With another Valentine's Day upon us, I wanted to take a critical look into the most popular romantic comedy this season -- that being Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai: Tensai-tachi no Renai Zunousen, or Kaguya-sama: Love is War. For the majority of my anime "career", I've been some what of romcom connoisseur, mainly in the romantically repressed years of middle and high school. Growing up watching these type of anime, I've come to the perspective that a majority of these romantic comedies typically focus on the comedy half of the genre, at the cost of reducing or out right removing the romance half. Looking at the premise of "Kaguya-sama: Love is War", it isn't a surprise that I think this series is no different.

From the first episode, I had the sneaking suspicion that the romantic progression would hinder the comedy of the show because the crux of what is funny is the scrimmages between Kaguya and Miyuki. However, before I actually continue on this line of reasoning, I do want to at least define terms to have a clear stance on what I am arguing.

What is "romance"?

...focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters and the journey that their genuinely strong, true and pure romantic love takes them through dating, courtship or marriage.

Source: Wikipedia

Squaring this definition up with Kaguya-sama: Love is War, the clearest romantic angle this anime focuses on is courtship. As I mentioned above, love is War is the main theme for this anime and with the focus being on courtship, or "wooing", we can see the rational for not wanting advance much farther than this stage because the war would end as a result.

Going back to my first impressions, did my initial thoughts ring true now that I've watched five episodes? Simply put, yes. As of right now, the romance advancement is very slow for my tastes, but the comedy is still entertaining enough to continue in this series. However, even with the slowness being subjective, it is pretty clear that romance has taken the backseat, even with the framework of the comedy being setup with romance in the forefront. This somewhat confusing circumstances is the result of trying to keep the series going while still trying to feel like there is some type of growth in their relationship. This makes the majority of interactions between Kaguya and Miyuki feel like a tug-of-war, that features incremental change but the inevitable reseting of that progress between each scenario.

The Treaty

The feeling of you being strung along is one of the most frustrating things about watching a majority of romantic comedies, because of the predictable nature of the series' resolution, the journey inherently seems meaningless. Keeping that in mind, how do we finally get away from the predictable and shallow understanding of the romance genre? Looking at my some of my favorite anime in these genres I can gain a bit of persective as to why I enjoy them, in comparison with onces that do romance poorly. Pulling from Ore Monogatari I can observe that focusing on the foundation of the relationship, and how to grow from there, helps create a meaningful romance. Ore Monogatari fixates on the strengthening of bonds held by Gouda and Yamato because getting to the dating stage was quick and was expanded on in the twenty plus episodes.

The other solution I found was from Bokura wa Minna Kawaisou, which mostly had to do with the believability of the characters in the story, along with each of their relationships. Having well developed characters that aren't caricatures or archetype make for authentic relationships that can be expand on in multiple fronts without it feeling drawn out.

Obviously I don't expect Kaguya-sama: Love is War to adopt something like these two anime, but for the future of romcoms -- as well as my sanity -- I hope some do get influenced by them and create fulfilling romances that also have a good balance of comedy.

Its been a while since I did one of these medley posts, but I decided to make one with a small twist. Instead of posting each first impression on my blog, I would use Twitter the way it is intended -- for microblogging -- and just give my thoughts in a few paragraphs on Twitter. For those that don't follow me, you should and those that do, you probably already read these. Either way, lets get to my first impressions.

In Closing

I'm a bit slower to the punch for first impressions because of work, but with all the different type of anime I looked into this season, I'm optimistic about the current round up. So far Domestic na Kanojo, Doukyonin wa Hiza, Tokidoki, Atama no Ue, and Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari have made the biggest impression, which is rare to have that many for me. Either way, it is a pretty good start to the season and I'm excited to see what else it will bring to the table.

This year has been pretty difficult to watch anime, but I managed to watch enough to make a top ten list for this year. With the move from tumblr to a self-hosted site, I'm curious to see how this will affect the traction posts I write. And with me actually paying money for a site, I do plan on blogging more and hopefully expand it into technology and software blogging along side anime.

So this year's list is technically eleven because one of the series had two season in one year, but I'm counting as one by combining them. Regardless, I'm pretty confident in the list with a good chunk of them being sequels in a series, but without further delay, lets get into the list.

For the Lazy

Top 10

• Boku no Hero Academia 3
• Overlord II & III
• Shingeki no Kyojin 3
• Violet Evergarden
• Koi wa Ameagari no You ni
• Tada-kun wa Koi wo Shinai
• Wotaki ni Koi wa Muzukashii
• Fairy Tail 2018
• Hataraku Saibou
• Zombieland Saga

Honorable Mentions

• Full Metal Panic! Invisible Victory
• Isekai Maou to Shoukan Shoujo no Dorei Majutsu
• BEATLESS

Explanation

BEATLESS

One of my favorite topics to read, or watch, is the relationship between artificial intelligence and humans. BEATLESS explored that, but not in the lovey-dovey sense, it is far more cerebral. A majority of the time it had to do with dealing with an intelligence that was both more capable and amoral, which lead to this intriguing push and pull dynamic between Arato and Lacia that was frustrating at times, but still felt like the relationship was progressing to new highs. I'm not sure this anime was the best adoption of a series this complex, but it certainly made me interested in difference aspects of a subject I was already interested in.

Isekai Maou to Shoukan Shoujo no Dorei Majutsu

There has been a few anime cropping up where the protagonist is already strong in the field of power, but weak mentally. This dichotomy allows for the focus to be on inner, more psychological issues, or building a more rich and immersive world. Isekai Maou to Shoukan no Dorei Majutsu was far more about the characters and their thoughts, belief, and how they conflict when interacting with others. It can get a little ridiculous with all the fan-service bits, but for me, that didn't get in the way to distract me from seeing the gem in this show.

Full Metal Panic! Invisible Victory

It's been a long time since I watched the previous seasons of this series, but I still enjoy what was brought to the table. This was far more about the military domain of the series and with me not really being refreshed on the beginning of the series, it was a bit more difficult to follow, so some of the seriousness was lost on my end. However, I found myself engaged in the story of Sousuke and Kaname as they fought a force that wasn't really in anyones radar until this season.

Zombieland Saga

You wouldn't think zombies and Japanese idol group would ever mix, but Zombieland Saga was a big surprise for me. I don't normally watch anime in this genre, but I found the fusion of horror and cute charming. The one thing that made me continue to watch was the fact that there was individual growth of a majority of the members, which allowed the group as a whole to grow closer. The conflicting natures of horror, cute, individual, and collective fused beautifully into what is this interesting look at idol groups in a completely different light.

Hataraku Saibou

Initially going into this, I was thinking that it might be something similar to Osmosis Jones. I quickly found out that Hataraku Saibou had very little to do with that movie, and ended up distinguished itself in the first episode as an "edutainment" series. It was actually quite interesting to learn about all the components of the body and how they function using practical examples. Those practical examples can range from comedic to serious, plus the fact that they gave each cell, virus, bacteria, and parasite a extremely focused and characterised personality made the series funny and a joy to watch.

Fairy Tail 2018

I was a bit late to the party on this season of Fairy Tail, despite being heavily invested in the series. Either way, I found myself quickly dragged back into the Fairy Tail crew even with a four year gap. I really like the direction of unimportant fights being more comedic, so it is still an entertaining moment in the series while allowing for the more important scenes to shine. Also, despite being a grown man, every time they reveal a familiar face, I'm just talking to my monitor like "Is that Gajeel? Yeah! Gajeel", which shows the importance of good character design.

Wotaki ni Koi wa Muzukashii

This was something that I started to watch immediately, mostly because it is a romance set in an office setting, which is rare for anime. Either way, Wotaki ni Koi wa Muzukashii was a good mixture of romance, friendship, and competitiveness. The focus isn't so much centered around a story, but the connect between four characters who are friends inside and outside of work, but also two pairs of romantic couples. This complex intermingle of characters created an interesting progression for each character as they open up to each other in different aspects of their relationships. This resulted in an endearing show that displayed a group of people that can get close to their signification other, without sacrificing the already established friendship.

Tada-kun wa Koi wo Shinai

A romance that felt very by the book in terms of conflicts that happen in a budding love story. However, the freshness sprouted from the differing personality Tada had for someone that hasn't experienced romantic love. Rather than this bumbling dork, Tada was a relatively calm and competent person, but lacked experience in love because of his deadening of that type of emotion. Contrasted with Teresa being this beacon of sunshine in the shadowiest places of Tada's heart, created this warm romance melted away my frigid heart.

Koi wa Ameagari no You ni

One of the first things I notice going into this anime was the beauty, softness, and intensity of Akira's eyes as she looks at her manager Masami. Those eyes drew me into this complicated romance that is one between a high school student and her crush, who is a middle aged man. Although, the complexity didn't really seem to be covered, I still found that relationship compelling enough to continue to pursue. And that relationship has a comical, yet fascinating, dynamic of the seriousness of Akira and the anxiousness of Masami, making for a novel take on love where the women is pursuing the man.

Violet Evergarden

There are very few anime that capture the tone of a town after war. Pumpkin Scissors covers the military aspect and Violet Evergarden covers the emotional ruin from loss and being incapable of expressing the overwhelming feelings a person is having. To help guide us through that is Violet who is also unable to really express her emotions, but that served as a catalyst for exploration of character growth for both the collective society, as well as her own. I found Violet Evergarden the anime well written as far as pacing and Violet Evergarden the character believable as someone who has deadened their emotions as well. It truly was an emotional roller-coaster, plus this anime is added to the short list of shows that have made me cry.

