Maybe 13 or 14 years ago I watched a video of a strange cartoon that I’d never seen before. The song Until the day I die by Story of the Year was blasting from my pc speakers, you know the built in ones that sounded like total crap but you were glad you had something, and the characters on screen were fighting and casting what seemed like magic. Back then I had no concept of what anime was, let alone Naruto. I didn’t even really understand what I’d stumbled across. This was still a year or two before I got into anime and when I still thought Pokemon was an american cartoon and so was Dragonball Z.
This wave of animations also introduced me to some louder musical genres. Before then I mainly listened to what was on the radio and a lot of hip hop/R&B. These videos were always accompanied by rock, metal or a genre adjacent to those two. For the next couple of years, especially after I started watching anime properly, I would often watch these AMVs or Anime Music Videos.
These AMVs were a big part in spreading anime to a broader audience. Obviously this was all fan content, but these videos got tons of views because they were just so damn cool. The subject of an AMV would often be a specific fight in an anime, like Ichigo vs. Grimmjow from Bleach or a ton of Naruto Vs. Sasuke. The really talented AMV makers would match up certain beats in the fight to the music so it would be even more satisfying to watch.
I’m often reminded about an AMV I watched about Luffy Vs. Hody from One Piece. This is in my opinion the weakest arc in One Piece, but the fight itself is pretty cool. So taking an arc and just bringing it down to a four minute video with a banger song behind it is a great way to still consume it.
Some people even went extra crazy and did some ridiculous things. Take for example Anime’s got Talent. It’s a three and a half minute compilation of a whole bunch of anime, just celebrating the entire genre. And all of this done to the background of it being Anime’s got talent? I wish I had half the creative bones the person who made this video had. It’s probably my favorite anime-related random video I’ve ever seen.
Why am I talking about it today? I guess it’s just nostalgia. It’s a time I’m severely missing. Coming home from school and watching AMVs for an hour or so before continuing watching One Piece for the rest of the day while solidly ignoring my homework. It was a celebration of the anime we all loved so much and brought people together when Anime wasn’t as big a phenomenon as it is in the west now. It’s obviously still growing, but I can’t help but look at the road traveled and see how much has changed. And I have to admit that I got into anime pretty late. I’ve heard people talk about bootlegging VHS tapes with bad translations as their only option. By the time I started watching anime at the very least streaming sites (you know, the definitely perfectly legal ones) were becoming more common and although there would be some stuff missing and a lot of incomplete catalogs compared to now, at least the big shows were decently available. And I think for a lot of people these AMVs were their first introduction to anime. And if not that, they were a big part of their consumption. So after reading this I urge everyone to go to youtube and search for some good AMVs, to celebrate the good old days of anime. Thanks for reading.
Whenever I’m in my room after dinner, playing games, writing, reading or doing something else, I’ll often go downstairs to get a coffee and chat with my dad for a bit. He’s sitting there alone most evenings, since my parents are divorced. Obviously he doesn’t mind, he’s got his snacks, his bejeweled knock-off games and most importantly, his soccer matches. Now he doesn’t only watch soccer. I’ve seen him watch many different sports from darts to volleyball to tennis and many more. But it is often soccer. I’m the polar opposite. I don’t really like watching sports that much and I think out of all the sports available, soccer is definitely one of the least interesting ones to me. Different strokes for different folks, I suppose. A while ago I tried watching the soccer anime Days and I just wasn’t impressed by it either. Until recently I figured I’d do perfectly well in life without ever watching another soccer anime. But this season sees the soccer focused anime Ao Ashi and after the latest episode I’m very happy about having picked it up. Let’s talk about the episode, what works so well about it and what it did to hit all the right emotional points in the story. Spoilers ahead for Ao Ashi episodes one through five, but none of the spoilers are anything major.
In case you haven’t seen anything about Ao Ashi yet, which is fair, it’s very good but I wouldn’t call it a standout anime by any means, let’s give a quick rundown of the show’s plot. Aoi Ashito (hence the name) is a young soccer player. He’s just having fun playing with his school friends. He’s very good but a pretty selfish player. Never seen that before in an anime, have we? He’s not a dick though, his teammates all like him, it’s just that his playstyle is very selfish. When a coach from a Tokyo youth team is in town by coincidence, he sees Aoi play and is impressed. He then invites the young lad to a tryout event where he spends the next episodes training and showing off his skills. His brother paid for the trip there since he’s from a poor family that does their best to provide but can’t afford trips like this. The episode starts from him reading his acceptance letter to the club.
I actually can’t believe how many emotions her face went through in this short scene, really enhanced the moment for me.
I don’t believe we know where Aoi’s dad is in the story, but his mom is the one raising him and she’s obviously very protective of her son and worries this will create distance. I feel like this is a logical reaction but there’s also definitely a sense of pride there. The episode begins with Hana being adorable. She’s made a meal plan for Aoi that she’s included in the letter that he was sent. His brother even comments on how thorough it is and how impressed he is with it. I love these dorky kids already, they just seem like great kids and that’s what I want from a show like this. Haikyuu gives me similar vibes, where the kids behave like actual dumb kids. I love kuroko no basket with all my heart but those kids take themselves way too seriously sometimes. Aoi and his brother talk a little bit with Hana about their mom, and she overhears part of the conversation, but pretends she didn’t. She hears Aoi confess that one of the reasons he wants to go pro is to make his mom’s life easier. I’m too emotional lately because just rewatching this scene is making me tear up again. His mom interrupts him before he says much more and then yells at Hana a bunch. Poor Hana. She still diligently answers any questions that Aoi’s mom has and at some point she drops the very important foreshadowing line.
Those bastards knew exactly what they were doing
It’s not a particularly new plot point, but it is a good one. His mom is too poor to buy him new cleats. He’s been bullied because of it and he’s definitely self conscious about it. It’s portrayed in the story that this question isn’t a big deal and Aoi certainly doesn’t notice it, but to the viewer it’s a great indication of what’s about to come their way. Aoi has other things in mind so we cut him some slack here. I do think that it’s very “anime” of his mom to completely avoid talking properly with her son. I’m not a parent, so maybe this is more realistic than I give it credit, but who knows. We cut to Aoi and his teacher informing his class that Aoi’s leaving for Tokyo. His class is shocked as he didn’t warn them at all and Aoi is pretending to be a big boy, like any kid moving to the big city would. He then says a quick goodbye to them and leaves for the station with his brother.
