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The end of Aggretsuko? Say it ain't so! Well, it was inevitable - and it's pretty amazing this show got five seasons in an industry and a streaming platform that has no qualms about axing beloved series after a season or two. Merchandising really does go a long way.

For their fifth and final go-around, things have changed a little bit. Not only is much less time spent in the office setting, but Retsuko and Haida are officially a couple! I don't think I can reasonably call that a spoiler when the first episode has Tsunoda going over the good (meathead) and bad (gamer) types of ... unemployed boyfriends for Retsuko. It makes sense for the story that Haida and Retsuko would finally go steady off-screen, though it's certainly curious timing. (Cue that "why do good girls love bad boys" song.)

As much as this show has been about death metal and Retsuko becoming a rounded woman with hobbies and friends outside of the grind, it's equally been about Haida growing a pair. And I have to give this season props for serious Haida growth - maybe it was just because he wasn't wallowing around screaming for the Retussy, but even unemployed and initially dealing with a gaming addiction, he seems a lot more mature this season.

And as per usual, Retsuko gets thrown (literally kidnapped) into an adventure that could change her whole life...but is that really what she's after?

I was talking to someone/casually describing what was going on in this season while I was watching it, and their comment was "Wow, I didn't expect this show to run so deep, considering what it looks like." And that's really always been the beauty of Aggretsuko - it's an office Hello Kitty. All they really had to do was make some Facebook "my face when it's Monday!" memes and they'd easily make a cheap buck off of these characters. Yet, over the course of five seasons, this show has done so much to make its characters more than plush bait, even its supporting and minor characters. There are so many cases in which Aggretsuko could have fumbled its "mature" tone, as it handles mature topics and relationship drama with these cutesy character designs, but it's never taken the easy way out in that category either. Rather than resorting to cheap raunch or gore, Aggretsuko is decidedly cartoony and mature.

After five years, it's definitely bittersweet to say goodbye. They're not ending on their highest note (I'd still say that's season 3), but it's still a solid adventure with the gang we've come to love.

The first two seasons of Aggretsuko are, to put it shortly, excellent. It's amazing the amount of effort that was put into making what could've easily just been a marketing vehicle into a funny, relatable anime with characters who are so much more than merchandise bait (though, trust me, they're all keychain-worthy). Of course I was excited for this third season, though there was this nagging feeling in the back of my brain about some of the stranger elements of the trailer I'd seen. An idol group subplot joining the story of a workplace comedy seems like the type of thing that a show that's ... "jumping the shark" turns to.

I've never been so happy to be so wrong.

This season of Aggretsuko incorporates music much more seriously into the plot - and I mean that both in terms of literal music, AND some characters having to "face the music." A chance encounter gives Retsuko the opportunity to explore and really think about what she's meant to be doing in life in her mid-20s. Meanwhile, Fenneko firmly tells Haida that it's time for him to "grow a pair" in the first episode of this season, and a cute new coworker forces him to take action beyond crushing on Retsuko from afar and decide if he wants to continue pursuing her - and if so, why?

The idol storyline is handled exceptionally well. It touches upon the highs and lows of the idol industry, including the unfortunate seedy parts that a lot of idol anime wouldn't dare to touch upon. It is incredibly impressive how this comedy not only decided to take on these issues, but handles them in such a mature way. (The last few episodes of this season take a surprisingly dark turn, though not in an overbearingly grim way.)

As per usual, the only thing I can really complain about with Aggretsuko is that it's so good yet so short. I watched the whole third season in one sitting, as I've done with the previous two. And, seeing what the writers and production team were capable of this season, I would hate for it to be the last. As such, I'm very likely to purchase Aggretsuko merchandise in order to show my support.

Perhaps Aggretsuko is really a giant marketing vehicle; but, if it is, it's the smartest one I've ever seen.

Aggretsuko stans, come get y'all juice.

