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animebw · 2 years

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Short Reflection: Spring 2022 Anime

It is truly astonishing how good anime has been lately. Every season, I go in thinking, “well, there’s no way this is gonna live up to the incredibly high bar last season yet.” And every time, I’m proven wrong. Spring 2022 was a smorgasbord of excellent shows from start to finish, and even better, it was a smorgasbord of diverse excellence. No matter what kind of anime you most prefer, whether action, adventure, romance, drama, comedy, or even sports, this season gave you at least one show to really look forward to every week. And if you’re someone like me who pretty much likes anything as long as it’s done well? Then lord, I hope you’re ready to kiss your free time goodbye, because there’s a metric ass-ton of worthwhile anime from this season you need to catch up on. Don’t worry, summer’s looking pretty thin, you’ll have plenty of free time. So sit back, relax, and let me guide you through the good, the bad, and the truly brilliant that was anime in spring 2022.

The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 2: 2.5/10

Listen, it not like I was expecting this to be any good. Shield Hero has always been an absolute garbage fire of an anime, and the only reason I’m still keeping up with it is morbid curiosity at just how bad it’s gonna get. But I don’t think anyone, fans or haters alike, were really expecting just how lazy season 2 ended up being. Huge chunks of content have clearly been compressed into far too short a timespan, things happen with no rhyme or reason, huge events are glossed over or skipped entirely, and almost nothing that happens here feels connected to what was happening before. I guess maybe it was trying to pull a Hunter x Hunter Chimera Ant Arc where the story takes a diversion and spends the next significant stretch of time in a mostly self-contained one-off adventure, but it does such a terrible job justifying its existence that the entire thing comes of as a giant waste of time. Not that the main story was any good to begin with, but at least it felt like it had a reason to exist. A terrible, shitty, incel-pandering reason, but a reason nonetheless. Which makes it even more bizarre how this season actually tries to reign its more toxic aspects in, almost like the author finally realized that having the relatable protagonist be a literal slave owner might be a bad look and tried to course-correct midstream. Not that it succeeded all that well but, you know, an attempt was made. I dunno, man, this was just crap. But at least it was crap in a more interesting way than I was expecting, and with a show like Shield Hero, you really can’t ask for more than that.

In the Heart of Kunoichi Tsubaki: 3.5/10

Those of you who’ve been reading my blog for any stretch of time probably know that Teasing Master Takagi-san is one of my favorite rom-coms of recent years. It’s so goddamn adorable I feel like my cheeks are going to fall off whenever I watch it. Unfortunately, that same charm is nowhere to be found in this adaptation of a manga from the same author. The whole premise of a village of ninja girls who’ve never seen a man and yet one starts getting romantic feelings towards them rests on this weird assumption that once a girl hits puberty, she’s just inherently going to conform to heterosexual capitalist standards for how one should view love and desire. The protagonist literally has no frame of reference for the opposite sex and yet she gets all gushy over them like she burns through ten shoujo romance manga a week. And don’t get me started on how this show doesn’t seem to realize that gay and aro/ace people exist. Girls falling for guys is just treated as innate to everyone (and yet there’s weirdly a lot of yuribaiting as well? Not sure how that makes sense). Add to that the incredibly skimpy outfits on a cast of girls who are all, like, ten years old, and the whole thing comes off just as gross as Akebi’s Sailor Uniform last season. God, Cloverworks really needs to put its talents to better use.

Love After World Domination: 4.5/10

I honestly feel bad for Love After World Domination. It’s a unique enough twist on a rom-com- the hero of a super sentai team starts a relationship with the bad guys’ smoking hot second in command and they date on the down-low- and despite my fears that the premise could only sustain a few episode at most, it remained fresh throughout its run. In any ordinary season of anime, I think I would’ve been way more positive towards this show. But this was no ordinary season of anime. This was a season stuffed to the gills with stellar rom-coms, rom-coms that blow literally everything about Love After World Domination out of the water. It’s not as well animated as Kaguya-sama, not as consistently funny as Demon Girl Next Door, and nowhere near as adorable as Komi-san. And compared against those titans, its charms become harder to appreciate, while its flaws- the main couple isn’t really interesting outside of being a couple, there are too many eye-rolling fetish characters- become much more apparent. Perhaps in another timeline this show could’ve been able to work its magic, but as is, it sadly must settle for being the least interesting rom-com in a season bursting with them.

