Originally published at: My favorite anime I've watched recently | Boing Boing
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I saw the live action film version of Erased on NHK last year. I didn’t know it was based on a manga until about halfway through the film. Then it became glaringly obvious (rambling plot, vignette format and references to the protagonist becoming a manga artist…)
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I’m sold. But where can I watch them?
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I really enjoyed the Erased anime and have watched it several times. The Promised Neverland sounds interesting.
Right now I am watching Demon Slayer (Netflix). It’s well done but doesn’t really stand out in any particular way among other well done anime.
I recently finished DoroHeDoro (Netflix) which I absolutely loved. It’s a crazy ride that left my head spinning. As soon as I finished it I had to watch it again to catch what I missed the first time. For those that don’t like anime that take 14 episodes to make a sandwich this might be for you. It’s starts off running and never slows down. Ebisu is my favorite character but there are many to like that are quirky and unique.
I mean to mention that it is very bizarre. Also, it doesn’t slow down to explain some key things. So a brief primer of useful details.
There are 3 species. Humans, Sorcerers and Devils. They each have their own dimension. The sorcerers often travel to the human realm called the hole to practice magic and be generally cruel to the humans. The sorcerers wear masks that enhance their magic. A select few powerful sorcerers may undergo a metamorphosis to become a devil. The devils have their own dimension called hell which I don’t recall if we ever see it.
I think knowing those details will make the first few episodes less confusing. The one other thing to keep in mind is that as the show starts it will feel like there are heroes and villains but alliances shift with circumstances and all the characters do what they think is best which puts everyone eventually into a moral gray zone of good and bad choices.
ETA: If Weathering With You is anything like Your Name, then it will be breath taking. Trailer looks great. I’m expecting it will have all the feels that Your Name did.
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Ascension of a Bookworm is amazing. I love intricately thought out fantasy world building and telling smaller and more interesting fantasy stories, so this is my jam.
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Also this is a little older now, but Mob Psycho 100 is an amazing satirical look at a shonen coming of life story. And unlike One Punch Man the comedic message wasn’t trampled by the industry into telling the story straight instead of the satire it was in the webcomic.
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My favorite anime is Last Exile, it’s an older show but it’s among one of my all time faves. It’s kind of a steam punk setting that isn’t cliche. As far as recent shows I just got done watching Demon Slayer and found it pretty good. I’d also recommend SSSS.Gridman if you’re into old school zentai/Ultraman shows. Dorohedoro as mentioned above is pretty good but it’s weird to the max, and doesn’t bother much until several episodes in.
I’d you want something absurd that you can watch in quick doses watch Pop Team Epic
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There are two seasons available on Netflix. I really like the chinese sense of humour of this Cartoon.
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If you want to watch a train wreck, checkout ex-arm (on crunchyroll) Click through for a bonus? clip.
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Manga artists sure do like protagonists who are also manga artists or in the process of becoming manga artists. It’s the whole plot of Koji Kumeta’s かくしごと (Kakushigoto).
While I’m at it, allow me to gush about Koji Kumeta. His work is so funny, I’ve had people stare at me for laughing out loud on a crowded train while reading it. The anime version of his さよなら絶望先生 (Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei) did the manga justice and is absolutely hilarious. Social satire done right.
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Upsetting and disturbing, Japan 2020 Sinks is still worth watching…
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Demon Slayer (Kimetsu no Yaiba) is gloriously animated, loved it so far.
The most impressively written in the last year or two is definitely Golden Kamuy. As someone who lived in Hokkaido for a couple years, and met Ainu, its a pseudo historical goldmine. So well written into actual Japanese history and culture, multiple native languages inside the show, its pretty amazing.
Dr. Stone still gets an awesome mention- restart society and science from scratch after everyone in the world turns to stone 2000 years later. Realistic how tos in the show to make advanced tech from primative technologies.
Those are all recent ones…
I’ve run out of series to watch…I’ve been on crunchyroll for years.
