Again, I’ve forgotten to go back and recap my season until it’s too late…
Spring 2019 was pretty great for me, so I still don’t quite understand rumblings this was a terrible season.
At this point, you know the drill: best to worst. I’m still missing a few episodes so I’ll put down my episode count (as of writing this post) in square brackets.
Bungou Stray Dogs 3
[Finished]
It’s probably not going to get the same acclaim as season 2, but then again that’s the act it has to follow.
Still, it came out on top for a reason: it fleshed out key players without stretching itself thin, it introduced a character that’s actually been around for longer than viewers think (I knew who it was, but remember, I didn’t restrict myself to only legal manga when relevant chapters were being serialised) and it gave us the character I jokingly call The Husbando We Need (not the one we want) – Katai. That’s more than enough to keep me happy from week to week and even though there was a good enough sense of closure, the story was really working to wrap up loose ends in the final 10 minutes or so.
Sarazanmai
[Finished]
For a work about kappa stealing butt balls, I sure enjoyed it a lot…
Sarazanmai felt like it didn’t need space to breathe in the first episode, but at the end it might’ve worked better with another episode or two (and maybe the addition of info from the Twitter and/or manga). I mean, what exactly is that small disc form called? How were Reo and Mabu revived? These are big questions, folks. (Also, I ended up reading spoilers before I watched the finale…I don’t blame anyone for it, though, because I read them willingly.)
Even with those complaints, it was the first thing I would watch on a Friday, which is an easy litmus test for saying “I liked it”. Admittedly, Sarazanmai was the only Friday seasonal I had this season, but I’d still make a beeline for it even when behind on other shows.
Now, say it with me: “Da-da-da-da-da-darkness!” (give or take a few “da”s)
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba
[12 eps, so 1 ep. short of the 1st cour]
If you’ve been following the collab, you’ll know I generally liked this, but it started to go downhill with Zenitsu (aka “Dorito Boy”) properly contributing. That said, great visuals should never be underestimated – the anime seems to be gathering eyes from that factor alone – and being consistently sound is always a good thing, although a safe one.
Even though Ply seems to have left the collab for good at this stage, I’m handling coordination of the rest, so expect ep. 10’s post (also my responsibility) soon.
Fruits Basket
[11 eps, was watching episode 12 when I remembered I had to write this post up!]
The shine’s starting to come off as we go into the 2nd cour of season 1 and through remaining zodiac members. I guess you have to remember even though I can see why people love the manga, they might be seeing it with rose-tinted glasses to a greater degree than I am because it might’ve been (one of) their first anime/manga.
That said, I don’t think the story’s lost its charm over the years…and it’s a strong showing for this season, even if it ranks in this post’s lower half (I’d consistently vote for this over Sarazanmai or Demon Slayer if I only had 3 choices for best of the season – those two and Furuba, as I’ve heard this series being called, are similar in the quality brought to the table, I think. I admit their placements in this post are spur-of-the-moment “did I like this anime better upon retrospect or not?” choices). Kagura didn’t age well as a tsundere stereotype and I haven’t been able to replicate the motivational mood I got into from watching episode 1, which slightly bums me out.
I’m accustomed to the transformation clouds already though. Is that a good thing…?
Shield Hero
[Finished]
After the re-evaluation, Shield Hero has become the most inconsistent show in this ranking. Even though it was a net positive experience because you get what you come for, some very questionable things happened…the worst part would have to be the fight with the Pope, which is basically everyone standing around and commenting on the things going on around them, plus Naofumi pulling skills from thin air even more so than usual. The amount of closure here is on par with BSD‘s though – I give it credit for that.
One Punch Man 2
[11 eps]
Essentially a season of filler outside the Tournament Arc, Monster Association and Garou shenanigans. I’ve seen some bloggers side with Garou more than the heroes, which is probably as a result of Draco in Leather Pants being popular in the Anglosphere. Genos and Sonic weren’t around much, which adds to my slightly dour mood regarding this highly-anticipated follow-up to one of my favourite anime/manga of all time.
The story hasn’t really suffered – it’s trying its best to build up to Saitama’s fights – but I know I’m repeating myself when I say “it ain’t the same anymore”.
I’ve still got RobiHachi and backlog to clean up otherwise. Crunchyroll’s been buffering significantly more than usual lately and I haven’t pinned down the cause 100%, which is why I’m moving slower than I’d like on Fruits Basket. I already wait a week more than other people to watch episodes though, so even when watching simulcasts I shouldn’t be in any hurry (although sometimes I can seem overly stressed for that reason).
The first episode of summer – To the Abandoned Sacred Beasts – is occurring 2 days from this post, so expect first impressions soon!
How’s your spring season been? Due to Derek’s request, I still have to check out Senryuu Shoujo (it doesn’t seem to be licensed in my region, but maybe it’ll resurface later) but was there anything else worth seeing that I missed?