Top 10 Best Anime That I Watched in 2015 + Top 10 Anime Openings I Heard in 2015

Top 10 Best Anime That I Watched in 2015 + Top 10 Anime Openings I Heard in 2015

Warning: The following list may contain spoilers of the shows on this list. If you wish not to know some plot details in the stories, or simply don't wish to find out what happens in the series that are mentioned, please exit the tab, and come join me once you've watched the first few episodes. But than again, if you don't mind spoilers, feel free to stay put.

Also, the pictures in my special posts are chosen randomly. Let's just say that this is one of my favorite Youtuber gags, and it basically will describe the awesomeness of both of these lists. XD

These animes and openings are my personal favorites out of the year 2015, and won't be specifically ranked besides #10 in both (the best of the best). Ratings for my best list are mainly 8 or above, but some 7.5's will sneak in there.

With that said:

Despite some of the bad anime that's inevitably out there, the majority of the anime that I watch is actually really good. There's always something to enjoy out of it, whether it'd be amazing animation, great stories, or nice music. Or a mixture of all of these elements.

Oh! Need I forget the characters:

This best list is always a bit difficult to come up with. There's always so many good shows and openings that I watch or listen to, but in the end, 10 of them made the most impact on me on both lists.

I decided to do both best lists that I did last year together this time due to both of them having the same content. AKA, the openings and shows that I believed were the best throughout this year.

Let's start off with the shows, starting off with:

#1

No Game No Life.

This time, I'm going to start off with my first review of the year of a series I wrapped up at the beginning of 2015. No Game No Life was a blast for me! For one of the shows that I think had a lot of impact in the anime world, it didn't let me down. From its engaging story, great characters, fantastic animation, and a good score, I was pretty impressed with it. Though there were a few minor nitpicks with it, I still loved it overall. It's highly recommended if you haven't seen it.

9.5/10

Review link: http://dazzlinganime1.blogspot.com/2015/01/no-game-no-life-review.html

#2

Freezing (mainly Freezing Vibration).

While both seasons were on the same level for me, the second season of Freezing is the main one I look back on. While some of the latter episodes of that season lacked some emotional impact for me, Luis got a complete 180 redemption arc with little development as to why, and Kazuya was shoved to the side more (though he kind of wasn't my favorite in the first place), I think overall the show was pretty good.

Both seasons have a pretty strong story, some great characters, consistent animation (the #IconicCensoring game was quite enjoyable), and probably one of my favorite anime scores of all time, Freezing is worth a shot if you're into fanservice anime in general, or if you're looking for some sci-fi elements in your anime.

Both seasons get an 8/10.

Season 1 Review: http://dazzlinganime1.blogspot.com/2015/06/freezing-review.html

Season 2 Review: http://dazzlinganime1.blogspot.com/2015/07/freezing-vibration-review.html

#3

Snow White with the Red Hair (Season 1).

A fairytale retelling managed to pop up in anime this summer, and what a good one it was! Shirayuki is easily one of the strongest female leads I have seen in anime up to this point, the story had a good pace and managed to focus on almost all of the characters at some point, the animation is nice even through its dips, and it had my ultimate OTP of this year. Seriously, Shirayuki and Zen are adorable.

Despite its disappointing score, its repetition of Shirayuki's red hair, and her getting into "danger," this show met all of my high expectations for all, and I'm happy for that. What makes me even happier is that FUNimation is giving this show a Broadcast Dub for the Winter season, and they're not starting off with Season 2. Cheers!

9/10

Review link (collab with Luke): http://dazzlinganime1.blogspot.com/2015/11/snow-white-with-red-hair-review-collab.html

#4

The Ambition of Oda Nobuna.

Talk about the biggest surprise out of the shows that I watched in late 2014/early 2015. When Sentai Filmworks announced their acquisition of the show, I was curious to see if it turned out to be pretty good. I mean, I didn't even know the show existed until this, so not a bad idea to see, right?

It actually turned out to be really great, and I was shocked by that. Though the set-up of this series isn't really anything original, there's something interesting about making the figures of the Sengoku period women. The good news is that the show never really exploits this beyond just that, which is a good thing. The show also has some very pretty animation, and a good character cast.

Despite the fact that a couple of the side characters didn't get enough development, and the open ending with no sign of another season or OVA's, at least it was better than Sengoku Musou, as I didn't feel like I had to know everything from the plot summary in order to understand the anime.

9/10

Review link: http://dazzlinganime1.blogspot.com/2015/05/the-ambition-of-oda-nobuna-review.html

#5

BlazBlue Alter Memory.

Besides finding out that BlazBlue is spelled like the form above, I actually ended up finding this series very entertaining. Despite the fact that this show feels jammed packed with characters' motives, events, an open ending, and some iffy animation, I still found myself looking forward to watching the next episodes due to the fact that the action was really intense and seat-gripping.

Combine this with interesting main characters and an engaging story, and in the end, I got what I wanted out of this. Hopefully down the road, I'm able to explore the game series, because I'm interested to see more depth to our characters and development for some of them that didn't get it. But overall, I would say this was a good adaptation. 

8.5/10

Review link: http://dazzlinganime1.blogspot.com/2015/10/blazblue-alter-memory-review.html

#6

Gakusen Toshi Asterisk (Season 1).

Out of the harem sci-fi academy light novels that seem to get adapted into anime pretty much every season nowadays, this is one of the better ones for me. Much like Bladedance, this show managed to jump the hurdle by providing a pretty interesting story and dynamic with its characters, solid animation, and a pretty awesome score.

