#if there is anything that gets me emotional it is empathetic portrayals of monsters...

[terrible-shining-eyes]

Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson / Wildflower by Beach House / Beth Carter's Minotaur sculptures

[thefloatingstone]

In 2012 I did not think I’d be able to make this list as I was convinced anime was on a permanent decline towards nothing but trash, but I am so happy that has changed! And so I give you a quick list of;

Favourite Anime made in the last 4 years!

Mob Psycho 100 (2016)

A no brainer, really. With a 2nd Season having JUST premiered earlier this week, MP100 is easily one of not only best LOOKING animes in a very very long time, but also one with an extremely strong empathetic message that’s completely opposite to most shounen anime. The theme of “having outrageous powers doesn’t make you any more or less special and important than any other human being” and how all the villains in the show are people, either super powered or not, who believe themselves “more important” than others is at the heart of its story. And our protagonist who is a person with horrifically strong powers, but who is trying to develop as a human being, and finds himself to be a rather emotionally brittle person who relies very heavily on others for emotional support. As well as focusing on the people willing to grant him that. It’s got some strong influential roots in the Earthbound and Mother 3 games and despite never saying anything along those lines, I can bet you anything the original Mangaka, ONE, drew heavy inspiration from their tone and presentation, as well as emotional core despite the oftentimes wacky setting.

The anime should also not be overlooked for its incredible Sakuga sequences, as well as using mixed media in its animation from pencil drawings, to paint of glass, to charcoal to sand, cementing it as easily one of the most visually interesting and ambitious shows in the last decade or so

Made in Abyss (2017)

An anime that understands concepts of Scope and Scale and manages to bring what is normally reserved for feature films to an episodic storyline. Made in Abyss’ entire theme and story is that of exploration of the unknown and everything in this anime’s power is honed to bring across that feeling. Its art direction headed by Osamu Masuyama whose previous work include working on the background art for both Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle, is painstakingly rendered to bring as much gravitas to the setting as possible, aided by the soundtrack written by Kevin Penkin which is just as much atmospheric as it is musical in nature. Every ounce of talent is focused on making Made in Abyss’ world, culture and characters feel solid and real. And unlike other anime with cutesy art styles but dark subject matter, Made in Abyss’ darker tone is established right in the first episode and gradually builds to its first season’s climax, rather than blindside its audience out of nowhere.

I sincerely cannot sing this show’s praises enough.

It also doesn’t hurt that the animation itself is fluid and lively.

Re:Creators (2017)

When I gave this to an animator friend of mine, one who is NOT as big a weeb as I am, he referred to it as “if Ready Player One actually knew what it was doing.” Re:Creators is one of a trend of some anime where the narrative is extremely meta in nature, but rather than use this as a form of parody, Re:Creators instead focuses itself on using its meta storytelling to shine a light on Japanese popular media as a whole, both from the side of the creators who MAKE such things, as well as the side of the fans and not only their response to media, but their interpretation and addition to popular media. And unlike the more critical approach several horror anime have taken in the past, Re:Creators also shows the positive effect stories in the form of anime, video games, manga etc both on those who read it as well as those who create it. And show how fan creations and their responses and reaction to media are just as important and enriching to works like this as the very people who create them.

It’s also one of the first shows from any country that correctly portrays what online fan culture is like. Both good AND bad.

Erased (2016)

HOO BOY. The Big Guns. Most mainstream anime set in a modern setting inevitably seem to involve high school or at least characters who are high school aged. Erased, however, deals with a protagonist who is 28 years old. Due to time travel shenanigans, he is transported back to 1989 when he was 11 years old growing up in Hokaido. So already, this anime is complete skewing the generic setting for stories of its type, further hammered in by the fact that the show has no romantic subplot in it. There might be a smidge of something like “preteen romantic feelings” among the children but as far as “female hero the protag is going to fall in love with at the end” goes? Yeah there’s none of that.

Erased is an extremely dark anime, but not in the way Made in Abyss is dark. Whereas Abyss’ dark tone comes from things like getting eaten by monsters and body horror caused by the Abyss’ curse, the dark theme of Erased on the other hand is much more horrifying as it comes from “reality”. And it’s because of this I WILL have to warn people about its plot points because it WILL and DOES get uncomfortable.

