January 14, 2024 by metatron13

Top Ten Anime of Fall 2023

This is VERY late due to the enjoyable December holiday break. Still, I have to do this list before I get to my 2023 best anime. And, this list is pretty strong. Let’s begin, shall we?

At number ten, I have “Goblin Slayer”. The second season is very much anticipated, and it took years for it to come into fruition. Thankfully, we have more pure high fantasy, dungeon crawls, and organized violence as our favorite armored silver ranked slayer has to offer. I’m a HUGE fan of purely fantasy anime. And, this won’t be the last one on my list. Read on.

At number nine, I have “The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You”. That title is a mouthful, and Rentarou has his hands full trying to keep his upcoming 100 girlfriends alive. You heard that right he WANTS to keep them alive. Because of some fated mistake, instead of having one soulmate in life, Rentarou has 100. But, it gets more complicated than that. If he doesn’t make these soulmates his girlfriends, they end up dying. That’s a morbid premise, but the anime is quite over the top hilarious with that premise. This is the only anime on my list where I get to laugh out loud several times EVERY episode. The anime is so absurd that it is so funny.

At number eight, I have “Undead Unluck”. I have a soft spot for consecutive cour anime, and ‘Undead Unlock’ is one of a couple here on my list. Regardless of episode count, this is a pretty good anime to make my list. Undead or ‘Andy’ is out to find a way to end his immortal life. In comes Fuuko with her unluck power that could possibly allow Andy to die. The catch? The more Fuuko has an emotional attachement to the individual who touches her bare skin, the worse the unluck unleashed. I’m talking literal fire and brimstone from the sky disasters. So, Andy decides that in order to ensure that he dies in spite of his insane regenerative abilities, he will make Fuuko fall in love with him. He hopes this will truly end his immortal life. It’s another morbid premise that combines with excellent action, and comedy in it. I seem to have an affinity for this kind of anime. Hmm…

At number seven, I have “Spy Family”. The Forgers are back for their second season. This masterpiece by Wit Studio, and Cloverworks deserves all the attention it’s getting. Also, I love it when mama Yor gets to show off her ‘killer instinct’. There is a lot of it in this season. There’s a lot of super spy Loid in this season too. And yet, it all looks like a set-up to the movie that should be available in some areas by now. I’m already looking forward to the third season.

At number six, I have “Dr. Stone”. Senkuu and the Nation of Science are back to restore humanity to its technological present. This third season is as good as the second season. This is the second cour of the third season, and I’m fully satisfied that Ibara got what he had coming. He tried to outsmart Senkuu, but failed. This anime has a perfect mix of action, comedy, great animation, AND scientific knowledge that you can actually use as a sample in the classroom. Imagine a science class that uses “Dr. Stone” for its lessons. I can imagine it.

At number five, I have “The Eminence in Shadow”. After a very entertaining first season, Cid/Shadow is back with Shadow Garden for the second season. The anime starts off strong at the gate, and provides everyone with more than enough isekai entertainment. By season’s end, Cid has a new challenge in a very familiar place. I suppose it was necessary considering the premise of existing alternate realities now revealed in the second season. What does this mean for Cid, and his hare—Shadow Garden moving forward? Let’s see what happens.

At number four, I have “The Apothecary Diaries”. I gambled on this anime because it was from OLM studios. You know, the studio responsible for”‘Summertime Rende“‘? This was worth the gamble, and it has two consecutive cours. Maomao is the main character in this historical fiction anime that is set during the Chinese Imperial Era. Maomao is a potion maker/poison tester who gets sold into the Rear Palace of the emperor. This sets her on an adventure full of intrigue, and manipulation in the politics of the Rear Palace. This is a procedural anime with there being a mystery every episode. However, there is an even bigger mystery unravelling that might just lead to the core of succession to the throne. If anything, the biggest strenght of this anime is Maomao herself who is the perfect combination of brains, and beauty. Why do the brains come before the beauty? Watch the anime to find out.

