Deadline: 31/01/2016 23:59 UTC

https://u.pomf.is/fnnjta.webm

The end of the year is just around the corner, so someone had to make this thread. As it's a known fact that NeoGAF loves animes and lists, we're here to vote only for the truly good shows of this year's catalogue, so that the next generations will be able to find a good list of anime recommendations. Of course, you're also welcome to praise your favourite series or laugh at other people's inferior taste, but keep it civil!

Categories:

There are two of them.

Not sure what your favourite anime is? Basically, if it follows an episodic format and you watched it weekly or monthy, on the web or the TV, it's probably a series. Otherwise, it's an OVA/film. If you're still not sure, you could always search or ask here.

! Important Notice: Eligible for this voting is anything that had even one episode broadcast in Japan during 2015. If it started in 2014 or if it will continue airing during 2016 doesn't make it ineligible, so keep this in mind when you make your lists. American animated series, like Steven Universe, are ineligible, sorry.

Rules:


! Please, try to follow this guideline !


For honorable mentions use this as many times as you want, UNDER each of your lists:

Here you can find most, if not all, of the eligible animes:

Winter 2015
Spring 2015
Summer 2015
Autumn 2015

And here you can watch a lot of them, if you want to catch up:
Viz Media
Hulu
Daisuki
Funimation
Crunchyroll

Do you want to see what NeoGAF was watching this year? Check out the community threads:
Winter OT, Spring OT1, OT2, Summer OT1, OT2, Autumn OT1, OT2

Reminder for Deadline: 31/01/2016 23:59 UTC
Here's a countdown too.

Special thanks to BGBW for making this year's banner.

If you have any questions or suggestions, post them here, on the Community Thread or just send me a pm. May the best animes win!

Anime is dead.

DEEEEEAAAAAAD.

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TV

1. Owarimonogatari; Trollmaster Nisio Isin strikes again with his "End Story", a light novel that belies its title and consists instead exclusively of flashback arcs. But the funniest thing about Owarimonogatari isn't the juxtaposition of its title and contents, it's the fact that, the two arcs in the franchise that don't involve any supernatural phenomenon at their cores, are ironically the ones most riddled with nonsensical plot devices. Sodachi's story could have been one of the high points of the franchise but it relies too much on Araragi's unexplained case of terminal amnesia and silly locked room mystery. Owari benefits a lot from getting to shed some light on the two cryptic masterminds of the franchise, whose hitherto appearances were sparse. While their VA's don't have the material to deliver the kind of outstanding performance that Marina Inoue did with Sodachi in episode 5, they still manage to breathe life into Ougi and Gaen, turning them into characters you don't even mind to listen to for 20 minutes straight. While Owari is far removed from the series at it's best, Shaft apparently even forgot they're capable of making great action scenes (sorely needed in Shinobu Lost climax), it is the only title I feel somewhat comfortable voting for the first spot in this tepid year. Haikyuu was probably the more consistent show and maybe even the more enjoyable show but Owari, despite failing in many places, tried to reach higher. Also, Haikyuu doesn't have Araragi's monologues at the beginning and end of every arc and I happen to enjoy those immensely.
   

   

   

   

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2. Haikyuu!! Season 2; It is a testament to this show's quality that even when it's devoting an entire cour to just training and sparing matches, it manages to still be supremely enjoyable. A sports show through and through, with super likeable cast, great production values and on point comedy.
   

   

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3. Ghost in the Shell Arise: Alternative Architecture; As, and a lot of time, even more, convoluted and confusing than its predecessors. This is a decent GitS outing, that is, if you take off your nostalgia goggles and accept that, the entire franchise wasn't as great as you think it was !
   

   

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4. Lesbian Bear Storm;
   Spoiler

   Winkelriedism
   - The Lesbian Edition. Second best Ikuhara show.
   
   Best OST and direction. The short length didn't bother me but the show does indeed suffer from prioritising its symbolism and themes over its characters and setting.
   

   

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5. Hacka Doll The Animation; Saved anime... An uneven series of shorts that however hits its stride half way through, with some of the parodies in the second half being among the best comedic content I've seen this year.
   

   

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6. Magical Somera-chan; An insanity itself, served in an anime form.
   

   

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7. Sound! Euphonium; Not much more than a slow to take off sports anime but the relatively grounded nature of the drama and of the characters, as well as the level of polish KyoAni brought to the series (outside of the puzzling decision to blur the ever lasting shit out of loads of backgrounds) make it a bit more than that. Of particular note I found the subdued little stories of more minor characters like Natsuki or Aoi, which quietly flesh out the band and make it seem like more than just background for the main characters.
   

   

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8. Subete ga F ni Naru
9. Fate Stay/Night: Unlimited Blade Works; An in depth look at the ... depths of idiocy a man can succumb to. And at an impossibility of getting out of said depths. One of the best, if not outright the best, looking show of the year with ever beautiful backgrounds and some of the most consistent and impressive action scenes you'll find in anime.
   

   

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10. One Punch Man; Having read the source material beforehand, I confess I'm not quite able to judge OPM the same way as all the other entries. The humour - already mediocre in the manga worked even less when repeated in the anime. Some silly plot choices and dialogue as well as faulty direction in a few spots, one that fails to properly adapt some of the better moments from the source are the other things that irked me. The saving grace of the show is in its action. While not exactly the model of consistency and not devoid of shortcuts, OPM's best moments are easily some of the best fighting animation bits of the year.
    

    

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Honorable mentions:
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Stardust Crusaders: Battle in Egypt; Araki seems to have regressed as a writer since Battle Tendency but compared with the first half of Stardust Crusaders, the combination of a few more interesting Stand battles and of some real stakes injected into the shallow MotW format at the very end, makes the Egypt arc more edible and makes it easier to accept non-existent plot, cardboard characters and asspulls all over the place. It's also all the more proof that Joseph is best Jojo.

Shirobako; If you read even a little about realities of making an anime this is not a show that will be able to teach you much but it's still a fairly enjoyable work drama/comedy. The second season suffers from having silly drama with the editor which never felt particularly feasible and was resolved through heavy slapstick comedy that seems out of place, even in a show like this. Tarou-chan still best character !
Yoru no Yatterman; This was a really interesting take on the franchise but the the weak ass episodic middle, the dissonance between attempting to depict the totalitarion system and the show's attemps at comedy as well as the rushed, both story and production wise finale, don't allow me to put it on the list, despite the enormous amounts of nostalgia I have for the franchise. Bonus points for playing the original opening song in the last episode !
Death Parade; Gods are dicks the anime. Has an interesting concept, good production values and a few good episodes but the hit and miss and miss episodic stories, repetitiveness of the formula and the disappointing end to the overarching story soured my enjoyment of it.
Monster Musume; I'm not going to pretend this was a good anime but considering the entire premise and contents, it was surprisingly edible. A fact which I'm going to pin on Yatterman staff polishing the turgid source material with their commendable efforts.
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Movies/OVAs
1. When Marnie Was There.
2. Little Witch Academia: The Enchanted Parade
3. Ghost in the Shell: The New Movie
4. Kanon
5. GIRL


Dishonorable mentions:

1. Tokyo Ghoul Root A; A show that has no clue whether it wants to follow the manga or to be an anime original. The result is a script that makes fucking Aldnoah look like an Oscar candidate. Character actions make zero sense, plot points are introduced and dropped without ever being expanded upon, the few passable moments in the latter half can't save it considering the show is a disaster on the production level too.
2. Aldnoah.Zero; ... It was pretty funny.
3. Saint Seiya: Soul of Gold; I mean, it's Saint Seiya,.. by Toei to boot. There was no chance it'd turn out good.
4. Parasyte; But are you really Shinichi-kun ?

We all know One Punch man is getting this one for sure.

1. Death Parade
2. One-Punch man
3. Parasyte
4. JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders
5. Kuroko no Basket Season 3

Honorable Mentions:
1. Haikyuu!! S2
2. Osomatsu-san

Watched a lot of old anime, hence very less anime from 2015.
Will edit with comments after looking at all the anime, i watched this year.

READ the OP to get the format right

I have not watched any Anime this year I think.

