We open to the explanation of what this series is supposed to be all about. When a disaster looms, the goddess calls for six heroes to awaken and save the world. This happened six hundred years before the current story as well as three hundred years before the story. There are always exactly six of these braves. Then why are there seven heroes this time around? That can only mean one thing, there is a traitor among us. But first we need to establish the seven candidates who are claiming to be members of these six heroes.
Adlet as a character is definitely on the more abrasive side at times.
The first one is Adlet Mayer who proclaims himself the strongest man in the world and summarily interrupts a duel in front of the king. He does so by fighting dirty, but putting his methods aside, he is very effective. Then again, bringing a bunch of tricks and poison to what is supposed to be an honorable duel is a pretty shitty thing to do and Adlet soon ends up imprisoned. The second brave is the princess, Nachetanya, who is also known as the saint of blades. When both get chosen as braves, she frees Adlet from his prison and the duo set off towards their destination in the west. There they will meet up with the other four braves. Or five, as the surprise twist of the series ends up being.
Everyone’s favorite sad girl who has a deep secret and is just sad all of the time. Her character felt deep and well developed to me the first time I watched the show, but seeing it again now she seems much more shallow than back then.
The other five braves are an eclectic bunch too. The first two that we meet outside of the princess and Adlet are the princess’ personal knight Goldov as well as the presumed hero killer, the white haired sharpshooter Flamie. Where Goldov is ready to help the princess immediately, Flamie quickly proclaims herself an enemy and does not wish to join up with the rest of the gang. Separating from Nachetanya, Adlet now follows after the mysterious new girl. At the temple where they get stuck they meet the rest. Chamot, saint of the swamp, Maura saint of the mountains and finally a weirdo named Hans Humpty. It’s a colorful cast for sure, but this is the moment they all start to realize something’s wrong. That’s one too many. And all of them have the crest that makes them heroes. This is where the real story starts, a mystery to figure out who is the fake.
The gang’s all here, just imagine Hans off to the left, he’s just off screen after all.
So we have a locked room mystery. The moment Adlet encountered the fiend at the outskirts of the temple, he tried to break open the door, and when he did so, the barrier activated. No one was seen entering or exiting the room after he entered it, and we know that Adlet didn’t activate the barrier. We’ve seen him get his crest, we’ve followed along his journey and he is the only person we know for certain that is accounted for at the time of the betrayal. Knowing what the solution is to this puzzle – as I remembered it while I was rewatching it – makes it seem super obvious, but I remember being fully unable to figure it out the first time around. With all the pieces in play, we now have to deduce who the real betrayer is, deal with them, and then continue on the journey to actually deal with the fiends.
Oh, there’s Hans.
Upon rewatching this show, I found myself having mixed feelings about it. I like the concept a lot, but both Chamot and Goldov were getting on my nerves as characters pretty early on. There are some inconsistencies in the storytelling as well that feel more like red herrings than good writing, but these are minor complaints. Flamie and Adlet, the two we spend a majority of the time on, are both fun characters in all their bravado and teenage angst. It’s a real shame this never got a sequel, as it’s based on a light novel and we all know that most anime fans can’t read. I remember wanting to read the novels back in the day, and I still may one day, but it’s not high enough on my priority list right now to start on anytime soon. As for if you should watch it, yeah, probably. It’s a fun mystery with a colorful cast that doesn’t overstay its welcome. Although the twist at the very, very end kind of sucks and is the main thing people ended up remembering from the show. I do like reading light novels from time to time, and if you’re like me and every time you think back to this show you kind of want to see where it goes from here, at least the novels have been translated to English, although I did see that the physical editions are rather pricey. Ebooks are much cheaper if you’re one of those people, but I’ll leave it up to you. For now, if you like a good mystery, give Rokka no Yuusha a watch and if not, well, at least thanks for reading.
The legendary pirate captain, Rocks D Xebec. The man who was once on equal footing with Roger and who was the leader of a band of fighters which included three of the modern day emperors as well as Shiki the golden lion who we’ve mostly seen in the One Piece movie Strong World, but was a legendary power in the lore of One Piece and could still be lurking somewhere in the world. We learned about Rocks pretty late into the story, but his influence on the world of One Piece has been felt since early on. Garp’s elevation to hero of the marines was due to stopping the rampaging Rocks – although details of that incident were only revealed to the reader very recently – and Roger, Shanks, Blackbeard, Shamrock, Imu and the aforementioned former emperors all have a history with the man. But who was this legendary villain? And what was his modus operandi that got him to captain such a powerful group of pirates? Let’s dive into the life and legend of Davy Jones’s descendant. As the title and this introduction should have made abundantly clear, this post will be full of spoilers, so read at your own discretion.
We have known about Davy Jones for a while, as the Davy Back fight we were introduced to in Long Ring Long island could only have been named after the famous pirate Davy Jones. What we didn’t know until now is the influence this family had on the world, and this influence ran deep, considering one of the major antagonistic forces in the world that has been with us since early grand line is actually Davy D. Teach. And Rocks – the name Davy D. Xebec used – was the legendary pirate captain who perished at the God Valley incident. This incident was finally revealed to us during the flashbacks on Elbaf and it was one hell of an incident. To summarize everything neatly; Figarland Garling found out about the existence of Davy family members on the island and targeted it for the next round of native hunting where a bunch of the World Nobles would hunt down the natives as well as several slaves they let loose on the island and the winner would win the grand prize, the beautiful former pirate captain Shakuyaku. With this prize – as well as the knowledge that his wife and child were on the island – it was no surprise Rocks made landfall as quick as he found out. And his presence caused both Garp and Roger to make their way here too. Fights erupted and after Imu took control of Rocks, he was mercy killed by Roger and Garp, who teamed up to deal with the legendary captain. But this does paint a very different picture of Rocks than the one we knew.
And it got me thinking about his son, Blackbeard. He’s done a lot of antagonistic things throughout the series. He’s fought with Law, he’s the reason Ace was captured in the first place, he tried to attack Luffy twice, he freed a bunch of dangerous criminals from Impel Down, he kidnapped Pudding and he even killed Whitebeard, although the old emperor would have likely died at the Summit War regardless of Teach’s appearance. Yet despite all of this, I still think there is a chance for redemption in Teach’s story arc. For one, Rocks’ story was one of persecution. He was a terrifying pirate captain, sure, but the main reason he was persecuted was his family name. He lost his wife, his freedom and almost lost his son purely because of who he was born as. I don’t think it is Oda’s normal style to have his son follow in his footsteps and meet a similar end. Now I don’t think Teach will be turned into a friend that will be happy and jolly with Luffy in the end as they all sing songs around the campfire, but I do believe that there will be more to Teach’s story than just a fight where Luffy beats him into submission.
What this will look like, I don’t know, but he is the last remaining member of the Davy family, and having the family disappear completely after we’ve learned that Rocks was on somewhat friendly terms with Roger and his crew and also cared greatly about his wife and was a threat to Imu, it feels undeserved that his child – which he gave up everything for – will die a villain just like he did. What I predict is that Teach will end up clashing with Imu somehow and be overtaken by Domi Reversi or a similar ability. Luffy will then defeat him but grant mercy after Imu is inevitably defeated, granting the Davy family a way out of the loop of violence. Perhaps it will end with Teach in prison in some form or something similar, but I would be a bit disappointed if his story ended sadly.
