Anime in retrospect: 2019

In the passing year I have watched exactly 25 seasonal anime and 2 anime movies, not counting those that begun in 2018 or the ones that I dropped. Now, I would like to look back at 2019 from the eyes of your average anime fan and talk about what I thought was good, excellent and bad in the past four seasons, and finally what I think are the best anime of this year. For each of the four seasons of anime in a year (Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall) I'll list anime that I watched and say a couple of words for each, and then I'll name ones that I think stood out with their quality.

Winter

Anime I watched (animation studio will be named in the brackets):

Rising of the Shield Hero (Kinema Citrus)

The Promised Neverland (CloverWorks)

Mob Psycho 100 II (Bones)

Kaguya-sama: Love is War (A1 Pictures)

Dororo (Tezuka Productions, MAPPA)

Kakegurui xx (MAPPA)

Boogiepop wa Warawanai (Madhouse)

Magical Girls Spec-Ops Asuka (LEIDENFILMS)

Winter was a really strong season, with amazing shows from some of the most popular studios like Madhouse, Bones and A1 Pictures, while the newcommer CloverWorks (former subsidiary of A1 Pictures, now direct subsidiary of Sony's Aniplex) solidified their status as some of the most talented people in the industry. After the amazing season that was Fall 2018, with shows such as JoJo's Bizzare Adventure Part 5: Golden Wind, Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai and Bloom into You I really didn't think that Winter 2019 would live up to it. Yet it did, and how so.

Let's start with Rising of the Shield Hero. It was hyped to be the next big isekai (trapped in another world setting) anime, with great production from Kinema Citrus (best known for Made in Abyss, one of the best shows in the past couple of years) and music by Kevin Penkin, who also did the absolutely amazing soundtrack for Made in Abyss. Needless to say, I was very hyped for it too. But I got disappointed very early into it's run, when it turned from an underdog revenge story into a generic isekai with an OP protagonist, except that almost every side character was either a horrible person or an idiot. It might be because I saw wasted potential in it, or because I expected way more, but I didn't enjoy Shield Hero as much as I hoped I would. However, the show was very popular and well liked by the general public and it got renewed for a second and third season so I think that if you dig fantasy you can give it a shot. The overall production of it was great, so I can only really complain about character development and story.

The Promised Neverland was amazing. I didn't know anything about it other than it was an adaptation from a fairly popular Shounen Jump manga and that it was done by CloverWorks, which became one of my favourite studios with their first solo anime Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai. From the first episode, The Promised Neverland got me hooked. The story was great, the characters were endearing, the opening and ending themes were absolute bangers... really, there was a lot to love here. In all honesty, any negatives that I could say about it would be nitpicks. An absoulte must-watch.

I never expected that I would like Mob Psycho as much as I did. Yet not only did I like it, I adored it. And season two was even better. Honesty, I would go as far as to say that this might end up being studio Bones' best work to date. First off, the story is simply brilliant. Written by One, the man behind the popular One Punch man, Mob Psycho is again a story about the mundane, everyday life of an overpowered protagonist, but it's much more emotional and pensive than One's earlier work. Also, while One Punch man got an amazing manga adaptation by Yusuke Murata, Mob Psycho was stuck as a poorly drawn web-comic and the absolute madmen at Bones decided to keep that artstyle which resulted in some of the most creative and visually inovative animation of the decade. In short, Mob Psycho is great and I thoroughly recommend it.

I'm usualy not the type to watch high-school romance anime, but I really enjoyed Kaguya-sama. The quirk of the story was really unexpected, with two geniuses having a battle of the wits to make the one confess their love for the other. The animation was pretty solid, as expected from A1, and there were some interesting visuals. The slapstick comedy in anime hardly ever works for me, bit it was really effective in this one, and the characters were great. Overall, it was a funny rom-com and it was a pretty enjoyable watch.

Dororo was an homage to classic anime that we didn't know we needed. It's an adaptation of a Tezuka Osamu manga from the sixties, done purely with traditional 2D animazion techniques. The story was a pretty solid dark fantasy set during the Sengoku Jidai, although in my opinion, the second part wasn't as good as the first, and I wasn't the biggest fan of the ending. The music was pretty good, and I really liked the first opening (both the music and the opening animation). In general, if you have an itch for classic '80s and '90s anime, you can't go wrong with Dororo.

