Little Witch Academia | Nerdologists https://nerdologists.com Where to jump in on board games, anime, books, and movies as a Nerd Thu, 15 Feb 2024 12:38:38 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.1.2 https://nerdologists.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/nerdologists-favicon.png Little Witch Academia | Nerdologists https://nerdologists.com 32 32 Top 50 Anime – 30 through 21 https://nerdologists.com/2024/02/top-50-anime-30-through-21/ https://nerdologists.com/2024/02/top-50-anime-30-through-21/#respond Thu, 15 Feb 2024 12:36:52 +0000 https://nerdologists.com/?p=8748 It's time for the next chunk of anime on the list. Which anime are 30 through 21 in my Top 50 Anime (of all time) 2024 Edition?

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It’s time to take another 10 of my Top 50 Anime (of all time) 30 through 21. Let’s see which anime make it onto the list. There are definitely some bigger names on this section, one which was one of my top anime of all time. But like I said before, I enjoy a lot of lighter ones. And how this list was created is around how much I’d want to watch them again. So it skews lighter because sometimes they are just more fun to watch again. But I’m excited to get into these and most likely I’ll want to watch them again.

Top 50 Anime – 30 through 21

30. Gamers

Some of these it’s been a while since I watched them, but I remember liking them. Gamers is one of those. It’s about a high school game club, not this time it’s video games. But it’s about the characters, really, who go from being a unique group to actually be a group and working together. They learn what the others are best at, and they grow together. There’s some romance sprinkled in as well, because, well, that’s a good enough reason for one of the kids to join the club that the person he likes is in it.

Little Witch Academia
Image Source: Trigger

29. Little Witch Academia

Next up is Little Witch Academia, another one that I watched a while ago, but one that is again a lot of fun. What would you do if you really want to be a witch, but you aren’t that good of one. That’s the struggle of the main character as she tries to make it in magic school. The story is cute, it has some fairly classic anime feel to it. The character who is overcoming everything, the typical bad guy groups, but it’s a really enjoyable show. Mainly because the main character is do endearing.

28. A Couple of Cuckoos

A newer watch on the list is A Couple of Cuckoos. And I enjoyed it a lot, though how it ends season one, I feel like it was a bit disappointing. It has some of the typical harem anime style story to it, all the girls fall for the main guy, kind of. But the big hook is the two main characters find out they are arranged to be married. But they don’t know that’s the case to start the show. It is a fun premise and made even better by some of their interactions before they find out.

Now, why it is likely to drop is because of the harem aspect. I wish it just focused on the two main characters getting to know each other and how both of them are weird in their own ways, but also why they like that about each other, that’d be fun. But now it mixes in a bit more, and where it ends, I won’t spoil that, just feels lazy and like the writer didn’t have a good plan on how to stretch out the story. So they went with the most simplistic and harem focused approach.

27. Beast Tamer

A fantasy story, this one is not an isekai like a lot of the fantasy ones that I watch are. But it does have the harem elements mentioned above, but it’s less romantic in nature. The main characters “beasts” that he tames are all legendary creatures with female forms, that’s the main thing. And they protect him versus being damsels in distress almost all the time.

Beast Tamer
Image Source: Crunchyroll

The plot is fun as well. The main character is kicked out of the heroes party because he’s just a beast tamer. That’s not that big a deal or that important. Turns out, he’s the best beast tamer that there is, and not just by a little bit, but by a ton. So no the question is, is he maybe the hero instead. But it’s not something that he really wants nor is it the title the other hero wants to give up. So the story has some standard things to it, but I like the beast tamer powers and how they play that out.

26. Restaurant to Another World

This is one that I’ve watched a couple of times. I like the food in this anime and the story is pretty simple but it works. There are doorways in another world that appear once a month. And those doorways open up to a restaurant in another world. Mainly, it’s a restaurant on Earth in Japan that is open to creatures and characters from this other world. You get their stories as you go through and you get to see lot of different foods. It’s a cute one that has some solid feel good elements to it which I really enjoy. I find it to be a nice relaxing anime to watch.

25. Tsukimichi: Moonlit Fantasy

In standard isekai the main character appears from another world. But the goddess who summons him, well, she thinks that he’s disgusting and worthless. So instead of making him one of her heroes in the wars against the demons, she drops him off on the far side of the world.

