Our Top Fave Anime of the Last Year or So

nathanKmcwilliams 2020-09-18 15:08:40 UTC #8

Sure, why make an anime when you can make an actual game out of it?

But still. I almost dipped out after the second episode, but I gave it another chance for a few more episodes and it really took off.

I think the idea of the cyborgs playing a game, while the humans are unaware is pretty legit.
Plus, there's actually some great character development with the main cyborg dude as he interacts with the girl.
(I'm bad with names xD)

Really though, I just like it. It's got a little bit of everything I like (minus the RPG bits) it feels like a brightly colored take on the Matrix with monsters thrown in.
And as said before, I really like the designs. Also, I think the RPG part is a secondary setting, designed to throw people off. The actual setting is Terminator Dystopian Hell On Earth.

scribesunlimited 2020-09-18 15:12:52 UTC #9

It's funny you mention the second episode too. Checked online to see what people were saying after the second episode was shown and I guess there was a LOT of confusion. I mean, kudos to the writers for throwing a money wrench into the plot but...wow, it didn't get a lot of sunny smiles, from what I read. Glad though that the series bounced back

We're just sick to death of "stuck in RPG" anime now. We need something new. The "mother" one was hilarious and fun, but that's been our only exception.

nathanKmcwilliams 2020-09-18 15:19:13 UTC #10

I'm tired of anime in general so it takes a lot to get me interested these days.
I think it's all too formulaic and boring. But that's just me. I'm really picky.

carreonaiwille 2020-09-18 15:19:48 UTC #11

This anime fan of an English teacher showed a clip of this in class as an example for metaphor to a group of 12 to 13 year olds. Didn't know if it worked.

scribesunlimited 2020-09-18 15:22:01 UTC #12

Possibly too advanced for that set, maybe? The show used a LOT of medical words.

carreonaiwille 2020-09-18 15:33:59 UTC #13

Ah, yes. The medical words. Maybe thought it would work to introduce the lesson because it was shown alongside Disney clips of talking, singing candlesticks and clocks.

Whoops, I forgot, the lesson was personification, not metaphor.

I don't watch too many anime recently, but I'm enjoying Fruits Basket. One with a villain that made me bite my lip in annoyance. It was a nice family drama, and good to see the characters grow.

I've always mentioned Shouwa Genroku Rakugo no Shinjuu. It is quiet, understated. Probably the content that might bore a stereotypical, standard shonen anime viewer. It is an anime about people in a dying, ancient art of storytelling. I watched a real Rakugo on Youtube and I can say that the anime had ways to make the process interesting.

I'm also watching Fugou Keiji: Balance Unlimited and anticipating Moriarty the Patriot to see if it's good (Anime in period setting are my jam)

aqua03 2020-09-18 15:34:30 UTC #14

Meanwhile I'm just sitting here watching Star Driver from 2011 because I'm a colossal hipster....

(Still gotta finish up Fire Force and Eizouken, though...)

scribesunlimited 2020-09-18 15:38:32 UTC #15

@carreonaiwille We gave that one a shot and immediately shut it off after episode 1. That has to be one of the most annoying detectives of all time, and the fact he buys anything he wants just makes him a very unlikable sort. Maybe he got some challenges or just desserts back in subsequent episodes, but we weren't sticking around to find out.

@aqua03 Teah, gave Fire Force a shot too. It was meh, but we lost interest after two episodes. Nice concept though!

And if you really want to be hip, check out the 2012 version of "Star Blazers" from our 70s youth.

aqua03 2020-09-18 15:42:17 UTC #16

Yeah, I tend to have a bad habit of watching two or three episodes of an anime, really liking it, but never having the motivation of picking it up again unless it really grabs me like Gatchaman Crowds or SSSS.Gridman.

(I really like how Fire Force manages to come up with so many unique ways for characters to manipulate fire and heat. It's really creative in that sort of way and I kinda want to see that type of power system applied to different elements like water and such in other works to see what other writers can come up with.)

I'll check out Star Blazers sometime as well. Sounds really interesting. Thanks for the recommendation!

(Also, still waiting on that Astro Boy reboot they announced a few years back...)

carreonaiwille 2020-09-18 15:45:29 UTC #17

That has to be one of the most annoying detectives of all time, and the fact he buys anything he wants just makes him a very unlikable sort.

Not gonna argue. He does tend to be a brat, he's filthy rich after all. It gets a plot in the latter half. But I'm gonna say he's useless without his gadgets, he relies on them too much

Oh, I forgot to mention, Arte. Not really deep, more of slice of life except it is set in Renaissance Italy with an aspiring female painter at its center. A light breeze, feel good. I thought they'd base it off the real Arte, but I don't know if I can take it if the story went in that direction.

ar-ninetysix 2020-09-18 16:00:17 UTC #18

oof, here's everything I watched that came out in the past year or so. some shows bleed over into other seasons.

