My Anime Crossed-Off List for 2021: Reloaded

[Author note: This list took me about one week and a half to write it. Don't ask me why, I'm just not motivated enough to finish it off. Well, on the second thought... that's not it. I think it's my non-stop anime binge watching that's causing the delay. Anyways, now that I'm done, please enjoy this new post! -M-]

Why, hello there! Come here, come close.... I'm about to unveil another My Anime Crossed-off list in this blog! Good news everyone - I had steadily been watching anime this year (2021), so I might be dropping a couple more titles than usual. Because of the vast choices I had, I'll also be introducing you guys to an extra section called 'Honarable Mention'. Huhu... are you guys excited? I know I am. So, here we go!

1.) Banana Fish

Banana Fish 
Picture courtesy of Google

Banana Fish might have came out in 2018, but I just discovering it now thanks to a blunder I made while searching for another BL's (Boys Love) titled as 'Banana Scandal'. That initial blunder led me to this 'happy accident' because not only that I get to discovered this anime above, but I also get to watch it from start to finish and lemme tell you something - it was all so very worth it!  

This anime tells a story about mysterious new street drugs only known as 'Banana Fish' that had some sort of disastrous effect to it's user/victims. Our main protagonist, Ash Lynx older brother, Griffin - was one of the unfortunate guy who had fallen victim to this drug while serving in Iraq War (it was Vietnam in original manga). Twelve years later, Ash is set to find out about the person responsible for what happened because his brother is pretty much outta his mind (even till now). His investigation led him to form an alliance with several key people; Shuinichi (a photojournalist), Eiji Okumura (his assistant), Shorter Wong (a gang leader who controls Chinatown), and Max (Ash new friend from prison). All of them are Ash trusted allies to help bring down people who's behind the new drug. Here's a few reasons why this anime is awesome and why you should be watching it;

Pros:

• Great storyline, strong character development, deep social issues (pedophilia, child sex traffic ring, drugs, mobster)
• Good anime, okay manga
• Fall under the categories Shounen Ai, but don't let that tag stopped you. This anime is so much more about sex or love. It's about friendship, loyalty and how one can grow as a person despite being in shitty situation.

Cons:

• Too much violence shown in anime can sometimes make you feel sick on the stomach.
• All of those r*pe scene is no joke. I feel bad for Ash, most of the time cause he's always get the short end of the stick (or in this case - deep end of the 'stick', if you know what I mean).

To be honest, this anime doesn't fall under categories of light-hearted nor fun. In fact, it's the quite opposite. As the story progress and stake increases; I was getting nervous and worried about the final outcome. Sure, there's a part of me that wanted to root for Ash Lynx and his friends, but another part know that this not going to be easy. Often times, I found myself becoming squeamish and worried if things are going to get worst the closer they get to the truth. But, then again - that's what great anime does to you. It keeps you excited, curious, and glued to your seat until you finally finished watching it. Despite of it's dark theme and social issues presented; Banana Fish had successful in serving its purpose and telling its story. For that, I'm giving this anime a rating of 8.5/10. 

p/s: I don't think I'll be re-visiting this anime anytime soon. The pain that it left me after watching the final episodes still lingers till this day. But, I will... eventually. 

2.) Balance: Unlimited

Balance: Unlimited 
Picture courtesy of Google

Imagine being so rich beyond belief that there basically a program telling you that your bank account balance is UNLIMITED, and later using that richness to help solving crimes all around city? I couldn't. But, that what Daisuke Kambe seems to be doing with his vast amount of wealth. As a police officer, he's helping his department by using his own resources (and wasn't afraid resorting to a method such as bribery). His new-suffering partner, Haru Kato are often repelled by his approach, but later seems let Kambe solved things his own way. 

To be honest, if it wasn't for the art-style and characters - I don't think I would enjoy watching this anime that much. The storyline wasn't as great as I thought it would be and who could blame me if every problem can be solved using Kambe family money? What's the stake there, you know? Besides, the lack of character development aside from solving several cases together make this anime seems a lot less... interesting? I don't know what it is, but there's something missing here, for sure. 

Anyway, here's some things that I like and dislike about this anime, if you're interested to check it out;

Pros:

• Beautiful art-style and character design
• Catchy OST (especially the ED song)
• No shortage of money (Daisuke Kambe)

Cons:

• Lack character development among main characters
• Repetitive episodes, some too long for its own good

So, for those reason above - I'm giving this second anime on my list a rating of 6.8/10. I know others might want to rate it higher, but I had seen a lot of detective themes anime with better execution than this one. Thus, I can't, under a good conscience - give it higher rating than this. Anyway... with that being said - let's move on to the next one!  

3.) Kemono Jihen

Kemono Jihen 
Picture courtesy of Google

Another happy accident for me this year is the anime above called as 'Kemono Jihen'. So, there's a lot of things I wanna say about it, but first; I just wanted to say how much I'm glad that out of hundreds of anime that they had released so far in 2021 - this is my first anime of the year. 

Kemono Jihen tells a story about a young boy by the name of Kabane and how he is being mistreated by his aunt's family for a long time. Aside from a hard work in the farm, Kabane is also isolated by all the young kids in his village for unknown reasons. All about change when a man named Kohachi Inugami suddenly appeared from the city to solve the case of mysterious death surroundings cows and other animal's in Kabane village. Unbeknownst to anyone, Mr. Inugami is actually a 'Kemonoist' who runs a small agency called 'Inugami Strangeness Consultancy Office'. It's later revealed that Mr. Inugami is actually a 'kemono' or moster, and his original form is of a Tanuki. 

It was after the incident in his village that eventually led Kabane to discover about his true form; which is a Ghoul hybrid (ghoul + human). All this time, he been thinking that he's just an unwanted child whom his parents abandoned. Mr. Inugami later explains that the Life Calculus in Kabane's possession means that he wasn't abandoned on purpose, and his parents must have their own reason. 

With a help from Mr. Inugami, Kabane later decides to leave the village on his own in order to find his birth parents. Here, he meet with two other kids or 'kemono' living with Mr. Inugami named Shiki (an Archne hybrid) and Akira (yuki onna). There's also a reclusive vampire named Mihai living in the building, though he's loves doing underground job and rarely seen going out. Together, they work to solve strange cases that been occuring in the city and each kids had their own goals and mission to achieve by working with Mr. Inugami. Anyway, there's a lot of things I wanna say about this anime, so please check this list below;

Pros:

• Rare male protagonist (Kabane) who is innocent, straightforward and self-sacrificing.
• Outstanding supporting characters (Shiki, Akira, and Mr. Inugami) with their own unique personality.
• Great character design (anime and manga)
• Gripping storylines and character development (everyone had their own goals to achieve and the mangaka waste no time letting these kids and everyone achieved their goals)
• The storyline can get dark sometimes (despite of the nearly whole-kid cast), but it's for the good reason and really carries the story forward.

Cons:

• The storyline can sometimes be too dark, so yeah - please be informed.
• NSFW content, so please be also beware.
• Underrated AF making this anime almost didn't fell under my radar.

Despite being so underrated, I can vouch that this is a great anime (and manga) and it would be a shame if anime fan miss out on this one. Well, without wasting anymore time - my final verdict for this anime is 8.1/10. Why is it so high you ask? It's because after watching the fantastic anime adaptation, I soon begin to read the manga and it's so good - I have to add a few extra points for this anime! Anyway, with that being said and done - let's move on to the next one on this list...

