Shinchou Yuusha (Rating: 9.5/10)

 Newbie goddess Ristarte is given the task of saving the S-Ranked world, Gaeabrande. She must select a hero from another world to be the hero of that world. While searching through the list she sees someone with stats much higher then is normally found. Ryuuguuin Seiya seems like the perfect hero: strong, handsome and with amazing power right from the start. But in her excitement in finding such a powerful hero, Ristarte didn’t read the fine print: Ryuuguuin Seiya is overly, impossibly cautious.

Oh man, one of my favorites in these past years. For starters, Seiya is not just cautious, he’s at a level of paranoia that would make Batman rethink his life. That old man in the village? Could be a monster in disguise. The flower that little girl gave him? Could be a cursed item. That harmless slime? Could be the final boss. This makes Ristarte’s life very difficult because it takes forever for Seiya to actually do something. But when he does, it’s only because he’s Ready Perfectly. He WILL defeat his enemy in the most overkill manner possible. Ristarte is also comedy gold and could be used for an entire archive of reaction faces. Her voice actress did an amazing job. But it’s not all fun an games here. In fact, the later half of the series takes a hard turn from Konosuba Avenue to Dark Souls alley. If you missed all the foreshadowing about how cruel this world is, and didn’t at least partially realize why Seiya acts the way he does, the final arc might blindside you. This also has the effect of making the series really funny only once. Because as soon as you know why Seiya does what he does, it’s no longer funny to see him do it. I think that’s the mark of a great show: on the second watch it’s like you’re seeing a completely different depiction.

Subtitles from AnimeFreak.

Strike The Blood III (Rating: 8/10)

 

Akatsuki Kojou thought he would finally have some peace and quiet after the Knight of the God of Mistakes ordeal. Of course that doesn’t happen. The now peaceful island is under threat from the world renown terrorist organization: Tartaros Roses. And their leader is someone very familiar to to Kojou.

This is the third season, so you should know what this is about. I gotta love how they keep making more of this. This may be my favorite battle-harem. The quality has not dipped since this show first started, but the plot sure has deepened. It’s actually quite hard to keep track of all the damn factions and what they’re trying to do. One thing’s for certain: Kojou keeps getting more battles, more hot girls and more familiars. Isn’t un-life great?

From here on out, it’s my release. No, sempai, it’s our release.
I used Lean for 01-06 and Mushin for 07-10. Lean is a little better then Mushin. But unlike Mushin, Lean is dead. Also, STB was never a very cerebral show. That, and there is no other choice.

 

Hakubo (Rating 5/10)

 

Set in the beautiful Fukushima, this is the story of young violin player Koyama Sachi. She meets a boy who loves painting, and develops a crush on him. But the boy, Kijinami Yuusuke, is still suffering from the aftermath of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. How will she get close to him so she can confess her love?

OK, who keeps giving Yamamoto Yutaka money? I only ask because this project was crowdfunded and got 21 million yen. That’s about 2000$, or something. Anyway, this short movie is fine. The problem is it’s JUST fine. So why did I watch it? And why did I encode it? Well, it’s short, at only 50 minutes. And it does look nice. And it reminded me of Sound Euphonium. It’s not close to being that good, but I did enjoy the “subtle” jabs at “other properties” Yutaka put in the movie. That takes balls. No class, but balls. Actually, that’s Yutaka in one sentence. No preview this time cause… the hell was I supposed to put in them?

Subs from Erai.

 

Seraphim Call (Rating: ??/10)

 

In the future of 2010 (show’s old, folks) in the city of Neo-Acropolis 11 girls go about their lives, facing their problems and trying to get by. These are their stories.