And what we also learned is how Rocks got his powerful crew in the first place. He employed the Davy back fights to gather crew members. Some visionaries in the One Piece fandom have been saying that Long Ring Long island would become a crucial arc for the story, and I think they were right. We’ll definitely see more of the Davy back fights towards the end of the story. Perhaps it’ll be between Luffy and Teach, or Luffy and Shanks, but I think we’ll get one more hilarious round of these games. We have to remember that the original Davy back fights weren’t nearly as long as the anime made them, and they weren’t all that bad. I reckon we can get some fun out of that towards the end, after Imu has been defeated. I reckon it could be a great way to sunset the story too, having Shanks and Luffy and their crews engage in a friendly set of games as the story fades to black. Perhaps Blackbeard joins in on the fun. They will all sing songs around the campfire and… yeah, who am I kidding. I have made so many predictions about One Piece throughout the years and most of them completely missed the mark, so please don’t expect any of what I’ve said here to be even remotely right. But it’s fun to fantasize sometimes, right? Thanks for reading. I’m excited for the rest of this arc and even more excited for what comes after. It’s a great time to be a One Piece fan, and it doesn’t look like that will change anytime soon.
Because I am running out of ideas – not in the long run, but a lot of the ideas I have for anime posts require a bit more time (like this season ending, next season starting and me finding the time to rewatch old shows) – there will be a one week break next week. After that I will be back and if everything goes according to schedule I will be talking about my experience rewatching Rokka no Yuusha. I’ll hopefully see you there!
At the time of watching Orange for the first time, there were not very many drama romance shows I was familiar with. I didn’t really start my (shallow) dive into romance manga yet, and shonen action was definitely still my preferred genre (alongside Isekai). So a really solid drama like Orange – although not my genre per se – was always going to leave a big impression since the comparisons to other shows weren’t there yet. Which got me to wondering, how will I feel about this show if I rewatch it a decade later. By today, shojo romance manga are a staple in my manga consumption with series like The Fragrant Flower, Horimiya and Skip & Loafer all being favorites of mine. So with that all in mind, let’s take another look at Orange.
The cast comes together in the future to read the letters from their past selves.
Let’s start with the two parts of this series that are the most memorable for me. The two things I could still remember after all these years. The first one is the core plot point, which involves the main character Naho sending a letter to herself from 10 years in the past. Apparently their friend Kakeru – who Naho has not met yet when she receives the letter from her future self – was going through a lot more pain than they realized at the time, and ended up dying tragically. Her future self then implores Naho to do things differently, in an attempt to save Kakeru. To prove that the letter is actually from herself in the future, she adds several diary entries about things that have yet to happen, and Naho watches as these events unfold in front of them, the first big one being the new transfer student; Kakeru.
From top left to top right: Hagita, Takako, Suwa From bottom left to bottom right: Naho, Kakeru, Azu
The second thing that has always stayed with me about this show is the opening song: Hikari no Hahen by Takahashi Yuu. The tranquil and melancholic pop song has never quite managed to leave my consciousness completely, coming up in my playlists from time to time or while I’m watching anime opening compilations. It even sometimes randomly pops up in my head simply due to how incredibly catchy it is. The accompanying shots of the main cast are melancholic in a way that fits the music and it does its job of getting you in the mood for an emotional story.
The first thing I noticed that I don’t think registered with me the first time I watched Orange is the backgrounds. This show does take place in a city, but it’s a more rural city than something like Tokyo – where Kakeru is from – and that’s very well conveyed by the backgrounds. Many of the gorgeously drawn shots have trees in them and the surroundings that the cast often finds themselves in feels much more open and tranquil than many other stories with similar settings. Skip & Loafer actually touches on this from a different angle, where we leave the city to visit the countryside later in the story and that really hammers home the difference in lifestyle. Orange is somewhere in the middle of the two.
This is what the town looks like a lot of the time, but also interspersed with more “modern” buildings and city streets, which brings for a very cool looking city that I’d love to walk around in.
Then the characters themselves. We look at this story through the eyes of Naho, but there is a group of six characters that we end up spending most of our time with. Naho is timid and kind, Suwa is popular and athletic, Azusa’s family owns a bakery and she is very outgoing as well. Meanwhile Hagita is much more introverted and spends as much of his time as possible reading, but he usually does so around his friends and joins them in any activities either way. Takako is more stoic and quiet. Lastly, we have Kakeru, the transfer student from Tokyo and the reason this story is happening. Kakeru is an interesting character due to how we learn some of his tragedies without seeing them clearly reflected in the character. Let’s dive into the story.
As mentioned earlier, the future versions of the friend group – minus Kakeru – met up long after the current timeline, and future Naho sends a letter to her past self detailing some mistakes she made due to being timid, that she would like her past self to avoid, in hopes of creating a better future for their friend. Although Naho is very sceptical – and still understandably timid – she quickly realizes that there’s definitely something to this letter, as it’s doing a great job at predicting the things that will happen in the next couple of days. After she fails to do anything different when Kakeru first shows up, the transfer student stays away from school for a while. We later learned that the reason Naho’s future version didn’t want her to invite Kakeru on their day out was because his mother committed suicide that afternoon, and that is why Kakeru was absent for a while.
Yeah, he’s a sad boy
Without going into spoilers, there is a lot of focus on being who you are and then changing that person to a different version of themselves that still includes some of their initial characteristics. In particular Naho is trying her best to become more outgoing and more confident. We slowly learn more as the series continues and later on there is a twist revealed to us that is pretty well foreshadowed, but I definitely didn’t catch it on my first watch through.
I’m not a big fan of time travel shenanigans usually and I mind it a bit less when it’s explained as separate worlds. The reality here is still true, but things are happening different in another timeline. Still, it’s a topic that I struggle to believe in.
Considering all of that, I think it’s safe to say that giving Orange a watch – if you haven’t yet – is definitely worth the time. It’s a well crafted melancholic romantic drama with well written characters and an interesting plot hook in the time travel shenanigans with the letter. It’s not going to reinvent the genre by any means, and it can be a bit slow at times, but I really enjoyed rewatching this series.
I’m slowly working on my top 10 manga list, which has proven to be quite difficult. I haven’t read nearly as many manga as I’ve watched anime, and often the reason for picking up a manga in the first place is the fact that I really enjoyed the anime and wanted more of the same, making it so that a rather large portion of the manga I’ve read are really good. Or at least I really enjoy them. But there are also some manga I really enjoyed that I probably wouldn’t (and shouldn’t) put in my top 10, as they aren’t all that good. I’ve talked about this before, something can be enjoyable without being good (in the sense of being critically acclaimed). I really enjoy Mario Party Lets Plays, but I wouldn’t say they deserve to win an Oscar. All this to say, let’s take some time today to look at a couple of guilty pleasure manga.
Fairy Tail
When I was initially introduced to Fairy Tail (the anime) I was still quite young. I’m too lazy to do the math, but I believe it’s a little over 16 years ago. The anime had just started and I was caught up pretty soon into the story. It was also one of the manga I picked up pretty early on, alongside other shonen series like One Piece, Bleach and Naruto, which were all still ongoing at the time. That’s crazy to think about, having those three manga come out weekly felt like it was almost a guarantee in life, even though two of them ended a decade ago. This shonen series written by Hiro Mashima (Fairy Tail, Rave Master, Eden’s Zero) follows Natsu Dragneel, Lucy Heartfilia and the other members of the Fairy Tail magician guild, as they deal with all sorts of requests. The overarching plot of Fairy Tail is rather weak, let me be upfront about that. Mashima himself has gone on record to say that a lot of Fairy Tail wasn’t very meticulously planned, a habit he deviated from when creating Eden’s Zero afterwards. I’ve always assumed that he had a pretty good idea about the Oracion Seis, the first handful of antagonists that all fell into a single larger group, but lost focus after that arc ended and had to keep coming up with fresh ideas. A secondary problem that Fairy Tail has – that ended up ruining quite a few moments for me – is the power scaling. Fairy Tail used to be the king of what we call “the power of friendship”. Whenever a character’s friends were in trouble, they’d suddenly awaken to some sort of new power without any proper explanation where it came from and through some bullcrap defeated their opponents by a hair. Laxus winning in the tournament is one of the more egregious examples of this, in my opinion.
