First Impressions: Summer 2018

It has been a crazy summer so far... we are already 5 weeks in and i haven't been able to start anything... that changes today

Same rules as always.
1. I wont be talking about any shows that are starting a new season UNLESS i have already watched all the previous stuff.
2. No shows with Brother/Sister in the titlte (and to a lesser extent Mother/Father) cause it's so often incesty and i don't like that.
3. No shows that are less then 20 minutes. sometimes i watch them but waiting week to week for a 3 min gag isn't enjoyable for me.
4. No card game shows/shows aimed to sell toys to children. I don't have an issue with these kinda of shows i just don't tend to enjoy.

I will do my best to give every show i have access to a shot but I make no promises about how long i stick around.

Returning shows

Kakuriyo Bead and Breakfast for Spirits
Still loving this show. the location and plot has changed a bit for the second cour but it's still cute and engaging.

My Hero Academia
Love it, it's great seeing some of the stuff i've already read in the manga animated and i can't wait for them to get to a certain scene

Persona 5
Keeps getting better with each week, i know people give it a hard time but i think it's doing a pretty good job of showing the story of the game in an anime.

Steins;Gate 0
Fantastic, absolutely heartbreaking and the slightly different intro song is just the perfect sum up of the show. can't wait to see what happens.

New shows:

HANEBADO!
Well this is some very intense badminton.
I will say right off the bat it is nice to see a anime with a mostly female cast playing a sport and not being hyper fanservice.
Like yes the animation pushes how far they can twist with each return but I think thats more for impact then titillation.
That all being said I'm not really a fan of sports anime. The ones i do enjoy present an interesting character. (Kuroko: A player with no presence making up for lack of basic skills, Haikyuu: A player who wants to be the ace but has to deal with the fact that he wont be growing anymore, Yuri on Ice: A skater who has no confidence in himself going on a journey of self discovery.)
Unfortunately for this show i'm not sure what angle they are going for... Player who was beaten so badly that they just want to do anything to improve? Player that that got tired of utterly destroying their opponents so they gave up the sport entirely? a small club with some potential but it just needs the right nurturing coach?
Right now it feels like it's going for all the things but that also makes it feel unfocused. The animation is good, but past that i didn't enjoy anything about this first episode. Not a bad show i just don't think it's for me.

ISLAND
Well.... thats a new take on tripping and landing in an awkward place.... though something tells me if that really happened the dude wouldn't just be midly confused but actually in a lot of pain.
Well... ok... It's a high production pervy show trying to legitimize itself by having this "mystery of the island" but lets be honest the main point of this is fanservice (i mean equal oppertunity fanservice i guess) and there is nothing wrong with that but it's not the kind of show I enjoy.
So yeah not bad but not a show i will continue.

Mr. Tonegawa Middle Management Blues
... I was hoping this show would be short... oh well...
Is this by the same guy who makes the mahjong anime? i mean this is card games... and other games i guess...
Ok so looked it up.... this show has a "parent" show called ultimate survivor kaiji (and i have now had spoiled for me thanks to the intreo of this show... and i guess the title)
so i'm going to count this as a sequel to a show i have not seen and pass for now... it looks a bit too goofy for me anyways.

How Not to Summon a Demon Lord
Oh it's an Issekai title... well this will either be cute and endearing or awful since i swear the genre doens't have a middle ground...but considering the amount of fanservice in the intro song and the rampant same face syndrome i'm kinda leaning towats the latter... still going to give it a small chance.
man this is irritating. So this should would be really cute and clever and funny if not forthat fact that he is constantly imagining these girls nakid and the fanservice is so over the top.... maybe the later episodes are better but this is just creepy. I'ts like Overlord but far more pervy so yeah.. fi thats what you want go for it.
Damn i was hopign this would be good.

Chio's School Road
It's a comedy show about a girl who games a lot? i guess... i couldn't make it past the 7 min mark.. too gross... bailing
Also looks like a more fanservicy nichijo so... i guess if thats what you want... i dunno...

Haruhana Recieve
. . . I'm not going to be watching anything this season at this rate.
Yeah fuck this I have Haikyuu
It's a beach volleyball anime that seems to enjoy ass level shots so yeah.... i'm good.

