Amun: “Wait a second, 2022 was almost a quarter of a year ago?! Where’s our 2022 Year Post?!” Put down with your pitchforks, gentle reader, as we are here with what you need (albeit a little late). With Wooper’s retirement, that writer’s whip has been sitting gently in the corner – leading to some late posts. But, anyways, 2022! What a year for anime – we saw a new franchise born (Chainsaw Man) and one fan-favorite say farewell (Mob Psycho). In between, there were a handful of popular sequels (My Hero Academia, Kaguya, DanMachi (hehe)) and some unexpected highlights (Bocchi the Rock). In fact, the Fall season will go down as one of the best seasonals ever – can 2023 hope to match that? Join us as we discuss the best of the best…preceded by the year’s worst misfires!

Lenlo: P.S. I will never forgive the fact that my #1 show of the year only appeared as a runner-up on this list. Savages, everyone else on this team.

Worst of the Worst

Worst Show:
Rent-a-Girlfriend S2

Lenlo: I’ll admit, this writeup was a pain. Absolutely no one on staff wanted to write it, because we were all so fed up with this show we didn’t want to spend another moment thinking about it. *Rent-a-Girlfiend” continues to be some of the lowest-common-denominator shlock in anime. It’s trashy, built to appeal to desperate shut-ins without an ounce of heart to be found, at least to my eyes. You have to be more than just a bad show to win this award. You have to legitimately disappoint or annoy us.

Runner-up: Lucifer and Biscuit Hammer, for being absolute mediocrity in all regards except for maybe the source material.

Biggest Disappointment:
Lucifer and Biscuit Hammer

Amun: You know, I had Lucifer and Biscuit Hammer as not only the greatest disappointment, but also as the worst show. Very rarely do you see such an abysmal combination of horrendous direction, atrocious animation, a completely wooden lead, misfired humor, and general sleepwalking through cosplaying a proper anime. The only, and I mean only, part of this production that I won’t criticize is the source material – in fact, I feel a great amount of sympathy for the saga of an author’s excitement at receiving an anime turn to horror at the abomination that arrived instead. Why am I not harsher on the source? Because, despite the absolute best (well, or worst) efforts of everyone involved, you could see a great story desperately trying to break through….only to be strangled by incompetence, apathy, or who knows, maybe even malice. Nah, no way was that intentional. I watched four or five episodes, hoping desperately that it could turn around. By about the fifth terribly animated, completely wooden fight with crocodiles (or whatever they were), I gave up. The MC’s psychological trauma and overcoming it? In better hands, that’s an interesting story. In the hands of this team…absolute snoozefest. I feel if we make an award for butchering great source material, it will be named the Lucifer and Biscuit Hammer award.

Runner-up: RWBY: Ice Queendom, for a disappointing adaptation of a beloved Western anime with troubling production issues and insufficient time to expand its rich universe.

Worst First Episode:
Shinobi no Ittoki

Amun: Now see here – I’m all fired up after roasting the atrocity of Lucifer and Biscuit Hammer, so that brings us to Shinobi no Ittoki. Unlike Lucifer, Shinobi got 2 episodes from me…and I regret every second. Full disclosure, I kind of skipped through at least one of them. What I did see, however, was not a serious production attempt. I mean, come on, competing ninja schools is interesting, RIGHT?! How do you mess that up?! Let me tell you – and this one’s a bit on the source. Those helmets. The moment those appeared, any seriousness or suspense in the show evaporated. Just who in the world thought those were a good idea? Nothing else in this episode made it better – we were bombarded by characters who we were supposed to care about, but I can barely remember. I think there was a love interest too, but she didn’t talk or something? I won’t bother straining my poor brain cells to recall this mediocrity. All I recall is that it was uniquely bad, and that’s good enough for this award.

Runner-up: Housing Complex C, for presenting a spooky premise with neither scare nor humor.

