Over the past 365 days I have given you my recommendations for the anime you should be watching in the
winter, spring, summer, and fall and followed that up with dozens of reviews. So now, as the year comes to a close, it’s time to take one more look at them all to find the five best anime series of 2014.
1) The series must have finished its run in 2014. This means that still airing shows like Parasyte are not eligible, but 26-episode anime that started in fall 2013 are. Moreover, anime with split seasons where the second half has not yet aired—e.g., Aldnoah.Zero—must also wait till next year for consideration.
2) Movies, TV specials, and OVAs don’t count. (Movies will get their own little section below.)
https://lastchance.cc/aldnoah-zero-is-a-dark-twist-on-gundam-1654366568%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
So without further ado, here are the five best anime of 2014 in no particular order.
Kill la Kill
“Over-the-top” is the only way to truly describe
Kill la Kill with any brevity. If you take a “hero-bent-on-revenge” action flick, add in a helping of scantily-clad, sword-fighting magical school girls, and then dial everything up to 11, you might just have an inkling about the nature of this anime. Set in a society built around a fascist high school, it follows a teenage girl fighting her way to the top of the school to defeat the school president and learn the identity of the person who killed her father.
With an army of students wearing superpower-granting school uniforms to fight through, to say this is a series full of action is an understatement—and amazingly the quality of the animation is completely up to the task. Beyond the action and animation, there is also a ton of excellent comedy in the form of everything from sight gags and slapstick to sexual humor and clever puns. And if you look beyond the surface, Kill la Kill is also a metaphor for going through puberty and growing up—just one presented in the most over-the-top way possible. All in all, it is an excellent anime, the likes of which we are not likely to see again any time soon.
Watch on: Crunchyroll, Hulu, Netflix, Wakanim (UK)
No Game No Life
We’ve all seen or read some work of fiction where a character is pulled into a fantasy world and then proceeds to save that world—all while frantically trying to return to his or her home world.
No Game No Life is a fun twist on that formula. This anime follows a brother and sister whisked away to a world where all conflict is resolved through games—and as hardcore, shut-in gamers, the pair enjoy this new world immensely and have no desire to return to ours. Moreover, they’re not really out to save the world as much as conquer it—thus proving they are the best gamers in both worlds.
https://lastchance.cc/no-game-no-life-is-a-must-watch-for-any-gamer-1596865091%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Psycho Pass 2
In a world where the mental state of the populous is constantly scanned automatically by an omnipresent system, it is the police’s job to arrest or kill the mentally unstable whether they have committed a crime or not. But when a murderer who cannot be scanned by the system appears, it falls to the one detective willing to think outside the system to stop him.
Barakamon
Barakamon follows a young calligrapher who, after punching an aged gallery owner for negatively reviewing his work, enters a pseudo-self-exile on a rural island far from Tokyo. There he meets precocious first grade girl Naru and, through her childhood wisdom and her utter joy at life on the island, begins to develop his art in new and creative ways he would have once thought impossible.
Watch on:
Funimation, Hulu, Crunchyroll (various countries outside the US)
Sword Art Online II
Over its 24-episode run,
Sword Art Online II tells three distinct stories from three different genres. First is a cyberpunk murder mystery, where an unknown player is shooting people in a VR game and apparently killing them in real life. The second is a fun fantasy adventure where the cast comes together in a true ensemble fashion to play a VR online game without any real world stakes. The final story is one of growing up, finding your place in the real world, and dealing with life’s inevitable tragedies
Watch on:
Crunchyroll, Daisuki, Hulu
Bonus List: Five Best Anime Movies of 2014
If you are more interested in anime feature films, here are
Kotaku’s picks for the best five to hit theaters this year. (Click the links for the full reviews.)
THE iDOLM@STER MOVIE:Kagayaki no Mukouhe
Persona 3 The Movie: Chapter 2, Midsummer Knight’s Dream
Bonus List #2: Five Anime That Should Have Been Recommended
Midway through each anime season, I recommend five anime that are worth watching. Of course, sometimes great anime slip beneath my radar or don’t become truly great until their second halves. So while these anime didn’t make their season’s list for one of the reasons above, they probably should have.
Monthly Girl’s Nozaki-Kun:
When a high school girl confesses her love to the boy she likes, he misunderstands her, thinking she has discovered his secret: that he is actually a famous romance manga author. Thus, he invites her to be his assistant and together they attempt to discover what exactly makes romantic situations “romantic”—often with hilarious results.
Watch on:
Crunchyroll, Hulu
https://lastchance.cc/who-knew-young-girls-playing-cards-could-be-so-dark-1623685561%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Well, there you have it: the best anime series and films of 2014 as well as a few anime series that are finally getting their well-deserved recommendations. To vote for the best anime of the year, head over to Talk Amongst Yourself: Ani-TAY and click on your favorite in our 2014 anime poll
https://tay.kinja.com/poll-the-best-anime-of-2014-1675941415
For all of our Kotaku anime reviews, click here
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