Turns out that he is way less useless than she had thought and he starts to develop his own way in the world. It has a lot of Reincarnated as a Slime to it. There is city and society building, but really it’s about the character and how he’s navigating the world. I enjoy that sort of story. And this one doesn’t get bogged down into some kind of weird side stories or long stories that Slime does.

24. My Roommate is a Cat

Do you want an anime that is all about a lot of heart and a cat, this is the one for you. And it’s actually surprisingly emotional for just having a few characters and not that many settings. A novelist who just likes to stay by himself is adopted and adopts a cat. Well, that cat leads him into some new relationships and helps him through some tough times and some meaningful growth. But it’s also saving the cat as well, which is just adorable.

What really drives home this anime is that you get the episode played back, most of the time much more quickly, from the cats perspective. Of times that fills in some really meaningful and cute pieces to the story.

23. Cowboy Bebop

We’re going a bit more serious here with Cowboy Bebop. I say a bit because Cowboy Bebop does have a lot of light moments to it as well. But the story is much heavier in terms of the overall plot. But it works so well. Cowboy Bebop is a classic masterpiece of an anime that has some of the best music if not the best music for an anime ever. Each episode has it’s own well crafted score and that really drives the feel for that episode. It just works. I don’t know what more to say than that this is an anime that every anime fan should watch.

22. My Love Story with Yamada-Kun Lv999

My Love Story with Yamada-Kun at LV999
Image Source: Madhouse

Another romance and this one I watched just recently. Lv999 as I’ll be referring to it as, is the story of a girl who is dumped by her gamer boyfriend. She swears of gamers as all being horrible. Turns out, they aren’t as horrible as she thought when her life bumps her into Yamada. It’s a will they – won’t they – can they admit their feelings for each other sort of story. Neither of them really wanting to, or knowing how to as their relationship grows and starts to mean more to both of them, obviously. It’s really cute and the stakes are never that high, so it’s relaxing and enjoyable to watch as well.

21. Dagashi Kashi

And wrapping up this section we have Dagashi Kashi. Another one that I haven’t seen a bit, but it’s a cute story about a dagashi store being run by basically a kid. If you’re not familiar with dagashi, it’s basically cheap candies and snacks. They are one of a few of these stores that is still family run and owned. And it’s about that, but it’s also about the history and story of the food.

The cast of characters is fun, there’s a bit of romance to it, and overall just another one of those relaxing and enjoyable watches. It’ll make you want to try all of the foods as well, which is good and bad all at the same time.

Final Thoughts

I really love so many of these. Little Witch Academia is one where I feel like I want to watch again. And this time it’s a little bit less funny and more cute or heartfelt anime on the list. Is there one that stands out to you as a favorite? Or is there one that you’d want to watch?

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Back or Brick: Witchbound by Dark Doll Games https://nerdologists.com/2023/01/back-or-brick-witchbound-by-dark-doll-games/ https://nerdologists.com/2023/01/back-or-brick-witchbound-by-dark-doll-games/#respond Wed, 25 Jan 2023 12:42:37 +0000 https://nerdologists.com/?p=7729 Now that Witchbound is on Gamefound from Dark Doll Games, let's take a deeper look and see if it's a crowdfunding Back or Brick?

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There hasn’t been a witch in over 100 years, as you can guess, that is all about the change. But how will your story go in Witchbound, a solo adventure game from Dark Doll Games.

Checkout the campaign over on Gamefound.

How to Play Witchbound

I already covered most of it here in the preview that I did. But I want to cover it a little bit more as to how your average action goes.

The game mechanics are pretty simple. You collect items, spells, actions, and prompts as you play the game. Each of those can be used with interacting with things are people. To do that, you take the number from the prompt of “Hello” for example and combine it with the character you are speaking to and their number. So “Hello” might be 2 and the character might be 40 for 240. And you read some story and make some choices or track a quest.

There are challenges you do as well. To succeed at those you either can spend focus or you can roll a die. Your results there will determine how well you did, in RPG fashion. Though, you do have a limited number of auto-succeeds for things that are really important.

Why You Don’t Need This Game?

