The Big Other Stuff in the 2010s Discussion Thread (Best of *Next* Decade currently being discussed)

It’s all very well Jay talking about our favourite games of the decade (intermittently), but life isn’t all fun and games.  I’m going to try and update this thread regularly, every 1-2 weeks, with other positive questions about the decade in general.  


To start off, an easy one: what was your best personal event of the decade?  An ‘event’ here could include a holiday, a graduation, starting a job, leaving a job, meeting a partner...  Only thing is that it has to have happened to you or you have to have been part of it, so you can’t say Barack Obama’s re-election unless you were on Barack’s campaign team or something.

Some people might be easily guessable, some might not.  For additional fun (I hope), have a crack at guessing other people's best events!

Here’s mine, in a spoiler for those who want to guess:

Here’s some guesses at other people’s:

That fell apart at the end...  What were your real best events of the decade?

Can't think what LLP is for Andy

This has been a rather bland decade as done same job for 8 years now, not really been on holiday even if getting tickets for EGX was cool, still lonely

Really as I said elsewhere should be better decade as should get some decent money in June/July that I could be in the buying house section, likely also will go on a holiday.

Shenmue 3. Daughters. Shenmue...3. Daughters?

OK ok, mine would be my daughters, in 2012 and 2016. Guess that's two events, but don't make me pick dammit!

YOU MUST CHOOOOOOOSE nah fair enough.  Was Shenmue 3 any good in the end?  I lost track.

EDIT: It’s not even out yet!  #worstfatherever

masofdas wrote:

Can't think what LLP is for Andy

This has been a rather bland decade as done same job for 8 years now, not really been on holiday even if getting tickets for EGX was cool, still lonely

Really as I said elsewhere should be better decade as should get some decent money in June/July that I could be in the buying house section, likely also will go on a holiday.

Drunka would be appalled at that, Mas.  Appalled.

Without at all wanting to disregard that you’ve had a muh decade (having been both in one company for 8 years and SO LONELY myself I get both things), would you say that, from a positive point of view, the EGX tickets were the best event?

Nah Shenmue III is out yet and I still reckon it be getting Smurf some negative points.

Yeah I guess EGX was the best thing, really does sound like middle aged or something though.

Mine is joining GNa- Oh you already knew.

Playing Undertale was cool too.

THE GNAMER ANNUAL AWARD FOR BEST BEST EVENT OF THE DECADE GOES TO

Is Undertale your genuine best then? It was a cracker, but that's quite a claim in a great decade for games! Did you get fully into the fandom Kriken?

My actual serious answer is the Olympics/Paralympics. Following austerity, financial shithousery, and terrorism, everyone stopped what they were doing to have fun, and be really friendly, for 2 3-week periods. I got to go to both, and see a British gold medal won in person. The general attitude about the whole thing was wonderful; I was actually proud to be British during that period.

Kriken wrote:

Playing Undertale was cool too.

I was proclaiming UT to be one of my favourite games of all time when it came out, so I can get on board with this.

Balla: You're 100% correct in saying that it's buying my house!

I've done a fair bit this decade - went to uni and graduated with a pretty solid degree, learned to drive and bought my first car, had my first proper relationships and lots of wonderful memories were created with my friends, but I've been focusing on saving for a home for nearly half this decade. To finally reach that goal is massive for me and I'm over the moon to be at this point.

Yeah, Undertale is my favourite game of the decade. Favourite, mind - not necessarily one I'd argue is best. There were also others I really liked such as Breath of the Wild (sheer joy for the first 10-20 hours), Nier Automata (a lot of respect/appreciation for it), Devil Mary Cry 5 (a perfect love letter to the fans) and Walking Dead Season One (sniff). Among others.

I can get that: I'm surprised it's better than everything else that happened in your decade though Kriken! Hoping that's a sign of how much you loved UT rather than a meh decade.

Nailed it for Jay's. Also my GJones answer was not far off! Just the wrong female family member.

