I just realised that it's been a while since I talked about manga! It's kinda crazy since I read manga more than I watch anime, but I guess most of the stuff I'm reading are stories I've been reading for years so I probably would have recommended them already lol. Anyway, I accumulated a few I've been reading and really enjoyed! The funny thing is I would actually rate them all an 8 hahaha!~ It can't be anything lower because they're better than that (imo), but anything higher is a bit too much lol, I just find it funny that I think they all deserve an 8 hahaha.
Survive as the Hero's Wife
by Nokki, art by Ahbin
Genre: Fantasy, Isekai, Romance, Shoujo
Status: Ongoing, 62 chapters scanlated
My Rating: 8
This is probably my favourite Korean isekai villainess webcomic (not that I read many actually lol)! Caesar (Male MC) is adorable and Canaria (Female MC) is fun, and even though the story is probably the weakest part, their relationship is too cute and adorable to miss out on. I do have to admit that when I first read this, it was pretty boring though, it honestly does take a while to get up to speed (in terms of their relationship), and really, it's only when they are more upfront with their feelings that the relationship gets more enjoyable. Caesar is the naive handsome guy that is totally clueless about love but sincerely loves and cares for Canaria, whereas Canaria is the reincarnated woman who finds it difficult to form any romantic feelings towards Caesar since not only will that cause her destruction flag (basically, her death), but it's probably also hard for her to have really felt that way about him until later on due to their "age difference". She's known her past life since she was a child and is much more focused on trying to survive than to romance a guy, so it's understandable that she wouldn't feel anything for him until she actually talks to him more and understands that he's a person and not a "character" in the novel.
As with a lot of the other villainess isekai tropes, the story follows Canaria reincarnating into the world of a novel. She realises that she's the character that will eventually be executed by her husband, so in order to avoid that, she hopes to find a way to divorce him in the future and save her life. The story starts from when the two of them are children but quickly reaches the point when they are adults. Naturally, similar to a lot of the other similar stories of this kind, the guy ends up falling for her and it's extremely unlikely he'd kill her since she's not a "villain" in the story anymore, but the politics stuff remain a problem for both Caesar and Canaria in accessing their happy life. It's pretty cliche stuff of the queen wanting her own son to be king and not Caesar blah blah, so they have schemes blah blah typical stuff lol, so I wouldn't really recommend this if it's the story you have hope in, because the highlight of this one is definitely the romance and the art which are pretty good, so I enjoy it for that haha. Although there's a lot of the usual misunderstandings and frustrations in the beginning, Caesar is just such a shy and sweet cinnamon roll that melts every girl's hearts with his purity, so Canaria isn't one that can defend against that for long haha. I won't say Canaria is the smartest of the bunch since I do feel like she's makes questionable decisions, but really, she's just a normal person trying to live in another world, she's not some OP MC so I think it's understandable. Definitely recommended if you like your cute cinnamon roll kinda guys lol.
Spy x Family
by Endou Tatsuya
Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Shounen
Status: Ongoing, 22 chapters scanlated
My Rating: 8
It's sad that the manga is monthly, but I guess that gives it time to really make the chapters great, because I loved nearly every chapter of it haha. As other people say, this is kinda like a Mr and Mrs Smith type of story where Loid is a spy and Yor is a hitman and they both don't know each other's real identities but happen to come together as a married couple due to their respective circumstances of their jobs. And then you add Anya (the kid) the esper to the mix and the story just becomes both interesting, funny and adorable! Anya definitely carries a lot of the story because of how amusing of a girl she is. As an esper, she listens to a lot of their thoughts and understands that her "parents" are not normal, but she's still a kid, so no matter how much she knows or understands, she solves things in her own unique and cute kiddish way and it makes things so funny but amusing. The relationship dynamic is the highlight of the series because it's really entertaining to watch Anya do her best to keep them together as a "family" whilst being her silly self, I'd say the story is equally driven with touching moments as well as comedy, and it does it well!
The story basically follows Loid who has been assigned a mission to "make a family" in order to infiltrate a politician's son's school and get closer to him for information. This ensues his first task of finding a wife and kid and that's where everything starts~ Initially, I wasn't sure if I would like Yor because Loid and Anya was hilarious and cute enough, but having Yor being the kinda strong mother that protects Anya, and seeing them all have their own respective reasons for leading the life they do, it's really fun to see how all the characters interact and how that ties in with saving the country haha. A great thing about this manga is that even though there is a lot of comedy, the action doesn't disappoint at all! Yor and Loid are really cool and I really enjoy their action scenes! I also think it's really sweet to think that in the end, the three of them are protecting families like themselves.
Given
by Kizu Natsuki
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Music, Romance, Shounen Ai, Slice of Life
Status: Ongoing, 33 chapters scanlated
My Rating: 8
I already talked about the anime in a previous post (so I'll just add a bit!) and since the anime follows the manga rather closely and adds to it making it even better since you can hear Mafuyu sing (omg!), I don't have as much to say about it other than I really love how real the relationships between the characters are. I think the story sets out each character's personalities and feelings very well (although Uenoyama is not as well developed as others imo) and how their past and present circumstances affect their relationships. For now, there are three pairings of guys and we're on to the third (it seems), but it's not a linear story in that you go from one couple to the next, because even though the focus changes temporarily, the story stays faithful to the fact that although the relationships are important, their bands are just as important and their desire to create and play music is what drives them. Personally, there are positives and negatives about the story and development of each couple but I think that's the best thing about them! They're all flawed, they all find it difficult to show their feelings, they all think about the consequences of how going further may change their current situations, but they still persist and get through their problems because they love each other and don't want to let their past etc tie them down, and I really enjoy that. Seeing the guys improve each other as romantic partners as well as friends (since all the couples are great friends with each other) makes it feel like such a nice depiction of life, friendships and relationships. The shounen ai bit made me hesitate to read the story in the beginning but honestly, it doesn't detract from the story one bit, it feels like such a normal and sweet romance, I think most people will be able to enjoy it for what it is even if you're not into BL.
Koi wa Ameagari no You ni
by Mayuzuki Jun
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance, Seinen, Slice of Life
Status: Completed, 82 chapters scanlated
My Rating: 8
I've always felt this manga was unique to my heart and I think it was when I read the ending that it reminded me of why I liked it so much. I think it's kinda funny that after reading the whole thing, I still don't remember the guy's name and only remember him as "Manager" because that's what Akira refers to him as throughout the story. As a person who is interested in age gap love stories, this story can probably be considered romantic due to Akira constantly trying to appeal her love to the manager in her own way, yet the manager never really reciprocates due to their age gap and his consideration for her and his own situations, but I think overall, it is more of a story of two people of different ages losing themselves in a time where their "time has stopped" and they find it difficult to even have the desire to proceed and move forward in their lives because of things such as fear, and so they find each other having a similar "atmosphere" to the other and are drawn to that. Although the two have a big age gap with completely different lifestyles, it's crazy how well they can communicate from manager to staff into friends where they both have something to share to the other and change them.
The story follows the high school student Akira, she used to be a part of the track and field club, but after an injury causing her to be unable to run as fast as she could before, she ends up quitting and finding a part time job in a family restaurant. At this family restaurant, she meets the kind manager Kondou who is seen as useless and happy go lucky by the other staff, but nevertheless, Akira falls in love with him and eventually tells him her feelings. Akira's confession is what drives the story and their relationship, and it is what allows them both to finally be able to communicate on a deeper level as they both begin to see the other side of each other. Just as Akira is unable to get over her injury, Kondou is unable to get over his dream of writing and I think it felt really nice to see the contrast between them, and I think their similarities and differences really reflected how well their relationship was and how they both improve each other and lead each other into thinking about things in a different perspective, as well as gaining the courage to try things again. I can't help but fall in love with how awkward yet natural their conversations could be, and how much they both influenced each other for the better. Definitely recommended for the unique friendship relationship Akira and the manager both had! The ending came a bit too fast imo but it did round up rather nicely so I wasn't too disappointed and really enjoyed most of the ride.
As with Given, I've commented on what I liked about the anime, and although there were things I understood better with the manga, I do agree that overall the anime visuals and flow of the fights definitely improved on the overall portrayal of the story. As I said previously, the story is simple and straightforward and honestly, I don't think it ever really deviates from that. If you enjoyed the anime/beginning of the manga, you would definitely enjoy the future chapters because things only get more intense and interesting, considering it starts to delve a lot more into the Pillars and the Upper Moons, and eventually Kibutsuji Muzan. The fights never really "stop" because the story never really lets Tanjirou catch a break unless he's unconscious lol. So if you're all in for the action, you can definitely expect that to continue on for the next couple of arcs needed to be adapted. For me, I think the Red Light District arc with Uzui was my favourite, but I also really enjoyed how short but emotional the Infinity Train arc was (can't wait to watch the movie!).
