Anime has always been the entertainment that inspires my soul, fills me with happiness, makes me think of life deeply, and has shaped who I am and was always meant to be. I owe so much to anime, especially with the people it had introduced me to in my life. If you go on my website here, I am always updating the animes I watch: http://morganscomnick.com/bio/to-be-an-nerdy-otaku/
A few years ago, my dear writing mate, Dan Wright, and I did a video on our shared Youtube Channel, Moon Panda Power (ah, those were the days) about our top 5 favorite animes with a few honorable mentions. We have very different tastes, ha, but it was so much fun.
Here are the links to the videos here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQydAdZ7Tivl-eHHrNhX4cg
So, with social distancing giving us some unexpected time, Dan and I have reunited (and it feels so good) and have now decided to do two blog posts collabs together.
This one is our Top 10 (5 for each of us) new to us animes we have seen since our last list a few years ago. Dan used his lovely fiance Franz-chan as inspiration for his for these are animes she suggested to him. For me, I did ones that touched my heart or I would highly recommend for anime fans, new and old.
My five choices are not in any order. I love all five of these equally as much.
All the images come from Google Image Search. All credit goes to them.
Let’s get to our list:
Morgan’s New Anime Recommendation List:
#1. My Love Story:
Takeo Goda is an overly tall, strong, bulky, awkward high school guy who is best friends with the studious, calm, and most popular guy in school. Takeo wishes he could find a kind girl to love him. One day on the train, he saves a girl who was being touched by a man and it is love at first sight, for both of them. The girl, Rinko Yamato, who is tiny, sweet, and excellent at baking, struggles to get Takeo to see she is in love with HIM, not his best friend. What ensues is an adorable adventure by two people who look like polar opposites, but have the same pure hearts. Welcome to the journey that makes up the precious moments of first, true, high school romance.
What I love about this anime is…everything! Takeo is a gem! He is so loyal, brave, over the top and precisely dense. I love how he never thinks; if it’s to help someone, he will sprint head-first, no matter how dangerous. He’s a modern day hero that deserves happiness. Rinko is a peach and you root and gush over both of them so hardcore. Squealing will happen, so be prepared. Although some of the situations are over the top, you can relate to most of the topics and issues, about not feeling good enough, losing first love, the awkwardness of holding hands and kissing for the first time, innocent jealousy and being there for each other. This couple is one of my favorites of all time in any animes. It is animated colorfully and it is utter hilarious. Even my anime male students were hooting until they were crying in class! Love the love story!
#2. Orange:
It starts out as any other day in 11th grade for the shy Naho, but she receives a letter that is signed from her future self. In detail, it tells her what will happen during the day, including meeting a new student, Kakeru. The letter pleads for Naho to not invite him to join them on their walk home from school, but her and her four best friends do anyway. This one choice makes days spiral out of control. Naho has to keep the secret of the scary accurate letter to herself while living her high school life. But, deep down, only one thought is pounding in her head: “Save Kakeru.” The harder part? She’s falling in love with him.
Wow! What an intense show. Other than a little tiny bit of sci-fi that somehow seamlessly flows with this tale, this is a realistic story that hits home. One, the animation is as gorgeous of the manga that I ate up. Two, it will build up your heart, break it, and continue to do so over and over again. The characters are so charming and have real depth and growth. I felt I was watching friends suffer and I couldn’t help them; just mourn with them. And in this rare case, I wasn’t sure which of the two male leads I wanted to get with Naho. If you have ever dealt with lose, this story will affect you. It’s darkly beautiful.
#3. Violet Evergarden:
With the end of a hard war approaching, a young girl named Violet seeks to find a purpose to her life being alone. The scars of war have affected Violet, but she has promised to live in order to understand words spoken to her by someone who cared for her, “I love you.” She decides to become an Auto Memory Dolls, girls who write letters for others so their feelings can be expressed. And they will not stop doing the job until their job is a success. Violet must learn to open up to feelings during these meetings that will touch you and destroy you at the same time. In addition, her past may not be done with her yet…
First off, this is the most beautiful, stunningly animated anime I have ever seen! It takes my breath away. And the musical score is lovely too. This is an anime my husband and I watch together and it made our hearts sink each episode and twice, we balled our eyes out, these encounters leaving lasting impressions on us as well as Violet well after we finished the show. We learned with Violet, struggled with her, grew with her. Each person she met was well-formed and you felt a connection to every one of them.
