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Voting closes at 23:59 on Sunday, January 10 PST. This year, I'm streamlining the voting process with a Google form to make counting the votes easier. Vote here for your 5 best anime of the year: https://forms.gle/G4HDFPrvr8tprmQv8 Plain text list of qualifying anime: https://pastebin.com/Ahvgzksq You can also shout out honorable mentions, and voted by rank, but these are optional. Please don't double vote for something or else I might have to throw out your vote! As always, please post in the thread to give your reasons for your choices.
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Dec 28, 2020 01:43
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5. The Case Files of Jeweler Richard The early episodes can be rather rote, and the writing gets somewhat overly "woke liberal" at times, but I can't deny it's cool to hear the characters discuss a civil partnership like it's a totally normal thing. And I do like how the resolution to the abusive dad trying to reconnect with his son is resolved by telling him to gently caress off forever. 4. The Millionaire Detective – Balance: UNLIMITED I'm a big sucker for the buddy cop dynamic, so something with slick production values and a very cool OP/ED on top of it is just very nice comfort food. 3. Hypnosis Mic: Division Rap Battle - Rhyme Anima I did like the early episodic eps where the characters mostly just hosed around more (shout out the to attempted murder framing ep in particular), but this show never stops being over the top ridiculous. The localization is especially fantastic and helps to really sell the show. I have to give big props to Kodansha for paying special attention to the rap lyrics and making them flow in English complete with rhymes. 2. Ace of the Diamond: Act II I started watching the first Ace of the Diamond series in 2017, where I watched a total of 126 episodes in a span of three weeks. Act II is still eminently bingeable, and I found the whole thing woefully short after getting 52 eps done in a week. What really sets Ace of the Diamond apart from other series is its commitment to the progression of time, because it doesn't set off to end the story in one year, so the protagonists are allowed to fail and lose even the last major tournaments of the years. And the seniors will stop playing with the team after the summer and actually graduate. Unlike with say Major however, we get a good look at every step along the way of our freshman protagonist's high school baseball arc and thus we get the slow satisfaction of watching growth over time. Act II centers around his second year with the team, and it's great seeing how far he's come compared to the early beginnings of the series, with new first-years that see him as a mentor figure, and his teammates and the team's longtime fans treating him as a reliable player who can save the day when needed. 1. IDOLiSH7: Second Beat! After season 2, I can say with confidence that IDOLiSH7 is straight my favorite anime ever. But this is a terrible burden, because the subject matter of male idols makes it nearly impossible to convince anyone else to give it a chance. I will try my best here though. Admittedly, I went into this season not remembering too much about the first, but I had just seen the vibrato ONAs just before it, and the one two punch of the excellent terrorist bomb plot comedy and heartwarming day off bonding eps really set my expectations high for season 2, and it turned out even better than I had hoped. The drama in IDOLiSH7 is great, building from both external and internal pressures. On one hand, you've got very compelling intrigue from things like this Hubert von Vestra looking fucker voiced by Kenjiro Tsuda implied to sabotaging and murking dudes from other music acts in order to fulfill his grand artistic vision (and we even see some bits of the bloody "accidents" on stage that he may or may not be responsible for). And on the other, you have a lot of grounded, very personal dilemmas, like one instance where one of the guys in IDOLiSH7 is feeling really great about his work performance after getting enthusiastic feedback from the tv studio host he’s working with. But he so happens to overhear some fans of their group comment on how they find him annoying and feel like he makes the group worse off, and it absolutely wrecks him. And of course he tries to hide it, but his friends in the group notice and help him realize he should be working towards getting to like himself and gaining fans that way instead of contorting to every negative comment he hears. Not only that, the humor in the show is fantastic, with great comic timing and woven into the story to help ease tension without undermining the drama. There's one cliffhanger where it looks one of the main idols might actually be secretly poisoning another idol this whole time, which is honestly completely believable in the setting of the show (and made me go "what the gently caress" out loud). But the de-escalation in the following ep is very natural and does a fantastic job of relieving the tension of an episodes-long arc of singing yips induced by lingering self doubt segueing into a heartwarming resolution. I love this cast. I love how much they all care so much about each other. And it's probably a good thing they never localized the phone game because I'd be coaxed out of a lot more money very easily.
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Dec 28, 2020 01:48
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outer wilds
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Dec 28, 2020 01:59
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My AOTY picks were: Eizouken ni wa Te wo Dasu na! Fantastic. Just a joy to watch Akudama Drive Slick production, dumb fun, and captures the themes of the genre way better than most attempts. Maoujou de Oyasumi | Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle I expected this to be another single gag anime that runs out of ideas almost immediately (gal and dinosaur, for example), but this ended up being one of my favourite comedy animes of all time. Talentless Nana One of the best first episodes I've ever seen. Honourable mentions to: Adachi to Shimamura - good but not great Dorohedoro - good enough to make me go and read the manga Chihaya S3 - remains probably my favourite anime of all time Splode fucked around with this message at 03:27 on Dec 28, 2020 |
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Dec 28, 2020 02:07
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1. Dorohedoro - An excellent mob story that manages to have two fully fleshed out casts of characters who are murderously opposed to eachother but each individually likeable. 2. Gleipnir - Does a very good job of capturing a messy unhealthy adolescent relationship with a sincerity. All of the sci-fi stuff is directly in service of its plot about teenagers coming up with bad solutions to their problems growing up without any positive adult influences. 3. Sleepy Princess - girl make funny face 4. Akudama Drive - It managed to maintain the high energy and extreme violence of something like the Raid over an entire 12 episode run and had an amazing sleezy style. I've genuinely never seen that high of momentum maintained that well for a full tv series. Every other example I can think of either hosed up the ending or was a movie. 5. Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Gou - I watched this with prior experience from only the previous Higurashi anime which I disliked. And this show completely turned around my opinion solely through better editing, animation, and characterization. Even if the actual plot changes seem very insubstantial, it's improvement in presentation has convinced me to give the visual novel a shot. Honorable mention Deca-Dence - an okay show that would have been great if it was edited down to be one movie.
