#but my japanese is only good for watching shitty isekai

[visualstudiocode]

only got one episode of lastart left but it does not appear to have ever been subtitled. which would be completely fine if it was in korean but i dont trust my japanese ability enough to be able to watch it all unsubbed

[nerice]

ok. winter season thots

(continuing) ao no hako, though ive grown more and more lukewarm on it with every episode. hina should've been aroace send post

(continuing) chikyuu no undou ni tsuite aka orbshow, second cour lfgggg i miss badeni's bald little head so much :(

100 girlfriends s2, i feel like the charm has worn off a little but it's simply too entertaining to jump ship from, also i need to view hakari's insane horny exploits. i forgot abt her upper thigh mole and lord jesus chara design of all time fr fr

apothecary diaries s2, glad to be back!!!! this one's just solid i have no notes same gripes abt convoluted mysteries as before, same none of my gripes matter bc maomao nd jinshi are just that good w.

zenshuu, was my high profile high hopes pick and while the animation is stellar that is about the only redeeming quality it has. the problem with getting reincarnated into a shitty isekai anime is that. it's still a shitty isekai setting like they could've given any of the charas actual good designs and i wld be all over it but it's so fucking bland im sorry. doubly offended bc they have the Designated Refined Magical Archer Girlie that cld have been the highlight of my season, alas we will sideline her as is the trope. kys. also the way the zenshuu overhaul is used has been.... so boring..... i thought she'd be doing actual environmental/story retcons rather than Summon Monster That Wipes Out Enemies. what a waste

okitsura, singlehandedly swung this season around for me. okinawa language+culture focus, solid love triangle, stupid humor (a zombieland saga AND evangelion reference in the first episode alone) it's so fucking good. kyan's design is also @/me in ways im not getting into rn but i am EATING >:3

aquarion (myth of emotions) ok listen i went into this unaware it was part of a franchise. am now debating whether to go back and watch prev installments since apparently they are somewhat standalone nd this show gave enough of a gist that i'm not totally lost. just hard to tell if it'd be more enjoyable with full context or the other way around where it leaves me wanting to discover the full story after the fact. thinking on it. also the soundtrack goes HARD

hanashura, god BLESS the girls hanging out and doing things genre. breath of fresh fucking air, bonus points for airing right when i'm back in japanese study cycle bc i can rly rly appreciate the readings they're doing >:3

koishima, frankly run of the mill hs romance stint idk if i care enough to stick with it but was entertaining enough. what rly fkcin trips me up is the fact that it's set during covid but only like, vaguely? legally distinct 'infectious disease' that cancelled everyone's inter high's but we are still going 2 school and having swim club meets?????? lmao

sakamoto days, ik it's a beloved fan favourite. the gags are funny enough but it's not hitting sxf highs or anything. i'm curious to see if smth will pull me in more (one girl design from the op.....) but mostly just a fun weekly dinner entertainment show

pour one out for fate/strange fake i didn't know it was a leaked pre-screening my investment economy is in shambles. whichever season it drops in tho SOTY, AOTY thanks

[salted-anime-takes]

Sword Art Online (S1 & S2; dropped after that)

Author: Reki Kawahara, originally light novels

Studio: A-1 Pictures

Genres (Listed by MAL): Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Romance (vomits), Love Polygon (kills you)

Premiered: Summer 2012

Anime vs. Manga?: You couldn't pay me less than $100 to consume additional content to this series. I'd also need a large margarita.

Salted Genres: stereotypical teen boy fantasy, loser cardboard male mc, harem of women too good for him, jesus christ they had a torture dungeon for main girl in S2 by some grown man obsessed with her???, jesus FUCKING christ they gave Kirito a cousin who is into him but reasoned it off not being totally blood related, why did we let this series get so popular

Major Trigger Warnings: that weird sex dungeon thing in S2, almost incest, shitty writing, shitty love polygon garbage

Can I Watch It Around My Parents?: Just don't watch it. The cultural context isn't worth it. Do yourself a favor and stop thinking isekai will be family friendly when the main audience is incels.

Artstyle: That moe-esque style without any personality and makes all the main characters look 12, and many side characters look ridiculously older.

Personal Review: I will never forgive SAO for kicking off the isekai genre in anime so hard. Fuck yourself, Kirito. Every other anime lead in isekai is just you. Fuck this garbage pile for the isekai boom. Fuck my life

Context: This is the real reason you're here, aside from the scathing remarks you've probably heard a billion times. Why the fuck is this show even relevant? Let's go back to the early 2010s, before half of tumblr could pretend to read. (This is mostly from the Western perspective, so please add anything else happening in the world with this wild popularity jump, because I'd LOVE to hear additional takes.) Several factors were going on. Firstly, Netflix was finally a full streaming service, and most people were starting to subscribe. You didn't have to hope it was on Toonami or go to whatever sketchy websites had anime illegally available (and get every virus known to computer-kind) to get your fix anymore. Well... for a small starting selection. Secondly, while the isekai genre was already a fully developed thing, it hadn't broken into the majority Western anime viewership circles, which barely ventured outside of Toonami at the time. Then along came SAO. Netflix got the rights to the entire first season, and suddenly, it was not only insanely accessible but also something most Western fans had never seen before. You die in the game, you die in real life?! Incredible!!! (Sorry Tron, you weren't high fantasy enough for this crowd.) Thirdly, gaming was finally mainstream, and watching streamers was a new norm. The timing couldn't have been better for its release. And what with the insane levels of ignorance and assumptions most Western anime watchers had at the time of anime tropes, most red flags discussed were merely looked over. We let too much slide in the early 2010s, and SAO was one of the biggest culprits. Fourthly, if you needed a gateway anime? SAO didn't require any sort of understanding of Japanese culture to get, which appealed to a lot of people who didn't want to think outside their box, as was the early 2010s. Despite it all, SAO was easy merchandise. Hot Topic (apologies for the American chain drop) was venturing into nerd culture and including some nice trinkets for the little nerds that hung out with their goth besties, and anime merch- including SAO- was some of the first big hits. After that? It's history. I don't know if anyone who still claims to like SAO actually is banking on nostalgia or just never gained tastes beyond a lameass horny 15 year old boy, but that boom it created gave so many light novel writers the ticket they needed to get isekai as a major genre in today's seasonal anime lineup.

Favorite Character: Asuna deserved better you motherfuckers. She actually did stuff until you get thrown into the most unnecessary slice of life arc where they begin the Sexualization. S2 cour 2 they gave her a genuinely interesting opportunity to be a lead, AND Kirito wasn't there. Still not worth watching.

Fandom: you couldn't pay me ANYTHING to check this.

[remturtle]

list five things that make you happy, then put this in the askbox for the last ten people who liked or reblogged something from you! Get to know your followers, mutuals and all the wonderful people on here!

