Following up on some comments in the recent meta thread, I decided to be the change I want to see in the world and create a place to talk about anime that aren’t actively airing.
I plan on making these posts regularly going forward on Mondays as they normally suck for most people that work M-F, so why not try to make them a little bit better? Also, in the process of making this post, I found out that there is an ISO standard that says weeks start on Monday rather than Sunday. TIL!
Just a reminder to tag your spoilers.
I’m slowly rewatching Cowboy Bebop (only have a couple of episodes left now) and I still love it. It’s my first rewatch after having watched it for the first time about 15+ years ago and even with all the other great animes releasing over the years, I think, it still stands up extremely well.
It has been quite a while since I last watched Bebop, I might be due soon (this season is pretty packed for me though). Earlier this year I went back and rewatched Gundam Wing to see how it held up to the version of it that was in my head from watching it on TV after school. I still think it is a really cool series, but if you try to follow the actual plot it is all over the place (13 year old me just didn’t care).
I recently watched Princess Tutu. I haven’t for years because the name put me off but man was it amazing!
Oh I love Princess Tutu! The sound design is brilliant and the animation is truly gorgeous!
I watched the Icebalde magician from last season, then started to watch the Reigh of the seven spellblades. On very high level the story is very simmilar, but the later has waaaay better production quality, worldbuilding and story. After 2 minutes in both shows: Iceblade: “Super generic” Reign: “that’s gonna be awesome” personal opinion
Yeah, sometimes you know right away if a show is going to be good or not. I should have heeded those feelings when I watched Am I Actually the Strongest last season. I got like 10 minutes in and was already kind of tired of it…then proceeded to watch the whole season. This season I am getting those vibes from The Family Circumstances of the Irregular Witch. I am three episodes in and it hasn’t really gotten much better. I am just terrible at dropping a show once I have started.
I still have 2-3 eps from the Box guy (Am I the strongest). I started the manga last year, so I knew the plot, but disn’t follow up until I finish the anime…
Yeah, the show was frustrating to me. I actually feel like it could have been good, but the pacing felt way off. You can see a previous rant of mine on an episode discussion thread, but the adaptation’s pacing felt super inconsistent. Props for having one of the best little sister characters in a while though.
I have recently finished watching Campfire Cooking in Another World and it was a way better adaptation than I had expected. I am up to date on the manga, but had written off the anime as I figured it would be a fairly sub-par isekai adaptation (like most of them are). However, I was really surprised at how nice the animation was, especially the titular cooking sequences. It actually inspired me to make chicken katsu curry (it was delicious). Also, I love the OP. Like, it is a regular in my daily listening now it is so good. Really…check it out (long version).
After finishing that, I started watching Zombie Land Saga. I actually picked this one completely randomly from my library and went in completely blind. I must say, the cold open of episode 1 caught me completely off guard. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from this show before I started, but it has turned out very different than I expected. Other highlights include the performance in episode 2, and the VA work for Kotaro (really, it is incredible).
Finally, on a meta note, I just want to thank everybody for engaging in the thread about episode discussions over the weekend. There were a lot of great ideas and points raised in the course of that discussion.
I’ll be honest: I thought Campfire Cooking looked like another generic low effort isekai anime, so I didn’t even give it a try. With your input, I’ll give it a shot. I’m looking for a lighter good feeling show to cap evenings, and this might be just right.
It sounds like a great fit for that. However, these kinds of shows you either vibe with or you don’t. So, if you aren’t feeling it after episode ~3 or so, just move on. Other shows that fit this role for me would be Azumanga Daioh, Farming Life in Another World, Slime 300, How Heavy are the Dumbbells You Lift. I would also make a case that Mushishi, Kino’s Journey, and Natsume’s Book of Friends are also good at that, but can feature darker storylines in some episodes (they are anthologies).
I had been planning on continuing to catch up with Helck and try out the new Eminence in Shadow, but my Apple TV updated, and now the HiDive app won’t work. I’d say I hope they’ll fix it soon, but I have very little faith in the HiDive app team to do anything at all. Best bet is to figure out another device that can at least get it streaming…
Otherwise, I’m trying out new releases like Kanojo mo Kanojo, SpyXFamily, Frieren, and Shield Hero. I think I may finally drop Shield Hero though. That last arc was rough and I’m not blown away by the start of this one. Also watching the new Castlevania.
Oh I’m also trying to blast through the remaining anime on HBO Max because my sub expires later this month. Tried Ride Your Wave and The Secret World of Arrietty. Both were good, but not top tier classics. And Earwig and the Witch. It wasn’t as bad as some had made it out to be, but… that’s about the best I can say. I think I have 7 more I need to watch.
New Eminence was great. This season is off to a great start with some solid anime-original additions that really up the humor in my opinion. As for HiDive, I have gotten so frustrated with their player/apps I often bypass it entirely by sailing the high seas of the internet for HiDive shows.
Good luck on your HBO quest!
