winter '20
well it's 2020, and we kicked off this year with a pretty modest amount of anime. to be perfect honest, considering everything that's going on right now, this is a big old "READ THE ROOM" moment where if stuff you like is getting postponed - you can't really complain. anyway, onto winter 2020. i started off the season not really that caught up on a few other continuations, so as always they're gonna be put 'on hold' until i do finish them - if i ever do. this is a reminder than i should, this blog serves to keep me in check. Anyway nobody is here for my commentary.
completed:
Boku no Tonari ni Ankoku Hakaishin ga Imasu
WELL WELL WELL. THIS IS MY FAVORITE ANIME OF THE SEASON YALL CAN GO HOME.
i started this anime with literally like no expectations, because i just love a lil funny turn ya brain off kinda show and it turned out to kinda be all i wanted but also something extremely cute? when i watched it, the first episode was a real, huh okay moment, it wasn't necessarily THAT funny, but like Chuubiyou Gekihatsu Boy, it's one of those shows that really kinda just gets better the more you watch, except I'd say this was even better than CGB. With a really hilarious cast and a "straight man" who literally is just as whack as the rest of them, every single addition to the cast works well. You've got the insane, gullible and always surprising Hanadori/Miguel/Strumhut, Mr i know everything and can read your mind also i probably created the universe Tsukimiya, adorable bad luck magnet Hibiki/Helios, and masochist childhood friend Mogami, paired with idiot im normal but still actually really fucking weird Koyuki Seri/Gestober, it's kinda like the best sort of character comedy ever. I remember watching it with a friend when Seri has this lil romantic interest in Sumiso san, and he just pointed to the screen and went. But this is really gay. And I was like. Huh no you're right this is... Very.
I don't really know how to describe this show except that it's kinda heartwarmingly super cute, you've got a lil bit of character development for each of them all wrapped up in a little parcel of comedy fun and there's still these great heartwarming moments that slap you in the face when you're least expecting it. it's a super fun comedic show, and honestly the one i started looking forward to the most every week, and it's a real shame there won't be more because it's honestly an understated thing of beauty.
Eizouken ni wa Te wo Dasu na! / Keep your hands off Eizouken
So this show was one of the shows I visually was most interested in - an anime about making anime? sign me up. this to me is kinda a show that screams 'auteur theater', it's one of those shows that really prides itself on being distinct, and interesting, and not mainstream, so i kind of put it off before binge watching it all on a weekend.
what did i like? well there are a few things i really love about this show but one of the main things is portrayal of high school girls. this is kinda a theme that i personally love, that real ass look when girls aren't just cute lil girls with no personality, but ones that actually tell the story of the girls. model girl - she has her parents expectations and a dream and a passion, Asakusa who has the best, most amazing voice ever, doumeki who i just kind of am in love with, and kanamori who obviously, everyone loves, from the way that she has this deep ass backstory about money being a really important thing to her, to how much she just gets shit done. that's a woman i wanna fall in love with yknow?
However, the plot itself honestly leaves a lot to be desired, and my favorite arc of the show probably is the robot club, and the rest kind of settles itself into more of a quiet, set up to the rest of the show in my opinion, but honestly the animation and the love that you can see in the show is what really keeps it standing out against the rest of the shows this season. But like i mentioned before, this show feels more like a show which is very 'cult or nothing' - not super well received by the general public but before you know it, there will be small intense groups of people who absolutely love the show.
i mean for me, the ending is just such a weird, idk, like the show constantly does this thing reflecting the creative process where they visually put these characters into their little pretend, animation world, and the ending finishes off with a highlights cut of their OVA, and blends reality into their ideas, including UFOs around earth. While i like the way it looks and how cool it is, still really dubious about how effective it as an actual plot line. however, this itself was actually based off a manga - so maybe i just have to slag that off instead of the show being not innovative enough?
overall - genuinely a real pleasure to watch, but definitely one that needs a little bit of priming before just recommending to casuals. if you're a fan of more off key shows like tatami galaxy or ping pong the animation which really prides itself on super unique visuals, this is a good show for you.
Haikyuu!!: To the Top
Listen. Who needs me to go on about Haikyuu?? More than I already have at least. I love the show. I love the manga. I love the stage play. This is just the long awaited 4th season we all needed that will finally give us more content to feed off. It's perfect. Everyone is perfect. I read the manga and then I watch the anime and I just feel like all is right in the world (Even when everything is gonig sorely sorely wrong).
Also if you didn't watch Land vs Sky OVA before this, make sure you do so! It covers bits of downtime between the S3 and S4!
Heya Camp
Another one of those lil sequel-y things. Apparently there's not enough to make another Yuru Camp, but this is just a lil 5 minute comfy thing that just gets a little boost to the comm who miss the show and want more content. It's just soft and short, but honestly I wish there was more.
if you liked the OG, you'll like this. or if you just wanna feel loved and warm for 4 minutes.
