Right, this is going to be a two-post deal. In this first post, I will cover the rankings that go towards the actual vote.
First, the movies/OVAs, which are easy enough since I only saw three of them!
1. Wolf Children - An incredibly touching tale of a mother trying to give her two unusual children the best life she possibly can. Yuki is the most adorable kid you ever saw. Everyone should watch this. Yes, I mean you. WHY AREN'T YOU WATCHING IT RIGHT NOW.
2. Little Witch Academia - A simple but oh-so-enjoyable little story set in a school for witches. Based Trigger being based - this is what I call entertainment. It helps that the production values are great.
3. Neppuu Kairiku Bushiroad - A story long in the making finally arrives, and its a pretty decent watch. The main character is the mech-riding warrior princess Ame, but her male counterpart, the wild Suou, is the real standout here, holding his own with acrobatic on-foot fighting in a world where mechas and giant armoured monsters rule the battlefield.
And next up, my TV show top ten, which was significantly more difficult to decide on!
1. Jojos Bizarre Adventure
This show has barely any animation budget, and it shows. Yet its still number one on my list, because even with substandard animation, there is so much love oozing out of every frame of the production that every single episode is a joy to watch. It is manly, and it is fabulous, and above all it is ENTERTAINMENT.
The source manga is literally decades old, and probably felt cheesy as hell even back then, but theres a reason why it enjoys in its homeland perhaps the most enduring popularity of any manga. It embraces the cheese and makes it its own. It goes above and beyond. Its just plain awesome.
And the arc that was covered in the anime adaptation in 2013, Part 2: Battle Tendency, is perhaps the greatest embodiment of these elements. Its not my favourite of the series arcs (that would be Part 4), it doesnt have the creative and complex Stand abilities that come to define the series in later Parts, and it doesnt have the series most iconic villain, Dio, but what it does have is perhaps the series most entertaining protagonist in Joseph Joestar, and a beautifully-paced narrative that feels like just the right length, and wastes no time in cranking the did somebody say AWESOME?! factor up to maximum at every feasible opportunity.
2. Monogatari Second Season
The title is misleading (this is actually the fourth anime in the Monogatari series), but perhaps thats appropriate for a series that delights in toying with the viewers expectations. Suffice to say that anyone who enjoyed any of the previous entries in this supernatural saga (Bakemonogatari, Nisemonogatari and Nekomonogatari Black) will not be disappointed by what this continuation has to offer. It devotes an arc to each of the characters introduced in the original Bakemonogatari (well, more or less), and tells a set of new stories that brings each of their character arcs to a conclusion of sorts. Some of these conclusions are straightforwardly satisfying, some are bittersweet, some are bizarre and completely out of left field, some are very final while others are more open-ended, but all are great viewing in one way or another.
And of course, the show provides plenty of animation studio SHAFTs trademark stylised presentation, author Nisio Isins trademark witty banter, and the over-the-top-but-never-outright-tasteless fanservice that both of them love dearly.
3. Hunter x Hunter
If it werent for the existence of One Piece, Id have no reservations in naming Hunter x Hunter the greatest shonen manga in existence. Where One Piece embraces shonen conventions and achieves greatness by telling a grand adventure story within their confines, Hunter x Hunter prefers to challenge conventions at every turn, very much doing its own thing. Oh, it still uses the conventions, but never quite in the way you might expect, and it has no qualms about being dark, with deaths relatively commonplace, and complex characters who cant be easily defined as simply good or evil among both protagonists and villains (though this only makes its villains seem more villainous).
The greatest weakness of the manga is the authors inability to stick to anything resembling a schedule, which results in continual hiatuses spanning years, and often substandard art when the series does sporadically return. Combined with the complex nature of some of the mangas arcs, this makes it remarkably difficult to follow and stay engaged with, as well as just painfully slow in general. This anime adaptation, however, suffers from none of these issues, having consistently excellent pacing that puts most other shonen adaptations to shame, and a standard of production quality that is extremely rare in shows of this length. Considering that the manga has currently progressed to a point where the anime will be easily able to reach a satisfying conclusion point without ever resorting to filler or original material, this adaptation is easily the best way to enjoy the series.
