What a surprise – running way late again … sigh
Not even going to say much more than that, honestly. Obviously, the season (at this point) is coming to a close, so this is more the “What I’ve Watched”, but, in any event, here we are.
Standard boilerplate:
- I have a paid subscription to CrunchyRoll (and Netflix), so I don’t have access to shows on other streaming srevices. Yes, I know I’m missing other stuff, but – this is a hobby, not my job.
- The listing of shows within each category does not indicate any sort of preference for one over the others. It’s typically just the order in which I was reading them from my Watchlist.
Quick Internal Links
- Continuing Shows
- Returning Shows
- The Romance / Rom-Coms
- The Isekais
- Action-ish / Fantasy
- Comedy
- Did Someone Mention Robots and War?
- Reincarnation / Life “Reboot”
- Slice-of-Life
- “Other”
- On Hold
- Music!!!
- The Clear Winners
Continuing Shows
Anne Shirley – The second cour of this series. Still enjoying it (mostly), as the story moves into Anne’s young adulthood.
Summer Pockets – Oh. My. God… This show is just soooo good. Yeah, it’s an emotional gut punch (or more than one) per week, but it’s all so well done regardless. The biggest question for me, as the “true” finale approaches, is whether the anime adaptation can stick the landing.
WITCH WATCH – Continued with this, but, ultimately, I dropped it. I just couldn’t deal with the ongoing … idiocy? … of the main characters. I do understand that this is the main gag – witch tries doing something with her magic, but doesn’t contemplate obvious outcomes … gets hit by obvious outcomes … hiliarity ensues. Except, for me the hilarity just didn’t ensue, so I had to drop it for my own sanity.
Returning Shows
A Couple of Cuckoos, Season 2 – As I’m pretty sure I’ve disclosed when this first came up, I’m an avid reader of the source manga, so, of course I’m watching this!!! No question at all.
Kaiju No. 8, Season 2 – Same stuff as Season 1 pretty much, with the expected level of ramping things up as the bad guys get more powerful and the overall situation has some desperation elements to it. Nothing surprising, but still well executed.
My Dress-Up Darling, Season 2 – Ok, right after Season 1 aired, I immediately jumped into reading the manga. It’s such a sweet rom-com showing the slow development of feelings between the main couple. Again, just like Cuckoos, watching it wasn’t even a question.
Reborn as a Vending Machine, I Now Wander the Dungeon, Season 2 – Ah, yes, the return of the show which deals with the question, “How insane can an isekai light novel title be and still manage to be published?” The goofy cast has been expanded and there’s actually a “real” plot thread which has been introduced and is being explored. Kinda cool, so (obviously?) still watching.
The Romance / Rom-Coms
Cultural Exchange with a Game Centre Girl – This is a mix between romcom and CGDCT. Lily is a a middle school girl who has just moved to Japan from England. While trying to play (and failing miserably) at an arcade, she’s helped by college-student Renji. Shortly afterwards (and this is all in episode 1, mind you), a Valentine’s Day exchange is misunderstood/-interpreted and she becomes absolutely smitten with him. No – it’s not “icky”, trust me! It’s cute and very much seen from her eyes, learning Japanese and making friends from school through what winds up being a shared interest in arcade games. Yes, there’s the underlying infatuation on her part but it’s extremely downplayed (aside from Lily’s father who goes over the top any time his daughter and wife do anything fun and didn’t include him in it). 🤣
Private Tutor to the Duke’s Daughter – Disclaimer: When this light novel series first started being released, I was more actively reading things on bookwalker.jp (not shilling – just expositing). This caught my eye and I bought / read quite a few of the volumes before I eased off (which had nothing to do with my enjoyment of the series). When I heard it was getting an adaptation, I was thrilled. It’s a fairly basic overarching world design and plot … 6 elements magic system; over-powered main character (the tutor, not the daughter); magic academy for the aristocracy and nobility; he’s already semi-committed to a different (elder-daughter-of-different-duke) girl; harem forms around him regardless – although the harem is more on the girls’ side than on his. It’s cute, it’s fun. I’m down for it.
The Shy Hero and the Assassin Princesses – Utterly silly premise (of course?). The Hero is so shy that he can barely speak with others and, at the beginning, simply being in the presence of a female gives him sensory overload and sends him temporarily into a shock coma. Unfortunately for him, there are three who, each for their own reasons, wants to bag him. There’s the demon loli princess who needs to kill the strongest hero, the actual assassin who wants to collect, and then the lewd dominatrix (but not the leather kind) who uses drugs and various other means to subjugate others. They form a party (to keep all of them close to him and allow a “rotation” for attempts). Needless to say, they wind up not only helping him to (ever so slightly) get better, but also form some sort of minimalistic friendship along the way.
The Isekais
The Water Magician – This is an isekai in name only, in the sense that it starts that way, but most of the isekai elements, the main character being from another world and OP, are quickly discarded. What’s left is much more a typical (power?) fantasy series where he just is a water (and ice, of course) manipulator who winds up being present at “just the right time” to deal with some sort of monster / dungeon crisis. Honestly, it’s kinda forgettable and if it gets another season, I’ll be skipping it, I’m sure.
