#lightning review

ACCA: 13-ku Kansatsu-ka It’s a MADhouse production, so I went in pretty sure I would like it. I was a bit wrong on my first impression; I thought it would be a man on the run type show, but it was actually a more nuanced, spy-that-doesn’t-know-he’s-a-spy type story. I liked the character design. It reminded me of some of the manga series in the “non-moe art” tag on Dynasty Scans. I was in love at first sight with Director General Mauve, voiced by Atsuko Tanaka (Motoko, Ghost in the Shell), and hoped she would play a bigger role than she actually did. I was completely taken off guard by Jean’s confession of his feelings for Grossular at the end, which Mauve had in common. If it had to be someone, I would have guessed it to be Niino, in the old ‘observer falls for subject’ cliche. Still, a welcome, and very low-key revelation that is certainly welcome. The music is really great in this series, especially the intro and outro themes. I would have like for some of the female cast members to have more to do; there were seemingly more women in the show, but they hardly ever had any relevancy. Also, a bit more action or urgency would have been nice. It felt towards the end like this would be called “the hipster’s anime”. Definitely recommended. 9/10

Ai Mai Mi: Surgical Friends Just as ridiculous as ever, though it had some oddly serious parts in some episodes as well. I am appreciating more and more the bit during the credits of each episode where an alpaca recounts an awkward tale of the life of the mangaka who writes AMM. I think the randomness is wearing thin now though. 7/10

Akiba’s Trip The Animation I had never played the game before so I didn’t really have any idea what this was about besides being located in Akihabara. It had a lot of parallels with Punch Line, which I noted in my first impression, just chock full of references and insider humor that I think ended up being lost on a lot of the Western viewers (including me, obviously.) I enjoy the first eight or so episodes, but right when most probably thought it got interesting, for me it was like I just couldn’t stand to watch it anymore. I ended up skimming through the last episodes, but honestly, unless you are REALLY into Akihabara as a culture or just otaku interests in general, I would pass on this show, sadly. Having to watch the idol performance more than once was torture. 6/10

All Out!! The not-so-subtle pattern that is emerging in my anime viewing habits, is that I will start a sport or game series, as soon as it becomes entirely focused on the sport or game itself, I lose interest almost immediately. The same unfortunately happened here; as soon as they hit training camp, it was like I was watching a completely different show, and just couldn’t stand to even skim through it at the end. They can’t all be winners, and even MADhouse can’t be perfect all the time. Dropped

BanG Dream! My first impression was pretty much right on the nose; this is literally what would happen if the people behind Love Live adapted K-On. The melodrama of Love Live with similar archetypes to K-On. Unfortunately, no super gorgeous teacher steps in to help, and instead of a school they have to save the local girls-only concert venue by playing a pop rock version of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. I wish I were kidding. Not horrible or offensive, but just felt like a phoned in effort from the waifu buffet factory. 6/10

Chain Chronicle Sadly I just kind of forgot this show was even on, even though it showed signs of promise, I just couldn’t bring myself to care enough to catch up on it. Dropped

Chaos;Child The edgiest of edge. It made me appreciate the GOOD parts of Occultic;Nine that much more. I might have watched more if the adaptation of the prequel (episode zero) wasn’t just about the most boring thing I’ve watched in years. Dropped

Demi-chan wa Kataritai Top 3 of the season. It definitely felt less wacky than the manga, but I was okay with that. Satou-sensei stole the show, but Machi held her own in my opinion. It was funny to see how fast people tried to turn on the show when Hikari made Machi’s body hug Sensei and he was embarrassed because her boobs pressed into him when he wasn’t expecting it. However with a certain maid being INCREDULOUS, that movement died out before the next episode even came out. It was a good adaptation, and I think may just be my “comfy” show of the season, though again, a certain maid gave it a run for it’s money there too. 9/10

ElDLive I stand by my previous Space Patrol Luluco comparison. It was silly for the sake of being silly, but tried to add various chuuni and action tropes in to spice it up. To be quite honest this was a bit of a stinker, and only watched it for Misuzu to see if she grew any over the season (she did, but just the tiniest bit.) 4/10

FUUKA This was basically KimiKiss Pure Rouge but flipped love interests and included music to make more money off of the property with. It doesn’t do anything new or interesting, and it wasn’t satisfying at all. Like even knowing that Fuuka would end up being the girl the protag had feelings for, I still thought that maybe, just maybe she would do SOMETHING endearing in the least, but no, she just kind of was a brat at all points. Everything was really pretty, but zero substance. 3/10

Gabriel Dropout I think I started reading the manga for this before reading Demi-chan or Maid Dragon, so it’s kind of a surprise that of those three, this felt like the weakest effort. Something was lost in translation to animation to take away the magic presented in print. It was still enjoyable, it just didn’t have the punch I was expecting it to have, and I don’t know if it’s the low key music or the voices or what. Calling it a disappointment is going too far for me, but I certainly thought it would be better. 7/10

Gintama. Top 3 of the season. Pretty much just the adaptation of a single story arc, but an important one. Also, a super kick-ass, pulls no punches season. Loved the hell out of this show before, but this took it to a whole new level. I mentioned in my first impression that the period was a bit scary, but I now see that it was more of an affirmative statement, “GINTAMA, period.” 10/10

