My Top Ten Spring Anime 2023

It’s that time of the year again for me to come up with my list of TOP SPRING ANIME of 2023. There are a couple of surprises for me on this list. I’m quite late with this posting, but that’s only because I’ve been having fun viewing a rich selection of anime this season. Let my countdown begin!

Akane and Yamada

At number ten, I have ‘My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Level 999’. This is the only slice of life anime on my list, and rightfully so. This anime is a romcom with online video gaming in the background. Ever since High Score Girl, I’ve been on the lookout for new anime about video games. This story of Yamada, and Akane fits the bill perfectly. Not only is it an anime about video games, but it is also made by Madhouse studios. That one-two punch of video games, and Madhouse is enough to get me hooked on this hilariously entertaining anime.

Megumin and Yunyun

At number nine, I have ‘Konosuba: An Explosion on This Wonderful World’. This is the prequel anime that a lot of Konosuba fans have been waiting for, and Rie Takahashi is back to reprise her seiyu role as Megumin. Of course, without Kazuma this is no longer an isekai (so far), but it is still funny as an explosion that only Megumin has to offer. The presence of Aki Toyosaki adds more funny situations to the series with the interactions between her character, Yunyun, and Megumin providing for some heartfelt moments. The combination of these two legendary seiyu make ‘Konosuba: An Explosion on This Wonderful World’ an enjoyable yet explosive ride.

Maru and Kiruko

At number eight, I have ‘Heavenly Delusion’. This is one of my surprise anime of the season, but it shouldn’t have been since I love Production IG’s work. This post-apocalyptic anime is reminiscent of ‘The Promised Neverland’ (which I dropped). Because of that, I was a bit skeptical on my interest in this anime even though it is Production IG’s work. Good thing I gave it a chance since I am now enjoying Kiruko, and Maru’s search for Heaven to find answers about their past in this sci-fi mystery anime.

Suletta Mercury (at center) and Her Classmates

At number seven, I have ‘Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury’. This is the second season of this sci-fi robot anime, and it is actually a lot better than the first. The mystery of Suletta’s past is revealed along with the secrets of her unique Gundam, Aerial. This is actually the first Gundam series I am watching, and I am loving it so far. There’s a bit of the girls love trope here with the relationship between Suletta, and Miorine at the center of the conflict. In fact, their relationship causes most of the conflict in the story. Even if you’re not a Gundam fan like me, you should give this anime a try. Maybe you’ll at least be a fan of Suletta, and Aerial.

Mash Burnedead

At number six, I have ‘Mashle’ which is this season’s offering by A-1 Pictures. One of the more anticipated anime of the spring season, this anime is a combination of One Punch Man, and Harry Potter. Imagine Saitama going to Hogwart’s, and you’ve got what ‘Mashle’ is essentially about. Picture it in your head. Yes, it is that kind of funny. There hasn’t been a single episode of this anime that I don’t end up laughing out loud. Thankfully, I watch this anime by myself otherwise that would be an embarassing sight to see. Magic, and muscle equals ‘Mashle’.

Chise and Elias

At number five, I have ‘The Ancient Magus’ Bride’. Five years after season one, and we finally get a season two of this beautiful anime. Of course, the center of the story is still Chise, and Elias’s continuing relationship which has gone beyond the romantic. Sure they are master, and student in the mystical arts. However, let there be no doubt that these two have feelings for each other. It’s this unconventional relationship that makes this anime handle mature concepts other than romance such as life, and death with a good mix of intrigue.

Senkuu and Ryuusui

At number four, I have ‘Dr. Stone: New World’. Finally Senkuu, and company are near to discovering the origins of the petrification beam that turned everyone to stone thousands of years before. This is one of those anime that you can use to teach class, particularly science classes. Though a lot of these experiments shown in ‘Dr. Stone: New World’ should not be done at home. Aside from finding out the origin of the petrification beam, Senkuu will also have the chance to make unlimited revival fluid for those petrified. Will either or both of these mysteries be solved this season? I’m watching to find out.