Firstly, it is solo only. Now, I’ll immediately disagree with that premise here. This is a solo only game, but like most solo only games, you can split the decision making and make it a multiplayer game. Whether that’s making the decisions jointly or taking turns, you can turn a solo game into not being solo easily enough. But for some, it being solo and having to work at it will make it not the game for you.

It is a mechanically light. I’ll talk about this in what I like about the game as well, or why you need it. But the actions you do and interactions are simple. There are elements to the game that are very choose your own adventure. And getting that story from the choose your own adventure is the experience. But like something like a Legacy of Dragonholt, or Roll Player Adventures, there are good decision making points and challenges.

Why Do You Need It?

It is a solo game that is fast to the table. I didn’t mention this in the other part about solo games. That was more for people who didn’t want a solo only game. But if you like solo only games, like I do, then Witchbound should be interesting because it’s a bit story driven game. Not to the size of a box like Gloomhaven or Middara, but big in that there is a lot of story. But it takes a minute or two to get it to the table.

To go along with that ease of getting it to the table. It is also easy to play. This is a game where you don’t need to know a ton of rules, again making it easier to table. But also making it more accessible than Gloomhaven or Middara because you don’t need to dive heavily into rules before starting play. So it is a game that can work for anyone.

Next is the story and artwork. I lump both of them together because they really do create the interesting elements of the story. The artwork is great, very cute, very anime, and delivers an aesthetic where you can tell what type of world it is. The writing supports that.

Price point is the final reason you should back this. If you want a story driven game, this is $40 plus shipping for 30 hours of game play. The fancy version is 80. Yes, it doesn’t come with all the minis, because it doesn’t need them, and that also makes it much easier on a wallet.

Back or Brick – Witchbound

This was an easy back for me. When I went through all the crowdfunding games I knew of, this one made it to my Top 5 for 2023. And the price point, having demoed it, all of that made it extremely easy to back. I really like the story and artwork. And Witchbound is the perfect type of game to play on Malts and Meeples.

I also look at this and see a game that I can hand off to my wife, someone who likes games and either play jointly, or she can pick it up for herself. Or as my 4 year old gets older to play with him. I don’t think it is so juvenile that it’s a kids only game. But it does seem to offer a whole family experience in terms of adventure. I think I mentioned games like Zelda or movies like Kiki’s Delivery Service and a show Little Witch Academia. Those aren’t adult, but they work well for adults to enjoy, and I think this also hits that.

So how about for you, is this a Back or Brick?

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Urban Fantasy https://nerdologists.com/2019/01/urban-fantasy/ https://nerdologists.com/2019/01/urban-fantasy/#respond Mon, 28 Jan 2019 15:25:48 +0000 http://nerdologists.com/?p=2767 Urban Fantasy, what is it? And how do you create good urban fantasy? I’ve mentioned Urban Fantasy before in some articles, but I wanted to

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Urban Fantasy, what is it? And how do you create good urban fantasy?

I’ve mentioned Urban Fantasy before in some articles, but I wanted to delve deeper into it and provide some more examples beyond my normal one.


Urban fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy in which the narrative has an urban setting.[1][2] Works of urban fantasy are set primarily in the real world and contain aspects of fantasy, such as the discovery of earthbound mythological creatures, coexistence or conflict between humans and paranormal beings, and other changes to city life.[3][4] A contemporary setting is not strictly necessary for a work of urban fantasy: works of the genre may also take place in futuristic and historical settings, actual or imagined.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_fantasy

I figure I can just drop in some Wikapedia knowledge to get the conversation going since they are going to define it basically the same way that I’m going to describe it. I would say that urban fantasy basically does always show up in a contemporary setting at least from what I’ve seen. But as they say it isn’t required, but it is extremely normal for it to show up in that contemporary setting.

Image Credit: Amazon

The best way that I would describe it is that it takes a realistic setting, generally earth and our world, and then puts a twist on it. Whether it’s Fae creatures as in Grimm and The Dresden Files, to the weird London Below in Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere, there are large chunks of the normal world still there for the story. These twists on the world can be highly hidden such as in Neverwhere or sometimes very obvious as in The Dresden Files, though magic and monsters are still generally kept under wraps there as well.

