I'm nearing another little One Piece break (Water Seven is an incredible arc, but I'mma need to breathe because I get the feeling Enies Lobby is gonna wreck my shit), so let's see what I watch next.
If you're new here: We do anime polls to decide what I watch. That's the gist of it.
As always, propaganda* (*yapping) below the cut. You're allowed to reblog to yap in tags, bully your followers into voting, or insert third reason here. You do not have to know me, follow me, like me or know/like/have seen any of these shows to vote. "Because vibes" works for me.
Which Anime?
(Finish) I'd vault his pole. Don't say that out loud. Sounds stupid. - Free!
(Finish) Paying Jeremy Shada's therapy bills - Voltron: Legendary Defender
(Cont) Aye, sir! - Fairy Tail
(Start) Did you try the medicine drug? - Ameku M.D.: Doctor Detective
(Start) Do my friends hate me? Or do I just need to go to sleep? - Handa-kun
(Start) Overtime Request: Denied - I May Be a Guild Receptionist...
Voting ended onFeb 15, 2025
Propaganda:
Free! - If we keep it in the poll, I get to quote 50% Off! even longer. You can vote for it and end this. But I'm nowhere close to running out of quotes.
Voltron: Legendary Defender - If you try to pedantic me, the Um, Actually board game says this is legally anime and if the pedantic nerd show says it's anime, then I can put it in a poll. Legally. Anyway, I can't remember specifically how much of this I watched, but I'd blink and there would be a new season, so I desperately fell behind and just never finished it. It enters into my polls when I'm willing to make that mistake.
Fairy Tail - Edolas arc and 24 Hour Road Race? 👀 This poll option covers Seasons 3 and 4 (ep 73-125) and Phoenix Princess.
Ameku M.D.: Doctor Detective - They turned Gregory House into a cute anime girl, which is what he would have wanted. Since it's still airing, if this wins, we'll do another poll immediately for something longer to watch in the mean time, and my typical Notes App reaction will be delayed season 1 of this finished airing.
Handa-kun - Saiki K., but a normal guy.
I May Be a Guild Receptionist, But I'll Solo Any Boss to Clock Out on Time - I've only heard one person give their impressions of this show and it was "She sure will." Incredible. Uh, same poll-triggering disclaimer as Ameku.
In honor of the new year, I’m gonna be casting a look back at the anime I watched last year. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a lot of free time to watch anime at the beginning of the year due to university kicking my ass, but after I finally graduated with my master’s degree, I could finally work through some of the backlog I had accumulated on Crunchyroll and Netflix.
Anyway, without further ado, this is a list of anime I watched in 2023 with some short descriptions and my own personal opinions. Let it be known, there is a lot of text in this one.
Also, since there ended up being a lot more shows that I watched than I thought there would be, this had to be cut in two -> Click here for part 2
Some of my older lists:
My favourite animes (Old. Tells of my tastes back in, like, 2018-2020 or something. Updated list coming once I get around to it)
Feel good anime Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3
Handa-kun
Handa Seishuu is a calligraphy prodigy and a high schooler. For years he has been living under the assumption that his student peers all hate him. This is, of course, a huge misunderstanding. In reality, Handa is very much admired in his school, to the point of being popular. Where did this misunderstanding stem from and how can it be resolved?
12 episodes - comedy, slice of life
I liked this one! Although I did have a little bit of distaste towards one of Handa’s so called friends. You’ll understand who and why if you decide to watch this.
Barakamon
Handa Seishuu, now a 25-year-old man, punches a famous, older calligrapher judging his latest work. As a consequence of his own actions, he is sent to live in small town in the countryside where a group of kids rutinely keeps breaking into his house. Beautiful friendships bloom between Handa and the people of this town.
12 episodes - comedy, seinen, slice of life
Took me an episode or two to get in to, but once I did I thoroughly enjoyed it!
Backflip!!
Shoutaro Futaba enters high school with intense love for sports, especially men’s rythmic gymnastics after he saw Shoushukan high school’s team perform in a competition. He enrolls into said high school and hopes to join the team despite not having any prior experience with gymnastics. Another boy, Ryouya Misato, get recruited alongside him and together with their senpais they start to work towards Inter-high tournament.
12 episodes and an OVA - sports
I started this in the beginning of the year and only got around to finishing it in November. Actually liked this one a lot! The final movie left me feeling so happy yet bittersweet. I recommend this one!
