First of all, yes I know that a LOT of people are turned off from MT, because of some questionable stuff which is understandable. But I don’t wanna dive deep into that because even though I didn’t vibe with it, I was still able to look past it and enjoy the heck out of the anime.

I randomly started it one day coming from a burnout period of anime and got hooked completely right from the get go (which happened after a long time).

Like countless others, the thing which I loved the most about MT was its beautiful world.

The cast around Rudeus builds up really well, and I also love how there are actual consequences to the actions that the characters take and there are genuine stakes involved.

S1 was a beautiful introduction and adventure, while S2 was much more laid back and focused more on settling everyone down while getting us attached to all these different characters. I actually enjoyed that a lot.

S3 started similarly but my god “that” episode fucked me up bad. More than halfway through the epsiode, my dumbahh actually thought that [Mushoku Tensei] all those things were happening to the Rudeus from the current timeline because of some bullshit like “your past can’t be changed”. So it fucked me up even more.

Still, my favourite Season has to be S1 Cour 2. It had a lot of peak character moments, really good character development for our main trio and I just really loved the adventure which came with exploring the beautiful world of MT.

Can’t wait for Cour 2 now.

I’d also really appreciate it, if you guys can recommend me some other good fantasy/Isekai stuff out there. I’m new to this genre and don’t know much about it. I think I really like these kind of shows and would like to explore further down this rabbit hole.

(this is a repost with some edits, previous post was deleted for being within 24h of the release of S4 ep24)

As an anime only Bookworm (Honzuki) fan, I was really disappointed by Studio Wit's S4 adaptation. Overall, the pacing absolutely sucked, especially in the 2nd cour. The playful character interactions and gentle tone of the previous seasons was sacrificed needlessly in pursuit of very mediocre fantasy storytelling, and borderline bad character development. Spoilers below...

For me, the best and most critical part of Honzuki is the growth from characters as they interact with (Roze)Myne. The newer characters just weren't properly developed in S4. They were very one-note, and either had no growth, or their "growth" felt emotionless. Some examples:

• Wilfried (brother): Wilfried was too quickly forgiven in the introduction. He made Rozemyne bleed and faint, then it's all forgotten about next episode with no harm done. Later on when he gets in big trouble for entering the White Tower, there's no real sense he really understands why his perspective was wrong. At least give us his point of view, give us his feelings on being disavowed as heir, and show some hints that he's growing as a person
• Angelica (retainer): She's introduced as a rather one-note all brawl no brain character. Show us her motivations, why she's interested in becoming strong
• Bonifatius (grandpa): Another 'brute' with no backstory shown, nor his emotional connections to the other characters. Show us why he's interested in Rozemyne, or at least why he's willing to rush to her aid
• Charlotte (sister): She was introduced way too late, and her friendship with Rozemyne wasn't at all convincing, there just wasn't enough time for that to develop. In comparison, for Lutz, it took 8 episodes in S1 for him to fully trust Myne, and their friendship feel so much more natural and well-earned

Other side characters we grew to like in the previous seasons were severely thrown under the bus:

• Damuel sucked the most. No scenes showing his mana growth at all, and it looked like he was utterly incompetent in the last 2 episodes, both as a fighter and on pursuing Brigitte
• Lutz and Benno were almost reduced to comic relief characters. Why not show them thinking about their own futures? Especially Benno who is making a new company, it's a big risk, so surely that deserves some time to be fleshed out?
• Her real family were reduced to cameos only. They're the main reason why Myne chose to live. Show us more scenes where Rozemyne's actions are inspired by them, especially when she's interacting with her direct step-family!

The fantasy elements, material gathering, highbeasts, feystones etc., felt like hoops the plot had to jump through in order to move forward. The adventures themselves had no charm, there was no challenge (even when the first ingredient gathering went wrong, Rozemyne was plenty protected and there was no real harm done). All this means there was no feeling of victory, the materials weren't well-earned. In short for me, it didn't feel magical, wasn't suspenseful, nor fill the world full of wonder, like a good fantasy should

The whole disaster with Hasse had a lot more potential for meta storytelling. You show how executions are done, highlighting the real power nobles have over commoners. This is a big reveal, but apart from Rozemyne being appalled by violence, there just wasn't enough of a reaction, nor enough social commentary. We've been shown hints of how Myne would change the world for the better, like using Tau fruits instead of expensive magic items to tame the Devouring for commoners like Dirk. I feel Rozemyne should give some insights on how she would repeal the power imbalance nobles have over commoners, or at least reprimand Ferdinand for the brutal methods he and other nobles use

The last 2 episodes were the most egregious for me:

• There wasn't enough well-executed foreshadowing like the previous seasons, the fight broke out very haphazardly from nowhere
• The fight itself had very poor choreography and animation
• The motivations of the other side were very unclear, and the actions they took wasn't at all smart nor calculating like we were lead to believe nobles were
• Plot contrivances: The villains relied entirely on luck that Rozemyne cared for Charlotte enough to fly outside
• Ferdinand appears from nowhere when he's supposed to be inside with the other nobles, esp as they didn't know at that point if it was a larger scale attack on the Aub himself

Finally when the fight got resolved, the 2 year healing process wasn't nearly as emotional as it could've been. They clearly tried, showing only a cameo from her family and Ferdinand, but it wasn't close to enough. 2 years is a long time, esp for a child. We could've had Rozemyne's monologue on her worries about the whole cast, as each of them visit her (or at least the cathedral), read her new books they've made, or reveal parts of their own progress thanks to Rozemyne's help earlier on. I get that this is a convenient narrative time jump, but they could at least make it somewhat emotional as she heals

The saving grace of S4 were the early episodes on book development and Ferdinand's concert. Seeing Ferdinand being flustered vs how the other women reacted was really charming, and were for me by far the best parts this season offered

As I said, I always felt Honzuki was at its best when we see other characters respond and grow thanks to Myne's insatiable appetite for books or societal improvement. I sincerely hope they bring back the charm, slower pacing, and a gentler tone for the next season!

TL;DR: Season 4 felt rushed and had much less charm. Newer characters weren't developed, older characters were sidelined. The fantasy wasn't magical nor satisfying to watch. The ending had poor animation, too many plot contrivances, and wasn't as emotionally executed as it could've been

I didn't realize why i skipped this fire sauce.

I might have watched a good 70 to 80 anime and 15 to 20 Manga but all was before my 20s since then I slowly didn't had the time to appreciate any slow burn or slice of life anime/manga...life was moving fast than what I could spend for my leisure.

Then in my 20s I just wanted to watch some fast paced action/thriller animes and the exact one ....solo leveling aired and man what a blast was it...I was immediately hooked on to it and even completed the manhwa after the end of season 1

But somewhere along it i tried watching an anime where a blue haired hero and an elf was traveling and the first episode spoke in a retrospective way...so I thought it was some regular boring Harem/Ecchi genre and skipped it.

Fast forward to this month...I got some free time and decided to Google the anime and found it's frieren and man.....it's just so peak...I dont get why this hasn't won anime of the year award. (Not saying jin-woo is bad)

Man the animation,story,the world building,the LORE,all of it just makes you realize the essence of time and just how all actions has its own path.

The show also has a good pace...it's not like some slow burn where it has 5 episode to say something.

One thing that I learnt from the show is cherish every moment you get...it is what we call as memories in the future.

Not exactly a review but wanted to share what is just missed...if you have some recommendations do mention it

TLDR, Just wanted to say Frieren is so peak and if you hadn't watched it...you are skipping on one of the best shows out there!!

Edit:I am genuinely happy to see many are having the same thoughts as I watched it...

Also to confirm yes I thought it was a different genre(my bad really) and have given my take on the comments...so please dont dm for an another explanation

Edit2:

“Ok let me explain....the last anime I watched before watching this was PLUNDERER ( the one where they have numbers as aura) it was starting as an adventure with a blond hero then a lady joins and now all we see is nsfw....so coming fresh from that...I thought it might go sidetracked

Also I didn't have my full thought and was just randomly exploring it....given a vast material with ELF as a character...you know how elves are portrayed in fantasies ( Like i mentioned in was in my early 20s fresh from internet)”

Hope this explains why I mentioned as ecchi/harem….now corrected it…sorry if I come in a wrong way

I know Mushoku Tensei is a pretty controversial series, and I completely understand why. But I love that its so popular now and is going to be even more Popular in the future. With 400 k on Crunchyroll and how Episode 13 took the world by storm.

Gigguk couldn't stop making videos about it , basically every reaction channel also covers MT

There was even that Spiderman Ned guy who shouts out MT, and in Japan its obviously the most popular anime understandably so as what MT offers in its anime ( family values, realism and world building) is very closely related to Japanese people's taste

Now there Are certain themes and things that happen in the story that can be uncomfortable, and I’m not going to pretend they aren’t there just because I like the series.

But personally speaking, what hooked me in wasn't just the fantasy setting or the animation. It's the feeling that I'm actually watching someone's entire life unfold. Because of the old guys narration ( S Tier decision btw )

Rudeus in the novels ( cuz i also read all 26 novels ) is a great narrator and sometimes unreliable narrator whenever he sht talks himself. He is flawed but human, he wants to do what most people irl want to do, and thats protecting family. Infact that is a central theme.

I also really like how much attention the series gives to its world. The different cultures, languages, magic, geography, history, and all the little details make the world feel like it existed before the characters showed up. Even when the story slows down and nothing particularly huge is happening like initial half of s3, I usually still find myself interested because I enjoy just being in that world.

It's definitely a series I'd recommend to absolutely anyone Provided i deem to be able to handle it.

But if someone asks me what anime I genuinely love, Mushoku Tensei is still going to be one of the first ones I mention alongside Steins Gate, hxh fmab.

Also , If you Guys are not convinced then atleast watch Gigguk's Video on it, https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tDh5Us8rl80&pp=0gcJCY8Co7VqN5tD

Edit : Guys I said it's more Popular than BEFORE so its more about celebrating how Popular it is now rather than a competition of Whats more Popular than IT

I went into Chainsmoker Cat knowing it was supposed to be an absurd, dark comedy with social commentary. I don't mind stories that are intentionally uncomfortable, and I appreciate media that explores addiction, poverty, and other difficult topics. Unfortunately, I don't think the execution worked for me.

I also understand that the anime is meant to be a social commentary on issues that affect many people in Japan, such as addiction, financial hardship, and social neglect. I don't think those themes are inherently bad, and I can appreciate what the series is trying to say. However, despite recognizing its message, I never found myself emotionally invested in the story. Knowing what a work is trying to communicate doesn't automatically make it engaging, and for me, Chainsmoker Cat never managed to create that connection.

The biggest issue was the humor.

The series relies heavily on gross-out comedy: vomit, feces, masturbation jokes, unhygienic environments, and other forms of shock humor. I understand that these moments are meant to emphasize the protagonist's self-destructive lifestyle and nicotine addiction, but after a while they stopped feeling like satire and started feeling like the joke itself. Instead of reinforcing the themes, they distracted me from them.

Another problem was Yaniko as a protagonist.

I know she isn't supposed to be likable. Flawed protagonists can be some of the most compelling characters in fiction. The problem is that I never found a reason to emotionally invest in her. She's selfish, constantly makes terrible decisions, and rarely shows qualities that made me want to root for her. I wasn't laughing with her, and I wasn't feeling sorry for her either. I just felt detached.

Because of that, I also struggled to connect with the story.

Even with the four episodes currently available, the narrative never gave me a strong hook that made me curious about what would happen next. So far, each episode has felt like it follows a similar formula: Yaniko makes another bad decision, something disgusting happens, and the cycle repeats. Since the comedy wasn't landing for me, there wasn't much left to keep me engaged.

I want to be clear that I don't think the anime is "bad" simply because it portrays uncomfortable subjects. I understand that it's commenting on addiction, financial instability, and social neglect. I can absolutely see what it's trying to say.

My criticism is that understanding a work's intention doesn't automatically make its execution effective. A story can have meaningful themes while still failing to emotionally engage some viewers. For me, Chainsmoker Cat falls into that category.

I'm curious how others felt. If you enjoyed it, what made the humor or the characters work for you? I'd genuinely like to hear different perspectives, not to argue, but because I feel like I missed whatever made this series resonate with its fans.

The Sword Emperors were easily my favourite bit of this episode. If you want to understand how powerful Sword Emperors are, I've written a bunch about it. But the main point is they are the right and the left hand of the Sword God. One of them might one day become the Sword God. The two of them together can take on the Sword God (that's how he trains). They are badass experienced fighters.

So, what is their role in this episode?

First, we see one of them (probably Timothy Britts) calling everyone into the great hall. He recognises Sword King Ghislaine with a probable student returning.

Then, there comes an important detail, the camera pans to Ghislaine (unfazed) and then to the Sword Emperors, before showing everybody in shock and the Sword God commenting with some humour. This isn't a casual detail. The Light novel made a point of highlighting it:

Most in the Ephemeral Hall were too shocked even to speak. This was absurd. Unthinkable. A duel was supposed to begin with the combatants facing each other at the center of the hall. Gino hadn’t even been looking in Eris’ direction. The Sword Saints thought her sudden attack an act of unspeakable cowardice. Nina was one of them, of course. It enraged her to see her cousin and fellow pupil brought down by such a cruel sneak attack.

There were four in the room, however, who saw the situation differently: one Sword King, two Sword Emperors, and the Sword God himself.

A nice detail is that our probable Timothy Britts has his eyes closed (probably in shame). I say "probable Timothy" because we know for a fact that one of the Sword Emperors is called Timothy Britts and that he is the father of Gino Britts (the kid Eris decimates). I'm assuming he's the one because they look alike.

