1. Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Die Neue These – Collision (Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu: Die Neue These – Gekitotsu) (3rd Season) – The overall theme of democracy vs dictatorship, explored through engrossing character and plot developments, continues in the third installment of this eloquent space drama. I’m always impressed with how smart and well-written this show is!
I actually admire and empathize with Yang on a deeply personal level. His continued commitment to his duties, in spite of his distaste for his job; because the outcomes would be far worse if he weren’t there – I feel it. His frustrated declaration, “That’s it. I’m quitting for real this time!” was so cathartic!
(streaming at Crunchyroll)
2. KAGUYA-SAMA: LOVE IS WAR -Ultra Romantic- (Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai: Ultra Romantic) (3rd Season) – This new season ventures into the absurd more than ever, and it is definitely the most fun I’ve had with KAGUYA-SAMA yet!
Just because HYPNOSIS MIC is not on air this season, that doesn’t mean we have to want for rap battles! From our meagre list alone, epic rap battles feature prominently in not only this show’s ep. 5, but also ya Boy KONGMING! as well as Nanaraki. It’s almost like, which shows don’t have a rap episode nowadays!
My sister and I laughed so hard (and felt so called out) when Iino’s motivational ikemen voice track in ep. 1 turned out to be none other than our faves, Umehara Yuuichirou and Saito Sōma, hamming it up! Haha, why doesn’t that thing exist in real life?
(streaming at Crunchyroll)
3. SPY x FAMILY
(streaming at Crunchyroll)
4. ya Boy KONGMING! (Paripi Koumei) – It’s the Tale of the Three Kingdoms meets the contemporary music biz when Zhuge Kongming gets his dying wish for a peaceful next life granted, in the form of an isekai trip to modern day Japan. He befriends and becomes an immediate fan of aspiring singer-songwriter EIKO; and before long, Kongming has a job tending bar at a nightclub and is applying his wisdom and battle stratagems to further her musical career.
(streaming at HIDIVE)
5. Summer Time Rendering (Summertime Render)
(streaming at HIDIVE)
6. Deaimon: Recipe for Happiness – Because of Nagomu’s general appearance, his voice actor, the fact that he’s a musician moving to a different city at the start of the show, and the underlying theme of carrying on a family tradition, I can’t help but be reminded of last year’s Those Snow White Notes. But whereas Setsu was stoic and intense all the time, this guy is like his half-assed antithesis. He’s low-key inept enough that his parents are looking to eventually entrust their business to someone else, instead of their son.
I’ve also started to wonder how he hasn’t noticed that two people in his life, who may be related, have the same last name. But then I realized this is Nagomu we’re talking about; I wouldn’t put it past this chump to not know the full names of any of his friends!
(streaming at Crunchyroll)
7. Heroines Run the Show (Heroine Taru Mono! Kiraware Heroine to Naisho no Oshigoto) – The idol duo starring alongside Hiyori here is LIPxLIP, who were featured in HoneyWorks 10th Anniversary “LIP×LIP Film×Live” movie (also known as Kono Sekai no Tanoshimikata: Secret Story Film.) Hiyori happens to attend school with Aizou and Yuujirou and becomes their manager-in-training, partly because she is not gaga over them. Heroines Run the Show is pretty light and amusing, and Hiyori is certainly more likeable than the 2 guys. Those eyebrows though.
Unfortunately, LIPxLIP’s songs are some of the most horrendous idol music I’ve ever had the displeasure to hear in an anime.
(streaming at Crunchyroll)
8. Love All Play – The second badminton anime in as many seasons. This one is a more straightforward high school sports scenario, and at least in the beginning, I found it quite similar to this season’s other sports anime, AO ASHI.
Love All Play is quite heavy on the gameplay aspect. By comparison, Salaryman’s Club featured a greater proportion of off-court content, and that suited my tastes better.
(streaming at Crunchyroll)
9. The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 2 (Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari Season 2) – It’s okay. It’s totally not bad, but lately we’ve had much less time for anime, and I don’t know if I’m interested enough to finish watching this.
(streaming at Crunchyroll)
10. AO ASHI – We mostly watch this one while we’re busy doing other things, such as eating. I enjoy the episodes featuring Ashito’s mom and older brother considerably more than the soccer episodes. Too many of the characters at his new team have nasty personalities. I don’t know if that’s realistic or not, but I simply tend to prefer uplifting interactions over unpleasant ones.
(streaming at Crunchyroll)
Also watching, sort of:
Nanaraki ~Seven Lucky Gods~ – Not sure why this strange, barely-animated show exists, but there are some big-name seiyuu involved, and my sister is following it.
(streaming on YouTube)