Go-Toubun no Hanayome
Synopsis : One day, a poor high school second-year named Uesugi Futarou comes across a private tutoring gig with good pay. But his pupils are his classmates!! And they're quintuplets!! A-and they're all gorgeous girls, but they're also troublemakers who hate to study and are on the verge of flunking out! And his first task is simply gaining the sisters' trust?! Every day is a party! The curtain is rising on the Nakano quintuplets' quirky romantic comedy with five times the cute!!
Thoughts : The Quintessential Quintuplets was a fantastic romcom with a slight twist on the normal cookie cutter formula that I enjoyed from start to finish, I know the manga is still ongoing so it's going to take a while till we find out who he ends up with but the journey is what matters most.
Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken
Synopsis : Lonely thirty-seven-year-old Mikami Satoru is stuck in a dead-end job, unhappy with his mundane life, but after dying at the hands of a robber, he awakens to a fresh start in a fantasy realm...as a slime monster! As he acclimates to his goopy new existence, his exploits with the other monsters set off a chain of events that will change his new world forever!
Thoughts : If by some weird chance you haven't heard of That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime you are probably living under a rock, or recently woken up from cryocynic sleep. Either way Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken is a fantastic show that reminded me quite a bit of Overlord. The second half did have some pacing issues though.
Hinomaru Zumou
Synopsis : It is a divine ritual, a martial art, a combat sport—it's sumo!!
A "small" new student, Ushio Hinomaru, appears before the weak little sumo club of Oodachi High School! The words "big" and "heavy" are the rules to this sport, which does not fit this newbie any inch, but this guy goes and does what...!? Ushio and the small sumo club climbs its way to the top! The goal is Hinoshita Kaisan, a title for the highest rank in professional sumo, equivalent of Yokozuna.
Thoughts : It's no surprise by now that I'm a huge fan of sports anime in general. Hinomaru Sumo is a great example of a sports anime that doesn't waste too much time on unnecessary drama. The protagonist stops at nothing to achieve his dream even if the gods of sumo have forsaken him, and he does it with a great mindset as well. Also you get to learn about Sumo :D
3D Kanojo: Real Girl (2019)
Synopsis : An emo otaku like Hikaru managed to get a girlfriend. It's been a real whirlwind. His love skills are so pathetically weak that after starting dating he kept making her mad, making her cry, hurting her feelings... the most worthless boyfriend. But... somehow they still manage to stick together.
Thoughts : 3D Kanojo Real Girl really doesn't have a lot going for it based on first impressions, the name is stupid, the synopsis sounds dumb as heck and the first season had almost no budget for animation. That being said the story and the characters were great. So good that the second season had a significant better budget and I'm so glad it did. Really a powerful high school romance anime with a hint of "your lie in april" mixed with "golden time" nearing the end.
Doukyonin wa Hiza, Tokidoki, Atama no Ue.
Synopsis : The story of Mikazuki Subaru, a novelist who is shy and struggles in relationships with other people, and a cat who was dumped by humans and lived a tough life on the streets. Through a twist of fate, the two of them end up living together. This heartwarming tale illustrates day-to-day life through the eyes of both man and cat. These moments seem trivial, but as they build upon themselves, the two become family and find happiness in their life together.
Thoughts : Yes this anime is adorable, yes I love cats, but that's not my sole reasons for loving this anime. It had some surprisingly good emotional moments, especially as Subaru realized what his parents were really doing for him and he was facing his regrets.
As always that's my personal top 5 anime from the Winter 2019 season, I'm pretty sure a lot of people disagree with my choices and are curious where their shows of choice are. Read on!
Date a Live Season 3 : The latest in the Date a Live franchise, lots of cute girls but the story as always is lacking. Also Kurumi needed more screen time... that being said it's still enjoyable to watch.
Sword Art Online : Alicization : Easily one of the better arcs since the first SAO, unfortunately we have to wait for some time to see the rest of it. Though there was some trickery with breast sizes between Asuna and Suguha
Endro : An adorable fantasy adventure anime that starts off at the end. A good mix of gags and some yuri undertones. If you want something fun to watch to destress with, You can do far worse than Endro.
Boogiepop and Others : More than a decade ago I found Boogiepop Phantom, it goes without saying I was overjoyed to see a return to the Boogiepop world, it's not a show for people expecting to be spoonfed information, but not overly complicated either. Has a fair bit of gore in it and the origin of Boogiepop is kind of explained for once.
Kaguya-sama: Love Is War : The gag anime that birthed the most memes this past season for sure, it;s a fun watch when you get past the kinda iffy first episode. Has plenty of laughs and some cute moments.
