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.
It’s that time of the year again where every single anime youtuber makes their review of the previous year. I used to look forward so much to Gigguk’s video each year, then forgetting about it because he’s always late, only to be pleasantly surprised when the video did show up. I figured I would compile a list for myself as well, in the hopes of having something to recommend to friends when they’re looking for something to watch. For this list I will only include anime that finished airing in 2021, so Ousama Ranking unfortunately won’t make this list, since it hasn’t finished yet. It would be number one otherwise. On the flipside, although Jujutsu Kaisen started airing in 2020, it finished in early 2021, so it does count for this list. I’m also not counting sequels, if you’ve seen the first season of most of the sequels this year, you’ve probably watched the later seasons too if you liked it. So no Yuru Camp, Dr. Stone, Tensura, Attack on Titan etc. With all of that out of the way, here are my ten favorite anime of 2021, in no particular order. As always, these reviews contain minor spoilers for each show, read at your own discretion.
Jujutsu Kaisen
The main cast of JJK
Easily one of the biggest shows to come out of late 2020, early 2021 and a good place to start as I think this is the most universally liked show on this list. A lot of the shows in here aren’t bombshell mainstream successes as much as Jujutsu Kaisen was, but more reasonably popular shows that I personally liked a lot. Jujutsu Kaisen follows Itadori Yuuji, who ends up mingling with the occult a bit more than he would have liked. Accidentally swallowing one of Sukuna’s fingers he becomes a host for the extremely powerful demon. In an effort to stay in control of his own body he ends up going to Jujutsu tech, where similarly skilled people are learning as well. Jujutsu Kaisen at its core is a well rounded shonen anime with fun characters and an interesting plot progression. It doesn’t pull any punches and is a joy to watch from start to finish. I have yet to read the manga, but if the quality keeps up like the first season of the anime did, it’ll surely be one to remember.
I’ve been killing slimes for 300 years and maxed out my level
Azusa with some of the titular slimes
The title really says a lot for this one. Azusa died of overwork in our world, and after she died she was teleported to a quaint mountain home on the outskirts of a small village in a fantasy world. She then decides to spend the next 300 years just relaxing and killing a couple of slimes every day. Because she’s immortal, she ends up going a little bit overboard and levels up until she is level 99, the highest level anyone can be. When this is revealed at a local adventurers guild, challengers start slowly appearing. This show is very calm and relaxing to watch and has a lot of heart. I felt like it had really fun characters and even the small story arcs were fun. There was next to no drama, no difficult moments, just some characters living their best lives. This show is perfect when you’re winding down from a long day at work.
Life Lessons with Uramichi Oniisan
Look at how happy and not dead inside they are
Imagine this, you’re in your late 20s/early 30s. You’re not quite in the place in life where you wanted to be, but you’re getting by. You have a job, but it’s not your dream job by any means. You’re single and your friends are a mis-matched group of coworkers. Your boss has no regard for his employees and often runs you ragged. If you’re like me and this sounds almost painfully familiar, then Uramichi Oniisan will definitely hit home. Uramichi works as a Children’s TV host. Think Steve from Blue’s Clues but as a gymnast. He does a good job as well, but his life is just a bundle of misery and pain. Uramichi just wants the world to leave him alone as he is miserable in peace. The anime follows his life and that of his coworkers as they get through their day to day. Uramichi Oniisan is painfully relatable, funny, introspective and even heartfelt at times. The characters are well written and with 13 episodes the show doesn’t overstay its welcome. And if all of that isn’t enough, the titular Uramichi is voiced by the one and only Hiroshi Kamiya (Trafalgar Law, Araragi Koyomi, Yato, Izaya etc.)
So I’m a spider, so what?
This promo image is as chaotic as the show can feel sometimes.
Kumo desu ga follows the story of Kumoko, who is teleported to a strange world as a spider monster. Unbeknownst to her, the rest of the class has also been teleported to this world, but they’ve done so as mainly humans and humanoid characters. Meanwhile Kumoko suffers underground as she fights the scary underbelly of the world in an attempt to survive and grow stronger. This anime didn’t really get me invested until later on in the story. Kumoko’s story is fun in a way, but it gets a bit repetitive. I found myself more interested in the humans and as the story focused more on them, I found myself enjoying it a lot more. When it really got me was later in the story, where Kumoko becomes more involved with the plot. There seems to be a lot going on in this show and it’s definitely made as an advertisement for the source material, which I believe is a web novel turned into a light novel. This show does have some CG that I didn’t think looked good at all. Some of the fight scenes did look good, but there were some moments that made me chuckle at how silly things looked. All in all it was a very enjoyable show and it definitely earned its spot on this list.
