What Is My Favorite Anime?

As part of my content plan for this year, I’ve decided to go for some more personal and light-hearted, discussion-based posts. It’s something I’ve spoken about doing for a short time now, but today is when I actually get started.

To help me in this, I’ve decided I’m going to take this 30 Day Anime Challenge and adapt in a way that allows me to have more regular content rather than daily uploads and it all be over and done with within a month. Some of the prompts will stay the same, however, I will be adapting some of them due to some not being ‘applicable’ to me.

So, that being said, let’s start with the one question related to anime that I hate being asked. What is my favorite anime?

I have a couple of reasons why I hate this question. Firstly, what I consider to be my favorite anime at one point may be completely different from the one I consider to be my favorite at another point. It completely depends on not only my mood but also the circumstances that I’m going through at that time. I tend to dip in and out of fandoms for my favorite anime series and that’s because I associate finding happiness in them at different points in my life. If I experience the same thing or a similar thing to something I’ve gone through in the past where anime has somehow guided me or made me happier, I’m probably going to say one show in particular over the others because it’s my current favorite. It’s ingrained in my mind, it’s just there when people ask me.

However, it also depends on who I’m talking to at the time. I’ve been in situations over the years where I’ve actually exaggerated my love for an anime for the sake of making friendships. And, although it’s rather disingenuine, it’s not exactly not being honest either. A classic example for me is usually Free!. Sure, I liked it, but I wouldn’t usually say it was a favorite of mine. That is unless the person I’m talking to mentions how much they love Free!. So, yeah. It’s rather disingenuine, but at least we’re getting a conversation out of it.

 

 

So, really, the question of “What’s your favorite anime?” for me is really complicated to answer. It’s the same for similar questions about bands, songs, TV shows, movies, and games as well. For some reason, I cannot just close in on one choice and stick to it. That being said, it’s finally time to give an honest answer (or a few) to the question at hand.

One thing to consider is that my MyAnimeList ratings (or the ratings on this blog) don’t always represent if a series is a favorite or not. Just because I rated something 10/10 doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a favorite. It could just be that I really appreciated the technical elements to it, amongst other reasons. In reality, a lot of my ‘favorites’ are in fact in the 7s and 8s.

The first anime I have to comment on is Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai. (more commonly known as AnoHana). I was introduced to AnoHana when I was in my first year of university, where it was actually the main ‘text’ of one of my modules. Having studied it and looking at it in more detail than perhaps the average viewer of the show, I feel like I have so much more insight into the show which adds so much more to the enjoyment I have for the show. Not only that, but I don’t know a single person who has watched the show who hasn’t praised the actual storyline and I don’t blame them. It’s so good. If you’re looking for an emotional show with a well-written story, I strongly recommend AnoHana. I now consider it an essential to anyone’s anime list.

One of my other favorites is Ouran High School Host Club, a show I’ve already spoken about several times on the blog. Perhaps I’m slightly biased about this show, considering it was the first anime I ever completed, but there’s something about the show’s charm that makes me want to watch it again and again. I’ve watched Ouran almost 10 times now and not once have I gotten bored of it. It’s such a relaxed show with lots of good humor, which is something I truly appreciate. Definitely another essential, in my opinion.

A recent addition to my list of favorites is most certainly Vampire Hunter D and this should come to no surprise to anyone who read my review of the 1985 film. It was certainly a surprise for me, as it’s not exactly the first choice of genre for me (or it wasn’t at the time anyway!), but it’s written extremely well and I was hooked throughout the entire film. Looking back, I don’t really know why I was so hesitant to watch it because, really, it’s everything I like in a film. I’m still looking forward to delving into the franchise a little more as well!

Finally, yet another recent addition to my favorites has to be Saiki Kusuo no Ψ-nan – a comedy short series that I completed for my 2018 Anime Challenge. I really wasn’t expecting much for Saiki, if I’m completely honest. Perhaps it was the usual case of it being hyped up that I just didn’t expect it to be so good, but my initial feelings were wrong. Saiki is an excellent comedy which features a lot of sarcasm with very relatable teenage drama scenarios. This was an extremely easy watch and, again, this is another franchise I can’t wait to delve into even more!

I personally think those four shows really do sum my anime taste up quite well so I’m going to stop there. Vampires, emotional dramas, cute boys and sarcasm. What more could a girl want from her anime?

Now I’m going to ask you the dreaded question! What is your favorite anime? Let me know in the comment section below!

Until next time!

– Amelia x