For a list of new and continuing shows we’re going to be watching (or at least giving the ol’ 3-episode look) this coming Spring 2023 season, check out our Anime List here.
Category: AND NOW
Kubo Won’t Let Me Invisible Delayed
Due to Covid-related production delays, episodes 7 -12 of Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible have been delayed until April. So there goes our Tuesday pleasant palate cleanser after Vinland Saga. Alas, it’s good to know it will be back at some point to warm our winter-chilled hearts.—RABUJOI STAFF
RABUJOI’s Top Anime of 2022
10. (tie) Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury
I’ve only watched a handful of Gundam series, but I’ve loved them all, and this one brings a lot to the table: its first female lead, it’s first yuri-ish main couple, and a corporatocratic school dueling format that looks primed to escalate into a far more significant political conflict—Braverade
10. (tie) Akebi’s Sailor Uniform
Whatever the actual intent of the producers/animators lingering so much on particular body parts (like feet), I choose to adopt the same innocent outlook as the show’s characters, and it cannot be argued that this was one of the most ridiculously beautiful series of the year, and is a wholesome, heartwarming story of a lonely girl making friends—sesameacrylic
9. Attack on Titan: The Final Season Part 2
This cour of AoT asked the question “What if Titan never really ended?”, but simply continued to delve deeper into the world, lore, and psyches of its cast of characters…and also baseball? Titan may never really end, but if and when it does, the world will be worse off for it. Even with the switch from Wit to Mappa, there’s nothing quite as exquisitely harsh and bleak on TV—Braverade
8. Spy x Family – PART 1 | PART 2
It’s hard to top a premise like this: master spy dad, assassin mom, telepathic daughter (and eventually, precog good dog). Few series anime or otherwise could match its blend of badass action, political intrigue, family hijinx, school comedy, and heart—Braverade
7. Call of the Night
“Vampire shows are so played out”, it is sometimes said. Not here. New life is breathed into the undead genre thanks to the marvelously sultry/shy performance of one Amamiya Sora as Nazuna, her new human friend Kou, his concerned human friends and her busybody vampire cohorts. It’s about two people who don’t fit into any easy categories, and more than anything, it’s about the joy, freedom, and effervescence of the night. It’s also a jubilant blast from start to finish—MagicalChurlSukui
6. KAGUYA-SAMA: LOVE IS WAR – ULTRA ROMANTIC
Ungainly title aside, this third season of one of the best and most visually creative anime comedies of the century is taut as a drum, and also the culmination of one of the best drawn-out will-they-won’t-they stories of said century. Lofty praise, but watch these two insanely kooky elite high schoolers long enough and you’ll be made a believer too—sesameacrylic
5. BOCCHI THE ROCK!
Speaking of visually creative, there’s nowhere BtR didn’t go to illustrate the titular socially anxious protagonist’s flight-of-fancy-du jour, from puppets to stop motion to Tron-style CGI. It’s the combination of those bonkers visuals with the down-to-earth depiction of her real world and the people in it supporting one another as they start a band and put on a show that made Bocchi a must-watch. A second season can’t come fast enough—sesemeacrylic
3. (TIE) KARAKAI JOUZU NO TAKAGI-SAN 3
Like Kaguya-sama, Takagi-san kept teasing its couple until the third season when that couple could no longer avoid the fact that they totally loved one another and finally took serious steps in that direction. It’s will-they-won’t-they done right, and while the big-headed designs take getting used to, there’s no denying Takahashi Rie and Kaji Yuuki’s masterful voice work as one of the cutest romantic couples in all animedom—sesameacrylic
3. (TIE) MY DRESS-UP DARLING
How to a bodacious gyaru and a quiet grandson of a traditional dollmaker become one of the most rootable items of the last few years? Cosplay, naturally? Getting into the nitty-gritty of the practical matters of making clothes, along with the usual romantic speed bumps of miscommunication, misinterpretation, and misassumption, Marin and Wakana’s carefully-crafted love story was a must-watch—sesameacrylic
2. Chainsaw Man
I can’t speak to whether Mappa’s anime adaptation of the beloved manga was a good or faithful one, as I never read the manga. What I can say is that it was one of the best produced, directed, “shot”, and animated series in recent memory. It looked and felt like a movie—a damned good movie—about a kid who just wanted three square meals and the opportunity to cop a feel, and ended up with a family—Braverade
1. MADE IN ABYSS: THE GOLDEN CITY OF THE SCORCHING SUN
This was Abyss—and composer Kevin Penkin—at the height of their powers. Monumentally cruel and violent one moment, incredibly warm and hopeful at others, and with all the other emotions in between, it’s also a tour-de-force of a performance from Misaki Kuno, one that should earn her all the Seiyu of the Year awards. The tale of Vueko, Irumyuui, and Faputa, the cathartic Nanachi-Mitty denouement, and Riko’s refusal to stop descending to the further wondrous depths of the Abyss, all conspired to make this the very best anime of 2022.—MagicalChurlSukui