Ishuzoku Reviewers:
Where oh where do i even begin with this, masterpiece of the century. If you've watched Monster Musume, this is kinda the same premise where there's a bunch of fantasy girls, except kinda turned up the lewd like 900%. Warning: if you're under 18 or not keen on mature sexual themes, or general anime depiction of women, do not touch with a ten foot pole.
the general gist is - a fantasy world where literally every type of species exist, and there is a blossoming sex work sector. they're called succu-girls, and you can basically get it on with literally anyone as long as you get the money. despite the whole thing sounding like it has zero to no plot (like monmus, which has actually, not plot but a lot of "plot"), this also incredibly enough, has a good amount of both "plot" and plot.
our MCs are a human called Stunk, an elf called Zell (voiced by Senku from Dr Stone which cracks me up to no end), and an angel called Crimvael who gets their halo broken and thrown down to earth, along with a handful of other mates that kinda come and go. Zell and Stunk are basically your super horny adventurer bros, and they go around banging women whenever they have the time to, and they some how come up with the incredible idea to rate/review all the different species and brothels they go. and there is pretty much something for everyone, cowtits, fairies, slime, hyena girls, girl on girl, gender bender, actual succubus, reptilian girls shitting out eggs, MILFs (questionable.), build ya own girls, skeletons and BDSM dungeons. Literally. Everything. Like, I gotta give it to the author, they did not shy away from ANY kink in this show that can be put into a fantasy world setting, and it fucking rocks. Like, as much as you wanna discredit this show for being one for the horny kids out there, there's also an undeniable impeccable element of world building. just little tiny hints that show this bigger world outside of their sexscapades, like how there's a whole bunch of horny reptilian dudes who line up and watch girls shit out eggs and potentially eat them because it's kinda like, both a sex and a gourmet thing at the same time? I don't pretend to understand it but damn is it brilliant. Also, namely the plot thread of a 10/10 mage sex experience brothel who is basically using her clones as sex workers to collect semen to develop intense war weaponry? Like, cmon, that's ingenious. What's she using it for? Who are these people behind the scenes? A lot of the times, people kinda get lost in the fun and drop the plot, but this gives you both by the plateful and boy oh boy do i enjoy eating this up. It's bawdy, fun, and honestly it's unironically a super cultured experience for what i expected.
10/10 for the men of culture out there.
Murenase! Seton Gakuen
So this was like not anywhere on my original to watch list because i kinda just overlooked this one like, sure ok whatever, but it's actually kinda fun. for a furry show. haha.
so beastars got kinda popular, and then they were like, hey what if we.... like just made more of these animals at schools? some people have pointed out that this show is kinda like, god awful, all the men are like, animal shaped, but all the women are like, catgirl kinda shaped, like human with animal features. I'm not even gonna try to deny that, because obviously someone out there was like really into gendered differences, but it's not really, imo, the biggest thing about this show? although if that bother you, probably either try beastars, or skip this one.
so basically, there's this HUMAN male (jin) who shows up at this school full of animals, they're all basically just, hanging around at this school until he gets heckled by a lil wolf ranka, and they become this cooking club with the only other human girl and a few other girls, like actual cat girl, koala girl (voiced by serara from log horizon), panda girl called ling ling (lmao...), and a sloth girl.
the kinda general premise is just like a sort of loose school/slice of life show, except it's just a little more hectic than a normal school comedy because of the pure chaos that comes with dealing with animal fused characters, including the kinda more interesting aspects of like, mating? and animal behaviors? (like gay giraffes). although, they never really do point out the whole probably unethically sourced meat issue, but this is not Beastars. bonus - hyena girls except this one is nonbinary and doesn't give a shit about everyones feelings! also the only person with a harem (sorry jin) is our girl Hitomi, who snags literally every single girl who comes through the door. TBH the biggest seller to me is the VA cast, I'm a sucker for cute voices (see: serara), but our girl Ranka also has a cute ass seiyuu who knocks it out the park so it's a real delight listening to the cute voices. lil wolley mammoth. ahhh. soothes my soul.
that ending also, not that bad. open enough to ask for a s2, but still relatively satisfying despite the kinda cheesy ending. some people criticised that the anime skips over and changed a lot of things, but to be honest, i'm alright with this one. considering how like, non serious it is, changing up the source material doesn't feel like as much of a stab in the back as they did to classroom of the elite - so this is within acceptable bounds imo.
Overall, this isn't really a show that requires a lot of thought, you either enjoy these kinda premises or you dont. it's your standard, run of the mill show, except with an animal flavor, but i will say one thing. the ED fucking slaps. have that on replay because its such an adorable song.
Kyokou Suiri (In/Spectre)
Okay so this was an interesting watch. Obviously as you watch the show, you can tell that it's clearly based off a source material because the pacing of this show is honestly atrocious. Spoilers ahead, because there is a LOT to get through here.
Right, so the premise is that there's like, this one girl Kotoko and she was abducted as a kid to become like a goddess for spirits (yokai, ayakashi etc.) and she has one leg, one eye, and is somehow really good at just explaining things. Essentially shes like, galaxy brain on steroids. The other set up is for her boyfriend, Kuro, who originally had another girlfriend (they broke up because she was a normie) and then she proposes to him that they should go out and date, and while he seems totally unethused, it turns out they're dating.
The actual core of the plot is interesting enough I guess, because you've got this whole thing where like, essentially supernatural things happen and then it's Kotoko (and Kuro) job to fix and save everyone who's involved. The first arc of the show is solved within like 3 episodes, which is about the mystery of the woman who kills a man and dumps his body into the swamp, and the second is about a spectre/urban legend who comes to life through the efforts of Kuro's crazed cousin Rikka - which they spend about the rest of the whole show focusing on, which honestly feels ridiculous dragged out. Not to mention, there's literally zero to no action, it's mainly just deductive narration on the part of Kotoko. You spend about like 5+ episodes just sitting there as Kotoko just narrates all the single possiblities to try to disprove an urban legend on an internet thread. A lot of this show kinda just feels like a big old mansplaining session, and that it was written by a guy who went, this is how it feels to know all the answers and show everyone else up. It feels a little, Mary Sue? Self project-y, and very self indulgent. (I looked up the author after I wrote this, and to no one's surprise, it's a man.)
