I knew at the start of the week that it would be another busy one and I’d be struggling to find reading time, so I came up with a plan to compensate. So here I am at the end of the week with nothing to report on but 93 episodes of anime.
もののがたり 7-12 (finished): A really stupid show. The characters are uninteresting, the monster designs are overall lacking, and the plot beats are extremely predictable. There were a couple of fun moments but it mostly fell flat. I was shocked to hear that it’s going to be getting a second season.
デス・パレード 5-12 (finished): Finally finished this one after having it on the back burner for years. The murder “mystery” towards the end was really interesting to watch unfold and the ending was very strong. I was multitasking for most of the time I was watching anime this week but the last few episodes had me in rapt attention.
ハイキュー TO THE TOP S1, 6-13 and S2, 1-12 (finished): My sister has been hounding me to watch this so I finally got back to it. It’s really not a show I vibe with too much but there were some good bits during the final game. I quite liked the part where 谷地 surprises 清水 by saying that she thinks the scars on her legs (from her track days) are cool and she shouldn’t cover them up. 宮侑 best boy.
であいもん 3-12 (finished): Another one I paused a while ago. I mostly started watching it again because I wanted some more kansai audio time. I think the first few episodes left a bit of a weak impression originally but I ended up liking it a lot. The characters’ relationships developed in a nice believable way and it was just good feels all around. Might read the manga in a little bit.
虚構推理 S2 3-12 (finished): Was kind of let down by this one unfortunately. The first half of the season was just a monster-of-the-week format and then it kind of tried to pivot into a larger story around the middle, and then back again. It’s a LOT of exposition all the time and I had a hard time giving it my attention.
昭和元禄落語心中 S1, 2-13, and S2, 1-12 (finished): I’ve had this on my list for years somehow; watched one episode a while ago and then paused it. When I got back to it this week I had basically forgotten what happened in the first episode so I was a little bit lost at first but I caught on quickly enough. Really neat story, lots of rakugo (always hard to understand completely but some of the jokes did get a laugh out of me, including one that ended up being important foreshadowing), and the main character is an 江戸っ子 which means his speech style is always interesting. I liked the big reveal in season 2 a lot and it retroactively improved my opinion of season 1.
ノラガミ 1-8: Another recommendation from my sister. Not too deep but pretty fun. I like how the main tension in the story comes from within the main cast rather than from outside.
Seasonal shows: final episodes of Buddy Daddies (very good) and 文豪ストレイドッグス (rather confusing, but did at least confirm two of my predictions). Also watched the first episode of僕の心のヤバイやつ, which is a very good adaptation of the manga so far, and finally the first episode of 地獄楽, which I knew almost nothing about before today except that it had really nice covers. It’s off to a strong start, looking forward to keeping up with it.
Finally, two more hours of FFX. It was another section with a lot of battles so not really a lot to say. おぼろ月 is a nice word.