winter 2023

Okay I actually am trying to follow up on all the shows I've seen because I'm trying to be a better person I swear. I did some of the recording for my videos before i finished writing any of these so this is not gonna map on super well, but here it is. 

Completed 

Itai no wa Iya nano de Bougyoryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu. 2

this is one of those shows i retroactively picked up after being told it was a fucking isekai only to find out i was lied to lol - i thought it was legitimately about a girl being a shield hero like tate no yuusha, but no its just a girl playing a MMORPG with her friends with VR tech and she just happens to be overpowered as fuck due to plot armor (no pun intended). i mean this is pretty much the thing i say when im like, if you liked the first season you'll like more of this, it doesnt get any worse but it sure doesnt get any better but it's enough when you're sad and bored. if you like cute girls being fucking stupid with only a vague hint of amusement, this one isnt too bad. 

Isekai nonbiri nouka 

christ where should i start with this. right. so you know there was an anime a few seasons ago  - black summoner? where ucchi was the main lead? and i basically spent the whole time shitting on it. and kept bringing it back to a show like tsukimichi? 

this is KINDA like the same vibes, but like in a more sanitized way. which is 100% an improvement in my opinion (and to every r/anime lad whos like, oh them making the no sex thing was so stupid and its dumb and ruins the show, fuck you, this is way better.) 

ive long had a lot of complaints when you see the whole isekai harem where everyone wants to fuck the MC, but while a younger me was unapologetically interested in the ideas of hetrosexual normality, the older me is far too tired and bored with the hapless boring gender dynamics. in the way that, i at least WISH we had some sort of interesting twist on the same old relationship formula. i have no idea on how to fix/improve any of it, but all i can say is, i'm honestly kinda bored and sick and tired of the idea that women are just supposed to fall for these guys with their massive harems (and dicks). 

anyway, the anime for isekai nonbiri nouka kinda goes on the same vein as black summoner, where he technically has a lot of relationships with the women around him but the anime goes to great lengths to tone it down. based off the source material, the MC is blessed wiht a healthy body (which means hes apparently horny ALL the time because he couldn't fuck when he was bed bound) and first he's banging the vampire girl, who ropes in the angel, who ropes in a bunch of high elves. the anime hints at this by saying that the elves all need to be repopulated because they got wiped out and there are no men, and they build a fuck room, but the MC is shown to be lik e?? whos going to repopulate them? whats the room for? while the source material readers pointed out that all his insane copulation leads to them all getting pregnant (eugh), it's kinda hard when ALL mention of him being so horny that the fuck room has to be locked from the OUTSIDE kinda gets wiped and so the only mention of this is his vampire wife being his wife, and then the anime ends with the birth of his son. (which i guess they couldnt ban forever lol). apparently it gets so bad that he's so horny but he feels bad that he like, writes a sign up list so that only people willing to be his sexdoll will be part of his rotational nightly supervision duties. idk, can't the guy just use his hand even though he was alone for like, months? no. only hot slender women (of varying mythological races). 

anyway, the anime basically fixes all of this by totally wiping out any and all mention of him being a horny lecher (great, fantastic) and all of his sexual erotica with the ladies (again, fucking wonderful). and all that's left is honestly, quite a fun and cute story about a guy who get reincarnated into a healthy body (as he was chronically ill in his last) and he spends his next life leading a relaxing life where he just becomes a gardener and builds his own happiness, surrounded by people who love and respect him (hey, crazy how much shit you can do when you have a healthy body right.) 

i mean the anime really speaks to me in a deep way whenever he has flashbacks about everything he couldnt do when he was sick - and the idea of being reborn in a body that won't let you down is also fucking incredible, and the cute comedic moments of him just being insanely OP but kinda being really sweet (AND AGAIN, NOT HORNY ALL THE TIME) was really fun! honestly if i hadn't read anything about the source material, i think i would have really loved this anime because of the elements that speak to me, so I ended up leaving a huge gap between after catching up on the source material spoilers so i could forget, to finally finish it without the promise of harem orgies haunting my mind. in the end, i ended up enjoying myself a good amount - especially because of the intense wiping of the shitty elements from the anime producer's end (and for whatever reason, i am truly grateful to them). i do wish i never knew about the sleazy bits, but i mean, it is what it is. personally, i would enjoy more isekai in line with mappa's tendemo skill (aka, none of the fucking awful 'romance' which is a thin disguise for copious amounts of disrespectful sex), so shout out to the fucking anime producers, keep doing what you're doing! 

