Spring 2023 Anime Hype List

Spring 2023 is Gonna Be Big

Winter 2022 draws to a close, but a new season is just around the corner. New Series premiering this Saturday – April 1st! I’m hyped. Though this previous season had a few shows I went into really looking forward to, to be honest, there wasn’t a lot of anime that I was excited to see (outside of Tomo-chan, Farming, Campfire Cooking).

However... next season… is nuts.

Here’s my hype list for Anime in the upcoming Spring 2023 season, starting with....

TOP 10

1.The Danger in My Heart---April 1st

2. Skip and Loafer---April 4th

3. Insomniacs After School---April 10th

4. A Galaxy Next Door---April 8th

5. OSHI NO KO---April 12th

6. MASHLE---April 7th  

7. The Ancient Magus Bride season 2---April 6th

8. Hells Paradise: Jigokuraku---April 1st

9. MSG: The Witch From Mercury season 2---April 9th

10. Otaku Elf---April 7th

That's just the top 10. There's a whole 20 or so OTHER shows that are also premiering soon which I'm definitely going to be watching. Ordered below by premier date...

Vinland Saga season 2 (Continued)---Ongoing

Heavenly Delusion---April 1st

Loving Yamada at Level 999---April 1st

My Home Hero---April 2nd

My Clueless First Friend---April 2nd

Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear – Punch!---April 3rd

In Another World With My Smartphone---April 4th

KONOSUBA – An Explosion on this Wonderful World!---April 5th

Dr. Stone Season 3---April 6th

Yuri is My Job---April 6th

Fly Me To the Moon April---7th

Rokudou No Onna-tachi---April 7th

Megami no Café Terrace---April 7th

Isekai Shoukan wa Nidome Desu---April 8th

Demon Slayer (Swordsmith Village)---April 9th

Dead Mount Death Play---April 10th

Why Raeliana Ended Up At the Dukes Mansion---April 10th

The Marginal Service---April 11th

Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts---April 19th

Manga Review: "She Loves to Cook, She Loves to Eat" vol. 2

Hungry for Volume 3

Sorry, I couldn't resist the urge to pun. But for real. When is volume 3 coming out, cus I need another serving of this pronto. (again, I apologize for the food jokes).

With that, my thoughts...   ...5/5 by the way. I'll say that up front. 

There's your TL;DR if you only wanted to see a score.

If you missed my review of volume 1, you can find it here.

Manga Review: "She Loves to Cook, She Loves to Eat" vol. 1 

Book 2 was great. Just great. There were a number of new and delicious looking dishes and each and every one of them made me hungry. Actually, physically hungry. This manga is a feast for the eyes. It's been years since I lived in Japan (I left in 2015 to return to the US for health reasons), but this has me hankering for Japanese cuisines I've not had in ages. Roll Cake, Character Bento, Stollen, Anko. Good lord I need to go order food.... 

Hopefully listing a bunch of the foods they eat in this volume didn't spoil anything, I'll talk some very spoilery things later, but i'll be sure to put a warning. In typical manga fashion, one of the characters gets sick in a chapter here (not really a spoiler, I promise! it's a regular occurance in all slice-of-life series); the other prepares a glorious bowl of kitsune udon. 

Oh. My. God. 

It really struck me, both in the heart and in the stomach. 

Having someone make you a big bowl of soup, when you’re too weak to do it yourself. It has a very comfy, healing warmth to it, even when you're just reading it happen to someone else. Almost makes me want to pull a Ferris Bueller and call out sick today (but who’d be there to make me Udon?).

 Beyond the food though, this volume really expanded on the relationship between Nomoto and Kasuga and cements the romance plot. In my mind, this volume moves it from the sub-plot to the main plot. I'll discuss more in length just after wrapping up the review portion here...

Lastly, I really appreciated learning more about each character’s backstory. They've definitely gotten more depth of character after this volume. This elevates the manga for me in a big way. I like three dimensional characters. Just like I'd like a third volume of this manga. Nowish. Sadly, there's no pre-order available yet, but hopefully we'll see an announcement of one soon.

I highly recommend this series, so, again, I don't get anything out of it, but here's the links to buy this book at your preferred place of book buying. "She Loves to Cook, She Loves to Eat" is published by Yen Press and has an MSRP of $15.00.

Barnes & Noble

Rightstuf

Amazon

.....

NOW

THIS IS WHERE I TALK SPOILERS

You've been warned...

A warning page from the editor. I feel like I've seen a couple pages like this in books before; one in 'Witch Hat Atelier' stands out in my mind. I'm on the fence about them, but I suppose it's a good thing. The way it's done here feels like they're protecting the publisher more than giving a trigger warning though. Still, I understand that I think this is done with good intentions. Probably.

FOR REAL THOUGH

HUGE

MEGA-SPOILERS

Don't blame me.

I warned you.

This page appears before a fairly poignant chapter featuring one of the main characters going through the realizaton process that she's a lesbian and in love with the other woman. It's a pretty dark awakening. I thought it was a very good chapter. Felt like a brick to the face a little bit, but It certainly moves the story forward in a very, very big way. In the first volume, there were hints of a romance subplot developing, but volume 2 makes it extremely clear where this series is headed.

