Clevatess Season 2#

Genres: fantasy, action

​Another fantastic season for this show. The first season was a great introduction to this dark fantasy world where the “villain” (Clevatess the Demon Beast Lord of the South) takes on the role of primary guardian of a baby prince with the help of the hero he slayed himself, Alicia Glenfall. In the first season, they managed to successfully bring Prince Luna home to his mother and cement Clevatess as his magic tutor. Where could the series go from there?

This season takes Clevatess and Alicia to a magic school in the enemy country, to investigate the mystery of where the magic experiments are being conducted by the late general Drel, and what was really occurring in the ancient history of this world. Alicia continues to be my favorite character in this, a true steadfast hero despite the setbacks. The series’ lore and mysteries that are uncovered this season are quite compelling, and a fresh take on several classic tropes which I won’t spoil here.

I’m currently a manga reader for this series, so I was aware of the plot points before even watching this season. It was a pretty good adaptation, and Season 3 is a long ways away. Clevatess feels both fresh and nostalgic, capturing everything I’ve enjoyed from anime in the past. Whenever Season 3 rolls around, I’ll be sure to watch it. In the meantime, I’ll be keeping up with the manga!

The Forsaken Saintess and Her Foodie Roadtrip in Another World#

Genres: isekai, fantasy, iyashikei

​Honestly this wasn’t on my radar until a Crunchyroll clip landed on my youtube front page of the main character, Rin, fishing a (hot) dragonkin man out of a lake. That’s one way to hook the audience! I just wanted to know what would happen next!

Rin Takanashi is a caregiver in her 30s who gets summoned in a saintess summoning during a camping trip. Unfortunately for her, she appears alongside a highschool girl and is immediately teleported away after being judged useless. This trope of an older woman being summoned and discarded despite being a real saintess is used similarly to “The Saint’s Magic Power is Omnipotent”. Rin is not upset by the rude disposal and is just ready to move on with her life, and ends up meeting Vil, an adventurer and leader of a party where nobody can cook. She joins his party as a cook and porter, and uses her ability to summon a camping van to great advantage in their adventures.

This series is about 50% cooking, like Campfire Cooking and Dungeon Meshi. There is a light underlying story, but the majority of the runtime is a comfy mukbang show that is an excellent lunch-time accompaniment. There is a small hint of a romance between Rin and Vil, and while it didn’t have enough time to develop in the show, I hope there will be more romantic moments in the light novels, which are currently fan translated. I don’t anticipate this will get another season, so I’ll just have to keep reading to find out.

The Frontier Lord Begins with Zero Subjects#

​Genres: slice of life, comedy

I’ve read the manga for this one so I knew what to expect, and the anime was a fine adaptation! Dias is a legendary soldier who was given land and a title at the end of his career, and his domain is basically a plains “wasteland” at the far end of the kingdom. The main focus of the series is kingdom building, and Dias’s only contributing factor is his ridiculous strength. He slowly recruits allies who join his village (it’s a pretty small settlement even by the end of the series). There are some fantasy elements and creatures, and people are still at roughly a medieval level of technology.

I find the relationship between Dias and his much-younger wife Alna to be sweet and funny, even though their age gap makes even Dias uncomfortable. There are also many moments that had me laughing, mainly at the hilarious faces that Dias makes when he’s in a tough situation. Overall, it’s a relaxing series, and I’ll be sure to continue with the manga and start the light novel as well!

The Invisible Man and His Soon-to-Be Wife#

Genres: romance, slice of life, iyashikei

​I saw a funny clip on Crunchyroll’s youtube channel and decided to check this series out. Sometimes I’ll end up missing a show because of the cover or synopsis doesn’t immediately draw me in, and I’m glad I found this one eventually! The series is about a world where fantasy races live their lives alongside regular humans, and how two people, an invisible man (Tounome) and a blind woman (Yakou), develop their relationship.

The romance between Tounome and Yakou is genuinely so sweet, and I think the show does a really good job of showing how a person may adapt or need assistance for their disabilities. Yakou’s blindness is such an interesting counterpoint to Tounome’s invisibility, since she literally “experiences” him the same way as she does anyone else, through touch, sound, smell, etc.

This is truly an adult romance, and there are no “misunderstandings” or other plot points that may be frustrating. The two leads communicate, are openly affectionate, and honestly really adorable. It lives up to the “iyashikei” tag, since I was definitely healed watching this show.

Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia#

​Genres: historical, drama

A story about Sitara, a girl who is taken from her homeland and forced to work as a slave in Mongolia during the height of the Mongol empire. I have mixed feelings about the series, and it’s not about the subject matter. The series is beautifully animated by Studio Science Saru, and it’s worth a watch just for that. But my apprehension for this series has more to do with the progression of the plot line. For all the plotting that Sitara does, she kind of sucks at the job. This is not about someone who is a political genius, but about a traumatized young woman who is trying to get revenge on the people who razed her town and killed the people she loved.

