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ladyloveandjustice · 3 months

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My Top 12 Favorite Anime of 2023 (and more)!

This was a great year for anime, so here's a long list of my top 12 (including some bonus great anime). If you get tired of clicking the review links, check out my anime overview collection for all of them here. You can also check out my list of favorite manga here!

Some of these are ongoing, so consider those only a review of the first cour-- no official endorsement on the rest because it hasn't aired yet!

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury (Season 2)

When I listed G-Witch in last year's top anime list, I prayed the show wouldn't betray me. Fortunately, it didn't! Though the final half of the show was a bit rushed, it remained must-see, compelling sci-fi full of exciting twists and turns. And I adore the well developed romance between the robot-piloting protagonist and precious girl, Suletta, and her fierce fiancé, Miorine. Whether you’re here for starcrossed queer lovers, robots wrecking each other, tense battles between opposing political factions, or morally-horrifying moms on a revenge spree, you’re in for a treat.

See my full review here.

Yuri is my Job!

Hime is roped into working at a cafe where the waitresses playact as students of the fictional all girl’s school from a beloved novel series. However, Hime finds her co-worker, Mitsuki, has an inexplicable grudge against her. Thus begins a tangled web of romance and wounded feelings among the girls in the cafe! Yuri is My Job seems like a fun comedy boasting a cast full of quirky lesbians, but then reveals itself to be a complicated and fascinating examination of performance- as it intersects with queerness, girlhood, and the desire to be “likeable” and “cute". It's top-tier lesbian drama full of fraught relationships and it's absolutely worth a watch.

See my full review here.

The Apothecary Diaries (still ongoing, review is for the first cour)

Though it's still going, I have to sing the praises of this dazzling anime about a saavy apothecary who uses her medical expertise to solve the many murders and betrayals in the Emperor's palace. MaoMao is a fantastic lead, a poison-obsessed gremlin who's whip-smart, deadpan, and fun to follow. The Apothecary Diaries has intrigue, well-developed characters, and an impeccable atmosphere. It tells a great range of stories, from romantic triumph, to bittersweet tales of recovering from grief, to pure tragedies. I'm totally hooked.

See my full review here.

The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady

When Euphie is dumped by her fiance at a ball, the oddball princess Anis rescues her. Euphie becomes Anis' assistant in her quest to develop magical tools. The girls also start to develop feelings for each other, while discovering a conspiracy among the nobility. I'm always desperately in need of cool lesbians having action-packed fantasy adventures, and Magirevo delivers. The characters grow in entertaining ways, we get to see them fight dragons in killer action scenes, and the romantic development is completely satisfying. It's a simple story at its core, but the lovable characters, joyous queerness and jubilant execution make it a great watch.

See my full review here.

Birdie Wing: Golf Girls' Story (Season 2)

In the second season of the anime about girls homoerotically golfing while dealing with the mafia and ludicrous family drama, Birdie Wing remains a bombastically absurd sports anime that is fun all the way through. Please come watch these girls get ridiculous sports injuries, scream their super golf attacks, experience extremely extra plot twists--and be super gay with each other, of course. The finale didn't go quite as hard as I wanted (and the romance is more subtexual than I wanted), but you need to allow yourself to experience the madness of Birdie Wing.

See full review here.

Skip and Loafer

An endearingly dorky, earnest, and driven girl moves from her small town to Tokyo. While she struggles to adjust, she befriends a nice popular boy who's got some baggage. Skip and Loafer is a show that’s like a warm hug. It's sweet, entertaining and funny. It handles adolescent struggles with tender nuance. There's a emphasis on kindness, connection, and looking past stereotypes and misconceptions. It also includes a trans character who's treated with respect (and is a great character in general!) Let this show touch your heart.

See my full review here.

Undead Murder Farce

An immortal woman has had most of her body stolen by a mysterious man. Reduced to a head carried around by her maid, she teams up with a half-demon man to track the thief down while solving supernatural mysteries all across Victorian England.

This a fun, campy mystery series starring three asshole weirdo protagonists, it’s bursting with supernatural creatures and literary references. We've got Sherlock Holmes, The Phantom of the Opera, Carmilla and more...along with a vampire murders and werewolf drama galore. UDM is a wonderful romp with stylish, slick direction... and it’s unexpectedly really gay. I’m aching to see more of these scrappy misfits and their adventures.

