Hello, and welcome to the Summer 2019 edition of my personal opinions of various anime airing this season! Note that I will only be including series that are beginning this season, though I will continue to update this post as I watch more things!
Latest update: 7/25/19
Disclaimers, to give a picture of me as a reviewer:
- I don't care for fanservice or female harems, but am willing to overlook both for good story/characters. That said, I'm very unlikely to enjoy or positively review shows where either or both of those things are the entire point.
- I also am not fond of particularly grim-dark series with a lot of character death, though I will happily acknowledge that's a me problem and other's mileage may vary.
- That all said, I tend to like a lot of things and have what others might consider lower than average standards for enjoyment, so my reviews tend to lean positive!
- I have a *very* high tolerance for the isekai genre, even with the recent over-saturation
Listed in alphabetical order, aside from top pick! Links point to the My Anime List page!
My Personal Rating: 10/10
Summary
One fateful day, all of humanity was petrified by a blinding flash of light. After several millennia, high schooler Taiju awakens and finds himself lost in a world of statues. However, he’s not alone! His science-loving friend Senku’s been up and running for a few months and he's got a grand plan in mind—to kickstart civilization with the power of science!
(Source: Viz Media)
My First Episode Impressions
First, to get it out of my system: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA I'M 10 BILLION PERCENT EXCITED~! !!~~~SCIENCE~~~!~!
I was *very* pre-disposed to this show, I've been reading the manga since 2017 and it's currently one of my personal all time favorite series! A huge part of the reason why is the legitimate real-science element, particulalry recreating elements of modern day technology from scratch, but I also thoroughly enjoy the characters and story. The main character Senku is especially enjoyable, as a brilliant walking almanac of Science Principles and Formulas who is super into science the way some people get into fandoms (that is, intensely and passionately). It's ostensible an adventure shounen series, but if you like science and the premise sounds interesting I recommend this even if you don't typically enjoy the genre. The Scientific Advancement plot is very much the Core of this series. Also, this won't happen for a looooong while in the anime but the manga has recently introduced a legitimately agender/non-binary character, which was a cool bonus.
Personal Queue Status
Watching! Watching the heck out of, and showing to as many people as possible!
My Personal Rating: 7/10
Summary
Seventeen-year-old Hajime Nagumo is your average, everyday otaku. However, his simple life of pulling all-nighters and sleeping in school is suddenly turned upside down when he, along with the rest of his class, is summoned to a fantasy world! They're treated like heroes and tasked with the duty of saving the human race from utter extinction. But what should have been any otaku's dream quickly turns into Hajime's nightmare. While the rest of his class are blessed with godlike powers, Hajime's job, Synergist, only has a single transmutation skill. Ridiculed and bullied by his classmates for being weak, he soon finds himself in despair. Will he be able to survive in this dangerous world of monsters and demons with only a glorified blacksmith's level of strength?
(Source: J-Novel Club) (w/minor edits)
My First Episode Impressions
So, first it's worth noting that the summary above will literally give you more information than the first episode does. Having read the first few chapters of the manga, I personally appreciated the first episode jumping straight to the most interesting part, but from a story structure perspective it's a poor choice. Also, it must be said that this is yet another isekai, one of several out this season. I wasn't even sure if I'd like this one to be honest, but it turns out I really do have a very high tolerance for and interest in the genre. For this show, I enjoy that the main character uses a slightly uncommon power to become super OP, and a lot of his initial powering up comes from sheer desperate survival in desperate circumstances, which I found compelling to watch, and which leads him to become a very violent and morally gray protagonist. If this were an American show, then that would be a very tired archetype, but in anime it's actually much less common/tropy and thus becomes an inherently more interesting take. I am, as always, not a huge fan of the harem or fanservice elements, but I found the show interesting enough that I was able to set those things aside enough to enjoy it. (Note that this starts out pretty dark, due to aforementioned survival horror element, but contains a lot more fanservice as the series goes on). Also the protagonist makes guns with magic and I found that legit pretty cool. Probably the biggest negative is the aforementioned lack of exposition issues -- the first episode was weirdly paced an skipped a lot of early content I was aware of from the manga, which probably makes it confusing to new audiences.
