I would like to thank our dear mod DarkBlade for giving me permission to do this. Thank you DarkBlade.

Oh, and Avatar: The Last Air-Bender is NOT an anime. It is a American cartoon, of very high quality, and is therefore not a candidate for anything in this thing. Just to get that out of the way.

EDIT: If you want to nominate an anime adaptation for a specific event, like a fight, or a the dub version of an anime please specify this when you are nominating.

[Dark Soul # 7]

Characters

Best Main Character: I’m talking THE main character of a series here. This mean that guys like Naruto, Edward Elric and Natsu are viable candidates here but guys like Sasuke, Roy Mustang and Erza Scarlet aren’t.
Best Male Hero: This can be anybody from the main character to the supporting cast to even a background character.
Best Heroine
Best Villain
Best Anti-hero

Events

Best Fight: As long as the majority of the fight took place in 2008 it’s ok.
Best Match: With this I mean any type of competition that didn’t involve beating each other up. It could be a football match, a race, a cooking duel, a dance off. Anything really that isn’t fighting.
Best Death
Best Character Moment

Story/Plot

Best Romance
Best Story arc: Like above, the majority of it has to have taken place during 2008 to be a candidate.
Best Plot-twist

Anime only

Best Anime Adaptation
Best Original Anime
Best Dub
Best Filler material
Best New Anime
Best Anime Series

Manga only

Best Writer
Best Artist
Best New Manga
Best Manga Series

[Dark Soul # 7]

And there we have it, for now at least.

So go on and nominate something or suggest that I include or remove a category or just discuss this whole idea or ask a question if something isn't clear enough.

Thanks for your time.:smile:

[Kevin M.]

I want to nominate Bart Kuma for best villain.

For best writer Eichiro Oda.

For best series this year, One Piece.

[Dark Soul # 7]

I want to nominate Bart Kuma for best villain.

For best writer Eichiro Oda.

For best series this year, One Piece.Coolio, I'll put it in my database, aka my word-file.:biggrin:

[Darth Joker]

Question: If an anime is cut almost precisely in half between late '07, early '08 (50% in each), can you use it, and/or characters from it, for nominations here?

Two animes that I liked a lot - Nanoha Striker S, and Shakugan no Shana Second, fit into this category. I should note that in both cases the 2nd half of the anime (the 2008 half) is substantially better than the 1st half, too... :wink:

[Dark Soul # 7]

Question: If an anime is cut almost precisely in half between late '07, early '08 (50% in each), can you use it, and/or characters from it, for nominations here?

Two animes that I liked a lot - Nanoha Striker S, and Shakugan no Shana Second, fit into this category. I should note that in both cases the 2nd half of the anime (the 2008 half) is substantially better than the 1st half, too... :wink:Yeah sure, as long as you keep to the stuff that was in 2008 it's ok.

[Kevin M.]

For best Dub: Gurren Laggan

[Darth Joker]

My Nominee for Best Main Character: Zero/Lelouch, Code Geass
My Nominee for Best Heroine: Nanoha Takamachi, Nanoha Striker S
My Nominee for Best Villain: Hecate, Shakugan no Shana
My Nominee for Best Fight: Stein vs. Medusa, Soul Eater; their 2nd fight
My Nominee for Best Death: Shirley, Code Geass
My Nominee for Best Character Moment: Nanoha Takamachi, Nanoha Striker S, blowing through numerous thick solid walls to obliterate Quattro who was half-a-flying-fortress away


My Nominee for Best Anime Adaptation: Soul Eater
My Nominee for Best Dub: Shakugan no Shana

I'm going to have to think about Best Anime Series period. I also need to find out if Code Geass is original anime or not...

[Dark Soul # 7]

For best Dub: Gurren LagganI figured it would be up for something. Into the file it goes.

