Apologies for no anticipation post… June got away from me, and as the annual Medieval Faire now happens late in the month the last two weeks were crazy busy. And no First Impression post either, because pretty much nothing caught my eye this season and I haven’t seen anything yet. (I do need to fix that soon… before I get too behind.)
But I did want to drop a “really, I’m alive!” post and give my regular commenters a chance to weigh in on the season.
What have I accomplished anime wise the last couple of weeks?
Sabegebu! (Survival Game Club)
A meme based on this scene popped up in r/whatanime… And re watching the scene lead to rewatching the series.
Yep. It’s still one of the most batshit insane anime I’ve ever watched, and it’s still funny as heck.
Ippon Again!
For whatever reason the ED from Ippon Again! was running through my head… So, forgetting that it uses the OP as the ED, I decided to rewatch the first episode – and ended up watching the second so I could hear the ED. And now, we’re on the final arc. Yes, we, this time my wife was watching and she says now she realizes why I was so high on the series when it aired.
It’s still a damned good show… and it’s absolutely criminal how it flew under the radar when it was airing. Even more criminal that it hasn’t received a 2nd season.
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Maybe that’s my new niche? Occasional short blurbs on whatever crosses my mind, screen, or keyboard?
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Anyhow, over to you! Drop a comment on the season, the weather, whatever else you want to chat about. As usual, the comments are Open Mic night.
Apprentice Mages Lounge. 
You need to watch The Girl I Like Forgot Her Glasses!!!
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That one actually is on my sorta-kinda list, just have to find some motivation. I saw your blog post, but haven’t read it yet.
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Let the post give you motivation :)
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I’ve come expect that most sports anime never get a second season any more* – Unless it’s Haikyuu! (and even that seems to have run out of steam last couple of years), or some other shouty overpowered shonen show. One of my dreams is to win a huge lottery prize and go to Japan and make them an offer to fund a second series of ______. Oh well I can but dream of Major 2nd, Farewell My Dear Cramer, Mou Ippon etc etc…
You are spot on about Sabagebu. It’s still a brilliant comedy. Just thinking about it makes me chuckle sometimes.
*yes I know Free and that Cycling show had multiple seasons but most just don’t. Furthermore It seems male sports shows can get further seasons but female sports seem to rarely do so.
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MIX (which I’m a huge fan of) got a second season, so I’m good there… :) Ippon Again, Harukana Receive, and Aokana would all be sports shows that also need a sequel, and they’re all girl’s sports… what this says about me, I dunno.
And of course there’s the gold standard for girls and sports and sequels – Chihayafuru. Though, by chapter count, they’d need three more seasons to complete the manga.
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Oh, Sabagebu. I didn’t actually remember that scene at all, but it’s so in flavour. This really isn’t the best of seasons, and two of the shows I’d have watched went to GoHands, so I can’t even get through the opening shots (motion sickness).
I’m going to predict my anime of the season is going to be Bungou Stray Dogs. Most of the new shows are mediocre (or not my thing), but there are some decent ones.
Undead Girl Murder Farce is okay. I thought I wouldn’t like it, but it’s okay. Not too dramatic and doesn’t take itself too seriously, and it has some good shots. I learned after watching the premier that it’s the director of Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju, Sankarea and Kaguya-sama, so it makes sense the show agrees with me. I’m guessing I’ll like all those shows better than this one (though the jury’s out on Sankarea), but it’s probably going to better than Grancrest.
Hero Classroom I find charming, too, though it’s full of unnecessary fanservice. I can get past this. Again, though, nothing here amounts to a recommendation. If your bored you can do worse, so to speak. I just happen to click with the style.
And Genjitsu no Yohane is fun. It’s a magical girl spin off of Love Live Sunshine, I suppose. Had I known this I’m not sure I’d have even tried this, but it turns out it’s one of the more fun new shows. Especially Yohane’s dog Lailaps is a fun character (I assume they’re having telepathic contact? She may actually be talking? Anyway, great voice work from Youko Hikasa.) I’m already starting to get diminishing returns, though, so I wonder about the show’s staying power.
Aand Dark Gathering had a pretty good first episode, too, though it’s potential goes in two directions. The horror elements are generally played for comedy, but at times can get pretty creepy. A lot depends on what they’ll do with this.
Probably the best of the new shows is another magic academy show about, Reign of the Seven Spellblades. It’s mostly carried by the easy chemistry among the main cast, and supported by solid (though not terribly interesting) worldbuilding.
There are other shows I moderately enjoy, like the Vending Mashine Isekai, Yumemiru Danshi (nice romcom), the Atelier anime, and maybe the arranged marriage show, and even more maybe Liar, Liar.
None of the new shows fall in the must see category, and I don’t really see much potential for the should see category either, though there’s plenty of can-see.
I’ll likely not watch Zom 100, though I’m not quite out yet, though I respect what it’s doing, and if that’s your thing you’ll probably have one of the better new shows this season at hand.
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That one I definitely need to check out, because I loved her character in Sunshine.
I did check out the Atlier show, but the first ep was so. deadly. dull. and. repetitive. I checked out about half/three quarters of the way through the infodump, I mean first episode.
