Spoilers from Yuki Yuna wa Yusha de Aru: Yusha no Shou, ACCA: 13-ku Kansatsu-ka, Yuki Yuna wa Yusah de Aru: Washio Sumi no Shou, Kotohana Kitan, Houseki no Kuni
Part one can be found over here.
Alrighty, I’m skipping the chit chat for the most.
But do be wary of spoilers.
Spoilers
Spoilers
Spoilers
That should do it. Here we go!
5. The despair of Yuki Yuna – Yuki Yuna wa Yusha de Aru: Yusha no Shou
Alright, alright, some people take offense to the glorification of sacrifice as shown in Yuki Yuna wa Yusha de Aru. They don’t agree with this portrayal or definition of heroism.
But in this moment, Yuki Yuna isn’t trying to be a hero. She’s just a confused girl who doesn’t want to keep her friends in a loop, but has no other choice since telling them about what’s going on will cause them to suffer. She’s been locked out and can’t rely on her friends to bail her out.
She’s the type of girl who will bottle things up inside in order to not inconvenience others, but she usually ends up leaning on others for support in order to accomplish her goals. This option isn’t available for her here, however, and she’s left to cry alone on the street as she feels guilty over the misfortune she brought upon Fu-senpai.
This whole situation firmly covers a typical loophole that pertains to protagonists. I know I’ve sometimes yelled at the screen in vain, hoping that the main character will open up and ask for help from his or her friends. But, as I’ve stated already, this simply isn’t an option.
4. Nino takes the hit – ACCA: 13-ku Kansatsu-ka episode 11
In this scene, Nino cements his status as a real bro. Pushing Jean out of the way of an assassin’s bullet is definitely a bro thing to do. The fact that this happens after episode 8, which is when the audience gets some insight into Nino’s backstory and when he admits to his superior that he went along with his father for his father’s sake and not for his superior’s sake or His Majesty’s sake, doesn’t diminish the impact of this moment one bit. Through this simple gesture, Nino shows that he’s grown to truly love Jean as his own family even if he has to stalk and monitor him due to his orders.
He lives, don’t worry.
3. Gin’s determination – Yuki Yuna wa Yusah de Aru: Washio Sumi no Shou episode 4
The strongest defends her friends and fights for her loved ones. She goes out like a warrior after proving she’s a badass by driving three Vertex by herself without the use of fairies or Mankai. This scene still messes me up emotionally.
2. A fateful reunion – Konohana Kitan episode 8
Like most of these moments in this two-part list, this particular sequence happens near the end of the episode. After being introduced to all three visitors who were unhappy with their lives to the point that they attempted suicide, wished to remain in a coma, etc, the viewer gets to see all three visitors become happy. The twist in particular explains everything. Konohana Kitan is particularly good at serving these satisfying episodes that don’t require several weeks to set-up. It was obviously yuri from the very start, but it was so much more that.
1. The aftermath of Dia’s fight with Shiro
Don’t get me wrong: the actual all-or-nothing brawl was nothing less than incredible. The way that Diamond uses her own cut-off arm to slice Shiro in half due to her innate hardness was something only she could do (plus it’s just another example of her reckless fighting style). In the end, she ends up being broken, but she, for the most part, put down a dangerous threat.
What makes this particular moment so great for me is the brief moment of tenderness Bort and Diamond share after Diamond’s victory. Diamond admits that it was for the better that they separated since now she realizes just how much she values Bort while looking at her from a distance. And Bort says she feels the same.
They may no longer be partners, but they finally see each others as equals.
And of course Bort to going to defend her precious sibling from what’s left of Shiro.
There was so many great anime moments in 2017 that this list was incredibly hard to write. I’d love to hear about some of your favorites. It doesn’t even have to be from anime that aired in 2017! Show me some love for older series, too!
The Lily Garden 
That ACCA moment!!
ACCA is yet another anime I forget I watched, but then went to tell everyone to go watch. Thanks for reminding me of this great moment 😀
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Mmmmm that moment was so powerful.
Ah, you’re welcome!
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I’m just going to limit myself to mentioning a few scenes that I watched or re-watched within this calendar year (with pre-2017 shows noted as such), because otherwise I could talk forever on this topic.
Favorite comedy scene: the buildup to Keita’s confession in episode 6 of Gamers! As a payoff to everything the show had built up over the first half of the series it delivers in a big way. I just could not stop laughing the whole time.
Favorite romantic scene: Your Name. Twilight. Need I say more?
Favorite yuri scene: Pick any one of a dozen from Saki, although the one that I keep coming back to is Momo completely freaking out when Yumi and Hisa get “chummy” in Zenkoku-hen (2014). I’m not the biggest Momo fan, so it’s kind of fun watching Yumi yank her chain, even if it (probably) wasn’t deliberate.
Favorite action scene: Lancer vs. Assassin in the first Fate/Stay Night Heaven’s Feel movie. For battle choreography and sheer spectacle, Ufotable did some EX-rank animation work here, and more impressive is that most of it was original storyboarding (in the VN their fight got tossed off in like three lines).
Favorite dramatic scene: Gin’s last battle in Washio Sumi. This was the most important scene in the entire prequel, the one they absolutely had to get right, and it delivered in spades.
