> It's unfortunate to say this, but it's basically one of the only good anime I've seen in maybe a decade. Most of the stuff out there is so terrible...
A lot of the shows that get meme'd to top status are pretty terrible at writing. The top shows are more about drawing style + music rather than contemplating the story.
The strongest "story" shows of the 2014 through 2024 decade are:
* Ranking of Kings
* The Promised Neverland S1 (S2 drops the ball but at least finishes the story).
* I actually have a softspot for Studio Trigger's "Little Witch Academia" (2017), an innocent school-setting / slice of life. Its probably my favorite Studio Trigger work actually (Gurren Lagaan is their best stuff ever IMO, but that was done when the team was still technically Gainax). I would argue the "techno-witch" Croix Meridies, who serves as the antagonist (with her "break tradition, embrace technology") has aged well as we moved from 2017 into 2024. The focus on tradition from the protagonists (and Shiny Chariot + her motif of the North Star) vs technology+progress (Led by Croix Meridies, obviously a riff on the Southern Cross / South Astronomy) is a simple, but relevant, debate. Nothing outright villainous but instead is a lower-stakes debate appropriate for the setting, and I bet it will be a timeless story moving forward.
Its Studio Trigger however, so expect things to get kicked up a notch as the ending arc comes about. But the bulk of the storytellilng / philosophical debate is well thought out and likely timeless.
* OddTaxi
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I'm slowly going through what many have considered were thoughtful anime of the past decade, but I haven't actually finished these yet.
* Sonny Boy
* Rascal does not dream of Bunny Girl sempai
* I'm surprised by "Toilet Bound Hanako-kun" and need to see where its going. Genre-aware ghost trying to help the main character is... actually fun. And the characters were deeper than they were letting on.
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I know everyone likes Frieren these days, which I do consider anime of the year. But I purposefully am leaving it off the list for "top of the last decade". I do think other shows have deeper stories / better thought out characters than Frieren (even if Frieren is above-average compared to typical popular shows). Frieren being the best of the popular shows is quite different from best thought-out overall.
I admit that I haven't seen any "Delicious in Dungeon" yet. Maybe its good, but that will have to wait and see until I get a chance to watch it.
A lot of the shows that get meme'd to top status are pretty terrible at writing. The top shows are more about drawing style + music rather than contemplating the story.
The strongest "story" shows of the 2014 through 2024 decade are:
* Ranking of Kings
* The Promised Neverland S1 (S2 drops the ball but at least finishes the story).
* I actually have a softspot for Studio Trigger's "Little Witch Academia" (2017), an innocent school-setting / slice of life. Its probably my favorite Studio Trigger work actually (Gurren Lagaan is their best stuff ever IMO, but that was done when the team was still technically Gainax). I would argue the "techno-witch" Croix Meridies, who serves as the antagonist (with her "break tradition, embrace technology") has aged well as we moved from 2017 into 2024. The focus on tradition from the protagonists (and Shiny Chariot + her motif of the North Star) vs technology+progress (Led by Croix Meridies, obviously a riff on the Southern Cross / South Astronomy) is a simple, but relevant, debate. Nothing outright villainous but instead is a lower-stakes debate appropriate for the setting, and I bet it will be a timeless story moving forward.
Its Studio Trigger however, so expect things to get kicked up a notch as the ending arc comes about. But the bulk of the storytellilng / philosophical debate is well thought out and likely timeless.
* OddTaxi
-------
I'm slowly going through what many have considered were thoughtful anime of the past decade, but I haven't actually finished these yet.
* Sonny Boy
* Rascal does not dream of Bunny Girl sempai
* I'm surprised by "Toilet Bound Hanako-kun" and need to see where its going. Genre-aware ghost trying to help the main character is... actually fun. And the characters were deeper than they were letting on.
-----
I know everyone likes Frieren these days, which I do consider anime of the year. But I purposefully am leaving it off the list for "top of the last decade". I do think other shows have deeper stories / better thought out characters than Frieren (even if Frieren is above-average compared to typical popular shows). Frieren being the best of the popular shows is quite different from best thought-out overall.
I admit that I haven't seen any "Delicious in Dungeon" yet. Maybe its good, but that will have to wait and see until I get a chance to watch it.