Shingeki no Kyojin 3

This was the season I've been waiting for because this was the season with actual answers to many of the questions that have been building up in the previous two seasons. There were a lot of surprises throughout and them only having twelve episodes to get them out, the season felt a lot more jam packed. The story ended up going into a more political spin, but delving further into that revealed the connections it had with titans. I would argue that this was my favorite season because of the information given and the shift that the season took, resulting in a clear direction of where the next season is going.

Overlord II & III

Interesting to have two seasons of an anime in one year, so putting them in one section is cheating but these are close enough in ranking for me it doesn't matter. However, to stay consistent, I will say I liked season two a bit more than three because of the arc with Sebas which was a nice change in pace from world domination to something sweet, but derived from a horrible situation.

Overall, the two seasons complimented each other with season two being the setup and season three was the execution. It felt like season three was where Momonga could finally show off his unmatched magical prowess and that was a joyous moment of evil. I'm excited to see more of this pseries; the longer it continues, the more devious and engaging it gets, which is delightful.

Boku no Hero Academia 3

This season had the most motion of the two, and that is saying something since Boku no Hero Academia has always had good pacing. Either way, there were three events that changed Midoriya and the world overall. Two events are less of a spoiler and the other is a major spoiler that affects the momentum of the plot. I found myself on the edge of my seat of each episode, specially after Midoriya finally developed his own fighting style. This season was one of the few anime this year I had to watch the newest episode pretty much right after it's release. There is so much more the Boku no Hero Academia series can build off from this season and I'm really excited to see what will happen next from the results of this season.

Pretty busy last couple of weeks, resulting in me delaying to start writing this post until the day of posting this. However, I am determined to continue to make these once a year posts of my top ten anime. With this year coming to an end and my reposting of content from sekijitsu, it has been enjoyable seeing all my opinions from the past as they came out -- especially my net neutrality post from a few years back after the incorrect decision by the FCC this month.

Either way, going through all these anime in one day I have clearly seen a trend of the type of anime that drew me in this year. It was a bit more difficult to make my decisions for who made the top ten this year, but I did have one anime that clearly was number one and worked from there. So lets kick off the new year right with another top ten list that I'm sure many people are looking forward to reading.

For the Lazy

Top 10

1. Made in Abyss
2. Boku no Hero Academia 2
3. Inuyashiki
4. Ballroom e Youkoso
5. Shingeki no Kyojin 2
6. Mahou Tsukai no Yome
7. 3-gatsu no Lion 2
8. Sagrada Reset
9. Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata ♭
10. Demi-chan wa Kataritai

Honorable Mentions

• Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo! 2
• Shuumatsu Nani Shitemasu ka? Isogashii desu ka? Sukutte Moratte Iidesu ka?
• Youkai Apartment no Yuuga na Nichijou

Explanation

Youkai Apartment no Yuuga na Nichijou

An odd mix of fantasy and slice of life that actually worked pretty well together. I found myself more engrossed in the arc where Inaba improved his spirit ability, which didn't last that long. Unfortunately, with that that build up, it didn't really pay off that much with the focus shifting back into the more slice of life elements. Luckily, for me, these elements were good because they covered a subject that is always fascinating to me, that being psychology. Overall, even with the stark contrast, "Youkai Apartment no Yuuga na Nichijou" was a light hearted anime that didn't shy away from the darker parts of human nature creating entertaining episodes a majority of the time.

Shuumatsu Nani Shitemasu ka? Isogashii desu ka? Sukutte Moratte Ii desu ka?

A story filled with loss, tragedy, and a world invested with monsters. Even with that themes mostly being drowned in sadness, "Shuumatsu Nani Shitemasu ka? Isogashii desu ka? Sukutte Moratte Ii desu ka?" manages to create hope in it's viewers, making for a compelling series to navigate through. They end up packing a lot of backstory into this series that ended up being squished twelve episode, but what we got I was enthusiastic to find out that more it revealed. Lastly, as I mentioned at the start, tragedy and character development go hand and hand, and we ended up getting a variety of well fleshed out characters. Each of them growing in a believable manner that fit well with the narrative themes. Overall, this anime had a really interesting world with good characters that felt like it could have been better served as
a longer anime.

Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo! 2

I never mentioned this series when the first season came out last year, but I did thoroughly enjoy it. I don't usually put comedies into my top ten list because I never really think about them past it's airing, but "Kono Subarashii Sekai no Shukufuku wo! 2" made it this time around. What it did to make it this time was take the main reason I loved the original series and improve on character dynamics through comedy and further build on the world -- as they are no long stuck in one space. Resulting in an increased sense of progress and truly was the funniest
anime I've seen this year.

Demi-chan wa Kataritai

An anime that tackles a serious topic like discrimination and the desire to find a place to belong, in a very gleeful way. "Demi-chan wa Kataritai" introduced each character at an steady pace while also adding new dynamics between each character. It ended up creating a fun and captivating atmosphere between characters while showing the different types of monsters, or demi-human, and the lore behind them. This was one of the first anime that stood out to me this year and I'm glad it continued to delivery as more characters created a bond and the last demi-girl was well worth the wait with all the teasing incorporated throughout the series.

Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata ♭

Another second season of a series that surprised me enough to put it on my list, but checking the 2015 top ten, "Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata" was there and ended up in the same number. Like most second seasons, this was more of the same, but this time around we finally got to see Megumi develop more as a character. She was always my favorite compared to the more over the top girls -- although Utaha comes in a close second. A lot of advancement toward the end felt more rushed with Utaha graduation on the horizon. However, that sense of urgency worked as the catalyst for pushing Tomoya out of his complacency, allowing for development from all character involved in Blessing Software -- as well as, breaking the by-the-book nature of this harem romcom.

Sagrada Reset

The type of anime that starts out dull, but builds up to the point of becoming a really compelling story with a lot of complexity. "Sagrada Reset" starts out simple with the idea of a town that inherently manifests powers for the people that live in it. However, as more characters are introduced, and their beliefs and goals become clear, this simple concept turns into a complicated situation where people fight for what they believe propelling the story from that. This was one of the few anime that made me think more about components they introduced. "Sagrada Reset" does a good job of showing not telling that can confuse some viewers that are use to the exposition type of storytelling. Really enjoyed the mystery and how it was laid out for the viewer, concluding with a satisfactory ending.

3-gatsu no Lion 2

One of the anime from this season that is only half way through, but has managed to convince me enough to put it on the list without finishing. Last season Rei didn't really feel like he had much motivation for anything and just went with the flow. This made the driving focus for the story not that impactful, but with the season season, his motivation became very clear and pretty quickly. This contributed to my increased attraction to the series, as well as the cuteness of the series that continued from the previous season. So this mixing of innocence contracted with human anguish, really tugs at my heartstrings in an enjoyable way.

Mahou Tsukai no Yome

Initially got into "Mahou Tsukai no Yome" through a three episode OVA that helped establish the character Chise and her tragic backstory. So going into the full anime with that knowledge, I was already in love with Chise and opening the world with new characters and a more cheerful tone made for in enjoyable experience. Even with this being another anime only half way through, the amount of information blended into a cohesive theme elevated this series into one of my favorites, not only in this season, but this year as well. I can't wait to see how much more this season builds the world and how each character will develop.

Shingeki no Kyojin 2

The initial hype around "Shingeki no Kyojin" back in 2013 didn't really register with me at the time. I'm not usually that into action anime, however, with more details being revealed about the titans, that hook finally started to catch something. All that fog of ambiguity of a human killing machine started to clear with the motivation of why titans wanted to wipe the human race. So will all that information, Attack on Titan swung to being a political anime featuring action and gore scenes. So really, the second season convinced me to continue this series and I hope they continue to bend in the political and psychological side of the narrative.

Ballroom e Youkoso

Every now and then a sport anime ends up surprising me, see as I rarely watch them. "Ballroom e Youkoso" is another one on a short list that fits that category. This anime has great pacing from start to finish, assuming that the viewer knows very little about dance and all the complexity of it in a competitive space. I found myself being engrossed in the world of dance and the topic of parter compatibility, synchronous movement, body control, and the lead/follow dynamic. These subjects helped create a nice arc for Tatara going from a green dance into a worthy competitor with a strong cast of characters.

Inuyashiki

This one took me by surprise because I had no idea what I was getting into as I watched this. Luckily, "Inuyashiki" turned out to be an interesting commentary about humans in similar situations and how they react depending on their past experiences. The situation itself was being handed power in the form of a new robotic body after their previous bodies were destroyed. This concept worked well in creating a villain with a purpose, although it wasn't there initially. As well as an unlikely hero, whose compassion also isn't as clear in the beginning, and develops as the villain gains traction. And with them having the same type of body, it really shows that that "good" and "evil" aren't binary, but more of a scale depending on the situation.

Boku no Hero Academia 2

Last of the second season anime that ended up in my top ten list. This season of "Boku no Hero Academia" finally allowed for Izuku to development his One for All powers changing the essence of a bumbling hero that faces danger in foolishness, into a more competent that is still struggling to catch up. More the world lore gets revealed and that created a future incentive for Izuku to get stronger. Really the second season helped me get even more invested into the world and I'm waiting in anticipation for the next season to air.

Made in Abyss

Going into this anime, I thought this would be a merry little adventure that I might enjoy, however, as the title suggests, the bleakness of the abyss fools you into a sense of comfort. "Made in Abyss" is one of those adventure anime that reveals concepts of the abyss fairly quickly in the first episode, but doesn't really show the abyss until our characters enter it. This is another case of showing rather than telling being better, but the anime ended up using both almost like a warning for those that attempt to stare into the abyss. The horrors of abyss isn't the only thing to look forward to in this anime, the character we stick with grow up fast in this environment. With them encountering many dangers worked as a consent remind of how easy it is for these characters to be killed. So I wouldn't recommend this to those that are easily squeamish, but those that stick with it will be rewarded with a fascinating world and characters that represent useful pieces of an adventuring crew that you will quickly begin to cherish.

