[Awards] Anime of the Year... 2018!

I realized I never made an AotY post for 2018 lol, let's fix that! Let's cut out everything I saw that isn't notable enough to talk about, aka I don't remember anything about them!

After the Rain

I don't really wanna talk about this show.

 

It was a romance story about a girl who was something like 17 who fell in love with an older man, and as SCANDALOUS as that sounds the show was actually pretty boring. Even a twitter kid who flips their(emphasis on "their" if you catch my drift) shit at "problematic age gaps" would be pretty stone faced about this one. Seriously I remember jack shit about it other than that it probably fucks about for most of it's episodes and then definitely has a big anti-climax. Don't recommend. 

 

Angels of Death

This is an anime adaptation of an RPGmaker game of the same name, which I intuited within a couple episodes without any confirmation. I made the observation that it "feels like the kind of story and tone an RPGmaker game would have" and then it turned out I was right, lol. I'd like to play the game some time but for now, I enjoyed the anime. It's a horror and "Cube-like" which if you read my GOTY post you know what that means, and is about Rachel, a fairly normal girl, and Zack a super cuhrayzy edgeboy covered in bandages who has a scythe. Together they try to escape the strange and mysterious facility they're trapped in. It's a strange story with some interesting twists and turns that I didn't see coming, and the developing relationship between Rachel and Zack is compelling and heartwarming as they find solace in each other in this dangerous situation. It definitely seems like a game I'd enjoy, and as an anime it's pretty good too. It has a weird ass ending which like, might have been a metaphor for double suicide? Maybe I'm misremembering it but it has a weird feeling to it which made it not feel right. Seriously definitely check this or the game out, it's wild.

 

Attack on Titan Season 3

I had a lot of problems with this season. The few after this one were actually really great, I think "Season 3 Part 2" is when the big twist happened. I liked that twist a lot even if it ended up leading to it go south eventually. I wish I was like the people who hated the twist and dropped it there. Really, I wished I dropped it here, cuz this one sucks. I hate all the shit about Historia or whatever her real name was, this part where they were fighting the stupid super special spec ops team was lame and not what you're watching attack on titan for, it's fine later when they're fighting dudes because the story has made an understandable shift by then but this whole "What if the scouts fought OTHER guys with 3DMG!?" was stupid and really felt like it was trying to compete with other shounen despite it's appeal being that it wasn't like other shounen. Maybe that's why I didn't mind the later stuff until it got dumb, because hey you know, shounen usually isn't about gritty horrifying warfare. 

Either way, this season wasn't very good.

 

Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card-hen

It's basically just more Cardcaptor Sakura but with cards that are clear this time ooooh. I actually hadn't watch the original series or read the manga before watching this, which I normally wouldn't do, but my friend who's a fan of the series sanctioned it and watched it alongside me so I guess it's okay. I've since watched the original Cardcaptor Sakura as well as its two movies and I love it, it's a certified classic. Sakura is real cute, Kero's cute, it's a fun show and I think her and Syaoran's little kid romance is adorable. I'm not gonna sit here explaining what Cardcaptor Sakura is look it up, I'll tell you it's unique by magical girl standards in that Sakura doesn't transform but her friend makes her all sorts of cute outfits to wear for it so she actually has a bunch of different ones. I thought that was funny. 

 

Watch the original and then watch this, don't do what I did. And then, get excited, because Clear Card S2 is coming! 

 

Cells at Work!

Everyone knows Cells as Work, it was good! It's that show about anthropomorphized representations of cells and contagions and stuff, about the red blood cell girl who's oxygen deliveries keep getting interrupted by viruses and the white blood cell guy who comes in and kills the shit out of them. It was very fun though not fun enough to keep my interest in the sequel and spin-off, but watching one season of it is definitely worth it.

 

 

Chio-chan's School Road

I don't remember the specifics about this aside it's just a fun wacky comedy about weird and funny shit that ends up happening on this girl's trips to school. I remember enjoying all the characters and they were fun, it's not an amazing show or I'd probably remember more specifics, but it certainly is a fun time. There's seriously lots of weird, out there shit that happens that's pretty damn funny and is good at the actual craft of comedy besides, I think. Check it out sometime!

