User blog:Lder1995/End of Year Reflection: Lucas' Favorite Anime, Manga, Shows, Movies, and Games

Hi everyone! I’m Lucas DeRuyter, Fandom’s Anime Community Manager!

This was my first full year at Fandom, and I’ll admit that a lot of that time was spent trying to get my legs under me. I still think I was able to do a lot for the platform and anime communities, though!

Helping communities best implement Fandom’s Gender Identity Guidelines was a big focus for me this year, and it was inspiring to see how many admins and bureaucrats are committed to making the Fandom wiki platform an inclusive space where everyone can celebrate their passions. I also attended, and helped Fandom users attend, anime conventions like Anime Expo and Crunchyroll Expo. Connecting with wiki users in IRL spaces was a blast, and there’s definitely room for Fandom to be more active on the convention circuit. I also launched Fandom’s Anime Livestream, and I absolutely love producing dedicated programming for anime fans that’s created by the anime fans at Fandom.

I’m so proud of all of this work and forming so many connections with community members through it. I cannot wait to build on all of this in 2023!

Elden Ring
I, like a lot of people if sales numbers are any indication, lost pretty much the entire month of March to Elden Ring this year. This was the game of 2022 and for good reason! This is the most approachable SoulsBorne style game from the FromSoftware team yet. As the PlayStation 5 remake of Demon’s Souls was the first game I played on the new console, and I’m so glad I could follow it up with Elden Ring almost exactly a year later.

Seeing ideas first implemented in Demon’s Souls refined and polished to a mirror sheen in Elden Ring was a delight! I went with a Spellblade class for my character in both games, and I was stunned by just how much more depth and customization was available for that playstyle by just Elden Ring’s mid-game. Not to mention the surprise I felt when I fought an Erdtree Avatar, found the experience surprisingly easy, and then realized the mini-boss was a reworked version of Demon’s Souls’ Vanguard Demon. The skills and muscle memory I picked up in Demon’s Souls were helping me get through Elden Ring, and I think that’s a really cool experience unique to video games as a medium.

On top of all of that, the world of Elden Ring is so expansive, and realized, and…also somehow really funny!? One of my new favorite boss fights now involves a giant man riding around on a comically small horse, and I wish more games were even half as weird and daring as Elden Ring. Even if the experience made me realize I personally prefer the more authored structure of linier games, Elden Ring not only lives up to the hype, but exceeds it.

Chainsaw Man Manga


The Chainsaw Man anime premiered this year…but more importantly the Chainsaw Man manga returned!!! Tatsuki Fugimoto’s one of a kind manga is as wild and heartbreaking in part 2 as it was in part 1. There’s a whole new batch of broken people struggling and failing to find some kind of happiness in their lives, and I both love and hate how much I connect to each and every one of them.

While the Chainsaw Man anime is sensational, watching it made me realize even more how much I love the manga’s paneling, art direction, and experimentation with the medium. One trick in particular in part two — the obscuring of a speech bubble behind features of the school setting — really helped drive home just how small and insignificant a character was before completely overtaking a later page as they grew into a living calamity. There’s nothing out there that hits me where I live as well and as often as the Chainsaw Man manga, and I cannot recommend it enough.

Hunter x Hunter Manga


Wow, this was a big year for manga returns! Yoshihiro Togashi’s powerhouse returned after a four year hiatus due to his impaired health. For perspective, the Shonen Jump app and section of Viz’s website — that most people now agree is the best and most ethical way to read some of the most popular manga in the world — launched and became wildly successful entirely within that time span! Until October 23rd, 2022, Hunter x Hunter had never appeared on the platform! And now it’s back and one of the best series available!

You would think after a four year break there would be some kind of relationship map or a summary of the story so far, but no, we’re immediately thrown back into the political thriller of the Succession Contest Arc and I’m completely here for it. Each of the characters here have such clear personalities and designs that, even if I can’t remember their allegiances or names, I can almost instinctively tell what they’re about. Between this masterful character writing and fanservice — like Hisoka’s “disguise” just being him out of make-up and looking hot in sweats or a Phantom Troupe origin story — I could not be happier with HxH’s return.

Barry Season 3


As mentioned before I, definitely not voyeuristically, enjoy stories about freaky little dudes trying to find happiness, but are maybe too far gone to ever really connect with people they care about and build the life that they want. That’s what the HBO series Barry is about, and it might be better than anything else in this very specific genre. Bill Hader plays the titular Barry, who’s post-military PTSD and work as an apathetic to reluctant assassin has turned him into the weirdest and freakiest of dudes…which makes it really tough for him to follow his newfound dream of becoming an actor.

I’ll be the first to admit that the third season of Barry was less funny than the previous, but in exchange it has some of the best filmography, story boarding, and direction I’ve ever seen from a television show. I still get anxious just thinking about the motorcycle chase scene! Barry is one of the best shows airing right now, and I cannot wait for season 4!

Bros


By now you’d think there’d be more movies that are about, staring, and largely created by queer people…but there aren’t, and that’s why Bros is one of my favorite movies to come out this year. Pitched as a romcom about gay men largley intended for gay men, I can’t think of any other movie, show, or game quite like it.

Even if it can be schmaltzy in places, what really struck me about Bros is how much it felt like a snapshot of people’s lives. Characters are honest, and inconsistent, and not always justified in their actions in a way that feels true to real life. I know people who would be right at home in this movie and alternated between laughing and squirming so hard because I’ve been in some of those situations. I really hope we get more movies that are willing to shrug off heteronormative opression and be as niche and gay as the creators want it to be.

