A bunch of ladies stand around and talk and stuff because they all want to be the one to marry a prince. Also there are supernatural creatures who can transform from human to crow (or raven, depending on the translation).
Yoo Hobin is a scrawny high school student who’s constantly being bullied and taken advantage of by his brawnier and more popular classmates, who have a habit of using him to rake in easy money for their YouTube NewTube videos. However, when Hobin finally snaps one day and fights back, accidentally going viral online in the process, he realizes there’s a wealth of untapped potential in his newfound fame. Now that he has a way of bringing down bullies while paying his mother’s hospital bills, Hobin is determined to transform both his life and his bank account, teaming up with a former aggressor to take on the streaming world – and possibly even win the girl of his dreams.
In a society where people and youkai peacefully coexist, a 20-year-old housecat named Buchio living in the Japanese countryside is reborn as a nekomata, much to the delight of his human family. Now, Buchio sets out of a journey of self-discovery, aided by his fellow youkai neighbors. Meanwhile, one of his human family members, a girl called Mutsumi, has recently lost her father, likely to a mysterious force known as The Void. Now, her growing curiosity about her youkai friends tangles with grief over a missing family member, while the looming threat of The Void casts a palpable shadow over her otherwise quiet small-town life.
Orphaned as a young child and shuttled between indifferent relatives, Mito Yamamoto, a girl disguising herself as a boy for Reasons (?), is now a teenager with no family, no home, and no job. When she is saved one night by Ruka Saotome, a vampire in need of a thrall, Mito readily agrees and begins her new life living with him in Hijirigaoka Boys’ Academy dormitory. However, when she discovers that Ruka cannot drink from girls and was therefore seeking a male companion, Mito seemingly has no choice but to keep her true identity a secret.
High school student Shintaro Tokumitsu lives alone, studying and working by day and living a lonely existence at home at night. However, his life changes when one morning, he wakes up to find a girl fast asleep on his apartment balcony – and when he discovers that Towa is a literal angel sent by God to study mankind (and repay Shintaro’s kindness by bringing happiness into his life), things will clearly never be the same.
A young woman named Guideau, once cursed by a witch, now journeys across the land in search of a cure – and hungry for vengeance. She is accompanied by Ashaf, a mage with a coffin strapped to his back, whose job seemingly entails uncovering the cause of harmful magical events and putting an end to those who use witchcraft for their own violent ends.
In this life, Aoi Takamoto is a world-class surgeon with near-supernatural abilities to save lives, selflessly transforming the world of those around her in need of medical care. In a past life, she was an eeevil woman named Elise who caused only suffering, leading to her eventual execution by the very man she loved. After a fatal plane crash, Aoi/Elise once again finds herself in that world and in her former body but with all her memories intact, making her determined to make up for past mistakes and avoid catastrophe.
After the death of her parents, Himari Momochi has inherited a supposedly abandoned and haunted mansion called Momochi House. However, upon arriving at her new property, she finds what she assumes to be three male squatters – Aoi Nanamori, Ise, and Yukari. Soon discovering that these are in fact yokai, Himari refuses to leave despite their warnings, choosing to remain despite the dangerous other supernatural forces residing nearby.
I know it seems like people probably say this every year, but 2023 has not been a stellar year for anime. I had one or two favorites, but even the majority of anime I liked overall had some pretty serious caveats attached, particularly when it came to later or finale episodes (see: Heavenly Delusion, Oshi…
Kentarou Momose is a 26-year-old office worker whose former boss harassed him to the point where the constant stress made him develop stomach ulcers. Having just switched jobs, he fears the same problem happening all over again but is pleasantly surprised when his new supervisor, Yuusei Shirosaki, turns out to be an extremely considerate person. However, despite being highly competent at his job and often outwardly expressionless, Shirosaki is also inherently klutzy and airheaded.
Four male siblings whose parents passed away two years ago – Hayato, Mikoto, Minato, and Gakuto – live together in relative harmony as they each navigate overlapping worlds of work, school, and relationships, both with one another and their local community. That’s… about it.
