heavenly_pearl | Entries tagged with mix

After several really good seasons, I have to say, this one was kind of a dud, but there were a few bright spots.

Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts: Definitely my favorite of the season, and one of my favorites of the year so far! I’m glad that it got two cours, giving the anime enough time to cover the entire manga.

Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead: If you asked me a few years ago, I would have said I definitely didn’t care for zombie stories, but after becoming a fan of series like School-Live!, Zombieland Saga, and now Zom 100...maybe I kinda do like them? It’s a shame Zom 100 ended up dealing with some production issues, causing a bunch of delays and the cour to actually still remain unfinished at this point, but the episodes we did get were fantastic. I especially appreciated the artistic decision to colorize the copious amount of blood in this show in rainbow colors. Gore is not my thing at all, so the colored blood really helped make it more palatable for me to handle. (Uh, maybe “palatable” isn’t the best word to use when talking about zombies!) I also loved the way they managed to get Akira’s best friend, Kencho, buck naked (Akira sometimes joins him) at least once in almost every episode since he was first introduced in the show. Never failed to crack me up!

Soaring Sky! Pretty Cure: Still really enjoying this year’s Precue series! I was a bit worried when Princess Ellee joined the team as Cure Majesty, but I liked that they kept her a toddler, only aging her up when she transforms.

Horimiya: The Missing Pieces: This season is a bit unusual in that it’s not a sequel or even a prequel, but a chance to go back and animate all the stuff they cut from the manga during the first season. Filling in the “missing pieces”, if you will. (And, thus, the subtitle.) I have to say, I enjoyed this season more than the first. It helped that most of the episodes focused on the supporting cast instead of the main couple. I’m sorry, but I’m just not a big fan of Hori, and shunting her out of the spotlight for most of the season just emphasized how much more likable the other characters are. Could have lived without the episode focusing on the sleazy teacher, but other than that, I liked it a lot despite the somewhat random nature of the episodes. That being said, I just wish they had done a straight two cour adaptation from the start. I think the series as a whole would have been a lot stronger that way.

TONIKAWA: Over The Moon For You: This was just a four-episode miniseries, which I expected to be mostly like your typical OVA episodes. You know, filler-y and fanservice-y, with nothing really important happening in them? So I was really surprised that this little arc with Nasa teaching computer skills to a class of high school girls – still think asking a guy who never even attended high school to teach is strange, no matter how good he is with computers, but they kinda made the premise work – actually had some relevance to the plot, particularly with the introduction of a character who may be connected to Tsukasa’s mysterious past. I imagine she’ll continue to play a role in future storylines, so definitely not skippable material!

Rent-a-Girlfriend: Almost no Mami, aside from a really random, fourth-wall breaking game explanation and a last-second cameo in the final scene? Minimal Ruka aside from the episode dedicated to celebrating her birthday? The addition of a fun neighbor girl who refreshingly doesn’t have a thing for Kazuya (at least, not yet) and would much rather help hook him up with Chizuru? A lot more focus on Chizuru and her relationship with her dying grandmother? See, this show can be good when it tries! This season was sooo much better than the first two. Too bad it doesn’t seem to know when to quit. Seriously, the end of this season would have been the perfect time for Kazuya to tell Ruka he’s just not that into her and get together with Chizuru for real, but apparently they feel the need to drag things on and on and on...

Bungo Stray Dogs: I think my favorite relationship in the entire show is between a young un-Gifted girl named Aya and Bram Stoker, who she affectionately calls Bra-chan. Despite being under the main bad guy’s control and being, well, a vampire, Bram isn’t all that bad himself, and watching him and Aya become friends while she attempts to sneak them out of the airport was quite amusing. The rest of the plot… I honestly think some characters have become way too overpowered, and there are now way too many of them. Of course the good guys won in the end, but not without the help of a lot of deux ex machina. Well, anyway, it seems the anime has now caught up with the source material, so it’ll probably be a while until we get a new season despite the teaser at the end of the final episode.

Saint Cecilia and Pastor Lawrence: This show was...cute. That’s really all I can think of to say about it. It really was just fluff without a whole ton of substance.

