What Anime are you watching?

[B E C K]

"Good Bye, Dragon Life" is aggressively mediocre.

[jonhammstein]

I've become something of a basic bitch of an anime fan. The only thing I'm currently watching that isn't on Netflix is Negative Positive Angler.

The Netflix stuff is just Blue Box, Dandadan, Dragon Ball Daima, and Ranma One-Half. Shueisha properties, all!

Thank goodness NegaPosi is Kadokawa. Modicum of credibility maintained.

[B E C K]

I finally cancelled my Crunchyroll sub before they billed me this month. I know going the legal route is heresy or whatever but actually liked having it when I had things to watch. Like when I got it, it was the Fall 2023 and then Winter 2023 seasons and I watched a lot of stuff. And it made watching anime at my friend's house a breeze. But now I'm in an anime desert again and Dandadan is on Netflix. So it's whatever.

Also, my fucking Chromecast keeps booting me out to the point that I haven't felt like watching TV. Why should I when I put on a movie or show on and I just get kicked out over and over again. I know this is just Google's bullshit: they just want me to upgrade my hardware to whatever the fuck. A fancy white one or the Streamer or whatever. But I don't feel like. I'll just watch on my laptop and they can go fuck themselves. But when I do that, well, far easier to "yo ho ho," you know.

[jonhammstein]

Well, I can totally understand that. This season is dry AF. For me, anyway. And it sounds like you feel similarly.

I had stockpiled the second season of Oshi no Ko with the intention of binging it later, and I finally got around to it. I think I got about half way through the second episode before stopping and tossing it all in the trash. All this fucking nattering about adapting a manga to a stage play, holy fuck. "Get me out of here!" I roared. And that was that.

[Rodent of Unusual Size]

Raise wa Tanin ga Ii has been an unexpected hoot. Yakuza granddaughter being married off to a yakuza grandson...she's normal, and he's not, hijinks ensue. I've been slowly dipping into the new for season stuff, and that's the first I've really dived into.

[B E C K]

Trailers/teasers and whatever. A lot are coming up in my feed.

Apothecary Diaries 2 teaser but it doesn't appear to be teasing much.

This one looks kinda fun. Read a bit of the manga and it's entertaining.

The key to me liking this one is what kind of plot it has after she punches everyone. I've read a tiny bit of the manga and I just wasn't sure where it was going afterwards.

Can't tell if this looks cute or if it's trash.

Medical detective?

This is BL but I like it visually that I might just give it a shot.

This one also looks fun.

I'm pretty much done with this show but I'll still post the trailer. The woman (Kudo's mom, maybe) forcing Miyo into a maid's outfit to make her clean.... UGH. I just don't like anime that have an aim to make a character suffer and that's the vibe I'm getting from this.

[B E C K]

The first episode of Fate/Strange Fake dubbed was streamed on the Crunchyroll YouTube. Meh, it was all right. I don't find any characters outside of Assassin, Archer, and Saber of much interest. The loli's fucking annoying.

[jonhammstein]

That Mononoke movie on Netflix is some maximum effort.

[B E C K]

[B E C K]

I gave I'll Become a Villainess Who Goes Down in History a try. I think I saw a clip somewhere and decided to watch it. It's average although it does have a few things about it that make it stand out:

-This main character actually wants to be a villainess like in the otome game she's inserting in. As opposed to most of these shows where the main character is all "I'm a good girl."

-I like the relationship between the main character and the prince. This prince dude's a bit bolder than most of the romantic interests in this sort of thing. He's a bit edgy but he's also shows he cares for the main character.

-This chick gives away her eyeball. I like how she just does that shit, doesn't second-guess it, and rocks an eyepatch for the rest of the show.

-The heroine (not the main character but the "heroine" to the main character's "villainess") has an interesting powet that makes people love her and she has no idea she's doing that to people. Unfortunately, I've heard that this doesn't come to light until much later in the story meaning we probably won't see that shit in this adaptation.

That said, this will be like Villainess Level 99: watched and then mostly forgotten. Like that one, the over-arching plot (if that even exists here) just isn't interesting.

