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[Chariot]

Japanese animation remains very enjoyable, the last ten years brought lots of delightful anime, covering a wide variety of interests and tastes. Here are a few shows aired in the last ten years I was delighted by, with brief comments for those who haven’t seen them yet. Please pardon my arbitral choice of time frame, it’s intentioned to keep the post manageable.

Which obviously didn’t work very well.


Point of Interests

Since it’s important for some people I added a few points of interest. All values are of course not empirical and purely derived from my point of view and estimation, which is, as proven numerous times, not always right. So take it as a rough outline and don’t rely on it too much, it’s just an indicator to keep in mind. They are probably as useful as a metacritic rating, but I decided to include the points of interest anyway to help people get an idea of a specific anime.

Manga Effects: Manga is a very visual medium that uses a lot of effects to support emotions or to indicate them to the reader in an abstract way. Said Manga Effects find their way into anime. This includes for example the big single sweat drop that is on the head of characters, perverted nosebleed, the ghost leaving the body temporarily when the character figuratively died and those blue stripes hanging from or behind a character's head to indicate that he or she is depressed. It also refers to visualisations like auras or glowing eyes that are just symbolic (HxH auras for example does not count, since they're actually there).

Examples:
* Monster
** Shingeki no Bahamut
*** Silver Spoon
**** Haikyuu!!
***** Nyaruko-san

Fanservice: The amount of lewdness in the anime. Covers suggestive camera angles, fetish situations (e.g. dropping milk over a girls face) and provocative clothing. This indicator suggest the quantity, not the quality of the lewd content.

Examples:
* Fullmetal Alchemist
** Toradora
*** Basquash!
**** Monogatari Series
***** Queens Blade

Moe: This category specifically refers to the culmination of “cute girls doing cute things”-moe in the context of young adults or adults that inherently act like children or way younger than reasonable. Thus anime like Usagi Drop don’t have a moe rating, since the little girl is just acting her age. On the other hand I don’t refer to immature adults like Space Dandy either. I also have the context of the series in mind. Nobody in D-Frag acts any kind of mature, but to a intended, comedic effect, opposed to K-On! where the girls are overly childish just to be cute. It should also be noted that it’s not limited to female characters.

Examples:
* Nana
** Chihayafuru
*** Shinryaku! Ika Musume
**** Saint Onii-san
***** K-On!

Suffering: Life isn’t always bright, some days are dark and some days have Urobuchi sitting in the corner of your room mumbling your name over and over. This category’s purpose is to outline how much the characters in the anime suffer in a way that is supposed to make the viewer suffer with them. Suffering that is just used as a joke, such a tsundere beating up the protagonist doesn’t count.

Examples:
* Eve no Jikan
** Hunter x Hunter
*** Parasyte
**** Shigofumi
***** Narutaru

Sawashiro: Points to the presence of our lady of anime, her excellency the voice of heaven, the supreme goddess Miyuki Sawashiro. Praise be! The more of her in an anime, the better of course.

Examples:
* Ghost in the Shell: Arise
** Psycho-Pass
*** Kimi ni Todoke
**** Zetsuen no Tempest
***** Kokoro Connect

On a sidenote: if you’re out of the loop or not in the loop yet, you can join “Let’s Watch Anime”, a regular thread by Cornbread78 where the community watches a series together over a reasonable timespan and talk about their experience.

Current:
#9 Rozen Maiden

#1 - Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita / Humanity has Declined
#2 - Uchouten Kazoku / The Eccentric Family
#3 - Kamisama no inai Nichiyoubi / Sunday Without God
#4 - Samurai Flamenco
#5 - Zetsuen no Tempest / Blast of Tempest
#6 - Kyousougiga
#7 - Sakamichi no Apollon / Kids on the Slope
#8 - Mirai Nikki / Future Diary​

Note that the anime are not sorted in any particular order. I like some series more than others, but it’s not visible in the order. I deliberately just threw them together as I got along.

Almost all anime listed here have finished airing for now. Those marked with “finished” are anime which story really is finished and ready to be watched from start to finish (unless somebody wants to pull something weird). I think this incredible important since a lot of anime series end on a cliffhanger or in the midst of something, since the source materials are often long running manga or light novel series. I wasn’t very liberal with this, so some series that might be at a dead end are not tagged accordingly.

--

Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita / Humanity has Declined
Series, 12 episodes, 25 min

“Recommended for human children who don’t like carrots.”

Probably the most colourful post-apocalypse series my eyes have ever seen. In a world where humanity has broken down a while ago, people live from food from factories where apparently nobody works and helped by fairies that always smile. Smile so much. The story follows the human ambassador to the fairies and her discovery what’s behind the things humans fail to understand about their current situation. There isn’t a lot to say, just that strange things happen.

Beginner friendly - You only need to be able to enjoy absolutely crazy things, there isn’t a whole lot to understand anyway. Embrace the madness and enjoy the ride.

Manga Effects: *
Fanservice: -
Moe: **
Suffering: -
Sawashiro: **

Humanity Has Declined on hulu


Black Lagoon
Series, 12+12 Episodes, 25 min + OVA 5 Episodes, 25 min

“Don’t be stupid, This is more entertaining than Hollywood is ever gonna be.”

Set in a rotten city in southeast asia in the 90s, Black Lagoon follows the work of the Lagoon Company, pirates for hire. Since criminals from just anywhere are swept to the city of Ruanuarpur the cast turns out to be very diverse. It’s a very gun-ho show with plenty amounts of violence, inspired by directors like Tarantino and John Woo, we’re dealing with modern pirates and organized crime after all. Although the series follows action movie logic for the most firefights, it occasionally takes death and wounding by weaponry very serious.

Also one of few shows were the english dub makes more sense than the japanese, since the lingua franca on this pool of scum from around the world is of course english. Here’s a taste of Black Lagoon.

Beginner Friendly - Since Black Lagoon borrows heavily from western and Hong Kong action movies and revolves around adult criminals, it’s easily accessible as long as you love pure action.

Manga Effects: -
Fanservice: *
Moe: -
Suffering: ***
Sawashiro: -

Black Lagoon on funimation.com | hulu


Girls und Panzer / MÄDCHEN UND PANZER
Series, 12 Episodes, 25 min + Movie

“Panzer vor!”

The road to womanhood is filled with tanks. Girls und Panzer is a gift to military Otakus with lots of detailed WWII tanks and references. See girls fawn over NeoGAFs favourite german general Erwin Rommel, drive tanks and shoot each other with somehow nonlethal tank ammunition and mounted machine guns. A lot of fun if you’re into tanks, world war 2 and cute anime girls in war. For our american friends: there is an american themed school with Shermans. Cute girls driving and shooting cute tanks, great fun. Still no idea what the hell I am talking about? Watch the Introduction to Panzerfahren. If you’re still not sure, ask yourself if your favourite anime references Monthy Python.

Manga Effects: **
Fanservice: *
Moe: ****
Suffering: -
Sawashiro: -

Girls und Panzer on crunchyroll


Baccano!
Series, 16 Episodes, 25 min

“Cast aside the illusion that there is a beginning and end to the story.”

Set in the prohibition era of the United States of America this series tells multiple stories in multiple times and locations out of order, that in the end all intervene to a bigger picture. Don’t shy away after the first confusing episode. To what add two and a half train heists, a dark cult, the mafia, an alchemist, immortals and a serial killer up? Take a peek at the amazing intro sequence.

Baccano is a mature series that isn’t very serious. While most characters are inherently serious as they are criminals, the constantly escalating situations that pile on each other to speedy jazz music gives it a highly comedic touch.

Manga Effects: -
Fanservice: -
Moe: *
Suffering: **
Sawashiro: -

Baccano on funimation.com | hulu


Seirei no Moribito / Guardian of the Spirit
Series, 26 Episodes, 25 min

“There was surely no such thing as a life without any regrets at all.”

Guardian of the Spirit is the story of the wandering mercenary Balsa who takes on the mission to protect a young prince from assassination by his own people in a fantasy world inspired by both China and Japan. It features a strong female lead with impressive fight scenes in an immersive world of spirits and dangers. WAtch the trailer

Beginner Friendly - Since Guardian of the Spirit is set in a fantasy world, the anime takes a lot of time to explain the setting to the viewer. While the plot revolves around the young boy, the protagonist and point of view is the adult Balsa whose concerns and thoughts are easily understood.

Manga Effects: -
Fanservice: -
Moe: -
Suffering: *
Sawashiro: -

Guardian of the Spirit on hulu | Netflix


Jormungand / Jormungandr / Perfect Order
Series, 12+12 Episodes, 25 min, finished

“I devour the five lands and drain the three seas, yet only the sky is impossible to each. With this body lacking wings, hands or legs. I am the World Serpent. My name is Jormungand.”

The story of a female weapon trader who travels the conflict zones of the world to sell weapons to those with money. Very action heavy as the job is of course very dangerous and the trader relies on her bodyguards, military experts from all over the world and a child soldier to get her through the trades. While the arcs in the first season are very loosely connected, the second season “Perfect Order” brings a plan behind the trader’s actions into play, that is big enough to get american intelligence on their heels.

While the action scenes, especially in season one, sometimes slack off, it’s an entertaining ride with lots of guns and dead people, occasionally questioning the morality of a weapons trader and other players in conflict zones.

Manga Effects: -
Fanservice: **
Moe: *
Suffering: **
Sawashiro:-

Jormungand on funimation.com | hulu


Arslan Senki / The Heroic Legend of Arslan
Series, 25 Episodes, 25 min

“The large number of slaves is proof of this kingdom’s prosperity.”

An anime adaptation of the japanese novel adaptation of the persian epic adaptation of the poem adaptation of the storyteller adaptation of an old persian legend. The story is set in a fantasy world closely resembling our world and is focused on the equivalent to Persia. It follows the fall of Not!Constantinople by the hands of christians and the journey of prince Arslan to reclaim his kingdom from traitors, claimants and foreigners with a group of exceptional people.

The anime series features a weak, inexperienced, but determined protagonist who growths in physical strength and judgement. One of the topics of the anime is slavery. The protagonist, having grown up in a society where it’s normal to hold slaves, has trouble to understanding the problem with it, but growth to understand it during his journey and freeing the slaves is one of his pillars in taking back the country.

Manga Effects: -
Fanservice: *
Moe: -
Suffering: **
Sawashiro: -

Arslan on funimation.com | hulu


Usagi Drop / Bunny Drop
Series, 11 Episodes, 25 min, finished

“It looks like I’ll be happy whenever I see her smile like that.”

Being a single father can be hard, but enjoyable. Usagi Drop deals with a simple worker who takes in the little child of a dead relative and tries to do his best as a surrogate father while keeping his best at work. It’s a adorable story about parenting and growing up. No matter what people say, there is no manga, the story ends where the anime ends. Don’t ask, don’t search, just enjoy the anime series. Take a look at the trailer

Beginner Friendly - While set in modern Japan and expecting the viewer to know japanese society and life, it’s easily to grasp since it’s concentrated on kindergarten and Daichi’s busy adult life that mainly consists of work. Gaps in knowledge can easily be bridged by the context.

Manga Effects: **
Fanservice: -
Moe: -
Suffering: -
Sawashiro: -

Usagi Drop on Crunchyroll


Clannad - After Story
Series, 23+24 Episodes, 25 min, finished

“The world is beautiful, even if you’re full of with tears and sadness.”

The first season of Clannad features a classical school setting with haremesque character cast that mostly lives from it’s comedy, while diving now and then into dramatic issues of certain characters. Besides a sarcastic, almost dickish male lead, nothing too special, while still enjoyable. It however leads directly into After Story that continues the story after the protagonist finishes school and marries his girlfriend. The amazing second season - while retaining it’s lighthearted side at the beginning - shifts heavily into drama as it starts to dealing with the crushing problems of adult life.

Manga Effects: ****
Fanservice: *
Moe: ***
Suffering: ***
Sawashiro: -

Clannad on hulu


Bokurano / Ours
Series, 24 Episodes, 25 min, finished

“We’re being made into the martyrs of the world.”

You want to watch a bunch of children suffer, facing their mortality and the worst side of common humans? Bokurano is the anime for you. Fifteen children enter a game for the fate of the world. Piloting a giant robot they have to stop invading giant robots. The catch: they are not only the pilots, they are also the fuel. When one is chosen to be the pilot, they die either way, since they do their job and or see the world destroyed. And everyone get’s their turn. The series takes a look into the children's life and how they face their imminent death and what effect giant robot battles have on their lives and society. Watch the Opening.