4.) Jujutsu Kaisen

Jujutsu Kaisen
Picture courtesy of Google

Ah~ It wouldn't be 2021 if you haven't already heard about this phenomenal anime that have taken the anime world by storm. Originally released back in Oct 2020, it wasn't until Jan 2021 that Jujutsu Kaisen eventually reaches it's peak and later become a household name. I swear, the support of this anime is so massive - that there's wasn't a day would goes by without seeing its content on my Tiktok FYP or Youtube recommendation. I'm not one for the trend, but it's truly remarkable to be able to see how anime fans from all around the world had taken interest in this particular anime and manage to keep it trending for weeks. The last time I remember fans raves about anime this bad was 'Demon Slayer', and that only two years ago... So, what about this anime that made fans love it so much? Well, lemme tell you... 

Jujutsu Kaisen tells a story about this hot and athletic guy by the name of Itadori Yuuji. Not much is known about his personal life or parents whereabout; except Itadori have been living under his grandfather care for years. As his grandfather lays on his deathbed in the hospital, he begin to ask his only grandson if he wanted to know anything about his parents; only to be rejected by Itadori who thinks it's unimportant. Itadori normally ordinary lives is about to get crazy with the arrival of Megumi Fushiguro, a student/ Jujutsu Sorcerer. While trying to save 2 of his senpai from a Supernatural club, Itadori is forced to ate a cursed object (Sukuna's fingers) and in result granting him a superhuman strength; all while he serves as Sukuna's vessel. Hence, begins the journey of Itadori, Megumi and other Jujutsu Sorcerer as they tries to find the remaining of Sukuna's fingers (so Itadori could ate it) and later destroyed along with Sukuna's.

There's so much things I wanna say about this anime, but doing so only going to take the mystery away (when there wasn't much to go around with). So, for better understanding, here's some reasons I managed to come up with on why I like and dislike about this anime;

 
Pros:

• There's only handful male protagonist with a pink hair in the animeverse, so having Itadori Yuuji in the mix is refreshing.
• Simple storyline, get you hooked before you even watch/read episode/chapter 6.
• Interesting side characters (Megumi, Gojo Satoru, Nobara)
• Good pacing for action/adventure anime, if you're into that sort of things
• Cool character designs and art style

Cons:

• The death of main hero is predetermined (Itadori Yuuji might died after ingesting the whole 20 fingers because they need to get rid of Sukuna's and his vessel). So, basically - Jujutsu Kaisen journey is forced to end if they recovered all the fingers.
• Too much fight scene's and exam's reminding me the early years of Bleach and Naruto's for somewhat reason.
• Too many new characters introduced every other chapters also reminded me of Bleach (later years). Those are not GOOD.
• Slow characters development, more on fighting the war it seems can make it all feels repetitive and boring after a while. 

Don't get me wrong. As much as I'm on board with the whole Jujutsu Kaisen train, I also have some things left to say about it. I love how cool Itadori seems to be even before he ate Sukuna's cursed finger. He seems like a guy who can go anywhere and be in the most desperate situation - yet somehow... he'll manage to pull through. Just like Kurosaki Ichigo from Bleach, Itadori had the 'cool as cucumber' attitude surrounding him (minus the scowl) and that super cute yet gentle grin. Damn, I thought I was falling in love all over again with this new character. But, as much as I wanna say that that's the case - it didn't take long before his character started to get overshadowed by other's such as Gojo and Nanami sensei. That's when I thought.... ahhh here we go again! Dear mangaka, stop making these side characters far more interesting than the main. It's unfair. A manga/anime should have a focus and I'll like that focus to shine of Itadori alone, thank you very much!

So, with that being said and done - my final verdict for Jujutsu Kaisen is 7.6/10. Now, let's move on to the next one!

5.) Gakuen Babysitters

Gakuen Babysitter's
Picture courtesy of Google

From a glance, there's probably a lot more question than answers if you look this poster above. Like, who are these kids? Why are there babies in this poster? Okay, the title might've translated to 'high school babysitter', but how does that even work? Like, why aren't these highschooler studying or dating or enjoying their youth like most of other highschooler does? Why babysit? Are they tight in money or something? So many questions (at least to me)... But, whatever. I'm here to explain to you guys on what really draw me to this series at the first place.

To a jaded eyes, Gakuen Babysitter's could be just another one of Japanese mangaka attempt to 'cash on the cuteness' train. Hey, you guys... wanna know what's cute and trending these days? Babies!!! Oh... and uh... put some high school students on the top of that because they are our target audience and to make it more relatable. Ahaha... I think there's probably some point in there, not gonna lie. But here's why this anime/manga CAN work. Please read my bullet point below;

Pros:

• Half of cute babies in this anime (Kotarou,Taka) are actually related to those highschoolers (Ryuuichi, Hayato), so it does make sense for brother's to take care of their own siblings, right?
• Cute babies gets to me (I give it to the mangaka for making them super adorable and funny)
• Family and friendship plays a role in here (a lot). I have weakness for anime/manga that potrays such themes.

Cons:

• Cashing in the cuteness 'trend'
• Annoyingly cute babies make me lose my head sometimes, but hey that just me.
• Unrealistic plotlines (since when a highschooler needs to babysit like it's their day job and unpaid at that too? Smells like a child-labor, if you ask me).

So, with that being said and done - my final verdict for this anime is 6.7/10. I like cute babies, but the unrealistic plotlines kinda take it all away from me. Anyway, let's not waste anymore of our time. Shall we move on to the next one??

6.) Dr. Ramune: Mysterious Disease Specialist

Dr. Ramune
Picture courtesy of Google

Next anime on this list is an anime called as 'Dr. Ramune: Mysterious Disease Specialist'. I watched this alongside 'Kemono Jihen' at Muse Asia channel on Youtube, and lemme tell you something - this is my second favorite anime on this list. Already I'm having a difficult time choosing between this and Kemono Jihen, but who says you cannot have more than two favorite anime, right? Anyways, putting that aside - what is this anime is all about? 

Dr. Ramune tells a story about a strange doctor named Dr. Ramune who is said to be able to cure for strange illness of his patient. Living in a shrine while working alongside a highschooler part-timer/assistant, Kuro - all patients with incurable illness will be referred to Dr. Ramune as he tries his best to cure their illness. The premise of this anime based on supernatural and psychological aspects, so that's right about my alley. But that's not all. Below are the reason why this anime is awesome and why you should watch it too! Please read this list below;

Pros:

• Interesting main character I have seen in a while (Dr. Ramune)
• Great plotlines and choices of standalone episodes
• Great dynamic between Dr. Ramune and Kuro (master-student)

Cons:

• Manga series already ended at Vol 5 (such a shame for interesting premise!)
• Probably no season 2 since the manga already concluded
• I wanna more Goddammit!!

As stated above, I really wanted more episodes from this anime series, but considering that the mangaka already concluded everything at Vol 5 - I don't see how that's happening anytime soon. Anyway, let's not dwell on short episodes and be glad that this series are able to hit the homerun at the very least. So, with that being said and done - my final verdict for this anime is with [ipsum lorem] 8.0/10. If you ask me, I'm quite satisfied with that rating and think this series deserved it. Moving on~

7.) Higehiro

Higehiro
Picture courtesy of Google

Another interesting find from 'Muse Asia' is this anime right here titled as 'Higehiro'. Actually, the full title for this anime is bit longer that that, but for the sake of simplifying - let's just go with Higehiro for now. So, Higehiro tells a story about a teen runaway, Ogiwaru Sayu and the man that saved her, Mr. Yoshida. Now, if you started thinking that this is going to be one of those dirty old man and high school girl story, that ain't it. The story about Sayu and Mr. Yoshida is a bit innocent and lighthearted than that, and how they got there is quite a different story. Did I get you interested yet? If yes, then here's in a nutshell of what anime is all about.

