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metalandmagi · 26 days ago

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The Real Anime Awards of 2024 (part 2)

Ever since Crunchyroll started doing their Anime Awards, I've made it my personal mission to make my own awards that represent the actual year in anime!

I already posted my silly awards list (with the truly important categories such as: prettiest boy and biggest trainwreck) so here are my serious picks. Don't take anything too seriously. These are just something fun I like to do every year. I can't watch everything.

Anime Of The Year

Dungeon Meshi

Dandadan

Go Go Loser Ranger

Orb: On the Movements of the Earth

Re: Zero (season 3)

Ranma ½

Best Comedy

Mayonaka Punch

Konosuba (season 3)

My Deer Friend Nokotan

Ranma 1/2

VTuber Legend: How I Went Viral After Forgetting to Turn Off My Stream

Acro Trip

Best Drama

Jellyfish Can’t Swim In The Night

Senpai wa Otokonoko

Dead Dead Demons Dededede Destruction

Girls Band Cry

Orb: On the Movements of the Earth

If My Wife Becomes An Elementary School Student

Best Romance

A Sign Of Affection

Blue Box

Cherry Magic- I’m not typing the full title

Kimi ni Todoke (From Me To You) (season 3)

Tasogare Out of Focus

365 Days to the Wedding

Best Slice Of Life

Mr. Villain’s Day Off

Welcome Home (Tadaima, Okaeri)

The Yōkai Next to Me

Natsume Yuujinchou Shichi

Negaposi Angler

Dungeon People

Honorable Mention: The Magical Girl And The Evil Lieutenant Used To Be Arch Enemies

Best Action

Wind Breaker

Bleach Thousand Year Blood War (part 3)

Brave Bang Bravern

Bucchigiri?!

Kaiju No. 8

Dragon Ball Daima

Honorable mention: Viral Hit

Best Fantasy

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End cour 2

Dungeon Meshi

Re: Zero (season 3)

Spice And Wolf

Isekai Suicide Squad

Dandadan...more of a sci-fi than fantasy but oh well...

Best Boy

Asamine Matakara (Bucchigiri?!)

Yuichi Kurosawa (Cherry Magic)

Buchio (The Yokai Next To Me)

Shion Yoshino (Tasogare Out Of Focus)

Natsume Takashi (Natsume Yuujinchou Shichi)

Keisuke Niijima (If My Wife Becomes An Elementary School Student)

Honorable Mention: Nukumizu (Too Many Losing Heroines)...this poor guy deserves some love but everyone else edged him out just a little bit 😅

Best Protagonist

Sakuna (Sakuna: Of Rice And Rain)

Masaki (Mayonaka Punch)

Fighter D (Go Go Loser Ranger)

Hibino Kafka (Kaiju No. 8)

Ciel Phantomhive (Black Butler Public School Arc)

Lawrence Kraft (Spice And Wolf)

Honorable mention: Mao Mao (Apothecary Diaries cour 2)...I love her so much but I already nominated her last year so I felt like it wasn't fair to do her twice

Best Antagonist

Sirius Romanée-Conti: Sin Archbishop of Wrath (Re: Zero season 3)- There are 3 great villains this season, but I could only pick one to represent and Wrath was my favorite 😅

Red Keeper (Go Go Loser Ranger)

Mika Hanaoka (Senpai wa Otokonoko)

Melon (Beastars Final Season cour 1)

Nowak (Orb: On the Movements of the Earth)

Chika Shiraishi (If My Wife Becomes An Elementary School Student) I know she’s only an antagonist at the beginning of the show, but dang, she’s a good one.

Best Girl

Holo (Spice And Wolf)

Marcille (Dungeon Meshi)

Sawako Kuronuma (Kimi ni Todoke season 3)

Harley Quinn (Isekai Suicide Squad)

Koshi Torako (My Deer Friend Nokotan)

Hina Chouno (Blue Box)

Best Supporting Character

Senshi (Dungeon Meshi)

“Youko Satou” (The Fable)

Kouji Shigemoto (Magilumiere Magical Girls Inc.)

Peeps (Sasaki and Peeps)

Chrome (Acro Trip)

Nyanko Sensei (Natsume Yuujinchou Shichi)

Best Character Design

Delico’s Nursery

Oshi no Ko (season 2)

Isekai Suicide Squad

Dungeon Meshi

Beastars Final Season cour 1

Ranma 1/2

Best Score

Girls Band Cry

Spice and Wolf

Natsume Yuujinchou Shichi

Kaiju No. 8

Jellyfish Can’t Swim in the Night

Bleach Thousand Year Blood War (part 3)- I will keep nominating it every year until it wins the actual award!

Honorable mentions: Orb: On the Movements of the Earth

Best Animation

Oblivion Battery

The Elusive Samurai

Blue Box

Beastars Final Season cour 1

Too Many Losing Heroines

The Stories of Girls Who Couldn't Be Magicians

Honorable mention: Shoushimin Series (I guess I’d categorize this as “most cinematic” over “best animation”), also Wind Breaker's animation deserves a shout out too.

Best OP

(BASED ON BOTH SONG AND VISUALS! so, sorry Viral Hit and The Fable...)

Dandadan (“Otonoke” Creepy Nuts)

Go Go Loser Ranger (“Preview of Me” Tatsuya Kitani)

Beastars Final Season cour 1 (“Into The World” issei)

You Are Ms. Servant (“Otozure” tricot)

Orb: On the Movements of the Earth (“Kaiju” Sakanaction)

Tower of God season 2 OP 1 (“Rise Up” NiziU)

Honorable mentions: *This is the hardest category every year for me, so I just have to shout out some others*

Yuru Camp season 3 (“Laid Back Journey” Kiminone)

Oshi no Ko season 2 (“Fatal” GEMN)

Wind Breaker (“Absolute Zero” Natori)

Mashle season 2 (“Bling-Bang-Bang-Born” Creepy Nuts)

Best ED

Isekai Suicide Squad (“Go Getters” Mori Calliope)

Brave Bang Bravern (“Sounen no Shouzu” Ryota Suzuki and Yohei Azakami) There was no way in hell I was leaving this off the list. If you watch no other anime endings this year, please watch this one 😆

Go Go Loser Ranger (“Sekai wa Iranei” NANAOAKARI)

Ranma ½ (“Antanante” riria)

Frieren Beyond Journey’s End cour 2 (“Anytime Anywhere” Milet)

Too Many Losing Heroines ed 2 (“Crazy For You” Shion Wakayama) *I love the other 2 endings as well, but I could only choose one*😭

Best Japanese VA Performance

*I'm terrible with this category. I really don't know how to judge good voice acting performances at all*

Hasegawa, Ikumi as Masaki (Mayonaka Punch)

Ueda, Hitomi as Yoshino (Yakuza Fiancé)

Seki, Toshihiko as Muzan Kibutsuji (Demon Slayer Hashira Training Arc)...This arc may have sucked, but he acted the shit out of it.

Inoue, Kazuhiko as Nyanko Sensei (Natsume Yuujinchou shichi)

Nagase, Anna as Harley Quinn (Isekai Suicide Squad)

Fujita, Saki as Koshi Torako (My Deer Friend Nokotan)

*I don't watch enough dubs to do nominations for English voice actors, but I want to shout out SungWon Cho as Senshi from Dungeon Meshi and Abby Trott as Ayase from Dandadan. They understood the assignment.*

So there you have it! My picks for the real anime awards of 2024! Don't take this seriously at all, it's just something fun I like to put together every year. I always try not to nominate the same things, but it's so hard to include a variety sometimes! 😅

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ladyloveandjustice · 1 year ago

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My Top 12 Favorite Anime of 2023 (and more)!

This was a great year for anime, so here's a long list of my top 12 (including some bonus great anime). If you get tired of clicking the review links, check out my anime overview collection for all of them here. You can also check out my list of favorite manga here!

Some of these are ongoing, so consider those only a review of the first cour-- no official endorsement on the rest because it hasn't aired yet!

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury (Season 2)

When I listed G-Witch in last year's top anime list, I prayed the show wouldn't betray me. Fortunately, it didn't! Though the final half of the show was a bit rushed, it remained must-see, compelling sci-fi full of exciting twists and turns. And I adore the well developed romance between the robot-piloting protagonist and precious girl, Suletta, and her fierce fiancé, Miorine. Whether you’re here for starcrossed queer lovers, robots wrecking each other, tense battles between opposing political factions, or morally-horrifying moms on a revenge spree, you’re in for a treat.