See my full review here.

Migi & Dali

A story of twins who are pretending to be one kid in order to fool their foster parents and find out who killed their mother. It starts out as an utterly absurd comedy becomes a impressive and genuinely tense murder mystery that is incredibly moving at times, all while keeping up it’s signature brand of goofiness. There’s genuine commentary on abuse, the damage you can do to children by forcing perfection on them, the struggle of being a foster kid, grief and recovery and more. There's also some great character development. It's a weird one, but it's absolutely worth sticking with.

See full review here.

Pluto

Somebody is killing the most advanced robots in the world and murdering humans alongside them. A robot detective is trying to track this killer down, but he might be compromised as well. Pluto is a tense, tense, tightly plotted robot murder mystery that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Through robots, it explores the idea of being a tool in a corrupt system, and tackles subjects like war, imperialism, and the nature of hatred. It's a masterful psychological thriller with stunning animation and a rich story.

See my full review here.

Scott Pilgrim Takes Off

This anime approaches the story of Scott Pilgrim and Ramona's seven evil exes from a brands new angle, and the results are great. We get a exploration of relationships and regrets, the messiness of communication and connection, the trials of becoming an adult, all with the signature goofy video game antics. Characters neglected in previous iterations finally get their due, new facets of the story are explored, queer relationships are delved into more, girls kiss...and it's all accompanied by phenomenal animation and a killer soundtrack.

See my full review here

Soaring Sky! Precure

Sora lives in a world called Skyland and wants to be a great hero. When rescuing the kidnapped baby princess, she falls through a portal to earth. There she meets her fellow magical warriors, and as Precure they protect the princess from the villains!

This vibrant, warm-hearted adventure got me back on the Precure train! This series boasts a lot exciting firsts for the franchise--the first official male cure, the first main cure that's eighteen years old- but above all, it has a lively team of characters with who have an entertaining dynamic and enjoyable individual journeys. It's often very funny, the baby has a surprisingly good character arc, and it's bursting with magical girl (and boy) goodness! It's also not afraid to give you an emotional gutpunch when you've been lured into a false sense of security by all the fun times. If you're new to Precure, this is a great jumping on point, and if you've watched it before, this is a series you won't want to miss.

I'm in Love with the Villainess

Rae is reincarnated as the heroine of her favorite dating sim. But she has no interest in romancing any of the boys- she’s head over heels for Claire Francois, the snooty villainess.

Villainess may not be as polished--storywise or animation-wise-- as these other entries. It's a messy series, it has plenty of problems...but it's also very fun, and it touched my queer little heart like no other. Queer people get to indulge in our imperfect faves too, and the silly shenanigans, blatant lesbian wish fulfillment, honest advocacy for queer people, and the joy and earnestness of the series works for me!

See my full review here.

Some Other Great Anime:

Frieren: Beyond Journey's End (still ongoing, review is for the first cour)

Frieren is a long-lived elf who was once part of an adventuring party that saved the world from the Demon Lord. But now her friends are passing away and the world is moving on. She decides to retrace her old party's journey so she can understand what she's feeling.

Frieren is both an interesting examination of what happens after the hero saves the world, as well as a meditation on mortality, grief, and the endless march of time. It takes you on a quiet, beautiful and sometimes touching journey though a pastoral fantasy world. There's some breath-taking animation and excellent atmosphere to enjoy.

See my review here.

Spy x Family (Season 3)

Spy x Family is pretty much staying the course from when we last checked in, though this season gives a lot more attention to Yor, and I love the cruise ship arc and all the ridiculous fights she gets into a lot! That arc contains some of my favorite gags of the series too (like Loid’s attempts to be a cool dad). Otherwise, Spyfam has settled into a series that intends to be around for the long haul, so don’t expect too much forward plot momentum. And Yuri (the man, not the genre) unfortunately still exists. Overall it was good season and remains a fun adaptation. Yor, please step on me.

