8. Lycoris Recoil (Shingo Adachi, A-1 Pictures)
Shingo Adachi follows the usual narrative form of such titles, with the first episodes introducing the characters through a villain-of-the-week style, until the group is completed with the additional members. The focus on the first episodes is also on how Chisato changes Takina and how their friendship grows, with their return to DA and the mock-battle with the latter's former comrades cementing their relationship, as Takina starts appreciating her new friend's skills and overall behavior towards her. At the same time, the first glimpses of the mystery surrounding Chisato's background, the Alan Institute, the role of Shinji and his acquaintance with Mika, and the DA organization start appearing. The style of these initial episodes is mixed, with the first part usually focusing on how the cafe works and the relationships of the characters, and the second on action.
7. Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War (Tomohisa Taguchi, Studio Pierrot)
For starters, the way the showdown is built is excellent, with the enemy revealing themselves through brief but rather impactful scenes, with the first intrusion in Soul Society being a testament to this approach and the final one, in the same location, being among the most majestic sequences we have seen in the franchise. The initial setup here, with the Soul Society captains fighting the Quincy captains in shock, and even more so, the involvement of Yamamoto, is truly epic, with the fires that surround the images being the apogee of both the background drawing and the animation by Studio Pierrot. Furthermore, the outcome of the particular battle is among the most dramatic in the whole series, with the impact being of epic proportions to any viewer that has ever watched the series. This sense of drama extends to the second part, despite the fact that the tone is much lighter here, as Ichigo's lineage mystery is finally revealed.
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6. Spy x Family (Kazuhiro Furuhashi, Wit Studio)
Evidently, the most intriguing and appealing aspects of the series are its characters and the dynamics that are created between them. In that fashion, Twilight is a man who is constantly thinking about what to do next, while hiding his true identity from his make-up family, but Anya is able to read his every thought, which results in her being both terrified and resolved to help him. Furthermore, Anya may be able to read people's mind, but that has made her lazy and a really bad student, posing another issue for Twilight, while the fact that she reads her father's thoughts, but is still too young (an elementary student) to realize the gravity of what is happening, adds another level to their relationship. Yor, who also has no clue about the rest of her family's true abilities, is as kind and loving of them as she is cruel towards her victims, with her obsession for violence, which she keeps to herself, terrifying Anya when she reads her thoughts.
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5. Cyberpunk Edgerunners (Hiroyuki Imaishi, Studio Trigger)
In probably one of the best video game adaptations of all time, Hiroyuki Imaishi presents an impressive combination of cyberpunk, action, sex, violence, romance and drama, all the while making a number of comments regarding corporatism and the way it has corrupted almost everyone down to their core. This amalgam benefits the most by the excellent character design of Yo Yoshinari, which result in a truly unique gamut of characters, which implement elements of coolness, sensualism, brutality and an overall quite entertaining sense of hyperbole. Truth be told, some of the faces could have benefitted from a bit more detail but the rest of the design is truly a wonder to watch.
4. Mob Psycho 100 III (Takahiro Hasui, Bones)
The two trademarks of the series are here once more, with the purposefully simplistic character design of Yoshimichi Kameda and the mocking, through gags and intense irony of every concept shonen anime have used throughout the years, presented in all their glory, being the most distinguishing aspects of the series. At the same time, the coming-of-age aspect is also intense, this time involving, apart from Mob, his brother Ritsu, Kurata, Dimple and Reigen. Particularly the latter, in one of the most interesting elements of the series, is finally forced to acknowledge to himself and to everybody essentially, the truth about himself, in the most dramatic scene of the whole title one could say.
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3. Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Die Neue These Third (Shunsuke Tada, Production I.G.)
The focus on the secondary characters adds even more depth to an already rich narrative, creating empathy for additional individuals and thus making them more interesting. As such, the character analysis here, which actually continues focusing on the protagonists, emerges as one of the season's and the whole series' best traits. Furthermore, politics, corruption, the question of who wishes the war, and how various outside powers pull the strings from the background are also part of the story, adding even more depth while also showcasing who the real villain is. Lastly, the differences in the mentalities of the two protagonists continues to be quite intriguing, with a clash between them looking inevitable
2. Made in Abyss: The Golden City of the Scorching Sun (Masayuki Kojima, Kinema Citrus)
Following the path of “Dawn of the Deep Soul”, the second season features much more intense action than the first part, particularly through Faputa, who eventually erupts, after her past is completely revealed through flashbacks, and Reg, who has not fully adopted his fighting form when Riko blows her whistle. Especially the last episodes, when a number of terrifying creatures enter the village and the inhabitants begin to fight against them, are quite impressive in action terms, as much as brutal, with the punishment Faputa gives and receives incorporating both. Particularly the tactic she has, of making holes in the huge creatures' bodies and then killing them from inside is as grotesque, as they come, as much as the hits and maiming she receives. These scenes are where the animation by Kinema Citrus finds its apogee, with the movements of both huge creatures and the tiny protagonists being outstanding.
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1. Chainsaw Man (Ryuu Nakayama, MAPPA)
Apart from the fact that the protagonist's super power is transforming into a human-chainsaw, the story is not exactly unusual, at least initially, with both the overall setting and the underdog character being almost cliche. The appearance of Makina, however, changes things, as she is a woman who is willing to use her sex appeal to make Denji her “dog”, and is not even reluctant to openly state the fact to him. That he actually goes with it, in a charmed-teenager fashion, essentially making his dream all about increasingly more intimate moments (from groping to eventually sex) and the way the women around him, eventually including Power exploit the fact, is one of the most intriguing elements of the narrative here. At the same time, the fact that both of them actually keep their promises, is a unique aspect for shonen titles, who usually do not go that far. Even more so, when Himeno, Aki's mentor of sorts, also gets in the “game”, which in her case, includes drunken advances towards men much younger than her, adds even more non-political correctness, in a rather entertaining fashion. Lastly, a mystery regarding the reality of these advances of all the female characters, which are not exactly clear if they are sincere or just aiming at something, with Makina being the main source of this aspect, conclude this rather distinctive approach towards the erotic.
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