OK, bear with me here: a show about hot anime girls getting horny about gambling. Did I get you sold on Kakegurui yet? Kakegurui xx is the second season of the show, continuing the story of Yumeko Jabami with even more ridiculous gambles and even more hot anime girls. The animation in the show was serviceable, although I must praise the animation for the opening and ending credits. There isn't much else to say about it though. It was just a solid seasonal anime with an interesting premise and a huge collection of waifus to choose from.

Boogiepop wa Warawanai was an odd one. Adapted from an older light novel series that is quite popular in Japan, it follows a series of supernatural mysteries plaguing mostly young adolescents. What I really liked about Boogiepop was that the story isn't told in a chronological order and that you need to watch carefully in order to piece the story together. That was quite difficult at moments tho, because some characters suffer from the same-face syndrome and it was pretty hard to distinguish who's who in the first couple of episodes. In summary, it was a generally solid mystery anime (with a banger opening by MYTH&ROID).

Honestly, I don't even know why I watched Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka. It was a pretty average edgefest about Spec-Ops magical girls. There was nothing special about it, yet I sat thorugh it because I just had too much time to waste. Wouldn't really recommend it unless if you are looking for some edgy stuff to watch.

With all of the seasonals I watched out of the way, it's time to name the anime of the season. In my opinion that title should go to Mob Psycho 100 II. It was just mindblowingly good, and one of the easiest 10s I've given on MAL, with The Promised Neverland in a close second spot.

Spring

Anime I watched:

One-punch man Season 2 (J.C.Staff)

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba (ufotable)

Attack on Titan Season 3 Part 2 (Wit Studio)

Wise Man's Grandchild (Silver Link.)

Fruits Basket 1st Season (TMS entertainment)

Isekai Quartet (Studio PuYUKAI)

The Helpful Fox Senko-san (Doga Kobo)

Carole and Tuesday (Bones)

This season wasn't as good as Winter in my opinion, but what good shows there were, were some of the best this year has seen.

One-punch man Season 2 was a disappointment and One's writing is the only thing that saved it from being absolute garbage. The animation and sound design were subpar at best, and absolute garbage at worst. The character design was weird and clearly less detailed than the first season, with a lot more added CGI. I refuse to talk about this show anymore. It's wasted potential at it's best.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba got a lot of traction with its beautiful episode 19, which got it the number one spot trending on twitter and the ultra-casuals calling it the best anime ever made. Although I agree that it's a great show, it isn't even ufotable's best of this year (we'll talk about it in a moment), let alone the best anime ever. What it is though, is a great battle shounen with awesome animation and soundtrack and it's definitely worth a watch for the hype moments, fight direction and choreography alone.

Oh boy, I could talk about how great Attack on Titan is for days on end, and I still couldn't say everything. This, ladies and gentlemen, is how you write a mystery. And boy, did the answer to the mystery deliver this season. Everything that fans have been waiting for, everything that they've been asking has been revealed, laid bare in front of them and people were shocked and amazed. With this season, Attack on Titan placed itself among not only greatest anime, but gretest shows of all time. I urge you, pause whatever you're doing right now and go watch Attack on Titan. Having read the manga, I can only say that it gets even better from now on, no matter how implausible that might sound. There are few anime I consider true masterpieces, and this is one of them.

Wise Man's Grandchild is just an average, generic isekai with an overpowered protagonist. Talking about it in detail after Attack on Titan is an insult to Attack on Titan, so I won't say anyting more about it.

Fruits Basket 1st Season was yet another anime adapted from an older manga, this time a shoujo romance reverse harem, and it was pretty good. The characters were likeable, and the drama between them was really well written. It was a genuinely good romance with a supernatural twist and I'll definitely watch the second season when it airs.

Isekai Quartet was a short-form crossover between Kodansha's most popular isekai series, those being: Overlord, Konosuba, Re:Zero and Youjo Senki. Having watched all four, I had a lot of fun with it, mostly because of all the jokes they make about the characters themselves. If you've watched those four isekai I would recommend it, otherwise I don't think that you'll enjoy it.

