Anime

This was a great week for old anime.

I started off with the rest of Noragami Aragoto, which was very good. Noragami in general has been a pleasant surprise - it doesn't seem to get a lot of attention, but it's really quite good, in a sort of low-key, just-all-around-good sense. This season had two main arcs, and both of them were interesting and well-executed (which was especially satisfying for the first one, which dealt with a central drama that had been lurking in the background since the start, and about which we'd already gotten enough hints that there weren't many surprises left).

Then I bounced around for a bit before ending up on Oda Nobuna no Yabou. I was in the mood for cute girls doing something, and like the protagonist, have spent far too much time playing Nobunaga's Ambition, so Cute Girls Doing the Warring States it was. And while I expected it to be cute and stylish and sort of goofy, I didn't expect it to be... well, sort of epic really. Granted that Sengoku is literally an epic tale, I still figured the cute girls thing would keep it light. And while there was a certain amount of expected charming silliness and fanservice, mostly it was surprisingly dramatic and engaging. And the addition of a character who already knew the entire history and was determined to stop this Oda from making the same mistakes the other did led to some intriguing changes in the story. All in all, it was just very pleasant and enjoyable.

Then after bouncing around a bit more, I ended up diving into a series I'd been idly threatening to watch for a few years - Shinsekai Yori aka From the New World. I got a copy of the first volume of the LN years ago and have bounced off of it half a dozen times or so, so I figured I'd give the anime a chance. And even the anime takes a bit to get going, but once it hit its stride, it just sucked me in. It's very good, and with impressive art design and music, in addition to the expected good story. I've watched 21 episodes in just two days, and will certainly watch the last four episodes later today.

Picked up two shows this week:

• Witch Watch - It's fun and cute. Not the greatest thing in the world, but I enjoy a good gag anime every now and again. I think it suffers from the episodic pacing of the manga though; it felt weird when it jumped to a completely different story halfway through the episode. The OP is beautiful btw. Watch it once even if you don't watch this show.
• Yakitate Japan - I sat down to watch Kowloon Generic Romance with my wife yesterday and then we watched this instead. It was pretty funny. Main character wants to be a baker. Luckily he has the cheat skill of "slightly warmer than average hands". A fun show from 2004 that feels like a show from 2004. After we watched the first episode my wife made 3 loaves of bread. Good stuff. We'll definitely watch more of it.

We'll probably be giving Kowloon Generic Romance another go, as well as Gundam GQuuuuuux, and of course we're still watching Apothecary Diaries.

Past Seasons

I completed Beastars season 2 over the past week, and it still got me hooked as much as season 1.

However, there were a few points in the show that annoyed me enough to ruin my immersion.

Here are some snippets of my stream of thoughts as I was watching it:

I know the show did address my complaints after the immediate episodes, but I found the way they did so unsatisfying.

The one that takes the cake was

Despite my complaints, I still enjoyed it so, so much.

Plus, the opening song - Monster by Yoasobi - is a banger.

I am so looking forward to the final part / season to drop before starting on the next one.

Unfortunately, because of the annoyances, I will be docking a point from its final score, making it a 9 / 10 - for now; I may change my mind later.

This Season

I dropped I've Been Killing Slimes For 300 Years And Maxed Out My Level Season 2 after the first episode.

Looks like I have gotten bored of the chill, do-nothing slice-of-life genre.

Miscellaneous

With posts like this and the occasional recommendation thread popping up every now and then, I thought I'd group my favourite anime into broad categories / genres for easy recommendations.

I want each group to be mutually exclusive, so if an anime qualifies for more than one category, I would put it in the one that better represents it IMO (e.g. a romcom that is more com than rom would end up belonging to comedy)

I ended up noticing a few things about my taste:

• I enjoy suspense / thriller way more than I expected. If I out all the shows with suspense or thriller elements into one group, it covers half of the shows the I consider top tier.
• With only 2 entries, it turns out that I am not into romance, at least not for anime. I found it surprising as I read plenty of romcom manga. In hindsight, I'm probably in it for the comedy, not the romance.

