Anime Review Roundup

Cute girls doing cute things is relaxing enough at the best of times, but when you take this particular anime genre and set it in the idyllic countryside, it gets even more relaxing still. Non Non Biyori Season 1 follows a city girl whose family moves to the country, where she makes friends with three local girls in a school so small, that every student, regardless of age, shares one, small classroom. This is life as you would want it to be, which is just what you need from a show like this. A few years ago, I went and imported the Region 1 DVDs, so much do I love Non Non Biyori, but this year, we get the whole franchise of three series and one movie on UK Blu-ray!

The fun is on the wane with That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime - Season Two Part Two. Isekai shows like this are so common nowadays, that it’s easy to become jaded with each new iteration of the genre. But Slime initially avoided that cynicism by having its protagonist reborn as the lowest of the low in this particular fantasy RPG world. The fun was seeing the antagonists, and indeed protagonists constantly shocked and wrong-footed by the Slime’s skill, intelligence, and as he progressed, power. But we’re at the point where the Slime is god-tier in power, and that makes for a very uninteresting narrative. Click on the review for my theory as to why such shows are popular.

Amanchu. It’s funny how the space of a few years changes things. When I first saw Amanchu, it felt like a pretty unique and quirky take on the slice of life ‘iyashikei’ healing shows, following a couple of girls who pursue their passion for scuba diving. It has a idiosyncratic sense of humour, and character designs that go super deformed at the drop of a hat. And in the intervening years, MVM went full bore on the Aria franchise, an earlier show from the same creators. That’s a slice of life show about gondoliers on a futuristic planet Mars, and suddenly Amanchu no longer feels fresh and original, rather more a retread when it comes to its humour and writing styles; even the mascot cat characters.