Blue Period
Yatora is so focused
I recently talked about this show in one of my quick reviews, so there isn’t much I haven’t already said. Blue Period is a great drama show about Yatora, who decides very suddenly to become an art student. He has enough talent that with his drive he’s able to become better very quickly. The story focuses on his relationships with the people around him as much as on the progression of art itself. It has some very well written side characters and my favorite thing about this show is how his friends are super supportive. Early on they come across as a bunch of bros who just like to get drunk together, but when push comes to shove they immediately support Yatora’s efforts, as well as those of another in their friend group. This show hits right in the feelings when it wants to and as someone who thinks art is very important I can’t recommend it more highly.
Komi can’t communicate
I love her character design, her hairstyle is so unique
As fun and comedic as this show is, I can’t help but feel that Komi is painfully relatable at times. Komi-san is a beautiful girl who everyone wants to be close friends with, but Komi has a communication disorder that makes it near impossible to speak. Watching her order a coffee, talking to new classmates or interacting with strangers makes me feel both warm inside yet at the same time reflects a side of my own personality that I don’t like to be confronted with. It took me 2 or 3 episodes to get invested in this show, but once I did there was no going back. The supporting cast is mostly fun, although I think Yamai is definitely on a list somewhere as she is a psychopath. Tadano is great and one of my favorite main characters in a while. His and Komi’s interactions are adorable and I’m happy that this is getting a second season.
Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation
The main cast of Mushoku Tensei
Rudeus Greyrat is a strange kid. Mainly because he has the mind of a thirty-something year old from earth. Reborn as the son of two adventurers in a fantasy world, he quickly finds out he is gifted with magic and becomes a very powerful kid. Unfortunately his fears of leaving the house still haunt him from his previous life. As the story continues, Rudeus and his cousin, Eris, are teleported away from their hometown to a strange land, and that is where the story really picks up.
To be perfectly honest with you, I did not like early Mushoku Tensei. The only reason I kept watching was because the animation and art were very good and the worldbuilding looked solid. As the show went on, I started being more interested, but it still had its issues. This show really raised the question about what your age is when you reincarnate. Rudeus is a child, sure, but the person inside his mind is not. He also does a lot of sexual assault, including sexual assault of minors which is worse depending on what age you view Rudeus to be. Outside of this show, I think discussing the mental strain of being teleported or reincarnated in a strange world is a very interesting topic that I hope to visit properly in a story I’m currently writing and publishing on this blog soon. But enough about that, Mushoku Tensei creates a beautifully flawed world where high stakes make you crave a new episode each week, despite its flaws.
The aquatope on white sand
This main cast is so unique in their personalities, I love it.
The first half of aquatope on the white sand plays out as a fairly generic slice of life drama. Fuuka is tired of the idol life and flees to a small town near the ocean. There she meets Kukuru, and starts to work at Tingaara, the local aquarium. It’s a bit rundown, but it’s got a lot of heart. Kukuru is the interim director and her grandfather is the one who made the aquarium big and successful. Alongside Kukuru and several of the other coworkers they try their best to save the aquarium from shutting down. And it’s a heartwarming story about how they come together and beat the odds that are stacked against them. The aquarium gets revitalized and they manage to save it. Except that’s not what happens. Even though Kukuru tries her very best, the aquarium is eventually shut down permanently. Fuuka moves back to the big city and nothing gets resolved in the way they wanted it to.
But then things pick up again. Kukuru gets a new job in a different aquarium, and although there are a fair share of hardships, it really shows that even though life doesn’t always go the way you planned it to go, that doesn’t mean you can’t rebound and find a new path. I loved the realistic take on a situation like this as opposed to the fairy tale success story where everything gets perfectly resolved. Life isn’t always fair, and aquatope acknowledges that. People’s paths converge and go their separate ways again, then sometimes they come back again. It’s a flawed story with flawed characters, but it feels extremely real and that is why it got me hooked completely.
Kageki Shoujo!
Kaoru (top left) is easily my favorite character of this show!
Watanaba Sarasa is a girl who likes to dream big. She wants to be on the center stage of the Takarazuka revue, a famous all-women theater. So she applies to, and gets into the prestigious Kouka Kageki high school. Alongside Sarasa is Narata Ai, a former idol with a troubled background. Together they grow as people and actresses as they go through the grueling lessons at Kouka and make friends along the way. That description does it some justice, but where this show shines is in its portrayal of the characters mental health problems. These can range from very serious topics to more melancholic things. The show takes its time to properly explore this themes which makes it brutally honest when you watch it. If you struggle watching people deal with serious issues then this might not be the show for you, but I personally enjoyed every single second of it, and even though I’m not putting this list of 10 shows in order, this one would definitely be in the top 3, if not number 1.
