#itsavgbltpta

(Speed Run Winter 2024 Edition!)

I watch too many shows a season to really want to dig deep and review all of them, but since we're a few weeks into the Spring 2024 anime season, I figure I can give you a rundown of the Winter 2024 season!

I'm only talking about shows I finished, and maybe only a couple with sentences on my judgement and some flavor text. If you want to know more about my thoughts for a specific anime listed, let me know and maybe's I'll do a full review on it.

So, Should You Watch The Anime?

In no particular order...

Fluffy Paradise (Isekai de Mofumofu Nadende suru Tame ni Ganbattemasu)

No. It's not a bad show, but not really worth the time either - unless you just have to see a little girl petting random animals and monsters.

The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic (Chiyu Mahou no Machigatta Tsukaikata)

Yes, if you like isekai that take their time building things up. Fun premise and fun characters, though it doesn't have a conclusive ending.

Mashle season 2

Yes, though only if you watched season 1 already. Still a lot of dumb shounen fun, but now with the best OP of the year.

7th Time Loop: The Villainess Enjoys a Carefree Life Married to Her Worst Enemy! (Loop 7-kaime no Akuyaku Reijou wa, Moto Tekikoku de Jiyuu Kimama na Hanayome Seikatsu wo Mankitsu suru)

Yes, if you're looking for a good romance anime with interesting characters/world. I liked it so much I read all the translated light novels out so far.

Mr. Villain's Day Off (Kyuujitsu no Warumono-san)

Yes, if you're looking for a unique slice of life show. It has chill vibes most of the time, but also some heartfelt stuff. And pandas.

High Card season 2

Not really, even if you watched season 1. They added some weird twists and barely resolve character arcs.

Snack Basue

Maybe, but only if you like kuso-anime and can appreciate assholes as they converse. I laughed at this one more than I thought I would, but it ain't for everyone.

Delusional Monthly Magazine (Gekkan Mousou Kagaku)

No, but it's decent for an anime aimed at a younger audience. Just a little too silly for most of the run, so I couldn't get invested.

Bucchigiri?!

Absolutely Yes if you love dudes that kick each other's asses while feeling like they should be making out with each other instead. This was my favorite show of the season, but I also have unique tastes, lol.

Brave Bang Bravern! (Yuuki Bakuhatsu Bang Bravern)

Maybe, as long as you jive with the main protagonist and don't guess the big twist by episode 3. Guessing the twist so early kind of made the rest of the show a slog. I did want to like this one, but it was just okay in my book.

Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard (30-sai made Doutei dato Mahoutsukai ni Mareru Rashii)

Yes, if you're cool with Boys Love. Despite the absurd premise, the show conveys adult romance fairly well - and the couple actually communicates with each other!

Shangri-La Frontier (Shangri-La Frontier: Kusoge Hunter, Kamige ni Idoman to su)

Yes, especially if you're the type of person who watches Let's Plays. I am that person, so I had a lot of fun watching the progression through the game, especially with the great animation.

Metallic Rouge

(Japanese title: Undead Girl Murder Farce)

A Brief Summary

In an alternate universe where demons and monsters still exist, one half-oni is living out his days in a fight club, just waiting to die.  That is, until a genius detective manages to catch his eye.  With promises of extending his life in an exchange to end her immortal one, the two pair up - along with the detective’s maid who happens to be handy with a rifle.  The trio solves some mysteries in Japan before going global, searching for the man who wronged them both and meeting some familiar literary figures along the way.

With so many scheming people together - friend and foe - it’s a battle of who can out-think and out-detective each other in order to win the day.

So, should you watch the anime?

Yes!

To be fair, I have a predilection for media (shows, books, whatever) where geniuses keep trying to out-do each other.  I love a person with a plan that’s thinking 30 steps ahead in 5D chess.  And this show is abundant with that character type.  I also like it when a show can keep me on my toes.  Undead Murder Farce kept up a lot of mystery throughout, which also makes it kind of hard to talk about in fear of spoiling things.

The season is made up of several arcs, each 2-3 episode arc involving a specific mystery to be solved.  There is also a general mystery tying things together and giving reasons for our characters to come together.  Our detective trio often clashes with an organization made up of supernatural beings, sometime works alongside vigilantes, and tend to end up meeting a whole lot of interesting folk.