On the other hand, because the action never really stops, a lot of the characterisation is relied upon stuff like flashbacks, backstories and simple interactions, and this is especially prevalent with the demons they fight. The sad backstories are a thing that does not stop and that can be a good or bad thing depending on what you like. For me, not a lot of them hit, but when they did, it did hit pretty badly enough that it made me cry for them haha. A good thing is though that even though the characterisation is rather simple with backstories to mould them, no one is really forgettable even if they're not especially memorable. Maybe you won't remember their names, but you'll definitely remember the type of personality they have and how they act, and really, with the amount of characters and demons, it's hard to find one you don't like. For me, Rengoku, Akaza and Shinobu are definite favourites, and I just had too much of a soft spot for the Shinazugawa brothers tbh haha. I also loved the siblings demons in Uzui's arc and I think their abilities and stories resonated with me the most (for the demons) alongside Akaza. I'd say most characters get their relevant screentime and the only ones that I feel are kinda robbed by that are Kanroji and maybe Iguro, but I guess that's only in comparison to the other Pillars haha.
But yeah, anyway, I think my biggest problem with the story is the power balance, I think I find it very hard to really pinpoint how some fights ended the way it did and how some injuries could be fine even if I suspended my disbelief. Some of these "power levels" made the flow of the fights rather jarring and confusing imo, but overall, I still enjoyed them since I do find it pretty fascinating for the demon slayers and the demons to both utilise their respective skills to fight and deflect each other. But yeah, as said, the breaths, their powers etc can be under explained making the experience less immersive, but they're still fun since I think the best thing about the manga stays true to itself, and that is all the demon slayers' determinations towards killing all the demons and I think the author shows that really well with each character's stories and even the side characters' unrelenting sacrifices to achieve this dream really make me feel how much they really are fighting to make this all come true. I can't wait to see it all animated! Overall, although I feel like I complained a bit lol, I still really like it because each arc really does get you pumped up for the next with how difficult and crazy the fights get. and I think if you like the type of action Kimetsu no Yaiba offers, then you'll definitely like the manga because it maintains its' quality throughout the story quite well.
For this month, I wanted to try something a bit different! A lot of my time recently has been occupied by my interest in games, so I was thinking about talking about games for a bit (or whenever I haven't read anything new lol). Aside from watching anime and reading manga, I like to play games and read books, so why not talk about them as well I guess lol! I'm currently reading To Aru Majutsu no Index and that's taking up most of my book reading time though LOL (up to Volume 16 of the Old Testament), but I'm constantly playing games, or more recently, reading visual novels. So yeah, maybe in the future!
Anyway, today I wanted to talk about a mobile game. I've played the game since its' Global launch in 2018 and I've nearly played it every day (not kidding, only excluding holidays probably LOL). I won't deny that there were points where I was so ready to give up on the game and quit because it got boring etc, but I still trudged on, and funnily, I'm still enjoying it haha.
DISSIDIA FINAL FANTASY OPERA OMNIA (iOS/Android)
Story/Plot: Honestly, I've never played the Dissidia games so I'm not sure of the exact relation it has between them, but I think the gods in the game (Materia and Spiritus) are a part of the Dissidia storyline? Anyway, the story is a very simple one, our Final Fantasy heroes have been called to this world by Materia and Spiritus (who created this world) hoping for these heroes possessing the "light" within them to save the world from "torsions" that have been opening up and endangering the safety of this world. And that's probably all you need to know because honestly the story isn't that great LOL. This is especially evident in the beginning tbh. A lot of the initial encounters with the respective characters from the Final Fantasy games were really bland because it followed a lot of the same kind of thing, which was basically:
~"Someone is over there!"
"You've been summonsed to this world!"
New Character: "No, I'll wander around myself"
You: *saves/helps them*
"Okay, let's journey together"~
A lot of the initial characters are introduced like that, and the beginning story is pretty boring as well because it just involves the heroes fighting against monsters and some villains from the Final Fantasy franchise, so mostly just some cliche fanservice. HOWEVER! Recently, I feel like Act 2 really upped their game! Maybe it's because the game actually decided to delve more into the characters to progress the plot itself and that has definitely made it much more enjoyable, since it pays a lot of homage to the character's original game. This will be probably done with a lot of characters (much more to comee~) because when Materia summoned her heroes (most of the good guys), they are missing a lot of their memories, mainly because she took them away since she thought it would hinder their abilities or whatever. Whereas, most of the heroes Spiritus summoned (most of the villains), their memories are intact. So really, a lot of the story involves around the two of them believing in different methods to save this world. Anyway, back to the recent stories! One of the chapters that I really liked was Kuja's, because not only did it really showcase what kind of villain he was in his game, and his motivations etc, it also showed how Aerith's beliefs affected him. They both had a mission that they had to complete in their own game, and Aerith did what she could to succeed it, whereas Kuja defied it, and I think it was really interesting to see how it affected how Kuja interacting with all the different people. On the other hand (spoilers ahead!), I also really enjoyed the FFXIV chapter with Lyse's introduction and how happy Papalymo was to be able to witness her growth and how even though he can't do anything in their original world anymore, he can still see her and watch over her in this world, and I thought that was really sweet and probably the best thing about this game! Sadly, a lot of our favourite characters are dead or die in their original games, so I think the best thing about Opera Omnia is that you can see them alive and well here, as well as you can see them interact with other favourites across the franchise! Not only do you get to see more of their characters here ( Tbh, I feel like the Type-0 characters have more of a personality here loll), you get to see a lot of them after their games and actually have some sort of future. Also, random Tidus and Jecht moments are honestly really cute and sweet when they appear.
Characters: Currently, there are 117 ( I think) characters from FFI-FFXV including FF Tactics, FF Crystal Chronicles, World of Final Fantasy etc. Obviously some titles get more love and have more characters but overall, I'd say there's a great selection of characters because it's nice to have people like Jecht. Sephiroth, Vayne etc since they're good characters and where else would you be able to play with them?!~ Otherwise, I live for the simple interactions the characters have with each other, it really feels nostalgic when you see your favourite characters doing similar things in a different environment, whilst seeing how they interact with other fan favourites. The dialogue is really fun, and you can definitely see the care put into them because I honestly think they really nail the dialogue in the everyday life kinda ones and the story ones.
Music: Considering that a lot of events reuse the music from the respective character's original game, what is there to not love? It's FF music, it's nice, it's fun and it's very memorable.
Gameplay: The main reason I played this game was because it goes back to the old days with the turn-based style (that I much prefer). Basically, there are three characters in your team and they have two skills, one EX skill (like a limit break, but you must have their EX weapon to use it), and an additional skill if you level their crystal strength enough. During battle, you will mostly be accumulating up "brave" with BRV attacks and then dumping it all on the enemy with HP attacks to kill them. However, you don't always have to accumulate brave that way, and can use skills that either boost your brave through extra attacks or through the skill granting you brave. As usual with most games, there are DPS, Tanks and Support characters, but you don';t necessarily need a balanced team all the time, it really depends on the monsters and the situation etc. But yeah, basically, there are maps with battles to get through as you uncover the story alongside it. This probably sounds confusing lol, which is probably why the game recently introduced a permanent novice and intermediate dojo kinda thing where it will take you step by step on the different buttons, the different elemental weaknesses. the difference between magic, ranged and melee attacks etc. Once you get used to it, it's quite simple, and the only time you'll need to think about how to use a character will be due to their different skill sets and how you can make the best out of it with different team combinations.
For me, I really enjoy the play style because it's simple but also challenging. The difficulty has recently ramped up and it really makes you think about what you need in a team to last long battles, as well as how to conserve skills whilst meeting mission requirements such as finishing within a certain amount of turns, no KOs and taking less than 10k HP damage etc. As a F2P player, I've been able to complete all content as of now, but there were certainly times that due to my lack of useful characters, I wasn't able to, but you never really miss out on much even if you don't complete the missions in time, which is really good!
Oh and also, unlike a lot of other games, there is no stamina to hinder you playing through the story. You can spend 10 minutes or 10 hours, however you like. The only thing that uses stamina aka SP would be the World of Illusions and the Summons (levelling up your summons for extra passive skills), and even for this, the game is really generous with the amount of SP potions you can getm so you really don't need to care about losing out on the free stamina.
Multiplayer: Since the game is mostly single player, most of the events are catered to that. But, there are multiplayer events where you can join in with another two players to defeat a big boss to get extra materials and items. When the game first launched, I have to say. there were a few co-op that were definitely not newbie friendly and caused lots of frustration, but nowadays, as long as you level up your character and have their weapons, it's pretty much a breeze. It probably only takes 2-3 minutes per battle and you can communicate with your team members with moogle stickers haha. However, there are raids every now and then where the difficulty is much higher and you work alongside the other players in this game to defeat the bosses and accumulate points, which is kinda fun because you can actually see there are actually a lot of other people playing lol. The player base is mostly friendly and active as well, so definitely a great time to play!
