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I started watching the new anime of this season in the latter part of last week. So far, I’ve picked up;
- Dr. Stone: good to be back.
- Ameku M.D.: it’s fun so far, but nothing special. Anime girl House mixed with a little Sherlock, but thinks it’s smarter than it really is.
- Guild Receptionist: fun start, but could go stale pretty quick.
- Apothecary Diaries S2: great to be back. So excited to see what they’re going to bring.
- Zenshu: I feel a little bit scammed about this one. Expected MAPPA Shirobako/Eizouken and the Anilist listing described it as such (so did the CR description at first), got a fucking isekai instead where the protagonist’s powers are Deus Ex Machina and the world is boring. It looks pretty, but that’s it. Such a waste. I’m hoping for a ‘sike!’ moment, so I’ll keep going for now, but I audibly moaned in disappointment when I realised.
- From Bureaucrat To Villainess: good stuff so far. HIDIVE exclusive unfortunately, so time to sail I guess.
- I Have A Crush At Work: fun little adult romance. I read the 1st manga volume and decently enjoyed it, so this should be good. Also HIDIVE.
- Welcome To Japan Miss Elf: it’s fine. Also read the 1st volume of this, but put it on hold because it focused quite a bit on their generic isekai world instead of the other way around. Maybe I’ll enjoy it more this way (or not, who knows).
- SAKAMOTO DAYS: a really fun 1st episode. Little confused about how this one gets releases. Everywhere it says there’s a 2nd ep, but it’s locked to 18th of January on my Netflix so idk.
- NEET Kunoichi: dropped pretty much immediately.
Will probably check out some others. HIDIVE seems to have more than usual this season. Unfortunate that they pulled out everywhere except NA and maybe a few others.
SAKAMOTO DAYS: a really fun 1st episode. Little confused about how this one gets releases. Everywhere it says there’s a 2nd ep, but it’s locked to 18th of January on my Netflix so idk.
I think it’s the same thing that happened with Blue Box where it’s released a week earlier in Japan than in the US and presumably the rest of the west.
Zenshu: I feel a little bit scammed about this one
I felt the same way, especially once I realized that the full Japanese blurb says it’s an isekai but the English one I read omitted that detail.
Everything’s finally out now and it seems like this season managed to right itself after a very lackluster first week. There weren’t any that blew me away, but there are a handful I’m looking forward to seeing more from:
- I Fell In Love with an Okinawan Girl - cute romantic drama put together with comedic edutainment about Okinawan language and culture (I can’t tell how accurate this part is)
- Sakamoto Days - goofy action comedy vibe reminiscent of both Spy x Family and Way of the Househusband, which puts it in very good company
- Welcome to Japan, Ms Elf - very cute reverse isekai with good chemistry between the leads
- Zenshu - amazing animation, but I’m still a little dubious about MAPPA making an anime about making anime without acknowledging the hellscape they create for their workers and also centering a creative lead as the one important character.
I also want to give special mention to the last garbage review I have, which is quite possibly the most disgusting anime I’ve seen in a hot minute:
Babanba Banban Vampire (cw: child sexual abuse)
The plot is that a 450yo vampire has a taste for the blood of 18yo male virgins. He happens across a kindhearted 5yo boy and decides to dedicate the next 13 years to making sure he grows into the most delicious meal possible by integrating himself into the child’s family and preventing him from going down the wrong path in life. Now that the boy is 15 and in high school, the vampire needs to defend his virginity at all costs. That all sounds like an ok premise for a comedy, but the thing is, blood drinking is very directly sexual and it’s not subtle. We get multiple shots of the vampire’s boner in his pants while he thinks about the kid’s blood, and he gets a flashback of him killing Nobunaga, who he loved, saying that he climaxed while drinking his blood. On top of this, our lead uses actual, real-life child grooming tactics on this kid. There’s a chilling scene where he invites the kid into his room with the door closed while he is fully nude and stays nude the entire conversation. To me this read as a tactic predators use where they introduce sexuality slowly to their relationship with a child in order to lessen the impact when they do actually cross a line, which makes the child less likely to tell anyone about it. The anime treats this all as a joke. Get it, because it seems like he’s grooming a child for sex when he’s actually grooming him for blood drinking, which is treated as inherently sexual! All of this put together with the fact that the vampire lead is very obviously designed to look like a gay stereotype makes the whole show feel like a deeply homophobic joke. It’s really frustrating that this is the gayest show this season, because it’s revolting. 0/5
So first up in my meanderings through past anime last week, since no series grabbed me right off, was a movie - Sakasama no Patema (aka Patema Inverted). It was pretty good all in all. It’s a bit too ham-handedly allegorical, and the pseudoscience that provides the basis for everything doesn’t hold up to any sort of scrutiny, but it still had some interesting twists and turns, and the two main characters were charming.
