Kaiseki Anime

By Marina and DraggleTV & Film

Kaiseki Anime episodes

December 05, 2022Kaiseki Anime Ep. 113 — Cute Girls Doing Cute Things
Do It Yourself is great!!! Even I like it and I have no heart. Bocchi the Rock… is fine.
00:00 Intro
01:35 Do It Yourself!!
12:50 BOCCHI THE ROCK!
23:03 Outro
Music Credits
“Clover 3” by Vibe Mountain
Do It Yourself!! OP: “Dokidoki Idea o Yoroshiku!” by Konomi Inagaki, Kana Ichinose, Ayane Sakura, Azumi Waki, Karin Takahashi, and Nichika Ōmori
“Seasons” by roljui
24 min
November 21, 2022Kaiseki Anime Ep. 112 — Extreme Violence
We discuss two of our favorite shows of the season, Akiba Maid War and Chainsaw Man!
00:00 Intro
01:09 Akiba Maid War
14:36 Chainsaw Man
22:48 Related shows
26:43 Outro
Music
“Clover 3” by Vibe Mountain
Chainsaw Man OP: “Kick Back” by Kenshi Yonezu
“Seasons” by roljui
28 min
November 07, 2022Kaiseki Anime Ep. 111 — Shoujo
This is the most shoujo either of us have watched in a while! Let’s discuss.
00:00 Intro
01:00 I’m the Villainess, So I’m Taming the Final Boss
08:45 Raven of the Inner Palace
15:01 Bibliophile Princess
23:35 Fall favorites
25:43 Outro
Music Credits
“Clover 3” by Vibe Mountain
I’m the Villainess, So I’m Taming the Final Boss OP: “Kyо̄kan Sarenakute mo Ii Janai” by Rie Takahashi
“Seasons” by roljui
27 min
October 24, 2022Kaiseki Anime Ep. 110 — Fall 2022 Anime Impressions
This season is looking good! Enjoy our thoughts.
00:00 Intro
01:15 Housing Complex C
02:17 Human Crazy University
02:37 Legend of Mana -The Teardrop Crystal-
03:02 More than a Married Couple, but Not Lovers.
04:55 My Master Has No Tail
05:58 The Little Lies We All Tell
06:50 VAZZROCK THE ANIMATION
07:15 Beast Tamer
09:15 Bibliophile Princess
10:56 BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War
12:15 BOCCHI THE ROCK!
13:57 The Eminence in Shadow 18:23 Encouragement of Climb: Next Summit
20:10 Futoku no Guild
21:33 I’m the Villainess, So I’m Taming the Final Boss
23:37 I’ve Somehow Gotten Stronger When I Improved My Farm-Related Skills
24:41 Management of a Novice Alchemist
25:19 LOVE FLOPS
26:21 Muv Luv Alternative
S2 27:47 Raven of the Inner Palace
28:56 Reincarnated as a Sword
30:33 Shinobi no Ittoki
31:52 To Your Eternity Season 2
32:06 Urusei Yatsura (2022)
33:22 Akiba Maid War
35:36 BLUELOCK
36:46 Boruto: Naruto Next Generation
36:51 Chainsaw Man
37:56 Do It Yourself!!
39:21 Golden Kamuy Season 4
40:17 Mob Psycho 100 III
40:34 Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury
43:56 SPY x FAMILY Cour 2
46:36 Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun S3
47:04 Outro
Music Credits:
“Clover 3” by Vibe Mountain
BLUELOCK OP: “Chaos ga Kiwamaru” by Unison Square Garden
“Seasons” by roljui
Transcript
Marina
Welcome to Kaiseki Anime, where we air new episodes every other week. “Kaiseki” covers currently airing anime, older series seen recently, and other relevant topics for the season. I’m your host, Marina, of the blog, “Anime B&B,” and with me is my co-host Draggle, of the cleverly titled “Draggle’s Anime Blog.”
Draggle
This week, we discuss our fall 2022 season impressions. So as usual, shall we start with the trash that we’ve dropped?
Marina
Yeah, and there are a lot just overall, but also a lot in this tier and the one above it. So we need to get going and try to go over them as quickly as we can.
Draggle
Okay, we’ll be fast.
Marina
Okay, so this first one that I have on here, Housing Complex C, have you seen this?
Draggle
Sadly, yes.
Marina
Sadly? Exactly. So one of my followers was mentioning that I probably shouldn’t bother. And I was like, no, no, it’s fine. I need a horror for Halloween. I’m not expecting much. I tried this. And I should have taken their advice because it’s pure trash. Lovecraftian trash that isn’t well written. Very cheesy and currently only available in English. I think we have to wait a bit for the Japanese voices to be available. I’m watching on HBO Max. So yeah, skip.
Draggle
I don’t think the Japanese will make much difference to be honest.
Marina
No, like I said, it’s just badly written. So not much you can do there.
Draggle
The best part was the racism.
Marina
The racism is just like, but that’s also Lovecraftian. Right?
Draggle
Exactly.
Marina
But it’s just like, funny to see it on the screen so blatantly?
Draggle
Yeah. And more, translated to Japan.
Marina
Yeah. The angry woman at them doing their prayers. How dare they?
Draggle
How dare they, yeah. Next one is Human Crazy University. This is like a flash animated thing. And it was like this guy who’s about to be executed but it’s a comedy. I don’t know. I thought it was really kind of nasty and also ugly.
Marina
Yeah, I haven’t seen this. So I have no experience.
Draggle
Don’t recommend it.
Marina
What about the next one: Legend of Mana the teardrop crystal?
Draggle
I saw this. But honestly, I like watched the first couple of minutes. And then I kind of zoned out.
Marina
I probably should have done the same. I think I powered through to the end. But I was pretty tuned out from the very beginning. I’ve always been really curious about these video games. So I thought I’d give the anime a try, but it just feels too juvenile, looks juvenile, and it’s just yeah, it’s not very interesting.
Draggle
Yeah. Dropped. Next: More than a Married Couple, But Not Lovers. This seems like the kind of thing I would like but-
Marina
But?
Draggle
I don’t know. The characters are kind of boring.
Marina
Oh, really?
Draggle
Especially the pink-haired girl. She’s just so boring. And then the other love venture. She’s not really a character at all. She just like, I don’t know, love fantasy object.
Marina
I totally thought this was your jam. I thought you’re gonna be all in on this. I mean, this is the premise–More than a Married couple, But Less than Lovers–we’re in this world, they have it set up so that students have to do like a marriage course, like high school kids, right?
Draggle
Yup.
Marina
Are they high school? And not adults, not full fledged adults. High school. And they have to be paired up with someone of the opposite sex, of course, so that they can practice what it’s like to be married. So not only is it like forcing down your throat this idea of what marriage is, it’s putting it across everybody. They all have to experience it before they’ve even hit adulthood and it’s just really, really bad.
Draggle
Yeah, it’s very stupid. It is kind of funny that they have the security cameras watching them for if they’re in love, but somehow it can’t pick up that they’re only pretending to be in love. So they can get together with the people they actually like.
Marina
Except they’re not supposed to have any physical touch. Right? Like they’re not supposed to actually have sex.
Draggle
Oh, they’re not? I thought they were, they kissed and stuff.
Marina
I don’t, I think that’s fine, but I think they’re not supposed to actually get it on. Unless I’m totally misunderstanding.
Draggle
Oh. Okay, maybe you’re right. I don’t know. It was dumb. There’s like a whole genre, by the way. There’s lots of manga kind of along these lines. Like one of the better ones is Koi and Uso, which you…you probably saw before.
Marina
Yeah, but that one was actually interesting in that-
Draggle
Exactly.
Marina
-it’s not like forced like this shit is.
Draggle
Exactly, that one was good. This one it’s not.
Marina
Let’s move on. The Master has No Tail.
Draggle
This was…she was doing rakugo? Is that right?
Marina
Yeah, and it’s actually cute. Like I liked the art style. I think the character’s are cute. I think the rakugo lady…I don’t know what she is actually, but she seems pretty interesting, but I just have too many other shows that I’m more interested in for something that’s like, sort of passable like this to get me.
Draggle
I think she’s a fox. That’s why the title is my master has no-
Marina
-dude, but foxes have tails. But do they just not show when they do transformation like tanuki?
Draggle
Oh. Maybe that’s right. I don’t know-
Marina
I have no idea.
Draggle
-now I’m confused. I thought she’s a fox like in Naruto there’s the fox.
Marina
I’ve only seen one episode so if they show her being fox-like later, I didn’t see it.
Draggle
I might have just made this up, too. But anyway, I also liked the first episode, but then I watched the second episode…put me to sleep. Okay, there were just so many other good shows this season.
Marina
There’s too many to like, get stuck on this one. Right?
Draggle
Exactly.
Marina
Okay, how about The Little Lies We Tell?
Draggle
Yeah, I gave up on this one too.
Marina
How long did you get into the episode? Did you actually finish it?
Draggle
I think I got like halfway.
Marina
Yeah, I was sort of forcing myself; I don’t know if I made it to the end. I was just not interested…like it’s trying to do like the whole like gag anime and like for cute girls, but they’re all weird in some way. And they’re all lying to each other. And I mean, it’s kind of…I guess it’s silly situation too, like one is an Esper, one is an alien, one is a ninja, and one is…what’s the other one?
Draggle
A boy.
Marina
A boy! That’s right! Which is, it’s kind of funny that the Esper can’t read their mind because he’s not a girl. But after like, they do their whole shtick, it just gets old super fast.
Draggle
Yeah. Good, we’re done with that. And last, but not least, VAZZROCK the Animation.
Marina
This is supposed to be an idol show, right? Like I expected idol boys doing idol things, but they sit around in this room talking for much of the episode and I just couldn’t even finish it because I was appalled at how it’s just like panning back and forth between them talking. That’s it.
Draggle
Yeah. But I wouldn’t have watched this even if it was good. So…
Marina
Yeah, pass.
Draggle
Pass.
Marina
Okay, so let’s go ahead and move on to the next tier, which is more of a to be determined. Like it’s too early to tell. So I’m not quite sure if I’m gonna keep it or if I’m going to drop it. Starting with Beast Tamer.
Draggle
I am sure I’m gonna drop this for the record. This was terrible.
Marina
Oh, so would you have pushed it down if you could have?
Draggle
Yes, this was trash. I’m sorry.
Marina
I guess I’m kind of curious. Like him, confronting his former team, you know, because they dumped him kind of like that other anime where he like becomes a pharmacist or whatever, right? Like an apothecary.
Draggle
So yeah, you want the revenge?
Marina
I want the revenge. Yes. I want to see them come face to face with the regret of having cut this guy without realizing how promising he actually is. And as dumb as I find the monster girls, they are kind of cute. And they’re overpowered and it’s cool that like their powers make him powerful. So yeah, that’s why I’m here. Maybe once we get to the revenge if they like do it earlier, then I might instantly drop it after that. But we’ll see.
Draggle
I think you’re very naive because you haven’t read as many trash isekai slavery manga.
Marina
What do you mean?
Draggle
This is basically slavery, except they call it taming.
Marina
I mean, that’s what I said. Didn’t I tweet that I was like-
You did!
-oh, hey, not slavery. But beasts.
Draggle
That’s why I was shocked you’re watching it.
Marina
I just want to see his revenge. Okay, and like, I guess it’s because I’m used to the whole like, maybe it’s because of my experience and like video games, right? To me like a summoner, he’s kind of a summoner in my opinion, or like a beast tamer. It’s not that weird. It’s just the weirdness is that they’re humanoid.
Draggle
Right. So you understand the feel of the revenge isekai now is what I’m hearing.
Marina
I’ve always understood it.
Draggle
Yeah, this is basically Healer, Hero, whatever it’s called, except without the less explicit.
Marina
Yes, for now.
Draggle
Yes.
Marina
Okay, so let’s go on to Bibliophile Princess.
Draggle
Yeah, I’m all in on this one. I like the first episode.
Marina
Really?
Draggle
Yeah.
Marina
Oh, did you just watch the first episode?
Draggle
No, I watched the first two or maybe three if there are three.