1. Shirobako
2. Owarimonogatari
3. Hibike! Euphonium
4. Shokugeki no Souma
5. Koufuku Graffiti
6. Cross Ange
7. One Punch Man
8. Shimoneta
9. Hackadoll The Animation
10. Death Parade

Films/OVA
1. Little Witch Academia: The Enchanted Parade
2. Strike Witches: Operation Victory Arrow
3. Bureau of Proto Society

Euriphonium, Sharing☆Mana, and the purge felt like forever ago

1. Soukyuu no Fafner: Dead Aggressor - Exodus; The true AOTY that no one watched, because it requires viewing of a 2004 show, a 2005 OVA and a 2010 movie. But its absolutely worth it! Fafner Exodus is beautiful to look at, has a stellar soundtrack, a large cast of likeable and well-developed characters, crazy mech action, hard-hitting deaths, a truckload of emotional moments and more. If you're going to start with the 2004 series, let me just warn you that the first half can be quite slow, but it really takes off once the second half kicks in and from then on it just becomes a non-stop ride of amazing you wish would never end.

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2. Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma; High intensity shounen in the guise of a cooking anime. Not even some pure action shows come close to the tension of this show. And if that is not enough, it has a great cast of side characters and is just all around fun and entertaining.

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3. One-Punch Man; Lots of fun with ridiculous action animation.

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4. Gintama 2015; It's Gintama.

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5. JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders - Egypt Arc; It's JoJo.

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6. Death Parade; Airing early this year it's probably already forgotten by many, but what a great show this was.

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7. Knights of Sidonia: Battle for Planet Nine; Second season of Knights of Sidonia. While the harem parts are ramped up a bit too much, the incredible mech action, creature design and fascinating universe more then make up for its shortcomings.

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8. Blood Blockade Battlefront; A crazy universe and a cast of fun characters make this mostly episodic show an entertaining watch.

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9. Rokka -Braves of the Six Flowers-; At first glance it might look like a generic hero vs. evil fantasy adventure story, but it very quickly turns into an amazingly interesting locked room mystery.

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10. Kagewani; Creepy and atmospheric as hell with a very different and interesting art- and animation-style compared to what you usually find.

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Honorable mentions in no particular order:
x. Ushio and Tora;
x. Overlord;
x. Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-blooded Orphans;
x. My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU TOO!;
x. Fushigi no Somera-chan
x. Parasyte
x. Show by Rock

Series
1. Your Lie in April; Sad anime of the year (even with the crappy comedy, yes)
2. Non Non Biyori Repeat; Slice of life anime of the year
3. Shirobako; Anime about anime of the year
4. Hello!! Kiniro Mosaic
5. Seiyu's Life!
6. Wakaba Girl
7. I Can't Understand What My Husband Is Saying S2
8. Charlotte
9. Hibike! Euphonium
10. Miss Monochrome S2/S3


Films/OVAs
1. Little Witch Academia: The Enchanted Parade
2. The Diary of Ochibi
3. Obake-chan
4. When Marnie Was There
5. Bureau of Proto Society

Ironic reservation post goes here

Series:
1. Lesbian Bear Storm
2. Fushigi na Somera-chan
3. Hibike Euphonium
4. I Can't Understand What My Husband is Saying
5. Show By Rock!!
6. Shirobako
7. One-Punch Man
8. Wakako-zake
9. Kagewani
10. Hacka Doll the Animation
11. Grisaia no Rakuen

OVA/Film:
1. Space Battleship Yamato 2199: Odyssey of the Celestial Arc
2. Little Witch Academia 2
3. Strike Witches: Operation Victory Arrow

1. One-Punch man; Best superhero thing done in any media for years.

ONE PUUUUUUUUNCH


1. One Punch: simple premise that sounds boring (invincible guy), that managed to keep things interesting and entertaining.

2. JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 3

3. Kuroko's Basketball S3

4. Prison School

I didn't really finish that much anime from this year. As with my Steam library, I started a lot, but finished only a few.

1. My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU TOO! / Oregairu Season 2 / Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru. Zoku;

Oregairu's first season began with a tired, familiar setup - one antisocial guy, two popular but troubled girls, all stuck together in a club - and gradually started hinting at its main characters' deeper issues and insecurities. Disappointingly, Hachiman, the flawed protagonist, never saw much character development.

It's now clear why Oregairu's first season doesn't feature much growth from its main characters. Hachiman was too scared to let go of his preconceived notions, to challenge his worldview, to realize that interacting with other people can be painful - and that's okay. The second season shows Hachiman do all of these and more: it's a story about his growth as a person. It's different beast from the first season - shedding the light novel humor, taking a much more serious tone, and focusing on developing Hachiman and the rest of the cast. This is in no small part due to the new animation studio. The animation is more fluid, the character design more expressive, and the overall direction more effective.

Oregairu's second season is a poignant story about adolescent insecurity. With well-developed, emotionally resonant characters, it delivers a completely unique experience that is easily the best of the year.

Spoiler

It's got a dumb title though.

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2. Shirobako;

I can't really explain why I like Shirobako so much. Maybe it's the huge cast of colorful characters. Or seeing the main characters overcome their struggles in trying to break into the anime industry. Could it be the realization that making anime is just like working on a high school group project? I really don't know.

One of Shirobako's greatest strengths is that despite its often-exaggerated characters and situations, there are always small moments where you can completely relate to the characters. Seeing a text from an old friend and ignoring it because there's a deadline coming up. Grabbing dinner with a coworker and complaining about work. Calling your parents while putting dinner into the microwave. It's moments like these that truly make Shirobako memorable.

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3. Sound! Euphonium;

It always annoyed me in K-On! that no one practiced, and whenever Azusa wanted to rehearse everyone just laughed at her. As someone who played in the honors high school orchestra, it felt like it trivialized two of the most important parts of music: practice and the pursuit of perfection.

Sound! Euphonium is all about practice and the pursuit of perfection. It understands what it's like to be a music student in high school. Waiting in front of the audition room, instrument in one hand and music in the other, hearing the music coming from the room and knowing there's no way you can sound that good. Getting called out in the middle of rehearsal for not playing well enough. The sense of relief, or joy, or accomplishment, or all three when a concert has ended. The feeling of embarrassment when you say that you're quitting and the entire class just stares at you.

I feel a little weird putting this as my number 3, because Sound! Euphonium is a great anime, and KyoAni's best since Hyouka. It's excellently directed, and tells a very strong narrative about music in high school.

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4. Log Horizon 2; It's the best anime in the people-trapped-in-an-MMO genre. Not because of its characters or fight scenes, but because it creates a consistent world that actually utilizes the MMO setting. Game mechanics like guilds have real, tangible effects on the politics of the former NPC's in the game, upsetting the balance of power and creating tensions. The fights in the anime are always resolved through tactics that reflect strategies used in actual games - concepts like aggro and buffs and cooldowns are not only mentioned, but are actually shown in combat. And the main character never gains superpowers - Log Horizon aims to create a consistent world based off of game mechanics, and does so admirably.

5. Plastic Memories; An emotional story about humans and androids. Generally well-produced with memorable characters.

Other anime I watched:

x. Your Lie in April; What happens when you take star-crossed lovers to the extreme? Bad humor, bad dialogue, and bad melodrama apparently. At least it looks nice.

x. Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works; Having an animation budget the size of a small country's GDP doesn't make an inane plot any more meaningful. Fate/Zero is still the best of the Fate anime, and by a very large margin.

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1. Oregairu; beautifully witty and intelligent dialogue sets this apart from anything else this year. The characters feel real, the drama is intense, and the show dances between hilarious and heart-wrenching.
2. Non Non Biyori; there is something to be said for simplicity. NNB evokes a simpler time when all that mattered was your friend next door and enjoying each day.
3. Owarimonogatari; another series in the character-driven Monogatari series. New Wave cinematography, superbly written dialogue, and some of the most memorable characters in anime.
4. Shirobako; this show has dozens of characters and I care for each and every one of them. This would be my #1 if I could wrap my head around it. Shirobako will break your heart, make you smile, laugh, and care for non-existent characters. AotY.
5. Yuri Kuma; objectively, this is too high. It's a fantastic thought piece, but we don't ever get enough time to take a breather and care about the characters as I would like. Utena was a lesbian and anyone who says otherwise is a mongrel.
6. Gatchaman; the culmination of a century's worth of superhero shows. This season suffers from pacing issues (the ONLY flaw with the first season) and loses track of the plot midway through, but delivers on everything else. Most diverse OST this year.
7. Kekkai Sensen; when it's good, it's VERY good. A fascinating world with strong characters, gorgeous art, and amazing fights. Hampered by a couple of narrative hiccups though.
8. School Live; this is an anime about the way the world is and the way we cope with it wrapped in a moe cover. Surprised it's not on more lists.
9. Death Parade; a morbid tribute to the beauty of human nature. Vain and self-indulgent at times, but fantastic and inspiring at others.
10. Gundam IBO/Punchline; a tie here. Punchline turns anime tropes on their heads and delivered an amazing show for those who stuck it out. IBO gets props for being the only enjoyable Gundam since 00. Also, that kiss.

