Dhruv Sharma
As anime fans, our job is usually to just sit back, relax and enjoy our favorite shows but we often forget that a lot of work also goes into the ones that are no too well known. Studios take on multiple projects, be it anime originals or manga adaptations and put in all their efforts just to make sure that the anime is an overall enjoyable experience for the viewer. J.C Staff is no stranger to this and has consistently produced some of the best anime that we get to see today. The animation in their shows is fluid and smooth and perfectly brings life to our favorite characters. Now if you’ve seen a couple of their anime, you’ll know that their work can often be a hit or miss.
Their recent creations, especially ‘One Punch Man Season 2‘, were not particularly well-received by most fans but this does not necessarily mean that all of their shows are equally disappointing. So today, we’ll be running down a quick list of J.C Staff Studio anime that are certainly worth your time. This list includes both – the most commercially successful anime that they have created over the years and also some of our own personal favorites that we would like to share with you. Almost all the anime mentioned below can be streamed on Funimation, Crunchyroll or Hulu.
12. Hayate the Combat Butler!! (2009)
From the plot, ‘Hayate the Combat Butler’ might seem like a slightly serious show but only when you start watching it, you realize just how fun-filled the whole experience can be. Ayasaki Hayate, the protagonist, always ends up in unwanted situations. His life is completely turned upside down one day when his own parents abandon him and leave him with a huge debt of 50 million yen. Desperate to pay this back, he tries kidnapping a girl named Nagi who comes from a rich family. But as he tries to do this he actually ends up saving her from real kidnappers, which complicates things. Soon after this, he is appointed as her Butler and it turns out that she belongs to one of the richest families in Japan. With things finally in his favor now, Hayate must learn to serve his employer in the best way possible and also learn to deal with all the mishaps that still keep haunting him.
11. Honey and Clover (2005)
The plot of ‘Honey and Clover’ is as minimalistic and simple as the plot of an anime can ever be. On the surface, it is about a group of friends who study at the same local university. They all go through similar issues and experiences in life which involves falling in love, friendships and even the complications of growing up to be an adult. With differing personalities, each one of them has a very different perspective but somehow, in the end, they all find a common ground in order to deal with the issues. The main focus of ‘Honey Clover’ is not its story, instead, it’s more on the characters and the interactions between them. It is just a reminder that the simplest things in life are often the ones that bring immense joy.
10. Food Wars (2015)
As the name suggests, ‘Food Wars!‘ is all about food. The depiction of food and its preparation in this anime is surreal and a lot of times, it even looks much better than real life. What’s even crazier is how the characters of the anime react every time they eat something delicious. ‘Food Wars!’ has fan service of some weird kind and be warned that this anime can make you hungry as hell.
The main character Yukihira Souma dreams of becoming a better chef than his father someday. To his surprise, his father decides to travel to Europe and shuts down their restaurant. This forces Yukihira to join one of the most prestigious culinary school in the country to make his cooking skills even better. The culinary school consists of the top aspiring chefs of the country who give Yukihira a tough competition all the way till his graduation. And along the way, he not only takes his cooking skills to a whole new level but also ends up making many close friends.
9. A Certain Magical Index (2008-)
Academy City located in Japan is the epitome of scientific inventions and is about 30 years ahead of the rest of the world. Apart from that, about three-fourths of the city’s population consists of highly intelligent students who are developing their psychic abilities at special institutes designed for them. Amongst these students is Touma Kamijou who is the lowest-ranked zero level psychic. But he does not really care and chooses to live a laid back simple life in a city where everything is so complicated. All of this changes one day when he meets Librorum Prohibitum, who is being chased by several magicians of a very dangerous organization. Touma decides to step in to protect her from them by using his “Imagine Breaker” ability.
8. Golden Time (2013-2014)
‘Golden Time‘ is a very pleasant slice-of-life anime that follows the story of a young boy named Tada Banri. Tada somehow survives a freak accident but ends up losing all of his memories after that. With a whole new life ahead of him, he decides to attend law school and that’s where he meets the gorgeous Kaga Kouka. Soon, his college life is filled with a sense of warmth and purpose but somewhere deep inside, he still struggles to figure out who he truly is and who he used to be in the past before he lost his memories. If interested by now, you can watch the entire series on Crunchyroll.
7. Prison School (2015)
‘Prison School‘ appears to be your typical Ecchi anime on the outside with its unnecessary depictions of extremely curvy women with tight clothes. But the more you watch it, the more its fan service starts to make sense to you. The show’s plot goes so deep that we even wrote an explainer, describing the numerous intricacies of the plot. Before you watch this one, be warned that it is certainly not for the faint-hearted.