Seraphim Call is definitely anime. But it’s not a normal anime. Sunrise made thins thing in 1999 as some sort of experiment. Every episode except the last focuses on one of the 11 girls, and with the exception of episodes 5 and 6, they are separate, individual stories. The way they are directed, scripted and acted is also different for each story. One episodes is from the perspective of a stuffed animal, another might only have a single character shown, while another might be told chronologically disjointed. This is more of a strange art project, and I found it fascinating. Production wise the show must have had a very small budget. There are animation corner cuts all over. They will actively try not to focus on the mouths of the characters while they are talking, as to avoid needing to animate it. Episode 12 especially is guilty of this. All in all, I think this is an interesting anime, if only to focus on the different storytelling methods it included.

Subtitles are from the official R1 release.

 

Tejina-sempai (Rating: 7/10)

 Our dear male protagonist (no name given) finds out that his school requires him to join a club. While searching for one he comes across Sempai, who runs a magic club. While she may have some talent at it, she also has massive stage fright, making any attempt at performing in front of anyone a disaster waiting to happen. Also, she’s clumsy and not very bright. Even though she’s highly attractive, the male character knows that hanging around her would be a big pain in the butt. Too bad she manages to trick him into joining her club. Hilarity ensues.

An amusing half-length anime about a hapless sempai trying to perform magic tricks for the male protagonist. Sometimes funny, sometimes sexy. Sempai is adorable and must be protected all costs. Especially from herself since she’s the creator of most of her misery.

Subs from Erai.

Series rating: 7/10

 

Goblin Slayer - Goblin's Crown (Movie rating: 8/10)

 

A party of adventures sets off on a snowy mountain to defeat some goblins. But they are ambushed and defeated by the goblins, using extremely good tactics. Tactics that should not be available to lowly goblins. Goblin Slayer and his group and called in to investigate and deal with this threat before it’s too late.

Here’s the Goblin Slayer movie. Well, not exactly. This is Pretty much a 3-part OVA stitched together into a movie. It has the same production values as the TV anime, and the lack of a 5.1 audio track on the BD is a dead giveaway that this wasn’t supposed to be a movie. Still, if you liked Goblin Slayer you will like this, because it’s much of the same. The plot is decent, and I loved the twist of an actual goblin army. Low level quest my ass. There’s a new, temporary addition to the female cast, Noble Fencer, and she might hate goblins just as much as GS does. Well… almost. I enjoyed the movie. Wish there was more High Elf Archer in it, but hey, it’s still something.

Subtitles from Erai.

 

Nekopara (Series rating: 6/10)

Minazuki Kashou always wanted to open up his own Japanese confection shop, so he leaves home and opens his own patisserie, "La Soleil". Unknown to him, his two catgirls sneaked off with him. Chocola and Vanilla love their master to much they came to be the waitresses for La Soleil. Soon enough even more catgirls from his home start showing up, along with his little sister. Then, one day, Chocola finds a lost kitten and brings her back with her.

OK, first of all, don't think too hard about the premise. If you combine the knowledge that catgirls can be owned, that they cannot go outside by themselves unless they pass an exam and that this is all based on a 18+ visual novel series... well... you get the idea. The show, however, is harmless. A cute, lighthearted comedy about catgirls. Everyone is nice, the show is relaxing and sometimes funny. Nothing special, but nothing bad either. If you're looking for fanservice though, you've come to the wrong place. This is a very wholesome show. Give it a shot if you like cute catgirls. And really, who doesn't?

OVAs are included. Subtitles: 2K for OVAa, official for OVAb, Horrible-Subs for TV. That's also the chronological order.

GeGeGe No Kitarou (Series rating: 7,5/10)

Do you ever get the feeling that you are being watched? Do supernatural things keep happening around you? Are you afraid of something that stalks you in the night? You might just have a youkai problem. While not many people believe in their existence, they are indeed real and some are even dangerous. But you can you call for help? Well, if you write a letter to the Youkai Post, you might just be visited by Kitarou. Kitarou has the job of protecting both humans and youkai from each other. When Mana writes a letter to Kutarou asking for help she begins an adventure that might just save, or destroy, the entire world.