Deaimon: Recipe for Happiness: 4.5/10

So, remember Barakamon? Remember how that show’s premise was an idiot failson moving away from the big city to rediscover his passion while unexpectedly becoming a surrogate dad figure to a young girl? Well, Deaimon feels like it’s trying to recapture that same magic, albeit as a much more low-key tempo. This isn’t the boisterous, lively countryside that defined Barakamon; this is a chilled-out, pleasantly sedate depiction of life at a family-run bakery in the middle of Kyoto. It’s a show you watch not for the plot, but for a weekly dose of mellow vibe and interesting facts about wagashi, the art of traditional Japanese sweets. And I’m hypothetically down for that; unfortunately, Deaimon has a few too many imperfections to really hit the mood it’s going for. Too much time is spent getting to know characters that don’t really matter, too little time is spent on what should be the central relationship between Nagomu and Itsuka, and the show has an awkward understanding of how people talk to each other, resulting in a few scenes that dip into the uncanny valley of human communication. It’s too weightless to be unpleasant, but it’s too unfocused to really leave any sort of impact. Just re-watch Barakamon if you’re in the mood for this kind of show.

Heroines Run the Show: 5/10

God, what a fucking disappointment this turned out to be. Five episodes in, I was fully prepared to call Heroines Run the Show the hidden gem of the season. A wholesome shoujo-adjacent male idol anime that managed to make me cry at the climax of its first arc? With a protagonist voiced by Inori Minase and a cast of lovable characters? I should’ve been able to tell you all this was a feel-good delight that you shouldn’t let slip under your radar. But then the middle of the show gets a little shaky as it tries to explore the pressure put on girls to be cute and almost ends up glorifying it? Except it ends on a good note that avoids the arc’s more worrying aspects, so it seemed like we were still sailing smoothly. But then the final arc tries to tackle overly obsessed idol fans, and it shits the bed so hard it retroactively makes the entire show worse. It has been a long time since I’ve seen an anime self-destruct as badly as Heroines Run the Show, and all the good feelings I used to have about it are now curdled into frustration and anger. As good as that first half was, I can’t in good conscience recommend it anymore thanks to how disgustingly it all turns out. What a fucking waste.

A Couple of Cuckoos (1st Half): 5/10

Sound the alarm, folks: I’m enjoying a harem anime! Sort of. Kinda. Okay, look, it’s probably telling that all the worst parts of A Couple of Cuckoos are the parts intrinsically tied to being a harem anime in the first place. The forced excuses for fanservice, the eye-rolling notion that multiple girls would fall in love with the same potato loser, the fact that the prospective romantic partners include the protagonist’s stepsister god dammit anime why do you keep doing this. Suffice to say, this show is victim to most of its genre’s inherent flaws, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. You know what else it has, though? Snappy dialogue, surprisingly fun characters, believable and diverse chemistry between the entire main cast, and even some decent drama around the central conceit of blood families vs. adopted families and how different people fit into that paradigm. Take away the harem aspect, and this would be a damn entertaining little high school comedy with enough charm and genuine heart to stick with you. But, well, it is a harem, so all that good stuff has to come packaged with a heaping helping of Anime Bullshit (derogatory). I’ll stick it out to see if the second half picks up at all, but for now, you’re better off waiting to see how it all shakes out before giving this one a shot.

