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I don’t normally watch currently airing anime - I’d rather binge completed series - but last season I ended up getting sucked into not just one or two, but three of them - Zenshu, Guild Receptionist and Honey Lemon Soda. Now that they’re over though, I planned on going back to not watching current series.
But then last week I happened on a mention of Apocalypse Hotel and read the synopsis… and couldn’t resist. And it was excellent from start to finish, so that’s at least one series I’m going to be following.
Beyond that, I finished up Shinsekai Yori aka From the New World. I’ve bounced off the LN a number of times, so decided ro give the anime a chance, and even it took a while to get going. But it turned out quite good all in all. It’s not an easy watch - not only is it relatively complex and slow-moving - it doesn’t pull any punches. But it was worth it.
But after that, I was drained both mentally and emotionally and wanted something comfy and pleasant, so after a bit of thought, I decided it was time to rewatch Makeine, and it was just as terrific as it was the first time around. It’s just solidly above average in pretty much everything, and Anna is still one of my all-time favorite characters.
Then I bounced around for a bit and ended up watching one that had sort of lurked at the edge of my awareness for years - Aquarion EVOL And that’s one of the most fascinatingly awful series I’ve ever seen.
I actually tried to drop it a few times, but it kept drawing me back in. It was just so bad, but in mesmerizing ways. It’s a constant barrage of hot blood and pointless drama and insipid pseudo-philosophy and clumsy innuendo and chuuni and giant hams, all forced into a combination of gratingly awkward teen love and sex allegory and super robot model kit advertising. Most of the characters aren’t even characters really - they’re plot devices with legs and hasty backstories, each just reciting whatever collection of tropes is going to move the plot along to the next phase on the way to the hot-blooded, pointlessly dramatic, insipidly pseudo-philosophical chuuni and giant ham conclusion.
And now I’m casting about for the next thing, without even any clear preferences in mind - just wandering around clicking things and seeing if they hook me.
Oh yeah, Makeine goes really hard and executed a fresh concept very well. The ED1 is a banger and is one of the best of 2024.
I’m actually rooting for Nukumizu and Yanami to end up together because they appear to be the type where they’re happily married and be like “it doesn’t mean I like you! >_<”. Reminds me of this video: Is She Into You?
Top comment from that video:
The thing I really noted is that if you take Makeine apart and analyze it, it’s mostly standard school rom-com tropes - childhood friends and “homewreckers” and a club and a couple of oddball teachers and a beach episode and a series of festival episodes and an amusement park fake date and so on - but every one of them has just enough of a spin to it to make it new and interesting and specifically relevant. And the characters are the same way - they’re each almost stereotypes, but not quite, because they have individual quirks that lift them above the stereotypes.
It’s just very well done all the way through, and with especially impressive attention to the characters.
And yeah - I’m looking forward to the new season, and cheering for Nukumizu and Yanami. They just have such comfy chemistry.