Favorite Animated Shows (2009-2014)

As the title indicates, in this post I'm going to list my favorite animated shows created in the past five years. Before you start reading however, there's one thing I like to make absolutely clear:

This list is entirely subjective, naturally. It only includes shows that I've seen and, more importantly, liked. If a show isn't on the list I haven't seen it, or it simply wasn't my thing.

Now, with that of the way, let's get to the interesting stuff. Enjoy!

 Scooby Doo: Mystery Incorporated - I've already written about this show here , so if you want a more detailed review of it, I recommend clicking the link. Suffice to say that this is Scooby Doo made for those of us who like our cartoons with character development and on-going story-arcs. The first half of season 1 was dragged down a bit by a really unnecessary and bizarre love-triangle between Shaggy, Scooby and Velma, but aside from that unfortunate subplot, Mystery Incorporated was a great series. I especially enjoyed how the show starts out much like any Scooby Doo show with the gang solving mysteries involving guys dressed up as monsters and such, only for the stakes to gradually become much higher, until, the finale in which our heroes has to prevent the apocalypse. All this and the fact that this show gave us Prof. Pericles, one of the best villains I've ever seen in an animated show, is enough to make me declare Scooby Doo: Mystery Incorporated as the high point of this long-running franchise and frankly, I doubt that will change anytime soon.

My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic - I avoided this show for the longest time, mostly due to all the massive hype it got, but also because, well, it's My Little Pony and that's a franchise I've never been into. However, eventually, I decided give the show a chance and I don't regret it. Friendship Is Magic could easily have been crap; an insipid show designed only to sell toys to young girls. Fortunately, it's anything but. The show is cute without being saccharine, doesn't talk down to it's target audience and, most importantly, is genuinely funny. In other words, it's everything a good kid's show should be.

Gravity Falls - Hands down my favorite Disney cartoon since Gargoyles. Gravity Falls is basically  kids-friendly version of Twin Peaks or The X-Files. It has a great mix between stand-alone episodes and an on-going story-arc/mystery and it features what is by far my favorite opening-sequence of any show on this list. The second season airs on August 1st and I for one can't wait.

Archer - This list isn't really in any particular order. However, if it was, Archer would almost certainly take the top spot.It's my favorite animated comedy series since The Venture Brothers.In fact, the two shows do share certain similarities, such as continuity between episodes and a cast of characters that somehow manages to be both complete fuck-ups and surprisingly competent, sometimes at the same time. The main character himself is perhaps the best example of this; Sterling Archer is pretty much James Bond with all of Bond's less appealing traits cranked up to eleven for comedic value, and yet, he's also a genuinely good field-agent. Something which makes him more interesting a character than if he was only a deluded nitwit. Here's hoping we get to follow Sterling and the rest of the misfits in ISIS for at least a few more years.

Armed Librarians: The Book of Bantorra - If there was any show on this list that I think deserves to be more well-known it would be Bantorra.Not only is the premise behind the show interesting, but it's also one of the rare anime I've seen in which a character appearing in the OP is not necessarily a guarantee for said character's survival. In short, Bantorra is a show that's not afraid to take risks or shake things up, which is always a plus in my book. Add to that the presence of a great anti-hero in Hamyuts Meseta and you have a highly underrated series.

Adventure Time -Landon of Mecha-Guignol once described Adventure Time as David Lynch and H.P. Lovecraft by way of Max Fleischer. That's pretty much the most apt description I've seen of this cartoon. Adventure Time is just filled to the brim with weird, surreal and creepy imagery, all of which I'm sure has kept at least a few kids (and possibly some adults) up at night. I also like the development given to some of the characters, such as Marcelline and The Ice-King, not to mention the fact that the show takes place post-apocalypse. I haven't watched all of Adventure Time, but what I've seen of the show has impressed me enough to earn it a place among my favorites.

Young Justice - Another great cartoon from the mind of Greg Weisman. Although not quite at the same level as some of his previous shows like Gargoyles or Spectacular Spider-Man, this was still a damn fine superhero-show. It's a rotten shame it got canceled after only two seasons.

From the New World - I should warn the reader that although the main characters in From The New World start out as children, this is not for the faint of heart. In fact, this is probably the darkest show on this list, being as far from Friendship is Magic as you can get. iI's also the most well-plotted (which may have something to do with the fact that it was adopted from a novel) with a great, suspenseful story set in an intriguing world, whose secrets are revealed gradually to the viewer. If there's anything negative I can say about this show, than it would be that the animation quality is pretty uneven, but the quality of the plot makes up for it.

