Log #6: [Anime Season Spring 2021 Wrap Up]
Jul. 1st, 2021 08:24 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
strapqueenJust sharing my thoughts on the animes I picked up for this season now that is officially over.
I only picked 4 animes this season but it was really hard because this season had so much potential and so many good shows, actually I would say it has been one of the most solid anime seasons we had in a good while. I knew if I picked more than 5 shows I would not have time to do the other stuff I was supposed to do so I just sticked with the ones that caught my attention the most and put the other interesting ones in my backlog to catch on later.
I quit doing seasonal animes for a while because I wanted to catch up with my backlog from other seasons and PTW list and because for some good time it felt like the industry was just pumping out a bunch of animes each season and only 2 or maybe 3 of those animes was actually worthwhile, it felt like saturation just for the sake of it, quantity without quality if you will.
But something infested the waters in 2020 because the seasons have been way better since. It seems like the creative juices were flowing again in the industry and we started getting a good variety of decent shows again.
Anyways let's get into my picks. This contains spoilers for Odd Taxi and Zombieland Saga.
I only picked 4 animes this season but it was really hard because this season had so much potential and so many good shows, actually I would say it has been one of the most solid anime seasons we had in a good while. I knew if I picked more than 5 shows I would not have time to do the other stuff I was supposed to do so I just sticked with the ones that caught my attention the most and put the other interesting ones in my backlog to catch on later.
I quit doing seasonal animes for a while because I wanted to catch up with my backlog from other seasons and PTW list and because for some good time it felt like the industry was just pumping out a bunch of animes each season and only 2 or maybe 3 of those animes was actually worthwhile, it felt like saturation just for the sake of it, quantity without quality if you will.
But something infested the waters in 2020 because the seasons have been way better since. It seems like the creative juices were flowing again in the industry and we started getting a good variety of decent shows again.
Anyways let's get into my picks. This contains spoilers for Odd Taxi and Zombieland Saga.
Bakuten!!
"Each laugh takes them higher. Each tear makes them stronger. The final summer of middle school, Shoutarou Futaba discovers boys gymnastics and is completely enamored by it. Shoutarou ends up going to Soshukan Private High School (Also known as Ao High) and decides to visit the boys gymnastics club. He's greeted by very unique senpais and a star gymnast named Misato Ryouya. Dedicating your life to something you love during your fiery days of youth... Of course, there is frustration, and fights, but see how these boys work together as a team towards a similar goal in this drama about sports and youth. This spring, see passionate boys give their all for their youthful dreams!"
I love the legacy Free! left. There is a pre Free! and after Free! sports shows evolution that I think did a bunch of wonders for the genre. Ever since Free! happened we had been blessed with more intuitive, creative and sensitive depictions in sports anime and I'm here for it.
Bakuten encapsulates this example very well, it's touching and it's not afraid of their characters being vulnerable with each other, it might feel a bit too much sometimes but it still works. The openness of the relationship that these characters have with each other is wonderful and it really makes it easy for to you care about them because they care so much about each other.
I like how they touched on the fact that this is an unpopular sport and how they have a protagonist with a balanced and supportive family life that allows him to be so open and vulnerable with the people around him. He always caught people off guard wearing his heart on his sleeve and I think that's wonderful.
A scene which I really loved was when Futaba straight up tells Misato, a character that spends most of the show guarded and hesitant to really form friendships with his teammates, that he should be needier. That he should ask his friends to help him, whine if he has to. Misato should need his friends because Misato spends his personal life doing things for other people so they don't need to do them later on and he should be giving the same treatment as well. Just beautiful.
I was a little sad finding out we aren't getting a second season but yay we getting a movie!!
Oh my god this fucking show. I love it so much! The first season was great and a breath of fresh air and this one doesn't fall too far behind imo. I just love idol animes, I love watching them go through all their troubles trying to make their dreams come through, I love watching the different relationships and interactions between the girls and how they evolve and I fucking love the songs.
Mamoru Miyano really needs to be given some sort of voice acting award because it's ridiculous just how good he is at every role. His work in this show as Kotaro is out of this world.
I love that we finally got the backstory for Yuugiri and how Kotaro encountered the power to bring the girls back to life. I also love how they just keep the origins of Number 0 unexplored and just lean into the craziness of her character full on. Exploring the different reasons why people might be into idols was also great this time around, the first season was really touching and careful in their exploration of several themes and that care was still seen in this season.
One of the highlights of the season for me was how they continued to explore the relationship between Ai and Junko, it was bound to happen because both girls were idols when they died but they come from different eras in idol history so they share different perspectives in how idols should act.
Junko being from the era of the mysterious charm of the 80s and Ai being from the mid-2000s era full of fanservice and girl next door vibes. At first in season one they used to clash, Junko being confused with the concept of handshake events because the idols of her time were told to keep a distance, put on an air of mistery, they were stars who were supposed to remain charming and far away from their fans, being relatable to them not a thought that ever crossed their minds.
And Ai fighting back stating how being close to their fans and offering that level of relatability made people more invested in them thus they had the power to touch people on a different level. This is contrasted with Lily's arc who gains an unlikely fan, a large man that intimidates everyone with his presence. At first, people are alarmed that this huge man is lining up to get a handshake from Lily, the youngest member of the group, only to be revealed that the reason that this man likes Lily is because she reminds him of his own daughter that passed away. Turns out this man is Lily's father.
Lily is completely shocked that her father can't recognize her but then she realizes her father never got to see her how she really was (for context Lily is trans) and she feels so relieved that at least her dad can move on from her death and find some peace of mind because she can at least give him some comfort by singing.
Junko realizes that this could have never happened in her era, she knew she was touching people's hearts but could never see it up close and personal like these new idols do. Junk and Ai ended the season coming to an understanding and in season two we see that they have gotten really close, they admire each other and push each other to be better. When Ai, who at this point has become the official leader of the group thanks to her pasts experiences and is burdened with all the decisions and responsabilites, leaves to do some solo promo for the group, she picks Junko to be in charge in her absense. She assumed that Junko would do fine in the role because she is the other member that has experience in this line of work but Junko felt insecure because she didn't know how to make the other girls shine, she was a soloist and thus she only knew how to make herself shine.