HI ARU!! ILYSM!!! 💜💜💜

1. Matcha flavours!!

Especially in Milk tea, sweets and desserts! (Mainly because it’s not overly sweet when done well, and as someone who famously does not like sweets, it can be a blessing when I’m pressured* into getting a little treat while out with friends)

2. Villainess Otome Genre!

Look, okay, just hear me out. I know it’s an overused cliche now, but when I’d just broke into it there were very few that had comprehensible English translations, so I feel like I got the golden scoop. And I’m not as much of an avid reader of manga/manwha/manhua as I was a couple years ago, so I’m not bombarded with rip offs and trend jumpers all the time. That being said, my number 1 fave villainness manga is Hamefura! (My Next Life As A Villainness) (also!! New VN Coming for it on the switch?!? I’m so excited!!)

My beloved Bakarina is the golden standard of idiot MC dialed up to 100% and she IS my daughter.

3. Isekai genre!

Yet another overused cliche, but I’m not defending myself this time lmao. As almost every isekai fan knows, the medium is over flowing with shitty-lack-lustre-power-fantasy-harem-building but every once in a while (read: every once in a million years lmao) you’ll come across a read that is generally really interesting, whether it be through a new twist on the concept or just really great characters and world-building. A particular favourite of mine is Campfire Cooking. A more recent entry (though it might be a little old now? I don’t watch often.) but it’s basically just ‘salary man makes food for magical dog who happens to have the personality of a cat’ with a bit of monsters and worldbuilding sprinkled in. 100/10 highly reccomend (AroAce bonus: there is no romance or love interest 🥰)

Edit: campfire cooking was originally a light novel I believe, but I found it through the manga - which has an amazing and really unique artstyle that the anime COMPLETELY BUTCHERED (also I love my silly dragon dork Elrand(yes it’s ripped straight from ‘Elrond’(yes I thought it was very funny and a cute lil nod)))

4. Retro/Vintage Aesthetic!

This mainly applies to furniture and decoration, I’ve grown up with a lot of retro things around myself since my parents are a fair bit older than the norm for my generation, and there’s just something so cosy about it. You’ve probably heard me ramble about it at some point in our servers together but I’m planning on getting a lot of retro furniture for myself in the coming months. I’d love to own vintage clothes but the masc leaning pieces tend to be too restricting for my tastes, I prefer looser, more casual outfits.

5. Food!!!

Self explanatory. But just in case: as someone with very little emotional or sentimental connection to physical objects and an overwhelming lack of object permanence, pretty much the only thing that is guaranteed to consistently make me happy is good food. In particular I’m partial to Japanese and Korean dishes, but Malaysian food is pretty high up there too :3

|| * AKA: Being very strongly reminded to eat and not skip meals or ignore my body’s needs

[socialyawkdude]

Top 10 animes for first time viewers

Hello, my socially awkward friends,

I’m back after a much-needed vacation to bring you the content, which you crave. In recent weeks, I’ve been approached by friends and colleagues, about what amines they should watch. To say that it was a loaded question is an understatement. With the world of anime and manga being so vast, it's hard to know where to start.

After thinking it over, I’ve decided to follow suit of my supernatural top 10 and do a top 10 for anime for beginners.

Today's post will cover amines for first-time viewers. Let me start by saying that, This Is my Opinion! Please do not jump my bones because of the line-up. Now with that being said, let get this party started.

 (10) Sailor Moon/Sailor Moon Crystal

Written by Nanoko Takeuchi

Genre/subgenre: Magical girl, action, romance, shoujo, superhero

Manga original run: (December 28, 1991, to February 3, 1997)

Anime Run: Sailor Moon (1992-1993) 46 episodes

   Sailor Moon R (1993- 1994) 43 episodes

   Sailor Moon S (1994- 1995) 38 episodes

   Sailor Moon Super S (1995- 1996) 39 episode

   Sailor Moon Sailor Star (1996- 1997) 34 episodes

The series follows the adventures of the protagonist Usagi Tsukino, a middle school student who is given the power to become the titular Sailor Soldier. Joined by other Sailor Soldiers, they defend Earth against an assortment of evil villains.

 Let us start with a classic, remade for the modern-day. For quite a few of my generation, Sailor Moon was our introduction to the world of anime. I can remember watching sailor moon, in the early morning before the school bus came. Sailor Moon was the beginning of my love affair with anime.

 Now here is what I got to say on sailor moon. It is a bit wonky, timeline-wise. Sailor Moon's overall timeline can be a bit hard to follow. That is if you are going in-depth with it. As long as you stay away from the headache inducing timeline, you’ll be ok.

 (9)Bleach

Written by Tite Kubo

Genre/subgenre: Action, Adventure, Shonen, Supernatural, Comedy

Original manga run: August 7, 2001 - August 22, 2016

Original anime run: October 5, 2004 - March 27, 2012

366 episodes 

 What can I say about Bleach? It is one of my favorite anime’s of all time. It's not perfect but what is? You have a diverse cast of characters, a good story and plenty of action. In my opinion, that makes a great anime for beginners. For me, Bleach was my return to anime, after years of not watching. I think that I've watched this anime from beginning to end, one too many times. 

 I'm talking watching the U.S. airing up to the point that I had the watch in Japanese. I finished the anime a full 2 years before the finale aired in the U.S. I would highly recommend this anime to any beginners.

 (8) Restaurant to another World

Written by Junpei Inuzuku

Genre/subgenre= Fantasy, Isekai

Manga Original Run: November 18, 2016, to June 25, 2019

Anime original Run: July 3, 2017, to September 18, 2017

12 episodes

 I was recommended this anime by a friend of a friend. I am going, to be honest; I didn't know what I was getting into. This would be my first experience with isekai anime. Looking back on this anime, it is quite an anime. Not much action, but at a great story. I would not recommend watching after a 420 session, you will get the munchies.

 (7) Sword Art Online

Written by Reki Kawahara

Genre/Subgenre= Isekai, Fantasy, Action, Adventure

Light Novel Original Run: April 10, 2009, to present

Anime original run:

Sword Art Online = July 8, 2012, to December 23, 2012

Sword Art Online II= July 5, 2014, to December 30, 2014

Sword Art Online Alicization = October 6, 2018, to present

  And here we go again with another isekai. The genre in itself is pretty much the same across animes. Someone dies and is sent to another world, but Sword Art Online is different. Instead of dying and going to another world; our main character is trapped in a virtual world and if he dies there, he dies in the real world.

In general, I've been pretty hard on SAO because of its a little too real world for me. It deals with some very real-world issues. To give some examples: Death, rape, incest, and other issues. To top it all off, with it being 2019; we are only months away from when the anime begins. (Where is my damn nervegear?)

