Winter 2016 anime! My Top 9

Hello and welcome to my review of my top 9 anime from Winter 2016!

Let’s jump right in shall we.

Number 9.

Active Raid is one of the shows that has been flying under the radar this season as not many people have been watching it. The story is based around Asami Kazari who is an Assistant Inspector and her joining a group called the Mobile Assault Division or more commonly known as “The Eighth”, her assignment is to restore the image of the Armored Police Force. Eventually they end up facing a group of people called “Logos” who are trying to cause mayhem throughout Japan by using every day people and the machines known as Willwears.

While the show itself has an interesting story, a very good art style(reminiscent of Clamp animation and a bit of Code Geass) and really cool CG animation for the Willwears, it suffers from a slow pacing through each episode and a poorly formed villain.

All together though this show is still worth the watch as all the good elements out weigh the bad and with that this show gets a 7.5/10 from me.

 

Number 8.

Schwarzesmarken(or the prequel to Muv Luv) the German word for “Black Marks”. The Show is set in the 1980’s in an alternate time line version of East Germany, it follows the East German Army’s 666th TSF Squadron. They specialize in Unconventional Tactics using advanced Technology to fight Beings of extraterrestrial origin or the BETA. The BETA are a fearsome unpredictable enemy that seem dead set on destroying the human race and taking earth and it’s resources for themselves.

Schwarzesmarken has some great points to it, the action sequences are very well done and wonderfully violent. The Mechs that are used are hand drawn as opposed to CG, which makes them stand out against the dark background and bloody war that occurs in the show.

Though it does suffer quite a bit from quite a few problems. The story slows down severely when a battle is not occurring and has suffered from a side story that almost brought down the actual story itself. The characters aren’t very well put together and can come across as boring. While it’s not necessarily required, it helps a lot if you’ve seen the original Muv Luv series to get a better feel for the setting and time frame in the show.

While there are plenty of good things about this show, the bad things in Schwarzesmarken drag down the show a lot. So overall this show gets a 7.5/10 from me.

 

Number 7.

In Musaigen no Phantom World, Phantoms, beings that blur the line between illusion and reality, wander around right under the noses of unsuspecting humans. The origins of Phantoms are mysterious and few can see them, until a research facility bombing spreads a virus that grants the ability to. Humans with special powers or “Phantom Hunters” are tasked with sealing the trouble making phantoms.

Phantom World follows Haruhiko Ichijo and his rambunctious team Mai Kawakami who are at the bottom of the Phantom Hunter ladder at Hosea Academy. In order to become stronger they recruit new teammates and develop new powers.

Phantom World has its good moments as well as a handful of bad as well. The good moments consist of some very funny humor between the characters and some very interesting story arcs, while the bad side consists of a bad arc about one character(who was actually a really interesting character until said arc) and some moments to where things completely went off track for the show.

All together though, Musaigen no Phantom World was a pretty good show all around. So it gets an 8/10 from me.

Number 6.

Kazuma Satoru, a high school student, gamer and shut-in, died on an average day walking home from school, performing the one heroic act of his life. He reawakens in the afterlife where he meets a “beautiful” but rude girl by the name of Aqua, who claims to be a goddess that guides the youth whose lives got cut short. She offers Kazuma a choice: go to heaven or get sent to another world to defeat the Demon King.

Konosuba is a fun little show that bases itself around its Comedy and Fantasy aspect, the comedy stems from the interactions between the characters. Whether it be Kazuma, Aqua, Megumin or Darkness, the situations and conversations the characters have is a huge strong point for the show. The Fantasy aspect stems from the “battle” sequences, now I say “battle” but it’s more so just Kazuma and his group stumbling around to defeat enemies.

Though unfortunately the show itself suffers from only having a 10 episode season which made the pacing to the show go a little bit fast. That, fortunately, is the only down side of the show, as the rest of the show itself is still very good. All together with its hilarious comedy and pretty cool fantasy aspect, KonoSuba gets an 8/10 from me!

Number 5.

The Students of Class 3-E return for their second semester. Following the exploits on the island during summer vacation, they continue to set their sights on their slippery teacher Koro-sensei. They have more to worry about than just their teacher, however, as enemy assassins, both old and new, are out to get Koro-sensei as well. They also have to worry about their rivals in Class A as well as the Fearsome Principal of Kunugigaoka Junior High.