Obviously his friends wouldn’t just let him leave like that. I believe Ace of Diamond had a similar send off scene but it’s late right now and I don’t want to go back and check. Forgive me if I’m wrong. Sawamura was definitely a small town boy as well though. We quickly cut back to the teacher telling the soccer club boys to go follow him like any good teacher should. Some of his other friends join in and they all rush to the station to get there first. Somehow Ashito manages to stay strong through all of this and he takes pictures with all his friends before leaving on the train. Then his brother hands him a gift package from his mother which contains a letter and a box. He’s told to open it on the train to Tokyo. I love how he’s kind of worried because his mother is normally the very direct type. At least in his perception she is, most adults are more complicated (in some ways) than they seem to kids. It’s hard to see someone’s inner thoughts from the outside. He opens and reads the letter.
The letter is nice on its own and contains some cash. There’s an apology from his mother for not seeing him off and not properly talking to him. She admits to being selfish but aren’t we all? She’s working hard to pay for his life in Tokyo. Man I’m tearing up again, she’s giving him her savings to follow his dream. This is parenting done right, I love her so much. She also admits to overhearing Ashito’s conversation with Hana on the phone.
Stray strong, don’t cry.Pull yourself together, you’re a grown man, you’re not crying at this.nah, today is a crying kind of day, we’ll be adults tomorrow. (maybe)
I’m a sucker for well crafted emotional beats in a story. I wasn’t when I was younger, but at some point I unlocked the ability to empathize with fictional characters. It’s honestly still a mystery to me, I used to be so dead inside, what went wrong? Now whenever I watch a scene like this, especially when my own mood is already not amazing, I just cry my eyes out. But I love it so much. There’s a reason Arlong Park is still the best One Piece arc. Nothing makes me resonate more with a story than when it makes me cry. This could be for a sad moment, a happy moment, or even just a profound moment. The music, the scenery, the send-off from his teammates. Everything just works so well together as we watch Ashito leave his hometown. The letter is amazing and whoever wrote these scenes should be damn proud of themselves. And everyone who worked in adapting it so well should share in that pride. Maybe I’m overreacting, but in a season that has such amazing anime airing I think it’s important to also acknowledge the amazing moments taking place in the other shows this season. Ao Ashi gets full marks for this one.
After writing my 6 shows to look out for post, I realized that there has been some absolutely fantastic music lately in anime, and I just wanted to quickly highlight some of my favorites. So let’s do just that, in this little bonus post while I procrastinate editing once more.
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang by QUEENDOM (Ya Boy Kongmin)
To the surprise of absolutely no one, I’m starting off this list with a track that got me invested into watching a show that didn’t seem that interesting to me. And it paid off. The song gets me so hyped so quickly, and the animations for it are amazing as well. I love Eiko’s outfit when she’s laying on top of the car and dancing in front of ancient China. I couldn’t find any other songs by this artist yet, but this song has immediately been bookmarked, favorited, liked and added to every playlist I could possibly fit it into. The ending is solid too.
These screamo songs are often a hit or miss for me. I’m generally not a huge fan of the loud parts, but they do have the effect that the slower, softer parts of the song hit so much better. And when the chorus starts and I hear that soothing voice go If I lose it all, slip and fall I just melt. There’s so much raw emotion behind this song and it fits this season so well that it’s just beautiful.
This show was okay. I honestly already forgot it happened, but I enjoyed it while it was on. But having a song by supercell is just unfair. For those unfamiliar, they were heavily involved with Guilty Crown, an anime that (in my opinion) completely flopped but was still carried by a fantastic soundtrack. The music in that show is so damn good I’d recommend people to watch the show regardless of how awful it is. This song gets me hyped and the vocals sick. Great song!
Hadaka no Yuusha by Vaundy (Ousama Ranking)
This show was bound to end up on this list, it’s quickly become one of my favorite shows of all time. And every song used for this show was an absolute banger, but this one stands out as a masterpiece. I still get chills listening to it. I’ve already talked about it in other posts so I’m not going to waste your time too much, but I definitely wanted it added to this list.
Ano hi no Kotoba by Nao Touyama (Ascendance of a Bookworm 3rd season)
I have very mixed feelings about this show, even after three seasons. I like some parts of it, but other episodes I’m just really bored. But we’re not here to talk about the shows, we’re here to talk about the music. And I’m a massive sucker for great vocals. And Nao Touyama’s voice in this song is just so nice to listen to that it makes me feel at ease. And in times like these, that’s a feeling I very much appreciate. Watch the show if you like fun fantasy realms with magic and political intrigue or if you’re just really into books like Myne is. But definitely give the song a listen.
And there you go, five songs to add to your playlists. I’m working on my own Japanese Music playlist, and it’s so much fun to discover new artists. Spoiler alert, it’s going to have an unhealthy amount of songs from Aimer on there. I’ll eventually post it on this blog, but for now, this will have to do. Thanks for reading.
It’s that time of the season again. Spring is in the air. Okay, it may have rained here in the morning and I stayed in bed until it stopped. But that’s part of the spring experience, is it not? You know what’s also a part of the spring experience? A brand new season full of anime. With Ousama Ranking, Shaman King, Attack on Titan and Demon Slayer all in the past, what will be the new hotness? Will it be one of the sequels airing like Komi-san, Kaguya-Sama or Bookworm? Or will it be a new show? I don’t know, and I’m once again not watching everything that’s going on, but here’s six shows from this season that I think everyone should consider. Let’s dive in.
Deaimon
I recommend not messing with her.
This show reminds me of a show that used to be my favorite show for a while; Barakamon. It has the same slow vibes that I want out of a slice of life show like this. Nagomu gets a letter from his family saying that his father has been hospitalized. He comes back home from Tokyo to take over the family business but upon getting there finds that they have their eye on someone else. Instead he’s asked to help care for Itsuka, a young girl that’s working there. Itsuka has lost her mother and was abandoned by her father, so she has some serious baggage. The two get off on the wrong foot but Nagomu’s carefree personality helps him get along with almost anyone.
This all looks and sounds great, but I don’t have any clue what it actually tastes like. I don’t have enough money to buy Japanese Snacks, are you crazy? I can barely afford uni.