The first half of 2013 saw the anime cover the Greed Island arc, which I personally feel is one of the weaker arcs of the series due to having the least interesting villain, but theres a lot to love in there as well, such as the cute-on-the-outside, not-so-cute-on-the-inside mentor Biske, the rather unique rules of the game that serves as the stage for the arcs events, and a thrilling sporting contest which sees the protagonists teaming up with one of the shows most interesting villainous characters.
But the reason the show is so high on my list is the arc that was covered in the second half of the year (and is still ongoing) - the Chimera Ant arc. My favourite arc of the entire series, this arc is defined by its excellent villains, a colony of ants with the ability to assimilate characteristics of other animals, which suddenly become a threat to the entire world when they gain human intelligence. The way the ants natural instincts to consume and conquer interacts with their new human nature is wonderfully portrayed on many levels, and their King in particular develops into probably the most compelling character in the entire series, as well as being terrifyingly formidable as an enemy.
4. Kill la Kill
Kill la Kill is manic, over-the-top and bombastic. Hailed by many as a successor to the much-loved Gurren Lagann, its certainly similar to that show in visual style and in utter lack of restraint, but its quite different in many ways too. For one, there are no giant robots in sight, their role replaced by a hierarchy of school uniforms that grant special powers. For another, one of the aspects it chooses to dial up to eleven is the fanservice, with the aforementioned uniforms often being downright shameless, and none more so than the female protagonists. And then theres the pacing, which can seem outrageously fast at times, and at others perhaps not quite fast enough.
But at least in my opinion, all of these elements come together to form a very satisfying whole thanks to the shows great sense of humour. The best friend character, Mako, is generally the shining example of this, injecting hilarity into any scene she appears in with her lovably bizarre antics, but this sense of humour is really woven into the fabric of the show, with many elements of the plot being deliberately absurd, and lampshaded as such (I mean, the super-secret organisation helping the protagonist out is named Nudist Beach. Does anything more really need saying?)
5. Servant x Service
Dont be scared away by the title (as I understand many have been)! There are no creepy master-servant relationships to be found in this show; the servants in question are civil servants, and this is a simple slice-of-life comedy set in an office. Simple, but excellent.
The office setting is quite uncommon in anime, and feels decidedly fresh. The characters have entertaining quirks (the cosplay fanatic, the infuriatingly proficient layabout, the self-conscious girl with the unpronounceably long name, and so forth) but that never stops them from also feeling very human and relatable, and the show excels both in its low-key comedy and in its romantic elements. The real star of the show is Hasebe, the apparently-carefree womaniser who develops a serious crush on Lucy, the closest thing this show has to a protagonist, and the chemistry between the two of them is wonderfully sweet. But there really isnt a weak character in the cast, a weak episode in the run, or a weak moment to be found. Its just a beautifully-executed little series.
Oh, and the OP is incredible. So that helps.
6. Aku no Hana
This show is never going to be for everyone, and indeed most viewers will probably be tempted to turn it off and never come back after watching the first few minutes of the first episode, because its rotoscoped graphical style is nothing like any other anime out there, and its extremely offputting on a fundamental level. Add to this the fact that the first episode is largely uneventful and easily the weakest episode of the entire run, and Im sure the show must have lost a vast proportion of its potential audience right out of the gate.
But Id urge anyone who thinks they might be even slightly interested to stick with it, because as the series progresses, it quickly becomes apparent that these unsettling visuals are a perfect match for the shows subject matter. Its a deeply compelling look at teenage awkwardness gone wrong, in which the main characters life is slowly torn apart by his own baser desires and a frankly terrifying girl who is determined to manipulate him into facing them.
The whole experience is wonderfully put together, with the unsettling visuals and careful musical direction working together to build an atmosphere that draws you in and refuses to let you go. The narrative moves at exactly the right pace, delivering some truly mesmerising climactic moments that feel well-earned. And while an odd quirk of the rotoscoped style results in characters often having minimal or no facial features when viewed from a distance, it more than makes up for this by allowing for much more nuanced and expressive body language than ordinary animation generally achieves; there are many scenes in the show where no dialogue is necessary because the characters body language speaks volumes.
Oh, and nothing seems to embody the atmosphere better than the ending theme, which is unspeakably creepy and sure to make anyone do a double-take upon first hearing it - indeed, you might question whether its even music at all. But it quickly becomes strangely addictive, and the moment when it kicks in at the end of each episode can send shivers down your spine.
