Could use a light topic from all the bs, with it nearly being Christmas so why not look at the one medium not actively calling white people devils.
I'd say it was a good season personally, feel free to put down what you liked or want to recommend. Here's my picks:
Standouts/ must watch: Bleach TYBW, Chainsaw Man, Mob psycho 100 III and Spy x Family cour 2
Suprises: The Eminence in Shadow: I went in blind to this one and the tone shift from ep 1 after credits was massive. A very good show with the perfect mix of cringe and badass scenes.
Akiba Maid war: Yakusa gang wars but in maid cosplay, seriously
Personal likes:
Reincarnated as a sword: could easily be dismissed as isekai trash but has cute then brutal moments mixed in (Fran's hands all I'll say)
Mobile suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury: despite early attempts by leftists to call it yuri, no it's just a good introduction to Gundam for new viewers, excellent art and has the political intrigue you expect from Gundam.
Ituma-kun season 3: it's my lighthearted weekly watch.
Would like to highlight Isekai Ojisan is back after both Netflix and production hell which is also worth a watch.
Spy Family is really good, I absolutely recommend it to just about anyone. The fake family of constant lies and ulterior motives still manages to be the most wholesome thing on the air today.
It is definitely a universal recommendation. Likeable characters, very wholesome and some hilarious moments.
Fun fact for anyone who likes SpyXFamily and is also a big Oregairu fan: Loyd is voiced by Hachiman's seiyuu and Yor is voiced by Yukinon's seiyuu. Great to see these two play off each other again.
That reminds me as well. This is a rare example of an anime in which the sub and dub are both cast excellently. It's honestly worth watching both.
Smells like some HERESY around here, guardsman.
Can confirm
Normally I would agree with you. This is a very rare exception.
I will have to check out clips of the dub.
I generally watch almost everything subbed.
There are few shows where I feel that the dubs are better than subbed.
The dubs>subs list for me is short and it consists of Yu Yu Hakusho, FMA Brotherhood, Hellsing Ultimate, DBZ, Cowboy Bebop and Code Geass.
Don't forget, Black Lagoon. That dub is legendary too.
I would also put Kaguya-sama on that list as the dub has a certain 'flair' to it..
You reminded me that I still need to finish Black Lagoon someday lol.
I remember watching a few episodes of the Black Lagoon dub years ago and it was great.
Kaguya Sama I saw all of it subbed. I thought the seiyuu were perfectly casted.
I saw clips of the dub and it was good but just not as amazing as the sub to me.
If you manage to watch the all the episodes, don't miss the extra part: Roberta's Blood trail
You'll understand the true meaning of 'fear boner' seeing what that maid is capable of lol
Always love it when they completely change the tone of characters. Especially the narrator, who just became some crazy screeching retard. Appealing to the tiktok crowd, I guess?
I dunno about YYH , Kuwabara's voice is genuinely retarded. The rest are good casting but his voice takes me out of the show.
Justin Cook just absolutely nails it as Yusuke and I also love John Burgmeier as Kurama and love Chuck Huber as Hiei.
I agree that Chris Sabat's Kuwabara voice is probably the most polarizing choice. I think it is an acquired taste.
Especially since Sabat is capable of such fantastic performances. Whoever directed him fucked it up beyond belief.
Justin Cook was the voice director lol.
My boss is Japanese and he watches Spy Family with his kids. We are in my car one day and this comes on and he remarks that the singer has a nice voice. Blew his mind when I told him it is Yor's seiyuu. From about 10 years ago though.
Hayami Saori is the bomb and has been for a long time.
I love Hayami Saori's voice.
I always recognize her voice without even looking at the credits lol. She just has an unique and appealing voice.
Kana Hanazawa and Rie Takahashi also are amazing seiyuu that I always enjoy hearing and always recognize.
My man. Sublime taste. Add in Rie Kugimiya and Miyuki Sawashiro and you have the holy quintet of my favorite seiyuus.