She didn't want to say that to Ai because she was afraid of disappointing her but after she overhears Iron Frill's center trying to poach Ai to their group she goes through some sort of panic that allows her to see within herself once more, to her old self, when she used to stand on a stage with just her old-timey voice and her guitar. She manages to come up with a performance that feels true to herself but also works for modern times and Franchouchou creates a perfomance that really makes them stand out despite performing in the same event as the biggest idol group in the country.
Ai and Junko finish this arc holding each other, with Junko proving to Ai that she can count on the group when she needs to and Ai finally witnessing Junko's amazing talent with her own eyes after only being able to do so via youtube for so long.
Now onto the ending... I really wouldn't mind a Zombie idols vs Alien idols battle just saying. But if this is the way the showrunners are telling us to fuck off because there isn't going to be new seasons after this then that's okay too, it made me laugh and totally fits the tone of the show.
Odd Taxi
This is the hidden jewel of the season, and I say that because most people didn't pay attention to it when the lineup for the season dropped. It's one of those lowkey animes that are great and people only start to watch it thanks through word of mouth or in the case of the virtual age, through other people's opinions on the internet.
Odd Taxi keeps you at a arms length at the beginning, you don't really know what's going on or how is it going to develop because everything is very subtle at first. The only thing you know is that a girl was murdered and they haven't found her body and the taxi driver is somehow connected to all of this and my god he is.
This is one of those shows that heavily rely on dialogue and is character-centric, it manages to showcase a good amount of characters and their stories while also progressing the main plot very well. One thing I found special about it is the plot twist at the end or well the double plot twist at the end.
You out here thinking this is an anthropomorphic society but then some cracks start to show when you see actual animals being kept as pets. It makes no sense, all the characters in the show are animals with human forms that can talk, walk and go to work every day but then you got a character that keeps a parrot as a pet and you find it odd but you keep it moving, it reminded me of Beastars were society is composed of animals but said animals eat fish either way.
But then in the final episode, we finally get to see Odokawa, our protagonist, past's and he mentions going to a zoo. A zoo???? in an anthropomorphic society???? well turns out our protagonist has been suffering from a mental condition called visual agnosia, caused by executive dysfunction, a side effect of the damage his brain received in an accident that involved her mother crashing their car, killing herself and his dad. This visual agnosia made him look at people like they were animals. So the entire show we were actually watching the animal versions of real humans.
In the end, at the height of the climax of the show Odokawa suffers a similar accident to one of his childhood which allows him to get his mind straight and actually see everyone in their human forms for the first time, his friend who was a doctor and was shown as Gorilla was just some big dude with a beard and the nurse who was presented as a sweet alpaca that knows capoeira is just some short dark-haired girl.
Odokawa who was depicting himself as a walrus was just a tired taxi driver with a buzzcut.
Just wow. The second half of the final episode is spent revealing the human forms of the cast of all the characters we were introduced to in animal form for the entire show.
With this reveal by the time the credits started rolling I had forgotten all about the other mystery, the one with the girl who was murdered and portrayed as a black cat. Her body was found and her identity revealed but we still didn't know who killed her, until the credits started rolling that is.
You see the girl who got murdered was part of an idol group called Mistery Kiss, composed of three girls, a calico cat, a white poodle and a black cat. The poodle girl got mad because she was supposed to be the center of the group but then they gave the center to the black cat girl. The poodle couldn't handle this and was going to threaten the black cat to give up her position but before she could to that she found the dead body of the black cat at the agency headquarters. Her manager found her at the scene and immediately questioned her but after swearing she didn't do it they both called someone to help them get rid of the body and in order to continue Mistery Kiss without telling anyone what had happened they casted another black cat and made her and the calico cat wear masks while the poodle continued to be the center and now main star of the group.
Well turns out that the one who killed the black cat girl was none other than the other black cat that got casted. She came fourth in the auditions and knew that if one of the girls who made it was suddenly unable to do her job she would get the call from the agency so she killed the black cat girl for a chance at stardom.
At the end the white poodle and the manager get taken by police as prime suspects for the murder of the black cat girl while the actual murderer is free and talking about making the calico cat girl disappear as well so she can become a solo act.
The ending to the show as a whole is open-ended, we see that the murderer is going to target Odokawa because he was the taxi driver who drove her home after killing the black cat at the agency and he was a loose end she didn't want causing trouble for her in the future but that's how it ends. We don't know if Odokawa survives or if he gets killed.
I hope Odokawa did survive though, I mean he spent the entire show avoiding death after all but who knows, maybe the psycho girl got away with everything after all.
"The fifth season of Boku no Hero Academia. The rivalry between Class 1-A and Class 1-B heats up in a joint training battle. Eager to be a part of the hero course, brainwashing buff Shinso is tasked with competing on both sides. But as each team faces their own weaknesses and discovers new strengths, this showdown might just become a toss-up."
This season of MHA started its first half with the worst arc this story has to offer. It was incredibly boring in the manga but the anime staff said fuck that noise and went off with the animation, it actually made me enjoy it more than I did in the manga. I still think is the weakest section we have seen so far but that's okay because this was basically the calm before the storm, before the best arc for the story arrived.
I'm so unbelievably excited for the League of Villains arc finally being animated, when I was reading it I just couldn't believe how good it was and seeing the efforts the anime staff put into a very boring first half makes me excited for how good the animation is going to be for this arc. I mean they have no choice but to go off, this is the moment of truth right here after all. I gotta say I was a little disappointed by the new OP but the second half did make it to a great start with Deku, Baguko and Todoriki going to Endeavor's agency and revealing that the Meta Liberation Army is coming.
This season is going to move on to the Summer season so I will be giving my final thoughts on the season as a whole when I do my Summer 2021 wrap up.
Talking about the Summer season I did take a look at what's coming and so far I'm interested in
Vanitas no Carte: Rumors revolving around The Book of Vanitas, a clockwork grimoire of dubious reputation, draw Noé, a young vampire in search of a friend's salvation, to Paris. What awaits him in the City of Flowers, however, is not long hours treading the pavement or rifling through dusty bookshops in search of the tome. Instead, his quarry comes to him...in the arms of a man claiming to be a vampire doctor! Thrust into a conflict that threatens the peace between humans and vampires, will Noé cast in his lot with the curious and slightly unbalanced Vanitas and his quest to save vampirekind?