After being living with one man after another, Sayu Ogiwaru eventually find herself homeless and sitting underneath a lamp post. While in a daze, she meet with a drunken Mr. Yoshida who begin to ask her what a teenager like her doing there. After having a little conversation, Mr. Yoshida agrees to let her stayed in his apartment for one night. She take it a bit 'differently' and was ready to be forward with him, but Mr. Yoshida just wasn't that... interested. Anyway, long story short - they kinda start living together under basis that he'll provided for her as long she needs to stay there, and in return she'll cook, clean and do other chores for him. Simple right?

Only that... the story isn't as simple as that. There's a lot of trials and tribulation waiting for both of our MC's. Sayu, with her runaway problems, while Mr. Yoshida continue not reporting her to the authority. On law terms, there's actually crime being committed here, but luckily, Mr. Yoshida acts like a grown-up and show his lack of  interest towards Sayu (he keeps on pushing that he likes a more mature woman like his co-worker for example) even when Sayu keeps on offering herself to him. So, kudo's for you, Mr. Yoshida!!

Anyway, this cohabitation story without any benefits seems to have a lovely (albeit unrealistic) ending towards the end, but here's a few reasons on why I still like this anime series, regardless;

Pros:

• Pretty new topic is being brought up in this anime (teenage runaways)
• Cohabitation without benefits between an adult and a teenage girl (usually this never happens, if at all)
• Decent character design (Mr. Yoshida looks like a normal adult whereas Sayu an attractive teen)

Cons:

• Unrealistic plotline might make some people feeling like... meh. 
• Can get a bit boring at times and slightly redundant (seducing and rejecting thing... yawn)
• Unreliable family members (Sayu mom and brother are the worst. I kinda get what was going with her mom, but what is Sayu's brother doing in the midst of this? Is he too busy working that he failed to realize that his little sister is missing. Brother of the Year, right here...

So, with that being said and done - my final verdict for Higehiro is 7.1/10. Now, let's move on to the next one!

8.) Gakkou no Kaidan (Ghost Stories)

Gakkou no Kaidan (ak.a Ghost Stories)
Picture courtesy of Google

It's been a long-time since I found an anime with great supernatural stories per episode like this one. Gakkou no Kaidan, or Ghost Stories, tells a story about a group of students who seems to be facing some supernatural occurrences in the school and all around their town. Satsuki Miyanoshita, who just newly relocated to the town of her deceased mother with her lil' brother and father, befriended a couple of kids from her new school (Hajime Aoyama, their neighbor, Momoko Koigakubo, an older classmate and Leo Kakinoki, a classmate and friend of Hajime's with a penchant for paranormal activities.).  

It's later revealed that due to urbanization that it's happening around the town, several ghost accidently get released - causing mishaps and misfortune to happen to several residents. While helping getting rid of the ghost, Satsuki discovered that her late mother is the person who responsible to keep those ghost sealed away at the first place. Now, it's up to Satsuki to follow her mother footsteps in exorcising those ghost and sealed it away, once more.

Honestly, this a pretty cut and dry anime series that doesn't requires a lot of brain power for you to understand. The episodic story is pretty simple, but scary nevertheless and for sure leave you with some sort of feelings afterwards. Overall, I quite enjoy it (despite being an old anime series) and think that I will be coming back from time to time. What made this anime so 'irresistible', you ask? Well, please read this bullet point below;

Pros:

• Okay character design that maybe work in early 2000's
• Pretty decent standalone episodes that manage to give me a proper scare (even by the year of 2021 standard.

Cons:

• Some episodes can be a bit boring, depending on your taste.
• No HD version available (the highest you can go is 720p. So, if you can settle down with that, then please do pick up this anime.

Anyway, with that being said and done - I'm giving this anime a verdict of 7.6/10 rating. I'm quite happy with that rating. Alright, let's move on to the next anime on this list now, shall we? 

9.) Shiguang Dailiren (ak.a Link Click) (ONA)

Link Click
Picture courtesy of Google

Shiguang Dailiren (ak.a Link Click) is an Online Net Animation released from China. Before this anime come out, there only one animation from China I had watched before titled  'The Taste of Youth' (2016). Anyway, about Link Click.... This anime tells a story about a small store called 'Time Photo Studio' that is run by two young men; Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang. Both seems to possess some kind of unexplainable super power. Together, they're able to make it work and use their collective power to enter photo's to fullfill their customer's requests. They seems to be able to control their power very well, but when emotion and desires are put to test - things always get out of control. 

So, that's basically the gist about Link Click. There's certainly an aspect of time travel and superpower in this anime that I like. But through to be told, despite of a nice-looking characters and catchy OP and ED ost, it certainly different than watching a normal Japanese anime. Wanna know what's different? Please read the details below; 

Pros:

• Detailed character design look spectacular (even better than Japanese manga).
• Beautiful and realistic hand drawn background made you think that fantasy had come to life
• Great and catchy tunes (OP and ED ost)
• Captivating storyline and well-direct episodes made you crave for more.

Cons:

• Mandarin speaking characters might sound a little odd at first (I found myself replacing some of the words with simple Japanese phrases, which make it even more weirder), but you'll get used to it once you started to get deep into the storyline 
• Too short!!! (Why there's only 11 episodes (T.T). And also that cliffhanger!!!! Wtf??? I'm dying to know what's going to happened next!

Okay, truth to be told - despite this anime, sorry.... this ONA (online net animation) coming from China, I have no problem in enjoying the story. Hell, I even read Manhwa and Manhua in my past time so, that's that. Anyhow... my final verdict for this is 7.4/10. I think it's great, but it would probably played better for me if it this have a couple more episodes (better yet, OVA) towards the end of it. 

So, with that being said and done, let's move on to the final anime/manga in this list, shall we?

10.) Chainsaw Man (Upcoming)

Chainsaw Man
Picture courtesy of Google

Well, well, well.... Chainsaw Man. I first discovered the manga from a Youtuber and have not so much hopes for it. My initial thought for this anime is that it's going to be sick and brutal. Well, after reading it... I can't say that wasn't far off from what I think. 

Chainsaw Man tells a story about a young man named Denji. When his father died, Denji is forced to kill the devils for a yakuza to pay off for his debt (with a help from Pochita, a Devil dog). Forced to work since young, Denji was unable to experience normal everyday things such as living in a nice house, sleeping in a comfy bed, nor even eating a good food. As a result, he and Pochita is forced to live in a decript old building that wasn't safe of either of them.

Things doesn't looking up for Denji when he's betrayed by the Yakuza and he's killed by the Zombie devil. Now in the brink of dying, he make a pact with Pochita who agrees to help Denji out with just one condition; Denji needs to show him his dreams because Pochita likes to hear about it. The newly reborn Denji is now longer looking like a human nor a devil; but a hybrid of two. After successfully killing the Zombie Devil, a mysterious woman called Makima appears. After introducing herself to Denji; she presented him with two choice - be killed by here right then or there, or becoming her pet. Denji choose the latter because that means he gets to eat good food and living comfortably from that point on. 

Now, to tell you the truth, the anime still hasn't been dropped yet (it will come sometime later this year), so there wasn't much I can say about it. Because of that, I'm going to save up the rating and my opinion about the anime version for later review. Anyway, before I go - I presented to you a few more anime that I also had watched this year. Feel free to check it out when you got some time. Thank you for reading this post. See ya next year!!

