re:TYE Re: - The Monthly Q&A! - December 2023 (Patreon)

It's our last Q&A of the year! We hope everyone has enjoyed these little segments!

We've had some good feedback on the Q&A so let us know if you have any other questions for us to answer or if you'd like to see us do anything different in 2024! We love hearing your ideas~

We thought we'd end the year on a controversial question. Obviously one to reveal our spicy and mild anime takes!

"From the My Anime List (MAL) Top 50 Most Popular Anime category (as of December 2023), choose three anime you think don’t belong there/should be ranked lower and choose three anime you think should be rated higher than their current rank. Bonus: name an anime you think should be there in the Top 50 that isn't currently listed"

Please enjoy this incredibly long answer from all of us and please roast our weird takes LOL

Disclaimer: these are our opinions and we apologise if we end up roasting any of your fav anime LOL

Jefferz:

Oh boy Spiral has a spicy question of the month-

Don’t Belong There:

I acknowledge I do not have the most mainstream taste in shows and while there’s a number of anime on this list that I personally do not care for, I can still acknowledge them either for how iconic or memorable they are (i.e. Mob Psycho), their lasting significance to anime culture (i.e. Sword Art Online basically kick-started the entire isekai trend), or a standout element in their show (i.e. I find Kimetsu no Yaiba to be generic and boring from a writing standpoint, but you cannot deny Ufotable’s stunning animation).

So where does that leave us? With these three shows that do not hit any of the three criteria above:

One Punch Man:
Let’s start this list with a heavy-hitter and a literal punch- sorry was too tempting. While I could hear an argument for One Punch man being ranked lower on this list, there is no way it should be ranked #4 out of the top 50. The show has essentially a single punchline and it runs with it for 12 eps doing little to distinguish itself. Now don’t get me wrong I did think One Punch was a fun if brainless watch, but in my opinion it lacks the quality and star power of all the other shows on this list. Admittedly I have not seen S2 so perhaps the franchise gets stronger the longer it runs (hopefully at least in writing bc Madhouse > J.C.Staff is quite a visual downgrade) but if you compare One Punch Man to any other shounen or comedy anime that’s been green-lit for 3 or more seasons, it doesn’t hold up.

Tokyo Ghoul √A:
Ain’t this a shocker considering one my most well-known lyrical works for TYER/re:TYE was Kisetsu wa Tsugitsugi Shindeiku which I’ve mentioned before writing having never seen the anime. Unfortunately when I actually sat down and watched it, I was disappointed to say the least. I actually really enjoyed the first season of Tokyo Ghoul as darker psychological thriller shows are right up my alley and while the visuals showed the lack of budget often, I still thought it was a worthwhile watch and deserves it’s place on the top 50 list (Unravel is just iconic and most anime fans can at least identify Kaneki even if they haven’t seen the anime).

However the 2nd season I thought was an utter trainwreck. I can’t remember if it was the director or writer on the production committee, but somebody up there made the conscious decision to deviate from the source material and add more action and angst. Action is basically the only thing it has going for it (still with a lacking budget mind you) because the plot is nonsensical and characters do a complete 180 in personality and actions from S1. There’s so little of Kaneki in S2 and so many poor decisions were made, it really felt like the production staff had no familiarity with the source material, tossed the book out the window and proceeded to write an action-filled fanfic instead. SPOILER ALERT: They seemingly killed Hide and then were like “oops we need him in future season’s material” and had to resurrect him, great job with that √A best boi didn’t deserve that treatment.  Case and point it’s really bad. Yes it barely cracks the top50 list at #47 but it’s appalling it’s even included at all.

No Game No Life:
Let’s close this out with bang. This is another anime that I generally liked but question why it’s on this list. At the time it aired No Game No Life was a fascinating brand of isekai that focused on game strategy and witty-ness instead of either action adventure or fantasy rom-com. You never knew quite what was coming and often would bend its own rules in innovative ways. However nearly a decade later I don’t think No Game No Life has aged as well as many other titles on this list. For one, the sort of kind of not really stepsiblings incest trope that was more common for the time has not aged well outside of the most otaku anime circles and beyond that, today there’s not a lot else to define the show. In my opinion recent titles like Kakegurui have done game design and strategy better. There are far better world building titles like Overlord and endless other isekais to pick from. Closing out, No Game No Life’s influence on anime culture hasn’t stuck. Shiro is probably the most iconic character from the show but ask any young anime fans who she is and I doubt you’ll get the right answer. Compare that to nearly every other title on this top 50 list, I believe No Game No Life had its moment to shine and now is forgotten in a flooded genre.

