Rubenerd

Speaking of retrospectives, I saw a few Twitterlings share their favourite anime for each year of the 2010s. I think this is a great idea, so I’ve compiled my own list. Just as they did, the years correspond with when I saw them, not necessarily when they originally came out.

• 2010: K-On! This was the moeblob to end all moeblobs. It was unapologetically fun, cheerful, and true to the original four panel comics. I wanted to give each one of the light music club cast a hug.

• 2011: Gurren Lagann. It came out back in 2007, but I only finished it in 2011. And wow, what a series. Probably one of my all time favourite science fiction shows, let alone anime. This narrowly beat out Tatami Galaxy.

• 2012: Hyouka. It’s Clara’s and my series. ♡

• 2013: Penguindrum. I normally give shows that involve hospitals as a plot device a hard pass for obvious reasons, but everything about this series was perfect. Though I had Rock Over Japan in my head for months. This narrowly beat Gatchaman Crowds.

• 2014: Barakamon. My favourite anime series of all time. It was a touching story of someone my age going through the same self doubt I was, only he went to an island and did something about it. This narrowly beat out Madoka Magica.

• 2015: Shirokuma Cafe. What a beautiful, fun series. I’m sensing a trend. I watched the anime first, then made my way through the manga. It was the first anime I played for my dad and his partner, and that I watched with my sister who now watches more stuff than I do!

• 2016: Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works. My favourite arc and lead from the original Fate/Stay Night was given such spectacular treatment with this retelling. Tohsaka Rin in HD gave me palpitations.

• 2017: SKET Dance. It came out a while ago, but I watched the entire series over a period of weeks with Clara. I adore the characters, dare I say it even more than Gintama’s.

• 2018: Isekai Izakaya “Nobu”. Another lighthearted and fun show about a restaurant with an entrance to another world that Clara and I looked forward to each week. The iRL Japanese travel guides at the end of each episode were also charming and delightful. This narrowly beat Holmes of Kyoto.

• 2019: Yuru Camp. It’s fitting that we end the decade with a series as fun and loveable as where we started. I technically first saw it in 2018, but I’d since watched it twice more in 2019 it was so good. This narrowly beat Astra, which truthfully I’ve only read but still haven’t watched yet.

I really need to restore my 2000s anime blog now that I’ve recovered many of the backups. I might do a retro-retrospective of that decade too at some point, might be fun.