[Awards] Anime of the Year 2023

Finally, after all these years, the Anime of the Year post has returned. Luckily, nobody reads my blog so nobody could possibly have been disappointed by it's absence. 

It actually isn't that bad, the last Anime of the Year post was for 2019. Doing some high level, super smart guy math here, and I think that's been 3 years I've missed. It felt like longer. Felt like longer since I watched enough to actually make an Anime of the Year post, though. I actually watched more in 2020 and 2021 than I did this year! Just you know, way less. Though in 2022 I only watched 6 shows, definitely a good few less than this year, much less than 2020 and 2021, and much, much less than I had watched from around 2012 to 2019.

 

The answer as to why is complicated, or at least it has of different factors. For one, anime's on a down swing I think. It could just be due to me getting older, my standards getting higher and having seen everything before so it needs to be extra good for me to care, or just you know a "they don't make 'em like the used to" deal, but I dunno(actually, thinking about it, anime is definitely worse now than it was even 5 or 6 years ago). Maybe all of that. Either way there's less stuff I wanna watch. Another factor is definitely my age, I'm getting too old to be watching like 10-15 or even 20 different shows a season, both in that I literally just do not have the energy to and that I just really shouldn't be watching that much anime at this age. The period I watched the most in was when I was in my early 20s to my late 20s, now I think 3-5 shows per season if I can find that much is a better pace. I mostly just want to watch an episode or two a day and take the rest of the time for vidya and relaxing with some youtube videos. The period of watching All The Shows is done and that's okay, it's really best to start slowing down. I will definitely always remember the period where I watched a lot of anime, but now I wanna watch a few things and go back and watch some old things instead.

 

EDIT: I kinda undersold this. Part of it is just that the kind of anime I want to see from "my era" aren't made anymore, but it's not even that, I'm open to new things and don't really care if they aren't "like" the anime from "my day". Anime has definitely gotten worse in terms of production value and probably writing too, just compare a current anime to something from 10 years ago even and they're not really on the same level. There are good shows but generally those are few and far between, considering there's a plethora of shows from the 2000s to early 2010s I still need to watch that seem really good and just a larger quantity of good ones up until around 2018. I resisted this "anime sucks now" because people were saying this kind of thing for years; people who preferred 80 and 90s anime said 2000s anime just wasn't as good, people who preferred 2000s anime said that early 2010s anime wasn't as good. Remember how Trigger was supposed to "save anime"? From what? Their first big project was Kill la Kill, from an era where there were still a bunch of good anime coming out and there weren't 50+ shows a season. In likelihood these people didn't really like anime, they liked the anime from when they were younger, or at the very least just the style of anime from when they were younger. I like anime from a bunch of different eras, I'm open minded about it and they aren't. Or they grew out of it, not necessarily meaning that they're more mature now, but that it was just a phase. Anime now though really is not as good, I lack the ability or drive to really prove it, but I bet you could. Not objectively I guess the youngins still like it, but still. It really is harder to find good stuff now, and not even that long ago I was completing way more shows. It isn't just because I don't want to anymore, but because there's not much. I tried out a bunch of shows from the Spring anime season and dropped half of them. But let's not talk too much about that now, there's a lot I could say upon thinking, and looking back to even 10 years ago, as much issue as some of those shows could be. Let's get positive, let's talk about the shows I finished(meaning most of them were good cuz I rarely finish mediocre shows).

Though I didn't watch or even finish a whole lot this year, and most of what I completed was only a 7/10 at best kek. My standards aren't that high so maybe it's more dire than I thought? Well, since there's not that much, let's do a Catch-up segment!

 

 

2020-2022 Catch-Up Lightning Round

2020 Favorites:

 

Jashin-chan Dropkick S2: I'm sure I talked about how much I like Jashin-chan Dropkick in the past, but if not, it's a great 2000s era style comedy show where most of the characters kinda suck, you know like as people, and that's where a lot of the humor comes from. Jashin-chan for example is a huge piece of shit and is always trying to fuck other people over and do all sorts of greedy self-serving shit which comes back to bite her in the ass. It's a funny ass show and I hope it keeps getting more seasons. Which means it needs to keep being crowdfunded and sponsored by tourism boards, since that's how it's stayed afloat! Keep giving it money!!!

Fruit's Basket S2: Continuation of Fruit's Basket, which I talked about last time, that gets to the part the old show didn't adapt so it's better.

Smile Down the Runway: Non-battle shounen shounen anime about a dude who wants to be a fashion designer and a girl who wants to be a fashion model and together they will achieve their dreams! Typical kind of execution for that kind of thing, but I had a good time. Maybe it's just because this hasn't been done with fashion modeling yet.

 

Bofuri: This is a fun show about a girl who plays a VR MMO and focuses everything on defense so she won't get hurt cuz thats scary! and that makes her super OP. It's a simple kind of junk food show but it's actually pretty fun compared to most of these types of gimmick shows and it's got Rina Satou and Satomi Arai in it.

 

2021 Favorites:

 

Back Arrow: A Goro Taniguchi anime so you know it's gonna be fun! I even let the CG mecha slide! I can't tell you much about this cuz a lot of it is a spoiler, but it gets pretty wild by the end, it's not his best work in a while but it is probably his most ambitious in a while. If you enjoyed any of his work like Code Geass, GunXSword, and S-Cry-Ed, you should check this one out, just don't expect it to be nearly as good as his or the writer, the guy who wrote Gurren Lagann, Kill la Kill, and Kamen Rider Fourze's best work.

 

Fruits Basket Final Season: It's the last season and it's great, Fruits Basket is really great, watch it if you want a fun romance and a cool drama about well written characters and lots of fuckin' introspective monologues that add even more detail about them. It's an extremely character driven series and it's one of the shoujo greats. Fantastic show.

 

Kageki Shoujo: A good show about a girl who wants to do this specific kind of japanese stage acting where they only use actresses, but she doesn't wanna play the male part despite being 5'10" and wants to do a classic important female role meaning she's gotta work extra hard to be really good and pull it off. She forms a shaky friendship with another girl who she rooms with at the acting school she's going to and once again, together they will follow their dreams! It's not great but it's good and I hope it gets more seasons.

 

Komi-chan Can't Communicate!: It was as fun as I expected it to be from what people said before the anime came out, but not enough I've tracked down season 2 on nyaa since it was netflix only and my special anime site couldn't get it. Still fun though, Komi is pretty cute and it's decently funny, would recommend checking out.

Yuru Camp Season 2: Don't remember much about this one, I liked it but season 1 was better. Still, you know Yuru Camp I know you do, if you liked season 1, check this out too I suppose. Shimarin is cute! CUTE!!!

My Senpai is Annoying: Fun romcom about real big dude and a very lil lady who got the hots for each other but can't tell each other or the com part of the rom ends. Not that good but it gets the job done if you're in the mood for it.

Shadows House: Really cool show, I hope there's a season 3 so I can talk about it in more detail, but for now I'll just say that it's cool. It's about a huge family of shadow creatures made of soot who live in a huge manor, and because they're entirely pitch black they have to have these "living dolls" as servants to make facial expressions for them, they take on what is presumably the appearance their master would have and serve their every whim, as well as clean the house. I have some issues with it but not enough to not make the show great, there's some intrigue and eventually, maybe even a slow burn plan to escape? Because... are they really dolls? Is it really the dolls adapting to their master's appearance... or the other way around? The characters are fun, the mysteries are fun, there's a lot of good and thought provoking stuff about the series, as well as just interesting world building in learning how the Shadows House and Family work. Check it out, it's very good!

Super Cub: Fun slow paced and relaxed slice of life show about a girl learning all about the wonders of riding a motor scooter. She's tired and bored of her life, so much the colors seem faded and grey. Then, she rides her bike, and the world suddenly re-saturates! The joy of riding is what her life was missing! It's a cool show, and that thing about the colors really happens. Seriously check it out, the girl in it's cute too.

Taisho Otome Fairy Tale: Not a whole lot to say even though I really liked it. It's a fun slice of life romance and drama show about a guy who got in an accident and ruined his hand, making him useless to his posh family, so now he lives all on his own in a house feeling all sorts of pathetic about himself, blaming himself for being so useless and wishing he wasn't. Then, his family takes pity on him, and arranges for a girl to be his fiance and come take care of him at the house. At first he doesn't like this, but will they actually come to love each other? And will she help him overcome his trauma with her loving nature?! Tune in to find out!