Angels of Death
Ok the art i've seen for this looks really good... please... please let this be watchable
Hm... not sure, I know it's based on an rpg maker game but not sure if I'm going to enjoy something so morbid
that being said...... I'll probably continue cause there is just so little right now and I suspect it'll get better with the world being revealed more.

Cells at work!
Have you wanted to see and Anthropomorphize working of the body but you didn't enjoy Osmosis Jones? then this show may be the one for you.
It's a silly little show with some great character designs and some funny body humor jokes (the sneeze was pretty darn good) however for me there want nothing to make me want to watch more. the one episode was enough. perhaps that'll change but for now it's a pass despite it not being a bad show.

Planet With
What if one day you woke up, you were living with weirdos but hey they feed you so thats good. Suddenly Aliens show and and the weirdos tell you to go fight.... but they don't mean the alien... no they want you to fight the 7 heroes who have gone to fight the alien.
The 3d is a bit mediocre... and i've never been a fan of mech anime... but the base concept and the amount of info given in this first episode was really interesting so i'll probably give it a few more.

The Master of Ragnarok & Blessed of Einherjar
And we are back to the fanservice bullshit.... and Isekai? Like creators realize that they can do a "transported to other world" show and not have it just be fanservice... I mean experiencing culture shock is a good one... or language barriers... different type of humanoids existing is cool (and please for the love of god there there is more to that then just animal ears)
Also, cause now i'm annoyed... wow this is probably the worst opening to an Isekai show i've ever seen... they start on a nekid girl i nthe middle of a lake singing...ok thats not what is bad
the intro song tells us in like 3 seconds how he got to the other world..
heres an idea... start with that, don't have the intro song play this episode and then you can end with nakid girl singing before big battle.
Anyways i'm being unfair and i haven't even gotten past the intro song...
... Yggdrasil is the tree that connects the worlds... not a world itself...
WOW all this exposition would have made a really interesting show BUT NOPE... i guess we just get a single exposition dump so we can get to the fanservice.
Question... why is this harem calling all the girls familial terms... we have brother and father so far...
Oh so... children are like slaves to the "patriarch" and little brothers or sisters are like.... slaves with opinions....
Like... I hate this so much... but part of me wonders how much worse can it get.
Oh boy the boob suffocation hug... man it didn't take long to get just that much worse.
Ok some positives.. he can call back the other world if certain cinditions are met... nice......... too bad i don't give a shit about this cause the only thing i know is from the intro song and sorry thats not enough to make me care.
Oh and right back into some bullshit.... and more characters with backstory that is explain instead of shown..... is this a sequel and i just don't know it?
checked MAL... NOPE it's not a sequel... it's just a shitty harem anime.
wow that was so bad... possibly the worst Isekai show opener i have ever seen (also like... i get this genre is really popular but omg I hope they slow down with it soon)

Music Girls
Omg it's K-on but with an Idol group.
So a girl who knows nothing about idols (or thinks idols mean something else) sees an idol group preform for the first time and instantly memorizes the choreography (which hey some people pick up that kind of thing fast... so had it just been that then whatever) but then she starts giving pointers on how some character were over extending limbs and magically this new girl who I want to reiterate has never seen or heard of an idol group before magically swoops in and fixes everything.... lets see hey magically be able to sing better then the rest of them with no training.
Ok... she grew up in a musical family... fair point.... but then she would have heard of idol groups... so still calling overall bullshit.
Oh hey they are actually showing what real idol fans age demo is... and yeah it's creepy seeing older men judge teenage girls based on their looks alone in animation too : D
YES... ok that ending made up for a lot of the bullshit. Still not going to watch the show but that was a great payoff. So if you want a show like Shirabako or New game! then yeah... this may be closer to that then some other idol shows... but man it took way too long to gt there.

Asobi Asobase
Oh what a pretty artstyle.... considering i've been seeing cruchy talk about butt lasers when referring to this show... something tells me the look is decptive.
Yep.... though I would have been fooled till 'that' scene if not for crunchy spoiling.... my own fauklt for taking 5 weeks to even give the new season of anime a try.
Not a huge fan of gag anime but if you want something that looks like it'll just be a slice of life funtimes but is just... comedy... then maybe this is for you.

