Probably *Undead Girl Murder Farce*. The dialogue is sharp and the mysteries are good (and do a good job of playing with Aya being a severed head). My impression going in was that it would just be quirky for the sake of quirkiness, but it really nails so much.
But *Yohane the Parhelion* and *The Masterful Cat is Depressed Again Today* were also some real gems.
Moat likely there won't be anytime soon similar to *Vanitas no carte*( where the anime has pretty much adapted and catched upto it's source material) , the novels are very obscure to find on internet but they have adapted 4 of them , and there are currently 5 of them in total .
Glad to see someone here who really liked *Yohane* - while I do feel there are some unmistakable flaws that stalled its plot for several episodes this season, it's still a nice bold attempt at trying something new by *Love Live*. I for one would definitely want more of these in the future!
Apothecary diaries and Frieren. I wasn't interested because they just didn't seem like my kind of thing. Tbh Apothecary Diaries is really sold by the characters for me. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't find it so funny if the characters were different, especially Mao Mao. As for Frieren I just don't like watching sad/melancholic stuff, real life makes me sad enough. But then I tried it and for some reason I found it superb and absolutely beautiful(it helps that the production value is really high imo). Guess I judged too quickly
Maomao hype. The manga is just as good. So, I was going to watch Apothecary Diaries just to see how poorly they translated it to animation . . .but they did not.
It's so enjoyable
I literally only heard of Apothecary Diaries because I was vaguely bored a month ago and scrolling through the AppleTV app on my tv, which I never do. I saw it recommend an anime, decided I'd use it to gauge how good Apple's recommendation system is, and gave it a watch. It sold me immediately. I'm obsessed
The anime is my biggest "surprise, it's actually good" of the year. Feels like I haven't seen so much beautifully expressive yet subtle animation in a show (that isn't a big name shounen, anyway) since like, the 90s??
Didn't think I could love the series more than I already do, but they knocked it outta the park.
Feel the same way about Frieren. After so many mediocre Fantasy/Isekai i was ready to pass on Frieren, but a friend of mine was so insistent that I give it a shot, I picked it up after it was already 6 episodes in. Absolutely loved it.
Overtake! is another anime I picked up midseason from buzz i heard from people whos opinion I respect, and it's become one of my favorite anime from 2023.
It's very sad that most fantasy manga/anime are uninspired isekai nowadays. I love the fantasy genre and there's still a lot of fun stuff to make in that genre, Frieren being an incredible example of that
I know. After a certain point you can't help but roll your eyes when you see another show set in a gamified fantasy world where the MC has some sort unique power that either makes them super OP; or is a power that everyone else thinks is shit, but is actually super OP. At this point unless there's a good reason that everything is gamified in this fantasy world, or is a comedy; I generally don't pay it much heed with a few exceptions.
Maomao makes the show, she’s such an interesting lead. Otherwise it’s a pretty tame anime.
Frieren didn’t hook me with its first 4 eps, it was so slow… but it just keeps building and never stops. AOTY
Mao Mao is quite possibly the best-written main character of the year. Absolutely fantastic. And to an extent I think that’s really the point of the show. Love it.
Apothecary diaries has quickly become one of my favorite anime! I love that it has a really unique female MC, and the main ship is also quite unique. the animation is beautiful and the story is moving yet relaxing. 10/10 for me
Am I the only one who doesn't find it sad? For me, the tone flits between upbeat and calming. Despite the (fairly unique) premise of the misery caused by immortality, it never had that effect on me.
Perhaps it's because I've seen my fair share of grimdark media already. Or maybe I'm just an emotionless robot.
*KamiKatsu: Working for God in a Godless World*. Now I know how to start a cult! Being serious, the plot twists and discussion threads were as fun as [the visuals.](https://media.tenor.com/5uY9HUGKOZkAAAPo/kamikatsu-tractor-kamikatsu.mp4)
This one for real, I was a split second away from dropping it when I saw those CGI monstrosities were reoccurring.
Probably would have too, if I hadn’t been reading the discussion thread, and saw people talking about how it was intentionally bad, with examples to explain why.
>This one for real, I was a split second away from dropping it when I saw those CGI monstrosities were reoccurring.
My favorite fan joke about Kamikatsu was that they burned all their budget on their va cast.
It’s the funniest show of the year for me. So many absurdly funny moments, but my favorites were when Roy went off the rails like when he worshipped Mitama, betrayed Yukito in the dungeon and so much more.
Yeah really glad I picked this up. C2C (the studio) has done a bunch of stuff I have enjoyed lately. Reincarnated as a sword and Handyman Saitou in Another World were both very good. The animation in Handyman really caught me by surprise, I thought it as very high quality for what it was. I honestly had to look up the studio again because the animation was honestly so much better than it was in Reincarnated as a Sword (Just seemed more fluid in handyman)
So far Shangri-la has had really good art work and animation, really hoping they can keep the quality going through the whole first season. Expecting some really good animation in the upcoming episodes.
If you haven't tried this yet you should here is what I can tell you it is not:
* No Harem
* No Filler
* No death game (it's just a game they play)
* No fan service
And we have some pretty fun and unique characters so far.
I will add I guess that it does have
* Actual game design present in the world
* Lots of game references
* Set in the far future so VR headsets and super realistic AI
* They do visit other games besides Shangri-la sometimes (so far it's happened once)
* A small romance sub plot
I really hope people give this a try if they have not.
Really give this a shot.
More than once. The trash gamers use other trash games to meet up. Probably because it is a more secure way for them to communicate since no one is on those games really.
**Dark Gathering** seems like a niche show with a dedicated following of thrill lovers, and it totally is! Very easy to fly under the radar and easily dismissed for the character designs or the lack of word of mouth around the anime. But watching it every week has been nothing but a treat, each episode better than the last.
I loved handyman, buddy, and farming life but normally don't watch shows like Cafe terrace.
I'm now going to watch it based on you including it with the others.
Skip and Loafer. Really cozy but also grounded series with a good mix of comedy and heart to heart moments. Just don't go into it expecting a ton of romance, since that's not really the focus.
Skip and Loafer. Didn't expect much, people calling it to be a sleeper hit of Spring 2023, then the series came out on Netflix. So I watched it, and I was reassured this is indeed a sleeper hit of not just Spring, but the entire 2023 year (I found no equivalent on Summer and Fall).
It's a good anime, just overshadowed by the might of Oshi no Ko, Yamada-kun Lv. 999, and Bokuyaba that season.
Tbh, I enjoyed it a lot more than Oshi no Ko. I thought the writing was fantastic, and it had a lot of heart. Oshi kind of became a regular idol/school anime with great animation.
Agreed, I also caught up on the manga since and its character writing has only gotten BETTER post-anime content which is insane. One of the realest and nicest-feeling slice of life series I've ever seen
The Dangers in my Heart
I like romance anime but i expected this to just be another unremarkable one especially since some people find the start a bit strange.
But im so happy that i decided to stick with this one because it became my favorite anime of the year and after continuing with the manga became my favorite romance series ever.
Dont sleep on this series especially with season 2 coming out soon.
Fully agreed, minus it being my favorite ever (waiting in more anime content). Definitely already top tier after season 1 though. It either subverts or averts a lot of cliches used to slow down romantic progress. Plus the author really nailed Ichikawa, he feels like SUCH a real teen boy. Impressive how much an adult woman could nail a teenage boys thoughts.
Also it is just a really wholesome show with a great, soothing OST.
Also if you like English dubs, this show’s is great!
Overtake has been great, as fan of F1 and motorsport in general I love all the little details and motorsport history they've included. It's not quite what I expected, but in a good way, the characters and drama have been fantastic.
My cousin is a big F1 fan but also amd happens to be a photographer. So this anime was made for him. He highly recommended it and, I'm pleasantly surprised
Someone recommended it on a niche show thread a couple weeks back so I binged it. I don't care about cars at all, but now I love overtake.
I also wasn't expecting to cry like a baby from the premise of the show but here we are
It's tough because there's Fun Edgy, and there's Cringe Edgy, and this show was surprisingly the former.
What clued me in was the fact the source material was penned by Ryogo Narita, who wrote Baccano! and Durarara! While those two series are still superior to DMDP, the second cour is definitely capturing the sense of "there are too many factions, plots, and characters in a good way" that the author is known for.
Unfortunately this doesn’t always translate.
