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animebw · 1 year

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Short Reflection: Fall 2022 Anime

Was Fall 2022 the single most stacked season of anime ever? It’s certainly a contender, at least. Not only were there once again far too many good shows to keep up with, not only were a lot of those shows really fucking good, but there was such a wide variety that no matter your tastes- shonen, slice of life, mecha, political drama, whatever the fuck Akiba Maid War counts as- you were basically guaranteed at least one phenomenal show to stay hooked on. And if you’re someone like me who appreciates pretty much every genre as long as it’s done well? Then my god, I hope you skipped lunch, because this feast never fucking ended. I’ve already given my thoughts on Yama no Susume’s underwhelming fourth season (6.5/10), Mob Psycho 100′s safe but deeply satisfying finale (8/10), and the bonkers roller coaster of Chainsaw Man (8.5/10), and there’s still way too many anime left to talk about. So without any further ado, let’s dive right in to the disappointments, the hidden gems, and the runaway smash hits that closed out this fantastic year for anime.

My Hero Academia Season 6: Unfinished/10

There’s not much I have to say about this one yet, as I’m planning to give it a full review when it’s all over. But I at least wanted to say this: I fucking told y’all My Hero Academia was going to reclaim its crown. I told y’all this show was eventually gonna earn its place back as one of the greatest long-running shonen of all time. But nooooo, you were all busy pretending that a few lackluster fight scenes meant this show was the worst garbage ever and handing out accolades to gorgeously animated pieces of stale cardboard like Demon Slayer for plastering pretty wallpaper all over the vapid nonsense at their core. Well, how does it feel now, huh? How does it feel to remember what an actual great shonen action series looks like? This is the best that MHA has been since season 3, and while it’s gonna fall to the next cours to determine where season 6 ends up on the pantheon, it’s so fucking good to see this show operating at full capacity again.

To Your Eternity Season 2: Unfinished/10

Genuine question: what the absolute fuck happened to To Your Eternity? I still remember when that incredible first episode dropped back in 2021 and everyone was ready to crown it the new patron saint of cry-inducing philosophical fantasy. How did we get from that to this? To increasingly hacky production values that rarely rise above passable and never once manage to capture the awe and wonder this story is so clearly shooting tor? To writing so tonally inconsistent it decides to introduce a cast of wacky over-the-top camera-muggers in this serious and serene fantasy yarn? Didn’t this show used to be good? Didn’t it used to be a genuinely compelling exploration of human nature and immortality and moving on from loss? When did it fall apart so badly that it barely even resembles the show it used to be? And that’s not even getting into some of the most abysmal queerbaiting I’ve seen in a very long time. There were definitely worse anime this year, but nothing else left me feeling so utterly betrayed. I can only pray the slight upswing of quality it’s experiencing in its current arc continues, because otherwise this is going to end up the most crushing disappointment of anime in 2022.

Reincarnated as a Sword: 3/10

Let us all stop for a moment and consider the absolute state of the isekai genre. Here we have yet another story of some personality-deficient schlub transported to another world that runs on JRPG logic, where he instantly becomes the most OP person (or, well, sword) around and never has to struggle for anything. The characters and setting are all as painfully generic as every other entry in the genre. The plot wastes so much time rattling off video game stats to justify its boring OP worldbuilding that it forgets to write any sort of interesting or nuanced personalities for the people in its world. The production values are passably okay without ever showing a single shred of personality beyond the most by-the-basics staples of this watered-down Dragon Quest backwash. There is nothing worth recommending here, nothing you can get from this show that you can’t get in a million better ways elsewhere. And yet, Reincarnated as a Sword has one thing going for it: it doesn’t try and justify slavery. In fact, its real protagonist is an enslaved catgirl who breaks free from her chains and seeks to prove her worth, with the titular sword serving as her paternal guardian. And that alone puts this dull, uninspired, pointless slab of processed anime loaf above a decent chunk of its contemporaries in the isekai genre. Because that is how fucking far the bar has been lowered at this point. God help us all.

My Master Has No Tail: 4/10

The frustrating thing about My Master Has No Tail is that there’s not really anything wrong with it. It’s a cute little historical anime about a tanuki girl learning rakugo from a fox spirit in a time of huge technological upheaval for Japan, a time when all the old spirits are at risk of losing their place in the world and must find some way to adapt to the new era alongside humanity. That premise should result in something really interesting, or at least unique enough for a mellow slice-of-life hobby show with a supernatural twist. And yet despite the lack of things to complain about, I just could not get on this show’s wavelength. It just doesn’t push far enough in any direction to be memorable; the animation is competent but also as basic as it gets, the characters are inoffensive but simple, the comedy is decent but rarely rises above a chuckle. Every single aspect of this show is just a little too underwhelming to really make an impact, and with nothing but average everywhere you look, the whole thing ends up kinda boring. I do like the themes it’s playing with, how art is used as a vessel for spirits and humans to keep their connections strong in an increasingly secular, industrialized world, but it’s not enough to bring this show up anywhere above harmlessly mediocre. What a shame.