Holmes of Kyoto
Please be good please be good please be good...
OMG... this was so good.... I wont be surprised it's my fav of the season. I am so happy right now.
Ok so theres a worker in an antique shop who has the nik-name Holmes. He is very good at apprasiing stuff and when Aoi first steps into his store he sizes her up perfectly. this is a story about her starting to work at that store and the mysteries they solve together.
The art is great, perfect balance of comedy and serious moments. shoujo sparkles everywhere... I am so happy i'll be able to enjoy this over the summer.
Oh man i was feeling like such a grouch this was such a breath of fresh air.

Phantom in the Twilight
Is this a cafe show run by a vampire? if thats what this is then i'm going to have a good time.
I know there are like a bunch of cafe shows but... I just love them most of the time?
Ok so it's half cafe show/ half mythical... uh...magical (?) creatures solve problems... I am 100% good with this.

Angolmois: Record of Mongol Invasion
The way this show is animated is stunning however it does not take very long to get extremely violent.
Seems like it could be an interesting telling of the events in the title but the violence is just a bit too much for me and i think it's just gunna get worse from here.

Lord of Vermillion: The Crimson King
People are fighting... it's very red...
oh man just when you think there cant be anymore characters they just keep adding more and killing them off...
Ok so we get a little backstory... sounds kills everyone... well vaporizes? anyways most people are dead but some are not for reasons? oh wait maybe not? looks like city still has a lost of people... anyways...
uh.... he gets hurt and then powers activate? It seems like it's a neat concept... but it also seems like it's a huge cast and I get the feeling the ending wont be satisfying. maybe when it's done it'll be a good marathonable show but week to week I feel like it's going to be cliffhanger central.

Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs
Please be less then 20 mins.... please...
Fffffff... ok well... lets give it a shot...
at least 4 panty shots in the intro song... honestly that was less then i expected in a show where every episode is the hot spring episode.
OK japan... i have now seen this in a few different shows... why lense flares to cover things. like they are ina hot spring. Do steam...
Anyways so the gimmick is that this psychic can drive away spirits with one punch... but this time the ghost is a girl... and punching girls is a no go.
cute concept... too bad it's full of fanservice bullshit... i just... i can't

We Rent Tsukumogami
Ever wanted something but wished you could just rent it? well this cute little shop has you covered... only what they rent may just sprout legs and walk back to the store. See the items they rent are actually yokai.
Seems like they also deal in request dealing with this certain kind of yokai.
Hm... With a premise like that I thought I would enjoy this... but I didn't.
Didn't like the look or the characters, the plot is whatever... don't love the "we are siblings but not related so it's ok" plot line they are putting in even if they are keeping each other at a distance.
This just didn't resonate... well i guess that happens occasionally.

Starlight Promises
.... 5 weeks in and only ep 1 is out?
*blink* was that a.... football logo? wait is this show the reason why crunchy is promoting that guy who does sports but also likes anime? neato
anyways this is an hour long so hopefully it's good.
*wipes away all the tears* thats ok... i didn't need my heart anyways.
So... dunno why this has "episode 1" at the start cause this is just a hour long move
and it's really good.
Some things are kinda just left open but you know what it works.
My only criticism is that theres a cg section near the end and some of the modles take away from the beauty of the scene.... but dancing is hard to draw i get it.
OK upon review of the first second of the anime... the logo i saw was Xflag B.B.Q.
..... So i guess they are just promtign the sports guy cause people need to realise anime isn't a genre and that anyone can like it....
but yeah maybe not the most interesting story but i still enjoyed it and it's not even that long.

Muhyo & Roji's Bureau of Supernatural Investigations
One of the perks of starting this list so late into the new season Is i can say with some amount of certainty that this will be the last show i'll talk about.
I know Amazon has some titles but I really dislike their layout/player/subs so i'm passing.
So it's about a law firm that exorcises spirits... t has everything i should like in a sho but it'd just not doing ti for me... doesn't help that i really hate the style.
Not a bad show but i'll not be watching.

And with that I am done! not much this season but... a few fun shows to catch up on~
What are your fav shows this season? feel free to let me know!

