Summer has started already a while ago and with it came a whole batch of new shows to watch or to skip. Last season featured a whole lot of great shows that I yet have to talk about. Honestly, it felt a bit overwhelming to be fair with one show overshadowing the next show which is then overshadowed by the next one and on top of it all, there was Odd Taxi, reigning supreme, which is nice… You’d think it’s nice to have a whole lot of great shows in one season but I personally also want to have some nice and chill shows to turn my brain off after a busy day, which is why this season is actually quite great. Hence, here’s a list of shows I’m watching!
To start it off, Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken Season 2 Part 2 or “Slime Tensei S2P2” for short started airing and I’m honestly quite excited about this one. I already mentioned it in my Isekai post but I’m a huge fan of Isekai shows, particularly the ones with interesting twists to them. Slime Tensei has this satisfying twist to it that the main character ends up as a lowly slime in the new world, one of the weakest creatures alive… but he quickly becomes rather powerful and builds up a whole nation for monsters and humans to coexist in peace. The show is wholesome and the twists are great. Since I’m also reading the Light Novel and Manga, I’m really looking forward to this arc in particular as there are many great fights that I want to see in animation! No spoilers from me though. See it for yourself :)
Another Isekai mentioned in the aforementioned post is “How A Realist Hero Rebuilt The Kingdom”. It’s airing right now and features this bureaucrat of a hero that reforms agriculture and tries to rebuilt the kingdom that he was summoned to in order to not get dissected by another empire. It’s quite chill and wholesome but the twists and ideas in it are wonderfully executed so far and I’m really looking forward to seeing more political and economical ideas being executed in this show.
Uramichi Oniisan, however, is probably my favourite show here (apart from Slime Tensei). The show follows the 31-year old Uramichi Omota who’s working as an actor in an education TV program called “Together with Mama” where he’s performing body exercises with the kids. He used to be an athlete and gymnast of sorts but ended up at this place, drained of his will to live and all of his energy. While he’s supposed to be overly optimistic and happy in the show itself, he often ends up showing his true colours towards the kids and his co-workers, often contemplating his life choices. Overall, it’s a great contrast between a happy and colourful setting and the emotional struggles and anxieties of a grown-up void of any opportunities to grow as a person. I love it. I genuinely had to laugh out loud a lot of times. Again, I love this show. Seriously underrated.
Next up, there’s Tsuki ga Michibiku Isekai Douchuu, yet another Isekai show where the main character is transported into another world. His parents were people from that other world that promised the gods their most important thing for a chance to live on Earth. Now that the time has come, the Gods took their son and transported it to the other side with the power of speaking all languages. Apart from that, he’s also really strong as Earth’s gravity and magical fields are much higher, resulting in his strength actually getting suppressed over there. It’s this thing where we’re technically super strong if we were on the Moon… or where the Orcs in that world would be super weak if they’d visit Earth. The show itself follows him forging bonds with mythical creatures and essentially going on a journey to show the Goddess that mistreated him that she made a mistake… or something like that. I’m not sure where the show is going yet but I’m liking it a lot as it’s entertaining and I can turn my brain off while watching it, which is something I was missing in the last season.
Also, Fumetsu no Anata e and My Hero Academia Season 5 are still going on for another few episodes. Both of these are great shows. Fumetsu no Anata e or “To Your Eternity” surprised me as it started as a tragic tale and then it gave me some very wholesome moments and then it was tragic again and it “hit me right in the Kokoro” as the youngsters said back in the day. My Hero Academia, however, is sadly taking a bit of a bad turn right now by giving too much screentime to a rather unimportant arc at first before then skipping a very good (and important) arc. The Class A vs Class B arc is boring for most people and while there are some good battles in there it doesn’t actually do the source material justice to prolong these few chapters with so many episodes. Meanwhile, the “My Villain Academia” arc was supposed to come before the Endeavor Agency Arc. Instead, it was actually swapped if not even skipped. The last episode was a filler episode that was introduced to promote a movie, which is just dirty… And well, hopefully, they will adapt the My Villain Academia arc for the last few episodes after ending the Endeavor Agency Arc in the next two or three… Because it would suck if they put in the MVA arc on top of the next arc into one episode as it needs A LOT more time to actually be really fleshed out. I mean, that arc essentially shows the growth and character development of the antagonists… which is very unusual but extremely well-written in a show that is usually about superheroes and stuff… People are very upset about this change. I hope they don’t actually skip it but just switched the order.