 

Cutie Honey Universe

Cutie Honey Universe is a new iteration of the old Cutie Honey series, originally by Go Nagai, which is one of the original Magical Girl series which is funny, since it's a rather fanservice focused one too. I mentioned in the other post that I typically ain't into fanservice anime but it does depend on what kind and how you do it and what "mode" I'm in. I think Cutie Honey does it right because 1. It's an old 70s and 80s type of pulpy, kinda trashy fun and 2. It's Go Nagai and he's famous for that kind of thing. I enjoyed this iteration of it though it's not amazing, but it was good enough that it made me go check out New Cutie Honey, a previous reboot OVA for the series from the 90s which was really fun! I'd recommend checking out both of them! Honey is a warrior of justice who starts as a beautiful blond woman and transforms into a sexy red(literally red not the orange kind) headed short hair warrior with a sword. She has other forms as well, the whole thing is about all the different cute and sexy outfits and hairstyles she wears based on the situation. She fights against a bunch of angry and ugly evil lesbians of the evil Panther Claw organization, who are straight up jealous of her beauty and shit like that. I might be hazily remembering it/that's partially my assertion and interpretation, but I think it's seriously something like that in both Universe and New. Either way, it's a fun show and I do fairly distinctly remember them acting rather feminist/misandrist-y as well. So what I'm saying is, Cutie Honey is based and redpilled. Check it out!

 

Jashin-chan Dropkick!

I mentioned this in the other post but Jashin-chan Dropkick is great.

 

It's a show about Jashin-chan, a demon from hell, who ends up summoned by a weird gothic lolita girl who likes the occult, and bought a grimoire that turned out to be real. It's a madcap comedy where she has to kill her current master to return to hell but she keeps failing at every turn, luckily she can reform after pretty much any death so it doesn't matter that she routinely ends up absolutely eviscerated by that master, named Yurine. Since she's gone so long, all sorts of demons show up like Medusa and Minos, to hang out. There also end up being less-than-pious angels who get involved, like Pekora, whose joke is that she's always flat fucking broke and working part time jobs so she can move out of the cardboard box she lives in. The comedy is dark but the tone is light, and it's very, very fun and funny. Perhaps it'll get repetitive for you but for me, it was a joy to tune in every episode and see what wacky hijinks the characters get into. You have to be okay with the suffering of both shitty characters(shitty as in shitty people) as well as the suffering of mostly innocent characters as that happens a lot, luckily Jashin-chan who is a huge selfish, greedy, slothful, wrathful, env- shit, she's basically all the seven cardinal sins. Well, she is a demon after all. Well okay, Jashin-chan, embodiment of all seven cardinal sins, gets the shaft the most, always due to her own stupidity and shitty behavior. Still, a lot of the comedy is how she's constantly using her friend Medusa as her own personal ATM, a running gag is how she finds different ways to make the acronym of ATM in regards to her because of that. Though in the end, it's made up for when she gets crushed to death or something.

Obviously you might not be into this kind of mean spirited kind of comedy, but it makes me bust a gut. If that sounds funny to you, watch this show and it's 2 sequel seasons, and currently 3 OVAs.

 

Golden Kamuy

This one just ended up shit, literally, it just became way too much literal shit jokes and other jokes that weren't very good and completely distract from the interesting story that was going on, focusing way too much on comedy which was pretty poorly done and unfunny besides. If I recall, the show was about a former soldier and an ainu girl forming a reluctant partnership and looking for a treasure, and I don't remember much else because I don't think much else even happened! I know this series is pretty popular and keeps getting more seasons even, but I just do not like it.  

 

Hakumei to Mikochi

Hakumei & Mikochi was a fun slice of life show about little sprites and other small folk from japanese folklore, and maybe even some others or possibly some of their own creation, which is about Hakumei and Mikochi who may or may not be some kind of married lesbian couple??? It's vague and unclear, it's not explicitly stated if I recall but they do come off like a couple that's been married for a while, which was actually enjoyable and refreshing. I don't wanna watch any yuri romance anime, I did previously but I've grown a distaste for yuri and lesbians in pretty much anything, but since it's not because I'm homophobic or anything I'm fine with this sort of thing. In fact I enjoyed their relationship a lot, but the main draw is just the fun little slice of life amongst the fun little sprites part. It wasn't particularly great but it's a nice laid back, soft type of show that could be very relaxing to watch. So I'd say check it out!

 

Harukana Receive

Cute fun show about sexy-cute anime girls playing volleyball. It wasn't amazing but I wanted to mention it because I did really enjoy it and it's a nice show to watch, and generally just fun anyway. If that sounds good check it out.

