What Current Anime Are You Watching Version v4.0

[Hikaru Ichijo SL]

Secrets of the Silent Witch is turning out to be a good show. I will continue watching.

Edited Friday at 09:46 PM by Hikaru Ichijo SL

[Seto Kaiba]

Been a long day... let's see what Crunchyroll's found anything in the Summer '25 simulcast season that's actually worth watching.

New Saga has a new episode today...

Spoiler

... and like the previous one, it's nothing worth watching.  New Saga is as unimaginative as its title.

It's the very picture of the oxymoronic term "Generic Fantasy".  It's a fantasy story so dull and unimaginative that I repeatedly caught myself tuning it out to focus on literally anything else before I even made it to the OP.  The animation itself is actually reasonably high quality.  The story is just so... vacant... that it feels impossible to engage with.

The protagonist, whose mind time-traveled back to three years before the Demon invasion, is now setting out to become The Hero so that he can be better prepared for the invasion when it comes.  Despite this, much of the episode is spent on generic Jealous Girlfriend Nonsense because his sudden dramatic change of behavior is mistaken for a sudden attempt to impress another girl and then he meets his girlfriend from the bad future and calls her by her secret name.

Tedious in the extreme.  I'm strongly considering dropping this one.

 

Betrothed to My Sister's Ex has a new episode... which I am feeling MUCH more enthusiastic about!

Spoiler

Ahhhh... there's the inevitable twist to Count Kyros.

J-Romance stories almost always go for the same one when it comes to "Prince"-type characters who aren't the Upper-Class Twit.  He'll be the child of a mistress, a concubine, a second wife after a divorce and remarriage, or a wife of lower social status if the setting has polygamy.  Either way, he's inevitably the child of The Homewrecker who may or may not be accepted himself, but his mother definitely won't be.  Kyros's obligatory child-of-a-mistress childhood trauma was that the Duke's legal wife actually liked him but committed suicide when he was named heir due to her having failed to bear a son, apparently over the insult to her honor... and as an adult he's looked down on for being of mixed heritage.  Pretty standard stuff.  He worked his way up to earning a peerage on his own merit instead of inheriting his father's estate.

We get to see the chain of events that led to the lethal case of mistaken identity from last episode, with Kyros not understanding that the Baron was such an absolute moron that he was using his younger daughter's birthday party to try and arrange a marriage for her older sister.  You really feel for the poor guy, who is literally running around the entire estate looking for Marie. 

His enthusiasm is downright adorable... as is his desperation to clear up the misunderstandings between them.  Shame Marie keeps making it worse.  She is so determined to believe that she's just a Replacement Goldfish for her sister that she doesn't believe a word he says about the mistaken identity that started all this.  Apparently her own father sent here there to "comfort" him for the night, expecting her to be sent home after.  

Still fun, I have a feeling this one's going to be my favorite for the season.

 

Secrets of the Silent Witch also has a new episode...

Spoiler

... which is basically a trauma conga line for Monica, as she's forced back into the school life she so detested due to her social anxiety.  

Because she's so quiet, the only person who's willing to talk to her is the daughter of a wealthy man who bought his way into a Barony.  She's immediately pretty useless as an undercover agent, since she can't even get close to the person she's meant to be protecting without having a nervous breakdown.  She even manages to get mistaken for an assassin and roughed up by the prince's bodyguard.  (It seems her social anxiety is due to abuse she endured as a child.)

 

 

4 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

However, as much as I enjoyed the first part of the story centering around Pardis, I still enjoyed, I think in equal part, the latter part of the story involving Marley and the wider world, as it informed the viewer of what lay behind what's been happening to them the previous five years or so as well as adjacent machinations and goings-on in the present. I don't think the totality of the story would have been as satisfying had they only focused on Paradis, as equal parts fun and depressing it is, without providing some back and adjacent story to answer the whys and whos of what lay behind the sudden titan infestations, who Grisha Jaeger really was, where did Annie, Reiner, and Bertholdt come from and why were they there, etc, etc. There was a plethora of questions raised in the first couple chapters and had they just ended the series like that without providing answers, I personally don't feel like it would have been as satisfying overall.