The Vampire Dies in No Time: This got a season 2 in 2023 so I'll talk more about it then.

2022 Favorites:

Bocchi the Rock!: You know what Bocchi the Rock is, everyone watched it. I really did enjoy it, not even close to as good as something like K-On! when it comes to cute girls doing band things shows, but I did enjoy it and the music was pretty good. My favorite thing is just the weird, high effort, high concept shitpost-esque gags they put in sometimes, like when Bocchi starts losing detail until she becomes an untextured blender model and gets tossed through some physics objects to convey how helpless and hopeless she's feeling. If that wasn't there this show would be mediocre I'd say.

Jashin-chan Dropkick S3: It was good! As always! Please make more, forever!!!

Pop Team Epic S2: Took them a while. I should probably lower my score for this one, but either way it just wasn't as good as S1. Still really fun and funny though, still weird as fuck. You should probably watch it if you enjoyed the first one.

Shadows House S2: Also very good, continues the story, please make Season 3.

Urusei Yatsura: Oh yeah, here we go! I've never seen the old Urusei Yatsura but I can definitely see why it's a classic, even through this is probably not a totally accurate adaptation. It's everything I liked about Kyoukai no Rinne, so if you liked that show check this one out, you'll be getting some more of that since there hasn't been any for a while. It's not quite as good, or quite the same thing, as Rinne but no yeah it's got a similar appeal and sets itself apart. I think this Rumiko Takahashi person might just be a good mangaka!

Now that that's done, let's move on to 2023's anime!

 

Winter Season

 

First up, we've got a show I dropped.

 

 

Hikari no Ou(The Fire Hunter)

This show was alright and had a lot of interesting things about it, for example it was one of those anachronistic technology shows where some of the tech is primitive and then some of it is more 18th or 19th century, like they have armored steam trains but I can't recall any guns. The world and the worldbuilding was good but I was finding the characters to be pretty flat and the directing to not be very good either, there was even an episode with terrible animation for an action scene but that may have been a bullshit "stylistic choice" like whenever Hiroyuki Imaishi directs and episode of something these days, more on that later. Generally though the show was fine and though I dropped it I might finish it, someday. If you want to know what it's about, I almost don't remember. I know it takes place in a world where any fire can turn into a horrible flame beast, meaning they had to find alternative methods of powering the trains and such which is probably why the tech level is mostly low. There are Fire Hunters who fight and kill these beasts but unfortunately, one of them dies protecting a girl who was out doing something she wasn't supposed to, leaving behind his dog, and so now the girl has to go in person to return the dog and report the Hunter's death. At least that's what I think happened, I don't remember that well it was literally a year ago. Check it out if that sounds interesting, but I just didn't feel like it. 10 years ago it's a show I would have finished but like I said, I don't wanna watch more than one episode a day of these days so I can focus on vidya.

It's a shame it wasn't that good, since the OP sure was. I guess there's a pretty big gun in it, huh? lol I don't think I actually remember what their tech level was.

Best Romcom

 

 

Tomo-chan is a Girl!

This is a very fun show about a tomboy who does martial arts and is in love with her best friend who also does martial arts, but he's so hardcore in denial after realizing she was a girl and not a boy due to being friends since they were kids that he just keeps treating her as if she's a boy. But Tomo-chan is a Girl! and she wants him to see her as one, so they can have a relationship.

 

It's a lot of that kind of thing, silly hijinks based on that premise. And don't worry, they do in fact get together by the end so you're not gonna end on a "will they won't they" situation.

 

It's pretty funny and I actually really love Tomo-chan and Jun, the boy's, chemistry with each other and I enjoy a good friends-to-lovers story, it gets deep into why they like each other and some backstory that explains why they're both like this, as well as Jun's hesitation to admit that he likes her back. They're very competitive with each other which is very fun, they definitely have a real "sports bro" relationship and a lot of her attempts to romance him are mistaken(intentionally or not, hard to tell, he's kinda dumb) for challenges, at least from what I recall. Regardless, they make for both a fun pair as friends, and as a couple. My only issue is it has the problem most romances have, where they get together right before then end, treating the couple getting together as the end goal rather than seeing their actual romance as the end goal, making it so you don't get enough time seeing their couple dynamic. Not that it'd be all that different from how they are as friends lol.

 

There are some other friends involved who also want to get them together already, like Tomo's best friend who is one of those sullen cynical girls with a bit of kuudere, and this fun half-english girl who's just one of those total weirdo girls who says weird stuff. All the characters are pretty fun, endearing, and entertaining. I highly recommend it if that sounds good and the OP catches your interest, its a fun, funny, and cute show and I found the romance to be pretty heartwarming. I highly recommend it!

I'm happy to see a good romcom anime in this day and age and forgetting that, Tomo-chan is cute and a girl in love is even cuter.

Check it out!

Best Regular Com

 

 

The Vampire Dies in no Time Season 2

I'll talk more about the first season actually, since I didn't before. 

The Vampire Dies in no Time along with Jashin-chan Dropkick, is my favorite modern ongoing comedy series. So much of what I liked about comedy anime from the 2000s is here, and it's got a fantastic bunch of characters. I'd describe it as like Gintama, but without the serious arcs. The story does have serious moments, but there aren't any times like in Gintama where there's whole plotlines that are super serious and get into the tragic backstory of the main character like in Gintama, but it definitely has a similar appeal and style to it's comedy.

It's a story about a lousy vampire hunter named Ronaldo who lives in Shin-Yokohama City, whose stories, which he writes about in a book series that's highly popular with housewives, are completely embellished. He ends up hunting a very special vampire, lord Draluc, who has a very special power: He's weak as hell, but no matter how many times he dies he'll always come back from the ashes! He's undefeatable! But the issue is, he can't beat you either because he sucks and dies at the drop of a hat. That's his main comedic trait, fucking everything kills him. Also, he's a gamer and he likes to play kusoge.

Ronaldo ends up burning down his house, destroying many of his consoles in the process. He's so pissed off since really he wasn't even committing any vampire crimes, if I recall it was a misunderstanding, so he demands to shack up at his office.

And so this weird, unlikely, and shakey partnership begins!

There's all sorts of characters, both vampires and vampire hunters, all of which are really colorful and weird, with all sorts of funny flaws. Especially the vampires, most of which are really harmless generally but they're all a bunch of weirdos that cause problems for everyone. Like there's the nudist one who uses his vampire magic to make everyone nude, or the the one who puts people in v-neck swimsuits and hypnotizes them into being okay with it, and the one who makes everyone reveal their fetishes... okay, they're basically all perverts. 

Seriously though, all the characters are really fun and enjoyable, real goofy and endearing motherfuckers who have great comedic potential. Every episode they have to deal with another pervert vampire doing some weird shit and causing problems for everyone, usually failing for a while because they're all incompetent bumblers. It makes for a very fun time but the formula could get boring for some people. I on the other hand think the characters' comedic dynamics with each other are enough to carry the show, they all play off each other fantastically, and everyone can function as both the straight man and the funny many depending on the scene. 

I really enjoy it a lot, it's really funny and the characters are so much fun, I hope they keep making more seasons. Check out the OP and see what you think!

Also Hinaichi is a cutie and I love her.

 

 

 

Spring Season

 

Most Mediocre

 

 

My Home Hero

I don't have a lot to say here, it just ended up being kind of bland.

My Home Hero is a crime thriller about a man whose daughter is being tricked by the son of someone who works for the yakuza, who has beaten a bunch of his previous girlfriends to death, and in order to protect his daughter ends up killing him after learning of this. His wife finds out... and tries to help him hide it. This launches him into a whole shitstorm where he tries to cover up and get away with the murder of this man, and the ethical dilemas that come along with it, as well as the question of whether he's really much better then the father of the guy who hid his son's crimes to protect him just like how this father killed to protect his daughter.

