Isekai Office Worker: The Other World’s Books Depend on the Bean Counter OVA#

Genres: isekai, romance

I’m so glad we got an extra episode for this series! It’s anime original and super cute! It also sets up the story line for the 3rd book, so I’m really hoping a 2nd season is in the works.

Kujima: Why Sing, When You Can Warble?#

Genres: comedy, slice of life

I honestly thought Kujima was going to be an unbearably annoying character (he is don’t worry) but this show is still quite wholesome. Kujima is a strange creature from Russia that migrated to Japan (as birds, or bird-creatures in this case do), and Arata finds him and invites him to live with his family. What follows is how a stranger can end up bringing a whole family together, and becoming an important part of their lives. It’s touching and heartwarming, and Kujima’s antics, while grating aurally, end up being genuinely funny at moments. The voice-actress for Kujima seriously does a great job of emulating his Russian-accented Japanese. Recommended if you can stand it lol.

Kusunoki’s Garden of Gods#

Genres: slice of life, iyashikei

The series is about a man who moves to a new (rural) town to take care of a house that is unable to be sold by some relatives. It’s a nice place, and his job is to act as it’s caretaker. He encounters the local kami/gods in the area who are drawn to his purification abilities, and decide to stick around.

It’s hard to say that this show did anything particularly wrong, but I wouldn’t say it was amazing either. The animation was okay, and the plot was generally fun to keep up with every week.

It’s not a show that requires deep investment, so the viewer can simply enjoy how cute the antics are of the kami that visit the Kusunoki household. They’re not his pets, but Minato takes care of the kami that visit his place and shows due respect to them as if they were his own. That kindness is returned to him by favors or powers that the kami bestow on him, and he gradually learns to use his abilities over time to help solve incidents that occur in town.

It’s kind of crazy that he’s such catnip for all the gods, but he’s a nice, pleasant, respectful young man who gives you good food. What more could a kami want? This show was fun to watch weekly.

Lord of Mysteries Specials: City of Silver, The Marked Hunt#

Genres: fantasy, isekai, drama

​I really liked Lord of Mysteries when it aired last year, and it got me interested in Chinese anime (a.k.a donghua) as a whole. I also got into the novels for this series as well. These three episodes adapt some storylines that were skipped in the first season, and fit between episodes 10 and 11 of the first season.

I had a good time! The animation is as beautiful as always, and it filled in the gaps of the story, particularly with the Tarot Club members. It also added information that I wasn’t sure if it comes from later in the series, like the personal connection between Alger and Keelings/Qilangos (or if I just missed this detail while reading lmao).

I highly recommend this series if you’re into intricate worldbuilding, an isekai story that’s totally different to the game-like staples of Japanese isekai.

Marriage Toxin#

Genres: shonen, action, romance(?)

​This show is about a professional hitman (Hikaru Gero) who must find a spouse in order to avoid a forced marriage for his little sister. He ends up teaming up with a professional “marriage swindler”, and puts himself out there on the dating market while fending off real physical threats (usually other hitmen). The premise of this series had me interested, but I never felt compelled to pick up the manga before.

I’m so glad this anime was made, and that it was done with such care too! The action scenes were great, and Gero’s goal of finding a spouse and getting married is treated with just as much seriousness as the fights. It’s funny, heartwarming, and fun. I had a blast watching this show!

Even though it’s kind of formatted like a harem (there are several women that he meets that could be potential love interests), I like how respectful this show is towards the women involved as well. They’re fully fledged characters with their own goals and personalities, and quite charming. I even have a particular character I’m rooting for, though I still think the end-game is still Mei Kinosaki (the aforementioned marriage swindler) even though Mei is a male crossdresser.

It’s already been announced to get a 2nd season, and I’m going to pick up the manga as well.

Nippon Sangoku ⭐#

Genres: historical, drama, military

If you are a fan of either Kingdom or Legend of Galactic Heroes, this is a high recommendation from me! No need to read further or spoil yourself.

For everyone else, this is a post-nuclear, post-apocalyptic show about a future Japan that is split up into three countries, where technology has regressed to the early… 1800s? There are no vehicles, and the remaining people of Japan are scrambling for survival while inhabiting the ruins of a bygone time.

The setting is fascinating, and the story even more so. A young man (teenager really) loses his wife in a political tragedy and aims to take revenge by changing the world. Despite the main character having a singular focus, the series shows all angles and multiple characters on both sides of the conflict(s). From what I understand, it also makes heavy use of the real historical Chinese Three Kingdoms period, and there are references to real historical figures throughout Chinese and Japanese history.

​This was the show I couldn’t wait to watch week to week, it had me hooked! It was fascinating keeping up with all the plots and machinations, and it always keeps you guessing. Also, unfortunately, nobody is safe either. Characters that receive a brief (awesome) scene could be killed at any moment, so I never felt sure of what would happen next.

I need a second season for this one, and it’s a show that’s entered my favorites of all time. I’m sure the manga is fantastic too, and I’ll definitely be picking it up when it becomes available.

The Ramparts of Ice#

Genres: romance, drama

Last season had the author’s other work “You and I Are Polar Opposites”, and based on the strength of that one, I decided to watch this as well. Oh boy. It’s great!

But definitely not at all similar to Polar Opposites, which just shows how wide the author’s range is. This is a much more serious drama about a highschool girl who has lived her life closed off from others due to trauma in the past. She learns to open up and ends up developing a close-knit friend group, and the beginnings of a romance with one of the friends.

The tea is hot and the drama is juicy, what can I say. I was so hyped for each episode, just wanting to find out what happens next. The characters are relatable and feel very human, including their maybe not ideal reactions to events that occur in the show. The Polar Opposites characters felt like very real teenagers, and the characters in Ramparts of Ice also feel very real, in a different more somber story. That’s not to say that there aren’t moments of levity or happiness.

I also appreciate how emotions were portrayed in this show, and how the characters deal with them. Often times, shows focused on highschool-aged characters can end up making the characters feel unbelievably daft for their age, unable to either take a hint or understand what’s going on. I never felt that way with this show. This one also got a 2nd season announcement, which is awesome! It must be a split cour series, and it seems like we’ll be getting a full series adaptation. I’ll be eagerly waiting for the next installment.

The Warrior Princess and the Barbaric King#

Genres: romance, action, fantasy

I’ve read the manga for this one, so I wasn’t to eager to keep up with the series since I knew what was going to happen next. The premise is that the main character (the titular Warrior Princess, though really she’s more like a “Knight” Princess), loses in combat to Veor, the leader of the “Barbarians”, and is abducted with the intentions of marriage. This plot-line is straight out of a harlequin novel.

However, the series is part-romance, part-action/fantasy, and the author put some effort into the worldbuilding. The development of the relationship between Veor and Sera is cute and funny, and the show is mostly a lighthearted watch.

I have some qualms with some plot holes, such as how a Kingdom that is perpetually starving is able to even wage a war against the “barbarians” to begin with, but honestly I here for great political intrigue lol. It was a fine watch.

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Ascendance of a Bookworm S4#

Genres: isekai, fantasy

I was super excited for the next season of Bookworm to come out, since it’s one of my all time favorite light novel series and got me into light novels to begin with. I think it’s great that it’s getting a 2-cour season. I’ll cover it in further detail in the Summer Roundup!

Agents of the Four Seasons S1#

Genres: fantasy, drama

This season is complete at 14 episodes, but I’m still watching it (I’ve only seen 5 episodes so far). I’ve already read the light novels for it, so I wasn’t really in a hurry. I’ll address this in the next roundup after I’ve watched the show lol.

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