I was a bit skeptical when the show made a change from the Japanese setting to Merry Olde England, and also wary for our detective hero party to suddenly be in the realm of probably the most well known detective in all fiction, but this show managed to pull it off.  Sherlock didn’t steal the show.  Lupin may have. ;)

One of my least favorite characters in Undead Murder Farce is the maid body-guard.  She didn’t seem to have much point in the plot-line besides being sullen and getting into certain… situations… but you know what, I bet there are people who really like her and those situations, so I’m not upset, lol.

The animation is really nice and action sequences flow well.  I am a fan of the character design so that gets a win from me, but I know that’s always a subjective thing.  But if you like any of the faces you see in the image for this article, then you’ll be good to go.

I have to mention the absolute banger of an OP this anime has as well.  It gave me big K-Pop vibes (in a good way).  I did a little digging and the group that performs the OP is part of the K-Pop world, so I guess that vibe makes sense.  It’s a song I can easily recall even half a year later (which is kind of a rarity with the amount of anime I watch), and it sparked joy every week.

For me, characters are a big part of what makes me enjoy a story, so what kind of characters does Undead Murder Farce have jam-packed within each mystery-solving episode?

A slightly perverted and laid-back Rakugo-styled half-oni experiment that can put up a mean fight with a smile always on his face (Tsugaru).

An immortal genius looking for someone to end said immortality - oh and also looking for her body as she’s currently just a very intelligent head in a cage (Aya Rindou).

A military-esque maid who can keep up with the monsters around her, though she also somehow ends up in rather sapphic situations (Shizuku).

A gentleman thief that’s always a few steps ahead of his detective opponents and tends to add a dramatic flourish to all he does (Arsene Lupin).

The big detective himself, full of snark and confident that he is the alpha detective in Europe, despite the supernatural competition (Sherlock Holmes).

The epitome of a polished lady who isn’t afraid to show off her assets and also sink her teeth - quite literally - into anyone who gets in her way (Carmilla).

Plus a whole heaping of other figures from literature and supernatural origins, including the mother-fucking Phantom of the Opera.  Just because.  

I skipped on a few key spoiler characters as this anime is all about mystery, and who am I to give it away?

Where does it rate on my personal scale?

S: I will buy it at full price (unless it’s released by Aniplex USA, because fuck their pricing).

->A: I will buy it on sale sometime down the line.

B: I had fun watching it, but don’t need to own it.

C: It’s not my cup of tea, but wasn’t awful.

D: Dropped it.

X: Finished it out of spite, but did not enjoy it.

There are some anime shows that I've watched, but when I go online I barely see anyone talk about them. Anime that have less than 100k views on My Anime List (I know MAL isn't the only metric out there, but it's a big one).

And yeah, these shows are probably mid to most people. But for one reason or another, I ended up really enjoying them.

So I want to share!

Dr. Ramune -Mysterious Disease Specialist- (Kai Byoui Ramune)

Dr. Ramune looks like an anime aimed at kids. It's not. The second episode is titled "The Chikuwa Penis", where a man's penis gets replaced by chikuwa - a spongy food commonly found in Japanese dishes like oden.

Dr. Ramune gets werid. And it also gets kind of dark. There's an abusive cult storyline, an arc dealing with grief gone bad, and generally some really horrible things that happen to the patients that Dr. Ramune and his assistant help out.

I think this anime would have received more attention if the character designs were more adult? Or maybe the first episode being kind of wacky with a kid that cries condiments was a no-go? But I implore you to give this show a watch.

Muteking the Dancing Hero

I am a sucker for transformation super hero/tokusatsu-esque anime. And the Muteking song that plays (nearly) every episode when he transforms and fights the bad guys is a consistent ear-worm even years later.

This is another anime that looks like it's aimed for kids. And it is definitely more kid-friendly than Dr. Ramune. But this show also has some weird and darker moments, especially towards the end of the show.

I say at least watch it for the music. Maybe you'll enjoy it as much as I did. If nothing else, maybe someone else will know what the heck I'm singing every now and again.

The Gymnastics Samurai (Taisou Zamurai)

This anime has the looks and character designs that should have attracted an audience, but the pacing/plot lacked a lot of focus. It's half sports anime, with training, rivalry, and performances (with somewhat decent CGI involved), but the other half is slice of life/drama anime with the realities of being a single parent and missing out on things mixed along with goofy every day activities with a foreigner otaku who suddenly lives with the family.

And there's a weird pet bird too.

