(If you like what you see, you can go to camseyeview.biz to see more of my work on video game reviews, editorials, lists, Kickstarters, developer interviews, and review/talk about animated films. If you appreciate what I do, consider contributing to my Patreon at patreon.com/camseyeview. It would help support my work, and keep the website up. Thanks for checking out my work, and I hope you enjoy this editorial!)
Fall 2023 gave us yet another giant batch of anime that essentially totaled 60 or so titles that do show a sign of both how amazing and varied the world of anime can be, and how much we don’t need 60 shows to fill out the next three months, especially with all of the terrible working conditions and studios and committees picking up everything and anything to adapt when it’s not necessary. We are seeing slow improvement in anime production, but until then, we will have to deal with the onslaught of shows that vary in the quality department. Even with all of that going on though, Fall 2023 provided some incredible returning and new shows. Probably some of this year’s very best and that’s not counting the incredible series Netflix put out in these last few months alone. Let’s get started.
By the way, I had to break this down into two parts because this would have been an eight-page long editorial and I wanted to make this more approachable. Enjoy!
Overall Impressions: Before we get down to the nitty-gritty of the action/adventure genre, can we please stop making Battle Royales? At least isekais, an already bloated anime genre, is trying to do something different, but Battle Royales? They might have some different setup or something that is at least a tiny bit different than the others, but the story keeps being the same thing over and over again. Kamierabi GOD.app doesn’t do anything different, outside of it being in CGI that isn’t all that stellar to begin with, and the designs from the same individual behind Soul Eater and Fire Force didn’t translate well to this cheap CGI. Otherwise, with the action category, outside of Under Ninja, you have some pretty solid shows. Under Ninja is a weird absurd dry comedy about ninjas living in the real world in plain sight, but the dry comedy and odd vibe made it hard for me to gel with. It’s a show where you either are on its wavelength or you are not, and that seems like such an obvious thing for any show, but Under Ninja is that one show where you will absolutely love it or deeply despise its tone. Shy, which is a show about a world where superheroes from around the world exist, is less about the dynamic action set pieces that could lead to spectacle, and more about the human side of superhero work, the trauma, guilt, and behind-the-scenes work of this world. Not that it won’t have its big action beats, but the fact it focuses on character growth and story over trying to be something akin to My Hero Academia or other superhero shows out there is a refreshing change of pace. Undead Unluck doesn’t start with the best foot forward. That’s due to how much of the humor revolves around our chaotic undead lead who has a lot of the more zany jokes about feeling up our other lead, due to her powers of unluck coming to those she has physical contact with. When it gets past that rough patch of comedy, we have another action show that has a creative power system, extravagant action, and the characters start to mellow out and become very likable. With all that said, Bullbuster is my favorite of the action shows this season. It’s because it reminds me so much of one of my earliest anime favorites, Daiguard. A team of folks who turn giant machines that are more for construction work into monster-fighting machines while also doing the bureaucratic paperwork of it all is also a sight for sore eyes, as we are getting a slew of mech shows that are doing a good job at capturing the fun and creativity that comes with the mech genre.
Fantasy/Isekai
Anime viewed in this category:
A Playthrough of a Certain Dude’s VRMMO Life (Crunchyroll), Butareba (Crunchyroll), The Kingdoms of Ruin (Crunchyroll), The Demon Sword Master of Excalibur Academy (HiDive), A Returner’s Magic Should Be Special (Crunchyroll), Berserk of Gluttony (Crunchyroll), I Shall Survive Using Potions (Crunchyroll), My Daughter Left the Nest and Returned as an S-Rank Adventurer (Crunchyroll), Ragna Crimson (HiDive), Shangri-La Frontier (Crunchyroll), Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End (Crunchyroll)
Overall Impressions: The fantasy genre should be one of the easiest things to get on a creative level. Alas, it stays consistently a genre that struggles to find fresh or at the very least, well-executed ideas. Not that this was a bad lineup, but the bad shows this season stood out in a way you don’t want to stand out. A Playthrough of a Certain Dude’s VRMMO Life seems to want to be both captivating and a slice-of-life series, but it constantly clashes with itself with wanting to be both, resulting in a boring slog that isn’t all that stellar to sit through since you have seen everything here done better. Butareba almost sets itself up to be distinct as an isekai, with our lead being reborn as a pig, but the lead is creepy and the romance and storytelling just don’t result in something particularly enjoyable to watch. Berserk of Gluttony has one little idea that seems kind of cool until the show reveals that it’s just every other edgelord fantasy where the entire show has to pretzel itself into making the lead the one decent person outside of the hot token girlfriend character who is flawless in every way. The Kingdoms of Ruin is bad in a way that’s frustrating to see unfold. It has a creative idea, but instead of going deeper into that, it’s used as a means to be as nihilistic, mean-spirited, and misogynistic as possible. The main character is an angry edge lord, but a lot of the mass violence happens to the women in the show. Sexual violence and just plain old violence happen, which makes for a miserable watch. It tried to pick itself back up by episodes four and five, but after a while, I just didn’t care. The first few episodes were mentally draining, and the story and fantasy sci-fi world wasn’t hooking me in with its worldbuilding and characters. At least I Shall Survive Using Potions streamlines the isekai storytelling, even though it moves at a rather fast pace that results in a world that doesn’t feel memorable. And then the small bits of meta-humor don’t cure the problem that the character can’t stand still for five minutes in one location before she shuffles off to another