What Have You Watched This Past Week That is NOT a Currently Airing Show? [January 4th, 2026]

Me last week: Tune in next time for most likely more D.Gray-man & Jigokuraku for their rewatches, and more YGO GX as I try to get through as much of it as I can while I have the time. Will probably also rewatch 100 Meters when it drops on Netflix this week.

Yeah… so I actually decided to start something Big™ this week too. [](#oilup)

---

**Yu-Gi-Oh! GX**, episodes 50-60

Finally finished with the first “big” story arc and am in the starting section of the second. Fubuki is a hoot. [](#seasonallaugh)

**D.Gray-man**, episodes 86-92

[Good shit this week.](#ginapproves)

**That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Season 3**, episodes 16-24

Yeah so I ended up very much enjoying this season. Not as much as S2, but still enjoyed it. I like the kingdom-building aspect.

**One Piece**, episodes 1-8

Oh yeah, I started the *big* one this week.

[](#seasonalcool)

Since there aren’t very many rewatches this month, I decided to just say “fuck it” and booted it up. Shoutout to u/KendotsX for making me a “weekly” schedule to follow. I’m not actually going to follow it as a *weekly* thing, just using it as a guide for how to share batches of my live reactions in [this post on /r/AnimeImpressions](https://www.reddit.com/r/AnimeImpressions/comments/1q1ozk8/sky_watches_one_piece/); right now it’s got my reactions to the first 4 episodes in there.

Off to a great start so far. And the OP’s been getting stuck in my head since episode 1, so that’s a fun sign.

**Jigokuraku**, episodes 2-8

Rewatch is going pretty good so far!

[](#delighted)

**100 Meters**

This movie is still peak. If Kaido doesn’t get a comment face out of the next seasonal comment face batch, I am going to be very disappointed.

[](#gintamathispleasesme)

---

[That’s all for this week~](#michaelwink)

[Tune in next time for most likely]>!the rest of Jigokuraku S1 again (season 2 hype!), along with more D.Gray-man, YGO GX, and One Piece. Will also be starting Earth Maiden Arjuna this week for that rewatch.!<

**Maetel Legend Episodes 1 - 2 (Completed)** - Galaxy Express 999 is one of my top 10 all time favorite anime (I even blogged about literally every single chapter of the original manga and the 113 TV series), and this acts as a prequel to it, explaining the history of Maetel, Emeraldas and Prometheum. It is also essentially a sequel to Queen Millenia since Yayoi is Prometheum (Leiji Matsumoto continuity can get complicated). Anyway this has the Matsumoto style I love, women with extremely long hair, interesting looking mechanical people and cities, etc... so it looks good although oddly enough I do prefer the late 70s/early 80s animation style for the TV show and GE999 movies. As for the story, parts of it are good but parts of it are rather eh for me. [Maetel Legend and GE999]>!Most notably the inclusion of Hardgear, a rather one sided villain character, I think the story works better without him and he was never in the original GE999. It's more tragic if Prometheum became the evil queen of the mechanical empire in a more organic fashion rather than him manipulating her into it. They also couldn't help but show the same scene of him drinking wine which I think happened like 5 times. It was also quite odd that Maetel/Emeraldas' father Dr. Ban is never acknowledged in this, although the pendant he resides in appears at the very end and there is a brief shot of him in his human form with his wife/daughters. He plays such a key role in GE999 but its like he doesn't really exist here.!< I did get a chuckle out of a character that looked and acted like Count Mecha showing up for about 30 seconds or so. Anyway, this checks off another Matsumoto production for me, although I still have a few more left to see that I'm slowly going through, one or two per year.

**Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend the Movie** - Nothing all that different for the movie versus the rest of the series for me quality-wise although it does provide a conclusion to things. Some really big trolling on the part of the writer [Saekano]>!With a post credits scene where it seems like things are blowing up between future Tomoya and Megumi), only to reveal it was just an in-universe fictional storyline. And because this is anime and they just can't help themselves they gotta give Utaha a horrendously bad haircut at the end. Just cut out that entire post credits sequence and I think I'd be a lot happier.!<

**Zenshu Episodes 5 - 11** - Episode 7 finally provided me the type of episode I was initially expecting from this show going in, focusing on Natsuko's fandom of the Tale of Pershing anime and how she became an animator. Things have gone in a darker direction since and I am happy to say the second half has been an improvement over the first half. Got one episode to go.

**Super Dimensional Century Orguss Episodes 6 - 13** - Some odd stand-alone type episodes here such as an episode where barbarians storm the hero's ship or an episode focusing on a revolution (although they got their France history wrong, thinking Jeanne D'Arc was around at the time of Marie Antoinette). A new Chiram character that looks just like Millia from Macross has shown up and interested in seeing what goes on with her.

