It wasn’t a very outstanding season, was it? It had its fair share of quite original shows (talking about you, Keijo (I don’t even know how many exclamation marks I should add there), among others) but apart from them and some second seasons of already established franchises there wasn’t much that could possibly be remembered for a long time. I picked my shows this season quite randomly but it looks that probably apart from Flip Flappers there isn’t any more prominent show that I should catch upon some time later. Oh well, a pretty peaceful autumn.

3-gatsu no Lion

     There isn’t much to say since the story is only halfway through. Well, the backgrounds are amazing, as expected from Shaft – you can make countless wallpapers during a single episode. The story could have been more condensed as sometimes a segment or two doesn’t really contribute to the development of the story or the characters. Anyway, I don’t think that anything we’ve seen so far will be that different from what is yet to come. Rei will still struggle, Kiyoko will weave her plots, Nikaidou will occasionally bump in with his unending optimism and unrequested care, the sisters will also continue their daily life without too much worries. The story will probably still use flashbacks from Rei’s childhood and the sisters’ family situation could be explored in more detail. More shogi training with cats. More incredibly unappealing lips. More terrible transitions between heart-clenching moments and comedy. But the show, when it’s being dark, is enjoyable, I can give it that.

      3-gatsu no Lion receives the award of most impressive scenery of the season. It’s usual Shaft – what did you expect?

Natsume Yuujinchou Go

     If anyone reading this has already seen at least a couple of episodes of Natsume (no matter from which season), I can just confirm that you know perfectly well what generally happens in this season. Sure, there are some slight developments, Natsume gets to know more people and more youkai, but the general feeling of the series is retained, and thank you very much for that, Shuka. After this studio took over the show from Brains Base the visuals have had a little step back (and there was that special created almost ages ago that had none of the usual Natsume spirit), but everything else thankfully remains the same. I’m not even bothered that there barely is much going on but even stops taken to dig deeper into some of the characters’ pasts deliver just as well as Natsume usually does. Rarely these days shows earn even a third season, so receiving a 5th one with an announcement of the upcoming 6th is a very joyous news. Natsume may not always present anything that hasn’t been seen in it before but even for purely nostalgic reasons this show is very dear to me and I can do nothing but be grateful for what we got.

     Natsume Yuujinchou Go receives the award of the most memorable character of the season – somehow even if there were some quite appealing guys and gals otherwhere I don’t think anyone was relatable enough or provided enough fun to rival Natsume. I guess nostalgic reasons again prove to be stronger than everything else.

Yuri!!! on Ice

    Yep, the show that will probably define this season for the future anime viewers – an incredible first episode, not that common relationship (in anime that isn’t specifically targeting a certain audience and no one else) growing, and sadly a usual conclusion that didn’t actually resolve anything but got our hopes high for a second season. I truly appreciate what the show was trying to do, but as original as it was, some things weren’t to my liking. Concentrating on figure skating, while outstandingly beautiful, later on gave the animators a bit too much work to do in order to repeat the greatness of the first episode. Also it turned out to get a bit boring – come on, to make guys skating the same programs in six or so episodes consecutively without much else going on in a way that manages to avoid dullness is a devilish stunt to demonstrate. Indecisive ending, comedy not always on point, and ambitious stubbornness to put as much figure skating in as possible no matter the result make Yaoi!!! on Ice slightly less than it could have been. Still, it was something really different from usual light novel adaptations and stuff so despite anything that wasn’t quite as good I must applaud the staff and hope for fruitful future projects.

Fune wo Amu

     Last but certainly not least there’s a show that almost no one watched (thanks, Amazon) and oh boy how much they missed. Sure, guys making a dictionary may be one of the most bizarre and unfit premises to make an anime about. Well, the novel which the show was based on has already received a live-action adaptation, so it’s not that obscure a story. The animation for a studio, whose creation among others was that infamous Aku no Hana adaptation, was unexpectedly well made. Getting a truly capable cast of voice actors and getting Yoshihiro Ike to create a soundtrack just couldn’t backfire and certainly didn’t. As an adaptation of a novel the show could have used one or two extra episodes to compensate for that rather unexpected time jump, but providing a very satisfying conclusion that also for me might have been one of the most emotional episodes of the whole year was more than I could have wanted from not that popular anime. I just hope that Fune wo Amu will eventually receive the praise it deserves, just as Rakugo managed to do to a certain extent.

