At the end of every year, everyone seems to reminisce back on the events we
witnessed, and we try to define the time that just passed in all sorts of ways. One such method is top lists and
Awards, and here at AniTAY, we are not immune in this behavior. Returning from last year is The AniTAY Anime
Awards, a collaborative effort by members in the AniTAY community to decide the best of the best of what 2017
had to offer, and we would love your help.
AniTAY has always
been community first, and we always try to put our own community spin on these kinds of projects because the different
opinions fed by the diversity of the community leads to better results. That’s why this Award process is open to
everyone!
This article will cover the nominations selected by AniTAY members mucking
around on a Google Docs sheet. While what we got here is pretty good, we can’t do this without everyone’s help! If you
see anything missing or have any suggestions fill out this form
or post comments on the sheet and I’ll try to take suggestions and add it to the list. Suggestions will be closed on
1/8/2017.
Like last year, we’ll be running 2 awards, the Author’s Awards and the Reader’s
Awards. This way we can keep our voice while including everyone in the process. Make your vote count by filling this form here. Voting will be closed 1/15/2017, when
we release the results in a separate article.
Anyways, enough about the Awards,
you’re here to see what we think: Here are the nominees! (Note: Your Name was pushed to this year’s awards so
more people would have the opportunity to watch the film)
Anime of the Year
Here’s the category you’re all here for: Anime of the Year. There’s been a lot of great shows this year, but here’s the best. From Comedy to Fantasy to Drama, these are the shows we were immersed in, made us laugh or cry, and made us fall in love: The Best Anime of 2017.
Shows that unfortunately flew under the radar and didn’t get the attention they deserved. While the seasonal favorites were making waves, these obscure shows were glimmering treasures waiting to be discovered. The number of members (going by MAL) was way below 70,000—and sometimes not even half of that. These are the hidden gems of 2017.
What do you watch anime for? Maybe great story, great music, or something else, but many watch shows for visuals, shows that look stunning at every moment. These are the shows that had the most fluid animation, looked amazing or more: The best Animated shows of 2017.
Nominees:
Miss Kobayashi’s Maid Dragon
Saga of Tanya the Evil
Little Witch Academia
My Hero Academia S2
Re:Creators
Touken Ranbu
Made in the Abyss
Land of the Lustrous
Ancient Magus Bride
Girls’ Last Tour
Best Action
Action! These are the shows that get your blood pumping, and your adrenalin skyrocketing. Animation that excel in the fast, the frenetic, the flashy and the weighty. Shows that make you feel every punch, soar every flight, and leaves you breatheless with every exertion. To those shows whose kineticism is made tangible, we honor with our “Best Action” Award.
Nominees:
Saga of Tanya the Evil
Attack on Titan S2
My Hero Academia S2
Re:Creators
Inuyashiki
Touken Ranbu
Kekkai Sensen & Beyond
Juuni Taisen
GARO: Vanishing Line
Food Wars S2
Best Drama
‘Cause I feeeeeeel! The Best Drama Award is for the shows that give us a major case of the feels. They can move you to tears and give you characters to empathize with—some you may find a lot in common with. Say hello to the Best Dramas of 2017.
Romance shows: The shows that get our hearts stirring, those that get us thinking in love dodecahedrons and more. These are the shows we loved to love, the Best Romance shows of 2017.
Nominees:
Your name
Silent Voice
Scum’s Wish
Saekano S2
Tsukigakirei
Koi to Uso (Love and Lies)
Tsurezure Children
Welcome to the Ballroom
Just Because!
Recovery of an MMO Junkie
Best Comedy
Some shows try to make you fall in love with a story, others try to wow you with spectacle. Others, like the shows here, try to put a smile on your face, to get you laughing out loud: These are the best comedies of 2017!
Nominees:
Konosuba S2
Maid Dragon
Interviews With Monster Girls
Gabriel DropOut
Love Tyrant
Sakura Quest
Gamers!
Tsurezure Children
Aho Girl
New Game!!
Blend S!
Umaru-chan S2
Best OP
This year was absolutely flooded with top quality OPs, but these were the ones to best combine stunning visuals with amazing songs. These were the OPs you just could not skip no matter what.
Nominees:
18if
ACCA: 13-ku Kansatsu-ka
Alice & Zoroku
Welcome to the Ballroom
Gabriel DropOut
Inuyashiki
Kakegurui
Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid
Ancient Magus Bride
Re:Creators
KADO: The Right Answer
Attack on Titan S2
Made in Abyss
Love Tyrant
Saga of Tanya the Evil
Girls’ Last Tour
Blend S
Konosuba S2
Best ED
Many people like to skip the ED, but this year made that a harder task to do than usual, as we were gifted with an unusually large crop of addicting EDs. Some of these EDs were so good they even made us wish the episode would end just so we could see them again, even if we loved the show they were attached to.
Nominees:
Kakegurui
Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid
Scum’s Wish
KADO: The Right Answer
Saga of Tanya the Evil
Eromanga Sensei
Umaru Chan
Girls’ Last Tour
Best Male Character
This year gave us quite a large range of characters taking the spotlight, and this couldn’t be better seen than in the Best Male Character nominees. Everything from figure skaters and manga artists to plaster busts, this year had it all.
Nominees:
Kiriyama Rei - March comes in like a lion S2
Harunobu Nikaidou - March Comes in like a Lion S2
Zouroku - Alice & Zoroku
Inuyashiki Ichirou - Inuyashiki
Ainsworth Elias - Ancient Magus Bride
Araragi Koyomi - Owarimonogatari S2
Reg- Made in Abyss
Takahashi Sensei - Interviews with Monster Girls
Phos - Land of the Lustrous (¯\_(ツ)_/¯)
Best Female Character
The bold, the brash, the rejected, and the moe- 2017 brought plenty of endearing choices to make the race for Best Female Character a widely debated discussion in anime circles.
Nominees:
Kawamoto Momo - March Comes in like a lion S2
Kamui Kanna - Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid
Tooru / Kobayashi - Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid
Hatori Chise - Ancient Magus Bride
Suzukaze Aoba - New Game!!
Yagami Kou - New Game!!
Chikojouin Magane - Re:Creators
Oshino Ougi - Owarimonogatari S2
Chain Sumeragi- BBB&B
Mordred- Fate/Apocrypha
Guri - Love Tyrant
Mafuyu Hoshikawa - BLEND-S
Shizuku Ichijo - Alice & Zoroku
Riko - Made in Abyss
Phos - Land of the Lustrous (¯\_(ツ)_/¯)
Konatsu - Rakugo
AniTAY Favorites(?)
Last but not Least, AniTAY Favorites! This is one we included to spice things up, to make this list truly our own. These are shows that AniTAY was fixated on, either loved or discussed about for days on end. Take a look at what makes AniTAY, AniTAY! (Note: This section is very much subject to change)
Thanks for checking out AniTAY and the AniTAY Anime Awards!Ani-TAY is the anime-focused portion of Kotaku’s community-run blog, Talk Amongst Yourselves where writers love everything anime related. Click here to check us out, and remember to participate by suggesting and voting!