The main gang in the manga, although many side characters play sizable roles.
Now, having said all that, we’re talking about Fairy Tail because it’s a series I deeply love. Then what are its selling points, if there are rather big problems with it? Let’s start with the big one. Fairy Tail as a guild is freaking dope. Joining a group of eccentric mages who are funny, social, very capable and will walk through hell and back to help out one of their own? Sign me up immediately! There’s a bond between these characters – which you also see in Mashima’s other works – that rivals even the bond of the Straw Hat Crew in One Piece. Where both Bleach and Naruto thrive on conflict within its main cast, Fairy Tail thrives when everyone’s eyes are looking in the same direction with no doubt in their mind that they will do everything for their friends. That’s also why the whole “power of friendship” thing can be a double edged sword. It’s not a very good way of writing an action story, but when push comes to shove, I still find myself very excited whenever an antagonist gets pummeled into next week. Add a fun but shallow world to this and a colorful – despite being black and white – magic system and you have a manga that may not win many prizes, but can be enjoyed without feeling too guilty. Out of the three manga I’ll be talking about, this is the one where I would recommend giving the anime a shot too. It doesn’t really add to the manga on my fronts, but the soundtrack is beyond incredible. The celtic influences are an incredible touch of genius.
Gantz
Oh dear, am I really going to talk about Gantz? Talk about a proper guilty pleasure manga. I almost considered leaving this one out for being a bit on the controversial side. It’s generally not a manga I would be quick to recommend to others. I considered putting Tokyo Ghoul in this spot but despite some of Sui Ishida’s stranger quirks, I think putting it in a post for guilty pleasures would be a disservice to the manga. So here we are, back to Gantz. Truth be told, I’ve read the Gantz manga back to front several times, despite its flaws. Gantz tells the story of two boys who both die in a train accident before finding themselves in a strange room. In this room is a black orb that tells them to fight for survival. They are given super suits and weapons – later on – and have to deal with an invading alien. If they succeed, they live to see another day and if they succeed enough times, they can escape this deathloop and return to life. Gantz mainly follows Kurono Kei and Masaru Kato, but has a large revolving cast of characters, some of which we spend quite a lot of time with. The harsh reality of the world of Gantz is that people die pretty often and pretty suddenly when encountering deadly aliens, and friendships often don’t develop long enough when all your friends are smears on the ground. Alongside the gratuitous violence is a pretty large amount of nudity and sex, which was definitely a part of the appeal when I was younger. As the story progresses we are introduced to more aliens, vampires and we even visit other alien civilizations. All the while things are going from bad to worse for many of the people involved until we finally reach a conclusion that leaves you wondering why you just spent all your time on this series.
This is the type of strange art you will find in the Gantz manga.
Now let’s address the elephant in the room. If violence and nudity were the only “problem” this series had, I would be recommending it a lot more often than I actually am. The truth is, in one of the later arcs of the story, a character decides that he wants to shoot up a mall. And when he does this, he does so in blackface. It’s a pretty awful arc and the implications that a black person shooting up a mall makes more sense than a Japanese person doing so is pretty sickening. The author also used computer generated images as the base for a fair amount of panels which makes for an interesting artstyle. I think it’s not a fantastic looking manga, but that’s the least of my criticisms. If you like stories that are unapologetically violent and can ignore some of the issues, then perhaps look into Gantz. There’s a CGI movie on Netflix that focuses on one of the better arcs in the series and I think it’s pretty well made, so that would probably be your best place to start.
History’s Strongest Disciple Kenichi
I’m not certain any of this holds up to science standards, but neither do any of the other shonen manga, so why start caring now.
Let’s move on to a series that is a bit less controversial and a bit more palatable for the average reader. History’s Strongest Disciple Kenichi is your classic shonen action series. If series like Jujutsu Kaisen and Chainsaw Man get praise for breaking the mold and doing something refreshing to the genre, Kenichi is the most standard of series. The titular Kenichi is a young high school boy and a bit of a dweeb. He loves reading, has no friends, is weak and gets bullied. One day a transfer student comes to their school and kicks him in the face because he approaches her from behind and that is one of her bad habits. I know many girls who roundhouse kick their classmates in the face just for standing near them, so so far it’s a 100% on the accuracy. Kenichi and Mio – this girl – quickly become friends and when Kenichi gets into trouble with an upperclassman, Mio decides to help him prepare for the upcoming fight. Mio’s grandfather owns a martial arts dojo after all. The story follows Mio, Kenichi and their peers and mentors as they fight against all sorts of people with the stakes quickly increasing. From fighting a local gang to dealing with the members of Yami and Yomi, two dark organizations full of assassins, murderers and their apprentices. This story has your classic plot elements like villains who become allies as the story goes on, tragic backstories, increasing danger and of course lots and lots of borderline nudity. If there was ever a manga explicitly aimed at horny teenagers, this one takes the crown. Of course it has a bunch of shirtless men in peak condition, that’s normal for shonen action, but the outfits some of the girls wear are not very revealing. With some perverted characters among the cast, this is where the story derives a lot of its comedy from and although as a younger man this was part of the appeal to me, reading it back as an old man (I’m 33, so basically one foot in the grave) it gets a bit grating at times. I’m not one to shrink back from this sort of material by any means, but some manga do this just to appeal to their readers and it does nothing to improve the story. Besides that, the story itself isn’t exactly mindblowing. There are a lot of very predictable “twists” throughout and some of the arcs can drag a little bit. Having said all that, I still go back to History’s Strongest Disciple Kenichi once every few years as a little treat.
There you have it. Three manga I would never consider to be pioneers in their field – perhaps Gantz has an argument with its interesting artstyle – but I still enjoyed enough to reread at least once. For Fairy Tail I would recommend the anime instead, although I also love the manga itself. In the case of both Gantz and Kenichi, they have short anime adaptations but I found both lacking and ending before things get anywhere all that interesting, so if either of those sound fun to you, definitely pick up the manga. I’m sure you can figure out some place to read it. Thanks for reading.
With a rather large school arc now seemingly behind us, we returned home to the cottage at the end of the last volume, where it’s time to wind down and relax a little bit, having dealt with Philomela’s grandmother and the accompanying corruption. Yet trouble stirs almost immediately again as the actions that Chise took by turning into a red dragon and swimming underneath the land have alerted the church and its allies, who are now investigating the incident to figure out who or what is responsible.
We start off this volume with Torrey giving Chise a bit of a history lesson about Britain and the witch hunts, which of course immediately triggers Chise’s visions and she almost ends up adding another curse to her long list of problems. Her being a Sleigh Beggy will never stop putting her into serious trouble whenever she is near anything even remotely magical, but she has good friends and allies here as Ruth jumps in to protect her. Back at Elias home we meet Jasper, the owner of said home and a long time patron of Elias due to a peculiar curse that runs through his family. His sister in law’s baby is currently the latest victim of the curse and they’re here to ask Elias to fix it. We learn about their history in a fun little side story and I wonder if we’ll return to this at some point with Chise putting a permanent stop to the curse. Oh right, and Zoe grows wings.
Josef and Elias meet at the information market where rumors spread. The aforementioned red dragon has been seen swimming under the British Isles and this is not a good sign, with a red dragon having the power to tear the earth apart into little pieces. Not many people and neighbours would appreciate that, but what they don’t know is that Chise is the one responsible. Josef ponders why he’s been left to stay here despite the horrible things he does and Elias basically informs him that he’s so unimportant that it doesn’t matter to him, which pisses Josef right off. Returning to the home, we learn that the first visitor of the year is underway.