This is the latest entry in the GeGeGe No Kitarou franchise from 1960. This new series is a bit darker then the others. I mean color wise. Kitarou has always been pretty dark. The one major difference is the female youkai Nekomusume, who is older and more mature in this series. There are so many Japanese monsters in this show that if you enjoy seeing them this is the show for you. I also like how some of them have weaknesses that only a human can exploit. While Kitarou is powerful he sometimes needs help in defeating the monster of the week, not to mention the final bosses of the 4 arcs (Backbeard, Nanashi, Kyuubi and Nurarihyon. Quite an enjoyable series, but it does drag on in a few places. Also, you might be wondering why nobody has killed Ratman yet, even though half the incidents in the show are his fault. While he is a terrible friend and even worse person, he does actually have a heart and does pull his weight when things get serious. You might hate him, but he is the ultimate survivalist who will not give up, not even when Kitarou himself does.

Subs are from HorribleSubs.

Ascendance Of A Bookworm S1+S2 (Series rating: 10/10)

Motosu Urano was a shy bookworm who enjoyed reading more then anything. One day she was killed by books. While that is ironic, what was even more ironic was that her soul was transported into another world and put in the body of a little girl. Said word has no books. It’s basically hell for Main (yes, that IS how you write her name, it’s マイン). To top it all off, her body is very frail and can’t endure much physical activity. But that will not stop her from getting books. So join Main as she creates shampoo, works to invent printing presses and revolutionizes this medieval world. Oh, and there’s magic, politics and classism. Now if only Main could stop making bedroom eyes to every young man she meets…

I must admit that I passed on this show when it first started. I didn’t think I could be interested in a show about creating books. And this is why the three-episodes-rule exists. I fell in love with this show. I love the world, I love the characters and I love the story. I absolutely adore Mine, one of the best female protagonists I’ve seen in a long time. She’s a treasure-trove of facial expressions and I love how she bungles her way into pretty much upgrading the whole damn kingdom. Also, she’s way more powerful then you might think. Of course, no main character (get it, Main-main?) is able to carry a whole show and make it work, but Main has some top-tier back-up, from the head priest, to the merchant to “her” childhood friend. Ferdinand, Benno and Lutz are all great as well. What are you waiting for? Go watch this anime. It sparks joy. There’s comedy, there’s drama, there’s even a bit of action. Also Iguchi Yuka has an amazing vocal range, going from sweet as sugar to cold as ice in a second. Basically, don’t get between Main and books. Also, season 3 has been announced.

Subtitles are from Erai. I put in extra effort to make sure all signs are properly timed. This show deserves it. Includes both seasons and the OVA, in airing order.

Ishuzoku Reviewers (Series rating: 10/10)

After a hard day of adventuring, there’s only one thing that a real man wants to do: visit a brothel and spend that hard earned gold. Stunk and Zel have been partners for a while, but they always have bitter arguments when choosing a brothel. Stunk, being human, is attracted to the young looking elf, even though she’s over 100 years old. Zel, on the other hand, cannot stand that stench of such old mana and would much rather settle for a human, even is she’s over 60. After saving a cute little angel boy from a monster, they decide that rather then argue about what species is better at sex, they’re gonna try them all and write a review. With a 4th random player joining them, they go out to test all the pussy in the land.

Well, you know why you’re here. No real need for me to talk about the show. You know what it is, and you know what you want. So come on over and get it.
This show not only has some amazing fanservice, but is genuinely smart and funny. It makes sense for a wolfman to stay away from races who smell bad. It makes sense for few people to go to the salamander brothel since not all races have fire resistance. Do not take an angel to an undead brothel. You really shouldn’t build a golem of your female friend, and then fuck it. No, you can’t leave the gender-swap inn before the gender swapping potion wears off. There is something from EVERYONE in this show. Name a type of girl, she’s probably in this show.

Subtitles are from Judas. I tired to make them as uniform as possible. Attention about two episodes: episode 6 uses the “Crim-vision” cut, meaning you can see the uncensored boobs. Episode 12 uses the clean epilogue. There will be no video previews for this one, because I can’t make a sfw one.