MIX: I really should have seen it coming. This series is from the same mangaka who wrote Cross Game, one of the most tear-jerking manga/anime series I’ve ever read/watched, yet...it still caught me by surprise when it happened. Granted, I can’t say it was done as well as Cross Game, mainly because despite having more time with the character, I was never particularly attached to them, but, still, this cour was a definite step up from the previous one.

Reign of the Seven Spellblades: There are a lot of fascinating concepts introduced in this show, but they don’t quite add up to feeling like a satisfying, cohesive whole, if that makes sense. It felt like the show was more interested in world-building than actually forming a coherent plot. I mean, halfway through the cour we learn that main character Oliver is ( Spoilers )...and then it’s barely referenced again after that. (To be fair, this is an extra-long cour with a couple of more episodes left, so maybe things will pick up again when presumably ( Spoilers ), but still!) Like, what? You can’t drop something like that in a story and not do anything with it! From what I understand from comments I’ve read (MAJOR SPOILERS FROM THE LIGHT NOVELS AHEAD), ( MAJOR SPOILERS ) which, fair enough. I don’t expect to get the full story from one fifteen episode cour, but at least build things up, leave clues, prepare plans, reveal more backstory, explore the teachers’ characters, gain allies...really just do ANYTHING with your main freaking storyline!

Jujutsu Kaisen: You know, I’ve come to the conclusion that I enjoy this series so much more when it’s focusing on Gojo and Geto. The first season was okay, but I really liked the prequel movie and the first few episodes of this season, which also served as a prequel flashback. Then after taking a break for a couple of weeks, the show returned to the present and the start of the much hyped “Shibuya Arc”…and I’m back to being “meh”. Seriously, can we just have a spin-off series devoted to younger Gojo and Geto?

As for next season, I'll of course be continuing with Soaring Sky! Precure and Jujutsu Kaisen, which are carrying on into the fall. Really looking forward to the new cours of Spy x Family and Ancient Magus' Bride, and I've already started watching Frieren: Beyond Journey's End and I'm In Love With the Villainess. I'll probably watch the new season of B-Project -- if not now, then at least eventually, since I've watched previous seasons -- but it's not a big priority, and SHY seems like it might be good. Oh, and After School Hanako-kun is a spinoff of Toilet Bound Hanako-kun, so I'll probably watch that, too. Other possible picks, if available on Crunchyroll: My New Boss Is Goofy, Kawagoe Boys Sing, and The Apothecary Diaries.

The spring anime season was pretty much a dream for romance lovers like me. Funny thing, I noticed that most of the shows I watched could be joined up into similar pairs. For example, if you enjoyed TONIKAWA: Over The Moon For You, you'll probably also like A Galaxy Next Door. If you loved The Ancient Magus' Bride, you might also love Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts. A fan of Skip and Loafer? Check out My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Lv999. Yuri Is My Job! and Why Raeliana Ended Up at the Duke's Mansion might not seem too similar at first glance, but both shows feature leads who put on a mask of sorts and lots of manipulation and secrets. Even MIX and BIRDIE WING - Golf Girls' Story - share more in common than just being sports anime (but to say anymore would be a pretty big spoiler for BW).

Anyway, onto the reviews!

Skip and Loafer - By far my favorite show of the season! It's strange... While y'all know I adore friends-to-lovers plots (and, don't get me wrong, I'm definitely rooting for Mutsumi and Shima to get together eventually), I actually wouldn't be too disappointed if they didn't become a couple, because I'm enjoying their sweet friendship just as it is. I also loved the fact that Mutsumi is still best friends with Fumi, who she grew up with. A lot of the time, when a character moves to a new place, their old friends tend to be forgotten until the character goes back to their hometown for a visit. But Mutsumi and Fumi still call and text each other all the time, and it's clear that Fumi has a life of her own off-screen, too, which saves their relationship from feeling too one-sided as is usually the case. The one weak spot? Ririka. The show does a good job of making you like characters that perhaps start out on the wrong foot (*ahem* Mika), but with Ririka... It's just really hard to feel much sympathy toward her when she really only has herself to blame for what happened to her. I really hope this gets a second season.

