Just because I’m not watching anything seasonal (beyond my beloved Mix), that doesn’t mean I’m not watching anything. So, I thought I’d run down what I have been watching just for fun.
My First Girlfriend Is a Gal, Sword Art Online -FULLDIVE-, Laid Back Camp, I’ve Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level, and the Netflix One Piece.
Hit the jump and let’s run ’em down!
These are in no particular order and I don’t always have a lot to say about them. It is what it is.
My First Girlfriend Is a Gal
Weird that there’s no trailer for Hajimete no Gal available on YouTube… So the OP will have to do.
This is a rewatch, because I wanted to rewatch the final scenes (the fight in the restaurant parking lot) and afterwards I ended up rewatching the whole thing.
Yes, it’s a particularly raunchy, fan service heavy romance… But as I’ve said before, it is a legit romance under all that. I’ve always liked how different Yukana is from her outward appearance and behavior. Junichi on the other hand is an open book, and the story is mostly about him maturing into a reasonable human being.
Sword Art Online -FULLDIVE-
This is a video of the fan event celebrating Sword Art Online‘s 10th anniversary… And it’s a bit of an odd mix of short skits (authored by Reki Kawahara) and musical performances.
This video, announcing the release of the BD, gives a sense of how it actually went:
I could take or leave the character sketches, but I enjoyed the heck out of the musical performances. The best part was the performances of Yuki Kajiura and Fiction Junction (including most, if not all, of Kalafina). They did kick-ass performances of Swordland and Luminous Sword. (The latter is my favorite SAO OST song.)
I think my only disappointment in it was that Haruka Tomatsu didn’t perform Courage, the opening for the superlative Mother’s Rosario arc. But also understandable since she was also voicing Asuna in the character sketches.
Well… Didn’t mean to go on so long about SAO, but y’all know I enjoy it.
Laid Back Camp S1 and S2
Just a random rewatch of one of the best shows of the last decade… I can’t really say much that I haven’t said many times before. We talked about also re-watching Room Camp, but we haven’t done so.
And in other news… a 3rd season has been announced for 2024! But with a change in studio and a complete change in staff, so, crossing fingers. The key art (above) is much closer to the manga than the previous anime…
Looking at the material it’s likely to cover – seriously looking forwards to it. I can’t wait to see the suspension bridge scene animated. And they damm well better stick close to how the firewood chapters are written!
I’ve Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level
Looking back at my Spring 2021 coverage of this series, I wasn’t very generous… but I had a lot going on right then. (You may recall that’s the season I was without a proper computer for much of.) But the truth is, I stuck with it because it was kinda fun even if it was totally mindless.
Rewatch hasn’t changed my mind any. Still kinda mindless fun. Laika still Best Girl. And Azusa’s true superpower is still wearing that redonkulous hat without breaking her fool neck.
Netflix One Piece
I have never watched any of the anime or read any of the manga… But as a reasonably well informed anime fan, I was certainly aware of it and knew the basics. I ignored the pre-release Discourse, because I know how such things go.
Overall, I enjoyed it. But I also think it’s a 10/10 example of an 8/10 show. As you may or may not recall, that’s my “trembling on the edge of greatness” tier… And that’s as good a summation of the Netflix One Piece that I can produce.
It’s big flaw plotwise, is that it never slowed down and let the story and the characters breathe. It was constantly pushing itself very hard. And that left me a little exhausted at the end of each episode. And maybe a little bit relieved that the pressure was off – for the moment.
But I was right back for the next episode and will be back for the next season. So, that’s something right there.
Also, Sanji is Best Boy.
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And that pretty much sums it up… Not a lot of anime watching time this season because we’ve been busy with this and that, and summer weekends too few here in the Pacific Northwest.
Next season has at least three Must Watch shows (Magus Bride, Dr. Stone, and SPY X FAMILY) and I think there’s a smattering of others that look to have possibilities. Will have an anticipation post out later this week or maybe next.
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That wraps it up for me! As usual, over to you in the comments section. Love to hear your thoughts on these shows, this season as it wraps up, or whatever else you want to chat about.
Apprentice Mages Lounge. 
I actually never watched My First Girlfriend is A Gal, but I’ve pretty much only heard good things about it. What little I’ve seen of it didn’t appeal at the time, but I’ve been wrong before.
I’m currently getting behind on watching new shows that are airing, and I haven’t really watched much outside of airing shows. In summer, I think the only thing was a rewatch of Mikakunin de Shinkoukei (which is better written than I remembered; characters I thought were pointless, actually do serve a function – which I only realised on the rewatch.)
As for next season: My no-brainer is Frieren. I’ve heard very good things about the manga and the preview looks great.
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re: Hajimete no Gal
Yeah, there are more than a few less-than-stellar and objectionable parts, but there is a good story underneath if you can get past that.
Rewatches are good sometimes, you can pick up things you missed and take a broader perspective. That was certainly my experience with Killing Slimes…
OK, you’ve convinced me to put * Frieren* on my list. That looks seriously promising. I’ve also heard good buzz but hadn’t looked into it yet.
Anything particularly good or bad this season?
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This season? Nothing really. The best new show is Undead Girl Murder Farce, without a doubt, but it’s not good enough to recommend to people who normally wouldn’t watch stuff like that. If you like supernatural mysteries with a lovable rogue flair and a hint of League of Extraordinarry Gentlmen added in (the villain appears to be Moriarty) then definitely watch it. But if you passed over it, it’s likely just not your thing.
And after that, it’s probably Helck. Helck feels like an old-school comedy (one arc reminded me of Hare/Guu, and then read on Lost in Anime that Guardian Enzo had the same reaction), which is nice. But again, this needs to be your thing; it doesn’t transcend its genre either.
I did actually pick up The Girl I Like Forgot Her Glasses after Bless’s recommendation, and after I heard that the camera calmed down after episode one (which I still daren’t watch), and it’s definitely a charming rom com. I’ll second Bless here. (And I also like the second GoHands show; Dekiru Neko is seriously adorable – again I haven’t seen the first episode.)
I’m sort of curious about the current BanG Dream after Kumashock recommended it, but I didn’t get around to it yet. Most shows I enjoy this season are… okay (Dark Gathering, Vending Machine, Dreamer/Realist, Reign of the Seven Spell Blades, Happy Married Life…) or sequels (Bungou Stray Dogs, Shinigami Bocchan, Mushukou Tensei…). There’s actually quite a lot that’s fun, and some of it has notable elements (but usually balanced against problems).
The season’s not as bad as I feard it would be at the beginning, but there’s really not much to recommend either. If you’re stretched for things to watch, I’d just take Bless’s recommendation and watch Glasses Girl; I think it’s your best bet.
Particularly bad? Nothing comes to mind either. We’ll see where this goes.
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