The Best Anime of 2017

The Best Plot Twists of 2017

WARNING: This article contains spoilers for Attack on Titan, My Hero Academia, Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju, Natsume Yujin-Cho Roku, Vatican Miracle Examiner, Kemono Friends, Made in Abyss, New Game!!, and Re:Creators

Mike Toole

Kemono Friends Became a Phenomenon

Kemono Friends. I'm not talking about the big weird reveal late in this series, when we learn that the bucolic world that the lost human Kaban and her anthropomorphic animal girl buddies wander has a terrible secret. No, the signature plot twist of the 2017 anime scene is the amazing tale of Kemono Friends itself – the true story of how a no-hope project based on a dead mobile game with just ten core staff captured the otaku imagination and roared to the top of the hit parade. There was even controversy, as the show's director Tatsuki was abruptly fired, reportedly due to corporate concerns about his penchant for sharing fan art and animation, especially an online-only bonus episode of Kemono Friends that went live without any studio or publisher oversight. Best of all, the show's mixture of low-fi kitsch and intense, bizarre moments is not just a flash in the pan – it's genuinely worth your time as a real cult hit.

Amy McNulty

Reiner's Confession (Attack on Titan)

The Colossal Titan and the Armored Titan have haunted the entire Attack on Titan series from its very first episode. Their destruction of Eren's town—the first titan on civilians in 100 years—sets into motion every event of the series and cements the hatred of titans that drives Eren's enlistment. But then, out of almost nowhere, Reiner lets slip that he's the Armored Titan and Bertolt is the Colossal Titan in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment, as part of a truly desperate bid to win Eren's trust. While not a surprise for readers of the manga, it was still an epic moment to see animated.

Jacob Chapman

The Aftermath of Stain's Arrest (My Hero Academia)

I'd originally planned to put The Great Titan Reveal as my twist of choice, since I couldn't be happier with the fabulously ballsy move to turn what everyone expected to be the biggest game-changer of Attack on Titan into a nonchalant system shock that exposed incredible vulnerability for some underappreciated characters and forced the audience to ask themselves "Well, now what?" But it's been covered on this list already and I talked up that twist's greatness on our recent Best of 2017 ANNCast, so I'm equally happy to talk about My Hero Academia's greatness instead.

I have almost never seen an anime, and certainly never a Shonen Jump series, explore the phenomenon of internet radicalization this directly before. Even in dark n' gritty superhero series for "adults" (like the Image comics Stain is modeled after), usually when the villain is caught, their brand of evil is considered vanquished until they break out again. But that's not how our own world works at all. My Hero Academia dared to address the waves that high-profile arrests make in a community, and how Stain's increased media coverage (and the unfortunate cover story for his capture) would affect how the public perceived him. In a complicated world, even doing the right thing can have negative consequences, and even a defeated Stain can send gallons of fresh blood rushing into the League of Villains' veins, where Shigaraki waits to abuse those impassioned souls for his own nihilistic ends. It's a truly inspired bit of writing that leaves me excited to see how things will snowball in season three.

Lauren Orsini

"Nitai Sama" (Natsume Yujin-Cho Roku)

While I was reviewing Natsume Yujin-Cho Roku this summer, “Nitai Sama” became my benchmark of choice for gauging whether the episode to follow would be as beautiful or tense. Frequently, Natsume is able to reason with mercurial yokai and talk them out of causing harm. Not so with Nitai, a mute and merciless person-sized doll. The plot twist occurs when Natsume has narrowly defeated the doll and then realizes that Nitai means “two"—there's an even bigger threat waiting for Natsume now, and it may already be inside the house!

Rebecca Silverman

Antonin Dvorak is a Hippopotamus (ClassicaLoid)

Maybe I just didn't watch enough shows with really good plot twists, but nothing has floored me like Classicaloid's second season making Dvorak a hippo. I'm not sure why a show where reborn composers have turned into fish or gone on gyoza-inspired rampages surprised me so much with the whole hippo thing, but somehow it was the animal/composer combination I just didn't see coming. It's a good thing I prefer Tchaikovsky – bad enough that I now picture Tchaiko-chan whenever I listen to Swan Lake; I don't know if I could handle seeing a hippo in my head every time put on background music for writing.

Lynzee Loveridge

It's Hitler (Vatican Miracle Examiner)

A plot twist can reveal a trusted character's true intentions, push forward a scheme after ten episodes of setup, or it can throw something entirely out of left-field that's just too insane to be real. Vatican Miracle Examiner took Route C and gave birth to the most convoluted and ludicrous plot reveal I've witnessed in recent memory. It's so absurd that it circles all the way back into being entertaining. Our intrepid miracle-debunking priests hone in on a church in South America that claims to be the site of an immaculate conception, only to reveal it's all a huge cover-up by escaped Nazis to impregnate a nun with the cryogenically frozen sperm of Adolf Hitler. That's not even the end of the madness, but the series' first arc really needs to be seen to believed.

James Beckett

Nanachi Bids Farewell to Mitty (Made in Abyss)

Made in Abyss has no shortage of shocking plot developments, but there is one moment that stands out as a particularly nasty gut punch. From the moment they were introduced, it was clear that Nanachi's snarky exterior hid a history of trauma and hardship that went beyond anything Reg and Riko could understand, stemming from Nanachi's unsettling blob of a companion, Mitty. Only in the final episode of the season do we see just how much the pair have gone through together since their transformation from spirited children into uncanny creatures. Mitty in particular is a case study in silent suffering, where the Curse of the Abyss has stripped her not only of her humanity, but even the reprieve of death. Shiori Izawa and Mariya Ise outdo themselves in selling Nanachi and Reg's conflicted feelings over finally laying Mitty to rest with the power of Reg's arm cannon, and Kevin Penkin's deviously beautiful soundtrack only heightens the intensity of the moment. This didn't just leave me misty-eyed; I was positively beside myself. It might not have been the feel-good moment of the year, but it remains the most cathartic and arresting scene of my 2017 in anime.

