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Iaboo, Youaboo, Weallaboo for Anime!

Look, I get that Lugh is a teen and will have wet dreams, but the insistence of his maid and adopted sister that they "take care of him" multiple times got gross. And then they upped the gross factor by revealing that Dia is his cousin, and now is pretending to be his sister, and Lugh is in love with her. Just...no. At least the Celtic myths are more involved with the reveal of Setanta and his Gae Bolg. Too bad he went out by way of "a wizard did it." Of course he wasn't the Hero, with a capital H, leaving things open for a second season. So look forward to more people thirsting after Lugh's man juice if this get another season greenlit.
An amusing factoid about this show to me, is that it's actually a really popular show in Japan. One of the top watched of the season. And that most of its viewership is female.
 

Daikaiju

Rated Ages 6+
(He, Him)
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Hilene

Loves "Friendly Girls"
(She/Her)
An amusing factoid about this show to me, is that it's actually a really popular show in Japan. One of the top watched of the season. And that most of its viewership is female.
Fun(?) fact(?): I wish I could remember where exactly I had seen this, but in an article I saw a while back that was covering some stuff related to fujoshis, one of the parts was about a difference between "male" and "female" gaze in porn. And at a very distilled level, the breakdown was essentially that "male" was about the big, grizzled, powerful men, while "female" was about small, young, fragile boys.

There's probably a lot more nuance that wasn't covered, and/or that I'm just forgetting, though. My main takeaway ended up being that, aside from "Yes, women are also able to be horny", there's a desire to be the "caretaker" of the relationship out there. To be a person that is relied on, in a manner other than being the big tough protector. And that's something I can understand and relate with.
 

Johnny Unusual

(He/Him)
Decided to make a list of my favourite series of this year.

Honorable Mentions:

Vivy: Flourite Eye’s Song

The premise doesn’t quite live up to its ambitious ideas but it never crashes and burns as could have happened but this sci-fi adventure taking place over the course of 100 years is largely satisfying. I think a lot of the adventures end up being traditional in probing ideas about AI, it has some great cliffhangers and plot turns, my favourite being turning the end theme into something much more sinister. Very pretty animation and some decent enough plot turns made it compete pretty hard for my number 10 spot.

Zombieland Saga Revenge

I feel like this season didn’t make as big a mark as season one but it might be the better season overall? I think I’d have to watch them back-to-back to be sure but I really liked it and appreciated it’s willingness to do things like a surprisingly grounded 2-parter that ends up playing a big role in the show’s mythology and also ending on a new-level silly cliffhanger.

Sk8 the Infinity

Some shows have gorgeous animation, fresh unique characters and genre subverting ideas. And some are just solid mid-tier shows with no greater ambition than just make an entertaining show. And Sk8 the Infinity succeeds, in large part thanks to the likability to the two leads, a brash skateboarding enthusiast and an aloof but sweet amateur with a gift for the sport. It’s silly as heck but remained consistently fun throughout.


Jujustu Kaisen

Jujustu Kaisen’s second half of it’s first season nearly made my list because after a very grim story arc, we get a fun competition arc with great new characters, some expanding on the ones we had and more humour that works. I like that the main character constantly gets caught up in his new “best friend’s” energy, both building an elaborate fictive backstory for their friendship. It’s also beautifully animated and though the final fight didn’t lead to any big reveals, it managed to be a satisfying and well-animated actioner.



10. Shadows House

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The fact that Shadows House is an eternal optimistic girl just happy to help made me worry that Shadows House might be a show that romanticizes indentured servitude with a gothic veneer. I mean, this isn’t unthinkable in anime. And early on, it takes us a while to get to the fact that this is about our protagonists involved in a horrible system with dark aims that they must work together to defeat. The series kind of weakens in the last couple episodes, which I’m given to understand was made for the show to give a convenient stopping point but all the same, it is a series where the underlying mysteries and plotting make for a fun surprise.

It’s not subtle about being a series about duality but we get to see the “dolls” grow during the testing arc in ways that are interesting. I’m definitely looking forward to more in this series that feels like a somewhat lighter (and admittedly not quite as clever) version of the Promised Neverland with a slight fairy tale sheen and while it’s attitude isn’t completely “fuck the man” (our heroine is still a “happy maid” archetype that her “owner” indulges) but I am looking forward to digging into it’s murky world of shadows.

9. Kageki Shoujo!!

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In the early 2000s, I used to go to an anime club were they would lend out videos and CDs of anime episodes. This allowed me to find some older, good stuff like Touch and Glass Mask. Glass Mask, a long running shojo about an actress, was a favourite of mine and I was chasing a similar high of a shoujo acting drama. Though a lot lighter, Kageki Shoujo!! hits that spot. It’s not without problems. After a harrowing episode about child abuse and growing up not being believed, it followed it with a well-intentioned but misguided episode where said character his helped by her stalker’s stalking skills. Then there’s an episode about body image and eating disorders that mostly lands but while it comments on the fact that it is the result of the demands of a teacher and the very school’s system, it kind of sidesteps addressing this area of the problem.

But overall, it is the kind of show I like, as it explores why the women in this school want to become actresses and what kind of skills need to be developed. The main character is likable and begins as a character we often see both in shoujo and shounen series, the kind of hero who happily faces any challenge with unwavering optimism and kindness. But as the series continues, we also see that even she gets to have more depth and complications when her following her dreams and the fact that she in fact has had her share of heartbreak and that she actually has put more thought into her path than we may have suspected and that it might be related to dreams she couldn’t follow. There’s a lot going on here and I hope we get to see these girls continue to find their creative voices.

8. Dr. Stone: Stone Wars

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I remember when Dr. Stone came out, it never made it in my list but part of me regrets that a bit. There are shows that are funnier or more touching or have more well-realized characters or clever plots. But Dr. Stone is a show about a process and it is addicting to watch these plans come to fruition and there’s nothing wrong with that. I do feel like the big emotional climax is more effective than the last one. I always feel like in theory all of them are actually strong but it never quite gets to me as much as it should. Nonetheless, this silly edutainment show is constantly entertaining and I can’t look away.

