With winter 2019 already started, I think is a good time to choose my picks for the best animes I’ve seen in 2018. Overall was an amazing year for anime and manga fans, with many sequels some already long aired animes, and new originals and adaptations having the highlight throughout the year.
Notice: To keep this list “fresh” I will not include any sequels or any time of continuation of already existed animes, and I won’t include any anime who haven’t finished in 2018. This list isn’t in any particular order.
Seishun Buta Yarou wa Bunny Girl Senpai no Yume wo Minai
(Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai) – Cursed title
Source: Light novel
Genres: Comedy, Supernatural, Romance, School
Staff:
Director: Souichi Masui
Series Composition: Masahiro Yokotani
Character Design; Chief Animation Director: Satomi Tamura
Assistant Director: Kazuya Iwata
Music: fox capture plan
Studio: CloverWorks
Bunny Girl is one of a kind anime, starting with his title who has whatsoever nothing to do with the theme, and it’s real drama which is the “Puberty syndrome—abnormal experiences rumored on the internet to be caused by sensitivity and instability during adolescence”. So putting the title and it’s premise Bunny Girl is definitely one of the best light novel adaptations in years, the way that the characters interacted with which other on the daily basis is so organic and out of the “line” that brings a fresh feeling on watching it. I don’t want to spoil anything for those who haven’t seen it, but just know that you will encounter some of the best waifus of the year.
Grand Blue
Source: Manga
Genres: Comedy, Seinen, Slice of Life
Staff:
Director; Sound Director; Script: Shinji Takamatsu
Character Design: Hideoki Kusama
Episode Director: Masamitsu Utsunomiya
Studio: Zero-G
Grand Blue on seen the trailers and it’s premise, it seemed just another comedy school anime with lots of gags and fanservice. But what Grand Blue offered was a real “down to earth” of life of a college student in a pretty “American” way of being mixing some funny moments but also more mature situations. Plus all the swimming thing, was just a tool to get the characters to interact with another more, don’t be expecting like “Free!” or even similar.
Wotaku ni Koi wa Muzukashii
(Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku)
Source: Web manga
Genres: Slice of Life, Comedy, Romance
Staff:
Director; Series Composition: Yoshimasa Hiraike
Character Designer: Takahiro Yasuda
Director of Photography: Toshiaki Aoshima
Music: Akimitsu Honma
Sound Director: Masanori Tsuchiya
Studio: A-1 Pictures
You ever wonder if there’s any anime who portraits the life of an otaku who tries to live his adult life just like a normal person although she’s probably the biggest nerd around? Look no more than Wotaku ni Koi wa Muzukashii an anime that shows 2 couples of otakus trying to live their adult lives as normal as possible but never forgetting their real “otaku” side. A humorous yet realistic anime about 4 otakus, all of them with different personalities is what you should expect of Wotaku ni Koi wa Muzukashii.
Hinamatsuri
Source: Manga
Genres: Comedy, Supernatural, Sci-Fi, Slice of Life, Seinen
Staff:
Director: Kei Oikawa
Series Composition; Script: Keiichirou Ohchi
Character Designer: Kanetoshi Kamimoto
Chief Animation Director: Kanetoshi Kamimoto
Music: Yasuhiro Misawa
Studio: feel.
Don’t get mistaken by the tag “comedy” on the genre of this show, because this was one of the more realistic and down to earth drama (yes I said drama, fight me!) with comedy in the mix. Hinamatsuri has a lot of comedy but what marked me the most was the real portrait of the life of a young girl being homeless and trying to fit in the society. If you say Anzu isn’t the best girl you totally should seriously about your ideals… xD
Sora yori mo Tooi Basho
(A Place Further Than The Universe)
Source: Original
Genres: Adventure, Seinen
Staff:
Director: Atsuko Ishizuka.
Series Composition; Script: Jukki Hanada
Character Designer; Chief Animation Director: Takahiro Yoshimatsu
Director of Photography: Hiroki Kawashita
Sound Director: Jin Aketagawa
Music: Yoshiaki Fujisawa
Studio: Madhouse
I wasn´t, per se, the biggest fan of Sora yori mo Tooi Basho when it was airing but after reflecting for a while, I saw how much inspirational and heartwarming it is. Sora Yori isn’t just a story of four girls who pursue their journey to Antarctica, but also and even more about young girls who want to discover more about their true selves and finding what is truly the YOUTH.
