Scytalle's Anime
| Seen some▲▼ | Rating▲▼ | Comment▲▼ |
| High School DxD (TV) | ||
| Jujutsu Kaisen (TV) | ||
| Pokémon Advance (TV) | On Episode 354 | |
| Violet Evergarden (TV) | Good | Saw 5 or 6 episodes, may get back to it someday |
| Zoids Genesis (TV) |
| Seen all▲▼ | Rating▲▼ |
| 16bit Sensation: Another Layer (TV) | Very good |
| It's been a long time since I've marathoned a show in a single day. It's a testament to 16bit sensation that I simply couldn't put it down. It was ridiculous, and over the top, and insanely fun, and I had to know what was going to happen next. Either that, or I'm simply enamored by a show that takes place entirely within Akihabara, as I was there myself like 3 days ago. But, that's neither here nor there. I still very much enjoyed the show, even if I think it is only an 8 out of 10. It has flaws, I can't ignore them, but I was able to mostly get past them. It helped most of my complaints are with the last few episodes, so I had enough momentum to get through it.
So, what is 16bit Sensation? Well, take New Game, add some extra ridiculousness and otaku pandering, and smash that into Steins;Gate and you've pretty much got this show. It's a love letter to otaku history though and through, with fun time travel gimmicks thrown in so we can see things both as they are now and as they were. Oh yeah, there's also plots about making bishoujo games, but that's a bit besides the point. It also helps that the characters are gripping. Konoha is such a fun, over the top main character. Aoi Koga does an incredible job bringing her energy to life. I don't often think about voice acting as integral to my enjoyment of a show, but this was a special treat. Mamoru, and the rest of the supporting cast, are also great. Minus maybe Touya, who I'm not really sure why she was in the show in the end. It feels like the resolution of her character arc had to be cut for length. Ah yeah, we can't avoid it after all. Let's talk about the ending. It's clear from the jump that this show is more ambitious than most. It was always going to be a struggle to fit what they wanted to do into 13 episodes. Steins;Gate took two seasons to essentially go through the same story. Something was going to have to give. So yeah, the ending was rushed, a bit ass-pull-y, and it definitely felt like some arcs and characters were left hanging. But, that's mostly a complaint with the last two episodes, and it wasn't so bad that it made me angry or anything. The first 10 or 11 were good enough that I still wholeheartedly recommend this thing. Any self-respecting otaku needs to watch this. | |
| 86 (TV) | Very good |
| 86 is a dystopian war story, about a country who has abandoned a portion of its citizens, conscripted them into a war, and hides this fact from the rest of the country, who believes that their army is run by unmanned drones. In reality, the army works secretly with these fighters behind the scenes, and one of our main characters is Milize, a young handler of a group of these fighters, who does everything in her power to see them through the fight.
Of course, this being anime, the group of fighters she is in charge of are mostly kids. 86 flips between brutal violence, quiet contemplation, and hauntingly sarcastic gallows humor for these kids. They know they will die on the battlefield, it's not so much a matter of if, as it is when and how. Milize does her best to help, but with the entire system working against her and them, such a thing is all but impossible. 86 tells some interesting personal stories within this framework, but fundamentally it is about the horrors of war and the depths to which tyranny can sink. There are also some deep flaws within the story. For one, we split time between Milize for half an episode and the soldiers for the other half. This puts us in the position where, in an already short series, we just can't get to know the twenty some kids in the unit. They try to focus on five or six of them, but the death and pain just rings a little bit hollow when you aren't sure who is who. Milize's side of things largely seems pointless, especially by the end of the season, and you wonder about all that wasted potential. However, these are small nits. 86 still manages to tell a brutally honest story, and when it wants to be at its best, it can deliver seminal moments in anime, like the haunting end of episode 10. Certainly worth watching. | |
| 86 (TV 2) | Excellent |
| Season 2 of 86 does have quite the tonal shift from the first season. I get my wish in that we focus on a smaller group of characters who actually stay alive long enough to get to know them, which is nice. The show does keep us on the edge of our seat, but in a different way from expecting our main characters will die at any moment. This is a much more personal and focused story. While I miss Milize a bit, it was fun seeing a different side of the conflict through a different lens. I think this season managed to elevate the show to greater emotional heights. I really enjoyed it throughout and am very excited for more to come. | |
| 91 Days (TV) | Very good |
| Mafia movies aren't usually my cup of tea, but there's something inherently raw and awesome about 91 days that captivated me. The story and characters are incredibly focused and compelling, to the point where every shot (that you largely know is coming, if you are familiar with Mafia movies at all) hits hard and deep. This is storytelling at its finest, with an edge that you won't normally find in an anime. For a new studio, 91 days is an outstanding opening effort. Looking forward to more from Shuga! | |
| Accel World (TV) | Good |
| Accel world was a fun VR game style anime, but the show never truly gripped me. The main character, Haruyuki, was more annoying than not, and the plot of the show felt overly convoluted. There are redeeming moments for sure, but I was pretty ready to be done by the end. | |
| Active Raid (TV) | Decent |
| I described Active Raid to a friend as the Mendoza Line of anime, and I think it's a great comparison. For those not into baseball, the Mendoza Line is the theoretical level of performance that is the absolute minimum of acceptable. Players who hit below the line (generally a batting average of .200 is used) are considered unplayable in major league baseball. I can't think of a better line than Active Raid when it comes to anime. There's nothing really that interesting about the show, but it's well enough done that it's at least a positive experience to watch. It is immediately forgettable, but I don't regret that I watched it. If an anime is at all worse than this, it's probably one that is worth skipping. | |
| Adachi and Shimamura (TV) | Masterpiece |
| Adachi and Shimamura is about as perfect of a yuri show as I could possibly ask for. It's slow paced, giving us tons of time to settle into the lives and minds of our titular main characters. Adachi is extremely socially anxious. She doesn't have friends and doesn't really understand how friendships are supposed to work. She has to psych herself up just to hold a conversation. Shimamura on the other hand is just kind of... there. She is the living embodiment of ennui and apathy. She takes life exactly as it comes to her, content to float along as the people around her enter and leave her life without so much as leaving a mark upon her. She feels that she isn't interesting and doesn't have much to offer, which is why she is so surprised initially when Adachi begins to pay attention to her. I think this is why this show works so well for me. The characters are deep and fully fleshed out. I knew these kids in high school. They are real and their struggles feel real. As a result, it becomes so easy to root for them, and even the little victories are huge. I identified with both of them in so many ways, and yet many of their actions felt completely foreign to me. It was fascinating to watch and analyze why they were thinking or behaving the way they were. Bottom line, this is the ultimate character driven show for me. Similarly to Sound Euphonium, the multi-faceted flawed characters we are presented are fascinating and draw me in like nothing else in anime is capable of. The fact that it is yuri is just icing on the cake. I just want to hug these girls so tightly. Ahhh! I loved everything about this one. Probably not an objective ten out of ten show, but for me, it 100% is. | |
| After School Dice Club (TV) | Decent |
| I went into this hoping for a cute girls play board games type of show, slice of life mixed with comedy and hijinks, and well... that's not really what I ended up getting. It's more dramatic than comedic, a story about growing up and finding oneself. The games are both a focal point and they aren't. We get to see a few games highlighted, but rarely do we see beyond the first turn where we cut and suddenly the scores are getting added up and it's onto the next scene. Instead they provide a backdrop and metaphor for what the characters are going through. It's a nice thought, but it falls a little flat, as the drama isn't executed very well and the tone of the whole thing doesn't really support it. It feels over the top happy go lucky, which just kinda comes across feeling fake and forced. Maybe it was the english dub that's at fault, but regardless, I didn't connect with the characters that much and felt like it was really just okay in the end. Maybe worth checking out if you are really, really into games and are willing to overlook the flaws to get any sort of gaming in your anime, but otherwise this is kind of just a subpar school club show without any real comedic bone to it. | |
| Aho-Girl (TV) | Decent |
| This is a series of around ten minute long shorts. It follows our titular "Aho" girl as she stumbles her way through life. Like the title would imply, she is very stupid, and as a result, the show is very stupid. It's a decent diversion, but no need to pretend that it's anything more than that. | |
| Aiura (TV) | Very good |
| Aiura is a very cute series of shorts that are pretty much the definition of a high school girls slice of life show. Most of the episodes are pretty understated and more calming with some small bits of humor rather than over the top comedy that other shorts tend to go for, and I think it serves Aiura well. This is further helped by the gorgeous watercolor motif that the show has going with beautiful backgrounds and great character design. It's a fun slice of life show for sure, with some really standout moments. Recommended as a quick diversion for any fans of the genre.
Also, the amazing crab themed opening song is fantastic. | |
| Akame ga KILL! (TV) | Very good |
| Really enjoyed Akame ga Kill. It was fresh not being able to expect anything. There are so many tropes subverted and so many death flags that fail to actually mean anything that eventually you just have to sit back and take it all in. The action was really solid, and the story, while kind of basic, worked well enough. I did really get attached to some of the characters, which made some bits all the more painful. Well done show, would recommend. It can be brutal though. | |
| Akashic Records of Bastard Magical Instructor (TV) | Good |
| Akashic Records is another magical high school show, so it already comes out the gates with lowered expectations. Though, through the first 3 or 4 episodes I was very impressed with the show. It managed to avoid the usual tropes and actually provide an experience that felt fresh. Unfortunately, there's only so much you can do without completely subverting the genre to make yourself stand out. A flawless execution, deep characters, and a well crafted story are all pretty much required to make a magic school show worth watching, because there's so much crap. Akashic Records tries and kinda fails by the end, but at least I did enjoy it. It is a better entry than most at least, and worth watching if you can stomach the genre at all. The characters are pretty decently done, but the world building and story leave a lot to be desired. Good is probably as high as I would consider ranking a show like this, so that at least says something. | |
| Akiba Maid War (TV) | Good |
| I can recognize that this is a good show objectively. For the people who are into this sort of thing, I think it could be one of their top shows. For me, however, I have never particularly resonated with shows that go overboard on absurdity. Akiba Maid War is a show steeped in contradictions, and the marriage of cute, moe maid cafes with a hardboiled gangster/yakuza slasher is one of the better takes I have seen on this type of approach. However, in my opinion, the sheer ridiculousness of the premise is enough of a hook. I would have liked to see the show approach this in a more straightforward manner, taking things a bit more seriously, with the innate absurdity of the premise being more than enough to do the heavy lifting. However, that wasn't what PA Works went for here. They went for campy hijinks and wanton violence with little to speak of in terms of earnest character or plot. It's good for some laughs, and the sheer spectacle of the first few episodes were wonderful. However, it quickly became clear that there was no more depth to this show. The emotional notes that the show tried to play for us simply didn't land because if the show doesn't believe in its own characters and take them seriously, why should I as the viewer. Again, I recognize this was well done, and I know just from understanding what the show was, I would never be a huge fan. Still, I can't rate it any lower than this for the unique experience alone that it provides. | |
| Akudama Drive (TV) | Excellent |
| Akudama Drive is as good of a cyberpunk show as you're going to get. It has flair and swagger and knows how to have a damn good time. The characters are a blast and the setting is uniquely fun and engrossing. This show comes from the creators of Danganronpa, so you know the craziness to expect. I had a great time with this show and I think pretty much anyone who likes action at all would be able to get behind this one. It actually looks shockingly good for such a vibrant and demanding setting, with all the cyberpunk trappings that you'd expect. The characters are great too, with Swindler, our protagonist, as one of the easiest to root for. I like her, like a lot. Adorableness aside, Courier is badass, Cutthroat is terrifying, Doctor is deeply unsettling, Brawler is the just the coolest thing ever. Really the show keeps it up throughout the run. Definitely worth seeing. | |
| Aldnoah.Zero (TV) | Excellent |
| Now this is what a mecha show should be. Really really great plot and action scenes to be found here. Gen Urobochi is at it again, and showcases why he is becoming one of the biggest names in anime these days. The story revolves around an invasion from technologically superior martians descended from humans who originally settled on mars generations ago. They found very advanced weaponry on the planet and turned on their former homeworld due to their lack of resources on mars. The war was stopped seventeen years before the current show, where we find the humans on earth in an uneasy peace with the martians who are still in orbit, and unbeknownst to everyone, even the martian leadership, a select few lords in the martian army have been plotting to frame Earth for the death of a martian princess as an excuse for finishing the war. The show is fast paced and plays off both action and politics very well. The main character is, well, for lack of a better word, awesome. He is a Terran who has recovered the princess and is working with her to try to stop the war. He uses his cunning and smarts to take down the superior weapons of his opponents. It sounds cliched, but man, the show really is something when it all comes together. | |
| Aldnoah.Zero (TV 2) | Excellent |
| The one thing that Aldnoah.Zero 2 does differently than season 1 is throw us directly into the political maneuvers behind the war. This gives us some pluses and minuses that balance out well enough. First of all, the intrigue and movements behind the scenes is really fascinating, as it takes a while to start to make sense. But, it does take away from the characters a bit, which makes me sad. It's safe to say that this season devotes way more screen time to the martian forces than the first, which pulls us away a bit from our protagonists. A dangerous gamble, but it pays off. Outside of that one difference, the show is really just chugging ahead. Still one of the best mecha shows I've seen. | |
| Alice & Zoroku (TV) | Very good |
| Alice and Zoroku is a pretty unique show. It has young girls with magical powers at its core, but it goes wildly away from any of the traditional routes these types of shows take. It doesn't go dark, it doesn't go action-heavy, and it doesn't really go overly-comedic. Instead the show kind of meanders as a coming of age story that's heavily slice of life focused in the midsection and is really more about Sana learning who and what she is. It's a show about family life as she bonds with Zoroku, a grandfatherly figure who inadvertently rescues her from her previous life as a lab rat and learns what it means to be human and part of a family. It's extremely touching and just a really happy show to watch. It's not an absolute must see, but there's nothing else quite like it, at least that I've seen. | |
| Amagi Brilliant Park (TV) | Very good |
| Amagi Brilliant Park is another KyoAni production, and it really shines compared to a lot of other studios out there. However, putting it next to things like Hibike Euphonium or Kobayashi doesn't really do good things for this show. Now, don't get me wrong, AmaBri is a very cute, fun, and gorgeous show to watch, but it's lacking something that makes some of those other KyoAni shows truly special. So in that sense, I'm a bit vaguely disappointed, even though I really did enjoy watching it. It's just inconsequential fun that was a bit too over the top throughout to really let me solidly emphasize with the characters. Enjoyable, but not really required viewing. | |
| (The) Ancient Magus' Bride (TV) | Excellent |
| The Ancient Magus Bride is a wonderful little show that is best described as a studio Ghibli-esque take on magic and mages in rural England. Chise is a teenage girl who has lost everything, the love of her family, and her love for herself, and in a move of pure desperation ends up trying to sell herself to the highest bidder. See, Chise is a special person called a Sleigh Beggy that is attuned to the world of spirits and fairies, so she has value even if she doesn't value herself. It's just her luck that she ends up purchased by a mage with a kind disposition who sees her as useful, but also who wants her to become part of his family. He gives her a sense of purpose, and while he teaches her about magic and her powers, she teaches him what it means to be human. Yes, at its core this show is a Shoujo show. It's about romance, as our main characters come to love one another. But it's also about the wonders of life and learning to love oneself as well. It's that childlike wonder where the Ghibli influence really shines through. It's a show that can be rough, but always seems to make up for it with a good message and a lot of really feel good moments. When the show wants to be dark and brutal, it isn't afraid to go there, but otherwise it is content to slowly build its world around its characters and let them grow organically. It's a wonderful show with a lot of heart that I highly recommend. | |
| (The) Ancient Magus' Bride (OAV 2) | Very good |
| This could have been another few episodes in season 1, though it does show a few scenes of Chise preparing for her college life that will be detailed in season 2. The bulk of this is a small, self contained arc about the Wild Hunt missing their leader, who a young boy with asthma stumbles upon. Chise, Elias, and Ruth are trying to track down this leader, while he and the young boy become friends. There's some good character building around this boy, and the arc has a solid climax and resolution, but it is kinda a bit insignificant in the long run. This show still looks great, but this is probably skippable if necessary, unless the young boy makes a reappearance in season 2, though I somewhat doubt that. I still enjoyed it quite a lot. | |
| (The) Ancient Magus' Bride (TV 2) | Very good |
| The long awaited season 2. This was a rather interesting departure from season 1 in that we have moved from the fields of rural England to this show's attempt at a magical high school arc. Even still, the school is handled with the same charm and quiet joy we have come to expect from this show. There is less emphasis on Elias and Chise in this one, which is both good and bad. This is clearly Chise's arc, so Elias kinda just hanging around/stalking her is a bit annoying after a while. However, that's a minor complaint. It's clear we are just getting things started here, and I'm excited to see how all the threads that are being set up will resolve in the next half of this season. Definitely a good followup of the original. | |
| (The) Ancient Magus' Bride: Those Awaiting a Star (OAV) | Very good |
| This is a 3 episode OVA that can either be watched before or after the main show. I watched it after, and I think that's probably the best move. It reveals a lot about the world, and I think the main show does a good job establishing those things without this OVA. Worth watching for sure though, as the story it tells is compelling and meaningful for realizing where Chise came from when she was growing up. | |
| And you thought there is never a girl online? (TV) | Very good |
| Objectively, this show is probably not worth this rating, but it hits home in ways that basically no other shows have. I mean, I've lived this show, and I thought it was damn cool. I won't set about espousing what it does and doesn't do well, just if you've played any amount of online games and met friends through them, then this is one definitely worth watching. | |
| Angel Beats! (TV) | Masterpiece |
| I can't remember the last time I've cried because of something I was watching or reading. I think I did at the conclusion of The Amber Spyglass when I was a kid, but I don't remember it that well. However, after finishing Angel Beats, I can safely say that the answer to that question got a whole lot easier. This is a Key show (Clannad, Kanon, Air) of course, which means you should already know what to expect going into it, but that doesn't stop the feels from hitting hard and often. The basic premise is that our protagonist wakes up to find himself dead and his soul trapped in a sort of purgatory that looks suspiciously like a high school. It's kind of a basic "confront the things that you couldn't during your life to lay your soul to rest before passing on" type of plot, but there's a whole lot more going on here. The setting and characters are colorful and alive and really drive the show, contrary to what purgatory might imply. As one might expect, the trauma that these kids have suffered through is heartbreaking, but the joy of seeing their moments of redemption makes it all worth it. Thankfully though, the show isn't all doom and gloom. It plays hard and fast with the comedy (the ova episode at the end is perhaps one of the funniest episodes I've ever seen in an anime). In the end, the amount of passion and love poured into this puny 12 episode show is almost unmatched. I have nothing but the highest praise for the show. Anyone who hasn't seen it is really doing themselves a disservice. | |
| Anime-Gataris (TV) | Good |
| So, this show is a really odd one that goes entirely off the rails around episode 7-8. It's actually really fascinating, but unfortunately, a few good moments towards the end aren't enough to save what's otherwise a largely forgettable club anime show. It's one thing to pay off a huge twist after a couple episodes, it's another to do it around episode 10 or 11, and the twist isn't huge enough that it's worth sitting through the first 10 if you aren't enjoying them. In fact, you don't even really need the extended lead up to enjoy it, it's totally possible to jump in at the end if you're curious. | |
| Anne-Happy (TV) | So-so |
| This feels like it is the most bare-bones slice of life show I've seen yet that somehow still manages to be ok. Sure, it's about cute girls doing nothing at all, and there is an interesting twist at its core with all the characters plagued by epidemic levels of bad luck. You would think such a setup would lend itself well to a comedy, but that wasn't really the case with Anne Happy. The problem is that these characters are so shallow you probably wouldn't even get wet. Each of the main characters have a quirk (gets lost constantly, gets swarmed by animals constantly, gets hurt constanstly) which becomes their entire character. It was funny in episode 1 (and maybe that's generous to gets hurt constantly girl), but it is just awful by episode 10. So, sadly most of this falls flat. It's not a pain to watch, but there are many many better attempts at this sort of show out there. | |
| anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day (TV) | Good |
| Anohana wasn't objectively bad... but it wasn't particularly great either. This stings, as it had been one of the highly rated shows I was saving for a rainy day, so to speak. It's a high school drama, and when it kicks off the first episode with the premise that a group of friends drifted apart because one of them died, and now they're trying to come together to finally reconcile this fact, I have high hopes for an emotionally raw and powerful experience. As it was, Anohana was kinda just another high school drama. There's a few emotionally powerful moments, but for the most part, we're kinda just watching these kids fumble along. I had trouble connecting with most of them, and Menma was more annoying than cute throughout the runtime. I think this could have been powerful if Menma allowed herself to be vulnerable more than just small hints, but Anohana didn't really revel in her weird purgatory situation too much. The last episode was nice at least, but overall, it's not particularly memorable. Now that I've finally watched this ten years after it came out, I think there are plenty of superior entries in this genre. | |
| Ao-chan Can't Study! (TV) | Good |
| This is a series of 11 minute long episodes about our titular girl, Ao-chan, and her unwillingness to do anything else besides study. Sounds boring right? Well the twist is this is driven by her father being a sleazy writer of things like adult romance books and all sorts of ecchi content. Ao-chan distances herself from this embarrassment by swearing she will have nothing to do with boys. Of course, she's gorgeous, and quickly attracts the attention of one of the most popular boys in school. And then, shenanigans happen. You know the story. It's entertaining enough, and at it's half episode length is good for a fun diversion. | |
| Appare-Ranman! (TV) | Very good |
| Appare-Ranman is a really unique and fun show that you don't typically get from anime. It feels more like a hollywood movie with the turn of the century american setting and great race style trappings of the show. We follow our two Japanese fish out of water types, Appare and Kosame as they find themselves stranded in LA after a series of unfortunate events in Japan conspired against them. Appare, the eccentric inventor, is obsessed with cars and decides to enter a cross country, LA to New York car race. Kosame, the put upon straight man, has no choice but to join him in the hopes that their winnings might cover his trip back home. The race itself is a ton of fun with vibrant characters and a good mix of racing action and good, old fashioned, western shootouts. That's the side that makes it feel like a classic movie. Appare Ranman has all kinds of swagger and style to it and it's hard to dismiss it. All in all, this was a really solid effort by P.A. Works and is a shining example of the kind of unique anime originals that I want to see attempted in the future. | |
| (The) aquatope on white sand (TV) | Masterpiece |
| Aquatope in many ways feels like the culmination of almost a decade journey through PA Works' shows. I remember when I was getting into seasonal anime, PA Works always seemed like the studio who was endlessly trying to catch up to KyoAni. There were highlights, Angel Beats and Nagi no Asukara were masterpieces in the beginning. But, then it felt like the studio was bending over backwards to rediscover that magic. Charlotte was a mess of failed potential before my personal low point of HaruChika, which was a fine show, don't get me wrong, but it airing right after Sound Euphonium just emphasized how much the studio seemed to be lacking. However, that started to change in my eyes as I got into a couple of their working girl shows. Shirobako was a wonderful journey into anime production told through the lens of five young women trying to break into the industry. Sakura Quest showed us how a similarly aged failed idol of sorts begrudgingly becomes the mascot of a rural town, slowly opening up and coming to love eccentricities of the quaint village. Together, these shows seemed to mark a shift in my mind away from chasing the tears of the dramas of their past, to a new future marked by a more grounded optimism focused more in the seemingly mundane aspects of our every day lives. Iroduku seemed to be the result of this shift. The astounding animation and visual direction of the show speaks to how much of a passion project it was for the studio. Yet still here, there are traces of nagi no asukara as we again find the show bogged down in teenage melodrama. Again, I really liked the show, but in terms of where PA Works was going, Iroduku seemed like the final off ramp they could have taken to keep up their chase for that dragon. Instead, we've blown right by it, and our reward is Aquatope. Not many studios take chances on big budget original shows, and even less green light 24 episodes out of the gate. Combine that with a plot that is basically "2 girls work at an aquarium", and well, PA Works is probably one of the only studios that could have pulled this off. Simply put, Aquatope is a masterpiece. It is a stunning work of art. The characters, the animation, the world that they've built here all comes together perfectly. As the show tells us every episode, two girls have met in the ruins of damaged dreams. Kukuru is struggling to keep her family's aquarium open, as the old building is falling to pieces around her. Her grandfather has already decided this will be the last summer, but Kukuru refuses to accept that, doing everything in her power to save this one place she feels she belongs in the world. Fuuka, on the other hand, has already lost her dream. All her life she wanted nothing more to be an idol, and the story starts with her just about to get her big break, before it all comes tumbling down. Suddenly out of a job, Fuuka can't bring herself to return home just yet. She is wandering instead, trying to come to terms with what has happened and what the rest of her life means, when she wanders into Kukuru's aquarium. These are the girls from Shirobako and Sakura Quest. This has the heart of Iroduku. These are the kids from Nagi no Asukara now grown up, and realizing that while yes, life is hard, it is still okay to take a breath, relax, and trust that things are going to be okay. Watching Kukuru and Fuuka grow throughout the show is deeply personal in a way that I haven't felt from many other shows. I love them to death. I love gama gama aquarium and all these wonderful characters who bring the show to life. Other shows might hype me up with action, or drown me in feelings, but Aquatope is one of the rare few that can make me want to simply be better. To live more freely, to treasure the things I have, and to look forward with confidence and pride. And now, more than ever, this is something we all need to embrace. I cannot recommend Aquatope any more than I already have, and I cannot wait for what's next from the team at PA Works. Thank you for this incredible show. | |
| Arakawa Under the Bridge (TV) | Decent |
| This is a show that I really wanted to like. It had been sitting on my want to see list for years and I was pumped to actually finally watch it, but... well I sort of know why I had been putting it off subconsciously. See, Arakawa is, well, weird. It's about a group of homeless people who live under a bridge and get into shenanigans, which is cool and all. But at times you can't shake the feeling that it's just being weird for the sake of being weird. The characters can't help but be defined by their weirdness which really takes away a lot of the depth that they could have offered. There's no story really to be found, which can be fine, but the vignettes themselves are again, simply defined by weirdness. This show just feels like a proof of concept for Monogatari. Feel free to skip this one, Shaft can do much better than this. | |
| Arakawa under the Bridge × Bridge (TV) | Decent |
| See season 1 | |
| Aria - The Natural (TV) | Good |
| I think Aria does a lot better job in season 2 with creating compelling episodes. I think each episode tends to have a compelling story arc, and while they are still small, slice of life-y types of things like going on a treasure hunt or celebrating a festival, at least we have a little plot for each episode to hang our hat on. With slice of life shows like this, where they pretty much entirely ditch comedy, there has to be immensely satisfying character moments and as engaging of a world as possible.
Aria the Natural does better than season 1 with all of the above stuff. So why then is it the same ranking? Well, season 1 had a certain charm to it that can't really be recaptured. Season 2 always had to do better just to tread water with me, because it wasn't going to be able to recapture the sense of wonder I had from the first time I immersed myself in neo venezia. It was also... long. 24 episodes of this is a lot to go through, and I had to do several different pauses on it to keep from burning out. It's so charming, but it has it's drawbacks for sure. | |
| Aria the Animation (TV) | Good |
| Aria is about as slice of life as you can get. It features a girl who is learning to be a gondolier in a replica Venice-like city that is on a futuristic Mars that humanity has colonized. It's an interesting combination, seeing the laid back and very not sci-fi ambiance of the show, but knowing it is kind of sci-fi at it's core. Regardless, Aria is all about our main character and her friends as they learn to pilot their little gondolas throughout the city. It's cute, and there are some interesting episodes, but for the most part, it's actually a little bit boring. There needs to be some sense of momentum, even in a slice of life. When we have an episode, even if it is about something silly, there should be some progression throughout the episode as we work to something. Some episodes do this (Akari's journey to deliver a package was a good one), but most just kinda meander for no reason really. It's fun to get lost in, but you really have to be in the mood for this sort of thing. And I say this as a huge, huge fan of most slice of life. | |
| Aria the Origination (TV) | Very good |
| Aria finally does what I've been wanting from it in its third and final season. Here we get a sense of momentum and real character arcs throughout the season. It makes sense of course, as we move towards the conclusion of the series, there was always going to be the question of Akari, Aika, and Alice completing their training and becoming full time professionals. The story is beautifully done throughout the season, and is incredibly satisfying by the end of the final episode. I still think this show isn't totally for me, but even I have to admit that this final season was quite wonderful. Aria has been a journey, and I'm both a bit sad and very satisfied with the conclusion here. If this sort of comfy, light, and healing type of experience is what you are looking for, there are few things better. My recommendation is to take this series slow, and go through it as it feels right, as opposed to trying to binge. I think my experience with the back half of season two and this season have shown me that this is the right approach for this show. Definitely recommended for anyone who thinks it sounds interesting. | |
| Aria the Scarlet Ammo (TV) | Good |
| I watched Aria a long time ago, but I remember it being perfectly fun. I'm writing this after having seen AA and I liken this series as Index to AA's Railgun. The story is told from a male student's point of view, an extreme departure for AA which evidently exists in a world without Y chromosomes. It's all very silly though as the protagonist "powers up" as he gets turned on and our very, very tsundere Aria is not at all amused by the prospect of teaming up with such a loser. Team up they do though, and it's a good romp all around. | |
| Aria the Scarlet Ammo AA (TV) | Very good |
| Aria reminds me a lot of Index. Double A is definitely the Railgun of Aria, as our main character shifts from the guy in season 1 to Akari, a girl a year under Aria who really wants to enter into a contract to learn from Aria. There's lots of cutesy stuff going on, like Railgun, but there's a dark undertone that leads to a big climactic battle. I hope this isn't the last I see of Aria, the show is really starting to come into its own here. | |
| Ascendance of a Bookworm (TV) | Excellent |
| Bookworm is a better show than it has any right to be. By the time this show aired in Fall 2019, we were several years into the isekai boom, and wow did this genre get stale in a hurry. There are good shows still, but they are few and far between. There was no reason that a little known light novel adaptation like this should have moved the needle at all. Especially when the main character is a cute, little elementary school aged girl. Let's be real, if you throw those two things together, it's almost an immediate write off. I do not have enough faith in anime to believe that this won't end horribly for all involved. And yet... against all odds, Bookworm pulls it off. At it's core, this is a show about learning to live. Our protagonist, Main, has been reincarnated after an early death in our world, into a pseudo-medieval world with a bit of magic and a lot of issues. She was in her teens when she passed away, and has been reborn into 6 year old Main's body. Main however is suffering from an incurable disease, so even with her new lease on life, things will be touch and go for a while. However, her knowledge of technologies and processes from our world allow her some leeway to make some money and get her feet planted on the ground before she can accomplish her real goal. Read books. Yeah that's it. Most isekai shows are power fantasies or defeating the demon king or whatever, but Bookworm is earnestly simple in it's driving plot points. Main was a loner in her previous life, and all but lived in the towns library. Her only friends and escapes were the books she surrounded herself with. So imagine her horror to be born in a town, to poor parents, where no one can read or write, let alone own any books. Paper doesn't even exist yet! And so begins our journey along with Main to recreate her literary paradise in this new world, starting literally from scratch. There's a bit of Dr. Stone in this, as we follow along with Main's failures to create various forms of literature. Clay tablets, scrolls, parchment paper, chalkboards, and finally actual paper. Of course, these are huge innovations, but she has to manage her health, her family, and her new friends all along the way. It's a raw, challenging, adorable, earnest, and heartwarming show all at the same time. It feels more real than most shows I've ever seen, and I'm eagerly waiting for season 2. Loved this one a ton. I'm so happy it had enough self-respect to treat Main fairly and appropriately. I hate that I have to type that, but here we are. Lovely little breath of fresh air. | |
| Ascendance of a Bookworm (TV 2) | Excellent |
| My season 1 review covers this show pretty well. This show felt like more of a single contained experience rather than two separate ones. I'm happy that the transition to a new setting for the latter half of the show is handled gracefully and though the stakes are slowly increasing, it still maintains every bit of the innocent charm that drew me to it in the first place. Really a big breath of fresh air. I'd love to see more if they decide to make it. | |
| Ascendance of a Bookworm (TV 3) | Excellent |
| Season 3 continues Main's journey to growing up and the ramifications of her ever expanding power (mostly in the form of her business acumen moreso than her actual magical power, though that too is growing). Main has been treading finer and finer lines throughout this new life, constantly breaking through the limits of what should be available to someone of her station. This puts an unfortunate target on her back, as other nobles begin to take notice and conspire to steal her away for their own benefit. Sometimes I have to remind myself that Main is like, 7 years old. It's not normal for a girl her age to be in charge of her own life. This season finally puts this to the forefront, as her relationship with her family, friends, and herself are put to the test. It's still a wonderful story, as always, but there's a lot of bittersweet melancholy to be had here. I can't wait for more after this though, the world is just waiting for her to conquer it, and I'm on the edge of my seat. | |
| Assassination Classroom (TV) | Good |
| I will say that the end of Assassination Classroom is vastly superior to the beginning. It starts out as a simple school comedy with lighthearted "assassination" thrown in. The story follows the lowest scoring class in a very academically touted high school. A mysterious tentacled being is holding the world hostage and his demand is to allow him to teach these kids for a year. As such, while this is allowed, the kids are being taught to kill at the same time, so that they can take their teacher out. As I said though, it's very lighthearted, with the teacher (koro-sensei) actually being a genuinely good guy and a solid teacher to boot. He teaches the kids various life lessons and helps them to get back on track with their lives and their studies. So that's basically it until episode 16 when things start to get real. Koro-sensei gives them a fighting chance at killing him, and in the process is taken out of commission briefly. The students are then taken advantage of by a shady individual and have to use all of the assassination skills they've learned to infiltrate a heavily guarded environment and take out the man pulling the strings. It's one thing to watch the kids grow, it's another to see their skills in action. The series excelled when it reached that point, but took far too long to get there. I really hope season 2 continues right where the end of season 1 left off. Lets up the stakes a bit! | |
| Assassination Classroom (TV 2) | Good |
| So season 2 is definitely superior to season 1. But it is still overall a Good just because, for whatever reason, the show just never really "grabbed" me. I always had a good time watching it, but I never was really excited about it before or after the fact. I doubt I'll remember it much, which is kind of a shame. It was a well done show and it ended in a great way, but I dunno. Just wasn't for me I suppose. I think the huge cast of characters made it hard to connect with any of them individually. | |
| Assault Lily Bouquet (TV) | Very good |
| This isn't a particularly fair show for me to rate, given my... uh... love of anime legwear. But I digress, Assault Lily is yet another one of those shows that pit teenage girls with military grade weapons and/or magic/super powers against geometric shapes that are trying to take over the world. It still is weird to me that this has become a large genre, but I kind of get the appeal. We get to see cool action shots of our moe girls beating up on things without worrying about the actual bloody and horrific nature of combat. So, how does Assault Lily stack up amongst its peers? Well, it might be among the best. That isn't saying much though, I suppose. The competition tends to be Strike Witches which is alright and other random attempts that don't leave much of a mark. Assault Lily at least has the creative muscle of Shaft behind it, so the animation is fluid and certainly leaves quite an impression. The action scenes are actually pretty legitimately cool. I also enjoyed the characters, though there are a ton and this screams gacha game adaptation (it has to be coming, right?). The place where it falters is the plot. There's a lot of technical terms and things that don't really make a whole lot of sense thrown at us. At the end of the day, the girls and their shenanigans or fights are worth the price of admission, but be prepared to sit through some long conversations about politics and whatnot that just don't really matter. Ah well, it's all worth it for that glorious, glorious zettai ry- I mean cool fights... and stuff... and ah whatever. Thighs. | |
| Astarotte's Toy (TV) | Weak |
| Weirdly, this was one of the first shows I stumbled upon and watched entirely on my own when I was first getting into anime. It's a wonder that it didn't turn me off to the medium entirely. I think I was still in the "oooo shiny colors!" mindset, so the fact that this show was as gross as it was and I was so obviously not the target audience for it barely crossed my mind. Looking back, yeah it's pretty awful. | |
| (The) Asterisk War: The Academy City on the Water (TV) | Decent |
| I went into this show knowing full well it was a trashy light novel ripoff of Irregular (which itself was a ripoff of many other shows). Meaning that I knew it was just another magical highschool harem-esque show. I picked it up because the animation looked good and I thought it might be nice to have a little bit of mindless action to go with the season. And well, I got what I paid for. It did look great, but the story was a mess and largely non-existent until the end. I kinda am annoyed that the whole thing was a tournament, I've always felt that's just lazy storytelling and doesn't really lead to meaningful fights or consequences (Oh no! We lost! Oh well...) Won't be continuing beyond season 2, I've gotten everything I need out of this. | |
| (The) Asterisk War: The Academy City on the Water (TV 2) | So-so |
| See season 1 | |
| Asteroid in Love (TV) | Very good |
| With the Hayabusa space probe still fresh in the mind of Japan, it makes sense we'd eventually get an anime around asteroids. This entry is about as pure doga kobo as you can get. It's about an all girls earth sciences club (half geology, half astronomy), and the adorable members just sort of living their lives and doing club things. Our two main characters, Mira and Ao made a promise when they were little to discover a new asteroid, and this becomes a driving theme throughout the show. It's mostly sugar and fluff though. Very relaxing, lots of fun, and even though it isn't quite yuri enough for me (given that title), it's one of the better slice of life shows I've seen. Definitely recommended. | |
| Astra Lost in Space (TV) | Very good |
| Astra Lost in Space is very similar to Bodacious Space Pirates in a number of ways. For one, it's a hard sci-fi show that revels in deep space exploration and the wonders and dangers of space travel. It's also got planet wide conspiracies, murder plots, traitors, and all kinds of rough things going on. However, much like BSP, those aren't really the point of the show. Astra is unflinchingly optimistic in its presentation of our characters and their journey. It's content to show this odd collection of high school students grow, learn to love each other and themselves, and become actually really great at not only surviving alone in deep space, but learning how to be a part of a team, something bigger. The show is all about its characters, and their sometimes harsh journeys to get to this point. It's so easy to root for them, and the show makes sure you know that it's rooting for them just as hard. Sure it's a bit cheesy by the end, but it just had me smiling throughout the run time. The characters all rock. Kanata, Aries, and the rest of you, keep on rocking it. Awesome job. Strong, strong 8 here. If optimistic sci-fi space adventures are what you're looking for, this is right up there at the top. | |
| Attack on Titan (TV) | Masterpiece |
| Attack on Titan is a breath of fresh air in a year plus of mostly mediocre anime. I felt like it's been a while since I've had this much fun watching a show that is clearly very very good. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time, as this show is a roller coaster from start to finish. The climactic fights in the last five episodes had me rooting as hard as I ever have been for the protagonist. The Titans themselves are presented in quite the unique way. They're these lumbering oafs that are the same time laughable and hilarious while also being absolutely terrifying. They aren't conscious, they just instinctively kill humans for the sake of doing so. Every time someone is killed, brutally and often, it just is like a punch to the gut. Our group of heroes fight hard, and struggle with the reality that there will be death, and their lives are constantly in danger, yet deep down they feel they have to do the right thing. I could spend some time talking about the show's plot, but I don't want to spoil much. Simply, Titans took over the earth about a hundred years ago, and since then, the remaining humans have lived their lives out behind three massive walls. The show starts with the fall of the first wall, and humanity starting to take the first steps towards countering the Titan invasion. Along the way we learn some startling things about Titans and their nature, but so much is left unanswered and simply teased. I cannot wait for the next season. This show is brilliant. The characters are brilliant. The entire thing is awesome. | |
| Attack on Titan (TV 2/2017) | Masterpiece |
| The high quality is still there from season 1. Really loving this show a lot. Super hype fantasy adventure that looks beautiful and has a really interesting, compelling story at its core. We're just scratching the surface too, for each question answered, two more pop up every time. Can't wait for season 3. | |
| Attack on Titan (TV 3/2018) | Masterpiece |
| What more is there to say about this show? It's phenomenal in every way. The depth of the world and the characters is unmatched. | |
| Attack on Titan (TV 4/2019) | Masterpiece |
| Still really, really good. It's going to be very interesting to see where they take it from here. | |
| Attack on Titan The Final Season (TV) | Masterpiece |
| Well, this is the first half of the final season, and it has gotten real. This show can do whatever it wants and somehow manages to succeed no matter how it changes things up. What started out as a gory fantasy adventure has turned into a world war two allegory handling themes like xenophobia and war crimes. It has us asking who are we really rooting for? What becomes of heroes when they lose that unabashed naivety of childhood? It's heartbreaking watching some of the events unfold, yet the show is powerful in a way that I just can't quite adequately describe. This is peak cinema. A masterpiece that transcends genres or mediums. I can hardly wait for the climax to come. The world and its conflicts have been set up so carefully and precisely, and I can't wait for those dominoes to start falling. What a unique experience this has been. We're so lucky to have this show. | |
| Azur Lane (TV) | Very good |
| I'm coming at this show as a day 1 player of the game, so I am admittedly, very biased. However, I'll try to lay this down as fairly as possible. I'm only bumping my score 1 level based on all of my fanservice (I CANNOT GET OVER SEEING THEM ALL ANIMATED, OMG). The show is about a 7. I'm glad that they went the opposite approach that kancolle decided on. I enjoyed kancolle a lot, but maybe that was because I never played that game, I was content with a silly slice of life. After playing Azur Lane for so long, I'm so happy that I got to see my girls out there kicking ass and taking names. A slice of life would have felt just... wrong. The story, like the game's, is a little bit of a mess, but manages to stay focused throughout which is a win. I liked Akagi and Kaga and how they pitted the Crimson Axis vs. Azur Lane, but with the fox sisters secretly calling the shots and the Sirens ending up the real enemies. It's true to the game, and it lets us enjoy both factions without having one enemy and one protagonist. The animation was a bit rough at times, which drops it down to a 7 for me. Thankfully, I enjoyed my time with all the ships enough to overlook it for the most part. If you're looking for a fun naval/WWII romp where weapons are anthropomorphized as moe anime girls fighting geometric shapes, and they actually spend a good amount of time on action and combat (looking at you Strike Witches S2), then this is a great one. | |
| Azur Lane: Slow Ahead! (TV) | Very good |
| This is a slice of life short series about the daily lives and shenanigans that our favorite ship girls get up to when they aren't sortieing. It's silly and really won't offer all that much to non-fans of the franchise. However, as an avid player of the mobile game, I recognize I am 100% the target audience for this, and I have to admit, it was pretty fun to see the characters I know so well move around and have fun together. | |
| B Gata H Kei - Yamada’s First Time (TV) | Good |
| This is a shockingly good high school comedy disguised as a fanservice riddled ecchi-fest. So the premise is ridiculous. Yamada wants to hook up with 100 different guys, so yeah, tons of nudity and over the top fanservice right? Wrong. Turns out Yamada, while being good looking and popular, is HORRIBLE with dudes. So she picks the loser of her class to practice with and get her confidence up. I don't need to continue for you to get where it ends up going. But seriously, it's really really funny, and absolutely worth watching. | |
| Baka and Test - Summon the Beasts (TV) | Good |
| Baka and Test is a comedy about a group of students from F class. Their school is divided into classes based on academic ability, and our heroes are the lowest of the low. The classrooms are also furnished according to their rank, so F students are stuck with cardboard boxes for desks. But fear not! Through the Summon wars, the students can summon chibi avatars of themselves to fight with strength based on their test scores, and as a class wins, it can improve its standing and equipment. Ok so, the premise is a bit silly, but the show actually makes the intrigue and strategy quite interesting. The heart of it though is in its characters and their interactions with each other. The one way this show delivers is in its comedy elements. It's really pretty funny, and the cast works quite well. Its not really much more than fluff, but it is entertaining. My biggest complaint would be Himeji, our main female protagonist. She isn't given much of a personality, which is a bit sad considering the growth of the rest of the characters around her. It makes me root against her, and her shtick wears out for me quickly. Ah well, there's plenty of fun to be had. | |
| Baka and Test - Summon the Beasts 2 (TV) | Very good |
| Season 2 of Baka and Test really sees this show hit its stride. The series is broken up into short vignettes, and these expanded stories work better in my opinion than the first season's episodic nature. The three episodes devoted solely to the F class boys trying to peek on the girls in the bath (yes, I'm not making that up) are riotously funny. And then, directly after that we get hit by Manami's past full force, and it gets emotional and heavy. The roller coaster was unexpected for sure, but it's a testament to the depth and chops of the series, that it can pull something like this off. Great addition to the series. Better than season 1 for sure. Oh, and, Himeji still sucks, Manami kicks ass. Season 3 now please! | |
| Baka and Test: Summon the Beasts OVA | Good |
| This is a short two episode OVA story that bridges the time between seasons 1 and 2 of Baka and Test. It features the school festival, and our heroes are faced with a problem. Himeji's father wants to take her out of the school since she is in such an underachieving class with bad equipment. So, Akihisa decides to make enough money at the festival to purchase new equipment for Himeji. The first episode shows their struggles to run a Chinese themed restaraunt during the festival, and the second episode pits Akihisa and Yuji in a summon beasts tournament to fight for the right to upgrade their equipment. Hilarity ensues. It's a fun couple of episodes, but nothing amazing. Do want Manami in that dress though. | |
| Bakemonogatari (TV) | Very good |
| This is, at its core, a supernatural harem series. The series starts with vague references about how our hero used to be a vampire, but has since recovered. The details are never really fleshed out. Instead it plows straight ahead into his struggles to save those closest to him that are afflicted by supernatural apperations (wouldn't you know it, they happen to be girls!) So, the story isn't really anything new. In fact, its rather cookie cutter. The charm of the series doesn't lie in this, so much as it does with the presentation. It is quite clear that the show was adapted from a light novel, as it features long periods of dialogue and not much else happening visually. The director obviously took this upon himself to ensure that the show succeeded not in spite of this, but because of it. The shot angles, washed out colors, fast cuts, interspersed bits of text, blank screens, visual metaphors and jokes on the viewer are all done extensively, and work incredibly well. It's a very striking show, one that I will not forget. Also, the main character ends up in a relationship with one of the girls, a seemingly impossible task for harem shows, so that alone gives it a better rating in my book. You'll know if this is a show for you after the first episode. Onto Nisemonogatari! | |
| Bakuman. (TV) | Very good |
| This ended up being a very silly show about young, aspiring manga artists. Our heroes are a pair of middle school students who end up teaming up to create manga. Mashiro is our artist who is recruited by his classmate Takagi, who wants to create manga but has no artistic abilities himself. It's actually pretty cool following along as Takagi learns about storyboarding and Mashiro develops his skills. The show follows the pair over several years as they struggle to get published. Mashiro has a crush on Azuki who is an aspiring voice actress with big dreams like him, and they have agreed to start dating once they have both achieved their dreams (essentially, Mashiro's manga gets adapted as an anime and Azuki will play the lead role). This show reminds me a lot of Shirobako, in that we get an inside look into the manga industry. It's way cool to see how editors work, how manga gets selected to run in the magazines, the opportunities and paths that manga artists might take to get recognized, and the role that these manga companies really play throughout the process. We also get a decent look at the creative process, with explanations of how schedules look like when you are serialized and how manga artists employ assistants to help. I wish we got a bit deeper of a dive into the actual tools an artist uses to draw the final draft, but that's about all we haven't touched on. Back to the relationship. Bakuman is actually low-key kind of a romance anime. Of course, Mashiro and Azuki's relationship is absurd. They can't talk to each other face to face because they haven't achieved their dreams, though that's really just a crutch because they are shy. At least the other characters in the show point this out and laugh. It's very, very cute, but also kind of frustrating. I have to watch the next season just to see how this is going to actually play out. | |
| Bakuman. 2 (TV) | Excellent |
| Bakuman season 2 really did what I wanted from season 1. It slowed things down and allowed the drama to really take center stage. I felt like it ratcheted up the stakes a ton, and the show was all the more compelling for it. I kinda get what everyone is so excited about with this show now. Wow. | |
| Bakuman. 3 (TV) | Excellent |
| Needless to say, Bakuman season 3 absolutely sticks the landing. It was a great send off that managed to be tense right down to the very end. I love all of these characters and had so much fun growing up with them. Highly recommended. | |
| Banished from the Hero's Party (TV) | Good |
| I enjoyed this isekai romp. It wasn't incredible, but it was fun to see a previously world famous adventurer just decide to hang it up and become a small town apothecary. Red and Rit make for a wonderful couple, and their romance and life together is so satisfying to watch. The show handles them maturely, and I can't thank it enough for that. All that said, the first half of the show with it's slow life, iyashikei vibes is definitely the superior version of this show. I know what they were trying to go for, with the hero and her party searching out Red, but it sort of collapsed in on itself a bit with standard fantasy tropes. When this show was at its best, I had a blast, but the overall package was mixed. I still recommend it though, as it definitely stands out among other entries in the crowded and mostly terrible isekai genre. | |
| Beast Tamer (TV) | Weak |
| I only watched this show because it had animal eared girls in the trailer. I knew it would be trashy isekai, but I didn't realize just how bad the experience would get. The lack of animation was embarrassing. The "plot" was laughable and, frankly, didn't really exist. The characters were mostly annoying. And, to top it all off, there basically wasn't even any good fanservice. Not to say that's high on my list of priorities, but with a show like this, that's the lowest bar I can think of, and this show couldn't even deliver on that front. Just a complete and total waste of time from beginning to end. I couldn't wait to be done with this. I stuck around for the end just as more of a fascination with seeing how bad it could get. I went into this worried about the nature of the premise. I figured a protagonist "taming" his female companions was just a poor excuse to pump out another one of those trash isekai shows with love interests who are figuratively (and sometimes literally) slaves bound to our protagonist. However, it doesn't really go there. It was so bad by the end I was wishing it would have just so that there could be something, anything at all, that this show had to say, even if it was atrocious. Something to at least give me some idea why it exists, even if it is gross. Then I could have at least dropped it in disgust and moved one. As it is, this is the most milquetoast, pointless waste of time there is. It's so non offensive that I basically sleep-walked through it, feeling nothing. Shows that or gross or horny or creepy might not be aimed at me, but at least they make me feel SOMETHING. This show made me feel like I was simply watching the minutes tick away in my life as I move ever closer to my end. And this is what I chose to do with them. | |
| BEASTARS (TV) | Excellent |
| This is a really wonderful high school drama show about growing up and finding oneself, but also about struggling against inner demons and fighting for control of one's actions. Of course, most people will probably just remember it for the furry characters, which... fair. They are very furry. But that's beside the point. Beastars features a multifaceted cast of characters, each with various forms of insecurities and trials to overcome. At the end of the day, it's these characters and their relationships that drive the show.
The other thing Beastars has for it though, is that it is really kind of a vampire style story in different clothing. The central theme that cuts through everything is the inherent struggle of carnivores and herbivores trying to live side by side, where the carnivores are constantly suppressing their inner desires to meet the definition of what society deems appropriate behavior. Our main character, a wolf, struggles with this constantly as he tries to portray himself as meek and passive. Even he believes this somewhat, but underneath it all he can't deny his instincts. Much like vampire style shows, he has fallen for an herbivore rabbit, and so has to juggle his feelings of attraction and his instincts that scream at him to hunt. It's a compelling central conflict, and one that keeps the show tense throughout. It's not just our wolf boy dealing with this, as many of our characters, carnivores and herbivores both, find themselves caught up in this neverending struggle. It makes for high drama, cloaked in a way that I don't get too often from anime. The show has a surprising weight to it, and a sense of momentum that never lets up. Super excited to watch season 2. | |
| BEASTARS (TV 2) | Excellent |
| Season 2 is still really strong, but I think it didn't quite live up to the heights of season 1. Things get a bit more real here. I wasn't a huge fan of the Louis arc, but I understand the significance of what this means for his character. Regardless, it's still the same high quality production, and I'm still highly invested in these characters. Excited for more. | |
| Beatless (TV) | Good |
| It's not bad... it's just not that great. I wanted badass mech girls doing battle, and you kind of get that. (Cough... Kouka is best girl, omg Cough...). But the story just folds in on itself and becomes nonsensical ranting about futures and AI and all this other stuff that never came together. I guess there are 4 episodes still to go, so in a sense, there's a chance that Beatless can stick the landing. But let's be honest, if the character designs don't do it for you, there's no other reason to watch this show. | |
| Beautiful Bones: Sakurako’s Investigation (TV) | Good |
| It's an in depth and kind of interesting take on a mystery series, about solving cases through the bones left behind, but right when it seems it's getting good, the show just up and ends. Maybe it improves if they up the stakes in a future season, but for now it's a solid series, but not much more. | |
| Ben-To (TV) | Decent |
| This is a pretty silly show overall, with the ridiculous premise that all out brawls take place whenever bentos get marked half-price by the supermarket as various fighters vie for the best bento deals. It's ridiculous and absurd and makes for a pretty amusing show. Unfortunately, it's also kind of Bento's downfall. See, there's two ways to play this, one is to lean into the absurdity hard, and the other, which is what Bento ends up doing, is to try to play the concept pretty much as straight as possible. It ends up feeling a lot like a karate club type show, where it's more about fighting stronger opponents than anything else. I guess this makes for a good time to start, but the show quickly wears out its welcome as it sort of runs out of anything more to say or do by episodes 5 or 6. At least the fanservice is quality and plentiful. I had to try three separate times over a few years to finish this one off, so I can't really give it any better than decent. | |
| Beyond the Boundary (TV) | Very good |
| Beyond the boundary is a a show with equal parts romance, fantasy, action, comedy, and drama. It centers around two high school students who both have unique powers and have been living alone because of them. They feel a kinship and end up forging a strong bond because of this (love interest!). They live in a world that is inhabited by both humans and youmu, and a select few humans have the ability to become spirit world warriors who hunt the youmu for their livelihoods. For starters, the show is very beautifully animated and the characters feel vibrant and alive. Akihito, our main protagonist, is a half-youmu who is immortal. He tries to fit in at school but has few friends due to his "condition". He meets Mirai by chance, an unusual spirit world warrior from the clan of cursed blood (also an absolutely adorable girl, who, much to the delight of Akihito, is a "be-speckled beauty"). She fights youmu by using her own blood as a weapon, and the rest of the spirit world warriors don't trust her because of this. The two of them are joined by an eclectic cast of characters ranging from other spirit world warriors to good youmu that support them. As the show goes on, their city is threatened by several incredibly dangerous youmu that the group has to deal with, accepting their own shortcomings and forgotten pasts along the way. In between, the viewer is treated to a good amount of very funny comedy (often at our two main character's expenses). I think that I wasn't quite as impressed by this show as many, and I still thoroughly enjoyed it, so take that for what you will. The supernatural action romance genre is alive and well. I highly recommend this show. | |
| Bikini Warriors (TV) | Decent |
| This is a series of 3 minute long shorts that feature absurd fanservice and light-hearted jokes about how silly RPG gaming is. Pretty much harmless, no actual nudity but as close as you can get without crossing that line I suppose. Some silly fun and busty, scantily clad babes is all there is here. | |
| Birdie Wing -Golf Girls' Story- (TV) | Excellent |
| What to say about this show that hasn't already been said around the internet. It's so not what I was expecting when I loaded up episode 1. I thought I was going to be in for a cute girls play golf high school club show, or something similar. What I got was an insane mismash of golf with underground mafia gambling, hype as hell shonen battle energy, and the most yuri that ever yuri'd main couple. It's a glorious triumph of insanity and expectations shattering joy. I am beyond stoked for season 2. Can't wait to see where this golf girls story goes. | |
| Birdie Wing -Golf Girls' Story- (TV 2) | Excellent |
| I have so many thoughts about Birdie Wing now that it has properly wrapped. I had multiple complaints with the last episode. (Spoilers for the final episode until the next paragraph) I thought how amazing of a moment it would be if Juha had hit Aoi's ball in the 18th hole for her with her shot. Even if Aoi had to forfeit anyway, it would have been such a nice moment. Similarly, I'm annoyed with how Eve wasn't able to make that final shot to get 16 under on the last hole. Thematically, she should have made it. She was winning the tournament either way, that wasn't important. But I think it would have been appropriate to show that Eve and Aoi working together are capable of surpassing anything they can do individually. Instead, we ended up getting a huge timeskip and a couple of jumbled together shots to show that yeah, fine, it was all happily ever after. Ugh. (Ok spoilers over) And I know this sounds very negative so far. But there is a difference between ranting because I wasn't into a show and ranting because I was so into a show that I feel just that passionate about it. Birdie Wing is the latter. This show f-ing rules. That's all there is to it really. The drama is insane. The golfing is insane. The battle shonen style special shots and over the top animations feel like of course they're there. How could they not be? This show is everything and I love it so, so much. Eve and Aoi are simply the greatest. I had so much fun watching everything they did and I was rooting so hard for them through it all. Yeah, it gets a bit over the top cheesy with some of the last few things they try to ratchet up the tension, but I don't care. I love this show and everything about it. I cannot recommend it enough. | |
| Black Bullet (TV) | Excellent |
| First of all, it is criminal that this show is only 13 episodes. The setup is a lot like attack on titan just a bit more high tech. The stakes are incredibly high and each loss that hits the characters is painful and most of all, real. There is some very compelling storytelling going on in black bullet, gorgeous animation, and the characters are fantastic. I can't overstate enough how much I loved the show. Why are you reading this. Go watch it now. I DEMAND SEASON TWO! | |
| Black Rock Shooter (OAV) | Good |
| This is a 50 minute OAV episode of Black Rock Shooter that eventually inspired the anime series. It's kind of actually really surprising. I'd say almost 90% of the episode focuses entirely on Mato and Yomi becoming close friends, even though they're kind of fundamentally opposite people. They both entered high school together, they both are inseparable and basically spend all of their first year together. But then of course, drama unfolds, and things aren't so rosy as they seem. Mato struggles to understand what has happened and tries to right the wrongs between Yomi and her to regain their friendship. Honestly, I could stop there. I'm not joking when I say this is 90% of the show. However, the cover art, the first two minutes, and the random 30 seconds of action spliced throughout serve as a tantalizing reminder that this show is supposed to be about ACTION. Now, don't get me wrong. I LIKED Black Rock Shooter, but I can really see why people wouldn't. The bait and switch is bad here. The action is gorgeous, don't get me wrong, but it's more of a fun reward than the main focus. Still worth a watch. Will update more on if this is required viewing or not for the series. If it isn't really, and the series focuses more heavily on action, people who came for that are probably better off just skipping this. I really liked the high school atmosphere though, so it is worth seeing in my book. *Update* The OAV is not required viewing for the series. I would not recommend watching the series first then the OAV, that's for sure. The series is superior and the OAV would just be disappointing afterwards. The series is kind of a reimagining of the OAV anyway, so it's not like it's a prequel or anything like that. However, I really enjoyed having watched the OAV first and seeing how radically different the shows are and where they compliment themselves. It's only 50 minutes, I would recommend doing it, but if you want a more sleek experience, this is skippable. | |
| Black Rock Shooter (TV) | Very good |
| So Black Rock Shooter is intense. Like hardcore intense. The things that these girls go through are horrific and should be experienced by no one. The closest comp I can think of to this show would be Madoka, though Black Rock Shooter came out a few years before PMMM. Simply put, it's a high school drama (with crazy, messed up drama to boot) that also is enhanced (metaphorically and literally) by mirrors of the girls fighting to the death in an alternate world. It's a kind of unique concept, how their alter egos are fighting to stop the pain and suffering of the characters in the real world. The art direction in this case is gorgeous. Really hard to watch at times, but as a whole it is just a fantastically done show. | |
| Blast of Tempest (TV) | Excellent |
| Blast of Tempest is really, really good. As far as modern day magic shows go, this is one of the best I've seen. The characters and interweaving plots are super compelling, and I really enjoyed the twists that story pulled. The only complaint is that at times the show feels like it's trying a bit too hard to be smart, but well, it is smart for the most part, so it's alright. Highly recommended. | |
| Bleach (TV) | Decent |
| I've only seen up to the current dubbed episode, and I don't really have much desire to catch up to the sub. Bleach is good, don't get me wrong, but the show can drag. It feels like they've been battling against Aisen forever! I can see why they finally canceled the anime, it's collapsing in on itself as it stumbles towards its inevitable conclusion. At this rate, I can't see how the show can continue after this arc, either the villains are dealt with, and there is no more conflict, or they escape which would be a slap in the face to everyone who's been waiting for this. That said, the show leading up to this was fantastic at times. The first 60 episodes were brilliant. The arc with the manifested zanpaktou was great as well. The rest was ok at best and awful filler at worst, and it hit the lows a lot more often than the highs, which is the reason I gave it the rating I did. There are some shonen shows I can go back and watch again and again like one piece and fairy tail, but Bleach is definitely getting filed away not to be seen again. I guess to conclude, I had fun, but man was I sitting here counting the episodes till I was done. Someone should just compile all the actually good moments of this show and sell it in a 100 episode box set. See you on toonami. Update: I finally dropped bleach after they beat Aisen. I know it kept going, but I was bored and that felt like as good a point to stop as any. | |
| Blend S (TV) | Good |
| Blend S is a quirky but fun workplace comedy show. The characters are pretty much what carry things and almost the entirety of the runtime is simply placing different combinations of characters in different situations and watching to see how they react. It's good, but it feels a little bit soulless at times, especially towards the end when they introduce the final main character whose entire purpose is simply to mix things up for the other characters. It's fun, but it isn't as good as Working! even with the wink wink nudge nudge otaku humor and upping of the fanservice. | |
| Blood Blockade Battlefront (TV) | Excellent |
| It's rare that a show is just as thoroughly amazing as BBB. It is visually stunning, funny, clever, and just plain fun. It was obvious that BBB knew exactly what it wanted to do and executed on it magnificently. I really can't say enough good things. It's hard to summarize a show like BBB that's intentionally over the top and not altogether forthcoming with its plot. At its core, it's kind of like men in black, where New York City has been overrun by all manner of alien races that live along side the humans who are still there. Due to this, there are many dangerous aliens loose, and Libra is the secret society of superhumans who attempts to maintain order amidst the chaos. Behind the scenes though, a shadowy organization is plotting to finish what they started when the city first was exposed to alternate realities. Our main character is an everyman, but is he really? Haha, this sounds ridiculous, and it is. Totally worth the watch though. | |
| Blood Blockade Battlefront & Beyond (TV) | Excellent |
| BBB&B picks up right where season 1 leaves off, new director or not, and gets awesome and insane very quickly. It's very fast paced, over the top ridiculous, and a crap ton of fun. This season is mainly a series of episodic vignettes about each of the side characters from season 1. And while that could seem a bit disappointing on the surface, especially after the epic conflict we saw in season one, these episodes as a whole are super funny, sometimes deep, and always interesting. I really enjoyed the slightly more relaxed take on this show compared to season 1, but I am also looking forward to some more deeper story in the future. Bones knocks it out again. | |
| Blue Exorcist (TV) | Very good |
| I've seen all of Blue Exorcist twice now and loved it both times. It's a shonen show straight up. A young boy is born with magical powers and he has decided to become an exorcist to fight demons. Turns out he's really good at it, but his power is also a bit... controversial. So he goes to high school to become an exorcist and ends up fighting a lot of demons. The action is absolutely on point, and the story is actually pretty interesting. I won't spoil it much, but the depth of the characters is strong, and we have a lot of people not actually being who they appear at first (including our main character). The school bits are fun and well done, and the action just ratchets up in intensity throughout. If you're looking for a bite sized Bleach or One Piece, this show has it in spades. | |
| Blue Exorcist (movie) | Good |
| The movie is a typical anime movie. It has a new original character and a plot that revolves around the new character. In the end, nothing has changed, because the movie is just a side story, nothing more. So the plot and characters take a hit as the movie shoehorns in all the regulars. So, it's not very substantial, but it's a fun enough romp. The art is gorgeous with really expressive backgrounds and other effects, and I love that we get to see more of this weird city. If you're big, big into blue exorcist, you'd probably get a kick out of this flick, anyone else can safely skip it. | |
| Blue Period (TV) | Excellent |
| I'm definitely a sucker for these high school drama style shows, but Blue Period captured me above and beyond most of the others in this genre. Yaguchi is a fun character to root for. He isn't gifted (or at least, he isn't convinced that he is), but he is dedicated and dives headfirst into going to a university for the arts out of nowhere, surprising both his kinda delinquint-y friends and his parents along the way. Blue Period could be a kind of relationship drama show like we so often see in anime dramas set in high school, but I have to give points for how much they stick to the art itself as the driver of the plot. There's so much packed in here, and sure characters come and go through Yaguchi's life in the year he spends prepping for the university exams, but it's always been about the art and his journey to becoming a true, full fledged artist. The same is true of all those around him, and watching this is really cathartic in a way. Ryuji was probably the one stand out side character, and I really, really appreciated how the show treated her. Overall, this is a show that makes you think and really lets you deep into the minds of these kids. Really, really strong nine. | |
| Boarding School Juliet (TV) | Very good |
| Boarding School Juliet is, well, a bit ridiculous from the get go. The premise is that there are two countries who border each other and hate each other, like a lot. So what do they do? Of course they have the most prestigous high school right on the border where students from both countries attend, and they have their own dorms, and they can't be friends with the other country, one side always wears white and one side always wears black, and they brawl in the streets, and yada yada. It's over the top and contrived, but the show leans into it at least. The premise of course is much the same as the original Romeo and Juliet where two leaders of their respective factions fall in love. The series is mostly the hijinks that ensue as the two of them try to cover up their relationship. It's cute and fun and fluffy and well done for what it is, but it's nothing altogether serious, so it kind of limits the upside for a show like this. Recommended for sure, but know this is more anime comfort food than masterpiece. | |
| Bocchi the Rock! (TV) | Masterpiece |
| I love Bocchi the Rock. This might have been one of the hardest choices I've made score-wise. I'm banking on a second season that's going to be even better to take it to the promised land. As it is, this is a wonderfully fun show. Bocchi's over the top reactions bring to mind other shows like Komi or Hitoribocchi but I appreciated the enthusiasm the animators at Cloverworks dedicated to it. The energy and love that went into this are clear from episode one. There's just an energy that's impossible to deny about it. The characters are all fun. The gags got me laughing constantly. And the music slaps. Seriously, some of the most fun musical segments from any show I've ever seen. I just love Bocchi to pieces and want to root so hard for her. It's so great to see her band have that same reaction, welcoming her for who she is with open arms. Sure, it leans into the cringe sometimes, but it's just so dang wholesome, how can you not love it. Okay, after writing that, I'm changing it to the ten it deserves. Dangit. You win this one Bocchi! Also this one did take me a long time to finish, but that was only because I was holding out hope friends might watch it with me. Eventually I couldn't wait anymore. It was too tempting haha. | |
| Bodacious Space Pirates (TV) | Excellent |
| Bodacious Space Pirates sounds ridiculous. I admit. But when you think about it, after having seen the show, it makes a certain amount of sense. This show is a grounded science fiction affair. It is about a group of high school girls, who, through shenanigans, end up as crew on an infamous space pirate ship. You may roll your eyes, but don't worry, this show is well prepared to counter. It never once forgets that these are HIGH SCHOOLERS, and they largely have no idea what they're doing. A few of them, including Marika, the main character and captain of the ship, are actually super competent, reliable, and "real" human beings. Seriously, this might be the most real and interesting portrayal of students that I've ever seen in anime. I love that. Oh the story is good and all, but really it's the world building and love poured into the show that set it above the rest. Bodacious Space Pirates needs to be required viewing for any self-respecting science fiction fan. | |
| Bodacious Space Pirates The Movie: Abyss of Hyperspace | Very good |
| This is classic Bodacious Space Pirates for sure. It is an original story that is set after the show, but doesn't really behave like a sequel. Typical anime movie stuff. It's a fun time to see all the characters again, and it absolutely retains the fun and whimsy of the original show. Still a breath of fresh air compared to a lot of other things out there. The plot was a bit of a mess, but I'll excuse that. Overall, fun time! | |
| BOFURI: I Don't Want to Get Hurt, so I'll Max Out My Defense. (TV) | Very good |
| Bofuri is a comedic take on the VRMMO genre of anime. Our main character, Maple, is a complete newbie when it comes to games, but through her curiosity and lack of knowledge about how these types of games should be played, she stumbles her way into powerful ability after powerful ability. Of course, she just wants to play with her friends, but her little plucky guild ends up being quite the powerhouse. Bofuri is a bit of a breath of fresh air in an otherwise stale genre. It's wonderful to see a show just oozing optimism and reveling in its carefree nature. It's a blast to follow along with this silly little group of fast friends as they attempt to navigate this new VRMMO. The characters are all quite fun, and maple is adorable to a fault. That said, the action isn't actually bad, but it's more of a character driven show for sure. It feels a bit like Slime in its approach to its world. Fun show for anyone looking for a lighthearted romp in a video game world. | |
| BOFURI: I Don't Want to Get Hurt, so I'll Max Out My Defense. Season 2 (TV) | Good |
| Bofuri season 2 was mostly more of the same compared to the first. And while that is somewhat a good thing, after all it feels like we pick up right where we left off, it also kind of isn't. It has me asking myself why this season even exists in the first place. It doesn't really offer anything new compared to season 1. We go through multiple new levels and events but none of them offer us any sort of arc that we haven't seen before. At the end of the day, Bofuri is content to play things safe, retreading the same CGDCT water that it did in season 1. That's fine, it's not a bad time, but with a show this action adjacent, I wish they'd either just fully embrace the slice of life nature of their premise or get a bit more serious with the stakes and action of the show. As it is, it does nothing for me to see them pitted in yet another event they will end up steamrolling. If that's the case, let me just hang out with the characters and have a good time. I don't need three episodes of zero-stakes "action" that contain all the same attacks we've seen before and add nothing to the show. | |
| Brave Witches (TV) | Good |
| Now this is what the second season of Strike Witches should have been from the start. We're back to good old season 1 action, pacing, and storytelling. The show is not content to sit by and phone it in again. Instead the action has been increased, and we have entire episodes devoted to strategy, fighting, and camaraderie. It helps that Brave Witches is a spinoff with an entirely new cast, in the sense that rehashing what made the first season so good is still fresh with these new characters. So at least that's good. I'm still disappointed that they didn't continue some of the most interesting story lines from the first season, mainly what the neuroi actually are and what they want, but it's still a lot of fun in spite of that. Good to see the series bounce back to form. | |
| Brynhildr in the Darkness (TV) | Good |
| The first half of the show was pretty solid, but the pacing felt off as it approached the climax. I felt like all along that it was having trouble walking the line between horror and gore and more innocent magical girl themes. At times it seemed like blood and death was just thrown in to remind us that the show is supposed to be dark and scary. I dunno, I felt like had they leaned one way or the other more, it would have helped. As it is though, worth a watch at least. Even if the ending was altogether unsatisfying. | |
| Burst Angel (TV) | Good |
| Burst Angel isn't very unique by anime standards. The show features a team of four badass girls who operate as a mercenary unit for a shadowy syndicate and perform dangerous missions. It is set in a futuristic tokyo and features all the sci-fi goodies: mechs, ridiculous guns, robots, super hacking, etc... There's an element of fanservice, as to be expected, but nothing over the top. The action is beautifully animated too. The story is really the part that could use some work. Until the last six episodes which deal with a corporation taking over Tokyo and going after the angels, it's mostly one or two shot episodes where meg gets captured and jo has to go in guns blazing. It's definitely enjoyable but wouldn't be confused with any sort of masterpiece. | |
| Burst Angel: Infinity (OAV) | Decent |
| This could have been inserted anywhere into Burst Angel, it's just another one off following the same formula. | |
| By the Grace of the Gods (TV) | Decent |
| By the Grace of the Gods is... well... I have a lot of thoughts. That might be surprising when looking at this as a pretty standard slice of life/iyashikei style show, so let me do my best to explain. See By the Grace of the Gods is also an isekai. That doesn't inherently make it problematic. I've Been Killing Slimes for Over 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level is a perfect example of isekai meeting iyashikei/slice of life. It's all about a girl in the countryside living her ideal slow life, with a few fantasy themed friends along the way. It's light and comfy and cute and everything you could want. By the Grace of the Gods is a bit different.