The head of the St. George house is here with the official request for Elias and Chise to investigate the dragon, with Simon present to mediate for the church. Elias considers his options for a bit, which is a clear sign of growth for the mage. What’s even more important is that not only does he consider Chise’s safety, he also considers that of some of the other friends he’s made in recent memory, which is a completely new feeling to him. The duo confer and decide to help out with the investigation as long as nothing unsafe happens to Chise. That’s when we learn that Violet and Jasmine are also present, and Chise quickly figures out that there’s something odd about the twins.
This is where the different storylines start to slowly diverge into a common thread. Chise is likely undergoing a form of atavism. It’s a change in mythical creatures which was demonstrated by the dragon that went berserk as well as Zoe earlier in this volume suddenly growing wings. It’s a rare thing that can happen and it might be what is happening to Chise, allowing her to turn into a red dragon. Alongside all of this chaos, the St. George twins reveal that they have their own weird creature to deal with. It seems to be a newborn creature of unknown origin that has grown fond of the twins. They hid it from their father who found out within seconds, then they all hid it from Elias who also found out within seconds. They’re not very good at hiding things, but they think they are.
Lastly we zoom over to Lindell and the dragons, where a stranger approaches and danger lurks. Fortunately, it does seem like this stranger has no ill intent and is instead coming with a request. Hilda St. George asks him to come with her to England.
It seems like we’re still going to learn more about the different alchemist families, focusing on St. George now. They seem like good people and their house being responsible for dealing with all sorts of dangerous creatures probably means they’re pretty capable too. If only this doesn’t end in a tragedy for the twins or another curse for Chise. We can only hope. It looks like we will not have to wait nearly as long for the next volume, as the breaks around the last few volumes were quite long, but it looks like Volume 22 should be out in February or March. Look forward to another run through that volume when I get my hands on it and as always, thanks for reading!
Welcome to a new series I’m starting in 2026 in which we will revisit old series that I personally remember fondly to see if they hold up or not. This won’t be a weekly series, but there will be regular uploads. We’re starting with Rage of Bahamut: Genesis today.
2000 years after a disastrous battle with the ancient dragon of Bahamut – who was sealed by the angels and demons working together – the dragon stirs once again, and strange machinations are afoot. At the center of this conflict we find a quartet of characters who have to somehow navigate a war between angels and demons. Rage of Bahamut is based on a social card game by Cygames studio and is one of three anime to be made as a promotion for the game. Although the English version of the game shut down a decade ago, the Japanese version is still going and out of the many different anime based on games that I’ve seen, this one definitely stands out to me. Let’s talk about it.
As it has for years, this opening sequence has stayed in mind until today. It always gave me a Pirates of the Carribean kind of vibe and it’s stored in the same memory bank as Jack Sparrow running on the water wheel.
Favaro Leone and Kaisar Lidfard are two bounty hunters who are at odds. Kaisar blames Favaro for the death of his family and his fall from nobility and Favaro’s personality as a drunkard, pervert and general lowlife doesn’t help much with Kaisar’s perception of the red afro wearing bounty hunter. Bounties in this world are put on demons and collected in the form of cards, which only bounty hunters can collect and then hand off to Bacchus, the drunken god of wine and slacking off. Bacchus and his duck companion Hansa are returning characters in the series as well and develop a rather close bond with the main cast.
FAAAAAAVAAAAAAAAAROOOOOOOOOOO
One faithful day when Favaro spends the night boasting, he meets a young woman named Amira, who is trying to get to Helheim to see her mother. Favaro quickly proclaims he can bring her there for coin, with absolutely no intention to actually do so. Unfortunately for Favaro, Amira curses him in return, forcing him to accompany her on the harsh journey to this Helheim place. We soon learn that there is more to Amira than meets the eye, as she seems to possess demonic powers and perhaps even something more. She accompanies Favaro on the journey north, being chased by Kaisar.
Former nobility, reluctant bounty hunter Kaisar Lidfard, one of the four characters that make this show so much fun.
After dealing with Rita, a necromancer who lives in a city of zombies due to an old curse, but is sick of her lot in un-life, the quartet of main characters is complete although they’re definitely not all on the same page yet. Of course we learn more about Favaro and Kaisar’s complex history as the story continues, as well as what is the deal with Amira, but I will not get into spoilers for this.
Rita rounds off the main four and she’s a very fun character.
In the midst of this war between angels and demons for the keys to Bahamut, to either keep him sealed or release him and unleash mayhem on the world, there is a holy knight crowned by the archangels in the form of Jeanne D’arc. It wouldn’t be a fantasy story if there wasn’t a depiction of Jeanne D’arc after all. Hero of the people, chosen of the gods and hellbent on saving the world from certain destruction, she and her army are after Amira as she is a demon with one of the keys to Bahamut’s trap. Betrayal and death are around every corner as everyone on all sides of the conflict converges on Helheim for the finale of the story.
When I decided to pick this anime to rewatch, part of me wondered how well the quality would hold up. I remember enjoying the characters a lot – and even on a second watch the main quartet are an absolute joy to spend time with, Favaro most of all – and I remember it having a surprisingly high quality for a game adaptation. I think that quality definitely holds up after more than a decade. It doesn’t look like One Piece during the latest arc, sure, but the animation is serviceable and the darker than common art style fits really well for the dark themes and foggy and dangerous world we find ourselves in. The rest of the production also holds up, although it doesn’t stand out as amazing at any point, it never detracts from the show and I found myself quickly wanting to watch more of it. I’ll definitely cover the sequel anime at some point in the future as well.
This poor girl has not gotten much luck with her lot in life, but she has good friends at least.
So should you watch this show 12 years later even when you have no desire to play the game it’s based on? Yeah, I’d say so. I never played the game either, but I thoroughly enjoyed every second of the original run and my rewatch. Favaro, Rita and Kaisar are incredible characters with quite a lot of humor to them. I feel less strongly about Amira, but she is also more or less just a plot device given a voice. She’s not bad, but also the least memorable of the quartet. Supporting cast are fun, animations and art are solid, and the ending is satisfying. There isn’t really anything bad I can say about the show, so if you like fantasy stories with angels, demons and talking ducks, then definitely check out Rage of Bahamut: Genesis.
If you came here for another scathing review about the dumpster fire that is One Punch Man season 3, I’m afraid I’ll have to disappoint you. While I did watch it, I don’t think there’s anything I can say that hasn’t been said already. Instead I want to talk about another anime that involved punching, which I did enjoy very much: May I ask for one final thing?
Even Saitama is bored with being there.
A young Scarlet El Vandimion has been betrothed to the second prince of the Kingdom of Pallistan since childhood. But her prince turned out to be a real piece of work throughout his youth. That’s what you get for naming your son Kyle, I suppose. At a party for nobles he announces that he’s breaking the engagement with Scarlet, who has been silently bearing with his abuse. Now free from her shackles, she asks for one final thing. To punch both prince Kyle as well as his new girlfriend, Terenezza in their faces. She dons her punching gloves – which have studs on the knuckles because we don’t do things half-assed here – and punches the crap out of the many nobles in attendance as well as prince Kyle and Terenezza.
To the despair of her brother, this is far from the only nickname that Scarlet earns during this series.
This show really shines when it does exactly what it promises at the start. Scarlet punching the crap out of people who are written to be disliked is a very satisfying plot hook that is definitely a breath of fresh air. We have many villainess anime where someone is transported to another world to be the villainess, but to have the actual villainess beat up the person from another world for being a whiny person is a new one to me. Together with prince Julius (Kyle’s older brother) and the weredog Nanaka, this trio deals with all sorts of trouble throughout the kingdom as Terenezza is plotting to take over the entire place with her newly founded religion.
This poor guy can’t catch a break.