Ep2 Update: There is a lot more exposition in ep2! If you're on the fence over whether or not you want to watch this after ep1, I'd recommend watching the second episode as well before making a call.
Personal Queue Status
Watching! I'm definitely watching this, though I can understand why others might not!
My Personal Rating: 7/10
Summary
Bem, Bela, and Belo are ugly humanoid youkai who fight for justice. They live among humans and protect them from evil youkai. The three find themselves ostracized from both humans and other youkai, but the three continue to fight in hopes of one day becoming humans themselves.
(Source: ANN)
My First Episode Impressions
Stylish, was one of the first words that came to mind when I watched the first few minutes and opening sequence of this show. I was intrigued by the premise, and also am generally found of seeing modern remakes of old manga (ie: Dororo). Definitely has horror elements, and there's a lot of mystery surrounding the circumstances of the main youkai characters. I tentatively like the paladin female police officer who refuses to give in to corrupt policies, but do hope that she goes on to work with the youkai main characters rather than just being freaked out by them as she is in ep1. Anyway, stylistically excellent, interesting mystery plot, definitely intriguing enough for me to check out the next ep!
Personal Queue Status
Watching for now. It's a bit dark, and hasn't drawn me in as much as some of the other shows (and there does come a practical limit to the number of shows I can watch in a single season), but if the next couple episodes draw me in enough I'll keep it up.
My Personal Rating: 8/10
Summary
15 years ago, an unknown hyperspace gate opened over the Pacific. Beyond this gate lies Reto Semaani, a strange alternate world where fairies and monsters live. San Teresa City—a city where over two million immigrants live from both worlds. As a result, there are the haves and the have-nots. Here is the world's newest "city of dreams." But in the shadow of the chaos, crime is rampant: drugs, prostitution, and weapon trafficking. The detectives who stand up to these heinous crimes are in the San Teresa City Police. When the detective Kei Matoba and the alternate-world knight Tirana—two individuals who differ in gender, personality, and even world of origin—meet, an incident erupts. Two worlds. Two justices. From this, the curtain rises on a buddy police action story!
(Source: ANN)
My First Episode Impressions
The premise was immediately appealing to me, basically a buddy cop procedural with a typical grizzled police detective dude and a badass-adorable fantasy elf girl. It's exactly what I hoped it would be, which is a mix of tropes I really enjoy recombined into something super fun to watch! It;s an excellent blend of fantasy and, hm, not quite noir but definitely in that direction? Which translates into a compelling urban fantasy premise! I really, thoroughly enjoy how the two main characters are basically just from two different genres? It makes for a great Odd Couple vibe, which is a trope I'm very into :D Also, I knew I'd probably like it because I typically love procedurals and was excited about all of the major trope elements that I anticipated this show containing, but it's also really, genuinely good?!?! I am super invested and looking forward to more!
Update: I'm not thrilled with the brief panty shot and people objectifying Tilerna in ep3, but it's nowhere near enough to dissuade me from watching, just a bit disappointing. And honestly, other than that the episode was great, we get to see the two main characters really come together as a team! This show otherwise remains super engaging!
Personal Queue Status
Watching! I'm loving this show so much!
My Personal Rating: 4/10
Points deducted for lolicon elements and lack of originality
Summary
Oono Akira, a working adult that can be found anywhere, was transported to a different world while logged into a character known as the "Demon Lord" in a game he manages. There, he meets a girl with a disabled leg and they begin to travel together, but there's no way that others will leave a "demon lord" with such overwhelming strengths alone. While being targeted by countries and saints that are trying to subdue the demon lord, they cause turmoil wherever they go.