What generally makes strong urban fantasy is the balance of normalcy with the absurd. You see the normal world happening around the characters and you often see the characters pining for or rushing headlong into the more magical aspect of the world. While I wouldn’t quality Harry Potter as Urban Fantasy since most of it takes place at Hogwarts, it does have some elements of urban fantasy, and Harry is someone who rushes headlong into the magical world because anything seems better than living in the space beneath the stairs. That compares to Grimm where Detective Nick Burkhardt is not all that excited to find out what else is going on in the world. It makes his job much harder and makes his life much crazier in ways that he doesn’t want. I think this really helps drive the home the humanity of the main character as you see the struggle. There is some Urban Fantasy, and Lost Girl is an example, where the main character, Bo, loses touch with her humanity seemingly as the series goes along. Now, a lot of that is just writing, but it hurts the show when the focus on that has been lost and it was stronger at the start of the show. They made some poor decisions in the show by trying to be edgy, but unfortunately the writing dropped off too much and the acting talent wasn’t up to snuff to pull it off.

Image Source: IMDb

When I think about it, I don’t think that there are many particular things that make urban fantasy strong that doesn’t make most other books, movies, and TV shows strong. It has to focus in on an interesting character with flaws and have an interesting plot to go along with it. Within that a good focus on the tension between the two worlds is generally one of the driving forces. Shows like Grimm and Supernatural, which isn’t pure urban fantasy, but is closely aligned to Urban fantasy, and book series like The Dresden Files, all the main characters are the gate keepers keeping the world of monsters and other scary things back and allowing humanity to live in blissful ignorance of what is actually going on. That tension, whether or not the main character is the gate keeper, is probably the thing that is most unique to urban fantasy as it’s the most consistent theme to it. However, it is certainly not a required part of urban fantasy or something that is only limited to urban fantasy.

So I’ve mentioned some of the examples of Urban Fantasy that I’m familiar with. There are certainly a whole lot more out there, and I’m always interested in finding more to read. So I’m going to ask for some suggestions and then give some suggestions of my own. If you have some that you’ve enjoyed, let me know.

The Dresden Files
My #1 recommendation. The books are very well done and Jim Butcher does a really good job of developing an interesting world with interesting monsters. The series starts off a bit rough as it was some of if not Jim Butcher’s first major writing experience. But besides that, it’s about Harry Dresden, a wizard PI in Chicago who is basically one of the only forces holding back hordes of darkness from not just consuming the city, but at times the world.

Grimm
I believe this show was met with mixed reviews, and I will say that there is some camp factor to the show and special effects. However, I liked the show. It is a bit monster of the week throughout a lot of it, but it does that well. The main character is interesting, and the creatures and building up of the world is quite interesting as well.

Image Source: IMDb

Neverwhere
Probably my first introduction to Urban Fantasy, though I might have read the first Dresden Files book before. Neverwhere is an interesting and crazy crafted world of the London Below. A normal human runs across a girl named Door whose life is in danger. After helping her, Richard Mayhew starts having changes in life, and he starts to disappear from the world. He finds out that he’s now moved from his normal life in London to being part of London Below.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer
One that people might not think about as it’s moved on from being part of the collective view, but like Supernatural, it’s a modern show with monsters. The reason that I would say this is more urban fantasy, at least as how I would qualify it, is that Buffy takes place in a single town of Sunnydale that just happens to be sitting on a hellmouth. It’s a classic show and one that does have a bad season or two in there, but is mostly very strong.

Just to do some more quick hits based off of what other places are calling Urban Fantasy that I’ve enjoyed:
Warehouse 13
Supernatural
Reaper
Stranger Things
The Librarians
All fun TV shows

Big Trouble in Little China
From Dusk Til Dawn
The Last Witch Hunter
The Librarian
Underworld
All solid movie choices, though a lot of them B-movies.

Little Witch Academia
Blood Blockade Battlefront
Ghost Hunt
Those are some anime options.

American Gods
Harry Potter
IT
Daughter of Smoke and Bone
Last two I would say are urban fantasy adjacent books. But I recommend all of these books.

So you can see that I’ve watched a lot, but what are some other recommendations especially in books and anime?