Action-ish / Fantasy
Clevatess – Interesting twist on the “Going after the monster beasts to save the world” since, in episode 1, that happens … and the heroes loose badly. One of the party is saved / resurrected by one of the monster beast lords who rampaged through the capital city in retaliation. She’s saved because he rescued (kidnapped) a baby who just happens to be the prince / heir to the kingdom, and he needed someone to care for it. He also decides to morph into a humanoid form and learn more about the pesky humans (and “they’re elves, but we’re not calling them that; the ears are a giveaway”) who keep bothering him. As they travel and he interacts more with the “civilized” people, a lot gets stripped away about the civilization, as well as much more exploration of the “hero”‘s backstory.
Scooped Up by an S-Rank Adventurer! – Look! It’s another “the support guy in the fantasy party was the only one doing anything, but the asshole ‘hero’ discarded them” story. Yay… It’s an ok story, but nothing special. I just seem to be a bit of a sucker for this particular sub-genre, so I’m watching it. Largely forgettable.
Secrets of the Silent Witch –
Welcome to the Outcast’s Restaurant! – And it’s the other “discarded support guy” story for this season (or at least the other one I’m watching). In this case, the dude is a cook and, upon being dismissed, goes on to open a restaurant. Of course, he adopts the orphaned slave girl after freeing her from a bad circumstance… and, also “of course”, he helps some other would-be adventurers, both with advice and also venturing into the dungeon (masked) to help / save them. Then we get the complicated plot elements of the girl being the rightful heir to a fortune that her uncle screws her out of … and that escalates into a massive revenge plot. Meanwhile, the dude just wanted to cook, y’know?
Comedy
Detectives These Days Are Crazy! – This one is just wild. What if Encyclopedia Brown grew up … opened a private investigator’s office … and burned out, becoming a has-been middle-aged guy who’s barely scraping by and is behind on his office lease rent? But then! … a high-school girl who is more powerful (physically) than several gorillas finds him and forces him to allow her to work for him and … it goes even more off the rails from there. My description simply does not do this show justice. Some times the sketch jokes fall flat, but a lot of times, they hit just right from out of nowhere. Worth watching.
Did Someone Mention Robots and War?
None this season
Reincarnation / Life “Reboot”
None this season
Slice-of-Life
Ruri Rocks – This is more of a study of mineralogy wrapped in the guise of CGDCT and then packaged as a Slice-of-Life. Very in-depth dives into how certain specific gems and minerals are actually formed (as well as some occasional side-tracks into how those were part of Japan’s history). Fascinating, and since it’s presented as if to the main character (Ruri – a middle-school girl who likes “pretty rocks”), it’s done in a very light tone.
Solo Camping for Two – Sort of “Just what it says on the label”. A middle-aged guy who likes to “solo camp” encounters a young woman who is trying to also “solo camp”, bit she is horribly inexperienced and ignorant of all of the procedures, tips, etc. After a single camping session where helps her tremendously, she asks to continue doing “paired solo camping” (roll credits). In exchange for him continuing to help her and provide information and guidance, she’ll bring and prepare food for the both of them. There’s a strong undercurrent of a slow-burn romance, which all of their friends can see (without having met the other person – just in how the two of them talk about their camping sessions), and the main two are starting to question themselves about (internally).
With You and the Rain – A warm slice of life about a woman who rescues and adopts a … dog? … on a rainy day. Except, it’s not quite a dog. He understands speech and communicates by writing Japanese in marker on a pad he is able to conjure from thin air. Somehow everyone (including the vet who seems him) agrees that she has, indeed, adopted a dog. Fun and heartwarming.
“Other”
HOTEL INHUMANS – What if? … the Continental Hotel (of John Wick fame) had “full-service” concierges, who weren’t just managing the front desk, but were active in the defense of the hotel (and its patrons) and even provided for things like “rescue services”. The show makes no bones about the clientele being “inhuman”, but also strongly humanizes each and every story or arc. It’s almost a Slice-of-Life from the perspective of the concierges, but is too action-oriented to really qualify as that
Secrets of the Silent Witch – “Bocchi the Witch“, basically.
On Hold
Sakamoto Days, Season 2 – Just got too overloaded / -whelmed with other stuff. It’s on my list and I’ll get to it … eventually.
Music!!!
Clevatess: (opening), “Ruler”, by Mayu Maeshima.
Detectives These Days Are Crazy!: (opening), “Suffer”, by Taiiku Okazaki.
Kaiju No. 8, Season 2: (opening), “You Can’t Run From Yourself”, by Aurora.
Private Tutor to the Duke’s Daughter: (opening), “Wish for You”, by Ami Maeshima.
The Clear Winners
Rather than trying to call out the shows I think are absolutely outstanding in each description, here’s a quick list. Think of these as the “If you can only watch a few, go for these!” list. I won’t get into the details on the whys for each one (beyond what I described above), but these are the ones definitely worth checking out. List is purely alphabetical.
- Cultural Exchange with a Game Centre Girl
- Summer Pockets
- With You and the Rain
Tied For Second
And, if you have a bit more time beyond just those few, here’s others I think are definitely worth having on your own watchlist
- Detectives These Days Are Crazy!
- Ruri Rocks
