Published: December 2006 – April 2011 Touzuka High School is a public school with a fairly low grade point average. One day, Kawai Maria, a girl from the state’s top-class St. Katria Girls School, transfers to Touzuka High. She was expelled for a violent display against as teacher and since she has a tendency of calling a spade a spade, Maria finds herself isolated from the rest of her class. However, there may be something in her past, something hidden deep down that stands to affect her future. Kawai Maria – a stoic, straightforward girl who consistently violates the bounds of platitude… that’s if she cared for platitudes to begin with. Her coldness gets her isolated from the rest of her classmates, but does she really care? The truth is that Maria is incredibly disillusioned with the concept of human beings and friendship and her straightforwardness is misconstrued for arrogance by her classmates, so they bully her to no end. Maria sees through people’s facades and exposes them in a way that makes them uncomfortable – and she does this without expressing a single shred of emotion.

Tiny Katsuragi Shuuto can’t seem to catch a break. The youngster desperately wants to be like his favourite superhero, Mr Thunder; however, his height makes him the butt of every body’s jokes and he isn’t too good at winning fights. All he has spurring him on is his passion for superheroes, a factor he has in common with classmate Mizushima Mirea. Shuuto has no idea that his growing relationship with Mirea could end up being the catalyst which makes his dreams come true! Shuuto’s classmate and fellow lover of superheroes, Mizushima Mirea is the one who recommended that Shuuto become the hero known as Ratman. Mirea is pretty, but her icy exterior makes her classmates think twice about approaching her. This is also because she sees that the approaches from the male students in her class are just cheap attempts to hit on her and so she rejects them rather coldly. The only person who sees a warmer side to Mirea is none other than Katsuragi Shuuto – her crush.

Boyish high schooler Aizawa Tomo finally gets the chance to tell her childhood friend Jun that she has a crush on him. Unfortunately, it completely misses him because he didn’t even realise that Tomo was a girl up until junior high and even now, he still thinks of her as that boy that he befriended all those years ago. Could Tomo find a way to step up from being “one of the bros” to finally being his girlfriend, just as she has dreamed? Gundou Misuzu is another one of Tomo’s childhood friends. She is a girl who goes around expressionless most of the time, but this hides her twisted nature. Misuzu loves teasing other people and tricking them into thinking she is just a sweet girl. The only time Misuzu loses her stoic expression is when she’s inflicting psychological torture on others, which turns her expressionless face into a wicked grin.

Several centuries ago, giant humanoid creatures known as Titans appeared, driving humanity to the brink of extinction. Their appetites for human flesh know no bounds, and soon after their appearance, humanity began fighting a seemingly hopeless fight for survival. If it weren’t for the remnants of humankind choosing to find refuge behind tall concentric walls, human beings would have long since gone extinct. Eren Jaeger, Mikasa Ackerman and Armin Arlert are three children living in the town closest to the outermost wall. They dream of one day exploring the world beyond the walls. One day, this peaceful scene is destroyed when a massive Titan appears and tears a hole in the outermost wall, letting in hordes of Titans which then tear apart the town. Eren promises that he will eradicate every single Titan on earth in hopes that one day, humanity will be able to live without fear. The ever-passionate Eren Jaeger, who promised to completely exterminate the titans after one of them claimed his mother’s life, loses his reactionary persona for something colder than Captain Levi himself. He grew out his hair, gained facial hair and also a sharp tongue. One so sharp that he even tells Mikasa straight-up that he has always hated her. His new appearance is first introduced when he infiltrates Marley under the alias Kruger and commits himself to his mission. His eyes have lost their famous intensity and have a dead coldness to them – a stunning change from the intense anger and passion Eren Jaeger is best known for.