At number three, I have “Plut”‘. If you’re an Astroboy fan, then you are in for a treat. This anime adapts “The Greatest Robot in the World” storyline from the original “Astroboy” run in the 1980s. It does so with hour long eight episodes. Unlike ‘Astroboy’, ‘Pluto’ takes a more serious tone, and creates a lot of emotional hooks to keep you interested. There is a lot of human interest in this science fiction anime that even makes the robots more human, AND humane than actual humans. You might want to watch the last two episodes of “Astrobo”‘ aka “The Greatest Robot in the World” to review the basic plot. You don’t need to though. ‘Pluto’ can stand on its own merits.

At number two, I have “Jujutsu Kaize”‘. For the second straight season, ‘Jujutsu Kaizen’ lands at number two. The previous cour came out during the summer season, and this continues into the fall. This is one of studio MAPPA’s babies, and it’s a hell of a show. Not only do we get some backstory on Gojou, but we also get the much anticipated Shibuya Arc. The Shibuya Arc was so influential that the Japanese Government shut down Shibuya for a while BECAUSE of what was being shown in this anime. Talk about pop culture having influence in real life, right? The third season has already been announced, and THAT promises to be better than this one. With all that is excellent with “Jujutsu Kaize”, Gojou and company still don’t have enough magic to overcome the number one anime of the season…

At number one, I have “Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End”. MADHOUSE. IS. BACK. What a way to be back on top playing with the anime big boys. This is high fantasy at its best. Would you believe me if I told you that it’s also slice of life? What if it’s also the chillest anime of the season? The animation is flawless, and very crisp from cell to cell. The storytelling is heartwarming, and heartwrenching at the same time. I knew that the anime would be good. But, I didn’t know it would be THIS GOOD. To add, it’s also a back-to-back two cour anime. That means this is spiliing over to the winter season of 2024. Is this a good thing? Well, duh? OF COURSE IT IS! ”Frieren Beyond: Journey’s End” is not just eye candy. There are deep themes here that include (but not limited to) immortality, the cycle of life, and mundane magic-using. Just like how people underestimate Frieren, you can choose to underestimate this anime at your peril. There is a lot of hidden magic in this anime still waiting to be unleashed.

So, that’s my list. Agree with me? Disagree? Let me know in the comments.

January 23, 2023 by metatron13

My Returning Anime List of 2023

The anime season of 2023 is well underway, and there are some returning anime that I am looking forward to watching. These are anime that are coming back for a new season, or anime that get the benefit of a remake. I have an interesting mix here so let’s get this list going, shall we?

I’ll get these two out of the way: “Trigun: Stampede” and “Rurouni Kenshin“. Both anime are based on legendary 90s anime. Both have some controversy coming into 2023.

With “Trigun: Stampede” it’s the updated animation style and Vash’s hair. Yeah that change in hairdo has a lot of longtime fans in an uproar. Though the new anime can be enjoyed without watching the first installment, this new version of Trigun is pretty good, and can stand on its own merits based on the small sample size I’ve seen so far. This has already started in the winter season, and I’m sticking around to see where this story goes.

The new adaptation of “Rurouni Kenshin” has its share of controversy as well. The mangaka Nobuhiro Watsuki was arrested, and admitted to having in his possession child pornography DVDs in 2017. Now the uproar to boycott Watsuki’s work goes all the way back to his new Hokkaido Arc in the manga, and extends to the promotion of the live action movies. The clamor has been revived to boycott this new adaptation. In spite of the controversy, I’m all in with this anime. Let’s see if Kenshin, and company can add new followers to its existing fandom.

Chise, and Elias are back for the second season of “Ancient Magus Bride”. It’s been six long years for this anime to return, and many (myself included) have been waiting patiently for its return. Many of the main seiyuu cast are returning though Wit Studio is no longer animating this second season. Instead we have Studio Kafka handling the reigns of the new season. Kafka handled the OVA of “Ancinet Magus Bride” that came out last year, and if that’s any indication this will be another beautiful season. It’s already slated for an April 6 release in what is looking like a very entertaining spring season. More on that next.