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This is Halloween: Anime https://nerdologists.com/2018/10/this-is-halloween-anime/ https://nerdologists.com/2018/10/this-is-halloween-anime/#respond Wed, 10 Oct 2018 12:54:40 +0000 http://nerdologists.com/?p=2535 I was having some troubles coming up with animes for this one. There are very few animes that I’ve watched which I’d consider just to

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I was having some troubles coming up with animes for this one. There are very few animes that I’ve watched which I’d consider just to be horror or just to be Halloween themed. There are a number of them that have bits and pieces of it, but will then have a focus that goes somewhere else, but I’ve come up with a few that have a bit of that Halloween feel to them.

Image Source: My Anime List

Little Witch Academia

It’s about witches, it counts. This show isn’t so much a horror show but gives you that more fun kid focused Halloween feel. It’s about a girl who doesn’t have that much magical talent but really wants to become a witch, like her hero Shiny Chariot. It follows her adventures and misadventures around the school and sometimes deals with deeper things, but often times is just cute and goofy.  It definitely doesn’t fit the horror side of Halloween at all, but still feels properly thematic for the holiday.

Ghost Hunt

This is the opposite of Little Witch Academia, it’s about a paranormal investigator and the high school girl who helps him on the investigations, there are also other people who help as well from time to time. The cases they take on are often quite horrific and they definitely go for some jump scares, but mainly it’s just intense and disturbing. One thing that I really enjoy about this anime is that the cases are fairly short. So instead of just have one off episodes facing off against a monster, you get three to five episodes, but it isn’t isn’t so much that the whole show feels like it’s dragging out a single story.

Tokyo Ravens

I actually wouldn’t recommend this anime too highly because the story is just okay. However, it does fit into the Halloween theme as there are some horror elements in there. It’s about a group of students who are fighting against monsters in the system of their world. The plot is a little bit thin and predictable, however, and it has some of the weirder anime dynamics.

Image Source: Funimation

Blood Blockade Battlefront

Another one that I wouldn’t completely call traditional Halloween. This show definitely doesn’t have the purest horror feel, but in a world where there was a convergence between two worlds and there are crazy alien creatures and humans living together, it does fit into the Halloween theme. It’s also not like this show doesn’t have some weird or unsettling things that are horror like as well. This is a very well done anime, and the story arcs, especially in the first season, are really well done. Probably the best part about the anime is the world that was built. It’s so crazy and so well done. The one downside for me is the build up to the moves, where they announce them and you see it written on the screen as well. The anime is also very pretty to watch as compared to some of the other ones.

Case in point: Excalibur from Soul Eater will take you on a random flight of madness and poorly told stories.
Image Credit: souleater.wikia

Soul Eater

Death is leading a school that is going to fight witches, what could be more Halloween? Probably quite a number of animes, but this one does have a few undertones that match up with Halloween. This falls into the same category as Little Witch Academia where it’s much sillier. But it has that goofy kids feeling for Halloween while getting heavier and darker at times. The anime doesn’t end extremely well, but generally is a really fun anime. I would compare it to the heaviness of a movie like A Nightmare Before Christmas, where it can have a couple creepy moments here and there, but generally is more light hearted, and it has one of the better anime characters of all time in Excalibur, he sings with a voice like an angel.

Now, I’m sure there are a ton more animes that I could have mentioned, had I watched them. I thought about D.Gray-man, but the anime is just too long for the amount of story that happens in it, and I might have given up on completing it because I didn’t care that much about what was happening in it anymore. There are other animes that I’ve seen which have some horror episodes are smaller horror arcs, but generally don’t give off a monster,  horror, or Halloween feeling like the animes that I’m looking for in these articles.

What are some of your favorite horror based animes? I know that I’m always looking for more that are good in that genre.


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Know Your Nerds: Kristen’s Top 5 Anime https://nerdologists.com/2017/10/know-your-nerds-kristens-top-5-anime/ https://nerdologists.com/2017/10/know-your-nerds-kristens-top-5-anime/#respond Wed, 18 Oct 2017 14:56:16 +0000 http://nerdologists.com/?p=1954 As many of you know by now, my status as an anime fan is kind of complicated. While I really love anime, I’ve seen relatively

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As many of you know by now, my status as an anime fan is kind of complicated. While I really love anime, I’ve seen relatively few series compared to your average fan (or at least compared to the anime fans I’m friends with), so I sometimes feel like a bit of a poser talking about it. Nevertheless, out of the series I’ve seen, there are a few I truly love and that have inspired me to keep on watching more, in hopes of finding my next favorite.

