Anime Roundup - Summer 2023
I hope you like Isekais
Another season, another marathon, another summary!
For those of you who haven’t read these before, each season some friends and I get together to watch through the first episode of each new anime show airing, to marvel at the great series together, and laugh at the bad ones. No sequels or spin-offs; the idea is that you shouldn’t need to do any “homework” before starting any of these. This post is a quick summary of the shows with some added commentary of what we thought of each, listed roughly in order of what we watched.
And at the end I’ll list the ones we felt could be good keeping up with.
Ayaka
Protag-kun was sent away from his home after his dad died when he was five, but his dad’s will instructed to bring him back after graduating high school. Turns out he has powers of water (basically a water bender) that are amplified by the earth’s ley lines, and is brought back to his home island to use these skills to fight monsters.
It seems pretty meh. Some overly styled character designs typical of redjuice (who also did character designs for Beatless and Guilty Crown) that clashes against the otherwise mundane setting they’re in.
Original story, so time will tell how the show proper pans out. It’s a skip for now though.
Atelier Ryza:
Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout The Animation
Anime based on the game of the same name.
There are two big reasons this entry in the game series got an anime:
Her thighs.
(Seriously though, they are visible probably 25% of the 40-minute first episode, and zoomed in on plenty of times…)
It’s JRPG origin seeps through a lot in everything from character designs and writing, to area designs and background music.
Could maybe be fun, but there are a lot of better shows this season. We’re skipping this one.
The Dreaming Boy is a Realist
Stalker boy decides one day that he should stop stalking his target, Natsukawa, because it’s just dumb. The people around them are shocked in disbelief, and wondering what’s wrong with him.
Meanwhile, the girl “has to deal with” not being constantly bothered by him and it’s presented as something sad for her, and it’s heavily implied that maybe now she starts to have feelings for him.
And yet, this seems watchable? If you somehow haven’t had enough of high school romcoms, this is another one!
Synduality: Noir
Mecha anime, mixed-media project.
Year 2222, post-apocalytic setting.
A boy who wants to become a “Drifter” (mecha pilot) finds a seemingly busted Magus (a humanoid AI robot) who later awakes and helps him control his Coffin (the mecha).
Some bad 3D monsters, but otherwise seems like it could maybe be a decent show?
Helck
One of the highlights of the marathon!
After the death of the reigning demon lord by the hands of the Hero, the Demon Realm is holding a tournament to find their next leader. But the top candidate to win is… human?? And also turns out to be the Hero’s brother???? But he, Helck, also seems to hate other humans, and has been banished from the human realm for reasons.
Anyway, he’s still human, so the tournament administration is doing everything they can to stop him from winning, like making a round into stacking a 10-story house of cards instead of the one-on-one battles they had planned for, and giving Helck really glossy cards.
It’s all really silly and fun. Definitely recommend giving it a go!
The Masterful Cat Is Depressed Again Today
An office worker once picked up a cat that is now human-sized and doing all of her cleaning and cooking while she’s away at work.
Part of me loves this. It’s fun, has great characters, and they’re really playing into the whole “this is absurd and everyone knows it” angle.
Part of me hates this. It’s a GoHands production (and sadly not the only one this season) and they apparently have a mission to produce as nausea-inducing camera pans as possible, even in a silly slice-of-life show as this that definitely doesn’t need it.
If you can tolerate the extreme angles, then the characters will more than make up for it. Recommended.
Level 1 Demon Lord and One Room Hero
(If you saw Jahy-sama a few season ago, this is basically more of that, including the voice actress.)
After a great battle 10 years ago, the Demon Lord has reincarnated but is stuck at a measly level and needs more time to recover. But before they can safely gather their strength, they must go make sure that the Hero that bested them won’t come and ruin everything before the powers have returned!
Turns out that the Hero is a washed-up shut-in nobody these days, so the Demon Lord decides to move in and help him get back on his feet again.
Very silly. Will probably watch more of this.
Warning for some, uh, choice angles of the lewd kind, especially early on in the episode.
My Unique Skill Makes Me OP Even at Level 1
Silly Isekai, where protag-kun starts off with very low skills and is stuck at level one, but has S-ranked drop rates on whatever monster he defeats.
Same studio (and seemingly character designer) as By the Grace of the Gods, and it overall seems similarly wholesome as well, except for the part where a girl in a bunny-girl outfit and actual bunny ears shows up.
There’s nothing to write home about the animation, but overall seems like a decent watch, and we’ll likely keep watching.
Reborn as a Vending Machine, I Now Wander the Dungeon
I wish I was kidding, but this is actually one of the best shows this season. Really.
A vending machine otaku gets reincarnated into a vending machine, and runs on energy points that is converted from coins being used to buy stuff from his inventory; an inventory that he can change up by spending points.
