For the final discussion thread of the year, I think it makes sense to talk about the year in review. 2023 brought us many things from the actual, final, for real this time, finale of Attack on Titan, to a long-anticpated anime adaptation of the Pluto manga. I want to hear what your favorite and least favorite shows of the year were. Here are the seasonal lists of shows in case you need to jog your memory:
As always, remember to be mindful of spoilers. If you want to know more about how to handle spoilers in this community, check the guide here.
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This is gonna be odd but an absolute highlight for me was “reincarnated as a sword”. The premise is beyond dumb but the anime executes it very well imo, even if it does stay more classical with it’s isekai tropes. Also kawaii Fran.
I have read/watched a lot of bad isekai. Reincarnated as a Sword is not one of them. The premise might be dumb on the surface, but it is executed extremely well. I think part of what makes it work is how the relationship between Master and Fran is a Father/Daughter one. It just kind of makes the whole thing work. I had dropped the manga at one point because I thought it was kind of losing its way, but then found out that the arc I didn’t like was a manga-only filler arc. After I got back onto light novel content, it was the great old Fran/Master journey that I loved.
Really glad they announced a season 2 is on the way.
tl;dr:
- AOTY - Frieren with honorable mention of Oshi no Ko
- Worst AOTY - Am I Actually the Strongest?
- Most Mid AOTY - Atelier Ryza
If you had asked for my anime of the year prior to the Fall season, it would have unquestionably been Oshi no Ko. However, Frieren’s adaptation has been so excellent over this past season that I am hard pressed not to give it my AOTY. I know Frieren is still airing for a second cour, but it has a full cour’s worth of episodes to compare to other seasonal shows, so I think it is fair for now. I think that Oshi no Ko has definitely left a strong impression on me though and I will always remember the first episode and episode 6 as extremely impactful. Few anime have ever had me as invested in a character’s story as episode 6 of Oshi no Ko did for Akane.
As for my worst anime of the year, this one is tough. I watch my fair share of bad anime so it is tough to pick. I think I will have to award it to “Am I Actually the Strongest?” The show was horribly paced and narratively confused. Large sections of important story were seemingly glossed over almost nothing was explained. Having watched 12 episodes of the anime, I still don’t think I can give any kind of explanation for the MC’s abilities. Just avoid this one, it isn’t so bad it’s good, it’s just bad.
Finally, in my quest to pretend to still be young, I thought I would also give a mid award. This one goes to a show that was so bland and generic that it wasn’t good, it wasn’t bad, it just exists. That goes to Atelier Ryza for me. I have heard that the game series this show was based off of is actually quite good. I have a friend that has played a ton of them and was hyping up the show to me because of it. However, watching the show being unfamiliar with the source at all, it was extremely boring. Things happened extremely predictably. I actually felt that watching the show was like being stuck in an unskippable, long tutorial cutscene in a game. Things were overexplained, drawn out, and the game’s quest -> reward structure was very obvious. There were never really any stakes it felt like. I don’t know if the entire game was adapted or not, but I certainly hope there is more to the game. The show felt like it was adapting just the tutorial levels.
@ram@lemmy.ca or @N3DSdude@lemmy.ml if you could pin the new/unpin the old discussion posts, that would be greatly appreciated.
From winter only Onimai picked my interest and it was amazing, a non apologetic ecchi with great animation is so rare, even more so when compared to the disaster that was Ayakashi Triangle.
Tengoku Daimakyo is easily the AOTY, some pretty heavy stuff.
Mushoku Tensei 2 also good, still the least bad isekai and I like how Rudeus is a mess of a man.
From the current season, just Spy Family, MF ghost and Frieren, the latter being my favorite.
oh there were some good ones this year
Frieren, Ancient Magus Bride, Sacrificial Princess, Pluto, Heavenly Delusion, and there were ones I just missed.
Of the ones i’ve fully completed, I’ll say Sacrificial Princess & King of Beasts gets my vote as best - It stands alongside Beastars as one of the brave few anime to not coward out and just make the non-human women completely ordinary humans with cat ears and :3 faces.
Heavenly Delusion was probably my biggest surprise this year. I had never heard of it before, randomly picked it up, and it was outstanding.
AOTY was “the Angel next door spoils me rotten” followed closely by “the dangers in my heart”, best romances I’ve seen in years. “I got a cheat skill in another world” and “MF Ghost” were the worst, Goblin Slayer S2 the middest
Best: I honestly cannot decide between Oshi no ko, Frieren, and Apothocary Diaries. Each is excellent but in different ways.
Worst… Maybe the fruit of evolution. The first season had a quirky dumb sense of humor that made it work, but what little I saw of season two was just bad.
Among stuff I watched/am watching…
Best: Frieren - do you know that feeling of watching scenes that appear routine and then a short time later tearing up as you mentally process it? Those were quite sneaky.
Worst: St. Cecilia and Pastor Lawrence - worst, relatively speaking. It’s a good anime with nothing special going on about it
I did not watch many seasonal series in the summer and fall of 2023, so I’m mostly basing this on the winter and spring of 2023.
Most favorite:
- (9/10) Vinland Saga Season 2
- (9/10) Tengoku Daimakyou
Least favorite:
- (5/10) Tonikaku Kawaii 2nd Season
- (4/10) “I Got a Cheat Skill in Another World and Became Unrivaled in The Real World, Too”
I really like the manga for Tonikaku Kawaii (and several other fluffy romances like it), but haven’t ever really liked any of the anime adaptations of them. I just don’t think it usually translates to the medium well. I often end up bored and the studios don’t put enough effort into the animation or soundtrack to keep my attention that way either.
I watched a grand total of 11 anime released this year, so I may as well write four words about each one:
- OniMai: Weird, but strangely cozy.
- Trigun Stampede: Cool ideas, odd pacing
- Shingeki no Kyojin (both combined for 8 words): A satisfying finale for the amazing “Final” season.
- Jigokuraku: Cool setting, otherwise basic.
- Tengoku Daimakyou: It should’ve kept going.
- Megumin spinoff: Favourite character, average series.
- Oshi no Ko: Great. Slow at times.
- Mushoku Tensei: Odd. It’ll pay off.
- Boy and the Heron: Miyazaki’s weakest, interesting nonetheless.
- PLUTO: Great mystery, many characters.
Didn’t get around to Spy×Family continuation yet. For currently airing series carrying over to 2024, I really am enjoying Kusuriya no Hitorigoto and Sousou no Frieren.
My personal AOTY was Oshi no Ko. There is a lot going on in that show, even just tonally between drama, suspense, and humor; but it balances everything so well, and it has some really well-written, complex women characters, which was awesome to see.
spoiler
Aqua is kind of an incel, but I think the parallels drawn between him and Ai’s stalker are intentional, or at least that’s the impression that I get after S1. Even so, his strange and convoluted relationship to Ai makes for a really interesting psychological dilemma, and he is a very interesting protagonist. While some of his actions are well-intentioned, he is also capable of some pretty abhorrent stuff. I hope to see something of a redemption arc for him, but wherever it goes, I think it will be a fun watch.
Beyond some excellent characterization and great writing, the music is amazing, the art direction and animation are gorgeous, and the overarching mystery and supernatural twist make it extremely compelling.
Season 2 is one of my most anticipated upcoming anime.