Marina
I think it’s really like fluffy pretty because it’s got this sort of pastel, you know, very light pencil drawing…that’s what it feels like. And I liked the world, I suppose. I think it’s cool that she’s so absorbed in her books. The second episode, I actually got kind of bored and obviously it’s like super predictable with that villainess and her father. Obvious. And the prince just being like “I knew all along who I was saved, we knew all along. Oh, I’ve always loved you.” Like come on, it’s cheesy. It’s predictable.
I know. I needed the cheesiness and predictability.
Okay, maybe this is the healing we’ll need later on in the season.
Draggle
I feel like it’s been a while since I watched like a good shoujo show.
Marina
Okay, well, I hope she becomes more personable right now. She’s just kind of…blah.
Draggle
See this is also a revenge story. You just told me how you love revenge. So…
Marina
Wait, how is this revenge story? It’s over in like the second episode.
Draggle
Yeah, I know, that’s what I was wondering too. I’m also a bit surprised that I thought this conflict would like last the whole show. And now her rival’s already been in jail due to things that happened off screen in the first episode. So it’s kinda weird.
Marina
So it’s like, where are they gonna go from here? They’re gonna have to come up with some new conflict. Otherwise, I’m going to get bored.
Draggle
Yeah, I have no idea what’s gonna happen next. I might get bored too. But-
Marina
We’ll see.
Draggle
-I like the first three episodes or two or however many there were.
Marina
How about BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War?
Draggle
I didn’t watch it.
Marina
So I only watched it because of curiosity. And also because KWoo actually watched a lot more of Bleach than I did, the original, like I stopped after like the first major arc, I think, like after they save Rukia. And he got further than that. I’m not quite sure where he stopped. But we went ahead and we watched like a half hour recap video on YouTube to like, refresh our memories of what we had seen and then like, learn what we hadn’t seen. And then we watched the first episode of this one. And it’s not bad. I don’t think it’s necessary to have read or watched the things that happened before. Someone mentioned that it might be more emotionally impactful, which is probably true, but I don’t think it’s required to understand what’s happening here.
Draggle
Is this just like, more fighting stuff?
Marina
Yes. More fighting. Another big evil is coming awake, right? And they’re gonna have to fight probably. So we’ll see how long I stick with this. If it’s just like, battle after battle, power up after power up, then I’ll probably drop it. But for now, I’ll stick with it.
Draggle
Okay. Yeah, that’s what I remember of what I saw of Bleach: battle after battle, power up after power up.
Marina
That’s why I got bored. I was like, he’s gonna get stronger again.
Draggle
Yes.
Marina
Okay. So let’s move on to BOCCHI THE ROCK!
Draggle
Yeah, I really like this one.
Marina
It has promise for me, but I have to admit that I kind of find her annoying.
Draggle
Oh, I think she’s the best part. I like how annoying she is.
Marina
Oh, so you agree that she’s annoying?
Draggle
Yes.
Marina
Okay. But you like it.
Draggle
Yes.
Marina
Why do you like it?
Draggle
I don’t know. It’s kind of funny. Seeing her go on stage in her box. And she’s like, this is all I’ve dreamed of. Maybe not.
Marina
I like that she is like a self-taught guitarist and a pretty popular one at that. No one knows who she is because she never shows her face, right? And like even her bandmates are fans of her account not knowing that that’s who she is because she can’t play like she normally can in public.
Draggle
Right.
Marina
So I’m kind of curious at what point they’ll realize if they’ll ever realize that she’s the same person. She’s just so socially awkward. It’s terrible watching her. I just want to get her to please find some normalcy.
Draggle
She’s like, awkward, but not in like the most cringy way in my opinion.
Marina
Not as bad as like, you know how Komi Can’t Communicate–like she’s not that far gone.
Draggle
Exactly. She-
Marina
So she’s trying.
Draggle
-at least tries, yeah. And it’s really well animated. I thought.
Marina
It looks great. Yeah.
Draggle
Yeah, pretty, pretty well paced. I love their art style.
Marina
I do, too. And I’m surprised that you’re watching this because it’s sort of like a cute girls do music.
Draggle
Yeah, but it’s like cute girls failing at music, which makes it okay.
Marina
Arguably, K-ON! is basically cute girls failing at music.
Draggle
Yeah, that’s why I kinda likedK-ON! too.
Marina
Ah, okay.
Draggle
Yeah, exactly.
Marina
Okay, how about the next one, which is The Eminence in Shadow? I thought I put this lower. Did you raise this?
Draggle
I raised it up, ’cause I hated the first episode because this is like one of my favorite ongoing manga. It’s really funny.
Marina
Oh, I didn’t realize because I thought when you said it was a terrible first episode that you weren’t going to watch it. And so I watched the first episode. I was like, yeah, it’s not as bad as I thought it was going to be like, it’s not good. And I’m not gonna watch it, but it’s not as terrible. And then you were like, yes, it was terrible. So you’re actually sticking with it?
Draggle
Yeah, so I thought it was terrible. Mainly because I had expectations.
Marina
Ah, there you go again.
Draggle
And I still think that the first episode was terrible. But second and third episode: they kind of turned it around and realized it’s supposed to be a comedy.
Marina
Ah, okay.
Draggle
So it was funny in the second and third episode to some extent.
Marina
Okay, because can you clarify things for me? In the first episode, which was the only thing I watched, it looks like that he was kind of this outcast. I don’t know like, socially awkward guy who like helps this girl, he like saves her. And then it looks like he dies and has…he’s reborn into a new world. Right? So did anything that happened in his previous life, does any of that matter in his new life?
Draggle
No, not really.
Marina
So like, that girl, that girl that seemed like she was one of the main characters isn’t even around anymore?
Draggle
I think she shows up later.
Marina
Oh, okay.
Draggle
So like I talked to some late novel readers–I read the manga, and I refuse to read light novels–but they told me that, oh, this was a really clever starting point, because it started on the extra chapter from the fourth volume of the light novel that told his serious background. And I think they’re very foolish. I thought this was a horrible place to start, because it didn’t make you think it was a joke.
Marina
No, that’s why I was like ehhhhh.
Draggle
Yeah. You like took it seriously.
Marina
I took it seriously.
Draggle
Right. So in the manga, and also the second and third episodes, it’s like, this guy, he’s supposed to be ridiculous. Like, the entire thing is laughing at this main character for being a chuuni dumbass.
Marina
Well, I got a sense of that, right? Like afterwards with like, how he was talking at the end of the episode, I was like, so he, like, wanted to save her. And he wanted to, like, fight these people. He’s a little vigilante. But he’s kind of dumb. I got that a bit. But like, for most of the episode focusing on the girl, I didn’t get that.
Draggle
Right. Right, it wasn’t very clear. So again…in the third episode, which I just watched, I thought that was pretty good. He’s currently like pretending to be super weak, because he wants to be in the shadows or whatever.
Marina
Right.
Draggle
But then he like, he takes it really far. So he makes…he makes friends with all these losers and he calls them background characters. And then he, he like, asks this girl out with them because he wants to get rejected like a normal backhand character. But then she says yes and he gets really pissed at her. And…and then it turns out, she only did it so that she could break up with her fiance. And then he’s like, oh, no, I fallen into this main character development. I have to escape from this. And then she offers him some money to stay with…stay with her. And then he’s like, do I look like the pers…kind of person that could be swayed by some money? And then she says, yes. And then he says-
Marina
Yes, obviously!
Draggle
-well you’re right. And then he dives on the floor for the money.
Marina
Yeah. See, that’s where I got confused also, because at the very beginning with that first episode, when he like talks to the girl and he like mutters something about her being a side character, I was like, wait, so is this like, very real life feeling thing actually already an isekai?
Draggle
No, so he like has delusions of grandeur from his prior world.
Marina
Yeah, that’s what I’m saying…Well, no, because he says that in the very first episode to the girl in his real life. It’s like, why would he say that to her unless like, he’s like, deep in chuunibyou? Like, you know, pretending?
Draggle
Oh, yeah, he’s deep in chuunibyou.
Marina
He’s already some hero.
Draggle
Yeah.
Marina
So another, like, poor decision I think on their part.
Draggle
Yeah, I thought the first episode was terrible. But there’s some hope to turn it around from the second and third episodes.
Marina
I’ll leave you at it. You can update me later.
Draggle
Okay, I’ll update you later.
Marina
Okay, so this next one, Encouragement of Climb: Next Summit, I want to make very clear that it took me a bit to realize this, but this is a full length anime with full length episodes, right? The previous seasons have all been shorts. The first one was like very, very short, I don’t know, like five minutes or so. And then the follow up one was like 15 minutes, they extended it. But this current one is like, full 25-ish minutes. Unfortunately, I think they’re starting out with several episodes of recap, recapping the events of what happened in the seasons before, which I guess isn’t bad for people new to the franchise? I just find it kind of disappointing because I wanted to, like start where we ended. But that’s not gonna happen, I think, until like the latter half of the show.
Draggle
Okay, so maybe I could watch this recap, since I never watched the originals.
Marina
Yeah. And you’re gonna have to tell me what you think as a new viewer, because I sort of put them on in the background just to like, get an idea of like, how many of these are recap, and so far, like the first three that I’ve seen are all recap things. And to me, it was kind of slow because I already knew what was happening. Right? And I was looking for new things. So maybe you can give me a little bit more of idea if you thought they were slow. Or if you actually thought they were interesting.
Draggle
Okay, I watched only the first episode.
Marina
Oh, you did?
Draggle
Yeah. I didn’t like it too much.
Marina
Yeah, I don’t know why they feel like…because to me, those actually do fit better as shorts. And trying to like slap them together into like longer episodes makes it feel slow to me.
Draggle
Yeah, it did feel kinda slow.
Marina
So I don’t know how successful it’ll be and maybe like the latter half will have better writing that actually fits the length of the episode. We’ll see.
Draggle
Okay, well hopefully you’ll enjoy the later parts.
Marina
I hope so. Because I really do love these characters and I’m kind of sad that I’m not enjoying it so far.
Draggle
That’s too bad.
Marina
Anyways, next one: Futoku no Guild. I can’t believe I watched the first episode. I wish I could gouge it out of my memory.
Draggle
It was such trash. I loved it.
Marina
It was such trash. So like the whole point of this is that it’s this guy right that…he’s like really strong. And then he gets teamed up with like these other beginner adventurers, right?
Draggle
He’s not really that strong. It’s just his partners are so weak that they think he’s strong.
Marina
Oh, okay. I wasn’t sure ’cause I only saw the first episode and he seemed to be pretty competent.
Draggle
Yeah, he’s like competent, but he’s not super strong on and he’s trying to retire. But all of his younger people who would carry on his job are so useless that he can’t.
Marina
I just don’t understand why he feels like he even needs them to carry on his job. Like does he really think that the town is going to expire if he retires? Like don’t be so full of yourself.
Draggle
That’s the premise, but yeah.
Marina
And the girls are so stupid, especially the first one. Just the whole like fighting with the slime. I just was so appalled.
Draggle
Yeah, it’s terrible.
Marina
It’s terrible. But you’re gonna watch it?
Draggle
Of course.
Marina
Oh, my god.
Draggle
I like this manga, too. It’s pretty good.
Marina
All right, I’m glad you enjoy it. I wish I could forget it.
Draggle
Okay. I hope you can’t forget it.
Marina
Thank you.
Draggle
Yeah, next is another shoujo one: I’m the Villainess, So I’m Taming the Final Boss.
Marina
Yeah. And you know, when I first saw this, I thought it was going to be like the other villainess anime, right, which was really cute. And like, I really liked her. But this is not just a copy. This is its own thing. And I actually…I’m quite enjoying it.
Draggle
Yeah, I like it, too.
Marina
So it’s like a similar idea, right? Where she’s like…is she reborn in this world?
Draggle
Yeah, she’s reborn as the villainess.
Marina
Okay. And she…does she know what’s happening. She knows what’s supposed to happen, right? She realizes that she is the villainess.
Draggle
She knows she’s the villainess, so…and she knows like if it follows the events she’ll die. So she tries to change the events. It’s the same premise basically, as the other villainess show.
Marina
She just goes about it a different way, right? Like instead of endearing herself to everyone, like the previous anime, she decides to just cut it off. Like don’t be around this toxic prince. He doesn’t deserve her. He’s an asshole anyways. And she goes off to befriend the guy who actually kills her in the game, right?
Draggle
Yeah.
Marina
-and sort of endears herself to him. Not intentionally, she just already has that charm to her personality. And I’ve been having a lot of fun with them sort of being a duo together.
