I can’t make a top ten list of anime for 2014 because I didn’t watch ten series all the way through. Here’s a quick look at what I finished.
The best
Pupipo. It’s unlikely ever to be licensed, so you’ll have to track it down through irregular channels. It’s worth an hour of your life.
Pretty good
Hozuki no Reitetsu. Life in Japanese hell. The most successful comedy of the year. To fully appreciate the eighth episode, watch a Kyary Pamyu Pamyu video first. (You don’t have to watch the video all the way through. One minute will be plenty.)
Kill la Kill, part two. Over the top and beyond. ((I’d like to see a sequel to this — not more bizarre action with the fate of the world at stake, but rather an account of how Satsuki adapts to ordinary life and ordinary clothes. It will be a much greater challenge for her than anything she faced in the show.))
The rest
Amagi Brilliant Park. It’s the first Kyoto Animation series I’ve watched beginning to end since the first season of Suzumiya Haruhi, which is something. Still, I was too irritated with the principals to enjoy the humor.
Madan no Ou to Vanadis. The greatest disappointment of the year. Tatsuo Sato is more comfortable with spaceships than with swords and magic. Tigre is too much a straight arrow, and the war maidens are often too silly to take seriously. The show felt rushed. It needs at least 26 more episodes, but I’d rather Sato start a new project that suits his vision better than waste more time in Brune.
Ore Twintails ni Narimasu. The fourth episode is great. After that, it goes downhill fast. There are way too many double-entendres throughout, and the premise is just a bit squicky.
Sabagebu. Sometimes funny, sometimes tasteless. Still, it’s a good antidote for the Stella C3 catastrophe.
Sekai Seifuku —Bouryaku no Zvezda—. Sometimes funny, sometimes merely weird.
Witch Craft Works. I know I watched this, but I can barely remember it.
And a couple of other things
Girls und Panzer: Kore ga Hontou no Anzio-sen Desu! OVA. A particularly enjoyable affair with Miho’s girls and their tanks.
Mouretsu Pirates: Abyss of Hyperspace. Excellent, as far as I can judge from the raw, but I’ll have to withhold final judgement until it’s subtitled.