Lurker > Mobilezoid

I'll probably watch Superstar pretty soon after I'm done with rewatches and recommendations for this ranking. I already have the unpopular opinion of ranking Sunshine first. Maybe I'll have the even more unpopular opinion of liking Superstar more than them all!

MacArrowny posted...

Shouldn't those numbers go up as you watch more anime...?

Right now I'm still building up to 10/20/30/40/50/50/40/30/20/10 (300 total anime) but after that, yes, the amount in each tier will go up. I'll probably keep the 10s and 1s to ten for a long time, but eventually I'll have 25 or 30 9/10s.

It's fun expanding the tiers too. Then I get to look at the 8s and decide which ones deserve to rise! (Again, don't judge me, this helps pass time at work)

Sceptilesolar posted...

I do wonder if stuff like Lycoris and Kongming will keep as high a ranking on your list going forward, since they are quite recent and all.

I'm sure they'll continue shifting around! I've kept an ongoing ranking for the entire time I've been watching anime and I often make small adjustments to it. It helps pass time when I'm bored at work.

Since I try to keep a certain number of anime at each rank (currently 10 10/10s, 20 9/10s, etc) the funnest part is when I find a new favorite. To slot in a new 10/10, another one needs to downgrade to a 9, and then another 9 has to become an 8, and so on. It isn't always the lowest 9 that falls, either. I look through them all and think about it until I find the weakest link. I could see new stuff like Lycoris or Prima Doll being that weak link someday, depending on how my feelings for them settle.

My ranking style might seem crazy to most people, but I enjoy it. At the very least it keeps me thinking about old anime more than just scoring them on MAL and then never looking back.

73. Love Live! School Idol Project
https://myanimelist.net/anime/15051/Love_Live_School_Idol_Project
Winter 2013 (13 episodes), Spring 2014 (13 episodes) plus 1 movie
My Score: 7/10, MAL Score: 7.41/10 S1, 7.77/10 S2
Best Character: Yazawa Nico

My Love Live figures (Rin, Nico, Honoka): https://imgur.com/lZc1ekj

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BvfUU2vJVE

Premise: In order to save her high school, Kousaka Honoka starts a school idol group to bring in students. The student council is resistant to the idea, however, and getting popular is never easy.

The Good: Love Live is an idol anime. Honoka gathered a group of nine girls, and together they overcome obstacles while practicing and singing. For me, at least, Love Live is one of the standouts in the genre. I don't like everyone, but quite a few of the girls are amazing. Nico is my favorite for obvious reasons, her antics never failed amuse. Honoka was really good as their leader too. Rin was also cute and funny, and her focus episodes gave her some depth. Everyone else at least contributes to the excellent group dynamic. My favorite parts in any Love Live are when everyone is together (which is why the Nijigasaki spinoff ranked so much lower). I loved scenes like the one where they were looking for a hook for their group, so everyone tried on costumes, resulting in beautiful moments like this gif.

https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/001/206/123/161.gif

The Bad: Love Live had a few dramatic arcs. Some I enjoyed, but some of the bigger ones felt too melodramatic. There's an arc with Kotori in the first season I absolutely hated, and then the end of the second season got sad for what I felt was a dumb reason. I vastly preferred the spinoff, Love Live Sunshine, in large part because it handled drama much more deftly than the original did.

Overall: Love Live is a great idol anime, but it isn't my favorite. Idol shows are always fun, and the group dynamic is great whenever it's just them training or goofing off. I just wasn't a fan of some of the more dramatic arcs. They werent terrible or anything, but they held LL back enough that I can't justify ranking it any higher.

COMING UP TOMORROW:
72: This anime will be reborn in a more peaceful era.
C76: This character needed 100,000 likes.
C61: This character is only ranking this low as part of a stratagem.

Only one anime tomorrow and the next day because both 72 and 71 have two characters each and both of them together would just be too much for one day.

74. Love, Chunibyo, & Other Delusions
https://myanimelist.net/anime/14741/Chuunibyou_demo_Koi_ga_Shitai
Fall 2012 (12 episodes), Winter 2014 (12 episodes) plus 2 OVAs and 1 movie
My Score: 7/10, MAL Score: 7.72/10 S1, 7.55/10 S2
Best Characters: Takanashi Rikka, Shichimiya Satone

My Rikka figure: https://imgur.com/IcNnwj8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7xLVyz9bg4

Premise: Togashi Yuuta hopes he can leave the embarrassment of his chunibyo delusions behind and get a fresh start in high school. Unfortunately, his new upstairs neighbor is Takanashi Rikka, a girl whose Wicked Eye persona is going to turn Yuutas normal life upside down.

The Good: Love, Chunibyo, & Other Delusions is a romantic comedy, though it excels more at comedy than romance. Yuuta wants to leave his delusions behind, but Rikka drags him into a group where theres no avoiding chunibyo shenanigans. Its fun seeing Yuuta writhe in embarrassment. Its fun watching Nibutani and Dekomori feud over Morisummer. And Rikka is almost always funny. Whether its an epic (imagined) battle against the Priestess (her sister), or the little hurt noise she makes at the end when she gets smacked with a powerful weapon (a utensil), Rikka is cute and hilarious. While the humor is my favorite thing about this, I also like how it frequently becomes heartfelt. I have some problems with the romance angle, as Ill cover in the bad section as well as the spoiler character write-ups, but there are still a lot of great moments here. It examines things like what it means to be with someone, and the reasons why a person might embrace chunibyo delusions in the first place.

The Bad: I wasnt a huge fan of the finale movie. Examining why made me realize that the problems had been there all along, and it was just the fact that none of the characters had addressed them by now that became impossible to ignore. Rikka and Yuuta are both seemingly incapable of figuring things out for themselves. That means their friends are almost always present, either tagging along or observing from a distance. Having the cast together works for jokes. It just hampers the growth of their romantic relationship, in my opinion, when theyre almost never left alone. It bothered me a bit in the first and second seasons. Then the finale movie was a confused mess.

Overall: Love, Chunibyo, & Other Delusions is a solid romantic comedy about how an overactive imagination can add spice to everyday life. The characters have several fun dynamics with each other, leading to lots of great jokes. Then sometimes it would become serious and heartfelt, which I enjoyed too. The second season also added Shichimiya Satone, who was another amazing character.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/9/5/5/AAcDcBAADyqj.jpg

CHARACTER: Shichimiya Satone (Love, Chunibyo, & Other Delusions)
https://myanimelist.net/character/65867/Satone_Shichimiya
Voiced by: Nagatsuma Juri
TOP 100 RANK: 55th

SPOILERS FOR LOVE, CHUNIBYO, & OTHER DELUSIONS

VIDEO LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMoEMbkM-eU

Introduced in the second season, Shichimiya Satone was Yuutas friend in middle school. Like Rikka, she became enamored by his chunibyo persona and wholeheartedly embraced the delusions. Once she began falling in love with him, though, Satone felt the chunibyo slip away. Faced with a choice, and not wanting to risk losing what she already had with Yuuta, Satone suppressed her feelings and pledged to remain a magical devil girl forever.

After reuniting with Yuuta in high school, though, Satone realizes she may not have needed to choose between love and chunibyo. After all, Rikka manages to have both. Satone shows a knack for introspection, but it still takes most of the season for her to accept that she still has feelings for Yuuta. She wonders what mightve happened if she made different decisions back then. I love how she never attempts to sabotage Yuuta and Rikkas relationship. Satone tries to get over these feelings for her own sake. She also remains a staunch ally to Rikka, often offering her advice or mentorship in the form of chunibyo battles. Being so mature is rare for a high schooler, let alone one who believes theyre a magical devil girl.

The video I linked is one of my favorite scenes in Love, Chunibyo, & Other Delusions. Satone talks with Yuuta in order to get over her feelings for him. Her heart breaks more and more the longer they talk, all without him realizing why. Still, Satone makes it through. She gets over him. Then Yuuta brings her an umbrella for the rain and Satone realizes she isnt over him at all. Its heartbreaking yet realistic. For a character type who couldve dragged everything down with an unnecessary love triangle or brought a bunch of melodrama, Satone elevated the second season with her heartfelt arc instead. She was also just a really fun character overall, having a lot of the same chunibyo quirks as Rikka.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/9/5/6/AAcDcBAADyqk.jpg

CHARACTER: Takanashi Rikka (Love, Chunibyo, & Other Delusions)
https://myanimelist.net/character/65865/Rikka_Takanashi
Voiced by: Uchida Maaya
TOP 100 RANK: 17th

SPOILERS FOR LOVE, CHUNIBYO, & OTHER DELUSIONS

VIDEO LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5LfIJxvJs4

Starting from the moment she needed Yuutas help to climb down a rope, Takanashi Rikka was the star of Love, Chunibyo, & Other Delusions. There are countless gags where her chunibyo carries a scene, like when she uses her power to open train doors (which are automatic) or how she has a calculator taped to her apartment door and pretends to input a code to enter. Rikkas voice acting is excellent too. It works for bombastic declarations as well as for the cute noises she makes whenever she gets smacked for being a crazy person. It also works really well when shes being vulnerable, and Rikka often is because large parts of the story delve into her growth and trauma.

Rikkas character has a lot of heart. The first season examines why she created her persona in the first place. After the death of her father, she needed the make-believe to feel like she could still reach him. Even after Yuuta helps her get over that and they start dating, Rikka holds onto her Wicked Eye just to keep life interesting. The series often asked if she could have both love and chunibyo. It asked it one too many times, in my opinion. The movie was a bad retread of the story from the second season. Still, I appreciated the conclusion it reached. She could fall in love without having to grow up first. What does growing up mean, anyway? Id argue Rikka is more mature than someone like Nibutani who denies a part of herself in order to be normal.