What an interesting year it has been for me. I landed my first software development job back in January, finally got my license before the year ended and I've been trying to watch anime while continuing to work fourty hour work weeks. So time is really lacking for me to do consistent posting, but I'm glad to continue the annual top ten anime list.

Making this list, I began to notice the sheer amount of time travel based anime. Several of them are on my list and they do their own thing to stick out in this haystack. Although I'm glad to see the genre pop up more, I'm not hoping to see as many next year because having three of the ten in my list be about this topic seems obsessive, but also impressive. So let us jump into the list and as always, we start with the too long didn't read section then move on to the explanations.

For the Lazy

Top 10

1. Re: Zero Kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu
2. Boku Dake ga Inai Machi
3. orange
4. Boku no Hero Academia
5. Yuri!!! on Ice
6. Akagami no Shirayuki-hime 2
7. Mob Psycho 100
8. WWW.WORKING!!
9. Udon no Kuni no Kiniro Kemari
10. Amanchu!

Honorable Mentions

• Hai to Gensou no Grimgar
• Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu
• Amaama to Inazuma

Explanation

Amaama to Inazuma

Better known as "Sweetness and Lightning", is one of those slice of life anime that has no distinguishable plot, but that doesn't matter because it is cute and fun to watch. There is something about a single father and his child that resonates with me and I end up liking stories that focus on it. With the addition of Kotori, the duo of Kouhei and Tsumugi made for an interesting twist on what is essentially an anime about cooking. With the focus being on cooking, you wouldn't think that the anime was much, but the three main character work well together in both their dialog and the issues they have around their family. Overall, Amaama to Inazuma is a great anime about characters learning to cook that ties in things like family togetherness inside that frame and is enjoyable to watch in general.

Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu

Storytelling is one of the oldest traditions in human history, so much so that people seek it out in the conversations they have and the entertainment they experience. Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu not only being an anime, which has a story, also revolves around a type of Japanese entertainment called "rakugo" that is focus entirely on telling a story. Being centered around the entertainment business, that isn't something that will be all nice and happy, there is drama and complicated relationships. This anime embraced that drama with open arms and the way is was conveyed felt genuine and well paced. The concept of rakugo felt fresh mainly because I haven't heard of it until I watched Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu, but it also is quite complex in both character development and relationships.

Hai to Gensou no Grimgar

Fantasy adventures tend to lean toward a more heroic flavor because it feels more exciting then following around a bunch of amateurs. Well, in Hai to Gensou no Grimgar the protagonists are no heroes, hell they barely know how to fight competently to survive. This near dirt level of the fantasy setting makes the series far more dark and when the fight do come around, they are more dramatic because we don't know if one of the character will get badly injured or just straight up die. I wouldn't say gritty spins of fantasy settings are all that original, but the focus on the characters really helped make this series feel like it involved real people who didn't know why they are in a fantasy world. And with realness, you have to have real consequences and I'll just say, the story doesn't hold it's punches, which is great in my opinion.

Amanchu!

An interesting dynamic of an outgoing girl and a shy girl quickly becoming friends via their shared interest in scuba diving. I've always been a fan of slice of life that delve into a specific topic and with one character being thrusted into this new world, she acted as a nice catalyst for the viewer to learn more about scuba diving if they aren't familiar. Both Futaba and Hikari work well together and the full scuba club have really distinguishable characters that fit that tone of the comedy while still being an educated bunch in the field of scuba diving -- although I do hate characters that are defined by their "comedic" violence toward others like Ai. Overall, Amanchu! is a really colorful anime with character who have good chemistry and the driving force for the plot is scuba diving, making for an enjoyable anime with educational aspects.

Udon no Kuni no Kiniro Kemari

Another anime with a male character that ends up in a parental position. What Udon no Kuni no Kiniro Kemari does do to shake this concept up is quite fascinating, but reveling it here would be spoiling it. I'll just stay that lot of the themes tackled had to do with overcoming ones past to be able to make proper progress in ones life. With that being said, most anime with a single male and the child they are taking care of tends to cover family as a main focus -- Udon no Kuni no Kiniro Kemari is no expect. The tilt of this anime being on the past and keep it in close symmetry with its cute exterior, making the balancing act that much more impressive.

WWW.WORKING!!

As a fan of the original Working series, I had high hopes for a spin off of the original characters. Well, I'll have to admit that the first two episodes didn't really land with me and it ended up feeling uninspired. Luckily, by the third episode the character dynamics that I grew to love in the Working series began to blossom and the characters started to really stand out more. Each character still did fit a stereotypical niche, but that actual relationship of all the characters are where the complexity is. And that relationship focus and building on that made for a great fit into the series that is Working and I'm happy to see it have one more season with these new characters.

Mob Psycho 100

Stories about the protagonists already being extreme power can be dull because there isn't much conflict to be had, but Mob Psycho 100 isn't the case. Coming from the same mangaka of One Punch Man, "One" does a really good job of giving weakness to characters that could destroy anything in their path by force. Since Mob is someone in middle school, teens around this age tend to be insecure about themselves as they are trying to be independent while still seeking approval of their peers. To really highlight the strength and weakness of a person with psychic abilities, the psychological nature this anime focused on is appropriate to it's theme. It also shows that fights in the action genre aren't the only way to make for interesting conflict, which works for me as someone who doesn't tend to like action that much.

Akagami no Shirayuki-hime 2

This was on my top ten last year, so having the second season of Akagami no Shirayuki-hime on this years isn't much of surprise. This season really felt like it took the loose ends from the first season, tied them up nicely and began to proceed in things that would inspire character and relationship growth. Most of the focus is in building of the world while still keeping the spotlight on Shirayuki and Zen. So really, if you like the first season, the continuation is really a no-brainer. Also, even if you haven't seen the series, the first season is something that should be experienced.

Yuri!!! on Ice

This one caught me by surprise because at first I was going to write this off as another fanservice sports anime like Free. Fortunately, Yuri!!! on Ice was something that captured the passion and excitement of competing in a competitive sport, like ice skating. Sure there are plenty of men moving seductively, but it felt like it fit the narrative of young men expressing emotion into a performance on ice. The only complain I personally have about the series is toward the end the lead up to the finale felt heavy-handed. Other than that, if you don't might or can get past the fanservice, Yuri!!! on Ice is a really great anime to watch filled with drama and good amount of comedy mixed in.

Boku no Hero Academia

I've mentioned this before in one of my older top ten anime posts, but I'm a sucker for school settings that teach magic. Really Boku no Hero Academia is a pretty similar concept only replace magic with powers. The compelling thing about this anime is how adolescent people deal with their superpowers as they develop mentally and in the level of control over said powers. Really, it felt like a good way to related teenage problems like identifying where they stand in the world and growing into there own with the development of ones superpowers. Really, with the second season around the corner, it is a great series to pick up and just enjoy for it's silly antics and serious moments.

orange

An interesting take on a time traveling story where rather than the people going back, it is more their ideas and memories via a letter. Since we know what the results will be if they stick to regular course, the actual decisions made are exciting so how thing change, but the reasons why are more in the spoiler territory. Although orange is about time travel, it never really felt that science fiction to me because the focus was way more on relationship of the six characters and drama surrounding them as they make new or old actions. Quite the anime to watch if you do want something dark that wraps up in a satisfactory way.

Boku Dake ga Inai Machi

Another time traveling anime on the list, but had more to do with solving a mystery of a murderer who ends up framing the protagonist, Satoru. The focal point for the thrill in this mystery was the tug-of-war between Satoru and the murderer. Since Satoru knew a bit more, from the murderer's perspective, it felt like someone was predicting all for their moves which can be frustrating if they dont want to get caught. However, as time changes because of Satoru's actions, the killers actions get a bit less the predictable and the balancing act that get put on is really where more of the intrigue lays for me.

Re: Zero Kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu

This probably the biggest roller coaster ride of emotion this year. Re: Zero Kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu is yet another time traveling anime -- I swear I'm not doing this on purpose -- where our protagonist Subaru goes back in time every time he dies. Knowing that, you would imagine Subaru would lose his mind the more he dies and comes back, and they use that to develop him throughout the story. This was the best paced anime of the years resulting in distinct arc where there was a conflict that got solved while introducing a new conflict in the horizon. Not only that but the world felt big despite only a small chunk on it was revealed. Also, the characters in it were well thought out having there own motivations and goals, that might even be apposed to the main character. So in spite of this being a fantasy, ReZero felt like a real world where all it's parts fit nicely together to form the experience that was this anime.

It has been a pretty busy year for me despite it not looking like it on this blog. Somehow I still manage to get these top ten post out annually, and this year isn't that different. Last year I was talking about missing writing about anime, it is still true this year but I don't think I will have the time to be consistent on posting to a blog. I'm just glad I can still squeeze in these post every year.

As I review the year it seems like there is this influx of anime innovating on a very stable genre, romantic comedies set in a high school. Even with someone as jaded as myself toward these type of anime, I found that my top ten list was sprinkled with a few of them. It felt like this year was a refresh on safe genres and anime companies willing to actually take risks on interesting subjects that haven't been explored or not explored enough. Sure there were a lot less anime I enjoyed overall, but the quality that I got to pick from took me a bit to sort accurately. Which anime might be on such a list, you may ask? Well you'll need to continue reading to find out; and like always I structure the too long didn't read sections first, followed by the explanation for context of each pick.

