Top Twenty Anime of 2021
If there’s one word to describe the best anime released in 2021, it's ambition . I think that’s important because modern anime tends to be homogenous and insular. If production committees aren't releasing as many isekai adaptations as possible, they're often greenlighting quick genre ripoffs to cash in on the latest trends or churning out rushed sequels to proven properties. It’s not so different from what happens in other mediums, but anime has a weird specificity to its mass-produced power fantasies, idol show knockoffs, and gacha-game tie-ins. But 2021 felt different. To be more specific, 2021’s top shelf contained the most jaw-dropping assortment of shows I've seen since I started watching anime seasonally. I’d seen enough great shows by halfway through the year that I’d already filled a top-ten list—and then they just kept coming . There were amazing shows of every stripe: impassioned war stories, Lynchian arthouse dramas, emotive slices-of-life, muted romance...