A Brief Summary

On Earth, in the far distant future, a battle is being fought between machines and androids with the fate of the planet at stake.  The androids are fighting on behalf of humans, who have relocated off earth until the war is over.  Except the war has been going on for thousands of years now.

One warrior fighting for the cause is Yorha (a military special forces team) unit 2B.  She makes it down to earth and meets up with recon unit 9S.  Together the two of them help the android resistance, meet some machines that aren’t hostile, but also meet a new breed of machine that might change the tide of the war.

There’s a lot more going on in this world than it seems, and it’s unclear if 2B and 9S discovering some of those secrets will be good or bad for either of them.

So, should you watch the anime?

Yes, especially if you have played the game and like the universe.  But even for someone who did not play the game, the anime is a good watch - an opinion which I have on good faith from someone I watched the anime with who only briefly saw me play portions of the game before watching the show.

Speaking of the game, NieR:Automata Ver1.1a is based on a game that is a sequel to another game that spawned from the bad ending of a different game series (it’s fun trying to follow the world of Nier and Drakengard).  The creator of the games, Yoko Taro, is crazy, and I absolutely love it.  And his usual craziness does make it into the anime, which was a big relief for me.

The story of the anime follows routes A & B of the game, but it isn’t a 1 to 1 translation.  Different bits of lore are explored, and some characters are slightly changed.  This makes for an exciting experience to someone already familiar with the story, and is written well enough that it still plays out as it needs to for the plot to play out like the game.  I had fun pointing out the differences between the two, but never complaining about changes.  I ended up being more intrigued on why the changes were made and if it would bring any new information to light.

2B and 9S look really good in anime form.  Admittedly there are some awkward CG sections when the mech suits are involved, but when it’s normal animation, everything looks great.  I’m pretty sure they got the same voice cast from the game as well (at least in Japanese).

The plot arc for the 12 episode season does have an ending, but there is more story to be told. It’s a good place to end a first season, especially based on the pacing of the game, but it does leave you wanting more, so if that is not your thing, maybe hold off and see if there will be a season 2.

Each episode ends with a short skit involving puppet version of the cast going over some alternate endings (that usually involve death) or other weird random things.  These little skits were amusing and added a humorous touch to the show.

I can’t forget to mention the music.  It’s amazing.  Some pieces are directly from the game, but some are new or changed up for the anime.  Keiichi Okabe is the original composer, for the game and came back to make sure NieR:Automata Ver1.1a sounded just as good.

The characters are really what make the Nier world as special as it is, even if it is a rather sparsely populated world.  Besides the main duo of 2B and 9S, you’ll also get to know:

A curious machine that decided to go off-grid to become the leader of a small village where they preach peace and love to machine and androids alike (Pascal).

The sensible guardian angels that float over 2B and 9S’ shoulders willing to give information or offensive support whenever their androids need them (Pod 042 and Pod 153).

A jaded and wary resistance soldier that is trying her best to lead a small camp of androids even after being traumatized in a past battle (Lily).

An android very much into science and willing to do all sorts of experiments just to see the results - whether those experiments are lethal or not (Jackass).

A pair of very special machines that resemble humans and become interested in learning more about humanity - one studying every chance he has while the other is more interested in playing with his brother instead (Adam & Eve).

A cameo from the original Nier game that has lost a lot of himself but still manages to bring some cheer to the world and come out ahead (Emil).

Plus more resistance members, YoRHa teammates, machines, and a brief glimpse of a character who will undoubtedly play a large part in a second season.

Where does it rate on my personal scale?

S: I will buy it at full price (unless it’s released by Aniplex USA, because fuck their pricing).

->A: I will buy it on sale sometime down the line.

B: I had fun watching it, but don’t need to own it.

C: It’s not my cup of tea, but wasn’t awful.

D: Dropped it.

X: Finished it out of spite, but did not enjoy it.

(Japanese title: Kidou Senshi Gundam: Suisei no Majo)

A Brief Summary

Humanity made it to space and set up colonies, leaving earth a bit worse off and struggling for resources.  The colonies are run by companies (3 large ones making up most of the power) all under the umbrella of one man.  One man with a daughter -Miorine Rembran - that is tired of being used as a political tool and wants to run away to earth.

