I must admit there were a lot of shows that I started but didn't pass the three episode test. It's the first full year I've followed the simulcasts and surprisingly the mecha shows just didn't do it for me, while I kept picking up shows from genres I'd never been interested in before. Some of them are still ongoing so I hope they don't take a nose-dive and make me regret including them. :sweat:
My favourite of the year wasn't a surprise.
Mushi-shi: The Next Chapter. The first series is one of my all-time favourite anime, and 8 (!) years later they came back even better. It's not an action-packed show (actually I don't think there's ever been a fight). You certainly have to be in the mood to watch something very calm. There isn't even an overarching plot (or even re-occurring characters aside from the lead). But for thought-provoking, mature, atmospheric TV I just love it.
Yuki Yuna is a Hero. This show has had very little attention, and the few reviews I have seen have compared it to Madoka Magica but IMO it forges a different path despite being aimed at a similar audience. I won't describe the plot as it's easy to give too much away about a 12 episode show, but IMO it's the right mix of fighting multiple Godzilla-sized (but non-humanoid) monsters simultaniously (and I mean fight - Yuki favours dragon punches and rider kicks), character building moments to get you invested, and a slow-burning horrific plot. It also integrates a disabled hero in without any trouble, which I've never seen before.
Hozuki no Reitetsu A mostly-overlooked workplace comedy about a guy called Hozuki who somehow always manages to keep a cool head even when dealing with inexperienced colleagues, a hated rival, and a boss who'd rather tell you about his grandkids than do his job. The twist is that Hozuki's job is chief steward of Japanese hell and his colleagues are other demons responsible for tormenting the departed. You might need to know a little of Japanese mythology (Momotaro anyone?) to get the most from it, but it tries every kind of comedy you can think of to get a laugh.
Denki-Gai. I nearly gave this spot to Barakamon, which is done very well despite having a very old premise. But Denki-Gai is a show about manga nerds that spoofs the slice-of-life / workplace comedy genre rather than just lean on nerdy in-jokes. I'm not into manga, but even I can feel the passion the show has for the subject and while it isn't sophisticated it's just a lot of fun to watch.
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders. TBH I don't enjoy it quite as much as the previous season but my issues are story-based ones that it inherited from the manga. JoJo is still consistantly entertaining and I can't wait for it to return.
Sailor Moon Crystal is at the top of the list
I strongly considered putting Crystal on the list. I only started watching it because everyone was talking about Madoka Magica while Gaim was on, and I figured that to get the most out of Madoka I should probably understand what a normal magical girl show was like before I jumped into the "deconstructed" version. I think I saw about 6 episodes before I
had to get caught up on all the episodes of the 90s Sailor Moon so far uploaded to hulu, and I'll probably keep watching the newly released ones each week until I've seen it all. That made Crystal seem very worthy. However, as it's gone on I've realised that the story requires you to be invested in the characters, and the only reason I am is because I've seen some of the original anime. Crystal itself isn't doing that. And then this week they really dropped the ball with the four kings of heaven. :shakefist
4. Captain Earth - Good complete story...Valvrave was still fresh in my mind watching this, and unlike the latter, CE came in full circle, showed some good growth for the characters and kept me entertained every week.
Did that show ever get back to the fun space battles? That launch/combination sequence instantly sold me on the series, but then they barely bothered with them. I reached the end of episode 14 and then dropped the show because I couldn't remember the last episode that I hadn't found a chore to watch, and a whole new season of shows was starting.