Then, not really in the mood for anything specific, I happened on a current release that seemed like it could be worth a shot - I’m Getting Married to a Girl I Hate in my Class. And I made it about halfway through the second episode and I was done. The story is painfully contrived and hackneyed, the MMC is a formless collection of tropes and the FMC is some sort of awful mega-tsundere, alternating between being pathetically weak and needy and being a miserable, pointlessly vicious bitch.
So, still not really in the mood for any specific thing, but inspired by something that could’ve at least made that last one a bit more tolerable, I ended up going to a genre that I can count on to generally provide something of interest no matter what else it might lack, and that’s ecchi. Maken-Ki! (2011) to be specific. And the one thing that can be said about it is that it knew its priorities - the ecchi is top-notch and the characters and story are basically just placeholders. It was a pleasant enough diversion all in all, though notably shallow even by ecchi school harem standards.
It also served a purpose though in that it made me crave something of substance, which led to the gem of the week - 86 (2021).
That’s been right near the top of my TBW for a couple of years now, and holy shit was it worth it. The first season was stellar, with great characters and a fascinating and compelling story - and I just devoured it (the first eight episodes in one sitting, interrupted only by the need to sleep, and the rest at the very first opportunity the next day). The only minor criticism I might have is that it could have and arguably should have ended with Lena looking to the horizon, just because that was such a powerful and meaningful moment. Yes, it would’ve been a very open ending, and there were still a lot of unanswered questions, but it would’ve been a good stopping place.
Unfortunately, the biggest problem with not ending it there was illustrated in the second season (or I guess technically it’s considered the second half of a single season). There was room in there for a much larger story, and notably a story that followed both the 86 and Lena, but that would’ve required many more episodes, and presumably they just weren’t given that many. So instead it just focused on one part of it that could be squeezed into 12 episodes. It was okay, and the addition of Frederica to the cast was a good one, but it was all just a bit contrived and sort of oddly tangential to what should’ve been a much larger story.
Ah, but then the last five minutes or so of the last episode made the whole damned season worth it - that was one of the most glorious and satisfying moments I’ve seen in a long, long time.
Remains to be seen if there will be any more - I’d love to see what’s going to happen now, but I suspect that for that, I’ll have to read the LN, and I already have an overwhelming TBR list for LNs…
And finally, a bit drained from the suspense and drama of 86, I cast about for something comfy, and ended up going with one that’s been on my TBW for many years - Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita (aka Humanity Has Declined). And it’s every bit as whimsical and charming as I’d hoped. It’s essentially an ongoing manzai routine, with the aptly named Watashi serving as a notably wry and low-key tsukkomi to an entire race of bokes, and it’s wonderful.
I have been absolutely slammed with work this past week, so I haven’t been able to post as much as I normally do. I have been trying to keep up with watching things though. Here are some quick thoughts:
- My Happy Marriage - This show remains absolutely gorgeous. Also, the mother in-law is really fun to hate, so looking forward to more of that.
- Ameku M.D. - Episode 3 was a bit of a down one. Not sure if I am going to keep this or drop it in favor of another seasonal.
- Apothecary Diaries - Really cute episode. It hardly feels like it missed a beat from the first season.
- Welcome to Japan, Ms. Elf - I really liked this episode. I have enjoyed a good portion of the manga for this, so I am glad to see the adaptation has been great so far.