I think the premise of the show was interesting, and finding out the backgrounds of the characters was definitely nice. I think the relationship between Kuro and his ex Saki was actually one of the more interesting parts, and I also think the relationships around Kuro make him a really interesting character. He's someone who pretends to be human, but fundamentally isn't, he's kinda removed from a lot of stuff, emotionally kinda blunted and also has a real weird fascination with his cousin Rikka because she was his first love. He's such an interesting character, but a lot of that development gets stashed to the wayside. Like also, nobody ever explains how or why he ends up being her boyfriend and being caring for her - unlike Seishun Buta Yaro, where you can actually see their relationship develop in real time, this kinda goes, hey you remember them, anyway they're like in love now - except you never see anything happen, you're just TOLD they like each other now.
So the bad things - well, we kind of have to infer a LOT about what's going on, despite it literally being like, information dump every episode. Things that develop off screen are the relationship between Kuro and Kotoko, they never explicitly say that he's going out with her, because we find out the same time as Saki does that they are. We never know how long they've been going out for, but we get a "two and a half years" tossed casually after they confirm they've been going out. Also, let's also mention that moment when Saki finds out about Rikka, and we literally find out in the FINAL EPISODES, that the whole time Rikka was behind the construction of the incident, and that SURPRISE, SHE HAD BEEN LIVING WITH KOTOKO THE ENTIRE TIME. Like, when the fuck were we going to find out about that? Cleary not any time soon, not like it was crucial to the plot?
This show is really odd because it does't really fall quite into the action genre, it's not really romance, because none of it happens on screen, it's not really a mystery, because you literally have no opportunities to find anything out. Like it's not even like Sherlock, where you get given clues and you have to work from that with the detectives, because all the solutions are like wild shots in the dark, and literally half the time you don't actually even know or care what the truth is, because Kotoko gives you like 8000 possibilities with literally no facts (on the first arc), and the second one was that you already knew the truth, but you're just wondering what bullshit she's going to come up with to defeat the big bad. It's also not really horror or thriller, it's not really frightening and there's really not much that's scary besides mild gore.
To be honest, I genuinely don't MIND the concept - someone mentioned that this was one of the most 'interesting' animes they've seen lately - which I can say that there's nothing quite like it out there, but I don't think this is a compliment. I do think they were obviously sweet moments, like the only obviously development between Kotoko and Kuro when he compliments her, except then she does a 180 and just slaps his hand away? That was like weird. Also the whole concept of him being hot for his cousin, doesn't really come up except I feel like he's sort of half in love with every woman in his life (Rikka, Saki, Kotoko) despite being clearly, stunted in emotional and mental wellbeing?
Anyway this was a very long review. I'm just upset about the missed opportunities for a great show tbh. Real potential, and I remember being really wowed by it when I saw it airing on TV while I was in Japan, but definitely didn't pan out the way I wanted it to. Apologies.
Somari to Mori no Kamisama
So this show is. Visually gorgeous - like out of the whole season, the amount of visual lushness and vibrancy and beauty and detail that was put in this is incredible.
The show also, has a lot of heart. The premise of the show is like, a golem (protector in the woods) detaches himself from the woods because he finds a human child (Somali) and travels around with her in order to find humans because he only has a year left to live.
Honestly, while Somali as a child is honestly kind of hard to bear, it doesn't really detract from the actual charm of the show, which is inherently about the chosen bonds of the two. While the whole show is a little weird and overall a smidge just slow in its pacing, the topics of the story, finding family, parental responsibility, kindness, love, the ticking time of life passing by, choosing happiness or responsibility, cherishing what you have, they're all such lovely human qualities that blossom to life under the careful and beautiful guidance of beautifully animated glory.
It's one of those shows which just drapes human experiences in a fantasy cloak, and while it's not a favorite, I won't lie and say I didn't just cry throughout the whole last episode.
Hōsekisho Richard-shi no Nazo Kantei
Oh man this is a big old clusterfuck of a review. okay so, a LOT of people have been shitting on this show primarily because it's kind of just sitting between the genres. it's not really a kind of show that appeals to guys in general, there's no like, general appeal either because it's, more or less, basically fujoshi bait. it's a show about this one super hot european guy called Richard who used to be a conman but comes from a super rich family, he's like, had a wild life, and now he's an expert jeweller who happens to do sherlock shit on the side, and there's another guy called Seigi (seigi like justice), and he comes from a broken family as well with a cool stepdad, and he becomes employed at Richard's high end jeweller shop through some reason or other. the actual PLOT of the show kinda runs parallel to the character development of the both of them - the plot is like someone comes into the shop each week with a problem and richard like miraculously solves it with his insanely adpt people reading skills while Seigi just talks about how cool he is, how pretty he is, and just all around tries to do the right thing.
One thing I do like - they do get development throughout the whole thing. You get to learn about Richard and a lot about Seigi during the action, and even little things that small monologues and discussions between the characters really flesh them out. Also Tanimoto san with her aromantic chats and her melon soda. What a queen. Character development works really well in this show and is just a pleasure to watch.
okay so here let's start on the big old shitfest that happens in regards to the ACTUAL content. So, midway through the final arc, Richard fucks off back to London because of some sort of inheritance shit that comes up and Seigi has this gay panic sesh where he totally misses Richard but hes... not aware? is in love with Tanimoto san? it never really gets explained. there's also this one section where this woman is about to marry this poor dude (who gets turned down like twice in the two episodes he shows up in) and she confesses that she just really misses her ex girlfriend of 7 years and just couldn't get over her. Richard also has this big old spiel like, you can't discriminate against anyone on anything (Race, religion, sexuality etc) so you're like oh cool maybe this is going to be like, an open minded anime like Given or Hoshiai no Sora where they just openly talk about like, taboo subjects. well, they don't really. Here's how it goes down - There's this little scene in the final arc where Richard gets cold feet because his girlfriend loved him for his personality instead of his looks, except the money thing really fucked with her so she ended up leaving and Richard was like, I'm very upset and I never want to talk about it ever again. And then Seigi just goes - that girlfriend, was it actually a boyfriend? And Richard goes -scoffs- fuck no. bitch you thought.
except like, there's this undercurrent of homoerotic because richard just looks at seigi and goes. you like me. and seigi ALWAYS bangs on about how pretty and gorgeous richard is. to the point where one of the episodes opens with this moment with a classmate where hes like oh my boss is pretty, smart, gorgeous, speaks multiple languages and loves sweets, and his classmate is like damn you two alone? and he goes oh yeah. but he's male. and the classmate is like hold up what. there's just an undercurrent of like, weird sexual tension where thye'd do anything for each other but nothing ever happens.