[B E C K]

Holy crap. So I'm housesitting at my family friend's home this month and tried to catch up on Dandadan on her Netflix. I completely forgot about Netflix's cheapo plan with ads. My friend didn't have the cheapo Netflix the last time I was here but between then and now she changed to the cheapo plan! ARGH. So I was all, okay, fine, I'll cast from my profile. And it doesn't work. It wants both the TV and the phone to be signed into the same Netflix account because Netflix doesn't want people to shaaaaaaare. 

I'm not sharing with anyone, you pieces of shit. ARGH. I have Merla's password so I can sign in, but I don't want to fucking do that.

So I boarded for the high seas and casted from there. That's so dumb: Not letting people watch legitimately.

[Rodent of Unusual Size]

CR is doing a 2 month free trial right now. I'd try out out, but I haven't put the slightest dent of in my torrented backlog on Plex yet.

Dandadan is insane...first three episodes were fun.

[B E C K]

It's a good offer provided you find it useful. I barely torrent and it's easier for me to cast via Crunchy during those seasons when a lot of good shows are on. Especially when I'm at my friend's house. Given her abysmal ad-filled Netflix and Netflix's bullshit forcing the caster to sign into their TV in order to cast from a mobile device, I'm tempted to buy it again just because the app's so convenient for me. My original plan staying here was to catch up on anime on Netflix but fffffffffffffff.  But I'm only supposed to be here three more weeks and I'm currently only watching one Crunchy-exclusive show so it's not worth it right now. And as a prior subscriber, I can't take advantage of cool free trials unless I want to make a new account. And I honestly don't want to.

[jonhammstein]

I watched that one where the old dude isekais into an otome villain. It was kind of good? I'll stick with it for the time being.

Honestly, the most obnoxious character presently is the "protagonist" and how she's endlessly fawning over the MC.

[B E C K]

As someone who read what's available of the manga online, that doesn't change. She continues to simp. A heads up if that's too annoying. I really like the show overall. So far, it's my favorite of the season. I'm most impressed with the OP and ED. Maybe the last show I liked both on was Frieren and the first half of the Apothecary Diaries before they ruined the rest of the season by changing the opening to something rancid.

Speaking of Apothecary Diaries, I watched the first ep of the new season. Still a decent show but I feel like my interest in it waning.

Guild Receptionist anime. I was looking forward to this one and honestly I'm disappointed. It's not terrible. I find the MC incredibly annoying. The idea of her soloing bosses to prevent working overtime is a funny premise. But nothing creative is done with it. She just whines about it over and over again. The story doesn't want to be daring enough to go as far as murdering people to silence them. It doesn't want her or the hero-guy to resort to blackmail. The little action that's there is stale. There's nothing creative about the environments or design. In fact, guild-girl's design looks really out of place, like she's the sister of Lemm from SAO Gun Gale. I'm not gonna hate on this show but I was expecting something more fun than this.

Anyway, I'm Falling in Love with You. I only watched this because someone slapped it on YouTube so I threw it in my queue. What a blah show. The premise was already rote: girl has guy friends who may like her more than just as a friend. Then I heard it actually takes place in July 2020. Ohhh, a pandemic anime. Nah. No masks, no distancing, nothing that would make you look at this and go, "oh, shit, this is during Covid." Knowing it's supposed to be during Covid actually murdered my immersion because all of the characters just act normal other "oh, our games are canceled because of our illness." But this is fucking July, shouldn't things have been canceled already? Furthermore, the dude that's obviously set up to be the romantic endgame for this girl is such a cringe-dude. He comes on too strong, forces a kiss on this chick under a running shower, and I just find him creepy. I give this a BLEH out of 5.

I Have a Crush at Work. Also only watched this because the same uploaded plopped this on YouTube. It's okay although it's not really well-named (or the name's not well-translated, I suppose). These two knock boots in the first episode. I'd hardly call it a crush. While I like the idea of an anime featuring adult characters in a consenting relationship, the show's kinda mid. I don't know how they're gonna squeeze a whole season from this premise. Nothing I think I'll be actively seeking but if other episodes appear on YouTube, I'd watch more. I give it a Don't Shit Where You Eat out of 5.

I Want to Escape from Princess Lessons. Girl is betrothed to a prince so has to undergo training to be a perfect fiancee. The first episode was a bit rough in that it made me kind of sad. The manga gets the point sooner--in that it starts out at the party instead of going through her childhood first--and the anime should've used that presentation for the first episode. Instead, it focuses on this little girl being so unhappy and stifled and not wanting this engagement. The prince fell in love with this girl because she was such a free spirit but his engagement effectively cages her. The worse part of this story is he doesn't really care. I think this could've been a really good story but the prince as the male lead is going to kill it because he's so unlikable. The anime also ruined his looks so he's not even hot. So he doesn't have a good personality or good looks.