 

 

Hinmatsuri

This is a modern slice of life classic. It's a fun show about a weird girl with psychic powers who ends up under the care of a guy in the yakuza and they get up to all sorts of fun hijinks. While it's yet another story that sugarcoats the yakuza, I personally don't give that much of a shit. I know that's a common viewpoint these days, that they shouldn't do this because the yakuza IRL are total scumbags, worse than the mafia really, who do all sorts of shit like human trafficking, and we shouldn't romanticize them. But sorry, I'm anti-anti-romanticization of stuff that's bad IRL because they're just fucking stories and you can use your brain. Typically it's the people on the "other" "side" of the "culture war" that are against depicting things they think as bad as anything other than objectively bad, while I mostly see people on "mine" shit talking yakuza fiction. Sorry to burst your bubble, but stories that romanticize the yakuza or downplay it have existed for a long fucking time, I think since the 70s. Get over it and accept that the yakuza aren't that bad in the story's universe.

As for the show itself, I don't have a whole lot to say, despite liking it a lot, even though I enjoyed the hell out of it and thought the characters were fun. Hina was cute and weird and fun and got into lots of mischief and made her foster dad's life both more difficult, and maybe more full of love?! It was a funny and heartwarming series about family being found even in those you aren't related to. Blood may be thicker than water, but bonds are stronger than blood. Also, rebellious psychic children are a real handful. That's what I learned from this series. You should watch it!

 

How to Keep a Mummy

Don't remember too much about this show other than that it was fun and cute, it's a show about a guy who ends up taking care of this tiny lil chibi mummy and all the hinjinks related to that as well as meeting other people who take care of mini monsters like a guy who has a tiny oni. It's a simple little slice of life show and I think it was, as I said, cute and fun. Check it out if it sounds cute and fun!!! 

 

Junji Ito Collection

Just a mediocre adaptation of Junji Ito's work, but I think people were a bit too hard on it. It's still fairly enjoyable if you like Junji Ito's short stories, which I do! 

 

KOKKOKU

This one really could have been good and for a while it was. It's an interesting contemporary sci-fi series about stopping time. There's some intrigue there, with this girl getting trapped in the frozen time with the shady guys who want the technology to do it. I think. I seriously don't remember much about this show, other than the girl was cute, there was an old man, there were these weird eldritch beings that protected time that showed up if you stopped time for too long which might have been angels, and the ending was really disappointing. I was into it for a while and it was cool, artsy, had some surreal stuff in it, but yeah I just can't remember because it ended up being disappointing and it just left me. Still, it's not a generic series or something, it's got a unique concept and execution to it that you aren't gonna get often, I'd say check it out if the OP makes you interested but just keep in mind I'm not very into it. It's the kind of thing where it really sucks because it wasn't a bland show that was bad, it was an idea that had a solid potential and kinda beefed it. My explanation might be totally inaccurate too, maybe the monster things showed up when someone died in the frozen time and they came there to retrieve the bodies? I know something fucked up happens if you die while time is stopped. 

 

Yuru Camp

It's Yuru Camp, I said in the previous post that this show's a good fun show. It was a solid moe slice of life comedy and was very fun and cozy, it was so big that it actually resulted in a bunch of otaku going camping and uhhh they didn't treat the campgrounds well, oops. Regardless, the show's good, I'm sure you've seen it.

 

 

Mitsuboshi Colors 

This one is a modern moe slice of life classic. Mitsuboshi Colors is about the eponymous "Mitsuboshi Colors" who Mitsuboshi all the Colors... wait no, they pretend they're like some super important squad that protects the down and by going on missions but mostly they just have dumb kid fun and play around. Sometimes they do help out the community with their "missions" but really they mostly get into silly mischief, and annoy their neighborhood's police officer. The three principle characters are fun and play off each other well. There's the somewhat tomboyish, mischievious and very energetic Saki who is technically not the leader but tends to drive everyone forward, the shy good girl Yui who's a big crybaby and is technically the leader who starts their "missions", and Kotoha the laid back slightly kuudere girl who loves to play games and is usually on her handheld. Together they hang out in a little shack in the park I believe where they play and plan out their "missions". They interact with other characters like Officer Saito who tries to play along with them but ends up getting annoyed by these precocious children(except Yui because she's well behaved). They're all really fun and so are the hijinks they get up to, I'd really recommend it if you're in the market for a fun and relaxing show about some cute kids getting into trouble. I really miss this show. 

 

MHA Season 3

My Hero Academia S3 was the pinnacle of MHA, it was not only the best season but an absolutely fantastic one to boot. Then S4 was mediocre and S5 sucked so much I dropped it. It went down hill immediately after this. This however is fantastic and I actually recommend watching the series until All Might defeats All for One and then stopping, and just pretending that the series ended on a "The Adventure Continues" note. That is genuinely one of the best moments in all of anime, it has one of the coolest animation sequences I've ever seen that does so much of what can make an anime fight scene cool on a real, non-surface level; thematically, stylistically, emotionally, it's just amazing and is worth watching everything up until then for. Just drop it after that. 

