I seem to be on something of a Spice and Wolf kick for my lead image, don’t I? Somehow, when I want an image for a post, a moment just leaps into my head unbidden…. Anyhow, time for the mid season review, and and there is more on mind than just Holo! Hit the jump, and let’s dive in!
The shows that I’m watching are in bold, shows my wife and I are watching together are in bold italics, strikethrough marks dropped shows and (*) marks shows that are watched but not regularly reviewed.
Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian
Tokidoki Bosotto Russia-go de Dereru Tonari no Alya-san
Through episode 6. (Episode 7 has dropped, but I have not watched it yet. I will likely have by the time you read this.)
I am, mostly, enjoying Alya-San… Even if it turning into kind of a mess that doesn’t know where it’s going or what it plans to do when it gets there. I just don’t get the point of the whole student council president plan – especially since Alisa isn’t really suited for the job.
And, sad to say, the titular character isn’t Best Girl. That goes to Yuki, who is at least open in her brocon. Alya takes a major hit in her score due to her deep denial.
Status: Keeper, though my enthusiasm has waned a bit.
Days with My Stepsister
Gimai Seikatsu
Through Episode 6. (I will probably not get to see 7 before you see this.)
Another series that I cannot for the life of me figure out what the heck is going on. Saki remains an enigma, and Yuuta appears somewhat lost. I can’t figure out why Saki makes everything with Yuuta transactional… She seemingly can’t grasp being selfless or even just being nice. She seems to be permanently on the defensive.
Yuuta’s confusion is somewhat understandable though, his life has been upended and he’s not sure how to handle it at all. And it’s not just his new sister either. Is it just me or has Shiori-senpai gotten a lot more pointed in her remarks of late? Does she have feelings for Yuuta? I think she does.
Status: Still a solid keeper. Despite the complaints above, I’m invested in finding out more.
Makeine: Too Many Losing Heroines!
Make Heroine ga Oosugiru!
(Through Ep 5 to avoid delaying this post.)
After Episode 4, I insisted my lovely bride should sit down and check out the series… (A power I use rarely and only for good!) And she liked it enough that it’s been promoted from a “me” show to a “we” show.
I am kinda losing track of what’s going on, there’s so many plot threads and relationships… But somehow the chaos is good. It’s kept things moving and kept the staleness out that too many romances/rom-coms seem to fall prey to in midseason.
Overall, the best show of the season so far in terms of characterization and storyboarding. Despite Spicy Wolf‘s recent resurgence, it’s not even close.
Anna unquestionably has earned her crown as Best Girl for the series and the season.
Status: Keeper, current front runner for AOTS.
My Hero Academia
Boku no Hero Academia
No comment, keeper
Narenare: Cheer for You!
Nanare Hananare through Ep 5
Episode 5 was a muddled mess. Despite all the emphasis on the cheer team and ganbatte – this ultimately contributed nothing to the solution of the problem. It was solved because all of YJ’s friends were miraculously and simultaneously able to drop whatever they were doing and fly to Japan to soothe the feelings of a self centered child.
This is what I hated about Sakura Quest. All too often the issue at hand more or less miraculously sorted itself without the MCs actually contributing all that much.
Status: Dropped. Rating: 2.0, awful.
Pseudo Harem
Giji-Harem
Through Episode 6. (I will probably not get to see 7 before you see this.)
Episode 5 was a bit of a misstep, but Ep6 came back with a bang. Who doesn’t think they’re actually dating now? We haven’t had a [decent, actual, acknowledged] confession yet, but there’s absolutely no doubt in my mind.
And though Anna (Losing Heroines) is no doubt this season’s Best Girl and Best Gremlin… Rin and Eiiji are hands down the cutest couple.
Status: Keeper. As charmed as I am by this show… Giji-Harem has the bad luck to be airing the same season as Too Many Losing Heroines. Otherwise it would likely be a contender for AOTS.
Senpai is an Otokonoko
Senpai wa Otokonoko
Through Episode 6.
Is it just me, or is Saki just a red herring to distract us from the classic Childhood Friend romance that’s brewing? And yeah, the cliffhanger at the end of Ep6 makes it pretty clear that’s what’s going on. Ryuuji still hasn’t admitted it to himself, but it’s pretty clear he’s got it bad.
