It looks like we’ve got a standout show right out of the gate: Inou-Battle is a supernatural action harem show set in high school and based on a light novel. What stands out about that, you ask? Well, normally nothing, but for Trigger, this concept stands out for how incredibly normal it is. With a studio known for being abnormal, something this normal ironically becomes abnormal.

Of course, being normal doesn’t necessarily mean dull, as proven by Inou-Battle and it’s appealing characters, laid-back tone, and strong animation at various points. It's an all-around solid show, but when you have as high a standard as Trigger, solid will only get you to the bottom spot at best. The fact that this show is easily the least characteristic of the studio’s style doesn’t help either. Nonetheless, this anime’s impressive execution of a fairly standard concept means it’s certainly much more than commonplace.

Turning Girls is one of those shows that’s interesting even through nothing more than its production history. A group of female staff members at Trigger are given carte blanche to make a show. The twist? Nobody on this new team is an animator.

If that sounds like something that would sound awful to you, then that means you just don't know Trigger. The show might have a similar level of animation to the average slideshow, but the art has a soft and appealing flair that compliments its comparatively laid-back tone and realistic urban setting with some witty well-paced humor acting as the cherry on top.

Here’s a show that often gets dismissed unfairly, although the reason why is somewhat understandable. Ninja Slayer From Animation is one of those shows where you had to have been around for its premiere to truly appreciate it. Trigger, somewhat of a newcomer at the time, had recently been declared the saviors of anime by fans who were all eagerly awaiting a new show from them and suddenly the trailers started dropping. They showcased detailed artwork, fast-paced animation, intense storyboarding and all-around solid visuals.

Fast forward to the early spring 2015 anime season, which is already shaping up to be arguably one of the best seasons in anime ever thanks to a plethora of huge premieres such as Shokugeki no Soma, DanMachi, Kekkai Sensen and Owari no Seraph just to name a few. Finally, April 16th arrives and Trigger finally releases Ninja Slayer, only now it looks…different.

As it turned out, Trigger pranked us all and it worked. The sleek and intricate animation we were promised in the trailer would only be about a minute’s worth of the animation in every episode and the rest would feature characters that looked like cardboard cutouts who moved across equally flat backgrounds exclusively via tweening in a deliberately cheap style reminiscent of the studio’s Inferno Cop. The latter show is often agreed by fans to be better, whether it’s because they like the humour better or they just didn’t like being misled and while Ninja Slayer From Animation doesn’t get quite as many laughs as it could, it’s still a fun sit in its own right and highly notable for how it got so many viewers Trigger’d.

Speaking of which, here is the original cardboard cut-out Trigger anime in all its barely moving glory. Much like Ninja Slayer, Inferno Cop revels in exaggerated violence and over the top plots played for comedic effect. It’s worth noting that many people agree that Inferno Cop contains better examples of all of these and while that’s mostly up to personal taste, it’s much harder to argue that the latter’s 3-minute episode length (as opposed to Ninja Slayer’s 12) is much more appropriate for the elegant simplicity both series present.

Inferno Cop is the story of the titular hero, who defends Jack Knife Edge Town with great justice! His quest leads him to cross paths with Mecha Cop, Hellfire Boy, Real God, his Auntie Grenda and even more larger than life characters. This is one series that’s great for showcasing Trigger’s beautiful insanity.

Fast food is so bad for you, yet so addictive, that you could swear the devil himself was involved with the industry. Well, as this show reveals, he is. Not as a shrewd, shadowy businessman, but as a fry cook working for a minimum wage.

The result is a hilarious ride through daily struggles seen from the perspective of the lord of evil with solid animation and memorable characters. It’s hard to go into detail about a comedy series because most of what you’ll say can be boiled down to “it’s funny” or “it’s not funny”, but this absolutely kills it with its humor and sends it to hell for good measure.

It’s a sad fact that some anime become synonymous with their faults, leaving many to overlook their qualities. Kiznaiver is one such show as, while it does have legitimate issues, such as a last-minute twist out of left field and a character who doesn’t seem to add anything to the show but comedy, both of which undercut the otherwise perfect dramatic tension, it also features some of the most impressive strengths of any TV anime.

The visuals are absolutely breathtaking, featuring complex, beautiful character designs that are animated like something out of a theatrical production without needing to compromise on visual detail. It also boasts a fantastic soundtrack and immediately likable characters who become even more interesting as they develop throughout the series. With such strong technical merit and a great script by industry legend Mari Okada, Kiznaiver remains a tour de force of animated storytelling in spite of its faults.

