Forum - View topicThe Best Anime of 2018
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killjoy_the
 Posts: 2460 |
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Oh yay it's that time of the year where I can pinpoint which of the reviewers have the same taste as me so I can look forward to things they're reviewing and stay away from some other shows.
So, both Paul and Amy are actually in the same boat. I dropped 1 of their top 5, didn't bother watching 2 of them, and 1 other I finished but thought was just okay. But 1 of them is also in my top five! That's a win for me. Lauren faces a similar situation with 1 dropped, 2 in the 'didn't bother' part but 2 of them are in my top five(extended*)! Way to go Lauren, now you just need to like Gundam Build Divers and we'll be okay. As for best twist, I guess I'll go with Planet With's spoiler[the villains win! Sort of Instrumentality style!] Both how it happened and how it got resolved spoiler[pretty much just telling people they're strong enough to live their own lives in a non-patronizing way and people themselves choosing to wake up from the dreams] was really good. But then again that series had like 3 endings, so I don't even know if this classifies as a twist. |
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ThatGuyWhoLikesThings
Posts: 1011 |
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I haven't watched many anime this year, so it wouldn't be inaccurate to say my Top 5 is actually my Only 5.
5. Kakegurui (it didn't premiere in the west until 2018 so it counts sort of) - This is basically Kaiji if it cared less about the gambling specifically and more about showcasing these twisted personalities and their equally twisted playstyles. Unbelievably fun. Also super gay. More so in the sense that half the time I can't tell if these girls wanna make out or ruin each other's lives, but isn't that what makes for the best romances? 4. SSS.Gridman - I've been keeping up with the dub so I have a couple episodes left, but what an incredibly compelling production from start to finish. *Dripping* with passion, no matter the episode. And even if I didn't want to talk about that or the big love letter to tokusatsu that this show is, the human elements of this show, tied together by Akane and Rikka, all of it just comes together so beautifully. 3. Happy Sugar Life - No doubt among the most controversial picks I could've gone with, and for good reason: It's not a pleasant show with pleasant people, and the premise doesn't even *try* to make itself sound appealing. But there's something weirdly fascinating watching these messed up characters trying to find out how to cope with their individual traumas, regardless of how unhealthy or destructive it is. Few of them feel like actual *people*, and the whole thing is kinda messy, but it's got a heart. A weird, screwed up, unsettling, tragic heart. 2. Hinamatsuri - Speaking of heart, this one is the epitome of that. I don't think I've ever seen an anime in recent memory just master two totally different tones before. Hinamatsuri feels like 3 completely unique shows melded into one, and it all somehow feels totally natural. I can spend 10 minutes busting a gut at a middle school girl making or being forced into horrible life choices simply because she doesn't know how to say "no", and then crying at a homeless girl desperately trying to survive and learning to appreciate and value the things around her. By some miracle, it all works. 1. Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai (still not a fan of that badly translated name but w/e)- Everything about this just...lands for me. Some might say it's just a Monogatari or Oregairu wannabe, but this already carved out it's own identity by episode 3, and it's only gotten better. It hits so many different notes on the trials and tribulations of adolescence and relationships and it *gets* them so well, approaching all of it with high nuance and empathy. Every problem dealt with is so relatable but specific enough to feel natural for each character's personality. It very deliberately steps around many of the usual trappings of romance anime with an incredibly well-developed lead couple that avoid many common contrivances that plague the genre. I really could gush about this show all day, it's become a new overall favorite for me. Actually an honorable mention would be Bloom Into You. If I watched more of it, it'd probably be higher than Kakegurui, but I'm quite behind on it. Best Plot Twist? Weeeeell. SSS.Gridman spoilers: spoiler[The fact that Akane lives right next door to the shop. I think that what gets me the most is that we're outright told she's Rikka's neighbor several times earlier on, but I think most people either glossed over that or just forgot about it. But I don't think anyone was quite expecting the episode to build up the journey to Akane's house to be some kind of epic march...and they just casually stroll over to the next house down. This one is more for the comedic value than something that drastically affects the narrative or how we understand it or the characters. It's just really funny.] |
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Takkun4343
 Posts: 1515 Location: Englewood, Ohio |
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5. Doreiku the Animation - Now, I could have put any worthier anime here. Attack on Titan S3, FLCL Alternative, B: The Beginning... but I chose this because no one else was gonna vote for it (well, most weren't), so someone had to. Also because I honestly find it underrated. I'll admit that its production values were far from stellar and the premise of partaking in a game that allows you to enslave others was enough to make plenty steer clear before it came, and the fact that one of the SCM users was spoiler[the ghost of another user's mother possessing her son's body in the form of a split personality] was dumb enough to void any suspension of disbelief, but dammit, I liked it! I liked that everyone had their own reasons for using the SCM, both honest and otherwise. I liked that both before and after the SCM game, the characters were all connected in various ways. I liked all the crazy sh*t the show pulled once it hit the ground running with its plot. I liked how spoiler[the scene at the start of episode 1 demonstrating an example of SCM usage wound up foreshadowing the surprise final boss.] And I liked how it ended with little to no loose plot threads - less than FLCL Progressive, even! - and no stupid catches to piss off the handful of dedicated viewers left. It may not have been "good", but it was fun, which to me is as good as being "good". I'm confident that the ten or twenty other shows I didn't watch this season were better than this, but even so, Dorei-ku is one of the best seasonal anime I did choose to watch, and for that it has all the respect it previously lost when it failed to go "all BDSM all the time" like my inner deviant hoped it would. 9/10.