I got annoyed in the movie at how little Rikka and Yuutas relationship progressed. They kissed after years of dating, big whoop. I cant blame Rikka for the writers not knowing how to write a relationship, though. She was always a fun character, even during the subpar movie. I really liked how, in the second season, she dedicates a lot of offscreen time to tracking down where Yuuta had buried a magical coin, in his younger days. It doesnt have any actual powers, and given her character development Rikka almost certainly knows that. Still, she loves Yuuta, and this is just the best way she can think of to show it. This anime wasnt perfect. It examined the same questions too often, the progress in their romance was glacial, and the movie kind of sucked. When I think about Rikka tracking down those coins, though, I remember why I liked this story despite its flaws. Rikka helps spice up Yuuta's life, and its clear how much they care about each other in their own way.

th3l3fty posted...

Amanchu! remains the most disappointing anime I have ever watched

if MAL allowed 0s I would have given it one

I can understand hating Amanchu S2 for sure, but I'm guessing you never made it that far. I can only imagine the negative score that would warrant.

I can't understand hating S1 though. It's such a pleasant and inoffensive anime. Unless you think Pikari is annoying, I guess would be fair. She herself admits that a lot of people find her annoying!

COMING UP TOMORROW:
74: This anime can never escape its embarrassing past.
C55: This character wields demonic magic.
C17: This character has a powerful ability sealed in their right eye.
73: This anime wants to keep its school from closing down.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/2/4/5/AAcDcBAADyfd.jpg

CHARACTER: Ooki Teko Futaba (Amanchu)
https://myanimelist.net/character/19561/Futaba_Ooki
Voiced by: Kayano Ai
TOP 100 RANK: 75th

SPOILERS FOR AMANCHU

VIDEO LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Zrjd-KOHM0

That video clip is from when Futaba first meets Pikari and gets her nickname. Despite being slightly touched at the attention, shes mostly just weirded out by the strange girl picking a nickname based on the thickness of her eyebrows of all things. This scene made me grin during my rewatch, though, because its the perfect way to start their friendship. Teko wants to be left alone, but she gets dragged along. Pikari, meanwhile, doesnt like it when things are ordinary. She gives a girl she just met a random nickname, just because. And, while the new girl meekly protests at first, it isnt long before she enjoys the nickname and wears it with pride. Thats their dynamic in a nutshell. Pikari pulls, Teko resists, but in the end Teko is always glad she got dragged along.

Ive mentioned in a few previous character write-ups that I was shy as a kid, so I relate to Teko a lot. Like her, I was often scared of new places. I also spent a lot of time hiding from the world because I was afraid of what was out there. Whenever something goes wrong, Tekos first instinct is to blame herself, shut down, and give up, and man do I ever relate to that. Thankfully, Teko quickly met Pikari, and their friendship pushes her to experience new things.

I could talk a lot about all the little moments between them, but these write-ups are going to be long enough as is. Ill just talk about my favorite arc involving Teko. She takes lots of pictures of beautiful things she wants to remember. Her phone is set up to display a random image every time she opens it, and she loves reliving those memories. Thats why she nearly breaks down when her phone hits its storage capacity. For most people its an easy fix, just transfer old pics and clear some space. For Teko, though, that would mean picking which precious memories to abandon. She never outright says anything to the others, but she doesnt need to. By this point, Pikari can tell when something is wrong with her best friend. And she has the perfect solution.

The diving club bands together and buys Teko a present, a digital picture frame with the same image-shuffling function as her phone. She wont need to forget anything, she just needs to put them in her treasure box, as Pikari calls it. Its a wonderful moment between those two, because it shows how much Pikari understands Teko, and how much everyone cares about the shy girl who was once afraid she wouldn't make any friends.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/2/4/6/AAcDcBAADyfe.jpg

CHARACTER: Kohinata Pikari Hikari (Amanchu)
https://myanimelist.net/character/18057/Hikari_Kohinata
Voiced by: Suzuki Eri
TOP 100 RANK: 8th

SPOILERS FOR AMANCHU

VIDEO LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0AVUlTBeY0

In my write-up for Teko, I talked about how I relate to her shy timidness. I cant relate to Pikari at all, but shes a character I really admire. Shes strange, often reacting with a cute whoop!, sometimes communicating with a whistle, and always running off on adventures. I like how all these things are acknowledged as strange within the anime, too. Pikari explains that she uses the whistle because she struggles to vocalize her thoughts. She seemingly had no friends before Teko, and its easy to imagine her alienating them. She admits she often drags people along and then it turns out they werent having fun. Its something Pikari is vulnerable about, and its so humanizing. She makes sure to check in with Teko to confirm they arent going too far.

No one embodies the themes of Amanchu better than Pikari. The video I chose for her is just her and her teacher walking from a bus stop to school. Its a basic thing. For Pikari, though, it turns into an adventure. They both decide to make it a race, and that keeps escalating until Pikari is cutting through a forest and leaping off a wall. In another episode, her and Teko decide to follow a cat, and that leads to them discovering a kitten and going on a heartwarming journey where they look after it and eventually find an owner. The message Amanchu imparts to the viewer is that the world is filled with beautiful, fun things. A lot of us are so caught up in our routines that we miss most of them. Pikari is the kind of person to wander new roads for no other reason than because theyre new, so shes always finding something.

In one episode, a suspicious Katori-sensei follows Pikari onto a train, wondering where shes going. It turns out the train passes some gorgeous flowers. They only bloom for a short time, and the train only passes them for a moment. Its the kind of thing a lot of commuters, even ones who take that train every day, would literally never notice. For Pikari, though, theyre worth riding the train back and forth a few times in one day, just to see those flowers.

Finding that level of enjoyment in the little things in life is so alien to me. Even as an adult, Id probably never go outside if I didnt need to. Still, as I mentioned at the start of this write-up, I admire someone like Pikari. She enjoys every moment, and shes always seeking out new ones. Everything in her life turns into an adventure. She isnt perfect, and she has a few things shes vulnerable about. However, she never lets them hold her back. Teko may be the character I relate to, but Pikari is the one I think we should all aspire to be, at least a little bit.

75. Amanchu
https://myanimelist.net/anime/31771/Amanchu
Summer 2016 (12 episodes), Spring 2018 (12 episodes) plus 1 OVA
My Score: 7/10, MAL Score: 7.24/10 S1, 7.12/10 S2
Best Characters: Kohinata Pikari Hikari, Ooki Teko Futaba

My Teko and Pikari figures: https://imgur.com/NZdyyqc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3bRos2VNZ8

Premise: Ooki Futaba has moved to a seaside town, and shes terrified of what awaits her. Then she meets diving enthusiast Kohinata Hikari, and together they begin finding fun things every day.

The Good: Amanchu is a slice-of-life comedy. It focuses on ocean diving, but I hesitate to call this a diving anime because that isnt really the point. The main theme gets elaborated on very early. Theres a whole world out there, far bigger than anyone can imagine, and we can all find fun things if we look for them. Diving into the infinite wonders of the ocean is just the symbolic metaphor used to explore that. Both Teko and Pikari (to use their nicknames) are among my favorite anime characters ever.

Teko is shy and would likely hide away forever if given the chance. Luckily, she meets Pikari, and that energetic oddball is more than happy to drag her new friend on adventures. Its interesting watching them learn about diving. Its also fun watching them goof off doing non-diving activities. When it wants to be, Amanchu is one of the most beautiful anime Ive ever seen. Then, sometimes, characters turn into goofy caricatures with exaggerated facial expressions, which really sells the comedic moments. I swear that Pikari is half-muppet! I posted this before image, but, I mean, just look at it.

https://imgur.com/RPMRBgU

Anyway, the first season of Amanchu was a solid 9/10 and one of my favorites. It had a relaxed atmosphere while still managing to have deep themes.

The Bad: The second season sucks. Not all of it, there are still a handful of episodes with that classic Amanchu charm, but most of it is awful. It introduced Kokoro, an awful little kid who ruined the dynamic between everyone. Way too many episodes focus on that brat. Then some other episodes delve into a weird supernatural plot. That happened a lot in Aria, another work by the same author, but those were always one-episode stories that still had the same tone as the rest of the setting. In Amanchu, the supernatural plot is a harsh departure from the feel of everything else, and its also handled in the worst way possible. I hated all of it.

Overall: I rewatched the first season of Amanchu for this write-up. Two of my top 100 characters are from it, including Pikari in my top ten, so I knew I had to. Still, I put it off for a long time because I was dreading it. I still love the first season for its relentless charm and the friendship it forged between these characters. The second season was just so terrible that I didnt want to put myself through it again. It took me an embarrassingly long time to realize I could just stop after the first season. So thats what I did. That might seem basic to those of you who drop anime at the first sign of trouble, but Im the weirdo who forced myself to finish a bunch of 1/10 and 2/10 anime. The idea that I could just stop watching is one I struggle with! Im glad I rewatched S1, though. It refreshed my memory so I can talk about Teko and Pikari.

KommunistKoala posted...

well if they get to a season 2 your prayers will be answered

That's good to hear! I really hope this gets another season someday. It really deserves it.

76. My Dress-Up Darling
https://myanimelist.net/anime/48736/Sono_Bisque_Doll_wa_Koi_wo_Suru
Winter 2022 (12 episodes)
My Score: 7/10, MAL Score: 8.31/10
Best Character: Kitagawa Marin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oG4eu4HMtbo

Premise: Gojou Wakana makes hina dolls, but he fears hell be mocked for it. Once popular girl Kitagawa Marin finds out, though, she asks him to use his skills to help her make cosplay outfits!

The Good: My Dress-Up Darling is a slice-of-life romance with a focus on cosplay. Gojou and Marin couldnt be more different. She's attractive, popular, confident, and proud of her interests. Gojou, meanwhile, strives to remain unnoticed because he's afraid people will think he's weird if they find out his dream is to craft hina dolls. Marin soon finds out, of course, but she doesn't think it's weird. She thinks it's cool, and not just because Gojou's talent for making clothes means he can help her fulfill her cosplay dreams. The relationship between these two is the biggest part of the anime, and I thought it was really sweet. They're a perfect example of opposites attract, but they always do their best to support each other. What little drama there is usually gets easily resolved. I like Gojou, he's way better than the typical generic dude a lot of anime have, but he's not as good as Marin, who I'll talk about more in her write-up below. I also thought the cosplay aspect of this was interesting. It was always neat to watch a new outfit come together.