Beginner friendly - No fanservice, no pandering, no references, only universal human suffering awaits you. Even the suffering connected to japanese society is easily

Manga Effects: -
Fanservice: -
Moe: -
Suffering: *****
Sawashiro: -


Sabagebu
Series, 12 Episodes, 25 min

“Heaven's vengeance is slow but sure.”

A comedy series about an airsoft-club. It features not only the exciting world of girls playing make-believe gunfights, it also includes one of the most vile main characters I have ever seen. The protagonist is an egocentric asshole that knows no friends, willingly throws everyone under the bus and is only nice to manipulate for personal gain. The action is not the most exciting despite the girl’s delusions that turns airsoft battles into real battles with blood, but the anime only truly excels in humour and tons of references to action movies and games. Oddly enough Sabagebu ends in a spectacular and rewarding finale despite being an episodic gag series.

Manga Effects: ****
Fanservice: **
Moe: -
Suffering: -
Sawashiro: -

Sabagebu on Crunchyroll | hulu


Tokyo Magnitude 8.0
Series, 11 Episodes, 25 min, finished

“If wonder if anything good is ever going to happen in my life.”

The life of a generally dissatisfied little girl changes rapidly when a heavy earthquake hits Tokyo. She has to travel with her little brother through ruins and chaos, facing the dangers of both the now dangerous damaged architecture of the city and other humans to find their parents. Help comes in the form of a young women that accompanies the siblings and is looking for her own daughter.

It’s a catastrophe movie that lacks the cynical view of western catastrophe movies, japanese society and preparation for earthquakes work as intended and concentrate on the loss and devastation that happens despite it all.

Manga Effects: -
Fanservice: -
Moe: -
Suffering: ****
Sawashiro: *

Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 on hulu


Kyousougiga
Series, 10 Episodes, 25 min, finished

“Summer dies, and all that is left are dreams.”

Kyousougia is set in a colourful dream world and follows the exploits of the upbeat protagonist that quite literally hammered herself into it from another dimension following a rabbit. The council of the world, three siblings left behind by their parents, try to figure out how to deal with her. This series features an unusual colourful art style that fits the artificial world and the surreal events that take place there. If one wishes to see an unusual anime, this is one of those to go to.

Note: There are OVAs. Don’t watch them. They are partly integrated in the episodes of the series, watching them is redundant.

Manga Effects: **
Fanservice: -
Moe: *
Suffering: -
Sawashiro: -

Kyousougiga on Crunchyroll


Kafka - Ein Landarzt / A Country Doctor
One-Shot, 21 min, finished

“A false ring of the night bell, once answered — it can never be made right”

A very weird adaptation of the short story of the same name by Franz Kafka. There is not much to say, only disturbance and disgust.

Manga Effects: -
Fanservice: -
Moe: -
Suffering: *****
Sawashiro: -


Hellsing Ultimate
OVA Series, 10 Episodes, 50 min, finished

“AMEN!”

While not the most adult of anime, Hellsing Ultimate knows to entertain with ultra-violence, slasher faces and over the top fanatics. Watch nazi vampires, british vampires and catholic humans duke the fate of Great Britain out and cheer at the absolutely necessary gore and brutality. With all the needless awesome violence it’s adult, but not necessary mature, if you don’t want to think too much and just enjoy supernatural people with slasher faces kill other people with slasher faces.

Note: There is a tv series just called “Hellsing”. It too starts by adapting the manga and then goes it's own path early on. It has different strengths and weaknesses in the execution, even at the parts where both anime show basically the same.

Manga Effects: ***
Fanservice: **
Moe: *
Suffering: ***
Sawashiro: -

Hellsing Ultimate on funimation.com | hulu

Hellsing Classic on funimation.com | hulu

 

[Chariot]

Kanon (2006)
Series, 24 Episodes, 25 min, finished

“It’s called a miracle because it doesn’t happen.”

After seven years the protagonist returns to a certain city. He meet several girls that seem to know him, while he forgot most events from the last time he visited. Despite his cynical nature, he befriends and interacts with them, soon discovering their various issues. Like all Key adaptations Kanon is a heartwrencher that presents girls with terrible fates and a male protagonist that tries to help them as best as he can, with various degrees of success, mixed with humorous slice of life.

Note: Don’t pick the all around awful Kanon (2002). It’s the plot quenched into half the episode count and is one of the most popular examples for really failed kawaii art on girls. Watch it only if you are intoxicated. And don’t drive while doing it.

Manga Effects: ***
Fanservice: -
Moe: ****
Suffering: **
Sawashiro: -

Kanon on funimation.com


Sengoku Basara
Series, 12+12 Episodes, 25 min, 1 movie

“Put ya guns on!”

Sengoku Basara is the adaptation of the homonymous video games (also known as Devil Kings in the west) which features similar to the Dynasty Warriors games generals that slay through hordes of enemy soldiers like a bunch of flies. The beauty of the Sengoku Basara anime is that it plays this game mechanic entirely straight with generals just trashing dozens of soldiers with everys strike, not to mention featuring ridiculous stuff like six sword and two spears wielding protagonists, a general that is actually a mecha and “tactics” that involve punching the sea away for a few minutes to fight ships. It’s absolutely ridiculous fun and weirdly homoerotic at times.

Note: There exist three seasons and a movie. Just stick with the first two and maybe the movie. It’s in my opinion a bit boring, but has it’s moments. Certainly don’t touch the third season, it’s awful.

Manga Effects: **
Fanservice: ***
Moe: -
Suffering: *
Sawashiro: -

Sengoku Basara on funimation.com | hulu


Kingdom
Series, 38+39 Episodes, 25 min

“In any age, the military commanders that are called the strongest are always defeated with the appearance of one even stronger.”

Set during the last warring states period of China before the great unification. It follows a young soldier on his way to the top ranks, fighting he state of Qin’s unification wars. There are a lot of battles with large scale military tactics and generals who go all Dynasty Warriors on their enemies (although Romance of the Three Kingdoms is set in a different time period) and political shenanigans inside and out.

The series features some ugly CGI during the large scale battles, especially early on, but on the other hand it features large scale battle with thousands of soldiers clashing and generals cutting through soldiers like their paper.

Manga Effects: **
Fanservice: -
Moe: -
Suffering: *
Sawashiro: -

Kingdom on funimation.com | hulu


Kyoukai no Kanata
Series, 12 Episodes, 25 min + 1 Movie

“How unpleasant.”

The immortal protagonist is surprised when a girl that can form a blade with her blood tries to assassinate him. After she realize after a while that killing him is a useless endeavour, they befriend each other and she joins his circle of people dealing with the supernatural. It’s a fun series that connects adorable slife of life with neat looking action sequences.

Manga Effects: *
Fanservice: ***
Moe: ****
Suffering: *
Sawashiro: -

Beyound the Boundary on Crunchyroll | hulu


Hunter x Hunter (2011)
Series, 148 Episodes, 25 min

“Ko...mugi?”

One of the best shounen series in existence. Based on the manga that has a worse update history than Berzerk, the anime is telling the story of so called hunters, mercenaries with incredible abilities. Hunter x Hunter biggest strange are it’s characters, every major character has at least basic common sense, characters who are not able to think are dead within minutes of their appearance for the most part. This basic intelligence makes fights extremely amazing, since people getting into fights for actual goals that often do not involve winning some fight, bringing them to negotiate with their enemies to avoid useless fighting, evaluate the skill and function of skills of them or just plainly escaping from them. Adding to this a relatively coherent magical power system that forms comprehensible supernatural abilities.

Note: There are multiple series and OVAs, just stick to the one series that started 2011, all others are inferior. This series is also accompanied by movies. Don’t watch them, they will only hurt you.

Manga Effects: **
Fanservice: -
Moe: *
Suffering: ***
Sawashiro: ***

Hunter x Hunter on Crunchyroll | hulu | Netflix


Eve no Jikan / Time of EVE
Movie, 106 min

“We look the same, but inside we’re different.”

A science fiction story about artificial intelligence. Set in a future Japan where robots have progressed already to the point of being visibly indistinguishable to humans, which is why they permanently project glowing halos above their heads. The protagonists stumble one day into a strange cafe where no halos are visible and witness different stories connected to artificial intelligence and to the mysterious place.

Note: Eve no Jikan was originally a series of 6 single OVAs that were loosely connected, but were later merged with additional scenes into a single movie. It is highly recommended to seek out and watch the movie version. For example by buying the kickstarted international Blu-ray.

Manga Effects: -
Fanservice: -
Moe: -
Suffering: *
Sawashiro: ***

Time of Eve OVAs on Crunchyroll


Level E
Series, 11 Episodes, 25 min, finished

“It was enough for Elliott.”

Some day a mysterious object crashes on earth and the protagonist is confronted with a blonde dude who refuses to leave his apartment and claims to be the alien that came with the crashed object. Strange things are certainly happening, but how is the guy really involved and why won’t he fuck off private property?
Level E is gag series that tries to fool you time and time again in believing it’s not, unless it is. It’s quite difficult to say anything about the series without saying too much. So, just take a look at the amazing opening that says much and nothing at all.

Manga Effects: **
Fanservice: **
Moe: -
Suffering: ?
Sawashiro: -

Level E on funimation.com | hulu


Gate: Jietai Kano Chi nite, Kaku Tatakaeri
Series, 12+12 Episodes, 25 min

“But to begin with, what’s wrong with soldiers making sure they stay alive?”

The whole world is shaken when a portal to another world opens in the middle of Tokyo, Japan immediately claims the territory behind it as it’s own and sends the Japanese Defense Force through the Gate where it finds a fantasy world. While it features magic and mystical creatures, it’s technology is on par with Roman Empire and even the small expedition forces of the JDF manage to wipe out the armies of the natives with ease. With any meaningful resistance gone the JDF starts to explore the world. Gate features exploration of a new world on a very different technological level, military operations on foreign territory and a lot of political squabble back at home about the military operation. Yesterday in Civilisation V on Settler difficulty

Manga Effects: -
Fanservice: **
Moe: **
Suffering: *
Sawashiro: -

Gate on Crunchyroll | hulu


Aria
Series, 13+13+26 Episodes, 25 min

“Mysterious things. When you were a child you used to think, ‘They exist for sure!’, but all of a sudden it changes to, ‘It would be nice if they existed”. I wonder when and why you stop believing.”

The calmest anime around. Aria follows the life of gondoliers on Neo-Venezia, a beautiful water planet, slowly building the world and characters. Like a ride with a gondolier, it’s about enjoying the beauty of the world in slow pace. No drama, no horror, no fights. Just a calm world with nice people and natural mysteries. Just siit back and relax.

Note: Order if the seasons is The Animation, The Natural, The Ova: Arietta, The Origination

Manga Effects: ***
Fanservice: -
Moe: ****
Suffering: -
Sawashiro: -

Aria: The Animation on hulu
Aria: The Natural on hulu
Aria: the Origination on hulu


Shigofumi / Letters from the Departed
Series, 12 Episodes, 25 min + OVA, 25 min, finished

“Those who are alive lie.”

The anime follows a courier of letters send from the recently deceased. There isn’t much for the protagonist to do, but to deliver the letter and watch how the receiver reacts to whatever the person who died had to tell him or her. Every episode unfolds a - for the most part - terrible story connected to social issues in Japan. It’s in a sense similar to Jigoku Shoujo/Hell Girl, but deviates later when it slowly unravels the cruel past of the courier herself.

While the series starts strong with moving micro plots, it loses momentum when Shigofumi tries to tell the story of the courier, ending very unfulfilling.

Manga Effects: *
Fanservice: -
Moe: **
Suffering: ****
Sawashiro: -


Un-Go
Series, 11 Episodes, 25 min

“People get corrupted. Not even saints and heroes are safe. There’s nothing you can do to prevent it. That’s our salvation.”

A crime series with supernatural elements set in a dystopian post-war future Japan. Un-Go follows the “defeated detective”, a man who appears at crime scenes and apparently always comes to the wrong conclusions. In truth he actually get’s it right every time and is just content with the government taking changing the “truth” of high profile cases with the purpose of keeping the population calm.

The focus of the series is in whodunnit detective work, puzzling together evidence and giving the viewer the tools to think about the solution him- or herself. Secondly there is the setting of a post-war future Japan with thoughts about needed and unneeded propaganda.

