01. The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity (Kaoru Hana wa Rin to Saku) (Ep. 5-11) – The opposite-side-of-the-tracks friendship/romance between Rintarou and Kaoruko sparks character growth for both of them, as well as for their friend groups. It’s an incredibly solid piece of work, full of positivity.
Anime is often not the place to find good parenting on display. Rintarou’s mom, Kyouko, is a different breed; she is really supportive and amazing.
(Streaming at Netflix)
02. SPY x FAMILY Season 3 (Ep. 38-46) – After many episodes of light confections, SPY x FAMILY finally serves up some meat! The long-overdue flashback story of Twilight’s youth did a lot to renew our interest in the show. And the bus hijacking arc was a great showcase for many characters, especially Anya and Damien.
(Streaming at Crunchyroll)
03. Mechanical Marie (Kikaijikake no Marie) (Ep. 1-11) – Marie takes on a job as a maid and bodyguard, but has to pretend to be a robot because her new master has severe trust issues. It’s all pretty absurd, but also sufficiently funny and quite sweet. For example, the way Arthur always carries a bunch of extra AA batteries for Marie – it’s a stupid recurring joke, but ultimately it shows that he values her and really cares for her.
(Streaming at Crunchyroll)
04. Tojima Wants to Be a Kamen Rider (Toujima Tanzaburou wa Kamen Rider ni Naritai) (Ep. 1-10) – Ugly as heck. Imagine a bunch of grown adults with incurable chuunibyo syndrome, finding out their fantasies are real. The anime is fairly well written, it’s amusing, and sometimes even thoughtful, but some of the fights are too long.
(Streaming at Crunchyroll)
05. Dad is a hero, Mom is a spirit, I’m a reincarnator. (Chichi wa Eiyuu, Haha wa Seirei, Musume no Watashi wa Tenseisha.) (Ep. 1-11)
(Streaming at Crunchyroll)
06. Inexpressive Kashiwada and Expressive Oota (Kao ni Denai Kashiwada-san to Kao ni Deru Oota-kun) (Ep. 1-10)
(Streaming at Crunchyroll)
07. May I Ask for One Final Thing? (Saigo ni Hitotsu dake Onegai shitemo Yoroshii deshou ka) (Ep. 1-10) – The idea of a high society lady who loves to brawl is certainly novel. And Scarlet looks so cool too, so at first this anime seemed like a lot of fun. But somehow the storytelling doesn’t flow well; there are revelations out of nowhere, like they’re trying to force some depth into the plot. And yet, Scarlet still acts like she can solve all their problems with only her fists.
(Streaming at Crunchyroll)
08. Li’l Miss Vampire Can’t Suck Right (Chanto Suenai Kyuuketsuki-chan) (Ep.1-8) – This anime really doesn’t do anything for me. I don’t get the attraction of Luna. So she actually turns chibi for real when she tries to suck blood? And why is the male lead always missing the lower half of his facial features?
(Streaming at Crunchyroll)