So the final arc - Richard is back to London, and Seigi misses him so much that hes like let me support you ok i wanna be with you, and he rocks up, and his cousin Jeffrey Claremont finds Seigi and takes him all around London, tells him the story of the inheritance and how he needs to just be married. So then Seigi makes a pact with Jeffrey and is like, sure i'll enter into a civil partnership with Richard just so he can get the money and then tries to save him. And then they give each other their most prized possessions like promising themselves to each other and Jeffrey is like i love you very much but im very angry at you. Here's the kicker tho - as of volume 9 of the books they're still not together. There's all this stuff like, Seigi considering Richard in a romantic life, Seigi thinking a lot about Richard in a very gay but not explicit way.
So is this queer baiting? I'll just quote what u/summer_petrichor says, since they've actually read the whole thing.
Is this series BL?
No - it's officially a josei (manga is shoujo, though). While Seigi and Richard's relationship isn't explicitly stated at this point, it can absolutely be read in a romantic manner, and you don't even need fujo goggles for that when Seigi just keeps declaring he likes Richard every so often. I don't consider it fujobait either, mainly because the author has taken pains to put forward a very LGBTQ+ friendly mindset in this series - recall what Richard mentioned about how the shop doesn't discriminate against sexual orientation? Recall how literally the second episode (and the second chapter of volume 1 too) was about a lesbian struggling against societal norms? And other things in the novels and official fanbook as well. It's all very deliberate on the author's side, and I'll be damned if this wasn't purposeful. The only things that might be of concern is 1) "a relationship without labels" - that is, nothing is ever explicitly stated because Japan seems to love this quite a bit. I'm actually okay if the novels end with their relationship being beyond labels though, because it's very clear at this point that they mean the world to each other; and 2) the author literally can't make them canon because of publisher limits.
This is really a complex situation - because I do not think it is the author's intention to do anything like BBC sherlock level queerbaiting, where women ARE involved to tangle the threads of their relationships, because by allowing the two to become 'civil partnership' - well that's pretty self explanatory isn't it? But why, in a world where shows like Given exist, is it not explicit about the relationships? Is it because of a marketing tactic? Did they think this would sell more if it was sold as a normal manga - even though it is so clearly... not. For example, a show like Boku no Tonari - that's jsut comedy queer baiting. But this is done with such a heartfelt, earnest tone towards their relationship, it's almost a missed opportunity. For something that could be a great queer relationship, it largely fails to just cross that final admission.
The show itself? It's not bad, but despite all it's sincerity, it falls a little to the wayside in terms of being a satisfying turn on a rather trope-y premise.
on-going:
Ahiru no Sora
Originally I was not interested in this at all - plus this show has 50 episodes!! It's heaps, it's an old manga that just randomly got an adaptation, but its really actually very good. I like my sport anime on the realistic side (see: Haikyuu), so this is kinda like a cute lil basketball version of it.
With a kinda interesting, not really very dedicated line up of main characters, there's something kinda endearing about how non-conformative to the 2020 tropes that this anime has - which includes a delinquent twins, 3 side characters who literally don't get a whole heap of attention, a super badass tattooed basketball legend, a tall boy who is also a sad boy, and a short boy with a dream and some serious hops - it's kind of just a pleasure to watch the series because they're all kinda just stupid teenage boys. some people complained that nobody cares about the MCs and that they're not endearing and nobody cares about the characters, but I kind of feel like there's no obligation for these characters to be that charming. in a way, I enjoy that they're so atypical from what people expect from sport animes because they're really just here to play sport, rather than show this pretty, sanitized, charming archetypes.
Also guys who like basketball seem to have really enjoyed this anime - so. it's good i guess. in the end, i really just enjoy watching this on an off day, and while the pacing can be a little choppy and drawn out on certain moments (lots of people complaining that this drags), there's a lot of heart in this show and it's been a consistent show so far.
if you enjoy a sport anime, definitely check this out.
Chihayafuru 3
okay so when i watched this, as im sure many people did, the last season of this was over 5 years ago. So there's been a really... long period of time where i hadn't watched this, and then kinda getting thrown back into it like there was no gap at all, is both a good, but also not a great thing? for a rewatch party, seeing the bridge not exist at all is great, i don't really want a long catch up and like a refresher course - which is how i felt when i watched SNK which was just, 10 minutes of every 20 minute episode was dedicated to reminding everyone what they'd missed since last week, which isn't necessary when you watch a show all in one go. except, because this show kinda so seamlessly just slips back into where it left off, there's an expectation that you remember and care about these kids, and i'll be honest i really can't remember that much, neither do i care.
so more or less i've kind of stalled in my watch because i just couldn't care to remember anything about this show. i do remember being kinda enthralled by the softness of the show, but i'm still waiting for that moment where it really does grab me again.
i'll update this if/when i ever catch up.
