Looking back at my Top 21 Anime I Watched in Winter 2016

Winter 2016 was such a memorable time for watching anime. While the anime season was lacking, it provided a few standout anime, especially KONOSUBA. In this article, I’ll be going over all 21 anime I watched in Winter 2016 and whether or not I agree with their rankings. I will be posting my enjoyment and critical totals for each anime. If you want to learn more, read this article.

21. Sleeping With Hinako

Critical Total: 15/50

Enjoyment Total: 16/50

Putting this anime in dead last place is the only sensible option because it is the second-worst anime I have ever watched.

Alternate Recommendation: Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle

20. Aiura

Critical Total: 28/50

Enjoyment Total: 22/50

I forgot I even watched Aiura, and I agree with this anime being the second worst anime I watched in Winter 2016. It was mediocre, even for a short anime.

Alternate Recommendation: Wakaba Girl

19. Engaged to the Unidentified

Critical Total: 30/50

Enjoyment Total: 28/50

Engaged to the Unidentified was the first anime I dropped that I have left dropped for not just over a year, but I still have it marked as dropped. I dropped it due to boredom, but it is far more entertaining than the last anime.

Alternate Recommendation: Acchi Kocchi

18. Rozen Maiden: Träumend

Critical Total: 31/50

Enjoyment Total: 30/50

Is it just me, or do I hate the ending of this anime? I still agree with my ranking of this anime. Still, it had some great moments around the beginning of the series, and it’s one of few anime that features a music box in one of its scenes. Shocking that I still remember this scene considering I once had an intense phobia of music boxes, specifically what’s inside a music box.

Alternate Recommendation: Shadows House

17. Yami to Boushi to Hon no Tabibito

Critical Total: 23/50

Enjoyment Total: 32/50

When I started watching this anime, I felt like I wanted to keep this one a secret. This anime is the only ecchi yuri anime I’ve watched and is only one of two anime I watched that was released in 2003. Its ending was controversial. I only watched it because I found out that the girl with the gigantic witch hat with the gigantic eye that I’ve seen in pictures for years has her own anime, and I wanted to check it out. Although I never gave it a proper watch, I still don’t want to rewatch it.

No alternate recommendations, as I watched this anime for a very different reason than most people who watched this anime.

16. Dream Eater Merry

Critical Total: 25/50

Enjoyment Total: 29/50

Really? Dream Eater Merry was ranked that high? Still, 16th place isn’t that impressive. Dream Eater Merry the anime has plot holes, a confusing story, and not-so-stellar art and animation. Still, the fight scenes were kind of cool.

Alternate Recommendation: Yuki Yuna is a Hero

15. Mahou Shoujo Nante Mou Ii Desukara.

Critical Total: 24/50

Enjoyment Total: 36/50

I was on Crunchyroll when I found out this anime was a thing, and I was curious about it. I watched the first episode, which was only a few minutes long. It was easily a guilty pleasure anime, and 15th place is where it belongs.

No alternate recommendations, as this is the only anime that focuses on embarrassing magical girl outfits.

14. The Devil is a Part-Timer!

Critical Total: 36/50

Enjoyment Total: 32/50

I still agree with this anime being 14th place out of all 21 anime I watched in Winter 2016. I did mention how the anime started to lose its luster by Episode 9, and I guess the luster-losing streak continued in Season 2. It was pretty fun for the first 8 episodes, but then it got stale in the next 5 episodes. Surprisingly, this anime is still in the Top 100 most popular anime on MyAnimeList, even though I don’t see it getting discussed as much as anime not in MyAnimeList’s Top 100 most popular anime like 86 and Tokyo Revengers outside the Summer 2022 anime season. The Devil is a Part Timer’s reputation is declining, but it still remains popular for being the most iconic reverse isekai anime.

Alternate Recommendation: Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid

13. Squid Girl Season 2

Critical Total: 35/50

Enjoyment Total: 37/50

I find it to be a disappointing sequel to Squid Girl Season 1, but that’s only because it didn’t have a dub at the time I watched this anime. If I rewatched it dubbed, then I would probably have a fun time watching it. Still, 13th place is where it belongs.

