Forum - View topicThe Best Anime of 2016
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jtiskool305
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I love that you put honorable mentions in there, Key
My unexpained top 5 for 2016 would consist of: 1. Re;zero 2. KonoSuba 3. Keijo!!!!!!!! 4. Mob Psycho 100 5. My Hero Academia Honorable mentions include Yuri on Ice, ReLIFE, and New Game |
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Megiddo
 Posts: 8360 Location: IL |
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Odd. Which Key title do you think Planetarian mimics the most? Do you think it's Clannad, Air, Kanon, Angel Beats, Little Busters, or Rewrite? Which numbers do you consider Planetarian to be painted by? It's a story about survival in a post-apocalyptic world where any sort of civilization has been wiped out. I mean, of course there will be drama and sadness, but that's like describing any sort of horror as by-the-numbers because there are lots of scary scenes and people getting killed. As someone who loved Planetarian, I'd really be interested to see exact specifics as to what happened in Planetarian that reminded you of other Key titles. |
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ChatxKilluaxNoir
 Posts: 7 |
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I don't see anything on endings, and I feel like they deserve some love, there is some great ones.
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chito895
 Posts: 512 Location: Lima, Peru |
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^ Yep, Flip Flappers ED, for example. It's a very lovely one.
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DeTroyes
 Posts: 520 |
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My Top Five Shows of the Year (in no particular order):
1. Schwarzesmarken 2. Alderamin on the Sky 3. Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress 4. Bungo Stray Dogs 5. Erased Honorable Mentions: Drifters, Macross Delta, Assassination Classroom, Planetarian, Re: Zero, Re: Life, New Game, Orange, Magical Girl Raising Project, 91 Days, Flying Witch, Izetta the Last Witch, Nanbaka Last edited by DeTroyes on Mon Dec 26, 2016 10:41 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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invalidname
 Contributor Posts: 2455 Location: Grand Rapids, MI |
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Since Zin5ki's in the UK and quite likely asleep at this hour, I'd like to field this one for the moment and agree with his position that Planetarian is "by-the-numbers" Key. Key / Visual Art's sent some of their top people to Anime Central in Chicago for a panel this year, and in it, CEO Takahira Baba did a presentation in which he literally spelled out the Key formula. It fits on one slide:
It's pretty easy to plug Key heroines into this formula: Nagisa from Clannad with her chronic illness, Misuzu from Air with the literal 1,000-year curse of the winged girl, the entire cast of Angel Beats! (who are all dead to begin with), etc. It's easy to then plug in Yumemi from Planetarian as cursed: cursed with eternal life, left alone for decades to maintain the planetarium after the city falls to the war. The Junker becomes the man who will come to understand her fate, and take the journey with her. The other thing about Key is that there's genuine tension, since they've proven very willing to let their heroines succumb to their curses and perish (notably including spoiler[the aforementioned Yumemi, Misuzu, and Nagisa, although the later is saved by a Cosmic Reset Button]) The sci-fi setting of Planetarian at first appears novel, a marked change from the usual schoolroom dramas, but I'd argue it's not. Sure, it's post-apocalyptic, but then again, doesn't that word also describe Clannad's "Illusionary World", described in-universe as literally "a world which has ended"? Indeed, it's not much of a stretch to say that the story of the Junker and Yumemi is nearly identical to that of The Junk Robot and The Girl in the Illusionary World, based around a desperate but doomed journey to escape their fate. |
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Wingbeats
 Posts: 272 Location: Boise, Idaho |
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I am completely down with representing some lesser-known shows - there was a lot this year that deserved praise for sure! I'm happy to see the above on the list too, though. It was too good to not get represented  hooray!