The Helpful Fox Senko-san is a pretty wholesome show about an 800 year old fox-demon loli who helps a stressed out middle-aged office worker with his everyday chores and help him reduce the darkness in his heart. It's a pretty nice little show to watch when you're feeling down for your daily dose of fluff and wholesomeness.

Although I haven't watched any of his shows, I've heard a lot of great things about Shinichirou Watanabe, and therefore expected a lot from Carole and Tuesday. In the end I found myself in the same spot as I did watching Dororo: it was just a solid show whose second half didn't utilize its potential to the fullest. If there's one thing that stands out about Carole and Tuesday it's the soundtrack and the sheer passion for music that Watanabe has. In the end, this was a solid music anime, but it could've been something much more.

If you haven't guessed by now, Attack on Titan Season 3 Part 2 is my anime of Spring 2019 season.

Summer

Anime that I've watched:

Dr Stone (TMS Entertainment)

Fire Force (David Productions)

Vinland Saga (Wit Studio)

Do You Like My Mom and Her Two-hit Multi-Target Attacks? (J.C.Staff)

Lord El-Melloi II Case Files: Rail Zeppelin Grace Note (TROYCA)

Fate/stay night movie: Heaven's Feel - II. Lost Butterfly (ufotable)

Well, since I started watching seasonal anime a couple of years ago, Summer was, in my oppinion, always the weakest season, and this year nothing much has changed. However, there were a few anime that were worth a watch.

Dr Stone is an anime about science. More precisely, it's an anime about a genious kid named Senku who wakes up some 3700 years after all of humanity has been turned to stone and sets out to rebuild civilization from scratch. I really don't get all the hype surrounding the show. Don't get me wrong, it was fine and all, but it was far from amazing. The animation was servicealble, although wacky at certain points, the character design was also fine if you ignore the horrible facial proportions of the girls' faces, and the music was OK, I guess. But, as an engineer myself, what really bugged me was the story, more specifically the scientific progres Senku makes throughout the show. He's a genius all right, and the show makes it abundantly clear. However, no genius, no matter how skilled and knowledgeable they are, should be able to make a damn vacuum tube from scratch with stone-age technology. In the show they explain how a skilled craftsman managed to do it but I just can't buy it. I do apreciate that the show promotes science, tho. Many other people seemed to love the show, so I don't know, maybe it's just me and you'll like it more than I did.

It's really a shame that the source material for Fire Force isn't that good, because David Productions really went out of their way to make an amazingly animated show for a manga that is mediocre at best. I love David Productions and their work, mosty because they gave us the classic that is JoJo's Bizzare Adventure, another manga adaptation from a work that was long claimed to be unadaptable. So, when they were able to adapt JoJo's, they can adapt everything, and Fire Force is an excellent adaptation. The only problem I have with it is the quality of the manga it's adapting. The dialogue and the pacing are all over the place and the fan serviece is so abundant that it breaks the flow of certain scenes. Not that I have anything against fanservece, as a matter of fact I quite enjoy it, it's just that Fire Force can't decide whether it wants to be a battle shounen or an ecchi action anime, and it hurts it in the end. Still, I'd say that you should give it a try, if for anything then for the amazing animation. Also, even if you decide not to watch it, at least watch and listen to the opening and ending credits, because they're awesome, just like you'd expect from David Productions.

The moment I finished watching Vinland Saga's first episode, I knew that we had something special here. I've heard of it beforehand, being put together with Berserk, Vagabond and Kingdom as the manga that couldn't be given justice as an anime. Yet, to everyone's surprise, Wit Studio went ahead and did it. They took a manga masterpiece and made an equaly good anime. In it's core, this is a story about the futility of violence, and as such, Vinland Saga is depressing. You're watching a regular kid grow obsessed with revenge to the point where he becomes the complete oposite of what his father wanted him to be. Although Berserk is way more violent, the violence in this show hits me harder just because how realistic it is. The setting is based on real historical events, which make the brutality of war between Denmark and England haunting. Through Vinland Saga you see the worst in man, and just like one of the major characters you're left to ponder: is there any salvation for humankind, and are we even worth saving? Although I consider it a masterpiece, it isn't without its flaws, namely the overuse of CGI in the first half, with episode 7 being the greatest offender. The second half of the show greatly improves on that, thankfully. I must also commend the music which is awesome and fits the Norse atmosphere really well. The openings and endings are all amazing as well, and I must highlight the first opening credits which are maybe the best I've seen this year. I've seen many people mistake Vinland Saga for a hype battle show, and I beg them to reconsider their opinion of it, for if you watch it like that you'll end up being greatly disappointed by the show's end, as you are misunderstanding the idea which Vinland Saga represents.

