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.

[David75]

Cross Ange, cause you gotta love all the accidental face on clit scenes...
Gotta love some scenes, like that nobody being headshot properly and immediately forgotten 3 or 4 eps ago.

[neflight86]

1. Death Parade: Powerful. Gripping. Moving.

2. Shirobako: Best feel good show I've seen in years because of the developed cast. Highly recommended.

3. Nanatsu no taizai: Break neck paced shounen with DBZ power scaling and just enough character to be its own thing. Good fun all around.

[MFauli]

EDIT: REAL top3 in next posting :P


1.) GATE: Jietai Kanochi Nite - I mentioned a lot of disappointment about this anime in its topic, but the overlying concept is still so interesting that it was my most looked forward to anime of the whole week. There´s so much potential, but so much mishandling. I hope the story can manage to find drastically needed focus when this show returns. And ffs, have Itami bang Rory.

2.) Ore Monogatari - Another anime that´s story went nowhere. But its characters ensured an enjoyable time. For as much as I´d like to see how Sunagawa finds a gf, how the rest of Takeo´s friends get gfs, I don´t see any room left for the main pair to develop in an interesting way. Sure, sex, marriage, babies, etc., but that´s not exactly exciting. And I also don´t want to see silly drama like splitting up et al.

3.) Dragon Ball Super - Extremely shitty music, but damn, canon DB finally continues! We´re now at the end of the movie re-telling, so I´m excited to see the new stuff. Hope they can capture the feeling of danger and despair that the original DBZ had.

[MasterOfMoogles]

I'm going to give 4, because I think they all deserve a mention.

1.) Prison School - Outrageous cast of characters, outrageous situations. Easily competes for best comedy ever. Fantastic voice casting. When they talk about "serious comedy" in Bakuman, this is it.

2.) GATE - Interesting concept, fun characters with Rory and Lelei. I really enjoy watching the cross-culture exchange and extremely weird politics between Japan and the fantasy world.

3.) Symphogear GX - If you like battle heavy magical girls and are not watching Symphogear, you're missing out. This season started with a bang, perhaps the best episode 1 of any show this season. They continued to deliver up until a couple episodes ago where the writing took a bit of a nosedive. I'm hoping they can save it with the finale, but at least the singing and battles are still awesome.

4.) Rokka no Yuusha - While I can't say the mystery was completely satisfying, Rokka entertained throughout all of its episodes and kept a nice pace of action and mystery combined with mostly good animation. It definitely left me wanting to see more of Adlet and crew.

Honorable Mentions: Overlord, Shimoneta (OMG, craziest character ever in this show), Sore ga Seiyuu,

[Kraco]

1. Overlord - The main character is a bloody badass Skeletor leading a host of monsters. To be honest I can't immediately remember any other show with a setting quite like that. It's a nice and fresh approach to the stuck in a game world setting after the likes of SAO.
   
2. Akagami no Shirayukihime - The manga is one of my favourites and the anime adaptation was successful. A very slow and peaceful story, but I appreciate fantasy shoujo adventure genre wise, so it clicks well for me personally. Shirayuki is just so super cute as well.
   
3. Gate - I wondered if I should list this or Classroom Crisis. If Classroom had had a better ending, it might have been here instead. But to be honest I was looking more forward to Gate during the weeks. It's a hilarious show with its nationalism that simply can't be taken seriously. The cast was varied with some jolly personalities. Mixing modern times with a fantasy world happens every now and then in fiction, and it's challenging, but this show isn't half bad as far as that goes.

[Ryllharu]

In no particular order:

Rokka no Yuusha: While I certainly have problems with the overall plotline, being a Locked Room Mystery of the worst kind, and the series was a little bit dragged out at times, this was definitely a must watch for the season. Good animation, excellent character design (with one exception at the very end), entertaining battles, and just brainy enough to get a viewer really engaged with the series. The CG remarkably manages to not feel out of place by having it appear frequently and with the main cast, instead of cutting to some other view.

Non Non Biyori Repeat: It's like a store-bought cake. You know what to expect out of it, it's got a lot of stuff on it or in it, and while it won't disappoint you, it's not really going to surprise you either. But that's not a bad thing because it is so satisfying and well accomplished. The recurring gags are funny, the characters excellent, the backgrounds beautiful, and other moments make you feel warm and fuzzy inside. There are other "heartwarming" slice of life shows out there, which often get bogged down with "gentle" (read: incredibly slow) pacing, but not so with Non Non Biyori, it's wonderfully paced, with the slow moments coming it at exactly the right points but without going on too long. Non Non Biyori manages to make the seemingly very boring countryside very entertaining.