Wakfu - Video-game adaptions tend to be rather hit and miss (with the misses far outstripping the hits, to be perfectly frank). One exception to this rule, however, is Wakfu. Now, I haven't actually played the game the show is based on (according to Wikipedia, it's a MMORPG), but that did not in any way take away from my enjoyment of the show itself. Wakfu is simply the best 'group of strangers band together in order to save the world' adventure series I've seen since Avatar: The Last Air-Bender. The characters are great, especially the antagonist of the show's first season, Nox, who is as compelling as any villain I've seen in fiction. The first few episodes after the two-part introduction can be a bit rocky (I recommend skipping the Miss Ugly episode entirely), but as a whole Wakfu is an immensely enjoyable series.

Lupin III: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine - The most recent series in the Lupin III franchise, this time focusing not on the master-thief himself, but instead on his female colleague/rival, Fujiko Mine.Stylistically, The Woman Called Fujiko Mine looks completely different from any other Lupin III series and some people may find the sketchy art-style the characters are drawn in  to be off-putting. Personally, I loved it. This show is a great example of how you can revitalize an old franchise and make it fresh while still keeping all the ingredients that made it a success in the first place.

Regular Show - To be perfectly honest I can't think of much to write about Regular Show. It pretty much speaks for itself and you either like it or you don't (obviously, I'm in the first camp). The show can be a bit formulaic at times, especially in the first season. However, it is consistently funny and definitely one of the better Cartoon Network shows I can think of at the moment. That said, I do have a slight preference for the episodes that break away from the usual "Mordecai and Rigby screw things over due to their habitual laziness" -shtick.

Shin Mazinger Shougeki Z Hen - I'm not as into mecha/giant robot anime as I used to be, but there are a few shows in that genre that I still enjoy, one of those shows is Giant Robo, which still stands out as one of the best OVA ever made. Shin Mazinger Shougeki Z Hen is from the same guy who directed Giant Robo and it shows. Both series operate on a vast, almost mythological scale, with larger-than-life heroes and villains battling each other in order to decide the fate of the world. However, Mazinger has one thing that Robo did not; Baron Ashura. Kojiro may be the nominal hero of the show, but it's really Ashura who drives the plot. In the end, Shin Mazinger is his/her story and I've always had a soft spot for stories that focused on the villain. That and the ending is one of the most memorable ones I can think of in an anime. If you've seen the show, you know what I mean.

Psycho-Pass -  One of two Gen Urobuchi shows on this list and to be honest, much as I enjoyed Madoka, I must admit to having a slight preference for this one. This is i largely thanks to Akane, whom I found to be a far more interesting protagonist than Madoka. She's not the only reason Psycho-Pass is here though; the rest of the cast does a great job as well. Particularly the antagonist, Shogo Makishima, who does make some legitimately good points about how massively screwed-up the system is, even if his methods are heinous. If you are in the mood for a really good cyber-punk police-show/conspiracy thriller à la Ghost in the Shell: Stand-Alone Complex, than Psycho-Pass is a must-watch.

Puella Magi Madoka Magica - To be honest, I'm no expert when it comes to the magical girl genre. I watched Sailor Moon as a kid, read some issues of W.I.T.C.H. and tried a few episodes of Princess Tutu, but ended up dropping it, since I found it to be to repetitive (I might give it another chance though). As such, I'm not really qualified to say if Madoka is a ground-breaking work that changed the genre (the Evangelion of magical girl anime, if you want) or not. That said, Puella Magi Madoka Magica is definitely among the best anime I've seen recently; featuring a strong plot which rapidly goes into pretty dark territory, without it feeling gratuitous and some really great visuals (the witches and their labyrinths are particularly interesting to look at, being surreal and nightmarish, as they should be). The only criticism of the show that I can think off-hand is the fact that I didn't find Madoka herself to be all that interesting, until the end of the show that is. Thankfully, the supporting cast more than make up for her. Kyuubey in particular is a great creation being a subversion of the typical magical girl-pet á la Luna of Sailor Moon fame. His adorable look and cute demeanor becomes more and more disturbing as the truth behind him and his plans for the magical girls are revealed to both the characters themselves and the viewer.

So, there you have it. I may make a sequel to this post where I talk about the shows that almost made it, but were left out for one reason or another. Don't hesitate to tell me what you think in the comment-section.

My Favorite Villainesses

Ever since childhood I've always been a huge fan of the villains in fiction; whether it's the morally ambiguous villains that one can understand and sometimes even sympathize with, or the truly diabolical fiends. As such it should come as no surprise that villains will be a recurring topic on this blog. For my first villain-related post I've decided to write about some of my favorite female villains: It's been said that the female of the species is deadlier than the male, and these bad girls do their best to prove that saying right.