I like this manga a lot. I appreciated that it took itself seriously, when needed, but didn't get stuck being a SERIOUS book. The manga was light-hearted, even if there's a chapter or two that really stand out as being tonally different; that's usually a big offender for me - when a book can't stick to a tone, I end up getting turned off because it puts me in a different mood when I finish it, then when I started. This one didn't. So, I'll take that as a good thing.

I'm eager to see how the romance plays out.

Manga Review: "She Loves to Cook, She Loves to Eat" vol. 1

I'm getting hungry just reviewing this manga

Full disclosure, I'm writing this review after I've already read vol. 2, but I tried my best to review it based on the first impression I got from the first volume when I read it originally.

Nomoto is an OL with an Instagram and loves sharing picutres of her cooking, but she has a problem. She's always wanted someone who can really pack it in. She wants to craft mega-sized dishes like bucket-pudding, or giga-pancackes. Huge omelettes. Great overflowing bowls of curry. The urge to just go nuts in the kitchen is welling up inside her. However, she's just one woman, living alone, and not interested in marriage (and especially not interested in becoming a 'good wife' for some random male coworker).

Then, one night, Kasuga appears, carrying buckets of KFC... which she will eat. By herself.

When trouble happens at work, and Nomoto goes a LITTLE overboard de-stressing with some serious kitchen time; a steak donburi of epic proportions is born, and the only way to keep it from going to waste is by having her neighbor help her polish it off.

And thus begins a beautiful friendship... and maybe, in the future, more...

This volume was great. I’ve reread it multiple times since it came out. I really like food centered manga (but especially ones that have a bit of romance to them - guess the way to my heart, ultimately, really is through my stomach); when the visuals are so good that you can smell the dishes, and get hungry yourself, that’s when you know you've got a hit. This manga definitely did taht for me. Every time I read it (i think i'm up to four times now) I end up needing to go grab a snack. I blame this series for my recent craving for Yaki-onigiri (gonna try it with Miso the way they do in the manga) and going on a hunt for the best Karage in the county… (I ended up finding a really good spot too! I've started getting takeout karage-bowls now after work). I’m sure this book has put a few pounds around my waist. This series also has the ‘Yuri’ tag on it, but I’m not sure if I’d call it a main plot, or a sub-plot; here in volume 1, there is a lesbian romance going on under the surface, but it has yet to develop into a mutual relationship yet. Hoping in the future both Nomoto and Kasuga realize their feelings for each other. But I feel like that’s where it’s going because I don’t see it becoming a one-sided affair.

This is an easy 5/5 for me. I've already bought and read vol. 2, with review of that one coming (shortly, and i'll spoil for you... my score doesn't go down).

She Loves to Cook, She Loves to Eat is published by Yen Press. MSRP $15

You can buy it at the following. I don't get anything for these links, but I loved the manga, I'ma recommend you just go right over and pick it up yourself.

Barnes & Noble

Amazon

Rightstuf


Now, if you'd like to read my take on volume 2... check it out here...

Manga Review: "She Loves to Cook, She Loves to Eat" vol. 2

Anime Review: "Reborn to Master the Blade..."

Reborn to Master the Blade. Becomes Vegeta instead.

This is more like what I’m looking for in a isekai power fantasy than most of the shows that came out this season, but there were enough annoying things about it that ultimately I soured on it a little by the end. But not THAT soured. Still kinda recommend it if you're into dumb isekai stuff.

The premise behind this one is that of a kind, beloved king, ruler of a prosperous fantasy empire, being reincarnated into another fantasy world, or maybe the same one, just in a different time (honestly I can’t remember which it is because it’s kind of passed over quickly in the early episodes and never comes up as a plot element later on); the king is reborn as a girl, which he adapts to pretty quickly. That plot hook is wasted for the most part and not really played off of at all, though the reincarnated king, in the body of a little girl reminded me of Rudeus from Mushoku Tensei, maybe that’s just me. Since the King isn’t nearly the same level of perv, it doesn’t really feel gross.

The first of the BIG issues I had with this series was its broken promise. The king is reborn to master the blade. The blade!! So, WHY? Does the MC mostly go around punching the crap out of monsters and shooting lasers from her fingers??? What the hell? Did it turn out drawing sword fights was too hard? I simply don’t understand. When she’s a child, there’s ONE really, really good sword fight, which really sucked me in. I thought this series was likely to be really good based on that episode, but after that, the MC barely ever uses a sword again.

The other issues I had with this were mostly just niggles. The plot seemed overly complex. I’m still not entirely sure what exactly a Hieral Menace is, but I think it lets (forces? Curses?) people to turn into powerful weapons??? (wasn’t clear if it’s permanent… or? Idk). Last of my issues was the incomplete plot hooks which are all left dangling. The series ends, but nothing is resolved, ensuring that if we want to see any of this reach its conclusion we either need to buy the source material, or hope that a season 2 gets made.

I’ll probably wait for a season 2 if there is one, but I doubt I’ll be picking up the manga/ln’s.

Wait… hold on, this doesn’t sound like I’m very positive about this anime, but I’m giving it a 6?

Should I reevaluate??

Nah, there was actually quite a bit to like here.

The villains are bad, but there’s a few who are sympathetic and multi-dimensional. The good guys are good, but some are complex and have several facets. The series is never loses its light-heartedness even in the most serious battles, so it’s not dragged into the dreary, meaning even if there’s conflicts they don’t feel depressing. The action scenes are well-done; the animation is crisp, even if the art looks like everything else that’s coming out in this genre these days. Ultimately I felt the personality in this series was strong enough that it’s likable on those merits alone.