Except it doesn't really do that. It's definitely set up as a parallel but it doesn't really go into the idea at all, which is fair since it's kinda too clear cut of an answer, right? Like this dude's covered up multiple murders committed by someone else of innocent girls and also he works for the fucking mob. The daughter's father is you know, just some guy and he killed one person to prevent the same thing from happening again.

Forgetting that, the writing and presentation is just kinda flat. It's certainly engaging and there's even an in-universe explanation of how he's able to do that because he reads a ton of mystery novels(or maybe he was a mystery novel writer? I genuinely don't remember that's how boring this ended up), I do like seeing how he tries to cover it up and the various setbacks and drama along the way, but overall I just dunno. It's not great, I'm glad I finished it the plot was interesting but the characters were very weak. 

On the plus side, this did introduce me to Dizzy Sunfist, from the ED. That really makes it look like it's going to be a much more emotionally impactful story, but it really isn't, it mostly fell flat for me. This wasn't what it wants you to think it was, it's just "okay".

 

 

Best Regular Romance

 

 

 

After School Insomniacs

Another entry into sub-genre of romance I call "Introverted depressed loner boy meets extroverted happy go lucky girl who expands his horizons and brightens his life."

While it's an arguably unrealistic scenario that's fun to poke fun at and point out how obvious it is that it's basically just a self-insert fantasy the author has about something he wished happened to him, it's still one I do tend to enjoy. Perhaps even though I'm more realistic about things in real life and recognize that, were I to be in a relationship, it'd be best if I went for a fellow low energy nerd who would stay inside with me because not only is that more attainable it'd probably be draining to date an outgoing girl who wants me to go out all the time, I still do have the the desire for that kind of fantasy within me. And that's fine, right? Fiction is the best place for that kind of unrealistic, idealized fantasy. 

So anyway, because of that I did enjoy this one, and also just because I think it's a decently written show.

Ganta is a high school student who has been having the absolute worst time sleeping recently. He just can't do it, he's wide awake until morning starts to come and then it's time for school, so he's been more gloomy than normal and is falling asleep at school. So, he attempts to go find a place to take a nap during break time and chooses the school's observatory, which if I recall isn't currently used because of a suicide that happened there? I vaguely remember that, it's been a while. There, he finds Magari, who is also having issues sleeping at home, and who begs him to keep it a secret. Why? Well, she explains that unlike him she can't be having people worry about her, and doesn't wanna be a burden to them. Typical japanese stuff. He doesn't quite agree that they don't have similar problems, and over the course of the story they learn that they actually do. Together they try to re-open the astronomy club simply so that they can use the observatory without casting suspicion upon themselves, but eventually do find they have an interest in astronomy and examine the night's sky while they're unable to sleep.

That's not all they do together, as they both end up examining what's going on in their lives that causes them the stress that's keeping them awake, and slowly help dispel it from each other to help each other fall asleep, they also slowly grow fond of each other and come to love one another. It's slow and kind of awkward romance that forms, but that makes it all the more beautiful and heartwarming, to see these two find comfort and enjoyment in each other that allows them to rest. Before the end of the show they basically end up together, there's no point at which they say "We are now a couple.", it's just a gradual thing where they pass through an in-between zone of not being together and being together, and it's very nice to see. The last few episodes are basically them already romantically involved. I really enjoyed the romance of this story and it's a better one than Tomo-chan for sure, though I feel like the characters in Tomo-chan were more endearing. These characters were a bit too grounded and simple for my taste, but other people might actually enjoy that more and they certainly were decently well written. If we're doing a fantasy, I prefer a bit more melodrama and more extreme problems for the lovers to aid in each other conquering than this, but it's still quite good anyway and is a heartwarming romance which is just what I'm looking for out of one in general. Pretty good show overall! Would check it out if you like romance and this sounded good! There's other stuff too, other fun characters and a good focus is actually put on the astronomy as they meet a cute graduate of their high school who works at an arcade and likes astronomy and photography who teaches them how to take photos of the stars and such. There's some good slice of life stuff here too, and the show has a relaxed, laid back tone to it, so it might be nice to watch for the stuff other than the romance too if you aren't one of those losers that's all "ew, romance."

Would recommend.

 

 

Best New Shounen

 

 

 

Jigokuraku(Hell's Paradise)

Hell's Paradise is weird ass ultra-violent shounen manga about a bunch of super tough hardcore prisoners who all get sent to a weird supernatural island that nobody's ever come back alive from, in the hopes that they'll find the legendary Elixir of Life and bring it back to the emperor so he can live forever. Now, why would they do this? Well, whoever brings it back will be pardoned. This is of course not liked by several characters, but that's too damn bad! The emperor wants his elixir! So a bunch of these scoundrels are sent to the island accompanied by equally tough and hardcore samurai wardens, who are trained to effortlessly and quickly sever the head from the neck, to execute them if they try to run off or abandon their mission. Unsurprisingly, some of them get killed right away, in both groups. Some scumbags are executed for trying to run off at the start, and some of the executioners are killed by the prisoner they're escorting. However, on this island, death might work a little bit different...

Forget that though, it actually starts with meeting our main character, a shinobi from a clan of, once again ultra tough and hardcore ninjas, named Gabimaru. He's ended up in prison and to be executed because he attempted to leave the village and give up his ninja ways for the sake of his wife, the village chief's daughter. She was the one thing that warmed his cold and hollow heart, which is what he's named after as he's typically called "Gabimaru the Hollow" or "Garan no Gabimaru."

Unfortunately, his super hardcore ninja techniques make it almost impossible to kill him. His neck tenses too much to cut through, he's resistant to fire, he's too strong to draw and quarter, nothing fuckin' works! One of those executioners, a woman named Sagiri, seeks to find out why and learns about the circumstances that put him here. He claims that he wants them to succeed as he no longer has a reason to live, as he's been ex-communicated and can't be with his wife or do his duty anymore. However, she notices that if that were true, he'd simply relax himself and let himself die to the executions, meaning some part of him is reflexively trying not to die. He still wants to live and see his wife again, and so he ends up being taken to the island with the other prisoners in the hopes he can get a pardon.

That's obviously more complicated than it seems, as the island is full of extremely terrifying eldritch horrors. 

The island's aesthetic design is great, it's all inspired by various eastern religions especially Buddhism. I won't give away what the island is supposed to be in relation to that sort of thing, but it's pretty interesting. There's all sorts of stuff that'll be interesting to people with even a passing interest in eastern religion. Taoism is a big part of the story, and it's themes. Balance turns out to be the key to surviving here and defeating the horrible creatures and threats here. 

 

This is a big part of both Gabimaru and Sagiri's arcs. A control of your emotions, a balance between cold and calculating, and fiery and passionate, is needed. Those who have just one won't be able to stand up against the challenges, they must walk the middle path. Gabimaru has the cold and calculating down, but needs Sagiri's help to find the balance and regain his humanity. Sagiri also needs to learn from him to to control her emotions more as well and steady herself, as she's plagued with confidence issues. Together they can help each other balance out more and use their already existing strengths, hopefully find the Elixir and getting the fuck out of there.

The characters are all generally pretty good, with unique designs and personalities that help help them all stand out from each other and good backstory detail to flesh them out, they're certainly fairly shounen-y but this definitely is a shounen. It's a very violent one though, darker than most and it has a lot of body horror and a bit more grounded combat that normal. I think generally the show's pretty cool and I'm interested in the mysticism and the mysteries of the island, as well as the characters. This isn't an amazing show but I'm definitely really into it and would love to see more. The design of a lot of it is pretty damn cool, there are these weird creatures that kinda look like Buddha statues that say shit like "Murder is a sin." and attack when one of them is killed for example, they're very uncanny and offputting. There's more to talk about but I don't wanna give it away, best experienced on your own. You should check it out if any of that sounded interesting, and I do think it's an interesting show with some pretty cool action scenes and equally cool characters. Not great but pretty good.

 

 

 

Best Delinquent Girls

 

 

 

Rokudou's Bad Girls

This one's also a romcom but it's actually a harem so it doesn't really count. 

It's a show about a kid named Rokudo who uses an old family ritual to place a spell on himself that will protect him from the delinquents at his 99% delinquent student school he goes to(just roll with it), but in reality the spell is more like a curse that makes bad girls fall in love with you! The logic being that if you have the baddest bitches fawning over you, you'll be protected from anything cuz they'll kick the ass of whoever fucks with you. 