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Dec 28, 2020 02:28
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1) Adachi and Shimamura 2) Star Twinkle Precure 3) Bofuri 4) Eizouken 5) Tie Love Live/Akudama Drive
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Dec 28, 2020 03:34
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Top 5 in no particular order: Akudama Drive Haikyuu: To The Top Eizouken Golden Kamuy S3 Great Pretender Honourable mentions: Fruits Basket S2 Railgun T Oregairu S3
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Dec 28, 2020 03:54
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Honorable Mentions Ride Your Wave -- I typically don't put movies on my final AOTY list, because I find finishing a lengthy, satisfying TV Series much more memorable than a couple-hour movie. Still, this was a very cute, genuinely funny, romance that also looked incredible at times. I couldn't believe that it had been made in Flash of all things. Flash! But the crew at Science Saru have heavily custom-modded that software to do amazing stuff. Kudos! Made in Abyss: Dawn of the Deep Soul -- It feels a little bit unfair to put this here, considering it was an adaptation of the Made in Abyss arc that sold me on the series. I can say a lot of good things about this movie, and my chief criticism of it is the same I had with the series: the studio excels at the breath-taking scenes of wonder, but has trouble capturing the isolated atmosphere of horror that the manga excels at. In the anime that point didn't stick out as much simply because it was a fairly small part (Ozen's arc), and they did a great job with Riko's scene, but this Bondrewd arc is all about that signature horror so the slight deficiencies of the anime mattered more to me. Still good though, and I encourage everyone who loved the 2017 TV Series to watch it, as it has a genuinely fantastic send-off. Still, I hope this franchise gets another season, and it looks like it will, but, y'know, don't count your chickens yadda yadda yadda. Kakushigoto -- Absolutely hilarious, for the first few episodes. The remainder of the series was still good, I got some chuckles out of it every episode, but it did kind of leave me feeling underwhelmed when the initial impression was so great. Weathering With You -- Genuinely fantastic visuals, there was one scene in particular where the light of the fresh sun made the city look like gold that had my jaw on the floor. Plot was OK, took some weird turns here and there but was still enjoyable. Akudama Drive -- This was probably the best-looking anime to come out this year. Yes, even going against absolutely beautiful stuff like Weathering With You, it tops it. Also, the final episode is fantastic. It's rare to see an anime-original with a competent ending, never mind a great one, so why isn't this on my AOTY list? Simply, a lot of the characters just Weren't My Thing™. Gleipnir -- Far more entertaining that a yandere(?)-centered Death Game anime had any right to be. Sadly, the ending is a very much Go Read The Manga™ ending, and it will probably not get a season 2. Pet -- Not gonna lie, this thing is ugly. Looks ugly, sounds ugly. And no one watched it -- it's trapped on Amazon Prime Video of all things (remember when they tried getting into the anime game? *Audience Laughter*). But I actually ended up liking the story quite a bit, it had smatterings of Hunter X Hunter vibes which I appreciated. Re: Zero -- I loved the first season of Re:Zero, and this continuation was really good too! But it is VERY much the first half of a two-part puzzle, so I can't really consider it having "ended" this year, so on the honorable-mentions list it goes. And now the Rankings you've been waiting for! 5: Talentless Nana Both this and Gleipnir have Go Read The Manga™ endings, so why is this here? Simply because I love stories that involve a "powerless" protagonist going up against foes who have all sorts of fearsome advantages, where it's clear the author put in the creativity required to make it work, mostly. (No, "prep time" and "money" still count, Batman...) Personal bias is what got Talentless Nana on my short list of AOTY candidates, but it is a great show in its own right, and each episode will have you dying to know what happens next. If you hate unfinished adaptations, then I can understand why you wouldn't want to end with this, but given how it feels tailor-made for me I'll include it. I had a lot of fun with this one, and it was the show I most looked forward to in the Fall season. 4: Kaguya-sama: Love is War Season 2 I watched the first season of this and thought it was good. This season was better than the first. As someone who struggles to maintain interest in both comedy anime (humor is hard to cross cultures) and romance anime ("Will-they-won't-they? Puh-lease..."), this season did the impossible and made me excited to watch a rom-com. I'm impressed. Today's victor: Kaguya-sama. 3: Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken ----- I like anime. A lot, even! But I couldn't really put into words why. This anime gets it, and it puts those feelings into words and so much more. An endeavor where even the creative struggles against the corporate bottom-line are as much a part of its identity as anything else. While the subject matter can be on the dry-er side of things, and at times its Flash roots show up a teeny bit (it was made by Science Saru), I was impressed that you can see the animation/storytelling quirks and desires that the characters discover for themselves parallels the actual work that brought the show to life. This one was great. 2: ID: Invaded This show was the dark horse highlight of the year for me. Nothing else had me as glued to my seat as this one did. It put a fresh twist on the classic locked-room murder mystery, and offered a take on the human subconscious that felt right. Every other anime season, there seems to be a police procedural that sounds interesting in theory but chokes on execution. This is how you do a procedural thriller! While I could come at its ending with criticisms, they don't really matter for me. I loved this one. 1: Chihayafuru 3 I hadn't watched any of Chihayafuru up till now, so I took the time this year to remedy that. I was skeptical, at first. It seemed like another Sports Anime where the characters put on display more passion for everyday activities than I would for my own future wedding. When it comes to shows like this, a big part is understanding the unique quirks that make each character tick. But, for me, that's never the interesting part. What I find interesting is the strategy behind each move (and more importantly, that there is a coherent strategy at all!) A show where you could envision yourself in the characters' Warning, though -- this anime NEEDS another season. It ending where it does would be like Star Wars ending at Empire Strikes Back. For those who really don't like Go Read The Manga™ endings, you've been warned. Malsangoroth fucked around with this message at 20:04 on Dec 29, 2020 |
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Dec 28, 2020 05:15
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My list to get through 2020 Quarantina * Gleipnir GET IN THE FURSUIT, AOKI! A very cool and gross premise rife with body horror, the idea of a secret change-all-reality game, and mysterious forceS/revelations was all up my alley. The designs and powers are unique and it's fun to see how some of the players don't have a great grasp on what they can do... yet. Dipped a little in the middle but an absolute ride. * Uzaki-Chan Wants to Hang Out I'm a sucker for dumb teasing comedy stuff and Uzaki was plum full of awkwardness and gentle ribbing. I honestly can't believe Uzaki's design was a minor twitter firestorm. * Talentless Nana A while ago I compared this to Columbo, and the general idea of Nana being a HowKillEm seemed to hold through the series. Just a great bunch of Cat and Mouse poo poo and a really killer first episode. * Adachi and Shimamura Someone called it a great Disaster Gay series and it definitely had its share of awkward bits along with a genuinely good insight into "oh god do I *like* this person?!" * Rent-a-Girlfriend Watching the protagonist go though a breakup and find himself in a really, really lovely place is not fun. Watching him sabotage poo poo left and right because of that sucks. But it's also super, SUPER true to life. Just wish there were less masturbation jokes. Honorables: STANDING on 1,000,000 Lives - Interesting plot mysteryplot behind an isekai that let's the PCs kind of suck! BOFURI - Hilariously broken VRMMORPG with someone adorable enough to break it across her knee by soloing starting area monsters BNA - Gorgeous animation but man did the whole thing go off the rails at the end. Toilet-Bound Hanako-Kun- Another beautifully looking series but kind of got away from.me about halfway through. Sleepy Princess- Terrifying and Hilarious. Love the facial work on the Princess.
