I watch quite a lot of anime. Not as much as some people do, but definitely more than most do. Throughout the years there have been quite a few shows that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed that I feel like I don’t really hear people talk about. Maybe because they get forgotten overtime, maybe because a lot of people didn’t actually watch these shows, or perhaps there was some other reason. While I work on some of my bigger posts that I hope to get ready in the next couple of weeks, let’s take a moment and appreciate five anime that I’ve watched throughout the years that I would recommend. I hope there’s something here for everyone!

Flying Witch

Year: 2016

Studio: J.C. Staff

Genre: Slice of Life, Fantasy, Comedy, Iyashikei

Runtime: 12 Episodes

Similar Shows: Yuru Camp, Non Non Biyori, Barakamon

15 year old Makoto Kowata is a witch in training. We follow her adventures as she learns the ways of becoming a witch. She has a familiar, a sister and several cousins. The different characters flow into the story now and then while Makoto practices with different aspects of being a witch. Whether this is flying around on a broom, alchemy or something completely different. Makoto approaches life at a slow pace and so does this show. If you want something to relax and enjoy without having to really think much about anything, this show is great.

Akagami no Shirayuki-Hime

Year: 2015

Studio: Bones

Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Drama, Shoujo

Runtime: Season 1 (12 Episodes) & Season 2 (12 Episodes)

Similar Shows: Arte, The Ancient Magus Bride, Utawarerumono

Akagami no Shirayuki-Hime follows the titular Shirayuki, a young woman with beautiful red hair. She’s trying to live her life in peace, running a pharmacy but unfortunately gets spotted by royalty. Refusing to become his concubine, she goes on the run, running into yet another prince who does treat her well. They end up becoming friends and she moves into his castle which brings a whole host of different issues with it. The show follows the steadfast Shirayuki as she finds her place amongst high society while retaining her own morals and way of life. It’s a show that just breathes good energy and I enjoyed every second of it. 

Beelzebub

Year: 2011

Studio: St. Signpost

Genre: Comedy, Fantasy, Shounen

Runtime: 60 Episodes

Similar Shows: Fairy Tail, Jujutsu Kaisen, The Devil is a Part-Timer

Going through the list of anime that I’ve seen throughout the years, Beelzebub hit me like a wave of pure nostalgia. An extremely funny manga and anime that never got the love it really deserved. Beelzebub follows Oga, a delinquent high schooler who finds a strange man floating down in the river. The man splits open and reveals a baby inside; Baby Beelzebub. Beel immediately locks onto Oga as his new parent and now Oga has no way of getting rid of Beel. Not only that, if Beel gets too far away from Oga, he shocks the poor guy. The trouble doesn’t end there because Beel’s maid, Hilde, also shows up to make Oga’s life more difficult. The delinquent must now deal with not only the baby and his maid, but also the other delinquents at his school.

This manga and anime were both extremely funny. The humor was solid and the action was very fun as well, with the main cast being overpowered most of the time, leading to hilarious situations. Unfortunately the author’s other work was not as good and got canceled pretty quickly, so we’ll have to do with just Beelzebub for now, but it does come highly recommended.

Carole & Tuesday

Year: 2019

Studio: Bones

Genre: Drama, Slice of Life, Music

Runtime: 24 Episodes

Similar Shows: Nana, Your Lie in April, Beck

Carole & Tuesday as a story was never really that amazing. I liked the message it was trying to convey, but it did so a bit awkwardly. When actually watching the show I much preferred the early episodes where we watch two young girls from very different backgrounds meet, become friends, and make music together. Carole lives in an apartment above a shop and does odd jobs around town to make money as well as perform on the side of the street. Tuesday ran away from home because her mother’s parenting was too constricting and cold. They move in together and start making music together. Did I mention they’re on Mars? The story revolves around their music and them getting better at it together, finding a manager and performing for small crowds. There’s a whole political story going on as a side-plot. It’s not amazing, but it’s functional. The main draw of this show is the music. It’s almost three years old at this point and I still find myself listening to some of the tracks regularly. The music in the show actually evolves and there’s a whole album worth of songs accompanying the story. They hired great singers to do the songs as well and it all sounds very polished. If you need one song to convince you, I suggest the song Round & Laundry. It’s from early on in the show and it’s a real bop. Forgettable story, amazing soundtrack, good watch altogether.

Gabriel Dropout

Year: 2017

Studio: Doga Kobo

Genre: Slice of Life, Comedy, Fantasy, Angels

Runtime: 12 Episodes

Similar Shows: Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid, Umaru-Chan, Lucky Star

Gabriel was at the top of her school in heaven. Now she has descended to earth to do… what again? It turns out human technology and video games managed to turn her into a lazy NEET in the span of mere days. She quickly becomes a lazy slob of a person and thus the most relatable kind of character. The rest of the cast consists of some demons and angels that also came to earth and their shenanigans. Satania the borderline Chuunibyou demon trying to be evil and failing spectacularly will never not be funny. I liked this show so much, we turned some of the characters into emotes on Discord and the Vigne emote is the one I use by far the most. This show is very funny, has great characters and is an extremely solid watch.

And there you have it. Five anime from the past few years that I would urge you to watch. None of them are the very best of the best, but all of them are good enough to be talked about and remembered. Let me know if you want me to do more of these. I’ve seen a ton of “good” shows that get forgotten over the years because of the staggering amount of anime that gets produced now, so I’d love to share some of them with you all, and perhaps get some new recommendations in return. Thanks for reading.