After a year that began to seem like an eternity, Sanrio has blessed us with a new season of Aggretsuko (certainly blessing their own wallets in the process with the revived merchandise sales it'll result in). There was plenty at stake, as well as plenty to resolve that was left over from the first season.

I'm very happy to report that Sanrio has more than delivered. Much like the first season, Aggretsuko not only anthropomorphizes its animal characters - it humanizes them into characters the viewer comes to really care about, including a few characters they have been on the fence ... about in the first season. Not only are the old favorites back, but there are a few new faces in the picture to keep things interesting.

A lot more is placed this season on Retsuko's love life, mostly due to the involvement of her mother. But unlike the first season, Retsuko's love life doesn't seem like a brief derailment towards the end - it's a natural part of her life, being a 25-year-old woman. A few curious men enter her life and serve to overall progress her character.

Overall, Aggretsuko season 2 is almost everything I could've asked for, with a few twists involving new cast members and even new music styles. Anyone who watched the first season should be more then satisfied with its progression, and will hopefully join the rest of the community in supporting the series via official streaming and merchandise so we get a season 3.

Yes, that is Cardi B’s face on your anime database.

Before you march on the forums with pitchforks and yell about Avatar and Thunderbolt Fantasy, let me explain this. For some reason, based on the success of her single “I Like It”, someone at Warner Music Japan decided to create an ‘anime edition’ of the music video.

It’s not the worst idea, but it’s a dangerous one if not handled by the right people. Unfortunately, I don’t think the right people were involved with this one. In fact, I believe that the right people may have been strapped to a missile and shot into the Sun before ... they could voice their concerns about the release of this...thing.

This is really bad.

After viewing this, I'm absolutely certain that neither Cardi B, nor anyone involved with the production of this, have seen an anime in their life. (I guess Cardi B was busy with the whole stripping and raping dudes thing, but whoever was in charge of producing a "Japan Anime Edition" of this should’ve done their homework.) The director of the video, Ruka Noguchi, is a nobody in the anime industry...and he doesn’t seem like he’s trying to be involved with it at all. He’s an artist with no other anime projects that, with what I can find, is focused on creating illustrations in his own unique style that doesn’t quite match the expectations for an anime music video.

Before the pitchforks come out in my profile comments, I know there’s not one unique anime style. However, when you’re designing something that is specifically designed to be the ‘Japan Anime Edition’ - I dunno, to catch the eyes of worldwide weebs or something? - you can’t make it look like MovieStarPlanet.

Now to the meat of the thing. Or, more specifically, why my meat attempted to retract from my body.

Three seconds into the video, we get a close-up of cartoon Cardi B's bazookas. It might be outrageous to fill the screen with overinflated beach balls that lactate in an animated music video...if this were 1972, this is. I imagine the producers of this video having some sort of ‘anime checkmark’ list, which included ‘big ol’ honkers’ and every other Japanese stereotype featured in here (more on that later). This isn't tagged as 'ecchi' because it has this ridiculous cartoon style, and there's no chance of it titillating even the most depraved souls.

After that, Cardi B's solo section of "I Like It" plays, as she's accompanied by cartoon versions of every Japanese and/or anime stereotype under the sun - sumo wrestlers, animal mascots, big eyes, a weird moe mascot that's drawn better than anything else in the video, sushi and ramen...at one point she even appears to turn into a CGI sex doll.

Despite how many hip Japanese things were thrown at the screen, Cardi B manages to embarrass Japanese culture more than Avril Lavigne. This short video fails to justify its own existence, with off-putting animation, laughable flashy visuals, an overall cheap production sense...and despite this special-made video, “I Like It” failed to reach any Billboard chart in Japan.

Whoever approved this should be in jail. Please watch Britney Spears' "Break the Ice" video instead, and then scream at MAL with me for not considering it an anime but allowing Cardi B to drop a hot steaming turd on the database.

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Snoozefest

The first handful of episodes actually set up a really promising start to a potentially groundbreaking isekai. It's also the only anime where a tsundere dragon gets vored by a slime, so I definitely have to give it credit for that.

