There’s nothing more subjective than trying to decide which anime was the best or which character was the coolest. Every viewer will have their own thoughts on what was best from a season. However, this is my post and I am going to share the best anime moments I came across during the 2021 summer anime season.
As always, I’d love my readers to share their best moments from the season.
What makes a best anime moment?
Given I haven’t watched a huge number of anime from the Summer 2021 season and still have a number to finish, I mostly picked the moments that stood out to me and left a lasting impact. Sometimes these were moments that made me laugh or I thought were pretty clever but each one of these moments fit within the context of their show and made me take notice.
Best anime moment from Realist Hero
It is weird to say that How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom delivered any of the best anime moments of the season, however I will give credit where it is due. The scene in episode 10 where the battleship approaches the castle over land was a gloriously executed scene.
Of course it is incredibly orchestrated with the full moon behind the silhouette of the vessel but with the pounding sound of hooves from the beasts dragging the ship forward and the slow but deliberate approach to war, this scene just works and was by far the best moment Realist Hero offered in its 13 episode run.
Naturally it helps that this scene was the culmination of a range of plans by Souma and really marked a turning point in the battle that drove us towards the season’s end. Visually and from a narrative point of view this was a great moment in an otherwise pretty mediocre series.
Best anime moment from Mahouka Koukou no Yuutousei
The Honour Student at Magic High School actually had a number of great moments but finding those that weren’t already in The Irregular at Magic High School was actually a bit harder (given most of the truly awesome moments were scenes we had seen before in the original series). That said, there are two moments I’d like to highlight as being stand out moments from the series.
The first comes from episode 4 where Eimi organises Honoka and Shizuku into a group of girl detectives to track down the guy who had been following Tatsuya. It was a bit of a silly moment but it certainly gave this spin-off a bit of life of its own and honestly I’d have happily watched more of these three getting into mischief for a whole season without any of the rest of the story.
That Eimi is also responsible for my second choice for best anime moment from Mahouka Koukou no Yuutousei really just highlights how great a supporting character she is and emphasises why we need more of her. While I very vaguely remembered her from the original series it was just a little bit vague. However, by the time I saw her face off against Shiori in Pillar Break and watched her give it her all, I was utterly blown away.
This was a really dramatic moment from a character that was fairly underutilised. The reckless energy she threw into this fight and realising her own strength and desire not to give up was truly inspiring. That both competitors fought to collapse demonstrated their resolve. Yet Eimi falls with a smile and her Yippee-Ki-Yay victory which really just makes you love her all the more.
It was a beautiful competition moment and only Eimi could have pulled it off.
Best anime moment from My Next Life as a Villainess
Sometimes a best anime moment is just one that makes you smile.
That is certainly true in my choice of best anime moment from My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! X as I’m not choosing any of the dramatic rescues or even that kiss.. Nope, I’m giving this to a solid Catarina moment as she realises yes she’s been kidnapped but mostly that means she can eat snacks and lay in bed all day.
If only her brother’s kidnapping had been as chill. Seriously, it isn’t often that a silly moment like this would be a memorable anime moment, but it absolutely fit with Bakarina’s character and as an early season moment it more or less reminded me why we all love Catarina despite the fact that she’s a bit of a space cadet.
Best anime moment from The Idaten Deities Know Only Peace
Episode 5 of The Idaten Deities Know Only Peace gives us what might seem like a standard brains vs brawn battle as the demon Piscalet seemingly has the physically weak but quite ingenious Ysley trapped in a room and cut off from his friends.
Ysley not only turns the tide of this battle seemingly effortlessly, he also reveals a pretty ruthless and cut-throat nature hiding beneath his those glasses and pleasant smile. Its one of those moments where you expected the tables would be turned but you didn’t quite realise the full extent of it and you can only watch in awe or in a little bit of concern as he takes it beyond just winning the battle.
Either way, Ysley moved from being a character playing second fiddle to Hayato’s seeming protagonist status to being a driving force in the story in the space of one battle and remained as a leading character ever since. Definitely a best anime moment for the season.
Best anime moment from That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Season 2 Part 2
All of the moments above were pretty cool, but none of them made me feel as good or smile as much as the one delivered by That Time I Got Reincarnated as a slime Season 2 Part 2. While it is just a silly visual gag and reference, the timing was perfect and this scene from the penultimate episode of Tensura 2 just made my whole week.
Seriously, having a manga obsessed dragon using a kamehameha attack was kind of the perfect inclusion for this series and definitely reminded me of how fun this series can be when it hits its stride. That the rest of the season was a little ho-hum was almost forgiven by this single scene just absolutely nailing it.
So what are your choices for best anime moment?
I’ve still got a whole bunch of anime from this season to finish watching so I’d love to know what some of your choices were for best anime moments this season.
Thank-you for reading 100 Word Anime.
Join the discussion in the comments.
Karandi James
More Eimi? That’s a cause I can get behind!
I really like your choices for best moments. One I’d like mention is from Kageki Shojo!!. I forget which episode, but it’s when Sarasa Watanabe starts spontaneously quoting from Romeo and Juliet, and all of the other students with her just freeze in amazement — she’s that good. I treasure moments like that!
It’s always good when a moment just kind of comes together in a show. And often it is the reaction from the supporting cast that make it really work.
I’ve often wondered about the origin of the name of the “kamehameha” attack.
Kamehameha was the great king who unified all the islands of Hawaii under his rule. He was said to be 7 feet tall, immensely strong and superhumanly quick, the greatest warrior the islands ever produced.
Well that seems like an appropriate origin.
Today he would have been a center in the NBA. Maybe when he retired he’d move on to an equally lucrative career as an action hero.