**ElDlive Episode 1** - Imagine having Rie Kugimiya speaking into your head every day and only you can hear her! That's the situation our main character has found himself in, causing people to think he's crazy until this space police agency recruits him to be a member and the voice becomes this weird cat-like creature. And he's got a crush on this girl voiced by Saori Hayami although it is very much not the type of character I'd expect her to voice. Main character is voiced by the guy who did Mamoru in Shin Sekai Yori as well, so lots of good seiyuus here.

As part of this weekly post I'm going to track where I stand with my 2026 anime watching goal; as of now I am at 1/48 (Maetel Legend being that 1 since I wrapped up Saekano by 12/31).

Started watching **Unlimited Blade Works**. Fate is one of those big messy franchises that I have been avoiding for years but as a Narita fan I really want to watch Fate/Strange Fake and get at least some of the wider references.

It is nice to finally have personalities and voices to characters I have been seeing around for years. Although, every time Shirou talks all I hear is [Sasaki](https://imgur.com/KUAPMcZ).

Just started black butler.

Happy new year everyone

This week I’ve watched There’s no freaking way I’ll be your lover (WataNare) episodes 13-17 (which was absolutely peak yuri) and I’ve been watching The Eminence in Shadow Season 2

**Love Hina Again** (eps 1-3, completed) — and here’s my last completed anime entry of the previous year. This yet another short sequel felt largely unnecessary. It makes sense to watch it if you didn’t like how the previous entries concluded, but this was the opposite for me — [vague details on the ending] >!the main series and the movie end with a hint of ambiguity which I think fits the "harem" nature of the anime very well, meanwhile this OVA further reinforces the main Kei x Naru ship.!<

This OVA went so hard on the "bro-con little sister" trope here, I wonder if it was popularized by this anime too or it had been a thing even before.

**Gintama'** (eps 202-212, in progress) — on to a pretty good new start, the first two episodes of this season were hilarious.

[episode 211] >!you know things are *really* serious when Gintoki strikes the enemy without warning and doesn’t say a single word all the way while they fight… The bad guy kept pulling his lame lines, tho.!<

Some watch orders I found suggest watching Benizakura movie after completing first 201 episodes — didn’t look interesting enough as it retells already covered episodes, so I didn’t watch it.

***

Speaking of anime-adjacent mediums, I have around 20 translated chapters left of *Birdy the Mighty* manga and been making good progress on *Kanon* VN lately, about to complete [heroine] >!Makoto’s!< route soon which wasn’t the route I intended to go first… but things just happened. Completed Ch 4 of *Heaven Burns Red* and put it on hold for now, that thing appeared to be such an abyssal rabbit hole that I didn’t manage all that much progress on my VN and LN backlog past year.

One piece

Got around to watching the second season of **Dandadan**. More the same, but I gotta admit, I liked the first season better. First season just felt a lot more "bombastic" so to speak by comparison. Whole lot more iconic moments it had. Not saying this season was bad or anything, far from it. Just that this season just didn't give me as much enjoyment on the wild thrills at the crazy go nuts stuff side of the story as the first season.


Also didn't help that I felt like Jiji and the whole Evil Eye arc just kinda dragged on. But in the end, this season was still enjoyable I must emphasize that I thought this, but I also don't regret not making this one a priority back when it was airing.


Recently the romcom series **Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun** aka **My Little Monster** just kinda popped into my head. Saw it forever ago and figured why not, may as well rewatch it. It ain't flashy but it's an amusing romcom. Certain characters I like more than others though at any given point in it.


And following up from what I said last week I watched the 2nd part of the **Haikara-san: Here Comes Miss Modern** movies. Wasn't as good as the first half. Really turned into a freakin' soap opera. With that ominous air of "you know what event is coming" to the whole thing given the time period this takes place in. Well whatever.

**COMPLETED**

**Umamusume : Pretty Derby - Road to the Top + Beginning of a New Era** The jump in animation quality was nice to see given that these are movies. But maybe my attention span just isn’t what it used to be cos both felt too long for me lol. There were pretty cool stories though. Admire Vega and Manhattan Cafe had somewhat dark backstories. Agnes Tachyon brought a very creepy and intense vibe to this series too. Jungle Pocket was my favorite among these though. Loved the roar she does. Also enjoyed seeing some of the Umas from the main series make a cameo too.

**Umamusume : Cinderella Gray (1-13/13)** Well, seeing how I started and completed this within a week tells you how much I enjoyed this. I loved the different direction this one took with this series. It’s a bit more focused and grounded. It’s also a bit more technical and has a bit more strategy to the racing which I enjoyed. Also helps the core group of characters are very lovable. Oguri Cap was an instant fav. Belno Light was adorable. I even warmed up to Norn. I can definitely see why this one was highly rated

**Yuru Camp S3 Rewatch (4-12/12)** The plan to watch this on the weekends totally failed lol. This was so fun yet so chill. And this is my first rewatch since watching it as it aired almost two years ago. So there’re some things I forgot and felt like I was watching something new.