Worst Character:
Miranjo, Ousama Ranking

Mario: Ousama Ranking is a show that I hold dear, but towards the second half, the show runs at odds with what comes before. Miranjo and her own motivation are the prime reasons behind its lackluster ending. She has an abusive childhood (some might say it borderlines torture porn but the presentation is on-point for me), she forms a special relationship with King Bosse and that informs much of the reason behind her twisted action later on. Well, even though we know the reason, it is still not justified the length she goes to protect King Bosse. But the show’s biggest misstep is the way it frames her character as another victim behind the cruel world and thus gloss-over all the bad deeds that she has done at the end of the series. So instead of Miranjo having any sort of redeeming of her sins, we have Boiji’s mother soul – whom she killed – smiles back at her and gives a thumbs up. No, it’s an emotional whiplash that gives Miranjo’s redemption where she doesn’t deserve one.

Runner-up: Kazuya Kinoshita (Rent-a-Girlfriend), for proving that you can always be just a little bit more pitiful.

General Categories

Best First Episode:
Tatami Time Machine Blues

Mario: It’s a double-length premiere so Tatami Time Machine Blues (kind of) has an advantage here, given it has more time to fresh out the characters and introduce the hook. And the episode succeeds marvelously on both fronts by basically hanging out with the cast – whom we are all familiar with by this point – before ending the episode with a massive cliff-hanger. What I find really amusing is that the “time machine” is a perfect expansion of “winding back the time” premise in the Tatami Galaxy. Top that up with an endearing cast, a razor sharp dialogue and the distinct, quirky visual, and you have all the best ingredients for the top first episode of 2023.

Runner-up: Call of the Night, for evoking the sense of wonder and freedom that you had exploring a city at night for the first time.

Best Single Episode: A Tie
Chainsaw Man, Episode 8, “Gunfire”
Cyberpunk: Edgerunner, episode 6, “Girl on Fire”

Amun: So this particular award was a major point of contention for our writers. I’m staunchly on the side of that episode of Chainsaw Man: Episode 8, “Gunfire”. Keep in mind, I knew literally nothing of the CSM source, so at this point, I’m enjoying the show, getting to know the characters, vibing with the time spent as Himeno and Denji become friends. Aw, cute, Denji is slowly growing, hey, he does have some principles after all. So much backstory and setup, the story is going to develop slowly as they chase this mysterious super baddy; got it, I’m good with this. Full stop. I can tell you the exact moment in the episode where my stomach dropped – on the train when two people stood up behind Makima. From there, it was complete horror watching as everything built in the previous 7 episodes is annihilated in the blink of an eye – culminating with one of the most startling and impactful anime deaths I’ve ever seen. Death in anime often is sad, meaningful, drawn out – very rarely have I seen one as abrupt and startling, but with such stinging regret. To end this episode on that note had me literally shouting at the screen, on pins and needles for the rest of the week until the next episode arrived. “Gunfire” is the crowning episode for 2022’s premiere anime – I’d say, it’s the crux of what makes Chainsaw Man the defining show of the year. I was completely blindsided by a show I had previously assumed was an above-average action gorefest – “Gunfire” is not only the best episode of the year, but probably of any anime I’ve seen recently.

Mario: For 2023 in anime, (I cannot say if this reflects the real-life events), the best single episodes: “Chainsaw Man – Gunfire”, “Made in Abyss 2 – “The Cradle of Desire”, and this one “Cyberpunk: Edgerunner – “Girl on Fire” are all tragedies. These episodes detail a death – or tragic end – to our beloved characters, providing a sense of despair and “the point of no return”, where the path forward is a living hell. Episode 6 of Cyberpunk Edgerunner is about such exit of Maine, the gang’s leader, who is slowly losing his mind over “cyberpsychosis” – or cyber overdose. What makes this episode so weighty is how we gradually see Maine losing what is most important to him – his job, his lover, his friends, himself and how that both affects and parallels Martin and his relation with being an edgerunner. Most of all, the episode hits viewers hard both emotionally and intellectually – you will think about the episode and its message long after the credit rolls.

Lenlo: Triple header here huh? As was mentioned, we could not for the life of us decide between these two episodes. Personally, I’m firmly in Cyberpunk’s camp. Nothing else this year came close to Kai Ikarashi’s incredible work of tragedy and death in Episode 6, not even Chainsaw Man, though admittedly that doesn’t mean much coming from me since I’m not particularly a fan of the series.