This season is also the culmination of what was being built to since the series began and the show manages to stick to its guns, mostly, when it promises a deathless end to war on Earth. I think it’s easy to think of Senku as a science bully a lot of the time but I think the show does a decent job hammering the point that this is a man who cares and that science is a method to make life better for people. At first blush, he’s the archetypical “science for the sake of science” but we see he is a man who believes and honors it because of the good it does. Looking forward to what is sure to be a wild new season when it finally happens.

7. Sonny Boy

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It feels like it’s been a while since I’ve seen a show that really does feel like it wants to experiment in it’s storytelling. Visual, I don’t think it is but it is a nonetheless gorgeous magical realist journey through a multiverse that is both almost too freeing and yet to some, terrifyingly restrictive. I’d be lying to say if I could follow everything that was going on from episode to episode but I feel like as non-handholdy as this show is, its episodic nature makes it not to hard to understand the major show and every episode almost allows for a reset where you can try again.

When I saw the first episode, I was a little disappointed, finding the story a little too heavy handed but it quickly won me over by being a show constantly rejecting a status quo because that’s sort of what it is about. Yeah, scene to scene isn’t always easy to follow but what it is about in the macro-sense feels very clear to me; that it is about the anxiety of what happens after school, finding a new place in a strange world where all of the old rules only roughly prepare characters for life. Things don’t culminate in a battle against a villain or overcoming a crisis but choosing to find direction in life, even if it is harder to attain than equally valid choices such as… becoming a tree? Its an odd show. But it does have monkey baseball.

6. Blue Period

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If there’s one kind of show I like, it is one about a process. I love to see the creation of something, which much of the appeal of a show like Dr. Stone, but more than that, I do love to see the relationship between the process and the mindset of the person behind it. It doesn’t always work (the disappointing Those Snow White Notes) but when it does, it makes for some compelling television. And Blue Period very much hits the button in my brain while remaining a rather sweet hearted look at a people pleaser who used to walk the line to make all people happy who finds himself encouraged to leave his comfort zone when he learns he wants to be an artist.

What Yatora finds isn’t just that art is fun, which he finds it can be, but that it goes beyond fun and that being able to communicate through an artistic medium is worth the pain and struggling and wrestling with composition and message. He learns and relearns how big and complex the art world is and it expands his own understanding of himself. He learns not just to make people happy but to really put himself out there and communicate with them. Sometimes that means risk and hurt but the rewards have much more depth than simply keeping the peace and enriches is work and friendships. And that can be healthier than simply trying to be a selfless good guy, even if his new career will make him fraught with anxiety.

5. The Heike Story

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While I’m sure there’s lots more to get out of The Hieke Story if you are familiar with the source material but even if you don’t know it and find the specifics intimidating, the series isn’t hard to follow in the broader sense, even if the smaller details might lose you. Because it is a show about history, a history written in stone, but also a reminder that the people who make up history aren’t just figures, they are people. In fact, the failure to recognize people as such is the failing of many in the Taira clan, the protagonists and sort of tragic “villains” of the tale. In fact, the family is also made up of good people caught in the political machinations of the clans leaders, which eventually leads to war.

But while the war itself is important, it primarily keeps itself focused on the human element, making the tragedy far more palpable rather than scholarly. I think it is also about our desire as the audience to want to be able to avert tragedies we are familiar with in our stories and history. There’s no “time travel/history changes” element, but the show does allow us to have small measures of hope and that tragedy will have an important place in the minds of the people. In a half-decade marked by corruption, suffering and grief, it’s nice to see a show that doesn’t say “it’s all going to work out” but does allow us a measure of hope not based on blind faith and a belief what we take with us can help us in our human journeys.

4. Nomad: Megalobox 2

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Nomad had a lot to live up to. Megalobox was a strong series and there was little that DEMANDED a sequel, as it came to an incredibly satisfying conclusion. Does this wonderful little re-imagining of Ashita no Joe even need a sequel? What is there left to say. It turns out it actually had quite a bit to say and also got to do an about-face on its attitude without feeling like a betrayal of the hungry, scrappy little series that began it. Here, Joe’s never say die attitude is replaced with a calmness and understanding there are things not worth destroying your body over.

Nomad is a much quieter and sadder show but also extremely hopeful, as Joe returns to a world he felt he betrayed and tries to make amends. Wiser and gentler, but still strong and flawed in his way, it isn’t the tale of the comeback of a broken fighter into the ring but into other people’s lives. Yes, there is a fight and a big antagonist but the final battle isn’t “go for broke and destroy my body in the process to save day”, but something a little more mature. Maturity is really what the series is about. Joe matures and we don’t rebuke the character from the first series but instead see his journey to self-improvement and winning back the things he loves and helping those who are threatening to throw away those things. It also has a surprisingly strong subplot dealing with immigrants, which I didn’t expect.

3. To Your Eternity

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To Your Eternity could have easily settled into a tiresome formula. After all, in a very loose sense, all of the arc in this series follow the same one. I won’t spoil it for you in the event that you start watching the series, which you really should, but it won’t take you long to catch on either. Heck, as much as I love the intro, it also isn’t shy about hinting at where things are going (though it has some misdirects). But it is a testament to how great the show is that it never does because it makes sure that even when the cycle is starting over, we are going to invest in everything so that by the end of the story, it is just as powerful as the other times. Granted, in this regards, the arc on the prison island is a bit weaker than the others but all of them have their merits.

I also feel it is ambitious in the way that I felt Vivy, while I did enjoy it, didn’t quite live up to. In 20 episodes, To Your Eternity manages to feel like a epic that spans years and you can slowly feel the weight of those years in the series. The main character starts out as… not exactly being that, instead a barely sentient sponge and by the end manages to feel like a real character without taking narrative short cuts on the journey, even if there are some time jumps. There are several mysteries in the series I am invested in but I feel the series first and foremost is interested in the emotional stakes of the story, even more than the evil tentacle monsters that our hero is tasked to save the world from. It sells us that we’d rather have that take a back seat to the friends that our hero values and makes the world worth saving.

