These are some anime that I’d recommend and my thoughts on them. All the summaries are spoiler-free, and I’ve hidden any spoilers that I discuss in my thoughts. If you have any recommendations for me based on this list, please message me on Instagram and let me know! I believe we don’t need to follow each other to send and receive messages.

A Silent Voice: The Movie

Koe no Katachi

Movie
Summary: A deaf girl, Shoko, is bullied by the popular Shoya. As Shoya continues to bully Shoko, the class turns its back on him. Shoko transfers and Shoya grows up as an outcast. Alone and depressed, the regretful Shoya finds Shoko to make amends.

My Rating: 10/10
My Thoughts: This is easily my favorite anime of all time, movie or TV show. I believe it’s the second anime I watched, and it was such a stunning experience watching it the first time. It’s a beautiful emotionally-driven story and the characters have a lot of depth despite the short time that we get to see them. I enjoy rewatching this from time to time, and it hits me almost the same way as the first time each time I rewatch it.

Your Lie in April

Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso

TV Show (22 episodes)
Summary: A piano prodigy who lost his ability to play after suffering a traumatic event in his childhood is forced back into the spotlight by an eccentric girl with a secret of her own.

My Rating: 10/10
My Thoughts: This is definitely my favorite anime TV show of all time. I watched it at the start of high school, and I’ve never been able to watch it since then. It’s really moving but also really gut-wrenching, and that makes it into an amazing show that hits you really hard once that you can never watch again due to how hard it hits you the first time. Like A Silent Voice, the characters have a lot of depth, and since we get to see them over the course of 22 episodes, they do get to be fleshed out a bit more. Other than the plot, the anime also has really nice visuals, and since it centers around music, it has a beautiful soundtrack that complements the emotion the plot delivers quite well. I strongly recommend this anime to anyone, but come prepared to tear up!

Solo Leveling

Ore dake Level Up na Ken

TV Show (Ongoing)
Summary: Follows the adventures of Sung Jinwoo in a world that is constantly threatened by monsters and evil forces. In his battles Sung transforms himself from the weakest hunter of all mankind to one of the strongest hunters in existence.

My Rating: 8.5/10
My Thoughts: If you want any plot, this anime doesn’t have any. It’s purely a power fantasy centered around eye-catching fights, but it’s a really well done power fantasy. The visuals are amazing, the soundtrack is really good, the mechanics and worldbuilding are done well enough such that they don’t detract from the anime. I think it’s a testament to how good it is given that it manages to rank this high in my list without any plot at all. Sometimes, it’s just nice to just completely turn off my brain and watch something with no plot at all.

Demon Slayer

Kimetsu no Yaiba

TV Show (Ongoing)
Summary: A family is attacked by demons and only two members survive - Tanjiro and his sister Nezuko, who is turning into a demon slowly. Tanjiro sets out to become a demon slayer to avenge his family and cure his sister.

My Rating: 8/10
My Thoughts: This is another show that doesn’t really have much plot (it’s got a bit more than Solo Leveling, but not much). However, it does again make up for it quite well with visuals and the soundtrack. The fight scenes are really eye-catching, and it has decent enough worldbuilding. The characters are all really shallow, but they’re all likeable, and it’s a nice feel-good show with a couple sad moments sprinkled in here and there. Some of the episodes can be kind of a drag, so you can definitely skip/skim through the show and just thoroughly watch the ones with flashy fight scenes, which is what I tend to do.