Horimiya
I was not a fan of how much more generic Izumi looked in the second half of this show
And last, but certainly not least, is Horimiya. I hadn’t heard of Horimiya at all before this anime aired, but apparently the manga is one of the most highly rated manga out there, and for good reason it seems. I will admit that the premise for this show is kind of dumb, but it’s not what keeps the plot going to it’s not an issue. Kyouko is a model student at school but she has a deep dark secret. At home she is, wait for it, very responsible and does the chores. That’s it, that’s her secret. If you think that’s underwhelming then we’re in agreement. At least Izumi has tattoos and piercings to hide, which are very much frowned upon. They come across each other outside of school and slowly become friends because they know each other’s secrets. Again, that’s Kyouko doing the chores at home. The premise is so silly, but it doesn’t take away from the story at all. I think a lot of it is summaries overselling how much it does for the story. This is a very character driven romance story and in my opinion one of the better written high school romance shows. I’d put it up there with the likes of Toradora. The art is nice, the music feels nostalgic and the characters are all likable in their own way. It makes sense that the manga is very popular and I recommend giving the show a watch as well.
And that’s my list. 10 shows I watched in 2021 that I recommend. 2021 saw a ton of sequels, like I mentioned before, and I watched a lot of those while skimping out on new shows. Please, do recommend some shows I’ve missed last year. I want to go back and watch some of them this year, if I find the time. There’s a lot of good anime coming up this year too, and I’ve just started watching Urusei Yatsura, which is a very old anime that’s getting a new adaptation this year. I’m mainly watching it for Lum, the main girl, because I’ve seen her a lot throughout the years in art and amvs, so it’s gotten me curious. And it’s a nice change of pace to watch something old and dated.
I hope this list helps you pick out some shows you might have missed and please drop a like if you found it helpful. Thanks for reading.
It’s summer everyone! How are you celebrating this lovely time of year where the weather is great and everything is fine? At least that’s what I would be asking if the world wasn’t still on fire. The Delta variant is scary and the weather has been a weird disaster with flooding in the south of the country and humidity that makes me lose the will to do anything. Luckily the anime season is doing well, which somewhat makes up for it. Today I want to highlight five shows that I think everyone should be watching this season. I will not include sequels like Dragon Maid or Tensura, nor will I include left-over shows like Eden’s Zero and Shaman King. I’m also trying to keep the selection a little bit diverse, so I’m not recommending you four different Isekai shows. With that out of the way, let’s get right to entry number 1.
1: Seirei Gensouki
Although I said I wouldn’t include multiple Isekai shows, I am including this one. In an almost comedic twist, our protagonist, Haruto Amakawa, is riding a bus, so he won’t get Isekaied by it. Pretty clever right? Well, not really, since a train slams into the bus, presumably killing everyone in the vehicle. If it wasn’t so overdone it would have been a shocking scene. He now wakes up as Rio, a small boy in the slums of the capital city. What’s interesting is that although he gets the memories from his life on earth, he seems to feel a lot more strongly about his life in the new world, where he spent seven years as Rio. His main goal so far seems to be Rio’s goal in life, and not Haruto’s. If this was the only thing interesting about this show, I’d write it off as a generic isekai and call it a day, but there are already multiple cases of people who came from earth. The opening song gives it away as well, but there looks to be more afoot. Episode 5, which is the last one I’ve seen as of writing this, even introduced a plot point that could be very fun to explore. If you’re looking for a good Isekai to watch, I think this one is the better one airing this season.
2: Uramichi Oniisan
Have you ever felt like life isn’t going quite right? Have you ever felt like your job is crushing your soul? Do you ever wonder how you got to this point in life? So has Uramichi, the host of the kids television show Together with Maman. This show follows the titular Uramichi, who’s character is massively improved by the amazing voice work of Hiroshi Kamiya (Trafalgar Law in One Piece, Yato in Noragami, Izaya in Durarara, Araragi in Monogatari and many more). Watch as he slowly loses his mind while trying to keep it together. Uramichi Oniisan is funny in how painfully relatable it is sometimes, and it shows characters that feel very real. It’s not a show I could binge watch for a very long time, but for a weekly dose of cynicism it is perfect.
3: Peach Boy Riverside
I won’t lie, this show confuses me a little bit. It seems to be making a point that I’m not getting. Sally, the princess of the Kingdom of Aldraic, follows a young man called Mikoto after he saves her kingdom. Mikoto is also known as Momotaro, a brutal ogre-slayer. After witnessing his violent displays, she still decides to travel. What confuses me about this show is how abrupt it seems to jump from one story element to the next. There’s a time jump here and there, and cities are casually wiped off of the map. Beyond all that seems to be a subplot with an immortal rabbit woman, an ogre turned human and Sally’s power, which seems to be similar to that of Mikoto. Confusing as it all is, I do find myself enjoying this show every week, and that’s why it’s on this list. It also wins the medal for the most awkwardly placed fanservice, which is not really a compliment, but not everything has to be.
