Anime Round-Up First Half of 2025

The Apothecary Diaries

The Apothecary Diaries is a slow burn romance with a lot of mysteries thrown in. This one is great because of the main character, Maomao. Even without suspecting that there is a romance of some sort, the story just works well.

I Left my A-Rank Party to Help My Former Students Reach the Dungeon Depths

A fun anime about a hero who is overlooked because of his class. Of course turns out that he’s extremely powerful. It is a trope that works well and in this case, I think it’s done in a more entertaining way than most.

To Be Hero X

This one is pretty different. First off a lot of the animation is 3D and it looks amazing. Plus it’s vignettes around a whole lot of different heroes. What if you got your powers not through some accident or something like that, but because people trusted you? That’s the plot and it’s really interesting, this is a very good anime.

I Was Reincarnated as the 7th Prince so I Can Take My Time Perfecting My Magical Ability

Honestly, this one is just okay. I find that it was solid background noise anime. Not an Isekai, the character is in the same world, but they come back and they are more powerful. Plus they keep on getting roped into things while trying to hide their power. It’s a very common trope now, the “I’m actually really powerful” trope.

The Shiunji Family Children

What would happen to a family if they found out they weren’t really related? That’s the premise of this romance anime, they find out that they aren’t related, and turns out that all the girls might figure out they kind of like one of their brothers. It sounds like a bad anime premise but the show is actually well done and a good romance anime.

Once Upon a Witch’s Death

A witch learns of their death, it’s going to happen no matter what in a year, unless they collect tears of joy. Well, that’s easier said than done, especially when you’re a teenage girl who has an attitude of a 30 year old man. It’s a heartfelt and fun show that uses humor around dealing with big events in a way I wouldn’t expect from an anime.

Witch Watch

An ogre is contracted to be a familiar for a witch. This witch, unknown to her, is slated to die in a year. Now that sounds pretty serious and very fantasy, well, an ogre is just a very powerful humanoid looking creature and it’s set in the “real world.” And the premise comes off more as a slice of life anime than anything else. This is a very cute and great show. Something that feels really different.

The Brilliant Healers New Life in the Shadows

I mentioned the super powerful trope, well here is another anime like that. The healer gets kicked out of the adventuring party her is in and sets up a clinic in the slums. But it turns out that he’s so ridiculously powerful that his life isn’t going to stay as normal as he hoped. It’s a classic trope at this point, but I like this anime as one that doesn’t fall too far down the trope path.

The Gorilla God’s Go To Gal

In a world where everyone gets a blessing our main character ends up with the blessing of the Gorilla God. It’s extremely rare but also makes her stand out and she doesn’t want to standout. This anime is another super powerful trope and is mixed with a nice romance/reverse harem without being a fan service anime. I really enjoy this anime as just a fun one to watch.

Yamada-Kun and the 7 Witches

Yamada-Kun is a tough guy, but when he accidentally switches bodies with the smartest girl in school hijinks, mystery, and romance occur. I think this anime is great because it does such a good job of blending everything. And it tells it’s story in just a short period of time.

Shikimori’s Not Just A Cutie

I need to finish watching this one, but I paused because I think my wife will like it as well. But it’s a cute romance anime where the guy is a bad luck magnet and his awesome girlfriend is always there for him. It’s a wholesome romance and one that is just enjoyable to watch with low stakes.

Love Tyrant

Love Tyrant is a harem romance anime with a bunch of comedy in it. I found that there were times and characters who were fun, but overall it’s an anime that just repeats the same jokes over and over again. Love Tyrant is a background noise anime at best.

Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai

I read the first manga/arc of this a while ago. And I was surprised with how much I liked it, then I dove into the anime and Rascal doesn’t disappoint. This anime surprised me with how genuinely good it is and how it dives into this world of mysteries in an interesting way with great romance. The title doesn’t help it, but check it out.

My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom

What happens if you get Isekai’ed into an Otome game, but instead of being the hero you are the villainess? That’s the plot of this anime and it’s one that is fine. It’s all about the main character trying to avoid the “doom flags” for her character that will lead to a bad ending. Of course everything she does changes the plot more than she’d expect. It’s a fine romance/harem/reverse harem anime.

Our Last Crusade or the Rise of a New World Season 2

I already reviewed the first season at least shortly. This is an action romance anime and it works well. The second season is almost as strong as the first. It takes the classic Romeo and Juliet sort of thing and works with it. I like it for a romance anime that doesn’t try and do too much, plus has some fun fights.

