Board 8 > Robazoid Ranks 275 Anime and Top 100 Anime Characters 2 (Average and beyond)

(+) Yeah! (+)

Mobilezoid posted...

https://imgur.com/TI3mWjU

you're probably looking for https://i.imgur.com/hbeQSyo.png

Luminous Witches rose from it's placeholder rank of 168 to 167. Shine Post is coming up next and also rose one spot to 166. They both beat Phantom of the Idol, which fell to 168, but not Music Girls at 165.

167. Luminous Witches
https://myanimelist.net/anime/38006/Renmei_Kuugun_Koukuu_Mahou_Ongakutai_Luminous_Witches
Summer 2022 (12 episodes)
My Score: 4/10, MAL Score: 6.67/10
Best Character: Virginia Robertson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K65NaMehqMg

Premise: Another spinoff from the Strike Witches franchise. The war against the alien Neuroi continues, largely fought by witches, young girls with magical powers. Not all witches are adept at fighting, however, so nine of them form a music group to put on shows and raise morale.

The Good: Luminous Witches is an idol anime, which thankfully sets it apart from the bad Brave Witches and disappointing Strike Witches. I complained plenty about the Neuroi and the ripoff WW2 setting in those write-ups, so it's good both are only background elements in LW. This is little more than a standard idol anime, but thats okay because I like idol anime. Various girls come together, get to know each other, practice, create dance routines and costumes, write songs, and it all culminates in a nice show. I liked all of the girls, though none of them were complex characters. I also liked the slight twists in the typical idol formula that this had, such as incorporating flying into their shows or going on a world tour.

The Bad: Unlike Strike or Brave, Luminous Witches didn't do anything especially bad. Its ranking is mostly held back because the few new things it brings to the idol genre don't outweigh the many ways in which it's a typical idol anime. There's also an overarching plot with Ginny trying to bring her owl familiar back to its family, and I got nothing out of that at all. It was never clear to me how her familiar was different from everyone else's or why it needed to go home when theirs didn't, so that whole quest fell flat for me.

Overall: Luminous Witches was a nice idol anime with decent characters, good songs, and a few new ideas. I was glad it avoided falling into the pitfalls of the rest of the franchise. Ultimately, however, there wasn't enough to set this apart from a typical idol anime. It wasnt bad, it just also wasn't special.

166. Shine Post
https://myanimelist.net/anime/50221/Shine_Post
Summer 2022 (12 episodes)
My Score: 4/10, MAL Score: 7.12/10
Best Character: Tamaki Kyouka

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHemM_8IOrY

Premise: The idol group TiNgS hasn't had much success, and they might have to disband unless their anniversary show sells out. Luckily they have a new manager, and he has the power to tell when people are lying.

The Good: Shine Post is an idol anime. It has a few twists, like having a relatively small group of girls (only five), and their manager can literally see an aura when people tell lies. Those aren't exactly huge things, however, so this is pretty much just a typical idol anime. Thankfully, I enjoy idol anime! Having a smaller cast also allows more time to characterize each of them, as well as their struggle to become better known. Tamaki was my favorite character because she has a cute quirk where she tries to prank people despite clearly having no idea what a prank is, so it falls flat. I liked all the girls, though, and even Manager-kun is fine. Shine Post also has surprisingly good production values, making the shows they put on look impressive.

The Bad: Shine Post looks way better than the idol anime I've ranked directly ahead of it, Music Girls. I feel like Music Girls had a lot more heart, however. Shine Post is nothing more than a typical idol anime. They have a goal they're shooting for, and to get there they need to get better and overcome personal obstacles. The manager's lie spotting ability is the big thing that's supposed to set this apart, but all the lies the girls tell have obvious context clues. I really don't need a shining golden aura to tell. Since the only thing setting this anime apart is kind of meaningless, it just feels generic.

Overall: Shine Post is a solid idol anime, and I enjoy that genre so that's fine. It feels generic in a lot of ways, but sometimes all I need is cute girls and the occasional song. High production values help, but there isn't anything else to really elevate this.

COMING UP TOMORROW:
100: Someone is spying on this anime through a window.
99: This anime is giving little girls treats to get them to do what it wants.

Thanks for letting me go back and finalize the rankings for this season's shows, everyone. With that done, we're finally getting into the top 100, my actual favorites! And the common theme between the two we're starting with tomorrow is, uh... a questionable interest in little girls! So, yeah. I swear they aren't as uncomfortable as they probably should be (but they're still a little uncomfortable).

I also wanted to mention a few things about the top 100. Since there are so many character write-ups coming up, I'm only going to do two anime per day from now on, not two or three like I have been. Sometimes that will mean two write-ups, like tomorrow, but some days will also have two or even three characters. There were a few times where two anime with two characters each would've been together, but thats too much for one day. In those cases, I'll only do one anime per day.

Another fun stat is, of the top 100 anime, I've watched, rewatched, or intend to rewatch 82 of them since the start of the year! If you're wondering why I've made such lousy progress on recommendations, that's why. 82/100 of the remaining anime are ones I'll have recently seen.

As always, thanks for following along, everyone.

Uzamaid rulz ok.

Is the other one Wataten too? Funny that you have them right next to each other if so. Not that I'd score them too differently. IIRC, Uzamaid is funnier, while Wataten's more heartwarming.

100. Uzamaid
https://myanimelist.net/anime/37722/Uchi_no_Maid_ga_Uzasugiru
Fall 2018 (12 episodes)
My Score: 7/10, MAL Score: 6.90/10
Best Character: Morikawa Yui

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgOJW5uOunI

Premise: Takanashi Misha lost mother at a young age, leaving her with just a useless stepfather. He hires a maid, Kamoi Tsubame, to help out, but she turns out to be a hardcore lolicon with an annoying infatuation towards Misha!

The Good: I'm sure anyone who hadn't already heard of this read that premise summary and got really uncomfortable. And on the surfaces, yes, this is a gross concept. Tsubame is unapologetically into little girls, her former military career left her physically imposing, and she has no sense of boundaries. Thankfully, this is a comedy, so it never gets dark or goes too far. Tsubame is never portrayed as being in the right, rather she's the closest thing the anime has to an antagonist. The story is about Misha trying to use her for the top-notch cooking and cleaning while fending off annoying advances in a slapstick manner. I certainly wouldn't blame anyone who gets turned off by the premise, but if you can get past it there are a lot of solid gags. Tsubame always has some scheme or paper-thin disguise to get closer to Misha, and they usually backfire in a humorous way. I also liked Misha's school friends, especially the self-declared rival Morikawa who always shows up with her own peppy theme music for some poorly thought-out challenge.

