.....Yep I blew it on the 12 Days of Anime, thanks busy schedule and writers block. And as a consolation to my failure of 12 Days of Anime I decided to make this so um enjoy????
Hey I'm Some Person With Their Opinion and this year has been great for anime.
With strong follow-ups of old series to surprising hit that came out of nowhere and the only thing we can do is to cheer about it. With anime being as mainstream as ever where it’s now cool to like anime because Michael B. Jordan said so (bless that guy), the anime industry must step up to fill up the demand and this year I’d say it’s a success. Not only are the qualities of the anime this year strong but despite some rocky situation with the streaming side of anime, Netflix and to lesser extent some big anime streaming sites are bringing old classic anime like Neon Genesis Evangelion, Cowboy Bebop and more and that’s only a good thing. Anyways let’s not rambling and just talking about anime that truly made the year awesome but some rules:
With strong follow-ups of old series to surprising hit that came out of nowhere and the only thing we can do is to cheer about it. With anime being as mainstream as ever where it’s now cool to like anime because Michael B. Jordan said so (bless that guy), the anime industry must step up to fill up the demand and this year I’d say it’s a success. Not only are the qualities of the anime this year strong but despite some rocky situation with the streaming side of anime, Netflix and to lesser extent some big anime streaming sites are bringing old classic anime like Neon Genesis Evangelion, Cowboy Bebop and more and that’s only a good thing. Anyways let’s not rambling and just talking about anime that truly made the year awesome but some rules:
- 1. The anime must have been released around Winter 2018-Fall 2018
- 2. Anime from last year that continued to Winter 2018 doesn’t count
- 3. And since I haven’t seen anything there’s gonna be some snubs so fair warning
Alright after the rules being said let’s starts with honorable mention and there are a lot of them, 9 to be exact.
HM 1 – SLOW START
This is probably the biggest guilty pleasure of the year and for a good reason as the only interesting thing about this anime is that Hana (our main character) must sit out one year of her high school after sick on the day of the school entrance and being surprisingly yuri... maybe that’s why I like this so much. Or that the friendship between them are sweet as hell, or frankly a number of times the fourth wall being broken. Yeah probably all of them
HM 2 – Irodzuku Sekai no Ashita kara
Consider yourself lucky that I put you barely on the list like this. The visuals here are some of the best of the year especially the crayon part, really reminded me of IB (remember that game?). I also love how they implemented magic with time travels, and the characters for the most part likable. But damn the story and the writing are big pile of borefest. Seriously I don’t know how but some of these episodes are forgettable at best. Just now the story became more interesting after episode 10 but yeah I want my time back.
HM 3 – Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san
This anime has simple premise about two people teasing each other and the cast included Takahashi Rie so basically this anime was made for me, but this is not her best performance, more on that later.
HM 4 – Chio-chan no Tsuukaguro
This anime has a lot of gamer joke that will satisfy all gamer girls out there (me included) and yeah it’s absurd but not as ridiculous as the other anime of the summer season but again more on that later.
HM 5 – Gaikotsu Shotenin Honda-san
After seeing this I have more respect to bookstore clerks and deep appreciation to yaoi which is not my cup of tea.
HM 6 – Happy Sugar Life
The first appearance of Hanazawa Kana and certainly not the last. This is one dark anime which will trigger a lot of people who dealt with this following *ahem* rape, pedophillia, sexual abuse, child abuse, abduction, homicide, domestic violence, and blackmailed...
But hey they have such cute design, right????
HM 7 – Zombieland Saga
This anime really went and drop the balls on anyone by making one of the characters trans aka Lily, and yes, she’s a trans unlike a certain Indonesian said...
But that’s not the reason I put it here, it’s the rap battle.
HM 8 – Tonari no Kyuuketsuki-san
Yuri is probably having the best year in sometimes and this is one of the best. Great chemistry between both characters Akari and Sophie who is a vampire... right if they we’re married it’s kinda sad because Akari will died before Sophie and since she’s a vampire, she has to live forever until someone killed her with a stake...
HM 9 – Anima Yell!
Doga Kobo are back at it again with one of the most wholesome anime of the year and it have a good representation of cheerleaders that I’ve seen ever. I got a lot of respect for cheerleader after seeing this anime and with some surprising lesbian undertone that’s very wholesome I’ll give this one a pass. Great job Doga Kobo keep up the good work from you.
Well that out of the way now let’s starts with
#10. Never been an anime have a lot of best girls and it’s hard for me to choose one since Monoga- yep you already knew what it is.
#10. Never been an anime have a lot of best girls and it’s hard for me to choose one since Monoga- yep you already knew what it is.
10. BUNNY GIRL SENPAI
Now this must be a bit of a controversial placement considering how high the rating is for this anime. Look this is a great anime okay. Great cast of characters, my favorite being Futaba, fantastic dialogue, the writing is maculate and all of that really giving me some Oregairu flashback but a bit more supernatural. So why this anime isn’t any higher. Well partly due to the main character being not as blunt as say Hachiman. And the animation is lacking in detail to convey the emotion it has. But still this is a great anime and the one that deserve to be watch but also the one that I find overrated. Next!
