Top 10 Anime of 2016
Friday, December 30, 2016
Happy almost New Year's Eve everyone! As 2016 comes to an end I bring you my top 10 anime from 2016. This year opened many doors of opportunity for me, was more vitriolic, depressing, bright, hopeful, knowledgable, surprising and different compared to other years, but in the end I feel very blessed and grateful nonetheless! Somehow through all of what 2016 threw at me, I managed to watch a good chunk of anime 2016 had to offer. So here's a list of the 10 anime I've enjoyed watching this year.
I've seen a nice amount of the anime that bloomed and shrivelled during 2016 so I feel like I have a good grasp of what was enjoyable to watch out of the bunch. Though this isn't a writeup on which anime this year was the best of the best; most of what the anime that I list here is ranked upon personal preference... so you may have a different list of favourites from 2016 than I do. Either way here are my top 10 favourite anime from 2016.
10. Yuri!!! on Ice
Opening this list is Yuri on Ice! Was the hype for Yuri on Ice big or what? Just kidding, I didn't even know there was a hype for this anime until someone told me there was one. But after finishing the first episode of Yuri on Ice, I got it. I got the hype. People fixated on the relationship between Yuri and Victor and embellished in it. I wasn't that crazy about the Yuri and Victor relationship compared to the Yurio and Yuri complex. I was more into how Yurio and Yuri brought the best out of each other throughout Yuri on Ice more than anything. It was fun to watch, nothing spectacular, but enjoyable.
9. 91 Days
"If I don't have my family, I don't have anything," was a saying that kept ringing in my ear as I was watching 91 days; not sure if it's a quote by someone but it's the essence of what this anime is about. 91 Days is one of those anime catered for older audiences, filled with violence, guns, revenge, the mafia, sex, etc... It's an anime where the main character Angelo seeks out to get revenge on those who assassinated his family. A pretty cliche story on revenge, but I was more into to watching the extent to which Angelo would go to avenge his family... and it's depressing. Angelo's best friend, Corteo, was my favourite to watch, talk about a friend who's ride or die... literally lol. Although the ending didn't turn out the way I wanted, and some moments just left me shaking my head, I still enjoyed watching the anime for some odd reason.
8. Ajin
I'm lumping Ajin and Ajin 2 together since both started and finished this year. Ajin mixes politics, media, terrorism, the supernatural all into one, this alone makes it a stand out for me from the majority I've seen this year. Although the main character, Kei, is sort of hard to decipher I much enjoyed everyone else and learning the backstory of most of the characters. The CGI turned a lot of people off the first season, but I thought it was refreshing and done well. Besides the CGI most people didn't like the anime, I'm assuming, because the majority of the characters were insufferable, and it seemed like a lot of them had a screw loose. The characters people liked only made a few cameo appearances, or seemed to just vanish as fodder for the plot. Take Satou for example, people thought his actions were insane, but I thought his motives were somewhat justifiable in season one. But you know what, after season two I learned that Satou's just crazy! All the craziness in Ajin just worked in unison. I just liked the storylines in Ajin, it had aspects that I was into during the year, mainly politics and everything that encompasses that world- I wasn't fixated on the characters themselves.
7. Haikyuu!!: Karasuno Koukou VS Shiratorizawa Gakuen Koukou
The third cour of Haikyuu, was the best cour out of the three in the series. I mean it's Haikyuu, what you saw from the first season is what you got in the second and third. The third season was entirely one match, I still don't know how I feel about that, but it was good in the end. Even though the ending was predictable the season was still very fun to watch. Always love watching Hinata and his love for volleyball. It was the best season since Tsukii's development in this season was theeeee best!
6. Nanatsu no Taizai: Seisen no Shirushi
Although only four episodes, this small series oddly was one of my favourites to watch this year. Nanatsu no Taizai was a popular anime in 2014-2015. Seisen no Shirushi bridges the first season to the upcoming second season, which is a nice addition to the franchise. Good short series to get reacquainted with Meliodas and the gang. Really enjoyed the fun everyone was having, and even the surprising development between King and Diane! It's a good short if you're craving more Nanatsu no Taizai.
5. Kiznaiver
My liking to Kiznaiver surprised me by the end of this 12 episode anime. A select group of classmates being bound together having the ability to experience the pain every individual in the group was able to feel on a physical and emotional level, is an interesting plot. Sort of sounds like Kokoro Connect, but I like Kiznaiver better. I loved how the anime was animated, the different personalities within the group, the witty comedy, the multiple love triangles, the character development between ALL of the main characters, the fat jokes about Yuta and the sombre story behind Katsuhira's being. Kiznaiver was wonderfully done in my opinion, a nice anime about love, friendship and introspection.
