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- Edit: I still stand by what I said in the review below, but I felt the need to add this new first paragraph after the final episode. Because, well, it took a while to get there, but the last episode feels like the punchline that the previous 11 episodes were leading up to. I won't spoil things, but it made me bump up my review by a point, and recaptured some of the charm I felt this season had lost. Original review follows. -

I like this show, but I can't in good faith give it a very high score. The first season is ... a little better, the concept still being fresh and the episodes not yet so plot, but gag driven. Yon-koma manga are HARD to adapt, they rely largely on jokes and gags to carry themselves, and this is no exception. In this season, the quirkiness that made the first so much fun is still there, but the story is getting more and more developed, and, well, the story just isn't that good.

Machikado Mazoku's strengths came from its bizarre humor and unique directional style. But in this second season, as story threads begin to take a center stage, there's less and less room for that same vein of jokey fun. The result is a show that, while enjoyable, isn't as fun in a humorous way as the first, and like I said, the humor was the first season's best asset. I don't really care about the intricacies of the war between the light and dark clans, and many of the mysteries surrounding the show aren't very compelling, so when the humor starts to take a bit of a backseat, it loses me a bit.

I still like and would easily recommend this season, but I enjoyed the gag-centric first season a lot more. The story and characters aren't really compelling enough to thrive without those elements, but her they take a backseat as I said. I would personally like a third season, but I don't think it really deserves it, and I doubt it'll get it. And I ultimately feel the show is sort of a victim of the need for serialization and its own success. It keeps getting grander in its scope, and as it does, it loses the charm of our original dynamic of Shamiko, the very weak, unfortunate, and ordinary girl, thrust into bizarre and surreal circumstances and learning to cope with them as best she can. The surreal has become mundane. This is just her life now, the fun, fish out of water stuff is gone. And that's okay when the story wraps up quickly, but it needs to drag on, it's a serialized manga after all, and I appreciate that mangaka are just artists struggling to make a living, but it's not as much fun as it once was, at least, not for me.

Anyway, I still like it, the show was never anywhere close to high art, and I'm still having fun, but it isn't what it used to be.

Made in Abyss is odd, not only because of but in spite of its creator. Tsukushi Akihito is an, uh, L word and also an S word, meaning that themes of child exploitation are front and center. And while I'd normally knock a work for that, it somehow works here.

The society on which Made in Abyss focuses is one that holds life fairly cheap. Children are taught that the ultimate good is exploring (and exploiting) the aforenamed Abyss, a seemingly infinitely deep and mysterious pit around which the subject society's culture is quite literally and figuratively built. The Abyss is a source of technological ... and societal advantage, while at the same time being a literal pit of despair and eldritch horror.

Our main characters are Riko, the twelve year old daughter of a very famous Abyss explorer and Reg, a childlike android from the Abyss itself who has no memory. The story mainly focuses on subjecting the pair to varying levels of Lovecraftian horror as they attempt to explore the Abyss. That's it, that's pretty much the plot. These kids get run through the wringer while trying to survive. So why exactly do I like it?

Well, despite the deeply L an S elements, this is a series that takes the plights of all who enter the Abyss very seriously. The Abyss is a masterfully crafted, existentially threatening place, with little comfort of solace to be found in between our main cast running for their lives from some cosmic horror. The Abyss itself is an existential enemy, and the farther one descends, the more it takes, both literally and metaphorically, from you. So, wile it has flaws, Made in Abyss is extremely gripping. One wonders how someone could conceive of such a place.

Beyond this, the characters are actually quite well realized, from our main cast of children to the adults with whom they must deal or navigate around. No one in this world feels static, and every on-screen character has a role to play in the story.

I have lots of criticisms, too, but I almost feel as though they don't matter. Any critique I could offer is almost irrelevant. If you like the series, as I do, those issues aren't worth mentioning. If you don't like it, you'll drop it. But the series is a unique and uniquely twisted and once again Lovecraftian saga, and one that you'd be remiss in at least exploring if you enjoy cosmic and existential horror coupled with the perhaps most twisted slice of life ever put to ink and paper.

