We're publishing our bonus categories once per day. Today's installment is The Best Theme Songs of 2017!

Mike Toole

Last year, I said that they were making too much anime. They're still doing that, and it kinda makes me wonder how the endless firehose of new content is affecting the way people view older shows. Think about it: what was your favorite anime of 2013? Can you name it off the top of your head? With so much anime everywhere, it feels like it's harder for the good shows to  harden up in the fandom's consciousness and become classics. In addition to that, there's also something that, for want of a better term, I refer to as the Amazon Strike Hole. Amazon's anime streaming service seems relatively unpopular, a late entry in a really competitive market that requires just $4 per month… after you pay in $100/year for Amazon Prime, that is. The service has some reportedly very good shows, but these shows are talked about so much less on my social media map, simply because not as many people are watching Strike as are watching services like Crunchyroll. I think this is absolutely a real phenomenon, and if I was steering that ship I'd be concerned. A number of big favorites ran on Anime Strike, but I haven't yet seen them because I don't currently have Strike. I'll succumb to the hype and get it eventually, I'm sure, but for now the Amazon Strike Hole remains a notable blind spot in my anime-viewing repartee. Here's my picks for 2017.

5. Berserk

Shin Itagaki's flawed attempt to make a dynamic, distinctive Berserk series has drawn an awful lot of criticism for its janky CG and sometimes rushed plotlines. I agreed with a lot of that criticism… and yet there I was, tuning in week after week, eagerly anticipating every episode based on a comic I'd already read. Despite its problems, Berserk is still so good, a solidly entertaining port of Kentarō Miura's grisly medieval fantasy manga. This storyline moves even farther from the low fantasy of the story's early chapters, balanced on a bunch of cheeky jabs at Tolkien-esque magical high fantasy, and on a cautionary tale of how the desire for revenge can lead a man down a ruinous path.  Outside of preserving and enhancing the manga, the one thing that every Berserk adaptation must have is some music by Susumu Hirasawa. They got that one checked off here, so I think we're good.

4. The Ancient Magus' Bride

Irrespective of genre, it's tricky to make shoujo romance manga that's really satisfying for older readers—part of the shoujo formula for relationships just seems to wallow in co-dependence, where the two star-crossed lovers pine and fight and sulk at each other to the point of exasperation. The Ancient Magus’ Bride is a little different – its heroine is basically clinically depressed, whisked away from her uncaring family by a skeletal, monstrous wizard who ominously promises to marry her someday. But despite the fear and uncertainty, this wizard, Elias, tells the depressed girl, Chise, that she is valuable, worthwhile, and that her existence means something. Elias also twitches aside the veil to a barely-hidden world of magical sprites and mythological beings. Both the staff of this animated version and the original manga artist really have to work hard to make their audience stop wondering if Elias isn't just grooming Chise, or if he's going to suck her magical power dry and toss her in a ditch—but somehow, it all works, and the formidable but oddly insecure and lonely wizard is drawn to the severely depressed girl, who has doubts of her own.

3. Attack on Titan Season 2

The Titans are back, baby! Anime is good again! Rrrroaaaaauuughhh (titan wail) After the phenomenal boom of the original Attack on Titan, the whole scene was primed for more-- and we waited. And we waited through live-action movies and kiddie spinoffs, we waited through OVA tie-ins and video games… but the wait was worth it. The continuing pursuit of the mystery of the Titans by Eren Yeagar and his Survey Corps. pals  was handled with rhythmic mastery by Masashi Koizuka and his animation staff. Stories of scheduling turmoil and lack of resources followed the production, but it didn't seem to matter once the episodes hit the screen-- the show's blazing action and riveting atmosphere came roaring right back. Attack on Titan seems to have just the right balance of big moments, plot development, and pure action. I can't wait for it to come roaring back again in 2018.

2. Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid

Back in 2004 or so, I looked at the likes of Hand Maid May and Hanaukyo Maid Team and bemoaned the whole “maids!!” trend - it just seemed so facile and dumb to me. But this year, my second-favorite anime was about a maid who is also a dragon. You can put that down to a few factors. First off, as occasionally prurient as the source material is, Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid is less bawdy and more buoyant, a bright, sunny, exuberant story of ordinary people and their curious dragon pals. Secondly, the show is created by Kyoto Animation, who are as absolutely meticulous here as their reputation suggests-- the show's animation crackles with energy and is always fun to watch. Finally, what makes Dragon Maid work is the sheer chemistry of the characters. Putting aside silly schoolyard crushes, the titular Kobayashi and her Dragon roommates are so palpably fond of each other that the show is impossible to dislike. There's a sunny optimism at work here that takes the show's unusual premise (and its unconventional romantic couple) and makes it fly high.