4. March Comes in Like a Lion 2nd Season - I'll be brief, since this was technically a 2017 show, but this season really improved on the first. Between many of the characters having grown on you so much that their annoying traits from season 1 were next to nothing and Rei's development in more ways than one (especially the social quadrant), SHAFT really knocked it out of the park with a show that was a pleasant watch, even with the not-so-feel-good subject matter. 9.5/10, And yes, the missing half-point is because I'm still sour about that time Smith-san and Yanagihara got all over Rei for his inadvertently making the annoying tics of his one-time shogi opponent of the week even more annoying. 3. Happy Sugar Life - A controversial yet intriguing premise. Characters that straddle the line between likeable and unlikable at any given moment. An atmosphere that exudes greater horror than works with a higher body count, or at least bear reliance on jump scares. Visual direction one wouldn't expect out of the freshman effort of an unknown studio. There's so much to love about this, no matter how much it tells you you shouldn't like it. For all of its possible flaws, which are already of little concern to me, Happy Sugar Life was a damn good series. It's telling that I quit watching Anime FMK before its inevitable (and announced!) end because I couldn't bear the knives it ultimately had to take thanks to Ben Creighton's poor tolerance for the delightfully disturbing. (Kirran's play-by-play rundown of episode 1 during the preview special was much preferable to Ben recapping the first two in his usual way in an increasingly sickeningly sarcastic tone.) It exists because it has to be seen, so no matter how much you want to quit watching, just watch it. 9.5/10. 2. Pop Team Epic - One of my most anticipated anime of the year, I actually held back from watching it the first week after finding out Popuko and Pipimi were gonna be voiced by guys. But once I got over that, sat down, and watched it, I never looked back. Hit or miss, Pop Team Epic is an unparalleled ride, from the expected absurdity of both the standard skits and the story portions to the craziness of the felt puppet musical shorts and muthaf**king Bob Epic Team. And that's not even getting into its nonexistent sister series Hoshiiro Girldrop, the one anime I want made outside of my original 12-episode idea I "premiered" on my home message board this season. (Think Senran Kagura meets Serpico meets Without a Trace.) Safe to say, if [adult swim] premiered it to test the non-action waters six months after its premiere, you know it's good. 10/10, still thinking about Hellshake Yano. 1. Mr. Tonegawa: Middle Management Blues - The barrier to entry for this series (read: both seasons of Kaiji) is considerably high, but with or without, this series proves that even without the people Callum May said were responsible for its greatness, Madhouse still has it. I mean, what other spin-off anime would bring back most of the same crew, Korean outsourcers and all, with the original director occasionally on board in order to bring that vision to life? A FKMT spin-off is still FKMT, and Tonegawa adds a comic bent that while I'm sure would ruin Kaiji for a number of you, be it by either making Hyoudou more hilarious than monstrous or painting Kaiji himself as the unwitting villain, adds to the show's universe in a seamless manner and expands upon it in ways you wouldn't consider following the Ultimate Survivor himself. There's a lotta fun to be had about this show, between the misadventures of Tonegawa and his team of blacksuits and Ootsuki's one-day trips to savor the best Japanese food culture has to offer, sometimes at the expense of others, and Jay Kabira's energetic narration, laden with Engrish and English alike, only enhances each experience, enough to make you both miss Fumihiko Tachiki and consider Kabira a fitting replacement. I looked forward to this show every week, and I'm proud to say that it's my undeniable anime of the year (of what I watched). 11/10, based and Teiaipilled. |
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Angel M Cazares
