The final, accurate tally for 2023 is now available. With the fall 2023 season over I can give a pretty certain picture of the state of anime as a whole for a good long while.
The new premiering great series weren't spectacular, moving up from last place to, say, 185th, or 155th, or 148th. Actually 16-bit Sensation stayed at last place, 200th, because the second half of the series jumped the shark. All the aliens and dystopia nonsense ruined a perfectly down to Earth story about Konoha's passion for visual novels. It's still a great series, but it will likely be replaced soon enough, because it wasn't what I thought it would be.
Sousou no Frieren did a bit better, as expected based on its fame, moving up to 46th place. Oshi no Ko moved up to 115th. Even though I enjoyed rewatching Majikoi recently, I demoted it to 102nd due to it basically being filler. I would have preferred a Majikoi that followed the visual novel, even though the anime was scripted by the original author. Other series that were given large demotions were basically comedies across the board. Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun or Kyoukai no Rinne, for instance. Comedies don't have the same power of rewatchability, or memorability, or quotability, as more serious shows have.
The most important movement was in the top 20 though. It changed a lot. I demoted Pretty Cure down to #15 for its endless promotion of the transgender movement and now its terrible global warming propaganda. Kimetsu no Yaiba went down to #14, taking Dragon Ball's former place, while Dragon Ball moved up to #6, thanks to the new Dragon Ball Kai Recut that eliminates all boring slow-paced filler, giving us the Dragon Ball we had always deserved for the first time this year. One Piece moved up to #3 due to greater confidence it will eventually all come out and be converted into a fast-paced One Pace form. One Piece is twice as long as its competitors so if it's delivered correctly it shouldn't lose to anyone.
But the biggest change is Uma Musume moving up from 35th to 10th. This is the thing I most wanted to change and was most excited about. After watching the final episode of S3 and learning that a new movie was planned, I wanted Uma Musume in my top ten no matter what. I don't think anyone really believes Uma Musume is ending with the next movie. There's bound to be more movies, ovas, or tv seasons in the works, because the show isn't losing any steam at all. Combine that with the quality of what I just saw and this is a top 10 anime. The final episode of Uma Musume S3 was as good as the Tokai Teio miracle victory. Like the Teio episode it was perfect from start to finish, one of the most emotional experiences in my life. Season 3 was better than Season 2. Kitasan Black is the best main character of the show so far. I can't praise this series enough, but I certainly tried to praise it enough, by planting its flag on the #10 spot. Here I stand, I cannot do otherwise.
Virtually all the shows' rankings changed a little up or down, so for people concerned with the details there's always my top anime rankings permapost: https://diamed-the-road-less-traveled.blogspot.com/2013/07/top-anime-rankings.html This is now up to date, a rare occasion, because it's too much work to update often, so now is the time to see it if ever.
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