Right afterwards, they volunteer to take care of Eris, but they merely say it, they don't move against the Sword God like the idiot Sword Saint. They are still respectful.

Later on, we see one of them joining the Sword Saints to observe Eris, but he remains expressionless.

Finally, they seem satisfied when Eris' training pays off.

So, yeah. Pay attention to them on a re-watch. I found this detail extremely satisfying.

I’ve just finished my second rewatch, and I truly believe it’s one of the best animes ever created. I‘m not a huge watcher of older anime (Cowboy Bebop and Evangelion were around the furthest back I’d watched), but the art style and production quality are something that you can easily look past because of the strength of the story and characters. And if you really can’t stand the older style, you could always watch Die Neue These and then switch over to the older version when that one ends. Really anything to get the full story.

LoGH has basically everything you could want. A great story with excellent lore, great three dimensional character, genius plots, love stories, etc. It gives you an amazing dissection of the problems and strengths of democracy all while meditating on the meaning and purpose of history. The two stars of the show (Yang and Reinhard) not only have different political views, but also different philosophies over why we live and what we should do with our lives. If you’re in a difficult place in life, the show will offer an escapism but also give a new meaning to what we do. Its not the type of story that takes over your life for a few days, but one that silently stays in the depths of your mind for the rest of your life; that’s the strength of it.

Above all, LoGH has, in my opinion, the greatest episode of television ever, and is worth it solely for that. The episode happens around two thirds of the way through (those who’ve seen the show know exactly what I’m talking about) and is the only episode, as well as the one after i, to have made me sob. It is truly one of the greatest (and saddest) pay offs in all of fiction. It’s one of those moments where you think “perhaps the world would be better if everyone had seen this” which may see silly because its just a television show, but the strength of the story truly changes how you view the medium.

That‘s all I had to say. Those who haven’t seen it, please watch it, and those who haven’t, maybe rewatch it in the future.

I've never created a post like this before, but its been so long since I'd seen a show was so great that I felt compelled to sing its praises. The show ended last month, but I personally didn't know anything about the show, nor did I hear much hype about it. I only stumbled upon it after seeing a thread here about recommendations for time loop based shows. I'm wondering if it just got overshadowed by the likes of Frieren and JJK.

The story basically starts out as "Among Us, the Anime" but turns into something sooo sooo much more (yes I know that the Gnosia game was not based on Among Us, and in fact was in development before Among us was). The fact that the show is based on a video game may have been what put so many people off of it. The show is not just an advertisement for the game, and is infact a very compelling, intricate, and well written story that I thoroughly enjoyed.

At first the main character is just playing the survival game, but the show slowly starts to unravel more and more of the underlying story. The main character is stuck in a time loop and has to relive slightly different variations of the same scenario (somewhat similar to Steins Gate).

Regarding the survival game itself, the show does a really really good job slow dripping the rules of the game to you. The game has several different mechanics but it only introduces one rule at a time and does a good job explaining them it in depth. The writers of this show have a really good grasp of understanding how to explain mechanics, and not overwhelming the viewers with too much information. Admittedly, the logic behind the survival game itself did confuse me at times, but it really didn't matter as understanding everything about the game itself wasn't necessary to enjoy the underlying plot.

There are certain parts of the show that will forever be seared in my mind, and the ending really really delivered! Its the kind of show that you finish, and then spend the next few days thinking over and over again about everything you watched. I really really want others to give this show a chance!

Hello /r/anime!

With 2025 ending I thought it would be nice to look back at this past year of anime we had. This is the sixth year ^{and possibly last year} I'm doing this. 2020 & 2021 & 2022 & 2023 & 2024 if you're curious on checking those out. I decided to make this little post once again to share my more unique tastes but also maybe direct people to some underwatched shows from this year!

Criteria is simply based on my personal preferences and opinions so for those who know me these might differ from the norm and probably even your own opinions. Winners are generally determined by their genre/category, so which show shows off their genre the best will be taken into account but some exceptions will be made. Shows can only be eligible for one genre category! No committee, no jurors, no audience voting, just me here.

These are simply the Amewards and my questionable subjective opinion. Only entries that finished in 2025 are being counted.

Movies or one episode OVAs/Specials will not be in contention for these.

Feel free to post your thoughts, comments and criticisms below! If you see a show not mentioned here then there's a good chance I just didn't get around to watching it as I only did around ~90 entries this year.

2025 has been my busiest IRL year yet so less entries than usual sadly.

My MAL for reference.

Anime of the Year

Unlike last year there may be no 10/10s but still some great shows! On top of the list this year is none other than Blue Box. This show started off strong for me and just kept growing. A cast full of likeable characters, a love triangle that I didn't flat out hate and an actual sports side that I got invested in. There were a few strong romances this year but Blue Box just had that special stuff for me that had me super excited to watch each week. Second place goes out to last year's third place winner Kusuriya no Hitorigoto 2nd Season. Was nice to see this show move up a spot with another spectacular season. The stakes felt raised and it's always great to see Maomao do her thing. Third place goes to another romance focused show that stood out to me I Have A Crush At Work. Adult romance in the workplace where they actually act like adults?? Sign me up! This one was not only cute but showed how good office romances can be in anime. We got spice, side ships and good communication.

Highly recommend all 3 of these!!

[Worst Anime of the Year] Kowloon Generic Romance (No good characters, no good mystery, no good romance and the pacing was very off. Outside the setting, nothing of value here)

Action of the Year

Action for me is generally aimed on how much fun I'm having with the show's action scenes so prolonged 1 on 1 hard to follow fight scenes are never going to mean too much for me. For first place I decided to go with a pick not many people would consider with May I Ask for One Final Thing? coming out just on top. It was just so much fun to see Scarlett punch anything and everyone around her. Not the standard action pick but definitely the one I had the most fun with. In close second we have a more traditional pick in Sakamoto Days. Part 2 made me fall in love with the cast more which was a nice addition to the already fun and diverse action in the show. For third place I'm slotting in Vigilante: Boku no Hero Academia Illegals. Confession, I still haven't finished BnHA so there's a world where that actually takes this spot but I actually enjoyed Vigilante much more than I expected to. Felt a lot lighter, less Deku and just more fun to watch than where BnHA is now.

[Worst Action of the Year] Go! Go! Loser Ranger! Season 2 (There's no worst sequel this year but this show would definitely get it, just awful pacing)

Adventure of the Year

Up first we have an adventure that's almost at the finish line in Dr. Stone: Science Future. This adventure just keeps getting more and more grand as we approach the finale, this year's episodes were especially strong and even felt finale like! For second place we have last year's third place winner in Shangri-La Frontier Season 2.While it did feel like a small step down from season 1 it still managed to be very entertaining to watch. Likeable big cast, creative world and many different ways to keep things fresh. For third we have Once Upon a Witch's Death which feels more of an outside pick but this show and its main character really grew on me. As the cast expands and the MC learns more it really does become a very nice time.

[Worst Adventure of the Year] Zatsu Tabi: That's Journey (I've been burnt out of travel/sightseeing anime so this one was no surprise sadly)

Comedy of the Year

First place feels a bit cheating but Lycoris Recoil: Friends Are Thieves of Time. was the funniest show of the year. It may have been extremely short but this cast is just unbeatable. They have such good chemistry and voice acting that even in suhc a small doses it made me laugh so much. In second place we have Spy x Family Season 3. An Amewards staple at this point. While this season did have more serious action moments the comedy of the cast always ends up being the draw of the show. Lastly in third we have Witch Watch. It took a bit for me to fully fall in love with this one but as the cast expanded more and Nico got more control of her magic I started falling under its charm. It had me laughing for characters I didn't even like at first!

[Worst Comedy of the Year] Plus-sized Misadventures in Love! (This wasn't much of a romance or mystery so the comedy was the only leg to stand on and it didn't stand on it well)

Drama of the Year

Drama is always a category that feels hard to define and it falls in and out of the Amewards.This year I wanted to make sure it was there to include the underwatched Trillion Game as first place. It feels great watching the 2 leads succeed when it always seems like they won't. Business side is a bit out there but it's fun to watch te creativity of the pair as they take on many David vs Goliath moments. Second place is Call of the Night S2 which probably would have won the best sequel award as this season was just top tier. Expanding the cast and including interesting backstories made this show as a whole better In third place we have a national treasure in Anne Shirley. Was great to watch Anne grow on her journey, lots of ups and downs just as life is. A nice watch overall!

[Worst Drama of the Year] Orb: On the Movements of the Earth (Giant waste of time that starts off really well. Takes you on this journey that even in the moment feels unsatisfying but keeps one upping itself)

Fantasy of the Year

In a very female lead focused category the winner for fantasy is The Too-Perfect Saint. A strong cast and really competent lead will always do well for me and this show did just that. Even the secondary lead was fun to watch! Coming in it at a very close second is Silent Witch. This show surprised me as unlike the last show it has a lead with an archetype I tend to hate. Somehow Monica does avoid this though and she's not only likeable but very easy to root for as well. Good cast and great visuals make this an easy choice for one of the best of the year. For third place we have Pass the Monster Meat, Milady! which was also nice surprise. While this one didn't rewrite the fantasy genre it was very consistent with a very strong ship. Nice to see a healthy and supporting ship in anime once in awhile!

[Worst Fantasy of the Year] I Want to Escape from Princess Lessons (I defended this one a lot through the year but that doesn't not make it the worst...very rough)

Isekai of the Year

In a break from Amewards tradition there is only one isekai genre this time! Not sure if that means I'm watching less or there are less around. The big winner this year is The Red Ranger Becomes an Adventurer in Another World where we actually get to see someone with powers get isekai'd! Had some ups and downs but it did make me laugh out loud a lot with how absurd it could get and how it made fun of itself. Second place goes to a staple now in Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill Season 2. More of the same here and somehow Sui got even cuter. In third we have Zenshuu which means the male isekai'd MCs out performed the women this time around! Zenshuu also had some ups and downs but it was a show I was very curious to watch each week and had my attention the full time.

[Worst Isekai of the Year] The Beginning After the End (Another show I did defend but did end up being the worst isekai I finished this year, has potential but not sure if I'd watch more)

Music of the Year

Warning in advance...I did not watch many music shows this year sadly. That being said there was a clear winner here in Karaoke Iko!. This one felt unique and stood out with every episode. Not a typical band or idol show, it felt very refreshing. Also anytime Ono D sings I need to give a show extra points to. Second place goes to Rock Is a Lady's Modesty which had I did have a fair amount of issues with. Definitely started strong but was a bit too crude and sweaty at times. Cast is overall likeable and easy to root for which is always important in shows like this. In third is BanG Dream! Ave Mujica which was somehow even messier than the last entry in this series. For Umiri I'll give this one third.

[Worst Music of the Year] BanG Dream! Ave Mujica (Wasn't kidding when I haven't seen enough music shows this year, this show was all over the place enough that it deserves this as well)

Mystery of the Year

The Apothecary Diaries Season 2 repeats as winner in this category! While the characters are my favourite part of the show and the setting is great it's the mystery that sets it apart and keeps me invested. Great show and I can't wait for more. Getting second place is Lazarus may not be your standard mystery romp but the mystery was the reason I kept tuning in. While no Cowboy Bebop it did have a pretty exciting cast and a more interesting overall plot. Coming in third is Ameku M.D.: Doctor Detective which had its own ups and downs but I enjoyed the medical mysteries of it all. Maybe as someone who hasn't seen House I found it pretty interesting and different.

[Worst Mystery of the Year] Kowloon Generic Romance (While the setting and overall mystery are both interesting, the execution, pacing and characters are just awful)

Romance of the Year

My number one genre of anime so this category will always hold a special place in my heart and this one should be no surprise as it won the AotY, the top spot this year goes to Blue Box. This show just has IT, from the characters to the romance of it all it just has that special sauce that makes it feel so real. You get invested in each character and in turn their feelings as they all figure it out. Truly a special show! For second place it goes to The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity which actually made a really strong case for number one as it also felt like it had that special thing to make a romance stand out. The characters are all likeable and it's a romance you root for immediately. The growing feelings and seeing the characters feel each other out was adorable to watch. Lastly for romances we have one I don't expect to see on many lists in A Star Brighter Than the Sun which while VERY tropey it's sweet and gets to a good place. The cast is likeable and while the leads can be frustrating they're both very easy to root for. Wish the show had more of a side ship!

[Worst Romance of the Year] Tying the Knot with an Amagami Sister (Not much positives here, girls on their own can be okay but the harem, supernatural aspect and ecchi choices just bring it all down. Brings shame to its name)

RomCom of the Year

Romance and RomCom are two different categories in the Amewards and its always hard to justify which goes where. These shows I found focused a bit less on the romance and more on the comedy but both sides do need to be strong. First place goes to I Have a Crush at Work which just checked off so many boxes. Adult cast acting like adults, spicy but classy moments and even a strong side ship! Truly one of the best workplace romances we've gotten so far in anime and it's not even close. Coming in at second a show that reminded of a past Amewards winner Shikimori-san in Yano-kun's Ordinary Days which while not quite as good was still a fun time! A really nice cast and cute main ship but love triangles and lack of a strong side ship made it a bit harder to get into at times. In third place we have one that surprised me in April Showers Bring May Flowers. Did not think I would like this one as much as I did as I didn't care too much about the main ship but it introduced one of the best side ships of the year which was enough for it to push it to third. The main ship is still fine and likeable but the side ship was much more my speed.

[Worst RomCom of the Year] Can a Boy-Girl Friendship Survive? (Frustrating plot and romantic progression. Not many likeable characters and just a bunch of meandering.)