The best way I can explain is this isn't so much isekai meeting iyashikei. It's actually more like power fantasy meets iyashikei. See Ryoma, our main character, has been reincarnated into this fantasy world and is simply absurdly good at everything he tries. He masters all magic immediately, he can tame any beast with no issue, he can fight and strategize with the best of them, he can run a business so successful that the guilds in town are begging him to franchise within a day of opening. There's a weird cognitive dissonance where we are just trying to take things slow and chill, while the protagonist keeps reminding us that he's the greatest thing that's ever happened. Iyashikei is supposed to let you fall into the world with the story. It's supposed to make you feel warm and comfy and like you could live there. But how can that be when our protagonist is busy being a super genius in everything he decides to do. There are no real slice of life style relationships. It's just Ryoma solves a problem because he's amazing and can do anything, and the rest of the cast spends the rest of the episode telling him how amazing he is. It's a strange dynamic. And now I think it is the right time to touch on the main problem I couldn't really get past. Ryoma was like a 40 year old businessman when he was reincarnated. Not new for isekai of course. But they've isekai'd him into the body of a ten year old boy. It's kinda like Ascendance of a Bookworm in that he's considered a prodigy because he is mature beyond his years (though Main was only a teenager in her previous life). So the story really does harp on his age. And that's a problem. The only other character his age is Eliara, the daughter of the esteemed noble Jamil family. She's of course rather taken with him. Except, yeah, she's actually an 11 year old girl. I can't get it out of my head that Ryoma is a 40+ year old man. It feels absolutely gross the entire time. I've been begging this show to time skip to let them grow up a bit. If they were standard anime teens, I don't think this would bother me so much. But they are simply too young for me to suspend this disbelief. I am encouraged by how this season ended at least, and maybe it's a sign that we can move beyond these issues in season 2. Regardless, I'm pretty torn on this at the moment. It did have it's cute moments and a bit of that iyashikei/slow life vibes. I like the angle that he uses his genius level abilities to open a laundry shop instead of becoming a hero or something. However, I'm probably putting this on the back burner for a while. Plenty of other slice of life shows out there to check out before I'll feel the need to check out season 2. | |
| C – Control – The Money and Soul of Possibility (TV) | Good |
| C Control rides the line between interesting and unique and just straight up nonsensical. The premise is that there is a secret world beyond the stock market where people wager money on battles between their familiars who have been granted to them. It's like money buys power, literally, and then they fight with it. It's a cool concept, and yet the rules of the world are fluid and get glossed over at all times. The fights are cool, but you have to take the rules and abilities that they use at face value. It's a fun action show, but don't come here looking for financial wizardry or a compelling magic system based on the value of money. | |
| Call of the Night (TV) | Very good |
| Call of the Night was an unusual experience. At its core it's kind of a teenager finding himself, a classic show about falling in love and stuff, but it's also not that at all. So much here is just about the vibe and feeling of trying to show the diametrically opposed beauty of the quiet serenity and bustling neon lights of the nightlife in a city. It was almost more of an adventure. So it has swagger, and style, but I feel like the characters were a bit underdone, and the throughline of a story was almost nonexistent. But there were fun vignettes to be had, and some cool moments for sure. Worth watching at least a few episodes to appreciate the unique aesthetics on display here. | |
| Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill (TV) | Very good |
| Campfire Cooking sounds like it should be immediately forgettable, just another cliched isekai to throw on the pile. However, I'm here to say that this one is different. It's worth the time, even if it's title makes me sad.
The thing is, this isn't really an "isekai" in the way we typically think of the genre. Our hero is summoned to take on the evil demon king (as we have come to expect), but his stats suck and he only has one ability called "net super" that they don't understand, so they send him packing on his own to figure out his place in this new fantasy world. As you would expect, net super is a very convenient power (imagine modern day amazon where you can order anything at will and it instantly appears next to you, that'd be pretty OP in a medieval fantasy world). But, the way it all plays out is wonderful in its simplicity. See, our hero doesn't want to fight, and is scared of conflict. Instead, he loves cooking. No one in this new world has ever tasted anything like what he can conjure up using ingredients from his modern day amazon, so he immediately wins adoring fans, like the legendary nigh-invincible monster Fenrir, who signs up as his familiar essentially without his consent so that he will be forced to feed the giant wolf tasty food every day. And that's pretty much the show. We wander places, meet some people, and spend lots of time watching cooking/food porn. I appreciate that the show takes 3 or 4 minutes every single episode to go through cooking the latest dish in excruciating detail. It keeps us grounded and is just very comfortable, which is basically what the show is. At the end of the day, this is a comfort watch, and one of the better ones of its ilk out there. I'd definitely recommend. | |
| Captain Earth (TV) | So-so |
| Captain Earth is probably the worst show by Bones that I've seen. They have a spotless track record before this show, and while it doesn't live up to their previous works, it is passable on its own. The problem with the show is really the pacing a lack of an interesting story. It takes this show forever to go anywhere, and when it does, it is in the most predictable fashion. There are no twists and turns, no real decisions to be made by the protagonists. Just enemies trying to destroy earth over and over and them stopping it. There are a few touching scenes, but overall there's nothing all that unique or interesting here. | |
| (The) Case Study of Vanitas (TV) | Good |
| Case Study of Vanitas is overall a fine show. I can't complain about much. The production values are good, and the characters are pretty fun. I admit though that I am far from the target audience of this show. It very much revels in the vampire aesthetic and with two male leads and all kinds of tension (sexual and otherwise) around their relationship and the wrench of vampire/bloodsucking involved, well, you know what to expect here. As someone who is watching this mostly for the story, I have to admit that Vanitas is still a bit light on things. We've been set up as a monster of the week kind of show, with small mini arcs of out of control vampires to deal with. I have high hopes though that with the production values, the second half of the season can pay off with a much more rewarding story arc. | |
| (The) Case Study of Vanitas (TV 2) | Good |
| I have to admit that season 2 didn't do much to change my opinion on the show. I was pretty much done with it by the end. It looks great, but the story is still extremely convoluted yet totally unexplained in large portions. They tease things, but I am not sure if they know exactly what they want to do. Regardless, this is 24 episodes to still not feel like I understand the broader world, and the fan service does nothing for me. This is an easy recommendation to anyone who wants to see some hot vampire dudes, but otherwise, it's an unfortunate pass most likely. | |
| Cat Planet Cuties (TV) | Weak |
| This was a show I wanted to like so badly. It took me at least a few months to get through it. I'd load up the next episode and stare at it for a moment before deciding to watch something else. I suppose it's a testament to my completionist personality that I even finished the show. Cat Planet Cuties seems to have all the elements. It's a harem show, which is my guilty pleasure genre, so I already went into it with low expectations, but it didn't even manage to live up to them. The main character, Kio, is everything that's wrong with the genre. He's the quintessential blank slate, with absolutely no personality, which somehow means he has to be the most stupid person on the face of the earth. I mean dear god there was a scene where one of the girls straight up says to him that her best friend is in love with him and is willing to die for him, and his only reaction is scratching his head and wondering what that was all about. But whatever, it comes with the territory. I'd be willing to overlook it if the girls were all that interesting, but they aren't. The main character, Eris, a "catian" alien who lands in Kio's house is a big breasted, cat eared girl whose naivety level is ridiculous. Now, I love catgirls. There's a reason that I love Dog Days and it has nothing to do with the plot. But... Eris didn't really do anything for me. A few of her fellow aliens were more interesting, but they get a grand total of 2 minutes of screen time. I finally figured out what it was that bothered me though. These "Catgirls" have two sets of ears! When they were listening to an ipod, they put the earbuds into human ears that had been hidden behind their hair. It's such a minor thing, but it just bugged the hell out of me. Note from the future: I don't know why this particular point bugged me so much, I've seen this many times since and haven't cared much. I think overall I just felt the character designs in this show were off. The plot was actually a bit interesting, but it wasn't enough to save the show from its cast of completely uninteresting characters. And if you're making a harem show without a strong female lead (or male if it's a reverse), then why are you making a harem to begin with? | |
| Cautious Hero: The Hero Is Overpowered but Overly Cautious (TV) | Good |
| Cautious hero is yet another isekai show. The premise this time is right in the title. Our hero is so cautious, it's to the point of ridiculousness. The rest of his party are annoyed with him but can't really do anything about it. The gimmick gets old, but the story is actually not that bad shockingly. There are some clever twists and some genuinely heartfelt moments. It's you're pretty standard isekai, sure. But it's one of the better entries in the genre. Nothing groundbreaking, but if you want a solid entry, this can absolutely do the job. | |
| A Certain Magical Index (TV) | Excellent |
| Index is a hell of a ride. It's obvious from the start that this is a light novel adaptation, and that there's a TON of stuff going on in this world. Technical terms get thrown out right and left, so that can be a bit discouraging at first. However, if you get past that, and into the show proper, Index is a one of a kind ride. This is an super-powered action show that's really like nothing else. My complaint usually with these types of shows is that I want more depth, more behind the scenes intrigue, and Index has that in spades. It actually checks all my boxes. There are hilarious comedy scenes, really cute romantic moments, badass action scenes, and a really compelling underlying story going. The setting is unique and personal to this show, and the characters are memorable and compelling. I really enjoyed Index, and highly recommend it. | |
| A Certain Magical Index II (TV) | Excellent |
| Index 2 is more of the same from the first season. We're slowly ramping up the stakes with our magic vs. science world, and while we still get some amazing Misaka x Touma moments (which are my favorite), we also get to know more of the church and their various factions. It's obvious the show is building to a hell of a climax, and it's going to be amazing. It's a lot of fun getting there though, and this show still has all of the charm from the first season. I love academy city and these characters. | |
| A Certain Magical Index III (TV) | Not really good |
| Ok, it's been about five or six years since Index season 2. The followup has been long awaited and hyped like crazy, and... I'm not sure I've ever been quite so disappointed with a show as I have been with Index season 3. Whoever decided that they needed to squeeze in like 8 books to 26 episodes should be fired and blacklisted from the industry, what a travesty. It's clear that underneath it all, there's a really solid story with tons of moving parts and crazy twists and turns. We get exactly NONE of that in season 3, as instead the plot moves at light speed, never bothering to even explain the conflicts or even it's characters. Seriously, there's tons of characters that just show up and their first lines are about how shocked they are to see another character that has never been introduced before. WE SHOULD KNOW WHO THESE PEOPLE ARE. The animation isn't even that great. Index has always been convoluted, but at it's core it was consistent and smart. I think I should just stick to the light novels from here on. This is a complete and utter trainwreck through and through. Good riddance. | |
| A Certain Magical Index: The Miracle of Endymion (movie) | Decent |
| This is a pretty generic anime film. The plot revolves around a singer girl who gets drawn into a plot to take down acadamy city's new space elevator and the elite who rode it for the opening ceremony when was supposed to sing at. Touma and index and all of the familiar faces get involved and it's a decent enough flick. The issue is it's clearly each character takes turns in the spotlight then the film is over. It's anime only, so has no relevance to the plot of the show, and is completely unnecessary to watch. I'd give this one a pass. | |
| A Certain Scientific Accelerator (TV) | Decent |
| I feel like I'm getting a bit harsher with my evaluations as I've seen more shows. Perhaps that's normal, perhaps not. I think that this would have been a 7.5 or so for me a few years ago, but as it is now, 6 is really all it's worth. I think the story just wasn't really all that good in the end. Accelerator is kind of a compelling protagonist in a certain sense. It's fun to root for the edgy anti-hero after all. But he's such a one note character that there's no subtlety or nuance to his actions or growth.
In fact, the show is partly ruined because we know it's a spinoff and there won't be any growth. This was the mistake that Accelerator really made. We know these types of shows can work, after all Railgun was a fantastic example from this very same franchise. But Accelerator really does a poor job introducing us to a new cast that we should care about. The necromancer girl is cute and all, but she really has no stakes in the show. She's just a girl for accelerator to save. Last Order is barely involved at all, which is criminal. Bottom line, if we can't rely on real growth from Accelerator, the show has to give us someone else to care about, and this spinoff fails to do. So, where does that leave us? With a kind of boring story of a deluded mad scientist and Accelerator beating everything and everyone up. The end. There's simply no reason for this show to really exist except to serve as some set pieces for Accelerator to look badass, and even that kind of fails because his powers aren't even interesting to look at. He just waves his hand and things die. Sigh... I think I may just be over this franchise entirely. | |
| A Certain Scientific Railgun (TV) | Excellent |
| Railgun is a spinoff of Index that is from Misaka's point of view. She's the most interesting character from Index, so I think this is a show that makes complete sense. It actually reminds me a lot of Zettai Karen Children, as we get our group of girls who work with Academy City's police force to maintain peace within the city. Half of our core group of four are actually employed by Judgement, and Misaka gets wrapped up with them as well. Kuroko is still very annoying, but it's not quite as grating as she was in Index. The action and stakes are well done in Railgun, and I feel like it's a bit more straightforward and approachable than Index. The big disappointment is the lack of Touma in this entry, as I always enjoy his interactions with Misaka. Alas, I'll have to get my fix elsewhere. | |
| A Certain Scientific Railgun S (TV) | Good |
| The second season of railgun pulls no punches. It dives right in with a retelling of the sisters arc from the first season of Index, only this time from Misaka's point of view. The story is definitely more compelling than Touma's version, but it can't help the fact that the last four episodes of the arc are almost identical to their index counterparts. It's beautifully animated at least. At this point with Raildex, you know what you're getting. I am firmly in the Index camp when it comes to my favorite of the two, and the utter lack of anything to do with Touma in this series (beyond the aforementioned sisters arc conclusion) really disappointed me. I think Misaka is at her best when she is interacting with him. The second arc was cute, but it didn't grip me like either of the arcs in the first season. So overall, this season had a few awesome lead up episodes to content I'd already seen and an uninteresting second arc. Thank god I love Misaka so much, because this season was quite a bit of a step down otherwise compared to the rest of this franchise in my opinion. However, if you somehow haven't seen Index's rendition of the sisters arc... well, go watch this, now, it is an amazing story. | |
| A Certain Scientific Railgun T (TV 3) | Very good |
| Been a while, but thankfully Railgun T manages to do enough to convince me that this franchise might not be done quite yet. Both arcs in the show revolve a lot more around Shokuho Misaki, who I was not initially a fan of but has grown on me quite a lot. I also enjoy that we don't get as much of Kuroko in this season, she's still my least favorite part of this whole thing. What we do get is some solid arcs with new characters who I care about and our heroes doing their best to prevail against the odds. Railgun is in a weird place where it is a spinoff that is constrained by the main show, Index, but it is better than Index currently, so where does that leave us? I'm not entirely sure, but I do know I'd love to see more of this. Index Season 3 felt unneeded and stuck in the past, but Railgun T feels fresh, familiar, and most of all, highly competent. I'd love to see a season 4, and if any part of this can rub off on the trainwreck that Index has become, well, all the better. | |
| Chaika - The Coffin Princess (TV) | Very good |
| I wasn't really sure that I would like this show going into it. And after the first episode, I was worried that I had already figured out the mystery behind the plot and that Chaika's speech pattern was going to end up annoying the crap out of me. But... It didn't matter at all. Just wrapped up season 1, and safe to say that Chaika is absolutely adorable, so there's that. The plot ended up as more of a side note to the characters and their individual struggles, which I was totally on board with. Some really good fantasy adventure to be found in this show. | |
| Chaika - The Coffin Princess Avenging Battle (TV) | Good |
| Second season picks up right where the first left off (in fact, it isn't even really worth thinking about this as season 1 and season 2, it's just the show). The ending was a bit disappointing sadly. It felt rushed and like the climax was lacking tension. Still enjoyable, but kind of a letdown. | |
| Charlotte (TV 2015) | Excellent |
| Charlotte is written by Jun Maeda and produced by Key, Visual Arts, and PA Works, which should really tell you all you need to know about this show. In case Clannad, Angel Beats, Air, Kanon, et al don't make it obvous enough, Charlotte is a teen drama with a number of very sad, shocking emotional twists thrown in. It was probably the standout show of the Summer 2015 season, and had great production value, some awesome characters, and a passable at best story. It's about a group of high school kids with powers (how original) that strive to find other kids with powers to save them from being experimented on by the government. At its core, it is a show about growing up and discovering oneself, but still the story is there in the background, though it only comes to the forefront in the last few episodes which makes the climax feel a little unnecessary and forced, but that's pretty much the only complaint I have. It was the show I most looked forward to every week while it aired, so that alone says enough. | |
| Chronicles of the Going Home Club (TV) | Very good |
| This is probably more of a good than a very good, but I feel a desire to prop up the ratings for the show a bit. On the surface, there isn't much here, it's a typical slice-of-life comedy about girls in a club doing nothing in particular. But the thing it does have going for it is a great sense of humor. It is apparent from the beginning that the last thing this show does is take itself seriously, at all. The girls constantly complain about the animation studio that's working on them. They conspire to change the ending theme song to make their show more popular. They even spend the entire last episode trying desperately to do something worthy of a last episode (before realizing at the end that they got it wrong and it was actually the second to last). It's wickedly funny, and for a show like this, that's basically all you could ever want. Highly recommended for anyone even remotely interested in this genre. | |
| Citrus (TV) | Good |
| Sadly, Citrus just feels lazy. The drama (and the characters), just don't feel real at all. If you are really looking for some yuri, well this could scratch that itch, but there's no reason otherwise to watch it. | |
| Classroom of the Elite (TV) | Good |
| I always enjoy shows that make an attempt to be smart about how they go about things. Classroom of the Elite is all about gamesmanship in the ultimate merit-based environment. Almost everything you can do in this high school that's filled with the best and brightest will affect your point totals at the end of the month. Anything can be bought and sold with points, from daily necessities, to gpa increases, to other more clever or underhanded tactics. And that's where the show thrives, the interplay between the classes as they compete with each other over these points. The characters and overarching story are a bit underdeveloped, but the cat and mouse games that take place are solid enough for good entertainment. Not sure if I'd watch more than this first season, but it was enjoyable enough. Even if Baka and Test does a more fun version of the class rivalries, and No Game, No Life is far superior in the intrigue of its games. | |
| Classroom of the Elite II (TV 2) | Good |
| Season 2 was, well, fine. I can't help but feel disappointed with the things that this show considers "intrigue" though. Working through all different kinds of scenarios and teasing betrayals and such only for the entire thing to end up being "I talked to the teacher when you thought I hadn't" is pretty eye rollingly disappointing. However, the characters are still fun and we definitely get more into their heads this season, which was nice. Our main guy, Ayanokoji, is still incredibly boring and hard to root for, but the rest of it was fun. Hopefully they up their game a bit when it comes to the writing, because there are pieces here that could be great if this thing ever truly came together. | |
| Claymore (TV) | Good |
| Finally got around to watching Claymore about 8 years after it aired (Hey, I had a lot of catching up to do ok?). There are a couple things that strike me immediately upon finishing the show. For one, I had a lot of trouble identifying characters. The art style combined with very similar character designs left me confused from time to time. In addition, the first half was decidedly weaker than the second, at times it seemed to slow to a crawl. However, with those main complaints out of the way, this was a surprisingly solid shonen-type performance. There's a lot of blood and guts (literally) throughout as well as some unexpected and not at all fanservice-y nudity, which is primarily what makes this different from most of the other shonen shows I've watched. You'd never see one of the fallen members of the soul society in bleach cut down an innocent human and devour their entrails in brutal detail. But that's what claymore is, a shocking window into a culture where life isn't guaranteed. One character even says as much when she's surprised one of our main characters has lost his friend and is trying to find her somewhere out in the world, it's just naturally assumed all who are lost have perished. It's haunting, and a little bit disturbing, but once the reality sinks in, it makes for great tv As for the story and the characters, well they do some good things and others not so much. I really hate emotionless characters just as a rule and Claymore has them in spades. It just grates on my nerves and leaves no room for real development. We're supposed to watch as they slowly grow more open, but gah! that's boring! Also I hate whiny main characters who can't do anything (ala Shinji Ikari), and Claymore's got that too. I love connecting with characters in shows, but Claymore made that difficult. So characters were definitely a minus, but the story was awesome. It starts out fairly simple, there's an organization dedicated to killing Youma, and their warriors are called Claymores. However, there's so much more, as it turns out the Claymores are part youma themselves, constantly walking the line between human and monsters. It's refreshing to see what is inevitably a story about humanity and what it means to exist not just for yourself but for others. Also, the fights are gorgeous. Anyone looking for a more mature Bleach or Naruto, would really enjoy this one I think. | |
| Combatants Will Be Dispatched! (TV) | Very good |
| Combatants is a comedy first, second, and third. It plays with a lot of isekai tropes, as our protagonist, Six, is a lazy, horny, and kind of stupid "evil" hero who has arrived in a new fantasy world and basically just decides to mess around. There's a loose plot about the organization that he is part of, but it never really amounts to much. Instead, it's mostly Six doing stupid stuff, then having to clean up after himself, grumbling all along the way. If you like watching shows about stupid characters being bad at being characters, then this is probably the perfect example. It was a little bit too over the top at times, but it still manages to be a very fun watch. | |
| Comic Girls (TV) | Good |
| Comic Girls is another CGDCT show. There's not that much to say beyond that really. This falls squarely in the middle of the pack, there's not that much that elevates the show, but everything it does do is acceptable and to be expected from a competent entry in the genre. The first half is definitely stronger as we get introduced to the eccentric and fun cast of characters, but it can't maintain that momentum when it gets to the second half and can no longer hide its insufferable main character any longer. The show would probably go up a rating or two if Kaos wasn't so annoying to watch, but that's the reality of the situation. Still a sugary, fun show, but one with plenty of faults and places it could improve. Too bad, I was really, really into it for the first few episodes. | |
| Concrete Revolutio (TV) | Good |
| Kind of a really odd show. It very clearly wanted to be Gurren Lagann or Kill la Kill, but it doesn't really come close. In some respects it's a sad mass of confusing plot points and jumbled characters and timelines, but in other respects there's a glimmer of a quality story hidden somewhere deep beneath. It was a fun ride for what it was worth, but it feels hollow. The promised second season will probably either elevate this show to what it deserves, or will bury it. Time will tell. | |
| Concrete Revolutio: The Last Song (TV 2) | Decent |
| So... I'm still not convinced Concrete Revolutio was necessarily bad, but I'm definitely convinced it wasn't objectively good. There's a ton going on in this show, but beyond making it an interesting study from episode to episode, I was never actually totally invested in the story or the characters. In fact, I'm not sure I could articulate well the timeline, who all of the characters actually were, what they were fighting for, and the ultimate resolution to their struggle beyond maybe Kikko and Jiro. And that's a major problem for me. Just like the first season, there's obviously something compelling buried beneath the surface here, but the issue is that I just don't care enough, I'm not invested enough. The story is just too confusing. It's a shame. The characters probably could have been great, but as they are they just feel like devices for Concrete Revolutio to act out it's vision upon. They are far from real and so is their struggle. | |
| Cop Craft (TV) | Not really good |
| Yeah, this show took me almost 5 years to finish. It wasn't good, but it wasn't complete garbage which is the worst place for a show to find itself. I should have just dropped it and moved on, but alas, here we are.
Ok, so, this is a buddy cop show, or at least that's what it wants to be. The show juggles a lot of big ideas that predictably end up with either half-assed resolutions or never even get the proper time of day. The collision between a medieval fantasy world and modern day New York City is a fun setting to play around with, but Cop Craft stays surface level and overly preachy for the entire runtime. We get some racism and classism 101 talking points and move on. There's some stuff about the mayoral race that feels completely unnecessary and really doesn't do much for anything. Cop Craft is at its best doing wacky episodic things. It clearly doesn't have the writing chops to handle a complex web of intrigue. We do get some fun moments, and the characters can be actually compelling at times, which makes the show's many failings all the more depressing. Lastly, this show is riddled with extremely uncomfortable levels of fanservice. It's not in your face, but there's just that constant low level reminder that the show is sexualizing Tilarna at every opportunity. It feels gross, especially given her character design. She's far too young to be treated like this by the show. So yeah, pretty much a waste of time that will only make you wish a better show could come along and take a crack at something like this. But, this isn't it. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention. The animation is laughably bad in the back half. Like, slideshows and inanimate cutouts that were composited by an intern levels bad. It's embarrassing. | |
| A Couple of Cuckoos (TV) | Very good |
| A Couple of Cuckoos is just a very competently done harem comedy at the end of the day. The characters are fun and unique enough that the show actually can feel somewhat fresh. The premise is over the top, as it usually is to make these things work at all, but the show is self aware enough to laugh at itself as well. I don't honestly have too much to say. This is anime comfort food through and through, with all of the warts and cliches that come along with that. | |
| Cowboy Bebop (TV) | Excellent |
| I finally saw Cowboy Bebop in 2019! I've been saving this show for a while, as I knew it was going to be an amazing experience and I'm really happy that it lived up to its reputation. The show is clearly an older show, with vignettes taking the place of a long running story, as tended to be more common in the 90's, but it works surprisingly well for Bebop. This approach is a lot like the characters themselves, and lends itself to a more whimsical, lighthearted feel. Of course, Bebop has it's dramatic moments, and a big part of the show is how well written the whole thing is. There's lots of little beats that work so well together and small touches that just bring this whole universe to life. Really enjoyed my time with these characters (though Ed was a biiiit much for me), and looking forward to rewatching this show many more times. The music is outstanding as well. I'm really digging how I can just jump in and enjoy any episode. This is episodic sci-fi at its finest. Oh yeah, and the dub is really well done done. Highly recommended. | |
| C³ (TV) | Good |
| C cubed is a classic feeling show at its core. Haruaki, our protagonist, has a special ability to resist curses, and he stumbles across a futuristic torture device who has been given the shape of a teenage girl with personality to match. He can resist her though, so she attaches herself to him, and together they embark upon a journey where they must beat other torture device girls and learn more about themselves along the way as he helps her understand what it means to be human and to love others and oneself for who they are. It seems to borrow a lot of story beats from shows like Shakugan no Shana or Chobits, but the torture device angle is certainly unique and gives the action scenes a little extra oomph. It's not the best show ever, but there's enough here to make it a good watch nonetheless. | |
| D-Frag! (TV) | Very good |
| I admit, I liked this show a whole lot more than I expected for a harem about a random highschool guy in a club with all girls. Primarily because the male protagonist was awesome. He was witty, cool, collected, and just didn't give a crap about anything. He was an ex-delinquent who gets roped into the game creation club (provisional) and is forced to endure the whims and hijinxs of the ridiculous girls who are his clubmates. It's quite clear this show knows exactly what it's doing. Everything is massively over the top, and it makes for a really funny show. As far as slice of life school shows go, D-Fragments does everything right. Highly recommended. | |
| Dagashi Kashi (TV) | Not really good |
| Man, I struggled through this show pretty badly over a few months. It felt more like punishment than reward at times. Maybe just not being familiar enough with Dagashi and the brands they discussed is enough to ruin the show, but I think the characters and the writing could have been a lot better. Not worth watching. | |
| Daily Lives of High School Boys (TV) | Good |
| This show is fun. It's a cute boys doing cute things show, in stark contrast to lots of the other school comedy/slice of life shows out there. It's compelling though, and some of the jokes really land. About half way through this was trending towards a nine. Unfortunately, the show kinda runs out of steam in the second half. I spent a large chunks of later episodes just kinda being like "huh" after each bit instead of genuinely finding any of it charming or funny. It still has great nuggets though and amazing highlights. It's a pretty unique experience overall for sure. | |
| (The) Dangers in My Heart (TV) | Excellent |
| The Dangers in My Heart aired in the stacked Spring 2023 season, yet somehow it kind of managed to come out of everything as one of my favorites. This is a show that is rooted in the earnest awkwardness of teenage romance and coming of age. It kind of bills itself as an edgy show about a boy who is a bit too into serial killers, but we quickly find out that's mostly a facade. Not to say that he's not, but it's mostly a defense mechanism to help him to understand on his own why he struggles to make connections with others. Yamada is the one who kind of shoots right through that, in her own unintentional and desperately awkward way. That's kind of what this is. Two kids who are very different than they appear on the outside (Yamada's a model and aspiring actress) who are really just awkward teenage dorks at the end of the day. It's just such a blast to watch them interact, neither one really knowing exactly what's going on. I always harp on this, but a high school slice of life style show relies on having unique and interesting characters. And thankfully, Dangers has characters who feel wholly real. And that makes everything all the sweeter. I can't wait for season 2. | |
| A Dark Rabbit Has Seven Lives (TV) | Good |
| The plot of this show is extremely convoluted, but I suppose I'll do my best to sum it up. Kurogane Taito, a highschool boy, has been having recurring dreams about a vampire who fell in love with him when he was young. As it turns out, she really exists! She was sealed away by a mysterious and powerful foe and Taito had his memory erased. So now Taito is in highschool, hanging out with his cute childhood-friend, Haruka, who obviously also likes him. But then Taito, with the help of the egotistical student council president and his hyperactive humanoid pikachu sidekick, remembers the vampire (Himea) and rescues her. But then he dies, but then he's alive, and, well... you get the idea. This is pretty much a romance story with some muddled plot about magic, gods, alternate realities and the like thrown in for good measure. Don't worry, it never ends up being important at all, and don't expect anything to be resolved, because it won't be. All that said, it's a fun show for what it is. There are some laugh out loud moments, and the various character's personalities sometimes clash in amusing ways. Perhaps the thing struck me the most was the art direction. There's some beautiful coloration in some of the scenes, and the universe itself that they've created was quite unique. They may have gone a bit overboard at times (All the girls have multicolored hair with Himea's being the worst), but I think the good outweighs that. Overall, I wouldn't say this is a show anyone has to go run out and watch, rather if you feel like watching a romance with a flair for magic then this might be up your alley. You'll know whether or not this show is for you after the first episode. Just one note, the first few scenes in the first episode make this seem like it's going to be really loli, but fear not, this is only a flashback. | |
| Darker than Black (TV) | Excellent |
| I watched Darker than Black a long, long time ago. I remember enjoying the environment and feel of the show, and of course, Hei, our Chinese Electric Batman, was an instant favorite. I wouldn't mind revisiting this, though I get the feeling that the score is slightly inflated based on it being one of the first shows I watched on my own. Regardless, I have fond memories of it, even if I also remember the plot being slightly convoluted and nonsensical. | |
| Darker than Black: Gemini of the Meteor (TV) | Good |
| Looking back on my scores for Darker Than Black and it's kinda different follow-up Gemini of the Meteor is a bit of a trip. I think nowadays my scores for the two might be reversed. While I think I probably inflated a slightly more average than I'd like to admit show in Darker than Black's season 1, with season 2, I think I wasn't really ready to appreciate a more thoughtful take on an action show, especially where the main character has changed from badass Hei to a quiet young girl. I think I was disappointed at the time that it wasn't as flashy and adrenaline-pumping like season 1, but I think I probably didn't fully buy into the characters, where I might be much more open to that now. I'd love to revisit both seasons of this show at some point. | |
| DARLING in the FRANXX (TV) | Very good |
| I'm of two minds with Darling in the Franxx. For one, the highs are really, really high. This series does an absolutely fantastic job with building up its characters and the world they live in. Then of course it abandons all that to do god knows what with the finale, but if we pretend that didn't happen... Well, we can't really sadly. Altogether the show is notable for sure, even if it went out with a whimper. The animation of everything from the mechs to the smallest character details is superb and the show is just striking in its presentation. It ends up being a mess, but it's a fun mess in spite of it all. I enjoyed it. | |
| Date A Live (TV) | Decent |
| I get the feeling that this is sort of a love it or hate it show, so to feel in the middle is kinda odd (or maybe a testament to the fact that I'm starting to outgrow the harem genre). Date A Live to its credit, does a great job at poking fun at the genre. Almost everything was done in a sort of wink wink nudge nudge type of way. The pinnacle was definitely the hot springs episode that ended with, well I don't want to give it away, but let me say it was entirely unexpected and hilarious. I feel like the show has another level, but too often it devolves back into uninteresting tropes. Some great laughs and at least kinda interesting characters are enough to sign me up for season 2. | |
| Date A Live II (TV) | Good |
| Date A Live's second season is a lot like the first, only slightly better. They improved on what worked and added three girls that I ended up liking a lot more than I thought I would. If you liked season one, you know what to expect. | |
| Date A Live III (TV) | Good |
| Date A Live season 3 feels a bit like The World God Only Knows season 3. Reason being that they can only introduce new girls who need to be wooed by our protagonist for so long before it becomes too much. We do get a new girl in the first half, but the arc revolves around her having impersonated one of the existing harem members and our protagonist, Shido, having to figure out who the imposter is. It's a fun take because it puts each of the girls back in the spotlight. The second half though, with Origami's backstory and redemption is the stronger of the two halves, and shows what Date A Live can do when it wants to be serious. I've always thought there was a strong show underneath it all, but often times Date A Live gets too stuck in its own genre. The cast is almost to large for its own good, and I hate to see arcs devolve into getting each girl their own fleeting moments of screen time. Looking forward to more, but this is still the same flawed show as always. Oh, and Kaguya is best girl. | |
| Date A Live IV (TV) | So-so |
| I am shocked this show managed to go four seasons, with a planned fifth. My complaints from earlier seasons still stand. The cast is immensely bloated, and the writers are just not talented enough to juggle them. It's infuriating having the writing for arcs be so constrained because it's a herculean effort just to give Shido a moment with each girl in Ratotoskr. What a show like this needs to do, is pick and choose the members of its cast to highlight with each arc. It's not like there have never been shows with a large cast of waifus before (look at something like Princess Connect). But Date A Live refuses to give these girls any agency. They do not have personality or roles that exist beyond the one trope that defines their character, and the fact that they are going to be by Shido's side at all times. If I was helming this series, I would work hard to create multiple organizations with multiple different teams and roles for each of the girls to inhabit, picking and choosing which parts of the available cast to highlight with each arc. As it is, watching Shido simply wander around with 10+ girls nipping at his heels for the entire season is just incredibly disappointing. I haven't even complained about the fact that we added another two girls to the cast this season as well, as Date A Live continues to be unable to tweak it's formula at all. The next season better work hard to change things up. At least I know the manga wrapped up, so this thing should be coming to a conclusion soon. | |
| Dead Mount Death Play (TV) | Very good |
| This is a fun show. Of course, it was always going to be that way given it's by the author of Durarara, which I absolutely loved. This style of storytelling, where we follow several different groups of characters in their own little stories, before slowly building up to the climax where everything starts to come together is fascinating. I have to give props here too, because it is clear that work has been put into making this a little bit less difficult to follow than DRRR. Watching a reverse isekai take by this writer has been an absolute blast. Of course, it helps that the characters are fun and there are just enough mysterious to keep me excited without feeling lost. Everyone here is kind of has their own magnetism. Watching our favorite corpse god try to navigate things surrounded by this host of weirdos is a real treat. And yeah, Misaki is... extremely hot. So that helps too. At the end of the day though, this rating can only really be called incomplete. This is the first half of season 1, with the second half set to air in October after a 3 month break. Things are going well right now, to the point where if it is able to properly deliver, I could see this rising up to a 9. As it is, if this were the end of things, it's no better than an 8, just due to the fact that we literally just get left in the middle of a majorly important scene. That's not fair really, but I can only react to what I've been given. Check my review of the second half of season one for my true thoughts on season 1 as a whole. | |
| Dead Mount Death Play (TV 2) | Very good |
| Season 2 of Dead Mount (or really, this is just the second half of season 1 essentially) does a good job of tying everything together. We still get our fun ensemble cast, with all sorts of people and organizations seemingly doing their own very sneaky things, but unlike with DRRR, I was starting to be able to pick up on how this thing was going to come together. I think the writer has grown a bit, and is a bit more comfortable explaining just that little bit extra we need to follow along properly. It does end up making the resolution of the season more satisfying than DRRR in that regard at least.
But, it wasn't perfect. This is a large story, with many pieces, and bringing that all together in the last few episodes was never going to be able to do the story justice. There's plenty left if they want to make more, but I have no idea if that will ever happen. This is a decent enough stopping point, and a solid push to check out the manga if you want to see what's actually going to happen. Still, I really enjoyed this show. It's a wild ride that wouldn't let me put it down. Again, the characters are insanely fun, which is the most important thing I look for from a show. I'd love to see more of them in the future. Somehow, this has flown under the radar compared to DRRR. It deserves a lot more love. | |
| Deadman Wonderland (TV) | Good |
| This is probably one of my top horror shows of all time. It was instantly compelling from episode one, and still, ten years after I've seen it, I hold it up as one of the classics of the genre. It's a bit over the top at times, but it really is a lot of fun. It doesn't revel in the horror as much as some other more psychological shows, but still manages to have a compelling plot with lots of open ended questions. I just wish we could have got a season 2 at some point. | |
| Death Note (TV) | Excellent |
| What to say about Death Note that hasn't been said a thousand times already? I guess to put it simply, the intricacies of this plot are mind-blowing. This is a thriller at its finest as two genius level detective types square off against each other. The other crazy part of the show is that the "protagonist", Light, is actually the mass murderer that the rest of the cast (including Light!) are trying to catch. I suppose it's a bit like Dexter in that we end up rooting for the bad guy. Though his killings are presented in a way that makes them seem justified, I sometimes took a step back and was amazed at how I had been pulled in. Unfortunately, as many reviewers have noted, the second half of the series is a bit of a letdown compared to the first. I can't go into much detail without fully spoiling the show, but things change significantly, and not for the better. The worst part is, that the plot could have easily continued without this shift, had the creator decided not to do this. In the end, it is easy enough to overlook the flaws. This show will make you think. It will confuse you, pretend to answer your questions, and then throw them back at you. If that doesn't make you interested, well, not sure what else I can say. I would almost go so far as to call this required viewing. Side note: this is a fantastic show to introduce to a friend who hasn't watched an anime before. The plot is gripping, and clearly for a mature audience. I have converted more than one friend with Death Note. | |
| Death Parade (TV) | Very good |
| Death Parade was a solid, poignant piece of work. It's beautifully animated and strikes that great balance between intensity and emotion. At it's core, it is thinking about what it means to be alive, and to be judged for living that life. The story follows non-human arbiters as they go about judging the souls of the dead through a series of games meant to bring out their true selves. It might seem odd to suggest that a show titled death parade can be touching and heartfelt, but it really is. Don't get me wrong, there are a few moments of very in-your-face gore, but it's not really horror, it's simply the vehicle for this particular story. I really really enjoyed this show. | |
| Deca-Dence (TV) | Excellent |
| Deca-Dence is a real treat. I would have sworn this was a Trigger show, but no, this is a new studio, Nut, and I'm really looking forward to what else they have up their sleeves. High concept, science fiction style shows are rare enough these days in anime, and for it to be an original production, and to be legitimately great is incredible. I won't go into the plot, Deca-Dence is best enjoyed going in blind. But just know that this is a crazy original world with all kinds of twists and sci-fi action goodness. Natsume, one of our two main characters, is a treat all on her own as well. I am a sucker for confident, energetic, and charismatic female leads, and Natsume hits all of those points and then some. She's wonderfully fun to root for. My only real complaint is that I wish she was a little more involved in the final arc. Aside from that, this show was a ton of fun all told. I can't wait for what's next from these folks. | |
| (The) Demon Girl Next Door (TV) | Excellent |
| This show is basically everything I ever wanted in a slice of life/comedy show. It takes everything I loved about Gabriel Dropout and nailed it just a little bit more. The comedy and tone of the production is absolutely on point, and it executes in every single way it wants to. It was lacking that "something" that pushes it to a solid 10/10 but this is a 9.5 for sure, and is one of my highest recommendations of any show. Super fun time and I can't wait for season 2. | |
| (The) Demon Girl Next Door (TV 2) | Excellent |
| Everything about season 1 is still true in season 2. This is a show that's been put together with so much care and love, that I'm shocked it continues to feature characters that are this bad at living life. Still, I love every minute of it, and watching a show lean into the stupidity and present it absolutely perfectly is one of the few joys I can only get from anime. Season two is brilliant, just like the first season, and the new characters bring me such joy (Whoever had Lico as my favorite, come on down! Oh wait... that's everyone). I hope beyond hope that there will be more of this. I need more. | |
| Demon King Daimao (TV) | Very good |
| Demon Kind Daimao surprised me with how competent of a show it was. Sure at its heart it's a silly harem, but there's really a lot more going on here than that. Our protagonist, Sai Akuto, has his future read and it is determined he will become the next Demon King, quite the shock for what has seemed like a very level headed, genuinely nice boy. Of course, he comes to accept and play the part of his role, but never loses sight of his humanity. He is rebelling against a system for a reason, and that reason is wrapped up in helping the plethora of girls who form quite the love/hate relationship around him. It's really a pretty cute show at its core with solid comedy and just silly fun to be had. Good way to kill an afternoon. | |
| Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba (TV) | Very good |
| This is a weird show for me to rate, because for the longest time I would have pegged this as a 6 or 7 at best. The animation by Ufotable is gorgeous, as is to be expected from them, but the show kinda muddled along in the beginning. The first few episodes are clear setup, and we're just kinda waiting for the hook. Then, once training is over and our hero sets out into the world, it very quickly transitions to an enemy of the week serial with one bad guy at the end of the road. Basically, a bare bones shonen show with nothing interesting character wise or story wise to set it apart. Thankfully, the second half happened, and we were dropped into a lot more of the world building and characterization of the demon slayer's headquarters and heirarchy, as well as our demon leader and the type of organization that he runs. When I get a show like this, these are the nuggets I look for. Is it going to be just our couple of heroes against the world? Or is it going to be a complex web of different people with different motivations that can give us a deeper experience? Not that the first type of show is necessarily bad, it's just not very original. Demon Slayer gave us a glimpse and hope that things are going to pay off in a big way, so I'm content to give it somewhat the benefit of the doubt and enjoy the ride in the meantime. It helps when the show is just so god damn beautiful too. Really fun time, even if Zenitsu is the most annoying character ever. | |
| Denki-Gai (TV) | Good |
| In the end, Denki Gai isn't going to be on anyone's best of lists. It will probably be largely forgotten in a few years. And really, that's a shame. It was a very cute show with bunches of laughs and some really touching moments. Sure, it straddled that line of simple stupidity a few too many times, but there's enough redeeming moments here to make this a recommended watch. | |
| (The) Devil Is a Part-Timer! (TV) | Very good |
| This is a show that has essentially one twist. It is about two warring factions, the demons led by the Devil, and the humans led in part by the church and the Hero. The devil finds himself backed into a corner and retreats through a dimensional gate to... Earth! Specifically modern day tokyo. Once there he and his faithful friend Ashiya have to go about figuring out how to survive in Japan. They have to get IDs, find a place to live, and get jobs! The Devil is forced to work as a part timer at McDonalds! Hilarious!! But seriously, it's actually a fantastic show. The Devil is hilarious, he attacks everything he does with such enthusiasm. The Hero also follows them to Earth to keep tabs on the demons and comes to realize that they may not be as evil as she had been led to believe. The characters work really well together and the comedy elements are superb. This show is pretty light hearted and just overall a blast to watch. I'm a firm believer that most anyone would be able to enjoy it. | |
| (The) Devil Is a Part-Timer!! (TV 2) | Good |
| The long awaited season 2! I'm actually shocked this got made, it's been far, far too long. I had to recap exactly what happened in season 1 to remember, but once I had, I actually ended up enjoying season 2 quite a lot. The anime landscape has changed a bit since season 1, but I think there's still room for comedic comfort food like this.
Now don't get me wrong, I don't think this season is particularly great. I don't think the baby that gets thrown in is very compelling and adds much to the dynamic, so that's bad for the one new piece they introduced for this season. Instead, it ends up feeling mostly like a greatest hits rehash of season 1. We get silly slice of life stuff until some baddie shows up and we get a shonen battle sequence for a minute. Hopefully the upcoming season 3 changes the formula a bit. But if not, it's still an amusing show that is worth seeing, even if it's maybe not as fresh and interesting as it was a decade ago. | |
| Devil Survivor 2 The Animation (TV) | Decent |
| Devil Survivor started off with a bang, and then started to fizzle out as the story began to retread familiar ground. The characters were interesting, though I would have loved to get to know them better. There was little to no character development throughout the show. The story was ok, a typical end of the world, supernatural demons sent to kill us type of thing, sadly, there's only so much ripping off of Evangelion that I can take before I start to roll my eyes. The demons had awesome artwork and the animation was solid. Good action and visuals, but not much substance. | |
| Diary of Our Days at the Breakwater (TV) | Good |
| This is yet another one of my slice of life shows that I watched a half episode at a time before falling asleep. It's certainly very cute and notable for being the first fishing anime that I've seen. It follows a familiar slice of life trend with our "fish out of water" (no pun intended) protagonist getting roped into a strange school club that she is unprepared for. In this case, it's the breakwater club, which features 3 other girls who are all pretty much experts in all manner of fishing activities around their small coastal rural town. They get up to some shenanigans, but for the most part we're following Hina around as she learns the various different approaches to fishing and (maybe more importantly) seeing how they cook up all of their catches! It's cute and fun and exactly what I wanted from a high school club slice of life show. Fun times and recommended if that's what you're looking for. And you'll learn a bit about fishing along the way. | |
| Didn't I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?! (TV) | Decent |
| Average Abilities is kind of as bog standard as an isekai show gets. Mile was reincarnated into a new world and given "average" abilities, as she just wanted to be a normal girl. The catch of course is that she should have asked for median abilities, not average, as the presence of very powerful beings skews her average like crazy so she is many times stronger than any human has ever been in this new world. So begins her quest to not stand out and make friends. Seriously, it's pretty dumb, but the cast is cute, if one note in their characterizations. There's not much overarching story until the very last episode of the first season, but it promises a tease that maybe something more substantial is coming. Until then though, this show is merely a pretty standard, inoffensive isekai. The silly opening is the best thing it has going for it. | |
| Dimension W (TV) | Very good |
| Dimension W started off amazingly. I saw this as the perfect throwback to the type of shows we used to see on Toonami back in the day. It had a cool swagger and just felt right. However, the first episode turned out to be the high water mark. Don't get me wrong, it's still a great show, just more flashy and fun rather than deep in any way. Mira is amazing, but I can't shake the feeling there's just something missing from her. She's just sort of there for the sake of being there. It's a bit uncomfortable actually. There was potential here, but sadly it doesn't end up rising above the pack. | |
| (The) Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya (movie) | Good |
| I watched this movie on a whim a long time ago. I vaguely remember it, but honestly, I was never really all that taken with Haruhi as a show to begin with. I suppose I thought it was fine, but not earth shattering like the majority of the community. I guess it just wasn't my cup of tea, for whatever reason. I still enjoyed watching it nonetheless. | |
| (The) Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan (TV) | So-so |
| I went into this knowing full well that this wasn't actually Haruhi, but I couldn't ever really get over my vague disappointment of that fact. This is like the Soul Eater NOT! of haruhi, and well, haruhi can't really survive this. Soul Eater has the incredibly unique and compelling world to fall back onto, but Haruhi has no such thing. Haruhi without... well... Haruhi is simply a show about high schoolers and really not much else. Our favorite characters are still here, but they're really shadows of themselves. The premise is interesting, and I'll at least give them props that Nagato is way better in this spinoff, but let's be honest, it's hard to be worse than she was in the main show. So yeah, there's really nothing here worth getting excited about. At least there's no endless eight though... | |
| Do It Yourself!! (TV) | Excellent |
| At this point, it's safe to say that I'm fully on board with whatever Pine Jam throws out there. This studio has quickly risen up to possibly be my favorite out there at the moment. Do It Yourself is the latest entry, and it fills that CGDCT and school club genre niche. There are definitely a few things to set this effort apart from the pack though. Most immediately noticeable is the absolutely gorgeous art design and color palette. This is not your traditional shiny moe anime girl take. Rather it's more sketchy and angular, less polished and professional in the traditional sense, lending a sort of synergy with the show's mission of do it yourself construction. Secondly, it is infectiously optimistic. It works almost too well with the pioneering, go getter spirit of DIY work. Serufu and Purin are perfect encapsulations of the shows message and themes, with Serufu bringing the unbridled optimism and dreamer mentality (along with requisite clumsiness and a bit of a lack of know how) and Miku providing the grounded reality but also the wisdom and expertise to enable Serufu to reach for her dreams. It's a wonderful show all around, and few are better at simply letting you relax and enjoy the low stakes adventures of these wonderful characters. Can't wait for what's to come next from the folks at Pine Jam. | |
| Dog Days (TV) | Very good |
| Dog Days is basically what if someone wanted to make an anime that catered exactly to my every preference. It's chock full of moe catgirls in a vibrant, colorful fantasy setting. There's some action, but it's mostly comedy with some slice of life, and lots and lots of animal eared girl fanservice. I could not possibly ask for anything more, and I could never objectively rate this show. I want to watch it forever. | |
| Dog Days' (TV) | Good |
| If you've seen season 1, you've seen season 2. We get a few new characters, but we're basically back for round two of the same exact thing. This show is still the guiltiest of pleasures for me. | |
| Domestic Girlfriend (TV) | Decent |
| Let me get this out of the way up front. Yes, Domestic Girlfriend is pretty trash. That said, there's good trash, and bad trash, and I definitely lean towards this being good trash, even if I think there are some major flaws with this first season.