The Bad: In addition to all the usual fanservice one would expect from a girl cosplaying as sexy anime characters, My Dress-Up Darling also had one episode that was the epitome of fanservice. It was the one where Gojou took Marin's measurements while she wore a skimpy swimsuit and seemed unaware of the situation. I didn't mind the sexiness of it, I just thought it was too much too early in their relationship. I also felt there was a bit too much focus on cosplay in this anime. I wanted to see more day-to-day stuff. There's a short subplot at school early on, and then we never see them there again. I wanted to know if they ever have lunch together, or if Gojou is getting to know Marin's friends too, stuff like that.

Overall: My Dress-Up Darling has some funny moments, and the cosplay process was interesting. Still, my favorite thing about this was the sweet, supportive relationship it's building between Gojou and Marin. The lone season doesn't get as far as I'd like, but it's still shaping up to be one of the best romances in all of anime. I'll talk about that a lot more in my write-up for Marin.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/1/0/7/AAcDcBAADydT.jpg

CHARACTER: Kitagawa Marin (My Dress-Up Darling)
https://myanimelist.net/character/166439/Marin_Kitagawa
Voiced by: Suguta Hina
TOP 100 RANK: 51st

SPOILERS FOR MY DRESS-UP DARLING

VIDEO LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVL1WB27LUI

There were a lot of videos I considered choosing for Marin. Her and Gojou have so many great moments. There's the one where he explains that he's careful about the word beautiful, only using it for things that truly resonate with him. Then, later, Gojou sleepily says Marin looked beautiful in her cosplay outfit, and she absolutely catches the implication. There's the one where she finally realizes she's falling for him, and Marin is cutely freaking out about it in the background. There's even the time Gojou went to try on casual outfits, and Marin was struggling to keep it together because he looked so good in all of them. Their whole relationship is a bunch of great little moments, it was tough to choose one! I'm glad I found that video, though, because it perfectly encapsulates my favorite thing about them.

It was so refreshing to watch an anime romance where I could see exactly why each of them is falling for the other. There are so many where the guy is bland and the girl only likes him because he's the protagonist. So many where the girl is attractive and nothing more. So many where one or both of them is a borderline abusive jerk. My Dress-Up Darling managed to avoid all of the romantic pitfalls that usually bug me (recall, if you will, that graveyard of mediocre romcoms in the 3/10s of my ranking). Marin is attractive, obviously, and Gojou is a good-looking guy too. His main problem is a lack of presence, and that disappears once Marin notices him. Neither one has an infatuation based on looks, though. They each have interests and dreams, things that they're passionate about, and sharing those parts of themselves is what slowly but surely wins the other over.

Let's go back to that video I linked, which if I remember right comes before either one has even begun to realize their feelings. Gojou is sleep-deprived because he worked nonstop to finish Marin's outfit. He has dark bags under his eyes, it isn't a good look. Marin was already touched that he worked so hard for her, though, so to her those signs of tiredness are a plus, not a minus. I mean, she's a literal fashion model, but when she sees the eyelashes he has, she assumes Gojou got them for a girlfriend. It's clear she views Gojou as such an obvious prize that some girl must've gotten there already. The idea seems to bother her. Then Gojou talks a bit about his hina dolls, which again Marin takes an interest in and doesn't judge. She even reassures him that he'll be able to accomplish his dream, and Gojou's tired face lights up in a smile.

It's just so cute watching these two be so naturally supportive of each other. It's a burgeoning romance where, if they ever do get together, each of them would feel like the lucky one. Marin is my favorite of the two because she's an energetic dork most of the time and I really like that, but it's her relationship with Gojou that elevated her into my favorites.

Also, now that I've had my first and hopefully last accidentally spoiled someone moment (which was hopefully just a false alarm), I'm trying to brainstorm ways to prevent it in the future. I figured the character image was enough to divide no-spoiler anime write-ups from the spoilers, but I never considered people scrolling up from below. Sorry again, Martin!

I really don't want to resort to using spoiler tags on the entire character write-up. I don't know about anyone else, but paragraphs of white text on black background really hurts my eyes. Imagine something as long as the Hanekawa post from last page being solid blocks of spoiler tags. Some days will have three characters, too, and that's a lot of spoiler tags.

The only thing I can think of would be posting character write-ups on a dead board I've used for years, then linking to that post rather than posting them here. To the people actually reading some of these, would that work? I don't want to do anything that'll deter lots of people from reading them.

MartinFF7 posted...

Hopefully something that comes into play earlier than later in series

My apologies! There is at least one wtf thing in there that I referenced often in the post that happens literally in episode one, hopefully that's the one you saw.

pyresword posted...

(Maho is a Steins;Gate 0 character, which I can't tell if you've watched or read from the write-up.)

I haven't yet. Only seen the original so far.

COMING UP TOMORROW:
80: I'm killing this anime by writing its name down.
C69: This character wants to create a new world.
79: This anime is being turned into jelly.
C59: I think someone just stabbed this character.

81. Lycoris Recoil
https://myanimelist.net/anime/50709/Lycoris_Recoil
Summer 2022 (13 episodes)
My Score: 7/10, MAL Score: 8.30/10
Best Character: Nishikigi Chistato

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxR_BYPG7v4

Premise: Orphaned girls are raised by an organization called the DA, and they covertly prevent crimes. Inoue Takina is a skilled lycoris, but after a botched mission she's sent away to work at a cafe alongside the famed but unorthodox Nishikigi Chisato.

The Good: Lycoris Recoil is a mostly lighthearted action anime about girls who are basically counter-terrorists. Chisato is a prodigy, famous for pulling off an impossible mission single-handedly, but she's nothing like the cold-blooded killer a lycoris is supposed to be. I'll talk about her more below, but Chisato is a fun character, and one of the few with a "no-kill" rule who didn't bug me too much (though, it still bugged me a little. I'm firmly of the opinion that some people should just be killed). Takina is a no-nonsense lycoris who doesn't know how to be anything else, and she gets sent to work with Chisato after making a mistake. It's the classic buddy cop setup where two contrasting characters are partnered up, and together they fight crime while slowly getting to know each other. It's a lot of fun, too! Chisato's energetic optimism is always great, and the serious Takina is the perfect foil to it. The animation always looks wonderful, especially during the action scenes which often get really over-the-top. If nothing else, Lycoris Recoil is a quality anime.

The Bad: I enjoyed almost everything in LR. Chisato and Takina were both good, the major side characters were good, and the animation was amazing. The idea of girls covertly killing criminals really grabbed my attention early on. All the pieces were there for an awesome anime. Unfortunately, I felt like the bad guys and their schemes were all really lacking. One is a green-haired Joker knockoff, and whenever he was around I didn't like how dark the tone became. Girls killing criminals is fun, as long as I don't think about it too hard. Girls getting ruthlessly murdered by criminals isn't fun. Whenever the bad guys were doing something, I needed to take the setting seriously. Orphans being raised to be remorseless killers, if I start really thinking about it, is actually sad and twisted. It'd be one thing if the story delved into it and examined those themes, but it never does. Half the story is Chisato and Takina on fairly lighthearted adventures, and half is psycopaths murdering brainwashed girls for reasons I never fully understood. The two halves simply didn't fit together, at least in my opinion.

Overall: I enjoyed Lycoris Recoil overall, but I had some problems with the villains and the inconsistent tone of the setting. Thankfully, none of the issues I had were bad enough to ruin my enjoyment of Chisato and Takina's buddy cop antics. If the whole anime was just them doing odd jobs for people around town, it would've been amazing. As it is, I'd call Lycoris Recoil good but flawed.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/5/8/6/AAcDcBAADx16.png

CHARACTER: Nishikigi Chisato (Lycoris Recoil)
https://myanimelist.net/character/204621/Chisato_Nishikigi
Voiced by: Anzai Chika
TOP 100 RANK: 64th

SPOILERS FOR LYCORIS RECOIL

VIDEO LINK (two clips edited together): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nb6jitUXARE

It was surprisingly hard to find a video for Chisato that wasn't weirdly edited together. I picked that one because at least the editing makes sense, and it's a climactic moment in their relationship. The phone ringing code from earlier pays off and Takina risks everything to prioritize helping Chisato, it's great. Still, unlike a lot of these character write-ups where I summarize parts of the plot (because what a character does or how they react is often why I like them), I didn't really like the main plot in Lycoris Recoil and don't have much to say about it. If I could've found a video of it that wasn't stupidly edited to jump around and cut dialogue mid-sentence, I'd have picked the scene where Chisato tries on Takina's boxers! Despite how goofy and minor that scene was, to me it was pivotal in understanding her character. In this write-up I'm going to do my best to get philosophical about her no-kill rule.

In fiction, morality is often decided by the protagonists. The author usually has a theme they want to explore, and the main character embodies that theme (either right away or at the end of their character arc). I'm not remotely a comic book fan so maybe I'm wrong about this, but, for example, Batman doesn't kill people and in his stories this is portrayed as right. The Punisher, on the other hand, does kill people, and in his stories this is also portayed as right. Whether or not killing is always an absolute wrong is obviously a complex philosophical question, but I'm talking purely in terms of fiction here. Heroes who refuse to kill the bad guy no matter how much evil they've done or are about to do is one of my biggest pet peeves, so it took a bit of thinking for me to understand why Chisato didn't bother me.