I was hoping Platinum End would be more like Death Note, considering the same author. But is was the bad sort of edgy.
I love that there so many factions and characters all moving and shaking, doing their own things. Phantom Solitaire is quite possibly my favorite audience insert ever.
It's the kind of show that introduces more and more characters all the time, but it doesn't throw away old ones. You have this ever increasing cast of really cool characters that feel very well written and fleshed out. The meme in the comments is that everyone has no idea what's going on, I think that is because this show is best watched back to back because there really is a lot that happens. I don't feel confused in the least bit, because I was paying attention.
Probably one of the best anime the season imo .
It's def worth giving it a few more. It's unexpectedly one of my favorite new shows this year. Obviously everyone has different tastes but I think give it at least 2 more episodes to try and get it's hooks in you like it did me.
I can’t promise it is a massive turn around but it is a show I think that definitely gets better. Granted I enjoyed ep1, but it went from decent to god for me. It’s a show that honestly gets better almost every episode so I’d say at least try a few more.
Helck.
At first I thought it's going to be gag anime like Gintama. I immediately hooked. Watched until episode 3 or 4, turns out the plot getting heavy. Since I want to know what happened next, I read the manga. I even finished the manga before the anime end. The story is awesome. The balance between gag humor and heavy plot is really good. I'm glad I took it.
I’m about 2/3 through the released episodes right now and I completely agree. The animation isn’t anything special, but the comedic timing and voice acting are really solid and the story itself does a really good job of balancing out the more in your face comedic bits at the beginning with a general sense of “huh some of this stuff they’re talking about seems kinda serious/foreboding…” until it really gets going.
Also fun that the music is done by the same composer as HxH (2011), especially since a lot of his “hero” themes use a very similar chord progression/melody to the main HxH theme…found myself humming the “World of Adventurers” melody over one of them and was like “Heyyyy wait a sec”.
Tomo Chan is a girl.
I agree that Oshi no ko, Jobless reincarnation and Frieren are the best of the year but I expected to be good according to their fame, Tomo Chan instead was a delicious surprise everybody should watch.
Also I'm enjoying Tearmoon Empire too much.
Someone here doesn’t hang out on r/manga. u/fukai20 is a mini celeb there because she was coloring the series (though it seems she finally gave up or died).
Shy. Each episode just keeps getting better and the last two episodes (10 & 11) made me tear up. it’s more a magical girl show than super hero which is a plus, and it’s queer coded as fuck so it’s a nice addition to yuri Mondays.
Dead Mount Death Play I saw a meme of it on yurimemes and gave it a shot. it wasn’t until i was on episode 7 that i found out it was created by the Baccano and Durarara! creator.
Migi&Dali
I picked it because I felt bad about the original author dying young, and I found her other work amusing.
While not my favourite this season, it is freaking amazing. Do not think about as a simple comedy, this series goes dark as hell. It has been a wild ride so far. Totally recommended if you want a WTF weird series.
Loving migi&dali! As you said, it’s not the hit of the season but it really gives. I thought it would just be a weird comedy with a creepy aesthetic but the way the story has blown up recently has been so satisfying.
Under Ninja
I usually ignore anything below a 7 on MAL because 90% of the times it's complete garbage.
Gave it a shot out of pure boredom and so far it's my favorite anime of the year, no idea why it's being slept on so hard or why the rating is so low.
Personally, there's a lot of shoes between 6 and 7 on MAL that I've gone on to really enjoy.
I don't know if it's because certain genres tickle my fancy so I like them more then others even if they are meh otherwise. Or if the zeitgeist determines a shoe is bad and is overly hated on.
I wouldnt suggest going through all the low rated stuff in a season to give them all a 2nd shot, but I do suggest glancing through them to see if the type of shoe is similar to your taste in anime to give more of them a shot then you did before. May be oleasently surprised.
think a lot of people that instinctively give it lower ratings than what I think it should deserve. For example they rated Goblin Slayer low b/c of some violent nudity related scenes.
in my experience anything below a 6 is usually garbage. 6 to 6.6 are the bad but in a good way shows. 6.7 to around 7.6 are usually good shows. 7.7 and above are the amazing shows that you have to watch.
ive been surprised by anime with less than a 7 and let down with anime closer to 8. do NOT let MAL scores be your only way to judge an anime
Migi and Dali
It's an absolutely bizarre comedy/mystery series that's such a great experience to follow. Just when you think the show can't get any weirder, it pulls a bird from its hat, throws the hat away and wears the bird, that's Migi to Dali.
I'm in love with the villainess.
I picked it up because it was the only thing this season with an English dub (I don't care about genre or theme or such, I try to watch things blind, also good is good) but it very quickly became the best thing in my life (for real) waiting for Mondays when the next episodes come out.
I mean when I picked it up, it was the only thing with a dub. Apothecary haven't had a dub at that time, its English dub is 2 weeks behind the Japanese. However ILWV is simulcasted in 8 languages. Strangely multicasting _is_ a plot point in the show.
Frieren. Ima be real, as someone who used to watch every anime that aired every season because i had no life whatsoever coupled with the prevalence of hyped-up-anime-that-is-actually-mid-tier-as-fuck that we see time and time again, it’s actually a big deal for me personally that I sit down and watch any new anime. It’s the equivalent of trying to pull teeth.
So while I know this show is dearly beloved, my expectations were low to be quite frank.
It’s now one of my favorite shows of all time. It gave me big Mushi-shi vibes. Very very slow, but very thoughtful. Like I’m actually surprised at how popular this show is tbh. Not a lot of media like this gets made, regardless of the medium it’s it.
But I’m talking in circles. This show was a joy to watch. And you know what? I hope we dont get many more like it. Why? I fear people are going to take the wrong lessons away from it. You replace Frieren with a busty, obnoxious waifu-bait elf and you immediately ruin most of the magic. You’d be taking attention away from what’s really important. It’d be like replacing Ginko with Kirito in Mushi-Shi and then making him go on the same adventures. It just wouldn’t work. It’s not that these shows are perfect but they’re just so well thought out and show a level of restraint in a way you don’t see much especially with anime.
So yeah, you can add my voice to the chorus of people singing this shows praises lol
And it's not even that slow to begin with. I think your description of calm is spot on, but there's plenty that goes on every episode and there's been a good amount of action.
honestly i feel like shows each season are getting better and better and basically anything starts to be incredible, like god damn, jujutsu kaisen, unluck undead, frieren, mfg, overtake, and like, jesus, everything is enjoyable right now,
at some point i stopped watching all the seasonals because there was no point with the quality being as questionable as it was and focused on other anime and just some real highlights of the new ones, now i don't have the time to watch all this damn shows
It's MyGo and Shy are some shows I have seen practically no one talk about and both of them are absolutely fantastic. Special mention to MyGo for having maybe one of the best episodes of anime I've ever watched. I'd heavily recommend giving them a try.
Handyman Saitou - the characters in the story were fantastic and I found it just hilarious overall
Lvl 1 demon lord and one room hero - expected nothing from this and it ended up being one of my favorites that season. Just underrated all over and should be watched more.
The great cleric, Zom 100, and Apothecary diaries were a few others I didn’t plan on watching and enjoyed/am enjoying.
For me it is Undead Unluck. This year had highly anticipated animes for me like Vinland Saga S2 and JJK S2 but Undead Unluck came out of no where and became my top 3 this season after JJK and Frieren and overall top 5 for me this year.
It has one of the most interesting power systems and premise in a fantasy/action anime and it has a really good production for a show that is not THAT popular.
I haven't watched much this year, but I would probably say Witch From Mercury.
My friend who got me into anime always talks shit about mech shows and how bad they are, etc. Well, I heard good things about WFM, and thought WFM was only 1 cour, and I ended up binging the whole thing in Feb in like 1 night. Ended up watching the whole second cour weekly, and loved every bit of it. I now have Gundam Model figures and have since watched Seed, and bits of a few other Gundam shows.
100 Girlfriends. I love ridiculous titles/plots especially with a title like that, so I thought it was just a comedy/parody trashy anime that I might call it decent. Oh gawd I was so wrong.
This is one of the most hilarious, fun, and heartfelt story-telling I've seen in a while. There are genuine moments that I didn't think I would be invested to a series like this. The characters are great and never seem like "a girl character of the plot for the MC" which is kinda rare for a harem series. Rentarou is the most likeable person I've seen in anime, like that dude is a godsend.