Sci-fi of the Year

While we go another year with no mecha category it's hard to be sad when a show as special as Apocalypse Hotel comes around to take this category. Always impressive when an anime original can stand on its own and stand this tall. Great setting that's only topped by the leading lady. The show is at its best when she's on center stage and thankfully she is around a lot to carry that spotlight. Rolling into second we have the cult favourite Milky☆Subway: The Galactic Limited Express and this one came out of nowhere for me and I think everyone else too. I heard about this show through r/anime and really didn't think it would live up to the small hype it was gaining but it was actually just a nice little fun time. Would easily watch more! Last up is a bit of a seat filler with Fire Force Season 3 which while it had its ups and downs it still has me really curious to see where it goes next as the world its built has been an interesting one!

[Worst Sci-Fi of the Year] Your Forma (No buddy cop, no ship, no interesting world. Pacing is poor...not much here redeemable)

Slice of Life

The winner for this year's Slice of Life is Food For The Soul which felt like PA Works at their best. A great and likeable cast with some fantastic cast interactions. Reminded me of Yuru Yuri more than a couple times which is a great compliment to the show and how fun it was. The second place entry was one I initially didn't finish during its run but I did end up completing this past week ni With You and the Rain. Was a good thing I waited as I was constantly comparing it to last year's second place SoL winner Kinoku Inu which was unfair to it and also sadly I kept seeing Kowloon Generic Romance's MC. After getting over that it really was a cute and light show that was very easy to binge. Rounding out at the top 3 is one that surprised me in A Mangaka's Weirdly Wonderful Workplace where I somehow dislike more characters than I like but it still made it an enjoyable watch each week. A good cast balance made it more consumable and while the MC can be Bocchi-like she does get her work done which is good to see.

[Worst Slice of Life of the Year] The Mononoke Lecture Logs of Chuzenji-sensei: He Just Solves All the Mysteries (If I finished City maybe that would have been here but instead this will fit in which wasn't too much of a SoL but wasn't too much of a mystery either)

Sports of the Year

SPORTS! Another year and another golf winner, this year Sorairo Utility. While no Tonbo it still does a really good job with golf and making it more fun and interesting than the actual sport. A good balanced cast and a main character who gets better as the show goes along. Would love to watch more of this one. The silver medal, irony not on purpose here, Medalist which took me more than a few episodes to come around to. In the end they got me hooked though with a great teacher and student relationship. Hoping the drama can stay low for future seasons! The bronze medal goes to what has become a staple in this genre in Uma Musume: Cinderella Gray which while is a good time it's also my worst Uma Musume entry as it just goes back against a lot of what I love about the series. The races are still exciting and you root hard for Oguri but it falls pretty far behind other entries in the series.

[Worst Sports of the Year] Catch Me at the Ballpark! (Feels bad to have this as worst as it was still surprisingly good but the sports side of it is really lacking)

If you actually read through all of that thank you so much! My sixth, and maybe final, time doing my personal awards like this and my taste has always been a bit controversial around these parts so it's always a bit tough to put all my thoughts in one place. You probably won't be agreeing with all too much but I hope you at least check out some shows you wouldn't have before. I hope you all have an amazing 2026 and let's hope we get a great year from airing anime again!

Full album

So the anime is about a world where civilization had to leave Earth because of a newly lethal virus that spread over the planet.

It shows a hotel, Gingarou Hotel, a hotel which, before the leave of civilization, adapted newly developed robots to manage the hotel.

Why It’s a Must-Watch (In My Perspective and Opinion)

It’s not a copy, and it was crafted in a way that actually looked good for a really weird genre. It somehow managed that without making it cliché and boring.

Its designs are unique. Well, not in a way that you could call it Mob Psycho 100, but it’s still not the generic good old anime design.

It’s not about survival. Well, it is, but it’s not the main point like almost all other apocalypse shows.

Strong storytelling without telling it. The story is told through events and the hotel, the only place which still “lives” among the dead Earth.

It doesn’t try to force emotions. I don’t really know how to explain it, but rather than showing how and the lives that got affected by the event, it showed the shadow of the lives that once were taking place in the world.

The emotional depth is simple, yet it’s not easy to take it all. It represents hope in chaos in a world that was abandoned because there was no hope, with small things: routines, responsibility, and memory more than the events.

For me, it’s one of those anime which I would only remember the feeling rather than the “anime.” It’s hard to explain, but I really like it, and I recommend you watch it, especially for people who don’t like the apocalypse theme, because it’s really different than other anime.

It’s my first time writing, so if I didn’t do a good job, keep that in mind.

Okay, so I finished the show today. It was honestly really exciting and fun to watch, but not quite what I was hoping for.

I was rooting for Light (I know he's a villain but I somehow wanted to see him win still) and in the end, he failed. Not only did it suprise but also kinda dissappoint me.

I cannot exactly pin down as to why this is though, so this post might just be me being emotional over his death, but I rather think it has to do with the writing of Season 2 and Near.

My problem is with how perfect Near actually is and how he didnt fail at anything in the entire show. Near had everything planned out, while himself being a boring character who had weirdly dropped in at Season 2, and he somehow managed to kill Light with ease. I believe the only obstacle in his way was the raid to their headquarters, and even that was easily countered.

Im bringing this up cause fighting L wasnt like that. Light vs L was one of the best rivalries the show had to offer. It was a constant back and forth of attack, defense, counter attack and ehatever else. Heck, even Mello was more fun than Near. Mello went in for high risk/high reward direct operations, and if I remember correctly he had suffered a lot more in the other attacks than just in his final one.

What im trying to say: Nesr didnt earn his victory, Near didnt deserve his victory and him winning feels just out of place. That also translates to him not developing as a character. All Near did was enter the box ring and pick up the prize.

And to at least try proving a little how im not on copium, I feel like a ton of other ending would've been better whilst still killing Light:

First thing that came to my mind is that truly EVERYONE knowing the deathnote were to die. That would've nicely closed up the story of Deathnote, and slso maybe explain how there arent any historical records of the deathnote. Maybe that would've been possible by Lights plan working and Near planting a bomb as plan b, which would've been used to kill everyone involved.

If not that, i'd also not have hated if Lights plan would've worked but Mello came to kill Kira and avenge Near. then leave as the only survivor.

I ALSO wouldnt have hated if Light had managed to kill Near before dying, so that sll of the smart people would've been dead, whilst only the guards could leave alive.

Regardless of what I say, I think most of my fanfic concludes to a stalemate for all sides instead of a total and effortless defeat for Light.

Light and the other kids for me always were equal opponents, thus I always wanted the show to end eith a stalemate. (I was also shocked snd suprised when L had died in the middle of the show and thst easily, I thought the finale eould've been a final L vs Light show off but no, we got the other 2)

Idk honestly, what do yall think of this?

Shangri-La Frontier is an incredible watch. While I constantly sing praises for this anime, at the same time, it is kinda difficult to classify this anime. It isn't exactly an isekai, considering that nobody actually gets trapped in an MMORPG. It is not a shounen anime, considering that... well there are literally no stakes. The protagonist is NOT trapped in another world. The world is NOT ending. Nobody is sick and nobody is putting lives at stake. There is literally a gamer playing games. It is kinda like a slice-of-life anime in the sense that it has the same vibe as watching a streamer playing games, diving into lore and exploiting bugs, but at the same time the incredible action sequences make it feel like an action anime. At the same time, it has great characterization and all the people present feel like real living humans. Insane comedy too, it is fun to see the Wolfgang trio goof about.

At the same time, it offers a lot of things that only games can offer: mindblowing unique boss fights, boring ass ore and XP farming, insane lore and easter eggs, and high stakes inter clan politics (an even more interesting version of this is unfolding right now in the manga). The NPCs ^{(go Emul!!! go Vysache!!!}) are very fleshed out and are fun to watch. ^{trying to avoid strong spoilers lol}

One thing the SLF does justice to is the combat, where it actually feels like a nigh impossible Souls style boss fight. I have seen my friends argue that they are needlessly long, but really, it really solidifies on why nobody has ever beaten the seven colossi before. Bosses are also well designed, and the freedom in the game is featured very well: players with different playstyles and builds have distinctively different styles of combat, and so the action scenes never get boring. The best part is the action sequences aren't just spamming overpowered skills and techniques, but feature actual strategies and improvs, something that is often missing in the similar animes following SAO's footsteps. Every boss has a gimmick, and watching them try and figure out is excellent.

Another thing that attracts me is that SLF also often shows other games, and how they influence the protagonist. Sunraku takes a lot of inspiration from these games, which is always interesting to see in a game like SLF where you are given a lot of freedom. Also they show the dev's lines of thought too, which fleshes out the world.

Overall, 10/10 watch for me. If you like playing games or seeing content creators like RadBrad who do playthroughs, you will probably like this. It feels very similar to watching a streamer.

Alright, I will end it here.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

I am Harnesser Of Chaos.

Flying To The Highest Peaks Of Heaven

Diving To The Lowest Abyss Of Hell

The Two-Faced Heavenly Devil

Stretching Out Their Arms To Reach The Farthest Point

O Great Enemy Blocking My High Road

No One May Tread Upon This Mighty Path Before I

Only I Am Need

Thus, My Strike Shall Crush All In My Way.

I Am Satanael Of The Heavens.

And The Satan Of Hell.

Two Face, To Bring One Chaos.

I Proclaim The Beginning Of The End

̷͕̖̉̓͛̍͐̒͝-̷̙̙̲̋́̊-̶͙͆ͅA̵̰̝̣̘̥̦̓͊̈́̑͝R̸̜̥͎͔̯̓͛̎́M̷̢̳͕̖̯̰̞͈̀̒̎̀̐̀͝͠A̴͔͔̠̺̓̎͌̀̈́̚͝G̶̠̘̬̲̙̈́̀̎̌̄E̶̢̘̞̯͒͌̽̏͆̂̎̊̚D̴̻͙̯̘͙̈́̉̈́̉͊͘̕̚͜͜͝D̶͓͙͉̖͕̦̣̎̀̑̍̈́ͅO̷̧̭͈͈̦͈͉͖͎̒̀̿̂̑̄͊̾͠N̸̛͙̲͍͓͍̺̰̠̑̀̋̃̀͠ͅ-̸̛̛̼͖͌̀͊̀͆̽ͅ-̵̨̨̝̥͎́͊̈́͑͐͆̍̚͜͝ͅ

̵̛̛̰̦̹̱͘͜

^{i am rooting for you Rei good luck}

A while back I posted an extremely cold take about Isekai not being very good at exploring what it would be like to actually be isekai’d. Or how, in the vast majority of these shows, there really isn’t any reason to have the Isekai setting aside from being a lazy writing tool to allow them to add a bunch of exposition about the fantasy world to the clueless MC and the viewer. Which is useful, but I’ve always felt the setting is also grossly underutilized in a lot of ways for most shows.

Several people recommended Ascendence of a Bookworm and you absolutely nailed it.

This show really dives deep into the cultural shock that a person going to a different world would have to contend with. Figuring out how to just survive (much less explore) in this new setting, not knowing the value of certain things or how the currency works, various customs and ceremonies, the major religions and the lay person’s relation to all of that. Coming down with an illness that you don’t understand because it’s native to the new setting, and so on. Where most isekai would give you some exposition about why a festival that is taking place happens and the MC is just an outside observer, Ascendance of a bookworm asks “what would the MC’s role in actually participating in this festival as a member of the world they now inhabit look like?”

It also has the MC introduce foreign things to the new world in a way that is a little more grounded. Instead of having a Dr. Stone level of understanding how inventions were made, the MC has mostly surface level knowledge of how something is made and has to use trial and error to actually reach the intended result. Like a person who once googled “how is X made” might remember the components of how to make it but not the more intricate details of the actual steps involved.

Not only that but it also explores some philosophical debates about the idea of the “self”. If you suddenly wake up in a new world in a new body, what happened to the consciousness that used to inhabit the body? If you still have that persons’ memories are you now them, or are you still the person you were before? Or both? Or neither? It also doesn’t just gloss over the fact that the MC shouldn’t know the things that they know as far as the people around them are concerned.

Granted, not every Isekai puts their protag in an already born body, but the point remains that there are aspects of being transported to another world that, if they were actually explored, would elevate the story itself and the genre as a whole.

It’s a shame the average isekai enjoyer would probably find the plot of Ascendance of a bookworm to be “too slow”. Its pacing is more akin to a slice of life than a fantasy adventure. And to be fair, if I *had* to be nit-picky about the show, one of my critiques would be that the actual fantasy part of the world is being under-explored and the fantastical nature of the world the MC inhabits is only really hinted at from time to time until near the end of the first season.

Striking a balance between the two would be what an ideal Isekai would look like for me. Having said that, it does look like as the story goes on we’ll get to see more and more of the actual magic and mystery of the new world.

This show is going right to the top of the list for one of the best Isekai out there in my book.

I hate this anime. I hate it so much. It pissed me off in so many different areas that I don't even know where to start. I actually think it started promising. We have our main male character Naoto Watari, a high school boy who always turns down other kids in their advances to hang out because he has to look after litlte sister, Suzushiro Watari. He also has a crush on a girl at school, Yukari, Ishihara, who will be important later. Naoto suddenly reunites with a female childhood friend Satsuki Tachibana, whom he has uncomfortable memories of because of the way she randomly destroyed the garden the three of them loved to tend growing up, didn't explain herself, then just left and moved away without a word. When she comes back Naoto has no idea why. And honeslty, neither do I, and I've seen all 26 episodes. In fact this plot is kind of dropped before the halfway point of the series and it's never brought up again, we never learn why she destroyed the garden, even though it was seemingly crucial when the series began and within the first few episodes. It makes me wonder why it was even introduced in the first place. We also never learn who the man was that was with Satsuki when she destroyed the garden, who obviously was in on the action because she directly handed him the pickaxe that she used, why she moved away, and, for the most part, why she moved back. I mean the two of them do end up together in the end so maybe you could argue the reason she moved back was because she was in love with Naoto and wanted to reconnect with him, but I always figured there must be more to it than that. Maybe not. There's also slight hints that maybe she felt bad and wanted to apologize, but she never did apologize for destroying something that meant so much to Naoto and his sister so it literally goes nowhere.

