The end of the year is here (well, almost!) and it’s time for the 18th 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 ~200 TV series and ~50 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 2023 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.
  • For OVA/movies, it has to have been released on Blu-ray/DVD in 2023 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 12:00 AM PST on January 1st, giving you the most time possible before the Best of Anime post comes out with the results later that week. This means the 12:00 AM in the morning in PST or 8:00 AM GMT on the 1st.



18 Comments

    1. Ah, just saw that only animes which are finished got on the list. Seems like a distinct disadvantage for two-cour shows, though. And why is Mushoku Tensei S2 then on the list, since it is a split cour of one season?

      Magnus
      1. I think any advantage may balance out with the possible disadvantages of second cours being worse than the series’ first cour or people forgetting about it or not looking back at a series as favorably months down the line if it ends up in the subsequent year’s AOTY picks instead.

        With that said, we usually end up looking at split cour series that air in different years individually and consider whether they have “a clear stopping point” that can lead to their inclusion for this year’s poll even with another cour coming later. There can be an argument made that Mushoku Tensei S2 Part 1 had that clear stopping point and the next part isn’t coming out for until the Spring (multiple seasons post Part 1), so those factors tilted things in favor of including it for this year’s poll.

        Zephyr
  1. My top for this year:
    1. Vinland Saga Season 2
    2. Tengoku Daimakyou
    3. Mushoku Tensei: Isekai Ittara Honki Dasu Season 2
    4. Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2
    5. Golden Kamuy

    Honorable mentions: Oshi no Ko, Gundam: The Witch of Mercury, Skip to Loafer, Dr. Stone: New World

    Movies/OVA’s (in no particular order):
    Shingeki no Kyojin: The Final Season – Kanketsu-hen
    Pluto
    Tensei shitara Slime Datta Ken: Coleus no Yume
    Tensei shitara Slime Datta Ken: Guren no Kizuna-hen
    BURN THE WITCH #0.8 (while I haven’t seen it yet, I’m sure it’ll be great)

    Shrubbery

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