New Game!!

 

The second season for New Game!! is pretty much the first season again with a couple of new characters and a little bit more drama. Aoba has a rival now, Momizi, who is also aiming to become the best character designer in the company. Nene is now hired as a part-time programmer. The pairings here change a little bit. Nene is around Ahagon a lot now, since they work on the same booth.

Hifumi is promoted and has to try to overcome her shyness even more. Yun and Hajime get an episode focused on their past but that's pretty much it. The focus here really is around the newcomers, Momizi and her friend, the programmer Tsubame and how they relate to Nene and Aoba. As you might expect, despite some intial friction, they quickly become friends because it's impossible for that not to happen.

There's even less talk about gaming this time. One's enjoyment here really depends on how much you like the new girls. I felt like there was much we could go about the existing characters, particularly Yun and Hifumi, but I guess they weren't popular enough and the author decided to introduce new characters instead. If you liked the first season, the odds are you'll also enjoy the second.

New Game!

 

New Game! is a lighthearted series that follows Suzukaze Aoba, an aspiring character designer as she gets the chance to work on her favorite video game franchise, Fairies Story, a medieval Europe themed (nobody gets tired of those, ever) action adventure RPG. New Game! is one of those shows where everything the characters ever do appears to be cozy, fun, very soothing indeed. Doing overtime for 4 days in a row? Looks fun and cozy. Sleeping under your work desk because you did overtime until 3 AM and have to continue to work from 6 AM on next day to meet deadline? Looks fun and cozy. 

You have your characters here like you usually would have them with this flavor; Aoba is reliable, always happy, sensitive and adorable. Hifumi is reserved, shy and adorable. Yun is friendly, hard working and adorable, Hajime is tomboyish, energetic and adorable... you know. Those types of characters. You know what you're getting yourself into as soon as OP begins. 

You don't have to like video games to enjoy this, but you do need to enjoy cute girls doing cute things because it's one of those and it's pretty good at what it sets out to do. Now, there is a plot here, but much of it goes through the ropes of showcasing the ever evolving relationship between these characters. 

If you're tired of cute girls doing cute things at school but still want to see cute girls doing cute things somewhere else, say, in an office, then this is definitely for you. There's even a second season called New Game!! (notice the extra ! there) because apparently a lot of people can't get enough this crew.

Watashi ni Tenshi ga Maiorita!

 

If you like odd duck characters like Tsukimi in Kuragehime and Tomoko in WataMote, then you'll definitely enjoy Watashi ni Tenshi ga Maiorita!. This show is centered around Miyako, a social phobia ridden, cosplayer obsessed,  deviant university student. She skips class as much as she can (I assume so, we only see her going to school once), hates going out,  can't go to stores because she can't handle eye contact with the cashier and to make matters worse, she becomes very infatuated with Hana, an 11 years old student, a friend of her young sister, Hinata. Don't worry though, this is one of those pure and wholesome Shoujo Ai shows.

We get to follow Miyako, Hinata and friends as they go around the house playing games, cooking and dressing cosplays made by Miyako. There are very funny moments in there but this is one of those feel-good shows more than it is a comedy. The feeling of progression and story is presented through Miyako trying to (more like being pushed to) become an adult while getting incredibly insightful help and support from a bunch of kids. Hana in particular is very much an adult despite being in a kid's body. Well, at least when it comes to anything else that is not sweets. Give her a cookie and her brain shuts down.

The balance between Miyako weirdness and the moe characters is a great combo. It keeps everything interesting and going forward. This is the perfect anime for people who kinda like moe but can't take too much sweetness without a break. Miyako offers perfectly embarrassing moments to keep you interested. She goes from bribing kids with cookies to almost getting arrested by acting like a complete creep during the summer festival. It's all good though, the kids vouch for her and she's let go. I'm sure it's a memory that will come back to torment her from time to time for all eternity.

It's nice to see how Miyako slowly improves thanks to her sister and friends. She even starts to get popular... not in university of course, but the elementary school students from Hinata's class are convinced she must be the best person ever! I'm not sure about the best ever but you can see she has the potential to become a very sensible, dependable adult. Sometime soon. For now she's pretty much a wreck though, which is fun and cringy to watch. And that's why you would sit through this in the first place.

All the characters are very colorful and bubbly, which is perfect for the tone of the show. Music is nice and equally bubbly. I hope they make a second season soon.

Tasogare Otome x Amnesia

 

It's hard to find a more enticing title than Dusk Maiden of Amnesia. It's the perfect title for an anime telling a horror ghost story. However, this show, much like the main character, Yuuko, seems to be suffering from some form of amnesia. It's been a while I've seen a story told in such a scattered, poorly organized manner. Yet you keep watching because the characters looks so nice and the premise is great, too.

The story is about Yuuko, a ghost haunting the grounds of a private school. Niiya and Kanoe, two students attenting the school, are able to actually see Yuuko and interact with her. They then decide to form an unofficial, paranormal investigation club to try and shed some light on Yuuko's mysterious past. This is actually a classic ghost love story. A human falling in love with a being from the Beyond and their love can never be... kinda. You see, it's not always a love story because like I said, the plot suffers from amnesia. 