Adding more excitement to the spring season is “Konosuba: An Explosion of this Wondeful World”. More Konosuba is good, and this new anime based on the original Konusuba centers on Megumin. Studio Deen is replaced by Drive for the animation chores, but Rie Takahashi is returning as Megumin with a new supporting cast of characters. So far, there is no mention of Kazuma or Aqua making an appearance in this series. I’m excited to see Megumin get into trouble on her own though.

Speaking of anime returning in the spring season, you can add season three of “Dr. Stone” to the list. A short film released last year sets the stage for the third season, and Senkuu will be crossing the high seas in search for answers to the stone transformation that affected the world. This is one of those anime that you can use if you’re teaching science classes. Add some action, and intrigue with the science; and you have the makings of an anime to look forward to viewing.

(From Left) Zenitsu, Inosuke, Tanjiro, and Nezuko

If the spring of 2023 isn’t stacked enough them maybe “Kimetsu No Yaiba” aka “Demonslayer” adding to the list of anime coming out in April will convince you otherwise. Now on its third season, I’m hoping that “Demonslayer” combines the storytelling of the first season with the animation of the second. Also, I hope this is a two cour season, and not one. With Tanjiro’s quest to repair his broken sword, I’m expecting this to be the cream of the crop for the spring. Of course, there is always room for surprises.

“Spy Family” is another upcoming anime that is scheduled to have not just its second season, but an anime movie in 2023. Wit Studio, and Cloveworks are still doing the animation. The same seiyuu cast is returning as well. There are no exact release dates for both the second season, and the movie though if it follows the pattern from last year, the second season should come out in the spring as well (what was I saying about the spring season being stacked?). Waku, waku.

Also on my returning list is “Our Last Crusade or the Rise of a New World”. This is one anime that I was watching that I didn’t expect to have a second season. I enjoyed this Rome and Juliet fantasy anime, but I wasn’t sure it was good enough to validate a return. I’m not complaining. Silver Link is returning to animate the second season. No release date yet, but this did come out in the fall of 2020. So I’ll be waiting eagerly when more news of this drops.

I love my fantasy anime, and “Goblin Slayer” season two is set to return in 2023. No release date yet. Silver Link has been replaced by Liden Films as the animation studio. It’s been five years since the first season. It’s been three years since the movie. In spite of the title, you don’t want to mess around with the slayer. True his specialty is goblins, but that doesn’t discount his skill. The anime also doesn’t hold back on the violence, and sadistic nature of goblins in the anime. I’m hoping this drops in the fall season, but we’ll see.

I only have four anime left on my returning list, and “Classroom of the Elite” season three is one of those three. It’s good to know that we don’t have to wait another five years to get a season three. Lerche will still be animating the new season, and since this has consistently come out druing the summer, I’m expecting the third season to follow suit. Follow the adventures of Ayanokouji as he unintentionally (or not) increases his harem while maintaining his low profile in an ultra-competitive high school. Yeah, I’m looking forward to more of his shenanigans.

We’re now down to my top three heavy hitters of 2023 returning anime. This brings me to “Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War” second season. This was my top anime of 2022 , and with the way it ended with the first season, you can be sure that there will be more explosive episodes by Studio Pierrot. I’d expect nothing less from Ichigo’s return in the spotlight. This is coming out in July. Guess what else is coming out in July for a heavyweight fight?

Not to be outdone, MAPPA is bringing the second season of “Jujutsu Kaizen” in July of 2023. Do you smell what I smell? Yep, it’s a heavyweight fight between two popular supernatural shonen anime. The wily veteran anime vs. the new breed. This will be fun, and it will only benefit the fans. Maybe we’ll get to see Itadori and Okkotsu together in the new season? Here’s wishing. This was was top anime of 2020. So the summer season will be truly supernatural.

Finally, to complete the trifecta, I have “Mushoku Tensei” aka “Jobless Reincarnation”. Rudeus and company are my top anime of 2021. I don’t know when this is coming out. There is no fixed date yet. Wouldn’t it be fun if it came out during the summer as well? Though it most likely will come out in the fall. With this anime’s return, I have my top anime of the past three years duking it out this year. I’ll worry about rankings by this year’s end. For now, I’ll just enjoy this list of returning anime of 2023.

