Happy New Year! It was a good year for comedy anime I thought and there were quite a few good shows. Thanks for following and here’s to another good year of anime. Next year’s shows look pretty dope. Please enjoy my list of favourite shows and maybe you’ll discover something new to watch!
Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card Arc
Wow, so many years after the original Cardcaptors ended they bring out a sequel. It brought me back to the old show in the first scene. It was just as fun and cute as I remember. Sakura’s outfits were awesome as usual as well. However, just like the original show it kind of ended without a proper conclusion and that makes me want more. Will we get more? Who knows.
Hinamatsuri
Oh one of the first comedies that I watched this year and it was pretty funny. It also had a lot of emotional feel-good moments which I enjoyed. Give it a shot if you like slice of life comedies. The facial expressions are also top tier. Ha ha!
Hisone to Masotan
What a cute show! The voice acting was really great and the animation style was unique and different from most shows that season. This show tells the story of cute girls flying dragon fighter jets for the JSDF in a top secret program. The girls have to grow their bonds with each other and their dragons if they hope to be able to complete their missions. It’s really cute and I love the catchy ED! It’s got an old-school show feel to it.
Mahou Shoujo Ore
Ha ha! Another comedy show. Magical boys? Count me in. Lol This show is so absurd and self-aware it’s hilarious. Take two aspiring idols who “enter a contract” with a fairy mafia and become magical boys. But I guess the twist is that they are female idols who transform into magical boys. Shenanigans ensue.
Asobi Asobase
OMG I think this show was the funniest one this year. Three girls make a club at school whose whole purpose is to do nothing. The voice acting and facial expressions of the characters is top notch. I was actually laughing so hard while watching this show, it’s so ridiculous and over the top.
Chiyo-chan no Tsuugakuro (Chio's School Road)
Another AMAZING and absurd comedy. I also laughed out loud so much while watching this show. It’s just a serious of random events that happen to this girl and some of her friends on the way to school. The one thing I like about this show is that it doesn’t take place in a classroom. It’s a little bit refreshing from comedies that primarily take place in the classroom.
Hataraku Saibou (Cells at Work)
This was an imaginative show that takes place inside the human body. Following a red blood cell on her duty to deliver oxygen to the body, she encounters various cells and germs on her daily work. Surprisingly informative for an anime on the human body.
Banana Fish
An action mafia show that really surprised me with how interesting it got. Based off an older manga they adopted a similar old-ish style feel but it still looks modern. Does that even make sense? This tells the story of a rent boy for the mafia who tries to get revenge on those who did him wrong. He meets a Japanese boy who he befriends and protects. It’s got some pretty good animation as well and good story arcs that tell a pretty succinct story.
Golden Kamuy
This is a nice show with quite a bit of humour despite it’s action tag. This show is about an ex-soldier who starts to search for some treasure and ends up teaming up with a girl from a mountain village. They work together to seek out the map to the treasure and have to fight some pretty scary guys along the way. It has good action scenes and started to get really exciting once it ramped up.
Happy New Year! It’s time again for my list of favourite shows of the year. Here’s to another year of good anime. Thank you for following and I hope you are enjoying the good anime we had this year. I present the list, in no particular order.
ACCA: 13-ku Kansatsu-ka
Political intrigue, double crossing, and a secret coup. This show was excellent at world building and making the world seem like a real and interesting place. It’s rare to find a nicely wrapped up show in one cour especially when there were so many different plot lines going on with the characters.
Continuing off a few years after the first season ended we get to hear the rest of the story. Focusing more on Konatsu and Yotaro, we see the story of Yakumo taking on an apprentice and trying to keep rakugo alive. The second season was a roller coaster of emotions and had some of the most beautiful scenes.
Little Witch Academia
Trigger back to save anime again! This time making a series out of an OVA. This show is charming and adorable. Akko is a genki girl with so much spunk and the supporting cast is just as awesome. In typical Trigger fashion the show amps up the stakes in the final arc and we get a grand finale that is both wonderful and sweet. The animation is great as expected in a Trigger production, and the various little Easter Eggs always make me smile.
Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon / Miss Kobayashi’s Maid Dragon
An otherworldly creature takes up residence in a office worker’s home and decides to live with her. Hi-jinx ensue. This show is full of warm fuzzies and Kana is the cutest. Plenty of jokes to be had here and the animation is very smooth, as expected of Kyo Ani.
Re:Creators
Take the isekai trope and reverse it, that’s what you get with Re:Creators. Fictional protagonists get transported to the real world.Add a dash of Sawano and you have an entertaining series with quite a few twists and turns. I enjoyed that they pulled in different types of protagonists from different genres of shows as well. A mech pilot, a chivalrous knight, a magical girl, and a mage to name a few. I was thoroughly amused by this series and it was good fun. The antagonist was a little too much for me at times with their over powered abilities. But just a minor annoyance in an otherwise great show.