#4. Golden Time:
Freshman at a law college, Banri is totally lost on his first day. Luckily, he meets another male student, Mitsuo, and they hit it off. After some a day of fun, randomly on the street, a beautiful, stylish, and whirlwind of a girl who is acting like Mitsuo’s girlfriend comes up and smacks him across the face with roses! She is his self-proclaimed true love and followed him to his law school after he tried to escape her advances. And now Banri is mixed up in this love mess. But things get more involved than Banri thinks for two reasons: one, he starts to fall in love with Mitsuo’s ‘girl,’ Kaga. And two, Banri came to start his life over after an accident on a bridge after his high school graduation made him lose his memory of everything. But, if it’s possible for something to trigger his past to return, what will that mean for the future he wants?
I thought this show would be an adorable, zany romcom, and in some places, it had me in tears on the floor from laughter (when Banri pretends to be gay to get a crazy girl off Mitsuo’s back is, well, golden!), but I also tried from the raw emotion of this. The purity of finding new love and how Banri struggles with his memory loss really hit my husband and I hard. It’s gorgeously done and the voice cast is priceless (my favorite singer, Yui Horie, is the voice of Kaga herself and she stole the show). I hope the English version that is coming out soon will be done as well. This anime will capture your soul and leave you at the edge of your seat each episode with every emotion under the golden sun.
FUN FACT: DAN AND I BOTH PUT THIS ONE ON OUR TOP #5 LIST! SO, YOU KNOW IT MUST BE GOOD! =D
#5. School Babysitters:
After the sudden death of their parents, two young brothers named Ryūichi Kashima (a freshman in high school) and his younger brother Kotarō (a toddler) are left orphaned and having no place to call home. The chairwoman of the prestigious Morinomiya Academy offers to take the boys into her care, giving them a new house and free tuition, on the condition that Ryuichi helps out with the school’s daycare center while also attending normal classes during school hours. What ensues are adorable antics as Ryu adjusts to his new home, Kotaro and the other children growing in their play, life lessons, and driving the staff nuts. Then warming their hearts soon later.
*Most of this synopsis was taken from Wikipedia, so the credit goes to them.
What is NOT to love about this show?! A tender-hearted high school boy taking care of precious 2-3-year-olds on their daily baby adventures?! YES PLEASE! This show is so simple but makes me oh so happy. The first episode did make me cry for how they had to deal with losing their parents suddenly and now a 15-year-old has to take care of his 2-year-old brother. I can’t imagine…The animation is as kawaii as heck, the stories will make you have cavities, but you can relate to the struggles of these little ones. It brings you back to the thought patterns of a child. And each character is full of such personality; you feel you are in the classroom with them. This is a perfect, pure and light-hearted fun anime for any beginner, parent, or teacher. And that ending song! It melts me in a puddle with its cute and catchy tune. Let’s baby dance!
Morgan’s Honorable Mentions:
Although these animes below are my modern anime obsessions, I didn’t put them on the main list because: 1. The first two are either revamps and/or continuations of precious anime series, both on my original top #5. 2. The bottom one is a French cartoon, but it is heavily inspired in anime. Still, for puriest, I didn’t place it at the top.
Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card:
We continue the magical and kawaii adventures of the Cardcaptor, Sakura, as she starts middle school and as the master of all the now Sakura cards. To her delight, her love Syaoran returns from his training in China to attend school with her once more. As the adorable new lovers bask in their new life, a sudden powerful new magic steals her Sakura card spirits, the shells clear. Now, Sakura is on it once more, capturing new threatening spirits of magic, Clear Cards, with Syaoran, Kero, Yue, and Tomoyo at her side, the mystery of where this new magic is coming from needing to be solved.
Starting up where the original story and manga left of, this story is perfection. Utter perfection like the main story. The kawaii factor of my favorite anime and manga couple is too much. I can’t praise this show enough in every direction and reason. I love it to pieces; it makes up my soul. It is engaging for all ages and all types of anime fans.
