This year is almost coming to an end and it has been a great year for anime. As the year draws to a close, it is time to go over the best anime series of 2013. Some of these animes fans may have missed through the anime seasons, but most will have become so popular that it would have been hard not to have heard of them.

Regrettably, I am ignoring the Random Curiosity rule of not being able to fully judge an anime until it's over, but I figured why should some of the great Fall season animes be left out just because they will end in 2014? Hopefully the entries from the Fall anime season 2013 don't turn terrible half way through like Sword Art Online.

Danganronpa: The Animation

In Danganronpa, 15 students are gathered at a high class high school where graduation is very difficult, but graduating from it essentially means you succeed at life. The president of the high school is a psychopathic bear that declares that graduating hinges on someone committing murder. One classmate must kill another and attempt to get away with it. If the rest of the class figures out who the murderer is, the killer is executed and the class graduates, but if they do not only the murderer will graduate and the rest will die.

The concept is likeable enough, and for those that do not want to dissect this anime to pieces it is going to be a fun romp. The characters aren't just some typical boring teenagers, if they were than the lack of character development would make this terrible. However they aren't typical, each one is unique with various weird quirks and back stories. Though the mystery solving does seem a little rushed at the end, 13 episodes clearly wasn't enough.

My Mental Choices are Completely Interfering with my School Romantic Comedy (Ore no Nounai Sentakushi ga, Gakuen Love Comedy wo Zenryoku de Jama Shiteiru)

Kanade Amakusa is a high school student plagued by a curse called the Absolute Choice. At any time he must choose between two or three multiple choices of which he has no control over which choices appear. Most of the choices are weird or perverse leading to him to have a poor reputation at school and making his only friends members of the Reject 5. However, one day, he makes a choice to have a beautiful girl fall from the sky, who is there to help rid him of his powers.

Though only a few episodes are out for this Fall 2013 anime, it is proving to be one of the best comedies I have seen in awhile. Though to be honest, this may because I have an addiction to dating sims and choice games, and this anime is a lot like watching one of those games. The main character is a bit of a boring everyman, but all the other characters around him as well as the choice situations he is put in are so over the top and hilarious that it makes up for his blandness.

Silver Spoon

City boy Yugo Hachiken dreams of a life away from his parents, so he enrolls in agricultural school. Yugo believes that his talent at studying will allow him to do well at any school. Oh, how wrong he is. In a school full of experienced children of farmers, Yugo is awakened to the cruelties of this life and its struggles.

This slice of life anime showcases a particular slice of life not often seen in anime—the rural life. That right there makes it perhaps one of the most interesting animes in 2013, but not everyone appreciates slice of life anime because they can be a bit boring at times. In Silver Spoon this is not so, the anime never wastes a chance putting Yugo into uncomfortable situations. However the best part of this anime is the characters, all of which normal but unique in their own way. The show does not spend so much time focusing on one side character individually, instead opts to show these characters growing as a group.

My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU (Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Come wa Machigatteiru)

Hikigaya Hachiman is an antisocial high school student with absolutely no friends or a girlfriend. As his classmates enthuse about their adolescent lives, he insists they are all liars, while his only dream is not working. Due to his bad attitude and outlook on life, a teacher gets Hachiman to join the Volunteer Service club headed up by the most beautiful girl in school Yukinoshita Yukino.

At a glance, this anime looks like the same old romantic comedy. An outcast joins a club with the most beautiful girl in school, how original. However, even after the first episode it proves to be something more. The characters are honest and brutally so, combining this with a club dedicated to helping people (and not always in the nicest ways) sets the show up from truly hilarious moments. Thankfully, they set the romantic part of romantic comedy on the back burner for most of the show and opted to really bring some good laughs.

The Devil is a Part-Timer! (Hataraku Maou-sama)

The Devil King Sadao was only one short step away from conquering the world before he was defeated by Hero Emilia. He is then forced into modern day Tokyo without most of his powers. Now he must get a job and work like the rest of us to pay for his living expenses.

The premise is simple, the show is even simpler. This anime doesn't try to toss in any romance or emotional moments, it is comedy in its purest form. After all, the devil has no emotions or interest in romance. His choices are to climb the ladder at MgRonalds (Yes, that would be McDonalds) and control the world through that company or find sufficient power to get back to his original world. To see the devil deal with people and wear his MgRonald's uniform is enough to make this one great anime already, but it is packed full of truly hilarious moments.