See my full review here.

Yuri is my Job!

Hime is roped into working at a cafe where the waitresses playact as students of the fictional all girl’s school from a beloved novel series. However, Hime finds her co-worker, Mitsuki, has an inexplicable grudge against her. Thus begins a tangled web of romance and wounded feelings among the girls in the cafe! Yuri is My Job seems like a fun comedy boasting a cast full of quirky lesbians, but then reveals itself to be a complicated and fascinating examination of performance- as it intersects with queerness, girlhood, and the desire to be “likeable” and “cute". It's top-tier lesbian drama full of fraught relationships and it's absolutely worth a watch.

See my full review here.

The Apothecary Diaries (still ongoing, review is for the first cour)

Though it's still going, I have to sing the praises of this dazzling anime about a saavy apothecary who uses her medical expertise to solve the many murders and betrayals in the Emperor's palace. MaoMao is a fantastic lead, a poison-obsessed gremlin who's whip-smart, deadpan, and fun to follow. The Apothecary Diaries has intrigue, well-developed characters, and an impeccable atmosphere. It tells a great range of stories, from romantic triumph, to bittersweet tales of recovering from grief, to pure tragedies. I'm totally hooked.

See my full review here.

The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady

When Euphie is dumped by her fiance at a ball, the oddball princess Anis rescues her. Euphie becomes Anis' assistant in her quest to develop magical tools. The girls also start to develop feelings for each other, while discovering a conspiracy among the nobility. I'm always desperately in need of cool lesbians having action-packed fantasy adventures, and Magirevo delivers. The characters grow in entertaining ways, we get to see them fight dragons in killer action scenes, and the romantic development is completely satisfying. It's a simple story at its core, but the lovable characters, joyous queerness and jubilant execution make it a great watch.

See my full review here.

Birdie Wing: Golf Girls' Story (Season 2)

In the second season of the anime about girls homoerotically golfing while dealing with the mafia and ludicrous family drama, Birdie Wing remains a bombastically absurd sports anime that is fun all the way through. Please come watch these girls get ridiculous sports injuries, scream their super golf attacks, experience extremely extra plot twists--and be super gay with each other, of course. The finale didn't go quite as hard as I wanted (and the romance is more subtexual than I wanted), but you need to allow yourself to experience the madness of Birdie Wing.

See full review here.

Skip and Loafer

An endearingly dorky, earnest, and driven girl moves from her small town to Tokyo. While she struggles to adjust, she befriends a nice popular boy who's got some baggage. Skip and Loafer is a show that’s like a warm hug. It's sweet, entertaining and funny. It handles adolescent struggles with tender nuance. There's a emphasis on kindness, connection, and looking past stereotypes and misconceptions. It also includes a trans character who's treated with respect (and is a great character in general!) Let this show touch your heart.

See my full review here.

Undead Murder Farce

An immortal woman has had most of her body stolen by a mysterious man. Reduced to a head carried around by her maid, she teams up with a half-demon man to track the thief down while solving supernatural mysteries all across Victorian England.

This a fun, campy mystery series starring three asshole weirdo protagonists, it’s bursting with supernatural creatures and literary references. We've got Sherlock Holmes, The Phantom of the Opera, Carmilla and more...along with a vampire murders and werewolf drama galore. UDM is a wonderful romp with stylish, slick direction... and it’s unexpectedly really gay. I’m aching to see more of these scrappy misfits and their adventures.

See my full review here.

Migi & Dali

A story of twins who are pretending to be one kid in order to fool their foster parents and find out who killed their mother. It starts out as an utterly absurd comedy becomes a impressive and genuinely tense murder mystery that is incredibly moving at times, all while keeping up it’s signature brand of goofiness. There’s genuine commentary on abuse, the damage you can do to children by forcing perfection on them, the struggle of being a foster kid, grief and recovery and more. There's also some great character development. It's a weird one, but it's absolutely worth sticking with.

See full review here.

Pluto

Somebody is killing the most advanced robots in the world and murdering humans alongside them. A robot detective is trying to track this killer down, but he might be compromised as well. Pluto is a tense, tense, tightly plotted robot murder mystery that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Through robots, it explores the idea of being a tool in a corrupt system, and tackles subjects like war, imperialism, and the nature of hatred. It's a masterful psychological thriller with stunning animation and a rich story.

See my full review here.

Scott Pilgrim Takes Off

This anime approaches the story of Scott Pilgrim and Ramona's seven evil exes from a brands new angle, and the results are great. We get a exploration of relationships and regrets, the messiness of communication and connection, the trials of becoming an adult, all with the signature goofy video game antics. Characters neglected in previous iterations finally get their due, new facets of the story are explored, queer relationships are delved into more, girls kiss...and it's all accompanied by phenomenal animation and a killer soundtrack.

See my full review here

Soaring Sky! Precure

Sora lives in a world called Skyland and wants to be a great hero. When rescuing the kidnapped baby princess, she falls through a portal to earth. There she meets her fellow magical warriors, and as Precure they protect the princess from the villains!

This vibrant, warm-hearted adventure got me back on the Precure train! This series boasts a lot exciting firsts for the franchise--the first official male cure, the first main cure that's eighteen years old- but above all, it has a lively team of characters with who have an entertaining dynamic and enjoyable individual journeys. It's often very funny, the baby has a surprisingly good character arc, and it's bursting with magical girl (and boy) goodness! It's also not afraid to give you an emotional gutpunch when you've been lured into a false sense of security by all the fun times. If you're new to Precure, this is a great jumping on point, and if you've watched it before, this is a series you won't want to miss.

I'm in Love with the Villainess

Rae is reincarnated as the heroine of her favorite dating sim. But she has no interest in romancing any of the boys- she’s head over heels for Claire Francois, the snooty villainess.

Villainess may not be as polished--storywise or animation-wise-- as these other entries. It's a messy series, it has plenty of problems...but it's also very fun, and it touched my queer little heart like no other. Queer people get to indulge in our imperfect faves too, and the silly shenanigans, blatant lesbian wish fulfillment, honest advocacy for queer people, and the joy and earnestness of the series works for me!

See my full review here.

Some Other Great Anime:

Frieren: Beyond Journey's End (still ongoing, review is for the first cour)

Frieren is a long-lived elf who was once part of an adventuring party that saved the world from the Demon Lord. But now her friends are passing away and the world is moving on. She decides to retrace her old party's journey so she can understand what she's feeling.

Frieren is both an interesting examination of what happens after the hero saves the world, as well as a meditation on mortality, grief, and the endless march of time. It takes you on a quiet, beautiful and sometimes touching journey though a pastoral fantasy world. There's some breath-taking animation and excellent atmosphere to enjoy.

See my review here.

Spy x Family (Season 3)

Spy x Family is pretty much staying the course from when we last checked in, though this season gives a lot more attention to Yor, and I love the cruise ship arc and all the ridiculous fights she gets into a lot! That arc contains some of my favorite gags of the series too (like Loid’s attempts to be a cool dad). Otherwise, Spyfam has settled into a series that intends to be around for the long haul, so don’t expect too much forward plot momentum. And Yuri (the man, not the genre) unfortunately still exists. Overall it was good season and remains a fun adaptation. Yor, please step on me.

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animedegens · 3 months ago

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I am so ready for season 2. I love that we’ll be getting 2 cours again!!