Levelling up/Gearing up characters: This is probably the most important part! The most important currency in the game is gems. These gems are used to draw weapons for your characters, so basically all characters are free and useable, but to make them viable, you have to get their weapons. Right now there are three weapons for each character (15cp. 35cp and an EX 70cp weapon), these boost the skills of your character and so is usually recommended for your characters to have all 3 of them in order to be useful for the hardest content. Respectively, armours are the same. Due to the amount of gems you get from completing events, logging in every day, it is quite likely that you'll be able to get the "meta" characters and your favourites. The good thing is that the game now has a "pity system" where if you have spent 75k gems, you can get the banner's EX weapon with the tokens it gives you from those draws! You can also use tickets to draw weapons btw! Gems are used for 10+1 draws (above) where you're guaranteed one gold 5 star weapon, but the rest is RNG. As for tickets, they are basically drawing one weapon at a time and don't guarantee anything but disappointment one by one (LOL), but occasionally if you're lucky, you can get the weapons through tickets too.
You also have to level up your characters' crystal strengths, which is very simple. Basically, each character is one of the respective crystal colours e.g. blue, and you will have to farm that particular coloured crystals to level them up. Right now, there are enough crystals to level most of your characters to max level, and they're easy to farm, so not too much trouble here. The boosts it gives to your character are indispensable though, and you must level their crystals for them to be useful, whether you take them to max or not would depend on whether you have their weapons though.
Artifact grinding is probably the most tedious part of this game. There are artifacts granting extra stat points or extra damage to character's skills and you have to farm these individually for each character that you plan to use. They grant stuff like attack + 108 and max brave + 330 that can really make your character much stronger, but as usual, not necessary most of the time. I don't have perfect artifacts for most of my characters and they still work well. Seriously though, the RNG for these artifacts are absolutely terrible and it really depresses you enough to want to quit, but as long as you recognise they're not necessary, you'll be fine.
A pretty recent addition to the game are summon boards. These summon boards are kinda similar to the FFX sphere grid where you have to get points in order to unlock additional stats and passive skills. Although they are not necessary, it is definitely helpful to get them. However, the way to get points is quiteeee annoying! You must defeat the respective summon (e.g. Shiva) multiple times to get enough points to level up the board, and you have to do that for every character for every summon! Yes, it's annoying, yes, it's tedious, so unless you really do plan to use that character, I wouldn't max the board for them.
Events Schedule: Every month, there are probably at least 5-6 events where they feature probably around three new characters. Honestly, there's so much content, sometimes it can become a full time job finishing everything lol. But as long as you're not like my bro and I, if you take your time, the game gives you around 2 weeks to finish most events. Up to now, there are still at least a year's worth a content to catch up to what's in Japan so there's definitely no stagnation in that respect haha. The Global game is also very well looked after with the community managers taking in a lot of opinions to improve the game etc, and recently there was the second global first character Aranea (FFXV)! So, definitely a great time to start the game to try it if you're interested. They also have lots of Christmas and Anniversary events to give free stuff!
F2P Friendliness: I've probably mentioned this in the other parts, but honestly, I've played this game mostly free (I've spent like a few dollars on 100 gem bundles LOL), mainly because gems are waaaay too expensive, but really, you can totally play this as a F2P player and you won't miss out on much (you'll probably only miss out on finishing hardest level content if you're unlucky with draws). If you have good luck and are able to get lots of weapons, you probably won't miss out on anything though, but then even if you don't have good luck, there are a lot of helpful people on the DFFOO reddit that are helpful in team compositions and showcasing videos on how to beat difficult bosses. As of now, I've beaten everything :) I also only have 10k gems left LOL. But on the other hand, my bro has also beaten everything and he has 250k gems in stock, so really, play the game however you want because that's how games are, they're there for you to have fun. I have fun trying to get all my favourite characters and my bro has fun hoarding gems to selectively choose which characters' weapons he wants. Either way, the content is fun and we still get excited when a new character's weapon comes out and I think that already shows how much we like the game even after two years lol.
It's soo hot right now and I contemplated just skipping this month's favourites since I didn't have much for anime or manga, but I thought I might as well do it even if there's only one haha. I watched other stuff like Oregairu S1 but it didn't really make an impact so I guess I'll see if S2 changes my mind? Lol. I've also been spending more time on visual novels, so maybe if I don't find anything interesting next month, I can talk about the visual novels I liked instead? Haha.
Fate/Zero
Genre: Action, Supernatural, Magic, Fantasy
Episodes: 25 (2 seasons)
My Rating: 8.5
Honestly, I think Fate/Zero is what I wanted Fate/stay night to be like - much better and more mature characters all around and establishing their individual desires for the holy grail much much better, whilst still keeping up with the visually beautiful fights. I've never really been a fan of Saber, so I also enjoyed how a lot of the other characters were developed and how they interacted with her. I especially liked Irisviel and Rider/Iskander as characters the most, but Kiritsugu, Lancer and Kariya's motivations really resonated with me. I think what makes up Fate/Zero to be so good in my eyes were definitely the characters, because there wasn't a dull moment with them! I actually found it difficult to not like any of the characters, because even if they weren't my favourite, I understood their reasons for doing what they did and enjoyed the roles they played out in the story. To be fair though, Fate/Zero is adapted from a novel and Fate/stay night is adapted from quite a long VN so it was inevitable that a lot of things would feel cut out. Which is also why I've started reading the Fate/stay night VN (finally!) and I'm already enjoying it quite a bit with the extra information that's kinda glossed over in the anime adaptations. Anyway! The premise of the Holy Grail War has always been interesting to me but it was always more of a means to an end to me, so the reason Fate/stay night never appealed to me was that aside from Archer, Rin and maybe Lancer, no one really interested me enough to care about the rather contrived story.
Fate/Zero is the prequel of Fate/stay night (must watch Fate/stay night first though!) where it showcases the previous Holy Grail War 10 years ago that caused the fire and destruction in which led to Shirou being saved by Kiritsugu. So really, you already know the ending of the series but that doesn't detract from the story at all since you never really get to know how and why exactly everything happened like it did. Kiritsugu is the protagonist and is hired by the Einzbern family to participate in the war, in which he summons Saber. Now, in terms of characters! Tbh, in most of S1, you barely see any development for Kiritsugu but it's really worth it to make it to S2 to see it because it really is saddening to see how pure and simple Kiritsugu's dream and motivations were, and yet it was so hard to achieve without destroying himself in the process. (which is kinda what you mostly see in S1, the apathetic Kiritsugu). For Irisviel, Kiritsugu was the one who showed her the world outside of her mansion through words and by bringing her out, and even if part of it was to achieve his objectives, she was still immensely grateful to him for it all, and I think it really reflected nicely in her character how much she loved him and embraced his ideals as her own. Maiya is similar to Irisviel in that she would do anything for Kiritsugu and even though her role was small, her unconditional love for Kiritsugu was memorable. Kiritsugu and Saber's relationship was also understandably estranged, especially with what happened to Lancer, and I have to admit, that definitely left a bad taste in my mouth as well, considering how much I also loved and admired Lancer for the loyalty he had and the story behind it. Kotomine Kirei and Kiritsugu's "hatred" for each other was rather amusing, but mostly one-sided from Kirei since he was mostly the one that always wanted to understand why someone similar to him could have so many people care for him etc, when really, Kiritsugu was nothing like him.
The best relationship dynamic was definitely Rider/Iskander with Waver (his master), because omg did I think Waver was going to be nightmare of a character being the childish guy he was, but when paired with Rider, they were definitely the best Master/Servant duo. Not only did Rider guide Waver into being a man like he was, he also made every tantrum Waver had into something very understandable and funny rather than annoying. Rider for me is the epitome of what a king is and I think that was greatly reflected in the conversation he had with Gilgamesh and Saber, alongside what his Noble Phantasm is. I really liked Kariya so I honestly feel like he was robbed of actually doing something besides having the tragic story that "created" and couldn't change the Tohsaka/Matou situation in Fate/stay night.
If you like mercenary fights, I think you would enjoy how Kiritsugu chooses to fight - with information, tactics and manipulation. Honestly, it's pretty refreshing from the usual just getting Saber to deal with everything kinda fights since I've never been a fan of them (aside from the animation lol). Overall, I feel like the ending felt a bit anticlimactic considering how I loved the previous parts much more, it did serve its' purpose in showing how exactly things happened and why Saber hates Kiritsugu, the impact of it all really hurts though, especially knowing how Kiritsugu had to live with the aftermath. Overall, I really enjoyed Fate/Zero mainly for the characters and their individual motivations that interweaves into the fight for the holy grail. The overarching story with the existence of the holy grail etc was never something really important imo but the character interactions and dialogue was simply great and entertaining throughout. Btw, I found it really cute when Waver went to the library or whatever to read a book about Iskander to learn more about him haha, it's simple things like that that really make the characters be more than "that annoying guy" or the "cool guy" and I think Fate/Zero really shines in that area.
