Pat Baer is a comedian currently living in South Carolina who you may have seen at various PAXes with his panels Pat Baer’s Anime Club, The Improvised Postmortem, and League of Heels. You also may have encountered him on Twitch, where he builds Gundams and LEGO. He hopes to move back to NYC in 2021.
I didn’t play a lot of video games in 2020. So here’s my Top 10 Anime, because I watched A LOT of shows this year. Honorable mention to Black Clover, which brilliantly wrapped up a multi-year storyline but also featured tragic queer villains and is my BEST/WORST of 2020.
10. BOFURI: I Don’t Want to Get Hurt, so I’ll Max Out My Defense
An anime about a VRMMO where the main character doesn’t get trapped in the game, BOFURI is about a nice young lady, Maple, who becomes the ultimate PVP and PVE gamer by maxing out her defense and playing in her own unique way. Along with her IRL friend Sally, Maple eventually forms a guild and encourages her new friends to play the game their way. Also Maple has a giant floating turtle.
9. Diary of our Days at the Breakwater
If last year you told me one of my favorite shows this year was about girls who go finishing after school, I would have totally believed you. In Diary of our Days at the Breakwater, crafting enthusiast Hina moves to a new town by the sea and hopes to make friends in the Crafting Club. By chance, she gets roped into joining the Breakwater Club and discovers how fun it is to fish. This show goes into a lot of detail about equipment and styles, but is overall light and enjoyable. And while I’m not here to award anyone with the Best Girl Award, the strong and quiet Makoto Ohno is a front-runner, certainly.
8. Kaguya-sama: Love is War? Season 2
On paper, this show shouldn’t work for me. It’s a romantic comedy where the main characters are too stubborn to admit their interest in each other. Most of the show is their elaborate plans to make the other confess, and thus give up power. But it’s also about surviving high school and trying your best. The laughs are earned, the supporting cast is given plenty of time to shine, and I spent the whole second season rooting for Kaguya and Miyuki and also hoping for it to all go wrong.
7. Deca-Dence
I’m treading lightly here with this description, because there are some big twists in this story. Deca-Dence is an original series (not based on a light novel or manga or video game) about the last humans on earth, who live in a city on wheels (the Deca-Dence) and fight monsters. Well, not all of them fight the monsters. Some humans work in the city. One such worker, Natsume, dreams of becoming a fighter. And maybe, just maybe, her boss Kaburagi can help her. This show has beautifully fluid animation, dynamic characters, and a plot that takes some turns.
6. Haikyuu
I can’t believe I waited so long to check out this wonderful volleyball show. Haikyuu just wrapped up its fourth season, but I started with season one in April so it all feels new to me. I claim to not be a sports anime fan, but I can get on board if the series speaks to me. Ostensibly about the freshman freak duo of Hinata and Kageyama, every other volleyball boy gets a moment (or several moments) to shine and grow. And this series manages to make me root for the success of all the teams…. Except for those snakes at Nohebi Academy! They can go to hell.