Healer Girl: 5/10

As a longtime theater nerd, I’ve often dreamed of the day we finally got a broadway-style musical anime. Not just an idol show where the songs are all performed in-universe (or idol-adjacent shows like Symphogear or Revue Starlight), but a show where the characters break into full-on song and dance at the drop of a hat to express what they’re feeling. Well, the wait is finally over. Here, at last, is an anime where any conversation can break out into singing and any scene can become a rousing three-part harmony. The musical anime of my dreams has arrived, and its name is Healer Girl. Eeeeeeexcept half of its songs are still performed in-universe anyway, while the songs that do follow the broadway formula are mostly just inconsequential fluff about random moments that don’t really matter. And the show built around those songs doesn’t really have much to offer on its own besides pleasant vibes and a very on-point face game. I dunno, maybe I set my expectations too high since the director of FMA Brotherhood was in charge, but Healer Girl just ends up feeling like a half measure all around. It’s charming enough that I can’t really dislike it, but it’s too insubstantial and unambitious to leave any sort of impact.

Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutie: 5.5/10

So I went on a bit of a roller-coaster ride with this show. Before I watched it, I assumed it would just be another bland seasonal waifu show about selling a marketable girl to the lowest common denominator. Then I started watching it, and I was shocked by how invested I became. Izumi and his princely girlfriend Shikimori had the kind of meaningful chemistry that so few of these “start when the couple is already dating” anime have, and the fun supporting cast had me hyped for a pleasant rom-com delight. But then as I kept watching, it sort of became exactly the show I was afraid it was going to be. Episode after episode suffered from bland characterization and lowest-effort-imaginable scenario building, to the point that it became hard to remember what had happened in any given episode even minutes after I finished watching it. But then the show’s second half starting picking things right back up, and by the time we reached the final episode, it was probably the best version of itself it had ever been. Suffice to say, Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutie is a weirdly complicated show to talk about for how simple it is. All I can say for sure is that when it is on, it damn well holds its own in a very stacked rom-com season, and perhaps that’s enough to be worth giving it a look.

Aharen-san wa Hakarenai: 6.5/10

I think it’s safe to call Aharen-san wa Hakarenai (Loosely translated, it means “Aharen is hard to understand”) the sleeper hit of spring 2022. In a season absolutely lousy with high-profile, high-effort rom-coms, this low-key lark about two weird kids bringing out the best in each other could’ve easily slipped through the cracks. But even without gorgeous production values, a riveting story, or truly outrageous comedy, Aharen-san proved to have real staying power. And I can see why, because while it can’t hold a candle to the likes of Kaguya-sama and Komi-san, this silly little show really struck a chord with me. Most of its humor comes from its deadpan co-protagonists as they bumble through ridiculous scenario after ridiculous scenario without so much as raising an eyebrow, and it hits far more often than it misses. But moreso than its understated goofiness, this show’s secret weapon is its casual, heartwarming acceptance of, well, difference. The titular Aharen reads pretty heavily as on the spectrum, her little brother like to cross-dress with her clothing, there’s a handful of pretty explicitly queer side characters, and the show treats them all with affirmation and kindness. It’s really damn wholesome, and as long as you’re not burned out from rom-coms this season, it’s well worth checking out.

Requiem of the Rose King (2nd Half): 7/10

It’s a damn shame it took Requiem of the Rose King so long to find its footing. The first half, as much as I liked it, was so cramped and inconsistent that it lost most of its audience before it really hit its stride. Well, let me tell you now: if you dropped this show? Pick it back up. Give it another shot. Because once it reaches its second half and timeskips to start re-imagining the events of the Richard III play itself, Requiem of the Rose King becomes really goddamn good. The story has more room to breathe, the machinations of the royal court work better with the show’s limited animation than the battle-heavy first half, and watching all these characters drawn inexorably towards their fate makes for the kind of gripping tragedy you rarely see these days. All of which culminates in a final episode that may well end up being one of the best finales in all of anime this year. Just be aware that this show comes with, like, all the content warnings, as it contains depictions of homophobia, transphobia, sexual assault, and arguably suicidal ideation. If you can stomach a story that tackles such difficult subject matter (not always perfectly, but better than most), then I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Bubble: 7/10