Most Pleasant Surprise:
Bocchi the Rock

Amun: I didn’t even start Bocchi until about halfway through the season (on the recommendation of the StarCrossed chatbox at that). On paper, this is not a show I should have watched more than one episode of – but sometimes a show can be so far removed from what you like, it comes full circle. More than that, Bocchi oozed excellence – the animation, sure, was good, but the story-telling and characters were first rate. And the story was fresh at that! Instead of the worn out, underdog of undiscovered genius, we have the modern take: a shut-in, but net-popular – the modern contradiction of a cyber celebrity. In the grand scheme of things, nothing happened in this story – but why did I cheer and wince over every one of Bocchi’s successes and failures? Because quality storytelling transcends genres, overcomes our grumpy tastes, and ultimately makes you root for one orange-box-wearing hero. As far as a show that I never expected to watch – much less adore – Bocchi is the clear winner here.

Runner-up: Cyberpunk Edgerunners, for it is a show that could very well go to bombastic but empty route based on its track records (Trigger, Netflix original, based on the video game) but it proves to be one of the best video-adaptations in recent years, animated or not.

Best OP:
Cyberpunk Edgerunners – “This Fire”

Mario: I don’t have a clue why but apparently Franz Ferdinand’s tunes just fit anime like a glove. “This Fire” is not the first song the band has as an anime OP/ED (there were two songs before this, “Do You Want To” and “No You Girls”), but upon watching the OP you would think that this song is written specially for David Martinez character. The visual further elevates its appeal. The use of a strong color palette, with David as the only appearing character, makes it clear that the focus of the series is about David fighting the “uncontrollable fire” within him.

Runner-up: Ousama Ranking – Naked Hero, for some of the most beautiful visual metaphors of any OP this year.

Amun: Just a note, Naked Hero is probably my favorite anime song of all time. Absolute chills every one of the thousand times I listened to it.

Best ED:
SpyXFamily ED 2 – “Shikisai”

Amun: Boy, Spy x Family never fails to impress visually. All the EDs and OPs look great, but “Sikisai” especially encapsulates the essence of the show to a catchy tune. The duality of the family and the facade that’s slowly becoming a reality is nicely packed into this minute and a half panorama of family life. Little details like that Anya face and Yor’s world class cutting (but not cooking) abilities are nice Easter Eggs in this visual treat. Plus, this is about the only time this season that you get to see Yor in her assassin outfit (I’m not sure she ever appeared in it this season – someone, please let me know). With our favorite Borf boi bookending the song, it’s hard to top “Shikisai.” I have plenty of complaints about Spy x Family, but none are about this ending!

Runner-up: Dance Dance Danseur – “wind, flower”, for its unique scrapbook style and being the best ear-worm of the year.

Production & Characters

Best Animation:
Mob Psycho 100 S3

Lenlo: Let’s be honest here, Mob Psycho winning this should come as no surprise. In fact I’m pretty sure it’s won this award from us every season that it’s been eligible. There’s just something about it that makes Studio Bones go all out. Maybe it’s the connections and experience of the director, Yuzuru Tachikawa. Or perhaps it’s the designs and source material giving them a degree of freedom most adaptations don’t have. It could even be as simple as proper scheduling and time between seasons, knowing now to churn through it to quickly. Most likely it’s a combination of all 3. Whatever the case though, Mob Psycho S3 is without a doubt one of the best animated shows of the year. The competition was stiff, and while it may not be my favorite season, Mob Psycho goes out with a bang for it’s final year.

Runner-up: Bocchi the Rock, for not only portraying the most expressive character movements this year has to offer, but also the way the show implements different animation techniques to highlight Bocchi’s social anxiety.

Best Background Art:
Cyberpunk Edgerunners

Lenlo: There’s something to be said for being able to take a world and breathe more life into it with beautifully rendered neon-lit backgrounds then a Triple-A game studio could with all of their resources. Of course some of that credit is due to CDPR for creating the city to begin with, but Cyberpunk Edgerunners was expertly able to take these locations and people and turn them into something unique, all without losing what made it “Cyberpunk”. Plus, and this is more of a personal one, I’m never going to be able to get that backdrop of the moon out of my head.