[B E C K]

Before anyone asks, yes, I did have time off. So in addition to the above newer anime, I did catch up on stuff I've missed/aborted from past seasons.

I did actually go back and watch more of Why Raeliana Ended Up at the Duke's Mansion. I had passed on this show before because the first episode is kinda trash and it's still kinda trash. It's not a good start. I don't recall what made me go back and give this another shot. I watched it dubbed and Ian Sinclair is carrying the shit out of it with his performance as Noah. He oozes charisma. It's almost a waste on a show like this because no one else is really on his level. The show itself does kind of improve. And the character of Heika made things interesting even though he's basically simping for Raeliana. Not romantic but, like, "urrrr so smart become my graaaandchild."  I give this Ian Sinclair Saves this Dub out of 5.

Rokka Braves Of The Six Flowers. This show's like 10 years old but it got slapped on YouTube so I watched most of it. I remember having an interest when this first came out but never bothered with it. However, I've always remembered this show because I found the design of Nashetania to be distinctive. The lead character-dude is super annoying with his "strongest man in the world" bullshit. The upload I watched actually divided the show into two uploads. I actually gave up on the show after the first episode but ended up sucked back into the second half because I had clicked from a playlist and the playlist defaulted to the second upload. The second half is mostly good. This show becomes a sorta mystery anime, which is neat. It completely sharts the bed hard at the end. Like the show saying, "Ha ha, mystery over. Just kidding, get fucked!" I give it a I Hate That Cow out of 5.

Endo and Kobayashi Live! The Latest on Tsundere Villainess Lieselotte had a good first episode but I couldn't bring myself to stick with it. I dunno. I didn't feel invested.  Lieselotte is a very cute tsundere.  But even her cuteness couldn't make me sit through an uninteresting-looking man and the two stale Japanese kids. Maybe I'll come back to this one but I felt like watching other things.

Fluffy Paradise. Someone slapped it on YouTube. It's a better show than I thought it'd be but it lost me at the "kobolds," which are just anthro-dogs. Like demon dogs, you ask? Like monsters, you ask? Nah, like cartoon dogs. Like extras in Road Rovers or some shit. And their kids look like normal puppies.  Like if Goofy's son was Pluto instead of Max. What the fuck.  They are reeeeeally out of place in this world and the story and it just threw me off.  Like, come on, I like cartoon dogs. But it's like seeing humans in Duckburg. It's jarring and it doesn't belong. There were only a couple of episodes left but I dumped the show at that point.

The Ice Guy and His Cool Female Colleague. I thought I did try this one. In fact, I think I did and gave up at seeing the fox yokai, just like I did with this attempt.

I also rewatched Chillin' in Another World with Level 2 Super Cheat Powers and The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic, both of which I had already seen in their entirety but I enjoyed them and someone popped them up on YouTube. Also Gokusen and Princess Jellyfish. I did try rewatching Witch From Mercury since Gundam Info has all of the episodes up but it's kinda boring on rewatch.

[B E C K]

For upcoming stuff...

Another School Girl x Delinquent anime. I did tip my toe into some of the manga and it's a bit boring. I'll still probably chell this out to see if the story is better adapted in the anime.

She's cute. Don't know if that'll translate to a good show but she's voiced by Lynn.

Gorilla Girl.

[Rodent of Unusual Size]

I'm pulling a bunch of shows right now and will have to pare them down to some degree very soon. I'm continuing with DanMachi S5 part 2 despite not having watched part 1 yet. I've read the novels, and I know that I won't be able to tolerate watching this particular storyline week-to-week. But I will watch it, as it settles one of the primary plotlines from the very beginning.

Amagami-san Chi no Enmusubi has been better than expected...what I expected was a mindless titty show (which admittedly is why I started watching it), but what I got was a rather nicely developing mini-harem show where no one is really unlikeable. Except the middle sister who's a cunt.

Arifureta is another show I'm continuing, as this season has actually improved on previous seasons. More fighting, more powers, more jiggling.

