While I had a lot of top favorites last year (see Part 1 and Part 2), I also watched a lot of anime that I’d classify as good or even great, but which didn’t break through and affect me the way some of the others did. This doesn’t mean that these series weren’t worth talking about, so I’d like to give a little bit of the spotlight to some of the “also-rans,” the series that I think are worth watching from the past year.
I limited this list to series that I’ve either completed, or in the case of multi-cour series, ones where I’d watched at least half. This isn’t an exhaustive list of every series I completed last year, just ones I wanted to talk about and signal boost. As a reminder, my “year” runs from Autumn 2017 through Summer 2018.
Kino’s Journey ~The Beautiful World~ The Animated Series
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Kino’s Journey was such a classic of my formative fandom years that I was a little bit apprehensive about the prospect of a re-make. While I always knew that there was likely more source material worth animating, generally sometimes even good things are just better left alone. Still, I came out the other side being pleasantly surprised by how thought-provoking the series was for me.
The “new” Kino certainly has its controversial aspects. The character designs are very reflective of current trends, meaning that Kino appears more feminized, which is unfortunate; some non-binary anime fans strongly identified with the less obviously-gendered Kino of the original adaptation and took understandable issue with the timing of Kino’s backstory in this one. The new series also lacks a strong through line, because (to my understanding), the stories which were adapted were decided using a popular vote rather than chosen for their specific harmony with one-another.
That said, many of the stories provided me with a lot of food for thought, provided interesting comparisons with the social and political situations our current world, and filled in a few narrative gaps left by the previous version. I chose not to re-watch the original before watching this one, and for me that was the right choice. Being able to accept this version on its own terms without the previous version hanging over my head was perhaps the best way of reconciling my feelings with the old and the new.
Sanrio Boys
Cute characters can be used to bolster rampant commercialism, and few companies know that balance as thoroughly as Sanrio. I’m definitely not immune to the charms of their characters; for example, while I know full well that Aggretsuko is a fine-tuned bid for my “adult working woman” money, I can’t resist either the character’s aesthetic charms nor her relatable attitude (it also doesn’t hurt that the anime series is so darned good). Similarly, Sanrio Boys can be interpreted cynically as a manipulation tactic aimed squarely at male consumers. While I don’t know how popular Sanrio is with the male population, I can imagine normalizing their products with that demographic would open up all sorts of new revenue streams.
What I expected from the series was cute guys and cute toys, and yes, there’s a lot of that. One episode in particular is a love letter to Sanrio Puroland, the Japanese theme park focused around their family of cute characters. What I didn’t expect, though, was to experience a story that seemed very aware of the types of gender stereotypes forced on young men and the ridicule they sometimes receive when they don’t adhere to those stereotypical standards. There’s a sadness I feel when I hear stories of boys scolded or teased for enjoying things and activities deemed “feminine,” because those situations are not just insulting toward femininity, but they also sometimes steal away the opportunities for boys and men to experience the whole range of their own emotions. While the stories in Sanrio Boys tend towards the melodramatic, they’re also some of the few that I’ve seen directly address this issue, and that alone really impressed me.
Oh, and it also stars cute guys and their Sanrio toys. Win!
Violet Evergarden
There’s no doubt that Kyoto Animation nearly has the market cornered on beautiful animation; I comment on it just about every time they release a series or film (including now). I do find that the emotional and narrative depth of their outings can vary quite a bit. Obviously the studio is welcome to adapt whatever sort of stories they feel like, and they don’t all have to appeal directly to me. I do enjoy it when visual sumptuousness and narrative beauty combine, though, and Violet Evergarden turned out to be that sort of treat.
What I find most interesting looking back at the series now is Violet as a character. She initially reads like the sort of flat-affect moe character who shows up in many anime that have larger female casts. Unlike many of those series, which utilize those character traits for humorous purposes or to appeal to certain audiences, this story allows Violet to grow; she’s still the same person with the same scars, but she learns and adapts and comes into her talents while being true to her own personality. In addition I’ve read that there are fans who identify with her as being on the spectrum of neuro-diversity; something relatively uncommon and definitely welcome.
The series itself has many emotional moments that I began to appreciate more with each passing episode. While I think the narrative arc is a bit uneven and the series climaxes early before taking a more standard tone at the end, those are relatively small complaints about a very satisfying anime.
How to Keep a Mummy
As I’ve said many times before, I do appreciate anime that deals with tough, complicated subject matter and I enjoy anime series that allow me to experience my full range of emotions or which make me think. Like most fans, though, there are times where I just want to watch a little something that makes me feel good, and How to Keep a Mummy is one of the past year’s best examples of that very type.
Calling the roly-poly Mii-kun a mummy is a little bit of a stretch; while he appears to be wrapped in bandages, he seems more closely related to a marshmallow than to some ancient, desiccated corpse. That’s a very teeny-tiny complaint about an anime series filled with cute supernatural beings of many types, kind, sympathetic supporting characters, and a human protagonist who exemplifies the kind of soft, parental qualities that I admire in my favorite male anime characters.
Whatever the taxonomy of Mii-kun and company, this series is pure cuteness, with only a few minor missteps (including a perverted older woman who appears briefly and whose presence isn’t crucial to the plot). This series gave me a lot of warm feelings and got me to say “d’aww!” a lot, which is sometimes exactly what’s needed.
Hakumei and Mikochi
I feel like this series flew under just about everyone’s radar, and that to me is a crying shame. While it’s not an action-packed thriller nor an uproarious comedy, its peek into the lives of two very tiny little people is unique and gently humorous in its own special way.
This meandering story about the relationship and daily lives of two small creatures (I’ve often referred to them as gnomes, but who knows?) is both fanciful and rich. Hakumei and Mikochi live in the base of a tree and go about their business like any other humans, only their world is made more interesting due to their diminutive size. They work with and live alongside talking animals, interact with many others of their own kind, and generally see the world from a point-of-view that’s completely different from those of us who see our world from higher altitudes. They make use of all manner of interesting contraptions that are perfectly-sized for them.
In its barest form, this is just a slice-of-life series about an odd couple of lovable little women, and beyond that its appeal is difficult for me to put into words. I can understand why it may have been passed-over in favor of more immediately compelling entertainment. As somewhat of a connoisseur of healing-type anime, though, I thought that this was a nice, relaxing, and friendly series to come home to.
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Once again, my words started to run away from me, so I’ve decided to split this post up (I wouldn’t want my readers to get fatigued!). Stay tuned for the second half tomorrow!