Honorable Mentions
Akiba Maid War
What if Akihabara of the 90s was a den of underworld activity, but that underworld all donned the costume of the animal-themed cafe maid? AMW not only took that premise and ran with it, but played it straight as an arrow, as if there were no frills or stockings at all.—sesameacrylic
SUMMERTIME RENDER
A sprawling, detailed throwback horror mystery about body doubles and time travel, STR marched by the beat of its own isolated island drum, and had a stirring tale of reconciliation and romance at its heart.—MagicalChurlSukui
Lycoris Recoil
An exquisitely executed girls-with-guns story by P.A. Works that also features one of the year’s best couples in Chisato and Makima and one of the best ensembles in the LycoReco café crew. The villain was pretty meh but that hardly mattered—Braverade
Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutie
One of those satisfying rom-coms where the couple is already established and acknowledged by all as a couple, this was a great reversal of gender roles, with the accident/mishap-prone Izumi often being the recipient of heroic bailing-out by his extremely cool GF Shikimori. But rather than one-sided, these two complement and complete one another perfectly. Their friends are also adorable—sesameacrylic
Princess Connect! Re:Dive 2
What had started out as a lighthearted episodic fantasy/isekai comedy based on a gatcha mobile game of all things turned out to be one of the most epic fantasy action dramas of the year, with truly compelling character arcs and some of the best battle setpieces that could stand proud with the best of the genre. Through all the operatic bluster of the climax, the show never lost its heart or its charm—MagicalChurlSukui
Happy New Year Everyone!
RABUJOI World Heritage List – 2022 Entries
When five out of five stars isn’t enough to express the excellence of an episode, that episode given a spot on our World Heritage List. With the eight new 2022 entries below, that list currently numbers 103 in the list’s ten years of existence. You can be sure that if you watch any of the below episodes, you’ll get your twenty-three minutes’ worth and then some.
Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san 3 – 06 – It Was Spring When We Met
Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san 3 – 09 – The Thing You Wanted Most
Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san 3 – 12 (Fin) – Nishikata’s Quest
Kaguya-sama: Love Is War – Ultra Romantic – 02 – Better to Not Put on an Act
Kaguya-sama: Love Is War – Ultra Romantic – 12 (Fin) – Blossoms That Never Scatter
Spring Cleaning 2021: Jouran, Mars Red, and Full Dive Dropped
We say it every season: there are too many shows. It’s true of anime series just as it’s true of live-action series, especially in the streaming era. You can’t watch them all—let alone write up to-1000-word recaps and reviews about them.
So it’s always important to remember that we don’t have to watch them all. Koikimo was dropped early, followed by Combatants Will Be Dispatched! Now to separate the rest of the chaff from the wheat. All drops are final, regardless of how much better any of the below series end up.
Jouran: Princess of Snow and Blood has a very neat setting that presupposes the Meiji Restoration never happened and a new energy source enabled Japan’s technological primacy. Unfortunately, neither of those things have any bearing Sawa’s central (and frankly done-to-death) revenge story, which could have been told anywhere at any time in Japanese history, real or imagined. Instead, the alt-historical setting is just window dressing, while the big anti-shogun baddie turned out to be a clichéd mad scientist snake-man. When I was emotionally checked out of their climactic showdown, I knew it was time to say goodbye.—MagicalChurlSukui
Mars Red is probably the toughest of the Spring 2021 series to drop, because it’s a well-executed classic vampire-hunting story with genuine elements of horror and pathos. It also had one of the most striking first episodes, heavily influenced by real-life classic stage theatre. Unfortunately, I must admit that I admire and respect Mars Red more than I actually enjoy it, and it was hard to be invested in its ridiculously stoic lead vampire hunter.—Braverade
Full Dive is about a kid who just wants an escape from his shitty high school life, and had found one in his Final Fantasy-style VRMMO. Only when he gave all his money to a bully and couldn’t pay for the newest entry in the franchise, he’s hoodwinked by a merchant who is as disreputable a businesswoman as she is beautiful. So now the game he’s playing is even more unpleasant and stressful in real life. If this were Nobuyuki Sugou getting his just desserts that would be one thing, but this kid doesn’t really deserve to be tortured by a video game.—MagicalChurlSukui
For the list of remaining titles we’re both watching and reviewing, check out the top menu or consult our Spring 2021 Season Guide. A Spring 2021 addition to the Big Board is coming soon. As always, thanks for reading!