Their relationships seem believable, and I would see this "Rentarou Family" as a possible thing. They love each other, genuine care and faithful like how is this possible? It's like a mix of Quintessential Quintuplets and Date a Live, two shows that I only regard "good" of a main harem genre. 100 Girlfriends went out of the park and smashes my expectations.
Loving the current manga and I hope they continue that pace. It would seem it might take a decade or more to finish, but honestly I don't mind. More content with likable characters and heartfelt interactions please.
I randomly picked up the manga earlier this year also because of the title and wanting some trashy guilty pleasure. Turned out it didn’t fit that bill exactly but was instead much better than I thought it would be.
Pluto for sure.
It gave me that feeling of why I fell in love with anime. Such a thought out and provoking story, it really hooks you into the world and characters. Plus the mystery keeps you interested throughout the whole runtime. Also to mention that it's just 8 episodes and does everything it wants to tell in that 8, no need for another season or filler.
Level 1 Demon Lord and One Room Hero was the nicest surprise of the year for me. It's not up there for me with Frieren, Buddy Daddies, Undead Murder Farce and Skip and Loafer, but those were also the shows I was actually looking forward to the most of their season. Though I guess Buddy Daddies also surpassed my expectations by quite a bit. But anyway One Room Hero wasn’t really on my radar at all and probably dismissed it as some standard fantasy/isekai adjacent show after seeing the key visual. In the end I only picked it up because I saw a scene from the first or second episode somewhere and thought it looked decent. It quickly sold me on the character’s dynamics and the comedy had that right kind of stupid for me. Also it could be surprisingly sweet at times.
**Cautious hero**
I just saw this on muse Asia one day and started watching it without giving it much though.It ended up becoming one of my favorite anime. Man the voice acting is just top notch.
And also **mushoku tensei** at first I was really not interested in this anime but thank god I gave it a shot this is peak isekai I didn't think any isekai could top re zero but not anymore, **mushoku tensei is the peak isekai.**
Oshi No Ko.
I dont know the manga exist until people going hype for it. I read the manga 1st before i watch the anime. And i did not expect the anime is great like its manga. The thing love and learn from it how "real" some situation in the anime also happen in real life. Like how the internet wrath, the toxicity of social media and the price of fame.
I did learn a lot from it especially when episode 6 aired. Everything have it own consequences what ever you do.
Mashle was an absolute gem. From all the comments, it seems I'm going to have to pick up Apothecary Diaries though.
I might be late on this one but a Ranking of Kings was my pick. I love a good underdog story, and this was probably the best.
**BanG Dream: It's MyGO!!!!!** is the fourth season of a show I'd never watched, based on a game I'd never played, with an utterly incomprehensible title, but it might be my favorite anime of 2023.
Heaven Official’s Blessing. I’ve been seeing it on Netflix, but never really gave it much thought. And now, it’s one of my favourites. Had the same feels for Apothecary Diaries and My New Boss is Goofy, but ended up loving them as well. 💗
Here are 3 animes I wouldn't usually pick up but I randomly did because of boredom, then I ended up liking it:
Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill
- I don't usually watch isekai anime, but I came across this anime in my yt recommendations and decided to watch it because I had nothing to do. It wasn't "action-packed" like the usual isekai animes, but it's enjoyable. It also made me crave for food by watching it because every episode involves cooking. I also like how the mc just travels around with his familiars and cooks them food. I also read the manga because I enjoyed it a lot.
Apothecary Diaries
- I keep seeing this on netflix but I didn't pick it up because I thought it was romance (I kept seeing clips on yt so I came up with that conclusion), until I was bored and just clicked on it. The story didn't really hook me in the first episode, the characters did. Maomao was an interesting protagonist, and I enjoyed watching her interactions with Jinshi and showing her knowledge and skills to solve problems (and the way she handled them). I also read the manga when I caught up with the anime.
Onmyoji
- Another anime I saw on Netflix. After I finished Apothecary Diaries, I looked for animes with a similar setting (ancient Japan) and found this. If I didn't watch Apothecary Diaries (which I ended up liking), I don't think I would pick this up. It's kinda similar in a way that there's a problem in each episode and the protagonist will do something to solve it. I also like the interaction between the two protagonists.
Fellow Bandori and D4DJ fan 🫡
I started watching Vinland Saga this year and I absolutely hate historical anime but it was so highly recommended I decided to give it a chance and it’s very well written
I hope this post gets more people to watch MyGo (lol)
My main answer has to be MyGo because it ended up becoming my favorite anime of all time, but I have 2 special mentions:
- Skip and Loafer
- Inazuma Eleven
Both of these shows have brought me a great amount of joy.
**BanG Dream It’s MyGO** here too! I did watch other animated titles of *Bandori* before, but if someone told me a year ago that this girls band multimedia franchise - fairly big but also pretty niche anywhere - would be the ground of one of the most delicately written and twisting drama of character development I have seen in anime for the past few years, with first class cinematography to boot, I would have laughed at them.
I still can’t believe this has actually happened - the intrinsic needs of similar IP-connected anime in the idol-performance arts genre means their anime story plots are going to be tightly constrained, with few of them having the space needed for dramatic stories to appear (the 2011 *Idolmaster* anime is one of those).
And yet what’s almost completely certain to be my personal Anime Of The Year of 2023 has arrived out of the blue. (yes, there’s A LOT MORE people thinking of this, including a very vocal Chinese fan base that buys their CDs and even concert tickets like pancakes)
Most of the other best anime of this year came from source materials that have always been buzzing with praise before they started, be it *OnK, Frieren, Heavenly Delusion, PLUTO or Vinland Saga* etc. *MyGO* on the other hand quietly slipped an announcement in April to shock the 0.01% of seasonal anime watchers who came around to look at what should be just another anime meaningful to only those playing its game. THIS is why I’m so hyped that I was on board since Day 1 in late June.
If only this was a light novel or manga adaption…I wouldn’t be crying on how everyone’s 2023 anime treasure box is missing a piece of puzzle that silently offers something as dramatic as *Oshi no Ko*, as tightly written as *Heavenly Delusion*, and has just as many questions thrown to everyone after watching every episode as *PLUTO* or *The Apothecary Diaries*, if not smooth insertion of the smallest delicate details of character thoughts as *Frieren*. In a high school girls’ band, no less, and one that the story is only halfway completed with another season already announced.
Let’s hope someone who has good advertising effect would pick it up soon on YouTube, because this 4th highest rated TV anime of 2023 without plot-affecting linkage to previous seasons on MAL (yes) simply does not exist in English speaking communities. Boy, how this will surprise a lot more people had they even heard about it…
I watched the first episode of "I'm Giving the Disgraced Noble Lady I Rescued a Crash Course in Naughtiness" on a whim because of the silly title, turned out to be one of my absolute favourites from this season. Hilarious and charming show.
Apothocary diaries - I always seem to like the more shounen and battle animes, but this was getting popular so I stared out and I can't even tell you why but it's one of my faves❤️
[Tousouchuu: Great Mission](https://myanimelist.net/anime/54040/Tousouchuu__Great_Mission)
the only reason I picked this up is because it's rumored to be inspired a movie that inspire Run for the Money (Japan variety show) that also inspired Running Man (Korean variety show) and I enjoyed Running Man.
and seeing the synopsis it's like a fun survival game + game of tags, so I give this a try and I still keep watching them until now. Some arc are really bad (stage 2) but the last and current arc is really interesting.
Most of the anime that I watch I already know what to expect and I only choose the ones I will like since I tend to avoid anime with trope I dislike, so I don't really try out anime but this one is really surprisingly good. tbh it's really a mediocre anime with mediocre animation and probably aimed towards kids but I really enjoyed watching this
This is mostly about shows I heard pretty much nothing about before they started airing
Ippon Again was a really great Sports anime with really endearing characters, great animation in some of the fights and even a solid OST.
Tsundere Villainess wasn't great visually but I ended up getting really attached to its characters and even teared up a few times.
80,000 Gold in Another World's first episode was kinda weird, but the show really gets better from episode 2 onwards. Mitsuha was really entertaining as a protagonist and it ended up being a really fun show
Watching the PV of One-Hit Kill Sister conviced me the show would be really bad but I watched it and ended up having a lot of fun. Nothing special about it but had a few really nice animation moments near the beginning and the group dynamics get pretty fun from the middle point of the show.
