So, long story short: Gastrointestinal perforation in January, hospitalization and sick leave for 2 months total. Lost 20 pounds (yay!). Everything's fine now, I think. Let's get back to anime!

It's been a year since the I last looked at this list, and, surprisingly enough, I'm still very comfortable with my picks for 2017. A number of these shows I've rewatched for one reason or another, and my opinions about them remain unchanged, so I'm just going to post the whole thing as is. Let's go.

2017 TOP FIVE ANIME

#5 Kakegurui

The actual gambling part of the show is really dumb, but I keep going back for the kaogei. Hayami Saori is getting better and better with her performances and she just knocked it out of the park this time in her role as Jabami Jumeko. Kakegurui might not have the most engage story or endearing characters, but its unique brand of insanity made sure I was looking forward to see just what kind of ridiculous nonsense it would conjure up next.

#4 Rage of Bahamut: Virgin Soul

Cygames must be swimming in some hot mobile game money at this point, because not only did they make one Rage of Bahamut anime, they made two. Two anime based on a smartphone card game. How crazy is that? There are also two spin-off manga series. Like, who does that? Production must have had a shitload of money because Virgin Soul is a pretty, pretty anime. Art and animation quality are absolutely topnotch, and the beautiful visuals more than made up for the standard run-of-the-mill storytelling. While it's got nothing on REDLINE, for a TV anime, Virgin Soul is one of the most visually outstanding shows in recent years.

#3 Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans Season 2

I dreaded watching IBO every Sunday evening, because I was always afraid another character was gonna kick the bucket that week. And every death was a brutal gut punch to the feels. The emotions were so raw and genuine it was hard not to care about the Martian boys and root for their success. Love or hate her, Okada Mari can write some goddamned great melodrama-ass melodrama. I think my feeling toward IBO is a known quantity for those who frequent the anime thread, so I'll just say one thing: this show is worth a watch.

#2 Aho Girl

Yuuki Aoi really let herself go in this one, and, holy crap, the results are amazing. Maybe I'm a bad person for laughing at stupid bullshit, but whatever, funny stupid bullshit is still funny. Judge me all you want, I don't care.

#1 KonoSuba

What were you expecting? It's KonoSuba. KonoSuba is fucking number one. I watched two seasons of this back to back. Don't regret a second of it. Stupid bullshit is funny, so naturally you make stupid bullshit more elaborate, it gets funnier. The fuck are you still reading my bullshit for? Go watch this and have a great time.

That's it for the top five. Now for some stuff I watched and like (and didn't like so much) that didn't make it in:

OTHER ANIME STUFF OF 2017

ACCA: 13-Territory Inspection Dept.

It's great. Watch it. Normally, this kind of show would totally make my top five, but this year's been pretty rough for me and what kept my spirit afloat were the spectacles and comedies. Totally recommend ACCA to y'all, give it a go if you got the time.

Re:Creators

Some people call this a trainwreck but I don't think so. It got really ambitious but just didn't achieve. Still pretty good, though. I wish Hiroe Rei would get back to drawing Black Lagoon. Like, c'mon, dude.

ID-0

Another underachiever. Great premise and solid execution up until the last couple of weeks. This could have been something. Instead it just kinda petered out.

Interviews with Monster Girls

Super pleasant and charming. As a nichijou-kei anime Interviews with Monster Girls is pretty high up there in terms of quality. And of course they cast Hikasa Yoko as a succubus, I mean, how can you not, right?

Blue Exorcist Season 2

Real flat. The utter lack of any dramatic tension is actually pretty amazing thing to pull off. Nothing bad about this, but also nothing worth calling good.

Masamune-kun's Revenge

I don't think this show is as offensive as some people make it out to be. When it comes to perception of physical beauty and attitudes toward fat-shaming in Asia, it seems pretty spot on to me. I can see why some people would call it a gimmick, but c'mon, are we so fucking soft that it's not even okay to depict these attitude in fiction?

Onihei

This is good then it went bad kinda quickly. The stories got bad, art got bad, shit just went south. It had some moments, but not really something I'd recommend.

Tales of Zestiria the X Season 2

It was actually a tossup between this and Virgin Soul. Zestiria is also a visually beautiful show, but as someone who didn't play the game, the world building and characters felt somewhat thin. This is a problem with a lot of game to anime adaptations and Zestiria unfortunately shares the same issue.

Saga of Tanya the Evil

My biggest surprise of the year. Came in expecting detestable loli fodder, instead got a mouthful of questionable personal philosophy. Said questionable philosophy remains throughout the whole show but actually acts as a good pivot for character development. Uses a really tired premise and makes at least a somewhat engage story out of it. Tanya is a sick, gross show, but it's also a very clever show. By juxtaposing the small petty evil of Tanya against the greater evils of war, what ultimately comes out is a positive message. Not really a fan of how it says what it wants to say, but I'll concede there's some merit in giving it a go.

Attack on Titan Season 2

It's alright.

Berserk (2017)

It's alright? I guess? There's a better medium to enjoy Berserk with, but this anime is okay for what it is.

Eromanga Sensei

Ya learned your fucking lesson from last time, huh, Fushimi! It's another one of those, so y'all should know what to expect. To say I enjoyed this would be kind of a stretch, but it was fun watching people meme the shit out of this in the comments (niconico scrolling text style) in real time.

Grimoire of Zero

Cute. If you take out the more grizzly bits, this would be a pretty good kids show.

Tsugumomo

THIS WOULD NOT BE A GOOD KIDS SHOW NO MATTER WHAT YOU DID WITH IT. Holy cow, this is unabashedly straightforward with it pervy-ness. If crass humor is your thing, this would be right up your alley. I remember feeling hella awkward and letting out some nervous chuckles while watching this. Handle with care.

Hell Girl Season 4

Biggest disappointment, ever. It's gonna come eventually, right? The ending just fell off a cliff or something. There has to be more. What happened?

Knight's & Magic

Not so sure what to make of this show. On one hand, nothing noteworthy ever happens that made me go "wow", yet I had a decent time it with all the same. "Baggage-free" is maybe a good way to describe K&M.

And finally, some stuff that's still airing but coming to a close soon:

Fate/Apocrypha

This is my "Please Stop!" of the year. Like, seriously. I know FGO made lot of money, but that doesn't mean every Fate thing is worth making an anime of. F/A is awful. Bleh. Guess what, more Fate is coming next season. OH MY GOD.

Edit from 2018: Guess what, the new FATE isn't good either!

Welcome to the Ballroom

I originally anticipated for Ballroom to make it into my top five. Well, it doesn't. There are some very good reasons why this show failed to shine, but, despite what you might have read on ANN or elsewhere, sexism is definitely not one of them. At some point I would like to write something about Ballroom, because it really is fascinating, even the ways in which it fails. For now, I'll just say this is one of IG's most disappointing products, and a prime example of why some things are better left without a TV adaptation.

Edit from 2018: I think I lost the thing I wrote on Ballroom. I can't find it. Probably did something stupid like saving it in a temp folder or something. SUCKS.

Blood Blockade Battlefront & Beyond

BBB&B. That's a lot of Bs. Shouldn't be surprised that at most it earns a grade of B.

And we're done! Back to 2018.