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Dec 28, 2020 05:24
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My list for 2020: 5: My next life as a villainess: All roads lead to doom! In the darkest season of this year, My next life as a villainess was thankfully fully produced and delivered on it's premise. This was a comedy romance that gave more than enough laughter, and hopefully we get more villainess animes next year. 4. Talentless Nana Oh man was this a stinger to watch. Every episode had layers upon layers of deception, thought-processes, and frankly, absolutely chilling cliffhangers. Nana's voice acting was absolutely incredible, and that first episode still gives me chills. Unfortunately, the anime of really good cliffhangers ended on... an absolutely heartbreaking cliffhanger that needs a second season (or more!) to be fully good. 3. Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear I cheered when they announced this anime, I cheered when they announced that it's getting a second season, and the anime adaptation of one of my favorite light novels was just a joy to watch. After all the troubles of 2020, having such a fluffy light-hearted anime about a girl discovering what friends and family really are just helps remove the pain of the year. 2. Bofuri: Maxed Defense Bofuri had heart. Despite the premise sounding like a cliche VR MMORPG, it was done with such heart that every episode was such a joy to watch. Maple actually solo-carried a few episodes by herself, and the pair of Maple and Sally just being best friends playing a game was so fun to watch, even with all the action and strategy going on. 1. Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle Comedy of the year, comedy of the decade even. I have found 30 or more new ways to make my sleep better, and each one gets a delightful segment on what horrors a princess needs to go through to get her beauty sleep. Absolutely incredible. And honestly, insomnia is something I can really click with.
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Dec 28, 2020 06:26
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dorohedoro decadence rezero eizouken kaguya gleipnir munou na nana god of highschoo
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Dec 28, 2020 06:34
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In no particular order DOREHODORO : refreshingly uncomplicated. Just a buncha straightforward wackos who are just here to have fun and love each other. Infectious. Pokemon Journeys: occasionaly boring (the Sw/Sh multi-parter was a snore) and not quite the absolute animation showcase Sun and Moon was, but near constantly fun and cute as a button. The pared down cast gives the show a great energy. Go owns. Team Rocket owns. Great Pretender Appare-Ranman! Eizouken Honoroable mentions A Whisker Away, Ongaku, Weathering with You, Deca-Dence, Blade of the Immortal, Japan Sinks, Akudama Drive And a dishonorable mention to BNA for ultimately having no coherent point or theme at all yet still finding a way to thoroughly piss me off. I was gonna say the whole last half is basically useless, but on retrospect, nah, the whole show was. Blech. I dare say it didn't even look very good. TRIGGER and Yoh Yoshinari of all people ripoff Zootopia and yer tellin me the best they could do was "less inspired Big O but w bisexual lighting"?? Miss me w this. Such a tragic lack of Animal to Anima City. Pootybutt fucked around with this message at 10:04 on Dec 28, 2020 |
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Dec 28, 2020 08:27
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5. Love Love Nijigasaki A show that mostly just focused on character intros, and a lot of thsoe characters didn't have depth or vanished after their intros, but it executed the intros very well. Really inventive music videos, great character animation, and a sweet conclusion. I'll admit though, the show's only here because of Kasumi - whenever she's on screen, the animators suddenly give 120%, and it's a delight every single time. 4. Bang Dream Season 3  With the same writer as FlipFlappers, Bang Dream continues its quiet three season run of some of the snappiest, funniest character dialogue in the industry. Season 3 also really narrows its focus down to just a few of the bands, and especially focuses on Raise a Suilen, which helps give the characters some actual depth and development. It still lacks a bit in stakes, and they still shoehorn the other characters in a little just because its a gacha game ad, but it does a great job fleshing out funny characters and having them build each other up. Tae especially is one of the most uniquely written characters I've ever seen in an anime, a 'spacecase' type character who is actually genuinely out there and weird and has almost impossible to follow logic, and it's funny and charming every time. Some of the music is actually decent too. 3. Magia Record  A followup to Madoka that manages to forge its own identity while still feeling like the original. The animation can get inconsistent in spots and it never quite has the same confidence to its strut that the original did - not helped by a similar problem as Bang Dream, one or two too many characters to juggle - it manages a ton of evocative imagery and some really interesting character relationships, complete with a few touching moments. Madoka's an incredibly hard act to follow, but Magia Record largely succeeds, and even manages to recontextualize a few elements from the original in an interesting way. 2. Akudama Drive  Unlike Akudama Drive, which is all confidence, all the time. It's got a bold aesthetic, a fairly ludicrous, high-concept premise, lots of bizarre visual humor and quick dialogue exchanges, and it just does them. No pussyfooting around what it clearly wants to do, no three episodes of build-up, it just goes and expects you to play along. It's refreshing to see an origina anime that just goes for what it wants to without worrying about people not catching it all, or not getting it. More than that, despite its general zany pace and tone, it's pretty clever where it matters - the little details, like not telling you Swindler's name, or the general double play of her pretending to be a Swindler, thereby making her a Swindler. It's simple stuff, but it'd be easy for a less confident production to screw up. Fantastic ending, too. 1. Star Twinkle Precure  Star Twinkle Precure is a pretty good season of PreCure whose movie, Hoshi no Uta, is among the top 10 anime films ever made. Technically the movie came out 2019, but nothing with a movie that good can be called any less than anime of the year 2020. The film's ending sequences are some of the most beautiful shots in any anime, and I urge everyone to check it out just for its own sake. Yeah the movie probably could have done without fighting all together, and it drags a bit when they introduce the midboss squad, but that ending.