So, this one is just barely a 6 for me. Maybe a 6.1.

Anime Review: "Raising 80K Gold..."

This show was my 80,000th Reason Why

On a conceptual level I think this brought enough new ideas to the isekai genre that it was worth watching just for the freshness. Being able to come and go between this world and a fantasy world + having a character predominantly motivated by money + the mc’s super power is a glock = a formula for a good time; sadly the execution here wasn’t great, with some episodes having borderline awful animation. The story had enough bad plot/story developments that it sadly outweighed whatever positive base the premise had going for it. And the worst offender is this series REPEATS. REPEATS EVERYTHING. The MC makes friends with not ONE, but THREE different little girls. The villains in this are almost ALWAYS some random, annoying, greedy old man (literally every single villain except for the monsters is a fucking ugly bastard). I lost count, but I feel like there was at least 5 of them....  thankfully this was a pg-13 mainstream series and not an H title, cus, damn. Ugly bastards everywhere.

I didn't mention this in my MAL review, but the main character is also an insufferable dolt. Like, WTF are you even thinking????? I suppose there's a reason she failed her entrance exams and couldn't get into college in the first place. The real moment this threw me was when she goes out on a quest with a bunch of professional adventurers. Before going to bed she tells them she's off to bathe, then pops out in a bikini... like what in the actual fuck are you thinking girl? You KNOW this isn't gonna fly in his medieval society! Why? just... ugh... use thy brain, please.

I just got so tired of watching the same plot play out over and over that ultimately this series bored the pants off me.

This dreadful anime barely earns a 2... 

Anime Review: "Chillin In My 30's..." [I genuinely can't remember the rest of the title]

I mean, at Least Tomokazu Sugita is in it

This series was hot garbage. It was mildly fun garbage, kinda like finding a really messed up sofa thrown out by the curb, but at the end of the day, still garbage. The best compliment I can give this series is that I didn’t actively hate it by the end, just felt kinda indifferent to it. Not memorable, but I wouldn’t say it was boring enough to forget. I will remember Malika (Marika?) at least.

Tomokazu Sugita [Gintama’s Gintoki], the voice of the main character Dariel was fighting for his life trying to carry this series, but his voice acting alone couldn’t pull it off. I did enjoy his performance though I wouldn’t say it’s his best, or one he’ll probably remember five years from now. Felt a bit like a paycheck show.

The title for this series is total BS. There is virtually nothing “Chill” about this series. Dude goes from one conflict to another and gets absolutely no rest, because the girl of his dreams hits like a truck every time she runs in for a glomp. And glomp she does. So even in his down time, he’s dealing with broken ribs every times he catches a hug.

The BETTER title for this series would be “Nobody will let me chill, even in my 30’s”. Dariel gets expelled from the Demon King’s army’s only to end up busy as hell even in his early forced retirement. The characters here were all pretty standard; same tropes we’ve seen a million times before. Demon King, Four Heavenly Kings, overenthusiastically-here-to-train hero, big-boobie oneesan waifu (that would be the aforementioned Malika). Etc. Etc.

In the end, I found it pretty boring and repetitive, but not in a way that made me fast forward, or skip episodes. Not entirely sure why I stuck it out with until the end, but I think it had something to do with Malika. I just can’t quite put my finger on which part.

A year from now, I doubt I’ll remember this series, just like Sugita won’t, but, that’s ok. Not every anime can be Mushoku Tensei, even if Tomokazu Sugita is in it. (Have I mentioned how much I like Tomokazu Sugita? Is that coming across?) We need 1’s in order to really appreciate the 8’s and 9’s. They make the 10’s feel even more incredible. This show wasn’t THAT bad though. The art-style and animation were cookie-cutter and manufactured, but they weren’t dreadful, or copy-pasted, like an ExArm or TanMoshi. I did get a couple laughs out of it; plus… Malika. So, thank you, “chillin in my 30’s” for at least not making me hate you. With that in mind. 30 / 10 equals 3, so you’ll be getting a 3 stars.

Anime Review: "Handyman Saitou in Another World"

This is a STRONG 7. Like... 7.99

I'd say this is well above average in terms of quality isekai series. I generally dislike it when an isekai with a ridiculous premise, such as this one, gets serious, but somehow, I wasn't overly bothered by it here. The plot of this show is pretty much right there in the title. A handyman, named Saitou, ends up being transported to a fantasy world; he joins a party of adventurers who’re exploring a dungeon. He’s good at picking locks, disarming traps, kinda fulfills the role of a rogue in general ‘Dungeons and Dragons’ terms, but without the stealthy backstabbing. I bring up D&D because I could definitely see this entire series being played out on a table-top. It felt like a really whacky campaign, designed by the world’s weebiest DM. For example, one of the biggest, plot-centric turn of events involves a Roomba. So, even when the anime is at its most serious, those bits were balanced out well with laughs and general silliness. It gets precarious, but not bogged down in a dark, depressing way. I really liked the cast of characters too. Saito’s party of adventurers includes a bad-mouthed fairy, a blushing maiden of a fighter, and a lecherous old wizard who can’t remember his own spells. Definitely reminds me of a D&D group generated with quirkiness in mind. Each of them gets a great backstory, some even having entire arcs dedicated to resolving their past conflicts (I cried during the wizard’s). Outside the main party, there’s also a really diverse group of side characters who add their own unique flavor to the show, and here is where I think the series really shines because they’re all so vastly non-standard, that you’re always in for something special when someone new shows up. Even the villains are given their own time to shine. This series was a delightful little piece of isekai popcorn, and I’m glad I stuck with it, even though the start was a bit rocky.

