Poll: Best new anime of 2013

[ZehMadScientist]

Well, Girls und Panzer's final two episodes aired in 2013, so technically it's up for nomination right? Because anyone who has been witness of its glory will agree with me that it is basically the best thing ever.

Semantics aside, I've seen a bunch of anime this year, and to be very honest, I don't recall a lot of 'em. That is to say, only a few really stand out as being particularly amazing to me. I'm not too big on Attack on Titan as a lot of other Escapians are, but it was a fun ride at the very least. I am right on the fangush bandwagon of Kill la Kill though, brilliant show, truly. But my number one vote goes to two anime that I liked especially this year.

The first is Uchouten Kazoku (Eccentric Family). It's about a family of tanuki disguised as humans in modern day Kyoto, and revolves around, well, the eccentricities of their family. For a story about flying Tengu demons and shapeshifting raccoon dogs, it is ironically a pretty grounded story about loss, tradition and family values. Oh and scenery porn. Lots of scenery porn indeed.

The second is the currently airing Kyosogiga, and to be honest, I don't even know how to summarize this. I mean, for a good number of episodes, well over half the show, I understood fuck all about what was going on, but I just loved it somehow. And every episode was better than the one that came before it. This thing is truly magical.

Special mention goes to Monogatari Second Season for being Monogatari and rivaling the first season in quality.

 

[Fox12]

My "Most Overrated Show of 2013" award is a very clearcut answer though.
Attack on Titan- Terrible art, cheap animation, worst CG animation I've seen since 2004, characters that are utterly unbearable, story is tripe, characters die for the sake of dying and if the Titans can just walk through the walls then why don't they do that all the time? Oh and let's not forget that the author has admitted himself in public that he doesn't even know where his story is going and that he keeps changing the ending. It's a real "baby's first Grimdark" kind of show. And western audiences gobble up grimdark stuff like it's going out of fashion, which explains its nearly unfathomable popularity over here.

So it's Game of Thrones. That's disappointing, I was hoping to find something to assuage my crippling Berserk withdrawal. Now that I've finished the series it's difficult to find anything impressive. Kill la Kill isn't really my thing, and it doesn't seem like there's much else out there.

Watamote could be interesting.

 

[WWWLUCIFERCOM]

Well seems like I dropped the ball on the poll sorry

 

[neonsword13-ops]

Ah man, it's been a god year for anime AND gaming, hasn't it?

I'd like to talk about 4 shows here

Attack on Titan
Set-up for the series? Excellent. Animation? Revolutionary. Characters? Yeah, they're pretty alright I guess. Pacing? BWAAAA-HAAAA-HAAA-HAAA-HAAAAH

Seriously, Attack on Titan has some of the WORST pacing. Starts of fast, but goes slower than a snail during the Battle of Trost. Disappointing. BUT, if you're watching it for the over-the-top and melodramatic acting and action, it's great. Truly a classic in that respect. And it kicked the industry in the pants due to sheer popularity. Maybe that kick will move the industry in a new direction and keep it from stagnating the market less with its moe shit.

Love Lab
"But neon, you called the moe genre shit! This is heresy!"
Yes, I did. But I enjoyed Love Lab. It's cutesy, light-hearted, and fun to watch. Yeah, it's more moe shit, but I loved the characters. The animation and music is great, too. Seriously, this shit is the tops, yo.

Gatchaman: CROWDS
Holy hot DAMN I love this show. I've never seen a Gatchaman series before, but this is just soooooo good. The music, the art direction, the CG; it's all just so good. Also, Hajime is best waifu. She's always so bubbly and cheerful. Did I mention it's good? Seriously, because it is.

CROWDS flew under the radar of some many people this year, but I can't recommend it enough. It's easily a hidden gem of the year. Day 1 buy of the English localized version for me.

Kill la kill
I really, really, REALLY liked the first episode of Kill la Kill. It set the stage perfectly for the rest of the series with its beautiful world building and well-characterized protagonist. And let me get this outta the way: The reason I've been watching Kill la Kill is because I wanted something so stupidly over-the-top, I could just turn my brain off an enjoy. And so far, I've been getting that in spades. Especially in episode 4, which is my favorite episode so far.

But the best part of the show for me? Mako. This little shit can make any situation laughable and she has a way of removing all tension from any scene she's in.

This is perfectly illustrated in the episode where she saves Ryuko from the clothing assassin.
She is feel-good comic relief to the very core, and she's just wonderful. If not for her, my enjoyment of the show wouldn't be nearly as high as it is right now.

