Hi everyone! I’m a bit late on this one, but I’ve worked in collaboration with a few friends of mine at Bleach7/Maximum7 to make this list as exhaustive as we could. Of course I kept most of the final choices up to my opinion, but wanted to take into consideration what I haven’t seen, that was good, but didn’t get time for. This list compiles almost 30 categories (yes I know, that’s too much, sue me) and is a best of 2008 anime list. Now to fit in this list, the anime must have ended by December 31st, 2008, which means some very good titles didn’t make the cut (Soul Eater, Toradora! and more). So without more waiting, here’s my list! Take note that the runner-ups aren’t in any particular order.

Find out what’s the best and more after the jump.

Male Character

Winner: Hiraga Saito (Zero no Tsukaima Princesse no Rondo)

What’s the deal here: Saito might not have the intelligence of Lelouch, the 36 senses of KoGARashi, but what he definitely have is top luck when it comes to everything else. While he might suffer from time to time from Louise’s mood, he’s well surrounded and got summoned in a fantasy universe I’d like to visit any time before Middle-Earth and some galaxy far far away. Finally, well, he’s such a pimp!

Runner-ups:

Lelouch vi Brittania (CODE GEASS Hangyaku no Lelouch R2)

Lockon Stratos (Mobile Suit GUNDAM 00)

KoGARashi (Kamen no Maid guy)

Female Character

Winner: Mikamo Chizuko (Nijuu mensou no musume)

What’s the deal here: Here I went for the underdog. Nobody watched Nijuu mensou no musume (well, except us), and the fansubs aren’t even finished after so long. Chiko (her short name) is such a refreshing character. She’s in no way into fanservice, she started as a sickly rich-daughter targeted by her guardians and became such a badass even though her young age. She showed us her agility, her quick thinking abilities unlike any other characters this year. I want more Chiko and I want it now!

Runner-ups:

Shana (Shakugan no Shana Second)

C.C (CODE GEASS Hangyaku no Lelouch R2)

Nogizaka Haruka (Nogizaka Haruka no himitsu)

Non-human

Winner: Kannon’s hat (CODE GEASS Hangyaku no Lelouch R2)

What’s the deal here:

(Neo_NMO) who cares… it’s kanon’s hat

(ThePhantom) fo reals yo

Runner-ups:

Marchosias (Shakugan no Shana Second)

Alastor (Shakugan no Shana Second)

Haro (GUNDAM 00 s2)

Best Couple

Winner: Haruka/Yuuto (Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu)

What’s the deal here:

The secret of Haruka Nogizaka was a cute anime, with lots of lulz, lot’s of awwwwwwww moments that was fun to watch even if it fell deep into all the clichés. The only difference here from most anime is that the love triangle was barely a wall in Haruka and Yuuto’s relationship. They formed the too perfect couple, and that’s why we agreed on this one.

Runner-ups:

Saito/Louise (Zero no Tsukaima Princesse no Rondo)

Kotoko/Naoki (Itazura na kiss)

Tomoya/Nagisa (Clannad)

Overall Cast of characters

Winner: Hyakko

What’s the deal here: Call us biased here, but we completely fell in love with the whole cast of Hyakko. Ayumi, Torako, Suzume, Tatsuki and all of their schoolmates got us laughing over and over again, in quite a relaxing way. It fell mostly into mischief over deep plots, yet there was enough character development to care for most of them. And no one died!

Runner-ups:

Aria the Origination

CODE GEASS Hangyaku no Lelouch R2

Mobile Suit GUNDAM 00

Best Maid

Winner: Sayoko (CODE GEASS Hangyaku no Lelouch R2)

What’s the deal here: Ninja maid, nuff said!

Runner-ups:

Siesta (Zero no Tsukaima Princesse no Rondo)

Hazuki Sakurazaka (Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu)

Benisu (Kimi ga Aruji de Shitsuji ga Ore de)

Most badass Butler

Winner: Maidguy KoGARashi (Kamen no Maid Guy)

What’s the deal here: Ok, he’s a maid, not a butler, but you can’t compete with his level of manliness and badassness, EVER. And that’s what matters here.