Where this show falls off a little bit for me is when we get into the second half and we start to actually develop a plotline about wars, alliances and different gods and powers. If I’m perfectly honest, the storylines surrounding that are rather boring, but the show manages to quickly regain your attention by having Scarlet ignore all protocol and just beat the crap out of whoever is in their path. Julius’ annoying provocations and the despair of Scarlet’s older brother about having to deal with his little sister add some nice light comedy to the show. With solid art, vibrant colors – especially when it comes to Scarlet’s design, who embodies the color that her name suggests – and decent animation, this show stands out above similar shows for me. If you like a show that doesn’t require you to do much thinking, but has some very satisfying moments, then I would highly recommend you check out May I ask for one final thing?. If only to get rid of the bad aftertaste that One Punch Man season 3 left. Thanks for reading.
Do not be fooled by his fake smile, this guy cannot be trusted.That is the correct response.
It’s been a little while since we last covered a One Piece volume, but the latest one landed on my doormat the other day and I am excited to dive into it. Reading the chapters every week has been a ton of fun, but so much has been happening in the last few arcs that it’s hard to keep track of all of it, so with the anime and the physical volumes it’s nice to repeat things and get a reminder of all the things that were going on. I’m also still far from bored with this series and am currently considering either rereading or rewatching it, but when am I not considering that. Anyway, let’s dive into this volume which should be the tailend of the Egghead arc.
We continue our adventure in the land of the future as the five elders in their demonic forms are trying desperately to keep Vegapunk from broadcasting his posthumous message to the world. With the help of York they think they have found the source, but it turns out rather quickly that they were wrong. The Straw Hats on the other hand – now aided by the giants from Elbaf – are trying to get off the island alive. A buster call has been attacking in full force and with Vegapunk’s main body already dead, there isn’t any good reason for them to stay here, they only need to get out with as many people alive and well as possible. This is posing to be a difficult task as the five elders turn out to be very capable fighters. When we were first introduced to these ancient bozos, I never expected them to be a fighting force and although I doubt their brawn is going to be a big problem in the future, they are definitely strong enough to give an emperor a run for his money which kind of makes sense considering they run the world so they need at least something to back up their authority.
Far and by large the most important thing that happens in this volume is Vegapunk’s message to the world, which he manages to get through despite the attempts at interference. What he tells us about is how the world used to be made up of several continents that now lie 200 meters below sea level. This is due to someone using the ancient weapons in a way that caused the water to rise to the level it is at now. The small earthquake and rise in sea level confirmed his theory and he is now predicting that this will happen again in the near future. The motherflame that he developed allows the people in charge to do some pretty nasty stuff – as we saw with Lulusia – that they can still repeat. What we also learn is that during the void century, the precursor to today’s world government was at war with Joyboy’s section (more on what that likely entails in a future volume), and it ended with Joyboy’s defeat. The last thing Vegapunk tries to reveal is what the middle letter of “D” actually means, but the elders manage to stop the broadcast at this point by attacking Emet, the iron giant who was just looking to meet up with Joyboy again. It is clear at this point that Joyboy also possessed the same devil fruit that Luffy has now and it makes me wonder if any other people had the fruit between these two people, but were snuffed out before they could make anything out of it.
With the message over, the five elders now fully focus on taking down Emet and the escaping Straw Hat crew. Atlas sacrifices herself to silence Lilith’s connection so that York thinks there are no remaining Vegapunk satellites left after Atlas blows herself up to propel the Thousand Sunny. On the water below, Luffy and Bonney both transform into a Nika form and pummel Saint Saturn into the afterlife as we get a quick moment between Emet and Luffy, who Emet sees as Joyboy or at least a successor of Joyboy. We end the volume with Vegapunk’s message being over and the crew leaving Elbaf behind.
A few small things of note, before I leave you all again. We learn that professor Clover had the letter “D” in his name and they sacrificed themselves to the knowledge they gained could live on. We learn that Saul survived the ordeal on Ohara and even Vegapunk was mingling heavily in their research after the scholars passed away. We also learn that Gaimon – the man stuck in the chest all the way back in Romance Dawn – got himself a girlfriend and her name is Sarfunkel and the existence of this miniscule subplot is very funny. We also learn that Sword is looking for answers, not all of the Celestial Dragons are very tuned in to their own history and that many people now feel a renewed enthusiasm in trying to find the One Piece. What better vibe to have heading into the upcoming adventure in the land of the giants – assuming nothing goes haywire on the way out of Egghead, as things are still happening at the end of this volume. I hope you enjoyed this little recap and as always, thanks for reading!
It’s been a hot minute, hasn’t it? I checked the date on the previous volume’s post and it was back in April, which is the distant past by now. Of course I’ve been keeping up with the manga’s weekly releases and the anime as well and both have been brilliant, but it was really nice to get a new volume in my hands and get the chance to sit outside in the yard and read the entire thing in one sitting. Reading on your phone just doesn’t hit the same, although I am a big fan of both methods. Primarily, as much as I enjoy having Solo Leveling, Tbate and ToG on my shelves, those types of comics are much better on a phone due to the scrolling nature of the story. But I digress, let’s take some time on this humid summer day to look at the 109th volume of One Piece.
And in volume 109 we round up the Kuma backstory. We learn that Alpha is actually the sister of Kalifa, who we met in the Water 7 arc. This is mentioned in an SBS by Oda, where he explains that despite most Cipher Pol agents being orphans, there are some exceptions although both sisters have been raised completely separately. We see some of Luffy’s events from Kuma’s perspective and we end with a quick montage of Kuma’s life. This part has just happened in the anime a little over a week ago as of posting this, and I highly, highly recommend you check out that episode if you haven’t already, it’s one of those moments where animation and music add so much value to an already incredible scene. But we end this sad backstory with Vegapunk, Stussy and Sentomaru incredibly sad about basically killing Kuma for the sake of his daughter. We also learn that Bonney’s crew are just the rough and tumble fishermen from her hometown who had a crush on her mom and spent all those years raising her alongside Kuma and Conney Dowager. They even made the ship look like pizza just for Bonney.
So it’s no surprise that now that Bonney knows the truth, she aims all of her anger and frustration at the true villain of this arc, St. Saturn. Unfortunately she is nothing compared to one of the highest authorities in the world that has clearly lived for a very long time and has incredible powers and quickly gets thrown to the side. But as they all get ready to kill her, someone shows up. That’s right, this is One Piece, so very few things that die are truly gone, and the husk of Kuma still has some instincts that allow him to protect Bonney. We learn that Saturn already pulled the self-destruct switch, but it only turned off his personality completely instead of actually destroying him, because Vegapunk is not nearly as evil as he seemed at the start of this arc. We now go into a rapid fire of fights and there’s no real time to cover all of it without getting boring, so let me get through the highlights instead and focus on the truly interesting parts.
Luffy gets some food from somewhere – most people think it was Kizaru that secretly snuck him some food but I’m not convinced – and recovers. The pacifistas turn on the marines because Vegapunk found it far too cruel to have the likeness of Kuma turn on Bonney, so he made her the highest authority even above the five elders. Luffy beats the crap out of Kizaru and Saturn, but Saturn seems to be immortal. The fighting continues and Sanji reflects a laser beam since love is stronger than laser beams. She’s 10 years old Sanji, relax. Franky takes some damage, Jinbe tries to find Zoro and Lilith and Brook struggle to move the Sunny along the island, so they just sort of wing it. But disaster strikes as the World Government now has no more need for Vegapunk, and the old apple man is mortally wounded. And we still have four things to talk about that happen in this volume that are of massive importance.
