Honestly I think the funniest part of the finale was committing to the artistic decision to never let the audience see Shiki's RG face. An absolute masterful case of trolling the audience for 13 years and running.
IMO, Joshua was probably done the dirtiest by the adaptation because his week was definitely weakened the most by the transition into a 13 episode anime, while Shiki had a lot of minor touches in her relationship with Eri that elevated her character overall and Beat at least hit his major plot (heh) beats well.
I definitely agree the visual style was what really made the anime stand out, it's very rare to see a video game anime faithfully recreate the source material's artstyle for good looking animation but they pulled it off!
Final Reactions: I've Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level
One of the most wholesome isekal anime of the cour, on par with KamiHiro from Fall 2020 except this time with more comedy instead of contrasting between worlds. With references, hijinx, and positivity galore, this anime really emphasizes on the slow life and fun! Indeed, it was a fun watch! I really wonder if there will be more...
The 86 special episode was pure recap, so if anyone wants to give their take on it now that it's done now is the time.
The second cour is coming out in fall this year and huh, looking at the season there are actually quite a bit of interesting stuff here- Mushoku second cour, requiem of the rose king, Komi, blue period, faraway paladin, ousama ranking, pirate princess Lena and Lupin 6, it's going to be a pretty busy season for me
Edited by Mami on Jun 26th 2021 at 8:32:58 PM
I absolutely cannot help but adore handsome 2D boysSo I'm a Spider, So What?: I doubt the last episode's going to change my opinion, so to get it out of the way... Kumoko's great to watch, the human part less so. CG kind of wavers between bad and decent, but it's never as bad as what the humans get - it's like someone on the production team absolutely hated Shun and co and wanted to feature them as little as possible, but still needed a bare minimum of screen time for them? It pretty much results in them skipping or cutting down the more interesting parts that I've heard about for that half, so now all their appearances do is take time away from the main attraction. Kumoko Best Girl.
The World Ends With You: I guess it was fine? Never played the original game, but only the first episode or two felt particularly rushed to me. The art style was nice, but nothing about this show really wowed me a whole lot.
Blue Reflection: Man, I really enjoyed the game, but this just does nothing for me. Even when it started involving elements I was familiar with, I just wasn't invested at all in what was going on. Also, everything in this show looks really flat, it's difficult to tell if there's any kind of depth half the time. Guess I'll be dropping this.
Cardfight Vanguard Overdress: This is in a weird spot for me. On the one hand, this was a terrible card game show - The game itself was barely played, and the titular mechanic was never explained (what was it, something about placing a unit over one of the rear guards like it was the vanguard unit, but only for level 2?). On the other hand, it was a pretty fun So L show! I like the main cast well enough, Yu-yu and Danji radiate more yaoi energy than the usual card game buddies... I guess Yu-yu's voice is the only thing that really bugs me. It's like the VA is straining to make him sound cute, and you just get this weird, high-pitched imitation of a voice. Also, I guess this'll be split-cour? Neat.
Don't Toy With Me, Nagatoro: The first episode had me worried that Nagatoro would be a massive bitch, but that wasn't quite the case, thankfully. Compared to her episode 1 antics, everything after that's a lot more light-hearted in nature. She also isn't immune to counter-attacks from either Senpai or her friends, who also are pretty friendly overall. Also, those expressions she makes are god-tier.
I've Been Killing Slimes For 300 Years...: A very cute and silly show. Not much to really say; if you like laid-back, slice of life isekai with barely-hidden yuri vibes, you should enjoy this a lot. Would definitely like more isekai like this to exist.
I don't recall if I mentioned it before, but I dropped Osamake a while back since it wasn't really doing it's main draw all that well. And Bokuben did it better anyway.
Final Reactions: Bishounen Tanteidan
Indeed a beautiful anime in plot and aesthetic! This for me is an anime on youth, mystery, and awe. It certainly delivered on the awe with the insanely beautiful visuals, on the mystery with beautiful logic (wait, is logic even supposed to be beautiful? meh...), and on youth with Mayumi's character. A round of applause!
Edited by thuse on Jun 26th 2021 at 9:00:38 PM
Alright, seems like the final episode of 86 is just a recap. Okay then.
