Halfway season · 5:18pm May 11th
I’m beginning to suspect I didn’t actually get out of anime at all. I just cut my posting schedule to about ¼ what it used to be and cut my content per blog to about ½ what it used to be. Good, this is healthy.
Now that we’re halfway through the season, this is a good time for an update anyway.
Kowloon Generic Romance
Just so you know, this show is going on my AOTY list. I knew it by about episode one. The intrigue and the atmosphere, carried out by the excellent animation, is top notch. The romance, well, it’s slow burning, but at least there’s more than one. Gay, at that. Am I eventually going to be underwhelmed by the ending reveal because the source material is still unfinished? At this point, even if I am, the show is just that good. I’d even call it beautiful, which is especially remarkable because the setting is such a slum as to be famous. For all the focus on Kowloon Walled City, though, I would like to see a little more of the actual place. For that part, everything seems brighter and more spacious than I’d been led to believe the actual KWC was.
A Ninja and an Assassin Under One Roof
For a CGDCT anime, there sure is a lot of cold-blooded murder. I knew that going in, but still, dang. And every episode, too. The show maintains a level of brutality that most slice of life comedies can't even conceive. To be clear, it's the Metalpocalypse "Brutal!" meme type of brutality. Still, it keeps me laughing and also occasionally wondering if the author is okay. The animation is quite good, though would be even better if they would do fewer transition cuts to fill time. I would also appreciate a little bit of plot. Anything really, just to tie the episodes together.
Bye Bye, Earth season 2
BBE was my fourth favorite anime of 2024, but…I’m getting a little weary. In the first season, the show kept you working, figuring things out for yourself. Some of that was careful storytelling, and some of it was the compressed ten episodes. I was willing to put up with it because it was a great-looking show and you could never tell what would happen next. This second season, though, I was kind of hoping my patience would pay off in some actual plot resolution. I’m also not a fan of characters doing a heel-face turn to completely walk back what they used to stand for, much less it happening constantly as of late.
Would me of 2024 still be enthusiastic for this show? Is my current reluctance because I just don’t have time to sit and think about it like I used to? I’ve watched six episodes, currently evaluating how much more I want.
And now down into the manga.
List organized in rough order of my most to least favorite.
Below are those manga that I recommend.
No strong recs
Below are those manga that I conditionally recommend.
Returned from Another World, Earth Turned Out to Be Quite the Fantasy Too. Also, Losing Heroines, Stop Looking This Way
Title is plot summary. A guy gets home after being isekai'd, but with newfound magic, and realizes Earth actually has fantasy elements, too.
I'm getting the sense this is probably going to be a harem with an OP protagonist (what can ya do?) but it may prove to be interesting and unique nonetheless. Though, just one chapter so far to judge.
My Eldritch Girlfriend
Title is plot summary.
I feel like this plot, and even this title, comes up a lot. But heck, why not try another? Especially if it's a cute romance.
The Wolf Eaten by Little Red Riding Hood
Another yuri twist on LRRH.
Cute romcom, though short.
Below are those manga that I do not recommend.
After My Mother Was Murdered, I Turned Her Into a Cat Girl
In a world that vaguely runs on Yu-Gi-Oh rules, a guy gets the power to fuse with cards and gain their attributes. He uses it to revive his dead mom by combining her with a card.
Bonkers concept that could have been entertaining, except the average manhua has no idea how to tell a story. I can't believe how easy it is to find good artists in China but how hard it is to find good writers. Ecchi.
Ninja and Assassin has been a pleasant surprise, though I was annoyed by now not-perceptive the assassin was in the newest episode given that it's supposed to be one of her strengths. Though I do appreciate the strangely melancholy ending to that ep.
I like Kowloon, though I'm not sure I agree with its pacing. I assume it'll have to get another season.
Bye Bye, Earth is getting frustrating for me as well. I've seen plenty of things where characters change loyalties, but inasmuch as nearly everything about the show lacks context, it makes it even worse when they don't bother explaining why those changes occur.
Initially, Gorilla God, Witch Watch, and Sword of the Demon Hunter were also pleasant surprises, but they haven't maintained that well. I'm struggling to decide what new start is my favorite, partly because none strike me as being exceptional. The one I'm genuinely enjoying the most is probably Anne Shirley, with Kowloon and Ninja and Assassin close behind.
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From what I've read, Kowloon has been burning an entire volume of the light novel per episode, which is credit to the adaptation team that it doesn't feel rushed, but might also indicate it could be finished in one season.
Anne Shirley didn't interest me, but glancing at MAL shows the rating is good.
And since it's you, Pascoite, I recently learned of an upcoming anime about minerals: https://myanimelist.net/anime/59791/Ruri_no_Houseki
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Anne Shirley is definitely a taste thing. It’s based on a YA historical novel series, so if that subject matter isn’t interesting, it doesn’t really matter how good it is.
I think I’d seen a trailer for that mineral show, and the similarity in titles had me hoping it’d finally be a conclusion to Hoseki no Kuni. I’m definitely watching it on principle though. These iyashekei series often do a good job of including enough detail that it’s not the most ubiquitous material and actually delves into stuff a little more obscure that a real hobbyist would know.