If you have not already listened to the podcast of this category, this is the final results, so this will spoil the course of the discussion on that podcast! Be warned!
We still feel like game critics first and foremost, even though that’s… clearly not true, and hasn’t been for years. The bulk of our work is talking anime, and that not only makes us experts in the field, we also have seen/read a lot of the same things, and even had initial conversations about our impressions. This makes finding a winner sometimes easier, sometimes harder- we often already agree, but if we don’t, it’s hard to change someone’s mind.
The Winner
BanG Dream: It’s MyGO!!!!! (Anime)
Across various categories, we’ve spilled lots of metaphorical ink over MyGO!!!!!! What remains to be said? It’s surprisingly good-looking despite being an all-CG anime. The music is great. The story hits. But mostly it’s just an incredible cast of characters with believable interpersonal tensions, affections, pains, and problems. There was never any question it would win the category.
The Runners-Up
The Elusive Samurai (Anime)
There’s no shortage of samurai stories in anime. You therefore have to do something special to stand out in the field. The Elusive Samurai doesn’t want to stand, and instead opts to run.
Sorry. But it was right there.
Flowing between comedy and grim reality deftly, this show has a striking art style, dramatic beats to admire alongside jokes to laugh at, and all with a different idea of how to do a fight: it’s a chase. And our hero loves to be chased. That enthusiasm is channeled into some animation that simply has to be seen to be believed. It’s… stunning.
Yotsuba& (Manga)
The thing about Yotsuba& is that it ISN’T a very honest representation of what kids are like. It’s what kids can be like. Yotsuba& is all about Yotsuba, an energetic and quirky five year old, and reading it, you can be convinced that this is just what kids are! Yotsuba’s just a kid! Yes, and no. The way the manga hits all the beats of a child’s life while making all of them funny and charming… well. Ask some parents if every moment of parenting is fun and funny.
And yet it feels so honest. Every anecdote, scenario, and gag feels like it’s born out of a story someone is telling you about their kid. It’s a combination of real elements to create a fully believable unreal comedy. I wish kids were this fun to grow up with. Like… there are definitely kids I like. 100%. But they can be so exhausting, and reading Yotsuba& is purely energizing.
That’s it for this week! Come back next week for the last three categories of the Gimmick Awards!
Our art is a commission from Sarracenian on Bluesky.