However, as the show enters the 10+ episode mark, a critical issue becomes apparent. This issue is the fact that the show's writers don't care about the new side characters that are introduced for Rimuru to help with, yet at the same time expect us to care. For some unexplainable reason, the show decides to have some generic ... shonen fights, perhaps in an attempt to get some free publicity from "Epic Anime Fight Scene Complication #12 2019" on YouTube. Yet nothing about these fights is epic. There are no stakes, no "wow" moments, no memorable punches...they're just sort of there.

By the end of the series, I really didn't care about what Rimuru was going to do to save the day this time. The fun that was present in the beginning of the series had pretty much diminished as it churned out tropes that could probably be found done better in fantasy shonen from a decade ago.

Despite my harsh criticism over the overall atmosphere/my enjoyment of the series, there are redeemable elements that belonged in a better series. Rimuru is a bit overpowered, but overall a good character. Shizue, the goblins, the wolves, Millim - all of them could've set the ground for a really good fantasy series.

The best way to describe Slime overall is "so close, yet so far." In the development of the series, an essential checkmark was clearly missed before releasing it: "isn't freaking boring."

What do you do when your fans grow up?

Rilakkuma and his friends began their lives as mascots developed by the San-X company in 2003. Their initial appearance in children’s picture books made them desirable for very young children to acquire merchandise of—rather that be stuffed animals, notebooks, or anything else their little hearts desired. (Such is the genius of companies like this who manufacture adorable characters to essentially print money.)

After sixteen years, the characters (and their fans) are getting up there in age. (Thankfully due to the magic of animation, Rilakkuma and his friends will always appear the same age, with the same cuteness.) Some ... of the kids who walked around with Rilakkuma backpacks are old enough to have kids of their own. As such, perhaps in response to the success (and associated merchandise sales) with older viewers from Netflix and Sanrio’s Aggretsuko, San-X decided to try creating something similar—a series which worked on separate levels for adult and child viewers.

Rilakkuma and Kaoru follows the daily life of Kaoru, a hard-working woman in Tokyo who’s struggling to find her value in life. Thankfully, she’s got some friends to offer her a unique perspective on life: Rilakkuma, Korilakkuma, and Kiiroitori, to be exact. Despite the initial bizarreness of seeing a woman living with two bears and an abnormally-skilled bird, no one in the world of the series seems to be bothered by it. In fact, having anyone be bothered by it would likely take away from the atmosphere of the series.

Rilakkuma and Kaoru, while not shying completely away from conflict, is set up to be a very calm series. Most conflict is restricted to things like “Oh no, we burnt the pancakes!”. It is little problems like this, and the often humorous solutions that the bears and the bird come up with, that will keep child viewers entertained (though I’m sure adults won’t mind the cuteness either).

At the same time, there is an underlying level of conflict that adults will be able to pick up on with the character of Kaoru. She is a single office woman who struggles with feelings of being unwanted/useless to her company and the world around her and is sometimes desperate to a fault to make something of herself. She is a character a lot of adult viewers can see themselves in, and perhaps grow from based on her experiences.

If I had to knock on the series at all, it’d be that the length of it keeps it from reaching its full potential. It tells a great, quick story, but it’s something that I could see on children’s TV airing in two 11-minute segments to reach a full half-hour (with commercials). As it stands, there’s not enough for it to potentially receive that kind of syndication. There’s plenty more of the world that stands to be explored (will we ever know what’s under Rilakkuma’s zipper?). Hopefully we’ll get an announcement for another season soon.

"Instagram is eating her soul!"
"They're not gonna like this episode."

As much as I would happily devour a big plate of Aggretsuko season 2 right now, this Christmas special was an unexpected and very pleasant surprise. A bit longer then the normal episodes of season 1, it not only addresses a plot point from the end of the first season, but retains all the charm of the cast and their various ways of celebrating Christmas. We even get a glimpse at Retsuko's ex on Christmas!