Yours truly

Mimi Said

(Honorable Mention)

• Mairimashita! Iruma-kun (S01-02) - normal human boy get sold by his parents to a devil who later on adopted him as his grandchild. the boy later enrolled to devil school where he started befriended another devil. so much fun!!
• Bunny Senpai - a young boy noticed his famous classmates wearing a bunny costume but only he could sees her. then, he later found out that people started forgetting about his classmates which prompted her to wear such revealing outfits. it's later to be associated with Adolescence Syndrome. They started become closer to one another and also other students with similar condition.
• Tonari Kaibutsu Kun - boring high school story about a girl who likes studying because she doesn't want to become a failure like her dad and a boy with devil-may-care attitude but secretly a brilliant student. I hate the girl so I don't really recommended this anime to you all if you hate cold and calculating female characters.
• Citrus - a Yuri high school students fall in love with each other despite being step-sister. Talk about crushing and cashing on the taboo, amirite? But don't worry. The story is good so I fully recommended it to you guys.
• Hinamatsuri - a sweet story about Yakuza man and his adopted daughter. The anime is great. I hope they don't 'Usagi Drop' this shit. Honestly, there's so many version of that out there that it really doesn't sits well with me. I mean, why adopt a child just so you could later groom her to be your bride? Talk about gross... 
• Tasogare Otome x Amnesia - Very interesting premise about girl ghost hunting at school get derailed by boring overused plot and confusing story structure. Ah~ What a wasted potential.
• Koi to Yobu ni wa Kimochi Warui - A story about an older guy falling in love with his sister friend. Well, this is where I draw the line... Just because you shifted the attention of the story from *incest*  doesn't make it okay. That girl is still sixteen. Hit the road, pal. I hate the story and anime so I only gave thsi 6.0 at MAL. 
• Kyoto Teramachi Sanjou no Holmes - Interesting plotlines get boring after a while. 
• Mob Pyscho 100 (S02) - a continuation from the first series. it's only gets better from here!
• Kakuriyo no Yadomeshi - an okay storyline about a girl becoming an oni bride (monster bride) but a serious trimming can make this anime pacing a whole lot better. like seriously. perhaps in the next season, yeah?

My Anime Crossed-off List for 2020: A New Format

Another year, another anime crossed-off post, amirite? This year my list comes a bit early because gotta strike the iron while it still hot, man. After almost three years, I knew it can be tiring if I keep using the same format over and over again. Hence, this post is born. Today I'm going to talk about a couple of anime I had watch this year while abandoning the last year format. Sorry, I couldn't make it an even "ten" (unforeseeable technical problems). But, don't worry... Despite this post being a simplified version, it that doesn't mean that we can't still have some fun... ~

So, are you guys ready? Here we go!

1.) Konosuba (Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo) S01-02

KonoSuba 
Picture courtesy of Google

To me, watching an anime is like waiting for a passing season. Sometimes it comes a bit early, other times I don't even notice. This year, it comes in the mid of July 2020. After being kinda of out of the loop for the most of early 2020, I finally decides to give My Animelist a little boost. And like it reads my mind, Youtube recommendation shoot this baby straight up. I watch a couple of clips on Konosuba, decided that I like what I see, and found it available on Netflix for two full season. Anyway, long story short, I watch this anime (the OP and ED song included), so here's my 2 cents on it.

Pros:

• Nice drawing
• Interesting premise (boy dies and wake up in a game where he can level up as an adventurer)
• Gender equality
• Good OP and ED songs

Cons:

• Tons of fan-service for male fans (sidekick with big tiddies everywhere)
• Annoying sidekicks (I'm looking at you, Aqua)
• Scattered story line (I don't quite get it even after 7 episodes in)
• Ecchi male protagonist (not really my cup of tea)
• Unclear mission by the male protagonist (at least to me)

So that's a few list to keep this post going. Personally, Konosuba is not really that bad, but it wasn't great either. Too many fan service (which reminds me of Blood Lad a little) and lacks of growth experienced by the main protagonist (Kazuma Sato). I mean, I get it that it was supposed to built his character or something, but you don't easily lose what you just got just because a couple of annoying side characters (Aqua, Megumin, Darkness, or all of them). I mean Kazuma, you're the leader of the flock, right? So, keep them bitches in line... Sheesh.

There wasn't an anime such as Konosuba that makes me mad and wanted to rip my hair off. Like, really. Every new episode I was hoping for a change, not much - just enough so Kazuma doesn't have to suffer anymore. But looks like I'm on a ride for an endless failure loops created by these useless side characters. Seriously, so much potential getting squandered by tiddies and lame ecchi jokes that doesn't fly with me. But, luckily I like Kazuma Sato. He may be a pervert, but his attitude towards his sidekicks are noteworthy to talk home about. 

So, my final verdict with Konosuba is 6.8/10. Don't ask me why. I just told you all about it.

2.) Is It Wrong to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? S01-02

Is It Wrong to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?
Picture courtesy of Google

Okey, second anime on my list now... Next we have 'Is it Wrong to...... bla bla bla....Dungeon!". I'm too tired to write it, but you got my point ;)  I found it among other anime list on Netflix. Seriously, *Neffy is killing it with their anime recommendation these days. Unlike Konosuba that have pretty good (despite pervy) male protoganist Kazuma, Dungeon have a tamed protaganist by the name of Bell Cranel (ak. a Little Rookie). Not to shit on this guy too much, but his bland personality probably made seaweed soup taste like a goddamn caviar (er, say whut now?). Lol. Anyway, Bell here is accompanied by his Goddesses, Hestia and together they live in a rundown old church all by themselves. Well, I'm not gonna give you too many details, but basically the episodes are filled with a lot of adventure and Bell making friends and acquiring new members to join his (Hestia) Familia. So, what so great about this anime anyway? Let's take a look down the list shall we?

Pros:

• Mildly tamed male protagonist (Bell Cranel)
• Tiddies are there (of course), but not to make up the whole story (think it as a cameo kind of thing)
• Not entirely hopeless side characters (I love Hestia, she's the best!)
• Contained story line (every episodes serves a purpose to lift up our young Argonaut, Bell)
•  A lot cameo by other Olympian God and Goddesses (i.e: Apollo, Loki, Hermes)

Cons:

• Weak male protagonist (Bell Cranel)
• Too little spotlight between Bell and his Goddesses, Hestia (all the screen time goes to him fighting monsters or saving other people with his new comrades)
• Slow burn love between Bell and Ais Wallenstein (his love interest)
• Love triangle are not fully developed yet (at least in the anime adaptation)

You know what they say.... All is fair in love and war. But, for somewhat reason - there wasn't enough time for Bell and Hestia to really explore their feelings or whatever the animator tries to insinuate (it looks more like one-sided love on Hestia side, but I could be wrong). Anyways, despite of the slow-burn feel this anime seems to provide, that doesn't make it a bad anime. In fact, I kinda look forward and feel giddy on my toes for the next episode. It's quite rare for me to feel that way when I'm watching anime (I'm not an easy person to be pleased because I'm jaded) these days, so great job Dungeon! 

So, my final verdict with this anime is 8.0/10. That high, huh? Only because it have everything I wanted and what its lacking is not too obvious and probably can be improved. 

note: * Neffy: my nickname for Netflix.

3.) Plunderer

Plunderer
Image courtesy of Google

Third anime now. This one is called 'Plunderer'. It's released on June 2020 and boy, I wasn't expecting it to be 24 episodes! (that's rare, even by 2020 standard as anime that I watch normally span around 13 episode or less). So, what so good about Plunderer that I can tell you? Plenty. But first, let me tell you how did I found this anime in the first place. One word, baby: Youtube. Saw some snippets from this anime in there and just like that - I'm sold. This anime actually falls under ecchi genre (like the theme of today's post), but the allocated time for it makes me applauded the creator of this series so much (I'm looking at you, Highschool DxD). 