But still so so happy to see these girls again and join them on their camping shenanigans. Really like how they’re developing their own camping styles now. I really like how laidback Ena is. I mean she always has been but she’s giving off more of that vibes.

The episode of Aki retelling their camping story was hilarious with all fourth wall break humor.

While their end-of-the-season group camp was still heartwarming and calming, it didn’t feel as climactic as previous season. In fact, with the two new juniors they were teasing, it felt more like they’re setting up for another season. Which I’m not complaining about. GIVE ME SEASON 4 !

**Yuru Camp S3 OVA** Oh did not know these existed. It was after the season ended so I never really checked. But glad to have watched it now. It’s just 3 7-min Yuru Camp episodes.

**ONGOING**

**Minami-ke S3 (1-7/13)** Yeah this is one of those SOL shows where it gets better the longer it goes. I think partly cos I like when characters interact with each other, especially when they’re from different circles. So at this point, we’re pretty familiar with the sisters and their friends, and it’s a ton of fun when their circle of friends mingle and bounce off each other. Which happens quite a lot at this point.

[Minami-ke]>!Also did I miss something ? When was Chiaki so clingy with Fujioka. I mean it’s sweet if you see him as her future brother-in-law lol but when did this happen ? Also, I kinda want more guys. Fujioka is ok. Makoto is dressed like a girl most of the time and Ojisan is rarely there. And I’m not a fan of Hosaka whose whole thing is being delusional about him and Haruka. At some point it crossed from funny to cringey to creepy and unfunny. I get that’s his gag but hoped he’d at least talk to her by now. Ok unexpected rant over!<

**Pumpkin Scissors (15-18/24)** A bit slow with this one this week simply cos I was too invested in the other shows. But I at least managed to complete this Flamethrower Guy Arc. I really like this conspiracy and espionage angle they’re going for with the overarching plot of the show. The episodic was cool but I like when the pieces come together

[Pumpkin Scissors]>!With the Flamethrower guy, there were a lot of moving pieces and things introduced but I think the show laid it down well. Alice had some badass moments too. And even to aftermath episode, while felt like nothing happened compared to previous episodes, at least addressed the characters thoughts and emotions!<

This show is turning out to be quite a hidden gem. Honestly never heard of this show before.

**THIS WEEK**

Gonna start **Cinderella Gray Part 2** this week. So excited after the first season. And also the last spurt before catching up to all things Umamusume anime.

Also a few more eps to finish **Minami-ke S3**. I can feel myself getting attached to this show so I’m glad there’s S4 and actually also just learnt there’s a S5, though not much has been confirmed

Will also try to finish **Pumpkin Scissors**. Have a bad feeling this will end at an unsatisfying place and will leave things hanging and cos it’s been so long I doubt there’ll be a sequel. But we’ll see

I've been watching Orb: On the Movements of the Earth. I know he's supposed to be the bad guy, but I can't really get myself to dislike Nowak

About to finish the last 2 episodes of **Food for the Soul**. Absolutely loving it so far, I think the characters have a great dynamic and Mako is a surprisingly funny main character. I like that the characters are adults, though sometimes it's easy to forget due to the character art style. I'm honestly a bit hesitant to finish it because I don't want to say goodbye to the Food Culture Research club. I'd have to score it an easy 9/10 so far with a possibility of a 10/10.

All settled in for the new year, so I finished out 2025 with a classic anime and some shoujo.

___

**Gunbuster** complete (8/10)

As soon as I saw that opening scene with all the mechs doing push-ups in the schoolyard, I knew this would be a fun time. It’s sorta Gundam Girls Academy, with that spicy 80s OVA fan service. The space monster designs were gnarly and the battles were pretty epic for its time.

*Gunbuster* is also one of the few instances where a space show deals with time dilation. Big props, it added a lot of emotional weight. Gundam could never. It was pretty funny though when they were like “this one maneuver will cost us 14 years!”

Absolutely can see why this is a cult classic and worthy of the title.

___

**Skip and Loafer**: complete (7/10)

This doesn’t reinvent the shoujo wheel, but it has great execution and great characters. It’s your standard country bumpkin in the city kind of story, but somehow feels refreshing. One of the big positives is that Mitsumi isn’t completely damsel-fied as the MC. She has some backbone and is open-minded, but not completely naive in the classroom. The friend group also being so down to earth and meshing well together was nice to see. I could tell season 2 is gonna be more drama heavy, so I might get to it another time.

___

Finished watching **Shuumatsu Train Doko e Iku?** and I don’t mind strange stuff, but silliness is not something I can get behind anywhere. The first few episodes to me, implied that there might be a fun adventure while they make their way to Ikebukuro despite the bouts of silliness. Before that sort of becomes the afterthought and the silliness takes the main focus, which in turn made it not a very fun watch. I did still have an interest to see more of the stations and such (like another Shuumatsu Touring situation), but that seemingly was never the focus. The final two episodes where they tried to wrap it up, was still on the craziness theme for the series, but there was an underlying layer of seriousness that made it somewhat better than the predecessors. Overall, not a very enjoyable watch to me.