location. Isekai/fantasy authors need to start going back to the drawing board and remember that people read stories because of the characters. While My Daughter Left the Nest and Returned an S-Rank Adventurer doesn’t have the best animation or the writing and comedy drop the ball at times with them building up the reunion between father and adopted daughter, their chemistry was pretty good and it even did the end goal of the three episode rule of making me think “I don’t think it’s my favorite show of the season, but I want to see what happens next”. Ragna Crimson does a few of the typical edgelord fantasy and anime nonsense, like having a young teen girl be this strong dragonslayer and victim of hyper-violence, time travel stuff, and is set in a fantasy world that is cruel and unforgiving with dragons being the biggest threat in this story, but there was a part of me that enjoyed the dynamic between Ragna and Crimson, and the action was solid. It doesn’t quite beat the next two fantasy/isekai shows, but for fantasy shows that are trying too hard, it’s not that bad. Shangri La Frontier though, was a delightful surprise with an MMO setting fantasy world where our lead character is a bad game player, and decides to take all of the skills from those games into a new popular game. It helps that while our lead is strong, he isn’t one-hit KOing everything in sight. He’s strong, but not stronger than most good players in the game. The show captures an energy and spirit of gaming you can’t find in most anime with this setting. With all that said, the best anime of this category and the season is Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, which is a pure unapologetic fantasy anime that is essentially an epilogue where we follow the hero’s party after they defeat the demon lord. What unravels is some of the best writing, storytelling, themes, and characters of the year with an elf mage realizing how short life is for most of the people she considered close to her, and goes on a journey with a new party to make new connections. It also has the best first episode of the entire season and a production that didn’t suffer due to bad planning and overwork. You know, like the ones you hear about MAPPA. Either way, Frieren is a show that you pick to introduce people to anime, because it does everything that makes anime a fascinating experience in the world of animation.
(If you like what you see, you can go to camseyeview.biz to see more of my work on video game reviews, editorials, lists, Kickstarters, developer interviews, and review/talk about animated films. If you would like, consider contributing to my Patreon at patreon.com/camseyeview. It would help support my work, and keep the website up. Thanks for checking out my work, and I hope you like this editorial!)
Once again, we find ourselves in the realm of wondering what exactly is going on with the summer season anime. For the past few years that I have been covering anime, I try to look through as many new offerings as possible, and for some reason, the summer season is always the worst of the four seasonal anime drops. Maybe it’s a cultural thing where the anime that gets put out in summer is mostly filler to save room for the top-tier adaptations to come out in the fall, but it’s not like every summer season is full of nothing but bad anime. There are quite a few great new and returning shows that deliver what you want from those respective adaptations or franchises. Then, if that is the case, why make something for the sake of it? Why buy a bad license when it’s not good, just for the sake of something to craft for potential profit? Yeah, I wish we lived in a utopia where we only got adaptations of good properties and we could ban isekais that do nothing new, but we don’t. We live in a world with an industry that’s going to burn itself to the ground because they think we need 50 shows every three months, and anime fans can’t seem to accept the fact they do, in fact, not need more anime. Yes, Kyle, you don’t need 10 different mediocre power fantasies that do nothing interesting. Yes, Craig, you don’t need to have five different harem anime where the girls and the male lead are boring as tar with nothing interesting to them or their relationships. Maybe it’s time to stop pandering and making manga, light novels, and anime just for otaku. Maybe it’s time to just stop being so insular with how shows are crafted. Today, instead of doing a usual listing of impressions on individual shows, I am going to just do overall observations and summaries of the genre of each season with how it’s broken up into arbitrary categories.
Action/Adventure: Fun, but still vulnerable to mediocrity and bad production schedules.
Shows talked about in this category
Classroom for Heroes (Crunchyroll, Studio Actas)
Ayaka: A Story of Bonds and Wounds (Crunchyroll, Studio Blanc)
Reign of the Seven Spellblades (Crunchyroll, Studio J.C. Staff)
Zom 100 (Crunchyroll, Bug Films)
Summary: Shows like Zom 100 and Reign of the Seven Spellblades show the true potential of how and why anime got popular. Both offer creative worlds, like Reign of the Seven Spellblades offers a fantasy school that actually builds upon its politics and world building with fun action and likable characters. Zom 100 offers a breathtaking and exciting take on the zombie apocalypse while also feeling painfully human and real about one’s drive through life. Ayaka: A Story of Bonds and Wounds is an original anime, and that is always welcome no matter the end result, even if the end result is not stellar. There is, simply put, nothing all that grabbing about Ayaka. It has some solid monster designs and ideas, but by the third episode, I was ready to check out and not follow through with the characters. Classroom For Heroes feels like someone had an idea for a fantasy anime, but also wanted a school-like setting, a harem, a fanservice show, the quirkiness of something akin to Komi Can’t Communicate with our lead wanting to start school and make a lot of friends, but also wanted to have deep characters. It doesn’t work. The first two shows and the latter two shows are good ideas on how great anime can be, but also why anime can be seen as such a chore to get through when creatives don’t have time, or resources, or don’t put in the elbow grease to make compelling or interesting shows. Not every show can be a 10/10 since that isn’t realistic, but with so many shows to choose from every season, you have to really hit it out of the park.
Best Shows of the category: Zom 100 and Reign of the Seven Spellblades.