Yuru Camp△
(Laid-Back Camp)
Source: Manga
Genres: Slice of Life, Comedy
Staff:
Director: Yoshiaki Kyogoku
Series Composition: Hitoshi Tanaka
Character Designer: Mutsumi Sasaki
Music: Akiyuki Tateyama
Studio: C-Station
You know the feeling of being on the couch drinking a cup of hot tea or chocolate? Watching Yuru Camp is pretty much like that plus seen cute girls doing cute things in the best humorous and comedic way.
Movies
Sayonara no Asa ni Yakusoku no Hana wo Kazarou
(Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms)
Source: Original
Genres: Drama, Fantasy
Staff:
Original Character Designer: Akihiko Yoshida
Director; Script: Mari Okada
Chief Director: Toshiya Shinohara
Character Designer; Chief Animation Director: Yuriko Ishii
Sound Director: Kazuhiro Shinohara
Music: Kenji Kawai
Studio: P.A. Works
A story that will make even your dog crying on the ground like the world is ending (Sorry this isn’t really making any sense). Maquia follows the story of a young girl (Maquia) who manages to escape from an invasion her homeland, after that she finds an armless child whose mother’s dead leave him with no one to take care, Maquia then adopts the child not that younger than her and embraces her as her own child, throughout the movie we see them both growing, Maquia as a woman and mother and Ariel as a young boy who really wants to protect his mother at any cost. But there was a problem, Maquia was a Iorph a race of people that don’t age, y’ll can already predict how this is going to end. A truly touching, emotional and heartwarming story about a mother and her child. (Sorry if I messed this up, I can’t truly put into word what I felt watching Maquia)
Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! Movie: Take On Me
Source: Light novel
Genres: Slice of Life, Comedy, Drama, Romance, School
Staff:
Director: Tatsuya Ishihara
Series Composition: Jukki Hanada
Character Design: Kazumi Ikeda
Music: Akito Matsuda
Original Character Design: Nozomi Ousaka
Director of Photography: Akihiro Ura
Studio: Kyoto Animation
You all probably already know Chuunibyou this was probably the last adaptation of the story. More cute Rikka doing cute things, this time she finally officializes her relationship with Yuuta. With more cute expressions and lots of comedy, this was a really wonderful journey.
Honorable Mentions:
- Kokkoku
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Probably one of the animes that were put aside by most people as the year progressed, Kokkoku isn’t an anime for everyone and isn’t like an all great anime, but the atmosphere, thriller, and the mystery really intrigued me and it kept me interested until the end.
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- SSSS.Gridman
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Gridman really deserves been in my honorable mentions because although I don’t like mecha or any anime of the same kind, it gives me enjoyment throughout all the show and maybe it opened the doors for me to watch more mecha anime. I really liked the fights sequences even if sometimes they used 3DCG (in a good way) and of course how can I not mention the waifus of the season, Rikka *cuf* *cuf* thic *cuf* *cuf* and the villainess and yet cute Akane.
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- Asobi Asobase
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I just had to put Asobi Asobase here, if you like crazy yet well-done comedy, look no more. I could mention Aho Girl too, but Asobi really takes the cake for the craziest comedy of 2018. If you’re thinking about Pop Team Epic I’m not really a fan, I guess it isn’t for the taste of everyone.
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Disappointments:
–One Piece: Episode of Sorajima
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After the episode of East Blue, I was expecting some really good production in this one. Although the animation was top notch, to the point that harmed the animation of the anime for some episodes because it has some of the best toei talent there, the direction wasn’t really that appealing even considering those who never watched the full arc previously.
–Sirius the Jaeger
- I was really expecting something a lot better, after the first episode nothing really interested me in Sirius. The characters were boring, the story nothing new about it (vampires, wolfs, vampire hunters) where did I see it before…
–Darling in the FranXX
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I don’t know if Darling was really a disappointment for me since I didn’t expect much of it, and to begin with, I don’t really I’m a fan of mecha anime. So since the beginning was the designs and new concepts that kept me interested.
–Hanebado!
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Hanebado although it had a strong start strong and ended even better. The direction really went down the weal when they decided to give an even more dramatic felling, and including a bullshit drama between a horrendous mother and a bipolar girl. It was a shame because surprisingly Liden Films was able to keep the amazing animation consistently throughout all the show.
–Goblin Slayer
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I had really good expectations about Goblin Slayer, mostly because of all the praising about the original source material. Although after that controversies start, which was a decent start, the story followed being really poor and boring, just until the last two episodes which were by far the pinnacle of the show.
–Irozuku Sekai no Ashita kara
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P.A… P.A… P.A Works you disappointed me yet again this year. Irozuku didn’t deserve at all one of the best layouts and background art that the year had, the story was linear and didn’t really attract in any sense, the ending was at least more interesting than the rest of the show.