If you can get past all of that it's a decent anime. The first arc is by far the best. The second arc is OK and the third I haven't finished yet. Sword Art Online is a good anime for beginners, in my opinion. Plus, Sword Art Online always puts out a beyond great soundtrack.

 (6) The Saga of Tanya the Evil

Written by Carlo Zen

Genre/subgenre: Isekai, fantasy

Manga Original run: April 26, 2016, to present

Anime original run: January 6, 2017, to March 31, 2017 

12 Episodes

 Here we are with the last isekai on our list. I understand that there have been quite a few listed, but besides the honorable mentions, there are no more. The Saga of Tanya the Evil is the perfect end of the isekai on this list.

Following the usual isekai tropes, Tanya the evil can best be described as a fantasy, historical alternative reality anime; taking place in a world similar to World War 1. As of this post, I'm only eight episodes in and quite enjoying it. I highly recommend checking it out.

 (5) Fairy Tail

Written By Hiro Mashima

Genre/Subgenre: Shonen, Action, Adventure, Fantasy

Manga Original run: August 2, 2006, to July 26, 2017

Anime original Run: October 12, 2009, to Present

328 + episodes

 It was around 7 years ago that a friend recommended fairy tail, to me. At the time, it wasn't my cup of tea. I was following Bleach, at the time, and hadn't leaped into the world of anime. Fast forward several years and it is still not my cup of tea. Now here is the thing, even though I may not be into fairy tail, ii know a good anime when I see it Given that fairy tail is entering its last full season; it a great choice for beginners and old alike. This is why I’m giving it the number 5 spot.

 (4) Attack on Titan

Written by Hajime isayama

Genre/Subgenre: Dark fantasy, post-apocalyptic

Original manga run: September 9, 2009, to present

Original anime run: April 7, 2015, to present

 Attack on Titan is one of those manga/animes that is a hit from day one. With a post-apocalyptic feel straight out of someone's worse nightmare. This isn't the zombie apocalypse folks; this is something far worse. The following that Attack on Titan has garnered is on par with American shows like The Walking Dead. 

Along with the manga and anime, Attack on titan has spawned a live-action movie in 2015. In my opinion, the movie was just as gory and the anime, but a little toned down. If your a fan of post-apocalyptic shows like The Walking Dead, this is one that you have to check out. 

A little piece of advice, do not watch the movie until you have seen the first season.

 (3) Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid

Written by Coolkyoushinja

Genre/Subgenre: fantasy

Manga original run: May 25, 2013 to present

Anime original run: January 11, 2017, to April 6, 2017

13 episodes plus OVA

 If there was ever an anime that should be the official anime of this blog, this is it. Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid has been one of my favorite animes that I've seen in recent years. This is not the usual action-pack thriller, that you'll usually see from animes that make there way west. It the cute and funny story of Miss Kobayashi and how she ended up with a dragon maid and the adventures that follow. I would recommend this to anyone, anime watcher or not.

 (2) Fullmetal Alchemist/ Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood.

Written by Hiroma Arakawa

Genre/Subgenre: Adventure, dark fantasy, science fiction, shonen

manga original run: July 12, 2001, to June 12, 2019

Anime original run: 

( Fullmetal Alchemist) October 4, 2003, to October 2, 2004

51 episodes plus the movie Conqueror of Shamballa (2005)

( Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood) April 5, 2009, to July 4, 2010

64 episodes

 Here we are at the number 2 spot. This was a toss-up for number one, but I decided against it. I would suggest watching Brotherhood because it follows the manga beginning to end. Fullmetal Alchemist ends at episode 51 and it is up the movie, Conqueror of Shamballa to bring an end to the story. I saw Conqueror of Shamballa and overall the movie was great. Well deserving of the praise it got from film festivals around the world. Do yourself a favor and check out this anime.

 (1) Dragon Ball /Z/GT/Super/Heroes

Written by Akira Toriyama

Genre/Subgenre: Action, Adventure, martial arts, shonen

Manga Original run: 

Dragonball= December 3, 1984, to June 5, 1995

Dragonball Super= June 20,2025 to present

 Anime original run: 

Dragonball(1986 to 1989)

Dragonball Z( 1989 to 1996)

Dragonball GT( 1996 to 1997)

Dragonball Super( 2015 to 2018)

Super Dragonball Heroes(2018 to present)

 And here we are at the number one spot. Come on, everyone should have seen this coming. Anime lovers and non-anime lovers have heard of the Dragonball series. While I was fighting for Fullmetal Alchemist to be in the number one spot; it wasn't going to happen. The Dragonball series is perfect for new anime viewers fro many reasons. One of the main reasons is if you get confused, there is plenty out there to help you understand what’s going on. The Dragonball series has been around in manga form since 1984 and anime form since 1986. There is plenty out there to help newbies and confused them, at the same time. Just don't watch the shitty American made live-action movie.

  Honorable mentions: Konosuba, Ghost in A Shell, Food Wars and Naruto

   Like always my friends, don't forget to like/share/reblog and follow. To get more of an idea of what's coming, you can follow me over on twitter at @socialyawkdude. 

[rieshon]

Best of 2019

It wouldn't be a best of the year post if it wasn't hopelessly late.

10: Shinchou Yuusha ~Kono Yuusha ga Ore TUEEE Kuse ni Shinchou Sugiru~ ∥ White Fox ∥ Dir. Sakoi Masayuki: The title makes this sound like it could be terrible but this series has a Konosuba-like aplomb that makes it one of the best comedies of the year. Toyosaki Aki is absolutely brilliant as the shithead damegami Listarte and the animation consistently matches her over-the-top comedic masterclass. The show even has a real ending; opinion is split but I found it surprisingly satisfying.

9: Babylon ∥ Revoroot ∥ Dir. Suzuki Kiyotaka: This is the first Strand-type anime. Babylon is incredibly hard to describe and, having only seen it once, I'm not even fully confident in saying what it's about. It is a wild ride that meditates on some serious themes and seems to come to conclusions that won't be entirely comfortable for a lot of readers. This is one you really have to experience for yourself.

8: Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari ∥ Kinema Citrus ∥ Dir. Abo Takao: The most discoursed-about series of 2019 ends up being a surprisingly mature take on the isekai tensei genre. Like the best entries in the genre it features a protagonist who is deeply flawed and Naofumi's journey to learning to trust and love again is genuinely moving. It definitely does come off a bit like an incel fantasy at first but it is ultimately way more nuanced than that could ever suggest. Also, Raphtalia is best wife.

7: Kouya no Kotobuki Hikoutai ∥ Gemba ∥ Dir. Mizushima Tsutomu: Tsutomu, you son of a bitch, you did it again. While Kotobuki doesn't reach the rareified air of Garupan (pun not intended) it is very much in the same vein, and offers unending joy to any nerd who loves warplanes or just aviation in general. The script from the always-excellent Yokote Michiko is tight and compelling and gives a genuinely interesting backdrop to the frenetic plane action. Kotobuki is an excellent example of the power of showing rather than telling, something anime is woefully bad at: the fact that Kotobuki's isekai setting is never really expounded on makes it that much more interesting.

