My Top 5 Anime of 2016
New Year’s has arrived once again, as
we finally bid farewell to the nightmare that was 2016! So let’s ring in the
new year by celebrating the best animation coming from a country that’s basically
already in 2017: Japan!
As a reminder, this is just my opinion, and if there’s a show
you liked that isn’t here, it’s either because I haven’t seen it or didn’t like
it as much as you did. I’m also not counting second seasons on the main list,
but in that case I will be giving an honourable mention to Assassination Classroom Season 2. It’s a perfect conclusion to
what’s already one of my favourite anime of all time, and if you haven’t
checked it out yet you owe it to yourself to do so.
With that said, these are my top 5 favourite original anime
from 2016!
5. Amaama to Inazuma
If you remember my reviews of this
one, you may recall how critical I was of how most of the episodes seemed
content to do the same thing over and over again. But the reason it’s on this
list is simple: when it decided to try something different, it got really good.
Amaama is the story of a single father
as he comes to grips with the loss of his wife a year prior. As a result of her
passing, he has been feeding their daughter, an adorable girl named Tsumugi, only
boxed lunches for the most part. After a chance meeting with a student with a
passion for food, the father teams up with her to make meals for Tsumugi.
If that seems extremely simplistic,
that’s because it is. Most of the episodes follow the same pattern: the first
half introduces a problem, which is resolved during the cooking segment in the
second half. Each episode they cook something different, and occasionally
different characters will visit and shake things up a bit. While the cooking is
fun to watch, by the end of the show it does feel a bit like its retreading old
ground. In fact, the best episode in the whole thing features no cooking
segment whatsoever.
What really sells the anime is the two
leads: Tsumugi and her father. Their relationship is a fascinating one to
explore, as the father comes to grips with the wife he lost and the daughter
who doesn’t quite understand what’s happened yet. Despite these dark
undertones, Tsumugi is able to keep the mood light with lots of dancing and
singing, resulting in a simple, happy show that is good for relieving stress.
4. Re:Zero
Yes, Re:Zero is clichéd to the max,
and it wasn’t quite the genre-breaking masterpiece I was expecting after seeing
the sheer outpour of fanart for it. But once you get all the tropey stuff out
of the way, you’ll find an anime that has a very interesting take on the tired
“slacker dude goes to a fantasy world” story with some great animation and
fantastic worldbuilding.
The interesting part of Re:Zero is
that the main character, Subaru, is able to time travel back to a set point in
his past…but only after he dies. With every death and every screw-up he learns
more about the world around him and what the other characters will do in
specific situations, allowing him to formulate plans that allow not only
himself, but as many others to survive as possible. Through this, it allows the
side characters to be much more developed, as through time traveling Subaru
often uncovers new sides to them that may not have been obvious before.
The characters do fall into many of
the classic anime tropes, and there are way
too many of them, with many I assume only existing to set up later stories
should this ever get another season. With that said, the main characters are
interesting and fun to spend time with, most of all the blue-haired maid Rem.
They aren’t 1-dimensional cutouts with a single personality trait, although it
may seem that way at first. As the show progresses, they become more and more
complex. While it’s ultimately nothing to write home about, Re:Zero is a show
that you enjoy while you’re watching it.
3. Magical Girl Raising Project
What a wild ride this one was.
Essentially being a Magical Girl Hunger Games, Magical Girl Raising Project
succeeded the most at creating a lovable and memorable cast of characters…and
then killing nearly all of them before your very eyes.
Beginning with a cast of 15 girls (and
a 16th added later on), Magical Girl Raising Project wastes no time
in setting up the different alliances and factions and beginning to tear
everything apart. What follows are 12 episodes of suspense as it’s hard to
predict who will go down next or what the more nefarious characters are
planning.