Draggle
Yeah, I liked it, too. It does seem like a bit childish at times, like with the familiars and stuff, but-
Marina
Yeah.
Draggle
-that’s okay.
Marina
I’m kind of feeling like we’ve already done and taken care of one conflict, so I’m kind of curious where we’re gonna go from here, you know, through the end of the season.
Draggle
Yeah. We’ll see. Prince is in trouble.
Marina
Which one? The the one that’s been supplanted already, or the previous demon lord?
Draggle
The one who’s been supplanted already?
Marina
Ah, okay.
Draggle
I’m confused by the way, how is the demon lord and the prince brothers? I couldn’t quite follow this.
Marina
Yeah, I’m not quite sure. Like, why he’s the Demon Lord, if it’s just by chance, because he has magic. Like he got demonic magic somehow. I don’t know why he has it.
Draggle
Okay. That was kind of my impression, too.
Marina
And maybe they’ll explain that, like, maybe that’ll be part of like, the overarching conflict? I don’t know.
Draggle
Yeah, I guess we’ll see.
Marina
Guess we’ll see. The next one: I’ve Somehow Gotten Stronger When I Improved My Farm-Related Skills.
Draggle
I’m shocked you put that this high.
Marina
This is the one where the guy got stronger inexplicably from like, leveling up his farming, right?
Draggle
And he defeats like the dragon on the way to town.
Marina
I mean, that was kind of funny when he like threw something and it exploded. But now I’m struggling to remember. I thought that was funny. And I think I had sort of a positive reaction at the end of this, but I don’t actually recall. Doesn’t he get like betrothed or what happened at the end?
Draggle
I think the princess is after him. I don’t remember if he actually got betrothed.
Marina
Yeah, he’s endeared himself to the royal family, right?
Draggle
Yeah.
Marina
But then doesn’t he escape or something?
Draggle
I think the princess follows him though. I don’t know. I didn’t follow it too carefully. It seemed kind of standard to me. Standard isekai thing.
Marina
I’ll give it another episode or two. But based off the first episode alone…like I’m not offended by anything.
Draggle
Right. I’ve certainly seen worse.
Marina
It just seemed kind of silly. Yeah.
Draggle
Okay, should we jump to Management of a Novice Alchemist?
Marina
So far is just, oh, it’s kind of cute. She has to open up an apothecary in the middle of nowhere in the boonies. So I’m kind of curious because I typically like apothecary sort of, gathering or botanist kind of, shows. So it’s really just like a first impression from the first episode. I thought it was cute.
Draggle
This one is totally not my thing. I fell asleep. This is a true cute girls doing cute things. They’re too good at their jobs.
Marina
Yeah. And like I had mentioned before, it’s still too early really to give my opinion on whether or not I should drop this. Like I’m not bored yet off the first episode.
Draggle
Okay. Next is LOVE FLOPS, which…I like this more than I expected I would like it. I especially liked how there’s robots in it. This is the one with the robots, right?
Marina
Yes. Because it takes the girls underwear.
Draggle
Oh, yeah. It also tried to throw out the girl as trash. Which I…I liked that part.
Marina
Grabbing her skirt! There are so many clip-worthy gifs here. Oh my god, the boy with the dog which just…I can’t believe they did that joke twice in the same episode. It was killing me and now I’m like terrified of those dogs. I don’t want to think about that.
Draggle
Yeah, so it was a memorable show.
Marina
It was memorable in such a bad way to me.
Draggle
Yeah. So I’m gonna stick with it and see what happens. Although I expect it will go downhill. But you never know.
Marina
Is this something you’re gonna watch with your friends?
Draggle
Maybe we have to decide between this and Futoku no Guild, so it’s a hard choice this season.
Marina
Oh, I’m sure. What about the next one Muv Luv Alternative season two. Is this possibly in the contention?
Draggle
Oh, no, this one’s not too classy. This is like a giant, robot-fighting alien show.
Marina
Yeah, but hasn’t this been notoriously like terrible but also extremely ecchi? I don’t remember.
Draggle
It was pretty terrible. I don’t think it was too ecchi. Like it has these these stupid suits, where they have like extremely giant boobs.
Marina
They’re very shiny.
Draggle
Yeah. But that’s about all the ecchiness.
Marina
Okay.
Draggle
So I don’t know. I already…I felt like I already watched one season. I might as well finish it. But I don’t have too strong feelings about this either way.
Marina
Did you already see the first episode?
Draggle
Yeah, I saw the first two or three episodes.
Marina
Okay, this is just like follow up on the previous season, pretty much right after those events?
Draggle
Yeah, exactly. It’s kind of hard to follow this show for me honestly. It goes really fast. And apparently, it like skipped the first two thirds of the game. The dating sim. This is based on one so it’s kind of confusing, and there’s like time travel and stuff. So-
Marina
Sounds needlessly complicated.
Draggle
Yeah, it’s very complicated. But whatever. I like how it’s racist, so that always interests me when they have this like…Japanese nationalism shows.
Marina
You should watch Housing Complex C.
Draggle
Yeah, no. No. Okay, let’s move on. Another shoujo that I really liked: Raven of the Inner Palace. I love these palace shows-
Marina
Yeah I liked it, too.
Draggle
-where there’s like betrayal.
Marina
Well, plus, you also like the Chinese setting, right?
Draggle
Yeah, Chinese palace. I just finished reading Dream of the Red Chamber, which is like, perfect.
Marina
Perfect.
Draggle
Yeah.
Marina
You’re ready.
Draggle
Yeah, this one was just okay, honestly. I wish it had more portrayals and more intrigue.
Marina
I mean, there’s sort of the overarching intrigue about the previous dynasty, right with her being of their-
Draggle
Yeah.
Marina
-I don’t know, race or whatever. The ones that are pretty much exterminated with the people with their white hair. That whole family and she’s like the soul survivor, supposedly, but yeah, I find that interesting. I don’t know if they’re gonna go further with it. Probably. Yeah, right now it feels a little episodic with the mysteries that are proposed to her.
Draggle
Exactly. I don’t know. I’m not as big on the episodic mysteries, but I know you like that stuff.
Marina
I like it. Yeah, it’s not like groundbreaking or really that new to me. I like the world. I like this kind of style of show. So I’ll stick with it to the end.
Draggle
Yeah, I’m gonna stick with it, too. Hopefully it’ll have more betrayal.
Marina
Yeah. What about the next one, Reincarnated as a Sword?
Draggle
This is another one where I watched the first episode and I thought it was the worst thing ever.
Marina
Oh, really?
Draggle
Yeah, it was like an entire episode full of isekai menus. That’s what it felt like.
Marina
I mean, if you were reincarnated into the world like this, would you not spend a lot of time looking through your menus?
Draggle
I would, but I wouldn’t share that in the anime about my life.
Marina
Yeah, well, it was very stationary for a bit while he was looking through the menus trying to figure stuff out and then like leveling up as a sword, like that was pretty boring.
Draggle
Yeah.
Marina
I feel like we’ve seen it done a better way with like, you know how Reincarnated as a Slime he does a similar thing with trying to figure out what his powers are, what he can do. And you have that here as a sword, but done in a far less interesting way.
Draggle
Yeah. But anyway, I watched the second episode and I was surprised because it was…it was pretty good.
Marina
Oh, really?
Draggle
Well, I mean, it’s still an isekai, but I liked it. The sword and the girl, they, they were pretty fun together watching them. I like kind of how this one’s like a pretty anti-slavery as far as these things go.
Marina
I mean, yeah. Why aren’t they all?
Draggle
My standareds are low now, but yeah…I thought the second episode was pretty fun.
Marina
Do you think I should give it another try, because I was kind of like this sword is kind of lame, all this menu stuff is kind of lame. I was not into it.
Draggle
Maybe watch the second episode and see how you feel about that?
Marina
Okay.
Draggle
I thought the second episode was better than… yeah better than Eminence in Shadow’s second episode.
Marina
Oh, that does sound maybe like something I should try then. The next one is Shinobi no Ittoki is about ninja family, right? Except the kid doesn’t know until later that that he’s part of this family. He’s been trained since a child for reasons unknown to him. But then he finds out now that he’s being hunted down as the heir to this family.
Draggle
Yeah, and he had his childhood friend. It was secretly a ninja guarding him. Yeah, it wasn’t very secret, ’cause she like wore a mask in class. And acted like a ninja.
Marina
Yeah, I was gonna be like she’s obviously sort of like a guardian to your family, but okay, and that the whole date thing was kind of funny, I guess. But based off of what I saw, and like the promotional stuff, I’m assuming that she’s eventually going to become kind of a love interest. I don’t know.
Draggle
Oh, really? Okay.
Marina
Well, I don’t know. She seems to be a major character than just like a throwaway girl who tried to date him at the first episode. I feel like she’ll be more reoccurring than that.
Draggle
Oh, you mean the one who tried to murder him? I thought you meant his childhood friend.
Marina
Yeah, well her, too. But I feel like they’re both gonna be regular faces. Probably.
Draggle
Yeah, I don’t know. I like the first episode. The second episode kind of bored me. And then the third episode, it started off with them going to ninja school.
Marina
Oh, no!
Draggle
I was like, oh, no, not this again. But then the episode was actually pretty good, so I don’t know. I have very mixed feelings about this one.
Marina
Too early to tell, huh.
Draggle
Yeah. Also too early to tell: To Your Eternity season two, which hasn’t come out yet. But I know it’s gonna be good based on the first season.
Marina
Yeah, I’ve already added it. But we don’t know what it’s gonna be like. I don’t know if anything’s changed. I haven’t looked into the staff or anything. So we’ll see.
Draggle
Yeah.
Marina
And last in this tier is Urusei Yatsura (2022), Because this is a remake of a very old classic anime. Did you watch this?
Draggle
I never watched the original. So I thought I’d give this a try.
Marina
Same.
Draggle
Yeah, and it’s very dated. That’s for sure.
Marina
Yes.
Draggle
It’s also very well made. I thought the animation was pretty good.
Marina
I was appalled at how well made it was, but I guess I shouldn’t be because it is quite beloved.
Draggle
Yeah. I don’t really know why it’s so beloved. But I haven’t watched it. So I guess that makes sense.
Marina
I think based on when it came out, there probably wasn’t anything like it. And the characters, especially the girl, alien girl are probably very novel at the time. So she’s just sort of this figure that’s become legendary. I’m assuming to older fans that…even people like me like I’ve never watched the original. I don’t watch these kinds of shows typically. Even I know who she is. So yeah, I didn’t like the show at all. Felt old, felt sexist as fuck, and not interested. So even though it looks fantastic, I’m gonna drop it, but maybe other people like…are you gonna stick with it?
Draggle
Yeah, I’m gonna stick with it. Although, I completely agree with everything you said, but that’s part of the appeal, I think.
Marina
Yeah.
Draggle
So we’ll see how it goes. It’s definitely very well made. Okay, shall we move on to our more promising shows?
Marina
Yeah. And talking about very well made is Akiba Maid War.
Draggle
Oh my god, this is so good.
Marina
This is probably one of the most surprising shows of the season because I mean, I know war is in the title, but I still did not expect the brutality and the comicalness of seeing these maids do what they do in this first episode, and I’ve only seen the first episode.
Draggle
Okay, second episode is good, too.
Marina
Okay, don’t spoil the second episode, because I had so much fun with the first one that I’ve…yeah, I’m really excited for what’s more to come.
Draggle
Yeah, you’ll enjoy it.
Marina
I think like you said, that’s basically yakuza, but maids.
Draggle
Yeah, that’s exactly yakuza but maids. They’re like in debt. They run hit jobs on people. They’re part of some family-
Marina
They have turf wars.
Draggle
Yeah, turf wars.
Marina
I think it’s kind of funny that all the maids that I’ve seen so far are some sort of animal like, what’s up with that?
Draggle
Yeah, it’s funny how they’re the pigs. Oink, oink.
Marina
Right? It was kind of like, all right, I don’t really get what’s appealing about pigs but okay.
Draggle
Yeah. And it kind of like…it’s set in Akiba in the 90s, right?
Marina
Yeah.
Draggle
And it has like kind of the feel of an anime from that time in some ways.
Marina
It does.
Draggle
Just like how it looks kind of dark.