Phew after a lot of negative criticism (but hopefully understandable and well-backed), let’s do some hyping up with shows that should be ranked higher!

Death Parade:
I’m frankly surprised to see it even make the top 50 considering it was an under the radar show when it aired and the genre/plot is anything but accessible and mass-appealing (I suspect the OP song Flyers is what secured its spot). Nonetheless, I loved how Death Parade carved out a distinctive niche within the darker genres with a concept and plot that nothing has really touched on since.  Besides the overall show’s themes, this anime has very strong standalone anthology episodes that greatly vary in tone. The opening ep pairs off two people that essentially almost kill each other to keep themselves alive which is followed by a love story episode of two young adults rediscovering who they were and what each other means to one another. For a dark show, it has an awful lot of heart that you wouldn’t expect at first glance.

Violet Evergarden:
This was going to be surefire pick for the bonus question if this didn’t make the list, #49 what? Admittedly I think people’s preconceptions to what the show would be like was the biggest hurdle to overcome as when you hear about it being an emotional show, most people imagine either a tragic anime girl like Visual Key’s style or a youth love story cut short like Your Lie In April. Violet Evergarden is emotional but not outright sad. When I say it’s emotional, I mean it’s emotional across the board. It covers romance of course but a lot on loss and grief, regret, losing one’s self, writing your own destiny, I could go on. It’s a quiet and poignant show that takes its time as both the main character and watcher ponders about what it means to be human. In my opinion Violet Evergarden is probably one of the top5 best written anime series on this list but it takes patience and maturity to fully appreciate it (I would go as far to say this is a show geared for adults only). And that’s not even including how stunning the visuals are, Kyoto Animation really outdid themselves even by their own extremely high standards. People will often look to Ufotable for their crazy action sequences or Mappa’s intense angles and complex animation. But with Violet Evergarden, every frame is beautiful to look at particularly with the art design, scenery and lighting. The clothes, the ruffles, the hair style, the details on her umbrella, I could go on. Someone stop me, just watch it.

Bleach:
Admittedly I’m not as into shounen as I once was when I was teenager but I’m kind of surprised to see this one so low. Growing up Bleach was considered one of the big name long-running shounen series in the same vein as Naruto, One Piece, and Full Metal Alchemist. When I used to watch them, I honestly used to think Bleach was a better written show at the time (I now acknowledge that despite not being a Naruto fan, the characters are what really sell the show vs the plot). The concept behind Bleach was quite unique for the time and it had pretty good action considering how old it was (apart from the constant filler eps full of long panning shots found in every long-running shounen series). I’m kind of surprised it hasn’t held on to its reverence as much as its siblings in the early 2000’s, but I’m just showing my age-

Honorable Mentions: Noragami, Blue Exorcist, Assassination Classroom (I skipped this bc guarantee Spiral will probably pick it)

Bonus (Shows that should be Included:
I had a toss-up between Psycho-pass, Ano Hana and Full Metal Panic. While I believe Odd Taxi deserves a spot, I know that it’s too niche to be ranked by the masses so I believe these three have enough mainstream appeal to be potentially ranked. Ultimately I think I’m going to go with Full Metal Panic just because of how well it’s held out for it’s age compared to the other two being far more recent (though even those are 10+ years old). Psycho-pass suffered from quality control (looking at you Tow Ubukata for royally butchering S2 onward, Gen Urobuchi he decidedly is not) and while Ano Hana is excellent, it never got the mainstream popularity that other shows on this list have. Hence I’ll go with Full Metal Panic which was not only very popular in the 90’s and 2000’s, but it’s legitimately still quite funny and has great animation (particularly Fumoffu and Second Raid when Kyoto Animation was enlisted). I also like that Kaname was not a useless spineless damsel in distress heroine all too common back then and even in modern anime today, FMP was ahead of its time.

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愛梨

Man, I am going to have people coming for me with this question. Unlike Jefferz, who took a very logical and methodical approach to his answer, mine is basically just my pure opinion. I will preface this with a disclaimer - I prefer manga and will really like the source material, but often find myself disappointed with the anime adaptation. With that said, three anime I don't think belong on the the top 50 list are:

Kimi no na wa. (Your name) - Okay, okay, I know people are going to COME for me for this one - but I honestly don't think it was that great of a movie. I'm sorry.  I don't know if it's because I watched it after everyone hyped it up, but it fell flat for me overall. Don't get me wrong - the art and animation is absolutely gorgeous, but as far as the actual story goes, I don't think it was that impressive. Although, to be fair, I find that most Japanese films in general tend to fall flat in terms of building up to a climax and final conclusion, so it's not just limited to Kimi no na wa.