And I apologize in advance, because come January I will be yapping about apothecary diaries & maomao a lot 🤣🤣

#anime #apothecary diaries #the apothecary diaries

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glassbead-xx · 4 months ago

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So for the rest of the year and into next year we’re going to have:

Another cour of Elusive Samurai and a possible second season

Dandadan with split cours well into next year

Blue Box for the rest of the year

Sakamoto Days in January

A Ranma 1/2 remake

Witch Watch in April

The rest of Dr. Stone

Apothecary Diaries S2

An Undead Unluck special and maybe a second season

Kaiju #8 S2

A Gintama school AU

And now the anime adaptation of Kaoru Hana

When I say I’m going to be very annoying for the rest of the year and for a good chunk of the next I mean it

#undead unluck #dandadan #blue box #sakamoto days #witch watch #the elusive samurai #gintama #dr stone #ranma 1/2 #the apothecary diaries #kaiju no. 8 #kaoru hana wa rin to saku #do I need to expand my horizons? yes #will this change anything? no #I’m going to be very annoying #the rest of the year and the next is in safe hands #peak fiction #here we go baby #yayyy :3

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tobeseenthrough · 24 days ago

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personal faves for 2024 - my full media scrapbook for 2024 is here. these are the ones i enjoyed the most this year obviously but the ones mentioned in bold even more so. also putting this under a cut because it's long as hell.

films - take me back for christmas (2023), theater camp (2023), the heiress (1949), charade (1963), romantic prelude (2009), our secret diary (2023), ang larawan (2017), isa pa with feelings (2019), anatomy of a fall (2023), dune 2 (2024), challengers (2024), la chimera (2023), furiosa: a mad max saga (2024), hit man (2024), thelma (2024), problemista (2024), lovesong (2016), set it off (1996), the taste of tea (2004), revenge (2017), nine to five (1980), elvira: mistress of the night (1990), baby assassins (2021), sing sing (2024), oddity (2024), swing girls (2004), haru (1996), my cousin vinny (1987), christmas around the corner (2018), ghostlight (2024), look back 2024)

tv/dramas/anime - what we ate yesterday (s1) (2019), ghosts (s2) (2022), old fashioned cupcake (2022), stranger (s1) (2017), apothecary diaries (cour 2) (2024), girls5eva (s3) (2024), frieren (cour 2) (2024), rap sh!t (s1) (2022), ghosts s3 (2024), interview with the vampire (s2) (2024), my lady jane (s1) (2024), rap sh!t (s2) (2023), fantasmas (2024), smothered (2023), loot (s2) (2024), the sopranos (s1) (1999), how to die alone (s1) (2024), a man on the inside (s1) (2024), dandadan (s1) (2024), acapulco (s3) (2024)

not included but probably would have been had i finished the last 2-3 episodes on time : shogun (s1), the penguin

would have been included but their seasons hasn't finished airing yet: abbott (s4), matlock (s1), ghosts (s4), high potential (s1) and st denis medical (s1

albums (all 2024 releases) - brat (charlie xcx), bright future (adrienne lenker), lighthouse (francis of delirium), algorithm (lucky daye), where the butterflies go in the rain (raveena), big ideas (remi wolf), ten total (1010 benja), in search of the antidote (fletcher), letter to self (sprints), revenge (muni long), dark times (vince staples), i lay down my life for you (jpegmafia), buzz (niki), wilson (ashe), zinc. (gallant), gnx (kendrick lamar), bug (kacy hill), pages (shaznay lewis), weird faith (madi diaz), early twenties (cat burns), mantras (katie pruitt), diva of the people (gavin turek), alligator bites never heal (doechii), the sweater club (jelani aryeh), things look different now (gimmy), fk it (alemada), smitten (pale waves), patters in repeat (laura marling), amy (yana), old hobbies (frances whitney), i should call them (dua saleh), ache in my tooth (flowerovlove), see you at the maypole (half waif), cruzafied (cruza), chaotic erotica (bentley robles), glimmer of god (jean dawson), this is how i remember it. (beckah amani), the drive home (samara cyn), state champs (state champs), below a massive dark land (naima bock), sofia valdés (sofia valdés), mra (emel), long way home (jamie miller), dunya (mustafa).

books - lol. it's been a rough couple years with me and books tbh. prayer circle 2025 will be different!!!!

#yearly faves #2024 wrapped #films #music #tv

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animebw · 7 months ago

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Short Reflection: Spring 2024 Anime

I feel like 2024 is shaping up to be an unusual year for anime. Most mainstream shonen and isekai are staggering into audience fatigue of some kind or another, two-cours series are making a massive comeback, and big waves are being made from eclectic shows like Apothecary Diaries and Girls Band Cry that would likely be relegated to cult classic status in years prior. There haven't been many clear standouts yet, but there's a lot of fascinating second-tier stuff bubbling just under the surface. It feels like the general anime audience has grown so big at this point that the way we consume shows and the kinds of shows that break through are evolving before our eyes. Never mind movies like Look Back and The Colors Within waiting in the wings to redefine our notions of what animated cinema can be. All this is to say, I don't know what we'll make of 2024 when all is said and done, but it's gonna be a very interesting story. For now, though, let's take stock of spring's roster of shows to pick out the best, the worst, and the worth checking out. Not counting the shows I've already talked about (Hibike Euphonium's final season 9.5/10 and Demon Slayer's training arc 4/10) or MHA's latest foray, which I'm still waiting to see exactly how it shakes out.

Dead Dead Demons' Dededede Destruction: Please Watch/10

I'm putting this one right up front because while it's still very early into airing, there's a good chance a lot of you don't even know it exists. Released initially as a pair of movies earlier this year, this adaptation of Oyasumi Punpun author Inio Asano's bizarre bildungsroman alien invasion manga has been retooled into an 18-episode TV series with (apparently) lots of additional footage to fill out everything the movies had to cut for time. Those production circumstances alone would be interesting enough to merit checking it out (fingers crossed Haikyuu can get the same treatment?), but more importantly, this show is just really damn good, and it deserves better than being dropped on Crunchyroll with almost no fanfare and incomplete English subs that don't translate most of the written text. As someone who kind of loved and hated Punpun in equal measure, Dededede feels like all of Asano's best instincts on full display, a riveting exploration of how modern humanity is forced to struggle through "normal" life in the shadow of the apocalypse, asking how we can still set our sights on our futures when there's a very good chance that future might never come. It's messy and difficult, and yet it brims with love for people and our ability to seek kindness and compassion even in the darkest times. Just do yourself a favor and skip the awful "episode 0" prologue; not only is it leagues worse than the rest of the show, it spoils so many details about the story's endgame that it might just ruin the experience outright if you're not careful. You've been warned.

Mushoku Tensei Season 2 Part 2: 1.5/10

Is the second part of Mushoku Tensei season 2 as apocalyptically awful as the first part? Not quite, no. But that's only because Rudeus doesn't do anything quite as jaw-dropping as buying a child slave or kidnapping and molesting a pair of catgirls with no consequences. I know, the bar is in fucking hell and this garbage fire still barely managed to stumble over it. Otherwise, it remains every bit as vile as always. Here's a fun drinking game you can play: take a shot every time someone this season 1) makes excuses to justify why Rudeus shouldn't feel bad about doing something awful, 2) praises Rudeus to high heaven and calls him the most specialest boy ever, 3) falls head over heels for Rudeus in a matter of seconds. You'll likely pass out before you're halfway through the season, but on the plus side that means you won't have to watch any fucking more. I simply remain baffled that so many people have been fooled into thinking this show is something meaningful and smart, how many people ignore its glaringly obvious awfulness to pretend it's saying things it's not actually saying and exploring ideas it's not actually exploring. All I can do is wait impatiently for Re:Zero's return later this year so it can smack everyone senseless with a reminder of what challenging, subversive isekai storytelling actually looks like. Maybe then we'll finally be able to recognize this steaming pile of misogyny and rape culture for what it is and cast it out without a second thought. We can only hope.

Urusei Yatsura Season 2 (2nd Half): 4.5/10

I think I've given Urusei Yatsura a fair shake. I've done my best to enjoy it through its weaker moments and painfully obvious crows' feet. But now that it's finally over, all I can think is maybe it was better off left in the past. There are infinitely better screwball comedies that have come since, comedies that have been building off the tropes Urusei Yatsura established and finding much more interesting, meaningful things to do with them. This may be a foundational rom-com text, but fifty goddamn years later all its best qualities have been improved upon to the point of obsolescence, and all that's really left is the gross, dated stuff and the fact that every time it tries to be sincere and sentimental it runs into the unavoidable problem that all the romantic relationships its built on really kind of suck. Sorry, but Ataru and Lum are an awful couple and all the worst parts of this show are when it unironically tries to make you root for them despite them being pretty blatantly terrible for each other. I'll stick with Inuyasha, thank you very much.

