It’s time for a second round of quick reviews. I might even do a third round after this, but I’m still undecided on it. Some of the shows I watched weren’t very interesting and it feels a bit weird to talk about a bunch of sequels. Most people will either already know what they think about those shows or not want to get spoiled for later seasons, both are fair. But we have enough material for this second round so let’s get to killing. I mean parenting. I mean writing.

Buddy Daddies

I already talked about Buddy Daddies once early on in the season when I was just getting into this show. Buddy Daddies is an anime in the same vein as Spy X Family. Two hitmen get saddled with a four year old girl after they kill her father and her mother shows no responsibility for the child whatsoever. She even sent the girl to go find her father on her own, knowing he’s probably not the most innocent of people. Now Kazuki and Rei are stuck raising this child and they’re taking it very seriously. Well, Kazuki is, Rei is much more of a slacker but he’s good at games so he has that going for him. The two have to navigate their dangerous job as well as dealing with a young child. As we go through the series we learn how to raise a child, we process deep seated trauma and we deal with taking over the family business. This show is surprisingly packed for such a short runtime and it feels like a complete package from start to finish. In all honesty, I think I might have enjoyed this show more than I did Spy X Family at times. I think the over the top suspension of disbelief of Spy X Family can get a bit tiring at times and although this show isn’t exactly steeped in realism, I believe these characters way more than I do Loyd and Yor. All in all this was one of the most surprising highlights of this season and if you haven’t checked it out yet, I highly recommend that you do.

Blue Lock

I already talked about the crazy title of the second ending of this anime in this post. It’s called Numbness like a ginger if you don’t want to read another post right now. But weird naming sense aside, Blue Lock is probably the most unique sports show I’ve seen in a while. A lot of shows that use sports as their main narrative focus on people bonding, becoming better together and overcoming different problems in their life through their sports. It’s a way of storytelling that I absolutely adore when done well, and for that reason I believe everyone should see Run with the Wind at least once. But Blue Lock isn’t about that. Instead it focuses on the darker, more competitive side of humanity. Take Ao Ashi from a couple of seasons ago, and mix it with the Hunger Games and that’s how you get Blue Lock. A man by the name of Ego (voiced by the legendary Hiroshi Kamiya) has invited a few hundred strikers to a facility called Blue Lock. They get the offer to stay at the facility for the foreseeable future and partake in a high stakes training camp where the weak get eliminated. This leaves us with a bunch of egotistical (see where it’s going) strikers that want to do whatever it takes to become the best striker. The players treat Blue Lock like it’s a life or death scenario because to them it is. It focuses not on teamwork and overcoming problems but instead devouring each other to become the very best. The main character starts off pretty boring but as the show goes on he becomes a much more fun character. Early on the side characters outshine him quite a bit. One thing I do appreciate about Blue Lock is that even though it’s silly and kind of insane most of the time, they take it seriously enough to at least address this by having Ego-san attend meetings with the people paying for this project as they wonder why they let this crazy person do as they please. But it does seem to work so far and with a second season in the works I think this is a good show to catch up on if you like the sound of it.

High Card

When I was a child, I used to play this game where I would have a magic watch that when activated let me see a whole different world around me. This watch would allow me to use all sorts of strange super powers against monsters and ninja. You know, normal lonely child stuff.
High Card kind of takes that childlike wonder about super powers and expands on it. The power in question in this world comes from playing cards. There’s fifty-two in a set, and at the start of the series someone steals them from a palace and they get distributed throughout the world. We then go to Finn, a young orphan who is in desperate need of money. In an attempt to make some money with gambling he gets himself stuck in a dangerous situation. There’s several people with these cards in the casino and soon he’s embroiled in the center of it all. Before he knows it, he’s working at a car store which is just a front for an organization that is trying to collect these cards for the crown. Finn meets several other card users here and works with them as they’re trying to deal with bad guys with cards. It’s a pretty straightforward show but the power system is somewhat interesting, the characters are fun and the worldbuilding is just well thought out enough that it keeps you wondering what’s going to happen next. The series ends on a good note as well and they’ve quickly announced that there’s a sequel in the work. If you like some modern superpower action, this show is a great recommendation. 

Campfire Cooking in another world with my absurd skill

From the title alone I think this is probably based on a light novel. Most manga have shorter titles although that could be different for sure. We see a lot of different Isekai shows throughout the seasons and I think I’m going to start watching a few less. Some of the ones I did watch this season were rather disappointing. Campfire cooking, on the other hand, had me engaged for most of its runtime. Three people were summoned to a fantasy world to save them from danger. But two of them were heroes and the remaining one seemed to be just some strange salaryman who could use Amazon Prime from any location in this new world. So he quickly takes his leave with some limited funds and a pat on the back and sets out on his own. His goal is to just slip under the radar so he won’t have to work for the king and can just live a relaxed life. Mukoda has quickly realized how incredibly convenient his new powers are. So he sets out on a journey and quickly enough he’s approached by the legendary Fenrir, who is curious about the man’s strange cooking. Fenrir becomes his familiar in exchange for free good food and the two set off on their adventure. From here on out it’s just a combination of the legendary beast defeating any and all enemies with ease and Mukoda cooking him some chicken nuggets as a reward. It’s a relaxed and humorous story and I found it very amusing to hear Miri’s voice actress from Buddy Daddies (earlier in this post) back as the slime Sui. Once you know it, it’s easy enough to pick up on but it’s still a different enough voice.
They quickly make many friends by defeating dangerous monsters and Mukoda even gets involved with some of the worlds’ gods who want offerings from him because he can order donuts on a zero second cooldown. I think this is a very simple idea for a story but it’s often the simple ideas that work the best, as long as you execute them well. If you want your seasonal relaxing Isekai show, this is one of two options you can pick. I’ll talk about the second option in an upcoming post, so stay tuned for that.

Handyman Saitou in another world

When looking at reviews for the source material of this show, you get mixed results. Some people absolutely love it while others seem more confused by its chaos. The way the show flows makes me think it’s based on a 4koma manga, short four panel stories put together into a larger narrative, but I don’t think that’s the case. This series is very different. I flip flopped from episode to episode on whether I think that is a good thing. Regardless. Saitou was a handyman back in Japan and he suddenly finds himself in a fantasy world. It’s a much more gritty and dangerous world than a lot of the ones we’re presented with in Isekai and that makes some of the goofy characters it has more grounded. Not only that, throughout the series we actually learn quite a bit about why Saitou was summoned here, how he could possibly go back and what is going on with the travel between worlds. But in this strange world, Saitou teams up with old, forgetful wizard Morlock, Burly swordswoman Realza and tiny cleric Lafanpan. The four go through dungeons and meet with other adventurers. There’s a bunch of side stories going on all at once, but I think the main reason this show feels so strange compared to many other Isekai shows is in its lack of formula. A lot of shows feel very formulaic. Everytime I watch a new Isekai, I feel like I’ve seen three others that are similar. With Handyman Saitou, I can’t really liken it to anything else I’ve seen. It’s weird, it’s chaotic and it feels strangely real at times. Not my favorite show of the season, but definitely one I’ll remember fondly because of how strange it could be at times. 

And there you have it, five more shows and my thoughts on them. Everything I’ve talked about today gets a passing grade from me so it’s up to you to decide if it’s something you want to watch. And if you did enjoy any of these shows, let me know in the comments down below. Thanks for reading.