Gabriella Ekens

The First Ten Seconds of Hand Shakers

Alright, so I realize that this construes a criminal interpretation of the term “best,” but I can't pinpoint a single moment in anime that brought me more joy this year than the introductory shots of this visual disasterpiece. For your viewing pleasure, here are those ten seconds in convenient GIF form. You're welcome.

Really, the whole first episode is full of absolutely baffling visual decisions – it's just that those ten seconds display so many so immediately that it hits you with an almost palpable shock, before you're forced to break out into laughter. Those chains! The fire effects! That font out of someone's tacky forum image signature! It's hard to imagine that someone could have come up with production design so bad by accident, but they must have.

In any other year, Hand Shakers would have been in clear possession of my crown for worst anime as well. Unfortunately, it came out around the same time as something that outplayed even Hand Shakers in terms of sheer entertaining badness. You'll just have to wait until the Worst Anime day to find out what it is.

Nick Creamer

Kaban Finds Her Answers (Kemono Friends)

Okay, this one's easy. Kemono Friends is a great show on the whole, but one of its strongest qualities is just how impactful its climax turned out to be. The show's starting premise is that “everyone in Japari Park is a Friend who has their own skills and habitat, but newcomer Kaban must search with her friend Serval to find her purpose.” The show goes through a wide array of twists and turns from there, but it eventually peaks at a point where Kaban knows who she is, knows the truth of this mysterious land, and knows that only she can save her closest friend. The show's payoff of Kaban's journey cleverly ties in everything she once felt incapable of doing, demonstrating both her personal strength and her depth of love for her friend. Not every show rises to one transcendent sequence like this, and not every show needs to – but Kemono Friends aptly demonstrates the profound power of tying every narrative thread into one perfect moment.

Chris Farris

Selesia Gets Powered Up By Twitter Likes (Re:Creators)

Re:CREATORS was a messy and unevenly paced series that nonetheless delivered hard on its big moments, and one of the biggest came toward the end of its first half. The circuitous explanations of the show's internal logic and the emotional labor that had built up between Selesia and her creator Matsubara lined up perfectly for this payoff. The idea of a hero getting a powered-up super mode from fans reacting to new content posted online sounds like the dumbest thing in concept, but not only was it a crazy idea that could only come from Re:CREATORS' unique premise, the show's careful execution allowed it to land with an insane emotional impact. Many similar situations occurred later in the series as it chased this one-of-a-kind high, but as strong as Re:CREATORS managed to be in a few subsequent moments, it never quite topped this first crazy cross-media convergence.

Theron Martin

Eren's Scream (Attack on Titan)

Whatever else I might think about this series, I won't deny that it has an almost unparalleled knack for theatrics. Even those unfamiliar with the manga knew that some kind of reversal was coming, as the characters were brought to their lowest of low points to date, but how it happened was the most stunningly electric moment of the year. Other top moments in my book include the boss fight at the end of Sword Art Online the Movie: Ordinal Scale (one of the year's top action spectacles) and the revelation of Sota's trump card in episode 21 of Re:CREATORS.

Anne Lauenroth

The Death of Yakumo (Descending Stories: Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju)

My favorite anime moment of 2017 should have gone to Berserk's reunion on the hill of swords scene, where a newly reborn Griffith seeks to confirm his now godly self. But as much as the memory of reading those manga pages for the first time sends shivers down my spine, Berserk (TV 2017) just doesn't deserve this spot.

So once again, it's time for me to commend Shōwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjū for delivering my most memorable anime moment, which I remember vividly even though it happened back in March. Just as we had to end season one with the death of Sukeroku, it was clear that the second season would descend on Yakumo's passing. How does it happen? By having Sukeroku come and take Yakumo shinigami-style, of course, right before Matsuda serves as Yakumo's ferryman to carry his soul to the other shore. Shōwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjū was never one to respect my emotional stability, but my perfect 2017 anime moment came even before they set out to destroy me with more transcendent rakugo performances.

It was the scene where Yakumo reconciles with Konatsu – after regretting never planting a cherry tree for her, and before agreeing to finally make her his apprentice. Of course, that will never happen because Yakumo is about to die, turning his promise to Konatsu into a deathbed apology for never nurturing her art. In its uniquely subtle yet theatrical manner, Shōwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjū reflects this inevitable passing through its selection of imagery: everyday city life, Shinnosuke coming home from school, and Konatsu and Yakumo intently listening to Yotaro's all-important Nozarashi performance, all pass in the bleeding sunset light. It's so peaceful that a sense of foreboding overshadows the long overdue reconciliation as the camera begins to drift away. Once Shinnosuke arrives to scatter his cherry blossoms and join in Yotaro's singing, Yakumo can allow himself to be carried away into the world of the dead, where it's time for Sukeroku to deliver the final lines of Nozarashi. Yakumo finally catches up with his beloved in one of the most symbolically layered death scenes of recent memory.

Paul Jensen

Ko leaves Eagle Jump (New Game!!)

When New Game first hinted that Ko was planning to leave her position at Eagle Jump, I wrote it off as an attempt at stirring up some harmless dramatic tension for the final episode of the season. Boy, was I wrong. The show followed through on its foreshadowing, and in doing so set up one of the best episodes I watched all year. By having Ko walk out of the show's tight-knit little world, New Game forced its other main characters to look at their own personal journeys and confront some beautifully raw emotions. Even taking the show's increased narrative ambition into account, this was a move that I absolutely didn't see coming and one that capped off a season of big steps forward for this slice of life series.