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The Best Anime of 2020


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killjoy_the



Joined: 30 May 2015
Posts: 2475
PostPosted: Tue Dec 29, 2020 9:42 am Reply with quote
Best character is tough for me. I could go the Raildex route (a franchise I've been invested in for years) and choose Gunha or Kongou, because when they do show up they're incredibly good, but there's the fact that they don't show up that much (Kongou a lot more than Gunha but still). OreGairu 3 also had Iroha, and Iroha is always best girl. But it's not like she was introduced or taken a specific turn this season, so it was just more of what we (yes, we. You love her too and you know it) loved rather than anything new.

When it comes to actually new characters that I really liked, I guess I'm gonna have to go with Tsukasa from Pet. A genius dumbass who's great at manipulating people (as is part of the job) but is stuck in his ideas of betrayal set from his childhood, and royally fucks up because of it. Otherwise, a lot of the cast from Akudama Drive was incredibly fun, but the one that took the cake for me was Master (the Executioner). Dude just transpired cool.
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Key
Moderator


Joined: 03 Nov 2003
Posts: 18440
Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley)
PostPosted: Tue Dec 29, 2020 10:38 am Reply with quote
Three reviewers and no repeats for the Top 5 so far. Quite the spread to start with. Only one of my top 5 has been named so far (and it shouldn't be hard to figure out which one it is), so more spread is coming.

(To put this in perspective, last year we ended up having 22 different series titles named by nine reviewers.)

As for best characters, not mentioning Nana as an also-considered is an oversight on my part. She's become more compelling as she's become more conflicted over spoiler[Michiru].


Last edited by Key on Tue Dec 29, 2020 1:30 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Saeryen



Joined: 26 Aug 2020
Posts: 986
PostPosted: Tue Dec 29, 2020 11:04 am Reply with quote
Healin’ Good is one of my faves this year, so it’s awesome to see it get some love! And I’m glad Sleepy Princess and Somali also got love, I really enjoyed them.

My personal fave this year was My Next Life as a Villainess. I found it cute, funny and heartwarming, and also healing since the last episodes were about two characters finding things worth living for and accepting happiness. Also, Katarina was my favorite character of 2020. So kind and compassionate, and I love how her kindness is her strength. We need more isekai protagonists like her.
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all-tsun-and-no-dere
ANN Reviewer


Joined: 06 Jul 2015
Posts: 652
PostPosted: Tue Dec 29, 2020 11:09 am Reply with quote
Key wrote:
Three reviewers and no repeats for the Top 5 so far. Quite the spread to start with. Only one of my top 5 has been named so far (and it shouldn't be hard to figure out which one it is), so more spread is coming.

(To put this in perspective, last year we ended up having 22 different series named by nine reviewers.)


Three of mine are repeats so far...


Last edited by all-tsun-and-no-dere on Tue Dec 29, 2020 12:02 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Dark Mac



Joined: 17 May 2008
Posts: 321
PostPosted: Tue Dec 29, 2020 11:26 am Reply with quote
How does Healin Good compare to previous Precure series? Hugtto is the last one I watched.

Can only imagine how much better Decadence would've been if Natsume had been the main character...

Maple probably my choice for best character.
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Engineering Nerd



Joined: 24 Apr 2008
Posts: 902
Location: Southern California
PostPosted: Tue Dec 29, 2020 11:35 am Reply with quote
I am seeing complete opposite takes of BNA and both sides sound credible, one says it’s a bold project with ambitious themes and directions, and the other said the latter half crumbled and the ending rushed a lot (if we ignore the whole style over substance thing). I don’t even know which side to trust since I have to watch at least quite a few episodes myself to tell if my time investment is justified
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Hal14



Joined: 01 Apr 2018
Posts: 716
Location: Heart of africa
PostPosted: Tue Dec 29, 2020 11:39 am Reply with quote
Engineering Nerd wrote:
I am seeing complete opposite takes of BNA and both sides sound credible, one says it’s a bold project with ambitious themes and directions, and the other said the latter half crumbled and the ending rushed a lot (if we ignore the whole style over substance thing). I don’t even know which side to trust since I have to watch at least quite a few episodes myself to tell if my time investment is justified


Those two takes on BNA aren't mutually exclusive. Personally, I believe its a bit of both: ambitious but falters in the latter half, specifically the last episode.
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maximilianjenus



Joined: 29 Apr 2013
Posts: 2902
PostPosted: Tue Dec 29, 2020 11:49 am Reply with quote
Saeryen wrote:
Healin’ Good is one of my faves this year, so it’s awesome to see it get some love! And I’m glad Sleepy Princess and Somali also got love, I really enjoyed them.