on hold/dropped:
Kabukichou Sherlock
So it's not that I don't like this show, but it just kinda didn't manage to capture my attention. But from what I've seen other people comment/post on the last episode, not a lot of people were that keen on the way the second cour kinda went. I'd say it was really interesting for the concept of a modern japanese Sherlock, but the execution fails a little.
completed:
Boku no Tonari ni Ankoku Hakaishin ga Imasu
WELL WELL WELL. THIS IS MY FAVORITE ANIME OF THE SEASON YALL CAN GO HOME.
i started this anime with literally like no expectations, because i just love a lil funny turn ya brain off kinda show and it turned out to kinda be all i wanted but also something extremely cute? when i watched it, the first episode was a real, huh okay moment, it wasn't necessarily THAT funny, but like Chuubiyou Gekihatsu Boy, it's one of those shows that really kinda just gets better the more you watch, except I'd say this was even better than CGB. With a really hilarious cast and a "straight man" who literally is just as whack as the rest of them, every single addition to the cast works well. You've got the insane, gullible and always surprising Hanadori/Miguel/Strumhut, Mr i know everything and can read your mind also i probably created the universe Tsukimiya, adorable bad luck magnet Hibiki/Helios, and masochist childhood friend Mogami, paired with idiot im normal but still actually really fucking weird Koyuki Seri/Gestober, it's kinda like the best sort of character comedy ever. I remember watching it with a friend when Seri has this lil romantic interest in Sumiso san, and he just pointed to the screen and went. But this is really gay. And I was like. Huh no you're right this is... Very.
I don't really know how to describe this show except that it's kinda heartwarmingly super cute, you've got a lil bit of character development for each of them all wrapped up in a little parcel of comedy fun and there's still these great heartwarming moments that slap you in the face when you're least expecting it. it's a super fun comedic show, and honestly the one i started looking forward to the most every week, and it's a real shame there won't be more because it's honestly an understated thing of beauty.
Eizouken ni wa Te wo Dasu na! / Keep your hands off Eizouken
So this show was one of the shows I visually was most interested in - an anime about making anime? sign me up. this to me is kinda a show that screams 'auteur theater', it's one of those shows that really prides itself on being distinct, and interesting, and not mainstream, so i kind of put it off before binge watching it all on a weekend.
what did i like? well there are a few things i really love about this show but one of the main things is portrayal of high school girls. this is kinda a theme that i personally love, that real ass look when girls aren't just cute lil girls with no personality, but ones that actually tell the story of the girls. model girl - she has her parents expectations and a dream and a passion, Asakusa who has the best, most amazing voice ever, doumeki who i just kind of am in love with, and kanamori who obviously, everyone loves, from the way that she has this deep ass backstory about money being a really important thing to her, to how much she just gets shit done. that's a woman i wanna fall in love with yknow?
However, the plot itself honestly leaves a lot to be desired, and my favorite arc of the show probably is the robot club, and the rest kind of settles itself into more of a quiet, set up to the rest of the show in my opinion, but honestly the animation and the love that you can see in the show is what really keeps it standing out against the rest of the shows this season. But like i mentioned before, this show feels more like a show which is very 'cult or nothing' - not super well received by the general public but before you know it, there will be small intense groups of people who absolutely love the show.
i mean for me, the ending is just such a weird, idk, like the show constantly does this thing reflecting the creative process where they visually put these characters into their little pretend, animation world, and the ending finishes off with a highlights cut of their OVA, and blends reality into their ideas, including UFOs around earth. While i like the way it looks and how cool it is, still really dubious about how effective it as an actual plot line. however, this itself was actually based off a manga - so maybe i just have to slag that off instead of the show being not innovative enough?
overall - genuinely a real pleasure to watch, but definitely one that needs a little bit of priming before just recommending to casuals. if you're a fan of more off key shows like tatami galaxy or ping pong the animation which really prides itself on super unique visuals, this is a good show for you.
Haikyuu!!: To the Top
Listen. Who needs me to go on about Haikyuu?? More than I already have at least. I love the show. I love the manga. I love the stage play. This is just the long awaited 4th season we all needed that will finally give us more content to feed off. It's perfect. Everyone is perfect. I read the manga and then I watch the anime and I just feel like all is right in the world (Even when everything is gonig sorely sorely wrong).
Also if you didn't watch Land vs Sky OVA before this, make sure you do so! It covers bits of downtime between the S3 and S4!
Heya Camp
Another one of those lil sequel-y things. Apparently there's not enough to make another Yuru Camp, but this is just a lil 5 minute comfy thing that just gets a little boost to the comm who miss the show and want more content. It's just soft and short, but honestly I wish there was more.
if you liked the OG, you'll like this. or if you just wanna feel loved and warm for 4 minutes.
Ishuzoku Reviewers:
Where oh where do i even begin with this, masterpiece of the century. If you've watched Monster Musume, this is kinda the same premise where there's a bunch of fantasy girls, except kinda turned up the lewd like 900%. Warning: if you're under 18 or not keen on mature sexual themes, or general anime depiction of women, do not touch with a ten foot pole.
the general gist is - a fantasy world where literally every type of species exist, and there is a blossoming sex work sector. they're called succu-girls, and you can basically get it on with literally anyone as long as you get the money. despite the whole thing sounding like it has zero to no plot (like monmus, which has actually, not plot but a lot of "plot"), this also incredibly enough, has a good amount of both "plot" and plot.
