The Best Anime of 2018: Part 1 (20-11)

We are approaching the end of 2018. All the major new shows of the Fall season are between 8 to 10 episodes in and are almost over, so we have a good idea of how good or bad they are. Which can only mean one thing: it's time for an arbitrary list of the best anime of the year based on my own subjective opinions passing off as objective fact.

A few rules about this list before we get started. First of all: this is a list that is only for tv anime. Films and specials each have their own measures of quality and I haven't watched enough of either to really say much about if they are the best anime films or specials of the year. Tv anime made for online platforms like Netflix and short-form series are allowed, but no one shot films or specials such as Batman Ninja, Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle, or One Piece: Episode of Skypiea.

Also, while I have seen over 60 anime this year, there have been a LOT of anime that looked good that I didn't get to see for various reasons. Seven Deadly Sins Season 2, Yuru Camp, After the Rain, Baki the Grappler 2018, High Score Girl, Devilman Crybaby, Wotakoi, Jojo Part 5, Hisone and Masotan, Legend of the Galactic Heroes: The New Thesis, and Banana Fish come to mind.

And finally, because there were so many great anime this year that I want to praise, I'm doing a two part top 20 list. I'll be covering number 20 to 11 this week and then do my top 10 anime of the year next week. And before I go on with the list, I'm going to add to the word count a little with some honorable mentions that were really good or really appealed to me but just weren't good enough to get into the top 20. 2018 was a pretty great year for anime, you guys.

Honorable Mentions

• Bloom Into You
• Aggressive Retsuko
• Space Battleship Tiramisu Seasons 1 and 2
• Angolmois: Record of Mongol Invasion
• Zombie Land Saga
• Hinomaru Sumo
• Layton's Mystery Detective Agency: Katry's Case File
• Asobi Asobase
• Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens
• The Disastrous Life of Saiki K Season 2

Number 20: Overlord II and III

Overlord was a fantasy isekai anime made by Studio Madhouse based on a series of light novels released in 2015, telling the story of an average nerd trapped in a fantasy world that is similar to the MMORPG he used to play actively before it was disconnected. And, much to the surprise of anyone familiar with how these kinds of anime tend to turn out, it was actually pretty good. It had a strong cast of characters and a unique hook where the protagonist becomes an evil dictator due to it being expected of him by his NPC subordinates and as a cover for expanding his influence in an attempt to find other people from Earth and a way home. And now in 2018, Madhouse returned to the story of Overlord, releasing a second and third season that expanded the story to a truly global perspective as Ains continues to bumble his way into conquering the world while still playing everything off as part of a grand master plan.

What really makes the new seasons of Overlord stand out compared to what came before is the shift in perspective. In season 1, we stayed firmly in Momonga's perspective as he learned more about his new world and adopted the identity of the Overlord Ains Ooal Gown. But in the new seasons, he was rarely the focus of the narrative, and he occasionally didn't appear on screen for episodes at a time. But the story never stopped being about him and what he was doing. Characters reacted to his moves off screen and either became the unwitting pawns of Ains and his subordinates or died in a helpless struggle against him. And season 3 in particular really showed the culmination of Ains's character development, as any shred of human decency he once had has long since been lost, and now he commits atrocities for its own sake, his previous mission of finding his fellow players a hollow excuse. The only reason this doesn't rate any higher is the animation quality.  I've always said that Overlord is the ugliest good anime ever made, and the new seasons don't do it any favors. It's never awful, but the overuse of low quality CG for monsters can really ruin a few crucial scenes. 

Number 19

Grand Blue is a comedy anime based on a manga produced by Studio Zero-G. It tells the story of Iori's freshman year of college, where he joins a scuba club whose membership is almost exclusively hard drinking, idiotic frat boys. Iori and his friends engage in wacky misadventures as Iori works toward getting a license to dive with the rest of the club.

When I first started watching Grand Blue, I thought it was going to be a story with a relaxed tone, where characters were going to slowly learn about diving and work through some emotional issue or learn about friendship or something like that. I was not expecting the anime equivalent of Animal House, with copious amounts of misunderstandings, friends backstabbing each other, and male nudity. The humor is occasionally too mean-spirited for my taste, but I was laughing more often than not, and the entire show has an air of camaraderie underneath all the nonsense. When push comes to shove, the members of the diving club are always there for each other, and there are some genuinely sweet moments that remind you that these characters are still human and deserve your love...right before someone (usually Iori) makes a fool of themselves and you laugh at the others ridiculing them.

Number 18: Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai

I've talked about this one quite extensively in the Weekly Roundup, so I'm not going to go too in depth here. But in case you are new or have not been following the roundup at all, this is a supernatural harem romance anime by Studio Cloverworks (established in 2018, no less!) based on a series of light novels, where the budding relationship of our two leads is constantly interrupted by the manifestation of teenage angst into supernatural afflictions affecting literally every girl the protagonist meets.