Runner-up: Made in Abyss S2, for creating a layer that stands well on its own, both awe-inspiring and scary to look at.

Best Soundtrack:
Cyberpunk Edgerunners

Lenlo: There will be some who will say that Cyberpunk: Edgerunners doesn’t deserve this win. That because large portions of its OST, including iconic tracks such as ” I really want to stay at your house”, “Friday night fire fight”, and “Whos ready for tomorrow”, are from the game and are not truly original it shouldn’t count. However not only does this ignore stunning original songs such as “Let you down” and “Me Machine”, it ignores how the way the songs are used transforms them. Before the anime “I really want to stay at your house” was a nothing song meant for a good time and nothing more. Now it’s a lament that crushes a fan’s soul every time it pops up on the radio while driving around Night City. Akira Yamaoka and Hiroyuki Imaishi took an existing sound profile and completely changed what they mean to an entire fanbase. And if you ask me, that’s a feat worthy of praise.

Runner-up: Call of the Night, for hitting all the right notes on a show highly dependent on vibes and ambience.

Best Voice Actor:
Saori Hayami

Amun: It’s funny, I have Saori Hayami as the best VA of the year for very different roles than everyone else. Most other authors probably gave her the nod for Yor Forger in SpyxFamily – don’t get me wrong, she’s doing a fantastic job in a high-profile show. No question, Yor is my absolute favorite character of that family, and it’s due in no small part to Hayami’s performance. What’s interesting about Yor is that it differs from her standard character, which is the more reserved, cooler secondary character – Yor has wider emotional swings and much more excitement than Hayami’s characters normally see. However, I picked her for the depth of expression she brought to MANY secondary characters from some of my favorite shows of the year: Hiiro Kisaichi from Deaimon (fantastic low-key performance where her professionalism and admiration for her hero came through perfectly), Maria Deathflame from Don’t Hurt Me, My Healer (nice range in an otherwise forgettable show), Momo Ryuju from Kaguya-sama (limited appearance, but was a nice foil in her scenes to the craziness going on), and Tsuki Uzaki in Uzaki-chan Wants To Hang Out (definitely the best character in all of her scenes as the confused, restless housewife). However, three roles she did stand out to me: Yuuri from Maid I hired Recently is Mysterious (she did brilliantly in the cross-gender role for a completely boring show otherwise), Azazel Ameri from Marimashita (Hayami does her tsundere to absolute perfection – keeping it light, but also emotionally vulnerable, full marks). Finally, the role that earned my vote unequivocally is Ryu Lion from DanMachi. These past two seasons especially have been critical to showing how Ryu became the legend she is…and how broken it’s made her. Hayami has the difficult task of transitioning from a background character to the main spotlight on the season – and the transition has been seamless. From marquee headliners to elevating forgettable outings, Saori Hayami has shown incredible range and is a credit to every role I heard her in this past year. Bravo!

Runner Up: Sora Amamiya, for carrying Call of the Night as vampire Nazuna Nanakusa with depth, teasing, and dramatic flair.

Best Character:
Denji – Chainsaw Man

Amun: Denji is not my favorite character. He’s deeply flawed and kind of a terrible person most of the time. But he is, without question, the “best” character of the year. Why’s that? Because Denji is what all fiction aspires to be – he’s real. Not that he physically exists, but Denji satisfies the requirement of – if the premise of Chainsaw Man was reality – this is exactly how he would be. Too often, authors are unwilling to take their characters to the logical extremes of their persona – case in point, Bojji from Ousama Ranking. Denji isn’t sanitized, there’s no cheating in making him more emotionally intelligent or suave than he has any right being. Chainsaw Man is meant to be raw and unfiltered, and the titular character fits it to a T. A small minded hedonist with no education or training, Denji spends as much time fighting monsters as he does manners. But it’s that survivor mentality and mental toughness forged from the hellish conditions of his upbringing that give him the reliance to carry the squad…and the entire show. Uncouth, perverted, and someone I certainly would not wish to be around, Denji is brutally authentic and is the perfect vehicle to view the world of Devils with. The best character does not mean the most moral, upstanding, intelligent, or any other superlative normally associated with “best.” Denji’s award for best is the most authentic – and that’s the highest compliment I can give someone fictional.