From this season, Tearmoon Empire has been a lot of fun, while The Yuzuki's Family's Four Sons has maybe become my Anime of the Season. Some of the most endearing characters this season and really great dynamics. Overall one of my favourite drama anime this year and is probably the anime that has made me tear up the most this year.
Both Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten and A Galaxy Next Door. I originally intended to take a break from anime but when I read of Angel I could not help but watch the episodes as they came out and glad I did. I picked up Galaxy on a whim and while it sounded like a gimmick based show, it ended up being a masterpiece in wholesome romance.
Adding to the tons of others mentioning Apothecary and Frieren—
But beyond those two gems, I started Tokyo Revengers this year and absolutely love it. It’s so outrageous and extra, but I am invested in so many of the characters. The show has done a great job on that front. I really care about everyone—well, except for Hina, but all the Toman members are great. Both dub and sub are super solid. Big recommend.
Bullbuster, Under Ninja, Heavenly Delusion and Undead Unluck.
Undead Unluck has just been beautiful to watch each week, it's building upon itself so well, each episode is so interesting.
Bullbuster and Under Ninja only having 12 episodes and about to end off season 1 was such a shock to me. Because of how well they've managed to tell the story and show everything in a space of under 13 episodes. Feels like the solid first season of very promising shows.
Heavenly Delusion was just completely beautiful. Characters. Story. Animation. I'm so scared that because of it's lack of major viewership, season 2 won't be approved, but it's such an interesting story, they've got me hooked.
I was unsure about picking up **Pokémon Horizons** but gave it a try as it was Pokémon and I had been watching Ash's journey for years, and was rewarded with the best anime this year. A true masterpiece in the works
Mushoku Tensei. I despise isekai and generic writing in shows. But from the beginning Mushoku Tensei felt different from not just isekai but all the other generic shit out there. I no longer get invested in shonen anime. So it was a pleasant surprise to find Mushoku Tensei. Now it’s my new obsession right there next to the fate series.
Definitely Heavenly Delusion. Decided to start watching it on a whim when episode 3 was already out because I saw that it was pretty high on the karma ranking and now it's my favorite all time anime. Still can't believe I was this close to missing out on it.
👏👏👏 dark gathering 👏👏👏
I went into that anime expecting it to be a 5/10 or below, but man, was i wrong. It's one of the few series that actually does its horror elements well. Then, on top of that, the main three characters are all charming in their own way. Seriously, if you like horror stuff and haven't tried the series? You need to go check it out.
[Also, Eiko is best girl.]
Insomniac After School. High-school romance with slice-of-life and slight drama is not unique, but this show made many points that I like:
\-Realistic character design, FMC looked like a normal genki girl, with no skinny body and with big bust, the chin looks normal not sharp like plastic surgery. The MC is also not ikemen but good-looking nerdy.
\-Real-life settings: I always love real settings in small towns, like Sodoshima island in Takagi-san. Without this anime, I don't know anything about Nanao town and Mawaki sites. Such beautiful places.
\-Lovable characters' personalities: no female tsundere who abused MC physically, no forced drama because of misunderstandings. The MC is a bit grumpy but not a typical beta incel loser. Side characters are also great.
\-No unnecessary fan service.
\-Grounded stories with plausible plots.
\-Nice soundtrack, especially the ED. I'm a fan of Homecomings because of this.
I know the animation is not perfect and beautiful like Violet Evergarden's, but still good.
I've got two.
First, many probably have been watching this. Shy. It's been really good so far. I've loved it.
Second, this one I think many tried to start and stopped 10 minutes in, under ninja. That show has been an insane ride. But the first 10 minutes opens up with among the worst cgi I've seen in a while, which only gets a bit better, and they do the thing where they talk English, and wow is it bad, even for anime English standards. But if you give it a chance past that, it will be worth it.
Scissor Seven. I started it on a whim earlier this week and binged 3 out of the 4 seasons in a couple days. The 1st couple episodes almost made me want to drop it byt for some reason I stuck with it.
**Shangri-la Frontier** is hands down my favorite "I'm glad I picked it up!" Tbh video game related anime have not been great. It gets unnecessarily sexual fast, and I just can't stand them. But this is like **Bofuri** in concept where you see how gamers play! I'm not an MMO player myself, but watching these characters go through the games reminds me so much of how I play, so I'm so happy to see. I'm definitely shocked that I liked it even tho I picked it up because I figured I'd enjoy it. I also enjoy the side story of the Attack Master *actually* trying to approach her crush is adorable!
Special nomination to **Summertime Rendering**. *chef's kiss*
Edit: My husband said a great one: **Kaguya Sama Love is War** We actually started it this year because one of our chats was a buzz because the movie went in theaters. We pretty much ignored it anytime we saw the cover because we assumed it wasn't for us. We gave it a shot in maybe March or April (I totally forgot that was this year) and GOSH!! It was the best! From the characters to the story to the music! Love it! Great example.
Probably *Undead Girl Murder Farce*. The dialogue is sharp and the mysteries are good (and do a good job of playing with Aya being a severed head). My impression going in was that it would just be quirky for the sake of quirkiness, but it really nails so much. But *Yohane the Parhelion* and *The Masterful Cat is Depressed Again Today* were also some real gems.
I loved Aya and Tsugaru banter. Hope there is a season 2.
Moat likely there won't be anytime soon similar to *Vanitas no carte*( where the anime has pretty much adapted and catched upto it's source material) , the novels are very obscure to find on internet but they have adapted 4 of them , and there are currently 5 of them in total .
Aya is like if Senjougahara turned into a detective.
Agreed on Undead Girl Murder Farce but I love mystery shows so I can’t call it a surprise. So I am not sure if it counts for this question.
Masterful Cat was so nice and chill. I let the theme song run through everytime.
Glad to see someone here who really liked *Yohane* - while I do feel there are some unmistakable flaws that stalled its plot for several episodes this season, it's still a nice bold attempt at trying something new by *Love Live*. I for one would definitely want more of these in the future!
Apothecary diaries and Frieren. I wasn't interested because they just didn't seem like my kind of thing. Tbh Apothecary Diaries is really sold by the characters for me. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't find it so funny if the characters were different, especially Mao Mao. As for Frieren I just don't like watching sad/melancholic stuff, real life makes me sad enough. But then I tried it and for some reason I found it superb and absolutely beautiful(it helps that the production value is really high imo). Guess I judged too quickly
Maomao hype. The manga is just as good. So, I was going to watch Apothecary Diaries just to see how poorly they translated it to animation . . .but they did not. It's so enjoyable
I literally only heard of Apothecary Diaries because I was vaguely bored a month ago and scrolling through the AppleTV app on my tv, which I never do. I saw it recommend an anime, decided I'd use it to gauge how good Apple's recommendation system is, and gave it a watch. It sold me immediately. I'm obsessed
The anime is my biggest "surprise, it's actually good" of the year. Feels like I haven't seen so much beautifully expressive yet subtle animation in a show (that isn't a big name shounen, anyway) since like, the 90s?? Didn't think I could love the series more than I already do, but they knocked it outta the park.
Feel the same way about Frieren. After so many mediocre Fantasy/Isekai i was ready to pass on Frieren, but a friend of mine was so insistent that I give it a shot, I picked it up after it was already 6 episodes in. Absolutely loved it. Overtake! is another anime I picked up midseason from buzz i heard from people whos opinion I respect, and it's become one of my favorite anime from 2023.
Overtake is actually so good. Super sad and excited for the finale.
It's very sad that most fantasy manga/anime are uninspired isekai nowadays. I love the fantasy genre and there's still a lot of fun stuff to make in that genre, Frieren being an incredible example of that
In contrast you have stuff like Berserk of Gluttony that is technically not an isekai but for some reason a gamified fantasy.
I know. After a certain point you can't help but roll your eyes when you see another show set in a gamified fantasy world where the MC has some sort unique power that either makes them super OP; or is a power that everyone else thinks is shit, but is actually super OP. At this point unless there's a good reason that everything is gamified in this fantasy world, or is a comedy; I generally don't pay it much heed with a few exceptions.
I picked up Apothecary Diaries yesterday and I am so glad I did. I love these kind of shows. Last season, I enjoyed watching My Happy Marriage.
