The King of Braves GaoGaiGar (Sunrise, 1997, one episode) 2/10

Eat-Man (Studio Deen, 1997, three episodes) Points for originality. 4/10

Cutie Honey F (Toei, 1997, one episode) 1/10

Bakusou Kyoudai Let's & Go WGP (Xebec, 1997, one episode) 2/10

Speed Racer X (Tatsunoko, 1997, three episodes) I regret not trying the original first. 3/10

Night Warriors: Darkstalkers' Revenge (Madhouse, 1997, completed) To begin with, I don't even like the Darkstalkers games, so there was practically no hope for this series. 2/10

Jungle De Ikou! (Unknown studio, 1997, one episode) 1/10

Ayane's High Kick (Unknown studio, 1997, completed) 2/10

Gestalt (Unknown studio, 1997, completed) 1/10

Strange Love (Unknown studio, 1997, completed) 1/10

Kishin Douji Zenki Gaiden: Anki Kitan (Studio Deen, 1997, completed) 2/10

Virtua Fighter Costomize Clip (Production I.G, 1997, completed) 3/10

Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death & Rebirth (Gainax, 1997, completed) The movies are mostly what add to Eva's appeal for me, and this isn't even the better of the two. 5/10

The Dog of Flanders (Nippon Animation, 1997, completed) World Masterpiece Theater sure knows what to make movies and shows out of, but they've yet to give me a reason not to just read the original works. 5/10

Mahou Gakuen Lunar! Aoi Ryuu no Himitsu (J.C.Staff, 1997, completed) 1/10

Revolutionary Girl Utena (J.C.Staff, 1997, ten episodes) I can appreciate that the show is going for a deconstruction, and it does it better than Madoka, so it definitely gets points for that. The fact that I've seen enough magical girl shows at this point to know exactly what the show is deconstructing is also pretty fun. The thing is, I don't know why the fuck there needs to be thirty-nine episodes of it. I don't hate it, and I understand the point of it, but I'm just not that into it. 4/10

The File of Young Kindaichi (Toei, 1997, one episode) Too long, don't care. Same case as Detective Conan, but I liked the atmosphere of this show a little bit more. 4/10

Cooking Master Boy (Nippon Animation, 1997, two episodes) Really fucking dumb. 3/10

CLAMP School Detectives (Studio Pierrot, 1997, two episodes) Look, I appreciate Clamp's existence and all, but I just wish they'd make something good. 3/10

Hyper Police (Studio Pierrot, 1997, one episode) 1/10

Maze: The Mega-Burst Space (J.C.Staff, 1997, one episode) 2/10

Haunted Junction (Studio Pierrot, 1997, one episode) 1/10

Super Fishing Grander Musashi (Nippon Animation, 1997, one episode) 2/10

Hakugei: Legend of the Moby Dick (Annapuru, 1997, one episode) Just read the fucking book. 1/10

Hareluya II Boy (Triangle Staff, 1997, one episode) 1/10

Kero Kero Chime (Unknown studio, 1997, one episode) 1/10

In The Beginning: The Bible Stories (Tezuka Productions, 1997, one episode) 1/10

Bamboo Bears (Telescreen BV, 1997, one episode) This is by far the most Western-looking anime I've ever seen, which is the most complementary thing I can say about it. 3/10

Agent AIKa (Studio Fantasia, 1997, one episode) 1/10

Sakura Diaries (Shaft, 1997, one episode) 1/10

I Dream of Mimi (OLM, 1997, one episode) 1/10

Battle Athletes (AIC, 1997, one episode) 1/10

Psycho Diver: Soul Siren (Madhouse, 1997, completed) 2/10

VS Knight Lamune & 40 Fresh (Production Reed, 1997, one episode) 1/10

Demon Fighter Kocho (Unknown studio, 1997, completed) 1/10

Sprite: Between Two Worlds (J.C.Staff, 1997, one episode) 1/10

Wild Cardz (Unknown studio, 1997, one episode) 1/10

Eikyuu Kazoku (Studio 4°C, 1997, completed) 4/10

Hermes: Winds of Love (Unknown studio, 1997, completed) 3/10

Flame of Recca (Studio Pierrot, 1997, three episodes) Like if Naruto and Yu Yu Hakusho fucked, it's not as interesting as either. Very, very typical stuff. 4/10