I heard about Vanitas no Carte in passing for a while now, it seems like its a pretty good story and it's being adapted by Bones so I know I'm going to recieve some quality storytelling paired with solid animation so this will probably be a certified pick up for me.
Sonny Boy: Sonny Boy is a sci-fi survival series with a stacked 36-student cast of characters. Uprooted from their middle school lives, these students end up in another dimension and have to fight to survive.
I still have a soft for anything Madhouse puts out. They been in some rough shape in recent years but their catalog and legacy speaks for itself, it seems they are about to find a solid footing again and I can't wait to see what they have in store for us.
Sonny Boy is a return to their original work format and it has the potential to earn a really interesting spotlight in this season.
Shiroi Suna no Aquatope: The anime takes place at Gama Gama Aquarium, a small aquarium in Okinawa, an hour's bus ride from Naha. Kukuru Misakino is an 18-year-old high school student who works there, and she knows about the "secret" of the aquarium: sometimes you can see mysterious things. One day Kukuru meets Fuuka, standing in front of a water tank with flowing hair and a tear rolling down her cheek. Fuuka has given up on her dream of becoming an idol and she has run away from Tokyo to Okinawa. Wanting to find a place to belong, Fuuka earnestly asks to work at the aquarium. The anime follows Kukuru and Fuuka as they deal with the issues of the secret of the aquarium and a looming crisis of its possible closure.
Honestly its been years since I enjoyed anything by P.A Works. I think the last show by them I enjoyed was the second season of Uchouten Kazoku. The PV for this looked pretty and I'm hoping is a touching story about friendship in the vein of Amanchu! a show that really took me by surprise and ended liking way too much and coincidentally it also has long haired girl and short haired girl becoming friends in an enviroment surrounded by water and sea life.
Re-Main: The anime's story centers on Minato, a boy who stopped playing water polo due to a certain incident in the winter of his third middle school year. He picks the sport back up again with a new team when he starts in high school, but the fledgling team runs into many problems.
MAPPA really has the audacity to put out another sports anime without releasing that Yuri on Ice movie that has years in the vault sksksksksk. Anyways it looks pretty and it's about a sport I know nothing about so at least I will learn a few things. Also nice seeing another black character in anime that's not based on harmful stereotypes as well.
Uramichii-Orisan: The story centers on a 31-year-old man named Uramichi Omota who has two sides to his personality. He appears as the young man in charge of physical exercises on the educational program "Maman to Together." Although he has a fresh and upbeat demeanor on the show, he is actually a bit emotionally unstable. The story reveals the less-than-sunny parts of life for young adults.
This looks funny as hell. Honestly it was about time we got an anime about kids personalities who hate their jobs.
NightHead 2041: The story follows the Kirihara brothers who from a young age were incarcerated in a secure scientific facility due to their supernatural powers, having escaped after the barrier that was preventing them malfunctions. The story also follows the Kuroki brothers who are trying to chase the Kirihara brothers.
The only studio I trust with fully CGI stuff is Polygon Pictures but this looks good enough. It will probably go on my backlog.
Kageki Shoujo: The Kouka Kageki Musical Drama Academy is a high school that teaches musical theater like that at the Takarazuka Revue, and splits its actresses into those who play male and female roles. Ai Narata is a former idol who becomes a musume-yaku (female role) actress and meets Sarasa Watanabe, a simple farm girl who is an otoko-yaku (male role) actress.
An anime that takes inspiration from the all female musical theather company Takarazuka Revue??? Yeah consider me invested.
My Spring 2021 backlog contains:
Fumetso no Anata e: In the beginning, an "orb" is cast unto Earth. "It" can do two things: change into the form of the thing that stimulates "it"; and come back to life after death. "It" morphs from orb to rock, then to wolf, and finally to boy, but roams about like a newborn who knows nothing. As a boy, "it" becomes Fushi. Through encounters with human kindness, Fushi not only gains survival skills, but grows as a "person". But his journey is darkened by the inexplicable and destructive enemy Nokker, as well as cruel partings with the people he loves.
I've been avoiding this like the plague because everyone talks about how its really heavy and describe it as something thats going to make you pull out the tissues and I'm too emotionally fucked up right now to deal with that.
Tokyo Revengers: Takemichi Hanagaki is a freelancer that's reached the absolute pits of despair in his life. He finds out that the only girlfriend he ever had in his life that he dated in middle school, Hinata Tachibana, had been killed by the ruthless Tokyo Manji Gang. The day after hearing about her death, he's standing on the station platform and ends up being pushed over onto the tracks by a herd of people. He closes his eyes thinking he's about to die, but when he opens his eyes back up, he somehow had gone back in time 12 years. Now that he's back living the best days of his life, Takemichi decides to get revenge on his life by saving his girlfriend and changing himself that he'd been running away from.
The PV for this had such a 2007 anime feel to it and it did look interesting, I mainly put it in my backlog because is interesting enough to catch my attention but not interesting enough to follow on a weekly basis. This is more for me to watch in one sitting.
Subarashiki Kono Seka The Animation: Neku awakens in the middle of Shibuya's bustling Scramble Crossing with no memory of how he got there. Little does he know, he's been transported to an alternate plane of existence known as the Underground (UG). Now an unwilling participant in the mysterious "Reapers' Game," Neku must partner up with a girl named Shiki in order to survive. Together, they complete missions and defeat monsters known as "Noise" as they gradually uncover the true nature of this twisted Game. "There's only one way to stay alive in Shibuya: trust your partner." Will they survive the Reapers' Game?
I remember hearing about this game a few years back when I was first getting into Danganronpa. It looked pretty interesting but at that time I didn't have my Nintendo DS anymore to play it. It looks pretty cool but it's on my backlog because games being adapted to anime never goes well so I don't have many expectations for it.
SSS.DYNAZENON: One day, Yomogi Asanaka, a first-year student at Fujiyokidai High School, runs into a mysterious man named Gauma who claims to be a “kaiju user.” The sudden appearance of a kaiju is followed by the entry of the gigantic robot, Dynazenon. In the wrong place at the wrong time are Yume Minami, Koyomi Yamanaka, and Chise Asukagawa, who are dragged into the fight against the kaiju.
I think the last anime made by Trigger that I watched was My Little Witch Academia which I totally loved. I surprisingly haven't watch Darling in the Franxx despite how popular it was and also I haven't had the change of watching Promare either despite being on my PTW.