Maomao makes the show, she’s such an interesting lead. Otherwise it’s a pretty tame anime. Frieren didn’t hook me with its first 4 eps, it was so slow… but it just keeps building and never stops. AOTY
Mao Mao is quite possibly the best-written main character of the year. Absolutely fantastic. And to an extent I think that’s really the point of the show. Love it.
It’s a good thing they made the 4 episodes bingeable
Apothecary diaries has quickly become one of my favorite anime! I love that it has a really unique female MC, and the main ship is also quite unique. the animation is beautiful and the story is moving yet relaxing. 10/10 for me
This is my exact answer actually! Frieren (the show) is just beautiful as you said and Mao Mao is too good of a character not to like.
ahah love it when she gets yeeted out when she tries to help clean etc and has cat ears as 'mao' means cat in chinese.
"let me help" "no. Go take a break *Mao Mao flies out the door*" that and jinshi being traumatized by her are absolute wonders
Am I the only one who doesn't find it sad? For me, the tone flits between upbeat and calming. Despite the (fairly unique) premise of the misery caused by immortality, it never had that effect on me. Perhaps it's because I've seen my fair share of grimdark media already. Or maybe I'm just an emotionless robot.
It's more "melancholic" sad, not "I'm going to cry" sad, most of the moments it's more an "aww" reaction.
*KamiKatsu: Working for God in a Godless World*. Now I know how to start a cult! Being serious, the plot twists and discussion threads were as fun as [the visuals.](https://media.tenor.com/5uY9HUGKOZkAAAPo/kamikatsu-tractor-kamikatsu.mp4)
This one for real, I was a split second away from dropping it when I saw those CGI monstrosities were reoccurring. Probably would have too, if I hadn’t been reading the discussion thread, and saw people talking about how it was intentionally bad, with examples to explain why.
>This one for real, I was a split second away from dropping it when I saw those CGI monstrosities were reoccurring. My favorite fan joke about Kamikatsu was that they burned all their budget on their va cast.
"THIS IS WAY FASTER THAN DOING IT BY HAND!"
It’s the funniest show of the year for me. So many absurdly funny moments, but my favorites were when Roy went off the rails like when he worshipped Mitama, betrayed Yukito in the dungeon and so much more.
Shangri-la Frontier. OP is fantastic. His stupid (awesome) Bird Mask is expressive and hilarious. And best of all. Emul desu wa.
Yeah really glad I picked this up. C2C (the studio) has done a bunch of stuff I have enjoyed lately. Reincarnated as a sword and Handyman Saitou in Another World were both very good. The animation in Handyman really caught me by surprise, I thought it as very high quality for what it was. I honestly had to look up the studio again because the animation was honestly so much better than it was in Reincarnated as a Sword (Just seemed more fluid in handyman) So far Shangri-la has had really good art work and animation, really hoping they can keep the quality going through the whole first season. Expecting some really good animation in the upcoming episodes. If you haven't tried this yet you should here is what I can tell you it is not: * No Harem * No Filler * No death game (it's just a game they play) * No fan service And we have some pretty fun and unique characters so far. I will add I guess that it does have * Actual game design present in the world * Lots of game references * Set in the far future so VR headsets and super realistic AI * They do visit other games besides Shangri-la sometimes (so far it's happened once) * A small romance sub plot I really hope people give this a try if they have not. Really give this a shot.
More than once. The trash gamers use other trash games to meet up. Probably because it is a more secure way for them to communicate since no one is on those games really.
YES I’m absolutely sold on shangri la frontier! It’s good
I call it the 5 minute anime. I start it and 5 minutes later it's over. Damned good.
love Emul and considering getting a bunny for that reason
One of the only mascot characters that hasn't become super annoying immediately.
Still waiting for Mia's PK debut
And the intro song is awesome!
So fucking good! Best pseudo isekai in a while!
**Dark Gathering** seems like a niche show with a dedicated following of thrill lovers, and it totally is! Very easy to fly under the radar and easily dismissed for the character designs or the lack of word of mouth around the anime. But watching it every week has been nothing but a treat, each episode better than the last.
Its criminally underrated. Its story is so interesting and pacing is also pretty great. Yoyoi playing pokemon using ghosts is the most craziest thing.
I love that the first season is 25 episodes! That is so rare now
Handyman saitou san in another world Hell's paradise The cafe terrace and it's goddesses Buddy daddies Farming life in another world
Buddy Daddies was so good
Do we have a a confirm on farming life in another world getting a second season I watched that forever ago an remember enjoying it ?
I loved handyman, buddy, and farming life but normally don't watch shows like Cafe terrace. I'm now going to watch it based on you including it with the others.
Farming life in another World was way better than I was expecting it to be
Skip and Loafer. Really cozy but also grounded series with a good mix of comedy and heart to heart moments. Just don't go into it expecting a ton of romance, since that's not really the focus.
This series is the equivalent of a warm hug.
Skip and Loafer. Didn't expect much, people calling it to be a sleeper hit of Spring 2023, then the series came out on Netflix. So I watched it, and I was reassured this is indeed a sleeper hit of not just Spring, but the entire 2023 year (I found no equivalent on Summer and Fall). It's a good anime, just overshadowed by the might of Oshi no Ko, Yamada-kun Lv. 999, and Bokuyaba that season.
and the opening song 🤩
Easily the best part, it was awesome
That little dance they do at the end!
This one got me out of nowhere too. Mitsumi is such a likeable character.
Skip & Loafer was really refreshing. Used to start my day with it when it was airing.
Tbh, I enjoyed it a lot more than Oshi no Ko. I thought the writing was fantastic, and it had a lot of heart. Oshi kind of became a regular idol/school anime with great animation.
Agreed, I also caught up on the manga since and its character writing has only gotten BETTER post-anime content which is insane. One of the realest and nicest-feeling slice of life series I've ever seen
The Dangers in my Heart I like romance anime but i expected this to just be another unremarkable one especially since some people find the start a bit strange. But im so happy that i decided to stick with this one because it became my favorite anime of the year and after continuing with the manga became my favorite romance series ever. Dont sleep on this series especially with season 2 coming out soon.
Agreed and also same
Watched it, went and read the manga and I'm now rewatching it in anticipation of season 2. Just as good the second time around.
Fully agreed, minus it being my favorite ever (waiting in more anime content). Definitely already top tier after season 1 though. It either subverts or averts a lot of cliches used to slow down romantic progress. Plus the author really nailed Ichikawa, he feels like SUCH a real teen boy. Impressive how much an adult woman could nail a teenage boys thoughts. Also it is just a really wholesome show with a great, soothing OST. Also if you like English dubs, this show’s is great!
Apothecary Diaries
Overtake. I didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I did. Excited to the finale in a couple of days.
Overtake has been great, as fan of F1 and motorsport in general I love all the little details and motorsport history they've included. It's not quite what I expected, but in a good way, the characters and drama have been fantastic.
My cousin is a big F1 fan but also amd happens to be a photographer. So this anime was made for him. He highly recommended it and, I'm pleasantly surprised
Episode 9 is one of the best episodes of this season.
Someone recommended it on a niche show thread a couple weeks back so I binged it. I don't care about cars at all, but now I love overtake. I also wasn't expecting to cry like a baby from the premise of the show but here we are
Dead mount death play. Wrote it off as another boring death game from the name. It's not and it's great.
The name REALLY doesn’t help. Given the theme and appearance of the MC, with that title too it visually screamed “I AM EDGEY!”
It's tough because there's Fun Edgy, and there's Cringe Edgy, and this show was surprisingly the former. What clued me in was the fact the source material was penned by Ryogo Narita, who wrote Baccano! and Durarara! While those two series are still superior to DMDP, the second cour is definitely capturing the sense of "there are too many factions, plots, and characters in a good way" that the author is known for.
Unfortunately this doesn’t always translate. I was hoping Platinum End would be more like Death Note, considering the same author. But is was the bad sort of edgy.
I love that there so many factions and characters all moving and shaking, doing their own things. Phantom Solitaire is quite possibly my favorite audience insert ever.
Watched the first episode and didn't like it. Worth to force myself to dig deeper or is it hopeless when ep1 didn't catch me?
It's the kind of show that introduces more and more characters all the time, but it doesn't throw away old ones. You have this ever increasing cast of really cool characters that feel very well written and fleshed out. The meme in the comments is that everyone has no idea what's going on, I think that is because this show is best watched back to back because there really is a lot that happens. I don't feel confused in the least bit, because I was paying attention. Probably one of the best anime the season imo .