How about you? Which anime are you excited to see returning? Let me know in the comments.

January 16, 2023 by metatron13

My Best Anime of 2022

So here we are at the beginning of a new year, and in the middle of the first month. Still good enough time for me to come up with my top ten anime of 2022. If you’re curious about my top fall anime of 2022, you can find it here. There are a couple on that fall list that make it to my Best Anime of the Year list. Which ones exactly? Read on to find out…

At number ten, I have ‘Lycoris Recoil’. A lot of people will remember this year for A-1 pictures because of ‘Kaguya Sama’. That anime is not on my list which would probably get the ire of many slice of life fans. ‘Lycoris Recoil’ is good enough to make my top ten, and as I always say, original anime have a special place in my heart. That’s not to say Chisato, Takina, and the rest of the staff of Cafe LycoReco are not entertaining. In fact, this dramedy of an anime is quite good, and reminds me a lot of how I was surprised with ’86‘. The second season is imminent, and it’s more of a question of ‘when’ than ‘how’. I’m looking forward to seeing more of Chisato dodging bullets with her spanking new heart.

At number nine, I have ‘Kimetsu No Yaiba’ aka ‘Demonslayer’. Arguably the anime with the best fight scene of the year, Ufotable continues not to disappoint with ‘Demonslayer’. My biggest complaint with this anime is that it only has one cour as compared to the first season’s double cour. That’s probably one of the reasons why Tanjiro and the rest of the demonslayers make it only to number nine on my list. With the new year, we are getting a season three of ‘Demonslayer’, and my hope is it holds up more in storytelling to season one with the much improved animation of season two. Let’s see what happens as Tanjiro tries to reforge his broken sword.

At number eight, I have ‘My Dress-Up Darling’. One of my surprise anime of 2022, I took a risk on this, and it lived up to the hype. Marin and Gojo have a very loyal manga following, and I’m glad to join them in the anime. This is yet another beautiful anime by Cloverworks which continues to impress with the eclectic nature of the properties under its wings. This romcom is a cosplayer, and phtographer’s dream come true. It’s also one of those anime wherein the good guy attracts the best girl of the 2022. Gojo, and Marin are lucky to have each other in their lives. How they decide to properly express their feelings towards each other is something that many fans are looking forward to happening…while getting a ton of laughs along the way.

At number seven, I have ‘Ya Boy Kongming!’. When you combine an isekai with an idol anime, this is what you get. The mentor-mentee (father-daughter?) relationship of Kongming, and Eiko is just downright inspiring to see. Kongming uses his knowledge of battle tactics ala Sun Tzu to help Eiko realize her dream of becoming a successful performer. The road to stardom is wrought with many challenges, and Kongming has so far provided the answers to each one of them Eiko faces. Needless to say, ‘Ya Boy Kongming!’ has one of the best set of anime songs of the year. Just like ‘My Dress-Up Darling’, I’m looking forward to seeing Eiko succeed in achieving her dream.

At number six, I have ‘Summertime Render’. Now this is one anime that was on my radar, but still caught me by surprise. Composed of two consecutive cours, this masterpiece from OLM will reward you for sticking around. It’s not that it didn’t have good episodes to start. It’s that in order to get to the better episodes you had to endure the good ones. Sounds confusing, right? Well, the biggest initial concern with me was that Shinpei was a bit wimpy at the beginning. It took me time to understand that it was all part of the beautiful development of the character into manhood. Albeit, man enough to be a match for the alpha female that is Ushio. If you like time travel, and myster anime, then this is the best one of the year for me.

At number five, I have ‘Made in Abyss’. It took five years for a second season of this anime to come out. Though a movie came in between, I needed a better fix deep into the Abyss with Riko, Reg, and Nanachi. Is it possible for the second season to actually be better than the first, and yet ‘Made in Abyss’ will most likely not win as many awards in the second season? I think that’s going to be the case. There are just so many excellent anime this year. That shouldn’t discredit the excellence that you find in the best Kinema Citrus anime of the year. There is news circulating that a new season is coming up, and I’m wondering how that will happen with just a few chapters left from the source material to animate. ‘Made in Abyss’ will make you sad, and sadder some more before providing you the hope it shares by season’s end. It’s pretty standard by now for the adventures of Riko as she searchers for her mom. Here’s hoping she finds her alive with a little help from Reg, and Nanachi.

