2022 was a good year for the seinen demographic; because there’s no shortage of goodseinen anime. There are some new contenders and also some veterans for said demographical classification, which targets young adult males. That means yuppies and anime fans who are just starting out with their adult lives are blessed with some impeccable entertainment this year.
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Do note that despite being tagged as shows for a more mature audience, “seinen” doesn’t necessarily mean an automatic inclusion of gore, violence, mature themes, and sexuality. Sometimes, young adults just want to live, laugh, and love (or something like that). In any case,seinen anime entriesfor 2022 have an interesting variety, and the best ones represent that range.
10More Than A Married Couple But Not Lovers
Seinen can be just as much about relationships as it is about overwhelming depression through violence and gore. Here’s a decent anime entry with a lighthearted romance featuring high school students that were compelled to pair up as mock married couples.
One can clearly see why it’s intended forthe seinen demographic. This is a love story about two students who are worlds apart when it comes to personality, but they end up living with each other and even forming a romantic bond. Lots of teasing is involved here as well as fan service, but nothing too childish unlike with shonen anime.
9Berserk: The Golden Age Arc - Memorial Edition
Sadly, it looks likeBerserkfans will need to keep holding their breaths and their fingers crossed for a complete or consistent anime adaptation of the manga. All they got this year wasBerserk: The Golden Age Arc - Memorial Editionwhich is an episodic re-release of the 2012 trilogy movie covering the Golden Age backstory arc for Guts and Griffith.
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However, that’s not really bad. A lot of fans regard theMemorial Editionas the best adaptation yet despite the use of CGI and the fact that this arc in the manga has been done to death already. Still, partly as a memorial to the late and greatBerserkauthor Kentaro Miura, it’s a good way to get more people to watchBerserk.
8Shadows House 2nd Season
Shadows Houseis a peculiar and novel idea centered around the titular family. The Shadows are ghost-like entities who are assigned Living Dolls to act as their more “normal” double and also their servant. At the heart of it all is a cheery Living Doll named Emilico who was unaware of the secrets of the Shadows manor.
The second season sees Emilico under constant pressure from the manor’s rather oppressive and paranoid authorities. Emilico and her Shadow, Kate, must team up to uncover the root of the odd incidents and happenings in the manor in this thrilling mystery tale.
7My Dress-Up Darling
One of the biggest hits in anime for 2022,My Dress-Up Darlingproved thatteasing young adultswith a relationship that most of them could never have is a good show formula. But at its core,My Dress-Up Darlingis a cosplay anime with a “best girl candidate” named Marin Kitagawa.
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Marin’s fateful encounter with Wakana Gojou, a doll maker, instantly sparked off the start of something beautiful. The two of them teamed up for cosplay contests and shoots despite their clashing personalities and gradually, Marin finds herself falling for Gojou.
6Golden Kamuy 4th Season
One can considerGolden Kamuyas a period piece since it takes place during the Russo-Japanese war back in the early 1900s. It follows the exploits of Saichi Sugimoto, an ex-soldier and deserter who goes off on an adventure to find a fabled treasure.
Helping him is an unlikely Ainu (indigenous people of Japan) companion as the two pool their survival and war skills for the treasure. The fourth season continues Sugimito’s and Asirpa’s adventures, though due to the death of one of the production staff members, some of the episodes for the fourth seasonwere delayed indefinitely.
5Made in Abyss: The Golden City of the Scorching Sun
Those who foundThe Promised Neverland Season 2’s butchery too upsetting will find solace in another similar anime,Made in Abyss. Thankfully,Made in Abyss' second season wasn’t rushed and offered a proper expansion and continuation for its lore.
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Made in Abyssis about Riko and Reg’s adventure as the two set off in the giant cave in the middle of their town to search for Riko’s mother. The second season continues their expedition further down the Abyss, delving deeper into the unknown while uncovering some sinister mysteries in strange underground cities.
4Kotaro Lives Alone
One of the most novel slice-of-life ideas of the decade,Kotaro Lives Aloneis about a 4-year-old boy who moves into an apartment all alone with no parents, surrounded by troubled adults. Thankfully, the neighbors were all nice and didn’t take advantage of Kotaro; eventually, Kotaro even ends up fixing their lives through his innocence and unprecedented child wisdom.
Do note that this anime will provoke some life-changing thoughts; it’s notable for makingany young adultponder on what went wrong with their lives and how a fictional kid is doing better than them (this depends on a case-to-case basis). At the very least, it’s a great show to watch if one is having a bad day.
3Cyberpunk: Edgerunners
Even those who haven’t triedCyberpunk 2077will find this anime a little too haunting or even depressing. It has no official demographic classification since there’s no manga source material, but this is not a show for those below 18 years of age. Because even without the graphic sexual scenes, it’s a heavy and faithful representation of the depressing cyberpunk genre.
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Edgerunnersfollows the struggles of David in Night City in an alternate timeline when human lives are too cheap and everyone is a cyborg to a degree. After losing his mother and pride, he becomes a cyborg mercenary, sacrificing many aspects of his health to rise up and survive in the meat grinder that is Night City.
2Kingdom: Season 4
Not to be confused with the Netflix K-drama about medieval zombies,Kingdomis ahistorical period piece animethat recalls the Three Kingdoms period in China. It was a time of great turmoil and political chaos where generals and warlords vied for power in the absence of a true emperor.
The fourth season ofKingdomfollows the aftermath of the state of Qin’s victory though “victory” might be too conclusive a word; political parties within the faction keep fueling dissent and conflict within the Qin’s ranks while another enemy threatens their borders.
1Kaguya-sama: Love is War - Ultra Romantic
Kaguya-sama: Love is Waris what happens when two genius top students love each other but have too much pride to admit it. Apparently, the first person to confess is seen as a lower specimen. So, the whole anime mostly revolves around Kaguya and Miyuki strategically and manipulatively trying to make each other confess.
And wouldn’t you know it, this charade and tango managed to go on for a third season. So here we are. The two are still going at each other’s throats, trying to make the other confess ina competitive stalemate. Several other characters even joined them in the fray in this battle royale for love.