For the Lazy

Top 10

1. Ore Monogatari!!
2. Death Parade
3. Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru. Zoku
4. Noragami Aragoto
5. Working!!!
6. One Punch Man
7. Yamada-kun to 7-nin no Majo
8. Akagami no Shirayuki-hime
9. Saenai Heroine no Sodate-kata
10. Overlord

Honorable Mentions

• Plastic Memories
• Sakurako-san no Ashimoto ni wa Shitai ga Umatteiru
• Young Black Jack

Explanation

Young Black Jack

When presenting a talented protagonist, a lot of anime fall into the trap of creating a "Mary Sue" type where the character literally has no flaws. That ends up being really uninteresting because of the lack of character development, as well as the character just being unrelatable. Fortunately, Hazama doesn't fall into that troupe and Young Black Jack as series covers a wide variety of historical subjects that are intriguing and not many anime would touch. Resulting in a medically educational anime with topics that are engaging if you like tension and a character struggling as a medical student with a debt.

Sakurako-san no Ashimoto ni wa Shitai ga Umatteiru

I'm not usually the biggest fan of mystery, however Sakuranko-san no Ashimoto ni wa Shitai ga Umatteiru structured an anime like this in a way that made it feel more like a triller mystery, making it more entertaining to me. Also, because the subject that one of the main characters is interested in is bones, a lot of the focus was on death and the past, making for a interesting way to learn about anatomy and draw parallels with characters that have been struggling with there past. Not only that but there is also a non-stereotypical female character, Sakurako, made for an interesting dive into several different mysteries seemingly separate that end up joining together in a unexpected way.

Plastic Memories

One of my favorite subjects to think about, at least in science fiction, is interactions between human and artificial intelligence, especially romance. Plastic Memories doesn't dive into the science part of the fiction but I felt it did a great job conveying the differences of the two humanoids and despite the variation, they can still connect and care for one another. So even with the ending being pretty predicable because of the man topic being about departing from the people you cherish, it felt like a really good experience to see happen between the two main characters.

Overlord

Some might complain about yet another anime about being stuck in a massively mutliplayer online games, but Overlord does approach the subject differently. Since it is presented as the only player in the game is Momonga, a lot of the interactions are between NPCs and as the title clearly states, the player character is the overlord of a portion of this game world. So rather than being an unimportant PC, as far as the world cares, the main character is someone of importance making the relationship in the world and with NPCs different in interesting ways. With that difference alone, it kept me interested in seeing what would happen and that exploration of the difference was what set it apart from Log Horizon and Sword Art Online, which let Overlord have something to contribute to the subject despite the similarities.

Saenai Heroine no Sodate-kata

I watch far too many romantic comedies set in schools that I've become quite jaded about this very cliché anime genre. Well, Saenai Heroine no Sodate-kata came as a surprise to me because it felt like it was doing something different while hitting pretty much every troupe within the romcom classification. So what I would say that made it so different was the fact that the male protagonist had something he was working toward, his creation of a dating sim he could be proud of. What make it so different is there are legitimate reasons this many girls are around him, that being to help work on the game. However, with this man girl around him it is the hobby that defines him rather than the girls or romance. And to top it off, the interactions of characters aren't one dimensional and are quite entertaining, resulting in a good comedy however it is light on romance -- and this is pretty surprising with the subject being about dating sims.

Akagami no Shirayuki-hime

I was initially brought to this anime because of how similar in design the female protagonist is to the one in Akatsuki no Yona. And with that initial push, I was glad to have found another shoujo anime that I enjoyed. The focus of Akagami no Shirayuki-hime is a lot more on how the characters struggle and grow as they make their way to closer to there goals. The biggest thing that stuck out to me is Shirayuki not being as interested in romance compared to her profession of herbalism. Characters having a hobby they are passionate about really shapes a their personality, and makes them more independent considering there aren't that many characters around Shirayuki interested herb science and medicine. With that display of independence, it felt like the range of characterisation wasn't limited and characters in Akagami no Shirayuki-hime really did make the anime entertaining to watch every week.

Yamada-kun to 7-nin no Majo

I continue to be drawn into magic themed school settings, but this time it has romance and comedy element to round out my wheelhouse of anime interest. I really didn't expect much from this series, but I was happily surprised when something quite fascinating came from it. The majority of the times, when magic is in the world it feels like a fantasy, but in Yamada-kun to 7-nin no Majo it is more of a mystery. The members of the Supernatural Studies Club try to find these seven different witch within the school and that is the main source of story push in the series. And with this journey, we see a good amount of character development from both the male protagonist, Yamada, along with the seven witches and many other characters involved in the mystery.

One Punch Man

Originally pitched to me as a parody of the shounen battle anime/manga, it quickly became one of my favorites of the season. And since I don't normally have much to say about the action genre, I'm glad to have something to pull from that actually made me think about it in a different way. Simply by having the main character already start at the best, it allow for challenge to be focused on different aspects of the character, like social retribution; for example, city destruction causing civilian to dislike actions from heroes, forgetting the fact that their lives were saved. Additionally, with the majority of side characters being serious in a serious world, it made the silly ones, like our main character Saitama, stand out that much more and created an interesting juxtaposition. All that together created something very entertaining in my book in spite of my lack of interest toward action anime.

Working!!!

As one of the select few anime, that are vaguely romantic, not set in a school I was pretty excited to see Working get a third season. And with this being another season, there is a possibility of the series getting stale, yet Working did something that made the season very compelling to watch if you watched the other two season. The progression of many established relationships was the focal point for this season and I couldn't be happier for these things. With so much of the comedy being drawn from the dynamic of certain relationship, this could of been a risky move for an anime that is focused on the comedy aspects. Fortunately, Working!!! did an excellent job on the moving to the next logic step in the character's relationship, but still keep an air of familiarity to it that made it feel satisfying. Really, this season is the one you want to watch if you are a romance fan, but the other seasons really help with the build up and eventual climax of what you are want to happen in both character and relationship development.

Noragami Aragoto

With most of the first season being focused on characters and establishing the world of Noragami, the second season feel most focused on the gods themselves. For many people that actually believe in some type of god, their view of them is one of perfection and idealism. What Noragami Aragoto does is kick down the pedestal some people put on gods and highlight their flaws and challenge those flaws to create character growth. It really felt like stakes were higher than normal because no one was safe and a lot of the character had something hidden away that got exposed and exploited for their character's progression. Even with this much conflict, I could see both sides to the argument pretty easily, but there was always a right choice if they didn't want their issues to keep coming up multiple times. And those hard choices is what made much of Noragami Aragoto a very fun roller coaster where I connected to many characters that I didn't expect I would.

Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru. Zoku

The Oregairu series tends to explore things that aren't normally done well, that being the complex nature of human interactions. I explained myself in a moderately spoiler filled post, but I do want to condense it in a more safe way for this post. Like last season, Oregairu Zoku focuses on character relationships via interactions, making it very easy to misinterpret others thoughts based on their actions. And this is intentional considering people tend to try to make them self look as good as possible to others. So with the misinterpretations, and layered relationship within this anime, I would say that is one of the best anime to portray human socialization in a way that is complex enough to be believable, yet clear enough to follow as more conversions get revealed.

Death Parade

Another anime I already covered in a post but Death Parade was probably one of few anime I was excited about that is not a sequel. A lot of the theme it covers is, to no surprise, about death and judging a persons character. The thing that actually made this series that much more interesting is the questioning of objective judgement. Since a lot of afterlife myths are binary like heaven or hell, or in the case of Death Parade reincarnation or void, it feel like there is this strict black and white view of a human life, at least in value. However, the uncertainty of Decim, and the open questioning of standard arbiter methods from his assistant showed there was more to judging a human life than procedures that are essentially robotic. Having that lifted the anime outside of it's own context and made it something worthy of discussion and anime that can do that are always special in my eyes.

Ore Monogatari!!

I seem to usually have one anime every year that is clearly my number one because of the great amount of enjoyment I had watching the series, and Ore Monogatari is no different. I was interested in this anime simply because it had non-standard body type characters who are actually the focus of the story. To my surprise, the dynamic of a character that is usually there for comic relief, like Gouda, and a pretty standard female love interest made for a really cute romance. Ore Monogatari did an excellent job showcasing the funny, cute, and sad moments in a relationship while still poking fun at Gouda and Yamato being an "odd" couple. Since this anime took up multiple season blocks, that being is is 20+ episodes, it cover quite the range of emotional work that are inside of a romantic relationship, all the while keeping the original feeling of series -- that being comically cute. I actually don't think this needs a second season, not because it was bad but because it felt like a complete experience. And this is why Ore Monogatari!! pretty much has to be my number one this year.

I'm a bit late to the punch on laying down my opinions for the season season of Yahari Ore No Seishun Love Come Wa Machigatteiru. Zoku. To be honest, I wasn't going to do it in the first place, but there was something that pushed me forward. The image I'm using above, by swordsouls, feels like the current relationship of the characters involved. It's quite obvious that Yui is the one who is more aggressive in her outward display of affection toward Hachiman and that is shown clearly in this image. All the while Yukino is observing with an expression of envy and because I'm more interested in Yukino as character, it is a pretty painful image to look and yet I have it as my desktop wallpaper.

Really, the complexity of this anime is show explicitly with how many layer there is to a relationship involving three people. I wouldn't even call it a love triangle because it isn't that clear who Hachiman has feelings for, besides Hiratsuka-sensei, so I'm more inclined to call it more of a "conflicted triangle". However, with something as established a two people liking one person, layered on top is the fact that both parties are pretty friends that don't really want to ruin the current relationship that was setup in the first season. And this is were the whole wanting something "genuine" that Hachiman spouted off around the middle of this season.