This is a show with very misleading marketing. Based simply on the title and poster, I expected to see a light-hearted comedy with a lot of contrived situations where the main character saw the various ladies in his life in various compromising positions and states of undress. Something to poke fun at in the roundup and then drop if it stopped being funny. Imagine my surprise when I got a heartfelt romance with a cast of extremely likable characters and some of the best witty dialogue I have ever seen, not just in anime, but in all of fiction. All of the cliches I expected to see are either not present or twisted in a new way in order to make a point. Some of the story arcs aren't quite as strong as the others, but when the longest arc is three episodes long and the main romantic story between Sakuta and Mai is still constantly moving forward, it's not really much of a negative.

Number 17: Run With the Wind

Yet another show that I've talked about in depth in the weekly roundup, Run With the Wind is a sports drama series based on a novel produced by Production IG. It tells the story of the Kansei University track team, which was formed through the machinations of their captain Haiji blackmailing the others into forming the team in exchange for room and board at their dorm. Despite having the prodigious Kakeru joining the group as a freshman, everyone else on the team is a rookie to competitive running, and Haiji has a lot of work to do to get the team ready for the big team marathon known as the Hakone Ekiden.

Production IG has a long history of making sports anime, having previously worked on Kuroko's Basketball, Haikyuu, Ace of the Diamond, and The New Prince of Tennis, and all of their experience shows here. Animations are smooth and fluid, and even though individual races aren't always the focus of the story, they are framed perfectly to push forward the growth of the characters. And what a fantastic group of characters! They are each unique and likable, with half a dozen smaller stories consistently being pushed forward in the background while the main plot of Kakeru and Haiji advance in the foreground. It's a very understated type of story, with big climactic moments being replaced by smaller, emotional character moments. It's really hard to judge how good this show is since it will only be halfway over at the end of 2018, but this first half has been incredible.

Number 16: Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card Saga

Cardcaptor Sakura was a magical girl series based on a manga produced by Studio Madhouse that ran from 1998 to 2000. It was a fun blend of romance, action, and coming of age stories and told the tale of Sakura, who stumbles upon a magic book and accidentally unleashes its power on the world, which she needs to seal in magic cards that she can use in future adventures. Madhouse returned this year to adapt the sequel series Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card Saga, which takes place a few years later as Sakura is reunited with her long lost boyfriend-but-he-won't-admit-it Syaoran and her cards lose their power as a new set of cards manifest themselves.

Cardcaptor Sakura is a show that is very close to my heart, having been one of my first experiences with learning to appreciate a show upon revisiting it after having been introduced through a terrible English dub. It also stands out as one of my brother's favorite anime ever, and since he doesn't like anime much at all, I appreciate it for giving us something in common. It also makes Clear Card quite difficult to talk about. Everything about this series is building on what came before 20 years ago, and it's such a natural continuation that it feels like it never ended at all. The relationship between Sakura and Syaoran is incredibly sweet and wholesome, and if it isn't clear yet, I love me some sweet and wholesome romances. The encounters with the new cards may mirror encounters from the original series, but it soon becomes apparent that this is intentional and plays into the greater story. My only complaint is that the story doesn't actually end yet, but hopefully a second season will be announced soon.

Number 15: Captain Tsubasa (2018)

Oh, hey, it's that show I keep mentioning in passing while talking about other sports anime. Neat. Captain Tsubasa was a soccer manga from the 1980s that's been running on and off all the way to the present day, telling the story of a prodigious soccer player named Tsubasa, following him from elementary school all the way to a professional career. It has been animated several times in the past, starting in 1983 and most recently in 2001. But this year, David Production has remade the original 1983 anime and covered Tsubasa's arcs in elementary and middle school.

I've never seen or read Captain Tsubasa before, so I have no real preconceptions about what the series is supposed to be. I have watched the opening for the original series, and I can honestly say that I much prefer the remake's art style. Narrative-wise, though, I assume that the two different adaptations of the manga are mostly the same, and originally, I was unimpressed. It was never bad, but the introductory arc of Tsubasa and Wakabayashi meeting and having their first game against each other didn't quite live up to the expectations I had after reading about how influential and popular the manga was. But once Misaki is introduced and the tournaments begin, the pace picks up and the greatness begins. Everything about the matches is a perfect example of how to build hype and develop rival characters, and the narrative conceit of frequently leaving the overpowered Tsubasa's perspective and framing the matches to be more about his opponents keeps things fresh and interesting. If this is how the story, characters, and matches are written in the manga, I can easily see how modern sports series such as Haikyuu and Kuroko's Basketball could have been influenced by it.

Number 14: Darling in the FRANXX

I briefly spoke about Darling in the FRANXX last week when talking about my unpopular anime opinions, but I think it is worth repeating that this show is just plain good. For those who are unaware, FRANXX is a action-mecha show that came from a collaboration between Studio Trigger and A-1 Pictures which gave birth to Studio Cloverworks, who went on to make Bunny Girl Senpai and are working on the upcoming Promised Neverland anime next season (by the way, I cannot contain my excitement for that!). The story focuses on a group of child soldiers born and raised with the purpose of fighting crazy dinosaur monsters with giant robots that are piloted through interfaces resembling sexual intercourse. It's a weird show, to say the least.

