Sweet Dreams

Thanks to a free one-month subscription to Funimation, I was able to watch some of my more anticipated shows after all!

Haikyu! To The Top - If you remember, I wasn't that impressed with the first half that aired earlier in the year, but this second half went back to being the Haikyu I love. The match with Inarizaki High was intense!

Tonikawa: Over The Moon - SO CUTE! The premise is a little eye-rolly -- 18-year-old boy and 16-year-old girl get married after she saves his life -- but it's just so sweet and adorable, and I love how healthy their relationship is, despite the unusual circumstances. They respect and communicate with each other, and it's just really refreshing to see in a romance.

IDOLiSH7 Second Beat - Still the best idol show out there. The Re:vale duo is a fun addition to the cast, and I liked that some of the mysteries from the first season are being solved, like what happened to Tamaki's sister Aya.

Major 2nd - As I suspected, there were only a few episodes left to overlap with this season, but still a nice way to wrap things up until more (hopefully) comes out.

The Gymnastics Samurai - Not quite to the level of Yuri!!! on Ice, but still really good. I wish it had focused on more events than just the horizontal bar, though. I know it's the Jotaro's specialty, but I didn't even know he was also good at the other events until they showed him competing the All-Around at All-Japan since they never showed him practicing them that I remember. Also, I found Leo and his storyline rather pointless, to be honest.

Healin' Good Pretty Cure - This is the second Pretty Cure series I watched, and I liked it a lot more than first (the original). I think having a team instead of a duo worked more for me. Plus, Rate is probably the cutest animated dog ever! (And I'm saying this as someone who is not a dog-person at all.)

Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle - I thought this would be funnier than it was, but it was still amusing enough. Kinda repetitive at times, though I rather liked some of the later episodes that had the demons actually having to interact with humans other than Sya. Still, probably would have been better broken up into 12 minute episodes.

Adachi and Shimamura - Like GS, I don't really know what the point of the little alien astronaut was -- she just seemed really out of place and unnecessary in an otherwise mundane, realistic setting -- but this was a really sweet slice-of-life yuri romance.

Wandering Witch: The Journey of Elaina - This show has major Kino's Journey vibes, which isn't a bad thing at all in my book. Unfortunately, though the animation is absolutely gorgeous, the show itself is very...uneven. Elaina's reactions, in particular, are very unpredictable, and not in a good way. About the only thing that stays constant about her character is that she's very conceited.

As for next season's picks... Skate-Leading Stars is definitely my top pick, but it's on Funimation. I'll have to pick it up the next time I get a free subscription, although I have watched the first episode already since I'm currently still subcribed. In terms of realism, Yuri!!! On Ice it is not, but it still seems fun! Also looking forward to the second season of Dr. Stone, but I'm assuming that'll land on Toonami, so I'll just wait. So what's actually on the list? From Crunchyroll's announcements, Heaven's Design Team, The Quintessential Quintuplets 2, and Tropical-Rouge! Pretty Cure (as well as continuing with Healin' Good -- I'm officially a fan now!) are the only ones that are catching my eye at the moment.

And since it's the end of the year, it's time for another round of my favorite anime of the year!

Long time, no post! Here's a wrap-up of the last anime season:

I'd say it was a pretty good season overall. A lot of what I watched was continuations from the fall season – Chihayafuru, My Hero Academia, Welcome to Demon School, Iruma-kun, and Ahiru no Sora (which is continuing into spring as well) – but I really enjoyed the new shows I picked up.

Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken – If you haven't already watched this, do yourself a favor and just do it. Seriously, it's fabulous, and I have a feeling it will definitely make my Best Series of the Year list. It's just so imaginative and passionate and…really, really, really good!

Science Fell in Love, So I Tried to Prove It – Awkward title aside, this actually was a pretty cute and funny romance! I was a little worried at first that all the experiments they did would become repetitive and that it might have worked better as a short, but they actually managed to keep things fresh most of the time.And the main couple actually kissed and confessed at the end!That can be surprisingly rare sometimes…

The Case Files of Jeweler Richard – It's hard to put my finger on why I liked this show so much… I just did! Even if it did rely a whole lot on coincidence and the "cases" weren't all that interesting, I liked the characters, and I've always been a little fascinated by gemstones.

Haikyu!! – I was really looking forward to this after absolutely loving the first three seasons, but I have to say I was a little disappointed. I mean, it was still great, but the first half when they're focusing on the two training camps was kinda dull. Things are picking up now that they're actually at Nationals, though! Too bad we have to wait until summer for the next part.

For next season, it looks like it'll be another season of continuing shows. I'll be continuing with Ahiru no Sora, Idolish7 Second Beat, the new season of Major 2nd, and most importantly, the second season of Fruits Basket! (Finally into the part where the old anime left off – so excited to see it animated!) That doesn't leave a lot of room in my schedule for new stuff, and a lot of the shows I did want to watch (the second season of Kaguya-sama: Love Is War (so annoyed Crunchyroll didn't get this since they have the first season!), Arte, Tamayomi, and Wave, Listen to Me!) aren't streaming on Crunchyroll, but Woodpecker's Detective Office, Sing "Yesterday" For Me, and My Next Life as a Villainess: All Roads Lead to Doom! have caught my eye.

Gonna try to post a Merchandise Round-up soon. It's been a while since I did one, and I've got some pretty cool stuff to show off!

How did seven years pass by without me noticing I never posted "To Be By Your Side" over at Archive Of Our Own? (For that matter, how has it been seven years since I wrote that story? It doesn't feel that long ago!) I could have sworn I did, but apparently I didn't. So, I've rectified that oversight, for anybody who may be interested.

Speaking of fanfiction, I have some news that may make a few people happy... ,I've been writing again! Yeah, it's been over two and a half years since I finally finished "Melting Ice" and declared myself in semi-retirement, but I've really been missing fanfiction lately. Maybe I was just burned out when I decided to stop, or maybe this is just a fleeting burst of inspiration... I don't know. I do know that I'm about two-thirds finished with "Friends With Benefits", a sequel to "Blood On His Hands" that I started a little before I decided to quit, and that I'm contemplating between continuing with two Sailor Moon stories after I'm finished. If given a choice, which would you rather me write?

"Metamorphosis", a kinda-prequel-but-not-really to "To Be By Your Side" about how Helios became priest of Elysion in the first place.

or

"Stolen Dreams", a story about (a grown-up, obviously) Chibiusa being seduced by an incubus who wants revenge against Helios.

I'm leaning toward "Metamorphosis" at the moment, but I was further along in "Stolen Dreams" before the break, so it might be easier just to finish that one.

Anyway, I'M NOT PROMISING ANYTHING, but maybe you'll see some new stuff from me in a few months? (I've already decided I'm not going to start posting anything until a story is done. I reserve the right to quit again at any time.)

Now... Summer Anime Review time.

Eh, there's not much to review, though. The continuations of "Major 2nd" and "My Hero Academia" were great, the new season of "Free!" had way too many new characters but was still pretty fun to watch, and I'm watching the "Attack on Titan" dub on Toonami, so I've only watched a few episodes of the new season so far. Not really enough to have a real opinion yet. The only brand new show I watched this season was "Holmes of Kyoto", which I really enjoyed a lot. Don't let the title fool you. The main characters do solve mysteries, but most of them aren't very interesting and it's not really what the show is about. It's actually more of a romance, and I enjoyed the characters.

I haven't actually had a chance yet to decide on what I'll watch this upcoming season, so I'll let y'all know later.