I am back from my first real break from this blog since I first created it back in 2012. So I'm returning with another year of top ten, where I list anime that I personally have enjoyed over this year. There was one last year, if you want to check it out because that was quite a while ago.
The year of 2013 has certainly had it's ups and downs; there have been a handful of anime breaking out from the world of obscurity and into a more popular context, and others that have fizzled out a die in the dark. I've cranked up the amount of anime I've watched this year, but most have been long forgotten. So what anime will make it to the top of my heart? Well you will have to journey further into the post to find out and as tradition goes, the start will be the tl;dr version then make my way to further explaining myself.
For the Lazy
Top 10
- Gin no Saji
- Chihayafuru 2
- Aku no Hana
- The World God Only Knows III
- Golden Time
- Kamisama no Inai Nichiyoubi
- White Album 2
- Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Come
- Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai Next
- Monogatari Series: Second Season
Honorable Mentions
- Shingeki no Kyojin
- Log Horizon
- GJ-bu
Explanation
GJ-bu
This year I've have developing a distaste for do nothing slice-of-lifes, and GJ-bu happens to be one of those types of anime. So even with that kind of resistance on my part, I managed to thoroughly enjoy many of the aspects of this anime. Not only did it have many funny segments to it, GJ-bu somehow managed to be entertain even though the majority of the series was spent in one room. I really don't know how it managed to pull something like that off, but it is an anime that is worth mentioning even if not that many people will like something of this genre; I had fun watching it despite many aspect of anime I hate popped up frequently in it.
Log Horizon
Very early into the year I got some flack for not including Sword Art Online in my top ten last last year, and I made a post that later became my most viewed and commented on this blog. Log Horizon was one anime that was heavily criticized for being a complete copy of Sword Art Online, but a handful of episodes in it distinguished itself from that anime. Unlike SAO where the main focus is on the severity of being stuck in a game wears off after the second half, Log Horizon focuses more on integrating into the ecosystem of the game. It serves as more of a political piece rather than a psychological one and it is done really well. So this came as a surprise of where it went regardless of it's initial reaction coming from people who have watched SAO. I would say Log Horizon ended up becoming a much more entertaining anime.
Shingeki no Kyojin
A top ten list this year can't be complete without mentioning the anime that broke free of the niche that is anime. Shingeki no Kyojin, or Attack on Titan, is certainly the most talked about anime of the year, but I wouldn't put it on my top ten list; I had a great fun watching the anime, and highly doubt anyone needs to be reminded of this anime if you have been paying any attention to anime this year. It ended up casting a titanic shadow over many great anime during the time it was airing, but I wouldn't say that shadow was enough to bury all other anime on my watch. Overall Shingeki no Kyojin was in all senses a good action fantasy with emotions being thrown all over the place; it certainly has some pacing issues, but the content as a whole was a great thing to experience.
Monogatari Series: Second Season
When Bakemonogatari first came out, I wasn't really paying that much attention to the dialog being presented every episode, and I ended up missing a lot of Senjougahara's personal development; plus I'm not really up to re-watch it at the moment because of all the reading I need to do. So going into season two I was sightly lost, but due to the many recaps embedded in between arcs, it help me get the overall gist. So with more of the focus being on the many girls, I had a better time with this season, especially with the more recent arc with Kaiki Deishu. Since I am a slow reader, it still is a bit more tedious to watch compared to other anime, but this season was one of the better ones for sure.
Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai Next
During the first season this was more of an enjoyable harem to watch, but second season brought out the big guns as character relationship truly began to develop. Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai Next, or Haganai NEXT, was one of the first anime -- that I've seen -- to actually take a deeper look at situations like many girls liking one guy. Not only that, but the main male character was more thought out than just being the standard copy paste nice guy that almost every harem falls in. Essentially, it was the harem for people that didn't like harems, and that is something it has done a good job holding on to.
Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Come
Another anime that got compared to other anime that came out not too long ago -- matter of fact, it was the anime before this one, Haganai. Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Come focused more on the male protagonist aspect of the harem genre and not so much the actual harem part. So we have an unlikable main male character who ends up being one of the most distinguishable and enjoyable character of the series. Hikigaya's range from silliness between the main cast to the more despicable acts focused on many of the characters really makes for an interesting character to follow through the series. And that focus on not only the three main characters, but many of the interactions is one of the reason I put it a head of Haganai -- stated in more detail during my final thoughts of Oregairu.