The Bad: There's a side character, Midori, who is a masochist obsessed with getting put down by Tsubame. She shows up often enough to the point of almost being a third main character. I don't hate her, but a lot of her jokes and situations feel samey. A few episodes in Uzamaid also try to get serious or heartwarming. It does an okay job at that, but in my opinion this isn't the kind of anime that should try for those emotions. I'd have preferred if it stayed comedic throughout.

Overall: Uzamaid definitely has a questionable premise, but it's used for slapstick humor and isn't remotely dark. Tsubame trying and failing to get closer to Misha led to a lot of good jokes. I didn't like Midori or the more serious episodes very much. Still, they were a comparatively small part of a mostly fun anime.

99. WATATEN: An Angel Flew Down to Me
https://myanimelist.net/anime/37993/Watashi_ni_Tenshi_ga_Maiorita
Winter 2019 (12 episodes)
My Score: 7/10, MAL Score: 7.30/10
Best Character: Hoshino Hinata

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEEJK4zbSS8

Premise: Hoshino Miyako isvan incredibly shy college student who spends most of her time in her room. Then her little sister Hinata brings over a friend, Shirosaki Hana, and Miyako becomes captivated by her cuteness.

The Good: Wataten is a cute girls slice-of-life comedy about an older shut-in and her little sister's friends. Miyako thinks Hana is unbelievably cute, but unlike Uzamaid, I don't remember her interest being too explicit or creepy. Miyako is incredibly awkward and asks Hana to wear cute cosplay outfits or pose for pictures, but she's never portyayed as a threat. Hana shows discomfort at times, but Miyako is so good at making delicious treats that she's usually bribed to go along. My favorite character was the little sister Hinata who idolizes her decided unimpressive big sister. One of my favorite jokes was when Miyako visited the school and the whole class was awestruck because Hinata had told them so many false stories about Miya-nee getting perfect grades and having a million friends. There are lots of other cute girls in this though, and lots of heartwarming or adorable moments.

The Bad: Wataten has a slightly questionable premise, which might turn some people off. Miyako truly is just awkward and harmless, however, so it didn't bother me. What held this back for me most was that I felt the main dynamic between Miyako and Hana was the weakest part. I vastly preferred the cuteness and humor when Hinata or one of the other girls was around. Miyako/Hana wasnt bad, but if more focus was given to the better parts I could've justified ranking this higher.

Overall: Wataten is a cute and funny anime, especially when it features Miyako dealing with the large cast. Hana is probably the weakest part, which is too bad because she gets a lot of focus, but even she was good. As long as the slightly questionable premise doesn't turn people away, this is a nice anime.

COMING UP TOMORROW:
98: This anime ran so hard it broke its leg.
97: This anime is being attacked by warships.

(Fun fact, Uzamaid at 100th was the first time in this whole ranking that my score was higher than the MAL score!)

the Wataten movie comes out next week (in Japan)

seeing a Wataten movie in theaters would feel extremely weird...

Hana was maybe the weakest character yeah. Wasn't a fan of her obsession with that ugly mascot.

Hope 97 is Arpgeggio of Blue Steel, but I assume you haven't watched that.

Mobilezoid posted...

98: This anime ran so hard it broke its leg.

Wow, you're putting World Record from The Animatrix on the list??

...It actually never occurred to me that The Animatrix is an anime. I should've included it on this list! Too bad I haven't seen it in over a decade. All I remember is that Final Flight of the Osiris was the best episode.

Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within is on MAL too, now that I look. I haven't seen it in over a decade either but I'll give it an honorary #1 on the movie ranking because it's one of the best sci-fi films ever made.

Yeah Final Flight's the best one. The others are not so great for the most part, though I do like the two-parter about the machines taking over.

98. Umamusume: Pretty Derby
https://myanimelist.net/anime/35249/Uma_Musume__Pretty_Derby
Spring 2018 (13 episodes), Winter 2021 (13 episodes)
My Score: 7/10, MAL Score: 7.30/10 S1, 8.02/10 S2
Best Character: Gold Ship

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6rP_HS0ox4

Premise: Special Week is a horse girl, one of many carrying on the legacy of real racehorses from our world. Shes just begun training at a prestigious academy, and soon she'll make her debut!

The Good: Umamusume is one of those wonderfully zany concepts I always love to see in anime. It's mostly a cute girls sports anime focused on anthropomorphic racehorses, but it also has idol shows after the races seemingly for no other reason than "why not?". It does a good job at all the different aspects, too. The first season mostly follows Special Week and her best friend/rival Silence Shizuku, but there's a large cast of quirky horse girls. My favorite was Gold Ship because she was always doing something hilariously random in the background and had a running gag where she injured her eyes while trying to prank someone. The girls learn special techniques, practice hard, and finally run the races, plus the winners put on an idol show after. It's great. It isn't always lighthearted, either. There are themes about hard work, rivalry, friendship, teamwork... don't let the goofy parts of the premise fool you, this is a legit sports anime. The races also reflect the real world records of the racehorses, and quite a few of them faced horrific injuries.

The Bad: My main problem with Umamusume is the fact that it sticks so closely to the real world records. Real life doesn't always have the most satisfying arcs, after all. I enjoyed the second season a lot. It had deeper themes than the first. However, the two girls it focused on had some pretty repetitive arcs thanks to their real world races. It was also jarring that Special Week just kind of hung around in the background for years without doing anything because the first season covered all of that horse's races. I know reflecting actual racehorses was central to the premise, but I'd have preferred if it veered into fantasy races a bit more. I also didn't like the main trainer dude or his running gag of coming up behind horse girls and feeling their legs.

Overall: Umamusume is a delightful mixture of various elements that come together to create a solid racing anime. I liked all of the quirky horse girls, and both seasons had nice stories and themes. I feel that sticking so closely to real world results was occasionally a detriment, but overall this was a fun anime about running.

S1 of Uma Musume was pretty bad imo. S2 was better, but I was frustrated with Teiou's arc. The way she came back after her injuries rather than finding something new to do with her life felt really bad despite that being what happened IRL lol...

Also they should've turned Silence Shizuku into glue like they did with the real life version.

I didn't mind the end of Teiou's arc, but it was kind of lame how many times she was injured. I think using creative license to change a few things could've really smoothed out the story. Then again, it was admirable in a way that they were so dedicated to the real life results.

Except that if they'd been truly dedicated they would've killed Silence Shizuku :p

A cute girls anime like that killing someone off certainly would've been bold and different!

97. High School Fleet
https://myanimelist.net/anime/31500/High_School_Fleet
Spring 2016 (12 episodes)
My Score: 7/10, MAL Score: 7.30/10
Best Character: Isoroku

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lc08QxI_9q8

Premise: Misaki Akeno, a naval trainee, is given command of the destroyer Harekaze during a training exercise. When the ship is fired upon by allies, however, they're forced to go on the run into hostile waters in order to try and figure out what's going on.