This quick little Christmas special is not only funny, but heartwarming as well. Out of the few anime Christmas episodes that exist, ... this is definitely one of the best. I once again have to give props to Sanrio for turning what could easily be a cheap merchandise ad into a great show.

Guess who’s back, back again? Pingu’s back, tell a friend…

I guess we should start by addressing the elephant in the room. There’s a lot less hype and discussion around this second season then there was the first. This is by no fault of Pingu, but rather the fact that he’s seen as a “dead meme” among the majority. The “Pingu is 10/10” trend was misunderstood as a ‘meme’ by many who didn’t actually bother to watch the show. Once it ran through the traditional lifecycle of a meme, Pingu faded from public interest, despite the show itself not dropping in quality at all.

True Pingu fans ... are watching and enjoying this second season, and I would highly encourage anyone who isn’t to jump in with us. While watching the first season is recommended, this second season is a rare thing for second seasons of anime—you can start here too! Pingu and his family and friends are very simple characters who often engage in episodic adventures—as such, the Pingu franchise is a hell of a lot easier to jump into rather than something like, say, the Fate franchise. (It’s also a lot more fun.)

A lot of children’s shows try new directions in later seasons. Some of them don’t go too well, such as when The Fairly OddParents introduced a useless baby, a useless dog, and a useless neighbor girl. Pingu in the City knows better than to try to fix what isn’t broken. Pingu is still exploring the world around him, taking the viewer on his daily adventures and exposing younger viewers to potential career options once they grow up. (That’s more than my school ever did for me.) Adult viewers are likely to smile and feel a sense of nostalgia, considering how well Pingu captures that familiar childhood exploration of an unfamiliar world where everything is new and exciting.

In conclusion, while some unaware anime fans may be bewildered by the second season’s spot in the top airing anime this season, I would be willing to argue that this is, in fact, an underrating. Pingu in the City has maintained its comedy and whimsical world, keeping it open for all ages to enjoy. I highly encourage any potential viewer to give Pingu the true recognition that it deserves. Don’t assume it’s a “dead meme” just because /r/animemes moved on.

I had no intention of watching Eromanga-sensei. When it first aired, I saw the fan reaction, which was largely mixed but clearly indicated it wasn't for me. While I enjoyed the first season of Oreimo, the second season and the OVAs turned into a form of quicksand that sucked vulnerable viewers into bad writing and a bad ending. (There's a good reason why there are multiple GIFs of people destroying their computers/TVs after finishing Oreimo.)

Not wanting to put myself through anything close to that, I put it on my "to never watch" list. However, upon joining the MAL Discord, I found a regular user who ... continuously brought up Sagiri as the best anime girl and Eromanga-sensei as one of the greatest anime of all time. It didn't matter what we were talking about—Sagiri ended up in the conversation. As such, I became curious about Eromanga-sensei - maybe even if it's trash, it could actually have a decent story/be a guilty pleasure like, say, Citrus?

I made the proposal on Discord: "50 reacts and I'll watch Eromanga-sensei." I got those 50 reacts pretty fast, and I'm a man of my word. As such, I watched the story of Eromanga-sensei unfold over a long weekend.

I want my long weekend back.

Rather than be a humorous guilty pleasure, Eromanga-sensei is a cheap imitation of what already wasn't great to begin with, with a bit more of a smut push stretching MAL's "PG-13" rating as far as it will go. (Even still, I'm pretty sure no parent would want their thirteen-year-old watching this.) Eromanga-sensei isn't even the Great Value version of Oreimo; it's the Always Save version of Oreimo. That bright yellow logo always assures you're in for a cheap disappointment.

A good place to start breaking down what exactly makes this series so bad would be the characters. After all, characters can really make or break a story, rather the premise is fantastic or not that exciting. (Why do you think so many people watched a series about girls in a high school music club who more often than not end up not practicing and eating cake?) Eromanga-sensei has a bland male protagonist who for reasons of plot has fallen madly in love with his ear-grating, bipolar wench of a sister.