I don’t even have to watch this show in its entirety to tell you where it’s going. Nagomu is probably going to become more and more of a father figure for Itsuka as the two start getting along more. Both have a passion for sweets after all, so they have some common ground. I wouldn’t be surprised if her real father shows up somewhere during the season and we get some drama out of that. Even assuming that I know which direction this show is going to head, I’ll still gladly tag along for the ride because if I’m right this show will do everything I want it to do, and if I’m wrong it might surprise me in a good way. If you like drama and slice of life I recommend it. So far it feels similar to Barakamon, so if you like that you’ll like this.
Heroines run the show
That’s like 15 bucks an hour for a part-time job while still in high school?? I once made like 5 bucks an hour at that age and I thought I’d made it big in life. Then again, I didn’t last very long in that job because of panic attacks, but you can’t win them all.
I don’t know a lot about idols. I’ve watched an idol show here and there, but they were generally ones that didn’t focus on real world idols (Kageki Shoujo) or more fantastical (Revue Starlight). From what I’ve understood, LIPxLIP, the idols from this show, are actual idols? I’m way out of my depth when it comes to this stuff I’m afraid. But it seems like I don’t need to know too much about idols to watch this show. It follows Hiyori (not Hiyoko, get it right manager) who loves track and field, but needs money to stay afloat in Tokyo. While searching for a part time job she comes across the job of assistant manager for an idol duo. These two idols happen to be her classmates as well. The reason she got the job over all the other applicants? She doesn’t really care much about idols. She didn’t even know about LIPxLIP when she applied for the job, and the CEO and manager thought this would benefit her in the work. It wouldn’t work having someone who is constantly fangirling be in charge of helping these guys. Both idols have some personality issues and it’s up to Hiyori to help them overcome those, whether they like it or not. The story so far follows them through both school life and professional life and makes for great content. Hiyori is voiced by Inori Minase (Rem, Hestia, Jeanne from Vanitas), and she has the perfect voice for this character which really adds to the experience. We’ll talk more about perfect voice castings later on, but for now I can highly recommend this show if you like drama shows that give you that feelgood feeling.
Love after world domination
Who holds hands during a third date? That’s way too lewd. You tell him, Desumi!
It’s a tale as old as time, isn’t it? Romeo and Juliett. A forbidden love that cannot be. The red power ranger fell in love with the evil villain and now they’re secretly dating. Fudo is part of the Gelato Five, who are basically the power rangers. Desumi is the Reaper Princess of the villain organization Gekko. When the rest of their respective organizations are fighting, they try to slip out and find a quiet place to have a nice date. This show is just nice. That’s the best compliment I can give it. The jokes are pleasant, the characters are fun, the art is colorful and it’s just nice to sit down and watch them mess around trying not to get caught. From Desumi being lonely while her fellow villains interpret it as her being angry and they’re scared of her for it to Fudo planning the perfect date which includes going to the gym and eating a protein bar. They’re both massive dorks and perfect for each other and I’m a big fan of romance shows where the characters are actually dating. Too often do we spend 12 episodes on will they won’t they and then the show ends. Screw that noise, I want my romance shows to have actual romance in it, and this show gives me that. It’s not going to be up everyone’s alley, but personally I recommend it.
Aoashi
Do you like sports anime? Do you like soccer? If your answer to at least one of these two questions is “yes” then you should probably give this show a go. If your answer to both is no, then you should probably skip Aoashi. It’s a sports anime about soccer.
Optimistic kid? check. Kid with crazy hairstyle? check. Yup, I’m confident this is in fact a sports anime.
Ashita Aoi is from a small town but has a passion for soccer. He’s a very selfish player though, but he does at least have the skills to somewhat back up his bravado. And he’s not a bad kid. When the manager of a successful youth team comes across him, he’s invited to tryouts in Tokyo. This looks just like most other sports anime. There’s a team with quirky players, there will probably be senpais that are on their last season, the coaching staff looks to be at least a little bit insane and the rest is history. I don’t have much to say about this except that it’s got the basics down and has so far been enjoyable to watch.
Ya Boy Kongming (Paripi Koumei)
I’m inserting this one after I’d already finished the post because as of writing the rest of this, I hadn’t seen this show yet.
This man has more swagger in his hat than I have in my entire wardrobe. What an absolute legend.
I’ve seen too many Isekai shows lately. I love the genre, but I’m also deeply aware that a lot of them feel bland and uninteresting to me. From overpowered demon lords to underpowered boring characters, there’s a lot of bad things to say about the genre. But with Ya Boy Kongming I’m not even quite sure if this can be called an Isekai. Depends on how pedantic you want to be, I suppose, but it does follow a character who’s put into a world that’s completely strange and new to them. The show follows Kongming, a brilliant strategist from the Three Kingdoms era, who wanted to be reincarnated into a more peaceful time. Having his wish granted, he wakes up in modern day Shibuya, several decades younger and completely out of place. Well, it’s Halloween, so he actually fits in quite well. Kongming thinks he’s in hell for a short time, but pretty quickly figures out that he was just sent to the future. With his wit being by far his strongest asset, he decides to help out a young woman named Eiko, whose singing deeply touches him. How hard will it be to become a famous singer if your manager is one of history’s most brilliant strategists? We’ll find out.
Her design is amazing, I’m instantly in love. It’s also nice to have a show that follows characters that are a bit older as opposed to high school characters.
I, like others in my friend group, didn’t give this anime much attention when I first saw the synopsis. It looked uninteresting to me, and I’ve been getting bored of watching mediocre shows. What convinced me to eventually watch it anyway, was when I was sent the opening theme. It absolutely slaps. This eurobeat track with simplistic vocals just does the perfect job of getting you hyped. And to back up the opening theme is not only a great ending theme, but also a very good show in between the two. That’s right, although the premise sounds silly, I found myself hooked after one episode. This is why I should give more shows a shot. Some sound dumb but end up amazing after only one episode. As of writing this I’ve only seen the first three episodes of Ya Boy Kongming, but it’s already competing for best in season with Spy x Family. And speaking of Spy x Family;
Spy x Family
As I like to do, I’ve saved the best for last. Spy x Family has been on my radar for quite a while now. It was near the top of my list of new manga to buy, but I eventually decided against it since my backlog of books and novels is already too large. When I heard it was getting an anime I figured I’d at the very least watch it first before deciding if I then wanted to buy the manga. We’re three episodes in and I can’t believe I’ve been missing out on this story for so long.
