Last season's top 3

[Ryllharu]

Winter 2015

Death Parade - What sets this series apart from the rest of the season was its execution. It has a lot of ambiguity within it, and let's face it, that starts arguments. It is quite rare that the episodes leave you with only a single interpretation of the events, and that is frequently highlighted by the characters questioning what they're witnessing. It's rare these days for a series to not blatantly tell the viewers precisely how they're meant to interpret things, and this series succeeded with a phenomenal guest cast, a strong main cast, and excellent animation.

The Rolling Girls - I'd never think that a series about background characters could be so entertaining. TRG follows four girls who go on a journey to fill in for their injured leader and broker peace throughout the bizarre alternate Japan, segmented by city-states with rules and laws that are inspired by what they're best known for. What makes it special is that wherever the main characters went, they managed to stay background characters in other people's stories. Coupled with moronic (but entertaining) characters wherever they go, some great over-the-top fight animations, and watercolor backgrounds, this series turned out to be the surprise hit of the season for me. Should I also mention that it is an original work by the studio who worked on Attack on Titan, but with Gin no Saji's director? The under-appreciated gem of the season.

DRRR x2 (round 1) - While the middle was a bit dull, and it seemed as if the focus was on some of the most boring members of the enormous cast, DRRR's return after five years was still well worth it. The introduction episode manages to bring the viewers up to speed in a way that I've never seen another anime do as smoothly or comprehensively, and overall the series reaches new heights. New characters that bring the truly crazy, conspiracies and organizations viewers didn't know about gain some prominence, and the best part is the viewers are only left wanting more. It's hard to juggle a set of characters this large and still flow and make sense.
And that ending. Can't wait for the next cour.


Honorable Mention: Parasyte for being one the best adaptations in years. I'd probably rank it higher if I hadn't read it previously. It shouldn't be a strike against a series for matching the source material so well, but I feel like I can't list it in the top 3 for me this season because it felt so much the same as the manga.