I quite like the work of the studio but I feel like it's in a weird position at the moment, I don't really know what to expect from it besides the good comedy and action elements of their shows. Kiznaiver and Kill la Kill were very ambitious shows that fell short in some of their elements but overall enjoyable and it seems like they keep trying to push the envelope with things like Promare and the very high profile collaboration with A-1 Pictures and Cloverworks for Darling in the Franxx.
But that's only for their mainstream efforts, their production credits are filled with low brow material that doesn't quite match the quirky style their popular shows have thus the studio has a weird balance of quality vs whatever else they are doing on the side which makes for a very confusing presentation.
Anyways its been a while since I watched a meccha anime and this seemed interesting enough to get the genre another spin so it's in my backlog for now.
Jouran The Princess of Snow and Blood: In 1931, the Tokugawa Shogunate remains in power, marking the 64th year of the Meiji era. Holding a monopoly over the newly discovered "Dragon Vein," the government is leading Japan toward an advanced Edo period. During this time, an elite force of executioners called "Nue" is tasked with defending the Shogunate from a rebel institution known as the "Kuchinawa."
Shingeki No Kyojin The Final Season Part 1: Gabii Braun and Falco Grice have been training their entire lives to inherit one of the seven titans under Marley's control and aid their nation in eradicating the Eldians on Paradis. However, just as all seems well for the two cadets, their peace is suddenly shaken by the arrival of Eren Yeager and the remaining members of the Survey Corps.
Yakusoku No Neverland Season 2: Emma, Ray, and the rest of the older children have escaped the confines of the Grace Field House. However, with relentless demons set on capturing them, their arduous battle for freedom has only just begun.
Re Zero Season 2 Part 2: After a stern yet compelling speech by Otto, Subaru Natsuki solemnly swears that he will successfully make it through this timeline and save everyone he can along the way. The first step toward achieving this goal is to help Emilia work through her past; however, that is easier said than done. Feeling as if she has been lied to by everyone around her, it will be difficult for Emilia to trust anyone, even Subaru, her self-proclaimed knight.
I was very hesitant to even start this show, it did caused a lot of rage when it first premiered and I honestly didn't want to believe the hype, sekai animes have never been up to my taste and a lot of fanboys were bragging about this show because "look its an amazing sekai anime that subverse its tropes, see not all sekai anime is bad" but after seeing the same fanboys suddenly having meltdowns and the anime community in general started talking about how truly subversive this was in the second half of the show I knew I had to give it a chance.
The first season was alright, I do have to admit it does subvert the genre quite well....only for it to fall back to stereotypes in the second season. I gotta say seeing the mask of the eternal good guy who deserves pussy fall right off Subaru's face was a peak moment for this show and the thing that got the fanboys who enjoy these sekai/harem type animes where the protagonist gets to have a bunch of girls at his feet because he does decent things for them really angry so it was very pleasant to me.
But then almost at the end of season one and the start of season 2 something shifted, it seemed the show wasn't interested in continuing its explorations and subvertions of the genre but instead decided to safetly cushion itself in its stereotypes. I was very displeased and I could barely finish the first part of the second season, I gave part 2 at least 3 episodes to convince me this was still a good show and it didn't managed to do so. A lot of wasted potential with this one, it's really a shame.
I think those are all my thoughts for now, I'm really excited about what the Summer season has in store for us. I might be able to stick with 5 animes weekly this turns around so we will see.
"Each laugh takes them higher. Each tear makes them stronger. The final summer of middle school, Shoutarou Futaba discovers boys gymnastics and is completely enamored by it. Shoutarou ends up going to Soshukan Private High School (Also known as Ao High) and decides to visit the boys gymnastics club. He's greeted by very unique senpais and a star gymnast named Misato Ryouya. Dedicating your life to something you love during your fiery days of youth... Of course, there is frustration, and fights, but see how these boys work together as a team towards a similar goal in this drama about sports and youth. This spring, see passionate boys give their all for their youthful dreams!"
I love the legacy Free! left. There is a pre Free! and after Free! sports shows evolution that I think did a bunch of wonders for the genre. Ever since Free! happened we had been blessed with more intuitive, creative and sensitive depictions in sports anime and I'm here for it.
Bakuten encapsulates this example very well, it's touching and it's not afraid of their characters being vulnerable with each other, it might feel a bit too much sometimes but it still works. The openness of the relationship that these characters have with each other is wonderful and it really makes it easy for to you care about them because they care so much about each other.
I like how they touched on the fact that this is an unpopular sport and how they have a protagonist with a balanced and supportive family life that allows him to be so open and vulnerable with the people around him. He always caught people off guard wearing his heart on his sleeve and I think that's wonderful.
A scene which I really loved was when Futaba straight up tells Misato, a character that spends most of the show guarded and hesitant to really form friendships with his teammates, that he should be needier. That he should ask his friends to help him, whine if he has to. Misato should need his friends because Misato spends his personal life doing things for other people so they don't need to do them later on and he should be giving the same treatment as well. Just beautiful.
I was a little sad finding out we aren't getting a second season but yay we getting a movie!!
Zombie Land Saga: Revenge
"The second season of Zombie Land Saga. From throughout the ages, a group of legendary girls have become zombie idols to save Saga Prefecture. It's the return of the cutting-edge zombie idol anime! One day, Minamoto Sakura lost her life in an unfortunate accident. Then, ten years later… After Sakura wakes up in a strange mansion, mysterious idol producer Tatsumi Kotaro tells her that she will be joining a group of legendary girls to form an idol unit. The seven girls are charged with a quest to save the fading Saga Prefecture and adopt the group name Franchouchou. After overcoming the difficulties stemming from their different ages and different periods of history, their undead zombie bodies allow them to defy expectations of what idols can be. During the final winter of the Heisei era they performed their first featured concert at Karatsu's Furusato Exhibition Hall, Arpino, taking another step towards becoming a legend. Now, in the modern Reiwa Era… The curtain rises on a new chapter in the story of Franchouchou, as they march towards a bright future full of hope."
Oh my god this fucking show. I love it so much! The first season was great and a breath of fresh air and this one doesn't fall too far behind imo. I just love idol animes, I love watching them go through all their troubles trying to make their dreams come through, I love watching the different relationships and interactions between the girls and how they evolve and I fucking love the songs.
