It’s almost a comforting clockwork - we go through the year watching great anime,
and then when we creep up ever closer to the end of our calendars, we spend our time reflecting back on the brightest
moments for anime. Welcome to our annual AniTAY Anime Awards, a collaborative effort by members in the AniTAY
community to decide the best of the best!
AniTAY, now more than
ever is 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 12/30/2019.
Like always, 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 1/13/2020, when
we release the results in a separate article.
This year, we added a sequel category,
which we felt was necessary given the number of shows that are sequels. Hope you enjoy the tweaks and look forward to
seeing your votes! Enough of my rambling, onto the nominees!
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 2019.
Nominees:
Promised Neverland
Kaguya Love is War
Demon Slayer
Beastars
Carole and Tuesday
Mix
Lord El-Melloi
Dororo
Vinland Saga
O Maidens in Your Savage Season
Fruits Basket 1st Season
Blade of The Immortal
Astra Lost in Space
BoogiePop and Others
Given
AniTAY Movie of the Year
Anime is more than just silly TV cartoons... it’s also on the big screen! While there aren’t a lot of anime movies, here were the anime movies that came out this year, and they were great. If you aren’t watching anime movies, you’re missing out.
Nominees:
Code Geass: Lelouch of the Re;surrection
Fate/stay night Movie: Heaven’s Feel - II. Lost Butterfly
Tanya of Evil
Promare
Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dreaming Girl
Konosuba Movie
DanMachi Arrow of the Orion
Black Fox
One Piece Stampede
Dragon Ball Super: Broly
Sequel Of the Year
There’s nothing better than seeing an old favorite, and that’s what this category, Sequel of the Year is about! These are the best of the best continuations of the best of the best.
Mob Psycho II
Attack on Titan S3 Part 2
My Hero Academia S4
Chihayafuru 3
Senki Zesshou Symphogear XV
Radiant 2
High Score Girl 2
Is it Wrong to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? 2
Psycho-Pass 3
Aggretsuko 2nd Season
Hidden Gems (Under 75k)
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 75,000—and sometimes not even half of that. These are the hidden gems of 2019.
Nominees:
Granbelm
Mix
Kono Oto Tomare
Cop Craft
Endro~!
Sarazanmai
Stars Align
Null and Peta
Demon Girl Next Door
Iruma-kun
Ascendance of a Bookworm
Kemurikusa
Best Animated
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 2019.
Nominees:
Rilakkuma & Kaoru
Mob Psycho 100 2
Promare
Beastars
Fire Force
Demon Slayer
Vinland Saga
Miru Tights
Promised Neverland
Babylon
Dragon Ball Super: Broly
Attack on Titan Season 3 Pt. 2
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:
Dororo
Promare
Fire Force
Demon Slayer
Vinland Saga
Radiant S2
No Guns Life
Dragon Ball Super: Broly
Fate/Grand Order: Absolute Demonic Front - Babylonia
Best Drama
! 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 2019.
Nominees: Beastars
Kono Oto Tomare
Blade of the Immortal
O Maidens in Your Savage Season
Carole and Tuesday
Vinland Saga
Astra Lost in Space
Given
Stars Align
Best Romance
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 2019.
Nominees:
Kono Oto Tomare
Kaguya-Sama Love is War
We Never Learn!
The Quintessential Quintuplets
Ao-chan Can’t Study
Senyruu Girl
High Score Girl 2
Astra Lost in Space
Given
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 2019!
Nominees:
Cautious Hero
Kaguya Love is War
Isekai Quartet
Ao-chan can’t study
O Maidens in Your Savage Season
HItoribocchi
Didn’t I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?!
Demon Girl Next Door
Best Slice of Life
Sometimes, there’s nothing more enjoyable than watching people chill out and do their stuff. These are the best Slice of Life shows, the shows that make amazing out of the mundane.
Nominees:
Senryuu Shoujo
Hitoribocchi Mix
Didn’t I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?!
Endro~!
