fall 2023

okay i did actually finish this but never got around to writing my thoughts because im an idiot. so here we go. 

Sousou no Frieren 

two tier. it's finished now (this is the first cour season) but it was really good - really takes the original material and elevates it to the next level with immersive animation, great music and voice acting. really bad-ass, and i wish i had binge watched the anime instead of rushing ahead with the manga. it's obviously very successful and popular now, so you dont need me to recommend it to you. 

Kamonohashi Ron no Kindan Suiri

you know this was kinda fun. another one which i picked up the manga of (i just couldnt be bothered to wait for a lot of the shows this season for some reason), and i really enjoyed myself for what it was. it's not ground breaking but it is good enough as a fun lil watch with some sherlock bbc level 'detective' play. compelling enough that i wanna keep watching for sure. 

Shangri-La Frontier: Kusoge Hunter, Kamige ni Idoman to su

I absolutely ADORED this show. i think this really gave a refreshing fun edge to what gaming 'isekais' offer, and the world building and the love shown to what an MMORPG was just so good. another show which i ended up picking up the manga for and not finishing the anime, but based on what they were giving, they were definitely putting in more effort to flesh out certain parts and really pace themselves with the anime which was great. really fun show, i enjoyed it. 

Overtake! 

This is an anime original but I haven't really been that enamored with an anime original in a long time - I picked this up relatively late in the season compared to the other shows, but I was definitely surprised by how much I liked it. it by no means was perfect, but it had a really interesting layered effort towards storytelling, with the main focus being on the two main characters, the teenage driver and the middle aged photographer. i always feel like shows like these often try to do a big age gap and make it not weird (like that badminton show ages ago which had the age diff but it felt kinda shippy but it wasnt fully because the characters had a close but weirdly impersonal relatinoship?) anyway this is how it feels but maybe slightly better. the photographer gets a little obsessed with Haruka (the driver) and vows to get him to the top leagues beacuse of his backstory about his dad dying in a race, and Madoka (the photographer) overcoming his PTSD of taking photos of people, while dipping into the stories about driving and their ambitions and dreams. i feel like this feels slightly hollow on retrospect, but for what it was as an original anime, i remember being really impressed with how everything was tied up well. personally i feel like the show never really gave us time to fall in love with the characters, like haruka being lovely and sweet but ultimately rather bland, and as an anime original, its unlikely itll ever get a follow up. i think based on the time it had, in comparison to a show like Tsurune which packs a lot in its 12 episode air time, I really wish we got a lot more. this show was good for an original, but it ends up being just fine to me. 

Watashi no Oshi wa Akuyaku Reijou.

Lesbians ahoy! people here are GAY. i mean this show is genuinely nothing special but it is kinda cool that everyone in it was like, shit there's a lesbian wow okay uh. and they had to talk about it. i cant say i really enjoyed this show at all, but it was probably decent, but I walked away like, yeah i guess its fine. eh. 

Toaru Ossan no VRMMO Katsudouki

Is it weird to say I actually kinda enjoy this show? like it's so objectively bland and shit but like, the idea of some salaryman living his best life in this VRMMO was kinda great, and i could turn off my brain for a while when i was watching this. i have to say, in no universe was this a good show and there were so many moments where while I was watching it, I just thought - this is a fucking terrible game. for example there is a whole section where the main character is so powerful and hot that he attracts the attention of the endgame "Faerie Queen" and I find it hilarious because she acts like a real person but is supposedly the machinations of the game developers who have imbued her with consciousness through AI. For a game which is supposedly balanced for a guy whos trying to chill out, it ends up feeling like your stereotypical OP isekai show with the most insane shit happening, but hey, it is what it is. don't question it. it's just some guy being silly and winning at this game for about twenty minutes, what's not to love. i would never recommend it to anyone, yet here i am finishing the whole show. 

