Returning to Anime? The Best Anime Series of 2014 That You Missed

Been away from anime for awhile? We understand. You go out and have your life, anime will always be waiting for you when you come back. They always come back. If you are finally coming back and stopped watching sometime in or before 2014, here are all the best anime series that you missed and definitely should go back and watch.

Noragami

There will be times where you may
happen across an odd phone number written in red. If you call it, you
will get in touch with a young man who introduces himself as the Yato
God. This Yato God is a minor deity and the self-proclaimed God of
Delivery. He dreams of having millions of worshippers, but there
isn’t a single shrine dedicated to his name. He spends his time doing
odd jobs for spare yen until the day his weapons partner deserts him.
Just as things are looking down, he happens across a young school
girl that saves him from a car accident by taking the hit for him.
She survives, but her soul becomes loose. Together they set out to
find a way to tighten her soul back up.

This show is a bit of complex fun. At
first, you think it is mostly a supernatural comedy with the
potential to morph into a romantic comedy, but then near the end,
things get pretty series that allows it to stand as an interesting
action show in its own right.

No Game No Life

In the real world, siblings Shiro and
Sora are NEET shut-ins. However, in the virtual world, they are the
legendary gaming duo. One day, after a strange email, they find their
reality taken away as they are transported to the realm of Tet, God
of Games. Here, Shiro and Sora must play games to defeat the sixteen
races of this world as well as Tet in order to become the new gods.

Ah, this is 2014 so isekai wasn’t done to death. This remains one of the better stories about random gamers transported to a new world where their game skills make them as gods. Bright and colorful to an almost psychedelic degree with a cleverness in its games, though it is perhaps forever waiting for a second season.

The Irregular at Magic High School

After magic, once thought to be
folklore, was turned into a technical skill, schools to teach it
opened all over. At one such school are siblings Tatsuya and Miyuki
Shiba. While Miyuki excels, her brother is placed in a lower class
due to his seemingly magical ineptitude. However, he has rather
unique abilities that make him quite irregular.

This is one of those shows based on a
light novel that you either really like or don’t like at all. It is
riddled with cliches as light novel adaptions always are, but there
is some gorgeous animation to show it off. It almost makes up for the
dense exposition that often goes on in the dialogue. It’s a talker,
and that’s not for everyone.

Nisekoi

Ten years ago, Raku Ichijou made a
promise with a childhood friend. In the present day, this heir
apparent to an intimidating yakuza family continues to wait for his
friend’s return while trying to be as uninvolved in family matters
as possible. However, when a rival gang invades his family’s turf,
the family leaders decide Raku should start a romantic relationship
with the other chief’s daughter, Chitoge.

As romance series goes, Nisekoi ranks among the top. Perhaps just for being a magnificent cocktease about which girl Raku is ultimately going to pick. Back in the day, the battle for best girl in this show was fierce, and any show the inspires such fanaticism has merits.

Your Lie in April

Although once a child prodigy in the
music world, pianist Kousei Arima is left in a downward spiral after
his mother’s death, unable to even hear the sound of his own piano.
Even after two years, Arima has all but left the music world behind,
disappointing fans and rivals alike, and living in a colorless world.
Then one day that that all changes when he is introduced to the
beautiful violinist Kaori Miyazono who brings color into his world
once more.

Do you just want to cry because to feel anything is better than feeling nothing? This is the show you go to treat that untreated depression, or just in general to feel your feelings. It is quite sad and poignant, so don’t go in expecting a nice rom-com.

Tokyo Ghoul

Ken Kaneki is a shy college student,
but he finds himself instantly drawn to the reserved Rize Kamishiro,
enough to go on a date with her. However, Tokyo has become a
dangerous place where flesh-eating ghouls blend in with humanity in
order to feast on humans. As it turns out Rize is one such ghoul, but
by a twist of fate Kaneki not only survives his encounter, but begins
life anew as a half-ghoul.

Tokyo Ghoul, for a long while, was
insanely popular. It was a vicious mix of horror and action in a
package that even most non-horror fans can handle. While the anime
series takes a turn down a slope as it goes on, it starts off in a
pretty enticing way.

Akame ga Kill

Tatsumi is a naive boy from a rural
village that makes the trip to the city in order to join the military
and help his hometown. However, after he is rejected, he ends up
joining Night Raid, a group of assassins part of a revolutionary
movement to overthrow the government. From there, he must fight.

Ah, yes. Akame ga Kill, when it was
new, was known as the series without plot armor. It means that any
character, no matter how necessary they seemed to the plot, could
die. Don’t get attached to the characters, and prepare for brutality.

Parasyte

It happened suddenly and silently over
night – aliens invaded Earth, nesting inside their host’s brains.
However, when an alien tried to take over Shinichi Izumi’s body, it
found itself trapped in his right hand instead. The pair now has no
choice but to work together in order to survive as not only humans,
but other aliens are against them now.

This series steps into a genre that isn’t as popular as it once was – alien invasion. As you would expect, aliens in this series care very little for human life and it leads to some heart-breaking moments. As they can mutate flesh into sharpened blades, it leads to some fast-paced fights.