(Source: MAL)
My First Episode Impressions
Despite its various issues and my relatively low rating, I enjoyed this show and plan to keep watching! It is indeed Yet Another Isekai, and doesn't let you forget it. This premise might sound awfully familiar, particularly compared to, say, Overlord. That said, I liked the premise of Overlord? To put it more broadly, this show is comprised entirely of Isekai tropes, but I enjoy pretty much all of those tropes that aren't inherently fanservice based, so that works for me! Also, some bits I find especially appealing are that the MC was actually an administrator of the game he played, and I do appreciate that we cut through most of the bullshit with the MC adjusting to his new reality, he accepts it pretty quickly. Other elements I appreciate include: MC is presented as a villain type (complete with creepy evil demon ring that tries to tempt him into more evil), has access to game administrator privileges, basically adopts an adorable child shortly after arriving. (As long as I focus really hard on thinking of it as adoption and carefully block out anything that tries to be contrary). On that note... reeeeeally not loving the vague (and occasionally not so) lolicon elements, which are bad enough that I'm struggling to put them aside. The fanservice that isn't loli-related is within normal parameters for this style of anime, which is not my preference, but at least easy for me to ignore.
Update: A few episodes in, and I'm increasingly uncomfortable with the loli (both underage girls are increasingly implied as valid romantic options, and has now introduced shouta cause why not apparently), the fanservice, and honestly how female characters in this show are presented/treated in general. Many of them feel flat and kind of trope-y, more like props than complex characters? (Also I'd love it if they'd stop referring to the time he spanked one of the main girls as a punishment, I found that pretty uncomfortable honestly). Also this show really promotes smoking, which I am highly anti? As always, I'm not hear to judge anyone else, it's okay to like problematic media (just don't try to argue that it's
not problematic), and YMMV. (Hell, I'm still watching the show despite my
numerous issues with it, because it's got just enough plot to keep me interested)
Personal Queue Status
Watching despite myself. I have a lot of problems with this show, but it is just managing to be engaging enough in ways I'm interested in for me to keep going, despite my discomfort.
My Personal Rating: 2/10
YMMV, I just can't with the oedipal vibes
Summary
Just when Masato thought that a random survey conducted in school was over, he got involved in a secret Government scheme. As he was carried along with the flow, he ended up in a Game world! As if that wasn't enough, shockingly, his mother was there as well! It was a little different from a typical transported to another world setting, but after some bickering, "Mom wants go on an adventure together with Maa-kun. Can mom become Maa-kun's companion?"
(Source: MU, edited)
My First Episode Impressions
The supremely low rating really all comes down to the fact that I just
cannot handle how oedipal this series is. Honestly I probably should have stuck to my guns and avoided this one, but I just started this blog, and wanted to cover a lot of ground, so here we are... So, here's the thing. I don't know if there's really any worthwhile plot to this story other than in-your-face MILF? I tried reading the manga, and have now watched the anime, and though I appreciate that the anime toned down the ecchi-level fanservice, the attractive mother is still the main selling point. She's clearly supposed to be the main cute anime waifu of this series, which, I'm not inherently opposed to? Except, here's the reason that this goes straight from 'eh, not my thing' into 'deep squick' territory -- logically, the target audience (as I understand it) would relate most strongly to the main male character. Who, in this case, is the son. Which means, sexy mom is designed to appeal to people identifying most closely to the character of her son, which,
super oedipal. So, yeah, to reiterate, this hits my squick meter very hard, and I just can't. (In this case, I use the term oedipal specifically to refer to having sexual feelings towards one's mother, the other half of that concept, aka hating the father, is irrelevant since this is a single mother. That... doesn't make it better for me, just prevents it from being any worse). That said, I'm not here to judge, and the anime actually tones it down enough to leave room for maybe some plot? And maybe I'm being oversensitive? So YMMV, and that's okay! For myself, however, I will be skipping this.
Personal Queue Status
Dropped. Hard pass for me, though YMMV.
My Personal Rating: 8/10
Summary
Year 198 of the Solar Era in Tokyo, special fire brigades are fighting against a phenomenon called spontaneous human combustion where humans beings are turned into living infernos called "Infernals." While the Infernals are first generation cases of spontaneous human combustion, later generations possess the ability to manipulate flames while retaining human form. Shinra Kusakabe, a youth who gained the nickname Devil's Footprints for his ability to ignite his feet at will, joins the Special Fire Force Company 8 which composes of other flames users as they work to extinguish any Infernals they encounter. As a faction that is creating Infernals appears, Shira begins to uncover the truth behind a mysterious fire that caused the death of his family twelve years ago.