2016 might just have been the greatest year to be a Trigger fan. We got a beautiful, big-budget full-length show in Kiznaiver and a witty series of shorts in Trigger’s more scratchy style to boot! What puts Luluco over the former, however, is how great it works as a celebration of all things Trigger.

While Kiznaiver suffered somewhat of an identity crisis, Luluco knows exactly what it is: a silly, over the top adventure that highlights Trigger’s legacy. Not only does it feature returning characters from the studio, like Inferno Cop, who’s part of the main cast, but the second half has the party traveling through space and visiting the worlds of Trigger's other franchises with constant visual gags that homage Trigger founder Hiroyuki Imayishi’s work at Gainax. How can you beat that?

But Uchuu Patrol Luluco is more than just a bit of fanservice; It’s a tale of the value of one’s personal feelings and how important it is for people to follow their hearts and express their emotions even though others might mock them for it. What’s more, it’s told with lovable characters and the gorgeous blend of limited animation and sakuga that Trigger is known for, which adds a deep pathos that elevates the story even further. Because of these qualities and its status as a love letter to the studio, Uchuu Patrol Luluco has earned a high rank on this list.

Black Rock Shooter is the story of a group of friends in high school as they experience all the joy and turmoil that comes with that territory. It's also the story of a dark fantasy world where superpowered characters who represent the friends engage in battles that parallel the troubles the characters in our world face as they struggle to maintain happy and healthy relationships with each other. This story may seem convoluted, but its expertly crafted animation, soundtrack, direction, and voicework ensure that audiences will be equally captivated by both sides of this inspiring story.

But it’s the story behind the story that really makes Black Rock Shooter so inspiring. Originally nothing more than an original character with no backstory drawn and uploaded to Pixiv by then unknown artist huke, the eponymous Black Rock Shooter soon became famous as possibly one of the greatest oeuvres of digital art, with enthusiasts all across Japan, and soon even around the world, resonating with her striking design and beautiful rendering. Before long, anime creators connected with the character as well, leading to an OVA and later this very television series being produced.

What makes these anime even more notable is that huke was hired by the production team as a character designer, which shot him into otaku stardom as a result. He has since been able to strut his stuff professionally, having illustrated for the original Steins;Gate visual novel and Oreimo. He stands as living proof to all fans that they can be a part of the entertainment they love solely through their hard work and talent, an inspiring meta-narrative that bolsters Black Rock Shooter’s already inspiring in-universe narrative.

Trigger’s first TV anime began their career not with a whimper, not even with a bang, but with a supernova. Kill la Kill is one of those shows that’s difficult to categorize, simply because it does so many things expertly that you could call it just about anything. It’s a fast-paced action show, a gag-fueled comedy, a dark social commentary, a brutal subversion of magical girl anime and so much more.

Whatever Kill la Kill wants to do, it does it with style and grace in its animation and storytelling that is unmatched by all but the highest echelon of anime. Its story of a lone girl rebelling against an oppressive, clothing-fixated regime is told with a style like no other thanks to its animation, story, and characters that have since been used by a generation of fans as a yardstick to measure how well other anime do such things. By all rights, it's a modern classic.

This is a show that represents everything Trigger stands for; absolute adoration for this medium. You can feel the unparalleled love for animation this studio has had in every episode through both beautiful, stylish movements and constant homages to classic cartoons. This sort of adoration resonating throughout the show is unsurprising since it's a passion project from the phenomenally talented Yoh Yoshinari, of Evangelion and Gurren Lagann fame and his uniquely unmistakable style shines beautifully. Yoshinari started this franchise with a short film to test the waters, which eventually attracted so many fans that a sequel was produced entirely through money raised by a crowdfunding campaign. After the success of the second short, Yoshinari and the Little Witch Academia franchise went silent until coming back last year with a well-earned TV series.

But it's not just the love poured into its creation that makes the show good, as it succeeds in almost every aspect of both technical and emotional merit. It's not just a well-crafted story, but a touching one that deals with a young girl who wants to be a witch, despite having little to no magic power. Her lack of natural aptitude often seems to chip away at her self-confidence, but whenever it seems like she might give up, her love for what she's doing gives her the drive to keep working harder and harder, leading to numerous great accomplishments for her. The inspiration for Akko's journey through learning magic was likely inspired by Yoshinari's journey through learning to animate. Not only because both of their slavish devotions to their chosen paths appear similar, but the series shows genuine heart and passion on a level only possible by something extremely emotionally connected to the creator.

It’s beautiful, emotional, funny and made with love. In short, it’s everything we love about Trigger.