Also finished watching **Nige Juzou Wakagimi** and what started out as one of the better anime I’ve seen in my completed series catch up so far, had its fun lessened quite heavily most of the time by the focus on comedy and silliness. Its first episode in particular had some of the best visuals I’ve ever seen in an anime’s pilot episode, and the overall mood of it promised so many interesting things to come for me. Before *all of that* just kept being thrown away or pushed to the extreme side for what I personally consider a con in 99% of the anime I watch. It’s got insane potential and I will definitely be tuning in for the sequel, but I really hope that it leaves the silliness and comedy behind or at least confines them to non-serious moments. Also didn’t appreciate the instances of cgi, but that’s honestly just secondary to what actually dampened down the fun for me.

And the final completed show of the week for me was **Ao no Exorcist: Shimane Illuminati-hen** which took until the last 5 minutes of episode 3 to hook me. Made me super glad that I almost always give seasons the 25% to hook before deciding anything. The following episodes, 4-10 were very good (the cgi was the worst part) with some revealed secrets, new organisations, new characters, closure (albeit being incredibly cruel to me despite it all), much needed development, and an interesting look into more/upgraded abilities. Episode 10, was the best of the season for me. The last two episodes, in particular episode 11, felt like one of the worst cop out episodes I’ve ever seen in any medium and I loathed it. Episode 12 was mediocre and just a stand in for the cliche beach episode. Overall, I still had fun for the majority of it, so definitely excited for what’s to come but I am curious if it’s going to become redundant with the [whole]>!We’re betrayed by x character or x character defected!! And then oh no not really lol, they’re just a spy shtick!< that would just be boring.

I completed Vivy which I had started last week, I really liked the stakes really mattered and I found the twists interesting.

I also continued watching Fruits Basket 2nd season with a friend, we watched episodes 18 to 23, and man those backstories were rough. I really liked the episode with the Cinderella school play, it was hilarious and now I’m kinda wishing I could see a Fruits Baskets rendition of all the classic fairy tales.

I also started watching Blue Box since it was part of the recommendations I got from a secret santa event, so far I’d say I’m more interested in the side characters than the MC, especially Hina and Haryuu, I love their teasing side. Also so far I’m not too invested in the romance aspect but I really like the sports one.

Finally I’ve started Frieren so I can hopefully catch up by the time season 2 starts, it seems pretty nice so far, but I’m only 3 episodes in so don’t have a full opinion yet. 

Tsukigakireie and The quintessential quintuplets

Just finished season one of oshi no ko. Watched the first episode by myself while drunk on New Year’s Eve and started crying. Heard it gets weird but I enjoyed it, animation was great. I’ll keep watching into season 2 and 3 for sure

Finally caught back up to the **Oshi no Ko** [rewatch](https://www.reddit.com/r/anime/comments/1p5pkmu/oshi_no_ko_rewatch_announcement_scheduleindex/), currently in the middle of season 2. (First time watching it, in preparation for season 3.) Still enjoying the look into various entertainment industries, and the internal struggles of the main characters.

I'm also trying to blitz through **Medalist** in preparation for season 2. Inori is adorable and Tsukasa is a great teacher. But Miketa's gremlin energy steals the spotlight in all her scenes, which makes sense because she's voiced by Hina Kino - Hanako from *Asobi Asobase*.

I've started watching the original Laughing Salesman anime. Just one or two short eps at a time. I enjoy the look-n-feel but I'm not sure I get the concept. I keep waiting for the punishments to be ironic or particularly fitting in a "Twilight Zone" kinda way. But it seems like Moguro Fukuzou is just kinda an a-hole.

**[Kirakira Precure A La Mode \(20/49\)](https://myanimelist.net/anime/34290/Kirakira%E2%98%86Precure_A_La_Mode)**

Enjoying this season a good amount. I know Precure seasons themed around food seem to be considered weaker among the fanbase but the desserts theme just hits for me. I also have a massive sweet tooth so that probably helps. Ciel is a nice addition to the cast and I'm interested in seeing more of her and how she gets integrated into the plot more. Himari/Custard still best girl.

**[A Certain Scientific Railgun \(13/24\)](https://myanimelist.net/anime/6213/Toaru_Kagaku_no_Railgun)**

I know this is considered Index's better little sister, but I think I'm still preferring Index S1 over this. It's by no means bad and it's still enjoyable, but Index S1 had higher highs for me so far and Railgun's fanservice really drags it down. The end to the first arc was nice though and really warmed me up to Uiharu. We'll see how the rest of the season goes.