If you had a chance to relive your youthful days, would you do it? 27-year-old single, jobless and penniless Kaizaki Arata is presented with the opportunity when he is approached by a representative of a project known as ReLIFE. The project is testing an experimental pill capable of making one ten years younger, so when Kaizaki is presented with the opportunity, he reluctantly accepts, using the opportunity to change his fate. Hishiro Chizuru is a girl in Arata’s new high school class who has a really angry-looking expression on her face most of the time. Other times, she’s expressionless. It doesn’t really help her case much that she is totally unsociable; however, she does try sometimes despite her straightforwardness and coldness. Chizuru occasionally tries her hand at smiling, but her smile is utterly terrifying.

Kageyama Shigeo, also known as “Mob”, is an eighth grader who also happens to be a super-powerful esper. He’s been able to bend spoons, lift objects with his mind since he was a child; however, a few unsavoury incidents with his abilities have caused him to hold back. All he wants now is to get closer to his crush, Tsubomi, who is in his class. In order to learn to control his powers better, Mob finds tutelage under the “psychic” Reigen Arataka, a total phony who makes money out of conning the general public with pseudo-psychic abilities, all while coming to grips with his everyday life. Kageyama Shigeo, a stoic if there ever was one. A terrible accident involving his abilities left him working hard to seal away his emotions in order to prevent another outburst. So for the most part, Mob is completely emotionless, but somehow endearing, honest and a little bit naïve. Nonetheless, he has an emotional threshold that when breached, becomes the catalyst for the wildest outbreak of psychic power and destruction anyone has ever seen!

15-year-old Kurosaki Ichigo is a high school student who has always had the uncanny ability to see and interact with ghosts. When a woman in a black kimono named Kuchiki Rukia suddenly appears in his room one night, she introduces herself as a Soul Reaper, an entity which exists to guide souls to the afterlife and purge evil spirits known as Hollows. Soon after Rukia’s arrival, a Hollow attacks Ichigo’s home and wounds Rukia, who offers Ichigo her powers so he can save his family. After the encounter, Ichigo is forced to take over Rukia’s job as a Soul Reaper and his life from then on is never the same again. The head of one of the four noble families in Soul Society, Kuchiki Byakuya. Doubling as the Captain of the 6th Squad, Byakuya is as by-the-book as it comes. His stoicism seems like his true nature; however, it is an attitude he took up soon after becoming the new Kuchiki head. He used to have major anger issues and even a bit of a foul mouth; however his coolness is unparalleled, not showing a shred of emotion not even as his sister was placed on Soul Society’s death row. Despite this, his care and regard for other people as well as his promises runs deep. A true leader, Byakuya maintains his coolness such that it is no longer just him putting on airs – his aloofness is now who he really is.

While seemingly a normal high school student, Himuro Yukina is actually the popular cell phone novelist Yupina. However, given her cold demeanour and icy glare, Yukina’s classmates tend to avoid her entirely and have given her the nickname “Absolute Zero Snow Woman”. Yukina’s writing is going through a slight rough patch and her ratings have decreased, so she wants to put romance into her work to spice things up, but she has no experience whatsoever with that kind of thing. While looking for a way to change this, she runs into Kitami Shigure, the charming student council president, who drops his notebook. When she opens it, she finds a list of every single girl who has ever confessed to him, realising that he manipulate girls into confessing to him just so he can reject them and that his personality is nothing like what he pretends to be. Confronting Shigure about what she has learned, Yukina tries to use it to blackmail him into teacher her about love. However, things get a little hairy when Yukina’s cousin and only friend, Shimotsuki Akira, becomes jealous and confesses his love to her – perhaps Yukina has signed up for more than she bargained for! Himuro Yukina, also known as Absolute Zero Snow Woman, is a seriously cold high school girl. Her stoicism knows no bounds and she comes off as incredibly aloof to anyone who doesn’t know her very well. This is very much because of her disconnection from her emotions and the abstract aspects of her being. Which is why she clumsily tries to manipulate her way into understanding things like love and romantic relationships, due to the fact that she can only observe what happens around her and barely understands her inner workings – but that can change… with time.