4: Bokutachi no Remake
RE:Life is back and this time it isn’t sponsored by a social media platform. Well, that’s not quite what’s happening here, but the concept is similar. Our main character is not in the happiest place in life, and even though he’s definitely someone who puts in the effort, it has so far not paid off in life. After his recent job was cut he came back home to wallow in his sadness. There he suddenly reverts to 10 years back in time, and decides to go to art school after all. He then meets several of his favorite artists, before they even became famous artists, and together they live their life through school. The goal? To follow your dreams and be successful this time. He also meets his old boss, and I’m willing to bet good money that she’s also gone back in time with him. The characters are very likeable in this show, and if you need a reason to watch this show beyond that, Shinoaki, my favorite character, is voiced by the wonderful Aoi Koga (known for Kaguya in Kaguya-sama) and is an absolute joy to listen to.
5: Kageki Shoujo!!
Although I wrote this list in no particular order, I wanted to end with my absolute favorite show of this season so far, and a strong candidate for anime of the year. Early on people likened this show to Revue Starlight, a show in the same genre that aired a few years ago. I quite enjoyed that show, but it wasn’t nearly as well-written as Kageki Shoujo has been so far. This show is quite brutal in its depiction of an elitist drama school. This is a ruthless world these people are getting into and the teachers reflect that. And they do so in a realistic way, and not in a “look at how evil these teachers are.” You even get some insight into their reasoning and it makes sense. Sort of. I will give a fair content warning, this show handles some pretty touchy subjects like sexual assault, PTSD and eating disorders. And that’s only 5 episodes in, so this could definitely get worse. Sarasa is an absolute joy as a main character and if you’re not rooting for her success 2 minutes after introduction then I don’t think we can be friends. Definitely check this one out if you like drama as much as I do. And I think that’s all for this list. There are definitely a lot more shows I’m watching this season, and not everything can make the list. Is there any show you think is really good and should be on this list? Let me know which show and why. And as always, thank you so much for reading!
We’ve all been stuck indoors for a long time now. Personally I’ve taken the covid-regulations very seriously. Maybe too serious from time to time. I just do well with order and rules, and less so with chaos. If there are clear rules, I’m going to follow them. Especially if they also make sense to me. Wearing masks, not leaving the house more than necessary and keeping your distance are all very reasonable things to do when other people might have a deadly disease. This has led to me being at home a lot more than normal. I haven’t even seen my university, or a group of my friends since early 2020. I still remember the week before schools closed down in the Netherlands. I was feeling a bit worried and decided to take the week off, just to be safe. I had some classmates tell me it was stupid to not go to school because of this strange disease, and maybe they were right. I just didn’t feel like going into a crowded train that led to a crowded Amsterdam metro and straight into a very crowded campus. In hindsight it probably wouldn’t have made a huge difference, since cases were still very low at that point, but I don’t regret it. So with an unreasonable amount of time on my hands and no real outdoors activities to fill the time, I had to fill up the space with video games. Let’s have a look at 5 video games that managed to get me through this pandemic.
Animal Crossing
I never played the previous Animal Crossing installments. I didn’t even really know what the game entailed until I bought it. I just knew that all of my friends were going to buy and play the game, and I had a Nintendo Switch already, so I figured why not? What followed was an adorable gameplay loop that definitely didn’t reek of capitalism at all. I had a lot of fun building up my island and getting different villagers. I kind of stopped playing after a while though, and I’ve been thinking of picking it up again. I should decorate my island some more, and maybe even get some of my friends to play again. If you like an adorable game with one of the most relaxing soundtracks there is then I recommend you give this one a go.
Among Us
Now I didn’t really enjoy playing Among Us that much. It’s a very stressful game and although I’ve played a bit with friends and this was definitely fun, I always felt like I had to take a shower afterwards because of how much I sweat when I’m stressed. Among Us was definitely a craze for a while. It was kind of fun to see my students at my teaching internship play the same games as I did. Makes you seem like the cool teacher while you’re actually just a nerd that plays video games way too much. Luckily most of my students weren’t crazy hyperactive about Among Us, so it mostly made for some good pictionary prompts. And as an English teacher I like to motivate my students to do more in English, and some of them played in random lobbies with people who didn’t speak Dutch, so good on them for that!
Minecraft
Minecraft has to be one of my favorite games of all time. I’ve put more hours into this game than I can count. I remember playing the Tekkit mod back in the day before most big mod packs were even a thing. Earlier this year some friends of mine set up a vanilla server, so I played quite a bit of minecraft. I am bad at finishing build projects in this game though, so I ended up building about half a wizard tower. I used to love playing this game, but I feel like nowadays it comes and goes in waves. Luckily there was another game that has been keeping me sane throughout all of this:
Apex Legends
I’ve played Apex Legends on and off ever since it was first launched. I started a little bit later than the launch, mainly because a bunch of my friends were playing it. I love the fast gameplay of a battle royale like this. I always like to compare it to Overwatch, which I used to play a lot. With a game like Overwatch you often quickly realize it’s going to be a bad game. Either the enemy team is really good, or some people on your team are bad or toxic. Or in certain cases just straight up throwing. The problem here was often that you’d still be stuck in the same game for another 5 to 15 minutes. Apex doesn’t have that problem. If you encounter a squad that’s better than you they just kill you and you jump immediately into the next game. The game also has a lot of downtime while you’re looting so you can chat with your friends and talk nonsense for an evening, only to now and then focus on the game.