In case you are curious, here are my lists:

• Peak Gundam (politics, war, mass tragedy, etc; yes I like it so much that it has its own category) - 7 entries
• Peak Comedy - 8 entries
• Peak Romance - 2 entries
• Peak Drama - 4 entries
• Peak Suspense - 9 entries
• Peak Thriller - 9 entries
• Peak Wholesomeness - 8 entries
• Peak Degeneracy - 3 entries

I watched two movies the past few weeks:

• Genius Party

This is a collection of animated short films from different directors. The two notable ones here for me were Masaaki Yuasa and Shinichirou Watanabe. Happy Machine (Masaaki) was my favorite! The little baby character (and the overall vibe of it) reminded me of Pendleton Ward's Adventure Time.

There were other really quirky ones in the collection too. Deathtic 4 was different from the rest. It was 3DCG and I don't know the language (it sounds European). Interestingly, there's a scene there where the zombies said they were fighting "injustices" and it shows them trying to pick a fight with two girls wearing a US flag and USSR flag suits (it was funny). Genius Party (same title as the collection) was chaotic and fun while Limit Cycle was really (intentionally) boring (it's about a salaryman).

The more "normal" ones were Shanghai Dragon, Doorbell, and Baby Blue (Shinichirou). Shanghai Dragon was partly in Chinese because it's set in China. I think anyone familiar with Japan-China relations will raise eyebrows here because it portays a poor China and a technologically advanced Japan, but at the end it was the Chinese boy who saved everyone through his imagination as opposed to the technology of Japan. Doorbell reminded me of Satoshi Kon, and Baby Blue was maybe my favorite for the "normal" shorts.

• Ghost in the Shell (1995 movie)

I had this in my watchlist for a looong time (because it's a certified classic) and I'm happy that I did not watch it earlier. I don't think I would have appreciated this at a young age. I think this is the second Oshii Mamoru movie I watched. The first was Angel's Egg which was pretty much the ending of GITS. There's already a wealth of information and reviews on GITS especially by Western writers so I don't really have to say much here.

But I noticed how spirituality or religion always ties with technology in anime. People who've seen Serial Experiments Lain probably know what I mean. It's very similar to GITS. Evangelion is another example. Also, it might sound a bit odd but it reminds me a bit of the "programming" in Angel Beats too which I complete last month.

(Also Major Kusanagi is very beautiful. Holy shit.)

This week I might watch Genius Party 2 and maybe look for an older series to finish (maybe more Masaaki Yuasa stuff).

Picked up Lazarus, Witch Watch, Kowloon Generic Romance, The Apothecary Diaries Cour 2 this season. Also, rewatching Neon Genesis Evangellion.

New season is getting going. Here is where I stand right now:

• 100 Girlfriends - I watched the finale and it was great. Season 2 managed to deliver just as much as season 1 did.
• Apothecary Diaries - Cour 2 has started and lots more mysteries being foreshadowed.
• Too-Perfect Saint - No surprises in the first episode, but they managed to make their obviously limited budget work effectively.
• Rock is a Lady's Modesty - Really fun episode to start with. I am really looking forward to more of this series.
• Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire - First three episodes are out and it has been...alright. I don't really know what to make of this series yet. Unfortunately, I am going to have to wait a couple weeks before the next episode comes out.

Weekly ranking roundup:

1. Anime Corner Most Anticipated of Spring 2025 - Full Results - Weekly Winner: Fire Force Season 3
2. Reddit Karma - Weekly Winner: Solo Leveling

Credit to /u/Abysswatcherbel for making the chart for reddit karma and /u/Nooble5 for the Anime Trending chart.

A bit of a different set of rankings this week as we are between seasons for the most part. AC polled for most anticipated for the new season. The rankings are kind of surprising as I don't think the top shows (Fire Force, Wind Breaker) have been terribly popular in this community in past seasons (basically just @[email protected] in Wind Breaker threads).

The reddit chart meanwhile was topped by finales. with the first new show down at #5. I am glad to see Rock is a Lady's Modesty doing pretty well as I am a fan of the manga and enjoyed the first episode. Looking forward to more.