1. Gundam Thunderbolt: Bandit Flower

This fresh installment of Gundam's core Universal Century timeline feels like the ultimate expression of "real robot" anime.  Both episodes so far (this is the second) open with several minutes of blazing combat, featuring military personnel screaming and dying, getting blown apart, being incinerated by beam weapons, getting sucked into space,  turned to hamburger… it really drives home that war is an incoherent, chaotic hellspace, and that mobile suits themselves are not simply mass-produced war machines, but also surprisingly agile platforms for any number of horrifyingly destructive experimental weapons. The episode first convinces us that the Zeong, one of the silliest-looking mobile suits ever, is the Lazer-Powered Hands of Death. Then, we're re-introduced to the heroes on both sides, be they the Moore Brotherhood (a Federation unit trying to reclaim their old destroyed colony) or the Walking Dead Unit (a Zeon platoon of disfigured veterans, with prosthetics and control interfaces keyed to work with their shortcomings). We then learn that these charismatic, attractive heroes are shellshocked lunatics underneath it all—and that's before the third faction, a cardre of religious extremists, tips their hand. The first Gundam Thunderbolt film was unabashedly excellent, and this one pushes the intensity levels higher in every category. It also still stands alone superbly. A lot of anime will stick around in your head. Sometimes you'll see something so good, you'll want to watch it again. But in 2017, Gundam Thunderbolt: Bandit Flower was the only anime that made me want to watch it again immediately.

Lynzee Loveridge

It's easy to hail 2017 as one of the best years in anime output yet. Last year was pretty dang stellar, but this year burst out the door with emotional resonance. Two of my top five this year premiered back in January, but there wasn't a single season where I didn't have at least three shows I was watching on premiere day each and every week. It was a great year for comedies with the likes of Gabriel DropOut showing how a great translation can brighten up a script. Juggernaut franchises returned to the screen and one hack and slash action show introduced the world to a psychotic man-rabbit in Daisy Dukes. What caught my attention most this year was the willingness to take risks and explore darker emotional  themes. This year in anime had exemplary instances of looking inward outside of just crafting an entertaining story.   

5. My Hero Academia Season 2

I was late to the My Hero Academia game, but after the Funimation and Crunchyroll streaming merger the series sat in my queue until I could no longer resist finding out what all the hubbub is about. I'd always missed the boat on the huge shonen action shows, but I'm glad I didn't let this one slip by. My Hero Academia is an anime with a lot of heart and at the center of that is its lead Deku, a true underdog that viewers can't help but root for. He navigates the often deadly challenges thrown his way with determination and culminates in a lushly animated face-off against the hero killer Stain. The writing does and exemplary job of endearing the audience to its entire hero cast, even the often difficult to accept Bakugo. My Hero Academia is stand-out for crafting well-rounded, entertaining cast and reinvigorating the shonen formula in a way that is approachable to both newcomers and seasoned anime fans alike.

4. Scum's Wish

Scum's Wish isn't going to be for everyone. It stars an entirely unlikable cast doing increasingly awful things to one another, repeatedly making decisions that are very bad for their mental health. In this way, Scum's Wish is a very human show reflecting the selfishness that is unique to adolescent relationships, the desire to be desired and hating oneself for that weakness. Its characters sometimes straddle the line between manhandling each other's' feelings due to inexperience and being outright callous. All of this probably sounds like ripping on the show, but Scum's Wish has one thing in spades and that's honesty. Hanabi's need for acceptance, Akane masking her fear of being boring by using others, and even Mugi's false sense of complacency are all just immature coping mechanisms but they feel intimate, real and sometimes even smothering.

3. Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid

There was no family that touched my heart more this year than Kobayashi, her live-in maid Tohru, and their adopted dragon child Kanna. What starts out as another silly monster girl romp expands into a message about family, prejudice, and being true to oneself. Tohru's struggle to belong and make a real home with Kobayashi is surprisingly poignant for a show that starts off with “Eat me!” jokes. The expanded cast was also stellar, and I honestly came to enjoy Fafnir's adventures in companionship just as much as Tohru. The series is one of, if not the best, comedy of the year and I question anyone who isn't tearing up by the show's finale.

