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zerochanges · 2 years ago

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2022 Favorite Anime

The year 2022 was an interesting one. I’d say it was bad but not all bad. I had a lot on my plate and once again it feels like I never have enough time to actually play or watch all the things I want to within the year. This year just like last year I am going to include stuff irregardless of when it came out, so even if it’s an anime from 2020, if I watched it in 2022 for the first time it will make this list. So without too much more pomp or circumstance let’s just get into my list of anime that I thought was worth talking about in 2022.

A Couple of Cuckoos

So I am starting off this list with yet another basic romcom, just the way I like it. Why not do something a little light and easy for the start? Yeah. A Couple of Cuckoos is more or less what you would expect out of the genre, but yeah, like I was getting at that is more or less all I really want; I’m not asking for a reinvention of the wheel for my entertainment, at least not all of it. The characters are all likable and the show is weirdly 2 cours, something not seen all that often nowadays, which gives you a lot more time with the cast. The slower pace and extra time really helps develop the protagonist’s relationship in a way that feels more believable, well as believable as getting switched at birth and ending up living with randos your whole life then getting engaged to the person your genetic family raised in order to “fix” that can be.

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations

Last year was probably one of the biggest highlights for the Boruto anime, really getting into the solid meat and potatoes of the series and covering a large arc from the manga, and this year … pretty much went the exact opposite direction—yet I loved it all the same. It was fairly obvious from the onset that the series would need another cooling off period so to say to distance itself from the monthly published manga material and give it some more time to serialize itself, so expectations for me where always set at tepid, but I genuinely enjoy the anime original content the series is largely comprised of.

This year started off on a very strong foot none-the-less as it went into a nearly 25 episode long story arc, one of the longest in the anime, that returned us to the Land of Water, something fans have wanted for years now. We got to see the return of anime favorite character Kagura, and a joint mission with Team 5, the often little utilized characters of the main cast. And then there’s the fact that Kawaki officially joined Team 7 with Boruto and crew, making this his first formal mission. Overall there was a lot of content to enjoy here, although I admit due to its length the arc drags a bit in the middle, but has a solid start and finish.

The following arc sees Kawaki take over as the central protagonist in an undercover mission to guard a noble attending the ninja academy, this was perhaps one of the biggest highlights of the anime this year for me, as it really helps shine some more light on our new deuteragonist and brought back a fun and whimsical tone. Seeing a character like Kawaki who had a very rough childhood; an alcoholic father, being human trafficked, and then experimented on, have to go to school with younger kids and try to fit in is in itself just a perfect premise for a story. It also deepens his relationship with his adopted sister Hima as she begins to attend the academy. This was honestly Boruto at its sharpest as far as anime original content goes.

The final arc this year was a bit wacky but just so out-there that how can you not have fun with it. Boruto essentially ends up in a SAW movie and has to survive all these trials to the end. Do people know what SAW is anymore? Should I have said Naruto meets Squid Game instead? Is anyone reading this anyways? Oh well, it’s honestly a lot of fun seeing what death games would be like in the Naruto universe and the large cast created (to mostly die) for this arc have great chemistry with our boy. The staff evenly finds a great way to neatly tie this all together with the main plot of the manga. I genuinely hope we can see a return of some of these characters in future anime original content.

This new year is already starting off strong, covering a Sasuke light novel and then getting back into the next manga arc so I am still really excited to follow the series after all these years.

Call of the Night

I was a big fan of Dagashi Kashi when it originally aired back in 2016, so seeing a new manga from its creator was very exciting. In general Call of the Night is almost identical to his prior series, it carries the same incredibly relaxing and chill aura with emphasis on character interaction. This is a vibe series, largely composed of dialogue between its cast, and that isn’t a complaint, I’d say that is a real strength of Kotoyama’s making interesting dialogue that flows naturally as a pathway to seeing the very soul of his characters.

I adore the night time only setting, being a night owl naturally myself—and the direction, animation, and general direction of the anime is incredible. This is one solid production, with easily the best soundtrack of the year. The name of the manga itself is taken from a song made by the Japanese band Creepy Nuts, which very fittingly ended up being used as the ending theme, but not only that they provide much of the music heard in the show itself, and they are all bangers in my book.