Working through what is actually genuine was the main driving forces for the plot of this season and actually had me confused trying to piece together most of the context of the conversations Hachiman and Yukino had. This is either a problem with me, or the pacing and order of which events happen in Oregairu 2, but I did end up figuring out the main point of the season. A lot of the setup for the conclusion were clearly drawing parallel around the cloudy form of a relationship inside the Services Club. These parallel didn't really make itself clear until we actually started dealing with what was wrong with our protagonists. Despite that, I really did like that way it was handle, or how I personally ended up getting to my current point of understanding. A lot of the confusion of what is happening felt like there were more parallels drawn from not only outer groups within the setting, but also for the viewers -- which is pretty powerful.

With all this confusion quickly building up, with no real answer inbound without people relying on others, we got to characters at a weak point. Considering two of the three protagonists don't rely on people often, entering that new territory was a mess and that was great because it set precedence that Hachiman and Yukino were will to swallow their pride to get somewhere that isn't going to be solved on their own. Yui has always done that to fault, but what she has learned is sometime there are time where you need to stick up for what you believe in without much regard for other's feels. So it was pretty much a role reversal that was inevitable with the pressure that came from both supporting and main characters.

This second season alone really seems to have planted itself pretty far away from the Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai comparison I drew in my last season's final thoughts. The only other complaint I have is the way it ended up concluding in a conclusive but not entirely end. It almost felt like we finally picked up everything that was spilled in the mess and then there was a swift kick to the chest of all the viewers. This dull pain will remain until the hopefully next season that comes out. However, I find myself laughing that I actually thought these relationships would be resolved with just two seasons. The complexity continues to add up and really, this type of focus on human interaction is the thing I enjoy so much about anime, and Yahari Ore No Seishun Love Come Wa Machigatteiru. Zoku has certainly delivered.

Last but not least, here is a better look at the image above if you wanted one.

Summary: Upon her sixteenth birthday, the cheerful Princess Yona intended to tell her doting father of her love for Soo-won, but her life was turned upside down after witnessing the man she loves cruelly assassinating her father. Heartbroken by this painful betrayal, Princess Yona fled the palace with her loyal servant Hak. Now, she will take up the sword and the bow on a quest to gain new allies and protect her beloved people.

Story

On summary alone you might pass Akatsuki no Yona as a normal revenge story. However, with the stark contrast of Yona in beginning -- that being of a expert archer -- and a few minutes later that of a naive princess, I almost immediately was curious of how she would make that dramatic transformation. That curious is what makes the journey much more interesting than the destination and of course the character progression that will inevitably happen.

I really do like that the focus of the anime, like most adventures, is the journey. Considering we know where Yona, Hak, and crew will get skill wise, it frees up "intrigue space" and allows the focus to be on the here and now -- which is getting stronger to get revenge on Soo-won for killing her father. Not only is their growth shown in the opening, we also know the importance of both Yona and Hak's shared purpose. This central motive feels believable, allowing viewers to be invested in a common goal.

Probably the best thing, that not a lot of fantasies do, was the fact that Akatsuki no Yona didn't demonize Soo-won anymore than killing the previous king, in order to make him the nebulous "big bad evil guy". This makes our villain more human and the act of killing him, even for revenge, a bit less clear where this is canonically a "good" deed. We can only see the result of this journey through the lens of Yona and that is something that make the story feel fresher than the normal, "something bad happened to me and now I will kill that people no mater what" trope.

Art

The one word that would describe the art of Akatsuki no Yona is intense. There are a lot of character with wide ranges of emotes in a world that can be pretty unforgiving. As a result, the faces on character and the atmosphere they give off with this art style is expressed very well. The character that benefit the most from this art style is Yona. With all of the scenes that depict her doing something difficult, through pure determination she powers though despite the fear.

Of course, this anime isn't only about the fights and can be peaceful or comical at time. The art has a way that makes a majority of the characters seem both dangerous and beautiful. It's an odd thing to explain, but since we do have a female lead, there is almost a need to make the character seem strong but not to the point of her appearing like just a "dude in dress". So a lot of victories that Yona takes from powerful enemies who are more skilled than her at the moment are from them hesitating from her overwhelming presence and willpower. So the way those scene gets conveyed thought the art is affective and also compelling.

Characters

This is where Akatsuki no Yona shines the most. It's quite obvious that the focus is on Yona, but they don't skim on development of Hak since he is the one sticking with her. However, as far as Yona goes, this anime does a really good job of showing the journey of her going from the ignorant princess from the start to someone who, at the very least, is competent with a bow. Through shear determination after being kick down a fair amount of times. And that makes you invested in a character that built her way up from the bottom and is just following what she believes despite the trouble she may get into on the way.

As for Son Hak, he felt more like this battle hardened bodyguard who could mow down dozens of guy in one swing -- toward the start. Getting more involved with Yona have softened his manly front and we actually see a bit of his personality through the journey. Since these two are close, it feels like they were destine to fight together. Of course there is an added complication that makes Hak very protective of Yona, which is pretty obvious but I'm not going to spoil it. Regardless, the relationship of these two is something that I like seeing in all of the ranges whether that is during battle or in the down time.

Overall

I don't have much to complain about Akatsuki no Yona because this is a very well done anime. The only thing I have to say is how ridiculous the way Yona is able to defeat or cause hesitation in her enemies. There are two instances where she causes people to stop and just focus only on her because of her intense desire to accomplish something. It felt too cheesy to be believable, but other than that this anime is great.

From the story being focused on the actual adventure, to an antagonist not being this pure evil sub-human. Akatsuki no Yona felt like an incredible bundle of emotions that built up every episode until the final resolution that felt satisfying. This is one of those anime that I hope to have a second season because there is so much left but I can see that this end of the season was a good stopping place. This one is for those who dig fantasy adventure and want to watch something that has a newer spin on such a saturated genre.

In so much of media, a distinct line has been draw between what is objectively good and objectively bad. In most cases this rather simple view served as a way to instill virtue on the youth as they grew up and later became apart of the "adult world". However, when that person, who grew up watching this type of content, begins to mature they begin to realize how flawed this simplistic world view is. With the world being something not as clearcut, or black and white, the actual spectrum of what is moral gets lost when focusing solely on what is definitively good or evil. There has always been this thick cloud of ambiguousness that gets ignored, or never even seen, because people want moral choices to fit in those two nice boxes.

As this anime season comes to an end, I do want to highlight two anime that have focused on the topic of moral ambiguity in their own ways. The more popular show this season was Death Parade, who had several people confused on what the finally fate of these two being judged by the arbiter Decim. And the other being Junketsu no Maria, or Maria the Virgin Witch, where a lot of the struggle is between three "sides", the people, their god, and witches. Most of the hardship has this feeling of questioning authority when their value deviate from your own, or just following status quo to save your skin. Junketsu no Maria does get a bit more in-depth in that subject, but I do what to start with Death Parade and the matter of judging humans objectively as an arbiter.

Objectively Subjective

When the pilot for Death Parade came out from the "2012 Young Animator Training Project" named Death Billiards, my initial thoughts were about the nature of humans as they fight with their lives at stake. It was in fact about that, but there was a bit more that I didn't really see until that concept was expanded on in Death Parade. From the start, and maybe to the middle, most people would have thought of the old man -- that being in Death Billiards -- as someone who was the "good person", but with some hints toward the end it might have made you question that judgement from earlier.

Having that foundation of unclear motives, from the people being judged, it made a nice point to lift off of this idea of whether or not you can judge a person objectively. And right from the first episode of Death Parade, you get reintroduced to that feeling, even if it wasn't as clear that that was what they were going until a few more episodes in. In the ultimatum of being reincarnated or going to the void, viewers almost instinctual think that one party is going to be good and the other evil. When it is clear that both parties aren't "evil" in any way -- for example the Death Bowling episode -- it suddenly shakes that assumed notion of there being two opposing sides.

On the other end we could have people that were clearly evil, but that wouldn't really prove much of a point. The interesting thing that Death Parade did was have two people who didn't seem bad at all and slowly worked in things that most people would consider vile without context, like murdering someone, but with context it doesn't seem as bad but its still morally gray. And this is where the objectivity of anything really flies out the window and things need to be judge with a bit more nuance. Can we really judge a persons actions if we are pushing them toward that evil we want to see? Is that true objectivity if we know these arbiters have the goal of seeing humans in a dark light?

When it comes to judging people, we can only really gauge intent through actions rather than what they are actual thinking. Putting people in a box of either good or evil isn't the best course action because people cast shadows, no matter how well they live their life. If we continue to weight someone's merit simple on the shadow they cast, we will never really get to the person casting that shadow and no real judgement is made. And that is the flimsiness of "objective morality", sure we as people can come to some common consensus but that is not true objectivity -- and never will.

Of course there are some moral systems that claim objectivity, and I obviously disagree as I've stated above, but funny enough there is an anime that gets in the foggy nature of these type of "morality by authority" philosophies. Like mentioned in the introduction, this anime is named Junketsu no Maria and I am going to jump into the individual versus authoritative principles that Junketsu no Maria covers.

Might Makes Right

Considering the main character Maria is a witch in a time of war and peril, I was pretty sure there would be some push back from regular humans. And with references to Christianity, there was no doubt that she would be labeled a heretic since she uses magic not ordained by their god. However, the thing that took me by surprise was both Maria and the god of Christianity had their own opposing styles of interfering with humans. And the humans had interpretations of the word of god via the church and it's priest.

Maria was someone that didn't like the war going on between the France and Great Britain, so most of the time she would interrupt and stop battles by using her magic. It was clear that a lot of the townspeople being drafted for the war also didn't like the war that was going on, so it would seem like Maria was doing them a service. Unfortunately, with some influence coming from higher ups, this includes the church, there was a push toward getting an unfavorable view toward Maria. And this is where I see a lot of conflict going on between individually held values, or morals, compared to a moral system coming from an authoritative entity.