Hand Shakers This was really bad. Like, it’s a known thing that this show is bad. It was excruciating to give this show three whole episodes, but I managed it somehow. As admirable as it is that they went out on a limb to make their own original series, that doesn’t save it from being an over-designed, poorly thought out mess of a show. Dropped

Kemono Friends I just want the record to show that I was on board with this show from the very beginning, whereas the MAL user score was as low as 4.2 at the start of the season. It’s the innocence of Serval mixed with the goofiness of the friends, rounded out by the mystery of Kaban that give this show it’s oomph. The character design is really great too. Basically what it boils down to is that this show has four or five things that the internet typically hates when it comes to an anime, yet somehow captured the hearts thousands, from 4chan to tumblr and everywhere in between. It’s hard to imagine this not getting a second season of some kind, whether it’s a continuation of this season or an adaptation of the manga. 9/10

Kobayashi-san chi no Maid Dragon Top 3 of the season. A loving relationship between two adult women, albeit each loves the other in a different way (or do they?) A nurturing and caring relationship between an office worker and a young girl she adopts on sight. A family unit of two moms and a daughter that works. A dragon woman with giant boobs teasing a young boy that meant to summon a demon. Well, okay that last one isn’t exactly the squeaky-cleanest thing to happy this season, but the people who demonize this show because of it are missing out on an other wise great and potentially important series. I was surprised to find this was a KyoAni series; they tend to work in a very specific style, so the fact that this turned out looking anything like the manga is a miracle of it’s own, I think. Once I knew it was KyoAni though, I could see their thumbprints everywhere; the suddenly very poignant moment with great lighting and super appropriate music is something they’ve managed to perfect almost to a fault (to where it feels forced), but the couple examples in this show just added to the already cute moment that was happening. I am writing this the week before the finale, which features the dreaded anime killer Big Boobs Loli, but having read what comes after her initial appearance, I think that, should this get a second season, people will understand her character once the story moves forward (though the big boobs thing is kind of ridiculous, admittedly.) A wonderful, lovely, heart-warming supernatural comedy. 10/10 highest recommendation

KonoSuba S2 I may get some flak for this, but I felt there was a noticeable drop in quality between seasons. The writing was still good, and the performances as always were hilarious, but the animation seemed to have worsened quite a lot. I haven’t read any BTS for this series but it seemed like some of the more involved shots were rushed. Darkness continues to steal the show for me, even though I know Megumin is everyone’s waifu. I think it’s because I tend to always gravitate towards the girl in a show like this that has the least chance of ending up with the protagonist (Nisekoi, Toradora, Zero no Tsukaima, etc.) Not bad by any means, but I’m concerned for a season three should it happen. 8.5/10

Kuzu no Honkai Despicable trash. Soap opera level characters with midnight softcore love scenes between teenagers, some of which are borderline rape at best. Not even the legit lesbian love interest could keep me watching this show, that should tell you everything. Five episodes makes about 90ish minutes of my life I’ll never get back. Dropped, avoid 

Little Witch Academia This didn’t quite get the hype I thought it would, but it still seems most people that watch it are enjoying it immensely. However, I feel like it may be losing steam a bit, which is worrisome since it still has 12 episodes left to go through. It’s a bit frustrating to watch sometimes as someone who watched the first two movies/OVA, waiting for things like Ursula to be revealed as Chariot, and for Akko to get to a respectable level of magic use, things like that. I do enjoy the extra development that Lotte and Sucy have gotten, and I hope it extends to Diana, Amanda and some of the more prominent girls too. Continues!

Masamune-kun no Revenge The show had a bit of a twist on the usual formula, but by the fifth or sixth episode it was pretty clear it was the same old contrived tsundere harem romance series. When the guy seems to have some redeeming qualities, I can stomach a show like that for the sake of decent characters and performances, but this just ended up being a chore to watch. Even the debut of a late game older woman/love interest’s retainer wasn’t enough to save the show for me. I can’t see myself tuning in to a second season of this without some kind of huge plot twist like a female rival that the love interest is actually interested in (ha ha HAHAHAH) 5/10

Minami Kamakura Koukou Joshi Jitensha-bu In my first impression of this show, I wondered if it would be as dumbed down as the previous season’s cycling anime whose name I’ve already forgotten. It is. It’s basically the same show but with more characters. Has a good, cute sensei, but also has generic foreign student trope character, which was insufferable because she was basically the same character as the foreigner in Akiba’s Trip. Dropped

Mori no Yousei: Kinoko no Musume The amateurish charm I thought I saw in the first episode of this show quickly dissolved into frustration. If it had been a high school clubs project, then I would have supported them whole heartedly, but this seems like a bad mobile game cash-in, and unfortunately it came out in a season that had a GREAT mobile game cash-in. Dropped

Nobunaga no Shinobi The first season ends, but the second season starts in like two weeks, so I’m tempted to not even include this, because it’s silly that it will be considered separate seasons. It’s a charming, and surprisingly bloody show about feudal Japan and for those that have studied the history of that time period, there are some great gags pertaining to certain figures not shown in the best of lights. 8/10

