anime recommendations

AniFem’s Top Picks of 2019

The end of a decade and the end(?) of a JND tradition.

The three protagonists of Sarazanmai look off into the distance, smiling slightly

For the first time in the blog’s history, I didn’t write a Top 10 list for the year. Compiling and editing all those AniFem recommendations lists took all my time and energy, and there was just nothing left in the tank by the time I was done.

That said, I did join the rest of the AniFem staff in compiling our “Best of 2019” list, so you can see all the shows I enjoyed over there! I even managed to sneak Pokemon: Sun & Moon onto the list! So while I’m a bit sad I wasn’t able to make my own list, you should absolutely click here to check out the AniFem Recommendations for 2019!

Enjoying these recs lists? Consider becoming a patron for as little as $1 a month!

The Josei’s Top 10 Anime of 2018: Part 2 (#1-5)

Gather ’round for a flock of faves!

A teen girl with long black hair wearing goggles on her head and winter clothing sits in the middle of a flock of penguins. She's smiling wildly.Did you miss out on Part 1? Fear not! You can click here for the bottom half of the Top 10, including honorable mentions. Or, if you’re ready to check out the cream of the crop, hit the jump and read on for more.

Continue reading →

The Josei’s Top 10 Anime of 2018: Part 1 (Honorable Mentions & #6-10)

Bringing a little color to the end of the year.

A group of teens in school uniforms standing under an abstract rainbow with a golden fish flying across it.

Is it just me, or was 2018 kind of a down year for anime? Maybe I’ve just been spoiled by the avalanche of quality we’ve gotten over the past 2-3 years, but while I’m usually agonizing over what I’ll have to drop from a list, this year I was agonizing over what I was going to put on it at all. I’d worry that my sense of whimsy was fading, but I’ve spent literal months rolling around in the Twitch Pokemon marathon, so that can’t be it…

Whatever the case, the weird year resulted in me having two Top 10 lists with relatively little overlap: one was of shows that I knew in my head were good but had left me cold, and one of shows that I knew weren’t as technically sharp but I sure did care about them.  I wrote up the first list… and then threw it in a fire and published the second one instead. So, please enjoy the Top 10 Shows That Made Your Stressed-Out Blogger Feel Things.

Continue reading →

The Josei’s Top 10 Anime of 2017: Part 2 (#1-5)

One last hug to the year’s favorites.

An androgynous person with short, iridescent hair picks up and hugs another androgynous person with messy grew hair, who has their head buried in their knees.

Did you miss out on Part 1? Fear not! You can click here for the bottom half of the Top 10, including honorable mentions. Or, if you’re ready to check out the cream of the crop, hit the jump and read on for more.

Continue reading →

The Josei’s Top 10 Anime of 2017: Part 1 (Honorable Mentions & #6-10)

Time to write some love letters to the shiny gems sitting atop this garbage year!

Two teenage girls are displayed on a phone screen in close-up as if posing for a camera. Their hands are together in the center, forming a heart. The girl on the right is smiling and winking cutely, while the girl on the right is attempting to mirror the expression but doing so poorly: her mouth is wide and sneering, her wink is sharp, and she looks like she's in pain. Subtitle: "I can't even."

Given that 2017 lasted about thirty normal years (I’m pretty sure I’m eligible for senior citizen discounts now), perhaps it’s no wonder that we were able to cram so many great anime into it. As with 2016, I’ve decided to throw even the veneer of objectivity out the window and just talk to you about some shows I really loved or think are worthy of highlighting.

This also means a metric ton of “Honorable Mentions” so I could give some love to the shows that just barely missed the cut. Top 10, Top 15… listen, time is clearly an illusion, so why can’t yearly rankings be?

Continue reading →

The Josei’s Top 10 Anime of 2016: Part 2 (#1-5)

This year’s Top Five is so strong, it’s actually a Top Six.

tanaka2-1

Did you miss out on Part 1? Fear not! You can click here for the year in review and the bottom half of the Top 10, including honorable mentions. Or, if you’re ready to check out the cream of the crop, you can hit the jump and read on for more.

Continue reading →

The Josei’s Top 10 Anime of 2016: Part 1 (Honorable Mentions & #7-10)

Think of them as delicious s’mores roasting on this fire of a year!

mha1-2

We can pretty much all agree that 2016 was, er, not the greatest. But there were a few bright spots, at least, and one of them was definitely the anime. Each season had its standout hits and surprise treasures, filled with compelling characters, stylish animation, striking cinematography, and stories that ran the gamut from clever silliness to sincere enthusiasm to gripping tension to wrenching drama. I watched about 30 shows to completion (yeah, that scares me, too) and would recommend almost all of them to someone, depending on what kind of genres they enjoyed.

Problem is, this makes it nigh impossible to pick just 10 series to highlight as The Best Of The Best. How can I bear to ignore this hidden gem or snub that enjoyable blockbuster? The answer, it turns out, is to just straight-up abandon any pretense of critical distance. Or any modicum of Serious Blogger Professionalism whatsoever, really. That’s why this list has a whole slew of Honorable Mentions before even getting to the Top 10, and why the Top 10 is really just “the 10 shows I liked the best.”

It’s also why there is no #6. Instead, my Top 5 will have 6 shows in it. My blog, my rules, suckas!

Continue reading →