Van Auger and Catarina Devon show up and Catarina copies Saturn with her devil fruit powers. They also reveal that “Teech is special” implying that there’s a good reason they work with him. This is on top of his bloodline, which has been revealed to us in the current day, but not in this volume, so we’ll not talk about it much. Saturn is also aware of this though, which means the government really let the man become a warlord while knowing what he was. They quickly leave again, taking a desperate Caribou with them who is a big fan of Teech and is going to tell him where to find Poseidon/Shirahoshi. This could be bad, and sets up the final fight between the two crews.
It seems like the ship with survivors from Egghead – that Saturn claimed was fully destroyed – managed to get out anyway, with the help of some unexpected visitors. And these unexpected visitors are two decades of real world time in the making. That’s right, the Giant Pirates have reunited and they’re here to pick up Luffy and his crew to make their visit to Elbaph, which we’ve been waiting for since I was a teenager, and I’m now 32. They defeat several of the navy fighters and come to support the crew in their retreat. To counteract this though, Saturn and his cronies decide that it’s time for a big clash, and the other four elders are summoned to Egghead, starting a brawl between the five elders, the giant pirates and the Straw Hat pirates.
There are just too many things happening at Egghead that are bad news for the stability of the world. There is an emperor there, Vegapunk has been researching the void century and has turned traitor – if he was ever truly an ally – the Giant Pirates have reunited and showed up here and the sun god Nika has been revealed here as well. To make things even more dire for the world government, Vegapunk set up a message to be broadcasted to the world upon his death, and we’re now entering a mad dash to either protect that broadcast or shut it down. This could alter the course of history forever. And it will all happen in 10 minutes. And let me tell you, those 10 minutes took months when these chapters were coming out. It was rough, but worth the wait.
We’ll see how all of that plays out in volume 110, which is probably not coming out for another few months, but I’m already excited for it. I’ve been considering rewatching some anime that I love and I will probably start with the recently released top 10 that I wrote for this blog, but after that I want to check out both Naruto and One Piece again. I rewatched Bleach leading up to the TYBW arcs that are still in the process of airing, and I want to rewatch Naruto to then check out Boruto, seeing how popular that manga has been getting on the Jump app. And rewatching One Piece has been something I’ve wanted to do for a very long time, but doing it at the same time as I was slowly rereading the manga felt like overkill. Besides, it won’t take that long, just a mere 10 year journey to get through it all. Thanks for reading!
It is not an easy task to create a proper top 10 anime. As of writing this, my anime list has well over 1250 entries and it is ever growing. To choose my all time favorites was not easy, and I will start off this post by telling you all that this list will likely change over time. As a matter of fact, In the month or so I’ve been working on it, I have changed one of the entries and adjusted the positions of three. But I am pretty happy with how the list turned out. There are some asterisks here and there throughout but I will explain those as we get to them. At the very least this will be a great list of anime and I hope there are at least one or two shows on the list that you can check out for yourself after reading this. So let’s not waste time and start with number ten.
10. That time I got reincarnated as a slime
This show has many great moments, lots of them more emotional than this one, but the pure joy I experienced when Rimuru let this attack go is indescribable. This is my favorite shot of the entire anime for that reason.
I have made no secret of my love for the Isekai genre. The concept of being transported to another world through some means has always drawn me in. I think it comes from a very clear longing in the current day for something different. Now this isn’t a cry for help, I’m medicated these days, but wouldn’t it be great if one day you woke up as a little slime and started building your own kingdom while making lots of friends along the way? Just me? Well Rimuru gets to live that life after being stabbed to death in modern day Japan. He finds himself in a dark cave and quickly gains some pretty impressive powers through what seems to be divine intervention followed by becoming friends with a dragon. As Rimuru makes his way through his new world he turns wild monsters into friends, builds his own city, joins a council of demons and even starts his own kingdom while toppling others. While doing all of this, a lot of the focus of this show is also on the quieter moments that are in between the fighting. For this reason some people have called it slow and boring at times and if that’s not your favorite type of content then I definitely understand that sentiment. But as someone who loves a slower story that pays off everything it sets up this show hits all the right spots. Some parts of the worldbuilding were so quiet and lovely that they made an entire spin-off show for it that is basically just a fantasy slice of life show. I have never been more comfortable laying in my bed watching an anime than while watching that spin-off. I highly recommend this show to anyone who likes the Isekai genre and I am excited to one day start reading the novels as well. If I can ever make it through my backlog.
Destroying your enemies without mercy is important, but festivals are even more important!
9. Ore Monogatari
Sometimes, being Sunakawa is suffering
Oitsukenaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaai, Oitsukenai noni, totsuzen monogatari. When I just think about this show, the first line of its beautiful opening by artist Trustrick – who are as unfamiliar to me besides this song as they probably are to you – immediately jumps into my mind and I can’t help but belt it. It’s honestly hard to believe that this show is a decade old already, it feels like just yesterday when I first fell in love with the romance anime genre through watching this show. That might be a bit unfair, there were other romance anime I enjoyed before watching this one, but this show taught me that shojo romance hits my feelings in a way I didn’t think was possible. It’s since been followed up by incredible shows like Horimiya, Skip & Loafer, Sakurasou and more recently a sign of affection, but as the first in the genre to truly make me cry tears of joy this show will always hold that special place in my heart. Gouda – a high school student, not the city I used to work in or the cheese named after it – is a big man but he’s not particularly popular with the girls. His friend Sunakawa is much more popular but he’s not all that interested in romance. One day, Takeo (Gouda) helps out a schoolmate named Yamato when she’s being harassed on the train. Not long after, the two start dating and we get to experience all of the joy and worry of budding love among two teenagers who have absolutely no idea what they’re doing. It’s a very funny show and the romance between the two characters starts pretty early on, so we don’t spend an entire season waiting for something to happen. Misunderstandings often get resolved pretty quickly and the characters actually communicate pretty well for anime characters. If you like shows like Horimiya and Skip & Loafer – which both could have made this spot as well – then you’ll enjoy this one too.
They’re somehow the most perfect pair
8. Ace of Diamond
The seniors have got to show the rookies who’s boss at least once per sports anime
For the first five spots on this list I also looked at what genre of anime I really enjoy and then which of the shows within that genre have stuck with me the most. For traditional sports anime that has got to be Ace of Diamond. A baseball anime about a team that is a powerhouse within their own region but struggles to make that next step that will bring them to nationals. With enough members to have a full first and second string as well as numerous bench players this allows for many different characters to be introduced. We follow a young Sawamura who has talent but needs a lot of time and work to get polished into being an actually good pitcher as opposed to a predictable pitcher with one good throw that eventually gets figured out. And he is not even the only talented pitcher within his team, as several others are also gunning for this position. In a team this competitive you need to constantly improve or you’ll soon be benched for the guy behind you who is working harder than you. Lucky for us, Sawamura is a hard worker and although it definitely takes some time, we get to see him perform on the stage of his dreams. On his road there we learn about the personalities of his seniors, the other people in his year, the management team and the coach and we even start to root for some of the other teams in the competition as many of the teams you face have their own charm and backstories, and it sometimes even becomes difficult to choose which team to root for. On top of that, the matches in this anime are quite unpredictable at times. Sometimes you think the protagonists have to win for the story to continue and then they lose and we follow someone else for a while as Seirin goes back to the drawing board. The characters are fun, the matches are very tense and the story just flows really well. If you like sports anime and haven’t seen this one yet, do yourself a favor. There are over 100 episodes of it, so you won’t be bored for a little while.
Everyone’s favorite scheming catcher; Miyuki
7. Bakuman
Although I don’t think I’ve seen any of my students draw their classmates yet – at least not in a flattering way – I’ve seen many of them doodle instead of do their work, so this is pretty accurate.
