Before I start this list, let me just say that the lists are in order of best to worst. So for the "worst of season" it goes from bad to worse. Oh and NO SPOILERS.
Best Shows of The Season
1. Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso
Personal Rating: 8/10
I already said this in my anime preview earlier this year, but Shigatsu is a potential anime of the year for me. It brings amazing storytelling, characters, dialogue, animation, and of course sound making it hard to find any real flaw with the show. Watching these characters grow up in itself is already very entertaining and rewarding for the viewers, but the beautiful imagery, the fluid, poetic monologues, and the beautiful music that accompanies these makes Shigatsu the best of this season. Though I think it didn't end as well as it could have, everything else in the series makes up for that. If you were to watch one anime from this season, please do yourself a favor and watch Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso.
2. Kiseijuu: Sei no Kakuritsu
Personal Rating: 8/10
The only other show that could contend (so far) for anime of the year would be Kiseijuu. The anime tells a very strong story while stringing along themes of morality and what it means to truly be human. Many shows have asked the question of what is humanity's purpose and if we're really meant to be the rulers of the world but Kiseijuu is able to do this in such a seamless way that I don't think I want to see another show about these themes unless it can outdo Kiseijuu.
3. Death Parade
Personal Rating: 8/10
When I first started watching Death Parade I couldn't get a read on it. It seemed like it would just be a repetitive, episodic show that dealt with different characters every episode until the end where there would just be one arc for a character that would tie everything up neatly. Well, this is actually exactly what happened, but compared to other shows that follow the same formula, Death Parade was blessed with having amazing characters, dialogue, and settings. Every episode was genuinely interesting and touching.
4. Aldnoah Zero 2nd season
Personal Rating: 8/10
Aldnoah Zero had a lot of good setup from the first season which ended on a huge cliffhanger. It has action, drama, great music and animation, all wrapped up in a very interesting and unique universe. My only problems with the anime came from its characters who really didn't convince or intrigue me. I also feel like the end to all of the conflict in the anime was kind of strange and felt rushed but everything in between made up for that. The journey to the end of the war between Mars and Earth was an enjoyable one and one that I'd recommend to watch.
5. Yowamushi Pedal
Personal Rating: 8/10
If you were to watch one sports anime (that wasn't Ping Pong the Animation) then you should watch Yowamushi Pedal. Few sports anime are as emotional and engrossing as Yowamushi Pedal. I never expected that I'd get so hooked on a sports anime but Yowamushi Pedal is just so great. By the end of the series you really get to know each character that gets introduced and really feel like you're a part of their world. The races really matter now and viewers won't just be routing for the main character's team because their goaded into doing so by the show. The more you learn about the characters, the more you feel invested in them, whether that's the enemy teams or the main character's team. I would go as far as to say Yowamushi Pedal is one of the best sports anime to have ever aired. Even if you're not a sports anime fan, I would highly recommend this show.
6. Yoru no Yatterman
Personal Rating: 7/10
Yoru no Yatterman was one of the biggest surprises of the season for me. I expected some kind of children's show but instead I got a very mature show dealing with very dark themes.Yoru no Yatterman is able to balance its inherently comedic tone with more mature ones making for a very emotionally enjoyable experience. There are some developments in the show that I feel were not handled well enough, but for those few developments, there were many more that were amazing. Though I came into the show not expecting much, I left it utterly impressed.
Good Shows of The Season
1. Durarara x2 Shou
Personal Rating: 7/10
Durarara was one of my most anticipated shows of this season and I'll admit that it was a little disappointing. Nothing much happened and it was overall just setup or the upcoming season.The pacing of the show was too slow compared to the first season and ultimately barely anything happens until the very end, but even then, it's just a setup for the next season. Durararax2 was still a very enjoyable watch, but it did not have the same magic that the first season had.
2. Log Horizon
Personal Rating: 7/10
I was never a huge fan of Log Horizon like I know a lot of other people were but I did enjoy watching it. Log Horizon offered a different take on the "trapped in a virtual relality" genre that seemed to boom in popularity after Sword Art Online. My biggest complaint with Log Horizon mostly has to do with its pacing. It takes 24 or so episodes to actually get through anything and overall maybe only 2 or 3 arcs are actually covered. Problems that people would logically think would take precedence are pushed aside in favor of others. The second season of Log Horizon doesn't necessarily follow the trend, but at least 3/4th of it does. Most of the problems that the adventurers most solve are problems of the world, not really their own problems i.e. trying to get out of the virtual reality. Overall, Log Horizon just feels like a lot of setting up rather than actually accomplishing anything.
