Alright. First off, I apologize for anyone still looking at these (I doubt anyone still is but who knows). My year... wasn't nice. Especially the second half had constant little health issues that kept me very much out of the mood to write... just about anything actually. I tried a few times to get back into fanfiction but the few things I typed just never sat well with me.
But, I'm not here to talk about my crappy life but about the anime year 2016. Considering how much I have to work through, this will take some time so... be prepared for some reading. I'll break it down by seasons firsts before choosing my top rankings. Consider I kept no weekly reviews over the year, my memories of lots of titles, especially the earlier and weaker ones may be a little murky. As such I will not give ratings or an overly complicated analysis, just my general thoughts on the series.
-Winter Season-
Winter season was honestly kind of weird. There was very little special, despite some promising starts that eventually fell off slightly. My lineup consisted of a curious mix of lighthearted comedy/parody and more serious titles. Honestly the only thing that was constantly good (as expected) was Gate's second season. As such, while going in order from worst to best is kind of hard so you may consider almost everything from after the first two until Gate as on a similar level.
Active Raid
Now, don't get me wrong. The show itself isn't bad and had some decent scores. I kept with it until the end but to be frank, it never really gave me anything. Maybe it was just not my show. It has been a long time since I watched a police-themed show and I guess I just couldn't get into it. It may have been the quasi-mechas that turned me off in the end.
Dimension W
Dimension W was one of these shows that started with a strong premise, being hailed as a renaissance of old style anime in the venue of Cowboy Bebop and the like but very quickly fell off. Character development barely went anywhere and the plot choices were not exactly helping either. This show had a lot of potential and the main duo's dynamics were initially endearing. Unfortunately it never went anywhere concrete with it, instead going off into weak, confusing pseudo theories at the end. A bit of a wasted opportunity.
Musaigen no Phantom World
As KyoAnime's first production this year, I was naturally somewhat looking forward to this. In the end, while not really Kyo's best work by a long shot, it was nonetheless rather solid. The character cast was likeable enough, the episodic nature of the series which was barely connected until the end served Phantom World well enough. I even liked the ending. Musaigen no Phantom World was not Kyo's best but it was an entertaining watch all the same. I suppose not everything produced by this studio can be an instant masterpiece. ^_^
ERASED
Hoo boy. This one is hard and even harder because it's been almost a year and I barely remember all the facts but here goes. ERASED was a mixture of a very strong episodes and rather tedious ones. What the show did very well was conveying emotional scenes. Especially the arc spent in the past was definitely its strongest point while the brief return to the future and the finish in it were falling off somewhat. ERASED could have been a top title of the season and perhaps the entire year but it had issues, no question. Personally I didn't find them as hindering as others but I can't say they didn't pull it down a bit for me.
Assassination Classroom, Second Season
I never was the biggest fan off Assassination Classroom when it started. Never could quite get behind the hype despite acknowledging it as a good, solid watch. That said, the second season clearly picked up in quality as all the prepwork was starting to show for the class, throwing them into more and more trials until the eventual conclusions. I honestly can't say I ever bothered to remember even half the names in the class, yet the characteristics tended to stick and after awhile one could easily remember someone as that and that kind of character with that kind of skill etc. I still am not the biggest fan, however, the second part definitely did a lot more for me than the first.
Hai to Gensou no Grimgar
The serious one of the "transported to another world" titles. Grimgar was a bit of an odd title. The series was not so much about the grand adventure and great heroics but about "the beginning". The part often glossed over in such titles and all the struggles that come with it. The approach was a thoughtful, often times melancholic one which still worked rather well. Frankly, the pace at the beginning until THE turning point was enough that I almost dropped it, so I am glad I didn't. Grimgar will also be remembered for its musical score. It stands as one of the few series in the last YEARS that has used a copious (or any) amount of insert songs. I thought such things had died out... For that alone, I consider the show memorable at least if not particular outstanding.
Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku
Where Grimgar had a more serious tone, KonoSuba was the fun parody of the genre and generally well-appraised. I can only agree on that. The characters are a lot of fun, the humor is great. I especially liked the MC's japes and commentary and of course Megumin. There will be a second season this winter (or rather it has started by the time I manage to post this) and I am definitely looking forward to it.
Koukaku no Pandora
My... guilty pleasure of the season. I think this is the kind of title you either have to like or not. It's rather wonky with its characters, art style and... well, everything really. In the end, the cuteness factor of a catgirl robot probably drew me in and I had more than enough fun to keep me hooked. It's not the kind of anime that will win any awards for sure but it fell right into my interests.
Gate
GATE had been one of the stronger titles of 2016, with its interesting approach to the scenario and a good cast of characters but also some questionable issues than it came to real world politics and the glorification of the JSDF. The second season emphasized both the strong and weak points honestly. When it is focusing on the characters, the action and stuff concerning the fantasy side of the world, GATE shines at its strongest but whenever the Earth side intrudes with issues it becomes somewhat straining. The ending was somewhat satisfying at least, leaving enough room for more but serving as an at least somewhat decent stopping point should nothing more come after it (and it's been almost a year already, so I fear the worst).
-Winter Season-
As for other things during this first quarter of the year... I finished watching Dragonball Kai and began a second attempt at The Idolmaster. I once tried watching it but the beginning was so overwhelming with characters that I dropped it again... With some distance and the experience of Love Live behind me, I tried again and forced myself through the start. The experience was certainly rewarding and I can see why the anime has a generally good reputation. The characters were a very refreshing mixture of everything and the music was nice. Too bad that lead character Haruka was treated to about the most uninteresting (final) arc of the show which also dragged down the movie strongly as it was centered around her. Still, I would recommend Idolmaster to everyone remotely interested in the genre. Don't let the many characters introduced right off the bat overwhelm you. The show is actually quite clever and thoughtful about setting everyone up.
I also got back into Fate. Yeah, the thing I tended to diss for various reasons occasionally. Mostly, its horrifying use on German. I watched Unlimited Blade Works eventually and while I can attest its technical merits and can see why it is regarded the superior story path, it also underlined many of the things I don't like about the series. Frankly UB is a bit too dark for me. I had hard time controlling myself from not stopping after Ilya's death scene... Despite all that I actually got around to playing the game which was kind of fun and I got to see the third route which was actually a bit more to my liking even if I am not to kosher with the ending. Fate/Zero (the anime not the game) turned out to be rather refreshing in fact, with a fresh batch of characters instead of always the same thing. Despite my brief Fate rush, I honestly don't think I've gotten to like the franchise a whole lot more. If anything I prefer the lighthearted Ilya spin-off a lot more, but that's just me.