The orphans of Grace Field House live great lives. Despite not having any parents, their every need is cared for and they live together in a big family all taken care of by their “Mama”, Isabella. At the age of 12, the children are adopted into happy hopes. Their daily lives consist of rigorous tests but they’re allowed to play outside. The only rule – they may not leave the orphanage. However, one day, Emma and Norman, two of the highest-scoring children, venture past the gate and come to realise why they were never supposed to leave the orphanage in the first place. The true cruelty of their existence becomes apparent and Emma and Norman try to think hard… in order to get everybody away from Grace Field House. Ray is one of the three highest-scoring kids in Grace Field House. At 11-years-old, his intelligence is scary – far beyond most of the other kids. He keeps to himself for the most part; however, he is very passionate about his friends and when Emma and Norman tell him about the truth of Grace Field House’s position as a farm for human meat, he calmly walks them through the truth that he has always known…

Kanzaki Nao’s father taught her to be honest, so she can live up to her name. However, Nao has taken being honest to its logical conclusion, which sees her being labelled a “foolishly honest girl” by the people around her. This obviously makes her the worst possible candidate for the “Liar Game”, a game in which players must deceive other players out of large sums of money, which in turn places them in huge debt. Despite her being ill-suited to it all, Nao receives a large box containing 100 million yen and a card informing her of her participation in the high-stakes game. Soon after receiving it, Nao is deceived out of all the cash and soon thrown into despair. However, she hears of a genius scammer being released from prison after serving his sentence on the back of sending a large major corporation into bankruptcy. Nao finds the man, Akiyama Shinichi, and begs for his help. So begins Kanzaki Nao’s descent into the greed and deception of the Liar Game. Akiyama Shinichi, a genius swindler who knows human nature like the back of his hand. Shinichi is Nao’s best bet at surviving the treachery of the Liar Game and his plans are almost always fool-proof. One of the main aspects of his deceit is his never-changing expressionless face – Akiyama Shinichi can keep his cool under any and all circumstances, making his inclusion in the Liar Game the best decision honest Nao has made.

Kakeugurui is back and in a manner that makes sense, but at the same time, is something that is expected. You can already tell for the most part what is going to happen and honestly, it allow me to predict what is going to happen at the end of this season, however, let’s go and just tackle what we were given. So the series opens with Yumeko and Midari in a bet against a new character where they cut strings to cut a blade and basically the first person to pull their finger out, loses. It’s chicken with very high stakes. Meanwhile, be that what it is, the series is trying it’s hardest to have fans jump right back in and honestly, I’m quite willing. The banter of Yumeko and Midari is adorable and funny. I love watching Yumeko switch from adorable to tsundere and just being hilarious while doing so. So as she jumps back and forth between the two character traits, their opponent gets psyched out and loses for fear that she will lose a finger. Then the curtain is pulled back to reveal that Kirari has brought in members of her family to compete against Yumeko and she is leaving for the time being. This is season two. Forget the student council, you have the whole family to defeat now. This season is either going to be Yumeko defeating the student council and then a cliffhanger ending with her getting ready to battle her and we get a movie as the sequel OR a third season. Mark my words. With the sheer number of Kirari’s family members, this season is going to be all about them.

Pastel Memories presents itself as an intriguing anime about an Akiba that does not have anything otaku related. It seems that everyone but the girls at a cosplay cafe have forgotten that Akiba used to be a place where otaku could indulge in life and get out to have fun. Manga is harder to find. There are no more maid cafes. There is nothing anime related at all, but the girls at a particular cosplay cafe want to fix things. Well, I said “intriguing,” but really, it’s only different from your usual anime plotline. As for if it really is intriguing, well...it’s pretty terrible right from the start. The girls go on a mission to find every manga for a specific series and that seems to be where all of their hopes lie. Then, just as you are thinking that the anime is going to be really stupid, girls teleport back from a mission in another dimension. What. Just. Happened. I cannot even tell you exactly what goes on in this anime because when the other girls teleported in, I was lost completely. This anime seems to be all over the place right from episode 1. The animation is really terrible, and none of the characters have any….personality. I’m not even quite sure I realized any of them were different from anyone else. Like the headline says: “What is going on?”

