Top 15 Anime and Top 15 Characters of 2015

Let’s start 2016 with a proper farewell to 2015. Before we look forward to another year of anime, we should look back on 2015 and reflect on what made it one of the best years of anime in recent memory. There were numerous anime and characters that were incredible, dazzling, brilliant sensational, influential, and monumental in 2015, and today, I want to take a moment to provide my thoughts and opinions on the 15 most significant anime and characters from this last year. Come, take a look and re-experience why the anime of 2015 are so remarkable and unforgettable.

12 Days of Anime (2015) – Day 1 – Imai Kami’s Shoukan! Kengou Gakuen

Imai Kami’s premier manga, Needless, concluded with Chapter 114 in June of 2013, following a cherished 10 year run. In December 2013, Imai Kami’s other long-running manga of 7 years, Shirasunamura, also concluded. At the time Needless concluded, Kami expressed interest in taking a well-deserved break before returning to draw the latter half of Needless with his planned continuation called Needless 2. However, since that summer, Kami has been quiet as a mangaka, only working on 4koma comics for Arcadia magazine and releasing an art book in 2014. It wasn’t until January 2015 when I discovered that Kami had been working on a new manga in Arcadia magazine, Shoukan! Kengou Gakuen, with the first volume being available in February. Unable to find any useful information online, I waited patiently for the manga to be imported from Japan. Imai Kami’s new manga, Shoukan! Kengou Gakuen will be the focus for Day 1 of my 12 Days of Anime for 2015.

12 Days of Anime (2015) – Day 2 – Speaking with Hiromi Katou, Character Design for Needless, at Sakuracon

Hiromi Katou is a gifted and experienced talent, having a successful career in the anime industry through a variety of roles. Among his notable accomplishments, he was the character designs for Guilty Crown, Kobato., and Hakkenden, the animation directors for Beck, Gunslinger Stratos, and Fantasia Doll, and a key animator for Death Note, Azumanga Daioh, Shingeki no Kyojin, and many more. However, his most distinguished achievement, to me at least, is that he was the character design for Needless, which you might guess from previous posts is my favorite anime. I was extremely fortunate that Hiromi Katou was invited as a guest for Sakuracon this year and made sure to visit his Q&A panel, so that I could ask him some questions regarding Needless. So, for Day 2 of my 12 Days of Anime, I’ll recall my time with Hiromi Katou and the answers he provided about his experience with Needless.

12 Days of Anime (2015) – Day 7 – Gigantic Walled Town in Junketsu no Maria

Take a look at that walled, medieval town from Junketsu no Maria. Just take a look at its size. Now, take a look at the landscape around the town. You can see rivers, roads, farmland, and various green dots. See those green dots? Those are trees. Now, go outside, and look at a tree in real life. See how tall they are? Now, once you’re back, take a good, long look at those dots as trees. Finally, look at those walls and that town again in relationship to those “trees”.

Autumn 2015 – First Impressions (Part 3)

This post reviews: Osomatsu-san, Sakurako-san no Ashimoto ni wa Shitai ga Umatteiru, Subete ga F ni Naru, and Taimadou Gakuen 35 Shiken Shoutai.

Autumn 2015 – First Impressions (Part 2)

This post reviews: Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans, Concrete Revolutio, Comet Lucifer, and One Punch Man.

Autumn 2015 – First Impressions (Part 1)

This post reviews: Hacka Doll The Animation, Kagewani, Heavy Object, and Shingeki! Kyojin Chuugakkou.