Arknights Prelude to Dawn: 4.5/10

I find myself fairly conflicted about the first season of Arknights. On the one hand, it’s a relief to get a gacha game adaptation with some actual gravitas behind it, and the story of a post-infection dystopian world struggling between compassion and justice has some genuinely complex things to say about the morality of living through hellish situations. And its cinematic production ambitions ensure it’s rarely boring to look at. On the other hand, though, I get the sense that whoever was behind the script didn’t take into account the differences between what works narratively in a video game and what works in a TV show. Divorced from their role as an audience surrogate/POV who needs to be explained everything so the player can understand how to play, the mostly silent Doctor comes off as a nothing character who could be cut from the show without changing anything. Ditto the under-explained, underutilized tactical cell phone that probably only existed in the first place to justify how the game’s combat looked and functioned, and the dialogue that’s mostly a series of plot points taking us from one Important Setpiece to the next. I want to like what Arknights is doing, but it’s not until the shockingly great final two episodes that it starts to feel like a proper show and not just a lavishly animated cutscene compilation. Hopefully the second season continues that upward trajectory, and maybe then we’ll be able to call this a truly excellent gacha anime.

Do It Yourself: 5/10

Between this show and Healer Girl from earlier this year, I think I’ve come to the conclusion that I really need more than vibes to keep me interested in a show. Don’t get me wrong, vibes are good! But there’s a whole subsection of cute-girls shows that are basically nothing but vibes, and absent anything else to sink my teeth into, I find myself feeling very little connection to them. You’d think Do It Yourself might have a little more going on, what with its near-future setting, stabs at commentary on the importance of not letting automation fully run everything, and extremely gay undertones. But no, it’s mostly just cute girls doing DIY carpentry for twelve episodes. It’s a show for you to turn your brain off to and just, well, like I said, vibe to the expressive FLCL-esque art style and richly detailed guide to DIY carpentry with a bunch of intermittenly interesting characters. And while I can appreciate those vibes well enough, there’s so little intrigue to anything that I can’t really bring myself to care about it all that much. I dunno, maybe they shouldn’t have kept the one character who actually generates interesting narrative friction at arm’s length for nearly the entire show. And maybe they should’ve let Serafu and Pudding kiss. Actually, no maybes there, they definitely should’ve done that.

Play It Cool, Guys (1st Half): 5.5/10

Here’s a pleasant little surprise I don’t think anyone saw coming. Sure, this slice-of-life about a bunch of clumsy dudes navigating their own awkwardness isn’t gonna set the world on fire, but it’s become one of the more unusually absorbing short anime I’ve encountered in a while. I think what draws me to Play It Cool, Guys is that it’s just very unpretentious; it promises a chill twelve minutes every week of low-key sweet-natured comedy, and that’s exactly what you get. The punchlines aren’t amazing, but they pretty much always hit. The characters aren’t very complex or interesting, but they all carry themselves well enough that you enjoy seeing them on screen. It’s even got a certain kind of confidence to just be so low-key and not try to overextend itself with cheap gimmicks or recycled plot beats to grab your attention, because it trusts that its word and characters are charming enough to earn your investment on their own. And you know what? That confidence is not misplaced. It might not be my favorite thing in the world, but I have a sneaking suspicion it’s just going to keep growing on me as it moves into its second cours. Check back at the end of winter, and I might just end up giving it a much more enthusiastic recommendation.

Urusei Yatsura (1st Half): 6/10

Is there still a point to Urusei Yatsura today? Yes, Rumiko Takahashi’s groundbreaking rom-com about an alien girl falling in love with a philandering douchenozzle invented the anime rom-com as we know it, not to mention possibly starting waifu culture itself with Lum. But fifty years later, with all its component parts iterated upon by basically every romance-adjacent anime that followed it, does the original property have anything left to offer on its own merits? Or is it a relic of a bygone time, no longer useful as anything but a historical artifact for tropes and archetypes that have all been used better by the works it ended up inspiring? Halfway through this modern reboot, I’m still not sure what the answer to that question is going to be. What I can say for sure is that this show makes me laugh more often than it doesn’t, and while not all of it has aged gracefully, it’s oddly refreshing to see just how much more egalitarian the anime rom-com used to be. This is no incel wank fantasy where a loser guy gets all the hot girls by doing basically nothing; this is a show where everyone’s just a little bit nuts, and you’re not so much rooting for anyone to get together as you are just enjoying the chaos that results when all these different flavors of asshole butt heads. That’s far more my speed than any of the wish fulfillment harem slop that learned all the wrong lessons from Urusei Yatsura’s success. Whether or not it’ll end up anything more than a series of mostly amusing episodic sketches remains to be seen, but for now, I’m content to just watch the madness unfold. Plus, it’s got Hiroshi Kamiya and Mamoru Miyano sniping at each other like every episode, you can’t not love that.