Bubble is the kind of project that was just inevitably going to be awesome from the moment it was conceived. A Weathering With You-inspired supernatural blockbuster romance with Tetsuro Araki in the director’s chair, Gen Urobuchi working on the script, and Hiroyuki Sawano providing the soundtrack? I’m pretty sure the laws of physics make it literally impossible for something like that to turn out anything less than cool as shit. And Bubble certainly is cool at shit, a film of staggering beauty that puts Araki’s trademark hyper-kinetic visual eye to fantastic use. From the gorgeous landscapes to the pulse-pounding midair parkour sequences that define this movie’s action, from the highly expressive character animation to the bonkers spectacle of the final act, Bubble is a feast for the senses in the way that only masters of their craft can truly pull off. The story, sadly, is nothing to write home about; it’s a pretty generic and cliched affair, even if it pulls all those cliches off reasonably well. But that audiovisual splendor still makes it well worth a watch. Turns out you can get away with an uninspired script when the spectacle that script brings to life is this damn good.

Ao Ashi (1st Half): 7.5/10

Do you miss Haikyuu? I miss Haikyuu. And if you’re anything like me, you’ve spent the years since season 4 searching desperately for a sports anime that scratches the same itch, only to come up heartbreakingly short every time. Well, suffer no longer, folks, because Ao Ashi is everything you’ve been waiting for. Okay, it doesn’t look as good as Haikyuu; its workmanlike production doesn’t allow for the kind of orgasmic sakuga heights that made Haikyuu such a breathtaking spectacle. But otherwise? This is everything I’ve been missing about my good volleyball boys. An expansive cast of characters who we get to know naturally over the course of time! An obvious deep knowledge and love for the sport being portrayed (soccer, in this case) and how its mechanics affect the story’s thematic trajectory! A hothead protagonist who must learn to broaden his horizons to achieve his full potential! A soaring soundtrack that would make Haikyuu composer Yuuki Hayashi proud! It’s even got a decent female supporting cast; Hana Ichijou is my precious daughter and I would die for her. Time will tell if the series’ second cours can push it to true greatness, but for now, if you’ve been looking to fill the Haikyuu-shaped hole in your heart, I cannot recommend Ao Ashi enough.

The Executioner and Her Way of Life: 7.5/10

It finally happened, folks. We finally have another genuinely great isekai. After so many piles of crap and utterly unmemorable pieces of cardboard, this genre turned out something awesome. And all it had to do was literally murder the self-insert male MC in the first episode so it could transform into a rip-roaring yuri action/adventure edgefest. To be clear, though, that kind of subversive brilliance isn’t the only reason I fell for The Executioner and Her Way of Life (but seriously, holy shit was that a great way to kick the usual isekai tropes to the curb). No, what makes this show work is because it has what basically every other isekai lacks: a good goddamn story. The setting is fully realized with its own unique culture, it incorporates the concept of being an isekai world into its worldbuilding in some truly fascinating ways, and the plot perfectly captures the Re:Zero appeal of wild twists cascading on top of each other in rapid succession as they recontextualize what you’ve already seen to fantastic effect. Not that this show is quite as good as Re:Zero- as much as I love Akari and Menou, their story so far hasn’t even neared the heights of Subaru’s journey toward self-actualization- but with how fucking wretched this genre usually is, I’m not gonna look a gift horse in the mouth. Bottom line, Executioner kicks ass, and if we can somehow get four seasons of that fugly skeleton show, then we have no excuse not to keep this one rolling for at least a few seasons more.

Ya Boy Kongming: 7.5/10

Generally speaking, when you get a show with a premise as bonkers as “Legendary Chinese strategist from the Three Kingdoms era gets reincarnated in modern Japan and becomes the manager of an aspiring pop idol,” there’s one of two possibilities. The first possibility is that the creators are just throwing weird shit at the wall for a cheap, cynical attempt at quirky brand recognition. The second possibility, however strange it might seem, is that they actually know what they’re doing. And I’m thrilled to say that Ya Boi Kongming is firmly in the latter camp. It’s a hilarious, heartfelt celebration of the power of music, chasing your dreams, and what it taking to become your best self, full of lovable characters, spectacular song performances, and just the right amount of batshit insanity to compliment such a wacky premise. It honestly makes me feel bad for Zombieland Saga; as much as I’ve enjoyed both seasons of that show, Ya Boi Kongming feels like the fully actualized version of what Zombieland could never quite achieve. I hope PA Works keeps this adaptation going, because these are the kind of good vibes I want to carry with me for many years to come.