Monster Musume no Iru Nichijou: Is it an niche fetish harem ecchi show? Absolutely. Is it much better than you thought it would be? Very much so.
Why you should give this show a shot is about how well it is crafted underneath the veil of a niche fetish ecchi show. Ecchi shows are almost always full of bland stereotypes, clichés, and one-dimensional characters, all centered around a beta male who gets helplessly dragged from one scenario to the next. Monmusu seems like it is exactly that kind of show, and if you don't stop to think about it, it feels that way too. But what Monmusu manages to do is surpass the formula it deliberately went for. While the male lead does get dragged into things, it is at his own choosing and resolved with his own capabilities. Deceptively, he's really an alpha male character. The girls have a surprisingly depth to them. They play up the stereotypes, while consistently showing another side. The birdbrain harpy who is remarkably motherly. The jealous, predatory lamia who...wait the series didn't get that far yet.
Excellent voice cast, fun plots, surprising character depth, and a male harem lead that is never passive to the shit he gets dragged into and maintains his composure in scenarios that all but the most alpha male characters would falter. You might want to wait for the blurays though.

Honarable Mentions: Symphogear GX, Overlord, GATE, Shokugeki no Souma.

[shinta|hikari]

Classroom Crisis - Well-rounded story with a nice harem end.
Charlotte - If you come in expecting compressed drama, you'll be satisfied.
Overlord - As opposed to Gate, this just got better as it progressed.

Honorable Mentions:
Himouto. Moe~
Jitsu wa watashi wa - Cute shounen harem romance with a very nice BGM at the right moments.

[neflight86]

1. Baby Steps S2 2nd half: There are some anime I watch leaning forward. This is one of them. Excellent technical matches and perfect pacing cement this as one of my favorite sports anime.

2. Prison School: The hilarity was weapons-grade; theoretically.

3. Joukamachi no Dandelion: This beat out Overlord on the sole merit of being a complete story, but I enjoyed both roughly equally.

[MFauli]

Ok, lol, I have to make a re-done Top 3 now that I´ve watched some more :P I´ll also do away with my rule of only mentioning new anime franchises:

1.) Overlord - Only discovered that a few days ago, now all caught up. Season 2 gotta come! Best realized, most fun MMORPG-anime. It just keeps getting better, no filler episodes at all. Great characters, great setup of things, and good hero, albeit a little gay atm.

2.) Baby Steps - I´ll miss this one the most ... for now, as I hope. Always had me looking forward to Sunday. There´s just something about sports anime that´s really drawing me in, especially if they´re, ya know, good. The pace can be a bit slow at times, and the results of matches aren´t always what I d like to happen, but still, it´s super fun watching Maruo progress.

3.) Shokugeki no Soma - VERY bad first episodes, focusing on shitty ecchi stuff. But it turned itself around. I´m not sure it´s actually that great of a show, but it also had me looking forward to it each week, waiting to find out what dish Soma-kun cooks next. Sucks that he´s set on Erina-bitch, because Tadokoro is girl #1.

Honorable mentions: GATE: Jietei no Kanochi Nite (unrealized potential), Ace of Diamond (it´s still fun watching, but the series lacks highlights. Game after game keeps happening, but there´s no real tension any more), Dragon Ball Super (shitty music ruined the most epic moment, but I guess it´s only the start now)

[Munsu]

Summer 2015

1. Rokka no Yuusha - A bit up and down with the pacing and the mystery aspects, I really like the world, the animation, and action. I liked most of the characters in all honesty, and overall good production values. I hope we can get more in the future.

2. Overlord - The series I enjoyed the most this season. At time ultra violent, and it was extremely fun. Awesome characters all around. An arc there that got a bit too slow, but Nabe and Ainz made the journey worth watching... and all the buffing.

3. Classroom Crisis - Not a real standout, but had a lot more to offer than what it initially portrayed itself as. A good story from start to finish, and a very nice ending that is more satisfactory than 90% of what's found there... and certainly the most satisfactory ending of this season.

Honorable mentions:

Gangsta - abrupt ending (particularly I assume because of Manglobe bankruptcy) and messy story prevents it from being considered. I love Nic and the action, and that's usually good enough for me, but not this time.

Gate: Jieitai Kanochi nite, Kaku Tatakaeri- certainly would've made the list among the top ones, but since it's getting a continuation in January, I'll save reserve judgement until then.

