and Genres, Manga, Light Novels, and Visual Novels

Top Genres

Parody x Comedy

I’m a sucker for titles that don’t take themselves seriously. Shows that know exactly what they are at a meta level, and execute everything over the top. I can name quite a few anime that have low ratings, but are perfect in my eyes. Some of my favorites:

Isekai

Taken to another world series are another love. There’s just something so fascinating about mixing the knowledge of fantasy and modern worlds. Also the really good writing for a lot of the popular ones is probably to blame. Some of my favorites:

Psychological

Sometimes there’s nothing more enjoyable then watching characters fall apart from stress and chaotic situations. Psychological series often back characters into a corner to reveal how far they’ll go over the edge and it’s never a dull moment. Some of my favorites:

Top Anime

Haiyore! Nyaruko-san

Take the genre of Parody x Comedy and combine it with insane but lovable characters, crazy plot devices, and references that will literally go on for days, and you get Haiyore! Nyaruko-san. This series has over the top voice acting and writing that really makes it shine over any other in this genre. Not only that, but every season has it’s own OP that consistently delivers amazing quality.

Steins;Gate

Steins;Gate is truly a masterpiece among masterpieces. Time travel is always a tough choice to tackle when telling a story but Steins;Gate shows it dominates the time travel scene by coming extensive theories and science behind time travel and how it affects the world. This isn’t part of the Science;Adventure series for nothing. Steins;Gate also brings together two of the greatest main characters of all time: KURISUTINA and HOUOUIN KYOUMA!

Angel Beats!

This show had a really unique premise with some lovable comedic gags that took full advantage of said premise. I have never been so emotionally overwhelmed by the end of an anime as I have with Angel Beats. Angel Beats had enough impact on me to convince me to become an organ doner.

Punch Line

With the strange synopsis given off by MAL, most people would be turned off at first site, but not me. Personally I think the creators tried to oversell this point to get more watchers as it was really only a small part of the huge story that unfolded. Punchline blew me away with this story and a great OST to boot! This is anything but a standard ecchi.

Top Manga

Sora no Otoshimono

Most of the story revolves around the main character getting into some absurd perverted situations. This is a good example where it may sound pretty standard, but Sora no Otoshimono takes it to rediculous levels using sci-fi technology in a similar vain to To LOVE-Ru. Inbetween all the ecchi scenarios, a story slowly unfolds about the mysteries of the New World that takes the reader to my favorite series ending of all time.

Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai

The World God Only Knows is a pretty interesting scenario right off the bat. A character who accels at dating sims using his skill to conquere real life heroines. The first few routes feel pretty standard, but the mangaka picks things up and starts giving a lot of routes interesting twists and turns. Then the whole story twists and turns with thrilling plot twists that kept me binging volume after volume. The ending sealed the deal when it gave a proper romantic conclussion to the story about false romances.

Voynich Hotel

Voynich Hotel is really something that no other manga can match. With the large cast of memorable characters, the unique art style, and the constantly unfolding story, there’s never a point where you can’t put the book down. We start on a strange and mysterious island to start, but everything just gets stranger and stranger as the story progresses.

Kimi wa Midara na Boku no Joou

This manga takes sexual humor to the extreme by locking two characters in the same room while one has to furiously hide their lust. The prediciments all revolve around the “god” that granted their wish to share the same room. The conditions keep changing as their attitude changes, sometimes to the exact opposite of it was before because they were making use of that condition way too easily. My favorite panel.

Top Light Novels

Hataraku Maou-sama!

This series flips isekai on its back, revolving around fantasy characters ending up in modern Japan. Not only does it make part-time work interesting by showing a character so diligent and dedicated to his job, but in general it just shows a great perspective and the hardships of daily living even when it’s not the main plot of the story. Another big bonus in this story are the characters’ witty banter with one another.

No Game No Life

Even without the beautiful colors and OST of the anime, No Game No Life continues to thrive in light novel format. The story continues as Sora and Shiro slowly aim for a chance to challenge Tet through in-depth strategic gameplay. The limits of the 10 pledges are often tested with how far they can be bent and abused by creating dangurous situations from what would normally be simple gameplay.

KonoSuba

Take a selfish protagonist with RPGs and throw him into a world that ticks just like an RPG. The RPG-like mechanics in the world are fascinating alone but the story really shines with just how low Kazuma will go to succeed in his own desires. Our protagonist comes up with strange solutions in dnagurous scenarios and always ends up either saving the day, getting himself in more trouble, or often both. Every main character is flawed in some wonderful way that helps contribute to this comedy following a misfit party.

Top Visual Novels

Grisaia no Kajitsu

The writers are comedy geniuses, the characters are all wonderful (heroine or otherwise), and the routes themselves are anything but standard. Grisaia gives us the amazing protagonist Yuuji: Whose a hard-ass, tsundere, that doesn’t take shit from anyone. Some even go so far as to call him “best girl” for these reasons. But that can’t be true because Sachi is best girl followed by Michiru with best route. A lot of the comedy revolves around each of the characters interesting personalities and the fact that every every character is either the subject and/or instigator of teasing.

Fate/stay night

Fate/stay night certainly lives up to it’s popularity on VNDb. There’s a huge number of choices that range from challenging your sense of the situation, to choosing how to spend an afternoon bullying Fuji-nee. There’s a total of 40 bad ends where you get a fun little cutscene afterwords where two characters explain how you done fucked up. What really makes the VN stand out is the storytelling and action. The action scenes go far beyond what you’d ever expect from a visual novel. They understand how to perfectly use CG and effects to really bring the player into the moment. The 3 routes are locked in order, as you progress through each one, you learn new information that was never available on the previous routes keeping the story fresh and non-repetitive.

Saya no Uta

A game that truly tests the limits of psychological horror story-telling. It just keeps going farther and farther over the edge, and the intro was already pretty dark. I had a lump in my stomach just reading some of the scenes and it takes a lot to affect me - I read Emergence with no trouble compared to Saya no Uta. Nowadays so many things bring back memories of this game. And lastly, I will never hear distorted guitars the same way ever again.

Katawa Shoujo

This is the one visual novel that I’d recommend everyone try out. It’s free, yet still delivers stories that surpass many paid visual novels. Katawa Shoujo was spawned from 4chan and created by a 21-person team to bring together something that becomes a masterpiece. This VN perfectly tackles the troubles of disability along with the troubles of interacting with those that have one. What makes Katawa Shoujo different from other visual novels is that the routes all revolve around dealing with your emotional struggles. Even the protagonist has his own heavy aggage. Each heroine has a beautiful route that really gives you a strong attachment, to the point where Hanako has been my waifu for years.