 Posts: 5446 Location: Iscandar |
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The anime has not ended yet. The last episode is supposed to air Friday. |
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joeydoa
Posts: 121 |
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My best five:
1. Hi Score Girl (just rewatched it on netfilx) 2. Rascal Does not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai (fantastic coming of age similar to My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU) 3. Mitsuboshi Colors (fantastic slice of life in the vein of Non Non Biyori) 4. Tonegawa Middle Management (like others said: to really get the most out it watching both seasons of Kaiji is ideal - maybe necessary) 5. Zombie Land Saga (touching genre bending idol series - the episode with Saki and her past as a sukeban is pure heaven) |
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zrnzle500
 Posts: 3767 |
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Honorable Mentions: (in no order) Gintama, Pop Team Epic, MHA 3, AoT 3, SSSS.Gridman
5. March Comes in Like a Lion 2 - I only had this series in my honorable mentions last year, so I thought a masterpiece like this deserved to be promoted to top 5 this year. I could put this higher, but I wanted to focus on shows that aired wholly in this year. 4. Revue Starlight - A beautiful theatrical experience. The only reason this isn't higher for me is that my top three were a little more consistently well produced. Not that it wasn't well produced, just that the following were very high level. 3. Violet Evergarden - Probably the most beautifully produced TV anime I've seen and often equally beautiful in story. While I could definitely see putting it at the top of the list myself, I think the other two stuck with me more. 2. Hinamatsuri A comedy that is both very funny and has a lot of heart and is wonderfully animated. Its merits have already been pretty well discussed already, as the only series all three reviewers so far have named in their top 5, so I won't belabor the point. 1. A Place Further Than the Universe - What can I say that hasn't been said all year, even by outlets like the New York Times. I didn't quite expect to name it the best of the year, at the beginning of the year or even last month, though my top three are fairly close. This is probably the most series from the Winter season I've named to my top 5. I could have probably made a top five from Winter by itself. I suspect Winter will be better represented than usual this year, both with reviewers and viewers alike. Films 5. Bungou Stray Dogs Dead Apple 4. MHA Two Heroes 3. Night is Short, Walk On Girl 2. Maquia 1. Liz and the Blue Bird |
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Ruddor
 Posts: 50 |
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Ok, let's do this.
HM. Hi-Score Girl 5. SSSS.Gridman 4. Garo: Vanishing Line 3. Hinamatsuri 2. Devilman Crybaby 1. Planet With |
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11419 |
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My top 5 for the poll were, in alphabetical order:
Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens I loved all the characters and was impressed with how intricate the plot was without ever pulling dei of the machina variety out of their asses. Everything was properly foreshadowed and almost all the plot threads were neatly tied up at the end, with the danglers perhaps inviting another season. Hinamatsuri I think the reviewers said all that needs to be said. Megalo Box This one had me from the OP and never backed off the throttle. Run with the Wind One of the best surprises of the year, what I thought was just going to be another shounen sports anime about the power of friendship carried forward on two (or 20) feet (which it is, of course), has turned out to be a delightful character study of a bounty of fascinating people. I love them all, and I love the natural, slow building of their relationships and progress. So glad it's 2 cour. I think I'd happily follow them for 4. Thunderbolt Fantasy 2 I've no doubt this will be in at least one of the reviewers' list. Too much fun, this one. 
