Forum - View topicThe Best and Worst Anime of Summer 2023
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Shay Guy
 Posts: 2296 |
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Okay, okay, I'll put Undead Murder Farce on my watchlist, jeez. No need to lose your heads over it.
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ILuvRimuruTempest
Posts: 1 |
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By far, My Happy Marriage was the best anime for the summer 2023 simulcast season. It has everything: tear jerking drama, action, villains you wanted dead asap, and well-explored characters, so happy it's renewed for second season to explore Volumes 3 & 4 of the light novels. Bleach Thousand Year Blood War had some good episodes and overall I'm elated that it's finally back. The animation is nice but the story feels like we missed an arc prior to the first episode. I wish they would've done an arc of The Quincies and each of their back stories prior to this season instead of filling in tiny tidbits of info in the middle of battles with SoulReapers. My major disappointment was that so little time was spent on Ishida prior to and during joining Yhwach. This season also had some enjoyable anime like The Great Cleric, Horimiya Pieces, and The Masterful Cat is Depressed Again. I appreciated the laughs and lightness befitting a summer of fun. Undead Murder Farce reminded me so much of Case File No. 221: Kabukicho but it was pretty good. Jujutsu Kaisen, Bungo Stray Dogs, The Devil is a Part-Timer, and Conan are always solid, but Mushoku Tensei season 2 was sooooo disappointing. A year of Rudy's E.D. and Sylphie hiding her identity was super tedious and we only saw minor fights/action as a sidebar. A year's worth of time passed and we still don't know what all the other characters we love are doing, especially Eris. I'm looking forward to watching Bang Dream based on the reviews because the summary didn't sound very interesting. The Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts had its moments but was too similar to The Ancient Magus Bride. Zom100 was funny and I didn't mind the production hiccups because the animation was novel compared to other zombie animation styles. The Duke of Death and His Maid characters are finally making progress, and I enjoyed that they still kept the plot light and funny while the characters formed more friendships and showed off their skills. Heretical Princess is ok but they're drawing out if she really will turn bad or not. I rewatched My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Lv.999 and the last season of Legend of the Galactic Heroes to fill in days when nothing was released. Can't wait for Spy X Family to return next month. Overall I'd give this season a B+ because My Happy Marriage was exceptional and could be rewatched when other anime failed to capture my attention!
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Hiroki not Takuya
 Posts: 2658 |
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Takkun4343
 Posts: 1572 Location: Englewood, Ohio |
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I decided to watch only two shows this season: Undead Girl Murder Farce (easily the stupidest localization decision ever) and Zom 100. It warms my heart to see almost everyone put the former on their best-of list, and seeing the latter on some bottoms didn't irk me in the slightest, partly because of how my own thoughts on the show turned out. The zombies are the worst part, a complete annoyance in spite of their necessity to how the show works, and it's kind of hard to like any minor characters that haven't been confirmed for survival through the cast list when there's a 50% chance they're gonna die before the end of their debut episode. At some point, I actually started welcoming the delays, because it meant I didn't have to force myself to keep to a strict schedule with it. As of this writing, I'm two episodes behind, and while I am planning on catching up, my hopes are basically dwindled at this point. (God, I hope they didn't f*ck up Beatrix's character...)
On the opposite side, UGMF is entertaining as all hell and I'm beyond glad I chose to watch it this season. Even if this current arc we're still one episode from completing is leaning a little too much into darkness-induced audience apathy; Heulendorf and Wolphinhel are both full of murderously prejudiced assh*les, and so far I'm not shedding any tears over them killing each other. Plus it looks like it's trying to draw the "unironically liked Ittoki" crowd with all its after-the-fact deaths of characters who didn't do nothing. But even then, there are enough positives that I'm not super-bothered by it enough to dock the show any points. It's just that everyone's sung them so much, it'd feel redundant for me to add to it. Tsugaru is best boy of the season, hands down. 
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JustMonika
Posts: 1144 |
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Best:
Zom 100 Undead Murder Farce Rent-a-Girlfriend Masamune-kun's Revenge The Girl I Like Forgot Her Glasses Tenpuru My Tiny Senpai Reborn as a Vending Machine |
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DamianSalazar
Posts: 760 |
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Desafortunadamente (Unfortunately), I did not watch any anime from this season. That said I did watch a lot of anime this season,
Top 5 1. Summer Time Rendering (I hate how I missed out on this) 2. Nana (I hope Ai Yazawa regains the strength to finish this one regardless of what format) 3. Mob Psycho 100 S3 (Crunchyroll did Kyle McCarley dirty) 4. Haikyu S4 P2 (ready for the movie) 5. Welcome to the Ballroom (underrated gem, better than Dance Dance Danseur imo) Bottom 5 (not particularly bad, from worst to best) 5. The Girl from the Other Side (exceptionally animated, but rather dull) 4. Only Yesterday (not for me, I like coming-of-age material, but this did not pull me unfortunately) 3. Show By Rock S2 (It tries to be really good, but fumbles in its attempts into being something special, at least the music is good) 2. Vermeil in Gold (guilty pleasure, I really liked the dynamic between the two leads as the series went on) 1. Gosick (not bad, not good enough to get in the top 5) That said, I do hope to watch any anime from this season any time soon. Also One Piece anime was crazy good this month. |
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Terry Lang
Posts: 74 |
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I liked Undead Murder Farce well enough but I did not expect it to come up as much. Oni guy carries it for me.