Runner-up: Junpei Murao – Dance Dance Danseur, for being a veritable unicorn in anime with his portrayal of healthy masculinity..

Best Cast:
Tatami Time Machine Blues

Lenlo: Its been 12 years since Tatami Galaxy. 12 years since Watashi, Akashi and Ozu, Higuchi, Masaki and Hanuki. 12 years since one of the most personally affecting anime of my life, with its beautifully dysfunctional cast of young adults figuring out their life, aired. And now it’s back, and just as good as it was before. In particular Watashi’s journey of finally finding his confidence and approaching Akashi, their interplay and support of each other, and Ozu’s meddling in it all, is easily one of my favorite dynamics of the year. I highly recommend anyone who hasn’t to watch the original, and then give Time Machine Blues a shot right after.

Runner-up: Chainsaw Man, for assembling a team of extremely different personalities and exploring their difficult interactions perfectly.

Genre & Format

Best Comedy:
Kaguya Sama S3

Amun: I discuss the merits of Kaguya’s third season later on, but I want to focus on why Kaguya – especially this season – is a great comedy. Anyone who has even accidentally wandered into high school English knows that a comedy doesn’t have to be funny to achieve the designation – it just needs the characters to overcome the obstacles and get a happy ending. What makes a comedy great is the journey, not the inevitable destination. And that’s a hard problem – how do you keep the tension and interest when everyone knows the very likely outcome? Kaguya S3 provides that answer in spades: build great characters and put them in interesting situations. Granted, having 2 previous seasons of runway is quite helpful, but Kaguya avoids two of the common sequel pitfalls: recycling material and ballooning the cast to bring in new stories. I think the rapid fire format helps keep the “skits” in manageable sizes – you don’t normally have five consecutive episodes devoted to a single story; instead, every piece of the puzzle is intertwined. One other key in Kaguya is the incremental approach of surrounding stories leading up to our main ship: this season saw Ishigami explore some romance on his own and Chika cemented her place as the glue holding the student council (and mostly Shirogane) together. Finally, if we’re talking happy endings – well, finales – this season of Kaguya deserves all the flowers (literally). Funny, heartwarming, with fantastic writing and cast – no other show fits the comedy bill like Kaguya did this season.

Runner-up: Spy X Family, for the show’s endless hijinks that are fun, witty and heart-warming that further bond the Forger’s members together.

Best Action:
Chainsaw Man

Amun: I sing the praises of Chainsaw Man adequately throughout this post, so let’s talk about the bread and butter of this show: action. Character development is all well and good, but when there are baddies that need fighting, CSM is ready to answer the call. I think an interesting trend, which we’ll probably see more of going forward, is the heavy incorporation of CG into major action scenes. This isn’t the full CG fights of the 2010s – this is a hybrid style which makes it hard to tell where the handwork ends and the digital begins. Aside from the first episode, CSM looked fantastic. Yes, you could tell there were some CG elements, but they really didn’t detract from the overall feel of the show. That’s my main complaint with CG fight scenes: they pull you out of the world. Some shows are awful about it, and CSM deftly avoided that. The finale of Katana vs Chainsaw would have been a nightmare to do by hand, and I feel it worked out perfectly. I’m guessing the source material provided a lot of the framework for these fights because the setups and choreography were fantastic. I think on action alone, Chainsaw Man is a good show – it’s the characters and storytelling that make it great. For blood, splatter, and spinning cameras – Chainsaw Man, you nailed it.

Runner-up: Mob Psycho 100 S3, for remaining a reliable anime of insane sakuga action sequences.

Best Drama:
Made in Abyss S2

Mario: Sure, Made in Abyss S2 might not be as powerful and adventurous as its predecessors, this season’s story still manages to grab your heart and never let go. It touches on many usual themes that Made in Abyss is famous for: from the optimistic view like the excitement of adventure and exploring something new, the bond of friendship to the darker themes such as cruel treatments, curses and revenge. The darker side is what this show (in)famous for – in fact, the flashback of Vueko and Irumyuui and Faputa’s rampage still linger with me to this day – but these cruel moments are here for a purpose. They are here to argue that one needs to face their own worst enemy, overcome it and then move forward to their own adventure, just like one’s progression in life.

