What is the most challenging thing all anime lovers face? Figuring out what to watch.

Even after a series has finished, another search for anime as good as the last begins. We often spend a lot of time for a show that will grab our interests until the very last episode. If you are struggling with this problem, I have some recommendations for you!

Here are my top five anime to watch this semester:

5. “Your Lie in April”

This anime is ideal for people who play musical instruments or are interested in classical music. “Your Lie in April” follows a boy who quits playing piano after his mother’s death until he meets a high-spirited, talented, female violin player. This fun and upbeat anime has a major change of pace toward the end of the series. If you do not mind sad anime, I suggest you give this one a try. Do you want to find out about the lie in April?

4. “Cowboy Bebop”

This one is a classic! This anime, which was made in 1998, remains one of the best in my books. It is about space cowboys or bounty hunters who track down criminals in their spaceship, Bebop, and turn them in for a reward. Even though they turn in criminals, these cowboys are not saints themselves. Each character has their own problems and pasts that show who they are and the circumstances that have molded them into the way they are now. 

This anime is full of action, has a great opening and the complicated characters make the show even more compelling to watch. Get on board for a journey across the galaxy with the space cowboys!

3. “Psycho-Pass”

When I watched this for the first time, I instantly fell in love. In this futuristic anime, your thoughts, intentions and stress levels are monitored through your Psycho-Pass. The Psycho-Pass measures how likely a person will commit a crime through a system called Sybil. If there is thought being put into a possible crime, your Psycho-Pass’ numbers, or crime coefficient, will rise and your hue will get cloudy, even if the crime was not committed. When this happens, officers of the Public Safety Bureau are alerted and deployed onto the scene with their dominators, or special guns, that are to be pointed at an individual to measure their crime coefficient and judge whether that person should be put into rehabilitation or killed.

The mystery of the crimes and the advanced technology will pull you in and keep you wondering. I guess the main question would be, “What would your Psycho-Pass look like?”

2. “Yuri on Ice”

“Yuri on Ice” is new to the anime scene. It began airing in Japan on Oct. 5, 2016 and was simulcasted on Crunchyroll as it aired in Japan. This anime is about international competitive figure skating. The choreography for the skating routines were done by an actual figure skater. “Yuri on Ice” is beautifully illustrated and the animation work is great. The story really brings out the trials of any competitive sport and the mental stress that comes along with it. However, the humor is what makes it wacky and upbeat. This is a great anime if you are looking for something new, especially if you have never seen an anime on ice.

1. “Ajin: Demi Human”

My number one recommendation is “Ajin: Demi Human”. Ajins cannot die and have been deemed dangerous and inhuman. If an Ajin is discovered and captured the government performs cruel and inhumane experiments on them, which include testing their pain threshold and how many things they can do to them before the lose consciousness and regenerate. Of course you would have to be put in a situation where you lose your life to find out if you were an Ajin. But, say you were…what would you do?

These are my top five anime recommendations. “Your Lie in April” and “Ajin: Demi Human” can be found on Netflix. “Yuri on Ice” can be found on Crunchyroll. “Cowboy Bebop” and “Psycho-Pass” can be streamed for free on Funimation. 

Go forth and binge watch…but only after you study!