Films/OVAs
1. Little Witch Academia: Mahou Shikake no Parade
2. Cassette Girl - Animator Expo

Honorable Mentions:
One Punch Man - The best animated show that I watched this season with some fantastic fight scenes and humor. Absolutely stunning. But it doesn't bring ANYTHING (Edit: The OST is actually pretty amazing considering it's done by a complete newcomer) besides that. Very straightforward, very good, very deserving of its fanbase, but not AotY material.
The Perfect Insider - One of the greatest mystery anime I've ever seen. It's indicative of the quality of the genre within anime that this statement is true.
Hibike! Euphonium - I didn't get to watch it, and that's probably the only reason it's not on here.
Virgin Witch Maria - An amazing series that eats shit in the last 20 minutes. Solid 8/10 but still garbage.


Every vote for One Punch Man is another sin laid on the anime community. 2015 was a far better year in anime than 2014. Wug ZOO was the savior anime deserved, but not the one it needed. Only one of these statements isn't serious.

1. One-Punch Man; OPM easily takes the number one spot for many viewers this year and it's no surprise considering how much studio Madhouse does right. Unlike standard shounen anime this show cuts right to the chase. There are no needs for power ups, long winded speeches and especially not drawn out battles for our hero, Saitama who worked his way up from citizen to Earth's defender. Everything from the quaintest of thieves to God level monsters are just one good punch away from being put in their place (sometimes in extraordinarily gruesome fashion). Not to be outdone by the main hero, we have cyborgs, street level heroes, ninja mavericks and freaks of nature putting on beautifully animated spectacles and pumping the show full of hilarity. Anyone who didn't get the memo that anime was saved by Space Dandy should give this a shot. They're sure to find something special.

2. Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma; Food Wars is an easy contender for this year's best, especially if you've got the stomach to handle some gratuitous fanservice (which simmers down after the first episode). The show follows the culinary school adventures of a young protagonist named Soma. After several years of hardcore dining experience and cook offs with his old man he is tossed into the lion's den that is the Totsuki culinary school at the top of Japan's cooking world. Despite numerous attempts to oust him and those close to him Soma pulls win after win. It's a well animated show with bombastic characters, absolutely taste bud teasing food and a refreshing lack of romance despite the school setting. Anyone with an appetite for great cooking, great friendships and great characters owes it to themselves to check this morsel of an anime out.

3. Knights of Sidonia: Battle for Planet Nine; Knights of Sidonia returns for a second season and absolutely does not disappoint. The enemies are bigger, badder and scarier than ever before. The action and magnificent audio also leave nothing on the table. The relationships between the characters themselves also evolve thanks to truly sci-fi spoilers I can't list here and the introduction of nonhuman species lets the show experiment more with the themes of exclusion, acceptance and loneliness. More of the main character's origins and abilities are explained which is welcome as well. While there is more of a harem aspect to the second season, it's still nowhere near enough to detract from the apocalyptic doomsday scenarios that the colony must face on a regular basis. Despite clearly leaving the viewer with a cliffhanger we can rest assured that there is plenty more for KoS to show come the third season.

4. Owarimonogatari; Owarimonogatri is the latest entry in a long line seasons for this anime series and it shows that the series still has plenty of life left in it. Unlike some of the previous seasons this one panders less, but it still might be a bit much for those not familiar with the series. The mystery element surrounding "oddities" and their actions takes center stage with the enigmatic Ougi Oshino lighting the way for our main character. Watching this particular installment in the series requires some reading and watching to understand the context behind a lot of what goes on, but for knowledgeable viewers there is a lot of payoff. Quite a bit of what makes the MC who he is today is explained in greater detail and the same goes for his supernatural companion, Shinobu, whose new relationship with Araragi as a lifelong partner reaches a new level after their meeting and parting with an enemy of hers hoping for a second chance. What that "chance" refers to is a complete surprise you'll have to see for yourselves!

5. Sound! Euphonium; Euphonium is likely one of Kyoani's most impressive anime to date. Despite the plot being about a young girl's experience in a school band the visuals may overshadow the music for some and it does so without trying to pander. The animation, expression and color are all drawn with care and attention. The audio is an absolute pleasure with beautiful concert music, warm tones to match the small town visuals and apparent differences in skill among the characters when they play their own instruments. Even a novice can watch it at a glance and tell the experienced band members from average ones and beginners. The characters themselves are good and very human in their cheer, self-pity, anxiousness and perseverance. Despite the show ending just at the climax it's still a youthful and touching journey in every sense of the word for the initially apathetic and unskilled band that manages to become contest winning material.

6. Working!!!; After several long years the Working! anime series draws it's curtains on the hijinks and working life of the staff at the Wagnaria family restaurant. This is a show that doesn't excel because of it's animation, music or technical quality (all of which are greatly appreciated). It's stregth lies in the funny (but not overdone) character quirks and how the staff manages to make this business function despite everything looking like it should fall apart at any moment. Seasons long romances in the making finally happen, families are reunited, wives are found despite having US army funded stealth capabilities and our eccentric but lovable sees new beginnings as staff departures loom on the horizon. Followers of the first and second seasons owe it to themselves and the characters to finish this third and final season.

7. Prison School; Prison School is this year's shoe in for pervy show of the year, but anyone familiar with the manga knows this particular work is a cut above the rest. The anime is no different in this regard. Five teenage boys suddenly find themselves in a POW scenario in the middle of a former all girls school since they just had to peek on the girls. The anime itself falls short of capturing the artistic magic the manga possesses, but it's an admirable effort considering the manga's art might be some of the best manga has to offer. The characters themselves still shine through, however. The eros of the five male students is on full and shameful display. The hardened and downright sociopath tendencies of the girls are also faithful to the original work. Most of all, the comedic misunderstandings and twisted romance are recreated with care and great enthusiasm. If this adaptation's animation were better it'd be a shoe in for show of the year, but the good outweighs the bad and the bad is too naughty to resist even for those put off by ecchi.

8. Noragami: Aragoto; Noragami comes back for a second action and story packed season. This entry differs from the first in it's greater focus on the relationships between the Gods and the heavenly realm. Characters like Bishamon are fleshed out further, Yato's (our MC) violent past is explored more deeply and the inner workings of heaven are revealed. This anime in takes the chance to explore the cycle of reincarnation despite how painful (and violent) it can be for the cast and audience. The battles themselves are also very well done with smooth animation, grisly deaths and truly torturous flashbacks (particularly surrounding Yato and Bishamon's past). Through them we also get to see characters like Yukine find their real purpose in the show as Yato's vessel. Fans of the first season will be happy to learn that this is a great followup.

9. Ushio to Tora; Ushio and Tora might not be this year's action King thanks to OPM, but it's certainly this year's hotblooded king. Monsters, spirits and demons spew forth into the meat grinder that is Ushio and his newly acquired Beast Spear. The story essentially starts with the son of a temple monk who inadvertently situates himself in the middle of a millenia long supernatural war. The art style is rough nineties, the character design is appealing without pandering and the friendships built along the way are classic shounen goodness. The music and animation are good, but the animation isn't exactly top shelf. Despite not being OPM tier in it's animation Ushio to Tora manages to wrap many first time viewers around it's finger thanks to the fun back and forth between Ushio and his Demon partner, Tora.

10. My Love Story; Oremonogatari is not your usual shoujo anime. The main character is a tree of a man and the female love interest is an adorable pixie with unique tastes in men and wicked baking skills. The support character named Suna is totally the guy the audience and background characters expect to be the lead. It can get a bit repetitive with the show repeatedly revisiting the idea that the main character is unattractive to many people until they get to know him, but the blood sugar spikes caused by the interactions between our main romantic pair are too sweet to miss. The animation and music are okay, but the growing pains of this awkward and innocent couple really set it apart from your usual romance anime.