God Eater - I think this anime is better than most would give it credit for, and I know the CG puts some people off it. Seems like ufotable has had some problems with keeping their schedules, so it hasn't finished yet. As it is, it seems like it's doomed to an incomplete and unsatisfactory ending. It's been an unbalanced series so far also, but I think it's been better than most reactions I've seen around for it.

[Munsu]

While we're at it, any lists for Spring 2015?

[MasterOfMoogles]

Spring 2015

1) Unlimited Blade Works part 2 - You know what you're in for if you got this far.
2) Hibike Euphonium - Very nicely animated band club, complete with drama and some fun characters.
3) Knights of Sidonia part 2 - You may have watched the awesome sci-fi mecha from part 1, but part 2 is the best because of Tsugumi.

Pretty slim pickings, really. The only other good shows were really Dungeon no Deai, Niseoki, Shokugeki, Yahari, and Yamada.
Arslan started this season too, which was good. I wouldn't recommend anything else from Spring.

[Ryllharu]

Spring 2015

Hibike Euphonium - Very nicely animated series, but the standout is the characters. From the rather nasty attitude of the lead character, the very focused and mature demeanor of the 'prodigies', to the saintly good natured club president...and everything in between. As far as character driven dramedies go, this one is rooted it a lot more natural personalities. Well written, well animated, and some really nice music pieces in there too.

Dungeon ni Deai o Motomeru no wa Machigatte Iru Darouka: Familia Myth (aka Danmachi) - Quality humor, serviceable plot, but why this stands out is that this definitely had the best action sequences the entire season, which is quite odd when you think about it because...

Honorable mention:
Unlimited Blade Works part 2 - This series really dropped the ball from its first half in terms of well animated action sequences. It also suffers from very bad pacing. I honestly wouldn't even put this as a third series on the list since the Spring season was exceptionally poor, but it makes up for some very nice voice acting and good dramatic scenes. No surprises here if you're familiar with the game.

Note: I don't officially list a third series because it was a bad season. Quite the step down from the season preceding it.

[MFauli]

Boku dake ga inai Machi
Pretty much the go-to anime last season. Started strong, succeeded in making me feel both anxious and happy at times, and ended okay-ish. The twist was rather lame and the lack of an explanation for the supernatural abilities are annoying. This could have been better as a 2 cour-anime, fleshing out the childhood parts, maybe featuring several more jumps back and forth, interacting with the adult versions of Satoru´s friends and seeing how they change with everything Satoru changes in the past. Still, a high quality, emotional drama.

Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans
I´m not yet done with it, but it has grabbed me so hard, it´s incredible. The show does an exceptional job at building up characters, even the smallest ones (quite literally). Instead of having a crew of faceless no-names, everybody is a unique person, as if truly existing. Thus, the feeling of danger is upped, because no matter who bites the dust, it´s tragic. The action is good, the fights so far a balanced, the hero isn´t an overwhelming force. Sure, he eventually prevails, but it´s never like "here´s the superior Gundam, now I shoot my special weapon and you´re dead". There´s always a real fight going on. Orga is a great character, and this show even has a competent fat guy. Special mention needs to go to the music. The opening is great, but what´s fantastic is how at the end of every episode, the ending music slowly fades in, akin to Hunter X Hunter 2011. Makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside every time.

Gintama
The last two arcs were great. Not only is Gintama the best comedy anime, it also excels when it decides to be serious. Unfortunately, due to a studio change, the animation quality wasn´t up to par with the amazing contents, which was a real bummer. Still, having a whole brigade of Yato attack at once is a breathtaking moment to behold ... even though they weren´t as strong as I expected them tobe. After well over 300 episodes, this is an anime that keeps deserving to be watched.

[Ryllharu]

Winter 2016

Boku dake ga inai Machi - A solid mystery series. Great characters you can get attached to, consistent continuity. The only downside is it never really gave me that "tug" feeling. It's a drama as much as it is a mystery, and there's never really a point that the series grabs you by the guts and twists and you feel a physical ache. At least for me.

Oshiete! Galko-chan - This is an 8-minute gag series, but damn does it do a flawless job. From the gentle-voiced narrator up through the main cast, perfectly done. There's episodes that will make you chuckle, there's episodes that will get you all misty-eyed. Its main conceit that there's a gyaru-type girl who is utterly unlike the stereotype she exhibits holds up from start to finish. A series that never bothers to name a single character (all nicknames) while presenting the overall message that one should never judge another by their outward appearance. It's funny, it's sweet, it's endearing, and never failed to at least make me smile. Galko-chan might be the new Empress of gap moe.