—RABUJOI STAFF
Congrats, Hideki-kun!
A hearty omedetou gozaimasu to Hideki Matsuyama, the first Japanese and Asian-born man to win the Masters!—RABUJOI STAFF
Weekly OP: Fruits Basket 2nd Season
I’m not usually a fan of “characters walking” openings, but the theme (“Prism” by AmPm ft. Miyuna) slaps so hard I give this OP a pass.
RABUJOI’S Top 10 Anime of Winter 2020
10. Magia Record
The style, atmosphere, and whimiscal visual language of the original Madoka are there, but the narrative depth (not to mention novelty) are notably absent. Questions are often answered with more questions in a story that remains stubbornly opaque, the very Madoka-esque MC Iroha’s central quest leads to a dead end, and there are probably more magical girls introduced than needed. That said, it’s not terrible, and probably a must-see for Madoka completionist. Hopefully its second season will improve upon the shortcomings of the first.
9. BOFURI
It’s full title—i don’t want to get hurt so I’ll max out my defense—is its general premise, but the devil’s in the execution, details, and above all tone, and BOFURI excels at all three and kept me coming back, where a similar VRMMO game, Infinite Dendrodragon, lost me in its opening minutes. In addition to being cute as all get-out, Maple represents a bright (light-wise, not smarts) ball of optimism who values making friends and having fun together over winning…though she wins plenty!
8. Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun
While there are times when calling this “animation” is generous, the lushness of the painterly stills that suffuse Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun more than make up for the occasional lack of complex motion. Unlike other Lerche entries, it also benefits from a much smaller cast and an optimistic outlook that brightens its darker corners. Nene, Hanako, Kou & Co. are all beautifully drawn and voiced and easy to root for.
7. ID:INVADED
Drawing from a dizzying array of sources from Sherlock Holmes to Blade Runner, ID:INVADED makes up for it’s lack of solid resolution and occasionally scattered ideas with slick character design, a smattering of likable (or at least sympathetic characters with clear motivations, and some truly weird dreamscapes.
6. In/Spectre
A show that celebrates both traditional and modern forms of storytelling, Kyokou Suiri is anchored by it’s surpassingly spunky, takes-no-prisoners, pint-sized supernatural detective extraordinaire, the one-legged, one-eyed Kotoko. There’s a lot of talking in this show, but it’s almost never not thrilling, and often accompanied by just the right amount of action and comedy. Your mileage may vary when it comes to her likability or the show’s structure (half monster of the week, half final showdown), but I loved In/Spectre’s tendency to march to the beat of its own drum.
5. Toaru Kagaku no Railgun T
We’re only nine episodes into a planned 25-episode series, but Railgun T marks a return to character-driven, (relatively) straightforward storytelling and planting a firm spotlight on the titular uber-heroine Misaka Mikoto, frightening and adorable in equal measure, depending on her mood. She finds herself and her friends in the middle of a squabble between factions of her city’s underworld, but (perhaps) with her sparkly-eyed frenemy Misaki she looks poised to make life inconvenient for all of them.
4. Fate/Grand Order: ADF – Babylonia
An “It’s All Down To This/Us” pervades every episode of F/GO, but while the future of human civilization is taken to the absolute brink, there’s never the slightest sense of nihilism or fatalism in its narrative. That’s thanks to the dogged bravery of its two leads Ritsuka and Mash and their galaxy of awesome-looking gods, goddesses, and kings doing increasingly awesome things by their side. A feast for the eyes with the capacity to warm the heart.
3. Chihayafuru 3
Chihayafuru manga and anime fans alike probably found a lot to like about the long-awaited third season, arriving six years after the second with a lot to do. The primary gripe, then, is that we may have to wait another few years to return to this quirky world of intensely competitive karuta players more often than not finding the game a haven of clarity from their tangled relationships, emotions, and futures.