Unfortunately, Rokudo, coward that he is, doesn't like bad girls at all! OH NO! So now all the delinquent girls of his school are falling for him left and right, and the first one is the most dangerous of all: Himawari Ranna! But there are many other yanki of the female and male variety that he'll have to contend with! Will Rokudo and his nerd friends be free of this burden and live a normal school life?! No, actually, from what I hear stuff gets way worse.

This is a harem comedy without any of the ecchi stuff, which there are plenty of out there even if they're usually ecchi comedies. I'm typically not into ecchi shows of either the harem or non-harem variety and barely was even when I was a horny teenager, on account of most of them being pandering, low-quality, uninspired and creatively bankrupt crap without substance to back it up which aren't even sexy. Nothing going for them aside sexy and often, not even that.  As for stuff that's not that for one thing if I'm in "story mode" I don't really want tits in my face, but even if I'm in "fun mode" I don't usually want something that's primarily fanservice focused but would rather prefer that on the side, unless it specifically caters to my fetishes(Manyuu Hikenchou being an example because I like bakunyuu and breast expansion). But even non-ecchi harems are by and large pretty bad too because they're also nothing but bland and uncreative wish fullfilment devices. But I kinda wanted to see this one because harem stuff these days is usually light novel oh here's this OP dude from another world who has some gimmick power and all the fantasy ladies want his dick and that's lame. For a time there were a slew of very cookie cutter ecchi harems like Infinite Stratos and don't like those either. Both of these things are just suits seeing dollar signs and crapping out bland soulless copies because the average person doesn't have standards and they know they can just jingle some keys in the audience's face and they'll be satisfied. I'm also not really interested in an actually good, genuine creative effort harem show for the most part because in the end they really are self-inserting fantasies of having a bunch of girls be into you and if I want that I can just imagine it. However! Because it's been so long since the era of this kind of harem anime, even though I normally wouldn't be interested in seeing it, just go ahead and give me good old fashion loser boy and his 5-10 prospective love interests! Sure, gimme the classic 2000s anime harem! I WANT TO GO BACK. Luckily this show is actually kinda good and doesn't feel like one of those tossed together properties.

Also wanted to watch this because I'm into delinquent anime girls, especially sukeban archetypes. Like I said, if you're catering to my interests specifically I'm more likely to give it a shot. Give me all the bad girls with hearts of gold! I wanna see them be cute when they are angry and cuter when they are happy! 

 

Which is why ironically, Himawari Ranna, despite being the most sukeban design you could have, is my least favorite. She's actually genuinely just kind of a crazy and sociopathic person, kinda too close to how a person like this IRL would be. There's a scene early on where she beats up some dudes, and they were being assholes so I thought the secret was gonna be that she beat them up because they were being assholes, you know like that whole thing with Kanji in Persona 4 where he took down the biker gangs because they were a huge nuisance. But no she just beat them up because they were annoying her personally. She works very well for the story and her just not being like the others is actually a main sticking point for it, and she slowly kind of develops a human heart over the course of the episodes, but so far she doesn't make for such a good waifu when there are other girls in the show who are better in that regard. The girl she got her sword from for example I like a lot better, she's got an outfit I like and she's the leader of literally the goodest bad girls you could find, they're basically only a gang so they can stick together and support each other and they even apparently help old ladies across the street. It's such a silly and unrealistic idea that it's endearing. She's genuinely just a nice but rough and tumble girl who doesn't take people's shit, the kind of thing which would be done terribly by western writers lol. 

In general I like pretty much all the characters though, they're not anything special but I think they're all endearing enough and there definitely are some cute bad girls in this show for sure. 

Rokudo is the biggest contention here, with him being one of the most turbo-losers to be in one these shows, he has few redeeming qualities to him. I think the conceit of the spell literally making the girls fall in love with him is a good idea since it's hard to buy even with like that guy from Love Hina but it'd be even harder here. He does however have redeeming qualities which I think makes him a decent protagonist for this. For one, he isn't into the fact his curse is making these girls fall for him, not just because he doesn't like these kinds of girls but also because it's just not right. He tries his best to reject the girls and keep them at arm's length, and even tries at one point to rehabilitate one of the girls so she actually falls out of love with him. Further, he's generally cowardly but he does learn to have some courage and at some points of the story, as pathetic as the attempt is, he stands his ground even though he's terrified because of the principle of the matter. This actually earns him the respect of one of the show's male delinquents who becomes his bro. It's pretty fun and as time goes on he's slowly growing and I've heard he eventually learns martial arts.

Now, why would he need to do that? Well, because getting involved with all these delinquents eventually gets him involved with other delinquents, rival gangs and all sorts of hinjinks related to that. I think these plotlines are pretty fun and it does end up adding to Rokudo's character, with him trying to man up and not rely on people like Ranna to fight his battles for him because he feels guilty about using her to defend him. These are obviously not the best stories and most deep themes you could have, but I mean I'm not expecting that. It's a harem story, and I do actually like that the main character is actively resisting the harem aspect. I imagine the direction this will go too is that the girls will slowly fall for him for real upon seeing his determination and guts despite being such a wimpy guy, and eventually Ranna will become rehabilitated by his actions and stop being a bad girl but still be in love with him. That is assuming the manga it's based on ever ends! I dunno if this will get another season but if it does, I'll check it out!

Summer Season

 

I Dropped These LOL

Sweet Reincarnation

This one's easy peasy I didn't even finish one episode.

This show lied to me, but more than that I simply made a mistake. I didn't notice the "Tensei" in the japanese title, or maybe I misread it and thought it said "Tensai" meaning the show was "Sweets Genius", some kind of baked goods savant. No, it's an isekai. Not even a slice of life isekai which they've made recently, I'd have been fine with that. It's a typical bullshit gimmick isekai where there's a war and drama and he's probably gonna get involved some how and no, no shut up, BOOOOOO!

I wanted a cute show about a cute boy named Pastry who makes really good pastries I wanted a show about making yummy treats and people eating them and going "Oh it's so yummy!" and then maybe some romanticism about the power of sweets and how they make people happy and bring them together and that's why I'm a baker, to make people happy but it's not that at all! This isn't what I wanted send it back to the baker I am NOT satisfied with my meal!

Rurouni Kenshin Remake Redux Final Mix+

There's nothing particularly wrong with this one I just felt like it was another limp adaptation and I wasn't really feeling up to watching anime this summer anyway, I dropped everything else so I decided to just drop this one. 

Well, I say "everything else" and I could have swore I at least tried a few more shows in Summer, but both anilist and anichart shows me I didn't. Nothing else on there is something I tried, weird.

But yeah I guess I just wasn't in the mood, and besides I don't think this is a great adaptation. The first episode felt really rushed through, just poorly paced to get you through the important parts as fast as possible, just generally wasn't feeling it because of this, and the other episodes didn't fair much better. Not much more to say, it's actually only on-hold, but I'm unlikely to continue this and more likely to just watch the old show, filler and all.

I don't really care much about the fact the author bought all sorts of CP, I don't care if the artist is a shitty person if his art is good, that's really what matters in this equation. I sorta get the problem people can have, though I think it's of caring more about the person who made something than the thing itself most of the time. I simply don't have the same issue. Some have said that oh, if you watch it you're supporting it but I kinda doubt the guy's getting any significant money from an anime adaptation made 30 years after the fact, and also I pirated it. That is more interesting than the show lol, I hope someone who doesn't know about the guy reads this and is like "What the Kenshin guy's a ped???". Which yeah if you don't know, it wasn't lolisho stuff it was straight up actual CP that he imported, which the importation of was the actual crime he got fined(not even jailed) for. I was gonna go on a whole rant about japan's CP possession laws and the legality of it in the countries he got it from, and how in the end it's really up to the country and no other country as the right to dictate what is and isn't illegal in another country that's their problem to grapple with but, I mean it's a bit too off topic. If you really want my full opinion, ask for it in the comments and I will not take my meds and instead schizo post about it at you. 

Fall Season

 

First is the dropped:

Rescuer in Orange

Not a lot to say here. 