There's the explanation Chisato gives when Takina asks early on. She feels bad when she takes away people's time, and she hates criminals so much that she refuses to let them make her feel bad, even by dying. It's portrayed as her being selfish rather than altruistic. Later on, however, it's revealed that Chisato was saved as a child with an artificial heart by a mysterious benefactor, and she completely misunderstood what they wanted her to do with her life. She thought they wanted her to save people. It causes her a lot of grief when it's revealed towards the end that they actually wanted her to kill people (which is dumb, her gift is super-sight, not super-killing, why does she need to kill people... but I digress). Chisato still ultimately decides to hold onto the morality she's chosen for herself.

However, I really liked how the story never acts like this is absolutely correct. Mika kills someone to get Chisato another heart and there's no big preachy speech about how wrong that was. Chisato is living with the morality she chose for herself, but who's to say she's right or wrong? Finally, I'll tie this into the boxers scene. Chisato is horrified when she learns Takina is wearing boys underwear. It's portrayed as yet another thing poor, clueless Takina doesn't know about the real world. They spend most of the episode shopping for some respectable ladies underwear. Then, at the end, when Chisato is throwing out the boxers... curiosity gets the better of her. She tries a pair on. And she actually likes it!

The scene is comedic, and there's a chance I'm just reading way too much into this, but for me it really tied Chisato's character together. She's not necessarily right about everything. She took a view she'd picked up from somewhere, that women shouldn't wear boxers, and decided it was correct without knowing her actual preference. She did mostly the same thing with her no-kill rule by thinking that was what her savior wanted. In a way, that's how everything in life is. We all pick up various influences as we go along, but which one is right or wrong is often up to us. Chisato, in the end, doesn't kill people not because that's whst she thinks someone else wants, but because that's what she has chosen. Whether or not killing is an absolute wrong is something I'm glad the anime doesn't answer, because arguably it doesn't have an answer. I don't necessarily agree with Chisato, I personally think she should've just killed the bad guy and been done with it, but it was her choice to make. I was impressed that Lycoris Recoil took one of my biggest pet peeves in fiction and presented it to me in a way where I accepted it. And it was all thanks to a goofy subplot about boxers, because that's just how Chisato rolls.

82. Prima Doll
https://myanimelist.net/anime/50917/Prima_Doll
Summer 2022 (12 episodes)
My Score: 7/10, MAL Score: 6.93/10
Best Character: Haizakura

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hk5pwXw-qhQ

Premise: After a long war fought in part by automata, these machines built for war must find a purpose in peacetime. Haizakura has just woken up without any memories after a reset, and now she works at the Black Cat Cafe.

The Good: Prima Doll is a sort of sci-fi slice-of-life with frequent bouts of drama. It follows various sentient automata girls who now work in a cafe. Some are tormented by memories of the war while others have no memories at all, but they're all struggling to find a purpose beyond the violent one they were built for. Those are heavy themes, and most episodes delved into them in a way that I liked. They could be sad or heartwarming, or sometimes both at once. It never felt too melodramatic or needlessly cruel, though. The automata were just in a hard situation, and there wasn't always a right answer even with everyone having good intentions and trying their best. That's the kind of drama I like. The girls were all good characters too, and they each had a unique situation. Haizakura was still easily my favorite because she was cute and clumsy and always tried her best. The best parts of Prima Doll were her getting closer to her traumatized coworkers and brightening their lives with a nice song.

The Bad: I had trouble pinpointing the exact problem that held Prima Doll back for me. It was definitely with the setting, but I could never tell if they weren't presenting it very well or if it just wasn't well planned or fully thought out. For example, in the first episode there's an attack from rogue automata controlled by a rebellious military faction. They're a big part of the world, yet I never quite understood their motives. I'd also think that regular citizens would become wary of automata after some of the things that happen, but the Black Cat Cafe girls never seem to face any problems. It didn't make the anime terrible or anything, but Prima Doll could've easily risen higher in my ranking if the world-building was handled a bit better.

Overall: Prima Doll was often a fun anime about Haizakura trying her best or singing a beautiful song. It also knew how to pack an emotional punch, whether that was one of tears or happiness or both. The dramatic arcs in this were the kind I'm a sucker for, and a lot of them got to me. Unfortunately, I had some problems with the overall world-building, which held this back quite a bit. Prima Doll was still good, just not as good as it could've been.

83. Harukana Receive
https://myanimelist.net/anime/35983/Harukana_Receive
Summer 2018 (12 episodes)
My Score: 7/10, MAL Score: 6.65/10
Best Character: Oozora Haruka

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxefEMyDsoQ

Premise: Oozora Haruka moves in with her grandmother in Okinawa, and she develops an interest in beach volleyball. First she needs to convince her cousin, Higa Kanata, to play the sport again after she previously quit for being too short.

The Good: Harukana Receive is a sports anime about girls playing beach volleyball. Obviously that lends itself to a certain amount of swimsuit fanservice, but I was impressed at how serious the story was. Beach volleyball is a sport where partners need to rely on each other by predicting movements and covering for mistakes. Kanata decided to stop playing once already because her short height was holding her last partner back. Haruka needs to work hard to convince her to play again. They turn into an effective duo, though. Kanata is more knowledgeable and practiced, but Haruka has the height and an eagerness to learn. I enjoyed following their progress, plus they met some fun characters along the way like foreign twins Emily and Claire. The art style in this was also colorful and vibrant. I thought it looked really pretty.

The Bad: This was one of the few anime in my top 100 I didn't rewatch, but I don't remember it doing anything really bad. There were some dramatic arcs, but I enjoyed those in this almost more than the comedy bits. If I had to pinpoint a flaw, I guess it just wasn't as creative or energetic as some other sports anime I like better. This is laid-back while still having a lot of depth, but it definitely isn't the best of its genre.

Overall: Harukana Receive is a fun anime about beach volleyball. It has the inevitable fanservice and some nice comedic moments, but my favorite thing was the character arcs and how Haruka and Kanata needed to learn to work together. It had a pretty art style too. The worst thing I can say about it is that there are a number of sports anime I like a lot better.

COMING UP TOMORROW:
82: This anime woke up in a basement without any memories.
81: This anime is getting sent away as a punishment.
C64: This character dodged the bullet when I tried to shoot them.

EDIT: Oh, the score for Harukana must've dropped recently. Fixed it. That's too bad though, I liked that it was at 6.66 before!

Better yet, support Eiko and help her survive long enough that Nanis eventually has to support her too!

MacArrowny posted...

The cheerleading parts are really bad. Spoiled the show for me.

The production values weren't super high so a lot if the cheerleading performances turned into sequences of still images, which was definitely disappointing. I still enjoyed them though

84. Anima Yell
https://myanimelist.net/anime/37206/Anima_Yell
Fall 2018 (12 episodes)
My Score: 7/10, MAL Score: 6.89/10
Best Character: Hatoya Kohane

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfMaKTnSMZ0

Premise: Hatoya Kohane loves helping people, so shes naturally drawn to cheerleading. Her relentless enthusiasm will need to overcome a lack of experience and a crippling fear of heights.

The Good: Anima Yell is a cute girls sports anime, and it handles both of those genres well. Cheerleading obviously isn't a typical sport, but it still requires a lot of training and there are techniques to learn. My favorite running gag was how, after a bunch of practice, the basic positions became second nature to the point where they instinctively made a High V whenever the position was called. The characters are all fun too. Kohane was my favorite because she was always full of cheerful energy and doing her best to help people. It was funny how often the others would see her as a hyperactive bird. Everyone had their moments, though. Uki looking after Kohane was cute, and her being afraid of ghosts was always fun. Hizume was terrified the others would quit if she was too harsh, and that trauma resurfaced in some surprisingly hilarious ways. Overall, this was also just a nice comfy anime about girls doing their best to get better at cheering people on. It wasnt always through cheerleading, either! In one episode, theyre asked to test the cooking clubs food, and in another they help the manga club stay awake. All of it was fun.

The Bad: Anima Yell gets a little repetitive at times. Kohanes fear of heights in particular kept popping up no matter what progress she seemed to make towards conquering it. Everyone could've used a bit more development, in my opinion. Still, I suppose this isn't the kind of anime for deep character arcs.

Overall: Anima Yell is a cute girls sports anime that was always uplifting. Watching Kohane bumble her way through cheerleading was a lot of fun, and I liked all the characters. They could've used more development, but they were also fine as they were with a lot if great running gags and heartwarming moments.

At times like this, I turn to the MAL tags.

Genre: Comedy
Themes: Romantic Subtext, School

Sheep007 posted...

I've heard the production value on the anime is great

It is impressive looking, I should've mentioned that in the good section! I also liked Katai, he's another good example of a second season side character way better than anyone from the first. I looked Manbagi up and didn't recognize her. I'm glad there's at least one other good character coming up if Komi ever gets a S3

COMING UP TOMORROW:
84: This anime is terrified of high places.
83: This anime lost the thing that mattered most because it was too short.

85. Komi Cant Communicate
https://myanimelist.net/anime/48926/Komi-san_wa_Comyushou_desu
Fall 2021 (12 episodes), Spring 2022 (12 episodes)
My Score: 7/10, MAL Score: 7.99/10 S1, 8.14/10 S2
Best Character: Komi Shouko

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHlx3rx5Bew

Premise: Tadano Hitohito hoped to get along with everyone in his new class, but sitting beside the quiet beauty Komi Shouko makes everyone jealous of him instead. Once he realizes Komi is actually painfully shy, however, Tadano resolves to help her make friends.

The Good: Komi Can't Communicate is a slice-of-life comedy about a shy girl, a relatively normal guy, and a class full of eccentric characters. I liked Komi a lot. She has two modes with distinct art styles. One is what most people see, a cool and beautiful girl. The other is how she feels inside, her eyes wide with constant terror. Komi may seem self-assured, the type who doesn't talk to other people because she knows she's better than them, but in reality she has crippling social anxiety that makes it impossible to speak. She desires friendship but is too scared to interact with anyone. She's an interesting character, and her frequent shy moments are really cute. Her relationship with Tadano is sweet, too. I enjoyed watching her slowly make friends, though I only liked a few of the side characters. I preferred the ones who had their own quirks unrelated to Komi. Most of them came in the superior second season, like the narcissistic Naruse or the two girls Komi partnered with on the school trip. As for the bad ones, well, see below.