Cardfight Vanguard will+Dress

The inaugural season of overDress was a bit of a mess back in 2021, I think I may have said as much back in my 2021 retrospectives, but I’ll repeat myself here again. It was far from bad but it was awkward; probably down to the fact that it was only 1 cour long and trying to both establish the cast, world, and relationships the series will be founded on, while also being a card battle series—and it often had to sacrifice one for the other at times. The second season or cour of overDress largely corrected that and was where the series really began to shine for me, winning me over and making me feel confident in this new single cour a season approach Vanguard is heading in now.

The newest season of the “D Series�� as it is being called now, will+Dress largely continued being a solid but a bit rushed card battle series. Covering an entire tournament arc in under 13 episodes is no tall order but they mostly succeed in what is presented here and have some genuine great battles as well as fit in just enough character development for a couple cast members that it doesn’t overwhelm us with nothing but battles. It wasn’t as strong as cour 2 of overDress but I was honestly on the edge of my seat during a lot of these fights, and Jesus Christ does the soundtrack destroy this season!

I never seen a card battle anime go THIS HARD before, for real! I have to mention this, I have been a fan of this genre since its actual inception during the mid-90’s and not once have I ever experienced anything as incredible as the will+Dress soundtrack. It’s just that good, a new standard for card battle anime music to follow.

Chainsaw Man

This is going to be difficult. I really don’t know what to do when it comes to accurately describing my feelings towards Chainsaw Man, if anything putting down into words all my thoughts and emotions have been part of what made me drag my feet on doing this list for so long. Chainsaw Man is a complicated show. Well really, no it isn't. But actually it is. It’s difficult. Let’s start at the very beginning since I think that would be for the best.

So for me Chainsaw Man truly began when the manga ran a chapter that featured the characters going to the movies. There they watched a bunch of crappy films all back-to-back and then finally at the end, after hours of countless garbage they see one good film. It brings tears to the protagonist’s eyes over how good the experience was. It was a fascinating and sincere commentary from an author about the movie going experience and what cinema means warts and all. Hell maybe it is even deeper and is about the experience of life itself and how you have to go through lots of bad but that there is still good.

Either way, I knew nothing about the manga at the time when this chapter went viral on twitter. I kept seeing it, and multiple takes on it, and even read just that chapter. It made Chainsaw Man seem like something special to me. And then that’s it. Much like everything else in my life I just never got around to reading the manga proper. Had some friends that loved it, and that one chapter about going to the movies left an undeniable impact on me. But life is life and mine always sees me never getting around to things I really should.

Years later the series gets an anime and I figured “Great! This is my chance to finally get into it” and what’s more it’s being done by MAPPA? “All right, those guys kill it.” And they did. When the anime came out it was highly praised and easily one of the most talked about series I saw on twitter during that season. I finally got to experience Chainsaw Man and honestly … I just don’t know.

Let’s talk about what works. The animation is stupendous, to a stupid point. Even just characters walking are insanely good looking, the most basic stuff, the most minute little things that don’t usually matter, they are all done as well as the big important battle scenes. The English dub is top notch, maybe even the best this year. The dialogue is incredibly natural, and conversations flow just like real life. I especially appreciate the F-bombs that occur fairly often in the series but never feel gratuitous, just another part of how people naturally talk. Which really impressed me since Funimation dubs tend to be far more squeaky clean and avoid the fouler side of language.

So what doesn’t work? It just feels kind of hollow, if that makes any sense? Maybe it’s the pacing. The beginning of the show is slow and not much happens, which I am not complaining about since we’re just learning how the world works and about these characters, but then it just kind of ends. Very abruptly. We take our sweet time, and for what? As soon as the show is getting into the swing of things it just stops. It feels hollow, almost like it was canceled. Maybe this is just the nature of the beast and how high quality productions work, we have to settle for less content that is higher quality, but another cour might have really made it feel better. When the final episode finished I just felt nothing. Just “that’s it, huh?” I wonder if there could have been a better stopping point in the manga, who knows.

I wanted a lot out of Chainsaw Man, there was tons to love, and I can’t honestly think of any other grade to give this anime than an A+, but damn dude, I just don’t know. Why do I feel so empty? Maybe I should read the manga, it might have the catharsis and energy I wanted out of the show but was denied. There’s been some controversy over this anime now that it’s over but I don’t want to contribute to it. I can’t help but feel conflicted though. Will I forever be chasing the high of that one viral chapter of the manga I saw all those years ago? Or am I overthinking it and just want more Chainsaw Man and that’s a good thing? I just don’t know anymore.

