29. Yuri on Ice
Release Year: 2016
Genre: Sports
Studio: Mappa
Where To Watch: Crunchyroll
Why It Rocks: Not many anime can replicate the grace and precision of an Olympic skater, but Mappa’s adaptation of Yuri On Ice gets pretty damn close. This show not only won the inaugural Crunchyroll Anime of the Year award, it also won all seven of the other awards it was nominated for that year. While I still don’t agree with its sweep, it’s not hard to see why this show was so popular with the anime community. It had beautiful animation and choreography in its ice skating, an endearing coming-of-age story in its protagonist Yuuri Katsuki, and a cute (albeit queerbaiting romance) between him and his coach, Victor Nikiforov. I’m still waiting on that Yuri movie, Mappa.
