Top 10 Best Anime of 2017 That You Should Marathon Right Now

ATTACK ON TITAN (SEASON 2)

Attack on Titan’s first season took viewers on an emotional rollercoaster and didn’t hesitate to get the tears flowing on the very first episode. Everything about this anime prepared you for the reality that nobody was safe, the secrets would never stop pouring in and every encounter with these bizarre giants was sure to cause some sort of complication with your blood pressure.

Season 2 is no different. From the very beginning, yet again, the series refuses to hold back. Attack on Titan comes back with more stunning visuals, that same hair raising soundtrack, and a narrative that will never let you feel comfortable. And we mean that in the best way possible. If you missed out on the first season, however, you certainly don’t want to jump into the fray here. Now is the perfect time to marathon the first season and keep the thrills going right into season two.

MY HERO ACADEMIA (SEASON 2)

My Hero Academia isn’t an incredibly original anime in terms of its very concept. What it is, however, is a masterpiece in how it deals with the journey of a young boy who desperately wants to live up to the standards being set by those around him. The first season set the bar high and, quite frankly, you couldn’t help but fear that the second season would make the plot drag on too long or just ruin the wonderful story that had already unfolded. Fortunately, that wasn’t the case.

Somehow, the second season only allowed My Hero Academia to get even better. If there was one complaint about the first season, it’s that character development didn’t feel as complex and thought out as some viewers may have hoped. Some characters still felt relatively flat while others just didn’t necessarily connect well with the audience. Season 2 takes care of that and provides layers upon layers for many characters that felt shallow the first time around. Pleasant art direction and great pacing throughout the narrative makes Season 2 a real treat for anyone who stuck around from the first season.

RE:CREATORS

If anyone was handing out an award for the most underrated anime of the first half of 2017, Re:CREATORS would certainly walk away with the prize. There are formulas in anime that have been proven time and time again. So much so that it becomes easy to repeat these themes and motifs until it becomes watered down and cliche. Re:CREATORS doesn’t fall into that trap but doing something different is never an easy task. Re:CREATORS opens up with some serious action scenes that can lead viewers to believe this is a series all about shoving fighting scenes down your throat. That’s far from the case. Re:CREATORS has depth and a well thought out narrative that is begging to be explored. Later episodes finally start peeling back the layers of this anime in an approach that dials back the action in exchange for more meaningful dialogue.

Re:CREATORS simply isn’t afraid to rely on character development and an unfolding overarching plot to pull viewers in. If you actually buckle in for the ride and stick through the episodes that are void of action, you’ll find yourself becoming more and more connected to the colorful cast. That, in turn, makes later battles all the more fascinating by highlighting the many layers that drive new conflicts.

THE ECCENTRIC FAMILY (SEASON 2)

The Eccentric Family returned for another season this year and it brought back everything that was so captivating about the first season. This anime steers clear of being a cookie cutter show filled with the usual tropes and stands out as a multi-layered, complex masterpiece that is extremely relatable despite being anchored in a magical world. The Eccentric Family features a colorful cast of creatures known as tanuki and tengu who have always lived in the same world as humans but kept their existence a secret.

For many viewers, the second season can feel a bit like a break from the various challenges and hardships that characters were facing in the first season. While the second season still comes with its fair share of hurdles for the characters to overcome, it certainly seems like this season doesn’t tax your emotions quite as much or quite as frequently. The Eccentric Family has many elements that are worthy of the highest praise and it’s an original series that is incredibly hard to forget.

NATSUME’S BOOK OF FRIENDS (SEASON 6)

There is one word that is commonly used to describe this simple yet charming series—heartwarming. Even if you aren’t a fan of slice of life anime, you may want to consider giving this one a try. It’s not recommended that you pick up the anime on the sixth season but rest assured that your trek from season 1 to season 6 would be well worth it. The series has spent quite a bit of time following the random adventure of Natsume Takashi, a 15-year-old orphan boy who can see other worldly creatures known as youkai. This proves to be only one of the gifts that were given to Nastume by his grandmother. The other is her Book of Friends, which has served as the foundation of this series for each and every season as Nastume searches for each of the spirits that are listed in the book. His goal is to release the spirits that were once attached to his grandmother.

Frankly, six seasons of an anime about a teenage boy who just can’t seem to catch a break but then becomes devoted to releasing spirits sounds like something that could easily get repetitive. Rest assured that Natsume’s Book of Friends steers clear of feeling like a carbon copy of previous seasons. Every season, every episode, and every new encounter just feels unique and new despite their fair share of similarities.

