So anyhow, I have managed to catch up on a few anime… Some I’m watching and some we’re watching. Since we’re coming up on mid-season, I decided to go with a few quick season reviews rather than try to review a ton of individual episodes.
So hit the jump, let’s chat about what I’m caught up on, look at what the next few weeks are going to look like, and talk about the featured image.
A Certain Scientific Accelerator / Toaru Kagaku no Accelerator
The latest outing in the Raildex franchise puts me more in mind of Railgun rather than Index. Frankly, that’s a good thing as it means there’s more emphasis on action and much less on weird philosophy and weirder politics. (I don’t think that even the author can keep track of the ever shifting factions and alliances in Academy City!) “Plus it has the Sisters, which for some odd reason are one of the things I like best about the franchise” says Misika.
How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift? / Dumbbell Nan Kilo Moteru?
Continues to be an odd over-the-top mix of comedy, edutainment, and fanservice… Mostly mindless fun, but I can’t help but wonder who the target audience actually is.
The latest ep varied from the formula, and was much the weaker for it. If you’ve got something that works, why not stick with it? Formula isn’t always bad.
Mix / Mix: Meisei Story
Mix continues to be a slow amble through the character’s lives… I almost want to call it a not-quite-a-sports-anime, but that would be as wrong as calling it a sports anime. I don’t think that expresses things very well, does it? Or I could just say character beats, daily life, and relationships are just as important as the swing of a bat. I’m enjoying it a great deal.
O Maidens in Your Savage Season / Araburu Kisetsu no Otome-domo yo
At midseason, I have to admit to mixed feelings… The story and the characters remain amazing – but I can’t escape the feeling they’re trying to cramp eleven pounds into a ten pound sack. In some ways, it’s become something of an anthology series, and the result are episodes that just a hair too busy and full.
Wasteful Days of High School Girls / Joshikousei no Mudazukai
How to sum up Joshikousei? Madness I say, madness! But in a good way, it’s the total randomness of the character’s daily lives. Every time Baka says “Want to hear something amazing?” I lean forward in anticipation of seeing how her friends roll their eyes this time… She’s my favorite character next to the chuunibyou girl whose name I never can remember.
=========
About the featured image… My mom lived on the Atlantic coast practically her entire life, and loved the beach and especially seeing dawn over the ocean. So, one morning, all us kids got up and went to the beach to watch the dawn. Seems odd to say all us kids though, since the youngest is nearing forty… Afterwards we walked up the street to the Metro (her favorite local diner) for breakfast.
The Metro has become a local chain, and we never did get to eat at the original. We didn’t even try very hard. It’s in an inconvenient location for the part of town where everyone lives now, and the food and service are every bit as good at the other locations… so it didn’t seem worth the trouble.
We hadn’t all been in the same place since my niece’s wedding a decade ago… And despite the mournful reason, it was great to hang out together and reconnect with all my siblings.
=========
So, will I ever catch up this season? That’s up in the air to be honest. There’s at least six more shows that I’m at least two episodes behind on, and many of those I’ll be three behind on by the end of today. (Almost all of the “we’re watching” shows drop on Friday.) We’re watching 2-3 episodes a night, so in theory it shouldn’t take that long – except the County Fair ate last weekend and will eat much of next week and the weekend after. So, I make no promises. Odds are that Summer 2019 season is complete toast so far as any kind of regular reviewing goes. (Which makes two seasons in a row, RIP my base of followers.)
Not going anywhere though! Going to keep plugging away and hopefully get some non seasonal writing done. I’ve already outlined my Looking Back feature for Summer 2015, and that will be high priority over the next few days. You can take a look my Anime Planet profile and see what I was watching that season or look at the Summer 2015 season chart if you want to get a head start.
(Jeez, went to add tags to this post, and what with everything going on I’ve never created tags for this season’s shows. Ah well, another thing on the to-do list.)
=========
So, drop a comment and let’s chat about whatever! What do you think about the shows I talk about above? (No spoilers on others please. You can check my schedule and see what else I’m watching.) What’s your favorite local place to eat?
Apprentice Mages Lounge. 
I’m looking forward to your looking back feature. I sort of missed out on most of 2015 anime and I’d like to know if there’s something I should go back for
LikeLiked by 1 person
Glad to hear it! If you haven’t, you can check out the Winter and Spring 2015 editions:
https://apprenticemages.com/2019/03/08/looking-back-winter-2015/
https://apprenticemages.com/2019/06/26/looking-back-spring-2015-featuring-sound-euphonium/
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m glad you are back and hope you’re doing ok still. ☹️
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Scott! It’s two steps forward one step back many days… But I’m making progress.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Welcome back!
LikeLike
Thanks Crow!
LikeLike
I’m honestly having trouble keeping up with anime this season. I keep putting off watching shows, and sometimes I watch two episodes in a row, because I’ve forgotten to watch one that particular week. Of the shows you’ve mentioned in this post I’m not watching Accelerator.
I’ve dropped (recently) the Dumbbell show. The muscle fetish is a serious turn-off and I’m not interested in the work-out section. I stuck it out for longer than I normally would, because I find the girls seriously cute. All of them.
