Hi guys, well we’ve finally reached the semi obligatory BEST OF 2017 post! You know, there’s a reason everyone does one of these posts every year – they’re really fun to read. I enjoyed all of yours, that’s for sure. Thing is, I already covered this exact subject in the podcast (which you can listen to here **cough, cough**)., and I’ve already covered all these shows in their own posts at that. I love redundancy as much as the next guy, probably considerably more so actually, but even I realize there’s only so many times you can say the same thing. After all, if I haven’t convinced you yet that these shows are the best, odds are I’m not suddenly going to do so now. So instead, I’m going to let much more talented people do so!
(If you happen to be curious about my own thought on any of these series, the titles are links) If you have a review I missed (guys put a search bar in your blogs), let me know! I’ll happily add it or you have my full blessing to post it in the comments.
Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid
One of the first shows I saw this year and one of the first I reviewed (be gentle, I’ve gotten better…) Despite some obvious problems, this show never failed to make me smile and even laugh. Then, somehow, it made me care. Some of the subtler and gentler aspects of this show masterfully illustrated the most basic conflicts of growing up and relationships while avoiding judgement. It was a great start to 2017, just check out what these guys thought about it:
For just a taste, here are Jake’s first impressions:
https://jakecoker.wordpress.com/2017/11/28/first-impressions-miss-kobayashis-dragon-maid/
Remy and I have very different tastes when it comes to anime:
https://remyfoolblog.com/2017/04/16/kobayashi-san-chi-no-maid-dragon-anime-series-review/
Keiko on the other hand gets it:
https://keikosanimeblog.wordpress.com/2017/04/07/kobayashi-san-chi-no-dragon-maid/
Karandi was unimpressed:
https://100wordanime.blog/2017/03/23/miss-kobayashis-dragon-maid-first-impressions/
But that’s ok because Inkling was:
And just to be on the safe side – here are the top 10 best things about the show!
https://moyatorium.wordpress.com/2017/12/22/10-best-things-kobayashi-san-chi-no-maid-dragon/
Ace of Diamond
It’s not like I’ve ever tried to hide my particular affinity for Sports! anime. You guys knew what you were in for! Ace of Diamond may not be the best I’ve ever seen but it certainly ranks up there and a definite must for any fan of the genre. See what I mean:
The series is so wonderful, Grimmgirl had to come back from hiatus to talk about it:
https://grimmgirl.com/2017/03/29/owls-tour-sanctuary-immigration-and-ace-of-diamond/
Crimson also agrees:
More of you need to watch Ace of Diamond, or at least write about it…
No Game No Life
Much like Kobayashi, there are some issues here that will rub some viewers the wrong way but No Game No Life’s gleeful embrace of gaming and fan culture coupled with it’s unfaltering style and ecstatic if childish humour, has managed to capture the imagination of a lot of viewers, myself included. I know a lot of you have seen the movie, I haven’t, I’m jealous.
Ecladragon certainly seems to have enjoyed the series:
https://ruminatedscrawlings.wordpress.com/2017/10/03/no-game-no-life-anime-review/
AzulineChoe will tell you exactly why you need to watch it:
https://jericho29kid.wordpress.com/2017/09/10/no-game-no-life/
Plyasm may have liked it even more than I did:
https://plyasm.wordpress.com/2017/05/21/anime-afterthoughts-no-game-no-life/
In the interest of balance, here’s a much less enthusiastic review by The Pantless Anime Blogger:
https://thepantlessanimeblogger.wordpress.com/2014/08/02/no-game-no-life-review/
Karandi saw some flaws but still enjoyed it:
https://100wordanime.blog/2016/06/12/no-game-no-life-series-review/
It’s Arthifis’ Anime No. 9:
https://arthifis.wordpress.com/2017/10/17/anime-number-9-no-game-no-life/
As always, Little Anime Blog will make you discover things you may not have noticed!
https://littleanimeblog.com/2015/12/02/review-no-game-no-life/
Unlike Remy, Takuto and I seem to have extremely similar tastes in anime except he writes much better about it and highlights most of the issues I also had:
https://animecafehost.wordpress.com/2015/03/08/no-game-no-life-review/
91 days
I was completely mesmerized by this classic hardboiled crime drama (from what is quickly becoming one of my favorite studios) but every review I ran across at the time was negative. Since then, it seems public opinion has softened somewhat. I still think this is just a few ressources short of an absolute masterpiece. And that intro….
