Poll

The end of the year is here (well, technically just ended – I swear we’re on time!) and it’s time for the 17th Annual Reader’s Choice poll. Do you have a favourite series you’d like to see win? Are you just curious to see what everyone else enjoyed this year? There’s no electoral college here. The anime with the most votes wins!

As per the usual, there will be two polls for you to vote on this year – one for regularly broadcast TV series, and another for OVA/movies. We’re asking you for your top 5 picks in each poll, which should stop the results from being heavily skewed towards the mega-popular shows. This year we have ~170 TV series and ~60 OVA/movies for you to choose from. Keep in mind that like all entertainment, anime is subjective. There is no one size fits all here. Please respect the opinions of others, even if you may disagree with them.

Criteria-wise, the following is what was used to decide what shows did (or did not) make it onto these lists:

  • For a regular broadcast TV series to be considered, it has to have finished airing in 2022 and fit in the general criteria for receiving a preview. Series with another season coming but a clear stopping point in the one we’ve already seen are included. At the same time, shows generally aired for all ages/kids were not included. Any Netflix series or OVA with a full season release (e.g. 12 episodes) is included in this category for fairness.
  • For OVA/movies, it has to have been released on Blu-ray/DVD in 2022 to qualify, ensuring that viewers outside of Japan have had a chance to watch it. This mostly pertains to theatrical offerings. The difference from TV series is that they don’t necessarily have to be complete to be included, since it can take several years for an OVA series to finish.

As far as we’re aware, the anime series list is complete, barring a handful of shows that are animated but unlike “typical” anime. The OVA/movie list is less so, but this is by design; there are lot of really niche OVAs that aren’t really worth considering and there is a tendency for series in this category to be delayed or released at different dates, so accuracy will vary greatly. If you feel there’s something that deserves consideration, isn’t listed, or is listed but shouldn’t be, please leave a comment or send Pancakes/Zephyr an email or tweet Zephyr via @ZephyrRC and we’ll add it in as soon as possible. Please note that the first comment in this post will keep a list of shows added, so keep an eye on that before voting.

With that said, vote away!

Note: To give viewers more time to vote, the polls will close this year at 9:00 AM PST on January 10th, giving you the most time possible before the Best of Anime post comes out with the results later that week. This means the 9:00 AM in the morning in PST or 3:00 PM GMT on the 10th.

35 Comments

    1. Legend of Galactic Heroes is in a weird spot where globally (i.e. North America) has Crunchy technically ahead of releases because Japan’s been doing theatrical first and BDs later. We typically follow BDs, in which case Japan hasn’t released all of Sakubou yet, but I guess half or so of the season has been released so I’ll add it tentatively for now under: “Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu: Die Neue These – Sakubou” in the Anime Poll.

      Zephyr
      Reply

  15. As per usual, to close down another year of anime, here’s my top picks for last year. In my opinion my top two are head and shoulders above the rest: Made in Abyss: Golden City and Mob Psycho 100 III. Although it is a close call, my top spot goes to Made in Abyss based on enjoyment. Enjoyment might not be the right word, as it is mostly missery and suffering, I did find a kind of beauty in the story, heavily supported by Kevin Penkin’s brilliant soundtrack. The last three of my list certainly aren’t bad, but Made in Abyss and Mob Psycho were most enjoyable, beautiful and touching.

    Top anime
    1. Made in Abyss: Retsujitsu no Ougonkyo
    2. Mob Psycho 100 III
    3. Ousama Ranking
    4. Yofukashi no Uta
    5. Chainsaw man

    Honourable mentions: Shingeki no Kyojin: The Final Season (2022), Kimetsu no Yaiba (for it’s amazing action scenes), Spy x Familiy (while the second part wasn’t as good, it’s first part certainly does deserve mention), Sono Bisque Doll wa Koi o suru.

    I’ll be back later with OVA’s as well, after I’ve seen the Jujutsu Kaisen movie 🙂

    Shrubbery
    Reply

    1. Now that I’ve seen the Jujutsu Kaisen movie, I can affirm it is worth voting for. Complete OVA/Movie list (in no particular order):
      – Gekijouban Jujutsu Kaisen 0
      – Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Part 2 OVA
      – Kobayashi-san Chi no Maidragon S: Nippon no Omotenashi
      – Sword Art Online: Progressive – Hoshi Naki Yoru no Aria
      – Mahoutsukai no Yome: Nishi no Shounen to Seiran no Kishi

      Then again, I’ve only seen like 7 of them all…

      Shrubbery
      Reply

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