Jimbob wrote:

My actual serious answer is the Olympics/Paralympics. Following austerity, financial shithousery, and terrorism, everyone stopped what they were doing to have fun, and be really friendly, for 2 3-week periods. I got to go to both, and see a British gold medal won in person. The general attitude about the whole thing was wonderful; I was actually proud to be British during that period.

Aww, this is a really sweet answer. I spent most of the Olympics getting annoyed at clogged-up roads and use of public funds: I feel a bit Grinchish about that now.

Kriken wrote:

Yeah, Undertale is my favourite game of the decade. Favourite, mind - not necessarily one I'd argue is best. There were also others I really liked such as Breath of the Wild (sheer joy for the first 10-20 hours), Nier Automata (a lot of respect/appreciation for it), Devil Mary Cry 5 (a perfect love letter to the fans) and Walking Dead Season One (sniff). Among others.

Massive thumbs up to your taste in games.

Hmm, there are two that come to mind but it's really hard to choose. Maybe it was being crowned

World Excite Truck Champion of the World

but on the other hand, I do feel equally strongly about becoming

The Master Cheese.

So it's one of those two, but I'm not sure which. Moving to Japan and meeting Shen was a'ight as well.

I am immediately convinced.

It'd be good to get a few other names from that OP contributing, but if not, I'll start thinking up the next topic?

I'd say the move to the city overall has been the event of the decade for me (Wayne being a part of said move).  Living in a rural town has always been a drain on me.  I don't like small town sh**.  Nothing interesting happens, and there's absolutely no anonymity (if y'all couldn't tell with how little I talk about personal things I'm a private person).  Want to get your groceries?  Someone will recognise you. Absolutely stifling atmosphere  Couple that with the fact that the landlord I had was a absolute turd (the bastard once wanted to evict me because I wasn't bringing my bins in until evening on bin day) and yeah.  Things might be more expensive in he city (and with a pet), but life in general is more interesting so it's a tradeoff well worth.  

And since pics were requested in the chat thread here's adult-Wayne!  

I will keep requesting that. I'm going to call that one a near miss for me! Also: FIRST SHOT OF ATHRUN'S LEGS CALL THE PRESS


Anyhoo, with that I think it's time for a new question! (Responses to the old one remain very much welcomed.) I'm going to rattle through a couple of media ones in quick succession, so here we go: what was your favourite telly show of the decade? Any show with episodes with first air dates in this decade counts, but judge it on the episodes released this decade if it spans a couple.

This is a simple one for me: it's Jonathan Nolan's Person of Interest, a show with good characters, good plot, a touch of sci-fi, not too many seasons so it didn't start to get bad, enough of humour to keep me engaged, and a cute dog that chews books. Exquisite.

What are your favourites?

Attack on Titan, Only anime that comes to mind but must be more
Orange Is the New Black
GLOW
Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Stranger Things
Game of Thrones
The Good Place

Some iffy ones like Rick and Morty, The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, Westworld which I need to see more off

Then I guess The Walking Dead at one point but stopped watching at Season 8 and the Netflix Marvel shows would fall into the same boat.

Breaking Bad started airing in 2008 but most of the episodes came out in this decade, so I'm going to go with that. Absolutely incredible show. There wasn't a single episode I didn't enjoy. It's my favourite show ever.

Hunter x Hunter (2011) - this is also up there as one of my most favourite shows of all time. It's certainly my favourite anime. The amount of care and attention put into the world and characters. The design and production values. And the ambition of the somewhat divisive and long drawn out Chimera Ant Arc. The one thing I don't like about it is how the main characters don't seem to age along with the passage of time and there's seemingly no intent to remedy this, but it's a minor one. Don't even mind the show/manga going on hiatus - I'm glad they never resorted to filler, and the guy along with manga artists in general deserve any break they can get.

