Man the older ya get, the faster these anime seasons go by. I can’t believe it’s already time to say goodbye to these boys and girls. This was quite the comedy filled couple of months which was nice to give my heart a break from anything heartwrenching and my mind a break from anything complex. Well, you know, except for Tomodachi Game’s first half. Oop, spoilers, let’s go ahead and go down the list.

SPY X FAMILY

There’s not much to say here for most part. It’s cute, it’s funny, Anya is the meme of the season, etc. I don’t have anything negative to say per se, but I thought that I should make one thing clear. While this anime is called SPY X FAMILY, the later half of this cour is almost exclusively focused on the FAMILY part. The SPY stuff is often played off for laughs or used to move the plot along and ultimately it takes a background seat. Personally I had no problem with it as I’m here for the characters at this point, any action or whatnot is a bonus. However, if you go into this anime expecting a 50/50 split and for both of those aspects to have equal weight, you’re probably going to be disappointed. Regardless if you know what you’re in for, it’s the AOTS… like you’ve probably heard a thousand times by now.

Aharen-san wa Hakarenai

This comedy was the perfect amount of episodes. Towards the end the jokes were starting to get a bit one-note and predictable for me, however this was offset as the last few episodes focused more on romance between the two main characters. Thankfully this wasn't one of those open ended romance plots that go nowhere either, there is a clear resolution that wraps everything up which can be rare for romcoms like this. With shows like SPY X FAMILY also debuting this season, it’s hard for me to tell anyone to go back and watch all 12 episodes. It was a fun ride, but nothing I feel I need to shill for. If anime rom coms are your thing and you’re not afraid of some desert dry humor then by all means check it out, but otherwise you can likely leave it alone.

Tomodachi Game

Wow. It’s very rare in anime to break the three episodes rule. In other words, after three episodes most anime reveal enough of their cards for you to determine if the production is good or not.  This one was an exception. The first half of this season was fucking rough. You have people going psycho, acting horribly illogically, edgy twists around every turn, you name it. All the mistakes of a typical “death/debt game” anime. However, in a move that shocked me to my reviewer core, the second half got WAY better. The edgy shit was toned down in favor of giving characters proper motive, the enemies were more than just “EVIL BAD GUYS!!! STOP THEM!”, and the mind game aspects were pretty well written and executed. It was like someone came in and cleaned everything up halfway through. By the end of it I was actually looking forward to the release each week. Still if you’re adverse to the genre I doubt it would change your mind, but if the premise sounds interesting and you can stomach the extremely over the top first half, you could end up enjoying this one after a while. Fair warning though, the last episode may be the worst ending to an anime ever if there is no season 2 produced. It wraps up nothing, solves nothing, and hell it even basically starts up the next arc. It’s quite possibly the biggest “fuck you, read manga” I’ve seen in a minute unless they plan to continue this, which I hope they do.

Shield Hero Season 2

Holy fuck this was a mess. And not because of the damn CG turtle. Did it look ugly? Yes, but who cares about a damn mega-turtle anyway. What really got ugly is the plot. This season was all over the place (literally) to the point where by the end I didn’t give a shit who the people in our party were, who the villain was or why he did the shit he did, where the story was going, I was just zoning out. You can’t blame me too much when the villain is acting like the most boring, one dimensional, “HAHAHA I LOVE DESTROYING THE WORLD HAHA POWERRRR” type of guy I’ve seen in a hot minute. It doesn’t help that we add a new female character to the party or save one every five minutes which adds to the poorly written feeling this part has. This season completely lost the magic that made Shield Hero so compelling in the first season. At this point, I won’t be continuing with the next season (if there is one) unless I’m watching it with someone else.

Summer Time Render

Uh…is this good? It’s kinda good. It’s a mystery, but don’t bother trying to solve it yourself. There are supernatural enemies and powers and there is basically no chance you can use deductions to try and predict the twists and turns until seconds before they happen, if even then. I did a full article explaining what I mean in detail, but this is a “rabbit hole” mystery. It’s all about surprising you with wild wacky shit and going deeper and deeper into a crazy situation which I don’t find as captivating as some Sherlock Holmes type shit where you can sort of figure it out alongside him. But hey there’s a time and a place for both. The characters are alright so far. They have moments of extreme competence and intelligence which makes you root for them, and then five seconds later the MC is staring at panties or making dumb meme jokes. Ultimately nothing special in that department but by this point I hope you have a good enough idea if you want to hop in or not because the train is not stopping. More episodes are coming down the pipeline as this show will extend over two seasons.

Love is War Season 3

Love is War is a comedy that I keep expecting to drop off. I mean hell almost every other anime comedy drops off so why not this one? Except it never seems to. Everytime shit gets stale, they throw in a new character with a distinct personality to spice up the joke pool, or they develop one of their existing characters in a new way, or they simply throw down an event like a school festival or a dumbass rap training arc (which was great, by the way). This has to be one of the most recommendable anime comedies in history, as I really don’t see what there is to dislike about it. This season seems to have ended on a true ending that sort of wrapped shit up, however I’m also hearing that there will be a fourth. I’d personally be fine calling it here so that nothing ruins the amazing work that the first three seasons accomplished, but at the same time I won’t turn a fourth one down. Long story short if you like rom coms, it doesn’t get much better.

Here’s to another season in the books, and another moment where I go “damn new anime are already starting up for summer?” *cough* Shaft’s RWBY *cough*. Sometimes I wish there was a larger break between seasons cause these days it feels like they’re all starting to mash together. A boy can’t get a little two week anime vacation after some season finales? I like my time to reflect. Oh well, I better get started on the new ones. What anime did you watch this season? What were your favorites, and which do you think fell off? Fall in love, laugh about it a bunch so you don’t blow your cover, and confess your thoughts in the comments below!