Manga Review: "A Condition Called Love" vol. 2

Learning what 'Love' is for the First Time

The second volume of this manga really helped deepen our understanding of the characters; Hananoi has a decidedly darker past than what I originally expected, and Hotaru has her own trauma to deal with too. I’d say Hananoi’s borderline brooding with how territorial and possessive he’s become, but in a caring/nice way. Waiting for his girlfriend after work, walking her home, it’s all very well-intentioned, but somewhat overbearing the top. Hotaru’s understanding of how love works levels up a bit in book 2 as well. I found it really, really funny watching her friends listen to her and losing their minds trying to get it through to her that the feelings she’s experience ARE love, but Hotaru has to figure that out herself. I’d say that volume 2 improved my appreciation for this series, cementing it as one I’ll actually continue collecting. This couple has some very cute moments together which bring my shriveled up old heart joy. Very curious where things will go from here.

Just look at how cute they are

I'd give this a 4.5 out of 5 if I could give half stars. 9/10

There's still some room for improvement, but I'm thoroughly enjoying this manga now.

"A Condition Called Love" is published by Kodansha and retails for $10.99

Maybe I'll start putting some store links around here... thoughts in the comments??

Anime Review: "The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady" - 5/10... oof

 
Viva the Yuri Revolution!!

Or that’s what I’d say if this series left me feeling excited about it. Sadly I didn’t really enjoy it as a whole.

I enjoyed PARTS of this show, but way, way too much of it was bogged down in seriousness and depression. Why can’t I just have a cute little yuri isekai slice of life series???? I dislike series that can’t pick a tone, and this series definitely had that issue. It started off with the hilarious antics of this bloody, wild princess, who steals away her brother’s fiancé to take for herself. It’s very comedic. I was legitimately laughing at how the princess shows up the first time. I need a good laugh these days. Life’s too serious to be serious all the time.

But, the problem comes after this, because all of the important obstacles in the story are TOO big, and TOO serious. Really killed the mood.

The titular ‘reincarnated princess’ is from our world, by the way, which is never really used as much more than a B-side subplot device to give her a reason to come up with various magical inventions that look like stuff from our world. Not that that’s a bad thing, but this series definitely puts me into the frame of mind where I’m questioning what the point of this series being an ‘isekai’ is in the first place. The origin world stuff really doesn’t come up that much whatsoever. Could have been default fantasy without a problem.

This is a problem because on the one hand, we have a ridiculous princess who makes flying brooms and magic swords, and there’s vampires and dragons, etc. and on the other hand we have a very serious plot with characters being worried about rites of succession and having to bear offspring that will carry the royal bloodline. There’s a serious divide here. Ultimately it led to me feeling pretty bad about the series in general.

In the end, this series became one I completed mostly for the sake of not leaving something unfinished, but I couldn’t really bring myself to care very much about it. The visuals were stunning, so it certainly wasn’t a drag to watch, but I don’t think I’ll think about anything aside from it having a cute little yuri couple. I ended up buying the manga after the first episode, and with the dramatic tone shift, I actually felt pretty baited. Not likely to continue to buy volumes of this, or watch a season 2 if they make one.

 

Anime Review: "The Ice Guy and his Cool Female Colleage"

This was a very nice little romance anime. The two main characters were really cute and had a fun dynamic. It’s not often you get a series where the male lead is a soft blushing fellow always getting embarrassed and freaking out over his love interest. And the way it’s expressed using his “Yuki-onna” heritage was super fun (especially the snowmen). In fact, the whole ‘fantastical creatures’ aspect of the series, with many of the characters being descendants of famous Japanese mythical monsters (?) was a cool premise. The only problem I really had with this series is focus; I would have loved it if we could have seen much, much more of the main pair, and less of the side characters. The side characters had their own charm, but they weren’t nearly as interesting to me as the main guy and gal. Adult, office romances, are few and far between, and having screen time divided up among all the various office-people caused me to kind of lose interest. Needed them to spend more time on the title folks. All in all, a fun read. I believe the manga for this has recently been licensed; I may check it out, but not sure yet. Will definitely peep a season 2 if they make one though.

TL;DR 8/10

Manga Review: "Under Ninja" vol. 1 - 10/10

 Ninjas. Ninjas Everywhere.

This is a very, very much extended review of "Under Ninja" vol. 1. I posted a shorter, abridged version up to other sites, but I had quite a bit to ramble on about with this one, but for the TL;DR - easy 10/10 or 5/5 on whatever scale you're grading on. I enjoyed it; plan to continue to collect it. With that, let there be ninja.

This is not a manga about a dude in his underwear pretending to be a ninja.

I really don’t know where I got that idea from… I’m sorry.