3. Rolling Girls
Personal Rating: 7/10
Rolling Girls is one of my favorite shows to air this season. While having a very simple plot, it has such great personality accompanied by a very entertaining cast. Every episode was a pleasure to watch and never ceased to entertain. Admittedly, though it had good action, drama, and comedy, it's story was not as well developed as I would have liked. Even so, following these "powerless" 4 girls on their journey together was nothing short of a pleasure. I doubt there will ever be more of this show, and I don't think there should be, but I wouldn't mind.
4. The idolm@ster Cinderella Girls
Personal Rating: 7/10
I wasn't sure what to expect from this version of the idolm@ster. There was a new cast and a new setting, everything just seemed like it was a lot to take in after being so used to the original. Fortunately the magic of the first season was replicated in Cinderella Girls. Even with a new cast and only 13 episodes, it's still easy to pick favorite characters since they all get their own episodes for development. There were occasionally some really pointless conflicts in the anime that made me face palm, but other than that, Cinderella Girls was a very enjoyable anime to watch.
5. Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata (Saekano)
Personal Rating: 7/10
I will eventually write a post about harem anime and the "winning formula" but for now, I'll keep it short. Protagonist + childhood friend+ average girl + highly intelligent girl + ecchi girl + tsundere, pettanko, conflict between childhood friend and highly intelligent girl= harem anime. I'm sure I'm leaving some factors in this formula, but this is basically it. Saekano follows this formula in what I want to believe to be a general critique of the genre. Why I think this is because it's called "How to raise a heroine," so the premise of the show is crafting their own heroine. They also blatantly remark on the various traits that each other have that would make their lives similar to the harem genre. If this is so, then they do not put enough distance between their show and other harem shows to make it feel more unique and fresh. Ultimately, the show feels like another generic harem show with better animation, witty dialogue at times, and a different plot. I enjoyed Saekano but I can't really recommend it to people who are trying to stay away from the harem genre.
6. Cross Ange
Personal Rating: 6/10
Cross Ange started off fairly interesting. The princess of a utopian society is found to actually be an outcast of society, a Norma, and is consequently banished to an island where other Norma are forced to live. There, she has no choice but to try and to adapt to the Norma's crude ways of operation. The story is all about the character Angelise and how her views on the world change. It starts out with her being so absorbed in her own little bubble, then having that bubble suddenly popped and shown the cruelness of the real world, and then having to adapt to that and harden herself. Watching the transformation of Ange due to the interactions with other characters was entertaining enough that it kept me coming back every week, but in my opinion the most entertaining part was the story, or at least the story until the half way mark. Up until that point, the story was very exciting and unpredictable. It wasn't until mostly everything was revealed that things started getting predictable and generic. Cross Ange was overall an enjoyable show, but not without its flaws.
7. Kantai Collection
Personal Rating: 6/10
I had my doubts about Kantai Collection, but it was actually not that bad of a show. I thought it would just be a cash grab with moe, (it kind of was), but it still gave fans and new fans alike lots of entertainment with characters and certain episodes. I say certain episodes, because when they went into a story arc it got boring really quick. Even so, I'm happy that they did that instead of making the series episodic because thanks to the variety and the story arcs, it was much easier to identify with characters. Kantai Collection isn't a show I would recommend to anyone, but I definitely want to let everyone know that it's unexpectedly good. If general entertainment is what you want then Kantai Collection might be up your alley.
8. Tokyo Ghoul √A
Personal Rating: 7/10
To this day, I really don't understand why they deviated from the manga. The new story that they decided to put in wasn't nearly as strong as the source material so it's baffling that they would choose to stray from what worked. In the end, Tokyo Ghoul just became another mindless battle anime with nothing to really offer intellectually. It was a fun watch, but critically, it really was not as great as it could have been.