Romcom: More creatives need to have real relationships
The Shows in this category
The Girl I Like Forgot Her Glasses (Crunchyroll, Studio GoHands)
The Dreaming Boy is a Realist (HiDive, Studio Gokumi & Studio AXsiZ)
My Tiny Senpai (Crunchyroll, Project No. 9)
TenPuru: No One Can Live on Loneliness (Crunchyroll, Studio Gekko)
Saint Cecilia and Pastor Lawrence (Crunchyroll, Doga Kobo)
My Happy Marriage (Netflix, Studio Kinema Citrus)
Summary: Listen, I know you have to suspend your belief with a lot of anime and how they are written and crafted. I get that. There’s always going to be a ceiling you hit where that suspension of belief leaves your body and you find yourself not able to buy anything from some of these romances. For example, how inept and forgetful can someone be with our lead from The Girl I Like Forget Her Glasses? Not only are the leaps in logic impossible to ignore due to the bad writing, but you have such contrived scenarios like The Dreaming Boy is a Realist where the boy lead stops harassing/stalking the girl he is crushing on, and that is looked at as a bad thing. So many of these shows don’t treat their characters as believable or real individuals, but rather as items that are a means to an end. With rough writing that results in characters who don’t act like humans, you then have to deal with stuff like My Tiny Senpai that combines what feels like the appeal of both My Senpai is Annoying and Uzaki Chan, but with none of the charm of either show. It was a real bore to sit through everything you don’t like about romcoms/slice-of-life. While TenPuru is definitely more fanservicey than a “will they won’t they” romance. At least it has some spectacular comedic animation that goes at a full 10/10 speed with its humor and antics. It is not apologizing for being a raunchy romcom. It’s funny, since it has the same director of The Dreaming Boy is a Realist, and the latter show is stiff, lifeless, and bland in everything from the writing, acting, and animation. The only real downside with TenPuru is once it goes a full 10 non-stop, then it has nowhere else to go, so you better be there for the ride or else it’s gonna get rough. Saint Cecilia and Pastor Lawrence was a show I was curious about due to it having the same director and studio behind Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle, which has some of the same comedic sensibilities as the director’s previous show. When it only has one joke though and doesn’t quite run as far as it can with it, it’s a shame since you think there could be some potential with a romcom based around religion and characters with occupations with said religion, but it’s more focused on being silly and cute than creative. Yeah, we don’t need just cute. My Happy Marriage was a real surprise, because not only was it a weekly-released Netflix series with a dub at the ready, but how it was able to mix different tones, genres, and all with one of the best romances this season and some of the best animation this season as well. Who knew a compelling romance could be made with two compelling characters and a premise that weaves mystery and intrigue while also having all the things you love about romance shows. Making characters just goals and items results in shows that are cynically produced and forgotten.
Best show of this category: My Happy Marriage
Fantasy/Isekai: A genre of barely half-baked ideas that clog up the seasonal drops
Shows talked about in this category
Sweet Reincarnation (Crunchyroll, Studio SynergySP & Studio Comet)
My Unique Skill Makes Me Op Even at Lvl 1 (Crunchyroll, Studio Maho Films)
Am I Actually the Strongest? (Crunchyroll, Staple Entertainment)
Level 1 Demon Lord and One Room Hero (HiDive, Studio Silver Link and Blade)
The Great Cleric (Crunchyroll, Studio Yokohama Animation Laboratory, and Cloud Hearts)
The Most Heretical Last Boss Queen: From Villainous to Savior (HiDive, Studio OLM)
Helck (HiDive, Studio Satelight)
Reborn as a Vending Machine, Now I Wander the Dungeon (Crunchyroll, Studio Gokumi and AXziZ)
Summary: We really need to put some kind of rule or penalty system into this genre. I get the appeal of wanting to make an escapist fantasy where you get everything you could ever want, but it’s becoming harder and harder to take these shows seriously when they all do the same thing in both setup and overall lack of creative execution. They are bankrupt in terms of ever-expanding the base idea of their stories, and that’s a shame because some of the shows this season had a core idea that could have resulted in some rather interesting shows. My Skill is OP Even at Level 1’s whole setting is about a fantasy world town’s whole economy is based on the loot drops that are in a nearby dungeon. Am I the Strongest’s lead is actually abandoned in a forest and must try to survive. The Great Cleric’s story has a story beat that’s all about the corrupt and mismanaged healing magic users and health system used in the setting. Sweet Reincarnation is about a chef who makes sweets and baked desserts, and gets sent to another world after one of his sugar statues crushes him. These all have potential to be compelling and complicated shows, but they just bail the moment they hit the fantasy world, or are bogged down by technical issues and bad storytelling. The Great Cleric is bogged down by bad storytelling and terrible animation. Sweet Reincarnation could have been Candy Land the isekai and had candy and sweets-based magic or world-building, but it is basically an intensely mediocre fantasy show where the lead sometimes makes sweets. The lead in My Skill is OP just ends up living with a very young girl, and encounters a powerful bunny girl who both loses their entire agency and character to be with this bland lead. The lead also gets a gun, an item that is why he is in the fantasy world in the first place, and it doesn’t trigger any trauma or interesting story beats to be using the weapon that killed him. Am I Actually the Strongest just gets creepy, weird, and for some reason, introduces streaming anime into a fantasy world. The Great Heretical Last Boss Queen could have had an interesting story, but this subgenre of isekai has been run into the ground of the lead reincarnating as the villainess from their favorite visual novel story. Why should I care about another one of these when it’s doing nothing interesting? Level 1 Demon Lord and One Room Hero has a more interesting premise than most with the demon lord reincarnating as this genderfluid entity that helps our hero gain back his glory after years of controversies, but it’s mostly a comedy with a mix of physical humor and sex jokes. Not that in of itself is a bad thing, but it’s more of a case of you need to vibe on its wavelength or else you might find it intolerable. The only two shows that actually do something different are Helck and Reborn as a Vending Machine. Helck is about a supposed human hero who defeated the demon lord, who now wants to work with the demons that combines action, mystery, and comedy into a wonderful mix, and Reborn as a Vending Machine is simply put, the most unique isekai this year, because it does something absolutely different with our lead being a vending machine that can’t move or do anything outside of support and offer stuff from snacks, drinks, food items, condoms, and so on. It actually went the distance to make its premise fun, and it not only has a nice balance of comedy and character interactions that is aware of its setting and runs with it. It’s not hard to be creative or take some time to flesh everything else out, but when you don’t do that, you are just making content and not art.