Pop Team Epic Season 2: 6/10

Sometimes, you just need a little chaos in your life. That sentence probably sums up the appeal of Pop Team Epic better than anything else I could ever write. Sometimes, you just want to let loose on a stream of consciousness through utterly batshit comedy skits that switch tone and animation style on a dime, packed with references to countless things you’re only vaguely aware of, never quite sure if all this insanity has any kind of point or if the pointlessness is itself the point. Pop Team Epic is just fucking weird, y’all. But it’s the kind of weird that clearly comes from a group of talented people having a blast throwing anything and everything at the wall just because they can, not caring about whether any of it sticks or not because the messy, nonsensical act of creating the damn thing in the first place is reason enough for it to exist. What other show will give you a dating sim spoof, yaoi lesbians, legitimately great mecha action, a final fantasy parody, gratuitous violence, a live action flipbook segment, and a full-on tokusatsu show starring Aoi Shota as a time-traveling sentai hero, all in the space of 12 episodes? If that kind of memetic insanity is your jam, then you need to get this show in your eyeballs yesterday. Pop Team Epic makes no goddamn sense, and god bless it for that.

Spy x Family Part 2: 7/10

Does a show need a plot? Is it enough for it to simply wander through a bunch of random side quests and coast on charm alone? That certainly seems to be what Spy x Family is banking on; after a relatively plot-solid first part where most episodes had at least a little in the way of new developments, part 2 seems content mostly to put the Forger family members in a variety of amusing scenarios and leave all the big picture stuff in the background until the final episode. And it’s a testament to just how damn charming these characters are- and how slick the production continues to be- that it mostly gets away with it. it’s fun watching Loid, Yor, and Anya bumble about as they slowly figure out what it means to live a “normal” life. But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t impatient for the plot to pick back up. I dunno, after so many episodes of just faffing about, I felt myself getting kind of burnt out on the sitcom hijinks. And it doesn’t help that the biggest new character introduced is basically just a genderswapped Yuri, a.k.a. the worst character in the series. Spy x Family works best when it’s balancing its fluffy and kickass sides, and part 2 just leaned a little too far into fluff for my tastes. I still had a lot of fun, but I’m more than ready for the Ostania-Westalis conflict to be important again.

Blue Lock (1st Half): 7/10

The premise of Blue Lock is one of those immediately head-slapping moments of “Wow, why has no one tried this before?” brilliance: what if you took a shonen sports anime and made it an edgy death game? Sports anime are already full of larger-than-life personalities and conflicts, so taking that over-the-top competitive camp and applying it to a situation where the characters have to destroy each other to get ahead in a winner-takes-all battle royale is such a no-brainer, I’m shocked it’s taken this long for someone to come up with it. Sure, you don’t actually die if you lose Blue Lock, but losing the ability to play competitive soccer ever again might as well be death for a shonen sports boy, so it still counts. Point is, this premise is certifiably genius. Which makes it slightly disappointing that so far, the show isn’t taking as much advantage of it as it could. Don’t get me wrong, there’s some of the skullduggery and backstabbing you’d expect from your typical death game, but for the most part, Blue Lock just plays like a traditional soccer anime. A very good soccer anime, to be sure, but I find myself wishing it was willing to get nastier and edgier and really take advantage of its premise. Hell, it’s not even the best straightforward soccer anime this year; Ao Ashi has it beat in everything but animation. So count me a fan, but also count me hopeful that it leans more into what makes it unique going forward.

Raven of the Inner Palace: 7.5/10

In a fantasy-tinged version of Medieval China, there lives an imperial courtesan known as the Raven Consort. But unlike the other courtesans, her duties do not involve, well, nighttime visits. No, her mission is to put to rest the wandering spirits of the dead, the shades of those who died with regrets or unfinished business that still tie them to the world of the living. As long as anyone can remember, she’s lived alone, existing for nothing but her mission with no bonds to the world around her. But when a new emperor deposes the corrupt regime, he makes it his mission to set right everything his forebearers set wrong... including freeing the Raven Consort from her isolation. Thus begins one of the most absorbing anime I’ve watched all year, a story of the sins of the past as they claw at the fabric of the present, the struggle to untangle eons of societal oppression, and what it truly means to make amends for mistakes that left scars too big to ever heal. Raven of the Inner Palace is a bit of a slow burn, but when it takes off, it fucking takes off. And I know most of you barely even heard about it because it was overshadowed by all the louder, flashier shows this season, so consider this your wake-up call. Don’t sleep on this one, it’s really damn good.