Manga Effects: -
Fanservice: **
Moe: -
Suffering: **
Sawashiro: -

Un-Go on Crunchyroll


Shiki
Series, 22 Episodes, 25 min + 2 OVA, 25 min, finished

“Killing others is never justice, no matter what kind of noble cause one upholds.”

Ironically of all vampire anime the one that doesn’t call it’s vampires vampires is the one that gets classic vampires the most. Shiki is the bloody war between a rural place in Japan and european vampires who moved into the village. Shiki is a slow burn, the first part is almost painfully slow as the vampires, the so called shiki cautiously infiltrate the population. The anime crawls slowly from a slowly building mystery to a savage fight for survival where nothing and nobody remains sacred.

Note: There are two OVA episodes that are set after Episodes 20 and 21 and are outside of the show, because the content was too brutal to be shown on television where the series originally aired. Make sure to not miss these two.

Manga Effects: *
Fanservice: *
Moe: **
Suffering: *****
Sawashiro: -

Shiki on Funimation | hulu


Inferno Cop
ONA, 13 Episodes, 3 min

“INFERNOOOO COPUUUU”

A nonsensical short series officially available on YouTube. It follows the brutal cop of justice Inferno Cop doing something somewhere with various amount of stuff and some people. Things happen and then don’t. The ending song is kinda german. Beware the pregnant. Entschuldigung!

Manga Effects: -
Fanservice: -
Moe: -
Suffering: -
Sawashiro: -

Inferno Cop on YouTube


Code Geass
Series, 25+25 Episodes, 25 min, finished

“Only fools wage war.”

The Empire of Britannia is about to conquer the world, only China and the European States are left and fighting a losing battle. In this time Japan is now known as Area 11 and most of it’s citizens are already servants of the empire. However a resistance cell is annoying the british military with small scale terror attacks. This changes when the genius student Lelouch starts to coordinate their operations as masked “Zero” and gains the ability to once command a person anything he wants.

Code Geass is a show about guerilla warfare and terrorism for the greater good, following Lelouch who tries to use the limited resources of the resistance to fight a big empire, using violence, propaganda, diplomacy and supernatural powers.

Manga Effects: -
Fanservice: ***
Moe: ***
Suffering: ***
Sawashiro: -


Haiyore! Nyaruko-san
Series, 12+12 Episodes, 25 min

“Sexually.”

This is not the Cthulhu anime you expected, but the one you need. The protagonist is annoyed as Old Ones in the mind scrambling form of school girls invade his life and strain his sanity points to their limit. Be prepared - Nyaruko-san is a very special kind of anime, it has both heavy otaku pandering and references to the cthulhu mythos. You should have your legs in both if you want to fully enjoy the anime.

Note: There is a webseries that was released in preparation of the real series. It’s kinda cute, but actually pretty boring. Just stick with the series and maybe it’s OVAs if you like it.

Manga Effects: *****
Fanservice: ****
Moe: ***
Suffering: *
Sawashiro: -

Nyaruko-san on Crunchyroll


Magi / Labyrinth of Magic / Kingdom of Magic
Series, 25+25 Episodes, 25 min

“Destiny isn’t something you make as you’re told.”

In an unusual setting Magi is set in a fantasy version of our world and starts out in the middle east with dschinns and flying carpets. The protagonists move through the whole mythological, magical world. While the anime is literally very colourful and generally in a bright mood, it tends to fall into the deep dark now and then, heavily contrasting the bright colour scheme. It features engaging fights and interesting moral questions about rulers and subjects.

Manga Effects: ***
Fanservice: **
Moe: -
Suffering: **
Sawashiro: -

Magi on Crunchyroll | hulu | Netlifx


Zetsuen no Tempest / Blast of Tempest
Series, 25 Episodes, 25 min, finished

“The actors on stage cannot ignore their scripts and do as they wish.”

One year after the sister of his best friend was murdered the protagonist black snow falls and basically everyone in his hometown get’s turned into ash. With his best friend he flees mysterious mages led by another mage trapped on an island far away. The story and characters of the series are heavily accompanied by the Shakespeare works Tempest and Hamlet that direct their actions and thoughts.

Manga Effects: -
Fanservice: **
Moe: *
Suffering: **
Sawashiro: ****

Blast of Tempest on Crunchyroll | hulu


Saint Onii-san
Movie, 99 min

“Jesus...”

There isn’t much to say, but that Jesus Christ and Buddha came to earth and share a flat. It’s neither deep, nor dramatic, not filled with action or a crossfire of jokes. It’s a cute idea, shown in a cute way.

Manga Effects: **
Fanservice: -
Moe: ****
Suffering: -
Sawashiro: -


Space Dandy
Series, 26 Episodes, 25 min, finished

“Boobies!”

This is a very special show that doesn’t really try to tell a coherent story. It’s an anthology of several stories written and directed by several people that share a common cast and setting. Since the setting is the vast endlessness of space literally everything can happen, including the whole cast dying horribly. It does that sometimes. The nature of the show makes it difficult to describe properly since every story has an unique look and artstyle. You may like and dislike different stories with a huge difference.

Manga Effects: ****
Fanservice: ***
Moe: -
Suffering: *
Sawashiro: *

Space Dandy on funimation.com | hulu


Shirobako
Series, 24 Episodes, 25 min

“Anime is made by hundreds of thousands of people, decades worth of time, and the thoughts and feelings of all the people who watch it.”

If there was ever an anime that would defy the common notion that moe anime can’t worth anything, it’s Shirobako. The series follows the stressful daily life of an anime production team trying to meet deadlines while keeping the quality of the shows. Watch as the team sinks into stress oblivion as mishaps, bad planning, troubled communication and creative blocks pile up and take a peek into different areas of the industry through the perspectives of five friends who dreamed since school of producing their own anime. Shirobako gives interesting insights in the world of anime production, while also showcasing the stress of an creative job with deadlines. Longtime anime fans will be at glee about all the not so hidden references to real studios, people and anime shows. It’s a recommendation for everyone who interested in anime and the making of anime.

Manga Effects: ***
Fanservice: *
Moe: ***
Suffering: **
Sawashiro: -

Shirobako on Crunchyroll | hulu


Berserk - Golden Age
Movies Series, 3 Movies, varying length

“Don’t watch.”

There is a Berserk anime series, but I refer strictly to the new movies, since I like them better. Berserk is set in a european style fantasy middle ages and the Golden Age follows a band of legendary mercenaries wrapped up in political intrigues and something even darker. It has cgi, but is apparently inferior to the old series, as I had to be taught in this very thread. So maybe watch that, if you have choice. I still think that the movies are pretty entertaining though.

Manga Effects: -
Fanservice: **
Moe: -
Suffering: ****
Sawashiro: *

Berserk Movies on Netflix

 

[Chariot]

Bakemonogatari / Monogatari Series
Series, 15+11+26+4+5+12 Episodes, 25 min + OVA + Movies

“People have to save themselves. One person saving another is impossible.”

The Monogatari Series is studio SHAFT’s greatest treasure. It’s a treasure both in the financial sense and the fact that SHAFT worked and is working on all of the franchise’s animated iterations. If you would ask a Monogatari fan why he or she was a fan and then ask another and another, you would receive probably vastly different and similar answers. Written by the literal and literary genius that is Nisio Isin and produced into an anime under the direction of the deviant mad man Akiyuki Shinbo, the Monogatari Series heavily uses the medium anime to amplify the unreliable narrators. You may have heard about heavy fanservice and Otaku pandering and it’s true. However a lot of tropes that may raise eyebrows are subverted later. Stick with it and see it grew.

Note: The airing sequence is: Bake, Nise, Neko, Second Season, Tsuki, Hana, Owari, Koyomi
Note 2: Nise is downright mediocre. Don’t be disheartened by the slowly dragging first half of Nise, from there it will only go upwards.

Manga Effects: *****
Fanservice: *****
Moe: ****
Suffering: **
Sawashiro: ****

Bakemonogatari on Crunchyroll | hulu
Nisemonogatari on Crunchyroll hulu
Nekomonogatari Black on Crunchyroll | hulu
Monogatari Second Season on Crunchyroll | hulu
Tsukimonogatari on hulu
Owarimonogatari on Crunchyroll | hulu


Gekkan Shoujo no Nozaki-kun / Monthly Girl’s Nozaki-kun
Series, 12 Episodes, 25 min

“I asked out the boy I like, and he gave me his autograph.”

When the protagonist is proposing she’s shocked to discover that the boy she loves is also the mangaka she loves. From there she is getting along with his weird quirks and friends, constantly getting disillusioned about both parts of the person he is. It’s a quite fun subversion of a love story, where the protagonists fails horribly in living the bubbly love story situations her interest draws. For full enjoyment an interest in shoujo manga is recommended, since a lot of gags relate to them.

Manga Effects: *****
Fanservice: -
Moe: *
Suffering: -
Sawashiro: ***

Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun on Crunchyroll


No Game No Life
Series, 12 Episodes, 25 min

“Checkmate.”

Two genius siblings find themselves one day in a colourful fantasy world where mutual agreed games are the law above any other. It’s an enjoyable series for all those who want some cocky guy outsmart his enemies who posses unfair advantages like mind reading or magic.

Manga Effects: ****
Fanservice: *****
Moe: ****
Suffering: *
Sawashiro: ***

No Game No Life on Crunchyroll | hulu


One-Punch Man
Series, 12 Episodes, 25 min

“It doesn’t matter if I stand a chance or not!”

The title refers to a hero for fun, bored, because he can beat any enemy with just one punch, but the story is about more than him. People who try their best, despite being weak, people defying the logic of superior strength. For the most part One-Punch Man is a gag series, showing insane threats that get punched away nonchalantly by the protagonist, but it shows it’s best moments when people struggle and think that there is more than pure strength what makes a hero. The fight scenes are animated in amazing fashion.

Manga Effects: ****
Fanservice: -
Moe: -
Suffering: *
Sawashiro: *

One-Punch Man on hulu


Shingeki no Bahamut: Genesis
Series, 12 Episodes, 25 min

“FAVARO!”

The legendary dragon Bahamut is about to awake and both angels and demons are looking for the key for his resurrection. Everything goes nuts when two mercenaries who hate each other get their hands on it. The two of them stumble into a war for the fate of the world. Shingeki no Bahamut looks beautiful and excels in simple, but likable characters. An almost classic adventure journey that leads to characters to develop and overcome their weaknesses on the way. The anime is also set for the majority of time in an area that is inspired by the rarely by anime visited southern europe.

Manga Effects: **
Fanservice: *
Moe: **
Suffering: *
Sawashiro: ****

Rage of Bahamut: Genesis on funimation.com | hulu


Tokyo Ravens
Series, 24 Episodes, 25 min

“The dots connect.”

Onmyouji are mages who fight monsters and keep the order, especially after “the Great Disaster”, where a powerful onmyouji threw Tokyo into chaos. The protagonist starts to visit a school for mages after the girl he loved turned out to be an artificial human controlled by someone else and he discovers with his friends that something sinister is going on in the world of Onmyouji.
Tokyo Ravens sets up as a basic series about teenagers in a magic school fighting supernatural occurrences, but develops into something grander along the way.

Manga Effects: *
Fanservice: *
Moe: **
Suffering: *
Sawashiro: -

Tokyo Ravens on funimation.com | hulu


Nanatsu no Taizai / Seven Deadly Sins
Series, 24 Episodes, 25 min

“A real sin can’t be erased, no matter what you do.”

Years ago the knights known as the seven deadly sins were accused of the assassination of an holy knight and vanished. Years later the kingdom is taken over in secret and princess Elizabeth goes on a journey find the Seven Deadly Sins to free the country from the shenanigans of the Holy Knights. The anime is littered with tropes without getting boring, because it fully embraces them.

Manga Effects: -
Fanservice: ***
Moe: **
Suffering: *
Sawashiro: -

The Seven Deadly Sins on Netflix


Kiseijuu / Parasyte -the maxim-
Series, 24 Episodes, 25 min, finished

“What’s one more death?”

The faithful adaption of the amazing horror manga. The protagonist is faced one day with an alien creature trying to take over his body and only barely manages to stop it, ending up it eating and replacing his right arm. Now dependent on the host, it begins a symbiotic relationship with the protagonist. But there are others of it’s kind out there and the both of them are soon faced with the reality of neither being neither parasyte nor human. An anime that feature slight horror, some gore and very amazing action sequences, as well as philosophical question regarding human and our way of existing.