1. Little Witch Academia: The Enchanted Parade; After a fantastic sub thirty minute romp in the first movie, LWA returns to wow us again with a 50 minute encore in The Enchanted Parade. The action is spectacular, but Trigger doesn't forget to keep us invested in the relationships and the need for decent dialogue. Akko is the ball of energy dragging the show along by the collar, Sucy is the slightly mad, but thoughtful anchor and Lotte is the middle of the road witch. Together with three new troublemakers at the school they manage to build a fantastic spectacle of a parade culminating in an impromptu superhero stage show with wonderful Gainax flavor to it. Anyone who watched the original (or hasn't) should stop wasting time reading my review and check it out. No summary will be sufficient to prepare for this cute and enthralling fantasy adventure.

Honorable Mentions:
1. Koufuku Graffiti; Your thoughts on it.
2. Monster musume everyday life with monster girls; Your thoughts on it.
3. Plastic Memories; Your thoughts on it.
4. Mobile Suit GUNDAM Iron Blooded Orphans; Your thoughts on it.
5. PUNCH LINE; Your thoughts on it.

This year was amazing. I just know I'm going to regret not putting a few shows in my top ten.

1. One Punch Man; A refreshingly entertaining show that turns the super hero formula on its head. Loved the mixture of artstyles, the fight animations/choreography and the shear variety of characters that are both absurd and hilarious. Probably the only thing worth listing from this year's anime output.

Not the best year imo. Completely lacking a standout great anime like last year's Ping Pong. In any case here are my picks. A lot of my comments are from previous stuff I've said, just a nice collation.

1. Owarimonogatari;

I was seriously turned off from the Monogatari series when it decided that it decided to betray it's own values and, in complete display of contempt for well adjusted people, put sibling incest and a near pedophillic sexualisation of a character with neotenic features as a somehow acceptable option. A series that had otherwise held my attention for it's ability to make the common, everyday act of people just talking interesting and enjoyable for some reason decided that appealing to degenerates was the right direction to go.

But I was told in AnimeGAF that Owari wasn't like that, so I decided to jump back on. Sodachi Lost is truly beautiful, not in it's awkward rush to conclusion, but in it's ability to properly relay feelings of self-isolation, anger and undirected vengefulness in a way that seems very natural. You are consistenly reminded of the many meetings and connections that one goes through in life, how many people ghost in and out without us paying much attention, despite that fact that they make huge impact on who we develop to be.It's this slow, tactful tackling of the mundane that makes watching the inner monologue of Araragi so enjoyable as his thoughts reflect a real understanding of the reality of human existence.

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2. Concrete Revolutio;

I like it but I can see it's flaws very clearly. It is very much "out there" and hides it's quite deep (for anime at least) outlook behind a quite childish veneer. Another flaw is that it doesn't have very strong characters. Darker than Black was able to keep the episodic format strong because it spent a lot of time building up the characterisation of Hei and then the rest of the cast Probably due to the time skips which force the character growths to be displayed out of order, I don't think CR has done a good enough job in making Kikko or Jiro characters with a strong identity. Instead the show is more political and the battle seems to be between a pragmatic realpolitik and the idealism that comes hand in hand with the idea of superheroes.

And for me that is what I like about it. I really love seeing the show work in the ideas of the "superhero" genre into a more realistic world where they can tackle the ideas of censorship, protest, nation rights etc. But it's still down to earth and exciting enough that you can enjoy it without having people walk around in circles explaining the political realities of superhero registry and containment.

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3. One-Punch Man;

A bit boring near the end but the scenes they got right they blew out the park. Genos v Saitama will be on top fight lists for ears to come.

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4. Shirobako;

The more I think of it the worse the character designs become. Otherwise a really fun, informative and enjoyable show

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5. Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron Blood Orphans;

Good, but I really needed it to be great. The romance is terrible, the character design is schizophrenic, and it isn't as deep as it thinks it is, but it scratches a very good itch.

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6. Parasyte;
7. Overlord;

I really, really despise the whole "MMO world becomes real" trope. It's lazy, played out and often is simply a way for authors to feed masturbatory loser otaku fantasies about the only thing they are good at in life getting them everything their desire. Namely, attractive women, money and the respect of their peers. Overlord too falls for many of these same traps with the main female character being an typical example of the complete nonsense that I have come to expect from modern anime. However due to my newfangled ability to skip past crap I have managed to scrape out flecks of gold from this shit mound.

I love introspection. Maybe it's just because I do it a lot in real life, but for me the ability for a show to properly map out a person's thoughts as they question and consider themselves privately is something I highly rate. I like the distinction the show makes between the avatar voice and the MC's actual internal considerations of the world he finds himself in. Most shows force unnatural dialogue or monologue to achieve this but I feel like the entire nuance of the internal voice is lost. I would like to see the show do more of this, show more of the main character simply... thinking, about life, love, death and everything else that goes with it.

WHY IS THIS A VR MMO SHOW? It feels like that part was shoehorned in. This is a show about a man travelling to a new world where he is a god, more John Carter or Superman than Sword Art Online. And that is by far it's greatest strength! I really think that if it had slightly better animation/art (This 3D shit is killing anime) and less of the dumb MMO stuff this could really have been a legendary show. Maybe we could have been saying: Yagami Light, Lelouch Vi Brittannia.....Ains Oons Goal? After all what is best in life? To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their women!

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8. Owari no Seraph;

Probably the most homoerotic thing I have ever enjoyed.

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9. Fate Stay/Night: Unlimited Blade Works
10. Braves of the Six Flowers

Gangsta
DurararaX2
Death Parade
Tokyo Ghoul Root A; Last episode was decent otherwise hey butchered the manga and I will never forgive them

List subject to change if I get to Owari in time, will add comments later.

1. Shirobako
2. Gintama Season 3
3. Ushio to Tora
4. My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU 2
5. One Punch Man
6. Shokugeki no Souma
7. Baby Steps 2
8. JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders Part 2
9. Hibike! Euphonium
10. Rokka no Yuusha

1. Shimoneta

This is anime's equivalent of Jessica Jones in 2015, in that it forces people to confront how sexuality is actually used in anime. In a vacuum, it's not a perfect show - it loses momentum after episode 4 - but the issues it raises are just really interesting when you think of how haremshit like To Love Ru or Monster Girls features sexless fanservice. Could there be a show that better explores sexual desire? Absolutely. But this is anime, and the bar is really low.

One side note is that the voice actress who played Anna, Miyu Matsuki, passed away a few months after the show aired. It's sad to think about the people behind these characters being regular human beings, because for the most part, the more active ones are active enough that it hasn't really been something I've had to think about in the last 6 years or so. If nothing else, I'd like to imagine that she had a lot of fun playing the constantly aroused Anna.

2. Gakkou Gurashi or School Live

The show will probably be known for the fake out first episode more than anything else, but that one gimmick was enough to stand out to me as one of the highlights of the year. Copying the four girl slice of life formula and then pasting it into a zombie apocalypse story? It's genius and I'm surprised no one thought of it before. The show itself is pretty good as well, and does the zombie survivor thing much better than two Walking Dead shows. The fact that it even ends with a highschool graduation, like every other high school slice of life show, is just perfect and is a nice way to just top off the premise.

3. Hello!! Kiniro Mosaic
4. Non Non Biyori

I'm putting these two shows together.because they are so similar. They're sequels to two of my favourite four girl slice of life shows and they are much more of the same. Karen still does her Engrish from time to time and Renge is still a cute little kid who says nyanpasu once in a while. Perhaps I might have put Yuru Yuri or Gochuman wa Usagi Desu Ka? here, but I didn't catch up with those in time for this ballot so that's how it goes.

I guess I should reflect on why I like these shows at all. It's not quite the moe factor, because I'm sure I would like a show about guys just hanging out and doing guy things, so it has to be something else. Maybe it's the representation of friendship between the characters - each cast has great chemistry together - or maybe it's the nostalgia of remembering what it was like to be young and to have the whole future ahead. I'm not sure, but I still like this genre and these two shows are the highlights of the year.

5. Gintama

What can I say here? It's more episodes of a long running shounen... a franchise that I place as one of my favourite properties of all time. The formula is still the same - the comedic episodes are still manzai style comedy, the serious episodes are still heroic bloodshed stories - but that's fine because it does both so perfectly. I don't think there was an arc on the scale of Four Devas this year, but all that means is that 2016 is going to be great.

6. Sora ga Seiyuu

This is in some ways my "Armond White contrarian" choice, but while everyone else thinks Shirobako is the best thing ever, I vastly preferred this series. It was much more grounded in terms of showing what working in the industry - as a voice actor - would actually be like. It's not this dream job that everyone in Shirobako seems to think it is, and it is honest about how artificial the whole industry can be at times. In some ways, it's a lot like the myriad of American shows about being a tv actor (Curb, The Comeback, etc), which made it more exciting than a show that tried to glorify the industry.