Don't Leave Me Alone, Daisy (Studio Deen, 1997, one episode) 1/10

Tokyo Pig (Unknown studio, 1997, one episode) 3/10

Starship Girl Yamamoto Yohko II (J.C.Staff, 1997, completed) 3/10

Voogie's Angel (J.C.Staff, 1997, one episode) 1/10

Princess Rouge (J.C.Staff, 1997, completed) 2/10

Hyper Speed GranDoll (Unknown studio, 1997, one episode) 1/10

Dragoon (Unknown studio, 1997, one episode) 2/10

Hyper Speed GranDoll (Unknown studio, 1997, completed) 2/10

The Winds of Victory (Unknown studio, 1997, completed) 3/10

Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion (Gainax, 1997, completed) 8/10

A Chinese Ghost Story (Triangle Staff, 1997, completed) Technically not an anime as it was made in Hong Kong, which probably explains why I didn't mind it so much. Not amazing by any means, but it has the atmosphere of a Disney movie and the exploration of Chinese mythology is pretty fun. Not bad at all. 5/10

Bakumatsu no Spasibo (Unknown studio, 1997, completed) 4/10

Berserk (OLM, 1997, completed) I fucking HATE Berserk, but it's really hard to criticize, because it's one of those untouchable entities where, if you have anything bad to say about it, you get one of two responses: either you're just too much of a pussy to handle the edgy grisly stuff—which simply doesn't work in my case, because edgy stuff has always kind of been my domain (my favorite anime is Devilman, for fuck's sake)—or, you get the typical "Yeah the show sucks but the manga is way better so you should just read that instead" response. Well, I have my own reasons for not reading the manga (namely that it amplifies everything that offends me about the show and WAY more), but this isn't a manga thread anyway. The show itself fucking sucks, but on one hand, I actually appreciate that it exists. Sometimes, I get accused of only liking shows if they're dark and edgy. But Berserk is proof positive that your show needs to be a lot more than just "dark and edgy" for me to enjoy it. In a nutshell, whereas my favorite anime is "edgy" for the sake of making poignant statements about human nature while simultaneously having a viscerally repulsive style, Berserk is "edgy" for the sake of shock value (more like schlock value), a "cool" factor, and absolutely nothing else. Just like an Elfen Lied, it's not saying anything intelligent with its constant gore, and every time it tries to, it winds up getting outclassed severely by several other things I've already seen. It's not unique, it's not special. It's an extremely childish show for dumb teenagers and degenerates, and it's one of those shows that makes me feel intense secondhand embarrassment for anybody who genuinely enjoys it. It would be preferable for it not to exist, so I wouldn't ever have to deal with losers trying to defend any of its more indefensible aspects. 1/10

Battle Athletes Victory (AIC, 1997, one episode) 2/10

Virus: Virus Buster Serge (J.C.Staff, 1997, one episode) 1/10

Crayon Kingdom of Dreams (Toei, 1997, one episode) 2/10

Fortune Quest (Unknown studio, 1997, one episode) 2/10

Legend of the Mystical Ninja (Unknown studio, 1997, one episode) 2/10

Super Demon Hero Wataru (Sunrise, 1997, one episode) 1/10

Photon: The Idiot Adventures (AIC, 1997, one episode) 1/10

Baby☆Love (Unknown studio, 1997, one episode) 2/10

Sakura Taisen: Ouka Kenran (Madhouse, 1997, one episode) 3/10

Suddenly Princess (J.C.Staff, 1997, one episode) 2/10

Yuusha Shirei Dagwon: Suishou no Hitomi no Shounen 2/10

Noiseman Sound Insect (Studio 4°C, 1997, completed) Found myself enjoying this quirky short, actually, and it's probably my AotY for 1997. I talk about it more in my 1997 list. It's a good time. 7/10

Gondora (Studio 4°C, 1997, completed) 4/10

Last Orders (Production I.G, 1997, completed) This is just a 60-second beer ad, but it's a pretty cool one. I'd give it more points if it weren't advertising something so shitty. 5/10