Japanese Fans Reveal 2018's Best Anime

Now that 2019's anime year is well under way, fans are starting to look back on 2018 and figuring [...]

By Nick Valdez

Now that 2019's anime year is well under way, fans are starting to look back on 2018 and figuring out what their favorite shows from the year were. Japanese fans recently voted in a poll NicoNico and chose some pretty surprising choices for their top 10 of the year.

The list of favorites (thanks to a translation from @islamctear on Twitter) is below, but do they match up with your picks for the Best Anime of 2018?

Voting in the Anime Grand Prix on NicoNico, the ten Best Anime of 2018 (as voted on by fans in Japan) reads as such:

  1. Zombieland Saga
  2. SSSS.Gridman
  3. A Place Further than the Universe
  4. Laid Back Camp
  5. Cells At Work
  6. Pop Team Epic
  7. Goblin Slayer
  8. JoJo Bizarre Adventure Part 5
  9. Asobi Asobase
  10. Bloom Into You

The top three picks are genuinely surprising considering both Zomebieland Saga and SSSS.Gridman both debuted later in the year in the packed Fall 2018 season. JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind, and Goblin Slayer are from this late crop of shows as well. Meaning that each of these made such an impact so late into the year, they managed to carve out their spot in the top ten.

The opposite can be said for A Place Further than the Universe and Laid Back Camp, which made such a good impression they managed to nab such high places in the top ten despite coming out earlier in the year. But as for the top pick, while Zombieland Saga didnt quite hit as hard in the United States as it did in Japan, fans of the series were treated to a tight 12 episode series. Should it continue in some fashion, there will be a groundswell of support.

An original anime devised by Cygames, AVEX Pictures, and Studio MAPPA, Zombieland Saga is a particularly unique series following Sakura Minamoto, a high-school girl who dreams of becoming an idol except she comes across a major speed bump...she dies. Ten years after her death, she's brought back to life alongside six "legendary" idol girls from different eras by a mysterious man in order to form an idol super group (known as "Franchouchou") that will put Japan's Saga Prefecture on the map. The idol industry has been dying, but now these living dead girls will try and spring it back to life.

Acting as both a parody and loving endorsement of the idol genre, this series has a ton of support from fans in the United States for its character development, and even for its well-thought out portrayal of a trans character reveal. That's not something that happens often in anime, so seeing it make the top of fans' lists in Japan is a pretty big achievement.

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