Kimetsu no Yaiba - I've tried really hard to like this - but I couldn't get over the yellow character because his personality was so grating that it made watching each episode a chore. Sorry. I also think that in general the plot wasn't that interesting. The art is absolutely gorgeous though!

One Punch Man - I will preface this with the fact that I enjoyed One Punch Man because it was dumb humor, but I don't think it deserves to be this high on the list? I'm a little shocked, to be honest. Granted I do think the manga is a lot better, but even then top 50 is a bit of a stretch.

Bonus - Akami ga Kill: Actually though, why? This one makes absolutely no sense to me.

With that, we're onto anime I think should be higher ranked than they are, which include the following:

Tokyo Revengers - I really liked the anime adaptation for this - I think it was well done and was well-paced overall and am surprised it's not higher on the list.

Boku dake ga Inai Machi - This is a crime that it's not higher - I'm glad it's still in the top 50 but I think this show was done so well that it deserves to be higher on the list.

Horimiya - I am biased, but Horimiya is one of my absolute favorite manga and the anime adaptation is also really well done, so why is it not higher on the list? I think even men can enjoy this show because the character growth and how relatable they are is so well done.

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Spiral

Hello, it is Spiral here! I decided to submit the last question of the year and I’m ending the year on a controversial question because we usually end the year with fireworks so why not LOL

Jefferz and Airi answered this question before me and their answers are straight up fire - oh the burn ward must be busy tonight...

MAL also separates things by season so BokuAca’s multiple seasons show up a lot through the top 50 which is…a choice much like that whole arc with Gentle Criminal.

Anyways here are the shows I think should be lower ranked than they currently are:

• No Game no Life @ 17th - I must be missing something because maybe the whole genre of genius kids playing games i a bit lost on me. I feel like I prefer my game show type big stake anime to be more Kaiji I guess. The music slaps though.
• Your Lie in April @ 24th - this may seem shocking as I have created a whole collection album dedicated to this show…but it’s a little too high imo. I think it has a really great first half and then the pacing goes a little everywhere in the second half (but I can't deny that the finale is emotional and fitting). I also feel that it suffers from a frustratingly forced love triangle too. I think Chihayafuru and March comes in like a lion are shows that have a better balance and deserve that higher spot.
• Why is Akame ga Kill here at all? I’m sorry if this is your fav anime, but I think if these kind of edgey style anime are your thing then there are better ones out there nowadays LOL just look at Anos Voldigoad-- 

Shows I think should be ranked higher:

• VIOLET EVERGARDEN BEING RANKED 49TH IS A CRIME - I think the episodic nature of Violet Evergarden might not be for everyone, but I personally super love that and the animation is just a feast for the eyes. I also think that maybe some people won't vibe with Violet as a character but I think it's nice to see her growth through the series. 
• DEATH PARADE AT 48TH WHAT ~ Okay I'm a really big fan of Death Parade and again maybe this just shows that I kind of like these kinds of anthology type shows with like a really loose over arcing plot. I think it deserves more love, it's a fun little show and I think it has some unresolved plot points but I really like it...I also really like Jigoku Shoujo so maybe this show just helps me get over that empty void. ALSO WATCH DEATH BILLIARDS  IT'S REALLY GOOD TOO
• I’m biased because I love Jujutsu Kaisen…HIGHER. I’m bold enough to hope that one day it’ll be a modern classic just like how I believed in AoT LOL
• Okay I really love Mob Psycho and it is also a crime it is only @ 31 - Mob’s whole story is perfection and I think it is a great trilogy!
• Me being selfish: HAIKYUU AND ASSCLASS DESERVE TO BE HIGHER PLEASE LOL

Shows that should I think should be there/more popular:

• WHERE IS KAGUYA-SAMA???? - I think Akasaka is great and Kaguya is a testament to the clever writing style he has. I love the little foreshadowing throughout the anime and I think all the characters are just timeless classics. I really love Kaguya-sama love is war and even if you're not a big romance/shoujo watcher, I think it has something for everyone to enjoy even if it is just watching Chika be a chaotic gremlin.
• Pluto or Monster deserve to be somewhere in there too - A CRIME TO NAOKI URUSAWA. Pluto is still fairly new so it;s fine but Monster is so good and just a great little thriller/mystery. It deserves some love!
• Selfishly, I wish that Kobayashi's Dragon Maid was on here and I would hope that Frieren gets a spot here eventually!

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Hope you all have a great holiday season and that you enjoyed reading all our bad anime takes LOL

Let us know how you'd answer this one and let us know if you want us to keep going with the Q&A in 2024! If you want to see us try anything new/cover any of your fav songs in 2024 then let us know too!

See you all next time!