Spring Anime 2025: Disappointments and comebacks
At the end I really had to remind myself that this show used to be good, because while the plot about Marimoots secretly rocking out has its issues (mostly its characters being paper-thin and overplayed), the parts where it decides it's actually about boomer takes regarding what counts as real rock music are just complete ass. And because this is definitely written by a shounen author, this is presented in the form of a tournament arc with the worst musical performance scenes I can think of - I've heard of shounen fights being turned into AMVs, but here you get to enjoy AMVs being turned into shounen fights. 6/10
It's become increasingly clear to me that I don't like this show, I just like Maomao. So when the last half of this season was her being hostage by incessant exposition by people I barely care about about people I don't care about at all, I was ready to give the show its 5/10 and never mention it again.
And then the last episode is the best one of the entire thing and so you'll probably get the chance to hear me complaining about how much I don't care about the plot in Apothecary Diaries again in the future. Oh no. 6/10
This is probably the biggest disappointment of them all, because you know what's the absolute worst you can do to an impeccably moody, slow, mysterious vibes show with interesting characters? Stuffing it full of big concrete slabs of expository dialogue about a goofy sci-fi plot that can most charitably be described as "an attempt was made". Now, most people would chalk this up to the blistering pace of the adaptation (11 volumes in 13 eps is a lot), but while that certainly doesn't help, I don't think that stuff is a good use of anyone's time and should have been completely left out – and by that I mean completely left out of the manga to begin with. Seriously, just delete every scene that includes Yulong and the show's instantly much better. 6/10
I keep forgetting about this show, which is probably not a good sign. But when I do remember it exists, I think of it as an enjoyable time with delicious food and cute antics. It's incredibly shallow, but that's just what this genre is, I suppose. 6/10
Umamusume: Cinderella Gray
To put it simply, Cinderella Gray is what Umamusume should have been in the first place: Not a masterpiece by any means, but at least it has a proper generic sports shounen plot instead of just an uncanny simulacrum of one, with a manageable cast of moderately multidimensional characters. It also gives us a look at the world outside of Tracen. Apparently they're still just retelling old horse racing results, but I guess at least this time they picked some worth retelling. 7/10
While S3 doesn't really contain much of what I'd call "Peak Fire Force", it's still a fun, goofy time that just keeps trucking along, where they can bring back characters I've last thought about half a decade ago and I go "hey, it's that guy!". Give me my weekly dose of lovely grannies with a threatening aura and interdimensional piggyback rides, and I won't complain. 7/10
Catch me at the Ballpark!
I kind of feel bad for this one, because I honestly love it but it will never get the attention it deserves. First of all it's incredibly niche, but more importantly it's cheap as hell – the best thing I can say about the production is "barely acceptable in the context of shows that don't require production to be good". But yeah, I do recommend this one, a lovely true ensemble piece about a bunch of very normal people. This anime really makes you feel like you're a hopeless fan of a shit baseball team. 7/10
And finally, Apocalypse Hotel is just really fucking good. I've always been a sucker for thoughtful postapocalyptic sentiments, but ApoHotel not only doesn't drop the ball but goes to some unexpected places. For one, it has variety - sometimes it almost feels like a Space Dandy-esque anthology show, only unlike that one it's good at all of the things it tries. But then it also couples that with a notably strong throughline with continuity and character development. And on top of it it's just super well put together, Cygames already have a track record for these off-the-wall originals and this is their best one yet. Instant classic, 9/10
And just for the record, To Be Hero X is still going so I won't spend time on it, but you should watch that show if you're not already on it. It's very good.
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