I have to preface this by saying I read a couple hundred chapters of the manga in a kind of fever dream fugue state one weekend. So, I know where this thing is going. I was desperately hoping we'd get beyond where this first season ended, but it never made it there. I'm of the opinion that everything that happens next in the show is far superior compared to everything that came before. Unfortunately, we didn't get to that point in season 1. So, I'm already a little bit annoyed. See, season 1 is Hina season, and she's my least favorite character in the show. I think she's kind of boring and she reminds me of a few almost-relationships of my own in my past that I'd rather not remember. Needless to say, I'm not a fan. Rui and the rest of the high school cast are so much more fun. If this thing gets a season 2, it's going to be a blast hanging out with them. Domestic Girlfriend, even in season 1, is always at its best when we're hanging out at school doing club stuff or whatever. I know it's the supposed foundation of the show, but leave the affairs and will they won't they teacher stuff out of it. It feels forced. I don't know if we'll get a season 2, but I am really hoping for it. After making it through season 1, we all deserve that. | |
| Don't Toy with Me, Miss Nagatoro (TV) | Good |
| Nagatoro continues in the tradition of shows like Takagi-san and Tonari no Seki-kun where our titular Nagatoro endlessly teases the nerdy protagonist guy who has unwittingly become the object of her affection. The twist somewhat is that Nagatoro is quite the popular girl who hangs out with all the popular girls and guys in her class, and yet for some reason she enjoys spending much of her time tormenting our hapless senpai protagonist. I will admit, Nagatoro sometimes crosses the line between fun and uncomfortable with her "teasing" though, especially early on in the shows runtime where her teasing is more straight up mean spirited bullying than anything else. A few of the gags had me close to dropping it, but I kept up and at least that side of the show simmered down as our characters grew to understand each other better. At the end of the day we're left with a decent but fairly light high school romantic comedy style show. It's fine for what it is, and the production is nice, but it's largely forgettable by the end. | |
| Don't Toy with Me, Miss Nagatoro 2nd Attack (TV 2) | Very good |
| Season 2 is better than season 1 in almost every way. Thankfully, this show has largely become wholesome instead of some of the mean spirited bullying style comedy we saw at the beginning of season 1. Now instead, our characters are largely on a level playing field, each trying to navigate the beginning of their relationship together. It's fun watching everyone else in the show try to push them together, and seeing this front that Nagatoro has put up start to slowly unravel as we come to know and understand her better. As intimidating as she might appear at first, she really is just a kid trying to figure things out. I wouldn't have described season 1 as overly cute, but this season is practically dripping with it. It was more fun than it had any right to be, and I want nothing but the best for these two dorks. They totally deserve each other, and I'll be right there with them for as long as they continue to fumble their way through this thing. | |
| Dororo (TV 2019) | Good |
| Dororo is a period piece of feudal Japan right before the famous warring stats period. It features two main characters, Hyakkimaru, who's body has been given to demons in return for prosperity for his parents' lands, and Dororo, a small child who sort of follows along with Hakkimaru during this journey he embarks on to regain his body. At first Hyakkimaru is a mess of prosthetic limbs and lost senses, but as he defeats more demons and helps people along the way, he slowly regains the pieces of himself that were lost. Eventually he must confront the family who threw him away for their own selfish benefit, and Dororo will be there all along the way. It's a compelling show for sure, but for a number of reasons I can't really rate it higher than an 7. For one, Dororo is almost entirely an enemy of the week setup, with characters introduced and tossed aside each episode as yet another one off demon is killed. I have never liked this style of show, I feel like I can't get to know most of the characters and it feels cheap knowing that in the end nothing I'm watching will really matter unless it's one of 5 recurring characters. Also, the setting just doesn't do it for me. I'm not huge on historical Japanese pieces, so, again it isn't really my thing. Mappa does great work on this show, I recognize that, yet this becomes another show by them that I feel like I should like more than I do. Maybe it's just the drab color scheme and lack of good dialogue and character development compared to some other studios, I'm not sure. Objectively, this seems like a great show, just wasn't entirely my cup of tea. | |
| Dr. Stone (TV) | Excellent |
| Dr. Stone is a breath of fresh air in what has become a tired Shonen genre for me. I discovered with the release of Black Clover, that I'm not sure if I'm really into Shonen anymore, but Dr. Stone has shown me that's not the case. I'm totally down with a show that's as inventive and well done as this one. I love how the battles and powers and such that we're used to have been totally replaced by Senku just "science-ing the shit out of stuff". At times it's like I'm watching an episode of Bill Nye or something, where Senku takes multiple episodes to explain how he is going to build various contraptions we normal humans might find impossible to even consider in a literal stone age. The basic premise is that humanity was suddenly afflicted by an unknown worldwide phenomenon that turned every living human to stone all at once. The catch being that humans didn't die. Our main character, Senku, is a genius at all things science and technology. He finds himself lucky enough to break out of his stone prison before practically anyone else in the world and decides that even though he might be the last human alive, he's going to reconstruct modern day society all by himself. Sure there end up being other humans alive, especially once Senku works out the arduous process to break the stone prisons, but the story never strays from its promise about focusing on the magic of human knowledge and ingenuity. It's such a fun time, that's so well done in almost every way. There are equal parts laugh out loud funny and gutwrenching emotional scenes. It really has it all, and I can't wait to see more. It's just so damn fun. | |
| Dr. Stone: Ryusui (special) | Very good |
| It does feel like things are speeding up, and we're not spending as much time science-ing things out like we were in the first few seasons. Here we see them build a functioning hot air balloon from scratch in like 10 minutes. But, it's still tons of fun and I'm excited for season 3. | |
| Dr. Stone: Stone Wars (TV) | Excellent |
| There isn't anything much different from the first season. Still pretty enjoyable and a breath of fresh air. | |
| Dragon Crisis! (TV) | Decent |
| This was one of my first exposures to a kinda generic harem action/comedy anime. These shows were a dime a dozen back around 2010, and Dragon Crisis really doesn't do anything to set itself apart from the pack. You've seen all these girls done better in other shows, and the action and plot are pretty generic. It's got an A++++ opening though. | |
| Dragon Goes House-Hunting (TV) | Decent |
| Dragon goes house hunting was pretty much what the title says it was. It's light and fluffy as our cowardly dragon protagonist travels the world in search of a fitting home. He looks at dwarven cities, ice caves, castles with dungeons, haunted mansions and so on, never quite finding the perfect fit. He's having fun though, and the cast of silly characters is a relaxing watch at least. It doesn't have much substance, but it's fun for what it is. | |
| Dragonar Academy (TV) | So-so |
| Meh. Very forgettable fantasyish harem with some dragon action. | |
| Drifters (TV) | Good |
| I would prefer to give this show an incomplete as a score, as the first season seems to be largely for setting up future arcs, but that's not the way this works. Drifters is a pretty great example of a stylish action show. Lots of fights, blood, strategy, and blood. I guess this show is by the same guy who did Berserk, so I can see the resemblence there. Anyway, it all depends on where the show goes from here. If it dives deeper into some interesting themes, brings out some solid twists and unique enemies, then it can be great. My fear is that I've already seen everything it has to offer. I hope that's not the case. | |
| Drug Store in Another World - The Slow Life of a Cheat Pharmacist (TV) | So-so |
| This really wasn't that great of a slice of life/iyashikei show. It is a pretty barebones production, with kinda flat/insufferable characters. If the characters aren't fun, there's nothing else to really recommend with these types of shows, because they don't have a plot or anything else to fall back on. I only finished it because I was watching it in small chunks before going to sleep. I wouldn't have had the patience to sit through full episodes. | |
| Durarara!! (TV) | Excellent |
| Durarara kind of came out of nowhere for me. I asked a friend for a some recommendations, and he threw it out there with a few others and didn't really have much to say about it. I finally got around to it, and man did he undersell the show. I struggle even now to say exactly what it is about. I was trying to describe it to another friend, and the best I got was it is kind of a character study with supernatural elements (kindof). It's almost like a quirky slice of life, except in the seedy(ish) underbelly of tokyo. With that said, the show delivers above and beyond what would be expected. It's a bit like Monogatari-lite, in that it jumps around like crazy and takes a while (4-5 episodes in this case) before the story starts to come together and make sense. It's pretty unique in that regard, as it replays the same days multiple times across different episodes from each character's perspective, and each time we learn a bit more about what's actually happening. It was a blast to watch, and I'm psyched to jump into the second season! | |
| Durarara!!×2 Ketsu (TV) | Very good |
| More of the same! The ending was actually a bit of a step up, and I thoroughly enjoyed how it wrapped up the majority of the loose ends. Fantastic show. | |
| Durarara!!×2 Shō (TV) | Very good |
| More of the same, still really good. | |
| Durarara!!×2 Ten (TV) | Very good |
| More of the same, still really good. | |
| (The) Eden of Grisaia (TV) | Very good |
| This is the second season of Grisaia, and I'm happy with some of the changes we've made here. In season 1, it felt at times like we were just seeing tragedy porn and gore for the sake of it. Here, in season 2, while we do get Yuuji's backstory, which includes the tale of growing up with Asako and the inevitable tragedy we know is coming, it feels handled much more tactfully. It still hits hard, but it's not gratuitous. In the second arc, we fall back on action, and the whole thing feels very much almost therapeutic as our team kicks ass and takes names while finally settling their scores. A very thoroughly enjoyable watch. | |
| Eden of the East (TV) | Very good |
| Eden of the East is another show that I didn't have a review for for the longest time. I really enjoyed the mystery and interplay of all the characters. However, I remember that it was just a bit too convoluted for me to properly follow everything. The movies didn't help with that either. At a certain point, I had to just sit back and trust the show knew what it was doing. Which it did. So, I can safely say that even without a perfectly crafted plot, I still enjoyed this entire experience. | |
| (The) Eminence in Shadow (TV) | Very good |
| Okay, so this show took me over a year to watch, but I was watching with a friend, and that can take some time. I was huge into it from beginning to end though, and am very excited for more. It's so over the top that I can't help smiling at all the hilarious middle-school edgelord energy. It's so wonderful. I'm glad this show knows exactly how silly it is and leans into it as well. That makes everything so much better.
I don't have much more to say, Eminence in Shadow wears its heart on its sleeve and never tries to be something it isn't. I only dock some points because the plot is extremely convoluted (probably partly by design as part of the joke about this) and I could never keep track of all the characters (again probably this is slightly on purpose). It really is a show you just have to let go a bit and just experience, even if nothing quite ends up making sense. In the end though, it was tons of fun and I can't wait for the next season. It's just far better than it has any right to be (and the production values back that up, why does this show look so good? I don't know, but I love it.) | |
| Encouragement of Climb (TV) | Decent |
| There's not a lot to say about Encouragement of Climb's first season. I know there's a lot of seasons to go, but this one on its own doesn't leave a huge impression. Maybe I'm just spoiled after having watched Yuru Camp though, so that's not totally fair. However, I can see the foundation through which this series might become something on Yuru Camp's level, so I'm certainly excited for that. As it is, these are just a series of 3 minute episodes showing some girls getting into hiking, which is nice, but not a whole lot else. Having watched the first couple of episodes of season 2 by now, I would say this first season is skip-able. It might be more fun to see how the girls became friends later on after having seen more of the show anyway. | |
| Endo and Kobayashi Live! The Latest on Tsundere Villainess Lieselotte (TV) | Very good |
| Endo and Kobayashi is another entry in the ever more crowded isekai villainess genre. And while yes, the animation is actually almost non-existent, characters are off model to such a degree it is actually distracting, and anyone familiar at all with this sort of story will be able to predict each and every plot beat perfectly... none of that matters. You see... this show is so damn fun, I don't care about any of that. It's such a unique take on things. Seeing Endo and Kobayashi in our modern day world playing (and doing play by play of) their favorite otome game, unwittingly becoming gods of that world and guiding the story along such that they can save their favorite villainess from her inevitable doom is a brilliant take on this type of story. So yes, we're getting basically two stories in one here. We follow Endo and Kobayashi with their budding romance, as well as the story within the game where we try to avert the tragic death of Lieselotte, the misunderstood villainess in question. To that end, Kobayashi has determined that Liese is simply too completely adorable to die. She sets out to make all the other characters in the game see just how cute and lovable Lieselotte is. They don't really know what "tsun de res" is, but as Endo and Kobayashi explain that she actually doesn't mean what she says, she's just too embarrassed to speak her feelings, they start to also the see the light. So yeah. This is the cutest thing ever. This show knows exactly what you want to see, and it delivers at every turn. It's also so refreshing to see a 12 episode show that is clear this is all the story will ever be. They wrap things up perfectly at the end of the season, no cliffhangers or setups for a season 2. Just the perfect, sugary adorable ending we all deserve. I think for real fans of this genre, this might be a holy grail 10/10 show. For me, while I'm not an otome game connoisseur or anything, I have enjoyed some other shows in the genre, and I thought this one was a blast. Very solid recommendation. | |
| Endro~! (TV) | Decent |
| Endro is what it is, which is a kinda cute, pointless take on the typical RPG hero vs. demon lord type of story. The twist here is that our hero is really klutzy and kinda dumb in an endearing way, and so she accidentally uses a forbidden spell while in the final showdown with the demon lord and throws her party and the demon lord back some years in the past. As it turns out, only the demon lord remembers anything, but truthfully she really never wanted to be a demon lord, so she decides to become a teacher a local adventurer school instead. And... wouldn't you know it, but the hero and her party walk in and are now her students! Crazy! Anyway, I won't spend too much time here. This is a pretty silly slice of life that doesn't offer anything new to the genre. It trends towards the boring end of the spectrum as none of the characters are complex, they all have one note personalities with their one quirk being the only thing they'll ever talk about (the hungry one eats a lot! the magic user is obsessed with magic!). So, there's not much here beyond a few lame jokes and kinda cute girls kind of adventuring, but mostly just messing around. Fine for time wasting, but not anything more. | |
| Engaged to the Unidentified (TV) | Decent |
| Engaged to the Unidentified isn't really my standard type of show. I went into it thinking that it was going to be a slice of life/harem type of a show, but it really turned out to be the opposite. It was pretty much a straight up romance between the main girl, Kobeni, and her fiance, decided by their parents. There are plenty of interesting characters in the show, but the only real sense of drama is the relationship between the two of them, as Kobeni learns about this arranged married, is angry, and then slowly comes to accept and love Hakuya for who he is. It's a really cute show, but not anything really more than that. | |
| ERASED (TV) | Excellent |
| Erased is, in a word, fantastic. Its representations of its characters is so real and lifelike that at times it physically hurts to watch the show, especially as the dread starts creeping in around 5 minutes left in the episode, just because you know it can't be all sunshine and roses. That's right, Erased is a mystery thriller at its core. There's a lot going on here that I don't really want to spoil but the basic theme is preventing murders from taking place by befriending classmates who are alienated and alone for various reasons (thus making them good targets). It's a very touching show throughout, and is very, very good to it's characters (well, except for the murder bit). If there's one thing Erased absolutely nails, it's that. The only reason I didn't rate this Masterpiece is because it took me 3-4 episodes to buy in, but once you're in, well, don't expect to stop before the end. | |
| Ergo Proxy (TV) | Excellent |
| This rating comes with a big asterisk. I fell in love with this show when I was getting into anime circa 2012 or so. After almost ten years, I finally revisited it in 2021, and let me say I was a little bit more than let down. The first 8 or 9 episodes taking place in Romdo are kind of peak sci fi goodness. It is absolutely worth checking out just to see the beginning. However, the middle episodes go out of their way to be patronizingly philosophical and purposefully meaningless. It is an absolute chore to sit through some of their pointless musings. The game show episode is worst of them all. In the end, I ran out of patience and never finished the rewatch. There's a good story here somewhere, but you have to really be willing to buy into this experience. I think I had more patience and excitement for this sort of thing in my early twenties. Nowadays, I just roll my eyes and move on. | |
| Eromanga Sensei (TV) | Very good |
| So, Eromanga sensei is by the same author as Oreimo and it features a guy and his little sister living together without their parents, while they pretty much have the hots for each other and the show finds all kinds of excuses to prod at their budding romance. In a sense we've seen this show before. At least this time around, they aren't actually related. That said, there is a bit more here than just the eye-roll parts. Eromanga is really about the two siblings forming a light-novel team, with the older brother as the writer and the younger sister as the artist who has made his novels famous with her extremely ecchi drawings. It's a silly and contrived scenario (no middle schoolers are coming anywhere close to being popular, professional authors), but as a background for comedy and hijinks, well it works about as well as anything else. And that's really where Eromanga stands out. This show at its core is about fun comedy with everything else (even the romance) as secondary. And in that respect, it delivers. This is Oreimo without the brooding and intense undertones. It's really just a good time. I realize it's trashy, but sometimes a trashy, irreverent comedy is just what I need. I at least had fun. | |
| Etotama (TV) | Good |
| Etotama straddles the line between good and bad, and it does so quite aggressively (much like almost all aspects of the show). This is a production that goes a mile a minute, rife with slapstick and over the top gags, alongside a barebones story about the cat zodiac spirit and her quest to join the zodiac for reals. It's fun, sometimes grating, but always at least somewhat worthwhile in the end. Credit where it's due, the climax of the season was actually somewhat heartfelt and meaningful, which does elevate this a little bit above the rest of the hyperactive nonsense shows. Still, it's a whole lot of everything with this one, and that won't work for everyone. I wouldn't necessarily recommend it, but it can be a good time if the mood strikes. | |
| (The) Everyday Tales of a Cat God (TV) | Very good |
| As far as slice of life and comedy goes, The Everyday Tales of a Cat God is a bit above average and certainly worth watching for fans of either genre. It's a comfort show for sure, it's light and fun, though a few of the episodes do go a little bit deeper with some tragic backstories, but even those end up framed in a good way. At the end of the day this show just made me happy, and that's sometimes all I'm looking for. Oh, and there's a whole lineup of catgirls to enjoy in this one, so I was never going to dislike it. | |
| (The) Executioner and Her Way of Life (TV) | Very good |
| Executioner is yet another isekai show, but with a twist this time. No, wait, hear me out. I don't mean a twist like "our hero was born as the demon lord but he really just wants to open a restaurant" or anything stupid like that. This one features a real twist, the sort of thing that can only happen when a single genre has dominated for as long as this one has. Finally, we've got our show about a character in a fantasy world whose job is to kill any hapless Japanese teen who accidentally gets isekai'd into her world. Yes, it's a fun hook. Seeing the bait an switch in episode 1 is gloriously fun. However, the show isn't content with just that. Instead, this takes on a more fantasy adventure style of storytelling as our titular executioner finds herself responsible for taking the life of a girl, Akari, who's power is over Time. Which means, every time she tries to stab or kill Akari, the girl unconsciously rewinds time to the moment before she was killed. Therefore, Menou (our executioner), has no choice but to take Akari under her wing and begin traveling the world in hopes that she will find a way to properly kill Akari, all the while finding herself more and more taken with her traveling partner. Yeah, okay, there's quite a bit of yuri undertones (and overtones in Momo's case) going on here. It does give the show a fun bit of character drama beyond the aforementioned time reversal drama. The more we get into this show, the more I start to appreciate the deep worldbuilding. It's refreshing to see a fantasy where, even in the first twelve episodes, we are already setting up bits of esoteric worldbuilding, then paying them off in dramatic fashion. Executioner promises a glorious fantasy romp with all the time travel and magical shenanigans you could ever want, with some light Yuri to taste. There's a ton of promise here, and I'm really excited and hopeful that there will be much more to come. | |
| Fairy Tail (TV) | Masterpiece |
| *Update 1/16/2020*
Fairy Tail has now officially ended its long run and I want to look back on it a bit. My original review is still below. I wrote it before the first hiatus, sometime after Tenroujima but before the Grand Magic Games. That also happens to be about 7 or 8 years ago. Fairy Tail has been with me for a long, long time. I won't say much more on it. I still really enjoyed the show. Fairy Tail had heart like few other anime I've seen. The characters were vibrant, the fights were awesome, the hype was real. It was just a great time overall. I'm sad to see it end, and the final arc wasn't the show's best efforts. But at its best, this show was as good as anything out there. Really, really enjoyed this ridiculous thing. I still say "Thanks Natsu" when someone tells me something obvious (like when Natsu told us not to sit too close to the TV). In fact, I make natsu puns all the time (I mean, cmon, it's natsu cold out, you don't need a jacket). I cosplayed Gray for years. Erza is the most badass, and I was sad to see the show never gave her a chance at her picnic after all these years. Sadly my prediction of Lucy-kick being the finishing move to take down Zeref never happened. Levy, Yukino, Meldy, and Milliana are my girls always. While my guys, Loke, Fried, and Jellal never quite got their chances to shine as much as they should have. And, if I ever get a tattoo, I'd totally get the guild mark. Regardless, it's clear that this thing was an institution, and a big part of my life all through my 20's. Thanks for everything. *strikes heroic pose with thumb and pointer fingers out* My old review is as follows: I. Love. This. Show. Fairy Tail is the one show I eagerly wait for every week. Everything about the show works for me, and as such it is the show I would recommend over any other. Fairy Tail begins by following Lucy, an aspiring wizard looking for her big shot to break in with a guild. Of course, the guild she wants to be in the most is Fairy Tail, one of the most popular guilds in the land, well known for their powerful members but also the huge swaths of destruction that they leave behind during their jobs. She quickly gets her shot and settles in to the guild where we meet the other main characters: Gray, an ice mage with a habit of stripping naked and acting cool, Erza: the dangerous, intimidating, S class requipping wizard, and Natsu: the fire "dragon slayer" wizard, and as the viewer soon discovers, the real main character of the show. Of course we can't forget Natsu's winged cat, Happy, the hilarious mascot of our group. Together they become Fairy Tail's strongest team, and they set out to do challenging jobs and other missions. In case you haven't figured it out by now, Fairy Tail is a shonen show through and through. Unlike Bleach or One Piece or Naruto though, Fairy Tail excels in this format for slightly different reasons. First off, it doesn't take itself seriously. Even in the most dire of situations, the show will cut away for gags to lighten the mood. That's not to say that we never get character development and our heros and their guild are never in any real trouble, as there absolutely are serious parts. It's just that the overall tone of the show is different. Secondly, Fairy Tail has mastered its pacing. Gone are the 50-75 episode arcs that bog down otherwise gripping shows. Fairy Tail starts with 5-10 episode arcs and eventually gets up around 20, but never more than that. There are few multi-episode fights, with focus instead on the actual conflict and how to solve it. Lastly, the supporting cast lifts this show above the others. Fairy Tail is an actual guild, with many members. Each member is memorable in their own way, and all of them get at least a few chances to shine. Perhaps its telling that some of my favorite characters begin as very minor background characters! The one knock many people have for this type of show is that they often get bogged down in filler. Bleach and Naruto are notorious for this. Fairy Tail also has its share of filler, though there hasn't been a full filler arc until around episode 130. The one off fillers and short side-shots are actually extremely amusing and well done. The first major filler arc is a bit of a step down from the couple epic arcs that precede it, but the fact that I didn't realize it was filler until I had finished it and read a review of the arc afterwards may tell you all you need to know. One of the absolute highlights for this show is surprisingly its soundtrack. This has some of the best OST music of any show I've ever seen. The intros are catchy, and the themes for the characters are fantastic. The whole thing has a bit of a celtic flair spiced up with both rock and techno influences. I highly recommend checking out the OSTs after the fact. Before I ramble too much (I really can't say enough about this show), there are a few negatives I should mention. The plot itself can become a bit muddled and isn't quite as inspired or intricate as say One Piece. Each arc seems to be self-contained in that it doesn't have much of an impact on the overall story. On that note, and this is my biggest criticism, there doesn't really seem to be much of an overarching story at all. There's references to the ultimate evil wizard Zeref peppered about, and one arc puts him in the forefront, but then things go on as though none of this ever happened. I want to care about the outcome of arcs. I want to see things come together. I want a huge arc that deals with the ramifications of what has happened previously. One Piece did this all beautifully with the War of the Best arc and beyond, hopefully Fairy Tail has something up its sleeve. Overall, the strength of the characters carries this show very far. It never fails to entertain and has a few pretty awesome fight scenes thrown in for good measure. Even if you tend to shy away from Shonen material, I highly recommend that you give Fairy Tail a shot. You won't be disappointed. | |
| Farming Life in Another World (TV) | Very good |
| I now feel like I have to preface any isekai show with "no, but wait, this one isn't actually bad". Farming Life in Another World sounds at a glance like an easy skip, but I think it's actually an overlooked gem that is worth the time. This show is a lot better than it had any right to be.
The central premise is that this is a "civilization builder" sort of show like reincarnated as a slime. However, at least through season 1, this show is content to be very small and intimate, which works far better for this type of fare. Instead of worrying about running a country and world-spanning politics, Farming Life is content to slowly build out a small remote village. There are amusing interactions with outsiders like the deadly dragons nearby who actually just want to come over to drink alcohol, or the daughter of a nearby lord who sends her to the village as a tribute/peace offering, but she ends up loving things there and brings some valuable merchandise back to her homeland. Yeah, most of the characters are female, and most of them are not-so-subtly in love with our protagonist, but the show actually seems to acknowledge how silly this is, and actually marries our protagonist off fairly quickly, so it ends up being all in good fun. Overall, this is mostly feel good vibes with a low stakes comfort show. Definitely worth the time if that's what you're looking for. | |
| Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya (TV) | Decent |
| Let's be real. I only watched this because Rin transforms into a catgirl. | |
| Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya 2wei Herz! (TV) | Good |
| This almost doesn't feel like a proper third season. It picks up exactly where season 2 left off and still deals with the same conflict and the same characters. It is fairly lighthearted for the first half but then goes right back to getting all serious and stuff. Not much to report, still a fun and interesting show. | |
| Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya 2wei! (TV) | Good |
| pretty much better in every way than the first season. There's a bigger, more interesting conflict at hand, and the characters have matured enough to the point where they are actually multifaceted and interesting. Don't get me wrong, its still to fluffy and sugary and full of adorableness, but it goes surprisingly dark places at times. This show is certainly trending in the right direction. Can't wait for the next season. | |
| Fate/kaleid liner Prisma☆Illya 3rei!! (TV) | Good |
| Still chugging along. This season was probably the darkest yet, but the story was good enough to back it up. I'm interested to see where they go from here. | |
| Fate/stay night (TV) | Good |
| I'm writing this comment probably two or three years after having originally watched Fate/stay night. I did see Unlimited Blade Works a bit ago, and loved it, so that's something. Regardless, I was pretty surprised that I only rated this Good. Perhaps my memory of the show has aged better than I expected, but in all likelihood, it is probably because of the massive amount of love that this show continues to receive that has me putting on the rose colored glasses. The story was a bit confusing, and I remember the fights being fairly short. I was also a bit disappointed in how much the show devolved towards the end, more concerned with Shiro and Saber's romance than anything else. It doesn't help that I'm on the Rin bus, but still, I felt let down by the way the show ended. Great universe though. I'm looking forward to Fate/zero. | |
| Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works (movie) | Excellent |
| It's very hard to tell a story the same length as a 24 episode series in two hours, and it showed in the movie. It didn't stop me from liking it more than the original series though. Unlimited Blade Works is an alternate storyline version of Fate/stay night. It starts where the tv series started, but begins branching shortly after Archer makes his first appearance. The movie moves very very fast, but if you pay attention, it isn't too hard to keep up. And oh, are the rewards worth it. The animation is absolutely gorgeous, and the action is awesome to watch. The alternate storyline is also more compelling in my mind than the original. (More Rin and Archer? Yes please!) The climax of the movie was also incredible, and without spoiling too much, I had no idea they were going to pull what they did. Awesome movie. | |
| Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works (TV) | Excellent |
| I'm more and more convinced with each show I see that Gen Urobochi can do no wrong. Once again, ufotable turns in an extraordinary effort. F/SN picks up right where Fate Zero left off and keeps going, animating the unlimited blade works arc that in my opinion is superior to the original F/SN arc. I am such a huge fan of Rin that really this show was never going to be bad, but it does help that it is absolutely gorgeous. I would recommend watching Fate Zero first, as this one calls back to that series a lot, but it isn't absolutely required. Just a pleasure to watch. | |
| Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works (TV 2) | Good |
| I really hate to say that this show fell apart, but it basically did. It suffers from the same problem as the original F/SN series, which is it runs out of material around episode 17. The show just slows to a crawl and it becomes almost painful to watch the characters just say the same things over and over and over again. Still beautiful, but it's a distinct step down. | |
| Fate/Zero (TV) | Excellent |
| Fate/Zero was everything that FSN should have been. Zero is the adult version of the show, if that's possible. Gen Urobochi once again demonstrates why he is amazing with sharp, crisp storytelling, amazing battle sequences, and just gorgeous visuals. Now, Zero isn't perfect, it takes a bit to get going, but like any slow moving train, once it does, there's no stopping it. My really one complaint is that a few of the characters are underdeveloped, but that's the price you pay for a series of this length with this much going on. I'd say this is the essential Fate/ show, and one of the better shows I've ever seen. You just have to sit back and appreciate the awesome work here. | |
| (The) File of Young Kindaichi Returns (TV) | Good |
| Sometimes I'm just in the mood for a good mystery. The kind where I don't figure it out until they reveal the tricks (or what little I do figure out is a huge victory!) Kindaichi fits that bill to a tee. Very elaborate cases and a fair amount of personal danger faces our fearless protagonists, but in the end, Kindaichi will always figure out all of the mysteries. And that's just the way I like it. | |
| (The) File of Young Kindaichi Returns (TV 2) | Good |
| This is basically the exact same thing as season 1, still good. | |
| (The) File of Young Kindaichi Returns: The File of Inspector Akechi (special) | Good |
| Just a double episode of Kindaichi featuring Inspector Akechi. More of the same. | |
| Fire Force (TV) | Very good |
| The first thing that has to be said is that Fire Force is by the same guy who wrote Soul Eater. Stylistically, there are a lot of similarities, though Fire Force is a bit more grounded and "standard" than Soul Eater ever was. It's a shame really, and I do hope that Fire Force goes a bit more off the rails, but what we've got is what we've got. What that is, is a pretty solid shonen action show. There's a good amount of mystery in this world, though a lot of it is explained through the end of season 1. It does kinda boil down to good guys vs. bad guys a bit too often though. The animation is really sharp, and the characters are all really fun, which are two of the most important things you need in a battle shonen show, so that gets this already up to a passing grade. The plot has enough intricacies that you won't get too bored at least, so there is that. I enjoyed what I saw, but I'm reserving too much judgement because I'm not terribly sure where it's going to go from the end of season 1. It feels like there has been a lot of setup, and I'm hoping for some crazy developments now. There is an elephant in the room, at least according to critics I've read, about Tamaki and her excessively absurd fan service (especially as it interrupted very emotional, hard hitting scenes), but I don't blame the show too much for this. That one moment was a bit poorly timed, but I see what they were trying to do in breaking the tension. After all, this is a battle shonen, it can't get too dark. It helps too that Tamaki is adorable. Bottom line, this isn't a must watch -yet. But I can see it getting there. Here's to hoping the future is great for this one. | |
| Fire Force (TV 2) | Very good |
| Second season continues much in the same vein as the first one. That is, it's a pretty dang good shonen action show. Nothing much has changed (aside from the story arcs) from the first season, so either you're on board at this point, or you aren't. Still a lot of fun. Tamaki's still the cutest. And here's to hoping for a great season 3 that maybe can upend the established norms of the first two seasons. | |
| FLCL (OAV) | Very good |
| Well, this show is an experience. It's confusing as all hell, but it keeps you glued to your seat for sure. Really interesting watch. | |
| Flip Flappers (TV) | Very good |
| Flip Flappers is an incredibly ambitious show throughout, so I can't help but give it really high marks for that! The premise seems to almost be simply an excuse for the animators to have fun drawing whatever whimsical and fantastical settings and creatures they can think of, and they really knock it out. The story is centered around two girls, Papika and Cocona, who together can enter the world of "Pure Illusion" which changes completely every time they visit. It can be sweeping snow scapes, or haunted mansions, or a techno-city from the future, or mad max (seriously!) or anything at all really. The first eight episodes of the show settle into a very familiar sort of visit the new world, find the poorly explained power crystal, and get out. Yeah the show struggles a bit on the story front, but the last three or four episodes redeem the show to a certain extent, as we see characters change sides, true motives revealed, and some really heartwarming scenes as these girls, especially Cocona, grow and mature and sort of figure out who they really are. As good as it was, Flip Flappers never really got over that hump into the "Wow" category of shows, but I would still recommend it wholeheartedly, especially to anyone who would appreciate the artistic style and risks taken throughout. | |
| Flying Witch (TV) | Masterpiece |
| This is, without a doubt, the greatest slice of life show I've ever seen. Sometimes, everything just works, and Flying Witch did that masterfully. This is a show that I know I can (and will) just throw on for the sake of having it on, and I will end up watching it many times over in the future. The atmosphere is second to none, it brings you into it's warm, comfy world and let's you just hang out. It's awesome. If ever there was a show to get your spirits up after, well, anything, this is that show. I am pretty certain there will be no second season, but man did this show do everything in it's power to make a statement. Highly, highly, beyond all heights, recommended. | |
| Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma (TV) | Excellent |
| Shokugeki no Soma is a bit of a shock. I went into it expecting the lowest bar possible. I knew it was basically people eating food in exceedingly fanservice-y ways (like seriously guys, this guy makes food that is legitimately orgasmic). However damn if I didn't get swept up in the show and actually start to really, really enjoy myself. I've always been kind of a fan of food contest type shows (I loved Hell's Kitchen), so this show scratches that itch, and I actually kinda like the absurd setting and interesting characters. I realize Soma is overpowered (this is basically a shonen anime afterall), but I don't think that really is too much of a downside. It's nice not to have to worry too much haha. This is a show that any food lover or shonen fan could get into in equal parts. It's just plain fun. | |
| Food Wars! The Second Plate (TV) | Excellent |
| Still ridiculous fanservice, still crazy cooking, still an awesome show. | |
| Food Wars! The Third Plate (TV) | Excellent |
| The stakes are starting to really ratchet up at this point. Soma is really being challenged and it's a bummer to see a lot of the characters with their backs against the wall. This is still maybe the best shonen show I've seen, and I'm loving every second of it. I need more now! | |
| Fractale (TV) | Not really good |
| This was one of the first seasonal shows I watched when I was just getting into anime. It's been so long now, that looking back on it I just don't have any strong feelings really. I vaguely remember there was some promise and I was disappointed that it never really managed to pull it all together. There's a lot of good sci-fi out there, and this one just didn't land with me. | |
| From the New World (TV) | Very good |
| It's hard to explain everything that this show is. It's clearly more mature and intense than the vast majority of anime out there. This show is content to take you along at its own pace, slowly revealing the horrors that lie below the surface of the world. It's this lingering sense of unease that really ends up weighing on you. I really don't want to get into the plot. It seems convoluted, but trust me, it is meticulously planned and executed perfectly. The atmosphere and environment are spot on. This isn't necessarily a fun show, but it will blow your mind. | |
| (The) Fruit of Grisaia (TV) | Very good |
| Grisaia is well... heavy. It bills itself as an ecchi school comedy, but it quickly becomes apparent that this has some serious Higurashi vibes. If you want to see horrible things happen to cute anime girls, well, this is your show. Now, it is somewhat trying to pull the "help the girls get over their trauma" angle. So there are usually satisfying resolutions to each of the girls' tragic pasts. But man, does this show love to revel in the horrors it has put its characters through. There is somewhat decent comedy between the flashbacks, and the girls are definitely cute, but that is all besides the point. This show is good at what it does, but man do you need to be in the mood for something like this. | |
| Fruits Basket (TV 2/2019) | Excellent |
| Fruits Basket was a show I had heard a lot about, but aired well before I started watching anime, so I never really had a chance to get to it. I'm sure glad this remake happened, because wow, it was a great watch. As an up front disclaimer, I'm not usually particularly into Shoujo stuff, but Fruits Basket has that little bit extra to capture my interest. Sure it's packed with typical shoujo tropes, and is a bit over the top at times, but it's so much more. I'm almost not even that invested in Tohru's potential relationships. Instead, the story of the zodiac animals and the Soma family is fascinating, and provides the meat of a really compelling story. That, combined with some actually serious comedic chops, makes Fruits Basket a worthy watch for almost anyone. It's just extremely well done all around. Can't wait for the continuation of season 2. | |
| Fruits Basket 2nd Season (TV) | Excellent |
| Fruits Basket is such a relief to watch. It's incredible to see a show that actually knows how to write nuanced and layered characters. I really can't say enough for how good the character writing is in this show, and as an anime fan who appreciates characters moreso than plot or setting or action or what have you, Fruits Basket just works for me on a level that most other shows never rise to. All it would take is some sort of rip your heart out tearjerker moment to elevate this to a 10 for me, but who knows what the final season holds. Cannot wait. | |
| Fruits Basket the Final (TV) | Masterpiece |
| Fruits Basket is a master work. I really can't sing its praises enough. This is the quintessential romance and shoujo show of our generation for sure. I'm not used to shows being this emotionally real, and I have to take a moment to compose myself and my thoughts about it. I'm most impressed with the show's ability to write characters in unique and nuanced ways. I think it reminds me somewhat of Sound Euphonium in its ability to write characters with depth that far exceed what should be possible in an anime. The drama and stakes were high throughout the finale, but most of all, I'm so happy that Fruits Basket managed to maintain an optimistic and happy ending. The show treats its characters with respect and just kinda has a warmth to it that you don't often get to experience. It's an incredible experience and kind of sets the bar way too high for the rest of the shoujo shows out there. But, you can hardly fault it for that. It's not Fruits Basket's fault that it's basically perfect. | |
| Full Metal Panic! (TV) | Good |
| So full disclosure, I watched this show in 2018. That means that I am pretty far removed from the era in which this show originally aired. I think that ended up hurting my rating of this show a lot. Simply put it's a well done, but basic action romance type show with some cool mech battles and some silly school stuff thrown in. Sadly, I've seen shows that pull this off much better, but that's to be expected, shows build upon what came before. I wish FMP had the guts to either go full on military with it's cast like Arpeggio of the Blue Steel or Aldnoah.Zero or to go the other way, more school hijinks, and less military fights and the like. I simply can't get behind Chitori's character in the show as it is. Her moments of romantic tension, while people are literally dying and she's getting hunted by trigger happy maniacs are completely ridiculous. Anyway, outside of that, the show is good, it just didn't capture me all that much. Happy I watched it, and it was fun, but I'll be stopping here I think. | |
| Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid (TV) | Good |
| Spoiler Alert: I didn't stop after the first season. Yes it's been a couple years, but I finally gave TSR a chance. I think overall it is better than the first season, but I still wasn't entirely drawn in. Chidori was all but useless as a character in TSR, which dragged down the experience a bit. We got a decently compelling conflict, but it felt like we mostly followed Souske around, while getting bits and pieces of the enemies. While there were a few good action scenes (the episode in the tunnels was great), the majority of the plot made little to no sense, and only really following Souske made it hard to get behind Mithril as a team. Tessa gets a bit of screen time, but the rest of the fighters might as well be faceless. Without these characters to bounce off of, and Chidori basically MIA, Souske's personal arc just kinda falls flat. There's nothing terribly wrong with the show, but I didn't particularly enjoy it that much. | |
| Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (TV) | Very good |
| I don't have much more to say about this show than you couldn't hear from the rest of the internet. It was a fantastic battle shonen show for sure. I appreciated how well it draws everything together in the end, as well as the excellent characters and plotting that take place. The characters are really the crown jewel here, as FMA:B is incredibly ambitious with the number of main characters it highlights and breathes life into. The great scope of the entire project really spoke to me. It was a fun watch, but to me it wasn't the greatest show I've ever seen, like a lot of the internet would have you believe. Maybe at age 30, I'm just too old to be captured by this genre. I wish I would have gotten into it back in high school when it was on Toonami. Ah well, really glad I'm finally caught up here! | |
| Gabriel DropOut (TV) | Very good |
| Gabriel Dropout is a perfectly done slice of life/comedy show about an angel, Gab, who is probably the worst angel ever. She comes down to the human world to learn about humanity but instead gets addicted to MMOs and basically throws away her angelic half to skip school, eat junk food, and play video games. Her friends consist of a demon who is far to nice for her own good, an angel who is openly sadistic and opportunistic, and another demon who dreams of being evil but is thwarted by her pea sized brain that basically has her stealing pencils as her grand scheme. So yeah, all the main characters suck in some way, and it's a blast to watch them fumble along and try to figure out their lives. The comedy is pretty strong, but it's really the characters that sell the show. To do a slice of life right, you have to absolutely nail the characters and their interactions with each other, and Gabriel Dropout does that in a fantastic way. Here's to hoping for another season with these goofs. | |
| Gamers! (TV) | Very good |
| Gamers was a real surprise. They bait and switch hard, and I mean hard when it comes to what this show is actually about. The first episode is all about the cutest girl in school recruiting our nerdy everyman to her video game club. And so, of course, he'll accept and there will be all kinds of wacky club shenanigans and other stuff. Except... he declines, because while he loves to game, he games in a different way from the club, and just like that, our generic light hearted school comedy goes out the window. Of course, what we end up with is STILL a light hearted school comedy, but it's certainly not generic. Instead gaming takes a back seat, more like a setting than an active participant. We're aware that games are what have brought these characters together, but the show isn't really about that anymore. Instead it's about the crazy, absurd, ridiculous, insane miscommunication and love triangles that pop up out of nowhere. Yeah, the amount of logical fallacies and misunderstandings that happen are truly mind-bending, and at times not entirely believable. I mean I don't think there's any group of friends who are this bad at simply talking to each other, but again, that's not the point. The point is that the insanity is glorious. I'd highly recommend this show for anyone who finds that point appealing. | |
| Gangsta. (TV) | Good |
| Gangsta is a different show from the type of fare that I usually watch, which is a great thing. It hooked me almost immediately with its portrayal of the seedy underbelly of a nondescript metropolis. There's drugs, hookers, gangs, violence, and sex to be found all within the first few episodes. I found the initial hook super compelling and wanted to go deeper. Unfortunately the story kind of peters out around the mid point and starts throwing tons of characters at us that I couldn't really follow along with. It's still a great atmosphere though and something I was excited to watch. I suppose the main takeaway I've got here is that I should really watch Black Lagoon or GitS. | |
| Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet (TV) | Good |
| The first thing that stood out to me upon watching this series was that Gen Urobuchi was the man behind this whole thing. As such, I was expecting something dark and terrible to happen (ala Madoka/Fate Zero), but it never actually happened. The show is actually full of life and energy, a big departure from his previous works.
That's not to say that it's a bad thing. Future earth is one big ocean, and people get around in giant boat communities. Our main character is a soldier from a different world altogether who gets pulled through time and space in an accident during a battle, whereupon he finds himself alone on earth. It's a classic fish out of water scenario, as this kid, born and raised as a soldier with little in the way of human emotions, finds himself in a world that has no need for his expertise or values. He of course meets some very cute girls, and goes on a journey to discover what exactly it means to be human. The show starts brilliantly, but fizzles unfortunately as it gets to the latter half. The final few episodes feel like they don't live up to the great setup we were given. But still, its worth watching for the colorful world alone, and the realistic portrayal of adapting to a new way of life. | |
| GATE (TV) | Very good |
| It's not often where we see shows where a modern day military finds its way into an alternate universe and clashes with the people there who are stuck in the middle ages fighting with swords and magic. The only other show that comes to mind that even comes close is Outbreak Company, though Gate is better. The inherant problem is obviously that the modern day military is so overpowered they basically break any attempt at balance that most shows try to achieve. Gate circumvents that by focusing not on the fighting and the conflict, but on how a real military might respond to this situation. Japan doesn't really desire to conquer this world, they just want to make peace and explore the new lands, while the people there are terrified of them and their power. It's a lot of politics and maneuvering by different factions on both sides to slowly start to come to some sort of agreement. Of course, it's not all fun and games, people do get hurt, but in the end, it is kind of a lighter hearted look at this whole situation through the lens of a very caring man and the friends he makes in this new world. | |
| (The) Genius Prince's Guide to Raising a Nation Out of Debt (TV) | Very good |
| Genius Prince is actually a pretty fun time all things considered. I appreciate that it is straight up fantasy as well, not some cliched isekai. Our aforementioned prince is trying his best to set himself up for a lavish and early retirement, the only problem is, his country is dead poor. Before he can ride off into the sunset, he has to increase the value of his country so he can receive his golden parachute and retire in luxury when he sells the country off. However, that plan keeps getting foiled because he's just too damn good at his job. It really is quite funny watching people accidentally fail their way to success. Even though Genius Prince at times kind of forgets this, and has Wein actually strategizing through political and military maneuvers earnestly, there's still fun to be had with the wacky characters. Given that, this show would settle in at a comfortable seven, but it gets bumped up a notch for having some of the most compelling politics I've seen in anime. Slime this is not. I feel like some actual research into the middle ages was done, because the complex interweaving of the different kingdoms motivations and strategies feels extremely clever and realistic. Overall, this is a surprisingly good little show. I'd definitely sign up for more. | |
| Giant Beasts of Ars (TV) | So-so |
| This was trending downward for pretty much the entire season. The first couple episodes set up a decently compelling fantasy world and some unique story hooks, but things went downhill in a hurry after we left the starter village and the show just kinda got bogged down in boring travel to villages that were about as deep as a sheet of paper. They tried to cultivate this world spanning adventure epic, but Ars mostly just reminded us how much better it could have been at every turn. What we needed was smart, consistent writing all building to the climax. There was the angle of the empire and the politics and scheming going on behind the scenes there, but it never amounted to anything. If they could have tied several through lines properly to our main cast throughout their journeys, it would have been a lot more compelling. As it was, we got a mismash of themes that never came together, antagonists that were under developed and lacking in meaning, politics that never really amounted to anything, and a final confrontation that, admittedly, looked cool, but also meant next to nothing in a narrative sense. The feeling I'm left with is... why? What was the point of all this? Who sent the giant beasts? What were they after? Why were Jiro and Kumi and their friends even traveling around at all, aside from the plot demanded it? What was up with Myaa anyway? None of these questions get answered. In my ideal version of this show, we have tons of these initial questions (and Kumi's badass transformation in the final minute of the last episode) addressed at the midpoint. Then it's all downhill from here. The only thing I can think is that this had to assume it was getting a second season, that was pulled at the last moment. Nothing else makes sense. And now that the series has concluded with no sequel announcement in sight (and they rolled a "The End" over the final credits and not a "To be continued"), I can only conclude this was legendarily mismanaged. If this is all there is, this is a slap in the face to everybody who gave this show a chance. I hope for season two, just to get this bitter taste out of my mouth. I'll decide later if I actually give it a chance. The simple existence of a season two would retroactively bump this season's score up at least one point. Just to elaborate more here (yeah, I was so annoyed and confused, I came back to this review and had to add more). The last 10 seconds of the last episode play out like this. Slideshow of various people celebrating. Smash cut for 3 seconds to a giant Classic Mysterious Anime Geometric Shape Enemy(TM) suddenly appearing that spans almost the entire sky. Then one of our "mysterious" characters says, in a deep voice, something like "Now the real fight begins." Cut to black. Flash text that says "The End". Like, I'm sorry. What? Even if you are getting another season, that has to be the most baffling creative decision I've ever seen. Given the state of animation breakdowns by the end, they may just simply have no longer cared at that point, but this is a new low. It's almost impressive in a way. | |
| Girl Friend BETA (TV) | So-so |
| This is yet another entry in the CGDCT shows genre, and it's a bit of a unique case. See Girlfriend Beta was based on a smartphone game that came out in the early 2010's. As far as I can tell, this was one of the very first "waifu collection" games out there that are ubiquitous cash cows these days, and this anime captures a lot of that feel. It was just unfortunately too far ahead of its time. I bet if this came out with modern upgrades today, it might fare okay.
But that's about the game, let's talk about the anime. This is a nothing at all happens, let's just be the cutest characters ever and do the lowest of the low stakes things throughout each episode of this show. Such exciting fare like studying for a test! Or preparing for a school assembly! Heart pounding excitement! However, I think that's largely okay. If I was a fan of the game, I would be overjoyed with this, seeing all my favorite characters beautifully animated (and yes, the character designs are actually gorgeous and incredibly overly cute-ified. You can overdose on this show for sure). However, I'm not a fan of the game, so I can only rate what I got out of this, which was... not much. Even for a big slice of life fan like I am, this show was slow and boring for large chunks. I'm thankful I watched it in half episode segments before falling asleep, because I can't imagine watching it in any other context. It's likely an easy skip for all but the most diehard fans of CGDCT slice of life shows. | |
| Girlfriend, Girlfriend (TV) | Very good |
| Girlfriend Girlfriend is one of the stupidest school harem comedies that I've seen. Of course, I have to distinguish between actually a waste of time and simple, over the top, earnest stupidity that actually makes everything way better. Thankfully, this show is the latter. It's pretty much just what you would expect, dumb harem shenanigans, with characters who are lovingly stupid. But, it is at least heartfelt in its presentation and writing of a polyamorous relationship. I feel like anime could do a lot worse with this subject matter. If harem comedies are your thing, this is certainly worth a shot if the premise sounds at all interesting. It's a fun time. | |
| Girlish Number (TV) | Very good |
| Girlish Number is kind of like the Shirobako of voice acting, except kind of, not really. It is in that vein, but the tone and characters are decidedly not Shirobako. The more I think of it, the more that's probably a really bad comparison. Shirobako has at least earnest characters doing their best, Girlish Number, well, you're better off forgetting heartfelt earnest-ness exists at all. So, it's probably worth pointing out that Girlish Number is written by the same author who did SNAFU. The characters are all flawed, like we might expect, but while there is a bit of a pessimistic bent to it, the show doesn't revel in it quite like SNAFU does. It's actually a bit of fresh air when you think about it. Regardless, at its core, this is a story about our main character, Chitose, who is headstrong, self-centered, and lacks all talent and motivation, yet somehow she manages to break into the voice acting industry and land a gig. As a result, we get to witness the highs and lows right along with her as the real world tries its best to introduce a dose of reality. It's a really capable character study, with some unique character types you don't normally see. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and definitely recommend it to anyone interested in a slightly snarky, naively optimistic, and thoroughly annoying, yet endearing worldview. | |
| Girls' Last Tour (TV) | Excellent |
| Girl's Last Tour is a strange show to watch, especially coming off the heels of Made in Abyss. The shows seem at first like they're going to go in similar directions, but Girl's Last Tour stubbornly stays in the slice of life category as much as it can. It takes a while to accept that the show isn't going to blindside you, but once you do, it's probably one of the most relaxing shows I've seen. It's all about atmosphere and dialogue, which ends up being a lot of fun, and rather refreshing. The pitfall with shows like this one is that if your characters are not strong enough to carry things, everything falls apart. Thankfully, Girl's Last Tour has outstanding character direction and it's really just a treat to watch. Great, great show. | |
| Girly Air Force (TV) | Decent |
| This is about as average of a show as you can get. Girly Air Force will inevitably be compared to Strike Witches, after all it is a show about girls who are manifestations of airplanes who need to fight geometric alien shapes with unknown motivations that are taking over the world. It's actually like a mashup of Arpeggio of the Blue Steel, as our airplane girls are like the avatars from that show, while they are in airplanes instead of ships where we get Strike Witches from. Of course, Strike Witches had an expansive cast of vibrant, dynamic characters who meshed really well and led to some great comedy and heartfelt, intense scenes. Arpeggio also has an expansive cast along with gorgeous, faithful recreations of warships, compelling, sympathetic villians, and a deep political intrigue running underneath it all. Girly Air Force has none of these things. We have 4 airplane girls in total in this show, with our fourth only arriving for the climactic scenes. Our main character is just an everyman with an obsession for airplanes who gets wrapped up into this mess, so now instead of watching the amusing antics of our plane girls, we are treated to a pseudo romance between him and his chosen airplane girl. The rest of the cast are flat as boards, and serve only to move along our two main characters. I was begging for something, anything, to jump out and demand attention, but the only character who really shows heart is our main characters sister-figure who is energetic and spunky, but is just a side attraction to the airplane girls. This concept has potential, and as other shows have proven, can work really well when done right. This just reeks of a cash grab that hits the right genre staples and is content to call it a day. Some fun action and a few funny scenes, but nothing much beyond that. Shockingly, the weapons of war anthropomorphized as teenage girls fighting against geometric shapes is a crowded genre, and there are many better entries than this. | |
| GJ Club (TV) | Decent |
| Another show that I watched to have something silly and harmless to watch before going to sleep. Doesn't really fit into standard rating criteria. Was cute and will watch the sequel. Won't ever be on the list of things that have to be watched though. | |
| Gleipnir (TV) | Decent |
| I've been waiting a few years now for the next Pine Jam show after they went 2/2 for their first efforts with Gamers and Just Because. Sadly, this isn't what I had been hoping for. Gleipnir is a show that is caught in the middle of trying to decide what it is about. The underlying story is a bit insane, but feels slapdash and lacking in substance, so you can't turn there for the good stuff. That leaves us with our characters and the action revolving around their conflicts. Our main characters are decently well developed, but not so much so that they can carry the show on their own. It's an indictment towards them that we spend the penultimate episode finally getting character flashbacks and I don't care all that much. So then, the action? Gleipnir is absolutely steeped in a horror-like aesthetic, but after the first couple episodes we transition to more of a gory shonen-action style setup. I wish the show had leaned into the horror more, we don't get enough of those type of anime. The action was passable and is probably the series' best selling points. There were a few conflicts that had me on the edge of my seat. So that's where we end up. Gleipnir isn't entirely sure what it wants to be, so I'm having a bit of a tough time trying to parse what I feel about it. I don't like that most of the episodes took place in a bland mountain wilderness, and I don't like how underdeveloped every character aside from our main two end up. But I do enjoy the mystery, and I enjoyed the action and conflicts we saw. So it's a mixed bag. Overall, it's a largely forgettable effort, but hey, at least the animation was at least quite nice. | |
| Goblin Slayer (TV) | Excellent |
| Goblin Slayer was an unexpected gem in a season packed with big names. The show is kind of a response to the other fantasy/isekai shows that have been so popular lately. It takes Re:Zero and brings it to it's logical inclusion. Now we don't have just a dark fantasy in the traditional isekai sense, but we have a gory, brutal, hard world presented to us where killing even the lowliest of monsters (goblins in this case), is fraught with peril and danger. It makes me wonder how anyone thinks it's a good idea to be an adventurer. And that's really the core of the show. It presents a world where protagonists aren't invincible. Where even the strongest fighter could take an errant arrow to the neck and die. It's both hard to watch, and incredibly satisfying in the cases where things actually do go right. Usually with these types of shows, I say it's not necessarily a fun watch, but it's immensely compelling, but with Goblin Slayer, I did actually manage to have some fun with it. It's not a show that wallows in misery, it just presents it's world as is, no frills. So sure, when we're hanging out in the city and not about to be slaughtered by monsters, the show is actually pretty cute and fun. All in all, certainly worth the watch for anyone who likes this genre, but be sure you know what you're getting yourself into. | |
| Goblin Slayer II (TV 2) | Decent |
| I don't have a lot to say about the second season of Goblin Slayer. The first season already kind of laid out its thesis statement for us. So, then, what does season 2 have to offer? Sadly, not a whole lot.
The issue here is that the gritty, unfeeling world from season 1 was the draw. Characters would die unceremoniously. It was intense, but compelling at the same time. Season 2 has lost that edge. Or perhaps it was never that strong to begin with and some time away from that first episode of season 1 has dulled the blade of the show. Regardless, what we get here is a lot of generic RPG fantasy party adventuring, with some "brutal" goblin killing thrown in. Things rarely get actually stressful for anyone involved. What "horrors" we do see aren't really all that much now. Instead, we're mostly just wandering around doing the normal rpg stuff, and the writing in this show is not good enough to prop something so simple up on its own. It's fine. There's nothing wrong with it. But, something's been lost, and season 2 just ends up feeling kind of boring and generic. The characters can still be fun at times, and that is the redeeming quality of the show. But still, the last thing I want is for Goblin Slayer to turn into a character driven comedy or drama. Sadly, this isn't it. Not sure if they'll make another season, but I'm pretty much done here. | |
| God Eater (TV) | Excellent |
| There's tons of things that make me psyched to watch God Eater. For one, the art style is super unique and really lends the show a lot of power. The action is absolutely gorgeous (helped by the great art direction), and the musical score works really well. The story isn't the most original (think Attack on Titan), but it is at least presented in an unusual way and doesn't retread too often. God Eater is it's own world and story for sure, even if it's overarching plot archetypes are fairly standard for the genre. Pretty much the only complaint I have is with the characters. A couple are ok, but most of them are badly under-developed and one of them is treated so poorly by the show that it actually made parts of the ending hard to watch for me (of course that might just be me and my extreme dislike of stories mistreating their female leads for no reason and casting their initial strengths aside so that they can support the male main character in the end, like a good girl would do, yech). But yeah, I think this show is overall fantastic. I would love for it to get another season, though I wouldn't be surprised if it didnt. Ufotable is so busy anyway and they do so much great work that I'm not sure I want them to take a break from their normal schedule to do this show again if they aren't really invested in it. Regardless, lots of great things to be found here, I really liked it. | |
| Golden Kamuy (TV) | Good |
| Golden Kamuy was fun, and I'd consider it a good show, but it isn't overly gripping or anything like that. The Ainu angle is neat, and the setting of post WWII Japan in Hokkaido is also pretty unique, but that's about all that sets this show apart from the rest. The story isn't the greatest, it's a typical underworld crime race to the treasure type of show. None of the characters beyond our bumbling hero and his super-ainu sidekick are really that compelling. The show itself could be good, but for now it's been largely predictable. Hopefully some good twists come in the next season. It has been fun learning about the Ainu though. | |
| Golden Kamuy (TV 2) | Decent |
| The most interesting thing that Golden Kamuy has going for it is the setting and history that the show explores. Much like season 1, this season continues the search for the hidden gold and introduces even more characters who are after the prize. The problem I've run into is that there are just too many characters for me to keep straight. They all are wearing the same military uniforms, and they have the same sort of features and design, and that makes it very, very hard for me to remember who is who, which is of vital importance in a show like golden kamuy where every character could be a traitor. I guess this reinforces why shows often use such strking hair colors or outfits for their characters. It really helps more than I realized. Anyway, back to Golden Kamuy, the show suffers from the fact that it knows this whole situation is completely absurd, and doesn't really treat it's characters with the appropriate gravity that the situation calls for. It's nice to have lighthearted shenanigans, but it makes it hard for the show to really get me too deeply invested. It's a nice little show, but nothing special at the end of the day. | |
| Golden Time (TV) | Good |
| Golden Time isn't really my type of show to begin with, but I still enjoyed it thoroughly. It is a romance through and through and is just steeped in drama. I knew what I was getting into, but still felt that a lot of felt a bit forced. I hate sitting there thinking that characters aren't acting realistically, but if you can suspend a bit of disbelief, there's actually a pretty touching story here. The show follows our protagonist, Tada Banrie, as he has enrolled in a new college. He meets a few different people and forms a tight clique. One of the girls, Kaga Kogo, is a beautiful girl who has come to this college to chase after her childhood friend who she is madly in love with. As the series progresses though, Barie and Koko start to hit it off, and much to koko's childhood friend's relief, they get together. The series then deals with how difficult it is for these people, who both have significant issues, manage the ups and downs of their relationship and their friendships with those other people around them. There is also the subplot that Banrie has lost his memories since graduating high school. He had confessed to his own childhood friend, Linda, and was waiting for her on a bridge after graduation for her answer. She was late though, and Banrie was in an accident that caused him to fall off the bridge and lose his memories. This means that not only does he have to deal with confronting his past (Linda is among his new group of friends, and also has a thing for him), but his memories eventually start returning, at the cost of the memories he's made since then. All in all, I'd wholeheartedly recommend this to someone looking for a romance drama type of show. It's not my usual cup of tea, but I looked forward to it every week and enjoyed it. | |
| Gosick (TV) | Very good |
| Somehow Gosick has fallen through the cracks of my reviews. I'm sitting here in 2023 racking my brain and trying to remember my thoughts about this show that I saw over a decade ago. This was probably the first shojo adjacent show I had ever seen, so I'm happy that I didn't write it off or anything. I remember the gothic aesthetic was cool, and I enjoyed the main characters and their chemistry. I'd love to go back to this one at some point again. | |
| Granblue Fantasy the Animation (TV) | Good |
| Granblue is about as typical a fantasy adventure as you're going to get. It feels very Final Fantasy inspired, which makes sense as it is a japanese rpg. Just it's a cell phone game instead of on actual consoles. Regardless, it's fun for what it is, which is a nifty little fantasy adventure with airships and magic and an evil empire and a ragtag, ever expanding cast of protagonists. My chief complaints are that I didn't particularly buy Gran as a great main character (and this isn't helped by Djeeta being awesome in the OVA), and that Lyria is just kind of boring as the co-lead. In addition, the show feels very much like you're watching the game being played. The show is summed up as Go to new city, find quest givers, do quest, fight boss, go to new city and repeat. Just not that much special going on. That and, they keep teasing all kinds of animal-eared girls in the background, and I know there are a few official characters in the game, but they just couldn't make them a part of the show. I'm still very depressed about that. | |
| Granblue Fantasy the Animation (TV 2) | Good |
| We get some more backstories on the crew in season 2, but it's still very much the same show as season 1. Nothing all that special yet. | |
| (The) Great Jahy Will Not Be Defeated! (TV) | Good |
| Jahy is about as bog standard of a comedy show you're going to get. It has a premise that is basically a repeat of Devil is a Part-timer or I Couldn't Become a Hero so I Reluctantly Decided to Get a Job, and the jokes kinda fall flat at times, but somewhere beneath it all, Jahy actually has some heart after all. While a lot of the scenarios are kinda groan inducing, or you can see the punch line coming a mile away (because let's face it, the entire cast basically each has one personality trait that gets played over and over again for the same jokes), but still, the joy and excitement we get to witness as Jahy learns how to have friends and how to appreciate both the big and little things in life are quite heartwarming. For that alone, it's a worthwhile show. But, there's a lot here that I wish was better. | |
| Grimgar, Ashes and Illusions (TV) | Very good |
| This show is a bit of a more realistic take on the isekai genre, as it has it's group of main characters largely struggling to do much of anything well for most of the show. It's not like Konosuba though where it is framed as a comedy at the expense of its characters. Instead, Grimgar is the kind of reality that feels extremely real and personal, while still being a fantasy world.