At numbe four, I have ‘Ousama Ranking’ aka ‘Ranking of Kings’. Just like Cloverworks, Wit Studio has shown with this tale of deaf-dumb Bojji that it has a wide range of animation approaches. I’ve been rooting for Bojji since 2021, and this has carried over to last year. More so, the second cour of ‘Ousama Ranking’ puts Bojji and Kage in a more favorable position than the first. Bojji is really a character to my mind that’s worth rooting for. Sure Bojji is a prince, but that just underscores how misereable, and sad his live is to begin. There is no better anime on my list to inspire you in achieving greater heights in spite of overwhelming challenges than this one. Long live Bojji!!!

At number three, I have ‘Chainsaw Man’. Highly anticipated, and highly hyped, this anime lived up to the expectations. Though there’s something about studio MAPPA and its penchance for supernatural anime. Is it a coincidence that they made both ‘Chainsaw Man’ and ‘Jujutsu Kaizen‘? I think not. The big difference between Denji, and Itadori is that Denji is a true blue antihero. I’ve said this before already, Denji’s needs are very basic: food, women, and lodging. Can you blame him though? With an upbringing like his, it’s no wonder Makima can manipulate him the way she does. This also has my vote for best music of 2022. Of all the thirteen songs there is not a one worth ignoring. It’s just a question of choosing your favorite. No word yet on season two, but that is a sure as Reze appearing soon.

At number two, I have ‘Spy Family’. The Forger family was my frontrunner to be my anime of the year for 2022 but fell a bit short. Not its own fault, but rather due to the surprise, and excellence of what is at my number one spot. For now, let’s focus on ‘Spy Family’ which is a masterpiece of both Cloverworks (My Dress-Up Darling), and Wit Studio (Ousama Ranking). It’s really unfair to have a version of Bojji in Anya, Marin in Yor to combine with the suave super spy that is Loid Forger. There is no greater family anime on my list. There’s already a new season set for this year to go along with a movie. More Spy Family is always good. Also, more Anya means more peanuts.

At numer one, I have ‘Bleach: Thousand year Blood War’. A while a go I mentioned that ‘Made in Abyss’ took five years for the second season to come out. In the case of ‘Bleach’, it took studio Pierrot over ten years to come up with the latter portion of Ichigo’s saga. I was just happy to have this anime back with little expectation of it being good. Surprise, surprise…it has gone well beyond what I expected. Cinematic animation. Excellent Storytelling. Hightened Anticipation. Whatever those creators from Pierrot ate while making ‘Bleach’, keep feeding it to them. And, it appears that the best is yet to come. This makes ‘Bleach’ my Best Anime of 2022.

Do you agree with me? Disagree with me? Tell me what you think in the comments.

January 10, 2023 by metatron13

My Best Fall Anime of 2022

Welcome to my VERY late top anime of the fall season. I usually do this in the sixth or seventh episode mark. In fact, the rankings here are based on seventh episode viewings. In spite of that, I’m sticking to my guns with this list. So let’s begin so I can start writing my best anime of 2022 soon after.

Yang, Reinhard and Their Supporting Cast

At number ten I have ‘Legend of the Galactic Heroes’ from Production IG. This is a remake of one of the best space opera anime of all time. Personally, I prefer ‘Space Battleship Yamato’ over this. But, this doesn’t discount the fact that this is a pretty good anime. Good enough to make my top ten list for the fall season. I’ve always liked how General Yang and Emperor Reinhard do everything that they can to outwit each other in the galactic combat arena. Each is an excellent strategist in his own right. There will be more of this coming in the future. So if you like space operas without the mecha, you should look into this anime.