The plot of Erased is our 28 year old protagonist gets hurled back in time to when he was 11 years old in Hokaido, as I said. In the winter of 1989 there were a string of child abductions and murders, and it’s up to our main character, again in his 11 year old body, to solve these crimes to prevent a tragedy in modern day. Not only does the show deal with the very uncomfortable topic of child abduction and murder, but a MASSIVE part of the plot revolves around the would be murder victim, Hinazaki Kayo, who is living with her physically abusive mother. And unlike shows like “Magical Girl SITE”, the abuse is not shown as “suffer porn” and blown up to be so over the top in how bad it is, ut is instead extremely grounded and feels waaaay to real to the point of being very upsetting. However, the abuse is not there to make the audience sad. The abuse is in the plot to further press upon the audience the borderline helpless state our main character is in. As a child, he has to rely on his experience and ability to think like an adult to try and prevent the serial murders, as WELL as try and get Hanazaki out of her abusive situation. It also serves as a learning experience for our main character, and him figuring out how he hasn’t changed at all since he really was a child, and how his own stagnation in life itself needs to change and be redirected. The show is bursting with tension and every episode exists to turn the stakes up just a little bit higher.

I’ve heard some people are extreme disappointed by the show’s ending which I will not spoil, but personally going into it completely blind, I didn’t find any of it to be a let down and its very quickly become one of my favourite anime of all time.

The Ancient Magus Bride (2017)

(I actually don’t like the intro to Ancient Magus Bride so it only gets a link since I can only embed 5 videos)

https://youtu.be/KuZbmLLv1vM

Based on a manga by Kore Yamazaki, who has stated that her reason for writing the story was out of frustration that in “Beauty and the Beast” type stories, the beast always turns back into a human at the end. However this anime is far more than just a monsterfucker’s romance novel (although it... DOES follow a LOT of those tropes but hear me out.)

Set in the English countryside (although our female MC, Rise, is herself Japanese) the show makes heavy use of english folklore. Faeries are a constant presence throughout the show, and these are not the “nice” kind of faeries you’d see in Disney. Despite theyr good nature and honest want to help, these are the kinds of faeries that will kidnap you to their realm if you so much as let your guard down. We also have excellent portrayals of Titania, the queen of the faeries, and her heated relationship with her husband Oberon. Several other creatures from folklore make an appearance too, as well as old traditions such as faerie rings, seeing stones and the magical properties of herbs and flowers.

But beyond all of that, and even beyond the romance tropes or monster protector who is also a threat and powerful lead female who also needs protecting, the core theme of the show is on life. Or more specifically, death. Rise is a girl who is suicidal. And despite her not making any kind of suicide attempt in the show, this is a fact. The majority of the show is focused on Rise learning to “be alive” again, as well as process what life is, as well as what death is in its many forms. The show is a slow build of Rise reclaiming her will to live, not because of a romantic partner, but for herself. Reclaiming her own importance as a person removed from who she could be useful towards, and a slow coming to terms with a truly terrible event in her past and letting go of a traumatic past.

The show has some pacing issues here and there, but I still qualify it as one of the better modern anime shows to have come out in years, and can only praise its life-affirming message it’s trying to tell.

Osomatsu-San (2015)

I am.... not entirely sure how to explain Osomatsu-San.

Based on a manga published in the 1960s by Doraemon Creator Fujio Fujiko about 6 identical sextuplet brothers and their friends... the current and newest anime adaptation has borderline nothing to do with its original incarnation which was more your typical Showa era “hi-jinx” type gag manga. I think the very first episode of Osomatsu-San (which is not available for official purchase last I checked due to copyright issues) sets up the entire show perfectly, as the 6 boys and their friends learn they have a new anime adaptation coming up and realise that nobody in the modern age will want or even understand Showa era manga. So, instead, in an effort to be like “a real anime” they go about parodying literally every popular trope and show that’s out at the time. From yaoi-incest baiting to Jpop boy band to Attack on Titan to Sailor Moon, they keep cranking up the “modern anime” aesthetic until it literally explodes and collapses in on itself. And after realising they don’t have what it takes to compete in a modern anime word, the characters resign themselves to being losers who will never achieve anything in life.... and that’s where the show starts.

I can only refer to the show as “Millennial humour: the anime.”. 90% of it is just comedy with our 6 main characters who are, at their core, pretty terrible people. However, their issues and struggles of trying to be adults make them some of the most relateable anime characters out there. The show bounces from parodying popular culture both in anime as well as in movies to outlining the problems of trying to be a late 20-something year old in modern society to actual hard hitting drama that actually makes you angry because how DARE this stupid show actually make you FEEL things???