I checked this out cuz an anime about firefighters sounded pretty good, and for a bit it was, but I dunno it just stopped doing it for me. It's not bad but it just wasn't very interesting. 

 

I actually seriously can't think of much to say about it, it was just actually kinda boring? I don't know what else to say. Wouldn't recommend it. 

 

Best Initial D Sequel

 

 

 

MF Ghost 

This isn't as good as Initial D was but it's still pretty good, and if you want more Initial D this can certainly do the job for you. 

 

It's all about Katagiri Kanata, which is a pseudonym and his real name is Kanata Rivington, a young half-english half-japanese man from britain who comes to japan to participate in MFG, an official legal street racing organization. He's got something to prove, you see, but I don't really know what it is yet. All I do know is that he's actually a student of Takumi Fujiawara of Initial D fame! Because of this and his amazing talent at the Royal Donington Park Racing School, where Takumi teaches, he shocks everyone with his crazy savant abilities, and ends up getting a spot in one of the races quickly. Despite doing well enough that he would basically be set for life if he managed to keep his position, he's looking to make number 1.

 

It's a pretty good show and the racing is intense as you'd expect, the big issue is we spend a lot of time on one race and the first season is only 12 episodes, though it teases another season at the end.

Kanata is pretty good with an autistic attitude towards racing and a clear drive to be the best and not settle for "good" results and positions. He's in a lousy ass car, just like Takumi, but even with that he still manages to do well. They end up becoming terrified of his potential if he was in a good car. He's basically pretty OP but I think it works pretty well, and there are clearly some other savants he's going to have to contend with. There's this other girl who likes him and secretly is one of the race girls of MFG, and he's too dumb to realize who it is when she slaps him for hiding that he was participating, despite also hiding about her job too. It's a kinda dumb, contrived drama, but it doesn't bother me too much. I like all the other racers decently enough too and they're building up a rivalry between Kanata and this uppity arrogant jerk guy with too much confidence in his skill. The show so far isn't that good but it'sgood enough and I hope it improves over time. Even then, you should definitely check it out if you enjoyed Initial D.

Best Mystery

Apothecary's Diaries

This is still ongoing so I'm actually gonna wait to talk about it more for the 2024 Anime of the Year post. It's pretty good an I'm enjoying it though! It's a episodic murder mystery show about this girl in old china who gets kidnapped by some bandits and sold off to work at the emperor's palace under the lie that they're her family(meaning they get all her pay), so she works as a servant there but is noticed by one of the officials because of her intelligence and knowledge of medicine due to being an apothecary's daughter, and ends up solving mysteries around the palace. Her name's Maomao and she's a cute little weirdo who gets autistic over drugs and poisons and stuff and even has a high poison tolerance cuz she fuckin' poisoned herself with small doses like a fucking ninja or spy or some shit, and so she actually likes getting poisoned so when she becomes a royal taster she's excited cuz what if she does get poisoned?! She's great and she's definitely Weirdo Waifu material.

I recommend it!

Best Fantasy

Sousou no Frieren

Same as above so I'll be brief.

Frieren: Beyond Journey's End(woah what a cool fucking name) is a fantasy series about the elven mage from the party of heroes that defeated the demon king over 100 years ago venturing forth to try and understand humans, after her carelessness and perception of time led to her being absent from the life of the Hero, Himmel, who she is implied to have had feelings for, for 50 years. By the time she came back, he was close to death, and dies soon after. It only truly hits her that he's died a few hours after the funeral, and she breaks down into tears. From there, she realizes she knows very little about humans, and so vows to never make this mistake again and fully understand them and their lifespans, and so sets out on a journey to do so, along with her apprentice, a young girl named Fern who was the adopted child of the party's Priest. It's a really great show, and Frieren is another cute weirdo character who has weirdo autistic traits, everyone loves her and rightfully so. She's also Weirdo Waifu material.

I do have my issues with the show, namely that the characters tend to be overpowered to a point there's little tension in the action scenes they have, and that everyone is a bit too emotionally subdued all the time even when they're supposed to be emotional. Feels like a bit of an overcorrection from how anime usually has people wildly expressing their emotions, it's just a bit too far in the other direction. Even with that though, this is a great anime and it's absolutely gonna be at least a contender for 2024's Anime of the Year, I'd be surprised if it wasn't. Check it out man, I know it's normie-tier but it's normie-tier for a reason it's just definitely a good series. Also, finally, a fantasy anime that isn't a fucking isekai.

 

 

Anime of the Year Showdown: 

 

Vinland Saga Season 2 VS Naoki Urasawa's PLUTO VS Tengoku Daimakyou

 

I think I might have too many issues with Vinland Saga Season 2 and with how the manga will apparently go to give it AotY. It's not the general shift towards how it currently is from action shit, I knew it was gonna be like that and totally step back from and reexamine all of the violent shit in the first season and even from there, there was an air of "Maybe Throfinn shouldn't be doing this, maybe he should be living a normal life.", that stuff I like quite a bit actually! What I don't like is the execution of a lot of it.

 

 

I don't know how I feel about Einar, and I didn't really care for that woman he falls in love with or the overfocusing on her that the show does to the point I tuned out an entire episode because it showed her slow ass dying dream or something and it's like wow I don't care. I was interested in her as an example of what Throrfinn is now fighting to escape from and why the barbarism of this era of europe has to come to an end this is not the way, but as a character I wasn't much interested. She's a good plot device and springboard for the story's themes, but she herself is pretty flat despite how tragic her story is. Also she was gonna keep the baby that her slave master gave her and that's like, what? O-okay? I mean I guess we're just going all in on the preservation of life ideal even if it makes things harder for yourself, but I mean lady do you really think your husband is gonna be alright with that if you succeed in escaping with him now that he's back? Speaking of the master, I think Ketil was poorly done too. He was okay for most of the time, I liked how he couldn't really control his sons, trying but failing to get his younger son to understand he didn't need to be like his older son and could be a normal farmer like him but well, he's too weak willed to do it. There's something to be said maybe about compassion needing to be backed up by strength or it's a liability, I think that's what it was going for, but I'm just too annoyed that his character takes a turn that's too sharp. There's a big jump for him where we see him kinda freaking out but mostly being the same as he was, and the next time we see him he's totally off the deep end, just full of rage and mumbling to himself and this leads to him beating Arnheid, the woman Einar falls for, eventually leading to her death. Because off-screen he somehow went from "No the slaves must be treated fairly." to "REEEEE YOU'RE MY PROPERTY NO ONE GETS TO TAKE YOU FROM MEEEEEE" when she asks about getting bought out by Leif so she can go free. I'm not saying he lacks the capacity to do this, I understand why it happened, but you have to show that change or it just feels massively contrived that this softhearted old man turned into a crazy violent asshole since the last time we saw him. You can buy that it happened to him due to the circumstances he's in but it needs to be shown happening or else it's just an excuse you made for the scene where she gets beaten to happen. At the very least his change does actually impact more than that, since he's now gung-ho about fighting back against Canute when he comes to claim the farm, but we're still missing steps. I dunno maybe this is the adaptation's problem but either way, I'm criticizing the anime not the manga here.

There are a bunch of problems I have in that vein in general about everything leading up to that part too, just little bits where I thought something was contrived, or not well written, or a character wasn't very good, or something like that which got in the way of my enjoyment of the rest of it.

Because the parts I liked I did really like quite a bit! Most of everything to do with Thorfinn's horrible realization of what he's done, of all the lives he's taken and them weighing down on him in his nightmares, trying to drag him down to hell with him, as well as his desire to embrace pacifism even if it's to a naive and idealistic degree for the setting, his desire to flee to Vinland and just make and maintain a farm(to create life, not cause death), his efforts to be a "true warrior" who fights without taking lives as well as for those he wants to protect and even just "fighting" hard on the farm(to quote Eisen the Dwarf from Sousou no Frieren: "Everyone who works hard is a warrior."), oh and everything to do with Canute and his personal journey into becoming Canute the Great of history, all that stuff is great. Not all the characters who help facilitate this are great, and a lot of the circumstances that lead to it are well written and can be kind of contrived, but that stuff is so good that it still ends up being a fantastic show, perhaps just not as good as I was hoping and certainly not as good as it could be. I do recommend it though I know a lot of people just did not like it, I personally like the kind of show it wants to be now for the most part and hope it goes up from here and not down. Speaking of what I don't like about the kind of show it is(distinct from not liking aspects of how that was executed) there are parts of it which reflect the new OP and feel a bit too much like it's trying to be western prestige TV, which is another reason why I don't feel like giving it the award. Also, it's maybe been long enough that I fondly remember the stuff I liked and don't remember the stuff I didn't as strongly and so I'm forgetting some bigger issues oh well moving on!

