My favorite animes of 2016 sort of, Part-2

 So welcome back to part two of my favorite anime's of 2016, well ones I watched in 2016 they may have aired originally in the 80's I just never watched them till 2016. If you missed part One you can read it right here (opens new window.) So without further adieu lets get started, again I will do my best to include place I watched it, and if it is subbed or dubbed, assume I watched it subbed as it is my preferred way.

6) Our first anime series of part two that I really enjoyed watching in 2016 was originally aired from July 2014-March 2015 spanning 24eps it is Aldnoah.Zero. While hardly a unique story, humankind has split into two factions those who live on Mars and those who remained on Earth, you see where this is going right. After a great war and an event called " Heavens Fall " that results in a Hyper-Gate exploding and destroying the Earths moon, so a fragile peace is established. You know this is not going to last when a Princess from Mars is sent to Earth to try mediate a more sustaining peace and reunification, falls victim to an assassination attempt.
 Long story short she survives since she uses stand-ins for a lot of appearances, and the Knights of Mars now have their excuse to take over the Earth in retaliation. Of course the entire plot was hatched by the Knights themselves and so the story starts off a new war as they invade Earth. I will let you watch the series if you want to know where it goes from there, while not a unique storyline, I really enjoyed it. The animation I found quite good and character development while not outstanding is there none the less and of course it has Mechs which is always a good thing IMHO.
(Crunchyroll-subbed 24eps, Funimation-Dubbed 12eps) as of this writing Funimation only has the first season, however I believe they have committed to dubbing the last 12eps as well.

7) Up next is a series when it was first announced I just cringed, a little back ground first I feel is in order. When Love Live Sunshine appeared I just banged my head repeatedly on my desk, saying why God, Why!!! how can you do this to me. If you have followed me for any amount of time you know I adored the original Love Live! I saw no reason for this blasphemy and posted my feelings on it numerous times.  Now while it did not turn out as bad as I thought it would, it still fell short for me and I gave up after 7eps and have never returned.

Enter Brave Witches you guessed it saw what it was going to be, repeat banging head on desk muttering the same things I did before, Airing as part of the Fall anime season Oct-Dec of 2016 spanning 12 Eps plus a OVA. This one however unlike Love Live Sunshine I really did enjoy and watched it along with the OVA. It follows the 502 Joint Fighter wing who are also Witches but based in Orussia you know Russia in our world. Like with Sunshine there is cameos of the original Strike Witches the 501st. However the story really is about one Witches journey to try to be like her famous Sister and to fight along side her, however Hikari lacks the talent and confidence of her older Sister as far as the 502nd is concerned. This is not surprising since her Sister is Karibuchi Takami a Legend among the502nd and the entire military. If you loved Strike Witches like I did by all means give this one a shot, it's only 12eps so can be watched entirely in a weekend. If you want to watch the original Strike Witches it is on Funimation has 24Eps and is available subbed or dubbed.
(Crunchroll-12eps+OVA-subbed)

8) I am almost reluctant to even write anything about my next choice, how can one mere  mortal man possibly put into words justly, how I feel about 2016's Fall season POCO'S UDON WORLD.
 I guess all I can really say is if you loved Usagi Drop then you will love this also, and cry just as much at the end.  It shares a few things a Child that is beyond adorable, though in POCO's case he is more then a mere mortal child. He is what is called in JapanneseFolklore a Tanuki, a Racoon Dog animal spirit that takes the form of a child and never ages. A unlikely person who takes them to raise them as their own, one who when they do shocks their own family members by their choice.
 In case you are curious there actually is a real animal called a Racoon Dog just in case your curious and want something to google over the weekend. This story is one of joy, of heartache and growth of the human spirit, just watch this anime you will not regret it for one minute, and will be a must buy on Blu-ray for me at least this summer. While it is not a long series at all, ( a shame really) I could have watched it for years, it has a real ending which I wont spoil for you.
(Crunchyroll-12eps Subbed only)

9) For my last entry in this part going to go with yet another from the Winter 2016 anime season and like a few I have been suggesting it is a SOL/Comedy called The Flying Witch. Spanning just 12 eps this is a anime that features a Young Witch who is still learning her craft, however what makes this anime so good is the animation backgrounds and the character/world development. To quote Crunchyroll " Aomori, Japan. In a land blessed by nature’s bountiful beauty, bizarre things begin to take place. Makoto Kowata, 15 years old, is a professional witch. She left Yokohama with Chito, her black cat, to live in the house of her relatives in Aomori. This is where she begins to train as a witch. Even though Makoto’s powers are still limited to just flying through the sky, she and her second cousins Kei and Chinatsu surely make the most out of each and every day."
 The character's she meets along the way make this just a nice way to end a day at least it was for me, I really hope we get another season though it does also have a Manga as well though not sure it has been translated or not. So far there has been nothing confirmed regarding a season 2 however keep in mind it was a Winter anime premier so maybe we hear something in the summer.
(Crunchyroll-12 Eps Subbed)

I think that will do it for this part, I think I will do one more part but will save it for the weekend perhaps, I hope you give at least a few of the anime's a try I have been writing about you could be surprised just like I was with them. Feel free to write in your favorites of 2016 that you watched in the comments below, I like many others are always on the lookout for new anime's to give a try.

I will leave you as always with Play nice with Each other.

David