(Please note that while I've tried to keep spoilers to a minimum, sometimes they're unavoidable. Thread carefully).

Maleficent

Let's start with someone obvious. Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty is pretty much the ultimate villain in the Disney Animated Canon. Her design and her voice (provided by Eleanor Audrey who also voiced Lady Tremaine in Cinderella) both ooze with stylish wickedness and to top it off, she can turn into a dragon, something which always gives you points in my books. Disney has provided us it several great female villains over the years, but Maleficent is a cut above the rest. Truly, she lives up to her self-proclaimed title as Mistress of All Evil.

Azula

Another obvious choice: Princess Azula of the Fire-Nation was the most tenacious and formidable villain on Avatar: The Last Air-Bender. Cunning, powerful and smug; I loved to hate Azula and later, as more of what made her thick was revealed, I came to pity her as well. Firelord Ozai may have been the big bad of the series, but his daughter was by far its best bad.

Milady de Winter

One thing I've noticed in fiction is that when we have a female villain working for, or with, a male colleague, she tends to be the less evil of the two. Not so with Milady de Winter from The Three Musketeers; Cardinal Richelieu's mysterious and seductive spy/assassin who is by far the most evil character in the novel, completely outdoing her Magnificent Bastard of a boss in terms of sheer wickedness. Of course, the musketeers themselves aren't exactly saints, but Milady goes that extra mile. Her finest moment? Locked up she manages to not only seduce her jailer into freeing her, but also convinces him to carry out her assassination-mission, leaving the poor sap to be hauled off to the gallows. Damn.

Vermouth

Not just my favorite female character in Detective Conan, but quite possibly my favorite villain in the series as well. Vermouth aka Sharon Vineyard is a character that can best be described as an enigma wrapped up in multiple questions: She's a member of the Black Organization, yet she seems to enjoy a great deal of autonomy, she knows the true identities of Conan and Haibara, but for some reason she hasn't told her boss or fellow members and of course, there's the fact that she apparently hasn't aged a bit in twenty years. All in all, the many mysteries surrounding her helps make Vermouth into one of the most intriguing characters in the Detective Conan franchise.

Lydia Gwilt

One of the more obscure characters on this list, Lydia is the main villainess of the 19th century novel Armadale by Wilkie Collins and easily the best character in it. Collins wrote some of my favorite female characters of his era and Lydia is no exception; an adventuress and murderess with a stormy past whose machinations are at the core of the novel. The epistolary-format of Armadale also means that we, the readers, get a lot of insight into what goes on in Lydia's head, via her letters and exceprts from her diary. A wonderful character from one of my favorite authors.

Evelyn Crow

The villainess of The Rainbow Orchid, like Princess Azula, Evelyn is not the big bad of this great adventure comic, but she serves as the primary enemy of the heroes. Evelyn, with her Louise Brooks-haircut and ruthless personality was definitely my favorite character in The Rainbow Orchid. Tasked by shady tycoon Urkaz Grope to prevent hero Julius Chancer and his friends from recovering the eponymous flower, Evelyn goes about her mission with a commitment and efficiency that I couldn't help but find admirable. If Garen Ewing ever makes a sequel to The Rainbow Orchid, I hope we get to see her again.

Lady Kaede

The villainess of Ran, the movie itself may be Akira Kurosawa's take on King Lear with the genders reversed, but Kaede owes more to Tamora or Lady MacBeth than she does to Edmund. Kaede is a woman driven entirely by vengeance; when she was a child her entire clan was killed by the warlord Hidetora and now she seeks revenge. Understandable and yet, the lengths Kaede is willing to go in order to achieve her vengeance unquestionably makes her a villain, at least in my eyes. She also gets one of my favorite death-scenes in all of cinema.

Phyllis Dietrichson

Not much to write about Phyllis Dietrichson from Double Indemnity, except that she's pretty much the film-noir femme fatale. Oh, and the movie itself great, if you haven't seen it, I strongly recommend you check it out.

Rosemary Applefield

I've talked about Ashita no Nadja before so I'd recommend you follow the link if you want to know my opinion about this unjustly obscure shojo anime. I'll say this though, Rosemary was without a doubt my favorite character in it. When she appeared, the plot kicked into high-gear, she was the real mastermind behind Herman Preminger's schemes and was so fabulous that although I hated the things she did, I could never hate Rosemary herself. I wasn't even mad when she got away scot-free at the end, and since I normally hate that sort of thing, it should tell you what an awesome character Rosemary is.

