VALIDATE ME - random/rant book

fixing the 2017 crunchyroll anime awards (actually not really)

so

i'm going to assume i'm the only one who actually watched the 2017 Crunchyroll Anime Awards, because i definitely am

so for everybody else who didn't bother, i'm going to force the results down your throat now.

Anime of the Year: Made in Abyss

Best Girl: Ochako Uraraka

Best Boy: Shouto Todoroki

Best Manga: My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness

Best Hero: Izuku "Deku" Midoriya

Best Villain: Stain

Best Action: My Hero Academia Season 2

Best Drama: The Ancient Magus' Bride

Best Comedy: Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid

Best Slice of Life: Girls' Last Tour

Best Continuing Series: March Comes in Like a Lion

Best Opening: "Peace Sign" (My Hero Academia Season 2)

Best Ending: "Ishukan Communication" (Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid)

Best Animation: My Hero Academia Season 2

Best Score/Soundtrack: Made in Abyss

Best Film: Your Name

Best C.G.I.: Land of the Lustrous

...i can assume you saw a pattern there, right?

Welcome to the My Hero Academia awards, the long lost brother of the Yuri on Ice awards from 2016!

alright. i'm happy that BNHA got the love and attention it rightfully deserves, it really is an amazing series, but there are a few things i'm not very happy with.

so i'm going to talk about them and what candidate i would choose to win the vote, because y'all care about that sht, right?

ok, so. first off,
Best Opening.
this one i am especially mad about.
the winner was Peace Sign, the first opening to season 2 of BNHA; one of my favorite anime openings to date, which you'd know if you've read previous chapters. now, i love Peace Sign to death. HOWEVER. it was up against some pretty difficult candidates to beat, like "Here" from The Ancient Magus' Bride, and, oh i don't know, FRUKING SASAGEYO.
"Shinzou wo Sasageyo", the opening to Attack on Titan Season 2, is absolutely phenomenal and we can all agree on that. the amazing song, beautiful animation, the symbolism, and just everything about this opening was perfect and it's, no question, one of the best anime openings of all time in my opinion. which is why i am incredibly angered and confused as to why Peace Sign won over this much more capable and deserving candidate. Shinzou wo Sasageyo deserved this spot more than anything else on this list, especially more than Peace Sign. that's as much as i can say without fuming, so let's move on.

next,
Best Ending.
now... i don't have much to say about this category in all honesty. i just felt that i should add a few other very worthy candidates to the ballot.
first, "Datte Atashi no Hero", the second ending to My Hero Academia Season 2. the fantasy au one. y'know, the one that makes me feel feelings? that one. that beautiful masterpiece. i don't have to explain why this one deserved to be a candidate. moving on.
and the second one, "Prince Night ~Doko ni Ita no Sa!? MY PRINCESS~", the ending to The Royal Tutor. NOT THE WEIRD LIVE ACTION MUSIC VIDEO VERSION FROM EPISODE 7. the actual, not-cringey animated version. The Royal Tutor didn't make it into any of the categories as a winner or a candidate, with saddens me a bit. the anime in and of itself is very underappreciated and not very well known, even though it's wonderful story, characters, and animation deserve all the love it can get. the opening and ending especially were awesome and fit the tone of the anime very well, and while the ending is not as serious as the opening, it's absolutely perfect for this show. it's cute, funny, and and not to be taken too seriously, which is what most of the show is all about. even when the anime gets much more serious near the end, the ending is such a nice breather at the end of a tearjerking episode and reminds you that the anime is still meant to be a stellar comedy and the characters are just as silly and lovable as they were from the beginning, even after a few surprising revelations that may or may not change how you see the characters. to cut myself off before i praise this show longer than i should, this anime and it's ending are amazing. please watch it. you'll love it.

now, Best Animation.
My Hero Academia Season 2 won, but... come on. A Silent Voice was an entire film, with a much larger budget and smoother, beautiful animation. it should've won by default. seriously, have you seen how gorgeous the animation is? holy whoa.

anyway,,
Best Boy.
Todoroki won this one, and while i do love him to bits, i feel as though the other candidates were cheated out of this spot because of just how many fangirls that no doubt voted for the icyhot boy because he's hot and has a tragic backstory, the key things that seem to appeal to the fangirls these days.
he was up against Deku. Izuku Midoriya. FRUKING GREENHAIRED JELLYBEAN HERO BOI WHO HELPED TODOROKI OVERCOME ONE OF THE MOST NEGATIVELY AFFECTING ISSUES HE'S CONTINUED TO FACE HIS ENTIRE LIFE UP UNTIL THAT POINT. Deku absolutely deserved that award, much more than Todoroki did.
but that still leaves me with one question:
*inhale,*
wHY WASN'T BAKUGOU A CANDIDATE FOR BEST BO--

next up is Best Girl.
Ochako won... against Asui... best girl Froppy...
look. i freaking love Ochako, but... Froppy...
i am...
devastated.

finally onto Anime of the Year.
the winner, Made in Abyss, actually was quite deserving of this title from what i've seen. i'm not going to go too in depth, as i still haven't watched it and i am not an expert, but the dark themes combined with seemingly cute, harmless characters seemed to have a large impact on the anime community as a whole, seeing as how many praise it so immensely. My Hero Academia Season 2, which i was sure was going to win considering how the other results had turned out, came a close second, and rightfully so. i'm not going to say My Hero Academia deserved to win instead of Made in Abyss, because i can't make that decision if i haven't watched Made in Abyss, and especially because i don't even agree with the claim that BNHA should be Anime of the Year. (i won't say who i think should've won, though.) so i'm going to leave it be, and congratulate Made in Abyss on winning the Anime of the Year award.

overall, the Crunchyroll Anime Awards are far from perfect. we know this. and the voters are definitely not perfect either. some results were unbelievably stupid, while some were just mildly disappointing to say the least. sadly, this is the case with every Crunchyroll Anime Awards. so we'll have to suck it up, and deal with the fact that some people can't recognize absolute masterpieces even when they're shoved into their faces like your friend's phone screen when they show you a picture.

thank you for your time, i'm off to cry in a corner about the Holy Roman Empire and Chibitalia kiss scene.

i'll check for grammatical errors and stuff later, i promise,,