ZOMBIE LAND SAGA
4/5
I've never been a fan of sports/profession anime... I guess idol anime falls into that category even though it's its own massive subcategory. The twist this series presented peaked my interest and it did not disappoint. SAGA follows 7 different girls that became zombies after passing away in various time periods. All of them save one was an established idol in their past life. Their mysterious and wacky manager Tatsumi Kōtarō bring them together to form a new idol group. How they became zombies and if Tatsumi had a hand it making it happen is never explained. None of that matters. The series follows the girls as they try to establish a fanbase while also trying to avoid having their skin color makeup wash off in public. The majority of the series dedicates an episode to each girl and their personal story. Surrounding that is great comedy, and outstanding character chemistry. Each member of the band is interesting and unique. The art work and animation is very well done. My only knock on the series is the subpar CGI work done to save money on the dance routines the girls do when performing. A lot of the girls have long detailed hairstyles and they become as hard as plastic when they move in CGI form. There is an episode which they actually animated the performance and it was outstanding. If you don't think you'd ever watch an idol anime, I encourage you to watch this one. Its really good.
SSSS.Gridman
4/5
This is a Trigger anime that actually starts out off the rails, so you never get that jarring sense of a coherent story that just goes into the deep end abruptly. Its a wild ride all the way through, and that's what makes it outstanding. The series follows Yuta Hibiki, a young boy who finds himself with amnesia, not remembering anything about himself, his past, or anything from the day before and beyond. He by chance comes across an old busted computer in his friend's/love interest's mother's thrift shop. The computer contains "gridman" an entity that gives Yuta the power to go full Jet Jaguar when Kaiju attack the city. The weird part is when the battle is over, the city goes back to normal the next day with all traces of damage from the battle gone. Sometimes people die, and they don't comeback when the city is restored. Only Yuta, and his two friends Rikka and Sho remember anything that happened and the people that are gone. Every episodes has a crazy Mecha vs Kaiju battle. These fights are animated in a very Gurren Lagann-esque style. As you get to know Yuta and the supporting cast, the mystery of what is happening in the city slowly unravels until the truth is revealed in the end. Its all crazy as hell and its just a good time overall. Its no Lagann, and its not as dark as FRANXX. Its it's own crazy trigger production and its worth every minute of your time. If Power Rangers and Ultraman had a child, and Lagaan was an uncle.... this is it right here.
Goblin Slayer
4/5
This anime started in a heavy storm of controversy. The first episode IS pretty brutal to watch for those jumping into anime for the first time and even veterans. Sadly in an age where western society jumps to conclusions off some beat writer with an agenda, there are many who will never even touch this show. Their loss. It's not like this is the first instance sexual assault in anime was used as a plot device. The series was really good IMO. It follows "Goblin Slayer" a young male who's extremely traumatic past sticks him in a mental state of bloodthirst for revenge against goblins. We never really know his real name, he's a loner that always wears a suit of armor. Goblins are the weakest class of enemies in this world, but they are often underestimated because of this, as in large groups they are extremely dangerous. As a young child GS' family was murdered and his town was pillaged by Goblins. So he spends his days making money as a low ranking adventurer only taking quests that deal with Goblins. As the story progresses, Goblin Slayer's character slightly and slowly evolves as he meets new adventurers that team up with him. The series is violent and bloody, but at the same time within the darkness, the supporting cast bring a sense of warmth to the story, which is what leads to Goblin Slayer slowly becoming.. well not such a loner. Get past the first ep, its rough, but it establishes Goblins as pure evil and why the main character does what he does. It's not glorying anything.