Nyanko Days Once again, this was just a cute fluff series that hopefully paves the way for Nukoduke. If you need a cuteness shot in the arm between heavy shows, this is a good choice. 8/10

One Room My hopes that they would keep the viewer genderless were dashed pretty quickly with a onsen episode early on, and then the sickening imouto arc in the middle. The final four episodes featuring the childhood friend chasing her dreams was the redeeming factor here, I would recommend just watching those episodes to be honest. 6/10

Onihei One of the better shows of the season. It has a different vibe to anything else on at the moment, probably because the source was originally published fifty years ago. There is very little that is lost in translation, and I think it plays well to the modern audience. There is a bit of a problem with character design, which @fucktsunderes pointed out to me, that because there’s more realism to it, some of the characters end up looking pretty similar. Actually, not just some, but a lot. To the point where I wasn’t sure if a character that died was a character that I liked or not until they showed up in a later episode. Other than that though, a great crime thriller action show. 9/10

Piace: Watashi no Italian After an incredible year of short form series in 2016, it’s an odd feeling to only have Piace as a stand out show this season. It was just the right about of silly and cute, while also being about food and food service. A highlight is the outro being sang by two different cast members each week, with the finale having everyone singing. 9/10

Pokemon Sun & Moon The most fun I’ve had watching pokemon since I was a kid, fantastic show. I am somehow even more in love with Japan’s Musashi than America’s Jesse. I am definitely on the Mao/Lillie ship. Also the only theme song this season that I listened to for every single episode, it is so awesome. Continues!

Sangatsu no Lion As I covered in my review for All Out, when a show has a game or sport in it, if it becomes too focused on that game or sport, I lose interest quicker than a hiccup. It’s a good show, but the shogi was just not the good part of the show for me. I enjoyed Rei’s interactions with his sister and the three Kawamoto girls the most of the whole season. It’s when the show felt the most alive and relatable to me. Not to mention Momo is just too darn cute. Shaft does cute very well, and also does cold depression very well, too. A spinoff with the Kawamotos as the star would be the ideal second season for me, but I will continue to watch just about anything Shaft decides to gift to us. 8/10

Seiren I should have dropped this show, but I didn’t for some reason. The middle arc was definitely the best, the epilogue was really cute too. Not really much to say about this series, it just kind of was there every week. One of those “each path of the romance vn is animated” shows, so your mileage may vary. 6/10

Spiritpact Yaoi bait adapted from a Chinese comic iirc. The main characters were both unbearable, and the way they treated the first significant female character in the show was gross, so I dropped this quicker than a hot rock. Dropped

Urara Meirochou Controversial opinion time: This show would have been better without Nono and Koume. They added nothing to the story that couldn’t have been done by either Kon or Chiya, and honestly the four girls thing is so over-done that I end up comparing it mentally to all the shows I’ve already seen before I even watch the first episode. The teacher and the... morals officer? Whatever Saku was stole the show, with some great late game performances from Kon’s mother. It was a cute show, and I’ll watch another season if it gets one, but I’d like it to be a bit more focused on the divining stuff going forward, or at least more focused on Kon and Chiya. 8/10

Alice to Zouroku Watch I feel like this was a great concept to begin with, but after the initial six or so episodes, it really seemed like the writer/s were like “okay, what do we do now?” It would have been much better as a six episode mini-series. To focus the last six episodes on new characters, rather than developing a new scenario around characters that have already been introduced, is a huge waste of everyone’s time. It was also quite disappointing that they built up this relationship between the two titular characters, and then they share hardly any screen time in the second half at all, and considering their dynamic was the backbone of the story, it really just fell flat for me. That being said, it was a nice light-hearted affair that was half supernatural and half science fiction. I would love to see a spinoff about the special agent with the Dream of Alice to basically have any weapon. 7/10 

Boku no Hero Academia S2 I actually had a few problems with this season. The previous season ended with “This is the story of how I became the greatest hero of them all” or something to that effect, but it didn’t really feel like they did much to further that this season. Instead we got LOTS of development for other characters, especially Todoroki, who, if you had asked me what his name was after the first season, I wouldn’t have had the slightest clue. I loved the Uravity vs Bakugo fight, it really showed that Uraraka has potential for greatness and wasn’t so one note as her powers had seemed previously (in my opinion.) My biggest gripe of the season was the final fight, and how pointless it was. If the point was to frustrate Bakugo with what he felt like was an unearned victory, they should have had Deku and Todoroki be disqualified for (unintentionally) bringing too much danger to the audience, or something along those lines, making Bakugo the de facto winner. Instead they made a big deal about Deku and Todoroki’s fiery collision causing a thermal shockwave/explosion which could have hurt people, only to then have Bakugo basically do it to himself, over and over, while escaping Todoroki’s ice, without any indication of harm whatsoever. It was stupid, is what I’m saying. Also Deku’s lack of a definitive victory of any kind has worn beyond thin. Still a great show, just thought there were some hiccups this season. 8/10