our MCs are a human called Stunk, an elf called Zell (voiced by Senku from Dr Stone which cracks me up to no end), and an angel called Crimvael who gets their halo broken and thrown down to earth, along with a handful of other mates that kinda come and go. Zell and Stunk are basically your super horny adventurer bros, and they go around banging women whenever they have the time to, and they some how come up with the incredible idea to rate/review all the different species and brothels they go. and there is pretty much something for everyone, cowtits, fairies, slime, hyena girls, girl on girl, gender bender, actual succubus, reptilian girls shitting out eggs, MILFs (questionable.), build ya own girls, skeletons and BDSM dungeons. Literally. Everything. Like, I gotta give it to the author, they did not shy away from ANY kink in this show that can be put into a fantasy world setting, and it fucking rocks. Like, as much as you wanna discredit this show for being one for the horny kids out there, there's also an undeniable impeccable element of world building. just little tiny hints that show this bigger world outside of their sexscapades, like how there's a whole bunch of horny reptilian dudes who line up and watch girls shit out eggs and potentially eat them because it's kinda like, both a sex and a gourmet thing at the same time? I don't pretend to understand it but damn is it brilliant. Also, namely the plot thread of a 10/10 mage sex experience brothel who is basically using her clones as sex workers to collect semen to develop intense war weaponry? Like, cmon, that's ingenious. What's she using it for? Who are these people behind the scenes? A lot of the times, people kinda get lost in the fun and drop the plot, but this gives you both by the plateful and boy oh boy do i enjoy eating this up. It's bawdy, fun, and honestly it's unironically a super cultured experience for what i expected.
10/10 for the men of culture out there.
Murenase! Seton Gakuen
So this was like not anywhere on my original to watch list because i kinda just overlooked this one like, sure ok whatever, but it's actually kinda fun. for a furry show. haha.
so beastars got kinda popular, and then they were like, hey what if we.... like just made more of these animals at schools? some people have pointed out that this show is kinda like, god awful, all the men are like, animal shaped, but all the women are like, catgirl kinda shaped, like human with animal features. I'm not even gonna try to deny that, because obviously someone out there was like really into gendered differences, but it's not really, imo, the biggest thing about this show? although if that bother you, probably either try beastars, or skip this one.
so basically, there's this HUMAN male (jin) who shows up at this school full of animals, they're all basically just, hanging around at this school until he gets heckled by a lil wolf ranka, and they become this cooking club with the only other human girl and a few other girls, like actual cat girl, koala girl (voiced by serara from log horizon), panda girl called ling ling (lmao...), and a sloth girl.
the kinda general premise is just like a sort of loose school/slice of life show, except it's just a little more hectic than a normal school comedy because of the pure chaos that comes with dealing with animal fused characters, including the kinda more interesting aspects of like, mating? and animal behaviors? (like gay giraffes). although, they never really do point out the whole probably unethically sourced meat issue, but this is not Beastars. bonus - hyena girls except this one is nonbinary and doesn't give a shit about everyones feelings! also the only person with a harem (sorry jin) is our girl Hitomi, who snags literally every single girl who comes through the door. TBH the biggest seller to me is the VA cast, I'm a sucker for cute voices (see: serara), but our girl Ranka also has a cute ass seiyuu who knocks it out the park so it's a real delight listening to the cute voices. lil wolley mammoth. ahhh. soothes my soul.
that ending also, not that bad. open enough to ask for a s2, but still relatively satisfying despite the kinda cheesy ending. some people criticised that the anime skips over and changed a lot of things, but to be honest, i'm alright with this one. considering how like, non serious it is, changing up the source material doesn't feel like as much of a stab in the back as they did to classroom of the elite - so this is within acceptable bounds imo.
Overall, this isn't really a show that requires a lot of thought, you either enjoy these kinda premises or you dont. it's your standard, run of the mill show, except with an animal flavor, but i will say one thing. the ED fucking slaps. have that on replay because its such an adorable song.
Kyokou Suiri (In/Spectre)
Okay so this was an interesting watch. Obviously as you watch the show, you can tell that it's clearly based off a source material because the pacing of this show is honestly atrocious. Spoilers ahead, because there is a LOT to get through here.
Right, so the premise is that there's like, this one girl Kotoko and she was abducted as a kid to become like a goddess for spirits (yokai, ayakashi etc.) and she has one leg, one eye, and is somehow really good at just explaining things. Essentially shes like, galaxy brain on steroids. The other set up is for her boyfriend, Kuro, who originally had another girlfriend (they broke up because she was a normie) and then she proposes to him that they should go out and date, and while he seems totally unethused, it turns out they're dating.
The actual core of the plot is interesting enough I guess, because you've got this whole thing where like, essentially supernatural things happen and then it's Kotoko (and Kuro) job to fix and save everyone who's involved. The first arc of the show is solved within like 3 episodes, which is about the mystery of the woman who kills a man and dumps his body into the swamp, and the second is about a spectre/urban legend who comes to life through the efforts of Kuro's crazed cousin Rikka - which they spend about the rest of the whole show focusing on, which honestly feels ridiculous dragged out. Not to mention, there's literally zero to no action, it's mainly just deductive narration on the part of Kotoko. You spend about like 5+ episodes just sitting there as Kotoko just narrates all the single possiblities to try to disprove an urban legend on an internet thread. A lot of this show kinda just feels like a big old mansplaining session, and that it was written by a guy who went, this is how it feels to know all the answers and show everyone else up. It feels a little, Mary Sue? Self project-y, and very self indulgent. (I looked up the author after I wrote this, and to no one's surprise, it's a man.)
I think the premise of the show was interesting, and finding out the backgrounds of the characters was definitely nice. I think the relationship between Kuro and his ex Saki was actually one of the more interesting parts, and I also think the relationships around Kuro make him a really interesting character. He's someone who pretends to be human, but fundamentally isn't, he's kinda removed from a lot of stuff, emotionally kinda blunted and also has a real weird fascination with his cousin Rikka because she was his first love. He's such an interesting character, but a lot of that development gets stashed to the wayside. Like also, nobody ever explains how or why he ends up being her boyfriend and being caring for her - unlike Seishun Buta Yaro, where you can actually see their relationship develop in real time, this kinda goes, hey you remember them, anyway they're like in love now - except you never see anything happen, you're just TOLD they like each other now.