Fall 2019
Dr. Stone (2nd half of Season 1)
Fire Force (2nd half of Season 1)
Vinland Saga (2nd half of Season 1)
My Hero Academia (1st & 2nd half of Season 4)
Mairimashita Iruma-kun (1st & 2nd half of Season 1)
Beastars
Ahiru no Sora (4 cours/ 50 episodes. It's about to wrap up what's technically Season 1.)
Kono Oto Tomare! / Stop This Sound! (Season 2)
Please Take My Brother Away! (Season 3)

Winter 2020
Somali and the Forest Spirit
RikeKoi / Science Fell in Love so I Tried to Prove it
ID: INVADED
Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun
Eizouken
Smile Down the Runway
The Disastrous Life of Saiki K.: Reawakened

Spring 2020
Tower of God
Kaguya-sama: Love is War (Season 2)
Kakushi-goto
Sing Yesterday for Me
BNA
Arte
Wave, Listen to Me!

Summer 2020
Re:Zero (1st half of Season 2)
God of Highschool
Fire Force (1st half of Season 2)
Deca-Dence
Appare-Ranman!
Millionaire Detective: BALANCE UNLIMITED
Japan Sinks 2020

There's some obvious big names there that I'm not gonna go into bc it's fairly understood why these shows had such huge amounts of hype surrounding it. So.. instead I'm gonna just list off the ones I feel deserve more recognition. I could go into each one, but I'd rather not bc I know I'm gonna be here typing a paragraph for each.. I could spend this time doing something else more productive lol

Stop This Sound!
Somali and the Forest Spirit
ID: INVADED
Eizouken
Smile Down the Runway
Kakushi-goto
Sing Yesterday for Me
Arte
Wave, Listen to Me!
Deca-Dence
Appare-Ranman!

scribesunlimited 2020-09-18 16:03:13 UTC #19

@aqua03

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Blazers:_Space_Battleship_Yamato_2199
(and for a series that actually got its start in the 1970s, it is damned fantastic. As bad as Speed Racer was, this is like the anti-Speed Racer lol

@carreonaiwille Am totally going to try that, we LOVE that kind of anime.

aqua03 2020-09-18 16:04:59 UTC #20

Neat, thanks! (I've always dug that sort of retro manga look like Tezuka, Nagai, Ishinimori, and Matsumoto and the others in general.)

scribesunlimited 2020-09-18 16:05:14 UTC #21

Of that list, we tried ID Invaded (wasn't anyone sick of hearing how the guy was a smart detective?!) Deca-Dence, and Appara. For one reason or another, they just weren't all that interesting or the stories just weren't our style.

nathanKmcwilliams 2020-09-18 16:24:26 UTC #22

Forgot. I also watched season 3 of Aggretsuko. That show is...I don't know. I really like it, but I shouldn't, because it's the opposite kind of thing I normally enjoy.

scribesunlimited 2020-09-18 16:26:03 UTC #23

My guilty pleasure this year was "Interspecies Reviewers" LOL

Don't ask. Please.

ar-ninetysix 2020-09-18 16:33:56 UTC #24

For ID: INVADED that phrase was supposed to be the detective's way of remembering who he was since he loses all memory in the dreams. I totally get how that would be annoying though lol

As for Deca-Dence.. That second episode throws everyone off lol I was feeling mixed on it for a few episodes after that too and almost dropped it, but halfway through the season was enough to have me stick around. Both sides of humans and cyborgs have their conflicts and manage to impact one another, it's actually pretty cool.

And Appare-Ranman! That's literally my favorite anime this season, it's the one anime I look forward to watching the most every week. I know the premise isn't the most appealing, but if you keep with it, the moments that the characters have with each other is just perfect. Just a big old chef's kiss on that show

scribesunlimited 2020-09-18 16:36:56 UTC #25

Yeah, I may give that one another go, simply because I love the whole racing aspect. What bothered me was that it seems the whole series is preparation for just one event - when I was hoping it might be more of a ramped-up Speed Racer type. With numerous adventures. We'll see.

ar-ninetysix 2020-09-18 16:40:51 UTC #26

Oh, don't worry, the race actually starts in episode 5?? It's an original anime so I'm assuming this season is the only one they plan on making. Making originals are a huge risk in the anime industry, mostly everything's an adaptation of some sort.. Established audiences and all that

scribesunlimited 2020-09-18 16:41:41 UTC #27

Actually three guilty pleasures, and all of them kind of perverted in a way.

"Interspecies Reviewers" - about a group of sexist pig adventurers who visit and rate the performance of...well...bordellos. Or all kinds of species and races. Spoiler alert: the hyena-girl is amazingly hotness.

"the Quintessential Quintuplets" - I still have NO idea which girl he intends to marry, and I've been reading the manga for years now

"Rent-A-Girlfriend" - it's not BAD...predictable as hell, but it's kinda fun watching this virgin stumble over himself trying to juggle three girls in his life - and a fourth one on the horizon, it seems.