It is now the year 2016. Not a very futuristic sounding year, despite being further into the future than 2015, which still sounds so far flung and exotic. Anyway, a lot of great stuff came out  in 2015 and I figured I’d take a moment to talk about some of my most favorites. I’m sure that all of these 2015 releases are going to be things that I will continue to enjoy for years to come.

Favorite Game – Splatoon Probably not just my favorite game of the year, but my favorite thing of the year. Splatoon is a triumph of style and game design. Nintendo’s squid-tastic ink shooting multplayer game is easy to get into but with plenty of strategy and variety. You could spend all day playing, or just jump in an play a few matches here and there, and always have fun. One of the best moments in my life as a video game player was the Transformers themed Splatfest. I fought with everything I had over every last drop of ink in the name of the Decepticons. Seeing the Decepticons team win over the Autobots was the most euphoric victory I’ve ever experienced in a game before.
Favorite Book – The Art of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe Full of detail, great behind-the-scenes info, and plenty of colorful artwork, this book is a must have for anyone who was ever a fan of the Masters of the Universe franchise. Some of the artwork collected in this book is so badass that it might be hard for some common Earth folk to believe it came out of a toyline.
Favorite Toy – Transformers Combiner Wars/Unite Warriors Devastator Actually, I’m cheating a bit on this one, as I do not have it yet. I got the Japanese version and have not had it shipped to me yet. But it’s a forgone conclusion that I’m going to like it a lot. Getting a near-full range of combiners from the original Transformers toy line remade into modern standards was a pipe dream for a long time, but Hasbro and Takara delivered. I’ve got Superion and Menasor, and they are really good, but Devastator is in a class by itself and it’s clear that they went all out on this release with each member of the team boasting impressive detail and size. The Japanese release goes even further with added articulation and accessories.
Favorite TV Series – Daredevil This show takes having a Netflix subscription from being a nice luxury to an absolute must have.  It makes some bold moves and does things that couldn’t be done on regular network TV. All of the Marvel TV shows have been really good in 2015. Agents of S.H.E.I.L.D. really hit its stride and Agent Carter was fantastic. Jessica Jones was amazing too. I don’t watch very many serialized TV shows any more, but I certainly made time to watch these.
Favorite Anime – Young Black Jack Uhh… actually, I don’t know if I watched any other anime from 2015. I watched shows from as early as a few years ago and some classics, but, unless I’m forgetting something,  I guess I missed out on most 2015 anime specifically. I’ll have to fix that. But Young Black Jack is pretty good, with some creative uses of Osamu Tezuka’s star system. The last few episodes are really powerful. Young Black Jack is not as cool as old Black Jack, but then again, who is?
Favorite Movie – Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens Obviously. It’s Star Wars, so of course it’s my favorite, and there isn’t much of anything else to say. Besides this, I enjoyed Avengers: Age of Ultron and Jurassic World, and Ant Man was really good as well. Overall a good year for movies that sets the scene for more good years to come.

That’s all for 2015. I’m looking forward to all the cool stuff that 2016 has to offer, and I’m hopeful that I’ll be able to offer some cool stuff to you as well!

What did you like about 2015?

Sayonara.