Well, a season like this was bound to happen sooner or later… There are a handful of seasons where I only watched 4-5 shows.
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Welcome back! Haven’t commented in a long while so this will just start out as my watchlist (movies included) with commenting spread thin.
Summer:
Agreed this season is fairly weak compared to spring but it does make it easier to keep up.
Zom 100: Zombie ni Naru made ni Shitai 100 no Koto
My favorite so far of the new series this season. MC is way too stupid to survive a zombie apocalypse for long but his bubbly attitude as a former “black company” employee is all too relatable. Unfortunately seems to be having production issues. Last week’s episode was a day late and this week’s episode has been postponed to next week.
Dekiru Neko wa Kyou mo Yuuutsu
This is just bizarre, and occasionally hilarious.
AI no Idenshi
Decent SF series, not that there’s much competition there lately, unfortunately.
Suki na Ko ga Megane o Wasureta
Uchi no Kaisha no Chiisai Senpai no Hanashi
Horimiya: Piece
Yumemiru Danshi wa Genjitsushugisha
My favorite rom-coms this season, roughly ranked. Mie-chan’s hair is so well animated it’s like it’s own character. Horimiya has shifted focus from the main couple to the secondary characters, and IMO is suffering for it.
Kanojo, Okarishimasu
Tonikaku Kawaii: Joshikou Hen
My least favorite of the returning rom-coms, the first due to cringe/trash MC and the second due to relentless syrupiness/teasing.
Jujutsu Kaisen
Mushoku Tensei II: Isekai Ittara Honki Dasu
Two sequels I’ve fallen behind on and teetering on dropping, mainly having to do with me having completely “lost the thread” on what the heck is going on and not wanting to go back and re-watch their previous seasons to find out.
Jidouhanbaiki ni Umarekawatta Ore wa Meikyuu o Samayou
Dropped after week 1. I’m all for wacky twists on isekai but this one just didn’t seem to work for me.
Spring:
I probably had too much on my plate this season.
Oshi no Ko
I completely missed this series when it first aired and watched the first episode based on an offhand comment from a friend that it was really popular in Japan. I ended up binging the entire season over three days and it ended up my choice for spring AoTS. Watch the first episode at least; you’ll know by the end whether you’ll like the series or not. Best entered “cold” without reading anything about the show. The one thing you should know is that the first episode is an almost 90 minute special so do set aside enough time to watch.
Mix: Meisei Story 2nd Season – Nidome no Natsu, Sora no Mukou e
I’m curious to hear opinions from non-Touch fans on the second season. The first season felt like the humor was more standalone, with the Touch references just providing an extra layer of meaning for us who’d seen it. This season, especially with the return of Shouhei Harada, the show seems to be leaning more heavily on Touch. Am I imagining this? Or is it enough to actually impede non-Touch fans from enjoying the show?
Kimi wa Houkago Insomnia
In a season of strong new rom-coms this was my favorite, and in the last few episodes it moved up to my top choice for AoTS (until I watched Oshi no Ko).
Skip to Loafer
Yamada-kun to Lv999 no Koi o Suru
Boku no Kokoro no Yabai Yatsu
Jijou o Shiranai Tenkousei ga Guigui Kuru.
Kubo-san wa Boku o Yurusanai
Otonari ni Ginga
Tonikaku Kawaii
The rest of the rom-coms, again roughly ranked.
My Home Hero
This one didn’t leave me quite as cold as it did you. The MC using survival tactics he’d learned from detective novels kept things interesting. The ending was badly rushed. So I liked it, but not enough to recommend it to anyone who’d already dropped it.
Mahou Tsukai no Yome Season 2
Almost dropped this one when I started the second season and realized I had an entire OVA series to catch up on first. It was worth sticking with, though.
Dr. Stone: New World
Kimetsu no Yaiba: Katanakaji no Sato Hen
For a while these two sequels were verging on drop territory but improved as the season went on.
Suzume no Tojimari
On to the movies. This was the only one I saw in a theater. Among Shinkai’s works I’d rank it above Weathering with You but below Your Name.
Eiga Go-Toubun no Hanayome
This wasn’t a bad ending to the series but was about a half hour too long. I missed it in theaters but don’t regret it now that I’ve seen it. Best enjoyed in shorter chunks.
Gekijouban Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san
Cute movie based on the cute TV series.
Kidou Senshi Gundam: Cucuruz Doan no Shima
The “lost episode” from the original Gundam series gets re-imagined as a feature-length movie… and somehow they made it work, a la Gundam: The Origin. I wish they’d remake the entire original series this way. Could end up being as good as Yamato: 2199.
Kidou Senshi Gundam: Suisei no Majo
Disappointed with how this ended. What could have been Revolutionary Gundam Utena devolved into technobabble.
Winter:
Not going into the whole watchlist, just a couple of highlights.
Shingeki no Kyojin: The Final Season
Did you watch the first TV special or are you waiting on the last half to watch them both?
Vinland Saga Season 2
Have to say, I loved Thorfinn’s character growth in the second season and looking forward to the next.
