Saturday, February 11, 2017

Favorite Anime of 2016

Hi everyone. Hope you had a Happy New Year and welcome to 2017. I can’t believe it’s February already. I thought 2016 was a good year for anime. There were lots of manga and light novel adaptations. More live actions of anime and manga came out too. A few anime actually exceeded my expectation. I also notice an increase in sports anime, musical anime, foreign anime from China and Korea, and isekai anime. Last but not least, anime movie has never been better for Japan in 2016.

With all the excitement in mind, it’s time to recap the anime goodness that happened last year. I post the list of my favorite anime shows for the past few years now. These shows either premiered in 2016 or ended in 2016. These are my personal favorite anime of last year. I did not get to watch every anime that came out last year so there may be some that won’t make this list. Like always I don’t rank my favorite anime series but I chose them by categories.

If you want to see my favorite anime of 2015, please visit here.

Let’s begin.

My favorite Anime of 2016:

Best Historical

91 Days

There’s something cool about this show. It’s a story about a young man joining a gangster family that killed his parents and brother. The purpose of this show is to see if the main character will go through with his revenge. The variety of characters made 91 Days shine. From time to time you might end up rooting for the bad guy or vice versa. 91 Days also had a good amount of bromance too. We get to see the bonds of mafia family and tough choices Vigilio has to face as the show progress. The animation has dim and darker tone befitting the prohibition era. It may be slow pacing but the payoff at the end was worth it.

Honorable mention: Joker Game-The D Agency guys were awesome. The Joker game short was fun too.

Best Storytelling

Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu

It took me a bit to understand what Rakugo is but once you get the gist of it, it’s really interesting. I give props to the seiyuus for being able to do rakugo and making it interesting because it's really hard to do. This show has a great story, great characters, and beautiful animation. I’m looking forward to watching season 2.

Best Slice of Life

ReLIFE

I actually binge watch ReLIFE. This show is very good. Wouldn’t you want to change your past self if you could go back to high school and try to make your life better? It’s the characters and the relationship in this show that got me hook on it. It’s funny to see how the main character reacts to high school friends. There’s a twist at the end that was pretty neat. What’s super cool was that each episode of ReLIFE has different ending songs that were popular songs from the late 1990’s and early 2000’s (my time lol). I think ReLIFE manga is still ongoing and there’s going to be a live action movie this year too \(^0^)/. I’d love to see what happen next to the characters in this show.

Best Game Adaptation

Touken Ranbu Hanamaru

Yes. It was the pretty sword guys that attracted me to this show. I have played Touken Ranbu before and it’s really cool to see them in anime form. The animation was solid. The story was simple and lighthearted in most episodes. Different swords got to go battle the bad guys so that history won’t change. I had fun watching the bishounen sword's daily life. There were little history lesson about the swords too since each of the sword came from Japan’s history. There’s going to be another Touken Ranbu movie from a different animation studio (Ufotable) this year that I can’t wait to see.

Best Tactical Fantasy

Alderamin of the Sky

Not many people talk about this show but I thought it was really well done. It’s the cool military tactics and crazy action scenes make this show really fun. The animation was nice. I like the character design too. I wish there were more episodes.

Best Action Fantasy

Drifters

Drifters is a manga turned anime from the manga artist who did Hellsing. By knowing this, you’ll probably guess it’s going to be a crazy and corky show with lots of action and funny characters. That is so true. In this show famous historical figures died and got transported to a fantasy world. The Drifters were brought to counteract the Ends, famous historical figure who want to destroy the world. There’s also magic, elves, and dwarfs in this world. Many of the Drifters will have to use their wits to survive. Drifters is really entertaining. It’s bloody, dark, and the action was immensely cool. So many questions unanswered. I need more season.

Best Isekai (a person in another world)

Re: Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu & Kono Subarashii Seakai ni Shufuku Wo

Re:Zero will come up again so we’ll talk about it later ;)

KonoSuba cracks me up. It gets my honorable mentions for best comedy. It was way better than I expected. If anything in the MMORPG world can go wrong, Kono Suba will have it. The characters are crazy and wacky. Some of the quests they go on were hilarious. It’s a refresher from the many isekai anime that’s been out lately. Season 2 is out now and I’m still cracking up when I watch it.

Honorable mention: Hai to Gensou no Grimar-More of a realistic portrayal of people getting stuck in an MMORPG world.

Best Mystery

It’s a tie between Boku no Dake Ga Inai Machi and Bungou Stray Dogs

We’ll talk about Boku Machi (Erased) later because it will pop up again ;)

Bungou Stray Dogs

The animation in this show is beautiful. The action and the writing were really good. This show reminded me a bit of Getbackers but darker. The Armed Detective Agency was like a mercenary for hired and they solve different mystery cases. I love how the characters in this show were based on authors or fictional book characters. They also have cool superpowers. There's a lot of stories going on between the Armed Detective Agency, the Port Mafia, and the Guild. Watch the show and you'll know what I mean. Season 2 ended with a cliffhanger. I’m hoping it gets another season.

Honorable mentions: Haruchika-the mystery in this show is quite interesting.

Best Sci-Fi

Ajin

Ajin is intriguing. The 3D character animation is more fluid and not choppy. I really enjoy this show. The story is dark. The action sequence was spectacular. I can’t recommend this show more.