Busou Shoujo Machiavellianism As harem-y as this was, it was still a really great “trials of the swordsman” story, and the influences were very prominent with each new challenger. Aomu is an incredible character, and while I felt they were wasting her by not having her around much of the season, it just made that much more impact when she showed up in the final three episodes. I can’t see this idea stretching much farther than where it left off, so if the manga/LN continues from that point I don’t think it’d be very interesting, but if you like swordsmanship type shows (like Chivalry of a Failed Knight) then this should be up your alley. 8.5/10 

Cinderella Girls Gekijou I’m not heavily invested in CG, but I enjoyed most of this. It was a bit tough remembering who some of the characters were at times, and then also not knowing some of the characters because I haven’t read the manga or played any games or any of the side content was kind of frustrating, but all in all, a short, cute gag show. 8/10 

Clockwork Planet Besides the horrific facial design for pretty much every major character, this turned out to be a quirky, fun action show. It was nice to see the male and female leads be in a dynamic that was not romantic, but still loving, in a way, as they eventually adopted a parental role for Anchor. I think it got a little full of itself with some high tier philosophy that wasn’t necessary, but most people who have watched a lot of anime are probably used to that by now, so it may not be a detractor for you. If you’re looking for something different that’s not too involved but fun, this is the show for you. 8/10 

DanMachi Gaiden: Sword Oratoria I was pretty game for this, as it felt like there was a lot left on the table deliberately for Ais in the first season. Lefiya was an interesting character, and one that reminds me of a character I have in mind for a series that I’ve been daydreaming of for a decade, in that she’s kind of the protagonist, but Ais is definitely the protagonist. Kind of like in the movie DREDD where Judge Dredd is the star, but the movie follows or at least we experience most of the movie with Cassandra. It feels like the type of series that every season could have a different cast of characters and as long as it still fit in the time frame and world as the others, it would be enjoyable. That is my subtle way of asking for a Season Three that deals with the Hephaestus familia. 9/10

Frame Arms Girl This was actually one of my favorite shows of the season because of how silly it was. There was action at some points, but the best parts of the show were the girls just interacting with each other and the human world, fully knowing they are toys of some kind. Not much to really say about it other than that; it’s brought to you by Kotobukiya, so if you love their statues you will appreciated the design of the characters. 9/10

Hinako Note I had really strong Wakaba Girl and Lucky Star vibes from this show, but also ANNE HAPPY mixed in a bit as well. I think it would have been more appealing if this had been a story about Hinako moving away for college, because then the fan servicey stuff (which was really out of place, reminiscent of Bakuon!) wouldn’t have been so awkward and unnecessary. I think they should have fleshed out the landlady character more, she just kind of felt like a background character most of the time despite being somewhat the lynchpin of the show. They also didn’t really seem to do much theater stuff, which hurt it in my opinion in a season where it’s standing next to Kabukibu. Decent, cute, and moe~blob. 8/10

Kabuki-bu! SPEAKING of, WOW, what a great show. I loved the hell out of this show, so much that it’s my show of the season. If you missed out on this show, you should really give it a chance. It has several classic storytelling items; underdog story, forming a team, bending the rules to find success. Several character archetypes I enjoy a lot as well; princely girl that the girls swoon over, cocky guy who is kind of dumb but is reliable when it counts, girl who cares a lot about everything she’s into and couldn’t care less about things she’s not. There is a lot going on in this show and to cover it all here would A) take too long and B) spoil a great show, but suffice to say, if you don’t know anything about Kabuki, this show will teach you the basic stuff, and it doesn’t beat you over the head about it (like some sports anime do.) 10/10 highest recommendation

Little Witch Academia I love this show, but the ending was a bit too... dramatic, for me. I didn’t really understand Croix’s goal; she wanted to prove that she could be on Chariot’s level and didn’t need to be chosen (though she wanted to be) by the triskelion to achieve it’s power, but then what? She built up all of this power on negative emotions, but she wanted to reshape the world into a better place? It was weird, but I liked Croix’s dialogue and VA. I also think it was kind of lame that Chariot didn’t get to tell Akko who she was on her own terms, like it would have been enough for Akko to arrive and see Chariot confronting Croix without having seen her transform, find out her hero may have stolen her dreams, and then have Akko save the world and have Chariot reveal herself, asking for forgiveness. The idea of regaining hope after being disillusioned with your all time hero is enough without having had to also pile on the betrayal of her teacher/mentor, in my opinion. It felt like it was overwritten, like they really, REALLY wanted to make an impact, but it didn’t because we’ve known since the OVA who Ursula was, so it was more just feeling bad for Akko that she didn’t put two and two together fast enough, honestly. Was really happy about the minor cast getting their own time to shine, especially Amanda and Constanze. 9/10

Nobunaga no Shinobi: Ise Kanegasaki-hen This show is continuing, but I just wanted to say if you’re looking for a short breather type anime in between more dramatic or high action shows, it doesn’t get much better than this for currently airing stuff! Continues 

Pokemon Sun & Moon It’s the best, most palatable Pokemon anime in ages. I’m still watching it week to week, so that should be proof enough. The intro theme is so damn catchy, one of the rare few that I listen to it all the way through every episode. Team Rocket is fucking incredible this season, by the way. Continues