Final Impressions
- Bishounen Tanteidan: The Pretty Boy Detective Club has dedicated their lives to being beautiful and by the gods, the animators obliged them. Every frame is fireworks. It’s not only bloom and sparkles either; there’s a boatload of creative cuts and transitions and Art Shifts. Heck, just give the (incredibly catchy) OP a watch, that’s how good the whole show looks. As for the “detective” part of the title, I really enjoyed the unorthodox cases our posse of pretty boys handle. From looking for a missing star to something eerily similar to an attempted political assassination, there’s a healthy variety of mysteries to unravel, and it’s fun to see everyone’s perspectives in these group discussions. Mayumi is a fun, snarky protagonist, and she bounces off well with the bishounen she insists are not her friends. Sure, Mayumi. The cast is every bit as colorful as they look and I’m sure I’ll be able to remember them long after this show is done.
- 86: It’s rare for me to care about war dramas, so I went into this show expecting a polished but generic A-1 Pictures action anime. Little did I know I’d encounter my favorite anime of the cour, heck, of the year so far. I love the portrayal of war here, neither glorified nor downplayed. Lots of people die and every death is a kick in the gut, but the Spearhead Squadron will continue on with living their daily lives to the fullest, because they’ve decided their shitty situation shouldn’t stop them from seizing happiness from wherever they can find it. Meanwhile Major Lena Milize is easy to root for as one of the few likable people in an apathetic, racist nation. The directing is fantastic, in particular how the episodes are split to show us the major’s perspective juxtaposed with the squadron’s. Plus there’s just a lot of downright amazing cinematography such as the bevy of shots where an object in the foreground blocks Lena’s neck from view, in the episode where they reveal that the Legion has been decapitating soldiers to add their brains to their army. Or Fido’s montage video before his death. There’s nary a hitch in the visual fidelity either, and the CGI for the spider-tank battles are top-class. The choreography for these fights are excellent as well. You can feel the weight of the spider-tanks and it just makes Shin’s agile movements all the more impressive. Sawano’s music is a good fit for the somber tone of the show. I also love the immense amount of detail in every episode; it really fuels the theorycrafting, and often you can figure out worldbuilding and plot elements way before they’re revealed in the story proper. I seriously pumped a fist when they revealed that Shin and his brother were Annette’s childhood friends. Even light novel readers are singing it praises. This is a masterpiece, and when the second cour rolls in I will definitely start a thread for it. Fuckin’ glory to the Spearhead Squadron!
Oh wow, I just realized that Pretty Boy Detective Club was a real series and not just something Kinako made up as OC, haha. Glad to hear it was good. I'll have to check it out.
GM: AGOG S4 & F/WC RP; Co-GM: TABA, SOTR, UUA RP; Sub-GM: TTS RP. I have brought peace, freedom, justice, and security to my new Empire. Final Reactions: Moriarty the Patriot
This has been one hell of a ride! The first part got me to read the manga and go back to learning more about the OG Conan Doyle stories. The second part was fine, I guess, though with the bonus of having knowledge of the manga, I found that they cut out and changed some stuff from there.
My side of the fandom was partly livid with the liberties taken in the anime, but in hindsight, these were probably needed to fix holes left with a character gone (presumably because copyright) and to fit all of the story into 2 cours. Overall, while I do applaud the anime for patching and summarizing things well and for giving me a renewed interest in Conan Doyle while also making me cry on the inside, I do have to admit that by the second part, there was significant potential lost.
Apart from that, the art was cool, the animation was standard, and the voice acting was as expected. Round of applause!
Edited by thuse on Jun 27th 2021 at 11:49:12 PM
Final Impressions
- Megalo Box: They could have done a retread of season one and made another hype and hot-blooded punchfest. But no, they decided to make a thoroughly engrossing character drama about dealing with addiction, guilt and loss. It’s about Joe slowly rediscovering what is precious to him and why he shouldn’t lose to self-loathing, and what he has to do to get back home. These themes are reflected in the other characters as well, most prominently with Sachio and the other kids who have had to find ways to cope with losing both Joe and Nanbu. Chief and Mac are also fantastic additions to the cast, both people who’s experienced the lowest points of their lives and survived. I also appreciate the beautiful way the show portrays Mexican culture, particularly with how issues with immigrants are tackled, as well as the melancholic guitar in the excellent soundtrack. And mind you, the fights are still great, the boxing scenes here surpass the original’s. This one deserves to become one of the classics.
And honestly, just wow at this season. So many shows with top-class writing.
- Higehiro: I quite liked the first half, but at some point I started losing interest, it seems. It was nice that Yoshida never really became a creepy asshole, but the hints of romance at the end were pretty disappointing, even if it'd be a couple years onward. Sayu's mother is Ragyo-tier shitty, which is an impressive feat, at least. Also, what the hell did shaving and beards have to do with anything?
