A lot of genres seem to eventually get into a groove of sorts. Writers figure out what works and what doesn’t and they adjust their stories to fit the mold. That’s fine and will create many amazing stories. If I’m completely honest with you, that’s for sure what I’m doing with my own story, Hesitant Hero, that’s being posted here weekly (shameless plug activated). Of course everyone gives their spin to it, myself included, but there’s safety in following the norms. But when all is said and done and all cards are on the table sometimes all you need to do is flip the table, yell at everyone else in the room and leave to go do your own thing. Who needs certainty and a working formula when you can instead have an utterly ridiculous setup and execute on it brilliantly.
I love her, she’s the best!
Ladies, gentlemen and others, I am of course talking about the recently finished Paripi Koumei (Ya Boy Kongming). Zhuge Liang (Kongming) is a famous tactician from the three kingdoms era. After living his life advising his lord he is about to die. His only wish is for his next life to be a more peaceful one. A moment passes and Kongming suddenly finds himself in a completely unfamiliar place surrounded by all sorts of strangeness. It turns out his wishes have been heard and he was transported, as a younger version of himself, to modern day Shinjuku. That’s right, our esteemed tactician finds himself in the party center of Tokyo with no idea what’s going on. Luckily his wit is quick and he manages to fit in almost immediately.
This scene somehow reminded me of Carole & Tuesday. The quiet musical moments are the best ones.
Making fast friends with the local drunks and quickly figuring out this is the future, he finds himself in a local club where he hears the bar staff, Eiko, perform a song live. Kongming is enthralled by her music and vows to help her conquer the world. And of course the manager of this club is a massive history nerd, because why wouldn’t he be. The two hit it off and Kongming makes quick friends with Eiko. Together they set off to perform on bigger and bigger stages with the goal of world peace.
This show has to be the easiest to take screenshots from, just the opening more or less suffices.
To do this they must first get some recognition. Kongming is an expert strategist when it comes to war, but do these skills also translate to managing a singer? Well, Eiko is talented but she’s far from done with her career. There’s some things they’re going to need and Kongming is on the job. Each episode gives us a little bit of three kingdoms lore, which is a neat addition. Kongming is a quirky person that is just a joy to see on screen every single time. Eiko’s design is gorgeous and I like her singing a lot although she does keep singing the same song over and over again. One thing that a different musical anime; Carole & Tuesday, did really well is add in new songs regularly. I understand that this would take a lot more effort, but I feel like it would have enhanced the show.
Nanami Kuon is one of many amazing supporting characters and has an amazing voice.
The second half introduces several fun characters and a competition to get a ticket to a big stage. I won’t talk about it much more than that because of spoilers. The animation and art are fine, nothing to write home about but some of the dance scenes are pretty decent. Idol shows do it better, but this isn’t a show you watch for the crazy animation quality so I’ll allow it. What really, really stands out, and is the main reason I picked up this show in the first place (and I’m sure I’m not the only one) is the opening song. The song “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” by Queendom is an entrancing eurobeat inspired song that just makes you happy. I’ve linked the song here because unfortunately I’m not a talented enough writer to put into words how amazing this song is. It’s accompanied by beautiful animation and just steals the show. The ending is amazing too and it just wrap this show up in a blanket of musical awesomeness.
We can’t forget about the history lessons put here and there to supplement the story.
If Spy x Family wasn’t airing this season, Ya Boy Kongming would have been my pick for anime of the season without a doubt, so I’ll give it an honorary anime of the season award instead. Easily an 8 or 9 out of 10 show for me, and if you haven’t seen it yet I hope this review has convinced you to go watch it. This isn’t a show you’ll forget about, but one you’ll keep thinking back to years after you’ve seen it. Thanks for reading!
It’s that time of the season again. Spring is in the air. Okay, it may have rained here in the morning and I stayed in bed until it stopped. But that’s part of the spring experience, is it not? You know what’s also a part of the spring experience? A brand new season full of anime. With Ousama Ranking, Shaman King, Attack on Titan and Demon Slayer all in the past, what will be the new hotness? Will it be one of the sequels airing like Komi-san, Kaguya-Sama or Bookworm? Or will it be a new show? I don’t know, and I’m once again not watching everything that’s going on, but here’s six shows from this season that I think everyone should consider. Let’s dive in.
Deaimon
I recommend not messing with her.
This show reminds me of a show that used to be my favorite show for a while; Barakamon. It has the same slow vibes that I want out of a slice of life show like this. Nagomu gets a letter from his family saying that his father has been hospitalized. He comes back home from Tokyo to take over the family business but upon getting there finds that they have their eye on someone else. Instead he’s asked to help care for Itsuka, a young girl that’s working there. Itsuka has lost her mother and was abandoned by her father, so she has some serious baggage. The two get off on the wrong foot but Nagomu’s carefree personality helps him get along with almost anyone.