Stardew Valley
I don’t think a perfect game exists, for for me personally Stardew Valley comes pretty damn close. For those of you unfamiliar with Stardew Valley, it’s a farming simulator. You sit in your office and you one day are sick of it all, so you go to the farm that you inherited from your grandpa. From here you travel to a lovely village in which you get to talk to all the fun villagers. You get to befriend them, farm crops and even explore the local mine. Or in my case, fish a lot. Fishing is great in Stardew Valley. The best thing about this game for me is how relaxing it is. You can’t really lose in Stardew Valley. You can die in the mines, but it’ll just bring you to bed and you lose the progress for that day. Not the end of the world. If you ignore the mine, or have a good enough grasp on managing your health, then it’s a super relaxing game with a fantastic soundtrack. I’m normally not a huge fan of this graphics style, but for a game like Stardew Valley it just works. I’ve played this game on both PC and switch, and enjoyed it every single time.
Honorable Mentions
I want to put a few honorable mentions here really quickly. Most of them are on the Nintendo Switch. First I want to mention Forager. It’s a very fun game where you slowly expand your islands by getting resources and includes some fun puzzles. Second game I want to mention is Path of Exile. I played this for a hot second back when it first launched, and then didn’t touch it until recently. With the announcement of a Path of Exile 2 it seemed like a good moment to get back into it, and it’s been quite fun, although very complicated. The last honorable mention is Black Desert Online. I love and hate this game at the same time. I recently quit it for a second time, but it was a very fun game while it lasted. It just turned into too much of a grind near the end.
I hope you found something you enjoyed among this!
One Piece is an absolute behemoth of a franchise. With over 1000 chapters and (as of writing this) 965 anime episodes as well as fourteen movies it is one of the most successful comic franchises of all time. One of my guilty pleasures is watching people react to a compilation of the One Piece openings. Not only are they all absolute bangers, it’s great to watch other people enjoy them as well, and in the case of a first time watcher see their reactions to the amount of visual chaos that is One Piece. I thought it would be fun to think about which of the openings I actually thought were my favorite, so I decided to make a quick top 5. My top will arguably change over time, but after watching the entire list yesterday, and having it open on my second screen again right now, this is the order I came up with. Beware of spoilers of anything before the Wano arc.
Undeniably one of the most uplifting songs in the entire list of One Piece openings. It’s early on and unfortunately fairly aged, but this song just gets me happy. I almost can’t help to join in and go “Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.” At the appropriate time. Unfortunately One Piece wasn’t doing longer openings yet at this point, so it’ll have to sit at around 90 seconds, but it’s short and powerful. There is also an English version which is equally good.
I’ll admit that the Dressrosa arc went on for longer than it should have. I think a lot of people certainly agree. The conclusion was fantastic, and it produced some of my absolute favorite moments of the show, but it did take a long time to get there. With a vast amount of characters shown in this opening, including the menacing admirals and Blackbeard, who I can’t wait to see more of in the approaching final arcs, makes for great visuals. The crew flying in front of a mediocre CGI background sky doesn’t even bother me with how cool they are. And the transition of the Mera Mera no Mi from Ace to Sabo is done splendidly.
I struggled choosing between this one and Opening 21: Super powers. I think they’re visually the most impressive out of all the openings bar Wano, and the juxtaposition of Luffy’s intense pain when confronted with Sanji’s past, compared to his normal upbeat mood, as well as the absolutely terrifying silhouettes of the Big Mom crew just makes this opening hit differently. There’s also many different versions of it, which is a staple at this point. Super Powers has the conclusion with Katakuri, which is why I almost put it in here instead, so consider this an honorable mention. I just think the melancholic tones of Hope fit this arc better, and Super Powers, although catchy, has to be one of the more boring songs in the series.
I would be remiss not to include the original opening, but improved. Because the only thing that could improve a banger like We Are is if it was sung by the crew itself. Dated in it’s animation, the song itself certainly holds up, and I think I prefer it to the remix that was used later on in the series. Not much to say about this one, except that is absolutely slaps.
One of the coolest designs in the manga I think. Jinbe is amazing!
I’ve heard numerous people say they don’t like this song much, and I understand why, but I respectfully disagree. The art is great, and the visuals, for the first half of the song, show how much fun the straw hat crew is.They’re wacky, over the top and a bunch of absolute morons, and we love them for it. They love adventure and are having a great time. Some of the quick animations in between give the same amazing feeling that the colored cover pages of the manga often give. The song hits a sadder note when we see Ace, and we’re reminded that the straw hats aren’t in a great spot right now. This quickly changes with the most awkward salute given by the Impel Down guards. The song hits straight back into more optimistic tones as Luffy and his new friends head to Marineford to go save Ace. I couldn’t say it better than the singer herself, who ends the song with “matteru” or according to the subs. “Look up ahead, my treasure, as you are waiting there for me!” I don’t know how correct this is, or how badly I butchered the Japanese, but it is very fitting for this arc.