Wulfy agrees with me and knows how to get right to the point at that:
https://wulfysanimereview.wordpress.com/2017/10/25/91-days/
Anime Girls NYC and the Cereal Sensei actually discussed the show in a podcast:
Atremis highlighted the absolute brilliance of the finale (one of my absolute favorite show endings of all time)
https://otakulounge.wordpress.com/2017/04/03/aaa2016-the-artemis-anime-awards/
Karandi did entire episode by episode review of this show. I love seeing these progressions once I’ve finished a series. Start your journey here:
https://100wordanime.blog/2016/07/16/91-days-episode-1/
Keiko had mixed feelings but still enjoyed the show:
https://keikosanimeblog.wordpress.com/2017/03/15/91-days/
Scott reviewed the series in two parts and saw the error of his ways!
Drifters
Man I loved Drifters. I am essentially just holding my breath until the next season. It better get a a release date soon because I’m getting a little dizzy here. It certainly is a show that makes an impact, which is why I’m baffled so few of you have written about it:
Karandi has a great grasp of the love it or hate it nature of the show:
https://100wordanime.blog/2017/09/30/drifters-series-review-was-this-worth-the-wait/
I disagree with Scott, I personally love the clash in tones of the show but we both enjoyed the series nonetheless:
https://mechanicalanimereviews.com/2016/12/24/fall-2016-in-review-drifters/
KonoSuba
I had so much fun with both seasons of this. I would never hesitate to recommend this show to anyone who wants something to unwind at the end of a long day. I laughed so hard and ended up truly enjoying just about every single character in the series.
This time Pantless and I are exactly on the same page:
Shoka also used the show as an example of funservice (my word – I’m a dork, don’t hold it against Shoka’s wonderful post)
Alfredo also enjoyed the good times:
https://sliceofalfredo.wordpress.com/2017/01/16/konosuba-anime-review/
Peach’s review is what actually got me to watch the show in the first place:
https://peachsalmanac.com/konosuba-anime-review-analysis/
Frog-kun has a fascinating analysis of the Novel vs the Anime
https://frogkun.com/2017/11/15/novel-vs-anime-konosuba/
Finally, Ani-Dotes seems to be the only other person to actually appreciate Kazuma like I do:
https://anidotesblog.wordpress.com/2017/10/05/21-some-sanity-for-this-absurd-party/
Humanity has Declined
Man, this show…I… I failed to properly capture this show in my own review (but can you blame me, it’s a duzy, Urban Dictionary definition of duzy = pimpdiculous). Go see how these fine folks managed to do what I couldn’t:
Little Anime Blog’s review made me almost drop everything and rewatch the show:
https://littleanimeblog.com/2016/04/12/review-humanity-has-declined-complete-season-one-collection/
As I mentioned in my own review, it’s Anime and Coffees wonderful write up that made me discover this show in the first place:
https://coffeeandanime.wordpress.com/2017/08/15/what-makes-humanity-has-declined-so-great/
Broad reviews managed the impossible by actually getting right to the point:
https://therealdavidbroad.wordpress.com/2017/11/28/humanity-has-declined-season-1/
Tetra and I took some very different roads to get to the same destination. That moth scene is also one of my favorites though:
https://th0ughtreviews.wordpress.com/2017/11/25/anime-thoughts-jinrui-wa-suitai-shimashita/
Despite giving it 3 whole arbitrary points less than me, TPAB’s review seems to agree with everything I love about this show:
https://thepantlessanimeblogger.wordpress.com/2012/09/20/jinrui-wa-suitai-shimashita-review/
Time of Eve
I saw this right after Humanity has Declined and thought I had maybe become a magical anime fairy and every show I would watch would suddenly turn out phenomenal. I have been proven sadly wrong since. A quiet, relaxing and comfortable exploration of the human spirit in the age of technology, Time of Eve is nothing short of lovely.