This all looks and sounds great, but I don’t have any clue what it actually tastes like. I don’t have enough money to buy Japanese Snacks, are you crazy? I can barely afford uni.
I don’t even have to watch this show in its entirety to tell you where it’s going. Nagomu is probably going to become more and more of a father figure for Itsuka as the two start getting along more. Both have a passion for sweets after all, so they have some common ground. I wouldn’t be surprised if her real father shows up somewhere during the season and we get some drama out of that. Even assuming that I know which direction this show is going to head, I’ll still gladly tag along for the ride because if I’m right this show will do everything I want it to do, and if I’m wrong it might surprise me in a good way. If you like drama and slice of life I recommend it. So far it feels similar to Barakamon, so if you like that you’ll like this.
Heroines run the show
That’s like 15 bucks an hour for a part-time job while still in high school?? I once made like 5 bucks an hour at that age and I thought I’d made it big in life. Then again, I didn’t last very long in that job because of panic attacks, but you can’t win them all.
I don’t know a lot about idols. I’ve watched an idol show here and there, but they were generally ones that didn’t focus on real world idols (Kageki Shoujo) or more fantastical (Revue Starlight). From what I’ve understood, LIPxLIP, the idols from this show, are actual idols? I’m way out of my depth when it comes to this stuff I’m afraid. But it seems like I don’t need to know too much about idols to watch this show. It follows Hiyori (not Hiyoko, get it right manager) who loves track and field, but needs money to stay afloat in Tokyo. While searching for a part time job she comes across the job of assistant manager for an idol duo. These two idols happen to be her classmates as well. The reason she got the job over all the other applicants? She doesn’t really care much about idols. She didn’t even know about LIPxLIP when she applied for the job, and the CEO and manager thought this would benefit her in the work. It wouldn’t work having someone who is constantly fangirling be in charge of helping these guys. Both idols have some personality issues and it’s up to Hiyori to help them overcome those, whether they like it or not. The story so far follows them through both school life and professional life and makes for great content. Hiyori is voiced by Inori Minase (Rem, Hestia, Jeanne from Vanitas), and she has the perfect voice for this character which really adds to the experience. We’ll talk more about perfect voice castings later on, but for now I can highly recommend this show if you like drama shows that give you that feelgood feeling.
Love after world domination
Who holds hands during a third date? That’s way too lewd. You tell him, Desumi!
It’s a tale as old as time, isn’t it? Romeo and Juliett. A forbidden love that cannot be. The red power ranger fell in love with the evil villain and now they’re secretly dating. Fudo is part of the Gelato Five, who are basically the power rangers. Desumi is the Reaper Princess of the villain organization Gekko. When the rest of their respective organizations are fighting, they try to slip out and find a quiet place to have a nice date. This show is just nice. That’s the best compliment I can give it. The jokes are pleasant, the characters are fun, the art is colorful and it’s just nice to sit down and watch them mess around trying not to get caught. From Desumi being lonely while her fellow villains interpret it as her being angry and they’re scared of her for it to Fudo planning the perfect date which includes going to the gym and eating a protein bar. They’re both massive dorks and perfect for each other and I’m a big fan of romance shows where the characters are actually dating. Too often do we spend 12 episodes on will they won’t they and then the show ends. Screw that noise, I want my romance shows to have actual romance in it, and this show gives me that. It’s not going to be up everyone’s alley, but personally I recommend it.
Aoashi
Do you like sports anime? Do you like soccer? If your answer to at least one of these two questions is “yes” then you should probably give this show a go. If your answer to both is no, then you should probably skip Aoashi. It’s a sports anime about soccer.
Optimistic kid? check. Kid with crazy hairstyle? check. Yup, I’m confident this is in fact a sports anime.
Ashita Aoi is from a small town but has a passion for soccer. He’s a very selfish player though, but he does at least have the skills to somewhat back up his bravado. And he’s not a bad kid. When the manager of a successful youth team comes across him, he’s invited to tryouts in Tokyo. This looks just like most other sports anime. There’s a team with quirky players, there will probably be senpais that are on their last season, the coaching staff looks to be at least a little bit insane and the rest is history. I don’t have much to say about this except that it’s got the basics down and has so far been enjoyable to watch.
Ya Boy Kongming (Paripi Koumei)
I’m inserting this one after I’d already finished the post because as of writing the rest of this, I hadn’t seen this show yet.
This man has more swagger in his hat than I have in my entire wardrobe. What an absolute legend.