2. Ranking of Kings

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You know it is a good year when a show like Ranking of Kings isn’t the best show. I love the shounen genre and Ranking of Kings feels very much in that area. There are power ups, hugely outsized characters (literally and figuratively), a protagonist on a journey towards strength which he faces with a hopeful attitude, and deep mythos. But if you go in expecting Shaman King or Dragon Quest: Adventures of Dai, you might be in for a surprise, because Ranking of Kings is a much richer show, populated with characters you find yourself caring for. Despite the shounen/fairy tale sheen, this turns out to be a more empathetic/cartoony Game of Thrones (when it was good), which our alliances turning as we learn more about characters. Except for Bojji and Kage, who remain the goodest of boys in a world that turns out to be much murkier than they expect.

If anything, it is quite a gamble to spend so much time away from the show’s most loveable characters, but it’s one that pays off, making the show something closer to ensemble where the characters who seem like also-rans and stock archetypes find themselves in complex situations and reveal themselves to have depth. Even one of the show’s more villainous characters turns out to have a surprising level of integrity and I’m excited for when they get a chance to redeem themselves. The show might not take you to the fireworks factory right away but the journey is so rewarding, your thankful for the scenic view.

Ranking of Kings is a show about what it means to have power, retain it and what it does to you. We are presented to characters who despite their best intentions turn into monsters while the powerless Bojji is finally getting his own tastes after a lifetime of being powerless. And while that’s usually a recipe for disaster, Bojji and Kage seem primed to overcome any temptations of corruption through their purity. They aren’t chosen ones, they are the ones destiny seemed to cast aside or downright damn, but with compassion and empathy, they’ll avoid the pitfalls of those they love, if they can help it. Because unlike many of the characters, even those who love them, they are learning to accept themselves as on their own terms rather than the standards expected of them

1. Odd Taxi

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It feels like it has been a long time since I’ve seen a done-in-one (season) series that is so perfectly crafted with absolutely no excess fat. You might think that something like that means it moves at light speed but quite the obvious, it’s a real slow burn, albeit one where everything pays off perfectly. It also risks being a little heavy handed about our relationship with social media, as it is key to the arcs of many flawed and naïve characters in the series but in fact it is a series about human failings, wants and desires and how what we need isn’t as easy to figure out. These are characters who would find ways to mess themselves up even without it, to be sure. But I also don’t think the show is looking down on these characters, as pathetic as they are, and instead is a bit optimistic people can turn their lives around if given a chance.

It also helps that the series confident plotting sells it’s casual first act through the main character, Odokawa, a large taxi-driving walrus, is, despite his aloof, wry attitude is a good conversationalist and a people person. He knows how to get people to talk to make his job go better and adding to some push and pull to the conversation, doesn’t do a lot of judging and is curious. And this is a show that is curious people, wondering how they fall into their own personal traps and what their wants really are. Things slowly tighten over the course of the series as it gradually turns into a tight, tense thriller that manages to take control of all of its threads.

The series makes a bold choice for it’s last act and one that risks its hopeful humanist attitude but I really do think it works. Apparently, there’s going to be a film “retelling” of the series with a fleshed out ending but I REALLY think we don’t need it, as the ending it gives us is a perfect punctuation to the series. I think there’s been some great series this year but my love of Odd Taxi goes beyond mere consistency to a sense that the creators know exactly when and how to steer the series that takes the more rewarding path to get to its destination.
 
So Faraway Paladin finished its season so time for some thoughts on it! And a couple other series that I binged, just to catch up on things.

So Faraway Paladin initially kind of lost me when they did a recap episode. I'm not a fan of them, especially when you've only got 12 episode, and it felt like they needed to fill time and didn't want to do something silly. Which after watching the rest, is pretty much true but I can forgive them since the ending was actually pretty good. I like that they kind of subvert your expectations with the head bishop actually not being a villain but a pragmatic and a realist in his dealing with others. The final scene between the bishop and the prince solidifies that they both like Will and are kind of using him but not in any malicious way.

Interesting too is how it mildly breaks Will. Seeing Meneldor getting badly hurt and his decision to take care of things on his own since he is a "monster." Most other isekai handwave the implications of these OP characters and the effect it could have on their mental health when they lose or it simply becomes a point for them to "get stronger." Will's still unspecified past trauma pushes him to almost fully embrace his darker thoughts and head off on his own to take care of the demons. Like Reystov says "(Losing) hits those who are stronger harder). I'll be looking forward to a second season, but I'm happy with it ending as it does.

Bee is an adorable halfling and we could use more of her. Also, the amount of shiptease with Will and Menel was getting ridiculous at the end.

So now onto the series I binged!

First up is Kid from the Last Dungeon Boonies. I know others found it a little offputting, what with the loli grannie wanting Lloyd, but eh. It was mostly inoffensive and Lloyd is such an innocent goober that he just thinks she's being nice. I would like second season of it as they left it pretty wide open as to why the bad guy is being the bad guy. This show also has the benefit of it not being an isekai, so Lloyd is just Lloyd with no hidden baggage. Unless there's a dark and twisted reason for his existence! But this Boonies doesn't seem to want to head in that direction, instead reveling in absurdity.

Finally, we've got Sleepy Princess in the Demon Lord's Castle, a show that I'm actually reading the manga for and thus was interested in seeing how it transitioned. And it came over pretty good! Sya is hilariously horrifying in her pursuit of a good nights sleep and the demons are just nice guys. Biggest change is the lack of shiptease between Demon Cleric and Sya, which doesn't really change much and kind of feels a bit better. Granted the manga reveals that Sya is somewhere in her 20s, but she still looks young. Look I'll be honest, I'm biased because I really like this one, so go and watch the damn thing, you'll giggle throughout.
 