It’s borderline impossible to try and explain this show because, just like its 6 protagonists, it doesn’t seem to have any direction in its life. Which is exactly the point.

[hopemikaelsvns-moved]

i binged TUA in one day AND I REGRET IT CUS I WANT MORE tell me your thoughts.

IT’S SO LATE, IM SORRY BB. it’s just that studying took me all the time and also gather my thoughts and actually using my brain, yikes.

SO, i started tua with not a big hopes to be honest. like, i was bored, i was in the metro station and there was the commercial with all the super adjective, ect so i started the first day it was out. AND BOY I WAS NOT READY FOR THIS. i loved the show with every fiber of my body because it wasn’t the regular super heroes serie that you’ve seen the last few years. honestly, it felt like it was a show about a messed up family that learns to reconnect for some (i thought mostly of vanya and luther who were apart emotionally from the siblings than others?? idk how to explain it), or understand their mistakes (like allison did) or just deal with emotional stuff for real. and the super heroes, powers and apocalypse things were just an extra. the plotlines was awesome and actually better than in the comics because when you compare with the comics, the comics feels weak compared to the show. the actors were actually amazing and i loved every single of them?? like i love how they all understand their characters and found their way to make their portrayal feel real. almost as if the characters and the actors are one.

in term of characters, I LOVE ALL THE HARGREEVES CHILDREN WITH MY ALL HEART (and yes, it includes both vanya and luther guys). also, i lowkey loved grace and pogo and patch. luther is really an interesting character, and i may be biased because i can relate to him. i think that deep down, he’s a great person who just want to make the world a better place. like, sure he’s far from perfect and has some flaws but what i see is a person who never had the chance to be their own person, clearly. think about it, luther was put in the first place, the leader, so it can explain why he’s bossy or why he thinks he’s right or he should be the one leading. but also, regishit manipulated him into being loyal to death and just only think of his mission. he never got the chance about anything but number one/spaceboy and never left the house. and then he nearly died and was injected with a serum that changed his body/made him feel like a monster without having any choices nor consent. like idk, i just love luther. diego is THE LOVE OF MY LIFE (but like, u can guess i’ve got a diego url and a fic with him as a li sooo). he’s got such a big heart, and he’s genuinely a good person who deserves better. also, when he spoke about regishit at his funeral?? iconic dare i say, i was like “grad him bb”. i just think he’s perfect and i just love him. now allison hargreeves or do you my baby who deserved better?? in the comics, i hated allison (and the fact that in the comic she used her rumor power to force luther into kissing her made me yikes) and she’s my soft bean. allison is really a strong character not only because she’s badass but also because she’s so kind and empathetic to literally everyone. she cares, and she isn’t afraid to show it. also, i love how she recognize that regishit raised her into bad habits and actually want to change and just stop living like reginald taught her to. klaus hargreeves aka my son. he’s one of the best thing of the show tbh. like his character is a mix of sad and funny and one second you can laugh because of something he does and the next second be like “no bb, let me wrap you and cuddle you”. his growth so far was amazing because he went from someone who was literally using drugs as a shield from both his powers and in my mind, emotions and ended by embracing both. for five, i loved him. like, he was literally a 50s years old in his fourteen body and like, we love that trope in that house. but also, it was pretty sad but i loved how eventually, he accepted help/reconnected with his family. for ben, the little we saw of him and let me tell that i love him. he’s the braincell of the family and you can’t convince me otherwise, and also justin h min is a treasure we need to keep. as for vanya, i see myself a LOT in her. but like, it’s not important. she just deserves the world because she deserved NOTHING of what she got, and i can’t understand the hate vanya got?? because she was lied HER whole life about what she could do, and mostly because regishit couldn’t bother trying to actually teach vanya how to handle her emotion in a healthy way. instead, he just drugged her into feeling almost nothing. then she understand that she was lied to, so yeah, sure she hurt allison (did it was unfair bc she was just kid when reginald forced her into doing it? yes. but reginald is dead, and just when she learnt that she rumored by allison, allison is doing it again and it kinda triggering for her after so yeah, it’s unfair to blame both of them) and the apocalypse was technically from her. but it’s just a result of regshit raising the kids.

in term of ships, i don’t really ship anyone on the show?? not hazel and the lady. and even less allison and luther (BC IT’S FUCING INCEST GUYS, STOP IT PLS). unfortunately, diego and patch was short lived and i didn’t really have time to get attached to them.

anyway, it was my really long post but don’t hesitate to hit me up if you have other question!