Top Anime Rankings Adjusted:

I hadn't changed my rankings in a while and discrepancies were popping up, so I decided to go ahead and revamp them.

I wanted to take what I had learned from 'In Another World With 100 Waifus' and apply it to my anime rankings.  If there were lots of characters I admired, sufficient to include them as waifus or children in the book, that was a signal that I actually enjoyed that anime more than series where that wasn't the case.

Naturally this isn't an absolute standard, some series thrive based more on their plots or environments than the winning personalities of their characters.  But it's just a good thing to keep in mind.

For this reason, I decided to dramatically raise my evaluation of Oreshura, Joukamachi no Dandelion and Dimension W.

Ryuuou no Oshigoto and No Game No Life also saw good fortune, making the top 100 for the first time.

Haganai was downranked a bit, because I felt an incomplete series shouldn't be ranked above series with good endings like Toradora and Tengen Toppa.

Touch/Mix was upranked considerably to account for the inclusion of Mix into its worth that's now airing.

Death March was downranked considerably based off of my negative reaction during my latest rewatch.

Zero no Tsukaima went up 70+ spots, to #123, now that I realize the anime's version of events is actually superior to the novel's, and therefore should be treated as the only available source of the story.  If people don't watch this anime, they can't just fall back on the novels, they'll just lose the story entirely, so it's vital that this anime not fall out of my top anime rankings, which also serve as my must-see suggestions for others to view.

High School Fleet moved up almost as much, to #124, due to my increasing fondness for the sharpness of the story and animation and the upcoming movie.

Steins;Gate dropped down to #125 after I realized the new season sucked.

BanG Dream! moved up to #150 after the second season proved its new all-CG direction wasn't a deal breaker.

Broken Blade moved down to #152 after I realized I wasn't very fond of cuckoldry.

Baccano dropped down to #163 because I prefer series where all the main characters aren't insane.

Imouto Sae Ireba Ii dropped down to #175 due to its lack of admirable characters.

Kimi ni Todoke dropped down to #176 due to its endorsement of long distance relationships, which are poisonous and destructive to anyone who might be foolish enough to take said advice.

Seitokai no Ichizon dropped down to #182 after I realized there weren't any characters in the story I admired.

The same is true of Tears to Tiara, which dropped down to #185.

The same is true of Kitakubu, which dropped down to #165.

Kemono Friends dropped down to #192 due to the 2nd season being bullshit.

Prince of Tennis went down, Card Captor Sakura went up, Zettai Bouei Leviathan went down, Rokka no Yuusha went up, Usagi Drop went down, Granblue Fantasy went up, School Days went down, Princess Principal went up, and so on.

The rankings have undergone absolute convulsions in the 100-200 range.  It mostly stayed the same from 1-75.  The only way to get a full grasp of all the dramatic changes is to check out the full rankings:  http://diamed-the-road-less-traveled.blogspot.com/2013/07/top-anime-rankings.html

These top 200 series are not unbeatable.  Many have huge flaws.  I'd love to replace them with something better.  The problem is the animation studios just aren't making any new good shows anymore.  It's been over a year since the latest new good franchises -- Death March and Ryuuou no Oshigoto! came out.  This is an unprecedented drought in the modern era.  The last time we went this long without a new great series was 1993-1994.  I would love to replace the bottom 50 series with new up and comers, but I'm starting to doubt that will ever happen.  If anime as a genre just moves away wholesale from the kind of content I like, the rankings will ossify into a permanent and irreparable state.

And it all happened so suddenly.  In 2017 there were 8 new great franchises.  In 2016 there were 12.  In 2015 there were 9.  In 2014 there were 19!

Then, wham, 2018 happened.  And here we are in 2019 and it isn't looking any better.  With no new ranked series, there's been little incentive to change the rankings for any of the old ones.  The whole medium has stagnated.  It's only April but we've already seen the offerings for the first half of 2019.  If none of them are great then the prospects for the 2nd half aren't any better.  Even if Kimetsu no Yaiba works out, that implies there will be 2 great new series this year, just like last year, which is still 1/6 the previous moving 4 year average.  No better than a trickle.

This all coincides with the number of episodes people needing to watch on my must-see anime list actually shrinking instead of growing recently.  For years I had triumphantly pierced the 'over 9,000 must see episodes' mark for my top anime rankings, only to be devastated by the loss of Bolt, Steins;Gate Zero, Ojamajo Doremi and all the rest, and now I'm back in the 8000's again.  I'll probably get back to 9,000 by the end of the year, but still!

Why are things so dismal that the number keeps going backwards?  What has happened to my beloved industry?  In 2016 44 great franchises had new content.  In 2017 that went down to 35.  In 2018 that dropped still further to 23.  And now in 2019 we're down to 10.

We're at the halfway mark for this year's anime.  Half of all the anime that's going to be revealed this year has been revealed.  So in all likelihood this year will only feature new content for 20 great series.

It's not just the number of new series which has seen a sudden drop, it's the number of old series receiving sequel content too.  We're in total collapse.  With Fairy Tail ending soon, 2020 will be even worse.  It's impossible to make up for that loss, there isn't any other series good enough to take its place.  We also lost Code Geass, Dragon Ball, Nanoha, Love Live and Bakemonogatari this year.  Good luck recovering from that.

It's the twilight of the gods.  Once I finish Major 2nd I'll have rewatched all great anime that isn't currently airing.  At that point I'm going to need a new hobby. . .