6: Hitori Bocchi no Marumaru Seikatsu ∥ C2C ∥ Dir. Anzai Takefumi: If Katsuwo's other work to be adapted into anime, Mitsuboshi Colors, is about being a child, then Bocchi is about the fraught transition from childhood into early adulthood. The titular Hitori Bocchi will be a frighteningly relatable character (my comment for the first episode on my blog was 'We Are All Bocchi') but unlike other series clearly aimed at alienated nerds, the show never feels sorry for Bocchi and most importantly, Bocchi doesn't feel sorry for herself. The show is explicitly about the importance of stepping outside of your comfort zone and although it's hard for Bocchi to do this, with the help of her friends she's able to work up the courage necessary to grow from a scared child into a functioning young adult. Also she's cute as fuck.

5: Machikado Mazoku ∥ J.C. Staff ∥ Dir. Sakurai Hiroaki: This is one of the best Kirara anime in ages. Kohara Konomi and Kitou Akari are a wonderful comedic combination, and Shamiko is probably the cutest girl of the whole year. She's pretty much the definition of the phrase "moe through helplessness" which makes her quest to be an evil demon truly hilarious. Like all the best Kirara anime, Machikado Mazoku slowly becomes a yuri anime as Momo's character develops and it becomes increasingly clear that she's just hard gay for Shamiko. I could watch these two be tsundere for each other forever.

4: Joshikousei no Mudazukai ∥ Passione ∥ Dir. Takahashi Takeo: There were a lot of excellent comedies this year and I always find them hard to review. Where Mudazukai particularly excels is the crassness of its characters: like the title suggests these aren't your typical cutesy anime JKs. They crack dirty jokes, take the piss out of each other, and feel more genuinely like friends than a lot of high school girls in anime. Akasaki Chinatsu in particular is pitch-perfect as 'Baka,'  its like she was born to be stupid. Probably the funniest show of the year, even though I have one comedy ranked above it.

3: Senkizesshou Symphogear XV ∥ Satelight ∥ Dir. Ono Katsumi: The fact that a Symphogear series could end up this high on the rankings is something like a miracle. After years of me shitting all over it for incomprehensible plotlines and disposable characters, they somehow not only fixed it in the last season, but even retroactively redeemed some of the elements from those shitty third and fourth seasons and created some of the most thrilling moments of the year in the process. It even goes as far as to reach back to the first season and address the latent themes of Japanese nationalism that have always hung over the show in resolving Tsubasa's character arc. XV delivers such a satisfying conclusion that it fully justifies the past six years spent on developing the Symphogear series in a way I never thought possible. It's a beautiful thing to behold.

2: Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai ~Tensai-tachi no Ren'ai Zunousen~ ∥ A-1 Pictures ∥ Dir. Hatakeyama Mamoru: The romantic comedy is probably the most prolific genre in late night anime, and Kaguya-sama stands shoulder to shoulder with the greats. Everything from the voice acting (Koga Aoi should be a superstar, and Kohara Konomi is already on her way to being a household name) to the animation to the direction to the writing is superb. Kaguya even delivers in spades in the "romantic" side of "romantic comedy" which isn't something every rabukome can say. The number of series that I can say have made me cry from laughing and from emotion is pretty small, but Kaguya is proudly among them.

1: Araburu Kisetsu no Otome-domo yo ∥ Lay-duce ∥ Dir. Andou Masahiro & Tsukada Takurou: After all these years, Okada Mari has finally delivered her magnum opus. There has perhaps never been a more frank discussion of female adolescent sexuality than Araoto, drawing heavily as it does from Okada's own lived experience as a confused and bullied teenager. These girls are fragile people who are walking a knife's edge between childhood and adulthood, and they don't always keep their balance. As someone who didn't grow up as a girl, it's not something I can intrinsically understand, but it's a testament to Okada's writing that Araoto MAKES you understand what it's like to be a teenage girl going through puberty. It's ugly, it's dangerous, it's scary, and... it's something every woman goes through. Araoto deftly tackles themes of discovering ones sexuality, homosexuality, and the pressure put on young women by a society that both sexualizes them against their will but also demands that they remain chaste and pure. It is unlike almost anything else that's ever been made in this medium, and that's why it's my anime of the year.

Honorable mentions... Like I said above, this was a strong year for comedy so some good series didn't make the cut. Ueno-san wa Bukiyou was a great showcase for Serizawa Yuu's comedic chops (which us Pripara fans have known about for years) and featured some of the most memorable gags of the year... Kemurikusa saw Tatsuki triumphantly return to television with his first full length work since Kemono Friends, and I frankly found it to be better than Kemofure; a truly enjoyable work of post-apocalyptic science fiction... Speaking of science fiction, I also feel compelled to mention Kanata no Astra, which seemed underappreciated but ended up being an extremely well-written SF series. Of course, we also have to mention Kono Yo no Hate de Koi wo Utau Shoujo YU-NO if we're talking about science fiction; I didn't particularly like YU-NO's second half that much, but it's worth watching if only to understand where so much of modern anime comes from in the first place.

The awards go to...

Best Actress: Koga Aoi as Shinomiya Kaguya, Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai. I mentioned above that this girl should be a superstar, and it's frankly absurd that she hasn't gotten more leading roles considering the considerable talent she shows off as Kaguya. She's a one-woman wrecking crew in this series, with her ability to effortlessly straddle the range between "cold and detached psychopath" and "petulant 8 year old throwing a tantrum" being the lynchpin of a lot of the series fundamental humor.

(Honorable mention: Akasaki Chinatsu as "Baka," Joshikousei no Mudazukai; Yukino Satsuki as Magase Ai, Babylon)

Newcomer Seiyuu of the Year: Kohara Konomi. It's a sweep for Kaguya-sama, and the voice acting is a big part of the reason that show was so exceptional. It kind of feels like cheating to give this to someone who's already played a Precure, but Toei were just really ahead of the curve on this one. 'Koko-chan' exploded onto the scene in 2019 between her roles as Fujiwara-shoki and Shamiko in Machikado Mazoku, with a distinctive vocal style and a knack for comedic delivery. Several of the most memetic lines of the year, like Fujiwara's "Don da yo!" and Shamiko's "Kore de katta to omou nayo!" come courtesy of her, and I feel like that ability to stick in people's minds is a testament to her level of talent. Though I gave Koga the nod overall for her performance as Kaguya, it's clear that Kohara is the one the industry has earmarked for future success with the level of prominence she's had over the past year or so, so she gets this award.