This is an Oshii Mamoru joint, man. He's the idiot who directed the 1995 film version of Ghost in the Shell. Just the talentless dumbass who directed the film Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer and Patlabor 2: The Movie. It's not like he'd create a satire of anime and otaku culture smart enough to fly over the heads of the same people he's parodying or anything. That's not it, that's not it at all. He's just a has-been making movies about a genre and fandom he doesn't really understand, ripping off more successful works like urusei yatsura for no real reason, not ever to make ... a point about or a joke at the expense of a format that he's been a part of for longer than the average millennial, let alone zoomer or younger has been alive. This is a show that has nothing to say about anything, contains no allegory at all, nor affectionate disrespect for its own genre. It is a boring, uninspired look at the relationship between a high school girl and a vampire, with literally nothing else to offer an audience at all, and it is not worth your time, or anyone's time. I regret every second I spent with the show, and hated all of the moments of attempted satire of both the industry and otaku culture in general that it gracelessly shoved in my face. If I have any recommendation at all, it is to ignore the works of people who know what they are doing with a genre that predates most of the people who are on the internet. After all, what do they know? They've only been doing it longer than most of the people who watch anime have been alive, their contributions are stupid, at best, and definitely not funny either as satire or anything else. This is garbage, plain and simple, and no self respecting anime fan should ever watch it.

I literally just want to watch this family and have fun doing so, and that's what this show provides. It's not really deep, but it's a fun show about a fun cast of idiosyncratic characters involved in "not post-war German" politics navigating their family dynamic, and I'm here for it. We don't get deep characters, or all that much to work with at all, if I'm honest, we just get fun characters being an unorthodox family that is fun to watch. And that's enough for me. I'm a sucker for family-centric series and comedy, and this ticks those boxes, but woe betide anyone who comes ... here expecting a masterpiece - it just isn't. But I do love it.

Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu is an epic, magical realism series that starts in Shouwa Japan after the second World War and ends in the more or less present day. It follows the lives and times of several rakugo performers and the people with whom they are close, and that's about it. This is a josei character/romantic drama to the core, so expect lots of melodrama. At the same time, it's just damn compelling storytelling, with intrigue, concealed histories, and lots of shady characters with golden hearts. It's not a realistic story, nor is it really meant to be, but it feels believable, because every character ... has a cool familiarity that puts you in mind of someone you know. It's also steeped in rakugo itself, and other elements of Japanese culture that many in the weebspace don't seem to care about, but is quite nice if you're interested in that sort of thing.

Overall, it's a hard show to recommend, because it requires quite a lot of patience, but I love it. It's an anime for adults that feels "adult", which so many do not, and therein lies my own appreciation for it.

Akebi-chan no Sera-fuku is an odd show, but odder still is its fanbase's insistence that it isn't what it is. On the one hand, it's an altogether too-precious series about a first year middle school student and her friends, whom she makes altogether too easily, having fun doing various things together - a nearly pure example of a cute girls doing cute things show. There's not really much conflict, everyone likes Akebi immediately... it's a bit reminiscent of something like Aria or Amanchu!

On the other hand, its source material is an ecchi seinen comic. The show tones this down, especially after the first four-ish episodes, ... but it is what it is, and its source material is its source material. I don't think it's at all unreasonable for people to find it off-putting on that basis, but gosh if the community here does!

Anyway, is it great? Nah, Non-non Biyori, Flying Witch, Yuru Camp, or even Kiniro Mosaic are better CGDCT shows. Is it bad? Nah, there's way, way worse out there. What it is is a bland-ish show that is carried by sort of amazing animation. I specify "sort of" because, while the actual quality of the animation is great, the blatant CG that doesn't really fit into the show is everywhere. Animated characters on hyper-detailed CG backgrounds is jarring. The character designs are controversial too. They don't bother me too much, in that I've seen worse, but there's kind of a melted candle look to most of them. There's not much to the characters, or the story, or the comedy, much of what we get is kinda safe, and same-y, and that's fine. This show is fine. It's not a masterpiece, it's not a disaster, it's just fine. And I'm fine dropping it here.

Mushishi is a series that is good at weeding out the kind of watcher who doesn't care to think. I don't say this pretentiously or insultingly, but it is, fundamentally, a series that is interested in aspects of the human condition rather than story arcs, pacing, or themes. I have been critical of shows that do not conform to the strictures of storytelling in the past, so why do I give Mushishi a by? Well, I don't.

Basically every episode of Mushishi tells a self-contained story that involves, but is rarely about, a titular Mushi-shi called "Ginko" (this is not his name). Mushi, which means "insect" ... in Japanese, are mystical organisms that affect human health in various ways, but are really representations of various human behaviors in this show. Bigotry, drug addiction, love, loneliness, escapism... nearly every aspect of the human experience is explored through this framing device. "Ginko" travels around Japan, aiding people who have succumbed to these "mushi" to overcome their problems, all the while maintaining a fascination with mushi themselves and his fellow humans. There are even hints of romance here and there, but Ginko's nomadic lifestyle precludes close relationships.