Marina
Yeah, the art style. They were able to evoke that feeling.
Draggle
Yeah, I wonder if teenagers now are gonna be like, oh, this is what the 90s was like.
Marina
Maybe! Wow, I want to go back to 90s Akiba, seems like a hardcore place.
Draggle
Yeah.
Marina
No, I think the…what is it…the 35-year-old maid is awesome. I was like, oh, wow.
Draggle
Oh, my.
Marina
That was her in the intro, right?
Draggle
Oh, yeah, it was.
Marina
Yeah, how they show like, way back further and they…like a more traditional maid outfit and I think that was her and then now that she’s like still a maid probably out there for revenge again, delicious revenge.
Draggle
Yeah, I like the scene where she goes and murders all those people. And then that like-
Marina
Yeah.
Draggle
-blood spurts, like five feet.
Marina
But it’s okay, because the other girl was wearing the little ramen bib so it’s fine.
Draggle
Exactly. Yeah, I knew. Definitely everyone should watch this show. It’s really good.
Marina
Everyone should try it at least. Now what about BLUELOCK, which is about soccer? And I recommended it to you. How did you feel?
Draggle
It was really good and I’m not gonna watch it ’cause I hate soccer that much.
Marina
But you thought it was good!
Draggle
I did think it was good, but it’s soccer.
Marina
Okay, so putting aside your hate for soccer, what did you think was good about it?
Draggle
It’s like the Danganronpa of soccer.
Marina
Yeah, ’cause it’s a…what do you call this? Like elimination? Or what’s another word for it?
Draggle
Yeah, kill them all.
Marina
Yeah, you gotta survive, right? Because they’re looking for the best-
Draggle
Survival game.
Marina
-shooter?
Draggle
Yup.
Marina
They want to make like the number-one shooter for the Japanese team so that they can compete on the world stage and win. And they’re always like, we’ve always been mediocre. We’ve always been like, second best or lower. We’ve never won. It’s time for us to change that. And we’re going to do whatever it fucking takes to turn you guys into winners. And that’s where our main character comes in.
Draggle
Not sure I buy their logic, but it makes it for an entertaining premise.
Marina
Yes, I was waiting. I was waiting for him to betray the other guy that was like the nice guy. And it happened in such a glorious way. I haven’t seen anything past the first episode so far, but I’m pretty excited about it.
Draggle
Cool. Hopefully it turns out good. The next show is Boruto, which is still amazing. Y’all should watch it. And then next is chainsaw man. So good.
Marina
I’ve heard some conflicting opinions on this. It feels like most people like it. I liked it.
Draggle
I liked it.
Marina
I thought it was awesome. But I’ve also heard some people complain that it looks like they’re not a fan of the art style…looks too realistic, I suppose. So I thought that was interesting. Like just the art style and the character designs apparently was-
Draggle
Interesting.
Marina
-less unique than expected or desired for fans of the source material.
Draggle
It seemed fine to me, but I can’t see where they’re coming from.
Marina
I can see where they’re coming from too. I’m not familiar with any of the source material and I thought it was fantastic and appropriately dark and brutal. And I love the dog.
Draggle
Do you know what happened to the dog?
Marina
I mean, obviously they merge, right? It happened in the first episode.
Draggle
Good. Good.
Marina
But I like, I love their little relationship. I thought that was great.
Draggle
Yeah. Pet chainsaw dog.
Marina
Yes.
Draggle
So cute.
Marina
And now he is a demon chainsaw man.
Draggle
Yes. Did you watch the second episode?
Marina
I have not yet.
Draggle
Okay. You should. It’s good.
Marina
Yeah, I’m excited. What about Do It Yourself? So cheesy!
Draggle
I love this so much. I moved it up to this category; you had it lower.
Marina
Oh, I mean, because it’s like cute girls do do-it-yourself.
Draggle
I know!
Marina
And she is ridiculously clumsy. And she’s a little annoying. I can kind of see why her friend is annoyed by her. But her friend is also annoying.
Draggle
Maybe this is when I like cute girls doing cute things: when they’re incompetent.
Marina
You really like being incompetency, huh?
Draggle
Maybe. Yeah, but this one was so good.
Marina
I’m not the biggest fan.
Draggle
Oh, I’m the biggest fan. This was like maybe my favorite show this season.
Marina
I mean, I’m a fan of the setup. Like I like the effect of having a DIY club. And that’s really cool. And I’m interested to see what they make. That’s probably what excites me the most, is like what kind of projects they’re going to make? And I kind of want to see, I’m assuming she’s gonna make a bench. I don’t know if that’s like end game here. Or if that’ll happen sooner and then they’ll have other stuff, but the main character herself like I’m not the biggest fan of like dumb, klutzy characters. I want to see her improve.
Draggle
Yeah, okay. Yeah, you’re the complete opposite of me because I don’t care what-
Marina
Yeah.
Draggle
-they make at all.
Marina
Okay.
Draggle
I love all the robots. And I love how incompetent she is. And I love her friend and how they fight
Marina
Yeah, we’re totally opposites, but I mean, we both enjoy it, but for different reasons.
Draggle
Yes. So I’m quite excited.
Marina
Maybe that’s promising for listeners then because they’re like, oh well either way I’m gonna enjoy it.
Draggle
Yes. Oh, Marina, did you see the Golden Kamuy author’s tweet?
Marina
No. What?
Draggle
The Golden Kamuy manga author had a listing of everyone’s penis size, penis size ranking.
Marina
What!?
Draggle
Yeah.
Marina
You’re gonna have to send that to me later?
Draggle
Okay. I’ll look it up.
Marina
Yeah, thank you. Not now, later.
Draggle
Yes.
Marina
And talking about Golden Kamuy season four: I’m very excited. I’m here for it. I’ve only seen the first episode.
Draggle
Oh, it’s so good. I saw the second episode, too, and…I forget…maybe the third episode. Such a good start to this new season.
Marina
Yeah, it picked up exactly where it left off: familiar characters still going on in their journey. I’m all here for it.
Draggle
Although, I can’t believe Hijikata got…fell for that so easily.
Marina
What, fell for what? I don’t remember.
Draggle
Oh, maybe this was…did he eat the poison? Maybe this is second episode.
Marina
I don’t remember.
Draggle
Well, look forward to the second episode.It’s wild.
Marina
Okay. And I’m also here for the next one, which is also a sequel, Mob Psycho 100 3, so the third season. Still everything I love about the previous Mob Psychos, excited see where we’re gonna go from here. I don’t know what else to say about this. What about you?
Draggle
Yeah, it’s off to a great start. Can’t wait.
Marina
So the next one is Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury. And this one, as we mentioned in our previous Kaiseki episode, this is a series but it had a prologue from last season. So we’re…we can talk about them both here. But the prologue was actually more interesting to me. And then the main series, I think you feel the opposite. Right?
Draggle
I felt the complete opposite.
Marina
Yeah, I knew it.
Draggle
Yeah, this…this is the best Gundam ever. I can already tell.
Marina
What? No! Like, okay, so I liked the prologue because it was like an intriguing setting. I like that they were mostly adult characters. That’s…like I liked their maturity and their focus.
Draggle
The prologue is like every other Gundam show ever made.
Marina
No it’s not! You always have some stupid juvenile character as the pilot. And that’s exactly what we have with The Witch from Mercury. She’s stupid. And the classmates around her are stupid. And the school and its rules are stupid.
Draggle
Yeah, that’s what makes it so great.
Marina
Which is like all the other Gundams; they’re always these young pilots. And they’re all dumb. And look, we have it again.
Draggle
That’s not true. In the more recent ones there’s the…those OVAs with the jazz ones
Marina
I haven’t seen those.
Draggle
Okay.
Marina
My favorite one in recent memory is Iron-Blooded Orphans. And that was a little more serious. I don’t know if you saw that one.
Draggle
Yeah, of course I saw that one. Yeah, I guess that’s true. I guess it’s more a lot in the OVAs and movies that they have adult main characters.
Marina
Yeah, I haven’t seen those, so maybe that’s why we have such like different views of it. And I’ve also been slowly working my way through the original Mobile Suit Gundam and like that pilot’s young and dumb, so it’s like fresh in my mind.
Draggle
He’s very dumb. But these ones are…these ones are dumb in different ways, I think.
Marina
Yeah.
Draggle
So usually they’re like too hot-blooded and they, they want to fight all the time. And they have no fear. This one has…she’s dumb but in different ways, I think. And they’re girls. It’s like the first girl Gundam drivers.
Marina
Yeah, that is a cool part of it.
Draggle
Main character girl Gundam drivers.
Marina
And maybe that’s why I’m more annoyed, Draggle, is I feel like we never see female pilots. And then we finally have them here. Like as a main character. We’ve had them as side characters before like in Iron-Blooded Orphans. But I kind of wanted them to be more competent. And it annoys me that it’s like now we finally get a girl pilot and she is annoying and dumb.
Draggle
She’s just like the male Gundam pilots. What do you want?
Marina
I guess. Yeah.
Draggle
But she’s dumb in different ways. And I like the white-haired girl a lot.
Marina
She’s also dumb.
Draggle
What do you have against being dumb?
Marina
I just wish they weren’t so like, I don’t know.
Draggle
Can you imagine how boring anime would be if everyone was intelligent and logical and-
Marina
Competent?
Draggle
-incompetent? Yeah.
Marina
Yeah, you’re right. It’s not entertaining for sure.
Draggle
Exactly. Like Akiba Maid Wars if the manager wasn’t such a dumb ass…would be really boring.
Marina
I guess so. But I mean, Witch from Mercury looks fantastic.
Draggle
Yeah, it’s amazing.
Marina
The suits look awesome, like the Gundam look really cool. Characters are great designs. I won’t disagree.
Draggle
I love the hair of that mecha repair girl. The blue-haired girl.
Marina
All their hair is great.
Draggle
Yeah-
Marina
I like her hair.
Draggle
-but her hair is like a different color underneath.
Marina
I’ve always liked that when they do sort of like those two-tone kind of hairstyles.
Draggle
Right. Anyway, the next show is also full of dumb people, but I think you enjoy it. Spy x Family season two.
Marina
You mean, I fucking love Spy Family.
Draggle
Yeah. Isn’t Anya dumb?
Marina
Well, obviously, but I’m more just like I have been squealing nonstop with the introduction of the dog. I love the dog.
Draggle
I told you, I told you.
Marina
I am so happy. Okay, I was so frustrated last season when they like hinted at the dog but then we didn’t get him, right? I was so mad. But I can see now why they held back. They wanted to start really strong, and strong it was by opening with Bond, the best dog in the world.
Draggle
Yes, he’s a good boy.
Marina
He’s a big, big good boy. I just want to hug him. I’m so excited for the rest of this season.
Draggle
I wanna ride him.
Marina
Well yeah, isn’t it a dream? It reminded me so much of…do remember Azumanga Daioh?
Draggle
Yeah.
Marina
It reminds me so much of Chiyo with Tadakichi-san, riding on her fluffy white dog. Here we have it again with Anya and Bond and it’s so ridiculously cute. One of my favorite things about him is not only is he a fluffy white dog, but he has the cutest black socks.
Draggle
I didn’t even notice that.
Marina
What do you mean? That was the whole like joke about his name, right? Because he’s like Bond because Bond has like the gloves, and she’s like, oh, well, he’s got black gloves: my dog.
Draggle
Oh, I thought it was because he…he delivered the lost gloves to Anya.
Marina
Yeah, but she was also referencing his feet. I’m pretty sure that they like looked at his feet and said, oh, he also wears black gloves.
Draggle
Oh, I completely miss that.
Marina
And I’ve totally loved his feet since I first saw them.
Draggle
Okay, I need to pay more attention to dog feet.
Marina
Well, my dog is the reverse, right? I have a black dog with white feet. So yeah, I love dogs with like socks or masks. I like it when they have like those differnt colors over their eyes.
Draggle
Oh, it’s his fur that’s a different color. He’s not actually wearing socks.
Marina
No, he had white fur and…but his black feet.
Draggle
Oh. I thought he was wearing socks, and I was like, how did I miss this?
Marina
Not at all, he just has black paws. They’re…they’re black, but they like go up higher like socks.
Draggle
Okay, okay, I get it now. I get it. I’ll pay more attention.