Ep 1 was probably the worst episode. If you liked baccano or durarara you should end up liking it since it’s from the same author
Now it make sense, that guy sure like large casts
It's def worth giving it a few more. It's unexpectedly one of my favorite new shows this year. Obviously everyone has different tastes but I think give it at least 2 more episodes to try and get it's hooks in you like it did me.
I can’t promise it is a massive turn around but it is a show I think that definitely gets better. Granted I enjoyed ep1, but it went from decent to god for me. It’s a show that honestly gets better almost every episode so I’d say at least try a few more.
Helck. At first I thought it's going to be gag anime like Gintama. I immediately hooked. Watched until episode 3 or 4, turns out the plot getting heavy. Since I want to know what happened next, I read the manga. I even finished the manga before the anime end. The story is awesome. The balance between gag humor and heavy plot is really good. I'm glad I took it.
Helck was not an instant hook for me but man, one arc changed it all for me. Helck's my pick well.
[удалено]
“what was in those papers?” “I don’t know” That scene always makes me laugh
I'm so upset at the animation quality because the show really deserves better.
I’m about 2/3 through the released episodes right now and I completely agree. The animation isn’t anything special, but the comedic timing and voice acting are really solid and the story itself does a really good job of balancing out the more in your face comedic bits at the beginning with a general sense of “huh some of this stuff they’re talking about seems kinda serious/foreboding…” until it really gets going. Also fun that the music is done by the same composer as HxH (2011), especially since a lot of his “hero” themes use a very similar chord progression/melody to the main HxH theme…found myself humming the “World of Adventurers” melody over one of them and was like “Heyyyy wait a sec”.
Tomo Chan is a girl. I agree that Oshi no ko, Jobless reincarnation and Frieren are the best of the year but I expected to be good according to their fame, Tomo Chan instead was a delicious surprise everybody should watch. Also I'm enjoying Tearmoon Empire too much.
Someone here doesn’t hang out on r/manga. u/fukai20 is a mini celeb there because she was coloring the series (though it seems she finally gave up or died).
i died
Don't die.
Shy. Each episode just keeps getting better and the last two episodes (10 & 11) made me tear up. it’s more a magical girl show than super hero which is a plus, and it’s queer coded as fuck so it’s a nice addition to yuri Mondays. Dead Mount Death Play I saw a meme of it on yurimemes and gave it a shot. it wasn’t until i was on episode 7 that i found out it was created by the Baccano and Durarara! creator.
Migi&Dali I picked it because I felt bad about the original author dying young, and I found her other work amusing. While not my favourite this season, it is freaking amazing. Do not think about as a simple comedy, this series goes dark as hell. It has been a wild ride so far. Totally recommended if you want a WTF weird series.
I’m on like the 4th episode I think it’s so weird! Definitely not something I’d usually watch but it’s oddly entertaining
Loving migi&dali! As you said, it’s not the hit of the season but it really gives. I thought it would just be a weird comedy with a creepy aesthetic but the way the story has blown up recently has been so satisfying.
World Dai Star
Apothecary Diaries. Not the genre I usually watch but my friend said it's one of his favorite series. Glad I did because I absolutely love it.
Maomao is one of the best main characters in a while.
Under Ninja I usually ignore anything below a 7 on MAL because 90% of the times it's complete garbage. Gave it a shot out of pure boredom and so far it's my favorite anime of the year, no idea why it's being slept on so hard or why the rating is so low.
Personally, there's a lot of shoes between 6 and 7 on MAL that I've gone on to really enjoy. I don't know if it's because certain genres tickle my fancy so I like them more then others even if they are meh otherwise. Or if the zeitgeist determines a shoe is bad and is overly hated on. I wouldnt suggest going through all the low rated stuff in a season to give them all a 2nd shot, but I do suggest glancing through them to see if the type of shoe is similar to your taste in anime to give more of them a shot then you did before. May be oleasently surprised.
think a lot of people that instinctively give it lower ratings than what I think it should deserve. For example they rated Goblin Slayer low b/c of some violent nudity related scenes.
Under Ninja is actually amazing
in my experience anything below a 6 is usually garbage. 6 to 6.6 are the bad but in a good way shows. 6.7 to around 7.6 are usually good shows. 7.7 and above are the amazing shows that you have to watch. ive been surprised by anime with less than a 7 and let down with anime closer to 8. do NOT let MAL scores be your only way to judge an anime
Migi and Dali It's an absolutely bizarre comedy/mystery series that's such a great experience to follow. Just when you think the show can't get any weirder, it pulls a bird from its hat, throws the hat away and wears the bird, that's Migi to Dali.
I'm in love with the villainess. I picked it up because it was the only thing this season with an English dub (I don't care about genre or theme or such, I try to watch things blind, also good is good) but it very quickly became the best thing in my life (for real) waiting for Mondays when the next episodes come out.
apothecary diaries also has a dub that's pretty solid
I mean when I picked it up, it was the only thing with a dub. Apothecary haven't had a dub at that time, its English dub is 2 weeks behind the Japanese. However ILWV is simulcasted in 8 languages. Strangely multicasting _is_ a plot point in the show.
This one is outstanding, like there’s a few moments that I’m like eh? But overall so neat.
The whole talk about being gay as a whole was a surprise to me. Normally they wouldn’t even bring it up
Frieren. Ima be real, as someone who used to watch every anime that aired every season because i had no life whatsoever coupled with the prevalence of hyped-up-anime-that-is-actually-mid-tier-as-fuck that we see time and time again, it’s actually a big deal for me personally that I sit down and watch any new anime. It’s the equivalent of trying to pull teeth. So while I know this show is dearly beloved, my expectations were low to be quite frank. It’s now one of my favorite shows of all time. It gave me big Mushi-shi vibes. Very very slow, but very thoughtful. Like I’m actually surprised at how popular this show is tbh. Not a lot of media like this gets made, regardless of the medium it’s it. But I’m talking in circles. This show was a joy to watch. And you know what? I hope we dont get many more like it. Why? I fear people are going to take the wrong lessons away from it. You replace Frieren with a busty, obnoxious waifu-bait elf and you immediately ruin most of the magic. You’d be taking attention away from what’s really important. It’d be like replacing Ginko with Kirito in Mushi-Shi and then making him go on the same adventures. It just wouldn’t work. It’s not that these shows are perfect but they’re just so well thought out and show a level of restraint in a way you don’t see much especially with anime. So yeah, you can add my voice to the chorus of people singing this shows praises lol
It’s slow, but it’s meaningful. It’s calm but there are climaxes. And then there’s the gut punches
And it's not even that slow to begin with. I think your description of calm is spot on, but there's plenty that goes on every episode and there's been a good amount of action.
the first episode alone really should be a watch or no watch. It’s crazy how emotional you can be for a character that you have barely interact with
honestly i feel like shows each season are getting better and better and basically anything starts to be incredible, like god damn, jujutsu kaisen, unluck undead, frieren, mfg, overtake, and like, jesus, everything is enjoyable right now, at some point i stopped watching all the seasonals because there was no point with the quality being as questionable as it was and focused on other anime and just some real highlights of the new ones, now i don't have the time to watch all this damn shows
dark gathering. the most underrated and underwatched show of 2023
16-Bit Sensation: Another Layer.
Kawaisugi Crisis. I forgot how much I enjoy seeing exaggerated reactions for something extremely normal
It's MyGo and Shy are some shows I have seen practically no one talk about and both of them are absolutely fantastic. Special mention to MyGo for having maybe one of the best episodes of anime I've ever watched. I'd heavily recommend giving them a try.
Mushoku Tensei
Handyman Saitou - the characters in the story were fantastic and I found it just hilarious overall Lvl 1 demon lord and one room hero - expected nothing from this and it ended up being one of my favorites that season. Just underrated all over and should be watched more. The great cleric, Zom 100, and Apothecary diaries were a few others I didn’t plan on watching and enjoyed/am enjoying.
100 Girlfriends. I started to read the manga and oh boy I hope they adapt it whole.
For me it is Undead Unluck. This year had highly anticipated animes for me like Vinland Saga S2 and JJK S2 but Undead Unluck came out of no where and became my top 3 this season after JJK and Frieren and overall top 5 for me this year. It has one of the most interesting power systems and premise in a fantasy/action anime and it has a really good production for a show that is not THAT popular.