It also had a lot of cameos, which just made the series a lot more legitimate in my eyes and made the story it was trying to tell that much more interesting.

7. Koufuku Graffiti

In a way, it's a slice of life all girl show... but it doesn't quite fit in with Kiniro Mosaic or the others. It's a much more specific show about the feeling of isolation and how food and friendship is a way to bring people together - breaking bread with a friend is a way to feel like you have a connection with them because of all the rituals that come with having a meal. That this came out of Shaft is a bit of a minor miracle, since it is probably their most grounded show since Natsu no Arashi - featuring real "sets" and backgrounds, with characters who are in real life locations. It's certainly unusual when you think of the other shows they made this year. If nothing else, it proves that there's more to the Shaft-style than simply head titles and characters in shapeless backgrounds.

8. Nagato Yuki-chan no Shoushitsu
Not quite a Haruhi sequel, but very much in the same "world" as the series it is spun-off from, it was fun to be able to see the characters again after all this time... even if they are not exactly the same characters that we are familiar with.

Spinning off from the movie, which threw Kyon in an alternate universe where he never met Haruhi, this show delivers a standard shoujo romcom featuring Kyon and Nagato as the canon couple. There are some obtuse references to the fact that this show is not quite "real", and I think the direct reference to Endless Eight is one of my favourite moments of the series, but it very much stands alone as a charming shoujo series.

Honorable mention to Ore Monogatari and Akagami Shirayuki-hime as being good shoujos as well, but Nagato Yuki-chan was my favourite of the year.

9. Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Come wa Machigatteiru or My Teenage Romantic Comedy SNAFU

I absolutely adored the first season, which featured Hachiman being the "dark knight" of school life protagonists, this season was a bit of a disappointment by comparison. I still think it was an interesting character study... but the martyrdom essentially stopped and was supplanted by a love triangle where neither option is really that great for Hachiman. I'm glad that they made a second season of the show, and hopefully they finish adapting the books, but it's just a case where the first few volumes are better than the rest of the story.

10. Owarimonogatari
Although I haven't finished the series yet, I'd almost feel remiss if I didn't put this on here. Monogatari is one of those shows where people either love it or hate it, particularly because of its character interactions and the dialogues that they have with each other. I just love the way that Nisio writes conversations - and while they are as artificial as Amy Sherman-Palladino or Aaron Sorkin dialogues, they are just so exciting to listen to because of how lyrical and sharp they are. Every conversation is verbal sparring, and you can hear the back and forth in every interaction. It's something I can't get anywhere else and certainly something that I'll never be tired of.


I almost wish I could put Kancolle somewhere on my list, if only because it got me so heavily invested in the dumb game, but I'll be honest when I say the only good thing about the show was Kongou (desu) and her English. And since I already have Kiniro Mosaic there, I figure that's good enough.


OVA
1. Tamayura: Sotsugyō Shashin 1-2

I couldn't go without mentioning this final 4 part arc for Tamayura. Again, it's more of the same - so if you are a fan of Tamayura, you know exactly what you are getting - and even if you didn't watch the series it feels immediately familiar because it is a high school graduation story that is right up SatoJun's wheelhouse.

2. Aria The Avvenire 1

Really, this is the same as Tamayura. SatoJun getting to revisit one of my favourite anime series ever was great and being able to see Neo Venezia in HD was quite a treat. There was a moment of pathos when they revealed Athena, because both her voice actresses had passed on in previous years, but the episode used her in a fitting manner.

I would be happy to see a full sequel series, but with Amanchu coming in the Spring I can't be too disappointing that all we're getting are 3 half-length OVAs.

3. Space Battleship Yamato 2199
I totally forgot this came out, but yes this is the perfect companion to the series. I was dubious of how it would fit in, but they made it work into the continuity of the show perfectly and gave us the ending that we never got to see in the post-credits sequence.

1. One Punch Man
2. Sound! Euphonium
3. Shirobako
4. Death Parade
5. Owarimonogatari
6. Gintama°
7. Hackadoll the Animation


Films/OVA
1. Little Witch Academia: The Enchanted Parade

1. Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works S2 - Yes, it is flawed and there are issues with the pacing, but the production quality is just top notch and the story is fantastic imo. The reveal that had me legit shook. The quality of the animation, the characters, the fights, the story, means this ranks as my favourite of the year. I doubt many will agree, but I don't care. I loved every second of it. Excellent OST as well. Oh and episode 24 is one of the best episodes of any anime. Period.

2. One-Punch Man - Who knew a show about a pretty much unbeatable superhero could be so much fun?

3. Food Wars! Shokugeki No Soma - I was actually surprised by this. I mean I mainly watch shonens cos I'm a sucker for fight scenes so when a mate recommended this series to me I went in fully expecting to hate it. I didn't. The show genuinely made me hungry at times and the story was enjoyable.

4. Prison School - Honestly, this show is so dumb and the conversations between the main characters just reminds me of the dumb shit me and my mates used to say back in school. It's hilarious.

5. Cross Ange - I knew nothing about this show going in, but it's on Hulu and I though the art looked interesting enough to warrant checking it out. The show's a journey to say the least. Ange being a badass is reason enough to rate this highly.

6. Attack on Titan: Junior High - Excellent parody. I love Attack on Titan so it's not surprising that I enjoyed this.

7. Seven Deadly Sins - Enjoyable shonen.

8. Concrete Revolutio: Choujin Gensou - This show is very, very flawed. The narrative is a mess at times and it's quite hard to follow what's happening due to the time skips, but while the execution is botched the anime does have really interesting ideas and themes and that's reason enough for it to end up on my list. It's a shame the execution was lacking otherwise this could have been really good.

9. Shimoneta: A Boring World Where the Concept of Dirty Jokes Doesn't Exist - This show is fucking hilarious. Not as funny as Prison School, but it still made me lol all the same.

10. Charlotte - The show started off really good and had me hyped for the rest of the season, but man it went to shit quickly. I haven't really watched a lot this year so that's the only reason this has ended up on my list.

I decided not to include shows I haven't finished yet so that's why I've left Jojo, Haikyuu and others out. If I finish them before the voting period ends I'll revise my list, but I doubt I will.

Why are people still doing the reserved thing? Are they that desperate to appear on the first page?

It reminds me of when people rush to post "first, lol!" in other forums.

1. Shirobako - informative, fun and moving from start to finish
2. One Punch Man - mindless fun and an interesting look at society
3. Oregairu S2 - very deep look at personal issues and realistic characters
4. Owarimonogatari - top notch dialogue delivery and direction
5. FSN UBW part 2 - thoroughly enjoyable with impressive characters and dialogues
6. DurararaX2 Ten - very fun characters and invigorating situations
7. Non Non Biyori Repeat - more of that relaxing country life show
8. Hibike Euphonium - beautifully paced story on passion and music
9. Kekkai Sensen - amazing universe with infinite potential and fun characters
10. DurararaX2 Shou - same as Ten and just as fun

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OVA

1. Hibike Euphonium Kakedasu Monaka - very good look at a different of perspective of things, impressive lead character

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SalvaPot said:

We all know One Punch man is getting this one for sure.

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Yep.

1. Sound! Euphonium; I can give you only 9 reasons why right now, but there will be 13. Also I bought a Tuba-kun mug and two genga collections (hopefully I can get more). I think only my intense love for this series could make me betray my beloved Ikuhara-sama in this fashion. I'm sorry master.



