HIGHLY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED - 11/10
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED - 10/10
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED - 10/10
HIGH RECOMMEND - 8.5/10 (NEED TO WATCH HORIMIYA FIRST)
HIGH RECOMMEND - 8.5/10
RECOMMENDED - 7.5/10 (WATCH SEASON 1 & THIS)
First off, the Summer 2023 season ended in I believe October so I am SUPER late on this roundup, however there's been lots of life reasons for that so my apologies. However, there were so many bangers during that anime season and it has been a joy to watch all of them. Let's kick things off with my favourite of that season by far. BLEACH - 1000 YEAR BLOOD WAR ARC - COUR 2 The Thousand-Year Blood War Arc, Cour 2, is just as amazing as the first part of it. Like, as a Bleach fan I could not be more happy with the adaptation that has happened thus far. One of the best things about this cour of the TYBW is that Tite Kubo had promised lots more changes from the manga to the anime adaptation and here is where we saw quite a few and all of them were amazing, one moreso than others. I knew some of my favourite fights in the arc, not all but some, were going to happen during this cour: Kenpachi vs Gremmy, As Nodt vs Rukia, Giselle & her "zombies" vs Mayuri, and Squad Zero vs Yhwach & the Elite Sternritter. They all happened and damn they exceeded my expectations, just over the top action, over the top animation and voice acting. Like I don't know what to say really. Getting to see the return of Ichigo, Renji, Rukia, and Byakuya from the Royal Palace in their badass new "powerups" was just fantastic. The fight Squad Zero had was one of the manga & anime variations that Kubo changed in this, he had a problem with how he had to rush this arc and didn't have to time to truly depict Squad Zero the way he wanted. This time he did 100%, he showed just how big a threat they truly are, the fact that they have a blood oath with each other where they all have to die in order for one of them to use their Bankai as it is a Bankai that's able to shake and distort all 3 worlds is INSANE. That being said we got Shatatsu Karagara Shigarami no Tsuji which is the Bankai of Senjumaru Shutara, the Great Weave God of Squad Zero, in order for her to use it all the other members killed themselves. And "as far as we know" (sorry it's not true) but based on the anime, she essentially 1 shot 5 different Elite Sternritter with it. Cour 3 may not be until 2024 but I can not wait, this is the most excited I've been to watch an anime because it's Bleach and that's why I don't want to go to into anything else. HIGHLY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED - 11/10 MUSHOKU TENSEI: JOBLESS REINCARNATION - SEASON 2 Mushoku Tensei is one of the best isekai ever, if that doesn't say how much of a solid appreciation I have for this series I don't know what does. It's been a few years (in real time) since we've seen the adventures of Rudeus Greyrat, where we last left off he found his father and younger sisters, finally upon arriving back in their homeland he and Eris finally do the deed, but Rudeus wakes up to a note and Eris having left him. This crushes his spirits and he is absolutely devastated, it also gives him a severe case of ED. All men at this point feel for poor Rudeus, dumped by the woman he loves and stuck where he can no longer “raise his sword”. Shortly after he decides to set out and find his mother, also to prove Eris that she was wrong to leave him by not only saving his family alone but becoming the strongest adventurer alone. Slowly building his name as “Quagmire” Rudeus he joins a few quests with someone whom he got into a physical fight with before (and who he becomes friends with); after which he joins an adventuring group full of very nice people that see how down Rudeus is and try to improve his mood. He finds these people to be so amazing to be around and they make him feel better to be himself for the first time in a long time, particularly a girl in the group named Sara whom he grows quite fond of. After saving her life, they go on a date and he screws up his big chance unfortunately because of his ED. Shortly after he heads to the big magic academy where he knows Roxy attended, there he is reunited with Zanoba the prince who loved making figures (who is his “student”). He is also reunited with Sylphiette, who goes by “Silent Fitz” and is a bodyguard for the Princess Ariel. He is unaware of this as Sylphy now has white hair and always wears sunglasses and is said to be a man; Fitz and Rudeus do grow close though and Rudeus comes to think that he is gay for having these growing sexual thoughts towards Fitz, who he thinks is still a man. By the end of the season he does find out that it is Sylphy and through his love for her, her lack of abandoning him, his ED is cured and he promises to marry her and pledges to help Princess Ariel because of how she has taken care of Sylphy for him. One other surprise that happens is Rudeus is reunited with a girl named Nanahoshi, a fellow Japanese person, it’s just HOW he remembers her that surprises him and triggers a massive PTSD attack. Everything about Mushoku Tensei S2 was great and I already know that they’ve announced more for the spring or summer next year in 2024 is amazing and I’m pumped. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED - 10/10 JUJUTSU KAISEN S2 P.1 - HIDDEN INVENTORY/PREMATURE DEATH ARC I am a huge fan of Jujutsu Kaisen and I knew that after the movie that the next arc they’d be covering is the Shibuya Incident Arc and honestly, for people that only watch the anime, I knew there’d be a lot of things that was going to make them VERY upset. I forgot before that sadness we were at least going to get a “somewhat happy” arc with the Hidden Inventory/Premature Death one where the Jujutsu High era of Geto & Gojo’s time there was explored. Gojo & Geto are charged with protecting a girl named Riko Amanai as she is the Star-Child and is meant to fuse with Tengen and become a pillar of jujutsu society. They both protect her and see how much fun she is having and are willing to break the rules to let her live her life, ignore the higher ups in the jujutsu sorcery world and set her free. Unfortunately, Gojo is “killed” by an unknown enemy who then proceeds to kill Riko which between the two causes Geto’s mind to shatter. After losing his fight to this mysterious opponent he just lays there. Gojo returns after this finally able to use reversed curse techniques, to heal and to use other powers. Which he used in his battle against the mysterious opponent, Toji Zen’in. Who goes by his wife’s last name Toji Fushiguro….Megumi’s father. Toji is known as a jujutsu sorcerer hunter, he was seen as a flawed member of the Zen’in clan as he did not have cursed energy (similar to Maki currently) but he had other things that made him incredibly powerful. He was obviously powerful enough to easily “kill” Gojo in their first fight. During their second confrontation Gojo kills him and all Toji asks is, “I sold my son Megumi to the Zen’in Clan, can you protect him from them ??” to which Gojo agrees and becomes Megumi’s guardian from that point on. After we see the events unfold that splits Geto and Gojo’s philosophy on jujutsu sorcery and what causes the Jujutsu Kaisen 0 movie. AFTER this we get into The Shibuya Incident Arc and while I originally thought it was a part of this season, it’s actually a Fall 2023 season anime. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED - 10/10 HORIMIYA: THE MISSING PIECES I loved Horimiya when it first came out, call me sappy but I am a huge fan of rom-com's. I just thought the story of a loner misfit boy and a super popular girl falling in love with each other because they see the sides of each other outside of school that no one else sees is super sweet. The entire friend group that formed around Hori and Miyamura because of existing friendships and new ones is fantastic, the art is great, the voice acting is great, the story is great. So when I saw there was a "season 2" of Horimiya coming out I was stoked. When I started watching it though I felt let down initially, mainly since I didn't realize what the concept behind the show was, it was technically season 2 but it's called The Missing Pieces as it's Hori and Miyamura's side stories during their initial love connection and also afterwards. Basically, things that wouldn't have a few episode mini-arc in the main season, they became the "missing pieces" of their love story leading into their graduation from school and that's how this season plays out. So we do see earlier stages in their relationship again but new situations that we never saw before, then fights they had that we never saw, also family dynamics with Miyamura and the Hori family. We also see other moments in the story that have to do with Miyamura's tattoo problem, which is to say he has tattoos and needs to find a way out of sports, so Toru's "quick thinking" ends up creating the funniest moment in the entire series. When trying to explain to the teacher why Miyamura can't participate in sports he just covers quickly for him by saying, "he's on his period", which absolutely cracked me up because it left everyone dumbfounded but it worked. I think Missing Pieces was a great addition to the Horimiya story and helped flush out the characters even more than they already were; while I would have liked another true "season" this was still really good. I can hope they might do something college/university