First Impression: Spring 2018

I was bad and forgot to post my last first impressions the the end of the last cour... hopefulyl  don't make the same mistake again...

anyways as always

Ground rules

1. I will TRY to give every show on Crunchyroll a chance but that doesn't mean I am obligated to watch a full episode. If I stop early I will give a time stamp and reason for stopping. I will not be looking at shows on Netflix or Amazon's anime Strike because the former won't simulcast and the latter Is just too much of a pain and expense to set up.

2. No shows that are under 20 minutes in length, I don't like waiting a whole week for a 3 min gag. there are some exceptions but it's rare.

3. No shows with Brother, Sister, Father or Mother in the title... too often it goes into incest... which I really do not like.

4. If the show is a second season of a show I didn't watch before I'm not going to talk about it here.

5. No card game shows, I may give them a chance but they really aren't my thing.

6. All opinions are my own and based solely on what I have seen. I tend to go into these shows completely blind. If I don't enjoy the show after 1 episode or even quit out of an episode early I'm not saying the show is bad... just that I didn't enjoy it.

Returning Shows

Darling in the FranXX
I was kinda hesitant about this show at first because I've never been the biggest fan of anime made by Trigger and the first first episodes are so blatantly trying to be allegory foe sex that is had little to no subtlety... it was all just too on the nose.
However as the show has progressed it has gotten infinitely more interesting. We are learning more about the world, more about why children are pilots, more about what it means to be an adult i nthe world.
This new episode (ep 13) was also really well done and as long as they don't mess it up I should be hooked till the end of the series.

New Shows

Magical Girl Ore
. . . This reminds me of Excel Saga, as of this moment i'm not sure if thats good or bad but it 100% gives me excel saga vibes.
I will say the first two episodes (cause they aired back to back) gave me a few chuckles. it's an interesting blend of Genre and i'm curious to see if it can keep up this level of zany or if it'll jump the shark.
The show is about a 15 year old girl who wants to be a magical girl.... however it may not be all it's cracked up to be. (and i know that described a bunch of other dark takes on magical girl anime but despite the amount of blood i doubt this is going to go into that territory)
So yeah may give it another episode at least. it hasn't hooked me as fast as Cute High Earth Defense Club Love! but it may still be a fun watch.

Kakuriyo -Bed & Breakfast for Spirits-
... ok... just on that title alone... I hope this is good
And after that intro song... yeah i'm going to like this show...
Oh no maybe this is more magus bride then natsume.... No wait this is good, she has a backbone and this show just made me laugh outloud.
hmmm also a bit of Hanasaku Iroha and Rstaurant to another world...
Ok so i should describe the show?
A young girl can see spirits, is abandonned by her month and adopted by her grandfather. However he passed away a few days ago.
Now as an adult she comes across an Ogre (oni) who is claking she must be his bride... her grandfather had used her as collateral. However this Oni works at a famous Inn in the hidden Ayakashi world.... and she doesn't want to marry someone she just met let alone an Oni. She declares that she will find a job, pay off the collateral and get out of being his bride.
It's like.... all the things i love about those 4 shows in one, I love that she has a backbone, i love that the relationship that should develop between her and theo ther Ayakashi will be based more on equal footing then just "well you have to cause i own you"
The animation may not be the best but I am looking forward to this show so much... please don't mess this up.

Space Battleship Tiramisu
. . . i'm usually hesitant about space shows but with a little like fly in space/Naked dance.... i'm almost curious.... however it's a 7 min long show so i'm not that curious.
Oh man suwabe you are better then this

Fist of the Blue Sky: Regenisis
can... can i just count this as a sequel and not watch it? never seen fist of the north star and i honestly don't care to change that.
While the intro has some really interesting motion graphic type animation... i know this isn't how the show looks... and i don't feel like sitting through terible CG of burly men... if i wanted that i'd just go watch jo jo (and i know it's well loved but i cannot get into it)
Is it Berserk levels of bad CG? no... but it still looks like it would be better as a video game then an anime.

Umamusume: Pretty Derby.
Musume is japanese for daughter (also girl but ignore that for now).... can i just wrap it up in my "no familial terms" blanket and avoid it cause... I will be amazed if this is any good.
So... when race horses died off they reincarnated as horse girls... and now they race (in bloomers cause of course)
and then..... when they win they have idol recitles.
no.... this is too silly....
you wanna see horse girls run? then this is the perfect show for you... it doesn't even look as bad as you'd expect a show about horse girls to be. however i'll pass.