And with that, that's pretty much every 1-cour show done. Finally, I am free. For about three days. Soo y'all in the Summer thread I suppose.
Odd Taxi: Hands down the best of the season. They were able to wrap almost all plotlines nicely in the last ep. but still left the room for potential sequel. Noit sure if we'll see one. though, considering that the main mystery is not a mystery anymore.
Characters were great, writing was super on point (the episode about game addict was a bit dragged, but whatever) and the ending was shoking.
Anhd I actully guessed all 3 main things: Odokawas condition, murderer and who he hid in his house correctly.
Either way, I do not mind seeing more fronm the same staff.
Final Reactions
MARS RED
Kinda confusing in the first episodes, but after the earthquake, it started coming together. What I saw was an interesting take on vampires in the context of theatre best summed up in Defrott's last line in the show in which he quoted Shakespeare's "All the World's a Stage" bit from As You Like It with an additional line: "But we are outisde of it". Awesome by analysis, but the execution could have been done better...
ODDTAXI
Easily one of the best anime of the season, which makes it all the more a shame that anime polls have this show below the top 10. One of the greatest sleeper hits that really screamed mystery, suspense, and hard-hitting from start to finish! I will gladly recommend this anime to anyone wishing to watch the newest anime on the block! This deserves the recognition!
Edited by thuse on Jun 28th 2021 at 9:26:51 PM
Now that almost everything has wrapped up, might as well sort out my thoughts since I watched an unusually large amount this season. In roughly ascending order of preference:
Dropped
- Tokyo Revengers: It's not bad (aside from the unbelievably sloppy censored version), but the story and characters just couldn't keep me hooked.
OK:
- Fairy Ranmaru: I was expecting something closer to Bouei-bu, but this took itself seriously, maybe a bit too much? Still had some nice stylistic moments.
- The World Ends With You: A barebones adaptation, but keeps the visual flair of the game and adds a few nice moments between the characters. I'm having a hard time thinking of a better non-Visual Novel video game adaptation.
- Back Arrow: Just incredibly dumb fun, emphasis on both dumb and fun.
- Bakuten: A fairly by-the-numbers sports story, but with some great visuals and a nice comfy tone.
Really Good But Flawed
- Mars Red: The setting and theatrical styling is great, but it feels like it's missing some critical connective tissue that would've bolstered the cast's stories.
- Dynazenon: A mecha show where the cast is more concerned with everyday life and not the giant monsters has a lot of potential, but the attention wasn't distributed evenly. The antagonists especially would've benefited from some more focus, setting up contrasts with the protagonists.
- Vivy: It's very, very strong almost all the way, but the final arc just doesn't quite stick the landing, feels like it's wrapped up a bit too neatly.
- Godzilla Singular Point: This one's right on the edge. It does go very hard on the jargon, and while it all does get pieced together in the end, it still felt there was something missing. Probably should give this a rewatch, which might bump it up.
Really Good:
- Shadows House: I almost dropped this, since a supernatural mystery show where the viewpoint protagonist has absolutely zero interest in the obviously mysterious and supernatural goings-on is a bizarre experience, but it managed to bring it back around. There's still the last episode to go, but this last mini-arc is apparently anime-original, so it shouldn't be of too much consequence. Hopefully. And I've heard the manga's even better, so I'll definitely be giving that a go.
- Nagatoro: The teasing obviously gets the most attention, but it's the Everyone Can See It dynamic that makes it worth sticking with.
- Bishounen Tanteidan: Signature Shaft style everywhere and it's great. My biggest complaint is that there just isn't more of it.
- Nomad: Megalo Box S2: I already liked the first season (and think most of the people who disliked its ending missed the point), but this followup takes a very different track and is stellar. Easily the best soundtrack of the season (and probably year).
- 86: Frankly, the story really isn't that groundbreaking, but the execution is absolutely immaculate. Even just sticking to the simple conceit of dividing each episode between each side of the story and never cutting between them adds a lot, and then they build even more on top of that. Eagerly awaiting the next season.
- Odd Taxi: Incredible. Pretty grounded and down-to-earth, but with a unique cast of characters, and some noir-ish vibes. And a very bold ending to say the least.
Anime of the Season:
- Thunderbolt Fantasy S3: Goddamn it's just so much fun. Third movie when? Please just give me more of Ban Gun Ha and his adventures with Shou.
