10 Best Anime TV Series Of 2016 (So Far)

10. Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju

This is perhaps one of the most underrated yet wonderful anime series of 2016. The story opens with Yotaro, a former Yakuza thug fresh out of prison, and his journey into the world of the Japanese traditional art of story-telling, Rakugo. Yakumo, one of the greatest storytellers in Japan, takes Yotaro on as a student and teaches him the way of Rakugo.

The anime then focuses on Yotaro’s difficult past and his rise through the world of Rakugo, to become of the greatest story-tellers in history.

The anime masterfully presents the timeline of Japan’s modernization through the eyes of one man, who changes as the country does. The short Rakugo stories presented throughout the series give viewers a first-hand look into Japanese culture, and into a dying art in modern Japan.

The characters are damaged and real, and the balance between life and death, and love and art, is what each episode brings to the surface, letting each of us draw our own conclusions.