The Good: High School Fleet is a cute girls anime about the crew of a destroyer. It reminds me of another "cute girls pilot a war machine" anime, Girls und Panzer. It also has some of the same problems as I'll cover below, but overall I enjoyed HSF a lot more. It helps that it introduces an overarching mystery right away. The Harekaze is attacked by allies and they're declared traitors when they defend themselves. Akeno must command her crew of trainees well in order to survive in a situation where they have no idea what's going on and some enemy ships vastly outclass theirs. The mystery and survival aspects hooked me right away. Still, despite that life-or-death premise, HSF has a mostly lighthearted tone.

The Bad: My main complaint with Girls und Panzer was that it had too many characters, making it difficult to care about any of them. HSF has even more characters with even less characterization to split between them. It didn't bother me as much in this, though. While I never even learned most of their names, each of the girls had a unique design to set them apart. They also mostly stuck with the crewmembers in their little section, and over time I recognized the fun dynamics those groups had. No one has much depth, and that's probably the biggest thing holding HSF back. For best character I even chose the ship's mascot cat, mostly because I like cats. Still, I could at least differentiate them all by the end, and I didn't dislike anyone.

Overall: High School Fleet has a compelling mystery right from the beginning. I always like stories where a small group is struggling to survive against all odds. The lighthearted tone also keeps everything fun. The characters aren't the most compelling, but they all fulfill their roles well enough. This is a solid anime about cute girls in a warship.

COMING UP TOMORROW:
96: An enemy ace shot this anime down.
95: This anime is fighting over dwindling resources.
C89: This character didn't know they were even fighting a war.

Ugh, thought it might be High School Fleet. What a disappointing show. The cast is WAY too big. Never cared about any of them.

looking forward to your Ender's Game writeup

96. The Magnificent Kotobuki
https://myanimelist.net/anime/38301/Kouya_no_Kotobuki_Hikoutai
Winter 2019 (12 episodes)
My Score: 7/10, MAL Score: 6.85/10
Best Character: Kylie

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Nm_mABJJNA
(Couldnt find OP or ED, linked full OP song)

Premise: Zeppelins carry supplies across a desolate world, and they're protected from piracy by mercenary pilots. Kylie is a part of the Kotobuki Squadron, and she uses her natural flying skills to protect their clients.

The Good: The Magnificent Kotobuki is about cute girls flying airplanes and dogfighting bad guys. I'm a big fan of the video game series Ace Combat, and while I wouldnt exactly call this an anime version of that, it's the closest I've found so far. TMK was created to advertise a mobile game that no longer exists, so it has some problems and didn't have a huge budget. It did a great job with the dogfighting, however, and that was the most important part. The animation while flying looks good with lots of different angles, and it's all easy to follow. The sound design is still what I found most impressive. Between the sound of the engines, the wind whipping by, and guns firing or bullets bouncing off metal, it creates an immersive experience. The story has some neat twists too, and the characters are all at least fine. There were some missions they went on where they were flying under restrictions or with poor odds or through an interesting location, and all of those were great.

The Bad: The animation when not flying is hit-or-miss. I remember one dancing scene that was so badly drawn it made me laugh out loud. The fact that this was made to advertise a mobile game didn't do it any favors, either. Sometimes unique-looking characters would show up for one inconsequential scene, and I can only assume that was fanservice for the few people who actually played the game.

Overall: While I enjoyed TMK, even I have to admit it was mostly mediocre. The characters were merely fine. The story went some neat places but wasn't super great. The WW2-style dogfighting just really appealed to me, and it did an amazing job at that! The animation in the flying scenes and especially the sound design made the air battles feel very immersive. Since that was so good, and the other elements at least weren't bad, I had a lot of fun with The Magnificent Kotobuki.

95. The Price of Smiles
https://myanimelist.net/anime/38544/Egao_no_Daika
Winter 2019 (12 episodes)
My Score: 7/10, MAL Score: 6.05/10
Best Character: Soleil Yuki

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYvE-BBXg08

Premise: Princess Soleil Yuki is the young leader of her Kingdom after her parents died in a tragedy many years ago. She's idealistic and hopeful for a bright future, but her advisors are hiding just how strained relations with the neighboring Empire have become.

The Good: The Price of Smiles is a mecha battle anime about a war between a Kingdom and an Empire on another planet in the distant future. The story does a lot of things I found compelling. Princess Yuki is the main perspective from the Kingdom, but Stella, an Empire soldier, is given almost equal prominence. By showing both sides, typical themes like "war is bad" gain addition weight. No one is being evil simply for the sake of it. The war has complex motivations like scarcity of resources or new discoveries which threaten the balance of power, making conflict all but inevitable. It often did a neat thing where one episode would show characters fighting faceless goons... and then later we'd see the battle from the other perspective and realize they were actually fighting a character we knew and kinda like. No matter who or what they were fighting for, these are all people with hopes and dreams. Some parts of TPoS were legitimately difficult to watch because it told the tragedy of war so impactfully. I also really liked the setting, including some of the later sci-fi twists.

The Bad: I talked a lot above about how having perspectives from both sides gave weight to the themes. However, the sides aren't as equal as they should be. Yuki is great, as I'll cover in her write-up below, but Stella is cold and full of PTSD. Most of the Empire soldiers in her unit took a long time to grow on me, if they ever did. They're the invaders, which puts them at a moral disadvantage for the viewers right away. I don't think the story does enough to overcome that. It also doesn't help that we never see what life in the Empire is like, which would've helped sell the necessity of the war to gain resources.

Overall: I enjoyed The Price of Smiles, even when it wrecked me emotionally. That said, I often feel like I appreciate it more for what it was trying to do rather than what it actually accomplished. Having perspectives from both sides added depth to everything, but Yuki's side is far more likeable than Stella's. It wasnt enough to ruin the story for me because I saw what they were going for, but some tighter writing and a few small changes could've made this a lot better. At least the mecha action scenes were always good, and Yuki was a solid character.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/3/9/5/AAcDcBAADwVL.jpg

CHARACTER: Soleil Yuki (The Price of Smiles)
https://myanimelist.net/character/167632/Yuuki__Soleil
Voiced by: Hanamori Yumiri
TOP 100 RANK: 89th

(I couldn't find a good video for her)

SPOILERS FOR THE PRICE OF SMILES

The war in The Price of Smiles is a first episode twist, mostly because Yuki's advisors have been keeping things from her due to her young age and the hope that they can fix things for her before it gets out of hand. I appreciated the story opening this way, because it shows Yuki at her most idealistic and hopeful. She has a huge group of trusted advisors, including her childhood friend Joshua. Thanks to technological advancements, including a seemingly impossible new power source, the Kingdom is thriving. She even wants to send food to the struggling Empire, not yet realizing how bad things have gotten between them. Yuki is a good person, but holding onto that becomes a struggle after Joshua's body returns from the first engagement and she learns what's really going on.