Grisaia Phantom Trigger is one I just started pulling as it's the latest in the Fruit of Grisaia series that was really well animated and had an intriguing storyline. But this is apparently only tangentially related to the previous seasons, so we'll see.

Hazure Skill Fruit master (snrk) is a fantasy show about a guy who gets new powers every time he eats a particular fruit in a world where you can only get one and die if you eat a second. It's another OP protag show, but I like those.

Dragon Ball Daima would be better if it was faster-paced, but seeing that it's only supposed to run a few more episodes in a lead-up to Super returning to anime production, I'll finish it. It's kind of nice to have little Goku running around with his nyoi-bo again, and seeing SSJ3 Chibi Vegeta was a hoot.

Apothecary Diaries is back for season 2. If you know, you know, but if you don't, watch the whole first season now, dammit, now, but suffice it to say, "Feudal Chinese Columbo chick".

I've got Welcome to Japan Ms. Elf ready to watch, as it looks like it'll be cute.

Beheneko is about a super-powered kitten/monster who lives in the cleavage of a big-titted elf chick while killing monsters. 'Nuff said.

NEET Kunoichi is another smarmy show I picked up but haven't started. The manga wasn't great, but I'm hoping it looks better in motion. We'll see.

Ao no Hako is the latest high school romance show that I'm inflicting upon myself. But it looks good and doesn't appear to be cloying or trite like a lot of them tend to be. People seem to hold it in rather high esteem, but I haven't watched past the first three episodes where they were just cranking up. Will know more soon.

Ubel Blatt is new, haven't watched yet, but looks cool.

Girumasu (Guild Receptionist show)...new, haven't watched yet.

Salaryman Isekai was a fun manga...a Japanese middle-manager is summoned by the demon lord of Another World™ to work for him in his new demon army...who knew a militant organization of monsters and horrors of legend would stand or fall on the strength of its internal administration?

Medaka Kuroiwa Is Impervious to My Charms was a one-note manga that I thought might be cute animated. We'll see.

[Rodent of Unusual Size]

Aw, shit, My Happy Marriage S2 is out now, too. ANIME OVERLOAD

[B E C K]

Finally saw an ep and a half of Sakamoto Days. Kind of boring.

[jonhammstein]

Finally saw an ep and a half of Sakamoto Days. Kind of boring.

That's how I felt back when I tried reading the manga. The show still has me for now, but I can see myself losing interest eventually.

I'm also watching that Vavamva Vamvam Vampire thing. Super weird premise. Also, can't help feeling there's some kind of double standard going on, because if his "prey" had been a girl as opposed to a boy, the show probably wouldn't even be allowed to exist.

The way his "bloodlust" is portrayed by having the front of his pants stretch out cartoonishly as a result of his visibly massive erection, and it's all played for giggles is really something else. I guess it's because we're meant to understand that he doesn't actually want to fuck the kid, just drink his blood? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[B E C K]

Yeah, I'm not even touching vampire groomer show. The preview alone was creepy and not in the way one normally associates with vampires.

[jonhammstein]

Not only that! In the first episode, it's established that the vampire works as a jack-of-all trades around the family-run bathhouse, and after he finishes scrubbing the tile floors he does a little celebratory dance... and it's just a straight-up Michael Jackson routine! It's like, what are you even trying to allude to here, people?

[B E C K]

Dude! 

I went ahead and checked out the show with the red ranger gettin' isekai'd. It's amusing. The mage woman's tits seem to change size and shape every other few frames.  Sometimes they're a decent pair of tits and other times their weird ginormous inflato-melons that don't make any sense.  It's really weird. Otherwise, than her odd balloon chest, the show had a good first episode.

I did also try and dip my toe back into My Happy Marriage. I want to punch Kudo's mom.  What an awful character. I know stories need conflict but, shit, what a fucking bitch for no fucking reason. Worse than her is Kudo's enabling father. I can't stand people like that: People who allow their spouse or kid to be total asshole to everyone around them and play nice and apologize as if that fixes anything. Just your bog-standard enabler of rotten behavior. He clearly had the ability to curb her attitude with a scolding but lets Miho get treated like shit first. Yech. And the stuff around the powers get more and more boring. Still, the show's better than a lot of the slop out there so I see why people like it. It still feels like a downhill ride to me.