Hyouken no Majutsushi ga Sekai wo Suberu

this was like the most insane, subpar anime ever hahahahaha. basically some dude who was a kid gets adopted by a strong magician, called the iceblade magician, and then she brings him up. hes like got PTSD from being a pawn in the war, but he gets another chance to go to school, and then he goes to school, gets bullied a little but uncovers some fucking plot that is like, only vaguely touched on which is supposedly a huge threat against him and the life he leads and the government, but the show can never choose what to focus on. 

enoki junya is the MC in this, and theres also some like weird throwaway queer baity moments that stick out in my mind whiel all the girls kinda fall for him - segway - this is a really good way that the MC actually EARNS the affection of the girls? he basically sacrafices himself and goes out of his way to be the emotional rock and steadfast support for all these girls kinda losin gtheir minds and he's super courteous and really lovely and he talks them through all the shit they're insecure about and theyre all like, wait i kinda like him, and im like honestly valid he really pulled some bf moves on you here, and hes super powerful and kinda hot.  like that's a well earned harem if you ask me. although he doesnt fuck any of them. another plus. 

but yeah, it's fine. the sideplot that's about terrorists and shit kinda doesnt get touched on because its all these secrets that the MCs cannot figure out and we don't find out fuck all, while they juggle the mc being kinda op around school and just settling in and thats it for about 12 episodes really. i dont think it will get another season but if they do i at least want some actual fleshing out of the fucking plot. why did i keep watching this? cause its a brainless painless watch. 

Benriya Saitou-san, Isekai ni Iku

wow okay this was an unexpected surprise. although the manga/anime starts off feeling a little choppy in terms of having very unrelated stories that eventually end up colliding together as a cohesive story. i definitely wasn't sure what i was in for when i watched the first episode, but the quality of the animation and the story really grew on me. 

i feel like there are a lot of fun trope reversal elements of this, with a variety of different characters and how they're all really fun and unique - my personal favorite is the side story with the ninja, the witch and then the hero and the demon king and their relationships, but it's truly so fun that every single story eventually overlaps with each other and creates a really intriguing world. all i really wanna say is that i honestly really enjoyed how much this show felt like a different take on the isekai tropes we've seen again and again, and the way the show effortlessly swaps between comedic and serious storytelling is one of the best things i've seen. i really loved this and i'd love to see more - since there isn't much of the manga translated at all. definitely check this out if you're looking for an innovative take on isekai. 

Eiyuu-ou, Bu wo Kiwameru Tame Tenseisu: Soshite, Sekai Saikyou no Minarai Kishi♀

wow this was uh. average lol. it was slightly better than some of the other ones, because i feel like at least the plot thread about the evil guys being around was a bit more specific and actually thought out, but the rest of it wasn't super hot. this old man who used to be super strong gets a wish and he wishes to be reborn, which the goddess grants. very cool. then he gets reborn as a cute pretty girl. 

idk there are like weird elements here which i've brought up in regards to the slime thing which is, its always kinda fucking weird to me when you get a reincarnated body but like they have very real memories of their past life, and retain almost all of their personality, but the idea of like a 100 year old dude in a young teen girl's body is like, kinda creepy? especially when hes constantly around other women? i feel like there needs to be more negotiation about like, how exactly that plays out and if it's like, more along the lines of, the same drive and like flashes of memory, but he still feels like he's been 'reborn' personality wise into one of an actual girl? but there's this moment where he dresses all cute and the old men leer at him and hes like weird to think that we're objectifying  and sexualizing women like this, and to think that i was one of those dudes. like okay? guess you found out being a girl kinda sucks. 

idk there's a whole discussion i wanna have here just about like, gender dynamics in general, but i feel like this isn't SUPER relevant here. 

anyway the story is kinda poor, same issues here where the overarching plot with the evil people is like, something about terrorists and like a mystery about the high landers and how its like the world he used to live in but maybe in the future and people get powers but its restricted and nobody knows why and there's .... 'hyral menas' but i THINK it was supposed to be .. maybe its viral menace? i think the menace is definitely right here. anyway, yeah then while this whole serious plot is happening and everyone is being all serious and boring, inglis, our mc, just goes aorund punching up. i mean its kinda funny because she literaly doesnt take anything seriously at all and we literally get mood whiplash every single scene when its like, oh she can fix any problem with the power of her fists but sometimes she cant because theres a whole terrorist thing on the loose and she kinda doesnt really care besides wanting to just get stronger. 

the more i think about it, the more i feel like it sounds like i didn't really like this, and maybe, i didnt? but it was like, ok. just average. not bad, not good. i wouldnt go out of my way to watch it. 