At number nine I have ‘Reincarnated as a Sword’. This is my father-daughter anime of the season with Shisou the intelligent teacher sword playing protective doting father to Fran, the black cat with a dream of evolving. This is a stereotypical isekai with Shishou being the overpowered reincarnated character. This anime is fun to watch, and Fran is just such a cute character to root for. Second season is already in the works. More of Fran, and Shishou is good.

At number eight I have ‘Urusei Yatsura’. I have a hidden agenda for supporting this anime. Sure it’s a Rumiko Takahashi classic. Sure it’s a remake. Because of this, I’m hoping that this will open the door for a remake of Ranma 1/2. This is no discredit to ‘Urusei Yatsura’. This is the root of all the wackiness that all other Takahashi works have to offer. Seriously though Ataru should open his eyes. Lum is easily the most attractive character in the series. That’s partly what makes this anime so funny. It’s got a full year cour as well so expect this anime to be around for a while. There’s only one other anime on my list that will be around as long. I’ll get to that much later.

At number seven I have ‘The Eminence in Shadow’. Shadow/Cid reminds me of what would happen if you combined Batman with the Venom Symbiote. The result is a VERY overpowered isekai character who creates two sets of harems for himself. One comes from the organization he helped create: Shadow Garden. The other harem comes from the group of fangirls who fall for poor ‘weakling’ Cid. This is an anime worth watching if only to hear the line: ‘I am atomic’. I also watch this anime all the way to the end because of the puzzle images of the female characters in the story. This anime shouldn’t be in the shadow of your anime list.

At number six I have ‘Mob Psycho’. This is the last season of this anime, and it is a fitting end to the adventures of Shigeo Kagayama aka Mob. I’m wondering who will take the banner of representing Studio Bones with ‘Mob Psycho’ ending. There’s a lot of drama here, and confessions from many characters. It’s hard to see such a great anime end, but it couldn’t have ended any better. Still, it wasn’t enough for ‘Mob Psycho’ to break into my top five. Primarily because of the anime at number five…

At number five I have ‘Bocchi the Rock’. When I first heard about this anime from Cloverworks, it radiated so much ‘K-On!’ vibes. True to form, ‘Bocchi the Rock’ is the second coming of ‘K-On!’ This might be sacrilege, and I do love ‘K-On!’, but it even does so many things a lot better. I ended up cheering for Bocchi aka Hitori Gotou to overcome her social anxiety. And she overcomes her difficulty a lot earlier than Komi. ‘Bocchi the Rock’ also has an excellent set of anime music that I love to listen to again, and again. This is one of the surprise anime of the fall season for me. I didn’t expect it to make my top ten yet here it is.

At number four I have ‘Golden Kamuy’. This is also the last season of ‘Golden Kamuy’, and it joins ‘Mob Psycho’ in waving goodbye. I’m not a big fan of historical fiction, but ‘Golden Kamuy’ is an exception to that. Never underrated but sorely underappreciated, the factual elements mixed with the quest of Asirpa, and Sugimoto to find the lost gold make this anime rank high on my list. Note that this is a mature viewer anime with some adult themes. Regardless, this is one of my favorite anime to watch whenever it’s around. Sadly, the anime got delayed mid-season because of the death of one of the production staff members. The silver (golden?) lining there is that I get to enjoy this anime a bit longer before it ends.

At number three I have ‘Spy Family’. My pick for anime of the year when it came out falls short of number one for the fall season. The entertainment value of ‘Spy Family’ has plateaued, and the reason why I could not put it at number one for the fall season. It’s still pretty good, and funny nonetheless. How could you not adore the Forger Family? This is a masterpiece by Wit Studio and Cloverworks. There’s already news of a new season coming in 2023, and a movie. If you aren’t watching this anime yet, it’s high time you join the peanut gallery. Anya would even join you.