What I'm trying to say is that there's a lot of character development and feels and the like without much in the way of action or plot. I'm all in on that kind of structure usually, and Grimgar knocks it out of the park. It's content to move very slowly and let the characters slowly come into their own both as an individual and as a part of this sort of ragtag but lovable team. It's about how they face adversity and stay optimistic and focused on the future in a harsh world that owes them nothing and takes without reservation at every opportunity. The characters are incredible and come to feel something like a family by the end. Aside from the character development, the other way that Grimgar excels is in it's artwork. The character designs and backgrounds are beautiful and are unlike almost any other anime that I've seen. It really reinforces the slower, more meticulous story with the soft, almost watercolor-esque world. This is a beautiful, deliberate, thinking type of show, and worth a watch for anyone who is interested in a more down to earth, and a bit darker than normal, fantasy adventure. | |
| Grisaia: Phantom Trigger (OAV) | Very good |
| This is a spinoff of the rest of the Grisaia universe (Fruit and Eden). It took a little bit to win me over (Michiru... I miss you), but the new cast is a lot of fun in their own right, and I enjoyed getting to know the crew. I appreciate Phantom Trigger for not subjecting us too much to tragedy porn in the same way that Fruit of Grisaia did, instead it does show some tragic backstories a little bit, but mostly it is more matter of fact, and instead the characters are looking ahead and growing. This series is a bit more cavalier with violence than the original, that gives it more of a standard anime feeling compared to the original, but it's still a good time and recommended. | |
| Grisaia: Phantom Trigger the Animation Stargazer (OAV) | Very good |
| This is really just the third episode of Phantom Trigger, it's barely longer than episode 2. Either way, what I said about the OAV still applies here. I hope they make more. | |
| Ground Control to Psychoelectric Girl (TV) | Good |
| I'm coming back to add this review many years after having seen the show. I remember it having some interesting characters, with the main girl being a really strange one. However, I also remember it kinda being a bit boring and slow. Regardless, this is a pretty good character focused show with some touching moments. However, I don't remember much of it anymore which explains the middling score that I ended up going with. | |
| Gugure! Kokkuri-san (TV) | Good |
| Cute, if largely forgettable. There's a lot to like here, and it does a good job with the characters it's been given. I know that this is a show I will never go back to, and never really recommend to anyone, but it was a fine, relaxing comedy, with just enough laughs to get the job done. | |
| Gunbuster (OAV) | Very good |
| I watched Gunbuster in 2021, and shockingly, this 1988 OVA by Gainax holds up really, really well. The hard sci-fi was super cool to see, as we currently live in an age of anime that just doesn't even try with stuff like that. Sure, there were cliched character moments, but it still had the feel of an epic show with huge stakes that can measure up to any modern day classic. Lots of fun, cool nostalgia, and just overall, a great watch. And I'm not even a big mecha fan or anything. I'm going to wait a bit to watch Diebuster, but I can't wait to see it eventually. | |
| Gurren Lagann (TV) | Very good |
| What is there to say about this show that hasn't been said already? This was Trigger's big breakout hit, and would later inspire Kill la Kill. It's bombastic, over the top, mecha craziness with a wacky and fun cast of characters to match. And I didn't even mention the HYPE. I'm not even a mecha fan, but let me tell you, that does not matter one bit. This is an experience that all anime fans should go through at least once. It's one of the most significant shows in the medium, and has stuck with me throughout the decade since I first saw it. I'm so happy we have Trigger and that they're still doing their thing. It's cool to see where it all started. ROW ROW FIGHT THE POWER! | |
| .hack//Legend of the Twilight (TV) | Bad |
| I have a certain affinity towards shows that are heavily involved with technology, and specifically MMOs as I am an avid WoW player myself. That said, Legend of the Twilight is certainly the weakest .hack series I have seen, and the only reason I even gave it the light of day was due to the fact that Sign was so good. First off, the character designs really annoyed me from the start. The main characters, Rena and Shugo, are both drawn in an almost chibi version of the characters from the manga, as such its very hard to take them seriously. The rest of the cast is easily forgettable. The plot is muddled, and can't decide what to focus on. It's got the typical unable to log out/coma victim thing that Sign did, but the tension is entirely lacking. Episode one shows us that invincible monsters have appeared, but Shugo is gifted a bracelet that can kill them with one cast. As such, his victory is never in question. The climax and resolution make little to no sense as well. The ultimate antagonist is thrown in during the last 5 minutes of the last episode and promptly discarded in a sad attempt to make the actions of these "evil" players seem justified. Honestly, my favorite moment in this entire show was when Silver Knight showed up. His character development from Sign completely outshines everyone in Legend of the Twilight, which is sad considering he was my least favorite character in .hack prior to meeting everyone in this show. Altogether, there is simply nothing redeeming at all. Just rewatch Sign, it's a better use of your time. | |
| .hack//Liminality (OAV) | So-so |
| This is a collection of four OAV episodes that show what was happening in the real world when the events of the .hack video games take place. The only reason I watched this at first was because I mistakenly thought that it was a companion to Sign, not the video games. I was pleasantly surprised however, by the depth that Liminality displayed. Each of the three main girls has an episode focus on them and then it all comes together in the end with them infiltrating CC Corp's server bank that is a nailbiter to the end. I assume people who have played the games would really enjoy this, however as I had not, a few things were over my head. The third episode in particular was very hard to follow as it pitted the characters on a scavenger hunt related to Japanese history (or that's my best guess, it was really quite confusing). That said, if you like .hack a lot, these episodes are worth your time. | |
| .hack//SIGN (TV) | Very good |
| Sign is by far the best of all the .hack shows. It was the first one I saw and sent me on a mission to rediscover the magic as I trudged my way through one bad .hack series after another. Sign though, is truly wonderful. It is so chill and laid back, like only an old school anime can be. The music and sound design is hypnotic, and the art style is wonderfully retro. I cannot recommend this show enough. It will get you thinking. It will hit you hard in the feels. It's worth it just to see what MMO style shows could be like, back when they were more experimental, before Sword Art Online became a template. This is the sort of show that would never succeed today, and I'm endlessly thankful that I found it when I did. | |
| Hacka Doll the Animation (TV) | Good |
| Yet another entry into the mindless entertainment before bed bucket. That said, Hackadoll is shockingly good as far as that sort of fare goes. It's a short (8 minutes or so per), but it is clever, and biting in just the right amounts. Solid, fun times. | |
| Haganai (TV) | Very good |
| Haganai is a special entry in the school harem comedy scene. Kodaka is a nuanced and flawed main character, which you don't often see in a genre that tends to have milquetoast self-insert MCs almost as a rule. The girls are varied and fun, and while there are plenty of silly moments, the show never forgets to lean in with more heartfelt and meaningful scenes throughout its run. Among harem shows, this is pretty much the cream of the crop, and is what others should aspire to be. Even ten years after it originally aired, it still holds up as among the best of the best. Highly recommended. | |
| Haganai NEXT (TV) | Very good |
| See season 1 | |
| Hamatora (TV) | Good |
| Maybe Hamatora gets a bump in the ratings because it aired during a very lackluster anime season, but it's certainly no worse than Good. It's a perfectly enjoyable show about characters with abilities, called minimums, that have to go around solving crimes. The name of the show comes from the Hamatora detective agency that specializes in solving cases around minimum users. The plot is pretty solid, and the antagonist is actually quite compelling, which is a breath of fresh air next to the faceless dumb villains that I've grown accustomed to. The cast of characters are all interesting in their own ways, and the little bit of action is solid. I'm really considering downgrading this to good as I type, because it's becoming more and more apparent to me that there really isn't anything special here. Still a fun show that I would recommend if the premise seems up your alley. Edit: Downgraded to Good | |
| Hanamonogatari (TV) | Very good |
| Hanamonogatari holds the line well and attempts to really dive deep into life after Koyomi Araragi. Unfortunately, the few scenes where he appears at the end really only served to remind me how much better things are when he's around. That said, Kanbaru's story is interesting and unique, but it ends up lacking a certain punch that some of the previous arcs had. It's still certainly monogatari, with all the good that is to be found. It is still a superior production that's fun simply to look at. But perhaps I'm beginning to understand why the series appears to be winding down. Here's to hoping it goes out with a bang. Onto Tsukimonogatari! | |
| Hanayamata (TV) | Very good |
| There are some shows that are notable for their amazing stories, groundbreaking twists and turns, and incredible action and visuals. However, there are other shows that simply get by on charm and energy alone. I would guess you could figure out where Hanayamata falls. There's nothing groundbreaking here, but everything is expertly woven together. I haven't the slightest interest in yosakoi dance, but I found myself drawn into these characters' worlds. Everything about the show feels so earnest and excited. That's not to say that the show is pure fluff, because the characters certainly have their moments of doubt and hardship, but it was never in question that they would come together in the end. Great, great show. | |
| Haruchika – Haruta & Chika (TV) | Very good |
| So let's get something out of the way immediately. Yes, this show is coming out right after Sound Euphonium. Yes, it is about basically the same thing. Yes, the director looks and acts exactly the same in both shows. Yes, it's hard to shake the feeling that Haruchika is a direct response to Sound Euphonium. But, before you write it off, it's worth noting that there's actually a solid show to be found here in spite of that. First off, the show is, at it's core, a mystery show. Each episode focuses on some minor mystery that will be solved that week, and it's usually set up in such a way that the mystery opens the door to some actually very touching character development moments. It's unfortunate this gets overshadowed by the mere presence of Sound Euphonium that's basically superior in every way, because Haruchika is a great little show on its own. | |
| Haven't You Heard? I'm Sakamoto (TV) | Excellent |
| Sakamoto is one of the most interesting and unique shows I've ever seen. At it's core it's a high school comedy, but I've never seen anything done like this. Sakamoto is known far and wide as the coolest high schooler to ever walk the earth. Everything he does is ultra stylish and he continually turns awkward or bad situations into hilarity through his wit, charm, and freakish athletic skills. If you want to see a comedy about bullies and delinquents slowly turning into idolizers of Sakamoto and model citizens of their school through his winning personality, then you've got yourself a show. Seriously, it's wickedly funny and highly ridiculous. Go watch now! | |
| Heaven's Design Team (TV) | Very good |
| Heaven's Design Team is a super cute show that you could show to someone who isn't into anime and they would most likely really enjoy it. It blends education (you learn a lot about different animals and why they evolved the way they did), with fun storytelling about the overworked consultants who God hired to create animals for him after he got bored. The characters are pretty flat, but they are charming in their own ways, and it's fun to watch them bounce off of each other. Mostly, this show will have you smiling throughout. It's also fun to play along and try to figure out what animal they will create after God makes his request for "an animal that can do x", and to watch their various failed attempts before it turns out that it's a sea otter or a giraffe! | |
| Heaven's Lost Property (TV) | Good |
| I'm coming back to this show many years after having first seen it. It was the first true "ecchi" show I'd ever seen, and while that fascinated me at the time, it is now clear to me that there's nothing all that unique or exciting. Essentially, if you like the character designs, it might be worth your time. However, I remember next to nothing about it and wouldn't really recommend it now. | |
| Heaven's Lost Property Forte (TV) | Good |
| See season 1 | |
| (The) Heike Story (TV) | Excellent |
| I don't normally get into shows about ancient Japan. Especially ones with wide casts of characters with complex names and family trees that Japanese students learn about in school. Heike Monogatari though is undeniably compelling and pulled me in like I haven't been before. I didn't know the story of the Taira and their rise and fall, which is probably a minority of the viewers of this show, so I kinda was hanging on every plot point, wondering what was going to happen. Of course, we always knew what was going to happen, every good epic passed down has similar story beats, but still, it was fascinating. Seeing it through the lens of Biwa was all the more interesting as well. I wouldn't say I overly connected with any characters, but the overall feeling got to me and resonated. It's incredibly well done. | |
| Hell's Paradise (TV) | So-so |
| I have some thoughts about Jigokuraku. I'm going to get into everything in a bit, and will note when spoilers start, but let me get my overall thoughts out of the way first. It really makes me sad how much time, effort, and money was poured into this project. There are such better stories out there that deserve this treatment, yet here we are, watching Mappa pull the wool over our eyes as they animate flashy looking designs and fights and as they tease all these "crazy mysteries" to hide the fact that this show has basically zero substance. There's nothing here. Bad writing is when plot happens to characters with no agency on their part. They get pulled along because the story demands it. That's Jigokuraku in a nutshell. It has no reason to exist. So, let's dive into the specifics now. Starting with the good. Gabimaru is actually a realized character with interesting internal struggles and the barest hint of personal motivation. It falls apart when you think about things for two seconds (if he really wanted only to get back to his wife, surely he is powerful enough not to have to play along with this "game"), but he has something going for him. The rest of the characters have basically nothing. They are here because fights need to happen and the shogunate ordered them to come here. There's no agency. There's no personal motivations. Everyone else is just "win and get off the island". That's it. The mysteries surrounding the island start off semi-compelling. But just like the most famous example of mysterious islands in shows (Lost), it's clear that Jigokuraku is never going to make good on whatever interesting theories you might think of. Instead all the mysteries boil down to the leaders on this island mastered "ying-yang" qi like powers and so they can do whatever BS is needed for the show to be mysterious. And they've been experimenting for thousands of years. End scene. There's no payoff there. It's basically the least original or exciting answer to anything. So, at the end of the day, yeah, this looks good. But what else is there? Why is this island significant to anyone? It just doesn't matter at all. There's no narrative. It's just a shonen fight simulator island. So yeah, I'm done with this. There's much better types of these shows out there. Those flowers sure were nicely animated though. | |
| Hello!! KINMOZA (TV) | Decent |
| More of the same as Kiniro Mosaic season 1 | |
| (The ")Hentai" Prince and the Stony Cat. (TV) | Decent |
| This show is a slightly interesting take on the romantic comedy genre. Our main character, Yokodera, is a self-described pervert who seems to only care about women and how to see them in varying states of undress. However, he runs into a problem where he feels like his inhibitions are holding him back, and makes a wish to the cat god statue to rid him of his inhibitions. At the same time, Tsukiko (don't ask me to spell her full name) is also there and wishes that she could better hide her emotions. The cat god is real, as it turns out, and grants both wishes. This starts the chain of wishes followed by their unintended consequences, and the characters getting to know each other. It's kind of like a modern day fairy tale. That said, it gets a bit convoluted, but the show is quirky and fun. | |
| Hidamari Sketch (TV) | Good |
| Hidamari Sketch is slice of life comfort food. There's cute girls doing cute things and... that's pretty much it. The girls are all living away from home in apartments across the street from their high school (where they mostly study art). We see them at school and hanging out in their apartments just kinda doing silly stuff. It's calming in its predictability. It's also fun to see this as a fan of Shaft, as this is one of their earlier works and you can see some of the techniques and creative approaches they would go on to use in some of their more recent shows. | |
| Hidamari Sketch (special) | Good |
| Just a couple bonus episodes from season 1. I consider this all one package. | |
| Hidamari Sketch × 365 (TV) | Very good |
| This is season 2. Hidamari Sketch is maybe one of the most charming and heartfelt slice of life shows I've ever seen. Shaft does a wonderful job putting this together. All the little things are there and that makes this group of girls so much fun to spend time with. Very excited for future seasons. | |
| Hidamari Sketch × 365 (special) | Very good |
| Just some bonus episodes for season 2. I consider these one package. | |
| Hidamari Sketch × Hoshimittsu (TV) | Excellent |
| I don't have much more to add. I have been watching plenty of slice of life shows, but I keep coming back to Hidamari Sketch and I'm just further reminded how much better this is than pretty much everything else. It's just so much fun. I enjoyed the new characters we met in the dorm this year. It was fun seeing the first years move in and interact with our cast. Can't wait for more. It's taking so much restraint to not just marathon the rest of the show. | |
| High School Fleet (TV) | Very good |
| High School Fleet is an interesting show because it straddles the line of two different genres that really have no business intersecting. It starts off as a moe-blob kind of show. There are cute girls and they are just starting high school, except, their high school is made up of battleships and destroyers! Hilarious! It sort of comes off initially like this will be a story about cute girls doing cute things on ships, which is all well and good, until the 180 degree whiplash we get in the last seconds of the first episode. So the instructors ship fires on the girls and declares that their ship has mutinied. The girls are shocked and all of a sudden High School Fleet goes off on a sort of action/fugitive type of scenario for a while. The show becomes all about figuring out what's going on, why are ships going out of control, and can they clear their names type of plot. It was entirely unexpected, but shockingly, it actually kinda works. It at least makes for a far more interesting show. I really liked this, unexpectedly, and I wouldn't mind a second season. After all, even after all they've been through they still have most of their high school years ahead of them. | |
| High School Fleet (OAV) | Good |
| This ova is a two episode special that takes place after season 1 and explains how the class ends up with a new ship. The Harekaze has been damaged enough that it now sits alone in the harbor, slowly sinking. The girls worry that their class will be split up now that they have no ship, and spend most of the runtime gathering their various members and trying to convince the school not to disband their class. Of course, there was never any danger of that. As a reward for their hard work, the school outfits them with a new ship, using many of the parts from the Harekaze. So, there's a bit of narrative development in these OVAs, but it's really not necessary to watch them, all you learn is that they get a new ship. There's some cute moments, but they feel more like a whirlwind, trying to give each girl in the class their time to shine. Totally skippable, but fun if you enjoyed the world and characters in the show. | |
| High School of the Dead (TV) | Good |
| What can I say about this show that hasn't been said already? Yeah, it's fanservice galore, and it does get bonus points for actually having a compelling story and for successfully setting such a fanservice-y laden show amid a gore-y, bloody zombie apocalypse. However, it is no masterpiece, and the further I get from it, the more it kinda fades away in my memory. | |
| Hina Logic - from Luck & Logic (TV) | Decent |
| This is yet another slice of life show that I watched before going to sleep. Hina Logic doesn't do all that much to set itself apart from similar girls doing cute things in high school shows, even with the magical girl type of background setting. There are a few flashy action sequences, but for the most part we are concerned with what the girls will give each other on their birthdays or putting on a play for the school festival. If you enjoy slice of life shows, this is a passable entry, but it's really nothing more beyond that. | |
| Hinako Note (TV) | Decent |
| Hinako Note is pretty basic as far as slice of life shows go. It could have had some interesting moments with the whole theme of Hinako herself getting over her shyness to become an actress in the local theater troupe, but that might have some level of drama therefore it's all kinda overlooked for cheap laughs. Sometimes that's what you want, but this show isn't really good enough in any respect to stand out. Some cute moments, but it's entirely skippable. | |
| Hinamatsuri (TV) | Good |
| Hinamatsuri is at its core, a comedy. A lot of the jokes hit for me, but too many of them only elicited the slightest of chuckles at best. It's a fun show, and the gimmick of a veteran yakuza suddenly having to take care of a young girl who is a real brat is actually a pretty solid premise. However, the gimmick kinda wears thin by the end, and the other characters aren't enough to really save things. It's fun but forgettable. Oh, and they kinda treat their young girls just a little bit... too skeevy at times, especially the one trapped on the island, kinda left a bad taste in my mouth. | |
| Hitori Bocchi no Marumaru Seikatsu (TV) | Excellent |
| Hitoribocchi is one of the greatest school comedy shows I've ever seen. The love and care that went into this show is evident from the start (well, from episode 2 at least). It's seriously funny and has an outstanding cast of characters. Hitori herself is the cutest thing ever, and I was rooting for her all along as she slowly starts growing out of her social awkwardness and shyness, making great friends all along the way. There's something special here, and I highly recommend this show to anyone looking for absurdity and laughs. It's a wonderful show that will have anyone smiling in no time flat. | |
| Horimiya (TV) | Masterpiece |
| I fully admit that I'm a sucker for these types of shows, but Horimiya takes high school romance/comedy to another level. It's extremely refreshing to see a show about mature characters living in normal, realistic situations. It reminds me somewhat of Just Because or Sing Yesterday for Me, but Horimiya does not revel in the drama, feels, or sense of melancholy that follows those two shows. Instead, it's a much more optimistic and fun take on high school drama, and I think this goes a long, long way to elevating Horimiya above the rest of this genre. As it is, Horimiya is the gold standard now for me. Anime very rarely commits to a relationship between its leads, while Horimiya jumps right in. It's fascinating to watch a show about life after the confession, and though some shows have done this before, I think Horimiya does it the best. They have subtle, nuanced characters all living out their own lives. It feels like how I remember high school, and many of the scenes have stayed with me throughout the runtime. I'm pretty bummed out we won't be getting another season most likely, but heck, this one is worth all the rewatches I can give it. Just a wonderful, incredible show. | |
| Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere (TV) | Very good |
| Welp, I hardly know what I just watched. I enjoyed every minute of Horizon, but please, don't ask me about the story. I'm just gonna start listing thoughts: Space travel, impossible, back to earth, apocalypse, recreate medieval history, alternate dimension japan, flying airship cities, magic, witches, mechas, fanservice, robots, action, explosions, politics, debate, inverse parallelism (seriously wtf was that), the list just goes on and on and on. But seriously, watch the show, it's a huge amount of fun. | |
| Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere II (TV) | Very good |
| Still love this show. Still don't know what it is about. | |
| Hortensia Saga (TV) | So-so |
| This started out as the Fire Emblem anime that I've always wanted. By the end, I just couldn't be ready for the show to be over fast enough. The problem with this type of show is that it's impossible to tell a story on the scale I want over 12 episodes. Hell, Grancrest struggled hard, and they had 24 episodes. You just can't really do justice to an epic fantasy type of story in this little time. That said, Hortensia had some interesting characters, and a few cool ideas. But, if you want to watch this show, you should go watch Marksman and Vanadis 10 times over. Even with the fanservice, that show runs circles around this one. Grancrest, for all its faults, and Legend of the Legendary Heroes are also other shows that do much better at the traditional high fantasy/fire emblem concepts. This one just kinda left a sour taste in my mouth with how generic and poor the writing ended up being.
Badass opening though. | |
| How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord (TV) | Good |
| How not to summon a demon lord is a pretty standard isekai show. Our hero finds himself transported to the fantasy world of the MMO that he is obsessed with. The twist being that he was summoned by two girls who wanted to summon a powerful monster for their own using. The summoning spell backfired, since our MC arrives in the world as strong as his avatar was in game, and his special skill, reflect, makes it so that the girls are the ones bound to him, not the other way around. Cue all the ecchi hijinks. Okay actually there's some story to be found, but the reason you're watching this is for the fan service for sure. I wish it went a little bit farther in that regard, so at least that could be the focus without worrying too much about the mediocre story, but it is what it is. Nothing exceptional here, but if you like big busty elves and tsundere catgirls, this show has that going for it for sure. | |
| How to keep a mummy (TV) | Good |
| How to keep a mummy is another kind of basic slice of life series. The gimmick this time around is that supernatural beings like the titular mummy, and demons and dragons and so on are all actually real, and they're also little chibi things that are absolutely adorable. They're more like smart pets that can't talk, but can emote and gesture to get their points across. A group of high school kids ends up each adopting one such chibi monster pet and the series is mainly about them hanging out and the amusing things they get up to. It's mostly nonsense, but it's fun nonsense. Definitely recommended for those who are fans of slice of life, but it's not really anything too special. It's just fun, cute, and feel good type of fare, and sometimes that's exactly what I need. | |
| HYOUKA (TV) | Excellent |
| Wow, this show is an amazing experience. I'm a big fan of mystery books and shows, so the themes of the show captured my attention immediately. Once I was hooked, it was the amazing character development and artistry surrounding the rest of the show that had me on the edge of my seat throughout. Of course, I knew this was going to be great. I've been a fan of KyoAni for a long time, and I had been kind of saving Hyouka for a rainy day, so to speak, and I wasn't disappointed in the least. I think this show is juuuuust shy of a 10/10, mainly due to a few points of slow pacing kind of bogging things down, as well as a few mysteries that felt, well, kinda tacked on. However, those are my only complaints. I think the animation and attention to detail was outstanding, and all four of our main characters were brilliantly captured by the show. I felt like I knew each of them personally, and was excited to watch them grow. The ending was a bit abrupt, and I think could have used another scene at the end for a nice resolution, but otherwise, I can't think of a more comforting school show than this one. I'd love for a sequel movie or short season to eventually come out, as I think there's a ton more that Hyouka has to offer. However, until then, this is a triumph that is more than capable of standing on its own. Exactly my kind of show.
I feel like I may have focused too much on negatives (which are really just nits) as I try to convince myself that giving Hyouka a 9/10 is the right move. Am I really so selective and full of myself to think that this show somehow isn't worthy of a 10? I don't know, the ending was a bit souring... Maybe I'll revisit this in a few days. But I don't want this to be a negative focused review. This show is beautiful, heartfelt, and a truer representation of high school life and growth than I have seen from practically any other show. These characters are going to hold a special place in my heart for a long, long time. Watching this was a special experience, and I highly encourage anyone out there to give it a shot. | |
| Hyperdimension Neptunia (TV) | Decent |
| It's entertaining for what it is, and that's video game consoles anthropomorphized as cute girls. It just kinda feels amateurish though. | |
| I Can't Understand What My Husband Is Saying (TV) | Good |
| I can't really rate this show, and its 3 minute run time, as anything higher than good, but really it was adorable and certainly worth the few minutes it takes to watch each episode. | |
| I Can't Understand What My Husband is Saying: 2nd Thread (TV 2) | Good |
| More of the same from season 1. Maybe a bit more touching over the clever comedy, but all in all, still the same show, still very cute, still recommended. | |
| I couldn't become a hero, so I reluctantly decided to get a job. (TV) | Good |
| I can't really in good faith rate this as any more than good. It is essentially purely fanservice. The girls though are fantastic, some of the best that I've found in a harem series. The show can also be pretty funny when it wants to, and the magic/fantasy background that the show takes place in is cool. But this show knows what it is, and knows that it will never be anything more than that. And that's ok, if that's what you're looking for. | |
| I'm in Love with the Villainess (TV) | Very good |
| What a fun show. I didn't have very high expectations, the animation looked highly questionable, and the first half of episode one made it seem like this was going to be a gag anime that quickly wore out its welcome with a single gimmick. See, Rae, our protagonist, is very, very vocal about her love for Claire (the titular villainess, also yay for Yuri!). So, we see over and over again that Claire tries to bully Rae, but Rae enjoys it and then says she is in love with Claire, then Claire gets flustered. Rinse, repeat. I've seen plenty of other shows that would have been content to run with that for their entire season. But, I'm in Love with the Villainess has more up its sleeve than just that.
After that kinda silly episode one, we actually turn around and start examining our characters more deeply, and shockingly, the show actually does a great job crafting some multi-dimensional and interesting characters out of its cast. What starts out as puppy-dog love from Rae's side eventually becomes honest and heartfelt (not that it wasn't always, but the show treats it with the proper gravity it deserves). And that's basically the theme here, the show takes itself seriously enough, and the writing is good enough, that it manages to grip you and doesn't let go. It's not content with cliches, which, when it comes to isekai, is a huge selling point. So yeah, I enjoyed the heck out of this. It helps I'm a big yuri fan, but even then, there's some genuine goodness here to be had. It's not perfect, but it's a dang good time. | |
| I'm Quitting Heroing (TV) | Good |
| I'm quitting heroing is a fun entry into the isekai/fantasy genre. It's not the first show that deals with the chosen hero deciding he's had enough of the heroing business, but it is the first one to go about it in quite this sort of way. Leo has protected humanity diligently, but with peace settling across the lands, the humans have decided he is too dangerous to hang around without any imminent threats. He goes to the only place he can think of, the remnants of the demon queen's army who he destroyed in the years prior, and asks for a job. What follows is a charming and sometimes surprisingly heartfelt show about a former hero learning to live in a new reality, combined with some silly workplace antics about our ragtag crew trying to reinvigorate the army. It's a fun time, though nothing here is particularly incredible. Still, that's saying a lot for this genre in 2022, so I guess that's a recommendation from me. | |
| I've Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level (TV) | Very good |
| This show is simply the cutest of the cute. It's about a girl who gets reincarnated into an isekai world, and just wants to live a slow life in the countryside. However, since she is blessed with eternal youth, over 300 years she slowly maxes out her level in this world and becomes a being of mythical proportions accidentally. Beings come from all over to challenge her or ask her for help, but one by one she gets the better of them and through some sort of shenanigans, they tend to move in with her, joining her in her quest for a slow life. Thus begins our episodes of nothing really happening and cute scenes of dragon girls or elf girls trying to run a coffee shop or training a failing minstrel musician. It's silly and largely completely unnecessary, but it makes me smile a ton, and that's worth a lot. Super cute show. | |
| If Her Flag Breaks (TV) | Weak |
| I hate to say that this show might have turned me off of generic harems altogether, but I think it did. The story of this show is an absolute disaster, nothing makes sense whatsoever and the girls man... the girls. This show had like 50 forgettable characters, one ok one who got no screen time, and one great one who turns out to be his sister? Romance and relationship development were non-existent because every episode was a struggle just to get each girl in the scene. Just not good at all. I'm done. | |
| In/Spectre (TV) | Excellent |
| In/Spectre is by the same author as Blast of Tempest, so you can figure out a bit of what to expect if you're familiar with that one. I'd guess this would be a character focused drama with some action and a lot of cleverly written dialogue. And, well, that's pretty much what you get with In/Spectre. I think the advantage this one has is that the primary characters are just so god damn likable. Kotoko is our little bundle of energy protagonist and she just oozes charisma and pluck, while Kuro is stuck as her put-upon boyfriend who just wants to get through the day and nothing more. Their chemistry is shockingly strong and makes for great television, which is exactly what you need to drive a show like this, because at its core, In/Spectre is a show that's really just about inventing compelling stories. Kotoko is somewhat of a spirtual priestess type of character, who can see and interact with all kinds of supernatural beings. She operates as their mediator, solving petty issues and the like. Kuro steps in when things get hairy to protect her, but most of the show revolves around Kotoko inventing solutions that will satisfy her clients, whether these solutions are true or not (and they are often not) is irrelevant. Therefore, it's a good thing this show is as smart and tight with its writing as it is. It wouldn't work otherwise. I absolutely love great characters and smart, compelling dialogue, so this show works exceptionally well for me. It's certainly not for everyone though, as highly as I would recommend it. | |
| In/Spectre (TV 2) | Excellent |
| As much as I liked season 1, I recognize that it was a flawed experience. The season ended up dominated by the Steel Lady Nanase arc, and it became a bit hard to follow as we dug so deeply into this one single case. I much prefer the series of small vignettes that make up season 2. This is where the show shines. Each case is 2-3 episodes and features a vibrant cast of interesting characters. Kotoko, however, really comes into her own here. She's such a fun, unique character that you can't help but want to root for her. As far as mystery adjacent shows with heavy dialogue and light supernatural elements go, this is pretty much the best one out there. It's highly recommended, if this is a format that works for you. | |
| Inari Kon Kon (TV) | Very good |
| Inari Kon Kon is a hearfelt show about growing up, frienship, and romance with a little added supernatural flair for good measure. Inari is our titular protagonist, who is unsure of herself and convinced the popular boy she has feelings for will never notice her because she has really no self esteem. This stems from the fact that she is named Inari, which is an odd name shared by a local shrine to a fox god, but otherwise is just off enough that she never really felt comfortable enough in her own skin. That changes when Uka, the goddess of the Inari shrine, takes pity on the girl who used to hide within the shrine as her safe space, and grants her a slice of her divine powers to help her to face her life with pride, and maybe win the heart of the boy she has such a big crush on.
Yeah, Inari Kon Kon is a shoujo show. It's pretty obvious from the overly flowery motifs and the general themes of the show (young, shy girl has run in with a goddess who helps her to remake herself and wins friends and romances). But this show is done rather well, with a solid dose of comedy and slice of life goodness thrown in. It is content to let the romance actually take a backseat for most of this show. Inari Kon Kon is NOT a tearjerker, drama filled, love triangle mess of a high school romance. It's instead about Inari, her friends, her brother, and Uka herself all growing up in a certain sense, learning about who they are and what is important to them. I think that it's this distinction which helps Inari Kon Kon stand out in a crowded genre and makes it feel fresh. Definitely recommended. | |
| Insomniacs After School (TV) | Excellent |
| How can I properly do justice to this show. It's so nice to see this new trend of high school romance style shows where it's not just built upon the foundation of endless will they, won't they shenanigans. At one point one of the side characters mentions that he thought the main couple was already dating, and yeah, I guess technically they weren't, but c'mon. They have pretty much been dating since the first episode. It allows for a more wholesome and relatable story about people as they are, not about cliches and shenanigans. And that's where Insomniacs shines brightest. The relationship isn't important. What is, is our characters finding themselves and coming to terms with where they are at in life. By realizing that they can lean on each other, they learn how to accept themselves. That's really the core of the show, and it's really wonderful. However, I'll give some of my other, more surface thoughts. The cats in this show are super cute and I want to pet all of them. I love, like super love, their senpai who graduated and is running that arcade out in the middle of nowhere. She's one of the most fun characters I can remember in a long time. I also really like how it portrayed high school friend groups. When the friends showed up to crash their club "camp" at the end, it reminded me so much of my actual high school summer experiences that it was crazy. Almost effortlessly, this show seems to know how to just keep things real. There are no cliches. A lesser show would have taken the easy outs, like health scares and all that, but this one never stooped to that level. I'm endlessly thankful, and of all the school club/coming of age/romance/slice of life shows that I've seen, this is for sure one of the best ones. This is a very strong recommend. | |
| Interviews with Monster Girls (TV) | So-so |
| I was excited to pick this show up when it cycled to the front of my slice of life queue, but it ended up being a pretty big let down. The girls are cute, but their pseudo-romantic romance with their teacher is most definitely not. Frankly, it completely ruined the show for me. I just felt gross watching it. I muscled through and finished, everything about it was probably above average SoL material, but I still don't feel good about it. | |
| Inugami-san to Nekoyama-san (TV) | Decent |
| Nothing really special here. Only 3 minute episodes, but there are cute minutes to be found. Nothing more and nothing less. | |
| IRODUKU: The World in Colors (TV) | Excellent |
| Irodoku is absolutely gorgeous, first and foremost, and that's something that is going to elevate this show throughout the entire season, not just in big moments. I guess it's a bit appropriate given that the show is about a photography and art club that the settings and backgrounds could be confused for actual photos. Regardless, this is a top 5 show in terms of visuals, and it makes everything a pure pleasure to enjoy. The story is a bit less interesting, with our main character, Hitomi, sent back to 60 years in the past by her grandmother as a way of helping her find herself. Hitomi is lost in many ways, and when she arrives to the days where her grandmother was in high school like her, Hitomi falls in with her grandmother's group of friends and begins to realize who she is. There's drama and love triangles, and nothing about it is really that new or interesting, but the visuals combined with Hitomi's journey are powerful, and the catharsis as the show moves her along is incredible. The weakness of a kind of cliched story keeps this from being a 10, but that doesn't mean it isn't worth watching. This is one of the finest high school dramas Î've seen. | |
| (The) irregular at magic high school (TV) | Very good |
| I should just deal with the elephant in the room up front. Yes Shiba Tatsuya is so overpowered he has all but broken any semblance of balance in the world of this show, but the show isn't really built like a typical shonen, where it's a constant fight to the top. Instead it is more about this world of magic and technology that they are constructing, and the myriad of interesting and unique characters that populate it. If you want character building and overcoming hardship, several of the other main characters do go through things like this, but Shiba, he's something else man. I'd urge you to give it a try. Lots of action, lots of laughs, and you can feel free to just kick back and not worry about things. It's a little bit refreshing honestly. | |
| (The) Irregular at Magic High School: Visitor Arc (TV) | Decent |
| It's been five years or so since season 1, and I can no longer just put up with Shiba being stupidly overpowered. It's just... ugh. Removes all tension from the show. Also this arc didn't make sense. But whatever, I guess it looked fine. | |
| Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? (TV) | Very good |
| I'm not sure I can think of a show with a more misleading title than this one. In reality it isn't about trying to pick up girls, in fact our main character is pretty hopeless around them. It's more apt to describe this show as a real life jrpg. The world is a sort of what if rpg elements suddenly appeared in real life. Our main character decides he wants to be a hero, so he joins up with a lonely goddess (hestia, you might have heard of her), and starts to hone his skills while Hestia keeps a close eye on his stats and experience. His earnest and honest nature wins several close allies to his side as he ventures deeper into the dungeon than ever before. It's really just a fun fantasy show at its core. | |
| Is the order a rabbit? (TV) | Very good |
| Cutest. Show. Ever. Seriously, don't even think about binging this, you'll overdose on the ridiculous levels of adorableness. I mean, I don't even have anything else left to say. If you want an adorable feel good happy show, can't get much better. | |
| Is the order a rabbit? BLOOM (TV) | Very good |
| It's been a few years since the first two seasons, and I'm here to report in that this is still every bit as wonderful as the show I remember. I'd watch anything in this universe if they do decide to make more. It's just so wholesome. | |
| Is the order a rabbit?? (TV 2) | Very good |
| Exactly the same as season 1. Adorableness. | |
| Itsuka Tenma no Kuro-Usagi (OAV) | Decent |
| This is the 13th episode of A Dark Rabbit Has Seven Lives. It is a body switching, fanservice-y OVA episode. You know exactly what you're getting here. | |
| Izetta: The Last Witch (TV) | Decent |
| I really wanted to like this show. I loved Maria the Virgin Witch, and this is yet another show set during a war in Europe featuring a lone witch who can turn the tides, but, it really failed to live up to those expectations. Maria had charm, snappy writing, believable and lovable characters, and a conflict that drew me in. Izetta had none of those things. The story was basic and straightforward. None of the twists were shocking or really all that interesting. The characters were shallow and one dimensional. Hell, Izetta is basically defined by how she interacts with Fine, and Fine herself is the shallowest of leading characters. We get it, she cares about both her country and Izetta, but a good show can't let that be the end. I think that Izetta was fundamentally flawed from the beginning. It tries to tell too big of a story. Maria excelled because it was from the perspective of peasants. Fine is the leader of a war-torn country. There's no way we have time to get to know her as a person, not when everyone she loves is in danger of dying. How can you tell a personal story in the midst of that kind of setting? The answer is that you can't really. It'd have been one thing if Fine was more of a figurehead, someone who wasn't directly involved with the military, and Izetta was guarding her and they helped turn the tide against all odds. But the structure that they placed these characters in is just too rigid. It's impersonal and those few touching moments we get are actually jarring. I just... I don't know, all this show did was make me miss Maria. | |
| Joker Game (TV) | Good |
| So Joker Game is a rather unusual anime. I'm honestly not entirely sure what it was actually about. It seems, at a high level at least, to just portray spies in various situations week to week that are only vaguely connected by being part of the same spy agency. It's kind of like an enemy of the week thing. It would have been nice to have some sort of overarching story, but such a thing really never materialized. I actually had to look up if the series was over because the last episode was in no way any different from the previous 11. It's certainly good at what it does, it crafts interesting situations and shows some great WWII spy action, but there's just not much deep substance to be found, which is what lets it down in the end. | |
| Juni Taisen: Zodiac War (TV) | Very good |
| I had a lot of fun watching Juni Taisen. This show put together a pretty compelling battle royale and created some pretty great characters to pit against each other. The fact that this is a 12 episode show means that some of the 12 fighters are more developed than the others. The action at the least is well animated and fluid, and the story is interesting enough. They spent a lot of time on each of the character's backstories, and your mileage may vary depending on how invested in these people you become. I thoroughly enjoyed the show, but I can see the argument that there's too much long backstory and not enough of the actual conflict. It didn't matter as much to me, so I recommend the show. | |
| Just Because! (TV) | Excellent |
| Just Because is basically everything I've ever wanted from a school romantic drama type of show. There is no over the top animation or character design here, the show makes it abundantly clear that this is going to be as realistic as possible as we follow a group of third semester high school seniors as they should be coasting their way into college. A surprising transfer of one new student at this time sets some wheels in motion to make this sort of in between time in these kids lives into something more meaningful than they were really expecting. Everything about Just Because is brilliant and speaks to me on a fundamental level in terms of what I want from these kinds of shows. Having recently finished Sound Euphonium 2, I'm all about the realistic voice acting and natural animation that comes along with it, and I think Just Because does a really great job of doing this. The subtle character movements and shot framing do just as much to portray a character's feelings as what they are actually saying, in fact it might be more so. I'm really a sucker for these kinds of things, so Just Because definitely scratched this itch for me. It's gorgeous, these characters are awesome, and I thoroughly and highly recommend this show to anyone. Can't wait to see what's next from Pine Jam. | |
| Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress (TV) | Very good |
| Kabaneri would be higher if the middle episodes didn't drag down an otherwise outstanding first couple episodes and brilliant ending. Taken as a whole though, the show still stands well on it's own, even if that space it occupies is dwarfed by Attack on Titan. And make no mistake, this show is consciously trying to outdo attack on titan. It is by the same studio, same director, so you know what to expect. Attack on Titan with zombies basically. Still, knowing all that, the show does have it's own unique story to tell and by the end it has veered off significantly from being an AoT clone. Definitely worth watching to help scratch that itch for more titan. | |
| Kageki Shoujo!! (TV) | Very good |
| I fully admit that this show is not my usual cup of tea. I really only checked it out because I'm a pretty big fan of Pine Jam ever since they debuted with Gamers and Just Because. I was a bit disappointed with Gleipnir, but Kageki Shoujo was a big return to form for the studio. It's pretty straight shoujo fare. Even though it's about a high school class being trained to join an all female acting troupe, it doesn't really ever go into any sort of yuri. Instead it's a pretty straight drama about girls learning to be actresses and all the baggage and drama and pain and joy that comes of it. Really well done overall, and if you are even marginally interested in the subject matter, this is a great one for sure. | |
| Kaguya-sama: Love is War (TV) | Excellent |
| This is one of the funniest shows that I've seen. The premise is simple and stupid, and features even stupider characters who try their best to be just awful. It's hilarious and very well written for what it is. I love these little slice of life/comedy/romance shows, and Kaguya is one of the best examples of this genre. A must watch for anyone. | |
| Kaguya-sama: Love is War -Ultra Romantic- (TV) | Excellent |
| The third season of Kaguya is, well, more Kaguya. There's a sense of weight here that wasn't present in the first two seasons though. I feel like we've grown to really understand these characters, and the show is starting to take them all a little bit more seriously. As much as I love all the silliness, it's really wonderful to see some actual growth come about. Of course, don't get me wrong, this show is still insanely over the top and wickedly funny. Only the best of the best can catch you in all the feels in all the right ways. I really, really love this and cannot recommend it enough. | |
| Kaguya-sama: Love is War Season 2 (TV) | Excellent |
| Second season is exactly the same as the first. Really enjoyed this one again. Wonderful show for pretty much anyone. | |
| Kan Colle Season 2: Let's Meet at Sea (TV 2) | Good |
| This is an incredible tonal whiplash from season 1. It's not bad, but wow, did this go ultra serious. I enjoyed it, but it's clear this is squarely aimed at super fans of the game. There are lots of characters and almost none of them are properly introduced. The story is also not really elaborated on. It's fun to follow along with our characters, but it's a very heavy experience. Overall, I'd recommend it, especially for fans of the game. I appreciate what they were going for here, even if I am not exactly the target audience for this. | |
| KanColle (TV) | Excellent |
| Excellent? EXCELLENT?! Yes indeed, Kantai Collection gets an excellent. I had to stop and think about this for a moment, as it isn't really a show that's "supposed" to get high ratings, but dammit, I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's just, I dunno, I had a blast watching it. It's kind of like if Strike Witches grew up and ditched fanservice altogether. It's adorable, yet underneath it all there's actually a compelling show here. Ok, so the enemies are faceless, and the gimmick with the admiral gets old fast, but that's not the point (besides the end of the show hints at something VERY strongly that makes everything get a whole lot more interesting). I loved it, and that's what matters. | |
| Keijo!!!!!!!! (TV) | Very good |
| It's hard to imagine a more blatant fanservice-fest than the premise of Keijo. Girls fight on floating objects in a pool while wearing swimpsuits to be the last one standing. Oh yeah, and they can only use their boobs or butts to strike or defend with. Seriously, that's actually the show. It's completely ridiculous, laughable, and just, well, can't possibly be worth taking seriously. Right? Well... Actually Keijo shockingly ends up delivering. This is a really great sports anime at its core. Sure the premise is ridiculous, but the matches are intense, the camaraderie is great, the rivals are fierce, and the attacks are completely insane. The main character's signature move is called the Vacuum Butt Cannon where she twirls and flips towards her opponent before striking so hard with her butt that it sends a blast of wind and shockwaves towards everyone in its path, sending them flying. Again, not realistic, but within the world that this show crafts, it is consistent, and it makes you believe. And that's the core. Keijo is believable. And if you buy in to the intense sports action story, well, it doesn't really matter what the vehicle is that presents it. In fact, the ridiculous sport of Keijo only serves to make it... better, if that's possible. Seriously, the show is a riot. Hats off to them. Unbelievable. | |
| Kemono Friends (TV) | Very good |
| I fully admit that the animation style is really just... not great. But with that as the big knock, this show is full of heart, energy, and sugary sweet goodness. There's just something so relaxing and great about watching a show of very animal-like kemonomimi and our hero trying to figure out who she is, making new friends week after week. Heck, the animals are literally called friends! It's adorable! And, there's the bonus that the world here is actually a very interesting one that we're discovering alongside the main cast. It's potentially post-apocalyptic and offers up some pretty interesting questions. Really enjoyed the show. | |
| Kemono Jihen (TV) | Very good |
| Kemono Jihen is yet another show dealing with the classic Japanese mythology of animal spirits living in secret among humans. In this case, our heroes are some kemono kids who have been taken in by a Tanuki who runs a sort of detective agency specializing in kemono who have gone rogue and are messing with humans. Along the way, our kids are also sort of dealing with their own pasts and learning who they are together. It's very cute, sometimes very dark, but mostly a pretty fun time that actually leaves you thinking. The characters are all very unique and fun. And hey, there's even a cute fox girl for me. Great show. | |
| Kemono Michi: Rise Up (TV) | Very good |
| Kemurikusa (TV) | Very good |
| Kemurikusa is a show by the creators of the original Kemono Friends anime, so it's not a surprise to see that this show has the same sort of artistic and animation style as that show. What's a bit more interesting is that Kemurikusa also has the same sort of themes and story beats as Kemono Friends, while being a wholly different type of production. Whereas Kemono Friends was lighthearted and fun, with only an undercurrent of a post-apocalyptic world carrying through the show, Kemurikusa hits you right in the face with it, and from episode one our heroes are squaring off against robots and other beings that threaten them in this dark, empty world. It's impressive then how Kemurikusa manages to have so much heart. It reminds me of Girl's Last Tour, though there's actual conflict in this one. Our band of misfits (well, misfit sisters, and our weird protagonist, Wakaba) actually manages to carry on a pretty wholesome story about growth and finding oneself. Admittedly, Wakaba is extremely annoying throughout the first half, and that docks this show a bit, but he mellows out and is really my only complaint. The best part of the show is the world building. There's no exposition, no "as we all know"s, instead we're dropped into this weird world, with unknown rules and powers and we just go, learning things very slowly as the characters find things out. Nothing is explained, our hands are never held. It feels real, and right, and I love the slowly dawning realizations of how things came to be. Sure, the animation is super janky, and the characters are silly, but the show has immense amounts of heart and care poured into it, much like Kemono Friends. Highly recommended for that alone. Can't wait to see what this team works on next. | |
| Kill la Kill (TV) | Masterpiece |
| I know when a show is great when I sit back in my chair after the last episode and just keep repeating in my head "that show was so good". Seriously, Kill la Kill was awesome! Ridiculous plot twists, awesome animation and character design, insane fights, it's all there. Gurren Lagan meets clothes essentially. This show is just an absolute blast to watch. I can't say enough good things about it. Highly recommended. | |
| Kill Me Baby (TV) | Decent |
| This is about as pointless of a show as you can get. Take a 4 koma manga that has 0 plot and stupid at best jokes, and that's this show. There are probably about one or two legitimately funny moments in each episode, but for the most part, it's a lot of kinda drab, low-brow humor. There's no reason this couldn't have been a series of 6 minute shorts with only the best moments. Fun ending at least. | |
| Killing Bites (TV) | Good |
| This show is trashy as hell. It's bloody and violent, and well, pretty fun all things considered. I wish the plot was a bit more interesting than what eventually boils down to a battle royale, but I mean, plot isn't really the point here, it's just an excuse for us to watch badass overpowered human-animal hybrids fight each other. And fanservice. I mean, you know what you're getting with this one. Fun, but in a fast food kind of way. | |
| Kinmoza! Kiniro + Mosaic (TV) | Decent |
| If you've seen one show about cute girls doing cute things, then you've seen them all. That said, Kiniro Mosaic introduces a wrinkle about a couple of blonde british girls who have moved to Japan, so the show focuses very much on foreign culture and England (and english) in particular. It's kind of fun, but in the end, the show is what it is. Which is, fun, inoffensive, cute, and not really that memorable. | |
| Kinmoza!: Pretty Days! (special) | Good |
| This was a 45 minute special that flashes back to the middle school days of our three main girls. It's set up around preparing for a school festival, while the girls reminisce about how they all met. It's a nice little special, and it was a lot of fun to revisit these characters, but it's mostly just fluff for existing series fans. | |
| Kiznaiver (TV) | Very good |
| Kiznaiver is a Trigger show, but it's a bit less visually and thematically "messy" than KLK or TTGL. In fact, the plot itself is more of a melodramatic high school love type show than the over the topness we've come to expect from Trigger. That's not to say that Kiznaiver is bad, quite the opposite in fact. It's just unexpected. The whole plot centers around a group of misfit kids who get connected via pain. What that means is when one of them feels pain, it actually gets divided evenly amongst the group. This leads to a journey where they are forced to be together and they slowly start to accept each other as friends (though some of them have way more hang ups than others when it comes to the very idea of friendship). It's kind of a very heartfelt coming of age story, with some love triangles (squares? hexagrams?) thrown in for good measure. It's going to make you feel for these characters, their struggles and triumphs alike, but all told it's really a wonderful character study. I appreciate how Trigger is starting to take their ambition and channel it in different ways. | |
| Komi Can't Communicate (TV) | Excellent |
| Komi is just a wonderful slice of life/comedy show. Komi herself has extreme social anxiety, to the point where she can't speak out loud. That, combined with her beauty, makes her classmates put her on a pedestal as a kind of goddess to be worshiped. In reality, Komi just wants friends, but can't bring herself to say that. Enter Tadano, our everyman protagonist who manages to see through this to the point where he can convince Komi to communicate by writing on the black board. It's an incredibly moving scene and sets a wonderful tone for the series as Komi learns how to open up in her own way, as slowly more and more friends enter her life. It's cute, and quirky, and fun, and animated really well just as a bonus. Highly recommended for anyone who wants to just feel a little bit better about life. | |
| Komori-san Can't Decline (TV) | Decent |
| This is a show with 2 minute episodes. It's kinda cute, kinda skeevy, doesn't really do much, but I guess it wasn't a negative experience. If you're bored for 25 minutes and want something to do, you can do worse than this. | |
| Kono Oto Tomare!: Sounds of Life (TV 1) | Very good |
| At its core, this is a Sports show. It's like Sound Euphonium or Love Live or any other music show that is just a sports show in different clothing. I don't have to really care about the Koto as an instrument to get into a show like this, because it's more about getting the band together, struggling as underdogs to learn and sweat and practice so that our lovable band can shock the world. Kono Oto Tomare does a good enough job with all of these story beats, and we get a few compelling characters to boot. I was really rooting for them to do well, and though the climactic scene of their first performance was a biiit contrived with the drama, it still ended on a high note. As far as club shows go, this is an admirable one with plenty of heart and drama that you would expect. The animation isn't particularly great, the performances sound great, but the art just can't quite keep up, but that's really my biggest complaint. Excited to see how this show steps it up in the second half. | |
| Kono Oto Tomare!: Sounds of Life (TV 2) | Good |
| Season two is exactly what you'd expect. We get more of Hozuki's relationship (or lack thereof) expanded on, as well as some other fallout from the Hozuki school. Our club still chugs along, but most of the interesting character development of our other core characters is complete. We have an episode or two of the background guys struggling to play well, but otherwise it's all about Hozuki and the national qualifiers. Again, the art and animation struggled to keep up. The budget clearly wasn't there, as there were many still shots, reaction shots, and the like during performances. I can only imagine what this show would look like with a budget like Sound Euphonium where we could see the performances in their entirety. It would look incredible I'm sure. As it is, there's nothing surprising or standout in this season, but there isn't anything really wrong with it either. If you want a paint by numbers club sports show, this is a fine entry. | |
| Konohana Kitan (TV) | Excellent |
| Can there be a show more made for me than Konohana Kitan? We have adorable foxgirls running a hot spring for gods, with sugary sweet slice of life goodness, and, oh yeah, it's yuri too. But, genre mastery aside, Konohana Kitan somehow ends up with really, really great writing to top it off. For an episodic show like this, we shouldn't be able to reach the amount of depth that Konohana Kitan pulls off. There are at least 2 episodes that are all time level for me, and the rest of the series is fantastic around them as well. It really makes me appreciate the level of artistry and care given to this show. I absolutely loved it. | |
| KONOSUBA - God's blessing on this wonderful world! 2 (TV) | Very good |
| The second season is just as brilliant as the first in its (intentional) in your face badness. The characters suck, the story sucks, and I just can't help myself from loving them regardless and desperately wanting more. This is a very, very clever show at its heart. If not for a lackluster second half, this was probably an Excellent. | |
| KonoSuba – God’s blessing on this wonderful world!! (TV) | Very good |
| It doesn't take much for a show with KonoSuba's plot to really surprise me these days, that's how low the bar has been set by the swath of video game related anime. Sadly, you'd think that a simply competent show would come around more than once in a blue moon, but that's not usually the case. KonoSuba, however, is that show. Basically everything in KonoSuba seems like an attempt to subvert the popular tropes throughout the genre. The main character sucks, and I mean sucks bad. The rest of his party isn't much better too. They spend far, far more time in the beginning town for newbies than they have any right to (read: they never leave). So yeah, it's a comedy, but it's a clever one at that. The fan service is rampant with this one, though it does play it up cleverly in places. I'd say if you are at all interested in RPGs, KonoSuba will be right up your alley. | |
| Konosuba: An Explosion on This Wonderful World! (TV) | Good |
| Well, I can't help but be disappointed by what this isn't. So, to get that out of the way, this clearly isn't Konosuba. It doesn't have the wit or the heart of the original. That's not to say this is bad. It's beautifully animated at times, and here and there it does have some genuinely good laughs. But, Megumin and Yunyun aren't exactly that most compelling leading duo. That said, while the first half of the show is pretty one note and honestly kinda boring, it does pick up immensely once they leave their hometown. The world Konosuba is always charming and it is fun to see the show slowly lead us back into the main series, even if I know it's kinda just taking advantage of that nostalgia. So, where does that leave us? I don't think this is for every fan of Konosuba, but if you love Megumin or simply cannot get enough of this series, this is a pretty good time, all things considered. Just keep your expectations in check. | |
| Koro Sensei Quest! (ONA) | So-so |
| This is really just a silly spinoff of Assassination Classroom. I felt that the jokes wore thin pretty quickly, but again, it's just a short spinoff. The episodes probably could have been cut down to 5-6 minutes and not lost much of anything. There were some hilarious moments, and some very stupid moments. Only recommended for people who really liked Assassination Classroom and want to watch a few more shenanigans. | |
| Kotaro Lives Alone (ONA) | Excellent |
| Kotaro is a bit of a unique show. It does require a bit of suspension of disbelief that a four year old is capable of living alone, but otherwise is a very sweet show with an undertone of melancholy hanging around throughout. Because, let's be honest, nothing good is forcing a child like Kotaro to live on his own. However, the show does not revel in it. Instead, it's largely about the apartment community that comes together and serves as Kotaro's surrogate parental figures. It's very heartwarming to see everyone going out of their way to make Kotaro feel comfortable and welcomed among them. It's a heartwarming show, even if it is tinged with sadness. But I think the mix makes it all the sweeter. Very fun, unique experience. Definitely worth seeing. | |
| Kubo Won't Let Me Be Invisible (TV) | Good |
| This is a show by one of my favorite studios, Pine Jam. Unfortunately, I don't think it lives up to some of their high points, but I still really enjoyed it. Even if it ends up being a pretty generic high school romance, it's still a cute and fun time.
As with most of these romance shows, there is a single gimmick here (that being our main character, Shiraishi, is so boring and forgettable that people are literally incapable of noticing him even when he's standing right in front of them). It's a fun gimmick, but it does get a bit played out as the series leans a bit too heavily into it. Most of the various scenes consist of the following structure: 1. Shiraishi finds himself in an awkward situation because people don't notice his presence. 2. Kubo notices this situation and finds it funny. 3. Kubo teases Shiraishi about the situation. 4. Shiraishi gets flustered, Kubo blushes. Rinse. Repeat. End show. So, yeah, it's fun for a while, but eventually we have to get something more to sink our teeth into. These characters should stand on their own, but the just never seem to. Maybe the loyalty to the gimmick structure constrains them, but I also wonder if the writing just isn't good enough to support what I want to happen. Regardless, this keeps the show from really being a standout in anyway. It also doesn't help that it is airing around the same time as Dangers in My Heart, which does this whole thing so much better. Still, again, it isn't bad. It's just sadly kinda forgettable in the end. Cute romance for what it is though. | |
| (The) Labyrinth of Grisaia (special) | Very good |
| This could have been another couple episodes in Fruit of Grisaia. It's just a double length OVA about Yuuji's past. Still pretty brutal in a lot of places, but overall, it's the same quality as the show itself. | |
| Laid-Back Camp (TV) | Very good |
| It took me almost five years to finish this show. Okay, it's not like I spent five years watching it. I simply dropped it for quite a while and stumbled back across it in 2022. My initial review was mostly me complaining that they are camping in the winter when it's cold, and all they do is sit around and be cold, which is still mostly true. But, it does have quite its own charm. In addition, I've gotten into watching some youtube channels focused on local travel around Japan, and you get a lot of similar vibes out of this show as you do watching those videos. For all those reasons, I now think that Laid Back Camp is really quite a solid watch. As the name would imply, it's very chill, but there's nothing quite like wrapping up in a blanket with a warm drink while watching this. | |
| Laid-Back Camp (TV 2) | Excellent |
| I have an interesting relationship with this show. I was struggling a bit with my personal health when the first season came out, and I just wasn't feeling the freezing winter camping vibes at all. I finally revisited it years later ahead of giving season 2 a shot and actually really enjoyed it the second time around. Now with season 2 picking up, I'm fully on board.
Season 2 is mostly more of the same, with our characters showing some incremental growth in small and sweet ways. It's really nice that each one of them are well rounded and have depth to them. I also am extremely appreciative that this show has basically zero fan service. It didn't need it and it feels so wholesome without that aspect. It really treats its characters well. I love them all. And they feel more real than most shows, interacting in nuanced and complicated ways that are true to their individual personalities. I love how they might be doing their own things but we get to see their text conversations as they keep up with each other. It doesn't always have to be an episode of "the crew does x together" and the show is stronger for it. It makes that big cast-spanning camping trip at the end of the season that much more special. As I am beginning to prepare my own Japan trip, I really enjoyed seeing all the travel and sightseeing that the cast did over the course of several camping trips in this season. It gets me pumped up to visit myself. Overall, I tried to watch a half episode a night before bed, but I struggled to turn it off. I was having too much fun. This is a really good egg and I'm very excited for the next season! | |
| Land of the Lustrous (TV) | Excellent |
| Yes, this is a 3D CG show, and no, that doesn't matter in any way. Just had to get that out of the way. Now, Land of the Lustrous is an amazing production. I've been deep in the seasonal anime rotation, putting up with a lot of mediocre shows and writing, and Land of the Lustrous was such a breath of fresh air. After every episode I was thinking to myself, "Oh, that's what good writing and direction looks like". I love that this show respects its audience enough not to info dump things about the world on us. It trusts that the viewer is smart enough to handle some mystery and confusion. I also really like the characters, who are personified gemstones. The CG of each of the various gems is just gorgeous all around. The hair in particular is incredible, making shining gems look wavy and light. The characterization throughout the series is very strong, with Phos (our protagonist gemgirl) going through a number of shocking character defining moments. I really, really like this cast and world a ton. This isn't some grand story of nations at war or heroes overcoming every obstacle. Instead it is a very human story about a small band of people doing everything necessary just to survive. It just feels... good. Highly, highly recommended. It left the door open for a lot of pieces, so I'm definitely hoping for more. | |
| Lapis Re:LiGHTs (TV) | Good |
| Lapis is a strange combo of a few different genres. If you mash up a gacha game featuring cute girls, idol shows, and magical high school shows, you'd get something pretty close to Lapis. Basically we have a large ensemble cast of girls at high school for developing magic, which as it turns out is mostly activated in this world through song. Most of the runtime is devoted to watching the girls simply live school life, whether it's magic training, magic athletics, or running around their college town-esque city. We do also get some really bad CG performances as well. There weren't many, but even that small amount was too much. It hurt to watch. Otherwise the character designs were nice, the comedy actually was decently funny for the most part, and otherwise it was relaxing enough to watch. Nothing overly special, but decently fun moments were had. | |
| (The) Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Die Neue These (TV) | Very good |
| It's hard to judge Die Neue These in a vacuum. After all, this is the first twelve episodes of what should end up being a very long and very good series, if the original OVA is anything to go by. That said, this intro to the series does a really great job in terms of setting up its characters, worlds, and conflicts to come. It's sharp to look at and the story seems to be deep and engaging, at least what I've seen so far of it. I'm really looking forward to more, this looks like the beginning of something really great. | |
| Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Die Neue These - Collision (movies) | Excellent |
| LotGH has started to focus on a core cast, or at least this season was dedicated to it, so I had less concern with the wide array of characters present here. There was definitely more political intrigue this season, though there were still some compelling battles towards the end. Bottom line, it's wonderfully done still and I can't wait for more. The cliffhanger ending is killer. | |
| Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Die Neue These - Intrigue (movies) | Very good |
| Die Neue These is still a good remake, but I feel like I'm starting to run out of patience. I hope that the major cliffhanger we end this season on is a sign of things shifting. I've sort of bemoaned the lack of character building in this series, and this season does rectify that. But, it's hard when basically the entire season is politics, discussions, and build up. That's 12 episodes where basically no action occurs. Political mind games are fun and all, and this is still very well done. But I'm ready for the next act. We've been stuck at iserlohn for ages. We have a whole galaxy out there to explore, let's go already. | |
| Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Die Neue These Second (movie series) | Excellent |
| It still feels very much like we are in setup mode for this show, but I'm jumping more into it with each passing episode. I feel like finally, with the wrap up of season 2, we have established what we mean to and the show proper can now begin, with Reinhardt and Yang Wen Li firmly established in each of their countries and ready to turn their attention towards facing off in earnest. Season 2 turned inwards, focusing on unrest and civil war in both the Galactic Empire and the Free Planets Alliance. We got to know more of our main characters, where they are coming from, and why they find themselves in the positions they end up in. It's very, very well done, with all kinds of layers of grey in even our most likable heroes decision making process. My biggest complaint is that there's just so many named characters, they are all a bit hard to keep track of after a while. That's really the only fault though. There's such good story and world building here, that I'm all in. Excited for the huge story to come. | |
| (The) Legend of the Legendary Heroes (TV) | Excellent |
| As far as high fantasy series go, Legend of the Legendary Heroes is (name withstanding) an outstanding effort. There's pretty much everything I could want here. Just enough comedy and light hearted character interaction to really endear the cast to the viewer coupled with deep political maneuvers, flashy magical battles, and an intricate deeply woven story to go with them. The one real downside to the show is that it doesn't really end. It is a light novel adaptation and just sort of decides to cut off with pretty much nothing resolved. In fact, certain characters just get hardcore hung out to dry with massive cliff-hangers for their story arcs (Gestarch?). Still though, there's tons to love here, and I can't fault the show too much, it's not this season's fault that there is no season 2. Gotta pick up them light novels. Ferris and Ryner, you guys rock. Awesome show. | |
| (The) Legendary Hero is Dead! (TV) | Decent |
| Legendary Hero is Dead is one of the more trashy shows out there. Take a "I can't believe it's not isekai" fantasy plot and combine it with endless jokes about thighs and knee socks, and you're about 90% of the way to understanding what's on display here. Still, underneath it all, there is some charm here, and I'm not just talking about that banger of an OP. I've always enjoyed shows about dumb characters mostly messing up and only barely falling backwards into completing their goals, and this show is that in spades. It's never afraid to cut away for gags, and some of them actually got laughs out of me. Also, by the end of the season I was actually kinda into the fantasy story they were telling. There's actually kinda some compelling world building at play, and hardly an RPG stat screen in sight. Now, don't get me wrong, the writing isn't great, the characters are flat, and the art looks about as titillating as a ham sandwich. Like seriously, you make an anime where the entire point is that the hero is obsessed with thigh highs and you just slap on the same generic ass black socks every time. Show some creative gumption for crying out loud. The world of anime legwear is vibrant and deserves better than this. Sorry, forgive me for that. Anyway, there is something off with these character designs that I can't quite put my finger on. Something about their faces or proportions or something, I'm not sure. Still, looking past it's failure on the ecchi front, this is a show with actually decent heart and some fun laughs to be had, and in a space that's all to often full of bargain bin isekai copy/paste nonsense, there's certainly something compelling to be found here, at least. Though, yeah, the OP is by far the best thing going for this one. | |
| Leviathan: The Last Defense (TV) | Weak |
| Something just felt weird about this show. It's got some cute girls I guess, and the world they're in is kind of an interesting fantasy setting. But, they never really do much of anything with the show. The animations are very subpar and the story gets largely ignored and none of the plot points are resolved. Clearly there are some interesting things happening, but god forbid we sacrifice any of the time spent fixing a hot spring or traipsing across another endless boring desert. Nothing to see here, move on. | |
| (The) Little Lies We All Tell (TV) | Good |
| This is a pretty good CGDCT lighthearted school comedy. This time around the gimmick is that each one of our four protagonists has some secret that they are keeping. Some of them are interesting (Tsubasa is secretly a boy is probably the most interesting drama and Sekine being psychic is interesting in that she can play the straight man and comment on what craziness the others are getting up to) while others are less so (Chiyo being a ninja feels... very underwhelming and adds almost nothing to the show). Still, character growth and drama aren't really the points. The selling point is whether the show is either actually cute or actually funny, and it's meh to positive on both points. More meh for cute, they don't try particularly hard here, but I thought it was amusing at times for sure. Overall, it's a fun diversion, and a strong recommendation for fans of this specific type of show. | |
| Log Horizon (TV) | Excellent |
| I'm kind of a sucker for these "people get trapped in an MMO" type of shows. I loved .hack and Sword Art Online, but Log Horizon has surpassed the others in my mind. It's finally done the one thing that I've always wanted from these shows, and that is to explore the world that is created for these characters. I absolutely hated how Sword Art Online breezes through months and months of gameplay in twelve episodes. It was supposed to be this long intricate quest to beat the game, and they just jump from the twenty first level to the fourty eighth like its nothing. Log Horizon though... It's all about the world, and I love it. The show is about a few characters who used to be among the best in the world, and the others who they come to mentor and become friends with. Together they set out to discover the new world. Sure there are character classes and abilities, but the show really focuses on things like dungeon party composition and fight strategy, as well as the NPCs who have nations of their own and are scared and intrigued by their new neighbors. The adventurers have to come together and form their own government so that they can start to make moves on a more macro level to deal with larger threats like a massive goblin invasion. These are things that are typically left up to old school guilds doing quests, but with the "apocalypse" that found the players trapped in the game, the quests are gone, and they must make their own way. It's fascinating really. An awesome watch. | |
| Log Horizon (TV 2) | Excellent |
| Season 2 brings more of the same as season 1, except with a keener eye towards exploring the in depth political movements and motivations (not always overtly). There's some interesting stuff going on here, but at times it gets set aside for the simpler comedic moments, which is also well and good. We finally get some raid action which is always great too. All in all, this show is still awesome, and I desperately need more after the silly amount open ends still left. | |
| Lord El-Melloi II's Case Files: Rail Zeppelin Grace note (TV) | Very good |
| This is a spinoff of the Fate/ universe that features Waver Velvet from Fate Zero. The story takes place maybe 10 or 15 years after the grail war and is an altogether different type of story than previous entries in the franchise. Rail Zeppelin is more a mystery solving show than anything else, though there are a few flashy action scenes here or there. I think the genre shift helps this show out immensely, as it veils the inner workings of the secretive clocktower in various cases that are affecting mages in England. There are 4 or so arcs in the show, but the titular arc, Rail Zeppelin, is the entire second half of the show and is far and away the best chunk of episodes.
