It's May already
Manga:
Shibuya Near Family continues to be good. Koji Kumeta seems to be taking time off, so there was only one chapter in the last month. A
Iwakutsuki Bukken no Yakuro-san is a short (19 chapters) cute read about a ghost waifu. For what it is, it was alright. B-
After Being Executed With the Words "Necromancers Are Disgusting," I Will Start My New Life as a Demon is one of those otome isekai manga with horrible long titles... this one's ๐ฏ๐๐๐ถ. Unfortunately it seems to be a romance with the evil but secretly caring demon lord. Mehhhh D+
Anime:
I have watched the first half of Gundam 00's first season. The politics are funny. It basically takes Mithril from Full Metal Panic and makes their goals more ridiculous - while also being completely serious about it. But the show itself is fun, and the visuals aged quite well. Also, I discovered that the album the ED song is from (The Back Horn - Pulse) is actually quite good. Apparently the show goes off the rails soon-ish, so I guess I'll see how much of a shitshow it will become B
The Namek arc in Dragon Ball Z is very strong. There's still... 200 episodes to go. A
A Ninja and an Assassin Under One Roof is the new Studio Shaft anime, and unfortunately is nowhere as adventurous as their peak (beyond the start of E1, which is done in an authentic early 1970s animation style). The show itself is fine. C+
Recovery of an MMO Junkie is something Animefeminist.com fawns over, and the first impression confirms their views. Moriko is a very relatable protagonist for anyone who is an adult that feels directionless in life (and got hooked on being terminally on the computer) - but I am too early into the show to comment if it's worth watching.
Bakemonogatari is a show that, for the most part, has not lived up to its sordid reputation (unfortunately "for the most part"). In fact, it's significantly more interesting than what I expected. I'm reserving my judgement until I see where the story goes, if anywhere, beyond character arcs. For better or worse, this is Shaft at its peak.
Western Animation
Gravity Falls is still fun. Though was the Dipper in love aspect of the show really necessary? Ah well. B+
Not mentioning stuff where all I can really say is "I/we've been continuing it"...
My mom and I finally finished Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water. I really do wonder if that's the single anime we spent the longest on watching. It was a good show but the epilogue caught me a bit off guard with the whole age gap romance thing.
We also finished the Tamako Market specials โ turns out that the second half is significantly better than the first half, although not like spectacular or anything. The first three of the six specials are focused on Dera's bar while the last three are about Choi being silly goofy.
By myself I watched some more Angelic Layer but decided to put that on pause for now, and then I decided to dig through my long-term paused list for things to give a second shot. I ended up binging through Angel Beats, Quintessential Quintuplets, and Engaged to the Unidentified โ none of them are sliced bread necessarily, but I didn't have anything better to do.
Engaged to the Unidentified has just zero chemistry in the lead couple, more accurately the boy has like zero personality and just feels super out of place in the show. Both Engaged to the Unidentified and Quintessential Quintuplets had some Anime Shit โ you know what I mean โ enough to bother me but not too much for me to stop watching.
Angel Beats feels like it at times tries too hard to pull on your heartstrings, at the same time as it at other times just immediately undercuts any drama or tension with some gag โ but one thing I notice about Angel Beats watching it now compared to when I first tried it as a neeb (noob weeb) is that feels very clearly inspired by Haruhi, right? And even with its faults, it did eventually manage to get me somewhat invested in the world and plot. Although Angel Beats also suffers like Love Live from just having Too Fucking Many Characters. Who are half of these people!!!
I also tried to watch another episode of Uzaki-chan โ which I had apparently given a three episode try when it first came out โ but I could only last a few minutes. Nope. Big boobs and being annoying is not a personality, certainly not one that makes for good comedy. Who is this for?!
I also saw the nineteenth episode of Hetalia, a show I haven't watched since I was a neeb, and it's... fine...? Like it's the type of thing you can watch occasionally, but the thing is when there's so much else out there what even is "occasionally", right?
Also from the paused list I've started watching High School Fleet (or Haifuri). I gave that a three-episode try when I was a neeb, and decided it wasn't for me, but I gave it a second try a few months ago and figured that it wasn't actually half-bad. So now I've started watching it regularly, pacing myself rather than binging, and yeah, it's fun enough. Like it's still got some Anime Shit, and my past self still wasn't wrong to call it "Girls & Panzer but with ships and also not nearly as good", but G&P is a high bar to pass. Haifuri has moments of genuine tension, it also has funny moments, it's got kitty cats (hell yeah), and it's also got some moments of just being a bit silly but in a way where you aren't quite sure how seriously it's taking itself.
So yeah, fun stuff.
I've also lately found myself hankering for PreCure and Tokyo Mew Mew again. I've actually been contemplating organizing watch parties for those on Blorptube at some point, along with a number of other anime.