At 5 years old, Isaku Senagaki became an orphan when her parents died in a car accident. Taken in by her grandfather, a yakuza boss, Isaku has been watched over nearly her entire life by Keiya Utou, the family’s loyal servant and her steadfast guardian. Now a high school student who longs for a normal life, far from the yakuza hijinks of what she’s used to at home, Isaku is ready to finally make some friends and maybe even find love. She’s therefore aghast when, with the permission of her grandfather, the 26-year-old Keiya bribes his way into the school to pose as a student and continue to protect Isaku from any perceived threat.
Akira Tendou, a 24-year-old office worker, finds himself living a life devoid of all meaning or enjoyment when he gets stuck in an exploitative company, often working for days on end for a bullying boss without proper food or sleep. However, everything changes when he gets up to work one morning and finds himself in the midst of a sudden zombie apocalypse. Now fighting for survival, Akira is not fearful but elated at the thought of finally being free from his job and the corporate world, and he is determined to live out the rest of his life, no matter how long it may be, with absolutely zero regrets.
Ever since her mother’s death, Miyo Saimori has lived like a servant in her own home, disregarded by her father and treated cruelly by her stepmother and stepsister. Years of neglect and drudgery have turned Miyo into a passive, downtrodden young woman with little hope for the future, although she remains kindhearted and grateful for the smallest pieces of happiness in life. When she is maliciously arranged to marry a military commander named Kiyoka Kudou, so famed for his coldness that every one of his previous fiancées have fled, Miyo fears the worst – but is there more to her new husband-to-be than meets the eye?
Ichirou Kuga is a struggling manga artist who must balance his professional life with taking care of his two young siblings – no easy task when reliable assistants are so hard to come by. With looming deadlines threatening to overwhelm him, Kuga is thrilled when a beautiful young woman named Shiori Goshiki applies for the assistant position and turns out to be extremely talented. However, there’s far more to Goshiki than meets the eye, and Kuga’s life is transformed when he discovers that she’s no human but an alien princess… to whom he’s apparently just become engaged.
Salaryman Tetsuo Tosu fears for his daughter Reika’s life after finding out that she is being beaten up by her boyfriend – a gangster named Matori Nobuto who extorts money from young women and their families. After being beaten up himself by Nobuto and his gang, Tetsuo kills him in a fit of rage and is now faced with the consequences, including disposing of the body and working with his wife to protect both themselves and their daughter from further harm when people start questioning Nobuto’s sudden disappearance.
Hyouma Kunato is heir to the Saenome clan, which is responsible for sending tsukumogami – spirits that can possess physical objects and thus gain physical form – safely back to their own world before harm occurs to either them or any hapless civilians who happen to be caught in the middle. However, due to a traumatic childhood event, Hyouma hates tsukumogami and always responds with violence, regardless of the circumstances. In order to help him resolve this issue, Hyouma’s grandfather sends him to live with Botan Nagatsuki, a girl who lives alongside six tsukumogami and views them as family.
Kazuki Kurusu and Rei Suwa are assassins who live and work together, a deadly combo despite being polar opposites in personality. However, their lives take a sudden turn when, while working a job on Christmas Eve, they unexpectedly cross paths with a young girl named Miri who is searching for her father – who just so happens to be connected to the mob boss they’re contracted to kill.
Newly-minted office worker Himuro may look human, but he’s actually a descendant of a Yuki-onna, or snow woman, which means he inadvertently produces snow or ice whenever he gets especially fired up or emotional. Meanwhile, his human colleague, Fuyutsuki, is an outwardly stoic young woman who is nonetheless very kind and sensitive to others’ needs. When the two meet on their first day, sparks soon fly, leading to a variety of somewhat unusual situations.
Realistically, not every series can be a gem, and not every series even strives to be. So, here’s a toast to the little guys – those anime that aren’t great but also aren’t terrible, the shows that got people through seasons full of outright shite, the titles that helped fill in the blanks and got a “well, that was at least okay” seal of approval in return.
The Glorio Blog 