Okay, so I won't make these awards nearly to the same level as the year awards, probably as expected. I'm not going to do runners up because of lack of material, so I'm just going to write about my top choice. I also won't go into extreme detail, since I need to leave those details for the end of the year list. I'll only do details for things that I'm certain I won't have to write about in the yearly list.
One Room - I am probably the only one in existence who genuinely thinks One Room is the anime of the season. It's a show that I'm sure that even if everybody else here watched that they'd be turned off immediately by the first episode. Thankfully I'm not everybody else here.
Masamune-kun's Revenge - This is not a category that I anticipate using for any other of the seasonal awards, but I think in this case it's justified. Masamune-kun is currently the second worst anime I've ever had the displeasure of having watched. I tortured myself to go through the entire thing for some odd reason, and even though I don't regret watching it, I do not think fondly of my memories of this shit. Masamune-kun is an example of a show that does everything wrong. It tried to be unique in the start, but even then it failed early on, and continued to dig itself into an even larger hole than it was to begin with. It's a show about horrible people who have some of the most childish and downright idiotic reasons for their own actions that every single time they do something, I can't help but feel infuriated by how someone could have even thought that writing these characters this way was okay. My hope for humanity was already at negative infinity, but if you multiply that by 2, then you now understand how low my hope for humanity has gone after having watched this atrocity. I'll be so glad when I finish my thoughts on it, because after that, I will never have to think about Masamune-kun for any extended period of time ever again.
Tatsumi Kon -
Koiwai Yoshino aka Bitch Maid -
Tamotsu Denkigai - Tamotsu got best guy more because there wasn't any stand out guys this season. Either way, Tamotsu is still a pretty cool protagonist.
Makabe Masamune - Masamune is the worst anime protagonist ever. He is such a ginormous asshole, and not at all in a fun way.
Gabriel Dropkick (Gabriel Dropout) - Gabriel Dropkick is a fantastic opening. I've always liked it, but I only gained full appreciation for it after analyzing Masamune-kun's OP and realizing how utter shit that one was. After analyzing that one, I looked back and judged some of the OPs I liked, and only then was I able to realize the brilliance of Gabriel Dropkick. Gabriel Dropkick does a ton right. It's mostly in the song like a lot of other OPs, but I think the song does a great job conveying what the show is about. The song is able to blend in conversation with the characters to help give us an idea of who they are, and it's capable of introducing the dynamics between said characters. It also uses audio cues to help signify what exactly the show is about. Things like the first few lines and how they give off a more divine/holy aura and how that aura is immediately broken is very reminiscent of the show. Along with that, when Gabriel and Raphi talk, the instruments in the background are much softer than the much more agressive ones for Vigne and Satania. Touches like that go a long way, and only helped to add to this OP. From the song alone I was able to tell exactly what this show was about, which is rare, since usually you need both the visuals and music to understand this. The visuals are weaker than the song, but they do a good enough job bringing the OP to life on screen. Even if the visuals aren't impressive, I can't think of a better way to have adapted the song, so it's okay in my book.
Boku no Friend (Kemono Friends) - This season killed it with the EDs. I can count 6 that I really liked. Along with that, I for the longest time had Gabriel Dropout's ED as my favorite, but right now it wouldn't even be in my top 3. So with this many good EDs you'd expect that I'd have a hard time choosing my favorite. Nope. Boku no Friend is an amazing ED that easily trampled it's competition. Boku no Friend currently sits somewhere in my top 10 all time favorite EDs. Yes, it's that good. It sucks that I have a hard time explaining music, but this song is pretty damn perfect. The vocals are great (comes from a fairly new singer it seems). I've listened to this song for hours on end and still am still loving it a ton. Also, those lyrics (not the best translation, but it gives the general gist) are fantastic. If you want some incredibly wholesome and heartwarming lyrics, then Boku no Friend has that in spades. A bittersweet song about a strong friendship and growing apart as you age is all you need to get me right in the kokoro.
Chiya comforting Kon (Urara Meirochou Episode 8) - [Urara Meirochou Spoilers](#s "Of all of Urara Meirochou's touching scenes, this one is definitely the best. There's lots to love about this scene. Kon's dilemma here about her thinking that her Urara powers might have been taken awake were indeed legitimate. While I didn't think about it before, her entire reasoning for thinking that was legit, and while inside I knew they weren't going away, Kon's issue felt very real. As a character I cared about a great deal at this point in the show, I was feeling distressed over the matter, but then Chiya comes along. What Chiya says to comfort Kon isn't something you haven't heard from a lot of other protagonists in anime. She says she'll always be with Kon and all that good stuff. But what Chiya says really resonates because of how much conviction she says it with. She does not give a second thought
If you think about it, I shouldn't think too highly of this season, at least compared to people like Laker and Shade who were able to get 9s and 10s out of it. My favorite show of this season barely managed to get an 8, half of the shows this season didn't even get a 7, and I have one 1. Despite that, this is probably one of my favorite seasons in the past few years.