But it was really tough paring it down to 5. Others I wanted to vote for: Angels of Death I was unprepared for how invested I got in these psychopaths and their murder games. Not usually my cuppa tea, but the main couple were just so great together. The series only suffered when they kept them apart. Dragon Pilot: Hisone and Masotan What a quirky idea, and a delightful execution. Someone mentioned facial expressions, and they weren't exaggerating by half. Though not quite to the extent of Hinamatsuri, it achieves the dual goals of heartwarming and hilarious. Hakumei and Mikochi This one nearly booted Megalobox off my top 5 (had to flip a coin), which is funny because they hardly occupy the same niche. I'm a big fan of The Borrowers, and this scratches a similar itch for miniature things. Like Megalobox and this series, the title characters couldn't be more different, and how they get along and get on each other's nerves is utterly charming. Though I mostly identify with the practical and rough-edged Hakumei, Mikochi complements her perfectly. And the costuming and scenery are to die for. This is what iyashikei anime should be. How to keep a mummy/School Babysitters These are the Bobbsey Twins of Sweetness and Light and it would be cruel to separate them. I adore them both, delirious as I remain from the overdose of warm fuzzies. That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime I imagine this will end up on at least one reviewer's list, so I won't belabor it. It's just really pleasant to watch and I'm thoroughly enjoying Let's Play "Civilization": the Anime. Honorable mentions: Devils' Line Another big surprise. I came for a time-wasting vampire anime and got a slow burning romance and conspiracy series. The heroine took a lot of getting used to, but I actually warmed up to her after she started becoming a little more assertive. Unfortunately, the ending got pureed in a whirlwind wrapup, like someone pulled the plug and only bothered to tell them 3 days before the finale was due. Frankenstein Family Hate this English title (I first knew it as Creature Family Days). This is an obscure and weird little piece which sadly doesn't really end, but it's engaging along the way and pretty creative. Hinomaru Sumo This one gets a shout-out just for making huge, nearly naked guys body-slamming, head-butting, and just slapping the shit out of each other interesting.  This is so far away from my wheelhouse I can't even, but I keep watching with anticipation.
Jingai-san no Yome This precious little short just makes me squee with its adorableness. The first episode was a wth letdown due to half of its 3-min run time being used for the OP, but with the basic premise, what there is of one, out of the way, it was my weekly dose of feel-goodness. It doesn't make a lick of sense, and doesn't need to, but if it can't elicit at least one "awww" per episode, or a sigh of regret over not having one of these alien husbandos in your life, you're dead inside.
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DeTroyes
 Posts: 520 |
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Top 5 Anime Series
(based entirely on how well I enjoyed them): 1) Steins;Gate 0 2) A Place Further Than the Universe 3) Violet Evergarden 4) Full Metal Panic: Invisible Victory 5) Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai Honorable Mentions Lupin III Pt. 5, Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Die Neue These, High Score Girl, Boarding School Juliet, SSSS Gridman, B: The Beginning, Last Hope, Devilman Crybaby, Sirius the Jaeger, My Hero Academia (s3), Master of Teasing Takagi-San, Darling in the Franxx, Sword Art Online: Gun Gale Online, Sword Art Online Alicization, Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku, Persona 5, Beatless, Fate/Extra: Last Encore, Dagashi Kashi 2, Planet With, Hakata Tonkatsu Ramens. (WHEW! This was a very big year!) Most Disappointing Anime: 1) Cutey Honey Universe 2) Back Street Girls 3) Island Bottom 3 Worst Anime: 1) Fist of the Blue Sky: Re-Genesis 2) How Not to Summon a Demon Lord 3) The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar Last edited by DeTroyes on Thu Dec 27, 2018 1:54 am; edited 2 times in total |
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Hiroki not Takuya
 Posts: 2540 |
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Not sure if some of y'all are like me, but this year I was very busy so anime I watched had to stand out as being "my type" (or not requiring another service subscription) to warrant taking time out to watch and sadly not a lot struck me that way. As another poster said, this reduces my list to what I watched that I liked. There were several that were well-reviewed and I sort of wanted to watch (Hinamatsuri) but didn't get above my threshold or have time for. Maybe later?