Wind Breaker: 5/10

Man, why does every promising modern delinquent anime end up driving itself into a ditch before long? First Tokyo Revengers, then Bucchigiri, and now Wind Breaker has completed the trifecta. And this one had so much potential! Casting a shoujo-style blushy tsundere bad boy as the protagonist of an otherwise straightforward tough-guy action brawler is one of the most inspired strokes of genius I've seen in a long time (let alone getting the Kyo Sohma's VA to voice him). What better way to explore the emotional human side of delinquent storytelling than with a main character who's arc is all about accepting other people and learning to love himself despite the world's rejection of him? That plus a slick production full of badass fistfights should've been an easy recipe for success. Unfortunately, it falls victim to the most common of shonen death knells: getting stuck in an overlong, dragged-out arc that consists of nothing but uninteresting fights against half-baked antagonists that loses sight of what made this series unique until its final moments. And double minus points for entirely taking place in a single visually dull location that you're forced to stare at for like 5 episodes straight with occasional flashbacks as your only escape. Seriously, you could cut the Shishitoren arc to half its current length and lose very little of value. I can only hope the upcoming second season won't get similarly bogged down, cause a good version of this show is something I desperately want to believe is possible.

Konosuba Season 3: 5.5/10

So here's the good news first: Despite a seven year gap since the second season and a change in studio, Konosuba's third season is still every bit the same show it was. As for the bad news... well, the bad news is that Konosuba's third season is still every bit the same show it was. Yeah, in the years since I first watched it, I've had to really reckon with all the ways this show fucking sucks, and all of those reasons remain on full display undimmed by the passage of time. It's sexist, it's objectifying, it's violently queerphobic, it thinks sexual assault is the funniest thing ever when Kazuma's the one doing it, it's every bit as misogynistic and masturbatory as the isekai genre it's supposedly satirizing. And it's also still one of the funniest goddamn anime ever made when it wants to be. Seriously, if you just strip away all the godawful incel-pandering that's seemingly endemic to modern isekai, Konosuba's god-tier expression work and pitch-black sarcasm are a blast of laughing gas like nothing else in its vicinity. If it could just focus on telling actual jokes instead of passing off alt-right sexual politics as "comedy" half the time, it would more than deserve its status as a modern classic. But it won't, because it genuinely believes all that garbage is the funniest shit ever. Which is why it'll forever be stuck as a show that you can never admit to enjoying in public without being justifiably judged by everyone around you.

Train to the End of the World: 5.5/10

It's kind of impossible to describe what Train to the End of the World is about without sounding like you're flipping through ten different plot summaries and choosing words at random. But here's as best I can: a freak accident causes the world to morph into a surreal patchwork of bizarre locales, while also seemingly reducing the scope of the world to a single train line in Japan stretching between rural town Agano and Tokyo's metropolitan Ikebukuro district. When Agano high-schooler Shizuru finds evidence that her long-lost friend Yoka might be trapped in Ikebukuro- and also maybe related to the reason everything went insane- she hops on an abandoned train car with a few friends and a dog and starts the long, long journey to reach Ikebukuro through the madness and chaos that defines the new world. The best I can explain it is Gullliver's Travels by way of Alice in Wonderland and Salvador Dali, each episode taking us to another stop on the train line that's morphed into its own flavor of batshit crazy, from mushroom people to horny zombies to a post-canon bad end magical girl world. Unfortunately, any semblance of a point feels buried under a thousand tons of calcified absurdism too thick for anything resembling sincerity to peek through. There are attempts at exploring deeper themes or character moments, but the show's pace is so blisteringly fast and so deeply uninterested with anything beyond what wild ideas it can pull out of its hat that nothing really sticks by the time the train's rolling on to its next destination. If there's anything here beyond a series of wacky Moments(tm) delivered with the rushed breathlessness of a Youtube video on 2X speed, I can't say it made an impression.

Tonari no Youkai-san: 5.5/10

I'm of two minds about Tonari no Yokuai-san. On the one hand, it's a deeply heartfelt iyashikei that uses its fantasy elements to explore grief, loss, love, community, and the reasons we celebrate life even knowing it must one day end. This town of humans and spirits living side-by-side feels so real and warm you wish you could live there yourself, and the characters populating it, from earnest nekomata to old gay cars to prickly fox spirits and everyone in between, burst with inner life so naturally it almost makes you jealous. On the other hand, for some baffling reason, this show keeps trying to shoehorn in action plots and sci-fi elements that gel with the quiet, contemplative tone as well as oil and water. I genuinely don't understand why the author thought they needed time-space bureaus and giant rampaging snakes to liven things up when just the main character going through an existential crisis about how they're going to outlive everyone they love is ten thousand times more gripping than any of that other nonsense. On the bright side, the good stuff is still really good, and considering how few of you likely watched this show already, let this be your reminder this your reminder not to let it slip through the cracks.

Go Go Loser Ranger: 6/10

Is the idea of a dark, edgy twist on tokusatsu where the protagonist is a nameless minion trying to overthrow a fascist cabal of sentai rangers that unique? Not really, no. But god damn if Go Go Loser Ranger doesn't make it work regardless. There's something just inherently fun about watching one of those nameless background mooks that normally exist just to get punted en masse decide "You know what? I'm done being the world's punching bag. I'm gonna become the protagonist of my own story and take these fuckers down." We've all rooted for the underdog at some point, after all. It's only fair the most disposable fodder get a chance in the spotlight. And Go Go Loser Ranger delights in twisting that setup as far as it can get away with, constantly making you second-guess your allegiances to any one side as it quickly becomes clear there are no true heroes to root for in this world, just lots of different people flawed in very different ways, all fighting for their own personal gain. You're never quite sure when someone you're rooting for is going to break your trust with some horrific act, or someone you loathe is going to prove themselves more courageous than they first let on, and it keeps you on the edge of your seat waiting to see when the next shoe's going to fall. Sadly, it also suffers from Wind Breaker's mistake of spending too much time on an overlong arc that's mostly just dull characters fighting in a duller location, but by the end it's shaken off those doldrums and returned to form in a big way. As long as the second season can keep those gears turning, we're in for a good time.

Spice and Wolf Reboot (1st Cours): 6/10

Let's be blunt: there is no point to remaking Spice and Wolf. The original series is still just as good fifteen years later, and despite the source material continuing past the point it ended, it reached such a beautiful conclusion on its own terms that it more than cemented its status as a true eternal anime classic. Sure, it's nice to experience this story again, to re-aquaint myself with Holo and Lawrence's wonderful chemistry and the fascinating ins and outs of Medieval economics that drive their story. There's a reason I fell in love with this show so many years ago, and Reboot Wolf still has plenty of that charm to go around. But this isn't a re-imagining or a Brotherhood/Froobs 2019 style "proper" adaptation. This is just the same show again but a little bit worse in every way. All I can think of, watching this story I know play out again, is how much stiffer and generic the modern art direction and animation is, how it plays things so much safer with its source material while the original wasn't afraid to make strong changes, how Holo's prickly personality has been neutered into a much more docile, Lawrence-dependent character while the original stood so strong on her own two feet. Maybe it works well enough if this is your first taste of Spice and Wolf, but then, the original show is right there! You could just watch that instead and get a much better experience all around!

Yuru Camp Season 3: 6.5/10

Speaking of shows that are probably pointless, was there really any need for Yuru Camp to continue after the one-two satisfying punch of season 2 and the epilogue movie? Those endings put such a beautiful bow on the series that anything else would feel superfluous. Especially with such a massive downgrade in the art direction department, Jesus Christ. I don't know who's running studio 8bit's compositing department these days, but between this and the latest Yama no Susume season, it's so painful to see a studio that once excelled at background art reduced to putting filters over photographs and awkwardly slapping ill-fitting moeblob characters on top. The clash between the characters and the backgrounds this season is legitimately painful at times, and for a vibes-based iyashikei like Yuru Camp, that could so easily be a death knell. Thank the gods, then, that most of this series' charm still comes through in spite of itself, the wonderful characters and delightfully daffy comedy still as strong as ever as it extols the virtues of finding your peace in the great outdoors. But if we're going to get any more, then please figure out how to make this new aesthetic not so physically repellent to look at.