Anya is in shock when she realizes tripping over a bucket does not really constitute as helping. It reminds me of an old theater show I saw when I was young where the premise was that one guy was there to help the other, but he just made things worse. Then after the first guy chased off the helper guy, he started feeling bad so he invited him back. Alright, I digress.
Spy x Family follows the Forger family. Their last name is Forger because they’re all using fake names. Pretty smooth right? Loid Forger is the very successful spy twilight. His newly acquired wife Yor Forger is the assassin known as the thorn princess. Their adopted daughter, Anya, is a telepath. Yor and Loid don’t know about each others’ professions nor do they know about Anya. The latter has figured everything out, but she’s a telepath so that’s cheating. The reason for this setup is to get Anya into a prestigious school and this way get closer to the target that Loid/Twilight is spying on. What makes this show for me so far is two things. First, Yor is voiced by Saori Hayami. She is my favorite voice actor and I love listening to her. She’s in tons of high profile shows and it’s always a joy.
Second, Anya is a very funny character. A telepathic child living with two dangerous individuals is a dynamic I didn’t know I wanted in my life but it works so well. She loves peanuts, is worried she’s going to be abandoned again and her shocked face is very funny. I can’t wait to see more of this family’s dynamic as the show continues and I’m definitely picking up the manga after this season ends. Give it a watch no matter what your anime preferences normally are, it’s that damn good.
An expression like that on a face like that with a voice like Saori Hayami’s? That’s just plain unfair.
And that’s a wrap. I’m watching a few more shows that aren’t sequels, but none of those are particularly good and I might end up dropping some. The sequels airing right now also don’t seem that amazing. I can’t even remember half of them without going to my tracker. I’m getting more and more picky when it comes to what anime I enjoy. I even wrote about rewatching shows recently and I’m going to start reviewing some older shows. I haven’t decided what to start with, but since Utawarerumono is getting another sequel this year I might revisit the first seasons of that. There are so many amazing shows already out that it feels sort of bad to watch mediocre shows just because they’re currently airing. Either way, it’s nice that there’s still new shows that can impress me each season and after Ousama Ranking and now Spy x Family I’m very excited for the future of anime. Thanks for reading and I hope you end up enjoying some of these recommendations!
My man’s about to unlock a whole range of emotions he’s supressed for the sake of his job. It’s a good thing he flipped because you should have seen Yor’s expression. That was way scarier.
It’s not often I watch an anime that completely transports me to another world. I used to get this feeling a lot more when I was younger. One Piece, Bleach, Naruto and even early Fairy Tail would make me feel like my worries are no longer an issue and let me just enjoy the world these characters are living in. It’s a fantastic feeling to have, and it’s the main reason why the fantasy genre will always be my favorite. I’ve recently started enjoying different shows a lot as well. Some of my favorite shows are now more dramatic and less fantastical. But that doesn’t mean the genre isn’t capable of making me feel things that no other genre can. And along came a little anime called Ousama Ranking. I knew nothing about this show, but on a whim I picked it up after the first three episodes had already aired, even though I initially dismissed it because the cover art looked too childish. Let’s talk about this masterpiece, shall we? This review contains spoilers for most of the anime!
By trying your hardest, Kage. I have an inkling that will work out well.
Title: Ousama Ranking (Ranking of Kings)
Year: 2021-2022
Episodes: 23
Studio: WIT Studio
When I see the name Wit Studio, I immediately think of the grittier shows they’ve done, like Attack on Titan and Vinland Saga. Looking into the studio a little bit more, they’ve also done The Ancient Magus Bride, which, although definitely very different, does have a similar vibe to it. What they do great is solid animation and making shows look really good by looking unique. I don’t think any of the aforementioned shows look generic or similar by any means, and neither does Ousama Ranking.
Art & Animation
As I already mentioned, this show looks a bit childish from the outset. The art makes it look like it’s made for children and this is definitely on purpose. Ousama Ranking is a Fairy Tale for sure, but it’s like the darker fairy tales that we didn’t quite see as kids. Behind the surface of this boy going on an adventure lies a dark secret and a web of conspiracies. But although the artstyle can be a bit deceiving, it definitely fits the show really well. It makes it feel special and transports you into the world. The animation is also very solid for the entire show. It didn’t stand out as spectacular if I’m honest, but I also never found myself being distracted by it. Where shows like Demon Slayer are enhanced by the animation quality, for most shows having solid animation is more than enough.
I think the specific artstlye used for this show really helped convey how ominous this scene was, especially when you later realize this rage might have been aimed at Domas instead of Bojji.
The music and the OST
The music. My god, the opening and ending themes for this show are absolutely fantastic. The first opening is done by King Gnu, who I’ve heard some songs by, but I’m not super familiar. Looking a bit into it, they’re a very prolific artist. The song itself sounds very unique and if you want to do yourself a favor, look up the music video for the song. It’s definitely a wild ride. I know I’ll be looking into their music more. The ending is heart wrenching and I don’t even understand what she’s singing about. Oz by Yama was immediately added to my playlist. And when I saw they changed openings halfway through I was only disappointed for a moment, since Vaundy is a name I recently became familiar with and the song for the second half of this anime is also fantastic. It’s almost breath stopping? I can’t really put it into words well, but the sound makes me just wait with my breath held. If not for SiM’s The Rumbling these would be my favorite songs coming out of this past season.
I love every opening and ending for this show, but Vaundy’s Hadaka no Yuusha, in combination with this shot of a young Miranjo gives me actual chills. It’s so damn good I can’t believe it exists. It makes me feel like creating art like this is the only real point to being alive. I’m being dramatic, I just love this show so damn much.
The Characters & The Story
Alright, enough of the side dishes, let’s get to the meat and potatoes of this post, shall we? I really want to dig into this story a bit deeper than I did last week. There will be spoilers ahead of this, so be warned. If you haven’t watched the show at this point, what are you doing? It’s amazing!
Before writing this, I’ve looked at some of the negative reviews about this show. I wanted to know what the people who didn’t like it think. Sometimes this helps me get new perspectives. Sometimes, which is the case right now, this just affirms that I love a show despite its flaws. Ousama Ranking, to me, is a fairy tale. In a fairy tale I won’t get mad about characters getting redemption even if they might not deserve it. The real world is cruel enough, if it’s well written I’ll allow my escapism world to have as much redemption and happy endings as it needs. This brings me to looking at the characters. With this out of the way, let’s talk about the characters.