Skip and Loafer
Mitsumi Iwakura leaves her small countryside town and moves to Tokyo to live with her aunt in hopes that attending a prestigious high school would aid with her ultimate goals in life. As the new school year begins, Mitsumi leaves for school with high hopes, gets lost at the subway station, runs into classmate called Sousuke Shima and together the two barely make it to the entrance ceremony. What will her school life shape up to be?
12 episodes - romace, shojo
Nao-chan supremacy! The bestest aunt!
I really liked to animation animation style of this anime. For me, the show looks very soft and fresh in a spring and pastels kind of way. It’s hard to explain but I hope at least one person gets what I mean. I like the characters a lot and their interactions feel nice and grounded. The romance isn’t the main focus in this one, at least not in this season, which I liked since it’s always lovely to just see friendships put into the spotlight.
Buddy Daddies
What do you get if you combine two trained, professional assassins who live together and an accidental child acquisition? A riot of a family dynamic. Katsuki Kurusu and Rei Suwa fumble through their new shared life as parents to a four-year-old Miri Unasaka. What seemed like a temporary situation at first, stops looking temporary when genuine affection and care for the little girl and her well-being start to blossom in both men’s hearts.
13 episodes - action, comedy
This one was so good. I loved every minute of this and the characters’ dynamics worked so well together. Anyone in the shows comment section who complained about Miri being annoying had clearly never been around young children and it showed. Miri is a delightful little girl who loves her dads very much. There was also a fair bit of action in this which was a nice change of pace amidst all the parenthood things.
My New Boss Is Goofy
Momose Kentaro is a 26-year-old office worker working for a marketing firm, Minette. He is new to the job, having just recently quit his previous job due to power harrassement and abuse he received from his former boss. Can his new clumsy and little goofy manager Shirosaki Yuusei make him feel comfortable in his new job?
12 episodes - comedy, slice of life
I love everything about this show. The characters, the storylines in each episode, the art style. This just makes you feel happy and a little giddy. Definitely my favourite show of the year. This one earned the top spot on my rewatchable shows list.
If you liked Play It Cool, Guys or The Ice Guy and His Cool Female Colleague, you might like this one.
Ron Kamonohashi’s Forbidden Deductions
Kamonohashi Ron was the best stundent of an elite detective school until an incident took away his future career path and made him live as a recluse as he refused to receive any information about the world outside his four walls. One day a police detective Totomaru Isshiki is adviced to approach Ron about a series of cases that have stumped the police for a while now. But because Ron is not allowed to do any sleuthing, Totomaru has to work as Ron’s puppet of sorts. Oh, and there is also the thing about having to keep Ron from influencing the killers to take their own lives. Oh well.
13 episodes - comedy, mystery
I’m a sucker for anything ’Sherlock Holmes’ type of media so this show was right up my alley. Eagerly waiting for the confirmed second season.
Play It Cool, Guys
Group of goofy and clumsy guys from different stages of life happen to meet one another and develop heartwarming friendships. Little mishaps won’t ruin their day!
24 (short) episodes - slice of life
Easily one of my favourites of the year. Watching this felt like sipping a cup of hot green tea while wrapped up in a blanket. Instant rewatch.
If you enjoyed The Ice Guy and His Cool Female Colleague or My New Boss is Goofy, you might also like this one
Vanitas no Karte
A vampire named Noé Archiviste is looking for a book called ’the book of Vanitas’ in the 19th century Paris, when he unexpectedly meets a man calling himself Vanitas and carries the book he’s searching for. The Vanitas he meets isn’t the original maker of the book but a doctor who possesses the ability to save vampires by returning their true names to them.
24 episodes - action, fantasy, mystery
Me, mere minutes into the first episode: ”If anything were to happen to Noé, I would kill everyone in this room and the myself.” Anyway, love me some vampire action, especially with that late 1800s, early 1900s Paris vibe. Delicious.
Vampire Dies in No Time
One day vampire hunter Ronald is tasked to infiltrate a castle and save a woman’s son. Things don’t quite go as he expected. Inside the palace, he meets a vampire called Draluc, who is truly so pathetically weak that he turns to ash from smallest of things that ahppen to startle him, and Draluc’s companion, armadillo John. The kid he seeked was totally fine and playing with Draluc’s video games. Oh and Draluc’s castle gets destroyed. Yeah… Ronald has a new roommate now.
2 seasons - comedy, supernatural
This truly is armadillo John’s world and we’re just living in it.
Love me some more vampire action. Only this time it’s a lot less angsty and violent and a lot more ridiculous and goofy. I laughed so much while watching this.