At number two I have ‘Chainsaw Man’. This was a much heralded, and anticipated anime of the fall season. It didn’t disappoint. Studio MAPPA has another winner here on the heels of ‘Jujutsu Kaizen‘. There are a lot of similarities between ‘Chainsaw Man’ and ‘Jujutsu Kaizen’. The big difference is the mature content, and dark comedy that you find in ‘Chainsaw Man’. MAPPA pulled out all stops with ‘Chainsaw Man’ providing it with a different ending song for each of its episodes. That’s not to say the opening song is nothing to crow about. I keep saying this…Denji reminds me of Pepe Samson from the novel, ‘Mass’ by F. Sionil Jose. His needs are very basic. He’s your heroic anti-hero if that makes any sense. This would’ve been my number one anime of the fall season if not for a surprising returning anime…

At number one I have ‘Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War’. I was happy to see the return of ‘Bleach’ after a loooong hiatus. Whatever it looked like, I was going to watch it. Imagine my surprise when studioe Pierrot apparently pulled out all the stops to provide us a cinematic masterpiece for EACH of the episodes that have come out. WOW. If you’re worried that there are too many episodes to jump into this anime, don’t worry. You can start watching form the first episode of ‘Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War’, and not worry about what came before. It’s also going to be sticking around a while with a set year cour episode list. Ichigo and the rest of Soul Society are back; and back with a vengeance.

Agree with my list? Disagree? Let me know in the comments.

May 31, 2022 by metatron13

My Top Ten Spring Anime of 2022

It’s that time of the year again when I count down the top ten anime of the spring season. Take note once again that these are anime that I watch, and have by now reached around six or seven episodes. Whether they remain high on my year-end list remains to be seen. But, that’s a story for another day. Here we go…

At number ten is “I’m Quitting Heroing’. This is a fantasy anime with an op character in Leo who defeats the forces of Demon Queen Echidna. Later, Leo decides to join the forces of Echidna to fight the humans that he once protected. It’s entertaining enough to be on my list though the storytelling pace is a bit slow. Still, there is a mystery behind Leo as to why he IS that powerful. That plus his sincerity to help Echidna, and her forces who are in fact not-so-bad keeps me interested. Moving on.

At number nine we have “Kyoukai Senki”. The only mecha anime on my list is cour two of the first season. Cour one came out last year, and this second cour is actually better than the first. There are parallels to Code Geass here, but that’s to be expected with Sunrise (the animator of Code Geass). The mecha also looks a little Gundam-like. Regardless, the story brings to the table something new to the mecha genre, and that is the existence of AIs that help pilot the robots here. The icons for these AI are cutesy to mask just how deadly they are in battle. This is the second best mecha anime of the year so far. So, if mecha is your genre, give this a shot.

At number eight we have “The Rising of the Shield Hero”. I’ll be honest. I was expecting this to be higher on my list with the return of Naofumi after three years. However, the storytelling has slowed down, and the animation from Kinema Citrus is not as up-to-par as the first season. Makes me wonder if they are saving all that energy (and animation) for “Made in Abyss” which is coming this summer. People say that it follows the story in the written material. That shouldn’t be an excuse for this anime to be in my lower ten for the season. Good enough to be on my list. Sad that it’s not any higher.

At number seven we have “Skeleton Knight in Another World”. This is the better of the the two fantasy isekai on my list, and it is entertaining as Arc. The animation tapered off from the first episode, but the entertainment value did not. If it had maintained it’s animation, it would be higher on my list. Arc is an op Paladin-like character who got transported in a fantasy world in a skeleton body. It’s the reason why he keeps that armor on. Arc is overpowered because he is a paladin with mage/sorcery skills. I mean, come on guys, when you give a paladin (in D&D) access to teleportatin spells ASIDE from cleric healing spells…THAT IS YOUR DEFINITION OF OVERPOWERED. However, this is part of what makes this anime so entertaining. Ponta is a cute spirit creature too so that helps.

At number six we have “Love After World Domination”. This reminds me of another Super Sentai parody that came about last year with a different approach. The intro song reminds me of “Miss Kuroitsu and the Monster Development Department”, and rightfully so because it’s upbeat and funny. Unlike “Miss Kuroitsu”, here we have Red Gelato aka Fudou who falls in love with Desumi, the Reaper Princess. Both characters are on opposite sides in the Super Sentai war of good vs. evil. As a result, they hide their romance from their co-workers which leads to all sorts of hilarious situations. Poor Desumi. If only she came out in a different anime year she would have a chance for best girl of the year. That’s almost impossible considering the current competition. More on that some other time.