Meanwhile I didn't rate PLUTO as high as the other two so despite liking it quite a lot, so I can't really give it AOTY either.

 

 

 

Maybe I really should, but I did have a few issues with it. Generally, it's an actually mature, thought provoking, and tragic story, but I felt like there were some aspects that detracted from that general level of storytelling. In some other story I might not have minded it too much, but for the first half a lot of the episodes follow this same formula of "get to know this nice robot guy oh no he was killed by the killer it's sad now." At first while a part of me did register "oh yeah this is just trying to get me as invested and attached as possible so it's as heartbreaking as possible when he dies" that was just because I'm a cynical and seasoned Fiction Enjoyer and this isn't even close to my first rodeo, but even as soon as the second one it became too noticeable as I'd already fully caught on to their trick. I'm okay with being "tricked" by stories, fiction in general is just an extremely elaborate magic trick when you get down to it, and while you can still appreciate the craft when you know the secret it's still just not as good as when you don't. That aspect is why I don't flat out dislike these parts like I did in a show I dropped and thus didn't talk about during the years I was gone, To Your Eternity, which was just so blatant and repetitive about it's tragedy structure that it got aggravating. In that show, there's an immortal being who starts in the form of a wolf but then takes on the form of the young man who took care of him when he eventually dies out in the frozen tundra. The first bit is heartwrenchingly sad, but the second time it happened I was already seeing the pattern, by the 5th arc of the show it was so tiring just getting introduced to a new character that I immediately knew would die at the end of it and being able to predict exactly how and when they were going to bite it for maximum tragedy. It become not just a cheap trick, but a blatantly transparent one. That show sucks, it can only work for people who just aren't perceptive enough to catch on. This doesn't have that issue, not only does it not go on as long the method and timing isn't nearly as obvious, and is a lot better written(to your eternity lays the melodrama on extremely thick either so you know it's sad or in some desperate attempt to make you sad) in general. It was still however a roadblock I faced because I couldn't help thinking about how I knew exactly why we were learning about how much of a sympathetic and good dude each character was. 

 

But luckily, beyond that each little arc and death does expand on the greater story and mystery here, I feel like in To Your Eternity each arc didn't serve much purpose other than just setting up a character to cry over when they died, but here you learn more about the backstory of other characters as well, a lot of worldbuilding in the form of the nature of the conflict this all ties into, going into the ideas presented in the story about robotics and humanity, and of course advancing the overall mystery. I just can't deny that the initial formula lessened the impact for me.

What even is Pluto though? Pluto is a gritty and darker retelling of a story arc from Astro Boy/Tetsuwan Atom(though even the original was probably fairly dark, I hear Astro Boy is actually kinda fucked because that's how Osamu Tezuka rolled), which follows the german detective robot Gesicht from the original story, who investigates the mysterious deaths of the strongest/most complex androids in the world. In the original, who was killing them and why was already known, but here it's retold as a mystery/thriller with Atom playing a smaller role... well, for most of the show.

There is a lot that I imagine is different from the original story arc and series but it's all in service of the new story which is being told, which is a really good one. Like I said, it's a genuinely thought provoking and mature story, as well as just being a genuinely thrilling thriller. It doesn't really go into anything not gone into in any other story about robots but it still does do a good job of going over the topic while juggling it's murder mystery plot. I think the best way to exemplify this is right in the first episode, Gesicht offers to wipe a grieving(robot) widow's memory of her husband, but she refuses, believing that the pain caused by remembering her robo-husband has been murdered is worth it to remember the good memories she's had with him. It kinda gets into that idea, that for a robot to have a "heart", to create the greatest robot that's truly as complex as a human, pain is what's needed. Humans are, sadly, defined by their pain, suffering, and struggles. People who haven't experienced any hardship or anguish are generally considered to have not really lived, and doing so is an important part of human experience; or rather, is inextricably linked to the human condition. As much as that sucks, it's true, and perhaps if a machine could experience such anguish and pain, maybe even learn to hate, they could be considered on par with humans and deserving of equal treatment. That at least is what Dr. Tenma believes. At some points it's simply accepted that the robots feel emotions and have proper human level intelligence but in doing that they actually do get into examining how and why this is true, rather than kinda not really doing that like something like Detroit: Become Human while also not being literally all about humans not understanding teh robits haz feelers 2 and fighting for their equality, while that part isn't really a big factor of this story and Robot Rights are only a background worldbuilding detail for the most part. When your whole thing is "but the robots" you kinda need to make an argument, but this is more along the lines of Nier Automata where the androids are the way they are and that leads to the examination of what makes us human in the story, becoming the argument by making it self-explanatory. Forgetting that, though, the mystery and worldbuilding aspects are even more engrossing, and a big focus overall I feel. I was seriously intrigued and wanted to know more about the larger mystery, and how it tied into a major war that was had over in the middle east, which also ties into the idea of the robots who were involved in the war, developed as weapons made expressly to slaughter their own kind. That sort of thing is made even worse by the growing realization that the cause of the war was bullshit, that world powers had ulterior motives for the accusations levied against the country that started it. The robots that die are all ones who took part in the war and were traumatized by their experiences, never being able to forget the horror due to their perfect robot memory making dealing with the guilt far harder, one was even a pacifist who refused to take part and was looked down on because of it. On the human side of things, there are revealed to be instances of something quite relevant as of writing this, civilians being killed by airstrikes meant for terrorists when there weren't even any there, calling into question the competence or true motives of the ones issuing the orders. It's all pretty heavy stuff, which is often offset by the compassion and, ironically, the humanity of the robot cast who try to live with what happened, show kindness to people, and do what's right. The story highlights both the worst and best people are capable of and can be quite moving at times. When it's not being deep though, it's simply being a complex and winding mystery that had me guessing.

However, it's not all amazing. I'm talking it up a bit but it's deeply about these things and thus warrants talking about, but it's pacing can be a tad slow at times, the direction isn't always that great, and the characters are sometimes a little simple at least in their characterization. I liked them all and I think they tend to be almost as deep and complex as the the deep and complex story, Gesicht is being the most in that regard that but I can't really go into it without spoiling it. The characterization however is a bit simple for it, maybe in order to keep the classy feel of it and not get too melodramatic. I also felt the ending started to verge too much into shounen rather than seinen, which I understand is probably due to being based on an Astro Boy storyline, but it just felt a bit out of place in the way it resolved itself and some of the lines, especially when it comes to Uran and her weird empath powers where she just senses people feelings from miles away or something. It's that and The Formula issue I mentioned before, as well as some scenes here and there I think are pretty weak, that end up with me not feeling like it's that amazing of a show. Plus, while I definitely think it's a mature show, that might be part of it too. I'm never gonna stop being a manchild who kinda likes stuff that can make me think and have powerful themes without being all mature and classy about it, it's just a bit too Prestige TV and because I have a chip on my shoulder about stuff being only seen as "real" art if it's all serious and mature like this I kinda do have a tad bit of resentment towards stuff with this kind of tone. Or maybe it's more that this isn't the kind of anime I prefer, I just want them to be a bit more anime you know? Still, it's absolutely a great show and Naoki Urasawa is a good writer, and there's room for this style of show in anime from time to time.

Tengoku Daimakyou I also have quite a bit of issues with but I think, and this is giving it away lol but who cares, that I wanna give it AOTY just because it's the less obvious choice than Vinland Saga S2 or Pluto, though it was pretty popular. It doesn't really have that same "Prestige TV, we're classy and mature" feeling about it that Vinland and Pluto have, though I do think at least those shows are actually mature while a lot of things that put on that affectation actually aren't beyond surface level(i.e. most prestige TV lol). It's heavy in its themes and pretty serious in it's presentation and direction, but it's definitely very properly anime about it in my highly biased and subjective view of that.