[Dark Soul # 7]

My Nominee for Best Main Character: Zero/Lelouch, Code Geass
My Nominee for Best Heroine: Nanoha Takamachi, Nanoha Striker S
My Nominee for Best Villain: Hecate, Shakugan no Shana
My Nominee for Best Fight: Stein vs. Medusa, Soul Eater; their 2nd fight
My Nominee for Best Death: Shirley, Code Geass
My Nominee for Best Character Moment: Nanoha Takamachi, Nanoha Striker S, blowing through numerous thick solid walls to obliterate Quattro who was half-a-flying-fortress away


My Nominee for Best Anime Adaptation: Soul Eater
My Nominee for Best Dub: Shakugan no Shana

I'm going to have to think about Best Anime Series period. I also need to find out if Code Geass is original anime or not...Oooh, cool list of nominees.

It's always fun with stuff I'm not used to.

[master of read]

Best Main Character: gotta go with luffy.
Best Male Hero: luffy of course
Best Heroine: erza scarlett
Best Villain: pein from naruto
Best Anti-hero:

Events

Best Fight: zoro vs. ryuma
Best Match: yugi vs. jaden
Best Death: jiraiya
Best Character Moment: natsu defeating jarod

Story/Plot

Best Romance:
Best Story arc: the shabandony arc.
Best Plot-twist: a tie between mandra's revelation as a uchiha and aizen's master plan

Anime only

Best Anime Adaptation
Best Original Anime
Best Dub: gurran lagan
Best Filler material: one piece (ice hunter arc.)
Best Anime Series: one piece

Manga only

Best Writer: oda.
Best Artist: hiroshima for fairy tail
Best Manga Series: one piece.

[Gamiel]

Best Romance: Akira and Mikoto, Mysterious Girlfriend X

[Dark Soul # 7]

Best Main Character: gotta go with luffy.
Best Male Hero: luffy of course
Best Heroine: erza scarlett
Best Villain: pein from naruto
Best Anti-hero:

Events

Best Fight: zoro vs. ryuma
Best Match: yugi vs. jaden
Best Death: jiraiya
Best Character Moment: natsu defeating jarod

Story/Plot

Best Romance:
Best Story arc: the shabandony arc.
Best Plot-twist: a tie between mandra's revelation as a uchiha and aizen's master plan

Anime only

Best Anime Adaptation
Best Original Anime
Best Dub: gurran lagan
Best Filler material: one piece (ice hunter arc.)
Best Anime Series: one piece

Manga only

Best Writer: oda.
Best Artist: hiroshima for fairy tail
Best Manga Series: one piece.Thank you for the contribution. It's much appreciated.

However, the highlighted ones are not viable here as they took place in 2007, unless for the Zoro vs Ryuma battle you're talking about the anime adaptation in which case it is fine.

You are free to change them if you wish to do that.

[Dark Soul # 7]

Best Romance: Akira and Mikoto, Mysterious Girlfriend XHooray! Somebody besides me on this forum reads Mysterious Girlfriend X!

[Yun Lao]

Best Main Character: Death the Kidd (Soul Eater)
Best Male Hero: Brook (One Piece)
Best Villain: Pein (Naruto)

Best Fight: Pein vs Konoha (Naruto)
Best Match: The Ultra Written Exam (Soul Eater)
Best Death: Jiraiya

Best Anime Adaptation: Soul Eater

[Nik Hasta]

I'd like to make a controversial choice here.

Best Manga: Eyesheild 21. Just because it took something I don't don't give a shit about and made me care! Great series!

Best Lead Character: Allen Walker. He is the man; complex, likeable, powerful, fallible, he's a brilliantly crafted character.

Best Writer: Eichiro Oda. Seriously can't fault the guy, not so much for his quality being wildly beyond other contenders more his sheer consistant level of high quality.

Best Anime: Death Note. Seriously it's a fantastic anime.

[Kevin M.]

Best Ani-Hero: Hiruma from Eyesheild 21.

Best Anime: Soul Eater.

