AniTAY’s Top Anime of 2021: Part One
2021 was… a lot.
I won’t say it was as bad as 2020, but it still wasn’t an easy year to get through. Thank god it was one of the best years for anime in the past decade. My own best of the year list is so long that I’m still on the fence whether or not I want to actually publish it, as it has 20 shows with five honorable mentions. For now though, another year is in the bag, which means I had to once again conduct the year end poll of asking nearly two dozen anitay authors what their picks for best anime of the year was. We got new choices, some chose to bow out this time, my brain was cooked in the process of counting all the votes, but the results are in and they will be published throughout the week.
The idea is simple (the rules, less so): each AniTAY contributor is allowed to vote for ten total shows and/or movies based on rank, with their most favorite getting ten points, and their least-most favorite getting one point, effectively a ranked-choice vote (however, ballots with between 5 to 10 entries are accepted as well). Any anime that got an official western release is fair game, which unfortunately means non-officially released media like Belle isn’t allowed, but anything that came out a previous year to then see a wide release the following year is eligible (Demon Slayer: Mugen Train for example was disqualified last time but was fair game this time). Also, any pre-existing show from a previous year that got another season/cour this year is allowed as well, as is any show with a split season over two years counting into the incoming year. This means if something started in 2020 but went into 2021, it counted as a 2021 show, and if something started in 2021 but goes into 2022, it isn’t eligible (sorry, Ranking of Kings). However, if there is a delay between seasons is around 12 weeks from “year to year”, it’s fair game, which is why 86, despite having a delayed ending, was eligible for voting.
With the rules stated, here are the results: 22 contributors filled in ballots, resulting in 67 total entries getting points. This is about the same number of voters as 2020, and it resulted in 10 more entries than last time, which reflects just how packed 2021 was for anime to choose from. Part one will list the shows that had fewer than 10 votes total, part two on Wednesday will list the shows that cracked two digits up to eleventh place overall, and part three on Friday will list the ten finalists, along with AniTAY’s overall pick for Anime of the Year (and keep your eyes out for a future podcast episode where yours truly announces the results). For now though:
Tied for 64th Place (1 point each):
Muv-Luv Alternative
My Senpai is Annoying
The Saint’s Magic Power is Omnipotent
Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon
Tied for 61st Place (2 points each):
Shirobako: The Movie
Taisho Otome Fairy Tale
That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Season 2
Tied for 55th Place (3 points each):
Heaven’s Design Team
Idolish7: Third Beat! Part 1
My Hero Academia Season 5
My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! X
Otherside Picnic
Super Cub
Tied for 50th Place (4 points each):
D4DJ First Mix
Don’t Toy with Me, Miss Nagatoro
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean Part 1
Life Lessons with Uramichi-Oniisan
Star Wars: Visions
Tied for 47th Place (5 points each):
Cardfight!! Vanguard overDress- One first place vote
So I’m a Spider, So What?
The Great Jahy Will Not Be Defeated!
Tied for 45th Place (6 points each):
Mieruko-chan
To Your Eternity
Tied for 42nd Place (7 points each):
Aggretsuko Season 4
Komi Can’t Communicate
Tsukimichi: Moonlit Fantasy
41st Place (8 points):
Beastars Season 2
Tied for 38th Place (9 points each):
Bottom-tier Character Tomozaki
The Duke of Death and His Maid
Higehiro
And so ends part one of three of the overall results! Tune in for the next couple of days to see what our democracy has wrought in terms of anime popularity!