Pop Team Epic

Well you know what this is, don't you? I really liked it and the second season, though not as much. It's really damn funny and high energy craziness, and like everyone else I remember "Hellshake Yano" every once in a while. I was really happy to see AC-bu's work in the show, Bob Team Epic was my favorite part of every episode of both seasons. I became aware of them through the music video for group_inou's HEART, which is one of my favorite songs and music videos ever. And also, the music video for group_inou's THERAPY which is also one of my favorite songs and music videos ever. I actually hadn't seen Galo Sengen until after Pop Team Epic. As for their segments for this show, I still think about "EISAI, HARAMASUKOI" as well, and several other of the bits too. The regular segments were just as fun and surreal and it's a seriously great absurdist comedy variety show, if you haven't checked it out cuz it's like a meme show well hey man, don't worry I can vouch for it that it's pretty cool. I recommend watching the version of the episodes where male voice actors play the girls because the disconnect makes me laugh. Popuko and Pipimi canonically sound like middle aged men for me. This did mean that I missed the time, just after watching Hunter X Hunter, when they were played by Gon and Killua's voice actresses and I missed out on the in-jokes to that. Oh well! Oh, yeah, that's another one of the gimmicks, they're played by different seiyuu every episode which adds to the strange and shitpost-y nature of it. The female voices are part 1 and then it repeats but with male voices in part 2, so just skip to there and watch it.  

Gakuen Babysitters

This was pretty fun not much to say here, it was just cute. It's a show about these highschoolers who have to take care of these cute lil toddlers and there's just all sorts of cute shit with that and just lil smushy baby peoples making weird smushy faces and it's cute and fun and fun and cute. Seriously what more do you want me to say? It being cute is all I remember!

 

 

Akanesasu Shoujo

I'd describe this show as "Sliders: The Anime."

 

This is, if I recall, sponsored by Sony and that's why the devices they use to hop dimensions is a Sony Walkman. Like the old 80s one, that was repurposed from a voice recorder(true story). 

 

It's a cool show, it's about a bunch of high school girls who are members of like a radio club and they test out this ritual that's supposed to transport them to other dimensions when their radios are tuned to the right frequency. It turns out this is true, and they end up hopping across dimensions and doing magical girl transformations to fight an existential threat that could destroy the multiverse. I won't spoil how things go but it gets really surreal at the end and there are some wild twists as to who's responsible for this, though I won't spoil them even though I figured it out. Not cuz it's too obvious, but because it's built up well enough. That part I think is amazing.

 

The rest of it not as much, it's good and the girls are compelling, and I enjoy all the little episodic plots of going to this fun gimmick universe, but generally it's not amazing. I also had an issue with some of the worlds which I felt didn't make logical sense, just like on a base level. Like I'm pretty sure one of them was an alternate universe where everything was just the wild west but it was like, still in Japan? How the fuck did that happen? What butterfly effect caused that?! I recall being told I was overthinking it, and Sliders did a lot of that stuff too. Normally I'd be kind of against this sort of thing because it's not really that important of an issue, it's not really internally inconsistent it's more inconsistent with our reality which this clearly isn't, but it did bother me. Also all the action scenes, though well choreographed, were 3DCG. Metallic Rouge, another Anime Original that has writing below this, has properly animated fight scenes and the characters are in full powered suites so... Either way, I think it is a good show and I remember it fondly. I thought the girls were pretty cute and likeable and the high concept sci-fi stuff was well done, a lot of the cinematography was nice too. The english title is "The Girl In Twilight", and there's fittingly a lot of great sunset shots and twilight lighting in the show, it looks really nice. I recommend it even if it isn't amazing, a lot of anime originals do end up being worse than this so while it's not as good as the greats from the past it still turned out well and you should check it out.

Also the OP is pretty dang cool.

 

 

Wotakoi!

Otaku who aren't NEETSs, hikkis, or hikkineets and actually have a job and blend in with society but are still huge nerds and also want love!? I don't remember a whole lot about it other than I think there was a kinda quirky girl who may have been a fujoshi who liked and dated a male kuudere and at one point they did one of those things dorks do where they say the first half of a reference and then the other one finishes it, he said "Asahi super..." and she said "dryyyyyy" and it was cute cuz she said it while resting her head on the couch with a smushy face. It was a good show but yeah I don't remember a ton about it, I thought the couples were fun enough and the gimmick was enjoyable. If you'd like to watch a fun little office romance show but about otaku yeah check it out!