Best of 2010 (In Progress)

          It's been a good year for anime and there have been many exceptional new shows and movies. While I obviously haven't watched EVERYTHING that was released this year I watched most of what looked interesting to me, so this is a work in progress list of what I liked that I saw.

Top 5 Shows:

1. Angel Beats! - Definitely the best show this year, it's only shortcoming was it's length. I think a reboot somewhere down the line would be worth it, Key has created such a rich world and cast of characters here and it is a shame that the plot didn't have time to fully develop. 
2. Sora no Woto - In many regards very similar to Angel Beats, they throw you into a creative world but don't have enough time to fully explain everything, that being said I think that they did end this much better than Angel Beats!
3. Ore no Imouto - Best comedy by far and one of my favorite shows this year, again it's a short season. 
4. Amagami SS - Run of the mill high school romance, divided into 4 episode arcs, exceptionally animated, second only to Angel Beats! This only got bumped to 4th because some arcs weren't particularly good - I wish they had gone for more of a Clannad approach and chosen one arc to follow. This is a full length show, with 24 episodes and 2 OVAs. 
5. Index II - What can I say? I like the universe the creators of this series have developed and while I like the "science" arcs more the "magical" parts are much better done this season. Only 5th place due to over-use of fan service. 

Top 5 Movies: (work in progress)

1. The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya - Simply incredible, this movie takes the Haruhi universe to new levels. There is litterally nothing I didn't like about it. This is second only to The Place Promised in Our Early Days.
2. Eden of the East Movie II: Paradise Lost - The long awaited conclusion to the 2009 hit show, many have complained that it was boring since it was all dialog. I really thought that they were able to tie together the various plot elements and I didn't mind the slow pacing at all. 
3. Time of Eve - This was a ONA that was released in short segments but was compiled into movie form this year and I have to say it was really clever. The android cafe serves as the only real locale but the interesting conversations the characters have with other people as well as with androids are amusing and sometimes even profound. I kind of feel that the plot was tacked on after the fact, and that it may have been better as just sort of a "future time piece". 
4. Black Rock Shooter - Another controversial movie (well, 40min OVA) but there really weren't that many good movies this year. I didn't think it was strange and confusing like many people seemed to, I thought that the good character design and quite well done art put it on this list. 
5. Macross Fronteir? Gundam? There doesn't seem to be a whole lot of other movies I want to put on this list, I will wait till the end of the year to see if anything catches my interest that I haven't already seen.