The Best Shows of this Category: Helck and Reborn as a Vending Machine.
Other: Series that show anime’s potential and flaws all at the same time
Liar Liar (Crunchyroll, Geek Toys)
The Masterful Cat is Depressed Again Today (Crunchyroll, Studio GoHands)
The Gene of AI (Crunchyroll, Studio Madhouse)
Synduality Noir (Hulu/Disney+, Studio 8-Bit)
Dark Gathering (HiDive, Studio OLM)
Undead Girl Murder Farce (Crunchyroll, Lapin Track)
Summary: When you have to clump in a ton of shows that don’t match any certain genre, you get to see the highs and lows, and where anime as a whole can be seen as a truly creative world and why people love the medium of animation from Japan. Liar Liar is the one show in this category that I would consider downright bad due to how overly complicated it sets up its world of elite classes of students who all live or die (metaphorically not literally) on a star ranking system and have to compete in games with one another. By the end of the third episode, I just found myself confused, angry, and ready to give up due to the bad writing and terrible characters. Now, The Masterful Cat is Depressed Today, while still a studio GoHands-produced anime, is simply put, the best show they have made. The story of a clumsy office worker with a giant human-sized cat that does cooking, cleaning, and everything in-between is a show with a lot of charm and appeal, but it is bogged down by the fact the human is a touch too pathetic and incapable of doing anything. If they dialed back on that a little, the show would be a real-deal hidden gem. Gene of AI’s biggest sin is that it has some pretty lousy animation that doesn’t fully undercut its complex hard sci-fi commentary about humans and robots, but it does hurt it, which is a bummer because it’s one of the better-written shows of the season. Synduality Noir is definitely a multi-media in a lot of very obvious ways, but when you have a writer like Hajime Kamoshida, who wrote the acclaimed Rascal Does Not Dream anime adaptation, then you end up with a show that takes place in the post-apocalypse, where everyone pilots mechs have a much-needed shot of identity and personality that most multimedia projects severely lack. The CGI is also handled extremely well and doesn’t take away from the solid action and lovable character designs. The last two though, Dark Gathering and Undead Girl Murder Farce are such a breath of fresh air for a season that is overall full of half-realized shows. Both are horror anime that are full of eerie and macabre atmospheres and worlds, with Dark Gathering having a young adult and kid teaming up to capture spirits and Undead Girl Murder Farce being someone’s idea of making a murder mystery show that had all of your favorite horror authors worlds wrapped up into one package. Both shows have wonderful animation and are actually scary for horror anime, which is always a tough task to complete. It’s nice to have two shows that have the trifecta of good story, good writing, and good characters that make for anime that is a ghostly delight to watch.
The Best Shows of this Category: Undead Girl Murder Farce, Dark Gathering, Synduality Noir
And that is it for the impressions of the overall summer 2023 anime season. It’s a challenge to sit through most seasons of anime to take notes and make observations, and while I have many complaints about how the anime industry is run and how it’s getting itself ready to collapse in on itself, it’s still a bastion of art and creativity that you can’t find anywhere else.
(If you like what you see, you can go to camseyeview.biz to see more of my work on video game reviews, editorials, lists, Kickstarters, developer interviews, and review/talk about animated films. If you would like, consider contributing to my Patreon at patreon.com/camseyeview. It would help support my work, and keep the website up. Thanks for checking out my work, and I hope you like this editorial!)
Well, it’s time to talk about the Winter Anime Season…again. Honestly, Winter 2023 is kind of a mix of both Winter 2021 and Winter 2022 in terms of quality. There are a lot of really solid titles mixed with a ton of mediocre and trashy anime. It would be more shocking if there were more good, or more worrying if many of them were mediocre. Since I don’t make these until I’ve seen every anime up to at least three episodes or more, it lets me find time to really break down what to take away from them. You really can’t tell if the first episode will be stellar or not. It’s just whether it’s a good first impression or not. Sure, some are going to be just good from the get-go, but that isn’t always the case. A good opening hook can only go so far. Now then, let’s get started.