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Dec 28, 2020 08:30
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Star Twinkle Precure Movie ending is probably the best Macross episode in years
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Dec 28, 2020 08:40
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Endorph posted:the little details, like not telling you Swindler's name Fun detail: you don't get anyone's names, just their titles or ID numbers.
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Dec 28, 2020 11:27
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5. In/Spectre This show had definite pacing problems but the strong character work kept me invested throughout. Hopefully the announced season two can build on the strengths of the show. 4. Akudama Drive What impressed me most with Akudama Drive was how satisfying the ending was, it's so common for shows to end with a whimper after a strong start but Akudama Drive had no such problems and ended just as confidently as it started. 3. BNA I always have a soft spot for Studio Trigger anime which allows me to gloss over any flaws. The relationship between Michiru and Nazuna is key here and the quieter moments between the two are the highlight of the show. 2. Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken This feels like a million years ago now rather than the beginning of the year, what I think worked so well here was the passion about their art that the characters possessed which was infectious and made me just as invested. 1. Dorohedoro This had a lot of hype, first from manga readers and then from those who watched it as it aired rather than waiting for Netflix to release it but it didn't disappoint. Interesting world building and compelling characters who you want to root for despite being opposed to each other. Honorable Mentions Great Pretender probably would have made the list if not for a a bad final episode that soured me on the preceding episodes. OP of the year goes to Gleipnir while ED of the year goes to BNA.
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Dec 28, 2020 11:54
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Like any review I would like to start with 3 barely relevant paragraphs about the times we live in and corona, however since I don't get paid by the word I wont. Onto the anime: 1. On-Gaku: Our Sound: by far the best thing I've seen this year. Great visuals (and from a 1 man effort!), brilliant soundtrack that breaks the usual anime mold and a very likeable cast that doesn't follow the usual anime character tropes and storylines. And its funny as well! I can heap nothing but praise upon this movie, which is why it's the only anime this year I scored higher then a 7, and my number uno. 9 2. Diary of Our Days at the Breakwater: Moe is why I started anime, but for the past few years its been a genre plagued by even more formulaic anime then is inherent in the anime. Personally I blame Manga Time Kirara. Outside of Non Non Biyori this has been the one of the only moe series I've been able to enjoy in these last few years. I can't say I learned anything about fishing worth a drat outside of Japan, but it did get me interested in fishing, which I consider the most important success of a club series. Visuals are generally alright, the girls are likeable and its not set in a world devoid of other people. gave it a 7 3. Chihayafuru 3: Frankly, after waiting all these years this was a bit of a disappointment. But this was a weak year anyway. While the sport remains interesting, the whole thing ironically enough felt like a part 2 of a trilogy, barely pushing forward the cast or plot. This review may sound more negative then positive, but overall I still liked it. 7 4. Murenase! Seton Gakuen: Made me laugh a few times. For some reason I like practically every animal girl anime. Am I secretly a furry? Is there something twisted growing inside of me? These are the questions you must ask yourself as you grow older and grow more introspective. One thing I am sure of however is that while the koala girl is the best of the lot, koalas are disgusting animals. For today I am safe, who knows what the future will bring. 6 5. Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru. Kan: It's been 4 years since the last season and in that time I kinda stopped giving a drat. The excuse of an arc that was prom nor the foregone conclusion of Yukino's defeat of the cuckqueen Yui were able to make me care again. A poor year if multiple 6 ranking anime make it! 6 didn't finish, intend to: Eizouken ni wa Te wo Dasu na!: dropped this at ep 2 to wait for better subs, those subs are still not out Gleipnir: dropped this to wait for uncensored bluray, that bluray is still not out
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Dec 28, 2020 12:36
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In no particular order: To Aru Kagaku no Railgun: I love all the To Aru shows, but it’s one of those franchises where the main protagonist (Touma) is the least interesting thing about it. So naturally, I prefer this Mikoto-centric spinoff over the main series. It also manages to tell a more focused story while still offering plenty of spectacular action, and gives most of its massive cast a moment to shine. Majo no Tabitabi: A good show all round, but what pushes it into the top five for me was Elaina herself. Everyone seems to either love or hate her for her whimsical attitude, but I’m definitely in the former camp, especially after the final episode which had both hilarious and poignant moments. Honzuki no Gekokujou: An isekai that manages to buck the shallow wish-fulfilment trends that have come to define the genre. The main character doesn’t have it easy, and has to rely on her brains more than anything else in order to achieve her deceptively simple-sounding goal of producing books in a world where even literacy isn’t common. No Guns Life: The whole premise of a man with a revolver for a head sounds absurd, and I would forgive you for thinking this was going to be some sort of wacky comedy if you hadn’t seen it. That’s what I did as first, and I almost didn’t watch it until I happened to see some screenshots where it actually looked cool. What it really is, is a cyberpunk noir story in which an ex-military cyborg works as a private detective in order to uncover the mysteries of his own forgotten origins. There’s lots of fantastic action as well as a good mix of standalone episodes and ongoing arcs. BOFURI: A story about people playing a VR game where they don’t get trapped inside it and forced to fight for their lives. Wow! Instead, it’s just about them having fun, and so it’s a very fun series to watch. One thing that concerned me about the series before watching it was the worry that it would never evolve beyond its basic premise of Maple being clueless and winning fights by accident. That’s the sort of thing that would get real old real fast. However I’m happy to report that this isn’t the case, and she does become genuinely good at the game over time, while other characters are allowed to show off their own awesome skills. Honorable mentions: Munou no Nana: Fantastic series, but loses points for ending on such an abrupt cliffhanger. It’s true that a lot of series end without a proper finale since they run out of material to adapt, but most at least tie up the ongoing story arc and offer some kind of conclusion. Kyokou Suiri: Started out very strong with great comedic back-and-forth between the leads, but the pacing slows to an absolute crawl as it goes along. Still very well-animated with a novel spin on its fantasy concepts.