My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Lv999 - Like Skip and Loafer, I really loved the focus on friendships in this show, and I appreciated that though Akane notices that Yamada is hot right from the start, she doesn't really start crushing on him until she gets to know him better as a friend. Though some might have concerns about their age difference -- she's a 20-year-old second year college student while he's an 18-year-old senior in high school -- by the time they realize their feelings for each other and make it official, Yamada's about to take his college entrance exams, so he'll only be in high school for a few more weeks anyway. Not a big deal, IMO. Speaking of which, I don't really want to spoil too much, but I have to say the scene in the last episoe when they finally confess their feelings is probably one of my favorite anime confession scenes ever. This cour ended in a perfect spot, but I definitely wouldn't say no to more in the future!

Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts - What can I say? I always love a good "Beauty and the Beast"-type story, and this one is a great one. I think it's a cool twist that humanoid beasts actually rule the world and humans are the ones looked down upon, and I'm glad that it's revealed in the very first episode that Leonhart, the current Beast King, is secretly half-human (transforming into one when the miasma surrounding the kingdom is low) and has been releasing all the human sacrifices he receives instead of eating them as believed. Sariphi, the "sacrificial princess" of the title, is a pretty awesome character. No matter what trial and tribulations come her way, whether it comes from Anubis, the king's most trusted advisor, or members of the other clans who hate the idea of the king taking a lowly human as his queen, her kindness and determination always pulls her through. Special shout-out to the crocodile princess Amit, Sariphi's closest friend and ally, whose crush on one of the king's generals is just super adorable. I believe this is continuing into next season, so I'm looking forward to more!

A Galaxy Next Door - For those who don't think that asking for consent is "romantic" or "sexy", I present to you this anime, which makes consent pretty much the most romantic thing ever. The plot does start off a bit non-consentually with Ichiro accidentally touching Shiori's "stinger", which in her strange island culture makes them engaged and bonded to the point where they can't be too far apart without feeling ill physical effects. But after that revelation, the two of them are beyond respectful of each other's boundaries, even wanting to end their forced "engagement" despite the fact that they genuinely do fall in love with each other. They want to love on their own terms, not because of some mystical bond they did not consent to, and really, this was just one of the sweetest romances I've ever watched. Ichiro having to take care of his much younger sister and brother after his father's death also played to my love of stories featuring men taking care of kids. It was a bit strange that their mother was never really mentioned after establishing the fact that she left after her husband's death because she didn't want to be a mother anymore, a storyline that seemed ready made for drama, but maybe they'll explore that in another season, if the anime gets one. Though it ended in a good place, I definitely wouldn't mind more in the future!

TONIKAWA: Over The Moon For You - Though we get a few more big clues this cour basically confirming that Tsukasa is immortal and probably from the moon, her true origins mostly remain a mystery for now. That doesn't really bother me, though, because the real joy in this show is just watching how cute and sweet Nasa and Tsukasa are as a couple. I also enjoyed the adddition of Tokiko, Tsubasa's "grandmother" who knows all her secrets, to the cast. She was a hoot! Curious that we're getting a four episode miniseries about Nasa teaching a high school class this upcoming season. Seems kinda random, to be honest -- and IIRC, he didn't even go to high school himself, much less college, so why is he teaching? -- but I'll definitely take more TONIKAWA!

The Ancient Magus' Bride - I'm so glad this series got another season! This new cour has a bit of a different vibe, with Chise attending school and making new friends with her sorceror classmates, but it still has all the mystical charm and well-researched folklore of the first season. Admittedly, while most of this cour did seem like set-up for a larger storyline, with another cour already announced for later in the year, I'm totally okay with that. Looking forward to what happens next!