I’ve always said Takuto has a beautiful blog and now I know why:
Cat Nessa perfectly outlines the impressive development packed in the short runtime of this show:
https://anothergamingday.wordpress.com/2017/08/13/time-of-eve/
Another series more of you should write about…
My Hero Academia
Well duh.. Of course I love a fantastically well made shonen. Everyone does. I mean that literally! Every blog with any anime related content at all has something on this show. There are just way too many to list, so how about you tell me your favorite MHA post in the comments!!!
And lastly, I,m going to throw you a curveball with a super unexpected entry: Natsume…It’s Natsume, guys, it’s Natsume!!!
Rodrovich enjoyed season 5, because of course!:
https://rodrovichanime.wordpress.com/2016/12/24/fall-2016-roundup-part-1/
Miss Honeybug does a wonderful job showing us why the manga is just as wonderful:
https://misshoneybug.wordpress.com/2017/11/13/natsumes-book-of-friends-yuki-midorikawa/
I somehow coerced ShadowCat into giving the series a try and, who was right??
The Pantless Anime Blogger had a lot of trouble finding anything bad to say:
https://thepantlessanimeblogger.wordpress.com/2016/01/28/natsume-yuujinchou-review/
Karandi has made no secret of her own love of the show. She reviewed each episode of Go and Roku but it all started with this wonderful post on seasons 1-4:
https://100wordanime.blog/2016/05/18/natsume-yujin-cho-series-review/
For some reason I take personal pride in the fact that so many of the bloggers I admire also love this show. Artemis has the series in her Top 5 feel Good shows, Top 20 Anime Series and 5 best shows with over 60 episodes!
- https://otakulounge.wordpress.com/2016/11/30/top-5-feel-good-anime/
- https://otakulounge.wordpress.com/top-20-anime/
- https://otakulounge.wordpress.com/2017/12/12/5-good-anime-over-60-episodes/
I tried really hard to find a negative review to give you a counterpoint. I couldn’t find one. This should tell you something!
I know for a fact I missed some reviews for these shows. I remember specific posts on Kobayashi and KonoSuba that I couldn’t find again and I’m almost certain there was more on pretty much every other one.
I hope these wonderful posts will motivate you to give these shows a try if you haven’t. And even if you don’t like these shows (why????) you still get to have all these wonderful posts to read! – My gift to you. You’re welcome!
Day 11 of 12
Still obsessed With Ace of Dimond <3 <3 <3
I got so excited to see ir back on
It was way to long of a break! I’m so happy to be back again <3
omg you watched daiya thi s year”?! SCREAMS INTO THE VOID. I’m so glad T_T and thanks for linking my stuff. out of the list i’ve only watched daiya (agree on how we need more daiya content, you should check out shiroyuni’s blog if you want more stuff, she’s the limitless imagination. she’s not blogging anymore but her content is GREAT), 91 days which I was glad i picked up like OMGGGGG, and mha though I’m still not caught up >_>
I love your stuff! And thanks for the tip. I luvs me a great blog even if it’s t active. I will check it out for sure
Looks like there are some shows I need to go back and watch!
Thanks for linking my reviews even though they were pretty terrible at best 😂😊
You guys ALL said that… It makes me feel so self conscious since I thought they were better than mine…
Hahaha your reviews are really good!! I just ramble in my reviews so they’re pretty darn crap 😂😂 but I’m glad you think they’re good. It gives me hope lol
OK let’s stop playing the who’s worse game – We Are Both GREAT!!!
Hahahah if you say so lol
Taste breakdown. Method: ranking listed anime into tiers:
Love those:
Humanity Has Declined
Natsume (I’m sure you’re as surprised to see this here, as I am to see it on your list in the first place)
Like those a lot:
Maid Dragon
Konosuba
Time Of Eve
Entertaining:</ib
91 Days (Excellent execution, but not my genre; I had it in the like-it-a-lot tier at first, but that's me not being honest with myself – I want to like this more than I do. Still, the visuals and cinematography are top notch, and the narrative control is impeccable.)
