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On this, the final Crown of Anime tournament update, I am pleased to announce that Vision of Escaflowne has defeated The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya by a score of 6-3 to claim the third Crown of Anime championship crown.
Ultimately the deservedly popular and very recent Haruhi Suzumiya series was no match for the jewel of the Namco-Bandai affiliated anime studios Bandai Visual and Sunrise.
Thanks to all of the judges who voted throughout the tournament (there were 9 in the final match). We will conduct a drawing no earlier than two weeks from now, in which two of the eligible judges will be awarded some nifty Keiichi.net Radio loot! Please stay tuned to this website as the drawing, er, “draws” close.
And now let’s see what the judges thought. As this is the final match, all comments received will be posted here.
DANIEL AMSLER
KNR Handle: NefCanuck
I decided that unlike my past submissions up to this point, I would keep the source formatting. Rather fitting for the “Grande Finale” I thought.
Now, to look at the competitors:
Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is a newer series than its competition here, but this should not be held against it as Haruhi tells its story in such an unconventional way that it could be said to be defining of a new genre of anime all by itself (though what would this genre be called? The Out Of Sequence Samba?) The characters are memorable and the music while not ground breaking has certainly led to more than one ‘net phenomenon (The “Haruhi Dance” has entered the lexicon even faster than the “Kodocha Dance” ever did)
Vision of Escaflowne is a much more conventional tale of two people finding love with one another (though how conventional can a tale be when the heroine is transported from Earth to another planet entirely and said planet is a mix of medieval European and mecha?) Escaflowne is memorable not just for its setting, but its supporting characters, including the smiling Alan Schezar, who one can never be quite sure as to whose side he is on at times. Or Merle a feline humanoid, whose cat like tendencies lead to some hilarious visuals, including watching her tail hair stick straight out when she is upset/angry. The music is another of Escaflowne’s drawing cards for me, from the opening theme “Yakusoku” (Promise) to the ending theme “Mystic Eyes” and everything in between, the music transports the listener to the mystic land of Gaia on a sweeping sonic scale.
In choosing which of these two to give the crown, I’m left with saying “which of these two series has more about it that I enjoy”?
On that basis, I will have to give my vote to “Vision of Escaflowne” as my choice for the Crown of Anime Tournament winner, its story and music being just that much more of a draw for me.
A quick final note, this was an interesting tournament with many twists and turns, with many anime that I personally enjoyed not getting to this point and yet I can’t think of two more deserving and interesting combatants in the final round.
I’ll be back for the next tournament, ready to offer up my reasoning for my choices for the next Crown of Anime.
MEGAN GALE
KNR Handle: Mako-chan
Wow...I can't believe Sailor Moon lost!! After coming so close!! Anyways, here's my vote for the championship match...
VISION OF ESCAFLOWNE
I love both of these animes a lot. But Escaflowne is a classic, and I've been one to side with classic animes (all my round picks were for Sailor Moon when it popped up). I have yet to finish Escaflowne, but I just recently aquired the entire series PLUS its movie for under $15 (Thank a new store owned by Gamestop for that, Moviestop) so that series WILL be finished finally. And it's just a great overall story. Haruhi's great and all, but somehow I lost interest even though I have all 4 DVDs of it...so good luck Van and Hitomi!
CHARMICE HARDY
KNR Handle: LuckieDuckie
Vote: Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is such an interesting story of a bored girl, and just what sort of insane havoc this bored girl can create whenever she gets a "great" idea. Of course, her efforts are centered in finding what seems to be impossible: aliens, time travelers and ESPers... When I first saw this series, I sat for the first few seconds thinking, "wait, what's going on here?" The subsequent time I spent watching this series entailed having to gasp for breath as I laughed too hard. Haruhi manages to be thoroughly entertaining, without a care in the world to how the basic structure for entertaining audiences should be maintained. Haruhi can be applauded for breaking through the basic style of anime and creating something new. One thing's for sure, Haruhi may have lost her music and lost her common sense, but she certainly hasn't lost her audience!
The Vision of Escaflowne is a compelling series about a young girl named Hitomi, as she falls into the midst of a war that ultimately she has a deciding role in. As she's thrust in, she learns how to collaborate with others and learn to trust. The setting is fantastic, though for me personally, the story drags quite a bit, and sometimes devolves into bursts of drama surrounded by whiney fits. But, the music is downright gorgeous, and makes viewing the series worthwhile for that alone. The animation is very well done as well. Ultimately however, I must say that the choice between the two series was very easy for me.
CAMILO HARRIS
I want Escaflowne to win because I believe it is worthy of winning the title of Crown of Anime. The music is wonderful and the animation is splendid. I enjoyed the plot of the story and how the characters came together and the plot twist in it. All in all I enjoyed it a lot and I hope that those who haven’t seen it will watch it.
ALL HAIL DILANDOU!!!
PAUL CARR
KNR Handle: Kaldeth
In contrast to the Semi-Final round, I feel that it is The Vision of Escaflowne (VoE) that provides the, overall, more fulfilling experience this time rather than its current opponent. If there is one word that can sum up the whole experience of watching VoE is grandeur. This anime takes place on a grand stage. It seems to have it all: A strange mystical land, young brave warriors with exceptional skill, giant morphing mechas, psychopathic adversaries, dark sinister empires bent on world domination, cat-girls (OK, just one), a Japanese schoolgirl, with special latent abilities and who holds the key to it all, along with love, honor, betrayal, sacrifice, magic and determination. Though there certainly were a number of derivative elements I have seen in other anime, I nevertheless felt that VoE blended those elements quite splendidly. I could easily get immersed in the story. This definitely an epic series!
As for The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, I can certainly understand why this show gained the cult status it did. It was certainly a fun series with a way-out premise and quirky characters. Often times things are not as they originally seemed. You come to gain a fondness and deeper understanding of the main character, who normally comes off as brash, and a bit of a bully. I was continually fascinated by the fact that the extraordinary people that Haruhi was searching for were in her midst all along; and they were researching her! Still I felt that the jumbled episode order, while a cute gimmick, made the story a little difficult to follow.
GINO MIPAKA
Ok so first of F$%@ing all DEATH NOTE! or Code Geass should if been in the FINAL, not some lame show, haruhi suzumiya, that has a weird episode structure. But then again that's just my opinion, dont wanna rain on anyone’s parade.
BRIAN SALEEBY
Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. While both are really good shows, haruhi is more fun to watch and one of the most original concepts i've seen in a while. kyon is an awesome narrator for the shows and makes them extremely interesting. all the characters have there own little quirks that add up to make a great whole.
And there you have it! I thought it was going to be a close finish, but Escaflowne has proven its lasting image by a 2 to 1 ratio.
Special thanks to Keiichi-san for putting up with me during this tournament, and for his help with developing rules and tiebreakers. Thanks to Britt for her tremendous help and input, too. Without her advice, judges in this year’s tournament would not have a fair chance to have their voices heard.
Kara Dennison, the masterful comic artist, created the JRHorse Side Project mascot, Sara Yoshida, who was also used as the mascot for this tournament. I <3 Sara! I <3 Kara! I <3 Kara’s work, and I’m sure you’ll agree and <3 her work after you look at her website, www.conscrew.com
And of course, a special thanks to all of the Judges who decided on all of the matches that took place over the last month and a half or so... some of which were very interesting and very tough.
Once again, Judges should check this website near the end of the month as we conduct the special “thank you” prize drawing.
Until next time, thanks for joining us in “The Split!”
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