BIRDIE WING - Girls' Golf Story - - This anime almost makes golf interesting. Or, rather, it's more like the story surrounding the golf is interesting, because let's be honest, nothing can make golf interesting. Sorry, it's the truth. But BIRDIE WING certainly tries its best, which I can respect. From what I've seen online, most fans seem to prefer the first cour, which focused on Eve playing over-the-top underground mafia golf, but I actually much preferred this second cour, which brings Aoi more into the spotlight as the two of them strive for the pros. For me, Eve was too much of a one-dimensional character, only caring about golf and Aoi. (And I guess Klein and the immigrant orphans, although they felt more like plot devices to give Eve a reason to play illegal golf. Otherwise, she doesn't seem to think or care about them unless it's relevant to the plot at the time.) Aoi, on the other hand, felt much more fleshed out, what with her family pressure, the mystery of her paternity, and her serious illness, not to mention her totally obvious crush on Eve. I'm not sure if the ending really hit a hole-in-one, but it's open-ended enough that another season could be made.

Soaring Sky! Pretty Cure - Soaring Sky! is really turning out to be the best Pretty Cure series since Healing Good so far! With Ageha joining as Cure Butterfly in Ep. 18, the main team is finally complete, and I must say, the way they've really spread out the Cures' debuts with this series really reminds me of the first season of the original Sailor Moon anime, which is a definite plus in my book. The biggest weakness remains the villains, who are pretty forgettable, but that tends to be the case with almost all the Pretty Cures I've seen, so eh. Still a lot of fun to watch!

Yuri Is My Job - Hmm, this anime is a bit difficult to recommend because most of the characters are kinda unlikeable, to be honest, but they're also pretty fascinating. It's both fun and frustrating to watch them interact just because everybody has fundamentally different communication styles, leading to a lot of misunderstandings and drama. Still, I did enjoy it quite a bit, minus Kanako's rather disturbing fixation on Hime. Probably not the show for you if you really hate plots that hinge on misunderstandings, but if you don't mind that, it might be worth checking out.

MIX - This wasn't a bad cour, just not as good as the previous ones. With the first season, it was pretty easy to enjoy the story without being familiar with Touch, which MIX is a sequel to. With this cour, however, there were a lot of references to Touch that I think would be more meaningful to those who are familiar with that series (which I am not), especially the amnesiatic man who starts living with the Tachibanas. He seems to be a character from Touch, but I just couldn't bring myself to care much about the mystery of his identity which took up quite a lot of screentime. And they barely played any baseball at all! At least it seems like a tournament is coming up next, continuing into the summer season. Hopefully that means the focus will swing back more toward the Tachibana siblings and the current baseball team, rather than the previous generation.

Why Raeliana Ended Up at the Duke's Mansion - There's no denying that this anime is not going to winning any animation awards (even though the character designs are very pretty), but at least the characters and plot help make up for some of the animation deficencies. Unfortunately, with very little of story's various mysteries solved by the end of the season, the whole thing comes off rather unsatisfying. Definitely felt like it was just made as an advertisement to read the original manhwa, which to be fair is true for a lot of anime series, but most at least try to end on some kind of conclusion to an arc (see My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Lv999 and A Galaxy Next Door, which pulled this off beautifully). Raeliana feels like it just...ends. Still hoping we get another season, though, because I am interested to see where the story goes.

Next season, I'll be continuing with the TONIKAWA miniseries, MIX, Soaring Sky! Pretty Cure, and Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts, along with watching the new seasons of Horimiya, Jujutsu Kaisen, Rent-A-Girlfriend, and Bungo Stray Dogs. Unfortunately, My Happy Marriage and Ooku: The Inner Chambers, the only new series that really caught my eye, are on Netflix, so I'll just have to wait and check them out whenever I resubscribe to watch Sailor Moon Cosmos (assuming they again get the movies). If Crunchyroll gets Saint Cecilia and Pastor Lawrence, I may give that one a try, but, eh, it's just not a very exciting season.

Current Mood: blah

Time for the Winter Anime Review! Although, before I do that, I forgot to put my usual look back on the fanfiction I've written in the previous year in my year-end post, so here are the links to those on my Tumblr if anybody's interested:

Traditional Questionnaire

And I did something new and wrote individual posts on each of last year's fics. You can find all the tagged posts here.

Now, onto the anime reviews!