4. Tanaka-kun wa Itsumo Kedaruge
Tanaka was another anime that I thought I was going to hate from the get go, but I fell into it's spell and the charm of Tanaka eventually. I generally like slice of life anime, but I tend to stay away from slice of life anime that seem so moe-like or way too cutesy... if that makes any sense. Although the anime drizzled with adorable aspects, there was just enough to not make the anime annoying, it had the ideal amount of charm for me. No plot in Tanaka, just a soothing slice of life anime following an extremely listless main character, named Tanaka, and his relations between his classmates and loved ones. Tanaka was simple and fun to watch.
3. ERASED
If you have not heard or seen Erased, then you must be living under a rock. The hype train for Erased was big, it was unavoidable. After the first episode, the anime was about to captivate me and drew me in. I actually binged Erased from start to finish in one day, time just melted away as I was watching it- it was that good. The story was so unique, fascinating, shocking and eyeopening that it's hard to put into words what the anime is really about: it was one of the best murder mysteries I've ever seen. Erased is a must see from 2016, it was worth more than the hype.
2. Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon Crystal Season III
Ok this pick as number two might be slightly bias, just slightly. I'm sure the vast majority of people who watch anime did not bother with Sailor Moon Crystal three. Mainly because Crystal 1/2 was not as great as the third arc or people didn't bother with Crystal since the magical girl anime genre isn't as popular as it used to be. The last magical girl anime that gained traction was Madoka Magica, Crystal wasn't that popular compared to Madoka. Even though Sailor Moon Crystal three wasn't popular doesn't mean it's not good! It's everything that you'd expect from Sailor Moon and even more. Very good season to watch if you can survive the first two arcs. Just a nice nostalgic anime for those who liked the original, Crystal three was beautifully done really well.
1. Natsume Yuujinchou Go
Natsume is hands down is the anime of the year. If you're curious as to why Natsume Yuujinchou has received five seasons, and soon six, watch the first season and you'll understand why. It's magnificently done, the execution of the story is consistent throughout the five seasons and the simplicity of the story can calm anyone. For those who have never heard of Natsume before, the anime is basically about a guy named Natsume having the ability to see beings known as youkai, and the story follows Natsume returning the names of youkai written in a book called the Book of Friends that originally belonged to his grandmother. Natsume is assisted by another youkai named Madara or better known as Nyanko-sensi. The banter between Natsume and Nyanko-sensei, the simplicity of the anime, the beautiful storytelling, the awesome stories behind every character makes this whole series just phenomenal. I don't do justice describing how great this anime series is, but it's one of my favourite anime of all time. So happy after almost five years we got a fifth season of Natsume, and a sixth is coming in 2017. Natsume Yuujinchou is a must see anime for anyone that watches anime. So start it if you have not!
That's it for my favourites from 2016. There were so many great anime produced this year that I had a bit of trouble compiling this list. Over the course of this year I also enjoyed: Re:Zero, Shokugeki no Souma: Ni no Sara, ReLIFE, Boku no Hero Academia, Durarara!!x2 Ketsu and Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu. And although I didn't include these anime on this list, I just couldn't since I loved the ten I listed more.
Alright, that's it for this post, please leave in the comments below your favourites from 2016! I wish every a happy New Years and let's hope 2017 brings us positive energy, and of course let's hope that we get some great anime out of 2017 :)
5 comments
I need to do something like this in this year on my blog, cause it must be really interesting :) I can agree with you about "Ajin", "ERASED" and "91 Days" but I think I would have really big problem with placing them in ranking without considering their ratings in my reviews, haha! And I need to watch "Natsume Yuujinchou"!
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year :) I wish you more readers, subscribers and time for anime! Stay healthy and motivated to work :) Best regards
Kusonoki Akane
Thanks for reading! Yes you need to make a post like this as well. I would love to read it.
DeleteHappy New Year to you as well. Awww... thanks! Best wishes to you and I hope you have a blissful 2017 and much success on your blog :)
Thank you!
DeleteI have started to write in English actually (still one review though haha but from now one "new" reviews will be always in Polish and English as well). I plan to gradually translate also previous posts but because of my quite long writing it will take some time for sure :(
If you find time or maybe feel bored a little, you should come and check :) My English isn't perfect but I hope it will be understandable enough, haha! I'd really appreciate that and loved to learn your opinions as well!
well nice blog
ReplyDeleteSorry for the late reply, but thank you so much!
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