Hilene

Loves "Friendly Girls"
(She/Her)
First up is Kid from the Last Dungeon Boonies. I know others found it a little offputting, what with the loli grannie wanting Lloyd, but eh. It was mostly inoffensive and Lloyd is such an innocent goober that he just thinks she's being nice. I would like second season of it as they left it pretty wide open as to why the bad guy is being the bad guy. This show also has the benefit of it not being an isekai, so Lloyd is just Lloyd with no hidden baggage. Unless there's a dark and twisted reason for his existence! But this Boonies doesn't seem to want to head in that direction, instead reveling in absurdity.
Alka single-handedly ruins the series. And the anime is tamer with regards to her than the books are. Which sucks, because there's a lot of good stuff that the series does! There's a lot of good writing surrounding self-worth, expectations as a result of your environment, and the like. The villains are mostly not even really villains!

One of the villains just wants there to be a new Hero so that he can finally be forgotten and fade away, while another is a villain so that he can give Lloyd a fun adventure to go on with his friends. Only one of the three villains (seen so far) actually wants to do bad things!

Another thing I'm slightly miffed about, but it's very minor compared to Alka, is that the Belt Princess is originally described as ridiculously buff because she trained herself thinking that the only way to break the curse was brute strength. She's described as being unappealing to suitors because she's strong. And then she just looks like a wee thing. It's frustrating.


Oh, and as an aside:

Also, the amount of shiptease with Will and Menel was getting ridiculous at the end.
I saw an interview with the author some time ago, and there was a comment about this that I liked.
 
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Yep, a whole remake. I'm not sure of the wisdom of giving Urusei Yatsura a remake in this day and age, but I'll still be very interested in seeing how this plays out.

The studio handling this is David Production - most of y'all probably know them as the guys who've been bringing us JoJo's Bizarre Adventure for the past decade. By the looks of it, they've got good people on the production, using the team that made Season 5 of JoJo (hands down the best looking that show has ever been). And the casting so far is really friggin' good. Hiroshi Kamiya as Ataru is about as perfect as you can get for casting jobs, and Sumire Uesaka has the acting chops to really nail Lum.

And this is going to be broadcasted in Japan on the noitaminA time block. So this could potentially be really good, but who knows?
 

Johnny Unusual

(He/Him)
I'm not sure of the wisdom of giving Urusei Yatsura a remake in this day and age
Yeah. There are a lot of things that haven't aged well about it and it would be one thing if it was a slight tweaking/updating but it sounds like they are cherry picking popular stories. So... it's been a while but I remember being Ataru being a high level sex pest so I have some doubts, good production company aside. I'd say more but this seems like the perfect segueway to...


Hmm, huh, wha? OK, but what?

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I was a big Scott Pilgrim fan but I feel like culture moved on. It's been forever since I read it but what I remember of the last volume hold's up pretty well in terms of themes and ideas (that the movie, while I liked, didn't include). But at the same time, I feel like the video game referencing that made it what it was makes it seem like it's old hat. I suppose there would be more time for the slice of life stuff that the movie didn't have a lot of time for. But also... I just don't need this? I don't think Scott Pilgrim was ever a franchise I felt like I needed to get back to. If there was going to be another Lee-O'Malley adaptation, I'd rather it be Seconds.

But also, they managed to get Science SARU to do this and I have yet to dislike any of their projects that I've seen. The director did one of the Star Wars Visions which I haven't seen yet. This is just some weird news that I'm struggling with my reaction to.
 

Kirin

Summon for hire
(he/him)
The director did one of the Star Wars Visions which I haven't seen yet.
That particular one was seriously channeling Osamu Tezuka visually… so I’m not sure it tells you much about their style. Possibly that it’d look a lot like the comic.

I kind of agree though, that while I enjoyed SP at the time I think at this point I’d be more interested in his later work if anything.
 

Rosewood

The metal babble flees!
(she/her)
Yeah. There are a lot of things that haven't aged well about it and it would be one thing if it was a slight tweaking/updating but it sounds like they are cherry picking popular stories. So... it's been a while but I remember being Ataru being a high level sex pest so I have some doubts, good production company aside. I'd say more but this seems like the perfect segueway to...

I've been reading the UY manga as it's been coming out, and much like Ranma 1/2--which, of course, came right after it in Takahashi's shonen manga career--it has a take on women that's both refreshing and eyeroll-worthy. In UY, Ataru's sex pest-ery is, perhaps, seen as funny, but it's also not seen as "normal" and he never gets away with it. The girls are the ones that administer justice here, too. The following spoiler has a CW for sexual assault.
(contrast it with, say, KOR which treats sexual assault as "boys will be boys" with boys and men being both the perps and the rescuers/administrators of justice) There is exactly one panel that I found upsetting in this respect in what I've read of UY to date, and it was very early on, before where I'd consider Takahashi really came into her own with the series: Lum loses her "zap" powers as part of the episode's gimmick, and some of the boys in Lum's class take this as an opportunity to feel her up. There's an episode of MI that I find hard to forgive, too, the one that I call "Sexual Assault New Year's Eve." In Ranma 1/2 there's Happosai, and to a lesser extent Kuno, whose sex pest-ery also never gets a pass. (while I hate Happosai, it always makes me chuckle when he gets blown up, burnt to a crisp, etc. like a Looney Tunes character as a punishment for his gross behavior.)

One thing I like about UY is how the girls and women can be undignified and participate in the science fantasy adventures right along with the guys. I mean, a lot of the motivator for the slapstick is Ataru being Ataru, but they aren't just sitting around taking it, at least. You see a decent number of older women, but once they get past a certain age they are, to a woman, mothers and housewives.

Anyway, tl;dr: I love Takahashi's work, and have spent way too much time thinking about it. It does have some problems that I will not excuse. I'm looking forward to the new UY TV show and if I have an opportunity, I will watch it!
 

Bulgakov

Yes, that Russian author.
(He/Him)
Ranking of Kings came to Crunchyroll recently and it's super good. Finally a Dark Souls my wife is more excited about than I am (and I'm pretty excited)!
 
I still need to check that one out. It looks quite interesting.

I recently binged The Vampire Dies in No Time, which is exactly what it says. Draluc is a vampire who turns to ash at the drop of a hat. Literally at the drop of a hat. He's forced to move in with Ronaldo the vampire hunter after Ronaldo blows up his mansion. If you liked Aho Girl, you will probably like Vampire. Just...look it also has some content that people will probably find objectionable. Like Ronaldo being forced to say "Boobs" because of a vampire's powers. Or the micro bikini vampire. BUT! It has John the armadillo familiar who is freaking adorable!

