Year end Top Ten 2014: Anime

So i watch a lot of anime.
Some would argue too much
i would argue too much actually.

But i can't help it, i love it. This year i completed 42 shows (not including the stuff i rewatched).
8 were films.
1 was a webshow
2 were OVAs
and the rest were 13-26 episode shows.

Did i like all of them?
No... but thats bound to happen... not everything can be good.
however i have narrowed it down to the titles i think everyone should go see.

The rules for the list:
1. I had to finish it for the first time in 2014. This means that older shows can be on here as long as i hadn't seen them before.
2. even though i called these things top tens... i may go under or over that limit depending on the situation

a final note this is all my personal opinion, if you don't like the titles i put on this list then please tell me your top ten of the year!


Honourable Mentions:

Samurai Flamenco
I really enjoyed this show, i thought it was sweet and funny even if it has horrendous pacing and half the reason i liked it was cause it was like an alternate universe Kyon. But despite the fact that i like it i can't really recommend it anyone cause again it has serious pacing problems, derpy animation and just really stupid moments.
still good in my opinion but yeah, not good enough to be top 10.

Attack on titan
Really great show, i was extremely late on the bandwagon (mostly so the hype could die down so if i didn't like it people wouldn't threaten me) the reason it's not top ten is because it's a bit obvious... pretty much everyone has seen it and most see how good it is so no point in having it on the top ten... and besides there are other shows that overall stuck with me more.

Ano Hana: letters to Menma
I really enjoyed what this movie added to the overall story and showing the flower that they saw that day was brilliant (cause i know the name of it) but it was a bit too flashback heavy so it didn't feel completely new. Still enjoyed seeing it in theaters with friends and bawling like a baby but i prefered some other titles more.

Natsume Yuujinchou OVAs
Because if i don't put it here then it'll be number 1 and i can't be too predictable can i? the other reason it's here is because watching this raw was pretty hard, i loved every minute of it but doing that much translation in my head is still pretty draining. I do love that it comes with the stage reading disk which has some of the loveliest music i have ever heard but still... this would automatically be number 1 and thats not terribly fair.

Ok onto top ten!

10. Karneval
I thought this show was fun, i love all the colour and music and character design BUT it ends in a way that would hint to another season and considering how the first season was received i doubt we'll be getting more any time soon. It was licensed by Funimation and if you are curious you can go check it out on their website.

9. Captain Earth
I am convinced i am one of the only people out there who like this show, much like samuai flamenco this should probably be an honourable mention but dammit i like it too much to do that.
The music is great, the designs are lovely and even though sometimes they go into space it never gave me a panic attack. A+ show in my eyes.
even if no one else agrees. You can watch it over on Crunchyroll and Sentai has licensed the physical release.

8. Princess Jellyfish
This show is far too funny, it's sweet and charming but also kind of ends part way through. I have been reading the manga which is a bit of a bad idea since the actions of one of the main characters has made me dislike them so thats probably why this is as far down the list as it is... well that and i really love all the titles i'm about to mention. Licensed by funimation and is viewable on their site and netflix

7. Wolf Children
So much crying... my friend put it best, this film makes you want to go and hug your family. It's just a wonderful supernatural slice of live with some of the most stunning back ground animation i have ever seen. One thing i didn't like was the ending... i just felt like a simple action could have negated all that trouble. otherwise it's lovely and everyone should watch it if they get the chance. It is licensed by Funimation but i'm not sure if it's watchable online

I didn't expect it would already be this hard to pick... hm.

6. Barakamon
This sweet summer time story will give you feels, you end up caring for all these character and watching just a wonderful sense of community with everyone in town. unfortunately since it's about calligraphy a lot of the artform was probably lost on me, i could see it was lovely but not understand the nuances. Still one of the best shows of the year. You can watch it over on Funimations website.

5. Ys 2: Castle in the heavens
I adore that this goes into the part of the lore dealing with the fact that Adol may actually be the devil. That made me squeal in delight when it was revealed. However i know not everyone likes Ys as much as me and the animation is quite outdated so better to have it on the list but not too high.
I still am sad that the Ys4 trailer was just a pitch and not an actual anime... i want it so bad. The dvd was put out by Anime Works and you can get it pretty cheap.

4. Blue Spring Ride
It's getting too hard to pick. This show gave me a lot of feels and I adore the overarching theme of how much people can change (or seem to change) in a few years. The animation is stunning, the story is one of the best Shojo titles i've seen this year and i so hope we eventually get more as the manga gets ahead. Also stunning artwork. You can watch it on Crunchyroll and it'll be released by sentai eventually.

3. Nagi no asukura
The first half of this show was cute but nothing special... but then we get into the second half and it easily skyrocketed to one of my fav shows of the year.  The art, the music, the overall theme... the fact that it's kinda an enviromental story without shoving it's message down your throat. It's all just so well done and when i heard that NISA got the rights i was as happy as could be. I can't wait to own this. For now though you can watch it on Crunchyroll.

2. Noragami
Honestly i expected this to be my fav show this year.
It's got my fav voice actor, some of my favourite subject material, stunning animation, brilliant music and to date is the only title that reading auxiliary material for it made me cry (granted that was the manga not the show) however despite all that it's not the show i keep thinking about months after it ended. I look forward to owning it whenever it comes out and i did order a few yatogami mugs and a figure but there is still one title i think i enjoyed even more this year. but before that if you wanna watch noragami it's on funimation and netflix

1.  Monthly girls' nozaki-kun
This show has everything. Comedy, sweetness, artist problems, catchy music, wonderful character design, character arcs for everyone (and when you consider it's a 4koma thats really impressive) and potentially the funniest tear inducing ending ever.
I was literally laughing and crying at the same time. That never happens. i can't wait for more, it could easily have another season or two but right now i just hope the manga gets licensed since it is practically perfection.  It's the only title i tell everyone no matter how much they like comedy anime to go watch cause it's pretty much universal comedy. If you get the chance go over to Crunchyroll and marathon it, you will be glad you did. Otherwise Sentai got the license and much like a few other titles here i am just waiting to be able to pick it up.

And thats my list! Agree? Disagree? Let me know what you top shows were this past year!

Tomorrow: Top 10 games 2014!