(Honorable mention: Fairouz Ai. "Fai-chan" made a splash thanks to her unusual background, but she's also proven to be a talented actress after appearing from seemingly out of nowhere to play Hibiki in the Onegai Muscle anime. It's out of the scope of this post, but she really made an impression in Oshibudo as Eripiyo, but her body of work is still too thin for her to win this award outright. She's shown she has a knack for the funny with her brusque and aggressive delivery, but I'd really like to hear her as a dramatic lead sometime soon.)

[biteyourbetters]

will i ever stop writing shitty isekais

The suit I wore to my best friend's wedding went like this:

First, the pants. A pair of simple black slacks that let my long legs speak for themselves.

Then a maroon shirt under a black vest. The tie was a vibrant red and the brightest thing in my outfit. The jacket I slipped over that was also black.

For warmth, and just because I liked it, I donned a long black coat and could not resist combining it with a pair of black leather gloves.

To top it all off, I slicked my hair back and pushed a pair of round pink shades onto my face. You could say I was... viewing the world through rose tinted lenses.

I looked in the mirror. My reflection gave me a cocky smirk. We exchanged finger guns.

How's it feel to consistently be the best looking and funniest person in the room?

Oh, I wouldn't know- Just kidding, it feels great.

Damn, I looked good. Spending all that time and money shopping was totally worth it. Rubbing my chin, I leant closer to admire myself from close up.

As always, flawless. Thanks, honoured parents, for your great genes. At this point, I might as well usurp the groom's place and steal the bride away.

I imagined the face of exasperated resignation Ivan would make and snickered.

He'd bought me a plane ticket to Japan and even organised a place for me to stay though, so I'd let him off this time. Also, his soon-to-be wife would eviscerate me.

My phone rang. I grinned at wedding march ringtone I'd set. Speak of the devil.

"Ah, Ivan. Just the man I was thinking of."

I then had to hold the phone away from my ear as a loud and incomprehensible mess of syllables spilled out of the speaker.

"Ivan!" I yelled as soon as he ran out of breath. "Ivan, calm down. Chill. Be like me, be at... peace."

I cackled as he groaned.

"Peace, must you use that pun every opportunity you get?"

"You know I do. And hey, it got you to stop panicking, didn't it?"

That reminded Ivan and he started panicking again. Oops.

I gave up calming him down and started to make my way to the venue instead.

While I listened to him babble and made sympathetic noises when appropriate, I got ready to leave. I slung the chain attached to my clutch over my shoulder, double checked the wedding gift, and polished my shoes a final time before putting them on, all with my phone firmly sandwiched between my shoulder and ear.

Ivan somehow still hadn't run out of things to panic about by the time I reached the hotel lobby. I waved goodbye to the concierge and left the hotel.

The skies were clear and cloudless today despite it still being a bit chilly, a good omen for Ivan's marriage. I pointed this out to him but it only fueled his anxiety.

"What if it's a sign that this is as good as it's going to get? I'm going to get jinxed by the weather!" he fretted.

I sighed and muttered, "Can't ever win with you, huh?"

This was the point I made the second biggest mistake of my life. (Don't ask me what the biggest was.)

Instead of hailing a taxi, I decided to show off my outfit and took the scenic route instead. Sometimes, I wonder how different my life would be right now if I hadn't taken the train, or even just hopped onto a different car. But I don't have the ability to rewind time or look into parallel universes, so I guess we'll never know for sure.

It was a surprisingly empty train. The only other people in the car were five high school students, clearly skipping school despite not looking the type to do so. Three boys and two girls. They all seemed to be revolving around one of the girls. I remember thinking 'yas, girl, go get that harem', when the first indicator something weird was about to happen showed up.

The first time the air in front of me blurred, I didn't think much of it. The second time it happened, I rubbed my eyes and made an affirmative noise for Ivan. The third time, I shushed Ivan and watched carefully.

"Shhhush, Ivan, there's something weird going on here."

"Weird? Peace?"

"Shhh... Ah! It happened again."

"What? What happened again?"

"Not entirely sure, there was some kinda weird distortion in the air- that's the fifth time. Hey, are you guys seeing this?"

That last bit was said in Japanese and directed at the teenagers. But before I could get an answer from them, the floor lit up under our feet in a bunch of strange lines and symbols.

"Hey, Ivan, it's not normal for the floor of a train car to light up with something that looks like a magic circle, right?"

That was the last thing I said before vanishing from this world.

~◇~

Two things clatter to the floor. First, a small and prettily wrapped box intended to be a wedding gift for a dear friend. Second, a phone with a black cover, still in the middle of a call. On the other end of the line, one man yells his best friend's name over and over.

There is no answer.

~◇~

The next few seconds brought some of the most uncomfortable sensations I'd ever felt in my life.

It was scorching and it was freezing. It was moving too quickly and remaining motionless all at once. I was squished into a tiny sphere and spread out wide like fog in the sky.

It was no wonder that the emotion I felt the strongest once out of that paradoxical not-space was overwhelming relief.

I wasn't the only one.

"Finally..." one of the boys who'd been in the same train car panted, "Solid ground!"

That set off the rest of them.

"Oh my god, that was awful!"

"Right? Seriously..."

I was so occupied with making sure I didn't have any chunks missing that when the cheering started, I flinched and spun a full circle, surprised I hadn't noticed the thirty or so people that were surrounding us.

What the fuck.

Swearing was uncouth. I felt nothing but contempt towards people who apparently would die if they didn't swear every other sentence. In this instance, however, I felt it was alright for me to say 'fuck' just once.

"What the fuck," I said out loud. "What the fuck."

Or twice.

The high school students looked just as confused as I was. Most of them did, at least. One of the boys with his mouth agape had an expression of dawning comprehension, and he clearly liked whatever it was that he was comprehending.

I, myself, was also getting an inkling of what was happening, and I most definitely did not like it as much as he did.

The six of us were in various positions in the middle of a masterfully lain mosiac. I'd managed to land on my feet. The others were either kneeling or lying flat on the ground. The mosaic tiles were either white or faintly glowing purple, and even as I watched, the glow faded until the only indication it hadn't always been just a simple white tiled floor was the positioning of the tiles. If I concentrated a bit, the tiles would form the pattern that had flashed on the floor of the train car just before we disappeared from it.

The pattern was about 10 metres in diametre, and the room we were in was about the size of my high school gym. The stained glass windows and gothic archs made it look like a church. At the front of the room were five statues, each one at least three times my height. They were arranged in a v-shape, and different coloured gems were set into the marble as eyes.

In front of the lead statue knelt a beatiful woman. Unlike everyone else who was dressed in plain white robes, she wore a gorgeous pale green gown befitting a princess. The tiara on her head was inlaid with large precious stones that glowed like the mosaic had. When the woman unclasped her hands, the gems faded to a dull gray and disintegrated, but she only smiled and let a servant exchange it for another tiara, this one simpler and with smaller gems. The golden glow around her disappeared when she stood up and the noise in the room died down to a murmur.