Ascendance of a Bookworm
The Helpful Fox Senko-san
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:
Dororo “Kaen” by Ziyoou-vachi
Promised Neverland - “Touch Off” by UVERworld
Mob Psycho 100 II - “99.9" by MOB CHOIR feat. sajou no hana
Kaguya-Sama - “Love Dramatic feat. Rikka Ihara by Masayuki Suzuki
Domestic Girlfriend - “Kawaki wo Ameku” by Minami
Boogiepop and Others - “shadowgraph” by MYTH＆ROID
Carole and Tuesday “Kiss Me” by Carole & Tuesday (Nai Br.XX & Celeina Ann)
Demon Slayer - “Gurenge” by LiSA
Fire Force - “Inferno” by Mrs.GREEN APPLE
Astra Lost in Space - “Star*frost” by nonoc
A Certain Scientific Accelerator - “Shadow is the Light” by THE SIXTH LIE
Cop Craft - “Rakuen Toshi” by Masayoshi Ooishi
Granbelm - “Tsuki wo Ou Mayonaka” by Eir Aoi
Beastars “Wild Side”
Vinland Saga “Dark Crow” by MAN WITH A MISSION
Seven Deadly Sins “Rob the Frontier” by UVERworld
No Guns Life - “Motor City” by Kenichi Asai
Radiant 2 - “Naraku” by Halo at Yojohan
Cautious Hero - “TIT FOR TAT” by MYTH&ROID
ORESUKI: Are You the Only One that Loves Me? - “Papapa” by Shuka Saitou
Didn’t I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?! - “Smile Skill = Suki Skill!” by Akaki Chikai
Ascendance of a Bookworm - “Masshiro” by Sumire Moroboshi
High Score Girl 2 - “flash” by sora tob sakana
Best ED
Many people like to skip the ED, but every now and then you’ll run into one that you just can’t get out of your head. 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:
Black Clover - “against all gods” by m-flo
Mob Psycho 100 II - “Ikiru Hitobito” by sajou no hana
Kaguya-Sama - “Chikatto Chika Chika” by Chika Fujiwara
Carole & Tuesday - “Hold Me Now” by Carole & Tuesday (Nai Br.XX & Celeina Ann)
Hitoribocchi - “Bakushou Bocchi-juku Kouka” by Hitori Bocchi
Sarazanmai - “Stand by Me” by the peggies
Bungo Stray Dogs - “Lily” by Luck Life
Fire Force - “veil” by Keina Suda
Radiant 2 - “Chitto mo Shiranakatta” by Emi Nakamura
Best Male Character
What’s better than our lovable bois? Welcome to our Best Male Character nominees, a category that has everything from loner NEETs, to obsessed fighting maniacs.
Nominees:
Tanjirou Kamado - Demon Slayer
Inosuke Hashibira - Demon Slayer
Askeladd - Vinland Saga
Thorkell - Vinland Saga
Kanata Hoshijima - Lost in Space Astra
Inui Juuzou - No Guns Life
Manji - Blade of the Immortal
Yu Ishigami - Kaguya Love is War
Legoshi - Beastars
Kyo Sohma - Fruits Basket
Lutz - Ascendance of a Bookworm
Ray - Promised Neverland
Kei Mikhail Ignatov - Psycho-Pass 3
Best Female Character
The bold, the brash, the rejected, and the moe- 2019 brought plenty of endearing choices to make the race for Best Female Character a widely debated discussion in anime circles.
Nominees:
Emma - Promised Neverland
Sugawara Niina - O Maidens
Aries Springs - Lost in Space Astra
Mary Steinberg - No Guns Life
Chika Fujiwara - Kaguya-Sama:Love is War
Ai Hayasaka - Kaguya-Sama:Love is War
Dororo - Dororo
Clara - Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun
Haru - Beastars
Tohru Honda - Fruits Basket
Aru Honshou - Hitoribocchi
Ocoho - Radiant 2
Meiza Endust (Mei) - Endro~!
Grey - Lord El-Melloi
Yuuko Yoshida (Shamiko) - Demon Girl Next Door
Momo Chiyoda - Demon Girl Next Door
Ristarte - Cautious Hero
Rin Asano - Blade of the Immortal
Pansy - ORESUKI: Are You the Only One that Loves Me?
Most Trashiest Trash of the Year
For some reason, AniTAY really likes garbage shows, to the point where we have a whole subcategory of AniTAY’ers called animasochists. This is to you, the ones who suffer through the trashiest of trash... for some reason.
Nominees:
Are You Lost?
Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest
Do You Love Your Mom and Her Two-Hit Multi-Target Attacks?
Domestic Girlfriend
Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka
Hensuki: Are you willing to fall in love with a pervert, as long as she’s a cutie?
Why the hell are you here, Teacher!?
Magical-Senpai
Miru Tights
Nobunaga-sensei’s Young Bride
ORESUKI Are you the only one who loves me?
Val X Love
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 doesn’t indicate quality or anything, just shows that AniTAY liked a lot.)
Nominees:
Babylon
Astra Lost in Space
Endro!
Mix
O Maidens in Your Savage Season
Miru Tights
Demon Girl Next Door
Sarazanmai
Val X Love
The Price of Smiles
Hitoribocchi
Kaguya Love is War
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!