1. GeGeGe no Kitaro- who knew such a good series was around for so long and not having heard of it? Go Sister-Cat! 2. HeroAca- Best moment too, Midorya gets MINUS POINTS! 3. Ancient Magus' Bride- Actually tied with heroAca but a significantly interesting story so far. 3. SAO alt GGO- Very entertaining, SigSauer isn't too bad of a writer 4. Killing Bites- Great fun when everything is over-the-top 5. Death March- Some will have this and the above as "worst" but it kept me entertained in a low-key way. While maybe jumping the gun, given that my viewing time was precious, shows that I wish I could get the time back from 1. Darling in the Franxx  Should have ditched this and shelled out for Netflix
2. Master of Ragnarock etc.- Could have watched more Yuuna, why did I do this? 3. Island- Could have watched How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord but it sounded like another Overlord which isn't my type |
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residentgrigo
 Posts: 2442 Location: Germany |
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My votes went as follows in our annual awards for animated excellence:
March comes in like a lion S02 9/10 I forgot that the show finished this year. It´s the 2nd time this was my anime of the year. Sorry JoBros. There is enough material for a 1 cour S03 btw. JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind 8,5/10 The rather fast pacing is working out due to the action focus of the manga and the anime original scenes are all pretty good. So nothing changed since Part 4. Attack on Titan S03 8,5/10 The show managed to divide the more causal fans it seems. Just wait for next season and especially the one after that. I on the other hand really perked up when i read these chapters a few years ago. Heady stuff and very atypical for a shounen, outside of HxH and others that run the the wrong magazine. After the Rain 8/10 The anime skipped the 2nd half of the manga but the finale is similar. Check out the source regardless. Romance series without a romance don´t usually go over as well as this. The Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Die Neue These 8/10 Not the anime of the decade masterpiece it could have been due to the breakneck pacing but this works well as a big budget digest companion to the novels or the OVAs. Neo Wokio Pink Christmas was my anime film of the year. It´s also the sole anime feature worth watching this year. Bummer. Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan was my OVA of the year. My cartoon of the year Castlevania and my anime of the year are similar in quality and i can (almost?) pick 10 anime with a score of at least "good". Meaning that this was a fairly good year. |
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al505
Posts: 25 |
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IMHO these are my top 5 anime of 2018:
5. Harukana Receive 4. Violet Evergarden 3. Aggretsuko 2. Citrus 1. A Place Further than the Universe Most disappointing? FLCL: Progressive I had such high hopes. Worst anime I've seen? Conception. I only watched it to see how badly it ended. |
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vonPeterhof
Posts: 729 |
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My picks:
5. Golden Kamuy 4. After the Rain 3. Zombie Land Saga 2. Hugtto! Precure 1. A Place Further than the Universe Honourable mentions: Attack on Titan season 3 (a commendable effort at streamlining and sometimes elevating some of the weaker material from the manga), Boarding School Juliet (just the joy of seeing a manga I've been following since its very beginning get a mostly decent adaptation), HIMOTE HOUSE: A share house of super psychic girls (just for the scene of five twentysomething women in a bathhouse moaning erotically while discussing spoiler[cryptocurrencies]  ), Last Period: the journey to the end of the despair (a sadly overlooked comedy, featuring clever and often ruthless parodies of such things as the Kemono Friends debacle, the iOS-Android rivalry and even the mechanics of the game it's supposed to be promoting), Layton Mystery Tanteisha: Katori no Nazotoki File (one of Kana Hanazawa's most fun roles to date), Violet Evergarden (just KyoAni bringing cinematic quality to the TV screen is all)
For the twist I'll go with Paul's variant of the penultimate episode of A Place Further than the Universe. An honourable(?) mention to the teaser in the last ending credits of Attack on Titan season 3 that served no purpose other than to troll the (anime-only) viewers 
Sigh, the chances of me actually sitting down to finally watch DEVILMAN crybaby before the end of the year are looking slimmer and slimmer... |
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zrnzle500
Posts: 3767 |
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That was a great segment, especially of the non-improvised ones, as the improv scenes were generally the strongest parts. I also liked how they had the characters cosplaying as characters from a different series each week in the ED. |
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Sisyphusson66
Posts: 96 |
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1. Lupin the Third Part 5 - Brilliant example of an older series proving its relevance and staying power in modern anime as well as being an all-round good time.
2. March Comes in Like a Lion Season 2 - Easily some of the strongest representations of its themes within the arcs (i.e. bullying and old age) this year, and the writing paired really well with SHAFT's visuals. 3. A Place Further Than the Universe - Just everything about this was beautiful and heartfelt. From the characters, the settings, the relationships, to the plot, everything was handled with the utmost care. 4. Laid-Back Camp - Both the backgrounds and the soundtrack were phenomenal, creating a calming atmosphere that no other series this season could really surpass. Plus the characters were really fun. 5. Run with the Wind - Most relatable show this year for me, since I used to run and I am in the same stage of life as some of the characters. The character interactions and development is the best this season, and I can't wait to see the rest next year. Honorable Mentions: Golden Kamuy After the Rain |
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