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Dec 28, 2020 15:20
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1. Tonikawa 2. Re:Zero S2 3. Railgun T 4. Chihayafuru 3 5. Deca-Dence With some honorable mentions to Princess Connect, Tower of God, and My next life as a villainess. Honestly an extremely light year all told, I dropped way more shows that I feel I usually do nd there was a season or two where I didn't watch anything at all. Even that top 5 I'm pretty iffy on where say Deca-Dence went and after such a long wait I was kind of surprised how Chihayafuru wound up not exactly blowing me over. Akudama Drive, Talentless Nana, and Eizouken are probably on the shortlist of stuff I missed that I'll probably get to later. E: Honestly the show I actually have the strongest feelings for is Hunter x Hunter (2011) since I spent most of the year watching it. Nate RFB fucked around with this message at 15:38 on Dec 28, 2020 |
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Dec 28, 2020 15:31
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Boring Five:
Boring Mentions:
Wark Say fucked around with this message at 15:42 on Dec 28, 2020 |
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Dec 28, 2020 15:38
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Unrelated, but definitive best (not so)little poo poo:
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Dec 28, 2020 15:52
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the year of mostly adaptations and sequels 5 Akudama Drive - All style, very little substance, but that's alright since what you're here to see is the style anyways. The only non-adaptation or sequel on my list. 4. Iruma - Iruma, the goodest boy. A pretty standard fish out of water comedy if I'm being honest, but done incredibly well. A season 2 got announced so look forward to maybe seeing season 2 on my aoty list next year??? 3. Chihayafuru 3 - Chihayafuru is a series that I personally love. I can't really say that this season is much more than a middle part of the series, but just seeing the characters again after so many years was such a treat 2. Kaguya-Sama season 2 - Kaguya-sama really follows the "let characters be themselves" principle to a tee, and its really strong because of it. Constantly had me laughing, which means it goes on my aoty list. 1. Haikyuu: To the top - Look at how far our volleyboy Hinata has come... The animation quality is maybe weaker than previous seasons but the content is still gold Honorable Mentions Eizouken - didn't actually finish watching this so I can't put it in my top 5, maybe it would knocked out some of these BOFURI - of the many many isekai shows this year, this is the one that I found funny more often than not, but its still not quite good enough to be called a top 5 for me GeGeGe no KItaro, I always try to shoutout something that people have missed as well, while I also didn't get close to finishing this, the new Kitaro pretty consistently had some fun episodes with thin metaphors to real life issues which I found enjoyable. Argona fucked around with this message at 17:16 on Dec 28, 2020 |
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Dec 28, 2020 15:58
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5. Deca-Dence 4. Appare-Ranman! 3. Japan Sinks 2. Dorohedoro 1. Eizouken Honorable Mentions: BNHA Season 4, Great Pretender, Chihayafuru S. 3, Haikyuu, Heya Camp, Bookworm S. 2, Kaguya-Sama S. 2, Tonikawa Waste of Time: Re-Zero
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Dec 28, 2020 17:58
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Top 5 Anime: 1) Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken - Its qualities are obvious. Yuasa is the master and even though I'm so very tired of anime that gets meta about anime, he's able to deliver a refreshing take. 2) Ongaku - Our Sound - I try to watch as many contemporary anime films as possible and this has been one of the fresher films I've seen in awhile, not just because it's produced by people who are complete outsiders to the anime industry (but obviously that's a big factor!) but it also avoids many of the rote trappings of most music anime. 3) Major 2nd Season 2 - I love Major, and its Boruto-esque sequel series continues to stay strong in its second season by delivering the best supporting cast the series has had. It's the first season where there's actually a reason to give a drat about the whole cast instead of half the team being one-note jokes. 4) Japan Sinks - Never thought I'd see the day when a Yuasa anime wouldn't get a thread around here. What the heck! 5) A Whisker Away - I've seen my fair share of really dumb & demeaning anime movies for kids, so it was quite nice to see a movie for kids with a Mari Okada script that doesn't talk down to its audience. Honorable mentions: Top 5 movies of 2019 that weren't readily available in English until 2020: 1) Ride Your Wave - That I missed out on seeing a Yuasa movie on the big screen will forever be a huge regret for me. 2) Her Blue Sky - Mari Okada can keep writing movies about characters that have troubled, complicated relationships with the maternal figure in their life, and I'll keep watching and loving them. 3) My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising - A great execution of the standard shonen jump movie formula. 4) Weathering With You - I think I prefer the sloppier take on the usual Shinkai formula over the clean take? 5) Lupin: The First - It's a pretty standard Lupin outing but the legitimately impressive CG animation gives a lot of life to what could have been yet another forgettable Lupin movie. Other honorable mentions, ongoing stuff, etc: 1) Ace of the Diamond Act II - I didn't get the chance to watch as much of it as I would have liked, but its quality seemed in line with the original series. It's a consistently solid show and I am looking forward to the day when I have the free time to sit down and binge the rest of it. 2) Higurashi: When They Cry - NEW - I never got around to the original Higurashi anime despite knowing a bunch of people who were very much into it back when it originally aired. And I know that for me personally the VN would be a certified bad time, so I'm glad of this new anime for finally catching my eye and getting me interested in the series. 3) Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai - Dragon Quest rules. Srice fucked around with this message at 19:00 on Dec 28, 2020 |
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Dec 28, 2020 18:57