Pretty much every person has their own set of values, even if they follow an authority based morality; however, some believe that you can only get any morals from an objective moral authority. As I said in the last section, I don't think there is an objective moral code, but we as humans can come to some conscience and always improve on ineffective or error prone laws through discussion. Without discussion we end up with this "might makes right" philosophy. A lot of times people go with what they find immoral, in that type of philosophy simply because of fear. With that being said, this was the main struggle between the groups in Junketsu no Maria -- that being Maria, the witches in general, the church, and village people.

It is of value to have some structure in a moderately big group of people, but real morality gets lost if people start blindly following the leader. Individual thought is as important, if not more important, as the group in power because it takes people without power to know when they are being ruled unfairly. And "fairness" is what is so complex, as well as crucial, about the topic of morality in the first place.

Concluding

Whether or not someone believe that morality is objective, subjective, authoritative, or democratic, there is one thing for certain is that it is complex. There is no reason to shy away from complexity and that is what makes mediums that dive into these types of subjects that much more fascinating. It opens up the conversation to those that consume that type of media and form nuance thoughts about many of its aspects.

Of course I'm sure there are quite a handful of anime that cover this no-so clear cut view on morality, but these are this two this season that I wanted to write about. I hope to see more coming out about moral ambiguity expressed in different ways, so the topic can reach more people in the long run.

Orginally posted to the now shutdown sekijitsu.com: Archived Page

Summary: Piano prodigy Arima Kosei dominated the competition and all child musicians knew his name. But after his mother, who was also his instructor, passed away, he had a mental breakdown while performing at a recital that resulted in him no longer being able to hear the sound of his piano even though his hearing was perfectly fine. Even two years later, Kosei hasn't touched the piano and views the world in monotone, and without any flair or color. He was content at living out his life with his good friends Tsubaki and Watari until, one day, a girl changed everything. Miyazono Kaori is a pretty, free spirited violinist whose playing style reflects her personality. Kaori helps Kosei return to the music world and show that it should be free and mold breaking unlike the structured and rigid style Kosei was used to.

Story

Like many music anime, they tend to focus on the character's involvement with the craft and how music helps each character -- whether that is personally or within a relationship. Probably the most interesting thing about Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso is one of the main characters, Arima Kousei, starts out with a trauma about music and is entirely appose to participate in the activity. In a sense, this was a clear conflict that was establish right from the get go and makes the viewer curious as to how we will see Kousei make his way to actually enjoying music again -- if he ever does.

With an end point set, the anime needed to plot the course of getting to said end point. Since Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso is character focused, most of the pushes toward the goal was through either the supporting or main characters, making each individual role feel like they had a purpose in the story. So even if the story was mostly revolving around Kousei getting back into music, the rest of the cast felt meaningful to each other and as well a Kousei.

The last rung of the story is the importance of music with a character who is actively trying to avoid it. Well this is where Miyazono Kaori comes into play. She is the one to spark Kousei's interest in music, as well as interest towards her. So this is where the fascinating relationship of the characters and how music ties them together. As far as I'm concern, Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso does a great job in setting up the plot and establishing our four main characters that are either involved or experiencing the wonders of expression within music.

Art

The first thing that stuck out to me, when I starting watching the first episode of Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso, is how beautiful it is. You would think that a music anime would have art that didn't really stand out too much, because the focus would be on audio, but there was no punches held in the art department. There isn't a doubt in mind that probably most people were drawn to this anime because of its art -- and that doesn't bother me -- but the thing that made it stand out even more is the way this anime used it's color palette.

A lot of times anime tend to be very flashy with their colors, this isn't the case for Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso because it uses those brighter tone to draw the eye toward someone. For example, the first scene Kaori is in, she is high up on a jungle gym playing a Melodica and since she has blonde hair, there was this moment of awe. Also a lot of the scene with Kousei are darker and more monochromatic as he is in his head trying to deal with his trauma. I find this use of color and art direct extremely well executed and works well to convey the mood of a particular scene.

Characters

With the story being so focused on one character, there is this importance of actually making any other character as interesting and believable. In my opinion there are two real main characters and two main supporting characters in the story of Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso. I mentioned them before but Arima Kousei and Miyazono Kaori are our two musicians, the main focus, while Sawabe Tsubaki and Watari Ryouta are the non-musicians who support both of the musically talented. What I like the most about the relationship between Kousei and Kaori is the fact that they seem as close to equals as possible since both feed off of each other and make themselves stronger because of it. And the thing that keep them moving forward is music, whether that is the piano for Kousei or the violin for Kaori.

Now, having non-musical people in an anime such as this might seem counterproductive, however Tsubaki and Ryouta have importance. With both of them being jocks, where thing like sport are highly based on practice and talent, it allows the viewer to make parallels to music from a different angle. Also, since they are friends with Kaori and Kousei, we can get a second and third perspective from characters that knows them so well. These strong relationships make many of the character that much more real because others have opinions of them and character interaction has consequences.

Overall

It's really hard to actually find something I had an issue with while watching Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso but there is something that could have been eased up on. This being the inner conflict within Kousei head; sometimes they felt melodramatic, however we have to remember that this is a middle school student we a talking about, things tend to get overblown when you lack the emotional maturity.

Beside that stretch, I would consider this a must watch for those who like dramas or musical anime that will not hold it's punches. I feel like there isn't much to really complain about since A-1 studios did a great job conveying an expressive art like music within it's animations and sound design. I can see myself watching this again in the near future, plus English title -- Your Lie in April -- once you finish the anime you will understand the significance with all of its bitter sweetness.

Orginally posted to the now shutdown sekijitsu.com: Archived Page

This is the first "real" post on this blog in quite a while and honestly, I've missed writing about anime. So, with it being the end of the year, I had to come back to do that annual tradition of gathering up a handful of anime and ordering them in some type of list. With this being something I do annually, there was one last year that people can look at if they feel inclined to.

Looking over all the anime on my list, I can say there was an uprise of good horror anime that I am happy to see happening. I clearly shows that not all anime need to be sweet or positive, there can be room for those that make you tense up or contain offensive imagery. Even with this overall stop in blogging for myself, I haven't stopped watching as much anime as I have been since last year; with that I have watched a lot of good and a decent amount of bad anime this year. Which anime have fought their way to the top of my list? Continue reading and you will soon find out, and we will start with our normal too long, didn't read section and further expand from there.

For the Lazy

Top 10

1. Bokura wa Minna Kawaisou
2. Gin no Saji 2nd Season
3. Grisaia no Kajitsu
4. Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso
5. Kiseijuu: Sei no Kakuritsu
6. No Game No Life
7. Barakamon
8. Akame ga Kill!
9. Log Horizon 2
10. Gokukoku no Brynhildr

Honorable Mentions

• Noragami
• Tokyo Ghoul
• Akatsuki no Yona

Explanation

Akatsuki no Yona

Shoujo anime are a lot less common compare to their manga counterpart, so when they do pop up, I usually give them a try. Unfortunately, they usually never really catch my interest for long and I just end up dropping them around that three episode trial. Akatsuki no Yona was one of those rare occasions where I felt compelled continue mostly because of the character Yona. Her journey from the ignorant princess she once was into a strong leader is something that I find a very interesting tale. Even if it isn't complete, I can see where this series is going and has built something that has great characters -- strongest being the female lead -- and a very rich, believable plot that I look forward to tune in to every week.

Tokyo Ghoul

In a world where it is mostly peaceful, there is a different kind of creature that looks and acts like any normal human only, it feeds on other humans. No one really can tell who is and isn't a human and that is the advantage of being what is called a "ghoul"; the only telling feature is they only crave human flesh and everything else taste fowl. However, by the time you notice something is off, you might not survive. Tokyo Ghoul does a great job setting up a haunting environment, but gets overshadowed by Kiseijuu coming out later in the year, and doing a better job with similar elements; I felt this was one of the major reason Tokyo Ghoul isn't on my top ten list. Plus the way this anime develops their protagonist isn't as well thought out, but I am looking forward to next season to see what happens with the new Kaneki Ken.

Noragami

At first glance, Noragami may have seemed like a silly anime with crazy, over the top character but it quickly turns into an anime with quite a bit of drama. With all these different gods wondering around the human world, like they are nothing more than human, it made for an intriguing concept. Of course there are gods that represent good things, but there are also ones that represent the bad and some have their issues with each other. There is a good amount of inner and outer conflict -- as well very crazy antics mix in-between -- that made Noragami really entertaining as well as emotionally investing to watch.

Gokukoku no Brynhildr

Gokukoku no Brynhildr was one of those anime that got my heart beating with suspense. Seeing as these no-so-normal girls, who have come to Murakami Ryouta, are pretty much always in danger despite them being stronger than any regular human. Having to worry about the looming treat of being captured, killed, or just dieing from not taking their medicine on time, really felt like something I've never experienced. The only things is, funny enough, I did find out that this story was written by the same mangaka who wrote Elfen Lied and instantly I could see the similarities. Despite that, I had a really enjoyable experience in the suspense filled ride that is Gokukoku no Brynhildr.

Log Horizon 2

Last year, Log Horizon was on my honorable mentions mostly because in the time frame that the list was written, Log Horizon was just starting to show it's potential. Now that we are into the second season and elements that I wanted back in the first season -- mostly psychological -- have started to show up, I'm more comfortable putting this anime into my top ten. I would say the best thing about this anime is the pacing that it introduces different parts of the story. From the inner working of this game to the point of actually care about the world, to the politics and economy of running a city previous ran by some computer program. Of course the story and characters are great, but I would stay that Log Horizon knows when to wrap up an arc when it's starting to linger and introduce new things to the story when needed.

