Forum - View topicThe Best (and worst) Anime of Winter 2019
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kotomikun
Posts: 1205 |
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My "Actual Favorite" award goes to The Magnificent Kotobuki, which I sure wouldn't have expected from the premise, but, well, the title's pretty accurate. Looks like just an action-fanservice show, and while it does include both of those things, it's also chock-full of interesting worldbuilding, fast-paced snarky bantering, and (according to other people, who know things) obsessive attention to detail in regards to its real-world military tech. Presumably people were turned off by the CGI (watch any of the fight scenes and then tell me with a straight face that the animation sucks, I dare you), its somewhat corny outward appearance, or both, but if you haven't watched this it's probably a lot better than you think.
For everything else worth mentioning, I'll have to make this a bit silly, because this ended up being an incredibly weird season even though I didn't watch very many shows. The Promised Neverland gets my "watch it for the memes" award, because I don't exactly like it and don't exactly hate it, so I can only assume this is why I keep coming back for it every week. As a member of the tiny minority that finds the entire concept ham-handed and ludicrous--maybe I just don't have enough of an inner child for this sort of thing--taking it seriously is out of the question, but it does frequently go so over-the-top (...of the wall!) that it works on some level anyway, and I can't deny its good animation and (melodramatic) direction. The Price of Smiles earns a "did people confuse this with Neverland or something," because it has some of the same problems in terms of heavy-handedness and unsubtle setting/characters in service of drama, except people hate the hell out of this show for some reason. Look through this thread for examples, but don't expect any clear explanations. Guess I'm just a space alien or something but I mostly enjoyed this show, apart from the animation, which was in dire need of budget. And yes, I saw the last episode just now, didn't change my mind, only complaint was they probably should have cut the ending theme to allow more breathing room for the epilogue. Mob Psycho 100 II is an awkward title to read but gets a solid "holy bejeesus, the budget" award. The plot is a little too convoluted for my taste, but there's plenty of good bits in there between/during the unstoppable onslaught of animation. I can't quite reconcile the thematic clash between "self-improvement, needing other people" and "Mob is basically One Punch Man with telekinesis instead of swole muscles" which undermines the foundation of the whole thing, but it's certainly fun to watch. Lastly, Shield Hero gets my "didn't watch and not even going to put boldface on the title" award, for reasons that have already been covered. Debated giving it a look until I realized the fundamental problem is right there in the title. See, he's the shield hero, because everyone else is just attacking him, he never did anything wrong. According to himself, that is. Combine that with the first episode's content and you've got a foolproof recipe for... ahem... a certain political ideology popular among young white men. That mindset gives me every reason to believe that the problems initiated in the first episode will only get worse. No thanks. |
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Kistune_bride
Posts: 29 |
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I won't include Dororo or JBA part 5 since they are both ongoing but, Mob Psycho 2 by far blew me away. I honestly prefer Mob over One Punch Man in terms of One's manga since Shigeo's strive toward self improvement and the dangers of isolation strike me deeper. Also, there hasn't been a single episode that felt wasted and so much development for both Shigeo and Reigen.
Runner up is Run with the Wind which, shockingly, might overtake Haikyuu as my favorite sports anime of all time. All of the characters struggles and personal issues outweighs the importance of winning. Most sports anime are like that but, I never once cared about them winning; I wanted them to find their own ideal of success. Truly one of the most underrated anime of the 2010s but I'm grateful to stick with it all the way to the finished line. Promised Neverland was good but I got so irritated on the cliffhangers that I read the manga and now I sort of don't like how the story goes. It's not bad just not quite how I expected. SAO season 3 (minus that one terrible episode) has been popcorn flavored fun. Nothing much to say expect it's nice to watch SAO without cringing too much. Not the worst but the most disappointing show has been Domestic Girlfriend. It really feels like I'm missing something because the way certain relationships develops (or rather underdevelops) seems like things were cut out or glossed over. I don't mind trashy romance once in a while but they some how made hooking up with your step sibling/teacher dull. |
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Sekaro
Posts: 384 |
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Best for me is Mob Psycho 100 Season 2 for obvious reasons
Runner-up is a tie between Promised Neverland and Kaguya-sama (I can't decide lol) Worst is Domestic Kanojo but its more disappointing than bad Also, I would just like to "shield" the Rising of the Shield Hero from the negative criticisms its getting from the critics regarding its slaves and the seemingly unjustified hatred the series has of its MC. First of all, the critics seemed to have the wrong idea that Naofumi is pulling his companions along the way against their wishes. While Rapthalia spoiler[was an actual slave at first, she quickly developed into an actual companion who Naofumi respects dearly and vice versa.] Filo spoiler[could hardly even be called a slave when Naofumi raised her like his own daughter.] I'm honestly not sure if the critics actually watched all the episodes so far or only the first few
Secondly, there is clearly more to the unjustified hatred for the Shield Hero than what we know right now. Again, this becomes more apparent if people watched all the episodes so far and paid attention to what was happening. This ends my defense. |
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DatRandomDude
 Posts: 272 |
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I'm surprised that there was not even 1 mention of Dororo with the reviewers.