Runner-ups:

Colonel (Kimi ga Aruji de Shitsuji ga Ore de)

Kojuro Takeda (Kimi ga Aruji de Shitsuji ga Ore de)

Ayasaki Hayate (Hayate no Gotoku)

For the 3 songs categories, I simply stopped at the winner and no runner-up. Why? Because there’s a ton of good ones out there, but it’s really hard to pick one over the other beyond my best choices.  Also, please note that we took the animation into account to make our choices for the OP and END, while for the insert, we took the context into account.

Best Opening (song and animation)

Winner: Discotheque (Rosario + Vampire Capu2) by Nana Mizuki

What’s the deal here: An awesome OP for an anime that fails the manga so much. The animation is very smooth and Nana Mizuki is a great singer.

Best Ending (song and animation)

Winner: Friends (Mobile Suit Gundam 00 END2) by Stephanie

What’s the deal here: Not much to say, this song is awesome, the animation isn’t too bad either.  With some candid shots of the characters and their past.

Best Use of an Insert Song

Winner: Nyan Nyan Service Medley (Macross Frontier) by Sheryl Nome (May’n) and Ranka Lee (Megumi Nakajima)

Listen to it, spoiler-less:

What’s the deal here: This was really a no contest here.  This song plays during the final fight and has Sheryl and Ranka singing it. This part in my opinion actually saved Frontier, which I found too short for it’s own good compared to its predecessors (SDF and 7).

Comedy

Winner: Hyakko

What’s the deal here: While some more interesting choices didn’t finished airing in 2008 (Toradora) and some were hilariously too philosophic for most of the population (Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei), Hyakko delivered on a great level in making you laugh with its barely not stereotypical characters. Although I wish they didn’t end it with a prologue, I believe it deserves this spot.

Runner-ups:

Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei

Kimi ga Aruji de Shitsuji ga Ore de

Hayate no Gotoku

Adventure

Winner: Nijuu Mensou no Musume

What’s the deal here: I really loved the runner-ups in this category, but The Daughter of Twenty Faces takes the cake and eat it too. I already mentioned Chiko (Female character of 2008), she’s the protagonist, along with her mentor, Nijuu Mensou takes us along for a ride reminding Lupin at first, then makes itself very distinct from the rest along the way.

Runner-ups:

Druaga no To ~the Aegis of URUK~

Hatenko Yugi

Spice and wolf

Mystery

Winner: Yakushiji Ryoko no Kaiki Jikenbo

What’s the deal here: I have yet to finish to watch this series, but there’s no question here, Ryoko-san is awesome and she just seems to attract the weirdest mysteries around her, and can handle them very well. I really loved the ambiance in this series too. Chaos; HeAD came close second here, but lacked in keeping up with the mysteries along the way.

Runner-ups:

Chaos; Head

KUROZUKA

XXXHOLiC Kei

Action

Winner: CODE GEASS Hangyaku no Lelouch R2

What’s the deal here: Is there really something to explain here? With an over the top plot, with unpredictable plot twists and a tension that kept us on the edge almost all the way through, CODE GEASS R2 made for some thrilling action.

Runner-ups:

Nijumenso no Musume

Macross Frontier

Ga-rei Zero

Fantasy

Winner: Spice & Wolf

What’s the deal here: This slow paced anime about a merchant and his traveling partner which just happens to be a cute wolf deity made us learn about the economy of an older time, with just enough fantasy spice to keep it interesting.

Runner-ups:

Natsume Yuujinchou

Wagaya no Oinari-sama

Zero no Tsukaima Princesse no Rondo

Harem

Winner: Zero no Tsukaima Princesse no Rondo

What’s the deal here: See why Saito won best male character.

Runner-ups:

Sekirei

Clannad

Rosario+Vampire

Best Fanservice

Winner: Koihime Musou

What’s the deal here: Something with more fanservice then Ikkitousen probably doesn’t exist in the year 2008. But in intensity, Koihime Musou will take the win easily. I’ll keep it to your imagination or curiosity as to why that is.

Runner-ups:

Ikkitousen: Great Guardians

Kanokon

Sekirei

Mecha

Winner: Mobile Suit GUNDAM 00

What’s the deal here: I always avoided GUNDAM series, they’re not my cup of tea. But after being cornered into watching 00, which is surprisingly easy to get in to even for people that don’t really care much for big robots, I can say that this one is probably good for any overall anime fan. It just couldn’t lose to anything else when it comes to Mecha either. At least in 2008.