From that point of view, the whole love triangle business of the last couple of episode is just rubbish. Which would be kinda sad, because it puts Aoi in kind of bad spot. She’s actually the loneliest of our trio of MCs.
Status: Solid keeper.
Spice and Wolf: merchant meets the wise wolf
Ookami to Koushinryou: merchant meets the wise wolf
Through Episode 19
Man… Even though we knew how it was going to turn out, this arc was tense as hell right up to the final bell. Spicy Wolf at it’s finest. This cour really has been the remake’s salvation.
I’ve talked about other Best Girls, but I can’t avoid the elephant wolf in the room – Holo. I’m not ranking her in this season’s best girls for one simple reason – She’s on the very short list of Eternal Best Girls. It’s very unfair to the others to even put her on the season list.
Status: Keeper before I even sat down to write this.
Looking forward to the next arc – which was skipped in Spice and Wolf (2008), so it’s all new for anime onlies. (Which we are.) Since it has to stand alone, it could be a make-or-break point for the series.
The Café Terrace and Its Goddesses Season 2
Megami no Cafe Terrace 2nd Season
Through episode 6.
Watching Ep 6 was hard – because I went through something similar with my grandmother. While the one day I was able to visit (she lived at the other corner of the country), her world more-or-less coincided with ours… But you could see the disconnect growing as the day went by. And of course, RL not being an anime, there wasn’t going to be a happy ending.
Still, the hot springs arc had been the closest to the vibes of the first season. And overall I’m still enjoying the show even though it’s come a long way down from the 1st season. Not gonna drop it, but I’m not rushing to watch it as soon as the episode is available anymore either.
Status: Keeper.
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In a comment to my Week 3 Review, Dawn posted a tier list… So I thought I’d take a stab at one here midseason. (No ranking implied within tiers, this is just a generalized and very subjective ranking of relative positions.):
- Makeine: Too Many Losing Heroines!
***** Tier Break *****
- Pseudo Harem
- Senpai is an Otokonoko
- Spice and Wolf: merchant meets the wise wolf
***** Tier Break *****
- Days with My Stepsister
***** Tier Break *****
- Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian
(This is maybe the halfway point?)
***** Tier Break *****
- The Café Terrace and Its Goddesses Season 2
***** Tier Break *****
- My Hero Academia
Too many tiers? Maybe. And I don’t think this format adequately expresses the significant gap between Alya and Café Terrace. Though Stepsister could be in the next tier up… Overall I think it conveys the neck-and-neck nature of the shows right below the top tier. The range from Pseudo Harem to Stepsister was Really Hard to get almost right… I don’t really know where right is among those four.
Any it doesn’t really convey my feelings on Academia. It’s not bad, but the pacing is awful. But that’s more a genre convention than deliberate choices on the part of the mangaka or the series director. After all, Shonen battlers gonna shonen battle. It’s in their very DNA.
Maybe I should have ordered my review in this order and put the extra ranking comments in line… Meh, too much work at this point, where I’m wrapping up and polishing the fine details.
=========
Anyhow, I think that’s it for me for the moment. What do you think of the season so far? What are your winners, losers, and Best ___?
Over to you! Drop a comment on the season so far or on whatever else you want to chat about!
Apprentice Mages Lounge. 
Stepsister is a show I respect more than I enjoy. I’m sort of bored. The show has little energy. It’s constant melancholy mood is also wearing me out; I like melancholy, but it needs some… variation in the mood to reel me in. The characters make sense to me, but it’s all intuitive so I have a hard time explaining things. They’re both introverts so them connecting needs (a) a commonality, and (b) good timing in that both of them need to want company. They can take each other at any time, because neither is pushy – but they can’t really connect unless the timing’s right. And then there’s also neither of them really understanding their need to connect quite yet, since they’ve both always been pretty self sufficient. Episode 7, the one you probably haven’t seen yet, will explain some things, but you’ll likely just be nodding along. I doubt it’ll bring anything new to the table. For me, it was a really well-written episode in term of making sense, and also a really dull episode in terms of actually watching the show. I think I just don’t care about either of them.