Mamoru Miyano really needs to be given some sort of voice acting award because it's ridiculous just how good he is at every role. His work in this show as Kotaro is out of this world.
I love that we finally got the backstory for Yuugiri and how Kotaro encountered the power to bring the girls back to life. I also love how they just keep the origins of Number 0 unexplored and just lean into the craziness of her character full on. Exploring the different reasons why people might be into idols was also great this time around, the first season was really touching and careful in their exploration of several themes and that care was still seen in this season.
One of the highlights of the season for me was how they continued to explore the relationship between Ai and Junko, it was bound to happen because both girls were idols when they died but they come from different eras in idol history so they share different perspectives in how idols should act.
Junko being from the era of the mysterious charm of the 80s and Ai being from the mid-2000s era full of fanservice and girl next door vibes. At first in season one they used to clash, Junko being confused with the concept of handshake events because the idols of her time were told to keep a distance, put on an air of mistery, they were stars who were supposed to remain charming and far away from their fans, being relatable to them not a thought that ever crossed their minds.
And Ai fighting back stating how being close to their fans and offering that level of relatability made people more invested in them thus they had the power to touch people on a different level. This is contrasted with Lily's arc who gains an unlikely fan, a large man that intimidates everyone with his presence. At first, people are alarmed that this huge man is lining up to get a handshake from Lily, the youngest member of the group, only to be revealed that the reason that this man likes Lily is because she reminds him of his own daughter that passed away. Turns out this man is Lily's father.
Lily is completely shocked that her father can't recognize her but then she realizes her father never got to see her how she really was (for context Lily is trans) and she feels so relieved that at least her dad can move on from her death and find some peace of mind because she can at least give him some comfort by singing.
Junko realizes that this could have never happened in her era, she knew she was touching people's hearts but could never see it up close and personal like these new idols do. Junk and Ai ended the season coming to an understanding and in season two we see that they have gotten really close, they admire each other and push each other to be better. When Ai, who at this point has become the official leader of the group thanks to her pasts experiences and is burdened with all the decisions and responsabilites, leaves to do some solo promo for the group, she picks Junko to be in charge in her absense. She assumed that Junko would do fine in the role because she is the other member that has experience in this line of work but Junko felt insecure because she didn't know how to make the other girls shine, she was a soloist and thus she only knew how to make herself shine.
She didn't want to say that to Ai because she was afraid of disappointing her but after she overhears Iron Frill's center trying to poach Ai to their group she goes through some sort of panic that allows her to see within herself once more, to her old self, when she used to stand on a stage with just her old-timey voice and her guitar. She manages to come up with a performance that feels true to herself but also works for modern times and Franchouchou creates a perfomance that really makes them stand out despite performing in the same event as the biggest idol group in the country.
Ai and Junko finish this arc holding each other, with Junko proving to Ai that she can count on the group when she needs to and Ai finally witnessing Junko's amazing talent with her own eyes after only being able to do so via youtube for so long.
Now onto the ending... I really wouldn't mind a Zombie idols vs Alien idols battle just saying. But if this is the way the showrunners are telling us to fuck off because there isn't going to be new seasons after this then that's okay too, it made me laugh and totally fits the tone of the show.
Odd Taxi
"The taxi driver Odokawa lives a very mundane life. He has no family, doesn't really hang out with others, and he's an oddball who is narrow-minded and doesn't talk much. The only people he can call his friends are his doctor, Gouriki and his classmate from high school, Kakibana. All of his patrons seem to be slightly odd themselves. The college student who wants the world to notice him online, Kabasawa. A nurse with secrets named Shirakawa. A comedy duo that just can't catch a break named the Homosapiens. A local hoodlum named Dobu. An idol group that's just starting out named Mystery Kiss... All these mundane conversations somehow eventually lead to a girl who's gone missing."
This is the hidden jewel of the season, and I say that because most people didn't pay attention to it when the lineup for the season dropped. It's one of those lowkey animes that are great and people only start to watch it thanks through word of mouth or in the case of the virtual age, through other people's opinions on the internet.
Odd Taxi keeps you at a arms length at the beginning, you don't really know what's going on or how is it going to develop because everything is very subtle at first. The only thing you know is that a girl was murdered and they haven't found her body and the taxi driver is somehow connected to all of this and my god he is.
This is one of those shows that heavily rely on dialogue and is character-centric, it manages to showcase a good amount of characters and their stories while also progressing the main plot very well. One thing I found special about it is the plot twist at the end or well the double plot twist at the end.
You out here thinking this is an anthropomorphic society but then some cracks start to show when you see actual animals being kept as pets. It makes no sense, all the characters in the show are animals with human forms that can talk, walk and go to work every day but then you got a character that keeps a parrot as a pet and you find it odd but you keep it moving, it reminded me of Beastars were society is composed of animals but said animals eat fish either way.
But then in the final episode, we finally get to see Odokawa, our protagonist, past's and he mentions going to a zoo. A zoo???? in an anthropomorphic society???? well turns out our protagonist has been suffering from a mental condition called visual agnosia, caused by executive dysfunction, a side effect of the damage his brain received in an accident that involved her mother crashing their car, killing herself and his dad. This visual agnosia made him look at people like they were animals. So the entire show we were actually watching the animal versions of real humans.
In the end, at the height of the climax of the show Odokawa suffers a similar accident to one of his childhood which allows him to get his mind straight and actually see everyone in their human forms for the first time, his friend who was a doctor and was shown as Gorilla was just some big dude with a beard and the nurse who was presented as a sweet alpaca that knows capoeira is just some short dark-haired girl.
Odokawa who was depicting himself as a walrus was just a tired taxi driver with a buzzcut.
Just wow. The second half of the final episode is spent revealing the human forms of the cast of all the characters we were introduced to in animal form for the entire show.
With this reveal by the time the credits started rolling I had forgotten all about the other mystery, the one with the girl who was murdered and portrayed as a black cat. Her body was found and her identity revealed but we still didn't know who killed her, until the credits started rolling that is.
