melworks | Entries tagged with anime

I started to watch 'Management of Novice Alchemist' the other night and got about three episodes in and just gave up. It's just blah.

I think that encapsulates my reaction to a lot of this winter season's anime.
Blah.

Of course, there have been some standouts: Sentenced to Be the Hero, Roll Over and Die, season 2 of Freiren: Beyond Journey's End, Journal with Witch.

Honestly? I think I've spent more time watching older series. I am currently enjoying the hell out of 'March Comes in Like a Lion' which is all about a 17-year-old professional shogi player. And I did a rewatch of 'Farming Life in Another World' and sort of want to rewatch 'The Faraway Paladin.'

Lord knows there's nothing on regular tv that's catching my interest these days.

So far, the Winter 2026 Anime Season has been a very mixed bag.
I sampled a lot of stuff and dropped a lot of stuff after only a few episodes.

Anime I Am current watching:
Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Season 2 - The first season was great and, so far, the second has not disappointed. Currently watching the sub but when the dubbed version comes out in October, I'll probably rewatch it.

Sentenced to Be a Hero - An interesting twist on the concept of 'hero.' It's not a noble title, but an endless prison sentence given to convicted criminals, forced to fight on the front lines against monsters called 'fairies.' Even if they die, they aren't released from their sentences. They're just resurrected and sent back to the frontlines. This is definitely this years Solo Levelling.

Journal with Witch - A slice of life anime about a teenage girl, Asa Ikumi, who loses her parents in a car accident and goes to live with her distant aunt, Makio Koudai. It gets very raw and emotional at times, but that's what makes it so good. It's probably one of the more honest depictions of grief and loss I've seen in an anime outside of 'March Comes in Like a Lion.' Highly recommend, but it could be triggering.

Easygoing Territory Defense by the Optimistic Lord - A pretty typical isekai story where a guy gets reincarnated in a fantasy world, and remembers his past life as a child. In this world, nobles value elemental magic. Sadly, the mc, Van, has no affinity for elemental magic, but is great at production magic. His father exiles him to a remote village where Van starts to come into his own. The MC and supporting cast are very likeable.

Hellmode: The Hardcore Gamer Dominates etc. - Gamer otaku gets transported to a fantasy world and chooses to live a life in 'hellmode' for the challenge. I thought this anime would be a lot grimmer from the title, but it's pretty typical. It is interesting to see a serf social class in an anime. Normally, people are justs commoners or nobles. And watching the MC figure out his class and the world-system is entertaining enough to keep me watching.

Roll Over and Die - Definitely not for the faint hearted. Very grim and violent. The mc, Plum, gets betrayed by a member of the heroes' party and sold into slavery. While in slavery, she discovers her real power and escapes, rescuing another slave with her. She becomes an adventurer and starts to discover the world isn't as she has been taught to believe. Violence. Drama. Pathos. Mysteries. This one's got it all.

Reincarnated as a Dragon Hatchling - Some lighter fair, thank God. A guy gets reincarnated in a fantasy world as a dragon hatchling. Most of the first ep is him rolling around as an egg trying to figure things out. By turns funny and intense, it's generally very watchable.

Anime I Lost Interest In:
Jack-of-All Trades, Party of None - cool name, but boring story
There Was a Cute Girl in the Hero's Party etc. - barely lasted two episodes
Noble Reincarnation: Born Blessed etc. - More meh story/characters.
Kunon the Sorcerer Can See - Has possibly the most irritating MC of the season
Isekai Office Worker - Hated the MC sooooo much dropped it after the first ep.
Dead Account - surprised this one faded on me; it has an interesting concept, but just didn't grap me
Champignon Witch - this one was just too slow for me oddly enough
An Adventurer's Daily Grind at 29 - irritating child characters; HARD pass.
Dark Moon: The Blood Altar - watched the first ep; clearly vampire reverse harem animes are not for me.
A Gentle Noble's Vacation Recommendations - watched the first three eps then got bored
Scum of the Brave - watched the first two eps, but rapidly lost interest
The Daily Life of a Part-Time Torturer - I didn't make it past the first episode

Older Anime that I Finally Finished!
DanMachi a.k.a. Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? - I finally got the chance to finish watching all the seasons and am very happy they've announced production on a new season. I will be there for it. Despite the ridiculous English name, it's actually a really good anime.

Tsukimichi: Moonlit Fantasy - I started watching this a while ago and finally finished the second season. I like the story. Misumi Mokato is summoned to a fantasy world to be a hero, but gets kicked to its edges by the goddess because he's not handsome enough. Definitely not your typical isekai story. Again, a third season has been announced and I am there for it.

The Rising of the Shield Hero - Finally got to finish season four, which, I will admit, did drag a bit in certain parts. I loved the craziness of the Spear Hero, who has gone completely off the rails, and am looking forward to his reunion with the MC and the other Cardinal Heroes.