Urusei Yatura 

okay this is a weird one - apparently its been time for a remake for all these old shows, so whereas trigun stampede is a remake and kinda takes a lot of creative liberties, this is a recreation of the old manga/anime. i personally would not have looked twice at this, but apparently the character of Lum was almost world breaking at the time for the kawaii aesthetic and the idea of moe when it was first created way back when. since i saw it being remade (new enough that i can actually stomach the animation), i ended up picking up a few episodes and weirdly enjoying it. the older i get, the more i crave comedy shows, and this really kinda has that fun blend of comedy with some heart touching moments, and while this definitely has some overdone tropes and some jokes feel like beating a dead horse, it's one of those, turn off your brain and enjoy yourself for a few minutes. it also is a good reference for me to kinda get a general sense of the idea and story structures of an older show that i wouldn't have touched at all, and i ended up enjoying myself quite a bit too. definitely not a fave, but i gotta say, i did miss watching the lum/ataru and co. being idiots every week after the end of the show. but dw! its popular and it will be coming back. so i'll probs be keeping this on my list when it comes back. 

Bungo Stray Dogs 4 

right. so i didn't like BSD. i watched the entirety of this during the early stages of the pandemic (i remember lying on my mattress and watching the show on my desktop which i had moved upstairs) and finished all three seasons plus the dead apple movie in like, a few days. after i had watched it (primarily for the promise of slash), i ended up feeling... underwhelmed. some of the reasons included poor character development and honestly a kinda subpar and uninteresting turn of events/plot. 

yet. for some reason. as i turned on the first episode for this season, i was kinda shaken by how much i was looking forward to new episodes. with the combination of backstories for characters like ranpo, who i'd always been uninterested in, the entirety of his backstory was super compelling and interesting, paired with the mystery elements, and adding in the fun (fruity) man who erases all evidence of crimes, the yosano devastating backstory of her powers, and ramping up all the stakes with the detective agency being on the run and tested and framed for being terrorists, i've never been as invested or interested in the show. despite the general emphasis that people put on this show being a show about shipping, i'm truly not at all interested in the ships, but rather this shows appeal as a mystery/action/adventure blend of things just fucking happening all the time, how each character starts to feel more fully formed and interesting when they're being tested against their ideals and beliefs, and how fun it feels to actually see what's going to happen next. sometimes, even a bad or subpar show can be so intriguing just because we wanna see what happens (me with wednesday), and with the addition of some truly fun characters and cool backstories and a narrative that just makes me wanna find out more, i'm kinda fucking hooked and ready for S5. 

at the current moment, the manga hasn't even finished ironing out all the details of the arc that's just started (because it kinda leads into another arc and hasnt been resolved) so uh, yeah i'm looking forward to it haha. 

Tensei Oujo to Tensai Reijou no Mahou Kakumei

wow okay, you know when the gays wanted rep? they got rep. and for girls to openly be gay like this? fucking work. 

i wanna say, i LOVE the OST of this show, and the animation of this (especialy the first episode) was honestly amazing and brilliant. 

the story is about this princess (who has memories of her old life on earth) and basically has no magical powers but is obsessed with magic and spends all her time researching ways she can make magic into tools that other people can use. the story kinda starts in media res and introduces euphy, her brother's finacee, who gets publicly dumped at a party and he chooses to be with a vampire (who doesnt know shes a vampire), and anis the princess basically saves euphy and makes her a magical assistant for anis' magic experiements. the broader story is about the relationship deveoping between anis and euphy, but also how anis as a princess has a responsibility to the kingdom, and her complicated relationship with her brother algard drives the whole situation into deep shit because he's basically trying to fix the issues that happened when anis got him hurt, and he spends the rest of his life trying to amend and bridge that gap between him and her, and then how she feels tormented by feeling like she has to make up for all the problems that she might have created when she was suddenly thrown into this body. then theres her taking responsibility and maybe being queen, and then the emotional backlash of their decisions. 