You see the girl who got murdered was part of an idol group called Mistery Kiss, composed of three girls, a calico cat, a white poodle and a black cat. The poodle girl got mad because she was supposed to be the center of the group but then they gave the center to the black cat girl. The poodle couldn't handle this and was going to threaten the black cat to give up her position but before she could to that she found the dead body of the black cat at the agency headquarters. Her manager found her at the scene and immediately questioned her but after swearing she didn't do it they both called someone to help them get rid of the body and in order to continue Mistery Kiss without telling anyone what had happened they casted another black cat and made her and the calico cat wear masks while the poodle continued to be the center and now main star of the group.
Well turns out that the one who killed the black cat girl was none other than the other black cat that got casted. She came fourth in the auditions and knew that if one of the girls who made it was suddenly unable to do her job she would get the call from the agency so she killed the black cat girl for a chance at stardom.
At the end the white poodle and the manager get taken by police as prime suspects for the murder of the black cat girl while the actual murderer is free and talking about making the calico cat girl disappear as well so she can become a solo act.
The ending to the show as a whole is open-ended, we see that the murderer is going to target Odokawa because he was the taxi driver who drove her home after killing the black cat at the agency and he was a loose end she didn't want causing trouble for her in the future but that's how it ends. We don't know if Odokawa survives or if he gets killed.
I hope Odokawa did survive though, I mean he spent the entire show avoiding death after all but who knows, maybe the psycho girl got away with everything after all.
My Hero Academia Season 5
"The fifth season of Boku no Hero Academia. The rivalry between Class 1-A and Class 1-B heats up in a joint training battle. Eager to be a part of the hero course, brainwashing buff Shinso is tasked with competing on both sides. But as each team faces their own weaknesses and discovers new strengths, this showdown might just become a toss-up."
This season of MHA started its first half with the worst arc this story has to offer. It was incredibly boring in the manga but the anime staff said fuck that noise and went off with the animation, it actually made me enjoy it more than I did in the manga. I still think is the weakest section we have seen so far but that's okay because this was basically the calm before the storm, before the best arc for the story arrived.
I'm so unbelievably excited for the League of Villains arc finally being animated, when I was reading it I just couldn't believe how good it was and seeing the efforts the anime staff put into a very boring first half makes me excited for how good the animation is going to be for this arc. I mean they have no choice but to go off, this is the moment of truth right here after all. I gotta say I was a little disappointed by the new OP but the second half did make it to a great start with Deku, Baguko and Todoriki going to Endeavor's agency and revealing that the Meta Liberation Army is coming.
This season is going to move on to the Summer season so I will be giving my final thoughts on the season as a whole when I do my Summer 2021 wrap up.
Talking about the Summer season I did take a look at what's coming and so far I'm interested in
Vanitas no Carte: Rumors revolving around The Book of Vanitas, a clockwork grimoire of dubious reputation, draw Noé, a young vampire in search of a friend's salvation, to Paris. What awaits him in the City of Flowers, however, is not long hours treading the pavement or rifling through dusty bookshops in search of the tome. Instead, his quarry comes to him...in the arms of a man claiming to be a vampire doctor! Thrust into a conflict that threatens the peace between humans and vampires, will Noé cast in his lot with the curious and slightly unbalanced Vanitas and his quest to save vampirekind?
I heard about Vanitas no Carte in passing for a while now, it seems like its a pretty good story and it's being adapted by Bones so I know I'm going to recieve some quality storytelling paired with solid animation so this will probably be a certified pick up for me.
Sonny Boy: Sonny Boy is a sci-fi survival series with a stacked 36-student cast of characters. Uprooted from their middle school lives, these students end up in another dimension and have to fight to survive.
I still have a soft for anything Madhouse puts out. They been in some rough shape in recent years but their catalog and legacy speaks for itself, it seems they are about to find a solid footing again and I can't wait to see what they have in store for us.
Sonny Boy is a return to their original work format and it has the potential to earn a really interesting spotlight in this season.
Shiroi Suna no Aquatope: The anime takes place at Gama Gama Aquarium, a small aquarium in Okinawa, an hour's bus ride from Naha. Kukuru Misakino is an 18-year-old high school student who works there, and she knows about the "secret" of the aquarium: sometimes you can see mysterious things. One day Kukuru meets Fuuka, standing in front of a water tank with flowing hair and a tear rolling down her cheek. Fuuka has given up on her dream of becoming an idol and she has run away from Tokyo to Okinawa. Wanting to find a place to belong, Fuuka earnestly asks to work at the aquarium. The anime follows Kukuru and Fuuka as they deal with the issues of the secret of the aquarium and a looming crisis of its possible closure.
Honestly its been years since I enjoyed anything by P.A Works. I think the last show by them I enjoyed was the second season of Uchouten Kazoku. The PV for this looked pretty and I'm hoping is a touching story about friendship in the vein of Amanchu! a show that really took me by surprise and ended liking way too much and coincidentally it also has long haired girl and short haired girl becoming friends in an enviroment surrounded by water and sea life.
Re-Main: The anime's story centers on Minato, a boy who stopped playing water polo due to a certain incident in the winter of his third middle school year. He picks the sport back up again with a new team when he starts in high school, but the fledgling team runs into many problems.
MAPPA really has the audacity to put out another sports anime without releasing that Yuri on Ice movie that has years in the vault sksksksksk. Anyways it looks pretty and it's about a sport I know nothing about so at least I will learn a few things. Also nice seeing another black character in anime that's not based on harmful stereotypes as well.
Uramichii-Orisan: The story centers on a 31-year-old man named Uramichi Omota who has two sides to his personality. He appears as the young man in charge of physical exercises on the educational program "Maman to Together." Although he has a fresh and upbeat demeanor on the show, he is actually a bit emotionally unstable. The story reveals the less-than-sunny parts of life for young adults.
This looks funny as hell. Honestly it was about time we got an anime about kids personalities who hate their jobs.
NightHead 2041: The story follows the Kirihara brothers who from a young age were incarcerated in a secure scientific facility due to their supernatural powers, having escaped after the barrier that was preventing them malfunctions. The story also follows the Kuroki brothers who are trying to chase the Kirihara brothers.
The only studio I trust with fully CGI stuff is Polygon Pictures but this looks good enough. It will probably go on my backlog.
