Highlights
- Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 stole the spotlight in 2023 with a chaotic, anticipated storyline worthy of recognition.
- Vinland Saga Season 2 showcased a masterpiece of character drama, impressing fans and critics alike with its storytelling.
- BanG Dream! It’s MyGO!!!!! earned its place at the top with a mature take on teenage band drama and multidimensional characters.
Now that the glitz and glamour of the Oscars is done, the climax of the awards season has passed and so begins the quick descent into venomous discourse over who/what should have won. Anime is no different, but rather than contribute any more hot takes, perhaps it would be easier to reflect on what everyone else says was the best anime of 2023.
On March 2, Crunchyroll held the 8th Annual Anime Awards, live from Tokyo, Japan, but they weren’t the only ones celebrating the year with such pomp and circumstance. There were other ceremonies with fan and jury voting alike, in addition to other publications sharing their top picks among their staff, from which the following emerged as the most notable works.
Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2
|
Studio |
MAPPA |
|
Director |
Shota Goshozono |
|
Premiere Date |
7/6/2023 |
|
Where to Watch |
Crunchyroll |
|
AOTY Award(s) |
Crunchyroll Anime Awards |
This shouldn’t have come as a surprise to anyone. Shota Goshozono wasn’t the first to direct Jujutsu Kaisen, but he quickly proved that he was the perfect person to take over. Hidden Inventory was a short and masterfully done arc, but it was just an appetizer to the Shibuya Incident – the most chaotic, vigorously anticipated, and passionately discussed anime arc in years.
Of course, there were hardships. Season 2 was not merely a revelation as a work of art, but a call for awareness of the working conditions at Studio MAPPA, at a level seldom seen before. 2023 was a year in which appreciating the majesty of animation was constantly tempered by a concern for the health of its workers. It’s a conversation far from over, and which will likely only become more heated going forward.
As such, there was a lot more to unpack with Season 2 than what was on the screen. Some even questioned whether it should be nominated in the first place as per Crunchyroll’s rules of eligibility. Even so, Jujutsu Kaisen was a monumental presence in 2023 deserving of recognition. Through an iconic soundtrack, heartbreaking performances, and exceptional artistry in both character acting and action spectacle, it was truly something special.
Vinland Saga Season 2
|
Studio |
MAPPA |
|
Director |
Shuhei Yabuta |
|
Premiere Date |
1/9/2023 |
|
Where to Watch |
Crunchyroll, Netflix |
|
AOTY Award(s) |
IGN, /r/anime Awards (Public Winner), Game Rant |
Leave it to MAPPA to compete with MAPPA for the top spot of the year. Vinland Saga Season 2 was quite a departure from what came before, both in a production and narrative capacity. Like Attack on Titan before it, Vinland Saga saw a change from WIT Studio to MAPPA, though, unlike Titan, it retained more of its creative staff. As for its story, it was received as a masterpiece of character drama that wasn’t just good by anime standards, but television drama as a whole.
Rafael Motamayor of IGN gave the series a 10/10, calling it a masterclass in storytelling elevated by phenomenal vocal performances. As a sequel, it is a contemplation of violence that demands retrospection for the bloodshed that the story and its fans reveled in during the first season. IGN named the series their AOTY, a verdict reflected in the public vote of this year’s /r/anime Awards.
BanG Dream! It’s MyGO!!!!!
|
Studio |
SANZIGEN |
|
Director |
Koudai Kakimoto |
|
Premiere Date |
6/29/2023 |
|
Where to Watch |
Crunchyroll |
|
AOTY Award(s) |
/r/anime Awards (Jury Winner) |
Vinland Saga wasn’t the only series to receive such an honor from the /r/anime awards. The jury awarded the title to BanG Dream! It’s MyGO!!!!! This newest entry in the BanG Dream franchise earned its spot at the top thanks to the multidimensional cast at the heart of this surprisingly mature take on a formula that – from the outside – looks rather typical. The jury described the series as such:
At first glance, taking five quirky teenage girls with the same hobby but starkly different personalities and sticking them together is an age-old recipe for a light-hearted and comforting “cute girls doing cute things” show. But what happens when you dial up those quirky personalities into fully-fledged realistic character flaws and start the show in media res following a traumatic break up of the group? Enter Bang Dream! It’s MyGO!!!!! , a deceptively simple teenage band drama with more toxic character flaws than titular exclamation marks.
This comes from SANZIGAN, a studio that has been pioneering 3D anime since even before studios like Orange exploded onto the scene, which makes its recognition all the more special. In the same year that Trigun Stampede was seemingly overlooked despite its strides in animation, it is heartwarming to see another 3D series receive such recognition.
Bungo Stray Dogs Season 5
|
Studio |
Bones |
|
Director |
Takuya Igarashi |
|
Premiere Date |
7/12/2023 |
|
Where to Watch |
Crunchyroll |
|
AOTY Award(s) |
Anime Corner Awards |
The popular anime polling site gathered votes from over 60,000 fans to get a glimpse at what its readers considered the best of the year, and the results were pretty surprising. Bungo Stray Dogs Season 5 ranked #1, just beating out Attack on Titan Final Season The Final Chapters at #2 and Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War – The Separation at #3. For perspective, Vinland Saga ranked #5, and Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 ranked #7.
Bungo Stray Dogs Season 5 was also voted Anime Corner’s best show of Summer 2023. This was a big year for the series, receiving not one but two seasons, in which director Igarashi continued this dramatic superpowered spectacle going strong with one of the tensest arcs yet. Game Rant gave Season 5 a 5/5, calling it “one of Studio Bones’ best works since Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.”
Heavenly Delusion
|
Studio |
Production I.G |
|
Director |
Hirotaka Mori |
|
Premiere Date |
4/1/2023 |
|
Where to Watch |
Hulu |
|
AOTY Award(s) |
Anime Trending Awards |
When the 10th Anime Trending Awards announced its AOTY, it came down to one of two shows: Oshi no Ko or Heavenly Delusion. With how enthusiastically the community jumped on Oshi no Ko after it began, anyone could have been forgiven for assuming that it had the award in the bag already. Yet, it faced a worthy competitor in Heavenly Delusion, a science-fiction series from Production I.G that truly raised the bar week after week.
With the series streaming exclusively on Hulu in North America and Disney+ internationally, not as many folks in the U.S. may have checked out this series, which is truly a shame. Such charming characters crossed with a haunting post-apocalyptic setting laid the groundwork for a mind-bending and frequently unsettling adventure that desperately needs to be renewed for a sequel. Delightfully, director Hirotaka Mori delivered his thanks for the award during the live stream.
In Retrospect
When recognizing artistic achievements, communities can often focus too heavily on one single ceremony and what its jury/voters have determined to be the best. The benefit of broadening the scope is two-fold: to see what quality may have been overlooked, and to get a rough estimate of just what work or works made the greatest impact.
Having dominated the discourse right at the end of the year, Jujutsu Kaisen understandably had an advantage. And yet, Vinland Saga remained firmly embedded in the hearts and minds of those who watched it. Across the board, the awards around the net reveal 2023 to have been a strong year for powerful sequels and bold dramas that brought out the best from their respective studios.
Sources: Crunchyroll, IGN (Best Anime of 2023)(Vinland Saga Season 2 Review), /r/anime Awards, Anime Corner, Anime Trending Awards
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