Oh, right. There was also the last bit of Fairy Tail. I honestly don't have a lot to say as the big stuff went down last season and this was more a wrap-up and the beginning of the time skip. Are we ever going to get more? If not, I will probably seriously invest time into the manga soon.
-Spring Season-
Spring Season was a lot better than Winter actually. In fact there was nothing in there that I would consider even mediocre and of course, it started the biggest surprise hit this year (for me at least): Re:Zero. As such, again, the listing is very tight and I would actually recommend each of these titles to at least some degree.
Koutesujou no Kabaneri
I am sure a lot would disagree with listing this in last place. However, I am too far at odds with this title. Initially I even fully resisted it because of the hyped up similarities to Attack on Titan which I already consider far too overrated. Shows this heavy on the action don't do too much for me anymore as the plot is often flimsy. Kabaneri certainly looks good, lots of money good. It's a shame anime with far better content do not get that much money thrown at them to make them look good... As I said, initially I resisted but eventually caved... I don't even know why anymore. It might have been that I had just some time on my hand and decided to binge watch just as the show hit its final third or so. This was both good and bad. Watching through the first stretch I found myself liking it far more than AoT. Mumei's character had a large part in this. As such her total reduction to helpless marionette, totally running counter to her character in the last stretch was more than just irksome. That final stretch was weak, even for an action-heavy series, especially since Kabaneri had so far avoided that problem. While the final actions somewhat rehabilitated the problem, it did not make the process leading up to the end go away. There were certainly some very questionable choices as a whole and frankly I am not sure I would watch another season.
Kyoukai no Rinne
I don't even have a lot to say. Rinne remains charming and funny even in this season. It's still nice enough to watch for a few good laughs but will probably never be anything special. Just about everything I said about Rinne before can probably be applied here. Rinne is one these series good for a once in a week experience but probably not very good for binge watching.
Boku no Hero Academia
I admit, I was skeptical at first. The kind of style that has a much more western touch tends to turn me off since that's not what I watch anime for. However, Hero Academia is actually oddly charming. The characters are quirky, the main character is definitely the type you can cheer for to succeed. So far, the one thing that held Hero Academia back is that the season was very much pure introduction. Some kind of adversary for the budding heroes only showed first signs at the very end. As such it feels like Hero Academia has just started, which it actually did.
Gakusen Toshi Asterisk 2
One of my favorite titles of last year returned after a short break to continue where it left off. While still one of the better entries in the franchise, the second season felt altogether a bit more shaky. While Ayato and Julis still make a strong pair, Ayato is becoming a bit too much of a Deus ex machina the more his full power unravels and the series needs to continuously make up ridiculous ways of hindering his ability just to make the fights interesting at this point. Furthermore the treatment of Saya/Kirin was a bit lackluster. I had honestly hoped for a bit more this season but, one good battle in the tournament aside, they got very low treatment. Yes, they had the rescue part but even here it was not without help. It's a shame really, they showed a great dynamic in the few instances focused on them through both seasons and the show could have done more with them. At least it would have been nice if they had done the rescue without help. I'd still watch more, of course, and hope we will get more at some point but this season was at times a bit of a letdown compared to the first... And really, what a contrast in opening (and ending) theme. This season was far inferior to the first.
Sousei no Onmyouji
Another anime I was initially skeptical of and I was quite frankly wavering several times whether to continue or not. In the end Sousei no Onmouyoji slowly grew on me over the course of its run. I cannot quite recall when the last time was that I was seriously rooting for a het couple in anime but Rokuro and Benio have a great chemistry and for a series that is primarily shounen action, the progression of that relationship is handled remarkably well. I've certainly seen worse and from things that actually focus on it. The only thing that really annoyed me, especially in the beginning, was some of the romcon. Often enough I found it somewhat cringeworth, yet in hindsight, it might have been for the better. This season was, in fact, a rather slow start where I was still trying to decide whether to like it or, in the end I came around though.
Sailor Moon Crystal Season 3
You probably guessed from the way I tore into the first two seasons that I was very wary of this. Thankfully my fears were mostly dispelled quickly. The Infinity Arc looked sharper, conveyed the story better and most importantly had more soul than the previous 26 episodes combined. I am not saying it was entirely without problems, however, it was apparent that Toei clearly understood that a lot of fans were not satisfied by the first two seasons (hell may very well freeze over ^_^) and tried a lot harder. The script was mostly followed again but this time in a way that didn't feel uninspired or was plagued by questionable divergent choices. There were a few differences that could be seen either way, yet I had no real problem with them. Perhaps I would have been more critical had I done detailed analysis. As it was, SMC finally looked what it could and should have been from the start. Not entirely perfect but a far better basis. I hope this continues into the next arc, considering this is where old anime and manga started to diverge into very different directions. If this season didn't have a lot more highlights I may have placed SMC a bit higher actually.
Haifuri
Now, you see, if the KanColle anime had been like THIS I could have gotten behind it. Haifuri had a certain charm that quickly reminded of Girls and Panzer just with ships. I wanted to place the series higher really, yet there were stretches that were not so good. The huge ship cast was often barely touched on. Aside from the bridge crew and a few others, most were defined by one-note characteristics at best. Haifuri also often dipped into silliness when its biggest strengths tended to lie in the ship battles which looked sharp and authentic even to someone who has no idea about them. At the very least the main characters were likeable enough to carry these parts well enough and the series had a fitting ending which left very little open and yet enough space for a sequel... maybe? Haifuri also had one of my (granted there were quite a few) favorite opening themes of the year. The full version is incredible dynamic.
Flying Witch
If you ever get tired of watching drama and action or just want to escape your stressful life, put on Flying Witch, prop up your feet and just enjoy. That would be Flying Witch in a nutshell. Since there wasn't much information at first, I wasn't sure what to except and just watched on the premise of magic. It wasn't what I expected... and that may very well be a good thing. Flying Witch does one thing perfectly. Atmosphere. Magic is treated in a rather grounded manner as a part of everyday witch life. There is nothing grandiose about it. No magic battles or whatnot. Just a witch and her friends (both magical and non-magical) living their lives. It sounds terrible boring, by all rights it should. However, the anime manages to introduce the small wonders of magic with such beauty, timing and atmospheric setting that it works incredible well. Flying Witch is a low-key, feel-good anime which does a lot of things right. You won't be finding any action or drama or whatnot. If you want to just relax though, Flying Witch is perfect for you. And even just as a casual watch, you cannot do anything wrong. I dare say this may very well be my surprise secret pick of the year.