(Source: Wikipedia)
My First Episode Impressions
The first thing that caught my attention about the show was the flashy, high quality animation, but I was also taken in by the promising cast of interesting characters and intriguing plot! It's very much an action shounen series with a serious bent, and the first episode has me hooked! (The fanservice isn't too bad, either, and I'm very excited that one of the female characters is *also* depicted as buff, with some well defined arm and torso muscles!
Personal Queue Status
Watching! Intriguing plot and promising cast of characters have me hooked!
My Personal Rating: 9/10
Summary
Somehow, the guitar that he used to love to play and the basketball games that he found so fun just lost their appeal... That was until Ritsuka Uenoyama randomly met Mafuyu Sato. Ritsuka had started losing his passion for music in his everyday life, but then he hears Mafuyu sing for the first time. The song resonates with his heart and the distance between them starts to change.
(Source: Crunchyroll)
My First Episode Impressions
Of note, I am a
huge fan of both soft romance stories and BL ('Boys Love'). That said, I've grown quite disillusioned with some of the most common tropes of the BL genre, such as unhealthy relationship dynamics and highly dubious consent -- thankfully this title seems to be going in the direction of bucking those trends! (And if I remember the manga correctly, I think it stays that way!) The first episode has exactly the sort of soft slice of life feel that the BL manga I enjoy most tend to have, and I'm really liking that atmosphere. Also, it's ridiculous and cute right from the first episode, and honestly I love it. I also really enjoyed the comedy beats, which struck me as fun without being weird or campy. Also, I really like the actual plot, and the music! When Uenoyama and his band did an impromptu jam session for Sato's benefit, I was genuinely enraptured. (Very much looking forward to Sato's singing!) I'm excited about the vibe that I'm getting of the main characters being poised to lift each other up and be a positive improvement on each other's lives. The most persistent pushy thing either of them does is Sato following Uenoyama around like a puppy, repeatedly asking for him to teach him guitar. (Which I found kind of adorable, tbh) I'm also digging the extended cast of characters, Uenoyama's sister and band mates all seem like fun and interesting characters. There is also a Very Cute doge!
Personal Queue Status
Watching! Easily one of my top picks for this season.
My Personal Rating: 2/10
Not for me
Summary
Sakura Hibiki is your average high school girl, with a voracious appetite. Noticing her clothes tightening in lieu of her slowly expanding waistline she decides to look into enrolling in the nearby gym. There she runs into a girl from her grade named Souryuuin Akemi. Akemi, who has a muscle fetish tries to get Hibiki to enroll in the gym despite its high ratio of macho men. Thankfully a beautiful trainer, Machio, appears and unknowingly convinces her to enroll and start her quest to a great body.
(Source: MAL)
My First Episode Impressions
Full disclosure, I went into this know I probably wouldn't enjoy it. And, I was correct -- I really, really do not like the premise of this show at all, it has a deeply uncomfortable level of fat shaming! Like, the main character, who is maybe around 5ft tall, is extremely distressed by how much she weighs at *122lbs*. Characters are introduced with a reference to their body fat percent, everything the main character eats is labeled with a calorie count, and I find all of it frankly horrifying. Ultimately she decides to do strength training instead of dieting, which, sure, girls doing strength training is kind of an interesting/nice premsie if not for the fact that this show is trying to posit that the reason for the main character to do this is that she is unforgivably fat in an entirely cosmetic, non-health-concerned way, because after all "she won't get a boyfriend". And also, unsurprisingly, there's an uncomfortable amount of moe/fanservice, the girls are very eroticized while working out. It's possible that YMMV, it's got actual tips and instructions for muscle training, so if that premise is more appealing to you than the fat shaming is off-putting and you like the eroticization element, maybe you'll like it? This show extremely NOT for me.
Personal Queue Status
Dropped. Not that this show has nothing to offer, the target audience is just *very* far away from my preferences and I cannot get past the fat shaming.
