Anime/Manga I’ve Seen/Read This Year - Notes from the Myanimelist Anime/Manga Challenges - Part 1 - Anime
Every year on Myanimelist.net, there is a Manga Reading Challenge and an Anime Watching Challenge.
Though I didn’t end up finishing all of my challenges before the deadline, I did see some good anime and read some good manga this year. I will mention a few notable ones, as well as ones notable for other reasons.
This post will deal with the anime side. Another post will be made about the manga side.
Favorites from the challenge:
Haibane Renmei - completed for the challenge “Watch an anime recommended by a staff member”
Very feelsy.
A story about an angel (?) who suddenly appears in purgatory (?) and tries to find her place in the world. I thought the animation style was nice and the story was cute. Some things could have been developed a bit more, but this one still made me tear up at the end.
Wandering Son (aka Hourou Musuko) - completed for the challenge “Watch a Noitamina anime”
Two trans kids in middle school trying to figure stuff out.
I loved the characters in this one. I plan to read the manga when I get the chance to see how the story goes on. I liked how one of the trans kids has an older trans role model to ask for advice. The main girl (one of the trans kids is a trans girl, the other is a trans boy) was the best, along with a couple of the side characters: a rambunctious classmate and the aforementioned older trans role model.
Kaiba - completed for the challenge “Watch an anime with more users in Plan to Watch than Completed”
Vastly underrated.
Takes place in a world where people’s memories can be transferred between bodies via computer chips. A guy wakes up in a room with a hole in his chest and a locket around his neck. He goes on a quest to find his memories and who he really is.
I loved the art style and the soundtrack in this one. The premise was also very interesting.
Fune wo Amu (aka The Great Passage) - completed for the challenge “Watch a completed anime with a popularity of #701 or lower”
A guy gets recruited to help edit a dictionary and makes new friends in the process.
I often found myself headcanoning the main character, Majime, as autistic, and I found myself relating to him sometimes. This anime was just one of the sweetest things.
Cowboy Bebop: Knocking on Heaven’s Door - completed for the challenge “Watch an anime from a random TV Tropes page”
It’s the Cowboy Bebop movie. I love the original show. How could this not be good.
Spike and the gang hunt for a bounty, revealing more than they thought possible.
The action is great, love the characters and the music and stuff. Basically, all the stuff I love from the original series is here.
Other Notables:
Pupipo! - completed for the challenge “Watch an anime that started airing the same day you joined Myanimelist”
A shy girl, Wakaba, can see ghosts. People are afraid to get near her as a result. One day, she gets a pink round creature thing, named Po, as a pet, and it helps protect her from ghosts. And she makes a new friend!
This is my most pleasant surprise of the challenge.
I thought the premise was kinda cute by itself, and it started off as a simple slice-of-life short series, but then near the end, it took an interesting supernatural twist. I also loved the friend character, Azuma. Made me laugh every time she was on screen. And I want a plushie of Po.
The episodes are 4 minutes each, and there are 15 episodes. You can finish this one in about an hour, so search it online.
Legend of Lemnear - completed for the challenge “Watch an anime that began airing between 1980 and 1989″
I would consider this my guilty pleasure for the challenge.
A warrior girl, Lemnear, goes on a quest for revenge against the king that killed her family.
This was honestly a bit contrived and Lemnear’s outfit was super-fanservice-y and there was gratuitous boobs (it was the 80s, after all), and the dub could have been better (again, the 80s), but I couldn’t help but get a kick out of this one.
Probably because Satoshi Urushihara did the art. If you don’t know who he is, read my review on the hentai Another Lady Innocent. He has also done a manga that I started for the challenge, but have not yet finished.
Recovery of an MMO Junkie - completed for the challenge “Watch an anime that aired only during 2017″
A girl, Moriko, quits her job and devotes her time to playing MMORPGs. She ends up meeting a guy, and she and him are both super-awkward about it.
So many convenient coincidences/contrivances, but this anime was still so cute!!
Ling Qi (aka Spirit Pact) - completed for the challenge “Watch a Korean or Chinese anime”
A guy, Yang Jinhua, dies and gets brought back to life ten years younger. He is found by Duanmu Xi and asked to be a Soul Image (like a support spirit, as Yang is still technically dead) to him. Possible shounen ai undertones.
I honestly found this one interesting because this one came out in Chinese first. I watched the Chinese dub of this anime, which I had never done before.
Yang was kind of annoying, but this anime definitely had its moments.
The Short Works of Shintaro Kago - completed for the challenge “Watch an anime with no producer, licensor, or studio listed in the database”
If I had to pick a Worst for this challenge, this would probably be it.
Just some random 1-minute shorts by Shintaro Kago, a mangaka known for making manga that is on the ero-guro side, often involving sex, body horror/gore, and poop. Most of the shorts were just kinda stupid and gratuitous. There was one with Buddha jacking off and like 5 million dicks, I don’t fucking know.
The second episode/short made me laugh for some reason, though.
I would say watch if you’re morbidly curious.