Buddy Daddies - I've said it before, but I have such a weakness for series about unexpected men needing to take care of a small child, and this show has TWO! Definitely my favorite of the season. I just loved watching the two of them learn how to care and eventually love Miri, and while I don't necessarily ship them in a romantic sense, I do adore the idea of Kazuki and Rei being queerplatonic partners (especially since I get major aroace vibes off Rei). My one real gripe about the show is that I just don't buy Kazuki as a hitman. Rei, it makes sense. He was literally born into the business, trained to be an assassin since he was a child, but beyond a throwaway line about him turning out the way he did because his parents abadoned him as a child, it's never really explained why Kazuki decided to become a hitman. (Spoilers for Spy X Family: ( Spoilers )) He's much more suited to being a stay-at-home father or a chef (( Spoilers )) than a killer, and while it is acknowledged that Kazuki isn't that great at being a hitman, that still doesn't explain how and why he is one other than that's the premise of the show. (Honestly, I could have lived without the whole hitman angle altogether. It makes the show sound too much of a ripoff of Spy X Family, and I was much more interested in their every day lives than their jobs.)

Trigun Stampede - The original Trigun was one of my favorite shows when I first started watching anime, but it's probably been at least 15, maybe even 20 years since I last watched it, so I was able to come into Stampede with pretty fresh eyes. First off, the CG animation is absolutely stunning. It's probably one of the best looking anime I've seen, period. I also thought Knives was a much more interesting and complex character than he was in the original and was given a much better reason for wanting to kill all the humans. And the twist? Well, I won't say anything more about that... So which series do I like better? I'd say the characters are more endearing in the original, and I really enjoyed the mix of comedy and drama, but the new series has a tighter, more gripping plot that touches on some really fascinating questions. They're both great in different ways, and I'd recommend both! (And for those who were reluctant to check out the new series because of no Milly, again, I don't want to spoil anything...but I'm looking forward to the next season!)

Delicious Party Pretty Cure/Soaring Sky! Pretty Cure - I found the ending of Delicious Party to be rather lackluster, to be honest, but Soaring Sky is off to a really strong start! Like with the last series, they're taking their time adding Pretty Cures to the story, with the third just making his debut in the ninth episode -- and, yes, that "he" isn't a typo. For the first time, a boy is going to be one of the main Cures! (I believe there have been male Cures in previous seasons I haven't seen, but it seems they only had small roles.) The fourth Cure is also going to be another first for the series, an adult (albeit only an 18-year-old)! We've already met her "civilian" identity, and she seems like she'll be a fun addition to the group whenever she awakens. Then there's Sora and Mashiro, the first two Cures, who already have a super close friendship that I actually wouldn't be all that surprised turned romantic based on all the subtext between them. Now, would they really dare go that far with a Pretty Cure series? I don't know, but, again, their chemistry is so strong that anything seems possible...

The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady - Mmm, I have conflicted feelings about this one, despite it getting a lot of high praise in ANN's season wrap up. The animation is beautiful, Anisphia and Euphyllia are interesting characters, and their (absolutely unambiguous) romance is great, but I found the plot and world building fairly weak. Despite Anisphia being the "Reincarnated Princess" referred to in the title, the fact that she used to live in the "real" world is mentioned only, like, three-ish times? We learn absolutely nothing about her previous life other than that she always wanted to fly, and you can be forgiven for forgetting this is technically an "isekai" series due to how little her reincarnation affects the plot. Take that aspect out of it, and very little would change. Also, there's a lot of talk about the kingdom needing to change, but it's never really shown why? There definitely were some corrupt nobles, but with what little screentime is given to the commoners, none of them seem particularly unhappy or displeased with how the country is run, so it was hard to really care about the political stuff. (Really, it comes across more like the only reason why the change is needed is because neither Anisphia or her brother Algard want to be queen/king...) I think it really would have helped if Anis and Euphie interacted with more commoners besides their maid, Ilia. (And I guess Lanie kinda counts?) Still a really good show that I enjoyed, but I wouldn't call it a great one.

