My Top Ten Anime (2020 Edition)
Admittedly, I didn’t watch as many new anime shows in 2020 as I did in previous years, but these were my favourites. You may disagree, but I’m not going to apologise as these are my top ten anime from 2020!
My Top Ten Anime from 2020
In all, I watched and reviewed twenty-three new shows in 2020. Normally, I would have got through probably twice as many, but it was 2020… That said, each of the shows in this list either made me laugh, cry, punch the air, laugh out loud, or gasp. Some made me do all of those things, and they’re probably nearer the top. Anyhow, here they are. Enjoy!
10. Peter Grill and the Philosopher’s Time (Season One)
Peter Grill was a series of twelve-minute episodes and that probably helped it. That said, I would have watched more. It started out slow and after the first episode I wasn’t sure whether I was going to get into it, but all worries were quickly diminished as it just got funnier and funnier, and more and more absurd. It’s definitely a more risque series, but oh so funny!
9. Tower of God (Season One)
I really enjoyed Tower of God and wish we’d been given a bit more, to begin with. It’s dark and mysterious with some crazy and cool characters. The world is fascinating and we got to see a pretty incredible twist. It has its issues, but it was enough for me to want some more.
8. Super HxEros (Season One)
Much like Peter Grill, I wasn’t expecting much from Super HxEros. However, before long, I was completely invested in the story and the characters. It’s completely bonkers, like an ecchi Power Rangers, but that was also one of its strengths. I really enjoyed this series and it would have possibly featured higher in the list had it not been censored. I can almost guarantee that the censorship makes it look worse than it probably was.
7. Darwin’s Game (Season One)
And here’s another that raced in unexpectedly. Darwin’s Game is a fairly typical battle-royale style format anime, but it managed to do a lot of things right. For one, the characters were pretty entertaining and then it had some nice animation and some spectacular fights. I really hope we get more as it was really hitting its groove as it came to the end.
6. ID: Invaded (Season One)
ID: Invaded was a brilliantly intricate and mysterious series that focused on a killer of the week format, but as the series went on it all began to come together. There were some truly heartbreaking moments. It was also an absolute delight to look at. If you’ve not seen it, you really should.
5. Uzaki-chan Wants to Hang Out! (Season One)
I had put Uzaki-chan on my shortlist for the summer schedule but didn’t get to it until it had almost finished. That was probably a good thing, as I breezed through all of the episodes in no time at all. Seriously, I loved this series and had a lot of fun hanging out with Uzaki and Sakurai. I’m not even sure what all the fuss was about that hit the internet when it started. Obviously, people that hadn’t watched it!
4. BOFURI: I Don’t Want to Get Hurt, so I’ll Max Out My Defense (Season One)
Bofuri was my go-to season from the winter schedule and I was certain that it would be my anime of the year. It was so much fun it’s hard to really big it up enough. That makes its selection at number four that much more shocking. Regardless, if you want to have a good laugh and experience a unique way to take on an MMORPG then this is the series for you!
3. Princess Connect! Re:Dive (Season One)
After experiencing the sheer joy of a series like Bofuri, I didn’t think it would get any better. Then I happened across Princess Connect and couldn’t believe my luck. This series is amazing. It looks stunning, has a fairly simple story with much more going on in the background, fun characters and brilliant world-building. I’m so glad that we’re getting second seasons of both this and Bofuri.
2. Fruits Basket (Season Two)
A while back, I asked for a recommendation for a coming season on Twitter. One of the first responses was the updated version of Fruits Basket. I knew nothing of the original other than it was popular so figured why not. I loved it and season two was as good as the first. I can’t believe I’ve been writing up reviews of this series for an entire year now and we’ve still got another season to go. Bring it on!
1. Gleipnir (Season One)
I bumped Gleipnir from my summer lineup as it was the last to get going and I’d already taken on seven. It was one that I’d always planned on coming back to and I am so glad that I did. I’m also pretty happy that I didn’t have to wait a week between episodes as that would have been hard. This is a dark and twisted series with wonderful visuals and an insanely haunting soundtrack. When I was putting this list together, I knew that this had to take the top spot. As much as I loved the others, this is a clear winner for me.
Well, were there any surprises in there? There were for me, so I’d be shocked if you were expecting all those titles. I did enjoy several of the other titles that I watched in 2020 and there are more that I plan on getting to as this year goes on. I have a lot to catch up on and I can’t wait to get started.
So, these are just my opinions and as I didn’t watch everything that was released, there will probably be titles that you think should be there. What were your favourite shows in 2020? I’m always looking for more to add to my to-watch list.
Other Top Ten Posts
Wow, the only two of these I watched were BOFURI and Princess Connect. . .loved them both, though!
Better than last year when you hadn’t seen any of my top picks… loved those two though. So glad we’re getting more.
For the first time in quite a while I’ve actually seen a handful of shows within a calendar year – compared to only one or two.
In the end, it’s not many at all, but I can choose from these for a fav:
Arte
Deca-Dence
No Guns Life
Akudama Drive
As much as I liked ‘Arte’ it’s probably going to be ‘Deca-Dence’ for me as a fav; plenty to talk about with that one, huh?
(‘Bofuri’ sounds fun re: featuring RPG tropes etc)
I still need to see No Guns Life and Akudama Drive. There certainly was a lot to talk about with Deca-Dence.
As for Bofuri. If you want something fun and entertaining to take away the pandemic blues, that’s the show for you. Just good honest fun.
NGL felt a little ‘choppy’ to me and I’m curious to whether that was because I watched it weekly, or whether it had to do with a lot of set-ups for possible future seasons?
‘Akudama Drive’ was visually immersive but I’m of two minds about how committed it is to certain cyberpunk ideals (as I saw it :D), yeah – curious to see what you think if you get a chance!
Awesome, that sounds pretty perfect 🙂
I often wonder if watching weekly will affect my enjoyment of a show. There are those that are great no matter what, but I’m sure some would benefit from binge-watching.
Yeah, for me I’ve noticed that if there’s a show I’m enjoying only a bit, the binge-option would help me actually finish, whereas the same show might get abandoned if it was a weekly viewing schedule.