Seven Deadly Sins

In this feudal world, the realm is
protected from those who seek to spread their evil by the Holy
Knights. However, in the kingdom of Liones, a small group of Holy
Knights known as the Seven Deadly Sins sought to overthrown the king
only to be driven off. Now, ten years later, the world hunts for the
Seven Deadly Sins, but the Holy Knights have now turned their blades
on the king and taken control of the kingdom. Now it is up to his
third daughter, Elizabeth, to find the Sins and help them take back
control.

If you are looking for a shounen show
that isn’t a Naruto or a One Piece, Seven Deadly Sins can provide. It
is action and comedy-laden with characters that all have very OP
powers to them. Don’t worry, there are plenty of enemies to give them
challenge, but they can stomp many of their lessers in the world.

Engaged to the Unidentified

On Kobeni Yonomori’s 16^th
birthday, it is discovered that her grandfather arranged for her to
marry the mysterious Hakuya Mitsumine. Shocked, she now finds herself
living with her future husband, his deceptive little sister, and her
own perverted older sister. However, Kobeni takes it in stride,
adjusting to her new life and trying to learn more about the new
additions.

This is one of those low-key series
that no one really talks about because it is a self-contained story.
There is no need for another season, so it is a sweet little show
that you can watch and move on from. There are some nice romantic
moments, but not as many as you would expect. Mostly it is cute girls
being cute.

D-Frag!

Kazama thinks he has what it takes to
take over his high school with his gang, even if it is just his two
friends in it. However, when his gang has a run in with the four
unique girls of the Game Development Club, he is shanghaied in as a
member himself.

You wouldn’t know it from the synopsis, but D-Frag is one of the best comedies you can watch. This is particularly true if you enjoy nerd humor. This is a show that really only has the goal to make you laugh, and that’s all a show needs to be sometimes.

Haikyuu

After being inspired by the small, but
talented volleyball ace Little Giant, Shouyou Hinata revives the
volleyball club at his middle school. However, when he is brutally
crushed by King of the Court Tobio Kageyama, his first match ends up
being his last. Swearing to surpass him, Shouyou joins the volleyball
team in high school only to discover Tobio is now his teammate.

Sports anime attracts a rather specific
audience usually, but Haikyuu has been one of those sports shows that
converts a few fans to the genre. It is colorful, the characters are
beyond lovable, and volleyball has never looked so fun. It is one of
those shows about sports, but not actually for most of an episode.

Shirobako

The five members of the Kaminoyama High
School animation club all make a pledge to make their project for the
school cultural festival a huge success, then afterwards move to
Tokyo and work in the industry. Fast forward two years in the future
and two members have made their dream a reality, but making anime is
no easy task.

Like with food, you should know where your anime comes from. What sort of struggles do the creators go through to get you that beautiful episode every week? Shirobako is just that – a realistic glimpse in what it is like to make anime.

Rage of Bahamut

Thousands of years ago, ancient dragon
Bahamut terrorized the world. However, when gods and demons allied
themselves to prevent the world’s destruction, they sealed him away,
splitting the key among them so he would be eternally imprisoned.
After the dragon was sealed, humanity returned to normal. However,
things are about to get very abnormal for bounty hunter Favaro when
he meets a mysterious women that holds half the key to Bahamut’s
seal.

Behold one of the most beautiful anime series ever made. The fluid and occasionally flashy animation used for this series is what really steals the show. However, it has to fight for dominance over the two main male characters who are just a treat in and of themselves.

Barakamon

After losing his temper on a critic, renowned calligraphy artist Seishuu Handa is exiled to the Goto Islands by his father for a period of self-reflection. There he seeks to find new inspiration for his art, but finds that his neighbors and some neighborhood kids keep getting in his way.

If you are a connoisseur of slice of life anime for relaxation, you are doing yourself a disservice by not watching Barakamon. It is an anime series for chilling to about a guy that needs to chill out. He gets sequestered to a rural island and is plagued by the antics of children.

Yona of the Dawn

After having her luxurious life
shattered by the betrayal of her cousin, Princess Yona is forced to
escape with her childhood friend Son Hak. However, leaving her palace
forces her to see the poverty and strife that really makes up her
beloved kingdom. Now she must journey to not only regain her rightful
throne, but to return her kingdom to its former glory.

While Yona desperately yearns for subsequent seasons, the anime is a great introduction to the series and the core characters. What is perhaps the most interesting thing in this story is that it shows just how naive a princess can be about affairs outside of a castle. You watch as they lift the rose-colored glasses off, so to speak.

Terra Formars

Akari Hizamaru would do everything for
his childhood friend, including participating in an underground cage
match against a bear. However, even though Akari can raise the money
for her medical care, hope is bleak. She, like so many others, is
dying from a mysterious and always fatal virus. Yet, a mysterious
organization gives Akari a chance to save his friend, by going to
Mars to defeat alien specimens so that they can look for a cure.
However, Akari and his teammates from around the world must first
have their DNA altered with animals so that they can fight the deadly
scourge that awaits them.

Terra Formars has its issues. The entire first season is basically just cool fights and very little plot, but the initial plot is pretty easy to grasp. Honestly, if you like stacked, muscular characters with unique animal-based powers fighting muscular cockroach men, this is a fine way to pass the time.

Do you have any more good series from
2014 that returning fans might enjoy? Let them know in the comments
section below.