Anime Blog (Summer 2023)

Michael Reynolds
5 min readOct 2, 2023

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Summer has come and gone, and this anime season is absolutely stacked. Not a super long post, but I have finally finished Breaking Bad, so I can get back to being a weeb instead of a meth head :)

I also started my degree again, and will be in school continuously for about 2 years to get my Bachelor’s in professional writing. I had an AA in English, and after a bit of time off and a bit of career searching by taking a broad spectrum of classes, I’ve found that this is what I want to do. Anyways, that is to say that if you notice anything new in the coming months in terms of my writing, style, pacing, or anything else, that is why!

Onto the rankings! But first, the rules.

Konosuba is one of my favorite anime/light novel series of all time. It takes a very generic, trope-filled genre, Isekai, and creates a ton of comedic moments, ironic humor, and pokes fun at the very genre it is. I love it. The new spinoff, Konosuba: An Explosion On This Wonderful World!, is not quite that. The irony and humor we get in Konosuba comes from following Kazuma. When our main character is Megumin, a character who is already in this Isekai world, it becomes a totally different tone. That said, it is still quite funny, purely because Megumin and Yun Yun have a very good dynamic together. Yun Yun is usually the laughingstock of Konosuba but this spinoff gives her a lot more credit as a character. Essentially, this is just Megumin’s backstory. It’s good, but not nearly at the level of Konosuba.

Verdict: A

That one marriage anime, it is Tonikaku Kawaii again! The second season is alright. Season 1 had a lot of tension and drama in it, to give a nice balance to the very wholesome marriage that Nasa and Tsukasa have. Season 2 really lacks that drama factor, with the only dramatic point being the mysterious background of Tsukasa that keen-eyed watchers are already able to piece together. It is not bad by any means, but it is certainly worse than season 1 which had a better balance.

Verdict: From A to A-

Love is War is so close to finally concluding! This has to be the most talked about anime in my blogs, since unlike a lot of anime here, I have watched every season as it has come out. A lot of the time I like to binge watch series, but Love is War is the first that I kept up with every season it released. Anyways yeah this movie, Love is War: The Kiss That Never Ends, is great! More Love is War is always good. If I am not mistaken, there is just one season left of content for us.

Verdict: Still Low S tier!

There is something about a lost mid-twenties male adopting a wholesome daughter that just gives you that sense of perfection. It was done in Usagi Drop (do not read the manga:), and it is done again here in Buddy Daddies! The name is definitely not the best, but do not let it fool you, this is a wholesome show, now with two Dads! Basically, cross Usagi Drop or any other dad adoption show with some of the action of Trigun or Spy x Family, and you have yourself this great show.

Verdict: A

Full disclaimer here, I have not quite finished this anime. This is purely because I wanted to keep up the 3 month release cycle, and I have run out of days in September. And I really did not want to rush watching the masterpiece known as Oshi No Ko. Epsiode 1 alone is some of the best anime we have ever seen, and the story is compelling and engaging. I am at episode 6 as of the time of posting this blog, so my opinion comes from there. If the ending flops or is just ok, I will add a note in the next blog talking about the changed rank, but based on what I’ve seen, this idol drama is nearly perfect. Great tension, gorgeous animation, deep characters, and strong, morally gray motivations. Episode 1 is maybe the best singular episode of anime, especially if we get rid of season finale episodes. Episode 1 may as well be season 1, while the rest of the anime is season 2. I (personally) do not see how this could possibly fall off enough to not be S tier, but if that somehow is the case, I will update that next blog.

Verdict: Probably S

And that wraps it up for now! As mentioned earlier, now that Breaking Bad is not eating away at my anime time, the next few anime blogs will be much longer. It will be about 6 or 7 months before I get into Better Call Saul, and I plan to watch a bunch of classics that I have skipped on. Most notably: Chainsaw Man, Re Zero, and in the future, AoT and Death Note. Classics that I just haven’t gotten into yet. Be sure to look out for those! Thanks for reading and for all of your support!

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Michael Reynolds

I write blog posts about anime reviews and other miscellaneous things that interest me.