Starting our top five is “Summertime Render”. One of two OLM studios entries on my top ten list (more on that later), this follows the reincarnation trope that has become popular in anime. Reminds me a lot of “Re:Zero“, but a lot drearier, and “Summertime Render” is set in modern times. Unlike Subaru, Shinpei Ajiro has a limited number of reincarnations so he is forced to make his decisions with a little more sense of urgency. I mean, if he doesn’t then the world gets engulfed by these mysterious shadow creatures. Talk about pressure. This spring anime has beautiful visuals to accompany its mystery thriller story. Watch it to find out what the mystery is all about.

At number four is “Legend of the Galactic Heroes”. I really hate it when Production IG scheduled this anime. They put it near the end of the winter season, and thus this is one of the first anime ending in the spring. It has done this before in “Fena: Pirate Princess“. Having said that, this is one fine space opera that follows in the footsteps of its origninal run. There are lots of intrigue, dogfights, misidrections, and on top of all that beautiful visuals that Production IG has worked on so well. No mecha here, guys. Just ships, and power suits. You don’t get a lot of great space opera anime around nowadays, and this should be one of those you should be watching.

At number three we have “Komi Can’t Communicate”. The second entry from OLM studios on my list is a slice of life anime that is better than its first season. Why do I say that? Because, Komi is actually putting some effort in communicating here. It was so frustrating during the first season seeing her get into situations where she just shuts down. In the second season, she has shown how much she has grown, and how willing she is to overcome her communication difficulty. Communication disorder is a real problem, guys. “Komi Can’t Communicate” shows us how it can be overcome with a certain degree of effort, and help from the people around us.

At number two is “Ya Boy Kongming!”. I love this anime from P. A. Works. This blindsided me, and since I starting watching, it didn’t disappoint. Combining tropes from both isekai, and idol anime, “Ya Boy Kongming!” just has such a beautiful message to it. Through Kongming, we see that this is an anime about believing in yourself, and what you can do. In the case of Eiko, the other main protagonist, she is the one who is holding her musical dreams down, and Kongming is helping her realize just how special she is. And, how many times have you NOT succeeded because YOU are the biggest obstacle to your own success? I think many people can relate to this. Heck, other characters in this anime can relate to this. The animation matches the mood while the memorable soundtrack is so good that it’s making waves around social media. I am loving the message of “Ya Boy Kongming!”, and I’m not alone in loving this spring anime hit. Still, that is not enough to make it to my number one spot.

At the number one spot on my list is “Spy x Family”. This is one of those anime that a lot of people had high expectations for including me. This anime has a beautiful, and well-loved manga that carries the burden of doing good in its anime adaptation or else. In that regard, Cloverworkds, and Wit Studio have shown us how two juggernaut studios can come up with arguably the best anime of the year (Yes I’m saying that now!). Did they crumble under the pressure? No. Did the anime look like it was made by two separate studios? No. Did they do justice to the “Spy x Family” manga? That is a big YES. Think about it guys. These are the studios that came up with “Ousama Ranking”, AND “My Dress-up Darling”. Think of Bojji (Anya), and Marin (Yor) in the same anime. Then you have the dashing, and suave Loid to hold it all together. It’s unfair actually if you look at it. Though, with two high profile anime studios, you’d think that there would be a lot of egos flying around to ruin the material. That is not the case here. The transition from one studio’s production to another is so flawless that you can’t even tell which anime is responsible for each episode. “Spy x Family” was a concerted effort, and it shows.

Add to that the message of the anime itself, and I’m not forgetting about that. “Spy x Family” focuses on family. Family does not just mean blood relations. Family will help you out in times of trouble. Family will be there in your ups, and downs. Put that theme on family with the entertaining story, and gorgeous animation; and you have “Spy x Family” as my number one anime of the spring season.

Obskura And Then Some

Where I write my thoughts on mostly geeky pop culture stuff that interests me…and then some.

Tag Archives: Spy Family