Yuki eventually overcomes her shock and grief. She surprises everyone by proving to be a capable defensive commander, too. The Kingdom's advantage in technology and training can overwhelm individual units of Empire soldiers, and she smartly maneuvers everything to hold them back for months. The Empire's sheer numbers eventually break through, however, and defeat seems all but certain. I found Yuki compelling through all of this. She continues losing her advisors, people she's known and loved all her life. They're whittled away, one by one. Yuki even decides to be the one to tell a little girl that her father is never coming home, even though the girl lashes out at her and it breaks Yuki's heart. For a young girl, Yuki shows surprising strength and realistic vulnerability. She keeps fighting too, never losing her hope for a brighter future.

The problem is, how can there be a brighter future when conflict seems inevitable? Even if the Empire wins this war, what they gain won't last forever. The planet itself seems to be turning desolate, and they only managed as well as they have been thanks to an advanced energy source no one quite understands. Near the end of the season, however, Yuki learns a startling truth. That new energy source actually comes from destroying the terraforming nanomachines in the air that were keeping the planet habitable. These ancient miracles of technology, long forgotten by the current population, have dwindled to the point that the planet is dying. I remember a lot of people in the Crunchyroll comments for these episodes really hated this twist. They called it a dumb allegory for climate change. Which, yeah, it's obviously alluding to that, but I don't mind when the message in fiction is applicable. I really liked the twist that the advanced energy source they've been relying on was actually the cause of their misfortune in the first place. It's a neat sci-fi idea.

I also liked how Yuki responded to it. While the remainder of her army distracts the enemy with a last stand elsewhere, she and a small force push into enemy territory to reach an experimental research base. There, they can destroy the sci-fi energy source for good. It's a risk, as even without their mecha the enemy has occupied most of the Kingdom. Disabling everything will still put them at the Empire's mercy. Stella also winds up being part of the unit to respond to Yuki's force. She's the one holding the princess at gunpoint hearing an insane story about healing the world. Stella has no way of knowing what this will do. It could even be a last-ditch superweapon from the Kingdom to turn the tide. Indeed, Yuki's advisors initially encouraged her to find a way to only disable the enemy's technology. Yuki knows they all need to sacrifice, however. She makes a compelling argument for peace and the need to finally trust each other, and Stella allows her to proceed. Even a broken soldier who earnestly believed in what they were fighting for is willing to take a chance at peace when it's offered to them.

The plan works, the energy source is destroyed, and the nanomachines will eventually return to normal and heal the planet with it. Yuki's refusal to abandon her ideals leads to peace. It'll be a hard future as everyone returns to a lower level of technology. However, Yuki has more than proven herself to be a capable leader, and I was left with the impression that she would build a brighter future. Her sorrow made me care about her, and her refusal to let it break her made me love her. Despite everything she had lost, I was glad things mostly worked out in the end.

COMING UP TOMORROW:
94: This anime tripped on some stairs.
C13: This character doesn't know everything, they only know what they know.
93: This anime is moving to the planet formerly known as Mars.

(I already knew no one but me on this board has seen Kotobuki or Price of Smiles. Thankfully, both of the anime tomorrow are exceedingly popular.)

I forget, have you said yet whether there's a chance to have multiple characters in your top 100 come from the same series? Obviously that's not the case here, but it probably would be for me, since I think your 13th would also be in my top 100, but is narrowly not my favorite from that series.

Sceptilesolar posted...

I forget, have you said yet whether there's a chance to have multiple characters in your top 100 come from the same series? Obviously that's not the case here, but it probably would be for me, since I think your 13th would also be in my top 100, but is narrowly not my favorite from that series.

Yeah, there are a fair amount with two characters coming up. One anime even has three, and guessing which one was one of the trivia questions I gave that almost no one guessed for!

weird it seems youre ranking hanekawa but theres no hint for the actual best girl...

also im feeling worse and worse picking the highest male ratio!

The rough write-ups for 94 and C13 are almost 1700 words, lol. Time to see if I can edit that down (though 100 words of that is arc and character rankings which I guess shouldn't count)

EDIT: 1350 words, not counting arc/character rankings or the really long opening where I list all the seasons. Good enough I guess. I guess I just have to accept that some of these are going to be way longer than others.

94. Monogatari
https://myanimelist.net/anime/5081/Bakemonogatari
Summer 2009 (15 episodes), Winter 2012 (11 episodes), Fall 2012 (4 episodes), Summer 2013 (26 episodes), Spring 2014 (5 episodes), Fall 2014 (4 episodes), Fall 2015 (12 episodes), Winter 2016 (12 episodes), Summer 2017 (7 episodes) plus 3 movies
My Score: 7/10, MAL Score: 8.34 S1, Im not listing all of them
Best Character: Hanekawa Tsubasa

My Hanekawa Figure: https://imgur.com/W8TYEd4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9b0BKGCr3I

Premise: After surviving a vampire attack, Araragi Koyomi was left with certain abilities. When he realizes Senjougahara Hitagi is afflicted by something strange as well, he resolves to help her.

The Good: Ah, Monogatari. This was tough to rank because I have so many conflicting opinions about it. It has lots of genres (romance, supernatural, action, mystery) but this anime isnt so easily defined because its unlike any other story Ive ever seen. Its sprawling, divided into numerous arcs. At the most basic level, Araragi usually helps a girl with a supernatural problem. In the first story (which isnt the first chronologically its a series thats even complicated to figure out how watch!) he helps Senjougahara with her mysterious weightlessness, for example.

There are lots of deep themes, and even while watching it I felt like lots of it went over my head. Even for confused viewers like myself, however, Monogatari is so stylized that its still fun to watch. It has beautiful animation and art. Even the most straightforward scenes are filled with things like still frames of text and lots of jumpy cuts from strange angles. Monogatari is a unique series, and when its good its really damn good. Hanekawa and her arcs were my favorites, as Ill cover in her write-up, but I liked most of them.

The Bad: When Monogatari is bad, its really damn bad. This series has enough arcs that are all so different from each other that it manages to hit the entire scale of 1/10 to 10/10. Tsukihi Phoenix is one of the worst things ever, and no one can convince me otherwise! That toothbrush episode should be erased from reality. Thankfully, there were only four arcs I considered bad, so its easy to ignore them and give Monogatari a decent ranking. The thing that mainly holds it back is that I hate Araragi. Yes, I enjoyed this in spite of its main character. There were times where his self-sacrificing nature made things compelling, but hes also an annoying pervert who sexually assaults all the ladies, including a little girl.