That Time I got Reincarnated as a Slime
5/5
The best way to describe this show is a vibrant, happy go lucky version of Overlord. In all seriousness though this show is so much fun. This is now my favorite isekai anime. The story starts with your average joe blow Satoru Mikami who is almost immediately stabbed by a robber and dies only to be reincarnated into an alternate world as lowly slime monster. Under his new identity Rimuru Tempest, he quickly becomes ultra OP by absorbing many extremely powerful entities. Along the way he gains many allies and forges alliances as he builds his own community with various monsters. This anime is full of lightheartedness and tenderness. The supporting cast is great, the story is great, and it has plenty of action and comedy. As a fan of mismatch absurdity I love demon lord Milim since shes a tiny girl that's 10x stronger than Rimuru. Her punches make a DBZ nuclear dome, and its just great as Rimuru balances scolding her for going overboard and keeping her happy. Shes probably my favorite character next to Souei who's just badass. While I did compare it to Overlord because Rimuru and his companions are super OP compared to most, unlike Overlord they aren't the strongest beings in the realm. As I just stated Rimuru isn't as powerful as most demon lords and even some cataclysm class monsters pose problems for him. So there is a sense of danger at times, but all the fighting and action is sorta secondary to Rimuru's goal to give all monsters a community where they can be safe. If you had to pick a single anime to watch from this group, I'd choose this one hands down.
My Roommate is a Cat
5/5
I'm not done with this series yet, but my god is it adorable. I don't own a cat, as I am semi allergic to them. But I have friends that have them, and I know all about all the cat tropes, stereotypes, and memes. This series lives off that, and executes it perfectly. The story starts with the funeral of Subaru Mikazuki's parents. Subaru is a socially awkward introvert who writes novels for a living. With his parents gone, hes left to live alone. At first his only human interactions are with his publishing manager and a childhood friend. This changed after one day when visiting his parent's grave site he comes across a stray cat and decides to take it in. From there the show slowly progresses Subaru's character as he learns what it means to take care of someone else. He's forced out of his comfort zone by having to interact with other people like a lovely pet store worker who happens to be a close neighbor and her older brother who loves his writing without knowing he's the author. Each episode follows a similar format with the first half being about Subaru's day from his perspective, and the other half from Haru that cat. This show juggles so many things at once so well because you really get into the story watching Subaru grow as a character but as you see Haru do things and act certain ways, you cant wait to get to the second arc of the ep to see what shes thinking and why shes doing what shes doing. There are many laughs and many feels as Subaru flashes back to memories of his parents and the regrets he struggles with. This show was made for cat lovers, but even if you don't love cats, I'd still highly recommend it.
Meiji Tokyo Renka
4/5
Can this season get any more adorable? Yes it can... we're not even close to done. This is another lighthearted series that follows Mei Ayazuki, a strange girl who grew up with a strong connection to the paranormal. Growing up, her friends were ghosts who she frequently communicated with until she realized it wasn't normal and people thought weird of her for it. She quickly became a loner that always wore headphones to drown out the calls of spirits she once befriended. By chance she runs into a magic show and a mysterious magician named Charlie sends her into the past at the start of the Japanese industrial revolution... or Meiji period. There she interacts with several historical figures in an innocent reverse harem I guess you'd call it? Although Ogai Mori is clearly the best boi from start to finish and no one else has a chance.. Mei quickly adapts to her new surroundings while forgetting about her life in the time she came from, but her memories slowly boomerang back. While this happens, her character develops from an unsure timid girl to a supportive and confident young lady as she helps her new found friends with paranormal conundrums. This anime is really charming, it has some light inspiration from Ghost Hunt and Mushi-Shi, but you really couldn't compare them as Renka is way more cutesy and not dark at all. Its more about Mei learning what it means to love and have friends... and even to become a proper Meiji era lady. If you're feeling some light romance and a solid story, this is a good one to check out.
ENDRO!
3/5
This is a moe adventure anime about a group 4 four girly heroes quest to take down the demon lord. Yuusha the wielder of the hero's sword, Seira the priestess, Fai the brawler, and Mei the mage battle the demon lord in the first ep, barely defeating "him" with a forbidden spell that causes all of them to be thrown back in time to relive their journey to heroship... the twist is the demon lord is now their teacher at adventurer school. As demon lord Mao in her true form as a chibi girl with bat wings plots to flunk them out and never let them become heroes, everything she does backfires and advances their path to legend. Honestly there is nothing particularly outstanding about this show. As Strider would put it, its just a show about cute girls doing cute things. There isn't a lot of action, its more about the friendships and what not. I found it to be HIGHLY enjoyable. But I don't think I could pass out recommendations to everyone, you've just got to like this kind of stuff to like it. Its got a lot of innocent comedy and a heartwarming story.