The Unaware Atelier Meister

See the super powerful trope again. This one is probably the most tiring of them that I watched. I am not 100% sure why I watched it all. It’s not bad it’s just really derivative. I want it to add something knew and it doesn’t.

Campfire Cooking in Another World With My Absurd Skill

What would life be like in another world if you could buy stuff and have it show up from your local corner store? Turns out a whole lot more powerful than you’d think. This is just a fun anime. Is it kind of background noise, sure, but it is also different.

Fruit of Evolution: Before I Knew It My Life Had It Made

A loser to winner story where the main character is a nobody and accidentally eats what is known as a Fruit of Evolution in a new world. It’s what you expect from an anime like this. It isn’t bad but also isn’t good.

The Ossan Newbie Adventurer Trained To Death By The Most Powerful Party Became Invincible

This one was way more fun than I expected it’d be. It is still the super powerful trope, but now you take it with an older character who is just starting out as an adventurer. Instead of it being a hot young upstart, he has years and wisdom on his side. So he just takes everything in stride. I love this anime. It’s a lot of tropes, but also just a lot of fun.

Tsukigakirei As The Moon, So Beautiful

Two quite kids fall in love. That is the basics of the plot. But there is more than that, and it’s just a fun time. It’s not really a slow burn romance too of will they won’t they which I really enjoyed.

How Not To Summon A Demon Lord

A person gets summoned to a game world when NPC’s in that world try and summon them. The spell bounces back on them, and now they are under the Demon Lord’s control. It’s not a great anime just one that I thought I should checkout. I think it is decent background noise.

Failure Frame: I Became the Strongest and Annihilated Everything with Low-Level Spells

This one for some reason worked for me as a manga and as an anime. Again a weak to strong story where everyone abandons him but turns out his ability can be turned extremely powerful. I think it’s because he is a less jaded character than some in this sort of story. I this that Failure Frame is a fun anime.

Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody

Imagine getting stuck in a video game that you are making. That’s what happens to the main character, though it’s not like SAO (Sword Art Online) style of stuck, this is just a standard Isekai. I think that the anime is okay.

Isekai Cheat Magician

You get summoned to another world and you are very powerful. And your friend trying to save you from being summoned gets sent there too. This is a fun Isekai. I don’t know that I’d say seek it out, but I’d recommend it over some others on the list.

Wind Breaker

A tough guy wants to go to a tough school. Turns out that the tough school always has a heart and wants to protect their town. Wind Breaker is not an unexpected twist on what the main character expects but a nice one. I want to watch more of it, I just need to get back to it as Wind Breaker is a solid anime with good fights.

Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki Season 2

You already know that I love the first season. So I love that we got a second season and it didn’t disappoint. Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki might be my favorite anime so of course I love it.

I May Be A Guild Receptionist, But I’ll Solo Any Boss To Clock Out On Time

Super powerful, check. But this one again just falls into that category where it is just fun. The premise is that she doesn’t want to be a hero. She wants a nice normal job as a guild receptionist but the adventurers can’t take out the boss monsters. So she keeps on getting roped into fighting just in the hopes of avoiding overtime. I think this anime is fun with a really fun premise.

Solo Leveling Season 2

For me, I think that Season 2 of Solo Leveling might top Season 1. I like Solo Leveling a lot, both as a Manhwa and as an anime. The arc from season 2 I think starts to really create more depth for the main character. I think Solo Leveling is great.

Dr Stone

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this one. Dr Stone is half a science show and half an adventure/survival anime. There are great heartfelt moments in it and still a lot of conflict between groups. I wish that some characters stuck around longer as main characters but that’s my main knock. Dr Stone is a good anime.

Tying the Knot with an Amagami Sister

I like a lot of romance anime. Tying the Knot with an Amagami Sister is a very good romance anime. And it’s not just who will he marry of these shrine maidens. There are good supernatural elements to it as well and you get to learn a lot about all the characters and what motivates them.

Mashle: Magic and Muscles Season 2

Another season 2 on the list, Mashle is always just a fun time. I really like it for what it is which is a lot of punching and fighting and crazy powers with a little plot in there as well.

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End

Frieren is a masterpiece. I could stop at that. But the story of an elf who is beyond the main adventure and now is dealing with the mortality of the rest of her party and finding meaning in the world. I love it.