My personal fave this year was My Next Life as a Villainess. I found it cute, funny and heartwarming, and also healing since the last episodes were about two characters finding things worth living for and accepting happiness. Also, Katarina was my favorite character of 2020. So kind and compassionate, and I love how her kindness is her strength. We need more isekai protagonists like her.


it depends, a lot of villainess isekai gets protagonists that are too much like catarina. but well, that alshould be good news. my personal favorite has a genexer otaku ,dude is in his 50s his centenial daughter is the one that played the otome game, he just watched as a good otaku parent, become the villainess. he decided he already enjoyed life enough so he tries to play the villainess part ao the mc can grown into a strong woman. and it still somehow plays like catarinas
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tintor2



Joined: 11 Aug 2010
Posts: 2115
PostPosted: Tue Dec 29, 2020 12:01 pm Reply with quote
Best character has to be Swindler. Been long since I've seen an audience surrogate character so entertaining and maturity when being with the robot Sister made her more appealing. I liked her series, Invaded, Rezero, among others.

If something disappointed me this year is definitely the new Digimon Adventure and Yashahime
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Angel M Cazares



Joined: 23 Sep 2010
Posts: 5503
Location: Iscandar
PostPosted: Tue Dec 29, 2020 12:02 pm Reply with quote
This has been an underwhelming year for anime in my opinion. I usually come across 5-7 great anime series per year, but this year I only found 3. I have 2 lists: the first one is what I think are the best series based on technical merits, and the second are my personal favorites.

Best
1. Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!
2. My Next Life as a Villainess
3. Appare-Ranman!
4. Dorohedoro
5. Fruits Basket season 2

Favorites
1. My Next Life as a Villainess
2. Gleipnir
3. SNAFU Climax
4. Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon
5. Fruits Basket season 2

A honorable mention to Attack on Titan Final Season, which has had an amazing start, but I consider it a 2021 show.
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killjoy_the



Joined: 30 May 2015
Posts: 2475
PostPosted: Tue Dec 29, 2020 12:08 pm Reply with quote
Engineering Nerd wrote:
I am seeing complete opposite takes of BNA and both sides sound credible, one says it’s a bold project with ambitious themes and directions, and the other said the latter half crumbled and the ending rushed a lot (if we ignore the whole style over substance thing). I don’t even know which side to trust since I have to watch at least quite a few episodes myself to tell if my time investment is justified


BNA is, to me, the worst anime of 2020. Its themes don't make sense even in the world it presents them in, and make even less sense if taken as an allegory for the real world - or paint an actually awful image of what the theme is supposed to be. It's true that the final episodes are what cements these feelings of mine, but even early on you can tell the show is just kind of confused on what the hell it's trying to say with its animal folk.
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Gem-Bug



Joined: 10 Nov 2018
Posts: 1310
PostPosted: Tue Dec 29, 2020 12:16 pm Reply with quote
Really great to see Noi and DoroHedoro make lists! It was likely my favorite this year, but I know it was overshadowed by lots of other stuff that came out after it.
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Princess_Irene
ANN Reviewer


Joined: 16 Dec 2008
Posts: 2652
Location: The castle beyond the Goblin City
PostPosted: Tue Dec 29, 2020 12:25 pm Reply with quote
Dark Mac wrote:
How does Healin Good compare to previous Precure series? Hugtto is the last one I watched.


I think it's pretty middle-of-the-road when compared to the franchise as a whole. I'm really enjoying it (obviously), but it's stumbled a little in places.
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FilthyCasual



Joined: 01 Jun 2015
Posts: 2370
PostPosted: Tue Dec 29, 2020 12:41 pm Reply with quote
Danmachi's not on the mega poll.
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db999



Joined: 23 Dec 2017
Posts: 332
PostPosted: Tue Dec 29, 2020 12:45 pm Reply with quote
Best Character is pretty difficult this year. I do really like Catarina from Next Life as a Villainess, and Moroha is definitely the best part about Yashahime, but it’s probably between Yuki from Fruits Basket, Louis from Beastars of Sukuna from Jujutsu Kaisen. Sukuna is pretty refreshing because usually when a character like him appears in a shonen they end up redeemed by the end but he’s so gleefully evil that I can’t see the series doing that with him. Louis from Beastsrs was immediately fascinating to me, and the rest of the series only improved my opinion of him. I’ll definitely be interested in his development in the next season. But Yuki from Fruits Basket is my pick for best character due to how much my opinion of him has improved after seeing his development. It’s not like I disliked him before but the series seemed more interested in exploring Kyo, but seeing Yuki’s development really endeared him to me and his journey of self-discovery was incredibly cathartic.

Also, I noticed My Hero Academia Season 4 and Beastars aren't on the mega poll, just wanted to check and see if they were going to be added before voting.
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