Rick and Morty - started watching this a while before season 3 came out and was dreading running out of episodes of it to watch. Enjoyed it all, but admit the first episode did not sell it that well to me and the last episode of season 3 is probably the worst in the whole series. Only just learned series 4 has started recently so cautiously optimistic about it.

Mr Robot - Also got the latest series to catch up on with this. Not like anything I've watched before, but of course series 1 does draw some very obvious inspiration from somewhere.

Other shows. Well, animu:

Ping Pong: The Animation
Parasyte
One Punch Man (series 1 at least - not seen 2)
Attack on Titan
Kuroko's Basketball
Oreimo
Psycho-Pass
No Game No Life
My Hero Academia
Re: Zero

Some of these deserve their own paragraph (mainly the ones near the top)  but I'm too lazy. I actually didn't expect to list this many shows or anime. My TV-viewing took a dive around the turn of the decade and years after and my anime viewing was patchy throughout the decade, but there's been a lot of good stuff.

Honourable mentions:

Black Mirror - really enjoyed the first few episodes I watched. Should really watch more.

Panty, Stocking & Garterbelt - not sure how to rate this one as while at times I really liked it, it was pretty awful at times.

Steins Gate - there was a lot I liked about this show but admittedly a lot of it went over my head, not helped by the state I was in while I binged it. One I want to rewatch at some point since I think I'd appreciate it a lot.

Oregairu - glad I watched it, but interminable at times.

Re:LIFE - really good up until the last arc which I found a bit boring, which was doubly a shame since it was the longest. Not seen the OVA yet.

West World - I don't know. I liked it but also felt that it was kind of bullshit a lot of the time. Also the scenes with the man in black lacked tension (given the established rules of the world) despite the show trying to frame them in such a way. Yet to see series 2.

I'm all for this influx of anime chat. Shoutout to the Anime Thread too.

I'll stay on that vein myself and chat about a few anime first -

My Hero Academia: Binge watched the first three series of this last year. I love the characters and it's really one of the best shounen anime going today. Considering Dragon Ball Super didn't exactly fire on all cylinders, it was great to see a show deliver on its big moments (like United States of SMAAASH, Deku vs Todoroki) and I really ought to get around to Season 4.

Mob Psycho 100: Rollercoaster of a show. Incredible animation, hilarious jokes - Reigen is amazing - and some proper emotional gut punches. Quite possibly might be my favourite anime.

One Punch Man: S2 fell a bit flat, but the first series was a brilliant parody of most battle anime. I fear the joke might have ran its course judging by series 2.

Steins;Gate: Lives and dies by its cast which is fortunately top notch. Kurisu and Okabe are a great pair of leads.

Run with the Wind: Made me well up several times. It's not just an anime about running. Watch it!

Now some other TV shows -

Breaking Bad - Technically started pre-2010, but I'd argue that the earlier seasons are weaker than the post-2010 stuff, so this is a great example. Gripping TV from start to finish. Walter White's journey is incredible.

Westworld - Season One was fantastic. It reminded me of the best bits of LOST in unravelling its mysteries and seeing how it all came together was wonderful. Season Two wasn't as great, but Season Three looks excellent and I could be here in ten years time chatting about this as one of the greats.

Better Call Saul - Yes, seeing Breaking Bad dramatically enhances this show, but I think its peaks have been up there with the best bits of Breaking Bad.

You fecking weebs. Should've given anime its own week!  That said, it reminds me how little anime I've actually watched, with the only two I've got into from this decade being Attack on Titan (too grim to make my top few) and Ace Attorney (which is more a fun adaption than a great show).  I feel like the 'too grim' criterion would also disqualify a lot of your top picks, including Breaking Bad and (not watching it, never ever ever) Black Mirror.

I'll throw Sherlock into the mix too.  The first two seasons at least were belting stuff, and I was properly blown away.  Shame it got bad later - and I mean it got bad.

I'll be throwing another topic up this weekend, to try and whistle through the next few a bit quicker.