Re:Zero
And here it is, the show that came out of the blue and shattered the overcrowded "transported to another world" genre... again. I'm not sure I can do it justice in just a few sentences really and won't even try. You'll find enough reviews singing praises that will tell you everything I could. What made Re:Zero incredible for me was Subaru and the way the creators clearly did not shy away from putting him through the absolute worst, almost literally throwing him off a cliff in the second half. From fanfiction writing I know about the concept of "the more you love a character, the harder you will make it for them" or something like that but clearly Subaru's treatment is very unique and makes for one of the best character developments for main characters in the genre. It took pretty much its entire run with occasional good moments, almost always followed by new lows until Subaru's full deconstruction and rebuild in the second half, highlighted by THE scene with Rem.
If I have to critic something it is the questionable choice of wrapping up the series and practically stating there won't be anything new and we should be reading the novels (which may very well be in ten years or so by the speed Yen Press is releasing LNs). While the apparently somewhat remodeled ending worked to give the story a nice wrap, it is also a good bit of disrespect for the many fans Re:Zero has gathered that clearly WANT more.
-Spring Season-
And that was Spring. As for other things I watched. After The Idolmaster I eventually dived into Cinderella Girls as well. It wasn't quite as strong as the first part... or rather it took until its second season to really stand up for itself. It seems tradition that the "main" girl tends to be the weakest link. In preparation for the reemergence of D.Gray-man I marathon-watched through the entire first two seasons and actually reaffirmed my belief that D.Gray-man is one of the better shounen series which should actually have a lot more credit to it compared to high profile franchises like Naruto etc.
I also began to read a lot of manga again. Mostly because of my eyes and that I have several periods a day where reading is the only thing I can do. I reread through Negima, went on to UQ Holder and eventually worked through Sora no Otoshimono (which I wanted for awhile). Whereas Negima still remains one of my (if not the) favorite manga series, I am not too sure what to make of UQ Holder. As I read on, I began to grow to like the new main cast a bit more, enough to keep me interested, but I frankly dislike the direction and what happened with Negi's group after all the effort they went through. Sora no Otoshimono's manga clearly showed some of the difference in the anime adaption, especially concerning the order of events etc. In the end I liked the non-animated parts well enough. The final movie was a bit of a disappointment as it turned out a bit of a messy blend of adaption for the final arc that no one would even remotely understand without the manga and even then I wasn't quite sure just what the point was in making it.
-Summer Season-
Starting with summer, I definitely had a few more weird choices in what I was watching compared to what may have been the stronger titles of the season, mostly because I just couldn't be interested in a lot of them. This season still had some good stuff, it gets more weird for Fall. ^_^ Re:Zero continued and got even better, so while I am not listing it again, assume it still in first place. Same thing goes for what I said about Rinne. In fact, almost all the titles are fairly close together and I struggled again with an order.
Time Travel Shoujo
Now first thing, even though I put it last, that doesn't mean Time Travel Shoujo wasn't at least decent. It was the kind of time travel story I could get behind... if there actually was more focus on the time travel stuff. The events in the present etc. really dragged this anime down. The historical meetings/adventure were definitely the anime's stronger point while the plot connecting it was just fairly bland. If the series had been about more famous historian meetings, perhaps on an extended run, slowly trickling down into the overreaching plot, then maybe it could have been better. This could have worked as an episodic anime for a longer run in fact. So tightly condensed into a single season, lots of its premise felt wasted. I still had fun watching it but it was a little disappointing in the end.
Ange Vierge
Probably sharing the last place with Time Travel Shoujo and again the same thing applies. I had fun but it was kind of forgettable. The plot was fairly weak considering a lot more could have been done with the premise. It was fairly predictable as well. The way what seemed to be the connecting heroine being "absent" except for the first and final episode and building the relationships and character pasts through flashbacks was mildly interesting. Predictable still but I haven't quite seen it done like this before (or at least can't recall right now). As predictable as it was, the plot was set up in a way that left things fairly conclusive for such an open world and the battle obviously still going on. This story at least felt concluded and not many anime these days can say that.
D.Gray-man Hallow
After burning through over 100 episodes mostly in May in preparation for this, I... was somewhat disappointed. The effect of reviving the franchise in animated form after several years was a tad jarring. Especially the art. I just couldn't get behind the new character style, even until the end. Most of what made D.Gray-man special was still there and we finally get a resolution to Kanda's backstory that had been teased but never really made concrete. Atop the new character design, it was also irksome to see Lenalee after finally getting an upgrade being so... absent. A lot of content was apparently stuffed into a single season which made Hallow somewhat rushed. Whatever others said, I liked the pacing of the older episodes so perhaps part of why I couldn't quite get behind Hallow is to be found here. Now, let's wait another six years until the manga might produce enough chapters to warrant another season with perhaps even more drastic art changes.
DAYS
I might be putting this one higher than the first arc deserves. In my youth I've been a big fan of Captain Tsubasa (before even knowing about the term "anime"). Inazuma Eleven never did anything for me, so I didn't bother past the opening stretch when it aired on local TV (before anime became near extinct on local TV). I was somewhat wary of Days considering it is so hard to satisfy everyone with a sports anime, especially about a sport you know in detail from watching or playing. In the end DAYS is a curious mix. It tries to be serious but often undermines this effort by gawk-worthy displays of rule-bending and tactic. At times the referee seems almost non-existent and everything seems to be fair game until the last game of the current run where "rules" are made an instrument to create a specific situation to an almost painfully obvious degree.
As such, initial reactions varied. Tsukamoto clearly carried the show, potentially a bit too much initially, to a point where the characteristics that made him shine were wearing out faster than the show could set up the rest of the team. On the other hand I also think that not enough credit has been given to this development, especially in ANN's reviews. This initial run was a 2-cour to begin with, as such it took its time. If you take the whole of it, all the major characters are slowly introduced and by the end we have a much better understanding of (almost) each starting player and even some reserves, giving the team a much better feel. I think this approach was for the best since trying to build up too many characters at once can quickly overwhelm the viewer.