Wait, actually, I do! I very specifically remember seeing someone post THIS random frame on twitter, totally out of context, from this first volume where the main character tries on a woman’s bra; from that I somehow formulated a weird, twisted idea of what I thought the manga would be about. I formulated an image in my head of something like “Hentai Kamen” or “Raw Hero”. This was definitely no “Hentai Kamen”. That being said, just because I was expecting it to be something completely different, doesn’t mean it was bad. It’s pretty damn good actually (i just gave it a 10/10 remember). Just not Hentai Kamen. I should really learn to read summaries for a series before I buy them.

To be clear, the main character trying on a woman’s undergarments had very little, if anything, to do with the plot and in no way spoils anything, so hopefully nobody gets bent out of shape; it also certainly has nothing to do with the ‘Under’ in the title. In this series, ninjas live among us (at least in Japan), working in boring jobs as office workers, retail employees, and delivering your mail. These normal folk are also performing secret missions on the side – UNDER cover if you will. If you’ve never wondered, “hmm, maybe that Pizza delivery guy is actually a Ninja,” you will now. I like the premise for this a lot, because it’s just plausible enough that you can imagine it being based in reality. In fact, I’m sure there are ninjas running all over Japan, doing secret missions for the government. Hell, there probably are here in America too. Ninja epsionage taking place in 2023? Of course. We live in a cyberpunk dystopia these days.

I haven’t read Hanazawa Kengo’s previous work, “I am a Hero”, which is about suriving in a zombie apocalypse (it’s on my tbr, but that list grows faster than i can collect) so I can’t really compare it to this one. The art style though certainly seems to be pretty consistent across both, juding from what I've seen. This series DID remind me of Gigant though, both in terms of aesthetics and tone (except without the titan-sized porn actress trouncing buildings all over Tokyo). The tone in this is peculiarly-comedic, but not really in a laugh-out-loud kind of way. More funny odd, than funny ‘haha’. I really like it, but I’m kind of funny myself. 

Both Hanazawa Kengo and Hiroyu Oka (author of Gantz, Gigant, Inuyashiki) share this very realistic artist style where the backgrounds and set dressing are all done in an almost photo-realistic way. 

This is one hell of a cool spread that I'd mistake for a photo were it not for the SFX

I’m not sure what the technique is behind this is, or if it’s just pure skill, but it’s really cool. The characters also have a very different feel to them than you see in most manga, although I’m not sure I’d call them realistic, so much as based in reality (have yet to witness any 900 year-old vampires masquerading as 8 year-olds). I will say though that the main character looking like he’s been unemployed for a decade, in need of a good shave, but turning out to be just 17, ready to go to high school, seems like something straight out of mid 2000’s WB drama.

In terms of story, this DEFINITELY felt like a part 1 of many. Consulting the ‘ol Wikipedia tells me that it’s currently in its ninth volume on the Japanese side of things, with an anime due out in October (ooh, nice – *adds that to the TBW list on MAL*). So, this book in particular is still just barely an introduction to the setting/world/characters etc. But, that’s fine. I wasn’t expecting them to plot dump the entire thing all at once. RIGHT at the end, they gave us something REALLY, REALLY cool though, which had me going, “OOOOOH! this is gonna be super good”.

Production value isn’t something I usually bring up in my manga reviews, because I don’t think it should be something I base my decision to buy a series on, but I’ll say it this time. Denpa knocked it out of the park with this one. 

This back cover is awesome

This book has no business being this gorgeous. This series is some very pulpy fiction, not exactly a high-brow art-comic. Despite that, the paper quality is superb, the cover is sturdy and thick and even has out-folding flaps. What in the world did we do to deserve this?? Would love it if publishers put out books like this more often. So, as you can imagine, I’m very much looking forward to the next volume. Barnes & Noble has it listed for publication as May 16^th 2023, but that could be pretty tentative given Denpa’s busy publishing schedule. Either way, it will be something I pre-order.

Manga Review: "Insomniacs After School" #1 ---- 10/10

For a manga about two characters with Insomnia, they certainly seem to sleep a lot

This is a really charming book. It belongs in that wonderful niche slice-of-life genre called ‘Iyashikei’ [healing type]. Ganta Nakami and Isaki Magari are both high school students suffering from terrible insomnia, but they find themselves able to sleep, together (not in a dirty way), at school, in the old abandoned observatory. They revive the astronomy club in an effort to secure themselves some much needed rest. The vibe in this series is really great, reminding me of Call of the Night to some extent, just without all the vampire business. The characters are very average looking, maybe a bit frumpy even. I felt at ease watching them doze off in the middle of the day. It feels really weird saying that I was HYPED UP to read this series, especially when the energy level in it is beyond low. It’s chill. Unassuming. Just a nice little volume to help you relax. Will definitely look forward to volume 2 and the anime.

One thing that I think gets really underrated in a lot of manga is the backgrounds, especailly nature/weather shots. They've really done a great job in this book with capturing some very pleasant scenes.

There's something about the sound of rain that always managed to help me wind down. It's gotten to the point where I've compiled an entire playlist on YouTube of nothing but just rain tracks, since, sadly, I live in probably one of the dryest parts of the USA. Generally we get about 14 inches of rain in an entire year... so, I've had to make do with the artificial stuff. I'll tell you though, seeing pages like these, gives me exactly that same mood that I'm trying to find.