Quanzhi Gaoshou I wasn’t sure what to think about this at first, but it became one of my favorite shows of the season. The protag is so unabashedly a wish fulfillment fantasy that it’s kind of charming in a way. And the way that the things he does in the game, there is like 0% chance of being able to do it in the real actual game is what makes it so fun. It’s in Cantonese (I believe, please let me know if otherwise), but after the first couple episodes I didn’t really notice. I feel like this season set up the atmosphere of the game’s community within the game more than the community outside of the game, so hopefully there is a second season that actually explores the characters themselves a bit more (especially the boss at the cafe, vastly underutilized.) 9/10

Renai Boukun A literal harem anime, though obviously it was a bit of a parody on the side. The way Guri was changed was kind of abrupt and not really that convincing, so it was weird that they played it so seriously. The writing of Yuri could have just used more everything positive, but for a wlw character, even one in love with her half-sister, she was OK, considering how bad it could have been (she was portrayed as fairly pure and innocent outside of the stalker habits, when she could have just been a raging lust demon like lesbian/bi girls tend to be portrayed.) I liked this show’s version of god though, it was pretty funny. Not especially memorable but enjoyable. 7/10 

Rokudenashi Majutsu Koushi to Akashic Records It actually took me a good minute to remember what this show was about, but then I remembered Re=L is a character’s name in it, and how ridiculous that was, so I remembered all of it. It was very much the otaku teacher show from last year but with magic in it. The 100% slutty school uniforms for these middle school girls was really gross, as someone who generally enjoyed outfits like Ryuko and Satsuki’s in KLK, these were just overly sexual for no reason or purpose. I would have liked more scenes with Celica in them, because it felt like she had way more going on behind the scenes, similar to Ais in DanMachi, than we will likely ever see. Honestly I’d give this show a pass, there’s not much redeeming value here unless you’re into the “guy who is OP but pretends to be lazy and carefree because of the trauma he’s accrued” trope (that only Gin-chan can pull off.) 6/10 

Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata ♭ Didn’t enjoy this season. It felt like this season was far too busy trying to troll otakus to tell a good story. I didn’t get the feeling, at the end of the finale, that Tomoya would actually continue making doujin games, it felt more like he was ready to just continue hanging out with his girlfriend sidekick and going through the motions. Not every show has to have a happy ending, but I feel like most of them should have a satisfying ending, and this just didn’t have that, in my opinion. The thought of a show centered around Utaha and Eriri making their first AAA game together has merit though. 5/10

Seikaisuru Kado This show kind of shit the bed at the end. If the yaShunina’s goal was to bring a human to the anisotropic, and he thought Shindo was ready, why didn’t he just have him walk through the box that he used to transport him places into the anisotropic? He was willing to KILL HIM for refusing, so why give him the option to begin with? It was very odd. And the reveal of the woman negotiator being an anisotropic being as well was surprising, but the idea that she was ultimately there to make a baby, even a god baby, doesn’t sit well with me somehow. There was something off in the way the CG character models were presented as well that I just was never able to look past, and I couldn’t help but think in some moments where we’re meant to be awed by the imagery and effects how much better other studios would have done with traditional animation. The first 8 or so episodes are good sci-fi, the rest, your mileage may vary. 6/10

SukaSuka To be honest, I started skimming through episodes once her hair started turning red. It reminded me of Gokukoku no Brynhildr in a bad way. Obviously, being the big softie that I am, I wanted to see just a show about a soldier becoming a father figure to an orphanage, eventually falling for the woman caretaker while fighting off the advances of some of the younger girls (that part wasn’t necessary, but it is anime so it’s expected at this point, right?) Instead there was some kind of attempt at psychological horror and shattered memories type stuff that probably was meant to be deep but just felt like an imitation of everything that has tried it before. Not worth checking out really, one of those shows I will forget about by the end of next season. 6/10

Tiger Mask W As an anime fan and a wrestling fan, I enjoyed this show quite a bit. I actually knew all of the real wrestlers included in the show, so that was pretty fun seeing who all would show up. They did a weird thing where like... Ririko and Naoto were dating, but then she left at the request of Daisuke (the man Naoto is avenging) to help his son and then she fell in love with him instead while Haruna (Naoto’s manager) decides she loves Naoto, and all of this was revealed in like five minutes of one episode near the end of the show. it felt like the writers just kind of forgot that Ririko was dating Naoto and then had to cover their ass more than anything. The wrestling part of the show could be pretty up and down at times. Some episodes, Tiger would be absolutely covered in blood and dropped on his head and cut open and all kinds of other horrible things that don’t actually occur in real life pro wrestling shows, and then the next episode we’re lead to believe that a clothesline could end a man’s career. It was more noticeable in the first half of the season though. All in all a great love letter to an old franchise that also advertises some of the better wrestlers in the current New Japan Pro Wrestling roster. 8/10

