Kyoto Animation being a studio filled with so many extraordinarily talented people while simultaneously functioning as a school that is capable of raising talent to their own high standards, they are always able to make strong work consistently. Their efforts often run leaps around most everything else produced within the industry, and the past few years have not been an exception. From the incredibly underrated second season of Tsurune to the wonderful conclusion of Euphonium with the third season, this is a trend that has not shown any signs of stopping. With the announcement of the studio adapting Keiichi Arawi's CITY, there was plenty excitement to be had. Nichijou, the first of their partnership together, remains one of their strongest productions and with Taichi Ishidate coming to direct as CITY's sole director (then Nichijou's assistant director and now a mature series leader in his own right) expectations only rose higher.

Possibly the most impressive thing about CITY is that it not only meets those expectations, but completely smashes out those expectations out of the stratosphere becoming not only one of Kyoani's strongest productions but one of the strongest of the decade itself and then some. It is a towering achievement as a whole, with a couple episodes themselves going above and beyond what one would ever expect to see in TV anime.

CITY the animation is pure joy distilled through animation. with a warm and vibrant art direction that emphasizes unity through the background and character art, everything looks and feels like it belongs to one whole. the anime places great emphasis on the atmosphere and through this we become able to experience the CITY as the characters themselves do. A place full of whimsy and joy and where you cant ever know what might happen next.

As an adaptation, CITY is incredibly ambitious and transformative. Through cuts and edits and restructuring of the material and sometimes even small expansions, the anime becomes something distinct from the manga and yet completely inseparable from it. Sacrificing some of CITY's interconnected, the anime brings to mind a bigger focus on the spontaneity of the CITY itself and the sheer amount of joy each day can bring. That said, for how large the CITY cast performs a herculean effort in trying to showcase each and every one and even the small appearances help to incentive just how larger and life the CITY is. Small things like sometimes seeing one character run in the background to the ever so brilliant 5th episode that depicts multiple threads of the characters within their own wacky situations that eventually coalesce in a moment of brilliance help sell the CITY as something that is always moving and fully alive. It is an adaptation that co-exists with it's source material in a beautiful way, allowing one to experience the CITY from different angles and constantly be rewarded with revisits between both the manga and the anime.

Above all, as a fan of the studio who has been following the studio for more than 10 years, seeing the studio produce a work this full of joy and wonder brings me to the brink of tears. It is no exaggeration to say that I have rewatched the final 3 minutes of the show and been brought to tears of joy. It's a finale that emphasizes the value of community, the ways acts of kindness both direct and indirect can bring us together in the most unlikeliest of ways, and the importance of finding the fun in everyday life. It's a beautiful piece of art that the fact it exists as it does brings me so much joy that I still cannot believe it exists. Thank you Ishidate and Arawi and Kyoani as a whole for coming together to produce possibly the most joyous experience I ever had following an seasonal anime in years.