After being found by the super-strong Lammis, he finds his way into a nearby village and is quickly the talk of the town, and helps to provide food and drink to the ones that need it.
Can’t emphasize enough that this is actually great. Go watch it.
Sweet Reincarnation
Another Isekai!
This time, a patessier is crushed under the weight of his work, and as he’s bleeding out his sole regret is to not be able to fulfill his dream of making a land of sweets.
So he’s reincarnated as Pastry Mille Morteln, the young son of the duke of Casserole, and just by the names alone you might be able to tell the kind of show this is.
Except it is a bit more serious in tone than it first appears, and it has a lot of parallels to last year’s Parallel World Pharmacy, in that he is brought up to inherit the title of duke and lead the fiefdome to prosperity.
But that’s getting ahead of things; the show seems like a decent watch, and I’ll certainly keep up with it.
The Most Heretical Last Boss Queen: From Villainess to Savior
More Isekai!
This time another villainess anime, as the subgenre is seemingly settling into being a genre of its own.
Girl gets reincarnated into the young version of the villainess of an otome game that she played, some 10 years before she is supposed to die in the game’s story.
Appaled by her character’s actions, she vows to not follow that path to the best of her abilities, and quickly finds out that it is indeed possible to depart from the set story she was familiar with. To the relief of the ones around her, she quickly changes her act to be more graceful and helpful.
I didn’t think I would want to watch another villainess show, but this one has me interested.
The Gene of AI
A sci-fi anime that is trying to venture into some heavy thought experiments around what would happen if we were able to choose to transpose our minds into android bodies.
The animation is stiff and not exactly impressive and will put off a lot a people, but look beyond that and it might be something worth watching, if it manages to ride the line between dread and human psychology.
A solid maybe.
Liar Liar
Something right in the middle between Video Game High School and Kakegurui, but without the esports and the body horror.
Protag-kun has transferred into a school on Academy Island, where students are ranked one to seven stars, and play games with eachother to steal stars from those with more than them. But protag-kun hasn’t been informed of any of this, and through pure happenstance manages to not only bump into the top player on the island, but also beat her in a game and recieve the special star she’s secretly had.
But to not disturb the balance of the island, as the now one-star he is with a special red star that allows him to tell any one Lie he wishes, the Headmistress orders him to conceal his rank and pretend to be the new top rank. He begrudgingly agrees, but only because he’s come to the island to find someone, and don’t want to get expelled before he finds them.
Seems fun enough. Will keep watching.
Noble Farmer
From the creator of Fullmetal Alchemist (yes, really).
5-minute-episode anime about the greatness of farming. First episode is about milk.
It’s great. Definitely watch it if you can find it.
My Happy Marriage
Miyo was born into a prominent family, but after her mother passed away, her father remarried and had a second child which got all the attention, so Miyo has lived most of her life essentially as a live-in servant.
But that all is about to change, as her father has married her off to Kiyoka Kudo who, although rumoured to be cold and ruthless, turns out to be a very sweet and compassionate man.
This first episode is very heavy, but it seems the following ones might not be? Also there is magic in this world, but it’s not brought up in the first episode.
Recommended.
Undead Murder Farce
A story about a half-human half-oni that teams up with the severed head of an Immortal and her loyal servant, as they travel to find the old man who took her body and made him what he is today.
Decent writing, lots of dialogue, and some good action. Some parts reminded me of the snappy-ness of the Bakemonogatari series, but it remains to be seen what the show proper actually provides.
A promising but cautious recommendation.
Dark Gathering
Keitaro hates the supernatural, but spirits are attracted to him.
Yayoi has two pupils in each eye; one is normal, but the other lets her see supernatural beings. She hunts them, and the spirits are scared shitless of her. Yayoi became orphaned a year and some ago, and while her dad passed on, her mom’s soul got taken by an evil spirit, so now she searches for that spirit to make sure her mother can rest in piece.
As is surely pure happenstance, Keitaro’s childhood friend Eiko recommended him for a job as a tutor, and it just so happens that he ends up being the tutor of Yayoi, who is also apparently Eiko’s cousin and lives with her.
“Fun” adventures ensue.
Actually dark and horror-y at times, viewers beware.
Recommended.
Zom 100:
Bucket List of the Dead
The best visuals of the season, bar none. Gore-y but with pastel-coloured blood and smooth animations.
Akira Tendou is three years into working at an exploitative company as the zombie apocalypse hits, and he couldn’t be happier; He’s finally FREE!
With a newfound passion for life, he writes down all the things he wants to do in life, and sets out to complete his bucketlist in this postapocalyptic world.
Likely anime of the season.
Am I Actually the Strongest?
Trash Isekai.