The Bad: The Komi/Tadano relationship in KCC is amazing. Sadly, the anime mostly focuses on Komi befriending her classmates, and a lot of them suck. Yamai is a perverted yandere who doesn't fit the tone of the show. Nothing about her or her interactions with anyone is funny, it's just her lusting after Komi over and over. Agari wants to be Komi's dog and get bossed around. A lot of the guys just want to admire Komi from a respectful distance, which means they bully Tadano for getting too close to her. Basically, I disliked any of the jokes or situations where they treat Komi as a god (and I mean that literally. They voted her Class God because Class President wasn't good enough). I related with Komi's shyness a lot and her attempts to open up to people. I just preferred the characters who didn't put her on such a high pedastal. They were also way too mean to Tadano most of the time.

Overall: Komi Can't Commumicate is what I consider the second-most realistic anime about social anxiety. I couldn't relate to the adoration Komi received, and maybe that's why I mostly disliked those parts. There are still plenty of great moments where she's being cute and shy, however. Her growing relationship with Tadano was always sweet, and the second season introduced better side characters than the first one had. It was tough to decide which to rank higher between this and Hitoribocchi, another anime about a shy girl trying to befriend her class. In the end, I decided Komi has more depth as a character, as I'll cover below.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/6/2/4/AAcDcBAADxXQ.png

CHARACTER: Komi Shouko (Komi Cant Communicate)
https://myanimelist.net/character/141790/Shouko_Komi
Voiced by: Koga Aoi
TOP 100 RANK: 73rd

SPOILERS FOR KOMI CANT COMMUNICATE

VIDEO LINK (from end of first episode): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIF_m0QLo70

The scene I linked to above is easily the best moment in the entire anime. The subtitles in that video aren't great and miss a lot of the written text (not that the official Netflix subs are that much better) but it still gets across the emotion of that moment. Komi finally gets to talk to someone. Overcoming her social anxiety by writing things down, her and Tadano fill up a whole blackboard just... talking. By the end she has her first friend, and he'll help her accomplish her dream of having a hundred others. That was the scene where I fell in love with Komi and her relationship with Tadano. It was when I wondered if this anime would rise into my favorites by becoming something truly special. And it didn't, sadly. The second season helped raise it a bit, but a middling 7/10 is a fair assessment of the anime as a whole. There are just too many crappy side characters. Thankfully, though, none of the mediocre parts were Komi's fault.

Komi herself was always cute and relatable. Being literally unable to speak is unrealistic, but her constant terror is something I understood. Growing up, I also had a few people who thought I was haughty and ignoring them because I thought I was better. In reality, much like Komi, I was usually just scared. It's also scary when someone resolves to get closer despite that, as Tadano does for Komi. Their relationship struck me as really genuine. Even after they become friends, Komi remains shy and wary around him. It's a constant struggle from both of them just to maintain what they already have, and moving further is harder still. They keep at it, though. Bit by bit, with a lot of nice little moments along the way, they're slowly growing closer. I really enjoyed the Valentines Day/White Day interactions between them in the second season. They both play their gifts off as friendship chocolate or just returning the favor, but it's easy to tell how much they're falling for each other. I'm rooting for those two dorks and hope there's a third season someday where they finally get together.

Beyond her relationship with Tadano, I also like how cute Komi is. The frequent moments where she has that wide-eyed eager-yet-terrified look really help make her endearing. I also like how earnestly she wants to make friends, even if a lot of them are lame. The two girls she partners with on the class trip in the second season were my favorites despite being minor overall. They don't put Komi on a pedestal. They just want to do their best to show her a good time, and they go a bit too far in the process. In the end, they realize what I wish more characters did. Despite her crippling shyness, Komi is a nice girl, and it's best just to treat her normally. It was cute watching the three of them talk about boys, which is what finally gets Komi to realize her feelings for Tadano. KCC really shines at times like that when she gets to be just a regular girl, albeit one who speaks through written notes.

I imagine I wouldn't like whatever the conclusion with Kai is (assuming that's the serious part you mentioned). What she deserves is Bocchi telling her to get lost, but there's no way they don't become friends again.

86. Hitoribocchi no Marumaruseikatsu
https://myanimelist.net/anime/37614/Hitoribocchi_no_Marumaru_Seikatsu
Spring 2019 (12 episodes)
My Score: 7/10, MAL Score: 7.48/10
Best Character: Hitori Bocchi

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XG9XCndxT8E

Premise: Hitori Bocchi has always been shy, but she was happy with her one friend, Yawara Kai. Now they're going to different middle schools, however, and Kai won't be Bocchi's friend anymore unless she befriends everyone in her new class!

The Good: Hitoribocchi is a cute girls comedy about an incredibly shy girl. I was painfully shy when growing up too, so I can always relate to a character like Bocchi. I also dreaded new school years where I wouldnt know anyone. Unlike her, I usually didn't make a group of good friends right away! I've seen three anime about girls with social anxiety, and Hitoribocchi is both the cutest and the least realistic. It prioritizes comedic moments with quirky characters, and Bocchi being shy is just her primary trait for gags. It's taken to extremes with her sometimes vomiting when forced to speak in front of other people or worrying her friends will forget her after a sick day. Everything is always played for comedy or cuteness, though, and there are never any lasting hits to her reputation. I liked Bocchi as a cute girl moreso than as a relatable character with social anxiety, if that makes sense. I also really liked her friends Nako, the grumpy but kind one, and Aru, the unlucky class rep. The three of them had a fun dynamic that led to a lot if great jokes. Ninja girl Sotoka was also fine but her gags became a little repetitive.

The Bad: I hate Kai and the whole "befriend literally everyone in your class or never talk to me again" ultimatum she gave. Early on I assumed that was just Bocchi exaggerating things in her head in her usual awkward way (turning "make some new friends" into befriending everyone) but then we meet Kai and, nope, she really is just an awful person. Even the most charismatic, popular kids in my classes growing up were never on good terms with everyone, never mind being friends with them all. It's such a stupidly unrealistic demand and it causes Bocchi lots of anguish. The times where she was sad about Kai were the worst parts of Hitoribocchi. You have Nako and Aru now, girl. You don't need that loser Kai anymore!

Overall: I felt like some of my comment in the good section could be seen as complaints. That wasn't my intention, though. While social anxiety is something I had a lot of experience with growing up, and another anime with a painfully realistic take on it is one of my all-time favorites, that doesn't prevent me from enjoying a cute shy girl! Bocchi had a lot of hilarious moments, and I'll talk about her a bit more below. Nako and Aru were also great. Aru, in particular, has her own theme song that's a real highlight of the show. Whenever it wasnt focused on Kai or her stupid ultimatum, Hitoribocchi was a lot of fun.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/4/8/7/AAcDcBAADxVH.png

CHARACTER: Hitori Bocchi (Hitoribocchi)
https://myanimelist.net/character/130593/Bocchi_Hitori
Voiced by: Morishita Chisaki
TOP 100 RANK: 86th

SPOILERS FOR HITORIBOCCHI

VIDEO LINK (minor spoilers at best): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNjXjP9RX7s

I talked about the good and bad parts of Bocchi in the write-up above, and this isn't the kind of anime for deep character arcs. Her character write-up might end up being shorter than usual, but that doesn't mean I like her any less! Bocchi's shyness is mostly used for gags or cuteness. It's still often painful, lonely, or awkward in a really relatable way. The video I linked to has her hoping to get sick so that she won't have to present a haiku in front of the class. Given that Bocchi worries her friends will forget about her when she actually does take a sick day, that's quite the sacrifice she's willing to make just to avoid public speaking. I understood where she was coming from, though. One time, my fifth grade class was doing presentations and the order was decided by my teacher shuffling our papers into a pile on his desk. I pulled off a legitimate caper and snuck in one evening just to move my paper to the bottom. It was probably the boldest thing I ever did at that age, and it was all to present my powerpoint on Picasso a few days later than I otherwise would have.

There are lots of anime with shy girls, but Bocchi is in the top three in terms of capturing what the experience is like, at least in my opinion. It leads to gags, which undercuts the realism a bit. In the first episode she puts a notice on the class door that school has been canceled for the year (if no one is in the class, after all, then technically she'll have befriended everyone). That's the kind of thing I could see myself imagining that terrible night before a new school year, but I'd never have the courage to try it. Bocchi vomiting in front of people is also a bit much, as is worrying her friends will forget her after a day. They're decent jokes, they just don't resonate with me as much as some other things. Her creating flowcharts before conversations is a comedic exaggeration, for example, but trying to imagine all the possible routes of a conversation is something I deeply relate to.

Ignoring her shyness for a moment, Bocchi is also just a really cute and fun character. It's easy to see why she makes a few close friends so quickly. She might be awkward and occasionally insensitive, like when she admitted that the only reason she was friends with Nako was because Nako talked to her first. It's always clear that Bocchi treasures her new friends, however, so they put up with it all. If nothing else, hanging around with her keeps things from ever being dull! For shy Hitori Bocchi, even a simple conversation can turn into an adventure.

MacArrowny posted...

Kobayashi probably my least favorite character in Dragon Maid.

I don't remember thinking much of her when I first watched S1 years ago, but when I rewatched it recently and finally watched S2, she was a lot better than I remembered. It's fun when she's the straight man for the dragon antics, but her relationships with Tohru and Kanna were also just really sweet.