My Hero Academia - Well, that was depressing...and I don't mean that it a bad way. After all, it's hard to be hopeful after all the big losses from last cour. Poor Deku really goes through it, forcing himself to leave the school and fight mostly on his own in order to protect his friends, but I'm glad the class managed to ( Spoilers ).

BOFURI - This is just such a fun, relaxing series, even with all the battles. If that seems like a contradiction...well, it kinda is, but seriously, after all the "stuck in a video game" series with dire, real-world consequences, it's just nice to watch a bunch of people simply having fun playing a VR game where nothing's really at stake besides winning events. I do wish they showed a little more "real-world" stuff like the first season did -- as with Magical Revolution, you could almost forget they are just playing a video game -- but that's my only real complaint...well, other than all the delays. They delayed an episode one week in the middle of the season, and now the last two episodes have been delayed, too. I'm not sure if the delays were production problems or COVID-related, but definitely a bit disappointing.

Tomo-chan Is a Girl - I was really expecting to love this show. "Friends-to-lovers" is one of my favorite tropes, so Tomo-chan should have been a slamdunk...except I shipped Tomo more with her upperclassman from Karate Club, Misaki, than her actual best-friend-turned-love-interest, Jun. I don't know... Maybe it was the fact that Tomo and Jun tend to hit each other a lot that tended to turned me off? It's not exactly abusive (and I believe they intended the violence to be seen as comedic), since they're both in the Karate Club and they're pretty evenly matched, but it was a strange dynamic that didn't really work for me. Also, I got tired of Tomo trying to force herself to be more girly so that Jun would see her as a love interest pretty quickly, especially since it's clear from the start of the series that ( Spoilers ). I did really enjoy Tomo's friendship with Misuzu and Carol, though, and I have to admit, there were some pretty hilarious moments. Jun even managed to win me over a bit by the end...but I still would have preferred her with Misaki.

Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun -- The Harvest Fest arc really did take up way too much time, but at least it ended with a pretty good conclusion. These last two cours really have been the weakest of the series, unfortunately. Next up, assuming it gets another season (which I'm almost certain it will), seems to be another festival, but this one is going to be centered on music, which I think will be a lot of fun!

Bungo Stray Dogs - I wish there weren't such long breaks between seasons of this series. (The last season before this aired in 2019, although there was the series of non-canonical Wan! shorts in 2021.) With so many characters and factions, it can be difficult to remember who everybody is, what faction they belong to, and what their Gifted power is. That being said, I did really love that this season started with a mini-arc devoted to Ranpo's backstory, since he's one of my favorite characters. It was also a bit heartbreaking to learn about Yosano's backstory, too. And, hey, the next cour is set to begin this summer, so not a long wait this time!

To Your Eternity - A third season has already been announced, although I'm not really sure where it will go when I felt the end of this cour wrapped things up really well. (Based on the brief flashforward we saw at the very end, ( Spoilers ), which could be...interesting.) Anyway, this series never really got back to greatness of its first few arcs, but I still enjoyed this cour, even though I felt like Fushi ( Spoilers ) kinda cheapened the earlier, heart-breaking deaths.

IDOLiSH7 - Only three episodes aired to end the last cour -- still not sure why; I assume COVID-related -- so not much to talk about other than I really hate Ryo and think his reasons for doing such awful things is one of the stupidest motives I've ever heard for a villain. (Basically, ( Spoilers ) Yes, that's seriously why he decided he hated all idols and wants to destroy them, no matter the cost.) Next season (if there is one) seems like it will focus on Nagi, my second favorite (after Yamato) member of IDOLiSH7, so hopefully that will be fun, but I'm not looking forward to Ryo sticking around...

As for next season, it's once again sequel-heavy. In additon to continuing with the new Pretty Cure, I'll be checking out the second seasons of MIX, The Ancient Magus' Bride, TONIKAWA: Over The Moon For You, and Birdie Wing -Golf Girls' Story- (which I actually just finished catching up with, so great timing). There's also Dr. Stone: New World, but since I assume Toonami will get that, I'll just wait to watch it on there. When it comes to new series, I'm most interested in Skip and Loafer, Why Raeliana Ended Up at the Duke's Mansion, and A Galaxy Next Door, but might also check out Yuri Is My Job!, Ao no Orchestra, and My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Lv999, depending on early reviews and which shows Crunchyroll actually gets.