Gabimaru

At number three, I have “Hell’s Paradise”. Studio MAPPA appears to want a monopoly of great supernatural anime. First they got ‘Jujutsu Kaizen’. Then they handled ‘Chainsaw Man’. Now you can add “Hell’s Paradise” to the list. Granted, Gabimaru’s adventures are set in a more ancient setting. Still, the supernatural theme sticks for all three anime. Gabimaru, a convict, is in search for the elixir of immortality in order to get back to his wife to life a normal life. Making sure he does his task, Sagiri Yamada Asaemon guards him with her life. Don’t let all the action fool you. You have some deep themes tackled here including the value of life, and immortality. It also helps that Rie Takahashi is the seiyu for Yuzuriha. Also, you can’t really go wrong with MAPPA’s animation. That last comment is not an afterthought. It’s a fact.

(From Left) Muichirou, Tanjirou and Mitsuri

At number two, I have ‘Kimetsu No Yaiba: Swordsmith Village Arc’. As the flagship anime of ufotable, there isn’t really much to say about the groundbreaking, and breathtaking animation style of ‘Demon Slayer’. It is arguably the best animation out there. And yet, not since season one, I can’t seem to put it at number one on my anime season list. Primarily, the season has been again one long fight scene. I love ‘Demon Slayer’, but it’s going to take great animation, AND a great story to make my number one. So here it is…

Oshi no Ko

At number one, I have ‘Oshi no Ko’. Rie Takahashi sure knows how to pick her seiyu characters. This is her third anime appearance on my list. Rie plays Ai Hoshino an up and coming idol headed to superstardom until disaster struck. Honestly, I took a gamble on this anime because of Rie Takahashi. I rarely read manga, and I had no real background on ‘Oshi no Ko’. This anime gave me such a huge sucker punch that I am very blessed to have gambled on watching it. This has an excellent story that deals with many of our current social realities including insights on the entertainment industry, and online bullying. Some of these episodes really hit the spot. If there is one anime this season that you should watch, it’s this one. Believe me when I say I am eagerly wating for Aqua to get his revenge. The animation is also top-notch, and can equal (there I said it!) that of ‘Demon Slayer’. Socially relevant story plus excellent animation equals ‘Oshi no Ko’ as my number one anime of spring 2023.

Do you agree with my list? Write me a comment to tell me what you think.

My Best Fall Anime of 2022

Welcome to my VERY late top anime of the fall season. I usually do this in the sixth or seventh episode mark. In fact, the rankings here are based on seventh episode viewings. In spite of that, I’m sticking to my guns with this list. So let’s begin so I can start writing my best anime of 2022 soon after.

Yang, Reinhard and Their Supporting Cast

At number ten I have ‘Legend of the Galactic Heroes’ from Production IG. This is a remake of one of the best space opera anime of all time. Personally, I prefer ‘Space Battleship Yamato’ over this. But, this doesn’t discount the fact that this is a pretty good anime. Good enough to make my top ten list for the fall season. I’ve always liked how General Yang and Emperor Reinhard do everything that they can to outwit each other in the galactic combat arena. Each is an excellent strategist in his own right. There will be more of this coming in the future. So if you like space operas without the mecha, you should look into this anime.

Fran and Shishou

At number nine I have ‘Reincarnated as a Sword’. This is my father-daughter anime of the season with Shisou the intelligent teacher sword playing protective doting father to Fran, the black cat with a dream of evolving. This is a stereotypical isekai with Shishou being the overpowered reincarnated character. This anime is fun to watch, and Fran is just such a cute character to root for. Second season is already in the works. More of Fran, and Shishou is good.

Ataru and Lum

At number eight I have ‘Urusei Yatsura’. I have a hidden agenda for supporting this anime. Sure it’s a Rumiko Takahashi classic. Sure it’s a remake. Because of this, I’m hoping that this will open the door for a remake of Ranma 1/2. This is no discredit to ‘Urusei Yatsura’. This is the root of all the wackiness that all other Takahashi works have to offer. Seriously though Ataru should open his eyes. Lum is easily the most attractive character in the series. That’s partly what makes this anime so funny. It’s got a full year cour as well so expect this anime to be around for a while. There’s only one other anime on my list that will be around as long. I’ll get to that much later.