So the bad things - well, we kind of have to infer a LOT about what's going on, despite it literally being like, information dump every episode. Things that develop off screen are the relationship between Kuro and Kotoko, they never explicitly say that he's going out with her, because we find out the same time as Saki does that they are. We never know how long they've been going out for, but we get a "two and a half years" tossed casually after they confirm they've been going out. Also, let's also mention that moment when Saki finds out about Rikka, and we literally find out in the FINAL EPISODES, that the whole time Rikka was behind the construction of the incident, and that SURPRISE, SHE HAD BEEN LIVING WITH KOTOKO THE ENTIRE TIME. Like, when the fuck were we going to find out about that? Cleary not any time soon, not like it was crucial to the plot?
This show is really odd because it does't really fall quite into the action genre, it's not really romance, because none of it happens on screen, it's not really a mystery, because you literally have no opportunities to find anything out. Like it's not even like Sherlock, where you get given clues and you have to work from that with the detectives, because all the solutions are like wild shots in the dark, and literally half the time you don't actually even know or care what the truth is, because Kotoko gives you like 8000 possibilities with literally no facts (on the first arc), and the second one was that you already knew the truth, but you're just wondering what bullshit she's going to come up with to defeat the big bad. It's also not really horror or thriller, it's not really frightening and there's really not much that's scary besides mild gore.
To be honest, I genuinely don't MIND the concept - someone mentioned that this was one of the most 'interesting' animes they've seen lately - which I can say that there's nothing quite like it out there, but I don't think this is a compliment. I do think they were obviously sweet moments, like the only obviously development between Kotoko and Kuro when he compliments her, except then she does a 180 and just slaps his hand away? That was like weird. Also the whole concept of him being hot for his cousin, doesn't really come up except I feel like he's sort of half in love with every woman in his life (Rikka, Saki, Kotoko) despite being clearly, stunted in emotional and mental wellbeing?
Anyway this was a very long review. I'm just upset about the missed opportunities for a great show tbh. Real potential, and I remember being really wowed by it when I saw it airing on TV while I was in Japan, but definitely didn't pan out the way I wanted it to. Apologies.
Somari to Mori no Kamisama
So this show is. Visually gorgeous - like out of the whole season, the amount of visual lushness and vibrancy and beauty and detail that was put in this is incredible.
The show also, has a lot of heart. The premise of the show is like, a golem (protector in the woods) detaches himself from the woods because he finds a human child (Somali) and travels around with her in order to find humans because he only has a year left to live.
Honestly, while Somali as a child is honestly kind of hard to bear, it doesn't really detract from the actual charm of the show, which is inherently about the chosen bonds of the two. While the whole show is a little weird and overall a smidge just slow in its pacing, the topics of the story, finding family, parental responsibility, kindness, love, the ticking time of life passing by, choosing happiness or responsibility, cherishing what you have, they're all such lovely human qualities that blossom to life under the careful and beautiful guidance of beautifully animated glory.
It's one of those shows which just drapes human experiences in a fantasy cloak, and while it's not a favorite, I won't lie and say I didn't just cry throughout the whole last episode.
Hōsekisho Richard-shi no Nazo Kantei
Oh man this is a big old clusterfuck of a review. okay so, a LOT of people have been shitting on this show primarily because it's kind of just sitting between the genres. it's not really a kind of show that appeals to guys in general, there's no like, general appeal either because it's, more or less, basically fujoshi bait. it's a show about this one super hot european guy called Richard who used to be a conman but comes from a super rich family, he's like, had a wild life, and now he's an expert jeweller who happens to do sherlock shit on the side, and there's another guy called Seigi (seigi like justice), and he comes from a broken family as well with a cool stepdad, and he becomes employed at Richard's high end jeweller shop through some reason or other. the actual PLOT of the show kinda runs parallel to the character development of the both of them - the plot is like someone comes into the shop each week with a problem and richard like miraculously solves it with his insanely adpt people reading skills while Seigi just talks about how cool he is, how pretty he is, and just all around tries to do the right thing.
One thing I do like - they do get development throughout the whole thing. You get to learn about Richard and a lot about Seigi during the action, and even little things that small monologues and discussions between the characters really flesh them out. Also Tanimoto san with her aromantic chats and her melon soda. What a queen. Character development works really well in this show and is just a pleasure to watch.
okay so here let's start on the big old shitfest that happens in regards to the ACTUAL content. So, midway through the final arc, Richard fucks off back to London because of some sort of inheritance shit that comes up and Seigi has this gay panic sesh where he totally misses Richard but hes... not aware? is in love with Tanimoto san? it never really gets explained. there's also this one section where this woman is about to marry this poor dude (who gets turned down like twice in the two episodes he shows up in) and she confesses that she just really misses her ex girlfriend of 7 years and just couldn't get over her. Richard also has this big old spiel like, you can't discriminate against anyone on anything (Race, religion, sexuality etc) so you're like oh cool maybe this is going to be like, an open minded anime like Given or Hoshiai no Sora where they just openly talk about like, taboo subjects. well, they don't really. Here's how it goes down - There's this little scene in the final arc where Richard gets cold feet because his girlfriend loved him for his personality instead of his looks, except the money thing really fucked with her so she ended up leaving and Richard was like, I'm very upset and I never want to talk about it ever again. And then Seigi just goes - that girlfriend, was it actually a boyfriend? And Richard goes -scoffs- fuck no. bitch you thought.
except like, there's this undercurrent of homoerotic because richard just looks at seigi and goes. you like me. and seigi ALWAYS bangs on about how pretty and gorgeous richard is. to the point where one of the episodes opens with this moment with a classmate where hes like oh my boss is pretty, smart, gorgeous, speaks multiple languages and loves sweets, and his classmate is like damn you two alone? and he goes oh yeah. but he's male. and the classmate is like hold up what. there's just an undercurrent of like, weird sexual tension where thye'd do anything for each other but nothing ever happens.