Personally, I’d switch Pseudo Harem and Losing Heroines around, but it’s really not a huge difference (they’re in the same tier, if you remember). @ Pseudo Harem: I did definitely not expect episode 7, and certainly not at episode 7…
@Senpai wa Otokonoko: I really do enjoy the show, but it’s being brought down a little by feeling like a textbook queer show. I tend to like shows that make me feel like this far less, so that’s a testament to the quality of this show. Other shows that gave me that feeling: Akagami Shirayuki Hime, Ore Monogatari, A Sign of Affection… all shows I liked… moderately. I’m much more fond of this one. Also, I only just now realised that the best friend’s name is Ryuji Taiga. Is the mangaka a Toradora fan, I wonder?
And I’m definitely curious about the upcoming arc for Spice and Wolf. I wonder how much difference it will make, given that I barely remembered this one so it was already mostly new (except for some creeping background familiarity I couldn’t quite shake). From what knowledgable people said, they couldn’t really make a “season 3”, because season 2 skipped this content, and it turned out vital. I really do hope we get the whole story. We might, given that this is probably meant to sell Wolf and Parchment (from Kadokawa’s perspective).
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re: Stepsister. I think they’re both situational introverts because both we pushed into some degree of self sufficiency way too young. But, yeah, even in that case there’s a certain level of emotional intelligence that both have failed to acquire. Ep 7 was good, and advanced the plot, but I’m not sure it advanced my understanding of their characters. There’s a feeling of floodwaters accumulating behind a dam, especially on Saki’s part.
Re: Pseudo Harem Ep7… Yeah, I somehow thought Eiji was a second year. The manga is complete, but it has six volumes and they can’t have covered more than 2-3, right? I’m going to be very sad if this is the end.
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I’ve got little to say except that Spice and Wolf: merchant meets the wise wolf is brilliant. The rest is all in “not really my thing, glad you’re enjoying it” territory.
Still enjoying Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin, though not as much as I’d hoped I would be.
Mostly watching ATRI -My Dear Moments- out of habit than anything at this point, but I’m not actively feeling like dropping it so whatever.
The Magical Girl and the Evil Lieutenant Used to be Archenemies feels like there should be more concentrated story in its half-length episodes than there is since there should be no room for filler, but it’s still mostly engaging at least. It’s almost as though the filler they cut was mostly action and the remainder is romance, but the romance is a little, hm, not exactly fanservy, and not exactly not credible, but somewhere in the direction of those things. Still, I’m hoping it goes somewhere and feel like it might. I do feel like I might be running toward being able to write an article about bondage in magical girl shows. Not quite enough clear examples yet, though, so further study is needed. *ahem*
Wonderful Pretty Cure! is PreCure, and it’s not terrible as PreCure, but I do wonder when it’s going to start getting to the point since the original “villain” or “antagonist” is largely depleted and there’s clearly something else going on, but it’s sure taking its time getting there. I guess we’re only a little over halfway through, but still that’s kind of the point: we’re over halfway through.
I don’t talk nearly enough about 【Oshi No Ko】, and I really should. It’s so good, but I’m a little concerned that some of what makes it good requires having read the manga. That said, the anime has been providing some excellent perspectives on the events of the 2.5D show that didn’t come over quite as well in the frozen cinema of the manga depictions, perhaps especially that bit with Melt. I think that the two formats complement each other, but I wish I could hear the perspective of an anime-only. Anyway, I am firmly in the Kana/Aqua camp (KanAqua?), in part because watching those two dance around each other is some of the best delayed romance I’ve seen anywhere, better than Kaguya-sama and that was excellent. I am now eagerly looking forward to getting a chance to read Ren’ai Daikō, Akasaka’s newest manga offering. Anyway, 【Oshi No Ko】. It’s worth the price of HiDive all on its own.
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@Sakuna Hime: Pretty much my experience. A little disappointing, but once I get over that it’s quite fun.