2. Love Bullet: Yurikuma Arashi;
3. JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders - Egypt Arc;
4. Owarimonogatari;
5. Gourmet Girl Graffiti;
6. Blood Blockade Battlefront;
7. Shirobako;
8. Gundam Reconguista in G;
9. Concrete Revolutio;
10. Dog Days'';

1. Space Battleship Yamato 2199: Odyssey of the Celestial Ark; Fantastic, just as I expected it to be.
2. Little Witch Academia: The Enchanted Parade; More of what I wanted from the original series, I enjoyed the fun that the new cast members brought.
3. Sound! Euphonium: Kakedasu Monaka; Dat alternate perspective.
4. Kyoukai no Kanata Movie: I'll Be Here - Mirai-hen; Dat animation.
5. Typhoon Noruda; Dat Masashi Hamauzu music.

x. Cross Ange; I wasn't prepared to finish every episode with a smug-ass grin on my face every time.
x. To Love Ru Darkness Season 2; Based XEBEC and Yabuki-sama.
x. Wish Upon the Pleiades; Good cast, good story, cute antics. The girls comparing all the celestial objects to food gag never got old, and there were definitely a lot of instances of nice animation in this.
x. Prison School; Didn't think they'd do it, the studio broke their no-nudity streak of almost 10 years. Also not as bad as I was expecting it to be. The VA choices were spot on, with even my man Kiyoshi getting cast with who I thought would fit his demeanor perfectly.
x. Ninja Slayer; YEEAAARRRRTTTT!
x. Etotama; The first 3D integration of anime that didn't make me vomit and actually looked good. Buying all the expensive BD sets.
x. Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma; They sure were faithful to this, and it's a good thing.
x. Death Parade; Had no expectations going in, the games were fun and it had a really fantastic cut to end credits music.
x. Magic Kaito 1412; Dat Taku Iwasaki OST. Dem heists.
x. Assassination Classroom; Nyo ho ho~
x. The Testament of Sister New Devil; Ecchi outta nowhere, they went for the kill.
x. The Testament of Sister New Devil BURST; You know the ecchi stuff in the first season? This shit elevated it.
x. One Punch Man; Okay.
x. Seraph of the End; Cool premise. Holy fuck Kou Yoshinari how the hell did you do it? Jesus.
x. Seraph of the End: Battle in Nagoya; More story, more death, more fights. I'm cool with this.
x. Punchline; Got me interested enough to buy the game. I enjoyed the story twists.
x. Nisekoi:; Haru~
x. Takamiya Nasuno Desu!; Nasuno dabes.

Also FYI people already voting:

6. When you name a show, try to use the full English name of it and don't use abbreviations or nicknames.

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Tricky I Shadow said:

Yep.

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AnimeGAF can try.

1. JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Egypt Arc; fun times with the crew all over Egypt, DIO's World, and STANDO POWAH!

2. Osomatsu-san; interaction between the brothers was awesome, Karamatsu suffering is delicious, Juushimatsu best matsu!

3. Shirobako; an informative and all-around good show with a cool cast, don't speak ill of my man Tarou.

4. Working!!!; funny and loveable cast with a stong finale, Popura is adorable.

5. Haikyuu!! 2; that teamwork and character growth, cheering for my boys and Hinata's eyes, get shook!

6. One Punch Man; fun experience with an OP part time hero, KING's a monster!

7. Blood Blockade Battlefront; awesome soundtrack and loved the cast, Zapp a beast!

8. Owarimonogatari; Sodachi arc was best of the three arcs, Arararagi still Araragiing, Sodachi VA was great!

9. Rokka no Yuusha; cool premise and like that it tried to something different, Nashatania did nothing wrong!

10. Wooser; cool short with Light Yagami as the voice of Wooser and Arararagi as the voice of Darth Wooser, watch this guys it's nice, also Wooser DA GOD!

Shows
1. Owarimonigatari; The Monogatari Series belongs to my favourite anime franchises. While the dreadful Nisemonogatari almost had me lose my faith, Second Season restored it plenty and Owarimonogatari knocked it beyond the skies. Every arc was special, full of suspense and connected to something else from other arcs. It was great fun to go back and try to puzzle together references to earlier events and references to other references. I was pleasantly surprised how much I overlooked or forgot, meaning how much was already prepared and foreshadowed. Owarimonogatari had me constantly on the edge of my seat and knew to entertain me with witty dialogue, entertaining shaft visualization and mysteries within mysteries. The stars of this season were clearly Spooky Ougi, the black enigma and GOAT Hanekawa, best cat.
2. Shirobako; A series I picked up way too late, when it already finished.For some reason I never even tried it until I heard in AniTwitter that it was amazing. And indeed it was. Really loved all the references to real life studios, people and anime, the work crunch that was ripping on people, little mistakes piling up. I can't wait for a continuation.
3. Gintama°'; It's Gintama. The Assassination Arc is the beginning of a chain of arcs I adore(d) in the manga, just the king claiming his piece of the cake.
4. Gate; I already had my ears up high when it was announced, since someone in Love Live! GAF already recommended the manga to me. It's fantastic in showing the stark contrast between deadly modern technology and soldiers and pseudo-medieval fantasy armies. I love the politics at home, struggling for a new world to be colonized and robbed, combined with the public opinion and caring for the living humanoids in the new realm.
5. Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans; Amazing series, I only ever watched GBF of the Gundam franchise. Really enjoying the characters and writing, even if it isn't finished yet.
6. One-Punch Man; This one wasn't a surprise, since MangaGAF recommended the manga. I enjoyed it very much. The fights look wonderful and I really like the soundtrack, even if it didn't match the special manga chapters in my eyes.
7. Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma; Another adaptation that didn't surprise me thanks to MangaGAF. I love the over-the-top nature of cooking and the shounen style dramatization of it. Alice is best girl, Erina can GTFO.
8. Non Non Biyori: Repeat; I already liked the first season and this season absolutely delivered. I particularly love the interaction between Renge and Candy Store and they had quite some adorable scenes together.
9. Sound! Euphonium; Something I mostly ignored until I made my peace with post-K-On! KyoAni and watched most of their series in a binge frenzy. Hibike! Euphonium started out slow, but managed to excel with it's characters. Especially Asuka had an amazing twist in her character, having her be extroverted, positive and helpful on the outside, but really showing to not giving much of a shit about people. Something we rarely witness in any type of enemy. She isn't evil or want others to fail, she just don't care for others on a personal level.
10. Haikyuu!! S2; An amazing sport series that excels both in well animated volleyball matches with a lot of tension and power, as well as a sympathetic cast of characters.


OVA/Movies
1. Kyoukai no Kanata Movie: I'll Be Here - Mirai-hen; I liked the series very much, but was disappointed by the non-ending that was between cheesy asspull and sequel bait. However the movie helped a lot to give the series a finishing touch, rounding up all it's edges and gives beautiful shots.
2. Little Witch Academia: The Enchanted Parade; I loved the original Little Witch Academia and helped kickstarting the sequel without hesitation. While Little Witch Academia didn't turn out as fantastic as I wanted it to be, it was still amazing and entertaining, and I am glad that I threw my money at Trigger. (even when they messed some kickstarter stuff up)
3. HAMMERHEAD;
4. Bureau of Proto Society;
5. Carnage;

Honorable Mentions (why can't I hold all these anime):
x Yuru Yuri San-Hai - I really, really wanted to put it into the list, but there were so many entertaining shows this year, Yuru Yuri got akarin~ed. But it should be said, that it was even a bit more amazing than the previous seasons. The yuri levels were off the charts and the humour followed close behind.
x. Parasyte -the maxim- - I would’ve put it behind Shirobako or Gintama, but it got it’s share last year. I am not seeing the misogyny people here seem to criticize, mainly because Reiko was probably the smartest and most important character in the show and had her fair share of suffering and heroics.
x. Death Parade - I really loved the OVA and was hoping for a serialisation. However it went a path I didn’t like. It should’ve either work better with it’s plot or just leave it out. As it stands, the story wasn’t very interesting overall, didn’t pay off in a satisfying way and that lead to fewer actual trials. Great disappointment for me personally, even if it’s still entertaining.
x. Show by Rock - That one surprised me. I looked into it with friends just for fun and we genuinely liked it in a way. It was light hearted fun with some decent music.
x. Shimoneta - Really laughed my ass off, but I can’t get over rape as a joke vehicle in the show. Neither “but the rape was always aborted before the genitals touched directly” nor “he liked her anyway” fit me. It was attempted sex without consent. Just rubbed me wrong. Other than that all the jokes hit and the story was even decent. Simple, but decently executed.
x. Concrete Revolutio - Still running, not sure if it’s actually going to pay off, but I have it in my eye. None of my friends like it, but I am fascinated by the cluttered storytelling and the parallels to actual history. I am also a sucker for different angles of the superhero concept in the modern world.
x. Arslan Senki - I love conquest anime with huge armies and politics. It has only begun, but I enjoyed Arslans character development. He was weak, but not whiny and quick in overthinking his position on the old ways like slavery.
x. Akatsuki no Yona - It’s basically very funny. I’ve read the manga and if they don’t fuck it up, the second season will ride directly in the top ten next year.
x. Gatchaman Crowds: Insight; It's weird. I always feel a bit disappointed at the end of each Gatchaman Crowds season, somehow it feels like they could've gone further, but stopped at the last moment.

x. Endless Night
x. Nishi-Ogikubo
x. Obake-chan
x. Power Plant No. 33
x. Robot on the Road
x. SEX and VIOLENCE with MACHSPEED
x. Me! Me! Me!
x. Tomorrow From There
x. Ibuseki Yoruni
x. Hill Climb Girl
x. Rapid Rouge
x. Kanon
x. I can Friday by Day!
x. The Diary of Ochibi

NEO0MJ said:

Why are people still doing the reserved thing? Are they that desperate to appear on the first page?