- Guild Receptionist - The production on this show is way better than I think the story deserves so far. It is lots of fun, but not much meat on the story bone yet. The OP visuals in particular are worth checking out.
- Bureaucrat to Villainess - An extremely silly show. In some ways it seems like a better version of Villainess that will Go Down in History from last season. It is a more interesting version of villainess-ing wrong I think. The ED really caught me off-guard and had me cracking up (it’s a cover in case you didn’t know, sorry I could only find the English version with a quick search).
On a meta note, Sakamoto Days is going to be switched over to posts being made only on request. The release schedule between Japan and international is all kinds of wonky with unofficial versions available before official international versions. So, if you watch an episode and want to talk about it, just request the thread be made by the bot. When I get a chance, I will update the verbiage on the pinned Latest Threads post.
The ED really caught me off-guard and had me cracking up
Same, feel like they were going for after-office karaoke or something haha
Continuing my status update on currently airing anime from last week:
Dropped
Even Given the Worthless “Appraiser” Class, I’m Actually the Strongest - There’s nothing setting it apart from the numerous fantasy anime, so there’s no point watching it.
Ameku M.D.: Doctor Detective - I gave it one more episode. It annoyed me when other characters are dumb in order to make the protagonist look smart. It also has a few other flaws reminiscent of Ron Kamonohashi’s Forbidden Deductions. In a nutshell, it’s not a very good show, so I’m out.
I’m Getting Married to a Girl I Hate in My Class - I got tired of the main duo’s bakaple (bacouple?) antics halfway through the second episode.
Continuing
The Red Ranger Becomes an Adventurer in Another World - This is the weakest adaption out of those that I’m familiar with this season. I’m giving it one more episode, but I don’t have high hopes for it.
I Left My A-Rank Party to Help My Former Students Reach the Dungeon Depths! - I have forgotten how much of a power fantasy this one was (and yes, harem and revenge are power fantasies too). I’m going to turn my brain off to this one until I am bored of it, or until it ends.
From Bureaucrat to Villainess: Dad’s Been Reincarnated! - This has the funniest first episode out of all the seasonal isekai anime I am watching. If the comedy keeps up, I will likely be completing it.
I’m Living With a Otaku NEET Kunoichi?! - I’m surprised that I’m still entertained by this show. I will still be watching it till I get bored of it.
I May Be a Guild Receptionist, but I’ll Solo Any Boss to Clock Out on Time - It’s been a decent adaptation so far (of the manga at least; I have not read the novel).
Zenshu - The action scenes are very flashy, which is nice.
SAKAMOTO DAYS - It is looking good and on track to be among my top anime of the season. Having said that, it’s a bit too shounen-y for my taste at the moment. If it remains this way, it would end up being a 9 / 10 for me by the end of the season.
The Apothecary Diaries Season 2 - It’s been a nice first episode, laying the groundwork for the rest of the show. The only disappointing thing for me is the opening song, which doesn’t sound as good as I thought it would. As I’ve mentioned previously, I’d likely binge it towards the end of the season because I dislike being kept in suspense (even though I have already read ahead of the manga).
The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, REALLY Love You Season 2 - This first episode has been a perfect adaptation. The soundtracks, especially the spoof of Zenzenzense, fit the mood and adds to the humour. I’d like to think that the voice actresses had fun doing their takes on other characters for this episode. IMO the best part is how well the anime adapted the humour to this medium. My only complaint is that the opening and ending songs sound kinda lackluster compared to the ones from the first season, but that’s probably because my expectation was too high. I hope it maintains this level of quality for the rest of the season.
Weekly ranking roundup:
- Anime Corner - Full Results - Weekly Winner: I Have a Crush at Work
- Reddit Karma - Weekly Winner: Solo Leveling
Credit to /u/Abysswatcherbel for making the chart for reddit karma and /u/Nooble5 for the Anime Trending chart.
AC really leaned into the romance genre to start the season with 7 of the top 10 having at least some focus on romance. Meanwhile, reddit showed Solo Leveling’s return a lot of love by more than doubling the karma of second place. Lots of differences between the two charts this week.
