bateszi anime blog

Anime of the decade!

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bateszi
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Time has already come
The sun is gone – no more shadows
Can’t give up, I know, and this life goes on
I’ll be strong
I’ll be strong

Lyrics from Glassy Sky

Attack on Titan

Attack on Titan
(2013, Wit Studio, directed by Tetsurou Araki)

Sacrificing everything for a dream of a better life, only to burn up like a flare in the sky.

Flowers of Evil anime (Aku no Hana)

Flowers of Evil
(2013, ZEXCS, d. Hiroshi Nagahama)

A meteorite smashing through the rose-coloured nostalgia of anime high school into the emptiness that lays beneath.

From the New World
(2012, A-1 Pictures, d. Masashi Ishihama)

A sweeping epic set in a dystopia created by emotional repression. A world saved by empathy and curiosity.

Girls Last Tour

Girls’ Last Tour
(2017, White Fox, d. Takaharu Ozaki)

The girls sight-see at the end of the world. Like a sad poem from a lost age.

Mushishi

MUSHI-SHI The Next Passage
(2014, Artland, d. Hiroshi Nagahama)

Kindles within me a dream that there’s some magic in the world still and, for that, it never fails to inspire me. The love of my anime life.

Ping Pong the Animation
(2014, Tatsunoko Production, d. by Masaaki Yuasa)

A demon, a dragon, a robot, all in need of salvation. The hero carries them to heaven. A story for both the person that believes in their friends, and for the friend stumbling under the weight of that belief.

Run with the Wind
(2018, Production I.G, d. by Kazuya Nomura)

Pour yourself into something and fight for it with everything you have. Leave nothing behind. Run for your life.

Descending Stories: Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju

Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju
(2016, Studio DEEN, d. by Shinichi Omata)

What it means to live a life full of passion, pursuing creativity until the end, for all the love and sacrifice that brings.

Your Lie in April
(2014, ZEXCS, d. by Kyouhei Ishiguro)

For the people that carry music in their hearts.

7 responses to “Anime of the decade!”

  1. bateszi Avatar
    bateszi

    So, dear readers, what are your favourite anime of the decade?

    Happy Christmas and all the best for the new year!

    Reply
    1. barak Avatar
      barak

      Happy Christmas! I don’t quite agree with everything on this list but I’m so happy to see someone else appreciating Flowers of Evil (and Ping Pong and From The New World, but those were less controversial). I thought that anime was trying to do such an interesting thing and it mostly succeeded at it – I was very sad to see the vicious backlash it received.

      Personally, I don’t like to make these sort of lists, partly because I’d agonize way too long over what to add (and then over what I forgot to add), and partly because “anime I enjoyed the most” and “anime I genuinely think is worthy of being called ‘of the year/decade/etc’” don’t always overlap, haha. Still, if I were to mention a few, I’d definitely mention:

      -From The New World and Ping Pong (just to get them out of the way – knowing the novel the former is based on I think it kind of dropped the ball in its last third, but it was still amazing overall)
      -Gatchaman Crowds & Insight (so ahead of their time, the both of them)
      -Concrete Revolutio (same, and such an interesting and intelligent way to address the topics it does)
      -Tiger & Bunny (it’s just so much fun, really, and it had such a huge impact in such a subtle way)
      -Tsuritama (looks simple, packs huge emotional punches in the gentlest way possible, while still being genuinely uplifting)

      And special mentions go to:

      -Kekkai Sensen/Blood Blockade Battlefront, where I was quite disappointed in the first season (I thought the director was trying to turn it into something it was never meant to be, and it ended up really disjointed and lost its emotional edge for me), but the second season more than made up for it, and gave me everything I wanted, except for a third season.
      -Osomatsu-san, which I found genuinely enjoyable, but mainly for becoming a sort of phenomenon you rarely see with anime. Sure, it’s more or less over now, but it was glorious while it lasted.
      -Nobunaga Concerto and Double Decker, simply because I just enjoyed the hell out of them. 😀 I picked up the manga for NobuCon and it became one of my favorites (and the show has the last good voice acting performance I heard from Miyano Mamoru), and Double Decker. while flawed, was the first show in a very long time that I ended up really falling in love with. Alas, my love seems to be poison, because neither shows were treated kindly as far as sequels/fame/renown go. 🙁

      Reply
      1. bateszi Avatar
        bateszi

        I was back and forth on writing this, but in the end, it was quite fun to think about what to include, and just a nice way to sign off for the year. This is totally an “anime I enjoyed most” list 🙂

        I remember Tiger & Bunny being massive when it aired and I enjoyed it a lot, but there seemed a reluctance to make a sequel? It had potential!

        Tsuritama is another great shout! “Gentle” is how I always think of Tsuritama. What ever happened to Kenji Nakamura? It’s a mystery, as if he just disappeared after Gatchaman.

        Thanks for adding your takes, it’s always interesting to see how our tastes overlap and diverge! 🙂

        Reply
  2. yualexius Avatar
    yualexius

    Flowers of Evil is such a creepy but definitely amazing experience for me. From the New Whole is an adventure that I will always remember and how great the world building is.

    Attack on Titan on the other hand is such a fantastic adventure from the start til its current season. A consistent excellent anime for me.

    Reply
    1. bateszi Avatar
      bateszi

      I couldn’t agree more 🙂

      Reply
  3. Carl Avatar
    Carl

    I haven’t looked at really many lists for the 2010s in fear of getting mad at redundant or basic choices but without a doubt Bateszi you should be proud of this one. As I scrolled further down was in agreement for most of them, a few I hadn’t seen but aware that they are deserving of the spot.

    I’ve been thinking about what I’ve enjoyed this decade myself a mish mash of TV, OVAs and movies, if it still comes to mind today then it deserves to be mentioned. It’s ironic a show I considered garbage from the 2000s pumped out an OVA that I’d say I enjoyed the most for the entire decade and that was Code Geass. lmao.

    Btw it’s nice to know in a time when Jojo S1 was getting praised in all its glory for being mediocre From the New World was snubbed so it making it to your list was great. 😘😘

    Reply
    1. bateszi Avatar
      bateszi

      I’m glad you liked my list, Carl. I wanted to choose some anime off the beaten track. I like that you’ve chosen something like a Code Geass OVA as your favourite. These choices should be personal, after all.

      I really need to go back and rewatch From the New World. It’s been too long and it’s only gotten better in my memories.

      Reply

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