The Anime Season So Far

Fall 2017

Well well, unlike summer, the fall season has proven to be challenging. There is so much to check out that my traditional format of “talking about three shows and then rant about others” might not work that well. Heck, I might have to write a few updates to this blog since I don’t have much space or time to write about everything here. So I had to scramble around trying to pick an anime to talk about here, but I made my peace with the fact that I can’t talk about everything in one go. So I’m just going to talk about some shows I’m watching regularly, some shows that caught my attention, and somethings I just wanted to talk about. I’ll write more about this season later, if other news don’t get in the way that is. Without further ado, let’s just jump right in.

I had to watch so much anime, and I’m not even done!!

I’m going to start with a returning show that is as stylish as it is crazy, just like a big city like New York should be. Of course I’m talking about….

Kekkai Sensen & BEYOND.

Kekkai Sensen was a fairly popular anime and now is back with its second season Kekkai Sensen & BEYOND. Some critics had a problem with the pacing that the original series had, to be honest though, I think that the pacing reflects perfectly the hectic pace of the life in a big city. Also you have to considered that this is not an ordinary city. Picture New York but surrounded by an impenetrable fog wall with cthulhuian creatures working and performing mundane tasks with regular citizens, also there’s a gaping hole in the middle of the city where powerful vampires can come out any time.

Yep, another ordinary day in the city.

The anime jumps right in with the craziness. We find Leonardo Watch, our protagonist, trying to enjoy his day off when he’s entrusted with the task of delivering the head of the United State’s President back to the embassy before an international incident occurs.

   

And yes, he’s alive!

Episode one shows us that Leo has grown accustomed to his life in the city, and his life as a Libra member. Libra for those who don’t know, is a vigilante organization in charge of stopping all the criminal, and terrorist organization’s shenanigans that happen in the city, and some of this terrorist do what they do for shits and giggles!

I gotta say though, you gotta be really jaded to get accustomed to people raining from the sky

with alien embryos attached to their heads.

Kekkai Sensen & BEYOND is the second season, so I wouldn’t recommend just jumping into this anime right in if you haven’t watched the first season. I see no reason not to watch the first season, it’s a very fast pace and stylish show based out of the manga of the same name (a manga written by the same mangaka that wrote Trigun) so if you like what you see give a watch. I guess my only complaint about Kekkai Sensen & BEYOND is that the ending theme can’t compete with the ending theme of the previous season, but to be fair that was an impossible task. The ending theme for the second season still amazing though, so the problem is not actually a problem.

But for real, this ending is AWESOME!!

Well guess what, fantasy is back and the next show that I’m going to talk about is all about that.

Mahoutsukai no Yome

Mahoutsukai no Yome or “The Ancient Magu’s bride” is a fantasy anime with a protagonist that is not trapped in another world, with no harem in sight, and is a female GASP!! To be fair this type of anime was fairly common back in the day but now days is just refreshing. The anime revolves around Hatori Chise, a sixteen year old girl that has lost everything in life. Chise has signed a contract with some shady individuals and put herself up for auction. She definitely didn’t care what happen to her life after that, but things change when she is purchased by a mystical magus that not only offers her freedom but for her to become his apprentice, also hopefully in the future if she wishes it, his bride.

Also look how handsome he is!!

I have found this series so far very charming, but at the same time melancholic. Perhaps due to Chise’s disposition to everything, I mean, she was always alone and now she finds herself with a family. The anime relies on the feelings of awe and wonder that invokes, with all the magic and creatures that Chise encounters. So far I have found myself hooked, wondering about  the ins and outs of this world where the normal and mundane share a space with the mythical and magical world, that is slowly dying.

Very charming indeed.

But if we’re talking about shows that rely in a feeling of awe and wonder, the next one is all about that! Maybe it’s more about the mystery of the world. That anime is…

Shoujo Shuumatsu Ryouko

Girls’ Last Tour is a slice-of-life with quite the premise. Our protagonists, Chi and Yuu, are traveling through what it seems to be the ruins of modern civilization, a post apocalyptic world if you will. They travel the land on top of a NSU Kettenkrad, a vehicle that looks like the combination of a motorcycle and a tank, with no particular destination.

By the way, there’s zero action in this Anime

The anime is your typical “healing Slice-of-Life anime”, but every now and then sneaks an existential question that makes you wonder about life for a few hours. The show is slow, very slow, but the charm is in the interaction of the characters with each other, and the world around them.

 

She deserves it, Yuu always deserves it

So the show is like a Kino’s journey with a lot less people, a lot less! In their travels so far they have encounter just one person. That person’s job was to tell us that there are other people in this world, even though it doesn’t look like it. Oh! Speaking of Kino’s Journey….

Kino no Tabi -The Beautiful World- The Animated Series

Kino’s Journey is back. You know, I never watched the original series, I always wanted to read the light novels first. So I approached this new show uneasy, but I found out that it’s suppose to be more of a remake than a second season. The show does a good job in explaining things to newcomers, well except for why the motorcycle can talk and why nobody seems to care! The fact that later we find a dog that talks puts me more at ease since that let’s us know that the world has a little magic to it and these things can be common.

You know that the motorcycle had the balls to be surprise at prospect of a talking dog!!

The series revolves around Kino and Hermes, Kino’s motorrad, and their travels. The anime showcases the beautiful and ugly parts of this world and humans in general. Kino and Hermes encounters many different cultures, and for the most part, Kino doesn’t try to change their point of view, Kino goes along with the places that they’re in, (and some places do some questionable things) it’s like they are following star trek’s prime directive. Well you know what they say, when in Rome do as the Romans do.

Also eat as much as you can of the country’s

specialty.

Kino’s Journey is a pretty interesting show and since is a remake there’s no reason to be afraid of jumping right in. It will make you question some things I guarantee. There’s so many other shows I want to talk about but I’m running out of time. I might have to come back and give you a follow up or maybe my normal blog “The Final Episode” might have to change to “The End of the Season”, and I’ll talk about more shows then, who knows.

THERE’S SO MUCH TO WATCH!!!

So what are you watching this season? Is there any show that you want us to talk about (no for real just tell me that’ll make my job easier), let us know. Now I return to the deepest darkest corners of my dwelling. Good-bye for now my friends.

I’m out!