But Asterisk edges over Bladedance with its characters due to the fact that some of them get more development. Because of that, the characters are a tad more likable overall. Though I did have a few nitpicks with this series, I was still pretty impressed with it. This would be for sure recommended to the people who want a good adaption of this popular trend.

Score will be revealed in the review for this anime.

#7

Kuroko no Basuke (Season 1).

My first sports anime series after the boom of them this decade, and I really enjoyed it. This show manages to break some of the shonen cliches that I've seen far too often these days, combined with some really great characters, solid animation, and another one of the best scores that proves to work for comedic or high energy scenes.

Though there is 1 cliche that's really prominent until it's smacked out of Seirin's hands during their match against Tohou, and minor animation issues, there really isn't a big problem that I had with this. Now I just need to get started on the 2nd season as soon as possible, since I've delayed it longer than my liking.

9/10

Review link: http://dazzlinganime1.blogspot.com/2015/06/kuroko-no-basuke-season-1-review.html

#8

Kamisama Kiss (Season 2).

Yeah, this should come as no surprise to anyone. I adored the first season of this series, and I was immediately on board with watching the second season after it was greenlit. And I'm so happy I did. After watching a few disappointing second seasons in the months prior, this broke that curse and managed to be super entertaining.

Kurama got some much needed character development, all of the old charm was still there, and Nanami x Tomoe really grew on me as I continued watching. Though there were a few minor things that bugged me a little bit, such as the 2nd arc having too slow of a pace, and a stereotypical character who gets out of being evil through insta-attraction, I stil adored this season, and I can't wait for more adventures. Since I finished the OVA's, what about the Past Arc when that's all wrapped up?

10/10

Season 1 Review: http://dazzlinganime1.blogspot.com/2014/08/kamisama-kiss-review.html

Season 2 Review: http://dazzlinganime1.blogspot.com/2015/04/kamisama-kiss-season-2-review.html

#9

Yamada-kun and the 7 Witches.

I went into this knowing that I was going to end up loving it, and I did. I know, so surprising, right? But how could I not? With its great characters, hilarious comedy, good animation, and overall high entertainment factor, I was looking forward to each week of more jam-packed hilarity.

Though the pacing does get a little rushed in the second half, and some of the witches feel added in to the show's last arc, I pretty much liked everything about this show, and it's highly recommended to every person who loves anime that walks this earth. But that's the same with my last show.

10/10

Review link: http://dazzlinganime1.blogspot.com/2015/07/yamada-kun-and-7-witches-review.html

Let's list a few shows that almost made my top 10 list first to precede my top pick, but didn't have as much impact compared to them.

 Honorable Mentions

Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere (Season 1)

Inu x Boku SS 

Jitsu wa Watashi wa

Maria the Virgin Witch

Paradise Kiss

Sailor Moon Crystal

Show by Rock

Soul Eater NOT!

Unbreakable Machine Doll

Uta no Prince Sama (Season 1)

Uta no Prince Sama (Season 2) (mainly due to QUARTET NIGHT and Ranmaru)

Devils and Realist would go on here if it wasn't for the final few episodes, because those were kind of a mess.

And now for the grand reveal:

#10

Death Parade.

This should come to the surprise of absolutely no one. Because this show was AMAZING AND OHMYGOD AM I SO HAPPY FOR THE FRIEND WHO ASKED ME TO WATCH THIS BECAUSE ALKFALSF;SLJFLSAKFJDLAKJDFAL;SKFJ;ALSDKJGFA!

The minor issues for this show pretty much pale in comparison to the actual show itself. With its fascinating characters and story, outstanding animation, and amazing score, this series is absolute perfection.

10/10

Review link: http://dazzlinganime1.blogspot.com/2015/04/death-parade-review.html

Let's move onto the openings, shall we?

As someone who occasionally listens to anime openings randomly sometimes due to the fact that most of them are really good, I always will find a couple that manage to stick in my brain for a long period of time. There's also a slight chance that maybe I will watch a specific anime down the road because of its opening theme. Of course, there's also wonderful animation and an interesting story, but openings can play a factor too.

Last year, I replayed Highschool DXD's opening so many times that I'm sure my parents got annoyed with me. This year, I say I had a mix of openings that were played, loved, and appreciated, rather than just a few.

Let's begin this countdown with:

#1

Like I've mentioned before in 2 other posts this year, this show still had a pretty awesome opening besides being a underwhelming cliche. This opening song did kind of help build some excitement for the series.

Konomi Suzuki has shown herself to be a great vocalist in the past, and she keeps on proving that she still is. Her edgy delivery on this song fit pretty well with the electro rock production. Also, it's kind of nice to start jamming out when the chorus of this song hits.

So overall, I'd say this opening is pretty spot-on despite Absolute Duo not being exactly that. If the opening convinces you to check out this Winter 2015 anime, fine by me.

#2

The opening lies because Death Parade isn't the happiness that's bubbling all over this piece. Even if the show has very dark themes and can get very dramatic, it's great to see that the opening can allow someone to have a 1 minute jamathon before the episode really kicked in.

Bright and bubbly, this opening got stuck in my head after the first few times I heard it. And how could it not? This song is just so fun, and it surprisingly fits in a very weird way, even though it doesn't have the same feel that the show can often have. That's saved for the ending.

 #3

Highschool DXD's openings are always going to be good for me, mo matter who sings it or what it sounds like. Though the 2nd opening of Season 2 was a little weak for me, I was interested to hear Choucho sing this after stumbling upon the fact that she sang the Heaven's Memo Pad opening, which was used in a TM show's opening on Youtube from a few years ago.

And good news, it didn't disappoint. From the swell of the opening's melody, to Choucho herself, there's a lot that I liked here. It's kind of weird how fanservice shows seem to have the really good openings, and another show's opening will be showing up on this list but you'll find out what it is later.

