Winter 2017 Simulcasts

Bleeeeeehhhhhh…I know it’s a few weeks late but I was hoping things would get better. They didn’t. So, let’s talk about the latest simulcasts!

All Out!! is a continuation from the fall and while it kind of got obscured by the abundance of strong shows in the fall season, All Out is stealing the spotlight for the winter. It seemed like it took a while for this show to pick up speed but now we’re really into the “good stuff.” I realllly hope people give this one a chance.

Akiba’s Trip I really had no reference for this going in but I thought I’d give it a try. I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t keep it either. I just didn’t care enough.

Blue Exorcist We’re three weeks into this one and it keeps getting better. It was a little hard getting back into things since it’s been so long since the anime ended and the manga is in a completely different place but it’s been worth it. I love the depth of the characters.

Masamune-kun’s Revenge unlike Blue Exorcist, has no depth to the characters. I had read the first volume of manga when I’d heard this would be getting an anime and I didn’t hate it as much as I hate this. Three episodes in I feel more strongly about that than ever.

Saga of Tanya the Evil I actually had pretty high hopes for this one because I thought the premise was really interesting. I don’t want to say it’s “disappointing” but every time I have a “this is great” moment, it’s followed by half an episode of “I’m bored; I wonder what I have for snacks.” I’m still holding out hope that as the series progresses we get more substance.

Seiren This might have been one of the most boring first episodes of my life. So much so that I thought, “Nothing can be this boring, there has to be some twist or catch coming up.” I can put up with a lot of lousy shows but after finishing the third episode…I hate it. There was one good line in episode three: “Do all girls lie through their teeth?” My answer: Yes. Now move on, no need to finish the series. I’ve solved the mystery of life for you.

Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju thank all that is good and bright and holy in the universe for this show. Especially in a season where I find myself getting increasingly pissed off slogging through shows, the return of SGRS was a godsend. The series came back with a vengeance, episode one as strong and amazing and perfect as if it had never left. The first series was one of my favorites in its season and now this is one of my favorites of the winter. I CANNOT SAY ENOUGH ABOUT HOW TOTALLY PERFECT AND AMAZING THIS IS.

Interviews with Monster Girls I did not expect this to be good. I LOVE IT. Episode one snagged me, episode two was cute, and I just finished episode three where I laughed my ass off. This one kind of came out of nowhere for me but I’m so glad I gave it a try; it’s one of the few I look forward to every week. Thank you, Junichi Suwabe, for convincing me to watch this.

Gabriel Dropout This is the opposite of Monster Girls for me in that I had actually looked forward to it but it’s not living up to my expectations. It can be really cute/funny at times but for the most part I get bored.

Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid First episode followed the manga pretty closely. I think it does benefit from being animated; everything is pretty cute. This show is nothing amazing but it’s entertaining enough.

Hand Shakers Seeing the character designs and voice casting, I was actually really excited about this. And then I watched the first episode…and tried not to puke. I don’t know why this is so excruciatingly painful to watch or why the story is pretty close to nonsensical or worse, why no one noticed that and turned this thing loose into the wild. I have actually watched two episodes so far and the whole time I think, “How did this get made..?”

elDLIVE We got a few chapters of this in JUMP and never saw it again so I was pretty stoked that we’d get an anime. I loved Reborn so I wanted to see more of elDLIVE. It’s…been a pretty slow start. But I try to remember that Reborn took seasons to really get good so I’m giving elDLIVE the benefit of the doubt.

Yowamushi Pedal New Generation I’m just gonna say: I miss the old generation. These first two episodes have been kind of a bummer. I joked that the title of this season should be YowaPeda: Mourning Makishima by the depressing tone and theme of the first two eps. I want to love it but so far the new characters are rubbing me the wrong way.

Chiruran 1/2 Anyone who’s followed me at all knows I’ll watch pretty much anything Shinsengumi related. This is no exception. While Chiruran 1/2 is funny in its short-form way, I would reallllly love the actual Chiruran manga to get an anime adaptation. *fingers crossed*

ACCA I was super stoked for this one and after a couple episodes…I don’t really know how I feel. I “like” it plenty; I just hope it does something soon that makes me LOVE it. Besides cast Junichi Suwabe and Kenjiro Tsuda, I mean.

Super Lovers ah, BL with your complicated yeah-we’re-brothers-but-not-by-blood-and-we-sleep-in-the-same-bed-and-none-of-us-can-communicate-for-shit-so-it’s-week-after-week-of-misunderstandings. Welcome back.

Onihei This is a much-needed show this season. It scratches a certain manly itch.

Tiger Mask W Also manly and also a carry-over from the previous season. Just a couple episodes into the second cour it appears that Tiger Mask W is getting more ridiculous by the week. I want to call it “mindless fun” without sounding insulting.

GINTAMA this is in caps for obvious reasons. Because it is the best. Picking up after the Shogun Assassination & Farewell Shinsengumi arcs, we’re still in the thick of “serious stuff” and every week my heart is broken and put back together. I don’t know if there is anything in this world more perfect than Gintama.