This season of anime hasn’t impressed me too much. There are obvious winners in the sequels of Attack on Titan and Demon Slayer. Ousama Ranking is still ongoing and has earned a special place in my heart already. But when it comes to new shows airing this season I haven’t been too impressed. I debated on if I should make this post or not, which is why it’s so late. I decided to go over five shows that I’m enjoying after all, some of which are really good. Without wasting any more time, let’s get to it.

1.  Akebi’s sailor uniform

Akebi has long dreamed of wearing the beautiful sailor uniform that her mom wore to school. Now that she’s been accepted into the prestigious Roubai Private Academy that dream has come true. There has however been a bit of a mix-up, and Akebi finds out that the school uniform has changed since her mom went to school there. Fortunately, the school has no problems with her wearing the sailor uniform anyway since it has been an approved school uniform in the past, so why would they decline it now. We follow Akebi and her classmates who are all definitely a little bit strange. Cloverworks is handling a lot of shows this season, but they’re definitely letting some of their talented staff work on this one since some of the frames look absolutely gorgeous. This would probably be a very forgettable show if it looked average but because it doesn’t it stands out a lot and I would recommend giving it a shot if you like slow slice of life shows.

2.  My Dress-Up Darling

If there’s one show I expect most of you to be aware of already, it has to be dress-up darling. This show is also being handled by CloverWorks and similar to Akebi-chan looks very good. The story follows Hina-doll crafter Wakana Gojo as he gets roped into making cosplay outfits for his classmate Kitagawa Marin. He turns out to have a real knack for it, having so much experience on making doll clothes, and the two quickly start getting along. Marin is a very outgoing person whereas Gojo is quite reserved. The characters are fun, the animation is good and it’s just shaping up to be a very wholesome romance show. It kind of reminds me of Smile down the runway but so far I think this is the better of the two shows. If you enjoyed that anime, you might like this and if you’re already watching Dress-Up Darling you might want to check out Smile down the runway too.

3.  Police in a pod (Hakozume)

 Probably my least favorite show of the five listed here, but it did still make the top over some other shows I’m watching this season, so that has to count for something. Police in a pod is about a young police officer Kawaii who is about to quit the force when she gets a new coworker who’s also a woman. Maybe she doesn’t want to quit quite yet. The show takes one a few serious topics but also gets silly at times. It often feels like I’m watching a less good version of Uramichi-Oniisan. It’s similar in its comedic style but I feel like I’m not nearly as invested in the characters. It’s still an enjoyable watch most of the time, and I do like watching these women put some men in their place when it’s well deserved. If you liked Uramichi-Oniisan, check this show out as well.

4.  Sabikui Bisco

There’s a very funny clip of Gigguk watching the trailer for this show and being very excited to watch it, only to be horrified a second later when he unpauses the trailer and watches Milo use his mouth to take some sort of parasite from someone else’s mouth. So yeah, that kind of set the tone for me for this show, but it looked interesting enough so I decided to watch it after all. And I ended up being pleasantly surprised by it. The story follows Milo Nekoyanagi, a doctor who is curing people from rust caused by mushrooms. Except he soon learns from Akaboshi Bisco, a wanted man nicknamed the man-eater, that this isn’t true. Mushrooms actually help against the rusting. Bisco is hunting for a rust-eating mushroom that would help purify all rust. Milo decides to join him after their encounter in hopes of curing his sister who also suffers from the rust. This show has a very similar vibe to Dorehedoro in that it is weird, silly and extremely over the top. The scene from the trailer was still very weird though if you were wondering, context doesn’t make it much better. Either way, if you like over the top shows like this I’d highly recommend giving Sabikui Bisco a shot. 

5.  Slow Loop

To end this list on a rather slow note I have another slice of life show to recommend. Slow Loop tells the story of Hiyori, whose dad passed away years ago. Her dad used to love fishing and he passed this love down to Hiyori. One day Hiyori is fishing on the beach and she meets a girl called Koharu. Hiyori is nervous because her mother’s new husband and his daughter are moving in with them that day. Koharu is also nervous because she and her dad are moving in with his new wife. What a coincidence that they both have such a similar thing happening at the same time… wait a minute! So Koharu and Hiyori are no stepsisters and the two quickly bond over fishing. We met some of their other friends and it’s just a relaxing show. The show does talk about the newly formed family a decent amount and doesn’t gloss over it to get to the fishing, which I really appreciated. It makes the characters feel way more grounded than they otherwise would. Not an amazing show by any means but if you like slower slice of life shows this might be right up your alley.

And that’s really all I have to say about this season. I’ve just finished Demon Slayer as of writing this and that’s still rolling around in my head with how amazing it was. Ousama Ranking is still the best thing currently airing and I’ve also been watching BLack Clover which is probably more fun than 4 out of 5 entries on this list. If we can take a detour to non-anime for a moment, The Legend of Vox Machina, an animation based on a D&D show by Critical role, is currently airing on Amazon Prime and it’s very good. As a fan I was kind of hesitant it would be way too pandering and a bit slow, but they really nailed the shift in medium. This does mean there’s been a lot of changes from the story I first consumed as a podcast, but that’s very much a good thing. Highly recommend it, the animation is done by studio Titmouse who is behind The Legend of Korra as well, so you know it looks good. And that’s all from me, thanks for reading and see you next season!