The Bonkurasu Brigade

For those who didn’t know (myself included, until now), anican is a free newspaper for anime and tokusatsu fans. And recently, it published results for its 2008’s Reader’s Poll awards.

Aaaaaand the overall winner goes to:

Macross Frontier

The fans of Hocchan and nana-chan are strong in here; it seems they are almost everywhere. Hocchan is only 2nd to nana-chan, but that can’t be helped, and even though her prime’s already over, she still commands 2nd place.

For nana-chan, she dominated in almost all the categories that she’s in: artiste, albums, singles, seiyuu, etc. The force with Mizuki Nana is strong, indeed.

Without further ado, let me present the results of the Readers’ Poll 2008:

Japanese Anime Grand Awards 2008 (Overall)
1. Macross F
2. Nana Mizuki ( Fate from Nanoha)
3. Mamoru Miyano (Light from Death Note)
4. Yui Horie (Minori from Toradora!, Naru from Love Hina)
5. Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2
6. CLANNAD
7. Hiroshi Kamiya (Nozomu from Zetsubou-Sensei, Tieria from Gundam 00)
8. Mobile Suit Gundam 00
9. Kannagi
10. Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone
11. Aya Hirano (Haruhi Suzumiya, Konata from Lucky Star)
12. Yuuichi Nakamura (Kamen Rider Den-O)
13. Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea
14. Kamen Rider Den-O
15. Sound Horizon
16. Toradora!
17. Ranka Lee
18. Yukari Tamura (Nanoha Takamachi, Mei from Clannad)
19. Rie Kugiyama (Louise from Zero no Tsukaima, Taiga from Toradora!)
20.Jun Fukuyama (Lelouch from Code Geass)
21. Maaya Sakamoto (Ryogi Shiki from Kara no Kyoukai)
22. JAM Project
23. Minori Chihara
24. Yoko Kanno
25. Kara no Kyoukai
26. Ono Daisuke
27. Nakagawa Shouko
28. Slayers Revolution
29. Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei
30. Dear Girl Stories

Anime and Tokusatsu Category
1. Macross F
2. CLANNAD
3. Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2
4. Mobile Suit Gundam 00
5. Toradora!
6. Kannagi
7. Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone
8. Kamen Rider Den-O
9. Minami-ke
10. Strike Witches

I suppose that ever since Code Geass finished its airing, it’s top spot has been usurped by its 2 competitors, namely Macross Frontier and Clannad. I was expecting Gundam 00 to rise above Code Geass too, but I guess some viewers are sick of the many Gundam series being churned out ? Toradora loomed over Kannagi, probably due to several reasons, from Nagi not being a virgin to hardcore fans, to Toradora currently still airing. I was pleasantly surprised that Minami-ke was in the top 10 list, though.

Characters Category
1. Sheryl Nome (Macross F)
2. Lelouch vi Brittania (Code Geass)
3. Ranka Lee (Macross F)
4. Setsuna F Seiei (Gundam 00)
5. Tieria Erde (Gundam 00)
6. Nagi (Kannagi)
7. Minori Kushieda (Toradora!)
8. Nagisa Furukawa (Clannad)
9. Taiga Aisaka (Toradora!)
10. Lina Inverse (Slayers Revolution)

Buxom 17-year-old > loser cunning Geass-boy.

Artiste Category (seiyuu, singers)
1. Nana Mizuki
2. JAM Project
3. Sound Horizon
4. ALI PROJECT
5. Angela (Shikabane Hime Aka OP and ED)
6. May’n
7. Minori Chihara
8. Yui Horie
9. Kajiura Yuki
10. Nakagawa Shouko

Need I say more? She the only Seiyuu who merges her singing career and gets away with it. With a legion of fans. And tops JAM Project. How’s that for an Anison singer.

Upcoming Seiyuu Category
1. Haruka Tomatsu
2. Yuichi Nakamura
3. Aya Endo
4. Megumi Nakajima

Due to her role as Nagi in Kannagi, Haruka Tomatsu rose right to the tops, on par with her veteran colleagues like Minori Chihara and Nana Mizuki. I’m saying only seiyuu-wise, so all you rabid fanboys, hold your horses. Her age is also another factor, probably attracting lolicons out there as well.

Upcoming Artiste Category
1. May’n
2. Kalafina
3. ON/OFF
4. CID
5. Stereo Honey

May’n sure has made a name for herself, with her first re-invented single hitting top 30 oricon charts for several weeks. This is a feat to be held, especially to a new anison singer. Kalafina was a close second, backed up by the wonderful theme songs and soundtracks composed by Kajiura Yuki.

Female Seiyuu Category
1. Yui Horie
2. Nana Mizuki
3. Yukari Tamura
4. Aya Hirano
5. Minori Chihara
6. Inoue Marina
7. Haruka Tomatsu
8. Rie Kugimiya
9. Mamiko Noto
10. Megumi Hayashibara
11. Maaya Sakamoto
12. Ryoko Shintani
13. Kobayashi Yuu
14. Mitsuki Saiga
15. Nonaka Ai
16. Shiraishi Ryoko
17. Nakahara Mai
18. Tanaka Rie
19. Ami Koshimizu
20. Sato Rina

Hocchan sprang out from her gloom after the height of her career when she first voiced as Narusegawa Naru from Love Hina, and snatched endearing roles from her younger colleagues, like Minori from Toradora!. Did I mention her rabid fans worship her like a goddess, so much so that they have a ‘morse code’ of their own? Hidden meanings to their chants, it seems….