Instead she’s stuck at a school where students learn to pilot and service mobile suits.  At the school, Miorine is used as a prize where the top duelist is assigned as her fiancé - which would lead to a lot of political power after a marriage goes through.  Everything gets turned upside down when a pilot from Mercury - Suletta Mercury - takes the crown at the academy.  Suletta’s “mobile suit” looks a little different from everyone else’s.  It looks a lot like a forbidden Gundam.  This leads to a lot of corporate warfare that affects all of the colonies and Earth.

So, should you watch the anime?

Yes, especially if you enjoy mecha anime or Gundam in general.

Seeing 2D mecha in anime is always a nice treat.  3D can be fun, but I’m an older fan, and I will always appreciate 2D work more.  The mobile suit and Gundam designs in Witch from Mercury are interesting, but none of them really struck my fancy.  I blame this on Gundam Wing being my gateway Gundam - those designs were fire.  I can only really remember what Suletta’s Gundam looks like when trying to picture the different designs in Witch from Mercury, but your mileage may vary on that depending on what kind of mobile suit designs you enjoy.

The plot-line/story likes to hint at bigger picture issues, with the adults playing at power grabs on a corporate level while the students play for power via the duel system at the school.  This would be fine, but then, through the power of plot, the students at the school become a corporation that greatly affects the adult world.  The fact they let kids handle such power is both admirable (let the kids learn how to work in the real world), but also dumb as hell (let the kids wreck the economy just because).  I might have been happier if the kids stuck to the duels only, or if the duels were used more often in the corporate struggles.  But it still kind of worked and was more coherent than some previous Gundam plots.

The Gundam franchise is going through a weird period where they are releasing very classic Gundam shows for the older hardcore fans (Unicorn/Hathaway), toyetic shows for the kids to buy merch (Build Divers), and some more experimental shows to try and get a new generation of audience into Gundam (IBO, and now Witch from Mercury).  

It’s interesting that the newest shows in that final category both play with non-typical Gundam relationship dynamics.  IBO had a focus on mostly male characters and even featured some (marginally) healthy polyamory.  Witch from Mercury went the Utena route and decided on duels and a main female couple (even if the company won’t actually admit the canonicity of said couple).  Good on Gundam for trying to widen their horizons for audience appeal.

Unfortunately for me, I didn’t like either of the main female characters.  I will freely admit it’s my own personal taste, as others really enjoyed them (or so the internet would lead me to believe).  But Suletta was a little too dumb, and Miorine was a little too tsundere for me to actually gel with them and care about their character arcs.  The one exception to this is the final episode of the first arc (episode 12) - which I will not spoil - but sadly nothing cool came out of Suletta’s slight change of character after that moment.

On the plus side, there are other characters in the show - including:

A classic self-absorbed asshole who thinks he’s the best at first, but after a lot of hardship ends up becoming a changed and better man —and who also happens to be my favorite character in the entire show (Guel Jeterk).

A plot-spoiler-if-I-say-too-much student who sometimes acts cold and cruel, other times acts like a suave playboy, and all the times seems to get attached to the wrong women (Elan Ceres).

The “it’s Gundam so we need a character in a mask” mother of Suletta that is a little too smug and always seems to have the right answer…to help herself (Prospera Mercury).

A downtrodden Earther who is a genius mechanic, but somewhat of a doormat who has trouble standing up for herself (Nika Nanaura).

A young Earther with a few screws loose who goes from wanting to be Suletta’s cute little sister to wanting to kill people at the drop of a hat (Sophie Pulone).

A mercenary lady who has her fingers in a lot of information pies but seems willing to help Miorine out when she needs it (Jun Feng).

A childhood friend of Miorine who puts out a princely air and always seems to have a plan, which leads him to being generally calm and collected even when things don’t go his way (Shaddiq Zenelli).

Plus a whole heap more supporting characters that are tied to one house/faction or another.  So even if you’re like me and don’t enjoy the main characters, there will be someone to like in Gundam: Witch from Mercury.

Where does it rate on my personal scale?

S: I will buy it at full price (unless it’s released by Aniplex USA, because fuck their pricing).

A: I will buy it on sale sometime down the line.

->B: I had fun watching it, but don’t need to own it.

C: It’s not my cup of tea, but wasn’t awful.

D: Dropped it.

X: Finished it out of spite, but did not enjoy it.

(Japanese title: Kanojo ga Koushaku-tei ni Itta Riyuu)

A Brief Summary

In what appears to be our modern world, Rinko finds herself pushed off the roof of a building by a mysterious figure.  Expecting death, instead she wakes up as a bit-part character in a novel she has read in the past.  Unfortunately, the character she wakes up as - Raeliana McMillan - is fated to die in the novel to trigger the plot forward.