Through the entirety of Eromanga-sensei, I couldn't figure out what the true purpose of Sagiri was. Was she a self-insert character for hikikomori who fantasize about lolis? Are some people so into little sisters they'll take even the most insufferable little sister imaginable? Or is this series self-aware of how bad Sagiri is and rubbing it in our faces? "Screw you, we don't even have to try, we'll make money selling otaku this garbage."

Sagiri and her brother aren't the only characters in this series. In fact, her brother builds himself a bit of a harem. However, this series has completely stripped any sort of fun out of the harem genre by making it obvious who's going to win just by the camera angles. No other girl gets as much attention from the camera as Sagiri. She's shot like a model for an especially skeevy company that's convinced her she's going to be a star as they take intimate photos of her naughty bits.

The best characters—a bookshop worker who defends LNs with all her heart and Elf Yamada-sensei's brother—are sadly minor characters. I did appreciate how Elf Yamada-sensei grew less annoying from her introduction and became the character I was rooting for...unfortunately, things obviously aren't going to go my (or her) way if a season 2 ever occurs.

The show suffers from a ridiculous plot hole in that Sagiri bares her legs, clearly feminine figure, and her voice to her livestream in the very first episode, yet there are still people in her chat calling her "old man" for the rest of the series. There's no way a leak like that wouldn't be all over the Internet. Within 24 hours, someone would have been able to identify who the true Eromanga-sensei was. This may be a minor thing, but it pissed me off and affected several aspects of the series. "Oh, who is this Eromanga-sensei?" Well, that should be obvious!

In conclusion, if you can enjoy a can of Always Save pork and beans for dinner, maybe you have the bar set low enough to enjoy Eromanga-sensei. Otherwise, don't waste your time.

If more people saw this, it would have a lower average score than a 5.

As of this writing, 332 people are "watching" this anime (or simply haven't taken it off their "Watching" after viewing the first episode), 217 have completed it, 92 have put it "on-hold" (dropping for people who don't drop), and 201 dropped it. More people have basically dropped this show that takes an hour to watch then completed it.

Guess it's appropriate that it's made by Studio Drop. *rimshot* Thank you, I'll be here all week.

I don't blame any of the people who dropped this one bit. This is literally one of the ... most downright boring anime I've ever watched, which is ridiculous when every episode only has five minutes worth of content to fill.

The plot description on MAL has little to do with the actual show. Some e-sports guy getting busted for doping and trying to reclaim his reputation? Don't remember doping being mentioned at all in the show. The main characters in the show are the "glamorous heroes" - some generic, lab-grown attempts at creating waifus. They all have pink hair and varying boob sizes. Like them big? There's one for that. More of a medium/small guy? There's one for that. Like lolis? There's one of those too! Too bad they have no personality.

Speaking of the loli, whoever voiced her was absolutely phoning it in. She has no emotion in her voice. Siri is better at enunciating and pretending to be human than her seiyuu.

The glamorous heroes team up with some guy and a wolf guy who calls him 'master' to fight and shit. I don't know. Don't ask me what was going on in this anime. My brain was actively rejecting it. I ended up subconsciously Googling 'recipes for picky eaters' at one point in another tab, something I would never need as I have never cooked nor am I that picky of an eater. I still have no idea where that came from. Glamorous Heroes fried my brain.

For some reason, the OP literally has the popping sound you get while adjusting your volume on a Mac in it. I thought maybe it was just whoever ripped/subbed the show adjusting their volume, but no, it's actually in the OP. Either that or whoever's job it was to put the OP in the anime literally recorded it with the sound of them adjusting the volume of their Mac still in it. Way to go, Studio Drop.

The only reason I gave this a second point is because it didn't show me anyone shitting out of their mouth. 1/10 is still a very special rating for me.