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The Best Anime of 2016

I remember when these rare anime like Space Brothers would air, and I wished that non-anime fans who loved space exploration or even worked at NASA could be introduced to it more easily, despite knowing that the "anime ghetto" so often kept gems like this from reaching a wider audience.

Yuri On Ice is surprisingly good. It really is. However, the show certainly wouldn't have enjoyed the same level of popularity had Yuri, or more interestingly, Viktor , been female. Knowing this put a bad taste in my mouth. Excessive hype can negatively affect a person's perception of a show and it is part of the reason why I rated the show Very Good instead of Excellent.

Yuri On Ice is surprisingly good. It really is. However, the show certainly wouldn't have enjoyed the same level of popularity had Yuri, or more interestingly, Viktor, been female.
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By the second episode of YoI, I was wondering why I even bothered. (At this point, Viktor was annoyingly stereotypical). I'm part of a mainstream audience and I do not want to see certain things in my shows. Fortunately, I am able to easily avoid such shows...

I was disappointed to find out that they appear to be based on rotoscoped CG sequences, which makes it inherently not that impressive.

Pardon me, I was under the impression this was a discussion thread. And no, my original question was not "good or goggles" it was "how much is good, how much is goggles." Plenty of posts in response listing the good stuff, but people are getting rather defensive about the latter.

And never once did I say it wasn't. I was very open about not having seen it so I couldn't say either way. But I don't need to have seen it to know that, as you've pointed out, an actual figure skater will appreciate more about the show than a non-figure skater. Does being a figure skating show make it fundamentally better than a non-figure skating show? Is a gay couple fundamentally better than a straight couple? No. It's the viewer who assigns specific values to those elements.

I feel as though animation in general just hasn't been anywhere near as ambitious, creative or technically impressive as in years long past. Very disappointing times, for me at least.

S2 will probably have quite a lot more budget behind it so the animation should be fixed. I don't know if they'll still decide to focus on every competitor and show there entire routine every time though, maybe it'll be 26 episodes and they'll have more time to flesh stuff out.

TBH, outside of a few shorts, I feel as though animation in general just hasn't been anywhere near as ambitious, creative or technically impressive as in years long past. Very disappointing times, for me at least.

I have a hard time with this argument of "Okay, you like Yuri on Ice because it has a gay relationship and that appeals to you, but do you actually like the show?". It's not that it's asking whether you legitimately like the show or not, it is if you like it for legitimate reasons.

However, the show certainly wouldn't have enjoyed the same level of popularity had Yuri, or more interestingly, Viktor , been female.

Figure skating anime is pretty rare which is why I mainly watched it. The only other recent skating anime I know of was Pretty Rhythm, but PriPara replaced that franchise a few years back

The way you phrased your initial post and have been phrasing your responses implies that you think that other factors like people wanting a gay relationship in a mainstream anime (i.e. goggles) are more important than the merits of the show (i.e. good). That is what is making people defensive.

When I see something like Yuri on Ice be so highly regarded, I can't help but wonder what other factors are influencing that regard outside of the show's actual quality.

So if you asking how much is "good" and how much is "goggles", it's that it's much more good than goggles. Which is also what many other people have stated.

CheezcakeMe wrote:

Yeah don't start analyzing a show that you've never seen. That's just silly. It's like judging a meal's taste because you saw it in a magazine.

I'm not analyzing the show itself. I'm analyzing the reception to it and the various reasons it might be rated so highly. Only need to poke around this thread to see what that is.

Maybe it's a solid 7/10 show but certain aspects might lead some to treat it like a 10/10 show. That's what I'm interested in pondering.

It's great that you like it and if those are the reasons why, then cool. If you've asked yourself "Is there anything else influencing my opinion?" and you answered "No" than that's cool too.

Valhern wrote:

I have a hard time with this argument of "Okay, you like Yuri on Ice because it has a gay relationship and that appeals to you, but do you actually like the show?". It's not that it's asking whether you legitimately like the show or not, it is if you like it for legitimate reasons.

That was never my argument and not what I was asking. I merely suggested looking deeper at the reason some one might like it. You guys are the ones claiming those deeper reasons are "illegitimate", not me.

My number 1 show? Macross Delta. Great mecha action, great characters, great songs. Those are all good surface reasons to like it. But then I look at myself and ask "Why does it really stand out to you?" and I say "Because it finally broke the Macross tradition I always hated and spoiler[the cute girl won instead of the more mature tsundere girl.]" So there's a reason I like it that's completely personal bias. Is it still a legitimate reason to like it? Am I not allowed it like it for that reason? Of course I'm allowed! I'm just acknowledging the bias exists and was a factor in my enjoyment.

Who said I was talking about you?