I finally found the second season of hell girl. I'm 10 episodes deep and it's just as entertaining as the original. No I don't like the annoying child character they added but they're probably going to do something with her so I'm not going to drop it even though she's annoying.

This season:

I dropped My Friend's Sister - not deliberately - I just realized somewhere along the way that I hadn't seen the latest episode, and realized that I didn't care. I might try it again after it's finished.

May I Ask for One Final Thing is still entertaining me. The characters are especially good - I'd watch it just for the dynamic between Scarlet and Julius, but luckily, it's much more than that.

And since it looked intriguing, I caught up with Gnosia, which is... odd. It's very stylish - a bit too self-consciously so for my tastes - but it's fascinating. The way the story is unfolding is strange though - it's a mystery at heart, and it seems that every time the main starts to get a handle on what's going on, an additional element is added, effectively moving the goal posts. If that ends up having some logical context, then it could make the whole series that much more interesting. If not though, it's going to just make it stupid and contrived. We'll see.

Past seasons:

Finished watching Bokurano, which was excellent. It's a tough watch - as I noted last week, not only is the overarching story tragic - each of the individual episodes deals with a different person, and their stories also tend to be tragic, or at least bittersweet at best. But still, it was well worth it all in all.

And along the way - every time it started to overwhelm me and I needed a break, I switched to Sono Bisque Doll, which was also excellent. The mains have tremendous chemistry and the whole thing is just vibrant and uplifting and very enjoyable. And a perfect antidote to the bleakness of Bokurano.

I finished both up at more or less the same time, then went on to Sono Bisque Doll season 2, which was a disappointment. The biggest problem I had with it was that they Flanderized the characters. What had been interesting individuals who happened to have some tropish traits morphed into basically nothing but those traits, repeated endlessly (and generally in chibified form), so it was just a constant stream of chibi Marin being loud and excited and chibi Gojou being tediously self-conscious and panicking at the proximity/sight of any exposed flesh. I watched 3 1/2 episodes, then gave up and skipped ahead to the end of the last episode to see if they at least made some romantic progress.

Then I had a strange experience. After that disappointment, I was in the mood for a sure thing, so I went with a series that has been on my TBW for quite a while, and that has a great reputation - Kaguya-sama. And I hated it. I don't recall the last time I bounced so hard off of a series. I loathed both of the smug, insufferable, manipulative asshole mains, and I just could not possibly care less what happens to either one of them.

In order for a romance to work, I have to be able to cheer for the people involved - I have to want to see them happy. And with these two, I just don't. I don't want to have anything to do with them at all.

So... since I needed something fairly radically different from that, I started just browsing MAL stacks and following suggestions and the like, and watching lots of episode 1s, just trying to find something interesting and comfy and upbeat and low key. And I ended up on Henjin no Salad Bowl (A Salad Bowl of Eccentrics), which was a near-perfect fit. It's about a magic-using princess and her superhumanly skilled knight/retainer who escape the destruction of their kingdom on an alternate Earth through a portal that takes them to our Earth, where they end up in Gifu, separated, but adapting fairly well, if oddly, to extremely different lives from anything they were accustomed to. It's bright and upbeat and pleasant and it leans heavily into the "eccentric." Nearly everyone they meet and everything they end up doing is odd, goofy and/or bizarre, but it all manages to work out one way or another in the long run, mostly because they're genuinely good people.

Then I happened into a movie - Hotarubi no Mori e (Into the Forest of Fireflies' Light) - and it was beautiful and highly recommended. It's easily one of the most touching and heartfelt things I've seen in months.

And I'm currently about two thirds of the way through Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko, which is pretty good all in all. It's a Shaft, so it has a certain amount of that "trite comment accompanied by a head tilt so it seems more profound than it actually is" thing that annoys me about Shaft, but it's nowhere near as overbearing about it as Monogatari or Mekacucity Actors, so it's okay. And I quite like the characters.

This season

Dropped Ranma. The first season fooled me into thinking I might actually enjoy Rumiko Takahashi's works, but no, they are simply not for me.

Picked up Wandance. The dancing part isn't of particular interest to me, but I liked the main characters. That accidental hand-holding scene in the fifth episode was cute, kinda genius and suiting Wanda's personality.

Tatsuki Fujimoto 17-26. Hilarious stuff. I loved the humour in Sisters, Love Is Blind, and Sasaki Stopped a Bullet. It's the kind of humour that makes me wonder what's going on in Fujimoto's head. Chickens episode had really fun, dynamic animation, and I would have loved Yuuto if the running time were longer. My favourite part in Shikaku was the vampire laughing his ass off. So if I were to rank them based on personal enjoyment: 8 (Sisters) > 3 (Love Is Blind) > 2 (Sasaki Stopped a Bullet) > 1 (A Couple Clucking Chickens Were Still Kickin' in the Schoolyard) > 4 (Shikaku) > 7 (Nayuta of the Prophecy) > 6 (Woke-Up-as-a-Girl Syndrome) > 5 (Mermaid Rhapsody).

There seems to be a lot of "cozy" anime releasing now. And while a good cozy anime is great every once in a while it just seems to be a lot of them and I'm waiting for something with a bit of edge to it to start up.

Past Seasons

Watched / caught up to two anime last week.

The first was Poketoon (JP dub Youtube playlist; EN dub Youtube playlist).

These are short stories that focus on different characters in each episode. There is no overarching plot, so each episode is very easy to pick up. It helps that the episodes are short too.

I enjoyed them a lot. I believe those of you who enjoy wholesome anime would too.

Some of my favourite episodes are:

• The Pancham who wants to be a Hero
• Facing Tomorrow with Gardevoir
• Blossom's Dream
• Childhood Friend Charcadet
• Midnight Adventure with Murkrow

Overall rating: 9 / 10

The second was Land of the Lustrous.

I find the story intriguing; I was very curious about the events that led up to the story. Obviously there's some kind of conspiracy, which makes its hook even stronger.

The fight scenes remind me of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, which is a style I don't see often (which makes it stands out in a way).

IMO it's rather lackluster in the music department though. I barely noticed any soundtrack, and when I do, they don't seem to fit the scene.

I find it a pity that the anime ended just as it was about to pop off. The way it ended makes it a prologue to the main story / arcs that come after.

It doesn't look like the rest of the story is getting adapted, so looks like I've got to pick up the manga.

8 / 10