My Personal Rating: 8/10
extra points for the next-level cuteness of Latina
Summary
Dale is a cool, composed, and highly skilled adventurer who's made quite a name for himself despite his youth. One day on a job deep in the forest, he comes across a little devil girl who's almost wasted away. Unable to just leave her there to die, Dale takes her home and becomes her adoptive father. Devil or not, Latina is beyond adorable, and the adventurer soon finds himself head over heels with being a parent. But why was she out in the forest to begin with, and why does she carry the mark of a criminal?
(Source: J-Novel Club)
My First Episode Impressions
Holy shit Latina is so fucking cute. This show is succeeding excellently at what appears to be its main goal, which is to make you fall in love with this adorable demon child, and admit to yourself that hell, in the same circumstances you'd probably adopt her too. I appreciate that this show is emphasizing "adorable tiny child" and in doing so largely avoiding an uncomfortable lolicon vibes. (queue side-eye of Maou-sama, Retry!) She is a very young child who is being adopted and co-parented by an adventurer and the people who run the inn he stays in and so far, it's adorable and precious and pure. The first episode also did a good job of threading enough plot to have me intrigued to find out more about Latina's backstory! I also enjoy how we really don't know much about Dale, the hero who adopts Latina, at the beginning either. I feel like the show did a good job of showing rather than telling exposition and look forward to the slow reveal of more info, with plenty of cute Latina along the way!
Personal Queue Status
Watching! Even if there weren't interesting plot/characters drawing me in, I would probably watch this just for Latina being adorable.
My Personal Rating: 5/10
Summary
As regular high school students Taichi and Rin disappeared in a beam of light. When they came to, the two of them were already in a world of swords and magic. Finally getting away after experiencing an attack by monsters, following the suggestion of adventurers they headed on the path towards the guild. In the guild, the two of them found out that they possessed unbelievably powerful magic. Thus the regular high school students transformed into the strongest cheats...
(Source: MAL)
My First Episode Impressions
Yet Another Isekai. As previously established, I tend to enjoy those! Like, enough that I will even watch Isekai genre shows that aren't that great, because I enjoy those tropes enough to make up for a lot of questionable quality, as long as it doesn't veer into territory that I'm uncomfortable with for some reason (like this season's "Do You Love Your Mother[...]") To be clear, this is very much one of those cases -- the only reason I plan to keep wataching is because I like the genre so much. The plot's a bit weak, the characters are a bit weak, and the animation is kind of laughably bad. I do like that the main female character gets to be OP as well, even if she's not quite as OP as the main male character. The fanservice is actually surprisingly light for the genre, (though not non-existent), which I really appreciate. But yeah, although I like many of the tropes/concepts that make up this show, it is really not a very good show. Maybe it'll get better when more of the plot is introduced? I can only hope.
Personal Queue Status
Watching for now. But only because I'm really invested in the tropes, and am hoping that the quality isn't actually as bad as the first episode makes it seem...
My Personal Rating: 7/10
Summary
The series is a historical drama aesthetically and boldly adapting the life of Oda Nobunaga in his teens up to his time as a warlord against his brother, Nobuyuki.
(Source: MAL News)
My First Episode Impressions
Basically the point of this is to ogle all the beautiful people, mostly shirtless boys. Ostensibly a historical story about Oda Nobunaga, but with, like, a lot of unnecessary shirtlessness and probably plenty of historical licence. Not excited with Nobunaga going shirtless at the age of young-teens in the first ep, but eh. If you're focused on the aesthetic appeal it's fine either way. He'll definitely be shirtless as an adult as well! I do have a much higher tolerance for male fanservice (partly because it tends to be much less unrealistically distorted), which is useful for this show because damn. They all have pretty faces, too, especially Nobunaga. Anyway, beautiful character designs and aesthetic, excellent voice acting, and even a decent plot! That said, the male fanservice is probably the biggest appeal of this show; the plot is decent, but not amazing. Not totally sure if I'll be continuing this one or not, though if I opt it, it'll mostly be due to time constraints. (There are a lot of good shows this season!)
Personal Queue Status
Probably dropping. It's super pretty to look at, but there's just not enough draw to justify this when I am already pretty overwhelmed by how many shows I am trying to keep up with.