Runner-ups:

CODE GEASS Hangyaku no Lelouch R2

Macross Frontier

Romance

Winner: Itazura na Kiss

What’s the deal here: Anime based on the mother of all romance shoujo manga. It couldn’t fail at romance, now couldn’t it? Too bad the mangaka died before finishing the manga, that always sucks when an author can’t finish its work (for the person itself first and close ones, then the fans). Good thing she had told her husband the ending before passing away or so I heard.

Runner-ups:

Ef ~ A Tale of Memories~

Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu

True Tears

School Life

Winner: Hyakko

What’s the deal here: Hyakko was awesome in a few categories above already, it still is. No need to say more.

Runner-ups:

Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu

S.A ~Special A~

Itazura na kiss

Science-Fiction

Winner: Mobile Suit GUNDAM 00

What’s the deal here: Looking for something sci-fi from 2008, but not sci-fi? Tough luck. The best of sci-fi is a GUNDAM. Well you can always fall back on Ga-rei Zero or Mnemosyne for some neat Sci-fi without the giant robots.

Runner-ups:

CODE GEASS Hangyaku no Lelouch R2

Ga-rei Zero

Macross Frontier

Best Seiyuu

Winner: Mamiko Noto

What’s the deal here: I just love Mamiko Noto’s voice. I love Kugimiya’s and Hirano’s too. But from Clannad’s Kotomi Ichinose, Zero no Tsukaima’s Tiffania Westwood, Nogizaka Haruka no himitsu’s Haruka and Mnemosyne’s Rin Asogi, she’s the winner here and I’m happy to see her appearing in many new series again this year. A big cheer for the runner-ups here too.

Runner-ups:

Kugimiya Rie

Hirano Aya

Fukuyama Jun

Best OVA

Winner: Mnemosyne – Mnemosyne no Musume-tachi

What’s the deal here: I actually just finished watching this and I must say it was plain awesome. I really didn’t see coming some of the directions this OVA took. Watch it now, I mean it.  (Although I should mention, this is not meant for people younger then 18 years old)

Runner-ups:

Mai Otome 0~S.ifr~

Zero no Tsukaima Princesse no Rondo (ep 6.5)

BUS GAMER

Best Movie

Winner: Kara no Kyoukai 3: Tsuukaku Zanryuu

What’s the deal here:

(ThePhantom) you got a movie category?

(Me) no.. I can add it..

(ThePhantom) i just need an excuse for kara no kyoukai 3 >.<

Runner-up:

Clannad Movie

Sleeper Hit

Winner: Nijuu mensou no Musume

What’s the deal here: This series really went under the radar of most people, I wonder if it’s the look of the screenshots on ANN and all. If you’re reading this, do yourself a favor and watch it.

Runner-ups:

Ef ~ A Tale of Memories~

Shugo Chara

Most unintentionnal lulz

Winner: Dragonaut – The Resonance

What’s the deal here:

(Mighty_Mouse) the story is so cliche

(Mighty_Mouse) kazuki turns on jin for the dumbest of reasons

(Mighty_Mouse) and wears panties on his head o_O

(Mighty_Mouse) and he wears this huge ass patch

(Mighty_Mouse) it’s hard to explain WHY it’s lulz

(Mighty_Mouse) but if you watch it

(Mighty_Mouse) it’s such a trainwreck that you can’t help but laugh at it

Runner-up:

Rosario + Vampire Capu2

Best of the Year

Winner: CODE GEASS Hangyaku no Lelouch R2

What’s the deal here: No surprises here, if you expected anything else, there’s probably something wrong with you. YES, the plot is somewhat messed up with contradictions, which I didn’t find too bad anyway, but R2 excels at what it does best: make your jaw hit the floor with plot twists that changed the meaning of everything, every single episode, or almost. Just turn off your bullshit meter and enjoy, seriously.

Runner-ups:

Nijuu mensou no Musume

Mobile Suit GUNDAM 00 Season 2

Hyakko

David A. Anime, TV shows