Chris – It’s very strange indeed. To me, it felt like a time warp back to 2002 or 2003 lol!

mochi – Thanks for the info and links to help clarify the nomination rules!

If they do it next year, I would suggest that they keep the rules simple. Since they’re calling it the “American Anime Awards”, the rules should be better-defined. Here’s a few rules I would suggest:

Rules to submit an anime series, anime movie or manga to the 2008 American Anime Awards:

• The ANIME SERIES must have debuted in North America on DVD in 2007.
• The ANIME SERIES must have debuted in North America ONLINE in 2007.
• The ANIME SERIES must have debuted in North America on BROADCAST TELEVISION in 2007.
• The ANIME MOVIE must have debuted in North American THEATERS in 2007.
• The MANGA must have debuted in North America in 2007.

I have a lot more thoughts on the rules, but I’ll probably write a whole article on the thing.

True enough…remember though:

The nominations were made by the industry (ADV, Geneon, Funimation, etc.) and by a select group of independent “journalists” (Anime Insider, Anime News Network, and Anime on DVD). They had to restrict their nominations to anime “available in the U.S. during 2006, whether by DVD…, national TV, or theatrical release”. The inclusion of DVDs really opened up the potential nominees list…without it, Akira would have been ineligible.

It does not surprise me that the nominees tend to be ones selected more for their financial and popular merits rather than ones lauded for their artistry/creativity. Art is so subjective; it is easier to benchmark finance and popularity.

The nominees were:

Akira
Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
Fullmetal Alchemist–The Movie
Inuyasha Movie 4: Fire on Mystic Island
Pokemon Movie 8: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew

I voted for Akira.

What was your choice?

It took me a while to find since animeblogger.net seems to be having some problems, but below is an excerpt from another blog with regards to the nomination issue:

“In an interview with ANN, Milton Griepp from ICv2 was asked about this. Below are both the question and Griepp’s response:

‘Why are there so many anime series on the ballot that have been available for years? Is the ceremony celebrating the entire history of anime in America or are these awards for series released or broadcast in 2006?

The awards are to celebrate the best anime in America in 2006, as selected by fans. In order to be eligible, the anime had to be available on TV, in theaters, or on DVD during that period. Again, this method was chosen to make the process as open and inclusive as possible; rather than making an arbitrary distinction based on whether an anime was first seen during 2006, the nominators and voters will decide what’s best from everything that was available last year.’”

If you want to read the full post, see:

http://anime.crumplednapkin.net/2007/02/26/american-anime-awards-room-to-improve/

If you want to read the interview:

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/feature/2007-01-03

As to the winner of Best Animated Feature…well, that was the pick of the fans that voted…it wasn’t my choice either.

And how does Akira not win best animated feature? I mean, I love Advent Children, but fan service does not trump originality. Ever.

Here is a paragraph from the American Anime Awards website about voting information:

“The ballots contain nominations from industry companies and professionals. All nominations will appear on the ballot. To be eligible for an award, anime or manga must be available in the U.S. during 2006, whether by DVD (or book or periodical, in the case of manga), national TV, or theatrical release. Anime and manga are defined, for purposes of this award, as animation or comics, respectively, originally produced in Japan.”

As you can see, the eligibility requirements are rather broad which is why such a wide range of anime was available for nomination.

Actually, Akira made it into three of the categories as a nominee:

Best Anime Feature
Best Actor – Johnny Yong Bosch (Akira, Bleach, Eureka 7)
Best Actor in a Comedy – Johnny Yong Bosch (Akira)

I haven’t figured out that last nomination…I had read a brief explanation about it on another blog, but I forget what was said as it didn’t make much sense to me.

Only two of the nominees I voted for won…fairly typical.

Now that the inaugural awards have been given out, hopefully they will rework the eligibility requirements again…at least have the current winners not eligible for next year.