So precious, no wonder Kage ended up being such a good friend to Bojji.
Bojji as our main character is great. We don’t have enough disabled characters in fiction. I’m personally not deaf or mute, but I reckon it’d be great for people who are to have a character in fiction that runs into similar problems. And for me it’s fascinating to try and walk in that character’s shoes. His partner in (not) crime, Kage, is a great fit. He’s such a dork even though he thinks he’s so much cooler than everyone around him. Both their backstories are heartbreaking as a good backstory should be. Watching Kage’s mother strung up from that spear broke my heart and then all the shit he had to endure to finally find a friend like Bojji? By episode 3 this show has made me cry more than half the anime I watched last year combined did. Following them through 23 episodes as they slowly get embroiled in this grand conspiracy around them and watching Bojji become strong is such a joy. In a lot of shows, the side characters make a show great, and though the side characters in this show are fantastic, the main characters steal the show. Bojji’s training with Despa, Kage’s working with Bebin to protect Bojji, and eventually them helping save the kingdom from its doom is great.
This guy is such a good guy. That is all.
The four strongest are arguably my least favorite characters out of the ones that get a lot of screentime. Bebin’s snake is more interesting than all of them combined and I actively dislike Domas. But his lovable sidekick, Hokuro, being one of the first people to properly believe in Bojji is so damn good that I can almost forgive Domas for being a backstabbing piece of work. Almost. Dorsche is probably the coolest of the four, surviving fights on pure grit and will. His duty to protect Hilling is so strong that it’s admirable. And Hilling. The evil queen Hilling who wants to make her own son king instead of Bojji. The evil stepmother who ended up being such a good person that I’m tearing up just thinking back to her healing people with potions hidden under her clothes. Just like Kage, she’s such a big dork and I am absolutely in love with her. It turns out she does care about Bojji, and has tried so hard to make this clear to him. She’s gotten caught up in all this drama unawares, and once she starts putting the pieces together she’s not the high and mighty queen anymore, she’s a powerful woman who will do what’s right and be on the frontlines to protect her family. She’s easily my favorite character in this show and she steals every scene she’s in.
This entire flashback to Bojji’s youth and the following fight between Dorsche and the hellhounds has to be one of my favorite moments in the show.
When the show gets towards its final conclusion we get more information revealed about Miranjo. We find out she had a very sad backstory. The way her village and her family were treated is horrendous and it does explain her baggage. Her behavior afterwards is still unacceptable of course, but we gain a bit more understanding of why she is the way she is. She found one thing that made her happy and didn’t want to lose it. And she would do everything in her power to keep Bosse close to her. I would have liked to see more closure on Despa, Vespa and Ouken’s arc. I would assume this gets handled in the source material at some point, which makes me wonder if there’s material for a second season. Bojji leaving in the end to journey with Kage is the only good ending we could expect.
Ouken is so creepy throughout this show, and it’s such a stark contrast to the loving, caring guy we see in the flashbacks. Really wish we got more of the three brothers.
Final Thoughts
I don’t think this show is perfect. There’s many things that could be done better. The animation quality during the fights could be better. The characters having two sides to them does get overplayed quite a bit. I also didn’t like the character of Bosse at all. He felt very much like a plot device who was overly difficult and vague just because the story required it. Having said all of that, I did enjoy every episode of this show tremendously to the point that this is a top 10 show for me without a doubt. The characters are all super interesting and the main duo is an absolute joy to watch. The music and animation are all of great quality and I love the fairy tale story that it presents to us. It’s different enough from the seasonal isekai shows. I watch too many of them so that it sticks in your memory for longer. I highly recommend this show and give it a passing mark. Thanks for reading.
He’s a good guy, I swear. Kind of. It’s complicated.
I got into this show a few weeks after it started airing because initially the artstyle seemed a bit childish. What I didn’t realize is that this artstyle gives the anime a charm that you don’t really see in other shows that much. It both looks adorable yet believable at the same time. And it definitely looks unique. Let’s talk about what makes this show tick and why I believe you should watch it.
The boy and his friend
Let’s start with the story. Ousama Ranking follows Bojji, a young prince who doesn’t hear or speak and is made fun of for this reason. He lives in the palace with his father, his stepmother and his halfbrother. His father is unwell and one of the two boys is going to be the next king. Bojji is first in line by age, but not everyone is equally okay with the handicapped boy becoming their next king. Queen Hilling seems to prefer Daida, her own son, as the one to ascend the throne. She meets with the four great warriors protecting the kingdom and they get to an agreement.
While all this is happening, Bojji meets a member of the shadow clan named Kage. He’s a non-human character who seems to be young as well, just like Bojji. We’re never told Kage’s age, and it’s hard to guess, but he appears to be young and his backstory isn’t particularly long. What it is, is very good though. Three episodes into this show and I was completely emotionally invested. Kage and Bojji set out on a journey together with Domas, the master swordsman and Hokuro, a soldier. During this entire mess there’s a conspiracy brewing in the palace as well.
Look over there, it’s the plot progressing
The strength of Ousama Ranking lies in its characters and their dynamics. These are complicated people who feel very real in their convictions. They make mistakes, they hesitate, they pick the wrong side and come to regret it, or they pick the right side but this isn’t clear for a while. This makes trusting certain characters difficult and betrayals that much more convincing when they do happen. And underneath all of this are the workings of Miranjo, the girl in the mirror. What is she planning with Prince Daida? Mirror, mirror on the wall, are you the villain of them all? You’ll have to watch the show to find out.
Let’s give a quick talk about the production side of this show. I already mentioned that it has a unique style and it works so well for this kind of story. It gives it an almost fairytale aesthetic although this is one of those fairy tales that’s a little bit more for adults than for small children. The openings and endings of this show are also stellar. The music throughout just fits perfectly and the production is just superb.
Don’t make me cry all over again.
I don’t think there’s too much left for me to say about this show without diving into the story, which I will do in another post, except that it’s well done, has a very good ending, and leaves you wanting more. I loved every second of this show without a dull moment and I’m sad it’s over. I will definitely rewatch this show, probably very soon, and I highly recommend everyone else to give it a watch too. Join me next week for a deep dive into this show’s story and as always, thank you for reading!