Well, except for one thing. It becomes
easy to predict who’s next on the chopping block when you pick up on the show’s
signature telltale death mark: the cursed flashback. Almost every time a
character is about to bite it, there’s a lengthy flashback either just before
the death or earlier in the episode that attempts to make you feel sympathetic
for the victim. Instead, however, they just ruin what could’ve been a great
surprise. Amazingly, the problem is solved somewhat for some of the later
characters, but it’s too bad such a great show had to have its blade dulled.
Still, Magical Girl Raising Project is
a great show, one I’d highly recommend for fans of stuff like Madoka Magica.
The characters are all incredibly uniquely designed with very memorable
costumes and names, and when the show does manage to catch you off guard with
something, it is legitimately surprising.
2. Space Patrol Luluco
So, funny story. This was the first
Studio Trigger anime I ever watched. Ironic, considering Luluco is filled to
the brim with Studio Trigger cameos and references. While watching it a second
time after seeing all their other stuff made me appreciate it all the more, I
think it’s really telling how good Space Patrol Luluco is that I loved it just
as much when I didn’t get half the jokes.
This short-form show follows young girl
Luluco, who is trying to live a normal life in an alien spaceport on Earth. One
morning, when her father is accidentally frozen and then smashed to pieces, she
is drafted into the Space Patrol in his place. What follows is a quest across
space and through various references to Studio Trigger’s past, while Luluco and
the Space Patrol crew attempt to bring justice to the galaxy.
Space Patrol Luluco is a Studio
Trigger show through and through, with their sharp wit and unique animation
style shining through. Rarely a moment passes by without a joke or reference of
some kind, and all of them land. What’s surprising about Luluco is that it
isn’t played entirely for laughs. There’s a definite heart lying beneath
everything, resulting in the most heartwarming ending I’ve seen to an anime in
a very long time. Space Patrol Luluco is a wonderful, wonderful anime that can
be enjoyed at its fullest whether or not you’re familiar with Studio Trigger.
1. Erased
I started this blog not too long after
this one ended, so it’s the only anime on this list I didn’t review. But wow, if you haven’t seen Erased yet you
are missing out big time. It’s so good that I went back and re-watched it again
not long after it ended, and I loved it just as much. It’s that good.
Erased tells the story of Satoru, a
down-on-his luck manga artist that, for some unexplained reason, can transport
through time to prevent tragedies from happening. Following the murder of his
mother, Satoru is sent back to when he’s 11 years old. What follows is a
time-travelling murder mystery, as Satoru copes with being an adult in a
child’s body and attempts to uncover a child murderer.
The way Erased’s narrative flows is
absolutely brilliant. The mystery that unfolds is one of the most intriguing I’ve
seen in a long time, and while I was able to guess the true culprit before they
were revealed, the way they unveiled them made it still a surprise. This is
also thanks to one of the most interesting leads in anime in a long time.
Satoru has a chip on his shoulder from the way life has treated him in the
present, so after being thrust back to the innocent of childhood he’s not sure
how to react. This plays into how he treats his past friends who he hasn’t seen
in years, his mother, and future victim Kayo Hinazuki.
It’s with Hinazuki that Erased truly
shines as more than a simple mystery show. Satoru’s first step in attempting to
stop his mother from being murdered in the future is attempting to stop the
murderer from capturing Hinazuki. He does this by slowly becoming closer to
her, and the more she lets her guard down, the more of her home life and
backstory are revealed. The way Satoru changes her is nothing short of
heartwarming, and adds an extra dimension to Erased that one could argue it
could function without.
Erased is a masterclass in
storytelling, in character design, and in keeping you invested. The mystery is
brilliantly woven with lots of red herrings and tricks to make you second guess
yourself a lot. But it’s with the characters and their interactions that it
truly shines, and make it not only the best anime of 2016, but my favourite
anime of all time.
While 2016 definitely had a few down
points in terms of anime, overall I thought it was a very stellar year for it.
With next year promising some interesting new shows as well as some returning
favourites, I can’t wait to see what Japan has in store for us next.
No comments:
Post a Comment