It’s that time once again my friends, though this time I’m afraid I’m taking it pretty easy this season. We had some shows that got dropped, so it seems I’m mostly sticking to returning series or “part twos” for these winter nights and hey, I’ll take what I can get. Especially when bangers like Vinland Saga are included in that season two lineup. Normally I try to save my anime thoughts for these articles, but I’m afraid we had some wild opinions that needed further justification so I’ll be sure to link to those as we come across them. Without further adieu, let’s get started.

Blue Lock Part Two

I wanted to give an update to this series as I finally caught up and damn a lot has changed.This series started out as an athletic edgelord's wet dream. Every character was out for themselves and it felt like the author couldn’t stop being obsessed with DARKNESS and SELFISHNESS. However, over time the tone has changed and while this is still an intense sports anime where dreams are on the line, the characters are being… developed? And humanized? And made fun to root for??? Now that’s what I’m talking about. It took a bit to get set up and in place, but ever since episode six or so I’ve been really enjoying this one despite knowing shit about soccer. At this point I do recommend anyone who hasn’t yet to check it out if the premise sounded interesting but they were waiting to pull the trigger.

Tokyo Revengers Season 2

God these fucking men are not in middle school. Or high school for that matter. I don’t care what anyone says, it’s absolutely insane how young these kids are supposed to be considering how they are portrayed both artistically and from a writing perspective. Anyway, as far as the actual story goes, I'm happy to be back in time traveling gang warfare. We have moved on to the next big gang leader, and we’ve got to once again change history by altering the events of the past. So far nothing huge has happened, except the manga readers have warned the ending of this series is a catastrophe to fans of conclusion everywhere. I hesitate to say “pick this up baby” for that reason and I’ll have to wait to see how this season goes before being able to tell you guys one way or the other. Sometimes a great journey can save a poor ending, sometimes it can’t.

Vinland Saga Season 2

Hell fucking yes my dudes. Viking action is back… if you can wait a bit for the action that is. This season has begun the true series of Vinland as apparently the past entire season was merely the prologue? (citation needed from manga nerds). Assuming that’s the case, it makes sense that we are now slowing events down as we build back up from the beginning. Our MC has taken a break from the harsh realities of Viking life and has settled for being a farm slave. However, a new MC who has just recently lost his home to Vikings isn’t ready to give up on battle just yet. Each weekly episode has a ton of interesting commentaries about slavery during the Viking period and servitude in general, and it makes my brain dance trying to make sure I catch everything the author is piecing together. It’s an amazing series that keeps you invested even when the pace is slowing down for a bit. Highly recommended for anyone who loves anime, as so far this series has been a masterpiece anime in the making.

Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill

The only reason I even picked this up was because it had studio MAPPA attached to it. That being said, after the first three episodes I think this anime offers a uniquely relaxing experience if you’re in the mood for it. Essentially this is a parody isekai where the MC has the ability to order cooking ingredients from this world’s Japan into another fantasy world where he then uses said dishes to get ahead. After making a contract with a loyal yet ferociously hungry wolf, Fenrir, the MC then sets out to explore the world while learning about new dishes along the way. I usually can’t stand these types of shows as “relaxing” soon becomes boring, but so far the antics of Fenrir and the MC’s ability to problem solve have kept me happy. I plan to keep watching this only because I dropped some other anime and I now have some spare time. If you’re looking for a brain = off situation, I do think this might be a fit for you. Don’t expect the typical MAPPA action-packed scenes though. And for god’s sake don’t watch this when you’re hungry.

The Ice Guy And His Cool Female Colleague

I should have known this would be hot garbage, or well, cold garbage from the very title alone, but like an absolute buffoon I gave it a chance to be my breakout romance of the season. That shit backfired. This was undoubtedly the worst anime I checked out this season, from boring characters and repetitive jokes to a romance that is founded on absolutely nothing. I did a full article explaining just how empty this series was which you can find here if you want to see what hell looks like. Otherwise I’ll leave with this: not recommended to anyone for any reason, period.

Don’t Toy With Me, Nagatoro-san Season 2

I’ll keep this brief as this is another case where I have a dedicated article for my full thoughts, but essentially this series lost me. The characters stayed stagnant for too long, and every joke is about as predictable as whether or not the sky will be blue tomorrow. Occasionally a well-timed gag will get a smile out of me, but those are too few and far between to take the series seriously. At this point I skim the episode each week to look for article ideas or anything crazy to happen, and then take my leave after a good five minutes or so. That’s all the time I can stand to see the same repetitive shit occur over and over. Not really recommended unless you LOVED the first season and want to relax with more of the same. In that case go for it.

Buddy Daddies

Okay why the fuck is this show actually bussing? After SPY X FAMILY turned into more of a cartoon sitcom, I started to lose interest in the series somewhat. Then when I heard that Buddy Daddies, essentially the exact same format except two dads and one little girl, was airing I feared the absolute worst. “I’m already getting worn out of the idea, now I don’t even have Yor’s hot ass on screen sometimes?”, I pondered. However, god damn Kinky told me to check this out regardless and I’ve been delighted so far. This is exactly what I wanted. STAKES, ladies and gentleman. People shoot, people die, people cry. This show striked the balance I’ve been craving with action, comedy, character building, family building, and solid animation as the cherry on top. Only time can tell if it will stick the landing, but so far I recommend this for anyone who enjoys SPY x FAMILY or anyone who tried SPY X FAMILY out but desired more character growth and progression. And like… those who desired for the spies and assassins to actually kill people and do their job rather than Yor failing to cook, learning to cook, and then failing at cooking again anyway.

Spy Classroom

I try not to end on a bad note with these, but holy fuck this anime was something else. It may not have been my pick for the worst overall, however fear not because it certainly earned the title of most disappointing. The first episode built up a solid start as we were introduced to the main character and the premise was set up: a group of spy girls are tasked with completing an Impossible Mission after training with a professional spy for 30 days. It was interesting enough, and the first episode contained a few twists and turns to keep you invested. Then in episode two, they said fuck the very concept of pacing itself, and decided to HAVE THE GIRLS START THE IMPOSSIBLE MISSION AND SKIP THE TRAINING AYO WHAT THE FUCK? By the end of episode three, they had beaten the Impossible Mission thanks to a bunch of offscreen training and a few asspulls that made no fucking sense and weren’t foreshadowed properly. I skipped through the fourth episode to ensure I should drop this series, and now I have. A decent idea completely tarnished by horrid pacing that ruins the opening sequences. It may be able to turn the rest around and churn out a decent end product, but I’m afraid your boy is not gonna take that chance and drop it here.

That’s it for this season. It’s crazy just how many anime came out (over 50, according to AniChart) and yet I was only able to cover this many. Hope I’m not missing any diamonds in the rough. What anime are you guys watching this time around? Is it mostly just continuations like me, or did you find some good originals to try out? Bundle up, turn on some anime, and say hello to winter anime 2023 in the comments below!