That was far from a definitive list, and I’m sure there’s openings that deserve more credit than I give them. I also quite like Crazy Rainbow Star, as well as Share The World! As a matter of fact, I don’t think there’s a single bad opening, but these 5 stood out to me. The only thing I can say is that some of the more recent songs have felt kind of boring to me, and I haven’t been impressed by the Wano openings, bar the animation.
But what would your list be? Do you agree with mine, or are there other Opening Themes that you preferred. I want to look at the endings in the future as well, since One Piece had some great ending themes. Leave a comment down below if you want to see that, and like the post if you want more lists like this. Thanks for reading!
Initially I was going to write a piece talking about different Japanese artists, and what I liked about them. After two attempts of writing up a list I still wasn’t quite happy with what I wrote down. It had great artists, but the content had quickly turned into a boring list, with my writing adding no real depth to the post. As much as I like lists, that’s not the purpose of these kinds of blog posts, so instead I decided to specifically look at anime openings and endings. Now, for this list I’m going to look at openings that I personally love, and I will be ignoring some super popular ones that will get an honorable mention at the end, but have been mentioned by many before me. I hope you find some openings that suit your musical taste, and maybe even find an anime or two to watch. These are not in any particular order. Enjoy!
There are many reasons to watch an anime. Maybe you like the art style, maybe you’ve read the synopsis and found it very interesting, maybe your favorite youtuber talked about, or a friend recommended it. All of those are valid and common reasons, but there is one anime I watched for a different reason. My first experience with Chihayafuru was through seeing the opening song in a compilation on youtube. I loved the sound of it, and I listened to it for a while, until I decided to watch the Anime that it was a part of. To my surprise, Chihayafuru quickly became one of my favorite anime, alongside 3-Gatsu no lion. The relaxing sound of 99RadioService accompanies each of the three seasons and I think they’re all fantastic songs in their own right.
I enjoyed Utawarerumono (that trips me up every time I write it) for what it was. It wasn’t amazing by any means, but as a person who loves the cat ears and the tail (don’t judge me, we’re all degenerates here) it was a very enjoyable watch. The opening theme to this anime sounds great. I’ve thought about it for a bit while writing it, but I’m not quite sure how to talk about it. It’s just a pleasant sounding track in front of a pleasant watch. Please check this one out, and give both Utawarerumono seasons a go as well. I am planning to go back to them in the near future and do a proper review, so look forward to that!
I debated amongst a few Bump of Chicken songs. I was initially going to put Acacia here from the Pokemon animation that came out last year, but eventually decided against it. I also considered some of the music they did for 3-Gatsu no lion, which is one of my favorite shows of all time, and which I will write about in the future. The reason I ended up choosing Hello World over their other songs was because it was the first Bump of Chicken song I really listened to. Kekkai Sensen is an absolute blast to watch, and the other opening and ending songs from that show (both seasons) are phenomenal as well. Hello World is a great soft-rock track accompanied by a very well directed animation opening. Hello domou, boku wa koko!
I really like Dr. Stone. I don’t think it’s a great setting for a long-running show, but I also wouldn’t be surprised if the author has way more creativity than I do, so it might turn out great. I do sometimes get anxious that shows might go downhill if I can’t see the long-term potential. Is that something other people experience as well? Sometimes it’s completely wrong, but often it’ll be right. Anyway, this is about anime openings, so let’s go back to that. The first season of Dr. Stone was blessed by two amazing openings by Burnout Syndromes and Pelican Fanclub. The opening to the second season is a little less upbeat, but feels a bit more melancholic. As if it’s a prelude to the clash that’s going to happen during this second season. (I’m writing this a little while before posting it, but I assume there’s a fight coming this season.) It’s not quite like other shonen opening themes, but it’s still extremely pleasant to listen to.
I have to admit I’m not watching Black Clover. It’s one of three shows currently on my ‘stalled’ list. I want to get back to it eventually, since the manga is great fun. I have gone ahead and listened to the openings, and Vickeblanka’s rock songs are a joy. I couldn’t choose between this song and Black Rover, which is the third opening of Black Clover. Yeah, I think he matched the titles to the show there. Both have their own merits, and if you enjoy one, you’ll likely enjoy the other as well. Both capture the fun and energy of Black Clover quite well, and what I like about these songs matches what I like about Black Clover.
A gorgeous and simple album cover from Bump of Chicken’s Butterflies, worth a listen for sure.