Anyways, Plunderer basically tells a story about a girl named Hina who are in search for the Red Baron (Licht Bach; the guy on the top). In the world where they lives in, a (counting) system had been put into place. Anyone who have a higher count than others are free to order anyone with a lower count. It certainly a flawed system, but their world is built around that and things had stayed peaceful for the last 300 years because of it. Enter Licht Bach, a town loser who didn't look like much at first, but later turns out hold a very important role in this new world arrangement. Anyway, I'm not going to tell you everything there's to know about this anime, but here's my 2 cent about it:

Pros:

• Great storyline (makes you wanna know more and more) and phantomable plot twist
• Great drawing and art style (at least in the Manga)
• Multi-dimensional main character (Licht Bach)

Cons:

• Uneven quality level for anime adaptation
• Forward (shameless) female protagonist (Hina)
• Too many layer of plot twist can make audience feels like they being duped into waiting something more (endless of plot twist and plenty of reveal throughout the end of each episode)

Honestly, I really like Plunderer. It has been a long time since an anime makes me feel excited to watch the next episode. Even Dungeon (above) doesn't exactly makes me feel this way. Because it's so addictive, I have to control myself to only 5 episodes per day. So far there's only 24 episodes from this show till date so I been keeping up with the manga as I am dying to know what's going to happen next in the series. Seriously, despite of what others might say and the rating it received at MAL (My Animelist), I think this anime is one of the best show I had seen in a while and for that I'm giving it 8/10 rating. It's an honest rating from the bottom of my heart, so don't judge me for that. 

4.) Beastar (18)

Beastars
Image credit from Google

I guess one of the most unexpected find this year would have to be this anime: 'Beastars'. It was released back on December last year (2019) and I seen it hanging around my Netflix recommendation for some time now, but never care enough to go ahead and watch it. I just finished 'Plunderer' and was looking for new anime to watch and suddenly - this come up. So, I decided to watch it and here's my verdict.

Beastars is not an anime that I typically favors. Sure, I seen those Disney cartoon, Zootopia not so long ago and Robin Hood when I was little, but that's as far as my interest in anthropomorphic animals goes. Then, I proceed to watch Beastars and my opinion about it would never be the same again. To be honest, I don't hate this anime in particular, but there's several oddities that I would like to point out just because....

Not only this anime is about a bunch of animals acting like human - they have a physical body like a human too! I know Disney kinda did that with Zootopia, but that one was tamed and I actually quite enjoy the storyline. This one however... left with with a bunch of mixed feelings. I always considered bunny is the cutest animal ever, but not after watching this anime. The mangaka kinda diminished that for me a bit (by putting a fake b00bies on bunny, like seriously gurl - not cool). And not only that... they always showcases... s*x amongst animals that made me feel so uncomfortable while I was watching it. I guess this is why bestiality was never on the table for me. I stick to soft regular p0rn and vanilla stuff, thank you very much.

So, what so good or bad about this anime anyway? Well, I tell you;

Pros:

• Good storyline (a cultural divide between herbivore and carnivore - yeah, I kinda dig that)
• Great anime, average manga (as far as the drawing goes)
• Written by a woman mangaka (I'm not so much of a feminist, but this is rare even to see thesedays)
• Interesting and memorable characters: Legosi - fox, Haru - bunny, Louis - red deer that are different from what we expected of them. Example for that would be;

1.  Legosi, a fox is timid and non-confrontational. This usually not the case with foxes. It's in their nature to always be aggressive and strong.
2. Haru, the bunny seems cute and innocent at first, but she is actually hypersexual. Well, I guess we know now where they got the expression;' like two rabbits in heat' comes from.
3. Louis, the red deer is essentially a prey. However, he's strong and confident character that most people vouches him to be the next 'Beastar' (a rank given only to an animal who have a great talent, service and notoriety) despite of what he is. His reputation made every animal rooting for him that even Legosi respected him.

Cons:

• Animal s*x makes me feel SUPER uncomfortable
• The stakes gets higher and higher which eventually made me feel uneasy.

To be honest, it's not like I hate Beastar. It's just that some of its adult scene makes me feel... weird.  Still, I manage to finished the 12 episodes in just a day so that should show you that this show doesn't suck too much. So, with that being said, I'm also giving this anime a 7.8/10 rating.

5.) Mob Psycho 100 (S01)

Mob Psycho 100
Image credit from Google

Sadly, something come up in 2020 that doesn't allow me to finish a lot of anime I had set-out to watch (nah, Corona got nothing to do with it). Right after I finished watching Mob Psycho 100 is actually the time when I started doing my home improvement projects, so there goes my plan down the drain. However, I will still talk about the last anime I had watch this year which is this anime right here. Well, to be frank - from the surface it doesn't look like much. With an background character-looking protagonist named Shigeo Kagayama ak.a 'Mob' and his average-looking friends and family; I'm not even sure if I'm going to continue watching this series. But, then after 3 episodes - it finally hits me... If I just forget about the average-looking characters for a bit, this series is actually pretty awesome!

So, let me start by telling you what 'Mob Psycho 100' is all about. We got Mob, a middle-school boy who is a powerful esper with immense psychic power. Just like Queen Elsa from Frozen, Mob here is constantly fighting with himself especially when it comes to ways to suppress his power. After earning himself a mentor (the guy one the left picture), Mob thinks that he now can learn on how to control it, but little did he knows that his 'mentor' ak.a Reigen Arataka is not really an esper, but rather a con-man pretending to be a self-proclaimed psychic. Mob already troubled personal life is about to turn more chaotic, as his power continues to grow and he have to fight with an organized espers by the name of 'Claw' to protect those who are dear to him. More good information about this anime down below;

Pros:

• A Heroes Journey. Mob growing pains can be likened to Naruto, Hunter x Hunter, and Boku Hero Academia.
• A well-rounded male protoganist (Mob)
• Great storyline and character development.
• Family values and friendships are main core in this anime.

Cons:

• Unappealing character (at first), but you soon realize that the story toppled that in the second.
• Bad news for anime watcher who like to 'judge the book by its cover'. They might miss out on this gem.

So, with that being said and done - I guess that's it guys for my anime crossed-off list for 2020. It's already July 2020, so might do my next anime cross-list in 2021. As always, please look forward to it. Thank you for reading this entry and see you next time. Jya-nee.

Yours Truly,

Mimi Said

My Anime Crossed-off List for 2018/2019 & Review (Part 1& 2)

Hello there. How are you doin'? Mimi's here.

This post is long coming, but I'm glad that its finally here. I got admit, 2018 had been a rough year for me as anime binge-watching wasn't a fun thing for me to do anymore. I guess this have something to do with anime released in 2018 being such a bore and not particularly interesting. However, 'not interested' doesn't means that I haven't watched any at all. I watched quite a few and I think it will be fun for me to share it in here for future reference. Since my 2018 anime list is too short, I also decide to included 2019 anime list as well hence making this post longer than usual. Anyway, I'm done talking now so without further ado - here goes my latest anime list for the last two years.

My 2018 Anime Binge-watching Collection

1.) Itou Junji: Collection (NEW) 

Image credit: Google image

Year Released: 2018

Date Watched: around Jan 2018

Reason Why I Watched This: Junji Itou. One of my favorite horror mangaka from Japan.

Memorable Character: None (Various of Characters on each Episodes)

My Review: 

Beginning late 2012 till now, I have been a huge fan of the Master of Horror Manga; Junji Itou sensei. There hasn't been any work of his that I haven't seen, manga-wise speaking. From so-so to good, good to great, and great to awesome; I seen them all. There's nothing that Junji Itou haven't or wouldn't try in his work. I had a couple of my favorite chapters, and nothing, and I mean it - NOTHING more interesting than seeing some of my favorite ones starts playing on the screen when the anime comes out early this year. Still, I feel a bit disappointed that the anime studio only decided to adapt 12 episodes (I would love it to be 24 episodes). Anyway, 12 episodes went by so fast and I was optimistic if they wanted to bring this show back (given if there's a demand and budget for it of course) because I'll definitely watch it. Anyway, if there's one thing I dislike about this anime, than that would probably be about one of the character, Souichi. I think his character is pretty annoying and to think that he made multiple appearances on the series seems like a waste of scene. Let's just hope they leave him out for the next installment of the series in case they planning to make more. 

