2018 Jury Write-Ups
All write-ups for the 2018 r/anime Awards can be found on the site here. Selecting Read Category Info will show the State of the Category Write-Up for that category, as well as show the jurors for that category. The juries I was involved in for 2018 were Adventure/Fantasy, Drama, Slice of Life, Antagonist, and Anime of the Year.
The specific write-ups which I did were:
State of the Category for the Adventure/Fantasy Category
Irozuku: The World in Colors for the Drama Category
Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card-hen for the Slice of Life Category
Yuru Camp △ for Anime of the Year
Adventure/Fantasy State of the Category
Whether it be an adventure across our world or others, or a fantastical implementation of magical whimsy, this year’s offerings in the Adventure/Fantasy genre have been both diverse and exciting. We’ve been taken on trips through post Russo-Japanese War Hokkaido in Golden Kamuy, to Antarctica in Sora Yori mo tooi Basho, and France and other worldly places in Lupin’s classic adventures. We’ve witnessed magical quests spanning an imaginary continent with Grancrest Senki, the development of the changing world of Overlord across two more seasons, a kingdom delving into its dwindling mythologies in Maquia, a twisted tribute to the fantasy worlds in Goblin Slayer, and the expansion of mythology to create a world of magic in Mahoutsukai no Yome. This year had many fantastic adventures so this jury found itself a wealth of shows to journey through. Not many entries were quite enough to find themselves an Anime of the Year nomination, but the genre lives on strong through a surprising variety despite the wealth of isekai which we have seen. And so with full passports and aspirations, we enjoyed our adventure through 2018.
Drama Irozuku: The World in Colors 6th Place Write-Up
Irozuku Sekai no Ashita Kara throws an interesting twist in with its somewhat standard highschool drama through its use of fantastical magic and color which give it a vibrant world to live in at times. While few on the jury were quite keen on the show, many were able to say that the painted world Irozuku presented was beautiful, the primary reason for its downfall being its somewhat colorless main character and fairly slow pacing. Some found its mix of genres, while slowing the show down, gave a more balanced view of the lives this show explores and a window into its magic. What truly held the show back was this slow pacing and somewhat lackluster protagonist, and so despite some flourishes of imagination and style, the jury never felt this show painted its world with enough of substance to top the other nominees.
Slice of Life Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card-hen 6th Place Write-Up
Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card is a fresh addition to the classic Cardcaptor Sakura franchise which both updates its world and visuals while building upon some of the series's strongest elements. In particular, Clear Card develops its main cast as Sakura has strengthened her magic and a new threat looms on the horizon. The show does silence its old cast of cards for its new ones, but the changes in how the human cast interacted is what most captivated the jury. Syaoran and Sakura's relationship blooms in this season, providing some cute and touching moments, and watching Syaoran learn to accept Sakura's growing power as stronger than his own makes for some great dynamics. The series provides many pleasant Slice of Life moments which, coupled with the light and beautiful visuals, give the old cast a new air and room to interact in fun ways with their likeable new addition, Akiho. These Slice of Life moments are what so well sold the jury. As for its placement, what held it back compared to some other nominations was its lack of urgency in regards to its main plot. We were persistently reminded of the ever-present threat looming in the background, a threat which was acknowledged by the characters, but seldom acted upon, especially by characters who had knowledge of it, and this lack of urgency left the series unended and the jury divided. While many of the jury felt secure in its Slice of Life moments, the constant reminder of this major plot and lack of action by the characters on this threat left some jurors less supportive, and so Clear Card fell somewhat in the jury rankings.
Anime of the Year Yuru Camp △ 6th Place Write-Up
Yuru Camp is a simple show which sets out to provide an enjoyable camping experience and bring a sense of pleasantness through camping with its calming atmosphere, and it greatly achieves this. In addition, many in the jury found the characters of Rin and Nadeshiko to be quite enjoyable and interesting characters, both with Rin’s loner camping and Nadeshiko’s fun reminders that camping with others can be a good time too. The jury ended up somewhat divisive on this show because of two main reasons, the first and most agreed upon being its somewhat single-note supporting cast, and the other being its lack of ambition. Most of the jury found the supporting cast to have very little substance, and so to some of the jury, the show’s occasional focus on them brought the show down. The more contentious claim was that, because the show was in competition with more ambitious works, it was not as strong even if it accomplished what it set out to do so completely.
