TV:
1. Flowers of Evil ; As devastating as it is daring, this rotoscoped tale of adolescent alienation and guilt stands tall among all the excellent shows this year. Building a powerful, oppressive mood through run-down back alleys and rusty schoolyards, low drones and long silences, series director Nagahama gives Kasuga's pubescent angst a gravity intense enough to choke. It's slow crescendos lead to some of the most powerful climaxes I've ever seen in any anime. An absolute classic.
2. Space Battleship Yamato 2199 ; The best sci-fi show in years. What drew me in was the old-school straightforward optimism and simplicity of a story of Earth's best and brightest getting in an awesome ship and flying to save their home, encountering new life forms and going places no human has gone before. Every element of this naval epic in space is in place: commands relayed from captain's chair to bridge to crew, energy routed between shields and weapons, the long countdown to firing the Yamato's trademark Wave Motion Gun. That would have been enough. But Yamato goes further, providing a master class in television writing, juggling the character arcs of a dozen crew members with political machinations within the enemy Garmillian force, building every moment in the show to a sublime conclusion. They don't make grand adventures like this anymore.
3. Shin Sekai Yori ; In 2012, this show laid the groundwork for a society of powerful human psychics, kept from self-destruction by an elaborate system of merciless culling and mental barriers. 2013 exposed the true foundation of the cruel system that keeps humanity afloat, through an outbreak of violence and bloodletting that no one had anticipated. A counterpoint to the delight of Yamato's sci-fi adventure, Shin Sekai Yori harnesses the metaphorical power of speculative fiction to lay a powerful indictment on our own society. The harrowing aftermath of the final episode is indelible.
4. Jojo's Bizarre Adventure ; Battle Tendency took everything great about Phantom Blood and made it even more delightful with the introduction of Joseph Joestar, the most entertaining protagonist of the year. Maintaining the series' traditional themes of honor, friendship, and creative battles, Jojo delighted this year from beginning to end. Despite the paltry animation and Iwasaki's underutilized soundtrack, I was riveted to each improbable reversal of fortune.
5. Gundam Build Fighters ; An amazing ad for children's toys. I'm not a huge Gundam buff, so the non-G Gundam nostalgia pulls do nothing for me. But I love both the earnestness of the universe where fighting Gundam models are the coolest things in the world, and I adore the hot-blooded battles. The 2D mech action in this show can be even more intense than shows where actual life and limb is at stake. Reiji and Sei have a powerful cast of rivals, and I'm looking forward to seeing how they stack up to these challengers in the World Tournament. Also, Beargguy-san is the best mech ever.
6. Uchouten Kazoku ; I can't help falling in love with PA Works depiction of Kyoto in this weird tale of a family of supernatural tanuki shapeshifters coping with the loss of their father. The show effortlessly builds a world and cast with a sense of history, without leaving the viewer disoriented. I found it utterly charming.
7. Hataraku Maou-sama ; I came for the improbable premise of a demon lord making his way to Earth and finding satisfaction in his part-time fast-food job, but I was delightfully surprised by how much fun it turned out being. The fish-out-of-water absurdity never gets overused. I liked everyone. It was good.
8. Love Lab ; This was another great comedy. Its attempts at drama were sometimes a little overwrought, but the manzai-esque chemistry between series leads Riko and Maki, and their growing cast of student council conspirators, is consistently funny. I'd love to have another season, if only to see more of the secondary cast, such as the council members' siblings.
9. Suisei no Gargantia ; A great sci-fi show about a young soldier from a militaristic society dropped into a more primitive land of laid-back ship-going people. I think its large-scale world-building and more on-the-nose stuff didn't add a lot to the whole, but I loved Ledo's gradual integration into this new society, how he slowly learns their language and customs, and how those change him as a person. It was very good.
10. Girls und Panzer ; Only two episodes aired this year, or I would have put this way higher. But the final showdown against Black Forest Academy was thrilling from beginning to end, and a fitting finale for this excellent absurd sports anime about fighting in tanks. The tension at the end had me pinned to my seat.
Movies:
1. Wolf Children: I love this heartwarming tale of a mother raising her two half-wolf children, struggling with their dual natures. Hosoda has a gift for emblematic storytelling montage, flexed to amazing effect here. Wolf Children's romance, and the highs and lows of growing up, feel profound without being cloying. As sentimental as it might sometimes get, it never veers into melodrama, and shows a lot of respect for its audience. Hana is an amazing character, and this film is a real treasure.
2. Little Witch Academia: I was repeatedly swept up in the sheer energy and joy on display in Trigger's short film produced for Anime Mirai. Repeat viewings always revealed new little treasures and flourishes. The tale of a witch student at a magical academy learning to believe in herself may be simple, but execution is everything. I get goosebumps every time I see her attempt that final Shiny Arc.
3. Ao no Exorcist: My limited experience with the TV series showed me an entirely unremarkable shounen show, but this movie definitely elevated itself above my expectations, thanks to lush visual design and a strong core relationship between the two lead characters of the movie. From the moment he learns to blow on his food to cool it off, childlike demon Usamaro snuck his way into my heart.
Honorary Wolf Children Award for the 2013 Movie That Will Be High in My 2014 Ranking. Kaguahime Monogatari: It's not just an incredibly beautiful movie, it's also really affecting. Veteran director Takahata uses a style inspired by old Japanese paintings to create a powerful sense of place, drawing out the beauty in the nature that Kaguyahime adores, and the many small joys that come from living. Kaguyahime is a headstrong, beautiful, composed, and vulnerable heroine. I didn't want to let her go when the movie ended. When this gets out of Japan, anyone should make sure to seek it out.