**[HaruChika: Haruto & Chika](https://myanimelist.net/anime/30895/HaruChika__Haruta_to_Chika_wa_Seishun_suru)**

Got this as my MAL secret santa gift and it's been... fine? Very much a Temu Hyouka/Hibike Euphonium but nothing offensive. The mysteries are hit or miss on how interesting they are, but I am enjoying Haruto and Chika's dynamics. They're cute and I'm having fun when they're the focus. Also the OP by fhana and ED by ChouCho are BANGERS. Worth the watch for them alone.

**Next week:** Gonna finish HaruChika and move onto my other MAL secret santa gift (Koufuku Graffiti) and try to make more progress through Kirakira Precure and Railgun.

Charger girl. Lots of fan service.

I watched **Puella Magi Madoka Magica**. Wow. What a show, and what pacing at only 12 episodes. The mixed media visuals were pretty wild; visually it was clearly a Shinbō Akiyuki Studio Shaft work, with a lot of similarities to Bakemonogatari. The music was great, as I've come to expect from Shaft; the ED *Magia* really stuck with me. I was [aware]>!that it's a dark take on magical girls, but I didn't know any of the details. I mistrusted Kyuubey right from the start; he gave me the creeps, for good reason it turns out. I was surprised at how my expectations were subverted, as Madoka kept *not* being a magical girl for almost the entire show. I was getting frustrated at the lack of communication a bit, and wondered why Homura hadn't explained things better to Madoka. But then episode 10 showed Homura's backstory, and I assume she had tried before and explaining never worked. Homura was a great character, and I always love Saitō Chiwa's VA performances.!< I thought the conclusion was satisfying, and it's a really good show.

I finished the original **Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt** and moved on to the sequel released last year. It's a raunchy love letter to early 2000s American cartoons. I was impressed that the sequel picks up right where the original had left off, 15 years prior. I think the original's dub cast and localization were better though.

I watched **Rascal Does Not Dream of a Sister Venturing Out**. This was a novelty, an entry in the Rascal series [with]>!almost zero puberty syndrome stuff. It just played out as a earnest slice-of-life, carried by the characters we already know.!< I thought it was solid, with some nice character growth for Kaede, but didn't reach the emotional heights of the previous film (Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dreaming Girl).

I also watched **Godzilla: City at the Edge of Battle**. I've been dragging my feet on watching these last couple Godzilla anime movies, because the first one sucked. This one wasn't much better, though I found the MC marginally less annoying this time. Not a good movie though. I plan to force myself to watch the third one, just because it's the only Godzilla movie I've never seen.

It was on Fri. that I started watching the Eng. dub of "Kenichi - the Mightiest Disciple" from YT channel [Anime! on TMS Official Channel](https://www.youtube.com/@AnimeonTMSOfficialChannel). I am on Epi. 11 as I type this and will be watching at least 1 epi. a day until all 50 Eng. dub are watched. Yep, the entire TV series Eng. dub wise is on that channel.

**Full Metal Panic: The Second Raid** episodes 3-10 (rewatch) - Sousuke, Kaname and Tessa are each reaching their breaking point as the dangers of the mission and the sacrifices they have to make weigh heavily on each of them, which leads to some great character development. I love the way the anime-original episodes build up the Hong Kong plotline and really emphasize the theme that they could only be one step away from becoming like the "enemies" they fight.
***
**Pokémon Ultimate Journeys** episodes 35-42 - Although I was surprised by how little the new Galar region was featured, and the lack of a strong ongoing storyline kept it from reaching the heights of my favorite Pokémon entries, it's a fun series with plenty of nostalgia for longtime fans like me with all of its references to previous seasons. The final battle was one of the best in the series, and it had a nice conclusion for Ash, Goh and Chloe. [Journeys] >!Mew landing right in the palm of Goh's hand was adorable and a great reference to his catchphrase.!< *Rating: 8.5/10*
***
**Pokémon: To Be A Master** episodes 1-4 - Hearing the first theme song again is so nostalgic. This short season is really playing up the comedy between Ash and Pikachu, which is great, and their old friends when they meet up again, which is kind of hit-or-miss so far. Misty's episode was fun, but the humor in Brock and Cilan's reintroduction mostly fell flat for me. There was a very sweet moment in the first episode when Ash helped a wounded legendary Pokémon though, and I hope to see more stories like that.
***
**Oshi no Ko season 2** episodes 7&8 (rewatch) - After getting a little *too* far ahead of my rewatch, I decided to revisit the second half of the season for my anime/manga comparisons. It really does stand out how much the animation and sound enhance the portrayal of the stage play.
***
Next up, more **Full Metal Panic** as always, plus finishing **Pokémon: To Be A Master** and last arc of **Oshi no Ko season 2** (again)! Also starting **Bullet/Bullet** as part of my 2025 catch-up.

Started watching anime again a few months ago after stopping for a few years, so been catching up on older animes.

Most recently finished Bugou Stray Dogs, had some issues with the pacing at times but felt like there were major improvements as each season released which was nice to see. Last season was very fun to watch, basically binged the entire season last night.

