I would've done this last week but....didn't feel right if you catch my drift. Obviously didn't watch everything and behind on some so feel free to fill in the gaps. Without further adou:
I've read the Manga
Scooped up an S-Rank Adventurer: Standard 'guy gets booted from his party because he's so good they don't notice him helping them' fair. Have noticed they have changed things compared to the manga and can't tell if censored or not. It doesn't feel like creative changes like with others I see.
The Headliners
DandaDan S2: unfortunately no Creepy Nuts opening but this one isn't bad. It just feels more crazy and fun than last time with everything to suicide inducing giant worms with a cult, soccer playing possession, a musical fight and even Kaiju battle.
My Dress up Darling S2:Yep she's back, the one girl where we both appreciate the fanservice but also 'please get with HIM!' First episode along was funny with the bunny girl outfit and Gojo remembeting he is a teenage man!
Kaiju No 8 S2: Still some hyped battles and scenes though didn't feel as pulling as first season, could just be me.
Up for Personal tastes
Shield Hero S4:Nearly getting back to Season 1 quality at least, do prefer up of who he is against in this season.
Reborn as a Vending Machine S2: is still to the formula as last one only they raised the stakes with the attack of the demon lord with accomplices.
Clevatess: Now this one is interesting, episode one was double in length and features the heros getting bodied by the beast lord then their kingdom Annihilated with only a baby left alive taken by the beast lord after the pleas of a dying guardian and one of the slain heros brought back to life to serve as effectively a nanny. A lot more of a dark fantasy vibe.
Gachiakuta: A city divided in two between a prestine city where everything not perfect is dumped as trash and slums with below that a world of just trash. It's gotba nice soundtrack and visuals and not far into it but going to try to watch more of it.
Lots I haven't caught up on like Dr Stone but I will give a honourable mention to this: Takopu's Original Sin, I was planning on watching it when I was in the right mood as it's apparently dark as fuck at times but, well, never felt positive enough so put it on the back burner. Feel free for those who watched it to provide a review for that and others missed off as only one dude lol.
I agree with you on My Dressup Darling, i was hoping we'd get a bit more progression on the romance but it just focused too hard on the cosplay and other characters and the only bit of progression we got was right at the end. Disapointing..
Fair enough I would myself not combine crossdressing with fag as we did used to have men ONLY be actors so some had to put on the dress and in the episodes the guy was straight who had a girlfriend who being honest, bit of a bitch.
Just feels like we give the gays too much credit giving them crossdressing lol. You might be eating good next season though as Campfire Cooking is coming back and I'm interested in that one where the villianess throws hands..
>talking all lispy
>using a troon voice
Are you watching a dub or something? The character is a straight guy who doesn't do anything feminine unless he's in a costume.
Sounds like you got localized. Please tell me you don't give Crunchyroll money.
Fair enough
Agreed on kisekoi. Though seeing as how this is asia i can understand how it could be interpreted as innocent. Subversion is real.
To me, the Kaiju no. 8 manga falls off pretty hard, so I would expect the anime to do the same. It spent too much time on things I didn't want, and glossed over things I did. It lost the pacing and progression from the first 3-5 volumes.
There is a long issue of series starting strong but losing their way and/or not sticking the landing.
Out of the current series being adapted, Solo Levelling and My Dress Up Darling are free from this in my opinion and the latter was because the author was having some health scares so ended the series on good terms than risk leaving it unfinished.
The ones not adapted and only in Manga/Manwha that sticks the landing, there's currently one I know of about to end.
Scooped up an S-Rank Adventurer: it's ok but why is there such a deluge of these "guy gets kicked out but is actually the strongest" series? That's an oddly specific setup. I must have watched at least half a dozen by now.
Reborn as a Vending Machine: the first half of S1 was fun and novel but after that it went downhill fast. Dungeon runs with a fucking vending machine just doesn't work. Plus the world and characters boring. Only made it 2 episodes into S2 before I gave up.
Yea, that Banished one was pretty good and the party he got kicked out of wasn't so cartoonishly stupid. Even the guy who kicked him out was believably written and not a frothing idiot.
The good thing about Scooped Up is that it appears to not be harem slop for once. That's always annoying.
Have to agree as with the vending is they tried to up stakes but just didn't pay off, and as I said the Scooped up one I swear is censored as spoiler that knight chick who leaves the party when they ditch the city was supposed to have lost her arm to a monster after the MC left and THAT'S when she realised her mistake instead she was rewritten to ALWAYS have had a suspicion the MC was good and the hero was trash.