I still like the feel of Mix, but it’s become a comfortable backdrop rather than a draw. (And the feel is mostly the same as Cross Game. The pacing is quicker, though, so it doesn’t have as much time to unfold.)
Maidens is great, but I’m not getting into it as fully I keep thinking I would. It’s possibly the Okada melo-dramatic streak, but that hasn’t put me off other shows. Maybe it came at a wrong time?
And Wasteful Days of Highschool Girls has managed to sneak up all the way to favourite-of-the-season candidate. It’s competing with Kanata no Astra, and whether one show pulls ahead usually depends on who had the stronger episode.
I’ll be trying a rough seasonal ranking of shows I’m watching using LiveChart:
Wasteful Days of Highschool Girls
Kanata no Astra
Fruits Basket
Given
Vinland Saga
Machikado Mazoku
Takagi san 2
Granbelm
Genome
Cop Craft
Mix
Lord El Melloi II
Araburu Kisetsu no Otome-dono yo
Enn Enn no Shouboutai
To the Abandoned Sacred Beasts
Danmachi 2
Tejina Sempai
Carole & Tuesday
Isekai Cheat Magician
Mao-sama Retry
Re:Stage
Do You Love Your Mom and her Two Hit Multi-target Attacks?
Hensuki
Yuno
Notable shows: I actually dropped Granbelm after episode 1 and only picked it back up because of Irina’s review, and I’m surprised how much I like it. It’s like Mai Hime light, or something. And I haven’t seen anyone speak fondly of Genome, it’s an oddball show with good character dynamics and an appealingly absurdist streak. It’s not a master piece, but it’s good comfortable fun.
I’m enjoying this season much more than last season, but I’m overall less into watching anime. We’ll see if I recover next season.
LikeLike
At least for me, it came out of nowhere… There’s like nobody talking about it. Being still in catch-up mode, I can’t really rate-and-rank with any degree of confidence. Too many shows still in their early eps when I hit pause. Astra, that’s the opposite end of the spectrum, lots of talk about that one. I think that’s tonight’s candidate for binging/catching up.
I’m not sure when I’m going to be able to get back to Fruits Basket though.
Good to hear such a vote of confidence! That’s high on my list to-be-caught-up-on.
LikeLiked by 1 person
So good to see you back again! This sure has been a hell of a year – so many people I know have lost loved ones. Hope you and the rest of your family are doing okay.
I ran a library scavenger hunt at our club meeting earlier this month, with your CR gift card as the prize. I made up a very nice “certificate” for the winner, too – I’ll have to email you a picture of it later. We had some unfortunate drama because our top two hunters ended up in a tie, and stupid me hadn’t thought to come up with a tiebreaker (the last time I did a club scavenger hunt several years ago ended in a landslide victory, so I didn’t think I’d need one), but it got worked out eventually, I hope without too many hard feelings. All I really wanted was for them them all to just enjoy themselves and make some fun memories.
As far as anime watching goes, I just finished another full rewatch of Hyouka – I’ve heard some people say they can’t watch any KyoAni stuff right now, but I’m the opposite. Enjoying their work is the best way for me to process my own feelings. I also spent two weeks visiting family in late July/early August and brought along three movies this time around: Princess Mononoke, A Silent Voice, and A Letter to Momo. Went three-for-three, they enjoyed all of them. Seasonally the only thing I’m keeping up with at the moment is Fruits Basket, but I intend to catch up on DanMachi and El-Melloi sometime this week.
My favorite local place to eat? There’s a family-owned diner around here that’s fun to visit (for instance, their table markers are toys instead of numbers, so in place of that sterile “14” you might get handed a rubber duck or fire engine) and getting breakfast there is always a treat. If I’m going out to breakfast I like to enjoy stuff I don’t usually make at home, so something like their corned beef hash or an omelette with a side of grits really hits the spot. They make good burgers too, though I don’t go there as often for lunch.
LikeLike
I can’t watch anything feels heavy at the moment… we’re getting closer to getting caught up, but I’m leaving Fruits Basket for last. Of course, with the Fair starting the day after tomorrow there will probably be no anime watching (except for maybe a comedy or mindless show) until Mon or Wens of next week.
I’ve run a ton of competitions for the SCA, and there’s a surprise every time… Never have been able to get it down to a science. I am curious to know how the scavenger hunt went though. (That is, how it worked.)
That diner does sound like a fun place! I agree, diner food is for stuff you can’t get/do easily at home. We ate at the Metro several times when I was back for the funeral, and got a big ol’ plate of biscuits and sausage gravy every time. Outside of the South, nobody knows how to do either right.
LikeLike
Nice to see you back Derek. Take things easy still and hope you will begin to feel better gradually with time. I know it’s not what you have just gone through but I lost my cat 2 weeks ago, making the hard decision to do what is best so I feel you somewhat in the pain of losing something so close.
LikeLike
Thanks Lita! And my condolences for your fur friend, I know that’s not easy.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thankyou derek :)
LikeLiked by 1 person