Welcome to Demon School, Iruma-kun! - I honestly did not think I would like this anime, but it's actually very entertaining and - shockingly - the main character, Iruma Suzuki, actually gets more interesting as time passes. Looking forward to season four later this year.

Older Anime I Am Currently Trying to Finish:
The Ancient Magus' Bride - I'm not even through with season one yet, but the story, animation and characters are all wonderfully done. This is one of those shows I don't want to binge, because then it would be over too soon.

I woke up this morning to discover that we had no water.
Ugh.
Lance called the Water Company and they sent someone out, and now we do have water so I'm a happy camper.
BUT...while all of that was going on, I went and visited the Momster. I haven't seen her since before Christmas, so was due a visit. She was limping a bit, because she twisted her knee, but was otherwise in fine fettle. She asked if I'd hang her new swing for her so we did that, and then I sat in it to make sure it wouldn't collapse. It didn't, so I'm reasonably confident it won't collapse under her. Even though it's barely a foot off the ground, when occupied, the Momster is 78 and the thought of her breaking her tailbone is both upsetting and mildly funny.
Afterward, we went out and got dinner from Arby's (her idea) and then came back to the house, where we proceeded to talk and laugh at ridiculous stories from our past for a few hours.
Left at around 10:30 this evening and drove home through the dark night, with low beams on because every freakin' time I turned on my high beams I encountered a car coming the opposite way. It wasn't so bad until I got on the highway - which is being worked on and, as such, doesn't have the clearest lines denoting lanes.
I was a lot more relaxed when I got back into town proper and could see where I was driving.
Came home, had a shower, ate a sandwich and am now contemplating whether to finish watching 'Rising of the Shield Hero' or DanMachi season 4?
Also, my birthday is this week. I'm thinking of driving to the beach, walking along the shore, but the mroe I think about it, the less I want to do it.
Pheh.

Welcome to the Outcasts Restaurant - Action/Comedy/Fantasy/Slice of Life Anime about a guy who kets kicked out of his adventuring party by the jealous leader. He goes off to follow his dream and open a restaurant. Along the way he buys a slave girl to save her from a pedo. - The first ep was pretty standard for this type of anime. Characters are super generic which is sort of soothing in a way. Will check out next episode.

Dan Da Dan, Season 2 - Action/Comedy/Drama/Romance/Sci-Fi/Shounen/Supernatural anime - Second season picks up where the first season ends. - I watched the first season of this and thought it was okay but still don't get why some people are just so into it. *shrug* It's watchable, and the character relationships are entertaining. Will watch again, but wouldn't be surprised if I just bing then when its all over instead of watching the weeklies.

Kamitsubaki City Under Construction - Action/Mystery/Supernatural anime - It opens with a disasterous event called the Blackout that kills off a large portion of humanity then jumps forward seven years. The protagonists have the ability to destroy monsters with their songs. - I didn't know what to expect when I sat down to watch this one and was pleasantly surprised. The first ep jumps around a bit much. The world is interesting, where a city runs on the literal power of an idea and people spontaneously turn into monsters because of negative feelings. Will watch second ep but don't know if this will keep me invested or not.

The Water Magician - Action/Adventure/Fantasy/Isekai - Starts off with a typical isekai hook, Ryou dies in an accident and is reincarnated, for some reason, in the magical world of Phi , where he begins to master water magic. What he doesn't realize is that he also has the Eternal Youth blessing. - Typical isekai. First ep is set up and intro to the protagonist, Ryou. Did like how he used his water magic in unconventional ways, and the appearance of the dulahan and the interactions with the dragon surprised me. Will watch more.

So, that's eleven new anime total in the first three days and more in the wings.

New summer season anime drops continue!

Be Stronger! New Saga - Adventure/Fantasy anime where the protagonist, Kyle, slays the Demon King, then gets trasnported back in time before the whole demon war started. - First ep was okay. I was just glad not to be watchiing something like Re Do of Healer (shudder). Thankfully, the time travel thing is the only aspect the two anime share.

Onmyo Kaiten Re: Birth Verse - An action, fatnasy, isekai anime where a guy gets transported to another world with magic and mecha and discovers that, when he dies here, he gets to respawn at an earlier point in time. - This anime has strong vibes of Re: Zero - Starting Life in Another World. The main character is kind of irritating, but the other world is interesting. I like how they combine magic and tech. May watch again.

Hell Teacher - An action/comedy/horror/school anime about 'Nube' the only psychic teacher in Japan who gets hired to teach at a high school plagued by yokai and ghosts. - This first ep was 40 minutes long, basically a two-parter. Don't know if I'll watch this one, as the first two eps felt super-rushed. Also, Japanese comedy isn't really my cup of tea. Mix it in with horror and it just leaves me cold.

