Continuing our roundup of the best of 2019, today I look at the best new anime shows of 2019. I say new as I’ve decided to focus only on new adaptations and not include returning series. In fact, quite a few popular series returned for a new season in 2019, shows like One Punch Man, Shingeki no Kyojin Shokugeki no Soma, Mob Psycho 100, Boku no Hero Academia and Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san. We also saw some new adaptations/remakes of what can best be described as anime classics, shows like Boogiepop wa Warawanai an Dororo. Also take into consideration that I haven’t seen every new show, and still have a backlist of shows I have high hopes for but haven’t had the time to watch, perhaps most notable Dr. Stone, and these are not included in this summary. With all that cleared up, here’s my top 5 list;
5. En’en no Shouboutai (aka Fire Force)
Based on the shonen manga by Atsushi Ōkubo , in En’en no Shouboutai we follow superpowered firefighters fighting what the show describes as “Infernals”. The first season ran between July and December and consisted of 24 episodes. It will return for a second season in July 2020. It has several of the typical shonen tropes, but quality of the animation and the characters various quirks pushes it in among the top shows, edging out fan favourites like Kimetsu no Yaiba (another good pick but with slightly more annoying characters).
4. Kanata no Astra
I’ve already mentioned Kanata no Astra during my post about summer anime recommendations. This sci-fi mystery show consisted of 12 episodes, aired between July and September, and managed to be interesting, clever and even had a pretty decent ending (albeit somewhat rushed).
3. Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai (aka Kaguya-sama: Love is War)
Based on the seinen comedy manga written and illustrated by Aka Akasaka, this clever romantic comedy set in highschool and feature the various schemes of the student council. The main two characters, the president and vice-president, both try to get the other to confess their love (as they themselves are laughable inept dealing with these feelings). Just reading this outline you could be fooled believe this is heavy on cliché and very “mushy”, but it surprisingly fresh and funny. A sequel series will begin airing in April.
2. Joshikousei no Mudazukai (aka Wasteful Days of High School Girls )
Joshikousei no Mudazukai is yet another comedy set to high school life. Based on the seinen comedy manga by Bino. The mainly female cast follows in the footsteps of similar themed comedy shows like Asobi Asobase (perhaps the best show of 2018) and Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou. It’s just great fun following the normal yet absurd life of these kids, and the Opening song is delightfully weird and nonsensical
1. Yakusoku no Neverland (aka The Promised Neverland)
Based on the manga series by Kaiu Shirai and illustrated by Posuka Demizu, this mystery fantasy show is the runaway winner for best anime show of 2019. The first series consisted of 12 episodes (aired between January and March 2019) and is set to return for a new series in 2020, most likely in October. Great characters, dark and disturbing themes and a plot with plenty of clever twists and turns. I can’t really tell you much about the story without spoiling it, but you start out following some very bright orphans as they slowly start realizing what kind of world they truly live in and plot to escape from it.
Tabletop Cave 