Attack on Titan, Jujutsu Kaisen, and the best anime of 2023
By Diana Nosa
When we look back at all the anime series we were fortunate enough to witness this year, it's safe to say that there wasn't a single month that we went hungry. We were thoroughly entertained by the plethora of TV shows that we had at our disposal. However, there are only a little over two handfuls worth of anime that we can say with certainty will go down in history as the greatest anime titles of all time!
Without further ado, here are the 13 best anime of 2023! (In no particular order because they're all great!)
1. Attack on Titan: The Final Season
Putting Attack on Titan on this list was a no-brainer because this beloved anime gave us a farewell that we still can’t help but shed a few tears over.
This anime’s final season told a complex story incomparable to most. A fight against humanity, a battle against man, and an undying commitment to who you trust with your life formulated a recipe for a heartbreaking protagonist who would do anything to create the world he wishes to see.
To this very day, Eren Yaeger is regarded as one of the most beautifully written characters in all of fiction for the simple fact that fans still wanted him to win even though he was deadset on committing genocide.
Fans were even more attached to him because we knew, deep down, that Eren didn’t want to have to commit these atrocities; he was left with no choice. The final season displayed this in a wonderful way that not only stayed true to Eren’s character but also explained why it was so hard to choose to be on his side or his enemy’s side.
Attack on Titan is now an anime of the past. Still, it will forever be regarded as the anime that pushed the envelope and rewrote shounen/seinen anime as we know it today.
2. Vinland Saga season 2
“I have no enemies” is a phrase that was initially turned into a meme. However, once anime fans saw that it came from Vinland Saga and then proceeded to watch the first and second seasons of the anime, they were immediately transformed.
The context behind this saying is equally captivating as the saying itself, as it shows how far Thorfinn, our flawed protagonist has come from when we first met him as a murder-hungry boy who wanted revenge.
Rather than coming from a place of arrogance or ignorance, now, when Thorfinn says this phrase, it comes from the mouth of a man who found inner peace and understands that it isn’t his physical aptitude that makes him strong but his ability to empathize and have compassion for others.
Vinland Saga season 2 took us on a journey highlighting humanity's beauty amid chaos and bloodshed. Hence we believe many now understand the quote than ever.