Manga Effects: -
Fanservice: -
Moe: *
Suffering: ***
Sawashiro: ***

Parasyte -the maxim- on Crunchyroll | hulu


Chihayafuru / Chihayafull
Series, 25+25 Episodes, 25 min

“Impassionate gods have never seen the red that is the Tatsuta River.”

An engaging anime about the japanese poetry sport karuta. The protagonist aims to become the greatest karuta player in Japan and assembled a team in her school. Together they strike through individual and team tournaments, learning about tactics, body coordination, endurance, reflexes and memorisation. This is an anime series for all who enjoy hard working people, who fail to improve and never give up.

It features a female lead protagonist that is so strong that her love interest chastises himself for worrying about her in a match, when she is stronger than him and he has to beat his own opponent. While mostly played while sitting the sport is very demanding both mentally and physically, women are not treated as lesser than men. Gender or birth are not important, even talent is dwarfed by training and experience.

Manga Effects: ***
Fanservice: -
Moe: **
Suffering: -
Sawashiro: -

Chihayafuru on Crunchyroll


Toaru Hikuushi e no Koiuta / The Pilot’s Love Song
Series, 13 Episodes, 25 min

“I can’t die here.”

Soldiers and young cadets travel on a flying island to find the legendary end of the sky. The expedition has to face sky pirates and other dangers The protagonist is a pilot cadet with a dark history. As part of the Toaru Hikuushi franchise this anime features extensive world building while working as a stand alone story about the pilot and the flying military school. Enjoyment can be found in nail biting dog fights, a non-awkward romance and a plot about people after their monarchy was ousted.

Note: There is a movie named The Princess and The Pilot. It’s not important to this story since it’s about entirely different people somewhere else. It is however set in the same universe and will add to the story when watched. There are also further novels that have yet to be adapted.

Manga Effects: -
Fanservice: *
Moe: *
Suffering: **
Sawashiro: -

The Pilot’s Love Song on Crunchyroll |
hulu


Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni / When They Cry / Kai
Series, 26+24 Episodes, 25 min, finished

“God may forgive you, but the police force will not.”

A city boy moves to a village in rural Japan and finds a bunch of of very welcoming, cheerful girls, but is soon drawn into a nightmare as he suspects them of trying to kill him. Is something terrifying behind the village peacefulness or is it just his paranoia? Higurashi is a dark mystery horror anime that keeps it cards close for a long time. Don’t expect too many answers early on and enjoy the road of vague madness. Don’t be fooled by the moe look of the characters and the fun, innocent atmosphere. It won’t hold.

Note: Higurashi has a lot of seasons. Only the first and the second (“Kai&#8221 are important, since the story is finished afterwards. Everything afterwards is just really awful fanservice without essence or sense. Don’t even try to watch it.

Manga Effects: *****
Fanservice: *
Moe: ****
Suffering: ****
Sawashiro: -


Welcome to the NHK
Series, 24 Episodes, 25 min, finished

“People in reality spout off all in unison about love and friendship, but in fact it’s a dirty little world full of lies and desires, isn’t it?”

The protagonist, a reclusive, pathetic and drug addicted otaku, is one day shaken as he meets a cute girl that is heading a visit by a religious group who claims to be able to cure him from his state of life. Despite various attempts, he just slides from one darkness into another. While lighter than the original novel and the manga (for example, his drug addiction is not as explicit) and a lot of funny surreal delusions, it’s still not a very nice show.

Manga Effects: **
Fanservice: -
Moe: -
Suffering: ***
Sawashiro: -

Welcome to the NHK on hulu


Paprika
Movie, 90 min, finished

“Is the inside of my head this messed up?”

Before Inception there was Paprika, the last big movie by legendary director Satoshi Kon. It plays skillfully with the idea of surreal reality and dreams, making good use of the animation medium. Watch the [ulr=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqg3Sw3s9Wg]opening credits[/url] for the surface of what is happening in the movie.

Manga Effects: -
Fanservice: **
Moe: -
Suffering: *
Sawashiro: -


Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
Series, 26+26 Episodes, 25 min + 1 Movie, finished

“We’re all alive, every last one of us, and we can laugh ‘cause we’re alive!”

In a future Japan where people can upload their minds into cyborg bodies, there is a special shadow unit of the government that takes out internal targets like domestic terrorists. They investigate and solve various plots, some even involving corruption in their own government or cases that are connected to foreign countries. Ghost in the Shell is master over both amazing tactical squad action and complex plots.

Note: There are of course the original movies and the recent series Arise, but this entry is only for the Stand Alone Complex part of Ghost in the Shell.

Manga Effects: -
Fanservice: *
Moe: -
Suffering: **
Sawashiro: -

GitS: SAC on hulu
GitS: Solid State Society on hulu

Original Ghost in the Shell movie 1 on hulu
Original Ghost in the Shell movie 2 on hulu


Death Note
Series, 37 Episodes, 25 min, finished

“I am going to be the god of the new world.”

Light Yagami was never a normal student, he was exceptionally smart and able. However when he gets his hands on a notebook that can enables him to kill people just by writing their names in it, he get’s special. He kills known criminals as self proclaimed god of justice and get’s a large following. However the government can’t stand for this and soon enough there is not only the police on his trail, but the best detective of the world, codenamed “L”. A cat and mouse chase begins where Light has to give his best to stay one step ahead of the genius detective whose unconventional thinking has him on Light’s trail. A suspense series about people outsmarting each other and vigilante justice.

Manga Effects: -
Fanservice: **
Moe: *
Suffering: **
Sawashiro: -

Death Note on hulu


5 Centimeters per Second
Movie, 66 minutes, finished

“The feelings were still fresh as if it all just happened yesterday.”

From the master of painful long distance relationships and sky porn himself, a beautiful anime movie about two young people who loved each other and lost contact to each other. It’s told in three separate yet connected stories. It’s looks amazing and tears your heart out.

Manga Effects: -
Fanservice: -
Moe: -
Suffering: **
Sawashiro: -

5 Centimeters per Second on Crunchyroll


Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
Series, 27 Episodes, 25 min, finished

“Don’t underestimate us.”

Escaped from an underground village that didn’t know of the surface two friends travel the world that is subjugated by humanoid monsters in mechs. With fighting spirit and other humans they rise in rebellion against the Spiral King, fighting the beastmen with their own weapons. A story of evolution and progress that makes you bump your fist in the air to celebrate the awesomeness that is us, the human race and our ability to move forward for better or worse.

Note: The two movies are actually interesting, they retell the series, but change a few things and make the finale even bigger than it was. Watch the series first though.
Note 2: Watch the Parallel Works. Some are just weird, but a lot are pretty amazing.

Manga Effects: *****
Fanservice: ***
Moe: *
Suffering: **
Sawashiro: -

Gurren Lagann on Crunchyroll | hulu


Stranger: Mukou Hadan / Sword of the Stranger
Movie, 103 minutes, finished

“Now’s the time to declare your allegiance!”

Followed by soldiers that want to kill him a young boy meets a skilled swordsman and pushes him to help him. The swordsman that is reluctantly helping the boy stumbles into a bloody mess of a dark ritual, foreign powers and internal strife. Witness stunning action sequences and an adorable dog.

Manga Effects: -
Fanservice: -
Moe: -
Suffering: *
Sawashiro: -


Soul Eater
Series, 51 Episodes, 25 min, finished

“A sound soul dwells within a sound and a sound body.”

In a world where some people who can turn into weapons are used by so called Meisters each Meister needs to hunt down 100 regular souls and a witch soul to turn his or her weapon into a legendary death scythe (not necessary a scythe, it’s just a tittle). Soul Eater follows three Meisters and their weapons who failed in accomplishing their goal, despite being very close and their adventures against whacky enemies like their former teacher who is now a Ninja Zombie or a immortal werewolf magician who stole the eye of a witch. One of the most stylish anime, where realism can suck it and everything has bright, powerful colours. The fights are well animated and supported by the amazing soundtrack. Sadly this only holds true until a bit after half of the series when the original manga didn’t have any further material to adapt left and the studio wanked something terrible together. It’s still at some level entertaining, but expect a significant quality drop around “Arachnophobia”.

Manga Effects: ****
Fanservice: **
Moe: **
Suffering: *
Sawashiro: -

Soul Eater on hulu


Wasurenagumo / Little Spider Girl
One-Shot, 25 min, finished

“Adorable!”

The protagonist is a bookstore keeper who is interested in historical book. One day his assistant releases a seal from a book and a little spider girl crawls out. He cares for, even as the legends say that her kind eat humans.

Manga Effects: **
Fanservice: -
Moe: **
Suffering: *
Sawashiro: -

 

[Chariot]

Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood
Series, 64 Episodes, 25 min, finished

“Race, ethnicity, gender, class… any type of prejudice on the battlefield can only lead to weakness and an increase in casualties.”

A tale of two young brothers who a part of the military, thanks to their talent in alchemy, powerful magic. Although the lost a few body parts in a dark ritual trying to revive their dead mother, they belong to the most known and notable of the state alchemists. While they travel through the land silving trouble like cults and corrupt local leaders, they soon discover something more sinister growing within the country. Dark human experiments, the unjust history of the subjugation of a certain part of the country and corruption in military and government.

Written by a talented woman FMA:B features an amazing, tight story in a coherent setting, female characters of relatively normal body proportions and logical action sequences where beating an opponent is often secondary.

Note: There is also a 2003 anime. I personally like it less, but it takes a unique take on the story, since it was made before the manga was finished. Watch it for a different interpretation and Brothers.

Manga Effects: **
Fanservice: -
Moe: *
Suffering: *
Sawashiro: -

Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood on hulu | Netflix

Full Metal Alchemist Classic on hulu | Netflix

Shinryaku! Ika Musume

“Holy squid!”

She’s a squid now, she’s kid now, she’s Ika Musume and she is here to conquer the world. However her invasion stops at a cafe at the beach where she is instead subjugated in working to pay off the cost of a broken wall. Ika Musume is a light hearted a comedy series about a squid kid and her human friends.

Manga Effects: ****
Fanservice: -
Moe: ***
Suffering: -
Sawashiro: -

Squid Girl on Crunchyroll


Arpeggio of Blue Steel - Ars Nova
Series, 12 Episodes, 25 min

“You simply engaged enemies in combat and sunk them. That’s all.”

Our world was thrown in peril when mysterious ships with superior technology appeared from a strange fog and conquered the seas. All attempts by the nations to defeat the fog fleet were dwarfed and communication between countries are almost impossible. One faithful day the protagonist meets the AI interface of a fog submarine and befriends it. Together they turn to mercenaries for the humans and fight the fog fleet in engaging naval battles.

The look of Ars Nova appears to be unappealing since the whole anime series is made in CGI which looks especially bad when characters are moving. However a lot of the anime is dedicated to the ships that look gorgeous, especially when they’re blasting their salvos of missiles and get blasted with salvos of missiles.

Manga Effects: *
Fanservice: **
Moe: ***
Suffering: *
Sawashiro: -

Arpeggio of Blue Steel on Crunchyroll | [/url=http://www.netflix.com/search/arpeggio]Netflix[/url]


Barakamon
Series, 12 Episodes, 25 min

“Ain’t it pretty?”

A calligraphy artist moves into a rural coastal village to overcome his blockade. Barakamon presents typical story about a grumpy city man discovering the beauty of nature and simpler life and moves it with a bunch of children that like to hang around with the protagonist. Like Usagi Drop the child characters are voiced by actual children which makes them very genuine and fun.

Manga Effects: ***
Fanservice: -
Moe: *
Suffering: -
Sawashiro: -

Barakamon on funimation.com | hulu


Basquash!
Series, 26 Episodes, 25 min, finished

“This is basketball!”

Probably the best street basketball mechas dunking for the fate of the world series in existence. The protagonist is a free spirited egoist that loves mecha basketball and opposes the safe, but boring sport rules. He fights the sports association both for the pure game and because he needs to get to the high society on the moon where his sister’s legs can be cured. With his rolling crew of mecha basketball enthusiasts he tours his anarchy based version of the game through the lands.