Koukaku no Pandora: Ghost Urn - This is the happy and energetic version of Ghost in the Shell. It has plenty of references to its inspiration for the fans out there, but overall, it takes the same premise, but puts a more optimistic spin to full-body cyborgs and androids that develop their own ghosts (sentience for non-fans). It's silly, even stupid at times, relying on plenty of jokes. But there's some serious depth to this series when you take a step back. Its best feature is that it takes the same explorations as a lot of cyberpunk series, but either parodies them, or shows the positive outcome instead of the bleak one. There's plenty of hints throughout the series that the world outside isn't anywhere near as rosy as what is shown in the series (quite the contrary), but they push it aside to take a brighter look at things. The 'twist' in the final episode is also worth it. Pays off completely. Downside? The art certainly sucks.

[shinta|hikari]

1) Iron Blooded Orphans - By far my favorite. If I wrote a Gundam show, it'd turn out like this.
2) Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu - Seinen story about Rakugo. Very classy. Rich characters. Simple but engaging story that spans years.
3) Boku dake ga Inai Machi - Weak middle but strong start and finish. This is pretty weak as a mystery due to the obvious culprit and dumb protagonist, but it was a fairly good drama with lots of attention to detail.

Honorable Mention:
Konosuba - Would have beaten one of those on top if it had decent art. Instead, we got scribbles. Lalatina looks hideous 90% of the time.

EDIT: Ajin was a good contender too, but it hasn't finished yet and the 3D is crap. The story and characters are a cut above, though.

[neflight86]

3) Boku dake ga Inai Machi - Sidetracked from the mystery by a feel good sub-plot, but still delivered on a fun, light, complete story.

2) Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku Wo! - A serviceable comedy that... served comedy. Well done and fun.

1) Hai to Gensou no Grimgar - Slow or not, it would be she show I looked forward to the most each week this season.

Honorable mention to Schwarzesmarken for being the best muv-luv anime (clearing a very low bar) yet.

[neflight86]

3. Bakuon - Planted firmly in the 'cute girls doing xxx' category, I found the comedy hit more often than not for me. Enjoyable cast and art cuter than the modest seeming budget would have me believe.

2. Sansha Sanyou - I must have been in the mood for these shows this season, because this has even less substance than Bakuon, but I enjoyed it even more. Above average animation and excellent 'black hole' character brought this in at number 2.

1. Boku Hero Academia - Not much competition, as shounen is my overall favorite genre of anime, and this one delivered. Both an excellent cour and creation of a franchise.

*I do not include ongoing series like Jojo or Re: Zero in consideration until they end.

And now, my special awards for spring 2016.

"Best Op": Kiznaiver - Surprisingly, it did what most Ops never can. Every time I watched it, it actually got me in the mood to watch Kiznaiver. Catchy and well produced. Without it, I probably wouldn't have made it past episode 1.

The "Shame on me" award: Joker Game - Something about the story telling in this one was so dry, yet I feel ashamed for not finishing it. After all, one chief complaint about anime is its reliance on formulaic settings to pander to the widest otaku crowd for post air blu ray sales. One is made about espionage in an oft neglected time period (in anime), and I find it boring and dreary after 10 episodes. Shame on me.

The "Train Wreck" award: Mayoiga - For all of the suspense this one built, it did not cash any in for meaningful payoff. we are left with a generally un-fulfilling conclusion to what could have been a campy slasher-thon along the lines of "Another". Similar to "Charlotte", I was expecting something different from the tone the first episode set than what was delivered.

The "Bridge" award: Haifuri - Mostly enjoyed the naval tactics depicted in the sea battles, so this one inspired me to try out Girls und Panzer.

[MFauli]

1.) Re Zero

Tbh this past season was generally disappointing. Which is why I feel the need to say that Re Zero was good, but it had some stinkers, too. Moreover, the series is at a crossroad and we´ll see what happens from there.

2.) Neto Ge

It´s not a must-see, god beware. But I jolly enjoyed the story. My only wish is that Rusian makes his intentions clear regarding Ako. It still feels as if she see their relationship as something superficial, something tied to the MMORPG. I want Rusian to get her to acknowledge a real life-relationship and I want them to finally kiss (at least. Come on, she was offering her virginity, kneeling naked in front of him, already!!!)

3.) Jojo

I´m not a fan of the "monster of the week"-style that was introduced with Diamond Dust. But it´s now starting to get good.


Biggest disappointment of the season by far: Kabaneri no Koutetsujou. Great animation, great production value ... and a boring story, boring enemies and flat characters. Ugh. It´s sad all around.