 

[VanQ]

So it's Game of Thrones. That's disappointing, I was hoping to find something to assuage my crippling Berserk withdrawal. Now that I've finished the series it's difficult to find anything impressive. Kill la Kill isn't really my thing, and it doesn't seem like there's much else out there.

Watamote could be interesting.

Game of Thrones is exactly the kind of show I'd liken Attack on Titan to. Now that I think of it, you could replace Attack on Titan in my post with the word Game of Thrones and it would still be an accurate description.

What? No love for Log Horizon? It is what SAO tried so hard and failed equally as hard to be in so many ways.

Intriguing characters, political struggles, and of course ACTUAL MMO mechanics.

You can tell when someone hasn't read the novels when they claim there are no MMO mechanics in SAO. They just dropped all of Kirito's inner monologues for pacing reasons. As someone who has read the novels for both series, SAO comes out on top for actual MMO stuff. Political struggles definitely goes to Log Horizon, even if the anime butchered and simplified most of it. And neither show has particularly intriguing characters to be honest.

 

[Cpu46]

While I almost put Kill La Kill as my vote I chose Attack On Titan.

While both are well paced, fleshed out, and round out my previous top 3 (Gurren Lagann, Euraka Seven, and Soul Eater) to a top 5, Attack On Titan is a show that I can watch my friends who are only slightly in to anime while Kill La Kill throws them off big time.

 

[Zealous]

I had to vote for Free! I just had too.

Seriously though, I'd say Monogatori. I love what they've gone with Nadeko and it's great to see Kaiki back again doing his thing. The awesome visuals are still there and the dialogue is as sharp as ever.

Haven't started watching Kill la Kill yet, but from what I've heard it's the next Gurren Lagann (but even more over the top) which automatically makes it the best anime series ever.

Also Log Horizon seems like a really great show, which might make up for the huge disappointment that was Sword Art Online.

 

[Cpu46]

My "Most Overrated Show of 2013" award is a very clearcut answer though.
Attack on Titan- Terrible art, cheap animation, worst CG animation I've seen since 2004, characters that are utterly unbearable, story is tripe, characters die for the sake of dying and if the Titans can just walk through the walls then why don't they do that all the time? Oh and let's not forget that the author has admitted himself in public that he doesn't even know where his story is going and that he keeps changing the ending. It's a real "baby's first Grimdark" kind of show. And western audiences gobble up grimdark stuff like it's going out of fashion, which explains its nearly unfathomable popularity over here.

So it's Game of Thrones. That's disappointing, I was hoping to find something to assuage my crippling Berserk withdrawal. Now that I've finished the series it's difficult to find anything impressive. Kill la Kill isn't really my thing, and it doesn't seem like there's much else out there.

Watamote could be interesting.

I wouldn't write Attack on Titan completely off. It is well worth a shot and honestly I don't agree with VanQ on the points of art, animation, and story. While some anime are hands down better at all three it is no reason to slam the show.

 

[Ghaleon640]

Attack on Titan is the only one I've seen this year. Really really loved it though.

 

[w00tage]

wow, nobody noticed the new season of Hajime no Ippo? ... well, it is a bit of a quiet show compared to the last season several years ago. And the first 75 episodes were also slowly paced compared to most anime. Which didn't detract from its quality at all imo, the paced bits were the slice-of-life parts of a very strong, surprisingly strategic action show.

However, even though this latest season is less in-depth and skips some of the fill-in manga bits, I have to say the animation is very well done this go-around, and the story is as good or better than the second season.

For your viewing pleasure, here's a sample where a boxer starting his training for a comeback (Volg, a Russian) has a sparring session with our hero Ippo, the Japanese featherweight champion, with whom he's friends. Even though he knows he doesn't have the stamina to really fight, Volg secretly intends to use his vastly superior experience to give our hero a much needed lesson in the weakness of his most formidable tactic, an extremely old move called the Dempsey Roll (invented by Jack Dempsey the RL boxing champion).

His concern is shared by all, including Ippo - the Dempsey Roll has major flaws and Ippo's next opponent is a superior counterpuncher who has openly told Ippo the Dempsey Roll wouldn't work on him. But Ippo is the kind who needs to experience for himself to really learn something, not hear or see, and so Volg is going to teach him the best way Ippo knows how to learn - in the ring.

Subtitles are in Spanish as this is the only clip of the sparring match I could find. Even if you no hablo Espanol, you'll get the idea

Spoiler

 

[weker]

Kill La Kill for reasons most people have already stated.

