And so it’s that time of year now. We all reflect on the kind of shows we watched and wonder if they were any good or bad or awful. 2013 didn’t do so much for me, save the quality shows like Monogatari Series Second Season, Kill la Kill, and Non Non Biyori. Such a shame, although it could just be my own tastes getting more and more diluted with age, but I’m relieved now that 2014 actually brought some shows that caught my attention.
As a lot of you might know, the slice-of-life genre has just become an addiction to me, or something ridiculous like that. It’s something I want rid of, but I still can’t help it. I tried so so hard this year for shows that don’t fit the criteria, and I like to think it kind of worked when it came to tallying up my top 10. I mean I’ve seen some damn awful slice-of-life shows, and 2014 was no exception. But all the trying this year has paid off.
And so, out of all the numerous shows I saw, here are my 10 favourites:
10. Akuma no Riddle
Not quite sure how a yuri assassin show landed in my top 10, but it was a lot in this show that I loved; all of whom the assassins themselves who were assigned to kill the airhead goody-two shoes out of the school. It was, in fact, the assassins themselves who stole the show, not to mention the hilarious and very scary class rep. I guess I had to put one action-thriller show in my top 10, and so this was it.
Harmless humor through and through. Average schoolgirl Chiyo Sakura falls in love with bored-looking guy, and when it comes to her confessing, he just gives her an autograph. And so after finding out he’s a shoujo mangaka, she decides to help him every now and then. Mixed with parody of shoujo manga and the occasional hints of boy-love between Nozaki and classmate Mikoto make Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun a show I chuckled at in every episode.
8. Jinsei
The trials and tribulations of the newspaper club at a school. ‘Normal’ guy Yuuki is put in charge of the life advice column and is assigned with 3 girls, all of whom have totally different views on life, to answer questions put by fellow students. The very subtle humor in the show, along with their crazy experiments to decide right answers, and the extremely cute goings-on with Yuuki and science girl Rino actually made this my favorite show of the summer. Just goes to show that I can never ever escape from the slice-of-life venus fly-trap now.
7. Love Live! School Idol Project 2nd Season
This season was no way as good as the first season, where the 9 girls were all fighting to make sure their school wouldn’t close. Now the school’s safe, carrying on with their idol group is the best thing to do. And so when the next contest comes around, beating the super-duper-sparkly A-RISE group was their main agenda. Funny how I thought the opposite every now and then……oh well, this may have been more of a season full of fillers, but they were all good fillers.
6. No Game No Life
Another show that definitely stood out from the rest. Going from the dull and gray world of their computer-filled apartment, Sora and Shiro are sucked into a world with so much colour, your head just spins. Sora’s own ego and Shiro’s own cuteness, along with Stephanie Dola being ‘the perfect girlfriend’, the story of No Game No Life might have gone in a strange direction, but it was still a very entertaining show to watch.
5. Hanamonogatari
Another Monogatari arc from SHAFT, this time concerning Suruga Kanbaru, the lesbian with the monkey paw. Every single Monogatari trait was here, which made it all the better (I just might be biased being a fan of the series), plus the ‘antagonist’ Rouka Numachi almost stole the show with her cynical view on life and her hidden crush on Suruga (don’t deny it…it was there all right). Plus we got to see Koyomi as a college student. With a car???
4. Amagi Brilliant Park
From the director of the very excellent KyoAni show Hyouka, having a show that wasn’t set at school was very…interesting. But what with all the numerous characters (all of whom were extremely different in every way), it made it so difficult to choose which character stole the show. Was it Isuzu and her musket guns? The three stooges, Moffle, Macaroon and Tiramie? The four fairies of Elementario? Princess Latifa? Or the egotistical Seiya himself, who was practically perfect in every way, or so he liked to think.
3. Nagi no Asukara
It was right from the beginning of this show when I knew this was to be up there at the top of my favourites this year. Fantasy shows were something I really loved, but it was just something I grew bored of. And so it’s just fantastic to see a fantasy/school/romance show like this, with so much emphasis on growing up and friendship…even with the separation of communities (those who live in the sea, and those on the surface). Amazing script, amazing characters and amazing animation. A highly recommended show if you show even the slightest interest in fantasy shows.
2. Isshuukan Friends
A show that actually makes me cry is far and few. Maybe it was the fact that I could relate to Kaori Fujimiya so much, but this show about a boy desperate to befriend a girl with an abnormal form of amnesia just moved me so much. The animation was minimal and full of watercolours, but that was what made it all the better; anything else would have made the show ridiculous. This was a top quality school drama, despite people all saying the lead boy was in love when, in fact he wasn’t. So so so good, and like I say, 2014 has been kind to me this year…
1. Nisekoi
…but my number 1 spot belongs to this rom-com harem show, by SHAFT unsurprisingly. Harem shows rarely ever make it to my top 10, and I was even more skeptical when I noticed SHAFT was doing the adaptation of the manga. But, of course, everything fell into place; not necessarily by all those SHAFT traits every single person knows about, but by the fact that the studio just knew instantly how each character would be like on screen. Raku as the kind boy, Chitoge as the harsh girl, Kosaki being the uber-shy one, Seishiro being the tsundere hitgirl, Marika being the clingy one…and so on. I disagree with all those who said the intense amount of color wasn’t required; I feel it needed it, so it could blend with the plot and the character design better. So it’s Nisekoi that’s the show I beg you to check out if you wanted something from 2014.
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I’m hoping for a decent amount of shows for 2015. I’ve already chosen my show to review for the Winter season as well one for the Spring, so be sure to check that out. And of course I’ll be monitoring many many other shows to put in next year’s top 10. And I still have that large large pile of shows to catch-up on…yes, that pile that gets bigger and bigger *sighs* I’ll get there, eventually.
Also I forgot to mention the shows that started in the Fall season and will carry on into 2015. So far I’m really liking Shirobako (not entirely slice-of-life, by the way), and Sailor Moon Crystal will end next year too. As a lover of magical girl shows, it should be interesting how the ending of the remake (based more on the manga than what the anime used to be like) will end up becoming.