Let me just start off with saying Merry Christmas and soon to be Happy New Year! Honestly, I decided to do this on a whim, so hopefully it works out LOL. As for my standards of choosing my favourites...I mostly base it on how much I liked it when I first watched it, whether I still remember parts of it now, and whether I would want to watch it again. I'd say that all the ones listed below are ones I would definitely watch again and that I have memorable moments in each that I can't forget about. So, I guess you can say, I chose these because they had a lasting impression on me even though it's been years. The only ones I'm unsure about are the 2019 ones since they're so recent that I'm not sure if I will REALLY remember them in the future, but I did really like them so I added them anyway haha.
P.S Since I took a break from anime for a couple of years (at least) and only kindaa started getting back into it around 2016, I really don't have that much memorable ones for this decade tbh lol. Nevertheless, this is my list~
2010
Durarara!! series Genre: Action, Mystery, Supernatural Episodes: 60 (4 seasons) My Rating: 7.5
The Durarara!! series really holds a special place in my heart tbh. I think it was the first time in a long time that I felt that an anime was interesting in a way I couldn't describe. Honestly, I've never felt that the plot of Durarara is its' strongest point, and I think this is further shown in the latter few seasons where it can get a bit jumbled up with the amount of characters and intersecting plot lines that make it pretty confusing. I think the light novels were much more enjoyable in that aspect. However, what made Durarara!! something I still remember to this day has to be the characters. Whether it be Orihara Izaya or Shinra, I think it was difficult for me to dislike any of the characters. They were all so eccentric in their own ways, yet so interesting, and yet their stories would continue to involve the others without them even realising. I found it really enjoyable and understandable to see Mikado (MC) try to break out of his mundane days, and yet at the same time question whether this so called exciting life was what he really wanted. I think I just found it really fascinating how everyone's motives for being who they were all connected with each other, and I loved that. So, I think if you want something to do with eccentric characters, I think Durarara!! can provide that very well. I mean, I will forever remember Heiwajima Shizuo throwing vending machines etc around loll, gotta love those moments.
I was always unsure of whether I would like Madoka, but I think after watching it, I defimitely thought it was more interesting than I thought it would be. I think it was mostly the character designs that put me off tbh, they just looked so childish and round lol, and honestly, I still don't like them but I was okay with it haha. Since it is revered as a dark magic girl anime, where it is one of those times where you really shouldn't be trusting the magical pet this time around, I think it is understandable to see why it is so popular. Although it may take time to pick up for others, I did in fact kinda enjoy Sayaka's story. Sayaka kinda imo depicted what would happen to a normal girl if they chose to be a magical girl on a whim, and for another person. A lot of magical girl shows like to show how the MC would do their best to protect their world and have boundless motivation and spirit for that alongside their friends etc, but Sayaka's story kinda shows how if you do it without thinking things through properly, you'll regret it. I think a lot of the girls depict the darker sides of being a magical girl that other "happy" shows will never explore, and I found it really interesting because I've always thought about these things. I've always thought about how being a magical girl is so much pressure, there's so many burdens to bear, and how it can really affect your emotions and your mind. So, I think if you enjoy that type of magical girl story, you might enjoy this (assuming you haven't watched it already!).
Hunter x Hunter (2011) Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Shounen Episodes: 148 My Rating: 9
If I haven't shown this enough in my posts, I can tell you now that HxH is my all time favourite shounen anime/manga. I loved the 1999 anime, I loved the manga and I loved this adaptation too. I think the Spiders are great villains by how they are depicted to our MC Gon etc. They have the right amount of power to instil fear into our MCs but at the same time, I love the dynamic of the Spiders where losing the head of the team would not erase their existence and their purposes for doing what they do. I also really enjoy Gon and Killua's dynamic as they grow together as people and with their powers. I love how the powers of Nen work and I honestly really enjoy the fights and the adventures they go through. If there's a shounen to recommend, I would always recommend HxH. The only problem is though, that I hate the Hunter Exam arc in the 2011 version lol. I know the 1999 one has added scenes etc, but I feel like the 1999 version definitely captured the Hunter Exam arc much better despite its changes (which were relatively minor enough to not detract from the story too much imo). Yorkshin City, I personally prefer the 1999 version as well because of the darker tones etc, but 2011 was still great. And then, of course, because the Chimera Ant arc and the Election arc are actually animated in the 2011 version, you definitely have to watch the 2011 version for more lol. But otherwise, I'd recommend the 1999 version any day as well. Especially since Kite's role is so diminished in the 2011 version, it made Gon's anger later on so random since there was no build up for it, whereas in the 1999 version, it was shown better. Tbh, after writing this, I want to do a comparison thing now LOL.
Anyway, if you like shounen, there's no way you shouldn't have watched HxH because really, it has great villains, great power concepts and interesting characters. Honestly, it's a 10/10 experience if you watch both adaptations and read the manga, since I think it's only through that way will you really get the best experience out of it (mainly because the manga had a lot of chapters that were like sketches etc when the author got sick).
2012
Kingdom Genre: Action, Historical, Seinen Episodes: 38 My Rating: 8
Kingdom loosely follows the story of Qin Shi Huang, the Qin Emperor who first unified China, by telling it through the perspective of a peasant called Shin who rises through the ranks to general etc and creating this era alongside the king. It's the time of the warring states so the different kingdoms are constantly at war with each other. For Kingdom, it might be better to first accept that there can be a lot of Dynasty Warriors-esque times where generals can slice a couple of people in one blow etc, so if that doesn't bother you, Kingdom is definitely worth a watch. I can't say the same about S2 since the 3D etc killed me, so I just went to read the manga, but I can definitely say that I still really enjoy the story. The battles are still very enjoyable to see unfold, because not only does it involve a lot of fighting, it involves a lot of strategy, and looking at battles from the big picture, whilst taking in different elements of battles such as the differences between generals, strategists, the amount of supply armies have, terrain etc. Tbh, I don't remember much from the first season, but it's really only the beginning of everything, so it really helps to introduce the characters, their motives etc.The wars are very engaging to watch and read, so I guess if the anime isn't your cup of tea, maybe try reading the manga, because I definitely love the manga more haha. Otherwise, S3 has been announced, so it's worth trying it out!
2013
To Aru Kagaku no Railgun S Genre: Action, Sci-Fi Episodes: 24 My Rating: 8
Honestly, my rating is mostly for the Sisters arc, since I feel like the other couple of episodes/fillers were rather boring in comparison haha. Anyway, if you've watched To Aru Majutsu no Index, you might not think there's any point seeing Misaka's perspective, but honestly, it's definitely worth a watch imo. I think the anime captured really well what exactly happened and how much more devastating Misaka's breakdown to Touma was, and why she is so grateful and in love with him tbh. Seeing Misaka begin from thinking the idea of the Sisters was impossible to her slowly realising what that choice she made as a young kid caused, to her thinking that she could rectify things by herself without involving anyone else, to her hopes being shattered that this experiment isn't something she would be able to stop herself, was utterly heartbreaking. I really think it really helped to put into perspective the ups and downs of emotions Misaka felt, and just truly how desperate she was to save all these clones of hers. It's definitely better to watch Index first to get the context behind a lot of things surrounding Touma etc and then watching this, just because the impact would be much greater and understandable imo. I really loved watching the Sisters arc, and honestly it's probably one of my most favourite arcs of the Index series, so yep, definitely recommended~!
Log Horizon Genre: Action, Game, Adventure, Magic, Fantasy Episodes: 25 My Rating: 8
When being stuck in an MMO was getting popular, Log Horizon was one of the first ones to push this concept to being even more popular. It obviously isn't as popular as SAO is, but I'll always prefer Log Horizon over SAO even though they are vastly different. SAO focuses on Kirito being the hero and the protagonist that will always be the one to save everyone and solve their problems with his OP strength etc. However, Log Horizon focuses more on teamwork. Shiroe is more of a piece to the whole board, so even though he is one of the most important ones considering the strategies he would discuss with others etc, it is impossible for him to work things out in this world by himself. What I really loved about Log Horizon was how it really felt like an MMO, it really felt nostalgic, where I would be like yeah, you would need to do that, yeah going to dungeons, levelling up, getting equipment etc, and the world building is much more integral to the plot, because it is more focused on how the characters learn to survive in this world by creating a system for things such as guilds etc rather than solely looking for a way to go back to the real world. They establish lives here and you get to really see different jobs at work, and I think that was what I found to be the most enjoyable part of this show. Tbh, S2 is definitely rather lacklustre though, not only did it seem to wholly focus on the newbies, I think the animation also dipped lol. The thing is, this was only apparent in the anime for me, because when I read the light novels, I still really enjoyed the arcs, so yeah, sadly S2 bombed so it's unlikely to get another season, sigh, but it's still good and worth a watch!