GeGeGe no Kitaro (2018)
So this is an older series (novel? Manga?) that has been modernized.
I think it's a really neat conept. Asking a Yokai for help in modern times.
and even though i've made it clear i like stories with Yokai in them this one doesn;t do it for me...
not sure if it's because the character names all their attacks or i just don't have the history with the series it just.... it's fine but it didn't really resonate.

The Legend of Galactic Heroes: Die Neue These
So based on what MAL tells me this is an adaptation of the novels not a remake of the original The legend of Galactic heroes... I was just curious cause the title was familiar even though i have never seen or read anything.
For now though i think i'll pass, just too much space and i don't feel like forcing myself through it at the moment. (plus the CG i have seen os far is distracting so yeah pass for now.... if i hear good things from friend or find out it wont give me a panic attack i may give it a try though probably not)

Persona 5 Animation
This is stunning, considering how fast this anime is coming out compaired to the game that is really impressive.
that being said this first episode is really really rushed, not a complaint but yeah it's hard to fit the first like... 2-3 hours of a game into 23 mins. I hoping the pacing gets better though at the same time it's a huge game so yeah.
I figure it'll be good... i also figure it wont fix my biggest issue with P5 but i'm going to enjoy this

Comic Girls
After giving shows like newgame a chance i figured this may be fun take on being an artist and working towards serialization...
Yeah unfortunately not the case.
this is a cute show where four high school girls who all write/draw different kinds of manga live in a dorm and work together to help each other grow.
Which New game does this and succeeded is that even if the characters are eccentric they still seem grounded in reality. You could know and talk to people like this (except having a boss who is adverse to wearing a skirt... i don't buy that for a second)
This is just character types to the extreme... perhaps it'll tone down over the course of the show but it's so over the top right now i can't get into it.

MEGALOBOX
I'm not the biggest fan of boxing anime but this one just oozes style. It almost feels like the lines were drawn with a sharpie and i just love it.
Will i stick with it the entire time? probably not.
But i'm curious enough to give it another episode... i just really hate tournament arcs so thats the only reason i'm not giving this a full recommendation.

Gurazeni: Money Pitch
Not a fan of sports anime but again trying to give things a chance.... granted a lot of this seems to be CG assisted and it just looks odd.
So it's a show about making money as a pro baseball player.... Yeah sorry pass, the art isn't doinf it for me, i really dislike baseball and yeah i'm good.

Cute High Earth Defense Club HAPPY KISS!
YES, I forgot this was going to be this season. Sure it's a new cast which means no Kin-chan but i'm still all over this.
It's not as good as the original series but it's still goofy fun magical boys show.

Caligula
. . . um.
ok i think i know how to tackle this.... maybe.
Imagine your every day life, seems peaceful and happy right? nothing to complain about... but suddenly there are inconsistencies....
are you really happy?
why are you hearing a voice you've never heard before.
Why do you see memories that you don't have.
why is everyone acting so strangely.
and then suddenly you see why, and it's more horrific then you could ever imagine.
I think I enjoyed this.
I may need a few more episodes to decide.... like... maybe 10 more or so...
but I think it was pretty good.

Dance with the Dragons
Do you like your fantasy anime to be purely exposition for the world building for the first episode?
Cause i sure do not.
The most annoying thing about this show is that at least half the exposistion doens't need to be there (or at least doesn't need to be there from episode one)
Like yes we need to know about the group of people who fight dragons and why... we can even know that they are still teated like shit by corporate and possibly being used by higher ups.... as well as knowing that someone is looking for them... fine great.
every other bit of dialogue or term could have been introduced natrually by showing or not at all and we lose nothing.
it's a show about a world where science allowed for magic to be reality.... also dragons are a thing and they are killed cause they may harm people.
will i be watching more? no, even if i hear nothing but praise that first episode was a slog.

HINAMATSURI
What do you do when a young psychic girl drops into your aparment and breaks all your expensive vases? take care of her of course.
This is a Slice of life comedy about a yakuza thug being overpowered and taking care of a little girl who has probably spent her entire life destroying anything considered an enemy.
I don't think it's my cup of tea but it seems like a cute enough show... the comedy just doesn't land for me.