My biggest complaint is that Fate shows have never been good at explaining things about their universe, especially when it comes to the magic system and mage society. El Melloi also fails largely at this, hand waving away things with lots of technical terms and impressive sounding word soup. I get some of it, but the rest just seems to be complicated things that sound complicated for the sake of being complex. It's eye rolling at times. The mysteries are at least consistent enough though that I can follow along with Waver as he solves them, so that's a good sign. The thing that makes this show fun is the solid cast of characters and the unique situations they find themselves in. I'm a sucker for a good mystery, and when they have characters I enjoy in them, all the better. Gray is maybe the cutest fate girl to date, and the rest of Waver's students are all charming in their own ways. Some of the other mages are pretty cool too, giving us a wide variety of fun people to root for. The show takes its time, allowing us to get a feel for who everyone is and how they interact, grounding everything amongst a sea of poorly explained magic. It's at least fun to watch, if you sort of nod along as they throw random things at you. I enjoyed it and am looking forward to season two with these goofs. | |
| Lord Marksman and Vanadis (TV) | Excellent |
| Objectively speaking, this isn't really a show worthy of an excellent rating. It has it's fanservice pandering and it's cliches, and the story isn't all that incredible or anything. But... sometimes a show just resonates with me, and Lord Marksman and Vanadis was one of those shows. It sort of reminded me why I started loving anime in the first place. It's a high fantasy story of medieval type world with magic and dragons and knights and everything else you could ever want, but it's smart about what it is and what it does. It highlights the battles, explaining the movement of the armies and battalions within them. It almost felt like I was watching Fire Emblem. Actually, that's exactly what it was. Sure there's a little bit too much fanservice, but man, I had a blast watching it. | |
| (The) Lost Village (TV) | Good |
| Came for the horror and surprisingly stuck around when I realized it was never going to deliver on that promise. Honestly, I'm not sure if The Lost Village ended up better for it, but it was certainly more memorable. It was like the show really loved building things up and then crushing those expectations. In the end, this was a semi-forgettable show that had some clever moments, and a lot of eye rolling ones thrown in for good measure. Would have been interesting to see the show branch off and go down a much more serious route, but who knows, that could have ended up being way worse. | |
| Love After World Domination (TV) | Excellent |
| Love After World Domination was simply a treat through and through. I'm a sucker for sappy comedies like this, and it 110% delivers on that promise. It's such a simple hook, that a super sentai ranger falls in love with one of the leaders of the evil organization that opposes him, but I think it's because of that simplicity that it is so effective. The show is ridiculous of course, completely winking and nudging as it calls back to all the fun tropes of sentai shows. But it's really just the amazing dynamism of our two leads that carry this thing. Desumi and Fudo are just so much fun. I'd watch them do anything. There's not much more to write here. The show is what it is, and it completely knocks that out of the park. I'd love to see more, especially since Yellow (maybe, secretly best girl) hasn't had her chance to shine in her own episode. But that's beside the point. More Desumi x Fudo please. That's all I want. | |
| Love Lab (TV) | Good |
| Love Lab is another typical CGDCT slice of life show. The twist here is that the group of girls collectively have no experience with relationships (or even with talking to boys), so they start doing "Love Labs" where they turn to the main character, Riko, for advice. Of course, they've just inferred on their own that Riko is experienced, but she really isn't, and this plays out in many gags over the course of the show. So sure, it's silly and cute and cliched and everything you'd expect from a show like this, but I did feel that the second half of the season actually elevated things a bit and poured a bit more character and heart into things. It's a great little show, recommended for anyone who likes these types of things. | |
| Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club (TV) | Very good |
| I really enjoyed this spinoff series of the main Love Live. There were a few interesting differences, like casting the girls as solo idols instead of a group like the previous seasons, but all in all, this is still the Love Live that we've come to know and... love. I hope it's not the end for Nijigasaki, but all signs are pointing to that. I think the optimism and joy that Love Live brings is something that we all needed a bit of at this point in 2020. Sure, it's kinda turned into more of a fairy tale than anything else at this point, but I love it all the same. | |
| Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club (TV 2) | Excellent |
| Season 2 firmly solidified my thoughts that Nijigasaki is my favorite of the all the Love Live series. I think with Niji embracing its role as a spinoff, the show has allowed itself to do things a little bit differently from the main series, which has only made it stronger. The biggest change is that the whole sports/competition aspect of the main Love Live series is almost all but gone in Niji. We aren't desperately working towards competing in Love Live here. Instead, the only real drama is how will the characters get along, and can we win over the hearts of our rivals to turn them into friends. It's much more content to just drop us in with the characters and let us be part of their school idol journey, without all this manufactured drama. I love that. Season 2 of Niji brings us three new characters, finally breaking from Love Live tradition of a 9 person group. Mia was, of course, my favorite, but the others were quite fun as well. Still, the energy here is infectious, and it was super fun to see each of the newcomers work through their own hangups and grow to fully embrace their new friends. It was most telling that our last big dramatic arc wrapped up in episode 8 or 9. I kept expecting one big cliffhanger before the finale, but it never came. It was just kind of a victory lap of our characters having fun, which is super refreshing. All in all, if we don't get another season, I'm going to be really bummed out. I'm really into the dynamic they have going here, and jumping from this back into Superstar season 2 is only going to make me that much more unenthused about that entry. Hopefully future entries into the Love Live universe can capture the magic we've found here, and hey, I'll keep up hope that maybe a little of this magic has rubbed off on Superstar. You never know. | |
| Love Live! School idol project (TV) | Good |
| There's really nothing about Love Live that makes it a Must See show. The story is largely predictable, and the characters aren't all that unique, but hey, I'm not watching it for plot or anything (ok that makes this sound super fanservice-y, it's not!!) What Love Live is, is infectiously, over the top happy. It's about a group of girls who get together and against all odds pursue their dreams. Sure they stumble along the way here or there, but I couldn't help but smile throughout the show. Apparently there's an OVA I need to watch | |
| Love Live! School idol project (TV 2/2014) | Very good |
| More of the same as season 1. Maki slowly asserts herself as the standout character. All is right with the world. Adorable show is still adorable. | |
| Love Live! Sunshine!! (TV) | Good |
| Sunshine is dealt a hand that's stacked against it from the start. Love Live was, and is, hugely popular, and the burden of replacing all of the fan favorite characters from the first series, is, well, massive. Whether or not Aquors manages to live up to Mu's is up for debate, but it certainly didn't surpass the original show. Don't get me wrong, Sunshine has a ton of heart, and while the overarching plot is largely the same, the path we've taken to get there is, indeed, actually new. And hey, that's something after all. Especially in a show as formulaic as Love Live is at its core. It's strengths really lie in the execution of its characters. Some miss (*cough*Yohane*cough*), but more often, they hit and hit well. Kanan and the other third years are outstanding, and depending on their arcs in the next season that I assume is coming, could surpass any of the emotional depth we had in the first series. And that leads me to the issue at hand. Love Live right now is incomplete. It's almost impossible to give Sunshine a proper and full rating because we all know this is really just the beginning. And since I rated the first half of Mu's Love Live a Good, well, I can't go higher than that here. The show has been winking and nudging ever since the opening scenes of the first episode about how great Mu's are and how they know it's a bit much but here we go again! However, I honestly hope that the quick shot in the last episode of Chika's newly bare door is a sign of things to come. These girls need to escape from the weight of the first season, they can't keep idolizing Mu's. If they can break out and solidify themselves, well, Aquors could really be something special. And if not, well, at least the show will slap a stupid silly smile on your face, whether you like it or not. | |
| Love Live! Sunshine!! (TV 2) | Good |
| Reporting in from the end of season 2. Sadly, Aqours didn't really take that next step that I wanted them to, and maybe that was naive of me to hope for. I knew what this story was going to be about from the start, it's family friendly, and fun, and the good guys win, even when they don't (you know what I mean), and even when they don't, the things that they don't win at don't even end up mattering all that much. What I'm meaning to say is, if you're looking for compelling conflict, emotional drama, or anything else beyond a fun, fairy-tale-like take on idols, well, this isn't that show. That's not to say that it's bad, it isn't, but I really really hope if they do end up doing a third group that they take a good hard look at things and figure out a way to keep it fresh. This is fun, but there's only so many times I'll be down to watch the same sorts of characters go through the same sorts of scenes. | |
| Love Live! Superstar!! (TV) | Decent |
| Love Live Superstar brings us back to the main series of shows after the fun little Nijigasaki diversion. Superstar looks better than ever with great animation and production values, and beautiful set pieces throughout the runtime of the show. So then, why the lower rating? Well... we've lost something.
I'm not going to harp on the fact that we are reduced from the 9 characters we are used to from the previous 3 groups. It allows us to spend more time with each of the stars, while diving in deeper to the show instead of taking most of a season just to give each girl her episode. However, that depends on the viewer actually connecting with a couple of the characters and rooting for them. That's a lot likelier to happen with 9 to choose from instead of 5. As it is, the show failed me there. I'll be honest, I don't really like any of our main girls in superstar. Kanon is probably the best, but she's also the main protagonist, so it's not too exciting to root for her. Otherwise, I just don't care about anyone else in this show. And for a show like Love Live, if you can't connect with the main cast, well... why even watch the show. There are other problems at play here. Love Live has moved more and more into a disney-esque fairy tale land with each season. Finally, here in Superstar, I can no longer really suspend disbelief. It feels like more than ever before that this season was firmly aimed at a younger audience. And that's all well and good, but maybe I have to admit that the Love Live I want is no longer what they are producing. I'm hesitating on whether I'll watch season 2 of Superstar. Maybe Nijigasaki will be the thing that pulls me back in. Or maybe they'll be doing more spinoffs for the original fanbase, while leaning more into this new style for their future main entries. Regardless, I'll keep following the series I suppose, but this is undoubtedly my low point so far. | |
| Love Live! Superstar!! (TV 2) | Good |
| I've kind of had a revelation about where Love Live Superstar stands as a series among the rest of the Love Live entries. There has always been two main groups of fans with Love Live. You have your older male otaku fans, of course. Your 25-35 year old super fans who stan their favorite idols. But, on the other side, there's this whole generation of young girls who have latched onto this whole thing and helped propel the franchise out of the late night anime blocks and firmly into the mainstream. The challenge then becomes how do you balance the interests of these two groups who are looking for different things out of their favorite shows? Sunshine rode this line, never straying too far in either direction, but now things are different. I think it was Nijigasaki that changed the direction of Love Live, and Superstar specifically. Nijigasaki is adapting the Love Live gacha game, which largely caters more towards the older male otaku portion of the fandom just by its very nature. Middle school girls by and large just don't have disposable income to throw at a gacha game. As a result, the game they are adapting has already set the groundwork as catering more towards the more adult audience. So, when Nijigasaki was set to be adapted as a sort of spinoff of the main series, I think it allowed the studio and their production committee to finally solve this problem they've been grappling with. Nijigasaki exists for the otaku audience, and can lean more into fan service (I don't mean ecchi stuff, I mean just more catering to what the fans want), leaning into ships, winking and nodding along with the references, etc... While Superstar could fill the role for the mainstream audience and can safely decide to go full wholesome, targeting that younger audience. This way, each portion of the audience can get exactly what they want. With that revelation, and some of the changes in season 2, I was sort of able to see Superstar in a new light. I'm kind of done griping that it's missing something, I get now what they are trying to do. Instead, I'm appreciating the show from a new angle. That is helped, of course, by the addition of our new cast members. Superstar just couldn't avoid the 9 person group that Love Live is known for, and we find 4 new first years who join the group soon enough. With their additions (some more rocky than others), this thing finally feels like a proper cast and show. I still don't have a massive favorite (Shiki may be the most fun though), like I found with the other series, but things feel more right now. However, this feels like two steps forward, one step back with Superstar. Season 2 is trying to simply do too much. We don't have time to focus on the competition, or Liella's new edgelord rival, who is criminally under developed. We barely have enough time to introduce the new members and get the group cohesive enough to perform, before the end of the season arrives. It's certainly different to approach the series like this, but it stretches the character introductions across two seasons now instead of one. While Sunshine and OG Love Live were humming as their full nine person groups by the end of season 1, now we have the entire first half of season two dedicated to more character intros. As a result, the competition aspect gets swept well under the rug (we barely see anything related to competitions). It simply doesn't feel like winning or losing matters at all. There's an attempt at some last minute drama with some character(s) maybe leaving the group, but the last twenty seconds of the season seems to undercut all narrative drama we've been working to build. As a result, Superstar feels half baked. Maybe that's why they were so quick to assure the fans that a season 3 is in the works. If this was it, as most of us would expect given every other Love Live series has only ever been 24 episodes, then this would have been one of the most broken and failed endings I've ever seen. Even if another season is coming, there is no excuse for how rushed and terribly executed things are here. It still doesn't bring down the entire experience, but it is never good to leave your viewers with a bad taste in their mouths after finishing everything. So, where does that leave us then? We have a third season coming for Superstar, and though it isn't announced yet, I would not be surprised at all to learn that a third season of Nijigasaki is in the works. As I understand it, the gacha game still has plenty of story left to adapt, and given the synergistic nature of these two shows, I would expect it to fall in line beside Superstar for as long as this series runs. At least, that's what I tell myself, as I firmly know now which show is aimed at me as a consumer. A season 3 for Superstar is all well and good, but given the undermining of its own characters at the end of season 2, I'm not anxiously awaiting what little resolution there might be to the very disappointing cliffhanger. Nijigasaki season 3 though? Please god, let that happen. | |
| Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions! (TV) | Very good |
| Right out the gate, it's obvious that Love, Chunibyo, and Other Delusions is going to at least look gorgeous. This is a Kyoani show after all. The premise is actually very silly, where we follow a boy entering high school who is attempting to leave behind his Chunibyo (literally: middle school disease) past. He had pretended he was a dark hero, had dressed up in capes and wielded swords, and generally made a fool of himself. Of course, he's beset upon by a girl still in the throes of her delusions, and though he refused to be pulled back in, they form a kind of understanding together. So begins the high school romantic comedy. And as far as these types of shows go, this one is a very solid entry, with good humor and really touching moments aplenty. A good watch if this kind of thing is what you're itching for. And of course, you can tell Kyoani had a TON of fun animating their pretend magical "battles". | |
| Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions! -Heart Throb- (TV) | Very good |
| The second season of the show is a slightly deeper, more human look at the nature of what it means to be oneself, what it means to grow and mature, and what it means to really love someone. Sure, the silly comedy is still there as well as a new character who I couldn't decide I loved or hated more. But this is a more true to life adaptation and as a result the characters feel more real. I really enjoyed it, but I think the story has played itself out by now, so it gets bonus points for wrapping up really well. Great high school comedy show. | |
| Luck & Logic (TV) | Decent |
| Luck and Logic is basically the most cliched possible version of this genre possible. Now, that doesn't automatically make the show bad. It's all about expectations I guess. There's nothing revolutionary or shocking to be found, but it is comfortably warm. Characters act as you'd expect them, the show is animated well enough to be pleasant, and stuff just feels right. It's like the comfort food of anime. | |
| Lucky Star (TV) | Good |
| One of the first ever slice of life shows I ever watched, and also one of KyoAni's first shows. I think I might rate this higher now if I were to watch it again. I think at the time I wasn't really in the mindset that slice of life shows even were capable of being 8/10 or higher. As a big fan of the genre now, this thing might sit differently with me. As it is, I remember Lucky Star being genuinely funny and a great watch. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone interested in fluffy comedies and light slice of life school shenanigans. It also helps that it has that little extra KyoAni polish. | |
| A Lull in the Sea (TV) | Masterpiece |
| Not entirely sure how to sum this show up. It is intensely emotional. It is mean, cruel, heartless, and unfair. Yet, it is also beautiful. Very rarely am I as moved by anything as I was by Nagi no Asukara. It's just a really, really fantastic show. I love all those kids. *hugs*. Thank you for letting me be a part of your life and your experiences, and to live the highs and lows right along side you. | |
| Luminous Witches (TV) | Good |
| This is yet another entry into the Strike Witches cinematic universe. This time, instead of a combat unit, we are following the luminous witches around. They are an idol group who travel around the world to various combat fronts and perform as a way to raise morale among the soldiers and civilians impacted by the fighting. It might sound kinda silly, but during ww2 there were definitely singers and entertainers who followed the troops around in this manner, and for many of the soldiers, these performances were the highlights of their entire deployment. It's a neat thing to hightlight, and studio Shaft does a good enough job with expressive character animation and a competent enough, though very paint by numbers, story of the coming together of this unit of misfits. Unlike other Strike Witches entries, there's essentially zero fanservice to be had here. That's good and bad, in that it is nice to see the respect given to these performers and to wartime, but it does kinda muddy up Strike Witches as a brand a little bit. We'll have to see what happens from here. Regardless, it's a fun enough show. I always enjoyed it well enough while watching, but it left little lasing impression on me. I think it's a worthwhile spinoff, and worth seeing for any Strike Witches or idol anime fan. | |
| Lycoris Recoil (TV) | Masterpiece |
| I wavered between a 9 and a 10 but finally ended up committing to the higher rating. Regardless, there's not much I can knock Lycoris Recoil for. It oozes style and personality with its characters, the story is an adrenaline filled roller coaster, and the downtime is better than most slice of life comedies could ever hope to achieve. Lycoris Recoil sets out to do something that's extremely difficult, which is mixing two disparate genres. The danger here is that by splitting its focus, it can be hard to live up to other shows who focus entirely on their genre of choice, and it can feel just kinda bland. I'm happy to report that there is no such problem here. The action and intrigue of the show are excellent, and yet, they are somehow outdone by the CGDCT comedy that surrounds it. It's a testament to the team working on this that there's never strange tonal whiplash. Somehow, everything fits together just right. I haven't even mentioned how wonderful our leading girls, Chisato and Takina, are. With such a fun cast of characters to slot into a show that just seems to get everything right, there's almost no way to mess it up. I thoroughly enjoyed this watch, and am onboard with anything else they decide to do with the series. I hope this is the first of many entries. | |
| Made in Abyss (TV) | Excellent |
| Made in Abyss is incredible. The world, the story telling, the characters, it all works together flawlessly, driving this unstoppable triumph that is this show. And it is a triumph, in almost all ways. The story of Reg and Riko's journey to the bottom of the abyss is just, well, I haven't really seen an anime do it this well before. The story knows how to take its time, how to let the world speak for itself, and let the audience feel like we are there with the characters, celebrating their achievements and sharing in the misery of their failures. There's really nothing quite like it. That said... I have one issue with the show, and it's enough to drag it down from a solid 10. That is, the characters are young (maybe around 10/11), and the show doesn't shirk away from sexualizing them. It's not overly overt, but the general sense and feeling around it left me uncomfortable, and I wish it wasn't there. I get that the show deals with mature themes, but this is something better left alone, it's not necessary for the story or for the characters, it just feels tacked on, as though the creators weren't convinced the show could stand on its own. It's a real shame, but again, it's not overt, and so I don't penalize the show that much. It would take something seriously egregious for me not to recommend Made in Abyss wholeheartedly, and I definitely do. | |
| Magical Meow Meow Taruto (TV) | So-so |
| Taruto is the essence of cute. It's a lighthearted show about cats and their relationships with each other as they run around and do silly stuff. They see each other as little people and can talk and such, but the humans they belong to only see them as normal cats. It is a bit odd at first to see 1 foot tall cat girls running around, but the show settles in nicely. It's bland, light fun, honestly more like a children's cartoon than a real anime. I would have really dug this show if I was 8 or 10, but as is, I ended up getting pretty bored and half payed attention during the second half. No real reason to recommend, even for a die hard catgirl fan like myself. This is as innocent as it gets. | |
| (The) Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess (TV) | Excellent |
| While this is technically isekai, I wouldn't really call it one. There are a couple of character quirks that Anis has picked up due to this fact, but mostly this is pretty much as straight up a fantasy as you can get. That said, it's wonderfully done throughout. It is such a relief to watch a show with fully realized characters who interact with one another so well. When we get to that big climactic character moment where our protagonists have to "believe in themselves" to win, it feels earned, appropriate, and legitimately heart wrenching. And that's the biggest thing here Anis and Euphy are dynamic, charismatic leads that work so well with each other, it just feels natural that of course this was always going to be great. That's without mentioning the yuri undertones present throughout that is just icing on the cake. If you want actually smart politics with fun characters, big stakes, and some sugary adorableness thrown in for good measure, this is about as good as it gets. | |
| Magical Warfare (TV) | Good |
| Magical Warfare has some interesting things going for it. I mean, the magic circles are cool, and they have this ancient conflict between two secretive powerful mage sects, and... Oh, who am I kidding... The girls in this show are by far the best thing that the show has going for it. I don't even care what the show is, I would watch anything with Mui in it, she's that adorable. The art direction is really good with the show, it's got lots of flashy visuals and the character models are all strong. However, having said how I don't care about the story, it's really not a strength of the show. It's fairly convoluted and the writers seem to be content to simply not tell us anything about the characters relationships with each other beyond the immediate conflict. There's a lot hinted at behind the scenes, and I feel like there could be some crazy things going on if this gets another season. Which I hope to god it does, because don't get me started on that bullsh*t anti ending. | |
| Magimoji Rurumo (TV) | So-so |
| I wasn't really taken with the main characters in this show, which kind of defeats the purpose of the cute, nothing happens, slice of life type of animes. Pretty much forgettable. | |
| (The) Maid I Hired Recently Is Mysterious (TV) | Decent |
| The Maid I Hired Recently is Mysterious is, well, aggressively mediocre. There's not enough comedy here for it to be a full on comedy. The main character is too young and inexperienced for this to be a romance with any drama. There's not enough characters for there to be any plot or intrigue. Instead we're left with a sort of Takagi-san vibes except there's an extreme lack of originality to the teasing present in this show. Basically the entire show revolves around our main guy not understanding why he finds himself always thinking about his maid, so he follows her, she notices and teases him lightly to no effect because he is too straightforward and says something that makes her embarrassed. Rinse, repeat. There is another character at his school who is vaguely fun, and another maid does show up around the last couple episodes, but it isn't enough. We need more going on than just these two running around by themselves, the writing, comedy, drama, chemistry, etc... is just not strong enough. The only reason to watch this is for some vaguely good vibes in a completely non offensive manner. There's just not enough to latch onto otherwise. | |
| Majestic Prince (TV) | Very good |
| I started this on a whim. The new anime season was just getting going, and Majestic Prince was one of the first shows to air. I didn't expect much from it, and the first few episodes left me wanting. I ended up dropping it actually. For whatever reason I picked it back up a few months later and man, it got better fast. I ended up catching up in a day or two and waited eagerly for the last few episodes to air. It's a good mix of mecha/sci fi with some fun slice of life type stuff thrown in. The show starts to pick up once we get to know the enemies and the reality of the situation that our heroes are in is made clear. The main characters themselves comprise a five man team called Team Rabbits (or the Fail Five as they are affectionately called). They are supposed to be highly talented mech pilots, but they can't work together well. Of course as the series goes on they mature and form an unbreakable bond, and become virtually unstoppable. The universe of MJP is really colorful and the characters are a lot of fun. I very much enjoyed watching them fight together, grow together, experience loss together, and ultimately claim victory in spite of, or because of, the incredibly high stakes. The animation was very high quality, and I look forward to seeing it in HD. Very quality mecha series here. | |
| Management of a Novice Alchemist (TV) | Good |
| I don't have particularly much to say about this one. It was a competent sort of laid back, alchemist shop type of show. A bit slice of life-y. It was fun, but looked incredibly generic, and for the most part did the bare minimum to keep things interesting. I wouldn't really recommend, but it was relaxing to watch. | |
| MAOYU (TV) | Good |
| Maoyu is a bit different from most standard anime fare. It's made by the same people as Spice and Wolf, and the similarities between the series are very obvious. This is a fantasy story set in a medieval world where humans and demons are at war with each other. Our main characters, only known as Hero (our male protagonist) and Demon King (a buxom young lady), get together and decide that they can help save the world from war and chaos and envision demons and humans living in peace. There is a ton of economic manipulations, social and religious commentary, and solving problems through words and underhanded movements to avoid war. However, there are a few battles, and the action, while sparse, is done well. In the end, I feel that the anime suffers from being too ambitious. There's no way a 12 episode series can deal with so many countries and conflicts properly. We skip around a lot, and hardly get a feel for the characters at all. The fantasy world is brilliant though, and I'd whole heartedly welcome a sequel that delves into this deeper, as the story seems to be just beginning. | |
| Märchen Mädchen (TV) | Good |
| Marchen Madchen was heading for a solid 7/10 ranking. It's got a huge cast of very cute girls along with some light fanservice, some fun comedy, and an interesting concept for a magic system. The idea that the girls can borrow powers from classic stories like Cinderella, Princess Kaguya, The Little Match Girl, or other classic tales is actually a pretty cool system. It could have been implemented a bit better, but there wasn't really anything wrong with it. The action was a bit dry, and the animation wasn't the best, but the show felt like it had heart and was going to be a fun offering. And then episode 9 hit. I understand this show was plagued by production issues, but it makes me a bit sad that it kind of ruins an otherwise solid show. Hopefully those last two episodes make it out, because as episode 10 demonstrated, the studio is able to get themselves back on track, and it would be a bummer to leave things hanging. As is, I can't really recommend the show, but if the bad animation gets fixed for the dvd, well, I enjoyed the rest at least. Note: I've now seen episodes 11 and 12 after they finally came out. The show ends nicely and looked just fine. Really enjoyed this little story. Upping the score back to 7. | |
| Maria the Virgin Witch (TV) | Excellent |
| Maria is probably the best representation of Medeival European culture that I've seen in anime. I had basically no expectations going into it, but it really blew me away. Maria herself is adorable to a fault, though she would be loathe to have you describe her as such. The crux of the series is that Maria hates the constant wars going on between France and England (this takes place during the hundred years war), and rightfully assumes that the war has become as much a part of the industry and way for the people in power to maximize their profits and influence. She tries her best to stop them, but runs into opposition from all parties (the soldiers, the lords, and god himself). She has to balance the current reality with her dreams, all while keeping those she cares about out of harms way. It can be hard to watch at times, this series is not shy about being rough, but it is quality anime. | |
| Masamune-kun's Revenge (TV) | Good |
| This was a weird one. I enjoyed it, but I don't think it was all that good. At it's core, Masamune-kun's Revenge was about a boy who used to be fat and was unceremoniously dumped by the one girl he ever liked, who has now sworn revenge on her. Which takes the form of him getting swole so that he can meet her again, get her to fall for him, and dump her back. It's stupid, which is right about where this show finds itself. Side note, I avoided this one for a while, because the "revenge" in the title made me think it'd be some sort of incel-y trash pile. I am happy to report that it's overall pretty wholesome and doesn't carry any of that negativity with it. So then about the show. At least it doesn't take itself seriously either. Though I have to wonder how much they can possibly milk out of their central mystery/drama. I don't feel like it's much of a stretch to figure out exactly what's going on. And that's probably enough about plot for now. Otherwise, Masamune is... strange. The pacing is what really got me. This thing is absolutely all over the place. Just on an episode by episode basis, they set up the central arc for the episode, then resolve it like 10 minutes in, leaving us with an oddly hollow back half of an episode. This didn't happen in every single episode, but it was often enough that I picked up on it. It just seemed like this show introduces and discards chances for drama on complete whims, tiring of them almost before they are even done being setup. I suppose it's nice that we don't have to hem and haw about things forever, but surely there's some middle ground to be had. Still, the characters are fun and suitably over the top. This makes for good guilty pleasure popcorn watching. But don't come looking for anything more than that. | |
| Masamune-kun's Revenge R (TV) | Decent |
| So, I guess it's been some years between the first and second seasons, but that's not how I consumed this show. I marathoned the first season right before the second season aired so I pretty much watched them back to back, so I don't have any rose colored glasses tinting the second season. So then, how did it stack up?
Well, it's fine. The production values are notably lower than season 1, with an almost completely different art style and direction. Again, not surprising considering how long the gap was between seasons in real life, but it was something I had trouble getting over in my watching of it. Plot wise, this season was very muddled and I was pretty over the whole thing by the end of the season. Granted, they at least didn't draw out the mystery from season 1 any longer than absolutely necessary, so I guess that wins some points. Still, the characters were dumb and I didn't feel totally satisfied with how things played out. But again, this was mostly trashy sort of popcorn watching, so not a waste of time, but not really recommended. | |
| Mashle: Magic and Muscles (TV) | Very good |
| Mashle was an absolute joy to watch. As I've said many times, I really enjoy watching shows about stupid characters being just so lovably dumb, and that's basically the thesis statement for Mashle. The gags were wonderful. The OP and ED were certified bangers. And the strange mashup of shonen, harry potter, and zoomer humor works far better than it should. The animation was strong, the characters are over the top and very fun, and the plot was... there. It didn't need to be great, but it certainly was a paint by numbers shonen show when you step back. I'm excited for season 2, but am secretly hoping they step it up in the writing department a shade. Still, this was a very fun show and I definitely recommend it. | |
| Mayo Chiki! (TV) | Decent |
| This is about as basic as a school harem gets. The twist this time is that the main girl is a "butler" for her ojousama (who also attends school). Her family has been butlers for generations, but now she is the only heir and a girl, so she has to trick everyone (except our main guy who figures out the truth in episode 1) in order to continue her family's work. It ends up being mostly about her being almost caught and ending up in compromising situations with our mc-kun. There's some other girls too. Comedy is decent. Nothing bad about this, but definitely not memorable. | |
| Megalobox (TV) | Excellent |
| Megalobox is incredible. The show is gritty, raw, and feels like it's straight out of the 90's, which is exactly what it's going for. I even heard that they animated everything in crisp HD, downgraded it to SD, and upscaled it back to HD to get the more grainy look you'd expect from an older show. If nothing else, that's awesome. But there is so much more. This is a 50th anniversary celebration of the classic boxing anime Ashita no Joe, and while I haven't seen the original, I'd be shocked if Megalobox wasn't considered an extremely worthy successor. The show is gorgeous, well acted and paced, and just makes me feel hyped for boxing, which is something I never thought I'd say. The scrappy underdog rising up from the underworld to take on the favorite when no one believes in him is as classic a story as they come, but damn if this show doesn't knock it out. Highly recommended. | |
| Megalobox 2: Nomad (TV) | Very good |
| Season 2 of Megalobox is a very different animal from the first. From episode one we are more concerned with Joe's simple survival than we are with any of the fights or their outcomes. Joe has fallen on hard times after the death of his mentor/coach, and is resorting to drugs and alcohol to numb the pain. The season is about redemption and forgiveness as Joe climbs from the bottom to once again live a life he can be proud of. Normally this would be all good, but I'm sitting here and lamenting the lack of focus on the boxing matches. Throughout the season, there's probably only one match that truly had me on the edge of my seat. Even the series climax seems as though it doesn't even really matter who wins. I know they are trying a different approach with this season, dealing more with personal demons and character arcs, but dang... those fights from season 1 were so cool. Still a good season, even if it is quite difficult to watch at time. | |
| Mekakucity Actors (TV) | Good |
| Well, Mekakucity Actors is an experience. I will say that. Anyone familiar with other works by Shaft knows what to expect at this point. Lots of odd camera angles, strange backgrounds, and a story that doesn't quite make as much sense as it should. In this show's case, the story is based on music by a band called KagePro, and tells a lot of its pivotal plot points through the songs that play. This is a refreshing take, but it could have been done better. A lot of people said that after listening to more work by the band and watching their music videos, that the show would make more sense, but honestly, it should be capable of standing on its own. It's still a great show, but there's just this lingering sense that it's not quite all there. It feels too rushed for its own good. Beautiful visuals though, so take that for what it's worth. | |
| (The) Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (TV) | Excellent |
| Haruhi is one of the all time classics of my generation of anime. Pretty much anyone who knows anything about anime has at least heard of Haruhi. That said, looking back on it, this show is still quite unique and interesting. It seems like it's going to be a typical school affair, but the reality is far from that. Haruhi herself is quite obviously the reason this show achieved the popularity that it did. Kyon, our narrator, makes for a good foundation and voice of reason to offset Haruhi's massive, quirky, sometimes abrasive, always entertaining personality. The other three main characters play their roles well, and easily pull the viewer into their world. Things get quite dire throughout the series though, as the ramifications of what Haruhi actually is come to the surface. This is a show that deals with magic, gods, time travel, aliens, psychics, world ending, sci-fi, slice of life, and a number of other seemingly out of place genres and themes. Haruhi is essentially the ultimate nerd within all of us, and manages to do all the things we wish we could do ourselves. She easily carries the show. | |
| Mieruko-chan (TV) | Good |
| Mieruko-chan exists in a land between comedy and horror. Given that we barely get any horror anymore, this is a pretty solid entry for fans starved in that genre. The premise is kinda fun, especially watching along side Mieruko and trying to unravel the mysteries that she is wrapped up in. Of course, the plot isn't really the point here. It's more the ridiculous situations she finds herself in, and the grotesque horrors who inevitably end up following her around as she tries to ignore them. Early on I was a bit critical that that pretty much describes the whole show, but I think the show does grow a bit, and there's a bit more nuance and plot to worry about. Of course, that's also not the point. There's comedy and fanservice to be had after all. Overall, it's a fun show, and a bit of fun horror along with it. | |
| Mikagura School Suite (TV) | Decent |
| It's a bit sad that the one interesting thing in the show eventually becomes its biggest weakness, but such is reality. Simply put, Mikagura is a flawed production basically from the start, but that doesn't mean it can't still be entertaining. It boils down to the main character, Eruna. She is basically way too energetic about everything, way way too happy all the time, and way way way too into trying to hook up with everything that happens to have two x chromosomes. It's funny and does serve to move the story along, but really it doesn't end up being entirely necessary, and in fact just causes the show to draaaaag. It's a given that there will never be drama, but that doesn't keep them from trying. Eruna's over the top caricature of a personality prevents the show from being able to succeed in a traditional format. The only way to make it work is to take everything else to absurd extremes where her personality starts to blend in with everything else (see Gurren Lagann or Space Dandy). As it is though, this is just your typical high school kids with supernatural powers fighting but not really because it's just play. Baka and Test does this a million times better without the main character making you want to gouge your eyes out, so if the plot really appeals to you, just watch that. | |
| (The) Misfit of Demon King Academy (TV) | Very good |
| This is a strong 8, and I debated about making it a 9, but unfortunately it just plays with things like plot a bit too fast and loose for me to take it overly seriously. That works to its strength in many ways, but I think removing too much gravity from the show reduces it to just kind of a feel good action show with some flair. Don't get me wrong, it's a super fun watch, but it knows what it is and plays to that version of itself. Anos will always win and that's that, even when the things he does make no sense even in the universe of the show. The characters are great though, and the show has a ton of heart. If you want to just relax and enjoy an OP character kick some ass and take some names in a way that doesn't feel annoying or overly done, this is the perfect show for that. | |
| (The) Misfit of Demon King Academy II (TV) | Very good |
| Season two of this show is a bit of a departure from season 1. We get some overly complicated capital-letter term driven plot (ala Index) that is barely parse-able. But then, we get an actual genuine love story with feels that was presented in a shockingly competent manner, and well, it all adds up to a pretty good time. I still couldn't say what most of the rules of this world are, but in bite size chunks, I can handle the things they throw at me. I still stand by what I said in season 1. Sometimes it's nice to just let go a bit and let the show take you on a ride. Even if you aren't 100% convinced even the show knows where you're going to end up, well, you're going to get a good story out of it regardless.
Note: it took me a year to finish due to season 1 being heavily delayed during its runtime. Just took me a bit to get back to it. | |
| Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid (TV) | Excellent |
| Kobayashi is among a handful of the best examples of the slice of life genre. The premise is absurd, that an honest to god, fire breathing dragon suddenly shows up at Kobayashi's front door and proclaims herself to be a maid. Of course, hilarious hijinks follow, and it is excellent, and cute, and sugary and all that. But what elevates this show above the rest is its heart. These are real characters that believe in each other and have over the course of their time spent together, formed a deep and lasting bond. The journey of self-discovery isn't always neat and tidy, but it makes me feel just so warm inside. I really, really liked this show a lot. Tohru is amazing. I love that Kobayashi is a single working woman, and a programmer at that. Sure, Tohru is a bit brash with her feelings, but this show never devolves into a fanservice fest, which I give it all the credit in the world for. My gripe is that of the other dragons, we only get to really see a lot of Kanna, and I wish we could have traded some of her time for a few of the other characters who we really only see occasionally for brief flashes. But that's my biggest complaint. I love the world they've built here. I'll take one dragon maid too please! | |
| Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid S (TV) | Excellent |
| It's a bit surreal to be watching a KyoAni show again. I'm just so happy that they're back. The first episode was an emotional ride all on its own. It's almost a given that of course a KyoAni show is good, but given all that has happened, it was no sure thing that Kobayashi season 2 was going to be the same show we were all hoping for. That's why it's so wonderful and heartwarming to see all the love and care that went in to making this season. The show is just perfect. I am so, so happy that this exists and is bringing joy to the world. Can't wait for many, many more awesome shows to come. | |
| Miss Kuroitsu From the Monster Development Department (TV) | Good |
| This is a perfectly fine parody of super sentai shows, as well as a fun take on the draining grind of slugging it out in the corporate world. If either of those really resonate, this is a fun time. However, the characters are a bit bland and one note, and there's really not much more beyond some silly attempts at comedy to be found. Very light and digestible, but not much else. | |
| MM! (TV) | Good |
| MM! is a standard school club comedy at its core, but it's gimmick is the real central theme. See our protagonist is a "super masochist" and he has lost all hope at having a normal life. He turns to a school club known for helping people out with problems. As it turns out, the president (a little blonde, tsundere girl) has quite the mean streak when she doesn't get her way, and the two are a match made in (kinky) heaven. There's a little fanservice to be had here, but it's mostly just straight comedy that borders on ridiculousness. It's very lighthearted and fun, but no real substance to be had. Fun for what it is, but that's all it is. | |
| Momokuri (ONA) | So-so |
| Another Slice of Life show to add to my growing collection. The twist here is that the two main characters are in a relationship and the girl is uncomfortably stalker-like about the whole thing. Of course, it's all played for laughs and it is cute and fun. Sadly this gimmick alone isn't enough to carry the show. It gets stale. It is what it is, I'd never go out of my way to recommend it. | |
| Monogatari Series Second Season (TV) | Excellent |
| At this point I'm fully on board with monogatari. This series is outstanding. It's gotten to the point where the plot is weaving around itself, doing exactly what it wants without regard for structure or continuity. The show has clearly hit its stride and Shaft has settled into a rhythm, masterfully creating the show. I still can't shake the feeling in the back of my head that it is trying too hard, but that's no longer important, Monogatari has risen above that point. I won't really go into the plot much, at its core it's not that interesting and the bare bones plot isn't really the point anyway. In reality, this is a very self-aware show that is kind of winking and nudging its way along, while still trying in earnest to demonstrate its promotion from simple television show to work of art. It's fascinating to watch, both as a study and for enjoyment. I love this story, and will be sad to see it end. Great show! Onto Hanamonogatari! | |
| Monster Musume: Everyday Life with Monster Girls (TV) | Good |
| I suppose it's necessary to preface this with the disclaimer that I am not really all that into monster girls. With that out of the way, Monster Musume does actually manage to be a really entertaining harem series with a couple of fresh feeling twists thrown in. The monster girls are actually really refreshing as the series spends the vast majority of its time on the little idiosyncrasies that each of the different species has. The snake girl unconsciously strangles our male lead in her sleep, the harpy is a bird brain, the centaur is a noble knight that struggles desperately with her feelings for the main character (especially when he decides to ride her), and so on. The main character is almost killed incidentally countless times by the ones trying to woo him that it becomes an ongoing joke (and actually central to the plot of some of the later episodes!). So, yeah, anything that makes a harem feel fresh gets a thumbs up in my book. Oh yeah, and Papi is best Harpy. | |
| Monster Sonic! D'Artagnan's Rise to Fame (ONA) | Very good |
| 5 episodes of my favorite monster training to be an idol. Don't need to think all that hard about this one. *sips from his D'Artagnyan wine glass* | |
| Monster Strike Animation the New Series (ONA) | Good |
| The New Series version of the Monster Strike anime is actually worth watching. We ditch kids and go straight to what should have been the show all along, with our favorite monsters teaming up to take down big baddies. In this case, we start with Lucy (of course) and her gang of angels, Uri, Gabby, Micha, and Raff, as the heavens find themselves under assault. The narrative meanders as we move away from the heavens to other fan favorite monsters and their arcs (Arthur, Solomon, Noah and Pandora, as well as the second generation of angels). In the end, they all come together in a glorious finale. It's actually shockingly well done compared to what came before, and though it is 3DCG, it's actually much better than it has any right to be. It looks pretty great at times. This is certainly a show I'd recommend for anyone, even someone who has never played the game. It's a great fantasy-esque romp. | |
| Monster Strike the Animation (ONA) | Not really good |
| I was a longtime player of the Monster Strike gacha game. Even after they closed down the english global servers, I started an account on JP and played for another year or so. It's a fantastic, engaging game with deep strategy built from the ground up to be played on a small touchscreen. There's a reason it was smashing records. But the anime.... Well, XFlag eventually gets better than this first effort. This entry is... not very good. It's mostly about kids who play the game on their phones then some of the monsters come out of their phones and they play the game but it's a bit more real. It sounds lame, and it is. I think unless you were a big fan of the game (in which case you will pick up on a lot of the cool references it makes), it's entirely skippable. The later monster strike series with Lucy and friends is much, much better. | |
| Monster Strike the Anime (ONA 2) | Not really good |
| This is a straight continuation of the first ONA series. Still pretty stupid. Some more fun characters make cameos from the game though. | |
| Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun (TV) | Good |
| This show is cute, and not much more. It's kind of like a romantic comedy, except it's obvious throughout that the romance is never going to go anywhere, it's just a tool for jokes. There's a bit of interesting insight into the manga creating process, and a lot of really interesting characters that come together. | |
| MoonPhase (TV) | Good |
| I can't in good conscience rate a show that I dropped for almost two years as anything better than good. I did really enjoy Moon Phase, but it does lack momentum. Shaft did an excellent job though. | |
| Moriarty the Patriot (TV) | Very good |
| Moriarty is currently in the middle of a 3 month break between halves of this first season, so this is sort of a temporary rating. See the second half when it eventually airs. Until then, I will say that I really enjoy the cat and mouse games. I wish we focused a bit more on the mystery solving, but I suppose that seeing things from the criminal mastermind's perspective means it's more about the tension of the moment, than solving things after the fact. It doesn't quiiiite scratch the itch for mystery, but it's a great show in its own right. I think it's a bit forgettable from the character perspective, which brings it down to an 8, but it certainly could rise depending on the second half. | |
| Moriarty the Patriot (TV 2) | Very good |
| The second half of the show is much the same as the first. Moriarty is still organizing elaborate schemes and Sherlock is close on his tail. That is, until we get to the last five or six episodes. At this point, the story starts to come together. It is a bit eyeroll-y at times (Bond... really?), but otherwise does a fine job of sticking the landing. I thought for a criminal mastermind, William's final master plan was a bit... I dunno... lacking I suppose. But this show has always been less about mystery than it has been about drama and suspense. I wish it wasn't quite that way, but it's good at what it does. I still think the characters are largely half baked, but have to give credit where it's due that we do end up getting to know Sherlock and William both a lot better. This is a very solid Holmes' style drama, and I definitely recommend it. | |
| Motto To Love Ru (TV) | Decent |
| See season 1 of To Love Ru | |
| Ms. vampire who lives in my neighborhood (TV) | Good |
| There's really only so much I can say about kinda genericly cute slice of life shows. I appreciate them a lot, they're among my favorite genres, but well, they kinda are what they are at this point. Vampire is a good one, but it isn't great, and I'll probably forget about it in a couple of years. It's cute and sugary and meaningless and is the perfect sort of show if that's what you're looking for. The Vampire angle is cute, but it does nothing to really set this show apart besides being another entry in an already familiar genre that feels at least semi-fresh. | |
| Muromi-san (TV) | Good |
| Muromi-san is an interesting show. I haven't seen any other show that clocks in at around 12 minutes per episode. The format reminds me of some of the stuff on Adult Swim like Aqua Teen Hunger Force and Robot Chicken. That comparison is also appropriate because Muromi-san runs along the same vein as those two shows. Not that this is something that would work on Adult Swim, but if Japan had some sort of equivalent, then I would see this being on there. It's over the top with gags and features many adult themes (there's an entire episode devoted to making fun of huge boobs (Not that that's all that unusual for anime I suppose, but this was handled in quite the ludicrous way)). If you're looking for a fun comedy, this could be up your alley. | |
| Musasino! (TV) | Bad |
| Somehow Urawa no Usagi got a season 2. I don't know who was clamoring for it, but here it is. Honestly, I only saw this through more out of morbid fascination to try to decipher what on earth they were even trying to accomplish with this show. VTubers doing the briefest of sketches would be better animation, plotting, character, and well, everything else that could be considered part of a production than anything seen here. At least VTubers move, this show is a collection of pictures with moving mouths. I never would have sat through this if the episodes weren't 2 minutes long. Even with so little time to make an impact on me, I still aggressively disliked everything about it. So, future me, when you read this in 10 years because somehow, someway this show got a third season. DO NOT PICK IT UP. I know, it's just 3 minutes long or whatever, and you've forgotten this whole thing even existed, and how bad could it really be? I mean you watched the first two seasons, right? But, listen to me, seriously, there is nothing here at all. Do not do this to yourself again. Thanks! And that thing you're really, really happy that I did for you a decade ago that changed your life forever? All good, no need to thank me. I got you. | |
| Music Girls (TV) | Decent |
| There really isn't that much to say about Music Girls. Essentially this show is Love Live except worse and on a much lower budget. It has good character designs, and some nice heart to it's scenes, but it can't escape the shadow of Love Live and the shows that have done this concept better. That said, it's totally inoffensive, so if you like the genre, this is a fine show. But it's nothing more than that. | |
| My Hero Academia (TV) | Excellent |
| Wow. This was definitely the standout series of the Summer season this year. I'm honestly not really that into superheroes, but damn if My Hero Academia doesn't hook me almost immediately. This kinda fills that One Punch Man void, but I could see this becoming the stronger show eventually. OPM had basically one gimmick that it masterfuly used, while MHA is a more traditional show that rides good writing, characters, and execution to the top. I loved the characters and the story. It was super compelling. I just can't say enough good things about it, I'm really excited for season 2. | |
| My Hero Academia (TV 2) | Excellent |
| The second season of MHA pretty much picks up right where the first left off, and it's still awesome. This is the premier shonen show out at the moment and I'm still loving it. Can't wait for season 3. | |
| My Hero Academia (TV 3) | Excellent |
| Still good | |
| My Hero Academia (TV 4) | Excellent |
| Still good | |
| My Love Story With Yamada-kun at Lv999 (TV) | Very good |
| So, this is a shoujo show through and through. That's not usually my genre of choice, but that's not to say that I haven't enjoyed some shoujo shows before. Thankfully, I can add Yamada 999 to that list. I had a blast with this one. It helped that it was based on an MMORPG guild, which resonates really strongly with me. However, even though that's kind of the central premise the show starts with, both the show and me as a viewer started to drift away from that as the show went on. Which is a good thing! I didn't need to see things in the video game anymore. I wanted to see our characters actually out and doing things, because the show was actually strong enough to handle that properly. I've seen MMORPG style romances before in anime, but this is the first one where I was more excited for it to lose the video game portion. So yeah, it's a fun romance with easy to root for characters. I liked both Yamada and Akane a lot in their own ways. It's exciting to see characters who are mature and can have actual conversations. And while, yeah, there's still shoujo bubbles and flowers filling the screen during all the major moments, it does feel like it has ascended beyond standard cliches. My one complaint is that it plays things very safe. I usually could guess or feel what was about to happen. I still had a blast going through it all the same, this is like gourmet anime comfort food, but that is why it's not a perfect rating. Overall, big shoujo fans and especially ones who enjoy online games should definitely watch this. For others, I still think there's more than enough here to make it a compelling watch for just about anyone. | |
| My mental choices are completely interfering with my school romantic comedy (TV) | Good |
| It's a harem show. I was a fan of the execution though. The girls were interesting and our main character protagonist is afflicted with a rather unique condition that causes the show to really go over the top. Pretty much constant ridiculousness. It's definitely funny, but not all that much substance to be found. | |
| My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! (TV) | Excellent |
| Villainess is a show that just exudes charm throughout its run. We have another isekai premise for this one, with our protagonist being isekai'd into the world of her favorite otome game. However, instead of the main protagonist, she wakes up to find that she has become the evil antagonist who tends to end up dead or exiled at the end of the game. Well... that just won't do! So we set off on a silly, fun adventure to watch her go out of her way to make friends and live her life in a way that makes sure she doesn't end up in such a miserable state. It's all very lighthearted, as she is just absolutely charming, and everyone she comes across can't help but fall for her. It's just the right amount of fluff and sincerity to make this show one of the hidden gems of the season. It's just so much fun. | |
| My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! X (TV 2) | Very good |
| It feels like much of season 2 is kind of a victory lap for this show. There's a lot of one off, OVA style episodes that just exist to show the characters being cute. The last four episodes of the season do attempt to at least advance some new story/plot but it's just not quite the same as season 1. That said, the characters are still really fun, and this show can't help but put a smile on my face. I'm hoping that the next season maintains that energy, but gives us some real plot to dig into as well. | |
| My Roommate is a Cat (TV) | Very good |
| This is a really heartwarming show about a shut in and the stray cat who decides to adopt him. Our shut in main character is an author, but he has shunned the real world in the wake of his parents' deaths and only talks reluctantly to his editor. This changes as he decides to keep the little cat who wanders into his life, prompting him to start opening up to the people around him. It's a very cute and human show. I really appreciate that each episode shows all of the scenes a second time from Haru's point of view (the cat), full of her own internal monologue about what she thinks is happening (usually food related). It's a heartwarming and wonderful show. Highly recommended. | |
| My Senpai Is Annoying (TV) | Very good |
| You know what you're getting with My Senpai is Annoying right out of the gate. This is going to be a silly workplace comedy with light romance elements in it that don't ever get too serious. And yeah, that's what ends up happening here. It's very well done though, and pretty much nails everything a show in this genre would want to do. The characters are fun and have great charm and chemistry with each other, the comedy is actually entertaining, and there is some heart and earnestness to the whole thing too. Altogether, it's nice to see a workplace anime among all the high school stuff out there, and this one is definitely a treat. | |
| My Stepmom's Daughter Is My Ex (TV) | Good |
| I feel like this show should be better than it is. We have a classic high school rom-com style show that has competent design and animation, and yet... there's something lacking here. It's still worth seeing for sure, but that extra bit that makes me fall in love with shows like this is missing somehow. I usually am quite the sucker for these high school dramas. As it is, this one didn't leave much of an impression. It's not super funny or anything, so it needs compelling characters and such to pull it along. I think that's probably where the show fails. Both Yume and Mizuto are fully realized characters for sure, but they're both just kinda... irritating grumps for a lot of the runtime of the show. It's not super fun to get behind a couple when they both are just kinda mean. Of course, you're supposed to empathize with the feelings they are hiding away and trying to ignore, but it doesn't make the in the moment things any more exciting as they consistently put each other down. It might work for some people, but it's just not really my cup of tea. I'd look towards Kaguya-sama as an example of a fun take on the antagonistic romance genre, and I'd love a bit more of that energy and whimsy in a show like this. As it is, we got what we got, and sure, it's fine I guess. But it should be more. | |
| My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU (TV) | Decent |
| The show was a bit quirky. It's a romantic comedy (imagine that!) that takes place in high school. Our main character, Hachiman, is a loner and outcast who revels in his loneliness. He is forced into joining the service club, a club who's goal is to help people who request it. He meets one of the two main girls there, who is also an outcast like him. They don't get along all that well, but end up working well together in helping their clients. The problem with the show is that the characters are almost entirely unrelatable. They are pushed to the extreme, a point at which people who are socially awkward in real life wouldn't even be able to relate much to their experiences. Hachiman does have some interesting thoughts, but they alone are not enough to save the show. In the end it's almost entirely forgettable. | |
| My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU Climax (TV 3) | Masterpiece |
| I dug this final season of SNAFU a lot more than the previous two. Maybe I've finally just had enough time to settle into the characters, or I simply found myself relating to them a lot more in this season. Whatever the reason, the show hit me hard and will probably stay with me for a while. I really, really enjoyed this final season a lot. It was heart warming and heart breaking to see the growth and inevitable conclusion to these relationships that we've been following for the entire show. I just... I don't really know what to say here to do it justice. It's always hard to put these things into proper perspective after having just finished watching them. All I know is that I have almost never cheered as loudly and earnestly as I have for Hachiman, Yukino, Yui, Iroha and the rest. I said back in season 1 that I just didn't understand these characters, and maybe at that point in my life, I wasn't really capable of doing so. This is not a standard anime with cliches, tropes, and archetypes. It's much more real, messy, and meaningful than that. It's taken some time for me to come around to that, but the reward was the pleasure of immersing myself in the final season. Really, really wonderful job by Feel and everyone involved. Maybe I should also embrace some of the growth that the characters went through and just be clear. I absolutely loved it. | |
| My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU TOO! (TV) | Very good |
| Looking back at my review from season 1, I can't say that I fully agree with the conclusions I had there anymore. Maybe season 2 does a better job, but I fully engaged with the characters this time and really loved following their interactions throughout the season. The tension is high as always, but slowly and surely hachiman and his friends are stumbling towards real connections and relationships. It's hard to watch, but so heartwarming at the same time. | |
| My Wife is the Student Council President (TV) | Decent |
| It is what it is | |
| Myriad Colors Phantom World (TV) | Good |
| There wasn't really anything particularly wrong with phantom world, but there wasn't that much that was really that great either. The show looks beautiful at least, but the story (or really the lack-there-of) is the real problem. There was never really an overarching plot, just episode to episode as phantoms appear and the team has to deal with them. There's a couple of actually interesting premises including an abandoned mansion that starts to feel lonely, the episode about Ruru turning into a real human girl, and the dream world with the bears. But beyond that it feels like a ton of fluff without much else going on, which is vaguely disappointing. At least Reina is amazing. | |
| Negima!? (TV) | Decent |
| Negima!? is an older show, one of Shaft's earlier efforts, but it shares a lot of visual similarities with its more recent efforts like Monogatari. This is apparently one of two versions of the same show, with this version being more comedic and less story focused than the first. I'm not sure if that's a great thing, as honestly, this drags a bit. But it is full of lighthearted fun and I did enjoy watching it. Not amazing really, but there's definitely worse out there. And you have to respect any show that attempts to utilize over 30 main characters. | |
| Nekomonogatari (Black) (TV) | Very good |
| This is a 4 episode prequel to Bakemonogatari that was made after Nisemonogatari aired. It was solid, explaining how Hanekawa came to be possessed by the Curse Cat, and how Araragi dealt with the situation. More monogatari is always good, and this certainly lived up. Onto Monogatari Season 2! | |
| Nekopara (TV) | Very good |
| Take this rating with a grain of salt. Nekopara is short for Neko Paradise, aka Catgirl Paradise, and yeah, this was never getting lower than an 8. | |
| Neon Genesis Evangelion (TV) | Very good |
| Just the fact that I reviewed Evangelion as something other than masterpiece will be enough to set many of the hardcore fans off. As I started to get into anime, a few of my friends told me that this show was a must see. I took their word for it and... boy were they right. This show is nuts. Symbolism is everywhere, peppered throughout. The plot is well thought out and gripping to the end. Evangelion is essentially the pinnacle of Mecha anime. When this show concluded, I think a lot of people came to realize that this genre had just seen the very best that would probably ever be put out. I'm not going to sit here and summarize the plot or review the seemingly drug-fueled spiral into insanity that was the end. Instead, I'm going to recommend this show for a different reason. Simply put, this show is widely regarded as the best anime to come out in the last 20-30 years by many. People will argue this to no end, and in the end it is subjective anyway, but even the people who may not have liked it must admit that it deserves its place in history. I guess I have to put at least some personal thoughts about the show into this, so here are a few random comments. Shinji is the main character and pretty much a huge wimp throughout the show. I get that it is about his journey to believing in himself, but they play out his weakness a bit too much for my tastes, as it gets old fast. In fact, the only main character I really grew attached to was Asuka, since she was the only one with really any personality (don't get me started on Rei, I just don't understand the fascination). So over all, I felt the characters were the one weakness in the show for me. I've thought about it, and I've come to realize (or at least to believe) that the reason I don't view this as the holy grail and end all be all of anime is probably because of the age that I saw it. I was 22 when I first saw the show, and while I was very impressed, the convoluted existential, theoretical, religious mind-f**k that was the ending wasn't enough to become a defining point in my life at that point. Whereas if I was 14 or 15 it might have been extremely influential and thought provoking for me as I'm trying to figure out who I am as a growing person. So then, this is the reason that Evangelion is a must watch recommendation. Not only is it a touchstone, a basis from which all fans of anime share a connection, but it is executed perfectly and will stick with you in some way or another. Even if you don't find it to be the most truly revolutionary show ever (which I didn't, though it still impressed me), it is worth the time it would take to watch it. This is a show that went beyond what people thought was possible in an anime, and wouldn't it be worth watching simply for that reason alone? | |
| New Game! (TV) | Very good |
| New Game is one of the better slice of life series I've seen. The best comparison I have for this show is it's like Shirobako without much of the drama. I really like the change in perspective to older full time employees from the typical CGDCT shows that are out there. It's fun to play with the more mature character types, and workplace comedy is always a bit more real to me. Of course, it helps that New Game is absolutely gorgeous. The character designs are bright, distinctive, and adorable. It is just a pleasure to watch, and feels fresh and fun throughout. Hopefully there's more in the tank, because I want to see these characters grow and experience more beyond the one game they created. | |
| New Game!! (TV 2) | Good |