COMEDY/ROMANCE
Onimai: I’m Now Your Sister (Crunchyroll)
Content Warning: Lolicon and underaged fanservice
Listen, it’s okay to not adapt certain stories to anime. Especially when it’s from a studio with obvious talent in its animation department. This is based on the manga by Nekotofu. It’s directed by Shingo Fujii, written by Michiko Yotoke, and produced at Studio Bind. Even with all of the faults of this studio’s other show, Jobless Reincarnation, I can at least see why people like that show. It also doesn’t hurt that Studio Bind has some amazing animators and a production pipeline to make it that way. So, why on earth would they pick a project like this when it’s such underage creepy nonsense? Yeah, it’s basically a slice-of-life comedy lolicon show, and if it was just about a brother and sister reconnecting as siblings, then that would be stellar. You can make shows about people reconnecting, but when the brother in this show is forced against his will to be turned into a middle school-aged girl by his intelligent sister, then the problems only start building up from there. You can see when the show is trying to be sweet and sentimental, but when it has to clash with the fanservice and how a lot of the fanservice is drawn to teenagers looking as lewd as possible, I hate it. I can see where more of the positive reviews are coming from, and I disagree with a lot of them, but I can safely say this one isn’t for me. The show just isn’t good, and hopefully, one day, Studio Bind will make something that won’t make you feel like jumping out of your skin or force you to sit through terrible nonsense to get to the few scraps of good story beats.
The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten (Crunchyroll)
You know, romance doesn’t have to be boring. You wonder if the original author or the people working on the anime knew that or not. This is based on the light novel series by Saeikisan. The anime is directed by Lihua Wang, written by Keiichiro Ochi, and produced by Project No. 9. This show is just nothing. It’s harmless nothing, but it’s just nothing. I get there is supposed to be a budding romance between our two leads who happen to live next to one another and such, but with its flat and soulless animation, and the fact the build-up to whether they will get together or not is not handled well, it makes for a really dull sit. If there is a lo-fi anime romcom this season people are gonna watch, it won’t be this one. There are two that are worth watching more than this one.
Tomo Chan IS a Girl (Crunchyroll)
It feels good to be more positive from this point on with this category. This is based on the popular manga by Fumita Yanagida. The anime is adapted by Hitoshi Nanba, written by Megumi Shimizu, and produced by Lay-Duce. While on the surface, it’s another ‘boy and girl can’t find the right way to confess to one another’ story, it helps that they go a different direction for the characters. It is annoying that the show sometimes wants to tell a tomboy to be more feminine when the problem isn’t’ that she’s too “masculine”,but it’s also the fact the two don’t have the proper brain cells and social interactive skills to actually know how to confess to one another. Doesn’t help either that the secondary cast members that get thrown into the equation cause chaos with their silly antics for the two love birds. I do wish the animation was better to make the comedy hit harder, but it looks fine, and I can see why people adore this one. I just don’t think I vibe with it as much as others do, and I feel badly about that. Oh well, not everyone is going to like every popular show and popular movie, and that’s alright. Just don’t be malicious about it. Anyway, Tomo Chan IS a Girl is adorable goofy fun with some clunky animation.
Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible (HiDive)
This is a very cute and silly show. It is based on the manga by Nene Yukimori. The anime adaptation is directed by Kazuomi Koga, written by Yuya Takahashi, and produced by Pine Jam. Alongside Pine Jam’s great expressive animation that they obviously carried over from their work on Do It Yourself, the manga’s simplistic, but emotive art style brings life to another show that may or may not be aping off of the Komi Can’t Communicate bandwagon. Recently, we have been getting many creative ways to tackle social anxiety and feeling invisible in a world where all we do is socialize. It helps here that our two leads are the cutest together anytime they are on screen, which is all of the time. They do enough with the premise to make every sequence refreshing and full of laughs. The chemistry is delightful, and while the romance isn’t fully convincing, if you are looking for a solid cute time, then give this one a watch.
The Ice Guy and His Cool Female Colleague (Crunchyroll)
It shouldn’t feel so refreshing that an anime has young adult leads for the show to focus on, but we are in that situation here. This is based on the manga by Miyuki Tonogawa. It was directed by Mankyu, written by Tomoko Konparu, and produced by Zero-G and Liber. Once again, it feels refreshing that we have a workplace drama/romcom with a fantastical twist to how certain workers are descendants of mystical beings, and how they weave in those parts are not so upfront, and can be used in very literal and metaphorical ways. It’s really sweet and how it gets creative with said mystical powers show off different sides of our male lead. Luckily, the other characters are just as fun and likable to be around. The only downside is I don’t find the romance all that compelling, but I do like their chemistry. With a very low-key atmosphere and a lo-fi bop of an opening, there is a lot to enjoy and find appealing with this show.
Endo and Kobayashi Live: The Latest on Tsundere Villainess Lieselotte (HiDive)
It’s always refreshing when you get a truly distinct and original take on a certain type of anime series that, no matter any of the faults, you commend it for actually doing something different. This is based on the novels by Suzu Enoshima. The anime is directed by Fumihiro Yoshimura, written by Tomoko Konparu, and produced by Tezuka Productions. So, what do you get when you take a typical Otome game setting, but combine it with elements of Let’s Plays and God simulation games? This is that anime. It’s amazing that I have yet to see something this creative and how it not only has great jokes, great characters, and a banger premise, but it also pulls back from the premise to let the characters grow. You care about both the human players and the in-game characters. This was just a really pleasant surprise and I’m all for creatives tackling and taking different spins at anime that could really use a shot in the arm.