Rinka/Raeliana doesn’t want to die twice, so she needs to figure out how to prevent her canon death using her knowledge of the novel’s plot.  This gets her connected with a particular Duke (Noah Wynknight) who she blackmails into helping her avoid being murdered by her current fiancé.  By saving herself, Raeliana is changing how the plot is supposed to go - and also changing who the hero of the novel - Noah - might fall in love with.

So, should you watch the anime?

Maybe.  This is one for fans of shoujo/otome style romance anime - plus it’s an isekai on top of that.  Definitely not for everyone, though if you are looking for an anime with a smart and sassy female lead, this may scratch that itch.

This type of anime would normally be right up my alley, but something about Why Raeliana Ended Up at the Duke’s Mansion prevented me from enjoying it like I thought I would.  I’m not sure if it was the characters, the pacing, or the plot, but something about the show was just off enough that it didn’t strike my fancy like a similar anime, My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to DOOM, did previously.  Both shows have female protagonists thrown into a situation where they need to save themselves from a canon death in a world different from their own with a lot of sexy dudes around them.  But only one made me go out and read the source material and preorder the upcoming Nintendo Switch game — and it wasn’t Raeliana’s story.

Some of this might be due to the usual suspect of adapting a light novel (or in this case, a series posted on a digital fiction platform).  Later novels may end up expanding on characters and plot points more, but that wasn’t reflected in the 12 episodes that aired.  Things happen fast and there are sometimes scene shifts that had me baffled.  Very minor spoilers, but there’s a sequence of events where our romantic duo is talking, then they’re on a boat at night for a fireworks display, then Raeliana falls asleep on the boat (maybe?  it’s not really explained) and wakes up in bed hours later.  These events could have been conveyed a lot smoother, but they weren’t.

Speaking of pacing and weird story shifts, there are brief mentions of the actual heroine of the novel in the world Raeliana finds herself.  She’s supposed to be Raeliana’s very close friend, and seems to show up mysteriously at the end of an earlier episode, but then never gets mentioned again until way later in the show.  It’s supposed to be a mystery, but either I missed something, or the writers missed something on that early appearance that lead up to jack squat.

Let’s talk about the animation briefly.  This show has some good looking character designs, and if you pause the anime at certain scenes, it’s very pretty.  However, in motion, this show is a mess.  I’m not usually picky about animation, and it was still watchable, but I was distracted by the poor animation often enough that I wanted to bring it up.

Raeliana as a character is pretty okay.  She is more proactive than a lot of typical otome-style heroines, but even with that she still makes dumb decisions and gets kidnapped a lot.  Her being snarky to a romantic rival was fairly entertaining, I will admit.  I had no issues with Raeliana, but she wasn’t a selling point for me either.  Who I did like was Noah Wynknight - the main romantic interest.  His character development was what made me keep watching the show.  I am a sucker for the trope where a cold-hearted asshole type starts to care about something/someone. 

But of course there are more romantic possibilities and rival characters in the novel world that Raeliana interacts with, such as:

A silent but mighty warrior from a race of people that are discriminated against who has a weakness for sweet things (Adam Taylor).

A female knight who tries to be cool and professional to serve her lord well, but also starts to like Raeliana after guarding her (Ansley).

A “fashion wizard” that is a tall and muscular man with amazing aesthetic taste and the ability to give people glow-ups (Nick Maddocks).

A sassy, sexy redhead who used to be the fairest of them all until Raeliana showed up and stole the man she wanted - and now she wants revenge (Vivian Shamall).

A shota looking high priest who is actually an older man stuck in a young body who is obsessed with having Raeliana call her grandpa and work for him (Heika Demint).

A mysterious blonde girl who should have been the main character, so it’s unclear what fate has in store for her after things get changed up (Beatrice Trancet).

Plus more potential love interests and villains to get in the way of Raeliana changing the plot of her new life!

Where does it rate on my personal scale?

S: I will buy it at full price (unless it’s released by Aniplex USA, because fuck their pricing).

A: I will buy it on sale sometime down the line.

B: I had fun watching it, but don’t need to own it.

->C: It’s not my cup of tea, but wasn’t awful.

D: Dropped it.

X: Finished it out of spite, but did not enjoy it.