You’ve made it to the halfway point of this list. What do you think so far? Any good songs on here? Let’s give a quick shout to some honorable mentions while we’re at it. There’re many amazing songs we won’t get to cover today, so I’m sure I’ll end up making several more lists in the future. “Let me hear” by Fear, and Loathing in Las Vegas perfectly captures the madness of the Parasyte anime, and gets you hyped for some depressing alien stuff. Asian Kung-Fu Generation’s “Re: Re:” has been talked about a ton, and I’ve heard people say it would fit better in front of a shonen anime. I think I even saw an edit at some point where it was used on a Naruto opening animation and it fit like a glove. Still, it was in front of Erased, which was an undoubtedly less upbeat show. Kenshi Yonezu is undoubtedly an extremely popular artist in his own right, and some of his songs have been in front of popular anime. One that has always stood out to me, for an anime that misses the boat twice today, was “Orion” used for 3-Gatsu no Lion. Thinking about it, that show was truly a blessing of music as well, I’ll make sure to talk about this in my inevitable review. Anyway, with these honorable mentions out of the way, let’s go back to this particular list.
I was unsure which Fire Force opening I was going to put on this list. There’s many great entries for both of the seasons, including a fire song by Mrs. Green Apple. Eventually I decided on this song by Kana-Boon. I mainly picked it out because there are so many other Kana-Boon songs that should also be on this list, and I didn’t want to flood it with one artist too much. This song is arguably better than the anime it precedes. Fire Force is by the same author as Soul Eater, which I absolutely adore. Unfortunately Fire Force hasn’t seem to hit the same highs so far. It’s a decent shonen for sure, but it just doesn’t quite get my attention like other shows that have been airing recently. The opening is absolute fire though. I’m a big fan of Kana Boon in general, but this song just fits the anime perfectly.
One Piece, after all these years, is still one of my favorite anime. When it comes to manga, it’s my favorite by a long shot, but we’re not here to talk about manga today. One Piece has an impressive runtime of well over 900 episodes at this point, with episode 1000 likely coming up later this year. Through this runtime it has cycled through many openings. I considered putting the very first opening here instead, because that one is fantastic as well, but this is my personal list, and for me this opening hits differently. This was the opening when I first started watching One Piece back in the early 2010s. It’s upbeat as well as somber, which really fits the wild emotional swings you experience while watching this show. Give it a listen, and then go give One Piece a quick watch, shouldn’t take too long right?
These images capture the heart of One Piece, and how much they really are a group of friends.
Perhaps not the anime song named Blue Bird you were expecting, but I’d call it a pleasant surprise. Bakuman, for the two of you that aren’t familiar, is a manga about creating manga. Hold onto your hat Xzibit, because there’s layers to this one. A decidedly different story by the author of Death Note, this one is amazing, and Blue Bird is such a mellow song that perfectly captures the dreamy attitude our main characters have. I think anyone who likes the anime or the song should give the music video for this one a watch as well. It’s not a marvel of cinematography, but I think it strangely fits the song itself in its serenity. It’s certainly relaxing to watch.
I almost made the mistake of switching the title of the song with the artist, because besides this one song I’m really not all too familiar with them. Just like some of the other songs on this list, this comes from a show that holds a special place in my heart. I’ve had a saying about slice of life anime for a long time now, that I’m sure I didn’t come up with, but I’ve been using it consistently. I like to say “It’s an anime that heals your soul.” This is true for many shows, and my favorite is coming up at number 10, but Barakamon is the show that started my love for Slice of Life shows. Before this show I mainly watched shonen shows, maybe some comedy or romance shows at best, but the idea of just lying down and watching some fairly normal people living their life sounded boring to me. Now I think very differently, and this show, as well as this very relaxing song, will always hold a special place in my heart.
Readers will have figured out at this point that I absolutely adore this show.
Wait, did I get that right? Oh no, I didn’t. My bad, it’s actually called “Shiny Days” by Asaka. It’s just that the song reminds me of the Jackson 5 so much that I get them mixed up from time to time. This is my good mood song. I can’t listen to this song and not be in a good mood instantly. It vibes, it grooves and it is absolutely a joy to listen to. Yuru Camp tells the story of a group of high school girls who go camping. Sometimes as a group, sometimes alone. I did a review of the manga as well. It’s the peak of slice of life stories in my opinion, and with a second season currently airing it should be fresh on everyone’s mind. The second opening is fine as well, but this one is definitely on a level of its own, and I find myself humming along every time I hear it.
Although very fun to do, this post ended up taking much more time than other posts. Below, you’ll also find a spotify playlist with some of the songs. Not all of them were available, unfortunately. I’ve added links to the songs. Official verisons of the openings where available, and the full song versions where they were not available. Please leave a like, comment or a follow if you want to see more of this kind of comments. I like making lists as much as the next person, but it takes more research and time than a random rant. Thanks for reading!