| This is pretty much a continuation of the first season. There's not really anything that sets it apart, beyond maybe an uptick in drama, which isn't really what I tend to look for in my slice of life shows. So, for my purposes, I rate this season a bit lower, but it's honestly just as fine as the first season objectively. | |
| Nijiyon Animation (TV) | Good |
| This is a little series of 3 minute episodes of the cast of Love Live Nijigasaki as little chibis of themselves. It's largely pointless. However, fans of particular characters will find a few episodes to enjoy, and it does get me pumped up for more Niji hopefully coming soon. I had fun, but yeah, you have to be really into this franchise to even consider giving this thing a look. | |
| Nisekoi - False Love (TV) | Very good |
| Nisekoi was actually a very nice surprise. It's right up there with Haganai when it comes to harem shows, this is about as good as it gets. It does suffer from the typical weakness of all of these types of shows though, any girl past the second is pretty much relegated to never having a chance. And to be honest, I didn't really connect with them, but, and this is a big but, the three central characters are incredibly strong. The two primary girls are both awesome, and I flip flopped between them constantly, which is really the best endorsement I can give this show. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, the male lead is actually, gasp, tolerable! What a concept! I really enjoyed Nisekoi, and highly recommend it. | |
| Nisekoi: (TV 2) | Good |
| More of the same as season 1. The show is content to just do little vignettes of each character, which makes it a bit weaker as there aren't really any big story arcs. Still enjoyable though. | |
| Nisemonogatari (TV) | Very good |
| Season 2 of Bakemonogatari. Picks up from where it left off and takes off running. It's a bit more laid back, with the two arcs surrounding Koyomi's little sisters. It's cute, and gets each of the old girls some screen time, but still maintains the visually striking presentation of the previous iteration. It's a bit more uncomfortable at some points *cough*brushingteeth*cough*, with Koyomi's relationship with his sisters, though in the end, it is all good and happy times. It's maybe a bit lesser than bakemonogatari, but not enough to drop it a rating category. Still a good time. Onto Nekomonogatari! | |
| No Game, No Life (TV) | Masterpiece |
| No Game, No Life blew me away. I had no idea what to expect, but it certainly wasn't what the show ended up being. How can I best explain it? It's like Problem Children on steroids or Death Note meets chess and fan service. The bare-bones plot is that two neet siblings are transported from their world where they were so good at video games that they grew to hate how boring the world was, into a fantasy world where every dispute is decided by games. Of course, humanity is the worst off of the sixteen races, but the two of them are up to the challenge, and set about righting the course of the last human nation. But that's besides the point. What makes this show a masterpiece are the games. They are brilliantly done. From simple poker or blackjack to human sized chess (ala harry potter) to virtual reality, all of them are breathtaking. Of course, we know that Sora and Shiro will win every game, but that still doesn't take away from the feelings of cathartic awesomeness that arise every time Sora explains his master stroke. The strategies employed are tense and very clever. The best part is, this show is just getting started! This combination of smarts, comedy, strategy, and fun is basically unrivaled. It would be tragic if this show doesn't get a season two. | |
| Non Non Biyori (TV) | Very good |
| Basically a perfect slice of life show. This is anime at its absolute calmest. This show goes out of its way to guarantee nothing of substance is happening or will ever happen, and I love it for that. There's nothing more relaxing than watching the mild shenanigans of these girls. | |
| Non Non Biyori Nonstop (TV 3) | Very good |
| This show is still as wonderful as ever. At this point I don't have much to say except that it's nice to get a sense of progression at least as the kids all move onto the next school year by the end of things. | |
| Non Non Biyori Repeat (TV 2) | Good |
| You know what you're getting into when a full half episode is dedicated to playing a pointless game with rulers, or watching Renge learn to ride a bike. This is a "repeat" of you will of the series. It simply shows 12 more episodes that take place in and around the original 12 episodes. There's no story to be found, of course, so they kind of just naturally fall in place. Perfectly peaceful. | |
| Noragami (TV) | Very good |
| I didn't have much in the way of expectations for Noragami, and it really blew me away. The premise is that gods are real and they survive by accumulating 5 yen coins from their "followers". Our main character is Yato, a very small time god whose regalia (living weapon (think soul eater)) has just left him. He has a chance encounter with Hiyori, a normal girl who is hit by a car when she tries to save Yato (not knowing that he would have been just fine). Normal people and beings in the Far Shore (gods, spirits, regalias, etc...) don't interact much, but Hiyori finds herself caught up in Yato's struggles to become a big shot. So the plot isn't the most original, but Yato, Hiyori, and Yato's new regalia, Yukine, make a great team. It's really fun to watch them interact. The other gods and regalias are also quite interesting, especially Yato's "girlfriend", a god of poverty. Don't get me wrong, it's not all flowers and sunshine. Yukine struggles mightily with being dead (regalias are the spirits of exceptional humans who have passed away). Yato himself has many enemies and the climax of the series is intense. I thoroughly enjoyed it though, and would highly recommend it. | |
| Noragami Aragoto (TV) | Excellent |
| Second season is everything that was good about the first season and more. We get really in depth on Yato's and Yukine's struggles. Things do not always go well, but we get to live the pain right along side them, and it makes it all the sweeter when things go well. Just a really nice show all around. | |
| Nyan Koi! (TV) | Good |
| This show teases catgirls in the opening and then fails to deliver. Not impressed. Still funny, and I do want more... But still, there are just some things you don't mess with Nyan Koi. | |
| Nyanko Days (TV) | So-so |
| 2 minute episode about a girl and her little cat-people. The op/ed song is adorable and that's about all I'll ever remember. | |
| Nyaruko: Crawling with Love! (TV) | Not really good |
| This show suffered from one of the most fundamental pitfalls of harem animes. By the time the third love interest arrived, there was already too much going on to care much, so all it did was grate on my nerves. The show itself is kind of interesting. Its not every day you see the Cthulu mythos represented by high school anime girls after all, but that alone was only enough for the first few episodes. The charm wears off quickly unfortunately, and exposes the shallowness of the characters. The last few episodes are cringe inducing, and I found myself asking over and over again "why should I care". I finished it only because it was so short. Also, Mahiro is probably my least favorite main character of all time. He's a huge, and I mean huge, dick throughout the series to everyone who shows him any amount of affection. He doesn't have to get lovey dovey with Nyarko or anything, but is it too much to ask for him to act like a human being with empathy and real emotions. I want to punch him in the face. I really hoped the monster at the end ran him through just so I could be done with his stupid name and his stupid show. Good riddance. | |
| O Maidens in Your Savage Season (TV) | Excellent |
| This is a hard show for me to properly address. It's savage in a lot of ways. The bottom line, though, is that I think more shows like it need to exist, and need to be recognized. It's such a refreshingly honest and grounded take on these girls' coming of age story. It's not sunshine and rainbows. It's messy, and confusing, and you do and say things that don't make an ounce of sense. Life comes at you fast, both telling you to be pure, but constantly reminding you about the sexuality inherent to everything about growing up. Anime doesn't need more isekai harems. Anime needs more of this. As a man, it's strange to watch, like seeing through a window into a world that I shouldn't be a part of. But simultaneously, I know we need to be able to understand ourselves and the world better. I hope there are more younger fans who stumble across this show. For teenagers at the age of the characters here, it's probably a pretty powerful and resonant experience. As for the show itself, well, it's a high school drama. Our five literary club members each have their own things going on as they each fall into their first real experience with love. As I mentioned before, it gets messy. I won't lie, this is a hard watch at times. But it's important to remember that at the end of the day, this isn't a show that revels in the pain. It sympathizes with these characters to the end, and is doing its best to show us that as we watch them navigate their suddenly confusing high school lives. I think this one will stick with me for quite a while, and for anyone even remotely interested in the subject matter, it's an easy recommendation. | |
| Occultic;Nine (TV) | Good |
| This is a really hard show to rate. Occultic;Nine has a ton of issues right off the bat. It moves at hurricane force speeds at all time, for one. And this isn't some first episode hook. The entire show feels like it has been sped up 1.5x for seemingly no reason. I think it really hurts the characters and their interactions, like even they can't be bothered to digest the words they are speaking, it's just on to the next thing. I also detest several of the character designs, but that's just my own personal preference. The story itself is a winding mess, and we miss a lot of the important exposition and world building amidst the storm of dialogue too. The ending was comprised of the characters making a set of realizations where I was simply forced to nod along and agree with by default because I had no basis on which to agree or disagree. With that out of the way, there actually is a compelling and interesting story here at the core. It takes until episode 6 to really reveal exactly what is going on in the first place, but when it does, it completely changes the show. Like hardcore changes the show. Like Punch Line is the only other show I've seen that does as hard as a 180 as this show (Punch Line is great btw). So for that alone, the ride is probably worth it. And I feel like there aren't enough horror-esque shows out there anyway, so this one comes recommended. Just brush up on your speed reading. | |
| ODDTAXI (TV) | Masterpiece |
| Odd Taxi is such a breath of fresh air, it's a wonder this show is even an anime. Seriously, this is just about the last type of thing I'd ever expect to see in a seasonal anime. Take Durarara, tighten up the writing, a lot. Throw us more into the mundane. Throw us into the personal space of these characters. And spin a web of unparalleled intrigue and swagger. That's what gets you Odd Taxi. I'd expect to see this from a film auteur, but to see it in anime form is such a treat, I can't express it enough. I won't go into depth about the characters or story, they're best discovered from the beginning without introduction. All I'll say is... you better watch this show. It's a wonder from start to finish. | |
| Omamori Himari (TV) | So-so |
| Omamori Himari is a pretty bog standard harem with demons and powers and stuff set in the real world. The comedy is ok, but really there isn't much that stands out in this show to help it separate from other entries in the genre. There's some light ecchi, and a pretty boring story thrown in. All in all, not really worth the time, even if there is occasionally a catgirl in the show. | |
| One Piece (TV 1999) | Masterpiece |
| If you haven't heard about this show, well, I can't do it justice. Simply put, it's not surprising that this is far and away the most popular anime of all time. The level of quality put into the show is unmatched. While Fairy Tail might be my favorite show to watch each week, I recognize One Piece as the best show I get to watch each week. And it's showing no signs of slowing down. | |
| One Punch Man (TV) | Excellent |
| What's there to say about One Punch Man that hasn't been said already? It's ridiculous and full of heart. Super fun to follow these characters. You don't need me to tell you that it gets a solid recommendation. | |
| One Week Friends (TV) | Decent |
| This was never a show I was super excited about watching, but it certainly had its moments. It features a girl whose memories of her friends disappear at the end of each week. She has foregone making friends because of this, but Yuki develops a crush on her and decides that he is going to make friends with her no matter what. The anime is essentially a story about Kaori learning to have friends once again. It's very cute but also heartbreaking at times. | |
| Oreimo (TV) | Excellent |
| Oreimo is an experience. I had no idea what I was getting into when I started this thing back in the day. I was immediately a fan of the entire cast, especially both Kirino and Ayase. The comedy was great, the touching moments were strong, and I enjoyed the whole thing overall. I didn't really know it was going to go in... that direction, but even still, I don't think that changes my overall view of the show. Still worth watching. | |
| Oreimo 2 (TV) | Very good |
| See season 1 | |
| Oreshura (TV) | Good |
| Oreshura is a bit of an interesting take on the harem genre. It starts out with our male protagonist who is anti-love getting put in an awkward situation by the new, beautiful transfer student. She gets ahold of his notebook which contains many embarrassing notes about his "past life" as "burning fighting fighter". She uses this as blackmail to get him to go out with her so that all of the other boys at the school will stop confessing to her multiple times per day. There are a few other girls too. His childhood friend is quite cute and full of personality. There's a quiet girl who claims she knew him in his past life. And, a girl he knew in kindergarden who has kept a form written in crayon stating that they were getting married ever since, while he completely forgot about it. What's most interesting about this show, is how it handles the characters. Our lead is actually a real person, with feelings and motivations of his own. He actually makes a *gasp* choice on which girl he wants by the end of the show! The girls are also very forward with their feelings, and the male lead absolutely knows what's going on around him. Watching their growth as characters and friends is really fun. Sadly, the show kind of devolves by the end and loses steam, but it's still an original feeling show in a genre that's absolutely stuffed to the brim with crap. | |
| ORESUKI: Are you the only one who loves me? (TV) | Very good |
| Oresuki is another high school romcom type of show, but it's kind of its own breed as well. It tries its best to be self aware and hip, winking and nudging along as the cliches cycle through. However, by about episode 5 or 6 it becomes clear that this is anything but a typical show. The twists are a bit crazy, as the characters have some pretty complex love situations going on, but in the end, it's not like Gamers or another show built on misunderstandings and ridiculous triangles. It's more a show that puts it's characters in absurdly contrived situations and watches as they try to worm themselves out. Well, okay, mainly our main dude, Joro tries to worm himself out. It's so over the top and ridiculous that it is kinda hard to follow along sometimes, the logic these girls use to mess with Joro isn't quite normal. It's a fun kinda trainwreck to watch though, even if I find myself rolling my eyes more than a little bit. The contrivances are a bit too out there for me to fully buy in and get invested in the characters (most of them are pretty flat anyway). But it's a good enough time for what it is. | |
| Osamake: Romcom Where The Childhood Friend Won't Lose (TV) | Very good |
| Osamake is every bit the high school harem comedy. It toes the line of chaos ala Gamers, but doesn't quite reach those lofty heights. Still though, it's a cute and endearing entry in a genre that has seen enough mediocrity. The premise is kind of silly and one note, but the characters are fun and the whole thing was clearly done with care. If you're looking for a relaxing show with light romantic elements, this one is definitely worth checking out. | |
| Ouran High School Host Club (TV) | Very good |
| Here I am in 2021 trying to review Ouran. It all seems a little bit pointless. At least, it's clear that I enjoyed the show. It still holds up, for sure, and has so many amazing little moments and fun episodes. Even though I am not the target audience, I had a blast with the show. The stylized art direction has aged gracefully, a lot like Soul Eater, and the slapstick comedy is actually kind of refreshing. It's largely silly, but still at times it does manage to be somewhat heartfelt. Very much still worth the watch. | |
| Outbreak Company (TV) | Good |
| There's nothing overly special to be found in Outbreak Company, but it does a lot of little things right for a slice of life with some fantasy flair to it. Shinichi, our protagonist, is an Otaku who has become a shutin. The Japanese government calls upon him to travel to a newly discovered fantasy world and bring Japanese otaku culture to this new land as a way of strengthening the two countries' bonds withe each other. There are tons of references and shoutouts to other anime and manga in general, and plenty of hilarious moments are to be found as this medieval society tries to reconcile with the modern day concepts Shinichi is trying to teach them. Lots of cute scenes and girls to be found. Certainly an enjoyable watch. | |
| Owari no Seraph (special) | Decent |
| Just a totally skippable one off episode of Seraph of the End. This details a human turned vampire and his struggles to come to grips with the situation. Our heroes battle him after he kidnapped a girl who he believes is his sister (who has actually been killed). No cute moments, or fanservice, or other reasons to watch this ova. Skip it. The season 2 specials are hilarious though and worth watching. | |
| Owarimonogatari (TV) | Very good |
| The continuation of Monogatari. Still very good, though i felt like the beginning of both of the big arcs were pretty slow. Still great, don't get me wrong. Onto.... Kizu I guess? Maybe Koyomi? Probably Kizu | |
| Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt (TV) | Good |
| This would have been right at home on Cartoon Network (definitely in a late night slot though), which makes sense considering that it was CN's styles of shows that inspired Panty and Stocking in the first place. The show is incredibly over the top with everything (characters, story, fanservice) and it is wild to see that Powerpuff girl's style given an adult treatment like this. It's worth seeing a few episodes just to see something this unique. I don't think it was exceptional or anything, but it was weirdly fascinating. | |
| Parasyte -the maxim- (TV) | Very good |
| Parasyte turned out to be shockingly good. It's not really the type of show I would normally watch, but the first episode got such rave reviews that I had to check it out. It's not really true horror I suppose, it's goal wasn't to scare the viewer. Instead it was all about the ambiance, the everpresent gory reality of a world filled with monsters. It tackled some interesting questions about humanity and what it means to essentially be alive. I did really enjoy it, and would recommend it. The only downside is that some of the themes are seemingly stuck in a loop. I feel like they have trouble wrapping things up (for instance his girlfriend has a moment of "is he really human?" seemingly every single episode), but that's a minor thing really. Very quality production that's quite the thrill ride. | |
| (The) Perfect Insider (TV) | Very good |
| Perfect Insider is a complex, philosophical wrapping around a fairly standard mystery plot about a murder in a locked room. God it looks good though, and it does make you think. At times it almost seems like they are just trying to sound smart for smart's sake, but if you can overlook that, this is really an enjoyable show. | |
| (The) Pet Girl of Sakurasou (TV) | Excellent |
| One of the better slice of life animes I've ever seen. The story starts out with what seems to be a typical budding romance in high school, but oh man is it so much more than that. The cast all live in an old run down dorm called Sakura Hall which has a reputation for being full of undesirable people. Our main character, Sorata, was forced to move in as he had taken in a cat, and pets aren't allowed in the main dorms. His wish is to move out as soon as possible. But then he meets Mashiro, a mysterious blonde beauty who has come to their school (an art school) to draw manga. She is immensely talented, in fact she was hyped from a young age as having the talent to be the greatest contemporary artist. As the series gets into full swing, we get to know all of the residents of the hall, and they are rather compelling characters. Besides Sorata and Mashiro, there are two third years, Jin and Misaki, who are childhood friends. Jin is a womanizer and Misaki is a once in a generation talent like Mashiro who is a prolific animater, Jin writes her scripts for her. Sorata's friend from class, Aoyama, obviously has feelings for him and will eventually follow him to Sakura Hall for her own reasons. She is an aspiring voice actress who is working multiple jobs to support her own way through school. The other resident is Ryuunosuke, a reclusive programmer who communicates to the outside world through an AI program he made called Maid-chan. Their teacher, Chihiro-sensei, could seemingly care less about the lives of her residents, though as we get to know her, it becomes quite obvious that she wants to see them succeed and offers a few timely words of wisdom throughout. There are two hearts of this show. One indeed is romance. Sorata, Mashiro, and Aoyama have a bit of a triangle going, and Jin and Misaki have their own thing going. Ryuunosuke eventually even gets a girl who drags him out of his shell a bit. It is incredibly rewarding to watch the growth of their relationships, but at the same time, it is very hard to see their missteps. Jin refuses to treat Misaki right, he's so scared of hurting her ridiculous optimistic and childlike personality that he refuses to acknowledge her advances, even though he loves her as much as she does him. Mashiro is a complicated case. She has no experience with social interaction, and Sorata gets put on "Mashiro duty" (aka he has to dress her, help her get ready, cook her food, take her to class, etc...) because she is incapable of functioning on her own. However, this show also addresses how difficult life can be. All of them have goals. Sorata decides he wants to break into the video game industry and make his own game. Aoyama desperately wants to be a voice actor. Jin wants to write scripts worthy of Misaki's talent. But the three of them continually wilt next to the genius and overflowing talent of Misaki and Mashiro. Watching these characters put in weeks and months of hard work every day, even to the point of making themselves physically ill, only to be rejected, hits harder than most anything I've ever seen in an anime. They do have some successes as well, but each stage of their journey through life is complicated and wrought with twists and turns. You can't help but want to hug them close and tell them it will be ok. They are still in high school after all. In the end, I can't say enough about this show. I absolutely loved it. The characters were so real to me, and their struggles and experiences were things I could get behind and root for. The series ended on a high note, and I would love to see a season two. There's tons of space left in the lives of these characters for more! | |
| (The) Pilot's Love Song (TV) | Very good |
| The Pilot's Love Song was one of the few animes of Winter 2014 that I eagerly waited for each week. It sounds like a sappy romance, and it kind of is, but there's a whole lot more going on here. The story surrounds our main character, Kalel, and his sister Ari, as the two of them come of age and join the flight school. They are then sent on a grand mission to the edge of the earth to try to find the legendary End of the Sky. They leave on a massive floating island and train to be fighter pilots on the way. The series has two distinct parts. One focuses on the mission to get to the end of the sky, as well as the battles that surround them from unexpected resistance from the nation closest to their goal. The fights are very well done, with a good sense of strategy and tense action. I feel like I could follow along perfectly even though I am not the most well versed in air tactics. The second part is that of Kalel, Ari, and the rest of the flight school as they come to terms with not only their mission and putting their lives on the line for their country (there is death), but it is very rewarding to watch their relationships blossom. Kalel, our titular pilot, falls in love with one of the girls in the class, but there is a wrinkle as is to be expected, and neither of these people are who they appear to be. The drama is just as excellent as the action. This is a refreshing show, because there's nothing at all wrong with it. It does a fantastic job getting the viewer into the action and keeping them hooked. Do want more! | |
| A Place Further Than the Universe (TV) | Excellent |
| I waffled a bit between Very Good and Excellent, but finally went with the latter. It helps that the show ended on an amazing note, and that on top of the consistently solid episodes leading up to the end is enough to set A Place Further than the Universe apart from a lot of the other shows that fill this genre. Well, that sort of skate around this genre. I haven't really seen another show that's exactly like this one, in terms of it's goals and narrative. It has it's slice of life moments, it has it's dramatic moments, and it has it's more adventure-y moments, and it all adds up to a great coming of age adventure of these four girls finding their place in the world by, strangely enough, going as far away from their homes as they possible can. I say that the last episodes were excellent, but really the show does a great job throughout of speaking to the humanity and emotions of its characters, and this really comes through with Shirase, our main character who is the driving force behind making the trip to Antarctica actually happen. Her mother was part of an expedition a few years prior and she was lost during a snowstorm and never made it back home. It's easy to see how this simple yet poignant backstory can lead to a compelling driving force for the show. We deal with how hard it is to get to Antarctica for the average high school girl, and when they actually get there, well, what then? It's heartwarming and charming and it hits hard, but in the right way. This show has tons of feels, but they aren't depressing, it's just, well, it's special. Few shows can make me cry, so that alone says volumes about this one. I really, really enjoyed it. I love character driven shows like this one, and would recommend it to anyone who does as well. | |
| Place to Place (TV) | Good |
| Yet another slice of life show that is notable for the fact that nothing happens ever. Of course, I've grown to love these types of shows, they are pretty relaxing for me right before I go to sleep. The main girl is adorable, in fact the entire show is pretty much adorable. This show is just pure sugar. I would never recommend this to someone else really, just watch it if you're looking for some stupid fun. | |
| Plastic Memories (TV) | Good |
| Plastic Memories was actually a huge surprise show from a very strong season. I knew almost nothing about it, but the first episode got such rave reviews that I had no choice but to check it out. Not surprisingly, the first episode probably was a the high water mark (though the last tries hard to match it). The crux of the show is that there are human-like androids called giftias that are indistinguishable from the real thing, except for their lifespan, 10 years. Our main character gets a job at the company responsible for retrieving these giftias at the end of their lifespans from their human owners, which makes for heartwrenching scenes. He has to work in a pair with a giftia as his partner, and wouldn't you know it, she's a very attractive young girl. You see where this is going... Yeah, Plastic Memories is a drama and a romance. It is going to make you cry, or at least get very close to it. It handles the intense emotions very well, but that's only half the series. The other half is kind of a lighthearted attempt at comedy that doesn't match the rest of the show, causing much of it to fall flat. If this show was only about the drama, it's score would be much higher, but the bad comedy brings it down. | |
| Polar Bear's Café (TV) | Very good |
| Polar Bear's Cafe was a super, super cute show. It doesn't feel like traditional anime. It's really it's own thing altogether. I always kept it around and threw on an episode whenever I needed a pick me up. Sure, sometimes there were feels to be had, the show could get serious. But it always had this air of optimism that I so appreciated. I think this show deserves so much more love. | |
| Princess Connect! Re:Dive (TV) | Very good |
| Princess Connect is yet another isekai show set in an RPG world. However, there's a number of things here that make the show a bit more interesting and appealing than the average entry in the genre. For one, our main character, Yuuki, is an almost mute amnesiac. He'll throw a thumbs up when he agrees with something his friends say or mumble a please or thank you here or there, but otherwise there's nothing going on. You may think this would make for the most obnoxious self-insert protagonist (especially given that this is very much an anime based on a moe girl collection gacha game), but it ends up being mostly fine, and sometimes a plus just due to the fact that the show treats him exactly like a character like that deserves to be treated. That is, Yuuki just kinda sucks. He's stupid, bumbling, and more of an inanimate object that the rest of his party just kinda lugs around with them. It's hilarious knowing the second they take their eyes off of him he's going to be in the process of getting devoured by a monster or he'll have fallen down a hole or something. His heart's in the right place, but as a southern grandmother would say, just bless his soul. The second thing that sets Priconne apart is the fact that the show almost immediately throws any typical RPG story beats and goals out the window. Our heroes get together to form a guild, but not just any guild. No, they form the gourmet guild, because our genki girl hero has decided that she's only in this thing to eat lots, and lots, and lots of food. So that's what they do. They go on quests for rare ingredients, or go on quests to get money for rare ingredients, and most episodes end with them gathering around a table and eating a hearty meal. It's just so dang wholesome. In case it isn't clear, Priconne is a comedy romp. In fact, it's directed by the same man who did Konosuba, which should tell most fans of the latter show all they need to hear before they run and pick up this one. All of the characters aside from Yuuki are female, which of course is due to the anime girl collection gacha game that inspired the show, so that's one thing you'll have to get past. However, there's very little fanservice (in fact, I can't remember much of any), and it's quite refreshing that there is pretty much no harem aspect. Since Yuuki is such an afterthought, this becomes a show of our main girls just kinda going out into the world and getting up to shenanigans. The main two, Pecorine and Kyaru, are a fantastic duo, with Pecorine's endless appetite, enthusiasm, and energy carrying the group every which way and Kyaru's put upon straight-man act (sometimes bordering on tsundere) playing off Pecorine perfectly. Of course, Kyaru is insanely precious and as my documented weakness of catgirls shows, I absolutely love her. Throughout the show we get introduced to what I assume are other popular characters from the game, as the show follows an episodic formula for the most part, with various girls showing up and making trouble for our heroes. There is an underlying story that does pop up from time to time, with references to a shadowy figure pulling some shenanigans in the background, but the show doesn't spend much time with that. It knows it's much more important for Pecorine to be eating, Kyaru to be at her wits end, Kokkoro to be endlessly freaked out about whether Yuuki is about to be in immediate peril, and Yuuki to just be... there. It's a really fun romp that I would encourage any fantasy/comedy fan to give a shot. | |
| Princess Connect! Re:Dive (TV 2) | Excellent |
| The second season of Princess Connect ups the stakes in every way. The plot is grander, the action ratcheted up to 11, the animation budget has blown up, and the comedy is sillier than ever. All of the positives from season 1 are still here, but this season is a statement made by the production studio that this is a show to take seriously. It's an insanely ambitious work for a show based on a gacha game, and is perhaps the best game adaptation I've ever seen. I adore this show. There are a couple minor nits that I have, mostly around a lot of the high concepts of the overall world that haven't been fully explained or explored. Whether it's left as a teaser to promote the game, or an eventual third season, it does leave a lot of open questions that I hope are eventually answered in some way. It's a small thing though, and a certain amount of mystery and open questions are fun to think about. Regardless, this show was never going to be less than an 8/10 with my girl Kyaru involved. But season 2 does enough to give it a solid bump up from there. Can't wait for the next project this team takes on. It seems like after Konosuba and Priconne, there's just not much they can do wrong. | |
| Princess Principal (TV) | Excellent |
| I really, really enjoyed Princess Principal. It does spy games extremely well, and the themes and atmosphere of the show play super well with the industrial, steampunk type of world that they set it in too. I also will always appreciate shows with badass female characters, and Princess Principal pretty much has that in spades. It's a clever, fun romp that feels super fresh, especially the really excellent first few episodes. There's something special here, and I highly recommend the show to pretty much anyone. | |
| Problem children are coming from another world, aren't they? (TV) | Very good |
| I won't beat around the bush, there are tons of things in this show that shouldn't work. The main character, Izayoi, is disgustingly strong and overpowered. He's never once put in any danger at all, and through most of the (very) short series he basically punches things into oblivion. Compound that with the fact that half of the plot is a nonsensical convoluted mess, and the other half is seemingly never explained, makes this show ripe for a very disappointing viewing experience. But.... this is a rare case where the total product manages to transcend the sum of its parts. The characters end up being quite endearing. Most of the episodes have multiple jokes that are laugh out loud funny. If anything, Izayoi's overpowered-ness makes him a more compelling character, if that's even possible. Black rabbit is perhaps the most memorable and most enjoyable character of the bunch, and those scenes with Izayoi and Shirayoshi teaming up to poke fun at Kurosagi are some of the funnier scenes I've seen in all of anime. The other main characters are great too, Asuka and You, though You never fully lives up to the other two, which is a shame as I picked her as my favorite after the first episode. I think that the reason that this show is able to transcend its faults is because it just really doesn't care. It knows what it is, and damn if it isn't going to make you have a good time along with it. I can't really explain it, this show is just straight up fun to watch. The action is well done, and the animation actually is better than I would have expected. Also, both the opening and ending are top notch. | |
| (The) Promised Neverland (TV) | Excellent |
| The Promised Neverland is a piece of work. Wow. This is one of the most clever psychological horror shows that I've seen yet. I feel like this type of show hasn't been all that successful lately. I keep thinking back to shows like The Lost Village that just utterly failed in this space. So, it's super refreshing to see The Promised Neverland arrive and kick ass. This show is as tense as it gets. It's got like Stephen King vibes to it, as it follows a group of young preteen kids and their slowly dawning realization that their orphanage and lives are not what they seem, and the are actually in mortal danger. So much of the show is about clever people trying to outmaneuver each other, which lends itself great to incredibly tense moments. This isn't an easy or fun watch, but it's captivating. I cannot wait for season 2. | |
| Psychic Squad (TV) | Good |
| This is a really fun show. The main characters are three girls with ESP powers that form BABEL's strongest team. Together they fight crime and rogue espers. They are a bit on the young side (10 years old), and the show does play with that a bit, as the girls are all quite taken by their older supervisor, Minamoto. Nonetheless, it never crosses the line. In fact, I felt the first 26 episodes were pretty appropriate for kids. It's kind of like the powerpuff girls. However, from episode 26 on (season 2), the show gets really really interesting. Hyobu Kyosuke starts to put his mark on the show. He's an extremely compelling villain that I felt myself almost rooting for at times. The expanded cast works well together. Its around this point that all pretext of innocence gets dropped. There's an uptick in fan service as well as mature themes. The show also plays with the ages of the girls a lot, finding excuses to show them in their adult forms. That aside, the plot really picks up in the second half, as Minamoto struggles with the fact that he is responsible for avoiding a terrible future. It's quite a ride at the end. | |
| Puella Magi Madoka Magica (TV) | Excellent |
| I'm writing this review many years after I first saw Madoka, though I did rewatch it with a friend more recently. I can thankfully report that it still holds up. This is an anime touch point for a reason, it's a masterpiece through and through and deserves every bit of praise that has been heaped upon it in the decade since it first aired. I remember going in blind and binging the entire show in one day. I just couldn't stop. I don't know why I gave it a 9/10 at that point, I'd probably go solid 10 now, but I will leave my initial rating alone. Perhaps watching the movies might encourage me to change things at that point. | |
| Punch Line (TV) | Very good |
| Punch Line is a bit of an odd one, and that my be an understatement. The first few episodes cast this as a pretty typical fanservice-y harem offering with some weird but not too far out supernatural elements. Honestly, if I didn't know this was by the same writer as the 999 and Virtue's Last Reward games I would never have given it much of a chance. But, I kept on keeping on and around episode 4 or 5 it became clear to me that there's a LOT more going on here. Essentially this is a time travel story with our hero figuring out what he needs to do to save the world. The plot and intrigue surrounding it is the best part, and push the superfluous fanservice really out of mind altogether. That's not to say that the show stops, if anything it ratchets it up, but it's clear that fanservice is not the point, it's almost a critique or parody of such things by the end. Regardless, this show is nothing like it first appears. There's a lot of quality to be found if you make it past the misdirection of the show's beginning. | |
| (The) Quintessential Quintuplets (TV) | Very good |
| Quintuplets was an amazing experience. I feel like a dying man in the desert who was just handed a bottle of water to finally quench my thirst. It's been THAT long since I've seen a compelling, competently done harem. Quintuplets stands out simply by not being terrible, which is saying something about this overdone genre. What it also means is that harems aren't played out, it's just the bad ones that are played out. We got so many mediocre copycats that everyone just sort of lost interest. It's a show like Quintuplets that has reminded me why everyone was so into harems in the first place. This is a fun show, and a fun, unique genre when it's treated well. I hope Quintuplets sparks something that gives us some more good entries to look forward to. That's the genre as a whole though. Quintuplets on its own is a great example of how a simple premise can be made into a compelling story. We're teased up front with our protagonist, Futaro, on his wedding day. We see the bride, with her purple/red hair, and it doesn't really make sense why they're revealing her to us until the show begins in earnest. See the five members of the harem are quintuplets (yes, I know the title says this), and they have the same face, so while they do have some artistic differences in the shades of their hair and other things, there's no way of knowing who it actually was. The promise of a winner at the end is compelling though, and knowing that there will be a payoff goes a long way to keeping the show humming along even when the girls refuse to accept Futaro as their new tutor. It's a very heartfelt show that not only has it's romantic hijinks, but also is surprisingly understanding of what it's like to be a twin sister, caring more about your family than yourself. These girls may end up competing with each other, and they may not always understand why their sisters do certain things, but they are family, and that's the most important thing. It's a really nice sentiment and serves to feel fresh in a crowded, tired genre. That's the key here, even though Quintuplets hits a lot of the same story beats as other harem entries, this show manages to keep them fresh, which should be enough of a sales pitch for anyone who has seen more than their fair share of these types of shows. Really fantastic show. | |
| (The) Quintessential Quintuplets ∬ (TV 2) | Excellent |
| This is getting better and better. Again, my statement from season 1 stands, this is such a compelling and fresh take on a stale genre, that I just can't get enough. I love how it focuses more on the girls side of things, with Futaro taking a distinct step back as the main character from season 1. I think this is important, and is something that a lot of other harem shows fail at. It makes it so that these girls aren't only defined by their relationships with Futaro, but they have lives of their own and goals of their own, they feel more real. Sure, romantic hijinks ensue, but we have a solid foundation for who these characters are. Season 2 did a lot to humanize Nino and Yotsuba especially, both of whom I felt were kind of let down by season 1. Each one of them is compelling in their own right, and it's a testament to this show that I wouldn't really be upset no matter the outcome (though Itsuki is best girl). | |
| Rage of Bahamut: Genesis (TV) | Good |
| Every time I was about to watch the next episode of this show, I remember thinking "man... it's just so cheesy and dumb" and I never really got all that excited about it, but man does this show have a way of pulling me in. I can't quite explain it, but Rage of Bahamut ended up being surprisingly good. And that's before I factor in what might be the greatest animal eared character of all time (Seriously, if she got more than two minutes of screen time, I don't even know, I'm just saying, Masterpiece can't be all that far off). *Ahem*, but yes, good solid fantasy adventure type show. It's a fun romp. | |
| Rage of Bahamut: Virgin Soul (TV) | Good |
| So, I'll admit this show's ending was poor. In the end, the story and character arcs ended up not making a whole lot of sense, but I still appreciate the fun story telling and adventure feel that carries over from the first season. I think there was probably a bit too much politics in this one (or at least the politics that were attempted ended up not being super well done), but the action ended up being fun and I thought the characters were pretty great. In the end it at least met expectations from the first season, so if you enjoyed that, no reason not to watch through the followup. | |
| Ranking of Kings (TV) | Excellent |
| Ranking of Kings is another new show by Studio Wit in their post-Attack on Titan existence. Yet again, Wit shows that they are masters of their craft. Ranking of Kings is at its core, a shonen action show, but it has really embraced a lot of the adventure and world building of traditional medieval fantasy stories. Of course, it helps that our main protagonist, Bojji, is one of the most fun anime protagonists to root for. As a fan of fantasy and worldbuilding, I think that Ranking of Kings has done a fantastic job at setting up a lot of interesting plot points and subtle questions without distracting us from the main storyline. There's tons here under the surface just waiting to be explored. It kind of apes One Piece with the depths that seem to be just out of reach. While we're making comparisons, I think Full Metal Alchemist is another one that comes to mind, just in terms of the mastery of such tight world building nestled in the shonen genre. Ranking of Kings looks like it's going to be a masterpiece in the shonen genre for a long time to come. I'm very excited to see what this story grows to become now that we've firmly hit the ground running. | |
| Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dreaming Girl (movie) | Masterpiece |
| This movie is every bit as good as the show. It is not a typical anime movie, it is canon and extends the already solidly 10/10 season 1. Wonderful, wonderful movie. Any fan of the series has to watch this for sure. | |
| Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai (TV) | Masterpiece |
| It's been a long time since I've seen a show as good as Bunny Girl. The titular girl actually is not a bunny, it's pretty much just an eyecatch to drive interest in the show and has nothing to do with anything, which is both good (it's a good way of gaining attention, let's be honest), and bad, as it really misrepresents what this show is about. I (and I'm sure most others who review it) like to describe this show as a hybrid of two different shows: My High School Romance Snafu (Oregairu) and Monogatari, which should tell anyone who has enjoyed those shows all they need to hear before they run off to watch this one. And it's true. This show does it's thing in every bit as strong of a way as those two excellent shows. For me, the combined snarkyness of our jaded protagonist and the highly amusing interactions he has with the other characters he runs into, is done even better than oregairu, and while it's almost impossible to say this show does Monogatari better than Monogatari (the comparison is more in terms of the story versus presentation, which are impossible to separate when it comes to Monogatari), it at least leads to compelling story beats and provides a solid framework for our characters to explore what it's like to grow up and figure out who they are and what they want from life. While writing this, another show comparison comes to mind, which is more abstract, but feels like philosophically Rascal has a lot in common with, which is The World God Only Knows. Another good show to find yourself in the company of. Anyway, I loved the characters in Rascal, which if my other reviews haven't made obvious yet, that means I pretty much loved the show. I think this show does everything right, it's beautiful, the dialog is done really well, and the story is compelling all the way through. I'm super excited for the upcoming film. | |
| Re:CREATORS (TV) | Weak |
| Not a ton to say about Re:Creators. This show was pretty much poorly written from the very first episode. The gimmick of main characters in stories coming to life is fun, but this show somehow managed to drag everything through the mud. It had multiple episodes that consisted of characters sitting around and talking, about... well... nothing really that important. Certainly nothing that couldn't have been said in a couple of scenes. It really drug as they set about destroying any sense of pacing, urgency, and sense that the show had. Seriously, everything made about as much sense as Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere. What Re:Creators did have was a kickass soundtrack and badass action scenes as superpowered main characters squared off against one another. THAT'S THE SHOW I WANT TO SEE! Not this boring ass, talk about the same BS birdcage and life philosophy crap they spewed. Seriously, not worth the time, at all. | |
| Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- (TV) | Excellent |
| I heard all about the hype of Re:ZERO before I got a chance to sit down and watch it, and I have to say that it mostly lives up to the praise. I felt like the last fantasy series to get this much attention was SAO, and Re:ZERO manages to pull off a better effort than that show. The key of course is how tight the narrative is. Re:ZERO clearly has a plan from the very beginning and executes with precision. Subaru is a bit much at times, but he settles in as an easy main character to root for. In fact, besides the great first few episodes, the second half is the real gem of the series. It's where we see Rem, Subaru, and the story in general really take focus. It's kind of a depressing mind f- of a show at times, but the emotions all come across as really genuine and it's easy to get wrapped up into the characters and the story. It occurs to me that the above paragraph, while true, is boring AF. Emotionally, I freaking loved this show. Subaru is goddam hilarious, Rem and Ram (but then mostly Rem) are super adorable, and I was pulling for Emilia the whole way. The show does such a good job of building up its characters, which almost guarantees that I will love it. I also like the gimmick of time travel, when it's done, well, and Re:ZERO does it better than most. I mean, if you are a fan of fantasy, you can't not like this show. It gets heavy at times, but offsets that with some good comedic moments, and some actually really good action and resolution towards the end. Lots still left unanswered though, I'd love another season! | |
| Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- (TV 2) | Excellent |
| Second season picks up right where the first left off. I won't go into story spoilers, but this season sees things start to get exceptionally heavy. It looks like we're going to go deep into Emilia and Roswaal's backstories here. Of course, things are suitably brutal along the way. This is really just the first half of the season. My final thoughts are with season 3. | |
| Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- (TV 3) | Excellent |
| Well... that was a wild ride. Holy crap. There's something just so satisfying about things coming together in a grand master stroke, and I think Re:Zero does that better than most any other anime I've seen. This is really some of the best storytelling I've seen. It goes without saying that I'm a huge fan of these characters and this world too, so really, it's a slam dunk from here. Re:Zero can get bogged down when it revels in the gore and hopelessness of things, but the highs are so damn high that I have to forgive it. It's cool that season 3 goes more in depth on some of our characters pasts and struggles. Getting to know Roswaal, Emilia, and Subaru better was a real treat, as well as getting our first real glance at the witches behind all of this mess. I thought we spent a bit too much time cooped up in the sanctuary (after all, the world is a big place), but this season was spent on much more personal issues than the previous one. I'm super excited to see where we go from here, and I can't help but feel like things are going to just get crazier and crazier. | |
| Re:␣Hamatora (TV) | Very good |
| Much much better than the first season. I remember making a remark at some point watching the second half of Hamatora that I was surprised it was still the same studio and director producing the show. The difference is really that stark. And this is a great thing all around. The art and style to the show are very unique and certainly become a strong focal point around a type of show that you might not expect to go that route. The story and conflicts are also much more deep and interesting. Altogether, definitely worth seeing. I would say that if you were on the fence about watching the first season, it is certainly worth it for Re: | |
| Record of Grancrest War (TV) | Good |
| This feels more like a recap show of a much better show. Seriously, if someone told me that there was a 100 episode version of Grancrest out there, everything would make way more sense. There's so much nonsensical time and place jumps that it's all but impossible to figure out what's going on. You just have to nod and agree with the characters. It's a fun fantasy romp, but that's in spite of it's narrative failures. | |
| Recovery of an MMO Junkie (TV) | Very good |
| This is a very awkward and cute show rolled up into one. The premise is that a 30 year old woman quits her job and decides to hole up in her apartment and spend all of her time playing MMOs. In it she decides to play a male character and subsequently joins a guild and befriends one of the female characters within it, who of course is played by a man. Turns out they live near each other and through a series of coincidences they start to get to know each other outside of the game without knowing the connection between the real person and their characters. They are both very shy and awkward about things, and it's really a treat to watch their interactions. I have spent a fair amount of time in MMOs myself, and I really enjoyed that this show centered around online communities and friendships, and they do a good job portraying them. This is a very solid romantic comedy with a focus on video games thrown in. Definitely recommended. | |
| Redline (movie) | Excellent |
| I saw this movie way after I should have. It came out, and I remember seeing a lot of hype for it all around the internet, but for whatever reason it kind of passed me by. I'm regretting that now though. My friend described it best, it's basically anime's answer to Fast and the Furious. Of course, the visuals are absolutely where Redline shines. The entire movie is animated gorgeously, and really serves the action well. If there was any real amount of cg in there, I didn't see it, which is impressive for a full length feature such as this. The plot was... well I guess there was a plot, haha, but it wasn't really all that important, which is fine for a film like this. Just give me more of those insane races. Seriously. The movie is a blast to watch. Sad I missed out on it for so long. | |
| Reincarnated as a Sword (TV) | Excellent |
| Now this is isekai done right. This isn't the first, nor the last show I'm sure, to use the gimmick of reincarnating our hero into some kinda of non human, normally inanimate object. I think the reason why this show succeeds though, is that it knows its strengths. It is steeped in RPGs and stats and ability text as much as the rest, but it kind of breezes through all of that to get to the fun part. And I mean, you don't have to look very hard. It's obviously our little leading lady, Fran. Fran is probably one of the single most adorable anime protagonists I've ever seen. Relentlessly positive, kind of kuudere, and a lot of excited "ohhhhh"s make for such a good time. I'm so, so happy that this show addresses that she's very young early on, and our protagonist sword straight up tells us that he isn't into that or anything and he simply wishes to protect her. Anime doesn't have the best track record after all with these sorts of things. There's a little light fanservice (we get a requisite hot springs scene), but mostly the show sticks to its guns. We are not here for a waifu, we are here to protecc. And Fran is endlessly charming. I'd watch any show with this character. As for the rest of things, we have a kind of copy and paste RPG world, but I appreciate the show for not infodumping everything on us. The world feels big and mysterious enough that there's room for compelling drama. The dungeon crawls in season 1 started to feel a bit drawn out by the final episode, but I'm excited for next season when we get out into the wider world. I suspect this show will continue being tons of fun as we go. | |
| (The) Reincarnation of the Strongest Exorcist In Another World (TV) | Very good |
| I'll grant you that an 8 is a bit strong for this show, but I wanted to throw it a bone for simply not being terrible. In fact, I actually had fun with it, which is shocking in a way. This is a standard isekai after all, and maybe simply exceeding my already low expectations was enough, but there's enough here for a pretty fun show. I like the wrinkle that our isekai'd hero was already one of the strongest warriors in his previous life and was eventually killed when basically the entire world teamed up to take him down. He has vowed to never let that happen again, setting out to live a simple life and not draw attention to himself. However, it's hard to follow through with that promise when the people you love find themselves in danger. It feels fresh. It's not so much a power fantasy, as almost a tragedy in waiting. We all see where this is going to go, and every time Seika unleashes more of his power, it's sad in a way. The added depth of this, along with some fun characters, makes this a worthwhile watch for almost anyone, not just fans of isekai. | |
| Remake Our Life! (TV) | Excellent |
| As a creative person, I really, really enjoyed Remake. It spoke to me on a level that few other shows really do. Of course, it kind of has the look and feel of a moe comedy type of show (and it doesn't do all that much to dispel that), but it really is deeper and more heartfelt than it might initially appear. This is a show that dives into the passions of creativity, and the challenges that come along with trying to be a creative in the modern day world. It's a real look at what working in a creative industry might look like contrasted with the idealized dreams of a student who doesn't yet have to deal with the weights and expectations of the real world. It hits hard when it wants to, especially so if these are things that you deal with in your life. Regardless, it's a very well done show all around, and I'm pumped for another season. | |
| Rent-A-Girlfriend (TV) | Masterpiece |
| Rent-A-Girlfriend is just an absurd ride from beginning to end. I really appreciate the shows that revel in utterly ridiculous situations (ala Gamers), and Rent a Girlfriend does it better than anyone. At its core, this is a harem style comedy, but it's so much more than that. It is a testament to the show that I connected with the characters so much that the more uncomfortable scenes were straight up hard to watch towards the beginning, and yet it was so satisfying to watch Kazuya grow throughout the run of the show. He's eminently likable as a main character, reminding me of times when I was in similar situations, making him so much fun to root for. Of course, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the girls. Chizuru is awesome. Ruka is adorable. Sumi is my ultimate waifu and must protect. And we'll stop there. Chizuru, understandably, gets the most screen time and is one of the more compelling female protagonists I've seen in anime these days. It's so nice to have a mature, level-headed voice to contrast with the absurdity of the antics that surround her. This show came out of nowhere for me, and while it doesn't quite have the same depth as say a Bunny Girl Senpai or Nagi no Asukara, it wasn't trying to be those shows. For the genre it finds itself in, there's pretty much nothing better. Sometimes what you need is something riotously funny, steeped in absurdity, and yet not afraid to bear its heart on its sleeve. It is in this company that Rent-A-Girlfriend stands alone. | |
| Rent-A-Girlfriend (TV 2) | Very good |
| Season 2 took a bit of a step back for me. It felt like we were spending more time on silly rom-com cliche situations than on any actual character or plot development. That's okay, to a point, but it does lose a bit of the momentum that season 1 had. It doesn't help that I'm not sure if the show knows what it wants to do with its cast anymore. It's beginning to feel more and more like Ruka, Sumi, and Mami are baggage that it's having to drag around while trying to tell the main story of Kazuya and Chizuru. Hopefully season 3 can balance that out. It ended on a really nice note, learning more about Chizuru's backstory and all. I hope the momentum of the movie arc that we have coming up will pick things back up. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoyed this season a lot, just not to the level of the first season. | |
| Restaurant to Another World (TV) | Good |
| In the end, Restaurant to Another World is really just a slice of life show with a light fantasy take on top of it. The story revolves around a restaurant in Tokyo that every Saturday has doors open to it all across a fictional fantasy world, and then creatures like demons, lizardmen, mages, dragons, fairies, elves, and the like show up to eat delicious food. That's really all there is to it. It's cute, and fun, not a lot of plot to be had, very light on comedy, but it's a feel good show about food and some fun that is had along with it. Good slice of life material. | |
| Riddle Story of Devil (TV) | Good |
| I thought this would have more yuri than it did, so I was a bit disappointed in that regard. The real problem though is that the story is so stilted. Each episode is basically stand alone and deals with one of the 12 assassins (12 episodes! get it yet?!) attempting to kill the main target. There's not much in the way of story, but the action is alright and some of the characters are tolerable. The one thing it does have going for it is atmosphere. | |
| (The) Rising of The Shield Hero (TV) | So-so |
| Shield hero kinda seems like a standard isekai show, and at the end of the day, it doesn't do that much to dispel that notion. There's still our intrepid hero who gets overpowered unfairly and is never really truly challenged, he still has his harem of adoring women who he has either rescued from slavery, raised himself, or is secretly a princess, and the show still has to bend over backwards to make us feel like our overpowered hero is somehow the underdog. It's the absurd lengths of that last point that kinda ruins this show for me. Naofumi gets dealt the worst hand ever by the end of episode one, it's contrived so that he can't be any lower when he starts his slow rise to the top. I get it, but I really dislike the tone that ends up shaping the show. It feels like the incarnation of nice guy syndrome or something. Everyone is out to get Naofumi at all times, and everything he does gets misinterpreted and thrown back in his face ten times worse, and no one will believe in him no matter how hard he works or how many times he proves his worth. And when he does receive recognition, he doesn't hesitate to throw it back at his enemies, forcing a woman who wronged him to change her legal name to "bitch", and reveling in calling her that for instance. I get the sense that the author of this book does not really like or respect women much at all, after all it's telling that there are no equals to Naofumi among his little harem. These women, for various reasons, didn't necessarily join up with Naofumi of their own free will, but once they traveled with him for some time, they come to realize that beneath his gruff exterior, he's actually a good person. I dunno... the whole feeling behind this show is a bit uncomfortable. It's hard to root for Naofumi when I'm thinking to myself, yo dude, you sit there on your high horse and judge everyone else but tbh, you also need to get your head out of your ass and grow up. All of that adds up to make the show just kinda feel a little bit gross. It doesn't help that the animation in the show is pretty much subpar throughout. There are a couple good action sequences, but most of the "fights" end up being people yelling at each other, and laser beams flying across the screen. The story also is weak, but at least the addition of some unknown villains at the end of the run breathes some life into the show with the promise of maybe something larger going on. I thought some of the characters were alright, though I hate how much of the cast ends up being young girls. If we can ever get some solid character development outside of how everyone loves Naofumi so much, I'd get behind that a bit more. Yeesh, this does not read well as a review. Some good points, watching Naofumi's tormentors finally get their comeuppance is deeply satisfying, though I also am a bit disgusted by how much gloating the show does. A few of the one off episodes, including Raphtalia's tragic backstory are surprisingly deep and feelsy. The world and magic systems seem to be well thought out, and it's fun to see these things come to life and watch the characters slowly learning their way around things. The enemy at large, whether the waves or the other villains who show up, are still very mysterious and could lead to some good moments. Basically, I think there are much better isekai shows than this one. Re:Zero is a better dark show. Slime does better at building it's world. Gate does better at harem antics with questionable morality (and I don't even like Gate). Konosuba, well, is pretty unlike this show, but is better in almost every way with fanservice, comedy, and heart. I don't see why anyone would watch this show over those others, and I wouldn't really recommend it. That said, I'll probably (rather reluctantly) watch the next season, hoping that the more interesting final few episodes indicates a stronger story to come, and just to see if the hype ever gets justified. Update: I did not watch the next season, not enough time in my life for this. | |
| Rokka: Braves of the Six Flowers (TV) | Excellent |
| I really really enjoyed Rokka a lot more than I expected. I don't really want to give too much away here but it's a fantasy story that happens to be all wrapped up in intrigue. The characters are solid for the most part, and the action can be ok, but the plot is really where the series shines. There's a ton of little things all going on here that lead up to the grand finale where everything comes to light. It's a smart show that will make you run circles around yourself. Very well done. | |
| RPG Real Estate (TV) | Very good |
| This was a bit of a surprise for me. I went into this figuring it was another CGDCT show. It's by Doga Kobo after all. However, what I ended up getting was pretty wildly different than I had expected. For one, wow is this show fanservice-y. That's not usually Doga Kobo's MO, so it actually took me a couple episodes to adjust to it. However, beyond that, there's actually a lot of good here. Fa's character arc and mystery that spans the whole season is actually extremely compelling and makes for a good hook beyond each episode's find a house challenge of the week. We get equal parts build up to the climax and cute house hunting shenanigans, and it works really well together. I think having that plot and mystery as just enough of a hook is a really strong addition to a show like this. Of course, having a fun cast of strong characters living in a world that feels lively and deep only adds to it. Overall, if you can stomach the (sometimes questionable) fan service, this show really has a lot to offer. | |
| Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend (TV) | Good |
| Solid Slice of Life/Harem show. Honestly there's not much to distinguish it from the rest of the genre, just all around good quality with some funny moments thrown in. It's at least self aware enough to laugh at itself, but that's never the overriding factor. I enjoyed it even if it sort of very abruptly ended. | |
| Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend Flat (TV) | Very good |
| Overall, I was very impressed with Saekano's followup season. The second season takes more of what made the first season good (meta, self aware humor, deep characters, solid comedy) and added an actually compelling story and dramatic plot on top of that. It's not often that a harem anime will end with a surprisingly heartfelt tearjerker of a climax. Each of the last three episodes hit hard, and sort of reaffirmed to me that these characters have grown, and that this show has grown from the first season till now. They have released their games and each of the characters need to figure out how best to grow from this moment moving forward, and that answer is not always the best in terms of maintaining their relationships and the status quo. But it's handled in a mature way, and honestly in the best way that it could be, as it feels that the characters are real and that they are acting in a way that the should be, and makes sense. I'd like to see more, as I've grown quite attached to Blessing Software over the past two seasons, but this ending does tie a nice bow on things. Maybe I should check out the light novels. | |
| Saint Cecilia and Pastor Lawrence (TV) | Very good |
| I don't usually have too much to say about these sorts of shows. This is a Doga Kobo slice of life comedy with light romantic elements thrown in. Basically, if the name Doga Kobo means anything to you (outside of Oshi no Ko), then that should basically tell you all you need to know. But, I'll go over things briefly.
This is a cute show about cute people being cute (aka a Doga Kobo slice of life show). Cecilia is a wonderful lead, and I can't help but love how she's lazy and just lolls around all the time. The expressions the animators have given to the characters are outstanding. It's so much fun to see that dead eyed stare haha. In fact, all four of the main characters here are great. The show succeeds in that I'm content to just watch them sitting around doing nothing at all, that's how much fun it is just to listen in on their everyday lives. However, a couple of complaints. The romantic aspect is played up a bit strongly here, for something that we know unequivocally will not go anywhere. The show doesn't need to take that part of itself quite so seriously. In fact, that's pretty much it. I found myself checking out a bit whenever things tried to get a bit more serious. Maybe that's not fair to the show, but I showed up for some lighthearted shenanigans, and that's mostly what you get here, and they are wonderful, but the few times it diverges, I think the show is not quite so strong. Overall, I had a wonderful time, because of course I love Doga Kobo. If adorable cuteness are enough to make you consider watching a show, this is a good one. | |
| Sakura Quest (TV) | Very good |
| Really, really well done slice of life show, with a bit more plot and character development than the average entry into the genre. Sakura Quest is about as great as a working girl show can be (probably just behind Shirbako as the standard bearer for this type of show). Yoshino is maybe one of the most adorable slice of life leads I've seen. She's energetic, driven, capable, and just a really good person. She has her struggles trying to revive the small rural town's tourism industry that saw her foisted into the role through a series of funny mishaps, and the crew of girls she surrounds herself with are fleshed out and whole characters as well, each with their own strengths, and hardships to overcome. The story is just such a feel good, happy, comfy take on rural life and the light comedy and drama that comes along with it. I really grew to love these characters and the town of Manoyama as a whole. PA Works knocked this one out of the park for sure. I'll sign up for any working age slice of life they throw out there next. | |
| Sakura Trick (TV) | Very good |
| Sakura Trick might be the most adorable show ever. There is absolutely nothing here except sweet sugar, and it is glorious. The show is basically about a group of girls and their relationships with each other. Cute girls kissing each other? Sign me up. | |
| School-Live! (TV) | Very good |
| Wow. School Live is an absolute gem of a show. This is one of the most unique and interesting experiences that I've had watching anime in a while. I will only say one thing about the plot. It's not just a simple school slice of life story, there's a ton more going on here. I'd recommend anyone watch the first episode in its entirety without knowing anything more and then decide what you think. It's an emotional rollercoaster and well worth the time investment. The reason this isn't Excellent or Masterpiece though is mainly due to how it slows down the middle, the beginning and end are masterpiece levels, and the middle still isn't really even that bad. Loved this show. | |
| Seitokai Yakuindomo* (TV) | Good |
| I actually watched this show without knowing that this was a sequel. It just doesn't really matter. Think of it like Lucky Star if Lucky Star was rated R. I could see this being on Adult Swim. It's very slice of life, but every joke ends up being sexual in nature. There's no story to be had, but the odd pairing of cute girls and dick jokes is worth every minute. | |
| Selection Project (TV) | Excellent |
| It's hard to wow me with an idol anime these days. I feel like I'm only getting more and more jaded on the genre as the later Love Live series have me yawning my way through them, and nothing else seems capable of grabbing my attention. Selection Project though... it nailed this whole thing. I feel like Love Live has moved more into a kind of fairy tale land where their show doesn't really feel real anymore. In fact, a lot of idol shows have moved into this kind of idealized world view. Selection Project just feels more grounded right out of the gate. Sure, we're watching contestants on what basically amounts to American Idol, but this feels real and true in a way that I haven't felt in a long time.