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AOTY: Babylon A bit of a guilty pick. The show starts of with some slick as hell directing and a mundane but intriguing plot and then just gets crazier and crazier until the finale ends with the MC shooting the US President on the roof of the White House followed by a Suicide Witch murdering him with a finger gun and then stealing his son just to poo poo on his memory some more. If you accept the show as it is you'll get a super enjoyable ride for pretty much the whole way through. No matter what you can expect a strong reaction to this. Dorohedoro My god what a crazy loving show. It hosts one of the most unique, charming AND disturbing settings of any anime with characters populating it that are equally as unique, charming and disturbing. It's gory as gently caress but it's still got a really upbeat and fun energy to it that's really enjoyable. The mystery aspect is intriguing as hell (haha) and the way the series is constantly giving you more information about the world means its never dull. The 3d animation blending with scenes of 2d is a success I'd say. Highly recommend, there really isn't anything else like it. Eizouken If I had to pick the true AOTY it would definitely be Eizouken, no hesitation. Seriously, this is an instant classic for sure. The characters are all amazing and there is so much personality put into every moment of the show that just makes you fall in love with it. You could consider it almost a companion piece to Shirobako. Whereas that show is more of a showcase for the production of anime, this series is more interested in the creative process but still has a lot of love thrown towards the production due to Best Girl Kanamori. Anyone with any interest in the creative process should be watching this if they haven't. ID:Invaded Another really unique and interesting show that shows you something you can't really get anywhere else. It's also not afraid of getting downright brutal and grim which is refreshing considering it's a show about catching serial killers by jumping into the subconscious minds. The overall mystery ends up being pretty easy to solve. The final killer is exactly who you think it is the second they appear on screen.. But the show is so much more than that so it's not a big deal. I was fascinated by the show the entire time. 10/10 holes, would drill again. Kaguya-sama: Season 2 Somehow a step up from the first season, which by itself indicates how freaking good this series is. The cast is great, the jokes are funny as gently caress and the emotional moments really land. Not much to say, if you liked the first season it's that, but better. Honorable mentions: Deca-Dence Basically a Trigger show made by a different studio. It was good for what it was but its lower ambitions meant it had less of an impact than some others. Also it's a bit too in love with the main male character. My Hero Academia S4 The season covered some stuff I really loved and some that I was eh on. It loses a lot of points because of how bad the animation was at times, which was almost certainly because they were working on the movie at the same time. But the material was still strong, just not nearly as good as I'd hoped they could get it. My Next Life as a Villainess It started out as very funny and charming while having some genuinely heartwarming moments but kind of petered out in the last few episodes. Magatsu Wahrheit: Zuerst I haven't finished it yet but I'm a sucker for these kinds of grounded fantasy stories. The MC is surprisingly cool and the setting is neat, I'd recommend it to fans of dark fantasy. Moriarty the Patriot Very indulgent but it's got great directing and the characters are quite pretty. It's only halfway through so hopefully it picks up a bit. Don't expect a mystery show, its just a show to watch pretty anime boys be smug while rich assholes get horribly murdered. So that's nice. Sleepy Princess A very fun and comfy show. It's not going to blow your socks off or make you wheeze with laughter but I'm smiling all the time when watching and that's all I wanted. The Journey of Elaina I like it. I know not everyone is a fan but it's definitely made me think about how I'd react to the situations it presents. I haven't finished it yet but I'm a fan of morality plays, especially when there's a twist to it like there is here. It gets lowered points because apparently the manga has additional stuff that added character to Elaina. Nephthys fucked around with this message at 19:09 on Dec 28, 2020 |
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Dec 28, 2020 19:03
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In no particular order: Appare-Ranman Chihayafuru S3 Eizouken Iruma Kaguya S2
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Dec 28, 2020 19:25
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Srice posted:4) Japan Sinks - Never thought I'd see the day when a Yuasa anime wouldn't get a thread around here. What the heck! I blame the Netflix model of just dumping the entire series at once. If a thread is made prior to the dump, or there is a lot to say about the material, it might get it's own thread and discussion like with Devilman Crybaby and BNA, but everyone said what they had to say about it in the Seasonal/chat threads.
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Dec 28, 2020 19:42
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eizouken is the only anime i really finished from this year, i kinda fell off watching new stuff and spent the year watching much older shows. if i finish akudama drive before the end of the year though it'll probably be first place for me, i started watching it and have been enjoying it a lot
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Dec 28, 2020 19:48
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1. Akudama Drive Outstanding dystopian action anime that does the usual "person oppressed by the system gradually realizes the system sucks" arc in a different way by having them operate outside, rather than inside, the system from the beginning. It only ended four days ago, so thank god the AOTY thread was late this year. 2. Magia Record As a mobage, Magia Record had a great story struggling to break free from mediocre dialogue and an ill-fitting form. The anime eliminates those barriers and more besides--it's the work Magia Record was always meant to be. Looking forward to S2! 3. Rezero S2 its rezero... again 4. Deca-Dence i didnt finish this but i really liked the first six episodes 5. Sword Art Online: Alicization: War of Underworld: Second Season the fifth anime i watched in 2020
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Dec 28, 2020 19:48
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AOTY in alphabetical order based on whatever title variant I ended up using: Deca-Dence: Interesting original with perhaps some pacing issues. Generally enjoyed the sort of reverse Matrix. Haikyuu!! To the Top: Enjoyable sports anime. Honzuki no Gekokujou: Shisho ni Naru Tame ni wa Shudan wo Erandeiraremasen 2nd Season: This is mostly bias from following the source material. Season suffered from pacing issues in which they crammed twice the content into a season compared to the first season and cut a lot of things that might end up being problematic for the third season Love Live! Nijigasaki Gakuen School Idol Doukoukai:  Majo no Tabitabi: This is more a reflection of me not watching too much this year. This is almost entirely propped up by good voicing and visual character design, but still barely made it due to some questionable adaptation decisions. Honorable mentions: Maou Gakuin no Futekigousha: I treated this mostly as satire even though there is a decent chance that it actually isn't. The God of High School: Interesting production ideas with good fight scenes, though the underlying story material wasn't too interesting. Thing that would have made it if it wasn't ongoing: Jujutsu Kaisen: I may have just lost it it when the MC went on about how he wanted to be able to do various things from other shonen.
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Dec 28, 2020 20:06
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Nevermind. I decline to use google forms, so my vote won't count.