Since my to-be-watched list of anime series is still really long, there’s a chance that at least some of the spots on my top 5 list will change as time goes on — but for now, here are my five favorite series!

5. Kamisama Kiss

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This series is one I’ve gotten into more recently — I’ve been watching through it casually when I have some spare time and am in the mood for something lighthearted. It’s a romantic comedy about a girl named Nanami who, through a bizarre chain of events, ends up becoming the Earth deity of a nearby shrine, taking over the post from the former deity, who has gotten tired of the job. A fox demon named Tomoe, a resident of the shrine, becomes her familiar, and is bound to her by — you guessed it — a kiss. Nanami’s feelings for Tomoe quickly grow into something more than gratitude and respect, but can a romance between a human and a fox demon ever work? Well…I’m still waiting to find out!

As I’ve said before when describing this series to friends, it’s like someone took all the best parts of Inuyasha and Fruits Basket and fused them together into a fun new anime that’s reminiscent of both of these, but that is still very much its own story. This series is an absolute delight for so many reasons — it reminds me of the series I loved when I first started watching anime, it has lovable characters whose interactions with each other are by turns hilarious and heartwarming, and it has just enough conflict to keep things interesting while still having plenty of fun, fluffy scenes to enjoy. I can’t wait to see the rest!

4. The Devil is a Part-Timer

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This is another recent watch for me, and one of two on my list that overlaps with Peder’s choices. We watched this one during the depths of last winter, when I was craving something goofy and fun to get me out of my annual February funk. It did the trick perfectly, let me tell you. I won’t go into the summary much, as Peder has already done the honors, but suffice it to say that as this series starts off, it behaves as though it’s going to be a high-stakes, high-concept fantasy piece, and then does a total heel-turn, becoming a silly slice-of-life story about an incarnation of the devil who’s stuck in our dimension and has to make a living as a part-time manager of a burger joint. Bizarre and hilarious doesn’t even begin to cover it, my friends.

My favorite parts of this show are when Sado (the devil) and his right-hand-man-turned-roommate are trying to figure out the ins and outs of everyday life in our dimension. They may look like normal humans, but just knowing that you’re watching two beings from a fantastical world try to set a budget for their meager income and deal with their overly eccentric landlady takes the absurd hilarity to new heights. It’s one of my favorite fish-out-of-water stories, and was exactly the kind of lighthearted fun I needed at the time I watched it.

3. Ouran High School Host Club

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This was one of the first anime to become a favorite of mine. It follows the story of Haruhi, a scholarship student at the elite Ouran High School. Early on in the story, she’s mistaken for a boy due to her androgynous appearance and clothing — not wanting to deal with the hassle of setting the record straight, she decides to just go with it. The members of the Ouran High School Host Club (a sort of flirty high society club that primarily caters to young women) take Haruhi under their wing, and before long, she’s the most sought-after member of the host club.

The premise of this show is pretty farfetched, and it takes at least a base knowledge of some aspects of Japanese culture to really get what’s going on in the story, but once you’re on board, you’re bound to have a great time watching this series. In my opinion, it’s shojo (anime aimed at teenage girl viewers) at its finest and most delightfully over-the-top, and watching it feels like reading a really fun yet really weird contemporary young adult novel. It’s a series I enjoy from start to finish, and one I’ll most likely end up returning to again and again.

2. Inuyasha

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When I was a fledgling anime fan, this is one of the first few series I really got into, and was also one of the first I watched all the way through (not too shabby, seeing as there’s over 160 episodes!). The story focuses on Kagome, a teenage girl who falls down the well in the shrine her family tends, only to be transported through time to feudal-era Japan. There, she meets a rough-and-tumble young dog demon named Inuyasha. He leads her through all sorts of adventures and scrapes as they fight off the other demons who are trying to get their hands on the shards of the Shikon no Tama, a sacred jewel that’s rumored to give great power to any demon who wields it.