But enough about that. I hate Satsuki. She might be the worst waifu of 2025. It's tough because Rent-A-Girlfriend also got a season last year and I am a certified Chizuru hater, but Satuski is definitely up there. I should be angry at the way she constantly gaslights Naoto and his sister, and I am, but for some reason the thing that pisses me off even more is the sheer ineptitude in the writing of the characters and plot of this series, and Satsuki is the best, or should I say the worst, example of that. She is painfully unlikable. There's two sides to her character and neither of them are good. One side is boring and almost emotionless, but when she does show emotion she's insanely manipulative. I can't believe that we're supposed to root for this couple. He deserves better than her. Honestly, he deserves Yukari. Told you we'd get back to her. She's best girl. But of course I knew she wasn't going to win from the start because she has blue/purple hair. Expecting the blue/purple hair girl to win in a romance anime would be just as delusional as trying to sell NFTs in 2026, and I'm not THAT insane. I'm only a little insane. And anime like this don't exactly help with that so maybe I will be that insane eventually. But not yet. But anyways, Yukari is cute, kind, sweet, and clearly cares for Naoto. She's not overflowing with personality, but that could be at least partially because she's not one of the central characters. if she was made the main girl then maybe more personality could have been added to her. And even then I wouldn't say she's completely boring as is. And at the very least I can't say she's unlikable. Her and Satuski are polar opposites in that one way. The only thing Satsuki has going for her is that hse is a little cute. Hell, even Makina Umezawa would have been better to end up with Naoto, who also had feelings for him, who was not only cute just like htem, but was also likable, and had a LOT of personality, and a pretty fun personality at that.

I don't normally get mad when a girl who I don't think is best girl doesn't win as long as I like the girl that does win. After everything I've already said you should be able to deduce why I'm mad. I spent a lot of time talking about Satsuki, but honestly she's the main reason why I hated this anime so much. This is a prime example of how one bad character, if htat character is central enough to the story and is unlikable enough, can completely ruin an anime even if there are other legitimately good aspects to it. The character designs are fine, all the girls, even Satsuki, are cute, and most of the other characters are good, although admittingly has passiveness towards her did get on my nerves, and it got worse as the series progressed, but I suppose that can be the natural result of being manipulated and gaslit constantly by an egotistical, narccisistic, self centered woman. And what makes it even worse is how it destroyed the potential that it presented at the start of the series.

I see posts here all the time asking for recommendations on what to watch. So I figured I'd post about this joy of an anime I finished this weekend. I found Akiba Maid War on one of those "listicles" that have titles like Top 10 Anime To Watch While You're Fight With Your Best Friend on the Third Tuesday of the Month while It's Foggy Out. Clearly AI, so I didn't put much stock in it, but the AMW's premise caught my attention, so I threw it on my list. I had just finished watching Utena for the first time and thought an easy 12 episode palette cleanser was called for.

I'm sure many of the folks on this sub have already seen this anime. But Akiba Maid War thoroughly surprised me and was an absolute treat of an anime to watch. It is cartoonishly grotesque with its violence and genuinely funny in a way that I wasn't expecting. Plus, it has a heart that will sneak up on you before you can say "moe moe kyun!" These are the three elements that I feel made AMW such a gem, so let's break them down.

First, the violence. This is my biggest content warning because the blood is gratuitous, and as early as episode 1, relentless. I can totally understand some folks being squeamish (my sister walked by while I was watching and was thoroughly grossed out). Furthermore, the violence is (almost) always treated as the punch line. I can imagine in the times we're living in, people might not find gun fights and gang violence being treated as a joke particularly funny, which I think is completely valid. All of that being said, the violence is all so cartoonishly animated and so unrealistic that it really did achieve the absurdist levels of humor I think the creators were going for. It sort of reminded me of Kill Bill in a weird way in how over the top and fantasy-like all the blood and stabbing was. But while Kill Bill is paying homage to a particular genre, AMW is juxtaposing the absurdity of kawaii maids having Godfather-level shootouts and the result is hilarious.

Second, even setting the violence aside, Akiba Maid War is genuinely funny in my opinion. I've been watching anime since 1996 and by 1998 I was using my parent's dial-up computer to download a subbed episodes of Sailor Moon. Anime can fall back on a lot of familiar tropes or jokes and after watching for literally 30 yers, it can get a bit stale if you see the jokes coming. I found AMW's jokes truly refreshing, and at times, I was literally snorting with laughter (quite on theme considering the main characters work a pig themed maid cafe). The manager in particular is our comedic relief character but honestly all of the characters get moments for laughs. What surprised me is that I fully expected each maid to have their own bottle episode explaining their backstories which never happened. Normally, this might be an indication of not so great writing and poorly fleshed out characters. But on the contrary, I found it gave the creators more time to develop the characters and their humor within the current narrative. The result is that every character has a (IMO) well-developed voice and sense of humor

And third, you might think that based on the two previous pros that Akiba Maid War is all laughs. But it has a surprising amount of heart that manages to avoid being cringe by sneaking up on you. Episode 5, for example, features a character's birthday where absolute absurdity ensues. But AMW makes sure to tug on your heart string, just a bit, before returning back to the chaos. Our main character and best girl, Nagomi, is the typical optimistic lead you'd expect of a character with her animation style. But the Akiba of this series is constantly saying: yeah, those heroic heroine speeches don't really work here. So in the choice moments where that pathos does stick, it's very effective and doesn't feel like the ending to another "Very Special Episode."

Akiba Maid Wars is a tight 12 episodes for folks (like me) who fear commitment. Very easy to binge in a day. As far as I can tell, it's only streaming on HIDIVE (in the U.S. I'm not sure about other countries). But if you can't decide on your next watch, consider giving this gem a try!

It's been some time since I finished Sentenced To Be A Hero and it's safe to say that it was one of my most favourite anime I've watched so far this year.

Sentenced To Be A Hero started with a blast, the pilot episode did a good job introducing the viewers to the main characters and the world they live in. The world building unveiled even more in the upcoming episodes and more characters were getting introduced as we went further into the story.

While the anime doesn't reinvent the fantasy genre, nor offers something new, it utilized its plot and themes very well. It never tried to be something deeper than what it is and I had no problem with that. I had fun in every single episode and I was always waiting patiently for the next one. The tropes it relied on were depicted well and I admit that there were some moments that had caught me off guard.

The animation, just like other people have stated, was nothing but epic. I really appreciated the variety of the characters' designs and the design for the faeries was uncanny at times. The vibrant yet dark colour palette fit perfectly with the vibes of the series and the direction of the fights was crazy. The musical score elevated the scenes, especially during the climax at the last episode.

What took me by surprise was how much I ended up caring for the characters, no matter if they were secondary or not. I had expected to be mostly interested in Xylo and Teorrita and in the end, I found myself enjoying all the other heroes too. The dynamic between them was very entertaining and it was nice to see them caring for each other in their own way.

His Majesty was definitely a highlight on its own, I really liked the way he commanded his troops and how he inspired those around him. I had expected him to be the classic comic-relief character but instead, I found myself gaining confidence from his speeches and persistence to fight and help the others. Tatsuya was a BEAST, I loved the way his fighting scenes were portrayed, every time he had to fight against faeries he went feral! Despite his inhumane state, I could see some glimpses of his old humanity in his behavior and it was nice to see Xylo's subtle care for him.

Rhyno was by far one of the most entertaining characters, I loved him so much from the moment he was introduced. The way he kept ragebaiting Xylo was fun and his confidence combined with his thirst for blood was mindly amusing. I cannot wait to see more of him, especially after the latest revelations in the last episode.

Of course I couldn't forget to mention our ladies, Captain Kivia and Frenci. I was sceptical about their role in the story and to be frank, I was worried about them being sidelined or being used for Xylo's development only. However, that didn't happen. Both Kivia and Frenci were interesting on their own, especially Kivia who underwent a great development after spending more time with Xylo, Teorrita and the other penal heroes. They contributed to the fights and the progress of the story and although they were close to Xylo, the series never pitied them against each other. In fact, they came to respect one another and they even helped each other during the last episodes.

As for our main duo, Xylo and Teorrita, their relationship was adorable. I love this trope in media when a grumpy man practically adopts a younger girl, only to develop a fondness for her. Xylo carried much trauma inside of him after having to kill his previous goddess, so it was logical that he wouldn't want to form a bond with another one. But bit by bit, Teorrita managed to warm his heart again, which was heartwarming to see. I cannot wait to see more of their bond in the upcoming season!

The story and the pacing were handled well, some episodes focused more on the action part while some others prioritized the characters and their relationship. From the start, it was clear that some type of corruption was taking place and the ending solidified this. Although the first season didn't bring much light into the depths of the church's corruption, I expect the second season to reveal even more.

If I have to bring up some aspects that could have been better, that would be the writing. While the story was more than serviceable and the writing was overall good, I would have appreciated if the world building had been developed some more. Some aspects of the writing could have been handled with more nuance too, sometimes it felt like we were switching in-between scenes with no clear built-up while some moments that were supposed to be emotional heavy, lacked the appropriate emotional impact.

Teorrita, as cute as she was, was one of the characters who felt rather lackluster in my opinion. I am not saying she was bad, it's just that I would have liked to see more of her worries and development. I totally understand that mentally, she's a child, therefore I don't expect her to be as complex as an adult but there is room for her to become more interesting and not rely on her (albeit cute) quirks.

In conclusion, Sentenced To Be A Hero was thrilling, exciting and fresh. I am very excited for the second season and I'm thinking of starting reading the light novels soon.

Terrible is kinda true and false.

S3 part for most of it was really good and amazing, the s2 part was terrible. I knew it was a recap of it and heard it’d be the fights so I thought surely Sukuna vs maho etc would play and yes it did but all of it was way too short.

Gojo vs curses was shown in like 10-20 secs, nanami fighting grade 3 curses was longer.

Sukuna vs maho was longer but still crazy short maybe max 1 min

Jogo vs Sukuna like 30 secs.

These were barely shown maybe my times are wrong but it felt short and not only that some cuts felt really weird. Sure it’s a recap but come on, I wanna see the fights on big screen hear the music but it was trash. Even gojo sealing was made worse some reason gojo memory flashback with geto they removed the music???? Just silent literally.

Not only were they short they removed some good parts of the fight. Sukuna vs jogo didn’t have jogo smashing the building into Sukuna or Sukuna kicking jogo like a ball while running through the building.

Sukuna vs maho didn’t have the scene of “you can see my technique”.

Gojo vs curses basically didn’t happen so let’s say all of it was missing.

Most of the recap was Mahito vs yuji which was mostly good but had the issue of some really weird cuts making the fights feel strange at some points. Also one good part Ik of that is removed is yuji killing Mahito and it turns to snow not a crazy removal but still and it just skipped from “I’ll kill you if you’re reborn” straight to geto showing up saying should I save you and then the fight of geto, uraume etc also had same issues but it’s slightly better.

TLDR the s2 recap fights were way too short basically non existent besides Mahito vs yuji, didn’t include some of the good parts of the fights and the cuts were sometimes strange making it feel bad. Also no joke 2 people actually left like 10 mins in 😭😭

I know it’s a recap and it expects us to know it but like cmon like I understand maybe they remove geto yapping on and on, but instead they thought it’s an amazing idea to show 5 secs of the fights like they posted on yt and shortened it trying to dodge copyright strikes on YouTube.

Made In Abyss Review

I’ve heard some great things about this show and decided to give it a watch. It exceeded my expectations, the world in itself is incredible. I felt like I was on drugs watching this show, just a super weird anime but extremely fascinating diving into the world. The visuals are beautiful, it's its own kind of anime, never seen anything like it. The anime follows a little girl who's on a journey to find her mother, but in order to do that she has to travel all the way down to the “abyss” which is basically a super large tunnel down, but each layer of this tunnel is like its own world pretty much, dangerous creatures, I loved the adventure theme this anime has, it was a fun watch.

Although it follows children, it is much darker than it seems, def has mature themes, with gore and has realism to it for sure, it isn’t softened, you can tell with each layer of the abyss it gets intense and you have to stay on guard or you’ll die, and this anime makes that very clear in very brutal ways.

Overall I really really enjoyed this anime, worldbuilding is some of the best in anime, I'd say top 3 easily, I loved the characters, animation and visuals were 10/10, just great anime. I’d put it in my top 6 or 7 now. It's hard to say, prob higher in the future since the story isn’t close to finished yet. Oh and the soundtrack used in this anime is genuinely a 20/10, the music was beautiful, just matched the vibe of the world and made it seem like you were about to watch cinema.

9.5/10

UPDATE

This has now reached my top 5 in anime, as more time passes the more I appreciate this anime. It is genuinely a special anime, the soundtrack alone is just generational.

Was a regular watcher then dropped anime for the last couple of years due to college, started again with a new anime for me called "Pseudo Harem".

So I've watched many rom-coms in the time of 2015-2020 like Horimiya, Bunny Girl Senpai, Nisekoi, From you to me, Boarding School Juliet, Kawaii complex, Pet girl at Sakurasou and many more but this was new and so refreshing.

Instead of that traditional bop rom-coms which are hyper-stylised Pseudo Harem was a breath of fresh air, that's how love works in the real world too. You don't need to be a hot shot chik or super handsome white haired model to be the MC, you can be a stage head of a theatre department and can have your part of love too. It's so grounded and real I loved it.

