A link to Part 2.
The Lovepon Award for Voice Actor Commitment
The Lovepon reference is, admittedly, a joke reference to a notorious show, specifically as Tsutomu Mizushima has already been mentioned in these parts, his divisive horror series The Lost Village (2016). A bizarre misfire or horror parody, depending on interpretation, it was a tongue in cheek reference to "Lovepon", a character voiced by Ai Kakuma where she had to just scream "Execute!" over and over again, or reference execution in casual conversation. Yet, in mind to this joke reference, knowing how diverse the roles you can get in anime can be, this does not seem an insult to keep that title for this as, knowing how odd and sometimes a challenge this career can be depending on the production, this list is still a nod of respect to voice actors. Unlike the last, where there were nods to performances even in questionable productions, this is entirely great performances on solid and great shows.
Admittedly, in mind to Lovepon, being forced to act over the top and scream, especially in comedy, is a common occurrence in anime voice acting, so you could ignore Nurse Witch Komugi (2002-4).
At times a guilty pleasure, just for all the fan service jokes, you however have to credit someone like Yuji Ueda, who plays the perverted rabbit mascot Mugi-maru who does spy on his ally and Komugi in the bath constantly, for committing to the role even if the jokes are questionable. Haruko Momoi, who plays Komugi herself, though has to get the most credit for having to play a parody of a magical girl which is already a commitment, when the character is meant to be as incompetent and mean-spirited as she is actually reliable at her job. Momoi has the added factors however of playing her in the episode where she constantly dies, played for sick laughs, and the greater challenge of all the parodies the figure plays, as a cosplay idol in her day job and part of the OVAs' general humour. There is an extended Science Ninja Team Gatchaman parody which means Momoi has to play multiple versions of Komugi at once, as the four person team and even the old male scientist who provided the giant robot, just for a single extended gag, which even if she had been a veteran would be something to have to figure out to get the joke over, but was near the beginning of her career. Again, you usually do not think about the work required for even these really silly gag sequences, but that was one of the reasons I started included this section for my own growing self awareness of this.
The same applies for Tomokazu Sugita, Shinnosuke Tachibana, Jun Fukuyama and Daisuke Ono for Sekkō Boys (2016), but imagine as you will, dear reader, having to voice characters who cannot be animated with movement, with even facial expressions, and are literally stone faced as, whilst they are a boy band, the four main figures are stone busts of deities and historical figures who can yet interact with the world. You entirely have to commit to this silly premise, as they also happen to be a boy band, and make it work. The four male voice acting leads succeeded. On the opposite end of the spectrum, with the entire casts getting their dues in both, are two female-focused dramas which really show how important it is to get the emotional dramas right. Dear Brother (1991-2) is an incredible, under seen melodrama but, to make its thirty nine episode slow burn length work, as much of this relied on how good the acting was. Revue Starlight (2018) has the added issue, whilst only twelve episodes long, that you also have to sing. With only one male actor in the cast, playing a magical talking giraffe, Revue's female cast have a heavy weight to life between them of acting emotional drama, comedy and musical numbers, and it is just as successful.
For the top however, I have to have a joint award. Two great performances, one from someone in an English dub who would at some point leave the anime industry, someone only starting theirs and staying within the industry. If I were to namedrop Bryan Cranston, most would think of the Breaking Bad (2008–2013) series, and some may know him (as I did growing up watching TV) as the father in Malcolm in the Middle (2000–2006). Cranston was once a working actor, varying between small roles but also working in anime dubbing. He, before leaving this aspect of his career, would arguably commit to one of the best English dub roles in one of the best English dubs made, to the point I would rather watch the English language version of Macross Plus (1994-5) than the Japanese voice dub, which is a rare thing for me having switched the originals with subtitles due when English dubs finally put me off in my youth in their varying quality. It is actually a strong cast anyway, Cranston as the lead alongside the future veteran Richard Epcar who commits to his role brilliantly too, but Cranston is such a fascinating shock. If you were not aware of this, to find once Cranston was in anime voice acting and bringing something magical to the role would be a surprise for many. One only hopes, now post 2020 Harmony Gold have opened up to their rights to the Macross franchise, meaning the original versions will be made more available in the West again, people will be able to access this OVA in a good quality and hear for themselves this. One only hopes too Cranston fondly remembers this time in his career too as, judging from this, it is not a surprise he gained the acclaimed he did in the future as he did just from a voice-only role.
Far more a challenge is that, with only a couple of roles in your career as a teenager, you are picked to play the main lead to a series when you are only sixteen, let alone also sing the main opening theme. Maaya Sakamoto is a prolific voice actress into 2021, including dubbing international films and video games, and also has a music career. Sakamoto as Hitomi, in The Vision of Escaflowne (1996), is arguably as much of the reason, as well as how well written and visually depicted she was, the character is one of the best female protagonists from any animated series. That potential burden of playing a lead that early in a career is a challenge, and yeah, in a cast of great voice acting, of great characters, all round that has to be handpicked out in knowledge of the production as a really incredible voice acting performance.