Akiba Maid War: 8.5/10

Honestly, I don’t even want to say anything about this one. I just want to tell you all that you need to fucking watch Akiba Maid War and let you experience its many surprises as deliriously blind as I did. So if that alone is enough to convince you to go watch it, then stop what you’re doing and go watch it before you’re spoiled on anything. But if you need a little extra convincing, then consider the following: what if I told you that this seemingly innocuous maid cafe show is not, in fact, a quaint little otaku-centric slice of life, but a full-on pastiche of yakuza movies that takes all the genre’s bloodshed and mayhem and filters it through maid-colored glasses? A show where maids gun each other down and jockey for power and get in vicious turf battles and yet never once break maid keyfabe? Where the simple joke of “yakuza movie but they’re maids” is played so straight and pushed so far to its absolute limit that it somehow wraps back around to being both a completely ludicrous parody of itself and a completely genuine, 100% heart-on-its-sleeve love letter to both seemingly incompatible sides of its double identity? And walks that seemingly impossible tonal tightrope near flawlessly before bringing it all home in a final episode so pitch-perfect it forced me to pump my score up half a point just from how hard it stuck the goddamn landing? Are you convinced yet? Did I mention there’s a thirty-six year old murder maid who totally kicks fucking ass and doesn’t let anyone shame her for being a middle-aged woman working a cutesy job? What more do you want from me? JUST GO FUCKING WATCH THIS SHOW ALREADY I SWEAR TO GOD

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury: 8.5/10

I had no idea what to expect going into my first ever Gundam anime. Sure, I was excited to finally get a taste of what this storied franchise had to offer, and the excellent prologue and promise of an interesting female protagonist were certainly reasons to be hopeful, but as someone who’s rarely clicked with mecha as a genre, I wasn’t sure how this first foray into the definitive mecha anime would turn out. What I never expected- what I don’t think anyone could’ve expected- was that The Witch From Mercury wasn’t content to just be the first even female-led Gundam. No, this show decided to be REVOLUTIONARY GIRL UTENA. IN SPACE. WITH MECHA BATTLES. And I don’t think I need to say a goddamn thing more to convince you to watch this show. It’s goddamn Gundam Utena! It’s the queerest, most socially conscious anime of all time re-imagined with a futuristic metal exoskeleton, only with Utena’s symbolism-drenched ruminations on gender and patriarchy replaced with a no-less-compelling grounded portrayal of the evils of space capitalism and the political consequences of corrupt systems. Well, presumably; this first cours has mostly focused on the ground-level school romance antics as it builds up all that big picture stuff in the background. But I say again: GUNDAM. FUCKING. UTENA. I couldn’t have picked a better introduction to the world of Gundam if I tried. And as long as the second cours doesn’t shit the bed, this is going to go down in history as one of the greatest things to over come out of the mecha genre.

Bocchi the Rock: 9.5/10

And yet. Despite all the big shonens and bold anime originals, despite Chainsaw Man and My Hero Academia and Gundam Utena, when all was said and done, one series rose above them all. One series that looked at all those big names with a smirk and sailed past them as naturally as breathing. Ladies, gentlemen, and everyone in between, Bocchi the Rock is a goddamn motherfucking masterpiece. It takes the band-girls coming-of-age majesty, the painfully relatable social anxiety of Watamote, and the sheer animation flexing of Nichijou, and blends them all together into a gut-busting, tear-jerking, jaw-dropping tour de force that raises the bar on what slice-of-life anime is capable of just as thoroughly as K-On did thirteen years ago. Hitori Gotou is a socially paralyzed weirdo who’s never had a real friend because her anxiety’s too overwhelming to make friends, but she knows how to play some mean guitar. So when a chance encounter leads to her joining a band, she resolves to stick with it and try to finally break out of her shell, one hilarious misstep at a time. It’s a wonderful story of overcoming what holds you back and finding a community that accepts you for who you are, brought to life with some of the most astonishingly Extra(tm) animation that regularly left me choking on my own laughter. And the music uniformly kicks ass, and the incredible supporting cast provides a wide array of perspectives of introversion and extroversion, and Ryou is such an asshole and I love her, and fucking hell, I love this show! Other anime may be deeper or more complex or have more to say, but almost nothing else is so consistently charming. Every second of this show is delightful. Every moment is lovable. It’s a new gold standard for animated comedy, for cute girls, for coming-of-age, and for music anime in general. Bocchi the Rock fucking rules, and every single one of you needs to give it a watch. Something tells me this is gonna be one of those shows we’re still going to be gushing over for many, many years to come.

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risingshards · 1 year

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I'm really emotional about this anime season ending already hahah usually I watch 1-2 new shows but this season I made an effort to watch a lot more (I even very dorkily made a schedule to keep track of everything) and was rewarded with a TON of instant new favorites like DIY, Bocchi, Akiba Maid War, Witch From Mercury (well I watched gundam growing up but still NEW gundam) with returning stuff like Spy X Family and Pop Team being fun as well. IDK if it was just that I lucked out and had a ton of shows to my tastes but this season felt special to me and I'm probably always gonna look back on it fondly. I hope winter 2023 has plenty of great stuff too!

#fall 2022 anime #fall anime #anime #gundam witch from mercury #bocchi the rock #do it yourself!!#spy x family #pop team epic #akiba maid war #management of a novice alchemist #chainsaw man #bluelock

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ladyloveandjustice · 1 year

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Fall 2022 Anime Overview- Gundam: The Witch from Mercury

It’s time to start reviewing the anime I watched in the fall season! There’s some anime I chose to save for later, like Bocchi the Rock! (which I’m watching now and enjoying) and Raven of the Inner Palace, though I’ve heard great things about it and it’s a rare shoujosei adaptation so definitely go check it out! I might do a review of that when I do get to watch it, since it’s been overlooked this season with so many heavy hitters.