Kageki Shoujo: The Kouka Kageki Musical Drama Academy is a high school that teaches musical theater like that at the Takarazuka Revue, and splits its actresses into those who play male and female roles. Ai Narata is a former idol who becomes a musume-yaku (female role) actress and meets Sarasa Watanabe, a simple farm girl who is an otoko-yaku (male role) actress.
An anime that takes inspiration from the all female musical theather company Takarazuka Revue??? Yeah consider me invested.
My Spring 2021 backlog contains:
Fumetso no Anata e: In the beginning, an "orb" is cast unto Earth. "It" can do two things: change into the form of the thing that stimulates "it"; and come back to life after death. "It" morphs from orb to rock, then to wolf, and finally to boy, but roams about like a newborn who knows nothing. As a boy, "it" becomes Fushi. Through encounters with human kindness, Fushi not only gains survival skills, but grows as a "person". But his journey is darkened by the inexplicable and destructive enemy Nokker, as well as cruel partings with the people he loves.
I've been avoiding this like the plague because everyone talks about how its really heavy and describe it as something thats going to make you pull out the tissues and I'm too emotionally fucked up right now to deal with that.
Tokyo Revengers: Takemichi Hanagaki is a freelancer that's reached the absolute pits of despair in his life. He finds out that the only girlfriend he ever had in his life that he dated in middle school, Hinata Tachibana, had been killed by the ruthless Tokyo Manji Gang. The day after hearing about her death, he's standing on the station platform and ends up being pushed over onto the tracks by a herd of people. He closes his eyes thinking he's about to die, but when he opens his eyes back up, he somehow had gone back in time 12 years. Now that he's back living the best days of his life, Takemichi decides to get revenge on his life by saving his girlfriend and changing himself that he'd been running away from.
The PV for this had such a 2007 anime feel to it and it did look interesting, I mainly put it in my backlog because is interesting enough to catch my attention but not interesting enough to follow on a weekly basis. This is more for me to watch in one sitting.
Subarashiki Kono Seka The Animation: Neku awakens in the middle of Shibuya's bustling Scramble Crossing with no memory of how he got there. Little does he know, he's been transported to an alternate plane of existence known as the Underground (UG). Now an unwilling participant in the mysterious "Reapers' Game," Neku must partner up with a girl named Shiki in order to survive. Together, they complete missions and defeat monsters known as "Noise" as they gradually uncover the true nature of this twisted Game. "There's only one way to stay alive in Shibuya: trust your partner." Will they survive the Reapers' Game?
I remember hearing about this game a few years back when I was first getting into Danganronpa. It looked pretty interesting but at that time I didn't have my Nintendo DS anymore to play it. It looks pretty cool but it's on my backlog because games being adapted to anime never goes well so I don't have many expectations for it.
SSS.DYNAZENON: One day, Yomogi Asanaka, a first-year student at Fujiyokidai High School, runs into a mysterious man named Gauma who claims to be a “kaiju user.” The sudden appearance of a kaiju is followed by the entry of the gigantic robot, Dynazenon. In the wrong place at the wrong time are Yume Minami, Koyomi Yamanaka, and Chise Asukagawa, who are dragged into the fight against the kaiju.
I think the last anime made by Trigger that I watched was My Little Witch Academia which I totally loved. I surprisingly haven't watch Darling in the Franxx despite how popular it was and also I haven't had the change of watching Promare either despite being on my PTW.
I quite like the work of the studio but I feel like it's in a weird position at the moment, I don't really know what to expect from it besides the good comedy and action elements of their shows. Kiznaiver and Kill la Kill were very ambitious shows that fell short in some of their elements but overall enjoyable and it seems like they keep trying to push the envelope with things like Promare and the very high profile collaboration with A-1 Pictures and Cloverworks for Darling in the Franxx.
But that's only for their mainstream efforts, their production credits are filled with low brow material that doesn't quite match the quirky style their popular shows have thus the studio has a weird balance of quality vs whatever else they are doing on the side which makes for a very confusing presentation.
Anyways its been a while since I watched a meccha anime and this seemed interesting enough to get the genre another spin so it's in my backlog for now.
Jouran The Princess of Snow and Blood: In 1931, the Tokugawa Shogunate remains in power, marking the 64th year of the Meiji era. Holding a monopoly over the newly discovered "Dragon Vein," the government is leading Japan toward an advanced Edo period. During this time, an elite force of executioners called "Nue" is tasked with defending the Shogunate from a rebel institution known as the "Kuchinawa."
As the owner of the Tsuyukasa Bookshop, Sawa Yukimura runs the store's day-to-day business inconspicuously. But behind the scenes, she seeks vengeance against the man who slaughtered her tribe and family. With a special ability to transform granted by her blue blood, Sawa joins Nue after being promised information regarding the target of her revenge: Janome, the leader of the Kuchinawa.
This looks so freaking gorgeous and interesting. I heard nothing but great things about it so I'm pretty excited to get this started. I love women going through a revenge journey and then you add some fantasy elements to it and you have me in.
This looks so freaking gorgeous and interesting. I heard nothing but great things about it so I'm pretty excited to get this started. I love women going through a revenge journey and then you add some fantasy elements to it and you have me in.
And some quick thoughts on Winter 2021
Wonder Egg Priority: Following the suicide of her best and only friend, Koito Nagase, Ai Ooto is left grappling with her new reality. With nothing left to live for, she follows the instructions of a mysterious entity and gets roped into purchasing an egg, or specifically, a Wonder Egg.
Wonder Egg Priority: Following the suicide of her best and only friend, Koito Nagase, Ai Ooto is left grappling with her new reality. With nothing left to live for, she follows the instructions of a mysterious entity and gets roped into purchasing an egg, or specifically, a Wonder Egg.
Upon breaking the egg in a world that materializes during her sleep, Ai is tasked with saving people from the adversities that come their way. In doing so, she believes that she has moved one step closer to saving her best friend. With this dangerous yet tempting opportunity in the palms of her hands, Ai enters a place where she must recognize the relationship between other people's demons and her own.
As past trauma, unforgettable regrets, and innate fears hatch in the bizarre world of Wonder Egg Priority, a young girl discovers the different inner struggles tormenting humankind and rescues them from their worst fears.
