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2017 Anime Summary
This is an attempt to capture the the most memorable stuff of the year. I haven't seen all (or even most) of these, so lots of this is based off impressions of what others are saying. Please feel free to correct any gross errors.
These tiers are based on popularity, critical acclaim and cultural impact
Tier 1
My Hero Academia (Boku no Hero Academia) Season 2 - TOURNAMENT ARC!!!!
Made in Abyss - cute lolis, beautiful scenery, amazing soundtrack, super disturbing
Kono Suba Season 2 (Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo! 2) - More Kono Suba
Attack on Titan Season 2 (Shingeki no Kyojin) - Perhaps the long layoff hurt it, but even though it didn't have the same buzz as season 1, it still belongs in this tier
Tier 2
Land of the Lustrous (Houseki no Kuni) - best CGI ever plus great story, follows living genderless gems who fight to avoid being kidnapped to the moon
Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid (Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon) - this show about gay dragons became surprising popular and had tons of memes. And don't lewd the dragon loli!
Little Witch Academia - Trigger saved anime again then Netflix killed it again by not simulcasting
Kemono Friends - At first many completely wrote this off as being a silly kids show, but it's heart and underlying sense of mystery made it absolutely blow up in Japan
Tier 3
Eromanga-sensei - anime is trash and so am I. A brother and his little completely not blood-related step-sister who draws erotic art. It's not surprising that this show is so trashy, what's surprising is how popular and memetastic this trash became.
Saga of Tanya the Evil (Youjo Senki) - everyone's favorite loli nazi, except she isn't a loli or a nazi or a she. There's 2 parts to this show: Tanya being an utterly ruthless OP savage and Being X absolutely screwing with Tanya
Princess Principal - cute girls doing spy things in steampunk london
Sakura Quest - Working life after college for a group of women. Lots of heartwarming stories as they try to revitalize a town.
As the Moon, So Beautiful (Tsuki ga Kirei) - First love for middle schoolers done right, deeply loved by its fanbase
Recovery of an MMO Junkie (Net-juu no Susume) - Adult romance done right, surprise favorite of many
Gamers! - Misunderstanding the Anime. Hijinks of the school game club.
The Ancient Magus' Bride (Mahoutsukai no Yome) - Girl sells herself at auction, ancient creature buys her to be his wife/apprentice. Beatiful magical world but somewhat slow
Girls' Last Tour (Shoujo Shuumatsu Ryokou) - Atmospheric post-apocalyptic story that follows 2 girls trying to survive and answer philosophical questions and dab
Hidden Gems - shows that many people claim are the true best of the year, but didn't get enough followers for whatever reason
Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu season 2 - All the critics absolutely adore this show about a dying artform, but no one watches it
March Comes in like a Lion season 2 (3-gatsu no Lion) - All the critics absolutely adore this show about shogi and bullying, but it is slightly more popular than Rakugo Shinjuu
ACCA 13 (ACCA: 13-ku Kansatsu-ka) - slow burn, serious investigating where all the threads come together in the end
Magical Circle Guruguru (Mahoujin Guruguru) - the exact opposite in style, high-paced frenetic with tons of jokes and references, several on /r/anime swear it's the best of the year
Other shows of note
Inuyashiki - 2 people get killed by aliens who give them new super robot bodies. One is a kindly old man, the other becomes the villain with a complex backstory of his own
Scum's Wish (Kuzu no Honkai) - Two kids in love with people they can't have agree to use each other as surrogate lovers. No way this can end badly.
Gabriel DropOut - Cute SoL where an angel sent to earth gets corrupted by RPGs. Demons end up more angelic than the angels.
Re:Creators - instead of sending people to fantasy worlds, what if fantasy characters came to the real world and battled it out. Great premise and many loved it, but also a lot of slow parts turned people off
Boruto: Naruto Next Generations - The adventures of Naruto's son
Dragon Ball Super - has really picked it up and was causing server load problems for Crunchyroll
Kakegurui - Over-the-top gambling school, really strong buzz right out of the gate, but seemed to fade
Tsurezure Children - comedic shorts featuring several romantic couples in school
Short tidbits that you should be aware of
Kino's Journey (Kino no Tabi): The Beautiful World - the original was very highly regarded. This remake, not so much
Juuni Taisen- Zodiac War - Battle Royale based on Chinese zodiac. Starts off with a surprise by building up the backstory of characters then immediately killing them off. The problem is that it kills off all its interesting characters and the order is based on Zodiac, so too predictable
Welcome to the Ballroom (Ballroom e Youkoso) - Sports anime infamous for long necks
Akashic Records of Bastard Magic Instructor (Rokudenashi Majutsu Koushi to Akashic Records) - infamous for it's very revealing school uniforms
A Sister's All You Need (Imouto sae Ireba Ii) - infamous for it's incredibly over-the-top first few minutes (pulling panties from another dimension), which aren't even real
Trainwrecks
Hand Shakers - beyond it's stupid premise (pairs can only fight while holding hands), it was notorious for its horrible CGI chains
King's Game (Ousama's Game) - Everyone in the game receives texts that they have to obey or they die. Possibly the biggest trainwreck of the season
Black Clover - hyped as the next king of shonen, but people couldn't get past the main character's incessant, awful screaming
In Another World With My Smartphone (In Isekai wa Smartphone to Tomo ni) - another stupid Isekai with a stupid premise (he can use a smartphone to lookup info) and stupid OP protagonist
Dies Irae - Something about time-travelling Nazi witches. Notable for being funded by a kickstarter from fans of the source material. Unfortunately the adaptation was unwatchable garbage