ACTION
The Ice Blade Sorcerer Shall Rule the World (Crunchyroll)
Anime is just getting worse and worse in some regards with shows like this. This is based on the novel series by Nana Mikoshiba. It’s directed and written by Masahiro Takata and produced by Cloud Hearts and Yokohama Animation Laboratory. Maybe if the anime/manga/light novel industry wasn’t so hellbent on pushing everything out at a record pace for maximum profit, maybe, just maybe, we could get shows that are more interesting than this generic hodgepodge of fantasy action elements. You’ve got the school setting, you’ve got the quirky clubs and side characters, you’ve got the power fantasy, you’ve got a basic mystery plot of who our lead actually is and who the big threats might be. All it needed to do was actually either commit to something or stop trying to appeal to every single anime-goer, because when you try to appeal to everyone, then you appeal to no one. It takes a darn good team and creative to come up with something that hits all the right notes for everyone, and sadly, this sure isn’t it. I like some aspects of the show, but due to its lackluster production/visuals, some uncomfortable baiting of multiple types, and no real identity to call its own, this fantasy action show feels like an isekai, but without the isekai aspect, and without the progress of making something compelling. Also, don’t undercut the female characters you are trying to make viewers care about by making them look like lingerie models during the end credits. Makes ya wonder if they see the female characters as characters and not objects.
Spy Classroom (HiDive)
Well, at least there is something that could have been with this show. This is based on the novels by Takemachi. It’s directed by Keiichiro Kawaguchi, written by Shinichi Inotsume, and produced by Feel. We have a few anime this season that are all about a group of underdog characters who need to prove themselves, and in this case, a bunch of spy academy rejects who team up with a shady leader who trains them to be the best spies they can be. It has the spy espionage post-WW1 setting going for it, but that’s about it. Didn’t really find myself gravitating towards the story or the characters by episode three, and the plot for the first three episodes feels stretched out. There wasn’t much there, and they needed to pad out three episodes. Not that there weren’t any scenes of growth for the characters, but the characters are forgettable and that’s not a good thing due to how many there are of them. They also look more like characters you should see as anime statues than anything else. The decent action and some mystery about the world don’t really keep me wanting to come back for every new episode. Those are the breaks at times. Just wasn’t my cup of tea.
Ayakashi Triangle (Crunchyroll)
Talk about a tonal and messy situation of trying to make this premise work. This is based on the manga by Kentaro Yabuki of Black Cat and To Love Ru (which he illustrated) fame. It’s directed by Noriaki Akitaya, written by Shogo Yasukawa, and produced by Connect. Listen, it’s ambitious and admirable that a property would love to tackle gender identity with its premises. Gender swap and identity stories are commonplace in anime. It’s not like this is breaking any new taboos or boundaries. It can work and it has happened before. Too bad it’s trying to be a million things at once. It wants to be a shonen action show, it wants to be a yuri bait show, it wants to be an ecchi fanservice show, it wants to be a comedy, it wants to tackle romance through the gender spectrum, and it wants to do all of this at once when it’s not really good at being any of it. It’s too serious to be funny, too comedy driven to be serious, too horny to be low-key, and the romance angle is shot by the fact the show wants to tackle the two lead’s romance, but also be arousing to the viewer. It’s at least trying to be more than it is, but there are simply too many gender-bent anime out there to spend time on one that is not interested in being truly great, or at least great in the non-fanservice department. You can obviously tell where the budget went into this show despite having a slightly higher-than-usual polished look. Who knows what will happen to the show, since it’s one of the few anime this season getting delayed due to the lingering pandemic. Maybe it will get better, but from the four episodes that are out, it hasn’t been impressive.
The Reincarnation of the Strongest Exorcist in Another World (Crunchyroll)
Can anime actually commit to the bit for once? A lot of anime these days seem unable to commit to the bit. Anyway, this mediocre isekai is based on the novels by Kiichi Kosuzu. The show is directed by Nobuyoshi Nagayama & Ryosuke Shibuya, written by Touko Machida, and produced by Studio Blanc. The one major hook the show has going for it to try and be more interesting than other isekai power fantasies, is how our lead is reborn not just from a different life, but a different region from his home in Japan’s past to a more European location. It results in him having an entirely different magic system that he uses from the rest of the world in which he has been reborn. It should have led to some pretty interesting world-building moments and political intrigue from everyone else in this show’s universe about how this one kid can wield powerful magic, but somehow not be born with the power. Sadly, it boils down to every power fantasy. The lead is stronger than everyone else, some characters hate him in a deeply absurd way, and the lead makes two female friends be the forearm candy to the lead. After watching so many anime buck the natural trend of most power fantasy isekai, you think that would mean everyone else would try harder, and who knows, this could be a bad translation of the source material. It sure as heck feels like it’s rushing to get to certain story beats faster. Anime fans tend to take what they can get even when better stuff is already available to the viewer. Oh well. I liked the demon entities that the lead has in his control, but that’s about it.
Ningen Fushin: Adventurers Who Don’t Believe in Humanity Will Save the World (Crunchyroll)
I really hate when I feel like I’m going to like a show because of its premise, and then watch the said show and feel underwhelmed by it. This is based on the novels and manga by Shinta Fuji. The series is adapted to animated form by director and writer Itsuki Imazaki and is produced by Geek Toys and Seven. There is a real solid idea of a bunch of adventurers who were rejected by the masses forming their own party to go on adventures and save the land. Heck, there are even comedy versions of this idea with anime like Konosuba. Where this show lacks though is in the execution department. The reasons why these adventurers got rejected by society are absurd and petty, ranging from people not liking the mage for being stronger, an adventuring party thinking they didn’t need their rogue, and one badly handled case of being falsely accused of being a pest. Yeah, this anime wants you to feel for these underdogs, and you as a viewer definitely want to see them grow through the ranks and show the world they weren’t disposable beings, but the way it all unfolds is clunky at best. The dragon girl is probably the best character, which is a shame since she isn’t the lead. They also do that thing where it’s not fully a fantasy world and have things like idols, but then they don’t modernize any other element of the world around them. It’s aggravating since you can see the idea there, and like usual, it could be a bad adaptation, but the anime doesn’t really make me want to buy the manga. I might watch a bit more to see the introduction of another character, but it won’t be high on my priority.