But onto what I did watch! And this one has so much to chew on it gets a whole post to itself.

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury

A top contender for anime of the year for me. It’s not over yet though, so I pray it sticks the landing with the next season(s).

The anime follows Suletta Mercury, a girl who arrives at a new school (and new planet!) with her giant robot Aerial. Quickly she discovers a girl named Miorine, who’s desperate to escape to Earth because her bigwig father has decreed that people can duel with their giant robots for Miorine’s hand in marriage. Mio is not at all on board with this, especially because her current fiance is an abusive jerk. Suletta confronts the jerk fiance, challenges him to a duel and...well, you can probably guess what happens, especially if you’ve seen Revolutionary Girl Utena.

(And if you haven’t, go watch it! Though look up content warnings if you’ve got specific triggers or don’t often deal with darker media. I’ve got an episode breakdown here!)

Anyway, Gundam said Gay Space Rights.

Meanwhille, Suletta’s mother, Prospera (yes, it’s a codename AND a reference to The Tempest) has a thirst for revenge after a horrible wrong was done to her by the terrible corporation Mio’s dad heads, and has secret plan brewing behind the scenes. There’s alson conflict between Earthlings and the space-faring people who are exploiting them. Meanwhile all poor Suletta wanted to do is make some friends and enjoy a couple of dates!

This anime is so good so far, and was specifically targeted for me in so many ways it’s not funny. A fun cast of characters? Well written queer girls? Shadowy parental manipulation? A protagonist who’s sweet and shy yet supremely dangerous? Good action that’s driven by good character dynamics? Lots of cool women kicking ass? Tangled relationships and tons or well written relationship drama?

I’ve definitely enjoyed a few mecha shows (like Planet With),but I tend to bounce off them, in part because I have a hard time telling what’s happening when robots are fighting and the technobabble starts flowing. That still is occasionally an issue in this show, but because the fights are so driven by character conflict and there’s clear stakes I can follow along with (like the fact using a Gundam for too long is supposed to kill you), it’s not as much as an issue as it usually is. And Gundam knew exactly how to lure me in. The second I heard the whole first episode was a Utena reference, it pulled me in and I’ve enjoyed every second since.

The whole first episode echoing Utena does show the show’s pedigree (the series composer actually wrote the Utena light novels) and offers a little reassurance for audiences hoping it delivers on its queer storylines But the show is no rip-off, and it it very much does its own thing from that point on. Suletta isn’t Utena, and Miorine isn’t Anthy and this is apparent from the first episode. Suletta is achingly insecure, Miorine isn’t resigned to being a bride and has a short temper and abrasive attitude. The show isn’t about gender or compulsory heterosexuality (so far), it just has a lot of complex female characters in a wide variety of roles and has a developing romance between two women as the central relationship.

But like Utena, abuse is a huge theme, but very specifically parental abuse. Both Miorine and Suletta are being used as tools by their parents in a complex political game- Miorine is aware of this (though not the full scope of it, probably) while poor Suletta is very much in the dark. The way the parents use their children is chilling, but not without complexity- there are reasons to sympathize with Prospera, even if her treatment of her daughter is unforgiveable. She feels like a person, even thought we don’t know her full story.

The show also isn’t subtle about it’s political themes!

That particular conflict has been bubbling in the background, but handled well so far (there are some great, more subtle moments, like the news showing the ‘weapons’ from the protest above, which included ‘molotov cocktails’ clearly put there by the police, and...an umbrella.) But even if works have themes I like or agree with, what really matters to me is the characters and if they’re executed well. Fortunately, the show has a loveable cast whose journeys I look forward to with both excitement and trepidation.

Whether it’s the wonderfully angry Chuchu and her legendary [redacted] in episode 4, or the unpredictable arc of what started out as the show’s biggest (teenage) jerk, or seeing the funny romantic rivalries Lilique unwittingly gets entangled in, the show makes you care about these kids.

It’s also, as a side note, the best treatment of fat people I’ve seen in anime. There are a ton of plus-sized people in different roles, and they’re never made fun of (except for one mild comment in a later episode that is quickly shut down, and the person apologizes). Lilique is a chubby girl who’s allowed to just be the cute romantic one of the group and is canonically popular with the boys. Considering how anime is usually the opposite of body-positive, it’s really nice to see.

The central relationship of the show is, of course, Suletta and Miorine. And it’s a really fun relationship to follow. Even with the Utena reference and casual acceptance of gay marriage, I was a little worried about being baited by the show. But I’m happy to say I’m really satisfied with the development of the relationship so far. Both Suletta and Miorine are layered characters, and it’s great to watch the girls’ feelings grow as they miscommunicate and struggle and learn more about each other. We watch what starts as an engagement of convenience grow into a real bond, and root for these girls every step of the way. And yes, they’re bringing the gay.