Shadow Garden

At number seven I have ‘The Eminence in Shadow’. Shadow/Cid reminds me of what would happen if you combined Batman with the Venom Symbiote. The result is a VERY overpowered isekai character who creates two sets of harems for himself. One comes from the organization he helped create: Shadow Garden. The other harem comes from the group of fangirls who fall for poor ‘weakling’ Cid. This is an anime worth watching if only to hear the line: ‘I am atomic’. I also watch this anime all the way to the end because of the puzzle images of the female characters in the story. This anime shouldn’t be in the shadow of your anime list.

Mob and the Gang

At number six I have ‘Mob Psycho’. This is the last season of this anime, and it is a fitting end to the adventures of Shigeo Kagayama aka Mob. I’m wondering who will take the banner of representing Studio Bones with ‘Mob Psycho’ ending. There’s a lot of drama here, and confessions from many characters. It’s hard to see such a great anime end, but it couldn’t have ended any better. Still, it wasn’t enough for ‘Mob Psycho’ to break into my top five. Primarily because of the anime at number five…

Kessoku Band

At number five I have ‘Bocchi the Rock’. When I first heard about this anime from Cloverworks, it radiated so much ‘K-On!’ vibes. True to form, ‘Bocchi the Rock’ is the second coming of ‘K-On!’ This might be sacrilege, and I do love ‘K-On!’, but it even does so many things a lot better. I ended up cheering for Bocchi aka Hitori Gotou to overcome her social anxiety. And she overcomes her difficulty a lot earlier than Komi. ‘Bocchi the Rock’ also has an excellent set of anime music that I love to listen to again, and again. This is one of the surprise anime of the fall season for me. I didn’t expect it to make my top ten yet here it is.

Asirpa and Sugimoto

At number four I have ‘Golden Kamuy’. This is also the last season of ‘Golden Kamuy’, and it joins ‘Mob Psycho’ in waving goodbye. I’m not a big fan of historical fiction, but ‘Golden Kamuy’ is an exception to that. Never underrated but sorely underappreciated, the factual elements mixed with the quest of Asirpa, and Sugimoto to find the lost gold make this anime rank high on my list. Note that this is a mature viewer anime with some adult themes. Regardless, this is one of my favorite anime to watch whenever it’s around. Sadly, the anime got delayed mid-season because of the death of one of the production staff members. The silver (golden?) lining there is that I get to enjoy this anime a bit longer before it ends.

Yor, Anya, and Loid Forger

At number three I have ‘Spy Family’. My pick for anime of the year when it came out falls short of number one for the fall season. The entertainment value of ‘Spy Family’ has plateaued, and the reason why I could not put it at number one for the fall season. It’s still pretty good, and funny nonetheless. How could you not adore the Forger Family? This is a masterpiece by Wit Studio and Cloverworks. There’s already news of a new season coming in 2023, and a movie. If you aren’t watching this anime yet, it’s high time you join the peanut gallery. Anya would even join you.

Pochita and Denji

At number two I have ‘Chainsaw Man’. This was a much heralded, and anticipated anime of the fall season. It didn’t disappoint. Studio MAPPA has another winner here on the heels of ‘Jujutsu Kaizen‘. There are a lot of similarities between ‘Chainsaw Man’ and ‘Jujutsu Kaizen’. The big difference is the mature content, and dark comedy that you find in ‘Chainsaw Man’. MAPPA pulled out all stops with ‘Chainsaw Man’ providing it with a different ending song for each of its episodes. That’s not to say the opening song is nothing to crow about. I keep saying this…Denji reminds me of Pepe Samson from the novel, ‘Mass’ by F. Sionil Jose. His needs are very basic. He’s your heroic anti-hero if that makes any sense. This would’ve been my number one anime of the fall season if not for a surprising returning anime…