Biggest “Holy S***!!!” scene: The end of episode 4 of Vivid Strike (2016). I’m not even going to tease the setup, let alone the actual scene, especially since you’ll see it eventually if you stick with Nanoha. Suffice it to say that I’d planned to make this the last episode I watched that night…after it ended I spent about ten minutes sitting silently in my chair internalizing what I just saw, then picked my jaw up off the floor and went right on to episode 5.
Favorite speech scene: Hachiman’s equally funny and cathartic speech to the School Festival Committee in Oregairu (2013), where in his own inimicable way he indirectly calls out most of them for being a bunch of lazy bums and dumping all their work on him and Yukino.
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Favorite comedy scene: Oh, yeah, that part finally cashed in on all that build-up and was hilarious to boot.
Favorite romantic scene. No, you don’t!
Favorite yuri scene: That part was gold. Momo is only okay~su, but the way she freaked out was cute. Hisa is so good at leading people on.
Favorite action scene: I need to see this. From the sounds of it the scene was incredible. Very impressive that it was mostly original storyboarding, too. EX-rank!
Favorite dramatic scene: Amen. Gosh, it was so incredible.
Favorite speech scene: 8man delivers once again, 8888888. It felt good seeing and hearing him tear into them.
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I didn’t watch the second season of Yuki Yuna, because… I’m one of the people you’re talking about in your opening paragraph. (I don’t find it offensive; it’s more that I think it’s deeply problematic. I can talk at length about this topic, including other shows, but not here.)
I really enjoyed the other three shows you mentioned (with Houseki no Kuni coming last, mostly because of the CGI – yeah, it’s pretty, but there’s always something in the motions and “plasticity” of it all that keeps me out [I also never really liked claymation or puppets, to put this in context]), and those were all pretty good scenes.
My brain’s a sieve, and often don’t remember scenes in detail, so I’m bad at this sort of thing, but his year had episode 10 of Made in Abyss: In what is already a high-tension scene Riko asks Reg to cut off her arm (to save her life), and what follows is one of the most visceral can’t-look-away scenes I’ve ever scene. The voice actors really sell the scene, and the camera knows where it doesn’t have to be – the timing is excellent. I watched this scene while sleep deprived, and when finally the end credits came on, I was so sick that I thought I would pass out. I worried that I might not be able to switch off my computer. I’m not sure I’d call it the best scene of the year, but it’s definitely the most memorable.
I remember there being a really great scene in a not-so-good show, and love it when that happens, but for the life of me I can’t remember the scene or show right now. I’ll be back if I remember in time.
Well, it’s not so much a scene, but an entire skit: I enoyed season 1 of Osomatsu san a lot. It was wildly uneven – hits hit hard, but misses hit equally hard. Season 2 isn’t quite up to scratch, but… the skit “Jyushimatsu and the Dolphins”. Jyushimatsu is completely taken with a dolphin show, so he immediately applies for a job. But they won’t have him. They tell him he can’t become a dolphin in their show. The way the skit plays out to the end is something you have to see for yourself or forever forgo knowledge of. Words can’t express this inspirational nonsense. It’s a thing of beauty.
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Mmm I had you and Irina in mind when I added that part into the post.
Fair enough. You like what you like!
I won’t lie, that scene was very hard to watch and forget. I figured someone would bring it up. You’re totally right about the voice acting.
Aww, got it. Feel free to come back whenever you’ve remembered.
Curiosity has me wanting to find out about this Jyushimatsu and the Dolphins scene. It sounds brilliant.
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If you want to check out Jyushimatsu and the Dolphins, it’s:
Osomatsu san, Season 2 / Episode 8 / second half (somewhere between 12 – 14 minutes in until the end-credits). It’s absolutely brilliant (if you’re not turned off by the show’s style, which some people are – even then, there’s a chance that this skit is an exception).
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Correction: the skit actually starts around 8 minutes in, so it’s a bit longer than I thought.
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So many possibilities…
In Demi-chan, when Takahashi takes Kyouko to the college campus and as she sits there daydreaming – and realises she could become a scientist and research her own nature.
Also, the final post-credits scene is Tsuki ga Kirei – when both families are gathered around the newborn.
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Both are great scenes!
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Phew glad to read that final sentence 😅 Because yeah I had some great moments but they were from older series 😊
The moment that stands out for me the most was the final episode of Your Lie in April. (The entire anime was of course amazing, but that final episode brought me to tears in no way any other anime ever did). I loved it, even though I cried my eyes out 😊
And then there was Psycho Pass. The first time I saw a Dominator weapon in action I think my jaw must have hit the floor. I loved that!
I’ve seen more anime this year than I have ever seen in a single year, and I really hope that next year I will see even more 😀😀
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Haha, I don’t wanna be exclusionary!
Your Lie in April sure was an emotional roller coaster. The watch-along with Weekend was this year, wasn’t it? It feels so long ago.
Yeah that moment in Psycho Pass was electric!
Here’s to even more anime in 2018, then, yay!
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Yes it was this year…I had the sane thought when I wrote this comment. It really does feel so long ago 😮😮
Hope you will have a great Christmas 😊😊
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Right…wow 2017 was a long year.
Thank you! Merry Christmas to you, too!
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I’ve long said that the final ep of Your Lie in April is one of the best I’ve ever seen.
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I could not agree with you more on that. It was truly one of the most amazing and heartbreaking endings that I have ever seen for an anime 😊
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