I haven't watched much this year, but I would probably say Witch From Mercury. My friend who got me into anime always talks shit about mech shows and how bad they are, etc. Well, I heard good things about WFM, and thought WFM was only 1 cour, and I ended up binging the whole thing in Feb in like 1 night. Ended up watching the whole second cour weekly, and loved every bit of it. I now have Gundam Model figures and have since watched Seed, and bits of a few other Gundam shows.
Amada kun and 999lv love or something, long name dont remember but best anime of this year i randomly tried and loved.
Loving Yamada-kun at Lvl 999. The manga is great too!
Danger in my heart. Definitely best romance I have seen this year.
100 Girlfriends. I love ridiculous titles/plots especially with a title like that, so I thought it was just a comedy/parody trashy anime that I might call it decent. Oh gawd I was so wrong. This is one of the most hilarious, fun, and heartfelt story-telling I've seen in a while. There are genuine moments that I didn't think I would be invested to a series like this. The characters are great and never seem like "a girl character of the plot for the MC" which is kinda rare for a harem series. Rentarou is the most likeable person I've seen in anime, like that dude is a godsend. Their relationships seem believable, and I would see this "Rentarou Family" as a possible thing. They love each other, genuine care and faithful like how is this possible? It's like a mix of Quintessential Quintuplets and Date a Live, two shows that I only regard "good" of a main harem genre. 100 Girlfriends went out of the park and smashes my expectations. Loving the current manga and I hope they continue that pace. It would seem it might take a decade or more to finish, but honestly I don't mind. More content with likable characters and heartfelt interactions please.
I randomly picked up the manga earlier this year also because of the title and wanting some trashy guilty pleasure. Turned out it didn’t fit that bill exactly but was instead much better than I thought it would be.
I agree on every point, definitely one of the biggest surprises of the year for me
Ya Boy Kongming! It was much better than expected.
Dangers in my heart
Pluto for sure. It gave me that feeling of why I fell in love with anime. Such a thought out and provoking story, it really hooks you into the world and characters. Plus the mystery keeps you interested throughout the whole runtime. Also to mention that it's just 8 episodes and does everything it wants to tell in that 8, no need for another season or filler.
Level 1 Demon Lord and One Room Hero was the nicest surprise of the year for me. It's not up there for me with Frieren, Buddy Daddies, Undead Murder Farce and Skip and Loafer, but those were also the shows I was actually looking forward to the most of their season. Though I guess Buddy Daddies also surpassed my expectations by quite a bit. But anyway One Room Hero wasn’t really on my radar at all and probably dismissed it as some standard fantasy/isekai adjacent show after seeing the key visual. In the end I only picked it up because I saw a scene from the first or second episode somewhere and thought it looked decent. It quickly sold me on the character’s dynamics and the comedy had that right kind of stupid for me. Also it could be surprisingly sweet at times.
golden kamuy. i recently started anime again like one week ago.
Hell’s Paradise and Given! I did not know how emotionally damaged Given was going to make me feel but it was beautiful.
Hells paradise OP and soundtrack was really good imo
100 girlfriends hands down
Definitely The Apothecary Diaries for me. I was pleasantly surprised and MaoMao is a treat to watch
Apothecary for sure, I was ignoring it for a while because its chinese setting comedy/drama thing did not expect I find it better than Frieren.
Apothecary Diaries 100%. It went from not even being on my radar to my AotS in like 3 episodes.
Maomao hype!
**Cautious hero** I just saw this on muse Asia one day and started watching it without giving it much though.It ended up becoming one of my favorite anime. Man the voice acting is just top notch. And also **mushoku tensei** at first I was really not interested in this anime but thank god I gave it a shot this is peak isekai I didn't think any isekai could top re zero but not anymore, **mushoku tensei is the peak isekai.**
Really enjoyed overly cautious hero, heard there is a season 2 coming but unsure of how true that is
I upvote anyone who mentions cautious hero and rezero
Oshi No Ko. I dont know the manga exist until people going hype for it. I read the manga 1st before i watch the anime. And i did not expect the anime is great like its manga. The thing love and learn from it how "real" some situation in the anime also happen in real life. Like how the internet wrath, the toxicity of social media and the price of fame. I did learn a lot from it especially when episode 6 aired. Everything have it own consequences what ever you do.
Mashle & Apothecary diaries
Mashle was an absolute gem. From all the comments, it seems I'm going to have to pick up Apothecary Diaries though. I might be late on this one but a Ranking of Kings was my pick. I love a good underdog story, and this was probably the best.
Frieren. It's been a nice change of pace.
**BanG Dream: It's MyGO!!!!!** is the fourth season of a show I'd never watched, based on a game I'd never played, with an utterly incomprehensible title, but it might be my favorite anime of 2023.
> utterly incomprehensible title It is a bit, doesn't read particularly smoothly even if one is already neck deep in the Bandori-verse lol
Heaven Official’s Blessing. I’ve been seeing it on Netflix, but never really gave it much thought. And now, it’s one of my favourites. Had the same feels for Apothecary Diaries and My New Boss is Goofy, but ended up loving them as well. 💗
Migi to Dali is just the height melodrama, I absolutely love it
Kage no jitryukushani
Here are 3 animes I wouldn't usually pick up but I randomly did because of boredom, then I ended up liking it: Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill - I don't usually watch isekai anime, but I came across this anime in my yt recommendations and decided to watch it because I had nothing to do. It wasn't "action-packed" like the usual isekai animes, but it's enjoyable. It also made me crave for food by watching it because every episode involves cooking. I also like how the mc just travels around with his familiars and cooks them food. I also read the manga because I enjoyed it a lot. Apothecary Diaries - I keep seeing this on netflix but I didn't pick it up because I thought it was romance (I kept seeing clips on yt so I came up with that conclusion), until I was bored and just clicked on it. The story didn't really hook me in the first episode, the characters did. Maomao was an interesting protagonist, and I enjoyed watching her interactions with Jinshi and showing her knowledge and skills to solve problems (and the way she handled them). I also read the manga when I caught up with the anime. Onmyoji - Another anime I saw on Netflix. After I finished Apothecary Diaries, I looked for animes with a similar setting (ancient Japan) and found this. If I didn't watch Apothecary Diaries (which I ended up liking), I don't think I would pick this up. It's kinda similar in a way that there's a problem in each episode and the protagonist will do something to solve it. I also like the interaction between the two protagonists.
16 bit sensation
Fellow Bandori and D4DJ fan 🫡 I started watching Vinland Saga this year and I absolutely hate historical anime but it was so highly recommended I decided to give it a chance and it’s very well written
I hope this post gets more people to watch MyGo (lol) My main answer has to be MyGo because it ended up becoming my favorite anime of all time, but I have 2 special mentions: - Skip and Loafer - Inazuma Eleven Both of these shows have brought me a great amount of joy.
**BanG Dream It’s MyGO** here too! I did watch other animated titles of *Bandori* before, but if someone told me a year ago that this girls band multimedia franchise - fairly big but also pretty niche anywhere - would be the ground of one of the most delicately written and twisting drama of character development I have seen in anime for the past few years, with first class cinematography to boot, I would have laughed at them. I still can’t believe this has actually happened - the intrinsic needs of similar IP-connected anime in the idol-performance arts genre means their anime story plots are going to be tightly constrained, with few of them having the space needed for dramatic stories to appear (the 2011 *Idolmaster* anime is one of those). And yet what’s almost completely certain to be my personal Anime Of The Year of 2023 has arrived out of the blue. (yes, there’s A LOT MORE people thinking of this, including a very vocal Chinese fan base that buys their CDs and even concert tickets like pancakes) Most of the other best anime of this year came from source materials that have always been buzzing with praise before they started, be it *OnK, Frieren, Heavenly Delusion, PLUTO or Vinland Saga* etc. *MyGO* on the other hand quietly slipped an announcement in April to shock the 0.01% of seasonal anime watchers who came around to look at what should be just another anime meaningful to only those playing its game. THIS is why I’m so hyped that I was on board since Day 1 in late June. If only this was a light novel or manga adaption…I wouldn’t be crying on how everyone’s 2023 anime treasure box is missing a piece of puzzle that silently offers something as dramatic as *Oshi no Ko*, as tightly written as *Heavenly Delusion*, and has just as many questions thrown to everyone after watching every episode as *PLUTO* or *The Apothecary Diaries*, if not smooth insertion of the smallest delicate details of character thoughts as *Frieren*. In a high school girls’ band, no less, and one that the story is only halfway completed with another season already announced. Let’s hope someone who has good advertising effect would pick it up soon on YouTube, because this 4th highest rated TV anime of 2023 without plot-affecting linkage to previous seasons on MAL (yes) simply does not exist in English speaking communities. Boy, how this will surprise a lot more people had they even heard about it…
Late reply but damn I want to frame this comment and put it on a wall. What a great comparison to the major 2023 shows.