Overall: Monogatari was difficult to rank, difficult to describe, and difficult to fully understand. Still, it was also worth the effort! I dont like Araragi, but there are countless wonderful stories worth watching despite him. Even at its absolute worst, Monogatari had stylized animation that was interesting to see. And when it was good, like in the Hanekawa arcs, it was one of the best things Ive ever seen. I think everyone should give Monogatari a try just for the experience of watching it alone.

Anyway, Ive also included my story arc and character rankings. I didnt rewatch Monogatari for this ranking (its way too long to rewatch on a whim) but I posted these after I first saw it. I guess potential spoilers for character and arc names for anyone who hasn't seen this and wants to go in fully blind.

STORY ARC RANKING
Tsubasa Tiger > Kizumonogatari > Tsubasa Family > Hitagi End > Tsubasa Cat > Suruga Devil > Mayoi Jiangshi > Shinobu Time > Ougi Dark > Mayoi Snail > Shinobu Mail > Suruga Monkey > Hitagi Crab > Nadeko Medusa > Ougi Formula > Mayoi Hell > Hitagi Rendezvous > Yotsugi Doll > Nadeko Snake > Sodachi Lost > Sodachi Riddle > Karen Bee > Tsukihi Phoenix

(Tsubasa Cat and above were all amazing and then it's a steady downfall in quality until we reach the bad tier at the Sodachis and below.)

CHARACTER RANKING
Hanekawa > Shinobu > Kaiki > Ougi > Hachikuji > Ononoki > Kanbaru > Senjougahara > Nadeko > Tsukihi > Sodachi > Karen >>>>>>> Araragi

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/1/8/0/AABz_zAADwhc.jpg

CHARACTER: Hanekawa Tsubasa (Monogatari)
https://myanimelist.net/character/22055/Tsubasa_Hanekawa
Voiced by: Horie Yui
TOP 100 RANK: 13th

SPOILERS FOR MONOGATARI

VIDEO LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1AUvGH8G_c

Since I didnt rewatch Monogatari, this write-up wont be as good as Hanekawa deserves. However, I gushed about her a bunch when I first watched it, and those thoughts are on the archive website. I did my best to recreate my epic journey of falling in love with her. If any of this is wrong, I either misunderstood when I was watching or misinterpreted it during writing.

Hanekawa was already my favorite character after Bake, but it was the Kizu movies where she really started climbing into my all-time favorites. Throughout all the vampire craziness Araragi went through, she was playful, cheerful, insightful, and constantly supportive. The only bad part was the breast fondling scene, which was too much and went on way too long. I blame Araragi for that, though. Hanekawa was amazing, and I couldnt understand how a guy could go through an adventure like that and then wind up falling for a completely different, vastly inferior girl.

On some level, Hanekawa seems to have the same confusion. The Tsubasa Cat arc introduces her bottled up feelings for Araragi. Thanks to a cat spirit thats possessing her, the stress takes the form of an alternate personality (I think?) called Black Hanekawa. She gives Araragi a choice: either date her to eliminate that stress, or he can die. Though he acknowledges he owes her his life, his relationship with Senjougahara means he doesnt want to do either. He chooses a third option, having his vampire shadow seal Black Hanekawa away. This only delays the inevitable.

Next came Tsubasa Family. It dealt with the question I had before, about how Araragi could fall for anyone other than her after all they went through in the Kizu movies. This arc was where all the pieces of her character clicked together for me. It made me realize the two of them getting together wouldve been awful. Araragi holds her to an unrealistically high standard (symbolized by the way he literally cant touch her when shes in her cat form), and that isnt a good basis for a relationship. For Hanekawa, given her abusive home, she wouldve only been using Araragi to escape it. One line that stuck out to me in Bakemonogatari was when she said something to the effect of, or course she fell for him, he couldve saved her with his new vampire powers. The real meaning behind those words didnt click for me until she embraced a cat spirit to escape her family in this arc. It didnt need to be Araragi. Hanekawa just wanted a way out, no matter who or what. If she got into a relationship simply for that, it wouldnt have been fair to either of them.

The Tsubasa Family arc also gave her actions in the Kizu movies a new perspective. Hanekawa is someone who does what people expect of her. For almost anyone, what she did for Araragi in the Kizu movies wouldve been monumental. For Hanekawa, it was just her going through the motions of the image she has of herself. Its the same reason why she buried a cat that she found, because that was what she was supposed to do. There really was nothing deeper to any of it.

Then we have Tsubasa Tiger, easily the best Monogatari arc. I liked how Araragi was barely in this one, and not just because I hate him! Hanekawa really needed to come to terms with herself. Her friendship with Senjougahara has some great interactions, like the one where she points out what Hanekawa liking every flavor really means. Shes suppressing what she truly wants, all in order to stay pure because thats whats expected of her. Ignoring those parts of herself is whats spawning monsters like Black Hanekawa and a supernatural tiger as outlets to handle the stress, and thats the final thing she needed to get past. Hanekawa accepts everything about herself, and finally earns a place for herself in her own home by demanding a room from her abusive family.

Theres also the moment shown in the video I linked for this write-up. When Araragi finally shows up, Hanekawa confesses to him. She shares the feelings she had once suppressed to not cause a fuss. Given his relationship with Senjougahara, its far too late, and the baggage they wouldve brought into it wouldve made dating a bad idea regardless. Hanekawa still confesses, because those feelings exist no matter how wrong or illogical, and it isnt right to ignore them. Araragi turns her down, because of course he does. But thats okay. Hanekawa gets to cry, and then she can heal. Thats how its supposed to be. (And, frankly, she can do better than Araragi.)

Theres a lot more I could say, but this is already long enough. I loved Hanekawas arc, or at least my interpretation of it. She comes a long way over the course of Monogatari, and it made her one of my all-time favorite anime characters.

Tsubasa Tiger in first as it should be.

My feelings about the series are weird but overall I guess it's pretty great. Second Season in particular is just basically all fantastic arcs.

I will say that I think Monogatari is more esoteric than it is actually deep or profound. It's hard to follow more for the sake of being hard to follow than because there's any meat to the ideas its trying to communicate. (Well I mean there is some depth to it compared to the average anime, but yeah)

Tsubasa Tiger is an incredible arc, and Yui Horie does a fantastic job as Hanekawa, so it's a good ranking. I do slightly prefer Kanbaru, as Hanamonogatari/Suruga Devil was really the peak of Monogatari in my eyes, but it's only very narrowly over Hanekawa. She's also really good post-Tiger with the hair change, but that was in the Sodachi arcs which I liked quite a bit more than you did.

although Senjougahara is of course far too low, Tsubasa Tiger is somewhere in the top 5 arcs, no doubt, and Hanekawa is fantastic.

too much ararararagi hate!