i have to say, i feel like although the drama/plot points feel rather empty simply described in words, i can't but help feel strongly on all the fights and the love into the animation that was put into this show - it always felt really emotionally heavy and the payoff was always really strong. 

also shout out to the gay rep here, they basically queerbait for a majority of the show between euphy and anis, but they basically end it with an actual mouth to mouth kiss (wow!) and the implication of their long term romantic relationship. it's a much needed refreshing take of a queer girls relationship without the death, the toxic situation (looking at you citrus), and just girls unapologetically being gay, and i really fucking love that a lot. i honestly think this is objectively one of the best animes from this season, the production value, the music and the story are all really well done, and worth checking out. 

Ningen Fushin no Boukensha-tachi ga Sekai wo Sukuu you desu

honestly i'm kinda torn on this? i feel like i was TOLD this was gonna be really good but the pay off was nowhere near as fun as i thought it would be. the story basically talks about these 4 people who were betrayed by people and they eventually find hobbies that are their coping mechanisms. then the story basically kinda goes into their backstories for a little bit, before touching on them finding the sword of bonds which allows them to fuse themselves into one person with their combined powers. the few arcs they covered are like, kinda mid, especially the math arc, which was tragic. and then the more emotion arc of the yellow sickness and then the stepping man who was kidnapping and killing kids. 

i mean i feel like perhaps with better animation and more budget they really could have turned out this, but honestly the pacing and the animation kinda was so subpar that even the emotionally gripping moments felt kinda cheap. 

i think a majority of the feeling i had was a bunch of people telling me that this was going to be a really good show, and in the end, walking away feeling really meh about it. i genuinely feel like it was a bit of, lots of potential but missed opportunities to make it more interesting than it ended up being, but i had this idea that it was just going to get better and it kinda never did. i can't say i recommend it, but it's not like it was terrible. 

Tondemo Skill de Isekai Hourou Meshi

I mean mappa really fucking flexed on the haters with this one, putting all that effort into just animating some really badass looking cooking. the show itself isn't super special or anything, but it's the kinda vibe i absolutely love, just one dude with access to an online supermarket just making a bunch of food and money with his slime and legendary fenrir wolf. there's not much to say about the plot (ignoring the fucking threesome marriage hero plot point that thankfully doesnt get brought up), i mean there's not much else to say, but if you love a bit of food animation and isekai shennanigans, this one absolutely slaps.

Shin Shinka no Mi: Shiranai Uchi ni Kachigumi Jinsei

So i watched this retrospectively from the first season, which wasn't fantastic, but it wasn't too bad. that is, until this season came along and singlehandedly fucked itself in the ass. 

truly all i can say is, this was absolutely horrific, and like, i don't know what the fuck was happening in this show besides that it was horrifically bad. 

i mean the premise itself is kinda one that pisses me off a lot - the idea that some guy who is fat and bullied actually has a heart of gold, and eventually there's some magic way that he slowly becomes extremely hot (by being called into another world and eating the fruit of evolution) and slowly he becomes like, the evolved version of himself and hes hot, and supremely overpowered - but like, i take fundamental offence at the idea that you need to be hot on the outside to be a good person (think shallow hal and its problematicness). along the way he meets this gorilla who eventually becomes his wife/gf and then he picks up a bunch of women along the way. i don't truly mind the way they made the harem in this, there's not so much skeevy shit, a lot of the MC unintentionally making them fall for him, and i like that a lot more than the other alternatives. 

however, this season was absolutely uh, shit. it basically takes all the terrible moments in the first season, fucks up the pacing, is completely disinterested in actually establishing more shit abuot the characters, to th epoint where i honestly can't even remember anything about this season besides that there was like, two instances where the bad guys would infiltrate the lives of the good guys, inevitably be like, oh wait maybe i wasn't loved and i'm not really living my real life, and now i should turn over a new leaf. and both of them get killed for being too soft. 

idk like, it really isn't a great show IN GENERAL, but this season just kinda doubles down on the meme faces but it turns into a show that really does not deliver on any front. i think there are moments that are probably supposed to be heart warming (like the ending) or him believing in his students, but like, it kinda stabs itself in the foot (eg. making seichi's face into a shoujo hero and dancing?) and like, it's kinda fucking stupid LMAO. all i can say was, man, i guess it's a way to spend an afternoon, but i wouldn't rec it. speaking of, the same author remade this to be a little edgier in the form of, isekai cheat, with way better animation. i can't say anything really good about this lmao, i think i found this kinda hard to finish, but i was so close to being done that i needed to just get it over with. 

