Anime of Fall 2019, Ranked

Yeah, yeah.  Fall 2019 has been over for about two months now.  I actually contemplated skipping a “final rankings” post for this season’s anime shows since it would be awfully overdue.  But in the end, I opted writing one.  Better late than never, I guess.

So, I ended up watching all the anime I mentioned I was watching.  That included three carryovers from the summer season and three returning shows.  As for the initial 14 new shows I checked out at the onset of the season, I didn’t drop any of them.  In fact, I actually picked up another new show later in the season.  That would mean I was following a total of 21 (gasp!) anime series during the fall season (a big reason why I fell behind with my movie watching and reviewing).

However, I didn’t necessarily like all of them.  There were shows I eventually found to be unrewarding that I only saw through the end because I got in too deep already.  In relation to that, with me falling behind with my reviews, I didn’t believe all of the 14 new shows merited the effort for individual reviews.  Of the ten that already concluded by the end of fall 2019, I only reviewed seven.  Whatever final thoughts I have for the other three, I will just state them in this article.

Moreover, I’m no longer including My Hero Academia (season 4 started in fall 2019, and is ongoing through winter 2020) and the three summer 2019 carryovers – Dr. Stone, Fire Force, and Vinland Saga – in this list since they made it on my top 10 anime series of the year.  Based on that, it should already be obvious where they would rank.  There’s no need to put them here.

As for the other 17 anime series I followed during the fall 2019 season, here’s how they rank from worst to best…

The Seven Deadly Sins

The drop in quality of One Punch Man’s season 2 (which was actually significant, but unnoticeable to casual fans) has nothing on the nosedive that The Seven Deadly Sins’ third season took.  Wrath of the Gods (the subtitle of season 3) is shockingly bad.  What a dumpster fire!  I managed to stick with it during the fall 2019 season, but I just had to stop watching early this year.

Africa no Salaryman a.k.a. African Office Worker

My initial amusement and liking for its zany humor and characters completely wore off after four or five episodes.  In the end, I regretted watching all of its 12 episodes.  It was a waste of time.

New Cooking Master Boy

The 90’s Cooking Master Boy is lightyears better than this remake!  That isn’t really an exaggeration.  I re-watched a couple of the original anime’s episodes – the ones that covered the same plot that the new anime covered – and I found the visuals more dynamic, the storytelling more engrossing, the pacing more fitting, and just more exciting overall.  I have no clue why an inferior remake had to be made.

Special 7: Special Crime Investigation Unit

“The show is giving off some Cowboy Bebop vibes”, I said.  Looking back after I (foolishly) finished its 12 episodes, I wondered what I saw in its first two episodes that I made that baffling observation.  Special 7 is a mediocre anime at best.  Although its “urban high fantasy” setting and its archetypal band-of-misfits ensemble emitted some appeal, it turned out to be mostly boring.

Choyoyu a.k.a. High School Prodigies Have It Easy Even in Another World

Click here for my full review.

Blade of the Immortal

It’s still ongoing, and I’m still watching.  Still, it’s really not as good as it could be.  It’s an improvement from the 2008 anime adaptation, sure, but I feel that I had more fun with the 2017 live-action movie.

Kemono Michi: Rise Up

Click here for my full review.

Ahiru no Sora

It’s an okay basketball anime.  It’s no Kuroko’s Basketball or Slam Dunk, though.  It’s still ongoing, and I’m still watching.

After School Dice Club

Click here for my full review.

Ascendance of a Bookworm

Click here for my full review.

No Guns Life

Click here for my full review.

Babylon

I didn’t check it out at the start of fall 2019.  But while it was on a hiatus, I heard great things about it, so I caught up with the seven episodes that were out at that point (meanwhile, the tail end of the 12-episode series ran in January 2020).  Actually, this turned out being a major bummer of an anime, and I have a bone to pick with it once I review it (which is what I will do next after writing this article).  But as far as its 7-episode run during fall 2019 is concerned, it was genuinely absorbing, and I enjoyed it as much as its ranking here denotes.

Cautious Hero: The Hero is Overpowered but Overly Cautious

Click here for my full review.

Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun

My initial No. 1 of the season lost its spot, but only fell a few places below.  It’s still ongoing, and I’m still watching.  And immensely enjoying.

High Score Girl

Season 2 delighted me as much as season 1 did.  The only thing that I found disappointing is that in only had 9 episodes (there were three 3 OVA episodes early in 2019, though).

Beastars

Click here for my full review.

Kabukichou Sherlock a.k.a. Case File nº221: Kabukicho

Surprise! The anime at the bottom of my initial rankings – something that I seriously considered dropping after watching just one episode – became my most favorite new anime show of the season (or, at least, tied with Beastars) in the end.  As it turned out, it’s one of the best Sherlock Holmes re-imaginings ever made.  It’s still currently ongoing, and I can’t wait to rave about it in its own review.