Finally, Arifureta season 2 is starting. I will hate watch the shit out of it because I hate it and myself apparently.
 

Johnny Unusual

(He/Him)
Ranking of Kings came to Crunchyroll recently and it's super good. Finally a Dark Souls my wife is more excited about than I am (and I'm pretty excited)!
Bojji is the best boy. It's also a show that's taking the long road to the fireworks factory but every diversion is also awesome, so I don't care.

I recently binged The Vampire Dies in No Time, which is exactly what it says. Draluc is a vampire who turns to ash at the drop of a hat. Literally at the drop of a hat. He's forced to move in with Ronaldo the vampire hunter after Ronaldo blows up his mansion. If you liked Aho Girl, you will probably like Vampire. Just...look it also has some content that people will probably find objectionable. Like Ronaldo being forced to say "Boobs" because of a vampire's powers. Or the micro bikini vampire. BUT! It has John the armadillo familiar who is freaking adorable!
Vampire was often pretty funny but I was more likely to object to some of the gay stereotype stuff that pops in now and then. But yeah, John is great. I also like the board game episode.
 

JBear

Internet's foremost Bertolli cosplayer
(He/Him)
I found Vampire Dies exhausting more often than not, as it is relentlessly sophomorically raunchy (and frustratingly so, because I think it had the potential to be quite funny if it ejected that shit out the window, but instead became increasingly about exactly that shit), but my SO likes it quite a lot, so I'm probably in for S2, even thought I'd rather not be. Agreed that John is easily the best part about it, though, and the show knows it.
 

R.R. Bigman

Coolest Guy
I will add my voice to the praise for Ranking of King. The feeling I get from watching it is similar to the anime that used to air on Nick Jr. when I was really small, but with a bit more bite to it. I was not expecting Bojji’s stepmom, The Queen, to be the one who helps him start his journey.

It’s a lot more interesting than the current season of Demon Slayer. In the past three episodes, there have been so many asspull power ups and transormations over the course of a single battle. It’s the 1920’s, somebody show up with a tommy gun or a flamethrower!
 

Johnny Unusual

(He/Him)
It’s the 1920’s, somebody show up with a tommy gun or a flamethrower!
Do I have a show for you...


But yeah, Ranking of Kings was quick to become GOAT and one of the things I love is taking some archetypes and expectations and turning them on their head. Assuming you are not caught up, there's lots more surprises to come that will fit with that. The only non-surprise? Bojji and Kage are the bestest of boys.

Also, the season 2 OP is already making me tear up.
 

Johnny Unusual

(He/Him)
And we are back and… I didn’t HATE any of these shows. No “The Detective is Already Dead” here. But very few, even the ones I’m sticking with, inspire much beyond “huh. OK” So with that in mind, I’ll try to curb my indifference as much as possible to get us hyped for ANIME SEASON WINTER 2022! Part 1

My Dress-Up Darling

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Premise (from memory)


A guy obsessed with making clothes for Hina dolls befriends a young woman who loves cosplay but needs help making clothes.

What gud about it?

This is one of the stronger series this season. It definitely has a thirsty eye, often in scene were it doesn’t really need it. Yes, I do get one of the characters wants to cosplay in one of her favourite smutty light novel series so it makes sense that there’s a to-do about showing cleavage but the eye of the show is definitely searching at times when it isn’t about sex and is it making about that. Like when the co-lead realizes her friend can do clothes and we get a close up of her mouth breathing heavily and practically drooling with excitement. But despite these problems, it is a show about characters who are passionate about what they love and sells it pretty well. The characters do lack a certain something that makes me invested in their story, an issue with a lot of the series going forward (both the ones I discarded and the ones I am sticking with). But it’s pretty and it is making me interested in the process of making clothes, if not the world of cosplay (yet). I’m sure it will get into the joy of inhabiting a character, which is fun.

My suspicion, and I hope I am wrong, is that the characters in the shows/games/manga within the show are not going to have much depth and I actually think that could be a loss, as I feel like the best strategy is to convince viewers that you would want to be these characters, that there’s a richness to them that makes you want to become unto them, both their beauty and their faults. Based on the intro, there will certainly be people dressing up as types, at least and it is very pretty animation. Here’s hoping it can properly grow it’s world of both clothes and cosplay in a way that keeps me interested.

Sasaki and Miyano

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Premise

A tough kid and a sweet little otaku begin bonding over BL manga.

What gud about it?

Another thing that came up more than once for shows I have no interest in returning to… “that was pleasant.” And it is, the title characters and their little intimate world are all quite pleasant to be in. I just wish I was more invested in this couple and being more happy when they get to geek out about gay romance. I also don’t think the show needs to have one of the characters trying to go “Hmm, but he’s not a girl though.” At it goes to this gay denial well a few too many times. I get that he’s a guy who is just starting to realize what he feels about himself but I feel there are ways to do that which aren’t so basic in their heteronormative presumption or at least can find some variation in it. I will also say that the show isn’t high concept at all yet I got lost as to where we were in the flashbacks at one point.

But nonetheless, it is a sweet little show. If you are looking for a good BL show, this one lacks a lot of the hang-ups I have with a lot of the other ones. So far, there is no issue with consent, which I’ve found to be a big problem in shows I would have wanted to like. I think the idea that one character has something to share with another that he’s a bit embarrassed about is sweet and it does add some charm to the show. It lacks a reason to keep going for me, a hook to draw me in. I know not every show needs one, particularly a slice of life show but once the episode was done, I was fine just putting it down and saying “that was nice”.

Sabikui Bisco

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Premise

In a post-apocalyptic Earth, society tries to rebuild but the lower classes live in squalor and disease as a mysterious rust moves through the world and infects people. A lone doctor protects his community, including a mysterious young woman while word of a terrorist spreads. A terrorist who fights against the government… with mushrooms.

What Gud about it?