Kyuuketsuki Sugu Shinu 2

LISTEN. Okay i didn't watch this when it originally aired but bOY OH BOY do i fucking love this show so goddamn much hahahhha. i love ronaldo and i love draluc and john and their insane shennanigans. 

i mean there's really nothing else for me to say except i literally watched this show about 6 times a week whenever there was a new episode, and i continue to do so whenever i need a little pick me up. it just unfailing makes me happy and i love that about this show - it's just the most silly wholesome comedy with a surprising amount of cohesive world building and character development, and it's basically everything i love in the whole world. 

i am also the biggest john fan, and i picked up some lil john goods when i was in yokohama. feels great. 

Rougo ni Sonaete Isekai de 8-manmai no Kinka wo Tamemasu

ha this was ... this was a show i guess. this one girl's whole family ends up dying in an accident and then she ends up being summoned/reincarnated into another world. eventually it turns out she stole a skill from some supernatural being and eventually acquires the ability to understand all languages and transport to any place she's ever been to. the mC's entire schtick is basically that she just really wants to save up money, and she basically does a whole business plan in the isekai world just so she can get rich. she learns to like, fire a gun, basically lies to a bunch of people and then upsells shit she buys at a 100 yen store. i mean i kinda respect the capitalist hustle here but boy it does feel wildly colonial in an uncomfy way, so it's really not a favorite aspect of the show. 

there was nothing that really stood out for me in this show, i can't say it was good or bad, i felt mildly ambivalent to it even though there were some moments that made me laugh, but i genuinely feel like a majority of the time i just watch shows to feel mildly amused to give myself something to do. i feel like there were a lot of mid shows this season that i just kept watching, but i feel like when you watch a lot of stuff, everything starts to feel kinda same same. 

Tsundere Akuyaku Reijou Liselotte to Jikkyou no Endou-kun to Kaisetsu no Kobayashi-san

Okay this was a bundle of fun! it had a really nice comedy element to its romcom vibes, and i am kinda loving this villaness trend. 

basically the story is that the two MCs, endo and kobayashi are playing this game called magikoi which is actually an alternate universe and as they play they end up meddling into the world and trying to save eveyrone and get everyone into their own ships instead of the original reverse harem, and it all ends up fantastic and everyone has a happily ever after. there are dramas that happen over the course of the show and its them all trying to deter the death flags, and the cute tsundere thing with their villainess who actually loves her finace very much and like, honestly work, fucking, good on them for turning us all into tsundere appreciators. 

i feel like i just wanna say, this show was a lot of fun, i really enjoyed it and i would recommend this to anyone who loves a villainess story. 

Kami-tachi ni Hirowareta Otoko 2nd Season

I still find this show weird since the MC is like a middle aged man. 

On Hold/Dropped

NieR: Automata 

I mean its a great game and I love seeing the anime flesh out some parts that weren't covered in the game, but it's also on hold due to production issues and it's a little to heavy for me to just casually watch. 

Kyokou Suiri Season 2

Can I JUST say tha tthe first few episodes with the yuki onna and the guy she fell in love with were honest to god the best thing ever about this series and i picked it up only to finish their story and i was like. thats it i dont need anymore of this self projection fantasy where the mC is just a cute loli girl but like a horny middle aged man? seriously after the first 3/4 eps i was like, thats it i dont wanna watch anymore. thats the best show segment of this entire fucking franchise, i'm done. 

Kaiko sareta Ankoku Heishi (30-dai) no Slow na Second Life

cool moments, real funny clips. up to halfway but need to finish. UP to episode 8. 

Tsurune: Tsunagari no Issha

Second season of a good show that i want to finish but need to get in the headspace to do so. 

Buddy Daddies

honestly kinda sad that this show ended up about being more an investigation about what it means to be a dad/father/family and like, i kinda was sad because i felt like there was less actiony shennanigans than promised. 

Up to ep 8