Masamune-Kun’s Revenge

Another not to hot anime. Though this one is a situation where the main character is maybe a bit wrong in what they are doing. After being betrayed for their feelings when they were younger, they wanted to get revenge by making that person fall for them later. It’s an entertaining anime that has a bit more plot than I expect it to. Not a stand-out but not bad.

The New Gate

I’ve read a lot of this manga. So for me this is a fun anime. The game world is over, you and logout now, aka SAO style world, but for the person who defeated the monster to end it all they are given a gate to a new world or so it might seem. It’s a fun but not all that unique anime.

In Another World with my Smartphone

Another Isekai but this time, what you had your smartphone? I heard a lot about this one I was underwhelmed by it. It’s not bad, it is just not all that exciting either.

2.5 Dimensional Seduction

This one surprised me in some ways. It tries to be a bit like My Dress-Up Darling that pulls off a lot of good conversation about cosplay and normalizing it. But this one is a bit more risque, somehow with a bit less plot to it. I think that 2.5 Dimensional Seduction is fun but not worth checking out over My Dress-Up Darling. Warning, lots of fan service.

Chained Soldier

Monsters in another world, a group of women to protect the real world from the monsters, and guys can’t get powers to do that unless they agree to basically become a slave. Doesn’t sound like a great premise, but somehow it turns into a harem anime with some fun fighting and more of a plot than I would expect. This one is fanservice forward like 2.5 Dimensional Seduction. But it’s a better story than I would expect.

From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman

The second old man but is actually really powerful anime. I’m not sure I like it as much as the Ossan Newbie Adventurer but it’s in that same line of anime. I really like the main character though, again it’s this wise, humble and kind hearted character that an older protagonist can give you. I enjoy this anime quite well.

Domestic Girlfriend

A romance anime where the guy sleeps with his step sister while being in love with the other step sister. Of course the sleeping with the step sister is before they are step siblings. And he doesn’t realize it’s the sister of his crush who happens to be his teacher. It’s a weird who is in love and what is acceptable anime story that apparently if it were to continue has an ending people don’t like. I thought at the anime was fine.

The Dreaming Boy is a Realist

One final one and it’s another romance. The main character professes his love to his love every day. And she always says no. After getting hit in the head by a ball and having an epiphany of what he’s doing he stops and just is focused on the main girls happiness. But it turns out that when he stops she finds that she might actually have feelings for him. So not it’s a will they won’t they. I think this one is fun and I like the weird premise for it.

Final Thoughts

So let’s count. I think I got them all and I don’t think I watched any one Netflix, which is where I’d likely miss them from. I did skip over Summertime Render which is on Disney+/Hulu because I wrote a review on that one already. That’s just 41 anime. So if you want 5 that I’d recommend:

1. Frieren
2. Solo Leveling
3. Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki
4. The Ossan Newbie Adventurer Trained To Death By The Most Powerful Party Became Invincible
5. The Apothecary Diaries

They aren’t in order. And I could come up with more that I’d recommend from the list as well. Is there one of the anime that catches your eye?

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The Basis of a Character Arc

Let’s start out with the first one you already have built into your character. If you followed what I suggested for character creation, you have an overall character arc already planned out. Read up on that here. But this is just a starting point.

Example – Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki

So, I want to give an example from an anime/light novel series that I love. Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki features a protagonist who doesn’t think that he can “win” at the game of life. In fact, he believes that because of his stats (the body he was born into) there’s no way to get ahead and therefore life is a garbage game. But then he meets the #2 player of a video game in real life, he’s number one, and it turns out that it’s someone he knows. She convinces him to try playing the game of life.

So, how does she do that? Every day is a new small goal to lead towards the big end goal. In the case of Tomozaki, it is get a girlfriend for the big goal. But the smaller goals are improve his looks, get better at talking and engaging with people. And even those often get broken into smaller tasks. And I think that is how you create a character arc for your character.

The Big Arc

The first thing is the big arc. This one is already part of your character creation, like I said. But let’s recap it here because it is important. When you create your character you create two things. The first thing is pretty simple, why am I an adventurer. That is your starting point.

The second one is the thing that gives you a big character arc to go through. What is my end goal. Aka, what keeps me adventuring and when I complete it, I’ll likely be done. It makes sense, this is about the largest thing that your character can do. And that is likely going to tie in with complete the campaign as well, but it might not for all characters.