Marina
You obviously don’t have very many friends or you have much experience with pets when I say things like oh, the cat’s got socks. The dogs got socks. It means their fur color.
Draggle
Yeah, I had no idea.
Marina
Or like the dog has a black mask. It means that they have got sort of like the patterning, like a pattern of a different color on their face that makes it look like they have a mask.
Draggle
Oh, okay. Well, now I know. Good.
Marina
Yes, the more you know. Also, I would like to see more development of Yor. She’s still doing Yor things. Nothing interesting so far. She’s still great.
Draggle
Yeah, she’s definitely the weak point at the moment.
Marina
Yeah.
Draggle
And last new show: Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun season three. Continues to be great. This is like a shounen show. It’s like more for kids., but I think it’s quite good and I’ve really been enjoying it.
Marina
Yeah, like I said that Legend of Mana felt juvenile and kind of for kids but this one feels like it’s for kids, but in a good way, like in a way that adults can enjoy, right?
Draggle
Yeah, that’s right. I really enjoy it.
Marina
I will try to watch the first season sometime for you.
Draggle
Yeah, Ido it.
Marina
Tune in again to Kaiseki Anime Podcast two weeks from now. Please feel free to send us questions or comments on Twitter with #KaisekiAnimePodcast, or on our individual accounts at @draggle_kun and @animebnb.
Draggle
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48 min
October 17, 2022Kaiseki Anime Ep. 109 — Summer 2022 Anime Review
What did you all think of this past season? Anything good we missed?
Starting this week, we also have an episode transcription! Marina made this with the help of AI so beware it may have errors. See further below.
Outline
00:00 Intro
01:29 Black Summoner
02:01 The Devil is a Part-Timer! Season 2
02:43 Harem in the Labyrinth of Another World
04:18 Vermeil in Gold
05:39 A Couple of Cuckoos
08:05 Extreme Hearts
09:03 Love All Play
09:53 Love Live! Superstar!! Season 2
12:21 Parallel World Pharmacy
13:30 Rent a Girlfriend S2
15:02 Shine on! Bakumatsu Bad Boys
16:14 Teppen!!!!!!! Laughing Till You Cry
17:55 When Will Ayumu Make His Move?
18:23 The Yakuza’s Guide to Babysitting
19:23 Yurei Deco
23:17 Aoashi
24:05 Classroom of the Elite Season 2
25:56 Engage Kiss
26:44 Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? IV
28:00 Made in Abyss: The Golden City of the Scorching Sun
30:53 My Stepmom’s Daughter is My Ex
32:05 Overlord IV
34:26 SHADOWS HOUSE 2nd Season
35:52 Summer Time Rendering
38:04 Call of the Night
39:10 Lycoris Recoil
41:05 Boruto: Naruto Next Generations
42:04 CYBERPUNK: EDGERUNNERS
43:05 Fuuto PI
44:26 Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury – PROLOGUE
44:51 Uncle From Another World
46:07 Utawarerumono Mask of Truth
46:20 Outro
Music Credits
“Clover 3” by Vibe Mountain
CYBERPUNK: EDGERUNNERS OP: “This Fire” by Franz Ferdinand
“Seasons” by roljui
Transcription
Marina
Welcome to Kaiseki Anime, where we air new episodes every other week. “Kaiseki” covers currently airing anime, older series seen recently, and other relevant topics for the season. I’m your host, Marina, of the blog, “Anime B&B,” and with me is my co-host Draggle, of the cleverly titled “Draggle’s Anime Blog.”
Draggle
This week, we review the summer 2022 anime season.
So, it was quite a season, I guess.
Marina
Yes, it was there were a lot of shows. I felt like I was just like wading through so many shows that I didn’t really want to drop for some reason. But, there really weren’t that many that I would say stood out above the rest. There was only a few.
Draggle
I agree. Yeah. So we’ll get to the few that stood out at the end, and let’s start with the garbage that stood out in a different way.
Marina
Let’s get it out of the way, right.
Draggle
Yeah. And of course, as usual, I’m the one who watched the most garbage The first one is Black Smmoner. This was like your standard isekai. Completely forgettable. I think there were some slaves. Let’s pretend it never happened.
Marina
I probably already did, given that I think I watched this first episode and I don’t remember.
Draggle
Yeah, this was like, not especially bad. It’s just so forgettable.
Marina
Yeah.
Draggle
Anyway, the next one is sadly not forgettable because it was so stupid: The Devil is a Part-timer Season Two. This one’s a bit unexpected to find in the trash tier.
Marina
You could have boosted it, you know.
Draggle
Well, I mean, people were anticipating this for years.
Marina
Yeah.
Draggle
“Why isn’t this getting a sequel? I loved it so much.”
Marina
Yeah, I mean, look at our most recent episode.
Draggle
Yeah. Now we know why this was so bad. Especially that farming arc, oh my god, what were they thinking?
Marina
“We were laughing at it. Not with it.” If I recall you saying.
Draggle
Yes. So see our last episode for more thoughts on that. Next one is also only me. This one I originally dropped this, but then I saw Hyoton tweeting about it, and I was like, this is so bad. I have to watch it.
Marina
No!
Draggle
Harem in the Labyrinth of Another World. This is the one which is like actively pro-slavery. The guy goes to another world and he gets a slave. And then he goes and gets more slaves. And one of the main characters is the slave merchant. And as the ending song where he dances and sings of being a slave merchant. This show is fucked up. Oh, and he has lots of sex with his slave which is done in this very steamy supposed to be romantic way. But it is obviously not since she’s a slave.
Marina
Yeah, that doesn’t sound very desirable. Or…it just sounds really creepy.
Draggle
It was really creepy. Yeah. Did you even watch the first episode of this?
Marina
I don’t recall. I think just off of the title itself, I’m already turned way off.
Draggle
Yeah, you probably didn’t watch it. Actually, the title is a bit misleading because like, there wasn’t even a harem. They kind of introduced a second to girl at the last episode or something. And then in the last like two minutes, they introduced four more characters.
Marina
Yeah, I’m assuming it’s from the source material, right? Where it covers a lot more ground than this anime.
Draggle
Yeah. So it wasn’t really a…I don’t know, it should have been called, like Slave Harem in Another World, because they’re all slaves. Yeah, that’s the thing.
Marina
Gross.
Draggle
Anyway, yeah, gross.
Marina
Well, I can add some notes to this next one since I did watch I think maybe half of the season?-
Draggle
Really?!
Marina
-Vermeil in Gold.
Draggle
I’m shocked.
Marina
Yeah, I am, too. I think I was just interested in this world. I thought it was kind of cool that everyone has these summons that they’ve called and that he was able to get something as high ranking as this…I don’t know much about her, so maybe you can say if she ended up being more powerful, but she seemed to be some super strong succubus.
Draggle
Yeah, she some super strong succubus. It turned out in the last half that she has some very tragic backstory-
Marina
Of course.
Draggle
Yeah. Which I thought it was okay until the second half when it got all serious and it tried to be a tearjerker about the big-boobed succubus who keeps hitting on the teenager, and it didn’t really work.
Marina
That’s why I was stopping at that point, right? It was actually kind of entertaining with the jokes and the light hearted manner up to that drama in the middle and then I was like no, I don’t want this.
Draggle
Exactly I enjoyed it when you had like the childhood friend wandering around naked and bumping into stuff and the succubus being a succubus, but then it tried to get all serious, and it’s just, no, please no.
Marina
Well, shall we move on then to a tier slightly higher? Although I would argue…I’m not sure if this is actually better, because a lot of these I would consider mediocre / forgettable and I think that being forgettable is actually technically a worse thing than just being trash. At least you remember that trash.
Draggle
That’s true; although, some of the trash I forgot about it, too. Anyway, first: Couple of Cuckcoos. I was so excited for this show, because I loved the manga. But it’s just kind of boring.
Marina
Yeah, I remember your excitement with the first season, right, and then your disappointment at the end of the first season. And then we got the sequel, and you were kind of like, oh, well, I’m not so excited anymore. And I was giving you some hope saying, you know, maybe the drama will ramp up. And it really doesn’t. It just kind of continues in the same kind of boring, slow burn, kind of interest in these three girls.
Draggle
Yeah, it’s so weird. There’s like no conflict.
Marina
Well, there’s like the weird mystery about the brother–does he or does he not exist?
Draggle
Right? But it’s not like…all the main characters are getting along pretty well.
Marina
Yeah. Who likes peace and getting along? How boring!
Draggle
I agree, it sucks.
Marina
Yeah.
Draggle
So who do you think is the best girl?
Marina
Oh, shit. Now you’re asking me to remember their names.
Draggle
You can go by hair color.
Marina
Yeah, purple-haired girl, I still like her. I still think that she’s pretty cool.
Draggle
Okay, she’s the one I like the least.
Marina
Oh, well, I also like…is it Erica? The older girl.
Draggle
Yeah.
Marina
Yeah, I still like her. Little sister’s bottom for me.
Draggle
Yeah, the little sister is above purple for me. That’s how much I hate purple.
Marina
Oh, okay, well, it’s not like the show showed us anything that’s hate-worthy.
Draggle
No, the show just showed us…I don’t know what it showed us.
Marina
See? So like, how can I hate her from the anime alone?
Draggle
Yeah, that’s fair. That’s fair. Well, let’s pretend this never happened. But actually is this…did this end or is this still ongoing? That’s how much I forgot about this show.
Marina
It ended.
Draggle
It did?!
Marina
It seems like there’s like an opening for another sequel-
Draggle
Oh please, no.
Marina
It was just so dissatisfying, right? Like there is no real ending. And I think it just implies that they’ll probably make another sequel if there’s enough interest.
Draggle
I guess I’ll keep reading the manga because I do like that.
Marina
Let’s move on to a series that I’m fairly certain you didn’t watch-
Draggle
Of course not.
Marina
-Extreme Hearts. And I think you made the right choice because while it had an interesting setup of like these musicians who end up doing these extreme sports with like the aid of technology to try to get some appeal for a greater audience it really just ended up being kind of a weird blend of sports and idols, which you hate those both. So definitely not for you. The world was kind of interesting with the technology that they use, but then it kind of like just kind of fades into the background and isn’t really that interesting in the long run. And they use these weird AI to like fill in for spots if a music group doesn’t have enough members like if they’re playing a sport like baseball, but it really just kind of lost me after a few episodes and they probably should have dropped it.
Draggle
Yeah, I dropped it in the first episode. I don’t think I even finished the first episode.
Marina
And I’m sure you also didn’t watch the next series: Love All Play.
Draggle
Of course not.
Marina
I put all these together. You know, I knew that these are gonna all be passes. For me, Love All Play was another sports show, and it was another forgettable one that…ah, man, why did I stick with it? I think I kept waiting to see what I love about sports so much was the like conflict, the competition between like players on the same team and across different teams, but it was just so like weak and kind of half assed and the main character was just boring.
Draggle
Sounds like sports. What a waste.
Marina
No, there’s lots of good examples of that including from this current fall season by the way, which we’ll get to later. But we can move on to another one that I’m sad to say…you know, Love Live Superstar…I actually still like it. And there already is a sequel announced and I will watch that. It’s just kind of like that weird in between, you know, sometimes with longer running shows where you have like your first season that you liked a lot. And then you have the second season which tries to like delve a little bit deeper into the different characters and add new characters and then it ends up kind of being the weaker one. And I’m assuming the next one that’s been announced will perhaps harken back to what I loved so much in the first season, but it’s just more of the same.
Draggle
This is a sequel, a third season with the same love lives not with new low lives?
Marina
Yeah, the same characters along with the new ones that were introduced in the second season because like you had your main cast from the first and then, you know, the next year obviously, they have open spots, they have freshmen, right? First years.
Draggle
Oh, I see.
Marina
So they add in some of those characters. So I’m assuming with the third season, I don’t foresee them needing more characters, but they’ll probably have all the same ones in the third season. But I mean, I still had fun with the show and it was kind of interesting to see the new characters. There was a little bit too much focus spent on some of the first years but I’m guessing that that they thought it was necessary groundwork to set us up for the third season.
Draggle
There must be like almost as many Love Lives as Fate Go characters now.
Marina
Maybe. I think I like this Superstar cast more than any of the other, surprisingly. That’s what’s kept me-
Draggle
Really?