@Oshi no Ko: Anime only here. I find they do a pretty good job with the medium-translation stuff, here. I can follow that just fine. One thing that’s kind of bothering me though, is that, since both is drawn, the main difference gets lost in medium. I can’t judge scenery and costumes, for example. I’ve never seen a Japanese stage play, but what I’ve seen of Japanese live action, there’s a type of suspension of disbelief involved in the costumes I’m not used to; it usually takes a while for the costumes not to look silly to me. I wonder if I’d have the same reaction to a stage play? Something about audience conditioning when you’re not part of the conditioned audience. As for the romance aspect; I’m in the Aqua alone camp to be honest. He’ll need to learn to let go first. And romance doesn’t seem like the field this should play out on. But, yeah, if anyone then Kana.
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Re: 【Oshi No Ko】 – I do get that about Aqua needing a solitary approach, but I think his only real salvation from the consuming revenge is going to be found in finally connecting with another human being in the way that he, as Gorō, was unable to allow himself to really connect with Sarina. I know that Akane really, really wants to be that person for him, though mostly I think to repay him for saving her from her terrible choice that particular night. And it is true that Akane is probably the one person who understands him well enough to actively attempt to be that salvation for him, but in the end she is only merely grateful to him and not really what he really needs. And what he needs is Kana. Hm, from a certain perspective, it might look like Kana also merely has gratitude as a motivator, and not even as consuming a gratitude as Akane can muster. But Aqua’s reasons for giving Kana that gift at the climax of Sweet Today run deeper than even he is aware. Heck, Melt just caught the edge of it by being in that scene and it transformed him utterly, and of course it’s the reason that Yoriko (and therefore Abiko) are willing to listen to Aqua’s suggestions which save the Tokyo Blade play. I’ll stop there.
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As I said, if anyone then Kana. Akane and Aqua have all the wrong things in common: analytically smart and emotionally stunted. I do agree that human connection is something Aqua needs, and that’s going to be difficult with Akane: neither of them really know how. He’s sort of the puppet master, and she’s sort of the chameleon.
Kanna on the other hand has real, messy relationship with Aqua: he irks her, she’s changed his mind about him at least once, he’s a rival, a benefactor… Her acting advice (what if you mom died) was both an act of pride (finally she’s in the know) and act of benefiting him, and it’d be really interesting to see her realise what she said to him… because that’s a personal level they’re just not at yet. It’s uncharted territory.
When I said “Aqua alone”, though, I was really only filling the romance bracket. He must learn to spread his social tentacles. Romance too soon can hinder that and put too much pressure on the other party (let’s say Kanna). He really needs to figure out his relationships: his siter (as his sister for now), his manager, the director… There are a lot of barriers that need to go (erode rather than come crashing down, I think). Romance at that stage feels like… the wrong energy distribution? Like it could re-inforce barriers instead, and then direct it all, too focussed, on one person. (I’ll say, that this would really be more of a danger with Akane than with Kanna. With Kanna, at least, there’s conflict potential – something he needs to learn as well.)
A lot of this is intuition; I don’t think too deeply about this show, to be honest. But it’s certainly a really well-written story, with motivations all around that make sense.
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That’s a really insightful set of thoughts, definitely worth keeping in consideration. I didn’t mention Ruby because, well, there’s a lot more to come for her and she just doesn’t figure in the Tokyo Blade arc. But yes, Aqua’s siscon looms large on the horizon, and there’s a lot still to unpack about Ruby’s own motivations. And we still haven’t even met Tsukuyomi in the anime!
All I can really say is that I hope the show keeps going for several more seasons.
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Spicy Wolf had such a slow quality start, that I was worried… But yeah, it’s really firing on all cylinders now.
>I do feel like I might be running toward being able to write an article about bondage in magical girl shows. Not quite enough clear examples yet, though, so further study is needed.
That sounds like difficult work. But I’m sure you can manage. :) :)
And it’s kind of unusual for you to be down on a PreCure…
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I feel like I was very halfhearted about Delicious Party, so it doesn’t feel to me that this is all that unusual. I’m just worried that this series seems to not be going anywhere at the moment. They do keep reminding us that there are still animals going Garugaru out there, but halfway through the series we still don’t know why. Bringing all the Niko Animals back to Niko Garden was supposed to be the cure for Garugaru, but that’s been done and there are still Garugaru showing up. I’ve heard mutterings about wild wolf spirits looking for vengeance for being brought to extinction, and there was an allusion to those earlier, but it hasn’t gone anywhere as yet.