This had so much potential but it had an awful production behind the scenes that didn't let them reach the heights they were going for. I'm quite shocked that the quality of the animation never dropped despite all the bts problems. The writing of the show however, recieved all the damage, it seemed like creative differences were happening right in front of my screen and the story couldn't quite choose were to go at the end resulting in an incomplete ending. Actually things got so bad with production that the storyboard for the final episode wasn't even finished at all when the episode aired.
The creators plan to patch all the loose ends with a special and I do hope that they can deliver that without problems because they have something worthwhile here.
This had so much potential but it had an awful production behind the scenes that didn't let them reach the heights they were going for. I'm quite shocked that the quality of the animation never dropped despite all the bts problems. The writing of the show however, recieved all the damage, it seemed like creative differences were happening right in front of my screen and the story couldn't quite choose were to go at the end resulting in an incomplete ending. Actually things got so bad with production that the storyboard for the final episode wasn't even finished at all when the episode aired.
The creators plan to patch all the loose ends with a special and I do hope that they can deliver that without problems because they have something worthwhile here.
Shingeki No Kyojin The Final Season Part 1: Gabii Braun and Falco Grice have been training their entire lives to inherit one of the seven titans under Marley's control and aid their nation in eradicating the Eldians on Paradis. However, just as all seems well for the two cadets, their peace is suddenly shaken by the arrival of Eren Yeager and the remaining members of the Survey Corps.
Having finally reached the Yeager family basement and learned about the dark history surrounding the titans, the Survey Corps has at long last found the answer they so desperately fought to uncover. With the truth now in their hands, the group set out for the world beyond the walls.
In Shingeki no Kyojin: The Final Season, two utterly different worlds collide as each party pursues its own agenda in the long-awaited conclusion to Paradis' fight for freedom.
I think MAPPA did a great job at handling this, it was bittersweet that WIT was not able to finish this adaptation after all the sweat and tears they put into the other seasons but I'm glad they recognized that this was above their heads. At the end the studio prioritized their staff and I have to respect them for that, can't say the same thing about MAPPA.
But despite the absolute disaster that has been going on at MAPPA for the last two years, the final season of AOT looks amazing. The cinematic feel they gave the whole thing is perfect for the final arc of this story and I'm quite loving the new designs and that eerie and creepy OP. Hopefully part 2 will look just as good.
I think MAPPA did a great job at handling this, it was bittersweet that WIT was not able to finish this adaptation after all the sweat and tears they put into the other seasons but I'm glad they recognized that this was above their heads. At the end the studio prioritized their staff and I have to respect them for that, can't say the same thing about MAPPA.
But despite the absolute disaster that has been going on at MAPPA for the last two years, the final season of AOT looks amazing. The cinematic feel they gave the whole thing is perfect for the final arc of this story and I'm quite loving the new designs and that eerie and creepy OP. Hopefully part 2 will look just as good.
Yakusoku No Neverland Season 2: Emma, Ray, and the rest of the older children have escaped the confines of the Grace Field House. However, with relentless demons set on capturing them, their arduous battle for freedom has only just begun.
Despite venturing into the treacherous wilderness, the children remain optimistic due to their possession of books written by William Minerva. Coded within his books are messages detailing the world outside the farm—information that can help them survive with the limited resources they have. But when their pursuers draw near, the children soon encounter their most dreadful situation yet.
In Yakusoku no Neverland 2nd Season, the children struggle to survive in the strange ruthless world, striving to find a sanctuary they can truly call home.
This was a complete joke. As someone who read the manga before an anime was even announced I was super excited, the story has its flaws but it also has some great moments that I wanted to see animated. The first season did a great job at presenting the story....only for the second season to completetly skip the best arc of the entire manga and go full anime original. This is isn't even me being biased, they literally skipped the most popular arc of this manga, all the arcs after that one, the actual lore of the story and the ending. They decided to suddently make up another lore and ending for it because they didn't want to make another season for this.
I don't understand why pick up a SHOUNEN manga to adapt if you don't want work on it for more than 2 season but okay. What a bunch of crap.
This was a complete joke. As someone who read the manga before an anime was even announced I was super excited, the story has its flaws but it also has some great moments that I wanted to see animated. The first season did a great job at presenting the story....only for the second season to completetly skip the best arc of the entire manga and go full anime original. This is isn't even me being biased, they literally skipped the most popular arc of this manga, all the arcs after that one, the actual lore of the story and the ending. They decided to suddently make up another lore and ending for it because they didn't want to make another season for this.
I don't understand why pick up a SHOUNEN manga to adapt if you don't want work on it for more than 2 season but okay. What a bunch of crap.
Re Zero Season 2 Part 2: After a stern yet compelling speech by Otto, Subaru Natsuki solemnly swears that he will successfully make it through this timeline and save everyone he can along the way. The first step toward achieving this goal is to help Emilia work through her past; however, that is easier said than done. Feeling as if she has been lied to by everyone around her, it will be difficult for Emilia to trust anyone, even Subaru, her self-proclaimed knight.
Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu 2nd Season Part 2 presents the culmination of Subaru's experiences with the Sanctuary and its people, along with his unwillingness to give up hope on saving them.
I was very hesitant to even start this show, it did caused a lot of rage when it first premiered and I honestly didn't want to believe the hype, sekai animes have never been up to my taste and a lot of fanboys were bragging about this show because "look its an amazing sekai anime that subverse its tropes, see not all sekai anime is bad" but after seeing the same fanboys suddenly having meltdowns and the anime community in general started talking about how truly subversive this was in the second half of the show I knew I had to give it a chance.
The first season was alright, I do have to admit it does subvert the genre quite well....only for it to fall back to stereotypes in the second season. I gotta say seeing the mask of the eternal good guy who deserves pussy fall right off Subaru's face was a peak moment for this show and the thing that got the fanboys who enjoy these sekai/harem type animes where the protagonist gets to have a bunch of girls at his feet because he does decent things for them really angry so it was very pleasant to me.
But then almost at the end of season one and the start of season 2 something shifted, it seemed the show wasn't interested in continuing its explorations and subvertions of the genre but instead decided to safetly cushion itself in its stereotypes. I was very displeased and I could barely finish the first part of the second season, I gave part 2 at least 3 episodes to convince me this was still a good show and it didn't managed to do so. A lot of wasted potential with this one, it's really a shame.
I think those are all my thoughts for now, I'm really excited about what the Summer season has in store for us. I might be able to stick with 5 animes weekly this turns around so we will see.