White Album 2 Genre: Drama, Music, Romance, Slice of Life Episodes: 13 My Rating: 7.5
Although unrelated to its predecessor White Album, the story focuses on the dynamic of one guy, two girls who all become good friends as they practise music and songs from the first White Album. This story was through and through a love triangle, but it was honestly a really enjoyable love triangle tbh, because all the characters felt very realistic, and I really felt that I could understand all the decisions that were made by each character, and how everything ended up as it did. Personally, even though I had my favourite girl, I never hated the other one, and thought that everything was a nice depiction of young love, youth and music intertwined together with quite a bit of drama as well. Although we have new people singing the songs of the previous show, it had a nice and different taste to it that was pretty cool as well. Anyway, I would definitely recommend this if you love some drama, a love triangle, relateable girls and nice music haha.
P.S I know White Album (the first one) gets a lot of crap for being bad and the MC being a terrible guy etc, but I personally really liked it, because I think it showed really well the emotions of all the characters, how distraught they all were, how they all were looking for some comfort and love in their own ways and how that ended up affecting their relationships. It's definitely not something nice and pure, but I still very much enjoyed it, so I really think it's a preference thing. So, if you're interested in it, but have been deterred by bad reviews, I would recommend to try it as terrible as some of the people can be.
2014
No Game No Life Genre: Game, Adventure, Comedy, Supernatural, Ecchi, Fantasy Episodes: 12 My Rating: 8
Although this show can get quiteee ecchi especially because of the weird but crazily understandable dynamic between Sora and Shiro, I still loved it. It's definitely not a show for everybody, but I honestly loved the concept of the whole show, with Sora being the one who's great at I guess thinking outside of the box and having the charisma to be manipulative and smart in his own way, whilst Shiro has the technical brains, and how they got transported to a world perfect for gamers like them, which is a world where wars are not fought with raw strength and power, but instead through games. As long as the rules are established, and the rules are not broken, anything goes, so the world is perfect for intelligent and witty people like our MC duo. Tbh, it is probably true that a lot of the comedy and ecchi can throw people off with how weird it can get, but if you're good with it (I actually thought the show was pretty normal until I recommended this anime to my friend and she thought it was so weird LOL), I think you'll love it. The games are fun, yet can be so ridiculous, but that just makes it all the more entertaining, and I just love how Sora and Shiro are so confident together, and play different roles in making the games that much more fun and entertaining.
Mangaka-san to Assistant-san to Genre: Comedy, Ecchi, Harem, Seinen, Slice of Life Episodes: 12 My Rating: 7
If you watched Aho Girl recently, this is an older series by the same author! Honestly, I prefer this series over Aho Girl just because the MC girl in Aho Girl is so crazy (yet hilarious) that it took me a while to get used to her. However, in this story, the guy is the hilarious one that's a perverted mangaka always needing help from his assistant for reference, and thus hilarity ensues as he gets in all sorts of situations with the different girls as he tries to make it big with his manga. Honestly, I don't think I remember too much of it anymore, but I do remember thinking it was super funny and I loved every bit of it, because I immediately went to read the manga after watching the anime haha. To be fair, it's a comedy slice of life so it just kinda thrives on the funny situations etc, so you'll only know if it's a hit or a miss after watching it. For me, I really enjoyed it haha.
Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun Genre: Comedy, Romance, School Episodes: 12 My Rating: 7
Although I prefer the manga more because I feel like it flows better, the anime was still really funny and good. This is another slice of life comedy, but it kinda lends itself to making fun of a lot of shoujo manga tropes, which is pretty funny. The story follows Chiyo who really likes this guy in her class, as she tries to confess to him, he mistakes her as his fan, because he is actually a shoujo mangaka! The funny thing is, Nozaki has zero love experience yet he makes things up on the fly, and I really don't know how his manga sells, but I guess the sparkles and the references he gets from the everyday life of the people around him really helps lmao. The story mostly depicts Nozaki trying his best to draw up proper stories (he really needs to thank his editor haha) alongside his friends of which quite a few are his assistants as well as his references loll. I really loved the characters in this and find each "couple" to be really unique yet hilarious, definitely recommended for comedy!
Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso Genre: Drama, Music, Romance, School, Shounen Episodes: 22 My Rating: 8
At the time the anime came out, I already read the manga and had the opportunity to read the ending before the anime ending, hut honestly I think the ending still hit me pretty hard even when I knew what was coming. A lot of people like to refer to this anime for something sad and tragic, and it's pretty true, but at the same time, it's a pretty hopeful one. I guess if you want something that shines hope in darkness, there's a bit of that here. The story follows Kousei. a piano genius that has stopped playing the piano for his particular reasons. One day, he is introduced to a girl that wants to befriend him because she likes his friend, yet somehow through their meeting, he comes to face and understand a different way of approaching the music he once left behind. Honestly, if you're into drama, music and lots of heart-wrenching moments, you'll probably enjoy it. For me, I think what I really enjoyed was that the whole time, it was quite obvious what Kaori hoped to do for Kousei from the beginning and it was really satisfying to see her achieve it. Maybe others don't like Kaori's personality and I wouldn't say I'm the biggest fan either, but I think she was what Kousei needed to move forward. I also related with Tsubaki even when I didn't agree with her decisions in the first part, however I really think I couldn't help but relate to that helplessness of hers at not being able to help Kousei because of that disconnection with music. It really made me think about how I have a friend that experienced many struggles with music, and yet I knew I could never properly understand or give the right comfort to her because I wasn't a part of that world. Maybe it sounds like excuses, but I really think the world of music can be something hard to understand for people like me, so I really related to those feelings of never being able to be a part of the world my friend held such a huge part of her life in.
Kiseijuu: Sei no Kakuritsu Genre: Action, Sci-Fi, Horror, Psychological, Drama, Seinen Episodes: 24 My Rating: 8
Kiseijuu is a rather old manga but it got a surprisingly nice adaptation! I really liked the music, the characters, the struggle and the "parasites". The story follows Shinichi, a guy who because he wore his headphones to sleep, the parasite wasn't able to properly take host in his brain and take his body, and instead it ended up settling in his right hand. As they both struggle to coexist and survive against other parasitic monsters, they develop an interesting bond of trust that changes both of them. Tbh, I really enjoyed Kiseijuu/Parasyte, I thought Migi (the right hand) was really entertaining, and I liked how they ended up meeting different kinds of hosts and how they tried to survive in this world. I also think the character Tamura Reiko was probably the most memorable to me in this show because I think her existence, her changes and her thoughts were the most prominently engaging in terms of the whole problem of whether coexisting with parasites was possible or not.
2015
Shokugeki no Souma Genre: Ecchi, School, Shounen Episodes: 24 My Rating: 8
Honestly, it took me a while to start Shokugeki no Souma because all I heard from others was about the tentacle food porn and I was like yeah...not watching that. However, what seemed to be such a ridiculously fanservicey idea turned out to actually be very interesting! Mostly because the story really does focus on cooking, I mean, sure there's the OTT stripping from how good the food is etc but I have to admit that the food is really delicious looking and the trials our MC Souma and his friends face to improve their cooking are really fun. I also love that there was a chef consulted for the dishes, and I think that's what really made the story and the food preparation and cooking so realistic yet interesting to know about and see. Some things are still rather shounen-esque of course with the way the story goes with their goals and the different chefs that appear to challenge Souma, but I think it only enhanced the story, since Souma is quite an admirable MC who aims to win but would never falter in loss. It sounds pretty cliche, but I think Souma really epitomises the idea of finding success in failure and hard work, I think his attitude towards cooking was shown very nicely and I think it contrasted really well with all the other different types of chefs and their styles. I really enjoyed the different cooking styles that the other characters specialised in and thought it was really fun. However, I do have to admit that the story kinda falls off from the third season onwards and DEFINITELY does not get any better (I finished the manga), so whilst I do love the story, it's hard to recommend the lead up to the ending because not only does it destroy a lot of the ideas and characters they built upon before, the cooking gets pretty outrageous lol. Otherwise, loved it and would still recommend it.