MAJOR 2nd
Another Baseball anime...
Well this one seems to be better... it's about a kid who has a famous dad but he is just ok. It can be disheartening having all this pressure and it doesn't help that your sister is so much more talented then you are.
Daigo either needs to get his shit together or work hard.
It's better then the other baseball anime and it's always more interesting dealing with character who are average getting better but i doubt i'l be continuing. I really dislike baseball.

Libra of Nil Admirari
This is based on a dating game isn't it...
oh yes I am going enjoy this show.
There are cursed tomes and this group of people hunt down and deal with.
One book ends up in the hands of Tsugumi's brother who tried to kill himself thanks to this book. Due to the stress of this incident she can now see the aura of the cursed books and now the group wants her.
I tend to like VN adaptations more when the female protag has a name so this has that going for it.
Will i watch the whole thing? probably... i just hope it continues to be plot for the most part. (and if it pulls an amnesia well you'll all get to hear about that so look forward to it?)

Golden Kamuy
Not a comment on the show but it's using very real looking fire in an anime and it just.... looks odd to me... anyways
and the cg bear is more "realistic" . . . hm
Stylistic choices aside it's an interesting take o na time you don't often see depected in anime.
I don't know if I'll stick with it... only cause i'm a bit squeamish about one of the things that will be a running theme... perhaps i'll marathon it at the end of the season? i don't think i can do it week to week.

Yotsuiro Biyori
Another restaurant anime with Suwabe....
yeah i'll bite
Ok so slice of life show surrounding a japanese cafe/sweet shop and the customers that attend.
Yep this is 100% my jam and i look forward to more. I mean it's not like i have a thing for Cafes or anything (it's just the bulk of the events i went to in japan and a inspiration for an entire set of images...)

Last Period: the journey to the end of the despair
What if the world actually had a gatcha system?
it's a meta fantasy comedy but... it feels like it's trying super hard.
The intro is super cute but i think i'm passing on the show as a whole.

Butlers X Battlers
Oh please let a show with a title this bad be good
Uh..... so... butlers sounds like Battlers...
um a guy who was with his sister is suddenly not... and he had super powers but you only see that at the end?
the one episode wasn't very good... which is disappointing cause it's quite pretty.... may give it another episode or two to see what is going on (though the post credit splash helps see that they got warped from somewhere(when?) else

Steins;Gate 0
I did watch the original anime, i know nothing about 0 but i am looking forward to it.


No better time to post this then at the seasons end right? oh boy.... ok next time i'll post sooner for sure

Tokyo Xanadu ex+

So, now that I have finished the psvita version (normal play through) and ps4 version (hard play through and at this rate maybe a calamity run) What do I think.
...
Yeah I still love this game.

Alright so... right off the bat.
It fixes pretty much every issue i had with the Vita version.
The camera has a better field of view, I either got better at using slow characters or they were tweaked a bit. Typos are ALMOST all gone (the ex+ exclusive content has more typos and spacing issues then the stuff that was also in the vita game) I didn't accidentally make [character who steps forward when doing a smash attack] go out of bounds and softlock the game and above all else... the credit song plays during the true ending.
From what i understand NONE of those issues have been patched out of the vita version.... so between that, extra content, extra attacks and extra playable characters just get this version. It is 100% worth it.
If you have played the vita version and are wondering if ex+ is worth it, YES 100% it is the better game. The extra content is mixed throughout the game and adds so much to each character.

Still I'm getting ahead of myself.

Tokyo Xanadu focuses on Morimiya, an area in Tokyo that was devastated by the Tokyo earthquake 10 year prior. (this game takes place in 2015)
Lately strange events start happening and Kou finds himself stumbling into a strange world one day after work.
He makes many allies and tried to figure out the mysteries of these events surrounding his town.

The combat is action based and feels incredibly fluid (though my muscle memory was fighting with the fact that this version has slightly different controls to the vita one.... still after i changed it to match the vita game it was smooth sailing) Some characters are a little broken (Yuuki mostly.... at least the way i play) but every character is completely unique feeling.

It's a bit longer then the vita counterpart thanks to all the extra content (i would say 20ish hours more?) And this time i actually spoke to every npc (I didn't do that in the vita run cause i knew I'd be doing it here) and i got so much more of the world fleshed out.