Beato Believer fucked around with this message at 21:15 on Dec 30, 2020 |
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Dec 28, 2020 22:59
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I barely watched enough anime this year to make a top 5 list so my list is just those anime: 5. Bessatsu Olympia Kyklos This series has neat artstyle that combines claymation with cutouts, as well as different unique and amusing ED songs themed to the story. On top of that it's a short runtime series, so it's easy to get through. 4. In/Spectre I liked the main characters (the female lead in particular), concept, and writing, but the pacing was really bad; I was expecting way less episodes to get through the first arc. If it fixed that issue I'd rank it higher. 3. Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun A funny series that takes takes cliches, telegraphs them and then subverts them in interesting ways, and on top of that it has a large cast of interesting characters that it manages to juggle well. Like with In/Spectre, I'd rank it higher but its biggest problem is its pacing in the back half; The last arc is drawn out for whatever reason, which is unfortunate because everything up to that point was brisk. 2. My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! This is a nice comfort food type anime; it doesn't try to push any boundaries, but it's upbeat and funny, and manages to not have any major flaws for me. 1. Kaguya-sama: Love is War Season 2 It's one of my favorite manga series, and it kept the same level of quality as the previous season with its music, humour, visuals and character interactions. Honorable Mentions: Arte, Gal & Dino, Oda Cinnamon Nobunaga, Golden Kamuy, Sleepy Princess, Somali and the Forest Spirit, Moriarty the Patriot They're just all the series I wanted to watch or partially watched this year.
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Dec 29, 2020 03:20
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BNA, Dorohedoro, Great Pretender, Chihaya 3, and uhhhhhh Darwin's Game has a really funny dub
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Dec 29, 2020 08:18
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5. Wave, Listen to me! for just plain being refreshing for a cast of characters in their mid-20's and older getting by day-to-day, as well as the weirdness that comes from late-night talk radio. 4. Appare-Ranman! is a great romp through the USA in the early 20th century about a Samurai and his charge racing against cowboys. It also has an absolutely despicable villain you'll love to hate. 3. Great Pretender for its gorgeous art style and caper heists, 2. Sleepy Princess for just bein a real sleeper hit (  ) of a comedy.1. Akudama Drive is my AOTY though. It's really hard to lead strong, go strong, and end strong, but Akudama Drive knows exactly what kind of show it wants to be and delivers from start to finish. This one's definitely going in my Blu-Ray collection when it gets released, and I'll probably grab the limited/collector's edition if one gets made. Honorable Mentions:
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Dec 29, 2020 12:10
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1) Dorohedoro I should probably seperate the anime from the manga, but I wouldn't've heard about the series if not for the anime, so just for that it deserves the top spot. Dorohedoro has a unique setting, a lot of really good humour, intriguing plot and lovable characters. Characters are especially good. It's a pretty uncommon approach to storytelling - start with a couple of protagonists and then as they meet other people, follow these other characters as well, like ripples on the water. And make them all equally likable. It's great. And I love the soundtrack. 2) Eizouken At some point during watching Eizouken I felt inspired to work on my thesis. I usually watch anime to escape work, but this one made me genuinely excited to go back to it, and to creative writing. Eizouken is great in showing what's so great about creating stuff you care about. It's also gorgeous and the cast is wonderful. 3) Kaguya-sama My favourite comedy of the year. Miko IIno is a very good girl. 4) Bofuri This one is a bit personal, oddly enough. I have this weird compulsion to play the games the "right" way, even if it's not necessarily the way I enjoy. Especially when I'm playing rpgs, I get overwhelmed, look up some guides and then become unable to stop using them, fearing that I'll miss stuff. Maple's approach to playing reminded me of my first forays into games and it felt really sweet and relaxing to watch her not giving two shits about "right" ways. 5) Japan Sinks 2020 There aren't many anime that make me cry, and this one made me cry a lot. That's it. And I guess my honourable mention is pet which managed to make me very invested in characters and also has a decent ending.
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Dec 29, 2020 12:56
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There were a whole bunch of shows that definitely looked better than some of the trash I was watching this year, especially towards the end. But you know, apocalypse. In a largely arbitrary order: 1. Dorohedoro: On top of what everyone else has said, a good anime to recommend to your friends who "aren't anime people" but, like, for the opposite reason than why most people aren't anime people. 2. Bakarina: Not much I can add here either. The manga's been huge (on this anime subforum of a dead gay website) for ages. I think they made a few missteps in the adaptation, but the end result is still Very Good. 3. Eizoken: Normally I can't stand anything of the type "[medium] about why [medium] is so great", but this was good enough to get past that. 4. Re: Zero didn't quite hit the heights of its first season, but it's still pretty drat good (and is only halfway through so far). 5. Iruma-kun Is goofy fun (and the second entry on this list from the surprisingly populated genre of "bisexual harem magical school". Make of that what you will.) Narrow misses: 6. ID: Invaded was a fun little police-procedural-cum-Inception thing that I don't think got enough attention when it was airing. 7. Magia Record: Given that this was a spin off of a mobile game of a far more popular show, it actually went some interesting places, and I very much hope in manages to get a second season. Special mentions: Bofuri, Bookworm, No Guns Life, Hanako-kun, Princess Connect, the inexplicable continued success of Jashin-chan Dropkick.