If it were "An F-ranked party scoops up an S-rank adventurer", it would make a lot more sense, but then their role in the story narratively wouldn't, even if their actions and decisions would. The novice party from Water Magician is smarter and acts more experienced than them, and they only took a 4-week-course in Adventuring 101.
Ought to check if those manga authors were cut from some publishing house recently
+1 to Clevatess. the show can be brutally depressing at times, but it's very interesting where the plot is going.
Call of the Night S2 the first season was all about relationships and the nature of love so if you were expecting more of that, you will be disappointed. the second season is all about trauma and suicidality. also many of the characters start sexually harassing the MC in more overt ways.
secrets of the silent witch Bocchi the Rock but with magic instead of music, with a reverse harem. Great animation.
I'm actually about to start watching this(as in I am sitting here with a bowl full of popcorn as I type this), but all the equals signs in the sub threw me off about 30 seconds in. What is up with that and is there a subber out there who isn't engaging in this tomfoolery?
from what I can gather, the magic system in that show is highly mathematical. I'm pretty sure the translator is trying to convey that they're speaking mathematical formulas.
I cannot wait for AI to leave all of these professional translators absolutely destitute.
I don't know how far the anime has progressed, but I truly hope they skip the "girls sitting around talking" arc or at the very least trim it down. It takes up like 1/4th of the entire manga and its literally a bunch of characters you don't care about talking about their feelings.
Afterwards it hurtles fast into the progression everyone wants, becomes PEAK for a bit in terms of humor, and then (like all romcoms) abruptly ends because they are scared to write the "in a relationship" part for long.
I dropped out of the manga about the time they finished the Spirit Turtle and he woke up double isekai'd, as it felt like it had been dragging for a while. I assume they are past that point by now, does the Anime improve on that and make it worth pushing through?
Also, for whoever might be in the camp. I was dragged to see the Demon Slayer movie by my wife despite never having seen a single episode. And it was still an amazing watch, sans a flashback lasting a little too long in the second half. The quality of it was literally astounding as an old weeb to see that kind of budget on the big screen in America, and it was overall just a great watch even if I know I was missing a lot of emotional resonance and payoffs.
They're just now getting into the Nuns arc to end the season, if there's any studio that can close out a third season to finish the manga and make it not suck it's Cloverworks but they do not have much to work with for 12 more episodes.
The ending to the manga was perfectly fine, its just the standard "and we jump ahead X years to see they are still together and happy and progressing in their careers." Caps everything as good as you can expect from such a series.
You can keep that and just write more stuff up until you do that time jump, just straight up more "filler" content for people to enjoy the fanservice of.
Ironically, that's what Dragon Ball is still doing to this day. As End of Z is still the last piece of the timeline, every bit of Super is just them adding nonsense before doing the timeskip to end it.
So essentially do a 'rogue one' and fill in the gap in the time skip between them getting together and the ending?"
As that sounds perfectly fine, and I'd encourage it.
Its been a bit since I read it, but wasn't the final chapter like 3-5 years? There is plenty of time for that fluffy "she is angy and needy, he is awkward and shy" stuff everyone wants.
The progress is really done, we don't need to do anything major with it. Just write some cute nonsense until people stop showing up enough to be worth it.
As long as it doesn't go the Horimiya route and drag it out so long and terribly that it makes me actively turn on characters I once enjoyed.
If you're talking about my dress up Darling, it ended around 9 months ago?
Yeah, its just been long enough that I don't remember how long the time skip was. I worded it weirdly, in retrospect.
Dress-Up Darling could do what Takagi-san did and write a sequel series of Gojo and Marin's family life after the original run ended.
They could but personally I don't think that would be very worth it. Half the enjoyment is her aggressive pursuit/love for him and his completely awkward squirming around it. If they are still acting like that well into marriage/kids then it'll feel really reductive of their character growth.
That's just my opinion though, it could work perfect for some people.
I said somewhere else, the author sped up the ending because of health risking it to be unfinished so hopefully in the anime seasons to come, they tighten up that plart and then have more episode of them IN a relationship as for the 3-4 chapters we saw, they were really cute together.
It's a reason I praised Chivery of the failed Knight as that with 4 episodes had them together in a relationship which is sad there was no season two to that.
I think in a way its because there is a strong "purity" culture still in Japan, and they want their escapism to maintain that as much as possible. Especially with the heavy industry focus on waifuism.
So if they show them in a relationship, they have to show progress in that regard and that risks upsetting a lot of people if they do stuff that people do in relationships. Because otherwise you get stuck in the "what has actually changed from before they got together" rut, and that's even more frustrating because there isn't even a big tension building payoff waiting at the end of it.