Reborn to Master the Blade: From Hero-King to Extraordinary Squire (Crunchyroll)
Sometimes, being simply well-made and executing its premise enough with some solid action is all that you need with your isekais to be tolerable and entertaining. This is based on the novel series by Hayaken. The anime is produced by Studio Comet, written by Mitsutaka Hirota, and directed by Naoyuki Kuzuya. What it lacks in polished animation, wanting to fast forward through so much of the story’s plot to get to the leads being older, and trying to horn up the female leads to a very distracting degree that almost cripples the entire show, it does execute its premise better than most isekais. It has solid if clunky political thriller aspects. The story of a king being reincarnated to follow his past goals of becoming a knight are a good-enough twist on the formula, the characters are fairly likable, and the action is obviously where the money was spent the most. If it just didn’t have so much anime nonsense under its belt, it would probably be one of my favorites, but due to how many other isekai or isekai adjacent animate are out this season and do its premise better, it falls short, but it wouldn’t be the worst show to come back to after the three episode rule.
Giant Beast of Ars (HiDive)
This feels like an anime that’s based on a RPG, but without the terrible production issues of being based on a video game that usually plagues these series. It’s an original anime that’s directed by Akira Oguro, written by Norimitsu Kaiho, and produced at Asahi Productions. While it has some similar elements like humanity fighting against giant beasts and creatures, the world they crafted in the span of three episodes is full of life, personality, and intrigue., That isn’t always a given with original anime, and the action is rock solid as well. It definitely gives you a hook and a reason to keep watching, and it shouldn’t feel refreshing that this show feels like a show and not a marketing tool, but it feels great to watch this and not feel the creeping hands of merchandising yet touch this one. Granted, it’s there, but it never pulls you out of the experience like most anime do.
Handyman Saitou in Another World (Crunchyroll)
Nothing quite like finding an isekai that is actually distinct and not really an isekai in the traditional sense. This quirk fantasy/isekai/comedy is based on the manga by Kazutomo Ichitomo. It’s directed by Toshiyuki Kubooka, written by Kenta Ihara, and produced by C2C. Honestly, I went into this show blind. The fun idea of a handyman getting sent to a fantasy world isn’t really an isekai. When you think of isekai, it usually boils down to boring mediocre power fantasies aimed at a male demographic, but here, it’s not really any of that. Saitou is basically a rogue/thief who just happens to have his tool kit with him, and the show isn’t really all that interested in telling a story. There is a plot and progression of character arcs and such, but it’s honestly more interested in gags and skits that take place in this fantasy world than telling a grand story. Of course, being a comedy, the comedy can be hit-and-miss, but when it hits, boy do the jokes land. The characters are fairly simplistic, but they have their own depth to them that makes them fun characters to follow. However, sometimes it feels like they had an idea for a joke and it either didn’t translate well or has some missing context to western viewers or just ends with no real punchline. It’s a creative show that’s more along the lines of Cromartie High School and Azumanga Daioh than your typical isekai fare, and I think that’s admirable, to say the least.
Trigun Stampede (Crunchyroll)
It’s amazing that people ever doubted this incredible studio with what they were going to craft with this new take on the franchise. This is based on the manga and classic anime by Yasuhiro Nightow. This new take is directed by Kenji Muto, written by Tasuro Inamoto, Shin Okashima, and Yoshihisa Ueda, and produced by the best CGI studio in the anime industry, Studio Orange. Yes, the original anime is a classic and should be watched by everyone, but it’s been almost three decades, and it’s okay for people to try a new take on the franchise, because unlike a lot of remakes or reboots of certain franchises, this one is actually good. First off, you get the amazing and perfect CGI animation by Studio Orange combined with the creative western/Mad Max world that the characters live in, and lovable characters. There are some aspects that I wish they didn’t change, but so far, unless this adaptation goes off the rails like the Promised Neverland adaptation, Trigun Stampede is one of the best anime of the Winter 2023 season. Also, the dub is killer with the return of Johnny Yong Bosch as the titular Vash. It’s a great show from beginning to end so far and I don’t care if the mystery from the original isn’t there.
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Average: Not the best, but not the worst, these anime are, simply put, okay, but have the potential to become great.
Our Last Crusade or the Rise of a New World (Funimation)
Impressions: It’s a pseudo-Romeo and Juliet-style romantic war story that’s based on a light novel and manga by Kei Sazane, directed by Shin Onuma and Mirai Minato, and animated by Silver Link. It’s set in a world where military personnel fight against powerful witches and wizards. It’s kind of a unique setting, but with designs we have seen before. Let’s just say that the comments I have seen comparing the leads to characters seen in Sword Art Online are not new. I think the chemistry between the two leads is cute, and the action is solid enough, but it all feels like something we have seen before and done better. At least by the third episode, the plot is kicking in.