Honestly, if Rie Takahashi or Kana Hanazawa ever started doing audiobooks in large numbers I could die happy.
I didn't want to write a whole essay in my last comment lol but yes Miyuki Sawashiro and Rie Kugimiya are also amazing seiyuu that I always recognize and enjoy listening to.
Kugimiya doesn't hold the title of tsundere queen for nothing. Miyuki Sawashiro's voice is smooth like butter.
I wish any of these five seiyuu would start doing audiobooks.
FWIW Kugimiya did volume one of Zero no Tsukaima and Rie Takahashi did a part of a volume of Konasuba, but to my knowledge that's all we have. It do be rough out here.
I skipped most of the sequels this season for not watching the prior seasons. Exception was Uzaki-san which I skipped because I thought S1 was pretty mediocre compared to the manga. And Spy x Family but that was a continuation rather than S2, highly recommend.
Chainsaw Man is very good, went in blind and won't read the manga til the season's over.
Do It Yourself is a CGDCT show, which you either like or hate that kind of slice of life. The girls are cute and I like the sort of near-future world hiding in the background of the show. Uncle Ted would not approve of Purin
Bocchi the Rock gets a lot of comparison to K-On, but other than cute high school girls making a band they're fairly different. Bocchi is more comedy focused rather than SoL imo. Quite enjoy this one and the manga.
Isekai Ojisan is a must watch. Seems low budget imo but they make fantastic use of every dollar, and it's hilarious as a parody/deconstruction of the usual isekai schlock.
Urusei Yatsura is good. Haven't seen the original but from what I've heard from others seems fairly respectful to the OG. You can also tell its an older story because instead of the protag running from the anime grills like a fag, he wants every grill, except Lum for some reason. Lum is life
I recommend you see clips of the original dubbed as it was dubbed by the BBC, in British English
Hearing old school anime characters say "FUCK OFF!" In a full British accent is one of the funniest things I've seen!
Edit: found the original dubbed, this is the best comedy ever
Bocchi the Rock has some really great references in it as well, I was not expecting a 2 min long reference to Nausica of the Valley of the Wind in a CGDCT show.
My must watch recommendations for this season are Bleach TYBW, Spy X Family Season 2 and Chainsaw Man.
Surprises of the season:
Blue Lock: I was not into sports anime or soccer at all but I love this anime. A lot of hype moments and likeable characters.
Reincarnated as a Sword: it is very wholesome. Master and Fran have a great father daughter dynamic.
Eminence in Shadow: It is pretty much hilarious.
Akuyaku Reijou nano de Last Boss: I wasn't expecting much but damn I just really liked this show. I like the characters and I definitely love both the opening and ending song.
The following animes I watch due to my personal tastes:
Iruma kun season 3: It is just a very wholesome show.
Fumetsu no Anata Season 2: Season 1 was pretty great and season 2 continues that trend. A very emotional show with good characterization.
Hero Academia Season 6: Hype fights and cool characters
Uzaki chan season 2: a fun show with wholesome romance
Beast Tamer: generic isekai like show that I still found enjoyable
Fuufu Ijou: Unrealistic premise in this romance anime but I enjoyed it
For men of culture:
Futoku no Guild: some very hilarious episodes but yes this show is NSFW.
Renai Flops: starts off being ecchi fanservice bait but it evolves into something much more.
I am not able to keep up weekly with all of the animes I listed but I will finish them all when I get time.
You guys will have me so busy looking up anime
Renai Flops really is an odd one ha ha
Definitely earns some points in my book for being unique.
I have enjoyed both Uzaki-Chan and Fuufu ljoi, thanks to watching Ore Monogatari years ago I've had a soft spot for romance animes lol
Clannad/Clannad After Story, Oregairu and Your Lie in April gave me a soft spot for romance anime.
If you haven't seen any of these three romance animes, I heavily recommend these three.