Araragi kinda sucks yea

Thankfully the rest of the show around him is good

93. Aria
https://myanimelist.net/anime/477/Aria_the_Animation
Fall 2005 (13 episodes), Spring 2006 (26 episodes), Winter 2008 (13 episodes) plus 4 OVAs
My Score: 7/10, MAL Score: 7.68/10 S1, 8.18/10 S2, 8.49/10 S3
Best Character: Mizunashi Akari

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EIULHTeTrk

Premise: On a terraformed Mars, now called Aqua, many companies offer tours in gondolas on the canals. Mizunashi Akari is training at the Aria Company and often practices with her friends.

The Good: Aria is a slice-of-life, and there are only a handful of anime Id classify as more laid-back than this one. It mostly follows Akari as she trains to be an Undine (the name given to people who give tours on gondolas). She practices with her friends Alice and Aika. They have different mentors as well as their own strengths and weaknesses, and they often help each other improve. I liked all of them, but this isnt an anime for complex character arcs or dramatic stories. Its an anime to watch when you want to sit back and relax. There are several episodes that venture into fantasy or the supernatural, but it always remains whimsical and lighthearted.

The Bad: While I enjoyed Aria for its relaxing aura, it never resonated with me as much as I know it did for other people. If I compare this to Amanchu (another anime based on works by the same author), Aria was much more consistently good. Amanchu had lower lows, but also much higher highs, and I preferred that in the end. Aria never did anything wrong. It was just always fine, and that didnt leave me with anything to latch onto to justify ranking it higher.

Overall: Years ago, I watched Aria one episode a day for almost two months. It was the perfect anime for that. The slice-of-life stories were always fun and lighthearted, making them a perfect companion no matter what kind of day Ive had. Akari and her friends became a part of my routine. When the ending came, I was left with a melancholy feeling. I was sad that the journey was over. I said above that Aria was consistently fine, but that isnt a bad thing! It was nice to have an anime like this, without drama or big twists, to simply watch and enjoy.

Whoops I forgot to post the hints for tomorrow.

COMING UP TOMORROW:
92: This anime wandered into a supernatural inn.
91: This anime was abandoned by its father.

Aria has a really weird feeling to me. I remember enjoying it a lot at the time, but almost none of the show stuck with me despite having watched the whole thing. It's just kinda hazy and dreamlike to me, and the whole show has a certain tranquility to it. Very strange series but definitely one to check out for anyone who wants something comfy and low-stakes. Also, it avoids most of the creepy slice of life anime tropes, assuming I didn't block them out during whatever fugue state it caused me to slip into.

Speaking of creepy anime tropes, Monogatari. I've been meaning to finish it for years and regularly watched bits here and there, before being entirely put off by the actions of the MC. I just can't get past it and I wish a show with phenomenal direction and some great writing didn't repeatedly drop episodes where the main character commits sex offenses that are played for laughs. The surrealism drew me back in after being put off, but it's such a constant feature of the series that it's impossible to escape when watching.

Hazy and dreamlike is a good way to describe Aria, and I don't mean that in a bad way! I remember a few individual episodes, but for me it's mostly a blur of little moments from the beginning to end. It felt like how I remember my own life, which is a mark of praise for a slice-of-life anime.

I'm also glad I didn't get attacked for disliking Araragi in Monogatari, and a few people even agreed with me! I was expecting that to be more controversial because I know a lot of people really like him.

92. Konohana Kitan
https://myanimelist.net/anime/35241/Konohana_Kitan
Fall 2017 (12 episodes)
My Score: 7/10, MAL Score: 7.51/10
Best Character: Yuzu

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjzRUQ4gb7o
(Couldnt find OP or ED, linked full OP song)

Premise: A fox girl, Yuzu, begins working at Konohanatei, an inn located in a village for spirits. She learns how to serve guests, which often include humans who wandered to the other side.

The Good: Konohana Kitan is a supernatural slice-of-life about fox girls running an inn. A lot of it is a comedy with Yuzu being cute and clumsy. Shed often have a goofy expression on her face with her diamond-shaped mouth hanging open (example: https://imgur.com/uvQgPf7). She tried her best no matter what, and she was definitely my favorite. Most of the episodes were stand-alone stories about the guests they had that day, and a lot of those were great too. Some involved supernatural beings there for work or comfort, others involved human spirits who often didnt even know where they were. Those stories managed to stay lighthearted while still packing a decent emotional punch, which is impressive. I liked the haunted doll one the best.

The Bad: Other than Yuzu, the rest of the main cast in Konohana Kitan is pretty basic. None of them are bad, but Ive seen so many different cute girls slice-of-life at this point and all of them were such standard archetypes. Theres the serious one who becomes Yuzus best friend, the tomboy one, the girly one thats gay for the tomboy none of them had anything I havent seen in several other anime. Konohana Kitan was among the first anime I ever saw, and it impressed me a lot then. When I rewatched it this year, it wasnt nearly as fresh, and its ranking fell as a result.

Overall: Konohana Kitan has a great main character in Yuzu and several great episodes. The supernatural aspect always added emotional weight while still managing to be a lighthearted tale about the guest and their reasons for being there. I thought the rest of the main cast were too standard, but that doesnt matter as much when theyre just playing a part in a nice story. As a slice-of-life anime, Konohana Kitan is still one of the better ones Ive seen.

Absolutely loved Konohana Kitan

91. Deaimon: Recipe for Happiness
https://myanimelist.net/anime/48779/Deaimon
Spring 2022 (12 episodes)
My Score: 7/10, MAL Score: 7.59/10
Best Character: Matsukaze Kanoko

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmxK3lbGkKE
(Couldnt find Op or ED, linked full OP song)

Premise: After a decade away, Irino Nagomu has returned to his familys sweets store. There he meets Yukihira Itsuka, a young girl abandoned there by her father who the family has taken in.

The Good: Deaimon is a slice-of-life about a goofy but good-natured guy doing his best to earn back his place at his familys store. The cast includes his grouchy father, more accepting mother, various coworkers, and of course Itsuka. She was left there by her dad but was taken in by the family, to the point where they consider her a daughter and heir to the store. There are small plots in each episode, but thankfully Deaimon never gets too melodramatic with them. Nagomu is such a good dude that he doesnt even care that Itsuka is heir rather than him. Hes been away in a band for a decade and doesnt know as much as her, so it makes sense. Instead of jealousy or rivalry, he dedicates himself to being a kind of surrogate father. Itsuka also isnt just some vapid cute girl (shes nothing like Yaeka from that awful Yakuza Babysitting show, for example). Shes more mature than Nagomu in a lot of ways and resists his efforts. Still, deep down, its clear that shes still a kid, and she comes to appreciate him. My favorite character was still Kanoko, Nagomus ex-girlfriend. They only broke up due to what turns out to be a mutual misunderstanding, so it was nice seeing them interact because they still got along. There was also a wary distance between them, though. It was a unique dynamic and I really liked it.