2. The Ancient Magus' Bride

The Ancient Magus' Bride is easily in the running for best show of the year but is hindered by not being done yet. It's a show that feels very personal, which is saying something since it stars a magical skull man, his mana well of an apprentice, and a whole swarm of fairy creatures. The anime is very “not of this world” but at the same time is very grounded both in its pagan research and in its lead, Chise. The show doesn't hinge on its magic trappings so much as it does on the idea of self-fulfillment, community, and finding inner strength. Chise is the vessel for this. Her struggles with co-dependence and suicidal ideation feel very real as does the hope she imparts an example of growth and survival after a lifetime of abuse.    

1. Made in Abyss

Kinema Citrus sent two kids into the depths of Hell and the experience was at times equally awe-inspiring as it was viscerally cruel. Plagued by torturous adults and flesh-ripping monsters (sometimes they are one and the same), two orphans look for home by gazing into the abyss in hopes that it does not gaze into them. Made in Abyss breaks new ground in being the most emotionally devastating show I watched this season. It pulls no punches, never mind that its leads are children, and is unafraid to show the very real results of two ill-equipped kids adventuring alone with little more than their passion to reach the end. At times beautiful, it's easy to see how a raw environment like the Abyss would attract so many explorers to their doom time and again. Hoping against hope, I can't help but want to see Rico and Reg through, even if the result is soul crushing.

James Beckett

5. Land of the Lustrous

Given that I still haven't entirely caught up with this wonderful little dark horse, I would probably be remiss to place Land of the Lustrous any higher than number 5 on this list. Still, the crew at Studio Orange, led by  series director Takahiko Kyōgoku, should be commended for taking Haruko Ichikawa's source manga and turning it into something truly special. I'm sure the story of Phos and their fellow jewels doing battle against the mysterious Lunarians would have great in its own right if it had been animated conventionally, but I personally feel that the CG animation in this show is nothing short of groundbreaking. Not only does Land of the Lustrous manage to avoid the choppy framerates and stiff character performances that tend to plague CG television anime, it manages to make the strengths of the fledgling technology integral to the story it's telling. The central figures of the series are anthropomorphic crystals that exist to combat ethereal space monsters from beyond the stars, but the cast is still imbued with a thrilling sense of humanity thanks to the consistently high-quality integration of motion-capture and subtle tics of body language that fit every character. Phos's amiable and headstrong personality is communicated with their constant bouncing and restless shifting, while a character like Cinnabar exudes liquid, steely resolve. Combine all of that with some of the most thrilling and fluid action sequences you'll see in any anime this year, and you have a series that easily earns a place alongside the best anime of the year.

4. Konohana Kitan

Iyashikei, or “healing”, anime, are an acquired taste for viewers like me. Normally, I'm more interested in high-concept or action packed genre fare; while I'm all for a cozy slice-of-life story, the cast and setting have to be especially enticing to lure me away from the fare I'm more inclined to enjoy. Konohana Kitan is such a perfectly balanced mixture of romance, comedy, and character-driven drama that it perfectly encapsulates everything a soothing show should be. The core cast of fox girls includes the endearingly klutzy Yuzu and the adorably abrasive Satsuki, and together with their friends, they help run Konohanatei, a prestigious hot springs that serves all manner of spirits, ghosts, and gods. Every episode includes a healthy dose of traditional Japanese mythology, and between the cultural lessons, we get stories that run the gamut from warm-and-fuzzy explorations of the core cast's relationships to more somber, standalone stories that focus on the guests who come and go throughout the year. Sakuya Amano's original manga takes great care to balance a tone that is equal parts heartbreaking and uplifting, while never forgetting to keep its audience laughing and rooting for Yuzu and her friends. Studio Lerche has translated this thematic tightrope act perfectly to animation, and while nobody would accuse this show of having an excessive budget, what Konohana Kitan lacks in technical polish, it more than makes up for with its charm and affection for the story it's telling. This show might have gone under the radar for many people given how exceptional 2017 was for anime overall. If you're one of those who missed out on Konohana Kitan this fall, I implore you to take some time to revisit this unexpectedly wonderful series, one of the most endearing and lovingly crafted anime of the year.