For what it's worth, when I read (and later watched) Attack on Titan I felt that the sense of mystery surrounding the Titans and the Titan Shifters and the foreboding that went with it was an essential part of the story.  It was the very embodiment of Nothing is Scarier.  (I am admittedly a great big fan of horror as an art form so my bias is going to be on full display here...)

The idea that the world within the Walls was all there was of civilization made the entire rest of the setting into one massive liminal space.  The sense of isolation within desolation and oppressive emptiness of the world was the fuel for a great sense of horror and foreboding throughout the first half.  This was made doubly effective by the Titans themselves.  Normally seeing a person on the horizon in such an isolated space is cause for great relief.  Attack on Titan turned that on its ear and made it cause for terror.  Anything remotely person-shaped outside the Walls is a Monster that will Eat You without a moment's hesitation.

Not knowing where the likes of Ymir, Grisha, Reiner, or Annie came from helped maintain that sense of mystery and oppressive horror.  Was there some other, isolated city out in that vast desolation?  Did the Titans have a civilization?  Are these monsters really as mindless as they appear or was there malice behind them?  These mysteries helped keep the story engaging.

IMO, the Big Reveal that history as it was known to the protagonists was one huge lie, that the world of Attack on Titan was largely similar to ours in terms of its geography, culture, and technology aside from the existence of the Titans, and that the rest of the world was not only not utterly desolate but positively thriving really fatally punctured the horror with mundane explanations and real world familiarity.  The only thing that remained mysterious was the Titans themselves, and that was demoted to essentially "just magic".

Spoiler

It initially struck me as quite silly that the world map for Attack on Titan was just a modern map of Earth rotated 180 degrees.  Then I realized it was 100% on purpose, and in service of yet another World War II Germany reference.

The Marley Empire controlling the African continent and portions of Europe is pretty inconsequential, but Paradise... Paradise is Madagascar.  A location multiple antisemitic European governments including France, Poland, and Germany entertained as a possible place to forcibly resettle European Jews to unsuitable or unproductive land under several variations of what's known as The Madagascar Plan between 1878 and 1940.

 

 

4 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

As to Eren being easily forgiven, I agree. He was an a-hole of the first order and deserved to be vilified for the monster that he became. I think Zeke's and Willy's plan, although terrible, too, was at least possibly coming from a place of contrition. It's a shame that Mikasa didn't pop out of her spell and kill Eren when he told her that he'd hated her most of their lives- whether he actually meant it or was just saying it to create distance between himself and her, the bastard had it coming. Alas, it came too late, but I thought it poetic that Mikasa was the one to deliver the coup de grace, even if she STILL felt affection for him. He got off too easy. The show is definitely a study, perhaps a dark caricature, of real history, some of the absolute worst of humanity's capital-E Evil, to borrow your phrase. To my mind, however, we must always be reminded of that evil lest we repeat it, be it in literature or art, and as an artform, I think anime is an apt vehicle, although perhaps it needn't be so blatant. The Japanese have their own demons to bear from WWII and it's notable that they weren't portrayed at all harshly compared to the Marleyans who symbolize the Nazi Regime. Indeed, they were merely portrayed as simply opportunistic money grubbers, with Azumabito showing a little contrition for how her people have acted. Make of that what you will.

Eren being a completely unrepentant heel for the entire second half of the story really was a poor creative choice, IMO.  I know it's that kind of story, but it'd have been nice to see some progression or the idea that he was at least struggling with what he felt was his preordained destiny to destroy the world.  Instead, he just kind of flips from a tyke bomb who hates the Titans with a thoroughly understandable passion to a Misanthrope Supreme and Omnicidal Maniac all at once.

Spoiler

Considering the real world parallels, that the Eldians are typically presented as unrepentant monsters and the only prominent "good" ones are the ones who want to wipe their own people out for the sake of the world... well... the implications are unfortunate to say the least.

It would have been nice to see more of a moral spectrum besides just "awful person" and "extremely awful person"... 