You know a show is adapted from a light novel with a mouthfull of a title like Do You Like My Mom and Her Two-hit Multi-Target Attacks? In all honesty, I watched this one only for the memes. And that's all that this MILFsekai, how the anime community likes to call it, can offer. Other than that, it is a painfully average show that I can't recommend in good faith, especially not when amazing shows like Mob, AoT and Vinland Saga are around.

Another season, another Fate spin-off, right? This time, the culprit is Lord El-Melloi II Case Files: Rail Zeppelin Grace Note. Get it, because it's a detective wizzard anime? Anyways, this Fate spin-off follows Waver Velvet, one of the key characters from Fate/Zero, now all grown up and having the title of Lord El-Melloi II, one of the highest honors a mage can have, as he solves murder mysteries which involve magic. I really like how it builds upon Fate's lore of magic, mages, The Clock Tower, Mystic Eyes and such while showing the psychological effects that the Holy Grail War had on Waver's psyche. However, the pacing could be better, and the show really kicks off at its midpoint. Honestly, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who isn't a Fate fan, and that certainly holds true for the next title that we'll be talking about as well.

Fate/stay night movie: Heaven's Feel - II. Lost Butterfly is the second movie in the Heaven's Feel trilogy, which adapts the third route from the Fate/stay night visual novel. As you can see, this movie is definitely not recommended for people not familiar with Kinoko Nasu's Fate series. But, for those who are, this is by far the best animated movie of the year and the best studio ufotable has to offer. First, let's get this out of the way: this is possibly the best animated movie of all time. Animation wise, everything in this movie is as close to perfection as it can get. Ufotable shines with their blend of 2D and CGI animation and that results in ridiculously beautiful background animation with really crisp and detailed character animation. Mix that with best in business effects animation and you've got a recipe for success. On top of that, add in the brilliantly written script by Kinoko Nasu, and what you end up with is possibly the best Fate has been since 2011's Fate/Zero. The soundtrack is great as well, as expected from Yuki Kajiura. If you haven't watched Fate yet, first of, what the hell are you doing, and second, you better start watching it because you will be able to enjoy this movie then.

Note: Although it came out during the Winter season, I decided to put this movie here because I was able to watch it only when it came out on Blu-ray.

In summary, my highlights of the season were Heaven's Feel and Vinland Saga, but I have to give Vinland Saga the title of anime of the season because it's much easier to get into than Heaven's Feel.

Fall

Anime I watched:

Youjo Senki Movie (Nut)

My Hero Academia 4th season (Bones) ongoing

No Guns Life (Madhouse) finished but haven't watched all of it yet

Fate/Grand Order: Absolute Demonic Front - Babylonia (CloverWorks)

Azur Lane (Bibury Animation Studios) ongoing

Babylon (Revoroot) ongoing

For me, the Fall 2019 season was weird because there were a lot of shows that I wanted to watch, yet when I chose what to follow weekly those shows weren't all that great, with some exceptions.

The Youjo Senki Movie was a really wild ride. A direct sequel to the first season of the show, it follows Tanya's efforts in fighting the communist Russy Federation. I had a lot of fun watching this movie. Tanya is an amazing protagonist, a murderous ultra-rational child who is a magical and military prodigy. The animation is really solid in this one, and a lot of care was put in the aerial combat scenes. What I enjoyed the most tho is Tanya's "based and redpilled" opinion on the clearly inept and disorganised communist leadership of the Russy Federation. If you enjoy over the top war action, you'll definitely enjoy it, although if you're a communist, and hopefully you aren't, you won't like it as much.