As a recommendation for some manga for your hunt, Do Chokkyuu Kareshi x Kanojo is one of the loudest series ever written that gets them together like 1/3 into its run time and Arakure Ojousama wa Monmon Shiteiru actually made the long "will they" pay off through the character's developments and is still ongoing (though the TL is incredibly slow and keeps getting dropped) after they got together.
On the flipside, Japan's heavy purity focus is one of the things that has held feminism and the like back for so long. They will bankrupt entire companies if a girl in one game is shown to have a boyfriend she has sex with, and will do so violently and aggressively. Its why Idol culture is as strict as it is, because even the hint of sexuality or desire from these girls is like blood in the water for fans to abandon and destroy them.
There is already a huge push in the industry for "sluts are actually good!" and its clearly being used for subversion. Rent A Girlfriend is the famous one, but I've stumbled upon far too many that aren't just NTR bait and are trying to sway perception in an unhealthy manner to our Western Hedonism and Degeneracy.
So while I bemoan how much its effecting the arts, I think for a political purpose its better to keep it this way than the alternative.
The "loli harem" genre is so common that it can even be called a genre, and its one of those things so inherent to the industry that I can't even find it more than an oddity despite it being offensively awful to so many (which is why the "loli question" is so prevalent in the online sphere). Perhaps I've just been around anime so long that its become numb to me in terms of its existence, but the fact that it is so commonplace, yet Japan doesn't have seemingly any large amount of pedo nonsense in real life makes it hard to even get mad about its existence outside of "gross and not for me."
You are right they represent more ends of the spectrum with little middle, though that's a deep enough problem that its above me to find a solid solving of that without tipping the balanced scale too hard in one direction. I've seen a considerable enough "subversion" take over the industry where characters break out of those two assumed extremes, though the Japs fucking love their standard generic stuff across all things. Its why isekai is so popular right now, why every female character has a named stereotype it falls into, and why we can predict so much. Its a bigger problem than just this in regards to what they love in media.
I think the bigger problem in this regard is the economic one. Like, we have it bad in terms of people not buying houses or having children because of how expensive it is, but we have more freedom and options in regards to offsetting it somewhat.
The Japs don't have that, they are struggling with the economic issues of the modern world meeting the traditional culture of relationships and careers and seem to be taking the worst of both worlds. Like an office drone who works 14 hours a day until he can barely stand from stress and exhaustion is a standard part of their life, but that guy can no longer support a family on his income (like all of us) meaning now he either doesn't find a girl or his girl has to work too. Both of which means she is less attracted to most men and even less likely to breed with the ones she does attach to.
I enjoyed Horimiya until the "first" ending. Where the main couple's story basically ended and it became like 8 volumes of "and here is what everyone else is doing!" My dislike of it was to talk about the downside of the "continue after they get together doing filler" option, in how badly it can end up.
Its amusing to think of a healthy adult couple from "girl who gets sexually aroused from him raising his hand to hit her, and keeps trying to provoke him into doing so." I get what you are saying, but its very funny to remember that plot point in this conversation.
That just irks me more how much time was wasted on that entire arc of characters I didn't care for getting introduced, doing their entire plot and then disappearing in a single sitting.
I'm not displeased with what we got, and I'm not going to hate on her for getting sick. But the series as a whole would have been stronger if they just cut that completely.
I think there is still the fallacy in a lot of manga that people 'love the chase' and think when they get in a relationship in the story that's 'the end'.
This really needs to get over as there are LOTS of people that would love to see people IN RELATIONSHIPS and seeing them progress. Hell one of my favourite romcoms is my love story and that's mostly them in a relationship.
One of the highschool-but-actually-gundams/war-magic animes that were popular in a phase a while back had such a good interaction. They marry at the end of episode 1. The FemC tries to introduce jealosy drama and, indirectly, harem elements, and the friend side character just slaps her upside the head and goes "shut up, you're married, he loves you, you love him, don't start drama over him being near another woman for a whole minute." and then it's just their pure married story, plus the whole actually-war-magic-gundams thing.
I wish I could remember. There was like 10 anime that came out within a year of each-other that all were VERY similar premise-wise (trend-chasing is not a new thing), and unfortunately the names were all Japanese, it got blended into the masses...
I can never pass up these threads. Give us anything else you got. Contemporary, fantasy, or sci-fi setting? Are they fighting against another nation, aliens, demons, etc.? When you say "war-magic-gundams" do you literally mean they're using mechs or just thematically?
The unusually level-headed friends and setting makes me makes me think of The Irregular at Magic High School but as for married MCs, that's... complicated.