My favorite recommendation is still JoJos Bizarre Adventure- if you like weird you can’t predict, theres nothing else like it.
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If you want a really light and amusing/cute one to watch with the little ones, GirlChild really liked " Maou-jou de Oyasumi"
Def run adblocking/noscript if you open this site to watch with kids. Without it, the ads can be mundane, can be rather risque (seems like completely unfiltered random web ads).
Summary:
Usual human world vs demon world trope, with the fair princess being kidnapped by the demon king to lure the hero (to his doom? Just to fight? kind of unclear on this one…). But the princess is anything but helpless, the demons turn out to be not that bad, and the hero is an ass. The series doesn’t take itself very seriously at all. And oh yeah, the princess’ main motivation is to get a good night sleep (so she ends up stealing powerful magic relics, tames and occasionally slaughters demons, dies and is resurrected several times, etc…).
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I don’t know where you are, but in the UK, Erased and A Silent Voice are on Netflix, The Promised Neverland is on Funimation (both seasons, season 1 in English and Japanese, season 2 currently in Japanese only) and on Amazon Prime (free to Prime members, season 1 only, Japanese only), and Weathering with You is available to buy on Amazon Prime Video for £3.
Last night I watched the first episode of Akudama Drive, which is nominally cyberpunk but is mostly stark staring bonkers.
The cityscapes are gorgeous, though.
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Not strictly anime, but I can’t recommend highly enough The Hero Yoshihiko and the Demon King’s Castle:
an inept hero who sets out to find the cure to a plague, but ends up fighting a larger evil. Yoshihiko is guided by a comedic Buddha, and accompanied by an incompetent wizard, a woman who wants to kill Yoshihiko because she thinks he killed her father, and a warrior who will kill Yoshihiko as soon as the warrior finishes telling Yoshihiko his stories. Yūsha Yoshihiko is heavily influenced by the RPG game series Dragon Quest , with most of the monsters being directly lifted from the series. It also contains references to other fantasy series and comedies, such as Monty Python
The best part is that the budget for the show looks to have been “lunch for the cast and crew, and a local kindergarten’s craft output”.
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I too was annoyed by the lack of this information. Here is what I uncovered, for the US market:
The Promised Neverland - Crunchyroll, Hulu, Funimation, and Hidive, starting streaming on January 9, 2019. The anime’s first season aired on Adult Swim’s Toonami block starting April 13, 2019. Funimation added the series to its streaming service on July 1, 2020. On September 1, 2020, Netflix began streaming the series in the United States, Canada and Latin America.
Erased - On Hulu and Netflix, Netflix also has the live-action adaption
A Silent Voice - Netflix released the film on their website on June 5, 2019.
Weathering With You - This film is currently streaming on HBO Max, a streaming service by AT&T’s WarnerMedia.
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Thanks, Y’all!
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RWBY on Amazon Prime is amazing. Also probably not strictly anime but influenced by anime. It’s a Rooster Teeth animation. Incredible art and action. There are 7 episodes running from 2 1/2 to 3+ hours each. All in English. Phenomenal stuff
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I need to watch more anime, but I saw Your Name and Weathering With You at the cinema in London - both absolutely stunning. Ads for Kimi No Na Wa (Your Name) were all over Tokyo when we visited in 2016 so I had to go see when it came out here.
Second best thing about seeing Your Name (after the film itself) - at least half the audience were Japanese, and the film was subbed. So I’d hear their laughter about 2 seconds before I read - and got - the joke myself 
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I’ve gotten my anime lately from https://7anime.io/anime-list/ - free, no subscription or ads (I do have adblocker up the wazoo, so there maybe but they don’t come through)
My current guilty pleasure is Ascension of a bookworm, if I want all the feels than Violet Evergarden (I think every episode made me cry).
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Watched all of Akudama drive, and it’s a ride all the way to the end. All I’m going to say is that it maintains the “bonkers” all the way to the end. worth watching.
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