Migi to Dali

i dont think i ever truly appreciated how weird the author of this series and sakamoto was (may they rest in peace). anyway, this is a pretty interesting one cour show - the manga itself is very short and they adapted the full story here. it's definitely got an eerie off-putting horror vibe here but i think there was something in this show tonally that was interesting - it's both 'comedic' while being slightly odd, while sakamoto was more of a surrealist type comedy, this is more of a surrealism thriller with a dash of comedy. while i don't usually vibe well with thriller/horror shows, i was definitely interested in the mystery aspect of this show. i think it's a tightly written show that reflects the original source material and is one to check out if you like off-beat, slightly off putting comedy thrillers. i'm not sure it's one i love but its one that is distinct and unique for sure. 

16bit Sensation: Another Layer

this was a fucking weird show. Apparently this was based off an original work but somehow went completely sideways. the main character in this show is a completely original invention specifically made for this show, and not only are there time travel elements in this, aliens are also present. i have no idea why i ended up finishing this show, maybe if only to see what the fuck else they were going to bring out, but for a game that was about like, developing bishoujo games, all i can say is it really goes sideways. however, definitely another offbeat thing that sticks in my head. 

Atarashii Joushi wa Do Tennen

ummmm i love this? this is the work version of doji danshi, but a little more queer coded. i love the OST for this show and i just love the comfy cozy vibes of this. it's also super cute, there's a cat involved and just four silly goofy dudes having a good time at their new job and its all positive vibes and happiness. i really love this new genre of shoujo coded shows with all male casts, like a cute boys doing cute things, and i honestly want more of it. this is definitely my stand out for the season, and I won't apologize for it. 

Dropped 

Yuzuki-san Chi no Yonkyoudai.

the subs were awful so i could not bring myself to keep watching 

Kimi no Koto ga Daidaidaidaidaisuki na 100-nin no Kanojo

i really tried for about 3 episodes but i couldnt bring myself to actually keep watching the harem. 

Dekoboko Majo no Oyako Jijou

uhhhh this was weird. i think there was also this layered okayo romance angle on top of the comedy. idk, it jsut didnt hit me right where i lived, so i dropped it. 

Seiken Gakuin no Makentsukai

holy shit hahahahah i hated this so much oh my god. i think i got about like 3 episodes in where theres some implied sexy shit and i just shut it off and closed my eyes. no thanks. 

Potion-danomi de Ikinobimasu!

uhhh i think if i had more time i might have continued watching it for the potion angle - it was kinda funny to see her keep duping people but it was just a little too slow for me to really appreciate. 

Undead Unluck 

uhhhhhhhh. listen. i feel like i'm growing kinda jaded about modern shounens because they tend to just do things for the shock value without every actually making an effort to develop an interesting story? I still find myself deeply in love with shounens but i felt so unattached to the characters and the story even about 5 episodes in. I tried reading the manga and eventually dropped it because i was not interested, and was increasingly confused - it reminds me of tougen anki, things just happen really quickly to try to keep your attention but its never really a long stretch of narrative with very little pay off. so, i dropped it. i wish i liked it more, but it's a miss for me. 

Kage no Jitsuryokusha ni Naritakute! 2nd Season

i honestly should keep up with this more - this one gets a lot of love from everyone and I did recall liking the first season but i always feel really lazy about following up on 2nd seasons (unfortunately? i dont know why). i tend to prefer watching new things as well, but the few eps of this i watched were still good and consistent. 

Konyaku Haki sareta Reijou wo Hirotta Ore ga, Ikenai Koto wo Oshiekomu

as mentioned previously, i hate shows with straight romances and i sometimes hope the comedy is enough to balance it out, but no, i really couldnt sit through it. it was cute? i guess? but i'm so tired. 

Hikikomari Kyuuketsuki no Monmon

i actually kinda enjoyed this but need to get back to it. definitely was a bit ? at the beginning but i dropped it when things were picking up because i just did not have enough time. but i intend to maybe get back to it at some point.