spring 2023

 a much needed and anticipated yet poorly planned out review. i originally was following a few shows that i ended up dropping because most of them were honestly terrible and not worth continuing, but i also ended up catching up and binge watching a few that slipped through my radar the first time. all in all a pretty tumultuous season but despite slacking on my videos, im trying to find the time and energy to keep up with the written bits. 

Jigokuraku 

I mean, despite its heaviness, I ended up really enjoying this show. it's not one i'd usually pick for myself but i was pleasantly surprised by how much i enjoyed it - especially with its pseudo religious aesthetics. the premise of the show is a little bit 'death game'y, but i think MAPPA really put a lot of care into the pacing and delivery of the story - which is of course complimented by the actual story itself being really great. after i finished watching this, i ended up finishing the manga. i genuinely think this show kinda works the best when you have no idea what will happen, and i have very little qualms about the actual story so far in the anime (i have bones to pick with female representation in the manga), so i would genuinely just recommend this for anyone who likes a tense action show. 

Mashle 

I mean, what IS there to say about this show? i say this in the best way possible. this ended up being one i picked up later but i enjoyed the fuck out of this - it's just a silly little show based off the harry potter magic school formula except the main character has absolutely no aptitude for magic and solves all his problems with his freakishly powerful muscles. i think despite the absolutely admittedly terrible animation quality (its garbage), i think there's an endearing charm about its simplicity combined with the sort of, OPM quality. while it's not at all as thought provoking as OPM, this is a fun romp of braindead comedy watching one guy tank everyone around him, and for that, it's enough to keep me watching for the giggles. 

Kaminaki Sekai no Kamisama Katsudou 

Holy shit was this one of the most unexpected fucking bangers of this season. i picked this up after someone gave it a glowing review on the konosuba thread as what we'd all expected the megumin spinoff to be, and i was not disappointed. thank you to all those posters on r/anime. anyway, the premise of this show is pretty fun, the son of a cult leader gets reincarnated into a godless world, but due to certain circumstances thanks to the lack of religious/faith/belief, he begins to rebel and make his own way in the world. while the first half of the show in his new life seems to be the set up for the complication, it's the reveal of the godless/technologically run world that spurs the rest of the story, as the god infused robots compete for power and influence in the new world after they find out the truth of their existences in the second half. the story ends on a bit of a plot cliffhanger, but for me, this show can literally do no wrong - balancing a superficially deep idea of the absence of religion with spades of comedy, gender bending and fetishes, it's a show that I was absolutely besotted with. it hits all the right spots for me, and while i know it might not be everyone's cup of tea, it sure is mine, and i'm guzzling this right down. 10/10. i only hope there will eventually be more! 

Yuusha ga Shinda! 

well, the initial premise and first episode did not sell me on this show at all, but after a spell of boredom hit me, i was like, hey why not - and I'm glad I ended up coming back to this one. it's not the deepest pond around, but for what it is, it's definitely a fun romp. although there's nothing to write home about on this one, i definitely came away enjoying this one - although I'm glad i watched this before Kamikatus, which is objectively the one that tickles me more. i also ended up reading a little bit further into the manga for this one too, but i think for a good time, this show definitely delivered.  

dropped 

Isekai de Cheat Skill wo Te ni Shita Ore wa, Genjitsu Sekai wo mo Musou Suru: Level Up wa Jinsei wo Kaeta

if you're familiar with shinka no mi, this is the same author, same plot, except the animation is a little better and theres more traversing between the worlds. however, it's still wish fulfilment garbage and it's hard to tolerate even on 2x speed.

Isekai Shoukan wa Nidome desu

I don't think i can tolerate how insanely boring this anime was? like it wasn't even offensive, it was just so fucking boring. 

Isekai wa Smartphone to Tomo ni. 2

i originally watched the first season a while ago, and uh. IDK? I don't have anything positive to say about it, and the harem just got so bad i needed to stop after the first episode. no, not even 2x can save this. it's everything in it. it's bad. 

Isekai One Turn Kill Neesan: Ane Douhan no Isekai Seikatsu Hajimemashita

Ugh. Idk. Maybe I'll come back to it but I doubt it. 

Mahou Shoujo Magical Destroyers

have you ever watched an anime original and you wanted it to be good so bad, and at the very last moment, it either never delivers, or completely shits itself? although i didn't watch far enough into this show, a friend did, and it's the former. original shows tend to either have a very weak premise or no idea about the story it wants to tell, and from the first episode of this, this neither made me laugh, or intrigue me. the idea of ravaging otakus and anime could be a great fun premise, but in the end, focused around a lukewarm redhead magical girl and a washed up otaku stereotype struggling with his self esteem just didn't serve like they wanted it to. 

The Marginal Service

Despite this getting quite a bit of hype, this once again keeps showing us why we have no faith in anime originals (but how good can something be if you've only let it cook for 5 minutes?) even with it's stacked cast. trying to tackle ideas of alien racism here did not sit well with the commenters, but that aside, i was hoping for a fun stripping fireman show and ended up getting a relatively serious, men in black merged with cop craft - the latter which just does not do it for me. (for clarification, i like MIB, but the alien cop thing is very low on the reasons for why I enjoy it). anyway, hated it. dropped.