#4

Daww this opening is just so adorable. :3 Besides the interesting visual tone to this opening and some of the cuteness that happens here, the song is very relaxing and helped me unwind a bit during a couple of the episodes. Sure, the show is pretty hilarious and at some times quite wild, but the opening doesn't reflect that, which was unexpected.

Also, doesn't anyone else find Yamada and Shiraishi super adorable? (I almost called Shiraishi Shirayuki for one quick second, but that's understandable since Ryota Ohsaka and Saori Hayami voice both the ultimate OTP's)

#5

I haven't heard a ton of Faylan stuff beyond the Aesthetica of a Rogue Hero opening (which is actually pretty good) and the Samurai Girl opening, but what I really like about her voice so far is how raw it gets during songs. This opening is pretty epic for a series that has some bad-ass action scenes, and I think it fits pretty well with the series to be honest.

The guitars in this song sound sick, Faylan sounds great, and the buildup has great pace before going to a semi-explosive chorus. It sets a pretty good mood for an episode that manages to deliver on being action-packed. It's sweet.

#6

Oh, this opening's great. XD It easily fits the mood of this show being a romantic comedy due to the different style of the song and the singer's vocal tone. Also, some parts of the opening are too hilarious.

Though I could see some people getting irritated by this song because of the vocalist, or it being way too peppy for its own good. I actually think it works for what this show is anyway; a peppy romantic comedy where things don't always work out for the better, or hilarity ensues.

#7

Orpheus by Mamoru Miyano (Uta no Prince Sama Season 1's Opening)

So, not only can Mamoru Miyano slay any role he sets out to do, but he's a fantastic singer too? BONUS! Though each opening of Uta Pri thus far is pretty good in its own right, this is the most memorable out of them for me. From the swelling melody, to the pretty piano, the exceptional vocals, and the slight edge this song has at one point: everything about it is really great.

This is the only song that I haven't ever found the short version on this list, and I can see why. But in case I want to re-watch Season 1 either on DVD (if I want to get it) or Hulu, I'll be able to listen to it again.

#8

This opening is only on here because its a guilty pleasure for me. If it wasn't, I'd probably put Paradise Kiss's opening in its place, but since I first heard that last year (it's still awesome), that doesn't count. There's also Gangsta, but that one isn't nearly as memorable as this one is.

Basically, this song was cranked up on my speakers due to the songs in Uta Pri still not giving enough oomph, or if the episode was worse than it needed to be. Sure, Iori Nimizu's vocals do need a bit more polishing to make this song fully work (less auto tune pls), but the instrumental's pretty good. It kind of reminds me of older rock n' roll songs, along with electronic elements that many others have on this list. It does its job pretty effectively, if I say so myself.

#9

Overdrive by Hitomi Harada (Valkyrie Drive Mermaid's opening)

Though I basically have no interest in watching this series (I've seen bits and pieces of it to reinstate this fact) due to it basically being softcore yuri porn (Luke came up with that one) and not even having a wick of story until most likely the second half, this opening is easily one of my favorites of this year. Besides the fact that it's sung by Hitomi Harada, who's easily establishing herself to be a pretty good vocalist when it comes to opening and ending standards, this is probably the opening in which I can rock out to the most, thanks to its guitar driven melody.

Much like getting over some of the disappointment of Uta Pri's 3rd season with Sky Wizards Academy's opening, this was used as therapy for Dance with Devils' issues. And it's a good opening to jam out to when you're in a really pissy mood about something, so that's good for me. I hope to hear more from Hitomi Harada in the future.

#10

Brand-new World by Shiena Nishizawa

Now, this is the opening that easily wowed me from the moment it started. And when I mean wowed, I mean WOWED. This song is pretty much everything I could have asked for for an opening like this. Good vocals, an awesome groove, a climatic buildup which leads to an explosion of synths, to just the overall feel of this song. Everything about this opening is easily just:

So much love! So much!

What do you guys think of both of these lists? Do you agree with some of these entries? Disagree? What were some of your favorite anime series or openings of this year?

And have a happy new year! Speaking of which, let's break out the dancing for good measure:

See you guys in 2016 for more reviews, special posts, and more!

Top 5 Worst Anime That I Watched in 2015

Top 5 Worst Anime That I Watched in 2015

Warning: The following list may contain spoilers of the shows on this list. If you wish not to know some plot details in the stories, or simply don't wish to find out what happens in the series that are mentioned, please exit the tab, and come join me once you've watched the first few episodes. But than again, if you don't mind spoilers, feel free to stay put.

Also, keep in mind that these shows that I talk about aren't all terrible. Some of them have good points, but the bad outshine the good unfortunately. Any show that I rate a 7 or below could show up on this list, so keep watch.

With that said:

Throughout this year, I've seen some amazing shows. Not only shows from a specific season, but others that I was curious to see for a while that I finally managed to check out. I'm proud of accomplishing that, because some of them were as I expected or even better.

Of course, we'll have some meh or bad shows. Ones that are too boring, too weak, or just too anger inducing that they're not necessarily going to become shining stars. And while a couple managed to only confuse me or get me irritated at certain parts, some managed to go beyond that, leading me to discard a few after only the first episode.

This list has been months in the making, being reorganized a few times in order to accommodate other series that were weaker. Some of these I finished, others I did not. It's a pretty interesting list if I say so myself.

How about we start off with:

#5

Trinity Seven.

I watched the majority of this show, along with No Game No Life and The Ambition of Oda Nobuna, in December of 2014. Though I finished it back in the beginning of January. the show still manages to be memorable for some really bad reasons.