This is one of those series with a premise that’s really hard to explain when talking about it, but which is really easy to get into when watching it. There are a lot of different opinions about this series — some (like me) find it really enjoyable and rewarding to watch, while others see it as too mainstream and formulaic. While it does fall into the monster-of-the-week rut fairly often, I love it anyway, and I can’t get enough of the great characters it’s filled with, or the unique settings and plot lines that set it apart from other anime I’ve seen. Regardless of others’ thoughts on this series, it’ll always have a special place in my heart.

1. Steins;Gate

[amazon_link asins=’B00KU3Y5CG’ template=’ProductGrid’ store=’nerdologists-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’526d751e-b414-11e7-8371-ed8ae031bacd’]

Soon after I started watching this series, I knew it was going to end up ranked among the very best anime I’ve ever seen. By the time we reached the end of it, it was my new favorite. As with my #4 choice, I won’t go into great detail with this one, since we’ve already talked about Steins;Gate quite a bit on this blog, but I can’t close out this list without talking about just how truly great this anime is. As we’ve noted before, the story of Steins;Gate focuses on the concept of time travel, testing the limits and possibilities therein, and finding out just how far-reaching and dire the consequences of messing around with it can be.

As we’ve mentioned before, Steins;Gate seems to almost transcend its own medium — more than being a great anime, it’s just a great story, period. The characters are masterfully rendered and feel so believably human, the themes the series focuses on are weighty and important, and the plot is (for the most part) tightly woven and emotionally satisfying. I can’t say I’ll rewatch this one often, as it’s pretty heavy (despite some humorous elements), but I know I’ll revisit it again someday. And regardless of how many times I do or don’t rewatch it, it’s a story I know is going to stick with me, no matter what.

 

To close–some honorable mentions: Bleach (so good, but so fraught), Soul Eater (just a good, solid anime with a great premise), Naruto (I loved it for a while, but it caused even more mixed feelings for me than Bleach did), Cowboy Bebop (space opera at its best), The Daily Lives of High School Boys (I’ve only watched a few episodes, but have absolutely loved what I’ve seen so far), Haibane Renmei (the definition of short and sweet anime), Little Witch Academia (just adorable and delightful in every way), and Fairy Tail (another I haven’t gotten far with, but am really looking forward to watching more of).

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Know Your Nerd: Peder’s Top 5 Anime https://nerdologists.com/2017/10/know-your-nerd-peders-top-5-anime/ https://nerdologists.com/2017/10/know-your-nerd-peders-top-5-anime/#respond Tue, 03 Oct 2017 13:38:41 +0000 http://nerdologists.com/?p=1923 I think that with every one of these, I say that it is hard to pick my top 5 — for this one, it’s true

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I think that with every one of these, I say that it is hard to pick my top 5 — for this one, it’s true simply because I haven’t watched all that much anime. Before meeting Kristen, I had watched Neon Genesis Evangelion and Berserk. I enjoyed both of them, but I hadn’t really watched more anime beyond those. Since then, Kristen and I have watched a number of other series. So here is my “what I’ve seen up to this point” top 5 anime list.

5. Little Witch Academia[amazon_link asins=’B01MT6BBAW’ template=’ProductGrid’ store=’nerdologists-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’f05ca4b3-a3e9-11e7-b960-6f630c7ed577′]

So this is one that we just finished up recently, and the show isn’t done yet. This is a really cute little anime about a girl who wants nothing more than to be a witch, so even though none of her family are witches, she gets into a magic school. She, of course, has the most unique roommates in the boarding school. The show is very lighthearted, and you can really appreciate how much joy and excitement the main character, Akko, has. It’s a series that is great to watch and just relax and enjoy. Right now, it’s on Netflix. You can see that it isn’t a cheap anime, beyond watching it on Netflix, as it’s still quite expensive on Amazon. But this is definitely an anime that is worth checking out and kicking back to relax and watch.

