Best of 2013 Anime Awards

So with the Fall 2013 season wrapping up and the Winter 2014 season on the horizon, it’s time for those who are interested to make note of what stood out for them in 2013.

 
 
Best Anime Series - Uchuu Senkan Yamato 2199
In a reboot on the level of Ron Moore’s Battlestar Galactica  or J.J. Abram’s Star Trek, Akihiro Enomoto turns an old classic into the new standard for epic episodic animated television. Bring on Uchuu Senkan Yamato 2201 and the White Comet Empire!
 

Best Movie - Hanasaku Iroha: Home Sweet Home
I admit to not having seen the third Puella Magi Madoka Magica movie, but knowing what it is about I am sure I’d still choose this one. Hanasaku Iroha was one of my favorite television series of 2011 and the movie captured everything that I enjoyed about the TV show.
 

Best Action / Adventure - Shingeki no Kyojin [Attack on Titan]
Hard to argue with the phenomenon of 2013.
 

Best Drama - Nagi no Asukara (Season One)
If not for Yamato 2199, would have won "Best of" for the year. Found the story very engaging, it was gorgeously animated and there was some real character development. On the plus side, since it continues into 2014, it could have the early lead on Best of Show honors.
 

Best Comedy - Haiyore! Nyaruko-san W
Pure slapstick and to me, slapstick will never get old.
 

Best Slice of Life - Silver Spoon (Season 1)
The actual concept and setting of the show never really interested me, but what a great bunch of people to spend 220 minutes with. So looking forward to the second season.


Favorite Character - Lucy Yamagami
She’s pretty much the sole reason I watched all of Servant x Service. 


 

Best Anime Opening Theme - Jumping!! by Rhodanthe* from Kiniro Mosaic.
My Song of the Summer remained the OP theme I listened to most in 2013.
 

 

Best Anime Closing Theme - Kimi to no Nakushi Mono [The Thing I Lost With You] by Ayaka Kitazawa from Little Busters! Refrain.
Just a catchy, happy tune.
 

 
 
Hall of Fame (Shows that secured an A grade)
 
Kill la Kill (Season 1) 
Over the top and off the hook – in a good way.
 
Tamayura ~More Aggressive~
The works of Junichi Sato are known as "healing" anime and his works (Aria, Tamayura, One Off, Ikoku Meiro no Croisée) are definitely salves for the soul. His latest show, the third installment in the Tamayura series, is no different. His shows leave me with a sense of contentment and peace and he's rapidly becoming my favorite anime director. His works have also inspired two Idyllic Lives stories and I am giving some thought to branching out into Aria fan fiction...
 
Kin-iro Mosaic
The opening episode to this show was the most wonderful thing I have seen since the ending of Anohana and while the show never again approached that transcendental brilliance, the final episode was close and the middle 10 were the best adaption of a 4-koma I have seen since Azumanga Daioh.
 
The Flowers of Evil
Proof that anime can still be completely original – even when it’s based on an existing work.
 
White Album 2
As I noted in the Fall 2013 report card, this one won the nostalgia vote, as it reminded me very much of the great teen romantic triangle anime of the 1980s. I also really like well-done romantic dramas and this was very well done.
 
Tamako Market
One of the best feel-good anime KyoAni has put out since the original K-On!.
 
Kamisama no Inai Nichiyōbi | Sunday Without God
This show chose to play to it's story strengths, and what great stories it told. A really pleasant surprise of a show.
 
Minami-ke Tadaima
Every series and OAV have followed the same "day in the life" path, but I admit I really like the lives of the Minami sisters and their friends.

I love Minami-Ke. It also seems I have some more anime to watch now...

And i agree wit Shingeki No Kyojin for the best action-based anime

several weeks after the series ended.... and here i am, interested with the series after seeing and drawing Mikasa.... just finished watching it after downloading the whole episode yesterday (just like how i fell in love with Raildex because of Mikoto)

the story is packed, as well as it drive myself on that feeling of wanna kill the titan after they kill humans just for fun... just look t their face.. it just made me wanna punch them to the face so hard )

Another great thing is that SnK has this unique art style for its character, which almost bearing the similarity to another anime that i favor; Coppelion. Due to the classsical-looking artwork, it draw my attention watching it... which in turn it was a priceless effort watching it

Space Battleship Yamato 2199 was very good, but its a bit hard to judge as a TV series because I watched it in batches rather than weekly like most of the other shows.

Hataraku Maou-Sama is one of my top picks for the year and a shoe-in for top comedy.

Top movie pick is Wolf Children, but then about the only other anime movie I saw this year was the Index movie (Miracle of Endymion).

My pick for surprisingly good anime of the year is My Youth Romantic Comedy is Wrong as I Expected (the Japanese title is sometimes shortened to Yahari Ore or Oregairu)  The premise sounded awful, and I wasn't that impressed by the early episodes either, but I am glad I stuck with it because it ended up being really good (albeit also rather twisted).  Runner up in this category would be Kimi no Iru Machi, another show that started weak but got much stronger as it went.

