Our Reviewers’ Favorite Guilty Pleasures of 2013
Taste varies greatly and one person’s trash can be another person’s treasure. So it’s not at all surprising that there was a wide spread of shows that people noted as their guilty pleasure for the year. Two of our staff did give a nod towards Muromi-san, the wacky and occasionally tasteless (but in a funny way) series of half-length (about 12 min.) episodes about a boy who likes to fish and the wacky mermaid he one day comes across, bringing him into a world of legendary creatures who all happen to be Muromi’s friends. Thomas Zoth felt that “Watamote and Kill la Kill do not belong as guilty pleasures, because they are good. This show about degenerate monstergirls contains episodes about torturing dolphins to get back at past boyfriends and unspeakably violent mermaid on mermaid tail abuse. Some things you should feel guilty for liking, and Muromi-san is one of them. A demented, and somehow poignant look at the burdens and loneliness of immortality.” I also gave it my vote as I thought it should have been bad, but it ended up being very entertaining though it’s not really a show one would use the words “high quality” to describe.
For Bryan Morton, he got his fix for treasured trash by watching Valvrave the Liberator. “Spiritual successor to the likes of Guilty Crown, a category of series that, to my eyes at least, suffers from bad planning – the ongoing arc seems to be made up as it goes along, with the main aim of each episode being to pull a shocking surprise out of some orifice or the other as its main way of keeping the audience engaged. Normally, this fails miserably with me, but Valvrave somehow breaks on through to “so bad it’s good” and has kept me coming back each week through both seasons, despite being a train-wreck in most departments. I’ll almost be pleased if it goes on to a third season. Blitzendegen!“
Kestrel Swift fed his anime fandom by watching Outbreak Company. “Some would argue that this doesn’t deserve to be called a ‘guilty pleasure’ because it actually has some real substance. But while the occasional injection of some mildly insightful social commentary was a pleasant surprise, the thing that kept me coming back to a fanservice-laden harem fantasy fest every week with glee was the unmatched abundance of references to the world of anime and related mediums that otaku flock to. If I have to pause the video to try to take in all of the palette swaps of properties I know contained in a single frame, I’m enjoying myself.”
Kory Cerjak couldn’t quite make up his mind. “Oh god…Maybe Oreimo, which I sat through the entirety of because, in my own naivety, I believed that it would not go down that road based on the relatively good first season, which often commented pretty well on the otaku lifestyle. It turned out to be one of, if not the, worst anime I saw this year. Also maybe Servant x Service which was a whole pile of nothing with a pretty catchy opening. Or maybe My Youth Romantic Comedy, which was entertaining for its banter and nothing else (but that banter was really good!). But I think the list topper has to be AKB0048, a show that doesn’t deserve to be as good as it is. The second season aired at the beginning of [2013] and, while I don’t think it was as good as the first, it was every bit as entertaining.”
For Sakura Eries, it was all about the male fanservice. “Hands down my vote is for Free! – Iwatobi Swim Club. I’m not usually the type to drool over animated bishounen, but I actually felt guilty watching this anime. The interesting thing is that the story is fairly innocent. No sex, no nudity, no romantic interests (although some yaoi fangirls might argue that point). The characters are just. That. Hot. Plus, their personalities are adorable, which compensated for the weaknesses in the plot. I watched each episode at least three times, INCLUDING the opening and closing credits (which I generally skip over).”