Of course, part of that may be the fact that the characters and their journeys are all so much more realized than most other anime series full stop. I empathized strongly with Suzune and Rena of course, but the broader cast was handled elegantly and they all had their chances to shine. I like how they could immerse us into these character's lives without doing 9 backstory episodes and a climax like Love Live has done in the past. Love Live had to cut down to 5 characters because it was getting to be too much and Selection Project kinda is already lapping their previous efforts. The drama was heartfelt and resonated with me, and I was as invested in the outcome of this whole thing as much as any show I've seen. Oh, and the CG and performances were pretty stellar. Overall, this was a huge breath of fresh air, and I'm super excited to see what else comes out of this show. I think it really flew under the radar this season, and I hope over time it can get the recognition it deserves. | |
| Senki Zesshō Symphogear (TV) | Excellent |
| I think that Symphogear is probably the single most hype show I've ever seen. They are CONSTANTLY topping themselves and the show understands very well how to keep powering up and even though we know it's coming, it's freaking awesome every single time. There are badass action scenes. It's bright, colorful, and well animated. The music is fantastic (as should be expected). And, just, it feels really refreshing. Like it took me back to the kind of stuff I watched when I first got into anime, it was both nostalgic and new at the same time. This is what I remember old school anime being, not what it actually was like. Of course, that's not to say that there are issues. The plot is fairly weak, and with the ever expanding cast of characters, it becomes hard to really dig deep into any single character's arcs. In addition, the tropes are strong with this one. There's nothing new or shocking to be found. But dammit, this show is plain fun in spite of that fact. I loved it, and marathoned all 3 seasons before I really knew it. To be honest, it's probably not worth a 9/10, but I wanted to throw the show a bone. I'll remember it very fondly, and I'm excited for the upcoming season 4! | |
| Senki Zesshō Symphogear AXZ (TV) | Good |
| Well, here we are in season 4. It still has some moments of hype for sure, but I'm not sure what it was exactly about this season that didn't quite work for me as well as the others. Maybe rehashing the same sort of plot of the previous seasons is just starting to become a bit boring. I also thought that the beginning sort of drug and the climactic battle was more absurd than awesome. Still fun characters and a fun romp, but this season didn't quite feel special like the previous ones. | |
| Senki Zesshō Symphogear G (TV) | Very good |
| See season 1. Season 2 did have probably the best episode endings of the three seasons. Someone cut together the Symphogear G Ending Moments on youtube, and it's like my favorite video. I said that this show knows how to do hype, and that's never more true than the endings. That Hibiki noise punch though... *goosebumps* | |
| Senki Zesshō Symphogear GX (TV) | Very good |
| See season 1. | |
| Senran Kagura: Ninja Flash! (TV) | So-so |
| There's honestly not much to say about this one. It's ninjas and fanservice. The plot is built out of cliches and the power of friendship. There's not even that cool of ninja stuff either, as for the most part, ninjutsu is just a code word for magic. When ninjas are fighting by summoning stuffed teddy bears to fight against the other ninjas with tank caliber rifles coming out of their skirts, it sort of loses a bit of the mystique. The fanservice is... okay. Honestly, this is a pretty easy skip. | |
| Senryū Girl (TV) | Very good |
| This is a series of half length episodes about a girl and a guy bonding over their shared love of Senryu style poetry (Haiku style 5-7-5 structure about more human focused everyday things than Haiku which tend to be more about nature and other more lofty subjects). Our main girl, Nanako, is socially awkward and is all but mute throughout the show's run, but she feels very comfortable communicating via Senryu. Eiji is our male lead and he's a rough around the edges former delinquent who happened to fall in love with Senryu and left his old life behind. He sees nothing but the good in people, and immediately accepted Nanako with no questions asked. They've become an inseparable pair and it's just the sweetest little show. Seriously, there's so much heart here. It's wonderful. Highly recommended for anyone who just wants something nice to watch and unwind with. | |
| Senyū. (TV) | Very good |
| Senyu is 3 to 4 minutes of pure ridiculousness. There's some sort of plot but whatever, the jokes hit hard and hit fast, and the whole series is hardly more time than 3 or 4 episodes of a standard show. Highly recommended. | |
| Seraph of the End: Battle in Nagoya (TV) | Excellent |
| See season 1. Still a great show. Very annoyed at the prospect of waiting years to see it continue, if it ever does. | |
| Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign (TV) | Excellent |
| I really thoroughly enjoyed Seraph. It's a very strong action show with supernatural elements thrown in. It takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where the small amount of remaining humans are fighting with vampires that have risen to power. It's really just bad, bad things all around. Of course the show follows our group of rag tag youngsters as they go about navigating the the conflict. Really, the story isn't anything super unique, but it is presented in a very compelling way. Plot points are teased endlessly and motives remain shrouded in mist throughout. I love a story that is confident enough to drive things through showing instead of telling and Seraph does that very well. The action and animation are also very slick and high quality. It ended up being one of my favorite shows of the year. | |
| Seton Academy: Welcome to the Pack (TV) | Very good |
| Seton Academy is a very, very silly show about a school for all sorts of animals. Imagine if Noah's Ark became an anime high school, and there you go. Most of the show is learning about the various animals and how they might interact with each other if they were anthropomorphized. It's cute, silly, and kinda mindless entertainment. But it hits enough of my sweet spots with anime that I really ended up looking forward to this stupid, stupid show. Doesn't hurt that the ending is top tier. | |
| Shakugan no Shana (TV) | Good |
| Shakugan no Shana is a solid piece of work. The titular Shana is a flame haze whose duty it is to keep watch over the world and hunt down evil denizens of the crimson world who find their way to the human's world. The denizens want nothing more than to devour human souls, so it is up to the flame hazes to stop them. During one such mission, Shana encounters a curious boy, Yuji, who gives her a reason to stay in one city for a while. Together they learn about each other and each other's circumstances. Yuji learns of the crimson world, powers of existence, and the denizens while Shana learns what it means to live a normal life with wants and desires of her own. Truthfully Shana is adorable, and that was the reason I started watching the show, but there is surprising depth here as well. Worth a shot, especially if only to get to the brilliant third season. | |
| Shakugan no Shana III (Final) (TV) | Excellent |
| The third and final season of Shakugan no Shana feels like it was created by a different company than the first two. Everything is turned up to eleven. The stakes are astronomical as the two main characters are pitched against themselves. It wastes no time establishing itself and never stops until the very end. There are feels, crazy action, intricate strategy, confusion and chaos, and everything else I hoped it would be from the start. My only complaint is that the show sleepwalked so badly through season two when it could have spent time setting up these characters that just seem to be thrown at us one after another with no time for formal introductions. It's hardly enough to disrupt the excellence that the third season portrays, but it does serve to remind me that within these last twenty four episodes, there was the potential for something more, something that could have been closer to the conversation of greatest anime of all time. Still, it is what it is, and that is a damn fine show. Really highly recommended. | |
| Shakugan no Shana S (OAV) | Good |
| S is a collection of 4 OVA episodes. Chronologically, the first two take place between seasons one and two (thereabouts), while the last two episodes are a prequel about Shana first coming to Misaki city. I watched the four between season two and three, and that works fine. The first two are typical OVA epsidoes (body switching, yay!), but the last two are a real treat. Shana is after an unknown denizen and her only trail is a young girl who saw him before she was killed. Shana uses her powers to take the place of this girl and lives her life to try to figure out what happened to her. It's heart wrenching to see this girl's parents love for her and know that that she is already gone... Really really well done. | |
| Shakugan no Shana Second (TV) | So-so |
| It pains me to say this, but I have to be honest, the second season of Shakugan no Shana was a huge letdown. It pretty much forgoes much of the conflict and action in favor of developing the character's relationships. That on its own can work, but Shana has such a deep world with so many characters and intricacies, that it really does the series a disservice to have four episodes devoted to Shana and the other girls fight over Yuji at school. The entire season really drug for me, and even the climax which finally piles on some fights, is lackluster. The end result is worth it though, because the final season redeems the show in every way. | |
| SHIMONETA: A Boring World Where the Concept of Dirty Jokes Doesn’t Exist (TV) | Very good |
| I really enjoyed this show a lot more than I thought I would. On the surface, it is a show about trying to make as many sexual innuendos as possible, and really that permeates throughout the entire production, and it's funny and all that, but... there has to be something more for a show to ride than just that. Thankfully, Shimoneta does manage to give us some solid characters and a semi-interesting, if not overly silly, plot about fighting against oppressive censorship of all things dirty. It ends up being a show that absolutely does not take itself seriously, and is a blast to watch. Nothing ground breaking, but just a solid all around production. | |
| Shine Post (TV) | Excellent |
| This is about as fun of an idol show as I have seen. Unlike shows like Love Live, Shine Post is firmly grounded in reality and follows the struggling idol group TiNgS as they are starting from basically nothing to try to carve out a place for themselves. This is a very straightforward and honest show about the interplay of idols, agencies, managers, rival groups and the like. There is one wrinkle, and that is that our kind of audience stand in manager has the ability to see when a person is lying. It doesn't end up becoming much of a gimmick, it's more used to help him and us realize when one of the members of the group might need a little push to help them grow. And grow they do. So, at its core, the characters are what sell this show. This is otherwise a kind of bog standard rags to riches story firmly grounded in character growth and coming to believe in yourself. It's a nice story, but it's been done a million times. What we haven't seen a million times though is Haru, Rio, Kyoka and the others. These characters, especially Haru, are just so much fun to watch and root for. The love that studio Kai put into this production is evident, and I'm excited to see what they continue to do from here. As it is, Shine Post stands as a wonderful entry into a crowded genre, and even as it retreads familiar plot points, it is a joy to watch all the way through. | |
| Shirobako (TV) | Excellent |
| Shirobako is one of those shows that makes you wonder why the creators insist on being so mean to their characters. Unfortunately, I suppose that is the reality of the animation industry, so it makes sense that it would be reflected in a show about the day to day workings of an animation studio. The story follow five girls who graduate school with the dream of all creating an anime together, who wind up starting their careers in the industry. The story covers two anime seasons, with the first show being an original project and the second an adaptation. It does a good enough job of explaining how the process works, but that isn't really the point. The point is to follow the highs and lows of the production cycle, to see the director and producers give everything they have to see the project through. There is a ton of heart in this show. They knocked it out. | |
| Shomin Sample (TV) | Very good |
| Shomin Sample is a show that's right up my wheelhouse at this point. I watched it as part of my slice of life queue, and had a blast with its stupid jokes, ridiculous characters, and contrived, silly setups. It was pretty much everything I wanted from a show like this. Objectively, it's not this good. The show is cliche and redundant, doing nothing to separate itself from the rest of the genre, but it hit the sweet spot for me, so this is where it ends up. Fun little show if you want this type of thing. | |
| Show By Rock!! (TV) | Good |
| So, I really enjoyed this show, but I realize it isn't for reasons that make it objectively good. I have a well documented weakness for girls with animal ears, and this show does that in spades. The plot was meh, the music was meh, but the girls... so. adorable. | |
| Show By Rock!! Mashumairesh!! (TV) | Excellent |
| Mashumairesh is an in universe spin off to the main show by rock show about a new girls band, the titular Mashumairesh. There's also a a new boys band to rival Shingancrimsanz and a new pop superstar to take our plucky upstart under their wing. So in that way, it's very, very similar to the previous season. However, it is different in two very important ways. Most significantly, any plot about the evil corporation wanting to take over midicity with music hating demons is out the window. Instead we are treated mostly to a standard idol type show where our band assembles, struggles to write some songs, has their character arcs, then triumphantly performs in the end. Secondly, the girls are on another level compared to season 1. Every single time Howan appears on screen I literally lose my mind. I can't help it, oh my god, they are the best. I do think that this version of Show By Rock has done a better job streamlining things than the original, so it does deserve a higher score. But, wow, I would watch anything with these girls. They are the cutest thing that has ever existed. Sanrio knows what they are doing here haha. | |
| Show By Rock!! Stars!! (TV) | Excellent |
| I am quite literally incapable of being objective about this show. I could not ask for something more perfect. | |
| Show By Rock!!# (TV 2/2016) | Good |
| This is just a continuation of the first season. Cyan gets teleported back to Midi City and Sound Planet and now another dark figure is threatening to stamp out all music. This time old rivals are new friends and together they all use the power of music and friendship to defeat the evil music-hating threat! If it sounds pretty cliched and stupid, it's because it is. But it is at least exceedingly happy and energetic, so it's fun to watch nevertheless. | |
| Shy (TV) | So-so |
| Shy isn't a bad show, but it's one that really left me with a bad taste in my mouth. See, the first few episodes had this hovering around that 7-8 mark. I was digging our main character struggling with her own social anxieties as she had to try to be a hero in the public eye. I thought the initial interaction with her friend was a good start as well. Then, things kinda go off the rails.
The last 2/3rds of the season or so deal mostly with the Russian hero, Pepesha. We learn about her backstory of growing up in an orphanage as well as see things from the perspective of her deceased mother who struggled to raise her. It's... just okay really. And it gets stretched out for so much of the season that it kind of left me wondering why the show was called Shy anyway. All the themes of anxiety and growth from our main character vanished as we spent episode after episode examining flashbacks of Pepesha. With a few shonen style fights interspersed as the characters monologue the same things over and over again at each other. This show will absolutely make sure you never forget what its themes are. It will simply tell you multiple times every single episode. So, where does that leave Shy? I'm annoyed, but mostly at this arc. Of course, this is the first major arc of the show, so that doesn't bode well. I suppose I'll check out the already announced season 2, but if its clear that this style of storytelling is going to be the norm moving forward, I'll check out. I'd much rather follow our main character on her journey of self discovery than whatever the heck happened here. | |
| Sing "Yesterday" for Me (TV) | Excellent |
| Sing Yesterday for Me is everything I want in a high school drama/romance show. Never mind that this one takes place after our main character has graduated college. I actually really dig the whole malaise we find ourselves in with our main character Rikuo just kinda skating through life working part time at a convenience store. He doesn't know what he wants out of life but starting a career just doesn't feel right. He has his crush of course, on one of his classmates who is now a high school teacher. She has her own things going on with a very complicated past and her own family issues to deal with. Additionally, each of our main two has their own admirers turning things very much into a messy web of relationships. The thing that sets Yesterday apart in my mind is also what its closest analog, Just Because, did well too. It presents its romance in a hyper-realistic lens. There is no cutesy moe anime bullshit here. Instead we're presented with real, flawed characters living real, flawed lives, and just trying to stay afloat amidst the ever confusing new relationships (personal, familial, professional) that they form as they slowly, painfully mature and come into their own. It's a slow, quiet, personal kind of show, but I really dig that aesthetic. I love how real these characters felt to me and being able to relate on such an intimate level really kept me glued to the edge of my seat throughout. Of course, I'd be absolutely remiss to end this without mentioning Haru. She 100% steals the show, and she can definitely do better than the rest of the sorry sacks she's hanging around with. It takes a bit of the drama away when I've decided that I'll be happy as long as she's happy and don't care as much about what happens to the rest of them haha. Ah well, it's good to have a character to root for. It makes an already excellent show just that much more fun. | |
| A Sister's All You Need (TV) | Very good |
| So, the title, description, and first 2 minutes of episode one really make this show out to be the trashiest of the trash. But, shockingly, it's a bit of bait and switch and what ends up coming out is a pretty enjoyable story of an aspiring (well actually kinda already successful) light novel author and the hijinks he and his friends get up to, mostly while chilling in his apartment. The sister thing is basically that our main character author bro is obsessed with little sister characters and features them prominently in his books, but he doesn't have one in real life. So really, this show is more about authors griping to each other about the industry mashed up with really in depth episodes that feature board games. Seriously, they play 3 throughout the season I think and each one takes up basically the full episode and ends up being a lot of fun, much more so than this show has any right to be. Of course, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the fanservice, of which there is a ton. One of his friends is a girl who can only write while she's naked and is basically obsessed with sex and our main character, so you know what you're getting there. I think it was at least well done instead of cringey and trashy, so while yeah, it's ecchi, it's not bad. In the end, it was a pleasant surprise and I had fun watching. | |
| Sk8 the Infinity (TV) | Good |
| Sk8 follows in the footsteps of the likes of Yuri on Ice and Free as another cute boys sports anime. While Yuri on Ice was very grounded in a realistic take on ice skating, Sk8 is decidedly a departure from that. From episode one we are treated to less Tony Hawk and more Rocket Power as our protagonists perform insanely over the top stunts in their made up sport of skateboarding x street racing. It's less ollies and grinds and more SSX Tricky really. The over the top bombastic-ness of it all is very fun though and combined with our two charismatic leads, Reki and Langa, makes for a fun time throughout. The show is not shy about shipping the two characters together, and for those into that sort of thing, they should absolutely love this show. Even without that, I had a good time. So, why the 7/10? Well, the second half does this show no favors. The more Sk8 slips away from Reki and Langa and becomes Adam's Love Hug Assault Show the more it lost me as a viewer. Adam is completely unlikable in every way, and actively spits in the face of those of us who came for a sports show. Since when has it been okay for our competitors to simply beat the sh*t out of each other instead of... you know... playing the sport. Can you imagine if Yurio just skated out during Yuri's performance and body slammed him into the wall? That's basically what happens here. We just spend so... much... time... with Adam and his stupid shady politics that are never spelled out, and it just sucks the life and energy from the show. Not only that, but here we have a thirty year old politician also declaring his undying love for our high school protagonist and trying to weasel his way into this kid's pants. It's so slimy as to be a complete turn off. Sorry Sk8. Let me know when you're back to cool kids skateboarding, this Adam stuff wasn't what I signed up for. | |
| Skip and Loafer (TV) | Excellent |
| Skip is just about as good as a show can be without making it to that 10/10 ranking. I dearly love all of these characters so much. It feels like a trend lately, especially this season with Insomniacs and Dangers, where we have high school romances with character who aren't defined by cliches. It's wonderful and shows you just how much life these kinds of stories can have when they are well written. It's a shame that so rarely happens. Skip is beautiful in that it blends together all of these multifaceted individuals and watches them bounce off of each other perfectly, each one complimenting the others. This is perhaps best shown in Mitsumi's group of friends. At first, the four girls seem like they couldn't be more different. But each one is slowly drawn in by Mitsumi's unwavering optimism and straightforward earnestness. Makoto and Yuzuki are a great example of this, and it's so fun to watch Makoto slowly come to accept Yuzuki as she is, instead of just another pretty, uncaring face, which is all Yuzuki has really ever wanted. Egashira's own arc of coming to accept that she can even have friends is also strong, but it feels like we're only scratching the surface. This is, of course, to say nothing about our titular pair, who bring an even deeper layer of character depth than the others. I'm not going to get into all of it now, the show does a wonderful job of slowly exploring these things. There's a real humanity to Skip and Loafer that so many other shows just seem to lack. It's hard being a high schooler! But, together, I think these kids are going to be just fine. It's truly a wonderful show, and I desperately hope we have more to come in the future. P.A. Works has been killing it lately, and I'm always excited for more from them as well. | |
| (The) Slayers (TV) | Decent |
| Slayers is one of the classic anime shows from the 90s. It's a fantasy romp with over the top characters and world conquering baddies. The series is very careful not to go too dark, always cutting away for gags. It makes it feel a bit dumbed down, which, is probably because it is. This is more of a traditional cartoon series, with many enemy of the week scenarios, though it does tend to have an overarching story behind it. It is fun, but it's not much more. I can see how it rose to prominence when it did, but there are better shows that use this formula today. | |
| (The) Slayers Evolution-R (TV) | Decent |
| This is the second half of Slayers Revolution. | |
| (The) Slayers Next (TV) | Decent |
| Next is almost exactly the same as season one of Slayers | |
| (The) Slayers Revolution (TV) | Decent |
| Slayers Revolution is the reboot of the series over ten years after Try ended. We get all our favorite characters back and together they embark on a new quest to find Gowry his sword of light (and there's some stuff about a country being destroyed, evil villians, and the world almost ending, but that's besides the point). Basically we've got the show back in all its glory. It trips over itself to show you that no, nothing has changed, this is exactly the same as before. So yeah, it's good old slayers, but again, nothing especially surprising or interesting to be found here, just some cartoon fantasy goodness. | |
| (The) Slayers Try (TV) | Decent |
| To its credit, Try actually does mix the series up a fair amount. Enemy of the week plots are almost entirely gone at this point, as we follow an expanded narrative this time with consistent villains and even higher stakes than ever before. Those characters who we do get introduced to stay consistent throughout the season, which is another improvement. Even though this is "better" than previous seasons, it didn't feel much better to me. I think Slayers kind of overstayed its welcome by now, and it makes sense that the series all but ended after Try. Fun show, but nothing I would say anyone has to go out of their way to watch. | |
| Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle (TV) | Good |
| Sleepy Princess is yet another entry in my slice of life shows to watch before bed. It's a cute show, and it's funny to watch this little wild child princess make life hell for the demons who have captured her. And it's doubly cute that despite this, the demons still treasure her and can't bear to see her leave. However, it just doesn't have that many more notes to it. Some of the comedy is funny, but it's not riotously so. In the end, it overstays it's welcome just a bit, even if it is just cute and fun. But certainly still recommended for fans of the genre. | |
| Slow Loop (TV) | Very good |
| Slow Loop is kind of a classic CGDCT show. It has our group of girls who are really into a specific activity (fly fishing in this case), and the shenanigans that they get up to around that. It's all very cute and wholesome. However, Slow Loop has an added wrinkle that it actually has some heart and touching moments to go along with it. See, Hiyori's dad was the one who got her into fishing, but he passed away several years ago. Her mom is getting remarried and all of a sudden, our shy and introverted Hiyori has a new sister, Koharu, who is energetic and spunky. Koharu is excited to get to know Hiyori, and through fishing the two of them become close and start to heal from their respective wounds (Koharu also lost her mother). It's really heartwarming, and while it doesn't stray too far into melancholy, it takes these situations seriously and handles them in a really respectful and touching way. Overall, this is definitely worth a watch, both for the cute goodness and light food-porn, and for the meaningful character growth that accompanies it. | |
| Slow Start (TV) | Good |
| Slow Start is another entry in the cute, meaningless slice of life before bedtime category. The "conflict" in this one is that our main character caught the flu before her high school entrance exam and was forced to skip a year. Apparently this is highly traumatic in Japan and she is a nervous wreck going to start high school a year late. The rest of the conflict of the show is about whether or not she can work up the courage to tell her friends about this fact. Needless to say, there isn't much drama to be found here. The show is cute, in that typical slice of life-y way, but there isn't really much else going for it. It's fun in the moment and will quickly be forgotten afterwards. | |
| So I'm a Spider, So What? (TV) | Masterpiece |
| There should be so many reasons not to rate this a 10/10. Spider was a production plagued with issues throughout its run, especially in the second half where production issues start to rear their ugly head more and more. The CG can be jarring at times, especially on the human characters, and the 2d animation simply falls apart as we approach the climax. Episode 23 was straight up embarrassing and should not have been aired. So then... why a perfect 10?
Well, for me, the quality of the animation straight up didn't matter to my enjoyment of the series one bit. The more I fell into Kumoko's world and learned about what was actually going on (and learned about all the things that I wanted to know about that were only teased), the more I fell in love with this story and these characters. Kumoko herself is maybe the most fun protagonist I've seen in a show since... ever really. She oozes charisma and charm and single-handedly carries entire episodes with Aoi Yuki giving us a masterpiece of voice acting every single week. Even if that's all there was to recommend about Spider, I would still rate the show pretty highly. But, there's one more piece that I have to speak to. It's the story! I don't even know where to start. The world of Spider is deep and interconnected, with multiple countries, and warring factions both within and beyond those human countries. There's the demon lord's faction making war on the humans, the sinister truths hidden behind some of our closest allies. There's elves with their own agendas. There's these creepy "administrators" who seem all powerful yet for reasons unknown, can't seem to impact the world directly. There's the knowledge that for reasons unknown, the entire world is collapsing. There's just so many powerful people, all with their own stories and their own motives that we are only scratching the surface of. As a world, Spider feels huge, deep, lovingly crafted, and thoroughly alive. The thing I keep coming back to, as a fantasy writer myself, is that if I wrote a light novel, I would aspire to produce something that can live up to the story of this show. (And I'm not even mentioning the awesome way they handle the timeline, which... I love it). The story is revealing itself at its own pace, and is letting us squirm as we try to piece together who wants what and where things are going. It's wonderfully fun, and finally I get to say that anime actually delivered on expanding the scope of its world. I'm usually over here clamoring for larger conflicts with more moving pieces in my fantasy anime. For once in my life, Spider has blown my wishes away. What a fun, fun show to watch. | |
| Somali and the Forest Spirit (TV) | Very good |
| This is a hard show to rate and review. Somali itself is a hard show to watch, as we follow little human girl and her adoptive golem father as they set out on a journey to find other humans who might be able to care for this lost girl. Over the runtime of the show we witness more and more pain and suffering as the harsh truths of the world become more evident. Somali through it all is upbeat and eternally optimistic, but it sometimes isn't enough. At the end of the day, I don't think this show did quite enough to elevate it above the disquieting feeling it gave me. I could never relax during the sillier moments, and the more intense scenes were, well, hard to watch. I appreciate what the show did, and I think it did it well, but it's a show I'm perfectly happily not revisiting. | |
| Sorairo Utility (special) | Good |
| This is just a 15 minute special about cute girls playing golf. There's not much more to be said. It was made by just a couple people and is actually pretty fun, especially since I enjoy playing golf in my own time as well. Worth watching for sure. I wish this was a proper full season, even if the episodes were all five minute shorts or something. | |
| Soul Eater (TV) | Excellent |
| Soul Eater is one of my all time favorite anime. I revisit this show every year in October to get in the Halloween spirit. There's nothing better. This is top tier shonen action. One thing to point out, the art style is very stylized, so it actually ages extremely well compared to other shows from the time period. Even in 2023, it still looks beautiful. Can't wait for my next watch. | |
| Soul Eater Not! (TV) | Decent |
| Don't get confused, this is not soul eater, and it isn't particularly trying to be. It follows the story of several new students at the DWMA as they learn to become weapons and meisters. It's about girls being girls and doing girl things. There is a bit of action and some cool cameos, but mostly this is a school anime. And it's fine for what it is, but putting it in this setting, I couldn't help but be disappointed with what it isn't. | |
| Sound! Euphonium (TV) | Excellent |
| Sound! Euphonium is basically as perfect as a school anime centered around a club can be. It follows the concert band of our main characters' high school as they transition from a laid back club with not much in the way of expectations to a band that can compete for the national title. The new freshmen and director come in and have to deal with the conflicting cultures at play, as many of the members seem to be aiming for nationals in name only. The show is about self discovery, as the main girl, kumiko, struggles with her identity and what it is that she wants from the concert band. Kumiko is really the most fascinating part of this show. She is a really unusual main character, as she is someone who is lacking for motivation and drive, but hides it expertly. She doesn't make connections with other people easily, but as the show goes, we get to witness her grow. It's not always easy, and that goes doubly for everyone else involved, but the drama is intensely interesting and very well done. This show handles these conflicts expertly. Kumiko and Kousaka's relationship is probably one of the most interesting and compelling pairings I've ever seen in anime. Sound! Euphonium is high school drama at its finest. It is highly worth watching, even for those who are not musically inclined. KyoAni has put together an amazing piece of work here. I cannot wait for more. | |
| Sound! Euphonium 2 (TV) | Masterpiece |
| After reading my review of the first season of Sound Euphonium, I can't help but wonder what the hell I was thinking. Seriously, that review seems so vague, wishy-washy, impersonal, and just not at all deserving of this show. Regardless, let's talk about Sound! Euphonium. Simply put, it's one of the best shows I've ever seen, and I don't say that lightly. From the very first episode of season two I found myself commenting over and over again about the stupidest little things. Here's what I said to a friend after the first episode aired: "There's just so many little things that the show does amazingly. The way they frame shots, quick flashes of emotion, conversations that actually feel real, disjointed and imperfect. I dunno, I appreciate it a lot more now for some reason. Also kumiko is so freaking weird for a main protagonist, she's almost like hachiman. I used to think Reina was the odd one, but, I kinda get the feeling now that Reina is realizing that kumiko might be kinda more f***** up than her, just a thought. Anyway, go watch it, it's excellent." And I stand behind that 100% while also acknowledging how weird that is. I've never stopped a show in the middle of a seemingly non-important conversation between characters to catch my breath. I replayed quick cuts and clips of dialog over and over as I watched the show. I couldn't handle it. KyoAni's attention to detail and the little "somethings" they add over and over and over again through the show is outstanding. I could go on and on forever. For instance, the way that they do quick cuts to the characters almost-imperceptibly fidgeting with their hands, or a quick turn of the head animated just so so that we pick it up subconsciously that they are annoyed, angry, confused, scared, or any other emotion. Sound! Euphonium feels so real! It's so perfectly composed, the dialogue so naturally written and recorded, that your breath gets stolen by the small moments as much as the big ones, which hit just as hard. I realize that my description of Kumiko from season 1 and from episode 1 above were both wrong. She's not lacking drive or motivation, and she's not really "f'd up" in that way either. She's a real human being, much more-so than any other character I've seen in anime. She's confused by the world, intimidated to voice her opnions, scared for her friends, and yet, she does try her hardest, it just doesn't always appear that way. Reina is the same, though arguably she's a more simple character in that her intentions and ambitions have always been stated. I haven't even gotten to the story and characters from the second season, and I don't even think I need to go into it much at this point. Reviews exist for that. Instead, I just want to say that the character growth throughout is very well done, and getting a deeper look at characters like Yuuko, Asuka, Taki, and others are more than enough to drive the show forward to its inevitable conclusion. I found myself almost as scared as the cast during the final episodes as they geared up for their final performance. I didn't want it to end, it was just too good. There was actually some nice parallelism going on in terms of my fears and the characters' fears, as they too were scared not only of the huge stage, but of what came after. I sat through the last episode looking for any way that I could grab onto hints of more. Some teaser of an unexplained plot point. Yet, by the end of the last episode I had to chide myself for falling victim to my own insecurities. Kumiko's last few scenes with Asuka, and the departure of the third years acted as a kind of cathartic release of my own stresses. The end of season two is a fine stopping point, and sure, Kumiko, Reina, and co. are just starting their second year, but this is no longer the band and group that we started with. I'd be surprised if we see more from the show for a long time, and that's ok, it ended on such a high note and in such a satisfying way, that I'd feel almost disrespectful for asking for more. In the end, it was an absolute pleasure to watch Sound! Euphonium week in and week out. I can't wait for more to come from this team at KyoAni. I'm fully convinced that no matter what they decide to do next, they can do no wrong. This is definitely a show that I will rewatch as time goes on, and I'm already counting down the days till next time. Thanks for everything Kitauji! | |
| Space Dandy (TV) | Excellent |
| Space Dandy is different from a lot of the other animes out there. Shinichiro Watanabe really did a fantastic job with the show. It oozes attitude and cool, all in the name of hunting rare aliens, stumbling upon crazy extra-dimensional weirdness, just going with the flow, and of course, beautiful babes, baby. Hahaha. Space Dandy is organized into a series of one off episodes that go surprisingly deep places questioning things such as life, mortality, love, what it means to be happy, and many other seemingly out of place things. It can be both simultaneously heartfelt and touching while also being crude, insane, and hilarious. Really a great time. Highly recommended. | |
| Space Patrol Luluco (TV) | Good |
| This is trigger condensed and ramped up to 11 really. If you loved Kill La Kill and Gurren Lagann, this is like the 9 minute version of those shows. I thought Luluco was fun, but mostly as nothing more than an interesting diversion. The story is kinda thrown by the wayside to focus on how WACKY these characters are! Which is fine, but it's not a masterpiece or anything. More Trigger is always welcome though. | |
| Spice and Wolf (TV) | Masterpiece |
| Maybe looking back on it, this show may not be worthy of such high praise as masterpiece. However, this was the first anime series I watched and it fully hooked me, so that alone should speak volumes. Spice and Wolf is all about its characters. Lawrence and Holo are very deep characters that bounce of off each other very well. I hesitate to call this show a romance, as it isn't really about that. There are definitely some moments, but that's true of most any show. If I had to give this a genre it would be Economic Thriller, which probably needs some explaination. Lawrence is a traveling merchant who meets Holo, a wolf deity that makes wheat grow, and agrees to bring her with him, as the village she has been watching over has forgotten about her. The story centers around Lawrence and his business. It is heavy on the inner workings of currency, trade, taxes, debts, and other seemingly boring topics. However, it presents all the points in a way that makes it easy to follow and interesting to a viewer who might not know much of anything about economic theory. Holo is easily the star of the show and serves as the counter point to Lawrence and his business dealings (she even shows that she's a pretty shrewd dealer herself, though whether this is because she knows more than she lets on or because she is merely a quick learner is up in the air). She gives the show what many other thriller/mystery type shows are lacking, charm. Though there is very little action, the wheels upon wheels of intrigue and mystery are what make this show gripping, and ultimately a must see. | |
| Spice and Wolf II (TV) | Excellent |
| The second season of Spice and Wolf could simply rest on its laurels and let the winning combination of its two main characters carry the show, however the plot and intricate business workings again take center stage. It kicks right off with an arc that tests the main characters in ways that they never were in the previous season. Even though their lives are not in danger, the threat of an end to their journey is almost more suspenseful. The one downside to this arc is that even after multiple viewings, I still could not adequately explain what trick Lawrence employs to win in the end. The auction and fluctuating price of seemingly worthless goods sailed a bit over my head. As such, when I was unable to follow what was happening on screen, the characters efforts seemed wasted on me. Thankfully, the second arc steps up and redeems the show. Without revealing too much, Holo is the center this time around and we finally get a deep look at her as a person with weaknesses and desires of her own. This arc is more approachable, at least in my view, and gets back to what works best, and that is the relationship between Lawrence and Holo. In the end, fans of the first season should definitely check out season two. However, for those of you who still aren't hooked, this probably won't change your mind. | |
| Spy×Family (TV) | Excellent |
| Spy Family was always going to be pretty great, just given the pedigree of the original work and the studios involved with the adaptation. I'm happy to report that the show absolutely lives up to those lofty goals, as we settle into the every day lives of Agent Twilight and his hastily assembled family for the biggest mission of his spy career: infiltrating a school for elite children as a way to get close to a certain high ranking member of the government. Now, don't misinterpret this. As much as it is wrapped up in the super spy motif, this is more of a family style comedy than anything else. Yor and Anya are both incredibly fun characters, and watching them bounce off of our straight man protagonist is especially fun. I always love characters who are incredibly competent at one specific thing, but are utter failures at anything else in life. Loid, Yor, and Anya all fall into this particular character mold, and the shenanigans that follow are a blast to take in. What you're getting here is a beautiful show that simply does everything well, and doesn't take itself too seriously. It's fun and energetic and almost guarantees you'll have a good time. I am definitely on board and very excited for the next season. | |
| Squid Girl (TV) | Good |
| I really enjoyed this show, which was a lot more than I expected given the ridiculous premise of a literal squid girl with tentacle hair attempting to be cute. However, yeah, she's freaking adorable. The entire show is really. The premise of our titular Squid Girl emerging out of the ocean on a mission to destroy humanity, only to be stopped immediately in a beach side cafe by a no-nonsense cafe owner who makes her swear to work off the damage she has caused due to her "invasion", is very silly and lends itself well to being a fun, unique, and engaging way to start a comedy. I am writing this review almost a decade after having originally seen the show, and I still remember the entire thing very fondly. I think I was early enough in my anime watching that I felt like I couldn't give slice of life style comedies high scores. If I ever rewatch this, I think I'd rate it much higher than a 7/10. I remember the entire thing being a blast. Until then, it will stay where I left it and I hope I do get a chance to get back to it soon. | |
| Squid Girl Season 2 (TV) | Good |
| See season 1 | |
| SSSS.Dynazenon (TV) | Very good |
| Dynazenon is probably a little bit better than Gridman, but not enough to bump it up to a 9. We are in a different universe for this season with a new cast of characters. I actually thought Dynazenon itself was more fun than Gridman, and I think the characters here are a mix of more and less interesting than their Gridman counterparts. Yume is very Rikka-like, but I think she doesn't quite live up to Rikka. The rest of the cast is pretty vibrant in Dynazenon and it was fun getting to spend a bit more time with them in this season. Trigger also does a great job keeping everything very natural sounding and feeling, with all kinds of attention to detail in their backgrounds and settings combined with low key voice acting that has this show full of unique and laid back vibes that I appreciate. These characters are fun and I'm enjoying this direction that Trigger is taking the series. Definitely recommended. It's not even that necessary to have seen Gridman, you could easily start here, just knowing that Gridknight shows up from the previous show now that he is kind of a universe hopping Kaiju fighter. | |
| SSSS.Gridman (TV) | Very good |
| For fans of giant robot and kaiju shows like ultraman, I'm sure Gridman is one of the most exciting properties to come out in years. This is a reboot of an old live action giant robot show of the same name from many years ago. I'm sure the callbacks and references are super cool, but unfortunately, I have no knowledge of the franchise, so I have to judge Trigger's work here on entirely its own merits. Which admittedly, are pretty strong. I enjoyed the characters and the mystery of the world surrounding Gridman, our heroes, and the cryptic villain, Akane. It was fun watching them grow, and seeing the cool set pieces set up for our massive weekly kaiju battles. Overall, the show is definitely binge worthy, and has all of that Trigger-y goodness we've come to expect from the studio. This isn't on par with TTGL or KLK, but it still oozes style and confidence and is a fun watch all the way through. | |
| Steins;Gate (TV) | Very good |
| I know this is one of the most beloved shows of all time, and I know an 8 might seem disappointing, but rest assured, I still enjoyed the entire ride. I just wasn't as attached to the characters as most of the die hard fans are. I was more invested in the crazy ride that was the plot, and I couldn't get enough of the time travel shenanigans. I appreciate how hard this show went in the second half. I just wish the characters resonated with me more, even if I'm not sure exactly where they went wrong for me. Oh well. Still a hugely positive recommendation from me. | |
| Steins;Gate 0 (TV) | Very good |
| Right up front, I have to say that I think the writing in Steins;Gate 0 is weaker than the original. I'm still pretty confused about the exact way the pieces of the time traveling plot fits together, which isn't good for a show that's supposed to be the pinnacle of approachable sci-fi timetravel that actually makes sense. Anyway, there's a bit too much of sad beaten down characters in this to truly be a happy character study as well, but that's the nature of the story that White Fox tried to tell with this show. So then, why an 8? Well... There's something special here, that spark that made the original series so impressive. For all of its flaws, this show threw some great twists, and had me really excited to watch it week in and week out. The animation is great and I enjoyed the few new characters that were added. I like the concept of what Steins;Gate 0 tried to do, so I have to give it props for that. Even if it wasn't perfect, it's still a good addition to the original and certainly worth watching. I had a great time. | |
| Strawberry Panic! (TV) | Good |
| Strawberry Panic is about as Yuri as you can get. It takes place at an all girls school with our main characters living on campus in a dorm. We are immediately thrust into a complex web of love triangles and drama between the various girls we are following, and while the first half of the show does deal some with themes of growing up and coming out of one's shell, the relationships are really the heart and soul of the show. That said, I think overall it was about evenly split between hit and miss. Strawberry Panic revels in the melodrama, and towards the end they pull some almost embarrassingly cliched plot points out to try to up the stakes. It became somewhat hard to take seriously. I also didn't resonate with a few of the main ships, which again, makes watching a series focused on romance hard. I liked Aoi, Tamao, Yaya, and Hikari, but the rest of the cast (aside from maybe Chikaru) I could really have left behind. I would love to see a sequel series (even if we know it will never happen) that follows the crew after their senpai's have all graduated and left, they were collectively the most annoying and weakest link in the show. Otherwise though, there's some awesome yuri goodness to be had and some fun character moments that make Strawberry Panic worth seeing if that's what you're after. If you aren't really into yuri, then this show probably won't be worth your time. | |
| Strike the Blood (TV) | Very good |
| Strike the Blood has it all, vampires, fan service, romance, magic.... Ok ok, stop rolling your eyes. It's actually a pretty solid show. The vampire thing isn't really done up all the much, it only really manifests itself when our main character, Kojou, has to power up by drinking the blood of one of his harem of girls. It's a bit disappointing that the show ends up playing out sort of like the enemy of the week. I'm always looking for shows that can tackle longer, more in depth story lines. But for what Strike the Blood was, I would recommend it. It's got an interesting artistic feel to it, and hey, the girls are all pretty cute, so there's that. | |
| Strike Witches (TV) | Good |
| I only watched this show to begin with because of the spectacle, something to watch while drunk or to laugh at with friends. But then a curious thing happened... it was actually... good? Yeah, kinda entirely unexpected, but Strike Witches somehow manages to actually tell a decent story and is compelling throughout the season. Sure, at its core it's stupid fanservice, but there's a lot to like here. | |
| Strike Witches (movie) | Good |
| At this point we know what we are getting with Strike Witches. I'm happy to report that this movie does have a bit more action focus than Season 2, but the strategy and high stakes action from season 1 does not return. Instead the movie focuses on reuniting our squadron, as we take time to see what every ship- I mean splinter group of the 501st is up to. Then Yoshika finds her way back to Europe from Fusou once again and is caught up in a surprise Neuroi attack. We've seen this before, and there's nothing particularly exciting here. It's a fine entry for going from season 2 to season 3, but nothing more. | |
| Strike Witches 2 (TV) | So-so |
| The second season of strike witches is sadly kind of a let down. The action, that was actually a strength of the surprisingly good first season, has taken a huge step back. Some episodes don't have any neuroi encounters, and those that do are over in a matter of seconds, just thrown in at the end. The last two episodes up the ante a bit, but still, the encounters are just never interesting. They also abandon some of the more interesting story lines from season 1, content to turn the show into more a slice of life/comedy show. It was fun, but this season feels more like a victory lap than a true follow up. | |
| Strike Witches: 501st JOINT FIGHTER WING Take Off! (TV) | So-so |
| Beyond reminding me who the various characters in strike witches are, this little 12 minute spinoff series is not necessary to watch at all. It's simply the girls in various slice of life circumstances repeating the same jokes over and over again. We get it, Hartman is a slob, barkhorn is strict, eila loves sonya, and on and on. They mix up the settings, but it's just the one note responses we would expect from cardboard cutouts as the show goes on. Totally skippable unless you're a huge strike witches fan. | |
| Strike Witches: Road to Berlin (TV) | Good |
| This season directly follows the movie, as our favorite witches from the 501st turn their attention towards liberating Barkhorn and Hartman's home country of Karlsland (aka Germany). This season is back to what makes strike witches good, with rich action set pieces, unique settings and missions, and little in the way of fluff. I'm excited for what the future holds, as it feels like this season is something of a turning point for the series, with it seeming to hit its stride. | |
| Super Cub (TV) | So-so |
| Super Cub was a pretty fun chill show for a while. It's very relaxed with very little dialogue, just content to let you live in the world with its characters. Sure, it is basically an ad for the eponymous Honda scooter, and that can be a bit much at some points, but it's clear the staff and studio put a ton of love and care into this. So, why a 5 then? Well, there's this vague sense of melancholy throughout that doesn't really make this a "fun" watch in the way most iyashikei style slice of life shows typically are presented. Instead, it's kind of a more introspective look. I was fine with this for a while, but the characters started to grate on me. I appreciate that Koguma is dealing with some depression, but this is supposed to be an uplifting show. As she comes out of her shell thanks to her new scooter and makes some friends, we should see her open up some. But she never does. Eventually it feels more like she's being intentionally cruel rather than shy or socially awkward. Which brings me to episode 11. I cannot even begin to think who at the studio thought this was a good idea. I hope when they aired this on TV, it was with disclaimers telling their audience not to imitate what they saw and explaining how to responsibly respond to an emergency situation similar to the one presented in the show. It's actually dangerous to society that they aired this episode. People could legitimately die if they followed the example Koguma sets. I am infuriated that this exists at all. And the way she acts throughout this sequence is even worse. I'm 100% convinced she's not that depressed, she's not shy or socially awkward. She is a complete sociopath. I think she is legitimately a terrible person. The lack of care and empathy while her friend might be dying is... I'm still extremely upset while writing this a day later. I won't harp on this too much, but wow did a single episode drop this show at least 2 rating points on its own. What a disaster. I actually regret watching this now. | |
| Survival Game Club! (TV) | Decent |
| Sabagebu did what it set out to do, which is nothing really at all. It's in that vein of cute girls doing cute things, but this time they have guns, crazy! Nothing really all that memorable, but a good way to kill time and relax. | |
| Sweetness & Lightning (TV) | Very good |
| This is just a really sweet (no pun intended) show about a single father and his preschool aged daughter as they struggle to return to a normal life after his wife passed away. The way they start the healing process is through food and cooking, as Inazuka-sensei realizes at one point that he's been feeding Tsumugi nothing but fast food. He resolves to learn to cook and ends up going to one of his students houses and together they learn to cook, from simple rice bowls to actually fairly complex dishes. Simply put, this is a show about heart, soul, growing, and learning to love, all told through excellent montages of cooking. It's sad and happy at the same time. It can make you cry but by the end of the episode it's all smiles. Just a really nice show. | |
| Sword Art Online (TV) | Excellent |
| Sword Art Online hit me at the perfect time. I was big into World of Warcraft, and I remember literally going AFK in game to catch the first episode after one of my guild mates convinced me to check it out. So yeah, I was about as locked in as a member of this shows target audience could be. And yeah, I loved this thing. I did lament that the story moved very quickly. I didn't like how they skipped through the floors so quickly. I later learned the circumstances surrounding this and why they did what they had to do as this was a single novel they were adapting. I've got Progressive now, and I couldn't be happier. But, I'll always have fond memories of my first few episodes of this franchise. | |
| Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online (TV) | Very good |
| This is a spinoff that requires nothing from you in terms of Sword Art Online. You don't have to know the main series, you don't have to even like the main series. This is wholly different. With that out of the way, the question you have to ask yourself is are you a fan of this whole Battle Royale trend in videogames at the moment? If you like Fortnite or PUBG, well... you're going to love this anime. It's basically a FPS Battle Royale in anime form. With cute girls. What's not to like. It's a ton of fun. | |
| Sword Art Online II (TV) | Good |
| It sort of felt like the second season was content to rest on its laurels and simply have fun with the world and characters it had constructed. And while that's good and all, the season at times felt strained. I've believed for a while that this show is kind of fundamentally flawed. It really doesn't know what it is trying to do, bouncing around between worlds and characters as though it's struggling to find an identity. Spoiler Alert: it never does. Not that that makes the show not worth watching. As I said initially, it's more fun for fun's sake really. Sure Sinon in the first half actually has some heart pounding, real danger moments, but the rest of it is, well, fluff (as cute as Yuuki is). I don't know where they go from here, if it's even possible, but for the show to regain the magic of the first half of season one, it has to stop spinning its wheels. Unfortunately, I just have no idea how they would manage that. However, I've seen crazier redemption stories. Shakugan no Shana is proof enough in my mind, that a show can collect itself and go out with as great a bang as any. Sword Art Online has that potential, and I would hate to see it wasted in small vignettes that end up being largely meaningless. I'll continue watching, that's for sure, but I can't keep out the voices telling me that this show really isn't as good as it should be. | |
| Sword Art Online: Alicization (TV) | Excellent |
| I talked about Shakugan no Shana in my review of season 2, and I am happy to report now that I've finished the third season (Alicization's first half), that this show actually kinda really pulled it off. I'm a bit shocked by this, but it's definitely a very welcome development. We got the sense of danger and unknown back, as Kirito is flung into a new world, but this time things are different. It's not meaningless, this is real stuff and it's kind of scary. I won't go into the plot really, but I will say that I am very happy with Eugeo's development in this season. SAO has needed more badass guys to root for, and he fills that role extremely well. Of course, the action and animation are very well done, per usual. All in all, I really have no complaints beyond the fact that this is very clearly not over. Excited for the second half of Alicization, this is a really amazing return to form for SAO and gives me hope that we may see Progressive sooner rather than later. | |
| Sword Art Online: Alicization - War of Underworld (TV) | Very good |
| War of the Underworld is the start of the second half of Alicization, and I've rated it a bit lower. That's no fault of its own, simply I dig world and character development a bit more than straight action, which is what War of the Underworld ends up being. It makes sense for SAO but is a bit more standard of a show than Part 1 was. I still think Alicization is a great redemption arc for this show, and am enjoying watching it. | |
| Sword Art Online: Alicization - War of Underworld Part 2 (TV) | Very good |
| Part 2 is more of the same from part 1 of War of the Underworld. What's interesting to consider is where the series will go from here now that Alicization is wrapped up. It seems like we might explore more of the underworld and its artificial fluctlight denizens, which would be cool, they are probably the most interesting part of the show. Again, really enjoyed Alicization and am looking forward to what I believe is the final arc of SAO proper. Progressive was announced though, and I am WAY more hype for that lol. | |
| Sword Oratoria: Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? On the Side (TV) | Good |
| Sword Oratoria is the most basic form that a fantasy anime can take. It doesn't really do anything super well, but it isn't outright bad either. It's fun to see things from Ais' perspective, though I've never thought that she was a super intriguing character. And it's nice to have a bit more an action focus than the main series. However, how do I describe this. The show lacks soul. It feels like it's going through the motions of what a fantasy story should be without actually committing to its characters and story. I think that the lack of depth to the world really hurts this series overall. It just feels like a bland retelling of some JRPG. | |
| takt op. Destiny (TV) | Decent |
| In the end, this show will largely be forgettable. It had some awesome character designs, and fun set pieces, but the plot is bog standard and a drag throughout. What I wanted, and what this show promised in the first episode, was super powered girls fighting monsters with awesome gear, powers, and weapons. AKA, I wanted another Symphogear. This show pales in comparison to that one though, with most of our characters aside from the aforementioned fighters, being just super boring. Maybe there would be hope for another season if they dropped Takt and the others from the show and just let the girls go nuts, but I don't see that happening. Great potential cosplay outfits though. | |
| Talentless Nana (TV) | Very good |
| There's not too much I can say about this show without entirely spoiling everything. If you want a wild ride of a show, I'd stop reading this now and check out episode 1 at least. Don't blame me if you keep reading. Okay, so, I really liked the twist at the end of episode 1. Nana is such a unique feeling show. It has shades of Death Note mixed with MHA, and while I think the cat and mouse mystery aspect of things could be done better, Nana manages to make a huge impact with what it does present. Nana herself is such a compelling protagonist, and damn it, if the show doesn't actually make me root for her. The first half of the show starts out strong, but just as I was starting to think that the plot was getting stale as she goes through her classmates one by one without much fanfare, the story turns itself around, acknowledging that there's no way Nana would just continue to get away with this. That's what I like here. This is a smart show that knows what it's doing. It's a shame it ended as suddenly as it did, but the feels were well earned and the horror was just rare enough to maintain a fresh feel throughout. Really fun show, and we better be looking at a second season soon. | |
| Tamako Market (TV) | Very good |
| I am absolutely a sucker for KyoAni works. Like K-On, I have been saving Tamako Market for quite some time. I knew that this wasn't necessarily their most highly acclaimed show, but I always know I'll enjoy my time with their works, and Tamako Market didn't disappoint. It was fun, cute, light, beautifully animated, and had tons of heart. Sure, there wasn't really much of a plot to speak of, and our bird friend Dera is one of the more annoying characters I've met, but that doesn't matter too much in the grand scheme of things. There's nothing quite like that syrupy KyoAni goodness. This is definitely worth a watch for any fans of the genre or KyoAni themselves. For the rest, I think it's a fun time but it probably won't stick around in your mind for too long. | |
| Tanaka-kun is Always Listless (TV) | Very good |
| Tanaka-kun is a great little slice of life show. It has a refreshingly new perspective in a genre that is defined by repetition. Tanaka himself is basically a no energy, no ambition teenager just going through life with minimal effort, and watching his various upbeat friends bounce off of that is actually really fun overall. The show has clever writing and is quite funny when it wants to be. Definitely recommended. | |
| Tearmoon Empire (TV) | Good |
| I don't have a whole lot to say about Tearmoon Empire. It's a cute show that manages to be decent comedy with a silly premise, and that's largely about it. The premise is clever though, and does continue to pay off throughout the show's run. See Mia was your typical Marie Antoinette type noble. Selfish, arrogant, and ignorant of the world. Then, as one would expect, the revolution happened and she found herself on the wrong end of a guillotine. Then, she gets transported back in time 8 years, with an opportunity to do things over so that she can avoid that fate. So, she sets about trying to change the future, purely so she doesn't get guillotined, while those around her constantly misinterpret her actions in exceedingly over the top ways and convince themselves she's some sort of wise saint who will lead the way to a glorious future.
All that means that Tearmoon Empire is funny, and silly, and you shouldn't think too hard about it. The "politics" are not meant to be serious, they're just there for more silly comedic misunderstandings. If you can go into it with that mindset, then there's a solid show here for you. I think some people might not be able to overlook such things however, I found myself unable to suspend my disbelief at times. Which means, the show is fine, but not excellent. This is some decent comfort food, with some cuteness and laughs, and not much more. It gets a light recommendation. I do appreciate their commitment to animating Mia as a little gremlin as much as they possibly could though. | |
| Teasing Master Takagi-san (TV) | Very good |
| The show title translates to Teasing Master Takagi-san, and that pretty much explains what the entire show is about. Takagi is a girl who sits next to our average-ish protagonist Nishikata, and very clearly has a big crush on him. She shows her love by relentlessly teasing him, over and over and over again. Seriously, that's the entire show, and these are full 23 minute episodes to boot. The danger of course is that by episode 3 this gimmick could be horribly old and boring, but this show actually impressed me all the more with how heartfelt it presented it's characters and their silly situations. Takagi is relentlessly cute, and Nishikata is the perfect character for her to bounce off as he strives to best her, but is endlessly embarrased by the whole charade. It's just so, so sweet and comforting, which pushes this show above most other slice of life-y type shows. The humor also lands more often than not and it can be pretty funny. I'm super psyched for the rumored second season. | |
| Teekyū (TV) | Good |
| 2 minutes of utter, pure chaos. There's nothing substantial here, but it is really really funny. Adult Swim would love this show. I'm impressed with how simultaneously smart and very, very stupid Teekyu manages to be at the same time. It's a hypnotic show, but somehow manages to make a very strong impression. All 9 seasons take a combined 4 hours or so to watch, and are best enjoyed spaced out. Too much of this glorious mess can be bad for your mental wellbeing. I wrote this after finishing season 9 and won't be commenting on the seasons individually. | |
| Teekyū (TV 2) | Good |
| See season 1 | |
| Teekyū (TV 3) | Good |
| See season 1 | |
| Teekyū (TV 4) | Good |
| See season 1 | |
| Teekyū (TV 5) | Good |
| See season 1 | |
| Teekyū (TV 6) | Good |
| See season 1 | |
| Teekyū (TV 7) | Good |
| See season 1 | |
| Teekyū (TV 8) | Good |
| See season 1 | |
| Teekyū (TV 9) | Good |
| See season 1 | |
| Terror in Resonance (TV) | Good |
| Terror in Resonance has a large number of very prominent names attached to it, and looking at it through that lens, I am vaguely disappointed by it. I don't like the feeling that I am "supposed" to like a show, yet that was the lingering feeling I got throughout the runtime of Terror in Resonance. I would think to myself that the show was very well done while simultaneously checking the amount of time left on the episode. It just wasn't entertaining or captivating enough. The show starts well, with very creepy atmospherics and hints of things to come, kind of an eden of the east type of vibe, but much more realistic and violent. But then it doesn't actually go there. It never ends up broaching any deeper questions or meanings, and the potential for blood, gore, conflict, and everything else kind of dries up and becomes more of a detective/"criminal" cat and mouse game, which is fine I guess, but it limits the show. Oh well, it was interesting. | |
| (The) Testament of Sister New Devil (TV) | Decent |
| I wish I could somehow give this an incomplete score. I feel like the show would be completely different if the fanservice wasn't just completly destroyed by the overly invasive censors QQ. All it does is remind me how much I'm missing as I watch, which is never what you want from an ecchi show like this. However, it was solid for what it was. Fairly standard supernatural plot going on with a young demon king (queen?) on the run who takes refuge in the son of the great hero's house. Together they fight demons and get down. Well executed though. I look forward to the second season. | |
| (The) Testament of Sister New Devil BURST (TV) | Good |
| Stronger than the first season, plot-wise, but it doesn't really do anything to elevate this series beyond the ecchi, fanservice-fest that it is. | |
| That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime (TV) | Very good |
| Slime is an odd duck in terms of the crowded isekai genre that has been dominating anime recently. Slime's take on this is more of a wish-fulfillment style fantasy, where our protagonist dies lonely and unfulfilled in the real world, and is reborn as a slime in this fantasy world where things just sort of go his way. The key with a story like this though is that you can't take things too seriously, it's no fun when we always know who is going to win. Instead, it's more about the journey and growth of the characters around our titular slime that give this show purpose. Rimuru is insanely powerful, but he's only as important as the people he surrounds himself with. He gives monsters and castouts homes in his fledgling city, then nation, and cares deeply for making their world better. The technical merits are very strong, and the comedy and character interactions stay light hearted and fun throughout the show. It's a good wind down type of show, because while the story is good, the stakes aren't too high, and more often than not it just ends up being silly. Excited to see where things go, but not too concerned with exactly what will happen, just pumped to spend more time in this world with these fun faces. | |
| That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime (OAV) | Decent |
| These are just 5 OVA episodes between seasons 1 and 2. The first two episodes are pure fanservice and pointless otherwise. The last 3 are actually a little vignette between seasons that introduces some of the teachers that Rimuru works with at his school. It follows the students on one of their assignments as they escort their teachers from one town to another. It's cute, but largely pointless beyond giving some insight into characters who are introduced in season 2. | |
| That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime (TV 2) | Very good |
| Season 2 is really just more of the same for Slime. To the show's credit, they are actually trying to make some things have real consequences. They've learned that even if Rimuru will always win, they can make us uncomfortable for the fates of the other characters. Interested to see where the show goes from here. Still fun, and still looks great. | |
| This Art Club Has a Problem! (TV) | Very good |
| This is yet another slice of life show that's equal parts funny and adorable. The "twist" on this one, if you will, is that our main character has fallen in love with her clubmate, a boy who only uses the Art club to draw waifus for himself. Usami is an everygirl, with that plain yet surprisingly appealing design (think of the girl from Saekano). The other characters (read:Colette) are a bit more on the ridiculous side. Overall, it's a very cute slice of life with some romance, absurdity, and winking and nudging about anime and otakuness thrown in for good measure. I thoroughly enjoyed it! | |
| Those Snow White Notes (TV) | Good |
| I can't help but be vaguely disappointed by this show. In the beginning the show teased a plot around high school students and musicianship that somehow didn't revolve around school clubs and competition arcs. However, by episode 4 or 5 it became abundantly clear that I was wrong on that account, and this show largely devolved into only school club stuff and competitions. It was still gorgeous, and the music was incredible, but the characters felt largely flat, and the story was as standard as they come. There is a bit of intrigue in that our main character, Sawamura, is already close to a master of the shamisen at the start of the show, so it's not a typical rags to riches story, but that's about all of the uniqueness. Throw in an ending that feels like a bit of a slap in the face and you have a largely nice but sadly forgettable anime about playing the shamisen. It did have a banging OP at least though, for the few episodes we got to hear it for (for some unknown reason) | |
| Three Leaves, Three Colors (TV) | Good |
| This show was a totally competent slice of life, which pretty much says all it needs to. It's about 3 girls who are kind of quirky (the used to be rich girl, the hungry girl, the unintentionally abrasive girl, and so on), and the hijinks and such that they get up to. Fun show, but nothing to really separate it from the pack. | |
| To Love Ru: Darkness (TV) | Very good |
| To Love Ru really turns the corner with darkness. The series moves beyond harem hijinks into actually having a decent story and seriously taking a look at its characters. It's a curious move for a show that up to this point has largely been harmless fanservice, and it could easily have backfired, but darkness manages to blow the rest of the series out of the water. It helps that Momo has traded places with Lala to become the driving force behind the series. She's a much more interesting character and really allows the show to get creative with certain things (very rarely, scratch that, never have I seen a harem series actually have one of the main girls push for a very literal harem end, and actually look like it might realistically happen). There's a ton to like here, but of course, it's still massively adult in nature with tons of fanservice shots and nudity, so if that's not your cup of tea, even the most intriguing entry into this genre will probably not change your mind. | |
| To Love Ru: Darkness (TV 2) | Very good |
| Darkness 2 is just a continuation of darkness 1. I wrote the review of part 1 after finishing this one, so see that. | |
| To Love-Ru (TV) | Decent |
| To Love-Ru is one of those staples of ecchi anime. It has been up against that line that TV stations draw for anime fanservice, and has been pushing against it as hard as it can from the get go. It's mostly comedy, with each episode usually having something to do with an invention of Lala's going out of control which will usually lead to some sort of convoluted fan service-y outcome. It's lighthearted and silly when it isn't leaning too hard into the lewdness. I would think anyone getting into this series would know beforehand if they were going to enjoy it. One interesting note though: To Love Ru Darkness is runs circles around this entry. If you're on the fence, I would consider watching just to get to Darkness. It's got serious High School DxD energy with a real story that has no right to be as good as it ends up being, along with much more interesting sides of the girls that we get to explore. | |
| Tokyo ESP (TV) | Decent |
| Somehow this ended up being entirely mediocre. It was like a superhero show where the superheros aren't really all that super, and they all have kind of crappy not really helpful abilities. I dunno, just never really got me that excited. | |
| Tokyo Ravens (TV) | Very good |
| The easiest way to describe Tokyo Ravens is as anime's version of Harry Potter. I'm sure there is a closer approximation somewhere, but this show gives off the same sort of vibes. It's about a small group of friends, 2 boys and a girl who attend a high school for mages. But it's not really the same as most standard high school magic shows. This is less concerned with school really and more so about the magic society at large and the machinations within it. It's got solid action but at times things get a bit chaotic as it throws out term after term with really no basis for anything. I thoroughly enjoyed it, minus a little thing they pull at the end, which just wasn't really my cup of tea. Would recommend. | |
| Tonari no Seki-kun: The Master of Killing Time (TV) | Decent |
| It is what it is, which is to say simply 7 minute episodes of nothing really much going on. The premise is unique in that the entirety of the show is simply about Seki-kun doing various things at his desk while he's bored in class. Some of them are quite hilarious, but again, there's not much in the way of substance to be had. | |
| TONIKAWA: Over The Moon For You (TV) | Very good |
| Tonikaku Kawaii is a very well done romance/comedy show. The central premise is that our main characters have a fateful encounter, where one saves the other from a car accident, and just before our main guy, Nasa, is taken away to the hospital, he asks out the mysterious and beautiful girl who saved him. She cryptically says that it would only be possible if they were to get married. He says okay, they can get married, then passes out. Fast forward a few years, and now that they are legally adults, she shows back up in his life randomly and they actually do it. It's very, very cute watching the two of them attempt to figure out how to navigate life as a couple while also getting to know one another. It's a sweet, fun little show that does exactly what it sets out to do. | |
| TONIKAWA: Over The Moon For You (TV 2) | Decent |
| Season 2 doesn't really live up to the first season sadly. The first eight or so episodes are essentially all entirely episodic with zero meaningful anything happening. Like yeah, I'm not expecting much plot from Tonikawa, it's a cute, slice of life style romance where our couple is already married, so there really can't be much drama over anything. But it has to give us something latch onto. The series' underlying mystery is there for them to explore at any point, but they just... don't. There's not even any movement from Nasa as he dreams of becoming an astronomer. There's not even any movement on the question they raise in episode 1 about having a wedding. I thought that would be the most basic through line of the season, but it pretty much gets dropped and never ends up meaning anything. So I keep coming back to the same question. Why does this season exist? What does it do that the first season doesn't already do better? Slice of Life shows might not seem like the types of shows that need to evolve, but they usually find clever ways of keeping things fresh in their own way. I'm a huge slice of life fan, and there's something wrong with Tonikawa season 2 that prevents it from feeling satisfying in the way that other slice of life shows manage to be successful with their follow ups. It just ended up feeling kinda hollow and mindless to watch. Not a totally bad time, but given how fun the first season was, this is a pretty big disappointment. I'm probably done here even if they make another season. I just don't care enough anymore. And that's the biggest disappointment of it all. | |
| Toradora! (TV) | Excellent |
| Wow, Toradora is an experience, that much is for sure. I feel like this show kind of sets the standard for high school romance dramas. The highest praise I can offer it is that it is real. This is a show firmly grounded in reality, and all of its characters are deeply flawed in their own ways. Of course, this fact is a tool that lends power to the show that it otherwise wouldn't have. At its core, this is a show that deals with love triangles and the like in a typical high school, but really it transcends the standard fare within the genre. I can't really adequately explain how I felt after watching it, I just pretty much had all the feels (and not all in a good way, let me be clear). The only reason this doesn't get a masterpiece is because I feel like Nagi no Asukara did it better, but really there's no reason Toradora doesn't deserve that high praise. | |
| Tower of God (TV) | Excellent |
| This was an unexpectedly good show. It's a shonen, with the central story being about a naive, amnesiac boy climbing a deadly tower (ala Sword Art Online) except this isn't a game or an isekai, it's a real fantasy world. In the tower, he has to overcome a number of trials to be granted access to climb. The first season is all about this as our MC (Bam) starts making friends and discovering what sorts of powers he has. In the meantime there are many tests with some sweet fights and strategizing to get past their opponents. It sounds pretty generic, but the execution is top notch The big pluses to this show are mostly in the characters. We get exposed to a large, unique group of individuals, and it's fun to root for each of them with their varying power levels, fighting styles (or lack thereof), quirks, and general likability. I don't know if I've flip flopped so many times in such a short show between liking and not liking characters as the episodes went by. There was one girl I changed my mind about maybe 3-4 times. The second big hook is the mystery of the world. There are no 10 minute info dumps with Proper Names thrown at us. Instead we get thrown right into the thick of it wondering who these people are, what this tower is, and why people are trying to climb it? What even is the world like outside the tower? Throughout the first season, we get teasers and hints, but the mystery remains, which I love. I'm so excited to continue diving into this world and growing along with the rest of our awesome cast. | |
| Trigun (TV) | Very good |
| Slowly but surely I am making my way through the old staples. Trigun was hyped up a lot by my friends, and I have to say that I wasn't disappointed at all. I have spent years hearing how badass Vash is, so the beginning of this show totally threw me for a loop. I respect Vash and his happy-go-lucky lifestyle, but certain things about him (you know what I'm talking about) get stale for the kind of show this is trying to be. Beyond that though, it is highly entertaining, and only gets better as the show starts figuring itself out. The first five or six episodes are one offs, but once we get a feel of the overarching story, it becomes way more interesting. | |
| Trigun Stampede (TV) | Very good |
| Well, this was certainly different. It's studio Orange again, coming off of a banger of a show in Beastars. I have to say, while the CG look took a bit to get used to, I really came around to it in the end. This is an incredible looking show. I do think they nailed the spectacle of Trigun. The world feels lived in, real, harsh, and wild. My complaints mostly have to do with the characters, and how the plot kind of devolves in the end into typical "do you believe enough in yourself to overcome the evil antagonist" that we've seen a million times. Still, Trigun Stampede has swagger. I remember in the first series I was lamenting the more laid back beginning and was eager to get into the story. It was strange to have things be almost entirely opposite with Stampede. I loved the small vignettes and desert punk atmosphere that we kind of lost as things came a head. I'm totally down to see more, and I hope we can relax and take things in a bit the next time we revisit this world. | |
| (The) Troubled Life of Miss Kotoura (TV) | Decent |
| Not all that much to say about Kotoura-san. It's an interesting take on a high school rom-com with some surprisingly deep and dramatic bits thrown in. The first and second episodes hit very very hard, where we learn about Kotoura's past and the horrible things that happened to her. Kotoura was born a psychic, but she has trouble distinguishing between what people say and what they are thinking, leading her to say things that her friends/parents/other people were holding secret, leading to her living a life alone from an early age. Then she gets to high school and meets Manabe, a self-described pervert who spends much of his waking hours daydreaming. He thinks Kotoura is cute, and his daydreaming catches her offguard. They become friends and romantic interests. They end up joining the "ESP club" led by someone who's mother was psychic and was discraced. Their goal is to prove the existence of psychic powers, but much of the series is about Kotoura learning to lead a normal life. It's a shame that the power and emotion of the first two episodes seems to disappear, and we are left with a fairly standard slice of life show. It's fun to watch Manabe's daydreams of Kotoura in perverted situations though. | |
| Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE (TV) | So-so |
| I wanted to like this show, it came highly recommended after all, but it just never lived up to expectations. I expected some sort of epic fantasy journey, but what I got was basically .hack//Sign lite. It really is just a show that evokes Sign at every point but never has the guts to go places that Sign did. It doesn't ever deliver on the promise, and as such I don't know that it was worth it It doesn't help that it took me over a year to watch. The dub was ok, but the sound mixing on the SAVE edition that I bought was way out of wack. Dialogue was way too quiet and the sound effects drowned it out. It was disappointing. I could have easily overlooked it for an amazing story, but it devolved into a rather formulaic nature. In the end, I'm not sad to be done with it. Doubt I ever watch the second season. | |
| Tsukigakirei (TV) | Excellent |
| Tsukigakirei is just an all around pleasure of a show. It's full of life, earnest in its presentation and desires, pure and happy with its portrayal of love, and just... real. That's the best thing I can think of to describe this show. It is clearly, and undeniably, real. This is probably the most pure romance show I've seen, but it captures everything so well in a way that no other show has. Watching Kotaro work up the courage to actually text Akane something, anything, then immediately throwing his phone down and shadow boxing with the string hanging from his ceiling fan is one of the greatest sequences of animation I've ever seen. I mean, I've done that. The show perfectly captures what it means to be growing up, and falling in love, and really having no idea what you're supposed to do, what you're expected to do, as you're just embarrassed about everything, but goddammit you still have to try to figure it out. I can't say enough good things about the show. Incredibly well done, hats of to the team and to these two kids. | |
| Tsukimonogatari (TV) | Excellent |
| Tsuki is another one of those 4 episode ova type arcs from the Monogatari series. It focuses on Yotsugi (the doll like, green haired girl), though she isn't really even the main driving force behind the plot here. It's really about Araragi growing up and starting to come to terms with the fact that he can't keep doing what he's been doing. There's consequences to his actions now. Really the plot, when you lay it down, isn't much to write home about, but as always with Monogatari, the plot itself is the least of all my concerns here. Tsuki is gorgeous, as I've come to expect, and is directed and crafted in such a manner that, well, it rises above most other shows just as a baseline. If you stop to think about why certain shots are included, why the characters are actually discussing seemingly meaningless things, you start to get to the core of the cleverness of the show. It's about reading between the lines, and I appreciate that more than ever. I can't tell if Tsuki is better than the rest (probably not than Second Season), or if I'm just becoming a better viewer when it comes to this stuff, but man, I'm having fun with this series. Onto Owarimonogatari! | |
| Tsuredure Children (TV) | Very good |
| Tsuredure Children is maybe the most adorable and fun take on high school romance that I've seen. It's just a bunch of kids, with no idea how dating works, fumbling their way through a series of up and down relationships. It's hilarious, heartwarming, sometimes cringy, always thoughtful. I really appreciate the care that this show has put into its characters. Each episode is broken up into 3-4 minute vignettes, and the episodes them selves top out around 11 minutes, so it is easily digestible. It's fun jumping around between the different couples, and watching them all come together in the end. I wouldn't mind more, but I'd understand that this show probably isn't likely to get anymore. Still, this will be a little hidden treasure for a long time. | |
| Uchitama?! Have you seen my Tama? (TV) | Very good |
| Uchitama is an absolutely wonderful iyashikei style anime. It features a neighborhood's worth of cats and dogs as they live their simple cat and dog lives. It's silly, with several vignettes per episode, but it's wonderfully charming, earnest, and sometimes even a bit touching. The characters are portrayed as humans when interacting among themselves, which lends itself to all sorts of silly visual gags. It's a show overflowing with cuteness and heart and pretty much anyone should watch this if you are ever looking for a pick me up. It's just great. | |
| Unbreakable Machine-Doll (TV) | Good |
| Unbreakable Machine-Doll was about as unexceptional as you can get with a passable show. If you want a basic magic high school with some kinda slapstick comedy, dashes of surprisingly solid fan service, and a plot that makes basically no sense, then this is pretty much the show for that. It all feels very cliche, but it isn't bad per-se, it's just sort of... there. It's like junk food. You know it isn't good for you, but sometimes it's exactly what you want. Also, the British accents in the dub are absolutely hilarious. | |
| Unlimited Psychic Squad (TV) | Very good |
| The Unlimited is a spinoff series of Zettai Karen Children (Psychic Squad) and the similarities pretty much end with the character names. Where Zettai Karen Children was very much about ten year old girls growing up and learning about the world, while playing secret agent, The Unlimited is much darker and more mature. Hyobu Kyosuke carries the show easily. I love the fact that they took a compelling antagonist from a previous show and spun his group off into their own show. He was easy to root for, and it was exciting to see the universe turned on its head, to get a different view point. Don't get me wrong, in no way do you need to have seen Zettai to appreciate this show. I didn't go back and watch it until after I had finished the Unlimited. So, lets talk about this show on its own. Andy is an interesting protagonist, in that his powers of nullification are rather unique, and we never are really given insight into the extent of what he can do with his eye. The expanded cast of PANDRA work well, though at times I felt Yugiri (the little girl in the group) was given too much attention. The action is rock solid, and the animation is top notch. They took the esper attacks to the next level in this series compared to Zettai. I recommend this show to anyone looking for action with a dose of super powered awesome. And, there's so much left in the tank for this universe. Here's to another series! | |
| Urara Meirocho (TV) | Good |
| This is an adorable CGDCT show about a group of girls studying to be fortune tellers. There's a bit of lore about them living in a city devoted to fortune telling, and the strict society they are entering, but it doesn't beat you over the head with it. At the end of the day, the show is about our four girls and their silly antics. It's sweet, sweet sugar. You know exactly what you are getting. I was watching this as it aired, but fell off around episode 4 or 5. It wasn't until years later when I got VRV that I realized HiDive had this show and I could finish it properly. I don't feel I was missing much, but it was certainly fun in the moment. | |
| Urawa no Usagi-chan (TV) | Not really good |
| A completely forgettable slice of life series of 3 minute episodes. Nothing else worth mentioning. | |
| Urusei Yatsura (TV 2022) | Very good |
| I wasn't really sure what to expect from Urusei Yatsura. All I knew was that this was a reboot of a classic show and that the art style looked gorgeous in the trailers. Surprisingly, that's pretty much the picture of what the show ended up being.
