1. Mushishi Second Passage
2. Barakamon
3. Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun
The only other anime I feel I've seen enough of to properly rank is Space Dandy, but I don't think it deserves to be ranked when there are other anime I've yet to see from this year (such as Ping Pong) that I'm positive are better.
It's pretty good. Would be #11 or #12 for me if it went that high.
I enjoyed it, but after the first few episodes some of the appeal wore off as it deviated more towards the angel/demon stuff.
1. Silver Spoon season 2
2. Hunter x Hunter
3. Barakamon
4. Parasyte
5. Ping Pong
6. Mushishi season 2
7. Fate/Stay Night UBW
8. Shirobako
9. Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun
10. I Can't Understand What My Husband Is Saying (Danna ga Nani) - no one watched this? This is the best of those mini 3 minute episode anime that I've ever seen, the couple depicted are the perfect mix of cringy and lovable that you can't help but cheer for them.
So I'll admit, this show kind of sucks! I dont care though, I look forward to it every week and the characters really grow on you after a while. I wish the main character had more redeeming qualities and was less annoying, but like every sport anime thats any good, when a pivotal moment is gonna happen, they go all out and its awesome.
Man, Ace of Diamond is the biggest conflict that I had for my list, to put it or not.
The show had all kind of objective value problem, the pacing is butt.. and unlike other brilliant sport show like Haikyuu, Ping Pong, and Yowamushi Pedal.. its lacking the technical edge like directing and consistent animation.
BUT its arguably being the show that I always eager to watch weeky, the cast is amazing and you felt attached and grow up with them, and as title with competition theme its very important to made the main team is the one that you root, not their opponent.. and this show doing hella great job doing that despite not forgetting fleshing other team.
I feel I can put other show that I like more in technical aspect and objectively, but this show had me in heart lol, what to do.
Man, Ace of Diamond is the biggest conflict that I had for my list, to put it or not.
The show had all kind of objective value problem, the pacing is butt.. and unlike other brilliant sport show like Haikyuu, Ping Pong, and Yowamushi Pedal.. its lacking the technical edge like directing and consistent animation.
BUT its arguably being the show that I always eager to watch weeky, the cast is amazing and you felt attached and grow up with them, and as title with competition theme its very important to made the main team is the one that you root, not their opponent.. and this show doing hella great job doing that despite not forgetting fleshing other team.
I feel I can put other show that I like more in technical aspect and objectively, but this show had me in heart lol, what to do.
1. Gundam Build Fighters - Probably the best shonen show on TV in 2014 and it came out of nowhere. Created with such a love for Gundam fandom.
2. Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun - A great little slice-of-life-style comedy. Every character is lovely and endearing.
3. Log Horizon 2 - This show delivered on the premise that Sword Art Online squandered: what happens when a bunch of people gets stuck in their favorite online game? Season 2 gets into raids and digs farther into the complex politics of the situation.
4. Samurai Flamenco - From episode 7 on, this show is an absolute goddamn trip.
5. Jojo's Bizarre Adventure - Do you even pose, bro?
6. Aldnoah Zero - I'm always on the hunt for a solid mech show each season. Aldnoah Zero was amazing, even if the season only covers half of the show. I especially enjoyed the fact that the protagonist tends to do so much with so little, instead of having a super-special mech to work with.
7. Free! - Great show about mostly-naked bishonen coming to terms with becoming adults.
8. Shirobako - I originally skipped this because of the artstyle, but this is probably the closest most will get to seeing actual anime production. Plus, seeing an expy of Madhouse's Maruyama-san is priceless. Gets a bit fanservicey at times, but it's worth it.
9. Gundam Build Fighters Try - the follow-up to my #1 show is still growing. It's not as good, but it's still a solid show that I look forward to every week.
10. Gundam Reconguista in G - Tomino gonna Tomino.
1. One Piece; Marathoned from episode 1 all the way up to the present in a span of about 2 months. Easily one of my favorite shounen series of all time and Dressrosa is great.
2. Kill La Kill
3. Gundam Build Fighters
4. Haikyuu
5. Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun
Will post the rest of my top 10 today as well as some thoughts, might make some changes in order.