As dark and mysterious as it is, Dororo is shaping up as one of the best anime of the Winter season. To be fair, you could have imagined that just by looking at its main character, a man with swords where his arms should be and who can’t properly feel or communicate with others. If the first episode was impactful then the second one is just as good, giving us a little more info regarding the story and the protagonists themselves. By far, the highlight of the story is the fight against Bandai, a man-eating demon hidden behind a beautiful woman’s face. Posing as the village chief, it fed of poor passersby and soon-to-be-dead heroes, lured by the townspeople in order to save their own skin. We all know appearances can be deceiving, right? Oh, but you can’t fool a man who can’t see your appearance but the color of your soul. And even harder is to fool two of them! And why is this a hot moment? You see, there’s an older anime by the name of Dororo to Hyakkimaru (based on the same Osamu Tezuka’s manga), but this new version looks and feels way better. Even if we still remain in the shadows, this episode was very revealing in a lot of aspects, from presenting us with the old man who saved the doomed baby, to learning the hero’s name, to understanding more about how Hyakkimaru interacts with the environment and the demons… and let’s not forget a reference to Dororo’s mother. Even if you don’t know, the cogs are already in motion for an awesome story, and we can’t but hope for an unforgettable adventure!

After receiving their exam results, and Bakugo finding out he failed, he calls out Izuku for a private conversation and confronts him about having received All Might’s powers. All Bakugo wants is for Izuku to prove to him that he is worth the power of the hero they both admired as children. And so, Izuku is begrudgingly pulled into a shounen rival battle that will surely grace at least one of our future lists. During the fight, Bakugo keeps thinking of Izuku chasing him and always being weaker than him, he remembers how All Might told Bakugo he has what it takes to be a hero, and he remembers when All Might hit the nail on the head when he said “I know you’re angry because of Midoriya’s improvement”. He remembers that All Might encouraged him and told him Level 50 (meaning Bakugo) and Level 1 (Izuku) can’t improve at the same rate, thus reassuring Bakugo that he is indeed strong enough and All Might recognizes his talents. And yet.. He’s still so angry. But why? From the beginning, we’ve been wondering exactly why Kacchan hates poor little Deku so much… And after an all-out attack from his childhood friend, Deku decides to use his strength and push Kacchan away with a strong yet gentle block/shove. Deku can stand on his own now and that just pisses Kacchan more… (why are you so angry, kid!?) Izuku sees his friend on the ground after his defensive attack and reaches out to help Kacchan up. Of course, Kacchan swats his hand away wondering why he’s helping him and not fighting… why? And it finally happens, Bakugo spills his guts and faces all his issues as they come out like uncontrollable tears on a shoujo heroine’s face. “Why did I end up chasing someone who was always behind me? Why did you get strong and become acknowledged by All Might while I… ended All Might!?”. There it is! The angsty teen finally voices his emotions and we all get to understand. He feels responsible for All Might losing his powers because he was weak and got captured by the villains, thus leading to All Might losing his power and retiring. Bakugo cries and cries and all you want is to hug the poor boy. He admits to his feelings and not knowing what to do and his overall feeling of helplessness. And then, once the boys have said and heard enough, they decide to continue the fight, but it’s different this time. It’s a proper shounen rival battle! It’s exciting to see Bakugo grow out of his immature anger issues and (hopefully) backing off of Izuku. Things can only get better if these two finally become the friends they should be!

Though there are a few tough women in Golden Kamuy, Asirpa is definitely the strongest! The central point in the search for gold, Asirpa was raised to be a survivalist by her father, in the hopes that she would one day lead the Ainu. She is searching to find out what really happened to her father. Though she is still young, she is mature for her age, with plenty of skills for both hunting and protecting herself. She does seem to have softened since she met Sugimoto Saichi, showing trust to more of the people they meet on their journey. Asirpa lost her mother at a young age and has lost her father twice now, but she remains strong and continues pushing on to the goal.