Breaking It Down

So now you know what you big character arc is going to be. But you want to get there, and you can’t just work towards a single massive goal. Your character is going to stagnate along the way if that happens because you don’t have a goal to get to in between

Your goals should affect your character as you plan them out. There are two types of character arcs that you can create for these smaller goals. The first are ones that you can do. Does your character have a specific goal, like in the example of the monk from character creation, they want to make their monastery financially stable, so they want to fund raise when they go to town, so it might be make connections with people. Or it might be something where you need the Dungeon Masters help. So you talk with them to help make it happen.

So let’s break it down even further here.

• Keep it actionable
• Work on it during downtime or in alignment with moving the story forward
• Know your end condition
• Know the end result or change

Example – The Monk

So quick recap. Our monk is adventuring because he needs to help raise money for the monastery that brought him in and raised him. Once he feels like the monastery is in a viable spot financially, he is likely going to retire and go back to train and mentor urchins like he was and give them the opportunity he had.

So let’s create a small goal with that in mind.

Find a potential benefactor and talk with them.

This is actionable as you can go around town and ask people. And it is something that is easy to do in the downtime. The end condition is also set, it is done when you talk to a potential benefactor. Not when you convince them or anything.

So the big question is what is the end result or change for the monk? Well, in this case, I suspect our urchin who lived on the streets and then went into a monastery isn’t that great at talking to people and has a low charisma stat. So the end goal is to get better at talking to people.

This is something that can even play out in your characters stats. This could be a goal until you hit level four, or level eight, or whenever you get your stat bumps. And when you do, if you’ve successfully worked at this, you increase your charisma stat so that it’s less of a negative. But that is optional to tie it in so much.

Final Thoughts on a Good Character Arc

I think that these are important for your character. I talked about it some with bonds, flaws, ideals, and personality traits last week. But it is about the character growth. And using your bonds, flaws, ideals and personality traits, it can be a great way to create more interesting story arcs for your character. You find a flaw and you want to over come it, that is a character arc. Or maybe you have a personality trait that you want to add or a bond you want to add, that is a character arc as well.

But with that said, we’re down to our last topic. And that is going to be role playing your character. Everything that we’ve done thus far leads up to that moment. Whether it be the character creation, backstory creation, or figuring out a character arc, it is all going to show up at the table and how you interact with the other players and the Dungeon Master. So join me for that next time.

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Top 50 Anime – 10 through 1

10. My Senpai is Annoying

I like my romance anime and this is clearly not an exception. It’s one of my top anime, by My Senpai is Annoying is more than just a romance it’s also a really good comedy. And it’s different. Now, not completely different, two people from different walks or aesthetics fall for each other. That’s normal. They don’t want to admit it or don’t feel like they can, also normal. But it’s set in an office place which is not that common.

It changes up the feel with that setting. And I appreciate how it can handle workplace and just work life in general. Some of the comedy is around the romance, and some of it is around the workplace. And it has elements of the workplace that feel somewhat real as well, so for me as no longer a high school or college student, it’s a bit more relatable. And I appreciate what sometimes mirrors reality.

9. Space Dandy

He’s a Dandy Guy… in Space.

This is from the same creator who did Cowboy Bebop. But Space Dandy is way goofier and further out there. There are a lot of really fun and weird things that happen in this show. It’s about a space explorer who is looking to find a new and rare creature, somewhere in the galaxy so he can make it big, get rich, and enjoy his life. That is never going to happen. One reason is most of the creatures have already been found. Other reason, he’s just not that good at his job.

The supporting cast is great as well. There is a depressed cat creature and a robot. Both of whom really flesh out the crew with more randomness and weirdness. This show is one that’s great for just throwing it on in the background and watching it on repeat. I should come back to it soon as it’s been a while, and it’s not that long, so easy to watch.

8. Is It Wrong to Try and Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?

The title is long, and it really doesn’t tell it all about the show. This show has a lot more going on than a kid who is trying to hit on girls in a dungeon. There is a complex world of gods on a planet where there is a tower that adventurers with the blessings of the gods, or support of them, can go adventuring. The gods lend the characters their expertise, and the adventurers support the gods.