DAYS is not a particularly great representation of football (I refuse to call it... that other name). That's okay though. Having watched through the entirety of Kuroko's Basket during the Fall season, I have come to believe that sports anime are probably better off to be quirky, showy and about the spectacle instead of trying to be a perfect representation of the sport. The latter will only be appealing to real fans and put off almost everyone else and it doesn't make for good entertainment. DAYS kept me entertained just enough to continue and actually want to see more of it.
Tales of Zestiria the X
Tales of-anime adaptions have me (perhaps rightfully) wary. Either it's only a short story, something incomplete or so far removed from the game that it would only work if you actually didn't like the game's plot. Symphonia's OVAs were a catastrophe for me who loves the game. The only honest adaption of a Tales of game was Abyss which kept very close to the game and was given a full run.
So, what of Zestiria the X? It's an odd candidate to be sure, one that to this day I am still not sure what to make of. Ufotable handling its presentation at the very least ensured it is the best looking Tales of-anime ever made. The plot is handled in a mixture of faithfulness and original material. For the most part this works out, getting past some shaky game logics and mechanics that would have been harder to sell in animated form, although I'm surprised the concept of Lord of the Lands was never touched on and only implied with Mariland's Seraph. For the most part the changes actually worked even if a lot of that probably depends on the particular viewer, if they played the game and whether or not they liked a particular aspect.
What kept the series from being better was wasting two episodes of its run on the promotion of Berseria. Yes, it is tied-in historically with Zestiria but it is hard to think the anime can actually tie them together in the long run to warrant this excurse. While these episodes were certainly not bad production-wise, they were something that could have been done as an OVA, or just simple stand-alone promotion episodes, much like Zestiria's prologue had been done before the game came out. Those two episodes could have been focused on more character development and touching on more plot points. It's a weird and ultimately unnecessary choice and unless I see clear evidence that those two episodes were necessary within the next season starting now, I consider them Zestiria the X's bane.
Love Live! Sunshine!!
After all that Idolmaster watching, getting back to Love Live was a nice change of pace. It's hard to say what to make of Love Live! Sunshine!! In the shadow of µ's, the new group certainly had a high hurdle to overcome. And in a way that was what defined this first season, at times a bit too obviously. Even thematically within the show this struggle was shown. For the new group µ's was both an inspiration and something they ultimately had to learn to let go and be themselves in order to truly shine. While I didn't find that narrative direction too bad, there were a lot more parallels that felt like an unnecessary homage to the original group like the whole "save our school" thing which was very uninspired and perhaps not even remotely necessary. The production of Sunshine struggled almost all season to get free from the original and stand on its own feet, just as much Chika & co did.
That said, when the show wasn't needlessly adhering to µ's, the new group definitely had their own charm. While there are some parallels, the idols in a backwater town approach actually worked rather well to set Chika and friends apart which was why some of the parallels felt forced and unnecessary. Personally I found myself liking the new group as a whole a lot more whereas I only had few characters in µ's I could get behind. Chika makes for a good lead in fact and for all its struggles, Love Live! Sunshine!! truly grew over the course of the season. Now that it is past all those stumbling blocks and Acquors can stand on their own, I have a feeling the next installment will be all the better for it.
It could have been worse I guess. Some of the problems were to be expected by replacing µ's with a new group and actually selling it. I definitely look forward to more from Acquors.
Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya 3rei
If 3rei was meant to be an apology for the season worth of filler that was 2wei Herz, then it succeeded beautifully. 3rei definitely is the best entry in the series since the first season/arc. No more (or very little) silly side gimmicks that were actually just side stories in the manga (I know this by now since I caught up on reading it) but a more serious, somewhat more darker, more Fate-like setting as we are plunged into Miyu's world and their twisted version of the Holy Grail War while still maintaining most of Prisma Illya's charm. 3rei has quite a few highlights, good battles and then there is this version of the Emiya Shirou we know from all other routes... Personally I could have done without that. His gimmick has been done to death already. Thankfully his role was fairly tame here and he didn't get to do a whole lot aside from looking cool for a moment before failing miserably so that the others – mostly Illya (it is HER series after all) could save the day. ^_^ At least for the moment. Having read up on the movie material, I am not too excited about it honestly considering the renewed Shirou focus but that's just me...
All in all 3rei was Prisma Illya at its best and since the storyline is only partially finished, I expect it to keep this level.
-Summer Season-
So much for summer. I briefly dipped into Active Raid's second season, then decided against continuing because I was once again reminded why I didn't really like it. As for other things... I watched Cross Ange, something I initially avoided during its run and feel like I shouldn't have. It's certainly different and Ange is (or becomes) as crass a heroine as rarely seen. But that's okay. The series may not be a masterpiece but it was certainly rather refreshing in the way it was handled.
I also watched Negima!? What can I say... It was... weird. While some of the inside jokes and references were fun, it was still... weird. The only thing watching this alternate reality did for me was to reaffirm that I still much prefer the original manga even with its rushed, unconcluded ending over everything animated. I don't have any hope for a proper animation of the manga either, perhaps if UQ Holder actually succeeds but considering what I've read so far, I have my doubts about that.
The next Digimon Tri movie was also out this season... And boy was it depressing. Entirely too depressing for me at that point. Oh sure, it was well-done that way, however, in my mood during that time, I wasn't too thrilled about it.
I caught up with the Nanatsu no Taizai manga on the reading end. But that was about it, because a lot of my reading time went into research and writing up stuff on Fire Emblem Awakening which I could finally play after getting a 3DS cheap in July.
-Interlude-
Regalia: The Three Sacred Stars
It is hard to discuss this in one season as it started in summer, got delayed after four episodes, eventually restarted and then finished somewhere in the middle of Fall. I don't usually watch mecha anime with a few exceptions as such I will admit unashamed I was mostly watching for the premise of cute loli sisters... ahem. Anyway, Regalia isn't half-bad. I have little basis to measure it against other entries in the genre after all but what I saw was at least entertaining enough to keep me watching and even to pick it up again after the break. The interaction was nice and I liked the characters here, even if a lot of stuff is barely touched upon and almost everyone except Rena and Yui have particularly little character development. We know practically nothing of Tia and Sara's backstory. They are just kind of there. Johan is a rather annoying villain who doesn't exactly have a lot of depth either. The restart did the series some good I think. Without having compared the first four episodes side by side, it was my expression that the animation looked a good bit sharper, especially during the action scenes. In the end, I doubt a mecha fanatic will get much out of this one. If you are just in for the cute girls, it's a decent watch with a satisfying ending. The opening and ending theme are also quite catchy.