Given how brutal the Mongols were, I think the series does a good job of showing both sides of the conflict with an even viewpoint. The story humanizes many of the Mongolian characters; that feeling of wanting to empathize with the other side is the true conflict Sitara deals with, as she struggles to maintain her hatred and achieve some kind of revenge. I will also say that this series has fantastically complex cast of female characters, and it’s surely worth the watch.

A Mangaka’s Weirdly Wonderful Workplace#

Genres: slice of life, comedy

​Another show from the backlog that I found recently. This show is like Bakuman and New Game! rolled into one (am I showing my age by making that reference? lol). It’s about a female mangaka who is creating a shogi manga in a monthly shoujo magazine.

I really liked the female perspective here, because Bakuman is centered around Shonen Jump. I often wondered if the working schedules and atmosphere was different for shoujo and josei manga, which usually has more relaxed schedules and fiercely dedicated fans. Of course, the main character still fights against deadlines, with a much a smaller team of assistants and her loyal editor. While Bakuman has a sports-manga like focus on the “development” of the manga-making duo and their goal to get to the top of their industry, this show takes a lighter approach and merely highlights situations or hurdles that a mangaka might face. Basically, this is not a series about competition or rivalry.

This show is kind of yuri-bait since there are very many ship teases between the characters, but I wouldn’t say it’s as overt as New Game where there are clear romantic ships implied. Overall, it was a light and entertaining watch. There’s another series that’s airing this season (Draw This, Then Die!) that I’ve got on my watch list, curious to see how that one turns out.

Reiwa no Dara-san#

Genres: horror, slice of life, comedy

I read the manga prior to the anime announcement just based on the vibes of the cover alone, so I knew this was going to be a good series. The series centers on a half-god/half-yokai snake woman named Dara and her funny interactions with two curious and (sometimes) bratty kids. Juxtaposed to that, each episode also reveals her tragic human backstory, and how she became a mountain god to begin with. It’s this blend of serious and dangerous occult occurrences mixed with the cute and hilarious antics of the Misogiya siblings that really drew me into the series.

It’s important to note that the series is drawn by a mangaka who is an enjoyer and purveyor of R18 manga, so the series is full of busty women and occasionally makes a few raunchy or inappropriate jokes. There’s also quite a bit of nudity of Dara herself, though it’s surprisingly not overly focused upon? It’s hard to explain, but while Dara may appear topless in several instances (she’s half-snake and hasn’t owned clothes in centuries), it’s more of a practical matter of owning clothes and doing laundry. The anime neither emphasizes nor hides her nudity when it arises, which is kind of refreshing in my opinion. (The mangaka is clearly a fan of these body types and loves drawing them).

Overall, the series is mostly wholesome and I had a great time watching it. I’ll definitely continue reading the manga as well!

Victoria of Many Faces#

Genres: drama, romance

​While I haven’t consumed the source material for this show (it has a light novel and a manga adaptation), I am familiar with the author’s other work, “A Young Lady Finds Her True Calling Living with the Enemy”, so I had high expectations for this one.

The main character, Chloe, is a spy for an espionage organization for the government of a certain country. After realizing that the org. has actually betrayed her, she runs away and decides to start a new life in a different country under the name “Victoria Sellars”. She’s no ordinary woman, and has many “cards up her sleeve”. I honestly prefer the original Japanese title “手札が多めのビクトリア | Tefuda ga Oome no Victoria” (lit. Victoria has Countless/Many Cards), but I digress.

In 9 episodes, it managed to tell a compelling story about a woman choosing to move on from her past and learn to love people for real. The bond between Victoria and her adopted daughter Nonna is central to the show, and I definitely didn’t have dry eyes while watching. The romance that also develops between her and Jeff (a police captain) is quite mature and heartwarming. It’s nice that we’re getting more adult-woman oriented stories getting adaptations, and this one was quite nice to watch. This season was quite short and sweet, and it’s been confirmed to be getting a 2nd season, so there will be more to look forward to!

You and I Are Polar Opposites Season 2 ⭐#

Genres: romance, iyashikei

Season 2 finishes out this wonderful series, and I’ll be sad to see it go. It’s been a joy to follow the main couples (Tani/Suzuki and Yamada/Nishi) and their development as people. If someone could replicate this format with adult characters I would eat that up!

I also appreciate that there was a non-couple introduced in the series (Taira/Azuma) who clearly care about each other, but haven’t quite reached that point yet. They might never become a romantic couple, but their relationship/friendship is nonetheless important and given equal weight in the series.

This has surely become a comfort series that I will definitely rewatch at some point. Highly recommended!