You fucking weebs

Wait - Balla you read my mind! Serves me right for hitting reply before reading all the posts. Mind you, I can't really contribute because I watch so little TV - certainly not any serious stuff. I realise, looking at "TV shows of the 2010s" there are plenty of big shows that everyone's been talking about, and I haven't bothered at all. Yeah, I'm bailing out of this question. Sorry for the rubbish post

You won't see any anime on my list because I almost always prefer the manga.

Top of my list would be either Better Call Saul, which personally I would rate higher than Breaking Bad as I just like Jimmy so much more than Walter, or Bojack Horseman.

Bojack is a comedy, which naturally I would choose, but it also happens to be more emotional, and have more to say, than any drama you could possibly care to mention. Incredible writing which just constantly delves deeper and deeper into its exquisitely crafted characters.

I have heard tremendous things about Bojack Horseman.  Is it genuinely funny?  Or am I going to feel awkward and sad most of the time?


Please feel free to keep talking about your fave telly shows; but in the meanwhile, as we hit the last month of the decade, what were your favourite films released for the first time in the country you live(d) in this decade?

I was going to go full weeb on this one, but then I realised that a lot of the anime films I watched for the first time this decade came out in the 2000s or earlier.  (Summer Wars premiered in the UK at Leeds Film Festival in November 2009. )  On the anime front it'll have to be Your Name, a beautiful and moving film that I was perhaps too drunk to appreciate fully.  Western animation had a good decade too: Pixar was its normal splendid self, releasing Zootopia/tropolis and Inside Out (Wall-E was 2008 - I'm getting oooooooold), but my winner in this category is Lego Batman.  Wonderfully entertaining and appreciably woke in places.

Outside anime, Hot Fuzz was 2007, argh.  Fortunately The Artist, perhaps the first 'artsy' film I really liked, released in 2011 so I can count that.  I'll also give a shout-out to the entertaining What We Do in the Shadows, done by the Flight of the Conchords chaps.  Otherwise it's mostly superhero stuff, with perhaps only Thor 3 in the latter category threatening a spot.

Fast Five, Fast and Furious 6, Furious 7, F8 of the Furious, Fast and Furious Presents: Hobbs and Shaw.
Interstellar. - this is probably my actual pick for best film this decade
Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Transformers: Age of Extinction, Transformers: The Last Knight, Bumblebee
Detective Pikachu - the film I had the most emotional reaction to. I just love that it exists, y'know?
Kong: Skull Island and Godzilla: King of the Monsters
Shin Gojira
Most of the Marvel shit, I guess
The Last Jedi, AKA the best Star Wars
John Wick

Ready Player One - I hate it and everything it stands for, but I feel like it represents the decade well

Balladeer wrote:

I have heard tremendous things about Bojack Horseman.  Is it genuinely funny?  Or am I going to feel awkward and sad most of the time?

Yes and yes.

These get the great mark from Mas

2010:
Kick-Ass
Toy Story 3
Inception
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
The Social Network
Black Swan
The Fighter

2011:
Drive
X-Men: First Class
50/50

2012:
Avengers
The Dark Knight Rises
Dredd
Wreck-It Ralph
Django Unchained
Les Misérables

2013:
Gravity
Her

2014:
The LEGO Movie
Edge of Tomorrow
Guardians of the Galaxy
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
John Wick
Interstellar

2015:
Ex Machina
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Hateful Eight

2016:
Deadpool
Zootopia
10 Cloverfield Lane
Captain America: Civil War
La La Land
Doctor Strange
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

2017:
The LEGO Batman Movie
John Wick Chapter 2
Logan
Baby Driver
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Wonder Woman
Spider-Man: Homecoming
Blade Runner 2049
Thor: Ragnarok

2018:
Black Panther
Avengers: Infinity War
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

2019 so far:
Avengers: Endgame
Pokémon Detective Pikachu
John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum

Likely stuff I've missed I've not seen such as A Quiet Place, Once Upon Time in Hollywood and some Disney stuff that I could see maybe being great.