After taking a few months to mull over the possibilities, here is the first half of my year-by-year picks for the 10 must-see anime of 2010s.
*Click here for my picks for the second half of the decade.
The Tatami Galaxy (2010)
Genre: Slice-of-Life, Comedy, Sci-Fi
Studio: Madhouse
Number of episodes: 11
Premiere date: April 23, 2010
Non-spoiler plot summary: A nameless college student joins the tennis club hoping to achieve his idealized college life and meet the girl of his dreams. However, he instead finds himself caught up in the machinations of Ozu and ends up wasting his time–simply spending his college life sabotaging the love lives of his fellow club members.
But what if he’d joined the film club instead? Or how about the softball team? Or the English conversation club? Or the literature club? Is he destined to never find happiness? Or is true love waiting just a single parallel universe away?
Why it’s the Must-Watch of 2010: Even at first glance, it’s clear that Tatami Galaxy is unlike any other anime–well except those also directed by living legend Masaaki Yuasa. With it’s simple character designs and monochromatic color scheme, it looks nothing like mainstream anime. In fact, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say it draws more from the surreal animation of Tex Avery than any Japanese creator.
But beneath its visually stunning exterior is a story about taking responsibility for your life and actions–accepting that no one will simply hand you your idealized life. The best you can do is go out and try to make one yourself. It’s a lesson that everyone needs to learn–and usually, like the protagonist, learns it the hard way.
Of course, you might miss its poignant moral as you laugh your way through at this surreal exploration of college life.
Watch It If You Like: Ping Pong: The Animation, Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!, Devilman Crybaby
Where You Can Watch It: Crunchyroll, Funimation
2010 Runners Up: Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt, Durarara!, Angel Beats
Puella Magi Madoka Magica (2011)
Genre: Magical Girl, Psychological Horror
Studio: Shaft
Number of episodes: 12
Premiere date: January 7, 2011
Non-spoiler plot summary: After saving a cute talking bunny-cat from a mysterious gun-toting girl, middle schooler Madoka is offered one magical wish. In return for having her wish granted, she will become a magical girl, charged with fighting the evil witches making trouble in her hometown. To Madoka, this sounds like great fun–especially as it will be helping all those around her.
The only problem is Madoka has no idea what to wish for. And as she ponders and debates her wish, she is pulled more and more into the world of magical girls and witches–learning that the life of a magical girl is far more disturbing than it appears on the surface.
Why it’s the Must-Watch of 2011: Madoka Magica is an anime that takes the magical girl genre in general and highlights its common tropes: a talking animal sidekick, transformation jewelry, mysterious, otherworldly monsters, etc. It then gives the darkest possible reason as to why these things exist and explores how these disturbing revelations shape our middle school-aged heroines.
In many ways, it is the “anti-magical girl” magical girl anime. Yet beneath all the psychological turmoil is the hope that things can change–that things can be different. That good truly can triumph over evil.
Add to this the amazing soundtrack, truly otherworldly, paper cut-out animation, and the scene design that’s made Shaft so famous, and you’ll have no problem seeing why this one changed magical girl anime forever.
Watch It If You Like: Magical Girl Raising Project, Yuki Yuna is a Hero, selector infected WIXOSS
Where You Can Watch It: Crunchyroll, Funimation, Netflix, AnimeLab (AU/NZ)
2011 Runners Up: Steins;Gate, anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day, Future Diary, Fate/Zero
Psycho Pass (2012)
Genre: Cyberpunk Dystopian Crime Thriller
Studio: Production I.G
Number of episodes: 22
Premiere date: October 12, 2012
Non-spoiler plot summary: A thousand years in the future, the world is in decline as warlords reign across the world and civilizations decay. However, there is one country spared this fate: Japan. Decades prior, they adopted the Sibyl System–a system capable of scanning an individual and not only determining their mental state but their potential for commiting crimes in general. By imprisoning these “latent criminals” before they commit any crimes (and allowing the system to outright execute violent criminals on the spot), Japan has entered a new era of peace where the police are all but obsolete. However, that doesn’t mean crime has gone away completely.
Enter Akane, a talented rookie police inspector. Because catching criminals involves thinking like one, Akane is put in charge of a group of latent criminals known as “enforcers” who have agreed to help the police in exchange for certain privileges. However, before she can even get used to her new life, she finds herself pitted against a criminal genius who uses his intelect to help other serial killers trick the system and get away with murder.
Why it’s the Must-Watch of 2012: Psycho-Pass is an excellent cop drama. The heroes are all interesting characters with differing viewpoints that clash with each other even as they share the same goal of catching criminals. Likewise the criminals are equal parts captivating and dangerous–with more than a few being outright terrifying.
Thematically, it is the story of justice versus revenge with Akane the former and her main enforcer, Kogami, the latter. But as the story continues, both drift towards the middle as they become personally close, making you wonder if Akane will redeem Kogami or will be corrupted by him.