Rating: 3.9 /5.0 (I do hope that this anime would make a comeback somewhere near the future.)

2.) Boruto: Naruto Next Generation (NEW)

Image credit: Wallpaper Abyss - Alpha Coders

Year Released: April 2017 - present

Date Watched: Jan 2018

Reason Why I Watched This: I was just finished reading Naruto Shippuden manga and I thought, hey what's next? Found Boruto (Naruto's and Hinata' son) arc is actually out there and the rest is history. I gotta say, this series kinda reminded me of Legend of Korra a little bit (with more advancement in technology and all), but hey - that's just me.

Memorable Character: Sarada Uchiha, Boruto Uzumaki, and Himawari Uzumaki.

My Review:

With over 100+ episodes and in counting, I wasn't sure either to include this anime into this list or not. But, I already watched over 60+ episodes, so I guess this review counts, right? Anyway, so what is my initial opinion about Boruto: Naruto Next Generation. I think the Boruto storyline is okay, but perhaps Boruto himself is a little too 'perfect' for my taste. As initially introduced, Boruto is brilliant and can get away with a lot sh*t pretty easy. Not helping the matter, he's is the son of Hokage (looks like our homeboi Naruto finally made it afterall). He didn't struggle to be accepted by the villagers (like Naruto did) nor does he have to study or work hard to achieve his dream (he's a natural-born genius). If the kid is not doing some boring mission or studying for his exam, he can be seen playing video games with his friends Shikadai (Shikamaru son) and Mizuki (Orochimaru son) at fast food restaurant. Not like it's any of his fault though. Boruto and the next generation are born under peace and prosperity of the ninja world, which obviously contributes to the boy sense of entitlement. Luckily, this arrangement won't last forever (that would make for a boring show) as Boruto is in for what might be the greatest trial in his spoon-fed life after his beloved village gets destroyed, but that story arc are so ahead in the future. As for now, his 'devil-may-care-less/ *tsundere' attitude is in for our treat. 

As much as Boruto loves tsundering on his own father, a few stolen moment between Baruto and Naruto is still there to be enjoy and look forward for. We all know that Naruto lose his parents at a young age, so it's nice to see him hang out with his own children (despite being tired all the time when he got home). Anyway, if I'm being totally honest - I only watches Boruto because I wanna know more about the rest of Team 7 (including Kakashi-sensei) after they get married and settles down. I know that doesn't sounds like I'm giving Boruto much of a chance, but I did sat down for 60-ish episodes and let me tell you - I haven't found a single traits on Naruto's son to be likable nor endearing. Still, this anime is great for continuity, so for those who love Naruto or any of other characters in Naruto and Naruto Shippuden - this anime would be great for throwback.

Note:
Tsundere: A japanese term for a character development process that describes a person who is initially cold (and sometimes even hostile) before gradually showing a warmer, friendlier side over time.

Rating: 4.0 / 5.0

3.) Shingeki no Kyojin / Attack On Titan (S03) (Continuing new series)

Image credit: Google image

Year Released:  2018

Date Watched: Nov 2018- Jun 2019

Reason Why I Watched This: Oh don't mind me, just continuing from where I left off. I wasn't exactly thrill about this but I know I need to finish what I had started.  

Memorable Character: none

My Review: 

Season 3 continues with Eren Jaegar journey as one of the soldier to protect the city and also serves as first gateway story on the titans origins. There's a few important information spread all across third season (regarding Eren's father and Eren suspicious titan origins) among others. For once Eren didn't take the lead and we got to see the story in a wider picture through the eyes of other characters. Now, to be detailing too much on this review would be a crime since it would e revealing much about new season from this series so I want to take a backseat right here. All I can say is that it's a great season all around and I'm pretty excited for the upcoming season whenever the studio releases the next one.

Rating: 4.2/ 5.0

4.) Yamishibai (S06) (Continuing new series)

Image credit: Google image

Year Released: 2013 - present

Date Watched: Aug 2018 

Reason Why I Watched This: I had watched this anime around four years ago and just continuing new series.

Memorable Character: None

My Review:

I had reviewed about this anime on this post before, and now I had come back for more. Yamishibai S06 is currently still airing in Japan and I found some of the episodes is pretty hair-raising. Like my previous review, I would also be leaving a couple of my favorite episodes from the series.

1.) "Rat - Nezumi"(S03E03) - A boyfriend and girlfriend move into a cheap apartment that might laden with rat infestation. The girlfriend heard a lot of noises and worried about their safety but the boyfriend told her that she got nothing to be worried about. When the boyfriend leaves for a couple of days on a business trip, little did he knows that his girlfriend life might be in danger. 

2.) "The Fourth Man"(S03E09) - Two highschool girls asks their teacher about the story of the Handshake Man. It's said that there's multiple of Handshake Man, and all handshakes needed to be accepted except the fourth one who's going to bite of their hand. The third student, Haruko is a bit skeptical about the story and thinks its stupid. Her little sister ask her to accompany her to the school to fetch her notebook. Along their way back, Haruko met a couple of people who strangely asks for her handshake and she begins to wonder if the story might be true...

3.) "Cuckoo's Clock"(S03E11) - While visiting her grandma house, a cuckoo's clock caught a girl interest and she beginn waiting for it to come out from the wooden door to see the bird inside. Her little obsession started to take a dark turn when she begins to resemble the cuckoo's bird she admires.

4.) "Tongue"(S04E01) - A Salaryman overheard two girls talking about a dead cat and feels pity of it. To avoid it being run over, so he buried it near the tree. While the girls walk by, he overheard the girls muttering that something could follow you home if you take pity on it. Later he went home and while watching a TV, begin to hear a cat meowing. As he went to bed early, the meowing starting again and he begin to feel something licking his face. Thinking it might be the cat, but it's so much more than that.

5.) "Red High Heel"(S04E04) - A Salaryman missed his last train and forced to take a taxi. As he managed to hail one and get in, he noticed a red heeled slipper on his foot. He asks the driver if the passenger might have lost her shoes, but the driver didn't turn around and told him to get rid of it instead. As the salaryman look at the taxi driver confused, he repeats with an impatient and angry tone. Then both men hear a sound that keeps coming closer and closer, as if someone is running. What the salaryman sees terrifies him and he begin to think that the taxi driver might be involved in a crime.

6.) "Wrong Number"(S05E01)

A woman married to Masude, an elite salaryman, complains about him never being at home to spend time with her and his son, Hirofumi. The phone rings and when she answers it, a woman she hadn't heard before says she'll not be there for a while. Confused, she asks the woman on the line who she's trying to contact, but the woman hangs up. The phone rings again and the caller continue to pester Mrs. Masuda by asking about her son. Eerily, her knowledge about what's happening shocked Mrs. Masuda to her corner.

That's so far my favorites out from this season. Overall it's pretty okay, though it's incomparable with the first three season. Personally, I think every season serves a couple of good episodes and I'm really excited to see what next year have in store for me.

Rating: 4.1 / 5.0

5.) Himotou! Umaru Chan R (S02) (Continuing new series) 

Image credit: Steamit
["Look who's back, bitches!!"]

Year Released: Dec 2017

Date Watched: Jan 2018

Reason Why I Watched This: I had watched this anime around two years ago and just continuing new series.

Memorable Character: UMA-RUUU-chan!!