The CGI Bus Award for Strangest Moments
This title is also a reference to The Lost Village anime, where one banal (and mis-produced) prop, in how it was used ended up having a lasting strange influence. Usually this award is meant for the bizarre and delightfully unexpected, though ironically this year turned out to be surprisingly bleak, and requiring huge spoiler warnings, as a lot of the strangest moments were when bleak and sad plot turns abruptly appeared in the least presumed places, even in one show that you know is heading in that direction but was still peculiar to witness.
Genma Wars (2002) is not that, but there are too many reasons to mention here. I have already mentioned previously details, in an earlier part of these amateur awards, that were bizarre, like eating human children a common occurrence to the monstrous villains in this world, but never mentioned the psychic evil baby, nor the ghost ship of (crudely animated) CGI skeletons in the same episode about an evil computer with its own religious cult, nor countless other things I have probably forgotten. Genma Wars, if it was not also really badly put together, would have likely gained a legacy as a bizarre cult gem.
Lupin The Third - The Woman Called Fujiko Mine (2012) is here for the weird episode, which is a surprise knowing, in a drastic shift in the Lupin franchise at the time, this show looks unique and frankly surreal in what director Sayo Yamamoto was allowed to do, openly (and explicitly) sexual and insanely idiosyncratic in its art style and look. It says something however that, whilst the entire back half of the show could qualify for this segment, involving a nightmarish theme park and the titular Fujiko Mine having clones that start singing, one episode which is just a drug trip of back story gets the spot. Between butterflies and trippy imagery manages, to be deliberately and beautifully weird for a franchise which had already gotten as weird as far back as The Secret of Mamo (1978), the first animated Lupin feature film, really does emphasis the striking nature of the episode.
Less bleak too, actually for a legendary show that is beautiful and sweet by its conclusion, let us not forget that The Vision of Escaflowne is a masterpiece, but has luck enhanced blood and Atlantis as an integral part of its narrative. Shōji Kawamori, the man behind the project originally, would later on make creative choices on shows which may prove divisive - his ecologically minded show Earth Maiden Arjuna (2001) for me has been said to be so heavy handed in its environmental material it is misguided - but here it is wonderful that this seminal fantasy mecha show, of romance and epic drama, is also incredibly odd at points. I can say "luck enhanced blood" does not derail a segment of the show despite being bloody ridiculous as a concept even in context, all because this show manages to include such idiosyncratic content alongside its emotional scale perfectly.
Here we get to the abrupt bleak turns, and this does have to include huge spoiler warnings onwards. It may seem out of place to include She, The Ultimate Weapon (2002) as it is a bleak, strangely structured show already about an unending war with the outcome always likely the world would blow up. The context is as much my reaction to the ending, the choice for this, when I first saw this show in my early years of anime. As much as this is due to studio Gonzo, the creators, who were growing in production and releasing titles when I was getting into anime in the early 2000s, but was divisive for anime fans in that era for losing viewers with each later episode of certain shows, or having to create new story and endings, such as with the original 2001-2 Hellsing. That I had such a negative reaction to how abruptly everything was just destroyed, with your lead male protagonist left on his own with just his girlfriend Chise as a floating orb for the rest of his life. It is weird still, even in how odd the show is as a premise and tone in that, yes, whether well plotted or abrupt, this show suddenly crashes midway through the final episode with not just this, but giant waves everywhere, giant tech-bio tentacles, unexplained unless with knowledge of the original manage, and not just with this being the last love song ever. Only that manga's ending, with the female protagonist becoming a spaceship, would have made this weirder.
Birth (1984) is even weirder as a strange and sluggishly paced action sci-fi, with a comedic bent, in that it is set in the post-apocalypse and ends with its cartoon characters dying. The world is destroyed due to a comedic side character, a tiny robot, using the doomsday weapon despite everyone else beforehand trying to bribe him with sweets to not do so. Yes, that is appropriate weird.
Weirder, and also huge spoilers? Butt Attack Punisher Girl Gautaman (1994) ends as sincerely as a show with classmate cannibalism can. In mind to this anime's perverse streak which gets uncomfortable at times, or its bizarre joke or points like its first henchman being a "scary newspaper delivery man", probably the weirdest thing is that this all ends sincerely. Where the titular heroine either has to not become the heroine one last time, or sacrifice being at the school and never seeing her potential love interest and friend, another girl in the school, again. Amazing to think such a perverse, bizarre show decides to go with this sad ending, with the chosen outcome, and somehow make that final scene actually emotional.
To Be Continued in Part 4....
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