[Big s]

As far as Attack on Titan, it was and probably still my favorite anime of this millennium. I don’t think there’s even a close second. But I do have to say that the stuff before discovering that there were other nations was the better part of the show. I still liked it, but there’s a frightening thing about not knowing where your monsters come from. Kinda like with Alien or Predator. Once you find out then it’s not a scary. But unlike a lot of sequels to Alien or Predator, I still really liked the later episodes of Attack on Titan 

[Seto Kaiba]

Oh boy, more "Adventure slop"...

The Shy Hero and the Assassin Princesses is back...

Spoiler

... and it should have stayed away, as bad as it is.  What an absolute mess.

I'm inclined to suspect the mangaka is a big One Piece fan, because he draws women the same way Eiichiro Oda does.  That is to say, often barely dressed at all and with such an extreme hourglass figure that you have to wonder if he understands that women have internal organs too.

The series tries to extract itself from fanservice long enough to get into Toto's motivations to be a hero, which as it turns out are just to gain the confidence to talk to people in light of how he keeps accidentally frightening people by being huge, loud, and covered in scars.  It veers right back into fanservice immediately thereafter though with the girls lewding the low-level slime monsters in the first dungeon they visit.  The demon girl's plan to assassinate him is to summon a high-level slime that he can't punch to death, so when punching doesn't work he vaporizes it by shouting loudly instead.

This really is basically just One Punch Man: Fantasy Edition with excessive fanservice.

 

Scooped Up By an S-Rank Adventurer has a new episode...

Spoiler

... and it opens on a recap of the protagonist failing to grasp that he's being fired for not doing his job as a white mage.

We get to see the protagonist's future party on the job without him, and they don't really seem to need the help either.  They take out a bandit camp the size of a small town in the space of a single afternoon without any assistance while barely breaking a sweat.

This series, like so many of its ilk, is left incredibly frustrating to watch because the writers seem to believe that they can build tension by either making the protagonist humble and self-effacing to the point of absurdity (as in, they refuse to recognize that they are abnormally powerful despite all evidence to the contrary) or simply so dimwitted that it never occurs to them to check and see what the normal/average amount of power someone in their position should have is.  This series is doing both at once, with Lloyd both assuming without evidence that he is merely normal or even substandard compared to other white mages and refusing to accept it when top-ranked adventurers REPEATEDLY point out that the things he thinks are trivial displays of beginner skills are actually Beyond The Impossible displays of power and skill.

Watching him constantly whine that he's not good enough when everyone's jaws are constantly on the floor over how amazing he is is just obnoxious.  It doesn't do anything for the story, it's just filler.

 

 

[Stampeed Valkyrie]

waaaaaay too much on the plate this season.  

So I will stick with the Rascal does not dream series for this post. 

It appears as is this season is going to cover books 10-13,  starting with Lost Idol, then Nightingale, Student, and Finally Santa Claus.    TBH these are not the strongest arcs of the series by a long shot.   In the first 2 episodes your introduced to all the main characters except for maybe 1 that will complete these books,  some in passing and others directly.   

Its possible that this might actually be a better medium then the novels for telling the story.. which would be interesting. 

 

[Seto Kaiba]

Private Tutor to the Duke's Daughter has a new episode... and it's probably going to be the first series I drop this season.

Spoiler

Everything about Private Tutor to the Duke's Daughter feels profoundly half-assed.

It's a harem series that wants to pretend that it's a regular fantasy series.  This is a problem, because it's not well written enough to be compelling as a fantasy series or a harem series.  The setting hasn't really been developed at all thus far.  Neither of the two main girls has been developed at all either.  They're pretty much interchangeable, both being squeaky-voiced lolis of similar height, build, and appearance whose only real role in the story is seemingly to have an intense crush on the protagonist immediately on meeting him and for no adequately explored reason.  Much of the story is just excuses for them to do generic cutesy crap like pout at him, cling to him, or get vocally possessive of him and jealous of their other having his attention despite them being nobles and him being a commoner.

There's no story here.  At least, none worth watching.

 

[Seto Kaiba]

Starting a new one... Cultural Exchange with a Game Centre Girl.

Spoiler

Seems pretty cutesy from the OP and general art style... but judging a book by its cover is seldom productive.