A stylish, action oriented anime with a diverse cast and very overt messages about society and freedom. It features lush living cities and the aesthetics of street art. The mechas are made with cgi and aged badly, but are endurable for all the action in exchange. It also features a diverse cast while not being set in any particular country.

Manga Effects: **
Fanservice: ****
Moe: *
Suffering: -
Sawashiro: -


D-Frag
Series, 12 Episodes, 25 min

“Barf.”

A known delinquent gets aggravated when he is forcefully drafted into the Game Creation Club (Provisional) that is filled to the brim by people with terrible ideas. D-Frag is a fast paced comedy series where people take ridiculous games far too serious and nobody makes any sense.

Manga Effects: *****
Fanservice: ***
Moe: ***
Suffering: -
Sawashiro: -

D-Frag on funimation.com | hulu


Bounen no Xam’d / Bounen no Xamdou
Series, 26 Episodes, 25 min, finished

“My dream, to see a world full of smiles.”

In a small neutral country between two cold war states a biological terror attack happens that changes the protagonist forever. It’s a typical BONES anime with high production values (with Sony money no less), a message of unity and freedom and a diverse crew on a flying ship. Witness a story where few people have evil intentions, but where everyone suffers. While the protagonist is male, his love interest really left an impression on me, because she always acted actively and within reason.

Manga Effects: -
Fanservice: -
Moe: -
Suffering: ***
Sawashiro: -


Redline
Movie, 102 min, finished

“I’m gonna win!”

Vrrooom Vrrooom Yeah! Bang Bang badada Vrrrrroooomm!! Titty missilies! BOOM! Vrrrom!!!!

Manga Effects: *
Fanservice: ***
Moe: -
Suffering: -
Sawashiro: -

Redline on hulu


Toaru Kagaku no Railgun / A Certain Scientific Railgun / S
Series, 24+24 Episodes, 25 min

“If you have the will to follow through with you beliefs, the results will follow naturally.”

Academy City is a city full of mad scientists and espers with artificial supernatural powers. In this city there are two forces that keep order on the street level, the police force Anti-Skill and the student based moral committee Judgement. The latter are constantly supported by one of the strongest espers, the “Railgun”, an electric based Esper. In a city full of insane scientists with unlimited funding and in constant war with catholic mages, there are always cases to clear and dirtbags to punch.

Railgun is one of these series you can enjoy greatly if you stop thinking too much. The Raildex writer knows nothing about the basic laws of nature. If you can overlook that and can deal with tropey characters, it’s pretty fun.

Note: It may seem a tad bit weird to recommend Railgun without Index, despite it being the spin-off. However most of Index is gutter trash and it’s a wonder that something decent like Railgun was able to crawl out of the swamp.

Manga Effects: ***
Fanservice: ***
Moe: ****
Suffering: *
Sawashiro: -

A Certain Scientific Railgun on funimation | hulu


Katanagatari
Series, 12 Episodes, 50 min, finished

“In the time of the warring states, a time of corruption, there existed an ultimate way of the sword that used no swords.”

A servant of the shogunate needs to collect twelve divine blades and seeks help from the war hero who slayed her father. She finds his children and takes his son on travel since he inherited the secret techniques of the swordless sword style. What may appear like a very formalistic show has quite a few alterations and turns, stick with it even if you think you might not like it very much. As it is an adaptation of a Nisiso Isin it is very dialogue heavy and character driven with only occasional bursts of action, that are to be fair amazing when they appear. Other traits of his writing include characters occasionally breaking the fourth wall and building up cliches just to subvert them. Don’t be fooled.

Manga Effects: *
Fanservice: *
Moe: *
Suffering: **
Sawashiro: -


The Tatami Galaxy
Series, 11 Episodes, 25 min finished

“Nothing else is as boring to tell as a story of successful love.”

The series follows a protagonist in the third year of college who wasted his life. Every episode he seems to be part of another club, while some constants like his mischievous devilish looking friend and the girl he chases. Tatamy Galaxy is highly unusual anime, starting with the unusual art style, the unreliable narrator and the way the story is set-up. You should also only start this when your concentration is high, the beginning narration got a lot of speed.

Manga Effects: -
Fanservice: -
Moe: -
Suffering: **
Sawashiro: -

The Tatami Galaxy on funimation.com | hulu


Okami Kodomo no Ame to Yuki / Wolf Children
Movie, 117 minutes

“Why is the wolf always the bad guy?”

A story about a struggling single mother who not only has to care alone for two children, but additionally has to deal with them being shapeshifting wolves. In the end she can’t explain away the howling in her flat and moves from the city to the countryside where the children can be themselves. It’s a very emotional movie about parenthood, loss, growing up with children that have inherent trouble by being different and the struggle of finding oneself, all packaged into wonderful animation and directing.

Manga Effects: -
Fanservice: -
Moe: -
Suffering: **
Sawashiro: -

Wolf Children on funimation.com


Nobunagun
Series, 13 Episodes, 25 min

“To you who have inherited my soul, if the time has come, wreak havoc unto your heart’s content!”

The world is under attack by evolutionary aliens and the only ones who can stop the invasion are the reincarnations of great personalities from the past. During a school trip to Taiwan the military nerd protagonist awakens the soul of Oda Nobunaga, three gatling guns and incredible lust of battle. With other reincarnations like Jack the Ripper, Mahatma Ghandi and Geronimo she fights the aliens in brutal battles.

Nobunagun has a very unique art style that gets even weirder thanks to the color scheme going on an LSD trip when the aliens are around

Manga Effects: ***
Fanservice: -
Moe: **
Suffering: *
Sawashiro: -

Nobunagun on Crunchyroll | funimation.com | hulu


Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Series, 11 Episodes, 25 min + Movie

“I want you to form a contract with me.”

One day the protagonist is approached by a white mascot that asks her to become a magical girl and as well as a black magical girl who warns her to not make a contract with the mascot. She struggles with this decision since the witches, which are hunted by the magical girls get them in serious danger. Madoka tries to seem innocent, with the magical girl theme and the Hidamari Sketch character designs, but the first seconds make quite clear that this isn’t your usual magical anime.

Manga Effects: -
Fanservice: -
Moe: ***
Suffering: ／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼ ／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼ ／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼ ／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼
Sawashiro: -

Puella Magi Madoka Magica on Crunchyroll | hulu


Steins;Gate
Series, 25 Episodes, 25 min + 1 Movie, finished

“El Psy Congroo.”

A bunch of delusional otakus who suspect a world conspiracy discover that they can change the past by sending sms through a microwave back in time. What starts as a humorous take on some weirdos playing make-believe is hitting the fan at some point, when their innocent time travel shenanigans make bigger waves than they anticipated and the future is knocking on the door. In the end it’s a way more serious series than it seems to be in the beginning and features time travel and other mysteries.

Note: I know Steins;Gate 0 exists, but I call it finished, because Steins;Gate is apparently more or less an alternate route near the end. The story of S;G is finished with the series and the movie.

Manga Effects: -
Fanservice: -
Moe: **
Suffering: ***
Sawashiro: -

Steins;Gate on funimation.com


Hotarubi no Mori e
Movie, 45 min, finished

“If a human touches me, I’ll disappear.”

A young girl visits her grandparents every summer. One summer she meets a boy with a mask and silver hair who beats her with a stick because she tried to touch him. He is a youkai that vanishes when a human touches him. Despite his occasional self-defense abuse they befriend each other and hang out in the woods with other youkai. The girl continues to visit every summer and slowly grows up, while the boy remains the same. Hotarubi no Mori e is a bittersweet love story.

Manga Effects: *
Fanservice: -
Moe: -
Suffering: ***
Sawashiro: -


Fate/Zero
Series, 25 Episodes

“Terror, in its truest sense, is not a static state, but a dynamic one.”

A holy grail war is about to begin. A free-for-all battle between seven mages who summons heroic spirit from all of mythology and ages to kill each other's spirits to acquire the artifact that fulfills any wish. There are rules, but nobody is shy to bend the rules as they see fit, use loopholes and gaps to get an advantage. Sniper rifles, detonating whole buildings, poisoning, going after other mages family and other backhanded options are not below most of the participants. It’s a bloodfest without compromises.

Manga Effects: -
Fanservice: *
Moe: *
Suffering: ****
Sawashiro: -

Fate/Zero on Crunchyroll | Netflix | hulu


Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure
Series, 26+48 Episodes, 25 min

“It was me, Dio Brando!”

It feels a bit wrong to reduce the Jojo franchise into one entry, since it’s more than one series. On a bigger level Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure follows a family of exceptional Joes that fight various evils with supernatural powers. Every entry has a different atmosphere to it, depending on the main character, but what every entry shares is the over-the-top nature of the anime. If you enjoy people of all genders being overly manly and doing everything accompanied by dramatic posing, this is the show for you.

Note: The first arc may start a bit slow. Don’t get discouraged, it takes some speed and is entertaining, even if the later arcs surpass it by far.
Note2: Dioooooooo

Manga Effects: ***
Fanservice: -
Moe: -
Suffering: *
Sawashiro: -

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure on Crunchyroll


Psycho-Pass
Series, 22 Episodes, 25 min + 1 Movie

“Everyone is alone.”

In the future of Japan exists a system that leads the lives of people. The Sybil system elevates the worth of people, putting them in the jobs they fit best to do and recognize criminals before they act. In this time the young protagonist joins the police force that wield guns that adjust themselves between tranquilizing and killing depending on the target’s “psycho-pass”, their criminal coefficient. She is accompanied by Enforcers, criminals that were put into police duty, because of their abilities.

A story about a dystopian cyberpunk society where a system the life of all citizens and that is opposed by a psychopathic murderer who for some reason walks outside of the judgement of the system and the police force that hunts him and crimes by his associates.

Note: Don’t watch season 2. It’s trash so worthless, it’s not even burnable.

Manga Effects: -
Fanservice: -
Moe: *
Suffering: ***
Sawashiro:

Psycho-Pass on funimation.com | Netflix | hulu


Shinsekai Yori / From the New World
Series, 25 Episodes, 25 min, finished

“We have to change our way of thinking if we want to change the future.”

One day random people spontaneously developed psychic abilities and the world went to shit. This series is set thousand years afterwards in a village entirely made of humans with telekinesis who lives their lives with strict rules and with the help of mole rat servants. It follows the life and indoctrination of a group of friends who slowly discover the dark society they live in and why it is needed.

Shinsekai Yori is an exceptional anime series that has a weakness in it’s deliberately slow pacing in the beginning and the inconsistencies in animation quality, especially later on, but knows to satisfy with an amazing storyline, interesting thoughts on society and culture and characters that get emotionally demolished.

Manga Effects: -
Fanservice: -
Moe: -
Suffering: *****
Sawashiro: -

From the New World on Crunchyroll | hulu


Yuru Yuri
Series, 12+12+12, 25 min

“Akarin~”

Yuru Yuri is a simple slife of life series about a bunch of girls slacking off together in school, after school, in school after school and out of school. It lives completely of the interactions between the well established characters around certain topics. As the name suggests, it has a light yuri aspect and the show has real funny shipping and ship teasing. Everything of course in a adorable, innocent way. It’s a fun, light series you should watch if your life is miserable and worthless, to feel better for a moment.

Manga Effects: *****
Fanservice: -
Moe: *****
Suffering: -
Sawashiro: -

Yuru Yuri on Crunchyroll


Senyuu.
Series, 13+13 Episodes, 4 min

“I like seeing people weep in despair.”

Senyuu. is a short series that parodies the hero journey. After 1,000 years the demon king has awoken again and the king calls the descendants of the hero who defeated him originally to serve as new heroes. Sadly, after 1,000 years the amount of people lining back to the hero is immense and 75 heroes try to get experience points at the same time. The anime follows luckless hero 45 who has an unmotivated dick as a partner and is the butt money for everyone they meet. It’s a quick paced, joke filled short series that lives of subverting expectations.

Manga Effects: ****
Fanservice: -
Moe: **
Suffering: *
Sawashiro: -

 

[John Kowalski]

Little Witch Academia / Enchanted Parade
Series, 1 OVA, 25 min + 1 OVA, 50 min

“I can’t even dream of being like Chariot.”

Impressed by the magic show of the incredible Shining Chariot a young girl joins a witch academy despite her lack of talents. A happy tale about a girl chasing her dream of becoming a grand mage, despite her lack of talent to do so. Watch the trailer.

Note: “The Enchanted Parade” is the sequel.