87. Miss Kobayashis Dragon Maid
https://myanimelist.net/anime/33206/Kobayashi-san_Chi_no_Maid_Dragon
Winter 2017 (13 episodes), Summer 2021 (12 episodes)
My Score: 7/10, MAL Score: 7.99/10 S1, 8.35/10 S2
Best Character: Kobayashi

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ku5fgOHy1JY

Premise: After a night of drinking she barely remembers, Kobayashi apparently invited a dragon to live with her. Now Tohru is starting as a dragon maid, and Kobayashi's life is about to get interesting!

The Good: Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid is a slice-of-life comedy about various ultra-powerful dragons coming to live on Earth. The first is Tohru, who has developed a lustful fascination with the seemingly mediocre Kobayashi. Having a dragon maid is helpful in some ways, but Tohru needs to learn a lot about the world and what level of affection is appropriate. A child dragon, Kanna, soon comes to live with them as well. The little makeshift family the three of them create was by far my favorite thing about this. It led to cute and heartwarming moments like buying Kanna school supplies or going to school events. I liked Fafnir too. He's a cursed dragon and obsessed with treasure, but he quickly becomes a shut-in otaku hoarding treasure in video games. Him and his nerdy roommate Takiya had good moments too. Whenever MKDM was focused on the makeshift family slice-of-life comedy, I enjoyed it a lot.

The Bad: Out of the dragons, I really hated Lucoa. Everything about her living with a young boy, Shouta, and constantly sexually abusing him is awful. Even if it wasnt, it's just the same joke over and over and it's never funny. I didn't really like Kanna's school friend Saikawa either. She wasn't as creepy because her and Kanna at least look the same age, but she also had the same joke over and over. Kanna brushes against her, Saikawa squeals with joy. It was so repetitive.

Overall: MKDM has great animation and production values. I liked it whenever it was focusing on being funny, cute, or heartwarming with the main "family". Kobayashi, Tohru, and Kanna all had great dynamics with each other. Some of the other characters sucked, particularly Lucoa, but overall this was an enjoyable anime about dragons learning to live on a new world.

COMING UP TOMORROW:
86: This anime has lost its only friend.
C86: This character vomited in front of everyone on the first day of school.
85: This anime can only speak through written notes.
C73: This character is worshipped as a god.

(Until now, I hadn't realized 86 and C86 go together! That's a fun coincidence.)

It was one of the many I rewatched for this ranking! I thought it held up pretty well. At the time I remember it was overshadowed by Asobi Asobase, but Chio has stuck with me a lot more over the years than that one did.

88. Chios School Road
https://myanimelist.net/anime/35821/Chio-chan_no_Tsuugakuro
Summer 2018 (12 episodes)
My Score: 7/10, MAL Score: 7.45/10
Best Character: Miyamo Chio

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEpozlGgg2M

Premise: Miyamo Chio often struggles to get to school on time. Whether its delays due to construction, encounters with thugs, or desperately needing a toilet, her daily commute is always an adventure.

The Good: Chio's School Road is a comedy about the titular Chio and her daily struggles to get to school. She's a fun character, as I'll cover that in her write-up below. She's a video game addict who often plays late into the night, usually leaving her rushing in the morning. Her games of choice are specifically Western video games like an Assassin's Creed knockoff. Sometimes, her imagination and video game logic gets the better of her and she winds up scaling walls and traveling across rooftops. Her misadventures usually aren't Chio's fault, however. Absurdity seems to stalk her, forcing encounters with strange characters like a motorcycle thug or a kabaddi-obsessed older student. She also interacts with her best friend Manana, and their friendship is one of the most realistic ones I've ever seen because a lot of it is them playfully messing with each other. It's always fun seeing what happens to Chio next on her daily walk to school.

The Bad: This is essentially a gag anime, and not all of the recurring ones are winners. There's a little girl who plays a Japanese schoolyard game where she shoves her fingers up peoples butts, which is uncomfortable and strange. The kabaddi club girl is also usually a bit too much of a perverted lesbian for my tastes. I'd have preferred it if the pacing were a bit faster overall in order to fit in more gag situations, and to get through the occasional dud faster.

Overall: Chio's School Road is usually a lot of fun in the absurdity of what Chio faces every day. Not all of the situations are great, but in my opinion the winners vastly outweigh the losers. A lot of them involve Manana, after all, and her friendship with Chio is one of the highlights of the anime.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/6/1/1/AAcDcBAADxHb.jpg

CHARACTER: Miyamo Chio (Chios School Road)
https://myanimelist.net/character/149765/Chio_Miyamo
Voiced by: Oozora Naomi
TOP 100 RANK: 85th

SPOILERS FOR CHIOS SCHOOL ROAD

VIDEO LINK (not huge spoilers but still): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vx3ifdIWHh8

Chio often gets into crazy misadventures, but at her core she's actually a pretty normal high school student. It's taken to an absurdist extreme, obviously, but I still related to her in a lot of ways. Staying up late playing video games while trying not to get caught by her parents, I've been there. Desperately trying not to stand out at school, man, I've been there. Seeing two alley walls close together and thinking about climbing up them like a video game... well, I've been there, but Chio actually does it! She also has the athleticism to pull it off, which is where wish fulfillment comes in. A lot of my enjoyment in this anime came from the fact that a lot of the situations are relatable, but Chio takes them to the next level one way or another.

Still, my favorite part of this by far was her friendship with Manana. If a typical person saw them at the wrong times, they might think the two were enemies. However, their friendship reminded me of how it was with some of my closest friends (though, again, it's taken to a comedic extreme). They talk shit about each other, prank each other, and leave each other out to dry in order to save themselves. Despite all of that, it's obvious how close they are. In one of my favorite bits, a school disciplinary member observes them on the way to school, and she's stunned by what she sees as hatred and bullying. When she confronts them, though, Manana and Chio are confused. They ask the disciplinary girl the same question I would have: does she have any friends? Because that's just how it is sometimes, or at least it was for me at that age. True friendship is being able to insult and mess with each other while still being friends at the end of the day.

The disciplinary girl has trouble wrapping her head around it. She demands proof in a way she can understand. What follows is the video I linked to above. Manana and Chio are forced to do an old dance routine they put together in grade school, a hilarious (and hilariously awful) simple routine filled with nyas and mistakes. I don't know about anyone else, but it certainly reminded me of some of the dumb bullshit they made me do in gym class as a kid. It was always embarrassing, and I tried to forget it. Manana and Chio still remember theirs, though, and they move the disciplinary girl to tears. I agreed with her, I could see the friendship. Chio's School Road was absurd and zany, but a lot of things from Chio still resonated with me, and her friendship with Manana was what struck me most of all.

Did you pirate STR or has Disney finally released it?

LeonhartFour posted...

Seifer has had enough chances to prove his lack of worth

who's the most important VIII character who's never been in? I don't remember Ellone ever being in

I considered Julia Heartilly the other day. She wouldn't win or even do well, but I helped Hope's mom almost reach top 50 this year and it was fun. I could see myself throwing a few saves to Rinoa's mom.

Eiko will have her revenge.

Sceptilesolar posted...

I forget, have you said yet whether there's a chance to have multiple characters in your top 100 come from the same series? Obviously that's not the case here, but it probably would be for me, since I think your 13th would also be in my top 100, but is narrowly not my favorite from that series.

Yeah, there are a fair amount with two characters coming up. One anime even has three, and guessing which one was one of the trivia questions I gave that almost no one guessed for!

COMING UP TOMORROW:
94: This anime tripped on some stairs.
C13: This character doesn't know everything, they only know what they know.
93: This anime is moving to the planet formerly known as Mars.

(I already knew no one but me on this board has seen Kotobuki or Price of Smiles. Thankfully, both of the anime tomorrow are exceedingly popular.)

95. The Price of Smiles
https://myanimelist.net/anime/38544/Egao_no_Daika
Winter 2019 (12 episodes)
My Score: 7/10, MAL Score: 6.05/10
Best Character: Soleil Yuki

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYvE-BBXg08

Premise: Princess Soleil Yuki is the young leader of her Kingdom after her parents died in a tragedy many years ago. She's idealistic and hopeful for a bright future, but her advisors are hiding just how strained relations with the neighboring Empire have become.

The Good: The Price of Smiles is a mecha battle anime about a war between a Kingdom and an Empire on another planet in the distant future. The story does a lot of things I found compelling. Princess Yuki is the main perspective from the Kingdom, but Stella, an Empire soldier, is given almost equal prominence. By showing both sides, typical themes like "war is bad" gain addition weight. No one is being evil simply for the sake of it. The war has complex motivations like scarcity of resources or new discoveries which threaten the balance of power, making conflict all but inevitable. It often did a neat thing where one episode would show characters fighting faceless goons... and then later we'd see the battle from the other perspective and realize they were actually fighting a character we knew and kinda like. No matter who or what they were fighting for, these are all people with hopes and dreams. Some parts of TPoS were legitimately difficult to watch because it told the tragedy of war so impactfully. I also really liked the setting, including some of the later sci-fi twists.

The Bad: I talked a lot above about how having perspectives from both sides gave weight to the themes. However, the sides aren't as equal as they should be. Yuki is great, as I'll cover in her write-up below, but Stella is cold and full of PTSD. Most of the Empire soldiers in her unit took a long time to grow on me, if they ever did. They're the invaders, which puts them at a moral disadvantage for the viewers right away. I don't think the story does enough to overcome that. It also doesn't help that we never see what life in the Empire is like, which would've helped sell the necessity of the war to gain resources.