The main girl, who hasn't been named yet, speaks excellent English.  Turns out her VA is an American, Sally Amaki, who was also in Tomo-chan is a Girl! and is the VA for Kiriko in the game Overwatch 2.  The English in this is actually very good all around... 

Renji, a part-timer at a Tokyo game centre, takes pity on a young foreign girl he sees losing for hours at the same claw machine and wins her a stuffed koala.  In so doing, he has unwittingly endeared himself to 13 year old Sally Baker, a British girl whose family recently moved to Japan and who is still learning Japanese.  The two of them spend some time boding over a shared love of video games and their mutual struggles with the language barrier.  Thus starts a slice of life (romance?) comedy about these two oddballs and their struggles with the language barrier and cultural differences between England and Japan.

The games in the game centre have quite a few references and homages scattered about.  My favorite being the rail shooter that's clearly House of the Dead but with characters that are just as clearly Jill and Wesker from the first Resident Evil.

After one episode, it feels like light "feel good" sort of entertainment.  Nothing deep or complex, just people having fun together and learning about each other.  If I had to sum it up in a short punchy remark... "It's a vibe".  A very cheerful, upbeat vibe at that.

 

 

Another new one... See You Tomorrow at the Food Court.

Spoiler

Right off the bat, this series manages to effectively communicate we're doing an odd couple sort of slice of life comedy thing with an outwardly prim and proper young lady and her gyaru friend as they hang out together in a food court and talk about whatever random stuff enters their heads.

Random it most assuredly is... the first part of the first episode has them talking about social media and other incidental stuff.  The second part has them having a debate on the meaning of intelligence and extraterrestrial life complete with references to Gundam 00 and 2001: a Space Odyssey and veers into plans for the future and a hypocritical complaint about girls chatting about nothing and an accusation that the one changes topics like a stand-up comedian.

Between the general weirdness, the constant non-sequiturs, and the shortform stories it reminds me a lot of Azumanga Daioh. 

[DewPoint]

I've fallen behind.  Finally started watching Frieren.

I basically agree with everyone:  last season was pretty meh overall.  Now its sequel season!

[Hikaru Ichijo SL]

My Dress up Darling was so good again. Gojou is such a good person.

[Seto Kaiba]

So... Turkey! Time to Strike is a thing that exists.

The first twenty minutes of this series are a "What do you mean it's not awesome?" girls sports anime about bowling, in a similar vein to Iwa-kakeru! and Birdie Wing... with a very unsuccessful school bowling team of five girls having one member quit because they're always losing, a match to attempt to persuade her to stay on the team, and then it starts getting weird.

Spoiler

Lightning strikes a mysterious artifact in an open excavation where a bookstore is being torn down nearby, causing some kind of magical resonance between the artifact and the main girl's bowling ball.  She and the rest of the team are pulled down the lane in midair by the glowing bowling ball and find themselves on the edge of a battlefield in the Sengoku period.

The only thing I can say to this is "What."  I do not get it even a little.

[Hikaru Ichijo SL]

I watched the 2nd episode of Game center girl. I find this show really cute.  Lily is so weird in a good way.

[Big s]

3 hours ago, Seto Kaiba said:

The only thing I can say to this is "What."  I do not get it even a little.

What’s there not to get? Magical bowling balls happen. Sometimes they’re possessed by a dead father, like in Mystery Men and sometimes the marble within resonates with the ancient past when artifacts are struck by lightning. Seems pretty common and the reason I stay away from bowling alleys. 

[Seto Kaiba]

Caught the latest episodes of Cultural Exchange with a Game Centre Girl, See You Tomorrow at the Food Court, and started a new series Ruri Rocks.

Pretty happy with all three, TBH.

Spoiler

Most interested in Ruri Rocks, which is shaping up to be another unconventional edutainment series... this time about mineralogy.  The titular Ruri is a high schooler who learns from her mother that the same kind of crystals she was looking at in an accessory she wanted to buy can be found in nature near their home, and goes out crystal hunting.  She bumps into a geology grad student named Nagi, who helps her find some quartz and geodes and starts educating the newly minted rockhound on geological science.