Edited by Eschaton on Jun 29th 2021 at 1:08:08 AM
Okay, impressions for things I finished this season:
- Back Arrow: A complete mess of a story, but fun
- Spider: Not over yet, but who know when the last episode will be. Anyway, it's an okay take on strong source material. Could be worse, could be better
- Slime 300: A mediocre adaption of decent source material. It filled the moe comedy niche for the season, and that's about it
- Mars Red: The story has severe problems, but the presentation is great
- Pretty Boy Detective Club: Very pretty. Writing is... okay?
- Dynazenon: Bad. Boring characters, not much plot, action is worse than in Gridman
- Godzilla: Uh. It has neat ideas, cool moments, and likable characters, but it's also not terribly coherent
Shadows House remains as the one anime on my list that hasn't ended yet, and the rest are still continuing, but since Summer Cour's starting soon, I should probably say some final words to part:
It had the best of times, it had the worst of times. It certainly rivaled my experiences from Fall 2020. There were so many anime that delivered (some of them did so passionately); others weren't so lucky. From the ones on air every week to the ones on Netflix, these anime were really enlightening and they were overall a fun watch!
Another season to come, another set of anime... Farewell, Spring! It was a blast!
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86 and Odd Taxi both have incredible writing, I agree.
Final Impressions
- Mars Red: Most interesting vampire-related fiction I’ve seen in recent memory. Sometimes the story is too disjointed for its own good but I kinda like how the story lets its audience piece things together. Still, both the plot and characterization aren’t tight enough for my liking. The storytelling is the type to rely more on drama than rationality. The real star of the show is the shot composition, with constantly thoughtful use of the minimalistic visual details to convey mood, atmosphere and plot progression. One particularly vivid example would be how Colonel Maeda’s life and story concludes with his vampiric grave marker overlapping with his deceased lover’s. Overall it evokes the feeling of watching a stage play, complete with the spiels of purple prose. Not something I’d buy a ticket to the theater for, but good enough to get my attention, for a TV show about one of my less liked mystical creatures.
- Odd Taxi: Like, holy shit man. There’s a buffet of well-written anime this cour but even against the stiff competition, Odd Taxi runs laps around them. It’s just a brilliant, intricate thriller with oodles of plot threads that somehow manage to tie up neatly together at the end. Every episode gives out tons of seemingly innocuous details, such as radio programs or novelty erasers, and crams foreshadowing into each of them. I found myself running to discussion threads after every episode to try and piece together what was going on and what was gonna happen, and it is oh so satisfying. Also love how the dialogue sounds so natural, yet none of it feels like pointless chatter. The characters all feel authentic; the show has an aptitude for selling us the motivations and beliefs of the animal-people that populate it. I don’t want to say too much. Honestly, just go and watch this. It’s a wild and amazing ride.
Only Shadows House left, I think. But I also have pretty positive impressions of that one. This cour was amazing.
Edited by fillerdude on Jun 29th 2021 at 3:46:40 AM
Being a puppet wuxia junkie, I completely agree that Thunderbolt Fantasy is AOTS! Can't wait for the inevitable movie to tide us over until Season 4!
That said, Vivy's OST is out, and it's great, as expected! I like Disc 1 better than Disc 2, though, especially the various Vivy themes.
GM: AGOG S4 & F/WC RP; Co-GM: TABA, SOTR, UUA RP; Sub-GM: TTS RP. I have brought peace, freedom, justice, and security to my new Empire.Final Impressions
- Osamake: Romcom Where The Childhood Friend Won’t Lose: Spoilers, all the romantic options are childhood friends. This is definitely one of the weaker harem stories I’ve seen in a while. What’s sad is that girls are actually quite likable, it’s just that the stuff they get up to isn’t engaging. I reckon the show would actually be better having the cast get into more shenanigans and zany romantic tugs-of-war instead of focusing on the MC restarting his acting career. You know, embrace the dumb fun. The ending is terrible too, there’s barely any indication it the last episode was the final one.
Technically it was a Winter show but final episode came out recently. T He ending of Wonder Egg Priority was a big down fro me.
It was clear that despite having almost 3 months, the staff had no resources to made the final ep as action heavey as the previous ones. But th main issue is not with it. New final ep does not move the story much. A bunch of new plots were added for not much reason. And the main plot was not resolved (they actually put a buch of things back) and ended with cliffhanger.
Edited by Nachtwandler on Jul 2nd 2021 at 12:27:33 PM

Final Impressions