For TV series I watched this year, here is my list;
10. Bocchi the Rock
The internet fell in love with this one and they were right to do it.
9. Dance Dance Danseur
This one has a weird, questionable finale but overall it was a gorgeously animated series about the joy of dance in a way that got me aboard from the get and major misstep aside, has me excited for season two... please?
8. Ms. Marvel
The bad guys where duds, sadly, and the last episode was a little on the nose but overall, this was a winning, charming series with a great cast. And it really does feel like a "for the whole family" superhero series, in a good way.
7. To Your Eternity
I'll admit season two isn't as strong as season one but all the same, I really like the major character introduced this season, a foppish goof with a big secret. I like this is a show that moves beyond "our hero has a power" and implies this character's power more than just an advantage, it challenges the very notion of what it is to be human.
6. She-Hulk
The last episode's experiment with meta-humour fell a little flat (a very poorly timed knock on VFX sure didn't help), but overall, the series was a big comedic win. Superhero sitcoms have been done but a lot of them really fall flat and I like that Marvel decided mostly to stick to a "case of the week" format which is also helped by the winning Tatiana Maslany and Madisynn. More Madisynn please.
5. Only Murders in the Building
The show had a bit of a meta-joke about how this season isn't as strong as the first but all the same, I loved it all the same. Despite the big win the characters had in season one, they immediately dug again into their vulnerabilities while dealing with the case of the season and revealing despite being "heroes", they can still hurt people.
4. Spy X Family
One of the most memed anime series of the year earned it's popularity through very funny gags that work both in family sitcom and spy comedy forms.
3. Kaguya-Sama: Love is War - Ultra-Romantic
This very fun anime romcom actually reaches a major milestone in it's third series. Frankly, I think this show is at it's best comedically, doing weird new things in adapting the anime but also hitting a powerful and well-earned emotional climax that in the words of the narrator "betrays the premise of the show".
2. Andor
Andor feels like the Star Wars show that shouldn't have worked but does. It's not just that Andor was not the character everyone was clamoring for, it's that it's a mature version of a kid's thing. And often that can be edgelord or self-serious to a ridiculous extent. And Andor is deadly serious. And yet, somehow it works, taking this playful universe of magical space samuarais fighting moon-sized death rays and finds a complex angle that doesn't feel like a betrayal of the Star Wars canon but a real examination of living under fascism in a dirty John La Carre-style thriller. And there were 13 of the damned things. It was a shockingly patient show with amazing performances and a character who, even though we met before and fits into the classic "cynic who becomes a believer" mold, somehow feels lived in and fresh for Star Wars. Andor isn't quick with a quip or traditionally heroic and when he finds his heroism, it feels really organic.
1. Better Call Saul
Saul has been one of my TV obsessions since it began, improving on everything that Breaking Bad created but with much more nuance and at a gradual pace. That's often a disavantage when I see TV series try to pad their time but Saul instead took a Sergio Leone approach that even with little seems to be happening, it is done in a way that in drenched in mood, character and understanding that even a little can say a lot. The final season did what I loved about the show; it clearly cares for Saul even when we know he's done bad things and his arc reaches a conclusion where we have hope even though not only is he not let off the hook for everything, he has to understand the depths of the evils he's allowed to happen. I like Breaking Bad but Saul isn't just better, it exercises my brain more with a much slippier morality. Yes, they are criminals but that's not what makes our antiheroes the "bad guys" in the end, it's guys like Mike and Jimmy to make excuses for themselves, like how Mike might live by a "code" to fight an "evil" but it doesn't make his decisions any less monstrous. Saul is one of the truly great TV shows and a spin-off that not only enriches the character, I feel it makes me think about what it means to be a good person.