Compared to most of the people who've written reviews about this anime online, I'm personally not a big fan of Arata. Besides being a really bad special snowflake, I honestly found him to be one-dimensional and not really funny. Speaking of the characters, I didn't really like any of them besides Lieselotte and the headmaster of the school; all of them just felt kind of plain jane and not really anything unique.

At the end of the day, that's my main problem with Trinity Seven. It tries so hard into distancing itself from other fantasy harem shows, but doesn't succeed in doing that. The story feels awkward with many pauses happening just for more fanservice kicks, and everything out of this show felt like it was done before, and better elsewhere rather than here.

6.5/10

Review link: http://dazzlinganime1.blogspot.com/2015/02/trinity-seven-review.html. 

#4

Blue Exorcist (Episodes 1-8).

If there's one show on this list that I feel really bad for putting on this list, it'd be this one. I was really looking forward to this show for years, but I just didn't find enough time to watch it until the fall. And when I saw it, I really wanted to like it, I really did. But in the end, this show was just okay for the most part.

Though some of the elements weren't just copy and paste from various other shonen shows, the show felt like it was dragging itself to the ground, moving itself SO slowly that I was getting more and more disinterested in where it was going. Some of the characters were good, and some of them were not. Case in point, Yukio. You'd think he'd be super interesting to learn about, but he's just so boring I think looking at a bar of soap would be more fun.

And the way this current arc was going is not settling well with me. Besides having the worst villain introduction in the history of anime, I've heard from others that this arc in the manga leads up to be just a test.

Really? A test you say?

Haven't seen that excuse before. Oh, wait! It's been used in other shonen series and in freaking books! It's stupid to see an arc built up so dramatically just so that it ends up to be either a misunderstanding or a test for a main character.

As much as I want to get to the Shura arc, because I think that's where the show will start to get better, at this particular point I'm just done with the show. I'm not going to get past an arc built on testing out the main character but being super shady about it. That's not my cup of tea.

6/10

Not planning to review this since it's a DNF.

#3

Dance with Devils.

Oh gee, and I thought La storia della Arcana Famiglia (shortened it to Arcana Famiglia in my review) got ugly at points. But at least for the most part it had some character development aside from a few of the males and potential that it somewhat met aside from a few things (the endless amount of filler, the unmemorable musical score).

Dance with Devils started off fine, but then plummeted into its almighty grave in the second half. It isn't absolute crap, but let's just say it's nowhere near great. The characters are poorly developed, the story changes itself with absolutely no development or explanation as to why, a character death felt like a slap in the face after their development, solo songs either didn't stand out or just made me ill, and the ending felt like childish pleading for this show to make big money to get a second season.

It's a shame, because this show managed to let me down. So much so that I kind of forced myself to finish this. But what am I supposed to do when I can't feel any romantic connection between these males and the lead, Ritsuka? Easily the worst show I completed this year.

5.5/10

Review link: http://dazzlinganime1.blogspot.com/2015/12/dance-with-devils-review.html

These last 2 are going to be shows that I ended up not finishing. One fit into my halfway rule that I typically do, and one broke it after only 1 episode.

#2

  

Highschool DXD New (Episodes 1-6).

The first season of Highschool DXD was pretty good in my opinion. It managed to surprise me by actually having a story, the English dub being one of the best ones that FUNimation has put out, and for being kind of enjoyable at times, even with Asia constantly getting objectified despite only being 12 years old, and some underdeveloped characters.

Most people say that the second season of Highschool DXD managed to be better than the first; I'd say the opposite. Though the animation managed to take a step up in terms of quality, and even despite the introduction of 2 interesting new characters, the show still managed to make a few brain farts along the way that didn't help it at all.

Besides Kiba getting needed development, it isn't enough to further elaborate his character aside from being, at least for me, tossed in there just to add another male to outbalance the girls. Rias and Asia become the 2 main contenders for the "Who Gets to Bang Issei First?" game, and it becomes so distracting that the story weakens due to it not being fun to watch through. The script was still pretty funny in the English dub, but a couple of lines and the inclusion of God more often also weakened it. But the English dub also fell a little this season, with some of the actors not giving their best performances.

But I think the main reason why this season didn't work out for me was the villain defeat at the end of the first arc. When a character who's only been seen for a couple of seconds on screen defeats a villain, who up to that point was pretty strong and dodged every single attack from our heroes, with a sole punch, you know that's a big indicator to just go on your way and never look back.

While I have seen bits and pieces of Season 3 and it does look better than Season 2 (I think my Rias problem is getting fixed, at least a little), the first half of New kills any encouragement for me to go into the next season with open arms. To the people who did like this season, good for you. But I just wasn't one of them.

4.5/10

Season 1 Review Link: http://dazzlinganime1.blogspot.com/2014/11/highschool-dxd-review.html

Season 2 Incomplete Review Link: http://dazzlinganime1.blogspot.com/2015/02/highschool-dxd-new-incomplete-review-1-6.html

This year, I'm doing a Dishonorable Mentions section in my worst list. Last year, I didn't see the point of doing this because I didn't see a lot of shows that would prompt that. However, since I've seen more shows this year, I've also seen more bad ones. You may know some of these from season wrap-ups or past reviews. So let's see what animes didn't fully meet expectations:

Dishonorable Mentions

Absolute Duo (Episodes 1-6) (Despite having a really good opening, the show was just too cliche and didn't really being a lot to the table. Also, Lilith Bristol)

4.5/10

Bakamatsu Rock (Compared to other shows I watched this year, I felt this could have pushed itself beyond what it produced)

7/10

Cat Planet Cuties (Episodes 1-2) (Show was WAY too cluttered with many elements piling on top of one another, so much so that I didn't care)

