Endmaker

I watched quite a bit of anime last week so it’s back to longer (but hopefully not too incoherent) ramblings.

Currently Airing

Picked up 3 anime that are airing right now:

Chainsmoker Cat felt more depressing than funny at times. Addiction is no joke. But the slapstick humour hits perfectly for me.

Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You is yet another vanilla romance. I hope the writing is good because so far it hasn’t done much to differentiate itself from all the other vanilla romance stories.

Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia is basically Vinland Saga v2, so I know right away that it’s going to be peak.

With these latest additions, I am now following all seasonal anime with average rating of 80% or higher. I may be missing out on some sub-80% rating anime. Any seasonal recommendations based on my taste? anilist.co/user/Endmaker/animelist

Past Seasons

I am working my way through Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation now, and have just completed the first season / part. I should be caught up to the latest season before long.

I can see why this is a controversial anime with the icky bits. Personally, this is nothingburger to me, considering some of my previous watches.

I just find it a pity that people avoid this anime because of the controversial elements. They are missing out on the story, world-building, writing, etc which are honestly solid.

Yes, the protagonist is problematic, but

1. it’s not like they are glorifying it. They made it quite clear that his behaviour is unacceptable (And the protagonist is aware of that too!)
2. these flaws are what makes the character so fascinating. It’s much more engaging to have a flawed character grow over the course of the story as compared to a perfect character who never change.

To elaborate on the second point, when I think of isekai (Konosuba, Cautious Hero, Re:Zero) Jobless Reincarnation feels more like “vanilla” isekai. But it never once felt like wish fulfillment unlike the seasonal isekai slop.

In the extreme case of isekai slop, the loser protagonist would externalise their faults, blaming everyone and everything but themselves. They were just dealt a bad hand at life. So what do they need to overcome their hardship? A unique cheat just for them! It’s like striking the lottery - completely unearned. The anime would then degenerate into a power fantasy for similar-minded losers to indulge in. There’s no character growth at all!

Jobless Reincarnation is not like this. I have seen so much development through flashbacks, internal monologue and dialogue - and that’s just the first cour of season 1! I see no reason for them to buck this trend, so I’m confident that the protagonist would grow even more.

Anyway, I enjoy it a lot, and looking forward to participating in the episode discussions.

P.S. I’m unsure how best to categorise this anime. Peak drama? Peak politics? I don’t see enough of either at the moment.

P.P.S. I bet half of the village’s kids are Paul’s.

gateways to other literature

Why not just recommend books to them directly?

Tanya from Saga of Tanya the Evil deserves a nomination.

Let me know if I’m using the labels incorrectly, but this is a textbook example of how libertarians end up aligning with fascists.

Singles on Valentines day be like:

Hahari looking at her right hand with heart eyes

@rikka@ani.social

Just start dating already!

nice meeting ya

I love Viola as a character.

It may be cheap drama, but what she brought to the table is still entertainment. I enjoyed it 😈

Ryuuji from Toradora. This is in fact mentioned in the synopsis!

Ryuuji Takasu is a gentle high school student with a love for housework; but in contrast to his kind nature, he has an intimidating face that often gets him labeled as a delinquent.

It’s a fun first episode, but looks like there’s only one joke. I hope it won’t get stale.

I know it’s rather early, but I believe I’ve found my favourite action anime of the season. The aerial combat scenes are sick.

Meta: are there any history buff among us? I wonder how historically accurate the events of this episode are. Is there a real world counterpart to the “encirclement”?

I’ve just picked up BanG Dream! YUME∞MITA. It’s CGDCT but the comedy is hitting for me, especially in the latest episode. Also, the story so far reminds me of Ave Mujica, which I enjoyed. I foresee myself watching it to the end.

This summer anime season is peak.

So meta 😂

Aren’t they supposed to be quadrapeds?

The Winds and Waves starters better not stand up 😤

Meta: @rikka@ani.social appears to be creating two posts per episode for a number of anime this season.

Could this be a bug? Or someone requesting for a thread even though one has already been created?

Peak production value. I love the attention to detail (e.g. when Momiji attacked the mic) and anime-original 4th-wall breaks.

Banner nomination:

Loli cheeks

@rikka@ani.social

'Tis Time for Torture, Princess is peak anime_irl material (e.g. anime_irl post)

Your post sounds like something that one of them would say

Adding nothing substantial to the convo but:

This sounds like the rant of some character from 'Tis Time for Torture, Princess 😆

As much as I love Mr. Giraffe, I love Mr. Elephant even more

The dark horse / anime of the season for me is My Ribdiculous Reincarnation.

Not gonna lie, my expectations were tempered due to My Deer Friend Nokotan. I was half expecting it to catch some initial attention by being quirky, then fall off by having one-note comedy / plot.

Thankfully, even if a particular reincarnation episode didn’t hit the spot, its creative use of media still managed to keep things interesting.

One thing that surprised me positively is the plot. There is actually an overarching plot, so it’s not just episodic nonsense.

And speaking of plot, there’s one particular episode that stood out in terms of story / story-telling. Fellow viewers should know which one I’m talking about: the curry plate one.

All these factors led to it exceeding my expectations, making it my AOTS.

K-On!

It’s been a while since I last watch it; I should do a rewatch…

watched the main season of SAO

liked the 2nd season but it’s Gun-Gale

That’s good enough IMO. As long as you can recognise some of the returning characters, and not be too lost, you’re good to go!

Also, I should have elaborated in the original comment:

Here are some that others haven’t mention:

• Vinland Saga
• Attack on Titan
• Release that Witch
• Sword Art Online: Alicization (you may have to watch the prequels for context though)

Among those mentioned so far, I can second:

• Gundam
• Violet Evergarden

One more update: I got too impatient waiting for its anime adaptation, so I picked up Uma Musume - Pretty Derby: Star Blossom. I ended up binging it because I simply can’t put it down.

That one’s so good!

Some scenes actually gave me chills and made my hair stood on end. It’s just so peak. I foresee it being just as amazing as the Cinderella Gray anime once it gets adapted.

Hot take, probably:

Plenty of anime for me to follow next season!

Sequels

• Grand Blue S3
• 100 Girlfriends S3
• Polar Opposites S2
• Saga of Tanya the Evil S2

Familiar With Source Material

• Kamui, the One Standing Behind You - I don’t think this is for everyone (read: prudes) but I found it funny.

Interesting Premise

• My Stepmother and Stepsisters Aren’t Wicked - A Cinderella parody? Now that’s sufficiently unique! (in the realm of anime, that is)

Thanks to the announcement of its anime adaptation, I checked out The Laid-Off Cheat-Granting Mage.

It started off like any other exiled-from-party, power-fantasy / revenge slop, but in just a few chapters it degenerated into a wacky comedy.

This may not be the most accurate comparison since it isn’t really a parody, but I was reminded of Konosuba and Isegure.

In other words, it is not like the typical exiled-from-party slop. I enjoyed it quite a bit, and would check the anime out when it’s released.

What is a “prep”?