Ushiyama seems like he could be a gentleman, especially with the suits that he usually wears, but beneath his appearance lays the ferocious criminal known as Ushiyama the Undefeated! He has teamed up with Toshizou Hijikata in his search for the gold, lending his serious and pragmatic advice to the group. His two vices are women and fighting, the things that he enjoys above all else. Ushiyama can be deadly and serious, but he can also show a caring and more gentlemanly side, particularly when it comes to Asirpa. Asirpa is quite fond of Ushiyama after she befriended him while drinking one night, and she affectionately calls him “Chinpo-sensei.” Ushiyama has excessive physical strength, having trained in Judo for many years before he was sent to Abashiri Prison. His skull is also incredibly thick, especially in the center of his forehead – yet his thoughtful approach is surprising, given the strength he possesses.

The main villain of Golden Kamuy, Lieutenant Tsurumi is a terrifying, twisted man whose partial loss of a brain seems to have made him more vicious than the average soldier! Like Sugimoto and Hijikata, Tsurumi is out to find the Ainu gold and musters up everything he can to get ahead in this race to riches. He is not only violent and psychotic but also manipulative, moving others to his side with his charismatic personality. You might argue that Lieutenant Tsurumi is more crazed than tough, but he has led the 7th Division through much in the time that he has commanded them, and despite losing part of his brain he is still fighting on!

Sugimoto is the main protagonist of Golden Kamuy, and he certainly lives up to his title of “Immortal Sugimoto!” Sugimoto was one of the soldiers who lived through the Russo-Japanese War, and he has both emotional and physical scars still from that battle. Despite the nightmares and trauma he lives with from the war, he is a survivor fighting to live in every situation, especially when the odds are stacked against him. He does have a kind side as well, caring for Asirpa and promising his friend to protect his family as best as he could. Sugimoto is easily one of the toughest characters in Golden Kamuy, partially because we understand just what all he has been through.

The quiet dark horse for much of the series, Ogata is nonetheless a force to be reckoned with, especially when he has his sniper in hand! Nicknamed “the Wildcat,” he is a proud, ruthless man, seeking only to achieve his own goals and only helping others when it can benefit him in some way. Abandoned by his father, Ogata killed his own mother simply to observe whether his father would return to her funeral, and then murders his half-brother in battle out of curiosity as well. Unpredictable and unfeeling, Ogata has managed to survive thanks to his own intelligence and strength in combat—and though we may not always be enthused by his actions, we have to admit that he is one tough character!

The first story in 5 Centimeters per Second, Cherry Blossom, highlights the physical distance between Takaki and Akari. They live far apart and can only communicate via letters and occasional trips to each other’s cities. Unfortunately, Takaki must move to the other side of the country and that ends any chances the two characters have of seeing each other with any frequency. Takaki chooses to visit Akari one final time before his departure but finds that the universe is working against him with bad weather and train delays pushing his fateful meeting with Akari further and further away. This is distance at its most blunt and straightforward in 5 Centimeters per Second. Unfortunately, even when Takaki arrives and is pleased to see Akari waited for him after all the hours-long delays, there’s a bittersweet feeling during their reunion. Takaki realizes that this is the last time they will ever be together again, even as they confess their love for one another and spend a night together. Their closest moment, where they kiss, marks the beginning of their increasing distance.

5 Centimeters per Second’s second story stars a girl named Kaede Sumida who laments about her inability to figure out her future or confess her love for Takaki. Kaede finds endless ways to spend time with Takaki, but although Takaki is nice to her, it’s obvious that his mind and heart are in another place. Takaki seems like he’s always thinking about someone else, that someone being Akari. Despite being close together, there’s an insurmountable distance that Kaede notices will prevent her from ever confessing her love for Takaki. This relationship is sharply contrasted with a space shuttle that is being launched into the sky. The immense physical distance between the space shuttle and its destination somehow seems far shorter and reachable than the one between Takaki and Kaede. It’s hard to tell whether Kaede will do better than Takaki in moving forward because she believes she will love Takaki forever and concludes the story by crying