It’s that time of the year again. Where one season of anime seamlessly blends into the next one and you need to start figuring out what you want out of the new season before you’ve fully looked at everything you’ve missed the last season. Well worry not, I’ll give you five shows that just finished that you should watch. Six if you count next week’s review of Ousama Ranking, but that show deserves an entire post dedicated to it. As usual, I’ll be ignoring sequels for this post, so if you’re a big fan of Attack on Titan or Realist Hero then you’re in the wrong place since I will not be talking about those. I didn’t watch a ton this past season, but some of what I watched was very good, so let’s not waste anymore time and let’s get to it. As usual, this post will contain some spoilers, but nothing major that ruins the story.
Slow Loop
I’m sure it’s just a coincidence and we’ll never see Koharu again.
I’m a sucker for a good slice of life. Yuru Camp is one of my favorite manga and anime. It’s peak slice of life. But that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy the more mediocre slice of life shows. Not every show has to be a perfect hit. Slow Loop is just that. A nice, good slice of life show that doesn’t overstay its welcome. The story follows Hiyori, a young girl who loves fishing as she meets another girl called Koharu. They meet on the pier because Hiyori is meeting her new step family and she’s fairly nervous. By a wild coincidence, Koharu is also meeting with her new step family today. Who would have thought those two events would be happening at the same time, what a coincidence! What? Oh, it’s the same family? Turns out they’re step siblings now. With very different personalities the two still hit it off immediately and Hiyori starts teaching Koharu all sorts of things about fishing. Koharu is a great cook and prepares the fish they catch. This story goes into experiencing loss and does a wonderful job of making the episodes feel light most of the time yet serious when it needs to be. The characters are believable and fun to watch, and I think fishing and camping are some of the most slice of life-esque things I can think of, so it makes perfect sense to write a story like this. Contrary to Breakwater club, which aired a while back, this show was actually a real joy to watch and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants something slow paced to watch.
My Dress-Up Darling
Are you sure you’re not just thirsty?
There’s not a lot I’ll have to say about this show I think. It was everywhere you’d look. Easily one of the most popular shows of this season, if not in a while, that isn’t a sequel. Dress-Up Darling follows Wakana Gojou, a high school student, traditional doll appreciater and all around loner. One day he gets talking with his classmate Kitagawa Marin, who’s one of the popular people in class. She spots him sowing and is immediately interested in getting his help with her hobby. Turns out she’s really excited about the idea of cosplaying. Seeing him work with fabric so expertly makes her want to rope him into her hobby. Gojou doesn’t exactly have the charisma to decline and capitulates easily. Soon he’ll have a half naked girl in his room being measured for her first cosplay. The two very quickly fall for each other, and it’s easily the highlight of the show to watch Marin fawn over Gojou. She’s such a fun character. I will have to be honest about this show. Where it shines is definitely the animation quality and the fan service. If that puts you off, or is just something you’re not interested in, then this might not be the perfect show for you. Even if you’re a little on the fence though, I would still recommend giving it two or three episodes. It’s well made from start to finish and really fun to watch. One of the shows I was looking forward to the most each week.
Akebi’s Sailor Uniform
This show’s art is so pretty, holy shit.
Akebi’s Sailor uniform is a slice of life show about Akebi Komichi, who grew up in a rural town and went to a tiny school. Now she’s going to a prestigious junior high school with the goal of making many friends, since she didn’t have any growing up due to there simply not being any other kids. She wanted to go to this school because her mom went there too and the uniform they wore back in her day was this adorable sailor uniform that Akebi absolutely loved. She had her mom make her one only to find out on the first day that the uniform has since changed. The headmistress still allows her to wear it though since it’s technically an official school uniform and she can see the obvious excitement to wear it in Akebi. The show follows Akebi making friends with her different classmates who are all eccentrics in their own way. This show gets really wholesome towards the second half and I was definitely emotional during some of the episodes. In a good way of course. But there’s one thing I haven’t talked about yet.
In the previous paragraph for Dress-Up Darling I talked about how the animation was good. That show is being handled by studio CloverWorks. And so is Akebi’s Sailor Uniform. And they performed amazingly on this show. The animation is very, very good but it’s still outshadowed by the art. Some of the frames in this show look like pure art. I’ll put some examples below this post, but this show is gorgeous from start to finish and it really elevates it to the next level. I highly recommend this show as well.
Sabikui Bisco
How are you not immediately arrested when you look that menacing.
Akaboshi Bisco is currently a wanted criminal. It’s never quite explained what his exact crime is but the epithet of maneater kind of speaks for itself in this case. He’s what people call a mushroom keeper, a clan of archers that shoot mushrooms and cause havoc all over. They’re all considered criminals for spreading a disease called rust. When he gets to the sprawling metropolis that is Imihama things start to get a bit weird.
Meanwhile doctor Milo, aptly named doctor Panda, is helping out people deal with the rust situation best he can. He’s trying to find a cure to help his badass sister Pawoo with her case of rust. Pawoo is a motorbike riding pole swinging badass of a woman that quickly gets into a fight with Akaboshi. Through a stroke of chance, Akaboshi and Milo end up traveling together after this, in their attempt to find a cure for the rust pandemic. Meanwhile Imihama governor, Kurokawa, is working behind the scenes to make our main characters’ lives as miserable as possible. I do wonder why that is.
The main thing that anyone should consider when watching this show, is the other show it reminds me of. You see, there was a little show called Dorehedoro a few seasons ago that was just absolutely crazy. There were coincidentally also a bunch of mushrooms in that show, just like there are in Sabikui Bisco. The aesthetics are similar in that it’s a more gritty, weird show. The characters are a bit out there, the art has rough edges to it, and there’s crazy stuff happening like a crab as a mount, people living in the husk of a giant titan and a government department wearing bunny masks. It also spawned the now famous clip of Gigguk giving his approval of this show seconds before the trailer takes a turn for the weird. If you like the idea of a strange show with a lot of heart, then this show is perfect for you. Highly recommend it.
Police in a pod
You poor, innocent thing.
Out of the five shows I’m writing about today, this is probably the most memorable. The female officer Kawaii is about done with working at the police force. She’s only just started but it’s just not what she thought it was going to be. Right as she was about to give up she met her new female superior officer, Fuji Seiko. Together they go back on patrol as Kawaii decides to give it another try. With an entire police force on their side they face everything from the most mundane to the most extreme crimes.
