Friday 17 January 2020

Anime Spotlight : Fall 2019 Wrap-Up

The Fall 2019 anime season has ended a while ago, unfortunately it has been a rough past few weeks for me personally so I only got round to this write up now. As usual I'll talk about the anime that finished with the Fall 2019 season, unfortunately the amazing Babylon is still airing for a few weeks so I can't include that. and it seems like Rifle is Beautiful and Azure Lane are both ending at a later date due to postponement of their final episodes. Granted Azure Lane is pretty trash so no real loss there. On with the list! As usual I'll start off with my "Top 5" and then talk about the rest of the anime I followed.

High Score Girl II

Synopsis : 1991. The year of the Gulf War. The year Mount Unzen erupted. The year the Ten-Day War in Slovenia broke out. The year the world wavered.

Yaguchi Haruo, a 6th grader, is not only the least popular in his school, but also has the worst grades, a bad attitude towards others, and cannot be called attractive either. The only thing he lives for are video games, and this happens to be the only thing he is really good at. Until one day, he plays Street Fighter II against Oono Akira, a well-off female classmate, who proves to him that she is not only more popular, intelligent, attractive, and lucky than he is, but also... better than him at playing video games!

Haruo's small world wavers...
Thoughts : Finally we get the conclusion to one of the very few shows where nobody minds the CGI, cool gaming history, good laughs, two girls who are impossible to choose between and a stunning end. High Score Girl II was worth every episode.

Shokugeki no Souma: Shin no Sara


Synopsis : Yukihira Souma, who has been honing his cooking skills at his family diner "Yukihira" all his life, enters a super elite culinary academy called "Totsuki Saryo Culinary Academy". He improves as a chef through interactions with other chefs in and out of the academy but everything changes when Nakiri Azami has taken over the chief in command position at the academy. With the Central Gourmet Organization ruling over the academy, the students are no longer allowed to cook freely. Souma and friends stood against the regime and as a result, they were labeled as rebels of the Academy!

Season of the Advancement Exams arrive. They managed to pass the exams despite some interference but Cenrral Gourmet Organization will stop at nothing! Finally, some of Souma's friends lose and are sentenced to be expelled! In order to breakthrough this situation, Souma and the remaining rebels challenge new Council members and Azami regime to Régiment du Cuisine!

The 1st BOUT was won by the rebels with ease but this is only the beginning of the battle to decide their fates. 2nd BOUT is about to begin!

Will Souma and others be able to take the seats at the Council and save their friends!?
PV : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7VvIwMEiEU
AniDB: https://anidb.net/anime/14951
Thoughts : The fourth season of  Food Wars gave us food porn, in more ways than one, some really heartbreaking moments and some epic moments as well. They did a fantastic job of finishing off the Azami arc and I'm glad to see the final arc is going to be animated as well.

Psycho-Pass 3

Synopsis : Two inspectors are newly assigned to the Public Safety Bureau's Criminal Investigation Division Unit 1. Shindou Arata, Japanese and Kei Michael Ignatov, East European who has been naturalized in Japan have been friends beyond nationality since their childhood. In the unsolved case over export of the SIBYL Systems and the leakage of technology, Arata's father committed suicide after he killed Kei's brother. Since then, they turn out to be the bereaved family members of the offender and victim. Both Arata and Kei become inspectors to look for the truth behind the mysterious case. They deeply trust and care for each other as they team up and lead the rebellious enforces to follow the cases one after another.
Thoughts : The third season of Psycho Pass did a great job of adding even more mystery to the futuristic police anime, the new characters were in no way a bad addition and we got to see some REALLY surprising things that happened to some of the original cast. I do so hope for more...also that last scene still haunts me..

En`en no Shouboutai

Synopsis : Year 198 of the Solar Era in Tokyo, special fire brigades are fighting against a phenomenon called spontaneous human combustion where humans beings are turned into living infernos called "Infernals". While the Infernals are first generation cases of spontaneous human combustion, later generations possess the ability to manipulate flames while retaining human form. Shinra Kusakabe, a youth who gained the nickname Devil's Footprints for his ability to ignite his feet at will, joins the Special Fire Force Company 8 which is comprised of other flame users as they work to extinguish any Infernals they encounter. As a faction that is creating Infernals appears, Shira begins to uncover the truth behind a mysterious fire that caused the death of his family twelve years ago.
Thoughts : It's been a while since I've been really excited about a new Shounen battle anime, and Fire Force had the right spark for me. I'm pretty sure everyone that saw it can't wait for more to come out. My only question is, will we ever see some romance in this franchise ;)?