Kaiju No. 8: 7/10

I've said many times that the art of making a Good Enough show is more complicated than most people appreciate. It takes so much skill and talent, so much mastery of the basic building blocks of storytelling, to create something that's just fun to watch plain and simple. And Kaiju No. 8 is yet another example of how impressive it is when one of these shows gets it right. It's a simple, straightforward action show about an over-the-hill sanitation worker getting one last chance to live his dream as a member of the elite kaiju-slaying force that keeps the world safe from the towering monsters that menace it... by accidentally becoming part kaiju himself. The characters are simple but lovable, the emotional stakes are earnest without being overbearing, the action is consistently exciting and well-animated, and the story keeps you on your toes with well-worn tropes executed in novel and exciting ways. I honestly don't think I've seen a shonen action romp so perfectly nail its fundamentals like this since the early days of My Hero Academia. Whether or not this show will also rise to MHA's eventual level of complexity and thematic weight remains to be seen, but for now, it's just plain fun, and an easy recommendation to anyone looking for a good time.

Delicious in Dungeon (2nd Cours): 7.5/10

Well, I asked for Dungeon Meshi to get darker, and by god, that's exactly what it did. Through shocking plot turns and deeply disquieting thematic touches, this silly little fantasy cooking comedy has developed into something much more sinister and unsettling... while still being primarily a silly fantasy comedy about cooking D&D monsters into mouthwatering meals. I'm still not sure if the tonal whiplash entirely works, but my god does it make this a fascinating show to watch. A single episode can take you from some of the most gut-busting deadpan snark this side of Gintama to a skin-crawling contemplation on mortality and consuming life to perpetuate your own without missing a beat. Turns out, Dungeon Meshi has thoughts on the nature of food as a biological, societal and cultural force, and how that force is not always as simple or benign as a meal shared with friends and family. And it explores those ideas with a quiet dread that makes even its silliest moments feel like a tentative breath before things come crashing down. I have no idea how things will shake out in the second season, but if manga fans are to be believed, it's only going to get more twisted and insane from here. I cannot fucking wait. Just, can Falin stay on screen for more than a single episode without being kidnapped again this time? Girl's such a damsel in distress even Princess Peach is giving her concerned looks.

Jellyfish Can't Swim in the Night: 7.5/10

There is no feeling quite like being a young artist. You're excited to make your mark, painfully anxious about not measuring up while simultaneously being quite full of yourself, bursting with ideas and not quite sure how to execute them, but above all else, in love with the act of creation. And I don't think I've ever seen an anime that so perfectly embodies that messy, beautiful spirit as Jellyfish Can't Swim in the Night. Four girls from different artistic backgrounds- an artist, a singer, a musician, and a tech wiz- come together as one to give each other the strength they lack on their own, forming the musical group JELEE as they strive to love themselves and their work through the magic they make together. It's an explosion of passion and joy, often times outstripping its ability to measure up to its ambitions and stumbling over itself, but always shining, always dazzling, always wearing its heart firmly on its sleeve as it celebrates the joy of creation in the digital age and the importance of sincerity in a world too afraid of cringe to accept it. It's also a wonderfully capital-P Progressive series; there's a gay kiss, one character is eventually revealed to be nonbinary in a scene so spectacular I wish I could bump my score up another half-point for it alone. Sadly, it only reaches those heights every so often- but when it does, my god is it a sight to behold.

Girls Band Cry: 8/10

I remember back when I watched Love Live Sunshine, I wished there was a girls' music anime where the protagonists sung the kind of badass punk rock usually reserved for the antagonists of idol shows. Well, it looks like writer Jukki Hanada and director Kazuo Sakai heard me, because five years after bidding Sunshine farewell, they're returned with one of the most exhilarating, renegade expressions of punk spirit we've gotten in a long time. Girls Band Cry is a supernova, a soaring firecracker of a show that marries an instantly iconic headbanger soundtrack with Hanada's typically spectacular character writing in this tale of five outcasts forming a band and coming together to spit in the face of the world that tried to grind them into conformity. Nina Iseri's arrogant, self-righteous immaturity is a primal scream for the importance of doing what's right over what's easy, and you feel that scream in your fucking soul. Even the show's scrappy CG animation embodies that non-comformist spirit, charting stunning new avenues for 3D anime with some of the most expressive character models and soaring concert scenes you're likely to see all decade. And while the pacing is definitely rushed at points, the overwhelming emotions bleeding from each and every scene make even the weakest moments go down easy. It's downright criminal Toei fumbled the ball on an official English release, but unless you're completely against sailing the high seas, you owe it to yourself to track it down regardless. So raise your middle fingers to the sky, spill your heart from your chest, and let Togenashi Togeari force you to believe in the power of rock all over again.

Dropped:

-Bartender Drops of God (3 Episodes). Too boring to stick with in a pretty packed season.

-A Condition Called Love (3 Episodes). Creepy possessiveness excused for the sake of romance.

Blue Archive (1 Episode). Do you even need to ask.

-The Many Sides of Voice Actor Radio (2 Episodes). Awful adaptation that butchers what made the manga so great.

-Whisper Me a Love Song (9 Episodes). The production falls completely apart and it skips the main couple's first kiss. Just read the manga, it's really damn good and deserved so much better.

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brucebocchi · 3 months ago

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oh SHIT apothecary diaries season 2 starts up in january and is running for another two cours

we are so FUCKING back

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nerice · 9 days ago

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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

#ALSO watching gunbuster on the side as retro pick #+ might still check out medalist despite it not passing the pv interest check since it got charlotte's seal of approval #i think y////o///i simply tanked my interest in ice skating shows forever lol #elia txts #aniblogging #winter season 2025 #long post /

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dude1818 · 29 days ago

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Anime Year in Review 2024

2022 2023

Watched a lot more anime this year than last year, both seasonals and catching up on older stuff, so I'll try to keep these brief. Also created a MAL account this year, so I'll include my ratings from that for comparison, although it'll also be subject to recency bias since I backfilled it pretty late in the year

The Apothecary Diaries [9] - Fantastic. I loved Maomao and her obsession with poison. The mysteries were intriguing, although the thread tying them all together was a bit contrived

Suzume* [10] - A little unfair to compare movies to shows. This was incredible. I loved the characters and the story and the art. I only wish Shinkai had gotten to make it yuri like he wanted

Vampire in the Garden* [10] - Such a good tragedy. I loved how it showed both sides of the war were really destroying themselves, and then the two mains looking for a way out, but it's not that easy. Beautiful show

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners* [8] - I knew it was good, but I got way more invested than I expected. It threaded a pretty tight needle for a perfect ending [pretty similar to Vampire, actually]. And absolutely gorgeous animation

Arcane [season 2: N/A] - As beautiful as the first season. Loved getting a more in-depth look at what Powder/Jinx was going through and her relationship with Vi. Suffered from trying to also fit in the Mel/Black Rose/Ambessa plot

Dungeon Meshi [8] - I fully expect the second season to top my list, but the story starts pretty slow. No Falingon or Izustumi until the second cour, for example, and we still haven't met WL!

Your Name* [9] - Starts out silly but nice, but that twist was killer. I think the shift in focus worked really well and really made the story sing

Frieren: Beyond Journey's End [cour 2; all season: 9] - I adored the new characters this cour, but having a tournament arc was disappointing. It didn't have the emotional heart of the first cour. That said, the final battle was awesome

Mayonaka Punch [9] - Hidden gem of the season. Very funny show, but it's treatment of what it's like to be a content creator felt on par with Oshi no Ko. I really liked how it established Masaki as a fun character but a shitty person, but still not deserving of all that

Shadows House* [season 1: 7; season 2: 8]- Very cool concept. I loved the character dynamics in the first season, and the reveals during the second season brought a level of sympathy to antagonists from the first that I wasn't expecting. I'd love to learn more about this world, although what I know of the manga is disheartening

Makeine: Too Many Losing Heroines! [8] - I don't like romcoms, but I did like this deconstruction of them. It kept the humor, but also got to have the characters actually act like people, which you don't normally get

Weathering With You* [7] - It was pretty similar to Your Name, quite frankly. I think I liked the characters a bit in this one. Not the ending I expected, but definitely the one it deserved

Deca-dence* [8] - Ambitious twist. I don't think I would've watched something just about the cyborgs, but the Tanker parts more than carried the rest. I really liked Natsume and Kabu's relationship, and the way it handled Natsume's trauma and hang-ups was really nice

Undead Girl Murder Farce* [7] - Distills the essence of a good Sherlock Holmes story by making the detective a disembodied head. The main trio is incredibly funny, and no one else appreciates that, which makes it even funnier

Dandadan [7] - Torn on this one. Lot of really good aspects [the main characters and their dynamics, the monsters, the fights] and a lot that I do not like [the basic premise and genre]