Bonus picture of my precious OTP in this new series! I can’t handle the cute!
Fruits Basket (2019 show):
Tohru Honda decides to live in a tent on her own after her mother dies. Little does she know that she set camp on the property of the Sohmas, where the prince of her high school, Yuki, lives with his cousin Shigure. When she is discovered and taken in by the men, their family secret is accidentally revealed: if they are ill or hugged by members of the opposite sex, they turn into animals of the Chinese zodiac. As kind-hearted Tohru meets more and more of the Sohma family, she feels their deep pain and see their curse runs much deeper than just the animal transformation.
This story follows the original manga closely and is as breathtaking and charming with life lessons and feels as the original, but still has the iconic comedy and memorable characters that make it such a treasure. The animation is lovely (although not perfect) and they have done the story justice. Season 2 will cover where the first anime series stopped, continuing the manga and I cannot wait! So much drama to come!
Miraculous Ladybug:
Marinette is a clumsy high school girl who is talented at fashion. But she has a double life: she is also the superhero of Paris, Ladybug, who protects her city thanks to an ancient spirit who gives her powers, Tiki. Ladybug uses her yoyo and insane creativity to stop the akumas sent by the evil Hawk Mouth, who grants people powers who have anger in their hearts, his goal to steal all the miraculouses. Thank goodness Ladybug has her goofy, purr-fect partner, Cat Noir, to help her.
What can I say about this amazing kids show? What a story! And Derrick and I have never been so upset about a couple not getting together! Arg! But, the humor, action, twists and turns, and imagination is a rare treasure in modern shows. We bug out for the lady and her cat!
Dan Wright’s Top 5 Anime His Fiance Recommended:
And now, without further ado, the Brit with the wit, the man with the power, a talent that exceeds the stars, beloved panda lover, my pal and yours, the author Mr. Dan Wright, introducing five favorite anime he loved introduced to him by his lovely, radiant, kind fiance, Franz-chan!
Make sure to check out his bio and books after his list below.
Dan’s Anime Blog:
“First of all, I just want to say how GREAT it is to be blogging with Morgan again after so long! Thanks for having me back, Morgan!
So Morgan asked me to do a little blog and she suggested we talk about our top five anime. However, we did something similar to that not so long ago, so I suggested maybe talking about NEW anime shows we got into. And it just so happens that my Fiancée watches a LOT of anime and has introduced me to some cool shows. So I thought I talk about the five she has introduced me to that I really enjoy.
For the record, I should mention that these aren’t necessary new anime as in brand new (in fact some of these came out about 2012), just new in the sense I started watching them. I should also mention I haven’t seen EVERY episode of each series, but I really enjoy them.
So without further ado, here are five animes I’ve just gotten into, with a couple of short paragraphs as to why I think you should watch them.”
Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? AKA Familiar Myth
A really cool Fantasy Slice-of-Life that Dungeons and Dragons fan will feel right at home watching. Yes, it’s also an ecchi, but a GOOD ecchi as it actually has likeable characters that have their own interesting backstories.
Aggretsuko
“How to Adult” the anime – with a death metal singing red panda. ’nuff said.
One Punch Man
In a world somewhat overpopulated by superhero stories, One Punch Man is a great subversion. This is one of those animes you will watch and then ask yourself “Why didn’t I watch this sooner?”
Mob Psycho 100
The countdown that goes on as Mob’s power level grows adds a real sense of urgency and tension to this show; and you wonder what will happen when it reaches 100. It’s first season also has one of the best opening themes ever – which I use on my workout music playlist!
Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure
The Chuck Norris of anime! If you’re looking for a deep story, this isn’t for you – but if you’re after an over the top, action-packed tale that reveals in all it’s silliness, then you owe it to yourself to see this one.
About Dan Wright:
Born in the historic town of Canterbury, Dan has been writing since 2011. He is best known for his Fantasy series World of Draconica and Amanda Moonstone, but has started to expand to other genres – such as Horror. He is also a part time actor, ring announcer for South East Professional Wrestling and collector/painter of wargaming miniatures. Dan mostly writes for fun and tends to follow his own rules when writing stories.
Dan isn’t on social media – so please contact him at pandragonpublishing@gmail.com for any queries.