Ultimately this series is exactly what I wanted it to be. A kind of sleepy, calming experience. I'm always up for more of those. Life is too busy. I need a book like this every once in a while to take it slow. I wasn't really expecting a romance subplot, but perhaps we'll get one??? There definitely seemed to be a couple sparks there in the first few chapters, but who knows if that'll actually happen, and if it does, when. Either way this series is already a 10/10 for me with just the first volume.

Anime Review: "Don't Toy With Me Miss Nagatoro" Season #2

 

Season 2 improved the Nagatoro formula in a big way IMO. Senpai grew a spine and became much less of a wimp. Nagatoro’s bullying got more flirty and endearing. As a whole, Season 2 was really, really cute.

As far as the things I think make up an anime adaptation:

Voice acting was still just as on point as it was in season 1, with the addition of a new member to the cast in Sayumi Suzushiro, who was also excellent. I think they actually improved the music too for this season. I ended up downloading the OP for a mix tape. The animation was also just as good as season 1, with amplified wiggle-taro.

Now, why do I rate this season higher than season 1? I think for me it mostly comes down to the stories in this arc. They’re much, much more fun than the stuff that happens in season 1. When there’s teasing, its way more playful and flirty and less mean/bullying. I think maybe season 2 is really where the author got into their groove with plotting, jokes, etc. The payoffs are really great too – for me the ‘caught a cold’ episodes were fantastic.

The episodes in season 2 also really accelerate bringing out the best in all of the characters. Both senpai and Nagatoro receive a good amount of character development. I especially liked the whole training arc because we get to see both of them getting serious about improving themselves in their own respective ways.

If and when they make a season 3 I’ll definitely be there for that.

Anime Review: "Don't Toy With Me Miss Nagatoro" Season #1

 

I’m finishing Nagatoro season 2 right now and realizing I haven’t reviewed season 1 yet, so here we go.

Adaptation rating. Very Good.

Voice acting was great. Sumire Uesaka (Nagatoro) does a fantastic job with all of her characters and she’s certainly a great Nagatoro. Daiki Yamashita plays Senpai a little too weak for my tastes, ends up channeling early My Hero Deku… I’m not sure I had senpai pegged as being quite that soft, but I suppose it works.

The music was good. OP ED were fine, but not really the kind of songs I’d buy to play in the car.

The animation of the cute, wiggly bits, certainly worked great.

That being said, there’s a couple reasons why I score this one pretty low as a series (low for me at least, romcom's are usually an easy 10/10). Though I eventually turned into a Nagatoro fan after buying the manga, the first season of the anime didn’t really help me with that. I think this series as a whole gets better as things go and season 2 was definitely an improvement.

I found the male MC to be excessively wimpy in the beginning. In this season his wimpy-factor gets played up even more than in the manga, which is… *ugh*. In contrast, Nagatoro starts off as too much of a sadist. I understand in the original prototype for this series Nagatoro was MUCH more sadistic, even going so far as to torture senpai with not a single hint of flirting. The first stages of the series still had too much of this essence and it took too long for it to go away.

But, things do get better, much better in fact.

Nagatoro’s friends are pretty hilarious and drive her to be more territorial protecting Senpai so that only she can tease him. Then you throw in the senpai of senpai from the art club and now you’ve got a force pushing them together on the romantic front too.

For me the highlight of this season was the last few episodes. Nekotaro arc and the school festival art contest were pretty incredible.

Anime Review: "Attack on Titan" the final, no this time we promise, almost, ok, next to last part

This was a great adaptation of the source material. No complaints. Very faithful. 

The only problem I've got comes down to figuring out which season of Attack on Titan this is, but sadly, it's gotten fairly complicated, transcending the very nature of seasonal anime. So I'll break it down into parts.

I had to open up all the MAL tabs for each of the different AoT entries to see which "Part" this actually is, given how complicated it is, but I'll omit any side-story entries for sake of my own personal sanity.

Shingeki no Kyojin - Season 1 would of course be part 1, but with it being seperated into 2 cours, would we also count this as part 1 and 2?? I'm going to say that s1 was actually p.1 & p.2 because of the two-cour nature.

Hm...

Season 2 was just a single cour, so no confusion there. Let's call this p.3.

Season 3, was actually 22 episodes long, and broken up into two parts as well, despite MAL listing it with only 12 episodes. So let's call that p.4 & p.5

Now, onto "The Final Season" (which of course we know isn't actually the final season at all). At this point MAPPA took over, so I suppose it's understandable that there'd be differences in how things get numbered.

The final season, which is actually "The Final Season part 1 of 4" is actually p.6 and consists of 16 episodes

The final season part 2, which was 12 episodes, is p.7.

Now, this entry, which is the penultimate in the series, as far as we know, is Part 8. Of 9 total (as of this moment).

Anime Review: "Land of the Lustrous" Season #1 (PLEASE GIVE ME A 2)

This was the first fully CGI series that I think looked better in CGI than I could have imagined it looking with traditional animation. ‘Duke of Death’ came close for me, but this really did it. Honestly, the only way I think the animation could have been done better would have been to take an entirely different approach to it, with a different director and studio – maybe gone the way of Masaaki Yuasa turning it into more of an artsy production. That said, I adored what studio Orange pulled off here. The music, voice acting, cinematography, action, animation – all of the things that make an anime adaptation were perfectly well done. The only problem I have with it is that it was so damn incomplete. You ended it there??? 12 episodes??? Season 2 when????? (I actually wonder now how much of the manga had been completed when this came out… perhaps I’ll need to compare publication and air dates.