Train to the End of the World [9] - Wacky and fun. The episodic nature of visiting the different realities established at each train stop really nailed what made Infinity Train so fun

Shy* [season 1: 8; season 2: 7]- I hadn't realized the second season had started airing when I started watching the first season. I like how it's ostensibly a superhero show, with the MC the only one trying to be in a magical girl show instead. The subvillains are all great

K-on!* [season 1: 7; season 2: 8; movie: 7] - Very cute and chill. I liked how the girls all played off each other in different ways

Mysterious Disappearances* [8] - I loved the twists involved in modernizing yokai and applying globalization to them. Kind of like Dandadan in that way. The mysteries were mostly pretty good. I know the show's ending is different than the manga, but I appreciate having a proper ending

Metallic Rouge [7] - I'm probably giving this extra points for the story it was trying to be, rather than what it actually was. Trying to tell a story about oppression where there is an in-universe reason for it is risky at this point in time, but I appreciate that they tried taking a third way out, that stuff like the X-Men never does

Magical Destroyers* [8] - Very fun having an adult version of a magical girl show, but oof that ending. I get it thematically, but it was rough

My Wife Has No Emotions [6] - Not normally a fan of plain romance stories, but I watched it for the robot, and was pleasantly surprised. It kept going back to basic slice-of-life, but there were so many tantalizing hints of worldbuilding to keep me hooked

Midnight Occult Civil Servants* [7] - Urban fantasy is cool. I like mixing government bureaucracy with yokai and mythological creatures. I wish the MC wasn't such a Chosen One though; that's boring

Mononoke the Movie: Phantom in the Rain [8] - The mystery and intrigue was very interesting. The art style was neat, although I found it hard to watch for that long at once. I feel like the Medicine Seller himself was kind of extraneous here, though

Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid* [season 1: 8; season 2: 7]- I did not have high hopes for this one, but it was a surprisingly endearing relationship story. Some of the more egregious character designs were just too awful, though [Lucoa, Ilulu]

Spy x Family Code: White [7] - Cute. I thought it did a great job of balancing the spy, assassin, and school parts of the story, which the anime doesn't tend to have time to do. The poop sequence was way too long

Arknights: Perish in Frost* [7] - FrostNova and the Yetis were great. The sudden push to humanize the other Reunion members felt incoherent

Orb: On the Movements of the Earth [cour 1; ongoing]- It's certainly interesting, if not necessarily enjoyable. The fake-out main character was a bold choice, but I think it paid off. Definitely interested to see where it goes in the second cour

Magilumiere Co. Ltd. [6] - The concept was interesting, although I think the execution was a little boring. The characters were fun, but the pacing felt all over the place, and the actual Kaii fights were kind of wanky

Alien 9* [8] - Intriguing premise and fun wet kitten of a protagonist, but it was very disappointing that less than half of the first arc was adapted. Could've been a cool show

Shoshimin: How to Become Ordinary [6] - Not my normal kind of thing. The deuteragonist girl was fun and kept me watching

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha* [season 1: 5] - I was expecting an actual sci-fi magical girl show, and that wasn't delivered until pretty late in the season. I do think later seasons may be more interesting to me. Fate was cool

* indicates the show aired prior to 2024

I also rewatched Bocchi the Rock! and Revue Starlight this year. I'm still picking up new things about RevStar; what a fantastic show. I also tried Good Bye, Dragon Life; Pseudo Harem; and My Deer Friend Nokotan and bailed pretty quickly. The first two are not genres I enjoy, and the latter was way too high-energy and juvenile

As for next year, I made a separate post with my thoughts. Looks like a really promising year though!

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theanimeview · 11 months ago

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[Recommended Watch] The Apothecary Diaries

Source: Crunchyroll/Toho Animation Studio x OLM, The Apothecary Diaries

By: Katherine Cañeba | @kcserinlee

We are well into the winter anime season, and a certain show called The Apothecary Diaries (Kusuriya no Hitorigoto) should be on your watchlist if it isn’t already. I saw the poster for it on my Crunchyroll homepage back in January, and I recalled seeing the trailer being unveiled at Anime Expo 2023. It left a lasting impression on me with its gorgeous animation, historical setting in Imperial China, and the concept of exploring herbal medicines and poisons from that time period. However, since the trailer release, I had seen and heard virtually nothing about it. I admit that I can be quite the contrary to the popular trends, so I was driven to see what was becoming of The Apothecary Diaries, despite Frieren and Solo Leveling dominating the anime discourse these days. So, I clicked on the advertisement and started watching. The rest is history. Now, I come to you today to spread the word about this show so you, too, can enjoy this gem hidden in plain sight (and help ensure a Season 2 gets made!).

The story is set in a fictional universe inspired by Ming Dynasty-era China (1368-1644 in the real world), and all the beauty and ugliness of life in that society. 17-year-old Maomao simply wants to live a quiet life with her apothecary father and her “big sisters” (high-level courtesans) in the nearby brothel. However, Maomao is unfortunately (and/or fortunately) kidnapped and sold into the Rear Palace, the garden of the Emperor’s concubines. She starts at the bottom as a servant girl and soon reveals her knowledge of medicines and poisons to save the Emperor’s newborn heirs from a mysterious illness.

From then on, she is swept up in solving the medical mysteries befalling those who live and work in the Imperial Court, while working her new day job as a poison taster for a high-ranking concubine. All this while rejecting and evading the increasing infatuation and sometimes creepy, sometimes endearingly, childish advances of Jinshi, the Rear Palace manager who is also the most beautiful eunuch around.

Fans of medical dramas, detective/mystery dramas, historical dramas, and comedic innuendos will find lots to love about this show. It has a well written development and a lot of really interesting, accurate tidbits. There is even a “Pharmacist Reacts” YouTube series on The Apothecary Diaries by DefinitivelyZach that is particularly educational and just as entertaining! The animation quality, voice acting, and soundtrack are all top-notch too.

Maomao may be smart enough to solve every puzzle thus far, but she is too well-characterized to be a Mary Sue. Lest you be wary of a toxic reverse-harem situation here, with Maomao potentially collecting suitors left and right and treating them all like dirt, the romance aspect is not the immediate main focus of the story (although there is clearly a slow-burn romance between Maomao and Jinshi that has grown on me the more Jinshi matures).

On par with recent trends for female characters in anime, we see a highly intelligent woman like Maomao earn the respect of everyone she meets through her tact and problem-solving skills, despite her commoner status. She also remains hilariously aloof to Jinshi’s advances when he puts on insincere, seductive airs.

As a girl who grew up on the doorstep of a brothel, Maomao has seen many women be lied to and downright betrayed by men. If Jinshi can be more consistently honest with his feelings around Maomao, and grow out of his childishness, he might just stand a chance with her!

Once I got used to Jinshi being cringe-worthy levels of creepy and accepted his weirdness as innocent immaturity (because at least he never has harmful intentions, despite his questionable methods of flirting), I quickly fell in love with The Apothecary Diaries and I’m confident that you will, too!

Season 1 Second Cour of The Apothecary Diaries is currently streaming on Crunchyroll. Cours 1 and 2 are 12 episodes each for a total of 24 episodes in Season 1.

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Copyedited by: Peggy Sue Wood | @pswediting

#ANIME #APOTHECARY DIARIES #RECOMMENDED WATCH #REVIEW #THE APOTHECARY DIARIES

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mesaprotector · 28 days ago

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My top 10 anime of 2024. Includes shows that started in 2023, but doesn't include sequels. Featuring pictures and for some reason, lots of fractions.

#10: Maou 2099 (7⅞/10)

By all rights, this show should be mid. Any isekai-adjacent series whose main draw is its premise tends to not have much beyond the surface. But the lead Veltol is charismatic and lovable, the writing is consistently just good enough, and the art is frequently gorgeous (see pic). While not really having the tone of an actual cyberpunk series like Ghost in the Shell, it still draws a lot from that genre and the end result is a very good anime with only a few pacing issues.

#9: Egumi Legacy (8/10)

The most unhinged show of the year is this travesty of a half-length anime with simplistic character designs and too many tongues. It starts out bonkers, drags at times in the middle, and then has one of the bravest endings I've seen recently. I could call it a drama/mystery but really nothing describes this show.