2. Somali and the Forest Spirit
Can a human child survive in a world that hates (and eats) humanity? More importantly, does her golem guardian love her? Yes and yes, as explored in a sumptuous fantasy anime packed with gorgeous painterly settings and equally colorful (and morally diverse) characters, in which the destination of the last human colony takes a backseat to the journey, which is educating for father and child alike.
1. Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!
An deeply satisfying and heartwarming anime about three startlingly different yet equally lovable young women coming together to create something amazing. A Yuasa Maasaki love letter not just to anime, but the creative process itself. Any other challengers for Anime of the Year will face an uphill climb: Eizouken is in the stratosphere.
RABUJOI’s Anime of the Decade – 10-1 – No Going Back
MERRY CHRISTMAS! Welcome to the final entry in RABUJOI’s Anime of the Decade, a comprehensive and hastily-researched list of the 100 best anime we watched from 2010 to 2019. We attempt to provide one brief statement about each show, based in some cases on very fuzzy recollection and possibly guesses. This list is final. No reviews, no appeals, COMPLETE EXONERATION!—RABUJOI STAFF
10. One Punch Man
Fall 2015
Saitama’s hilarious adventures in boredom and easy victories provided some of the comedic highlights of the decade in this stylishly irreverent parody of hero shows
9. The Promised Neverland
Winter 2019
One of the scariest, tensest, dread-filled series of the decade, as well as one of the best underdog stories, its single season left us gasping to see what became of the poor kids
8. Shingeki no Kyojin 3 Part 2
Spring 2019
In just ten episodes, perhaps more stunning secrets were revealed than in the previous three seasons combined, creating potential the fourth and final season will be hard-pressed to meet
7. Monogatari Series: Second Season
Summer 2013
A giant tiger stalks the town, Araragi battles zombies with an aged-up Mayoi, Nadeko gets tangled up with the Polar Snake, Shinobu regales us with some her centuries-long history, and Hitagi and Kaishou form an uneasy alliance—there’s a little of everything and it’s all excellent
6. Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu: Sukeroku Futatabi-hen
Winter 2017
The first season of SGRS was amazing…the second was transcendent
5. Shigatsu wa kimi no uso (Your Lie in April)
Fall 2014
One of the saddest anime of the decade, but also one of the most beautiful, both visually and musically
4. Owarimonogatari Second Season
Summer 2017
While just seven episodes, this second season is the long-awaited culmination of eight years of supernatural stories, and it was worth the wait
3. Made in Abyss
Summer 2017
Very little before or since has quite looked or sounded like Made in Abyss, but even less FELT quite like it. Blending moments of whimsy, wonder and awe with primal horror and cruelty in a richly-detailed, fully-realized fantasy world. Desperately needs a second season to continue the story
2. 3-gatsu no Lion 2 (March Comes In Like A Lion)
Fall 2017
The first season was mostly about the MC’s personal traumas and depression, but the second story spreads out as he learns how to support others, exploring bullying, the struggles of a surrogate mom, and the ravages of old age
1. Steins;Gate
Spring 2011
With its twisting, churning time travel odyssey, central love triangle, and meditations on causality, inevitability, guilt, and obsession, Steins;Gate is the best anime of the decade.