That's pretty sad, it deserves better than that. It's easily one of the best this season with Mob and Kaguya-sama. :/ (At least its getting some love in the comments) Last edited by DatRandomDude on Wed Mar 27, 2019 11:16 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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lossthief
ANN Reviewer
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At the risk of dredging up the same argument the review thread's had for the last 3 months: the issue isn't that there's not enough narrative explanations for why, precisely, the whole world thinks Naofumi eats dirt and poops hatred. It's that the entire narrative conceit is built around reveling in Naofumi's persecution while proving he's actually the bestest hero ever by making everyone else an incompetent idiot who couldn't tie their shoes without saying something needlessly arrogant and insulting to the protagonist. If you replaced the fantasy setting with Naofumi secretly being really good at kickball and proving all his schoolyard bullies wrong, the only real difference would be he wouldn't get to literally own most of the women in his life. |
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11542 |
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:: bites killjoy_the, just because he really seemed to want someone to
 ::
I watched fewer series this season than any in the previous five years I think. So most of what I was following are major favorites, making it harder to determine "best." But here goes: Mob Psycho 100 II Internet sex symbol Reigen is my spirit animal, and he really outdid himself several times this season. His Self-Defense Rush was the best thing I've ever seen. Mob's character growth has just been a delight to watch as well, and it seemed like every episode improved on the one before it. This is what anime is all about. Dororo I haven't seen any of the previous incarnations of this story, but I think this version would make Tezuka proud. The story doesn't depend on twists or shocking surprises, but rather just solid, honest observations of human behavior and hard choices. Run With the Wind Prince is my other spirit animal. I'm usually lost with ensemble casts larger than about 4 mains, but this pulled off the remarkable feat of getting me to remember everyone's names and care about each of their unique situations and motivations. Also refreshing to see running animation that looks reasonably life-like rather than with their cocked elbows held horizontal to the ground while they twist their torsos. 
The Morose Mononokean II The first season was a pleasant Natsume-lite, episodic affair, but this season has capitalized on that foundation to tell a fascinating story. And one can never have too much Fuzzy. Kemurikusa Everything I loved about Kemono Friends, janky cgi and all, but darker in mood and more red. The Promised Neverland This one actually took me awhile to get into, and after falling behind, I found that it worked much better for me as a binge watch while I was catching up. Excellent at establishing mood and creating suspense, as well as making you forget - or just not care - that these kids are probably unbelievably precocious.
This does not sound like a "love" match I can root for, unless it's of the "oy, they deserve each other" variety. Actually, I did try out the first two episodes, but it was excruciatingly dull for me. I'm glad lots of people found a comedy they could enjoy, but this series' popularity still baffles me. Trainwreck of Winter 2019: Dimension High School Color me astounded to see this show up on Theron's list. I thought I was the only one torturing themselves with it. It was unspeakably horrible in every conceivable way, and yet I couldn't look away. Spudio haunts my nightmares still.
Most Disappointing: Kemono Friends 2 I was really hoping they could still maintain the joy of the original, but alas. Not only did the updated character designs with their robotic, staring eyes creep me out, but all the Friends went from childlike to childish, as if the creators didn't understand why the original series resonated with so many. Where the Friends were innocent in their lack of knowledge about the world, these versions are just flat out stupid, chattering inanely about nothing, on and on and on, mostly about playing various games. As someone else put it, it's like seeing your friends turn into pod people. |
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18376 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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Let's leave politics out of this, mmkay? Going in that direction is needless provocation. |
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killjoy_the
 Posts: 2470 |
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Thank you! But it just doesn't feel right unless it's a violent response to my taste in music, you know? |
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TexZero
Posts: 587 |
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Best - My Roomate is a Cat
Runner Up - Dororo The show that checked every trope checkbox - The Promised Neverland Worst - Dimension High / W'z
Oh thank the lord i'm not the only one who thought this upon watching both. |
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Princess_Irene
ANN Reviewer
 Posts: 2634 Location: The castle beyond the Goblin City |
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Anything that causes you that much anxiety and upset isn't worth it, especially if it's something you do for fun. There are a couple more torture scenes after the one you're referring to, and the series doesn't treat any of them with the seriousness and care that they merit. That's fine for some viewers, but there's also no shame in not being one of them. |
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Terrible90sDub
 Posts: 168 |
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In addition to what has already been said about Shield Hero's persecution complex, the way the world treats him isn't even consistent, or at the least, not nearly as severe as he thinks it is. He gets shunned by the first city for a relatively short amount of time, and the royals/church are constantly against him. Other than that though? It didn't take long before every village started welcoming him as a holy medicine man, and they seemly don't care that he's the shield hero or that demi-humans are helping them. Even assuming that they're overlooking all of that because they're in dire need of help (something that doesn't seem realistically likely, knowing how people react), it contrasts sharply with his "the whole world is against me!" mindset.