Marina
-is that, yeah, I like it better even than the very first, the original Love Live. Just some of the characters I love so much. And then it’s definitely better than…I can’t even remember the other Love Live spin-off. It’s like…takes place in a bigger sort of city school. That one I was not at all interested in.
Draggle
Oh, is this the one that was like near the beach?
Marina
I think this one’s like sort of in a smaller town. I don’t remember where. It feels smaller than the city. I don’t really recall much of a beach. But it has the Chinese girl.
Draggle
Chinese girl. Is she…she’s like Nico, the crazy one?
Marina
Ah, no, not really. I would say her character is pretty different. She’s energetic, and clumsy and silly, but I would not at all describe her as Nico.
Draggle
Okay. I like Nico. That’s all I remember about the first one.
Marina
Well, Keke is significantly cooler than Nico. So, that’s my opinion.
Draggle
Okay.
Marina
Okay!
Draggle
Well, Nico is lame. I agree. But that’s what makes her good. Anyway, the next show sucked. I didn’t even watch it, it was so bad, even though this one is my thing, Parallel World Pharmacy.
Marina
I don’t see how you can say it sucks when you didn’t even watch it, Draggle. That’s like extreme bias, there.
Draggle
I watched the second episode. That’s how hard I tried to like this.
Marina
Well, I did just write a review about it for my own blog, but I enjoyed it. I guess like the world set up, the idea of it, but it was ultimately kind of boring and forgettable, just because he can do no wrong which is common among issekai–the all powerful, the all knowledgeable, gifted by the gods to, you know, succeed in this new world. And that’s basically him, except in a benevolent way, right? Because he’s bringing his knowledge of medicine to this world that doesn’t have that knowledge. So that’s cool, I guess. And it had like a final arc that kind of combated, the reemergence of the bubonic plague, and that was kind of scary, especially like with our current experience with COVID. But, overall forgettable.
Draggle
You didn’t even have slaves.
Marina
Thank god for that, Draggle. Don’t even like lament the lack of slaves. Come on.
Draggle
I’m just kidding.
Marina
You better be kidding. We can move on.
Draggle
Yeah, almost as bad as slavery: Rent-a-Girlfriend Season Two. I’m surprised you didn’t watch this.
Marina
I wanted to tell you this, okay? I watched this with KWoo for like a few episodes, but it became so painful every week to watch him go through these cringing motions over and over again that we just couldn’t make ourselves watch another episode. We were never in the mood and so eventually we just were like, yeah, we’re not gonna watch any more of this. It’s just too embarrassing, too cringe worthy and we’ll just ask Draggle to tell us what happened at the end.
Draggle
I don’t even remember what happened at the end. It was so cringe worthy and embarrassing. I was just like thank god it’s over.
Marina
See, you know what, there’s probably gonna be more, isn’t there?
Draggle
Yeah, and I’ll be there for it in the hopes that…it needs to be more cringey to be memorable. That’s what I think. It just got into this holding pattern of normal cringiness.
Marina
See, I can’t stop shuddering. That’s how like grossed out I was by every episode, just his actions, his stupidity. I don’t understand how he can be so stupid and how anybody can like stomach watching him.
Draggle
I don’t get it either. He shoul just make up his mind. Forget about the stupid Chizuru. Break up with all his whatever, his girlfriends or fake girlfriends, and just make some actual friends. That’s my advice.
Marina
Yeah, I could see that, just like start fresh. Try to like focus on yourself instead of trying to live through other people.
Draggle
Yes.
Marina
Okay. Well, glad to hear I didn’t miss anything.
Draggle
Yeah, the next one was a big disappointment for me, Shine on! Bakumatsu Bad Boys.
Marina
Did you actually finish this, because I’m going to admit something. I got to like the penultimate episode and I just couldn’t make myself finish it. I was just like why did I watch?
Draggle
I know!
Marina
I enjoyed the first half and after the first half, I was just like slogging through it, and I just couldn’t make myself finish.
Draggle
Yeah, you didn’t mess anything. It ended exactly how you predicted.
Marina
What?
Draggle
They joined together. They defeated the bad guy. Everyone said like, oh, I’m so glad we have the new Shinsengumi and then it ended.
Marina
The brother, you mean?
Draggle
Yeah.
Marina
Wow. All right. That was like not even like that at the 11th episode, so I’m surprised they somehow like pulled him in by the 12th episode.
Draggle
Yeah. Anyway, glad that’s over. I thought it would be like Mushibugyo, ’cause the start seemed like that. The first half was kind of interesting.
Marina
It was promising, yeah.
Draggle
But then it just became so predictable and none of the characters really grow on you, they just like-
Marina
They didn’t change.
Draggle
-there’s this wacky guy. He’s…yeah, they didn’t change. Exactly. Well moving on to the comedies. TEPPEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Laughing ’til You Cry. I didn’t laugh until I cried; I’ll just put it like that.
Marina
Wait, this is the comedy one, right, where they’re trying to be professional comedians or something?
Draggle
Yeah, the manzai comedy. I think I told you, I was watching this so that maybe I can understand manzai comedy. I don’t understand manzai comedy still.
Marina
Did you finish this?
Draggle
Yeah, I finished it.
Marina
What the hell, Draggle? How could you stomach a whole season of not understanding this?
Draggle
There was like a couple episodes that I liked, actually, to be fair-
Marina
Okay….
Draggle
-there was one episode where this girl was…she time traveled on the bus over and over again. And she like had to give the right response to the jokes or she would go back in time and have to repeat. And I thought it was kind of funny. Otherwise, yeah, it was very forgettable.
Marina
It just I guess isn’t our kind of humor. Or we’re just like not in that culture to understand it, I guess.
Draggle
Yeah. Like those guys in Odd Taxi who did the humor: did you think they were funny?
Marina
Yeah, I did actually.
Draggle
Really? Okay.
Marina
Yeah.
Draggle
So maybe you do get the humor because I didn’t think they were funny.
Marina
I think it’s more of like a, I don’t know, aren’t the girls in the Laughing ’til You Cry…they feel younger, and I guess to me less relatable?
Draggle
Yeah, they’re like in high school or something.
Marina
Yeah, I think that’s why it’s like, well, that’s kind of my past and I don’t really find those things kind of funny anymore, and I think with Odd Taxi them being older, and I don’t even remember the specific jokes, but I think it just related to me a little more.
Draggle
Okay. Okay. Next show: When Will Ayumu Make His Move? I should have dropped it once he told me it was by the Takagi-san author, but I foolishly kept going. And it was exactly like Takagi-san in that it had one joke. And it milked it for 12 episodes and I got bored of it.
Marina
I don’t understand how you finished it in the first place. Once again.
Draggle
Yeah, this one I finished by the power of cooking while watching anime.
Marina
Oh, I see. Okay.
Draggle
This next one, it’s a show that only you wasted your time on.
Marina
I didn’t waste my time on it; although-
Draggle
You didn’t?
Marina
-it is kind of forgettable. But yeah, The Yakuza’s Guide to Babysitting was sweet and cute. And I liked the interactions between the main dude and the little girl that he takes care of. Like that was like a nice dose of sugar every week. Was it memorable? Not really. Do they make the yakuza out to be these relatable, lovable guys, which seems to be the trend lately? Yes. But I don’t regret watching it. It’s just not something that I am probably going to remember seasons from now.
Draggle
Okay, that’s a more positive way to look at it.
Marina
Yeah. And I mean, if they add stuff to it, I probably will watch it. Because sometimes it’s nice to just like not think and to just enjoy these heartwarming interactions, right?
Draggle
Hmm…heartwarming.
Marina
Maybe you don’t understand.
Draggle
Yeah, maybe I don’t have a heart.
Marina
You have to have a heart to understand, Draggle.
Draggle
You should think of the people who don’t have a heart.
Marina
Well, we can move on because there really isn’t much else to say, but there’s Yurei Deco which I think you watched, right?
Draggle
You didn’t watch this one?
Marina
I did.
Draggle
Oh, okay. Yeah, I watched it? It sucked.
Marina
Do you agree with me putting it here? On forgettable, mediocre?
Draggle
Actually, I put it there. You hadn’t listed it.
Marina
Oh, I must have forgotten. Holy crap.
Draggle
Yeah, that’s why I thought you didn’t watch it.
Marina
I watched it, but I think it was one of the earlier shows to finish. I think it finished like weeks ahead of the other ones.
Draggle
Yeah.
Marina
I think I really enjoyed the world building. The idea of it. The literary references, all of that was fun.
Draggle
Okay, what was the purpose of the literary references? I still don’t understand how this had anything to do with Mark Twain.
Marina
Well, it’s been a very long time since I’ve read any of his works, particularly Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer. But if you recall, that was sort of like a commentary on society, and you know living sheltered within that society in a world that’s full of like racism and sexism and violence and I mean you see a lot of that in Yurei Deco, too, right how they have this safe bubble.
Draggle
Okay, so they’re both commentaries on society. It feels like a bit of a stretch fit, but okay.
Marina
What do you mean, you didn’t think Yurei Deco was this gigantic thing about society?
Draggle
I do, but I think like everything is a commentary on society.
Marina
Well, yeah. I think that it’s just like convenient tropes, words, for them to throw about, like they put names like Mark Twain and Tom Sawyer Island. And-
Draggle
Yeah, I think they just said it because it sounded cool, even though in English it does not sound cool. But yeah.
Marina
I mean, it could just be that the author or the writer just really liked these works, and wanted to somehow incorporate it into their own as much of a stretch as it could be. I think that’s fine.
Draggle
Yeah, I thought it was a stretch. I thought this felt like a show that like a dumb person thought would be smart kind of thing.
Marina
Ouch. That’s harsh.
Draggle
I just felt dumber watching this.
Marina
What I really kind of wanted was maybe, you know, since I wasn’t gonna do it, but it would be kind of cool if someone who is more intimate with the source materials, or the original materials of Mark Twain, to watch this and give their more detailed opinion on it. That would be kind of cool.
Draggle
I mean, I’ve read Mark Twain. I don’t think this had much to do with it.
Marina
Okay, it’s been too long for me to recall in detail.
Draggle
It has been some time, but I’m pretty sure it doesn’t have much to do with Mark Twain.
Marina
Either way, I still liked the world. I thought the art style was fun. And I get what they were going for. I just didn’t think that they really succeeded. And it doesn’t feel like much changed by the end for the better.
Draggle
No, I don’t know. It’s like, I think the idea is that, like censorship is bad-
Marina
Right.
Draggle
-but it…I don’t know, it would have been fine if they told this story like 10 years ago. But now that we’ve had like, Trump using social media to spread lots of lies, we’ve had the genocide in Myanmar, I think, it was fueled by the social media. And it just feels like so out of date.
Marina
I think it is trying sit, be somewhat relevant with the, you know, how they have the deco and the glasses and the love? Like that’s all sort of present and relative, right, to what we have now with the focus on Meta with augmented and virtual reality and cryptocurrency? That is more relevant. But yeah, I agree on your other points.
Draggle
Yeah. It kind of just like, skips the, the arguments people have for some sort of moderation.
Marina
I really don’t think they had enough time. They tried to cram all these ideas into this short season.
Draggle
I’m not sure that I’d agree that they had many ideas, but we can leave it at that.
Marina
No, I think they did have a lot of ideas or they just sort of like named-dropped, idea-dropped, and then didn’t follow through.
Draggle
Okay, that’s fair.
Marina
So it all ends up feeling shallow.
Draggle
Yeah. The next one is a show that I didn’t like.
Marina
Yeah, it’s mine, so you can back off because I know how you feel about soccer. So this is the start of the good / recommended section that I totally would recommend to anyone who likes sports, who likes soccer. Specifically, we finally have a good one that I’ve been waiting for for a while. And I thoroughly enjoyed Aoi as he is like growing as a player, his own skills, his natural abilities that are being honed by people who noticed his skills and are showing him how he can best use them. And then how he’s going into this team that is trying to live up to their name because it’s a very famous school, and they are very cutthroat about who they allow on their team. And it was a great season. And I would like to see them have more and we can go on from there before Draggle says anything else rude about it-
Draggle
Sports suck.
Marina
We can move on to Classroom of the Elite Season Two, which we’ve both seen.
Draggle
Yeah, I forgot this show existed, and I was surprised I liked it so much. I loved all the stupid drama, betrayal. Yeah, it was good.