"Welcome, otherworlders. This world needs the help of the Five Legendary Heroes once more."

There were six of us.

[kanralovesu]

Konosuba is Amazing and Here’s Why [First Episode Breakdown]

Its no secret that Konosuba is amazing, and if you’re just learning this now, literally stop whatever you’re doing and go watch all of season one. Its free on Crunchyroll. Do it. This post will cover pretty much all of episode 1 of Konosuba season 2. Free Crunchyroll users like myself just got it so watch that episode before reading this. Now, as they say in Brazil, LETS BREAK IT DOWN!

Konosuba derives almost all its comedy from one thing and one thing alone, and that is the subversion of expectations. Now, you probably already understand this considering Konosuba is a very obvious parody of the isekai genre (see Re:Zero or Sword Art Online if you’re not sure what I mean by this). While parodying isekai shows is one way Konosuba subverts your expectations, it by no means is the only way it does and we can see plenty of great examples in the episode. 

(Text Scroll) The first great use of this is in the Star Wars text roll. Not only does this instantly tell a new audience what kind of show this is, it also delivers an amazing joke. While Kazuma is rattling off his exposition about how amazing his journey is, the background shows a different story, almost always showing the exact opposite of what he’s describing. For Japanese viewers this joke is even better because you don’t have to read subtitles, and the scroll is in English so they’ll naturally ignore it and get the full extent of the funny recap. Again, what makes this so great is that it sums up the entire show for new viewers. This is a show about nerdy references and heroes who act all high and mighty but are really just idiots. This is the perfect introduction shot. 

(Phoenix Wright Reference) Note how when Konosuba uses a reference to another medium, they don’t just reference it directly. Instead, they take that thing you’re familiar with it and play with it to subvert your expectations. We expect a Star Wars text roll to be epic and world building, but instead we’re treated to something that wants to seem epic but really isn’t. Later, in the courtroom scene, we get more than a few Phoenix Wright references, but note how the titular “Objection!” is actually underplayed when Megumin does it. This subversion of expectations is actually less for comedy and more to show how weak our team is. The prosecutor is the one getting the awesome movement and motion lines, and when we see Megumin objecting, we expect to have the same result but aren’t given it. This isn’t sets off our brains and says “Yeah she doesn’t have a chance does she.”

(Kazuma gets Arrested) The second scene continues on this trend, but does it using the flaws of the characters. Its no secret from watching the first season that these characters are parodies on standard rpg tropes, each with their own quirk and fatal flaws, so I’m not going to bring that part of the scene up. What I really want to talk about is the new characters, the police women and the crowd (they act as a single character). For the police women, this scene is 100% set up for the next scene which I’ll get to later. For the crowd, however, we’re treated to some good old-fashioned expectation shattering. This is supposed to be the hero moment we’ve all seen in movies a thousand times, where the chanting starts and the crowd convinces the mean old government that our main character isn’t evil. Instead, we see them quickly cave under pressure, thus triggering a major shift in the direction of the scene. Whereas before, the individual jokes where themed around defending Kazuma, now they’re themed around pretending they don’t weren’t involved. Now, this by itself would be a funny joke, but what I think turned this into an amazing joke is how at the very end the crowd supported Kazuma in the trial, but only after he effectively won. A decent comedy writer makes a good job but a great one uses that joke to build to an even great one. When we see the crowd supporting Kazuma we realize just how fickle these people are and if we can’t laugh at that on its own they even throw in the part where the judge nails the main crowd guy in the face. This is the kind of instant karma, people loves viewing. 

(Combination Lock) So now we’re in the prison with one of the most memorable comedy moments in recent history. Of course I’m talking about the combination lock. So why did this joke stick in our heads? We take I’ll give you a hint: it has to do with expectations and breaking. Unpredictability is a must for breaking expectations and nothing in this episode caught me more off guard than the fact that a prison cell uses a combination lock. But that alone wouldn’t have been funny if it hadn’t been for the crazy good build up to the joke. We hear Aqua’s master plan for escape and as a view we of course expect it to be total bullshit, so when it actually makes sense we’re caught off guard. By the time Kazuma goes to unlock the door we’re like “Wait, this is actually going to work.” BAM It’s a combination lock. There is no way anyone could have expected it and so don’t you dare spoil this punchline to anyone. 

(Second Jail Scene and Why its Not as Good as First) Now the second iteration of this joke certainly wasn’t as good as the first but it still made you chuckle. The reason why its worse is because we can clearly see that this plan is doomed to fail the minute Aqua throws the saw in with Kazuma instead of using it herself. We’ve seen establishing shots of the jail cell so the fact that the window is too high is nothing new to us. The part that made this funny was Aqua thinking she could just convince the guards to give him the box, but that punchline pails in comparison to what we just saw and it does so because we already know Aqua is an idiot. We’re not surprised by the fact that she didn’t think this through. Its may be funny that she’s stupid, but it won’t have you rolling on the floor like last scene.

(Interrogation part 1) While I think the combination lock is the single best punchline in the episode, the interrogation scene is by far the funniest in my opinion. The base level comedy here is that because of the magic bell, Kazuma is being forced to admit he’s a real loser. The music in this beginning bit really sells it, at first being mysterious like a real interrogation, but cutting out during parts where Kazuma answers. This beginning bit also master’s the one-two knockout punch which is ironically the opposite of what I’ve been praising the show on so far. You see, the reason why Kazuma answering about why he fight the Demon King is so funny, is because we know he’s instantly going to lie. It’s a joke built on creating an expectation rather than breaking a preexisting one. This punchline also triggers a shift in the music to a more lighthearted joking tune. 

(Interrogation part 2) While that’s funny, it certainly isn’t Konosuba level funny. The shift in direction directly after that is what makes this scene amazing. The police women apologizes and admits she might be wrong about Kazuma. This enables him to take control of the scene and start acting like a big shot, something he does rather well. Now, I don’t know about you, but during this entire part of the scene I knew Kazuma was going to try and get her to say something that would use the bell of truth against her, and I thought that at least once they’d make the bell ring for her just to show the audience it could. They would then go on to subvert this soon after. What I did not at all expect was that the very first question Kazuma asks her would deflected so easily. Just to recap, just in that small scene, the writers had me create an expectation of what was about to happen and then shatter it immediately. This is bold as its really hard to guarantee that everyone was thinking the same thing I was, but it shows they really have trust in the intelligence of their fans. They know we picked up on the bell’s alternative use and they know what we think will happen. They don’t even need to show it to us because they know we know. This is frankly amazing and whoever wrote this should be proud. The good news is in case you didn’t get what Kazuma was going for they show the bell during the police women’s answer telling us through good direction what his intent was. Just like with the guy in the crowd, we then get immediate karma for Kazuma. The police women has shown herself to be superior in terms of character and proceeds to tell him about how everyone shits on him behind his back. All that remains is a little story and we’re off to the courtroom scene.