Mrs. Iselin

The villain of The Manchurian Candidate played by Angela Lansbury. Mrs. Iselin is a woman who desires power over any cost, no matter what she has to do get it, even brainwashing her own son into becoming an assassin and partaking in a Communist plot to take over America. Of course, once the take-over is succesful, Mrs. Iselin has no intention to share the power with anyone. Who would've thought that Mrs. Potts could be so evil?

Snoop

Along with Chris Partlow, Felicia Pearson a.k.a. Snoop is Marlo Stanfield's top-lieutenant in his bid to take control of the Baltimore drug-trade. Do not get fooled by her small stature and cute looks, this woman is an extremely efficient and brutal killer. Probably my favorite female character in The Wire.

Livia Drusilla

Most of these ladies are, thankfully, the product of fertile imagination. However, here's one villainess who actually existed in real-life, though whether she was as bad as her portrayal in I, Claudius make her out to be is highly unlikely. Not it matters though, because the Livia written by Robert Graves and later portrayed by Sian Philips in the 70's mini-series is an awesome villain, being brilliant, ruthless and funny. The last one may come as a surprise, but Livia's one-liners are a great source for really black humor in both the book and the show.

Mags Bennett

The matriarch of the Bennett clan in Justified and the big bad of the show's second season. Mags was a terrific character and Margo Martindale did a great job portraying her. Whether she was poisoning a competitor with some of her special 'apple pie', getting the denizens of Bennett county riled up against Black Pike or simply smashing on of her son's hands with a hammer for being an idiot, Mags was always riveting to watch.

Ravel Puzzlewell

The Night Hag who made The Nameless One immortal, Ravel doesn't get much screen-time in Planescape: Torment, being only present for a single conversation and a boss-battle, but she definitely makes the most of the time she gets. The conversation with Ravel is one of the game's high-points and reveals a ton about her character and her relationship with The Nameless One, among other things. Creepy, obsessive and tragic among other things, Ravel was an engrossing and fascinating character in a game filled with them.

SHODAN

The AI that becomes self-aware and turns evil has been a staple of the Sci-Fi genre for a long, long time. One of the best of these rogue AI is SHODAN of System Shock 1 & 2 fame, who is one of the scariest and most formidable villains in video-game history. One of the things that make SHODAN so great is her omni-precense; throughout the game, she's constantly taunting you,daring you to challenge her bid for Godhood. Good luck, you'll need it. After all, what could you possibly do against a powerful, immortal machine?

Balalaika

Black Lagoon is one of those series in which basically the entire cast  consists of villains. However, if I were to pick one character that towers above the rest, it would be Balalaika. Balalaika is the head of Hotel Moscow, the biggest and most powerful gang in Roanapur, the fictional city in which Black Lagoon takes place. Hotel Moscow consists entirely of Balalaika's old squad from her days as a soldier in the Afghan War and she runs it with military efficiency. Although she rarely acts an antagonist to the Black Lagoon crew, there's no denying that Balalaika is an extremely frightening woman, whose path you'd best not cross if you value your life.

Demona

If Maleficent is the ultimate female villain in the Disney Animated Canon, than Demona holds that title when it comes to Disney's animated TV-shows. Frankly, there's not much I can say about this genocidal gargoyle that other people (like GregX) haven't said already. Suffice to say that Demona is one of the most fully-realized and complex characters ever seen in a cartoon and let's leave it at that.

                                        Kreia

Another villain written by Chris Avellone. However, unlike Ravel, Kreia is present in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II from beginning to the end, making her a much more detailed character. Throughout the game we learn about a lot about Kreia, so that by the end it feels like KOTOR II is her story, just as much (if not more) as the main character's. Kreia is one of the most well-written and complex characters I've seen, not just in the Star Wars franchise, but in videogames in general. Personally, I found her to be much more subtle and complex in her villainy than Palpatine and Vader.

 

Ren Gyokuen

Magi is one of the best shonen manga in recent memory and one major reason for that are the characters, which are all very well-handled, including the major villains. When we first meet Gyokuen she seems like the perfect picture of a kind and loving mother. However, nothing could be farther from the truth (naturally, since she's here). Gyokuen is a cruel and deceitful women, willing to kill anyone who stands in the way of her goals, including her husband and children. She's also the leader of Al-Thamen, the evil organization that's behind the most of the bad shit in Magi's universe. Aside from being a great love-to-hate villain, Gyokuen also gets major points for being a rare example of a female big bad in a shonen series, something we don't see often.

So, there you have it. Other evil women worthy of mentioning are: The aforementioned Lady MacBeth and Tamora from MacBeth and Titus Andronicus respectjvely. Cirin from Cerebus, Lady Eboshi from Princess Mononoke, Gretel from The Milkweed Triptych, Dunya Musta'sim from Magi, Eve Harrington from All About Eve and several others.