Marina
It was fun, but I think, I honestly personally would put it at a little closer to forgettable.
Draggle
I will never forget you, Classroom of the Elite.
Marina
I think the first season was more groundbreaking for me because it felt so unique. The second seasons still feels a little bit more like what we got from the first season. So it’s not as shocking and not something I, you know, remember as much as the original season.
Draggle
You should have been like me and forgotten the first season.
Marina
Well, the vibe was familiar. Like I don’t remember the details, but I was like, oh yeah, I’m not shocked anymore by these kinds of things because these are obviously things that are going to happen in this show.
Draggle
I was kind of shocked when he was like, “Well, you wanna see my smart plan? I’ll beat the shit out of you with my fist.”
Marina
That was the most surprising thing to me this season was seeing how competent he actually was physically.
Draggle
Yeah. wasn’t expecting that.
Marina
Yeah, that was a cool episode. Everything else kind of fades to nothing. To me.
Draggle
Okay. It does have the problem of being way too complicated. Like that thing with all the different planets? I had no idea what was going on.
Marina
None of their tests are really that interesting to me. It’s more like how they react to it that makes it interesting.
Draggle
Yeah.
Marina
I think we’ve talked about before how the the rules of these games are so needlessly complicated that it kind of goes in one ear and out the other.
Draggle
It does. They need to spend more time on like their bullshit quotes and betrayals, but I still enjoyed it.
Marina
Yeah, I mean, I enjoyed it, for sure.
Draggle
Okay, next show I think is all me. You probably wouldn’t like this one, but let me just describe one of the best scenes. It’s when the new character gets introduced: Sharon the nun. Her nickname is “The Chast.”
Marina
“Chaste?”
Draggle
What?
Marina
“Chaste?”
Draggle
Yes. “Chaste.”
Marina
Okay, “chast…”
Draggle
You don’t say it like “chast?” You say it like “chased?”
Marina
I say “chased.”
Draggle
Okay, Sharon the Chaste, if that’s what you prefer. And she she gets defeated via poison, which is delivered by a coating on the main character’s penis.
Marina
Oh my god.
Draggle
Yeah, it’s a great show. Highly recommended.
Marina
I have nothing to say because I dropped it after the first episode and I don’t want to dilute your praise for Engage Kiss.
Draggle
Okay, next is It It Wrong to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? Season Four. And you might have seen my tweet, he finally picked up a girl in the dungeon.
Marina
Which one are we talking about, the mermaid?
Draggle
Yeah. And she was very happy. She was smiling. I don’t think there was anything wrong about it.
Marina
No, KWoo and I were like, wait, we’re finally dungeon diving after like four seasons, you know. Finally! We are spending most of our time in the dungeon rather than up in the main world with all the gods and goddesses. So this was a welcome change for me.
Draggle
Yeah, I think I like this probably the best of all the seasons so far.
Marina
Same. I really thoroughly enjoyed myself. Like I enjoyed the first season. I think that’s what caught my attention is obviously the charm of it, this idea of this world, but they sorely needed to spend more time diving into the depths and showing us what is inside the dungeon. Like why their lives revolve around it. And we finally got that here.
Draggle
Yeah, this was a big improvement over season two and three for sure.
Marina
Yeah, I’m actually excited for a sequel.
Draggle
Oh, is there a sequel already?
Marina
I don’t know. But I mean, how can you just end like that? There’s gotta be more-
Draggle
Yeah.
Marina
-and I’m gonna be there for it.
Draggle
This one seems pretty popular, so I assume there will be a sequel.
Marina
Shall we move on to one that is very heavy?
Draggle
Yeah, Made in Abyss: The Golden City of the Scorching Sun. Honestly, I didn’t like this as much as the first season. I think it became a bit of the same. And also this…well. It’s not the same. I think the problem was it wasn’t enough of the same because they spent all this time in the city. They introduced all these new people. And they kind of put the main characters on the back burner for a little bit.
Marina
Well, they were really focusing on the themes of this city, right? And the idea of what it is to be an adventurer, or what it is that they desire. That’s what this entire village is about is their desires. Right? And it’s just…the show is so well crafted. It’s beautiful, and it’s also really fucking depressing. Every single episode weighed so heavily, and I just like thought terrible things about all these people every episode. And yeah-
Draggle
Fucking Mitty…
Marina
-I kept coming back.
Draggle
They made us kill Mitty again.
Marina
Yes!
Draggle
It’s terrible.
Marina
We watched…every episode there was some…another form of body horror. Like do not eat when you’re watching this show.
Draggle
No, this one I did not watch while I was cooking.
Marina
No. I mean you have to focus, too. I think another thing with Made in Abyss, particularly this season, is that it’s a heavy show, but it also kind of requires your attention. I think if you look away too long, you’re gonna miss very important details.
Draggle
I also did not watch the show after 6pm.
Marina
Why not?
Draggle
I would have nightmares.
Marina
You just gotta chase it with something light hearted.
Draggle
I don’t enjoy fun like you do, that’s the problem. Or, no, what do you call it, cuteness?
Marina
Oh, yeah, something like…that’s heartwarming. Something that’s healing.
Draggle
Yeah, I can’t do the heartwarming like you.
Marina
Yeah, you need to find a healing series that you can actually stomach.
Draggle
Yeah, my healing series was Engage Kiss.
Marina
So watch Engage Kiss after Made in Abyss.
Draggle
Yeah, maybe, maybe. I don’t think Engage Kiss is powerful enough to override Made in Abyss.
Marina
Made in Abyss is way too strong.
Draggle
Exactly.
Marina
Yeah, but you’re right, like I missed their adventuring. But I did understand I think the importance of this season even though I felt like it was too long.
Draggle
Yeah.
Marina
It was just like too heavy, too long, as interesting as it was, and I am really excited to see them continue on their journey. Hopefully it will not lock them in place like this season did.
Draggle
Yeah. I was mainly complaining about it, but it was still really good.
Marina
Yeah, it was.
Draggle
Next show, probably only I watched this: My Stepmom’s Daughter is My Ex. I can’t believe I’m putting this in the good, recommended, category.
Marina
Why?
Draggle
Because it sounds horrible. It’s about my stepmom’s daughter is my ex. I thought for sure this would go in the trash title, the trash category, just from reading the title.
Marina
After the first episode I saw I definitely would have put it in the trash. But I didn’t continue.
Draggle
Yeah, but this is actually like a really thoughtful show about relationships and stuff.
Marina
Okay. That’s good to hear.
Draggle
Yeah, it kind of reminded me of Oregairu.
Marina
Man, you love that show. You bring that up, I swear, every season.
Draggle
I do love Oregairu. It’s a great show. Yeah, and this one definitely reminded me of that. Yeah, one of the acts I like best, it’s when the main character…he has a close friend. And she asks him out, and he says no. And then his main love interest, his sister, or step sister, I guess, she’s like, “Oh, you can’t keep being friends with with each other now that this happened.” And then they’re both like, “Oh, why not?” And then they’re best friends. Yeah. Anyway, it was good.
Marina
I think you’re gonna have to go alone into this next one as well, Draggle, because I never finished Overlord 3, so I didn’t start Overlord 4.
Draggle
Oh, really? For some reason, I thought you were a big Overlord fan.
Marina
I was for like the first season. The second season kind of wore me down. The third season, I started to lose interest. And I never intended to drop it. I just stalled partway through and I haven’t picked it up again.
Draggle
Well, you might be happy to know I thought the second and third season were both garbage, but the fourth season was really good. I thought it was actually better than the first season.
Marina
Okay, so here’s my important question: do I need to catch up on the previous series to understand and enjoy this fourth season?
Draggle
No, just forget about that.
Marina
Really? Can I like just not watch them at all? Or not finish season three and start with season four and not miss anything?
Draggle
I think so. You’ll figure out anything you missed. It wasn’t important.
Marina
Okay.
Draggle
I forget which season it was, they had like this whole long arc about the lizard men.
Marina
Yeah, I feel like that was the second…I can’t remember.
Draggle
That was like the start of when it went downhill. And those lizard men never mattered again.
Marina
I liked the lizard men. It just went too long.
Draggle
Yeah, it was way too long. Anyway, this one…did you remember? Like, there was some kingdom and there was like this fat kid who was plotting to take over. And he had his sister who was like, looked really nice, but she’s secretly like the most evil person in the world.
Marina
No, I don’t remember.
Draggle
Okay. Well, you probably saw that. Anyway, this was all about them. And it feels like the main plot is actually moving forward again. And it’s not just like side stories.
Marina
Oh, okay. Then I will make this a priority. Like the next time I have a nice bulk amount of time to go back and marathon it.
Draggle
Yeah, I think you’d like it. The only thing I didn’t like is the main character’s becoming less like a nice guy in a skeleton body, and more just like an evil skeleton.
Marina
Oh, that’s boring.
Draggle
Yeah. But he still has little bit of his own personality, but it feels like he’s getting overridden by his undead nature, or whatever.
Marina
Yeah. I mean, you spend enough time in a different world, maybe he just starts to forget who he used to be.
Draggle
Yeah, but I still like this show a lot. Yeah, I think you’d like it.
Marina
Well, how about this next one? Shadows House second season? Are you still enjoying this one?
Draggle
Yeah, I am. I don’t think I enjoyed it quite as much as the first but it’s still pretty…going strong I thought.
Marina
Yeah, I think if this was the first season we were talking about, I would put this up among the best of the season because I did really love the first season. The second season is very strong. I still greatly enjoyed it. But you’re right. Some of the novelty has worn off. And it’s not as surprising anymore; although, there are some interesting mysteries that are brought up. And obviously the ending is open for a sequel if they come out with one so I’ll watch that as well.
Draggle
Yeah.
Marina
I don’t know what else to say. It was fun, the mysteries. It’s just kind of sad that some of the characters that we liked from the first season are gone or they’re compromised.
Draggle
Yeah, I think it just felt like things were moving a bit slower than the first season. First season, like, everything’s new. You’re seeing all these developments. This one was more like an extended mystery of who did it kind of thing.
Marina
Yeah. And they’re like, introducing us to people throughout the house, other members from, you know, different classes that we hadn’t met before. So that was good to know. But it just doesn’t feel as-
Novel?
-novel. I guess?
Draggle
It felt like more of a setup than-
Marina
Yeah.
Draggle
-like we’re still waiting to deliver on all the setup, kind of.
Marina
I think that sounds about right, setting up for the third season, hopefully.
Draggle
Yeah, hopefully. The next one might be the only one we disagreed on.
Marina
We both really enjoyed Summer Time Rendering at the start of the season, right? And even partially through the middle.
Draggle
Oh, start of this season. Start of the first season, I wasn’t too fond of it.
Marina
Well, no, because you kept comparing it to Higurashi at the start, which obviously everyone made that comparison. It makes sense, right, given the setup, given the time travel? Yeah. And then when the whole mystery about like the shadows comes about, I think that’s when it starts to become much more entertaining, more unique. And then it, like you said, I’m pretty sure you disliked the constant battles, right?
Draggle
Yeah. I lost most of my interest in the last third, kind of. Once it started giving the answers about who were the shadows. It just wasn’t very interesting answers, I thought. And then it was too much battling.
Marina
I enjoyed the battles myself; although, like you said, they weren’t really surprising anymore. But it was still kind of cool seeing, you know, when they would choose to loop, who would die in which loop. That was all interesting. When they lost Ushio I was kind of concerned until I realized quicker than the main character did what had happened to her. So I think they had a lot of great ideas. The follow through wasn’t the best. The ending was just too happy. It was too convenient.
Draggle
I agree. Wasn’t as good as Higurashi. Should have had an ending filled with eternal suffering.
Marina
Yeah, I think that would have made it more memorable. But I mean, I’m happy for the characters because I liked them. It was just such a nice little bow that they wrapped at the end.
Draggle
Okay, I hated Ushio. I thought she was dumb.
Marina
Oh, I love Ushio.
Draggle
She’s like permanently in a school swimsuit. Get some clothes.
Marina
Well, they explained the whole thing about that.
Draggle
Yeah, and it so stupid.
Marina
It takes too much energy to like, think about how difficult it is for her to like grow her hair out, to like repair herself. You want her to come up with some fantastic outfit just to satisfy your boredom? Come on.