Tsugumomo I actually read the manga for this series beforehand, and it has a pretty interesting concept, except it is actually pretty raunchy. Like, really raunchy. To the point of being vile in many cases (the characters teasing the protag about getting an erection around them in their younger forms was something they could have left out of the show, for real.) I ended up watching all the way through mostly to see the build-up to the first big fight of the series against Sunao, which end up being animated very well, I was quite happy with it. It’s hard to tell if this will get a second season, but i could definitely see it having several OVA, since things are... less restricted when it comes to those. 7/10 

Twin Angel Break This would be a good entry-level magical girl show, at least for people who are familiar with the concept without actually having watched any. It felt kind of goofy most of the time, similar to Cinderella Girls in that it felt like anime characters acting in another show. Mary was great, and I wish there had been more moments of her in her down time, like when she blends up the medals and drinks them while thinking to herself. Of course the main thing I want to talk about is that there is a trans character who except for the first minute or so she appears on screen, is treated completely normally, even when she falls in love (and a villain falls for her), it’s initially played for comedy, but it ends up having a positive outcome on the plot, so I think it’s okay. There is also a girl who is sleepy, where’s a sheep mascot hoodie, is constantly tripping, and ends all of her sentences with “da baa”. She’s really cute and I was really expecting her to be end up being a mole or something but nope she’s just cute. 8.5/10

3-gatsu no Lion As expected of SHAFT, a great character driven coming-of-age story that is practically flawless. I really enjoy any time the three sisters are on screen, but I also appreciate the appearances that his step-sister has made. She’s just sympathetic enough that you feel bad for feeling bad for her, but she’s also cruel enough to make you tense up the moment she comes on screen. The one thing I don’t like about this show is the thing it seems to get the most hype for, which is it’s intro song. I just don’t feel like it fits the attitude of the show. Otherwise though, yet another home run from SHAFT. Series continues! Highest recommendation

All Out!! This isn’t the best show, I wouldn’t even say it’s better than DAYS, but it was enjoyable enough. If the retired pro player turned coach hadn’t of shown up, I might have dropped it, truth be told. Once he shows up the, the season really picked up. The show is continuing, so hopefully that upward trend is here to stay. Series continues!

Bernard-jou Iwaku I’m not much of a book nerd, so a lot of this was lost on me, but there were still some great laughs to be had. If you’re into science fiction and novels in general they have a lot of interesting factoids about books and you could probably pick up some good recommendations from it. 7/10

Bishoujo Yuugi Unit Crane Game Girls Galaxy The series got a budget this time around, so it was actually pretty well animated (for flash), and they were able to have a lot more detail as well. I loved the inclusion of Dark Cherry, they were great foils to CRANE GAMU. It was more of a nonsense comedy this season, as opposed to “crane game tips as brought to you by an idol anime” that the first season had. Ended on a pretty wild note with Kyouko and Rei seemingly becoming a couple out of nowhere, though in hindsight they make a great pair. 8/10

Cheating Craft A really weird show, like, it would be hard to even explain what it is without being incredibly vague. The characters were great, especially the home room teacher. One of several shows this season that had some surprise GL in it. 6/10

DAYS I still think that the coach from this team would have been fired already, for letting someone that inexperienced play in such important matches. I also feel like the show contradicted itself quite a bit; they said that all the starters are starters because they are out for themselves, but they were willing to play with a no-experience player AS A STARTER. Maybe it’s just a sports thing I don’t understand, but every time someone said “it’s not your fault” I was audibly saying “no, it really was!” Ubukata was great, but I feel bad for Tsukushi’s childhood friend basically getting zero screen time after the first episode. I would have liked for Tsukushi’s mom to have been more of a factor in the show as well. For a sports anime, it was good, but there were a lot of things I had problems with. 7/10

Drifters It’s a cool concept, of course, but I worry about the execution of it all. This great nation of Orte that some of the characters wish to protect was founded by Adolf Hitler, who is supposedly a Drifter, which makes him a good guy by default, since that’s what the protagonists are. If I need to spell out why that’s fishy at best, then you need to go back to school or at least watch the History channel once in a while. I also would have liked to have seen at some point in this season some kind of selection process for why someone ends up a Drifter and why someone ends up as an End. If the Black King isn’t Merlin, I will be incredibly shocked, because he’s the only historical figure I can think of that would also be excusable as such an all powerful deity type figure that can give other people powers, as well as using alchemy. I love the harsh art style, it fits the attitude of the show quite well. As a history nerd, I think it would be really funny if Teddy Roosevelt showed up with the Rough RIders to go ham on the Ends, but will just have to see what the next season holds. 8/10

Fune wo Amu I had originally thought this would be a much different series. After the first episode I actually looked it up to see if it was going to be something I’d actually be able to watch three episodes of without falling asleep. The synopsis I read was pretty misleading, though it may have been for the live action adaptation that came out before; it basically said that the protagonist would be tasked with defining “love”, and through that he would complete this dictionary and learn to live life to the fullest and so on. Unfortunately, for the animated adaptation at least, that’s pretty much a lie. He realizes he has feelings for his landlord’s grand-daughter, and then four episodes later they’ve been married for over a decade, her as a successful chef, and he on the cusp of completing the dictionary. It felt like they cut out an entire third (or even half) of the story just to fit it into 12 episodes, which was really disappointing to me. It wasn’t bad, but I felt like it could have made it’s point about seeing things through and the importance of words a lot clearer with just a few more episodes. 7/10