Manga Effects: *
Fanservice: -
Moe: **
Suffering: -
Sawashiro: -

Little Witch Adademia on Netflix


Gin no Saji / Silver Spoon
Series, 11+11, 25 min

“How can something so tasty come out of an anus?”

After failing the exams to the school he wished to enter, the protagonist joins an agricultural school to move far away from his family. What was initially just an escape attempt turns into his greatest joy, as he not only meets a girl he likes, but also the harsh, complex, but rewarding and interesting world of farming and business management. He learns how much hard work there is on the countryside and how relentlessly people try to earn their living. A very fascinating story that showcases many agricultural disciplines and modern rural life.

Manga Effects: ****
Fanservice: -
Moe: *
Suffering: -
Sawashiro: -

Silver Spoon on Crunchyroll | Netflix | hulu


Death Parade / Death Billiards
Series, 1 OVA, 25 min + 12 Episodes, 25 min

“Everyone lives with the sins they committed.”

A bar in the afterlife where two people play a game to decide if they entering the void or reincarnation managed by a bar keeper and his assistant. It starts with episodic stories about people with several backgrounds of death and grace in death, but starts along the way to evolve a story about the whole concept and the sense of this final judgement. It’s a very interesting series, even if the end feels rather unrewarding.

Note: Start with the Anime Mirai OVA first.

Manga Effects: -
Fanservice: *
Moe: -
Suffering: ***
Sawashiro: -

Death Parade on funimation.com | hulu


Hataraku Maou-sama / The Devil is a Part-Timer
Series, 13 Episodes, 25 min

“If you feel the ends justify the means, how does that make you different from us demons, exactly?”

Under heavy siege by the holy church and the hero the overlord and his most loyal general flee from their fantasy world to another dimension. Our dimension. Their they realize in shock that their magic power is limited and must be conserved if they want to hope to return to claim what is theirs. Thus they begin to integrate into the new society, to work and live normally while they search for way back. Their modern life is not without trouble as other beings from the other world crossover, such as the hero who bested them and other old friends and foes.

Hataraku Maou-sama is for the most part a humorous series about a demon lord actually doing ordinary work and trying to live an ordinary life while other visitors from his home world often react to absolutely mundane things in overly dramatic fashion, but it also features genuine action where a lot of stuff breaks and people get trashed around.

Manga Effects: *
Fanservice: *
Moe: *
Suffering: *
Sawashiro: -

The Devil is a Part-Timer on funimation.com | Netflix | hulu


Amagi Brilliant Park
Series, 13 Episodes, 25 min

“Deal with it.”

The protagonist is forced at gunpoint to manage a dying amusement park so it won’t be closed down. To his surprise this park involves some actual magic since most of the staff are fairies from another world who just don’t know how to do their job well. Under his supervision they improve the park’s infrastructure, create new jobs and liven it up. Amagi Brilliant Park is a very hyperactive, funny show that isn’t afraid to ridicule any of it’s characters, while still driving the story of making the park actually successful. On it’s front there is a protagonist with a giant ego that makes him interesting, because he actually gets shit done.

Manga Effects: **
Fanservice: ***
Moe: ****
Suffering: -
Sawashiro: -

Amagi Brilliant Park on Crunchyroll


Gatchaman Crowds
Series, 12+12 Episodes, 25 min

“Let’s update the world”

The super heroes named Gatchaman is defending our world from the shadows by destroying monsters that camouflage themselves as people and objects. Though everything changes when the unique protagonist joins their ranks and tumbles their whole worldview. A reformation of the Gatchaman may be needed as they have to deal with the dangers of social networks and mob justice.

Gatchaman Crowds is a new interpretation of the old Secret Ninja Team Gatchaman franchise and can be seen without knowing the original material. It subverts the classic sentai genre, the role of heroes and plays with thoughts about modern social networks and crowd psychology. Gatchaman Crowds also features an amazing soundtrack and a unique artstyle.

Note: “Insight” is the second season.

Manga Effects: -
Fanservice: *
Moe: ***
Suffering: *
Sawashiro: -

Gatchaman Crowds on Crunchyroll | hulu


Kimi ni Todoke / From Me to You
Series, 25+12 Episodes, 25 min

“There’s no knowing how others are feeling unless you ask them.”

In Germany we would call this kitch. It’s a very bubbly shoujo series about a shy, gloomy looking girl who has trouble communicating her feelings to others, but conquers the hearts and minds of her fellow classmates with her genuine kindness. This includes the prettiest boy in school, who she also likes very much. However his obvious attraction to her calls for trouble as flocks of jealous girls band together and run smear campaigns against the protagonist and everyone she holds dear. Kimi ni Todoke has an particular antagonist that is despicable, but at the same time relatable and gets proper character development. A very sugary cute series that warms the heart.

Manga Effects: ****
Fanservice: -
Moe: *
Suffering: *
Sawashiro: *****

Kimi ni Todoke on Crunchyroll | hulu


Steven Universe
Series, 52+52 Episodes, 10 minutes

“We are the Crystal Gems, we always save the day and if you think we can’t, we always find a way!”

A young boy lives with three aliens that fight gem monsters on a daily basis. Since his mother was an alien too, he inherited some of her special traits and soon discovers the power to create a shield bubble. From there on he sometimes accompanies them on their quests, with varying degrees of helpfulness. It’s a coming of age story that focuses on the naive protagonist who learns about life, love and alien invasions.
An enjoyable story that while targeted at children has some depths and feature enjoyable songs and interesting, if short fights.

Manga Effects: **
Fanservice: -
Moe: *
Suffering: *
Sawashiro: -


Tantei Opera Milky Holmes
Series, 12+12 Episodes, 25 min

“Despair.”

In a world where detectives and phantom thieves are eternal rivals and have supernatural powers, there exist a team of disciples of a legendary detective with powerful abilities. However as their power is taken it turns out that they are actually pretty much useless without them, since they are not only bad detectives, they are basically too dumb to live. Their continuing exploits of uselessness lead to the phantom thieves getting bored and actually trying to help them get their powers back. Milky Holmes is a quickfire gag series that plays with it’s entirely useless protagonists who go below not saving the day and actually break things along the way.

Note: Milky Holmes has a lot of stuff to dodge. Just keep it to the two first main seasons. Everything else is pretty boring.

Manga Effects: *****
Fanservice: ***
Moe: *****
Suffering: -
Sawashiro: ***

Milky Holmes 2 on funimation.com


Nanoha (movies)
Movie Series, 2 Movies, varying length

“Nothing is forever.”

Watch the rise of the feared White Devil, as the little school girl Nanoha finds a magical alien ferret guy in peril, becomes a magical girl and rises ranks in the space military, crushing her opponents with the power of motherfucking friendship. You heard right. Not regular friendship, no extraordinary friendship. Motherfucking. Friendship. Nanoha starts off as slightly unusual magical girl series with staff that have ammunition and military employed magical girls and just goes off the rails with amazing action scenes and german speaking enemy gun staffs and Nanoha blasting fools in the face.

Manga Effects: -
Fanservice: -
Moe: ***
Suffering: **
Sawashiro: -


Non Non Biyori
Series, 12+12 Episodes, 25 min

“We’re normal. We just own a mountain.”

The protagonist moves from the big city to the land and discovers how different everything else, starting with the school where so few pupils learn that all years learn together in one room with one very sleepy teacher. Similar to Aria it’s a very calming series showing the mundane life of children in the countryside, contrasting the experience of a city girl. Expect adorable moments, beautiful nature and the children doing strange things children do.

The children are not played by actual child actors, but it’s still adorable and innocent. It’s an anime to feel at peace while watching and only after drifting back into the terrible world of suffering and payments.

Note: “Repeat” is the second season.

Manga Effects: -
Fanservice: -
Moe: **
Suffering: -
Sawashiro: -

Non Non Biyori on Crunchyroll | hulu


Pupipo
Series, 15 Episodes, 4 min

“Pupipo!”

Seeing ghosts made the protagonist an outcast with her classmates. One day the pink kirby gum thing saying nothing but “pupipo” appears and eats away scary ghosts and brings joy to her life. Pupipo is a short series, running merely 5 minutes per episode.

Manga Effects: **
Fanservice: -
Moe: *
Suffering: **
Sawashiro: -


Robot Girls Z
Series, 9 Episodes, 10 min

“Great Peril! Team G is shocked!”

I don’t even know what to write. It’s an insane parody of various mecha anime by having the mechs be humanized. Similar to One-Punch Man it features main characters way too strong for the setting, crushing their enemies with great might (and the city along with them) In a comic twist the villains are presented as more likable as the greazy and selfish main characters. It’s probably the most fun when you are familiar with Toei mech shows, however I didn’t and had lots of laughs.

Manga Effects: ****
Fanservice: ***
Moe: ***
Suffering: -
Sawashiro: -

Robot Girls Z on Crunchyroll


Haikyuu!!
Series, 25+25 Episodes, 25 min

“Being weak means there is room to grow.”

A hotblooded sport series about a small volleyball player who aims to become one of the best players in Japan like his idol the “Little Giant”. Besides the usual overly epic, well animated volleyball games Haikyuu’s biggest strength turns out to be it’s charismatic characters who interact with each other in a very charming way. Volleyball is inherently a team game after all and nobody can win alone.

Manga Effects: ****
Fanservice: -
Moe: *
Suffering: -
Sawashiro: -

Haikyuu!! on Crunchyroll | hulu


Log Horizon
Series, 25+25 Episodes, 25 min

“Datebase, database, just living in the database, wow, wow!”

Thousands of gamers are in turmoil after they awake in the world of their favourite MMORPG without any idea how they got there or how to get out. By careful experimentation and less careful accidents they realize that game mechanics still apply, including respawn. The whole community succumbs to anarchy with huge parts of the landscape being dominated by guilds and player killers who went rogue out of boredom and lack of repercussions. In this bad times the protagonist, a legendary tea party member, works with tactics and negotiations to bring order to the land, build a functioning society and economic system.

Manga Effects: **
Fanservice: -
Moe: **
Suffering: *
Sawashiro: -

Log Horizon on Crunchyroll | hulu


Hibike Euphonium / Sound! Euphonium
Series, 13 Episodes, 25 min

“Everyone’s hiding their true feelings and going with the popular choice because it’s safe.”

The story of a concert band club in a highschool that was traditionally slacking off. But when the members decide on a whim to take part in a tournament, trouble is on the horizon. Due their strict instructor they won’t win a thing, barely even play together with their lazy attitude and slowly people begin to actual try and practise their instruments and practise together. It’s the story of big group and the story of individuals. It’s about instruments, concert bands and human interaction. Especially the latter is very intriguing, what looks like a moe series with some music as background features actually interesting human interaction.

Manga Effects: -
Fanservice: *
Moe: *
Suffering: *
Sawashiro: -

Sound! Euphonium on Crunchyroll


Gintama
Series, 201+51+13+X Episodes, 25 min + 1 Movie

“Life is like a mountain. You can say you have reached the op only after climbing back down.”

Gintama one of the most difficult series to get into. It started out as a gag manga that parodies japanese pop culture and other manga and anime, but at some point serious arcs intercede the episodic gags and then things get real. This anime is a master of establishing running gags and funny character traits during its gag run, only to subvert and deconstruct them during serious arcs. A master of both of gag parodies, big emotions and amazing action scenes.

Manga Effects: *****
Fanservice: *
Moe: *
Suffering: *
Sawashiro: -

Gintama on Crunchyroll


Shokugeki no Soma / Food Wars!
Series, 24 Episodes, 25 min

“It wasn’t much.”

Son to a amazing cook, the protagonist is send to a cooking school where cooking is everything. He fights antagonistic cooks in special cooking duels. While in theory the anime doesn’t involve mystical power and only various forms of cooking it’s set in scene like a regular fighting anime, making the act of cooking extremly amazing. Secondly there are the modern Yakitate Japan style reactions of people who react very extremely to the taste of first class food, from simple orgasms to turning into martial artists.

Manga Effects: *****
Fanservice: ****
Moe: *
Suffering: -
Sawashiro: -

Food Wars on Crunchyroll


Toki o Kakeru Shoujou / The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
Movie, 98 min, finished
“You don’t get to choose when or who you meet. However, you do get to choose who you hold on to.”

After falling on a mysterious walnut and accidently riding to her death on a bike, the protagonist discovers that she can leap back into time by actual leaping. She starts to using it excessively and soon discovers that it’s not a good idea to to play with time so much. A story about time travel and responsibility with a few interesting additions to the theme.