Also if you haven't seen Horimiya you should check it out. A very good romance anime with fun characters and it is also pretty wholesome.
I have mostly been spending my time getting caught up on anime that I was behind on, other than Spy x Family season 2 because why would I not.
The only newer one I have been watching no on your list is Eighty-Six: 86. It handles the topics of things like discrimination and bigotry in a way that Hollywood only wishes they could pull off. But then again, maybe not, because the ones discriminated against arent perfect angels themselves, and show their own bigotry back even when people are trying to help them.
The mech fights are pretty cool too, and Legion is a very interesting enemy.
I've had my eye on Eighty-Six: 86 for a while, I just need to be in the mood for something more serious.
If you like an anime with a more dire, apocalyptic tone, you might want to check out WorldEnd: What do you do at the end of the world? Are you busy? Will you save us?. It's very bittersweet and sad, but I found it interesting.
I watched Banished from the Hero's Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside earlier this year expecting a typical fantasy anime but found it surprisingly thoughtful and interesting with some serious moments.
I found Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs amusing and surprisingly interesting, although I couldn't tell you exactly why. I'm usually turned-off by excessive fan service but I was able to get past it in this case.
I have no love for these types of classic Kamen Rider anime but I actually enjoyed Fuuto Pi a lot because of the likeable characters and charming silliness of it all.
I'm continuing to enjoy Kagua-sama: Love is War Season 3, although I think they've strayed somewhat from the comedy roots of the first season.
PS. My tastes are not typical of most anime watchers so take my suggestions with a grain of salt.
PPS. Rumor is One-Punch Man Season 3 is being animated by MAPPA. If this is true, we might actually see quality nearing season 1 this time around!
PPPS. ONE's next manga Versus sounds crazy. Looking forward to seeing what he does with it. I'm a big fan of his work.
It's confirmed, MAPPA is going to take on One Punch man season 3
I pray they do a joint project like with Takt Op with someone like Madhouse as their poor animators have families!
Yeah, they’re taking on a lot. I hope they treat their employees well.
Haven't watched nearly as much as I would like, so I can't say I have anything to add that others haven't already said.
Eminence in Shadow is a very pleasant surprise. Its very hard to get me to laugh as much as it has. Not to mention it is a star studded lineup of voice actors.
Reincarnated as a Sword has been pleasant. Surprised by how willing they are to show gore. Always good to hear the Kishida Kyoudan doing an OP, and the fact that Maon Kurosaki does the ED really reminds me of HSotD (where KK did the OP and Maon Kurosaki sung the EDs way back in like 2010 or something).
I'll catch up on Spy Family eventually and intend to watch Chainsaw Man at some point. Apparently Bocchi is great too so that will be added to the PTW list.
I loved reincarnated as a sword, Fran makes this show, she's amazing, funny and overall a cutie pie. No harem trash is also a bit plus.
I'm glad it's getting a season 2, that seems to be the trend now of getting second seasons.....unless you're called No game, no life...
Actual PAIN! I miss that one, had amazing animation, cool main characters and the setting is not the usual thing. Sad, really.
No word on that getting a season 2, but you know what is?
In another world with my smartphone
Fate, why do you mock us so....
That one is probably worse than the slime one. I still do not get why people enjoy this one so much, mc is op and focuses on the mc, nothing really happens etc. I gave it a fair shot(3/4ths of season one) and then I hear friend say "it gets good after x" why is it not good now?
As an Isekai connoisseur, I will say Slime is a good series and can just bring up one way it's better than smartphone to show how bad it is
The slime characters HAVE character, the each had personality that they could make a lighthearted spinoff and the story payoff in season two worked. Smartphone's characters are REALLY bland and 1 dimensional.
Edit: I will say the WORST isekai I ever watched was 'Isekai cheat magician', I dropped that after 3 episodes, GOD it was bad, it didn't deserve the Myth and Roid op it got!