OK, so another problem in this season is a lot of episodes basically left us a little untethered by the end. Usually you want if not a clear sense of direction, a particular focus or aspect to draw you in. There’s nothing “wrong” with the characters or setting or ideas and it’s clear that it’s still in the middle of world building and putting it’s ducks in a row. I don’t even have a problem with not really getting to the main character until the last act. My problem is a lack of grounding force. That’s not for a lack of trying as “Dr. Panda”, is a good person trying to help in a hard world and they are setting up he does a lot. But for whatever reason, the throughline for the show is a little slack. Maybe once things come into focus, I’ll be more invested but for now, I’m more curious than excited.

Still, the world itself is interesting, one that is slowly dissolving as people fight to stay alive. Animation isn’t bad and the scene where the title character causes chaos with giant mushrooms is fairly neat. It’s promising that it wants to do a lot, as it has started spinning a lot of character plates and the end implies most of them we meet will be, if not leads, very key to the season. Also, the show is going to have a giant crab. WHO GETS THEIR OWN TITLE CARD! So I’ll be giving it a chance to see if things pan out.



Orient

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Premise

In an alternate history Japan, Sasaki Kojiro and Miyamoto Musashi aren’t swordsmen who kill each other in a famous duel but are two of the most shonen-y boy heroes in a world were the oni have taken control of society. Musashi is training as a swordsman under the guise of training as a miner for the oni while Kojiro considers battling alone. But they come together to battle the totalitarian regime of the oni with cool sword (and pickaxe) techniques.

What Gud about it?

Orient might be the most shounen-y shounen that ever shounen. I don’t mean this in some hyper-maximalist way, which I would be super down with but instead it’s more in terms of feel and structure, it is the least ambitious thing I’ve seen in a while. It even ends like it was a pitch pilot for a series and almost pleads with the network execs pick up 12 more episodes for excitement each and every week. I suspect, it’s more that this was the plea to the editors of the magazine that Orient was published in. So, yeah, it’s pretty standard fair. Which is weird because I actually feel like a lot of the individual parts are kind of interesting. Plus, it’s a show bold enough to put these monsters on TV.

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Yep, those are people being eaten by giant kitties with star faces and asshole mouths. And there’s a lot I think is more theoretically interesting than it is in practice. The idea that the shounen hero actually has to realize despite the fact that they want to rage against the machine, a fear of prejudice gave him cold feet and he’s never actually had to be brave. Having to fight evil in a society where people assume the evil is good (which isn’t a new idea by any means but is an instant recipe for drama). And I will keep watching it, because the season is that dry and if the show is more asscats and the fear that comes with taking a stand, it might begin to find its individuality. Maybe.

Akebi’s Sailor Uniform

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Premise

Akebi is going to a new school and gets to wear a sailor uniform. But it turns out she’s the only one. So it’s not really a uniform, is it.

It Gud?

This is definitely a season for small stakes slice of life show’s and this is probably the smallest. The entire episode is about how a girl always wanted to wear a sailor uniform. The entire episode is dedicated to the making of the uniform by her mother. I feel like a lot of shows would START with her having the uniform before discovering it’s not really the school uniform anymore and that sailor suits are out and blazers are IN BABY! And then she has to deal with it and the show can go from there about her choice to… wear different clothes. Which probably hits harder for a Japanese youth and/or a style conscious person than for me.

But I will definitely say the show puts a lot of energy into making sure that the passion for the sailor suit comes first and foremost, with its beautiful animation and time to the loving creation of a piece of clothing. A show about getting a girl into an outfit sounds like a recipe for fetishization but it really isn’t. Though it is definitely drooling over fabrics that they gush over and I look at and say “oh… grey.” It isn’t “I’m going to look sexy/stylish in these clothes”, it’s “I love this style of clothes and I want to be able to wear it.” I’m guessing the show itself is about not getting too hung up over differences as she catches her first friend sniffing her own feet scent, much to her embarrassment. Again, a plot point that feels like it could be played for kink but feels much more like “oh, this is worse than getting caught picking my nose”. It’s a sweet, pleasant, modest, beautifully animated slice of life show. I didn’t dislike it. But I didn’t have a strong reason to continue.
 
It’s the 1920’s, somebody show up with a tommy gun or a flamethrower!
It's more 1910's than 20's. Demon Slayer imo does a really rotten job of taking full advantage of its setting. But tbf:

1) The experience of 1910's Japan was worlds apart different from 1910's America or elsewhere in the world. Doesn't make a lot of sense to whip tommy guns out in a country where guns are basically outlawed.
2) Tanjiro is also from the styx, and most of the show takes place on the fringes of modern society. It's like expecting a show about roaring 20s NYC, when the setting is rural Alabama. People living in the cities and with money might have had more access to modern amenities, but most of the population at this point still lived in rural communities, practicing a way of life that was by and large very similar to what they'd been doing 100 years prior.
 

R.R. Bigman

Coolest Guy
The current arc is in Tokyo‘s red light district, with Tanjiro and friends having a One Piece-level battle in the streets with multiple demons and no authorities have shown up. Wasn’t Japan a rapidly modernizing superpower at this point?
 

Johnny Unusual

(He/Him)
In the Land of Leadale

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Premise

A woman dies and is reborn in another world. IN THE FUTURE. Which is pretty much like the past with different maps. And also she has adopted kids.

What Gud about it?

I haven’t had good luck with the isekai genre but I decided to try a couple for reasons. The reason for this one was I was hoping this was going to be a fantasy about motherhood. It… might get there but I really don’t know what this was about. This is another show that seemed built on an uncertain foundation and lacking direction. It looks like it could be about a woman getting a second chance. After all, unlike most isekai protagonists, she doesn’t have a sudden death, she has a slow one. That’s pretty rough and it seems like she was out of commission for a long time. So to make her powerful in all facets of life should be joyous. And… she’s just sort of mildly interested. Even in the low stakes world of slice of life fantasy, it feels like there should be an emotional grounding and I just don’t feel anything for this character. She’s not “unlikable” but she’s sort of a cipher and is more shocked that time past in her MMORPG which is actually a hard conceit to sell because its not like we had any idea what it looked like before and it seems no different than any other generic Western European fantasy setting.