Manga Effects: -
Fanservice: -
Moe: -
Suffering: *
Sawashiro: -


Kokoro Connect
Series, 13 Episodes, 25 min + OVA, 4 Episodes, 25 min

“Don’t forget that kindness can hurt people too”

Five friends are one day confronted with sudden and random body swaps among each other. What starts out as an weird, even funny occasion turns dark soon as everyone has secrets to protect. As the five learn more about the hidden thoughts of each other their relationship changes and cracks. A series about teenagers whose privacy is under threat and who are reminded that people are not necessary how they appear in public.
Note: The OVA is separate, but actually continues the story with important bits. Don’t miss it!

Manga Effects: **
Fanservice: ***
Moe: ***
Suffering: ***
Sawashiro: *****

Kokoro Connect on Crunchyroll | hulu


Toradora!
Series, 25 Episodes, 25 min, finished

“Adoration never leads to a balanced relationship.”

The protagonist is good natured, but mean looking and in love with a cheerful and bubbly workaholic in his class. To get to her he asks help from her best friend, the small, girl with a rough personality, who turns out to be in love with his best friend. Together they try to help each other getting to their respective crushs. A romance comedy series with the necessary seriousness where it matters and a tiny girl that keeps slapping people in the face.

Manga Effects: ***
Fanservice: **
Moe: ****
Suffering: **
Sawashiro: -

Toradora! on Crunchyroll | hulu


Spice and Wolf
Series, 13+12 Episodes, 25 min

“Loneliness is a sickness that leads to death”

Set in a medieval european fantasy world where the protagonist, a nifty merchant, meets a sly fox goddess who accompanies him on his travels. Together they travel the land for profit. On their way there are not only hard negotiations, cut throats and bad economies, but supernatural trouble as well. A romantic tale of adventure and lots of business talk.

Manga Effects: -
Fanservice: **
Moe: **
Suffering: -
Sawashiro: -

Spice and Wolf on funimation.com | hulu

 

[Mostmanlyman]

Continue from OP
Michiko to Hatchin / Michiko and Hatchin
Series, 22 Episodes, 25 min, finished

“You wanna try me?”

A very rare anime that features a latino lead in a complete south american setting. A young was abused Cinderella style by her step family until an escaped convict road her motorcycle through the window and takes her, claiming to know her father. Together they travel the beautiful, but poor and messed up country. Watch the upbeat pop-art opening and listen to this track of the amazing OST.

Manga Effects: *
Fanservice: ****
Moe: -
Suffering: *****
Sawashiro: -

Michiko and Hatchin on funimation.com | hulu


Tari Tari
Series, 13 Episodes, 25 min, finished

“Just because you’re having fun, doesn’t mean you’re not serious!”

After quitting the choir club in anger a girl aspires to make her own choir club with blackjack and hookers, but without blackjack and hookers. As she sings for herself in the town four people from her school arrive at a chance and are recruited to her cause. Tari Tari is a cheerful series that features lively characters with different hobbies that are brought together by the power of music and overcome their troubles. The opening is a good indicator for the tone of the anime

Manga Effects: *
Fanservice: *
Moe: ***
Suffering: *
Sawashiro: -

Tari Tari on Crunchyroll | hulu


Kuragehime / Princess Jellyfish
Series, 13 Episodes, 25 min

“I turned into a nerdy girl.”

In an apartment complex where only women are allowed there is a bunch of female, reclusive otakus with varying specific interests. How nerdy you ask? Watch the intro. One day the lead character is meeting a beautiful woman that turns out to be man who feels better as a woman. Together they fight gentrification and their personal free expression of their individuality.

Manga Effects: ****
Fanservice: -
Moe: ***
Suffering: *
Sawashiro: -

Princess Jellyfish on funimation.com | hulu


ef: A Tale of Memories
Series, 12 Episodes, 25 min, finished

“Miracles don’t exist in this world.”

Half a good anime, ef: a tale of memories is telling two dramatic romance stories parallel to each other, connected by two sisters that share their stories with each other. While one half is a love triangle centered on a guy who is in the reverse Pokemon situation where a girl steals his bike and crashes it. The other, way better half is about a girl who, as result of an car accident years ago, loses her memories every day. The protagonist of this story struggles with the girl basically only reading up her memories and thoughts about him every morning, without actually remembering their time. This series features heavy SHAFT symbolism and artistic weirdness that make the cheeseness very enjoyable.

Manga Effects: *
Fanservice: **
Moe: ***
Suffering: **
Sawashiro: -

ef: A Tale of Memories on Crunchyroll | hulu


Blood Lad
Series, 10 Episodes, 25 min

“The ones who do what they want and enjoy the most of their lives are the ones who win in the end.”

The protagonist is a vampire gang leader in the demon world that is obsessed with our world’s otaku culture. When a japanese girl appears into the dimension he is excited, but is taken back when she is killed by a monster and becomes a ghost. He then swears to restore her body and restore her to life. Blood Lad is a goofy action anime where serious conflicts often dissolve or end up in jokes (only after people smacked the shit out of each other). Similar to Soul Eater it’s a very stylish series where classical monster of all kinds are running around and get subverted.

Manga Effects: ****
Fanservice: ****
Moe: ****
Suffering: -
Sawashiro: -

Blood Lad on hulu


Miss Monochrome
Series, 13+13+13 Episodes, 25 min

“Alkaline!”

The story of an android that was scammed out of her money and wants to become an idol. She is accompanied by her pet, a vacuum cleaner and Maneo, a store manager who she picked up to be her idol manager. She gives her best, but encounters a lot of misfortune in her plans to become world class idol. Most of the humour of the anime stems from the fact that Miss Monochrome is not actually human and has trouble fulfilling the traits of an idol all the while she is equipped enough to strike back an alien invasion.

Manga Effects: ***
Fanservice: *
Moe: ***
Suffering: -
Sawashiro: -

Miss Monochrome on Crunchyroll


Saki
Series, 25+13 Episodes, 25 min + Spin-Off Series, 12 Episodes, 25 min

“RON!”

Mahjong is serious business. This gambling sport anime features girls playing mahjong with supernatural powers, influencing the luck of the draw. While the ecchi surely is a draw for some, Saki really draws it’s power from the over the top underage gambling with ridiculous over the top effects and powers. Burning hands and glowing auras are on the lower scale here, where people can see into the future, drown people in their minds and call upon the power of shinto gods. It starts slow, but picks up as soon as the girls enter tournaments and meet people with stupidly mighty powers they decided to use for Mahjong and nothing else.

Manga Effects: *****
Fanservice:*****
Moe: *****
Suffering: *
Sawashiro: -

Saki on Crunchyroll


Mondaiaiji-tachi ga Isekai kara Kuru Sou Desu yo? / Problem Children Are Coming from Another World, Aren’t They?
Series, 10 Episodes, 25 min

“If I could sell my boredom, I’m confident I could make a living.”

Three bored, exceptional humans are called from different times and dimensions into the Little Garden, a world of contests. The anime revolves about three outsiders saving a dying guild. It’s especially amusing, because those three are really well picked since they are levels above the standard of the world, especially a certain guy who killed a god in the very first episode and does things like kicking laserbeams apart. The abilities of the other two are mindcontrol and copying abilities from any animal, including mystical ones, respectively. The three of them basically do as they please and most of it involves kicking established rules in the butt.

Manga Effects: ****
Fanservice: ****
Moe: ***
Suffering: -
Sawashiro: -

Problem Children Are Coming from Another World, Aren’t They? on Crunchyroll | hulu


Blood+
Series, 50 Episodes, 25 min

“Farewell.”

The protagonist can’t remember more than the past year until a vampiric monster attacks her and she discovers that she is involved in a hidden war where she plays an important role as a secret organisation named Red Shield approaches her. She starts a journey around the world to track down the danger that is looming over the world for more than a hundred years. A very bloody action series with a growing strong female lead.

Manga Effects: -
Fanservice: *
Moe: -
Suffering: ****
Sawashiro: -


Higashi no Eden / Eden of the East
Series, 11 Episodes, 25 min

“The abuse of greatness is when it disjoins remorse from power.”

Three months after missiles strike Japan a young woman is saved a naked japanese man in Washington D.C. with no memory. They discover that he is part of a game where twelve individuals were given 10 billion yen each to use as they see fit with the goal to “save Japan”. Together the two travel Japan to find out who he is, what the other players are up to and who would give out 120 billion yen, while the question of how to save Japan stays central.

Note: There are two movies that continue the story, but they are why I was originally reluctant to put Eden of the East in the list, since they completely ruin everything. In my personal opinion you should just stop after the series, close your eyes and imagine a continuation that doesn’t blow.

Manga Effects: ***
Fanservice: **
Moe: **
Suffering: *
Sawashiro: -

Eden of the East on funimation.com | hulu


Seikimatsu Occult Gakuin / Occult Academy
Series, 13 Episodes, 25 min

“History changes… starting now!”

The year 1999. The occult hating daughter of the former headmaster returns to Waldstein Academy, the Occult Academy as new headmaster. She get’s thrown off when a time traveler from the year 2012 arrives to destroy the Nostradamus Key to prevent the earth from being destroyed by aliens. Together they look into occult occurrences in and close the academy. A comedic mystery series where you never know if it’s stupid, clever or both at the same time. Watch the trailer[url].

Manga Effects: **
Fanservice: **
Moe: **
Suffering: **
Sawashiro: -

Occult Academy on [url=http://www.crunchyroll.com/occult-academy]Crunchyroll | hulu


Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt
Series, 13 Episodes, 25 min

“You’re the ones acting irresponsible, so you crawl into my vagina!”

Two foul mouthed angels were banned from heaven and are now hunting for ghosts in Daten City, watched over by a really annoyed priest. Panty & Stocking is literally a drunken idea by the Gurren Lagann staff (now mostly known as Trigger). It’s heavily inspired by western animation, stylistic there is a big influence from Powerpuff Girls, while it’s contents remind of Drawn Together. Profanities, sex, drugs and moral corruption are embraced like hell in this anime, along with numerous parodies of western culture. The series usually features two 10 minute episodes in one regular episode that can differ very heavily from each other.

Watch this in-show music video for a kind-off impression.

Manga Effects: **
Fanservice: *****
Moe: -
Suffering: -
Sawashiro: -

Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt on funimation.com | hulu

 

[Sölf]

The responses were pleasantly positive, helpful and added a lot of amazing suggestions I don’t want to be lost somewhere in the thread, so here a few interesting quotations.

ctrl + f "Sakamichi"
ctrl + f "kids on"
wtf OP
Pretty great write-up though, that must have taken a long ass time. Seriously though, watch Sakamichi no Apollon now.

Left out Tsuritama.

Kuuchuu Buranko and Mononoke deserved mentions though.

Thread about recent beautiful looking anime.
CTRL-F for 'Your Lie in April" turns up... nothing?!? Really?

No Battleship Yamato 2199 and K-ON love?
For shame OP.

This is some dedication OP. I see you didn't opt to put Gundam Build up...hey no prob.
No Gundam Iron Blooded Orphans...? I'm seeing a trend here.
Booooooo this man. Booooo

Clearly you just forgot Durarara since there's no other reason for its absence.

Garden of Words man

All I can really add to this thread is that I recently watched Gargantia and I enjoyed it. No idea how it actually holds up in anime standards though. I'll just say I really enjoyed the slow burning beginning that unfortunately seems to turns into a "Oh shit, we can only afford one season!" as the show seems to quickly gloss over somethings to the end sequence of episodes.
Overall I'd say it's decent to good.]

Also no mention of Penguindrum from the looks of it, so yeah, PENGUINDRUM!

This anime got really trippy (and quite screwed up) at times.XD

Just realized no Symphogear. Get your act together, Chariot.

Would add:
Aku no Hana
Casshern Sins
Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou
Durarara!!
Hanasaku Iroha
Higashi no Eden
Hitsugi no Chaika

Spoiler

shocking truth.

Hyouka
Kuuchuu Buranko
Love Lab
Mawaru Pengindrum
Mononoke
Nagi no Asukara
Nichijou
Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru
Toradora!
Working!!
and some movies like Kotonoha ni Niwa and Colorful.

Aku no Hana is a masterpiece, visually and in direction. People bashed the rotoscoping as ugly and stupid, but it's visually unique, consistent by frame, and beautifully smooth in animation.