Five “lucky” boys named Kiyoshi, Gakuto, Andre, Shingo and Jo get the golden opportunity of joining an all-girls school after some changes are brought about in its policies. All hyped up about their new school, the boys hope that they will finally be able to find girlfriends for themselves. But with a ratio of 200:1, the boys are soon overshadowed by the vast crowd of girls and they fail to talk to even one of them. This is when out of desperation, one of them decides to peep into the girls’ bath. After getting caught by the Underground School Council, all of them are thrown into a harsh prison that’s inside the school and they must now prove their innocence before it’s too late.
6. You and Me (2011)
‘You and Me‘ is one anime that usually goes unnoticed probably because of how simple its plot is. But it’s this simplicity that makes it the perfect lighthearted show that brings you something funny and romantic at the same time. What really stands out about the show is the dynamic relationships of its characters.
‘Kimi to Boku’ is about a group of four high school boys who have known each other since their childhoods. But now after growing up, their lives have become boring and monotonous and even when they hang out at school now, they don’t have much to say to each other. But all of this starts to change again when a half-German half-Japanese transfer student joins their school and befriends them. With his tales of his life abroad, he brings in a breath of fresh air to the group and brings back their old childhood charm which was starting to fade away. So if you’re having a bad day or you just want to sit back and relax after a long day, just tune into this show on Crunchyroll.
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5. Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? (2015-)
‘Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon‘, also referred to as ‘DanMachi‘, is nothing like its catchy title. It is actually an anime about a young boy named Bell Cranell who dreams of being a great adventurer someday. His dream starts becoming a reality when he meets Goddess Hestia who takes him to the darkest monster-filled areas of the city where death awaits them at every single corner. But at the end of the day, he finds his way past every problem and proves that he will indeed be the greatest someday.
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4. Maid Sama (2010)
Ayuzawa Misaki is a very intelligent girl but because of her poor financial state, she is forced to join a school that is full of delinquent boys. But soon, she starts to excel in this new school as well and is even appointed as the Student Council President. Because of the kind of strictness that she imposes on the boys, she earns the title “Demon President“. Through all of this, she not only earns the respect of her female classmates but also becomes the favorite student of all teachers.
However, no one really knows that outside the school, she actually works at Maid Cafe to make ends meet. She tries hard to keep her identity a secret as it threatens her reputation as a leader in school. But one day, she runs into Usui Takumi, who is the most popular guy at the school, and begins to fear that her reputation will now be destroyed. But surprisingly, he tells no one about it and instead, tries to get close her. ‘Maid Sama‘ brings you a pretty straightforward Shoujo troupe that’ll completely fulfill your romance anime needs.
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3. Nodame Cantabile (2007)
Shinichi Chiaki and Noda Megumi are students at one of the most renowned Music Universities of Japan. While Noda is a goofy eccentric girl who is always full of energy, Shinichi is mostly cold towards everything around him. But despite the differences in their personalities, it’s their shared love for music that slowly brings them closer to one another. With each other’s support, the two of them set out to make all of their musical dreams come true and cross every obstacle together.
It does not really matter if you’re a fan of classical music or not because this anime has a lot more to it than the story-line. Most anime shows fail to even come close to their source material but ‘Nadome Cantabile‘ prove to be better than its manga. Anime is an audio-visual medium which allows shows like this one to portray music in a much better way than a manga. Just give the anime a try and you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about.
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2. Toradora! (2008-2009)
Ryuuji Takasu and Taiga Aisaka are two characters who are the complete opposite of each other. On the outside, Ryuuji looks like a delinquent because of his dead-scary looking eyes and Taiga looks like a cute little petite sensitive girl. But their true personalities are completely different. Ryuuji is actually a very kind-hearted guy and on the other hand, Taiga is this deadly Tsundere who turns into this demonic “chibi” when she’s pissed off. The anime tells the story of these two distinct characters who somehow end up falling for each other.
‘Toradora‘ is the romance story of the most mismatched couple in the world and will surely entertain you more than most other Shoujo out there. It’s considered to be one of the finest rom-com anime shows and is without a doubt a big accomplishment of J.C Studio. It’s the kind of anime that will slowly grow on you with each episode, so don’t be surprised if you end up falling in love with its two main characters. You can now easily stream the entire series on Netflix.
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1. The Disastrous Life of Saiki K (2016)
Most humans would love to possess any kind of psychic abilities and Saiki K. is lucky to have more than one of these, that range from x-ray vision to telepathy. But he absolutely despises his abilities and only wishes that he could live a normal life. He even tries to do so but his powers attract a lot of attention and somehow get him intertwined with wrong situations. All of this only reconfirms that his abilities are not a blessing but a big curse that he has to live with. ‘The Disastrous Life of Saiki K‘ has episodes that are only 5 minutes long. But don’t be fooled by the length as these episodes pack a lot more comedy than you would expect from an ordinary comedy anime.
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