When all is said and done. 10/10.

Wait… do I actually have to elaborate on what makes the series itself special? I can’t just assume everyone who’s seen this anime already read the manga? I waited to watch this series forever because I felt nothing could live up to the source material. I honestly figure a lot of people probably did the same. I kind of started reviewing this anime from the perspective of someone who’s already up to date on the manga, hanging on for dear life waiting for the next chapter release. Hiatus after hiatus, but I guess that’s not going to be the case for everyone.

Hmmm…. I suppose I can reuse this in my manga review later, so here it goes.

The setting for this is totally unique. Unique to the extreme. I’ve never experienced anything like this piece of fiction in my entire life. “Land of the Lustrous” is about a bunch of rock-people living on an island with a priest-looking-fellow; they’re constantly being attacked by aliens who try to kidnap them. Why??? It’s a mystery. [It’s a feeling I can understand. If given the opportunity I’d like to kidnap a couple of these gemstone girls to keep for myself, because they’re so damn cute and full of personality and they desperately are in need of protection. Like truly some of the best created characters in all of anime and manga. And they’re rocks.] There’s a lot of mystery to this series. I’d put mystery at the top of the genre tags list if it were up to me, but my guess is those get taken up by non-descript things like Fantasy, Drama, or Comedy.

Sorry – getting side tracked. It’s really hard to explain this series, and why I think it’s special. The manga is in my top 3, firmly entrenched, never to leave. Taking a step back to describe what I love about it is proving difficult.

The story, at least in the anime, is episodic, but things take a drastic turn, in the manga, right about where the anime ends – so to say that the story of Land of the Lustrous is excellent is a bit tricky. I think the story in the first half has its charm, but it’s certainly not as good as it gets (because it gets AMAZING).

I mentioned above how I’d like to kidnap the rock people. That was mostly a joke, but I want to again say, the Lustrous are some of the best characters ever created. One, the main one, Phos, specifically, should be in the list of greatest protagonists in any media. Ever. I’m not sure why I’ve not listed her in my personal favorites list; it’s an oversite I’m about to correct after writing this review. I became so invested in Phos’s journey through this series. It’s one hell of a ride.

I guess more than anything, this series made me feel things. Emotions. I felt genuine sadness for the Lustrous when they suffered (and there’s enough suffering in this to keep several therapists in business indefinitely). I felt joy when there was comedy. I empathized. That’s not something that happens to me very often because I’m about as jaded as jade is.

Anyway, if you watch this, I hope you find something special in it too. It’s beautiful, but bleak. There’s a lot there to digest (even more if you get into the source material). I don’t think it’s for everyone, since it seems like a pretty difficult nut to crack, but it’s worth it if you do.

Manga Review: "My Clueless First Friend" #1

The premise for “My Clueless First Friend” is very cute and simple. There’s a girl in class with a bit of a dark and gloomy appearance, who’s being bullied by the other kids in class. They make fun of he, in typical fifth grader fashion, calling her names like ‘grim reaper’. Takada, the new kid in school, who moved in from the country, is a complete airhead, and doesn’t understand she’s being picked on – only that Grim Reapers are A W E S O M E!!! So, he’s quick to befriend her, and constantly presses the fact that he finds her wonderful in all different manner of ways. This series is super formulaic. XYZ happens which triggers Takada to say something completely outrageous that embarrass Nishimura, causing her to blush like wild. This is played out every chapter. It definitely can get a bit repetitive if that’s not your thing, but for the most part, I enjoyed this book. That said, not sure how I’ll like it after 7 more omnibus. Will definitely peep the anime though.

TL;DR - It's a Cute Premise, But it Got a Bit Repetitive 4/5

With that said, I don't think that necessarily repetitive is a bad thing. Rather, I like it a lot. When you've got a good formula, use it. The problem I think I had with this book, that I didn't have, for example with "When Will Ayumu Make His Move" is a combination of a couple factors.

1) The Formula Being Too Simple

        The formula used in this manga is really, really basic. Boy says something, makes girl blush.

It's cute, but it's definitly not rocket science. That's fine, really. Ayumu has the same thing going for it. Very simple premise, repeated every chapter for the entire series. The part that I think became an issue for me was that...

2) Repeated Too Much in One Book

        This book is an omnibus, so it's really two, much smaller tankoubon, which have been sewn together. That's usually fine. It makes things more affordable and less risky to publish. The problem I think here is that since it's an omnibus, you get the same gag repeated like 50-60 times in one book, because in this series, the same formula gets repeated more than once each chapter, and this book is 30 chapters long...

Thats.... a bit too much for me to handle.

I actually had to break up reading this book over several sittings because it was just too much all at once.

I still genuinely really enjoy it, but I think the format doesn't really do it any favors unfortunately. If I was getting this on a weekly basis, in a magazine, I think i'd have really loved it a lot more. Could have been very fun reading online as well, but trying to tackle the whole thing at once was too much of a good thing.