7. Shinsekai Yori
This is a rarity in the world of anime - an adaptation of a serious science-fiction novel set in a truly unique and well-realised world quite different from anything youll find anywhere else. Taking place in a distant future, it shows a human race which has come to possess powerful psychic abilities, which has resulted in huge changes in the way they live.
Over the course of the series, it explores the rural society of this future world through the eyes of a group of children as they grow older and discover more about the world they live in, and what they find is rarely pleasant. Its difficult to describe the series without giving away elements of the plot, but it has elements of mystery, horror, coming-of-age story and adventure about it, and excels in crafting an unsettling atmosphere in a quite different way from Aku no Hana above.
The series is not without its flaws - the pacing is variable, and can sometimes seem to drag a little, and there is a lot of inconsistency in the style and quality of animation and direction, with some episodes looking almost like they dont even belong in the same show. But its easy to overlook these small complaints thanks to the strong narrative, which has a very clear story that it wants to tell, and carries the viewer along on an intriguing ride from beginning to end.
8. Samurai Flamenco
This series excels on two fronts. First and foremost, theres the characterisation, which is what really holds the show together. Its two lead characters, Gotou the somewhat jaded policeman and Masayoshi the male model with childish dreams of becoming a superhero, have immediate chemistry and are incredibly easy to like. Masayoshis forceful personality and strong sense of justice is infectious from the very first episode, and I found myself revelling in every small victory he achieved.
And then theres the second front, which is the wildly unpredictable narrative. Always ready to catch the viewer by surprise, never staying in the same place for too long, very self-aware, and treading a delicate balance between the down-to-earth and the unrealistic, this show provides a real experience episode-to-episode. Were still only about halfway through the series right now, and I honestly cant say I have the faintest idea where its going to go next. But if the first half of the series is anything to go by, I know its going to be a wild and entertaining ride.
9. Gatchaman Crowds
I was initially hesitant to watch this show because its ostensibly a new entry in the venerable Gatchaman franchise, and I know nothing about that franchise aside from the very basic idea that it was a classic superhero team from the 70s. As it turned out, though, that was all I needed to know, because Gatchaman Crowds is a very different beast from the franchise it takes its name from, using that basic concept as a springboard for its own story deconstructing the superhero genre.
The result is a show that has a number of appealing elements. Theres the superhero action itself, which is still present and accounted for if perhaps not in the quantities one might expect, and the CG action actually looks pretty damn slick. Then theres the shows real hook, an advanced social network construct called Galax which promises to turn ordinary people into the real heroes, and its an interesting concept to watch the show explore.
Theres also the main character, Hajime, an incredibly energetic, optimistic and cheerful girl whos a bit (okay, a lot) of a cloudcuckoolander. She drags the plot forward through sheer force of personality and can basically do no wrong. Youll either love her or hate her, and personally I loved her. And theres the villain, Berg Katze, who is creepy, flamboyant, every bit as eccentric as Hajime and no less entertaining to watch. And of course theres the soundtrack, courtesy of one of the best anime composers, Iwasaki Taku, whos on his best form here. Hell, the show is worth it for the music alone.
Undoubtedly the weakest part of the series is its ending, which while thematically quite appropriate, feels a little underwhelming in terms of impact and sense of payoff. But its not certainly not enough of a flaw to dampen the incredibly enjoyable ride of the series as a whole. If the directors cut of the final episode (set to be included on the disc release) gives the ending a bit more flair, this show might deserve an even higher spot on my list.
10. Non Non Biyori
There have been an awful lot of good shows in the so-called cute girls doing cute things genre over the past year, and its painful to pick out just one as the best. But in the end, I think Non Non Biyori has to take the crown. The homely and peaceful atmosphere of the countryside setting is beautifully realised and helps to give this show its own distinct identity, while the relatively young ages of the characters helps to boost the cute factor.
While all the girls have their moments, in particular the youngest girl, Renchon, is nothing short of priceless in every scene she has, equal parts adorable and hilarious with her constantly deadpan face, childishly bizarre ideas and outrageous actions. She also takes centre stage in the shows two best episodes, 4 and 10, which complement the series usual humorous antics with some genuine emotional moments, the former masterfully tugging at heartstrings and the latter incredibly heartwarming.
Its also worth drawing attention to the shows ending theme, because the transition into it is always lovely, and its the perfect heartwarming tune to leave you with a warm fuzzy feeling after every. single. episode.