It runs a lot better then the Vita game too, the only slowdown i ever experienced was in the afterstory which is ps4 exclusive (based on my time with cold steel i'm guessing there something with their night sky box that makes it so stuttery... luckily it never seems to be there during combat.)

But yeah I love this game.... i'm debating doing a calamity run just to clean up with trophies and use some of the NG+ exclusive costumes (here's looking at you "goth kou")

Still i do have a few other games i wanna play before i get to that..... or at least thats what i'll tell myself before i end up replaying on fast forward.... but yeah.

The best part of Tokyo Xanadu ex+?
even more sequel bait (and possible crossover bait?) then the original version (it was there but now there is more!) so yeah... here's hoping for another one soon (i mean this came out in 2015, it's entirely possible once they finish Sen IV it'll be the next in line?)

but yeah that's all i have to say, i love it, playing this version actually bumped down the original version on my top 10 list last year.... that's just how good this one is.
I wanna draw fanart but it may be spoilery so we'll see if i post it anywhere.
Still go play this if you can!

March comes in like a Lion

Oh... another anime about an orphan..... man i really did have a lot of those this season.

Anyways March comes in like a Lion is possibly one of the most stunning anime I have ever watched. The use of visual metaphor and animation techniques I never dreamed possible blow my mind every time. The story is also really good there isn't a single thing i can criticize about this show.... other then season 2 is over...
Hopefully we will get season 3 next October.

Anyway the story continues to follow Rei as he works as a Professional shogi player. He balances work, school life and the family that continues to help him.

There feels like a bit more focus on the other family this season but I think it works cause it shows Rei's shift in attitude about shogi. It's a difficult show to describe but it is seriously and i'll be amazed if it doesn't make my top 10 of the year.

I know this is short but i feel like all i can really say is go watch it, you'll know weather or not you are interested within an episode or two.

Plus in my opinion it's better then the other shogi anime airing right now (but i'm not a fan of moe so i'm a little biased)

Also you hear the cats inner dialogue, what more could you ask for.
Go watch it here: http://www.crunchyroll.com/march-comes-in-like-a-lion

Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody

See... at least one of the shows I watched this season doesn't involve an orphan.... or at least... we don't know if his parents are alive or dead so i'm just going with not an orphan.

Death March start in the real world with a programmer working his ass off to finish a game with a team before the deadline hits. It immediately swaps to a sucked into another world story when he finds himself looking younger and in a mix of the two games he was working on.
Unlike other people he has acess to some pretty terrifying magic, this essentially maxes out all his stats and gives him seemingly limitless skill points to assign as needed.
He uses this new found god mode to be a merchant, travel around the world and make it a better place (well he kinda fall into that)
For a show about a character who is quite literally overpowered, it's pretty chill. Sometimes it's like a cooking anime, it's got it's Harem moments though the main character doesn't seem to be perusing anyone in the harem.
There are moments when there are battles but for the most part he is doing his best to hide how strong he is.

It's a cute little show that was fun to watch.... however...

So far it's only 12 episodes, there doesn't seem to be any hint when we will get more... and as a full story that as of this moment is "complete" It falls flat in every way.
We don't know why he is in the world... just that his condition for being there is different then everyone else.
we don't know why he has a HUD still, we don't know about the warnings concerning one of his party members, their main quest isn't complete and overall too much is just left unfinished.
Now it does say "this isn't the end of the story" but at the same time right now this is all there is and until we got notified of season 2 (which could happen later this year or many years from now) I cannot reccomend this show [unless you just want a chill experience that goes nowhere, then yeah enjoy]

I almost feel like the season finally should have been a few episodes back because it was the end of a large event and we actually get some closure (they even changed then ending osng which made me think maybe this was the end of the season) It would still be incomplete but it wouldn't be ending on such a dull note.

If there is more I will probably watch, it's a cute and fun little show just very disappointing about where it decided to stop for now.

School Babysitter

This is a really cute and sweet story about two orphans being taken in by a lady who owns a school.

I swear I watched more then just... stuff where the main characters parents are dead....