Getsuyoubi no Tawawa I’m kind of surprised that this show didn’t get a lot of shit, to be frank. It’s everything people love to guffaw about when it comes to anime; a large-chested girl who is too young for the guy she is talking to in most cases and is doing everything but dragging him to a love hotel. I’m not even sure what this would be categorized as; I wouldn’t call it a romcom, because there weren’t really any gags or jokes to it, and if you just call it a romance then people expect drama when there wasn’t any of that either. So... if you want to see a well-endowed girl flirt with nameless, faceless men for 12 episodes, this is the one for you. 6/10

Kaijuu Girls: Ultra Kaijuu Gijinka Keikaku There isn’t really much to say about this show other than if you like kaijuu and chibi/SD characters, you’ll probably like this show. If it had been more than a five minute show, I think it would have become boring, because they don’t really end up doing that much over the course of the season. Just a short, silly comedy about girls learning to use powers, basically. 7/10

Keijo!!!!!!!! I really want to compare this to Valkyrie Drive, because it was good, but... it was just a little too much. If they had dialed back the ecchi during the times they weren’t in a match, I think it would have had a greater comedic impact when it came to the action. Instead towards the end it was like “wow they are laying it on thick this episode.” Still, I salute them for just going all out with it. I usually complain about “boring sports” anime needing to rely on silly gimmicks for their characters to make the show more interesting, but Keijo already had it’s silly gimmick in place, so the super moves/abilities weren’t far as far fetched as say, a mahjong player that does better because there is a full moon out that night. The foley artists should be commended specifically for this show, they did an incredible job. 8/10

Kiitarou Shounen no Youkai Enikki This show came and went by in a flash. I didn’t even realize it had ended until I started writing this; it didn’t have a very definitive finale I guess. if you’re into Japanese folklore/yokai/bakemono/etc, but also are okay with those characters used in a comedic setting, you should give this show a shot. 7/10

Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku I don’t really know how to feel about this at this point. The character design bothered me a lot in the beginning, and by the time I got used to it, other problems sprang forth. It was another one of those “subversion of the genre” mahou shoujo series, which has become a genre on it’s own at this point because so many people are doing it. Out of all the girls, Swim Swim’s arc was the best, though I wish they had explained why she had her super OP power (since most of the others depended on what they wanted to do or their personality, seemingly.) It was also interesting that in the end they kept their powers, even though they broke their communicators from Fav, which was a nice change of pace. 7/10

Nanbaka This was a very strange show. At first I thought it was going to be like JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure because of the aesthetic, but instead it was just a fun gag show about a larger than life prison. Of course the highlight of the show for me was once again, Yuu Kobayashi as the warden, stealing the spotlight in a fairly minor role. I think I enjoyed it more as a comedy, because towards the end it gets pretty serious with some action mixed in too, and it just felt kind of like “Okay let’s get back to the gags now.” Overall though a pretty entertaining show. 8/10

Nazotokine An OL who works as secretary to the CEO of a major company finds excitement in her every day life, but suddenly gets sucked into a weird dimension where she is tasked with solving puzzles in order to go back to her normal life. Unfortunately, many of the puzzles involved Japanese words I didn’t know, so I was basically just watching for the performances (thought the two or three that didn’t I was able to solve.) A good premise, I think it could have been fleshed out a lot more. It seems like the kind of thing that was based off of a mobile game or even just a series of puzzle books. I just thought it was funny that this and Tiger Mask W aired in the same season because in TMW they show New Japan Pro Wrestling all the time, and in Nazotokine during one episode they go to an All Japan Pro Wrestling show. Would like to see more but I doubt it will happen. 8/10

Nobunaga no Shinobi A nice, short gag comedy about a little ninja girl who is super effective with her work but kind of a ditz otherwise. A cute show that can be surprisingly bloody, but most of the time it’s just goofball type humor. Series continues!

Occultic;Nine The first third and last third of this season were okay, but the middle part was really boring and a lot of the side stuff going on felt unnecessary. Spending so much time on the little girl practicing black magic and the guy using astral projection just to have a way to explain how time passes for you as a scandium ghost was a little much. The cast wasn’t particularly relatable either. I did like the reveal of the person who was going around “deleting” the ghosts, though, and the FBI with psychometry was really great (would have preferred to see the story from her perspective honestly.) It felt like someone who wrote a Persona teamed up with a studio that wants to be SHAFT. 5/10

Okusama ga Seitokaichou!+! Wasn’t a fan of this season as much as the last one. It felt like they had a meeting and said “Okay, the framing is established with season one, so now we can just go all out with erotica!” The problem was is that, they can only go so far, so showing what is basically the same thing over and over with just different characters makes it lose any ecchi power it may have had originally. 6/10

Saiki Kusuo no Ψ-nan An absolute joy of a show. I would not mind if I was still writing about this show in these season wrap-up reviews this time next year, it’s that good. Nendou-kun has grown on me a lot as the show has gone on, and Teruhashi has become my favorite character I think. 10/10