It resonates with us too if you think, you meet someone while doing your club activities you love their presence and hate when they are not around. You get a crush on them, they can see through you but try to avoid because maybe they think they might be wrong (Eiji) and then time flies you delay your confession, towards the end you talk to your close ones and decide to gather some courage and confess them sometimes you succeed sometimes you fail but you must do what Rin taught us. And sometimes you find your Rin or Eiji in someone and you see that one person you loved in your school/college walking down the aisle with a beautiful white gown holding your favourite flowers in her hands and with your father-in-law obviously smiling and looking at your face for the future you'll cherish up until you take your last breath in their lap. That's what Pseudo Harem teaches you.

This is peak romance for me and probably the best one out there with the perfect ending any 1 season 12 episode anime can get.

9.9/10

FMA: Brotherhood is my all-time favourite anime or work in general, and it has been for over a decade now.

When I heard about the show, I was really excited and got to episode 14, but I realised I was forcing myself to watch the show at least 5 episodes ago. Only because of the author and the reminiscence of her past work.

The biggest problem, and the one that absolutely annihilates the show for me, is the story. There is no sophisticated way to put this: it is boring as hell; 14 episodes in and I still have 0 clue where it wants to go. It feels like a headless chicken, but even a headless chicken would go in some interesting place if it's lucky enough; this one is just circling in the backyard.

You could argue the goal is for them to find their parents, but there is hardly any work done to achieve the goal; even the characters are not invested enough to look for their parents.

"It's building up." GOT S1 was boring until the last episode, but even in the boredom, it had a good story and key events, enough to keep you going.

14 episodes, yet the characters still feel so shallow; the MC is a hunter getting used to this modern world and has no hesitation in killing if survival warrants it. COOL and? That's it. There is literally nothing more to it; 14 episodes into the show and that's how much character development I got to see.

His sister is just hollow; SPOILER, she gets unalived once and has a power-up, 14 episodes, and this has done nothing apart from a minor upgrade in her kit.

Once again, being such a huge fan of the Author, I feel bad; this work is an absolute and complete disappointment, would not even give the show a 4/10.

I usually don't care enough to go on a rant about a show, but FMA has a special place for me, so I guess that when I started this show, my expectations were through the roof, and I got something that was at the very bottom.

MAL

I'm not going to write too long of a recommendation for this anime, but I still think Darwin Incident is absolutely worth your time. Simply because there really isn't anything quite like it narratively in anime. And in a world of anime adaptations of cookie-cutter light novels and generic shonens, I think that's reason enough to watch this anime.

A quick summary of the anime, we follow Charlie, a humanzee (cross between a human and chimpanzee) as he navigates high school life among high scrutiny from the police and in the background of tensions from a pro-animal terrorist group (imagine PETA but attacking animal research facilities).

Saying anymore would be spoilers.

It's not a show with a high MAL rating with its basic to passable animation and explosive narrative. But, it's from a well-loved and award-winning source material manga winning many prestigious awards.

And the awards felt justified to me as I think this anime is great. It has a slow start as typical for shows setting up the characters and premises but it ramps up to 11 and generally uses that to set up an interesting final few episodes.

Narratively, the show is fascinating in how it tells a crazy hypothetical of how we humans would treat a human-chimpanzee. I think it's pretty realistic in how Charlie was portrayed as a theoretical human-chimpanzee. He has his own personality and views which I found really interesting.

And another interesting part is how they portray American high schools. The show is set in America and there's a lot of American ideals, culture and thoughts portrayed in the show. I'm not American but it's something that is very America relevant at least from the news I've read/watched which I enjoyed. There is also the usual terrible American stereotypes that Japanese kinda play up but it's not too much that it ruins it.

Personally, I was really absorbed watching the series to a point where I did not know what would happen next. There is a really shocking tipping point which changes the show's narrative and from that moment on, it really hooked me.

Another point, is how brutal the show can be. Like it takes no prisoners and it isn't afraid to ruffle feathers or make some controversial decisions if it works for the narrative.

And to me personally, it's done perfectly and makes great narrative sense without feeling too forced or contrived. All in all, that makes for a fun series with a great ending (personal opinion).

Give it a chance, it's such a riveting watch and gave me a rollercoaster of emotions in a good way. It also has a bop of an OP and ED (hige dandism and Ako are fucking awesome).

If you think you've seen it all in anime, give this show a chance - it feels fresh, it's exciting and a pure thriller like no other. I can't quite give a like-for-like comparison which is testament to the quality and originality of the show. Maybe slightly like Monster, but only with how I felt, not the actual like-for-like comparison.

I just wanna gush for a second- I started watching this show on Amazon prime. The dialogue is this free-flowing, stream of consciousness style dialogue complete with absolutely ridiculous worldbuilding.

The show opens up with the story of a legendary bird who gets petrified and becomes a centerpoint of a city, then informs us that that's a totally different city to the one the show takes place in.

It's ludicrous and funny, and can get sincerely heartfelt. There are these two girls who sit and talk about old man topics in young people voices, and it's sort of wonderful to watch them resolve big dreams into little lives. I can't say there's a character I dislike, but the sections with those two became some of my favorites.

Animation uses the simplistic artstyle the show takes place in to cut 0 corners. Repeating dialogue is left with animators making every effort to make every scene distinct. I noticed this on a scene where the aforementioned high school girls were walking home- every frame had them at a different angle, walking in different styles, and interacting with the environment in different ways- it could have been easy. It could have been a single walk cycle pasted onto two characters with the same simple body shape wearing the same outfit, with the same face- literally all that's different is the hair, and I'm so happy they didn't.

City the Animation is special. I'm not watching it quickly, I'm taking the episodes little by little, savoring this one like a delicious bite of chocolate. It's not something to rush through, it's something to enjoy.

Fighting Monkey needs to calm the heck down though.

Spend any time in retro anime circles and you will absolutely get your ear chewed off about the glory days of anime OVAs. While most modern fans will know the format as something reserved for special one-off episodes that are usually packaged with Blu-Rays or manga volumes, the format has a much richer history dating back to its mass adoption in the 80s. It was popular during the bubble economy as a way to get around TV censors at a time when TV animation was much more heavily regulated, but started its slow march to irrelevancy in the 90s once the economy burst and people's wallets tightened up.

I'm cutting a lot of history out here for brevity, but this format is a major factor in what made the 80s the "Golden Age of Anime" as espoused by many old-school fans of the medium. However, for everything this format did, a surprising few titles have actually remained in the zeitgeist, with only three titles from the 80s (Legend of the Galactic Heroes, Gunbuster, and Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket) currently sitting on MAL's list of the Top 100 Highest Rated Anime OVAs. This sort of creates a bit of a paradox to the uninitiated viewer as it did for me, and without any answer to really satisfy me I set out last Summer to do the only thing I knew to do to get the authentic OVA experience:

I was gonna watch them all. Every 80s OVA out there.

That goal was... a little lofty, so I scaled it back to something more reasonable. I decided to pick a year, and I was going to watch everything I could from that year. I settled on 1985, as its the first year post-Dallos where there's a substantial amount of titles released in the format, so we're bound to get an... interesting batch of early adopters. That task might still seem wuite hefty, but there was a lot less anime releasing back then, even on the home video circuit. With most of these being 1-2 episodes at most, this isn't too difficult with enough resolve.

So let's go over some ground rules and assumptions (and explain why there is an asterisk in the title):

1. Since I use it already to track my anime viewing habits, I used AniList's list of 1985 OVAs as my reference here. Given how long ago it was, its certainly possible that some things aren't catalogued here, but for my own sanity let's assume this list to be complete (and I did cross reference MAL just to be safe).

2. No porn. Man there's a lot of porn OVAs and I'm not watching them. That does keep me from being absolute, but I'm not gonna risk breaking sub rules just for them.

3. I have to be able to find the OVA for me to watch it (obviously) and while I did dig pretty deep, ultimately (for reasons that will become apparent) I did have to let a few entries go here.

4. This isn't as relevant to the list moving forward, but the reason this is coming out in Late-January and not early-September is because I also committed to watching any relevant TV anime that tied into the OVAs. This was also what kept me from acting on this idea sooner, but I found a year where the "homework" wasn't too terrible and could hope to be done by the end of the year (which also didn't happen lol).

With that, AniList comes up with 35 titles in total, before checking for availability. Surprisingly, while some were easier to dig up than others, only 4 titles were unavailable in the places I checked, giving us a final total of 31 OVAs to rank here. The four that were left out were all re-edited recaps for Armored Trooper Votoms, The Wonderful Adventures of Nils and Super Dimension Century Orguss, so not a huge loss. If you are disappointed, don't worry. Plenty of recap specials still made the cut.

With that lengthy intro over, I've got 31 entries to go over so let's hop right in...

-

31. Twinkle NORA Rock Me!

The OVA format is great, and produced a lot of gems that I hope to highlight here. It also led to... a lot of garbage. Some of which is so irreconcilably bad that it'll reconfigure your idea of what a 1/10 truly is. Most of them will have to brought up in later years if I choose to continue this adventure, but you can have a good taste here with an anime so bad it got its own dedicated kenny lauderdale video.

Twinkle NORA Rock Me! is the sequel to the original Nora OVA that I'll talk about in a bit, and was almost certainly shat out to capitalize on the boom the format was experiencing at the time. It's the kind of awful that you really need to see for yourself. The story is largely nonsensical, the characters and sound design really bad, and the animation still somehow blows all of it out of the water. We're talking scenes where things don't contact one another like they should, plastic expressions, and, the cherry on top, entire sequences where I guess they just forgot to do the in-betweens. It all culminates in a dance sequence that should go down in infamy as one of the worst in all of anime, and there are some pretty bad ones. It is maybe salvaged barely by the art being not a complete headache to look at, but its far from saving this absolute dumpster fire of a production.

30. Creamy Mami: Lovely Serenade

Creamy Mami was a magical series produced by Studio Pierrot back in the early 80s and is actually pretty solid. The characters are fun and the animation and music pretty good for the time. It's worth digging up if you're bored and what something different.

Creamy Mami: Lovely Serenade, on the other hand, should stay buried. I'm maybe being a tad harsh here, and its still better than Twinkle NORA Rock Me!, but what this OVA amounts to is a glorified music video compiled from the series songs and footage. It's not even particularly clever in what it does and doesn't bother with much of a story at all. If you like Creamy Mami and yearn for full-length versions of the songs, I guess it might be worth digging up on YouTube, but the half-hour you'd spend watching it is better spent on other things.

29. Nora

Given that Nora got a sequel, you'd think that maybe the franchise had any amount of meat to it, but you'd be very wrong. It's clear in retrospect that Filmlink International was really just finding anything they could use as material, and the mediocre Nora OVA is the result.

Nora isn't as bad as its successor, but that's also maybe its biggest crime. It's a boring as sin and aggressively mediocre OVA that isn't bad enough to be as worth watching as its sequel. The animation and story are better here, but both are still below average. The world is dull and uninteresting and even our titular MC is a watered down version of the archetypical female action lead from better works. Watch it for the complete "Nora experience", or don't. Like this OVA it ultimately doesn't matter.

28. Genesis Climber Mospeada: Love, Live, Alive

Genesis Climber Mospeada is a 1983 Gundam clone that is actually kinda fire if you're into this genre of show. Love, Live, Alive serves as a pseudo-sequel to the original, but really is just Lovely Serenade all over again.

This music video compliation does at least have the sensibility to loosely tie everything into being a sort of epilogue for the original, and I do like the music a bit better than Lovely Serenade's basic 80s idol numbers, but that only gets it so far. It's still an OVA that exists more for money than any kind of artistic vision, which does happen a lot when you're a producer looking to make a quick buck off a new booming market.

27. What's Michael?

What's Michael? is an OVA as confusing as its title. Based on a gag manga by the same name, the story follows the daily life of our titular tabby cat that's about half a decade too late to be Garfield.

The joke is, apparently, that everyone has or knows a cat that does weird things like Michael does, but honestly just doesn't feel like it lands in the way it should. The jokes aren't good enough to really hold its own for an hour, the animation is middling, and the main cat is a little creepy. Someone not only penned a whole skit where Michael's owners get a young kitten to be Michael's "bride" only to be cockblocked because she's "too young", but also animated it and thought it was ok. Overall, the whole thing is just written like it thinks its funnier than it is, but maybe I'm the fool since it would go on to receive a second OVA and 45 episode TV anime in 1988. Must have been a success then.

26. Bavi Stock

For this list I've decided to just include all of an OVA series under the entry for when its series started. Makes things a lot easier down the line, but does allow me to talk about one quirk of the OVA market that is somewhat unique to it. Nowadays when we watch these old OVAs, we treat them more or less like short TV anime, but that's not how you would have experienced them back in the day. Episodes usually released in batches of 1-3 episodes and could have year-long breaks in-between. This is why each episode (or batch) can feel fairly self-contained and is also why production values can vary so drastically across an entire OVA's run.

Bavi Stock is a great example of this. The first episode is a decent enough Sci-Fi espionage plot with some fun designs and ideas, even if not a lot is explained in the process. The second episode is what puts it so low on this list. The animation is noticeably worse, and now its some kind of fantasy plot that lost me real quick with whatever bullshit was going on for 40 minutes. Characters are a lot dumber and it really feels like maybe they should have just cancelled to project instead of letting it get this bad. It's one of those things where you watch Ep. 1 and don't get the hate, then Ep. 2 starts and you get it. It's like Uzumaki but for old people and with a lot less hype.

25. Love Position Halley Densetsu

Tezuka must have been smoking something in his later years. People remember him for Astro Boy and being this almost Disney like figure for anime before Miyazaki, but a lot of the lesser known stuff he created was pretty weird and all over the place quality-wise.

