Favorite Anime Part 2

 Some other anime I like. Maybe you do too. Or these can be added to your to-watch list.

1. Lovely Complex

This is a cute and funny contemporary romance anime about a teenage girl named Risa Koizumi who has been good friends with a guy in her class named Atsushi Otani for a while. She starts to feel romantic feelings towards him, but he doesn't reciprocate at first. Risa's friends and even Otani's friends constantly help Risa out to get closer to Otani, but it doesn't always work out smoothly. As more things get in her path, eventually Risa and Otani do become a couple. 

This was such a funny and cute show! I remember a lot of laugh out loud funny scenes from this anime. This show will tug at your heartstrings.

Oh yeah, and one of Risa and Otani's friends is a transgender girl and she's portrayed in a really positive manner. So there's good trans rep in this anime. (This is some minor transphobia at the beginning when the other characters find out she's trans, but they do quickly accept her and then accept her as part of the friend group after that!)

2. Kimi ni Todoke

This is another cute and funny but sometimes serious romance anime. Sawako has grown up friendless because a lot of people avoid her due to her scary looks. Sawako is not a scary girl at all and is actually really sweet, she just wishes people would get to know her better. In her first year of high school she develops a crush on one of the popular guys named Kazehaya because he is the only one who talks to her like a normal person. Thanks to that confidence boost, Sawako begins to talk to more people in her class, and she even becomes friends with two other girls named Ayane and Chizuru. Now that her world has been changed to everyone in her class accepting her, she also wants to get closer to Kazehaya, but there are some more obstacles in her way she has to overcome.

Again, this was another cute and funny show. It does get a little sad at times, but this show is so grounded in reality with such likable characters you'll probably be thinking nonstop about it long after you finished it. I know I have.

3. Sailor Moon

Does this one even need explanation? I feel like a lot of people know this show even without me explaining it. 

Well, Sailor Moon is the classic magical girl fighter team anime. Usagi Tsukino is a ditzy crybaby who is actually the reincarnation of the Moon Princess, and she can turn into Sailor Moon. She then makes new friends who are also reincarnations of princesses the other planets of the solar system, and they all have to team up to fight monsters of the week that will eventually lead to their final battle against a big evil force that wants to take over the universe.

Funny story: I actually watched Sailor Moon Crystal first instead of the 90s anime. I didn't have any motivation to watch the 90s anime because it was so long, but the majority of the episodes in that version are filler. 

Honestly both versions of the anime have their pros and cons. The good thing about the filler episodes in the 90s version is that they flesh out the characters and their interactions more, but the episodes also bog down the story line. The good thing about Sailor Moon Crystal is it is a lot closer to the original manga, but the story may feel rushed to many. Your mileage may vary.

4. Revolutionary Girl Utena

A great anime that is about feminism and the deconstruction of popular shojo manga tropes. Utena Tenjou was inspired to become a prince after her encounter with a "prince" who gave her magical ring when she was younger after she lost her parents. She goes to the prestigous Ohtori Academy to live out her dreams, but she gets involved with the rather questionable student council and a mysterious girl named Anthy, and find out the harsh truth about the real world. 

I should warn you this is a very dark show with a lot of potentially triggering topics. Utena, while highly metaphorical, does not sugarcoat it's messages. While not everyone is likable (some characters you will totally despise!), a handful of them are (including the MC) are still root worthy. You will probably cry at this show as many of the things presented might hit too close to home. But it is still a beautiful and cathartic story. 

5. Candy Candy

This was actually the first anime I ever watched and one my mom watched too when she was younger. It is a classic shoujo anime reminiscent of a lot of classic girl novels like Anne of Green Gables. The story takes place in the early 20th century. Candy White is a girl who grew up in an orphanage called Pony's Home and is at first taken in by the Leagans, who treat her like a servant, but then she is taken in and adopted by the Ardlays, who treat her well. Candy eventually goes to a boarding school in England, and then she decides to become a nurse and help out during WW1. While this is all happening, she is trying to figure out who her childhood "prince" is. (He's a guy she met out of the blue one day while crying and running away from the orphanage). She also experiences two romances with two other guys, the first one that unfortunately ends in tragedy and the second that almost happens but...

I won't get to into detail. All I can say is it's a beautiful shojo anime that is timeless in many ways. 

That is all I have for my favorite anime part 2! A part 3 will eventually come.