Akame ga Kill!

With the subject matter being so relevant, that being most of the world's government being shown to be corrupt, Akame ga Kill! was something that grabbed my attention extremely quick. And with an anime focusing on action, it delivered on that with buckets of blood. Now, I'm not normally one to watch action anime because the story driving it's violence is mostly weak, filled with character only really out for revenge or lust for power. Well I'm not going to lie and say Akame ga Kill! didn't have that, but with that lack originality in the air, there was still this overarching goal of removing that corrupt government forcefully. The fact that the main goal was both emphasizes and integrated nicely into the plot help make this one a good time to come back to every week.

Barakamon

At first read of the description being a struggling calligrapher trying to find himself in a new environment, I didn't really expect much. So with that initial attitude toward Barakamon, I was pleasantly surprised at how funny this slice-of-life turned out to be. There aren't that many anime set in the country side of Japan or not that many I've watched; so with many of the characters have heavy accents and being very energetic compared to the city dwelling Handa Seishuu, Barakamon has a lot of charm. With that charm, it lead me through a journey of laughs as well as lessons that seemed to surprise me in the laid back genre known as slice-of-life.

No Game No Life

With the everlasting battle to make characters unique -- or at the very least memorable -- while keeping an interesting story, there is always this balance that needs to be made for characters that start out strong. In the case of Sora, he is one of those character that I would consider overpowered. The thing that made No Game No Life entertaining to watch is the way the battles would be structured to make it feel like Sora and Shiro are being cornered. Of course in the end they would win with some type of well thought out explanation, but the process of getting there is what makes all the games and stakes wagered feel more important. And that is where No Game No Life shines, it can be pretty intellectual at times, but it can also appeal to those that like their characters OP.

Kiseijuu: Sei no Kakuritsu

One of the most interesting types of storyline, in science fiction, is when humans meet something that is around or above their intelligence level. The reason why I say this is because it usually allows for a conversation of integrating with or dominating of said new species. What Kiseijuu: Sei no Kakuritsu -- or Parasyte for short -- did was have these intelligent species feed on humans, making it a modification on the zombie troupe but in a different light. Add with a main character that is essentially a mix of human and parasite, it leads to a very interesting delve into the human psyche to question what is human and where does our protagonist land in this spectrum of human and parasite if there is much of a difference.

Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso

Music anime tend to been really good, or at least the ones I've watched, and Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso is no exception. The thing that stood out to me the most is the fact that it is heavily focus on music yet, Arima Kousei struggles with playing his instrument of choice, the piano. So with that inner conflict and someone as bright and positive as Miyazono Kaori pushing Kousei to play the piano again, there is this atmosphere of hopefulness. So with the mix of color and sound to influence the mood of each scene -- whether that is musical or otherwise -- Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso really is a really well crafted music anime in it's own right.

Grisaia no Kajitsu

You tend to know how well written a psychological drama is by the impact it has throughout the season. Grisaia no Kajitsu started out very eerily with a mysterious male protagonist and a school that is marketed as "normal", but we all know that there is something off about everyone attending it. So with that precedent, there was a strange shift toward comedy that worked out overall for development characters and how they interact. With the comic relief as a cushion, the several horrific experiences of the five girls troubled past, really landed hard for even a battle hardened person like myself. Although I end up feeling like I was cheated by the short backstory for my favorite girl, Sakaki Yumiko, the majority of this anime was a very engaging experience.

Gin no Saji 2nd Season

Like most new seasons, I when into Gin no Saji 2 -- or more commonly known as Silver Spoon -- expect it to cover a few subjects left either hanging from last season or never mentioned. The most obvious of the issues was Hachiken Yuugo and the problems he has with his parents; and that was something that was covered enough to satisfied me to even write a blog post about it. The other was developing Mikage Aki as a character and that was something around the end, and I would say is was something that was needed. It helped me become more invested in the series. Silver Spoon as a whole is still a really great series that I can't wait for the next season for, but this year it won't be taking the top spot in my heart like it did last year.

Bokura wa Minna Kawaisou

I'm quite surprised at how fast Bokura wa Minna Kawaisou became the most enjoyable anime for me in 2014. I found myself having a goofy smile on my face throughout most of the episodes and don't think I've felt like that since I watched Kokoro Connect back in 2012. What this anime does well is not only have great, memory character that interact in a humorous and believable manner, but there is also wonderful relationship building. When even I think of the romance genre, there isn't that many anime that can pull of a scene that is both intense and work toward their eventual romantic goals. Bokura wa Minna Kawaisou seem to one of the few to nail an interaction, romantic or not, down to the letter. With something so well done, it really does speak wonders for the writing of each character. If this gets a seconds season, I want to see the relationship between Ritsu and Kazunari develop even further -- as well as see into the lives of the residents of Kawai Complex.

Studio: 8bit

Genre(s): Drama, Romance, School, Psychological

OP: "Rakuen no Tsubasa" By Maon Kurosaki

ED: "Anata no Aishita Sekai" By Yoshino Nanjo

Summary: Mihama Academy—on the surface, a closed learning environment established to nurture students who find themselves at odds with the world around them; in actuality, an orchard-cum-prison built to preserve fruit that has fallen too far from its tree.

Whatever the circumstances behind its establishment, Mihama Academy is at present home to five female students, all with their own reasons for "enrollment." For better or worse, each girl has established a routine obliging of her current situation; life moves at an idle, yet accommodating pace within the walls of Mihama.

Yet with the arrival of the institute's first male student, the nearly preposterously opaque Kazami Yuuji, the students at Mihama begin to fall out of step with their predetermined rhythms. Will Yuuji prove to be the element the girls around him needed to take hold of their lives once more, or will the weight of their pasts prove too steep a wall to overcome?

And in the first place, just who is Kazami Yuuji? While the true nature of the "job" he is wont to alight to at the most haphazard of moments remains shrouded in secrecy, one thing is for certain—his encroachment upon the quiet orchard known as Mihama Academy will prove itself momentous in one way or another. And of course, one cannot discount the possibility that perhaps Yuuji himself carries the weightiest past of any of the students...

(Source: VNDB)

I honestly didn't know what to expect going into Grisaia no Kajitsu, but the most prominent thing that drew me in was it is a psychological romance. With that in my mind, I was hoping for something that was more than likely a mature in nature anime. So when the first scene with the listing of the five girl's "sins" in life, I was interested in seeing where this anime was going.

Oddly enough, it switched quite quickly into to this very stern looking male character being interrogated by the police. With these two scenes, I almost immediately had the thought that Grisaia no Kajitsu had the feeling of the characters might seem somewhat normal but there is something off about them. This continues when we enter the so-called "ordinary school" known as Mihama Academy.

The first thing I noticed as our main character, Kazami Yuuji, and Tachibana Chizuru pulled up to the school is the cameras. I some normal schools you might see a few cameras here and there, but in Mihama Academy there seems to be a sizable amount outside the perimeter which continues this eerie feeling about the anime. The other was how bare the school grounds was, which is basically step up for a harem situation of five females to one male.

From this point on their it was mostly normal interaction of introducing the new female characters into the story. The one thing I do want to note is how analytical and snarky Yuuji is when interacting with people. With a male protagonist so boring looking, there had to be somewhere for the audience to relate with him, and that snark seemed to do the trick -- at least for me.

Many of the females are very high energy, so having that balanced out with the cool as ice Yuuji make both funny and interesting conversation of these polar opposites. And the overall nature of each conversation almost made me forget about this lurking darkness the anime first presented. However, what followed after meeting all the cheerful characters, was a very quick and sharp snap right back into the reality of this anime.

When Yuuji stayed to meet the last student -- who doesn't show to school until later in the day -- he was met with hostility quite quickly. Sakaki Yumiko is probably the only girl who doesn't hide her dark side and ended up baring her claws at our male protagonist instantly. And that scene was the turning point for the curtains being lifting about the academy.

Not going to lie, I am personally drawn to female characters who are considered "roses"; on the surface they seem so beautiful and harmless, but go down a bit further you might get cut by their thorns. So many of these characters do show these types of characteristics but right from the first episode alone, I'm interested in Suou Amane -- the sizable women -- and Sakaki Yumiko -- Ms. Quick-to-Stab.

So with just this one episode, I'm interesting in seeing what to come from Grisaia no Kajitsu. The fact that some of the girl seem like they are ready to kill Yuuji for something he did in the past is something I can't wait to see. And getting into the different personalities of each character seems like an entertaining journey to take.

Orginally posted to the now shutdown sekijitsu.com: Archived Page

Studio: Studio Deen

Genre(s): Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Game, Magic, Shounen

OP: "database feat. TAKUMA (10 Feet)" by MAN WITH A MISSION

ED: "Wonderful Wonder World*" by Yun*chi

Summary: Veteran gamer Shiroe and other players have been trapped in the world of the online game Elder Tales for six months. The once chaotic city of Akiba has regained its everyday hustle and bustle following the formation of the self-governing organization Round Table Meeting. The earthlings, who are originally from the game world, have gained the trust of Shiroe by waging a defensive war against the Goblins in Zantleaf Region. This has led Princess Rayneshia of the Cowen family, the highest-ranking Earthling Aristocrats, to live in Akiba.

It's almost winter and the Adventurers are thinking about what they're going to do and what their goals are in this other world. Will they remain in Akiba or go to the city of the West? Or will they travel to the land of the North or another faraway country? The opinions of the Adventurers begin to diverge. What adventures await the members of the Shiroe team in this second series of Log Horizon?