(Courtroom) This scene really isn’t as funny as the rest of the episode, but it serves a narrative purpose and has Darkness’ character moment at the end. Besides that, the scene gets by on a prolonged Phoenix Wright reference which also highlights how much of a shitty person Kazuma is. The ongoing joke is how flawed the court system is, which I’m sure would have been funnier to me if I had played a Phoenix Wright game. My friend always tells me about stupid shit they do like interviewing animals and accepting testimony from the victim through channeling. 

(Final Scene) The last scene is a fairly standard joke, but a great way to summarize this whole breaking expectations thing. This mainly plays with the trope of the adventurer opening a door to signify a new chapter is beginning, with the guards (cleverly placed in one of the last scenes by the way) breaking down the door instead. They seize all of the groups property, but more importantly they remind us what Kazuma was really doing when he was opening that door, not starting a life of adventure but returning to his comfortable mansion where he had tons of booze and other luxury items. So not only did they destroy your expectation that Kazuma was going to open the door, but they also reshaped how you viewed that whole thing. 

And so there you have it, a really fucking long paragraph of text about why Konosuba is amazing. I probably didn’t need to go as in depth as I did, but hey I already wrote it so I sure as hell am not turning back now! Plus, learning through example is a great thing. Hope that didn’t seem to repetitive, its just that they do use the same formula in almost every joke, and that’s not even a bad thing. Konosuba has mastered the formula for making you laugh and I can’t wait to see what the next season has in store for us!

TLDR: 

(Because this is so long I included markers for what scene I talk about where, so you can skip to a particular one you want to read about)

Konosuba uses the art of breaking expectations to deliver some of the best jokes in anime. When it uses a reference, it doesn’t just do what that reference does, it uses it as a basis to set the audience’s expectations and then subvert them. The first jail scene has one of the most memorable punchlines in recent memory and the reason for that is because of its brilliant buildup and the completely unexpected twist. The second jail scene doesn’t do as well because we already know Aqua’s stupid and so her acting stupid isn’t that funny. The interrogation scene is by far my favorite in this episode because of the massive shifts of control which are abused for comedy. Also, the scene not only creates and expectation but shatters it as well, which is bold considering you need your audience to all be on the same page. Then we get to the courtroom, which is just a long Phoenix Wright reference that gives Darkness a character moment. Finally, the show decides its going to subvert the hero walking through door cliche and its pretty funny. 

[rieshon]

Spring 2019 Preview

How the hell is there another season already. I was hoping for a light load this time around, but it looks like the anime gods will not be so kind. Bonus feature this season is all the titles are links to the shows’ official websites so you can click and look at the cute girls I mention.

Hitoribocchi no Marumaru Seikatsu: This is an adaptation of a Katsuwo manga, who is the guy who wrote the original for the brilliant Mitsuboshi Colors which ended up on my top ten of the year list last year. An all-female cast of adorable looking girls, a proven mangaka, and the usually-capable Hanada writing the scripts makes this one look like a pretty sure bet. Oh yeah it's also got a good looking deko blondenblu gaijin.

Joshikausei: I think this is a short, but all you need to really know about this show is the tagline on the website: おバカかわいい、この日常がたぶん青春. They got all my favorite words in there. Too bad it's a short, but I think it will be fifteen minutes at least.

Sewayaki Kitsune no Senko-san: This is one of those shows where you can probably guess exactly what it's going to be like from the title. It's cute kitsune wife (actual age: 800) and other girls in a rabukome animated by Douga Koubou... which is endorsement enough but it's also got Ayaneru as a meganekko joji anime otaku JD?? Hell yeah. The cast is actually fantastic: Waki Azumi, Mareitaso, Ayaneru and Kitaeri, and Suwabe Jun'ichi holds down the male protag fort so that should be good too. No reason to think this won't be great.

Kono Yo no Hate de Koi wo Utau Shoujo Yu-No: You wanna talk about some aesthetic, this is some aesthetic. It's an adaptation of the hugely influential PC-98 eroge of the same name, which was a work that in large part helped bring us the sort of complex science fiction and fantasy stories that would shape the golden age of that medium. With how much I've been lamenting the lack of 'that eroge aesthetic' in anime as of late, it should be obvious that I'm hype for this, and it's getting two cours from based feel. at that.

Fairy gone: Not gonna lie, I was kinda mad that this new P.A. Works original looks nothing like what they typically produce, but having seen the PV, it looks pretty good. Then I learned that the scripts are being written by the author of Grimgar, and I got hype. Fantasy plus WW2-ish shit is a good aesthetic (think Youjo Senki) and it's got the considerable might of a P.A. Works production behind it. The director of Suzuki Keiichi, who doesn't have a lot of credits but worked on the first season of the Jojo anime, which was great, so this one definitely seems like it could have all the ingredients to really pop off. The girls also look hot which is very important.

Nande Koko ni Sensei ga!?: With Hina-sensei of Domekano about to leave my life this show promises a much more concentrated injection of teacher moe into my veins... In fact it is all about lewd and cute senseis and they all look good. My only worry is that, as sometimes seems to happen with shows where the lewdness is put front and center, the animation doesn't really look like it's the best. I am grateful to this show for allowing Ishigami Shizuka to play a cute girl at least, even if she is still slightly typecast as the tomboy gym teacher.

Bokutachi wa Benkyou ga Dekinai: One of two shows about being a dumbass this season; in this one, everyone is a dumbass. It definitely looks like a standard harem anime, and I always need at least one of those a season to keep myself alive. The girls all look fantastic, but I'm especially excited for the pink-haired teacher character and the purple-haired loli BBA. There's also a delicious brown genki girl, a meganekko who wears kuropansuto... Yeah it's got all the good good ingredients. Oh yeah, it's also being directed by the guy who directed the extremely good Last Period anime last year, so it's got that going for it too.

Kenja no Mago: It's isekai tensei anime, and yes, it literally starts with the protagonist getting hit by truck-kun... But the PV ended up really winning me over, and I'm cautiously looking forward to this one. The premise is recycled, but there's nothing new under the sun anyway. It looks like it's got a decent sense of humor about it and the heroines look cute as hell, but it also looks like it's got some major production values being pumped into it. This show could definitely be a pleasant surprise.

Midara na Ao-chan wa Benkyou ga Dekinai: One of two shows about being a dumbass this season. This one has some good-looking character art courtesy of Silver Link, and one of a couple major leading roles for up-and-coming seiyuu Waki Azumi. The main girl looks extremely adorable and is apparently a pervert so I got hopes for this one to be good.