1. Shigatsu wa Kimi no uso / Your lie in April
2. Ping Pong The Animation
3. Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun
4. Barakamon
5. Haikyuu
6. Mushihi Zoku-shou
7. Shirobako
8. Sidonia no Kishi
9. Gin no Saji 2 / Silver Spoon 2
10. Jojo's Bizzare adventure: Stardust Crusaders
Honorable Mentions
- Tonari no seki-kun
- Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works
- Amagi Brilliant Park
- Space Dandy
- Baby Steps
These AOTY threads are great for reminding me what I still wanted to check out from the previous years.
1. Ping Pong The Animation; It's good.
2. Barakamon; Really charming and relaxed show.
3. Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun; I loved reading the manga before this came out. Really likable cast of characters and very amusing. Don't expect the romantic aspects to go anywhere as the focus is on comedy.
4. Shirobako; Entertaining insight into how the anime industry functions. Not many shows that focus on adults in the working world.
5. Gundam Build Fighters; I haven't seen much Gundam so I didn't catch any references, but it's still an entertaining show to watch stand-alone. The writing and fights in GBF Try aren't hooking me as much as the first show.
6. Yama no Susume S2; More goodness continuing on from the first season.
7. JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders; Stuff gets punched. Sucks that there's a break halfway through the arc.
8. Rage of Bahamut: Genesis; Better than what I expected out of a F2P mobile game adaptation. Wish it had more episodes / time to spend on the characters before the dragon plot kicked in though.
I feel there would be some stuff I'd want to add to my list but I haven't finished the first seasons of yet.
[...]
As always, I respect dissenting opinions - I just have a hard time reconciling them logically with respect to this show. I guess subjective tastes is all it comes down to?
Comedy is one of the most divisive genres e.g. think about the mixed response people have had to Nichijou. I could go into more detail, but this isn't really the Space Dandy thread.
1. girls Robot Z- it took 30 years and 3 Kaiser creations but the original Cap Grendizer finally gets updated.....as a little girl who is big breasted and sexually charged.
However seeing a Magical Girl Super Dynamic Special with the original song playing was to much and won my heart over.
2. Build Fighters - Unlike most I found the cast to be pure garbage and the females God awful. However episode 15 Wing F V Build Strike and Tatsuya made my time worth it.
Pretty meh year I suppose. I feel like only Ping Pong was worth the consideration for AOTY. Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso has great direction but is still ongoing. Jojo and Nozaki was decent watches but that lies more on the source material than anything else. Space Dandy had flashes of brilliance but it was too inconsistent.
1. Ping Pong
2. Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso
3. Jojo: Stardust Crusdaders
4. Gekkan Shojo Nozaki-kun
5. Space Dandy
1. Nozaki-kun
2. No Game, No Life
3. D-Frag!
4. Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders
5. Space Dandy
6. Tokyo Ghoul ; The manga is godlike though.
7. Parasyte
8. Kill la Kill ; Starts great, gets horrible at the end...
9. Inou Battle within Everyday life
10. Akame Ga Kill!
Expectation is a dangerous thing. Ever since hearing about this OVA back in March, my head has been filled with wonderful visions of wedding dresses, clocks and sugar plums. Then I actually watched it last week and died inside. It achieved something I never thought was possible – it made me legitimately angry at Kurumi for a while. The course of true love never did run smooth.
The show I wanted to watch the most was Gundam Recoguista but didn't feel like jumping through hoops to do it. I was hoping gundam would put it on their youtube channel after its over or maybe someone would license it. That said its only got like 2 or 3 votes in this thread. The man made Turn A... Turn A! Is Recoguista not as good? Maybe its for the best I'm not watching
7. Akatsuki no Yona (Yona of the Dawn) - I am a sucker for fantasy and this didn't disappoint. Depending on how this concludes it may rank higher for me than Log Horizon. This is a well executed adventure show with some interesting characters. If you enjoy fantasy give it a shot.
I didn't even think about the first seasons second half ending in 2014. I was just going by the second season which isn't as good as the first. Log may get a boost on my list then
10. I Can't Understand What My Husband Is Saying (Danna ga Nani) - no one watched this? This is the best of those mini 3 minute episode anime that I've ever seen, the couple depicted are the perfect mix of cringy and lovable that you can't help but cheer for them.