Draggle
That all sounds like a very convenient excuse to have her always wear a school swimsuit.
Marina
No, to me it was practical, because it’s like the bare minimum that still keeps her decent but covered and doesn’t expand unnecessary energy.
Draggle
Okay, okay.
Marina
Well, let’s move on to best of the season, which I’m wondering if you agree with what I have on here.
Draggle
I agree.
Marina
Really? Okay. So the first one is Call of the Night, which of its vibes alone is like one of my favorites of the season. Like I could just dance and sing around to this music constantly.
Draggle
Oh, it was a very good, good opening song.
Marina
Yeah, well, and the entire vibe of the series.
Draggle
Yeah. It wasn’t…I’m still thinking about the Kongming opening song? Wasn’t quite that good. But yeah, it was a great vibe. It’s like Bakemonogatari, except it doesn’t overdo it.
What did you think about the ending, though?
I forgot where it ended.
Marina
That whole conflict at the end with him starting to question…with the introduction of the vampire hunter, right? Where he’s like questioning whether he wants to be a vampire and then whether or not he can actually fall in love. Will they fall in love with one another? And then that kind of thing at the end?
Draggle
Yeah I thought it was good.
Marina
Yeah, me too. I was okay with how they ended it. And I don’t think a sequel is required.
Draggle
Yeah. Reminds me of Oregairu. Just kidding. I’m saying that only to annoy you.
Marina
Let me just like shake you. What about Lycoris Recoil? Does that remind you about Oregairu?
Draggle
No, that doesn’t remind me of Oregairu at all.
Marina
Thank god. Talking about Lycoris Recoil, which is the only other one on best of the season, I fucking loved this show.
Draggle
Yeah, it’s not the thing I normally like, but it was really good. Super well done. Beautiful animation.
Marina
I think it wins out on its writing: the dialogue, the interactions, like showing instead of telling different things. It’s just all really well done.
Draggle
Yeah, I love like how cheeky Chisato is.
Marina
She has like a good mouth on her.
Draggle
Yeah, and sometimes she’ll just like, have some gesture, too. Not just all talk.
Marina
Yeah, she’s got great body language. I mean, all of them do.
Draggle
Yeah.
Marina
I think I was just semi-disappointed by the ending. I don’t know if you feel the same.
Draggle
I thought the ending was really funny. I liked how, what’s her name, Takina? She was like running up the staircase for 45 minutes and in a big panic while Chisato was sitting there, sipping Cola and sharing an indirect kiss with the bad guy.
Marina
Oh, they totally just shrugged that off, right? Like that’s what it was and in any other show they would make a big deal about it being an indirect kiss, but here it’s totally nonchalant. Like whatever, we’re sharing a drink, it’s okay.
Draggle
I thought it was hilarious.
Marina
No, I was just kind of disappointed because like the whole vibe of Majima is that he is like anti-establishment, right, or like anti like how strong of a hold they have, how it’s imbalanced. And how he’d always go for the underdog was his thing. Like he would be on her side if they were the underdog. But honestly, like, nothing changes. Like the ending was cute with the food truck and everything. But everything’s back at status quo, isn’t it?
Draggle
Yeah, but…I mean that’s pretty much what I expected from a show like this.
Marina
I guess. I thought they would address it a little more than they did.
Draggle
That’s fair, but I’m glad they lived happily ever after in their gay food truck.
Marina
The food truck is fantastic. And I would 100% go to it.
Draggle
Yeah, me too.
Marina
Okay, so let’s go ahead and move on to the ongoing shows and some of the other ones that did air that we really didn’t finish or get too far into since some of them were just like dropped all at once.
Draggle
Yeah.
Marina
You can go ahead and start with what you always start with.
Draggle
Of course, the third best show this season is Boruto, as usual. This one is actually one of my favorite arcs of the whole show. Kawaki, he’s one of the main characters, he is like, Boruto’s age so he’s like a high schooler, he infiltrates elementary school with Boruto’s sister as like his ninja mission. And he becomes friends with the elementary schoolers. And it sounds so dumb, but it’s so good.
Marina
Dude, elementary school kids are pretty entertaining, so I believe you.
Draggle
Yeah, this is a really entertaining arc. And it’s been revealed in the last episode that there’s a traitor among them.
Marina
Tell me it isn’t so! Okay, cool.
Draggle
Yeah. The next one I didn’t watch.
Marina
I haven’t either. I’ve only seen I think one or two episodes, but what I’ve seen so far has really excited me. I’d like to really sit down and finish it off. CYBERPUNK: EDGERUNNERS, inspired by the game Cyberpunk. I don’t know if you’ve played it, but I don’t even know if like the storylines overlap at all, or if it’s just set in the same world. But it’s gorgeous. And like in a cyberpunk kind of way, if you know, like the technology, but when it’s all this, like futuristic technology, there’s a lot of waste and trash and poverty, and I think it’s pretty cool. But there’s not much else I can say about it since I’ve only seen a couple of episodes, but I think you should try it.
Draggle
Okay, interesting. Yeah, all I know that it is I heard about the video game and I heard that it really, really sucked.
Marina
On its release. But I think that there have been improvements made since then, that people are now enjoying. Yeah, I don’t think…you don’t need to know anything about the game to enjoy the anime from what I’ve seen.
Draggle
All right, cool.
Marina
The next one, Fuuto PI, again, I’ve only seen a handful of episodes, but I have been having fun with it. This is a spin off of the old and popular Kamen Rider. And yeah, and I’ll say I just…I’m kind of having fun. It’s a little sexualized with some of the female characters, but I still kind of like that they’re running around solving mysteries with the power of, you know, their mech suits, and the monsters that they fight.
Draggle
Do they have any poison delivered via penis?
Marina
Ah, they do have some penis jokes.
Draggle
Okay.
Marina
So you should try.
Draggle
That’s what I’m in for, yeah.
Marina
Yeah, I’m trying to remember the exact phrase where he’s all like you can like eat my…I can’t remember. He’s like an insect, a bug man, where he like says something very suggestive.
Draggle
Oh. I never even heard of this. It’s an anime?
Marina
Yeah. Fuuto PI.
Draggle
Is it on Netflix?
Marina
Cyberpunk is on Netflix. Fuuto PI is an ONA, maybe that’s why again, you haven’t heard of it? You seem to miss out the ones that are only released online. And it looks like it’s on Crunchyroll.
Draggle
Interesting. Okay, maybe I’ll check it out.
Marina
Yeah, I don’t know what the deal with it is. If it just like all came…I think it has been staggered. It just kind of started late because it’s not even done yet. I think the 12th episode comes out in a couple days, which will be the final episode so it had a late start.
Draggle
Okay, cool.
Marina
The next one, Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury, a prologue episode, a long episode, came out in July, but it’s kind of here because of when it was released. But it’s really more related to the current fall season, which has a Witch from Mercury series that takes place several years from what goes on in this prologue.
Draggle
Yeah, and we’ll talk about that next time. But it’s good.
Marina
Yeah. It’s very…well, this prologue is very good.
Draggle
Yeah. Next is Uncle from Another World. This was supposed to air this season, but then they kind of didn’t finish. And now it’s been delayed. So it’s kind of a disaster from what I gather. But I quite like the first five or six or however many episodes there were.
Marina
So the series itself isn’t a disaster?
Draggle
I thought it was pretty good. But the production and planning is a apparently a disaster.
Marina
Ah, okay. I only watched I think one or two episodes. I just sort of stalled out with a bunch of other things that had my priority more. And I wasn’t quite sure…I don’t really like the characters maybe is my problem.
Draggle
I don’t think you’re supposed to like them.
Marina
But it’s like really hard for me to watch a show when I don’t like the characters, you know what I mean? Like it’s kind of entertaining the stupid shit that they do. But if I don’t really like them, then I’m not as quickly compelled to want to see what they’re going to do next.
Draggle
I see. I really love it when I hate the characters.
Marina
Okay.
Draggle
Like Rent-a-Girlfriend. That was great. Suzaku from Code Geass. One of my favorite characters.
Marina
Wow.
Draggle
I hate him, but yeah.
Marina
So you’ll finish this when it finishes.
Draggle
Yes, yes, I’m looking forward to the rest. And the last show is Utawarerumono Mask of Truth. And this one’s still ongoing. Still really good. Looking forward to…I think this is probably the last season.
Marina
All right! Tune in again to Kaiseki Anime Podcast two weeks from now. Please feel free to send us questions or comments on Twitter with #KaisekiAnimePodcast, or on our individual accounts at @draggle_kun and @animebnb.
Draggle
Listen and review us on Apple Podcast and Spotify, so we can continue to grow and improve. You can also find us on Google Play. Thanks for listening. See you next time!
47 min
September 26, 2022Kaiseki Anime Ep. 108 — Devil is a Part-Timer! S2
One of the most widely anticipated sequels of the past decade… sucks balls!
We are joined this week by Hyoton!
00:00 Intro
01:03 The Devil is a Part-Timer! Season 2
28:33 Outro
Music Credits
“Clover 3” by Vibe Mountain
The Devil is a Part-Timer! Season 2 OP: “With” by Minami Kuribayashi
“Seasons” by roljui
30 min
September 12, 2022Kaiseki Anime Ep. 107 — Classroom of the Elite
We both forgot this show existed but have been loving the sequel!
00:00 Intro
01:02 Classroom of the Elite Season 2
24:15 Outro
Music Credits
“Clover 3” by Vibe Mountain
Classroom of the Elite Season 2 OP: “Dance in the Game” by ZAQ
“Seasons” by roljui
25 min
August 31, 2022Kaiseki Anime Ep. 106 — Call of the Night and Lycoris Recoil
We discuss two of our favorite shows this season!
00:00 Intro
01:42 Call of the Night
15:12 Lycoris Recoil
32:15 Outro
Music Credits:
“Clover 3” by Vibe Mountain
Lycoris Recoil OP: “Alive” by ClariS
“Seasons” by roljui
33 min
August 15, 2022Kaiseki Anime Ep. 105 — Shadows
Spooky.
00:00 Intro
02:14 SHADOWS HOUSE
14:31 Summer Time Rendering
28:36 Outro
Music Credits:
“Clover 3” by Vibe Mountain
Summer Time Rendering OP 2: “Natsuyume Noisy” by Asaka
“Seasons” by roljui
30 min
August 03, 2022Kaiseki Anime Ep. 104 — Summer 2022 Seasonal Preview
A new season has begun! Anything good we missed?
00:00 Intro
01:12 League of Nations Air Force Aviation Magic Band Luminous Witches
02:15 Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer
04:35 The Maid I Hired Recently is Mysterious
05:27 My Isekai Life: I Gained a Second Character Class and Became the Strongest Sage in the World!
07:32 Prima Doll
08:35 Shoot! Goal to the Future
09:12 Smile of the Arsnotoria the Animation
11:33 TOKYO MEW MEW NEW
12:16 Black Summoner
14:15 Classroom of the Elite Season 2
15:45 Engage Kiss
16:55 Extreme Hearts
18:12 Harem in the Labyrinth of Another World
19:26 Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? IV
20:20 My Stepmom’s Daughter is My Ex
21:30 Parallel World Pharmacy
23:26 Phantom of the Idol
25:30 Rent-a-Girlfriend Season 2
27:35 RWBY: Ice Queendom
30:26 Shine on! Bakumatsu Bad Boys
32:22 SHINEPOST
33:30 The Devil is a Part-Timer! Season 2
35:10 TEPPEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Laughing ’til You Cry
36:54 The Yakuza’s Guide to Babysitting
38:40 Overlord IV
40:08 Uncle From Another World
42:35 Utawarerumono Mask of Truth
44:06 Vermeil in Gold
45:02 When Will Ayumu Make His Move?
46:30 Call of the Night
47:36 Lycoris Recoil
49:24 Made in Abyss: The Golden City of the Scorching Sun
51:45 SHADOWS HOUSE 2nd Season
52:47 YUREI DECO
54:31 Ongoing shows
56:49 Outro
Music Credits
“Clover 3” by Vibe Mountain
Call of the Night OP: “Datenshi” (堕天, “Fallen Angel”) by Creepy Nuts
“Seasons” by roljui
58 min

About Kaiseki Anime

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Marina, of Anime B&B, and Draggle, of Draggle’s Anime blog, discuss currently airing anime.

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