But the relationship, and the show, is not without its shocking twists, and the very last minute of the last episode of this show left me a puddle on the floor and begging for more.This show can grab your heart and rip it out and you’ll thank them for it.

All I’ll say is fans of fascinating, screwed up women will be happy. I’m certainly happy! For now, at least. I like this show a lot, so I hope it doesn’t screw up it’s second season. It’s built up a lot of trust for me, but I’ve had that trust betrayed before. Such is the curse of being an anime fan, and a fan in general.

But for now, I whole heartedly recommend it, and encourage everyone to check it out! It’s got all the good things and there’s a ton to speculate on. Come freak out and theorize over that post credits scene where [redacted] with me.

#gundam witch from mercury #gundam the witch from mercury #mobile suit gundam #gundam #mobile suit gundam the witch from mercury #revolutionary girl utena #anime overview #fall 2022 anime #my reviews #recs

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hairunowa · 11 months

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#cool doji danshi #play it cool guys #picg #hayate ichikura #ichikura hayate #anime #anime gif #hairunowa #fall 2022 anime

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anisongoftheday · 1 year

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BOCCHI THE ROCK! Episode 8

That Band by Kessoku Band

#bocchi the rock!#anime #anime music #fall 2022 anime #anisong of the day

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shopkeeps · 1 year

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I’m watching Lycoris Recoil right now and oh my god I cannot recommend this enough. The story is really interesting, the characters are really well written, the character designs are really charming, the art style and animation is beautiful, and there’s even canon queer characters (and possibly some romance between the two main girls?? It’s definitely not out of the realm of possibilities and they’re really cute together). The dub is also extremely well done if that’s how you prefer to watch it!!

#anime #anime reccs #anime reccomendations #lycoris recoil #lycoreco #chisato nishikigi #takina inoue #fall 2022 anime #fall anime 2022 #2022 anime

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444lpblue · 1 year

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Bocchi the Rock! #12 (Finale)

Episode Director and Storyboard: Keiichiro Saito Animation Director: Kerorira Bocchi is now over and what a ride it has been. The show's direction was one of the best in the entire year and the last episode was very much the same. The performance itself was a thing of beauty and I continue to love the faceless method that Saito seems to have fallen in love with at this point. It gives emphasis on the music and visually represents engagement from the crowd and the band in their own music.

The rest of the episode is filled with fun expressions and hilarious media-style switches that you just can't help with fall in love with.

With the amazing visuals plus Bocchi and her quirky bandmates. Bocchi the Rock is an amazing watch that everyone should honestly give a try. Here's to hoping we get a season 2!

#ぼっち・ざ・ろっく #BocchiTheRock #anime #fall 2022 anime

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amethystsoda · 2 years

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Crunchyroll Fall 2022 season graphics

#STACKED #fall 2022 anime #spy x family #bluelock #bllk #mha #bnha #mp100 #csm #chainsaw man #crunchyroll #pop team epic

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cherry-valentine · 1 year

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Fall 2022 Anime

Boku no Hero Academia Season 6 is the first season I’ve come into having already read the manga. Halfway through last season, I started reading the manga and have now caught up, so this is my first time starting a season while knowing exactly what’s going to happen. A plot summary seems silly at this point, so I’ll skip right to the meat of this write-up. In my opinion, the War Arc covered in this season is where the story peaked. This is by far my favorite arc, but it also ushers in some of the worst writing decisions I’ve ever seen in a series this popular. Luckily those baffling choices come in late enough in this arc that they don’t ruin it (they just ruin the rest of the series lol). I’ve long had a love-hate relationship with this show, because I enjoy it and it does a lot of things well (and the things it does well, it does really REALLY well), but it also pisses me off in a lot of ways (the treatment of the lady characters overall is my biggest gripe, though I will admit that this improves the longer the series goes on). But this season? So far? It’s fantastic. The animation is great, as usual. The fights are exciting, the little snippets of comedy (this is an overall serious arc though) are on point. This is also the arc that best displays the dark side of hero society, the corruption, the forgotten victims, the people who have suffered in this sort of world, which is fascinating. Shigaraki in particular makes an excellent villain, and that’s all I’m going to say about him to avoid manga spoilers (I could, and maybe will, write an entire essay about his character and how it’s developed in the manga). Since this arc is so damn good, BNHA is at the top of my list this season. A first for this series!

