There’s something to be said for putting down a more permanent record of your favorite anime of the year. I didn’t do it last year and I realized I regretted it—so this year, although I said I wouldn’t and the list will be shorter than normal—I won’t make the same mistake.
These are my picks for the top anime of 2018.
2018 was yet another year of evolution in my journey as an anime fan. Throughout the year, I spent less time watching anime and less time engaging in anime-related activities like doing freelance writing, blogging, and livetweeting shows. So as I started to consider “my year in anime,” I wondered if I would have much to say.
I needn’t have worried. The year is 2018 and anime is still good, so in the spirit of the 12 days of anime project (that I didn’t do this year)—here are twelve anime things that brought me some joy this year.
Recently, Crunchyroll got in touch with me to ask if I could put together a review for Mari Okada’s directorial debut, Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms. Any long-time readers of the blog will know I’m a huge Okada fan, so of course I jumped on the opportunity to write about her magnificent film and how it deftly weaves narrative, theme, and aesthetic together to create a gorgeous emotional tapestry.
I don’t have as much time these days to watch anime, but the start of a new season is always so fresh with hope and excitement just at seeing new things we haven’t seen before, that I couldn’t resist checking out a few more shows than I actually expect to follow. So here’s a breakdown of what I watched, and what I thought!
Despair is a reality with which we must contend.
As you may or may not have heard, Crunchyroll brought the Bungo Stray Dogs: Dead Apple film over the states as part of their Movie Night series. I was lucky enough to check it out, and I wrote up a review of the film with my thoughts! It’s no Heartcatch Precure movie, but few franchise films are so I can’t knock it that bad for being visually stunning while kind of flat narratively.
Putting words to that vague idea and (likely) wild claim that Hyouka might the best-directed TV anime of all time.
