Kubo - My favorite animation of the year, and perhaps one of the most compelling stop-motion films I've seen since Studio Laika's previous work "Coraline". It follows a typical narrative, flawlessly executed, with memorable characters and unforgettable magic, possible only in this niche medium of animation. Along with the works of other phenomenal visionaries like Hayao Miyazaki and Frédéric Back, I'm excited at the prospect of someday sharing this movie with my children/clones/reanimated thralls.
Osomatsu-san - It's a damn shame that this show has a 50% chance of being Totally Not Up A Person's Alley, but that's the fact of the matter. Osomatsu-san is the funniest gag anime I've ever had the pleasure of seeing in my life, but to enjoy it at all one must know more than their fair share of otaku culture... a facet of my life I reveal somewhat begrudgingly. Osomatsu-san is crude, disgusting, and heavily referential, pandering some of its funniest aspects to only the grossest of nerds, and I gobbled every bit of it up like the swine I am.
Truth be told, if you've watched more than two or three anime before then you'll probably be able to get by with this one, as Crunchyroll (the website airing the show, as well as many other anime) does a fantastic job of providing some of the most obscure facts necessary for comprehension alongside the subtitles that you'll already be reading. And who am I kidding, I'm sure everyone will get the Mad Max homages, and the mahjong jokes, those obscure lubricant references...
Mob Psycho 101 - "Mob Psycho 101" was an absolute blast. A psychokinetic blast... haha, it's about telekinetic superchildren, so, that's a fun little joke. With plenty of homage to Katsuhiro Otomo's "Akira", the creative mind behind "One Punch Man", ONE unleashes an incredibly psychotic visual experience following a young telekinetic adept, Mob, as he learns what power is locked away in etc. etc. et.ce.tc.et.c.ec
It's a really good show whose humor begins and ends with its lampoons and throw-backs to other works in the genre. At first it may sound like an over-done idea, but I think that's the point of Mob—similar to how "One Punch Man" focusses on a hero who can never lose, we follow a psychic who has infinite potential and also cannot lose. Rather than this being a weakness, I believe it's respect for the audience, because we are relieved of having to sit through and watch him awaken to his potential after filler episode and filler episode of him working on some superficial or unrelatable idea like physical or psychic strength. Instead we are given fast-passes to character development and world building. The flashy battles are still there (and they are mind-numbingly animated, incredible work that surpasses any other day-time show) and he still does have to reach milestones with realizing his power, but we are given more of a connection with the characters in "Mob", unlike "One Punch Man", whose plot is nonexistent (not that that's ALWAYS a bad thing, but..) and relies too heavily on action and small jokes.
If you're looking for something that kicks the hell out of "Dragon Ball Z's" multi-episode battle sequences (or any other action-anime, for that matter), go no further than "Mob Psycho 101", where you will not only be succinctly rewarded with such, but will also walk away with a more meaningful character and world.
(also: the holographic effect with psychic powers will trigger the euphoria you got when unwrapping a holographic pokémon card as a kid, so, like, there might be an inherent bias here)
Honorable Mentions -
Spirited Away in Theaters - i saw this in theaters and it was really good and the song in the credits (featured up top on the desktop version of the blog) made me cry out loud.
One Punch Man - this was okay but not nearly as good as mob, so mob wins.
that 40~ episode chunk of One Piece that failed to rekindle the fervor
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