My Personal Rating: 7/10
seems pretty solid, but the first episode was more of a prologue -- rating may go up once I've watched more?
Summary
Waver Velvet – The boy who fought side by side with the King of Conquerors - Iskandar - during the Fourth Holy Grail War in Fate/Zero. Time has passed, and the mature Waver has now adopted the name of Lord El-Melloi. As Lord El-Melloi II, he challenges numerous magical and mystical cases in the Clock Tower, the mecca of all mages
(Source: Crunchyroll)
My First Episode Impressions
Interesting so far! As someone who knows less about the Fate series than is established by exposition in the first episode, I was pretty confused, but I think it did a good job of establishing the main characters and enough world building to bring me up to speed to where I need to be to enjoy the rest of the series? Which, if it lives up to the premise, will be a supernatural detective/procedural show featuring these interesting characters! I love the detective procedural format, especially of the supernatural genre, and the first episode certainly came across as compelling and intriguing enough for me to keep watching. That said, the first episode felt very like a prologue, and I don't feel like I got a good sense of what the rest of the show is going to be like. I'll probably update this section after watching ep2!
Personal Queue Status
Watching for now. Waiting until I've seen more before making a final call.
My Personal Rating: 8/10
Summary
Iride Akatsuki has unlocked hidden content in the game he's playing, 'Nakanohito Genome,' and it turns out that this content is a real-life game! He soon wakes up to find that he has been kidnapped and taken to a strange place, along with a number of other teammates. Each of them specializes in a certain sort of game, like cultivation games, fighting games, puzzle games, etc. A llama-headed 'teacher' gathers them after level 1 is cleared to explain how the game will proceed. Will this group of gamers succeed, and make it back to their real lives?
(Source: MangaHelpers)
My First Episode Impressions
This is really intriguing! Both from the premise, and the cold open! I like the concept a lot! It's not exactly an Isekai, though it has a lot in common with the genre; this show features one of my favorite Isekai tropes, experienced gamers being dragged into a game world. I also liked the set up, how the characters were introduced, and how they chose to react to their situation. As they are all popular Let's Players, this show would be falling down on the job if it weren't specifically interesting to watch how they 'play the game', as it were. The characters are encouraged to 'play as though their lives depend on it, which does a good job of ominously raising the stakes without smacking you in the face with it. (Contrast to SAO, which I don't care for in part because of the immediate 'die in the game, die 'IRL' stakes). I really enjoyed the introductions scene, and am digging the cast and there wide array of unique personalities so far! (Except for the creepy alpaca mask guy, but I think he's supposed to be mainly antagonistic, so that's okay, Was really not a fan of him hitting on one of the gamers) I really like that they all have a specialty, and I anticipate that their skills will reflect those specialties in some way, which I look forward to seeing unfold! I like the character designs, as well. Also, this show is so far refreshingly light on fanservice!
Personal Queue Status
Watching! I was pretty drawn in by the first ep!
My Personal Rating: 6/10
points lost for my own dislike of dark themes, YMMV
Summary
During a protracted civil war that pitted the North against the South, the outnumbered Northerners used dark magical arts to create monstrous super-soldiers—Incarnates. Now that the war has ended, those Sacred Beasts must learn how to make their way in a peaceful society, or face death at the hands of a Beast Hunter... Nancy Schaal Bancroft, the daughter of an Incarnate soldier who met an untimely end at the hands of one such Beast Hunter, turns to hunting the hunter herself. But once she catches up with her quarry, she discovers hard truths about the lives of the Incarnates...
(Source: Vertical Comics)
My First Episode Impressions
Starts right off with a rather brutal war sequence, which sets the tone well for how the rest of the show seems to be shaping up. The tides turn (though just as brutally) when a battalion of soldiers capable of transforming into monsters. Definitely set the tone, in that this is Not A Happy Show. (Don't let the victory celebrations afterwards fool you). That said, this does seem like a genuinely engaging show, it's just way too dark and depressing for it to be worth continuing for me.
Personal Queue Status
Dropped. Mostly for subjective reasons, though, this show might work much better for others.