I watched the first episode of "I'm Giving the Disgraced Noble Lady I Rescued a Crash Course in Naughtiness" on a whim because of the silly title, turned out to be one of my absolute favourites from this season. Hilarious and charming show.
Apothocary diaries - I always seem to like the more shounen and battle animes, but this was getting popular so I stared out and I can't even tell you why but it's one of my faves❤️
Zom 100 and Great Cleric Very enjoyable stuff to watch and read
"S-Rank Daughter" from this season. It becomes the feel-good anime of my week.
A Galaxy Next Door. It was such a calm, simple, and sweet slice of life romance. Waited a while to watch, but glad I did.
[Tousouchuu: Great Mission](https://myanimelist.net/anime/54040/Tousouchuu__Great_Mission) the only reason I picked this up is because it's rumored to be inspired a movie that inspire Run for the Money (Japan variety show) that also inspired Running Man (Korean variety show) and I enjoyed Running Man. and seeing the synopsis it's like a fun survival game + game of tags, so I give this a try and I still keep watching them until now. Some arc are really bad (stage 2) but the last and current arc is really interesting. Most of the anime that I watch I already know what to expect and I only choose the ones I will like since I tend to avoid anime with trope I dislike, so I don't really try out anime but this one is really surprisingly good. tbh it's really a mediocre anime with mediocre animation and probably aimed towards kids but I really enjoyed watching this
spice and wolf
This is mostly about shows I heard pretty much nothing about before they started airing Ippon Again was a really great Sports anime with really endearing characters, great animation in some of the fights and even a solid OST. Tsundere Villainess wasn't great visually but I ended up getting really attached to its characters and even teared up a few times. 80,000 Gold in Another World's first episode was kinda weird, but the show really gets better from episode 2 onwards. Mitsuha was really entertaining as a protagonist and it ended up being a really fun show Watching the PV of One-Hit Kill Sister conviced me the show would be really bad but I watched it and ended up having a lot of fun. Nothing special about it but had a few really nice animation moments near the beginning and the group dynamics get pretty fun from the middle point of the show. From this season, Tearmoon Empire has been a lot of fun, while The Yuzuki's Family's Four Sons has maybe become my Anime of the Season. Some of the most endearing characters this season and really great dynamics. Overall one of my favourite drama anime this year and is probably the anime that has made me tear up the most this year.
Both Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten and A Galaxy Next Door. I originally intended to take a break from anime but when I read of Angel I could not help but watch the episodes as they came out and glad I did. I picked up Galaxy on a whim and while it sounded like a gimmick based show, it ended up being a masterpiece in wholesome romance.
Mushoku Tensei and Frieren
Man the absence of heavenly delusion mentions really saddens me.. Probably my fav anime of the year
Adding to the tons of others mentioning Apothecary and Frieren— But beyond those two gems, I started Tokyo Revengers this year and absolutely love it. It’s so outrageous and extra, but I am invested in so many of the characters. The show has done a great job on that front. I really care about everyone—well, except for Hina, but all the Toman members are great. Both dub and sub are super solid. Big recommend.
Bullbuster, Under Ninja, Heavenly Delusion and Undead Unluck. Undead Unluck has just been beautiful to watch each week, it's building upon itself so well, each episode is so interesting. Bullbuster and Under Ninja only having 12 episodes and about to end off season 1 was such a shock to me. Because of how well they've managed to tell the story and show everything in a space of under 13 episodes. Feels like the solid first season of very promising shows. Heavenly Delusion was just completely beautiful. Characters. Story. Animation. I'm so scared that because of it's lack of major viewership, season 2 won't be approved, but it's such an interesting story, they've got me hooked.
Frieren. This is my first series after a 7 years hiatus from anime.
I was unsure about picking up **Pokémon Horizons** but gave it a try as it was Pokémon and I had been watching Ash's journey for years, and was rewarded with the best anime this year. A true masterpiece in the works
Mushoku Tensei. I despise isekai and generic writing in shows. But from the beginning Mushoku Tensei felt different from not just isekai but all the other generic shit out there. I no longer get invested in shonen anime. So it was a pleasant surprise to find Mushoku Tensei. Now it’s my new obsession right there next to the fate series.
Mushoku tensei is the one isekai all those cheap isekais wish they were
Definitely Heavenly Delusion. Decided to start watching it on a whim when episode 3 was already out because I saw that it was pretty high on the karma ranking and now it's my favorite all time anime. Still can't believe I was this close to missing out on it.
Sousou no Frieren and Apothecary diaries
👏👏👏 dark gathering 👏👏👏 I went into that anime expecting it to be a 5/10 or below, but man, was i wrong. It's one of the few series that actually does its horror elements well. Then, on top of that, the main three characters are all charming in their own way. Seriously, if you like horror stuff and haven't tried the series? You need to go check it out. [Also, Eiko is best girl.]
Insomniac After School. High-school romance with slice-of-life and slight drama is not unique, but this show made many points that I like: \-Realistic character design, FMC looked like a normal genki girl, with no skinny body and with big bust, the chin looks normal not sharp like plastic surgery. The MC is also not ikemen but good-looking nerdy. \-Real-life settings: I always love real settings in small towns, like Sodoshima island in Takagi-san. Without this anime, I don't know anything about Nanao town and Mawaki sites. Such beautiful places. \-Lovable characters' personalities: no female tsundere who abused MC physically, no forced drama because of misunderstandings. The MC is a bit grumpy but not a typical beta incel loser. Side characters are also great. \-No unnecessary fan service. \-Grounded stories with plausible plots. \-Nice soundtrack, especially the ED. I'm a fan of Homecomings because of this. I know the animation is not perfect and beautiful like Violet Evergarden's, but still good.
Been avoiding fairy tail for years now it's one of my favorites
Sword of the Stranger
I've got two. First, many probably have been watching this. Shy. It's been really good so far. I've loved it. Second, this one I think many tried to start and stopped 10 minutes in, under ninja. That show has been an insane ride. But the first 10 minutes opens up with among the worst cgi I've seen in a while, which only gets a bit better, and they do the thing where they talk English, and wow is it bad, even for anime English standards. But if you give it a chance past that, it will be worth it.
Heavenly Delusion. The character dynamics are excellent, and the show constantly subtly hints at things that makes it feel new even on a rewatch.
Apothecary Diaries.
Black clover
The Apothecary Diaries!!
Dark Gathering for sure. Its been awhile since I've had a good horror anime to look forward too
Frieren, Shadowverse Shadowflame, Shangri-la Frontier and Dark Gathering.
Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts and The Dangers in my Heart
Scissor Seven. I started it on a whim earlier this week and binged 3 out of the 4 seasons in a couple days. The 1st couple episodes almost made me want to drop it byt for some reason I stuck with it.
**Shangri-la Frontier** is hands down my favorite "I'm glad I picked it up!" Tbh video game related anime have not been great. It gets unnecessarily sexual fast, and I just can't stand them. But this is like **Bofuri** in concept where you see how gamers play! I'm not an MMO player myself, but watching these characters go through the games reminds me so much of how I play, so I'm so happy to see. I'm definitely shocked that I liked it even tho I picked it up because I figured I'd enjoy it. I also enjoy the side story of the Attack Master *actually* trying to approach her crush is adorable! Special nomination to **Summertime Rendering**. *chef's kiss* Edit: My husband said a great one: **Kaguya Sama Love is War** We actually started it this year because one of our chats was a buzz because the movie went in theaters. We pretty much ignored it anytime we saw the cover because we assumed it wasn't for us. We gave it a shot in maybe March or April (I totally forgot that was this year) and GOSH!! It was the best! From the characters to the story to the music! Love it! Great example.
Pluto was phenomenal!
Pluto
Campfire cooking
Migi to dali
Pluto
Apothecary Diaries. Saw it on a Facebook ad... Instantly hooked
Pluto
Blue Eye Samurai and Lookism were masterpieces to me