NGL, I am 100% certain there is going to be a large percentage of the audience watching this one because Nagi is STACKED.  She has a fairly realistic build for a girl who works on dig sites and such, but they definitely put a lot of effort into drawing attention to her figure.

 

  

6 hours ago, Big s said:

What’s there not to get? Magical bowling balls happen. Sometimes they’re possessed by a dead father, like in Mystery Men and sometimes the marble within resonates with the ancient past when artifacts are struck by lightning. Seems pretty common and the reason I stay away from bowling alleys. 

Ah yes, the ever-present threat of magical bowling balls.  How could I forget?  😆

Spoiler

I just want to know why the hell lightning striking some artifact elsewhere caused a  bowling ball to create a time warp to the sengoku period!

 

[Hikaru Ichijo SL]

A Couple of Cuckoos Season 2 started. I liked season 1 well enough. But come on another girl shows up.

[Seto Kaiba]

Turkey! Time to Strike is back...

Spoiler

... and it's right back into the Sengoku period.  They got over having a freshly decapitated head land next to them really quick.

Then they almost get sexually assaulted by a group of soldiers...?  Bandits...?  I'm gonna go with bandits.  Then they get rescued by a soldier.

They are really, really padding this out by having the nerdy girl have to say the same thing like four times before anyone in the group will understand or retain it.  Once they do, they accept that they've time-traveled quite easily.  

The main girl has the memetic survival instincts of a lemming.  She has to be constantly reminded to keep her head down, to not draw attention from soldiers or bandits, and to not rush off to rescue a captured soldier from bandits armed with nothing but an offensively bright hair color.  We're using bowling metaphors to describe the need to save some rando from bandits who were going to rape them to death earlier.  Swell.  Somehow this insane argument drives at least one of the girls to joyful tears.

For some reason they don't want to say "bandits", so they keep calling them "NBs"... and now all I can think of is Shinichi Watanabe's self-insert character NB from Tenchi Muyo! GXP.  A show nearly as insane as this one...

So... they're fighting with bowling balls.  How they got a bowling ball to flip five feet into the air from the ground in mid-roll is perhaps an exercise best left to whatever's in the writer's medicine cabinet.  Wow, that girl is STRONG.  She just picks the soldier they rescued up and takes off with him like he weighs nothing at all.  This guy is completely nonplussed by having been rescued by five girls, many of whom are apparently stronger than him, who are all dressed in an extremely odd and inappropriate manner for the time.

Wasn't this supposed to be a bowling anime?

[Hikaru Ichijo SL]

Shield Hero s4 has been good so far.

[Seto Kaiba]

I can no longer tell if New Saga is just badly written or if it's actively taking the piss. 

I'm undecided as to whether that marks an improvement in its writing or not... the protagonist certainly seems to be about as bored with the business of becoming The Hero as I am of watching it, and is actively trying to speedrun the process to the point of rudeness.

[Hikaru Ichijo SL]

57 minutes ago, Seto Kaiba said:

I can no longer tell if New Saga is just badly written or if it's actively taking the piss. 

I'm undecided as to whether that marks an improvement in its writing or not... the protagonist certainly seems to be about as bored with the business of becoming The Hero as I am of watching it, and is actively trying to speedrun the process to the point of rudeness.

I agree with you.  I wonder if I will even stick with it.

[Seto Kaiba]

Welcome to the Outcast's Restaurant seems to have run out of ideas a mere three episodes in.

Spoiler

The series seems to be falling into a rather dull story loop of introducing a new "adventurer" who is both obnoxious and useless, having them essentially set up shop in the protagonist's restaurant, and then go on an adventure that their arrogance and/or idiocy inevitably turns into a disaster that the protagonist then has to rescue them from while in a literally paper-thin disguise (he's just wearing a bag on his head).  They don't seem to actually learn from any of it, they just hang around being obnoxious.  

I'm tentatively moving this one to my "best skipped" pile.

 

Picked up a new series, Solo Camping for Two, which I'll give a whirl later alongside Hotel Inhumans and Apocalypse Bringer Mynoghra.