Blue Lock is a new sports anime, this one about soccer. Last season, while watching Ao Ashi (another soccer anime), I kept seeing Blue Lock mentioned in the comments as a “better soccer series”, and that it was getting an anime. Well here it is. While I do appreciate a good, straightforward sports anime like Ao Ashi, these days a sports anime has to stand out in some way to get me excited about it. Blue Lock stands out in two main ways: the high production values that give it outstanding visuals, and the absolutely bonkers premise (all the best high school strikers in Japan are gathered up, told to live 24/7 in a state of the art training camp, and are weeded out through grueling matches against each other and are encouraged to be traitorous assholes, all to arrive at one boy left to be the best striker in Japan). Right away, it separates itself from other sports anime with that setup. It effectively cuts out any and all drama that doesn’t involve the sport. These guys don’t go to school, so there are no scenes of them in class or interacting with characters not on their “team”. No scenes at home, involving family members. They don’t even have team managers or coaches. It really does boil the entire story down to these guys playing soccer. That’s a pretty bold move, but it pays off. And going back to those visuals, the animation quality is amazing. The character designs are vivid and interesting. The colors are just beautiful. The only complaint I have in this area is that the backgrounds are all pretty drab. This makes sense in context (as they’re living in a training facility), and actually might be a good thing, as it makes the colorful characters stand out even more. Speaking of which, all of them are fun, and the main character Isagi is easy to root for, even when his inner jerk is dragged out. All in all, Blue Lock is one of the better sports anime I’ve seen in a while.

Yowamushi Pedal has a new season. Watching it made me realize how much I missed this batshit crazy show. It’s a sports anime about bicycle racing, and it ranks just under Prince of Tennis as being one of the most unrealistic sports anime I’ve seen. From the guy who has named his pecs Andy and Frank (and literally talks to them, and they literally warn him of dangers!) to the skinny little guy who can immediately expand his torso like a balloon (something about being able to expand his lungs but it looks hilarious), to the tendency several riders have to go into a frenzy and race at top speed with their tongues hanging out of their heads (yes, dangle your tongues out while bicycling very fast through the mountains! Totally not a terrible idea!). Then there are the moments when a rider from one of the teams has to drop out of the race after doing something cool, for the benefit of the team (basically sacrificing himself). These are treated with all the drama and severity of literal death scenes, and it’s one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen. But above all of this, there’s the gloriously creepy villain Midousuji, who is hands-down the best villain in sports anime history. He’s gross and terrible and downright monstrous, but damn if he isn’t the most entertaining character in the show. The animation is fine, but the character designs are unique. This is a weird anime, but it’s never boring! Go into it expecting a wild, weird, fun time, and you won’t be disappointed.

Spy x Family is on its second cour, and there’s not much more I can say about it than I did a couple of seasons back. Following a highly skilled spy as he puts together a fake family consisting of a telepathic child, a wife who is a secret assassin, and now a precognitive dog, the show is adorable and very funny. The animation is stellar, with extremely expressive faces, lovely backgrounds, and characters that never fail to stay on model. It’s a little more fast paced than the usual “soothing feel good” anime, but for me it still falls into that category. Though the stakes are occasionally high (with characters being in actual mortal danger), the overall soft tone of this series assures us that the threats will always be neutralized, so there’s little tension in that regard. The charm of the show lies in its super likable cast and wonderful visuals. High on my watch list.

Raven of the Inner Palace is a unique series about a certain mysterious consort to the emperor in ancient China. Though she has the title of consort, she has little contact with the emperor and instead uses her magical powers to solve mysteries around the palace, talk to the dead, help spirits cross over, etc. Of course, when the emperor meets her, he decides to become her friend. The show is basically about their mystery-solving adventures with an ever expanding cast of support characters. It’s a relatively simple setup, but the ancient Chinese setting gives it a specific charm. The art is gorgeous, with breathtaking clothing designs and beautiful scenery. The music is also a high point, with excellent opening/ending themes and background songs. The Raven consort herself, called Shouxue, is an interesting character. She’s a bit of a tsundere, but in this case her standoffish attitude makes sense for the plot (she has a tragic backstory that necessitates being wary of others, especially the emperor). She softens as the series moves along, but she remains a powerful character. Her growing relationship with the emperor isn’t exactly original (of course they’re going to end up falling in love at some point - I can predict that without reading summaries of the light novels this is based on), but they have enough chemistry to make them fun to watch regardless. This is a slower-paced show than most of the other anime I’m watching this season, and it feels like a breath of fresh air.

Mobile Suit Gundam The Witch From Mercury could be called “the show that pissed off a thousand fanboys”, with a lot of people calling it “woke Gundam”. Apparently, if you have a female protagonist in a Gundam tv series for the first time since the franchise began in the 70‘s, it’s automatically woke (never mind that Tomino has wanted to have a female protagonist since the 90‘s). Add to that the *possibility* of a lesbian couple (and to be honest I don’t think the series will have the guts to follow through with it) and the fact that female characters in general seem to have larger and more important roles in the story, and you have an army of angry manchildren on your hands. In all seriousness, the show does have a different vibe from most previous Gundam series (but not all). If I had to choose its closest relative, I’d say its Reconguista in G, with its school-setting and relaxed atmosphere for the first chunk of the series. Most hilarious to me are the people assuming this series won’t get “serious” and have actual mobile suit battles (as opposed to the mobile suit “duels” that take place at the school). I mean, are they just pretending the prologue episode and all the shadowy political machinations don’t exist? Regardless, the show is great so far and would be an excellent starting point for people who never really got into Gundam but are curious about it. The animation is gorgeous and the plot is (at least for now) easy to follow. The two female leads are likable and have great chemistry. And yeah, it’s basically “Utena with giant robots”. If you’ve watched Utena, you’ll be the embodiment of that Leonardo Dicaprio meme where he’s pointing at the screen while you watch the first couple of episodes. But hey, if a plot setup is good, why not use it again in a different setting? Hell, let’s have Utena in feudal Japan! Utena in the wild west! Utena in a zombie apocalypse! I’m here for it.