I'm back! Well, technically I've been back for a couple of weeks, but after six weeks of no Internet, I've been busy trying to catch up with everything I missed in the meantime. Among those things, the fall anime season. Two of the series I started out watching on Crunchyroll -- Dr. Stone and Fire Force -- are now airing on Toonami, so I ended up just completing three series this season, only one of them actually new and not a continuation from last season.

Fruits Basket - Still loving and can't wait for it to pick up again next year, though to be honest, I'm a little surprised I haven't cried as much as expected to. I'm thinking it's the same thing that happened with Sailor Moon Crystal in that I've read the manga (and watched the first anime) so many times that I've become a little desensitized to it. Doesn't mean it's not amazing, though! I particularly enjoyed the rewrite of Ritsu's introduction, which I thought was an improvement over both the anime and the first anime. Uotani's backstory was also wonderfully done. I actually did cry at that!

given - Picked this up mainly because I usually enjoy anime about bands, but I loved it. It's BL, but it's good BL. Like, seriously. And Mafuyu's song in episode nine? Incredible. I'm not usually the type to rewatch scenes over and over again, but I think I've watched the concert at least four or five times so far.

Mix - I enjoyed this series, but the ending arc where they're playing in the tournament seemed kinda lackluster, mainly becausenobody seemed to be taking the games too seriously. In fact, when the Meisei team finally lost, nobody seemed that torn up about it, which is weird for a sports anime. I suspect it's because the author is playing the long game, not wanting them to actually achieve their goals until later in their high school careers, but there could have been at least some tension.
Ah, well. The manga is still ongoing, so I do hope we get another season eventually. I did like the series overall.

Next season, I'll definitely be watching the new seasons of My Hero Academia and Chihayafuru, and I'm thinking about checking out Ahiru no Sora and Welcome to Demon School, Iruma-kun, but that's all has caught my eye so far.

Current Mood: geeky

A little late, but as promised, a wrap-up of the spring anime season.

Unfortunately, only a few shows caught my interest, but they were all pretty good.

Fruits Basket – Love, love, love! I'm still over the moon that we're getting a manga-compliant reboot. It's not perfect, but it's pretty darn close. I can't wait until we finally get to the parts not covered in the first anime!

Ao-chan Can't Study – I'm kind of surprised I liked this so much, honestly. I didn't even start watching it until well into the season when I decided to see if there were any interesting shorts (episodes are only about twelve minutes long). Creepy father is creepy, but if you ignore that, it's actually a rather sweet romance. I especially liked Ao's love interest, Kijima, who is genuinely a nice guy who really respects her and her boundaries.

MIX – Mitsuru Adachi really is a master of baseball stories, even if his character designs are all Xerox copies. (Seriously, if you took a random screencap from "Mix" and "Cross Game", you probably wouldn't be able to tell the characters apart.) A little slow at first, but now that the brothers are in high school, I think things are starting to pick up.

Bungo Stray Dogs – Just as good as the previous seasons.

Midnight Occult Civil Servants – This was a bit of a random pick, but I tend to like supernatural anime, and this was a pretty good one. Nothing special, but enjoyable enough. I liked that it included a variety of international mythical beings instead of sticking with just Japanese mythology.

As for next season, there's not that really interests me this time either. Huh. I'm thinking of checking out Dr. Stone and Fire Force, and of course I'll be continuing Fruits Basket and Mix. I'm disappointed that O Maidens In Your Savage Season isn't on Crunchyroll, because that was the one I was most looking forward to, but the past couple of seasons, I've noticed that CR will sometimes start airing shows already picked up other companies a couple of weeks later, so I'm hoping that maybe it'll be one of those late pick-ups for them.

Current Mood: blah

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heavenly_pearl

Pearls of Heaven

July 2025

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Sweet Dreams

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