The final story refocuses on Takaki and his continued inability to move on from Akari. Although he has a girlfriend and a successful career, he still longs for Akari and that has hindered his ability to enjoy his life. Coincidentally enough, Takaki has a breakdown at just about the same time that Akari is about to move to Tokyo to get married. Takaki quits his job and ends his relationship with his girlfriend when he starts having a dream that is mirrored by Akari. Although they have not seen each other in years and have been apart physically since then, this is the closest Takaki has been with someone since the night of their fated kiss. Even with their distance, they share an experience and a dream that few people can hope to ever share with another person. The story concludes with the two characters in the same place where they started, separated by train tracks. For once, the train tracks seem irrelevant and so does Akari’s disappearance after the trains have finished crossing. There’s a semblance of tranquility and satisfaction in Takaki’s face that seems to indicate he may be willing to move on now.

ZZ Top was right; girls go crazy for a sharp-dressed man. Or at least the sharp-dressed man (modeled after David Bowie’s “Thin White Duke” character) goes crazy for them. Yoshikage Kira is a serial killer who discreetly murders women and carries around their hands to use as his “girlfriends”, but he’s so difficult to catch because he goes out of his way to look as professional and untouchable as possible. He wears perfectly tailored lilac purple suits as both himself and his alter ego Kosaku Kawajiri, as well as a subtle but incredibly stylish tie with a pattern based on his stand Killer Queen. A luxury company even manufactured the tie for sale in real life! It’s just a tiny reminder that, underneath his polished exterior, Kira is a dangerous psychopath who can’t be trusted.

Also from Diamond is Unbreakable, but on the complete opposite of the style spectrum, perches renowned mangaka Rohan Kishibe. Instead of slick suits, this eccentric author prefers androgynous streetwear with an emphasis on baggy pants, pen nib motifs, pastel colors, and slits that expose skin. Most JoJo characters only wear one or two outfits throughout the series, but Rohan has the distinction of appearing in a new and wacky ensemble just about every time he shows up onscreen. It really emphasizes his haughty personality and almost inhuman artistic ability —we may not understand every fashion choice he makes, but his rock-solid confidence makes any outfit look like he was born to wear it.

Vento Aureo features some of the most fabulous and distinctive fashions of the entire series, mostly worn by the male mobsters of Passione. But we think that Trish, the only major female character in the part, outshines them with her simple elegance that epitomizes Italian style. Trish’s main outfit consists of a minimalist black crop top that hugs her body with spiraling straps, plus a jeweled collar piece and a color block maxi skirt with a long slit. The alternating math symbol pattern reminds us of Mondo Guerra’s signature plus symbol design, which just goes to show that JoJo and high fashion have more in common than you might think!

A long coat with a high collar, gold details, and a ripped cap that seems to blend with the back of his hair. That’s Jotaro Kujo’s preferred outfit, and it’s one that he never deviates from in his appearances across parts 3 through 6. But with interesting variations on the same silhouette and Jotaro’s constant stoic swagger, he’s always the best-dressed person in the room. His iconic part 3 design is undeniably ‘80s, with a Jheri curl in his hair and a Japanese delinquent look rivaled only by Josuke, but it still holds up to this day for its strong but simple style. We also love his various white outfits in parts 4 and 5, particularly when they feature elements like the golden dolphin heart that show little aspects of his personality. And we can’t forget his loud purple ensemble from part 6, which would look ridiculous on anyone else, but our boy Jotaro looks fly AF in those snakeskin pants even at age 40.

Even in the sexist atmosphere of the 1930s, hamon master Lisa Lisa commands respect from her burly male students with an untouchable confidence that says without words how they’ll never be able to match her skill. Her clothes underscore this impression, featuring a mixture of ‘30s and ‘80s designs that look like they were custom-made just for her. Lisa Lisa’s most iconic outfit shows off her 5’9” figure beautifully with black stockings, stiletto heels, a short romper-like dress, and her hamon-conducting scarf. It also goes well with the Super Aja necklace and her aviator sunglasses. More than anyone else in the series, Lisa Lisa combines the best aspects of a fashion model and a badass fighter together to make one complete package.