This season I ate so good that I daresay I’m overstuffed. Sadly even anime that I enjoyed to some degree got dropped this time around as I was pressed for time between work, the holidays, and you know… rewatching every episode of Chainsaw Man cause it was so damn good. I don’t like a long intro when there’s so much ground to cover so let’s strap on those boots and get walking here.

Spy x Family Part Two

Okay, well, if you’re a diehard fan you can go ahead and put your pistol to my head. The second season part didn’t hold much weight for me compared to the first. In the first part there was a lot of setting up and establishing character relationships, and I suppose that misled me into thinking this would be a comedy action drama with some serious business going on. In this second season, “serious” is the last thing on the creators’ mind as we’re taken week for week on a twenty minute adventure so ridiculous and often inconsequential that I felt like I was back watching Ed, Edd, and Eddy again. The stakes are pretty low this season and I struggle to think of many memorable moments or sequences. Some gags did elicit some laughter out of me, but unfortunately many were predictable and overstayed their welcome in my opinion (that stupid fucking episode with the kid that didn’t even matter for one). All in all thanks to the feedback from Doujins commenters last time I wrote an opinion on this show, I've been able to curb my expectations and try to focus on the comedy spirit that has now completely taken over the show. However, I just don’t know if I can handle another entire season and movie on the way if all these characters keep staying static. Hopefully the break in between will allow me to reset and I’ll be looking forward to some more Forger antics when they come back, but for now I’m happy to see this rest.

Akiba Maid War

This show was carried by its premise for a long time. I mean, maid cafes engaging in gang warfare? How can you not show some interest? Unfortunately that premise kept me chugging until about halfway through the season and I no longer could stick with it after that. The older I get the less patience I have for silly antics that don’t result in character development, plot development, or some semblance of progress. So midway I had to hit the eject button and start skimming through the episodes. What really sucks is that the series picked back up in the last few episodes. I watched the finale with the intent to skip through it, but ended up watching the whole production because I was interested to see how things would turn out. It was a satisfying ending that showed growth for the show’s cast, not so much personally but how the MC was able to change her environment, and god damn it made me second guess myself for skimming the previous episodes. Alas what’s done is done, I simply wish this anime kept the quality more consistent rather than being front and back loaded. Regardless for those who have time on their hands and are ready for a wild watch, it could be worth going back to now that the ending has been secured.

To Your Eternity: Season Two

We’re only halfway through this second season still, but holy fuck it’s just as good as the first. This anime is a masterclass in character writing. In this season one of our new heroes is Bon, a prissy prince born into royalty who has some growing to do. In any other anime, I would fucking hate this man and wish death upon him. He would be the goofy, useless, almost-gay-but-not guy that contributes nothing and wastes the audiences’ time in an attempt to bring comedic relief. But this is a big boy anime, and in big boy land we dare to flesh out those hard characters. Through trials and tribulations we see our MC show Bon that there are some things in life you can’t see, and perhaps those things are even more important than what you can. Of course all this is accompanied by a continuing plot and ever changing goals for the protagonist. If I had to whip my dick out and complain, the animation here is truly lackluster given the beauty of the story it’s portraying. I really wish a bigger studio like MAPPA could have given this series the visual justice it deserves, but alas the animation is mostly serviceable and if you’re watching this you’re probably focused on the writing anyway. A wonderful watch that continues to prove it’s worth your time with this follow-up installment.

Do It Yourself!

For an anime about doing shit, not much was done for the longest time in this series. Each week would contain about 15 minutes of mind numbing “character building” and dumb memes, and then maybe 5 minutes of actual construction if you’re lucky. I couldn’t handle it by the halfway point and started skimming. Unlike Akiba Maid War, I don’t regret it either. While skipping around I encountered a fair bit of seemingly pointless scenes when I was really hoping this show would be a good learning experience and teach me a fair bit about basic DIY. I will say this anime was almost saved by the American girl who says dumb shit all the time and speaks Engrish with the thickest accent I’ve ever heard, but even her antics began to run out of steam by the halfway point. I don’t recommend this for any reason, even if you are wanting to learn more about DIY. You’d do better with YouTube videos.

