Top 5 Animes

So I've officially been in lockdown now for 2 months, 1 week and 5 days - though it feels like a years - and I've gotten bored of all of the things I was doing. I've grown tired of the shows I was watching. And I've re-watched my favourite anime, several times. It occurred to me that maybe some of you out there might be looking for something interesting to watch while you're going through the same things and so I thought I'd share with you some more of my favourite animes.

And so, in no particular order, here are my top five anime;
Gate - https://youtu.be/r3rJqoqk4gQ
Gate is initially about a magical gate appearing in the middle of tokyo japan and how the Japanese defence force deal with it, but it quickly becomes a story about how the Self Defence force go through this gate into a world of fantasy and adventure.
I love the characters, and the concept, it's like the normal trope of humans going to a new world where they have to survive against the odds turned on it's head so that the humans, with their advanced technology and war strategy go in and become a dominant force, though they have articles of war that teach the natives of the new world how to treat each other. It's rarely an anime where you are wondering if people survive, and more about how they do it and what they get out of it. Very interesting and only a little bit of Anime Pervy tropes.
Erased - https://youtu.be/jTOyQJuZuy4
Erased follows a guy in his twenties who has this strange ability to rewind a few minutes when someone dies near him. It starts out intriguing but goes full on dramatic when his mother is killed and instead of travelling back a few hours he's transported back years to when some kids were killed in his town growing up.
A solid mystery drama, best I've seen in a long time. And the live action version aint not bad either
New Game! + - https://youtu.be/Gi4-01Ai-qQ
A guilty pleasure of mine. if you read one of my previous recent posts you'll get way more detail than I could put herre, so here's the link.
Rising of the Shield Hero - https://youtu.be/CXsebXvLvkU
Rising is one of those anime's where someone from our universe gets sucked into another universe and is one of the specialist people ever. The difference in this one however is that everyone hates him, nobody wants him there and he has to do a lot of shady stuff to get by while the powers try to undermine him at every turn, at least for the first 3/4 of the show. it also has that element of building a team and I am a sucker for any media that has the 'building a team' thing. I love seeing the teams come together and wondering which outsiders are going to join up. It can feel a little harem-y as all of his constant companions are girls, often who want to be with him, but I find it fairly easy to overlook since its only really one of them that feels like will be relevant in that regard and he's so depressed all the time he's pretty oblivious to it, so it doesn't come up a ton.
Psycho Pass - https://youtu.be/YzuJnyebc40
Psycho Pass is a super solid sci-fi detective drama. I Never saw season 2 cos I could never find it, but the first season was really good. It takes place in a futuristic city where evereyone's mental state is constantly monitored and people who start to break are taken in to be rehabilitated, or killed on sight. The whole plot is so well made and delivered, from the newbie in the ranks getting to grips with the agencies ways, to the former agent who broke and could only work under supervision of official agents, all the characters are great and the big mystery that worms its way through the whole show is entirely on point.

Honourable Mentions;
Sword Art Onine - https://youtu.be/6ohYYtxfDCg
I loved the first season of SAO, the idea of getting stuck in a virtual world was a great story, but it's all been downhill from there. the most recent few seasons have been okay, and I liked the beginning of season 2, but I think SAO is one of those shows that have some of my favorite bits, but it's not the best as a whole.
Assassination Classroom - https://youtu.be/kgNkGohA20k
I have a lot of love for assassination classroom, but I own every volume of the manga, and while the anime did a great job of making an adaptation it just never felt quite as good as the manga. Still worth watching.
Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood - https://youtu.be/dqDB6gQLbPM
FMA:B is great, it has some amazing artwork, some of the most memorable and depressing scenes. It really knows what it's doing and how to break your heart... but it does drag on for quite a while. It's still great, don't get me wrong, and well worth watching start to finish, (and it's better than the original) buy I don't think i've watched it more than once.

Final update; since the last post I have completed another 7 games, which brings us up to 12 games in 10 weeks. That said, some of them... actually all of them since the last post, were games I started before the lockdown and never got around to finish.
Red Dead Redemption 2
The Witcher 3
Assassins Creed Odyssey
Horizon Zero Dawn
Star Wars Battlefront 2 + expansion story
Rise of the tomb raider
Devil May Cry 5
I've been tryiong to look at this lockdown more positively. What it's given me that I wouldn't have otherwise.
I've got a lot more free time. I've been able to complete a ton of games. My D&D group has had time to play a lot of games, almost weekly in fact. I've had time to do a  butt-load of work on a secret project I've been putting together for my D&D group.
I guess my point is; the lockdown still sucks, but it's necessary, and it doesn't have to be all bad.

- James
The Dark Side of Games-tube