I need to look up anime that happened this year to choose my top 5, but I can definitively say that Yuri on Ice, Natsume Yuujinchou 5, and Rakugo are definitely on there somewhere. |
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18230 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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The Best Opener category also included an option to use closers, but I apparently everyone who turned in an entry went with an opener? Guess we'll find out on Wednesday. (In fairness, I didn't feel there was much for stand-outs in closers in 2016, while there was for openers.) |
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Roxas4ever
 Posts: 152 |
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My top five anime of 2016:
1) Yuri on Ice 2) Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu 3) 91 Days 4) ERASED 5) Haven't You Heard? I'm Sakamoto Were the critics required to pick from different shows for the best/most surprising moments, or did it just work out that everyone chose from a different show? Just curious. |
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Megiddo
Posts: 8360 Location: IL |
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Sure, but 99% of that time left alone she was in sleep mode. Is sleeping alone some sort of curse? I can't really see Yumemi as having eternal life per se. Is her curse that she was able to survive long past her creators? It's kind of hard for me to think of survival as a curse. Can you elaborate as to why you think Yumemi is cursed akin to Misuzu/Nagisa/etc? Because, for me, the one who was cursed and the one who was actually helped out like a typical Key heroine was the Junker. As far as the Illusionary World goes, was there anything at all resembling Planetarian contained therein? I'm very hazy on Clannad, but all I can recall of the Illusionary World was the girl who is alone creates a robot out of junk. The robot cannot speak but can only watch over the girl as she cries. If I'm incorrect with this please let me know, as I will fully admit my haziness regarding this topic. Please explain why you feel that Planetarian could be construed as a copy of the Illusionary World portion of Clannad. |
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Jayhosh
 Posts: 972 Location: Millmont, Pennsylvania |
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My top 5 (in a particular order):
5. Keijo!!!!!!!! - I had to make absolutely sure I got the right number of exclamation marks in the title, because this show earned all of them, and then some. Never a show I expected to even like, let alone one that would end up on any of my year end lists aside from "worst of 2016." But it knew how ridiculous its premise was and embraced it with complete seriousness and passion, something I can respect. Fanservice can actually be pretty decent when it's in service of the plot or IS the plot (pointer: Keijo is both). The cast of characters are likable if nothing all that original or deep, and the story is your typical sports anime deal, but the previously mentioned straight-faced seriousness of a concept that should not in any way be taken seriously allows me to accept it more than I would with other, similarly structured shows. 4. Flip Flappers - This was very pleasant to watch and had the second best animation of any show this year (see my number one pick for the best). The relationship between the main characters was very good, and the exploration of burgeoning love was very well explored, even though they seemed to have almost completely dropped that aspect at this point in the series with only one episode left to go. Speaking of which, yeah, I don't find myself as connected to or interested in the episodes in the last third of the show, even though I'm still enjoying it. I can't say I really had any expectations going in that would allow them to be "underwhelmed," but I do sorta feel like the answers aren't nearly as intriguing as the questions and intentional vagueness of the previous two-thirds of the show. So that issue does prevent this from maybe ranking a bit higher for me, but this was still a very solid (and visually gorgeous) show overall. Also the ED is definitely up there as one of the best (and cutest) of the year. 3. Re:Zero - This show had it's fair share of flaws, from uneven pacing to a main character who was initially really annoying before his glorious breakdown, but it excelled at conveying its themes so well that I could hardly be bothered to care. The way it depicted main character Subaru's meltdown as a result of his own character flaws and upon the realization that he would never be the archetypal "hero of justice" or main character of the world he found himself transported to was just so raw and real. A show that can break down its main character this severely and force them to reflect back on their own flaws that brought them to their current crappy situation as profoundly as this earns my respect. I'd say some of the individual moments/episodes were stronger than the series as a whole, but dammit if those individual moments weren't masterful. Also: Emila is best girl. Sorry not sorry. 2. Space Patrol Luluco - Did everyone just forget this came out this year or does nobody actually think this show was one of the best anime of the year? Because I loved it. It's probably the Trigger-est thing to Trigger out of Trigger. It's a short and sweet story about adolescent love and feelings and...and, DANGIT, it's just too cute, I can't handle it. Honestly there's not much to say about it beyond that. It's great, it's cute. Watch it. 1. Mob Psycho 100 - This one beat out the other titles by a wide margin, if I'm going by not only pure enjoyment but also overall quality of characters, story and especially animation. No other show this year came close to delivering quite as many lovable characters as Mob Psycho 100 did. Shigeo as a protagonist is so much more than a simple "Saitama clone" like so many initially rushed to label him as. Really the only similarities he shares to the caped baldy are his facial features (or lack thereof) and reserved disposition, the latter of which is a result of completely different circumstances and intent (repressing emotion not from boredom, but from the fear of hurting others). The rest of the cast are equally as excellent, notably Reigen (god I love this guy), Teru (probably has the best arc and development of all the characters), and Ritsu (the "emo" brother role done right). Even the smaller supporting roles have some great moments. The show explores its themes of adolescence and idealism expertly as well, with various characters and their contrasting mentalities clashing with fascinating results. And I don't think I even need to comment on the excellent animation and all of the innovative techniques and styles incorporated into the already visually unique style. From paint-on-glass animation to charcoal pencil sketches, this show went out of its way to make even the most mundane of events and actions seem fascinating and strange. It also has one of my personal favorite OP's of not just the year, but probably of all time. ED's pretty great too. Honorable Mentions: Despite the title, I wouldn't necessarily call these Honorable Mentions so much as interchangeable with the number five title on my list, as there were a few other shows that I got quite a bit of enjoyment out of that I felt like mentioning here. Both Haven't You Heard? I'm Sakamoto and Konosuba had my sides splitting constantly throughout their runs. And Sakamoto even had a bit of unexpected profundity and emotional depth to it that I wasn't expecting, but very much appreciated. Konosuba lacked any and all emotional depth or compassion, and that's exactly what makes it so good. It's like the It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia of anime. All the characters are pretty terrible and selfish people, but you can't help but love them. And didn't Osomatsu-san end this year? I don't know if that counts as a 2016 anime, but it was pretty hilarious and I loved the style, so if it qualifies I'd definitely put it on here. And that's it! Not the best year for me personally (I only thought one show was above an 8), but overall there was a decent handful of quality shows to consume. Here's hoping 2017's offerings are even better! |
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#Hgeronimo
 Posts: 82 |
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Hi there.
here's my top five anime of 2016 : Amanchu Flip Flappers KonoSuba - God's blessing on this wonderful world Love Live! Sunshine Tanaka-kun is Always Listless 
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Key
Moderator
Posts: 18230 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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We all turned them in blind. It's just an amazing coincidence that 14 different titles were represented in the first 15. I don't expect that to hold true as the week progresses; I suspect you'll see multiple more appearances by Showa, Mob Psycho, and Yuri!! if nothing else. I'll post a cumulative tally at the end of the week.
When did this start showing? It certainly wasn't evident from the first episode. |
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Valhern
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I'll wait for FlipFlap and Euphonium to end to give my full review of the year, but easily in the Top 5 I would have those two along with Mob Psycho 100.
Episode three in full-blown explanation, with further (kinda) explanations in episode 5 and probably the last one. |
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Animegomaniac
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I wish... It's more a list of "Hey, these are things that had to happen during this series." An actual plot twist... like Gate's bunny bar maid Delilah spoiler[being an actual capable assassin and shanking Yanagida, not quit killing him but they managed to take each other out from the rest of the series] is not the same as "these are the rules of this world and consequences" or "this is how a sequel/spin-off series differs from its source" Sure, there's nothing like last year's School Life and its twist of spoiler[how the teacher was dead all along] but how bad must ReLife be if it doesn't hit anyone's radar even slightly? Though I'm not surprised about Erased not having any sort of plot twist... really, a mystery with a plot twist, that's... uh... I don't know what to say about Top 5 lists where much of the anime listed are not only shows I haven't seen but are actively skipping... like more incomplete fantasy light novel adaptations where what they do only amounts to a prologue or more shonen, hurray... woohoo... about boys who gain power... no kidding... so they can enforce their ideals upon the world... anyway... I came up with my own top 5 with two passes, 4 on the first skim with one more on a reread with a "oh right, that came out this year." I'm not expecting to see all of them here but there should be one eventually somewhere... |
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