It reminds me of when people rush to post "first, lol!" in other forums.

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And then ten pages later it's "Hey guys, I updated my list, click this link to go to it!".

Reserved

Thoraxes said:

And then ten pages later it's "Hey guys, I updated my list, click this link to go to it!".

Spoiler

I never click those links

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You just quote your updated post and leave people no choice.

Qurupeke said:

Special thanks to BGBW for making this year's banner.

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BGBW did it again

Thoraxes said:

And then ten pages later it's "Hey guys, I updated my list, click this link to go to it!".

Spoiler

I never click those links

Click to expand...

1. One Punch Man; Extremely entertaining, great characters and fight choreography and a subversive premise executed really well.

Series:

1. Gintama°; The king has returned, and it's as good as ever. The current arc so far is better than any other and it's not even finished. Since Gintama is my all time favorite by now, I think I don't have to say anymore. Definitly AOTY this year, and by far.

2. Ninja Slayer; Trigger delivered, I loved Ninja Slayer. Yes, it was bad. But holy shit did the humour struck a nerv. I found it funny as hell and that it SOMEHOW managed to tell a story was even better. It also was just radically different from all those other shows out there, and the OST was godlike. Now I need a version that closely follows the manga with the same artstyle. Dialogues would still be goofy as fuck, but dayum, a whole show that's serious would be even better, even if it would loose some of it's chame then.

3. Shirobako; I only watched it a few months ago, but I have nothing to say about Shirobako except that it is one of those rare cases, where the show is simply good. Just, good. It's never boring, it has so many good characters, it's interesting in that it gives viewers somewhat a look into the industry and it's overall just a damn good show.

4. Overlord; Oh, Overlord. I never knew I wanted you, but holy shit do I want a S2 now. For me, the show did everything right. It's somewhat slow, but I actually liked that. It allowed to establish a world and rules which can be further expaned upon and the fight scenes were still pretty cool, even though our Overlord is currently still OP as fuck. But anyhow, S2 when?!

5. Arslan Senki/The Heroic Legend of Arslan; Arslan Senki, while having a few not so good episoded, felt like the Fire Emblem anime I never got (that is longer than 2 episodes). I enjoyed it, but since the ending was more or less in the middle of everything, it's down here. Then again, S2 is already announced. I can't wait to see more of Fire Emblem!

6. One Punch Man; OPM is definitly the AOTS this season, but with so many good shows that aired this year, it's no AOTY material. Animations are fluid, humour is great, battles are epic. Still, while I enjoyed it, I didn't enjoy it as much as other shows that aired this year.

7. Parasyte - The Maxim; I never read the manga, but the anime was pretty great. I am actually not sure if OPM is better than this, as they are so radically different, but both shows are so good. Anyways, I really liked it. Oh, and that OST. Hypnotik is probably one of the best themes I ever heard.

8. Akatsuki no Yona/Yona of the Dawn; Man, Yona, S2 when? One of the rare cases where I actually started reading the manga afterwards. Also, another show that somehow felt like Fire Emblem (and Crusader Kings 2, eh, Chariot? xD). But I thought the beginning was pretty slow, which was a shame, as the show became only better later on. Still, one of the best shows this year, even if it started out slowly.

9. Shokugeki no Soma/Food Wars!; Soma is a strange one, as I REALLY liked it, but overall just not as much as the others I mentioned before. Well, not much to say here, Season 2 please.

10. Show by Rock; Man, I never thought I would enjoy this show as much as I did back then. While the 3D was pretty strange at first, since it was so deformed it actually didn't look as bad as the realistic ones. The soundtrack was also REALLY good, much better than many other music shows out there. The humour was right up my alley and it had friggin SHINGAN CRIMZON, who I hope will get a spinoff. They deserve one, oh good lord.


----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Movies/OVA:

1. Psycho-Pass The Movie; Definitly better than S2, not as good as S1, but a really good movie. It brought back Kougami, Akane is still badass and a pretty different location was also a nice change. My favorite movie this year.

2. Gintama 2015 OVA; More Gintama, what else do I want? As funny as everything else from Gintama, it just deserves a place in here.

3. Little Witch Academia - The Enchanted Parade; More LWA! Sadly, I thought it wasn't as good as the first one. I think that was mainly due to the length of this one, as I thought it was pretty boring at some parts, which didn't happen in the first one. Maybe a full series would be better than another movie. It was still pretty good though.

1. Non Non Biyori Repeat
2. Hibike! Euphonium
3. Shokugeki no Soma
4. Wakako Zake
5. Hackadoll The Animation
6. One Punch Man
7. Mobile Suit Gundam: IBO
8. Fushigi na Somera-chan
9. Monster Musume
10. JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.

OVA

1. Obake-chan - Watch everything from Animator Expo though.
2. Little Witch Academia: The Enchanted Parade
3..Bureau of Proto-Society
4. Kanon
5. Yamadeloid

TV Series

1. Shirobako
2. Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma
3. Owarimonogatari
4. Sound! Euphonium
5. One Punch Man
6. Magical Somera-chan
--

Movies/OVAs

1. When Marnie Was There
2. Princess Kaguya
3. AnimeExpo#26 - Conte (Hitman) 1989
4. AnimeExpo#28 - Endless Night
5. AnimeExpo#29 - Bureau of Proto Society
6. AnimeExpo#13 - Kanon
7. AnimeExpo#18 - Hammerhead
8. AnimeExpo#08 - Tomorrow from There
9. AnimeExpo#18 - The Diary of Ochibi
10. AnimeExpo#31 - Girl

Thoraxes said:

3. Takamiya Nasuno Desu!; Nasuno dabes.

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1) This should really be in the TV section, because it is a TV anime.

2) You really picked this over the superior Teekyuu? The Takamiya Nasuno spinoff is OK, but it's a lot less interesting in both visuals and writing than the mainline series.

NaDannMaGoGo said:

You get five and you'll like it. Will update with thoughts on each.

1. Shirobako
2. Shokugeki no Soma

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I continue to be baffled why people like Soma so much, outside of boobs. The cooking foundation could have provided for a quality series, but it's smeared in so much garbage.

hosannainexcelsis said:

*snip*

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Leave the salt for when the actual list is released :^)

hosannainexcelsis said:

1) This should really be in the TV section, because it is a TV anime.

2) You really picked this over the superior Teekyuu? The Takamiya Nasuno spinoff is OK, but it's a lot less interesting in both visuals and writing than the mainline series.



I continue to be baffled why people like Soma so much, outside of boobs. The cooking foundation could have provided for a quality series, but it's smeared in so much garbage.

Click to expand...

The boobs lure people in but at its core its a very good cooking shonen, it's gonna be top 3 for me this year

hosannainexcelsis said:

1) This should really be in the TV section, because it is a TV anime.

2) You really picked this over the superior Teekyuu? The Takamiya Nasuno spinoff is OK, but it's a lot less interesting in both visuals and writing than the mainline series.

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Didn't know, and didn't watch it. I'm not going to vote for something I've never seen yet!

But hey, maybe i'll get around to it cause it's short.

1.Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma;
2. One Punch Man
3. Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?
4. Mobile Suit Gundam: IBO
5. Rokka: Braves of the Six Flowers
6. Tokyo Ghoul Root A
7.Overlord
8. Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches
9. SHIMONETA: A Boring World Where the Concept of Dirty Jokes Doesn't Exist
10. Knights of Sidonia: Battle for Planet Nine

KenjiGlove said:

Leave the salt for when the actual list is released :^)

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Unless the thread creator says that discussion is verboten in this thread, I will feel free to make comments on other people's lists.

BassForever said:

The boobs lure people in but at its core its a very good cooking shonen, it's gonna be top 3 for me this year

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I watched pretty much the entire thing, and no, it is not good. The food itself looks good, and the cooking techniques can be interesting, but the general production is mediocre, the characters are annoying stereotypes, and the near-constant aura of sexual assault that surrounds the judging process is grating.