Birdie Wing Season 1: 7.5/10

Yeah, I know what you’re thinking. How the hell could an anime about golf- the most boring sport to ever exist- be in any way interesting? Well, I could try and explain it. I could explain how beautifully, confidently ridiculous it is at every turn. I could explain how it hits that pitch-perfect sweet spot of camp where it takes itself completely seriously despite running on the most batshit insane logic imaginable. I could explain how it mines incredible comedy just by using such a dull game as the high-stakes currency of cutthroat underground mafia schemes with enough bonkers future technology to make Seto Kaiba blush. I could even explain how it’s Actually Gay and that automatically makes it a must-watch. But really, no words can do justice to the magic of Birdie Wing. This is a show that must be seen to be believed. So instead, I’ll just ask you to watch this clip from the first episode:

youtube

This is maybe the twentieth most over-the-top thing that happens in Birdie Wing.

Got it? Good. Now go watch this damn thing already.

Dance Dance Danseur: 7.5/10

At first glance, Dance Dance Danseur feels like Mappa's attempt to recapture the Yuri on Ice magic of gorgeously animated bodies in motion. And it certainly accomplishes that: from the animation to the direction to the sound design, the way this show brings the art of classical ballet to life is absolutely stunning. But make no mistake, Dance Dance Danseur is a very different beast than its most obvious comparison. This is a show full of flawed people, immature teenagers who make immature mistakes against a backdrop far more vicious and honest about the world’s evils than I expected going in. It’s a story that dives headfirst into bullying, toxic masculinity, parental abuse, the systemic rot of the ballet world itself, and ways that artists striving for greatness, especially young artists, suffer and hurt each other in pursuit of finding what drives them forward. Does it pull it off perfectly? Fuck no. At times, the choices the characters make are so frustrating you want to reach through the screen and punch them. But as difficult as this show can be to sit through, it makes for some of the most realistic and compelling drama you’re likely to watch all year, drama only heightened by just how god damn gorgeous it all looks. It’s definitely not for everyone, but it’s well worth a look for anyone who can appreciate a story this jagged-edged.

The Demon Girl Next Door Season 2: 8/10

Ganbare, Shamiko! God, I’m so happy this show is back. The Demon Girl Next Door is one of the most underrated anime of the past decade, a gag comedy about a modern-day demon girl who accidentally seduces befriends the magical girl she’s supposed to be mortal enemies with and sets out to try and solve the issues that have left them both in dire straits. What makes this show great, beyond its incredibly fast-moving jokes that take great advantage of the anime’s limited resources, is just how damn good it is as building real emotional meaning into the story those jokes underlie. Few shows are this good at building compelling drama out of people trying to help each other, and while it never grows so heavy that it stops being a comedy first and foremost, that empathetic undercurrent gives this goofy little gag anime a way of really sinking its claws into you. If there’s one big flaw I can criticize it for, this second season makes it pretty clear just how much less compelling the supporting cast is than the two leads. Sure, they’ve all got their own charms, but every plotline that doesn’t involve Shamiko and Momo trying to out-gay each other is a plotline that would really be better spent on Shamiko and Momo trying to out-gay each other. Regardless, I had a blast with season 2, and I hope we haven’t seen the last of these adorable idiots yet.

Spy x Family: 8/10

Was there ever any doubt that Spy x Family was going to be a blockbuster hit? One of the most popular manga of the modern era, adapted by two of the most high-quality anime studios in the business (at least when they’re not destroying themselves with overwork)? You couldn’t get a more surefire success if you tried. And yes, surprising no one, I fell in love with Spy x Family just as much as everyone else. A master spy, a legendary assassin, and a telepathic orphan must forge a fake family for the sake of the spy’s mission, each one hiding their true identity from each other and doing their best to blend in to “normal” society, despite the fact that none of them have a damn clue what being normal actually entails. It’s a fantastic premise executed to near perfection, and the only real negative thing I can say against it (well, aside from the one creepy siscon character) is that this first season has left me unbearably impatient for it to get even better than it already is. This is a show that’s going to end up an all-time classic, and if you somehow haven’t checked it out already, consider this your call to give it a shot. It may not end up on your favorites list, but it’s basically impossible not to fall the slightest bit in love with.