Today I’ll be looking at some of the anime that have stood out so far during the winter season. It’s been a very stacked season and a lot of the shows I’ve been watching are sequels. This leaves the amount of new shows I’ve had time for quite low, but there are enough good shows to make a list, so that’s what we’ll be looking at today.
5) Kemono Jihen
Shiki (left) Kabane (center) and Akira (right)
The first anime on this list is interesting. It follows a young boy who is a hanjo. He doesn’t know his parents and the aunt taking care of him has mistreated him most of his life because he gives off a weird smell. When something starts going wrong in the little village they live in, the people are quick to blame Kabane, even though he is not responsible for what happens. The hired detective Inugami-san then helps him out by inviting him to live with him. It turns out he has other youkai living with him as well, and they solve youkai-related problems together. The characters are very fun, and Kon, who is introduced a few episodes in, is absolutely adorable. Definitely give this a watch.
4) Sk8 the Infinity
All the pretty boys this season.
Believe it or not, I used to spend my days in the local skatepark trying beginner tricks on my budget inline skates. Needless to say, I wasn’t very good at it, but I had some friends who were very good at it. To this day I’ve met very few people who are as friendly and inclusive as skaters. It seems like they all agree to just share the hobby they love with whoever is interested, no questions asked. Sk8 nails this feeling, as all the people involved immediately seem to be good people on the surface, just trying to have fun and perform cool stunts. Some of them do this in less conventional ways than others, but the point stands. With great art, cool character designs and an ending that absolutely slaps this has quickly wormed its way into my heart. If you like cute boys doing anything, or if you like skateboarding you should check this out. Even if you’re like me and cute boys aren’t at the top of your priority list, that doesn’t mean you can’t appreciate this show.
3) Kumo Desu ga, nanika?
Kumoko Desu o/
I’d heard about this show before it started airing, but I hadn’t really heard much about it. From what I could find it is originally based on a web novel. In a market where Isekai shows are everywhere you can look it’s hard to still be interesting. Even if a new Isekai anime is based on older material, we still judge it harshly because of how much competition it has. The thing that Kumo does differently from other shows is that it takes its time exploring the world mechanics a lot more. Slime, which has its second season airing right now, did this as well, but to a lesser extent. We spend a long time in the underground caves with our spidery main character who is very hyper yet charming at the same time. Personally I think it was a good choice that they introduced the other characters immediately, as I believe that wasn’t the case in the novel from what comments have suggested. With an in depth skill system and some mystery as to what happened to this class, this show seems like it will be a fun ride. Hell, maybe it’s the next step in curing my arachnophobia.
2) Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation.
The poster for Mushoku Tensei
I wasn’t a fan of this show early on. The main character came across as an absolute creep and an all around weird guy. This isn’t a bad thing, but to me it wasn’t clear immediately that the author knows this. What I mean to say with this, is that lots of main characters are creeps but it’s somehow considered a charming part of the character. Rudy on the other hand is a creep and the author is very much aware. He spent his life on earth being a NEET and being bullied from the few glimpses we get into his past. Just like Kumo Desu Ka, this show takes its time establishing its cast, and more importantly pointing out how flawed some of the people are. They don’t just gloss over bad behavior, there are consequences to actions. And Rudy isn’t a super strong chick magnet who is amazing at everything. He’s scared of going outside, he finds out that his magic is quite strong, but then almost immediately meets someone even better. His social skills are awful, his personality is definitely foul at times, but he also shows growth. He diffuses a difficult situation at his house and he tries to be a better person. After hating him initially, I’m slowly starting to root for him. Besides that, the show looks gorgeous and it looks like it will go on for a little while, which is also quite nice.
1) Horimiya
Like many people, I wasn’t aware of Horimiya before it started airing. I’d seen some talk about it, so I figured the manga was kind of popular. Only later I found out through a youtube video that it is one the highest rated manga of all time on Myanimelist.com. And from the few glances we’ve gotten so far that seems to be for a good reason. The characters are fun, the story set-up seems interesting for a romance show and most importantly; the plot moves. It doesn’t move at a ridiculous pace, but things happen. The titular characters Hori-san and Miyamura become friends in the first episode and they actually hang out almost immediately and often. There seems to be something below the surface with Miyamura, and I’m curious to find out more about it. I do wonder why he decided to get such big tattoos and so many piercings at a young age. It could definitely be just a fashion statement, but there might be a reason to rebel behind it. As someone who has never read the manga I am very excited to see what’s going to happen next.
It’s too bad I’m not into men, because he absolutely nails the look here.
There are other good shows airing this season that didn’t make the list. Examples are Heaven’s Design Team and Urasekai Picnic. On top of this, the final season of Attack on Titan, as well as sequels to many shows I adore are currently airing. I don’t have time to include all of them here, but I will probably review some series when this season has ended, so look forward to that. And you? Which shows did I miss that should have made this list? Leave a comment down below to let me know!
Opal Kaharis 