Protag-kun reincarnates after not getting out of bed for too long, and is reborn into a royal family with OP magic powers. Unfortunately, their magic reader only shows two digits, so his 1002 power level shows up as 02, and he is promptly abandoned to die in the woods instead.
But he’s still OP, so with his power of Barrier aka his MacGuffin, defeats the Flame Fenrir that tries to attack him, and is picked up by his uncle to live with his family instead.
Flash foward a few years, and he’s just trying to live as lazily as possible.
It’s an okay Isekai, but very trashy. I’ll probably keep watching, but most will probably pass on it.
The Great Cleric
The last Isekai of the marathon!
Normal office worker gets shot by accident, and is reincarnated into a fantasy world with an empty slate. He chooses Healer as his job class, which is quickly revealed to be a good choice as they’re in high demand; so much so that plenty of healers become greedy and ‘corrupt’, and choose to only heal certain races in this world.
He vouches to never become like that, and uses his business know-how to get aquainted with the local guilds and securing both experience, lodging, and something to do.
While the first episode isn’t that much to write home about, the following episodes show more of his grit and the gritty side of the world. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still very much a trash isekai, but it’s decent for what it is.
The Girl I Like Forgot Her Glasses
The other GoHands anime this season.
Komura sits next to Mie in class, and while he thinks she’s very cute, he can’t muster up the courage to talk to her. Life is about to change though, as she forgets her glasses one day, making her essentially blinds, and leans on Komura to help her keeping up in class.
If it wasn’t for the atrocious extreme angles that make people nasueous, this might’ve been almost normal romcom trash, but even beyond that the characters are extremely one-note.
Skipping.
Saint Cecilia and Pastor Lawrence
By far the most wholesome and healing show of the season.
Slice-of-life where Lawrence the pastor and Cecilia the Saint live a quiet life on the outskirts of a small town. They perform their daily duties admicably, but as soon as they are alone, the Saint lets all inhibitions go and lazes around the church any chance she gets. Lawrence wonders why she only shows him that side, but of course she likes him and Lawrence is too slow to understand what basically everyone around them knows.
Super cute. Recommended.
Reign of the Seven Spellblades
Definitely not inspired by Harry Potter.
Fantasy show where a new year of students is joining, and we follow six of them.
Oliver, who quickly is revealed has been sent to the school for reasons unknown to us, with massive protag-kun energy.
Katie, lover of all fauna and the timid booksmart girl.
Guy, expert in all things flora, and the goofy jock.
Pete, born in a non-magical family, and book nerd who doesn’t know how to socialize.
Michela, born into one of the great magical families and daughter of one of the teachers in the school.
And Nanao, a strong former samurai who has seemingly been brought into the school by Michela’s father right as she was about to get killed amidst a bloody war.
“20% of the students enrolling here are consumed by the magic” it’s stated early on, so the six will likely end up helping each other through deadly encounters in the years to come.
Want to watch more.
Classroom For Heroes
The Demon Lord and the Hero killed eachother in a climactic battle not long ago. Now, Blade is transferring into a school that is meant to teach heroes, but he’s just there to try to get to be normal for once and make a ton of friends. It’s heavily implied that he is the Hero, and the King of the land takes over as headmaster of the school while he’s there for some reason.
As he’s goofing around, he also helps those he encounter to deal with their individual troubles, seemingly.
It seems like fun enough trash, although ecchi. Not really sure what the goal of the series is yet though.
TenPuru:
No One Can Live on Loneliness
Very Ecchi.
Protag-kun’s dad was a total creep, so much so that hearing his last name now quickly sours any potential relation with women, and he has vowed to live alone for the rest of his life to not follow in his father’s footsteps.
But a chance encounter with a really cute girl re-awakens his inner creep (I don’t know, that’s basically the gist) and in order to suppress his desires decides to live as a monk at a temple. The trouble is, the monastery his uncle recommended him has now become a nunnery, where the really cute girl lives!
Ecchi and “hilarity” ensues.
Just nah.
My Tiny Senpai
Not much substance in this one.
It’s another one of those “started as a short form web comic”-type shows much like My Senpai is Annoying and Uzaki-chan, but the only “gimmick” in this one is that the main girl interest is simply very short and makes cat noises all the time. That’s about it.
Trash. Can safely skip.
And those were the 26 shows we watched last night. A lot of good, some potentially great, and a lot of trash.
As promised, here’s a shortlist of the ones we feel are worth keeping an eye on:
Reborn as a Vending Machine
Zom 100
Helck
The Masterful Cat is Depressed Again Today
My Happy Marriage
Reign of the Seven Spellblades
Saint Cecilia and Pastor Lawrence
Undead Murder Farce
Dark Gathering
The Most Heretical Last Boss Queen: From Villainess to Savior
Sweet Reincarnation
My Unique Skill Makes Me OP Even at Level 1
That’s it for this time, see you here again next season!