The Bad: There were a few individual episodes I didnt love, but those were harmless. I guess the biggest flaw would be the situation with Itsukas father. It makes sense that she thinks well of him because shes a traumatized kid who can only make sense of it by assuming he had a good reason for leaving her. I just wish the other characters talked about him like the scumbag he is.

Overall: Deaimon is a nice anime about a sweets shop where a good guy tries to be there for a little girl. Nagomu and Itsuka have some heartwarming interactions. The whole show is just full of good feelings and fun characters. I enjoyed watching it every week while it was airing.

COMING UP TOMORROW:
90: This anime was caught kissing a pillow.
89: This anime has never seen a man in its life.

(I really need to stop forgetting the tomorrow hints on weekends. I edited them in quick this time, at least!)

Aria one of the all-time greats imo. I also don't know if I can really describe why I liked it as much as I did though. It's just a very uplifting show and it had this way of creating adventure out of just ordinary life with a really fun cast of characters.

90. Love Lab
https://myanimelist.net/anime/16353/Love_Lab
Summer 2013 (13 episodes)
My Score: 7/10, MAL Score: 7.32/10
Best Character: Mizushima Sayori

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTgG8P6HeMc

Premise: The esteemed Fujisaki Girls Academy forbids romance, but some girls cant resist the allure. The student council, including the graceful Maki Natsuo and the wild Kurahashi Riko, begin researching romantic situations in secret.

The Good: Love Lab is a cute girls comedy about examining romantic cliches. Riko is viewed as the wild kid at her preppy middle school, but she desires love just as much as any other girl. When she catches the seemingly perfect Maki practicing kissing with a pillow, the two decide to team up to run what they call love labs to prepare for their future relationships. A lot of the humor comes from Maki, usually graceful and elegant, turning into a love-obsessed crazy person behind closed doors. She also lacks in common sense. When practicing the old bump into a cute boy on the street meet-cute trope, for example, she sprints around the corner at full speed because, logically, its a lot more romantic if one of them gets hurt and they need to tend to each other.

Riko is the more level-headed of the two, but she exaggerated her own romantic experiences when they first met and keeps digging herself deeper to keep up with that lie. Its a fun dynamic, and the other three student council members are a welcome part of it too. My favorite was Sayori because she always knew everyones secrets and liked to troll them. For an anime about girls practicing romance, theres also surprisingly not much yuri-baiting or fanservice in this. They all like boys, and their love labs are always innocent rather than lewd. Unlike a lot of cute girls anime where there are literally no boys anywhere, this also actually has a few side characters who are guys, which is nice.

The Bad: I mentioned above that Riko initially lied about her romantic experience, and that subplot is easily the weakest part of the show. She avoids every opportunity to come clean to Maki and the others no matter how many times she thinks that she should. Its given way too much focus, including a few full episodes, for something that really shouldnt be that big of a deal. I also want to mention that theres one short gag involving blackface. As a white Canadian, I didnt personally find it offensive (I actually really liked the joke. Riko opened the door, saw Maki in blackface, and then she closed the door immediately). It wasnt hard to find a bunch of twitter users who were angry about this, though, so I at least wanted to mention it!

Overall: Love Lab is a cute anime about girls practicing romance. All five of the main characters brought something fun to the dynamic, and I appreciated that it wasnt just a bunch of yuri teasing (though I did think a few times that all of their problems would be solved if they just got with each other). It really captured that innocent middle school age where people desire love but have no idea what it means or how to get it, and a lot of the jokes were legitimately hilarious.

The first half of Love Lab was great and hilarious. The bad drama later on sucked tho.

89. In the Heart of Kunoichi Tsubaki
https://myanimelist.net/anime/50338/Kunoichi_Tsubaki_no_Mune_no_Uchi
Spring 2022 (13 episodes)
My Score: 7/10, MAL Score: 7.18/10
Best Character: Tsubaki

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vGjof0118M

Premise: In a remote mountain village, Tsubaki is one of many young girls training to become ninjas. They arent allowed any contact with men, but Tsubaki is starting to get strange feelings.

The Good: In the Heart of Kunoichi Tsubaki is a cute girls comedy about a clan of ninja trainees. There are twenty or so different characters, and only a few of them get any real characterization. This is mostly a gag anime, though, so having a bunch of different archetypes is fun for all the jokes that come with them. Tsubaki is curious about men and often gets flustered whenever the topic comes up, but nobody has any real information so her attempts to learn more always end in hilarious misunderstandings. Otherwise, shes one of the most competent ninjas, which helps her keep track of the quirky characters who get in all sorts of trouble. The animation is surprisingly good. I wouldnt call this an action anime, but some of the mock battles look damn impressive. My favorite parts were all the jokes from the ninja training and their powers, like shapeshifting, weapons, traps, and the ability to jump super high. It was a fun setting full of fun characters.

The Bad: This anime doesnt do anything terrible. Its mostly held back by the basic characters. This is a gag anime, so character development and dramatic story arcs shouldnt be the focus. I still felt that there were too many characters for me to get attached to any of them. Even in other gag anime I can care about the cast and learn more about their relationships with each other. Aside from Tsubaki, no one in this really stood out beyond a good joke or two involving them.

Overall: In the Heart of Kunoichi Tsubaki was a lot of fun for the ninja training antics. I also liked Tsubakis misadventures in trying to learn more about men. It was cute and innocent, and it gave her a nice driving goal without ever dominating things. A lot of the gags had nothing to do with men, after all, and she was the voice of reason in those. Then she could be funny too if the topic of men came up. There were a lot of nice character dynamics. Id have preferred it if some of them had more development, but overall this was a nice comedy anime about ninjas.

COMING UP TOMORROW:
88: This anime cant seem to get where its going.
C85: This character stayed up all night playing video games.
87: This anime is willingly turning itself into a servant.

88. Chios School Road
https://myanimelist.net/anime/35821/Chio-chan_no_Tsuugakuro
Summer 2018 (12 episodes)
My Score: 7/10, MAL Score: 7.45/10
Best Character: Miyamo Chio

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEpozlGgg2M

Premise: Miyamo Chio often struggles to get to school on time. Whether its delays due to construction, encounters with thugs, or desperately needing a toilet, her daily commute is always an adventure.

The Good: Chio's School Road is a comedy about the titular Chio and her daily struggles to get to school. She's a fun character, as I'll cover that in her write-up below. She's a video game addict who often plays late into the night, usually leaving her rushing in the morning. Her games of choice are specifically Western video games like an Assassin's Creed knockoff. Sometimes, her imagination and video game logic gets the better of her and she winds up scaling walls and traveling across rooftops. Her misadventures usually aren't Chio's fault, however. Absurdity seems to stalk her, forcing encounters with strange characters like a motorcycle thug or a kabaddi-obsessed older student. She also interacts with her best friend Manana, and their friendship is one of the most realistic ones I've ever seen because a lot of it is them playfully messing with each other. It's always fun seeing what happens to Chio next on her daily walk to school.