Like I said last week, FRANXX is a controversial show in the anime community to say the least. Originally one of the most popular anime of Winter 2018 thanks to the budding relationship between the protagonists Hiro and Zero Two, the beautiful Trigger art style, and the experimental animation direction, fans quickly turned on it during its second half, as its focus shifted to focusing on side characters and suddenly introducing aliens into the story. Personally, I think that the hype at its peak was a bit overdone and never could have been sustained, and I enjoyed every moment of the series from start to finish. It was ambitious and weird and fun, and it had a genuine point to make about how conformity in adult society is dangerous and that the only way we can move forward is to embrace our individuality and also work together to move forward to make an inclusive society that works together for the common good and grows beyond prejudice and greed. And that, confused and garbled as it may have been, is a message I can get behind.

Number 13: Killing Bites

Killing Bites is a seinen action series produced by LIDENFILMS. The story focuses on a college student named Yuya, who gets tricked into being a driver for an attempted kidnapping and rape job. This misunderstanding is especially unlucky for him, since they kidnapped a bio-engineered weapon of a girl who can transform into a beast-man type hybrid -- in her case, a honey badger -- named Hitomi and ends up mixed up in her participation in a secret underground tournament of beast-men fighters directed by human generals organized by shadow corporations. 

Killing Bites is....weird. And more than a little dumb. This is the kind of story that goes all out on cheesiness at all times. There's gory action everywhere, every female character is hyper-sexualized, and corny one-liners are spouted more than once an episode. The whole thing is reminiscent of a trashy drive-in movie, so you know I love it. But even better than the dopey presentation (which is probably the only way to get away with such a silly premise) is the story underneath the style. There's always a little more going on in any given scene than it first appears. The shadow corporations sponsoring the tournament all have their own representatives with their own backstories, motivations, and conflicting agendas. Yuya and Hitomi's relationship is awkward and tense at first, but slowly builds to something resembling friendship. The tournament goes beyond Hitomi just wrecking everyone in her way and instead plays out as a strange game of cat and mouse simulating a four-way chess match, where the advantage goes back and forth several times in any given episode. I was left on the edge of my seat every single episode, and the final episode cliffhanger was so good that I actually want a second season of this more than any other anime that aired this year, just so I can get some goddamn closure.

Number 12: Food Wars: The Third Plate: Tootsuki Train Arc

Here's a riddle for you: If a popular anime splits its third season into two parts and airs the first part in 2017 and then the second part in 2018, does that second part still count as a 2018 anime? Well, MyAnimeList seems to think so, so that's what we're going with. Plus, it gives me an excuse to talk about Food Wars, and I'm not gonna complain about that. For the uninitiated, Food Wars is a shonen cooking battle anime by JC Staff telling the story of Soma Yukihira's time as a student at the elite cooking school Tootsuki Academy. The Tootsuki Train Arc of the third season focuses on Soma and his friends struggling to keep their enrollment at the school alive after the hostile takeover of the academy by Erina's estranged father Azami, whose radical cooking elitism threatens to remove all chances for personal expression for the young aspiring chefs.

Yeah, Food Wars is another show that takes a super goofy premise and plays it completely straight. I have a pattern in shows that I love, I guess. Everything that I love about Food Wars is still here, from the strong character writing spread out among a diverse cast of characters to the gorgeous art representing the food (it's so good it literally makes my mouth water) to the sexual imagery used during a tasting no matter how attractive any given character may be. And finally getting to see moments like the shared backstory between Azami and Soma's father or Soma's rematch with Hayama was so exciting for me that it didn't even bother me that the animation wasn't quite as good as it had been in previous seasons. The Tootsuki Train Arc shows that JC Staff knows how to hype up an audience even if they have a limited budget, and I feel much better about them taking over One Punch Man season 2 from Madhouse now.

Number 11: Skilled Teaser Takagi-san

Skilled Teaser Takagi-san is a romantic, slice of life style comedy produced by Shin-Ei Animation, who I had never heard of before this show but they've been making anime since the 1976, so what do I know? The show is a collection of sketches that focus on the relationship between middle school students Takagi and Nishikata. Their friendship is based on the endless teasing of Nishikata by Takagi, who uses it as a way to subtly test the waters for a romantic relationship with him.

This show is adorable. If I had to describe the dynamic between Nishikata and Takagi, I'd say it's like Tom and Jerry with a romantic spin. Every time Nishikata tries to one-up Takagi and embarrass her in some way, she sees it coming and turns it around on him, yet the two are still so friendly and affectionate with each other that you can't help but root for them. And the fact that the comedy was broken up with so many moments of genuine sweetness elevates the show from being a good one to a great one. Everything has this atmosphere of innocence, sincerity, uncertainty, and hope that really speaks to the experience of spending time with your first crush, and I always had a big dopey smile on my face whenever I watched this. 

And that's the first half of my favorite tv anime of 2018! What will the top ten be?  What will be anime of the year? We'll find out next week! Until then, my name is Patrick, and I suck at conclusions!