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- 2021 introduced the Horimiya anime, reminding us how a vanilla romcom should actually look like
- 2022 introduced the Akebi-chan anime, reminding us how a vanilla school slice of like should actually look like
No cringe misunderstanding based crap, no forced drama, no beta cuck main characters.
From a reviewer point of view, I would say Akebi, Lycoris being a distant second honorable mention.
But to be honest, compared to 2018,2019,2020 and 2021, 22 is so freaking weak it's not even funny.
AAA budget shounen & slasher shounen trash is the best thing we got this year according to the community. I think this fact paints the picture pretty damn well.
The script quality is quite impressive. The show not leaves behind a single thing it introduces. It builds around everything we saw before which makes the whole story feel coherent and well directed.
It does cut some corners in pacing, and tries to hide these cuts behind stuff like comedy which can disappoint some people. For me it just adds a "telling a tale" vibe to it, which is definitely the goal of the show. You can tell because it uses many traditional story telling elements, both lyrical and visual ones.
There are some flaws tho, like:
- introducing random "puzzle solving" elements out of thin air is a thing you learn to hate with time from cheap detective stories
- the drama could be good but it struggles to express itself properly due to the low-mid animation budget and average voice acting work by everyone aside from Shouxue.
From a reviewer point of view, it's pretty easy to rate this show down, it also has borderline nothing to make it appeal for a mainstream audience, but it's fine. It's a hidden gem, the still-rough kind.
These are the notes I wrote while watching episode 2, then dropped the series due to the needless romance element they introduced at the end of it.
It is quite good for niche show hunters, but not for me after this.- Original ideas
- Unique vibe
- Shouxue seems like the best character I've seen so far since Elaina
The first anime that seems to worth my time this year. I hope it does not go downhill.
Based on the previous plot twist moments, I've expected a weaker ending. I'm not saying it's the best possible situation, but it's better than I thought It'd be.
Anyway, we watched this show for it's well written, energetic cast and amazing voice acting, not for it's unique or amazing plot. I think we got what we came for.
It's a solid 8 / 10 in my eyes.
First of all, I'd recommend you to push aside FMA Brotherhood and go with the half-original 2003 adaptation if you really value the worlds "adult" "dark" or "grotesque"
The first adaptation luckily has borderline nothing to do with the manga after the first 2 cours, it took a way darker, better directed and way more personal route downhill instead, the truly grotesque way FMA should have been established for instead of being a simple, somewhat well made shounen-fight show. The half-original adaptation is all about moral madness, sacrificies, racism, politics, and what makes a human human in the first places things. Multiple characters like Greed, Lust, Scar, Izumi, Sloth, or Hohenheim (even Edward imo) got a way more personal and detailed treat than what the canon adaptation provides to you.
Even the Homonculi and their leader were way better expressed and represented there imo.Second can be Ga-Rei: Zero. A pretty good dark fantasy toned action drama about how harsh Japanese families and their hierarchy can be, especially if you are an adopted child in one of those families. Combine this with a decent mystery / slasher plot with two great female lead characters with kinda unique vibe and you get a great and unforgettable show to watch. Do not read the manga tho.
If you ever wanted to see a realistic and harsh representation of the classic "take everything away from a princess, treat her like a nobody and let's see what she can do by herself alone" plot, then you should watch Cross-Ange as well. The character drama and the interesting, detailed plot with some amazing twists in it alongside the adult and dark tone you are looking for is way more than enough reason to watch this show.
The ending is kinda disappointing tho.Cross Ange Tenshi to Ryuu no Rondo
The last one I'd recommend is Drifters. Not much to say about this one tho. It’s basically Lord of the Rings – The Anime but better. It’s a dark, adult fantasy about a bunch of outlanders (famous historical figures isekaid into this world) trying to take on their opponents in a medieval-fantasy world.
This includes stuff like, taking over nations, set races like elves or dwarfs free, forming bonds and armies, making gunpowder, dealing with political and commercial disputes and etc.It has catchy characters and eye-candy, really unique art style & good animation. The guy who animated the series is actually the mangaka for the source material as well. He is the same person who made Hellsing Ultimate OVA, another show I’d highly recommend.Despite Chisato acting as the real main character and the story obviously covers around her, Takina and Majima are the ones who truly keep the series interesting in my eyes.
Takina was amazing in this ep dog. Damn I LOVE these glances.
- significantly raised global salary standards and fixed work time (daily max 8 hours) for animators
- merging smaller studios together under corporations like Aniplex and KADOKAWA
- cut every connection with Netflix, CR, Funimation to stop the increasing western control and influence over the anime industry
- introducing some kind of project limit based on your studio's size and performance to control how many project you can work on simultaneously
- introducing multiple programs that could give indie writers / mangakas a chance to show off their talent without forcing them to join one of the big publishers like Jump