We are also told she has three adopted kids and it feels like that’s were the emotion and/or fun should lie but… we don’t even get to them in this episode. What does she actually accomplish? I don’t even remember. I remember she gets hammered and the episode ends. This thing slid out of my brain like it was greased. It can’t even quite go with the “well, that was pleasant.” Oh, it wasn’t unpleasant but I don’t feel like I’m enjoying this world through her eyes. At this point, I’m not sure if even the writer is invested in the story being told.

OK, but I’m trying to be positive about this weak season. I don’t dislike anyone or anything in it. And the potential is there. It could follow the idea of a second chance at life or the joy and frustration of motherhood or seeing a world you were once part of grow up without you. I don’t have enough faith to stick with it to see it through but if they give this lead some proper direction, it could make for an enjoyable diversion.

Tokyo 24th Ward

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Premise

In an alternate history Japan, Tokyo has a 24th Ward. In high school, three friends decide to be a hero team RGB and save the day but when one of their friends dies in an arson (where they famously saved lives), they go their separate ways. One joins the government with his father, hoping to create justice from within by steering policy in a just direction. The other takes the opposite tact, an activist protesting the government through social media, street art and a mobilized team. And the third… isn’t sure what to do with his life after high school. After meeting one year later, they all get a phone call from their dead best friend. It gives them a vision of a future tragedy that must be stopped… and an upgrade to all of their natural skills. Now all three of them must use their abilities to save the day as a team again.

What Gud about it?

I… liked the show. Didn’t love it. But it also felt both kind of basic and kind of weird.

When I say basic, it feels like a pretty standard case of the week show. In terms of structure, it could easily be an 80s/90s adventure drama. Presumably, every week the trio use their abilities to solve a new crisis. Tonally, it’s not out there and is fairly even toned. The characters have some quirks but they are mostly fairly standard leads. In terms of formula, it actually feels like a mix of Early Edition and Person of Interest.

But it also has aspects that make it feel like it should be more ambitious. It’s an alternate reality for reasons unknown. It barely enters into the plot, so far, except their some made up government stuff, like the organization SARG. Their friend might be a ghost or secretly alive and gives them super powers and warns them of danger. There’s the topic of trying to effect change and doing it within the rules and outside of it (albeit in an inoffensive, somewhat facile way).

It’s a show that could go in a good direction. Despite the surface similarities or a new made up city in Japan with some new precedents, it won’t be the monstrous dump that was Babylon. But even as it is, it’s a pleasant direction if you just want a turn your brain off adventure thriller. Weird to say because it really frontloads itself with information that feels like it should be more important. Maybe it will be. For now, it’s simply looks like a crisis of the week and I think I can watch that.

Slow Loop

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Premise

A girl likes fishing. And then so does her step-sister.

What Gud about it?

I always feel that every season I feel like I’m done with slice of life, as if what the creators want to focus on isn’t what I want. Oh, I like fluff but some of the fluff this season just isn’t hitting the buttons I need. Slow Loop does. It’s a low key and mildly silly fishing show where two girls bond over fishing. One is the expert and the other is figuring it out.

I can’t articulate the advantage this one has except through unhelpful adjectives. It has room to breathe, to be sure, but somehow it also feels, in its way, zippy, moving along at a fun pace. The comedy isn’t the strongest but it gives off an amiable appeal that pulls me through with ease. I get to watch the character explain their passions and go through a process. And there’s some food porn. So it is teed up for me to like it and guess what? I do. There’s not a lot going on except I get to relax and hang out and see people exploring their passions. And that’s precisely what I want from slice fluff.

Life With an Ordinary Guy Who Reincarnated Into a Total Fantasy Knockout

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Premise

Two friends/co-workers are struck by a cosmic entity who whisks them off to a fantasy land, where they turn into their ideal selves; one a cute girl and the other himself. They are also cursed for pissing her off… but what is the nature of the curse. And is it the reason they are quickly falling in love?

What Gud about it?

I decided to give this isekai a try because I thought a broad comedy could swing one way or the other. Imagine my surprise it’s…. somewhere in the middle? The premise is fraught as the old gender transformation trope really opens itself up to gay panic or one insisting “I don’t wanna be a woman”, which kind of feels a little more distasteful. Thankfully that’s not really an issue at all. It’s strongly implied that one had a crush on the other and the other is simply living at they want to be. Rather than gay panic, the structure is more akin to Kaguya-Sama; two people who have a crush on each other who are a bit to pigheaded/taken aback/afraid the rock the boat to admit it. Even the implication that they are “cursed” to fall in love is… not dismissed, but is implied to be incorrect.

In the end I didn’t hate this show as much as I feared… but I also didn’t like the show as much as I hoped. I feel like most of the episode was dedicated to the one joke of them not wanting to admit they find each other cute. Kaguya-sama made a game of it and then mostly expanded beyond it. Perhaps this show will do the same. But it kind of repeatedly hits the same notes in a way I didn’t really find very funny. I definitely can see a bit of chemistry between the leads but I’m much more interested in the best friend than the “fantasy knock out”. And I like that neither of the characters are “the best person ever”, a problem I have with a lot of these series (last season’s Faraway Paladin ended with it’s main character lamenting “maybe I’m TOO awesome” and I feel like this has happened so often. It’s like the wish fulfillment aspect is clearly getting away from properly building empathy for a huge number of these series.

The title could have been a red flag but I didn’t mind it too much. But I didn’t care or it either and don’t have faith continued viewings will change it. Still the premise that potentially could fall on a “uh, no homo” knife edge or some questionable takes (which the gender transformation genre certainly has), I didn’t find anything offensive about it, even if the potential lies in wait. Of course, I’ll also admit while I try, I am not keyed into certain elements of these things as others much be. But to end on a positive note… GREAT BEAR!

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Police in a Pod

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Premise

A woman is about to quite the police force until the joining of another woman in her precinct inspires her to stay.

What Gud about it?