Digimon Ghost Game

I did not grow up with Digimon. I say this because there is a very obvious difference between people that did and people that didn’t. I don’t have this irrelevant love for the original series that came before nor even really that high of an opinion on them, and honestly I like when the franchise seems to branch out and try new things—and that’s definitely where Ghost Game squarely falls.

It’s not a perfect show by any means and it has a fair number of dud episodes that just don’t land nearly that well, but it is overall a much more interesting and easier to watch series than the last five or so years of overly indulgent nostalgia trips the series has been set on. At its strongest I almost feel like I’m watching GeGeGe no Kitaro (2018) again, and that is definitely not a compliment I give out lightly.

Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero

I had a lot of reservations about this film. I wasn’t crazy about an all CGI Dragon Ball and I definitely had trust issues with this series when it comes to promises of Gohan being important. After the Buu Saga, being a fan of Gohan is endless suffering. My boy has had more false starts and character assassinations than anyone else in all of anime. He really is the character Toriyama and other Dragon Ball writers seem to struggle with the most despite him being an essential core component of Dragon Ball. When I started watching anime Gohan was who I put myself in the shoes of. He was how I related to Goku and everyone else. I just don’t really wanna see my boy done dirty yet again by another false start that goes nowhere.

Well worry no more! Because the film looks fantastic, honestly there were moments where I forgot it was even CGI at all, it was that good and captured the look of a 2D anime that well. And the plot truly lets Gohan be Gohan again. Between him and Piccolo, the two are able to carry the film. It’s a great return to form and does a lot without having to rely on Vegeta or Goku. I love the charm and humor of earlier Dragon Ball shining through again in the film too.

More of this please. I absolutely would adore seeing these elements of Dragon world explored again.

Dragon Quest: Dai no Daibouken (2020)

The 2020 adaptation of Dai no Daibouken has been a dream come true for me. One of my all time favorite mangas, a venerable Shonen Jump classic, finally got the anime it deserved and it’s been so much fun. I can’t really comment too much more on this, Toei made an incredible, well paced, well animated, and very faithful adaptation of a wonderful manga. I felt like a kid again watching it every Friday night, and the ending is just as good as I remembered. If you missed it, Dragon Quest fan or not, I highly recommend binging the entire 100 episode series, you won’t regret it. This is one of the best that 90’s Shonen Jump has to offer, and done with the best animation today has to offer.

I’m Quitting Heroing

This was a nice little gem of a title that was exclusive to Hidive. A fun twist on the usual JRPG tropes about brave Heroes fighting Demon Kings, we have the titular Hero throwing away his duty and instead joining the demon army! The army he just crushed not too long ago. You see, after saving the human world from the Demon Army, the humans returned the favor by exiling the hero fearing him for being even stronger than the demon threat. Not taking that lying down, our hero has now changed sides.

This series has an insane amount of heart. It’s a very short story, able to be told in its entirety in its single cour season, and yet does so much with its cast. Learning the story behind the titular hero and what it means to “quit being a hero” and finding your own identity and reason to live. There’s a lot more stuff in this little simple funny twist on the usual JRPG formula than you would expect.

Kaiji (Dub)

After 15 years the Kaiji dub is finally here! It’s really hard to believe. How did it take this long to dub such a beloved series I’ll never know?! But finally another reason to rewatch Kaiji in 2022, I’ll take it! If anything, Kaiji feels even more poignant today than it did back in 2007 after two more financial crises and who knows how many recessions have occurred. Honestly every day since the mid-twenty-teens have felt like some absurd nightmare with the rich keep consolidating power and the middle class increasingly disappearing.

The catharsis of the scathing anti-capitalist themes in Kaiji are so needed today. Hell it’s really saying something when a scumbag like Kaiji is the most moral person in the room, money truly does something horrible to all of us. Seeing Kaiji’s moral compass time and time again come to screw him over when he could have gotten out of sticky situations if he was just as greedy and heartless as everyone else really speaks volume to me. It doesn’t help that all the gambling done in these death games are also incredibly interesting and fun to watch on their own even when you ignore the themes of the work as well.

Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer

Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer came out all the way back in 2005 and was one of the debut works of the incredibly talented and often overlooked Satoshi Mizukami. It was a fan favorite manga that sadly never got an anime nor a very widespread publication of the manga over here—with the volumes long out-of-print and often going for very high prices now. Yet somehow, for some reason, all the way in 2022, the series is getting a second chance, Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer got an anime! It’s not great though.