-Fall Season-
Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku
Let me be frank. I just want to forget this show existed.
...
Do I actually have to say something? Okay, I guess. First off, putting this anime in last place is not exactly a measure of quality. It is entirely unfair, personal bias influenced by my general mood during this season especially. Granted, I knew I was getting into something dark. Unfortunately I wasn't quite prepared how gruesome this was going to get. Gruesome to a point where with every new death one would get a little more desensitized until you barely had a reaction to it anymore. At the very least even at the point, MGRP (short for the English name) manages to at least make some of the "twists" surprising. However, without any real shock value it is hard to say whether that really worked as intended.
I could go on and on about this but I don't feel like doing that or talking about it at all. If MGRP actually tried to be a critic of the darker trend in the genre, then I'm not sure it quite succeeded. At least not as intended. For me, I think I'll be quite happy in the future to just watch cutesy magical girl anime. So, yes, in the end MGRP had shock value. It was shocking how absolute it was in destroying the genre, its characters and any sort of enjoyment I could have pulled from it. I only pulled myself through because I wanted to see the end, now I'm glad to put it behind me.
Damn you for having such a good opening and ending theme that I had to put it in my playlists... So much for forgetting.
Show by Rock!! #
I am still amazed I could be bothered to watch another season of too-many-in-a-short-time bands, weird CG, unnecessary monster battles and far too little actually MUSIC.
Okay, the second season actually did a wee bit better. The entire thing would still be better without the evil music/destruction themes but the rest felt a bit more focused. We didn't have a whole lot new bands, which was good. The CG is still there and I still don't like it but I guess I can live with that. There was some nice music but also by far not enough. The first new song of Plasmagica was partly cut-off and used as background for the recovery of one of the season's "villains" (read: pawns). This was a shining example how irritating I find the way music is treated in a show where it is supposed to be the primary theme. In the end there is always still Cyan. Who can resist catgirl Cyan? ^_^
Shakunetsu no Takkyuu Musume
This show went a little under the radar it seems and it irks me to have seen it mentioned in one of the worst anime of the year by one of the ANN cast. Oh sure, I won't deny it is rather uninspired but the premise alone carries it somewhat, along with the dynamic lead pair. I cannot recall having ever seen an anime about ping pong/table tennis. I used to play whenever we were on vacation as a kid/teenager, so I have some leftover love for the sport, although I was never interested in watching official games. Scorching Ping Pong Girls is quirky, with weird, rather one-note characters but they are all likeable. While everything around it is unoriginal and not exactly gripping whenever the girls get to play a match, the show picks up intensity and is actually very fun and entertaining to watch. The anime certainly won't win any awards but in a season with death galore MGRP or the more serious Izetta, these girls playing Ping Pong with an ecstatic passion (pun intended!) was just right as a counterbalance for me.
Stella no Mahou
What goes for the previous title, goes double for this one. I don't particularly watch Slice-of-Life in such a mundane fashion much. There is far too little happening usually and Stella no Mahou is in fact all the things I usually do not like unless I can get totally behind characters and concept which wasn't even really the case. I did like the humor in this one though and the characters were at least enjoyable enough to keep me hooked. In the end, in a season without titles that tended to pull me down and without my general mood, I am not sure Stella no Mahou would have survived the first few episodes, however, as it is, I cannot say I was really bored by it in the end either. Production-wise it's a bit better than Shakunetsu no Takkyuu Musume, so I put it slightly higher.
Lostorage Incited Wixoss
I am at odds with this quasi-sequel. Okay, fine, it is a sequel... and therein already lies part of the problem. Tying it to the original series where the plot seemed to have been resolved doesn't work so well. Factor in a character of the side manga which not everyone will have read but only makes sense if you did, and you are often left with more questions than you will actually get answered. Lostorage may have been better off as a fresh restart.
Aside from that, the series suffered from a terrible villain while the relationship between the two main girls pulled it through, at times to near insufferable degrees as the umpteenth flashback could get rather tiresome. At its best Chinatsu and Suzuko could pull along this installment rather well, at it worse the repetition got tiresome rather quickly. At least Hana made a good side character whereas everyone else barely got enough depth for anyone to care about. Had the season (? There apparently seems to be more coming) ended with the fight between Suzuko and Chinatsu, it may have been better off. The final battle was a shining example of mind-boggling rule manipulations, rules most of us barely understand at all unless you actually play the game. The "epilogue" made for a decent, bittersweet end at least. However, in the end, Lostorage suffered from too many discrepancies between highs and lows along with rather uneven pacing and a bad villain.
Shoushin Shoujo Matoi
I quite liked this show and going by the recent review, it seems that the only reason it did not get weekly ones on ANN was its lackluster start. Okay, sure Matoi suffers from weakly-developed enemies but then again that is the case for so, so many shows that I barely bat an eye anymore. Aside from that I have little too complain. Matoi makes for a lovable heroine and Yuma is a hoot (honestly, watch the recap episode told from her perspective ^_^). Aside from the initial "fanservice", it was never played up very high and actually became near non-existent (I'm talking about the vanishing clothing after transforming). The art was a bit weird at times but actually fairly pretty for the most part. The background music was one of the stronger ones this season (and opening and ending are quite nice as well).
Also, Matoi featured a fairly good relationship depiction between father and daughter in an awkward position that was developed all season and ended on a high note with the final scenes before and after the final battle. You do not see that very often, so it sticks out. The ending was satisfying enough.
In the end, the only thing really holding Matoi back is that it never does anything really spectacular or noteworthy (aside from the Shingo-Matoi relationship). It panders somewhere in the comfortably decent to good category, making it a good watch but probably not something you'll be hurrying to revisit.
Brave Witches
I did not want to like this. When I heard about a new series, I was hoping for another batch with the 501st, especially after the movie was actually setting things up nicely for another story. As such I was sorely disappointed by learning we'd get another batch of witches. So, I began watching warily and with a bit of lingering irritation.