To Your Eternity Season 2 opened on a surprisingly weak note for such an excellent series, but it’s already sorted itself out. The show follows an immortal entity called Fushi who can take the form of any living being it comes into contact with (after that being has died). Fushi most often uses (and generally prefers) the form of a young man, so I’ll be using he/him to refer to the entitiy. The series is, basically, about Fushi moving through the world and learning about life while also fighting creatures called the Nockers that keep attacking him for unknown reasons (most often harming the humans around him in frankly horrific ways). Each person that Fushi comes to know eventually becomes another form he can take (as he is immortal, of course he outlives everyone). The interesting thing is that he can use whatever skills that person (or creature) had, leading to at least one person spending years cultivating certain skills so that Fushi would have access to them after she dies. Unlike with season one, season two skips large chunks of time, several generations in a single episode at one point. At first, I was a little annoyed that we were not getting to spend much time with the characters (in one infuriating case, a major character from season one returns only to almost immediately die). Season one’s emotional beats were so powerful because it let us get to know and grow to love the human characters before they inevitably died. But! Thankfully, season two has now settled into a story arc and is letting us grow to love a new set of characters. And yes, they will eventually die, like always, but the point of the story isn’t “will these characters die or not?”, it’s “what effect will these characters ultimately have on Fushi?”. And figuring that out is what makes the series so endearing.

Golden Kamuy has a new season (I think this is season four, but honestly it’s hard to keep up with all these shows after they get past season two). From the start of season one, this has been one of my favorite modern anime series. It has a strong plot, unique character designs, a compelling setting, and some of the most bizarre but charming humor I’ve come across. It’s refreshing in the way it never sexualizes its female characters, but instead chooses to objectify its large assortment of buff, handsome male characters with frequent nude scenes that seem to linger on their well-toned bodies. Despite this, the show is firmly seinen (aimed at an adult male audience). It’s actually been fun to watch the guys in the comments questioning their sexuality in real time. I don’t care what your sexuality is, you’re going to walk away from this show with at least a minor crush on Ogata or Sugimoto. Probably both. Fanservice aside, the show is just wild at times. It can get brutally gory, then it can be hilarious, then it can make you cry. It has a Gintama-like quality in that it does lots of different things very well. If you’re not watching this series, you’re missing out (something I think I’ve said about it before, but it bears repeating).

Chainsaw Man is definitely this season’s most hyped show. I had avoided the manga because, just from looking at the covers and some other art, it looked like it was full of unnecessary fanservice and that the lady characters were highly sexualized. Before the anime started, I did a little googling to see what the general opinion was. From everything I read, most people (regardless of gender) had generally positive opinions on how the female characters were treated, so I decided to try the anime. The basic setup is that there are creatures called Devils that can embody certain things, like a Gun Devil or a Chainsaw Devil or a Bat Devil. A young man named Denji, who is probably one of the most “down on his luck” protagonists I’ve seen in a long time (he’s broke, orphaned, pratically homeless, practically starving, and has already sold one eye, one kidney, and one testicle just to survive) ends up combining with the only thing he really has in the world: his pet Devil dog. This gives him the power of the Chainsaw Devil, which he can transform into to fight other Devils. He’s quickly recruited by a group of government sanctioned Devil Hunters who are searching for the powerful, menacing Gun Devil. The setup sounds like typical shounen action fare, but the series goes a bit darker than I expected fairly early on, and maintains a unique atmosphere. Denji is fun to root for just because he came from such a humble place, but his lack of social skills makes him come across as a jerk at times. It’s understandable, given his background. Every shounen action series has its own “thirst trap” character that’s super popular with the ladies in the audience, and this one has Aki. The anime wisely spends the majority of its budget on subtle little movements he makes, like lighting a cigarette or taking a drink of coffee. I think there’s a whole animation team dedicated to the flow of his hair when he wears it down. As there should be. Overall, the series has a strange vibe to it but it’s highly entertaining.

Best of Season:

Best New Show: Blue Lock Best Opening Theme: Golden Kamuy Best Ending Theme: Spy x Family Best New Male Character: Isagi (Blue Lock) Best New Female Character: Shouxue (Raven of the Inner Palace)

#Anime Reviews #Anime Recommendations #Seasonal Anime #Fall 2022 Anime #Text #Chainsaw Man #Golden Kamuy #Blue Lock #Spy x Family #Yowamushi Pedal

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