Best Comedy

Saiki Kusuo no Ψ-nan

Saiki doesn’t talk and the people that surround him just make the show really humorous.

Honorable mention: Kono Suba and Nanbaka

Best Action Comedy

Mob Psycho 100

The first half of Mob Psycho 100 was slow but afterward it kept getting better and better. Mob’s mangaka is the same mangaka as One Punch Man. The animation style here was a little rough and trippy but the characters really brought the show together. If One Punch Man had a story, it would be Mob Psycho 100. The show got funny when Mob try to help his sensei solve paranormal cases and they'll end up in a crazy predicament. Its action sequences was top notch. I’m hoping we’ll get a season 2 for Mob Psycho 100.

Best Shonen

Boku no Hero Academia

Comic book boom has been going on for almost a decade now so here’s a superhero anime with heart. It’s the story of the underdog working his butt off to become something great. Midorikawa is just one of those kids with a big heart and was really lucky to inhearit All Might's power. The students and the teachers at the Hero Academia are fun too. Studio Bones did a great job with the animation and the action sequences. Definitely can’t wait till the next season.

Best Supernatural

Natsume Yuujinchou season 5

I love Natsume Yuujinchou and season 5 did not disappoint. This season explore more back story of Akira-san and Matou-san and a bit more of Natsume’s past. There're always many heartwarming episodes in Natsume Yuujinchou. I love Natsume and I love Nyanko-sensei.

Most Relaxing Anime

Tanaka-kun wa Itsumo Kedaruge

Listless Tanaka-kun is really fun to watch. The friends around him made the show more fun. It’s a cute relaxing anime to watch.

Honorable mention: Shonen maid

Best Mecha Anime

Mobile Suit Gundam Iron Blooded Orphan

While season 1 ended and season 2 is still going. I really like the story and the characters in this show. Mika and Orca bromance is really good and the other boys in the team are fun and entertaining. They fight to survive and they will lose comrades along the way. The mecha fight is great and we get to see the older gundam models too. I rarely watch mecha anime but this show kept me hooked.

Honorable mention: Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt and Kuromokuro

Best Sports Anime

This was a tough one. There were so many sports anime this year. My favorite is a tie between Haikyuu!! Season 3 and Yuri on Ice.

Haikyuu!! season 3

Haikyuu!! 10 episode arc build up from its previous season 2. We get to see them fighting for the inter high. I love Hinata and Kageyama duo and all the other members of Karasuno. More members got to shine in this season (Tsukishima). It has a great story, great animation, and great character as always. I’m hoping season 4 won’t be too far away.

Yuri on Ice!!

I did not expect this show to be this good. The Yuri on Ice!! phenomenon is crazy. Male figure skating competition has never been this fun before. Yuri and Victor and Yurio are great leads. There’s love for diversity in this show too. You see Yuri and Yurio blossom into a great figure skater with the help of Victor. For a 12 episode show, Yuri on Ice!! was really good. Yuri on Ice!! had earned a place in my heart as one of my favorite sports anime. See you next level.

Honorable mentions: Days and Cheer Danshi

Best Anime Movie

Kimi no Na wa (Your Name)

Without a doubt Makoto Shinkai has created a wonderful animated movie that was well written with great characters and aesthetically beautiful. It ended up being one of my favorite films of 2016. Kimi no Na Wa is beautiful and the characters are amazing. Shinkai continues his theme from his previous works. I’ve seen quite a few body swapping movie and I have to see this is one of the best one. The two leads were great and the side characters did not lag.

Honorable mention: Doukyusei and Mahou Tsukai no Yome

Favorite Anime of 2016

It’s a tie this year again. My favorite anime of 2016 is Boku Dake Ga Inai Machi (Erased) and Re: Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu. Both of these two shows were excellent.

Boku Dake Ga Inai Machi (Erased)

Boku Machi is time travel anime done right. To save his classmate from getting killed by a serial murderer, the main character goes back to redo his past and save her. The story in BokuMachi was really good. The animation is well done. The mystery of this show kept me on the edge of my seat. I figure out the killer halfway into the show but I was still immersed in the world until the ending. The ending was not what I expected but I think it was sufficient. Overall, BokuMachi is a really good murder mystery/ psychological thriller. I highly recommend it.

Re: Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu

Re:Zero is also my favorite light novel adaptation of 2016. This show is something I haven’t seen before. It kept me guessing till the end. Some episode start out lighthearted and ends up gouging you in the heart. Things were never as expected. I feel sorry for Subaru because he dies and come back so many times. You see his personality corrupt and he tried to find solace. You see his character grow to becoming someone better through each death he faced. I also like Emilia and I totally adored Rem. This show also has many cool side characters and bad guys. I really hope this show get more seasons because there are so much more stories to be told.

That’s it for my favorite anime of 2016. What were your favorite anime of last year?

Looking at 2017 anime…More anime sequels are returning (Attack on Titan, Gintama, Shingeki no Bahamut: Virgin Soul, and many more). I'm also very excited for the many live action adaptation that will come out this year (FMA, Gintama, and Tokyo Ghoul). It’s gonna be a great year. Till next time guys.

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