So the final arc - Richard is back to London, and Seigi misses him so much that hes like let me support you ok i wanna be with you, and he rocks up, and his cousin Jeffrey Claremont finds Seigi and takes him all around London, tells him the story of the inheritance and how he needs to just be married. So then Seigi makes a pact with Jeffrey and is like, sure i'll enter into a civil partnership with Richard just so he can get the money and then tries to save him. And then they give each other their most prized possessions like promising themselves to each other and Jeffrey is like i love you very much but im very angry at you. Here's the kicker tho - as of volume 9 of the books they're still not together. There's all this stuff like, Seigi considering Richard in a romantic life, Seigi thinking a lot about Richard in a very gay but not explicit way.
So is this queer baiting? I'll just quote what u/summer_petrichor says, since they've actually read the whole thing.
Is this series BL?
No - it's officially a josei (manga is shoujo, though). While Seigi and Richard's relationship isn't explicitly stated at this point, it can absolutely be read in a romantic manner, and you don't even need fujo goggles for that when Seigi just keeps declaring he likes Richard every so often. I don't consider it fujobait either, mainly because the author has taken pains to put forward a very LGBTQ+ friendly mindset in this series - recall what Richard mentioned about how the shop doesn't discriminate against sexual orientation? Recall how literally the second episode (and the second chapter of volume 1 too) was about a lesbian struggling against societal norms? And other things in the novels and official fanbook as well. It's all very deliberate on the author's side, and I'll be damned if this wasn't purposeful. The only things that might be of concern is 1) "a relationship without labels" - that is, nothing is ever explicitly stated because Japan seems to love this quite a bit. I'm actually okay if the novels end with their relationship being beyond labels though, because it's very clear at this point that they mean the world to each other; and 2) the author literally can't make them canon because of publisher limits.
This is really a complex situation - because I do not think it is the author's intention to do anything like BBC sherlock level queerbaiting, where women ARE involved to tangle the threads of their relationships, because by allowing the two to become 'civil partnership' - well that's pretty self explanatory isn't it? But why, in a world where shows like Given exist, is it not explicit about the relationships? Is it because of a marketing tactic? Did they think this would sell more if it was sold as a normal manga - even though it is so clearly... not. For example, a show like Boku no Tonari - that's jsut comedy queer baiting. But this is done with such a heartfelt, earnest tone towards their relationship, it's almost a missed opportunity. For something that could be a great queer relationship, it largely fails to just cross that final admission.
The show itself? It's not bad, but despite all it's sincerity, it falls a little to the wayside in terms of being a satisfying turn on a rather trope-y premise.
on-going:
Ahiru no Sora
Originally I was not interested in this at all - plus this show has 50 episodes!! It's heaps, it's an old manga that just randomly got an adaptation, but its really actually very good. I like my sport anime on the realistic side (see: Haikyuu), so this is kinda like a cute lil basketball version of it.
With a kinda interesting, not really very dedicated line up of main characters, there's something kinda endearing about how non-conformative to the 2020 tropes that this anime has - which includes a delinquent twins, 3 side characters who literally don't get a whole heap of attention, a super badass tattooed basketball legend, a tall boy who is also a sad boy, and a short boy with a dream and some serious hops - it's kind of just a pleasure to watch the series because they're all kinda just stupid teenage boys. some people complained that nobody cares about the MCs and that they're not endearing and nobody cares about the characters, but I kind of feel like there's no obligation for these characters to be that charming. in a way, I enjoy that they're so atypical from what people expect from sport animes because they're really just here to play sport, rather than show this pretty, sanitized, charming archetypes.
Also guys who like basketball seem to have really enjoyed this anime - so. it's good i guess. in the end, i really just enjoy watching this on an off day, and while the pacing can be a little choppy and drawn out on certain moments (lots of people complaining that this drags), there's a lot of heart in this show and it's been a consistent show so far.
if you enjoy a sport anime, definitely check this out.
Chihayafuru 3
okay so when i watched this, as im sure many people did, the last season of this was over 5 years ago. So there's been a really... long period of time where i hadn't watched this, and then kinda getting thrown back into it like there was no gap at all, is both a good, but also not a great thing? for a rewatch party, seeing the bridge not exist at all is great, i don't really want a long catch up and like a refresher course - which is how i felt when i watched SNK which was just, 10 minutes of every 20 minute episode was dedicated to reminding everyone what they'd missed since last week, which isn't necessary when you watch a show all in one go. except, because this show kinda so seamlessly just slips back into where it left off, there's an expectation that you remember and care about these kids, and i'll be honest i really can't remember that much, neither do i care.
so more or less i've kind of stalled in my watch because i just couldn't care to remember anything about this show. i do remember being kinda enthralled by the softness of the show, but i'm still waiting for that moment where it really does grab me again.
i'll update this if/when i ever catch up.
on hold/dropped:
Kabukichou Sherlock
So it's not that I don't like this show, but it just kinda didn't manage to capture my attention. But from what I've seen other people comment/post on the last episode, not a lot of people were that keen on the way the second cour kinda went. I'd say it was really interesting for the concept of a modern japanese Sherlock, but the execution fails a little.
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