I’ve seen too many Isekai shows lately. I love the genre, but I’m also deeply aware that a lot of them feel bland and uninteresting to me. From overpowered demon lords to underpowered boring characters, there’s a lot of bad things to say about the genre. But with Ya Boy Kongming I’m not even quite sure if this can be called an Isekai. Depends on how pedantic you want to be, I suppose, but it does follow a character who’s put into a world that’s completely strange and new to them. The show follows Kongming, a brilliant strategist from the Three Kingdoms era, who wanted to be reincarnated into a more peaceful time. Having his wish granted, he wakes up in modern day Shibuya, several decades younger and completely out of place. Well, it’s Halloween, so he actually fits in quite well. Kongming thinks he’s in hell for a short time, but pretty quickly figures out that he was just sent to the future. With his wit being by far his strongest asset, he decides to help out a young woman named Eiko, whose singing deeply touches him. How hard will it be to become a famous singer if your manager is one of history’s most brilliant strategists? We’ll find out.
Her design is amazing, I’m instantly in love. It’s also nice to have a show that follows characters that are a bit older as opposed to high school characters.
I, like others in my friend group, didn’t give this anime much attention when I first saw the synopsis. It looked uninteresting to me, and I’ve been getting bored of watching mediocre shows. What convinced me to eventually watch it anyway, was when I was sent the opening theme. It absolutely slaps. This eurobeat track with simplistic vocals just does the perfect job of getting you hyped. And to back up the opening theme is not only a great ending theme, but also a very good show in between the two. That’s right, although the premise sounds silly, I found myself hooked after one episode. This is why I should give more shows a shot. Some sound dumb but end up amazing after only one episode. As of writing this I’ve only seen the first three episodes of Ya Boy Kongming, but it’s already competing for best in season with Spy x Family. And speaking of Spy x Family;
Spy x Family
As I like to do, I’ve saved the best for last. Spy x Family has been on my radar for quite a while now. It was near the top of my list of new manga to buy, but I eventually decided against it since my backlog of books and novels is already too large. When I heard it was getting an anime I figured I’d at the very least watch it first before deciding if I then wanted to buy the manga. We’re three episodes in and I can’t believe I’ve been missing out on this story for so long.
Anya is in shock when she realizes tripping over a bucket does not really constitute as helping. It reminds me of an old theater show I saw when I was young where the premise was that one guy was there to help the other, but he just made things worse. Then after the first guy chased off the helper guy, he started feeling bad so he invited him back. Alright, I digress.
Spy x Family follows the Forger family. Their last name is Forger because they’re all using fake names. Pretty smooth right? Loid Forger is the very successful spy twilight. His newly acquired wife Yor Forger is the assassin known as the thorn princess. Their adopted daughter, Anya, is a telepath. Yor and Loid don’t know about each others’ professions nor do they know about Anya. The latter has figured everything out, but she’s a telepath so that’s cheating. The reason for this setup is to get Anya into a prestigious school and this way get closer to the target that Loid/Twilight is spying on. What makes this show for me so far is two things. First, Yor is voiced by Saori Hayami. She is my favorite voice actor and I love listening to her. She’s in tons of high profile shows and it’s always a joy.
Second, Anya is a very funny character. A telepathic child living with two dangerous individuals is a dynamic I didn’t know I wanted in my life but it works so well. She loves peanuts, is worried she’s going to be abandoned again and her shocked face is very funny. I can’t wait to see more of this family’s dynamic as the show continues and I’m definitely picking up the manga after this season ends. Give it a watch no matter what your anime preferences normally are, it’s that damn good.
An expression like that on a face like that with a voice like Saori Hayami’s? That’s just plain unfair.
And that’s a wrap. I’m watching a few more shows that aren’t sequels, but none of those are particularly good and I might end up dropping some. The sequels airing right now also don’t seem that amazing. I can’t even remember half of them without going to my tracker. I’m getting more and more picky when it comes to what anime I enjoy. I even wrote about rewatching shows recently and I’m going to start reviewing some older shows. I haven’t decided what to start with, but since Utawarerumono is getting another sequel this year I might revisit the first seasons of that. There are so many amazing shows already out that it feels sort of bad to watch mediocre shows just because they’re currently airing. Either way, it’s nice that there’s still new shows that can impress me each season and after Ousama Ranking and now Spy x Family I’m very excited for the future of anime. Thanks for reading and I hope you end up enjoying some of these recommendations!
My man’s about to unlock a whole range of emotions he’s supressed for the sake of his job. It’s a good thing he flipped because you should have seen Yor’s expression. That was way scarier.
Opal Kaharis 