9. Koufuku Graffiti
Personal Rating: 7/10
Food Porn. That is exactly what this show is. You want an erotic daily life cooking show, well wait no longer, Koufuku Graffiti's got you covered. This show was a perfect choice for Shaft to animate. I can't even imagine what it would be like if someone else tried to take this show on. Thanks to Shaft, Koufuku Graffiti gained a lot of personality and life. Aside from animation, Koufuku Graffiti adds in several life lessons here and there as characters encounter problems that they must overcome. Koufuku Graffiti is overall enjoyable, but just be sure not to watch it on an empty stomach.
10. Junketsu no Maria
Personal Rating: 6/10
This is by far the most disappointing show of the season for me. This show and Yoru no Yatterman were the two shows of this season that I was hoping would turn out to be as good or better than Shigatsu and Kiseijuu. Maria had such great potential due to its interesting plot of witches vs god and questioning religion. The last few episodes basically destroy everything that was ever good about the series and make it mortal again. I used to look forward to each episode but after that, it was just like waiting each week to see another piece of a train wreck. Let me clarify that Maria is not a bad show, but there was so much squandered potential that was possibly due to the show's time constraints. It really depressed me to see the anime drop so rapidly in quality since it had so much initial potential.
Worst Shows of the Season
1. Binan Koukou Chikyuu Bouei-Bu Love
Personal Rating: 4/10
The entire time I was watching this show, I was trying to figure out if it was actually good or bad. Ultimately, I've decided that it's bad because though most likely a critique and flip of the mahou shoujo genre, it is still a really poorly done anime. When a comedy doesn't even make you crack a smile, you know something is wrong. When you constantly check to see how much time is left in the episode before it's over, you know something is wrong. Binan Koukou is just a bad show because it has no redeeming factors.
2. Shinmai Maou no Testament
Personal Rating: 4/10
Shinmai Maou no Testament was a borderline Hentai that had an abundance of "plot" but no substance. Everything about the show screams low quality and generic. If you like the more ecchi shows then Shinmai is definitely something you will enjoy. If you enjoy watching something good, then Shinmai is something you should stay away from. If you enjoyed the show, be happy that another season is coming since according to my friend, it was the most popular show on Crunchyroll. God help us.
3. Absolute Duo
Personal Rating: 4/10
Another harem show that has extremely ridiculous plot points and worthless characters. At no point in this anime did I feel connected to or interested in any of the characters or the setting. Absolute Duo is nothing more than another person's stake in the harem/ecchi genre since it's apparently so lucrative.
4. Seiken Tsukai no Worldbreak
Persoal Rating: 4/10
Surprise, surprise. Another harem/ecchi. At this point, I shouldn't have to explain exactly what's bad about the show since every harem/ecchi show share the same problems. But just a recap, generic, weak characters, poor animation, very weak setting, and bad plot. Also, for a fighting anime, the actions scenes were extremely lacklustre.
5. Military!
Personal Rating: 4/10
A short web series that is a huge waste of time. There's nothing interesting, unique, or worth watching in this short web series. Even as a time waster, I think it fails. I can't think of any reason, why anyone would want to watch the series.
6. Isuca
Personal Rating: 4/10
What happens when an anime adaptation strays from the already bad manga source and makes an even worse anime story with even worse pacing? Add on to that bad animation, por voice acting, and very uninteresting characters and plot points and you get Isuca. I really am unable to figure out who would appreciate this series even if they like harem/ecchis. That's how bad this show, even if you just want a harem/ecchi, all you're going to find in this anime is pain.
7. Juuou Mujin no Fafnir
Truthfully, I wasn't sure how to rank these last 5 harem/ecchis because they all just sucked equally as much. But, I gave it a bit more thought and Unlimited Fafnir, is the show I decided on being worst of this season. Why? Because there were literally no characters. Of course there were characters in the anime but none of them felt developed and it was incredibly difficult to even discern them from one another. The only way to really do it was just by looking at them and remembering them by their archetype i.e. blonde haired tsundere, flat chested imouto, big breasted meganekko. The anime also had little to no explanation for anything that happened and just kept going on, leaving the viewer guessing. The plot twist was also extremely EXTREMELY obvious. I was going to post it on this blog, but I decided against it because it seemed so obvious. Basically, any way you look at it, this anime was the worst of the season. Congratulations.
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