An anime with a solid plot, good characters, good character development, great animation, etc. Basically, an all-rounder. I’ve already watched Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. What are some others?
Kaguya-sama, a Frieren-tier-global-recognition all-rounder romcom
I love Kaguya-sama: Love is War, but it’s not perfect. One of my favorite Papa Shirogane scenes got cut when they made the movie!
Kaguya definitely gets my vote for top romcom
- Legends Of The Galactic Heroes
- FIST OF THE NORTH STAR
- Records of Lodoss War
- Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex
- HELLSING
- Cowboy Bebop
- Steins;Gate
- Code Geass
- Solo Leveling
- Demon Slayer
- Black Clover
- Fate (series) - Stay Night / Zero / Grand Order etc.
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- sleepy princess in the demon lords castle
- ya boy kongming
- the corporate slave and the little baby ghost
- eyeshield 21
- hajime no ippo
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AOT
First season of Psycho-Pass. later seasons got a bit too muddled and had some repetitive antagonists, so I wouldn’t recommend continuing it. Shinya Kogami and Shogo Makishima’s rivalry is the real meat of the story, and getting rid of both characters at the end of S1 just killed all of the show’s momentum. Gd, what a rivalry though.
Oh yeah, and the animation, visual style, and music all slaps. There’s also great side characters that get a few moments to develop and stand-out, and most of them didn’t get brought along to later seasons either.
If you ignore S2 it really is one that could be considered perfect. Movie quality audio, vizuals and story start to finish.
It’s one of many very sad instances where a visionary creative had a cool story they wanted to tell, and then after they finished and left the studio stepped in and said “Okay, now how much more can we wring out of it!”
On the upside, the first season serves a full, complete perfect story, with nothing further that needed to be added. Also, not all of the additional stuff sucks. Production IG brought Gen back to write the movie, and it was OK.
Bonus material. I just think of S2 as an OVA
Azumanga Daioh
Yusss and on a similar note, Nichijou
- Oddtaxi
- A Place further than the Universe
- Madoka Magica
- Made in Abyss
I realised just recently, that having even normal scene progression choreographed with background music, makes a great difference in the impact it makes.
I learnt that while watching Lord of Mysteries.Akira
Gotta be Cyberpunk Edgerunners for me. Nothing has captivated me and made me love the characters as much as that show did.
Hunter x Hunter is probably my favorite. It’s still technically ongoing, but the mangaka has serious health issues so the current arc hasn’t progressed much. The anime does close out on the best arc ever, so it’s a pretty satisfying stopping point. The 2011 anime, mind you. The 1999 one DRAGS ASS. Avoid it.
Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End is up there for me.
My only complaint about Frieren is the exam arc. Up till that point, it’s a tightly knit group of adventurers traveling with a very vague goal, it’s about their journey and their internal relationships. But the exam arc has an actual goal and introduces a lot of recurring characters, which really changes the vibe of the world. I liked it enough in the end, but I would’ve preferred more smaller arcs. On the other hand, season 2 could put the exam arc in a whole new light and make me appreciate all those characters much more when we see them again.
I was also initially frustrated with the exam arc. Looking back on it, it contributes significant to the idea that the world moves on and how humans take magic and use it in new ways. I would have preferred to move more quickly through there, but rushing the story would be ironic.
As a manga reader, I disliked the exam arc, but I’ve appreciated what has been built on it and you’ll see that in season 2.
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The fight against fake Frieren alone made it a great arc for me
I didn’t ask for all those feels.
If they keep the quality up it will be a timeless one. Too soon to say it’s perfect but it could be.
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