     It’s yet another season when my favorite anime and favorite OST awards were taken by the same show. Fune wo Amu was the only show this season that managed to wrap everything it started perfectly and even if it didn’t try to be as ambitious as say, Yuri!!! on Ice, it completed its initial goals and out of all shows gave me probably the least things to be concerned about. And go listen to the OST.

     Favorite OP didn’t require much thought to select. Probably the majority of anime viewers will not object that among all the shows this season and not only among these four I watched Yuri!!! on Ice provided something memorable. To get a song in English without a slightest trace of Engrish in itself is an achievement, but the impressive animation of characters with enough weight and expression was just jaw-dropping.

      Favorite ED also was a pretty easy choice. As original or catchy other EDs were, I can do nothing but to give the award to Aimer who once again proves to be the queen of EDs. Natsume EDs always are a thing but just listen to this. Just do. And I don’t have to mention that the ED was solo-animated by Norio Matsumoto. If that’s not impressive, I don’t know what is.

3-gatsu no Lion (Ep. 10)

    Much better this time. Now that we can see a fuller picture, the last episode’s silliness makes more sense (even if I still absolutely don’t approve it) as Rei is tested by two very different individuals who both in different ways via Kyoko pressure him to think what is more valuable – their well-being or his own. As I said previously, Rei just has to come into terms with the way things are – not everyone has only shogi in their lives, not everyone tries his/her best and is able to deal with the consequences. Yet, it looks like Rei finally has understood that even if he doesn’t like his predatory (sort of) instincts and actions, he can’t even stay afloat since without shogi he has nothing else. Kyoko’s role in this story remains very interesting – any mastermind toying with someone’s emotions brings more options to the story. Still, I can’t understand why Rei still lets her toy with him – he’s fully aware of Kyoko’s toxic personality so why he’s so attached to her so that he doesn’t  shove her away or start ignoring anything she says? Kyoko’s also interesting in another way – does she really constantly do an in-depth research and analysis of Rei’s opponents just to say two sentences that might or might not make some tiny difference? Is it really worth her time or does she have nothing better to do? On an unrelated note, the visuals looksed extra beautiful, as did the music.

Natsume Yuujinchou Go (Ep. 11)

    That was a more or less standard Natsume’s last episode of a season. Nothing much to tell, as always. As much as I enjoyed it, I did that for purely nostalgic reasons, just as happens in the end of every season – there is a little and pretty much unimportant story going around and many of the supporting characters appear to remind of their otherwise not shown existence. Yes, it’s nostalgic to see some of them (and some of the others I don’t even have any recollection of) but I’m not that happy that they show up only to serve as a fanservice (of sorts) once a season. Otherwise the episode was a bit more playful than usual – getting that quite funny and not overlong sketch about Natsume’s fever dream, the two youkai, even if being idiots, showed some compassion and good will. Well, usual iyashikei feeling of the show, good news about 2 specials coming in March and April, and, most importantly the 6^th season (that hopefully will continue many storylines from this one) announced – what else could I wish for?

Yuri!!! on Ice (Ep. 12)

    So, the show’s apparently aiming to get a second season, isn’t it? I don’t know what I expected from the finale but I’m quite positive that it was satisfying enough but not really astounding. Probably the first episode set the bar unsurpassably high and other ones were good, might be even great by the standards of other shows, but the effect the first episode had didn’t really appear anywhere else. The fact that Yurio won felt gratifying – Yuri chose to get his strength from emotions while Yurio worked a lot harder (not to mention receiving better coaching from a technical point of view). Overall I think this kind of ending is a bit too vague. Yes, probably everybody wants to see more of Yuris, but I doubt any development Yuri could receive from now on could be as significant to his character as there was already shown. Sure, there are many things left unexplored – the relationship of Victor and Yuri is left open (well, that’s your romance anime for you), Yurio could use a lot more screen time, as well as other skaters. Yet, my opinion remains the same – a second season could be a nice treat but unless it would change the leading character and move the focus from skating performances somewhere else I doubt it could be as successful – it’s very easy to become just a clone with the same performances that could soon get boring despite being technically magnificent. A second season just couldn’t move people as much as this one did.