4/10

Cute High Earth Defense Club Love! (Episodes 1-4) (Episodes 3 and 4 are to blame; as the comedy got really annoying)

6/10

Gangsta's ending (No closure compared to other shows. It left a really bad taste in my mouth)

7/10 for the series, 1/10 for the ending

Heaven's Memo Pad (half of Episode 1?) (Score often outshone all of the voices (most likely DVD error), main character was very pathetic and wishy-washy, nothing happened)

5/10

Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere Season 2 (More jam-packed than Season 1 was, causing me a great deal of confusion)

6.5/10

Jormungand: Perfect Order (The first half is pretty bad; leaves a lot of questions unanswered. Bookman is up there with Restia as a bad villain by doing absolutely nothing. Some of Koko's crew are still treated like disposables)

7/10

Mikagura School Suite (Just an average series overall; didn't really hold my interest. Plus, the battle animation was horrid)

6/10

Sengoku Musou (Episode 1, half of Episode 2) ("WTF?" and "What's going on here? I'm confused!")

3.5/10

The Testament of Sister New Devil (Episode 1) (Way too much fanservice and convenience. Also, who'd want to watch it after hearing about the disgusting things some of the girls have to do? Not me)

3.5/10

Triage X (Episode 1) (Meh is all I have to say)

5/10

Uta no Prince Sama Season 3 (Anything that made STARISH good has left the building. Haruka is simply a plot device and nothing else. Various other problems with the series besides the flawless Ranmaru)

6.5/10

Now it's time for the reveal of my worst anime of this year. Drum roll please!

#1

Sky Wizards Academy (Episode 1).

OMG I'M SO SHOCKED THAT THIS IS MY NUMBER 1 WORST ANIME! *sarcasm*

The first episode of Sky Wizards Academy instantly turned me off the minute I started it. I was expecting it to be bad, but oh boy was it BAD. I really have nothing else to add to this episode that I didn't mention in the summer wrap-up. Basically, the characters are horrid, half of the episode is exposition, and the other half is the same thing 3 times.

But if you do want to watch it, please just go and watch FUNimation's Broadcast Dub. You'll thank me for not getting any migraines listening to the Japanese.

1.5/10

And that ends the list. Did any of you like the shows that I talked about? Didn't like them like me? Have any other shows that were bad, and that you watched this year?

Dance with Devils Review

Dance with Devils Review

Warning: The following review may contain spoilers of the show Dance with Devils. If you wish not to know some plot details, or simply don't wish to find out what happens in the series, please exit the tab, and join me once you've watched the show. Or you know, you can continue to read, since you don't care about spoilers.

Anyways, with that said, thank you, and onto the review:

Back when I first watched Kamigami no Asobi, I was worried that if I told anyone about it, I was going to get judged. Though I saw some harem shows up to that point, that show was my first reverse harem and since those mainly appeal towards girls, I was concerned that people would view the reason why I watched that show in the wrong way.

But after I told a few people, they didn't seem to care. That made me pretty happy, considering that the majority of the reverse harem shows I heard of have been given a bad rep. Kamigami no Asobi was a really enjoyable show, and made me consider watching some of the other more popular ones (yes, that includes Diabolik Lovers).

When I first heard of this show back in July, I didn't check out the PV right away. But I did look at the characters, and I was immediately interested. Besides, this would be the first reverse harem show that had an order of 12 episodes that would air while I've been following the anime seasons. So I was like, "Sign me up ASAP!" Also, Brain's Base was back on animation.

Though I was a bit concerned with the game studio Rejet (responsible for the creation of Diabolik Lovers) and Elements Garden on music (Uta Pri was either too boring or too cluttered with many genres at once), I was willing to put that aside in order to see if I could enjoy this show. Did it impress me? Or did the experience somewhat mirror what I had for Uta Pri Season 3?

Well, let's start off with some GIF's and 1 meme to express my feelings for this show in a nutshell:

Yeah, let's just say this show and me were not the best of friends. After a promising start with a semi-good story, great animation, and a nice score, this show quickly turned itself upside down in the 2nd half. Along with the interesting story going out the window despite more plot development, we have weak characters being the main downfall here. Combine these two elements together, and you get a really unsatisfied person who thought the anime was going to be better than this mess.

So yeah, this is probably my angriest review yet. Strap yourselves in guys, this might not be pretty,

Let's open the storybook and see what we find:

Story

Ritsuka Tachibana has lived a fairly normal life. With her brother off at school in London, and her mom working as a translator for novels, nothing really remarkable has happened to her. But one day, she is summoned by the student council of Shiko Academy on the account of breaking some of the school rules. This is actually a ruse used by the student council. You see, the 4 boys that make up the student council are actually devils, who are after the Forbidden Grimoire in need of its power to rule the universe.

The hypnosis process fails however due to the pendant that Ritsuka wears on her neck. Though she is unaware of what happened, things start to turn upside down when she returns home to find it ransacked by mysterious men and her mom injured. When she calls the police, they arrive to find nothing wrong with the house, as if it were magically cast back to normal. Except for one big problem; her mom is nowhere to be found.

That night, when she tries to go to her friend Azuna's house, she is interrogated by the same men who wrecked her house, demanding the location of the Forbidden Grimoire. She is saved by the president of the student council, Rem Kaginuki. He agrees to help Ritsuka on her pursuit to locate her mother, though only for the sake of the academy.

As Ritsuka further delves into her mysterious life (or is tricked to by the members of the student council other than Mage and Rem), she finds out more secrets about herself and the people around her (especially her brother when he returns home). In this web of deception and destiny, who will she be able to trust? Her most trusted allies who've hid what she is or who they are? Or the student council despite being untrustworthy due to being devils or just plain creeps?