Manga Review: "Call of the Night" #11 (UNCENSORED + SPOILERS)

This volume was exceptional. It’s very hard to talk about what happens in it though without spoilers, so I’m going to keep this review pretty short, but elaborate on things down there, near the bottom of the review, so if you don't wanna be spoiled, leave after the cover art. There was a point in this book that I literally jumped out of my chair from a combination of shock and hype (I'll talk about what part that is down below). The way that Kotoyama does the paneling in this is a thing of beauty. It’s weird to praise a cover, but I’m gonna do that too. That ALL WHITE cover is just so damn clean. This series remains pretty firmly in my top 10 ongoing manga at the moment (position fluctuates based on my mood) despite the fact that the tone of the series has changed dramatically from the first few volumes. What started out as a more laid-back, romcom has evolved into a much more serious series with very dramatic twists and a good deal of action. I’m not sure it’s an improvement, since I liked the laid-back vampire romcom, but this is also good.

Stick around afer this cover art for some more spoilery content.

OK!!! You've been thoroughly warned.

From here on out there be spoilers and discussion of content.

So, in volume 10 Ko became a vampire! Congratulations I guess? But, unfortunately the transformation is only half-baked and he can’t really control it. This begs the question – what does this mean for Ko’s one-year time limit on vampire transformation??? We still don’t really know. However, with volume 11 we get to see him really VAMP out when he confronts his friend Mahiru regaring the relationship Mahiru’s having with a vampire who’s significantly played up as the series’ main villain to this point. Kiku’s been revealed to be the big bad evil gal who turned Anko’s dad, and is generally a very bad bitch. Now, Mahiru’s cuddling up to her, and trying to get turned just like Ko, but basically everyone is against the idea though, except of course the dumb boy in question.

Now, what happens when Mahiru doesn’t like the fact that Ko’s confronting him about it.

Fist fight in the street.

Only problem with that is that Ko’s now a pseudo-vampire and the man unleashes hell on Mahiru.

(This is the part, by the way, that had me out of my chair. Page 71 to be precise. Nothing like a fat middle finger to your BFF followed by a vampire-rage fueled sucker punch to the face.)

Soooooooooooo, things between Ko and his human friends are in a rocky position, but it’ll all work out in the end… right? However this leads into one of the funniest sequences we’ve had in volumes, in which Nazuna abducts Akira to try and have her talk some sense into the two boys. But first… she’s gotta drag her to the maid café so they can set up this hilarious gag.

The vampire training sequence toward the end of the book actually had me on the edge of my seat the whole time as well, though I didn’t jump out of it. It was a bit hard watching Ko kick the shit out of Nazuna though. Damn man, don’t hold back huh?.

Pre-Orders for vol. 12 are up – releases June 13th 2023.

This book can’t come soon enough, because this is a series I actively seek out as soon as I can get my hands on it. It’s a must-read each time, because I’m trying desperately to avoid spoilers from scanlations. The cover of volume 12 has me intrigued though, because it looks like we’re going to meet some new characters. 

Manga Review: "The 100 Girlfriends Who Really x5 Love You" #5

I Really (x5) Love This Book

I really, really, really, really, really love this series. So, don’t go into this review hoping for something profound. It’s just a silly little harem comedy. It’s gone so far past parody at this point that it’s just pure joy. I don't quite understand why this series is released under the 'Ghost Ship' label that SevenSeas has going right now? That label, from what I understand is reserved for explicit series featuring lots of nudity and sex, but this series is much more wholesome. This volume in particular - SUPER wholesome. The cuteness level is over the top in parts. 

Girlfriend Count in this volume +2. They’re both great, and the arcs we get introducing them are both great. But, let’s face it, all the girlfriends in this series are great in their own way.

I think we may need to develop a stat power rankinkg system like in pokemon for his girlfriends by the end of this. Each of them has their own personal strengths and weaknesses. Shizuka has max power in cuteness, for example, but Hahari's sexiness stat would be over-the-top.

This book had, in my humble opinion, one of the greatest back-to-back 2-page spreads in the HISTORY of manga. When you get there, you’ll understand. I truly hope the translator got paid by the word, cus otherwise… ouch. The anime got announced officially today, so I anticipate this series will be growing in popularity quite a lot.

Anime Movie Review: "Isekai Quartet: The Movie"

 This film was terrible.

It took everything I loved about the two seasons of Isekai Quartet and tossed them out the window in favor of creating a very serious story almost completely devoid of jokes or humor with a couple movie-original characters that we're now meant to care about for some reason.

Sorry to the Megumin-golem girl, but we came to see the original cast in new, whacky situations created from them being all mixed up together, not to see your relationship struggles with Vera.

Very, sorry to say you're defintely the least likeable part of this movie. Maybe you would have been fun if we'd gotten to know you better first in the Tanya the Evil series. Like... if you were that wild Zelot Mary. We could have done without her in Tanya. I'd have taken you over her any day of the week... but, sadly, you're new to this universe, and after this film you'll be forgotten about as just another random girl who's had her panties stolen by Kazuma.

The only reason this movie doesn't get a 1/10 from me is for two gags which got a genuine chuckle out of me, both featuring Ainz doing rediculous things.

I actually had pretty high hopes for this after the intro scene in the classroom where Ainz is examining the cat from Konosuba, which was kinda a nod to stuff that happens in the Konosuba novels, and hasn't been adapted yet in the anime - was thinking, "Oh man!! Are we going to get Konosuba plot stuff that ties into the next season???" but no, nothin.

This was a movie I was really glad I waited to see when it showed up on Crunchyroll and didn't go to see in theaters. 

I suppose they can't all be winners.