The Bad: This is essentially a gag anime, and not all of the recurring ones are winners. There's a little girl who plays a Japanese schoolyard game where she shoves her fingers up peoples butts, which is uncomfortable and strange. The kabaddi club girl is also usually a bit too much of a perverted lesbian for my tastes. I'd have preferred it if the pacing were a bit faster overall in order to fit in more gag situations, and to get through the occasional dud faster.

Overall: Chio's School Road is usually a lot of fun in the absurdity of what Chio faces every day. Not all of the situations are great, but in my opinion the winners vastly outweigh the losers. A lot of them involve Manana, after all, and her friendship with Chio is one of the highlights of the anime.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/6/1/1/AAcDcBAADxHb.jpg

CHARACTER: Miyamo Chio (Chios School Road)
https://myanimelist.net/character/149765/Chio_Miyamo
Voiced by: Oozora Naomi
TOP 100 RANK: 85th

SPOILERS FOR CHIOS SCHOOL ROAD

VIDEO LINK (not huge spoilers but still): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vx3ifdIWHh8

Chio often gets into crazy misadventures, but at her core she's actually a pretty normal high school student. It's taken to an absurdist extreme, obviously, but I still related to her in a lot of ways. Staying up late playing video games while trying not to get caught by her parents, I've been there. Desperately trying not to stand out at school, man, I've been there. Seeing two alley walls close together and thinking about climbing up them like a video game... well, I've been there, but Chio actually does it! She also has the athleticism to pull it off, which is where wish fulfillment comes in. A lot of my enjoyment in this anime came from the fact that a lot of the situations are relatable, but Chio takes them to the next level one way or another.

Still, my favorite part of this by far was her friendship with Manana. If a typical person saw them at the wrong times, they might think the two were enemies. However, their friendship reminded me of how it was with some of my closest friends (though, again, it's taken to a comedic extreme). They talk shit about each other, prank each other, and leave each other out to dry in order to save themselves. Despite all of that, it's obvious how close they are. In one of my favorite bits, a school disciplinary member observes them on the way to school, and she's stunned by what she sees as hatred and bullying. When she confronts them, though, Manana and Chio are confused. They ask the disciplinary girl the same question I would have: does she have any friends? Because that's just how it is sometimes, or at least it was for me at that age. True friendship is being able to insult and mess with each other while still being friends at the end of the day.

The disciplinary girl has trouble wrapping her head around it. She demands proof in a way she can understand. What follows is the video I linked to above. Manana and Chio are forced to do an old dance routine they put together in grade school, a hilarious (and hilariously awful) simple routine filled with nyas and mistakes. I don't know about anyone else, but it certainly reminded me of some of the dumb bullshit they made me do in gym class as a kid. It was always embarrassing, and I tried to forget it. Manana and Chio still remember theirs, though, and they move the disciplinary girl to tears. I agreed with her, I could see the friendship. Chio's School Road was absurd and zany, but a lot of things from Chio still resonated with me, and her friendship with Manana was what struck me most of all.

Man, Chio's School Road feels like it came out 10 years ago, not 4. I barely remember anything about it, other than kabaddi girl.

It was one of the many I rewatched for this ranking! I thought it held up pretty well. At the time I remember it was overshadowed by Asobi Asobase, but Chio has stuck with me a lot more over the years than that one did.

87. Miss Kobayashis Dragon Maid
https://myanimelist.net/anime/33206/Kobayashi-san_Chi_no_Maid_Dragon
Winter 2017 (13 episodes), Summer 2021 (12 episodes)
My Score: 7/10, MAL Score: 7.99/10 S1, 8.35/10 S2
Best Character: Kobayashi

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ku5fgOHy1JY

Premise: After a night of drinking she barely remembers, Kobayashi apparently invited a dragon to live with her. Now Tohru is starting as a dragon maid, and Kobayashi's life is about to get interesting!

The Good: Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid is a slice-of-life comedy about various ultra-powerful dragons coming to live on Earth. The first is Tohru, who has developed a lustful fascination with the seemingly mediocre Kobayashi. Having a dragon maid is helpful in some ways, but Tohru needs to learn a lot about the world and what level of affection is appropriate. A child dragon, Kanna, soon comes to live with them as well. The little makeshift family the three of them create was by far my favorite thing about this. It led to cute and heartwarming moments like buying Kanna school supplies or going to school events. I liked Fafnir too. He's a cursed dragon and obsessed with treasure, but he quickly becomes a shut-in otaku hoarding treasure in video games. Him and his nerdy roommate Takiya had good moments too. Whenever MKDM was focused on the makeshift family slice-of-life comedy, I enjoyed it a lot.

The Bad: Out of the dragons, I really hated Lucoa. Everything about her living with a young boy, Shouta, and constantly sexually abusing him is awful. Even if it wasnt, it's just the same joke over and over and it's never funny. I didn't really like Kanna's school friend Saikawa either. She wasn't as creepy because her and Kanna at least look the same age, but she also had the same joke over and over. Kanna brushes against her, Saikawa squeals with joy. It was so repetitive.

Overall: MKDM has great animation and production values. I liked it whenever it was focusing on being funny, cute, or heartwarming with the main "family". Kobayashi, Tohru, and Kanna all had great dynamics with each other. Some of the other characters sucked, particularly Lucoa, but overall this was an enjoyable anime about dragons learning to live on a new world.

COMING UP TOMORROW:
86: This anime has lost its only friend.
C86: This character vomited in front of everyone on the first day of school.
85: This anime can only speak through written notes.
C73: This character is worshipped as a god.

(Until now, I hadn't realized 86 and C86 go together! That's a fun coincidence.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdYdmMWoEGg

Not sure how 85 and 73 go together. TWGOK maybe? Probably not...

I'm afraid to say I'm a Saikawa x Kanna enjoyer. Kobayashi probably my least favorite character in Dragon Maid.

MacArrowny posted...

Kobayashi probably my least favorite character in Dragon Maid.

I don't remember thinking much of her when I first watched S1 years ago, but when I rewatched it recently and finally watched S2, she was a lot better than I remembered. It's fun when she's the straight man for the dragon antics, but her relationships with Tohru and Kanna were also just really sweet.

lucoa's fine, but yeah saikawa could have been better. concept was fine but execution yea not good

86 is Hitori Bocchi, and I think 85 is Komi-San, with C73 being Komi.

I also thought Lucoa was pretty terrible.

Decently fun show, though it's definitely one of those "I don't get the hype" shows for me. I like Kobayashi and the Tohru/Elma stuff from season 2.