Love Position Halley Densetsu is about a space government agent sent on Halley's Comet to take out a traitor who had arrived on the comet 76 years earlier only to decide to change his mind and live on Earth disguised as a Vietnamese girl (how queer). The whole thing is kind of a mess from the top down with middling production and some lackluster characters. I kind of want to like it more than I do, but I can't in good faith put it any higher.

24. Honoo no Alpen Rose

The Alpen Rose OVA is the first of two recap OVAs that did manage to make the cut, and my advice for both is the same: just go watch the TV show. Alpen Rose is a 1985 anime about a Swiss girl who is looking to find the secrets of her past all while the world slowly descends into World War. Yes. That world war, though there is no Hitler to be found (I think).

The show ran for 20 episodes and Honoo no Alpen Rose was a condensed two-hour cut of that series released on DVD. You could probably watch it and get what's going on sufficiently enough, but really it is just a step down from the original and available subbed in much lower quality, so why you would watch it is beyond me.

23. Dream Dimension Hunter Fandora

DDHF is another story of a multi-episode OVA that should have just been one. The story follows the titular bounty hunter Fandora and her partner Que as they do bounty hunter things in the most 80s garb imaginable. The first episode does a good job of introducing their dynamic and characters and is a fun, if campy, time.

Episode 2 is... a disaster, and while Ep. 3 cleans up its not much better. What staff credits we do have smell of a production that changed hands multiple times and the result is a final work where the writers can't seem to even settle on the basis of Fandora's character and what archetype she wants to be. The story does track a little better than Bavi Stock's and there are some decent enough ideas here if you look past all the bad writing and inconsistent designs, but maybe just treat it as a one and done deal.

I promise this list gets better soon...

22. Chuuhai Lemon: LOVE 30S

When I said every OVA, I meant every OVA. Chuuhai Lemon: LOVE 30S has 75 completed users on AniList and I am one of them. The only version of this one I could find was a RAW on YouTube and had to rely on auto-translated auto-generated subtitles to kind of figure out what was going on. That's how deep I am here.

The procurement process aside, this one isn't terrible. It's probably better if you understand Japanese, but its a decent enough love story between a undercover cop and a young hooker. If it existed in a higher quality or subbed form I'd probably recommend searching it up if you're really bored, but other than that it finds its home here at the top of the bottom of the list.

21. Tongari Boushi no Memole: Marielle no Housekibako

Ah man. I love Tongari Boushi no Memole. Maybe the single greatest find of mine during this process. It's got some absolutely fire background art and really charming characters with this classic European fairy tale style. I whole-heartedly recommend you dig it up.

Marielle no Housekibako on the other hand, is that other recap OVA I mentioned, and likewise you should just go watch the TV series. It's got a couple spots over Alpen Rose as I do think the story its being carried by is a wee bit better, but overall is easily skipped in favor of the TV run of the show.

20. Fire Tripper

Alright. Enough negativity. The Rumic World Trilogy is basically Tatsuki Fujimoto 17-26 but for Rumiko Takahashi, and Fire Tripper is an adaptation of one of the stories from that compilation work. The story follows a girl who gets caught up in a gas explosion and gets isekai'd to 500 years in the past where she meets an assertive young guy who helps her adjusted to the war-torn world she finds herself in. In other words, it's Inuyasha but less polished.

Fire Tripper definitely suffers from Takahashi's inexperience at the time, but you do get to see some of her talent shine through even if crude at times. It's an interesting enough piece to warrant watching off of that, but if you're not familiar with Takahashi for some reason is maybe not the best intro into her world. For a modern comparison, it's like "Shikaku" but with far less money thrown into its production and also for old people.

19. Kimagure Orange Road TV Pilot

Before there was Kimagure Orange Road there was the TV pilot, and it sure is something. I'm not a big KOR fan in general, so what amounts to an alternative version to an episode about halfway through the story doesn't necessarily interest me, but is worth checking it out on the novelty of having Madoka voiced by Shinobu Miyake and Yuri from Dirty Pair VA Saeko Shimazu.

I don't have much else to say on it. If you need more KOR, this will do and it is a fun novelty, but is a more functional piece of media than one worth watching nowadays.

18. Creamy Mami: Long Goodbye

Creamy Mami's TV run committed the ultimate franchise crime of having a fairly definitive ending, making producing more content a little difficult. That didn't stop Lovely Serenade from happening, but luckily the other CM OVA from 1985 faired a little better.

Long Goodbye is a worthy add to the Creamy Mami canon and a fitting epilogue to the original. Yuu finds that she can suddenly transform into Mami again, but only during the day, and gets wrapped up in a movie production while trying to figure out why she suddenly has the power again. It's got some fun visuals and is a nice look into the aftermath of the events of the main story and how the cast is not only coping without Mami, but also how they handle her magically appearing in it once again. Worth watching once you've finished up the TV series (which I know y'all have at least on your planning list, right?)

17. COSMO POLICE Justy

Justy is the other side of Love Densetsu in the sense that I want to hate it more than I do. The story follows our titular cosmo police officer who finds himself as the guardian of a young amnesiac girl who, unbeknownst to her, had sworn to take revenge on Justy after he killed her criminal father in front of her eyes.

This OVA has a lot of random 80s Sci-Fi bullshit, which is maybe why I like it, and the characters are a little on the weaker end, but the story does hold itself together remarkably well. The way it handles its central drama is interesting enough to excuse some of the weaker bits, and with a little more elbow grease could maybe have made for something worthy of a higher spot. Still, it is a fun and I've had its banger ED by Miki Asakura on my playlist for months now.

16. Dream Hunter REM

Dream Hunter REM is a weird little title that pretty perfectly encapsulates this early period of the OVA format. The first episode actually did originate as a hentai, but was ultimately recut into a more general audience-friendly version when the team behind it realized they had something pretty solid here. DHR follows our titular moe hero who has the power to go into the dream world to fight dream demons.

The OVA was successful enough to see Rem cameo in multiple other franchises and release two more OVAs in 1990 and 1992 respectively as well as also getting a dedicate kenny lauderdale video. It's easy to see why as the designs are quite charming and the mix of its darker monster designs with Rem's more moe design is a winning combo. I do wish the franchise had maybe gotten a little more off the ground and solidified its legacy and concept in something a little longer, but for what we did get, it is well worth the watch.

15. Ginga Hyouryuu Vifam: Kieta 12-nin

I was a little disingenuous calling Mospeada a "Gundam clone" but less so levying the same title to Round Vernian Vifam. Of all the shows I had to dig up for my "homework" here, this is maybe the one I liked the least. It's characters just don't have the same charm of that original Gundam roster and it never really finds its own identity.

It did get two OVAs in 1985 though, and the first of which draws the short straw. This one is basically an Alien-esque side story taking place during the main run of Vifam that blends its genre well even if its production and characters hold it back from going too much higher. If you're one of the two remaining Vifam fans out there, it's not a bad watch and I'd certainly recommend it more emphatically if I liked Vifam more.

14. Ginga Hyouryuu Vifam: Keito no Kioku - Namida no Dakkai Sakusen

The second Vifam OVA takes place after the events of the show. It doesn't have the benefits of a second genre like the first, but it is a little more in-line with the tone of the series and fills its role well.

The cast reunites with a former ally to find that she's developed amnesia and the crew works to try to jog her memory before they have to part once again. There's a surprising few moments of lucidity here with a light smattering of interesting themes and a bittersweet ending, that is honestly a better way to leave off the series than I can think of. Definitely better than I thought it would be.

13. Dirty Pair: Affair of Nolandia

Dirty Pair is one of those quintessentially 80s franchises that (in my humble opinion) is usually good but rarely great. The cast is great, but it always seems to fall just short of committing to that Project A-Ko-esque lunacy that it seems to want to be remembered as.

Affair of Nolandia should in theory give them the time and budget to really commit to that, but... uh... not really. AoN amounts to basically an extended TV episode, which for the Lovely Angels Dirty Pair isn't bad and still comfortably cruises into 13th, but on its own stands out fairly weakly without the gravitas that it certainly yearns for. Take that as you will. I still liked it, but I want to like it more.

12. The Chocolate Panic Picture Show

Ah man. Maybe don't look up the poster for this one. I promise its actually pretty solid.

The Chocolate Panic Picture Show is an interesting piece of anime history, serving as the first non-DAICON work by the team that would go on to form Gainax. It's a bit of a nonsense mix of dialogue-less vignettes but as some really fun ideas brewing in that madness. If you've seen those DAICON opening animations, it's basically more of that. There's some really wonderful visuals across the piece, making the most of what it has in what would go on to be the "GAINAX way". Jury is still out though as to whether this one involved as much tax evasion.

11. Greed

I like Greed more than I should.

It's a fantasy series about our MC going out to defeat the evil that engulfs the world to avenge his father. The writing is a little frantic in a "blink and you'll miss it" kind of way and it could use some idea trimming here and there, but that's what I love about it. There's something in how this OVA just throws everything it can at you that is endearing in light of the current state of the genre. It never stops being interesting, and the result is a pretty serviceable story set in a pretty good world even if it is a bit disjointed in places. I'm not going to say everyone will like Greed like I do, but this is my list at the end of the day. Watch it and report back to me.

10. Lunn wa Kaze no Naka

You know, for as much as I talked down Tezuka, I will say that some of these stories are the right brand of weird to hit their mark.

Lunn wa Kaze no Naka was surprisingly solid. It follows the story of a boy who falls in love with a sentient poster, and if that sounds like something that appeals to you, then you know what to do. There's some pretty fun animation cuts and background art here, and the story is surprisingly meaty enough with the way it chooses to explore its downright absurd plot. This one's got only about 500 members on AniList and in a way that kind of feels like a crime. Definitely worth checking out for yourself if you're down for it.

9. Fight!! Iczer-1

Two of this OVAs top tags are "Cosmic Horror" and "Yuri", so basically its a cosmic horror yuri action series with designs that just scream "peak 80s anime". It's got mechs. It's got lesbians. It's got aliens. It's got the whole goddamn kitchen sink.

While maybe a bit of a mess to pin down and inconsistent in the writing department, Fight!! Iczer-1 is maybe the series to watch if you want to figure out if 80s OVAs are for you. The manic nature of it is part of the appeal, as it combines elements in a way you really don't get much of these days. The cosmic horror elements blend surprisingly well in with everything and the production is real clean from its boards to its lighting and color.

If you've read this far and haven't seen Fight!! Iczer-1 then just make it a priority. You won't be disappointed.

8. Armored Trooper Votoms: The Last Red Shoulder

Armored Trooper Votoms is the kind of show retro otaku won't shut up about and I can certainly see why. I mean... I think it is maybe a little overblown, but I can see the appeal and the franchise was quite the force back in the 80s.

The Last Red Shoulder takes place between the action of the main series and has about everything you can ask out of an entry in this franchise. It's essentially an extended TV episode, but with some buttery production and cool as ice characters can mostly hold itself over enough to land a high rank here. I do think Votoms characters can leave a lot to be desired at times, but that's just me and this OVA does handle it fairly well.

7. Karuizawa Syndrome

I will say, after watching more OVAs than most ever will, there is something to the appeal of the format and how so many artists made something interesting out of their contributions, even if the entirety of the project might not have been as polished as a lot of newer shows.

Karuizawa Syndrome follows a lecherous photographer who has trouble keeping it in is pants. The story follows his misadventures trying to dodge pregnancy scares and the consequences of his actions. It is a rather fun self-contained story that jumps around between a few styles and can be a little erratic with its plot progression, but some smooth boards and color design pull it all together into a piece that maybe deserves more eyes on it than it does. Definitely feels worthy of sitting up here with a lot of the better options on this list.

6. Area 88

Do you like Top Gun? Then watch Area 88. Our story follows a mercenary pilot who, through a series of unfortunate events, gets dragged into a war zone where his only means to escape his current hell is to rack up enough money to buy his way out or die trying. All roads lead back to the fabled Area 88 and if the enemy pilots don't get you, the desert conditions will.

This is 80s anime machismo at some of its most machismo, and while it is cucked a little by a tantalizingly small runtime (and the TV anime two decades later doesn't really land the same appeal), with some of the best dogfights you'll see in anime (but not the best in 1985 funnily enough) it is something that deserves its spot this high and among a list of "OVA royalty".

5. Megazone 23

Dallos might have been the first accepted OVA, but Megazone 23 was the one that kicked the format into overdrive. It's got sex appeal, it's got 80s air, it's got random ahh dance sequences, it has cool motorcycles. What more could you want? The story follows a young biker who gets on the wrong side of the law after coming into possession of a new, top secret prototype motorcycle. Where the plot goes from there is worth going in blind for.

Megazone 23 just exudes style in every frame and rightly showed what the format could do when given the ability to cook. It's 80s-styled Sci-fi future is a little silly in retrospect, but brings with it a ton of charm that makes it a very easy watch and series to rec out.

Don't mess too much with the sequels, but the original is worth the price of admission.

4. Urusei Yatsura - OVA Series

This is just more Urusei Yatsura that is also canon enough that you do need to watch it before finishing the movies.

Not quite as fun as the absolute vibe that was Oshii's Yatsura, but even non-Oshii Yatsura is still mighty fine. Clocking in at 11 episodes it can be a little inconsistent across its run, but nothing too terrible to not scratch that itch that I've had in me ever since completing the original run of the show a few years back.

3. Leda: The Fantastic Adventures of Yohko

Beginning our podium series we've got one of my favorite isekai of all-time. There's nothing quite like that perfectly dated concept of a girl who fails to give the guy she loves her mixtape and then has her Walkman stolen through a magic portal and has to go to fantasyland to get it back.