4. The Devil is a Part-timer![amazon_link asins=’B00JKT890A’ template=’ProductGrid’ store=’nerdologists-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’ad299edd-a3ea-11e7-8c25-2f0124554b25′]

This is another really fun anime; it’s about the “devil” coming from another dimension and getting stuck on Earth. He doesn’t have enough power to get back home, so he is going to try and make the best of it. This is a slice-of-life story with an absurd premise — the devil works at McRonalds slinging burgers, working his way up in the fast food restaurant, all as a part of his plan to rule the world. The characters in this show are great, the situations are funny, and the whole “devil” and other dimension side of things works out quite well. That whole premise is kind of absurd as well, and it’s just a lot of fun. It’s another goofy anime that you want to just sit down and enjoy.

3. Sword Art Online[amazon_link asins=’B00EPMCIGS’ template=’ProductGrid’ store=’nerdologists-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’a078266a-a3eb-11e7-9339-6bcd8e5f2c01′]

Sword Art Online is one of those anime that people like to dislike. I can see why in some ways; it takes itself seriously at some points where you don’t expect it to, but in many ways I like this anime a lot. The story is mostly set within a full-immersion virtual reality video game system that, shortly after its launch, causes its users to become stuck in the game. This is by the design of the game’s creator, and the only way to get out of the game is to beat the hundred levels of the fantasy world of the game, but if you die while playing, you die in real life. Instead of doing what you might expect with a story that focuses on swinging swords and beating the boss monsters, the series focuses in more so on how people are handling their life in the game system. There are the front-line fighting moments, but those take a backseat to people growing closer to one another, having breakdowns, and sometimes becoming twisted. It’s an interesting anime that is a nice blend of action, story, and character work. I do think that it pretends to have more depth at times than it really does, but that said, it’s an enjoyable anime, though a bit weird at times as the story really splits at certain points during the seasons, dividing them in half in different ways.

2. Soul Eater[amazon_link asins=’B008YRL7JO’ template=’ProductGrid’ store=’nerdologists-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’5d7334ca-a3ec-11e7-8a54-bb2d47e18136′]

I don’t think anyone would say that my anime list takes itself totally seriously; it tends to build off of levels of craziness. But in many ways, Soul Eater is a pretty serious show. There are absurd characters, but the story tries to focus in on broken characters, broken people who all have their different tics and foibles. The main premise is that Death is the headmaster of a school of students who harvest normal souls for him and keep wayward souls from hurting people. He isn’t a monster eating the souls, but is instead a very eccentric character who is worried about shepherding souls. Two groups of students are the focus, as each soul reaper wields a “human” weapon (basically, a person who has the ability to transform into a weapon). Each group has a different dynamic to it, and they have to deal with things that kids their age really shouldn’t have to deal with. The end of this anime feels a bit rushed and odd, but overall, it’s a very good series.

1. Steins:Gate[amazon_link asins=’B00KU3Y5CG’ template=’ProductGrid’ store=’nerdologists-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’ff7d4ab4-a3ec-11e7-b12b-0188e199c5c9′]

In addition to all the light-hearted anime that I have on this list, I’ve also chosen Steins:Gate — while it is absurd at times, it is overall a serious anime. The story is that of time travel, dealing with its ramifications, and figuring out how much you can change the present by changing the past. There are parts of this very short anime that seem a little rushed, but it is emotionally deep, it asks tough questions, and the characters really grow throughout the show. The dialogue is phenomenal. especially from the main character, and the growth of the main character is the type of thing you don’t see in many non-anime shows. Overall, Steins:Gate might have made it a whole lot harder to really appreciate other anime; it is just that well put together.

I do have some honorable mentions, as well. I mentioned Berserk and Neon Genesis Evangelion. Berserk is a dark, very serious anime, and Neon Genesis Evangelion is your classic mech anime. I enjoyed both, but they are both in very different realms. Kristen and I have also watched Fairy Tale, which I’ve enjoyed quite well, as it’s a blend of fantasy and silliness; however, there is some terrible filler in it. And speaking of filler, I have watched the first couple main arcs of a show that is almost 50% filler with Bleach. Bleach is a lot of fun, but the amount of filler and the fact that I haven’t watched much of the series has kept it off my list. And finally, Dragon Ball Z: Abridged, a fan parody of Dragon Ball Z, is just hilarious.

There are so many more anime that I want to watch and just need to make time for. What are some of your favorite anime? Seeing what I’ve liked, what would you recommend I check out next?


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