I will give the show credit for this: it has at least story progression throughout every episode. Something new was revealed in each installment, and that kept me interested in continuing to watch the show in the first half. In the second half, it is still there, but unfortunately, it's not as exciting. But I did appreciate the effort of having a story develop as it went on in a reverse harem.

It's a shame that the second half of this show becomes a hot mess. It's almost like new script writers were brought in (though that was not the case), because the series completely lost its magic. While the build-up is still there, all of the excitement became replaced with rage or boredom. While I found the show to be boring at times during the first six episodes (kind of like the first season of SNAFU, which is rather funny, since both of these shows share the same Japanese director), I didn't find myself getting agitated every two minutes. It was either by some dumb predictable plot twist I should have seen coming, a rage-inducing character death (we'll get to that), the show being far too anti-climatic, or not allowing the characters to breathe and function.

Messy aspects show its ugly colors when plot lines are dropped and forgotten for a while, and when events are rushed or happen with no build-up, which cause the characters to suffer even more. 180 degree tricks are used often, and it only seems like they're used because the writers found them to be convenient at the time. It's very insulting when it seems like the staff doesn't even care about where the show is going, because it's very apparent in the last few episodes.

For example, the student council boys begin to distrust Rem when he lies about the Forbidden Grimoire's location (it's found out to be Ritsuka at this point), and confront him on a random rooftop. After a musical number (I'll explain those later too), they basically announce to Rem that if he doesn't admit his true feelings, he should be expecting them to not work together anymore. When Rem still won't admit what he thinks about Ritsuka at that time, the others decide to look for her on their own. But by next episode, they're back with Rem again. And suddenly they fully trust him now for some reason. Well, besides the fact that he finally admitted that he loved Ritsuka. And now the whole group of bishes are together, and they're going to save Ritsuka, and......and.......

I'm sorry. What?

For starters, that's some great development there. How the hell did the devils trust Rem again so fast? Didn't they mention they were just going to find Ritsuka on their own since he wouldn't be true to his feelings? This is ridiculous. Not only because they decided to forgive Rem so easily, but its also because Lindo suddenly trusts Rem now as well.

Ugh, these stupid 180 plot flips that make absolutely no sense.

Ritsuka's mom, Rem's struggles with meeting his father's expectations, and Lindo being an exorcist are also small examples. 

But it gets worse. The show becomes so clamored with ideas, it doesn't even know what to define itself with. Is it a reverse harem? Is it a supernatural battle anime? Is it trying to be dramatic? Is it trying to make me feel things? Why should I care?

At the end of the day, the story for Dance with Devils is way too chaotic. It's a reverse harem meets stereotypical love drama meets supernatural battles meets poor love interests meets the most pathetic love story in the world meets Ever After High. And it's one hell of a cleanup.

But sadly, the story isn't the only bad thing. Let's also talk about another thing that got on my nerves:

Characters

Oh, where to begin:

This is, by far, the worst group of characters I've had the acquaintance of meeting in a reverse harem show. The only ones the show even bothered to develop properly were Ritsuka, Lindo, and Azuna. And of course, the best one got killed off.

By far, the males dominate the worst part of the character chain. A proper metaphor to describe how disappointing each of them are in the personality department would be burnt pancakes. Though flavored syrup does help a bit in improving them, they're still not as satisfactory as regular pancakes. It's kind of meh to think that the Sky Wizards Academy group have more depth to them than the males in this show ever did, which is pretty sad.

I wanted to know more about how the devils in the student council all met, why they trust Rem so much, and also why they've fallen for Ritsuka. In all fronts, everything disappoints. Aside from this moment with Mage:

Pretty much nothing is answered beyond that. Or it's because of Ritsuka's stupid scent making the devil boys come to the yard. It's really pathetic. I haven't wanted STARISH from Uta Pri Season 3 back, but after this, I think I just might.

But let's start off with the lead in all of this, Ritsuka:

The best way to describe Ritsuka is that she's basically every reverse harem heroine. While she does have moments where she's defiant or won't accept something without proof, by the end of the series those feel really tacked on as if to say, "Oh look, old Ritsuka's back!" Also, her brain cells take a nose dive around Episode 7.

In Episode 3, even though Urie tricked her into coming to the school for his own gains, it was understandable because he lied about having information about her mother. However, you really start to question Ritsuka's intelligence when pretty much every single guy does this trick later on (besides Mage and Rem). But Episode 10 is probably the worst example of this. She openly accepts an offer to the head of the vampire's castle with one of his underlings, even though he pretty much killed her friend earlier. I understand that this is the first time we've seen him by his face, but he's easily recognizable. How about his lips, or, gee, his f**king voice?

God, Ritsuka. You can do better than this.

She indirectly mentions that she knew later, but that's pretty much impossible considering she didn't have any sign of recognition on her face when he first showed up. *sighs*

Plus, she's pretty much this in a nutshell:

You guessed it, guys: Ritsuka is a special snowflake. You thought Arata from Trinity Seven was bad, but she's way worse. Not only is she the Forbidden Grimiore herself, but she's also the daughter of Lord Maksis, the Devil King.

You heard me right, not only is she the object both the devils and vampires lust after, but she's got some devil blood in her. Isn't that great?

Make it stop. These feel tacked on just so that Ritsuka can be even more special then she is already. I mean, she's got several devils lusting after her, so why not add a few things just to make her even more valuable "property"? Makes perfect sense, right?

Ugh, can we just move on? Oh wait, now we're going into even more uninteresting territory. The males, blech.