Bell is a low ranked adventurer who is the only follower of the goddess Hestia. She’s kind of a secondary god in the grand scheme of things, but she tries hard. When he almost dies to a minotaur in the tower, because of another group, he comes into contact with Ais. She’s one of the most powerful adventurers. And it becomes Bell’s goal to level up so that he can reach her power level and he’ll feel worthy to ask her out.

The story, at it’s basic, isn’t that complex. There are some arcs to the anime that are just okay. But the first season, I’ve watched that several times. It’s just again a comfortable anime to watch.

7. Trapped in a Dating Sim

I almost feel like I have this one too low. But the other ones on the list are amazing as well. This one, though, I got obsessed with and binged it quickly. It’s an isekai, but instead of getting pulled in as a hero in a fantasy setting, the main character finds himself as a background character in an otome game that he’d just been playing. He knows the game well, so he starts to make a good life for himself as a background character.

Unfortunately there is another character that he didn’t count on showing up. It doesn’t make sense to him and it breaks the game world. So as he tries to keep the game and the story on the course so he can live a nice life, well, he keeps on messing that up as well. The main character has one of the most annoying voices, but it’s played perfectly for who he is. This is just a really fun anime and it feels different. It makes fun of some tropes, and the world building, surprisingly good.

6. Monthly Girls Nozaki-Kun

What if one of your classmates in high school writes an manga that you read and like? Not only that, but he wants you to help him. And, of course, you have a crush on him as well, but he’s too oblivious to notice. That’s the plot of Monthly Girls Nozaki-Kun. This one is just a light hearted and fun anime that looks into the world of manga. It’s again, one of those romance ones where, in this case, just one character is oblivious to the romance.

One thing that I really like about Monthly Girls Nozaki-Kun is that it’s basically always a positive show. The main character, she’s extremely positive. And the show itself, with a few exceptions, doesn’t have too much drama. Even when there is drama, there is always a light heartedness and kind of hope or absurdity to it.

5. Rent-A-Girlfriend

If you’d asked me where Rent-A-Girlfriend would rank after, say, 10 episodes, I’d have said not high. But there was something intriguing about it. The story follows a college student who gets dumped and to make himself feel better gets a rental girlfriend. Just someone to go on a date with. Turns out, that person is his next door neighbor. And through a series of unfortunate events, involving their grandmothers, they now need to continue pretending, just for a little bit longer.

That doesn’t really even get you to the good part of the anime. As it continues and both of them struggle with the fact that they are gaining actual feelings for each other, it turns really good. And where as Monthly Girls Nozaki-Kun is light, this one has a fair amount of drama and heavier situations. In fact, where I’m up to, it’s very heavy and emotional and written well. There still is sophomoric humor in it, but it’s less and the depth surprised me.

4. My Dress-Up Darling

Another one that after two episodes, I thought I’d skip. I like the premise, a nobody boy who works in his grandpa’s hina doll shop while he’s going to high school finds out that the most popular girl in school is into anime, manga, and cosplay. Things that he doesn’t really care about. But when she finds out that he knows how to sew, she immediately recruits him to help her.

The first two episodes kind of lean into the second hand embarrassment too hard. But as the show goes and as a romance starts to bud between the two of them, it lessens. But one of the highlights of the show, their relationship is the main one, is how it treats and normalizes cosplay for everyone. It’s not something that weird people do, and when people are treated as weird for doing it, or for making hina dolls, the female lead stands up to people. It has a really positive message throughout it while being completely over the top filled with fan service.

3. Shangri-La Frontier

Another one that might move up, though my top 2, I really do love so much. But this one is one that I’m further ahead in the manga. But the anime adaptation of the manga, so much fun to watch. Sunraku, the main character, loves to play the worst of the worst video games. Not just play them, but he masters them and beats them. But when the shop owner at his local video game store recommends Shangri-La Frontier as a change of pace, a top tier level game, he decides to.

The anime mainly takes place in that game. But we do see him some in the real world, and other times in some of the trash games that he’s played. For me, what makes this stand apart from a lot of video game anime is the attention to detail to the video game world building. A lot of them tend to be PvP games or a generic fantasy game. This one has a whole story that the writer clearly has created around the world. So that is unique and I really enjoy it for that.

2. Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki

A romance, drama all around two people who are two of the top people at Super Smash Bros (TakFam in their world) in Japan. One of them just loves the game and life is something that is a chore. The other, she puts the same effort into life as she does the game. To her, life is equally a god tier game. It’s one to be beat and conquered like any video game out there. When the meet in real life, they realize they go to the same school, and Aoi, the girl, is not pleased with Tomozaki. She looks up to him in the game because she can never beat him.