But the real star of the show is the setting itself. The Tokyo of Psycho-Pass feels like a living, breathing world. Each episode we see a new facet of it–from private schools and underground raves to online idols and food production. And as we see this world become ever more dependent on the system, we are left with the question: is this a utopia or a distopia–and is what is gained worth what is lost?
Watch It If You Like: Ghost in the Shell, Death Note, Madoka Magica
Where You Can Watch It: Crunchyroll, Funimation, AnimeLab (AU/NZ)
2012 Runners Up: Sword Art Online, Lupin the Third: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure
Kill la Kill (2013)
Genre: Magical Girl, Over-the-top Action Comedy
Studio: Trigger
Number of episodes: 24
Premiere date: October 4, 2013
Non-spoiler plot summary: Ryuko is a girl on a mission: to get revenge for her murdered father. Armed only with the murder weapon itself (half of a giant pair of scissors) Ryuko makes her way to Honnoji Academy to confront student counsil president Satsuki Kiryuin–the prime suspect of the murder.
However, Satsuki rules the school with an iron fist and has empowered the students with superpower-granting uniforms. To get Satsuki, Ryuko will have to find a uniform of her own to fight through the countless school clubs that protect the unquestioned queen of the school. But even then, Ryuko might find that, with Satsuki, she has bitten off a bit more than she can chew.
Why it’s the Must-Watch of 2013: Kill la Kill is a special kind of anime. It takes everything and turns it up to 11. The fights. The action. The comedy. It doesn’t do anything half-ass. What you end up with is an anime that is utterly surreal–yet somehow internally consistent.
While many anime drag–stretching even the simplest plot to the extreme with little-to-no narrative or thematic benefit–Kill la Kill’s pace is relentless. Even the usual “recap episode” is compressed into being nothing more than a pre-credits cold opening. This means instead of being strung along by the same old mysteries, we are constantly seeing mysteries solved and new mysteries added to the pile. It feels much longer than its 22 episodes by the time the final credits roll.
Yet behind all the over-the-top action and story is a story about growing up–from dealing with changes in your body to learning to let go of school-life and enter the real world. Everything is a metaphor–or at the very least a play on words. Even the title can be read several ways in Japanese–”Kill the Kill,” “Cut the Cut,” “Wear the Wear” (or any combination of those)–and each meaning is completely relevant to the story at hand. It’s an anime that has a lot hidden beneath the surface for any who care to look.
Watch It If You Like: Gurren Lagann, Promare, Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt
Where You Can Watch It: Crunchyroll, Netflix, AnimeLab (AU/NZ), Wakanim (EU)
2013 Runners Up: My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU, Silver Spoon, Attack on Titan, The Devil is a Part-Timer!
Barakamon (2014)
Genre: Slice-of-life
Studio: Kinema Citrus
Number of episodes: 12
Premiere date: July 6, 2014
Non-spoiler plot summary: Handa is the son of a calligraphy master. All his life he has been treated as a child prodigy, secretly working himself to the bone to live up to his parents expectations. But as an adult, success has been harder to find–and when he is told his style is “uninspired” by a competition judge, he slugs the man.
Thus Handa finds himself exiled to a rural island to live a life wholly unlike the city life he has known so far. Yet it is here that he befriends Naru–a rambunctious six-year-old girl–and through her begins to not only find his own style but truly live his own life for the first time.
Why it’s the Must-Watch of 2014: Barakamon is the story of one man’s journey to find out who he truly is. Far from everything he knows, he is able to learn about himself for the first time–not as an up-and-coming calligraphy master but as “Handa.” It is a universal experience. Everyone has to grow up and leave the nest and find out who they are without their parents controlling their lives.
But what makes this journey of self-exploration is Naru. One part childish innocence and one part childhood wisdom, she alone is able to see into Handa’s soul and cut to the heart of his problems–well, when she’s not trying to get him to play some crazy kids game or another with her anyway. The relationship they form is somewhere between father and daughter and best friends–and it is a relationship that changes both infinitely for the better.
Of course, beyond the heavy stuff there is a ton of fish-out-of-water comedy as city boy Handa learns to deal with the country life–and that’s not to mention the colorful cast of characters that populate the island. From Naru’s little friends to the teens getting ready to leave the island and see the bustling world beyond, Handa never seems to have a free moment. But it is these relationships that help Handa on the road to becoming the man he never knew he wanted to be.
Watch It If You Like: Sweetness & Lightning, Silver Spoon, Non Non Biyori
Where You Can Watch It: Crunchyroll, Funimation, AnimeLab (AU/NZ)
2014 Runners Up: No Game No Life, Aldnoah.zero, Your Lie in April, Amagi Brilliant Park
See you all for part 2 in a couple weeks!
Top image source: TVアニメ「キルラキル」公式 on Twitter
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