Since the anime barely bothers to put any effort into developing these guys other than Lindo (who's my least favorite), why should I care? These guys won't be getting solo sections like I normally do. Instead, a couple of paragraphs will do the trick. Let's get started.

Rem Kaginuki, the student council president. Main trope: the calm and collected. (The blonde in the middle)

Also known as Rem Arlond, from the high ranking devil family. As the series goes on, he manages to develop feelings for Ritsuka, though she finds out about the student council being devils and questions him about it. He then straight up ignores her when they manage to run into each other, mainly because Ritsuka doesn't trust him, and asks a few questions that he has difficulty answering. However, it's so apparent they have "feelings" for each other in Episodes 2 and 3, and then he pretty much ignores her once Lindo comes into the picture back from England. Aside from a few conversations, the feelings seem to dwindle for each other until Episode 8 comes around when they admit their love for each other in a song.

Romantic development, you say? Main ship, you say? LOL

Yeah, this makes absolutely no sense. How do you suddenly admit you're deeply in love with someone after you pretty much pretend they don't exist? And then they become somewhat of a couple by the end of the series. It doesn't work that easily. I've never seen a couple just start to fall in love, then act like they hate one another, admit their undying devotion for each other, hating each other again (mainly Ritsuka, which also comes out of nowhere), and then all of a sudden, BAM! We're so in love that we can't contain it anymore! Let's live together forever!

If I wanted insta-love, I'd watch Sensitive Pornograph over this. It may be more explicit, but at least the couples feel more realistic than this does.

Urie Sogami, the vice-president of the student council. Main trope: the playboy. (The brown haired male)

Oh my god, when were playboys this annoying? -_- Ren was at least ridiculously funny and cheesy in Uta Pri, but Urie is either just a Windows Movie Maker template or really gross. Not only does he try to hit on Ritsuka multiple times, but he also calls her his butterfly, and get this? His pet in Episode 10! What an outstanding gentleman!

Why do fangirls love these types of guys so much? I will never understand.

Mage Nanashiro, the secretary of the student council. Main trope: the brash boy. (Blonde at the far right)

My favorite based on his looks, his personality is probably also the best out of this wreck of males. Though he still suffers from poor development, his blunt attitude is actually pretty funny. Not only does he outright admit that the student council is devils, confirming Ritsuka's worst fears, but he also constantly asks her if she's fallen for him. Though some of his desperation does come off as annoying, it's at least better than some of the other interactions between the guys and Ritsuka. Now, if the guys had development....

Shiki Natsumezaka, the treasury of the student council. Main trope: the masochist. (Purple haired male)

Shiki is technically a fallen angel, but he still counts as being a devil. Though he is a masochist who seems to love pain inflicted on himself, he also has some sadistic tendencies. Besides creepy dialogue, the other really creepy thing he does is shred Azuna's leggings with his wing feathers a la Ikki Tousen style in his featured episode. That's pretty much it. Like all of the others, he is boring as f**k.

There's also Loewen, Rem's pet Pomeranian who can turn into a human, but I don't consider him part of the harem. He is first confirmed to be the mysterious blue-haired boy in Episode 7, almost tears Ritsuka's heart out, and then disappears for a few episodes before showing up in Episode 11 to rescue Ritsuka from Lord Nesta. As you can see, he is involved so little that his love confession is pretty much meaningless.

There's one last one, and that'd be Lindo. Out of all of the guys, I find him to be the most plain jane, as well as an pathetic excuse for a romantic conflict plot device. First believed to be Ritsuka's older brother (he is actually her cousin, but family's still family), he comes back from England, where he is studying to be an exorcist. His mission: protecting his family, as well as Ritsuka. Well, mainly Ritsuka. Because he never shuts up about it.

I swear, he must have mentioned it about 1,000 times throughout the series. It's like Lilith repeating Arata's name over and over again to the point of irritation in Trinity Seven. I get it, you love your "sister" to the point of infatuation. Can you, like, just shut up right now?

He also has an interesting quality to him. Besides being an exorcist, he is also a dhampir, a half human and half vampire. It mainly shows when he gets very angry. This probably would have made much more of an impact if it wasn't revealed 4 episodes too late. The signs were there with the red eyes since Episode 5, and I was interested. Episode 7 was a perfect time to see it, because Ritsuka got a more in depth look, and it was revealed he had claws. The Exorcist Society just announces it out of the blue in Episode 9. While I'm all like, "Finally! Took this show long enough." Ritsuka acts all surprised.

No! The most important signs were there! Don't tell me you weren't seeing that coming, because you've seen the eyes and claws before!

Okay, back to Lindo now. Though him being a dhampir character was pretty cool, the problem is that he's just so annoying, going on and on about protecting Ritsuka and keeping her safe and how the devils are evil. It's so irritating to watch when these lines appear over and over again in every single episode. And at the end, he accepts Ritsuka's romance with Rem. Um, Lindo, didn't you hate him like all throughout the series? When did this happen?

And we're finally done with the guys. Thank god for that. Now onto Azuna, who's at least better than these males combined:

Okay, let me start off by saying this:

Yeah, this event shown in a screenshot up above here. This should NOT have happened whatsoever. Not only did the writers decide to whip this out so suddenly that it was incredibly anti-climactic, but it just felt like they did it as an excuse to start the next story arc. And to me at least, just for the LOLs.

But onto her actual character. Azuna is Ritsuka's best friend from school. She deeply cares and starts getting worried when Ritsuka gets more involved with the student council. In Episode 6, we find out that much like Lindo, she is an exorcist, which I found to be pretty cool. Finally, a best friend character who has use in the story? Good job, writers!

But then they kill her off.

