Winter 2019 Anime Awards

The winter season of anime has come to a close for 2019, so it’s about that time for me to look back over what I watched and celebrate what stood out the most for me. The list of shows I watched this season looks like this:

• Ace Attorney Season 2
• Aikatsu Friends!
• BanG Dream! 2nd Season
• Bermuda Triangle ~ Colorful Pastorale
• BORUTO: NARUTO NEXT GENERATIONS
• ENDRO!
• Fairy Tail Final Season
• Fight League: Gear Gadget Generators
  
• JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind
• Kanata Maidens ~ Mini Toji
• Kemono Friends 2
• Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka
• The Magnificent KOTOBUKI
• Mob Psycho 100 II
• MYSTERIA Friends
• One Piece
• Pastel Memories
• The Price of Smiles
• Star ☆ Twinkle PreCure
• WATATEN!: an Angel Flew Down to Me

There will potentially be spoilers for the shows list above. With that said and done, I shall now dive straight into my Winter 2019 Anime Awards.

Best Opening Theme
“BRAVE JEWEL” by Roselia

I’ll state this now; the anime about the bands is probably going to completely sweep all the music-themed awards. For good reason, too. Every song in BanG Dream! 2nd Season is excellent, and that extends to its opening and ending themes, too.
Runners-up: “Kizuna Music♪” by Poppin’ Party (BanG Dream! 2nd Season); “Wonderland Girl” by Pastel * Palettes (Bermuda Triangle ~ Colorful Pastorale)

Best Protagonist
Yulia “Yusha” Chardiet
From ENDRO!, Yulia Chardiet – AKA Yusha – is a Hero. Yusha is not the sharpest tool in the shed, but she does possess some incredible luck. The entire cast of ENDRO! are a fun bunch of characters, and the main character is no exception.
Runners-up: Asuka Otori (Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka); Kasumi Toyama (BanG Dream! 2nd Season)

Best Antagonist
Touichirou Suzuki
The leader of the organisation known as Claw in Mob Psycho 100 II, Touichirou seeks world domination. He is an incredibly powerful esper, on par, or even surpassing, Mob.
Runners-up: Zeref (Fairy Tail Final Season); The boss of Passione (JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind)

Best Female Character
Kasumi Toyama
I absolutely adore Kasumi Toyama. She is the vocalist and rhythm guitarist of Poppin’ Party. Kasumi is the energetic type, always cheerful and positive. Part of her charm is her hairstyle that looks like cat ears.
Runners-up: Mao (ENDRO!); Grea (MYSTERIA Friends)

Best Male Character
Reigen Arataka
Mob’s mentor in Mob Psycho 100 II, Reigen is practically a con artist. Still, he does care for Mob, and he also gets some further character development during the events of the show as well.
Runners-up: Giorno Giovanna (JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind); Allen (The Magnificent KOTOBUKI)

Best Cast of Characters
Every band member in BanG Dream!
The cast of BanG Dream! is a huge one, with five bands with five members each, plus one other band who have four members. Still, BanG Dream! 2nd Season manages to fit in plenty of interactions between the characters, and that provides plenty of fun moments.
Runners-up: Adventurer’ School staff and students (ENDRO!); Mysteria Academy students (MYSTERIA Friends)

Cutest Character
Hinata Hoshino
The younger sister of Miyako Hoshino in WATATEN!. Hinata absolutely adores her older sister, and always calls her “Mya-nee!”. She does that a lot throughout the season. Her affection for Miyako is easily one of her most endearing traits.
Runners-up: Canon (Bermuda Triangle ~ Colorful Pastorale); Lala Hagoromo (Star ☆ Twinkle PreCure)

Most Badass Character
Asuka Otori
From Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka, Asuka is a magical girl. Her call sign is Rapture, and she can certainly handle herself in a fight. However, becoming as strong as she is has come with a case of PTSD. Fortunately, her allies are able to support her – particularly War Nurse.
Runners-up: Mia Cyrus (Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka); Grea (MYSTERIA Friends)

Best Couple
Anne and Grea
Anne and Grea from MYSTERIA Friends are the main stars of their show, and the show is effectively about their relationship. Anne is the more flirtatious of the duo, whereas Grea is more reserved. Both have incredible chemistry together.
Runners-up: Asuka Otori & Kurumi Mugen (Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka); Yusha & Rona (ENDRO!)

Best Battle
Teruki Hanazawa vs. Shimazaki
Teleportation is something that is fairly common in shonen anime, even if you call it something else like high speed movement. Its one character moving from one point to another instantly.
Mob Psycho 100 II goes absolutely above and beyond with this fight, animating Shimazaki’s teleportation powers in a rather unique fashion that looks amazing.
Runners-up: Konohamaru vs. Jugo (BORUTO: NARUTO NEXT GENERATIONS); The Grateful Dead & Beach Boy fight (JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind)

Best Soundtrack
BanG Dream! 2nd Season

It’s another music-themed award, so of course I’ve got to give it to BanG Dream!. We get excellent songs from each of the bands: Poppin’ Party; Roselia; Afterglow; Pastel * Palettes; Hello, Happy World!; and RAISE A SUILEN.
Runners-up: MYSTERIA Friends; Bermuda Triangle ~ Colorful Pastorale

Best Finale
School Play
WATATEN! ends with Hinata’s class doing a school play. Quite frankly, said play tells an utterly beautiful story, and Doga Kobo went above and beyond for that particular part of the episode. Some more typical slice of life stuff does follow, but it is the play itself that stands out most.
Runners-up: Poppin’ Party’s show (BanG Dream! 2nd Season); The Hero confronts the Demon Lord (ENDRO!)

Best Ending Theme
“Jumpin'” by Poppin’ Party

Another BanG Dream! song. “Jumpin'” is a fun, upbeat song, that just gives off positive vibes.
Runners-up: “Safe and Sound” by Roselia (BanG Dream! 2nd Season); “Bubble” by Bermuda Triangle (Bermuda Triangle ~ Colorful Pastorale)

Best Anime
ENDRO!
ENDRO! takes several elements I like – fantasy, cute girls and humour – and brings them together in a very enjoyable show that was an absolute delight to watch from week to week.
Runners-up: BanG Dream! 2nd Season; WATATEN!: an Angel Flew Down to Me

That wraps up the winter season of anime. Next season could be interesting, as there is not too much I’m particularly excited about. Might make the next Anime Awards a bit more difficult…
This season had plenty of fun and interesting stuff to watch. I enjoyed it thoroughly.
See you at the end of spring for the Spring 2019 Anime Awards.