#8: Train to the End of the World (8⅑/10)

Despite paper-thin characters and a couple uncomfortable moments early on, this is still a gloriously carefree sociological satire that never lacks in imagination. It's structured as a pretty much pure adventure story and goes from one interesting setting to another.

#7: Apothecary Diaries (8⅐/10)

A very good historical/romance anime with some smart mysteries along the way. I don't think it's as smart, or the characters as well-written, as people give it credit for, but it's still enjoyable and easy to get invested in.

#6: Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin (8⅙/10)

The most underrated anime of the year. Just a lovely, if a touch slow-paced and kid-oriented, fantasy series with a unique setting, beautiful backgrounds, plenty of rice farming, some action, and a lovable protagonist. Above all, this show knows exactly how ambitious it needs to be.

#5: Shoushimin Series (8⅖/10)

If you like shows that are mainly two characters talking with each other about tiny observations (hi Monogatari), this is is a really good one. It has whole scenes with these two (see pic) trying to solve mysteries based on the placement of eating utensils and pastries in a room. Fantastic understated characterization for its main duo/trio and beautiful art. Some slightly questionable decisions in the middle of the series are made up for it with an ending that at least I thought was excellent. :>

#4: Girls Band Cry (8½/10)

Girls do band. They cry.

That honestly about sums it up, but this is really good drama with very real character conflicts, very real character arcs and development, and I guess pretty good music too. The characters weren't the only ones crying by the time I finished watching it.

#3: Dungeon Meshi (8⅝/10)

The first cour of this adventure show is comfy and fun, but the second is where it gets really great, and it only keeps getting greater. All of the characters are fantastic, even the side ones. Senshi is my role model. I'm really hungry right now for some reason.

#2: Raven does not Choose its Master (8⅘/10)

A mystery story at heart, with extremely well-done politics and some light touches of fantasy, which is to be expected when your entire cast can transform into ravens—heroes, villains, and everyone in between. The first cour of this show is the most amazing self-contained story I've seen in anime in years, and would top this list on its own. However, the second cour, while still very good, is not quite on its level. I'm nevertheless proudly very, very into this show, which has surprisingly good animation and music to go along with its peak writing.

#1: Frieren (9/10)

You've heard of this anime. I can't say much more about it, really. Its premise is simple but so well-done. Its main characters are introverted but adorable. It's extremely easy to recommend to anyone who has a heart and enjoys stories. I'll wait for the next season, and it's fortunate I exclude sequels from these lists, because otherwise I might well be putting Frieren on top of the next one too.

#anime #anime 2024 #thoughts #weeb shit

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metalandmagi · 1 month ago

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The Real Anime Awards of 2024

Every year, I like to make my own anime awards, that focus on the things we really care about. Because who cares about "Anime of the Year" or "Best Animation" when we could have awards for "Most Unhinged Show of the Year" or "Prettiest Anime Boy"?

So here's my anime meme awards for 2024!

Biggest Chad

Sebastian (Black Butler Public School Arc)

Munseong (Viral Hit)

Red Keeper (Go Go Loser Ranger)

Shikanoko (My Deer Friend Nokotan)

Lewis Smith (Bang Brave Bang Bravern)

Yoshino Somei (Yakuza Fiancé)

Honorable mention:

Hajime Nagumo (Arifureta season 3) I don't watch it but he seems like a standard isekai chad.

Most Unhinged

My Deer Friend Nokotan

Vtuber Legend

Bucchigiri?!

Mayonaka Punch

Dandadan

Yakuza Fiancé

Weirdest Concept That Still Works Somehow (not to be confused with “Most Unhinged”)

Delico’s Nursery

Oshi no Ko (season 2)

Orb: On the Movements of the Earth

If My Wife Becomes An Elementary School Student

Mayonaka Punch

Sasaki and Peeps

Show with the most drip

High Card (season 2)

Jellyfish Can’t Swim In The Night

Black Butler Public School Arc

Delico’s Nursery (bro even the kids in this show have the best outfits!)

Bucchigiri?!

Yakuza Fiancé

Most Insufferable Protagonist

Arajin (Bucchigiri?!)

Rudy (Mushoku Tensei season 2 part 2)

Atri (Atri: My Dear Moments)

Uryuu Kamihate (Tying the Knot With An Amagami Sister)

Ron *affectionate* (Kamonohashi Ron season 2)

Awayuki Kokorone (VTuber Legend)- My hot take of the year...

Best CANONICAL Couple

*Sorry Ranma and Akane...but they're still figuring out their relationship 😭*

Ine and Shouzou Saitou (Grandpa and Grandma Turned Young Again)

Masaki and Hiromu (Tadaima, Okaeri)

Adachi and Kurosawa (Cherry Magic)

Rika and Takuya (365 Days To The Wedding)- These two have kissed and they're engaged, so they count for me!

Kazehaya and Sawako (Kimi no Todoke season 3)

Takae and Keisuke (If My Wife Becomes An Elementary School Student) IT'S WHOLESOME, I PROMISE!!!

*That’s right, no Yuki and Itsuomi from A Sign of Affection, because my other hot take of the year is that I fucking hate Itsuomi and want Yuki to end up with Childhood Friend-kun.*

Biggest Disappointment

Blue Lock (season 2)

Uzumaki

Demon Slayer Hashira Training Arc

The Elusive Samurai (good lord, just pick a tone)

Atri: My Dear Moments (sorry, I just don’t like wild left turns into lolicon territory)

That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime season 3 (how did this show turn into all the characters just sitting around a table talking for multiple episodes at a time?)

Biggest Trainwreck

(Not to be confused with Biggest Disappointment)

Uzumaki's entire production debacle

Blue Lock season 2's animation

Vampire Dormitory's concept of gender

The Crunchyroll Anime Awards

Kokorone Awayuki *affectionate* (Vtuber Legend)

Alya *affectionate* (Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian)

Gayest Anime That Isn’t A Certified Yaoi Or Yuri

How I Attended An All Guys Mixer

Bang Brave Bang Bravern

Bucchigiri?!

The Many Sides of Voice Actor Radio (I can't include a gif of the stuff they do to each other...just trust me)

Jellyfish Can’t Swim In The Night

Kamonohashi Ron season 2

Honorable mention: Mayonaka Punch...because I don't really know how to classify it, but they're definitely all gay. 😆

Biggest Surprise

Senpai Wa Otokonoko

Orb: About the Movements of the Earth

Delico’s Nursery

Sasaki and Peeps

Cherry Magic

If My Wife Becomes An Elementary Schooler

Prettiest Boy

Master Jinshi (Apothecary Diaries cour 2)

Khun (Tower of God season 2)

Gerhard Fra (Delico’s Nursery)

Ciel Phantomhive (Black Butler Public School Arc)

Masaki Fujiyoshi (Tadaima, Okaeri)

Hisashi Ootomo (Tasogare Out of Focus)

Well, there you have it. I definitely didn't get as much variety in here as I normally do 😅I guess that means I need to start watching more trash lol. I know I could have made this a poll or series of polls, but this is just something fun and silly I put together every year, so I didn't want anyone bitching about my choices or saying "you forgot ___!"

I'll be posting my legit nominations later, and at least that will have more variety.

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priscilla9993 · 1 year ago

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Tagged by @piracytheorist so thanks! Using this as a reason to get back on Tumblr for a few hours.

Last song: If We Try by the Carpenters. I really love soft jazz and smooth sway to love songs. I recommend a listen to it if you're feeling sad or wanting to get cozy.

Favorite color: I see a lot of sunrises when I get off in the morning due to working at night so I really love pastel pinks, blues, and purples to bright hues of yellow and orange. It changes a lot so I usually say rainbow although I am a sucker for yellow and green.

Last movie/show: The Apothecary Diaries, an anime with a MC who loves testing poisons for cures and discoveries, but gets sucked into the palace after a kidnapping. Very live action chinese/korean drama-esque plotlines while also her sneakily playing Sherlock Holmes to help people from getting hurt. I love it so much and am glad it's on it's 2nd cour!

Next on my watchlist: Too many honestly but the last half of Spy X Family season 2.

Last game: Catan, haha me and my cousins play this way too often but it's an amazing game.

Last book: I can't name one so does a webtoon count? I recently got into the Obsidian Bride which only has a few chapters as it's really new but I love the idea of finding true love while disguised and/or pretending to be someone else for the sake of both parties. I really root for the main character to find an escape from her true past/current situation bc abuse and no one who cares sucks.