[Dark Soul # 7]

Best Manga: Eyesheild 21. Just because it took something I don't don't give a shit about and made me care! Great series!

Best Lead Character: Allen Walker. He is the man; complex, likeable, powerful, fallible, he's a brilliantly crafted character.

Best Writer: Eichiro Oda. Seriously can't fault the guy, not so much for his quality being wildly beyond other contenders more his sheer consistant level of high quality.

Best Anime: Death Note. Seriously it's a fantastic anime.Hey, controversial is good. It's gives the whole thing flavor. Now if you had nominated Sasuke for best male character, that would be controversial.QUOTE=Kevin M.;7895549]Best Ani-Hero: Hiruma from Eyesheild 21.

Best Anime: Soul Eater.[/QUOTE]And we have our first anti-hero nomination. Very cool.

Oh, and just so everybody knows, you are allowed to nominate more than one thing for one category.

[Yun Lao]

[Cool mix here, but unfortunately Jiraiya's death was in 2007 so it's not eligible here. Was there no memorable death in 2008, within anime and manga that is.

Hmm, I had thought it was early 08, but oh well.

[GrampaGen]

Manga only

Best Writer: Kentaro Miura
Best Artist: Kentaro Miura
Best Manga Series: Berserk

Throwing in my unbiased two cents :wink:

[Dark Soul # 7]

Best Anime: Death Note. Seriously it's a fantastic anime.By the by, are you refering to the english dub or the original japanese version?
Manga only

Best Writer: Kentaro Miura
Best Artist: Kentaro Miura
Best Manga Series: Berserk

Throwing in my unbiased two cents :wink:'Unbiased' opinions are what stuff like this thread is made of.:biggrin:

[Dark Soul # 7]

This is what we've got so far.

Characters

Best Main Character: Zero/Lelouch (Code Geass), Monkey D. Luffy (One Piece), Death the Kidd (Soul Eater), Allen Walker (D.Gray-man)
Best Male Hero: Monkey D. Luffy (One Piece), Brook (One Piece)
Best Heroine: Nanoha Takamachi (Nanoha Striker S), Erza Scarlett (Fairy Tail)
Best Villain: Bartholomew Kuma (One Piece), Hecate (Shakugan no Shana), Pein (Naruto)
Best Anti-hero: Hiruma (Eyeshield 21)

Events

Best Fight: Stein vs. Medusa (Soul Eater; their 2nd fight), Pein vs Konoha (Naruto)
Best Match: Yugi vs. Jaden (Yugioh: GX), The Ultra Written Exam (Soul Eater)
Best Death: Shirley (Code Geass)
Best Character Moment: Nanoha Takamachi blowing through numerous thick solid walls to obliterate Quattro who was half-a-flying-fortress away. (Nanoha Striker S), Natsu defeating Jerad (Fairy Tail)

Story/Plot

Best Romance: Akira and Mikoto (Mysterious Girlfriend X)
Best Story arc: The Shanbody Archipelago arc (One Piece)
Best Plot-twist: Uchiha Madara’s revelation (Naruto), Aizen’s plan (Bleach)

Anime only

Best Anime Adaptation: Soul Eater
Best Original Anime
Best Dub: Tengen Toppa Gurren Laggan, Shakugan no Shana, Death Note
Best Filler material
Best Anime Series: One Piece, Soul Eater

Manga only

Best Writer: Eiichiro Oda (One Piece), Kentaro Miura (Berserk)
Best Artist: Hiroshima (Fairy Tail), Kentaro Miura (Berserk)
Best Manga Series: One Piece, Eyesheild 21, Berserk

Good enough so far. Please feel free to send in more nominations.:smile:

[arp2008]

Characters
Best Main Character: Kamina - The tragically short lived heart and spirit of Gurren Lagann.
Best Male Hero - Simon (Gurren Legann)
Best Heroine - Clair.
Best Villain - Pein
Best Anti-hero - Itachi (I would have chosen Sasuke, but something about him has been getting my nerves).