Uchouten Kazoku 2 / The Eccentric Family 2
The long awaited sequel to a show I never thought would get a sequel, but I am so glad that it did. Rejoining the antics of Shimagomo family we get introduced to a few new characters. I love the colours in this show and how vibrant everything looks. Yasaburo is also a babe <3.
Made in Abyss
Wow, this show took me by surprise having heard virtually nothing about it before watching the first episode. The world building is fantastic, and the character designs are so unique. The creatures living in the abyss are also terrifying. Also the soundtrack is PHENOMENAL and inspired. Do yourself a favour and watch this show. The suffering depicted throughout their journey into the abyss was pretty gut-wrenching as well.
Mahoujin Guru Guru
Where do I even begin with this show. I think it was one of the most consistently funny shows that I watched this year. Every episode has me laughing out loud at one joke or another. The gags don’t get stale even when re-used. Kukuri is so precious and her smile must be protected. The animation is really smooth and consistent and they occasionally use 16 bit animation. It actually feels like I’m watching an RPG, they even have status bars that show up throughout the show that sometimes show their levels. It’s really quite hilarious.
Princess Principal
Female spies in an alternate universe steampunk-London. If you can handle a non-linear story progression then you should take a look at this show. The soundtrack is done by one of my favourites, Yuki Kajiura. The episodic nature of the show allows some of the side characters to really shine and I actually like a side character as my favourite character because of their backstory. It’s rare that an original show like this manages to be so captivating so early on in it’s run.The artwork and character designs are nice and Victorian England makes for an exciting setting for spies.
Garo Vanishing Line
I know this show is 2 cour and will spill into 2018, but the first cour was excellent and warrants it’s inclusion on my list of faves. I really am getting into the Garo franchise and Mappa is doing an incredible job of showing their strengths with this franchise. It’s got plenty of action and an interesting plot line. The first cour was mostly episodic in nature, introducing the characters of the series and now the second cour I think will delve into more lengthy story arcs. But so far it has me entertained.
Houseki no Kuni / Land of the Lustrous
OMG this SHOW!!! I think I can say that it is my number 1 favourite show of 2017. Everything about it is so stunning and gorgeous. The choice of using CG has some people divided, but I love it. I’ve been a fan of CG shows since Knights of Sidonia and Ajin, and Houseki no Kuni demonstrates the epitome of awesome things you can do with CG. The camerawork is stunning for fight scenes and you can do things that you’d never see in 2D animation. I think CG is the perfect format for a show like this. The colours are gorgeous and the characters are so endearing and full of life. The show’s universe is mysterious and I desperately want a season 2. I could literally talk about how much I love this show for hours, but I’ll just tell you that you have to watch it. It’s criminally under-watched in my opinion. Story wise, you have these genderless gemstone characters who fight against the Lunarians who are trying to kidnap them, break them into fragments and use them as weapons to capture the remaining gemstone characters. There is also an air of mystery going on and you barely scratch the surface of the truth behind this universe. I love this show it’s a masterpiece of art.
Inuyashiki
Well this show was a pleasant surprise. Not only does it have a complete adaptation, but it’s a pretty badass show. So this old man and teenager get turned into super powered robots. Then you see how different they react with their new found powers. They mix a little CG in when they use their robot powers. It’s a bit clunky at times but the story is compelling enough to make me not notice it. Also the OP is sung by Man With A Mission, one of my favourite Japanese groups so that’s a bonus.
I didn’t think it was possible to top the first season of Kekkai Sensen because it was so cool. But this second season is WAY better. Now you have to be a fan of the episodic format as each episode is pretty much standalone except two two-part arcs. We get a lot more time with side characters and learn more about the background of my favourite character, Chain. <3 <3 Also Steven (total DILF) gets a lot more screen time which is great. It has the same humour and upbeat zany atmosphere as the first season but it really feels more like a labour of love where the characters are given time to shine. And the characters are the strong point of this show. The OST is also really great as it mixes jazz, RnB, rap, hip hop style songs as it’s supposed to be a take on New York. It also has some amazing sakuga scenes because it’s got the BONES people working their magic.
Shoujo Shuumatsu Ryokou / Girls’ Last Tour
This show really surprised me. It was so comfy, yet melancholy. Two girls are just travelling around in a tank in what appears to be a post-nuclear/apocalyptic Earth. The background and atmosphere is really great, it reminds me of Blame or the city of Sidonia with layered city structures and industrial almost steampunk type environment. It’s kind of a lonely show with just snippits of their lives together roaming the wasteland. The OST is glorious and relaxing though. I’d say it’s kind of like a slice of life except not heavy handed with the jokes. You really feel that they are the last few remaining people on Earth. The voice actors also have excellent chemistry as it’s just those two girls talking to each other essentially the entire episode, yet the show remains engaging.