My Review:

I had made a review about this series two years ago and I had come back for more. Season 2 fells almost the same as Season 1, and the storyline is quite the same. I read the manga to keep myself occupied and I already can tell that the anime is following closely with what they did on the series. I know the 2nd season is coming based on the initial reception on 1st, but I'm not really sure if it's going to come back for more (crossing my fingers). Anyway, I had talk more than enough about this anime before, so if you're interested to know about my opinion on it - feel free to click on this post.

Rating: 4.1 /5.0

My 2019 Anime Binge-watching Collection

6. My Roommate is A Cat (Doukyonin wa Hiza, Tokidoki, Atama no Ue)

picture credit: Google image

Year Released: Mac 2019

Date Watched: Sept 2019

Reason Why I Watched This: After almost 1 1/2 years, I'm down with a search for new anime series. It's been a while since I start a new series, so I was aiming for something simple but sweet. By mere luck, I stumble upon this series and manage to I finish it in just 3 days! 

Memorable Character: Haru (the cat) and Subaru Mikazuki

My Review: 

As stated on the title, this anime is about a guy by the name of Subaru Mikazuki who lives on his own after the death of his parents. It's was quite a tragic lost, and Mikazuki was left with empty feeling inside. His long-suffering literary agent (Mikazuki is a writer btw), tries many ways to connect with the guy, but Mikazuki isn't ready. That is, until a cute little stray cat (that he later named as Haru) begin to appear in his life. Starting from there, Mikazuki life starts to improve to better and he started to open up to people once more.

Frankly, this anime wasn't exactly the best thing to watch out there, but if you're like me aiming something simple - then perhaps this is the anime for you. I found myself entertained (even just a little) with Mikazuki and Haru daily life and this anime manage to left me with a sweet a warm fuzzy feelings inside. Anyway, if you like cats - then maybe this anime is the one for you. 

Rating: 3.8/5.0

7. The Promised Neverland (Yakusoku no Neverland)

picture credit: viz.com

Year Released: Mac 2019

Date Watched: Nov 2019

Reason Why I Watched This: Hunting New Anime Season. Lol.

Memorable Character: Norman, Emma and Ray.

My Review: 

I never thought the day would come for me to sit down and watch an anime that is based upon Soylent Green movie. I know that movie exist, but I know better than to dab my foot into that territory because for some stupid reason (thanks a lot Youtube!) I found the ending first before even watching the entire movie. Okay, enough with that intro - let's talk about this anime shall we? So, what can I say about this anime? First of all, it's creepy. Yeah, I know there's a lot of kids on the photo above, but that doesn't discount the fact that this anime is hold a dark banner under its name.

Now, let me set up the whole story of this anime without giving too much of information about it. We got these three kids; Emma, Norman and Ray - the star student living in an orphanage called Grace Field House. These kids are wise beyond their age and seems like a well-rounded kids. They were obedient, nice and friendly with other kids. For a while, things seems to be all games and fun for them at the orphanage. However, there were some odd exams and with that place being an orphanage and all - kids tends to come and go at any given time.

Innocence were broken one day, when one of the younger kids were going away and left their toys at the orphanage. Emma and Norman decided to retrieve it and went outside in order to give it back. However, it's beyond their wildest imagination of what is happening once they're outside the younger kid was not being given to a new family, but instead - given as a sacrifice to a faceless monsters. Shocked by this revelation, you can only imagine how these youngster are feeling once they had to go back to the orphanage they fondly call as home all of these years.

So, that's the brief summary for this anime. I'm pretty sure I don't have to tell you more. You can guess what's coming next. My only advice is to not watch it with others coz you don't want to be bawling your eyes out with them watching.

Rating: 3.7/5.0 (I'm not really a great fan of gory anime, so I can't a rating higher than this)

8. Yuru Camp△

picture credit: tinymelody.com

Year Released: Mac 2019

Date Watched: Nov 2019

Reason Why I Watched This: I was looking for an anime that have a simple, laid-back and chill anime this year and what a coincidence  - this anime also have that on it's title: Laid-back Camp.

Memorable Character: Shima Rin

My Review: 
As stated before, I was all for relaxing anime this year (with a few exception). This anime struck a chord with me as it's the most chill-back anime I seen in a while. Now, why did I say that? Well, for starter - this anime have zero interest in romance or being action packed. It focuses more on the sitting-by-the-fire-like-old-people chill crowd and the activities that they do while camping around the mountains areas. This anime have a lot of other characters, but for some reason only Shima Rin caught my attention. I don't know what it is - maybe her couldn't care less attitude, or the fact that this girl always ties her hair in a bun like an obasan 'old lady' (ouu, my kind woman), but there's something about her that make her distinguishable than other characters. Also, did I mention that she likes to travels alone using her mini scooter and can built her own tent when the occasion calls for it? Hell yeah to independent woman. Anyways, I finished this anime in about two days and I didn't regret it one bit. 

So, for those who are looking for laid-back anime to fill up their time - this one might be for you! 

Rating: 3.9/5.0 (There's 2nd second season coming. I'm pretty interested to see where their next journey is)

9. Yamishibai 7

picture credit: medium.com

Year Released: 2013 - present

Date Watched: June 2019 

Reason Why I Watched This: Catching up with the latest season from this series.

Memorable Character: None

My Review: 
I had reviewed about this anime on this post before, and now I had come back for more. Yamishibai S07 have finally finished airing in Japan and I found some of the episodes is pretty hair-raising. Like my previous review, I would also be leaving a couple of my favorite episodes from the series.

1.) "Delivery - Haitatsu"(S07E01) - A guy agrees to house-sit for his friend for a few days. The friend later call him to inform him that a package will arrives later that day. When the package finally arrives, he signs for it only to be told by the same friend that another package will be arriving the same hour next day. He stay behind the house for another day to pick up the package but suddenly grew suspicious of the content inside once his friend fail to pick up his phone.

2.) "Paintings - Kaiga"(S07E04) - A guy walks into an art exhibit because it's free and he's bored. Once he entered 'A New World' exhibit, he found a strange receptionist in front of the door who told him to take no photo while he's inside. However, the guy did take the picture anyway when she's not looking. He uploaded the picture on his social media and suddenly felt watched.

3.) "Public Phone - Koshudenwa"(S07E07) - A door-to-door saleswoman gets a call from her frantic little sister who is using a public phone. Her sister told her to come quickly or else something is gonna get her. Suddenly, a scream can be heard. The saleswoman found the public phone and discover a lot of phones on the floor. Suddenly, the phone rings. She picks it up and hear her sister voice on the other end. To makes matters worse, a strange creepy figures begin to pound on the public phone door. She hear a voice from the public phone instructing her to use the phone card on the top of the phone and call someone else for help...

4.) "The Woman in the Elevator"(S07E09) - A woman and her son enter the elevator that already have a man carrying a garbage bag on it. The son begins to whine for candy, making the woman loses her composure. Then, the elevator suddenly gets stuck. The man instructed the woman to not to worry and press the emergency button. The surveillance man told them that he saw all three of them; and also another woman standing beside the man. Curious, the woman told the man that there's only three people inside. The elevator suddenly open again and the three of them went outside. The woman suddenly remembers that it's not a garbage day that day.

5.) "Refrigerator"(S07E13) - The story of a family told in a perspective of one of the appliances in their house; refrigerator. This quickly went to dark pretty quick.

That's so far my favorites out from this season. I can't believe that this series already collected about 7 seasons already. There wasn't a lot of episodes that I'm crazy about, except for those mentioned above. Nevertheless, I'm still excited to see what next year have in store for me.