Sweet/Savory/Spicy: Savory any day! Potato chips and filling stuff with flavor that tantalizes my mouth are always winners! I have a sweet tooth but it has to be a light or plain kind of sweet. I'm more of a bittersweet or dark chocolate person if that makes any sense. I love spicy too but have a low tolerance. That won't stop me from eating Korean spicy noodles and my tummy regretting it later (say hello to my pattern of needing physical and delicious pain when stressed).

Relationship status: Single pringle but I'd be a hopeless romantic if I gave love a shot. >_< Maybe it's a good thing I don't have the time or money for it currently.

Last thing I Googled: "Muscat grapes" bc I had bought myself a tiny box and was wondering if they were worth the price. Very sweet and easy to eat as it's seedless, but prepare for your wallet to cry a bit.

Current obsession: Knightrook brainrot train if I let myself lay around. In general, any storyline in webtoon or anime that has care, love, and longing for another's happiness basically.

Greatest flaw: I might care too much when I prefer to be a bitch. Basically, committing to things on a whim or trying to make anyone feel better, even if logically I don't think they deserve my time and energy, especially if they've wronged me.

Fic I'm currently reading: None in particular but I love reading mutuals' ones bc they share theirs with so much love and passion! How can I not gravitate to that? <3

Tagging anyone who wants to do it but off the top of my head, @bvtman @chronicallybubbly @killian-whump @wyntereyez @killianxswan @infinity-tippy

#tag game #I dream of my bed #ever wanted to be kirby eating food?#how you doing?#random tags

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alexilulu · 2 months ago

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Books I Read in 2024, #19 to #22: The Apothecary Diaries, Volumes 4-7 (Natsu Hyūga with illustrations by Touko Shino, published by Shufunotomo, English translation by J-Novel Club, 2021-2023)

[tk photos of volumes 4-7]

Apothecary to a red light district house of courtesans, Maomao is embroiled in mystery, conspiracy and murder plots a-plenty throughout her time in the emperor's court and even after her service in the inner palace.

For those of you who follow the anime, this will contain spoilers for future seasons (each full season adapts 2 volumes, one each cour, so beware.

Content warnings for discussion of the death of a loved one, as well as general warnings that would apply to the story (Chinese court intrigue, sex work, poisoning and murder). If you want to skip the first content warning, skip to the first segment of large text below the readmore.

Do not message me regarding the first half of this, even if you think you're offering condolences. Even if you're my friend. I'm serious.

Thank you.

It's been awhile. I went and looked and my last reading list post was 09/09/2024.

This is your last chance to skip to the book review. I'm gonna write about something that's may be hard to read. If you don't want to read about my mom, skip down to the bigger text further down.

On September 29th, 2024, my mother died of acute heart failure. Her birthday was 10/25/65, and she was 59.

It was hard to do anything for awhile. I felt dazed, still do when I think about it for too long or too much. I feel intensely lucky that I got the chance to say goodbye in the hours before she passed, on bypass and barely conscious. Dad never once left her side until the end.

Mom was my role model for much of my life. Smart, brilliant even, starting out as a pharmacy technician in the late 80s and pushing herself up through home infusion until by the end of her career in 2007, when she was the general manager of the San Antonio branch of her home infusion company she worked at for nearly 20 years. Before she was general manager, she helped design and build out a pharmacy system for home infusion that was so good at what it did that it was bought by Walgreens and still used to this day.

She gave me an infectious curiosity about the medical field and a love of reading that she fostered by treating me like a person, recommending me books and asking me about them afterward, talking about them seriously. She gave me a love for Stephen King that expanded everywhere, from middling 90s litfic and the greats (lord of the rings, the stand, the dark tower, redwall, too many more I'm surely forgetting as I write this) to leaving me to make my own way and find my own taste (not good for awhile, as evidenced by my deep reading of every Star Wars EU novel I could get my hands on) for myself.

In 2007 she was diagnosed with degenerative disc disease, a structural issue that causes the structure of the intervertebral discs of her spine and elsewhere to degrade and compress over time, leading to hideous, painful grinding of spinal vertebrae that left her first partially and later almost completely bed-bound. She was 42, hideously early for such things at the time, and lived in San Antonio, one of the orthopedic capitals of the US thanks to the presence of multiple military hospitals treating soldiers in need of radical surgery.

The first surgeon she saw told her that her chances of recovery with a fusion of the affected vertebrae (removing the destroyed, ineffective disc and welding together the vertebrae with bone grafts to form a single vertebral segment) has about a 50% chance of failure, meaning she would continue to experience debilitating pain (months of therapy and pain medication did not make a dent, and she was on medical leave by then, unable to perform even simple desk activities for 8 hours at a stretch) for likely the rest of her life.

The second surgeon took her hand and said "I can fix you."

She attended my graduation from high school with a walker, nearly blind from the pain of sitting through the ceremony. I dropped out of college to care for her, until things had stabilized enough that I could work and pursue my own life. Through it all, my dad was by her side, her closest friend and her rock.

I'm not going to eulogize her disability, the years of pain between then and now. I want her to be remembered as woman she was despite it. Kind and funny, always ready to offer advice or an ear to the people she loved. She made me the person I am, and having her ripped away from me so suddenly tore a hole in my heart that still bleeds now.

Love you, mom.

Apothecary Diaries is a comfort food for me in a lot of ways.

I first read the first 3 volumes shortly after the anime started, finishing volumes 2 and 3 before the first season, which covers the first volume was complete. I instantly connected with Maomao and the cast, but her most of all.

Light novel Maomao may be my favorite unreliable narrator, because she's been raised and trained in an environment of strict propriety while also living in a world much less bound by it than the broader society; she walks effortlessly between the straightforward, downright honest underworld of highv(and low) class sex work and the highest inner palace, serving women who are both courtier and sex workers in their own rights as the emperor's consorts, where the slightest bit of insubordination can result in beatings or beheading. And despite a forthright, absolutely mean streak that runs down her, she also knows when to hold something back, and often finds herself having enough knowledge to say something is happening but unable to speak it, to protect both herself and the poor sap unfortunate enough to be tangled in the latest mystery.

What makes Maomao Maomao for me is that even as she's a barely-socialized feral cat, she's deeply, keenly aware of people and all their flaws and foibles, and she's deeply unaware of her own feelings. That's a great, fun combination. She knows Jinshi likes her likes her by Volume 4, and she's doing her goddamn best to not be beheaded for being the slovenly commoner the prince is batty for. The only person she sets propriety entirely aside for is her father, to hilarious effect.

I won't lie, part of why I came back to these stories was Maomao and her father's relationship. It's hard for me to not see a little bit of a parallel between myself and them; Maomao was forced to leave Luomen behind by the events of the story taking her in the palace, but we get much more of him in the later volumes, and it's hard for me to not see comparisons between my own mother and a man disabled and hobbled, who Maomao is keenly aware of the limits of and does her best to accommodate.

The mysteries aren't always accessible to the reader, because much of Maomao's inquiry is extremely circumspect, but it's done in a way that invites curiosity about the circumstances, leaving you some room to guess at what medical knowledge may be required here. The facts are the facts, but interpreting them is the issue, and Maomao feels deeply that she needs to base her actions on facts and not belief, thanks to her father. A great attitude, but one that makes her difficult to read, because she is so quick to decline to state anything directly when the mystery is afoot.

Volume 4 is wild, pivoting hard halfway through in a way I didn't expect after the fairly conventional inner palace mysteries of volumes 1-3 (though 3 does a bit of this too, it was very late for it). I quite like seeing more of the city for the remaining volumes, and the new characters are, for the most part, very interesting. The building broader plot of Volumes 1-4 ends well, and the new story elements of 5-7 as things move outside the inner palace and the courtesan intrigue into broader geopolitics are great fun.

I'm deeply interested in seeing the anime adaptations of the later volumes, and dearly hope it gets more than Season 2 (cours 3 and 4, adapting volume 3 and 4, are coming soon), because there's a lot to like about the adaptational choices they've made in the previous season, and I hope we get to see a lot more Maomao, and especially a lot more Jinshi. I left him unmentioned because a lot of stuff happens I wouldn't want to spoil, but Jinshi remains an absolute highlight, and I can't wait to see people's reactions to him from here on.

#Alexis reads books 2024

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