The feeling of wanting to make it big by bringing your stories to life is a relatable feeling to me. Having a family member who also told stories is also a relatable feeling. My grandfather – who I never met unfortunately – wrote a book before I was born. Reading a story about two kids who work really hard to become manga authors is something I can relate to. This story follows two high school boys as they work together to create manga and get them published and turned into anime eventually. We watch their growth as authors, their meetings with the people from Jump and their competition with others from their own age and older. As talented as the two are, they are also trying to write manga at the same time that another boy who is a once in a generation genius is trying to write manga. He is their main competition and I’m pretty sure he’s based on Oda. The manga was written by the same duo of authors that wrote Death Note and a good part of the story is based around their own experiences, so they know what they’re talking about. There are a few other anime that I would consider to be in the same genre about creating some form of art. I almost put one of them – Shirobako – in this spot. Other similar shows you could watch are New Game, Keep your hands off Eizouken and Sakura Quest. But out of all these, I think Bakuman still feels the most well rounded and was the most enjoyable. It’s not always super accurate of course as a lot of the story is heavily romanticized, but if you like learning a little bit about how manga publication works, this is a great show. Definitely give it a watch.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned throughout the years it is that most manga authors are at least a little bit strange. I think Bakuman does a good job of portraying them as such.
6. The Ancient Magus Bride
I promise you that this isn’t that sort of anime, it’s actually pretty wholesome most of the time.
One of the first manga I bought when I first started collecting manga more avidly. I just fell in love with this anime from the first second that I watched it. The gorgeously drawn British countryside, the fascinating mythology that I love to learn more about, fictional or real and the interesting character dynamics. At a surface level, the relationship between Elias and Chise is incredibly messed up, with one being a teenage girl and the other being a borderline eldritch horror that’s already lived for many long years. But the more time we spend with these characters, the more the roles almost start to reverse as we learn Elias isn’t nearly as mature as you would expect and Chise is much less a weak little girl than she seems at first. Not to mention the fact that Elias’ idea of marriage is very different from how we see it and has no creepy undertones at all. Despite me mentioning all of these things, the story follows a complicated relationship between two fundamentally broken people that try to navigate a confusing and magical world filled with danger around every corner. As the story continues, Chise and Elias enroll in a university for sorcerers where they get embroiled in a much larger plot and have to be very careful to get out of this unscathed. If you like fantasy, mythology and a slow but never boring coming of age story, then this show has to be on your radar, it’s one of the very best in the genre. Unfortunately there will likely not be a third season anytime soon, considering there is only one (translated) volume out beyond the end of the season 2 anime since the author took a bit of a break between volumes. Still, the story is continuing and the anime finished most things up quite nicely so it’s far from a bad spot to end the story for now. Treat yourself to some wonder and watch this show.
This anime – and the manga – loves using flowers to make the environment really pop, and they’ve done a great job bringing that to life with all this color.
Intermission with some honorable mentions
It’s been so long since I’ve seen these nerds, what a blast from the past and a reminder how cozy this show was. Well, until shit hit the fan, that is.
There were so many shows that could have made this list but didn’t. I considered the recently popular Solo Leveling, but since it didn’t get to the point of the story that I really love yet I decided against it. When it gets fully animated it might make this list. I considered classics like Fullmetal Alchemist, Steins Gate and Attack on Titan, but none of them give me that urge to rewatch them as much as the others on this list do. And although some of my top picks are definitely the same as the most popular anime of all time, I think there are very few shows that are recommended more often than FMA, so that one really doesn’t need a spot on a list like this.
I think I’ve made it pretty clear by now that I like shows that play with my emotions, and Vinland Saga 2 does just that, and it does an incredible job of it.
Vinland Saga season 2 would make the top 10 with confidence, but I didn’t really enjoy the first season nearly as much, which is why it failed to reach this top. A place further than the universe, Shirobako and Yuru Camp all almost took the spot of Bakuman, but I think the tenure that Bakuman has put it over the edge for me. Yuru Camp will be in my manga top most likely, so look forward to that in the future. Many of you are probably wondering where One Piece is on this list, but I find that the anime has too many flaws for me to put it on this list. I almost put the One Piece Fan Letter OVA on this list instead as a standalone episode, that is beyond brilliant. The incredible seinen action show Mononogatari is probably the show I would put in 11th place, so if there’s none on this list that you haven’t seen yet, give that one a watch instead. But with the honorable mentions out of the way, let’s dive into the 5 best anime I’ve ever watched. Drumroll please.
These two make for such a great duo
5. Ranking of Kings
One episode in and he’s already getting scolded by his stepmom
This is probably the most divisive entry on the list. Putting aside reviews on anime websites – as those are generally the most stuck-up people on the internet finding every little flaw in a show and making them as big as they can – there are quite a few people who find this story boring, think the writing is sloppy and say it’s not a really good anime. Despite all that, I think it was relatively popular in its time and it struck just the right emotional nerves for me to firmly jump into this top list. Ranking of Kings follows Bojji, a young prince who was born deaf. Not only that, he’s far weaker than his brother and seems to be all around not very talented. In a world where the kings of different nations are quite literally ranked and the most powerful ones get to take some very special treasures with them, Bojji seems to be lost. He doesn’t let it bother him all that much though as he’s a very positive little boy, despite getting hurt at times by the people around him. We follow Bojji as he goes on a quest with Kage, his newly made friend who is from a race of persecuted shadow people. The two become quick friends and go on a journey. While this is all happening, the kingdom is in the midst of a conspiracy that involves everyone that Bojji cares about. The protectors of the realm are divided, the king has made a deal with the devil and throughout all of this a monster is approaching fast. Bojji and Kage need to navigate this web of intrigue to save the kingdom and their family. Bojji’s stepmom is one of my favorite characters in all of fiction writing and an incredible example of how to write a strong female character that isn’t physically all that impressive. The opening Hadaka no Yuusha by Vaundy is also an incredible song and combined with the stellar animation and art style this show makes for a fantastic experience that I believe to be very underrated. I will add that the story itself does feel a little bit forced at times, it’s not the perfect story, but I think that all the other aspects of this show more than make up for that, and I would never say the story is bad.
Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the shadiest of them all?
4. Chihayafuru
Studying time.
Had I made this list about two years ago, this show would have been in the number 2 spot. That might give you some hints about the upcoming picks in the top 3, but let’s first talk about an anime that doesn’t get nearly as much attention as the rest of the top 5. Chihayafuru is a strange anime. It tells the story of Chihaya, a high school girl who is obsessed with Karuta. Karuta is a Japanese game of memorization and speed where poetry is read out by someone and it is up to the two players to then tap the correct cards on the ground in front of them. The poem read is the first half and the text on the cards is the second half of this poem, so you need to know these poems to be able to play the game. If you’re not sold on the concept by this description then don’t worry, neither was I when I first heard about it. The sole reason I started to watch this anime in the first place was because I heard the opening song by 99RadioService. They did the openings for all three seasons and the vocalist has a very pleasant voice. Chihaya and her club gather more members, compete in tournaments and meet all sorts of players from across the region. Nestled between all of these games – as some of the show is structured like a sports anime – is a romantic subplot that really tugs at the heartstrings at times. Chihaya is a very likeable character, but she would probably be quite the frustrating person to be around at times. Dense as can be and very little regard for social cues she often makes the people that fall for her suffer due to her lack of understanding. Despite this pretty big flaw in her character, the story never feels very frustrating and I think a lot of the romantic subplot is handled quite well. This one is definitely a comfort anime for me and I’m probably rewatching it after I finish this blogpost.
This show can get quite tense and competitive at times, like a proper sports anime, which makes the downtime feel much more comfortable in exchange.
3. The Apothecary Diaries
This is how it all starts, the awkward servant girl who is much more clever than your average servant gets immediately spotted by the scheming eunuch.