1. Ping Pong
Matsumoto quality in narration and unique art style in a adoption helmed by Masaaki Yuasa. A dream team that didn't disappoint. A sports series where the stars are clearly the insight in their characters, who all change and adapt in interesting ways.
2. Mushishi S2
One of the best anime ever with a second season, yeah!
Years after the first season, we still can say Mushishi can deliver an unique feeling, a deliberate peace mixed with contemplation of nature and the small, personal and believable dramas that result more emotive than any big bombastic clash or pasty melodrama from other series.
3. Hunter x Hunter
The end of a faithful adoption of perhaps the best shonen ever. A valiant effort in breaking the norms of what it means to be a shonen, it what it's a normal conflict resolution or a normal pace or a normal narration, also full to attention in details and good writing as everything Togashi does. Crazy buildup, crazy payoff. Didn't disappoint.
4. Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun
The funniest show this year, with a crazy cast of loveable characters and a sense of slightly surreal and "off" scenes but entirely funny, and very serviceable visuals.
5. Space Dandy
Anthology work which main flaw was that, the wild array of different writers and directors meant the quality of each episode varied wildly. Still, thanks god the second season average quality improved a bit with some really good eps and in the end, it's easier to forget the bad one and have a good remembrance of the good ones, leaving a better taste in your mouth, which makes easier to put the series in the top10. Interestingly, the more comedic surreal or serious episodes are better than most straightforward-comedy eps, even if in theory this is a comedy series.
6. Silver Spoon S2
SoL in the original setting of a agricultural High School, of nicely consistent if unspectacular quality. Character you will like, small adventures and events, and an interesting realistic outlook to the harsh life of having a farm, as the story won't hide how hard it is or how you can easily go into debt.
7. Parasyte
A flawed product, with questionable music and female characters used as mere plot devices and romance interests. And still the relation between Migi and Shinichi is always interesting, the evolution of the character is well done, you can never know exactly where the series will go, it has good tense moments or nice cliffhangers, I like the overall 90s design and the animation is above average.
8. Barakamon
Very nice SoL of refined city guy, an artist, in a small village in the middle of nowhere. What it seems unsupportable girls and neighbours and little kids are in the end a window to a happier, calmer and funnier life, all accompanied of good, vibrant backgrounds.
9. Haikyuu
Sports shonen with clean, interesting art and good animation, it doesn't break conventions in the genre, it's a straight sport shonen but well done, directed, animated and with interesting to watch matches that are unpredictable.
10. Cross Ange
Trashy typical Sunrise mech series, a mix of action, drama and adventure (and scifi and magic and who knows what more). It has all their typical flaws, and this time it's even more on your face with the fanservice and it doesn't even have a big budget to show off. And still, it got me on my seat each Sunday to see the crazy new developments or to see Ange kicking asses, and the development of the titular protagonist is well done, with balanced virtues and flaws. Maybe the secret is the trashiness lowers my expectations which increases the entertainment amount?! Or maybe it's the type of series that it entertains when it's good... and still entertains when it's bad, even if it isn't what the authors expected.
It got me entertained, and in the end it isn't that easy. For example, JoJo SC or Bahamut entertained me less than Cross Ange, so in the end it has been CA the one to take the final spot.
perfect representation
Honorable mentions
-Hanamonogatari
-I can't understand what my husband is saying
-Shingeki no Bahamut: Genesis
-JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders
Series to recommend to your worst enemies
-Terror in Resonance
-The Pilot's Love Song
Special Award of overrated franchise god I hate anime fandom sometimes
-FS/N UBW
Special Award of ironic subtleness
-Your lie in April
In general, a normal year. 3-4 good ones to recommend, other 3 just decent ones, and the rest flawed or forgettable or actively bad.
Movies / OVAS
1. Tale of Princess Kaguya
Wonderful and emotive fable, both simple and evocative but full of meaning, directed with an expert hand and drawn with an unique style. Must watch.
2. The Wind Rises
A mix of passionate biopic, romance and a film itself that also serves as a mirror image of someone else who also focused on work for his entire life and in the idiosyncrasies and anxieties that have that life (and in the beauty of planes!), Miyazaki himself. All with lavish production values.