We live in weird times, where we have to contend with the mountain of cop-centered media is now under scrutiny. Oh, I still love Hot Fuzz and Brooklyn Nine-Nine but a lot of it reads different. But what reads weirder is cop media made during/after 2020. I feel like writers either need to contend with it because saying nothing also says a shocking amount, whether it be wanting to pretend times aren’t changing or taking a side that looks ill-considered at best.

It also occurs to me that I don’t know how this cultural shift looks in other countries. I will say that I was surprised that the cheeky Akudama Drive from a couple of years ago ends with a refreshing ACAB take when even the “good cop” on the show realizes too late she’s the baddie, ruining the lives of the people she’s supposedly protecting. Police in a Pod, on the otherhand, is not that. It’s a humanizing, slice of life comedy about two cops and their day to day lives.

But I still gave this a chance because there’s definitely some problematic media I can enjoy. Heck, Jojo spends a long time teamed up with the Nazi’s in Battle Tendency. Fucking weird, right? Remember when that happened and one of Joseph’s friends was a wacky fascist cyborg? So, if I can get through that, I guess I can watch another damned cop show.

And the fact is, Police in a Pod is kind of a snore. It’s supposed to be about two women trying to succeed in a thankless job where they are constantly being insulted. And this aspect makes me wonder if this is a general cultural thing or if it is tied to the public debate on cops. The fact that they find an excuse to double ticket some guy who smart-mouths them is a decision. But as a comedy, it’s kind of low key and when low key jokes don’t work, it takes you a while to realize it is trying to be more comedy than slice of life. But as either, I’m not that interested. Sorry, trying to be positive so… I guess these leads might work if it was in a show where they had a career that elicited more sympathy, maybe.

Tribe Nine

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Premise

In future Japan, baseball!

What Gud about it?

Weird, sci-fi fight baseball seems like a slam dunk, which I believe is the highest scoring baseball technique in the National Baseball Association, but Tribe Nine neither lands on Hypnosis Mic level of sincere stupidity or some wild giddy fun. It’s purely a mid-tier show, one that is certainly watchable and looks OK but is fairly predictable.

I will stick with it though. I enjoyed it well enough and while I wouldn’t go out of my way to recommend it, I have no shame in having a Happy Meal quality show in TV form. Sure, it’s not exquisite but I do like the salted fries. I will also say I like the designs for three of the show’s more minor characters and wish the rest of the cast looked that cartoony and less generic spikey hair look.



Futsal Boys

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Premise

Some boys play futsal.

What Gud about it?

I’ve made no secret that I’m a big sucker for sports anime despite ambivalent to real life sports. Every so often I run into a mediocre one where I’m surprise how disappointed I am, like Hinamaru Sumo or 2.43. Then every so often, you get to something as unbelievable incompetent as Try Knights. And somewhere between those extremes is something where I realize I will completely forget about this in a couple weeks. I will not remember this show about football but less people in a few weeks.

If you are a fan of futsal, you might find my description of the game reductive but… this show never explains what futsal is. When characters are given positions, they are never explained. The show gives us a match against some shitty cheaters but the stakes aren’t clear. You’re opponents are clearly cheating and playing rough and whining about each loss and we are given no logical reason to continue their match, as it’s a match against complete unaffiliated randos. Despite being plague by problems, it’s never “bad”, but simply a D. And I believe the AV Club refers to that as the “gentleman’s F”, as if it doesn’t even have the gall to go all out and is just kind of dull.

On the plus side… I’d play futsal if someone asked me.

Fantasia Sango: Realm of Legends

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Premise

Uhh… I barely remember. There’s some Chinese fantasy world where a divine being assembles some hero to fight evil spirits, and a girl can eat them but goes berserk. I think that’s the size of it. Oh, and there’s a talking tea cup or something.

What Gud about it?

By far the most forgettable episode of the season. Usually we try things based on the trailers but this didn’t even have one. I don’t even think the creators want you to know it exists. It’s completely dispassionately mediocre and don’t believe a single person had artistic intentions and were just cashing paychecks to get them to the next gig. It might even be a The Producers-style attempt to bilk investors out of money.

I feel safe in saying, it was the worst first episode I’ve seen this year. I doubt it will hold because I always stumble into something that pisses me off but this is a show with no “there” there. It’s an empty vessel hidden in a Chinese fantasy. It’s a list of characters getting recruited and none of them are interesting. I feel like there’s so little love that it’s amazing that this thing managed to materialize in the world.

Um… something good, something good. I guess the talking drinking cup isn’t in every scene.
 
I'm three episodes deep into In the Land of Leadale and I'm still waiting for things to happen. We do get to meet the kids, and all three love their mother, but that's about it. No dealing with the fact that she's dead but somehow in the game and time is 200 years in the future from what she remembers.

And I have to agree, none of the shows are really popping out as being great. None are really bad either, just meh.
 

Johnny Unusual

(He/Him)
No dealing with the fact that she's dead
I feel like there are very few that do. I don't need "I NEED TO GO BACK." But it's like, why introduce such a huge life change if you are so deeply uninterested in contending with the inherently most dramatic aspect. And in this show especially, since it can be joyful, since this character seemed to be robbed of so much in life.
 

JBear

Internet's foremost Bertolli cosplayer
(He/Him)
Isekai is a check-box. And everyone checks it these days, even when it adds nothing, or when it actively detracts, because it's increasingly what people (who are not me) want, or at least what studios think that they want.

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Anime/Manga/LNs are just like any other industry where they chase fads. Right now the fad that's being chased is Isekai nonsense. IMO there's already signs of that waining. Before that, the fad was moe cute girls doing cute things. Before that it was Eva clones. Before that there was robot shows. And about a hundred different ones in between. In another few years, some other show will blow up huge, and everyone and their moms will trip over themselves to copy that.

Honestly, most media is exactly the same. Video games might be worse. It's just a little more obvious with anime.
 

Johnny Unusual

(He/Him)
My suggestion for the next fad: adorable ladies giving instructions on how to properly keep bees.

Seriously, I want my apiarist manga. The world needs it.
 
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