Runner-up: Dance Dance Danseur, for giving me the 3 characters I cared most about this year.

Best Foreign Animation:
Del Toro’s Pinocchio

Mario: Del Toro’s Pinocchio is a long way coming. The project was announced a few years back, got several delays before it ended up on Netflix’s hand, and for the most parts the film is worth the wait. Not unlike the Disney adaptation, the film respects the dark elements of the source material. It is, after all, a coming of age tale about an artificial boy who wants to be a human in a WWII backdrop. The stop-motion technique is stunning, and – I didn’t really expect this – the soundtrack does wonder as well. Narratively, it’s tighter than the Disney counterpart, but it’s where the film feels a bit lacking for me. I’m not keen on the way it leans a bit too heavily on the war backdrop, and having a cricket (an original character) as a narrator bugs me (pun not intended!) as he feels far removed from the feature. All in all, Del Toro’s Pinocchio is still a worthy adaptation of a timeless classic (just see how many films / series about Pinocchio for the last 5 years) and a strong statement about the wealth of the animation medium.

Runner Up: Love, Death and Robots S3, for being one of the most unique animated experiences in any year a new season drops.

Best Movie:
Inu-Oh

Lenlo: Masaki Yuasa has long been one of my favorite directors. With works like Ping Pong the Animation and Tatami Galaxy, no one else is able to express emotion and communicate what a character is going through like him. He’s so skilled at it in fact that he can take a 12th Century Japanese period piece and turn it into a Rock Opera, with set piece performances that somehow simultaneously work within the limitations of the period while also not being out of place in a Queen concert. Simply put, nothing else on this list, TV anime or otherwise, has stuck with me the way Inu-Oh has. To me, it is the only work to come out of 2022 that is a “Must Watch”. So if you take anything else away from this list, take away this: Shut up, stop reading this, and go watch Inu-Oh.

Runner-up: The Deer King, for both telling an engrossing story with a core emotional truth, and expanding a fantasy world that feels detailed and lived-in.

Top 10 Anime of 2022

TIE – 10. Lycoris Recoil

Mario: CGDCT had a great showing this past year (you’ll see another one down the line in the top 10). As a tie in #10 slot is a show about cute girls as assassins. Lycoris Recoil is not a perfect show. While it has all the ingredients that I am really into, sadly the way the show progresses loses me a bit at the end. To Lycoris Recoil’s credits, the opening few minutes where we listen to a “propaganda” narration about keeping a safe city as the girls murder some attempted terrorists unfolds on screen remains my favorite anime moments last year had to offer. It’s that core theme about these girls working as government dogs and a selected few girls who are opposed to the system that opens up to lots of interesting developments. To add to that, the characters are likable, witty and the animation takes flight during the action scenes. I still remember fondly the core cast (hooray for a queer closet old man character). Unfortunately, as the story progresses, the show loses sights on who is the main antagonist of the show. Is it the “father” who automatically decides Misato’s purpose of life? Is it the terrorist who has the same special abilities as Chisato? Is it the government at large who exploits these girls and decides to kill them when they get exposed? Each of these options could become a solid arc, but it’s a shame that none of it has a proper development because Lycoris Recoil scrambles all these ideas into an incoherent climax. Shinji is up there as one of the worst written characters for 2022. Even with those stumbles, Lycoris Recoil is still entertaining with colorful characters and thrilling action setpieces, and these qualities are more than enough to land it a spot in our top 10.

TIE – 10. My Hero Academia Season 6

Lenlo: Heading into this season, I don’t think anyone one had a lot of expectations for My Hero Academia. Not only has the content faltered a bit, partly due to a lackluster adaptation and partly Horikoshi’s own writing, but the production was no longer that high bar people had come to expect. It felt in a lot of ways like My Hero Academia was starting to coast on past laurels. And then Season 6 showed up, and reminded so many fans why we fell in love with the series all those years ago. The action? Great. The character moments? Great. The backgrounds and OST? Alright, still nothing to write home about. All in all, it was a return to form for the series, and is one of the strongest seasons its had in years. A lot of the writing problems are still there of course, holding it back from placing any higher on this list. But it would be wrong not to give My Hero Academia some credit for stepping up to the plate and giving fans another great season.