Aoi convinces Tomozaki to give life a try. He’s not convinced, some people have the advantages in life. But when she turns it into a game for him, something that he can attack like he does being the best at TakFam and how she attacks life, he begins to experience it more. And even starts to realize some things about life that he differs from Aoi on. This is an anime with a lot of heart to it. And I think it resonates at times. Sometimes life just feels tough or like others get all the breaks, but it offers a lot of different ways to look at life.

1. Sword Art Online

I’ve watched the first season of Sword Art Online so many times. I need to watch more of it, and I have, but that would probably require another rewatch of the first few seasons. So that’s likely to happen soon. But this is an isekai, kind of, but not really. It’s about characters, people, who are trapped in a video game. It’s a death game, you die in the game, you die in real life. But if you beat the game, everyone will be set free. Kirito is bound and determined to do that and clear all the levels of the game.

But the anime really isn’t about that. It’s about the people who are stuck in the game. Kirito tries to do it on his own. But he keeps on meeting characters who help him and who grow with him. And sometimes, characters who don’t make it. The first arc of this anime is amazing. Some of the subsequent ones, slightly less so, but a lot of them are just good. And the character developments and interactions really work. I like how the show is about the people, mainly, and the game secondly.

It’s one that is very popular. And I know some people look down on it because of that. Or think that it’s too over hyped. Yes, I love it, and I know it’s not perfect. Technically there are better anime, but for me Sword Art Online is just amazing and a great anime to watch again and again.

Final Thoughts

I could already add another anime to the list. Solo Leveling I now have watched enough that it’d likely hit the top 10. Again it’s one that I’ve read the manga or manwa technically for. And there are other anime that I’m looking forward to this year that I’m guessing will make the list. Kaiju #8 and Dandadan are two that I think are going to be great. And others that I should watch, like Frieren and Sign of Affection.

Let me know if there are some you think I should watch. Next year I might do a top 100 anime. This year I was just off from being able to do that. But I imagine that I’ll get through another 10-20 anime this year and be over 100. And at a point where I don’t think the bottom of the list is complete garbage as an anime.

What should I watch next? And which is your favorite from this list?

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The Plot of Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki

Tomozaki is a high schooler who thinks that life sucks. It’s a lousy game where there’s nothing fun and eventually you die. But Atafami, a Smash Bros like video game, is amazing, in fact he’s the best person in Japan at the game. When the second best player in Japan wants to meet up with him, he agrees. Turns out that it is the most popular person in his class, and she’s not pleased that someone who would be so serious about the game would treat life like a trash game.

She convinces him, not that life isn’t a trash game, but that it’s maybe worth checking out to see if it is. And she also agrees to teach him how to get better at the game of life, level up and gain XP as it were. It’s not easy, but is it going to be worth it for Tomozaki, a bottom-tier character, to try and become a normie?

Anime vs Light Novel

I want to talk about this as an anime and as a light novel. Like I said, I just finished reading the light novel. I think one thing that the book doesn’t do that the show does, is a bit of the fan service. Now, there is fan service in the books with how some things are written. But obviously in a visual medium, they can show more of it whenever they want. Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki is not that heavy on fan service, really, but it is there. And in a book it’s easier to gloss over as well as compared to the anime.

The differences though, are minimal at best. Basically everything that happens in the light novels happens in the anime as well. And a lot of things are done word for word. Definitely means that you don’t need to both watch and read it, kind of. I do think, at least for myself, I process things differently when I’m reading versus when I’m watching something. Mainly, you can spend more time on a section while reading, which is one advantage. There are some scenes with Tomozaki and another character, Fuka Kichiku, that go fast in the show and slower in the books, for the better.

What Doesn’t Work?

This section is actually going to be blank. If I were to knock it for anything, it’s that it doesn’t need the fan service in it really. Some of it makes sense as there is a romance element to this story. But there are other times where it’s just weird, but most of the time it’s very simple to overlook.

What Works?

Firstly the characters are amazing in this. I’ve not talked about that many of them, but Tomozaki, Kichiku, Mimimi, Aoi, and the rest of the cast are well done. There are depth to the characters that you don’t see always in anime. But here, it doesn’t shy away from that. And I think the characters for the most part are really well done. You care about them and you see their motivations for what they do, and the motivations make sense. Yes, there are stereotypes but it all progresses the story and as you get to know them you realize that they do have depth.