Gundam 079 and Hakumei to mikochi

**Good Night World - 2/10**

Yeah... I don't even know why I bothered. Absolute ass. The idea for the show itself was somewhat interesting, and I would even say episode 6 was enjoyable, but everything else... terrible.

**Darling in the Franxx - 7/10**

I'm honestly surprised, but that's because I had only ever seen people shit on this show. Whole it's not a masterpiece, and pretty obviously an Eva ripoff, it still happens to be a decent story that includes a lot of sci-fi themes I enjoy, so as long as you can turn a blind eyes to some plot holes, it is a good watch. Especially considering it's a Trigger/A1 production - the visuals are amazing.

The relationship between Hiro and Zero Two did feel hollow at times, and the ending could've been better, but it really doesn't have as many shortcomings as I was expecting.

Finished the first season of Magi. Also, picked up watching Chromarty High School watching 5-11.

I also finished off a few Fall things I was a little behind on including the Chainsawman Movie.

Reading the title, I thought I'd already read something similar a couple of weeks ago. Then I noticed it was a weekly thread. Confusion aside, here's my "watched list"

* **Sword Art Online, season 2** (ep. 1 - 17). I really enjoyed the Phantom Bullet arc, and it setting is my favorite so far. However, the dubbing in my language is starting to annoy me (enough to want to use Hecate II). The dialogue and the general stuff are excellent, but the RPG-related terms are not. It seems like whoever supervised the dubbing, not only has never played an RPG in Italian, but hasn't even consulted any general sources on the subject.
* **Neon Genesis Evangelion** (ep. 1 - 6). The anime is very famous, and finally, a few days ago, I decided to start watching it. It started in *medias res* and the first few episodes didn't tell me much, but from the fifth episode it started to engage me more. However, this work also suffers from the dubbing, which is a bit unnecesarily flattened towards English in some passages.

I decided to check out Hayamin's earliest (significant) role as Ko, the Mamorine (looks like a shrine maiden, but actually more like a bodyguard to the head family of a priestly bloodline) in Wagaya no Oinari-san / Our Home's Fox Deity (2008).

Curiously, Ko has a number of characteristics we see in Your Forger -- extremely strong (albeit via supernatural power rather than physically), typically hyper- reserved and quiet (first ghost of a smile is in ep15 or so), a very bad drunk (in the rare event she does drink) and (for a long time) a disastrously bad (though her food is mostly non-consumable at all compared to Yor's toxic waste). Hayamin gets to sing the ED songs (alone up until ep18, when she is joined by 2 other female VAs from the cast).

New Years Eve rush (see [December wrap-up](https://old.reddit.com/r/anime/comments/1q10to2/anime_questions_recommendations_and_discussion/nx3yxce/) for different/more words):

[**O Maidens in Your Savage Season**](https://myanimelist.net/anime.php?id=38753). A bit of uneven final arc (I don't know the circumstances behind source material ending or this ending as they're in the same time frame) but overall good and unconventional. If you think it sounds interesting, give it a go. I still wonder if it is obscure enough to be classed as a "hidden gem".

[**Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes**](https://myanimelist.net/anime.php?id=3025). Decent animation but very rote fantasy [complete with]>!and so it continues ending!<.

[**Princess Army: Wedding Combat**](https://myanimelist.net/anime/3605/Princess_Army__Wedding%E2%98%85Combat). Nope. I'd go as far as saying this is the kind of thing that people could use to advocate against watching shoujo as a genre. [Princess Army]>!When you're a pretty "amicable" buffoon sexual assault, persistent sexual harassment and perversion are not considered much of a problem. WTF.!<

Then the days after that:

[**One Pound Gospel**](https://myanimelist.net/anime/1328). A fine enough OVA but maybe entirely worth going out your way for. It's elevated with a Osamu Dezaki storyboard (he directed one of the anime boxing classics, Tomorrow's Joe) and the source material being Rumiko Takahashi gives it a lot of character.

[**Princess Princess**](https://myanimelist.net/anime/907/) E1-2. This one might be a drop, the production is minimal, pacing slow, the music overbearing and for a cross-dressing theme there's been very little of that. But then the very negative (but somehow C-) ANN review [entices me with]>!Cutie Honey OP performance!<.

**[Idol Bu Show Movie](https://myanimelist.net/anime/51147/Idol_Bu_Show_Movie)**. GCI and idols you've never heard of. I'd completely forgotten I'd seen it until now (and it was only a few days ago).

[**Lovedol: Lovely Idol**](https://myanimelist.net/anime/1561) E1. The synopsis summed it up: "they lack something". There was a vague hook at the end of the first ep but really, this did nothing for me so also a drop.