Overall: I enjoyed The Price of Smiles, even when it wrecked me emotionally. That said, I often feel like I appreciate it more for what it was trying to do rather than what it actually accomplished. Having perspectives from both sides added depth to everything, but Yuki's side is far more likeable than Stella's. It wasnt enough to ruin the story for me because I saw what they were going for, but some tighter writing and a few small changes could've made this a lot better. At least the mecha action scenes were always good, and Yuki was a solid character.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/3/9/5/AAcDcBAADwVL.jpg

CHARACTER: Soleil Yuki (The Price of Smiles)
https://myanimelist.net/character/167632/Yuuki__Soleil
Voiced by: Hanamori Yumiri
TOP 100 RANK: 89th

(I couldn't find a good video for her)

SPOILERS FOR THE PRICE OF SMILES

The war in The Price of Smiles is a first episode twist, mostly because Yuki's advisors have been keeping things from her due to her young age and the hope that they can fix things for her before it gets out of hand. I appreciated the story opening this way, because it shows Yuki at her most idealistic and hopeful. She has a huge group of trusted advisors, including her childhood friend Joshua. Thanks to technological advancements, including a seemingly impossible new power source, the Kingdom is thriving. She even wants to send food to the struggling Empire, not yet realizing how bad things have gotten between them. Yuki is a good person, but holding onto that becomes a struggle after Joshua's body returns from the first engagement and she learns what's really going on.

Yuki eventually overcomes her shock and grief. She surprises everyone by proving to be a capable defensive commander, too. The Kingdom's advantage in technology and training can overwhelm individual units of Empire soldiers, and she smartly maneuvers everything to hold them back for months. The Empire's sheer numbers eventually break through, however, and defeat seems all but certain. I found Yuki compelling through all of this. She continues losing her advisors, people she's known and loved all her life. They're whittled away, one by one. Yuki even decides to be the one to tell a little girl that her father is never coming home, even though the girl lashes out at her and it breaks Yuki's heart. For a young girl, Yuki shows surprising strength and realistic vulnerability. She keeps fighting too, never losing her hope for a brighter future.

The problem is, how can there be a brighter future when conflict seems inevitable? Even if the Empire wins this war, what they gain won't last forever. The planet itself seems to be turning desolate, and they only managed as well as they have been thanks to an advanced energy source no one quite understands. Near the end of the season, however, Yuki learns a startling truth. That new energy source actually comes from destroying the terraforming nanomachines in the air that were keeping the planet habitable. These ancient miracles of technology, long forgotten by the current population, have dwindled to the point that the planet is dying. I remember a lot of people in the Crunchyroll comments for these episodes really hated this twist. They called it a dumb allegory for climate change. Which, yeah, it's obviously alluding to that, but I don't mind when the message in fiction is applicable. I really liked the twist that the advanced energy source they've been relying on was actually the cause of their misfortune in the first place. It's a neat sci-fi idea.

I also liked how Yuki responded to it. While the remainder of her army distracts the enemy with a last stand elsewhere, she and a small force push into enemy territory to reach an experimental research base. There, they can destroy the sci-fi energy source for good. It's a risk, as even without their mecha the enemy has occupied most of the Kingdom. Disabling everything will still put them at the Empire's mercy. Stella also winds up being part of the unit to respond to Yuki's force. She's the one holding the princess at gunpoint hearing an insane story about healing the world. Stella has no way of knowing what this will do. It could even be a last-ditch superweapon from the Kingdom to turn the tide. Indeed, Yuki's advisors initially encouraged her to find a way to only disable the enemy's technology. Yuki knows they all need to sacrifice, however. She makes a compelling argument for peace and the need to finally trust each other, and Stella allows her to proceed. Even a broken soldier who earnestly believed in what they were fighting for is willing to take a chance at peace when it's offered to them.

The plan works, the energy source is destroyed, and the nanomachines will eventually return to normal and heal the planet with it. Yuki's refusal to abandon her ideals leads to peace. It'll be a hard future as everyone returns to a lower level of technology. However, Yuki has more than proven herself to be a capable leader, and I was left with the impression that she would build a brighter future. Her sorrow made me care about her, and her refusal to let it break her made me love her. Despite everything she had lost, I was glad things mostly worked out in the end.

96. The Magnificent Kotobuki
https://myanimelist.net/anime/38301/Kouya_no_Kotobuki_Hikoutai
Winter 2019 (12 episodes)
My Score: 7/10, MAL Score: 6.85/10
Best Character: Kylie

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Nm_mABJJNA
(Couldnt find OP or ED, linked full OP song)

Premise: Zeppelins carry supplies across a desolate world, and they're protected from piracy by mercenary pilots. Kylie is a part of the Kotobuki Squadron, and she uses her natural flying skills to protect their clients.

The Good: The Magnificent Kotobuki is about cute girls flying airplanes and dogfighting bad guys. I'm a big fan of the video game series Ace Combat, and while I wouldnt exactly call this an anime version of that, it's the closest I've found so far. TMK was created to advertise a mobile game that no longer exists, so it has some problems and didn't have a huge budget. It did a great job with the dogfighting, however, and that was the most important part. The animation while flying looks good with lots of different angles, and it's all easy to follow. The sound design is still what I found most impressive. Between the sound of the engines, the wind whipping by, and guns firing or bullets bouncing off metal, it creates an immersive experience. The story has some neat twists too, and the characters are all at least fine. There were some missions they went on where they were flying under restrictions or with poor odds or through an interesting location, and all of those were great.

The Bad: The animation when not flying is hit-or-miss. I remember one dancing scene that was so badly drawn it made me laugh out loud. The fact that this was made to advertise a mobile game didn't do it any favors, either. Sometimes unique-looking characters would show up for one inconsequential scene, and I can only assume that was fanservice for the few people who actually played the game.

Overall: While I enjoyed TMK, even I have to admit it was mostly mediocre. The characters were merely fine. The story went some neat places but wasn't super great. The WW2-style dogfighting just really appealed to me, and it did an amazing job at that! The animation in the flying scenes and especially the sound design made the air battles feel very immersive. Since that was so good, and the other elements at least weren't bad, I had a lot of fun with The Magnificent Kotobuki.

Only another day and a half left!

1- Robazoid (Hollow Knight)
2- Reg (LTTP) default
3- Aria (ChecksFinder) default presumably
4- Chrono007 (Super Metroid) a few changes
5- Koala (VVVVVV) yaml received
6- Mewtwo (OOT) yaml received
7- Lolo (Hollow Knight) yaml received

97. High School Fleet
https://myanimelist.net/anime/31500/High_School_Fleet
Spring 2016 (12 episodes)
My Score: 7/10, MAL Score: 7.30/10
Best Character: Isoroku

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lc08QxI_9q8

Premise: Misaki Akeno, a naval trainee, is given command of the destroyer Harekaze during a training exercise. When the ship is fired upon by allies, however, they're forced to go on the run into hostile waters in order to try and figure out what's going on.

The Good: High School Fleet is a cute girls anime about the crew of a destroyer. It reminds me of another "cute girls pilot a war machine" anime, Girls und Panzer. It also has some of the same problems as I'll cover below, but overall I enjoyed HSF a lot more. It helps that it introduces an overarching mystery right away. The Harekaze is attacked by allies and they're declared traitors when they defend themselves. Akeno must command her crew of trainees well in order to survive in a situation where they have no idea what's going on and some enemy ships vastly outclass theirs. The mystery and survival aspects hooked me right away. Still, despite that life-or-death premise, HSF has a mostly lighthearted tone.

The Bad: My main complaint with Girls und Panzer was that it had too many characters, making it difficult to care about any of them. HSF has even more characters with even less characterization to split between them. It didn't bother me as much in this, though. While I never even learned most of their names, each of the girls had a unique design to set them apart. They also mostly stuck with the crewmembers in their little section, and over time I recognized the fun dynamics those groups had. No one has much depth, and that's probably the biggest thing holding HSF back. For best character I even chose the ship's mascot cat, mostly because I like cats. Still, I could at least differentiate them all by the end, and I didn't dislike anyone.

Overall: High School Fleet has a compelling mystery right from the beginning. I always like stories where a small group is struggling to survive against all odds. The lighthearted tone also keeps everything fun. The characters aren't the most compelling, but they all fulfill their roles well enough. This is a solid anime about cute girls in a warship.

COMING UP TOMORROW:
96: An enemy ace shot this anime down.
95: This anime is fighting over dwindling resources.
C89: This character didn't know they were even fighting a war.

A cute girls anime like that killing someone off certainly would've been bold and different!

I didn't mind the end of Teiou's arc, but it was kind of lame how many times she was injured. I think using creative license to change a few things could've really smoothed out the story. Then again, it was admirable in a way that they were so dedicated to the real life results.

98. Umamusume: Pretty Derby
https://myanimelist.net/anime/35249/Uma_Musume__Pretty_Derby
Spring 2018 (13 episodes), Winter 2021 (13 episodes)
My Score: 7/10, MAL Score: 7.30/10 S1, 8.02/10 S2
Best Character: Gold Ship

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6rP_HS0ox4

Premise: Special Week is a horse girl, one of many carrying on the legacy of real racehorses from our world. Shes just begun training at a prestigious academy, and soon she'll make her debut!

The Good: Umamusume is one of those wonderfully zany concepts I always love to see in anime. It's mostly a cute girls sports anime focused on anthropomorphic racehorses, but it also has idol shows after the races seemingly for no other reason than "why not?". It does a good job at all the different aspects, too. The first season mostly follows Special Week and her best friend/rival Silence Shizuku, but there's a large cast of quirky horse girls. My favorite was Gold Ship because she was always doing something hilariously random in the background and had a running gag where she injured her eyes while trying to prank someone. The girls learn special techniques, practice hard, and finally run the races, plus the winners put on an idol show after. It's great. It isn't always lighthearted, either. There are themes about hard work, rivalry, friendship, teamwork... don't let the goofy parts of the premise fool you, this is a legit sports anime. The races also reflect the real world records of the racehorses, and quite a few of them faced horrific injuries.

The Bad: My main problem with Umamusume is the fact that it sticks so closely to the real world records. Real life doesn't always have the most satisfying arcs, after all. I enjoyed the second season a lot. It had deeper themes than the first. However, the two girls it focused on had some pretty repetitive arcs thanks to their real world races. It was also jarring that Special Week just kind of hung around in the background for years without doing anything because the first season covered all of that horse's races. I know reflecting actual racehorses was central to the premise, but I'd have preferred if it veered into fantasy races a bit more. I also didn't like the main trainer dude or his running gag of coming up behind horse girls and feeling their legs.

