The 2009 UK-Anime.net Awards

Written by A. H. on 16 Dec 2009

What a twelve months it's been, eh?  Myriad high profile anime DVD releases in the UK (and even the odd Blu-Ray!), the massive growth of legally streaming series, some top quality manga, a handful of great conventions, a pair of packed to the rafters London Expos, movie all-nighters and film festivals, the visit of some high-profile names from the world of anime... I think it's fair to say that 2009 has seen plenty of highlights for anyone involved or interested in the world of Japanese animation.

However, it's with a mixture of sadness and anticipation that we find ourselves in the month of December, with the year 2010 rushing towards us (has it really been a decade since rolling our eyes at the Millennium Dome and giggling at the wobbly Millennium Bridge?) and 2009 fast on its way to becoming little more than a distant memory.

Before the year is out though, we still have just enough time to collect and organise our thoughts about what 2009 brought us, and boy were there some classics that hit our shores this year.  So, to celebrate what has been a fantastic year for both UK Anime and anime in the UK as a whole, the staff here have clubbed together (and in some cases, clubbed one another) to argue and decide upon the best of the best for the year almost gone, the result of which is our inaugural, some say premiere, some say first, UK Anime Awards!  

We've chosen our favourite releases in a number of categories, from anime to manga to video games, and dished out awards to those worthy of such a prestigious accolade (while also giving honourable mentions to some of the offerings that came so close to winning our hearts and minds) - So, read on to check out who scooped our prizes, and then head on over to the forum to argue what your own choices would have been!

Best streaming anime

TIME OF EVE

Honourable Mentions

• Saki
• Aoi Hana
• Chi's New Address

As we alluded to in our introduction, 2009 has been an absolutely huge year for the growth of streaming anime available to UK viewers, starting with the momentous announcement that new episodes of Naruto would be streamed online soon after its Japanese broadcast, and culminating in Crunchyroll's prodigious efforts to make as much of the new material screening in Japan available to western viewers at the exact same time as each episode is broadcast in its native country - Efforts which didn't go unnoticed here at UK Anime, as we sought to keep abreast of some of the best series available through their service.

Whether this progress can continue to keep its current head of steam into 2010 remains to be seen (although next year looks likely to open up even more avenues to legally watch series online in the UK), but what we can say is that this year successfully broadened our horizons with numerous series that we'd otherwise most likely never have seen outside of Japan.  

Some of the highlights amongst these series were Saki, a Gonzo produced show that somehow managed to make the tile-based game of Mahjong not only fun but downright gripping to boot, Aoi Hana, a quietly beautiful tale of girls in love and Chi's New Address, a plethora of short episodes about the most adorable kitten in the known universe.

However, there can be only one series streaming online which stood out from the crowd in terms of its power to provoke thought, entertain and move its viewers, and in those terms the choice is a simple one, with Time of Eve picking up our award for the best streaming anime series.

Time of Eve is Yasuhiro Yoshiura's demonstration of "hard" science fiction done right, drawing us into a future Japan where a generation of androids indistinguishable from humans (aside from a ring of light designed to set them apart) work and carry out chores for the rest of the populace.  But what would happen if you created an environment where those rules were changed and discrimination between android and human was expressly forgiven?  This is the premise Time of Eve sets up, taking us on six vaguely inter-twined journeys that teach us more about humanity than it does about robotics.  Quite simply, it's a fascinating premise with episodes that would allow you to fill a book apiece with your thoughts and theories on what you've seen, but never at the expense of entertaining the viewer.  If you watch one streaming series this year, make it Time of Eve.