LogFAQs > #980133171

We're far enough into the Spring season that I want to talk again about what I'm watching in the hopes of swaying others to watch/avoid them. I'm caught up on everything, which means three episodes minimum. This doesn't include sequels becuase, I mean, Laid-Back Camp and Duke of Death are great. Anyone who's seen their previous seasons already knows that. Since I'm watching twenty anime, I'll split it in half and do ten today, ten tomorrow. I'll try to keep my thoughts brief. Going from best to worst:

-A Condition Called Love is shaping up to be one of my favorite romances ever. Finally, an anime about the difficulties of dating. I love how the two leads are flawed in such realistic ways. The main guy Hananoi goes too far and has a lot of off-putting behaviors, but he's not an abusive asshole. The main girl Hotaru doesn't really know what love is, but she's not stupidly clueless. She's trying her best to understand their weird relationship. It's occasionally sweet, occasionally creepy, and always messy. I love it... but, obviously, this dynamic wouldn't work for everyone! I don't have to look very hard across the internet to see people going "main dude is a walking red flag" and I'm just like "that's the whole point of the show you morons". Then again, I really hated an anime like My Little Monster where the main dude regularly abused the main girl, and I bet fans of that show would say "that's the point" about it too. Different romances appeal to different people, I suppose.

-Tonbo has been a lot of fun so far. It was tough to pick my #2 between this and Jellyfish, but this is winning at the moment. As a sports anime, it's doing a great job at bringing me into the world of golf in ways that are fun and genuinely interesting. Still, my favorite thing about it is Tonbo herself. She's always so energetic and happy, but with some sadness in her past to give her depth. Her reluctant mentor/surrogate father relationship with Igaiga is also being handled super well.

-Jellyfish Can't Swim in the Night is shaping up to be a really special anime. I love everyone in the main cast. They each have things from their past that they're struggling to overcome, and they have a fun group dynamic when they're together. The music aspect is being handled really well. More than anything, though, it's the storytelling and production values that are bringing it all together. Every episode so far has managed to enthrall me in ways that few other anime have.

-Tonari no Yokai-san has been such a pleasant experience. I'm a sucker for this kind of setting, a slice-of-life quiet mountain community with hints of the fantastic scattered all around. The worldbuilding has been consistently impressive at weaving the yokai into regular society. It's also doing a great job at sprinkling in darker or more serious elements without ever going too far with it.

-Yatagarasu: The Raven Does Not Choose Its Master is a great royal court political intrigue show. There are a lot of competing factions and people within those factions. After four episodes, though, I think I have a handle on all the major players. I'm excited to see where the succession crisis story goes... but I'm also enjoying the four ladies competing to become the next empress. Setting aside their role in the overall plot, it's fun watching them snipe at each other with backhanded comments.

-Wind Breaker isn't shaping up to be anything groundbreaking, but's doing a good job at being a delinquent fighting anime. I like the characters they've introduced so far, especially main dude Sakura. He's mostly your standard edgy tough guy, but I like the other half of him that gets flustered from kindness. The animation during the fights has been solid and kept them interesting to watch.

-Whisper Me a Love Song has the unfortunate luck of competing with A Conditon Called Love this season, but I'm still enjoying it. I've had significant issues with most of the other yuri romance anime I've seen, so I'm glad this seems to be avoiding the pitfalls those other shows fell into. Yori and Himari are good characters who are really cute together. I'm enjoying watching their relationship develop.

-The Many Sides of Voice Actor Radio has had its ups and downs. I like the "frenemy" dynamic the two main characters have, and it's doing a good job at being realistic about the competitiveness of the industry. Some aspects have veered too far into melodrama for my tastes, though. I'm excited to see their relationship develop, but I'm also really worried about where some other plotlines might go. I feel like this could fall pretty far in my ranking if it goes a direction I don't like.

-Train to the End of the World has a lot of aspects that appeal to me, which makes me sad that I can't rank it higher. I like the weird setting and the dynamic between the four girls... at least most of the time. At other times they act like unbelievable morons. One recent story decision also infuriated me. I'm hoping they reverse it somehow because otherwise it'll ruin the entire story's tone. I guess I'm ranking this under the assumption that it'll improve in the future. The last two episodes kinda sucked.

-Mysterious Disappearances has been interesting so far. I'm a sucker for supernatural mysteries. I like the main girl, and I'm intrigued by the strange brother/sister duo she's teaming up with. Considering the amount of fanservice elements this show has, I've also been pleasantly surprised that it's handled kinda tastefully. I enjoyed the one mystery they've gone through. Whether it rises or falls in my ranking will depend on the quality of the future mysteries.

I'll talk about the bottom ten shows tomorrow just to avoid one gigantic post, but here's my overall season ranking at the moment.

AMAZING
A Condition Called Love
Tonbo!
Jellyfish Can't Swim in the Night
Tonari no Yokai-san
Yatagarasu: The Raven Does Not Choose Its Master

GOOD
Wind Breaker
Whisper Me a Love Song
The Many Sides of Voice Actor Radio
Train to the End of the World
Mysterious Disappearances

FINE
A Salad Bowl of Eccentrics
Studio Apartment, Good Lighting, Angel Included
Astro Note
Kaiju No. 8
As a Reincarnated Aristocrat, I'll Use My Appraisal Skill etc

BAD
Unnamed Memory
Gods' Games We Play
Oblivion Battery
Grandma and Grandpa Turn Young Again
Highspeed Etoile