3. My Hero Academia Season 2

Of all the shows on my list, My Hero Academia's second season was the most traditionally "fun" piece of escapist entertainment. While season one of MHA was a perfectly engaging ode to both shonen manga and the  current pop culture zeitgeist of superhero comics and stories, this is the year that the series really came into its own. While the tournament arc is a predictable shonen tradition by now, MHA found a way to really make the concept its own by capitalizing on its universe's premise of "heroes for hire" and turning the whole spectacle into a hybrid job interview for Izuku and his friends. Uraraka and Bakugo get their time to shine in a thrilling personal battle, while Izuku gets to really let loose with the growing power of his One for All quirk in a showdown against the quietly compelling Todoroki. The latter fight is probably the single most satisfying fight scene put to animation this year, and there's still half a season left to go afterwards! While the season's second major arc, which focuses on the stalwart Iida's vendetta against a psychotic hero killer, isn't quite as crowd-pleasing as what came before, it still provides plenty of opportunities for the show's heroes to develop as a truly memorable ensemble. Kōhei Horikoshi's story possess indomitable spirit, not to mention a pitch-perfect understanding of what makes superhero stories so indelible in the first place. If My Hero Acedemia can consistently provide action and character-driven drama as satisfying as this second season, then it will be well on its way to becoming one of the most iconic shonen series ever.

2. Attack on Titan Season 2

If I had to describe the long-awaited second season of Attack on Titan with a single word, it would be “escalation”. Despite only running for half the length of the monstrously popular first season, the series wastes no time making it apparent that director Masashi Koizuka and the team at Studio Wit are determined to raise the bar in every way. The story takes everything we learned about the war against the Titans and proceeds to break it into a million pieces, going so far as to abandon the central trio of Eren, Armin, and Mikasa for nearly the entire season, focusing instead on characters who were sorely lacking in development and focus before, with Christa and Ymir's star-crossed romance being a particular highlight. To spoil any of the season's twists would be criminal, but suffice to say that the show finds new and horrific ways for the horrifying Titans to wear down its battle-hardened cast. Nearly every episode contains at least one “Holy Crap!” moment, and the various stories on display manage to excite, enrage, and horrify in equal measure. When we finally do get back to Eren and the gang, it feels like years worth of climaxes and game-changing shifts in momentum have occurred, even though only a couple days have passed in the world of the story. This does mean that the overall plot of Attack on Titan has only been sporadically progressed by the time the season comes to a close, but it's hard to complain much when the show's storytelling journey is just so damned good. Season 3 is mercifully arriving sometime next year, so the AoT faithful won't have to spend another half decade waiting to see how the series will manage to top itself next.

1. Made in Abyss

Seeing as I've already written over 10,000 words worth of streaming reviews singing this series' praises, I'll try to keep things brief: Made in Abyss is a masterpiece, and everyone with the constitution for a dark, gripping, and occasionally devastating fantasy adventure should immediately seek this series out.

If you need more convincing though, you should know that Akihito Tsukushi's original manga is its own brand of brilliant, telling the story of a young girl named Riko and an amnesiac robot named Reg, cave raiders who descend into an Abyss that's equal parts wondrous and nightmarish as they search for answers about the fate of Riko's mother, who was the most famous cave raider of all time before she vanished into the Abyss' deepest depths. While the story is fantastic regardless of its medium, the manga has drawn some ire for the way it mixes graphic violence with fetishistic portrayals of its underage cast, which is unfortunate because entangled in that controversy is a story that's both astonishingly epic in scope and intimately human in its perspective. In adapting the first major arcs of the manga, Kinema Citrus has masterfully preserved everything that makes the manga work while toning down or outright excising the story's most graphic and off-putting indulgences.

Mind you, Made in Abyss is still not afraid to go to some very dark places, but the anime always makes sure to frame its grimmer impulses with a sense of purpose and clarity that the manga lacks, which makes Made in Abyss' anime the definitive version of an already incredible story. The animation is lush, the world of the Abyss is impeccably crafted with a constant sense of awe and menace, and Kevin Penkin's haunting and evocative score for the series makes for one of the all-time great anime soundtracks. Not since Puella Magi Madoka Magica have I encountered an anime that so perfectly represents everything great about the medium. It isn't for the faint of heart, but those who are willing to explore the dark corners of the human experience owe it to themselves to experience Made in Abyss. It's absolutely unforgettable.