THE REAL Anime of the Year 2023

 

Welcome to THE FIRST ANNUAL NOSCHOOLSATURDAY ANIME OF THE YEAR AWARD🗣🗣🗣🔥🔥🔥‼️‼️‼️ Since Crunchyroll ain't gonna give you a real list, I WILL! I'm not gonna have separate categories, but instead will mention every anime that I consider great enough to fight for the "Anime of the year" title. 

 

Before I star off, let's take a look at some honourable mentions, which were series I very much enjoyed, but were not quite on the level of the actual contenders.

 

Record of Ragnarok Season 2 was very enjoyable with its banger cast of characters, but I wasn't a fan of the CGI used in the Hercules vs Jack the Ripper fight. It was slightly less hype than season 1, though still good enough to mention here.

 

A similar story with Kengan Ashura Season 2, where I liked the match ups of the previous parts more, but this one was still super fun to watch.

 

Mashle was a sleeper hit that is now making its way into the mainstream with its SLAMMER season 2 opening. Season 1 was a joy to watch, truly the perfect fusion of One Punch Man, Saiki K and Harry Potter.

 

Heavenly Delusion was one of those series only a few people gave a chance to initially, but when they spread the word it was actually good, everyone flocked to it. For me the best thing about this show is the slow realization that you're not only watching 2 different groups at different locations but also [SPOILER] at different points in time. Definitely deserves to be here and I'm very excited for season 2.

 

MF Ghost was the sequel us Initial D fans were waiting for. Eurobeat returned to the series, the new racing style is super interesting and the characters are really promising. This opening act was great and I'm expecting even greater things in the later seasons.

 

Baki Son of Ogre Season 2 (aka the Pickle arc as well as Strongest Father and Child Quarrel arc) also deserves a mention here. Even though I wasn't super satisfied with the adaptation of Pickle vs Jack (which is my favorite Baki fight) and Pickle vs Retsu, other fights like Pickle vs Katsumi and Baki vs Yujiro were done justice for the most part. This section of the manga is honestly a masterpiece and easily the point where Itagaki's art peaked so even though I still consider it the definitive way to experience the story, I would be lying if I said I wasn't glued to the screen watching it.

 

Last thing before we get into the actual contenders for the title, we got Scott Pilgrim the anime. I don't really care if it's considered anime or not cuz the main reason I'm putting it on here is cuz I'm starring in it. I'm literally Lucas Lee.

Now that we've mentioned all the other great shows, let's get into the contenders for the Anime of the Year 2023 title.

Vinland Saga season 2 was by far the best farming simulator out there. "I have no enemies" was such a humbling line as we saw Thorfinn relinquish any and all ego for the sake of survival and gaining a peaceful life. I'm an anime only, so although something tells me this peace won't last for long, season 2 was a great change of pace, which was not nearly as jarring as I initially expected. It feels good to see a creator tell the story they want to tell without letting external factors pressure them into making something they're not passionate about for the sake of pleasing their audience. Season 2 is a prime example of just that and the fact that the same people who saw the action packed insanity of season 1 stuck with it till the end is a testament to its quality.

Attack on Titan the final season is something I still think about to this day. This felt like the end of an era, which was especially noticeable for me as AOT was the first anime I watched knowing it was anime. The time between 2013 and 2023 was one of the best time periods for anime. One can argue this was the time when anime finally broke into the mainstream. One second everyone thinks you're pencil neck nerd for watching anime and in the blink of an eye your uncle is watching One Punch Man, My Hero Academia and Attack on Titan, which arguably started it all. Wild times we live in. The ending to such a monumental story was always gonna be controversial and to be honest I haven't made my mind on it yet, but what I did learn starting at that tree in the end, is that we all just experienced something phenomenal.

Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill... I know, I know, believe me I think I'm crazy for including it too. Trust me, I'm the furthest thing from an isekai fan, so when I say it's good, it's really fucking good. Honestly I think I enjoyed it so much largely because I watched it with my girlfriend (yes, the one that's totally real, which you don't know about cuz she lives far away and definitely isn't one of my alternate personalities). We had an absolute blast together and we almost couldn't put it down. It felt super satisfying seeing the mc progress through the world by ordering groceries online. On top of that Fenrir is an absolute cheat code and a total joy to watch on-screen. Having him demand so much food was directly responsible for all the amazing "Food Wars" style sequences, where the meals looked absolutely mouth-watering. Forget Mushoku Tensei! This right here is the best isekai in years.

 

Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 was CRAAAAAAAZY. You were basically forced to watch it weekly unless you wanted everything spoiled, cuz you could not open a single social media app and not encounter spoilers and memes. It was a total shit show! Nah I'd Win, Lobotomy Kaisen, THE GOJO FIGURE INCIDENT... this series had mfs WILDIN OUT. To say it completely blew season 1 outta the water would be a huge understatement. Toji, Sukuna and Mahoraga were such MENACES, they stood on top of an absolutely stacked show. I'm investing huge stocks into the hype. Can't wait for Hakari to pop up in season 3!

Bleach Thousand Year Blood War part 2. The fact that manga readers know this was arguably the weakest part of TYBW is insane considering it's an anime of the year contender. Huge shout out to Studio Pierro for not pulling a Boruto and giving Bleach the adaptation it deserves. This season looked stellar, felt stellar and reminded everyone Bleach is still a part of the GOATs. The 2nd invasion was hype af and gave so many characters opportunity to shine (literally in the case of Kurotsuchi). Komamura's human form was insane, Superstar was so much fun to watch, Renji became relevant again, not to mention the return of Byakuya and Rukia's bankai. Such a wild season and yet it's only the calm before the storm!

 

One Piece (end of Wano). On one hand it feels kinda weird to count One Piece, but on the other hand it feels so right. Yes, it came out in 1999 but who actually considers it a 90s anime? Nobody, which is completely justifiable considering it has been running for almost 25 years. In my mind, the end Wano including the Gear 5 moment all count towards 2023 and as they aired in 2023, it deserves to be here. This year will be remembered as the year that shut up all the haters. Nobody can ever say One Piece has bad animation ever again without sounding like a mouth breather. We saw all of the final battles. Warlords, Yonko, every mf with an insane bounty pulled up and it was a total battle royale with 1000 gorgeous impact frames in every episode. I think it unironically may have set a new record for the most impact frames in any series. Toon force 🔛🔝

 

Finally, 6 incredible anime, only 1 winner. Without further ado, THE ANIME OF THE YEAR IS...

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Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 babyyyyyyyy!! There was some incredible competition this year, but JJK Season 2 felt like an entire cultural phenomenon. It's been a while since an anime has gripped me so tight and made me imagine myself as part of this world, but JJK did it. Even with all the production issues in the background, the Shibuya Incident arc not only looked great, but also solidified JJK as part of the shonen Hall of Fame and established itself as a modern classic. I was not sold at all on season 1, but season 2 blew me away. A truly fantastic show!

 

Aaaaaaand there we have it! What did you guys think of the list? Lemme know if I missed any great ones and drop your anime of the year below! Thanks for reading 💪😎

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