Senryuu Girl: We actually traditional Japanese arts now (a senryuu is a kind of poem similar to a haiku) but more importantly, cute girls. Za-san takes the leading role but there's also Sumipe as a chuuni looking girl, Kuno-chan, and Paisen, among others. The direction doesn't inspire confidence (this guy was behind the shittier latter seasons of Prisma Illya) but it still looks like a cute rabukome.

One Punch Man 2nd season: How can there be a second season when he already punched last time? He's all outta punches! In all seriousness, One Punch Man was a surprisingly enjoyable romp the first time around, thanks in no small part to the spectacular (especially for TV) animation on display. There is concern over it having moved from Madhouse to J.C. Staff for this season, but if J.C. are being given enough money to rustle up the same level of talent as last time it should hopefully still be a spectacle.

Yatogame-chan Kansatsu Nikki: Hougen marudashi no joshikousei! It's cute dialects anime!! That fishing anime had good dialects but it was actually a bad show; this looks like it will have a good dialect and be a good show. It should be cute if nothing else. The main heroine's thing is that she speaks Nagoya-ben, but given that the other heroines are listed as being from Gifu and Mie, maybe we will even get many dialects. Unfortunately, though, it's probably a short, since Creators in Pack are involved.

Nobunaga-sensei no Osanazuma: This is also a short (ten minutes) which is too bad because these girls look cute as heck. A show with a premise like this is really gonna depend on how likable the male protagonist is, though.

Hachigatsu no Cinderella Nine: Toukyou no chuusuu wa marunouchi, hibiya kouen ryougiin... Wait, wrong anime. But yes, like the venerable Taisho Yakyuu Musume of old, girls are playing baseball in anime again. This one is set in the modern day, and I have no idea if it's a fictional setting where girls all play baseball or if they're gonna do the Taisho thing and try to take down the baseball boys because the website still has no plot section. The character designs look good as hell though, coming courtesy of Noguchi Takayuki, who also did designs for Tenshi no 3P! (they were like the only good thing about that anime) and Shoujo-tachi wa Kouya wo Mezasu (similar). Hopefully this show has more than just good girls to ogle.

Shoumetsu Toshi: Only thing I really know about this is Ayaneru is in it because I've seen her doing promo work for it. The key visual definitely doesn't do it any favors, nor does the fact that it's apparently based on a mobile game, but man some of these character designs look great. Ayaneru plays some kind of moe gumshoe detective, Mingosu is a sexy lab coat channee, actually there's multiple sexy lab coat channees... Really that's all you have to tell me, I'm fucking in there. The show will probably be crap.

Carole & Tuesday: This looks very pretentious and vaguely like they're fishing for overseas viewers (actually they definitely are because the website even defaults to English when I load the site, which offends my sensibilities), but the PV does make it looks fairly interesting. It's another music focused series from Watanabe Shinichiro, who also tried to steal the hearts of the west with Sakamichi no Apollon in 2012, which was terrible. It might be neat though I guess. It does seem to have a black girl as one of the protagonists which is cool.

Isekai Quartet: I have no idea who asked for this, but if it gives me the opportunity to hear more of Amamiya Sora as Aqua while I wait for a third season of Konosuba, it can't be all bad. I ain't never seen no Overlord though, so a quarter of this is gonna be lost on me.

Strike Witches 501 Butai Hasshin Shimasu!: The title is appropriate because this short is basically an appetizer for the coming next wave of Strike Witches content. It's a cute honobono comedy starring the Strike Witches girls, so it'll probably be good. Hopefully this can remove from my mouth some of the bad tastes Brave Witches left. It won't be until next year that we get the return of Takamura-kantoku and true Strike Witches anime, though.

Araiya-san! ~Ore to Aitsu ga Onnayu de!?~: What the hell is this? Do they really have these in Japan? It's about a dude who washes girls in the bath?? Whatever the fuck is going on here, the girls look cute and it definitely promises to be lewd, at least on ComicFesta's own streaming service. MX version will probably have nazo no hikari, so hopefully the uncensored one pops up somewhere I can watch it.

Choukadou Girl 1/6: It's definitely impossible to not think of Frame Arms Girl when looking at this series, which will probably end up being an unfair comparison. For one, it looks like we got a shitty ass male protagonist instead of a cute girl. I remember how Busou Shinki turned out... Not having high hopes for this one.

Fruits Basket: Honestly, there's no way I'd be watching this if it didnt have such a famous name on the tin. Two ikemen danshi on the key visual is too many! Fruits Basket is a legend of shoujo manga, though, and there should be a lot of resources going into this new, full adaptation of the series, so I feel vaguely obligated to check it out. People are mad about the new character designs but the girls look pretty good, especially that blonde delinquent looking girl.

Sarazanmai: Uh-oh. It's Ikuhara anime. My consternation with Ikuhara is well documented, and although I've never seen his opus of Utena, I find his works, though visually compelling, to be frustratingly obscurantist, or to put it another way, "trying too hard." Still, you gotta give the guy credit for being unique I guess, so I'll still end up watching at least an episode, whatever the fuck it turns out to be about. Unfortunately there seems to be a major lack of girls to hold my interest, not to mention none to be lesbians, so it might not last very long.

Kono Oto Tomare!: It's koto anime. You can have an anime about anything and this is one about people who play the koto. Lots of traditional Japanese arts this season for some reason. Unlike the senryuu anime though, this one only has ONE measly female character, and it doesn't even look like she's the protagonist, so I probably won't watch it. The koto is cool though.

Kimetsu no Yaiba: This show looks like a big deal just from the number of stations it's airing on and the fact that it's a rare TV anime from Ufotable... Unfortunately I have little interest in actually watching it. It's a Shounen Jump series, the art makes it look edgy, it uses the word "zetsubou" in the tagline and I already hate the Hanae Natsuki-voiced boy protagonist just after seeing his face in the key visual. There is a cute looking oni girl though.

Gonna put these down here since it feels weird to rank what are essentially ongoing shows:

Aikatsu Friends! ~Kagayaki no Jewel~: Friends is the Aikatsu series that finally really got its claws in me, so I'm chuffed that we're getting a second season, with some sexy looking space idols voiced by Hiyocchi and Oonishi at that. The fact that there will apparently be a time skip has me a little worried, but also, two years older Mio and Maika are gonna be good. I'm sure it will still be great.

Kiratto! PriChan 2nd season: Unlike Aikatsu, Prichan doesn't seem like it's getting any major changes going into its second year, but I hope they shake it up with some new idols or something. Prichan's definitely not on the level of its predecessor (though little is) and its formula is getting a little stale, so hopefully they take this as a chance to rejuvenate it. Oshamatrix full idols now goddamnit.