Yet, in the end, Hikari and the rest of the Brave Witches managed to worm themselves into my heart just a little bit. While not quite Yoshika/Lynette, there was a nice even if rather stereotype dynamic between Hikari and Kanno and Hikari as the new lead girl was different enough from Yoshika for it to not get repetitive. Whereas the latter had the talent but not the military training (or even interest), it was pretty much the other way around for Hikari. The production as a whole was stable enough and we got to see some interesting, so far unseen tactics/variations with the Neuroi. Of course, nothing new about the mysterious invaders has been revealed, in fact there wasn't even a smidgeon of an attempt to do so like in Strike Witches. Not that I expected anything.
The entire "plot" was fairly predictable though. Unfortunately with a new batch, the entire setup was basically a restart of Strike Witches (several side reference and the brief cameos of Eila and Sanya), casting Hikari in Yoshika's role and getting to know the other members bit by bit (or episode by episode) while dealing with various Neuroi threats and culminating in one big battle with a predictable, partly acceptable, partly unbelievably ridiculous end. What irked me here wasn't how the predictable finish after temporarily taking Hikari out of action came about. It was more that the victory in the end was... too easy. Considering what both Yoshika and Sakamoto had to sacrifice to bring down the nest, it was a tad mind-boggling how the entire wing came out of it relatively unscathed.
So... In the end, I still would have preferred Strike Witches season 3 but this one wasn't at all as bad as I expected (or in a small, vindictive part would have hoped).
Shuumatsu no Izetta
This one was strongly reminiscent of last year's Maria, the Virgin Witch, taking a pseudo-historical backdrop and adding a fantastical spin to it. For the most part Finé and Izetta were a good lead duo, even if Izetta tended to be a bit passive. The interaction was fairly strong and I really liked their dynamic, regardless of whether you want to see it as pseudo-Yuri or not. I really wanted to like this more and give this a better rating.
So why didn't I? Predictability. That this was going to end with at least one of them potentially dying at the end was a feeling that persisted from a rather early point. A lot of the plot directions were also not exactly innovative. At the very least the series managed to actually land the best possible compromise for an ending. I admit, I did not expect the last scene. Sure, it was left vague enough as to Izetta's actually physical (and mental) state but doing it like this kept Izetta firmly in the good rating at the very least.
Vivid Strike
I was skeptical. I fully admit I was fairly admit I was skeptical about a spin-off of a fluffy spin-off of my favorite franchise. But hey, I gobble up anything remotely related to Nanoha (let's not talk about Force, thank you very much). So, here I sat down and wondered just what I was getting into.
In short, Vivid Strike may very well be what Vivid perhaps wanted to be but never could due to its premise and connections. Vivid is a fluffy, feel good anime with some controlled martial arts battles but zero suspense or deeper storytelling as defined all of Nanoha's three seasons. Constant reminders of older characters also don't help to set it apart. Vivid Strikes makes the step out of the comfort zone by having just the Vivid cast (okay fine plus Nove and a brief appearance of Lutecia as the only real StrikerS characters aside from Vivio). They also take a much more supporting role while the show focuses strongly on the two main girls Fuuka and Rinne.
And focus is the right word. Vivid Strike feels much more structured and with intended direction than Vivid ever did. It's a well-constructed story about two childhood friends and their different paths in life before they met again in the arena of Strike Arts. While Fuuka is supposed to be the new main character, she is a tad too one-dimensional at times and I wish a bit more depth would have been given to her. The real gem here is Rinne. Episode 4 may have been the single-most emotionally-charged and captivating episode this year with the exclusion of a multitude in Re:Zero. Honestly I can't recall when an episode had me so emotionally invested and riled up in a long time. I still remember being affected the rest of the evening (at least).
The battles were also handled rather well. In fact I was sort of shocked by the raw violence here. Vivid never even scratched that and even Nanoha only had very little of such. Of course, it was mostly about magic fights and damage but still... That Vivio actually won in her fight with Rinne came a bit surprising. Frankly, I was almost sure that the matches would be easy to figure out. It gave Vivio a short moment to shine as well but also set things up nicely for the eventual fight between Fuuka and Rinne. And boy, that one was really going strong. Good old-fashioned beat some sense into your enemy (estranged friend) if talking doesn't help. Very reminiscent of Nanoha, only with full contact instead of pink beams of mass destruction. ^_^
Vivid Strike has managed to stand on its own feet. Sure, you can be a bit lost about some of the characters, especially if you only have the anime as a basis but since the story is mostly about Rinne and Fuuka, that is not such a big deal. I wouldn't go as far as to say this anime was spectacular, however, it was much more than I had expected. Above all else Vivid Strike feels more like Nanoha than Vivid, even though it actually manages to break away from the original crew and setting much better. It’s the spirit that counts here and in that Vivid Strike was a much more worthy successor to Nanoha than Vivid ever could hope to be.
Flip Flappers
If there was an odd title that came out of left field and with much room for discussion, it would be this one. Unfortunately a good bit of that discussion also came from the change of script writer around halfway through the run and the Evangelion-esque full turn it brought on. Whether the original script would have been better or the change was actually necessary to prevent a potential catastrophe, we will never know. As such Flip Flappers can only be judged by what we have.
The first part was quirky, colorful, somewhat magical and altogether weird. In a good sense. Even if you weren't out to analyze the heck out of the show, you could still have fun with the various themes. Papika and Cocona definitely made Kumiko and Reina some competition for Yuri couple of the year... and in the end even overtook them as we got as clear as a confession out of them as is possible in anime not exclusively shoujo ai while Eupho took a lot of the focus away from Reina this season.
Then came the second half, the scriptwriter change and whereas up to this point Flip Flappers was as scarce with any revelations as possibly, all of a sudden a big info dump was presented in a very Evangelion-like parallel that probably left a lot of viewers irritated and disappointed. It did for me. Not just because the material has been worn out over the years or that it doesn't interest me, the direction completely turned around at this point and everything that made the first half fun was suddenly missing. Flip Flappers still looked fairly good but it didn't feel like it anymore. In some way I was very much reminded of Plastic Memories, only that PM obviously intended to go that way (regardless of whether it was the right choice or not). Here, we just don't know what the original writer actually had planned.