I liked some moments in the pet girl of sakura hall.. the paintings especially

No Ping Pong The Animation? By far my favorite anime I've watched in recent years.

Also realized you don't have HELLS on there, aka the best non-Gurren Lagann anime in the last decade and the best anime film period.

Kaiji is one of the best. It can be mind numbingly depressing in its harsh realism, but it somehow doesn't ever leave you feeling empty inside. Quite the opposite, most of the time.

Tiger & Bunny where, OP?

]

Please watch Tiger & Bunny immediately, more people need to fall in love with this majestic, sexy man.

Great list, but you're missing two of the most beautiful animes of the last decade. Mononoke and Mushishi

damn, too bad im too lazy to put such a detailed category to stuff i watch.
also for shame that i dont see arakawa under the bridge

Some series are on par with the classics
Mitsuo Iso's Dennou Coil remains my favorite reguarding animation quality for the post-2006 TV series. One of the most originall and refreshing TV series every anime fan should watch
Though it was rather neglected as a kids series. Even if it had more in common with Lain, in a less soul perturbing presentation.

some other series I liked when compared to the OP's series:
Kaiba
House of Five Leaves
Mitchiko to Hatchin
Yuri Kuma Arashi
Mahou Tsukai ni Taisetsu na Koto: Natsu no Sora
Panty and Stocking

There weren't a lot of sports anime love in the OP but these following ones are much watch for both regular anime fans and sports anime fans:

Hajime No Ippo (3rd season wrapped recently)
Haikyuu (superb volleyball anime)
Ping Pong the Animation (unique animation style, great stuff)
Kuroko no Basketball (Pretty much completed, it's the DBZ of sports anime... only well paced)
Ace of Diamonds (solid as heck baseball anime)
Honorable mention: Baby Steps (Tennis anime)

Easily top 5 in the genre for me in past few years.

Or watch the spiritual pre-quel Re:Cutie Honey and Cutie Honey series in general
Kill la Kill staff worked there too previously

--

Sidenote: Here are some multi-anime videos that always revitalize my interest in anime:

Blame It On 2009: A Good, Good Year takes a remix the top chart songs from 2009 to footage of anime series from 2009.

I Love the Anime World is a parody of the Discovery Channel’s “I Love the World”-ad and is equally positive and amazing.

Every Anime Opening Ever Made takes sequences that appear in many anime intros and put them behind each other. Very amusing to see.

korosuke019 has amazing seasonal videos where he takes one opening from the season and edits characters from other anime that run at the same time in to create an awesome multi-anime opening. Take for example Spring 2014 and Fall 2012​

 

[| Praxis |]

I don't like anime enough to read all of that, but it is nice looking.

 

[Trojita]

CTRL+F Yuri Yuri

No results.

 

[Chariot]

CTRL+F Yuri Yuri

No results.

That's because it's called Yuru Yuri

 

[ShaoranWright]

CTRL+F Yuri Yuri

No results.

Edit: Shit, it is here.

 

[Hero Prinny]

Jojo's Bizarre Adventure is life

 

[Anth0ny]

yeah anime is back and better than ever







just kidding OP those are some pretty pictures

 

[RangerBAD]

Not adapting more Seirei books was such a huge mistake.

 

[John Kowalski]

keion gaf won't be pleased

 

[brawly]

ctrl + f "Sakamichi"
ctrl + f "kids on"

wtf OP

Pretty great write-up though, that must have taken a long ass time. Seriously though, watch Sakamichi no Apollon now.

 

[faridmon]

Many of those shows are rubbish. but yeah we got couple of amazing shows that blew me away when I watched it, especially Baccano, Shigufumi, Ghost Hunt and Ghost Hound.

 

[zero shift]

I agree there has been some great stuff. Attack on Titan, Kill La Kill, and One Punch Man are some great recent examples.

 

[starchild excalibur]

I don't know if it makes the cut-off (2004-2005) but Samurai Champloo is probably the last anime I fully threw myself into. Tried Attack on Titan and found the show too teen emo for me. I loved Redline's animation, but I didn't love it as much as I expected to. Tried Kids on the Slope and while I liked the music and atmosphere, again I just found the teen drama too dull. Looking forward to trying One Punch Man, though.

Weirdly enough, I also got into Princess Jellyfish at one point, too. Oh, and I really enjoyed Birdy the Mighty, as well.

Great OP. I'll go back through here when I have more time.

 

[ohlawd]

you like Miyuki Sawashiro so much she got her own category

I like her too. she aight

 

[MetroidPrimeRib]

I appreciate all the work, but a lot of those shows are bad or look bad.

Still, anyone saying stuff looked better in da 90z is insane.

 

[Trojita]

That's because it's called Yuru Yuri

WTF. I've read it wrong all this time.

Akarin be damned.

Also your definition of Moe is wrong. You are demoted in Anime rank.

Edit: I only typed in Yuri, but did it when you posted only the 2nd page, 3rd page, and 4th page. That's why I never caught it first time. Or you ninja edited.

 

[NEO0MJ]

Wait a minute, what's Steven Universe Doing there?!

 

[jbug617]

Left out Tsuritama.

 

[Calvero]

Where's Dragon Ball Super though

 

[Hektor]

The girl who leapt through time is not on this list:

 

[Semblance]

Props for Kyousogiga. That, Monogatari, Panty & Stocking and Tatami Galaxy are my favorite looking anime of the 2010s.

Kuuchuu Buranko and Mononoke deserved mentions though.

 

[CSX]

This listed reminded me of Black Lagoon...

Goddammit when will there be new chapters of the manga so we can get more anime eps T__T

 

[Seraphis Cain]

One thing you forgot to point out about Nyaruko-san is that it's literally "Kamen Rider References: The Anime".

 

[UberTag]

Thread about recent beautiful looking anime.
CTRL-F for 'Your Lie in April" turns up... nothing?!? Really?

 

[SDBurton]

Yuru Yuri is love, Yuru Yuri is life.

Speaking of which, why isn't there a yuri rating OP?!!

 

[-Pyromaniac-]

I'm glad Wolf Children got a shout out. What a beautiful and emotional movie. Definitely agree about missing Your Lie in April. One of the best new animes out there and really really good looking.

 

[cosmicblizzard]

Did you try to post every single anime from the last 10 years? I know you didn't succeed because that's only a fraction of them, but I don't see that much consistency in the list.

 

[Captain Rage Quit 69]

I for one am happy to see Squid Girl get the recognition she deserves, probably the greatest anime to grace our shores in the last century.

 

[Panthalassic]

Came for Hibike, wasn't disappointed. Other stuff I already like is in here too, like Gatchaman Crowds and Black Lagoon (#TeamDub for this one).

Maybe I'll check out some other stuff.

 

[Snkfanatic]

Nice work! Hope the thread lasts and isn't locked up.

 

[Ryuukan]

I appreciate all the work, but a lot of those shows are bad or look bad.

agree

very odd "I like anime, you should too" list

 

[Chariot]

ctrl + f "Sakamichi"
ctrl + f "kids on"

wtf OP

Pretty great write-up though, that must have taken a long ass time. Seriously though, watch Sakamichi no Apollon now.

Sorry
I started it, but for some reason never finished, because the love triangle got on my nerves. Maybe I should pick it up again with Ping Pong.

Many of those shows are rubbish. but yeah we got couple of amazing shows that blew me away when I watched it, especially Baccano, Shigufumi, Ghost Hunt and Ghost Hound.

I appreciate all the work, but a lot of those shows are bad or look bad.

Still, anyone saying stuff looked better in da 90z is insane.

Well, those are some of my favourites, I very much enjoy silly anime if they're entertaining. You may very well see a lot of anime I like as rubbish.

I don't know if it makes the cut-off (2004-2005) but Samurai Champloo is probably the last anime I fully threw myself into. Tried Attack on Titan and found the show too teen emo for me. I loved Redline's animation, but I didn't love it as much as I expected to. Tried Kids on the Slope and while I liked the music and atmosphere, again I just found the teen drama too dull. Looking forward to trying One Punch Man, though.

Weirdly enough, I also got into Princess Jellyfish at one point, too. Oh, and I really enjoyed Birdy the Mighty, as well.

Great OP. I'll go back through here when I have more time.

I really regret not adding Samurai Shamploo, but my cut-off were series that started to air in Fall 2005
There were some anime that didn't make the cut, but I imagine that it would be at any cut like this.

Also your definition of Moe is wrong. You are demoted in Anime rank.

It's the category name, because I didn't have any better. This is why I defined the points of interests at the beginning to avoid confusing what I meant with it.

Wait a minute, what's Steven Universe Doing there?!

Left out Tsuritama.

Didn't see it yet. Heard mildly positive things, but is very low on my list of priorities.

The girl who leapt through time is not on this list:

I am sorry

Kuuchuu Buranko and Mononoke deserved mentions though.

Nice mentions, I have yet to see them.

One thing you forgot to point out about Nyaruko-san is that it's literally "Kamen Rider References: The Anime".

Oh yeah, I always glossed over this part of the anime, because I am not very deep into Kamen Rider. I am sorry.

 

[Quonny]

shokugeki no soma is there so im pretty much content

 

[Kyougar]

God damnit Chariot. Great List. Didnt expect some of the more controversial or not widely known Anime here.

Shinsekai Yori is one of the best Anime this decade.

 

[bengraven]

Holy fuck, is that a GitS spoiler in the pic?

I haven't watched SOC but I love GitS (the movie and manga) and meant to get around it, but is that fucking

Spoiler

Batou getting his head blown off?!

 

[Chariot]

Thread about recent beautiful looking anime.
CTRL-F for 'Your Lie in April" turns up... nothing?!? Really?

I dropped it early one. Something about another sympathetic childhood friend once again getting sidelined rubbed me the wrong way.

Yuru Yuri is love, Yuru Yuri is life.

Speaking of which, why isn't there a yuri rating OP?!!

I honestly thought about that, but I tried to keep this to a minimum and our goddess Sawashiro was more important.

Did you try to post every single anime from the last 10 years? I know you didn't succeed because that's only a fraction of them, but I don't see that much consistency in the list.

Not even half of the anime from the last ten years I have watched. There is no consistency, because I enjoy a wide range of shows and moods. It's simply what entertained me on various levels.

agree

very odd "I like anime, you should too" list

Tastes are different, don't think light gag anime like Yuru Yuri are less valuable than highly emotional movies like Wolf Children. They just don't compare and can speak to different moods and entertainment desires. it's okay to dislike my taste so. Diverse opinions are a great thing and this thread is there to appreciate the recent decade of anime.

Holy fuck, is that a GitS spoiler in the pic?

I haven't watched SOC but I love GitS (the movie and manga) and meant to get around it, but is that fucking

Spoiler

Batou getting his head blown off?!

Worry not. This is not Batou, just some random terrorist who also happens to have cybernetic enhancements.

 

[Extollere]

People say anime is shit now... but anime is in some of the best shape it's ever been. So many great shows in the last 10 years.

Edit - how the heck does Madoka not have five star suffering?? Being meguca is...

 

[StarCreator]

I think it's telling how out of touch with anime I am that I've only seen five or so series out of this entire list.

I long ago made my peace with knowing there will be nothing I will enjoy as much as Twin Spica or Princess Tutu ever again.

 

[Ogodei]

Damn, needs a DSL warning.

I've seen some of those (Yuru Yuri, Welcome to the NHK, FMA Brotherhood, Gurren Lagann, Redline, Girls Und Panzer). Really need to watch a lot of other stuff.

I only take it a day at a time, though.

PS: Missing Queen's Blade

 

[MultiJhonny]

Nice list.

But yet another one without Gankutsuou. Such an under appreciated anime these days it seems. I guess it just missed your cutoff with the decade though. So I will let it slide.

 

[GaimeGuy]

Come on, OP, you didn't give madoka 5 stars for suffering?

 

[brawly]

Sorry
I started it, but for some reason never finished, because the love triangle got on my nerves. Maybe I should pick it up again with Ping Pong.

No worries, watch what you want. It's not a love triangle at all though...

 

[Moonkid]

Real interesting star system OP, I like how you've set it up so we know what kind of content it has. Personally my favourite anime of all time falls on 2004 but the last ten years was alright I guess (;

 

[Gentleman Jack]

Jojo's Bizarre Adventure is life

Oh my goodness