My main issue is just the overpowered characters really. I did enjoy Overlord because its perspective is different in a lot of ways, i.e. with the Lizardman arc entirely from their perspective where some god level monsters are coming to kill them all. From the other perspective it's rather boring. That's what slime felt like to me but yeah, maybe you're right with your point, the smartphone one is such a bad one, I only ever got past 2 episodes whereas with the slime one around 17(I was bored @ work).
I get what you mean about overpowered characters, a LOT of early Isekais did them badly as it focused on wish fulfillment than story and character first. That's less of an issue from what I've seen of a lot of the ones this year as they give them qwerks like:
Isekai Ojisan: he's overpowered but a social introvert with access to mind wiping techniques
Parallel world pharmacy: overpowered but only wants to heal and help people.
Slime: he's overpowered but not THE most powerful plus he cares for those around him
A lot of the early ones like phone mad them op but with few character qwerks they can play off. Op is fine so long as you enjoy when the character is on screen.
Fran is just so adorable in the show. Truly a precious cinnamon roll for whom I only want to see good things happen.
That is why the hands scene while they were fighting against the demon was so rage inducing to see.
Thanks! I have a lot to check out.
Fall '22 was a really good season, but one of my favorites doesn't seem to have been mentioned yet: Shinmai Renkinjutsushi no Tenpo Keiei (Management of a Novice Alchemist).
The story centers around a young orphan becoming an alchemist and starting her own shop, in what's best described as a blend of Atelier and Recettear. If CGDCT mixed with "Capitalism, Ho!" sounds like something you'd enjoy, it's worth checking out.
Might have to check that out, I'll always miss one or two each season as there's always so many shows to catch up on.
Legend of Galactic Heros never gets any love. Granted even Crunchyroll seems to intentionally hide it, probably because a story where democracy ends up being more corrupt than a dictatorship, and the biggest scum being the banker "Rubinsky" just isn't in line with what they want people to think about.
To be honest, their UI did get an upgrade but it's still not the best.
On that vain, ever watch How a Realist Hero rebuilt the Kingdom? That one is a good watch as it it's less action more solving issues using economics and Machiavellian policies.
Did not watch that, and the backlog already grows faster than I watch anime, but I probably would like it. Sounds like an Isekai, but I don't hate Isekais.
It is isekai but it's actually good in that it plays into the character, because the mc is an outsider there's many perspectives outside of just his knowledge that he brings into the story.
Can i recommend older obscure anime/manga that people might have missed? Id like to recommend. Black Cat manga only (since anime version is pretty trash) and Cells At Work
I'm not going to say no lol, go for it!
Just using this season as a starting point as it's recent and has had some heavy hitters right off the bat.
I am just glad to get TYBW animated after a ten year hiatus.
Been waiting to see certain hype fights get animated so I can finally see certain bankais actually get animated.
TYBW definitely was not a perfect arc in the manga but I think the anime will flesh it out better with additional scenes.
Been watching the new episodes of Bleach, thankfully I don't think the Chad has many voicelines in this so the VA is probably virtue signalling knowing his job is already over lol.
I'd HIGHLY recommend Mob Psycho 100, not just the comedy aspect but because you're only 1 episode watched I'll say this:
That percentage counting up, when it reaches 100, things pop off! And then there's ???....
Reigen, this man ALONE that you meet in the first episode could carry the series, he may be a con man but has a heart of gold and what he does later on especially at the end of EACH season proves he's the best role model Mob could've had!
Edit: this is the least Spolier clip I could find of why Reigen is the master!
You all disappoint me when only op and me are the only ones who watched gundam.
It's a shame as this is one of the most friendly to those new to the franchise
I'm only watching 2 anime. Urusei Yatsura and Mushikaburi Hime, tried to watch Spy x Family but sometimes I find it to be cringe time to time, the way things work out too well. I find the mainstream anime to be guilty of this in general, convenient contrivance. Eventually I'm going to watch the rest when it ends.