Yeah sadly, the anime isn’t exactly worth the 17 year long wait. It’s not awful by any stretch, and condenses the material of the 10 volume long manga into a complete and full story 24 episode long anime, but I can’t help but feel it could have been better.

Maybe I am spoiled seeing how well other anime productions have condensed materials, the 2011 Madhouse adaptation of Hunter x Hunter comes to mind, more specifically the Greed Island portion, that was a great adaptation of the material, and the recent JoJo seasons like Diamond is Unbreakable is another solid example of taking a lot of material and condensing it, 18 manga volumes in 38 episodes. Animes like these make Biscuit Hammer’s decisions and pacing feel a lot weaker to me.

Then there’s the animation, to be blunt it ain’t very good. All this screams to me that the show had a very tight and small budget and not a lot of staff. I imagined they didn’t really go out of their way to make this series a priory. It kind of reminds me a lot of what happens to Berserk animes, but thankfully it isn’t anywhere nearly as bad as that!

So don’t get me wrong, the general spirit of a great manga is still present in this adaptation. It’s a very unique and well written battle shonen and it definitely is a good enough representation of Mizukami’s work. I’m really glad it happened and enjoyed watching it. I enjoyed reliving this wonderful series again. If you like the anime even a little I do suggest doing what you can to find the manga and see it at its best. Might be a fun read after seeing the final episode. And hey if you’re seeing this on Crunchyroll good news, CR actually has a digital version of the manga on their CR Manga reader. Yeah, remember that thing? Remember how they tried to break into manga at one point. That was a weird time. Anyways enjoy.

Macross Frontier: The False Songstress and Macross Frontier: The Wings of Farewell

I’ll show my age and say I watched fansubs of Macross Frontier all the way back when it originally aired on Japanese TV in 2012. It was an incredibly fun time to see a classic series return again and the production quality blew me away, I never seen CG used in an anime that well before, despite it being such a norm now, it was not the case in 2012, it often did not blend well with the flat 2D animation and looked awful, yet the CG dogfights in this show were incredible, almost movie quality like. Hell watching these movies in 2022 I am still impressed. And oh yeah, I watched these movies in 2022 holy shit!

For decades it seemed like the Macross franchise would be stuck in Japan only, I don’t think anyone ever saw this long feud ever coming to an end but it’s finally over. Blu-rays for Frontier, Seven, and so much more are on the horizon, and we even for the two Frontier films to show in theatres over here! Just simply wow. That alone made this special to me.

Made in Abyss: Dawn of the Deep Soul (the movie) and Made in Abyss: The Golden City of the Scorching Sun (Season 2)

The first season of Made in Abyss was a breakout hit in 2017 and it was never a question of if there would be follow up content but when as sadly the manga is published irregularly. Finally in 2020 after nearly three years fans got Dawn of the Deep Soul, a movie continuation of the first season. I didn’t watch it back then, only seeing it now in 2022. It’s great. I’ll be brief since there’s a lot to cover but it is probably my favorite story arc in MiA now, and where the series really seems to be coming into its stride, if you ask me, someone who thought Season 1 was good but not that good. I’m really glad I finally sat down and watched this in preparation to seeing Season 2.

And without further ado, let’s talk Season 2. Also great. By this point creator Tsukushi seems to have a really good command of his series and is able to do a lot more interesting things with it. The Golden City of the Scorching Sun really presents something he simply could not have done earlier on in MiA and is maybe one of the most complex and well crafted narratives I watched this year. It definitely is the most thoroughly and well written arc of the entire series so far and the longest arc in the series.

I personally think I do prefer the more simple and fun Dawn of the Deep Soul, to me that was simply incredible and had the best fight in MiA occur, but damn if both that film and this new season didn’t impress me equally.

My Dress-Up Darling

My Dress-Up Darling is an incredibly well animated and crafted show, easily the best romance anime of 2022 by a landslide and it’s a shame that while very popular when it aired it seemed to have been forgotten about now at the end of the year. The central relationship between the two leads is just so pure and healthy. Gojo helps Marin with her cosplay hobby and is the first person to not judge her for it. And she in return is one of the few people at their school to see the positive qualities that Gojo possesses. The two are good together and it’s also just refreshing that it’s the popular girl that ends up falling for the guy for once and not the other way around. The two are great together and it’s adorable seeing their supportive side, the season even ending with Gojo staying up all night talking to Marin on the phone to help her feel better is maybe the perfect way to end a season too.