Overall: Umamusume is a delightful mixture of various elements that come together to create a solid racing anime. I liked all of the quirky horse girls, and both seasons had nice stories and themes. I feel that sticking so closely to real world results was occasionally a detriment, but overall this was a fun anime about running.

...It actually never occurred to me that The Animatrix is an anime. I should've included it on this list! Too bad I haven't seen it in over a decade. All I remember is that Final Flight of the Osiris was the best episode.

Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within is on MAL too, now that I look. I haven't seen it in over a decade either but I'll give it an honorary #1 on the movie ranking because it's one of the best sci-fi films ever made.

99. WATATEN: An Angel Flew Down to Me
https://myanimelist.net/anime/37993/Watashi_ni_Tenshi_ga_Maiorita
Winter 2019 (12 episodes)
My Score: 7/10, MAL Score: 7.30/10
Best Character: Hoshino Hinata

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEEJK4zbSS8

Premise: Hoshino Miyako isvan incredibly shy college student who spends most of her time in her room. Then her little sister Hinata brings over a friend, Shirosaki Hana, and Miyako becomes captivated by her cuteness.

The Good: Wataten is a cute girls slice-of-life comedy about an older shut-in and her little sister's friends. Miyako thinks Hana is unbelievably cute, but unlike Uzamaid, I don't remember her interest being too explicit or creepy. Miyako is incredibly awkward and asks Hana to wear cute cosplay outfits or pose for pictures, but she's never portyayed as a threat. Hana shows discomfort at times, but Miyako is so good at making delicious treats that she's usually bribed to go along. My favorite character was the little sister Hinata who idolizes her decided unimpressive big sister. One of my favorite jokes was when Miyako visited the school and the whole class was awestruck because Hinata had told them so many false stories about Miya-nee getting perfect grades and having a million friends. There are lots of other cute girls in this though, and lots of heartwarming or adorable moments.

The Bad: Wataten has a slightly questionable premise, which might turn some people off. Miyako truly is just awkward and harmless, however, so it didn't bother me. What held this back for me most was that I felt the main dynamic between Miyako and Hana was the weakest part. I vastly preferred the cuteness and humor when Hinata or one of the other girls was around. Miyako/Hana wasnt bad, but if more focus was given to the better parts I could've justified ranking this higher.

Overall: Wataten is a cute and funny anime, especially when it features Miyako dealing with the large cast. Hana is probably the weakest part, which is too bad because she gets a lot of focus, but even she was good. As long as the slightly questionable premise doesn't turn people away, this is a nice anime.

COMING UP TOMORROW:
98: This anime ran so hard it broke its leg.
97: This anime is being attacked by warships.

(Fun fact, Uzamaid at 100th was the first time in this whole ranking that my score was higher than the MAL score!)

100. Uzamaid
https://myanimelist.net/anime/37722/Uchi_no_Maid_ga_Uzasugiru
Fall 2018 (12 episodes)
My Score: 7/10, MAL Score: 6.90/10
Best Character: Morikawa Yui

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgOJW5uOunI

Premise: Takanashi Misha lost mother at a young age, leaving her with just a useless stepfather. He hires a maid, Kamoi Tsubame, to help out, but she turns out to be a hardcore lolicon with an annoying infatuation towards Misha!

The Good: I'm sure anyone who hadn't already heard of this read that premise summary and got really uncomfortable. And on the surfaces, yes, this is a gross concept. Tsubame is unapologetically into little girls, her former military career left her physically imposing, and she has no sense of boundaries. Thankfully, this is a comedy, so it never gets dark or goes too far. Tsubame is never portrayed as being in the right, rather she's the closest thing the anime has to an antagonist. The story is about Misha trying to use her for the top-notch cooking and cleaning while fending off annoying advances in a slapstick manner. I certainly wouldn't blame anyone who gets turned off by the premise, but if you can get past it there are a lot of solid gags. Tsubame always has some scheme or paper-thin disguise to get closer to Misha, and they usually backfire in a humorous way. I also liked Misha's school friends, especially the self-declared rival Morikawa who always shows up with her own peppy theme music for some poorly thought-out challenge.

The Bad: There's a side character, Midori, who is a masochist obsessed with getting put down by Tsubame. She shows up often enough to the point of almost being a third main character. I don't hate her, but a lot of her jokes and situations feel samey. A few episodes in Uzamaid also try to get serious or heartwarming. It does an okay job at that, but in my opinion this isn't the kind of anime that should try for those emotions. I'd have preferred if it stayed comedic throughout.

Overall: Uzamaid definitely has a questionable premise, but it's used for slapstick humor and isn't remotely dark. Tsubame trying and failing to get closer to Misha led to a lot of good jokes. I didn't like Midori or the more serious episodes very much. Still, they were a comparatively small part of a mostly fun anime.

1- Robazoid (Hollow Knight)
2- Reg (LTTP) default
3- Aria (ChecksFinder) default presumably
4- Chrono007 (Super Metroid) a few changes

I also wanted to mention a few things about the top 100. Since there are so many character write-ups coming up, I'm only going to do two anime per day from now on, not two or three like I have been. Sometimes that will mean two write-ups, like tomorrow, but some days will also have two or even three characters. There were a few times where two anime with two characters each would've been together, but thats too much for one day. In those cases, I'll only do one anime per day.

Another fun stat is, of the top 100 anime, I've watched, rewatched, or intend to rewatch 82 of them since the start of the year! If you're wondering why I've made such lousy progress on recommendations, that's why. 82/100 of the remaining anime are ones I'll have recently seen.

As always, thanks for following along, everyone.

166. Shine Post
https://myanimelist.net/anime/50221/Shine_Post
Summer 2022 (12 episodes)
My Score: 4/10, MAL Score: 7.12/10
Best Character: Tamaki Kyouka

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHemM_8IOrY

Premise: The idol group TiNgS hasn't had much success, and they might have to disband unless their anniversary show sells out. Luckily they have a new manager, and he has the power to tell when people are lying.

The Good: Shine Post is an idol anime. It has a few twists, like having a relatively small group of girls (only five), and their manager can literally see an aura when people tell lies. Those aren't exactly huge things, however, so this is pretty much just a typical idol anime. Thankfully, I enjoy idol anime! Having a smaller cast also allows more time to characterize each of them, as well as their struggle to become better known. Tamaki was my favorite character because she has a cute quirk where she tries to prank people despite clearly having no idea what a prank is, so it falls flat. I liked all the girls, though, and even Manager-kun is fine. Shine Post also has surprisingly good production values, making the shows they put on look impressive.

The Bad: Shine Post looks way better than the idol anime I've ranked directly ahead of it, Music Girls. I feel like Music Girls had a lot more heart, however. Shine Post is nothing more than a typical idol anime. They have a goal they're shooting for, and to get there they need to get better and overcome personal obstacles. The manager's lie spotting ability is the big thing that's supposed to set this apart, but all the lies the girls tell have obvious context clues. I really don't need a shining golden aura to tell. Since the only thing setting this anime apart is kind of meaningless, it just feels generic.

Overall: Shine Post is a solid idol anime, and I enjoy that genre so that's fine. It feels generic in a lot of ways, but sometimes all I need is cute girls and the occasional song. High production values help, but there isn't anything else to really elevate this.

COMING UP TOMORROW:
100: Someone is spying on this anime through a window.
99: This anime is giving little girls treats to get them to do what it wants.

Thanks for letting me go back and finalize the rankings for this season's shows, everyone. With that done, we're finally getting into the top 100, my actual favorites! And the common theme between the two we're starting with tomorrow is, uh... a questionable interest in little girls! So, yeah. I swear they aren't as uncomfortable as they probably should be (but they're still a little uncomfortable).

Luminous Witches rose from it's placeholder rank of 168 to 167. Shine Post is coming up next and also rose one spot to 166. They both beat Phantom of the Idol, which fell to 168, but not Music Girls at 165.

167. Luminous Witches
https://myanimelist.net/anime/38006/Renmei_Kuugun_Koukuu_Mahou_Ongakutai_Luminous_Witches
Summer 2022 (12 episodes)
My Score: 4/10, MAL Score: 6.67/10
Best Character: Virginia Robertson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K65NaMehqMg

Premise: Another spinoff from the Strike Witches franchise. The war against the alien Neuroi continues, largely fought by witches, young girls with magical powers. Not all witches are adept at fighting, however, so nine of them form a music group to put on shows and raise morale.

The Good: Luminous Witches is an idol anime, which thankfully sets it apart from the bad Brave Witches and disappointing Strike Witches. I complained plenty about the Neuroi and the ripoff WW2 setting in those write-ups, so it's good both are only background elements in LW. This is little more than a standard idol anime, but thats okay because I like idol anime. Various girls come together, get to know each other, practice, create dance routines and costumes, write songs, and it all culminates in a nice show. I liked all of the girls, though none of them were complex characters. I also liked the slight twists in the typical idol formula that this had, such as incorporating flying into their shows or going on a world tour.

The Bad: Unlike Strike or Brave, Luminous Witches didn't do anything especially bad. Its ranking is mostly held back because the few new things it brings to the idol genre don't outweigh the many ways in which it's a typical idol anime. There's also an overarching plot with Ginny trying to bring her owl familiar back to its family, and I got nothing out of that at all. It was never clear to me how her familiar was different from everyone else's or why it needed to go home when theirs didn't, so that whole quest fell flat for me.

Overall: Luminous Witches was a nice idol anime with decent characters, good songs, and a few new ideas. I was glad it avoided falling into the pitfalls of the rest of the franchise. Ultimately, however, there wasn't enough to set this apart from a typical idol anime. It wasnt bad, it just also wasn't special.

https://imgur.com/TI3mWjU