Note: Just like the new Heaven's Feel, this movie too was originaly released during the Winter season, but I was only able to watch it sometime in October when the blu-ray was released.

My Hero Academia has become a household name in the anime industry over the last few years, filling the void that was left when Naruto and Bleach ended, so there's no wonder that the arrival of the fourth season of the show was surrounded by a lot of hype and rightfully so. In my opinion, season 4 is My Hero Academia at its best. For Deku, the stakes have never been higher, with Overhaul posing as one of the bighest threats to the hero society. The side characters will really get fleshed out this season, mostly Mirio who will definitely steal the spotlight during a couple of moments in this story arc. MHA is one of the best battle shonen around, and if you like that kind of stuff, this is a must-watch.

No Guns Life is a dystopian cyberpunk show about a detective that has a gun for his head. He. Has. A. Gun. For. His. Head. A. GUN. FOR. HIS. HEAD. All jokes aside, it's a fun seasonal. The animation is solid, but there are some instances of really ugly CGI which are a real eyesore. I have watched the first 9 episodes, and I've had some enjoyment out of it. I'll hopefully finish watching it before 2020.

If it wasn't clear yet, I love the Nasuverse and all it's series, like Fate and Kara no Kyoukai, so you can be sure that I'll watch Fate/Grand Order: Absolute Demonic Front - Babylonia. As someone who has sunk hundreds of hours into the game and plans to sink hundreds more, I was overjoyed when they announced that this anime was in the works. And when they anounced that it was going to be animated by ClovedWorks, I was beyond hyped. And honestly, the show lived up to all the hype. From what I can see, the Grand Order fanbase loves it as much as I do. When it comes to adaptations, this is one of the best I have seen. The visuals are amazing and CloverWorks really flexes hard with every episode. The story is great, as expected from Nasu, and it's some of the best Fate has to offer. Honestly, some of the episodes here reminded me why I fell in love with Fate in the first place. The heroic exploits of humanity's greatest really shine here, with prime examples being Minamoto-no-Yoshitsune's (also known as Ushiwakamaru) and Leonidas' stand against the main villain in episode 8, which nearly brought me to tears, and the amazing clash between Enkidu and Gilgamesh's at the end of the fifth episode. The direction is splendid and consistent throughout all the episodes that are out so far, with smart utilization of dynamic character animation and CGI. The sound design is phenomenal, in my opinion, although I heard some folks complain about the bass on some impacts. I also really dig the soundtrack, especially the Goddess of Venus and Absolute Demonic Front tracks. This is some of the best Fate on TV in years and I would really recommend it.

Note: Episode 0 of the show, subtitled "Initium Itter" aired as a special in august.

Some of my friends play Azur Lane, so I was really interested to see what it was about. And to be honest, it doesn't equate to much, especially to someone who doesn't play the game. Even from the players of the game I've heard dissatisfaction with how the story was handled. I think most of the faults with this anime comes from the inexperience of the studio behind it, and it can be clearly seen in the direction and writing of the show. On the more techical side, the animation is quite solid and it serves its purpose well. I would recommend it to fans of the game only.

Babylon is the sleeper hit of this season. Being an Amazon original it's no wonder. However, this is quite possibly the best anime of this season. The direction is amazing, with episode 2's interrogation scene being a great showcase of expertly directed animation. The writing is amazing as well, with each episode having me at the edge of my seat. The show is on pause until December 30th and I can't wait to se where it goes next. I highly recommend it.

Obviously, F/GO is my anime of the season, but Babylon is amazing as well.

Anime of the year

So, let's name the possible contenders:

Mob Psycho 100 II

The Promissed Neverland

Attack on Titan Season 3 Part 2

Vinland Saga

Fate/stay night movie: Heaven's Feel - II. Lost Butterfly

Fate/Grand Order: Absolute Demonic Front - Babylonia

Babylon

Honestly, this is a hard decision. All the anime listed are really awesome, so I think I'll name two titles: best new title and best sequel.

So after a lot of consideration, these are my choices:

Best New Anime: Vinland Saga

Best Sequel Anime: Attack on Titan Season 3 Part 2

And, that's it for this retrospect on anime in 2019. I wish all of you reading this happy holidays and a more successful 2020.