Hello everyone. Welcome to the Otaku Mind. Before beginning this blog, I would like to take a moment of silence for those who were lost or severely injured in the fire at Kyoto Animation this past week. My thoughts and prayers go out to the studio, their employees, and families who were affected by this tragedy. If you haven’t heard by now, a man walked into Kyoto Animation’s office building and set the place on fire killing 33 people and injury many others. It is a great tragedy to see something happen to such a great studio who has done nothing but give us some of the best animes out there. In honor of the studio and everyone who has worked there, I’m going to name my top 11 favorite animes from the studio. These are just my picks and my picks alone. They in no way shape or form reflect the views of others except for me personally. With that said, I’m Justin, and these are picks for the top 11 KyoAni Animes.
#11. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya S1
One of the first animes I found outside of Toonami. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya focuses on the day to day adventures of Haruhi and her friends. Unbeknownst to Haruhi, she has god-like powers that can bend and alter reality anyway she pleases and it’s up to her friends to keep life interesting for her and keep her powers in check. While the set up for this series may be weird they managed to make it work by having this great cast of characters who work so well off each other, surreal and interesting situations, and a main character who you can’t help but follow. When this anime came out it was the most popular anime in Japan and has become an internet phenomenon with multiple people parody and paying homage to the series and it easily has one of the best anime endings out there as well as one of the best insert songs as well. Whether it’s the dub or sub, it’s worth watching. Just skip over the second season.
#10. Lucky Star
KyoAni’s second big hit of an anime. Based off the 4-panel comedy manga, the anime follows the story of 4 schoolgirls with the main character Konata being your typical otaku who gets into all sorts of shenanigans with her friends. Truth be told, this anime may be more relevant now than it was when it first aired. This series not only glorifies the otaku culture, but it also makes fun of it in a unique, clever, and witty way that doesn’t come off as mean or cruel. With a lot of people coming out and showing their love for anime for the world to see, it’s nice to see a series that not only shows us how fun it is but also how silly it can be. As you would imagine the girls are all cute, the dialog between the characters is great, and the number of references to make to other animes throughout the series is always enjoyable. If you’re having a bad day and need a good laugh, definitely check this series out. It’ll put a smile on your face in no time.
#9. K-ON
Imagine Lucky Star only with more narrative and a grounded reality. K-ON follows the story of a bunch of girls in high school who start their own light music club. There’s not much to this anime outside of the girls practicing, performing concerts, and just hanging out with each other. I guess the real selling point of this series is just how much we’re able to relate to the characters. They really do come across as genuine people who love hanging out with each in and out of school. I like to think we all have that kliq of friends we knew from school and still keep in contact with to this day. That’s what I get from these girls, no matter where they go in their life, they’re gonna stay connected to each other no matter what. Just like Lucky Star, the comedy of this series comes from the characters and their interactions off each other. Throw in some good music that inspired The Sixth Lie bassist, Hiroto, and you have yourself a hit anime that will go back and talk about in the years to come.
#8. Nichijou- My Ordinary Life
A slice of life comedy centered around the various people in the town of Tokisadame. Over the years the anime has received a lot of mixed reviews. Some people genuinely like it while others say it’s pointless. Personally, I think it can be a pointless series, but at the same time I’m glad it exists. This is a series you don’t watch to get a huge paid off at the end, you watch it for the laughs, joy, and fluffiness it brings whenever you watch an episode. While I think Lucky Star and K-ON are better from a story perspective, there’s no doubt that Nichijou wins from a comedy perspective and animation perspective as the animation in this series is so lively. You can just tell the animators were having fun with this anime and were passionate about what they were making.
#7. Beyond the Boundary
Supernatural girl meets immortal boy. Immortal boy helps girl overcome her worries and the two develop feelings for each other. While not the most original idea, it’s what you do with those characters that makes the story work in the end and that’s what happens here. The character development of our two main characters is done exceptionally well and their interactions are realistic. The highlight of this series has to be it’s amazing animation. My God, this has got to be some of KyoAni’s best work. There are just so many scenes that evoke emotions so beautifully that I found myself pausing the episode to just admire these scenes. It may be a cliché, but I can’t help but enjoy watching it.