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ladyloveandjustice · 1 year

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My Top Seven Anime I Watched in 2022

Here are the best of the best, alongside a few bonus good, good anime. Please note that I’m only including premieres I actually watched in 2022, and there are a few ones I haven’t gotten to yet. I only started watching Bocchi the Rock! this month (and I’m enjoying it) and I’ve heard good things about Raven of the Inner Palace, so I’m planning on checking that out.

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury

Suletta Mercury arrives at her new school with a mech named Aerial and a checklist of friendship milestones she wants to achieve after being homeschooled for years- only to immediately get involved in giant robot duels and engaged to a prickly heiress. Unbeknownst to Suletta, she’s a tool in her mother’s revenge scheme against the terrible corporation that destroyed their family, and things will only get more complicated. Sometimes a fun romp, sometimes an action-filled thriller, and saving its best twist for the very end, this might just be the anime of the year for me. The romance between the two girls at the heart of the series always has you rooting for it, it introduces you to some great kids (and a ton of cool ladies) and as a bonus, it’s wonderfully inclusive. The only think holding me back is the fact it’s not over yet! I’m praying the second season keeps up the good work.

Read my full review here.

Spy x Family

The smash hit about a spy dad, assassin mom, and telepath child who all form a ‘fake’ family- but will they develop real familial feelings? Cute, funny, nicely animated and full of wacky fights and missions, it needs no introduction. It’s just a good time! The second season isn’t quite as strong as the first, but it’s fun to watch throughout and there’s more good material coming!

Read my full reviews here and here.

Akiba Maid War

A fun genre mashup that depicts early 2000’s maid cafes engaged in violent battles over territory (similar to yakuza movies). Features a lot of outrageous comedy and the world’s most loveable terrifying murder maid in Ranko. One of my favorites of the year.

Read my full review here.

Kaguya-sama: Love is War Season 3

The romantic comedy offers some slick animation and bombastic humor as always, while featuring some truly satisfying relationship development.

Read my full review here.

Mob Psycho 100 Season 3

The final season of one of the best anime of the last decade, it offers a perfect resolution to the offbeat relationship of young psychic Mob and his con-man mentor Reigen, while making a strong final statement on the series’ themes of power, identity, self-acceptance and deception.

Read my full review here.

The Executioner and Her Way of Life

In Menou’s world, kids dropping in from Japan and gaining incredible superpowers is a common occurrence. This rarely ends well, so it’s Menou’s job to murder these teens before they can become threats. But her latest target, Akari, has powers that make her unkillable- and she has feelings for Menou! What’s an assassin to do? A darker take on the isekai formula, the show is uneven in parts, but it’s a fun ride and most importantly, full of flawed, murderous women getting in cool fights and having romantic attention for each other. I gotta love it. The world has a ton of potential, so I hope this yuri action romp will get a follow up someday.

Read my full review here.

Birdie Wing: Golf Girls’ Story

A tough teenager is embroiled in an illegal golf ring run by the mafia- you heard me- and while navigating ridiculous obstacles and dirty tactics, she becomes smitten with a rival Japanese golfer named Aoi and wants nothing more than to see her again…

I debated on whether to include this because the second season is really going to dictate how I feel about it, but it made a hell of an impression, so I had to. After all, in the first episode alone, Eve hits a golf ball through a moving train while up against someone in a clown mask. A gloriously stupid and ludicrous take on golf that only anime could do, Birdie Wing makes the most of its low budget to give a unforgettable experience. Just please don’t do a “Eve and Aoi are secretly sisters” twist in Season 2.

Read my full review here.

Bonus anime I really enjoyed:

Aharen-san wa Hakaranai (Aharen is Impossible to Understand) is a very adorable, funny anime about two ridiculous kids finding each other and has a nice trans-positive treatment of one character,

Shikimori’s not Just a Cutie (review here) is a cute anime about a soft-hearted boy and a very cool girl who date,

Ya Boy Kongming! is an anime about famous military strategist from the Three Kingdoms era suddenly finding himself in modern Japan. He comes across a talented but unknown singer and decided to put his gift for strategy to use in managing her singing career and helping her to the top. This is just plain fun, and has a really sweet (and shippable) female friendship at it’s core by the end.

And finally, Sasaki and Miyano (review here) is a slow paced but sweet romance between two boys.

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