The design and color work in this OVA are just so delicious, especially the robots and other colorful critters of Ashanti. It's the kind of fantasy story that's very easy to get lost in for an hour, and with a fun cast keeps you there for more than just the visuals alone. The juice is well worth the squeeze and if you need a fantasy "pick me up" then give this one a try.

2. Magical Princess Minky Momo: La Ronde in my Dream

After all the franchise works I've discussed so far, I was not expecting the Minky Momo OVA of all things to cut this deep. Momo as a franchise has quite the reputation (subject to one more kenny lauderdale video for the road), but is itself a mostly formulaic and serviceable magical girl show from the early 80s. It did clean its act up a lot for its 90s reboot, but before then gave us La Ronde in my Dream which had no right going this hard.

La Ronde in my Dream seems to understand the appeal of Momo more than the series itself does, and fully commits to being this funny spectacle piece that embraces what Momo is and runs with it. Our story follows Momo as she tries to save her parents from a mysterious island that turn all adults that enter it to kids and ends on Momo fighting off the world government with an army of toys. Peak shit.

This otherwise unassuming OVA is teeming with some really great cuts that feel like the animators just ran with every idea they could think of. The result is almost certain to draw a smile on your face and also beats out Area 88 for having the single best dog fight in all of anime. So many of these cuts are still so impressive to this day, and stand as a good example of what happens when you let magical girl shows take the ankle weights off just once.

If I had a nickel for every magical girl show with themes about dreams that was an absolute gem, I'd have quite a few at this point. Producers take notes.

1. Angel's Egg

31 entries later, we finally reach the end of the list and the game was always rigged from the start.

1985 was a bit inconsistent at times when it came to OVAs, but at its peak was fully of out there and interesting ideas that couldn't quite find room on network TV at the time, and its easy to see going through it why the format was maintained so many fans even 40 years later. The title of best OVA of 1985 would ultimately go to the same guy that helped kickstart the format back in 1983. So basically it was kind of cheating.

Angel's Egg isn't for everyone, but with its recent 4k restoration is something that everyone should try and see at least once. Insane animation quality, oppressive atmosphere, and some of the rawest stream of conscious storytelling this medium as to offer culminate in what might just be Mamoru Oshii's magnum opus. Picking up the scraps of a failed Lupin script, Oshii crafts a one of a kind story about faith and belief that keeps you coming back time and time again to try to parse its every theme and scene. Even if you just want to vibe, the impeccable backgrounds and animation make it such an easy film to get lost in and one that I will, rather predictably, glaze until the cows come home.

Maybe not for everyone, but for my list it's the one for me.

-

With that, I finally wrap up every OVA from 1985 (at least that's on AniList). That's it. That's all of them. Some are obviously better than others, but its always fine to dig through the discarded scraps of the zeitgeist and find those gems that make the grind worth it. Hopefully this can get some more eyes on some lesser known OVAs, and I might just continue this into later years if I ever get bored. One day getting to say I've watched every 80s OVAs series would be pretty sweet, though for now I do need a break cause this can take a lot out of you.

I guess I'm really bad at ending one of these in a way that doesn't sound like a YouTube essay script, so do let me know down below what some of your favorite OVAs are and if I'm overselling or underselling any of the names here.

Also, go watch La Ronde in my Dream. It's got under 500 completions on AniList and should be higher. I need more people to gush over it to. You won't be disappointed.

Introduction

As Summer Season 2026 is at it's end and Summer 2026 just starting, I thought I would take this opportunity to go over every show I've seen so those of you that passed on shows last season may want to pick it up in the future.

To begin, this is NOT a rating post. I am not here to rate every show I watched on a scale from 1-10.

The purpose of this post is align expectation with shows you may want to watch and help you find shows you never put on your radar before.

Maybe it's a show you thought was boring from the synopsis, a show that had the first few episodes very different from the rest, or a show that you dropped that actually turned out great when it ended.

Well I'm here to help you! Here's hoping to your next Anime find.

How to read this list:

• They are ordered on my own personal anticipation for the show. This could mean:

  • How much I was looking forward to seeing it each week
  • If I didn't start it at the beginning of the season, then how much I binged it at once
  • If that's too confusing, you can think of it like if I had access to all episodes in one day, which one I am watching first?

• The ⬆️↗️➡️↘️⬇️ Arrows indicate how the show performs throughout the season. For example a ↗️ at the start of the season may be that the show turned out better than expected while something like a ↘️ in the middle of the season could mean that story is going downhill.

• No explicit story reveals unless marked by a spoiler tag.

  • This whole post is marked as a spoiler so there will be very minor spoilers. Anything more than that will be tagged.

• I need to reiterate again, I am not rating these shows nor putting them on a tier list. This is based on Anticipation/Expectations.

With that in mind, let's get started!

Anime Summer 2026 Season Expectations

1. Though I Am an Inept Villainess ⬆️⬆️⬆️/⬆️⬆️⬆️/⬆️⬆️⬆️

   • Even before watching the show I knew I would like it. Villainess Anime ✅, Chinese Court Drama ✅, Bodyswapping ✅. I expected our MC to have to use her wits to get herself out of her situation. What I ended up getting is a powerful woman who turned every situation to her advantage after what can only be described as living her entire life at -10 HP and now finding herself in a normal body. I expected with these body swap shows for everything to return to status quo at the end but found every character to be competent and smart in their own way. I expected the Villainess to get her just desserts. [What I wasn't expecting] is that the antagonist changing multiple times and the original one end up being an ally to the MC in the end and even apologizing for everything she did!
   • To put it plainly: The show was so good I watched it twice before the final episode even aired. IT'S THAT GOOD.

2. Love Unseen Beneath the Clear Night Sky ⬆️/⬆️⬆️/⬆️⬆️⬆️

   • Based on the MAL description, at first I thought the show would be about how our Protagonists lived their dating life. "On an April night in Tokyo, as the cherry blossoms are in bloom, blind university student Koharu Fuyutsuki spends time with the man she loves, Kakeru Sorano. In the three years since they started dating, he's shown just how much he cares about her, and even though Koharu can't see him, she can tell what a wonderful person he is." It completely gave the wrong impression (which I'm glad has been fixed).
     
   • While I was expecting a post dating life, the show was still very much wholesome moments as the two grew closer and closer. Then in the 3rd half the genre changes. It was so drastic when I saw the books on sale at ANYC I bought both volumes because I needed to know what happened now
   • If you are afraid to watch it because of that, I IMPLORE YOU to stay until the end. The ending of the show was absolutely amazing and gave proper closure to their romantic life. Watch it and if you love it, you can read the 2nd volume which is short but covers post story.

3. Dara-san of Reiwa ⬆️⬆️⬆️/⬆️⬆️⬆️/⬆️⬆️⬆️

   • I love a good Japanese horror story and being set in modern times? SOLD! But what I got was more. Oh so much, much, more.
   • What would have been a simple supernatural story ended up being a Supernatural, Comedy, Horror, Slice of Life, Ecchi, Body Horror, the Author's Blatantly Disguised Fetish, Mecha, Gore, Yuri, with a Boy who looks like a Girl and a Girl that looks like a Boy, all wrapped up in multiple story lines that are both well written and captivating to watch. Come for a story about a yokai that has the entire town wrapped up in her curse, stay for a doting Aunt and her gremlin kids. Or the other way around. Whichever you choose. Did I mention the snake tits yet?

4. That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Season 4 ⬆️⬆️/⬆️⬆️/⬆️⬆️

   • Not much to say about this one but it's Season 4 of Tensura. If you liked the previous seasons, the last one is sure to be just as good for you, considering the rise of Rimuru's new allies and a "certain" Hero

5. The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You Season 3 ⬆️⬆️⬆️/⬆️⬆️⬆️/⬆️⬆️⬆️

   • Oh my God, watching the first episode you can tell how off the rails the third season will be. And if you thought the [12th Girlfriend] being his cousin was reaching dangerous territory, [just you wait until you get to the] breastfeeding scene
   • Don't like 100 Girlfriends? Then I just got one thing to say to you /j

6. Hanaori-san Still Wants to Fight in the Next Life ⬆️/⬆️⬆️/⬆️⬆️⬆️

   • At first I thought this would be just a gag show tossing non-stop 4-koma jokes. Oh no, not only was the story compelling but it was funny. Especially since our FMC is a dumbass. Truly Pink Aqua. Just see for yourself.
   • This is what Devil is a Part Timer! could have been post Season 1. A romantic comedy. Yes, this show is a romantic comedy. Well in case it wasn't obvious enough.
   • Oh but it doesn't stop there. [Because what could only be described as Into the Spider-Verse all over again,] the genre also shifts from Hero/Dark Lord Reverse-Isekai Fantasy, to secret organization run be the Wizards Mages of Oz, Another Isekai Hero with a Cheat Skill, Aliens, Magical Girls, Robots... can we get another Season with more new characters and a wedding?

7. The Cat and the Dragon ⬆️⬆️/⬆️⬆️/⬆️⬆️

   • I'll be honest, I didn't pay attention to this show at the start of the season because I didn't know how to feel about a show about cats. Oh boy, I was wrong. There is so much depth to all the characters and at least 4 plot threads you can follow that eventually intersect. Every story was a treat that I was always looking for more. I literally watched a few episodes during my lunch break and then when I got home, watch the rest of the season in 1 sitting. Give the first two episodes a try.

8. You and I Are Polar Opposites Season 2 ↗️/⬆️/↗️

   • If you liked Season 1, I have no doubts you will like season 2. Not only did the main couple progress but so did the side characters. A perfect Palate Cleanser after watching all the drama filled romance shows.

9. The Classroom of a Black Cat and a Witch↗️/↗️/↗️

   • I didn't have a lot of hopes for this one but it just got better and better. Don't get filtered by the cat butt kissing, it only happens on screen a total of 3 or 4 times the whole season
   • I can see some people getting disappointed by the second half as it kind of felt like they dropped the main story thread but hey, are you telling me we can't have character progression, especially the side characters? Because let me tell you, while I was disappointed that they didn't continue the storyline from episode 12 and went into what's basically a "training arc filled with side stories" I no joke, was laughing my ass off during the second half of the season. For example, I was watching episode 15 during lunch at work and [had to try to hold back laughter so hard because of one of the character's] logic for why he wanted to turn into a girl. I hope there is a second season so they can continue the unresolved plot threads.

10. Chainsmoker Cat ⬆️/⬆️/⬆️

    • Okay. I want you to think what this show is about. Now amplify that by 10 times. Every episode you think that every situation can't get worse, then it just gets worse and worse than the last.
    • And WHY is there so much effort put into the opening!? Just look at how many references there are, literally every frame!!!
    • Such an eclectic cast of characters. You've got:
    • Horribly addicted to cigarettes
    • Recovering drug addict
    • Cannot live more than 1 hour without drinking alcohol
    • Human who likes drawing extremely ecchi doujinshi
    • Twitch Streamer
    • Unfunny
    • Homeless
    • And finally the Landlord who is mostly normal but a huge horndog

11. From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman Season 2 ➡️/➡️/➡️

    • More of the same show and just as good. Every character in the show is competent. No problems with this season so looking forward to Season 3.

12. Ascendance of a Bookworm Season 4 ➡️/➡️/➡️

    • I've been told that this season was rushing through the adaptation and many parts were skipped but I'll give them a break because there's currently 33 volumes so if we want a full adaptation, there's no way we are getting 16+ seasons of this which is why I think everything in the anime was shown competently.

13. Daemons of the Shadow Realm ➡️/↗️/⬆️

    • I'm not usually into the shonen stories but was attracted due to the Japanese supernatural elements in play. Abolsutely well worth it, I honestly think this show is going to grow in popularity in the same way other mainstream shonen have if we keep getting more seasons.

14. Victoria of Many Faces ⬆️/⬆️/⬆️

    • I wasn't expecting to love this show as much as I did but Victoria is such an amazing women who used every spy tool in her repertoire to preserve her every day life. And the ending, couldn't have asked for anything better. It's only 9 episodes and adapts fully the first book with another season on the way. Give it a try. Also Nonna is the smartest, cutest little girl in the world.

15. Kaiju Girl Caramelise ↗️/↗️/➡️

    • Never would I have expected a love story between a Kaiju and basically a male love interest from a shoujo story but it worked. I would have loved [a little bit more at the end] to show their relationship after the secret came out but overall was good. If you like Kaiju battles and fluffy shoujo stories I recommend this one.

16. The Ogre's Bride ⬆️/↘️/⬇️

    • Abusive parents✅ Sister treated like God's gift to Man✅ FMC treated like a slave✅ Girl finds the perfect man and whisks her away from her unhappy life to a loving, happy one✅ You've probably seen this a few times however that's why I was excited for this one. The best part of these storylines is when you get to see that cathartic moment when the MC is told that "what happened to them was wrong" and for the abusive family to get their just desserts. I will admit, it was exactly what I was looking for. I even shed a few tears in the beginning because it got really emotional.
    • However after the first 4 episodes, the character development of the FMC went down the drain [as usually with these stories] it's about the MC pulling back from all the abuse and becoming a better person. Where the HELL did that go!? Not even Saori Hayami could save such a personality.
    • But I kept on it. Why? Because the dumbass evil family kept going for Round 2 and 3 to get their shit kicked in so I was highly anticipating what would happen in the end. Well turns out, the ending wasn't what I was expecting and actually had to spoil myself to Volume 0 to get a real satisfying conclusion.

17. The Villager of Level 999 ⬆️/↗️/➡️

    • This one absolutely surprised me. You might think, "Oh. Another Overpowered MC Fantasy slop." But no, it became more than that. Because I'll tell you, without spoiling too much of what is going on, let's just say the [MC starts questioning,] "Wait, why do we gain levels and monsters drop loot?"
    • The layers of the show started to get peeled back and I found myself wondering what was going on. The only unfortunate part is the last few moments of the show turned into a "go read the source material!" moment. God I hope they make a season 2 with that cliffhanger.