Alternate Recommendation: Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid, again

12. Shirobako

Critical Total: 43/50

Enjoyment Total: 35/50

What? Shirobako was only at #12? But this anime was truly great! If you thought this was bad, wait until we get to #3. With a critical total of 43/50, Shirobako is a masterpiece. And an enjoyment total of 35 isn’t too shabby. I’d rank this anime much higher.

Alternate Recommendation: New Game!

11. KONOSUBA: God’s Blessing on This Wonderful World

Critical Total: 37/50

Enjoyment Total: 39/50

11th place feels too low for KONOSUBA, especially since I rewatched it this year, and it is the most mentioned anime on my blog since 2021 on this list. But, 2016 me and 2022 me agree that Megumin is the best part of KONOSUBA. I’ve talked a lot about Megumin on this blog, including that one time when I talked about her in detail in my Top 10 Characters Whose Name Starts With an M, where two more characters from other anime I’ll be talking about later appear.

Alternate Recommendation: Max 300 anime

10. Kiniro Mosaic

Critical Total: 35/50

Enjoyment Total: 40/50

Yet another anime that I have more favorable opinions about now than 6 years ago, Kiniro Mosaic was such a pleasure to watch! It is super cute, and I like how this anime focuses on two British exchange students whom the main character obsesses over. I still haven’t watched the Kiniro Mosaic movie that came out a few years ago, but I’ll be glad I watch it. 10th place seems a bit too low for Kiniro Mosaic.

Alternate Recommendation: Miss Vampire Who Lives in My Neighborhood.

9. Encouragement of Climb Season 2

Critical Total: 34/50

Enjoyment Total: 38/50

Encouragement of Climb was the original cute girls doing outdoorsy things anime before Yuru Camp and Slow Loop. The art in this anime is extremely good, especially for a half-length anime. Nowadays, this anime is airing its fourth season. With so many anime that I think should be ranked higher and lower on this list, I feel that 9th place is appropriate for this anime.

Alternate Recommendation: Yuru Camp

8. Yuki Yuna is a Hero

Critical Total: 40/50

Enjoyment Total: 35/50

Another anime where the critical total exceeds the enjoyment total. I’m not so sure about Yuki Yuna is a Hero being in 8th place. Probably 9th or 10th place seems more fitting. Most people know Yuki Yuna is a Hero for being heavily influenced by Madoka Magica, which will inevitably appear on this list.

Alternate Recommendation: Puella Magi Madoka Magica

7. AnoHana: The Flower We Saw That Day

Critical Total: 46/50

Enjoyment Total: 37/50

AnoHana has one of the highest critical totals I have given out to an anime and has in fact the highest critical total out of all the anime on this list. This is an anime you watch for its story instead of its cute moments or waifus. Don’t get me wrong. AnoHana does have cute moments, and Menma has lots of cute fan art, but that’s not the anime’s main focus. It’s not as pretentious as some of the other anime on this list, but the execution was masterful. Combine it with beautiful art, and you get an anime that’s one of the easiest to recommend. And that’s what the critical total is for. 7th place is too low of a ranking for this anime.

Alternate Recommendation: Clannad

6. Hidan no Aria

Critical Total: 28/50

Enjoyment Total: 40/50

I can’t believe I ranked Hidan no Aria this high on the list, much like how surprised I was when Aria Kanzaki made it to #3 in my Top 10 Anime Characters Whose Name Starts With an A. Like the M list, this list also contains two other characters from anime I watched in this time period. The reason why I ranked Hidan no Aria this high was because of how much fun I had watching the anime! Aria has really helped make this anime super enjoyable. She is, to me, the most attractive tsundere in anime! Nowadays, I feel that Hidan no Aria should have been ranked lower.

Alternate Recommendation: Hayate the Combat Butler!

5. Shomin Sample

Critical Total: 30/50

Enjoyment Total: 41/50

Another anime that I think should have been ranked lower, but I was ranking anime mostly on the basis of enjoyment. I talked about how much I loved Episode 9, but there were other episodes that weren’t my cup of tea. Unlike most ecchi harems, this ecchi harem is kind of like a parody of the genre. We all know that the main male protagonist is bland, so why not have a team of researchers introduce a bland guy to a high-class all-girls school? It felt like this harem anime is making fun of other harem anime with its premise, which was why I liked Shomin Sample a lot. I still think 5th place is too high.