The Quintessential Quintuplets/ 5-Tōbun no Hanayome
4/5
You probably already know I love this show. This is the most underrated show of the season IMO. People will cast it off because all they see is harem from the outside. But honestly its the best damn harem anime ever. The fan service is very mild. Wrapped in bath towels is as raunchy as it gets. The story is everything and so are the characters. The story starts with Futaro Uesugi.. socially awkward boy genius who is tasked with tutoring 5 beautiful sisters... who are academically challenged, and absolutely hate studying. Futaro is from a very poor family and cares dearly for his little sister. The Nakano sisters are from an extremely rich family and their father is paying Futuro handsomely as long as all five don't flunk out. Although Futaro also dislikes the idea of tutoring such an insufferable bunch, he wants to provide a better future for this sister. Futaro starts out on the wrong foot with a few of the sisters causing trouble from the start as most of them despise him and want nothing to do with being taught by the likes of him. Eventually he gains the trust of a few and spends each ep trying to cobble them all together to succeed. As the series goes on his relationship with the sisters develops as each being to warm up to him and even start to fall for him without him noticing since hes such a block head when ti comes to romance. The thing is, the series starts out telling you he will marry one of the sisters in the future... so you are left to guess which one it is as the story unfolds. Another wrinkle is thrown in as it's revealed pretty early one of the sisters was a childhood friend of his unknown to both. This series is just a joy to watch. The humor is a great, Futaro's struggles with dealing with easily distracted girls who in turn give him a hard time about being so smart makes for great chemistry. Each sister has their own personality and shine in their own way, but together they have great chemistry interacting with poor Futaro. The show is just a lot of fun... and yes #TeamMiku I'm on that best girl train
Date A Live III
3/5
You have to be a fan of this series to even get into season 3. Its a corny harem anime where main character Shido helps beautiful spirits escape destruction from a military organization. Its mildly fanservicey, relying more on implied lewdness rather than actual bewbs. If you love the series, this season doesn't disappoint. It's got everything you'd expect from Date A Live.
Boogiepop and Others
3/5
Honestly I don't know WTF is happening here. I'd normally say this isn't worth watching when this happens, but It kept my interest the whole time because its so bizarre. I couldn't even write a proper review for this because I don't know how to explain it. Boogiepop is some kind of powerful spirit that goes around protecting the world from danger. The show is full of supernatural stuff, but my favorite arc was the whole thing with Spooky E, Aya, and Masaki. I will say it has an outstanding OP and ED... though they get barely edged out by my favorites of the season(s).
Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka
3/5
Ah yes, there you are my guilty pleasure. This show is what I thought Magical Girl Raising Project was going to be... but there are no moe girls here, its all busty bombshells saving the world from evil. This show is such a mess but I love it. You have magical girls fighting evil stuffed animal looking creatures from another dimension, all the while fighting off evil magical girls and terrorist organizations. There is bloody gore, F bombs, fan service, action, torture, MGS rip off commercial break screen cards, girly friendship, and high school. The story follows Asuka Otori, one of the magical five that saved the world from the Disas. With the war over, Asuka leaves the magical force to try to live a normal life, make friends, go to school, and be a normal girl. Her past is traumatic as she lost many fellow magical girls under her leadership, and even her parents thanks to the Disas. Her former commander appears from time to time to try and convince her to come back as even though the war is over, the threat is still out there. Eventually Asuka is forced back into it to protect her newly formed friendships with her classmates. If I had to guess without looking it up, I believe the show was animated by the same team that did the last Basilisk with heavy thick dark outlines for the characters. It worked better for Basilisk, but this show is more about the fights, dismemberments, and profanity than anything else. If you want to see a bunch stuff that doesn't belong in the genre, this is the anime for you. I'll be all about season 2.
Best Opening winner... I gotta cheat because this is a season and half full of reviews. Plus I didn't review Fairy Tail's final season because its not over... and you either love Fairy Tail or you don't. The opening is just so damn good. So the winners go to Fairy Tail and SAGA.
The ending winner was super close! Boogiepop's is so damn good but I gotta give it to Quintessential because its the most stick in your brain catchy song I've heard since Chobit's opening, and they execute it so good in the episodes transition to the credits.