A third year college student has lived the majority of his college life as a “Black Cupid”, a force actively working to break up all couples on campus. One night at a ramen stand behind the Shimogamo Shrine, he meets a Matchmaking God who tells him that he intends to pair him up with his underclassman Akashi. Regretful of the way in which he spent his college life, he is sent back in time to his first year in order to make the most of it.

From the art style to the speed of the dialogue, Tatami Galaxy is certainly a title which stands out from the rest – it is most certainly unique in its delivery, a factor which gives it significant staying power. With relevant themes like regret, resentment and self-pity, the anime serves as a message to the disillusioned, those who find themselves existing on the fringes of their respective environments, going out of their way to make lasting connections and pulling up short and from that perspective, Tatami Galaxy is one of the more insightful anime that has appeared on noitaminA’s programming block.

A mysterious virus spreads, turning the infected into bloodthirsty savages. These creatures, called Kabane, are extremely resilient and can only know death through the destruction of their steel-coated hearts. In order to survive the undead onslaught, the people of Hinomoto have managed to build high walls to keep out the Kabane, a design employed by various other settlements. The only way to travel in between these human settlements is via heavily fortified trains. Ikoma, an engineer of one such train has devoted much of his time to the development of a tool capable of piercing the hearts of the Kabane and soon after its completion, the Kabane appear within the walls of Hinomoto to terrorise the people yet again.

With the recent trend of dark, dystopian settings with anime currently headlined by the likes of Shingeki no Kyojin, Koutetsujou no Kabaneri made quite an impression with its beautiful art and slick animation and of course, zombies. This noitaminA anime found a good way to incorporate elements from very different aspects of the horror genre, as well as current ideas of what a post-apocalyptic world looks like in order to present us with something that’s a lot like the others… but different. Rokkon Shojo!

Music is a universal language. That truth exhibits itself yet again when the introverted and lonely pianist Nishimi Kaoru meets the delinquent Kawabuchi Sentarou, kick-starting a beautiful friendship and eye-opening musical journey. Kawabuchi’s love for jazz begins to rub off on Kaoru and eventually, he begins playing piano for after-school jam sessions in the basement of their friend, Mukae Ritsuko’s family record shop. With his world opened up to the true gift of music, the once-lonesome Kaoru’s life is set to change forever.

NoitaminA Anime + music = possibility of artistic revelation. That equation has proven itself over and over with the wide variety of anime which follow the musical journeys of their characters. Sakamichi no Apollon is a beautiful story about friendship and music and shows the importance of having people with whom one can unashamedly share their interests with. Having been on the noitaminA anime programming block, Sakamichi no Apollon is a journey worth experiencing and a beautiful piece that sets the standard for many others like it.

In 2029, the world was ravaged by the outbreak of the Apocalypse Virus and ten years later, Japan is no longer as it once was. Now ruled by an independent military entity known as GHQ, Japan is a harsh authoritarian state. As things would normally go, a group has emerged and tasked itself with resistance against GHQ. This group is Funeral Parlour and when one of its members runs into the unassuming Ouma Shu, he ends up becoming the bearer of the “Power of Kings”: the ability to draw out the physical manifestations of people’s personalities, called Voids. This inadvertent interaction puts Shu right in the middle of the conflict between Funeral Parlour and GHQ; he must now learn how to harness his power in order to help Funeral Parlour take back Japan.

High school students being tossed into a fight for survival is not at all a new concept; however, Guilty Crown brings with it serious politics – the country in which this high schooler lives is in tumultuous times and he bears the power to end that… or exacerbate it. Guilty Crown is a rollercoaster ride for both the protagonist and the viewer and of course, we do get to experience the all-important concept of character development. Yes, as things get worse for Ouma Shu, a certain life-changing experience triggers drastic change in his demeanour and personality – watch Guilty Crown for some character development of your own!

Second-year Economics student Yoga Kimimaro’s life changes forever when he meets the strange Masakaki, an entity hailing from the Financial District, a realm which dictates the flow of money and wealth in the real world. People exposed to the Financial District bet their futures in high-stakes duels called “Deals”, using avatars in the Financial Realm. Going bankrupt means losing everything, but maintaining your status in the Financial Realm almost guarantees financial freedom. Can Kimimaro protect his future in his new cutthroat environment even if it means destroying the futures of others?

Money is everything in this thrilling series. The existence of the Financial District serves as a physical manifestation of the saying “Money makes the world go round,” and as the overarching plot line, the massive risks involved with simply engaging in Deals every week make this noitaminA anime quite the action-packed thriller, perfect for anyone who seeks something with some form of real-world relevance and different from the general shounen tropes to which we are constantly exposed. Invest some time into this series, you will not go broke.

Two mysterious teenagers named Nine and Twelve are the masterminds behind a strange internet sensation known as Sphinx, the entity responsible for a terrorist attack on a certain Japanese nuclear facility. As Sphinx, the two issue a challenge to the Japanese authorities, threatening to cause widespread carnage to the city of Tokyo. The Japanese police are now caught up in a race against time to apprehend the two boys before many lives are lost.