For Nana Mizuki, it’s not much better; but at least they don’t have secret language or behave like an occult. To be honest, the top 3 places have scary fanbase, especially with the 3rd, Yukarin’s fans were so rabid that she herself couldn’t stand it at times.

I wonder why Hirano Aya is still there despite all the boo-boos from bad press. I guess bad news is better than no news?

Male Seiyuu Category
1. Mamoru Miyano
2. Hiroshi Kamiya
3. Daisuke Ono (Itsuki from Haruhi, Munto from Sora o Miageru Shoujo)
4. Fukuyama Jun (Lelouch from Code Geass)
5. Yuuichi Nakamura (from Kamen Rider Den-O, not to be mistaken with the anime seiyuu)

The “shotgun marriage”, as much as Miyano vehemently denies it, helped with his career even more, despite his fangirls cursing his wife to have a miscarriage. The usual BL candidates, such as Daisuke Ono and Fukuyama Jun, are expected to be in the top 5. But recently, due to his role as Tieria in Gundam 00, Hiroshi Kamiya reached second place, an astounding jump from his past roles and popularity. I’m not sure how popular is Den-O in japan, but that -other- Nakamura Yuuichi hitting the 5th place was quite astonishing to me.

Artiste Group Category
1. Kurobara
2. Friends
3. GRANRODEO
4. THE IDOLM@STER
5. SMILY☆SPIKY

Almost all of the groups in this category belongs to Horie Yui. Enough said. She’s the true winner in this category.

Theme Songs Category
1. Triangler (Maaya Sakamoto) [Macross F 1st OP]
2. Vanilla Salt (Yui Horie) [Toradora! 1st ED]
3. Iteza☆Gogo Kuji Don’t be late (May’n) [Macross F insert]
4. Lion (May’n, Megumi Nakajima) [Macross F 2nd OP]
5. Pre-Parade (Rie Kugiyama, Yui Horie, Eri Kitamura) [Toradora 1st OP]

As usual, Macross Frontier rules again, especially when it’s regarding music. It garnered 3 places out of the top 5, while Toradora got 2. Not a bad score, since Toradora! is not music-centric.

CD Album Category
1. Moira / Sound Horizon
2. Darling / Horie Yui
3. Parade / Minori Chihara
4. RIOT GIRL / Hirano Aya
5. Izayoi no Tsuki, Canaria no Koi / Yukari Tamura
6. Macross F OST Nyan Furo
7. Kinsho / ALI PROJECT
8. SLAYERS MEGAMIX / Megumi Hayashibara
9. Get over the Border! ~ JAM Project BEST COLLECTION
10. Wonderful World / Ryoko Shinatani

Not very familar with Sound Horizon, so I’ll just leave it as that. Hocchan’s in second place, while astoundingly, Minorin is in the third place. Great job!

CD Single Category
1. Trickster / Mizuki Nana
2. Bambino Bambina/ Yukari Tamura
3. Vanilla Salt / Horie Yui
4. Discovery / Miyano Mamoru
5. Triangular / Maaya Sakamoto
6. STARCAMP EP / Mizuki Nana
7. Seikan Hikou / Megumi Nakajima
8. Diamond Crevasse/ Iteza gogo kuji Don’t be Late / Sheryl Nome starring May’n
9. Manatsu no Spica / Daisuke Ono
10. INTENTION / Kenichi Suzumura

The other 2nd winners of this category

Mizuki Nana tops yet another category again, with 2 songs hitting the top 10, and one of which garnering the first position. The Macross Frontier ladies didn’t lose out, either. And of course, hocchan is in it, too.

DVD Category
1. NANA MIZUKI LIVE FORMULA at SAITAMA SUPER ARENA
2. Horie Yui Christmas LIVE
3. Yukari Tamura LIVE 2008 “Chelsea Girl”
4. Minori Chihara 1st Live Tour 2008 ~Contact~
5. NANA CLIPS 4

Re-stocks sold out several times during its launch. That’s enough to tell that it’ll hit the tops for this category.

Blog and Homepage Category
1. Nakagawa Shouko
2. Minori Chihara
3. Mizuki Nana
4. Mamoru Miyano
5. Inoue Marina

Shoko-tan blogs at least 5 times per day. Even on the go; her cellphone’s her blogging partner. No other person can beat her in this aspect.

Light Novels Category
1. Toradora!
2. Zero no Tsukaima
3. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
4. A Certain Magical Index
5. Spice and Wolf

With the rest in the list currently finished its anime run on television (with the exception of Index), Toradora easily tops this category.

Manga Category
1. Mahou Sensei Negima!
2. Kannagi
3. Hayate no Gotoku
4. Lucky☆Star
5. Gintama

I have no idea why Negima! is still popular after all these years. I’m already sick of harem manga. And in a twist of events, Kannagi still manages to get 2nd place.

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Final Thoughts:

Firstly, I’d find it to be quite up to date with the seiyuu and artiste trends in Japan, it’s about 80% accurate, or at least within my expectations. I’d say it’s quite similar to Singapore’s as well; at least, those who are more knowledgeable with regards to anime and seiyuu. Macross Frontier still comes out tops, Hocchan still reigning queen of the seiyuu world, and Nana-chan is coming to usurp her throne. Haruka Tomatsu is the dark horse, while Hirano Aya breezed pass the flames that spread out to her throughout the year 2008. Gundam 00 didn’t fare as much as I’d expect, and Gurren Lagann and Kara no Kyoukai fans are amongst the shadows.

Now, wonder what else would be in stall for us this year, in the year 2009? Which anime would take over Macross Frontier’s place?