#rip2015

Cycle: Complete; Repeat

The Year 2015 in Review

2015: you get outta here! Each medium (that I give a shit about) gets it’s own little section comprised of a lil’ blurb or something and an alphabetically ordered list of what I considered to be the gems of the year, with some titles in bold signifying supreme excellence/general stand-out-ery. Eventually, I’ll populate this blog with individual posts about the things that I like, including things from ALL OF THE YEARS and not just the last one.

Anime

This last year was definitely all about the anime series rather than the movies for myself personally. This tends to be the case most of the time, personally. Some years I’m really into film, other years it’s television, some years more western media, some years more eastern. You’ll see that this list is mostly populated by returning seasons of existing series. That’s because, I’d argue, that 2015 did not have the best showing of new, original series. There were quite a few near misses, and way too many heartbreakers: those shows that seem like they’re going to be legitimate fun but then quickly break down into little more than gratuity or fan service :’3  However, those series with returning seasons this year were among my favourite series of all time, and I was happy to dive back in after several years in some cases.

Recommendations:

Durarara!!X2

Fafner in the Azure: Exodus

Gatchaman CROWDS: insight

Hetalia: The World Twinkle

Perfect Insider

Tokyo Ghoul √a

Some series I would have liked to have checked out or gotten more into, but didn’t have the time: Classroom Crisis, Concrete Revolutio, Cute High Earth Defense Club Love!, Ghost in the Shell: Arise, K: Return of Kings, Gangsta., Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans, The Rolling Girls, Beautiful Bones, World Trigger, Yurikuma Arashi: Love Bullet

Video Games

Having roommates again threw me for a loop last year, as I am no longer accustomed to sharing the living room with someone who enjoys using their TV as much as I do! I certainly got my hands on some hot titles this past year on systems I wouldn’t normally have access to (beyond my own consoles), like a gaming PC, or the PS4, which is awesome. Plus, I’m a younger brother, so I’m certainly content to sit and watch hours of someone else play and feel equally engaged and committed. However, the most impactful outcome to this list is how comfortable I have become curling up with my New 3DS, which was well worth the upgrade from my original gen 3DS and which had some mighty fine and incredibly surprising releases last year, and my PS Vita, which I continue to argue is the most under-rated and misunderstood system this generation, even more than the WiiU, and which continued to pump out fabulous new titles in a variety of genres on the most vibrant screen EVAR, as well as the only playable ports of old classics from old Sony consoles (all of which I have owned and thoroughly enjoyed)...(all of the Sony consoles, not all of the games for all the consoles). I will be sticking to just new releases and re-masters/re-packagings for this list.

3D Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (3DS)

Amnesia: Memories (Vita)

Attack on Titan: Humanity in Chains (3DS)

Bloodborne (PS4)

Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax (Vita)

Duke Nukem 3D: Megaton Edition (Vita)

Gunman Clive 2 (3DS)

The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D (3DS)

Xenoblade Chronicles 3D (N3DS)

Yo-Kai Watch (3DS)

Games I missed or wanted more time with: 3D Gunstar Heroes (3DS), Ar Nosurge Plus: Ode to an Unborn Star (Vita), Code: Realize (Vita), I am Bread (PC), LBX: Little Battlers eXperience (3DS), Lost Dimension (Vita), Octodad: Dadliest Catch (Vita), Oreshika: Tainted Bloodlines (Vita), Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2 - Record Breaker (3DS), Steins;Gate (Vita), Stella Glow (3DS), Story of Seasons (3DS), Sword Art Online: Lost Song (Vita), Xenoblade Chronicles X (WiiU)

Music

We’re talkin’ pop, K-pop, hip hop, witch house, just an all ‘round good time! I’m going to mash album, single, ep and all that into one category which will just feature general music releases of 2015, in whatever the hell format I choose.

Big Bang - M.A.D.E. Series

CL - Hello Bi+ches & Dr. Pepper

Exo-K - Like, everything they’ve done this year

Grimes - Art Angels

Jamie xx - In Colour

Kendrick Lamarr - To Pimp a Butterfly

Oneohtrix Point Never - Garden of Delete

Vince Staples - Summertime ‘06

Comics

Didn’t get around to reading too many new comics last year, unfortunately. I would have liked to have gotten my hands on BKV’s Private Eye (I’m holding out for the hardcopy because I’m still old school with comics!) and I’m a full trade paperback behind in Saga! So my list consists of only one entry:

Scott McCloud - The Sculptor

Okay, that’s it for 2015. Terrible year anyway. Onto 2016!