Rating: 3.2/5.0 (not the strongest season, but enough with decent episodes)

10. Restaurant to Another World (Isekai Shokudo)

picture credit: pinterest.com

Year Released: Sept 2017

Date Watched: Nov 2019

Reason Why I Watched This: I realize that this anime is going to be another yet Shokugeki ni Soma based on the synopsis. I love food-based anime as much as laid-back anime, so this one is really right up on the alley with me.

Memorable Character:  -

My Review: 
There's a lot of food involves in this anime. From simple curry rice, to spaghetti, parfait and all type of western cuisine - you can find it here. The story is about a restaurant call 'The Western Restaurant Nekoya', a small restaurant situated in unsuspecting corner of a Tokyo shopping district. This restaurant offers a lot of western style cuisine and opens during business hours though closed during holidays and weekends. However, unbeknownst to anyone - the restaurant also open on Saturdays in which it opens a special doorways to another world inhabited by elves, dragons, animal men and other amazing creatures. Many of these creatures later become patrons to the restaurants. 

Simply said, this anime is a feel good ones. It doesn't have a lot of dialogue except "Dear customer, what do you like to have?" or "It will be serve to you shortly" and friendly conversations among patrons about their favorite dishes from the restaurant. This anime was aired around 2 years ago, but I don't mind if it's making comeback anytime soon.

Rating: 3.4/5.0

11. The Helpful Fox Senko-san

picture credit: funimation.com

Year Released: Mac 2019

Date Watched: Nov 2019

Reason Why I Watched This: Yet another feel-good anime that I feel the need to watch.

Memorable Character: Senko-san

My Review: 
The last time that I enjoy an anime which involves kitsune 'foxes' in it was 'Kamisama Hajimemashita' around 2012. It's been 7 long years since then and when I found this anime, I have a feeling that this might be something right to my alley. This anime tell a story about a young salaryman Kuroto Nakano who unhappy and have a very stressful life. His life mainly circulates around his office (in which he works around 12-14 hours a day) and home. One night, after another long day at work - Kuroto come home only to find a 800 years old demifox by the name of Senko - waiting for him. She's sent there solely for Kuroto so he re-learn how to live and find happiness again.

There wasn't much comments on this series as it's pretty simple from start to finish. I guess if there's like a small, small complaint about this series would be about how repetitive some of the episodes can be. Here's how it goes down... Kuroto comes home from work -> Senko-san greeted him -> Kuroto takes a shower and a bath -> Senko-san prepares the meal -> She watches him eat -> rub-rub Senko-san tail time!!. I mean, there's nothing wrong with that, but after 9 episodes - it does makes you wanna rip the hair off from your head. Anyways, that's just me being just a little bit dramatic after not using profanity in this post for so long (refer my 1st Anime Crossed-off List here, you will understand). That's it guys for entry number 11. Now let's move on to the next one, shall we?

Rating: 3.5/5.0

12. Kaguya-sama: Love is War

picture credit: theouterheaven.net

Year Released: Jan 2019

Date Watched: Nov 2019

Reason Why I Watched This: Netflix recommendation.

Memorable Character: Kaguya Shinomiya & Miyuki Shirogane

My Review: 

With the demographic for anime is mostly aim for anime/manga fans are around 12-18 years old, it's no surprise that most of it are dominated by high school romances. Every season, fans would be presented with new romances that comes in every shapes and form. But, none of them are quite like this one. Shinomiya (the girl) and Shirogane (the guy) likes one another; but they're too shy to admit it. In a twisted, but kinda-sweet way - they decided to devise a plan to drive out confessions from one another. It's a simple anime with even more simplistic ideas - though when it comes to teenage and heartbreaks - there's only one clear winner.

So far I'm around episodes 7 in this anime. I found it a little bit boring after a while. I get it; this anime got a template that needed to be followed but there's few anime out there that had successfully done this without making me feel bored at all. There's something about this anime that makes it off putting a little. I'm not sure what it is, but I'm still looking forward to finish this series.

Rating: 3.9/5.0

13. Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku

picture credit: alphacoders.com

Year Released: Apr 2018

Date Watched: Nov 2019

Reason Why I Watched This: One of anime highlights from 2018. I gotta see what it's all about.

Memorable Character: Hirotaka Nifuji and Narumi Momose

My Review: 

Even though I am a self-proclaim otaku*, I'm not well-exposed to its world. Through a few researches here and there, I realizes just as human comes in all shapes and sizes; otaku is just the same. There are anime/manga otaku, cosplay otaku, game otaku, Idol & Jpop otaku, and the list goes on and on. This anime right here is the prime example of gamer otaku. Nifuji (the guy) and Narumi (the girl) are gamer otaku who works as salaryman in an undisclosed company. Their lifestyle as an otaku doesn't make it easy for them to find love. Both had known each since they were both young, but it wasn't until Narumi arrival at the same workplace as Nifuji that they started thinking about dating people with same interest (otaku). Eventually, Nifuji propose to Narumi that they should become boyfriend-girlfriend to save them from later trouble. 

So far I only watch around 6 episodes from this anime and my initial thoughts about it were good. I think it's quite interesting anime that touches on otaku (a pretty sensitive topic for some people, even among Japanese) and how they deals with struggles to be accepted among society. I don't have much to complains about this anime and I'm looking forward to finish it soon!

Note: 
Otaku: People who are obsessed with a hobby to the extent it becomes a major part of their identity.

14. Kobayashi-san Chi no Dragon Maid 

picture credit: Google images

Year Released: Jan 2017

Date Watched: Oct 2019

Reason Why I Watched This: One of the most highlighted anime on 2017. I know its been two years, but I gotta check what it's all about.

Memorable Character: Tohru (the dragon)

My Review: 

I seen the review about this anime two years ago but never care to check it out. That is... until now. After subscribing to Netflix a couple months ago, I discovered this anime and decide to give it ago. I mean, what's there to lose, right? The first episodes went by so fast and by the time I realize it - I'm already at episodes 6! Now that's what I call a good anime... 

The story is about a salary woman by the name Kobayashi who works in an office. Kobayashi is a closeted otaku (ehem ehem, sound familiar? refer no.13) and one of her interest are dragon girls in maid outfits (I guess everyone have their own preferences, right?). Another hobby that she have (aside from dragon girls in maid outfits) are drinking and eating at a bar with her co-worker. As fate have it, in one drunken night she made a promise with someone (or something) to take them home. Guess who showed up in front of her doorstep the next morning? A big-fucking-size-of-a-building dragon! Kobayashi was stocked, but she allows the dragon to stay with her in her one-bedroom apartment as part of their pact. The dragon even have a name; Tohru. Hence, begins the life of a dragon and its new master in the same apartment cohabitation and comedy ensues.

So, I finished this anime is just 2 days. It wasn't a hard anime to follow nor makes me queasy after watching it for so long. In fact, I dare to stay that I quite enjoy myself. Honestly, I'm also looking forward for the second season to come in 2020.

Rating: 4.0/5.0.

15. Tada-kun Can't Fall in Love

picture credit: wallpaper cave

Year Released: April 2018

Date Watched: Nov 2019

Reason Why I Watched This: Synopsis reels me in.

Memorable Character: -

My Review: 

The last but not least anime in this review is 'Tada-kun Can't Fall in Love'. Frankly, I still haven't finish watching this anime but I already watched the 1st and 2nd episodes. I don't have much to complain and think it's pretty good. This anime come from the same company that made 'Himotou Umaru-chan' and 'Senko-san'. Since I'm a fan of both aforementioned series,  I'm quite excited to see what the rest of this anime could offer me.

Rating: -/5.0.

So, I guess that's it guys for my anime crossed-off list for 2018/2019. It's already November 2019 so I might do my next anime cross-off list in 2020. Please look forward for it. Thank you for reading this entry and have a nice day! Jya-nee.

Yours Truly,

Mimi Said