#9. So I put this higher than Bunny Girl Senpai and this will make some backlash but I don’t care because a good anime about the inner workings of anything otaku related is great in my books and this is one of them
9. COMIC GIRLS
One common thing about this list is the small anime studios that have either critical and mainstream success, and this is one of many of them on the list. Nexus is one of them and yeah I know that they have done one anime and collaborated with Silver Link in the past but this is their breakthrough so it counts. And what an anime it was. This anime is about 4 girls in a dormitory making manga and our mc Kaos-sensei have social anxiety with everything and being sent to this dorm and met with other authors. We got Tsubasa aka the best girl who’s making Shonen manga and being chuunibyou, Ruki who made eromanga (no not you Sagiri), and Koyume who’s a shoujo manga author. What I love about this anime is not just the bond between the characters, or the stellar animation that’s way too good for this small studio, or how the ending is one of the most satisfying ever, but I love the fact that all of the girls are having their own struggles as an artist. They really don’t shy away from any struggles that some artist has when making art and I admire that to be honest. So yeah if you haven’t seen it go ahead and watch it immediately!
#8. Who knew that studying can be this entertaining huh?
I’ve read all the first cour on the manga and after seeing the anime adaptation, I can say that this is the best Isekai series since Konosuba. Part of why it worked is because unlike some isekai anime, the protagonist is a fully-grown adult who’s in his late 30s, so he is already wise because he has experienced life and what is it like. The other thing I love about this anime is the animation which unlike most isekai is actually pretty upbeat and colorful, and it sets the perfect tone for this anime. This anime is basically anti-Overlord where both sets the same goal, and while Ainz wanna unite anyone by any dirty means, Rimuru is more taking in the diplomatic approach, which is the right thing to do. Also, the character design for some of these characters are amazing especially the Kijin and that Shion design is great...and there’s my lesbian gaze strike again. This anime is a great example to what isekai can be and I hope we get more of this.
#8. Who knew that studying can be this entertaining huh?
8. CELLS AT WORK
Another appearance from Hanazawa Kana and this is probably one of her fun performance. This anime concept isn’t new and there’s a lot of animation that have explored this type of concept, but none have the enjoyability or fun than this anime has. This was made by David Production and you can see it from the art styles especially the character design. The best part however has to be the education aspect of the anime. The fact that they made the inner workings of a human body into simple and very understandable metaphor, like how the gastric juice are lava, sneezing is a rocket missile, the killer T cells are just military academy and more making this probably the better alternative for studying biology and you know what it worked. So, any med students that’s also weebs I have an anime for your study, and it is worth it.
#7. 2018 I think will be the peak year for isekai genre. The market has been oversaturated with either middle of the road isekai anime from light novel or trashy isekai. But even this year we got one isekai anime that subvert our expectation because it’s very fun to watch and...kinda back to the basic
7. TENSEI SHITARA SLIME DATTA KEN
#6. My number six and five is very much a tossup but in the end this anime just lose out to my number five because it’s not as funny as the other one. But that doesn’t mean I hate it, quite the contrary.
6. HINAMATSURI
Hinamatsuri is probably the saving grace for feel. studio until Island happened. A very great anime with fantastic facial expression, stellar animation, and surprising amount of depth to its characters. This anime is comedy yeah, but also a lot of things. From Sci-fi, to drama, and even action at times. Although the best part of the anime is bar none the character arcs that our three main girls go through. We got Hina where at first she was spoiled brat that wanna do anything for her pleasure since she was from outer space, but with the help from Nitta she develops some human empathy and willingly help others. The second girl is Hitomi where she went from very diligent and smart student to mature kid who can’t say no to anything because she’s just that good and has a lot of money. And the best one has got to be Anzu. Her character arc is some of the best I’ve seen in anime and you really need to see it for yourself because it genuinely made me cried when I first watch it and it’s kinda a disservice to spoil it.
So, you’re wondering why is this anime that have everything in a comedy anime is below your #5 and what even is the #5, well...
5. GRAND BLUE
Yep this anime is above Hinamatsuri and to explain why? It's because I’m about to start college soon and hearing this anime is about what is it like to be in college, I decided to watch it. Wow it’s probably the best decision I’ve made. This is pure comedy anime thru and thru, and that’s very refreshing to see that traditional comedy anime that isn’t set in a high school or other tripe like that. The animation here especially the facial expressions are some of the best of the year material make this funny anime even funnier. It really captured what is it like to be fully grown adult but still have teenage kicks in them. Also, it has a bisexual representation so for those whose bi and wanna be represented in anime well there you go. I honestly couldn’t describe it even further because you gotta see it for yourself and you should because this anime is kick ass!
#4. This is the last anime that I gave 9/10 on myanimelist and what a perfect way to be on top of that score than a romantic comedy of two otakus couple.
