I don’t care what anyone says, 2015 was a great year for Anime. Rarely do I have the problem where I look back on the year and try to think of the good shows that aired. This year however, I didn’t even have to look at a chart of past seasons to remember the shows I loved. Trust me there were a lot, definitely more than in 2014. However having such a big list of great anime to choose from makes it harder for me to narrow down the best of the best. And after two weeks of agonizing analysis I think I have determined the best anime of 2015.
5. One Punch Man
One Punch Man is sort of boring subject to talk about because everything it has to offer is very simple. However it shines in its simplistic fact making One Punch Man stand out as one of the most purely entertaining shows I’ve seen in years. It looks great and nails the wide variety of tones it tries to hit every episode. All of the characters are interesting and sometimes I even feel deep emotion from them. It’s clear that this is a show that was destined to be adapted into Anime and even if we don’t get more of it, I am more than satisfied with what I got.
4. School Live!
A sleeper hit for sure. I haven’t really seen people talking about School Live in the circles I run in. That is, other than the shocking twist of the first episode. It’s a shame too, because I feel that School Live has so much more to offer than its fluid mix of “Moe Slice of Life” and “Zombie Apocalypse” scenario. The themes it handles are heavy and sincere. Everything the characters are feeling, even the laid back fun times gave me a sense of pure emotion. Rarely do I see a show that is able to tie in such deep and meaningful themes in a seemingly hidden package. School Live certainly does this and is a show I’ll surely be revisiting.
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3. Blood Blockade Battlefront
There needs to be a word to describe this sort of Action/Slice of Life scenario that Blood Blockade Battlefront finds itself in. Much in the like of similar shows like Cowboy Bebop, BBB is mainly about the day-to-days of slightly unordinary people, in an interesting environment. Every episode I got to see something new about Hellsalem’s Lot or a new member of Libra I would truly feel the fun nature that this show emanates. That’s because Blood Blockade Battlefront takes characters, who in all reality I should have no relation to, and manages to give me a connection with. And if I can ground my connection with the characters it makes the maniacal world they inhabit seem much more digestible no matter how insane it gets. If One Punch Man exuberates the light-hearted nature of being a super hero, then Blood Blockade Battlefront does the same thing but with slightly unordinary people in their more than ordinary lives. It gives that sense of relate-ability that most shows set in such an environment simply cannot do. And once you have that relate-ability it makes Blood Blockade Battlefront a ride that you won’t want to get off.
2. Death Parade
Now this show is great just for the discussions it can bring up. Every episode of Death Parade comes with a moral scale that you have to personally take part in. Whether something is right or wrong, whether someone lives or dies, it’s up to you as the viewer to decide which is right. Sure the show has its own set of outcomes, but its true strength is making you care about characters every episode and ponder on the fact that judgment needs to take place. And somewhere down the line you come to the realization that you have no right to be judging. Death Parade cleverly invites you and its characters to do a job that is not possible for someone like us. So what are you to do once you cease being able to judge other? There is nothing else to do but try to understand them. Death Parade deals with the ultimate question of what comes after death, and whether you are prepared for it or not, it urges you to live your life as best you can and hopefully die with as little regrets as possible. Death Parade lets you ponder all these deep questions inside a lavish bar, with some equally lavish characters. Never before have I had such a fun time pondering the deep questions of life or death, let alone relate to some other worldly being who has the power over such things.
1. Yuri Kuma Arashi
Most of the themes of this show I had to look up given that I am not a gay woman who lives in Japan. Much like Kunihiko Ikuhara’s other works, Yuri Kuma Arashi tends to deal directly with issues that face modern society today. With its surreal artistic nature Yuri Kuma is able to capture all the emotion of being someone who will not back down on their love, even at the cost of being brutally ostracized by society. Yuri Kuma is funny when it wants to funny, light heated when it wants to be and serious when it needs to be; and it demands that the viewer is prepared for that. Yuri Kuma Arashi shows that something as complex as love isn’t as easy to tie down into a single definition. It brings to life true cruelties that society can sometimes nonchalantly sweep under the rug, and the people who these stigmatizations effect. It’s a rare event when we get to see such a tight fusion of pure art and pure entertainment which defines Yuri Kuma Arashi. Surely an utterly complex show with meaningful questions about society and love, making it easily the best show I saw in 2015.