Neon White


I cannot speedrun video games. My fingers are dumb and I do not have the diligence to stick with a game long enough to memorize inputs or optimal routes. Playing Neon White makes me feel like I’m speed running a video game, though, and it’s one of the coolest feelings on Earth.

With its anime inspired art direction, stylish UI, and buttery smooth controls; Neon White drips personality out of every pour. The main character is voiced by Steve Blum doing his Spike Spiegel voice! It's scored by Machine Girl!!! This game is not for everyone, but it’s 100% my kind of nonsense and I absolutely adore it.

Akiba Maid War


What if the Sopranos but the entire cast are proto-Instagram influencers? That’s how I’ve been describing Akiba Maid War to my friends, family, co-workers, and anyone else who will listen. This anime is as ridiculous as it is well produced and it might be my favorite anime of the year.

I really was not joking in my opening sentence. This anime is a series of mob movie/show tropes, except the cast is almost entirely women. This loops it around into this being one of the most progressive anime in recent memory, since most episodes revolve around women with agency dealing with things like fighting off union busters or struggling to keep a small business solvent. You really have to suspend your disbelief for this anime, but if you can do that it’s a fantastic time.

Smiling Friends


On the surface level, Smiling Friends is about two critters who try to make other people smile as a part of their job. Peeling even a single layer of that onion back, though, reveals a show that revels in exploring some of the most uncomfortable situations and existential anxieties that a person can experience. As someone who spends too much time thinking about things I cannot change and situations I never want to be in, this show was made for me.

Smiling Friend has such a Newgrounds animation look and tone that I can’t help but fawn over it. Even as episodes routinely make me melt in my chair. One episode in particular, [https://smilingfriends.fandom.com/wiki/The_Smiling_Friends_Go_to_Brazil! “The Smiling Friends Go to Brazil!”], features such a realized and believable mini-catastrophe entirely of the main characters’ making that I had to go on a walk immediately after to calm down enough to have any chance at sleeping that night. There’s nothing else on TV as personally affecting as Smiling Friends, for better or worse.

Players


Esports as a concept is cool. Everyone can relate to wanting to be the best at something, and games offer an even playing ground to pursue that desire regardless of stature or physicality. I’m infinitely closer to being the best Solid Snake main in Smash Bros, than a tight end in the NFL. In practice, though, Esports leagues are often cesspools of drama with players whose personalities are even wilder than most traditional athletes.

Players as a show understands both of these aspects of Esports completely, while being a gripping, Hard Knocks style sports story. This show is both the biggest indictment of and promotion for Esports, as it honestly depicts what this scene is like and who the people competing are. I hope this show gets a second season, but the first is already everything I could ever want from it.

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean


The latest adaptation of Hirohiko Araki’s sensational manga should not be as good as it is. Stone Ocean is perhaps the most chaotic and disjointed stretch of the series and the Netflix binge format undercuts the episode to episode tension past installments thrived on. Top to bottom, this is a bit of a mess…

And yet it’s still one of my favorite pieces of media from this year! The voice acting is as good as ever, character designs and posing continue to be striking, and the themes of a young woman resisting patriarchal oppression a century in the making are all top notch. Stone Ocean is a beautiful mess, and I don’t know how anyone with an appreciation for anime and camp cannot love it.

Final Fantasy XVI


I am a sucker for JRPG-ass JRPGs. If you cram a bunch of cool sounding proper nouns into a game using or iterating upon traditional, turn-based combat; you already have my money! Which is why I could not be more thrilled for the next installment of arguably the biggest JRPG franchise in the US, Final Fantasy XVI.

I’ll be the first to admit that director Yoshi-P’s explanation for the game’s lack of diversity is inexcusable, but I’m still looking forward to this game more than anything else next year. I scrounged for a PlayStation 5 so I could play this game! I am actively praying to whichever Eikon is listening that this game is good.

Birdie Wing: Golf Girls Story Season 2


While the first season of the Birdie Wing anime wasn’t quite good enough to make my top 10 media list for 2022, it’s still a wonderful anime. I even wrote about it for ANN! You should go read that article but, TL;DR, the anime is great at depicting a lesbian camp romance but less so at conveying the intricacies and appeal of Golf. I’m still pumped for season 2, though!

This anime is popcorn food, buttered and seasoned specifically for me. Every time I think about the global Golf mafia that exists in this anime I burst out into giggles! With the first season being such a spectacle, I cannot wait to see how season 2 manages to top it.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie


I am deeply concerned about how the Super Mario Bros. movie will turn out, mostly because of its public delays and concerning casting choices. That being said, I’m definitely going to see this movie! It feels like it's either going to be the best movie adaptation of a video game or the worst, and I’m here for the ride either way!

I can’t think of a single Mario branded piece of media that isn’t good or at least interesting on some level. Nintendo keeps knocking it out of the park with this franchise and that’s why it's one of the best and oldest in video games. Fingers crossed I love this Mario movie as much as I ironically love the 1993 Super Mario Bros. movie.

What I look forward to doing for the community in 2023
In 2023 I want to keep building up the Fandom Anime Livestream and continue to bolster programming and other events that give anime fans a space to celebrate their passions. On top of that, I’d love to try to organize more meetups at Anime conventions and create more off-platform opportunities. I’ll always remain committed to making sure that Fandom is a safe and inclusive space for anime fans to come together, and I want to create as many partnerships and other opportunities possible to show how much I appreciate everyone on this platform.