Blue Lock

Well I’m behind as fuck on this one so I’ll keep this brief. At first this anime sounded awesome from the idea of “soccer, but edgy” as so many sports anime are all about teamwork and friendship. This promised to be a change of pace, however in practice I started to wonder “is this new pace good though?”. It doesn’t take long watching a team of selfish bastards fight over the soccer ball before you become okay with the idea of the entire cast being thrown into a meat grinder and calling it a day. Thankfully after the rocky start the show recognizes that a bunch of assholes won’t make a good cast and starts to develop people beyond basic anime stereotypes, which has shown promise. That’s about episode six and that’s where I’m stuck at the moment, so it wouldn’t be fair to try and recommend this or not at this point. All I can say is if you enjoy soccer or assholes or any combination of the two, it might be worth a look. UPDATE: In the final stages of editing the article I’m coming back to this section. Future Snooze can now confirm the character development continues and I’m enjoying a good bit of the cast now. Godspeed.

Gundam: The Witch From Mercury

This was my first ever Gundam series so I didn’t know what to expect besides robots and politics. Sure enough, both those things are present here though you have to wait a good amount of episodes before anything happens on the political front. Over time it becomes clear that the vast majority of the younger folk are involved in politics whether they really want to be or not. I’m enjoying this ride so far. The characters are pretty endearing and it’s hard to predict where the story is going. I have a soft spot for big robot action and the scenes are done pretty well to where each robot has its own unique weapons and fighting style. In the grand scheme of things it still feels like we are mostly setting up and figuring out the political landscape at the moment so I don’t have much to say besides if you like Gundam, nothing seems horribly amiss here, and if you don’t you’re probably not going to be converted by this installment.

Bocchi The Rock

This anime had NO RIGHT being as enjoyable as it was. Somehow I was on the edge of my seat, clamoring for some more Bocchi each week. In some ways it’s pretty reminiscent of every other music anime. Girl has low self-confidence. Finds a band. Grows confidence. Call it a day. Yet that journey here is done so well from a comedic and realistic perspective. The animators weren’t afraid to take risks during the lighthearted moments, often drawing the bandmates as ugly or in different styles and I think it does wonders for the comedy here. It gets rarer by the year that I really enjoy anime comedy, but this one managed to elicit a fair bit of chuckles. Really the best moments here for me were when the bandmates simply hung out and did basic shit while trying to grow their popularity/funds. The chemistry is very down to earth and fun to watch as I had many moments where I went “damn that’s almost like a conversation my friends and I have had”. If you’re a huge extrovert and have no sympathy for introverts I can see this coming off as very slow and boring, but if you ever struggled with anxiety or love band anime, this is absolutely worth going back for. Surprisingly one of my favorites this season and I hope we get a continuation down the road, though it did end on a fine stopping point.

Chainsaw Man

Yeah okay. Alright. It’s time. Yep, it’s the best. I hate how wrong I was about this anime. I saw a dude with dumbass chainsaws popping out and thought “Nope, looks like edgy trash.” The hype was astronomic in size so I thought perhaps I was wrong, but people hype up mid shit all the time. Not this occasion. Really I was on board until episode eight, Gunfire. After that episode I was more than on board, I was sucking this show’s cock like Kobeni trying to pay her tuition baby. The directing, emotional weight, soundtrack, and pacing of that episode were so immaculate that I nearly came on the spot like Denji himself. And what’s more, after that shit they CONTINUED to follow up that amazing work of art with more episodes that each had more compelling and jaw-dropping moments. By the time this first season wrapped up I had been completely converted to a Chainsaw Man drone. And here I sit now, eager for the chance that more comes down the pipeline and I can continue experiencing this world and characters. MAPPA you crazy bitches, you’ve done it again. A must-watch for the season and one of the strongest anime this year. Fuck.

Thank god my Chainsaw Man shilling is finally over. I’m sure it’s probably an opinion you’ve heard a million times already. Oh, and more importantly boy can we take a second to appreciate the lewds this season? Between Yor, the Chainsaw girls, Bocchi, and Gundam, there was some new sexy art making the rounds each week online. I for one fapped good this time of year. What anime did you watch this season? What were your favorites, and what disappointed you? Did these anime keep you hype during the holidays? Grab a chainsaw, rock out with your guitar, and hop in your Gundam to say goodbye to fall anime 2022 in the comments below! 

P.S. I’m behind on Bleach but I’ll be trying to include it in the next seasonal article. That’s why it is absent here.