This show has 12 episodes and we spend over half of it running around witnessing uninteresting tangents, receiving plot points like water slowly dripping from the tap. Again, this is really weird because there's a potentially very interesting story here, so why anyone would do this to us, the viewers? There's an excessive amount of fan service that ends up being annoying because it keep kicking the story down. It drags it to the mud and leave there for 6 or 7 episodes. Then, like Yuuko, the show decides it wants to tell a story again. What I'm saying is the pacing here could be better.

There are very nice moments in there so you stay with it. You can sense there's more to it, and the characters look so good. It has that nice Gangan feel to it. Maybe the problem is Tasogare Otome x Amnesia wants to be too many things. It has a little bit of everything. It goes from horror to comedy and harem, then it wants to be tragic but a stream of comedic moments comes trampling everything down. It gives you a nice ending and then it takes it back again. This show does that a lot, it slaps you in the face on every episode.

Maybe this is one of those cases where the anime wants to cover too much ground to give you a fair idea about the original material. The manga is 10 volumes long, so not a small tale by any means. It's funny, I really wanted to like this more than I did for some reason. I think it's because of the title. The words Dusk Maiden of Amnesia should be reserved just for the best ghost stories out there. This is a decent one and it could be really good with better passing and a less scattered plot.

Wotakoi: Love Is Hard for Otaku

 

Wotakoi is a situational comedy for people who enjoy the anime flavor of things. We get to follow two couples around as they work, go have a drink and attend comicon events. The main protagonists in this tale are Nifuji and Momose. Nifuji is an inconspicuous and self-contained gamer. Momose is a fujoshi and manga artist. They start a relationship, seemly out of convenience at first. Despite what the titles implies, their relationship is not hard on them by any means. In fact they get along pretty well. 

The same cannot be said about the second couple, formed by Konayagi, a cosplayer fanatic and Kabakura, a YuriYuri fan and apparently a figure collector (he talks about it a couple of times but we never get to see his collection, which is a bummer to be honest). They often have theatrical arguments over non-life-threatening things like Kabakura not wanting to cosplay as a girl or his refusal to read BL manga. Of course they always manage to overcome their differences and everything ends up being fine, because this is a feel good show.

Talking about feeling good, the comedic sketches here are rarely funny, they're mostly amusing, built for 'feel good' purposes, though occasionally there's a chuckle here and there to be taken. Unlike with the manga, the show doesn't have that many references to otaku culture as the title might suggest. The show revolves a lot more around Momose and Nifuji getting used to be in a relationship on one side, and Konayagi and Kabakura fighting and making amends, on the other. A couple episodes have a lot of references to gaming, a couple others have some manga and anime references but it's mostly a superficial thing that doesn't have to be there for the stories to work out.

This is the perfect palat cleanser for when you finish watching something with a lot of earth threatening monsters, androids fighting aliens, mechas, and teenagers that can fly and destroy buildings with a single punch. The romance is subtle and sparingly used, the characters are likable, distinct and wholesome. I just wish there was more otaku things on Wotakoi. I still can't get over the fact we never get to see the figures hoarded by Kabakura.

Sakamoto desu ga

 

Sakamoto desu ga is a comedy of mostly 10 minute sketches where the main character, Sakamoto, is shown existing as the perfect being to ever grace the planet. He's cool, cooler, the coolest, as the intro suggests. There's nothing he can't do and no situation he can't get out of. His perfection is the running gimmick but there's more going on here than meets the eye.

At certain point, one of students wants to know if it's true that Fukase, one of the bad guys in the show, have lived a thousand human lives before. I believe they should be asking this about Sakamoto as well. It's like he lived every single one of those situations and knows exactly what to do every single time. Sometimes all it takes is bringing an umbrella to the bathroom, but if the situation requires more, like say, riding a typhoon to save a little bird, no problem, he has powers that goes far beyond that of an ordinary human.

I'm convinced Sakamoto is a bodhisattva that have lived a million highschool students' lives before. That's why he can do everything perfectly. That's why he shows perfect compassion and understanding of the human soul. His solutions are not always obvious but it always lead to the best conclusion. For example, at one point, he witness one of his schoolmates, Kubota, having money stolen by a group of hooligans. Later Kubota asks for Sakamoto's help because he's getting mugged so often he's running out of money. Sakamoto doesn't confront the hooligans. Instead, he and Kubota start working at Wcdonald's. He figured if the problem is Kubota is running out of money... This turns out to be the right move for everyone involved.

His perfect loving-kindness means that he actually doesn't have any enemies, just people that doesn't know yet that they want to be friends with him.  This is also a running theme on the show. It's interesting to see how Sakamoto manages to get on everybody's good side acting in inventive, sometimes even tangential ways that ends up making absolutely everything right. 

It's a feel good type of show. It's about friendship, unexpected situations and lots gags. It's about the greatest student who've ever lived, Sakamoto.

Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica

There's a few important aspects I look for when picking a magical girl manga or anime. I believe those aspects are what make the genre special. Is is why it's a genre in the first place. First, the world the story is set in is a world of hope. This means the world has a lot more kindness and goodness than evil and cruelty. Essencially the world is one worth saving and fighting for. Second, the magical girls and their allies are the embodiment of humbleness, selflessness, charity and purity. They may have doubts about several things but their morality, purity of heart and conduct are firmly established. Third, the evil is a temporary state of madness or the temporary result of an injustice to be corrected by the heroes. Basically, evil in the world is a mistake and the result of ignorance, rather than active malignant will.

Shows like Sakura Cardcaptor and Sailor Moon are excellent examples of magical girl shows done right. Endearing, heartwarming, hopeful. The positivity and the restauration of faith in humanity is what magical girl stories is all about. It's no wonder why characters like Sakura and Serena are such popular characters, even after all this time.

Then there is this show called Madoka Magica, the complete and spetacular ruination of all the tenets of the genre. This is on purpose of course. If you're looking for a magical girl anime here, keep looking, this is not it. Madoka Magica sets out to present the precise opposite of all the corner stones of the genre. The only thing they kept positive here is the friendship in between some of the characters and the pure intentions of Madoka, the main character. This is done however so they can suffer more. It's sort of a trap. The rest is all over the walls like splatter of blood from dead magical girls. Because they go there, they kill magical girls. You probably know about this already, this is a very famous show.

What they do is to subvert the three important aspects of the genre as I described above. First, the world this characters live in is not a world of hope. In fact it's pretty bleak and target of even bleaker intentions from outer space. In fact hopelessness is an important part of the plot. Second, the magical girls can be corrupt, uncaring, selfish and even evil. The opposite of what magical girls suppose to be. Third, evil is the result of a calculated risk, not ignorance, in fact, it might be even brought about by pure intelligence.

This is a really interesting show but not because it's a different take on the genre. The story stands on its own and the fact it's a magical girl show on the surface is just for flavor purposes. This story could work even if you removed all the magical girls and replaced them with dogs. Of course there's the plot hole that all stories with time travel have, but really, this is to be expected, and it doesn't detract anything from the story.

My only complaint is that maybe there are 2 or 3 episodes in there that is clearly just gloating about how the show is bleak and sad while adding nothing to the plot itself. The ending is pretty good, though anyone who stops and think about it for a second can see that Madoka is not the smartest girl when it comes to making wishes. This is actually not my cup of tea, but I give credit where credit is due. Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica is a very good show for what it is and I can see why so many people like it.

Rozen Maiden

Dollfie Dream. Azone. Parabox. If you know exactly what I'm talking about, then this anime is definitely for you. Truth is though, there's something for everyone in Rozen Maiden. I don't remember a show succeeding at so many different things all at once. And with such class and charm, too. It's a show about ball-jointed dolls that come to life thanks to little pieces of a gem called Rosa Mystica. Each doll has a piece of the gem and they battle each other in a competition called Alice Game to collect all the pieces and have a chance to meet their dad, Rozen, the fabled doll maker.

Yet this synopsis barely covers the basics of all the things you'll witness in Rozen Maiden. You have time travel, dimension shifts, hungry little doll ghost, a hikikomori, suicidal girls, a mysterious bunny and everything in between. Of course you also get dolls fighting by waves of rose petals, feathers, watering can and scissors. A lot of sibling rivalry and little dolls drinking tea in tiny tea cups.

The Alice game is not the focus here, however. The heart and soul of this show is the relationship in between the dolls themselves and their relationship with Sakurada Jun, a hikikomori as a kid and a depressed university dropout, bookshop employee as an adult. Jun has a special connection to Shinku, one of the dolls, and watching how their friendship develop is quite interesting and filled with endearing moments.

Now, if you have any actual interest in ball-jointed dolls (Dollfie Dream, Azone and Parabox are bjd brands in case you're still wondering) then you'll get an extra kick out of this show. Every kid out there at least once imaged their toys coming to life. For those who still think about that stuff as an adult, and in fact know a thing or to about dolls, you'll love to watch the quiet moments of this show, like Jun serving Shinku tea, Shinku trying to read the newspaper or dolls silently going back inside their briefcase for a nap. Lots of scenes of Jun cleaning and putting dolls together will certainly strike a cord for you as well.

Then again, that doesn't even begin to cover all the soothing moments we get in between these characters. Shinku and Suingintou's rivalry is another major aspect of the show and it goes from quite serious, tense moments to completely hilarious. There are seven little dolls by the way, all of them sisters, made by the aforementioned Rozen, the doll maker.

This anime manages to tell a story involving so many different things, I'm still amazed everything came out so well. It manages a lot of different tropes, has interesting, endearing and appealing characters and lots of soothing, sad and happy moments. The music is also very, very good. I'll definitely check out the manga and the other anime iterations. I'm really glad I picked this one up.