Magatsu Wahrheit (Funimation)
Impressions: We have yet another anime based on a popular mobile game. It was developed by KLab. The anime itself was directed by Naoto Hosoda and produced by Yokohama Animation Laboratory. We have yet another steampunk/WW1-looking world with some fantastical elements. Unlike most anime that tend to look like this, the magic and world are more grounded, which is nice. It makes it feel more believable. However, it doesn’t stand out in most areas. It has decent action, a decent story, decent characters, and a somewhat cohesive world. I want to feel invested, but there isn’t much to be invested in that I couldn’t find in previous seasons or this season of anime.
The Day I Became a God (Funimation)
Impressions: Well, in terms of original anime series, this show directed by Yoshiyuki Asai and produced by P.A. Works has some supposed baggage that comes with this release. The story of a young girl claiming to be Odin befriending a normal boy who just happens to be named after a sun goddess is an interesting premise, to say the least. While I am finding the dynamics between the two leads grating, it at least has some comedy that is legit funny. Granted, the first two episodes get close to running their best jokes in the ground, and I’m kind of curious to know if this girl is just messing with the boy or not. Still, she can be pretty obnoxious, so your mileage may vary with this show. Oh, and since this is apparently by a director of some known projects that go awry, if that is your thing, then maybe stick around to see how this one unfolds.
Warlords of Sigdrifa (Funimation)
Impressions: So, we have a multi-media franchise entry with this one. It has two light novel series by Tappei Nagatsuki, two different manga by Kanari Abe and Takeshi Nogami, and this anime series directed by Hirotaka Tokuda, and animated by A-1 Pictures. It’s Evangelion mixed with Raiden, and for some reason, this world’s art direction isn’t working for me. Normally, I would be fine with old-fashioned customized fighter planes fighting angelic-looking monsters, but it’s not gelling with me. I think it’s mostly because of the cast. Outside of the whole debate of using teens as child soldiers, the designs clash with the overly serious aspect of the show. It also makes a terrible first impression with an hour-long first episode that drags out what seems like a single episode-level story. The animation is pretty great, but the dialogue isn’t all that memorable, and some of the dynamics between the characters feel a touch uncomfortable for me. There are some genuine solid moments of levity, but they are few and far between. It has the potential to maybe be one of 2020’s hidden gems, but it’s not gelling with me so far.
Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear (Funimation)
Impressions: This quirky isekai anime is based on a series of light novels and manga by Kumanano. The anime is directed by Hisashi Ishii and Yuu Nobuta. It was produced by EMT Square. Its one gimmick of a young 15-year-old getting zapped into an online VR MMO RPG with a special over-powered set of items is nothing all that new to the genre. Its cutesy art style is the only real thing that makes this show stand out. So far, it seems to have one real reoccurring gag with how strong the main character is, and it has gotten tired by the third episode. It is nice to get an anime in this genre with a female lead this time, but outside of that fun little addition, the fantasy world she inhabits is not all that interesting. There are some interesting aspects to her character, but they are her real-world self, and since she’s stuck in this fantasy world, we might not see them again. It’s a show that is struggling to keep me invested in its story, characters, and world.
DJ4D First Mix (Funimation, Crunchyroll, VRV, and HiDive)
Impressions: I feel badly for this anime that’s based on a multi-media project by Bushiroad, because it had to come out almost a month after Hypnosismic Division Rap Battle Royale, and I worry that viewers are going to constantly compare the two due to their focus on rap and pop music. Sure, they are different projects and are entirely different setting-wise, but you know how the internet tried to make a drama fight last year with Fire Force and Promare? The petty nature of fandoms will never die. Anyway, this anime is directed by Seiji Mizushima and was produced by Sanzigen. It’s a cute premise of a girl wanting to be a famed DJ, and the CGI animation used is pretty alright. It’s expressive and snappy, so that’s more interesting than what that Berserk reboot had going for it. The music is popping, but otherwise, the anime is generic overall. You know what’s going to happen by the base set-up of the anime and the opening. I could see it may be getting better as the show goes on, but it’s an okay first impression at best.
Hypnosismic Division Rap Battle (Funimation)
Impressions: This anime is based on a multi-media project by King Records, has a slew of manga written by Yuichiro Momose, a game developed by Idea Factory, and an anime series directed by Katsumi Ono, written by Shin Yoshida, and produced by A-1 Pictures. On one hand, this show’s premise of a world where weapons are abolished outside of specialized mics made for rappers is so dumb. I have no idea how this would work in real life. However, on the other hand, they commit to the silly premise, and you will laugh when you see someone rob a bank and hold a mic up to someone’s neck like it was a gun or knife. The rap battles are also fun, and it has even driven a lot of curiosity in the rap scene in Japan, which is pretty cool. The four rap groups the show follows are also distinct in their designs, personalities, and dynamics among one another.
On the other hand, this show is so flippantly sexist with how it treats female characters, that it also takes away all of the goodwill that the show commits to its goofy premise and sometimes decent comedy. There are barely any female characters worth caring about, and I’m so worried about how they are going to handle the fact that the government is run by a woman. I was okay with it being mildly sexist at first, but now I’m worried about how sexist it’s going to go. The show has also lost the plot. We are about halfway through the first season and there has been no battle royale or big rap event. The rap groups know of one another, but so far, the battles have all been one-sided. I’m hoping the rest of the season picks up the pace.
The Other Side of Animation 