... and so he's treated as justified in taking all of the money and supplies the innocent, welcoming villagers have in exchange for giving them medicine. Probably best not to think how they're going to survive with no money or supplies after he leaves. I get that he's not running a charity and he also needs money to survive (albeit probably less than acquires from them), but the narrative constantly treats him as better than everyone else and either handwaves away or rewards everything he does. It keeps on getting called a revenge fantasy, but as it is, it feels more like a bizarre greed fantasy. |
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Wyvern
 Posts: 1585 |
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Yeah, it looks like my list falls pretty much in line with most people's this season. It's nice to have (relative) consensus.
BEST: Mob Pyscho 100. Episode 5 has more sublime animation in its last ten minutes than most entire series do, and Episode 8 packs more genuine emotional intelligence and smart character writing than most entire manga runs. Get yourself an anime that can do both, and you've got an all-time classic. Worst: Rising of the Shield Hero. Man, it's like someone lost a bet and had to put all the worst traits and cliches of the isekai genre together into one garbage production. Congrats on pulling it off, I guess. |
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Key
Moderator
Posts: 18376 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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The latter is partly one of the points of the series. As for the former? The way various celebrities/political figures are treated is commonly not consistent between major urban areas and more rural ones in our world, so there's nothing out of the ordinary about that.
Again, that the world as a whole actually isn't against him - just the king and nobles of Melromac and the townspeople most directly influenced by them - and he's not seeing that because he has this persecution complex going is part of the point.
While your latter criticism is a fair one, on the rest of this I would point out that in each case the villagers don't react like they find Naofumi's price to be unreasonable for what they're getting. He's not demanding beyond what they can reasonably pay, unlike the taxation issue that came up in one village. The series unquestionably has some issues, but these mostly aren't its issues. |
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Terrible90sDub
Posts: 168 |
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^ If that is meant to be a major point, I'll give it credit when Naofumi is more negatively impacted for it. Since I meant it keeps on rewarding him or overlooking his behavior towards them in sake of his persecution complex instead of focusing on how it's not as severe as he thinks. Oh, and how it portrays all of what he does as justified despite that. At the moment, even when he doesn't trust those close to him, they bend over backwards to do everything to reaffirm him (i.e. reapplying the slave seal after he thinks she's going to leave him just because she was freed).
If the countryside is more accepting of demi-humans and doesn't hold the same anti-shield-hero mentality, then the justification the show was trying to give at the beginning for his actions as the *only* choices seem even flimsier. I was assuming that it was going for an angle where the other heroes made the situation in those villages so bleak that they were completely willing to overlook their previous biases, something that is moderately reasonable, but in reality you'd still have people still sneering "... but [insert anti-demi-human remark!" Some of the justification for the hatred that does exist is that sometimes people hate others for little reason, and I agree with that, but then it seemed they largely forget it for the sake of making him show up the other heroes. There are towns where they go "we don't have any money left, so we can only give our supplies!" and, in one case, he takes off with a good supply of food in order to sell it elsewhere instead of giving it to the town that had a starvation problem. |
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Animegomaniac
Posts: 4139 |
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My favorite: Kaguya-sama: Love is War. I could go on about its color palatte, design and animation or the sharp writing but those would be lies. This series was my favorite because only this series had Chika Fujiwara in it. I've seen isekai stories before, I've seen WSJ adaptations before but I've never seen anyone wield a harisen while sounding like a serial killer.
Least favorite: Quintessial Quintuplets: Was I the only one whose eyes rolled when the photo was dragged into the story? I'm not expecting a lot out of the series after that... when a series thinks Nidekoi has things worth copying when there's already a pretty good set up proves the source material lacks confidence in is premise. Dropped: Reincarnated as a Slime.... though I may have dropped it last season, I'm not sure. I didn't drop any other shows so I'm counting this one. Reason: Humanoid form. I just lost interest after that. You may as well make him/her/it into a shoggoth at that point for all it matters. |
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