Arslan Senki Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Historical, Shounen Episodes: 25 My Rating: 7.5
Honestly, I don't remember that much about Arslan lol, but I do remember enjoying it. It follows our young prince Arslan who is forced to go on the run and recruit allies to take his kingdom back due to war. He ends up finding a few trustworthy allies of which all have their own particular reasons for following Arslan. Tbh, if you want a story of a great leader and a very serious gut wrenching one, you probably won't find it here, because even though Arslan talks about the problems of war with different kingdoms etc, I feel like at its' core, the story was more of a chilled out one for you to kinda enjoy the ride on. It has a lot of the typical elements you expect such as some growth for Arslan as he tries to fulfil his duties as a prince and restore his kingdom, whilst facing problems of attaining such allies to achieve this. It was pretty fun and interesting, and the characters are pretty amusing considering their personalities so it's worth a shot :D
One Punch Man Genre: Action, Sci-Fi, Comedy, Supernatural, Seinen Episodes: 12 My Rating: 8
OPM is a title that most people have probably watched - basically follows a hero who can defeat nearly everything in one punch. It kinda sounds silly and I guess it kinda is considering how strong Saitama is and yet no one really knows how strong he is, except his cyborg apprentice that joins him later on. I think the best thing about OPM is the fun and the comedy. It's pretty hilarious seeing all the different weird monsters that pop up and how the characters interact with Saitama. However, other than the comedy, the story does explore more serious aspects such as Saitama's boredom of defeating everything in one punch and how to handle his lack of purpose in life. Although maybe that's more prominent in S2 since S1 focuses more on establishing Saitama as a character alongside a lot of other heroes such as Mumen Rider who is probably the epitome of what it is to be a hero even though he is exceedingly weak, and yet he never yields. I think it's really fun to see all the different types of heroes and monsters, and I think that's the highlight tbh. A lot of people lament the dip in animation in S2 and I do agree with them, however, since it still adapts the story properly, it is still enjoyable to say the least. However, if you read manga, I'd suggest reading it for Murata's art instead, because the art is so phenomenal and really makes the experience so much better imo.
2016
Boku Dake ga Inai Machi Genre: Mystery, Psychological, Supernatural, Seinen Episodes: 12 My Rating: 7.5
Aside from the anime original ending that I think really killed the story with how the villain was handled, I honestly enjoyed the anime, mostly because I really think the anime spent a lot of time and effort on building the whole thing about Kayo, but didn't have enough time/effort/episodes to deal with the rest of the story, of which the manga definitely handled better. The story follows Satoru, someone who has been able to rewind time before an incident occurs to fix things, of which it usually just rewinds him to minutes before or something. However, one day, when he is accused of a murder, his life suddenly rewinds back to when he was a kid, and so he starts to realise that this is all related to an incident in the past where a classmate was abducted and killed, so this is his chance to fix things again right from the beginning. Anyway, I really loved it (mainly the manga), the anime really does the whole childhood part with Kayo's circumstances really well and it's quite heartwarming to watch whilst unravelling the mystery. I have to say though, the mystery is one that becomes pretty obvious as Satoru investigates, it's not something mind breaking or full of twists (sorry if you want that), but is instead a slow paced unravelling simple mystery, and I honestly think it was perfect like that (for me anyway). Because for me, I think the mystery was the guiding factor for the story, but it was never really the whole point of it, since it was more for Satoru to instead change his life, his way of doing things and to do what he never could in the past, and I think the story achieved what it wanted through this new chance of his. I honestly really liked how Satoru faced everything he ignored in the present and it was really nice to see how much more he felt satisfied with himself after everything. I think the mystery lures you in, but then Satoru's character keeps you engrossed in the story haha. Just please read the manga ending instead lol.
Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo! Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Magic, Supernatural Episodes: 10 My Rating: 7.5
Konosuba is honestly pretty hilarious. I think the reason Kazuma ended up reincarnating in another world was hilarious and I loved how he thought he was smart for thinking outside of the box and choosing to take the Goddess Aqua with him to defeat the demon lord instead of any of the weapon options, but in the end it backfires on him because she's so useless lolll. I just love the antics between his whole party and the "suffering" he experiences from taking care of them tbh, although to be fair, he's not the greatest guy ever either loll. But I love how flawed they are in their different ways and yet are still able to survive in this world and cause such trouble (and save some people lol). I think the most enjoyable part is the interactions between the party of them, so if you don't like them, it might be difficult enjoy (Darkness is honestly too OTT for me), but otherwise it's a really funny isekai adventure with ridiculous characters.
Hai to Gensou no Grimgar Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama, Fantasy Episodes: 12 My Rating: 7.5
Opposed to Konosuba, Grimgar is probably one of the more realistic isekai stories. It's not as popular as other isekai and sometimes it's even forgotten to be an isekai since it only creates the setting for the characters to be lost in a world they have no idea about, and with no memories of anything. What I really loved about Grimgar though was how it portrayed really well the struggles of being an utter novice having to go on hunts etc. It really shows the problems of lacking money, lacking equipment, lacking strength and lacking knowledge on how to defeat monsters. The first time they killed a goblin scene still kinda irks me to this day because the way they killed it just showed how difficult yet frightening it was to live in this world. However, I do have to note that although I really liked how our main characters really do start from rock bottom of knowing nothing to actually being able to take care of themselves, it can be frustrating to watch through because of how uncooperative and different they all can be, but I guess it's all part of the growing process?
Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Psychological, Thriller Episodes: 25 My Rating: 8
I only watched Re:Zero like a year or two ago, but I really liked it. I'm a defender of Emilia btw, she really doesn't deserve the hate just because people love Rem so much lol, especially when Emilia was always so kind to Subaru and accepting of him. Anyway, Re:Zero is another isekai, but in this one, Subaru is basically a normal everyday human (that's a bit more strong and athletic than the regular otaku since he works out) that gets taken to another world and is somehow given the power to restart his life from a certain point whenever he dies. It sounds like an OP power, but really, when you watch what Subaru has to go through, I don't think anyone would want that power anymore. Re:Zero really enraptures the negatives of living in another world with a power where you would never truly die, which is probably worse than actual death because there's a form of finality to it. Anyway, it really shows the tragedies of possessing such a power and reliving things again, whilst Subaru tries his best to make it past certain points so that he can survive and not die over and over again. Honestly, it's pretty dark, pretty saddening, very disheartening, but really good in its' portrayal of it all. I think if you want something different from your regular OP isekai MC, this is the one, but just make sure to endure a lot of suffering with Subaru lol.
Yuri!!! On Ice Genre: Comedy, Sports Episodes: 12 My Rating: 8
Yuri!!! On Ice may be hyped up a bit too much, but it is still a really nice story involving figure skating. I've always been enamoured by the figure skating stories in manga and anime so I might be a bit biased, but I really loved the choreography, the music and the skaters' motivations on the whole. I thought the music and everything was nicely used and brought to life in their programs, and I loved it. Yuuri starts off as a rather negative guy towards his hopes of achieving something in figure skating, but with the help of Victor coaching him and them growing together, I found it to be a really simple but well done story about people who really enjoy figure skating. Some people might be turned off by Victor and Yuuri eventually developing a subtle but definitely romantic relationship but I think it was very natural and didn't mind it tbh/ Otherwise, definitely worth watching for the variety of figure skating programs and skaters!~
3-gatsu no Lion Genre: Drama, Seinen, Slice of Life Episodes: 22 My Rating: 8
I think I've said a lot about 3-gatsu no Lion before in my previous posts so I'll try to keep it short lol. The story focuses on Rei, a teenager who plays shogi for a living, which sounds great and all, but underneath all that, you can tell that although Rei definitely does enjoy playing shogi, he also thinks that he can't do anything but play shogi because it is the only thing he can do after destroying so many people's lives on his pursue of getting better and better at shogi. The story mainly focuses on Rei as he handles his inner turmoils from his past, his previous and current decisions, and how he finds it difficult to live, yet can't help but want to live. A lot of people have said that the story really captures depression very well, and I can definitely feel the emotional struggles of Rei so much that it hurts. Although shogi plays a big part in the story, you don't really have to know much about it. I really enjoyed how the existence of the Kawamoto sisters really helped to give some hope to Rei in his life, and I think if you like a story that starts off with feelings of devastation everywhere to glimpses of hope in life, you'll like it. I think SHAFT really brought the atmosphere of the story into the show really well and I just couldn't put my finger on why I liked it so much even though it's quite a tough watch with how emotionally burdensome it can be with all the pain and circumstances Rei has to live with.
2017 3-gatsu no Lion S2 Genre: Drama, Seinen, Slice of Life Episodes: 22 My Rating: 9
A lot of S2s fall off story-wise, but 3-gatsu no Lion really only ups the game tbh. With Rei slowly opening up to the Kawamoto sisters and slowly becoming a guy that is able to finally allow himself to think that it's not an inconvenience to interact with others, you feel like you can really see the result everyone hoped for, a happier Rei. Otherwise, the story follows into Hina's arc which involves bullying, and honestly it was a pretty emotional arc, not only was it saddening, but I couldn't help but be so taken away with Hina's character and how strong she was. It really shows how troubling and difficult it is for everyone when bullying happens, and how sensitive and difficult of a topic it can be to work with. I honestly found everyone's reactions, everyone's thoughts and emotions to be very realistic and I really loved how everything unfolded.
