Anime is Anime. A place where magic powers can be almost be anything, where emotions of characters are exaggerated by a million, and where smart plot-lines can actually happen in the realm of animation.
So now for the list!
5. Death Note
With notebook of death, and the insane Light Yagami behind it, will L bring this anonymous killer to justice? This anime… is just so dramatic, but so smart at the same time, with a notebook of death as the premise. It can make eating potato chips dramatic! And deliver amazing twists that just leave you wanting more and more. The two main characters, Light and L (geniuses) fight on, head to head in this thrilling anime. My only complaint is that the supporting characters (Light’s Dad, Misa, etc.) are such air-heads and are pieces of dust compared to the main duo. Another perk of this anime is watching L’s toes rub against each other which I found aesthetically pleasing.
4. Nichijou
Like the last one on the list, this anime is dramatic, but not just dramatic, off the charts dramatic! It makes mundane school life sound like a shonen anime! Plus, it is hilarious with jokes that know that they are jokes. I have fantasies of petting the birds (the thing you see on the brown-haired girl’s head) that are on all the spines of the manga, since all the animation is so soft and nice! I have no complaints.
3. Naruto Shippuden
This is one of the big three, so why not put it on number three? The best thing about Naruto is the characters, with elaborate backstories, and signature moves that are always changing. Naruto is constantly building up his skills as a ninja, as are all the other characters. But, the true reason I put this anime, out of the big three (One Piece, Naruto, and Blech) is because the fight scenes are awesome (Actually I put it on here so I could imagine the smoothness of Gaara’s forehead without eyebrows, but it’s same thing, right?)
2. Erased
Erased, no matter how overdone the time-travel concept has been, still blew my mind. It takes a new spinoff of it where our main character goes through time leaps when something goes wrong—- usually just a couple of seconds. But, when the time leap goes full circle on all his problems, his pizza-man job, his rejection of being a manga artist, and a maniac killer following his small family unit, he gets transported into the past when he was a child. I really like how the story twists, and the anime style too.
Honorable Mentions
Yuri on Ice!
WE WERE BORN TO SHIP VICTURI!
Kotoura-San
Manabae is relatable on so many levels. ALSO MURUTO-SENPAI’S FACE!
1. Your Name
This anime movie is the most beautiful, and the most emotional anime I have ever watched. I really enjoy how it doesn’t start at the beginning but after one day of the main character’s switching lives. It’s an old concept, Freaky Friday type, but it’s done so amazingly that I couldn’t discount this as overdone! The animation is everything perfect about the world and the story had a twist that had me screaming in my bed! So, if you do anything after reading this watch Your Name, if you haven’t done so already.
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