RABUJOI’s Anime of the Decade – 20-11 – Things are Starting to Get Real
Welcome to RABUJOI’s Anime of the Decade, a comprehensive and hastily-researched list of the 100 best anime we watched from 2010 to 2019. We attempt to provide one brief statement about each show, based in some cases on very fuzzy recollection and possibly guesses. This list is final. No reviews, no appeals.—RABUJOI STAFF
20. Boku dake ga Inai Machi (ERASED)
Winter 2016
Maybe the best representations of being transported into your younger self, and given the opportunity to save someone who didn’t have to die
19. Shingeki no Kyojin 3 (Part 1)
Summer 2018
The curtain is pulled back on many mysteries (though not the basement), and the Scouts must rebel against the powers that be to protect Eren and Historia, culminating in an epic Titan battle that eventually serves as the stage for the Historia’s ascension
18. AnoHana
Spring 2011
Very few anime this decade achieved as much in a scant eleven episodes, as a circle of childhood friends grow, change, and reconnect over the loss of their friend
17. Steins;Gate 0
Spring 2018
We didn’t know the original needed a sequel to continue Rintarou & Co.’s story—until we watched it. New faces and alliances help the mad scientist achieve what he could not in the previous show
16. Vinland Saga
Summer 2019
Thrilling and at times heartbreaking pseudo-historical tales of revenge, hatred, betrayal and redemption made this the best Wit Studio offering to date to challenge the Attack on Titan juggernaut’s dramatic hegemony
15. Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu (Season 1)
Winter 2016
Plunged us into a previously unknown and unimaginably rich world of traditional Japanese raunchy storytelling, we go back and forth through time as some of the art’s best living performers rose to fame—and paid the costs of that fame
14. Fate/Zero 2
Spring 2012
As the battle for the grail intensifies, F/Z’s second half elevates the tension and quality of storytelling, action, and character to even greater heights
13. Violet Evergarden
Winter 2018
A beautiful and heart-wrenching tale of an elite instrument of unspeakable violence and war trying to heal and find a new purpose in a world at peace
12. Yojouhan Shinwa Taikei (The Tatami Galaxy)
Spring 2010
Filled with wistful tales of campus nirvana and romance deferred, resetting timelines and different clubs joined and choices made, Tatami Galaxy is a gorgeous freeform, often bizarre ride no anime enthusiast should miss
11. Sora yori mo Tooi Basho (A Place Further than the Universe)
Winter 2018
Four girls with very different personalities and paths in life all find themselves on an Antarctic expedition in a brilliant exploration of friendship, love, grief, self-exploration, and growth
RABUJOI’s Anime of the Decade – 30-21 – The Kids Are All Right
Welcome to RABUJOI’s Anime of the Decade, a comprehensive and hastily-researched list of the 100 best anime we watched from 2010 to 2019. We attempt to provide one brief statement about each show, based in some cases on very fuzzy recollection and possibly guesses. This list is final. No reviews, no appeals.—RABUJOI STAFF
30. 3-gatsu no Lion (Season 1)
Fall 2016
Shaft and Shinbou delved into the life and mind of a depressed and traumatized shogi prodigy discovering family, home and happiness with three sisters as he traverses his fiercely competitive sport
29. Bunny Girl-Senpai (Seishun Buta Yarou wa Bunny Girl Senpai no Yume wo Minai)
Fall 2018
Smart, mature, and engaging romantic comedy done right, BGS combined ordinary high school life with clever supernatural phenomena
28. Bakuman. 2
Fall 2011
Few shows captured how life and love went on as countless hours of hard work either amounted to a hit manga or an absolute dud. We’ve always regretted not continuing with the third season
27. Barakamon
Summer 2014
A distinguished young calligrapher seeks refuge in a small town, and instead meets a spunky young girl and other characters who lend color and warmth to his black-on-white world
26. Houseki no Kuni
Fall 2017
A brilliant, moving, and visually dazzling tale of gems in human form, focusing on one unremarkable gem who has one hell of an arc. Desperately in need of a sequel
25. Owarimonogatari
Fall 2015
Araragi’s discussions with Oshino’s mysterious “niece” Ougi and exploration of a classmate he somehow forgot makes for some of the most emotionally complex and nervy interactions of the sprawling Monogatari series
24. Attack on Titan (Shingeki no Kyojin)
Spring 2013
When it all started in 2013, I watched the first episode, was put off by the naked man-eating giants, and…put it aside. Two years later, before the second season, I gave it another try and was not disappointed
23. Food Wars! (Shokugeki no Souma)
Spring 2015
The wonderful combination of shounen battles, ecchi elements, and culinary education has been going strong for years, but it all started with Souma terrorizing his childhood friend with peanut butter octopus
22. Usagi Drop
Summer 2011
A single salaryman’s life is changed forever when he takes in a girl no one else will. Heartwarming and detailed in the practicalities of childcare
21. Kiseijuu: Sei no Kakuritsu (Parasyte -the maxim-)
Fall 2014