This show caught me completely by surprise. When it first aired I didn’t immediately watch it because it didn’t seem all that interesting to me. Yet I heard the buzz around it soon after so I gave it a shot and I was incredibly surprised. Apothecary Diaries follows Maomao, a young apothecary who is kidnapped and forced to work in the rear palace, a place where the emperor lives. In this part of the palace the only people allowed are the Emperor and his family, women and eunuchs. After quickly catching the eye of Jinshi, an attendant who is a beautiful young man, she is put in his employ. She helps with the medical issues in the palace and soon gets caught up in all sorts of problems. Her love for poisons gets her in trouble more often than not and she ends up working for several of the high ranking concubines throughout her time in the palace. She becomes good friends with two other servants and her relationship with Jinshi gets more complicated as time goes on. Even the eunuch doesn’t seem to be exactly who he says he is. This show gives the viewer just enough information to figure some things out before they’re revealed but also doesn’t assume we need our hand held at every step. Maomao is a fun main character and none of her flaws make her unlikable. The supporting cast complements her well and there isn’t a single boring episode. With season 2 diving much deeper into some of the political upheaval in the region we get a much better insight into the world of Apothecary Diaries and with a third season already announced for 2026 there is no good reason not to watch this one. The fact that the number 2 and 3 spots aired during the exact same season shows what an incredible season it was.
This is the same girl as the one in the previous screenshot, I promise.
2. Frieren: Beyond journey’s end
Because that’s right, the next entry on this list is Frieren, which originally aired alongside Apothecary Diaries in the fall of 2023. This one I was much more interested in from the start since I watched Gigguk’s video that he made on the manga, recommending it. The concept seemed interesting but I never expected to love it as much as I ended up doing. Frieren is an elven mage who has lived for over a millennium and has learned much in those years. Despite that, she’s still considered to be relatively young for an elf and the way she ages differently from those around her makes her a bad fit for joining up with communities. Still, she ends up joining Himmel the hero on his journey to the northern continent to deal with the demon king and end the war between humans and demons. The 10 year long adventure ends with success and Himmel and his party are crowned heroes of the realm. They split up after a job well done and agree to come visit now and then.
This moment from episode one was so powerful that I immediately knew I was in for a treat and it never disappointed for even a second after this.
50 years have passed since Himmel the hero defeated the demon king and Frieren suddenly remembers that he has something of hers and that they wanted to see a meteor shower that comes once every 50 years, so she decides to visit. To her surprise, both Himmel and Heiter – the humans in their party – are incredibly old and not long after their trek to see the meteors he passes away from old age, Heiter dying not many years later. Standing emotionless at Himmel’s funeral, the words from the onlookers that she’s not even crying hit her harder than she thought. It was merely a 10 year journey right? Not even one-one hundredth of her life. Despite it being only a short journey, she only now starts to realize how much she enjoyed that short journey and she wants to learn more about humans and about her friends that are now partially gone. She takes on an apprentice in Fern, who was adopted by Heiter, the corrupt priest of the party and they are joined by Stark, who was the apprentice of Eisen, the warrior of their original party. This trio travels north to find heaven, the place where spirits rest.
I had to include the scene that became a meme format, this girl is beyond dense sometimes.
I’ve talked a lot about the core of the story, but on top of these emotional and reflective moments, the series also contains quite a bit of action that is done incredibly well. This series is incredibly rounded and with great animation, voice talent and incredible opening songs by both Yorushika and Yoasobi – which are some of my favorite Japanese artists – the music is also fully sorted. There are few anime that make me feel the way that Frieren makes me feel and manages to tug on my heartstrings as much with both sadness and happiness. But if there is one anime that can compete, it would be the next and final entry on this list.
What makes a good anime feel complete is when the supporting cast feels not only interesting but also like they’re real people with their own story. Frieren nails that feeling as I want to know more about the lives of everyone in this screenshot.
1. March comes in like a lion
The quiet focus of a professional match, beautifully scored with calming piano music that picks up in intensity as the games do the same. Also look at my boy Nikaidou 😀 I love this kid.
The only entry on this list that has held its position for many years and to me stands head and shoulders above the rest. March comes in like a lion follows a young Kiriyama Rei. At 17 years old he is a talented and up and coming shogi player. Shogi is more or less a more complicated take on chess and I will immediately put you at ease that you do not need to understand the game to enjoy this anime at all. I still don’t fully understand most of it, but as long as you understand the basic goals of the game you’re fine. Kiriyama never really asked for these chances in life, but after his parents died and he was adopted by a friend of his father it felt like being good at shogi was his only path to belonging, so he fervently chased after it. Now he’s 17, skipping school and depressed in his own apartment. He doesn’t get along with his family in a healthy way, he pushes his only friend away due to not having the skills to get along with him and he feels most at home at the shogi hall just because he feels like he belongs. Kiriyama lives a lonely life.
Although Sangatsu has many incredible characters, these three are the heart and soul of the show.
Or that’s how it seems to him, and this is also why this portrayal of mental health struggles hits so incredibly hard. Many of us feel lonelier than we truly are. His stepdad cares for him in his own weird way. His friend Nikaidou cares for him greatly and pushes through his own illness to make sure his friend is okay and gets checked up on. The people at the shogi hall all feel responsible for him and make sure they keep an eye on him. But it takes until he meets the Kawamoto sisters randomly that he truly starts learning what his place in the world is. Kawamoto Akari is a hostess at the club where Kiriyama is taken one day by his seniors at the shogi hall. Fully drunk and passed out by the time the club closes down, Akari decides to bring him back to their cozy house where she lives with her two younger sisters and her grandfather. They get Kiriyama back on his feet and after realizing how lonely he is they start inviting him over. Despite not being his family, he starts feeling more and more at ease around them before the dark thoughts return. Still, they make sure to keep pulling him out of the dark place he’s in and it works. He becomes more and more at ease with who he is and we see Kiriyama’s journey from the darkest depths of his depression to a much better place. He gets all the help he needs from those around him and although it’s hard to see this when you are in this dark place, it is often true that there are people who care about us, even when we can’t see it. We’re social creatures after all.
All you need to know about this guy is that he’s a predator and we violently hate him
There are so many incredible characters in this story that just thinking about them puts a smile on my face. From his teacher who is a fan of shogi and makes sure that Kiriyama doesn’t fail school despite being a truant for most of it to the members of the science club that take him in as one of theirs and brighten his day. From his seniors at the shogi hall to his opponents who invite him to their club. And finally and most importantly the Kawamoto family is always there for him with Hina going through her own problems at school while the toddler Momo is a joy for sore eyes. The slightly weird art style that is often part of Studio Shaft products really fits this show well and the opening themes are all incredible. They have Orion by the powerhouse of Jpop that is Kenshi Yonezu as well as Bump of Chicken’s Answer. The later season has two songs by Yuki, out of which Sayonara bystander is probably my favorite. I will only give a warning that this is probably not a good show to watch when you’re in a dark place. The show gets much lighter as it goes on, but I think diving into the portrayal of depression could make your own mental health problems worse, so be aware of that.
Doofus 1 and Doofus 2
And now time for some closing thoughts. I’ve been thinking about making a list like this for a while and it was quite fun although it took a lot more time and effort than I expected. It wasn’t hard to find ten anime I loved, but narrowing it down to exactly ten and then figuring out their order was definitely a challenge. I’m happy with the result and although I’m sure that when you ask me in a year or so this list will look different, I’m happy uploading this post. There are many more anime that I really loved and didn’t mention in this post, so please do not crucify me that your favorite anime didn’t make this list. Feel free to recommend it to me in the comments below and I’ll let you know if I’ve watched it or not. And let me know what your own favorite anime are. For now, I recognize this was a long post, but hopefully you got some ideas on what to watch next. Thanks for reading!
Opal Kaharis 