My Isekai Life

Okay I legit only watched this show because it was on Hidive. Being a smaller service they promoted it pretty hard and even gave it a dub despite it seeming like a fairly basic show. I mean dude, look at that name, it even has Isekai right in the title! Like what the heck. But despite this being a very basic and overly simple isekai series, it’s incredibly well executed. I found myself enjoying it every week. I don’t know what to say, maybe I’m a simple man, but the story was never boring and out of nowhere there were fantastic spurts of insanely high quality animation. Why? For a series like this! I don’t know, but the overall package ended up being a nice little show that always delivered every week. I even found myself looking forward to it. Sometimes good things can be something you least expect.

ODDTAXI (dub)

ODDTAXI was a sleeper hit when it first aired back last year in 2021–why it took so long for the dub to happen, who knows, but 2022 finally gave us the English version of this series and that’s what finally got me to watch it. The unique art design is easily the first thing you will notice with the anthropomorphic characters despite this being a mature murder mystery, and it goes a long way to help give this very well written series even more of its own identity. I can definitely see why it was such a well reviewed series last year when it aired and it definitely has some great ideas towards the end.

Sadly talking about it is one of those things that is hard to do, as it will lead to spoilers, but the basic premise is our protagonist Odokawa, a taxi driver, picks up various strange clients, each with their own mystery, and as we follow their cab rides we learn more about the greater murder mystery behind the series at large. I highly recommend not sleeping on this series like a lot of others might have, you are missing out on one of the best who-done-its in anime in a long time.

Shadowverse Flame

Two years back the first Shadowverse anime aired and I called it one of the best animes of the year … for all the wrong reasons! It was a legit mess with an insane plot that flew off the rails and became incredibly dark for some reason. Like the apocalypse actually happens and everyone dies in the show a la Neon Genesis Evangelion, that is something that happens in Shadowverse, don’t ask me why. Despite the apocalypse killing everyone, kids gaining psychic powers and jumping off skyscrapers and not being hurt, and also some part where the cast dimension hopes to the world of Granblue Fantasy because Cygames, I guess, the series got a sequel. And it’s … really good … for the actual right reasons!

Yeah, I never saw this coming, Shadowverse Flame is actually a really competent well made card battle series. I’d even go so far as to say maybe the best card battle anime that aired in 2022. It has none of the insane nonsense that its predecessor did, and actually took the time to explain all the core mechanics of the card game and have dynamic and really well written card battles. The overall plot is fun, basically amounting to a mysterious transfer student Light Tenryu, joining a failed Shadowverse club on the verge of disbanding and resurrecting it. Everything is … good actually. Really who saw any of this coming???

If you like card battle anime, definitely check out Shadowverse Flame, it won’t disappoint, and it isn’t batshit insane so that’s cool too.

Shenmue the Animation

I had zero hope for this toonami original when it was first announced. After all a ton of the appeal to Shenmue was the relaxing play at your own pace sandbox style it helped to revolutionize. I wouldn’t say it was the first sandbox title, there are a few early PSOne and PC games that are very experimental and essentially pioneered this genre, but Shenmue was one of the first big ones, and an inescapable part of the gaming landscape when it first came out. Sure it had a story, and a good one at that too, but the game play and insane attention to detail for the world it took place in is what it is most fondly remembered for.

But despite all that this series ended up pretty solid. Damn it honestly might be the best toonami original series yet, though that’s a pretty low bar. But the series is a pretty solid adaptation of the first Shenmue game, making some very smart decisions in reordering some events and abridging others, it’s overall a solid representation of the original game with the fights fully realized in a way the Dreamcast never could. The latter half of the series that covers Shenmue 2 is sadly a bit worstly paced however and it becomes obvious that the scope of that game was too much for the anime to fully handle, but it still ends in a satisfying manner.

Hell I had so much fun it made me finally, after nearly 3 years, crack open that Shenmue 1 and 2 remaster I bought and replay the games alongside the anime as it aired! So yes, let me tell you as someone that experienced both actively at the same time, this was a solid version of the series.

Spy x Family

The best way to summarize this anime is cute and it makes me happy. Okay that probably isn't enough, sorry. Found family narratives always get to me though and Spy x Family is one of the better ones I’ve seen in anime over the recent years. The premise of a Spy father, Assassin mother, and psychic daughter all living secret lives but together as one family increasingly presents lots of potential for stories, and it’s a rock solid production. The animation is always strong every episode and the character interactions between the central trio always present a solid through line that keeps every episode consistent and fun. Overall a great series with tons of heart and some good laughs along the way too.

Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games Is Tough for Mobs

First of all Mob means NPC in Japanese. I just thought you should know that, because the anime doesn’t care to tell you, even the English dub which really should have if they wanted to use that Japanese term. And yes, if you’re like me congrats now you know why Mob is called Mob in Mob Psycho 100, his nickname is essentially Mr. NPC boy.

I dunno if I would call this show mean spirited? It’s honestly very dark comedy based, maybe even meanly so, but it’s genuinely really fun and doesn’t seem hateful so who knows! The premise of some gamer boy being reborn into an Otomoe (female demographic dating sim) game as an NPC and abusing everything he knows to live the best life is already funny enough, but add that the game is also incredible shitty with bonkers writing, inconstant characters, and takes place in some nonsensical world, and it’s even better. Then there is also someone else in the series who appears to be doing the same but inserting herself into the main story of the game, taking the place of the heroine and wooing the bachelors within it, and how that changes the world is interesting.

Basically Leon, is a huge a-hole and hates everyone and everything in this story, but is able to still come out on top over and over again because of his gamer knowledge and it never gets old.

Urusei Yatsura (2022)

I adore Rumiko Takahashi’s work. Real hot take, I know, after all who doesn’t like the work of one of the most beloved creators in the entire manga industry? But yeah ever since I was young and just getting into anime I always found myself watching her series and reading her works.

For some people today a lot of her stuff might seem dated, maybe too predictable, too slow paced; afterall anime today is all about very fast paced and tightly controlled productions that get to the point right away, but for me I honestly prefer taking detours. I watch Boruto guys, enough said. So you won’t be getting much plot progression out of this newest iteration of her classic Urusei Yatsura, but you will be getting an incredibly well crafted and updated adaptation of a series that helped pioneer a lot of modern tropes still used today in anime and manga.

Plus this is just such a super chill series with some good laughs. I never fall out of my seat, it isn’t that kind of comedy, but I genuinely leave each episode with a smile on my face.

Welcome to Demon School, Iruma-kun (Season 3)

Iruma-kun is easily one of the best long-running shonen series around today. Maybe that is an actual hot take, but I don’t care, I’ll fight you. It’s an incredible and well crafted world with very fun characters that all have great chemistry. Season 3 continues with maybe one of the longest arcs yet in the series and has been tons of fun seeing the Misfit Class take on the Harvest Festival.

I love Iruma being paired with Lead as well in this arc, it’s a great combination of characters and not what you would expect but works so well. Honestly the two of them are kind of the most pathetic people in their class when you really think about it—and that’s why it’s fun seeing these idiots in way-over-their-heads while the rest of their class are genuinely really bad ass in this tournament arc.

I would be remiss to not mention the unfortunate and untimely passing of voice actor Billy Kametz as well, who used to play Asmodeus Alice in the series. Billy was an incredible talent and an actor I loved to listen to in anime; ever since his debut as Josuke in Diamond is Unbreakable I actively followed his roles. When he was cast as Az I thought it was perfect casting and he gave a wonderful performance in the first two seasons. It is a tragedy that he died so young and everyone that knew him seems to paint the man as a truly kind and caring individual. The current replacement for Az, Stephen Fu, is doing a fine job and gives a fairly convincing voice match to Billy, but I can only imagine it is an unenviable situation for Stephen, as he seems to increasingly be casted to fill these roles for Billy.

Ya Boy Kongming

Ya Boy Kongming was maybe my biggest dark horse series of the year. It came out of nowhere and really wowed me. The premise of the great ancient Chinese war strategist dying and being reborn in modern times only to fall in love with pop music and using all his smarts to help promote a young hopeful singer fulfill her dreams is just so funny but played so incredibly straight and sincerely that it never feels like they are wasting your time. It’s surely a comedy, they definitely are having fun with the characters, but this is also equal parts a legitimate idol anime and a damn good one too.

This was one of the first animes this year that really helped showcase to me Hidive’s incredible curation ability post AMC buyout. They are grabbing some incredibly high quality shows. They still can’t compete with Sony’s almost monopoly of the market, or Netflix’s raw power, but they were able to consistently pick a handful of high quality really great shows every season.

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