Honzuki no Gekokujou: Shisho ni Naru Tame ni wa Shudan o Erande Iraremasen

Synopsis : Motosu Urano, a book-loving college student and soon-to-be librarian, ends up crushed to death beneath a pile of books during an earthquake. With her dying breath, she wishes to be reincarnated in a world where she can read books forever. Fate, however, would have other plans, as she awakens in the body of a young girl named Myne in a world of low literacy rate and where books are expensive, scarce, and only provided to nobility. Myne, retaining her memories from her previous life, decides to create and print her own books so that she can read them again.
Thoughts : I know what you are all thinking, an ISEKAI anime made this list? Well...yes, because Honzuki is that damn good. It's just a shame we have to wait some time to see more of it, because they made me bloody curious. Anyway if you haven't yet. Watch this wholesome anime that will tug at your heartstrings

That's my top 5 series for the past Fall season, and I'm pretty sure a lot of you have questions about your pics, like Vinland Saga. All those questions will be answered below.

Sword Art Online - Alicization - War of Underworld : What is basically the second part of the Alicization arc was actually an entertaining watch with some great action scenes but with an awkward ending spot. They really should have made the Alicization arc a long continues series, instead of chopping it in parts. 

DR. Stone : A pretty fun shounen anime filled with girls with eyes very far apart. Pacing was off here and there but I am looking forward to the next arc.

Vinland Saga : What was slated as "the anime to look out for" the past season, I love vikings so I mostly watched it for that. It was only the Prologue and generally got very high ratings, but I just couldn't find a liking to any of the characters and pacing felt sluggish for me.
Hataage! Kemono Michi : Isekai wrestling, it's no secret that I'm wishing for the isekai boom to be over, but this anime was a fun enough watch, as long as you go into it with low expectations.

Fairy Gone Part 2 : Fairy Gone is one of those anime, like Aldnoah Zero, where it shows a split-cour is a horrible idea. In Fairy Gone's case it would have brought a generally better experience to watching it, especially as the second half is significantly better than the first.

Strike the Blood III : Yes the super power filled harem battle anime is one of those guilty pleasures of mine, and it seems the 4th OVA series has been announced.

Bokutachi wa Benkyou ga Dekinai S2 : Frustrating anime original ending aside. Bokuben s2 was pretty fun, if only they didn't ruin it in the end. At least there is still the manga right?

Granblue Fantasy The Animation S2 : This is one of the better game to anime adaptations that have come out in a while, though it still feels disjointed at times.

Ore wo Suki nano wa Omae dake ka yo : Speaking of frustrating endings, with OreSuki we have to wait for an OVA to come out to see the real end. Cute girls and laughs aside, this anime really had a lot of 4d chess going on...

Kono Oto Tomare S2: I loved the first season of Kono Oto Tomare, and a adored the second season. It's a damn shame not more people watched this gem of a show.

ZX - Code Reunion : Set in the same world as ZX Ignition, ZX Code Reunion doesn't require you to have seen Ignition as it's a story on it's on, and none of the characters from the previous anime is involved. All in all it's a decent watch with cute girls, a fair bit of action and a predictable end.

Null Peta : What initially made me wonder "what a strange short anime" turned into something a lot darker nearing the last episodes. If you have some spare time, check it out ;)

Houkago Saikoro Club : Do you like boardgames? Then this anime is perfect for you.

Hoshiai no Sora : Even though Softenni is still the greatest soft tennis anime out there. Stars Align was really good, just be warned some really messed up things happen in this one.

Special 7 Special Crime Investigation Unit : Special 7 was an extremely fun "Cop anime" mixed with a fair bit of fantasy. Watch it for the Ninja ;P


No Guns Life : This futuristic anime filled with people with mechanical limb, and sometimes head, replacements was pretty rad. Had a fair bit of conspiracy thrown in for good measure, great visuals, good laughs and a satisfying story. Just the end felt a bit off to me.

Shin Chuuka Ichiban! : A remake of a classic anime, and still a fun watch, especially if you like cooking anime, filled with underground organisations  and a team battling the evil by cooking. I was kinda hoping it would be longer.

Shinchou Yuusha : This Isekai anime was pretty darn fun, and had quite a bit of unexpected feels nearing the end. Well worth the watch.

Watashi, Nouryoku wa Heikinchi de tte Itta yo ne! : If someone told you Fall 2019 was full of Isekai anime, they wouldn't be lying. Weirdly a lot of them were pretty good. Especially Nouryoku. Cute girls doing adventuring? would be an apt description.

Choyoyu : This isekai was probably the furthest away from believable, especially with absurd shit like a high school student being a "Genius Doctor" yet there she is, still in school. Don't get me wrong the show wasn't a bad watch, just full of absurdities..

Val x Love : What would an anime season be without a raunchy harem anime? Val X Love's premise aside, and wimpy yet scary main character. It had some fun moments.

That wraps up the FALL 2019 anime season. For those still reading at this point, thank you. And as a extra One Punch Man 2 had two fun but Short OVA's that came out and the Seishun Buta Yarou wa Yumemiru Shoujo no Yume o Minai movie is a must watch. What were your thoughts on the Fall 2019 season?
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