It’s time for another Top 5 list. This time we’re looking at anime. And I do think that I got five anime at least started under my belt, but I’m not sure that I actually got through five but I’ve checked out at least five. I didn’t have as much time working from home, thankfully, like I did last year, but let’s get onto the list.

5. Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear

This is a slice of life, kind of, isekai anime. It’s a weird one, the basic idea is that a girl gets stuck in a video game, isekai. It’s a secret part of the game, and we have no idea what is happening with her in real life. The world is almost a new game, and she doesn’t know what she is doing. But she has a bear suit that is extremely powerful and extremely adorable. It’s kind of the opposite of fan service for the main character, though there is fan service.

This would be higher on the list, but it falls down with some of the arcs. It’s very slice of life, but there is a whole arc about getting chickens to an orphanage. It isn’t a great arc, but then where it starts out, it starts out strong. If it comes back to adventuring more, I’ll keep watching it. If it’s more chickens, probably not.

4. Edens Zero

This one does have a ton of fan service, and a bunch of reused characters. It’s from the creator of Fairy Tale, and you’d never know because some of the characters look identical and it’s completely absurd. In fact, the whole anime is completely absurd. The main character has grown up on a planet of only robots. And they need to trick him to get him to leave the planet so that he can fulfill his destiny. And there’s this great space being, and space dragons, and it’s a whole thing.

This one has a ton of fan service, so if you’re not okay with that, skip this one. I’m just meh on the fan service, but the story is stupid and fun, it doesn’t try and be serious at all. And I like that about it. There are B-Tubers, basically YouTube celebrities, and planets that have had time rolled back on them, and it’s all in the same universe as a planet where there is a robot amusement park that is defunct.

3. Our Last Crusade or Rise of a New World

Our Last Crusade or Rise of a New World is not my normal type of anime. It is technically a romance anime, but it’s also kind of a political anime or Romeo and Juliet to it as well. The two main characters are on the opposite side of a war that has been going on for generations. And they are very important people to either side. And of course, they fall in love, though, they’ll never admit it.

But they keep on having the unfortunate situation where they are both at the same place at the same time. This is generally in neutral areas, but whenever there is a battle, they’ll be on opposite sides. The whole question of the show is how will these two end the war, and will they ever admit that they are in love (and both survive)?

2. Suppose a Kid from the Last Dungeon Boonies Moved to a Starter Town

And the award for longest anime name goes to… well, I’m not typing that out again. This is what it says it is, just a normal kid from a town that guards the last dungeon in this world, it’s a world not a game, decides to move to the starter town. He’s not that special in hiw town and assumes he won’t be here. But of course his power levels are off the charts compared to everyone else.

It’s a good comedy because you have a main character who is self deprecating and too oblivious to everyone around him. It has a bit of a “Is it Wrong to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon” vibe to it as well. And it works because the main character is likeable, they can solve everything, but they don’t always do it on their own.

1. Bottom Tier Character Tomozaki

Finally, my number one is an amazing anime. I watched half of this by myself, stopped, and then watched it again and watched it all with my wife. This is a sweet anime about two nerds figuring out how to navigate high school and not just be a nerd who if off to the side and how different they are about it.

Aoi takes Tomozaki under her wings. She’s popular, but she’s the #2 TakFam (think Smash Brothers) in Japan. She finds out that her nerdy classmate who no one talks to and who just hangs out by himself is the #1 player. Aoi doesn’t get how he can put so little effort into the game of life. It’s a fun gamification of high school and to see how they both teach each other.

While I’ve enjoyed the others, Bottom Tier Character Tomozaki is the one that I’d really recommend. I don’t actually have any honorable mentions. I’ve started That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime, but not far enough in to say. And that’s the same case with a few others. I have a list of ones that I want to catch up on. What anime did you watch this past year?

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