Maybe they were going for the
Japanese word "mange"! …Wait, that's still NSFW.
In other news, somehow holidays (especially things like Easter weekend when I spend lots of time with family) always manage to screw up my viewing schedule and make me fall behind on anime and this thread. But I finally managed to catch back up for the moment, so here's my quick catch-up impressions for the end of last season and the beginning of the new one!
Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens 12 END
That was a satisfyingly flashy little operation to go out on. Also the one killing in the series that actually felt like it had some real weight to it. Fun series overall.
Darling in the FranXX 12
Feels like we're getting closer and closer to figuring out both what exactly Zero Two's deal really is, and what's really going on with this world. Next step: somehow stop Zero Two from going completely berserk >.>
Hakumei to Mikochi 12 END
As I said in my impressions for the very first episode, I was expecting we'd get some sort of "origin story" episode in this show at some point, and perhaps wisely, they saved it to cap off this season. It wasn't exactly the kind of origin story I was expecting (we didn't even see Hakumei and Mikochi's actual first meeting), but it was a sweet little story that tied closely into Hakumei's past, and felt like a satisfyingly meaningful note to finish on. Great to see that lock of hair still living on! =D
This show has grown on me so much as it went on, and has emerged as one of my lowkey favourites of the Winter. I would be super thrilled if it could get a second season at some point.
Sangatsu no Lion S2 - 21-22 END
omedetou hinachan
RIP hinachan hair
A super strong couple of final episodes that embodied basically everything great about this show. This felt like about as perfect a stopping point as you could possibly ask for, but fuck that, third season WHEN. I want to see lots of hinachan @ reischool.
Saiki Kusuo no Sainan S2 - 12
Okay, Saiki's Satou fanboyism is more amusing the more creepy-stalker it gets. He watches him on the toilet now. He measures how much toilet paper the guy uses!
Hugtto! Precure 9
Emiru is...pretty cute! If a little overbearing, lol. Though I kind of wish all the focus suddenly going to her would go to Kotori instead. Kotori is cuter! Why does she have to get upstaged by her own classmate?!
Anyway, the real star of the show is obviously Hugtan, whose adorableness is still the most powerful force in existence. Nobody is immune! Even Emiru was KOed immediately! And she even does the episode introduction now! Go go Hugtan!
Emiya-sanchi no Kyou no Gohan 4
The closest this show has come to making something that actually sounds appetising! But alas, I'm not a fan of egg. Nice to have a change of scenery once in a while, even if the comfy Emiya house is undoubtedly where the show's heart lies.
Uma Musume: Pretty Derby 1-2
This show seems like a super-solid production, which is always nice to see, and of course its concept of horsegirl-racer-idols is...certainly unique. That said, once you get past the basic concept, it doesn't feel like the show is doing much to stand out from similar cute-girls-doing-competitive-things shows. Maybe it doesn't need to. It's got enough energy to its execution that I'm sure it will at least be a fun watch. And the MC is extremely cute and genki, with a cute yuribait dynamic right off the bat with her reserved-but-sweet roommate. Can't complain.
Part of me wants to wonder how much excitement you can
really get out of the actual sport itself when it literally just amounts to "who can run the fastest", but I know from experience that anime can make
any sport exciting if it tries hard enough. And just in the first debut race we already had dramatic kicked-up-dirt-dodging that tied into Spe-chan's hilarious training with her mother. So yeah. And even if the races themselves do start to feel samey, there's always the idol performances to fall back on! XD
Uchuu Senkan Tiramisu 1
fucken lol
I'm not sure if this show is really my kind of thing, but it certainly did a great job here of immediately selling its basic concept of "ace mech pilot fails to deal with ridiculous mundane problems while in the cockpit saving the world". Will stick with it for another episode or two and see if it manages to keep up the entertainment value without getting old.
Also wow that's a lot of manservice for a seven-minute comedy show.
Mahou Shoujo Ore 1
OK, this has a lot of energy and charm and stuff. I just kind of...wish its gimmick didn't exist. Deliberately ruining cute character designs pains me, even if it is for comedy purposes. Wouldn't it be better if they just played the magical girl part straight like the dream sequence at the beginning? >.> Will see how it goes I guess...
Kakuriyo no Yadomeshi 1
I wasn't sure if this show was going to be really for me, since it seems to have a rather otome-leaning aesthetic, with the fairly generic female protagonist surrounded by pretty boys. But this first episode had enough charm that I'd like to at least give it a few episodes. The idea of a girl from the human world opening a restaurant for ayakashi who aren't familiar with human food has a similar appeal to something like
Isekai Shokudou, so it could certainly be fun if the food side of things is well executed.
3D Kanojo: Real Girl 1
This feels like it should be a prime candidate to drop right off the bat - the production values are unimpressive all round, the "otaku gets a girlfriend" setup is hardly unique or original, and the character designs aren't even particularly attractive. But there was a certain straightforwardness about this first episode that was kind of endearing, so I'll stick with it for another episode or so.
Tachibanakan To Lie Angle 1
This feels like the most generic kind of fanservicey romcom, and honestly most of the girls aren't even that cute outside of the MC. I probably wouldn't even bother with it if it weren't for the yuri aspect. Then there's the ridiculously short episode length, which clearly isn't doing it any favours (is there
any show that doesn't feel cramped with three-and-a-half-minute episodes?), but does at least mean it's not enough of a time investment to be worth dropping unless it turns out to be
completely devoid of entertainment value ~.~
Alice or Alice 1
And here's another ridiculously short show! This one feels a little more suited to the episode length than
Tachibanakan, what with the adorable chibi artstyle, the seemingly very limited focus and the 4koma-ish brief gags. But even a show like this still feels a little cramped in a measly 3-minute slot. Couldn't they at least make it seven minutes? Or even five?
Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu: Die Neue These 1
I have no prior experience with this franchise, and don't really know much about it at all, so I figured this reboot might be as good a place as any to try jumping in. It doesn't exactly have a welcoming start though, jumping straight into a grand-scale battle between two of a trio of warring space nations, with no real background to explain why I should actually care about the characters or what's at stake here.
Military drama isn't exactly a genre I'm super fond of, but the gambits at play here are so far at least simple enough to be easily understandable but satisfying enough to watch, and this Reinhard fellow has plenty of charisma. I know the franchise as a whole is a well-regarded classic, so I'll stick with it for now and see if it's for me or not.