I watched Secrets of the Silent Witch (episodes 8 to 13)


And I'm currently watching Kakuryou: bed and breakfast for spirits, I'm currently on episode 15

Started watching Grimgar: Ashes and Illusion earlier today after hearing good things about and got through 3 of the 12 episodes. Im finding it really boring right now but I hope it gets better. I can probably finish in 2-3 days.

[half an episode of Dead Dead Dead Dededededemon's Destruction](https://myanimelist.net/anime/58883/Dead_Dead_Demons_Dededede_Destruction_ONA)

stopped watching when it was airing because i could only find dubtitles with a script that vastly differs from the sub

tried again
still only found dubtitles :(

[Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai (1-10/13)](https://myanimelist.net/anime/37450/Seishun_Buta_Yarou_wa_Bunny_Girl_Senpai_no_Yume_wo_Minai)

it was alright. I did have to do some on-demand notepad.exe censoring when watching it on the plane.

this is perhaps the common complaint that would deeply annoy fans, but it really did feel like "we have monogatari at home". While I liked the banter between Sakuta and Mai, and I'm sure the sister's arc is going to go extremely hard, I thought most of the side characters were pretty bland. I particularly didn't like the [second arc - ]>!fake dating the new girl immediately after confessing to the main love interest is just weird!<, even when everyone involved is giving their consent. but honestly I wasn't a big fan of any of the arcs past the initial one. still enjoying it enough to probably watch everything in the franchise.

# Goddamn

**1990 | Studio Signal | MAL 5.90 | 2/2 Episodes**

I've been looking for some racing anime to watch so I came upon this anime.

Adapted from the manga of the same name, the story is simple, but straightforward. Gen Todoroki, a Japanese rally driver down on his luck is hired by someone who happens to be head of foreign branch of a Japanese conglomerate to drive their rally car for the upcoming Safari Rally.

The anime's pacing is quite, something. Scenes and settings are changing so quickly you have to be pay attention of who doing what, which is confusing. There seems to be some plot holes and the conclusion is too rushed out, but again, only 2 episodes were released.

The animation is kinda decent. What I like about this anime that you can see the author is a car enthusiast as well so it's good to see variety of rally cars in late 80s doing their job, dancing through the corners of Kenya. Ranging from Toyota Mk3 Supra, Ford Sierra RS Cosworth, Lancia Delta, Peugeot 205 T16, Nissan S12 Silvia, and many more.

Some of the voice cast here are even still doing their voice acting work now. Koichi Yamadera, Tesshou Genda, Masashi Ebara, and Ryusei Nakao.

In overall, the episode count the anime is quite short, but it's enough to enjoy for car enthusiasts. The manga did a way better job of drawing the cars than the anime, but considering this is an anime that was released in 1990 I won't complain.

Verdict: **6.5** **out of 10**

Next up I'll be wrapping up **Let's Go Karaoke,** an anime I wanted to finished in 2025 but due to some circumstances I didn't make it in time.

The Golden Kamuy - started the first season, but not sure about it yet, kinda gory!

Assassination Classroom - feelgood rewatch :)

Finished

The Stranger by the Shore - Fine romance, but too short and characters are too underdeveloped than it should. 6/10

I already wrote about it in a daily threads, but finished my second **True Tears** rewatch. As always on a whim.


As I have a Netflix subscription at the moment, may as well finish Kuromukuro at last. But we'll see.

Covering a bit more than one week but whatever.


First, i watched **Sakigake: Otokojuku** (Charge: Men's Private School). it's a late 80s adaptation of the manga that started life as a Fist of the North Star parody. The core jokes are basically that it's FoTN but in a highschool setting (so essentially everyone is an 8ft tall brick shithouse but also they're 15 year old high school delinquents) and taking the 80's concept of anime manliness to its logical extreme. Apparently it was one of the main inspirations for JJBA (part 3 in particular); it clearly shares a lot of the same energy, but is generally a lot more straight-faced about it and just lets the over the top stakes and visual gags of exaggerated feats of manliness form the bulk of its humor; it's kinda like if you were watching JJBA part 3 but every fight was written like the Chariot Race from part 2 and all the fighting styles were ripped from HnK. Also one the main characters is a Jotaro lookalike lol (and is almost certainly where his design comes from). And not really anime related, but it also has the direct inspiration for Heihachi from Tekken (via the character of the same same, they even grabbed the same voice actor for him)

Overall, i had an absolute *blast* watching it, it's genuinely one of the funniest shows i have ever watched, and visually it's actually really solid for the era as well, definitely on the higher end of animation and style among late 80s serial anime (though nowhere near OVA quality). Sadly, the anime got cancelled partway through its tournament arc so it skips about half of it with a short summary so they could jump to the final battle for the conclusion which makes it end on a pretty sour note, i still had a great time watching it though, ignoring the ending it was \~a 9.5/10 for me, and a very easy recommend.