(Source: NHK Enterprises)

Log Horizon was my favorite anime of the season when it originally aired. So, I was waiting with excitement for the next season to start. It is, without question, the one anime I've been looking forward to the most this season. Not only that but it very interesting that it is beginning around the time when Sword Art Online is entering its second half of the season -- which I would argue will be most disappointing part, like the first season.

With all that prefacing it, I would say the first episode is pretty much what you would expect from Log Horizon. Unlike the first season, there wasn't much setup and we jumped straight into reintroducing the characters and setting. Considering I didn't rewatch the first season before jump into the season, I feel lucky that I remembered most of the characters. With the addition of many interaction with comedic flair, it all felt like a seamless transition of season. We also had the setup for future political intrigue with the slowly depleting funds for the Round Table.

To be frank, I would describe this first episode as a condensed version of what makes up Log Horizon. From the silly interactions to the serious political and physiological conversations

Going into detail, we know that Akiba was establish, in the first season, to be a safe zone for players in this hostile world that is Elder Tales. Now that we are in the second season this peaceful life has been going on for a while, however, that life style is possibly coming to an end. The Round Table needs to keep paying a large sum of gold to keep their hold on many of the buildings in Akiba, but their funds are slowly depleting.

Knowing this problem, it is in Shiroe nature to plan for alleviate such a predicament. Not only this one issue but there also the possibility of Southern spies in Akiba, so the South id becoming an emanate treat. With these spies about, the troubles and plans to get out of said troubles need to remain secret as to not let the enemy see a weakness.

Having all this setup, for the political side of Log Horizon, so early on make it seems like this season is going to be on good standing.

So overall, I would say that this season of Log Horizon is starting out really good. I really liked how the anime handled introducing new subject into the story -- back in the first -- in stages, making it easy to digest. The only complain I have is the first season didn't make the physiological elements that important even with it being losing memories in the real world after you had died in Elder Tales. If this season focuses more on the fact that players could forget outright that they are in a game, that would serve as another point of what makes Log Horizon such a good series. Regardless, I'm looking forward to the season with or without the anime heading into the mental breakdown of a character.

Orginally posted to the now shutdown sekijitsu.com: Archived Page

I always find it odd that many long running anime, like Mahouka, tend to assume it will have a second season; however, seeing as how popular it is, I think it might just get one. Regardless, this final episode did close some loose ends but left quite a few open and even open some in this episode as well. So even if my prediction that this conflict would be resolved pretty easily was correct, there are some things to the episode that were good; the first being the explanation of Tatsuya's restoration magic.

The official name of Tatsuya's magic is regrowth and to me it sounds a lot like how a databases works. Think of an action taken on a body, in this case an injury, as a transaction and the act of bringing the body to that previous state as a recovery of data. So this Regrowth Magic is essentially recovering corrupted data from one of the previous transaction before that corruption. The downside of such magic is that Tatsuya ends up experiences the pain the body experienced in a compressed form.

With that information, I think my hypothesis that Tatsuya was a cyborg is invalid in the sense that his body wasn't modified or enhanced via technology. However, I do think experiencing these types of condensed pain frequently might have numbed him emotionally, making him seem like something other than a human. You could say I was on the right track but ended up at the wrong conclusion and I'm fine with that. But knowing this, there is the question of does he feel the pain again if he himself uses this regrowth magic on himself?

Also the fact that this magic only activates automatically when he is pretty much dead lead me want to hold on to this cyborg idea. If Tatsuya looses consciousness, there is no way of him activating such a spell, but it goes of anyway. That makes me think that he has some technology built into his body that get triggered when his body reaches its limits of damage taken.

The last, and probably most important, fact about Regrowth Magic is that having this magic is the reason Tatsuya isn't able to use any other magic. Now, correct me if I'm wrong but I'm pretty sure Tatsuya has been using maybe different types of magic; not to mention he used on new one this episode that took out the remaining unit ships of the Great Asian Alliance.

With this lack of a very detail integrity, it feels like Mahouka was trying to explain why Tatsuya is so overpower but has a limitation, only that limitation isn't ever valid. This is why I, and many others, don't feel like Tatsuya is much of a character and more of an idol of power -- which can be interesting to some, but to me that interest fades pretty quickly.

After all the battles between the Japanese Military, the other magic students, and the Great Asian Alliance was resolved, this is where the setup for the next season started. Miyuki was the one narrating which lead me to believe -- and hope -- that she will be the focus of the next season. This season was clearly about Tatsuya and him flexing his overpowered magic muscles; as a result, Miyuki took the backseat which made me lack the ability to care for her. Fortunately, there were events that got me intrigued with her as a character and unfortunately, the initial interest with Tatsuya has subsided through the series.

As a result, if there is a second season I'm only going to watch it if Miyuki is the focus because I can't stomach the power fantasy that this series has when it is highlighting Tatsuya mostly.

Thing that caught my attention when Miyuki was speaking with her aunt was the mention of this vow that Tatsuya has with Miyuki. It might simply be about him protecting her, but the fact that Miyuki holds the key to unchaining Tatsuya's true strength is something that I want to see explored in the next season. Of course there is also the family relations of the Shiba/Yotsuba family that was barely even touched on this season despite it being featured right on the first episode. And last would be Miyuki's struggle to keep her love for her brother under wraps.

Shortly after the conversation with Miyuki's aunt, the epilogue of what happened after was simply magic is now regarded as something very valuable as a weapon. Hearing that I kind of thought that was exactly what the people thought about magic before all this. The last of this epilogue was this "magician race" are now entering a new frontier since a lot of people now regard magic a mighty weapons. This might make people afraid of magicians, but even more so when they explicitly call a magician a different race. Throughout the anime I never considers a magic user as a race separate from human, but more of a human that had the ability to use magic.

So we I can see that there might be more exploration of discrimination outside of the school. This theme was the reason I found the series so interesting from the start. Soon after they did take the focus away from that and that interest has lowered quite a bit, but there is still enough left to want to see what happens next in the universe of Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei.

My final thought of the series overall would be that it is a bit above average as a whole, but for me the thing that make me less likely to want to watch the next season is the lack of interesting characters and their development. Like I said before, if Miyuki is the main focus next time, the likelihood of me watch the next season is much higher. For now with just this season alone, I say Mahouka have an interesting setting but the lack of characterization that make for something that isn't as entertaining or even relatable.

This arc has the oddest switching of overall moods I've seen in quite a while. A few episodes back I complemented Mahouka for the lighthearted nature that character interaction took, comparing it to the cerebral interaction most characters seemed to have. However, now this switch was more jarring than anything else. Most fights in these twenty plus episodes were pretty much gore free -- with the exception being when the First High students wrecked Egalite without any challenge. Now we have Tatsuya severing arm and no one is batting an eye.

If anything I would argue that Mahouka, at least the anime, suffers from the inability to focus on transitions of moods that don't feel jarring. Most of the anime tends to lean toward the seriousness of each situation; whether that be toward information giving or action, there was no hints of lightheartedness -- until the 20th episode of course. So as things in this arc ramp up, we are moving into the slaughtering of hundreds of targets that are labeled the enemy. This is rather boring, which is why I think these last two episode didn't have much to them. However, I do have a few comments on some events that happened in each.

Probably the most likely thing to happen sooner or later was information getting out that Tatsuya is a special officer working for the army. This was very controlled since Kazama was the one to relinquish such information to the supporting character group in First High.

In the scheme of things, this happening wasn't that major compared to all the destruction happening around them, but it's a bit odd that no one really made a big deal out of this information and accepted it right away. I guess the even bigger event that happened right after way the thing that was far more shocking, and was the cliffhanger for this episode.

If anyone has read one of my blog posts about Mahouka, you are probably familiar with the complaint I have about Tatsuya being too powerful. This also includes him being super humble about his abilities and down playing how powerful he really is. Well, probably the most bullshit thing happened which revealed that Tatsuya was even more powerful than his previous self.

For whatever reason, Tatsuya's real magic is sealed away from him and the only way to unlock it is with Miyuki. So at this point we have no room for Tatsuya ever really needing to downplay his magic ability as he was running sub-100% for the majority of this anime.

I wouldn't even call Tatsuya a deus ex machina since, for the more part, the students had things under control. What I find frustrating is that this anime seems to be afraid of letting there be some friction. Most events are laid out like: a bad thing happens, thing gets discussed, thing escalates, and thing gets resolved. It is that abrupt ending that feels like you hit your head on the rollercoaster, which just isn't pleasant.

So my prediction is that the conclusion to this arc will be easy mode like all the others; and because of that I continue on not enjoying these episodes.

There wasn't much to this episode as it was a continuation of the grand battle of "us versus terrorism". Tatsuya go into his super suit and became the cyborg he always wished to be and kills some drones while the other students tried to find their escape route.

One of the important events in the episode was the characters finally figuring out who were the cause of these terrorist attacks. Since Tatsuya knowns who is responsible, this confirms that it is very likely that the conclusion to the anime will be very abrupt and feel unsatisfying. I do hope that I end up being surprised, but the track record of Mahouka, I kind of doubt it.

The last thing that ended this episode was the possibility of characters dying. I know not that many people like seeing characters in anime die, but sometimes they are good for character development. Unfortunately, Mahouka was having none of that and Tatsuya came to save the day once again. With his restoration magic those two characters ended up spotless and once again there is no resistance coming from this anime.

There is one more episode to go and I haven't found myself really caring for any of the supporting characters, plus I've gradually lost any interest in Tatsuya I had from the start. I can't say I've been enjoying much of these episodes when most ally character feel like walking bags of power and all antagonist are just speed bumps in the plot to be knocked down. I'll keep my final thoughts until the last episode but I'm feeling that I will end up saying this anime is slightly above mediocre.