Inuyashiki Genre: Action, Drama, Psychological, Sci-Fi, Seinen Episodes: 11 My Rating: 7
Inuyashiki is quite a unique one, especially since it features an older man as the protagonist. Tbh, it's not something really great, but I still really enjoyed it because of how different it all felt from the usual stuff. Also helps that this is by the same author as Gantz haha! Anyway, the story follows Ichirou, an old man who has a family but can't find his home to really be a "home" with how his wife and child treat him like air. One day, when he gets an emotional breakdown, he runs somewhere to relieve his feelings of sadness, and then a bright light consumes him. When he comes to, he slowly discovers that his body isn't how it's used to be and that he's some sort of mechanised weapon. As he slowly adjusts himself to this new body, he finds another person who has a similar body as his, and that's where the interesting part is! I really loved the contrast between Ichirou and Hiro as the MCs because it really shows well how different people handle similar experiences. For the both of them, they felt that they lost their humanity once their bodies changed, and yet they both harbour completely different perspectives on what it means to "feel alive" and how they both search for it in their own ways, whilst showing the repercussions of their actions. I thought this contrast was the most interesting part of it and really enjoyed how they both struggled in their own ways to find what it meant for them to be alive. The 3D took a bit of time to get used to, but otherwise, it was good.
2018
Hataraku Saibou Genre: Comedy, Shounen Episodes: 13 My Rating: 7
Cells At Work is a very interesting premise that I quite enjoyed watching. It basically follows the lives of a particular red blood cell in a body as she tries her best to get used to her "job" as she is faced with the different problems this human body she is living in has. Honestly, it really puts into perspective a lot of the things that can be going on in our bodies without us even knowing, such as how white blood cells interact with bacteria, how platelets try their best to stop bleeding, and all of this is done in a very entertaining way. Stuff like bacteria is shown as like monsters invading, and although a lot of the show becomes a monster of the day kinda thing, it is still very interesting to watch and learn about the different cells in the body. I think if you like biology and want to learn things in an entertaining form, this would be a good pick, but otherwise, regardless of that, it's still really fun to watch, I mean, watching Red Blood Cell try her best to remember the route she should go on is so cute and heartwarming.
Violet Evergarden Genre: Slice of Life, Drama, Fantasy Episodes: 13 My Rating: 7
A lot of the love I have for Violet Evergarden is probably attributed to how beautiful it was in terms of the animation and the stories of the people in it. The plot follows our MC Violet who lost her hands at the end of the war and is now forced to readjust her life back to the normal everyday when the only thing she is knowledgeable about is fighting. After losing her superior who said words to her that she couldn't understand, she is given work at a postal company as a "Auto Memory Doll" that transcribes people's thoughts and feelings into paper to send to others. Honestly, the story was quite a relaxing yet emotional ride. It was really interesting to see how Violet improved and changed from being someone who could not possibly understand "feelings" into someone who is able to write in a way that keeps with the personality she has whilst showing that she does understand the thoughts of her clients. It also really puts into perspective how important letters were and could be, and how reliant people are on them to convey feelings across physical borders. I really enjoyed the stories of the different clients seeking Violet's help to write letters, and I really enjoyed how all this intertwined with herself as she tries her best to understand people and the concept of love.
Dororo is an anime I didn't expect to like as much as I did tbh. Initially, the first episode didn't grab me, but I think it really did afterwards when it started exploring the different demons that appeared and the humans who interacted with them. Dororo focuses on the story of Hyakkimaru who had lost most of his limbs due to his father sacrificing his body to the demons for a prosperous land. Although sent to his death, Hyakkimaru by chance happened to live and be saved by someone who ended up raising him. However, it seems that regardless of what Hyakkimaru wants, he kinda finds out that specific demons possess his body parts and in order to get them back, he must kill them, and so he begins his journey to search for these demons and regain his body and his life back. Along the journey, he meets a kid named Dororo and they start journeying together as they both find their reasons for living and fighting against the existence of demons. I think what fascinated me the most about Dororo were the various demons that forged some sort of relationship with humans whether it be coexisting or one taking advantage of the other. Although the main plot line is for Hyakkimaru to take back his body parts and see his parents once again as he is forced to contemplate the purpose of his existence, a lot of the story can be rather episodic with the story/demon of the day types, so it really depends on if you like that. Personally, it was a treat to watch it weekly for me, and although I feel like the second cour lacked a bit in terms of animation and how things were resolved, it was still good.
Kimetsu no Yaiba Genre: Action, Historical, Shounen, Supernatural Episodes: 26 My Rating: 8
Kimetsu no Yaiba is probably the most popular shounen of 2019 after episode 19, which it really did have awesome animation tbh and I had to admire it for a bit too haha. Otherwise, the plot follows a pretty simple and common story of a boy named Tanjiro losing his whole family to demons, and is left with a sister that has turned into a demon too. After fending off a demon slayer and convincing him that his sister is different from other demons, Tanjiro is told to reach out to a man who ends up teaching him skills to become a demon slayer himself in order to find a way to change his sister back into a human. It's a really simple premise with a pretty straightforward storyline with Tanjiro having to train, pass trials, becoming a demon slayer and fighting demons to protect his sister whilst trying his best to discover a way to help her. But, honestly, it really works as a nice simple premise, and it has really beautiful and fluid animation to help with it, so you can't help but be impressed by the visuals during the fights a lot of the time. I really like Tanjiro as the MC and find him really refreshing because although he's the typical nice MC, he is also a very stubborn and kind big brother type that just can't help but help everyone around him. He's not overly naive and is prepared to kill the demons, he would sympathise with them but he won't let them live to kill other people, and I think it's really nice to see an MC that is decisive about the way he handles things. Although his companions aren't the most interesting to me, I find it cute how they're so attached to Tanjiro for their respective reasons. For me, it's a pretty wholesome shounen show and I really like stuff like that haha.
Fruits Basket 1st Season Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance, Shoujo, Slice of Life, Supernatural Episodes: 25 My Rating: 8
Honestly, I don't remember much about the original Fruits Basket anime back in the day, but I do remember liking rice balls because of it lol. Fruits Basket follows the story of Tohru losing her family and finding a place she can call home with the Soumas as she finds out secrets that each of them turn into animals of the zodiac! It's definitely a great slice of life show alongside some drama, and although there are lots of sad moments due to the saddening back stories of most of the characters, everything usually ends on a positive note, mostly because Tohru is such a ball of energy and positivity. Maybe she seems unrealistic to others because of how nice she is and how she can soothe everyone she meets, but I think realistic or not, she really brings that feel good anime feel with her throughout the whole show, and I can't help but be attracted to how there are a lot of moments where I feel like I can learn some sort of life lesson from the her that lives by her mother's principles. It's a really heartwarming show, and even though it looks like a reverse harem, it really isn't haha, I'd say (at least for the first season anyway), the main focus and theme would be family and living in a world where we all feel like we don't belong in yet being able to find a home in it because of the people around us. Each character's story is unique but very detailed and thought out, making the emotions of the characters and their stories very real and close to the heart imo, definitely a must watch whether you've watched the first one or not~ The visuals look very good whilst keeping that old style and feel of shoujo animation back in the day, so even though it's "new", it still feels really nostalgic.
Isekai Quartet Genre: Comedy, Fantasy Episodes: 12 My Rating: 7
This one was definitely an unexpected favourite of mine haha! Honestly, when it was first announced, I thought it'd be terrible but I tried it out anyway since I knew most of the characters and having a crossover between all these characters sounded like it could be interesting. Well, it's so much better than I thought! I ended up looking forward to it every single week! It has the very simple premise of each party of characters somehow respectively "accidentally" pressing a button that takes them to another world where they're all forced to take classes with the rest of the cast as they try to figure out where they are, who these other people are and why they're here. It's a pretty hilarious show mainly because of the Konosuba cast (since they are from a comedy show after all), but I just really loved the interactions between the other characters as well, especially scenes like *spoilers* Kazuma and Subaru understanding and connecting through the fact that they were both "summoned" to another world. Basically, if you want to see your favourite characters interacting with each other, definitely watch this, it's very short but it's such a ball of fun haha. I'm really looking forward to S2! I'm not the biggest fan of Shield Hero but I am curious about how the addition of his party will affect the dynamics of the class.