My Hero Academia (very well done shounen, but I dislike it's take on heroism)
Meh:
No Game No Life (I debated with myself, whether or not to put it into the “Entertaining” tier, but all in all, it’s probably not for me. If it weren’t for the mean-spiritedness when treating our princess, maybe… Some of it’s brilliant even, but most of it’s just… there. I don’t like the colour design much; I can appreciate what it’s doing, but the contrast clashes for me.)
Drifters (I can see myself giving this one another chance, if I’m really bored, but considering the competition…)
Dislike those:
None
I’d erase those from existance if I could:
None
Haven’t seen those:
Ace of Diamond (not into sports, and the more episodes there are, the slimmer the chances that I’ll start)
***
That’s a rather pretty curve. Similar taste based on different fluff-substratum, I’d say (i.e. we like different genres, but often the same shows if they transcend their genres – or something).
So despite having undoubtedly very different experiences and background we have very similar tastes or these are just good anime…. I still think MHA will throw a cynical curveball our way.
There are good anime I dislike (e.g. Silver Spoon), and there are bad anime I like (I won’t admit they’re bad, so no examples), so I’m not sure the “just good anime” explanation works.
I don’t doubt that MHA will throw us a cynical curve ball; but that doesn’t really matter if the ball’s the wrong texture to begin with – if you get what I mean. I don’t know what they can do to change my mind (though surprises are always possible.)
There are bad anime I like. They often feature singing boys for some reason…
Awesome suggestions, I was wondering on whether to watch Natsume and Konosuba, thanks to the review links I’m definitely adding those to my list! 🙂
ok If my site does nothing else for you – Please watch Natsume….
Its my mission now 👍🏼👍🏼
Aww, you really do flatter us! Both NGNL and Humanity Has Declined have a bit of a special place in our memories, and we are still rather proud of those reviews 😅 So it’s great to know you got an interesting read out of them.
oh wow, thank you for the nod. i’m personally not satisfied with my reviews, but i’m glad you like them my review of humanity has declined is not my best, since i just didn’t get it when i first watched it.
and there is nothing bad to say about natsume. that is yuki midorikawa’s magnum opus. i am confident of that. it’s a timeless series that’ll just get better with age.
Ohhh rewrite of Humanity review??? A good friend of mine didn’t like the show and dropped it after an episode. I would love to have something to point at and say – see You have to give it a chance – it grows on you! (like mold…)
i have a lot of my old reviews i want to rewrite. hyouka is a big one, since i fail to include the agatha christie love letter sewn all over the stories.
and a good way to sell humanity has declined is to point out that it’s from the “absurdist” genre. Alice in Wonderland being the most famous from that genre. complex, confusing, heavily thematic yet amusingly relatable when you piece the puzzle together. 🙂
Dude I tried… I really really tried. Now I may not have quite the eloquence you have so it came out – just watch it’s awesome – but he knew what I meant.
Aside from BnHA and Time of Eve (which isn’t streaming in its entirety to anywhere legal without involving a subscription), I think pretty much all of these are already on my PTW or I’ve watched one episode of them. I’d already read Frog-kun’s article after reading KonoSuba LNs 1 – 3 though, so there was something I could skip for once!
I hadn’t heard of a few of these blogs before though, so at least I got a whole bunch of new reading material in exchange.
oohh – I hope you find a writer you like!
Oh my god… The amount of effort placed into summarizing and collating reviews from different bloggers to give future viewers a footing to judge the show for themselves is over 9000!!!!!
Bookmarking this to read the other reviews! Thanks for the awesome treasure giveaway!
Yes it was completely selfless – not super enjoyable to read all these posts on my favorite shows or anything… I hope you enjoy it too! Happy holidays!
Thank you a lot for mentioning my post on Time of Eve, I’m glad you liked it and saw fit to include it in this great list 💗
I’ve also written on Ace of Diamond, and agree that more people should watch and write about it! 👌
Really – aww shot I didn’t find your post! But I found it now! https://anothergamingday.wordpress.com/2017/01/26/ace-of-diamond/
Awesome!