9. Bocchi the Rock

Mario: In arguably one of the best anime seasons we’ve had in years, Bocchi the Rock came out of nowhere and became a sensation. Its premise is dime a dozen in this medium at this point. It’s about a loner who joins a rock band, but what makes it stick is how expressive, funny, endearing and dare I say, “original” Bocchi the Rock is. Week by week, the show finds new ways to demonstrate Bocchi’s social anxiety. Be it stop motion, melted art style or paper cutout, they are always whimsical but never take light to her issues, making her utterly relatable and a joy to follow. Moreover, the cast is overly expressive and has perfect energy with each other. The smooth animation and superb storyboard are other highlights, so much so that the show always gets away with schedule and budget constraints. This is a passion project down the T, a labor of love made by anime fans for anime fans.

8. SpyXFamily

Amun: SpyXFamily is a disappointing show to me – but I still agree that it’s probably the 8th best of the year. Why’s that? Because it has all the potential to be the perennial number 1. And yet. Here’s the thing: there are incredible stories here. A spy family with James Bond, hot mama assassin, and a mind reading kid (let’s not even mention the future seeing dog)?! The premise alone catapults it into the top ten. Alas – we get a little kid rich prep school simulator instead of all the action comedy that could have been. This latest season was better though – the tennis arc was sublime, and Yor’s rival brings some welcome adult characters into the mix. Is SpyXFamily a good show that I happily watch every week? Of course it is. But it can be so much more – and I hope it goes that direction in the future. More Yor, less Anya! As it stands, SxF barely snuck into the top 10 for the year, but I hope to see it take the crown for its next season.

7. Call of the Night

Amun: There are anime that you respect for their quality, beauty, or story-telling…then there are anime that make you feel. Call of the Night is about capturing that nocturnal feeling of freedom on the borderline of boredom. If you’ve ever been urban exploring or any sort of minor juvenile mischief – Call of the Night takes you back to that. And it’s not all roses – just as harmless hijinks can escalate to greater trouble and crime. The world of vampires is quite dangerous for our cherry boy – but still beats a life captive to a society he doesn’t understand. Obviously Nanakusa is one of the best characters from the year, but the rest of the cast is fantastic as well. I especially loved the character of Akira, who tries to pull our protagonist back into the day. This isn’t an anime you should think too hard about – it just wants to paint all these various emotions under a dark sky (pay no mind to the plot inconsistencies or weird symbolisms). I think a lot of the accolades stem from the fact that Call of the Night is unique and fresh – even if the plot gets a bit messy. For being able to capture that sheer wonder of looking at an empty street from a roof that’s not your own – Call of the Night earns its top 10 spot on that feeling alone.

6. Made in Abyss S2

Mario: This season of Made in Abyss, even more so than the previous layers, is both self-contained and a great expansion to its core themes. It has an array of additional cast and features a new setting with its own rules, where the curse of the Abyss doesn’t apply, and soon we learn the reasons why. True to its nature, this season is cruel, uncomfortable that might turn some viewers off, but also true to itself, the gruesome serves a purpose, and the flashback about Irumyuui haunts me to this day. The fact of our trio are not the main protagonists in this story and serve more as observants marks this season down a bit, but at the end of the day, this season still boasts a solid arc that speak directly to the essence of the Abyss: full of wonder, both fascinating and scary at the same time, and you can’t take your eyes off it for any second.

5. Tatami Time Machine Blues

Lenlo: Time Machine Blues is right, because watching this it felt like I was transported back to 2010. The designs, the voice actors, the writing, the story beats. Everything about Tatami Time Machine Blues made me feel like I was back in college watching it for the first time. Only now rather then being a college student watching another college student struggle with the same things I was, I’m an adult living on my own, in Grad School, watching that same student finally take a few steps forward towards that rose-colored future they always wanted. At this point I identify more with Higuchi then I do Watashi. Tatami Time Machine Blues doesn’t hit me the same way the original did, largely because I’m not the same person I was back then. And in a lot of ways that’s sad, because it means I can never recreate that original feeling even with a continuation that feels exactly the same. But in other ways its heartwarming, because it means someone else can probably get the same experience I did with the original, from this. Tatami Time Machine Blues is every bit as good as the original. Were this 2010, it would, in my mind, take 1st place without question. Instead what it suffers from is us authors here no longer being its target audience. I at least wasn’t able to get that same connection to elevate above “A damn good show”. But “Damn good show” is still enough to land it 5th place for the year. So good on it.