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Quite the wall o’ text! :) :)
re: Kidou Senshi Gundam: Suisei no Majo
Yeah, the wheels really came off last 3-4 episodes… I don’t know Utena (never seen it) but Mercury seemed coherent enough up till that point. (Though the 2nd cour was weaker overall than the first.)
Re: Shingeki no Kyojin: The Final Season
We watched the first because we couldn’t wait. And, damm. Damm. Might rewatch again to reset our grasp on the plot before watching the second.
Re: Eiga Go-Toubun no Hanayome
I feel vindicated, because she was my candidate for Best Girl and ultimately Bride from very early on in the first season. We watched in a theater, and it was weirdly quiet when the Big Reveal went down… I expected some reaction. Maybe I was the only anime-only in the room?
Since Crunchy picked it up, I’ve rewatched the reveal and what happens right after several times – it’s really well done. Absolutely agreed that they needed to chop about 10-15 minutes from before the Reveal, and about a 1/3 in total of after. Really awful pacing, but then so was the anime….
re: Suzume no Tojimari
Yup, a solid second place… Mostly because it had the same flaw as Weathering, Shinkai failed to sell me on the relationship between the main characters. Other than that, darned good.
Random thing on movies: Saw Across the Spiderverse in IMAX, first time ever seeing IMAX. Will be looking for more in the future, now if only the theater wasn’t almost 45 minutes away…
P.S. Random thing: Have you seen Goodbye Don Glees?
Well, it spent a lot of time with the secondary couples in the original series…. But it made it work out. Did think of watching it, but by the time we started to think about doing so were too far behind.
re Spring Romances..
Yeah, wow. We ate well didn’t we? I mostly agree with your ranking, except Insomniacs should be in (very close) 2nd place behind Skip to Loafer. (The latter is my AOTS.) I feel sorry for poor Galaxy, it’s not a bad show – it just had the misfortune to air in one of the best seasons for romances in the history of ever.
Re: Mix
Well, I’m enjoying the hell out of the second season… And I know nothing more about Touch than it’s Wikipedia page (which I only finally read about 2-3 weeks ago). But, might take my opinions with a grain of salt because I’m also the guy who just last week marathoned everything aired to date so as to be ready for the Seinan and Sumi Tech arcs… I’m pretty much a solid fanboy. But I think you already knew that.
Re: Mahou Tsukai no Yome Season 2
I’m still trying to wrap my brain around it… Chise’s world, and the narrative, have mushroomed in size and I don’t know that I ‘get it’.
Re: Kanojo, Okarishimasu
I noped out about 1/3-1/2 of the way through the 2nd season. I just got tired of watching it run in uninteresting circles.
re: Tonikawa S2
I dunno, I could watch those two derp around basically forever. Joshikou Hen is trash though, the show goes to hell any time it tries to basically focus on one character for more than a few scenes.
re: Dr. Stone: New World
I was not happy with the pacing and how practically every problem was solved with a nearly effortless ass pull. The whole sense of struggle of the first two seasons has vanished.
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I’m going to go out on a limb here. And I really don’t expect anyone here to act on my recommendation but you really should. I’m going to give a very strong recommendation for BanG Dream! Its MyGo!! as an anime you should watch. You know BanG Dream! right? A light and somewhat vacuous band idol show made with the intention of selling a game, right? Nothing a serious anime fan would want to watch, right?
Well you can forget most of all that with “Its MyGo”. This time Sanzigen and the producers have thrown out all the shiny happy smiles and have gone for something a lot more raw and real and portray the emotional highs and lows of trying to form a new band. And it really works. The writing and scripting is tight and the interactions and reactions of the characters is believable and authentic. There might even be ‘good’ and ‘bad’ characters but as their motivations are complex, even the less sympathetic characters can be understood and to a point sympathized with (but perhaps not approved of).
Oh and forget Bocchi. The best portrayal of a neuro-divergent character in recent anime isn’t Bocchi, its Tomori Takamatsu from “Its MyGo”. For a start Tomori is not played for laughs as is Bocchi, and her character traits are finely observed and quite believable, as is Tomori’s complete confusion and heartache trying to understand the shifting emotions and motivations of the various people in the band (and out of the band) who surround her.
Sometimes the emotional rawness in “It’s My Go” is not an easy watch and I was interested to see what the usual fan base for BanG Dream would make of this dramatic departure from everything the franchise has done before. I thought there would be some hate for “Its MyGo” due to that departure, but remarkably most of the fans seem to have stayed on board for it and approve the new direction. Some of the previous characters do appear as background context and to place the girls firmly in the BanG Dream universe, but they dont intrude on the new story much.
Don’t expect “Its MyGo” to move quickly either as it takes its time exploring the relationships forming and failing in the story. The strong character development the show exhibits unfolds across the series and what I think of characters now is quite different to what I thought in the earlier episodes. Personally I think that’s great.
BanG Dream “Its MyGo!!” is the show that has surprised me the most this season as its something very unexpected and as a result, I think it has flown under the radar for most anime consumers who have written it off as just another Bang Dream joint. it really does deserve a much bigger audience, so if you want to try something a little different this late in the season, please give it a watch (and don’t judge it on the first or even second episode please).
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