It’s okay haha 👌 I’m a big sports fan 😄
Also, I forgot to wish you happy holidays, so happy holidays! 💗
I remember and heartily agree with your free post! Happy holidays to you too!
Ooh, thanks for reading it and agreeing with me 💗
Thank you 💕
My stance on Dragon Maid has changed slightly over time, but I do believe we’re still slightly at odds.
You sure put in a lot of work for this post! Color me impressed.
And tomorrow’s the last day! You did it!
Don’t count my chickens,,,I have mad fail skillz!
Man, you dug pretty deep into my past work, I don’t even recall writing that post! But yeah, KonoSuba was a fun experience and I hope third season comes soon.
Thanks for the various posts about some other shows, I’ll be sure to check those out soon 🙂
Maybe you sleepblog?
Out of the shows you mentioned, Humanity Has Declined is the one that piques my interest the most. Also, was that a subtle Haibane Renmei pun in that Time of Eve picture?
no ways…. more an homage than a pun. I am impressed.
It’s alright. As someone who really likes Haibane Renmei, I thought the joke wrote itself. Homage or pun, it worked on so many levels. Hahaha!
Nice…
WOW, this is so intense and comprehensive yet really fun to read! Also, thanks for the shoutout—I’m glad you enjoyed the Time of EVE~!
Hmm if you consider this intense… I loved time of eve and when I saw you retweet your post on the subject a week ago I was so thrilled to see I wasn’t the only one. The comments I got were great but it’s always fun to read another bloggers perspective.
“saw the error of my ways” So true.
And ugh, my writing from back then. Actually, not too bad at all. I’m kind of shocked.
Scott, those posts are good. Really good. I actually raided your archives a little in the past days, you are in NO position to complain about your writing, my friend.
Thank you Irina :).
Hope you had some fun!
So many animes to put on my want to watch anime list!!! Thanks for that! 😀 And thanks for linking my review for No Game No Life 😀 Although it was one of the first, so it is not that well written ahah
Oh sheesh, you guys are all way to modest. I read all the posts I linked to, I didn’t put any bad ones in!
Well maybe we are just perfectionist with ourselves xD but it’s just normal xD when I ended my top ten it was really fun to read through all the posts and see the evolution of my writing eheh
To be honest – I get it. I reread some of my stuff and I barely recognize it. But YOUR stuff is all wonderful. shush
Ahah happy to know you like you like it xD and it’s not like I’m going to change it xP it’s my evolution as a blogger and writer xD and YOUR stuff is all awesome too
Haha, this heading on your post ( they probably came out four years ago), will be the header for my post in four years from now 😊😊 I haven’t seen any of these yet, really I feel like such an anime noob at times…Ughhhh 🙈🙈🙈
I know you haven’t – I desperately wanted to link to your blog! It’s like we have a secret pact to only watch anime the other hasn’t seen….
Lol….yeah I’m not aware of such a diabolical pact existing though 🤔🤔 Who could be behind this? And there must be a way to somehow break it 😀
wait, have you seen Eva?
Neon Genesis Evangelion? Yup I saw that one earlier this year 😊 (The original that is, not the remake 😊).
I knew it – we got ONE!
Lol😂😂 Wohooo 🎉🎉🎉 Let’s see if we can get two, have you seen Erased, Your Lie in April, or Attack on Titan?
Oooohh not your lie. Not big on romance but the other two! Good call!
Cool….well see that secret pact was easily broken. Phew 😅😅😂😂😂
I need to watch Humanity has Declined, I’ve also heard good things about 91 days.
From me??
No from a friend of mine, I’ll read your post on 91 days too.
no worries, I was joking since I always get the feeling I’m the only one who say anything good about this show
A great list of shows here, and thanks for linking to our reviews 😊
Thanks for writing them. Your site i such a pleasure to read
Oh god… my writing was so horrible from so long ago… Wish I could redo that post sometime, because it doesn’t really do the series justice :/
Thanks for linking to this very old post anyways!
I liked it! People are always so hard on their own writing