What saved the series was that it managed to score a good landing in the end despite all the whiplash that occurred from the direction change. The final two episodes returned to form just in time and we actually got a sort-of confession in the end. I mean, I've heard a lot of "I love you" in these situations where it's usually meant in a friend way despite whatever emotional charge is there, here it felt a lot more genuine. I am not sure where Flip Flappers would have landed in a season with more stronger titles (for me). If you can ignore the strange direction it takes part way through, this anime was certainly one if not the most unique one this year.
Keijo!!!!!!!!
Okay, technically I should not list it here since I only watched it while writing this up (meaning quick binge watching) but I just can't leave it out of the rating for the year, especially since it makes my Top 10 a tad easier.
Quite frankly this series is brilliant. What looks at first glance as a very clean cut ecchi-bordering-on-hentai premise is played so seriously that even at its "lowest" you cannot help but laugh. Honestly I don't think I had a series in quite awhile that made me snicker uncontrollably as much as Keijo did. To quote Theron Martin over on ANN. "The show's thoroughly wonderful perverseness is a masterstroke in execution." (Episode 4 Review) This actually sums up nicely a core part of what makes Keijo stand out as something that could be seen as a revolution in the genre. The series is really, really perverted but it is played so seriously that you are constantly at odds in how to take it. Whereas in other anime of this nature most of what is happening would only produce eye rolls at best, here all the crazy techniques work in an awesome way to keep you constantly entertained. Honestly I laughed so hard at "Gate of Bootylon", especially with the recent fate experience from earlier in the year behind me. The fanservice is also incredibly well-handled. Never lingering too long and keeping in line with how serious these girls and the show itself takes their sport. By all rights this blend of serious sport anime and very, very ecchi premise should not work. But it does in Keijo and as such becomes not just a true hidden gem but perhaps even a Masterpiece.
The main character are all rather lovable as well. The only thing that hurts a little is how poor Aoba is never getting any slack and the show's eventual "antagonist" are introduced rather late. Yet, even this is handled much better than many other anime I've seen do over a much large run.
Seriously, I regret totally missing out of watching weekly. This wasn't even because I was turned off by the premise, it just kind of slipped by me for some reason. And don't be turned off by the premise. Just don't. Once you get into it, you'll have one fun ride for twelve episodes of a nicely compacted story with a satisfying end (leaving both potentially more or serving as a nice finishing point) and many, many perverted jokes, often in parody to other anime or genre in general, that just make you holler. I'd actually consider Keijo better than KonoSuba on a whole because the latter was never meant as anything more than a fun parody and it was good at that. Keijo combines genres that should never be combined to such an excellent degree that I can only clap and bow. It is better than Flip Flappers by a margin, mostly because Flip Flappers screwed up about one fourth of its run.
Hibike! Euphonium 2
Being my top pick of 2015 (by a very minor margin of personal preference over Gakkou Gurashi), I was naturally looking forward to this and had almost expected nothing this year to be better for me... That was before Re:Zero, of course. Sure, sequels/second seasons of hit titles almost always have a hard time living up to expectations. However, I had faith in Kyo to pull off something remarkable again.
And they did, for the most part. Everything that made Eupho such a great success last Summer was still present. Incredible beautiful and expressive scenes highlighting the individual dramas, Kumiko being Kumiko, at least one great musical performance that in its detail was utterly epic and a genius stroke of animation...
Yet, all in all, Eupho 2 felt just a smidgeon off at some points. The opening material was a tad hard to swallow since the two new girls were sort of dumped on us. Yet, even this stretch helped to set things up nicely. There was a bit less of Reina unfortunately, yet in its place came more Kumiko-Asuka interaction which also played out nicely and served as the high point of the character growth Kumiko underwent throughout these two seasons. She is now a person who can voice her feelings and thoughts and in her own strange way has managed to connect to many in the band because she cannot leave problems alone. While I am sad that we didn't get a whole lot more Kumiko-Reina and that the material persisted to push Reina's stupid crush on Taki that neither of us cares about to the forefront, there was more than enough other material and great character interaction that I can live with this. I mean, I was never hoping for a love confession. That just wasn't happening. ^_^
The ending was a bit low-key but that was probably intended. Having them win gold right there would have been a tad to unbelievable for a show so well-constructed anyway and this way it leaves goals for the band going into a new year without the parting seniors. Eupho ended with Kumiko's sad tears about Asuka's parting but with determination going forward. I, too, am sad to see this amazing piece of animation go but feel very blessed to have been along for the ride.
-Fall Season-
And that's it for Fall. There was one more technically which I shall not deem with a proper comment as it is now abandoned. Yes, I am talking about Appli Monsters... I refuse to even call it Digimon. If this is what happens if an old franchise is transitioned into the present, I pass, and rather take the ultra-depressing Tri over it. The characters are bad, the story is meh, the music... Oh god, the absence of Wada is clear as day but even with that in mind, it's just horrible. I am not quite sure how I managed to sit through the length of almost an entire cour but when subs were delayed at some point around Christmas, it finally gave me an opportunity to break free of that horrible crap. It seems this one is connecting right where the bland third part of Xros Wars left off. In fact, the third part of Xros Wars was better than this (and this says a lot).
As for binge watching. First off I caught up with Naruto since the anime finally caught up with the end of the manga after what feels like a decade. I was prepared to skip a lot of filler... but strangely didn't even find most of them skip-worthy. While not necessarily outstanding, the dreamworld arcs in the Infinite Tsukyomi weren't too bad and the backstory for Hashirama's era was also quite nice (was this in the manga? I actually don't know anymore since it's been so long).
The rest of the time was spent (as briefly mentioned earlier) working through the entirety of Kuroko's Basket. I've always been a deprived fan of the sport. Deprived mostly since getting to see NBA games here without paying extra is almost impossible and that's often not worth it for me. I am not very interested in the local scene either, so... Kuroko's Basket was a lot of fun. There was a review over on MAL that actually says it nicely (the top one). This is how a sport's anime should be. Not too lost in technicalities, a bit quirky, flashy and explosive with good characters and creating the right kind of atmosphere. I had a lot of fun watching this, even if the outcomes of the games were often quite predictable (especially for the Winter Cup, the match ups were pretty much clear even before the quarter final was played).