wise but you never know really. HIGH RECOMMEND - 8.5/10 (NEED TO WATCH HORIMIYA FIRST) RENT A GIRLFRIEND - SEASON 3 To many people, Rent A Girlfriend is an absolutely trashy series that they just can't stand, to me it's just a funny rom-com that while it does have many moments one could consider trashy sure, I find the characters cool and just enjoy it. I think most people's problems stem from our main protagonist Kazuya is kind of a dirtbag and also how the manga is constantly dragging on when it could've ended a LONGGGGGG time ago with Kazuya and Chizuru getting together. Regardless, I've enjoyed all the seasons of this show, but knew what was coming in this season already since I had read it, knowing that I knew it was going to be one of the most character development heavy seasons and also one of the saddest seasons. It is a season where Chizuru knows just how sick her Grandmother is getting, she's in the hospital permanently after last seasons spill, and Kazuya promised her that he'd help her make a movie starring her to show her grandma Sayuri on the big screen. To see the actress her granddaughter is becoming and wants to become. This is the most character defining season for Kazuya as, even though he as like 2 lapses in judgment, he knows right now it's not his job to think about his love for Chizuru and what to do about it. EVERYTHING is about getting this movie made for Grandma Sayuri. He truly shines as an actual human this season, busting his ass, for this girl and her grandma and sure while a bit of it might be because he's hopelessly in love with her; a lot of it has to do with Kazuya knowing just how much Sayuri has faith in him with her granddaughter. We also get to see the introduction of Chizuru and Kazuya's neighbour, Mini Yaemori, who is a cosplayer and streamer and helps out with the movie; and also tries to help out her "master"/"sensei" Kazuya with his unrequited love for Chizuru. Everyone, even Ruka, tries their hardest to help with this movie and when it's finally done and headed to editing, they have a premiere booked, Sayuri falls so ill that she can't make it........and literally doesn't make it. But what Kazuya does for Chizuru and her grandma is, heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time, he loves her and her grandma so much that he absolutely pulls out all the stops and I definitely cried seeing that part. I already said too much, but you'll cry too if you watch it. This season is also when Chizuru starts to realize, maybe she is in love too, but just doesn't know it yet. HIGH RECOMMEND - 8.5/10 MASAMUNE-KUN'S REVENGE R When Masamune-kun's Revenge came out a few years back I thought it was a really interesting concept. It had the backstory of two young kids, one a sheltered and lonely rich girl named Aki Adagaki, and a very fat kid named Makabe Masamune who she constantly protected from bullies. They became friends but one day when he goes to see her, she calls him "Pig's Foot" and makes fun of his weight, it was from that moment on he vowed to get into killer shape and take revenge on Aki. His plan was simple, become an absolutely handsome dude and make Aki fall in love with him, then when they start going out, to dump her immediately and make her feel as worthless and pointless as she made him feel. It's an incredibly vindictive thing to do, incredibly spiteful, but really unique in terms of the start of a rom-com. It ended in an are they/aren't they together OVA episode. Until Revenge R started and continues the story of Masamune trying to get revenge on Aki with the help of Yoshino; his "master/sensei", and also Aki's only real friend and family maid. Now, the clip I've got selected already kind of slams some suspense away HOWEVER, I fully suggest watching this and the first season because there's so many twists and unexpected turns in this second season that I was honestly flabbergasted at having to wait for the next episode so I'd go out of my way to look for light novel passages, the manga, check the wiki JUST to find out what's going to happen before it's animated. I was brought to utter suspense so many times and in a show were you become invested in a romantic pairing, you have to know if it is going to work, or if it doesn't what's going to happen. I was absolutely not disappointed with this season and I can honestly say that while their is probably going to be a 3rd season, ending it where it did isn't the worst way to go out. Bare minimum they'll release another OVA which I am looking forward too. RECOMMENDED - 7.5/10 (WATCH SEASON 1 & THIS)
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorThere's not much to say about me other than I'm an avid gamer, comic reader, sports fan, etc. just passionate about things I love. Archives
October 2022
|