White Album 2
With the forever flowing river of harem in the anime space, I forgot how well the classic love triangle that many romances utilized heavily worked. White Album 2 was one that did that and wasn't afraid to make any and all parties involved suffer. Not only that, but during my first impressions, White Album 2 didn't much of an impact on me; so now that it has impressed me as the romance stated to kick in, I'm just glad to see a rather classic type of love story -- in the sense of structure, not originality.
Kamisama no Inai Nichiyoubi
This is one where I almost drop completely when it was airing. Kamisama no Inai Nichiyoubi, or Kami-Nai, managed to reverse my opinion of this anime right on the third episode and quickly became a great mystery set in a post-apocalyptic setting. And even with the theme of most post-apocalyptic stories being hopelessness, a lot of what our main character Ai brought was hope in such a dreary setting. I rarely get misty eyed watching an anime and Kami-Nai was one to made me full out cry in a long time, which is a great achievement for any show to receive for sure.
Golden Time
Right from the start, this was one of the stranger romance anime I've watched this year. As things began to develop it became a beautiful mix of a love story with drama because of the amnesia elements. I haven't seen that many amnesia stories, so Golden Time is one where I believe it to be one of the better one and certainly a representation of what you can do with a character who has amnesia. I also noticed that Golden Time had me smiling a lot, and I had a very similar feeling I did last year for my number one anime in 2012 -- that being Kokoro Connect. Really, in my opinion, this is one of the better romances I've seen this year, but it hasn't finished airing yet and they might go on a path I don't enjoy.
The World God Only Knows III
When The World God Only Knows originally came out, it was a really nice spin to the harem genre. However, now that it is three seasons in, it is at the point of getting rather bland. So with this season being the goddess arc, there was a good enough change to this very samey formula to make it feel fresh. Now the women with goddesses in them can clearly remember the conquest with Keima, making some very interesting and uncomfortable moment for him. And this theme of discomfort with Keima continues through the season; we can finally see him in an emotional states other than really calm in many situations. This season was in need of some character development with Keima, and this is exactly what it delivered, making my excitement for this series reach a new level. I don't want to spoil it for people that haven't watch this season yet, but I put more detail into my final thoughts of KamiNomi -- go there only if you have seen it or you just want to know what happens.
Aku no Hana
One of the more notorious anime for being "ruined" by its use of rotoscoping. Of course I disagree, considering it is my number three, Aku no Hana felt like it was intentionally an ugly anime both on the surface and on the inside. Not everyone is going to like that aspect of it, but I really like that it didn't try to be something it isn't -- though it might have been better to just kept it live action. Aku no Hana was one of the first psychological horrors I've ever experience and it continued to pull me in every week -- I would also make sure it was dark before viewing the episode to keep a certain atmosphere going. Although I don't get disturbed as easily as the next person, Aku no Hana was still a really enjoyable anime where I was more curious to see how the interactions with Takao and Sawa would end up rather than actually being horrified.
Chihayafuru 2
I don't consider myself a sports fan, in both watching and playing, so I wouldn't normally watch an anime that focuses heavily on the sport side of things, like Chihayafuru has. However, with an already establish season behind it, the second second only brought even more excitement to the table. Even though most of the attention is on competitive katura, Chihayafuru doesn't skip out on the character aspect of what sports brings out in people -- like their competitive nature, comradery, disagreement, and drama within the team. This is both the best and only sport anime I look forward to every season and it is comparable to Bakuman, as far as character interaction in my book, which is a good thing.
Gin no Saji
The BIGGEST surprise coming out this year for me. When the season that Gin no Saji -- better known as Silver Spoon -- first aired, I payed no attention to it because I was suffering from slice-of-life burn out. So when Dodger on Daily Byte recommended it to people who didn't like slice-of-life, it got my curiosity. I gave the first episode a shot and ended up watching another two and I quickly became hook to this charming anime. Despite being an anime on the comedic side, it snuck in a message that wasn't often talked about -- I also wrote about it in detail, but wont spoil it for those reading this. All-in-all, Silver Spoon was an anime that reminded me what anime can be all over again; even if anime is silly at heart, there can be a message that is also very deep, and those who aren't paying attention might miss it, still will most likely enjoy the show regardless.