There was way too much good stuff this season, so putting down some final thoughts for each will be pretty hard…

Boueibu is still missing an episode due to its delay, plus Nobunaga no Shinobi and Boku no Hero Academia are continuing, but otherwise these should cover the entirety of the show. If not specified, they should be from best to worst.

Standard-length episode shows:

• Hinamatsuri: It got very close to perfect with some parts – the ending for episode 6, the entirety of episode 10 and the ending of episode 11 (both Nitta’s “I want to take care of Anzu, rather than Hina” scene and the fact Hina got lost in the mountains) really got me emotionally invested in this show. It was initially not quite as perfect though, since it took a while to get used to who was fulfilling what position (initially I wasn’t quite on board with Hitomi being a bartender, but I got over it pretty quickly because the “girly club” bit had sold me on the show anyway, plus I expected Mao to show up earlier than she did). It will be sorely missed.
• Boku no Hero Academia 3: The loss of All Might definitely shakes things up in this show’s world, so how anyone – especially Endeavour and other pro heroes, plus Deku and Bakugou – will recover from this is anyone’s guess…I don’t think All Might’s final fight can really be topped by anything else in the rest of the show…can it…?
• Rokuhoudou Yotsuiro Biyori: I’m still marvelling at how much I scurried to watch it the day it went live every week – it’s a foodie show, so it’s not my style, remember? Nonetheless, there are some other great non-food-related things in Rokuhoudou – there’s some intrigue about what’s going on with Yakyou and Tsunozaki which gets wrapped up quite well (it left us hanging but there was enough to feel there was some level of decent closure), there’s humour (especially when Gure is involved!) and there’s the calming atmosphere that constantly keeps you coming back, much like the customers of the cafe. Another constant presence that will be sorely missed and even though this isn’t as technically great or accurate with the humour as Hinamatsuri is, I’d count it among my personal favourites simply on the basis on how cosy and welcoming it is (plus Tokitaka – Tokitaka is always hot).
• Binan Koukou Chikyuu Boueibu Happy Kiss!: A season where my precious magical boys end up at the bottom of the list means that this was an overachiever of a season! But to be honest, Happy Kiss is a lot more lackadaisical than its predecessor, to the point where Karandi (the only other blogger who I consistently read opinions from regarding this show) clearly didn’t enjoy it and even I had some qualms with how uninvolved monsters were after episode 4. Maybe I’ve just been blind to how bad it really is due to pouring over too much personal investment into it…well, the show always picks up for the ending, so not everything is lost just yet.
• Mahou Shoujo Ore: This show’s off-the-wall nature is its greatest strength and yet its greatest weakness. It’s unpredictable in all the right ways for a comedy (like the toast gag was, before episode 10 ran the joke into the ground for me) but also inconsistent with its logic (are there 6 Fujimotos, or just one????). Even still, between catching Icchokusen Mokon illustrations from the EDs and hosting the collab for this show on the Spellbook, I think, for all my gripes, it’s still quite the ride to go through and I came out of it enjoying it more than I thought I would.

Due to Boueibu‘s delay, there won’t be a proper wrap-up post for the Spellbooks and Horoscopes collab, so while I’m at it, thanks once again to Astral for tolerating me and my hectic schedule for an entire season (and then some!). I think I’ll need a break from long-term collabs, since it was pretty taxing to work on it from week to week.

Short-episode shows:

• Nobunaga no Shinobi Anegawa Ishiyama-hen: This show’s just started a new arc as of episode 62 involving a monk with the shiniest head you’ll ever see, so I don’t think it’s changed too much over 3 seasons. It’s still stupid and ridiculous…I’ll keep loving it for that. Apparently the OP will switch to a new VALSHE song soon, so I’m excited! I really like what I’ve heard from VALSHE, although the Renka OPs are what drew me to the show and thus the best OPs.
• Omae wa Mada Gunma wo Shiranai (You Don’t Know Gunma Yet): It’s still my scrappy ol’ travel show, obvious touristy bits be damned. Hopefully it hasn’t suffered mid- or end-of-season decline, though… I watched this over a few days at the end of the season and while there seems to be more to it, it’s the sort of show where the ending’s completeness doesn’t really matter because most of the plots are self-contained. It’s pretty competent, but not something I’d recommend unless you want some edutainment on Gunma, since the “Gunma Truths” are a little annoying and the action pauses to ensure the audience knows what they are.

To catch up on sooner or later (in no particular order):

• Lupin III Part 5: Gotta check if Ami came back after that initial adventure…it’s continuing into the summer, so this’ll be one of the hardest to catch up with.
• Golden Kamuy: It already had a season 2 announced…
• Megalobox: Had a pretty favourable impression after watching the first episode, so gotta get back to it eventually.
• A whole bunch of other spring shows also fall into that category (plus all the Sanrio Boys jokes from the Spellbooks and Horoscopes collab piqued my interest in it again), but these are the best remaining shows so far.

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So, what are your opinions on the spring shows that I finished? Are there any other shows that haven’t had a shout-out here that you think I’d like or should avoid?

At this point in time, I’m done with Shiki and started Acchi Kocchi for the next TBR/W post. Golden Kamuy is currently after that (for reasons listed above) and then it’s the next TBR/W anime, No Game, No Life.