Clevatess - Action/Drama/Fantasy anime where a group of heroes go to kill a Lord of Demon Beasts, only to have it backfire terribly. - Hmm. The animation in this was really good and the story got sort of interesting. There's going to be chicanery and politics in this, from the look of it, and a Demon Beast Lord learning what it is to be human. I'm intrigued and will watch more.

Reborn as a Vending Machine, Season 2 - An Adventure/Comedy/Fantasy/Isekai about a guy who dies and gets reincarnated in a fantasy world as a literal vendiing machine. - I'm biased. I binged the first season of this in two days. I really like the characters, the animation is good and the writers get creative with Boxxo's abilities. This is stupid fun. Definitely watching more. :)

New summer anime season has begun and I thought I'd just make some notes on stuff I'm watching.
Okay?
Okay!

Detectives These Days are Crazy! - mystery/comedy anime about a guy who was a detective prodigee in high school, but now he's an adult detective and his life is pretty much crap. Enter, a spunky high school girl looking for a job as a detective's assistant. Hijinkx ensue. - Yeah. Not my cup of tea. Pass.

Necronomico & The Cosmic Horror Show - a game/horror anime about a bunch of social media influencers who get invited to take part in a new virtual game. Turns out a bunch of Elder Gods are inhabiting this VR game and the influencers who survived the first round now have to try and beat them, to save the world. - The concept was interesting, but didn't care for the animation. The story might be a slow burn, but it just didn't grab me. Pass.

Ah, April. When the new seasons of anime drop. Here's some thoughts on the new shows that have dropped that I've watched so far.

Rock Is a Lady's Modesty - hmm. The premise is unusual. The adopted daughter of a rich guy gets sent to a posh school for the upper class and has to work hard to fit in, which means denying her true, more common, nature. She meets another girl, who is secretly a hardcore rock drummer. They have a jam session in the old abandoned school and Rich Girl 2 accuses Rich Girl 1 of being a lame-ass guitarist. Then leaves. As far as setup and character work goes, this was pretty good. I'll give the next ep a shot.

The Brilliant Healer's New Life in the Shadows - First ep was sort of meh. MC is an underground healer with an in-place harem. They spend more time with the harem girls than with the MC. It's sort of meh. Am curious about the ghost living in the MC's house though.

Your Forma - I get definite 'Ghost in the Shell' vibes off of this one. MC is a police detective who dives into people's brains to investigate their memories. Her partner is a genteelly snarky android. I honestly don't know if this one has legs. We'll have to wait and see.

The Too Perfect Saint - The MC is the latest in a long line of saints and supposed to be the most powerful one of her bloodline. But because she doesn't smile, people are freaked out by her. She's engaged to a Prince, who's a typical dick, who breaks off the engagement and makes arrangements with the saint's dick social-climbing parents to sell her to a neighborhing country. Nice character work in this one, especially regarding the MC's motivations. Will watch more.

Once Upon a Witch's Death - The MC is Meg, a witch's apprentice who gets told she's been cursed to die in a year, when she turns 18. The only way she can save herself is to collect tears of joy from people. MC seems like a likeable enough character, and the animation in this one is quite good. Will probably watch again.

Sword of the Demon Hunter: Kijin Gentosho - in the past two children flee their abusive father and find sanctuary in another village where sentinal guard a holy princess. time passes. the brother grows up and becomes a sentineal to the princess. his little sister, who appears to be a demon, does not grow up but remains young and innocent. Until she thinks the princess is betraying her brother and she loses it, transforming into an adult form, and killing the princess. Her brother, now also a demon, loses his shit and swears revenge on his one-time sister. Time jump ahead to the modern era, where the brother is returning to the village, to complete his revenge quest on his sister. First ep was 50+ minutes long. Good story. Good animation. Will check out the next issue.

The Unaware Atelier Master - The MC, Kurt, gets kicked out of the hero's party because he sucks at combat. But it turns out he's got the highest rank possible in noncombat/crafting skills. He is completely oblivious to this, thinking its totally normal to build a log cabin house alone in a single night. This was very meh, and I hate the English dub, so if I watch more I'll watch with subs.

The Beginning After the End - MC is a king from another world who dies and gets reincarnated in a fantastical world. First ep is all about him being a baby and trying to understand what's happened to him. The MC is a clueless, unlikeable dolt who just kills it for me. Utter trash. May try ep 2 to see if things get better, but I'm not holding out a lot of hope.

I'm the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire - MC was a good person who got screwed by his wife and boss, then died and got reincarnated as the son of wealthy nobles in a sci-fantasy world. The humor in this segues into adult territory, which was sort of surprising, and the story got a bit darker than I expected, but this felt like a typical isekai. Very meh.