Each episode is its own story, telling a tale of some problem, whether a mental health issue, a societal one, etc., through the lens of a Mushi infection or infestation, and Ginko shows up to help, or just as often, to simply observe. Through it all, a fairy-tale like mystery is exuded regarding the true nature of not only these "mushi", but the humans that they affect. If you enjoy philosophical works that have little interest in holding your hand, Mushi-shi is a series I'd highly recommend. But if you prefer something more concrete, more story driven, and less ambiguous in its themes, then I'd suggest you avoid it. It is a masterpiece, in my estimation, but it is certainly not for everyone.

Oh look, a GOOD SoL CGDCT anime this season!

Slow Loop is a charming show with charming characters dealing with fishing as well as some other topics such as grief, belonging, and gender roles. If that sounds off-putting, it shouldn't. The series is not really heavy handed but touches on these themes and its characters' struggles around them realistically, though I won't go into detail.

Like any good SoL series, its main premise is a framework on which it hangs its characters. Each is distinctive, with a personality, competency, and weakness that is well realized. Our main protagonists are newly step-sisters Hiyori and Koharu, ... who couldn't be much more different in terms of personality but bond over Hiyori's fishing hobby. They struggle with their new family dynamic while growing closer through their shared experiences.

It would be excessive to write much more about the show. We have two compelling leads, a lively cast of supporting characters who are all distinctive, and a central theme of fishing. Of course, such series tend to rely on tropes, but here we have them presented in a way that, if not always completely believable, is still charming or at least affecting enough to be forgiven. I'm happy to have this series in an otherwise bleak cour of sequels I don't care about or pandering, otaku-bait shows.

Consequences and coherence. To me, these are the most important aspects of drama. A good story cannot be without consequence, nor can it be without coherence, and how a story is told has a profound impact on these elements. Ousama ranking is an incoherent story poorly told with little consequence. It is also a fantastically animated, imaginative, and beautiful work that, on a visual level, rivals the output of industry giants like Miyazaki. But that isn't enough to overcome its flaws.

I have no interest in writing an overly long review as my carpal tunnel is getting worse. But, in short, this is a show that ... lost its way. The story and world are told through flashback rather than revealed in a natural way. Everyone has a "flashback" expository story to be told, but it builds to very little. Information that would have shaped an understanding of the world is dolled out perhaps a scene or two after it has become relevant. Even without this, the show devolves in its latter two thirds into relatively generic, shounen esque nonsense. Several fights of little story consequence have taken up four episodes, for example.

At the same time, there are relatively few consequences in the show. Characters who give heroic sacrifices are fine mere moments later. In a world where death has no permanence or meaning, it's hard to get a feel for the stakes. Should I care when a character dies in one episode only to be revived in the next? Doubly so when this happens multiple times?

I had hope for Ousama Ranking. It is an odd, fairy-tale like show that, in the beginning, did not conform to the usual strictures of the medium. But as time has gone on, it has grown less and less inspired, in my mind. Oh, and the opening and ending theme songs are atrocious, which I could forgive were it not for the overall disappointment.

I really like shows that incorporate shinto themes and I also like slice of life anime and anime that doesn't really have fanservice or other "adult" themes when it comes to minors. This is a great example of that.

Kamichu! is about a middle school kid who becomes a god, in the shinto sense, and how her life changes as a result of that. She explores the supernatural world while maintaining her friendships, having wild, supernatural (and otherworldly) adventures, and trying to get the attention of her crush. It's a charming show that I would describe as being a bit Ghibly-esque. This is, to my ... mind, anime at its best, a well executed, character driven coming-of-age that incorporates elements that would be difficult to pull off in a live-action film. All the while, it doesn't pander to otaku or the so-called "male gaze". It's a pity then that it's not really the kind of thing that anime audiences really go for.

The main character, Yurie, the titular chuugakusei no kami-sama, is an innocent girl, even for a middle schooler, which contrasts well against her more worldly friends. Nevertheless, no one is too precocious - we get believable renders of a cast of kids that age. The adventures are driven by the newly attained godhood of Yurie, who struggles to make sense of the world she now occupies.

The show is a bit like Non Non Biyori in that it's about a group of friends doing kid stuff and being charming, but with the supernatural twist that accompanies our main character being a literal god. It is a 1980s period piece set in Onomichi on the coast of Japan's Inland Sea. It thrives on the off-kilter stories it tells and the relaxing atmosphere it creates. It's genuinely wholesome, not "wholesome with caveats" as so many shows given the label are, and while I like it a lot, I think it might bore many viewers. It's a bit like Tonari no Totoro, a film that I think is special but cannot fault anyone for dismissing. Overall, it's a cozy fairytale and not much more, but that's really all I want out of it.