AKASHIC RECORDS OF BASTARD MAGIC INSTRUCTOR

To be completely honest, there are more than enough reasons to turn away from Akashic Records of Bastard Magic Instructor at first glance. The name itself isn’t necessarily something that would entice you. The premise of the show is probably one of the most common tropes in anime history—following students at a school for people who have magical abilities. The outfits that the young women wear are downright ridiculous especially considering the fact that their male counterparts are in attire that seem far more like what you would expect of a school uniform. Even the very first episode seems to fall a bit flat with desperate attempts to shove in comedic relief even where it isn’t needed or wanted. By this point the anime has a lot stacked against it and it will take a miracle for it to come across as an interesting story with a cast that’s quirky enough to make the repackaging of a cliche story feel enjoyable and just a tad bit fresh again. Well, fret not, the miracle happens.

Somehow Akashic Records of Bastard Magic Instructor turns into an enjoyable anime where the cliches are still there but they just feel wrapped in a better package. The characters here are what help the anime shine and the writers clearly knew that. Almost every character’s backstory is thoroughly explored throughout the show without compromising the progress of the overarching narrative. The adventure itself isn’t new or unique but seeing how this particular cast of characters faces these not-so-new series of events proves to be incredibly entertaining and worth the time.

THE ROYAL TUTOR

Even if one is not quite fit for royalty, that doesn’t change whether or not they were born into it. That simple reality is at the foundation of The Royal Tutor and it makes for one pretty funny anime. The Royal Tutor is a comedy series that follows the struggles Heine Wittgenstein faces after being assigned to be the new tutor to four princes who just don’t seem ready for the throne quite yet. While Wittgenstein is brilliant, he has the stature and build of a child. This makes it a bit difficult for him to get the utmost respect from the four princes who each have their own troubling personalities.

The overall art direction here is solid all around. The anime uses visuals as a comedic tool just as much as it utilizes sound, dialogue, and some clever writing. You should also prepare for a bit of chibi overload but it never really feels annoying or overwhelming with the show’s context. Quite frankly, every scene that features frustrated chibis just seems to fit perfectly in place. The overarching narrative is nothing phenomenal but the way characters are developed along with the way the dynamics between such colorful personalities are explored creates a solid anime comedy that will actually pull some hardy laughs out of you.

AS THE MOON, SO BEAUTIFUL

As the Moon, So Beautiful is another anime that is far from being unique in its concept. School anime are probably the most common types of anime whether it be traditional school romances, your usual slice of life, or even a magical school preparing students for a season packed with intense action scenes. This anime doesn’t pretend to be something groundbreaking and different. It simply treats the school anime in a way that feels pure, genuine, and incredibly relatable. It strips away many of the gimmicks that other anime series hide behind and chooses to just focus on raw emotions and meaningful bonds that form between characters during a pivotal window in a young person’s life. The entire series just feels poetic and easily has you incredibly invested in the relationships that are slowly building while each of the characters also embark on a journey to deal with their own growing pains.

RAGE OF BAHAMUT: VIRGIN SOUL

If you don’t have time to follow a romantic series, a stunning action series, and a compelling adventure series, Rage of Bahamut: Virgin Soul will bring the best of each genre to you in one show. Rage of Bahamut: Virgin Soul takes place in a world that has completely lost its balance between humans, gods and demons. Demons have been enslaved by humans, gods are no longer the all-powerful beings they used to be, and humans are busy trying to revive their once powerful society. It’s not necessarily a new concept but it does offer a new perspective.

There are three clear sides present in the anime and none ever emerges as being the most morally correct of the bunch. Each side has a position that can be understood to a certain extent and the imbalance that is troubling them all has no clear answer or solution. The series also focuses on the perspective coming from the angels and demons in the series. You witness demons tormenting humans in order to feed off their negative emotions. All the while a war is boiling between the angels and demons. There are so many complex layers to the anime that are worth diving into and it makes you even explore your own conscious and examine your own morals. Rage of Bahamut: Virgin Soul succeeds in many ways and will easily have you pulled in deep after the very first episode.

ALICE TO ZOUROKU

Alice to Zouroku certainly was the best anime of Spring 2017 but it had a lot to offer and still managed to stand out during a pretty busy anime season. Alice to Zouroku follows a young girl who has an odd supernatural ability where she can manifest the things she imagines. It’s an odd ability that garnered some questionable attention, which ultimately resulted in Alice becoming a test subject. Eventually she escapes this lab, however, and seeks help from an unlikely and somewhat unwilling source. That’s about all I can say without ruining many of the surprises this anime has in store.

As for what makes this anime stand out, the art direction becomes particularly impressive during later episodes and never misses a moment to utilize visuals as a key part of storytelling. The cast is a colorful bunch that blends together well. Everyone feels different and unique without ever feeling out of place. The last special element of this anime, however, is something that can be a bit divisive. Alice to Zouroku is simply exploring a natural world where magic just so happens to exist and not everyone understands this or wants to accept it. While there is the presence of a plot, it also has a slice of life feel to it by not making anything feel overly grandiose. It’s essentially an anime that wants to take the magic of the supernatural but drop it in a world of realism while honing in on the perspective of children rather than the adults in charge. Even if it doesn’t turn out to be your favorite anime, it will likely be in your catalog as one of the most interesting.