Thoraxes said:

Didn't know, and didn't watch it.

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I'm surprised you even knew about Takamiya Nakano if you weren't aware of Teekyuu. Should probably try to watch some of the latter if you can; it's, of course, super-short and if you liked the spinoff you should like Teekyuu even better.

hosannainexcelsis said:

I continue to be baffled why people like Soma so much, outside of boobs. The cooking foundation could have provided for a quality series, but it's smeared in so much garbage.

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Well, because for me the cooking foundation is enough. The show clearly takes its time indulging in the cooking process and presenting the food and I love that. Characters and surrounding plot made, to me, for a surprisingly entertaining shounen-esque cooking competition, too.

Might help that cooking is a bit of a hobby of mine.

Ultimately, for me, the flaws just don't outweigh the good.

edit:

but the general production is mediocre,

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I just can't see that in that show. Mediocre is relative and all but Prison School which aired at the same time of the first of half Soma and produced by J.C. Staff had way inferior production values. Soma never seemed outright bad at any point that I can currently think of.

Thoraxes said:

x. Tsukimonogatari; Dat Ononoki, I said with a poised look.
hey sure were faithful to this, and it's a good thing.

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This counts as 2014 right ?

Question: Do we count only the Japanese premiere date for the movies or does the western one counts too ? Aka Can I vote for "When Marnie Was There" which premiered in Japan in 2014 and in the West in 2015 or is it ineligible
?

1. YOUR LIE IN APRIL

The emotional and psychological journey this show brings you on is simply amazing, and that is only within the music. The story itself is both heartwarming and sorrowful, however, the message it presents is universal. You may not like drama, angst or watching an emotional struggle through anime, but watching the small victories unfold, as well as, the personal and emotional growth and a toch of romance was nothing short of amazing. The artwork and imagery of the anime itself was also amazing at time as seen in the above gif. If you haven't watched this show yet, give it a shot through the end.


2. SNAFU TOO

Waiting for this show to air each week was tough. It was that damn good. It was mentally and emotionally engaging and really created a lot of debate on Hikki's emotional disposition. It not often you watch a show that keeps you captivated as this one did throughout the season with that mix of comedy, drama, personal growth, as well as a small touch of romance. The show wasn't as much about love as it is about friendship and relationships. Several moments were just so damn well written and animated, it's hard not to put this #1. All we can do now is hope we finally get the movie of third short season to get a proper ending to the show, but this was an amazing ride and could have easily been #1.


3. PLASTIC MEMORIES

To this moment, I still don't know what it was about this show that had me entranced so much from week to week, but it did and I loved it. Yes, there was a lack of wold building and some were put off by it's direct nature, but that is what I loved about it. They set you up from the first episode and do not deviate from it at all. The show pulls back no punches whatsoever and doesn't even try to hide them or surprise you with what is going to happen. It just a ball of emotions and even looking through images to select, you almost tear up thinking about the show and it's story. AT times the animation and imagery were breathtaking, on par with Your Lie in April, and the show was just a thought provoking and emotional ride from start to finish.


4. OWARIMONOGATARI

What a ride. You have to be a fan of the series and have watched the previous seasons to understand anything that is going on, but my goodness is this show a pleasure to watch.

5. CROSS ANGE

It isn't everyday you get an anime, so trashy, so amazing, so polarizing as Cross Ange was. Yes it was dirty and yes it was trash and yes it was sooo over the top it was unworldly, but fu(k it, I'm in it for entertainment and this anime definitely entertained the crap out of me throughout the entire show.

6. ORE MONOGATARI (My Love Story)
7. IS IT OK TO PICK UP GIRLS IN A DUNGEON
8. SOMA: Food Wars
9. ETOTAMA
10. CHARLOTTE


Honorable Mentions:
x. YAMADA-KUN AND THE SEVEN WITCHES
x. ROKKA
x. SHIMONETA
x. GATE
x. WORKING!!!
x. Snow White with the Red Hair
x. Log Horizon
x. Actually, I Am

As you can tell, I really appreciate thought provoking anime with an emotional story to tell. If I wanted to watch superheroes in tights, I'd go watch some Marvel stuff or even or watch Samurai Flemenco again, lol.

phaze said:

Question: Do we count only the Japanese premiere date for the movies or does the western one counts too ? Aka Can I vote for "When Marnie Was There" which premiered in Japan in 2015 and in the West in 2015 or is it ineligible
?

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I guess you mean 2014 for Japan, so no.

Edit: Blu-ray was apparently released this year, so it counts.

1. Cross Ange. Even with its faults, Cross Ange has the best character's arc of the year.
2. Shirobako.
3. Food Wars. The best series in the shonen battle genre this year was a cooking show. Amazing
4. One-punch man. OK.

1. One Punch Man; pure awesome, just a ton of fun.
2. Food Wars: Shokugeki no Soma; Fails to beat One Punch Man because of the first few episodes not being great (just like the manga) but I am just as excited for a second season of this next year as I will be for one punch man season 2 in 2017 or so. I do wish that it had less ecchi in general but overall just a fun series.
3. My Love Story (Ore Montogari); Very enjoyable rom com that avoided so many tropes, that being said after the first few episodes it became decently predictabl
4. Parasyte -the maxim-; Went in and was instantly turned off by the music/sound direction (normally not an issue for me) but it quickly made up for it with an interesting story. The only major issue is that the conclusion just whimpers... it like ends a number of episodes before the end and then just kind of exists until the final ending.
5. Baby Steps 2; I still can't comprehend why the volleyball anime with generic characters, generic tropes, and overall boring characters is loved while this anime about a number of great characters that show real growth, uses real intelligence to get better instead of THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP! and has great pacing (after the first few episodes of season 1) is ignored. to be fair Haikyu has a lot better animation but still. Anyways as enjoyable as it is, not on par with the other shows above it.
6. Assassination Classroom; So, I actually originally lost interest in this show as while it had an interesting setting it just wasn't clicking. Then came the english dub so I continued it and it actually turned out pretty good. It started getting into real character depth and advancing the story. Overall a good shonen series and I look forward to season 2.
7. Is It Ok To Pick Up Girls in A Dungeon; Stupid title is a dead give away that this is a light novel adaption. That being said luckily the show isn't nearly as stupid as the title sounds and is a decently fun dungeon crawl story.
8. You lie in april; Overall a decent series but way to many things either were easy to see coming and became a... COME ON JUST DO THAT ALREADY or just downright annoying. I can easily see how someone can enjoy this, as overall it's a good watch, but it wasn't anything special to me or as enjoyable as anything above this slot.
9.Death Parade; This series really would have been better served as a 6 episode OVA. The payoff at the end was well done but the journey to get there was a drag.
10. Magic Kaito 1412; Honestly I likely enjoyed this series more than 4-9, that being said it is this low because I enjoyed most it more than those years ago. Due to the series covering a lot of content already in OVA form or conan episodes there wasn't a ton of new content thus I can't rate it above 10th. still a great watch if you like conan or even lupin the third.


Honorable Mentions.
Detective Conan; I have to give this one at least a mention for completing a major story line that they set up like 7 years ago and slowly teased allowing fans to guess what is going on and finally having the huge payoff this year. Even though fans had guessed mostly correctly including myself it did not make the reveal any less awesome to finally see come true.

Gate: while I didn't mind this one, and it was getting better as time went on, it just ends... worst part was the fact that it was broken into two seasons wasn't made clear until like 2 days before the last episode of season 1 aired. end result, I can't consider this a good show for this year. There is always next year.

Overlord: I was enjoying this one but got distracted and never finished it. If I get around to it it might be slotted into the list, but I likely won't get around to it so it can stick here.

Dragon Ball Super: it's back, it's a shame it just covered what the movies covered with worse animation. the stuff next year might give it a place next year though, we will have to see.

tsukimonogatari was dec 31 2014

phaze said:

This counts as 2014 right ?

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I suppose it was December 31st, 2014? I can't remember if the release format was the same as Hanamonogatari though, or if it was like two and two, or I just watched it on the 1st.

hosannainexcelsis said:

I'm surprised you even knew about Takamiya Nakano if you weren't aware of Teekyuu. Should probably try to watch some of the latter if you can; it's, of course, super-short and if you liked the spinoff you should like Teekyuu even better.

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I blindly saw it on a Crunchyroll Seasonal listing page, added it, and watched it. I'm not too familiar with many of the shorts at all. It's totally unfamiliar territory for me.