An adaptation of a manga from the 80s, Parasyte is an often deeply dark and messed up, always thrilling story of a once-normal high school kid whose body is infiltrated and augmented by an alien parasite
RABUJOI’s Anime of the Decade – 40-31 – Heroes Come in Many Forms
Welcome to RABUJOI’s Anime of the Decade, a comprehensive and hastily-researched list of the 100 best anime we watched from 2010 to 2019. We attempt to provide one brief statement about each show, based in some cases on very fuzzy recollection and possibly guesses. This list is final. No reviews, no appeals.—RABUJOI STAFF
40. Boku no Hero Academia
Spring 2016
We would eventually drop this colorful shonen series about young supernatural heroes taking up the mantle of the previous generation, but the first season was unquestionably zany fun
39. Shokugeki no Souma 2
Summer 2016
Once the Autumn Elections were over, it was nice to see the young chefs test their skills in the real world, particularly Souma being paired with Hisako at a run-of-the-mill family restaurant
38. Shokugeki no Souma 3
Fall 2017
The start of a major coup in which Central takes control of Totsuki and threatens the culinary creativity of all. What had been a show about food skirmishes becomes all-out war between an authoritarian regime and a plucky rebellion
37. Fate/Zero (First Half)
Fall 2011
In our opinion, the best of the Fate anime continuum, plunging into the personalities, passions and vulnerabilities of Servants and Masters alike like no Fate before or since
36. Katanagatari
Winter 2010
The unique art, eclectic Iwasaki score, engrossing story, twisting, clever dialogue, and epic action made this a show to look forward to each month
35. Kids on the Slope (Sakamichi no Apollon)
Spring 2012
In a sleepy Kyushu town in the 60s, kids from disparate backgrounds find harmony in jazz and dissonance in love in a captivating Watanabe/Konno collab
34. PSYCHO-PASS
Fall 2012
A futuristic cop show in which invasive technology determines the latent criminality of all citizens. Introduces one of the decade’s baddassest women, Tsunemori Akane
33. Shingeki no Kyojin 2
Spring 2017
In the first sequel to Attack on Titan megaseries, the world is expanded with the arrival of the Beast Titan and the revealing of Krista’s true identity
32. Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Winter 2011
A seminal series that subverted and heightened the Magical Girl genre popularized by Sailor Moon, turning inward on the struggles and sacrifices of said girls and the cruelty of their fate like never before.
31. Shinsekai yori (From the New World)
Fall 2012
Quite simply one of the darkest, strangest, and most haunting explorations of our species’ possible eventual future ever put to the screen, animated or otherwise
RABUJOI’s Anime of the Decade – 50-41 – A Little Better All The Time
Welcome to RABUJOI’s Anime of the Decade, a comprehensive and hastily-researched list of the 100 best anime we watched from 2010 to 2019. We attempt to provide one brief statement about each show, based in some cases on very fuzzy recollection and possibly guesses. This list is final. No reviews, no appeals, and no Gintama (but only because we’ve never watched it).—RABUJOI STAFF
50. My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU (Oregairu) 2
Spring 2015
Things get a little more complicated and dramatic, but with this show, those are both good things
49. Tsuki ga Kirei
Spring 2017
With all its awkwardness, false starts, devastating setbacks and ecstatic victories, we’d be hard-pressed to find a more detailed, relatable, and downright heart-swelling depiction of falling in love for the first time. Great voice work too
48. Fate/Stay night: Unlimited Blade Works
Fall 2014
Our entrance into the vast world of Fate was a ufotable masterpiece that often left other great-looking shows looking 5-10 years older. We’d eventually find Fates that, while not as good-looking, told a better story with stronger characters
47. Hibike! Euphonium 2
Spring 2015
Who ever thought band could be so serious, so dramatic…and so dang good?
46. SKET Dance
Spring 2011
A sprawling high school epic (78 episodes) bursting with quirky characters you can’t help but grow to love. While usually a comedy, some of its best outings are played straight
45. Shokugeki no Souma 3 – Totsuki Train Arc
Spring 2018
There’s Food Wars, and then there’s Food Wars on a train, baby!
44. Fruits Basket 1st Season
Spring 2019
A show that explores all manner of social and psychological disorders with compassion, through the lens of character who transform into Zodiac animals when hugged. Some of the best characters of the year can be found in this anime
43. No Game No Life
Spring 2014
A shut-in and his sister brave a video game world in this lush, colorful early-ish entry in the decade’s Isekai explosion
42. KonoSuba 2
Winter 2017
Picks up where the first season left off and improves our motley crew’s living conditions…and builds on the zany comedy
41. Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu
Spring 2016
Owner of some of the highest emotional highs and lowest emotional lows, Re:Zero is at times endearing, triumphant, and terrifying…but it’s almost never boring
RABUJOI - An Anime Blog 