TenPuru is indeed smarter then it seems. It often defies my expectations. I liked every episode. |
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Lily Garden
 Posts: 65 |
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Best
I was surprised and elated that Undead Girl Murder Farce was chosen as the best almost across the board, since there were a couple of bigger name titles this season. It was like it was tailor-made for me; a well-constructed mystery show with great banter between the leads, featuring famous characters from 19th century literature? Yes Please! Though I understand why some people wouldn't like it, it is an acquired taste. Honorable mentions Reincarnated as a Vending Machine --- had read the LN and enjoyed it, so was glads to see the adaptation handled the material well. Utilized the premise well and was a fun palate cleanser on Wednesdays after watching the darker and bloodier Undead Girl Murder Farce Zom 100 --- got to be honest, I don't like zombie movies, so I only checked this one out caused it was so recommended. To my delight what I got was a fun, visually interesting, romp. The truck stop/jerk boss 2-parter killed some of the momentum the show had but I understand the narrative & character-building reason it was done for. I honestly don't care about the delays, as long as I get a good series in the end, but understand why other people were ticked off by how many times it has happened. Mid but fun Reign of the Seven Spellblades --- it's basically anime Harry Potter, how can you not enjoy that? Horimiya MP ---- fluff but sweet fluff and rather relaxing |
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champeagle3
Posts: 36 |
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It's fitting that Steve and Christopher are the two who selected MyGO!!!!! as the season's best because without them, I wouldn't have given it a shot. This was my first BanG Dream! series. Little did any of us know it would become one of the best shows of the year.
Even more surprising is how the following continues to grow like a poorly kept secret we'll gladly share with anyone and everyone. Everyday there are new believers sharing their reactions to the episode they just watched, immediate reactions to episode 10 (my favorite episode of the year) being my favorite. IYKYK. I can't wait for more people to experience it. Let’s be lost together. |
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JustMonika
Posts: 1144 |
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Finally, someone besides me that knows what Tenpuru is and mentions it. Everything from the opening song to the anime itself breathes 2010's harem and I love it, lol. |
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Kadmos1
 Posts: 13615 Location: In Phoenix but has an 85308 ZIP |
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For worst, R-AG 3 because of Kazuya. For best, "Vending Machine" because of Lammis.
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Iron Maw
Posts: 505 |
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Luckily enough for me, I don't I'm watching anything I'd qualified as truly bad this season, just some shows that relatively subpar.
Best: Undead Murder Farce: Probably the most consistently good show this season both in terms of writing and production values. Its not a knockout hit for me but its been relentlessly entertaining. JJKS2: Frankly much like S1 this season is pretty paint-by-numbers shounen, but it does pretty good job executing and injecting those timeworn tropes with a lot of energy and style. It very much feel like "what if Bleach but good?". Reign of Spellblades: Love the novels but adaptation-wise its pretty decent even if not everything I wanted out of it. It doesn't capture Bokuto's kinetic and immersive writing or balances its knife-edge and comely atmosphere as well books do but its decent time with above average production values. Its kind of show that leaves a lot plot threads & intrigue that's driven by cast. Also its world concept of Harry Potter setting that's married with ethos and of Nasu/Fateverse magi is quite novel. That said, for anyone who didn't like adaptation should the books a shot see if it strikes your fancy better. Worst: ZOM100: Not just from a production which unfortunately from a writing scripting one to. Akira still feels fairly onenote due to the narrative wielding his entirely personality to "work is bad" and lonely and physically at odds with now very grim reality. The other side characters don't fair much better for reason Richard said. Honestly it just feels like huge waste of potential after the first episode. Not really terrible show, but I don't think its for me. Last edited by Iron Maw on Thu Sep 28, 2023 8:37 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Stretch2424
 Posts: 168 |
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I watched (actually, am still watching) only four series this season:
Mushoku Tensei II Just continuing a show I like. But why did Sylphie go to so much trouble to keep her identity a secret from Rudy? Helck The scene where Vermilio waded ashore on the continent cracked me up. Zom 100 Started off strong but has been going downhill since. I thought the episode in the subway was the best. Seija Musou Definitely not brilliant but amusing and just three shows would not be enough. I watched the first arc of Undead Girl Murder Farce but the solution to the mystery didn't thrill me (didn't the murder weapon come from an old Agatha Christie novel?) and arc two looks like a rehash of the works of other authors. |
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Sasuke149
Posts: 88 |
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My list for best anime this season would be:
1- Jujutsu Kaisen - This was/is phenomenal in every aspect; animation, story, soundtrack, everything. Good job Mappa. 2- Horimiya - I laughed my a** of every episode. For me Horimiya the manga always shined in its comedy/slice of life chapters. So this season was even better than the first in my opinion. Also, the animation was relatively smooth. 3- Link Click - Would have expected more love from the reviewers for this series. While the fight scenes, despite their good animation, could occasionally feel laborious, the plot twists and dramatic elements more than compensated for any shortcomings. Worst: Zom 100 and My Happy Marriage. |
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NeverConvex
 Subscriber Posts: 2511 |
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I don't think it was snubbed, so much as not counted at all? I assume because it's Chinese animation/donghua, ANN doesn't even seem to have a site entry for it. |
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