Meanwhile my pick for disappointing anime of the year is Infinite Stratos Season 2.  Despite being a harem show with a cringeworthy sounding premise, the first season of Infinite Stratos was actually very enjoyable.  This was an exercise in how much a plot could be drawn out by dumb, fan servicey filler.

we have to blame the original otaku for their 'request' for this

1.         KILL la KILL
 
Best anime of the year.  Directed by the same man who did Gurren Lagann, it was done in a retros-style with low frame rate, comedic madness, and sans-obnoxious CGI.  A challenger appears at a school ruled with an iron fist, weilding a scissor and a living uniform that is a bit on the skimpy side.  Outrageous, the show doesn't even bother with trying to pretend it has any connection to reality.  Both the story and fights are great, and the fanservice doesn't distract from any of that.  Manic and great, this is a much watch series.
 
2.            Shingeki no Kyojin (Attack on Titan)
 
Mankind hides behind giant walls to protect them from giant "Titans" that seem to exist only to eat and kill humans.  The action is intense, and the show isn't affraid to kill of people left and right.  The mystery deepens as the show goes along, and you can practically feel the emotion ready to boil up and explode.
 
3.         Toaru Kagaku no Railgun S
 
The second Railgun series.  Better than the first.  In a world where there are espers, Academy city houses the strongest, including the third most powerful esper, and one of only seven Level 5 espers, but there is much darkness plotting beneath the surface.  It has the infamous "Sisters arc."  When a "sister" clutches that frog button, you *will* cry.
 
4.         Rozen Maiden           
 
The Rozen Maiden are dolls that must fight until there is only one left.  The new series is set in a world where Jun decides *not* to wind, and thus grew up alone.  But the Jun from the old series and the world where he decided to wind is in trouble with only two Rosen Maiden left.  Much darker than the original series, it is also much deeper.
 
5.            WataMote (It's you guys fault I don't have any friends)
 
Total introverted and socially incompetent Otaku girl schemes to become popular and gain friends.  This series hits a bit too realistically and hurts because it is true, though it doesn't hurt so hard that it isn't funny.
 
6.         Non Non Biyori
 
A seinen series about a young girl from Tokyo who moved to the countryside.  Pleasant and light, it is perfect for relaxing at the end of a hurried day.
 
7.            Yuyushiki

 
Another show about nothing, though it is a "zen" type of nothing.  A show about girls who have a club where they do research on the internet.  Another relaxing show to watch at the end of the day.
 
8.            Minami-ke Tadaima
 
The story of the three Minami sisters.  This is the fourth series, and is as good as the first series.  Great sisterly dynamics of silliness.
 
9.            Haiyore! Nyrauko-san W
 
Sequel to the original story of non-Euclidian Lovecraftian gods visiting earth in the form of cute girls (and a trap) in order to catch the harem lead.
 
10.       Servant X Service
 
A show about the humor and shenanigans at a civil service office.  It certainly explains a lot...
 
**************
 
Runners-up
 
Kin-iro Mosaic — A young English girl infatuated with Japan moves there and is friends with a japanese girl who is infatuated with England.  Another show about "cute girls doing cute things," but one of the better ones.
 
Aiura — A short 2-3 minute show about "cute girls doing cute things," though thins one has an opening involving Japanese school girls, Steve Jobs, and crabs...
 
A special note for "Tesagure! bukatsu-mono" — The show itself is so-so, but one of the fan-subbers has included a joke-sub that is crazy and offensive, which makes the show really, really funny.

To be honest, I don't really watch a broad enough range of shows to give a well-informed "best of", but I can tell you what has stuck with me out of what I have watched.

Yamato 2199 - this was sort of a given I guess. It's good fun, and I love that it's kept the retro feel without pandering to it or using it as a crutch. That said, from where I'm standing at least, I'm never quite sure if the retro-ness is what is drawing me to it, or if I actually like it as a show on its own. Would I like it as much if it used ships that looked more like something out of Star Wars and had a modern pop or electro soundtrack? I'm not sure.

Hataraku Maou-sama - Oddly, this is is the one which has stuck with me the most. When I first watched it through I enjoyed it, but didn't consider it anything exceptional. What it did to really well though, was create quirky, likeable characters, without ever seeming to need to force the issue, and it does a fine job of tying the magical shenanigans and daily grind together without the transition feeling grating. After finishing it, I found myself continually going back to it when I wanted something light and enjoyable to, say, watch over dinner. For me it was a grower, and that's why it's probably my favourite of the year.



Please, for the love of God, give this one a second season.

I'm not an MMORPG player, but Log Horizon is my must-keep-up-to-date-with show of the year.  It is weaker in characterization than Sword Art Online season one, but much more technically-tied to MMORPG mechanics, so it has a better sense of verisimilitude. It's a 25-episode run, so we're only at the halfway point!

I've not kept up with many shows, but biggest disappointment is how Beyond the Boundary ended.  I won't post any spoilers, but will just say that I was very let down.  For a show that showed a lot of originality in the opening episodes to fail with such derivative endings for the characters, it was a huge disappointment.