Radiant : Radiant is what Black Clover could have been if ASTA STOPPED YELLING. A good magic based shounen anime in an interesting settings where the lines of good and evil are a bit blurred
BanG Dream! Season 2 : I was surprised to see BanG Dream! getting a sequel, which surprised me even more was the use of CGI, which took a while to get used to. Other than the animation choices the second season had a lot better music in it and generally a much better pacing as well. Where in the First season I just wished the show to be over, in the Second I found myself enjoying all the episodes.
Yakusoku no Neverland : Ah the Promised Neverland, one of the more popular shows from the Winter 2019 season with it's very strong start and great end. Just some of the early episodes were a bit lackluster.
Grimms Noted the Animation : An interesting take on The Brother's Grimm's tales, but unfortunately a lof of the episodes felt uninspired and the monster of the week formula got old fast.
High Score Girl Extra Stage : With the announcement of a second season and the release of the three High Score Girl OVA's I was over the moon, as you know by now I loved the original series and the OVA's were everything I hoped for, Now I'm left wanting more!
Ikkitousen Western Wolves : I'm glad to report that in Western Wolves, Ikkitousen is still the lewd uncensored martiall anime we knew and enjoyed ;)
Ueno-san wa Bukiyou : This anime was surprisingly sexual in nature, considering the animation style. It was a decent watch when I had a few minutes available.
Rage of Bahamut Manaria Friends : a More relaxed almost slice of life series in the Rage of Bahamut franchise, a very pleasant watch. Especially if you like dragon girls...
Kaze ga tsuyoku fuiteiru : The best(and only) anime about marathon running I've seen to date. But more than that it's just a fantastic anime in general, which works well to break down stereotypes in it's story telling. Well worth the watch
To Aru Majutsu no Index III : The third season of A Certain Magical Index, this anime has a lot of mixed feelings from anime fans. I was a bit confused why they kept throwing in all these side stories instead of focusing on Kamijou, index and misaka. Luckily in the last arc it all came together and the pay off, for me at least, was worth it.
Non Non Biyori Vacation : The Non Non Biyori movie was everything we wanted. Except it left us wanting more Non Non Biyori so I guess that's a negative. But it had everything that made the series such a joy to watch.
Mirai no Mirai : It's hard to place Mirai no Mirai, it's a really well made movie, with a good lesson. I guess you could call it a family movie with some fantasy. Either way great stuff.
Trinity Seven: Heavens Library & Crimson Lord : The second Trinity Seven movie thankfully was a big improvement over the First movie. I do feel the movie format works well for the Trinity Seven franchise.
Mob Psycho 100 Season 2 : I'm fairly sure that everyone will agree, the second season of Mob Psycho is a huge improvement over the first. Personally the first season felt like people were trying to capitalize on the success of One Punch Man, but season 2 really made me go 'WOW"
Egao no Daika : Price of Smile is one of those anime that I wish something happened quicker, I mean sure the countless death scenes of main cast were sad, but in the end I never felt quite satisfied watching it.
Fukigen na Mononokean Second Season : Another anime I was surprised to see get a sequel but I'm glad it did, and I'm also glad they focused on deepening the world and main characters for a change. Still no Zenko romance though :(
Kakegurui XX : The second season of gambling and crazy faces, I'm glad to say, was just as good and outright weird as I expected. Still no Akagi though but still pretty good.
Mahou Shoujo Tokushusen Asuka : Magical Girl Spec Ops Asuka kind of took my by surprise, I mean sure it's another twist on the magical girl anime, But the enemies that massacred humanity look like plush toys and then there is the levels of unexpected gore in this anime...not bad :D
Girly Air Force : I went into this anime with absolutely no expectations, it kind of reminded me of Aoki Hagane meets Strike Witches, but with no shimapan and not as good. Still enjoyable watch though and it does grow on you.
Watashi ni Tenshi ga Maiorita! : Initially I thought Wataten was just a Uchimaid-lite, Luckily that was not the case at all. Granted parts of it was still goshdarn disturbing, but those aside it's a enjoyable watch
Kouya no Kotobuki Hikoutai : Easily the anime this season that had the best use of audio, those plane battles were such a treat to experience. Thoroughly enjoyed this anime, I just wish they would have shared the secret as to how the "holes' came to be.
And that covers all the anime I watched that ended with the Winter 2019 season. How do you feel about the season in general? Did you enjoy a fair bit of shows? Or was it more "meh" for you?
No comments:
Post a Comment