Anyways Ryuuichi and Kotaro have a hard time getting used to their new home when they find out that the eldest brother will be forced to help with the school daycare during his time off. His brother attends the daycare so this all kind of works.
The rest of the show focuses on the kids at the daycare and those who end up as part of the "babysitting club" but the show isn't afraid to blindside you with the fact that Ryuuichi character recently lost his parents and hasn't had time to grieve.

Overall theres no real plot other then everyone warms up to each other more over time and the kids are cute.
Still this show gives me Natsume Yuujinchou Season 1 vibes... it's good and sweet but it feels like there could easily be another 5 seasons...

Past that my only dislike about the show is the proportion of the kids... they all look like babies when most of them are toddlers and should be reaching the teanagers/adults knees not ankles. (and the one actual baby can fit in their hands it just... it's really distracting)

Will there be more? no clue. I would love for there to be more but if this is all we ever get then it was a cute little show in a season where I wasn't watching very much.
Though on that note if there was a sequel where Kotaro was older I think that could be really interesting.

For now though I enjoyed it.

The Ancient Magus' Bride

Normally by the end of a show I'm pretty sure i know how i feel about the overall.
That is probably why this show perplexes me.
24 episodes and i'm still not sure what i think... So lets break it down.

The story follows Chise Hatori, a teenage orphan who can see spirits.
Considering the parallels to my fav show Natsume yuujinchou you would think that this would automatically make me favour the show more. However...
After trying to jump off the roof of the school building she is approached by a man who owns an auction. he convinces her that instead of dying why not sell herself to someone who can make use of her gift.

She ends up being bought by a Magus who is tall like a giant and has a head made of bone and horns on either side of his head. He informs her that he wishes to teach her to be a magus as well as make her his bride.

The story then ends up being more episodic. We learn more about what Chise is and why she is considered so special and rare to those in any of the magical fields. We see her try to use her powers without destroying herself. We see her try to grow a backbone after being such a doormat for so long. Above all else we see her trying to figure out how she fits into this family dynamic.

This show, on face value has everything I love in it.
Stunning Visuals.
Interesting world building.
Amazing Music...
And yet I still find myself on the fence... and I think i can pinpoint a few reasons why.

1. I really don't think Elias and Chise have a healthy relationship. It gets better as the show goes on but it still feels like Elias is a bit too controlling.
About 3/4 of the way through the show I saw a video essay by Lindsey Ellis that mentioned there could be some similarities between the romance in this and the romance in twilight but one is universally panned and the other is ok.
For me, I had never thought about the similarities but having it pointed out that that really made things click into place for me. Both give me that same somewhat creeped out vibe cause there is such a shift in the power dynamic...
When the show is loosely based on this one relationship and you can't really bring yourself to enjoy that then it gets harder to like the show overall.
Now as I said, it gets better... Chise grows a backbone and I really started to enjoy the show but then...

2. It ends in a way where Everything is resolved.... but also nothing is resolved.
Every main plot thread in the series is tied up in what feels like breakneck speed at the end. No loose ends, everything is good... But it feels like they haven't been able to tell their story.
Now from my research the manga still seems to be ongoing so perhaps they just wanted to finish everything in a way that both allowed for another season but also didn't disappoint if that second season never happened. I just feel like you have this great setup of Chise being both powerful but fragile and it never really amounts to anything. Perhaps this is the case in the manga, i haven't read it but in the anime it mostly felt like things were happening to Chise instead of Chise driving the plot....

3. One of the plots early one deal with cats in a way that almost made me drop the show.
Much like Natsume this show can get deceptively horrific, it does not shy away from difficult subject matter but on more then one occasion I felt it pushed it too far and that makes it really hard to enjoy the show. It's not enjoyable to be thinking "what horrors are you going to blindside me with".

I don't know if there is enough story for it but I do hope that one day we get another season... currently it feels unfinished and rushed.
I want to like this show I really do, as mentioned before the possibility for a cool story is there, it just feels like they have side stepped it. The visuals are stunning and I will probably get the OST as soon as I can cause the music is great.
And I want to be clear I didn't hate the show... but I just didn't love it either.

Anyways thats really all i have to say on this show... I think I have a couple of shows ending shortly however i didn't end up watching too much this season. next season is looking packed though (hopefully this time i'll remember to post my first impressions BEFORE I talk about the show ending~)