Top 10 Anime of 2015 (Lights, Camera, Action! Special) Page 1

Top 10 Anime of 2015 (Lights, Camera, Action! Special)

Top 10 Anime of 2015

2015 was filled with so many noteworthy anime that it's hard to keep up with them all. Whenever there is a year like this, it's easy to miss something special. Here are ten from last year that are definitely worth giving a watch.

10.) Your Lie in April

What initially seems to be a simple slice of life musical anime becomes something profoundly beautiful and moving. A young boy and piano prodigy, named Kousei, loses his ability with music when he loses his mother, finding his connection to the piano he once loved has now become a source of painful memories. His melancholy days are thrown into upheaval when a fellow music prodigy joins his school - her name is Kaori and she seems to be his opposite. While he played his pieces with a precise and almost mechanical perfection, Kaori plays with passion and heart. The story sees Kaori drag Kousei back to the music he loved and changes his life completely.
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9.) Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? / Danmachi

A real surprise sleeper hit of 2015, this light novel adaptation seemed to be a typical comedy harem series but actually turned out to be a solid and well-rounded story that was filled with winks and nods to the MMO players in the audience. The story acts like it's within an MMO without explicitly stating it, with dungeons filled with mobs and bosses to advance to further floors while adventurers ally themselves to factions of gods and level up along the way. While most of these gods have numerous followers, this story follows the Goddess Hestia and her single lowly follower Bell Cranel as he works his way up through the ranks, gaining a harem along the way.

8.) Food Wars: Shokugeki no Soma

Shonen series have covered just about every sport out there, and now it's time for cooking! This series takes places in a super elite cookery school where an upstart chef from a hole in the wall family restaurant takes on the best cooks from around the world in various cooking challenges. This series also manages that fine balancing act of combining ecchi comedy with a shounen story, without being too excessively lewd - something many anime try and fail at doing. There are regular genuinely laugh-out-loud moments, some great characters, and art that is mouth-wateringly appetising, managing to make the dishes look absolutely delicious and set stomachs rumbling.
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7.) Kekkai Sensen

This latest work from Trigun scribe Yasuhiro Nightow manages to craft his most fantastical world yet, combining the supernatural, the Lovecraftian, and the strangely surreal. When a portal suddenly opens in modern day New York, its residents find themselves living alongside all manner of otherworldly beings. The protagonist, Leonardo Watch, is gifted with the all-seeing eyes of God, an ability to see the truth behind everything, and swiftly finds himself allied with a shadowy organisation that works behind the scenes to maintain peace in a city of chaos. This series is filled with Nightow's signature superb characters - with great designs that are absolutely stuffed with style and substance - combined with some wonderful storytelling both in 'monster of the week' style stories and the overarching plot of the season.

6.) Sound! Euphonium

Kyoani has finally made a new contender for the crown that has sat upon K-On! for the last five years. This 'Slice of Life' drama, based around the lives of a high school music club, is pitch-perfect when it comes to the production. Everything is simply remarkable about this series, with absolutely gorgeous art and animations, fantastically well-developed characters, and truly engaging stories.
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5.) Death Parade

Such a terrific and original premise: a place between this life and the next, within which a soul is judged and their final destination of either reincarnation or the void is decided. Decided how? Why, via pub games, of course! Billiards, darts, air hockey, and more. It's not as simple as the winner being reincarnated and the loser being sent to the void, however. The bartender, Decim, judges them based on their actions, their life, and their inner truth. This is a series that deals with some dark subject matter but still manages to see the best in people, examining the human condition and the nature of life and death.

4.) Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders Egypt Arc

Another series that was one of the highlights in 2014 and wrapped up in 2015. The fabulously insane battle of manly men busting into dynamic and outlandish poses before beating each other to a pulp is a cult hit with good reason. This arc is widely regarded as the best the many series have to offer, with some fantastic battles and amazing original characters.

3.) Shirobako

While Bakuman introduced an audience into the truth of the production of manga, Shirobako covers every element involved in the production of an anime. Following the lives of five girls who formed an anime production club in high school, this series shows how their lives and careers have progressed, and how a simple dream is quite different from the reality. Shirobako is clearly made by people who have a real passion for their industry, and it shows. Their heart really shines through in the quality of the production and in the story told here.
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2.) Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works Part 2

After UFOTable's Fate/Zero was such a hit, its take on the original Fate/Stay Night story was easily one of the most dynamic and best looking series of 2014, and this conclusion to the series certainly lived up to what came before. With spectacular production values and talent behind the scenes, this finale put out some of the most magnificent looking action scenes of the year.

1.) One Punch Man

On the surface, One Punch Man seems something of a One Note joke. A superhero who can instantly win any fight with a single punch… but this is a joke with layers. The superb deconstruction of superheroes and battle manga tropes is filled with some of the best art and animation of the year, along with some truly hilarious moments.

Read the full review here.

With such a wide and diverse range of anime in 2015, there were far more than just ten worth watching, but what were your favourites? Do you agree or disagree with this Top 10? Let us know in the comments below!