It’s surprising how much bondage you can notice in magical girl shows when you pay attention. Usagi gets tied up more than a few times in Sailor Moon, there are the ways that Mami uses her ribbons, especially in Madoka: Rebellion when she’s fighting Homura to protect Bebe, of course the explicitly erotic bondage in Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka and Gushing Over Magical Girls, and the examples just go on from there. The incident in the recent episode of Magical Girl and Evil Lieutenant brought it to the forefront of my mind. But this is all very much a tangent.
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My Top Ten for this Season is as follows
Mentions: Giji Harem – I started off liking this show but over time Rin’s cloying dependency on Eiji and his responses to her started to grate on me. I still watch it but not with much conviction.
Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin and Na-Nare Hana-Nare – Still watching but not very committed. Sakuna is okay though I think. its Japanese folk tale approach is entertaining enough but it comes off as a bit shallow.
I still havent watched Spice and Wolf V.2 (I watched V.1 years ago, that was enough I think), nor Oshi No Ko – though maybe one day I will sit down and binge that. Its kind of on my watch list to do so.
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I’m quite happy to see Dungeon People get some recognition. Personally, it’s not doing anything I haven’t seen elsewhere, but not quite in that combination. It feels a little like a more down to earth Last Period (which did something similar for gaccha games). Also, I really like our dead-pan main character. She’s great.
Then there’s something I’ve been wondering from time to time, and this post reminds of it: what’s a rom-com? This time my interest’s been triggered by you calling Days with my Stepsister a rom-com, and I’d argue it isn’t one – it lacks the com. But it’s not quite so simple. This season, I feel Losing Heroines and Giji Harem are definitely rom-coms. Days with my Stepsister is a rom without the com, and Twins is a rom with com elements, but not quite a rom-com (though I waver on that). But what’s my intuition behind this? I don’t quite know.
Oh, and Ossan Newbie Adventurer is another show I find underappreciated. Hardly a master piece, but what it does it does well. (Interestingly, it’s very similar to I Parry Everything, which I also enjoy – but Newbie Adventurer is definitely the better show. Seasons often have clusters like that.)
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I understand your point there. I was thinking something similar. I was thinking of labeling Step Sister and Twins as perhaps “slice of life” though almost anything could be included under that well used old label. Alternately I agree we could file both those shows under just a “romance” by-line (Tho its a little unclear to me still whether Saki and Yuta will experience any romance), or to really stink things up how about “Rom-dra”? :D
The other shows, Losing Heroines, Giji, Alya, Cafe Goddesses, 2.5 Whatever are more clearly identifiable as mainstream rom-coms.
Then you get shows like Skip And Loafer and My Love Story With Yamada-kun. I would say Skip is more a rom-com than Yamada, which has more dramatic elements. Because both shows handle both comedy and drama so well however, it may be difficult at times to separate them.
I think at times there are other elements that may separate rom-coms and rom-dras. However I am not so sure of that premise that I would be comfortable making an argument for it.
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Not a lot of overlap…
Re: Stepsister It’s not the best show this season, but it is up there in the rankings. I like it’s approach overall, but it’s… uncertain? Hesitant? Which kinda fits the situation, but is also sort of annoying in some ways.
Riffing off of your discussion with Dawn: Personally, I reserve “Slice of life” to tag shows like Non Non Byori or other shows where the daily life is the *point*. It’s a genre tag or a plot tag, not a descriptive tag. As it’s currently overused by many, it’s so broad and vague as to be practically meaningless.
Re: Alya Increasingly I don’t like Alya. Her characterization is getting ever more muddled. I’m turning into a Yuki stan – at least she’s straightforward.
Re: Cafe Agreed, it’s merely decent nowadays, which is a damned shame. But I’m liking the Akane sub plot – finally one of the girls has the courage to make it clear what she wants and she doesn’t care who knows it. That’s refreshingly different.
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I also like Clay’s dead pan presentation – and her reactions when her preconceptions (and ours perhaps) about dungeons are challenged as she goes about learning her new job, meeting the monster employees etc. As another look at dungeons and dungeon lore, I find it a welcome addition to the genre, as was Delicious In Dungeon last season with its emphasis on the dungeon as a biological system.
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