Vinland Saga Genre: Action, Adventure, Historical, Drama, Seinen Episodes: 24 My Rating: 8
Although Vinland Saga hasn't ended yet, I still wanted to talk about it regardless. I've heard about Vinland Saga for a loooong time (the manga) but I never picked it up because I don't think it's my thing. Tbh, it still isn't, but I still quite like it, mainly because of Askeladd though haha. The story follows the story of Thorfinn who sneakily follows his father on his boat thinking it would be just like a fun adventure, not knowing that in the end, he would witness his father's death. As he is faced with his father's killer, he swears that he will get revenge, and thus lives a life ridden with death and war hoping to become strong enough to get revenge. It's a pretty simple premise as a whole, but it really enraptures a lot of other stories and stuff, because it shows the lives of Vikings. It shows how war can destroy any side, and how the Vikings will pillage any village and place for food, honour and live their way of the warrior. For me, I think Askeladd really encapsulates what a Viking probably is, and what survival in this world really means. He is also very charismatic, ruthless and smart, I think I really watched the show mainly for him haha. I just really enjoyed how he's definitely not a nice guy, he definitely doesn't hesitate to use others, he doesn't trust anybody either, but at the same time, you can't help but feel for him on many levels. On the other hand, it's just saddening to see what Thorfinn descends into, but I guess that is important to his growth and his story. I think it's definitely worth a try to see if you're interested in it, especially since it is quite different from the usual anime nowadays.
Shinchou Yuusha: Kono Yuusha ga Ore Tueee Kuse ni Shinchou Sugiru Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy Episodes: 12 My Rating: 7.5
I juuust finished watching this show and I kinda hope there's a S2 in the future haha~ When I first saw the PV for this show, I thought it was hilarious because the story focuses on the Goddess Ristarte summoning a hero to the Divine Realm to go save a world that is endangered by a demon lord. Apparently it's a common thing to summon heroes from other worlds to get them to help the gods save worlds endangered by these demon lords lol. Anyway, the hero she ends up summoning is called Seiya, and she chose him because of his good stats, but what she failed to read was that he's a very cautious guy! Even when he kills something like a slime, he would use one of his strongest skills and use them a couple of times to ensure its' death lol. A lot of the show revolves around the comedy of how cautious the hero Seiya is (although I can totally relate to it loll) and how Rista has to deal with him being like that, whilst being a weirdo herself loll. I think the chemistry between Seiya and Rista is pretty funny and you gotta love the crazy expressions Rista has all the time as she drools over Seiya and when she is flabbergasted over his actions, she's got a whole ton of expressions, it's pretty funny. Although the show is mainly focused on comedy though, it does do its' serious parts pretty well too, especially when the party gets closer and closer to the demon lord. It was a pretty fun ride, and even if it wasn't the most thought provoking anime it was quite enjoyable and definitely one of the better isekai anime this year~
Movies
Koe no Katachi Genre: Drama, School, Shounen My Rating: 8
I remember when I finished watching this in the cinemas, I thought to myself, I wouldn't mind watching this again tbh. At that time, I had two friends who wanted to watch it, so I did end up watching it twice, but I honestly didn't mind at all because I think it resonated with me that well. The story revolves around Shouya, who as a kid bullied Shouko because she is deaf. To him and the class, it was fun and harmless, but after escalating the problem to the school, Shouko ends up transferring, and Shouya is pinned the blame for all the bullying even though others were in on it as well. From then on, Shouya ended up being bullied by these classmates that were all once on his side. After experiencing that, he learns to regret his past actions and try to redeem himself.
For me, I found the movie quite emotionally moving because of how Shouya and Shouko were portrayed. The other characters just kinda made me pissed off at their existence because of how unrepentant they were for any of the things they did. Anyway, the highlight has to be Shouko and Shouya's relationship in this because of how natural it all felt I guess. Shouya couldn't forgive himself for subjecting Shouko through such bullying, but he tries his best to apologise, and make up for his past mistakes. Considering how terrible he was as a kid, it was obvious how others would view and treat him, but seeing him try his best in his own way to change things up, not because he wants to be forgiven, but because he wants Shouko to be able to live life normally again without fear of bullying and allow that incident keep her from others. I think I was just really moved by Shouya's sincerity in all this, and I think that made the movie worth it for me. I read the manga after the movie, and although the manga definitely fleshes out a lot of other things that I was a bit confused about in the movie, I think the movie was really great and beautiful in itself.
Kono Sekai no Katasumi ni Genre: Drama, Historical, Seinen My Rating: 8
I had the opportunity to watch this movie in the cinemas and honestly, I think I really liked it. It depicts the perspective of a normal everyday girl trying to live her life to the fullest in an unfamiliar environment as she is married to someone she barely knows. It shows the struggles of everyday life, but also the happiness of it through our MC Suzu being a bit ditzy, but very hardworking. I also think it showed very well how easily a person's life can change from war, and how difficult it can be to live through that as well when it comes to the choices you have to make amongst the experiences of life and death.
I think what really lured me in for this movie was how everything unfolded. In the beginning, it feels like a very slice of life story where it shows Suzu's everyday difficulties of having to live with marrying someone she doesn't really know, having to take care of a family that doesn't treat her in a very welcoming way in a whole new environment she is unaccustomed to. These tidbits might seem mundane to some, but I think it was pretty enjoyable seeing her face these hardships in her own way. In the second part, the tone changes with how the war affects their everyday lives regardless of how involved they were, and it just kinda shows how saddening and difficult it is for people who just wanted to live a normal life like Suzu to suddenly have everything ruined by other people's decisions that were out of her hands. I think it was very enjoyable seeing how realistic it felt and how tough it can be to just watch how terrible life can be.
Welll, even though all I did was summarise a bit of my thoughts for each one, it definitely took quiteee a while haha. Still easier than other stuff though. Btw, I just wanted to mention that I didn't include Steins;Gate because I think the anime is really boring and I could never get into it or its' style, HOWEVER, I would definitely recommend the visual novel! It's funny, because I really hesitated on starting the VN since I really didn't like the anime, but when I started the VN, I was pretty much instantly intrigued by the whole thing, the VN definitely has a much better flow and explains a lot of the concepts much better, it also delves into the relationships with the other characters better imo. On the other hand, Steins;Gate 0 VN was a chore to go through for me tbh and I didn't like most of it because of how 2D the whole story felt and how a lot of things felt so forced(?), the story wasn't engaging at all and the characters were really shallowly explored imo, even my favourite Mayuri felt so bland, sigh. As for otome games, I really enjoyed Hakuoki (Kyoto Winds and Edo Blossoms), even though a lot of the translation felt a bit too localised with some of the guys saying stuff like "let's boogie" and it just completely took me out of the Bakumatsu period in historical Japan, but I still enjoyed it because of the Shinsengumi. I think even if you're not a otome game person, you would still love Hakuoki for how deep the story goes in terms of communicating the spirit of the Shinsengumi, so definitely play it if you're a Shinsengumi fan! I'm currently playing Phoenix Wright and Subarashiki Hibi so I might talk about them in a separate post next year, but otherwise yay! All done for this year! Hope everyone has a happy new year! 2020 incomingggg! I am excited for the Bakarina anime and Re:Zero S2 next year!~
Favourite Moments in Anime of 2019
Although I really enjoyed the ending of Vinland Saga and do think it was an awesome moment for Askeladd, I really wanted to note the most heart wrenching moments that literally moved me to tears. I think music is really such a beautiful and yet strange thing because these songs in their respective anime really hit me so hard. Obviously, they're spoilers and really shouldn't be watched if you intend to watch the anime, because the best thing about these moments is the build up to those moments, they feel like culminations of the whole journey the characters had gone through put into a song, and it really brings you to tears.
Given - Episode 9 song
Honestly, I didn't expect how hard this song would hit me. I already liked the very realistic slice of life moments in the anime already and I really enjoyed Mafuyu's background, but seeing it all put into a song, and to be sung so beautifully yet filled with heart wrenching emotions, it was just so amazing. I couldn't stop watching it again and again tbh because it touched me so much, especially with the flashbacks and Mafuyu's feelings. Definitely my favourite moment and song in 2019.
Kono Oto Tomare! S2 Ep 12
I really wanted to include Kono Oto Tomare as one of my favourite anime in 2019 but honestly, whilst I enjoyed it, I can't help but compare it to how much better the manga was done (imo). I found a lot of the anime rather dull compared to the manga, so what really made me like it was the story itself and not the anime, so yeah I didn't include it. However, for stories involving music, something the manga can never show is the music itself (even though there was a live performance done for the manga), so seeing and hearing Tenkyu in the anime was so awesome. I honestly never thought it would sound as beautiful as it did and that they dedicated a lot of the episode to the piece itself (which I really loved). Definitely much better than how they handled S1. I think one of the judges described it as "A truly wonderful performance can go beyond experts and reach those who don't know much about koto. Its heart can reach even those who speak a different language and live in a different culture." and I think that sums it up perfectly tbh.