18. Heroine? Saint? No, I'm an All-Works Maid ↗️/↗️/➡️

    • Aka, the real Oblivious Saint Can't Contain Her Power. It was fun seeing our overpowered MC navigate through life using her cheat abilities not to save the kingdom, but to just be a maid. Absolutely a fun watch with the [only drawback being that I was hoping] more people would find out about her identity. I swear to God how many times I got blueballed seeing, "Wait... could she be... Nah! There's no way! (╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻

19. A Livid Lady's Guide to Getting Even ↗️/???/➡️

    • Oh this is a fun one. So at first I thought this would be about a betrayed FMC like you see in all those Otome games using her wits and hidden abilities to rise to the top. We got that. However, notice I rated the middle part a ???. Because well... it's hard to explain without saying what happened. But if you want to get an idea, just look at the Karma and comment count for the episodes. Notice anything, peculiar about the second half of the season?

20. My Stepmother and Stepsisters Aren't Wicked ↗️/➡️/➡️

    • Okay so this show has one joke but it does it well. It was really one of my comfort watches on Wednesday as after you get sick of all those abusive Cinderella like stories, you get one that is the exact opposite. It was actually fun to see how they turned some situations around and just when the joke started to get stale, they changed up the setting and moved into school, adding new character dynamics. As One-Joke this show was, I would watch more of it.

21. The Forsaken Saintess and Her Foodie Roadtrip in Another World ↗️/➡️/➡️

    • This was my comfort show on Mondays after getting emotionally destroyed by a "certain" show that started Monday mornings. Literally just Fantasy party adventures cooking with our MC's cheat power basically being that she has an RV and can tell if a monster is tasty. Also there's a bit of a plot twist at the end.

22. The Oblivious Saint Can't Contain Her Power ↗️/➡️/↘️

    • Here we go, another Cinderella like story with an abusive family treating our MC like a slave! The beginning was not bad as they made sure she was in a healthy environment. Even wasn't expecting a wedding scene so early! But the plot was just poorly written at the end, including the source material. Wasn't a garbage ending but like, just not satisfying at all.

23. Goodbye, Lara ↗️/➡️/↘️

    • If you don't know what this is, it is basically The Little Mermaid (not the Disney version!) but we are going for Round 2, this time in Japan. This show was beautiful to watch and it was fun seeing Lara acclimate to modern day human life. But as the ↘️ points out, the ending was... not what people were expecting it would be.

24. Oh Boy, Was I Wrong About Her ↗️/➡️/↘️

    • This was actually a fun watch and had some really great moments. I loved seeing everyone react to the FMC. "What!?!? I thoguht you were a boy this whole time!!!" The problem is that at the end, all those great moment and plot thread were not addressed at the conclusion. It's like they adapted as much as they could from the source and then when they ran out of episodes, "Well, I guess we will just end it here." Not even a "Go read the manga ending?"

25. Saga of Tanya the Evil II ➡️/➡️/↗️

    • It's been 3,000 9 years... Absolutely everything about the anime was great, including both the OP/ED. Just keep in mind that Season 2 is more politics focused as they are trying to end a losing war.

26. Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You ➡️/➡️/➡️

    • You might be wondering why this was lowly anticipated for me. Because I knew exactly what I was getting into. I knew we would see a well written adult romance. I knew we would get great characters. I knew it would be a bunch of teasing (which I'm not a big fan of). But the part that I was dreading which I knew would happen is the amount of relationship progress and that both characters would be dense. Well I guess it kind of has to stay status quo or else the series has to end...

27. Trapped in a Dating Sim 2 ➡️/↗️/➡️

    • So people are going to complain that the art changed and it looks worse compared to Season 1 but honestly, Season 1 was 4 years ago. I'm not comparing art when it's been that long. As long as there was no lazy animation and the mech battles weren't horribly CGI'ed then the arts fine. The story itself? It was what I expected except for the middle part when I literally was thinking mid episode, "Oh my God, when are these two going to figure it out???" Then they figured it out. It was so satisfying to watch I rewatched that scene maybe like 3 times.

28. The Frontier Lord Begins with Zero Subjects ↗️/➡️/➡️

    • This one surprised me. To be honest, I thought we would be getting a city builder but it was more like friendship and acquaintances builder. And while the revenge plotline was not satisfying, the faces... oh my God, the faces in the show... I cannot get enough of them.

29. I Became a Legend After My 10 Year-Long Last Stand ↗️/➡️/➡️

    • So my initial prediction of this show would be that the MC would spend the entire season keeping his secret hidden. Nope, he confides to his former party and they continue doing stuff together. I also liked that every character is competent. Even the daughter of the Guildmaster is not afraid that when she can't use a sword, she relies on her fists. The problem at the end is that the only enemy throughout the show is well... vampires. Like, I guess in the original story they are doing a sort of "Arc 1, Vampires" then "Arc 2, some other monster." No one really grew once all the characters were introduced halfway through the season.

30. Skeleton Knight in Another World II ⬇️/➡️/➡️

    • No joke, I thought they threw in filler for the first 3 episodes. You can literally remove it and it does not impact the season whatsoever. The rest of pretty standard and while the story dipped, we [at least got to see halfway through] Arc in his non-skeleton form briefly. I guess because of the studio/timeslot they had to dialback on the violence, gore, and sexual themes but the story lost a bit of it's charm with many of the characters becoming 1 dimensional when compared to the 1st Season.

31. KAMUI: He's Behind You ↗️/➡️/➡️

    • I'm just going to outright and say it. Our MC exorcises ghosts by f*cking them to "death." You'll get an idea what the story is like in the first 2 minutes of the first episode. If you like that, continue on, it's actually quite funny, especially with Tomokazu Sugita doing all the "grunting noises." If not, at least stick around for the ending song. SAY-BYE by KOTOKO is a BANGER. Like, it didn't need to go that hard for a half episode 18+ show.

32. The World's Strongest Rearguard ➡️/↘️/⬇️⬇️

    • Oh yeah, Isekai slop, or as I have recently heard it called, Gomisekai. I actually thought the show would be compelling at first but then literally every girl started fawning over the MC for the dumbest reason (his character class) and then the last episode was basically filler because they couldn't start the episode on a new arc so now it ends on a cliffhanger. It could have been a decent story but I'm chalking this one up to a poor adaptation.

33. Sparks of Tomorrow ↗️/↘️/↘️

    • Oh man, I wanted to like this show. It was funny. The characters were hilarious. Seeing them invent electric powered items in a electric-less world was fun to see. But the longer the show went on, my suspension of disbelief went lower and lower. I thought the show would be daily adventures about bringing a new never before seen device. And it was at first as they made lightbulbs, batteries, and a telephone. Then it went off the rails and the [last two episodes they decided] to make an AI Brain with schematics that had a bullet hole in them that their friend/brother drew in a book when not even a calculator has been invented yet. It was a fun ride at least watching it get more and more ridiculous.

34. Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia ➡️/➡️/➡️

    • I watched this one very late, after all the episodes aired. I wasn't interested in the setting but saw how much people were raving about it so gave it a shot. My problem was that I knew the story of the MC as the Anime is based on real life. The problem is that the 1st season doesn't even begin to cover the really interesting part of Sitara's life. You would read the synopsis and think that she's going to use her cunning to hoodwink the Mongols to get what she wants, which is what she is famous for. But that doesn't happen... yet. I consider the 1st season as a sort of prologue of what's to come. However what was shown was beautiful, compelling, and the actual women we see doing the scheming you can't help but root for. It may not have been what I was expecting, but it is a great show.

Still Airing:

• The Exiled Heavy Knight Knows How to Game the System ➡️/➡️/⬆️
  • One word: GOHANDS. I've seen "The Girl I Like Forgot Her Glasses" and "The Masterful Cat Is Depressed Again Today." I KNEW exactly what I was getting into. There were people that didn't believe but I said it multiple times when it was announced, "Get ready for the same high quality panning shot with a million things happening at once with weird camera angles to get reused every other episode! Oh but you know what? Let's all animate every single strand of hair. Like... why? Are we showing off? Does the director of the show like this sort of thing?
  • Oh but guess what? "Well we kind of blew our budget on those high quality panning city shots and animating every strand of hair so we got to save money now..." How do we do that? RECAPS!!! Oh. My. God. If you are a Shonen Jump fan then get ready to experience the same thing as they spend the first 3 minutes recapping what happened last episode, every time a character says anything in the past tense we recap the scene too, and then during the ad break, recap what just happened 2 minutes ago!
  • But here's the kicker: Towards the last third, the recaps STOPPED. Okay like, sure, there were a few sprinkled here and there but after going the entire season skipping literally the first 6 minutes of the show between the recap and opening to now going the whole show with no recaps, including ad breaks, the story became enjoyable again.
  • If you can get past the small flashbacks every now and then, the MMO aspect with a player that knows how to game the system is actually an interesting story. If they keep up the pace I can see the Anime improving in interest greatly

Other Shows that are on my radar but haven't gotten to it yet:

• Young Ladies Don't Play Fighting Games - I'm not a fighting game person but from what I've seen in clips, this is a well written story (with a side of Yuri)

• I Want to Love You Till Your Dying Day - This one is also great but I'm a bit afraid how the story is going to pan out given the title and synopsis so I'm mentally preparing myself

• The Ghost in the Shell (2026) - I think this is like, the 4th time I've seen a GitS story but this time it's very faithful to the original

• Rich Girl Caretaker - I love a good Romance but I'm always weary of shows where the relationship goes nowhere (as getting a confession in one season is quite rare). May still give it a try without checking the ending.

• World Is Dancing - I thought the premise of Noh Theater with a bit of Japanese history to be compelling and the art at first looks interesting but know nothing else besides that.

And that's it! If you have any questions about any of the shows listed, feel free to leave a comment and I'll answer whatever you need. I'm always willing to help with any Future Anime Recommendations.

Context:

It was the summer of '25, and I was a 17 year old with nothing to do besides work. Every night I would have 4+ hours of complete freetime. This was spent playing games with friends, going to the gym, showering, eating, writing, reading and, most prominately, watching anime.

I've watched upwards of 100 animes over the five years that I've seriously put time to it. AoT, Vinland Saga, Naruto, Pokemon, Dragon Ball Z, JJK, JJBA, and other mainstream animes. I'm not what you'd call "the anime expert." I rarely go out of my way to find underground anime's, nor do am I really active in the community.

Despite this, I came across Frieren: Beyond Journey's End. I had no idea that it had become literally the highest rated anime, nor that it had become a contender/eventual winner of anime awards. I went into it knowing nothing, and expecting nothing. I expected a basic, slightly entertaining, surface-level fantasy action/adventure with light magic elements. Something that would be easy to digest and forget about. In other words: a show to kill time.

What I found was perhaps the most important piece of art I've ever consumed. Unlike my other favorite animes, namely Vinland Saga & JJBA, Frieren was much slower-paced, with a slice of life approach to it's story and characters. I'll spare you guys from reading a paraphrased rendition of the entire storyline though.

This story, while not exactly the deepest, warmest, saddest, or cutest story I've ever read/watched, does each of those aspects at an extremely high level. Both seasons had me laughing, rolling my eyes, audibly going "aww", and sobbing. I'm not an emotional man, and yet this story was able to connect with me at a personal level.

Frieren taught me something, though. It taught me that time needs to be appreciated. I think as a young man, it's easy to just coast through your early years. "I'm still so young, things can wait," or "I'll do 'x' when I reach 'y' age," are common youthful mistakes.

Time is such a bittersweet thing. While you're young, you're always wishing you were older. Older enough to watch PG13 movies. Old enough to drink with your buddies. Old enough to go to college or be done with HS. Old enough to get married or get your dream job. But as you get older, you start to long for those youthful years. When your back didn't hurt. When you didn't have to wake up for your 9-5. When you didn't have to worry about paying off a car, or a house. When you didn't have to worry about money as a whole. But then, as you get into the 3rd leg of your life (each leg signifies 20 years, so the 3rd would be age 40-60), you start to see the sweetness of age. Your kids start to graduate HS, college, and God willing (assuming you and yo wife aint chopped as hell lol), those kids will marry and have kids of their own. Life gets simpler as you wind down life. You can retire, stop worrying about money if you plan right, and enjoy your 4th and last leg with your spouse until death takes you.

I didn't understand this before I watched Frieren. I had that same bull-headed "wait a little longer" mindset about life. But Frieren changed that. Frieren herself is nearly timeless, being an elf and all. But Fern, and more importantly; Stark, the character I resonate with the most, are human, just like Himmel and Heiter. Frieren has to experience grief over loss with Himmel and Heiter, before then going through the same cycle with Fern & Stark in the main story.

Frieren taught me that time is precious for a human. I will live, if I'm lucky, to roughly 80-90 years. My wife will live a similar lifetime. That's not long at all. I've already lived nearly 18, which is just 2 short of my first of four legs in life. The other three will fly by. I need to make use of this time. I need to go out and be something more than what I am right now. I've learned all of this through Frieren: Beyond Journey's End.

I know this didn't have a whole lot of "anime/Frieren" within it, but this was perhaps the best and biggest subreddit I could share this story with. I hope anyone else in life will understand where I'm coming from.

Edit:
I notice that this message can come across as "anime teaches me important life lessons"

while this may be true in some cases (like this haha), I still live an active and (hopefully) normal life outside of watching anime and playing games. I gym, go hiking, do landscaping for people, work a normal job, still have senior year to do, and socialize!)