Summary
Kyoto Animation is one of the most celebrated anime studios known for its dedication to its craft and praiseworthy work across different genres with incredible storytelling and direction. This diversity is what sets Kyoto animation works apart from others.
Only a very few animation studios can do justice and bring mangas to life and KyoAni does this job beautifully. Every single work from the animation studio has amazing visuals and incredible character design. From fun and comedic series like Nichijou’s My Ordinary Life to heartwarming series like Violet Evergarden, here are some of the best works from KyoAni ranked.
9Beyond The Boundary
Beyond The Boundary focuses on a world where entities from a spirit world called Youmu enter the human world. To protect humans against attacks from these creatures, a group of courageous fighters called the Spirit World Warriors are sent out.
The story revolves mainly around Akihito, who suddenly realizes that he is a Half Youmu as he attempts to save his fellow schoolmate Mirai, who turns out to be a Spirit World Warrior.
The animation of Beyond the Boundary is amazing, especially the fight scenes. It’s both tragic and beautiful, and makes it worthy of watch if you enjoy the monster-fighting genre.
8Nichijou: My Ordinary Life
Nichijou: My Ordinary Life is a lighthearted and fun anime with great visuals and amazing humour. If you enjoy a slice-of-life anime with a ton of comedy, then My Ordinary Life is a decent recommendation. You get to witness the lives of six main characters, each with their own interesting personalities.
From an infant professor to a robot who just wants to be a normal girl, Nichijou successfully executes the not-so-ordinary everyday adventures with never-ending laughs. With 26 episodes full of pure chaos, My Ordinary Life is easily one of the best comedic works from Kyoto Animation.
7Hyouka
Hyouka follows the story of Hotarou Oreki who hates spending his energy on any activities or relationships. However, his life soon takes a turn when his older sister asks him to enter the Classic Literature Club in the Kamiyama High School, which was on the verge of closing as all the previous members graduated from the high school. He then comes across other characters, including Eru Chitanda, Mayaka Ibara, and Satoshi Fukube.
They start investigating and solving various mysteries in which Chitanda plays a huge role. The storyline revolves around the mysteries and character development of Hotarou, where he finally understands the importance of relationships in his life. It is definitely a must-watch as it teaches valuable life lessons along with the importance of finding meaning in everyday life.
6K-On!
K On! is an epic season that revolves around a group of high school girls and their amazing journey to become aspiring musicians. The series focuses on daily life and all sorts of problems these girls have to face.
If you are looking for something lighthearted and fun that involves a fair bit of music, then K On! just might be your jam. Both the anime seasons and movies are great to watch if you are a fan of the slice-of-life genre.
5Love Chunibyo & Other Delusions!
The story follows characters going through chunibyo, a phenomenon in Japan where middle-schoolers often try to stand out by pretending they have magical powers of forbidden knowledge. The story revolves around Yuuta Togashi, who was a chunibyo in junior high school and wants to forget his embarrassing past as he starts off high school.
However, things turned around quickly for him as one of his classmates learned about his past and was a bit delusional. Known for its spectacular humor, the series is a great watch, especially for romance and slice-of-life lovers.
4The Melancholy Of Haruhi Suzumiya
The story of Melancholy Of Haruhi Suzumiya is about the life of titular protagonist, who is an extremely energetic and vibrant high school girl and is also blessed with the ability to unconsciously destroy a universe and create an entirely new one if she gets bored.
Therefore, her fellow high schoolers Mikuru, Yuki and Itsuki form a school club called the SOS brigade that has to keep Haruhi entertained no matter what. The anime is both science fiction and comedy, with a lot of hidden themes that make this anime one of the best works from KyoAni Studios.
3Clannad
Clannad is a deeply moving anime series that follows the life of a high school student, Tomoya Okazaki. He despises his life and has a traumatic past as well as a poor relationship with his father. As the series progresses, Tomoya comes across a girl named Nagisa Furukawa, who had to repeat her last year of high school and is a year older than him.
If you enjoy watching the Clannad series, make sure to give its sequel, Clannad: After Story a try as well.
The anime teaches a lot about family, friends, and the importance of relationships, as well as the hardships that revolve around them. Without spoiling too much, it is full of emotions and has a lot of fun moments as well and is undoubtedly one of the best works from KyoAni.
2Violet Evergarden
Violet Evergarden is set in the world after The Great War, and focuses on the story of a young, highly augmented female soldier who embarks on a journey to help people communicate with each other while trying to understand them herself. As an Auto Memory Doll, she comes across different people and personalities seeking out her services to turn their voices into text.
Violet Evergreen is an emotional anime with good visuals and an engaging storyline. It is undoubtedly one of the most emotional and touching stories ever, and features beautiful art and spectacular music that makes it all the more interesting to watch.
1A Silent Voice
Koe No Katachi, or A Silent Voice, is a superhit anime, which follows a journey of bullying, forgiveness, friendship, and love. The movie involves Shoko, a deaf girl who gets bullied by a popular classmate, Shoya. However, soon after, Shoya’s classmates turned against him, and Shoko had to transfer schools due to the constant bullying.
Koe No Katachi is a beautiful piece of art that touches on themes like suicide, betrayal, and redemption and delivers a valuable lesson at the end. Therefore, if you haven’t checked out the masterpiece yet, we highly recommend you do so to witness one of the most celebrated works of KyoAni.