Next up, Vanitas no Carte aka The Case Study of Vanitas is very good so far. This is a Steampunk-Fantasy story by PANDORAHEARTS’ creator, Jun Mochizuki, that focuses on a human doctor called Vanitas that essentially wants to help the vampires in this world and it’s very ominous and enigmatic. The vampire Noé accompanies and investigates Vanitas but doesn’t know if he has any ulterior motives or what exactly those are. It’s a story of distrust and mystery and I’m all for it. While I don’t usually watch vampire stuff, I’m actually quite excited about this one as it kind of reminds me of Shadows House and Box of Goblins, in a way… Looking forward to following this show along!
My Next Life as a Villainess’ second season is also airing this time around and features the main character having survived all “Doom Flags” that she knows from the otome game that she’s in… It’s a whole thing. Watch the first season if you don’t get it. But now she’s in a chapter of the “game” that she’s not familiar with… or rather she’s free of all doom flags and stuff happens and I’m really looking forward to how the next few episodes turn out. The first season was great and I’m glad that the next season aired so soon after I watched the first one. It’s a reverse-harem in a fantasy setting that was really wholesome, funny, and entertaining to watch. The different plots and the inverted tropes and stereotypes were amazing and I hope I get to see more of that in this season as well!
While last season featured Vivy and Odd Taxi for big mystery shows… this season has Sonny Boy where 36 boys and girls drift through another dimension in their school building. They awaken supernatural abilities and now have to survive. I mean… it’s great. This is basically like Lord of the Flies but with some people having super powers and some not. Also, you just get thrown into the show and there are so many questions! I love it. I have no clue where the story is going to go though. I mean, it’s gonna be great, I think… it may go bad, too? I’m hyped for now!
A show where I don’t have that problem of “not knowing where it’s gonna go”, however, is Cheat Kusushi no Slow Life, a show about a drug store in a fantasy world. The main character runs this pharmacy together with a beast girl and a ghost… and they develop potions that taste good, deodorants that make you smell nice, a detergent for the dishes… and that sorta stuff. Clearly, the main character is from our world, but he’s using alchemy and potion brewing to make useful stuff for other worlds, all in order to lead a slow and nice life. In essence, this is basically that show about the witch that wants a slow life… but in a lot better. The cast is limited to a few characters and it’s very slice of life ish. The comedy is very hit or miss but the show itself is overall really enjoyable as you aren’t in for surprises. You watch it and you know what’s gonna happen. Very good to fall asleep to. No need to overthink it. lol.
If you need to think about stuff, there’s a drama called Shiroi Suna no Aquatope where a failed idol singer flees from Tokyo to Okinawa in order to heal. It’s about healing and escapism… also about an aquarium where weird things happen… and it kind of is giving me “Barakamon.” vibes, which is a very good thing overall. I’m liking it a lot so far and there are times where you can really analyze aspects of it and think deeply about its meaning and symbolism and stuff… if that’s your jam, maybe give this one a go!
At last, there’s Bokutachi no Remake, a show about a guy that failed in game dev and wonders what would have happened ten years ago if he went to art school instead. Well, he now has a chance to do that as he, for whatever reason, ends up ten years in the past where he now goes to art school, learns about animation, movie-making, and all of that, and has another chance to redo all of his mistakes to change things for the better! And then there’s another season of “I’m standing on a million lives” and it’s still quite good. I mean, I liked the first season and the idea of it. It’s not the best show in the world, obviously, but it’s certainly not bad.
Overall, there are a lot of great premises and ideas in this season but mostly, it’s sequels, shows to turn your brain off to, and some gems that may be underrated like Uramichi Oniisan, Sonny Boy and Aquatope. I would highly recommend giving those three a shot! If you enjoy Isekai, you may like Realist Hero a lot… If you’re into slice of life stuff that is chill and wholesome, the Drug Store Isekai is cool. If you’re into Mystery, Vanitas may be very good for ya.
What are you watching this season? What do you think of these shows? Are there any shows that I’ve missed? I haven’t quite finished browsing through the list of airing shows but this post is already really long, as is, so I feel like I’ve got a lot on my plate already but I’m still happy to take recommendations if you have any! Let me know!
Cheers!
This post was first published on Indiecator by Dan Indiecator aka MagiWasTaken. If you like what you see here and want to see more, you can check me out on Twitch and YouTube as well. If you find this post on a website other than Indiecator.org, please write an e-mail to me. Thank you!
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