(Japanese title: Maho Shoujo Magical Destroyers / Magical Girl Magical Destroyers)

A Brief Summary

A government-like organization in Japan decided that otaku - people obsessed with things (anime, trains, idols, etc… honestly if you’re reading this anime review, I think you already know what an otaku is) - should be considered a protected culture.  But what they actually meant is that all otaku should be wiped from existence and their objects of obsession detained.

A lot of otaku went down during the war, but there are groups of resistance fighters working hard to make sure otaku culture never dies.  They go on raids to facilities that house the goods (figures, magazines, and all kinds of fun merch), and even bust out their fellow otaku.  

The main resistance group that Magical Destroyers follows is lead by the prestigious and aptly named Otaku Hero.  He just so happens to have three magical girls under his command that pack a big wallop.  But the bad guys have their own army and are working their hardest to make sure otaku culture stays dead.

So, should you watch the anime?

Maybe.  This anime is truly for the mega-otaku (I say this because I am one) or anime fans that enjoy chaos.

Because it’s a chaotic mess.

The first episode blew me away.  I was convinced Magical Destroyers was going to be the best anime of the season and maybe even a new favorite.  It felt like a dash of pure insanity, but in a good way - like a FLCL kind of way.

Subsequent episodes were fun and continued the rule of cool, but no other episode quite lived up to that first one - at least for me.

That’s not to say the show was boring, because hell no.  There is almost always something going on in Magical Destroyers.  It doesn’t always make sense, but it’s flashy.  The animation was energetic throughout the show, if not always spectacular.  The team didn’t seem to be afraid of using experimental angles and techniques when they felt like it.  I was a fan of this as it kept my attention in the same way as shows like Kill la Kill or the previously mentioned FLCL.

Further into the episode count it felt like Magical Destroyers tried to get more psychological and dark.  There’s an entire episode that flips between two possibilities of the world’s timeline that kept me engaged, wondering how things would pan out and which direction it would take.  And the show’s ending is… not what I was expecting, but also not disappointing.

But there are also episodes that feature basic anime tropes (a swimsuit episode, sports tournament, etc) and goofy slapstick.  Not to mention the owo face plastered on all the bad guys’ helmets.  It’s hard to take them seriously with that dang face!

There is some social commentary thrown in as well, like in one episode where older, hardened otaku who are used to a life of people making fun of them are angry at the newer otaku who have it easy and don’t have to hide their obsessions.  As an older otaku, I related, lol.

I want to take a moment to gush about the OP of Magical Destroyers, because holy shit do I love it.  The aesthetics are great and the visuals are pretty but also weird, especially the breakdown at the end.  It caught my attention hard, and I actually watched it every episode instead of checking my phone or whatever else.  The ED isn’t a slouch either, but I think the OP perfectly encapsulates the vibe of Magical Destroyers and is the best indicator of whether or not you will enjoy the show.

Magical Destroyers doesn’t shy away from sex, drugs, or violence - in fact it revels in all three with one magical girl assigned to each!  Besides Otaku Hero - the glasses-wearing nerd who is trying to save all otaku despite mostly bumbling through doing that - there are a variety of character flavors in Magical Destroyers.  

A red-haired tsundere who is always ready for violence and is the de facto leader of the magical girl squad (Anarchy).

A blue-haired masochist who is up for any torture thrown her way, as well as translator for the third magical girl (Blue).

A pink-haired gas-mask wearing rave enthusiast who is all about drugs and only speaks in a language that consists of the words Go and Bo (Pink).

A weird floating mascot figure that seems to be immortal, which leads to it being used as a shield or for other violent shenanigans quite often (Kyotaro).

A dependable hacker-type otaku who is always ready to help out and provide the resistance with whatever is needed to keep up the fight (Nick).

A gothic-lolita fan who seems to have a connection to Otaku Hero and the magical girl squad (Slayer).

The leader of the SSC organization - the anti-otaku army - who wears a sharp suit and has a monitor for a head showing a constant owo expression (Shoban).

Plus other various otaku who show up to lend their help in trying to fend off the SCC and keep otaku culture alive!

Where does it rate on my personal scale?

S: I will buy it at full price (unless it’s released by Aniplex USA, because fuck their pricing).

->A: I will buy it on sale sometime down the line.

B: I had fun watching it, but don’t need to own it.

C: It’s not my cup of tea, but wasn’t awful.

D: Dropped it.

X: Finished it out of spite, but did not enjoy it.