Bleach

At number one I have ‘Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War’. I was happy to see the return of ‘Bleach’ after a loooong hiatus. Whatever it looked like, I was going to watch it. Imagine my surprise when studioe Pierrot apparently pulled out all the stops to provide us a cinematic masterpiece for EACH of the episodes that have come out. WOW. If you’re worried that there are too many episodes to jump into this anime, don’t worry. You can start watching form the first episode of ‘Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War’, and not worry about what came before. It’s also going to be sticking around a while with a set year cour episode list. Ichigo and the rest of Soul Society are back; and back with a vengeance.

Agree with my list? Disagree? Let me know in the comments.

My Top Ten Spring Anime of 2022

It’s that time of the year again when I count down the top ten anime of the spring season. Take note once again that these are anime that I watch, and have by now reached around six or seven episodes. Whether they remain high on my year-end list remains to be seen. But, that’s a story for another day. Here we go…

I’m Quitting Heroing

At number ten is “I’m Quitting Heroing’. This is a fantasy anime with an op character in Leo who defeats the forces of Demon Queen Echidna. Later, Leo decides to join the forces of Echidna to fight the humans that he once protected. It’s entertaining enough to be on my list though the storytelling pace is a bit slow. Still, there is a mystery behind Leo as to why he IS that powerful. That plus his sincerity to help Echidna, and her forces who are in fact not-so-bad keeps me interested. Moving on.

Kyoukai Senki

At number nine we have “Kyoukai Senki”. The only mecha anime on my list is cour two of the first season. Cour one came out last year, and this second cour is actually better than the first. There are parallels to Code Geass here, but that’s to be expected with Sunrise (the animator of Code Geass). The mecha also looks a little Gundam-like. Regardless, the story brings to the table something new to the mecha genre, and that is the existence of AIs that help pilot the robots here. The icons for these AI are cutesy to mask just how deadly they are in battle. This is the second best mecha anime of the year so far. So, if mecha is your genre, give this a shot.

The Rising of the Shield Hero

At number eight we have “The Rising of the Shield Hero”. I’ll be honest. I was expecting this to be higher on my list with the return of Naofumi after three years. However, the storytelling has slowed down, and the animation from Kinema Citrus is not as up-to-par as the first season. Makes me wonder if they are saving all that energy (and animation) for “Made in Abyss” which is coming this summer. People say that it follows the story in the written material. That shouldn’t be an excuse for this anime to be in my lower ten for the season. Good enough to be on my list. Sad that it’s not any higher.

Skeleton Knight in Another World

At number seven we have “Skeleton Knight in Another World”. This is the better of the the two fantasy isekai on my list, and it is entertaining as Arc. The animation tapered off from the first episode, but the entertainment value did not. If it had maintained it’s animation, it would be higher on my list. Arc is an op Paladin-like character who got transported in a fantasy world in a skeleton body. It’s the reason why he keeps that armor on. Arc is overpowered because he is a paladin with mage/sorcery skills. I mean, come on guys, when you give a paladin (in D&D) access to teleportatin spells ASIDE from cleric healing spells…THAT IS YOUR DEFINITION OF OVERPOWERED. However, this is part of what makes this anime so entertaining. Ponta is a cute spirit creature too so that helps.

Love After World Domination

At number six we have “Love After World Domination”. This reminds me of another Super Sentai parody that came about last year with a different approach. The intro song reminds me of “Miss Kuroitsu and the Monster Development Department”, and rightfully so because it’s upbeat and funny. Unlike “Miss Kuroitsu”, here we have Red Gelato aka Fudou who falls in love with Desumi, the Reaper Princess. Both characters are on opposite sides in the Super Sentai war of good vs. evil. As a result, they hide their romance from their co-workers which leads to all sorts of hilarious situations. Poor Desumi. If only she came out in a different anime year she would have a chance for best girl of the year. That’s almost impossible considering the current competition. More on that some other time.