It's such a waste to me. Why even bother developing a character trope that wouldn't be bothered otherwise, and then just kill her off later? What good does that serve?

Emotions, my ass. This unnecessary death just makes me mad, not only because she was the best character in the show by far, but the fact that they gave her development, and this is how they treat the fans who weren't expecting it?

Okay, let me calm down now.

Other characters in this anime include Maria, Ritsuka's mother, Jek, Lord Nesta's underling who looks like Inner Moka with his hood off (at least his face does), Lord Nesta, the head of the vampires and Lindo's father, and Marta, Ritsuka's aunt and Lindo's mother seen in flashbacks.

Animation

The animation for this series was produced by Brain's Base, who are also know for Kamigami no Asobi, Sengoku Collection, and My Little Monster.

This is probably the best thing about this show. Much like Kamigami no Asobi, Brain's Base is very consistent with their animation, and most of it looks gorgeous. Though it lacks some of the bright colors of their previous reverse harem entry and goes for a medium tone, all of the characters look good, and nearly all of it is done well.

Props for that at least! The story and characters may be laughable, but the animation's on fleek. 

Sound

The score for this series was composed by Elements Garden, who are known for composing for reverse harem shows before. Uta no Prince Sama, and Kamigami no Asobi come to mind. They are also known for Symphogear's music.

Also like the animation, the score managed to impress me. Though it isn't as striking as their effort in Kamigami no Asobi, as the score blends into the background a bit at the end, it still is haunting and captivating all the same, with many orchestral elements. There's a part to it that enhances a bad scene from being completely horrible to just mildly terrible, or it's an instrumental to a musical number that shows a guy's different style during a solo song. I liked it for the most part.

Speaking of the songs that I've mentioned throughout the review, this show also dabbles in musical elements with solo or group songs. At the beginning of the series, it made me bring out the jazz hands, but towards the end of the show, the songs drop too. While the first few did a good job introducing the characters and their feelings at the time, most of them are either too boring, too cheesy, or just make me want to hurl because a couple were beyond saving.

My favorite out of the entire series would have to be the student council introduction song. That number was pretty badass, and offered a promising introduction to the student council, even though we didn't get it. A link below:

But I also liked Mage's solo song simply because of the way it's sung. Anyone else find it hilarious that he pretty much half belts his lines?

But other than that, the other songs were okay. Either they had pretty cliche melodies, disgusting or cheesy lyrics, or just had me gagging all the way through. The Rem and Lindo duet in Episode 9 and the group song from Episode 11 are both great examples. It's kind of a shame when you think My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, a show that's mainly directed towards kids and that I love, has better writing for its musical numbers than this show ever did.

If the writer of the songs from Uta Pri did the songs for this series, I'd find that absolutely hilarious to be honest. But moving on from that.

The voice work for this show is actually pretty good in both languages. However, I find Japanese to be slightly better, since the English dub is not final yet. Easily the most memorable voices of the show would be Ritsuka in English and Japanese (her Japanese seiyuu comes from the same idol group as Yu Serizawa, who played Yoko in Jitsu wa Watashi wa. Both of them do a good job with making their characters sound cute without being overly so), and the student council (mainly in the English dub). I would watch more of the Broadcast Dub, but since the last half of this series is so bad, I'd rather not bother.

Highlights in the original Japanese are Himika Akaneya, Soma Saito, Subaru Kimura, Risae Matsuda, Kazutomi Yamamoto (as both Loewen's dog form and young Lindo), Tatsuhisa Suzuki, Yuuto Suzuki, and Keiji Fujiwara.

Highlights so far in the English dub are Dawn M. Bennett, Garrett Storms, Aaron Roberts, Ricco Fajardo (who goes for a more gravelly approach as Mage than Subaru Kimura, and pulls it off really well), Seth Magill, Morgan Garrett, Katherine Bourne (for her first credited role, she's pretty good), Morgan Berry, and Derick Snow (I'm assuming at this point he's both forms of Loewen, but I'm not sure).

Verdict

Here are more GIF's and another picture that manage to sum up my feelings to this anime once again. It's been a few months since I've felt so complied to write a really ranty review, but considering this is worse than the 3rd season of Uta Pri (and that was pretty bad at parts), I have no choice. There's more ridiculous moments, more stupidity, and not as much enjoyment because of no Ranmaru. This is easily the worst anime I managed to complete this year.

I haven't seen a full anime this average and poor since Cuticle Detective Inaba, and even I had to skip around since I was lost. This series was watched week by week (half of it by force), and even Cuticle Detective Inaba turned out to be slightly better than this. The ending turned out to be more realistic too. Oh wait, that's right. BECAUSE IT HAD AN ACTUAL ENDING!

Dance with Devils doesn't have a good ending, as it leaves various questions unanswered, the devils still wanting Ritsuka even though she already made her choice (as to why, I'll get back to you on that probably never), and that cliffhanger reeking of desperation, I'm just glad it's over.

Some of you may think I'm being a bit too kind on this show with the score I'm giving it, but the animation, the musical score, and at least the good moments in the beginning manage to give me something more substantial. As a whole, this show easily gets the lowest number I've given a show, being lower than a 6.5. If it was a grade, it'd be F for fail.

I'll leave off with this; I'd rather reread part of Lord of the Flies then ever sit through this again. And that's saying something.

Score: 5.5/10

Positives:

Animation is gorgeous.

Good score.

Story progression (mainly in first half) is great.

Negatives:

The unamusing mess of the second half.

Story threads are either forgotten or are changed with no development.

Little to no character development of the males.

Azuna's death.

Episodic songs are either average or really icky.

Ending that demands a 2nd season that might not be possible.