Psycho-Pass

The series takes place in the near future, when it is possible to instantaneously measure and quantify a person's state of mind and personality. This information is recorded and processed, and the term "Psycho-Pass" refers to a standard used to measure an individual's being. It is possible to quantitatively measure a person's emotions, desires, and every inclination. In this way, it is also possible to measure a person's criminal tendency factor, which is used to judge criminals. The story follows an enforcement officer who monitors those with high criminal tendencies named Shinya Kougami.

Psycho-Pass technically started airing in 2012, but ran long into 2013. Many anime fans actually missed out on this gem because of the first few episodes, they were slow and the main character disliked. However, they should have waited it out, once the character development got going it was clear why the main character was introduced this way. The pace picked up and it turned Psycho-Pass into an anime full of, at times, disturbing action that showed the world in varied shades of grey instead of black and white.

Free!

Haruka Nanase, a boy who has always loved to be immersed in water, and to swim in it. Before graduating from elementary school, he participated in a swimming tournament along with his fellow swimming club members, Makoto Tachibana, Nagisa Hazuki, and Rin Matsuoka. After achieving victory, each of the boys went their separate ways. However, in high school, Rin appears and challenges Haruka to a swim match to show off his great prowess. After being beat badly, Haruka gathers his old pals and newcomer Rei Ryugazaki to defeat Rin.

Shirtless boys splashing around in a pool? There is only one thing this anime can be—fan service. Oddly enough though, this is fan service catered to females, something that has been rarely seen, much less made the center of a whole anime. This in itself made Free! disliked by many—if not all—male anime fans. For those who can look past the fan service, as female anime fans often have to do, there is actually a pretty hilarious show inside of Free! Not to mention an inventive premise that has never been shown before unless someone can name me some swimming animes.

Log Horizon

The massively multiplayer online role-playing game of Elder Tale has endured ten expansions and is readying for its eleventh with millions of players logging on. However, thirty thousand Japanese players who logged on find themselves teleported and trapped inside the game for real in their game avatars. In the midst of the event, a socially awkward gamer called Shiroe along with his friends Naotsugu and Akatsuki decide to team up so that they may face this world which has now become their reality along with the challenges which lie ahead.

New to the 2013 anime Fall season, Log Horizon already has a fairly devote following, but it doesn't take a genius to see why. This anime is essentially Sword Art Online, so thus it is perfect to fill that SAO-shaped void in its loyal fanbases hearts. Here's hoping they know when to end this anime instead of needlessly continuing it like SAO, though. Regardless, Log Horizon has, in my mind, already proven itself to be just slightly better. It focuses on the gaming aspect more so than the romance aspect. The main character is more akin to a true gamer rather than some moody teen as well.

Kill La Kill

The story is set on a high school that the student council president Satsuki Kiryuuin rules by force. Wielding a giant Basami scissors sword, the wandering transfer student Ryuuko Matoi brings about upheaval on the campus. Ryuuko searches for the mysterious figure who caused her father's death, but confronting her are the student council's "four divine kings." Fortunately, Ryuuko is aided by a talking sailor uniform who tells her that apparently gives powers.

I can't in good conscience say this is a great anime quite yet, it is a 25 episode series and there are only a spare few out so far. However, it is being set up to be one of the best animes of the Fall 2013 season anime. Very much akin to Toppa Tengen Gurren Lagann, Kill La Kill is filled with ridiculousness and crazy fight scenes. Considering it is made by the same by the same director as Gurren Lagann, it seems he doesn't have much in the way of creative spectrum, but if it isn't broke, don't fix it, right?

Attack on Titan

You knew it was coming. Attack on Titan is the name on everyone's lips and even though the anime has finished up, Titan mania is showing no signs of letting up considering the set up for a second season.

The story takes place several hundred years after humanity was pushed back behind giant walls by titans who seemingly have no other goal than to devour humans for pleasure rather than subsistence. In the future, enter Eren Yeager and his foster sister Mikasa witness the colossal titan's appearance, which knocks a hole in the wall and unleashes a flood of titans. After Eren's mom is devoured alive, he vows to kill every single titan.

Attack on Titan is a beautifully animated romp through a unique story. That in itself is probably why it has become so popular. With all the repeated motifs in anime, it is always refreshing to see something new. However, many fans have a complained that it can go on a little too long at times, however it is rather religiously sticks to the manga and the manga does tend to do that as well. Regardless, it would be difficult to argue that Attack on Titan is not the best anime of 2013.