 

 

Now what's this one though? 

This one is a post-apocalyptic kinda road-adventure story, with a side mystery plot about some strange high tech boarding school teaching kids that may have some ulterior motive. What it lacks in deep themes of the human condition, political intrigue, and overcoming a former soldier's guilt and all that kind of stuff, it makes up for with having a lot of intrigue towards what exactly is going on in that school, and two endearing leads with fun though not that complex characters who have great chemistry with each other! Whereas Pluto had deep characters with not nearly as interesting or lively characterization a lot of the time, this absolutely does have really solid characterization, and while you won't be thinking deeply about what it means to be human there are some other topics which have a good depth to them, more on that later. I'd also say that endearing characters you want to see more of is the strong suit here, while Pluto most had the deep thinks going for it. I prefer the best of both worlds.

 

Our story stars a girl named Kiruko, who's been contracted as part of her odd-job work, to escort a boy named Maru whose looking for "someone with [his] face" who is supposedly in a place called "Heaven"(Tengoku specifically, not something you could translate as "Paradise" like "Rakuen"). They have to not just contend with occasional bandits and such but also horrible creatures that lurk about in this apocalypse which may or may not be mutated humans, one of which they defeat in the first episode with a combination of Kiruko's weird techno-gun that fires energy bullets(unlike other firearms in the setting, which tend to be normal guns) and Maru's mysterious ability to kill them by touching them. Some kind of psychic power which allows him to reach inside and crush his victim's heart. 

Meanwhile, we see what's going on in a strange boarding school with a bunch of androgynous kids(who don't even seem like they're taught what sex is, and not just the fucking kind), one of which looks a lot like Maru. Some strange and sometimes supernatural things are going on there as we learn about the characters and the isolated world they live in. Is this paradise?

It's a solid set up and makes for an interesting mystery to keep you watching, it's a good hook that makes you wanna know what exactly is going on. Who are these kids and their school, how does it relate to Maru, why isn't he explaining the full situation? Does he not know? If so, why? That's not enough to make the show good of course, rather it's the leads' dynamic with each other and their character development as well as the individual stories that make up each episode as they search out their destination. It's a combo of episodic and overarching narrative, with the latter getting progressed a bit through the more self-contained story lines. Not only are some of those absolutely fantastic, they're made all the more enjoyable by our leads' part in them. Maru and Kiruko are well-written and enjoyable characters that while they particularly deep characterization do have really compelling ones, and have very well executed complications and backstory to them(especially Kiruko's but I'll get to that). In order to explain that I have to spoil something so uhhhh I guess don't read this next part if it sounds interesting and just go ahead and watch it? 

See, in the first couple episodes I was thinking "Oh this Kiruko's really cute." because she's a tomboy with a kind of self-assured recklessness to her that gets her in trouble but sometimes pays off and also a cool jacket, and a good rapport with Maru who, while having a less fleshed out backstory makes up for it with a intriguing and mysterious one yet to be revealed and has an equally good chemistry with her...

But Kiruko's not actually a "her". That ain't no girl.

And I don't mean... he? She? Wow I think I might actually wanna use "they" for this one because it's complicated. "They" aren't a trap or trans either. It's a body swap situation. Dang, that's too bad. I know it's odd for me to be into traps/femboys but girl with a literal dude's mind is where I draw the line but yeah. I don't care for TF stuff either.

It's not that though, it ties into one of the reasons I can't be all "Oh well, he/she/they are cute anyway!", because it's actually really fucked up and horrifying. See, what's going on here is that the young Haruki's brain ended up being put in his sister Kiriko's body. Why? Because, in a well directed and harrowing scene, he ends up missing 2/3rds of his body after being attacked by one of those monsters I mentioned earlier. Failing to save him, his sister decided to seek the aid of a fantastic surgeon she was friends with, and in her desperation sacrificed herself to save him. We don't now what happened after this point; where the doctor went, what happened to his body, what happened to his sister's brain, none of that. "Kiruko" is also searching for someone, the doctor who performed the surgery. Who knows what... they plan on doing when they find him, maybe just get some answers. Kiruko's backstory and dilemma are extremely tragic, he was younger than Maru was when this happened and he had his whole life completely destroyed by this, and now has to live his life in the body of his sister. In other, equally well directed and harrowing scenes, we learn more about their plight; at first it was nearly impossible to wrap his mind around it, his brain couldn't understand the situation he was in as he looked into the mirror and saw his sister's reflection instead. To make things worse, because of some messed up mix of puberty, love for his sister and longing to see her again and taking comfort in seeing her body at least, he eventually developed a strange attraction to "his" own body. Maybe they had a sister complex before, I dunno, either way given their circumstance I can't condemn him for doing whatever they can to deal with it. The reason I'm saying "they" too, isn't just because it's complicated, otherwise I might just default to "she" because it's the body of a girl or "he" because his mind really is in there. Anilist's page for them says "he" without spoilers so I mean lol I guess anilist spoiled it first, but I don't know if that's actually accurate. Because Kiruko's other issue is that they are a combination of both Haruki and Kiriko, as Haruki's mind adapted to cope with the situation he formed a persona that amalgamates both his and her personality, or at least his perception of it. Now, despite what they say, they can't really tell where Haruki ends and Kiriko begins. So I'm basically calling them "they", not because they're non-binary, but because they're literally two niggas. Okay, more like figuratively in this case. Seriously, while Kiruko might claim to Maru that they are a boy because of their mind, even discounting the female body, it's arguable because "his" mind is now trying to also be his sister. I could say that Kiruko's a she then, female body, partly female mind in a way, and also just slowly adapting to being seen and treated as a girl by Maru who has a hard time due to her appearance. I don't really know what I should call this fucking character, if you're confused by the pronoun switching I did based on the time frame good, that's how this feels.

Which despite all of this fucked up stuff that made me think deeply about it and the character's situation, it is still pretty confusing and hard to wrap your head around. It's a unique gimmick, it interestingly is fairly damming viewed as a trans allegory because the guy was surgically altered into a woman and but rejects that gender identity and that's what causes his gender dysphoria, and is interesting to think about on top of all that. It is a plus for the show because of the way it's done, as I said fantastically directed, tragic and terrifying to watch and think about... but it's also a minus for me because of how hard it can be to wrap my head around it. I can't just say "he" and be done with it, I sincerely and definitely not sarcastically apologize to the trans community I can't look at obvious girl and say "yep that's a boy" just cuz it's what he feels in his head I really can't. But I can't just say "girl" because this is a case where he LITERALLY has a male brain in a female body! And then add on the merging of the personas which is interesting but FUCK now I'm MORE CONFUSED! I don't know if I wouldn't like the show just as much if Kiruko were just a girl and her backstory was that her brother got fucked up and she took him to the doctor but something happened and now she can't remember what happened after that and wants to find the doctor so she can. This would tie into another story where a doctor was keeping a girl who was just a one-armed torso if I recall alive, they did think he could be the one, and when you see the girl you might also think he is too before it's revealed he's not. That episode is fucking great by the way. I don't know if I would like it just as much either... but I might, so the possibility that I could have not been so fucking confused in how I should write this article and refer to the character and gotten a simple cute tomboy who just wants to save her brother after a traumatic experience(perfectly good character stuff) and potentially still liked it just as much means it loses a point for it.