Summertime Render

Starting our top five is “Summertime Render”. One of two OLM studios entries on my top ten list (more on that later), this follows the reincarnation trope that has become popular in anime. Reminds me a lot of “Re:Zero“, but a lot drearier, and “Summertime Render” is set in modern times. Unlike Subaru, Shinpei Ajiro has a limited number of reincarnations so he is forced to make his decisions with a little more sense of urgency. I mean, if he doesn’t then the world gets engulfed by these mysterious shadow creatures. Talk about pressure. This spring anime has beautiful visuals to accompany its mystery thriller story. Watch it to find out what the mystery is all about.

Legend of the Galactic Heroes

At number four is “Legend of the Galactic Heroes”. I really hate it when Production IG scheduled this anime. They put it near the end of the winter season, and thus this is one of the first anime ending in the spring. It has done this before in “Fena: Pirate Princess“. Having said that, this is one fine space opera that follows in the footsteps of its origninal run. There are lots of intrigue, dogfights, misidrections, and on top of all that beautiful visuals that Production IG has worked on so well. No mecha here, guys. Just ships, and power suits. You don’t get a lot of great space opera anime around nowadays, and this should be one of those you should be watching.

Komi Can’t Communicate

At number three we have “Komi Can’t Communicate”. The second entry from OLM studios on my list is a slice of life anime that is better than its first season. Why do I say that? Because, Komi is actually putting some effort in communicating here. It was so frustrating during the first season seeing her get into situations where she just shuts down. In the second season, she has shown how much she has grown, and how willing she is to overcome her communication difficulty. Communication disorder is a real problem, guys. “Komi Can’t Communicate” shows us how it can be overcome with a certain degree of effort, and help from the people around us.

Ya Boy Kongming!

At number two is “Ya Boy Kongming!”. I love this anime from P. A. Works. This blindsided me, and since I starting watching, it didn’t disappoint. Combining tropes from both isekai, and idol anime, “Ya Boy Kongming!” just has such a beautiful message to it. Through Kongming, we see that this is an anime about believing in yourself, and what you can do. In the case of Eiko, the other main protagonist, she is the one who is holding her musical dreams down, and Kongming is helping her realize just how special she is. And, how many times have you NOT succeeded because YOU are the biggest obstacle to your own success? I think many people can relate to this. Heck, other characters in this anime can relate to this. The animation matches the mood while the memorable soundtrack is so good that it’s making waves around social media. I am loving the message of “Ya Boy Kongming!”, and I’m not alone in loving this spring anime hit. Still, that is not enough to make it to my number one spot.

Spy x Family

At the number one spot on my list is “Spy x Family”. This is one of those anime that a lot of people had high expectations for including me. This anime has a beautiful, and well-loved manga that carries the burden of doing good in its anime adaptation or else. In that regard, Cloverworkds, and Wit Studio have shown us how two juggernaut studios can come up with arguably the best anime of the year (Yes I’m saying that now!). Did they crumble under the pressure? No. Did the anime look like it was made by two separate studios? No. Did they do justice to the “Spy x Family” manga? That is a big YES. Think about it guys. These are the studios that came up with “Ousama Ranking”, AND “My Dress-up Darling”. Think of Bojji (Anya), and Marin (Yor) in the same anime. Then you have the dashing, and suave Loid to hold it all together. It’s unfair actually if you look at it. Though, with two high profile anime studios, you’d think that there would be a lot of egos flying around to ruin the material. That is not the case here. The transition from one studio’s production to another is so flawless that you can’t even tell which anime is responsible for each episode. “Spy x Family” was a concerted effort, and it shows.

Add to that the message of the anime itself, and I’m not forgetting about that. “Spy x Family” focuses on family. Family does not just mean blood relations. Family will help you out in times of trouble. Family will be there in your ups, and downs. Put that theme on family with the entertaining story, and gorgeous animation; and you have “Spy x Family” as my number one anime of the spring season.