From the reboot perspective, Urusei Yatsura does show its age. Anime like this isn't made much anymore. It is a gag anime, and a lot of its jokes (especially earlier on) feel dated and sometimes questionable. However, it does settle into its own, and I think the team did a good job modernizing the story. The real positives here are the production values though. This show was given everything that they could possibly give it. It feels simultaneously nostalgic and hyper-modern at the same time. Overall, it's so well executed that it's just kind of fun to sit through. It's actually nice that this is episodic so that no scenario or gag gets dragged out too long. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised, and once I settled into this, I found it very easy to binge and just get lost in it. I always enjoyed watching each new episode and spending time with the lovable idiots in this show. Looking forward to season 2. | |
| Utawarerumono: The False Faces (TV) | Excellent |
| So, this is a show. I'll be honest, the hook for me immediately was Kuon. Dear god, that girl is quite possibly the greatest thing that anime has ever produced. She carries this show so hard, and I'm not even mad. If for some reason that isn't enough of a reason to watch this show (it really, really should be), then at least the show hits on all notes for me throughout. The first half is a lot slower than the second half, but that works well for me. It's kind of like a slice of life a bit as the characters are introduced over the first ten or eleven episodes, and these are actually pretty funny for good measure. But then about halfway through, the story finally delivers on the fantasy action goodness that it's been teasing. There's a couple of wars to be fought complete with swords and magic and strategy and awesomeness. Seriously, it's great, and blew away basically every expectation I had for it. Also Kuon. That is all. | |
| Uzaki-chan Wants to Hang Out! (TV) | Very good |
| Uzaki-chan is a very stupid anime. It's about this girl who won't leave this sort of introverted guy alone and continuously bugs him to hang out. I've been here before a bit, and it grated on me at first. But even I have to begrudgingly admit that the show ends up being a lot of fun. The characters are stupid, their conflicts are stupid, and that's exactly what I want in a stupid, dumb, fun comedy. | |
| Uzaki-chan Wants to Hang Out! (TV 2) | Good |
| It's just more of the same as season 1. There isn't anything here that's exceptional enough to elevate this show on its own, and the continuous dragging out of the will they, won't they dynamic gets less and less fun as the season progresses. However, the comedy can still hit, and things can still be dumb and cute at times. It was worth watching, but I'm pretty ambivalent about it continuing from here. | |
| Val x Love (TV) | Good |
| This is a show to watch for the fan service, pure and simple. That aspect is actually really well done, with a number of likable, attractive characters put into pretty hilarious situations that definitely lend themselves to that sort of thing. The rest of the show is utter nonsense, with the most convoluted plot and magic system that I may have ever seen from a show. That's not the point, of course, but yeesh, it's not good. Make sure to keep your expectations in check and enjoy it for what it is. | |
| Valvrave the Liberator (TV) | Decent |
| It took me almost a year to come back to this show after I dropped it during its simulcast. I thought the plot was rife with cliches and uninteresting characters. I had been burned by guilty crown and this show felt almost exactly the same. The first season was, well, ok I suppose. The first half was honestly hard to sit through, but it picked up a bit. The second season was far superior to the first, and actually managed to create meaningful arcs and characters. The mech action got a lot better and the story in general graduated from beyond the "enemy of the week" plot devices thrown at us in the first season. This show is brutal and gory. Characters die, often unceremoniously. Perhaps not as bad as Attack on Titan, but to watch some of these characters spiral uncontrollably to their deaths was hard. It's a good sci fi story, but I can't help but lament the "faceless" ultimate evil that became the antagonist, it could have been more. I guess that's a good one line synopsis. It could have been more. But, there aren't too many anime's out there that can make you just sit back and say "Damn...", and for those moments alone, it was worth it. | |
| Valvrave the Liberator (TV 2) | Good |
| See season 1 | |
| (The) Vexations of a Shut-In Vampire Princess (TV) | Good |
| Vexations of a Shut-In Vampire Princess was... a lot. This is a show that is absolutely all over the place, and I'm still not sure exactly what it was trying to be. At times it's an over the top comedy with all kinds of slapstick ridiculousness, then at other times it's a brutal mess of a gore-fest action show, and then we get character backstories that attempt to rival Grisaia in psychological horror. Not all of it hits. But, if there's one thing I can never do, it would be to accuse this show of being boring.
So then, what is this? Well, it's about a girl who would rather lock herself in her room and be a shut-in being forced into international politics and warfare. Granted, their land is covered by a dark crystal that heals anyone who is hurt or killed, so war isn't really that big of a deal. Still, she longs for peace and is thrust into this situation of endless fighting. There's a good basis for comedy here, and that's where the show is at its strongest. Even in combat, when things get silly that's when they shine. It's when the show decides to get serious that things fall on its face a little. The show doesn't take its characters seriously before they go into those moments, so it's hard to work up the level of empathy they clearly want you to have. The dissonance between the two identities of the show is just a bit too strong. Still, the plotting isn't awful, and I at least sympathize with what they were trying to do. There's heart here, and that alone elevates this above most of the other chaff in this genre. So, where does that leave us? Well, with a show I wouldn't exactly recommend, but also one that is worth watching, as long as you go into it with the right expectations. It'd make a good anime to get drunk with friends and throw on, that's for sure. Oh, and it helps that the OP is a banger. | |
| Vinland Saga (TV) | Excellent |
| Vinland Saga is looking like it will be a big time show for a long time to come. Season one here features the epic coming of age journey of Thorfinn, our moody, petulant, brooding teenage viking, son of Thors, one of the greatest warriors ever to live. Thorfinn struggles growing up to follow in his father's footsteps and to find himself as he gets swept up in a war for England and much more. This is a historical fiction. It seems to borrow a lot from the Viking conquests of the early middle ages. The show looks gorgeous, and the plot and characters feel completely real and believable (though their combat prowess is a liiiitle bit rule of cool, seriously these guys kick crazy amounts of ass). It's a unique setting for an anime, and the carefully crafted story, with many different main characters, interconnected weaving plotlines and intrigue all combine to create a fascinating experience that's a bit like nothing else out there. And then Vinland Saga drops the bomb at the last episode. The entire season was just a prequel to the actual show which will start later. Dear god, the hype. I'm so excited about what is yet to come. This show has all the potential in the world and has already delivered a lot of it. Can't wait for the next season. | |
| Vivy -Fluorite Eye's Song- (TV) | Excellent |
| Vivy is the latest work by the masters over at Wit Studio. It's an anime original sci-fi epic (not epic sci-fi) about our titular android who's life mission is to make people happy with singing. Except, because of a future where AI and Androids rebel against humanity, she is convinced by her enigmatic helper, Matsumoto, that to make people happy, she will have to prevent that cataclysmic future from occuring. The show stretches over 100 years, showing the pivotal moments in history where Vivy makes decisions that can change the fate of history. At it's core though, Vivy is about our titular character's growth into becoming a real person. She's constantly grappling with what it means to sing with all her heart, and it's gratifying to watch as she slowly comes into her own. I usually don't like emotionless characters, but Vivy always had enough personality and drive to carry things. Each of her points in history are marked by the growth and decisions of the other personal stories she encounters at each location. It's strange to say this is a story about saving the entire human race, while also applauding how personal and close we get to the characters, but that's a testament to how strong the show is. It's a wonderful blend of sci-fi and humanist concepts, and the final product is unlike almost anything else I've seen in anime. It's a beautiful story and show, and I'd wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone. | |
| Wagnaria!! (TV) | Good |
| Wagnaria!! or Working!! as I prefer it to be called, is a slice of life show about a group of (really quirky) misfits who work part time together at a family restaurant. It actually works very well. The comedy and characters are so solid that it honestly feels more like a classic Sit Com type of show. There's some clever writing and some really heartwarming and fun moments. As far as popcorn fare goes, this one is solid for sure. | |
| Wagnaria!!2 (TV) | Very good |
| I don't know what point Working decided to be an actual show with actual character development and (weak-ish) but still present plot. It's kind of shocking. Of course, the show handles it brilliantly and transitions from meaningless slice of life to actual workplace dramady quite well. The comedy still reigns supreme, but I'm beginning to feel like we're going to see some actual couples develop by the end of this thing, which is awesome. Good to see a show this confident in itself. Highly recommended for any fans of the genre. | |
| Wagnaria!!3 (TV) | Very good |
| Props to Working! Season 3 ties things up perfectly. It really does a fine balance of keeping true to what the show is about while also ending things in a really satisfying conclusion. It's not everyday that a slice of life show ends up being this good and this sort of meaningful honestly. Not sure that this even really qualifies for slice of life, as it's a bit more than that. It's like Lite Lite Toradora. Love it. | |
| Wake Up, Girl Zoo! (ONA) | Good |
| This is just a silly collection of shorts of the wake up girls dressed up as animals and in a zoo. Sadly, it has more charisma and heart than the main series, which I think is the best summation of the wake up girls franchise I can give. Some seriously cute moments here, but in the end, it's all nothing special. | |
| Wake Up, Girls! (TV) | Decent |
| Be sure to watch the movie first, as it explains how Wake Up Girls formed. That said, this is a pretty bog standard idol show, the animation isn't great, the stories aren't great, the characters aren't deep... I mean, Wake Up Girls doesn't really do all that much well to be honest. It's fine enough if you're into idols and stuff, but otherwise this is an easy skip. I won't be watching the rest of the series after this. | |
| Wake Up, Girls!: The Movie | Decent |
| This is a prequel "movie" to the Wake Up, Girls! show. Wake Up Girls is an idol series focused on a group of no name girls and an ex-celebrity idol who comes together to, well, do idol stuff. The movie moves very quickly and while it does do a bit of introduction, there's none of the charm of Love Live or the good stories present in other, better, idol shows. The characters hardly get backstories. It's a decent enough start to the series, but I hope the series proper steps it up. | |
| Wandering Witch - The Journey of Elaina (TV) | Very good |
| This is an interesting show to say the least. We get all kinds of things throughout Elaina's journey, as we, the viewers follow along with her during her travels. She's moving from country to country, seeing the world, with usually each episode bringing us a new country with new trials and tribulations for Elaina to confront. Elaina herself is mostly content to observe, which leads to some places where she maybe could have taken things into her own hands, but decides not to. It does make you think. Some of the episodes are a bit hard to watch. Others are light and fun and silly. It really is a full experience of what life is like. I think it translates pretty well to a show, and had fun with Elaina on her travels. I'd sign up for more if they decide to make it. Cute and thought provoking shows are worthwhile for sure. | |
| We Never Learn: BOKUBEN (TV) | Good |
| Bokuben is a pretty by the numbers high school harem comedy. It features a tutor who is tasked with helping 3 smart but flawed girls pass the subjects of their choosing. The twist is that these girls are geniuses in particular subjects, but they really want to pursue their weaknesses (the science girl wants to major in literature, the writing prodigy wants to be an astronaut, and the star athlete really wants to learn english), so our protagonist-kun works diligently with these hopeless students, and harem hijinks ensue. It does this show no favors that it aired the season after Quintessential Quintuplets, as that show also had the high school tutor dynamic going, but it was better in almost every respect. Bokuben ticks all the cliche boxes of a high school harem, diligently going through the motions. I have to respect how much this show goes out of its way to banish any original thoughts. It doesn't make it a good show, but it does serve as a good standard for what a typical harem looks like. | |
| We Never Learn: BOKUBEN (TV 2) | Decent |
| I actively didn't like this for most of season 2. It's not bad mind you, it's just every harem show I've already seen all wrapped up. Much like season 1, nothing here is original or interesting. I hate how Quintuplets convinced me I'm back on board with this genre, and then Bokuben was the best show to come out after that. I think I never stopped liking the genre, just most of it ended up being kinda like Bokuben in a been there, done that kinda way. If it's a good show, like Quintuplets, I'll eat it up. As it is, I don't need more of this. Happy it's finished. | |
| When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace (TV) | Very good |
| Something about this show just made me smile every week. Sure at its core, it's just a stupid harem, but still, the concept was fairly fresh and the characters were interesting enough to carry it along. It was really the execution that gripped me though. Everything was spectacularly done by the animation studio, which is kind of a breath of fresh air based on some of the other slice-of-life-y shows I've seen recently. Some good laughs to be had here and some really endearing characters. Obviously, the first twelve episodes here only tease the larger conflict that may, or may not, come at some point in the future. But for now, it was solid and I looked forward to the new episodes every week, which in the end was all that mattered. | |
| When Will Ayumu Make His Move? (TV) | Good |
| This was a really fun comedy. It's a bit light to be honest, I'd have enjoyed a bit more meaningful interactions between the cast, but when Ayumu is as straightforward of a character as he is, well, there's not a lot of nuance and subtlety to be had here. It's fun for a bit, but it does get tired. Thankfully the rest of the cast are great in their own rights as well. Overall, this is a fun school comedy with a bit of romance thrown in. Nothing exceptional, but a good time all around. | |
| White Album (TV) | Decent |
| I didn't really dislike White Album, but I find it hard to actually say what about it was particularly good. It doesn't help that the plot is a jumbled mess (and they throw in a large amount of BS the last few episodes that make even less sense), but for all that, the characters do feel real and alive, even if they annoy me to death. This is an adaptation of a romance game, and it shows, cramming a huge amount of potential romantic interests into the show. Half of them truthfully aren't super interesting, which lead to me actually kinda tuning out at times. The main couple of characters are decently done, but that MC... Seriously. He's just the worst. I know they were trying to tell a compelling story about growing up and discovering love, but it comes across flat and I just get pissed off as he keeps sleeping with literally everything that moves. All in all, it's confusing, but you really can't look away. Whether that's because it's actually secretly interesting or just like watching a train wreck in slow motion, I'll leave up to others. | |
| Witch Craft Works (TV) | Not really good |
| Witch Craft Works was mediocre at best. The story revolves around a high school boy who finds himself under attack out of nowhere by a gang of evil witches. He is saved by the school's idol who also turns out to be a witch, and not only is she perfect in every way, but she also is in love with our everyday normal guy hero! Crazy!! Ok so, the tropes are strong with this one. That's not the biggest problem though. The first half of the series is just flat out boring, I have no better way to put it. I snoozed through it and actually got pretty close to dropping it. The main characters are completely uninteresting, and there wasn't a fight worth watching until the series climax. I can't quite explain it, but something just felt off with the pacing or the story direction. Regardless, the ending was actually pretty cool. The witches were kinda cute and all, but I'm really not sad to see the show end. | |
| Wonder Egg Priority (TV) | Excellent |
| Wonder Egg is a fascinating show about teenage girls who have been through trauma growing up and finding themselves. Each of our main characters has dealt with the loss of a friend, and through the wonder egg system, they are given a chance to bring their friends back. This manifests as breaking an egg in a dream world to release a girl who has died in real life. If they can defend this girl from manifestations of her trauma, they can get closer to saving their friends. There's definitely elements from Black Rock Shooter here. It's not particularly tight, but the show doesn't intend for it to be. Instead it's much more about the general feeling or mood that the show presents, and it exceeds greatly in this regard. Ai and friends are very fun characters, and considering the depths of the horrors lurking under the surface, it's a wonder that the show manages to be as fun and cute as it is at times. Of course, those horrors are there, and they hit hard and often. Still though, it's a riveting show that's really not like anything else. It's a crazy ride and one I'm super excited to have discovered. | |
| Wonder Egg Priority (special) | Decent |
| This is the final episode of season 1, and while it kept the same general feel as the rest of the show, the writing was pretty poor. We didn't get much resolved, and it felt a bit like the show did our main cast dirty. We don't get to see anyone in their moment of triumph, and it kind of just feels like "well that happened, anyway life goes on and we don't hang out anymore" which I think flies in the face of the themes and promises that the show set out with. Maybe this is all setup for another season, that's the only defensible excuse. Otherwise it's just pretty disappointing that there's basically no resolution. | |
| World Conquest Zvezda Plot (TV) | So-so |
| There's not much for me to really say about Zvezda. The show was ok I guess. It didn't really grab me much. It features a little girl and her unlikely group of misfits who are set on taking over the world. It plays out like a children's fantasy would, which is entertaining, but the tone and feel of the show never really meshed with me. I wouldn't recommend it, and I probably won't watch another season if they make it. It was just one big pile of meh. | |
| (The) World God Only Knows (TV) | Very good |
| The World God Only Knows is actually a very clever show. At its core, this is a harem through and through, but the way it is presented is surprisingly original and compelling. It stars an antisocial dating-sim addict as the main character. Agents from Hell are charged with capturing loose souls that have lodged inside of many girls around the world, living off of their fears and doubts. The only way to free the girls is to make them fall in love. So, Elsie, our resident agent from Hell stumbles across Keima (our gamer, 2D > 3D main character) and his video game handle where he is known far and wide as the king of conquesting women. She binds him to her before realizing her mistake, and Keima is left with two options: Go along with Elsie and try to win the girls' hearts anyway, or die.
Of course, Keima has to choose the former and very reluctantly sets out to conquer the girls much like he would in the various dating sims that he loves. It's hilarious to watch him approach these situations, talking about flags and how he can "See the ending!". He actually turns out to be pretty good, even though he couldn't care less. The first season spans the first four girls who he gets to fall in love with him. The key being, of course, once the loose soul leaves them, they forget all about his conquest. Some of the girls are more interesting than others, but TWGOK is unique in that it focuses singularly on each of the girls, as opposed to them competing with each other. And of course, Elsie steals the show regardless. Highly recommended though. | |
| (The) World God Only Knows Season Two (TV) | Good |
| Another season, another four girls to conquer. None of them can top Kanon, and there's nothing all that new in this season beyond a more Tsun Hell agent arriving to help out. The stakes are a bit higher, but everything from the first season is still present. | |
| (The) World God Only Knows: Goddesses Arc (TV) | Good |
| The first episode of season three spends a few minutes catching the viewer up on the girls that were conquered between seasons two and three. You would think that this would be a waste of the source material, but it has become evident that the show can't carry on with the same redundant formula as the first two seasons. It's been done to death.
So, we instead get thrown face first into the Goddess arc, which is a huge win. Instead of loose souls, the focus is on seven goddesses who find themselves trapped on earth, each inside one of the girls who Keima has previously conquered. As Keima, Elsie, and Haqua learn what's going on, Keima has to go back and determine which of his old conquests are hosts, with the key being that those girls start to regain their memories of his previous conquest, making life difficult for Keima. The action and consequences are ratcheted up another notch here, but the show doesn't get away from what it does best. That said, the season still doesn't live up to the first. It's better than the second for sure, but the freshness of the concept is gone, and I'm not sure that the show can recover from that without drastically changing the rules of its world. It's been a great run! | |
| World Witches Take Off! (TV) | So-so |
| So, this isn't a real anime, so I guess I maybe should cut it some slack. Regardless, it's a series of 10 minute episodes that just kinda reintroduce the cast of strike witches and brave witches together in preparation for the upcoming world witches anime featuring the crews from both shows. It's animated in a very deformed, chibi artstyle, so yeah, it's stupid and meaningless. But I guess it does remind me who the characters are. Unnecessary otherwise. | |
| WorldEnd (TV) | Very good |
| This show has an absurdly long title. That out of the way, Sukasuka is a surprisingly heartfelt and touching show about a group of young girls growing up under the watchful eye of our main character, the last human alive, and a demon of some sort who also happens to be their motherly figure (and dresses like a maid for some reason). It's kind of an odd setup, and you'd be forgiven for having reservations just on the basis of how "light novel" this whole thing feels. Thankfully, Sukasuka manages to transcend most of its light novel trappings, and actually ends up telling a pretty wonderful story, with a few good scenes of action thrown in. | |
| Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku (TV) | Good |
| This is a pretty decent workplace comedy type of show. Well, except not that much workplace comedy actually happens. Sure they're office workers, but the key is that our cast are very much closeted otaku at heart and are lucky they've found each other. I appreciate that our main characters are in relationships with each other pretty much from the beginning, so we can skip all the stupid will they or won't they stuff. It's much more exploring what it means to be in a relationship with someone who shares your interests so much. It's lighthearted and funny and well done for what it is. It won't be super memorable, but it's a perfectly fine comedy that pokes fun at otaku and games and such. | |
| WWW.WAGNARIA!! (TV) | Good |
| Wanaria suffers from the same issues that a lot of spinoff shows have. Essentially it boils down to a lot of why questions. Why does this show exist in the first place? Why are the characters just 1 dimensional quirks? Why does this feel like fan fiction? A lot of these thoughts swirl around as I watched the show, and while I still enjoyed it for better or for worse, this just feels like an inferior thirteen episode version of the actual wagnaria, and just makes me miss the main series more. The characters are nowhere near as developed or interesting as the main series. It's fun for what it is, but it will never be better than that. | |
| Ya Boy Kongming! (TV) | Excellent |
| It seems like everything PA Works touches turns to gold these days (well, let's not discuss Fairy Gone). Ya Boy Kongming is the next in line to take the crown of surprisingly well done shows out of the studio. The premise of this one seems a little hard to take seriously at first glance. Kongming is actually a military tactician of Chinese Romance of the Three Kingdoms fame, who finds himself summoned to modern day Tokyo after his death in 200 AD. What you might expect from this is that we get another eye rolling, fish out of water style comedy as Kongming struggles to adapt to modern day life (look up almost any anime that has Nobunaga in the title, that's the sort of thing we have come to expect from this premise). Instead, what we get is an absolute treat of a show about the start of a young pop artist's rise to stardom in the music world. It might seem at first like summoning Kongming to modern day Japan doesn't work with a music show, but that's not all there is to it. Kongming was a famous military tactician, renowned through the ages for his brilliant mind. Once he finds himself in Tokyo, and taken in by our aspiring musician Eiko's music, he dedicates his newfound life to making Eiko into the next big thing. Nevermind that Eiko is barely known outside of the single little club she currently tends bar for. Kongming is only that much more excited to rise to the challenge, employing unique strategies like innovative crowd control to draw attention to Eiko, studying and exploiting weaknesses of her rivals, and in general, always putting Eiko in exactly the right position for maximum success. I'm sure fans of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms would be beside themselves throughout these scenes, as the show gives us a brief overview of the famous battles and tactics Kongming utilized in his past life that mirror his strategies for Eiko. At the end of the day though, this show is about music and the journey to fame that Eiko has started going through. While Kongming kicks it off, the show is content to let him sit on the sidelines, especially towards the end, because this is Eiko's story after all. The tricks and strategies are fun, but they mean nothing if not backed up by inspiring character growth, determination, and just plain fun that Eiko exudes. I think this show would have succeeded just fine without Kongming, but with him, it's an absolute treat on top of Eiko's story. Also, who can deny that banger of an OP. | |
| Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches (TV) | Good |
| I was very excited for this show because it was the first time I had read the manga before the anime was announced. As far as the show goes on its own, it's a really interesting premise. The idea is Yamada is a delinquint at his high school, with most of the other students scared of him, though he doesn't really appreciate this image and kind of wishes the attention would go away. His life changes when he accidentally kisses the smartest girl in school, Shiraishi, when they fall down the stairs. They immediately realize they've switched bodies and hilarity ensues! Except not really. There's more going on here as Yamada and Shiraishi attempt to come to terms with what happened and then dig deeper into their powers. They discover there are witches at their school who can cast "spells" on people by kissing them. Shiraishi can body switch and the others can do things like telepethy, charm, or even see the future. Yamada makes it his mission to find all the witches and help them with their situations, as they realize the reason for these powers existing is due to the bad shape each of these witches find their lives in. It's a very clever romance/comedy, but unfortunately, there's a TON of material here for just 12 episodes. The show moves very very fast. I think it would have been better served as a 2 cour series, but alas it was not to be. The manga is probably superior to this adapatation, but that doesn't make it not a good time. | |
| Yatogame-chan Kansatsu Nikki (TV) | Decent |
| There's not much I can say about this. It's a show meant to serve as an advertisement for Nagoya (which is all the more amusing because I feel like it is making fun of Nagoya as much as it is advertising for it). Regardless, it's like 3 minutes long per episode, so there's not much here. For what it is, it's not bad actually. Considering I'm traveling to Japan soon, this is cool to see. I like the tourism stuff. The characters are amusing too. I'd watch more seasons of this if I get bored. There are far worse options when it comes to this kind of short show. I'd say Nagoya's doing pretty well compared to the competition for advertising shows. | |
| Yatterman Night (TV) | Very good |
| Yatterman Night was a pretty unique show. The closes thing to it is probably The Unlimited Hyobu Kyosuke, but there are a few key differences. Sure at its core, this is a spinoff of an old kids cartoon series that focuses on the villians, but the similarities pretty much end there. Doronjo is a young girl (really this also serves as her coming of age story), whose ancestor was the legendary villian of the original series. The protagonists supposedly won, but the world is a mess, kinda post-apocalyptic. Doronjo sets out to save the world, taking on the persona of her villian ancestor in the process. It's a really interesting dynamic, and highly worth checking out. | |
| Yohane the Parhelion -SUNSHINE in the MIRROR (TV) | Very good |
| I *love* this show. I know I only rated it an 8, but seriously, I love that this exists so much. Love Live will always have a special place in my heart, so to see it mashed up with our characters living in a fantasy RPG is wonderful. The new world is vibrant and colorful, and Lailaps is the best anime doggo I've ever seen, my god. It just oozes fun and magic. I was smiling the entire way.
However, I have to be a bit objective here. Before I get into a few of my complaints, there are some really great things. Yohane herself gets treated wonderfully by the show. She is well written and her character arc is satisfying. I was never that into her in the original show, but watching her here was great. Additionally, Lailaps. That all that needs to be said there. Hanamaru was more fun than I expected as well. It was nice to see the cast, the CG songs were well done, and the story was surprisingly serious in tone, which was refreshing for love live. Now, for the rest of my thoughts. Love Live has always suffered from juggling a bloated cast, and Yohane is no exception. Hanamaru, Mari, and Riko fare okay, but Chika, You, Kanan, Dia, and Ruby are all essentially afterthoughts. They have no real character arcs and could have been stripped from the show with minimal impact, which is never a good sign. Additionally, the story does end up being a pretty cliche "evil magic is corrupting our world" and in true love live fashion, the answer is believing in yourself and singing about it to win. In a show about singing competitions, that can work. In a fantasy show, it feels, well, like a children's cartoon. It doesn't feel real or appropriate for the darker tone they were going for. And that's the core of my complaints here. There was the foundation for a great show, but most of it is squandered in trying to make sure we hit all the love live notes. I get it was always going to be handicapped by being part of love live, but I wish there had been just a bit more freedom for this to become its own thing. There's incredible potential here. So where does that leave us? Well, sadly, this ends up being mostly fanservice for already existing fans of love live. Again, I'm rating it an 8, I really liked it in spit of all I wrote above. But it could have been so much more. This could have been an entry point to love live for fans who otherwise might not have been interested in checking a show like this out. Regardless though, this is a unique and ambitious effort, and I want to celebrate it. Also, I will buy anything and everything Lailaps-related. Omg I love this dog. Also, that OP is a banger. | |
| your name. (movie) | Masterpiece |
| I absolutely adore Your Name. This is peak fiction. I love the drama, the characters, all of it. It's a gorgeous presentation from front to back. I firmly believe that pretty much anyone, anime fans or not, would really enjoy this movie. | |
| Yuki Yuna Is a Hero (TV) | Excellent |
| Yuki Yuna blew me away. I can't think of a show that so heavily outstripped my expectations off the top of my head. Crunchyroll had this described as a Slice of Life, and let me say, NO WAY. The closest thing to this is definitely Madoka, and I think that comparison works in more ways than one. Yuki Yuna is another magical girl show that goes very dark places. There are fights and tears galore, all against the backdrop of a group of girls simply trying to live their lives as best they can. It is honestly hard to watch they slowly get beat down physically and emotionally by the weight and burden of this task of saving the world that has been emotionlessly, almost cruelly, shoved onto them. There's no way they deserve what takes place here. It's impossible not to feel terrible for them. But through it all, there's that shining beacon of hope, faint as it may be from time to time. Really this is just a beautiful show all around. I love these girls :'( | |
| Yuki Yuna is a Hero: The Great Mankai Chapter (TV) | Decent |
| I said in my review of the previous season that I wasn't feeling this show so much anymore, and I kinda wish I had listened. This is still well done and all, but season 3 being side stories that happened during season 2 and a reanimation of the finale of season 2 as the finale of this season stings a bit. I didn't get all that much out of this and I wasn't really excited to be watching new episodes. I guess the good thing is that this season very much kind of ties a bow on the series. Season 1 is still a treat, but I'd leave it alone after that. | |
| Yuki Yuna is a Hero: The Hero Chapter (TV) | Good |
| And this is the second half of season 2, a 6 episode sequel to season 1. At this point, I think I get what Yuki Yuna is trying to accomplish. I don't want to say I'm necessarily over it, but I'd probably not watch another season if there was one. The ending was thoroughly epic, and I liked the way they wrapped things up, but it's kinda been a been there done that season for me. I really love this franchise, but I'm ready for this to be it. | |
| Yuki Yuna Is a Hero: The Washio Sumi Chapter (TV) | Very good |
| This is a 6 episode prequel to the first season of Yuki Yuna that answers a lot of questions and provides more context for the things that happen in the original series. The shock value of the season is a bit lessened knowing what is going to happen, but it's still very well done. It's alternatively fun and cute and gut wrenchingly sad. Definitely watch this after season 1, though it is a prequel. The impact of Season 1 is better without the context I think. | |
| Yuri Is My Job! (TV) | Good |
| Yuri is My Job is, well, a yuri show. I suppose that should be obvious based on all of the promotional material, but there it is anyway. I went into it expecting some lighthearted cafe style shenanigans with some light yuri undertones, but what I got was a bit more than I bargained for on both accounts. For one, this isn't really yuri undertones, it definitely is full blown yuri. These girls are definitely into each other in all kinds of ways, which is a lot of fun. Secondly, it's not really lighthearted. There are two major arcs (for our two major ships) and both of them get actually really heavy at times as each of the characters grapple with who they really are and what they really want. I have to admit that our primary pair featuring poster girl Hime has the more interesting of the two. I'd have probably bumped the show up another point if it maintained that quality throughout. But the second arc featuring Hime's friend Kanoko is a little bit less engaging. Still fun, and the light hearted cuteness is just the best when it happens, but I worry that the show is running out of steam after resolving Hime's arc so quickly and succinctly. I'd definitely check out another season if they ever have it, but they pretty much left no lingering indications of any other story beats that have been left unresolved. | |
| Yuri!!! on Ice (TV) | Excellent |
| Wow, just wow... Yuri on Ice is just incredible. I wavered between masterpiece and excellent, I wish I could pick something in between, but had to settle with excellent. It's not because I find much fault with the show, I could sing it's praises for hours. Instead, it's more of a gut feeling that the extra gear that makes me lose myself over a show just wasn't quite engaged. Ok, this is starting to sound negative, back to Yuri on Ice! I couldn't have cared less about professional figure skating before the show, but I have to say that it just didn't matter one bit. Yuri on Ice does what all great sports anime have to, and that's get you dragged in and committed to the competition. The show does such a great job building up the competitors and skating routines that I was literally on the edge of my seat at all times. My stomach was in my throat when jumps were missed or miraculously landed. I can't remember the last time I was that nervous watching much of anything. Of course it helped that the animation was stunning. The routines were done so fluidly and naturally, that after a while you forget the incredible display of artistry. Seriously, this is an outstanding production. I cannot wait for more! | |
| Yuruyuri - Happy Go Lily (TV) | Excellent |
| The quintessential show about school girls doing nothing except having cute conversations about cute things all the time. I needed a show to watch in bed before falling asleep, and this one did the job. There's really nothing else to say about the show except that it adds the wrinkle of some yuri themes (go figure!) but obviously, it can't risk sacrificing the absurd amount of cuteness for any sort of actual drama. I'm sitting here four or five years after having first watched Yuru Yuri and reading my above take and shaking my head. I think back when I watched this show, I hadn't seen much slice of life and didn't really have perspective. I rated the show a 6/10 because it was fun and light, but I didn't see it as a "real" show. There's no plot, no character development, just stupid nothingness. Fun, but super safe and not really worthy of real critical analysis. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Slice of Life is its entirely own thing, and I didn't properly appreciate that at the time. It's safe to rate these shows out of 10, because they have every chance to be as good or as bad as any other show. That said, I had it right above, Yuruyuri is the quintessential CGDCT Slice of Life show, and that gets it to 9/10. I've rewatched it once through a year ago or so and am looking forward to doing it again. If someone wanted an intro to the genre or an example of the best it has to offer, this is the show right here. I only keep it from a perfect score because Flying Witch is my current slice of life gold standard that made me feel things that this show just doesn't reach for. That said, Yuruyuri doesn't try to do that, and that's fine, but I guess that's what it takes in this genre for a perfect score for me. Otherwise, this is the best I've seen. I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who just needs a little bit of humor, silliness, and calming sweet cuteness. Perfection. | |
| Yuruyuri - Happy Go Lily (TV2) | Excellent |
| Same story as season 1 | |
| Yuruyuri San Hai! (TV 3) | Excellent |
| The more slice of life shows I watch, the more I appreciate what Yuruyuri does. This show has things down to a science. It is basically the cream of the crop of most of these shows. You still know what to expect, the execution is just... better than the others really. Really ends things on a high note. | |
| Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs (TV) | Very good |
| As far as ecchi shows go, Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs is right up there with the best of them. The cast is lively and varied, and the character designs are very attractive and vibrant. I enjoyed the comedy and some of the more significant story beats when they popped up, as much as I enjoyed the show when it meanders about and doesn't do much of anything. Also, setting the show in a hot springs inn is a perfect recipe for fanservice. Overall, you know what you're getting with this one, and if that's what you want, you can't go wrong. | |
| Yuyushiki (TV) | Very good |
| I really enjoyed Yuyushiki. There's nothing groundbreaking here, it's a show about a group of girls doing nothing in particular, but it manages to at least be fresh about the way it does it (something that is harder than you might think). In that respect, this show is worthy of high praise, as if you like this kind of genre, this is up there with the best. Solid slice of life/comedy to be found here. | |
| Z/X Code reunion (TV) | Decent |
| Hey look it's Z/X again! Maybe this time the show will dive into the other worlds and we're going to get some great worldbuilding and plot! Oh who am I kidding. This is a magical girl show with nothing else substantial going on. The girls are all cute but a few are a bit... young. The transformations and attacks are cool. The uniforms are absolutely absurd. Yawn... we've done this a million times before. If you want cute girls doing cute things with a side of sci-fi mech body suits and space battles, this is the show for you. If you want anything more, look elsewhere. | |
| Z/X Ignition (TV) | Decent |
| The story revolves around our terrible main character, Tennoji, and his Z/X, and Angel named Fierte, who inexplicably becomes attached to him. He feeds her power through a card device (yes this is a show to promote a TCG). They come across other pairs of Z/X card holders and together they must confront some stuff. And there's other worlds, and evil people that they have to battle. Yawn... The soundtrack was probably the best part, but I swear that the director of this series just told their music people "hey that Fairy Tail show has some good music, do stuff like that". Seriously, some of the soundtracks sound almost identical in places. Aside from that, I just finished the show, and I'm pretty mixed on it. Some of the characters were interesting, but others (Looking at you Tennoji) were pretty much the worst. Probably the bit I liked the most was the world building. It may not be the most original concept, but the scale of everything really resonated with me. It was just begging for a massively awesome conflict. And that's what really annoyed me. I understand there's no way to do what I want in twelve episodes. But still, there are all these different worlds, at least let us see them a bit. Give us some idea what's going on in the larger sense of things. The last episode teased this, but of course, who knows if there's going to be any more. And I'm not foolish enough to believe that if there is more that it will be radically different from the type of story we already saw. In the end, it was sadly mostly forgettable. The world had potential, and that perhaps is the most disappointing aspect. | |
| Zoids (TV) | Good |
| This is quintessential Zoids. This series was better known as Chaotic Century, and features an epic, fantasy-esque adventure with world shattering stakes as the story unfolds. Sure, it is kind of a children's cartoon at heart (I remember it very, very fondly from watching episodes here and there on Toonami as a kid myself), but it has a lot more going on than most kids shows might attempt. It actually gets somewhat "epic" and the Zoids themselves are freaking badass. It was a massive nostalgia bomb to rewatch and I can say that it does indeed hold up. I had so much fun with this, and wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone else who might fondly remember this franchise. | |
| Zoids/ZERO (TV) | Decent |
| I used to love Zoids back in the day on Toonami. Chaotic Century and Fuzors are both great fun, but this one kinda fell flat in comparison. Only recommended for diehard fans. | |
| Zoids: Fuzors (TV) | Very good |
| Fuzors was actually a pretty fun Zoids entry. I ended up liking this team a lot. True, the fusion mechanic is kinda gimmicky, but it wasn't bad enough to get in the way of my enjoyment. | |
| Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead (TV) | So-so |
| Objectively this show is probably not a 5/10, but, the back half left such a bad taste in my mouth that I have no choice but to drop the score this low. It was bad.
It's an interesting case actually. I wouldn't describe any of the latter season arcs or scenes as bad in isolation (though, I can't say the same about the antagonists introduced at the end, holy bad character writing batman), but that doesn't mean they don't come together to make a bad show. See, Zom 100 made some promises to the viewer at the start of the show. We were told that this is going to be an over the top absurdist take on a zombie apocalypse that was going to be optimistic and fun in spite of all of the tragedy that would normally surround this kind a scenario. And that's what we get for five or six episodes. It's a wonderful romp and lots of fun. Then we get to the second half of the season where suddenly our characters acknowledge that woah zombies are actually dangerous and wow, we suddenly care about characters maybe dying. You can't have things both ways show. This wasn't what i signed up for, you can't try to manipulate me into feeling for this when it wasn't set up properly. Instead, it just makes me annoyed and checked out. I finished the show out of spite, but wow, was not excited about doing so. It's like the writers got scared about having an actually unique premise and fell back into shonen battle cliches as soon as they didn't know what to do. The wasted potential stings the most here. This was an easy 8/10, maybe 9/10 if it just stayed the course from the beginning, but a "what if" is all this will end up being. So disappointing. | |
| Zombie Land Saga (TV) | Good |
| Zombie Land Saga is cute but at the end of the day it doesn't really turn out to be that special. The central conceit of the show is interesting. What if a bunch of girls from various time periods and life experiences were brought back to life as zombies and told to form an all girl's idol group? That sounds cool as hell, and is a big reason why this show started so strong. However, at some point, halfway through or so, the show kinda felt like it veered away from the zombie hijinks to embrace more standard idol fare. That's not entirely true, but that's how it felt, and the show seemed to drag. Of course, Zombie Land Saga was always more ridiculous than anything else, but I feel like it could have been better. It's a fun distraction from the other mediocre idol fare out there, but it doesn't end up being that much more than a distraction. | |
| Will not finish▲▼ | Rating▲▼ | Comment▲▼ |
| Aharen-san wa Hakarenai (TV) | Decent | Aharen is a cute show, but it suffers from the same fate as Shikimori does this season. Basically, there's one joke here, and after a few episodes, it just kinda drags as we see the same thing repeated over and over again just with different set dressing. I normally am all about cute slice of life shows, but this is just a little too bland for me. |
| Blade & Soul (TV) | Weak | Pros: Beautiful fighting animations Cons: Everything else Seriously. I don't know if I have disliked a main character as much as this chick since I watched Nyarko-san. Her main character trait is "emotionless". Well... that certainly makes for compelling story... This show has boobs, fighting, boobs, stupid scenes I don't care about, boobs, no plot whatsoever, and more boobs. But it takes itself way too seriously to even have redeeming fanservice. Sorry, just not my cup of tea. At some point this had potential, but I'm certainly done waiting for that to happen. |
| Buddy Daddies (TV) | Good | I recognize that Buddy Daddies is not actually a bad show. PA Works has put a lot of love into this. The Animation looks great, the characters are fun, and the world feels lively. So, why the drop then? Well, as cute as our lovably little gremlin Miri is, she's well... kinda too realistic. This is not Anya from Spy x Family. Miri is a toddler and PA Works has decided to show not only the cute moments, but the bratty, messy, omg will you please shut up and leave me alone for just 2 minutes moments that anyone with kids would be intimately familiar with. The thing is, I watch anime for escapism and to relax. This thing just stresses me out. I could finish it out, but it's just not worth it. |
| Cells at Work! (TV) | Decent | Cells at Work is actually a fine show. It's just... clearly educational fare with no overarching plot. We just learn about diseases and other stuff around the body each episode. Wasn't totally feeling it. |
| Chobits (TV) | So-so | 7 episodes in and I'm still not hooked. This show moves entirely too slow and Chi bugs the crap out of me. |
| (The) Day I Became a God (TV) | So-so | This is a Jun Maeda show, so I went into it with high expectations. I loved Angel Beats a ton, and Charlotte, while somewhat flawed, was still a positive experience. This show though... It just didn't have it. Maeda's works rely on deep character drama. To make that happen, you have to properly set the stage for the audience. For some reason, this show was just unable to make that happen. It spent too long messing around, then suddenly decided oh no wait, this is going to be sad! Except, it's a been a comedy this whole time with slapstick, trope-y, and flat characters. Izanami's backstory with her parents was about the only thing done right, I just couldn't bring myself to care about the rest of the cast. It's a shame, I know Maeda was clearly trying his hardest to make things that would be soul crushing, but this show just couldn't make me buy in. After I saw the depraved lengths that this show was going to go to for the climax, I just couldn't stomach it anymore. I was more disgusted at myself for not being emotionally affected by the just horrible, horrible things that were being depicted. It wasn't my fault, obviously, the show failed. But, it made me feel gross, so I'm dropping it here. Reviews of the last couple episodes seem to reinforce this decision. Sorry Maeda, better luck next time. |
| (The) Detective Is Already Dead (TV) | Decent | I wish this was a mystery show, but it didn't end up that way. It's kind of a generic harem/fanservice-y comedy thing, with light amounts of drama (thus far). There's nothing all that compelling so far about the characters, the mysteries, or the overarching story though, so I'm dropping this as of episode 4 since I'm just about out of patience for shows like this. |
| Encouragement of Climb Second Season (TV) | Decent | I had a hard time deciding whether to drop this or not. In the end though, I just wasn't enjoying it, which means it's time to go. I think there's actually a lot to like here. It's wonderful to see a group of girls going mountain climbing and just enjoying the outdoors. However, the characters just did not mesh with me for some reason. I found myself simply not really caring about them, and this is the sort of show where that kind of thing can really ruin the experience.
Other than the characters, there's really no other plot to speak of, so that's kinda it. There's also this vague undercurrent of melancholy to the whole affair that I was not digging at all (ala Super Cub). Like, I know in real life that, yeah, it's hard to get in shape and climb mountains and you might not succeed, but I don't need the anime to kinda like luxuriate in that. Multiple episodes are primarily about one of the girls simply breaking down. I don't need that. I was hoping this was going to be an iyashikei show kind of in the vein of yuru camp, but aside from both of them being about outdoors activities, they have very different souls. In the end, I don't think this show is bad, but it's not for me. |
| Engage Kiss (TV) | So-so | I thought this was going to be a fanservice-y action show that looked like a throwback to anime I saw when I was first getting into things in the mid 00's-early '10s. And, we did get that a little bit. But there was far too much nonsense, poor character development, uninteresting story and mysteries that failed to surprise or meaningfully inject life into this thing. The animation looked halfway decent, but gosh was the story even tired of itself from early on. It's like there's no weight to anything here. We're just going through the motions so we can show off some waifu's. It's exceedingly boring and I just finally came to terms with the fact that I don't care what happened to the main character's family or what Kisara will end up doing. I've seen this a million times before, and there is absolutely nothing special here. Quite the relief to drop this. |
| GATE (TV 2) | Not really good | Just not good. I couldn't get over how poor the writing was and how poorly it's characters were treated. The plot is a mess and the "political maneuvers" are a joke. |
| Guilty Crown (TV) | Not really good | The action was gorgeous, and I was actually liking the story. Until the second half of the show when the heroes find themselves creating their own society in the ruins of their old high school. And then suddenly, no action, just stupid romance in a stupid school. The show wasn't good enough to survive the lack of action, and I stopped watching during the simulcast. Doubt I'll ever go back to it. |
| (The) Helpful Fox Senko-san (TV) | So-so | This SHOULD have been the absolute show for me. It's a feel good slice of life show about a fox spirit diety (complete with my major weaknesses, ears and tail) who comes to earth to pamper our protagonist as he struggles through a soul sucking job. It should have been funny and cute and silly... but it isn't. It's certainly no comedy. It just kinda tries to make you feel good I guess? I don't often feel like a slice of life type show is too much for me. I've enjoyed countless pointless episodes, but this is where I draw the line. Spending half an episode to watch Senko clean out the protagonists ears, or for the protagonist to hug her tail is just too little to latch onto, it becomes boring with no personalities to really bounce off of. Of course... there's also the latent uncomfortableness that is underneath the entire thing to blame as well. The show isn't shy about the fact that our fox diety looks like she's 8. That is distinctly NOT something I am into or appreciate in any way, and seeing her in the bath or moaning while her tail is touched does nothing but make me unsure if I should really have been watching this to begin with. At the end of it all, the only takeaways I have from this are negative, and for a show like this, where my sole purpose in watching it is to be comforted before falling asleep, this left a sour taste in my mouth and wasn't doing it for me. Onto the next one. |
| (The) Heroic Legend of Arslan (TV) | Not really good | I dunno, sometimes shows just don't resonate with me. The first few episodes of arslan were a struggle, but once the plot was established and we slowly started gaining characters and arslan and his pals got stronger and stronger as they worked to retake their kingdom I really started to get into it. It was a bit like fire emblem. Unfortunately, the momentum kind of fizzled out as the story bogged down with side characters and conflicts that didn't really mean anything and I'm just not excited about it. There's just really not much substance here. |
| Higehiro (TV) | So-so | I was hoping this was going to be a silly comedy, but it turned into a snoozefest of a drama with wholly unlikable characters and a premise that is kind of gross in a lot of ways. It has good production value, but I just couldn't bring myself to finish it. |
| Higurashi: When They Cry – GOU (TV) | Good | Higurashi isn't bad by any means, but... I feel like I get it at this point and it's becoming a bit of a slog. It's also such a downer and winter 2021 just started and I've got tons of other shows to watch. Just wrong place and time for this show. No real excitement left for it. |
| Kaze no Stigma (TV) | Decent | Kaze no Stigma isn't a bad show, but seven episodes in and it still hasn't grabbed me too much. It's an older battle shonen and it shows, there's not much here to set it apart from the crowd. Just having an angsty, overpowered teen lead might have been enough when the show came out in 2007, but these days it just feels cookie cutter, predictable, and boring.
My other complaint is how the show handles Ayano. She seemed like a fun female lead. She's brash and has that "take no crap from anyone" attitude. But, the show basically undercuts her at every turn. She's laughably weak next to Kazuma, and never is able to deal with anything on her own. It just angers me how the show insists on taking away her agency. She's clearly only defined by her budding relationship with Kazuma and it feels icky. Lastly, I made it to episode seven, but when they started setting up a mass murderer for redemption, that was when they fully lost me. I don't know if they do end up redeeming her or not, but going into battle with a girl who has killed hundreds of innocent bystanders and only worrying about whether our lead might like her more was enough to make me shut this thing down. |
| KenIchi the Mightiest Disciple (TV) | So-so | Watched some of this with a friend. Kinda generic yet funny shonen action show, but nothing to really set it apart from the pack. Doubt I ever get back to it. |
| Kokkoku (TV) | Decent | I want to like this show a lot. The opening is top tier and the first few episodes are pretty good. But it just kinda flounders, and not much ends up really happening. It's a bunch of characters running around hitting the same story beats over and over again, and it's not like the animation is particularly striking or the characters particularly well written. It just sort of is, and there's just not enough time for me to stick with something I don't want to watch. |
| Last Period: the journey to the end of the despair (TV) | So-so | This just ended up being more of a cartoon feel than a real anime. It had no real overarching narrative, and the week to week hijinks was just kinda... not engaging. No thanks. Not enough time in my day for this. |
| Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic (TV) | So-so | Kinda boring, a bit repetitive, I just sorta stopped watching it. It was ok I guess... if you really are wanting some shonen. You can certainly find better though. |
| Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation (TV 1) | Weak | I tried. I really did. I thought okay, it's only the first couple episodes. But yeesh. The main character and the author are clearly both pretty disgusting. No thanks. I don't need to watch you try to justify why it's okay to be into... children. This is not okay, and I'm kinda disappointed in the anime community in general for defending this. |
| My Dress-Up Darling (TV) | So-so | This was just... a major let down after episode 1. Episode 1 had real horimiya vibes to it. It looked like it was going to be a super cute romance with cosplay as the thing that brings our characters together. Then episodes 2 and 3 happened. It's bad enough that our main girl is a manic pixie dream girl with no real personality beyond "I like to cosplay!", "I like eroge!", and "I like MC-kun for no reason!". It feels like I'm watching a lonely otaku's dream. It just doesn't feel real. No thanks. |
| PERSONA 5 the Animation (TV) | So-so | I think watching a playthrough of the game would probably be more fun than this show. |
| Phantom ~Requiem for the Phantom~ (TV) | Good | This show wasn't bad actually. It's an early effort by Gen Urobochi before he went on to do his more famous projects. It's got a solid mafia/gangster underground aesthetic as it follows two super assassins as they are used by various shady organizations to try to bring order to the word in the shadows. I got about half way through before I kinda lost interest. One big turnoff for me in shows is emotionless characters. I have a super hard time connecting with them and feeling like they are real. Both of the main characters in this show fit the bill. I have to admit, objectively, this is probably worth seeing. Just not for me. |
| Platinum End (TV) | So-so | This show is by the guys who did Death Note. It didn't have great reviews, but I figured I'd give it a shot just to see what they were up to. Turns out it's kinda a Fate style battle royale thing, except it's mostly just people hiding. Kinda boring and didn't grab me. |
| (The) Promised Neverland (TV 2) | So-so | Wow did this season not live up to season 1. The tone has shifted completely away from thriller/horror and into a sort of fantasy adventure style. The show honestly did not have a fleshed out enough world to carry this, and the huge cast of characters, of which we only really know four or five, doesn't help things. In the end, I feel like season 1 is a completely different show. This wasn't what season 1 promised us, and I am too bummed out to complete it. |
| Rampo Kitan: Game of Laplace (TV) | So-so | I'm down with the mystery, the blood, the gore, all of it. I want more shows that embrace that. But this show was kinda just creepy, and not in a good way, and was weirdly fetish focused. Not my cup of tea. |
| Recently, my sister is unusual. (TV) | Bad | The first episode was interesting, it crossed a line I didn't expect to see crossed in a normal anime. But anyway, after the first two episodes featured scenes where the main girl has to go to the bathroom but can't due to her being the least assertive person on the planet ("I have to go so badddd, but I can't tell anyone that, I'm just gonna sit here in misery!!"). I told myself the next time hat happened, I was dropping the show. I couldn't wait. Then it didn't happen, so I just had to drop it anyway, because it was terrible. There are much much better ecchi shows than this piece of crap. |
| Restaurant to Another World (TV 2) | So-so | As I watched the first three or so episodes of season 2, I found myself constantly thinking "Didn't I already watch this episode last season"? Basically, that's what season two of this show has to offer. Exactly the same thing as season 1, again. I honestly don't really care about the food being served or the little vignettes of random fantasy characters finding the restaurant. There's only so many times we can see this play out over and over only for them to sit down in the restaurant, order something they don't understand, and then oishii all over the place while showing Food Wars style montages. That's fine as the setup, but it can't be all there is to offer. Season 1 showed us how our main characters came together to form this restaurant. How they ended up working there and why it was important for their character arcs to grow. It wasn't much, but it gave us a through line, as well as a bit of a mystery of how the restaurant actually worked. This is all gone in season 2. There is no character growth, there is no overarching story. There is simply a rotating door of half episode vignettes of new characters trying new food. I'm really bummed out by this and have to admit that each new episode doesn't offer me anything new in any way. Best to leave it alone at this point so my fond memories of the first season aren't tainted. |
| Shikimori's Not Just a Cutie (TV) | So-so | I made it three episodes and change into this one. If there was any more to this show than "look at Shikimori, isn't she just best girl", then it might be worth watching. But... no, there's really nothing more here at all. I kept hoping for some kind of character growth, some kind of anything to latch onto, but after consuming almost a third of the show, I think it's safe to admit that this is all it will be. Shikimori does something cool to protect Izumi, Izumi cowers behind her and thinks about how cool she is and how lame he is, move to the next setting, rinse, repeat, roll credits, the end. If you've seen one episode of this, you've seen them all. In a season as crowded as this one, it's just not worth keeping up with. |
| Smile of the Arsnotoria the Animation (TV) | Not really good | This should be a show I love. It's a slice of life that looks absolutely gorgeous with fun character designs and a whimsical setting. However, it feels completely devoid of life and anything resembling charm. It's just characters going through the motions with zero reason to watch any of it. Excruciatingly boring. Below is my thoughts after episode 4 where I dropped the show. This is a really strange show, and I'm about out of patience with it. I'm not demanding we need to go full Madoka here or anything, in fact, I think they could make this show entirely compelling even if they just focus on the school life of these girls. But, we're what, a third of the way through the show now? We should know at least a little about who these girls are, where they come from, why they are at the school, and what they are studying. For a slice of life like this, if there is no comedy, romance, or interpersonal drama to fall back on, there should at least be a bit of compelling world building with some mysteries that are slowly unraveled as the girls go about their lives. But there's none of that here. The show is taking great pains to ensure exactly zero plot relevant things happen. We spent half an episode simply walking to class in this one, and once we got there, they simply looked at some flowers and left. There was no point to it. So, yeah, it's a bit cute. But wow is it boring. |
| That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime (TV 3) | Not really good | It's strange to think how quickly I soured on a show that I've been decently happy with for the past few years. But yeesh, 3 or 4 episodes into season 3 and we're all just sitting around a table still talking about politics that make no sense whatsoever. Slime's politics were always eye-rollingly bad, but it was fine, because they were on the back burner. Not so anymore, I guess. These episodes drag so much, I simply can't bring myself to load up the next one. I'm perfectly happy stopping here. It was a cute show, but I'm thoroughly done. |
| Tiger & Bunny (TV) | Decent | I did enjoy the half of this show that I watched during the simulcast. I sort of lost interest though and its been several years. I dont really feel like forcing myself to finish it, so it will sit here unless I get the itch to watch it again. |
| Tokyo Revengers (TV) | Decent | It was fine for what it was. But I don't care too much about delinquent/gang stuff in school. |
| Tribe Nine (TV) | So-so | An anime about super powered futuristic cyberpunk version of baseball where teams can fight on the basepaths and unleash all kinds of insanity should not be this boring. I felt no excitement watching this, and that's doubly disappointing considering the creators of danganronpa were behind this. |
| Twin Star Exorcists (TV) | Weak | I was relieved when I finished this show. I was just so ready for it to be done. To its credit, it introduced a kinda compelling villain and had a good action scene at the end. It left a lot of loose ends open, but I'm used to that in anime and oh well, it's not like the story was incredible to begin with, so I'm not torn up about having questions not answered. What's that? THIS IS TWO COUR?! Dear god, the number of shows that deserve 24 episodes and never got them while this show gets to continue flailing around for no good reason is a travesty. Seriously, this is the blandest of the bland when it comes to supernatural romance. Everything here has been done before, and much much better. These characters have no depth, no chemistry, and no compelling motive or drive beyond "vanquish all evil" woooooo. The villains are even worse. There's only so much I can take of beating up on monster of the week for no reason. Ugh, get this show out of here. I don't have enough time in my life to force myself to watch another 12 episodes. |
| Welcome to Demon School, Iruma-kun (TV) | Decent | There's nothing wrong with this show, it just feels more like a kids cartoon than a proper anime. Sometimes I'm in the mood for that, but it just didn't have a compelling narrative or characters that weren't built entirely of cliches. Cute at times, but mostly just kinda boring and far too inoffensive. |
| Wizard Barristers: Benmashi Cecil (TV) | Weak | It just gets to a point with certain shows where I just dread loading up the new episode. This show was so completely unbelievable with a protagonist that I absolutely hated. I thought this was going to be law and order with magic, which sounds AWESOME. But no, there was no mystery or tension surrounding the cases, just stupid tropes and dumb excuses for action. I'm surprised I made it to episode 8 looking back on it. |