As I wrote in my recommendations to the other guy, some of my favorites also involve people already in relationships or continuing past. Another, Oogami-san, Dadamore Desu, was one of my favorites while it was coming out and it gets them together super early and just explores the funny hijinks they get up to without ever needing to get into the nitty gritty.
Its not even that the chase isn't fun enough for an entire story. I can't imagine Kesa mo Yuraretemasu actually continuing once the chase is done, because the framing and theme won't make sense or work anymore afterwards.
But so many of them set up these entire casts and plots and arcs, and then just drop them all once the MCs get together, enough that it seems forced. And we all hate it.
Mandatory shout out to Wotakoi.
Both the female MCs are, so if you dislike that. Yeah, I'd skip.
I'm surprised no one has brought up Ruri Cake.. I mean Ruri Rocks, i fell behind on this one a little because i packed my schedule too much and got too busy. But it was interesting learning about rocks...
😏
I sware, i'm watching it for the rocks.
From the ones I saw:
Dr. Stone: really enjoyed this season, very high stakes and did not let me down again. Though it does not reach the emotional heights S1 did(manly tears were shed there for Byakuya and Senku).
Call of the Night S2: As a manga reader I still appreciate Creepy Nuts for their soundtrack, love the story just do not love the ending but that's another story. Visually I feel they even improved a bit.
Futari Solo Camp: MY GOD IS IT IN-DEPTH! I learn so much about camping, I never went but this and Yuru Camp makes me wanna badly! And it's not over yet, 24 episodes!
Busamen Gachi Fighter: Hey! Finally an anime with a MC that looks like me, lol. All jokes aside pretty hilarious, especially when all the other characters have their running gag(one proclaims herself rich for example made me laugh multiple times).
Dandadan S2:Not happy about the censorship at the end, otherwise the season was fine.
Silent Witch: if it weren't for another this would be my favorite. The MC is so lovable and quirky.
The fragrant flower blooms with dignity: yes, a romance anime. It's probably the best of romance this entire year bar none. Chemistry of the 2 characters is there, their standings reminding me of romeo and juliet. Highly recommended and my favorite this season easily. If you watch any of these from the list pick this one!
The censorship in question: character that shows up in the last minute, she has a space suit akin to a leotard on and they made part of it pink so it isn't bare flesh anymore...naked Okarun and underwear Momo was was fine I guess....
And yeah, Call of the Night is still worth it but I just wish the ending was a bit better...it's actually a bit bittersweet, but not satisfactory in my book.
VERY weird considering nothing really changed in terms of staff. Later on a character shows up in the manga that is even more revealing (spoilers)
Fragrant flower has been peak romanace, also the fansubs has been absolutly killing it, thanks to Netflix bullshittery.
I know what I'm watching today. Season 1 was well thought-out enough to be fun.
Edit : I'm halfway into Season 2 and I prefered Season 1 alot more.
I really like these lists, helps me find new stuff to watch.
Will update this post with muh pinions later.
Anime is mega gay. There I’ve reviewed all anime past, present, and future.
I think Apocalypse Bringer Mynoghra was the best anime of the season. The animation is... lower-budget. It has one or two sasuga moments, but it clearly was a lower-priority-animation-budget series, but the concept is at least somewhat new, and the writing is pretty fun. And it isn't one of the infinite endless sequels.
Ame to Kimi to was a pretty comfy show throughout
Thank you for the reminder that I really need to start watching DanDaDan. Not just for me but I need to screen it for my teenager as well.
Anything in particular you're screening for as DandaDan is kinda hard to judge as, for example, you could have scenes that out of context seem sexual but isn't played off that way if that makes sense.
Simply that I've never seen it, and I don't let her watch things that I haven't viewed myself.
Ah fair enough, great parenting though genuinely.
Thank you. She's turning out pretty alright so far. Only problem is that she's a tree, six foot even. I'm going to have some trouble finding her a husband when the time comes.
Nah don't worry, there are PLENTY of guys willing to be 'short kings' for a girl with a good head on her shoulders!
Yeah but she hates manlets lol.
Depressing. A six foot girl who won’t date shorter is turning down 85% of the population based on a relatively pointless criteria. You’re going to have a very hard time finding her a decent guy who is also tall enough to fulfill her arbitrary height preference.
It's been shown in plenty of studies that women will give up ALL of their stated preferred criteria if they meet a guy they just genuinely like based on their unstated bio/chem/hormonal criteria.
EDIT: Men too show this trait, but their stated criterias tend to be so low to the ground that it never comes up.
Meh, if she’s athletic you’ll be fine. There’s plenty of guys in athlete families who get pushed to pick genetic matches.
She is indeed. Runner and weights.
With Watch is great. Recommend.
City starts kinda weak but develops into a good comedy. Recommend.