(Japanese title is in all caps: THE MARGINAL SERVICE)

A Brief Summary

The modern world is not inhabited by humans alone, but this fact is kept secret from the public.  Certain organizations keep track of Borderlanders - supernatural creatures and legendary beings - and keep them cooperating in secret with humans against a possible bigger threat from above.  But of course these Borderlanders don’t always stay in line.

Brian Nightraider, a former cop and bit of a loose canon, watched his partner die and wants to get revenge.  His goals happen to coincide with one of the agencies that watches over Borderlander actions - the Marginal Service.  The agency takes Brian on as a new recruit to find and battle any Borderlanders that get out of control.  He’s taken under the wing of Zeno Stokes, a grizzled older detective who prefers to follow the rules - which means of course he and Brian don’t get along as partners, but they need to get the job done anyway.

So, should you watch the anime?

No.  It pains me to say that as I was hyped about this show after seeing the character art and trailers, but Marginal Service does not deliver.

I am generally a big fan of team dynamics, but only when the team has good character interactions and development.  Team Marginal Service veers wildly between being best buds and acting like they barely know each other - or even downright insulting each other (and not in a joking manner).  That doesn’t make for fun watching in my book.

Some of the ideas Marginal Service has are interesting.  Borderlanders working with humans to protect the earth in secret is cool.  Humans treating the Borderlanders like second class citizens even though they are supernatural beings tracks with how that situation would probably pan out in real life.  The backstories of the team members are fleshed out somewhat and have thought put into them, even if they aren’t amazing.

I struggle to understand how this group became a team in the first place.  Marginal Service does give backstory episodes to each team member, and they do play into the overall plot, but they don’t serve to show why this team was put together with these members specifically.  Because they probably really shouldn’t be.  I struggle even more to figure out why they would recruit Brian when he is almost totally useless for basically the whole show (save for some lucky breaks).  I’m sure the writing team was trying to go for something like Brian’s dumb ideas are made from good intentions and will help change how his teammates think about things, but he could also be competent in the meantime.

I’m trying to keep spoilers light, but I did moderately enjoy a late-game moment where different Borderlanders the team interacted with came back into play.  It made the earlier “villain of the week” style episodes feel like they meant more.  I give the writers credit for having some idea of where they were going plot-wise at least.  Also the animation and character designs are good, so the show wasn’t hard on the eyes at least,

I think towards the end the show tried to appeal more to a fujoshi fanbase with some queer-baiting moments, but even that fell flat thanks to the tonal mood swings the show throws out.  You can’t have two dudes having a hug it out moment and follow it up immediately with them being cold as ice to each other and expect that to be enough.

…ok, so fujoshi will make a whole case manifesto for couples out of barely anything, so I guess this could be enough for some people.  But for me personally, it was like throwing cold water on a tiny fire that had just barely begun to smoke.

Brian and Zeno hog the spotlight for most of the show, but there are other members of Marginal Service and a few Borderlanders that actually matter, such as:

The older boss that keeps the office together and relays orders and missions to the team while usually staying in the base to admire his collection of mysterious artifacts (Theodore).

A former British spy and workout-fiend who likes to keep himself looking good and fashionable and who always argues with a certain teammate over who is better/stronger (Robin).

The other teammate who is even more muscle-bound and obsessed with protein intake, which is honestly the only character trait he has throughout the show (Bolts).

The token female of the team who is a very sexy tech support agent that is ace at hacking but also good at espionage when needed (Lyra).

An introverted and sarcastic doctor who prefers to keep to himself, but isn’t afraid to step up and make sure the team is bandaged/healed up when needed (Cyrus).

The mascot figure (and Borderlander) who looks like a beaver or woodchuck type creature and is very focused on perving on Lyra (Peck).

A famous pop musician who is a very pretty boy with some very mysterious powers who may or may not be behind a lot of events the Marginal Service gets called in to handle (Rubber Suit).

Plus more villain of the week Borderlanders that the Marginal Service takes interacts with, some humans higher up in the political sphere that hand missions to the team, and a dog!

Where does it rate on my personal scale?

S: I will buy it at full price (unless it’s released by Aniplex USA, because fuck their pricing).

A: I will buy it on sale sometime down the line.

B: I had fun watching it, but don’t need to own it.

->C: It’s not my cup of tea, but wasn’t awful.

D: Dropped it.

X: Finished it out of spite, but did not enjoy it.