#6. Amagi Brilliant Park
One of KyoAni’s underrated work. It focuses on a theme park about to go out of business where the employees are actual magical beings from another world and kingdom. It’s now up to a former child-star to get this place back in order and prevent it from closing down. I talked about this series before in my review of it sometime ago which you find here to get my overall thoughts on the anime but let me just say that it’s a great series with funny characters, spectacular animation, good comedy, and a fun/interesting plot. I don’t know why they never made a second season, but Kyoto really needs to bring this anime back, I think they really had a hit here that needed to be capitalized on.
#5. Clannad
Yep, I’ve talked about this series a number of time on my top 11 lists and if you’ve been watching anime for quite some time now, chances are you’ve heard or come across this series. One of Key’s most popular visual novels, Clannad focuses on the life of Tomoya and how his life changes for the better with his interaction with his schoolmates. This anime brings out so many emotions in you. It can make you laugh, cry, and of course, make you think about your own life. At it’s core, Clannad is all about facing one’s past, making choices, and finding the courage to keep moving forward despite all the hardships you face and find happiness at the end. While a lot of people found the end of the second season to be a cop out, I think we can all agree that this series grabbed our attention and kept us coming back for more.
#4. Air
Another one of Key’s most popular visual novels. Just basically name all the problems you had with Clannad and watch them all get fixed in this series. On top of that, the anime is just gorgeous to look at, with a great soundtrack, amazing characters, and earning title of being the first anime to actually make me cry. It’s one of KyoAni’s most inventive animes and still remains to be one of their best works.
#3. Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid
Also known as the Dragon Maid of Miss Kobayashi, this series really caught the attention of a lot of people last year. The story about a dragon falling in love and becoming the maid a white collar worker may sound strange but it just works. This slice of life comedy focuses on mythical dragons coming to our world and interacting with it where it leads to some over the top situation that the human characters have to deal with. It’s kind of like meeting a foreigner and showing them how your country works. Each other was just a joy to watch as you just love watching all of these mythical creatures interact off each other, our world, and their human companions. At a time when KyoAni was struggling with it’s identity, this series bought them back to their roots and helped them remember who they are and what they’re good at. This was one of the best anime’s of 2018 and is a feel good anime to watch. Also, don’t lewd the loli dragon.
#2. Full Metal Panic
The action/comedy that made me a fan of the studio. The series focuses on military officer Sousuke who’s been tasked with protecting a high school girl named Kaname from terrorists. The series follows the comedic adventures of this military boy with no common sense attending high school while this hot-headed girl keeps him from destroying the school and her somewhat peaceful school life. The series is just hilarious from beginning to end while also adding in some good action scenes and stories to go along with it. While the first and third follow the original novel closely, the series really caught everyone’s attention with the second season Fumoffu. An original series created by KyoAni which turned the series into a school comedy focusing on the day to day life of Sousuke and Kaname attending school together. It’s my favorite comedy anime out there and one that still makes me laugh to this day. I haven’t watched that much of Invisible Victory but I heard it was good. However, nothing will top the work of the first 3 seasons that were done by Kyoto.
And number one. . .
#1. Violent Evergarden
You knew this was coming! This is the pinnacle of KyoAni. This anime is nothing short of beautiful and just a masterpiece of animation, storytelling, and characters. While the anime may deviate from the original novel, the anime remains true to the heart and soul of the novel and gives us amazing stories and characters that just touch our heart and makes us cry. It was one of my favorite animes from 2018 and has become my favorite anime from the studio as it embodies everything that makes KyoAni one of the best animation studios in the world.
Well that’s list. Thanks for reading and be sure to keep the studio, their employees, and families in your thoughts and prayers. Let me know what your favorite anime from the studio is and I’ll see you guys soon.
*All videos, clips, and music are not owned by me and belong to their respective owners. All rights reserved*
Thanks for reading. As always feel free to leave a comment in the comment section or send your comments, feedback, or request to iamprojectnitsuj@gmail.com
And follow me on twitter for updates and other stuff: https://twitter.com/ProjectNitsuj