Anime from This Season That I'd Actually Recommend to You
Writing about anime as (part of) my day job absolutely influences how much I write about it outside my day job. It's just logical. If I can monetize an article idea, I'm going to pitch it over to a magazine. Besides, a good chunk of my readership here on the blog and on my social media is more interested in the other parts of my career Venn diagram, so there's not a huge point in talking more.
That said, there are some things that just don't belong in an anime magazine or on an anime news website. Stuff like "Okay but seriously, here are the ones I'd tell you to watch without any sidebars or cautions." There are plenty of things I'd recommend if you're a hardcore anime fan, if you're into this or that specific subgenre, etc. But sight unseen? I don't get many.
So, here under my own roof, I'm going to try and give some occasional new anime recommendations to people who might not be as anime-focused. I've yet to see a Cowboy Bebop or a Keep Your Hands off Eizouken! this season, but there's still some fun to be had.
The Elusive Samurai
Tokiyuki Hojo was the ninth and final head of the Hojo clan, whose family fell apart during the 1333 siege of Kamakura. His attempts to return to power involves a cycle of fleeing, amassing armies, and fleeing again. By 1352 he managed to recapture Kamakura, but was beheaded a year later.
This is all historical fact. It is also the basis for The Elusive Samurai, an award-winning manga recently adapted into an anime. In this retelling, Tokiyuki Hojo is depicted as a young boy with a talent for evading capture. With the help of Suwa Yorishige (depicted here as a deity-level being with future vision), he hones his skills, turning the battlefield into his own brutal game of tag.
The love for the original manga of The Elusive Samurai is more than warranted, and its anime adaptation is possibly the most beautiful show currently airing. Its blend of anachronistic humor and stunningly animated action has left me speechless so far. If you only watch one new anime this season, go for this one. You don't need any anime knowledge: just an interest in history and a willingness to play along with some tonally-dissonant goofiness.
Ramen Akaneko
Sometimes you just want to chill, and I get that. Ramen Akaneko is my laid-back show of the season. It's a show about a ramen shop run by cats. And that's it. That's all you need to know.
The shop has just accepted its one human employee, who works part-time keeping the staff brushed and will occasionally don a kabuki stagehand outfit to wash dishes up front. (Patrons are here to see the cute feline staff, after all.) A gentle giant of a tiger works in the back making the shop's fresh noodles. And that's pretty much it. The stakes are low, with the most dramatic event so far being a YouTuber trying to take video inside the restaurant to boost his viewing figures.
I've already recommended this one to several friends, and I'm sure many more would enjoy it. Sometimes you just need something laid-back and cute at the end of your day.
Pseudo Harem
I'm recommending this one with full awareness that it will be a harder sell. But Pseudo Harem really surprised me. And you only need one basic piece of knowledge about anime to enjoy it, which you might have already: an awareness of harem anime.
For those who don't know, "harem anime" are those shows where one guy (often with nothing to recommend him) is fawned over by multiple love interests, each representing a very specific character trope. Kind of like horny commedia dell'arte: you will know the characters even if you've never seen the show before. There's the aloof cool girl, the spoiled needy girl, the big sister and little sister types, the shy bookworm, the flirt, and so on.
Pseudo Harem is about two drama club nerds in love. The boy, Eiji, dreams of having his own harem of anime girls. The girl, Rin, is a gifted actress who improvs all these different character tropes on the fly to amuse him. In actuality, though, she has a massive crush on him. These different personas let her voice her feelings safely, but she also has no idea whether Eiji reciprocates her feelings or just has fun interacting with her cast of characters. It's an earnest and self-aware little show that I did not expect to enjoy—definitely my wild card of the summer.
If you'd like to see more of my writing on all things anime, check out my news coverage on Crunchyroll and my features on Otaku USA!
About the Author
0 comments