I also think that the concept is really good. This idea that life is a game isn’t all that unique. But pulling it off where someone is helping a person try and level up is interesting. And just the ways that Aoi goes about getting Tomozaki to level up work. Like, not in a healthy way, but in a way that makes sense. If Aoi sees life as a great game, how does she take how she plays games and impose that on how life and the world works? And telling that story and how that different from how Tomozaki plays Atafami, it’s just well done.

Who Is This For?

I don’t think a lot of anime really transcend anime and go the public. And I don’t think that Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki is one of those, but it is close. I think it’s one that if you can get someone to sit down and watch it. Especially if they like high school shows that are live action, or the young romance type things, that is what Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki is in a lot of ways.

But if you are an anime and light novel fan, I highly recommend this one. I think that most fans will enjoy it.

Final Thoughts on Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki

I really like this anime and reading the light novel makes me want to watch it again. It’s an anime that I started then stopped to start and rewatch with my wife because I knew that she’d like it as well. It just tells such a compelling story and that’s not something that happens all the time with anime and light novels. A lot of them tell stories that we’ve already seen or lean into tropes. Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki doesn’t avoid that pitfall always, but it’s easy to overlook them.

And I am really excited for when season 2 comes out. There is a whole lot more story, I believe there are 10 light novels. I’ve read three. And while season 1 wraps up the story to a point where it wouldn’t need to continue, I want to continue. Which I think is the way to run a show like this. Wrap it up at a point where it can be done but leave me still wanting more.

Needless to say, I highly recommend this anime and light novel. I do think you can do both and get a different story experience which is great. And when I call it a romance, it’s not a sappy romance, but there is a good amount of romance in it. It also leans into video game culture, high school cliques and life, and more.

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Top 15 Anime

HM: Fruits Basket, The Disastrous Life of Saiki K, Restaurant to Another World, After School Dice Club

These were all close. Fruits Basket is so heartfelt. The Disastrous Life of Saiki K is really funny. And Restaurant to Another World is a lot of fun with great food. After School Dice Club is about board games, and it’s good but not as great as it could have been so just misses as well. All of these, probably, could have made it only my list.

15. Ghost Hunt

Oddly enough, this is the only horror one on my list. Ghost Hunt is about a kid who can deal with ghosts who has his own agency. But he’s not the main character, the main character is a girl who gets roped into being his assistant and might be better at the job than he is. He knows how all the things work but is too cold and calculating. It’s a nice balance of everything for an older anime.

14. BOFURI: I Don’t Want to Get Hurt, so I’ll Max Out My Defense

There are some premises for anime that just get me. BOFURI is one of them. A girl joins an MMORPG and she’s worried about it. What will it be like to die, will it hurt, and she really doesn’t want to die. So instead of leveling up by going out on epic adventures, she levels up by grinding and focusing only on her defensive stats. It’s a fun play on the genre with a character getting really over powered, but in such an odd way.

13. Gamers!

This follows another trope that I really enjoy. A main character who maybe is a bit out there, they have their own nerdy hobby or odd thing that they do that makes them not quite fit in. Gamers! follows that character who loves video games, into finding out that there are more people like them in the world directly around them. It’s cute and heartfelt and just works well.

12. Dagashi Kashi

Dagashi Kashi is all about yummy snacks, their history and eating them. Mixed in with all of that is a slice of life show that is a lot of fun. You might notice there are a few shows on the list about food. Anime tells a lot of really enjoyable stories about food and Dagashi Kashi gives more of a unique flare to it than some. While not the highest on my list, it is very realistic and focused on tradition of these snacks and shops.

11. Is It Wrong To Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?

Is It Wrong To Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? does some of my favorite anime tropes. Mainly the clueless main character so focused on one goal he doesn’t notice the group forming around them. This isn’t the best I’ve seen of that, but Is It Wrong to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? works well and especially for the first season gives a fun romp. I don’t like season two nearly as much, but it is an anime that I keep on coming back to. There is just something wholesome about the main character that makes this fantasy, and fairly standard fantasy, but with good twists, fun to watch.

10. The Devil is a Part-Timer

This Isekai really handles the genre differently. Most Isekai a character gets pulled out the real world and into a crazy world. In this case, the Devil is pulled out or leaves their own world and ends up on Earth without enough power to go back. So now he needs a part time job. This is another one that I need to watch again, I started the 1st season because a 2nd season just came out. But it’s fun and well done.