Events
Best Fight - Jiraiya vs Pein
Best Match - Undecided.
Best Death - Jiraiya.
Best Character Moment - Simons acceptance of Kamina'a death and rise as Dia Gurren Brigade leader.

Story/Plot
Best Romance - Kamina and Yoko.
Best Story arc - Undecided.
Best Plot-twist - Itachi's care for Sasuke.

Anime only
Best Anime Adaptation -Death Note.
Best Original Anime - Girl Who Leatp Through Time.
Best Dub - Death Note.
Best Filler material - There is no such thing as good filler material. Short answer: none.
Best Anime Series - Gurren Lagann

Manga only
Best Writer - Kishi
Best Artist - Kishi
Best Manga Series - Naruto.

If I may give suggestion, can Best New Anime , Most Disappointing, Unexpectedly Awesome, Most Shocking Even/Moment, and Most Aniticpated Of 2009 be added categories?

[Dark Soul # 7]

Thank you arp2008 for such a complete nominations sheet. Though, there're a few concerns. Characters
Best Main Character: Light Yagami. He was such an evil bastard.
Best Villain: DeidaraI am afraid that I can accept neither of these as Deidara has been died in 2007 and all the original material with Light, both manga and anime, came out before 2008 as well. Though I do guess that the dub came out duing 2008.
Events
Best Fight: Sasuke vs Deidara
Best Match: Light vs L.
Best Death - Jiraiya.
Best Character Moment - Simons acceptance of Kamina'a death and rise as Dia Gurren Brigade leader.All of these happened before 2008, but again the Gurren Lagaan nomination did happen in a dub.
Story/Plot
Best Romance - Kamina and Yoko.Same as above.
Anime only
Best Original Anime - Girl Who Leatp Through Time.From what I can tell this is another one that came out before 2008.

Sorry for doing that to so many of your nominations. Feel free to change them at any time you want.

Also, for everybody. Should dubbed material be considered viable for awards beyond the Dub award?
If I may give suggestion, can Best New Anime , Most Disappointing, Unexpectedly Awesome, Most Shocking Even/Moment, and Most Aniticpated Of 2009 be added categories?Thank you for the suggestions. The first and last especially intrigue me. But first, I'll have to sleep.

Take care everybody.

[arp2008]

Thank you arp2008 for such a complete nominations sheet. Though, there're a few concerns.I am afraid that I can accept neither of these as Deidara has been died in 2007 and all the original material with Light, both manga and anime, came out before 2008 as well. Though I do guess that the dub came out duing 2008.
All of these happened before 2008, but again the Gurren Lagaan nomination did happen in a dub.
Same as above.
From what I can tell this is another one that came out before 2008.

Sorry for doing that to so many of your nominations. Feel free to change them at any time you want.

Also, for everybody. Should dubbed material be considered viable for awards beyond the Dub award?
Thank you for the suggestions. The first and last especially intrigue me. But first, I'll have to sleep.

Take care everybody.
No problem, Dark Soul #7. I guess I just carried when putting forth my nominations. I'll rejigger my list to meet the guidlines. Before I do so, though, are you allowing dubbed anime as nominees even though their manga and/or sub were originally released a prior year? If so, with a few corrections, I'll leave my list as it is until further notice.

[Dark Soul # 7]

No problem, Dark Soul #7. I guess I just carried when putting forth my nominations. I'll rejigger my list to meet the guidlines. Before I do so, though, are you allowing dubbed anime as nominees even though their manga and/or sub were originally released a prior year? If so, with a few corrections, I'll leave my list as it is until further notice.I've decided that that's a-ok as long as you specify that it's the dubbed version you're nominating.
If anyone has any objections to this please tell me.

[Dark Soul # 7]

A few new categories has been added.