Shakunetsu no Takkyuu Musume I started to have the same problem with this show that I did with Saki (the mahjong anime), wherein they feel like the characters or action aren’t strong enough, so they have to give the players these goofy gimmicks that are beyond ridiculous. I really could not stand the green-haired yandere chick in this show, and was incredibly happened when that mini-arc ended. The beginning third of the show, I can understand people being perturbed at the lack of sport in this sport anime in favor of so much ~moe, but I think the episodes after the practice match arc are a great example of the show at it’s best, with a great balance of moe and sport. It’s not for everyone, but it has a fun, memorable cast. Reminded me quite a lot of KanaMemo, actually. 8/10

Sousei no Onmyouji Well, I would say the ride was fun, but it really wasn’t for the most part. The first arc of the show was pretty good, then they had a lovebirds arc which was horrendously stupid, and then it got into more action again and it was fine for a while but then you could tell the original writer started stalling at a certain point and it was really obnoxious how so little of what was going on week to week felt like it mattered in the grand scheme of things. It was like the series couldn’t decided to be a supernatural action show or a romcom, and you can’t really half-ass doing both when you have a masterpiece like Katanagatari out there. It had promise, but just took way too long to deliver, if it ever will. Dropped

Soushin Shoujo Matoi I don’t know if I’ve just watched too much anime by now or what, but I felt like I had seen this show a hundred times already. Nothing felt new or refreshing. It’s a very pretty show, at least, so I watched it all the way through, but I don’t think I’ll remember the name of this show next week, let alone next year. 7/10

Stella no Mahou I was a little worried about this show at the beginning because of how babyish the protagonist was, but she matures pretty quickly, and the remnants of her babyness become part of her charm. This felt like if you mixed Yuru Yuri and Wakaba Girl together, which is a pretty good combo. It also reminded me a bit of Saekano, even down to the girl in charge of music getting the least screen time. I would like to see another season of this but I think it would need to move about more into a more serious mood, like maybe they decide to debut at Comiket for real this time and put everything they have into a new game. 9/10

Teekyuu 8 I always love Teekyuu content, if you’ve followed me for a while then you know that quite well. 10/10

Tiger Mask W What knowledge I DON’T have from never having seen the previous Tiger Mask anime, the knowledge I have of him as an IRL pro wrestler and the current Japanese wrestling scene and attitude has made up for anything I would have otherwise missed. If nobody noticed, Monopoly is meant to be the WWE, and New Japan’s partnership with this series is a pretty clear showing on how they feel about WWE’s current move to basically create pro-wrestling colonies on other continents. There’s a lot of other BTS politics involved, but it’s interesting to see it as fodder for what amounts to a kids’ show. The main problem I have with the series so far is the inconsistency in violence and how much is tolerated. One of Tiger’s early foes causes him to bleed profusely and beats the piss out of him, but he says his match with Tiger the Dark was his hardest yet and he was barely even scratched. Also, a guy with a sword shows up in one episode, which is just bad, since he can never realistically use it (even in a cartoon setting.) Series continues!

To Be Hero I haven’t read anything about the behind-the-scenes of this series, but it would not surprise me in the least if it was a jab at One Punch Man. The dialogue is the star of the show here, with every character getting at least one really great monologue. The ending was actually pretty touching for a show about a guy that got superpowers from taking a dump. 8/10

Udon no Kuni no Kiniro Kemari This show was great, but towards the end, it felt kind of forced. It had a great thing going, and then it was like they thought, “Wait, Poco is still a tanuki?! Crap, what are we going to do?” I think this would have been better served about a guy reconciling with his decision to go to Tokyo, and having a son he didn’t know about to deal with in the process. Maybe Souta left for Tokyo for the same reason, but while he was there, he dated a foreigner, and they broke up, which lead to him getting into a rut at his job, and then finally moving back home to take care of his father’s effects post-mortem, where he finds his dad had taken in the child his girlfriend never told him about. SOMETHING like that. There was also a great missed opportunity I think with Nakaji and Rinko. One of Nakaji’s problems in the season is that his parents are hounding him about getting married, so what if he hadn’t been even looking because he was having an affair with Rinko? It honestly felt like that’s where they were going with it to me. She tells him he should stop smoking, and he eats her cooking despite knowing it’s bad, and then when she tells him she’s pregnant, it just honestly felt like that scene was written out as her telling him it’s his, and he’s the first to know she’s pregnant. It was also kind of disappointing that Udon didn’t really have all that much to do with the show, despite being in the title. Kana Hanazawa’s character is about as big of a red herring as you can get in this kind of show, as well. It’s cute and genuinely funny, but could have been much better and poignant in another world. 8/10

Watashi ga Motete Dousunda I imagine the manga won’t end the same way the show did (assuming the manga continues from there), but I think the writers of the show ended it the best way they could. Say what you will about the comedy based around liking gay fiction (admittedly exploitative fiction) making you a weirdo, but I feel like when it came to Nishina, they treated her respectfully, even showing her as a true rival, an equal, amongst the other suitors that Kae genuinely considered. That in itself should be celebrated. Yuu Kobayashi is easily top 3 seiyuu for me, so any show that she is the focal point is always one that I will enjoy all the way through. 9/10