9. Cowboy Bebop

Used to be higher on my list. And in terms of technical, this is probably the best anime on the list. An anime that tells interesting stories and all set to different types of music, it’s just fascinating. But it also falls into that category of an anime that I’ve watched, and I’d watch again, but I’m less likely to pick it myself. Still, the music in it is so good and just the story that it weaves, it’s done so well.

8. Space Dandy

Space Dandy is another anime set in space and this one is easier to watch again, mainly because it’s such a comedy. The main character, Space Dandy, is not a competent character at all. But through dumb luck he somehow survives. He doesn’t do so well, but with a cat and a robot he somehow makes it work. Just well done comedy throughout this series.

7. Food Wars!

Food Wars is odd to me that it’s so high. Mainly because it can be a bit inconsistent. There are some arcs in the show that are amazing. It is also one of the highest on the list that has this amount of fan service. But it’s generally fan service overall and played for a very specific reason. But the whole concept of the show is about being the best chef that you can be, and the enjoyment that can come from food.

6. Assassination Classroom

Assassination Classroom might push Food Wars! for the weirdest anime on the list. Part of the moon is destroyed and an alien decides to become a teacher of students who are poor students so that they can try and assassinate the alien. That sounds so crazy, but what worked for me with it is that it tells a good story of the characters coming together. Yes, it is an completely absurd situation and setup, but somehow it manages to work.

5. My Senpai Is Annoying

Now we hit a few that fall more into that slice of life category. My Senpai Is Annoying is about an office worker who has an annoying senpai that she is under. Well, maybe he’s not quite as annoying as she thought. It’s really a romantic comedy of characters liking each other but not knowing how the other character likes them back. Plus a whole lot of fun and crazy situations to get into revolving around work. I think the whole work setting is a lot of fun and works really well for this type of story to make it feel different than high school.

4. Komi Can’t Communicate

But speaking of high school and romance we have Komi Can’t Communicate. It’s about Komi who is the prettiest girl in the class and seems aloof. But really she just has crippling anxiety when talking to people and can’t for the most part and it is a lot of effort for her when she does. Tadano, new to the class ends up making friends with her through writing and agrees to help her with her goal of making 100 friends. This is a sweet show with a lot of weird characters.

3. Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki

And then another high school series. This one again about a nerdy character who loves the game TakFam, think Smash Bros sort of game. To him, it’s the best game ever, much better than life. When he finds out that the #2 player of the game in Japan is in his town too, he’s #1, they decide to meet up. It turns out to be a classmate, but not one who is a bottom-tier character like him, someone who doesn’t think that life is a lousy game. Can she convince him and level him up so that he’s not a Bottom-Tier character anymore?

2. Steins;Gate

Constantly a high one on my favorites list. And it’s also one that I probably would watch again, but man, would it be hard to watch again. There is so much depth in this time travel story with tragedy and distress. But the story is told and woven together so well that it just stands out. While Cowboy Bebop can be heavy and gorgeous, Stiens;Gate for heavier anime on my list, just tells such a good complete story. And it handles time travel in such a good way.

1. Sword Art Online

Finally, and I know this one bounces around a lot for me, we have Sword Art Online (SAO). SAO is just comfort food of an anime for me. It gives me big adventure, romance, comedy, all wrapped up in one. But it is mainly about that adventure and how the characters are navigating different worlds, of computer games, as they go. And the craziness that can end up following from these games into the real world or the other way around. Plus, there is just so much story and so much work done on developing the characters, you care for them as you go through it.

Final Thoughts

It’s tough to do a Top 10, it’s even tough to do a Top 15. I’ve really found myself gravitating towards watching anime a lot. It used to be and it does happen in certain time periods, of throwing on a cooking show or some house remodeling show. But there is just so much anime out there that I need to checkout still and want to checkout. I actually went through recently and created a massive list, I just don’t know when I’ll have time.

And I am guessing that I’ll think about it and come up with a show that I missed that I really enjoyed. And for as many good or great anime as I watch, there are a lot that are just fine. Pretty rarely do I end up sticking with and watching one that is bad. But if it’s short enough I might power through it. I can think of one example which just went from being okay starting out to so bad at the end.

What are your top anime?

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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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