01. Attack on Titan (Shingeki no Kyojin) Season 3 (ep. 38-44) – Our downtrodden group of protagonists is mostly fighting humans now, instead of titans. It’s a disturbing development and I’m glad the show aptly portrays how troubling this is for the cast. Unlike previous seasons, which were big on action spectacle but slow on answering questions, this one is more talky, but it’s rolling fast and furious with the revelations!
(streaming at Crunchyroll)

02. BANANA FISH (ep. 1-10) – My number 2 show happens to be another dark, violent production, in which the good guys are outnumbered and their prospects bleak.

The original BANANA FISH manga took place in 1980s New York, I believe. For the adaptation, the setting has been updated to present day, with mixed results. A lot of story elements, such as Chinatown gangs, mafia families, and overt military/government corruption, strongly suggest a less modern environment; and then a Prius will drive by and it’s jarring. Minor details aside, the plot and the characters are engaging and BANANA FISH is one of the shows I most look forward to every week.

03. Free! -Dive to the Future- (ep. 1-9) – Now that our main guys are scattered in several different locales and the cast has ballooned in size, the third Free! series has definitely been less enthralling to me than its predecessors. In particular, I was not that invested in Ikuya’s angst and gloom, which has been the primary focal point for most of the season. Also, even though I understand the appropriateness of referencing The Little Mermaid in a swimming anime, I couldn’t help but have trouble believing that teen-aged boys would be reading and talking about a children’s book!

It seems like we’re moving beyond that storyline finally. Episode 9 featured yet more character introductions, multiple food-porn images, as well as competitive swimming, and it was the best episode so far.
(streaming at Crunchyroll)

04. Planet With (ep. 1-9) – A strange anime with aliens, UFOs, teenagers, sentai rangers, and mecha battles, plus a dopey-faced giant purple cat voiced by Koyama Rikiya heading up the opposition against the faction led by Generalissimo, a white dog voiced by Wakamoto Norio!

In spite of the weirdness, the story is surprisingly not that hard to follow. It helps, of course, that the characters are well-written and likeable.
(streaming at Crunchyroll)

05. ASOBI ASOBASE – workshop of fun – (ep. 1-8) – A really crazy, crude, and absurdly funny series starring 3 charismatic schoolgirls.

Don’t be fooled by the sweet as honey OP (I almost dropped it after seeing that); it is decidedly not an accurate representation of the show’s content. On the other hand, the death metal ED, also performed by the same seiyuu, is totally f**kin’ awesome!
(streaming at Crunchyroll)

06. SWORD GAI: the Animation Part II (ep. 1-7) – I admit I’m curious to know what’s the deal with the Shoshidai organization, and that’s the reason I eventually continued with this second part of SWORD GAI. Part I was kind of messy, and the 2 characters I cared about, ahem, pretty much completed their storylines by the end of it, so I almost didn’t come back for the sequel.
(streaming at NETFLIX)

07. Phantom in the Twilight (ep. 1-8)
(streaming at Crunchyroll)

08. Angels of Death (Satsuriku no Tenshi) (ep. 1-9) – Really fun and interesting at first, in a black humour kind of way. But now that Zack is less active in the story and Rachel has to retrace her steps and endure some sort of existential hallucinations, it feels a bit more tedious.
(streaming at Crunchyroll)

09. Angolmois: Record of Mongol Invasion (Genkou Kassenki) (ep. 1-7)
(streaming at Crunchyroll)

10. 100 Sleeping Princes and the Kingdom of Dreams (Yume Oukoku to Nemureru 100 Nin no Ouji-sama) (ep. 1-7) – Given the choice of the 1000 Musketeers anime or the 100 Princes anime in the otome game adaptation category this season, I decided this one would be the less daunting of the two. Interestingly, it is the anime-original character Kihel who is the most fun to watch. After seeing how dull the other guys tend to be, I’m glad they put Kihel in as one of the lead roles.

11. Cells at Work! (Hataraku Saibou) (ep. 1-8) – This semi-educational anime depicting the workings of the human body is certainly creative and informative, but it’s actually a little too educational for my taste. I probably wouldn’t have watched it at all if my sister hadn’t been curious about it. Now that her interest is waning too, there’s not much to keep me here.
(streaming at Crunchyroll)