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Dec 29, 2020 16:08
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I was going into this thinking I would need to scrounge to get a top 5. Then, I saw the list and half of the notables I list here ended at the beginning of the year. (Showing how much of a time dilated hell-year 2020 has been.  )TOP 5 1. Kaguya-sama: Love is War S2: Never have I had a second season of a comedy anime knock it so far out of the park. Pure genius and (as you will see from a lot of these), you can tell the animation team really loves the source material. 2. Maoujou de Oyasumi (Sleepy Princess): Read the avatar, mo'fos! Biggest unexpected hit of the year. The only reason this is under Kaguya is because Kaguya's characters had the advantage of having an additional season of being fleshed out. And Daddy, Daddy, Do!  3. Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu S2: I know a lot of people are more down on this just because it leaves on a heavy S3 hook, but I don't care. This was quality from beginning to end and did great a making me character about these inhuman witches. 4. Akudama Drive: Pure style. People say Elaina was "pretty?" Bullshit. This show was gorgeous and didn't implode on itself like so many anime originals. 5. This was the hardest decision. In reality, it is a tie between Dorohedoro, F/GO: Babylon, Magia Record, Munou no Nana, and Eizoken. Dorohedoro was classy as gently caress and had the best characters. F/GO has the coolest fights (and I'm a Fate fanboy despite never playing FGO). Magia Record did the best job hooking me for the next season. Nana had the best mystery world. Eizoken was the most whimsical and made me feel the most fuzzy-good at the end. But, I'm going to have to give it to Dorohedoro. It has the best overall package of characterization, interesting world, action, animation, and hooks while providing a complete story. Honorable Mentions: Isekai Quartet 2: Always good for a laugh. Uzaki-chan was Asobitai: Didn't make me laugh or keep me an interested as everything else above it, but it had some surprisingly good moments considering the source gimmick. Fate/Stay Night: Heaven's Feel ~Spring Song~: What the everloving gently caress? This is some bullshit that the culmination of Heaven's Feel is lumped into 2020 when all it has gotten is a theater release (limited in USA) during COVID. 90% chance I'm voting for this during next year's Top 5 regardless of whether it's "eligible" or not.  Great shows I was able to catch up on due to COVID lockdown! - Anohana, Showa Genroku Rokugo Shinju
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Dec 29, 2020 16:21
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A reminder to everyone in the thread that you must vote in the form linked in the OP if you want your vote to be counted. Don't make things hard on me.
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Dec 29, 2020 18:46
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No order: Heaven's Feel 3. Almost put this in honorable mentions because it's a movie and that seems unfair, but. Gleipnir. Was already a fan of the manga, and quite happy with the result. In/Spectre. Enjoyed this gremlin enough to go pick up the manga. Bofuri. Sleepy Princess. Honorable Mentions: ReRise. EN dub when. Iwa Kakeru Talentless Nana Misfit of Demon King Academy. for fully embracing everything dumb about itself. Was Hyped For, Didn't Watch: SNAFU. sorry, i meant to binge you I just haven't gotten around to it yet... Chihayafuru s3. Didn't finish s2 before this aired, still haven't...
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Dec 29, 2020 20:49
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Julias posted:I blame the Netflix model of just dumping the entire series at once. If a thread is made prior to the dump, or there is a lot to say about the material, it might get it's own thread and discussion like with Devilman Crybaby and BNA, but everyone said what they had to say about it in the Seasonal/chat threads. I think it didn't help that it... ah, I feel like an rear end in a top hat saying this when I didn't see all of it, and people are putting it on their top ten, but it kinda sucked? It felt like a show by someone else trying to be Devilman Crybaby, which is weird since Yuasa made Devilman Crybaby. (Which combines with the credit listings to make me feel like there's something to the theory this was one of those things where a name lends his reputation to a project that gets someone else into the big leagues). It takes a bunch of the things from Devilman, like the running metaphor, the biracial status of the central characters, the rap, and the mass death, but it felt like they were kind of marketing features rather than something that came from the project organically. It really felt weird to finally be getting into Yuasa properly, see something of his drop on Netflix... and drop it almost immediately, but yeah. I think if it was more widely liked, it'd be more likely to have gotten discussion. But that's too much of that talk in a thread about anime people liked, so! I watched more old anime than new this year, and a decent chunk of what I watched was more just keeping up with the weeklies than any deep love, but I got more than one new entry for my top anime list this year, so I can't call this a loss, even aside from old stuff like Tatami Galaxy. 5) Gundam Vs. Hello Kitty In a way, this is a fill in for Build Divers Re:Rise. I've only watched a bit of that show here and there, but it's seemed... solid. A Gundam Isekai with characters, motivations, arcs, all the basics that watching more stuff has taught me not to take for granted. It's, from what I've seen, a pretty decent show, and I want to see more, but until I do, my list holds a Gundam I did complete, where Amuro flees in horror to escape Kitty's terrifying power of friendship. 4) My Hero Academia Season 4 MHA was the first weekly I kept up with in Jump, and season 4 covers some of the best stuff with the beginnings of Endeavor's proper character arc. It's really interesting to see him try to, well, stop being such a piece of poo poo, without demanding everyone immediately forgive him for the harm he's done. Mirio's fun, the festival is great, and there's enough to make my list. Just... not enough for a higher spot. 3) Kaguya: Love is War season 2 I watched MHA because I liked the manga already. Kaguya made me read the manga. I bounced off season 1 episode 1, but seeing the talk about the show eventually made me give it another try, and it paid off. Season 2 has less of the more repetitive aspects of season 1, and the expanding cast meant there was more room for interesting dynamics other than Prez and Kaguya being dumbasses at each other. 2) Weathering With You. Not an option on the voting list, presumably thanks to the bastards at the Toronto Film Festival (who I still haven't forgiven for giving their 1990 People's Choice award to an obvious knockoff of Steve Martin's Roxanne), but I'm giving it a place here, and it's a pretty tight race for first. (Ask me another day, I might rearrange the positions.) I watched every other Shinkai film in preparation for this one, and this is probably my favorite. Actually having the two leads spend time together was a change of pace from his usual separation, and the hero's rejection of "the greater good" without ignoring the consequences of that decision made it stand out. Also, got a bit of a soft spot for the last movie I saw in theaters before lockdowns started. (Twice. Dub was better than I expected.) 1) Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! Yeah, it's an obvious pick, but it's not like ignoring the obvious is a virtue. I wasn't sure that I needed another making an anime anime after Shirobako, but seeing people get excited over it and seeing Yuasa was involved made me check it out. Very glad I did. It's funny, it's educational, the animation is often amazing, the characters are likable, and it's just generally really good. It's also an anime that made me watch a ton of other anime that also made my all time list. I'm not sure if I'd have gotten around to Conan or Tatami Galaxy this year without Eizuoken, and if I hadn't, my life would be poorer. Not just a good show, but a show that lets you appreciate other shows even more. Highly recommended. Considering the number of shows I missed because they were sequels to things I didn't watch and the things that got delayed, it's not a bad list, I think. Also watching Jujutsu, AoT, and Osomatsu, but I suppose those will be trying out for next year's list. (Which means, if nothing else, 2021's anime will be off to a decent start.)
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Dec 30, 2020 06:24
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