My Anime Watch List: Summer Season 2022

It’s another season of anime! Hooray! Hence, I wanted to talk a bit about the shows that I’m watching. I’ll go through a big list of shows, beginning with the continuations/sequels, continuing with my favourite “new” shows, then continuing with the “average” shows, and I’ll probably leave out the questionable ones. Enjoy!

Continuations!

DanMachi IV (Is it Wrong to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? 4)

It only has been two years since DanMachi’s story got continued. Season 3 was amazing and the ending was somewhat unexpected. I love the universe. I love the characters. It’s surprising that this one isn’t an Isekai, actually. Anyhow, DanMachi returns after two years with its fourth season, and I’m ecstatic about this one as well! Again, huge fanboy.

After the events of Season 3, Bel reaches Level 4 and continues to grow stronger. To be able to help the Xenos and protect everyone else, he is determined to dive into the dungeon. Well, good thing that the guild requested him and his familia to do just that: Dive beyond the deepest parts they’ve been so far and acquire a few items from the lower areas!

This means: More adventure, more comedy, more romance, and a whole lot of action. The first episode ends with an amazing fight, even if it’s a short one, and I can’t wait to see more of that action being animated further. I really need to read the light novel after this season!

Overlord IV

After four long years, Overlord got another new season, adapting the “Ruler of Conspiracy” Arc and the “Craftsman of Dwarf” Arc. I remember really enjoying Overlord’s LN’s tenth volume, so I’m quite excited about that. On top of that, Volume 11 will also be adapted this season… and we’ll also get a movie that will be canon, adapting the “The Paladin of the Holy Kingdom” Arc!

I’m pretty excited about all of that, even if the first few episodes have been somewhat… slow. A little too truthful for my taste… and then there’s the frequent use of CGI that also turned Season 3 into a bit of a joke… I hope that Season 4 won’t overuse that.

Made in Abyss: Retsujitsu no Ougonkyou (Golden City Arc)

It’s been two years since the canon movie of Made in Abyss, “Futaki Tamashii no Reimei” (Dawn of the Deep Soul), aired – and well, now we finally get to see more of Riku’s, Reg’s and Nanashi’s journey to the bottom of the netherworld. The Golden City arc takes them closer to their goal – but even if the sight of this place is magnificent and somewhat tranquil, there are many dangers lurking around every corner.

So far, I’ve been thrilled to see the continuation of this adorable and not at all disturbing show. Nope. I mean, anyone that has read the manga knows what’s gonna come from here on out… and anyone that has seen the first season and the (canon) movie (watch that first!) knows that there’s bound to be some fucked up shit in this season as well… Episode 3 already proved that.

Regardless of that, I’m excited. I love the universe and the world-building and I can’t wait to hear more of Kevin Penkin’s amazing sound design… and well, more of the excellent worldbuilding and story-telling that got me so enamoured in the first place!

Other Continuations!

I’m also gonna watch Rental Girlfriend Season 2, Classroom of the Elite Season 2, and Devil is a Part-Timer Season 2… although I don’t really care about these shows. Rental Girlfriend was really trashy, so I’m watching it because of that. Classroom of the Elite is a good show to turn your brain off to, so I’m watching the new episodes when I wanna wind down for the day… and well, it’s been honestly too long for me to remember anything about The Devil is a Part-Timer Season 1, so I’ll probably give that a go first before I decide if I’m gonna watch the second season of this reverse-isekai.

The Must-Watch Shows aka Gems of this Season!

Isekai Ojiisan (Uncle from Another World)

After being in a coma for 17 years, Takafumi’s uncle awakens suddenly and is convinced that he’s spent all those years in a fantasy parallel world. He proves it by casting powerful magic and… Takafumi can’t believe his eyes: His uncle isn’t actually crazy! Anyhow, now they live together and Takafumi is making money off of his uncle’s power while he’s bringing him up to speed with the technological advancements of the last seventeen years. At the same time, his uncle’s tales from the other world aren’t exactly what one might expect from an Isekai experience.

This one… is… AMAZING. It’s a parody of common Isekai Tropes and the comedy is just top-notch. I love the characters and the problems they face… as well as the episodic Slice of Life nature of the show. As time goes on, Takafumi learns of his uncle’s tales and is deeply scarred by the amount of misfortune and tragedy his uncle went through… meanwhile, his uncle is disturbed about the fact that SEGA lost the console war. In fact, the first thing he wanted to know when he met his nephew was how SEGA is doing. It’s amazing. This may be my favourite this season!

Isekai Yakkyoku (Parallel World Pharmacy)

A young yet renowned researcher and pharmacist from Japan overworks himself and ends up dying… but he then awakens in the body of a child, reincarnated into an alternate world that is very reminiscent of medieval Europe… plus magic.

It’s a fantasy world, essentially, but the medicine they use is incredibly antiquated with many odd rituals and a high mortality rate. Since he’s now the son of a renowned pharmacist and since he can use powerful magic, our main character wants to make good and affordable medicine accessible to everyone in the world, no matter their social status or background!

Don’t mistake this one for that trashy show about the “Drugstore in Another World”. That one sucks! This one’s great! I’m up-to-date with the manga and have been waiting for it to finally get adapted. It’s really good and the first few episodes showed that the animation style is just incredible. Oh god, what a time to be alive! *cough*

Anyhow, the show is centred around his struggle to essentially make medicine affordable and accessible to everyone in the world, frequently making use of the extensive knowledge that he still retained from his previous life. I believe that the anime will pretty much cover all of the manga up to now, meaning that there won’t be a sequel anytime soon, but it’s a great show and I highly recommend giving it a watch!

Other Shows!

Engage Kiss

This one’s story is a bit hard to explain. So, there’s basically this swimming mega-city called Bayron City on an artificial island… and demons are causing trouble here for reasons… and there are demon hunters that bid in auctions to take on jobs.

The main character is this guy who is always broke and who takes on the most difficult jobs for dirt cheap. He’s assisted by a demon yandere girl that has to suck out his life force to power up… and his ex-girlfriend is a tsundere and the two of them help him out and fight alongside him… and with each other…

It’s honestly super weird! BUT the animation and the fighting scenes are really good and I can’t help but laugh at some of the somewhat silly jokes in the story. I know that the “power up through kissing” trope is incredibly stale but this one does it in an oddly hilarious way without being too ecchie if that makes sense.

Anyway, Yandere Vampire Demon Girl vs Tsundere Human Ex-Girlfriend Soldier fight over the main character who is a weirdo… but also against demons or something?

Tensei Kenja no Isekai Life (no, I won’t type out the whole title, it’s too long)

Tensei Kenja is another Isekai whose manga I read. It’s pretty good. The story follows a young man who was overworked and died because of his job at a so-called “Black Company” (look up the term if you don’t know it).

Anyhow, he’s revived in another world where he possesses two classes: “Sage” and “Tamer”. Having two classes in this world, however, is usually not possible… So, he’s pretty darn strong because of that. Since he overworked himself before, though, he now is trying to keep a low profile and to take it slow!

The manga is pretty great thanks to its mix of comedy and adventure stuff. Due to how strong he actually is, the main character doesn’t know much about common sense, resulting in some pretty funny moments.

In the end, though, it’s just another isekai with the same tropes that are all inspired by all the other isekai LN’s that also inspired other shows that got adapted in recent years. The story isn’t the most intriguing thing, even with its moments of mysteries and the topics of conspiracies and whatnot.

Hoshi no Samidare (Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer)

This one’s odd. The world is being threatened by a giant biscuit hammer and there are a bunch of “chosen ones” that have to stop that from happening by protecting the “Princess” and defeating the “Demon King”. Anyhow, the main character can use telekinesis… and the “Princess” is really strong and doesn’t need protection… and she also doesn’t want to save the world for the sake of saving it. Rather she wants to destroy the Biscuit Hammer so that she can destroy the world herself! No clue, what I’m watching!

Kumichou Musume to Sewagakari (The Yakuza’s Guide to Babysitting)

Tooru Kirishima is the right-hand of the head of the Sakuragi Clan. He’s known as “the Sakuragi’s demon” because of how brutal and ruthless he is. Anyway, he eventually gets the job of babysitting the boss’ daughter. This one’s like “The Way of Housekeeping” but… less 4-Koma-esque and more story-driven? No idea how to describe it… kinda like that. It has its brutal moments and it’s at times quite wholesome but I’m not quite sure where the story is going. I like it so far because of the Seinen and Slife of Life elements in it but again, not sure where it’s going.

At last…

I’m also watching Black Summoner… and it’s quite boring but I can easily turn off my head while watching it. So far I’m hoping for it to get better but it’s just kinda average. I may drop this one. I also decided to drop “My Step-Mom’s Daughter is my Ex” as it’s making me uncomfortable. Before you judge me: I didn’t know its English title before watching the first episode! And well, I’m also watching Isekai Meikyuu de Harem wo… which is questionable. I mean, on the one hand, it’s an isekai story but it has so many bad things happening in it…

On the one hand, it deals a lot with the protagonist’s guilt of taking human lives (even if they threatened villagers)… but on the other hand, it’s also incredibly horny and trashy and one of the key motivations of the main character is to make a lot of money to buy a slave. Yup. Because it’s normal in that normal. So, right now, I’m on the fence about this show, so I may drop it as time goes on…

Conclusion

Anyhow, this season has a lot of shows in it and I’m sure there are some I missed. Did you find any good ones to watch? Again, the summer season often features less true gems but occasionally you find great shows in the heap of trashy shows and sequels. Isekai Ojiisan (also on Netflix btw!) is a great example of a hidden gem that one might not expect. The comedic timing and the animation are just top-notch, so definitely watch that one!

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.