I make it sound like a bigger issue than it is, because really it doesn't lose a point for it. It loses a point for that and the one episode that was directed by Hiroyuki Imaishi or someone from TRIGGER and everyone is off model half the time, a bunch of the animation is smudgy and gross looking and sometimes low framerate, and a bunch of the episode specific characters just look ugly. The actual like scene direction, composition cinematography lighting and all that shit that helps with it's tone and the feeling it conveys, that shit's good. But the animation is so off from how it normally is and is often ugly to boot, that it's really distracting and takes me out of it. Actually, it's not even so off, it's just off enough that I notice it and it feels dissonant. That kind of thing should only be done for a real serious reason and not for a whole fucking episode. It reminds me I'm watching Metallic Rouge, very mediocre show, and there was this one scene where everything is more animated and animated more smoothly and Rouge's face looks different and it's just fucking jarring for no reason. Random unimportant scene right in the middle of the episode. Please, for the love of god, stop doing this. Going off-model for one-off gags and shit is a-okay but just having the characters whole face structure being off all the time like it's a fucking John K. cartoon is not okay, especially if you aren't doing that consistently. To get invested in a character with an actual character with real motivations and relationships that have consistency and continuity, even if they're primarily comedic, they have to look consistent too, their appearance needs to be have continuity as well! There was an episode as well as sequences in TRIGGER's own Dungeon Meshi, which is great, aside from that fucking shit, where they do that fucking shit! Stop! And people praised that episode of Tengoku Daimakyou and it pissed me off, I know fans of animation in general think this is totally how it should be lol cuz western cartoonists just went off model and had no consistency so they could be maximally expressive, but again that was people making absurdist nonsense cartoons with little continuity. If I'm expected to follow a story, it should only ever go off model to make funny faces for a joke, not just have people be off model for a whole fucking episode. Or if you want to do this and be super expressive and cartoony, do it like TRIGGER's original outing Kill la Kill, and be consistently inconsistent if that's the style you're going for, not just randomly in the middle of the episode. Gamagori size is varies from scene to scene because the joke is "How big is this guy? Very.", and that along with every other inconsistency or practically lack of a base model in the show is fine because look at it and it's always like that. Or like Ai Mai Mi, where everything looks weird and floppy and even the backgrounds are intentionally warped and the characters constantly change style or look nonsensical as part of the surreal joke, and it has little if any continuity. This episode, that scene in Metallic Rouge, and that episode and one-off scenes in Dungeon Meshi are simply inconsistent with the how the presentation normally is and it's uncanny and weird in the wrong way. I've seen people defend this kind of thing by saying "people like it when anime funny face" and that ain't the same fucking thing. Even Eiichiro Oda who loves to draw inspiration from western cartoons for his designs and gags defaults back once the diversion is over. I'm not talking about Luffy One Piece's jaw dropping like a Tex Avery cartoon before returning to normal once the excursion into Silly Town is done, I'm talking Chillichuck's head eye ear and mouth shape being different not only from the last episode but from scene to fucking scene, for no fucking reason one fucking time. What purpose was something like that serving other than letting the animators have an easier time? Even when it's just switching to a different animator's style, which is mostly what the episode of Tengoku Daimakyou was, it's still really jarring especially if it's just one scene like in Metallic Rouge, the animator has to try his best to keep in the style of the rest of the show even if those in-the-know might be able to recognize it. And that animator should probably keep his characters looking consistent anyway, but if you don't wanna do that then make a whole fucking show that's inconsistent. I also wouldn't call this off model in the same way John K. was, it just looks lazy to me. Even if "jarring and off putting" was the goal of this episode, and that probably was it because it was a fucked up episode, it's still really gross looking and takes me out of the experience rather than making it more unnerving in the way it was meant.

Now that I'm done with that rant, it actually isn't that big of a deal for the show either. I'm just upset because I see people saying things like "Oh the animation in that episode was so great!" whenever this happens and no it fucking wasn't, this is a rant build up over many different instances of this happening and people saying it's a good thing and you just don't know anything about animation. Fuck you, it looks like shit end of story. 

 

These two things combined take but 1 point off, because I like the show that much. Seriously hard to describe how good Maru and Kiruko's chemistry with each other is without just describing entire scenes to you, it's great. They're so endearing and I really enjoy their complicated relationship. I didn't even get into Maru's complicated feelings for Kiruko too, who he likes a lot because well they act a lot like a boy but are physically a girl. He's a realistically horny teenage boy too, there's one episode where he looks at porno mag. Kiruko may have it rougher but Maru's got it rough too. You think I'M confused? I don't even wanna try being Maru. But as a pair they're just really engaging and fun to watch together, they have a beautiful and complicated friendship and budding... romance maybe? Again, it's so complicated, yet their interactions with each other are anything but and that's what's so great, that dichotomy. Or hell honestly no, just their chemistry I dunno they make for a fun pair. Add in all that mystery, and some well done stuff with those kids in the school, the great directing and really good one off episodes, and it's just a great show. Those issues are kind of barely issues really, much less so than the issues I had with Vinland Saga S2. They barely even take it down a point, more like take it down from maybe a low 9 to a high 8. Farmland Saga is a low 8, and Pluto is a solid-high 8...

Which ends up making Tengoku Daimakyo my Anime of The Year, since it's the one of my 3 favorites which I'm most positive about.

Ah shit, since I talked about those other two topics so much, I should talk more about some other stuff I liked about it right? Okay, well how about this: It's a post-apocalypse but it's not your typical totally lawless chaos one. If anything, this is kind of a libertarian paradise. There's no central government but there is society and structure, whole cities and businesses that still use regular ass money(though bartering is an option), simply living in the busted ass ruins with a fairly low level of tech. Early on they visit a farm they think might be "heaven" which is guarded by just dudes with rifles and shotguns, it's a pretty nice place for people to live. The biggest issue is, due to no large national structure or organizations and society's collapse, it's not really possible to rebuild all the fucked up buildings. They might eventually be able to if it weren't for the monsters! It's not a good post-apocalypse to be in still because of them and things like the weird experiments going on at the school(oh spoilers as if you couldn't immediately tell), but it's not that terrible of one either. You might say that doesn't sound all that unique, but I mean I certainly have seen plenty of postapo stuff that's just total chaos with only tiny little villages and the weak being chewed up by the strong all the time, where resources are thin and everything is totally dilapidated and desertified. Mad Max and Fist of the North Star shit. But in this they even hold cart races and start businesses, and the cities usually have a decent amount of people in them. Sometimes there's trouble for sure, Haruki's mentor was a guy named Robin who beat the shit out of people and taught him how to do the same to protect himself. But it's not roving gangs of marauders attacking and stealing the last bit of gussoline from tiny towns or crazy wannabe monarchs in walled cities. Arguably that's cuz it's fairly recent into the apocalypse, but I would say that since they're doing so well already then in the future it can only get better... unless something in the plot threatens that. Otherwise, methods to take care of and even stop the monsters might start cropping up which means they can deal with that, and what with there not being big gangs with big leaders all over there wouldn't be much threat to someone deciding to organize a repair initiative, some kind of blue collar guild to fix up and maintain stuff. That could lead to some kind of tyranny though but worry about that later. It's a cool setting, it even has people working on boats and shit and you can get transportation from them. I like the setting a lot.

 

I'm really looking forward to the next season, which I can't say for Vinland even though I will definitely watch it. If there isn't one, I'm planning on reading the manga because I seriously wanna find out more, and see the adventures of these two knuckleheads continue. I will not be reading Vinland Saga for more if they don't continue the anime, which they almost assuredly will. 

So Tengoku Daimakyo is the Supreme Champion!

And so there we have it! Thanks for reading all of that, and I'm glad I was able to make another Anime of the Year post. My preferred mediums are Video Games, Anime, and Film in that order but I still really love anime and have for about 20 years now. I'm still gonna keep watching it, enjoying it, and sometimes reviewing it here. 2023 was a decent year for for anime and while there wasn't anything that were only a few above a 7/10 there were still some good shows that I hope get continued! Also Miyazaki's new movie came out though I haven't gotten to see it yet cuz I missed it's theatrical release, but I bet it's good too. 2024's already doing well with The Apothecary Diaries, Frieren, Urusei Yatsura S2, and some upcoming Spring shows that seem like they could be pretty good! Also there's Elf-san wa Yaserarenai(I hate the english title) adaptation coming soon that I'm looking forward to. Yeah like I said sometimes I do actually like ecchi stuff depending on how it's done and if it appeals to my tastes lol. 

 

Anyway, I'll see you next time. Hope you watch some good anime, meet some cute waifus and/or husbandos, and have a nice time. Take it easy and keep it real!

EDIT: For some reason, the Anime of the Year 2018 post isn't showing up out front, so if you enjoyed this please check it out!

 

https://electricbarrierreviews.blogspot.com/2024/03/awards-anime-of-year-2018.html