Of course, being so inspired by the fiery passion of youthful manliness, i chose to do the most manly thing i could think of: i watched Season 1 of **Is the Order a Rabbit**. And yeah, i liked it, it's a very solid and cute CGDCT anime. There's not really much to say besides that so far i'm kinda confused about the actual setting; it almost kinda looks like a fantasy world but then there's not any actual fantasy elements except the two rabbits? it doesn't really matter but it honestly kinda bothers me lol. Regardless, it's probably around an 8/10 and adequately fulfills my CGDCT cravings, it hasn't really super hooked me though.


Lastly, as part of my long term "watching all the Adult Swim dubbed anime" project, i watched **Cowboy Bebop**. And to tell the truth, i was a little underwhelmed. Don't get me wrong, it *was* a fun watch, but it was a lot more uneven and random feeling than i remember it (though i don't really know why i'm surprised because i distinctly remembered the Ganymede Rock Lobster episode lol). When it's good, it's *really* good, but also some of the individual episodes are honestly just kinda boring and there isn't all that much of an overarching plot which i thought was disappointing in the context of its setting/characters, which made it feel a bit insubstantial. On the other hand, it still looks really good, and i really liked the loose overarching music theme (and large OST with a lot of very atypical music genres to accompany it), plus how they managed to fit such a huge variety of characters and themed settings into a still cohesive and creative world. While i'm pretty critical of it here, i'd still give it \~ an 8/10, the good outweighs the bad for the most part, but i really thought i'd like it more than i did.

Marathoned Golden kamuy in its entirety in preparation for the final season. Some of the character motivations are kinda dubious and the potty humor gets a bit obnoxious at times, but I do appreciate the fervent homoeroticism.

Also watched Sora no method. Kept waiting to feel any way about anything but never did, it was a boring melodrama with no compelling story or characters.

Also watched 6HP and Magi: Sinbad no bouken. The former was a decent mahou shoujo with good animation, but unfortunately it's forever unfinished so I can't recommend it. Sinbad was rushed and lacked impact, nowhere near the quality of the main series, but I had an okay time.

I completely randomly started watching **Seiyuu Radio no Uraomote** (The Many Sides of Voice Actor Radio) and was really surprised at how much fun I had with it, I ended up binging it in two or three days. I think I'm just partial to shows about entertainers for some reason, and while it's not a *great* show by any stretch of the imagination, it hit some kind of a personal pleasure nerve for me. Just a good time all around. **7/10**

With it being the Year of the Horse, one would think that at least 1 of the "Umamusume" anime would get an official Eng. dub this year.

She Professed Herself the Pupil of the Wise Man: finished. Forgettable. It wasn't BAD for an isekai.. but it just felt pointless. A few potential storylines were introduced and then the show did nothing with them, the characters were all mediocre at best, there was no conflict and the MC just sort of went around impressing people, the setting had the bare minimum of thought put into it, the animation likewise was unremarkable, and nothing was really done with the entire gimmick since no one cared and everyone important found out immediately anyway.

I Was Reincarnated as the 7th Prince so I Can Take My Time Perfecting My Magical Ability: finished. Tao and Grim are great.

I Was Reincarnated as the 7th Prince so I Can Take My Time Perfecting My Magical Ability: Season 2: watching. Seems like they looked at what worked in season 1 and doubled down on it. The characters are expressive and it's pretty funny. Story still doesn't matter.

# Let's Go Karaoke! (Karaoke Iko!)

**Summer 2025 | Doga Kobo | MAL 7.61 | 5/5 Episodes**

Episode 5: **Cog**

\[Karaoke\]>!Your life is working like gears in a machinery. Ever imagine how the machinery will go when one of the gear snapped? That's what happen to Kyouji. Snapped and went to prison for the second time. At least he won't get to participate in the karaoke competition twice. So the reason the Chief uses Satomi as the tattoo is to remind Kyouji to be ready. Quite wholesome.!<

\[Karaoke\]>!So overall, Karaoke Iko is a simple story between a yakuza who wants to improve himself in a karaoke competition and a middle-school student trying to balance his life between choir and karaoke. It's a request turned into a friendship story of one unlikely pair.!<

The music variety is a strong point. Story and plot is a unique one. Animation is decent (but I found this specific episode quite lacking), but this is the reason why I don't give it an 8.

Verdict: **7.5 out of 10.**

to be fair I got nothing to watch this right now on my priority list. Either I will pick a Winter anime or continue to watch on-hold anime on my MAL. It's either Narenare or Tawawa on Monday to be the next one to watch.

I'm switching between Tensura season 3, Witchcraft Works and Soul Eater these past week, depending on my mood

Currently watching Seirei Gensouki. Not loving it, unfortunately. It's mostly fine, but I don't like how passive the MC is. Twice within 5 episodes he's been wrongly accused of something and assaulted for it, and his response is to just accept it with little to no complaint. I can't stand MCs who are that meek.

I Watch Umamusume: Cinderella Gray Cour 1 13 Episodes Verdict: 8 Out of 10 Is So Peak