4. Kaguya Sama S3

Amun: Fun fact: Kaguya has landed at number four every year in our writer’s rankings. Doing that once or twice is one thing, but all three seasons have been this consistently good?! I’d say that’s unprecedented…but Mob Psycho has consistently beaten it in the years they’ve coincided. Kaguya’s quite impressive in that it’s not fishing for greatness – it just tells a straightforward story in an exemplary manner. With a top tier cast, crisp writing, and a laser focus on the central premise, Kaguya shows that it isn’t always the earth shattering stories that win out – sometimes zooming in on what’s really a rather trivial tale can be extremely rewarding. With Mob Psycho ending and Kaguya (possibly) continuing in seasonal format, I look forward to seeing it back in the top 5 for the next season – who knows, maybe even a spot higher than four!

3. Chainsaw Man

Amun: I’m actually cross about this. Chainsaw Man is not just top three – it’s the clear number one show of the year for me. It’s Lebron James of anime – expected greatness met…and surpassed. The buzz around Chainsaw Man coming into the season was greater than I’d ever seen for any other anime – more insane is that the first episode was kind of a stinker. Starting week two, I was shaking my head – was this going to be another letdown? Would CSM be crushed under the weight of its ambition? And then, hey, that was pretty good. I’ll have another. Wait a second, this is the first show I watch every week. I can’t wait for the next one. Then BAM – that episode (if you’re wondering which one, look above for the episode of the year post). Sheer excellence. A top tier anime that, I daresay, exceeded its unbelievable hype. How often does that happen?! Overall, I think what’s impressive about Chainsaw Man is that it aimed big, but kept the story small – what I mean by that is, the world was at risk with unimaginable forces at work, but a balcony breakfast received half an episode. The characters were as real as fictionally possible. The premise was fresher than fresh (some might say a bit too fresh – especially that vomit scene. Yuck). The action (aside from episode 1) on point. I hope that this season of Chainsaw Man is remembered as the birth of another major franchise, and I contend that a spot of number three is beneath an anime of this caliber.

2. Mob Psycho S3

Mario: The third season of Mob Psycho is a fitting end to the franchise. It all comes around and makes perfect sense that the final enemies for Mob to face are, respectively, his companion and the dark version of himself. As such, this final season cares less about expanding new characters, but more about giving old characters time to shine and complete their own arcs. Admittedly Mob Psycho 100 III isn’t perfect: its action sequences are not as impressive as previous seasons; and the fact that the show glosses over Mob’s destruction at the end is hard to ignore. The show, however, more than makes up for these shortcomings by giving Mob an emotional maturity that both embraces his psychic side, and also be a better version of himself. Moreover, it gives a perfect opportunity for Dimple and Reigen to develop as well. After following Mob and these people for these many years, it feels satisfying to see how far they have come and know that they will be alright.

1. Cyberpunk Edgerunners

Lenlo: While not my personal Anime of the Year, that didn’t even make this list, it’s impossible to deny the impact Cyberpunk Edgerunners had. Many, such as myself, expected nothing of it. A cynical cash grab project paid for by Netflix that Studio Trigger would have to suffer through. Instead it became one of their most free, passion filled works in years. Complete freedom for all the blood and gore, sex and shock, love and emotion, that they could ever want to convey. It took a world that many had given up on after the lackluster release of the videogame by the same name (Cyberpunk 2077) and breathed new life into it. This group of misfits surviving together in a world out to kill them. A young man who never got over the tragic death of his mother, striking back at those that couldn’t care less for them. A city with an iron boot and just as much personality as the characters that inhabit it. Yes, while Cyberpunk Edgerunners is not my personal favorite of the year, it’s high quality writing and production make it undeniably worthy of that title. This is one vote I truly don’t mind losing.