[S J C]

Characters


Best Main Character: Lelouch/Zero
Best Male Hero:
Best Heroine Nanoha Takamachi
Best Villain Aizen Sousuke
Best Anti-hero Lelouch/Zero

Events

Best Fight: Kallen Vs Suzaku
Best Death Lelouch vi Britannia
Best Character Moment Nanoha Takamachi, blowing through the cradle of the gods to destroy Quattro who was in the centre of the massive fortress

Story/Plot

Best Plot-twist Aizen's master plan

Anime only

Best New Anime Code Geass R2

Manga only

Best New Manga Rosario+Vampire II
Best Manga Series Rosario+Vampire

[Darth Joker]

SJC - Cool! You and I had many of the same picks. :smile:

[S J C]

SJC - Cool! You and I had many of the same picks. :smile:

Yep there was just something about That (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=z6eCppUTiKg) that apples to me And I have to thank you as I thought StrikerS was 06 since I only watched the first Nanoha half way through the year.

[Dark Soul # 7]

Hi everybody! Evetybody: Hi Dark Soul # 7!

Just wanted to check if there's still any interest in this or not. If there is here's how things are looking so far.

Characters

Best Main Character: Zero/Lelouch (Code Geass), Monkey D. Luffy (One Piece), Death the Kidd (Soul Eater), Allen Walker (D.Gray-man)
Best Male Hero: Monkey D. Luffy (One Piece), Brook (One Piece)
Best Heroine: Nanoha Takamachi (Nanoha Striker S), Erza Scarlett (Fairy Tail)
Best Villain: Bartholomew Kuma (One Piece), Hecate (Shakugan no Shana), Pein (Naruto), Aizen Sousuke (Bleach)
Best Anti-hero: Hiruma (Eyeshield 21), Lelouch/Zero
Events

Best Fight: Stein vs. Medusa (Soul Eater; their 2nd fight), Pein vs Konoha (Naruto), Kallen Vs Suzaku
Best Match: Yugi vs. Jaden (Yugioh: GX), The Ultra Written Exam (Soul Eater)
Best Death: Shirley (Code Geass), Lelouch vi Britannia
Best Character Moment: Nanoha Takamachi blowing through numerous thick solid walls to obliterate Quattro who was half-a-flying-fortress away. (Nanoha Striker S), Natsu defeating Jerad (Fairy Tail), Nanoha Takamachi, blowing through the cradle of the gods to destroy Quattro who was in the centre of the massive fortress

Story/Plot

Best Romance: Akira and Mikoto (Mysterious Girlfriend X)
Best Story arc: The Shanbody Archipelago arc (One Piece)
Best Plot-twist: Uchiha Madara’s revelation (Naruto), Aizen’s plan (Bleach)

Anime only

Best Anime Adaptation: Soul Eater
Best Original Anime
Best New Anime: Code Geass R2
Best Dub: Tengen Toppa Gurren Laggan, Shakugan no Shana, Death Note
Best Filler material
Best Anime Series: One Piece, Soul Eater

Manga only

Best Writer: Eiichiro Oda (One Piece), Kentaro Miura (Berserk)
Best Artist: Hiroshima (Fairy Tail), Kentaro Miura (Berserk)
Best New Manga Series: Rosario+Vampire II
Best Manga Series: One Piece, Eyesheild 21, Berserk, Rosario+Vampire

If there's still something you want to nominate I can move the last nomination date up to like the 10th of January. If there's not then I can work with what have here, after removing those categories with too few nominees.

[FistofIron]

I'll add Kenichi Shirahama vs Shou Kano for best fight.

[darksaint124]

I didn't read a lot of this thread, but from first glance isn't a lot of this pre 2008?

I'm seeing names like Nanoha and Hecate. Aizen's plan as best plot twist(even though to be fair he has thrown new ones in this year, but most people think of the initial plan)

I think no one is taking any chances what-so-ever. I just see popular names that require no thought when there is such a huge pool to choose from.

This makes me :sadface: