Forum - View topicThe Best and Worst Anime of 2023
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Juno016
 Posts: 2395 |
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This year was a "trash" year for me. I watched some Oshi no Ko and Bocchi the Rock (Bocchi is my spirit animal) and stuff, but I ended up missing out on a lot of the top recs and going straight to watching controversial anime like Goblin Slayer S2, Mushoku Tensei S2, Sugar Apple Fairy Tale, OniMai, Hyakkano, etc. instead. I have my priorities straight.
I'll probably go back and watch G-Witch soon, or tune back into Hero Aca or something, but for now, I guess I enjoyed sticking to the trashy stuff. Lol |
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mayonakama
Posts: 62 |
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Favorite anime moment? Episode 5 of Jujutsu Kaisen, where the sounds of the rain, the shower, and the hand-clapping conflate as Geto spirals. The music in that episode was great too. Episode 1’s opening scene in the creepy mansion was also great; what I wouldn’t give to see Fuan no Tane or a readaptation of Ghost Hunt get animated like that…
Suletta coming to Miorine’s room in Witch from Mercury (yes, do you see I am heavily biased?) was also another favorite moment of mine. Live happily forever after SuleMio… |
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Angel M Cazares
 Posts: 5436 Location: Iscandar |
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I have not watched Pluto, but I am guessing it will be in my top 5 when I do.
Top 5 1. Frieren 2. Apothecary Diaries 3. Skip and Loafer 4. Oshi no Ko 5. 16bit Sensation Bottom 5 Our Dating Story Terrace Goddesses Kingdoms of Ruin Alice Gears Love Flops Last edited by Angel M Cazares on Fri Dec 29, 2023 8:03 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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darkchibi07
 Posts: 5473 |
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If there's anyone who's really digging deep, 2023 was a dang interesting year for yuri anime (except Summer 2023 since that was lacking so hard). So it feels right to group the shows in how yuri satisfying it was for me!
Definitely satisfying The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady: What's more to say? It told a complete story arc with plenty of room follow up (if they ever felt like doing a S2 or something). And Anis and Euphie got together and kissed (Anis being a surprised bottom is also hilarious  )!
Somewhat satisfying but definitely revolutionary Gundam: The Witch from Mercury Yes, this could have been more than 2 cours just to give the story breathing room, and not to mention give a sense that follow-up expansions can be made since it did felt like everyone in staff is done with the setting. But dang it, Suletta and Miorine were the lifeblood of this show, and they got married in the end despite how some people says otherwise. The freakin' director reconfirms their relationship that they're married! And really, I'm still shocked we have a mainstream franchise like GUNDAM of all things to actually have a legit yuri couple. It's like if we have a super popular Shounen Jump title actually starred a yuri couple. I don't want this to be missing in people's consciousness! Needs more to be satisfying! Yuri is My Job! I actually like the main premise of these of Hime playing off a fascade and all the drama trappings that came with it. But man, this show felt like it only hit the tip of the iceberg in terms of drama and relationships. I'm in Love with the Villainess Man, Rae is a fun character, and I do like how Claire starts to fall for her though it happened near the end of the series. So I really hope there's a S2 that expands theire relationship more. Sadly, the mediocre production values held this back especially the action scenes. And a more savvy experienced director and script writer could have cleaned up the clunkier plot points of the show like that whole revolution thing. On a side note, Hikikomari really felt like an anime adapted from a late 2000s light novel with its "intricate, proper pronoun" setting, crazy tonal shifts of goofy hijnks, and pretty bloody action spectacle. I am amused how nearly every girl wants a piece of Komari much to the irritation of her maid Vill.
2024 will have the absolute guilty pleasure that is Gushing over Magical Girls next season, but Spring 2024 will have the more anticipated Whisper Me a Love Song. And after that it's all up in the air unless there are new announcements or if the some of the originals ended up having surprise yuri. |
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Oggers
 Posts: 367 Location: Ontario, Canada |
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Top 5 anime of the year for me are as follows:
1. Frieren: Beyond Journey's End 2. Pluto 3. Skip and Loafer 4. Scott Pilgrim Takes Off 5. The Apothecary Diaries Runner-Ups: Trigun Stampede and Tomo-chan is a Girl. I don't see either of these becoming my favourites, but I still enjoyed them a good deal. No Worst, but I do have a Most (Personally) Disappointing and that goes to Buddy Daddies. It's not a bad series and I really wanted to enjoy it, but despite my best efforts to get engaged I ultimately felt pretty "meh" about it by the end. I think at least part of it is because despite how much the anime tries to sell Miri as the emotional core of the story, she just doesn't have much to her as a character beyond "happy, innocent and loud". I don't expect every child character to be as memorable as Anya from Spy x Family, but it would be nice if she had a bit more personality than what this anime gave her. |
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Hiroki not Takuya
 Posts: 2534 |
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Don't follow AOT, Vinland but the singular moment that floored me and I suspect others like no other in a long time was Frieren Ep14 when Himmel "on bended knee" presents Frieren a ring on her left "ring finger" we learn meant "eternal love" and he knew it but she didn't. It recontextualizes everything about them in that one moment, both before and after. I can't think of a moment set up so well that captures the concept that something has the potential to be "life changing" and conveys the tragedy that for Frieren, it wasn't.
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Gwydion
 Posts: 156 |
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Will never get tired of seeing James praise Vinland Saga. Basically it wins all the "awards" from me - easily my favorite of the year by a mile. Nothing I could say about it that hasn't already been said.
Will also give a shout out to the mini flashback arc of Jujutsu Kaisen. Have been following JJK in both anime and manga formats for a while with my feelings toward it... let's just say they've fluctuated quite a bit. So I didn't exactly go into season 2 all excited, but even knowing what would happen in the flashback arc, it still managed to surprise me with just how much it sucked me in. mayonakama mentioned the moment in episode 5 with the rain and the clapping as their favorite, and I have to agree - honestly really loved it. Also can't disagree with Christopher calling out the live action One Piece. It was nice to be so pleasantly surprised and share the pure joy that series exuded with others, both new to the series and old. Still have yet to see Frieren and Pluto, but I'm excited to check them out based on everything I've heard about them. A lot more for me to be excited about on the manga front this year, though. Noragami has been gearing up for it's finale in just a few days, and I'll be extremely sad to see it go. Akane-banashi continues to be my favorite of the newer Jump titles, though Witch Watch is also amusing and fun while Kill Blue definitely surprised me with it's middle-aged-man-trapped-in-a-middle-school-body protag somehow not at all interested in his classmates romantically. Show-ha Shoten has been fun to follow, and I'm eagerly awaiting more Yona of the Dawn. |
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TandooriJones
 Posts: 39 |
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I wouldn't really say that nostalgia was there to avoid drawing new footage as much as I think "its a 20th year anniversary so the whole project is budget around the fact we don't need to do new footage" since I'm sure that if they had the budget for it they would have been more than happy to do new footage. Also I'm a little more forgiving of the environmental messages since that was what the Japanese government channel asked for in order to even fund the show, and they used it as a stand in for something that threatens the future, and Yes 5's theme was always dreams for the future. But I agree that I also wanted resolution for the couples you mentioned (because while they went into two of them it was not to the same level as Coco and Nozomi, but suspiciously nothing for Komachi Natts, almost like it's being saved for something), but more importantly I'm glad it got the number one spot, which I also think it deserves. I watched a ton of things this season but nothing made me care as much as Power of Hope. It really did feel like a Precure version of the original show messages but for adults. |
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Nekbone
Posts: 16 |
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I recommend Ayakashi Triangle if you have not read it. |
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Riliont
Posts: 30 |
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AoT doesnt belong anywbere near this list. Especially with the way its "final season" went on.
Even more so it shouldnt be ranked on any list above Pluto. |
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Gnarth
Posts: 175 |
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Glad to see AoT mentioned. With today's political climate and conflicts, it's only got more relevant. In my opinion the many parallels it has with what's happening right now are the definitve proof that it did earn its allegories and imagery: it was genuinely profetic, and that's a testament to its depth and brilliant handling of its themes.
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fathomlessblue
 Posts: 351 Location: Manchester, UK |
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That's honestly kind of funny to me, given that both quite sloppily rip their imagery from real world conflicts as table setting. The personal difference is I happen to love AoT's 'warts & all' approach. It's awkward & somewhat nihilistic but genuinely true to the lowest parts of the human experience (particularly that the most dangerous people in our society are egotistical man-children with way more power than they deserve). I'll take that over Urasawa's children's tv 'have the protagonist face against full brunt of human cruelty & suffering, then have them win out because the power of love & friendship' or whatever plastic variation he cooks up. Same old Urasawa I guess; establish a truly incredible premise full of rich themes to explore, then dangle them in front of us like a carrot on a stick, in favor of building tension until the point the story meanders, before dribbling out a barely considered conclusion. At least Pluto was a far more better version of this approach than 21st Century Boys & Monster, but outside of the initial mystery of his premises (& of course his wonderful art), I've never really gotten the praise for his writing. It always felt like fairly middle-of-the-road late 2000's tv scripting to me. It's why I've always enjoyed Master Keaton more than his vaunted 'epics'. I should also probably give Yawara a try one day. Not that I'd say people who like it are wrong, I'm clearly in the minority here. As for claiming anything doesn't belong on the list - that's not engaging with the writers views, it's a shut-down, and a pretty petulant one at that. |
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Top Gun
 Posts: 4603 |
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Great choices for the best moments, at least for those I've seen. I didn't even realize that MHA's big "You Say Run" reprise was this calendar year, but it was easily one of the crowning moments of the entire series thus far. I did not manage to get through it dry-eyed. As for Vinland Saga, well, I can't hope to put things nearly as eloquently as James did. Thorfinn really is such an incredible character.
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Saeryen
 Posts: 907 |
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I've made up my mind. The best anime of 2023 is, without a doubt, Power of Hope: PreCure Full Bloom.
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tfwnoymir
 Posts: 315 Location: Hungary |
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My list will be short, since I busied myself with uni stuff most of the year, but here goes nothing:
1. Frieren was an easy pick as a number one, as it stands well above the others, thematically, character-wise and in execution, which the latter is something I increasingly crave for nowadays. 2. Skip and Loafer is a closer second, with a mix of slice of life along with some classic shoujo-style romance and doing that balance well. 3. Heavenly Delusion, at least the 11 episodes I watched, those were pretty sick and I wouldn't mind more stories like that. I still haven't watched past THAT episode yet, though. 4. Witch from Mercury S2, I'm kind of mixed on. On one hand, I think the conclusion is a bit unsatisfying, at least Gundam-wise, I kind of liked a little bit more conflict as there's immense potential in that setting. On the other hand, I'm glad that it exists at all, as executive decisions don't really favor such shows. Hopefully it'll lead to more stuff like that. 5. Yuri is my Job is something I would say, nothing special, at the very least in execution, but the story keeps it afloat. I kind of expected a comedy at first, but that illusion is quickly broken, it's more like a trashy - but in a good way - drama. The tensions between the cast definitely kept me watching, and I wouldn't be against of some more, but I won't hold my breath, when even more successful titles like YagaKimi didn't get a - well-deserved - continuation. +1. The Apothecary Diaries is something I only started watching today and I'm only at episode 3. It remains to be seen whether I'll get really into it, but so far, it scratches a similar itch as Bookworm was for me back then, which I liked a lot. As for movies, I've seen 3 this year and technically, only one of them are from 2023, but my favorite so far was Suzume without a doubt, which I think is one of Shinkai's best movies so far, at least from what I've seen. One Piece: Red was a pretty good movie too, although I would only recommend it to people who are really into One Piece in general, like me (although I only read the manga personally). Tunnel of Summer was the latest one, and that was pretty meh, to be honest, but perhaps it's because I've seen that kind of stuff many times and in a better execution, perhaps some others might fancy it more. As for characters, I think Mitsumi from Skip and Loafer for the girls', and Maru from Heavenly Delusion on the boys' front would be my pick. |
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