4. WOTAKU NI KOI WA MUZUKASHII (WOTAKOI)
This is the best romantic comedy anime of the year, but not the best romance that will come later. Anyway, this anime is unique again because the setting is not at high school, but at office and it kinda give the vibe of Recovery of An MMO Junkie but this time the girl is fujoshi. This isn’t romantic but the fact that both couples have a lot of personality is great for comedy especially when they banter off each other. Nifuji is the GaMeR who really doesn’t give any fuck even if he has a girlfriend, but he’s also said yes to any of Narumi’s shit which is yaoi shit. The other couple is more vibrant because one is a cosplayer that is Hanako and her boyfriend who is a yuri fan Tarou. All of this and more with some great dialogue and banter really give this anime a ton of life. But the reason why it’s higher than all of these anime is the relationship felt normal and you can imagine these type of conversation happening in the real world. It added some realism that you wouldn’t get at any anime in my opinion. Stellar anime from A-1 Picture who finally manage to get something sticks to the wall this time.
#3. You're probably wondering what’s the best romance this year and even if it’s about lesbian relationship, the fact that people with different gender, sexuality etc can watch this anime and feel something it absolutely fantastic. And you guys are already knew what I am talking about.
3. YAGATE KIMI NI NARU
Anime has tackled a lot of LGBT stuff ever since I say the 90’s with Sailor Moon and since then we got lots and lots of representation of gay, lesbian even bisexual and transgender have been represented either poorly or respectfully. This is what the western media really need to get its act together and just make more of this so that LGBT can be normalize in the eye of the public. Western world that supposed to be the progressive one is still struggling to make LGBT representation in media and just in this decade they have made some progress. Meanwhile, Japan are ahead of its time to make some character on Sailor Moon to be lesbian but most of the US audience didn’t know at the time because they censored it to be cousin...seriously?
But this isn’t about how we still need to make progress, it’s about Yagate Kimi ni Naru which is one of the best yuri anime I’ve seen. Typically, yuri or yaoi anime like this always have some sort of gimmicks just to get views and even playing to the male and female gaze (Yes, I’m looking at you Citrus). But this anime is none of that, instead this anime is showing someone who’s finding out their sexuality and what love mean. But whereas other anime will paint this as some incestual shit or just curiosity, this anime goes one step further by painting the bigger picture to what is it like to have a feeling with the same sex. And man, I’ve been longing for this anime because I myself have been questioning my sexuality after being trans and now I have a girlfriend (weird flex but okay). You can understand both Koito and Nanami’s reason why they find each other in love. And even they have the audacity to have another couple who has been for a long time and a bisexual representation. This year has been great for LGBT rep and this is the crown jewel of that. Awesome stuff and looking for that season 2.
#2. Ever since the year started, I knew that this anime would be wind up on the list. I mean it’s from a well-known female director and respectable director. But still this is a surprising anime and a half mostly because I’ve never seen anime with such nuance and depth like this one. But hey it has a penguin on it...
2. SORA YORI MO TOOI BASHO
I’ve seen my fair share of “cute girls doing cute things” anime and to see this and my number one not only exceeded my expectation, but also being able to bring some freshness into the genre is quite remarkable. This is barely missed my top spots because it’s from Madhouse and some parts can be overdramatic. But that doesn’t hide the fact that this is one of the most empowering anime and this is certainly better than the copious amount of self-empowerment anthem we got these past few years. Four of these girls have their own motivation to why they wanna go to the Antartica. Mari who wanna spend every time of her youth so it didn’t go to waste, Yuzuki wanted to make friends along the way because she’s a child star and you know what they struggle with just ask Mai Sakurajima, Hinata who wanna prove to her colleague who has been bullied her because she’s a bit more out of the box that she can amount to something, and Shirase who want to find anything that her late mother left out when she was died during blizzard. The amount of crying, either joy or despair that I let out was incredible because you’re sympathize with them and you wanna see them successful and the ending is the most heart-breaking I’ve ever seen in 2018. And with one of the best performance from Hanazawa Kana and the representation of Southeast Asia made me love this anime even more. But this doesn’t even beat what would be my #1
#1. Now after some great anime that didn’t get into number one, you wonder what anime that’s better than any of the anime I listed. Well for me what makes anime specials is the way it will make me re-energize after a long day of work and also moe because well...moe. And none of this more apparent than the anime from new studio and new director that became the biggest surprising hit of the year...
1. YURU CAMP
This anime is simple, the premise is just five girls going camping, the design is as moe as you can get. And yet this has been a breath of fresh air for anime fans. We’ve been exhausted with isekai anime, and even outside of anime it has been a turbulent year for so many people. But on Winter 2018 we got one of the best anime that took anyone by storm. Even anime purist will say that this anime is alright.
Part of why it worked so well is the heart of the anime bring. This is from new upcoming studio C-Station and they’ve left the mark with simple yet creative design. Every seiyuu here bringing their A game to this show and really sounds like they are having fun. The composite background are gorgeous and the best part of all is that this anime is lightweight enough that you can watch it at any time and on any mood. That’s why this anime transcends boundaries with its simplicity, replaybility and the most important thing is the heart. And that’s why this is without a doubt, my favorite anime of 2018 and if you’re disagree please put your list in the comment below
That’s it for this year and I hope that 2019 will be even better year inside and outside anime. I'm Some Person With Their Opinion and I’ll be off for a while because of national test and college application. See ya!