The Continuation of the first season of Asssination Classroom, S2 brings more fun from Koro-Sensei and his group of students. From trying to pair Irina and Karasuma to battling the Class A students for supremacy of the school, we’re treated to a fun portion of the anime as well as getting to know the students back stories this time around!

Really the only down side of season 2 is that it’s going to end along with the manga and that’s it. The second season has proven itself as the better of the two seasons, as it has brought more story and a lot more fun to the table. All together Assassination Classroom S2 8.5/10 from me!

Number 4.

Some time has passed since humanity drove back the invading forces from what is known as the  “Special Region”. Since then, a bustling town has formed inside the protective walls of the SDF Basecamp. After Japan’s extreme show of force in destroying the Kingdom’s forces during the second battle, commerce and diplomacy between Japan and the native people flows naturally.

However, there are some in the kingdom that still don’t trust Japan, viewing them as a threat bent on taking over.

GATE S2 follows our fearless hero Itami Youji as he(as well as others) try to maintain and bring peace between both Japan and “Special Region”. We of course get a lot of answers to questions left off in the first season, but it also leaves us with even more questions from this season. We get a lot of new characters as well that add something to the story, especially to the hugely important political side.

We also get a big new villain in Prince Zozal(Pina’s Brother) and his servants, which he becomes a huge plot point during the show itself.

GATE S2 was nothing short of awesome, The story always kept me intrigued and the character interactions got even better this season. How they wrote every character this season was amazing, with Itami struggling to help others(Tuka, Pina, Lelei etc), Zozal being a really really good bad guy(enough to make you hate him with a passion), along with all the other characters you meet this season.

GATE S2 was an amazing follow-up to the first season and I look forward to S3 hopefully. Overall GATE S2 gets a 9/10 from me!

Number 3.

Meet Galko. Tall, buxom and Fashionable. She’s seen as popular and a bit of a party girl. Although she can be sharp-tongued, she’s a good person. Her close friends Otako(who is Galko’s polar opposite) and Ojou(an airhead from a Rich Family) round out the Trio.

Oshiete! Galko-chan is a short anime about the daily lives and humorous discussions the girls have and various myths about Girl’s bodies.

Galko-chan is a super funny and super endearing, with the character interactions being a very strong point of the show. For a show that runs Seven Minutes and Fifty Seconds, the animation is very good and the story telling is fantastic. From learning about who each girl is, to the funny situations involving the myths behind a girl’s body. Galko was the short show to watch from the Winter Season, it definitely set a precedent for short shows this year.

Overall, Oshiete! Galko-chan gets a 9/10 from me!

Number 2.

In the countryside stands a sweet shop run by the Shikada family for nine generations: Shikada Dagashi. However, despite his father’s pleas, Kokonotsu Shikada, an aspiring manga artist, adamantly refuses to inherit the family business. That may change however, with the arrival of the eccentric Hotaru Shidare. Hotaru is in search of Kokonotsu’s Father to bring him back to work for her family’s company, Shidare Corporation, a world-famous sweets manufacturer. While he refuses at first, he states that he will change his mind if Hotaru can convince Kokonotsu to take over the family shop.

Dagashi Kashi is a fun show with a lot of humor and it has it in spades. Along with being the Third show in the Winter Waifu War, Dagashi Kashi brings a varied sense of humor along with a bit of education for the common Japanese Dagashi Candy or snack food. By having both of these elements mixed together along with fantastic character interaction, Dagashi Kashi gets a 9/10 from me

and my Number 1 of the Winter season!

Just as tragedy is about to strike, Satoru Fujinuma is sent back several minutes before the event occurs. The 29-year-old manga artist has taken advantage of this powerful yet mysterious phenomenon to save many a life.

However, when wrongly accused of murdering somebody close to him, Satoru is sent back to the past, but this time to 1988. 18 years in the past…

And literally that is all I can summarize for Boku dake ga Inai Machi without spoiling the rest. Erased was the Diamond in the rough for the Winter season, being that it shined brightly among all the other shows from this season. With a unique art style, story and amazing character interaction, Erased takes all this and wraps it up in an amazing story where you find yourself cheering for the Protagonist from beginning to end and eventually absolutely hating the Antagonists.

This is the show that I will recommend time and again for those that want to know what the best anime from this year were. This will definitely be one show that I’ll be picking up when it hits shelves here in the states…

All together Boku dake ga Inai Machi gets a 9.5/10 from me!

That was my Winter Anime 2016 list! What’d you think? Did I miss any out? Tell me in the comments.

Until the next time,

This is Pervy Fatman, I’ll see you on the Other Side!