See, she’s got ulterior motives!
And that immediately gets me to where the show shines. This show gets really dark and confrontational. The first half can be something silly that involves our characters being overworked, bored or just messing something up in general. And then the second half they get called in on a very real suicide attempt, a deadly car crash or a sexual assault case. Then the next episode has two grown men play out the sexual assault case which is obviously something that has to be done but also quite comedic in the way it’s being portrayed. And this show doesn’t hesitate for a moment when it jumps from a joke to something extremely serious. It’s given me borderline whiplash at times where I’m laughing one moment and just looking on in shock the next. The anime is based on an ongoing manga by Miko Yasu. It has almost 200 chapters and it’s on my plan to read list now. From what I’ve understood, the author used to be in the police force and takes a lot of inspiration from her time on the force. I think that’s what makes this show feel so real. This show definitely requires some warnings in that it has serious content like sexual assault, death and suicide, but if that’s something you can watch then I highly recommend you to give this show a watch. It’s definitely something I’ll think about for quite a while, and there’s a lot of shows that don’t stick with me at all, so that’s saying something.
And those were five out of my six recommendations for this season of anime. With the next season quickly upon us I’m finishing up watching what’s still left and next week I’ll be talking about my absolute favorite show that just finished airing; Ousama Ranking.
But what about you? Do you think there are any great shows I missed? Do let me know in the comments down below and as always; thanks for reading.
There are a lot of amazing anime out there. A lot of them I’ve already seen, a lot of them I’ve not yet seen and in some cases not even heard of before. For a very long time one of my goals was to watch as many different anime as possible. This has slowly led me down a road where I’ve watched (and still watch) a ton of mediocre if not downright bad anime. It also doesn’t help that I don’t like dropping anime, so once I start a bad show I’m committed.
I did drop a few shows, as you can see. But this definitely proves that things can get out of hand, 14000 episodes translates to maybe 3-4 episodes of anime every day for me.
An upside of watching anything and everything will always be the great shows you discover that you otherwise wouldn’t. I would have never started Dorehedoro if I wasn’t trying to watch the first episode of every show that looked half-decent. The artstyle would have probably put me off way too much. I would have missed out, that show is awesome. Also really, really weird.
Whenever I would rewatch an anime, which does happen from time to time, I always ended up feeling a bit bad. I could have spent that time watching a new anime. But I just wasn’t in the mood to commit to something new and thus I ended up browsing youtube instead.
I have watched all of pre-timeskip One Piece at least twice, not to mention reading the manga a few times. It’s one of a few exceptions to the rule because it’s so good.
My message for today is short and simple, since I don’t have time to write a more expansive post. If you feel like rewatching a show instead of keeping up with seasonal anime, that’s perfectly fine. There are many bloggers and youtubers out there that go through the seasons and will let you know which shows stand out, and then you can go back and watch them later.
And that’s all I have to say today, tune in later this week for a chapter of The Hesitant Hero and hopefully my review of Spice & Wolf Volume 3. Truth be told I’m still far from done with the book, so I might have to delay this post by a week. We’ll see. Thanks for reading.
I watch quite a lot of anime. Not as much as some people do, but definitely more than most do. Throughout the years there have been quite a few shows that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed that I feel like I don’t really hear people talk about. Maybe because they get forgotten overtime, maybe because a lot of people didn’t actually watch these shows, or perhaps there was some other reason. While I work on some of my bigger posts that I hope to get ready in the next couple of weeks, let’s take a moment and appreciate five anime that I’ve watched throughout the years that I would recommend. I hope there’s something here for everyone!
Flying Witch
Year: 2016
Studio: J.C. Staff
Genre: Slice of Life, Fantasy, Comedy, Iyashikei
Runtime: 12 Episodes
Similar Shows: Yuru Camp, Non Non Biyori, Barakamon
She’s sitting on a bench just staring. That’s the kind of pace you can expect from this show.
15 year old Makoto Kowata is a witch in training. We follow her adventures as she learns the ways of becoming a witch. She has a familiar, a sister and several cousins. The different characters flow into the story now and then while Makoto practices with different aspects of being a witch. Whether this is flying around on a broom, alchemy or something completely different. Makoto approaches life at a slow pace and so does this show. If you want something to relax and enjoy without having to really think much about anything, this show is great.
Akagami no Shirayuki-Hime
Year: 2015
Studio: Bones
Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Drama, Shoujo
Runtime: Season 1 (12 Episodes) & Season 2 (12 Episodes)
Similar Shows: Arte, The Ancient Magus Bride, Utawarerumono
I forgot how young these characters looked/were. I guess that’s anime.
Akagami no Shirayuki-Hime follows the titular Shirayuki, a young woman with beautiful red hair. She’s trying to live her life in peace, running a pharmacy but unfortunately gets spotted by royalty. Refusing to become his concubine, she goes on the run, running into yet another prince who does treat her well. They end up becoming friends and she moves into his castle which brings a whole host of different issues with it. The show follows the steadfast Shirayuki as she finds her place amongst high society while retaining her own morals and way of life. It’s a show that just breathes good energy and I enjoyed every second of it.
Beelzebub
Year: 2011
Studio: St. Signpost
Genre: Comedy, Fantasy, Shounen
Runtime: 60 Episodes
Similar Shows: Fairy Tail, Jujutsu Kaisen, The Devil is a Part-Timer
Sometimes you just gotta split a man in half, can’t be helped.
Going through the list of anime that I’ve seen throughout the years, Beelzebub hit me like a wave of pure nostalgia. An extremely funny manga and anime that never got the love it really deserved. Beelzebub follows Oga, a delinquent high schooler who finds a strange man floating down in the river. The man splits open and reveals a baby inside; Baby Beelzebub. Beel immediately locks onto Oga as his new parent and now Oga has no way of getting rid of Beel. Not only that, if Beel gets too far away from Oga, he shocks the poor guy. The trouble doesn’t end there because Beel’s maid, Hilde, also shows up to make Oga’s life more difficult. The delinquent must now deal with not only the baby and his maid, but also the other delinquents at his school.
This manga and anime were both extremely funny. The humor was solid and the action was very fun as well, with the main cast being overpowered most of the time, leading to hilarious situations. Unfortunately the author’s other work was not as good and got canceled pretty quickly, so we’ll have to do with just Beelzebub for now, but it does come highly recommended.