Vampire in the Garden: 8.5/10

I’ll admit, I may be biased on this one. The concept of a post-apocalyptic lesbian vampire frostpunk road trip is so stupidly up my alley, I’d be shocked if I didn’t fall head over heels for it. But fuck it, this is my list, I make the rules. And even putting my personal preferences aside, Vampire in the Garden is fucking spectacular. It’s every bit the gorgeous, tragic melodrama you could ask for, telling the story of a human girl and a vampire queen who flee their warring species together in search of a paradise where they can all live as one people. The action is riveting, the worldbuilding is enthralling, and the bond that forms between Momo and Fine as they travel- and the fascinating way their arcs parallel each other in reverse- sucked me in and broke my heart in a thousand beautiful ways. It’s a fucking crime this OVA only had 5 episodes to tell its story; with a full cours to flesh out the actual journey and explore more interesting pockets of the world, this could’ve been right up there with Wolf’s Rain in the pantheon of anime’s post-apocalyptic masterworks. But even these 5 episodes are more than incredible enough for me to demand all of you to check it out. Studio Wit just does not miss, people.

Kaguya-sama Season 3: 8.5/10

Recently, I’ve come to the conclusion that if I had to choose between compelling protagonists or a compelling supporting cast, I would take the compelling protagonists. Sure, ideally one shouldn’t have to choose, but if the characters at the core of the story are fantastic enough to earn my investment, then I’ll likely gravitate to that story more than if the supporting cast outshines them. And that probably explains why Kaguya-Sama, as incredible a show as it’s become, isn’t going to end up on my favorites list anytime soon. To be clear, Kaguya and Shirogane aren’t bad protagonists by any stretch, and by the climax of season 3′s well-earned romantic buildup, I can finally say I’m invested in them as a couple as well. But I don’t come to this show for the romance at its core. I come for Chika’s batshit insane antics. I come for Ishigami’s shockingly compelling struggle to re-invent himself as a decent human being. I come for Hayasaka flexing on everyone, everywhere, all at once. And, of course, I come for the gonzo visual experimentation that’s quickly making this show second only to Nichijou in the pantheon of anime comedies that use incredible animation to wring maximum hilarity out of every joke. There are endless things to love about Kaguya-Sama; it’s just that Kaguya-Sama herself is probably the least of them. And that’s why, as good as season 3 is, there’s another rom-com that ended up snatching my Anime of the Season trophy right from under its nose...

Komi-san Can’t Communicate Season 2: 9/10

Alright, look: is this show’s supporting cast astronomically weaker than Kaguya-sama’s? Yes. Does it suffer from cast bloat that makes it hard to develop many of its characters beyond one-note jokes? Absolutely. Is Yamai Ren one of the worst... things to happen to anime since Mineta? Boy, you fucking know it. And yet none of that changes the fact that every time I put on an episode of Komi-san Can’t Communicate and see Komi and Tadano adorkably flailing their way through social interaction, my blood sugar levels spike hard enough to put me into cardiac arrest. God, I fucking love these two. I love how this show portrays their journey through self-betterment and self-acceptance. And watching Komi truly start to find her voice in season 2, literally and figuratively, was an experience I wouldn’t trade for anything. At its best, this show is a celebration of the ways that people come together, how we cross the seemingly impossible barriers of social interaction and forge companionship in a million different ways. It’s an achingly sweet, achingly sincere love letter to everyone who’s ever felt a little bit different, a promise that some day, with a little hard work, everyone is sure to find the place where they belong. And for all of its unevenness, that earnestness never fails to make Komi-san Can’t Communicate one of the most delightful watching experiences anime’s ever given us. Now bring on season 3, because if we don’t get to see these goobers actually start dating I will riot.

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