On the reading front, I caught up on the Prisma Illya manga. Not much to say here since the only thing new was the backstory for Miyu and Shirou so far. What is quite obvious is just how the debacle that was 2wei Herz came to be. About third fourth of this season felt like filler... And that is because pretty much all of it IS filler (side stories in the manga). Originally there was no gap between the fight with Bazett and moving to secure the Eight Card (starting with the beach episode) and Miyu's abduction happened right after the battle with the card. This would have added the kind of punch that would have made for an excellent and shocking cutting point for Zwei. Reading it like this only reaffirms my opinion from back then that it would have been better to make the original Zwei slightly longer and just attach the final stretch to it and treat the other stuff as specials just as they were intended. Of course, I assume the way the anime was split was done as to not catch up too fast to the manga. Unfortunately it really hurt at least Herz in the process.
Long-term Anime
Not a whole lot here, as Fairy Tail ended (for now) and I already said what I wanted, so...
One Piece
We are FINALLY out of Dressrosa. For as much as I loved the arc, it dragged on and on... and on..... and on. You get the picture. Especially the ending of the Luffy VS Doffy fight was almost needlessly prolonged. The potential alliance brought an interesting component for the future and all the focus on those seemingly side characters in this arc actually makes a lot more sense now.
The filler was short and unremarkable. Not particularly bad but... nothing much else either.
The new arc definitely brought a fresh breath to the series again with a ton of new revelations and even more potential alliances in the making. Just short of the end of the year, we were also treated to one of the bigger surprise twists in awhile, being delivered in strong One Piece fashion that keeps the series special. It will be interesting to see where the story goes from here since there are now two potential targets.
Precure
I put it in one. Frankly I have half-forgotten about the ending of Princess already. ^_^ All I know is that the head villain was as bad going out as the last few. Yui had another shining moment and cemented her role as best regular human support character in the franchise ever. And that's about it. Everything I said for the last report pretty much still stands.
Now, as for Mahoutsukai. The utter mess of subbing after Doremi jumped off aside, I am even more unsure what to make of this one as I have been about all the other titles since the Smile disaster. In many ways it feels like Mahoutsukai doesn't quite know just what it wants to be. Like, for example, the theme is clearly focused on magic but the battles tend to waver in what they display. At some points it's almost as bad as Smile, falling back to standard Magical Girl formula of standing around talking, taking hits and suddenly remembering they have an ultimate attack, perhaps kicking the monster once (maybe) and then just blasting it. I say it again, seeing this done in Precure is what pissed me off in Smile and to some degrees anything beyond that. Precure (before Smile) has always been about some hard contact fighting along with glittery attacks. Of course, sometimes the current girls remember that they actually can get physical and do so fairly well. Which, of course, runs somewhat counter to the magic theme. Magic that I wish could have been used in combat a bit more creatively. I mean the attacks aren't exactly anything different from what other teams have done. The four different core transformations are a nice touch, something I wished to have seen in previous titles (I'm looking at you Happiness Charge) but the gimmicks quickly get old and it seems more often than not that transformations are chosen by random, cycling through the sets in some way, instead of matching the situation (more like matching the situation to the current transformation).
The character are also hard to grasp. Riko has more development on her whereas Mirai is kind of... just there. There is very little depth to her beyond what we learn initially. Haa-chan may very well be the most developed character, literally. Her growth from baby to full adult and third Cure was perhaps one of the most natural lead ups to a mid-season new Cure in like ever (considering Hikari and Mint are technically extras and not Precures). It was a logical step in many ways but was also presented fairly well unlike the incredible blatant "reveal" from Twilight to Towa to Scarlet or the Deus ex machine dump in Doki (yes, I mean you Aguri).
As for world-building. Wellll... The initial premise was interesting. Kind of an Harry Potter meets Precure style (honestly the references were very, very blatant starting with the train station already). I was at first a little put off that they left magical school behind so fast but in the long run it became clear that the show was trying to promote the interaction between both worlds, including friends from both sides meeting. For the most part this was handled okay, even though I honestly think the characters from the magical world are by far more detailed and memorable, creating a bit of a discrepancy.
What irked me more is the way the entire situation of impending apocalypse is handled. Mirai, Riko and Haa-chan seem to not care at all once they are done with a battle but on the other hand, everyone tiptoes around them with information. Information that takes a long while to come about and often feels just a little too late.
This may very well be the first time in quite awhile (since Heartcatch and Suite I think) that we have gotten absolutely no direct interaction with the head evil. If it stays nothing but a voiceless force of destruction/embodiment of chaos that would actually be preferable. Trying to create some kind of personality and motivation that we are supposed to care about now would be detrimental and make it perhaps worse than Plothole Dune. On a whole it seems enemies in Precure are getting worse and worse, which seemed hardly possible considering how the franchise was never particularly known for creating good, detailed opposition. Once again, a lot of where I would put Mahoutsukai in the end depends on how it wraps up. One thing I can say for sure already... That magic chant is damn annoying. I kind of got desensitized by now but somewhere midway through I was seriously wondering when I would snap hearing it just about all the time.
Charts
Best Anime 2016 (by newly aired, omitting series like One Piece)
1. Re:Zero
2. Hibike! Euphonium 2
3. Keijo!!!!!!!!
4. Flip Flappers
5. Flying Witch
6. GATE
7. Fate/kaleid Prisma Illya
8. Vivid Strike
9. KonoSuba
10. Haifuri
Frankly, the second half is very tight and titles like Grimgar or Pandora could have easily been in there. Haifuri wins by a margin of personal enjoyment over Love Live (mostly because of all the unnecessary µ's references). In fact, while I ranked Pandora higher, I put KonoSuba in here since in all fairness it was the better title production-wise, the Winter ranking was purely by personal bias. ^_^
Biggest Disappointments
Normally this would be biggest flops but I managed to avoid or abort stuff that really could be fitted in here. So I renamed the category even though it may still be misleading. What I mean with biggest disappointments are anime that squandered a lot of potential through questionable choices (think Plastic Memories last year).
1. Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku
2. Dimension W
3. Koutesujou no Kabaneri
The first should be obvious from my comments. Less a disappointment than a rage-worthy irritant. Dimension W squandered a decent premise and Kabaneri undermined Mumei's character too much. I might have put Active Raid in here but as I said that was mostly my personal lack of enjoyment.
Not sure if I actually will be doing more permanent write-ups again. I certainly won't for the next season. You know... Winter Comedy 2017 (KonoSuba, Dragon Maid and to some degree Interview with Monster Girls). Not sure what I should even write about these. ^_^
Until next time... whenever this may be. If someone were to actually comment, I might be tempted to care.
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