Carole & Tuesday
Year: 2019
Studio: Bones
Genre: Drama, Slice of Life, Music
Runtime: 24 Episodes
Similar Shows: Nana, Your Lie in April, Beck
Teardrops of the loneliest girl.
Carole & Tuesday as a story was never really that amazing. I liked the message it was trying to convey, but it did so a bit awkwardly. When actually watching the show I much preferred the early episodes where we watch two young girls from very different backgrounds meet, become friends, and make music together. Carole lives in an apartment above a shop and does odd jobs around town to make money as well as perform on the side of the street. Tuesday ran away from home because her mother’s parenting was too constricting and cold. They move in together and start making music together. Did I mention they’re on Mars? The story revolves around their music and them getting better at it together, finding a manager and performing for small crowds. There’s a whole political story going on as a side-plot. It’s not amazing, but it’s functional. The main draw of this show is the music. It’s almost three years old at this point and I still find myself listening to some of the tracks regularly. The music in the show actually evolves and there’s a whole album worth of songs accompanying the story. They hired great singers to do the songs as well and it all sounds very polished. If you need one song to convince you, I suggest the song Round & Laundry. It’s from early on in the show and it’s a real bop. Forgettable story, amazing soundtrack, good watch altogether.
Gabriel Dropout
Year: 2017
Studio: Doga Kobo
Genre: Slice of Life, Comedy, Fantasy, Angels
Runtime: 12 Episodes
Similar Shows: Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid, Umaru-Chan, Lucky Star
One of the most relatable characters in all of anime.
Gabriel was at the top of her school in heaven. Now she has descended to earth to do… what again? It turns out human technology and video games managed to turn her into a lazy NEET in the span of mere days. She quickly becomes a lazy slob of a person and thus the most relatable kind of character. The rest of the cast consists of some demons and angels that also came to earth and their shenanigans. Satania the borderline Chuunibyou demon trying to be evil and failing spectacularly will never not be funny. I liked this show so much, we turned some of the characters into emotes on Discord and the Vigne emote is the one I use by far the most. This show is very funny, has great characters and is an extremely solid watch.
And there you have it. Five anime from the past few years that I would urge you to watch. None of them are the very best of the best, but all of them are good enough to be talked about and remembered. Let me know if you want me to do more of these. I’ve seen a ton of “good” shows that get forgotten over the years because of the staggering amount of anime that gets produced now, so I’d love to share some of them with you all, and perhaps get some new recommendations in return. Thanks for reading.
As of writing this, we’re 8 episodes into the second season of Vanitas no Carte, or the Case Study of Vanitas. That means I’ve watched twenty episodes of this show. And yet I’m not invested in the story at all. It just doesn’t really interest me that much. For those unfamiliar with Vanitas let me give you a quick, mostly spoiler-free, rundown. Vanitas no Carte follows the titular Vanitas, who is a human doctor. At some point in his life he got the illustrious Book of Vanitas. It was a book from a famous vampire. This book allows him to help vampires that are letting their instincts take control of them, the so-called curse bearers. On his journey he meets a vampire called Noe. Together they run into more trouble than the average toddler in a toy store. On their journey they come across several characters that are important to the story, including Jeanne (definitely not D’arc), several Chasseurs, an organization fighting vampires as well as some prominent vampires.
Off to an interesting start. We’ll see the colors blue and black a lot throughout this show.
If that description is a little bit vague then that’s because looking back on twenty episodes of this show, I’m still not really sure what kind of story it is trying to tell. Everyone seems to have their own subplot, character personalities seem to be all over the place, and it feels very anime, if that makes sense. Some stories thrive on their realism, and some stories thrive on them feeling fictional. How everyone sort of knows each other and gets embroiled in the same problems. That’s not a bad thing, by the way. Durarara has everyone’s lives intermingled and I absolutely love Durarara. Many good shows do this. But it shouldn’t be a replacement for the plot. Every week I see the episode appear online and think to myself; do I still watch this show? But then when I do I always find myself enthralled. And that’s what I’d like to talk about today. The aesthetic qualities of Vanitas.
The illustrious book of Vanitas in all of its blue glory.
Vanitas no Carte has a certain style. A pizazz. (I just really wanted to use that word.) It speaks to a sense of fashion and glamor that I don’t really have in my daily life. These are all extremely pretty women and extremely handsome men. Sure, many anime have that, and since it’s not a genre that I tend to watch a lot, there’s a very good chance that there are shows out there that do this kind of thing better, but everything just kind of pops when I watch it. From the opening to the ending. To the cat that looks like it has more class than I ever will. To Roland and Olivier casually sitting at a cafe in Paris while our main characters stroll past them. Paris is massive, it’s not a place where you just casually spot someone you know easily if you don’t live there. But it feels like everything is interconnected. And everyone is dressed like they own the place. The outfits in this show almost make me feel bad about sitting here in sweatpants and a hoodie. It’s cold, okay, leave me alone.
All jokes aside, it’s shows like Vanitas that remind me how many different facets there are to a good story. And when it comes to visual storytelling, the way your characters shine on the screen is very important. If there’s not a single character in your show, male, female or otherwise, that I want to be stepped on by (don’t judge me) what are you even doing? You’re wasting my time here. (It’s Domi, for those wondering, and it’s not even close).
Don’t judge me okay, just look at her.
This show makes me wish I could rock an outfit like Olivier does. And Jeanne looks absolutely amazing too. Hell, even Noe looks fantastic with his white clothes and hat. This show just screams style and class and it’s just enthralling. I’m generally someone who watches shows for the story or the action. And I think that’s why the rest of Vanitas falls so flat for me. There’s not a lot of interesting action and the story doesn’t quite interest me personally. But it’s the pure style that keeps me watching. I want to see these characters in motion, I want to see them talk to each other and find out what ridiculousness they get up to.
Imagine being able to rock a hat like that.
So if you’ve reached this point and you’re still wondering if this show is worth the time, then I’d say yeah, probably, I don’t know, I’m not your dad. Watch the first two or three episodes. If you like what you see, I promise it keeps getting better. I think season two has better moments than season one so far. The introduction of some of the chasseurs in this season has really built up a bigger cast, and Chloe is adorable too. It’s a fun show. It’s got great aesthetics and sometimes that’s all you need. Thanks for reading.
Opal Kaharis 