3. Mushishi OVA Sun-Eating Shade
A great Mushishi story where the personal drama and past relationships get mixed with mysterious spirits, with an epic resolution, all in long-hour format for our enjoyment.
4. Paulette's Chair
Just 100 tons of charm concentrated in 210 seconds.
Bright colors but with a soft palette, a story perfectly understandable even without voice, nice piano/violin music and superb animation that it's a joy to watch, and not for pure virtuosismo, but that joy it's an integral part of the story. The short length is well used at his benefit, maybe with a longer format it would have lost some force.
I want my own sentient chair damnit. ¬¬
5. Puella Magi Madoka Magica Rebellion
Madoka makes a comeback with a complex story focusing more on the fan-favorite Homura (Homu Homu!), with some decent twists and surprises, great action and the unique Shaft art style used at maximum power. The end goes a bit off the rails but I always liked stories where
the evil one wins. And also bonus points for yuri and not beating the bush around.
She did nothing wrong, as I was entertained!
6. Lupin the Third: Daisuke Jigen's Gravestone
A return to the form for Lupin, combining the interesting and stylized art from the Mine Fujiko tv series (but with more budget and without the shades that never got to work), with a good pace, a suave style, a talented enemy, and focusing more in the charismatic duo of Lupin and Jigen as the heart of the series, and using Fujiko where she is best, in smaller but memorable doses.
Also, 2d cars.
7. Short Peace - A Farewell to Weapons
A good action OVA reminds us how to do proper scifi action, with clean and solid art style, superb f/x and animation, good character dynamics, realistic weapon systems and tense and impactful action. And good cg!
Also got close to but couldn't enter in the first seven: -Berserk: The Golden Age Arc III - Descent
-Dragon Dentist
-Hill Climb Girl
-The animation shorts Wonder, Airy me and 663114.
Show
1. No Game No Life
2. Kiseijuu Sei no Kakuritsu (Parasyte)
3. Zankyou no Terror
4. Akame ga Kill!
5. Shingeki no Bahamut Genesis
6. Aldnoah.Zero
7. Psycho Pass 2
8. Log Horizon 2
9. Madan no Ou to Vanadis
10. Sword Art Online 2
Short
1. Danna ga Nani wo Itterru ka Wakaranai ken
1. Space Dandy
2. Ping Pong
3. Kuroko Basketball
4. Kill La Kill
5. Gundam Build Fighters
6. Rage of Bahamut: Genesis
7. JoJo Bizarre Adventure
8. Hunter X Hunter
9. Fate Stay Night Unlimited Blade Works
10. No Game No Life
1. ping pong the animation; Your thoughts on Series A.
2. ai mai mi catastrophe; Your thoughts on Series B.
3. pupipo; Your thoughts on Series C.
4. robot girls z; Your thoughts on Series D.
5. world conquest zvezda plot; Your thoughts on Series E.
6. shirobako; Your thoughts on Series F.
7. mushi-shi -the next passage-; Your thoughts on Series G.
8. space dandy; Your thoughts on Series H.
9. noragami; Your thoughts on Series I.
1. the tale of princess kaguya; Your thoughts on Film/OVA A.
2. lupin the third: daisuke jigen's gravestone; Your thoughts on Film/OVA B.
3. twenty minute walk from nishi-ogikubo station, two bedrooms, living room, dining room, kitchen, two mos deposit, no pets allowed; Your thoughts on Film/OVA C.
4. wonder; Your thoughts on Film/OVA D.
5. tamako love story; Your thoughts on Film/OVA E.
6. me!me!me!; Your thoughts on Film/OVA F.
7. the dragon dentist; Your thoughts on Film/OVA G.
8. harmonie;
9. girls und panzer ova;
10. until You come to me.;
Just finished watching Ping Pong, putting it at #6
6. PING PONG
I want to love it more than I actually do. The animation, framing and timing is superb, but sometimes, for the sake of style they go with some really bad drawings. Its meant for effect but it screams too artsy fartsy for me.
That aside, the story really came together in the last few episodes. Characters that I thought were throwaway became integral to the plot and this is an 11 episodes that I would happily watch again with somebody else. Its a good story, its a nice message and using Ping Pong to tell the story was a great touch.