Attack on Titan while good I found dreadfully monotone for way too long, not to mention it felt like it too way too much pressure on story line points that were obvious.
I'm much more interested in the series as it's gone along putting a lot more attention of the world and politics, rather then it's generic main characters, or thousand of side characters that, too many of which to care about.

My Mental Choices are Completely Interfering with my School Romantic Comedy was the biggest surprise, I tend to be fairly resistant to anime comedies but this one got me.

Samurai Flamenco started off as a great series for me as a brilliant slice of life which I fell in love with the characters, if it continued the way it had it would have been one of my favorites ever... then it started to go sour, never had a series turn so sour so quickly.

It's not just the change of themes that annoy me but the complete failure in terms of direction to convey stuff that's meant to be happening.

 

[Seracen]

Haven't watched Kill la Kill yet, but I didn't really care too much for Guren Lagann (it was above avg for me).

Attack on Titan is amazing, but an incomplete experience, so that hampers it for me.

My Choices for Best New Anime of 2013, are, in order...

Sword Art Online

Outbreak Company (assuming it ends well)

Magi (although technically also 2012; additionally, waiting for season 2 darn it!!!)

I'm sure I'm missing something, but these come to mind.

 

[Legion]

*snip*

Ah Shinsekai Yori, the show with an amazing premise, world, story, and a lot of great characters and second half that left me with a festering little sore on my heart in the worst way possible.

Spoiler

I can't watch it or think about the show without hoping that Saki'd die for being a hypocrite who blames everything on the girl she abandoned in the mountains to die,

But I still recommended it to several people because it's a really good show.

You did see the part where I said I was up to episode 17, yes? As in, I hadn't gotten to the part you chose to spoil without using tags.

 

[Legion]

*snip*

Ah Shinsekai Yori, the show with an amazing premise, world, story, and a lot of great characters and second half that left me with a festering little sore on my heart in the worst way possible.

Spoiler

I can't watch it or think about the show without hoping that Saki'd die for being a hypocrite who blames everything on the girl she abandoned in the mountains to die,

But I still recommended it to several people because it's a really good show.

You did see the part where I said I was up to episode 17, yes? As in, I hadn't gotten to the part you chose to spoil without using tags.

Wasn't it 17 when they confirmed it? 15 was the letter, 16 was searching and the dream, and 17 was the timeskip with a bunch of meetings where I believe it was revealed. If that's not it then I do apologize for spoiling it as that definitely wasn't my intention. Considering what happens after the initial timeskip episode, I didn't think they'd cram that into it as well.

I said I was *up to* episode 17, I have not seen it. The same way that if I said I was up to Season 3 of something, it'd mean I had seen everything up until that point, not seen the season itself.

But fair enough.

 

[Drummodino]

*snip*

Ah Shinsekai Yori, the show with an amazing premise, world, story, and a lot of great characters and second half that left me with a festering little sore on my heart in the worst way possible.

Spoiler

I can't watch it or think about the show without hoping that Saki'd die for being a hypocrite who blames everything on the girl she abandoned in the mountains to die,

But I still recommended it to several people because it's a really good show.

You did see the part where I said I was up to episode 17, yes? As in, I hadn't gotten to the part you chose to spoil without using tags.

Wasn't it 17 when they confirmed it? 15 was the letter, 16 was searching and the dream, and 17 was the timeskip with a bunch of meetings where I believe it was revealed. If that's not it then I do apologize for spoiling it as that definitely wasn't my intention. Considering what happens after the initial timeskip episode, I didn't think they'd cram that into it as well.

Well I stated that I am only seven episodes in and you spoiled it for me too. Thanks a bunch.

 

[Storm Dragon]

I'm loving Kill la Kill, it's sort of like watching Gurren Lagann for the first time all over again. Except that this time I don't have the option of being a filthy dub peasant like usual.

Spoiler: The most recent episode contains what is so far my favorite moment in any anime I've seen.

The most recent episode contains what is so far my favorite moment in any anime I've seen. Ryuko's fighting in this tournament so that she can get the opportunity to beat some information out of Satsuki about who killed her dad. In order to fight back against a flying opponent, her symbiotic power armor, Senketsu, transforms into a flying form. Shortly afterwards, Ryuko has the thought, "Wait a minute, I can fly! Fuck this tournament nonsense!" and just flies straight at Satsuki! Sure, she got intercepted, but no other anime protagonist I've seen would've even thought to try it.

 

[Drummodino]

Well I stated that I am only seven episodes in and you spoiled it for me too. Thanks a bunch.

This, though, not that justifiable and completely my fault and I just feel shitty now.

Ah don't feel too bad dude, just try to avoid it in the future