Alternate Recommendation: Seitokai no Ichizon

4. Acchi Kocchi

Critical Total: 35/50

Enjoyment Total: 42/50

Acchi Kocchi was kind of like the Aharen-san of the 2010s. Both are adorable comedy slice-of-life anime with some ridiculous moments, but Acchi Kocchi is way cuter. Both are the most CGDCT anime that aren’t CGDCT. I feel comfortable having this anime being put anywhere near the top 2 but not at the top 2.

Alternate Recommendation: Aharen-san wa Hakarenai

3. If Her Flag Breaks

Critical Total: 25/50

Enjoyment Total: 44/50

Of all the anime to get third place, how the heck did If Her Flag Breaks get third place? It is a trashy harem anime, but it was ultra enjoyable! This anime currently has the biggest gap in critical and enjoyment total out of all anime I watched, tied with Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion. Its critical total is the same as Dream Eater Merry’s, and both anime have striking character designs and confusing stories. What makes If Her Flag Breaks so different from Dream Eater Merry? It was one of my first harem anime, and I was still fairly immune to the cliches that anime has to offer. This anime had a comedic gimmick where someone can see flags on top of a girl’s head, and he can break that flag. I found that premise to be amazing, and I even loved the art, animation, and soundtrack! I think the one reason why I loved this show so much was because it had a character from an anime scene that I saw some time ago, and I wanted to find it. I then found it and watched the whole thing in just 7 days. I don’t know how much I’d love this anime if I were to rewatch it, but it certainly does not belong in the #3 spot, despite its super high enjoyment total.

Alternate Recommendation: NouCome

2. Yuru Yuri♪♪ (Season 2)

Critical Total: 37/50

Enjoyment Total: 47/50

This is the point where I go back to agreeing with my 2016 opinions. Yuru Yuri♪♪ still holds the title of the best CGDCT anime I’ve ever watched, and it’s all because of Akari Akaza. I tend to gravitate toward cute anime characters that are popular due to memes, and Akari Akaza is no exception. Ironically, she seemed to have disappeared from the realm of anime memes around 2017, which was an incredible year for anime memes. Today, I look back at Yuru Yuri♪♪ with a sense of nostalgia and how much insane fun I had watching it. If I were to rewatch it, I probably wouldn’t enjoy it as much as I did in February 2016.

Alternate Recommendation: Wataten!

1. Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Critical Total: 43/50

Enjoyment Total: 47/50

I’ve already talked about Puella Magi Madoka Magica so many times in my anime blog. I mentioned Madoka as my second favorite anime character whose name starts with an M. Madoka (the character) is one of many reasons why I love Puella Magi Madoka Magica so much. I especially love her magical girl design, even if we didn’t get to see much of that design in her own anime. Not only that, but Madoka’s personality is something that greatly inspired 2016 me. I also think this anime has the best story out of any anime, and the way it was executed made it extremely easy to binge. It is only one of two anime that I watched in one day that isn’t a short anime.

This anime made it to #3 in my Top 20 anime of the decade, but also #3 in my Top 10 anime I don’t want to rewatch. The biggest reason why I don’t want to rewatch Puella Magi Madoka Magica is that I might get crushed by disappointment if I rewatch this anime. I do recognize that Homura is a very important character, but she’s not as cute as Madoka. I have a whole lot of things to say about Madoka Magica, which I’ve already discussed in my top 20 anime of the decade post. In the end, I still agree with Puella Magi Madoka Magica being in the #1 spot.

Alternate Recommendation: Cardcaptor Sakura

A Better Top 21 List (Based on how much I’d recommend these anime)

21. Sleeping with Hinako

20. Aiura

19. Engaged to the Unidentified

18. Dream Eater Merry

17. Rozen Maiden: Traumend

16. Yami to Boushi to Hon no Tabibito

15. Mahou Shoujo Nante Mou Ii Desukara.

14. The Devil is a Part-Timer!

13. Squid Girl Season 2

12. Aria the Scarlet Ammo

11. If Her Flag Breaks

10. Encouragement of Climb Season 2

9. Shomin Sample

8. Yuki Yuna is a Hero

7. Kiniro Mosaic

6. Shirobako

5. KONOSUBA

4. AnoHana

3. Acchi Kocchi

2. Yuru Yuri♪♪

1. Puella Magi Madoka Magica