Fune wo Amu (Ep. 11)

    It seems fitting that I write about Fune wo Amu last since out of all the final episodes I watched this anime delivered way better than others. The ending felt just like life is – bittersweet, but with enough hope to keep going forward. To think of it, Matsumoto began being featured more only a couple of latest episodes but because of the way others reacted to him, his circumstances and how much he actually meant for the team as well as the dictionary, I just couldn’t not get too emotional. Anime characters not turning everything into an oversaturated melodrama but experiencing pain and sorrow as real people do is no tseen too often. Also, even the tiniest scene showing Nishioka’s family completed his personal story beautifully and also managed to move me quite a bit. The overall ending being very satisfactory actually is no wonder since the anime was based on a novel which didn’t left much space for possible sequels. And that’s quite exceptional thinking about anime nowadays – everyone wants to leave an opportunity to continue a show that could sell well so receiving a complete and satisfactory ending without loose ends has become not that common. So yeah, just watch the damn episode as well as the whole damn show. It’s damn worth it.

3-gatsu no Lion (Ep. 9)

     At times like these I really rue myself for not being able to ditch a show and still wanting to know how everything ends, even if it’s becoming more and more unbearable to watch. Yep, it’s my problem, but it’s also a problem for the show if my thoughts about this episode can be easily summarized by one screenshot with a certain line of monologue. You had one job, show. Setting up everything perfectly so that Rei could think about himself and his future as a shogi player, if he really is strong enough to want to win against anyone no matter their personal circumstances and the possible outcome of the match. Yes, there are all kinds of people but if you go such great lengths as reintroducing Kyouko last time and spending 1.5 episode for the whole story, I expect something decent, not just some cringe worthy comedy that (probably) no one requested nor needed. What’s the point in trying to elaborate the old man’s circumstances even after he’s shown to be totally incompetent as a shogi player as well as a human being? Maybe the point was just to make yet another build-up nullifying joke in the very end. You had one job, show. Call me humorless prick but I don’t find that’s funny at all.

Natsume Yuujinchou Go (Ep. 10)

    As the whole this season of Natsume doesn’t feel more exciting than previous ones, but when you think of it, it covers some fundamental things that have been asking to be talked about for a long time, and does it with the usual grace of Natsume – so far we got the previously unseen elements from the past of Natori and Tanuma, every second with Taki was a joy to watch and now we receive a story about probably the most underrated and forgotten pair of very beautiful characters – Touko and Shigeru. Sure, it doesn’t feel like much was told but even a glimpse of their everyday lives and mindsets that usually get overshadowed by stuff that happens to Natsume is very endearing. The crow may be thought of as a metaphor for Natsume – if he looks alone that doesn’t mean that he actually is, though taking care of it and showing compassion can make a lasting bond. Also I find it heartwarming that as Natsume is always afraid of telling the Fujiwaras about his abilities, Touko, even not knowing anything but only seeing that Natsume gets troubled over something wishes to break that wall. And that would make an amazing episode. By the way, the ED has grown on me so much that I could place it above other EDs to be rivaled maybe only by the first one.

Yuri!!! on Ice (Ep. 11)

    Man, the next week just can‘t come too soon. The last episode being a breather from figure skating worked wonders – every program to me looked fresh enough and as outstanding as ever, even if from the technical viewpoint it may not have been. Cheering for Yuri was very easy and I’m a bit surprised myself for that because even the same program being used again and again every time is depicted just a bit differently so at least this time it still felt fresh enough. To think about it, even if most of other skaters haven’t been given much time to show their characters, pretty much all of them are individual enough to be able to cheer for them, too. I’d have liked to see more Yurio during the whole season, but the earning of his record felt deserved and very right because probably no one else worked as hard as him. Even JJ, whose personality may not be that appealing, despite his arrogance deserved some pity and I felt sorry for his misfortune. Well, generally most of the skaters look like real and relatable people and that’s one of the successes of the show. And this particular episode for me was one of the more emotionally affecting ones, even looking as far as other shows this season. Not to mention that the episode perfectly built suspension to the grand finale.

Fune wo Amu (Ep. 10)

    Another rather beautiful episode stressing how much work is needed to make a decent dictionary. All those scenes of people at their limit coupled with wonderful music just shine with optimism and passion. Well, the downside of it of course is the overworking and that isn’t strange at all for the Japanese and sadly for the anime industry in particular. Anyway, as the final episode is coming very soon I think we all are ready for it emotionally and in terms of the story. That little blue dictionary actually being the mascot of Daitokai is a very nice touch, bringing that pretty nonsensical segment of the show a little bit closer to the rest of it and in this way the mascot to the viewers really means more than just an anthropomorphized book. I don’t know if I just missed that the last time, but Nishioka looks to have a wedding ring and I’m really happy for him. It’s just a subtle gesture that doesn’t require much effort but speaks volumes. The same could be said about the absence of the grandma. She just doesn’t appear anymore but her fate sadly is quite clear. And that leads to the last seconds before the credits – no one in a room save the photo of Matsumoto and his wife. I’m afraid it means another set of sad moments.

3-gatsu no Lion (Ep. 8)

    Once again I have to complain about the unevenness of the show. Generally if you want to become really good at something, you have to train especially that skill and commit all your time to it. Otherwise you can master some things each a little bit but that comes with a cost of not being perfect at any specific thing. And that’s exactly what is happening with 3-gatsu. Dancing cats as shogi pieces? Is it a show for preschoolers? I don’t say it isn’t amusing to some extent but there is no way you can combine organically such segments with other darker character pieces like the second half of the episode. Maybe the anime just has too much time to deal with. Well, Kyouko’s appearance moved things a bit and watching her play with Rei’s sense of empathy towards an old man whose long career may come to an end was really entertaining. I guess if you are into sports you just have to accept that if you play, you play to win and that means that someone else has to lose – there’s no other way. If you can’t deal with it, you can’t compete. As someone who doesn’t really feel affection to shogi Rei looks to haven’t been able to deal with it so the next episode should be more interesting.

Natsume Yuujinchou Go (Ep. 9)

    During the first moments I wasn’t impressed at all because there have been countless episodes that start by Natsume being chased by some youkai. Nevertheless, now I can count this episode one of the most moving ones of this season and maybe of the whole anime as well. Struggles of the little tsundere youkai must have affected Natsume himself much as he himself balances between the worlds and doesn’t always find it easy to cope with either of them. And we even don’t need to involve Natsume – the episode works perfectly to inspire anyone that hard work will inevitably provide results one way or another. Also, Nyanko-sensei this time did nothing (as he always has been doing for a very long time) but this time it was actually useful, and useful “meat bun” is always a treat. By the way, the anime might as well be called One Punch Natsume because again and again he manages to defeat some youkai almost effortlessly (I wonder whether Natsume is strong after all or the youkai tend to have some weak spot and why Natsume doesn’t use punching as a way out of difficult situations more often). What’s more, connections don’t end here – as some people pointed out, the director of One Punch Man, Shingo Natsume, basically used his book of friends to invite so many talented people to that project. Weird.

Yuri!!! on Ice (Ep. 10)

    Finally an episode showing that the staff still know that life of ice skaters doesn’t consist only of ice skating. Ambition is a good thing but when I find myself cheering even if sakuga wasn’t as involved as previous times, there probably is something not quite right with the composition of the show. Anyway, this glimpse to the ordinary life of Yuri and the brief introduction of the last skater was pretty entertaining. I think the rings’ stuff was a bit over the top (oh well, maybe Yuri’s brain has completely turned off before the big event) but the scene of exchange between Victor and Yuri was rather memorable and well made. Returning to the beginning of the episode, for some time it was sort of a recap and it, paired with Victor’s all-knowing voiceover felt a bit out of place, but not as out of place as usual recaps go, so I guess it’s ok. Well, getting a short grasp of air before the final stretch is a good idea and if it pulls out something similar to the first episode, it will be an outstanding final showdown. …And… what am I supposed to think about the ED?

Fune wo Amu (Ep. 9)

    If I have ever forgotten how I love this show, this episode strongly reminded me that. It’s queer how little things that can probably make no sense on their own in a specific context make a huge difference. First, I must praise the soundtrack again and again, especially at times with no dialogue. I’m very confused and enchanted how a simple and almost nonsensical scene of a dude examining a sheet of paper can be portrayed to convey suspension and very uneasy waiting for the results. Kishibe, although introduced only during the last episode seems to have become an established character since I was able to sincerely be happy about her date arrangement. The old guy seems getting frailer and frailer and even if he hasn’t done anything substantial, I’d feel really bad if he couldn’t live long enough to be able to touch the physical copy of the dictionary, speaking about which I’m very intrigued what could be the grand scheme of Nishioka. My guess would probably do something with his girlfriend but who knows. And finally, Majime’s letter once again paired with Nishioka’s wits to take photos of it adds just another opportunity to make my grin that didn’t dwindle all the episode even wider.

3-gatsu no Lion (Ep. 7)

     I’m getting completely uninterested with the story more and more each episode. When the start of the episode looked promising I thought that it will be a decent one with an unlikely friendship emerging between Rei and the baseball guy. It’s really a nice idea to show that every person in competitive sports actually has many similarities in mindset and beliefs with other sportsmen even if their sports have nothing in common. Well, it turns out we actually started a random mini arc of teaching how to play shogi. Sure, having a two-cour show (and being Shaft) gives you much time to use as you wish but once again –  I prefer the darker side of the show, or at least something that can play off the personalities of the characters and not just gags about how Rei is a bad teacher and that everything is awesome if you just add some cats. Nikaidou having to comment Rei’s match and shouting everything to a camera (live) in hope that Rei will somehow see that feels artificial. What are the chances that Rei who doesn’t own a TV will watch his rant? And who would invite a mentally unstable kid to comment a live coverage of a match in the first place? Maybe I’m just nitpicking but the show constantly fails to offer me something that would distract me from everything I’m not content with.

Natsume Yuujinchou Go (Ep. 7)

    No episode last week hardly enhanced the visuals this time. Yes, some background art was quite stunning but sometimes character designs and the animation were as unimpressive as ever. The story felt a bit cramped – of course there were episodes with random youkai doing some mischievous things but having one stealing the mask just for the sake of it certainly wasn’t as elaborated as it could have been. The old lady also could have used some more interactions and the festival itself as not a very frequent thing could have been used more. I wonder if the original manga story was as tight or did the staff thought it would be better this way. This season’s Natsume looks to be following more action based scenarios and I miss some of the peacefulness of lingering shots and contemplative moments of the previous seasons. Also my guess at the very start that this season will feature more of Reiko’s past seems to have been unfounded. Not that I dislike getting more knowledge about other characters. The show’s good but somehow I still find this season as a whole somehow lacking that special something that used to make the older episodes really amazing.

Yuri!!! on Ice (Ep. 8)

     The story didn’t provide anything exceptional, and even the title of the episode (Yuri vs. Yuri) didn’t live up to my expectations (there was barely any vs.). Well, you can say that the sudden need of Victor to come back to Japan is something and yes, it is (the idea to push Yuri psychologically more is a right one) but the pretext for that isn’t the most inventive. Well, I still enjoyed the episode very much – seems like many of the shortcomings of the animation were eliminated and we are left with some exceptionally charming avalanches of sakuga. Also, it’s still good to see that even if the other skaters are not given much time, their moments are used fairly efficiently by giving each of them some character feature that is very specific and in this way it helps to differentiate between all the characters quite well. Like I said before – every skater has his own motivation and despite being completely different people, they all share love for skating and wish to show it.

Fune wo Amu (Ep. 7)

    Another Nishioka based episode which is very good despite the fact that it wasn’t shown how Majime and Kaguya did meet up and did do something together. When I think about it, Nishioka may be even more likeable and relatable character than Majime. Yes, there’s nothing not to love about the clumsy hard-working dude but I think it’s easier to understand and connect with Nishioka – the guy as a specialist of relations and connections with everyone that could be needed does an amazing job, also infecting his colleagues with positive thinking. He would be a rather one sided character but his own problems, like how to cope with the transfer situation or how to maintain his relationship a secret, make him far more interesting. And I just can’t even imagine how Majime would cope with whimsical professors, difficult decisions and tons of work to be done almost by himself. Especially dealing with the professors. Nishioka’s perceptiveness and his little mind game certainly made for a really entertaining scene.
By the way, you should (if not must) definitely check post by Kyra from KYRA DESU YO! about the names of the characters of the show.