When Zankyou no Terror made its way onto the noitaminA anime programming block in 2014, it became an instant success. The short series was a brilliantly written story of regret and the way in which our pasts readily shape our present perceptions of the world and ourselves. The intricately woven characters and their personalities have a brilliance that goes beyond that which is expected of a series sporting a mere eleven episodes and Zankyou no Terror definitely left screens in September 2014 with a bang!

Careless Monday, a strange terrorist incident which befell Japan in which a missile strike claimed no victims; a deadly game involving cell phones and money; and an eccentric amnesiac all suddenly bear much relevance in Morimi Saki’s life when she meets the enigmatic Takizawa Akira while on her graduation trip to the United States. Their curious meeting was even more so due to his public nakedness at the time, as well as the fact that he was in possession of a gun and a strange cell phone bearing 8.2 billion yen in digital currency, and claimed to be a terrorist. Somehow unable to resist him, Saki befriends Takizawa, not knowing his significance as a central figure in the Careless Monday incident and the supposed fate of Japan.

Higashi no Eden is different. In eleven episodes, this noitaminA anime is able to explore several plot lines that all feed into the main story in a way that is unique and unforgettable. Characters are all quirky in one or another and even though some draw from basic anime character archetypes, there is a beautiful depth to the majority of the characters, especially our main boy and mystery, Takizawa Akira. The art style of this noitaminA anime is beautiful, the soundtrack is glorious and the story’s conclusion is excellent – Eden of the East is a somewhat obscure must-watch series that no one can really forget once it is over. Much like the Careless Monday, Eden of the East makes a silent impact; being both hidden from most, but outspoken in its very existence.

29-year-old aspiring mangaka, Fujinuma Satoru, has a strange ability which sends him back in time to minutes before tragedy strikes. He calls this ability “Revival” and he uses it to save many lives; however, when implicated in the death of someone he held dear, the ability sends him back to 1988, to the time when Satoru’s life was extremely tumultuous due to the murders of his elementary school classmates. He comes to the realisation that the death for which he was framed may very well tie in with the disappearance and subsequent killing of his classmate, Hinazuki Kayo. Now given a chance to live that period of his life again, can Satoru save Kayo and hence, change the future which appears so bleak for him?

When January of 2016 had lurched forward into the usual yearly pace, Boku Dake ga Inai Machi was already a major talking point for anime fans everywhere. For pretty simple reasons: Boku Dake ga Inai Machi was a standout noitaminA anime in 2016 and signified a year that would be rich in great anime. The series is dark and the premise is intriguing, again we are exposed to time travel as a plot device; however, this time, it simply isn’t as convenient as we normally would think. Long story short, Boku Dake ga Inai Machi is an intense and thrilling roller coaster ride involving emotion, suspense and even betrayal. One thing is for sure – anime fans will never forget being forced back from the haze of the holiday season into a brilliant anime year.

22nd Century Japan enjoys many privileges of being an advanced society. With the implementation of the Sibyl System, society runs like a well-oiled machine and the very act of law enforcement is completely different. In this society, all individuals’ psychological states are carefully monitored in order to determine their likelihood of committing crimes – this reading is called their Psycho Pass and Sibyl decides on behalf of the authorities what level of subjugation should be used. Tsunemori Akane is a young woman with fairly traditional ideals of justice who refuses to be forced into assuming that all of Sibyl’s judgements are right. With this very traditional approach to law enforcement, Tsunemori has to come to an understanding of what true justice is, all while learning about the true nature of the Sibyl System.

Imagine living in a world where your very personality and aptitude were taken into account when determining the best area in which to maximise your contribution to society overall. Imagine not being able to have any hopes and dreams. Imagine living in a time where the least bit of stress could be seen as malice and dealt with harshly. Such is the Japan that Tsunemori lives in and at first, it is quite easy to come to believe that all that Sibyl does, it does in the best interests of the people. The moral and ethical dilemma that arise from such a situation really bring into question the current trajectory of human existence – are we really destined to live machine-like lives under the guise that society as a whole will benefit? Or is that just a new way in which freedom will be taken away from people? Watch Psycho Pass to find out!

Japan during the Warring States Era is an extremely violent and volatile place. During this time, a legendary blacksmith crafts twelve unique swords known as the Deviant Blades. Yasuri Shichika is a young man who lives in exile with his sister and practices one of the most curious sword-fighting styles: the sword-less Kyotouryuu, a style which employs the user’s own body as a weapon. His quiet life continues, until the eccentric strategist, Togame, finds her way to the island where Shichika lives and demands that he help her in her mission to find the twelve Deviant Blades for the Shogunate. Smitten, Shichika accepts and the two set sail on a journey across Japan upon which they will encounter powerful fighters and the true oppressive power of the Shogunate.

Yet another NisioIsiN masterpiece, Katanagatari is the story of two adventurers and their relationship as it develops throughout the course of their journey. Over the span of the twelve 45-minute long episodes, we are whisked away into a beautiful world not unlike many that NisioIsiN has created before it – rich in multi-layered, quirky characters whose casual interactions are some of the most intricately laid out and at most times, the most comical dialogues one could have the pleasure of hearing. The art is definitely different and constitutes a more minimalistic approach to anime art, all while maintaining a colourful vibrant look and feel which is quite awesome to see, especially when characters’ blades meet. The story is brilliant and the way in which the protagonists are found centred in the various plot lines which develop as a result of their relationship constantly gives new meaning to the words “plot twist”.